Magical Holiday Love (The Anthology Novella Series Book 4) Read online

  Rayne couldn’t help but to chuckle. Damn, but she was as cute as hell. “Did I make you swoon, Dr. Prescott?” he asked with a grin.

  “Regardless if you did or didn’t,” she retorted, her eyes sparkling. “Let me go with you.”

  “Sorry, Angel, but I can’t let you do that. I promise that I won’t be long.” He forced himself to stand and move away from her, the taste of her mouth invading his senses like nothing ever had before. It was as if it had been imprinted on his soul and he knew that if he didn’t go now…he wouldn’t go at all. He grabbed his bag and pulled out the plastic explosives and his gun. The silver bullets would at least slow the bastards down if need be. He took out two stakes and walked back over to her. “The radios in here,” he explained, handing her the bag, and he couldn’t help but notice that her hand shook as she reached out to take it from him. “There’s also a few more protein bars in there. If I’m not back in an hour, call in for evac. Max is at the ready.” He shoved his gun into the waistband of his pants and slipped the explosives into one of the many pockets.

  Fighting the overwhelming urge to lean down and taste her mouth yet again, he instead reached out and cupped her face in his hand. “Stay here,” he warned gently. With that, he turned and headed for the opening.

  Mara watched as he disappeared through the fronds and groaned. She couldn’t let him do this! She couldn’t just let him go and face this nightmare alone. She stood and began to pace, chewing at her lower lip. She abruptly stopped in front of where he had laid out their clothing and lifted his shirt, bringing it to her face. She didn’t know what is was about this man, but he had her heart racing like no one ever had before, and she’d be damned if she would let him walk into a den of Vampires alone all because of her!

  She pulled his shirt off and quickly slipped back into her clothes, pulling his soaking t-shirt over on top of hers, hoping that his black shirt would be less noticeable than her light-colored top. She grabbed the stake he had given her and quickly made her way for the opening.

  Chapter 5

  Rayne came up to the compound and crouched down low, watching as a few of Dufrane’s men frantically searched the area. He circled around to the back of the building and quickly set up the first explosive, rounding back towards the front.

  As he came back around the corner he could hear them shouting that she had to be somewhere inside. He waited until he heard the heavy door open and close before slipping around and placing the next bomb near the door. Setting the timer, he ran back into the thick foliage to watch the fireworks.

  Not sixty seconds later, the sound of the explosions filled the air as the building went up with a mighty boom. He could hear the screams coming from inside and felt a small sense of disappointment that he hadn’t had the pleasure of seeing Dufrane’s face as he died. He would have loved to have killed the bastard up close and personal.

  “Masters.”

  Rayne spun around to find the asshole in question standing behind him, his face set in a smug grin, and a very large gun pointed at his head. Shit!

  “So, I assume that it was you that helped our lovely Dr. Prescott to take flight,” he whispered, his eyes beginning to glow red. He glanced at the burning building behind Rayne’s shoulder and clucked his tongue sadly. “Such a shame. There were a few men in there that I had trained fairly well. A waste really.” His eyes fell back on Rayne. “Where is she?”

  “You won’t get your hands on her,” Rayne growled, his own eyes beginning to glow as his fangs descended. It ended now.

  “I’m afraid that you have no say so in the matter. I…” He broke off as his eyes widened is shock. Rayne watched in stunned silence as the gun dropped from Dufrane’s hand and he looked down to the stake protruding from his chest. With an ear-splitting screech, he fell to his knees before turning to dust, only to be washed away almost instantly by the heavy downpour.

  Rayne glanced back up to find Mara standing there, a look of triumph on her face. The smile faded from her lips and she turned deathly pale when she noticed his fangs.

  “Angel,” he breathed, but she only shook her head and took off running. “Mara!”

  Mara ran purely on instinct, heading back in the direction that she had come, her chest burning from the strain and her eyes stinging from her tears. Oh, God! It couldn’t be! He was one of them!

