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***
Luke had read the same sentence about five times. He was reading a letter of appeal from a vampire in the Delaware who was having a boundary issue with a neighbouring were-wolf. The argument seemed so petty to Luke, who had seen similar letters thousands of times before but with this one, it seemed like he could not concentrate at all. It had been at least a day since his courier had told him that Rowan had received the flowers and still nothing.
Letting the letter fall from his hands to the desk in front of him, Luke rested his chin on his knuckles and gazed wistfully out of the window. Sensing a shift in the room, he rolled his eyes.
"Why do you bother trying to sneak up on me Philippe?" he snorted, "You know that I can sense you a mile away." The Frenchman stepped forward out of the shadows and pretended to look annoyed.
"I knew I shouldn't have let you heal me with your blood," he said, shaking his head mournfully, "Now you are constantly in my head." Luke laughed. Whilst now, just under one thousand years later, it was funny to the two men, at the time it had not been a laughing matter.
The date had been the 14th October 1066; the place had been Senlac Hill. The Norman army was struggling against English resistance and Philippe had just been shot through the neck with an arrow. Though Luke had not known him at the time, he took pity on the dying Frenchman who even with his dying breath had tried to make a joke of the situation. So Luke had healed and turned him, mixing their blood and giving Philippe eternal life. The two had been close ever since, their bond made even stronger by the mental link they shared.
You know one thousand years is a long time for someone to put up with you, both physically and mentally, Luke thought sarcastically. You think that I am a chore; you should try having you in your head! Philippe grinned and shot Luke a finger humorously. He settled his tall frame into the chair opposite Luke and continued to stare at him, smiling maddeningly.
"What do I get the feeling that you want to tell me something?" Luke asked suspiciously. Despite knowing the man for most of his eternal life, sometimes even Luke struggled to figure out Philippe. Notoriously difficult to read, his permanent and unfailing optimism often hid skilfully any negative feelings the vampire felt. Now though, Luke was fairly sure that his friend was just sticking around to further piss him off: Philippe never once did miss up on an opportunity to antagonise Luke.
Philippe shifted his weight unnecessarily. He loved the fact that Luke was so on edge; it made him incredibly easy to wind up. "Good letter?" he asked nodding to the piece of paper that lay forgotten on the desk top. Luke scowled. They both knew he was not here to talk business.
Gazes locked, the two men tried to stare each other down, each one waiting for the other to give. Surprisingly, it was Philippe who looked away first, causing Luke's suspicion to deepen further. Staring out the window, the Frenchman said casually, "Tanji got her car back." Luke shrugged, still not understanding why his friend had chosen to bother him with such trivial information.
Philippe wanted to laugh. His friend looked really pissed off now; he hadn't even realised the significance of what he had just said. Deciding to really push the boundaries, Philippe slowly bought his feet up and maintaining eye contact at all times, he rested his ankles on the surface of Luke's paper-strewn desk. The vampire looked murderous.
"What the fuck do you want Philippe?" he growled, "Can't you see that I'm not in the mood here?" Philippe just continued to smile maddeningly, completely unfazed.
"The person who borrowed Tanji's car has returned it," he repeated, waiting for the penny to drop. Tanji had told Luke the day that Rowan left that she had leant the human her car and Luke had not been happy about it at all.
Luke mouthed the sentence with wide eyes as it suddenly clicked. "Is she still here?" he whispered hoarsely, his chest suddenly feeling incredibly restricted. Philippe looked like he was thoroughly enjoying the fact that at the simple mention of his mate's name, the vampire lord was reduced to a love-struck teenager.
"Oh yes," Philippe replied casually, "She decided to stay for tea with Tanji. The two of them seem to have hit it off handsomely." Luke didn't stick around to hear the rest of the sentence. He had sped out of the room in a flash, leaving only an amused Philippe and a fluster of forgotten papers.
***
Rowan could not stop her heart from pounding. She had decided earlier that it was time that Tanji got her car back, despite noticing that in the garage there were more than several other cars as well as motorbikes.
She felt sick to her stomach as she had driven through the ornate gates and up the long drive. She swore that the gravelled driveway seemed to stretch on into the distance, as if the house was moving further and further away, and so she was almost surprised when she had to swerve and brake sharply to prevent from running straight through an intricate flowerbed.
