NocC 012 - Caridad Pineiro - The Vampire's Consort - Harlequin 2012-04 by Nocturne Page A

“What’s the meaning of this, Adrian?” “You were so sad about him, a chuisle. I knew that in a way I was responsible for what had happened.”
    Although he couldn’t be more right about that, Adrian couldn’t even begin to understand exactly why he was responsible. But before she could utter a word, he continued with his explanation.
    “I want you to be happy. I wanted you to be loved, so my last gift to you this day is your freedom, and John agreed to be here to help you celebrate. We both want to make you happy this day.”
    “Freedom?” she repeated, almost unable to believe that one of the gifts she had most wanted was the one he was offering. Saddened that with that treasure she would lose another: him.
    “Are you not happy, Eliza? Now you can be with your John.” With a flick of his wrist toward her ex, he invited him forward until John stood directly behind her. Her ex willingly rested his hands at her waist and possessively moved his body flush against her back.
    There was no mistaking his state. The long, wide ridge of his erection settled into the small of her back and his hands shifted to splay across her midsection, urging her even closer.
    “Please stop, John,” she instructed, the heat of a deep flush staining across her cheeks and spreading downward.
    Adrian spread his arms wide, held his hands palms up in pleading. Emotion had colored his blue-grey eyes to a turbulent charcoal. “Is this not what you want, a chuisle? Freedom to live the life I took from you.”
    “You gave me a chance for life I would not have had without you,” she reminded, not wanting him to be burdened by wrongful guilt.
    “Aye, I did at that,” he replied, the cadence of Ireland ever stronger.
    As much as Eliza did not want to leave him, she would not refuse so rare a gift as her freedom. “Thank you for all your gifts, Adrian.”
    A small smile tilted one corner of his mouth upward. “Enjoy yourself then, Eliza. I ask but one last thing from you.”
    She quirked an eyebrow upward. “And what would that be?” “I’d like to watch.”

Chapter Eight
     
     
     
     
     
    The color which had been riding high across her cheeks and along the elegant line of her neck spread downward over the generous spill of her breasts revealed by the bodice of her dress.
    “W-w-hat?” She grabbed hold of John’s hands as he moved them to the hem of her dress in response to Adrian’s words.
    “I want to watch you, just as you’ve watched me all these many months,” he explained, and even from the distance that separated them, his vamp senses picked up on the skitter in her pulse.
    “You knew.” She batted ineffectively at John’s hands once more as he slowly worked the hem of the dress upward. The action revealed her long, shapely legs clad in silk and the first hint of skin and lace as garters came into view.
    He sucked in a rough breath at just that little peek of silk, creamy skin and emerald satin that had him hardening. “Aye, I knew. I could sense you, a chuisle , just as I can right now. Your heart is beating faster, but not from embarrassment.”
    No, not from that, Eliza admitted. As John’s hands moved ever higher, dragging the dress upward to reveal yet more, she imagined it was Adrian’s hands on her. In response, dampness erupted between her legs and her nether lips quivered in anticipation.
    Adrian’s strangled groan was muffled by the dress as John pulled it up and over her head.
    Her ex settled his hands at the curve of her waist once more as Adrian sat there, his gaze roving up and down the length of her body.
    “You are so beautiful, Eliza,” Adrian said, the tones of his voice husky.
    She was barely able to utter a thank-you before John began working the laces on the corset, slowly pulling them free and allowing the fabric to gape.
    She splayed her hand across the satin that was now barely covering her breasts, but John gently urged her hand away.
    “I want to see you,” her ex said, and despite