  As she spotted the entrance to the cave she silently said a prayer that she could get to the radio and call for help before Rayne caught up to her. It was only a moment later that she felt his muscular arm wrap around her waist, pulling her to an abrupt stop and against that steely chest of his.

  “No!” she screamed, trying desperately to pull away from him; but he held fast. He turned her to face him, his eyes now back to their normal color, but that small fact did nothing to comfort her. She had seen what he was! He was one of them!

  Rayne watched as her lips trembled and he felt as if his heart was shattering into a million tiny little pieces.

  “Please…don’t…don’t hurt me,” she begged, her voice nothing more than a throaty whisper of panic as the rain blasted down on them.

  “Christ, Sweetheart, I would never hurt you.” To prove his point, he pulled her closer and took her mouth. Desperate, hungry…

  Her mouth opened to him a moment later as he felt her body relax slightly against his and he swept her up into his arms as he pushed his way through the opening of the cave. His kissed her deeply, his mouth cherishing hers as their tongues dueled and sparred, needing this contact so much.

  He set her down, keeping her body close to his and leaned back to look into her eyes, trying to convey the depth of his emotion, although he wasn’t quite sure what it was that was happening between them. He only knew that the thought of her being frightened of him nearly killed him.

  “Angel,” he husked finally, his hands rubbing up and down her arms. “Please believe me when I say that you’re safe with me.”

  Mara watched him silently, the impact of everything hitting her with the force of an atom bomb. He was a Vampire! She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to reason through this. She didn’t know what to do…what to think, but her heart and her head were telling her that for some reason…she could trust him. From somewhere deep down in the recesses of her soul, she knew that what he was saying was the truth. He wouldn’t harm her. He had saved her. He had protected her.

  She watched him, watching her-his eyes filled with a sorrow that clenched at something deep in her heart. Oh, Lord. She believed him. And, God help her; but she did trust him. There was just no denying it. It was something that she just couldn’t seem to control.

  “I…I brought you your shirt,” she stammered shakily. “You left without it.”

  He choked out a laugh, his mouth turning up at the corners. “I did.”

  “I staked him…”

  “Yes, you did,” he husked, leaning in a bit closer.

  “I didn’t want you to go alone.” She informed him, her chin lifting just a little.

  “I didn’t want you in danger,” he replied, his mouth so dangerously close to hers now that she couldn’t help but to take a giant leap of faith.

  “Would you…would you like your shirt back?” She asked, the tremble in her voice more than evident.

  Rayne grinned and pressed his lips gently against hers. “You should probably get out of those wet clothes,” he murmured against her lips, his warm, sweet breath mingling with hers.

  Mara opened her mouth and sighed. “Yes, maybe I should.” She moved to pull the shirts up, but his hands stilled hers.

  “Angel, you need to know that I would never hurt you. I need you to believe that.”

  “I do. I don’t know what’s happening here, I only know that I do trust you.”

  She saw him shudder as a groan passed his lips and his mouth took hers once again with an intensity that actually curled her toes. She plunged her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer, responding to the pure animal pull of this man. There was
no stopping it. She couldn’t if she had tried.

  His hands grabbed the hem of the shirts she wore and he pulled them up and over her head, leaving her lips for only the briefest of moments that it took to pull them off. His mouth traveled down her neck to the swell of her breast, nipping and soothing her skin with his skilled lips. She gasped as her fingers clenched in his hair, pulling him closer and a moan of pure desire slipped past her lips as she begged him for more.

  In that next instant, her pants were being slipped down her legs and quickly tossed across the cave. He removed his own and sank to the ground, pulling her on top of him to shelter her from the hard dirt floor. She could feel him pressing up against her hip as their mouths crashed together once again…their hands desperate and seeking, sliding over the others body as if wanting to touch every possible inch of flesh.

  He pulled back and caught her gaze, his eyes locking with hers. “Are you sure you want this?” he asked, his voice nothing more than a tortured groan. “Because, once this happens, I don’t know if I can let you go.”

