lara looked at the bed, then at jack, and a surge of longing swept through her. she wanted him to know that she'd made up her mind. "jack." she cradled his face in her hands.

a tint of red shaded his eyes, then he closed them.

"we need to talk." he opened his eyes, and they were back to their usual golden brown color. "i need all the information you can give me, so i can return to the guys and formulate our attack."

her hands dropped to his chest. "you're not taking me with you?"

he squeezed her shoulders. "cara mia, i can't. it would look too suspicious. but we plan to attack tomorrow at dusk. you'll only have to stay one more day. can you do that? will you be all right?"

"yes. we're fairly safe during the day. we just cook and clean and do laundry." she glanced down at her red robe. "i was really tempted to wash one of these with the guards' white togas, so they'd end up wearing pink."

jack chuckled. "i'm so glad you're still you, that they didn't manage to brainwash you."

"oh, there's some serious brainwashing going on around here." lara pulled the red robe off and tossed it on the floor. "these poor girls actually believe it's a great honor to be a chosen one." her eyes filled with tears. "thank god you found me before it happened-"

"shhh." jack pulled her into his arms. "you're all right now. cara mia." he kissed the top of her head.

she wanted to tell him that he was her chosen one. she stepped back. "jack, i need to tell you-"

"yes, i need to know everything. we have to come up with an attack plan that will eliminate the vampires here without causing any harm to the mortals."

she groaned inwardly. hadn't they discussed business long enough? he was here, her knight in shining armor who had charged to the rescue. and she was madly in love with him. shouldn't they be celebrating? she glanced at the bed. shouldn't he be ravishing her right now? "you need a plan?"

"an attack plan, yes."

"okay. i'll tell you how to attack." she wrenched the bronze brooch from her white gown and tossed it on the bed. "first, you should start with the breasts." her gown tumbled down to the ties around her midriff.

his gaze dropped to her bare breasts. "i'm... trying to do business."

"i mean business." she cupped her breasts. "i believe you've met these before."

the gold flecks in his eyes started to gleam. "la-" he halted when a noise sounded outside their door.

lara figured one of the guards was hoping for a cheap thrill.

"down on your knees, woman!" jack thundered. "bow before me."

"yes, my lord hades," she called out as she dropped to her knees and prostrated herself.

jack winced and whispered, "you don't have to really do that."

she sat up, grinning. "oh, my lord hades! please don't hurt me. i'll do anything to please you. anything!"

he gave her an annoyed look.

"why, my lord hades! look at you! you're so well endowed! careful with that. you'll put someone's eye out. oh, what a mouthful!" she made a loud strangling noise.

jack's eyes widened as he watched her.

"oh, yes, yes! take me, hades!" she let out a long squeal, lifting her arms in the air like she was riding a roller coaster. "oh, that was good. let's take a nap now."

footsteps moved away from the door.

jack arched a brow. "are you done now?"

"yes, but i feel strangely... unsatisfied."

he chuckled. "so do i. you made me last about two seconds."

"well." she glanced at the bed. "i'm sure you could do better."

"we still need to talk."

her casanova was being terribly unromantic, but she'd fix that. she stalked toward him on all fours. "what kind of attack plan did you have in mind? full frontal?" she rose up on her knees, rubbing her breasts against his toga.

he closed his eyes with a moan.

she slipped her hands underneath his toga and skimmed up the back of his bare calves. higher, to his bare thighs.

"lara." he opened his eyes. they were red. he gritted his teeth. "this is not a good time-"

"oh!" her hands had reached his buttocks, and he wasn't wearing any underwear. "oh my." tingles spread out over her skin. her nipples tightened, her back arched, and she succumbed to an urge to press her breasts against him.

she splayed her hands over his rump. her fingers stroked the skin, so smooth and soft. suddenly, his muscles flexed, tightening beneath her hands, creating a delicious concave curve. her knees felt weak. she struggled to breathe. heat sizzled between her thighs. "oh my god."

"talking to me?" he knelt in front of her.

she leaned toward him, but he held her back by the shoulders.

"lara, i realize you're grateful that i'm here."

"does this look like gratitude to you?" she fumbled with the linen strips tied at her waist.

"then it's adrenalin and excitement. but those feelings will pass once you're back home."

"don't tell me what i'm feeling. and don't you dare say my feelings are temporary." she loosened the strips, and her gown pooled around her knees.

he sucked in a sharp breath. his eyes gleamed red hot. "then tell me exactly what you're feeling. because i can't take you just for the hell of it. if i make love to you, i will never give you up. never."

she gazed into his glowing eyes. "i know that. i'm counting on that."

"forever is a long time for a vampire."

"i know that, too." her eyes filled with tears. "i'm in love with you, jack. forever. you're all i want. all i need. no matter what happens, i'll never give you up."

his grip on her shoulders tightened, and his red eyes glimmered with moisture. "are you sure?"

"yes! now stop being so dense and make love to me."

with vampire speed, he tossed her on the bed, ripped off her underwear and his own toga, then jumped into bed beside her. he covered her face with kisses. "cara mia, lara mia. i love you."

she planted kisses all over his face, too, till their mouths finally met in a hot, urgent kiss. their tongues stroked, their hands groped, their bodies rolled.

lara was panting by the time he kissed his way to her breasts. licking, suckling, tweaking, pinching. she let out a long moan and wrapped her legs around him. his erection pressed against her hip.

she felt hot and wet and aching with need. "oh god, jack, let me have it."

he chuckled, his breath tickling her damp, tight nipples. "are you begging, cara mia?."

