CHAPTER EIGHT

Luca opened his eyes and glanced down at the beautiful woman in his arms. After making love the previous night, they had both fallen into a deep sleep. It was a rare indulgence for Luca to sleep with a female. He listened to her heartbeat and felt the rise of her belly with her every breath. Samantha had somehow touched his heart, and he couldn’t even say in that moment that he regretted giving it to her. After two hundred years of a self-imposed moratorium on love, he couldn’t resist Samantha. She was vulnerable, yet intelligent and strong. She was a survivor, and Luca admired her spirit and resolve.

Thinking of Eliza, he knew she would want him to move on and be happy. It had been such a long time. And while he truly did love Eliza, it was a young man’s love that had attracted him to her. He wondered how he would have felt after years of marriage to her if they hadn’t been attacked. Yet it had been a different time then. Women were very proper, and he’d been quite the respectable lad. The truth was that he’d never known Eliza in a biblical sense. They’d only kissed, which had been appropriate for that time period.

As he lay spooning Samantha, he pulled her closer to him. Luca might not have wanted a human lover, but now that he’d made love with her, he was certain he’d never let her go. Deep inside her last night, he’d fought the urge to claim Samantha. If he’d bitten her during climax, they would begin to bond. But he wasn’t sure how Samantha felt about him. Did she want to live with him? He was vampire, and she’d barely adjusted to the fact that she was a witch. She was adamant about returning to her life in Pennsylvania.

He found himself dreaming of her, what it would be like to have her live with him; turning the mansion into a home instead of a showcase of expensive antiques and paintings. Could they have children? The idea of Samantha having his children excited him, as he regretted never having had any before he was turned. While most vampires were sterile to humans, he’d heard rumors from the witches that they could be impregnated. One night while attending a coven party with Ilsbeth, he’d been told that because of a witch’s magical blood, they, in only very special circumstances, could accept the infertile vampire sperm into their body and infuse it with their life-force, creating the perfect conditions for fertilization. He made a mental note to check with Ilsbeth to see if this was simply an urban legend, or a real possibility.

While Luca stroked Samantha’s delicate hand, her eyes started to flutter. She didn’t want to wake up from the wonderful fantasy she’d experienced last night. Encased in Luca’s well-built arms, she felt safe, happy and loved. Loved?  The minute the thought popped into her mind, she tried to push it away. No, vampires like Luca don’t do love. He’d already told her that he didn’t get involved with mortals, let alone fall in love with them. Yet she couldn’t shake the thought. Luca was such a caring and sensual lover, like no other man she’d ever been with. She’d only been with a handful of lovers over the years, but none had ever made her come. Most men just quickly came, and then asked her if it was good for her. But Luca was different; he knew exactly what he was doing and played her body like a virtuoso played a Stradivarius. She tingled, thinking about the mad earth-shattering orgasm she’d experienced under his hand. He was a master.

Growing aroused, Samantha pushed her bottom backwards, feeling the hardness of him. She began to rock back and forth, brushing against his erection.

Luca squeezed Samantha as she began to grind against him. “Good morning, my little witch,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “This is the finest way I’ve woken up in a long time. But are you sure you’re ready for me?”

“Ummm….yes Luca. I can’t seem to get enough of you,” she purred as she increased the pressure.

Luca reached both hands around her and cupped her breasts, gently caressing her pink flesh. “I can’t seem to keep my hands off of you, either. I need to have you, be in you.” He kissed the back of her neck, sending chills down her arms. Luca’s straining shaft eased into her warm heat in one hard thrust from behind.

“Ah, yes, Luca!” Samantha screamed.

“My God, you feel so good. I won’t last long this morning. You’re so tight. Hmmm.” Luca massaged her breast in one hand while he reached into her warm, wet folds. He began to rock in and out of her, slow and steady while he feathered his fingertips over her clitoris.

Luca’s fangs elongated; there’d be nothing more satisfying than drinking her sweet blood while climaxing inside her. But if he did that, the bonding would begin. He fought the urge, retracting his fangs, and kissed along the back of her neck instead.

“Please Luca,” Samantha begged. “I need to…I have to…” her breathless words trailed off.

He knew what she needed, and he needed it too. Losing control, Luca increased his pace and felt them going off the cliff of pleasure into a simultaneous release. Samantha yelled out Luca’s name as they both rode out the incredible final moment of ecstasy.

Luca just held Samantha, not wanting to let her go. “Samantha, you’re so intoxicating, darlin’. I…I just want you to know that I’m glad you came down here with me.” He wanted to tell her how he felt, but registered the oddest sensation of fear, a rare feeling indeed for a two hundred year old vampire. What if she wanted to leave and go back to Pennsylvania? He’d never see her again; he knew a long distance relationship would never work.

