The Vampire's Mail Order Bride

He laughed. “You’re a smart cookie. No pun intended.”

She grinned. “Does Hugh like tiramisu?”

“He does.” Stanhill waggled his brows. “I don’t hate it either.”

“Good. I’ll make that tomorrow.” Her tiramisu took time, and she’d have another day to spend away from Hugh tomorrow, so why not? She’d rather spend the day with Hugh, but since that wasn’t an option, tiramisu it was. “We’ll take another run to the store after I get up, then. Okay?”

He nodded. “Excellent plan.” An enormous smile came over his face. “You’ll be a rook tomorrow, just like me.”

“That’s right.” And only one more night away from the rest of her life.

Or the end of it.

The day seemed like it would never end, made worse by the fact that Hugh could hear Delaney and Stanhill one floor above him, laughing and having fun. He shouldn’t miss her like this when they were in the same house together, but that was part of the turning.

He’d felt like this with Juliette too.

Correction, he’d felt some of this with Juliette. The longing for Delaney was almost crippling. He’d spent the entire day in his lab and accomplished nothing. Well, he’d reread every book that dealt with turning a mortal into a vampire and found nothing new. After that, he’d broken a test tube, ruining his most current working formula and then left another beaker on the flame too long, turning a new batch of formula to syrup.

He would be useless until this was over.

Fortunately, he could feel the sun set. That was something the amulet had suppressed—that inherent sense of the sun’s rise and fall. It had still been there, but muted as if turned to the lowest setting.

Now it was like a switch had been flipped off. The subtle itch that rode his skin while the sun was up disappeared, replaced by the calm of evening. After Delaney fell sleep this evening, he would go out. Visit Sebastian and see how the plans he’d set into motion were coming.

Anything to put some room between him and his bride-to-be.

He cleaned up the mess he’d made and went upstairs.

Stanhill stood at the sink washing cookie sheets, and Delaney was by the table, folding a thick piece of waxed white cardboard into the shape of a box. Wire racks held dozens of iced and sugared stars, and the kitchen smelled of vanilla.

“How was your day?”

She looked up and smiled, and his entire being relaxed. “Hi there. It was great. Stanhill and I made sugar cookies. I’m boxing them up now so you can take them to the lady who’s helping us. How was your day?”

Horrible. Lonely. “Fine.”

“Good. Did you get a lot done?”

Not a thing. “Enough.”

“That’s good. Let me just box these up, and we can…do what we’re going to do.” With a wink, she went back to her work. She taped the sides of the box, then started carefully arranging the cookies into it, putting a sheet of wax paper between each layer.

“Stanhill, I need you here tonight.” He didn’t want Delaney alone in the house, not when she’d be incapacitated by the second bite.

The rook looked at him and nodded. “I’ll be here.”

“Thank you.” He returned his attention to Delaney. He wanted to hold her and kiss her and prepare her the way he had last night, but that would take him down a very dangerous path. “I’ll be upstairs when you’re ready.”

An uncertain look crossed her face, but she just nodded and said, “Okay.”

Leaving her behind in the kitchen was like trying to break free of the earth’s gravitational pull. As soon as he was in his room, he paced, going from the fireplace to the dressing room door and back again.

After what seemed like years, he sensed her presence outside his door, a sure sign that their bond had already begun to form. She knocked a second later.

“Come in.”

She entered, tentative but smiling. “I’m guessing you’re acting a little weird because of what you said earlier about not wanting to wear me out? I’m basically taking this as a big compliment.”

He laughed. “That’s a good attitude. Yes, believe me, I am struggling. I want nothing more than to be with you.” He sighed. “I got nothing done today. Unless you consider ruining everything I touched an accomplishment.”

“I’m sorry.”

He waved it off. “It will pass soon enough, but right now, being around you without being able to touch you is torture. Stanhill will be here tonight so that you won’t be alone while you’re sleeping. I’m going to my brother’s after we’re done. And I won’t be back until after the sun sets tomorrow.”

He studied her face for signs of disappointment, finding them immediately in the downturn of her mouth and the sadness in her eyes. “Please don’t be sad. It’s for the best.”

She nodded. “I know.”

“You’ll sleep even longer after this next bite, and you’ll have Stanhill with you all day, and then, before you know it…” He forced himself to smile. “We’ll have the rest of eternity to be together.”

Her smile looked just as contrived as his felt. “I can’t wait. Literally. Let’s do this.”

He held out his hand to her. “Lingering over you as I would like cannot be part of the process tonight. This will be fast and less pleasant than last night, for both our sakes.”