"i'm demanding!" she slapped his rump.

he lifted his head to look at her. "what was that?"

"i-it wasn't very hard. sorta... playful, you know?"

his mouth twitched. "now you've asked for it."

"well, duh, yes. i have been asking-" she squealed when he suddenly dove between her legs. "oh, oh!" all that licking, suckling, tweaking, and pinching had moved to a new location. she made a mental note to slap his rump more often.

"jack, jack," she breathed. pleasure spiked and spiraled, growing more and more tense. she strained, lifting her hips to meet his mouth. he grabbed her bottom and pressed her against him. with another squeal, she climaxed, and he groaned with satisfaction.

she struggled to catch her breath. "oh, jack, that was-" he dragged his tongue over her with one long slow lick, and aftershocks rocked her body.

he rose to his knees, leaning over her. "cara mia."

"pimm?" she blinked a few times to bring him into focus. the blunt tip of his erection nudged against her highly sensitized skin. more moisture seeped from her.

his eyes gleamed, still red. "i'm going to enter you now."

like she wouldn't have noticed? she gasped when he drove into her with one swift stroke. and he kept coming. "wow." he was big. her inner muscles spasmed with another aftershock.

he winced. "i won't last long with that kind of torment."

was he actually worried about his performance? "i'm not keeping time. we have our whole lives together."

he kissed her brow. "i love you, lara."

"i love you, too. just the way you are."

he smiled. "then i'm home."

he started slow, but soon they lost all semblance of control. it was as if he couldn't get close enough. he rose onto his knees and grasped her hips, grinding himself against her. she screamed as another climax jolted through her. he let out a long groan, then suddenly threw his head back as his fangs popped out.

lara screamed again.

he released her and collapsed on the bed. "sorry. didn't mean to scare you." he grimaced. "merda."

she sat up. he looked like he was in pain. "are you all right? are you... hungry?"

he shook his head. the fangs were already starting to recede. "i drank plenty before coming here. i-i just lost control. i'm sorry i scared you."

"it was just a bit dramatic, that's all." she decided not to let the fangs bother her. he couldn't help having fangs. he actually had good control, since he hadn't made any attempt to bite her. and he couldn't help being a vampire. she loved him the way he was.

she smoothed a hand over his chest and down his belly. he was a beautiful man. well-defined muscles. she trailed her fingers down the line of hair that led to his groin.

"you're magnificent." she stroked the length of his manhood. even relaxed, it was long and thick. she traced a vein. "how did it happen?"

"what?" he lifted his head to look, then dropped his head back onto the bed. "i was born with that."

she snorted. "i meant, how did you become a vampire?" she moved her hand down and cupped his balls.

"i'd rather not talk about it."

"oh come on." she squeezed his balls gently.

his mouth curled up. "are you threatening me?"

"no, of course not." she tickled him. "i'm just trying to persuade you to talk."

"playing with a man's balls does not lead to conversation."

she stretched out beside him and rested her head on his shoulder. "i want to know all about you. please."

"i'm a bastard."

"that's a given."

he snorted. "my father was a terrible womanizer." he stroked her hair. "i'm not anything like him."

"one woman is enough for you?"

"definitely." he smiled at her, and his eyes had returned to their warm golden brown color.

"tell me more."

his smile faded. "i inherited my father's personal papers. things that he didn't want included in his memoirs. imagine a twelve-year-old boy reading about his father's struggle with the pox and his search for a cure."

"eeuw." lara wrinkled her nose.

"exactly. now you know why i don't like to speak of it. my father was in paris when an attempt was made on the french king's life, and he met the man responsible for saving the king. there were some rumors about jean-luc echarpe. rumors that he had super strength and was invincible. my father asked him what his secret was, hoping to find a cure for his syphilis, but jean-luc refused him."

"this jean-luc was a vampire?" lara asked.

"yes. my father didn't give up. he suspected jean-luc knew a way to defeat old age and disease. eventually, my father's investigations led him to transylvania. he took a job nearby at the castle dux in bohemia. that's where he seduced my mother. i never knew her, but i heard she died years later in an insane asylum."

"oh, jack, i'm so sorry."

"so was i.i feared my mother had died from syphilis, given to her by my father. and i feared i could have it, too. i was determined not to pass it on, so i decided to become a monk. my uncle persuaded me to go the university of padua first. then, when i was twenty-four, something terrible happened."

lara sat up. "you were attacked?"

he smiled. "i fell in love."

she swatted his arm. "that's not terrible."

"it is if you think you have a disease that could kill. i wanted to keep beatrice safe, so i used my father's notes to try to find a cure. a year later, my travels took me to transylvania. i was riding toward a small village as the sun set. three beautiful women appeared on the road."

"and they were vampires?" lara asked.

jack nodded. "i introduced myself, and when they heard the name casanova, they jumped me. the next thing i knew i was in an old castle with the women biting me. i tried to fight back, but... they were very strong, and i grew weaker as they drained every drop of blood from my veins."

"that must have been terrifying."

"i woke up in a dungeon with a horrific hunger." he grimaced. "i wanted blood. i didn't know what had happened to me. i didn't realize i could simply teleport away. they encouraged me to bite their wrists. i did, but there was always a price for survival. they thought i would be a skilled lover like my father. you can imagine their disappointment to find out i barely knew the basics."

lara winced. she had been right. jack didn't realize he was a wonderful lover.

"after a few months, they threw me out in disgust. said i would never live up to the casanova name." jack sighed. "i've never used the name since then."

"well, they were idiots. if you were any better in bed, i would have had a heart attack."