“I didn’t want to come down here, but I can’t say that I’m upset right now. What we shared Luca….it was incredible. Thank you,” she whispered.

He could feel Samantha’s breathing slow; she was falling asleep again. Easing himself from the bed, he went to take a shower. He needed to get the upper hand of his emotions before he lost control to the seductive female in his bed.

Samantha woke alone, experiencing an odd sense of loss that he’d left her. She looked around the spacious room, noticing the sleek, modern furnishings. His black, king-sized platform bed stood alone save for a long matching bureau and armoire. It was a sharp contrast to the antique furnishings upstairs, and she found herself wondering if he’d decorated both. While he seemed to consider this subterranean domicile his primary home, he clearly must have had a hand in the magnificent interior décor on the first floor. Perhaps this suited Luca’s dynamic personality. On the one hand he was stoic, refined and dominating, yet he’d showed her that he could be caring, erotic and loving.

At the cabin, he didn’t mince words when he gave her no choice in returning, even threatening to enthrall her, and then last night, he seemed to open up about what had happened at Eden, when he could have simply ignored how she felt. He’d made love to her with primal fury, yet he’d made sure she was in agreement about moving forward at every turn. He’d showed a gentleness and tenderness she hadn’t experienced from any man in her life, ever.

Softly padding across the wooden floor, Samantha felt her stomach grumble. Vampires might not need actual food, but she needed to eat something soon. She also realized how sore she was from all the lovemaking with Luca. She sighed and smiled, thinking of how she’d lost all sense of responsibility with him. He was a gloriously irresistible male.

Pushing open the bathroom door, she was impressed by the oversized charcoal, soapstone shower lined with beveled glass blocks. A shelved wall held black, neatly folded, clean towels. Two gray pedestal sinks stood in front of a single, wall-sized square mirror. Masculine and luxurious, she thought. She reached over to the shower head and turned on the water. After waiting a few minutes, she stepped into the hot steamy spray, enjoying the beat of the droplets on her back.

She startled, hearing a door open, but settled when she saw the outline of her sexy vampire through the glass. Luca poked his face into the shower, taking a long drink of her bare creamy white skin. Smiling back, she wished he’d join her.

As if reading her mind, he grinned. “Hello darlin’, as much as I’d like to join you, if I do I’m afraid we won’t get any work done today. It’s nearly three in the afternoon, and we’ve got an appointment with Ilsbeth at six. We’ll start with her, and then go from there. While you were asleep, Sydney stopped over and brought you a goody bag. Clothes, toothbrushes, good stuff like that. Anyway, she and Kade haven’t found any leads, but they’re on call if we need them. We have some things to discuss with Ilsbeth, including having a little chat about that rain making trick you did at the cabin.” He winked at her, sending a thrill up her spine.

“Okay, sounds good. I’m anxious to get this over with,” she said, using both her hands to apply the conditioner through her long mane. As she leaned back into the spray, her firm breasts pushed out toward Luca, beckoning him into the shower.

Luca raked his fingers through his hair. “You’re killing me. You know, I’m finding it hard to resist you, let alone wet and naked.”

She shot him a wry grin. “Then why don’t you join me?” She turned her face into the drizzle, wiggling her behind at him.

Luca adjusted himself as he blew out a breath. They’d never get anything done, making love all day. “Later, temptress. I’ve got brunch out here for you, courtesy of Sydney. Now come on and hurry up. We’ve got work to do.”

Samantha squeaked as she felt a firm spank on her butt cheek. She laughed and complied, turning off the water. She was hungry, and Luca was right. They needed to do research and get information out of Ilsbeth. She was tired of being a victim. Whoever was doing this had sorely underestimated her ability to fight back.

Eating a wonderful array of fresh fruit, beignets and bacon, Samantha listened to Luca tell her about the writing at the cabin.

“Hematilly Periapt? What’s that?” she asked.

“A periapt is an amulet. They’re usually made by someone of magic, like a witch, warlock or mage. So for example, if it was blessed with white magic, it would be used for something good, like protection. But I’m guessing that it has been created by someone using black magic, and has a nefarious purpose like hexing or perhaps a curse. To be honest, I’ve got no idea what it does or why someone would want it. But it must be pretty important to someone, given they followed you to Pennsylvania and burned down a building to try to get it.”

“But why would anyone think I have it? I mean, I don’t remember much of what happened to me, but I can tell you that I don’t have it. This is the first I’ve heard of it. I swear. I don’t even know what it looks like or what it does.”