Sat there with her heart pounding, the engine still running, she began to wonder whether this was all an incredibly bad idea. She knew that she had to return the car at some point; she was just dreading the idea of finally having to talk to Luke again. Would she be able to hold it together?
Rowan flinched sharply at a loud rapping against the passenger seat window. She peered through it to see an amused looking, young, dark haired man staring back at her. "Are you okay miss?" he called through the closed door, his voice muffled by the window. Rowan lowered the window and the boy peered in.
"Could you possibly go and get Tanji for me?" Rowan asked, trying to keep the tremors out of her voice. The boy looked blank. "You know," she continued, panic rising, "The doctor?" At last, comprehension flooded the boy's face.
"Oh, you mean Doc! Sorry, all us weres in the house don't use her name out of respect. I'm afraid she has been known to me as 'Doc' my entire life and I had completely forgotten she actually had a name." The boy grinned infectiously at his mistake. "I'll just run and fetch her," he called over his shoulder, already sprinting through the huge main door of the mansion.
Rowan was just finishing parking the car properly when Tanji came rushing out of the mansion followed by Philippe who stood lounging in the doorway, watching interestedly. As Rowan got out of the car, she caught off guard by the South African doctor throwing her arms around her and pulling her into a fierce, motherly embrace.
"My dear, how are you doing?" she asked excitedly, running a critical, medically trained eye over Rowan's healing face. Rowan smiled.
"Yeah, I'm doing well thanks. I can't believe how fast my cuts healed, it was incredible!" she enthused, trying to make conversation despite feeling sick to her stomach. Tanji laughed. "Oh that. I put a special salve on them that we bought off of the Fae. It speeds up healing, helps the skin to knit together faster. It also prevents scarring so you won't have to worry about that pretty face of yours!" Tanji beamed as she talked, completely oblivious to Rowan's internal turmoil.
She clasped Rowan's hand and dragged her towards the house, stating that she simply must stay for a while and chat. Passing Philippe, who had not moved, she nodded in acknowledgement to his murmured greeting and smile. By the time she and Tanji had entered the hall, the vampire had already disappeared.
"Ergh, I hate it when they do that," the doctor grumbled, "Weres move pretty fast but we have nothing on those vampires; one minute they are there, next minute they aren't! Creeps me out." They made their way along panelled corridors that were lit up by the midday sun streaming in through the floor to ceiling windows. Reaching the end of the hallway, Tanji ushered Rowan into the kitchen.
The two settings could not have been any more different if they tried. Whilst the hall was ornate, grand and vintage, the kitchen was modern and futuristic with pale walls and glass and stainless steel everywhere. Rowan looked about her in wonder, struggling to imagine this room set in such an old and decadent mansion.
Tanji bustled about the room grabbing mugs and milk and various other paraphernalia as she went like a mini hurricane. She was humming something that Rowan didn't recognise.
"That's a pretty tune," she said conversationally. Tanji smiled again, a hint of sadness in her eyes.
"My mother used to sing it to me as a girl. It's a song that her grandmother used to sing to her when she was younger and living in Tanzania. It always makes me feel happier when I sing it." Rowan did not press for any details; the sadness in Tanji's eyes indicated that there was not a happy ending to that story.
The doctor set down a mug of steaming coffee in front of Rowan triumphantly. "I never did fully understand that damned machine the vampires of this house worship so much, so you are lucky to get a drink at all. Milk or sugar?" Rowan shook her head and the doctor once again bustled around the room making her own drink. Rowan looked on curiously as she added lemon and honey to a cup of tea. "I know, I know, the English would crucify me if they saw me 'wrecking' of cup of tea like this but I can't help it! It's the way that my mother made it for me as a girl and it's the way I will drink it until I die. No matter how much stick I get from Philippe." The were scowled humorously before sitting heavily at the breakfast bar next to Rowan.
"So how have you been my dear?" her voice softened and she scanned Rowan's face tenderly. The kindness in her eyes almost undid Rowan right then and there.
"I have been okay," she said carefully, "A little- erm- irritable, but that's probably because of my injuries," she added hastily. Tanji raised an eyebrow, thoroughly unconvinced.
