Immortals After Dark 05 - Dark Needs at Nights Edge

brushing powdered sugar from her hands.
    “He’d wanted to repair some things around the house, like parts of this studio so I could start practicing again like I used to. I told him there were just so many things I wanted to see now that I can leave the property.” She did want to dance, but she had to make choices with her remaining time. “And then, just yesterday, he asked me why I wasn’t worried about birth control. It got me thinking—should I be?”
    Mari frowned. “I truly don’t know. I’ll ask around, post it to the discussion board.”
    What if Néomi could get pregnant? What if she could have their baby before she died? Would she trust the mad vampire assassin with her only child after she was gone? She thought of that fierce, protective light in his eyes whenever he looked at her.
    Absolutely.
    After a loud slurp, Mari said, “Tell me more... believe me, my minions are praying to Hekate that you’ll keep me occupied all afternoon.”
    “Well, he’s really intense. A few nights ago, he offered to desecrate the grave of the man who murdered me.” Catching Néomi’s gaze, he’d rumbled, “Bid me to do this, koeri, and it’s done.”
    “Aw, that’s kind of sweet,” Mari said.
    “I thought so, too.” Eventually. At the time, her lips had parted, and she’d murmured, “Oh, how... thoughtful, Conrad.” Again, she’d understood the offer was akin to an affectionate gesture from a male like him. “But let’s leave the, er, grave alone for now. I just want to enjoy you... .”
    Waggling her eyebrows, Mari asked, “So, is your vamp good in the sack?”
    Néomi sighed, “Quite.” Not only was Conrad insatiable, the male had stamina. He was discovering all the wonders of lovemaking, but she was rediscovering it with a virile male, forever in his prime. “I’d never been with anyone immortal before. There’s certainly a difference.”
    By turns, he could be both gentle and fierce with sex. But he never hurt her, and she loved that she never knew what side of Conrad she’d get.
    And the more self-assured in bed he became, the more domineering he grew. His growing confidence thrilled her, giving her delicious shivers because she knew it would only continue to get better and better.
    Then she would remember she was leaving.
    “I knew a witch who slept with a vamp once,” Mari said in a lower tone. “I asked her what it was like, and she told me, ‘You never forget for a second that you’re with a vampire.’”
    “C’est vrai. That is one hundred percent true. Conrad once told me of having new vampire instincts that overrode his human ones, and I can definitely see it.”
    Whenever he put his mouth on her, he held her down, until she felt like the caught lure he’d nicknamed her. If he kissed her mouth, he held her face and the back of her neck, as if he feared she’d get away. When he suckled her breasts, he’d greedily cup both of them from the sides, firmly gripping them. As he squeezed, she could almost hear him thinking, Mine.
    Leaning forward in her chair, Mari asked, “Does he ever want to drink you? I’ve heard some chicks actually like it.”
    “I think he does want to, but he never has.” Sometimes when they had sex, she sensed him skirting the edge of his control, especially now that he was growing so fatigued from hunting that demon. But she always pulled back from him, and he didn’t press. “He’s afraid of hurting me.”
    “He can’t have your blood anyway. If he got your memories, then that’d be a surefire way to find out your secret. Think about it—you’re never going to tell anyone. I’m not, and Nïx won’t. How else could anyone find out unless Conrad drank you?”
    “I know. Believe me, I know.”
    “So what are you going to do if he asks you to marry him or something? Isn’t he from the seventeenth century? Guys from the past seem to get really weird about issues like marriage. And I should know, since I married one.”
    “I’ve thought and thought about it, and I’ve decided that I can’t in any way promise my future when it’s so uncertain.” She didn’t want Mari to think she was complaining, but pretending with Conrad was already difficult at times—Néomi didn’t know how she could make it through even a short marriage ceremony. Till death do us part... possibly next week.
    “Has he told you he loves you yet?”
    “No, and I’m glad for it.” Néomi knew he’d fallen for her as deeply as she had for him, but she