“I’m not sure. But this has got to do with Asgear. He probably has something to do with this, or should I say, had something to do with it.”

“Can’t we just search his house? What about that warehouse Sydney told me about?”

“No. Kade and Sydney searched all his properties after the crypt was destroyed. He owned the warehouse in the business district, which has since been demolished, thanks to Kade. They also ran a search to see if he owned any other properties and came up empty. Now he may have owned or rented other properties under an alias, but so far there’s no evidence of their existence. The periapt could literally be anywhere in or out of this city,” Luca speculated.

“Well, I can’t just sit around doing nothing until we go see Ilsbeth. If this thing is real, maybe there’s something about it online. I know that the witches were in the process of converting some of their books over to digital versions, in case of flood or fire. Of course, I wasn’t allowed access to anything when I was at the coven, but I heard them talking about it.”

“We can ask Ilsbeth to let us see the books when we go there tonight,” Luca suggested.

“No offense, Luca, but the witches aren’t going to let a vampire look at their books. The one thing I learned in my week there is that they are very secretive. And since I didn’t agree to join their sisterhood, I wasn’t allowed in the library either. We can ask Ilsbeth, but I know she’ll say no. Don’t get me wrong, she can be very kind. But she also can be a tough as nails bitch. She does not bend rules, period. Besides, I think we should try a backdoor approach at the same time we’re playing nice.”

“What do you mean, backdoor?” He smiled at her, knowing she had something up her sleeve.

“Well, if they are putting all the books into a database, then we just take a peek,” she proposed. “You know, hack in and look at the files and then sneak out. I can do this, Luca.”

“Very impressive, tell me more.”

“I’m considered a ‘white hat’ hacker. That means I purposefully spend time trying to hack into systems to expose their weaknesses, so that I can help clients and our company. There are some folks out there who are considered ‘black hat’ hackers. They do the same thing, but they’re not doing it to help anyone. They might be stealing or just trying to cause trouble. There are other titles in the hacking world too, like ‘grey hats’ who break in and then offer to fix systems for a fee. Regardless, I’ve had to learn all kinds of hacking techniques when I’m testing. The only caveat is that hacking isn’t always as quick as they make it seem in the movies. If I can’t find a gaping hole in their system, I may need to try a few other tactics that might take longer,” she explained.

Prior to her abduction, Samantha had worked as a high level computer engineer for a large government contractor and was known to be one of the best ‘white hat’ hackers in her division; she regularly attempted to hack their own computer systems as part of quality assurance. If the Hematilly Periapt existed and its information had been recorded digitally, she could find it.

A business call interrupted them, and Luca took it in his office, leaving Samantha to work. Borrowing Luca’s laptop, she ran a search on ‘Hematilly Periapt’, suspecting that initial searches would turn up nothing. She had a hunch that this item was only known in supernatural circles and wouldn’t show up on poser sites. People who knew about the amulet were not wannabe witches or vampires. And whoever was threatening her and looking for this item knew that it held seriously potent power; they’d been willing to kill for it.

Samantha knew the coven had a huge physical library that she hadn’t been given access to yet. Ilsbeth had told her that she’d be given the key once she’d completed her training and had sworn allegiance to the coven. Rowan, a young but powerful witch who worked as the librarian, had befriended Samantha. Although she was kind during Samantha’s training, she had gone out of her way to tell Samantha to stay away from the mystical athenaeum. At the time, Samantha hadn’t thought twice to ask about the room, why she couldn’t go in there or what kinds of archives were stored within. She just knew that she wasn’t allowed to go in the library, and that there would be serious consequences for breaking coven rules. But now she wanted very badly to see what was hidden behind those doors.

The one thing that Rowan had let slip during tea one day was that the witches had started moving information to online storage, as it could be safely backed up. Critical data could be kept safe from all kinds of natural disasters and recovered easily. If for some reason their wards failed to protect the coven house, a fire could take out their library within minutes.

Contemplating where to search next, Samantha typed in the name of the coven, Cercle de lumière Vieux Carre, and waited. A single site popped up in her Google search and she clicked. A blank screen flashed onto her computer with two blank spots for identification and password. Knowing she wouldn’t have the identification, she’d need to obtain another witch’s security information, or find a weakness in their system. Samantha switched windows, and logged into her home server, so she’d be able to pull over the software she needed to hack in.

Within minutes, she ran a vulnerability scanner on the coven’s site. She was hoping easy in, but it didn’t show any cracks. Damn. “I’ll find your secrets,” she muttered to herself. “It may take a while, but I’ll get in.”

