“What am I thinking right now?” She rubbed against his erection.
“That we should be having sex. And we will. As soon as I tell you something.”
“This better be important,” she said.
“It is.” His voice turned husky as she kept moving against him. “Each time we have sex, it lengthens your life.”
“Mmm,” she purred
“I’m serious here,” he said.
“So am I. Can’t you tell?” She caressed him, squeezing and massaging with sensual intent.
“I mean it will literally lengthen your life. Is any of this sinking in?”
She shifted so she faced him. Reaching down, she guided his erection inside her body. “Oh yeah, it’s sinking in now.” She lifted up and sank down again. “Definitely sinking all the way in.”
He moaned then growled. “You’ll basically stay as you are.”
“Naked in a tub impaled by a hot vampire?”
“With some variation on that theme.” He stood with her and carried her to the bathroom counter. “Naked here.” He turned as she wrapped her legs around his waist and backed her up against the wall. “Naked here.”
“Reaching an orgasm here,” she murmured.
The connection between them went beyond the physical. She clutched his bare shoulders as he gave her the ride of her life.
It was only later, much later, when she finally regained her breath that she asked, “Were you kidding about that longevity stuff?”
“No.” He ran his hand over her damp hair. “I’d never kid about something like that.”
“So every time we have sex…”
“Your life is lengthened.”
“By how much? A year? Two?”
“Fifty.”
Sierra was stunned. With all that had been going on, she hadn’t had time to dwell on the fact that Ronan was immortal and she wasn’t.
It would take time for her to fully process what he’d just told her. But apparently time was something she’d have a lot of.
“Fifty years, huh?”
He nodded.
“Then we better keep doing it,” she whispered against his mouth. “Happy belated Valentine’s Day.”
Chapter Twenty-four
One month later …
“I’m sorry the paperwork took so long,” Sierra’s lawyer told her.
“No problem. I’m not in a hurry.” Near immortality did that to you. Made you stop rushing—unless you were being attacked by a mutant vampire hybrid or a vicious poltergeist gangster ghost. