Night's Kiss

"Go up in a puff of smoke? " he asked with a wry grin.



She nodded, a faint blush pinking her cheeks.



"A church will be fine," he assured her. "You find yourself a pretty dress and a church you like and leave everything else to me."



Lying in bed later that night, though she supposed it was actually morning, since the sky was turning light, Brenna thought about all that had happened during the night past. After talking about the wedding, they had made love again, and then Roshan had carried her upstairs. They had taken a quick shower and then Roshan had put her to bed, tucking her in as though she were a child instead of a woman grown. Whispering that he loved her, he had kissed her good night, then left the room.



Brenna ran her fingertips over her lips, remembering the sweetness of his kiss, the light in his eyes when he told her he loved her. It all seemed unreal somehow. Everything that had happened since the night she first saw him seemed impossible, like something out of a dream. How could she be here, in this place, in this time? If not for Roshan, she would have died at the stake, dead these past three hundred and thirteen years. Instead, she was living in a house unlike anything she had ever known, and she was going to marry a vampire. Strange, how none of what she had believed about vampires seemed to be true where Roshan was concerned. He wasn't a monster with no conscience who killed indiscriminately. He wasn't a horrible creature with foul breath and a misshapen body. Quite the contrary. He was tall and handsome, more handsome than any man she had ever met.



And he loved her.



The knowledge filled her with an inner warmth that made her heart glow and brought a smile to her lips.



He loved her.



It was her last thought before sleep carried her away, and her first thought when she woke seven hours later.



Flinging the covers aside, she slipped out of bed and went into the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, washed her face, then dressed quickly in a pair of jeans, a peacock blue sweater, and a pair of boots.



Going downstairs, she ate a quick breakfast. Grabbing Roshan's car keys and the money he had left for her, she hurried out of the house and headed for the mall. She was going to be a bride, and a bride needed a dress.



She'd had no idea that finding a dress would be so time consuming, or so much fun. She tried on dozens of gowns, surprised and pleased by the fashions of the day. There were racks and racks of dresses, long white gowns of satin and silk and taffeta. Some were quite daring. Cut low, they bared her arms and her shoulders and an expanse of cleavage that, in her time, would have-been considered scandalous. Others, with modest necklines and long sleeves, were so demure that even Granny O'Connell would have approved. Brenna tried them all on, long and short, modern and old-fashioned, finally settling on a silk gown with a beaded bodice, long sleeves, and a slim skirt with a short train.



Next, she tried on veils. Some were shoulder-length, others trailed gracefully down her back to the floor. They came with a variety of headpieces, some elaborate, some simple in their elegance. The veil she decided on was shoulder-length, the headpiece a simple beaded circlet.



Looking at herself in the mirror, she wondered what Roshan would think. Would he have preferred a more revealing gown? Something with a lower neckline and a shorter skirt?



Brenna looked at the saleslady. "Do I look all right?"



"Oh, my dear, you look like a princess out of a fairy tale."



Brenna smiled at her reflection. "I'll take it," she said, for her life was nothing these days if not a fairy tale.



CHAPTER 20



Anthony Loken prowled through his laboratory, his brow furrowed. His experiments on Roger West had proved most disappointing. Having the boy drink the vampire's blood had not proven any more successful than injecting it straight into the boy's veins. In the end, West had died a rather gruesome death. His body had violently rejected the vampire's blood and he had slowly shriveled up until, at the end, he had looked rather like a human dried apple.



Loken had tossed what was left of West's body into the hearth. The ensuing stench had been most unpleasant.



Loken filled several clean vials with the vampire's blood and placed them on a rack, which he then placed in the refrigerator, along with the rest of the vampire's blood.



The examination table was clean.



The blood was ready.



All he needed now was a new guinea pig.



CHAPTER 21



Brenna paced in front of the hearth, sat down, and stared at the images on the television screen, only to rise and pace again.



Where was Roshan? She was eager to see him, eager to share her day with him. Why, tonight of all nights, did he have to be so late?



Sensing her apprehension, Morgana meowed loudly from her perch on the back of the sofa.



"He will be here," Brenna told the cat. "He probably went out to… you know. Eat or drink or whatever he calls it."



"Indeed, he did."



Whirling around at the welcome sound of his voice, she flew across the floor into Roshan's arms.