Picking up her cell phone, she moved forward with a typical ‘black hat’ hacker approach and called the hosting system administrator’s number that she’d been able to search out. Unfortunately for Samantha, they’d been well trained and had not given up the security information despite her name-dropping and helpful attitude. She had to give them credit for not falling for her tactics.

Being one never to give up, she decided to resort to her most reliable but time-consuming method for breaking into computer systems. She accessed both Rowan and Ilsbeth’s email addresses and sent them an email letting them know about the cabin burning and that she was looking forward to seeing them tonight. The email looked innocuous enough, but in reality she’d attached a worm to it. When opened, the worm would infiltrate their systems and attach a key-logging application with a Trojan horse to keep it hidden. The second Ilsbeth or Rowan accessed the online site, their keystrokes would be recorded and sent via messaging to Samantha’s iPhone. They’d never be any the wiser, and eventually Samantha would get the passwords.

She felt a little badly for taking advantage of their kindness, but she knew they’d never simply agree to give her access. It had been made clear that unless she was a fully-fledged member, she would not get access, online or otherwise. Knowing that having information on the Hematilly Periapt  was a matter of life or death justified the hacking, in Samantha’s mind. She would ask Ilsbeth in person tonight again for access, and if granted, she’d remove the software. But until that happened, she’d wait for the passwords to pop up on her hack.

Samantha shut the laptop and decided to go upstairs to look around Luca’s mini-museum. It was almost five in the afternoon, and they needed to leave soon. She peeked into Luca’s office and told him she was going upstairs to look around. He was on the phone, clearly listening, but yet he gave her the okay sign when she told him where she’d be.

Her breath caught as she entered the great room on the main floor. The tan walls were offset by the cream wainscoting; the entire first floor was richly decorated with both paintings and sculptures. Samantha resisted the temptation to run her fingers across the floral upholstery of a lovely French empire settee. Its mahogany arms were rolled and adorned with acanthus leaf carvings. She’d never seen anything so beautiful or intricately designed.

Samantha’s eye caught a spectacular oil painting which had been set in a sophisticated gold leaf frame. She studied the landscape, admiring the way the artist appeared to capture the sun’s rays.

“You like?” Luca came up behind her. Samantha jumped, but calmed under the touch of his fingers on her shoulders. “Paysage vers Canes-sur-Mer by Renoir. Lovely, isn’t it?”

“Stunning. I can’t believe you have all this stuff. No wonder you have such a serious security system. It’s like the Smithsonian in here.”

Luca chuckled. “All memories. Keepsakes. But I see nothing here as beautiful as you.” He released her shoulders to move over to the baby grand piano. He’d been accumulating all the art pieces for well over a century. Kade had suggested he needed a hobby, so he’d started collecting, piece by piece. “Some pieces are souvenirs. Others I just wanted for my collection. Kade said I needed to find something constructive to do with my time, immortal as I am, so I started antiquing. I live in New Orleans after all,” he joked.

“That you do,” Samantha said in amazement as she walked over to look at a marbled bust of a woman that sat on the hearth of the old fireplace. “She’s beautiful.” She touched the cheek of the marble and then quickly withdrew her hand, fearing she’d break something. “She must be a very important lady to command the attention of the room.”

Luca frowned. “She was…she was my fiancée, Eliza.”

Samantha’s stomach dropped. He’d been engaged. She had never thought that Luca might have been married. She silently admonished herself for being jealous of a dead woman. “Your fiancée? I’m sorry. I assume she’s passed.”

“Yes, it was a very long time ago. She was killed before I had the chance to marry her…before I was vampire. I had an Italian artist create this in her memory. Such a long time ago but the memories remain.” Looking out the windows to the gardens, he didn’t want to say any more about Eliza to Samantha. It didn’t seem the right time to tell her all the sordid details of how she met her demise. He felt he’d told Samantha enough of the truth for now. If and when they grew closer, he’d share the story with her.

Samantha resisted pressing him for details, realizing Luca didn’t want to talk about it. She knew what it was like to experience loss, and understood that there were times in life when you just needed to let things go. When he was ready to talk about it, he would tell her. She was about to tell him not to worry about telling her the details, when a tall gorgeous woman burst into the great room, looking pissed as hell. It took all of two seconds before Samantha realized the angry female was a vampire.

Glaring at Samantha, the woman bared her fangs and hissed. “You little bitch! I knew you survived Asgear, but I heard you’d left. What the fuck is she doing here, Luca?” she demanded to know. “No, don’t even tell me because I don’t care. I told you I’d get her back for what she did to me and now it’s game on.”