  Mara felt the impact of his words. Of what he was saying. There was an undeniable connection between them and he was letting her know that he wasn’t just looking for a quick romp in the hay…that this might just be more. She gave him a smile and moved against him, causing a low growl to vibrate in his massive chest.

  “Who said I wanted you to let me go?”

  Rayne moved his hips and slid into her heat, his body quaking from the sublime warmth surrounding him. It hit him then like a thunderbolt. This woman was meant to enter his life. And he knew without a doubt in his mind that she was damned sure meant to stay in it.

  He didn’t want to scare her with that little bit of information just yet, but he knew it deep down in his soul. This woman was his. Call it fate, or just dumb luck, but this beautiful creature was destined to be here with him.

  He began to move, thrusting into her with slow, steady strokes and thought that he would explode when she met his movements to perfection. She raised herself up onto her knees, bracing her hands on his chest and moved in perfect rhythm with him. His eyes caught hers and they held the others gaze, the connection between them snapping and cracking around them.

  He watched in fascination as her eyes widened as her body began to tense up around him and he increased his pace, plummeting her over the edge and she gasped as she came crashing down around him, bringing him to his own climax only a moment later…and it was incredible, soul-stealing. If he hadn’t had been sure before, this moment would have proven to him that they were meant to be.

  Rayne pulled her down against his body, cradling her to his chest as his hand gently cupped the back of her head. Jesus, that was powerful, he thought with a grin. Experiencing such a connection was something that he could never have imagined. And he felt like the luckiest bastard on the planet that he was lucky enough to find this amazing Angel in his arms.

  “You okay?” he asked against her temple.

  “I’m wonderful,” she whispered, sounding happy, content and fully sated. “Vampire sex rules.”

  Rayne chortled confidently before hugging her close to his body. “It does?” He snorted.

  “Mm hmm,” she replied with a healthy yawn. Suddenly she lifted her head and looked towards the entrance of the cave. “Hey, it sounds like the storm is slowing down.”

  Rayne followed her gaze. “Yes, it seems to be. I can radio in and arrange for our pickup.”

  She giggled and buried her face against his neck. “Can’t we wait until tomorrow? I’m wiped. This has been an eventful few days for a bookworm doctor whose only excitement is when Baskin and Robbins comes out with a new flavor of ice cream.”

  Once again, Rayne found himself laughing and thought that this woman was going to make the rest of eternity beyond amazing. “Yes, Angel…we can. Although, I’m not sure the guys are going to be too thrilled with having to wait until Christmas Eve to head back.”

  “Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve?” She questioned matter-of-factly. “I’d completely forgotten.”

  “Not a Christmas kind of girl I take it?” He asked with a grin.

  “No. Not really. At least, not for a very long time,” she responded honestly. “There was really no one for me to celebrate with.”

  “That’s a shame, Angel,” Rayne whispered, something tugging at his heart at the thought of her ignoring the holidays. Not that he celebrated them, himself. He hadn’t given them a second thought in centuries, but now…

  She snuggled up against him and sighed. “Why do you call me Angel,” she asked as she drifted off to sleep and Rayne found himself smiling as he hadn’t in…forever.

  “Because you were sent from Heaven,” he answered her quietly, knowing that she was already fast asleep.

  Epilogue

  Mara smiled as she placed the last vile into the cooler and stretched her muscles. It was really happening! She was actually making major progress in her research! She was ready to burst!

  She pulled her hair from its ponytail and sighed contently. The last year of her life had been a whirlwind of fantastic, amazing surprises; and all of it still seemed just so surreal to her. But, in such a fabulous way!

  She and Rayne had been picked up from the island that next morning after a night of passion that she would never forget, and she found herself giggling softly at just the memory. It had been mind-blowing!