"That's bullshit and you know it," the doctor said bluntly. "Just so you know, Luke has been just as irritable, if not more so." Rowan looked up quickly to see the doctor smiling at her encouragingly.
"He's going to want to see me, isn't he?" Rowan asked quietly. Tanji nodded apologetically. "Nothing in the world could stop him," the were-doctor said. The two women sat in companionable silence for a while, each one sipping their respective drink quietly.
Tanji finished hers first and rose quickly to put her crockery into the stainless steel dishwasher. She came back over to where Rowan was still sat, unmoving, staring into the distance. "Give him a chance, my love," she said softly, placing her dark hand over Rowan's lighter one. "I'm confident you will not regret it." With that, the doctor slipped from the room to where she knew Luke was hiding in the shadows, listening.
"Don't cock this up," she growled fiercely before hugging the tall vampire tightly. "Good luck."
Luke smiled thinly as Tanji swept past him to some other distant corner of the huge house. He felt stupid for feeling so nervous about talking to this woman; normally this sort of thing was no problem and came to him naturally! So what was it about this one that had him on edge? She's my mate, he thought, that's why.
Slipping into the room, he felt his throat choke at the sight of her. She was sat near the window, the sunlight bathing her in an ethereal glow, causing glints of dark blue to shine in her ringlets that cascaded down her back. She was wearing a pair of artfully ripped stone-washed jeans with pumps and tight-shirt that showcased her trim body to perfection. He felt like he could stand there all day watching her as her chest rose and fell softly with each breath and her eyelids fluttered with every blink.
As she noticed his presence in the room, she turned her head sharply, causing her curls to fly in disarray. Luke loved the chaos of her long hair and longed to thread his fingers through it. She met his gaze with her bright sapphire ones, the intensity of her stare enough to theoretically make his breath catch.
The two said nothing, their intense stares enough to satisfy each other for the moment. Rowan felt her heart pound as Luke stepped into the light. She didn't remember him looking so damn perfect. He looked every inch a man in his low slung, slouchy jeans and shirt; it was enough to send a feeling of warmth to her core. He was clean shaven but his hair was unruly, suggesting that he had been running his hands through it constantly. That gave Rowan a smug feeling of satisfaction to know that the gorgeous vampire was just as affected by her as she was by him.
"You came back," Luke stated simply in his deep bass. Rowan nodded, not trusting herself to speak. He came closer. "Why did you leave?" he almost whispered, catching her gaze and holding it. Rowan could not look away; his eyes were captivating. So instead she shut them and sighed, "I'm sorry, I truly am, I just needed some space to breathe. You scared me." Her tone was accusing but they both knew she did not mean to offend.
Opening her eyes, she sucked in air sharply in surprise. Luke was standing right in front of her, his gaze locked on hers, his moist lips no more than an inch away from hers. "I apologise for scaring you," he murmured, "Are you scared now?" He sounded unsure of himself despite the intimacy of his actions, almost as if he was expecting her to slap him again.
The sexy husk of his low voice sent a shiver down Rowan's spine. For a moment, there was no sound but her shallow breathing as she forgot how to speak. "No," she managed to whisper. Luke smiled slowly. "Good," he whispered, leaning forward to cover that last distance between them.
Rowan sighed as his lips pressed exquisitely against hers. The softness of them against hers marvelled her as Luke angled his head to deepen the kiss. Flicking his tongue experimentally he swiped the join of her lips, seeking entrance.
He was rewarded with a low moan that reverberated through him, causing his cock to swell uncomfortably in his restrictive jeans. She parted her lips for him allowing their tongues to duel as he slowly forced open her thighs to stand between them. Luke felt like his head would explode as he felt the heat between Rowan's thighs. He fought every urge in his body not to rip all the clothes off from her body as she captured his tongue and sucked seductively on the tip.
His eyes shot open to see her gazing up at him through her thick eyelashes. He watched, captivated, as she slowly winked before pulling him back towards her again.
"What's gotten into you?" he mumbled hoarsely against her lips, her soft breathing caressing his face. He felt her smile against him as she pulled him in closer, pressing herself against his rock-hard body.
"I guess I just decided what I wanted," she whispered punctuating each word with kiss along his jaw line, leaving a trail of fire was she went.
