Page 21 of Master Calabrea

My jaw tightens. Saddled with the fucking syndicate asshole who has eyes for Tansia sounds just fucking great. We both know that I will do whatever it takes for the good of the vampires, though. “Consider it done. We’ll see you tonight,” I tell him before disconnecting and walking back into the kitchen.

Roman only wants to find the men at the top pulling the strings to save his own ass, the vampires be damned. I wish I could send the human packing, but it looks like we're stuck with the fucker, at least for now. Until I can ascertain a reason that having him in our midst isn't helping the vampires, but until then, he stays.

If he can help the vampires, I’ll be the first to admit I was wrong, even if having him this close to Tansia sends my chest pumping with unprecedented jealousy. Especially when I walkinto the kitchen and the two of them are laughing at something I didn’t hear.

“What’s so funny?” I ask, sliding into my seat next to Tansia.

Roman grins at her and then at me. “Just a joke between humans.”

My jaw locks tight. I'd like to wipe that smug look off the fucker’s face, but Tansia is looking at me with undisguised curiosity. “It’s been a long night and, unlike you my friend, we’ve been up scouring the countryside, working to find Isala. Descallia and the group will meet us here at dark this evening. We’ll go over the plan then, but until then, he thought it might be better for you to keep a low profile and stay here. There’s a guest suite you can use, a gym in the lower level with a pool and the entire estate inside the walls if you get bored today.”

He nods. “It might not be a bad idea. Thank you. I talked to Trentino earlier, and he’s bringing Angel with him tonight. Maybe I’ll text them and see if they want to come round a little earlier if that’s okay with you,” he says.

I pour myself a glass of orange juice. “Sounds like a good plan. It’ll be a nice chance to visit with your sister.”

“Agreed.”

Tansia smiles widely at him and then at me with the same smile she just gave Roman. I push my jealousy aside, shrugging off the same old feeling of being played by women to get what they want. She’s different than that. I know it, but that doesn't stop the pain of years of betrayal and manipulation from eating at the casing of my cold dark heart.

As soon as we’ve finished our meal, I’m more than ready to leave him to his own devices, whatever he chooses to do. The house staff will keep me apprised of anything curious. “Ready to retire and recharge? We’ll have a long night ahead of us,” I tell Tansia who stands and says goodbye to Roman.

I guide her past the syndicate fucker who still eats at my table while I think of a million reasons he shouldn’t be here at all. Hopefully Descallia knows what he’s doing because I don’t trust the syndicate prick at all.

Chapter

Fourteen

The minute we reach his room, Calabrea kisses me on the lips as we undress each other, our need devouring us with its intensity. He walks me to the wall completely nude, caging me in with his muscled arms, as his hardened length presses against my heat. His lips trail from my lips to the sensitive shell of my ear, along the length of my neck sending goosebumps over my arms and down my thighs.

“Tansia.” The soft growl of my name spoken in the heat of our frenzy is almost too much. This is not going to be soft and gentle, exploring, or slow. It’s going to be hard and dirty, just the way we need.

My arms wrap naturally around his arms as he lifts me by the hips, penetrating me with no warning at all. He sinks to the very end of me, sending shockwaves of desire through my very core.

His name leaves my lips on a moan. My legs wrap around his waist, drawing him in, because this close just isn’t close enough. It’s as though my body craves an even deeper connection, keeping us as one as he thrusts again and again. Calabrea already knows my body so well. Every slide of his cock rubs just the right way, hitting that special little button, building me fast and hot, and when the waves come it’s impossible not to cry out.

“Again,” he orders, not even allowing me to recover before he’s building me again. The intense fire between us not near ready to be put out. The sweet sensation of that miraculous feeling between craving more and needing to release getting reached so fast again that it leaves us both breathless. “Come for me, Tansia.”

The waves hit me as hard as they did the first time as he sends hot ropes of desire coursing deep inside of me until we are both sated once again. He kisses me gently on the lips, stroking a finger down the length of my cheek. “Mine.”

My heart beats fast because mine is exactly what I want to be. How I’ve come to care about Calabrea so deeply that he’s managed to sear himself into my heart is without a doubt of mystery. I’ve never been one to believe in fairy tale love stories, love at first site, or fated mates, but I’m not about to deny the power of our connection. I bury my head in his chest, listening to his strong and steady heartbeat as he pushes away from the wall and carries me to his bed.

I lay next to him, gazing into his deep dark eyes so full of emotion that the gold flecks almost jump into the night. "What are you thinking about?" I ask, stroking the trailing patch of dark chest while curling my leg around his.

He rolls me in one swift move, caging me beneath him, keeping the full weight of his body from crushing me but imprisoning me just the same. He runs his tongue along my lips, tasting me, before parting my lips and taking what he wants, exploring leisurely. My body may have just been fully sated, but it responds, my core heating with renewed desire for the powerful male who seems to know all my pleasure points intimately. He pushes my hair from my face, and his finger runs down the length of my neck, and then his mouth descends, hovering over the sensitive flesh, and sending waves of hot molten desire and fear down my spine.

I freeze...

My body caught between fear and desire. A coursing desire to feel what only he can give me, and at the same time a self-preserving need to flee. "Don't worry, love. This isn't something I would do to a human. We fought too many years for civilization and the right to be part of a larger community to do something like that with you.”

What if I want you to?It wasn’t said aloud, but yet he knows what’s on my mind just the same.

He smiles wickedly and reaches a finger between my legs, stroking the slickness of my folds. "The answer is still no, Tansia. Some lines are better not crossed. Sleep, love, before I have my way with you again. We have a long night ahead of us.”

He kisses my lips and rolls over, and a feeling of déjà vu settles into my being. How many times did my ex hold me in our bed, and kiss me tenderly like knowing that the very next night he planned to be with another woman? Or after he had already returned from one? Calabrea is a vampire, a viral, sexy one who has desires that I will never be able to fill.

Long after he's sound asleep, unable to sleep myself, I get up, slip into my clothes, and wander downstairs to the great room to get a drink from the bar. The same thing keeps playing over and over in my head. He wanted it, in that moment; he wanted to sink his fangs into my neck. I wanted it too, more than anything, the need almost crushing me with the weight of its power.

If he feels half of that desire every time he makes love to me, he's going to eventually want it, and I'm going to know it. And it's going to come between us; how can it not?

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