  Alex had set her up with a lab at their headquarters almost immediately when they had returned, and she was finding the fact that there were supernatural beings in the world positively fascinating. These beings had taken her into their tight knit group easily, and with the added bonus of being able to study actual Vampire blood… she was making strides in her research by leaps and bounds. The volunteers she had been working with to test her progress were actually able to be exposed to the sunlight for nearly five hours now, without any adverse effects what so ever! And… after only a few doses of her serum! There was a buzz of excitement all around her that she just couldn’t deny, and it was intoxicating!

  She and Rayne had fallen into an amazingly passionate, yet comfortable relationship that was just so easy and she was happier then she had ever been before. It was almost as if they had known each other forever…and considering that the man she was in love with was over two hundred years old…that was saying a whole hell of a lot.

  She shook her head with another smile. Who would have thought that she would be dating a Vampire! Wow…the roads that your life takes you sometimes were just boundless!

  “Hey, Blondie?” She turned to find Max leaning in the doorway, a shit-eating grin plastered across his handsome features. She absolutely, positively adored the arrogant Were. He was funny and protective and beyond loyal. Not to mention that the man just loved teasing her at every opportunity that presented itself, and she loved giving it right back to him!

  “What’s up?”

  “Rayne wanted me to see if you were finished up for the day. It is Christmas Eve after all and he wants you to meet him.”

  “It is, isn’t it?” She responded with a laugh. “It completely slipped my mind.”

  “Why doesn’t that surprise me, Doctor?” Max chuffed good-naturedly.

  Mara slid her lab coat off and grabbed her purse, her pulse racing at just the thought of seeing the man she had swiftly and irrevocably fallen in love with.

  “Where am I meeting him?” She asked, pulling her keys out of her bag, but Max just shook his head and snagged them from her fingers.

  “It’s a surprise. I’ve been sworn to secrecy and ordered to be your personal chauffer for the evening.”

  “Really?” She snickered as she followed him down the hallway. “That doesn’t really seem like your kind of thing. Besides, shouldn’t you be home with Hannah and the baby?”

  Max gave her a snarky grin. “Yeah, well…it’s not. But, when Rayne Masters asks for a favor, it’s kind of hard to say no to the man. Besides; I’ll be home in time to have dinner with them,” h
e finished with a wink.

  Mara nodded her agreement. In the past year, she had found it quite difficult to deny the sexy Vampire anything at all. She was falling in deep, and couldn’t have been happier about it.

  Mara’s mouth dropped open in stunned surprise when, not thirty minutes later, they pulled up to a beautiful, secluded beach house. The house was huge and grand… and the sound of the ocean instantly wrapped itself around her. God, she loved the sound of the ocean.

  “Where are we?” She questioned as Max threw the car into park. He jumped out and ran over to open her door. “Max?”

  “Hey, I was just told to bring you here,” he laughed, shrugging his shoulders non-committedly.

  “Ass,” she grumbled as she glanced around the private beach, nestled between enormous rock formations that were nothing less than spectacular.

  Mara’s heart jumped up into her throat as a gasp flew past her lips when she spotted Rayne standing there in the sand, his impressive frame covered in a billowy white shirt that hung open; exposing his wondrous chest. Sunglasses covered his eyes, but she knew without a doubt that he was watching her intently by the grin that cut across his face.

  “Oh, my God,” she breathed in wonder. “He’s in the sun.”

  Rayne had always politely passed when she offered to try her serum out on him, telling her that there were others that wanted it much more than he did, and she found his selflessness just one more thing that she loved so much about the Vampire. But now…

  She heard Max’s laugh as he bounded back around the car. “Enjoy, Blondie,” he snorted before opening the door and sliding in. “Family time is calling. I need to get home and kiss my wife and son.”

  She gave him a distracted wave as she walked towards the man standing there like some sort of Greek God as the sun flitted and bounced off of his alabaster skin. He was absolutely breath-stealing.

  When Mara finally reached him, he pulled the sun glasses from his face and smiled, and damn if her knees didn’t start to shake.