The livid female vampire raced across the room with preternatural speed, knocking the wind out of Samantha as she grabbed her around the throat and held her against the wall. Samantha’s eyes bulged as she watched Luca snatch the other vampire with one hand and throw her across the room. He growled as Samantha held up a hand to him indicating she was okay.

“Dominique!” he yelled. He strode across the room, where the woman shot daggers at him, looking like she was ready for round two. “Enough! It’s over. You will apologize now. And if you ever touch her again, I’ll stake you myself.”

The woman vampire acquiesced and quickly stood up, holding both her hands up in surrender. “Me? Apologize? Luca, how can you take her side? You know what she did! How could you?” she pleaded.

“She is mine,” Luca declared. “And you will not touch her. You will treat her with respect. She doesn’t even remember what happened to her. Samantha,” he glanced over to her and back. “This is Dominique. Unfortunately, when you were bespelled, you silvered her. And while she did suffer that night, she is no worse for wear as you can see. She most definitely does hold grudges but she will be respectful in your presence. Isn’t that correct, Dominique?”

“Goddamn you Luca. I can smell you all over her. Yes, I will try not to kill your plaything,” Dominique spat through her teeth with a sickening sweet smile that promised retribution. She hated having to follow Luca’s order but would do it for him. He was her superior.

“Now that we’re done with introductions, I believe you’d best get back to Kade’s to continue working. Dominique is the Director of Public Relations for Issacson Industries. We have a downtown office, but she spends a lot of time here if Kade is working from home. She also helps me with security when needed.” Luca came to stand next to Samantha and put his arm around her shoulder; he wanted it to be clear to Dominique that Samantha was his. “We’re going over to see Ilsbeth. I’ll contact you later if I need your assistance. Goodbye, Dominique.”

Dominique shot Samantha an icy scowl and nodded at Luca. “Goodbye, Luca. I hope you know what you’re getting into with this one,” she huffed. As Dominique walked out the door, she slammed it in defiance.

“Are you okay?” he asked, checking Samantha’s neck for injuries.

“I’m fine, just a bit shaken up is all.”

“Dominique can be a bit of a handful, but she’s very loyal. I promise that she won’t hurt you now that I’ve talked with her.”

“I sure as hell hope so. That was one pissed off vampire bitch.” Samantha rubbed her neck. “I don’t even remember her, but I certainly will now.”

“I’m really sorry about her. She’ll get over it, though. I meant what I said to her, and she knows it,” he assured Samantha.

“Thanks, Luca. I appreciate you saving me. She’s kinda scary,” she admitted.

Luca couldn’t resist pulling Samantha against his hard chest. He caressed her back and neck. Her shiny red hair now smelled of peaches, and he smiled, remembering how responsive she’d been the night before. She’d nearly killed him when she took him into her mouth. Growing aroused, he knew it wasn’t the time to start something he couldn’t finish. They needed to go soon and get some answers. He reluctantly released Samantha, putting some needed distance between them.

“Darlin’, as much as I’d like to play museum curator and show you all my fun toys, we’d better get going over to the coven. I’m barely holding onto control. If we don’t leave within the next five minutes, I might be tempted to have my way with you yet again,” he teased.

“And I might like that very much,” she countered. She blushed, thinking about how they’d made love the night before. She’d never met a man who could make her climax during intercourse, let alone make her feel as if she’d gone directly to heaven. It was as if he intimately knew every square inch of her body so well that he could send her into a blinding rapture with just his lips.

Luca could tell Samantha was silently reminiscing about how incredible last night had been for them both. The mind blowing sex wasn’t something he’d soon forget. He couldn’t remember ever having been with someone who was so vibrant and loving. Envisioning her beneath him, writhing in pleasure, he groaned, willing his erection to subside. He needed to think about something else besides making love to Samantha.

“So did you have any luck getting into the database?” he asked, grabbing his keys off of a hallway desk.

“Yeah, about that. I tried breaking into the coven database, while you were on the phone. It was pretty tight, so I have to take a more indirect approach. I sent both Rowan and Ilsbeth emails that have a hidden key stroking tracking worm attached. I’ll be alerted once they go online and then we can nab the password. It might take a little while but the method is tried and true.” Samantha was confident they’d have the passwords within the day. Ilsbeth might not go online that often, but she was sure that Rowan would do so, since she actively worked in the library.

“Smart and beautiful.” Luca hugged her and brushed a light kiss on her lips. “We’d better go now, before I decide to take you back downstairs and ravish you senseless.” Luca wished he was joking but knew she was quickly becoming an irresistible vice.