she came instantly, screaming, her legs almost spasming around his back, lifting herself even further onto his cock as he joined her in a blazing, uncontrollable freefall of ecstasy.

he collapsed onto her, shifting to one side at the last minute to avoid crushing her. the movement threatened to slide his pulsing cock out of her hot, tight sheath, but she reacted quickly, her legs scissoring sideways to hold him inside her. he chuckled softly and gripped her hip, pulling her more firmly into the curve of his body. he licked her neck lazily, sealing the wound, savoring the delectable flavor of her blood, a flavor that was unique, his sarah.

"you taste good," he murmured, a rumble from deep in his chest.

she shivered and slid a hand up his back along his ribs, where she'd clawed him open with her nails. raising fingers red with his blood to her mouth, she sucked them clean and, licking her lips as if savoring the sweetest honey, said, "so do you."

raj grew still. "sarah," he said cautiously. "if you-"

"i know," she said firmly. "i'm yours for however long you want me."

"that would be a very long time," he said, kissing her mouth gently. "a very . . ." he kissed her again. ". . very long time."

she curled her arms around his neck and met his gaze. "okay. but none of this vampire mating shit. i'm not a gorilla. i want a real wedding."

he groaned and rolled his head back in protest, but then lowered his gaze to hers once again and smiled. "it will have to be a nighttime wedding."

sarah laughed. "i love you, rajmund."

"yes, you do," he said smugly. she glared at him until he relented and admitted, "i love you, too."

he kissed her at length, savoring the knowledge that she was his. "i just have one question," he said at last. her eyes opened wide. "how long have you and emelie been plotting against me?"

sarah laughed and began to move against him. "this . . ." she arched her back, sliding herself on and off his hardening cock. ". . . is not a plot, my lord. i think we need to refresh your memory a bit."

raj growled, rolling them over and forcing her down to the bed, driving himself deep inside her. "i see you need to learn your place, little one. and that is beneath your master."

sarah slipped her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear. "i love you, master."

raj smiled as the phone rang. he reached across her to dig his cell out of the pocket of his pants which lay on the floor. he checked the id. "emelie," he answered, not waiting for her to say anything. "clear my schedule for the next three days." sarah's eyes widened as he began thrusting slowly in and out of her. "and, em? thank you."

epilogue

malibu, california

cyn leaned forward, smiling as she read the latest e-mail from sarah. it tickled her that sarah and raj had gotten together. and at the same time, she was delighted to have a friend who truly understood what it meant to be mated to a vampire. or soon-to-be married, in sarah's case. cyn pursed her lips thoughtfully, trying to figure out the best way to convince raphael they should go to the wedding. damn vampires were so prickly with one another, especially now that raj had taken over his sire's territory.

she pushed back from the computer and picked up a bottle of water, tilting her head back and drinking deeply. with no fresh air, raphael's underground lair tended to be cool and a little too dry. still, she preferred to work here during the day, while he slept on the other side of the room. she usually slept with him the first few hours, and then worked awhile, finally ending up back in bed with him before sunset. he liked to have her there when he woke, and she didn't exactly mind, either, since-

she froze, taking the bottle slowly away from her mouth and setting it blindly on the desktop as she turned to stare into the deep shadows over the bed. she'd heard . . . her mind raced trying to recreate the precise sound and couldn't do it. there shouldn't be any noise at all. raphael always slept perfectly still. she stood and walked over to the bed, her breath catching in her throat when she heard something again, but this time . . . was that a groan?

"raphael?" her voice cracked with tension, her heart pounding fiercely inside her chest. he groaned louder, a sound of such anguish and pain that she threw herself onto the high bed in a panic, crawling over to him, reaching out blindly in the darkness to touch his face. her lungs constricted in fear and she scrambled back to the bedside lamp, snapping it up to its brightest setting, before spinning around to examine his face in full light.

it was covered in blood. cyn screamed, "raphael!"

to be continued . . .