"Miss me, did you?" he asked as she showered him with kisses.



"Maybe a little," she confessed.



He lifted one black brow. "Only a little?"



"All right, more than a little." Taking him by the hand, she led him to the sofa. Sitting, she drew him down beside her. "Where have you been?"



"Just where you think. It's not so easy to find prey in the early part of the evening. Far easier to hunt late at night."



"Then why did you not wait until later?"



"Because I don't trust myself to be alone with you when I've not fed," he replied candidly.



"Oh."



"So, tell me about your day."



"It was wonderful!"



He smiled at her, charmed by her exuberance and the way her eyes sparkled with excitement. "Indeed? What did you do that put that glow in your eyes?"



"I went shopping, of course. Oh, Roshan, I bought the most beautiful gown! Wait until you see it! And shoes. And a veil. And underwear," she added, her cheeks turning pink. Such scanty undergarments, hardly more than a few scraps of white lace sewn together.



"If it makes you blush, I can scarcely wait to see it."



"There is not much to see." The admission made her cheeks grow hotter.



He laughed softly. "Did you find a church, as well?"



"Not yet."



"We can look this evening, if you wish."



"Will they not be closed at this time of night?"



He lifted one dark brow.



Brenna grinned ruefully. Of course. He was a vampire. Locked doors meant little to him.



"Have you eaten?" he asked.



"Yes."



"Shall we go then?"



She had expected to take the car, but he assured her he knew a quicker means of travel. With his arm wrapped around her shoulders, he transported them to one of the churches in the city. And when it wasn't to her liking, he took her to another and then another.



In spite of Roshan's assurances that he wouldn't go up in flames, she watched him carefully every time they crossed a threshold. She had been told that vampires couldn't enter churches, that crosses repelled them. More falsehoods, she thought.



"But what about holy water?" she asked as they walked down the center aisle of a beautiful Catholic church.



"Holy water burns, if you'll pardon the expression, like the very devil, and renders me helpless for a short time."



She laughed in spite of herself. It seemed wrong to laugh in such a place. Even the statue of the Virgin Mary seemed to be frowning her disapproval as the sound echoed eerily off the walls and the vaulted ceiling.



"So?" he asked.



She shook her head. "It is beautiful but cold."



Moments later, he had transported them to a small chapel far from the city.



Brenna loved it immediately. The altar and the pews were carved from oak. Moonlight shone through a stained glass window above the altar. The carpet was a deep blue. But it was the sense of peace that she found most appealing.



"I had a feeling you'd like this one," Roshan remarked.



"Then why did we come here last?"



"Because I knew you wouldn't be happy until you'd seen them all."



"Oh, you think you are so smart!"



Drawing her into his arms, he hugged her. "No, but I do think I know you pretty well."



She looked up into his eyes. Desire sparked between them and only the fact that they were in a church kept him from making love to her then and there.



Leaving the building, they walked hand in hand in the moonlight. It was a pretty spot. Tall trees and lush greenery surrounded the church, which looked almost ghostly in title light of the full moon. The air was filled with the fragrant scent of evergreens and rain-dampened earth. Night birds called to each other, their cries combining with the chirp of crickets and the croaking of a bullfrog to create a midnight symphony.



"Where will we find a priest to marry us?" Brenna asked as they followed a narrow trail through the trees.



"I know someone," Roshan replied.



"A vampire," Brenna guessed.



"Yes. He was a priest before he was turned. I'm not sure the marriage will be legal in the eyes of the state."



"It is more important that we be married in the eyes of the Lord," Brenna replied, then frowned. "I thought you said you did not have any friends among the vampires."



"I'm not sure Father Lanzoni qualifies as a friend. I haven't seen him in the last thirty or forty years."



"Mayhap he will not wish to perform the ceremony."



"Not to worry," Roshan said, squeezing her hand. "Just name the day." He grinned at her. "Or should I say the night?"



"Would tomorrow night be too soon?"



"I don't think so. I'll call Father Lanzoni when we get home."



Brenna's heart swelled with excitement. Tomorrow night she would be Roshan's wife. Mrs. Roshan DeLongpre. "Oh! Will we not need someone to stand up with us to witness our marriage?"



Roshan grunted softly. "I suppose so."