Rogue Darkness by Dianne Duvall

She laughed. “Who crashed through the side of a house?”

“Dana.”

“Who got tossed through a ceiling?”

“Seth. And Aidan, I think.”

“Oh my.” She couldn’t help but grin as she pictured it.

Lowering his head, Sean nuzzled her neck, his warm breath sending a delightful shiver through her. “Have I told you lately that I love you?” He trailed a path of nibbling kisses up to her ear.

“Yes.” Gripping the front of his shirt, she leaned into him and drew in his scent. “Multiple times when you took me in the shower earlier.” And as Sean had once told her, she felt everything more now that she was immortal.

“Thank goodness our room at David’s place is soundproof.”

They’d been staying there since her transformation so David could monitor her progress. And thanks to all the soundproofing packed into the walls, floor, and ceiling of their room, Sean had spent many, many hours showing her how her enhanced sense of touch could transform sex from awesome to absolutely mind-blowing. “Speaking of which…” Rising on her toes, she nipped his ear. “Are we far enough away to keep everyone from hearing us if we ditch these clothes and—”

“No,” he groaned. But it didn’t stop him from pressing her hips into his so she could feel how hard he was for her.

The light breeze picked up. “Mmmmm,” she purred. “What is that delectable scent?”

“Me, wanting you,” he growled. Slipping a hand under the hem of her shirt, he stroked her back, then caressed his way to the front and cupped her breast.

So good.

He stilled. “Wait.” Lifting his head, he gave the air a sniff. “You mean that scent?”

“Yes.”

Lips twitching, he shook his head. “It’s dinner.”

Her stomach gave a hearty rumble. “As much as I like where this is going…” she said, arching her hips into his.

“Let me guess. You’re starving?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Yes.”

He grinned. “Yeah. I was hungry twenty-four hours a day when I first turned. Running and training with the speed and strength we do burns a lot of calories.”

Nicole waggled her eyebrows. “I know something else that burns a lot of calories.” She meant the words to be flirtatious, still thinking about the awesome quickies they’d engaged in, but her stomach ruined it by growling again.

Laughing, Sean slung an arm around her shoulders. “Come on. Let’s head back.”

Half an hour later, Nicole plowed her way through a second plate of spicy lasagna, much to Sean’s amusement. Every Immortal Guardian stationed in the area was present, and all were in high spirits.

Jared and Tessa joined the boisterous group seated around David’s long dining table, as did Becca. The teenager seemed immensely relieved to no longer be a target and much happier now that life had returned to normal.

Tessa showed no signs of lingering trauma from her abduction. She had even begun to hunt vampires nightly.

Bastien finally managed to drag Melanie away from the wealth of information they’d stolen from Augustus Benford’s company so they could join the festive supper. Melanie had worked tirelessly at the network, refusing to leave for days at a time as she desperately combed through every shred of data they’d retrieved on methods of forestalling cognitive decline.

Both Stuart and Miguel suffered periodic psychotic breaks that steadily increased in frequency. Nicole fervently hoped that something in the research they’d stolen would help Melanie save them. Both were good men and good friends. And, like Cliff, they clung tenaciously to their honor.

Perhaps the new set of eyes Dr. Baker brought into play would help. Benford’s former employee had initially balked at joining the network. Not because she didn’t want to help them. Gifted ones’ advanced DNA and its effect on the virus fascinated her. And she wasn’t averse to working hands-on with the vampires. But she wished to continue searching for an Alzheimer’s cure for her mother.

When Seth and David told her they would use their healing gifts to do whatever they could to increase the duration of her mother’s lucid moments and stave off her father’s dementia, however, Dr. Baker agreed to study both Alzheimer’s and the virus at network headquarters.

A sudden burst of guffaws drew Nicole’s gaze to the rowdy group behind her. The Immortal Guardians’ family in North Carolina had grown so large that Darnell and Sheldon had added a second dining table almost as long as the first to accommodate the Seconds and other mortal employees who wished to join them.

She grinned. Sheldon was recounting the tale of Seth appearing above David’s backyard as a massive dragon with Sean and Nicole clutched in its talons.

Sean nudged her. “They’ll be talking about that for ages.”

“I will, too,” Krysta said. Seated across from them, she narrowed her eyes at her brother. “I still can’t believe you two jumped out of a plane without parachutes. The virus can only heal so much damage, you know.”

“I know,” Sean groaned. “You’ve made that very clear.” Krysta and Étienne had given him a stern talking-to over the incident.

Nicole laughed.

The front door abruptly burst open, slamming into the wall with so much force that it sounded like a gunshot.