With a growl, Luke snaked his hands under her ass and lifted her bodily against him. She gasped as the bulge of his crotch rubbed against her through their layers of clothing, sending a jolt of pure electricity straight through her. She felt a rush of air as Luke sped out of the kitchen at top speed and into what she assumed to be his bedroom.
She laughed, surprised, at his haste. The laughter however, died in her throat when she saw a look of raw animalistic need in Luke's eyes as he loomed over her. Kneeling up on the bed where he had dumped her, she ran her hands along the planes of his chest, marvelling at the hard muscle she felt beneath her fingertips.
Luke felt his eyes roll back in his head as her fingers brush against his nipples. He concentrated hard on not throwing her onto the bed and ravishing her straight away. Instead, he indulged her.
His eyes shot open again and he stared at his mate as he felt her fingers slowly but surely trace downwards. She felt his stomach muscles clench and unclench as she trailed the tips of her fingers over the ridges of his abdomen. Luke thought he might explode before she reached her destination.
Determined not to be out done, Luke gently stilled her hand. She looked up at him, cocking her head in a fashion that was so adorable that Luke struggled not to pepper her face with kisses.
"If you continue like that, my dear, this will be no fun at all," he growled gently. She smiled and bit her lip, suddenly unsure of herself.
Luke had reached the point where he decided she was wearing far too much clothing. He reached for her, frantically tugging at buttons whilst he nuzzled her lips. A low moan built up in her throat as his hands slid up beneath her shirt, toying with the underside of her bra, before eventually venturing under it to stroke the smooth underside of her breast.
Rowan gasped as a ripping sound filled the room. She stared in dismay at her destroyed shirt, but her disappointment was soon forgotten.
"I'll buy you a new one," Luke grunted as he noticed the look on her face. As Rowan shrugged off the remains of her shirt, he took the opportunity to stare at her unveiled body. It is sinful, he thought, that something as perfect as that has to be kept covered.
Her breasts swelled and threatening to spill out of the simple black lace bra that she wore. Above the right one was the tiny tattoo of a rose, the crimson of its petals stark against her golden skin. Luke felt his throat close up as he stared at the small flower. He thought it was the most erotic thing he had ever seen.
Rowan felt her breathing get shallower as Luke swooped down to place a sweet kiss against the soft, smooth skin of her chest. Her heart thudded against her breastbone as he continued to trail his lips across her chest, swiping his tongue against the valley of her cleavage.
With a sudden twist of his wrist, Luke snapped the clasp of her bra open. Somewhere at the back of her mind, registering amongst the pure pleasure she felt, Rowan thought that she was glad he hadn't destroyed her bra too.
She cried out loud when he clamped his lips firmly around one nipple, his tongue flicking at it causing it to harden almost painfully. With his other hand, he traced a line up over her stomach, brushing against the sensitive underside of her breast, to circle the other areola with his fingertips.
Rowan jerked her hips involuntarily, brushing against his straining erection. Luke groaned deep in his throat as her hips movements made her grind against him. He continued his assaults on her nipple, caressing the dusky areola with the tip of his tongue. Encouraged by her breathy groans of pleasure, Luke gently nibbled on her pebbled tips.
Looking up to stare at her flushed face as her harsh breathing turned suddenly into a wild cry, Luke felt his cock harden more than he thought possible. He was sure that he would blow his load right there just watching her if he didn't concentrate.
Rowan raised her head when she felt his amazing administrations stop. She noticed him staring at her, his eyes almost black with desire. She grinned evilly. Wrapping her long legs around his waist, she used her momentum to roll Luke onto his back so that she was straddling him.
Luke watched, captivated as her pendulous breasts swayed slightly with the motion. They fit perfectly in his palm, firm and pert, with dusky areolas. Still mesmerised he didn't notice that Rowan had begun to lean forward until he felt her slid her tongue along the side of his neck, stroking the vein that lay just beneath the skin. Luke struggled to keep his fangs from extending as she sucked lightly on a pressure point just below his jaw.
Rowan almost purred in delight when Luke hands swept up her still jean-clad thighs to clasp her ass and squeeze gently. She pressed herself up against him once more, squashing her breasts against his chest. She rumbled in annoyance; he was still almost fully clothed.
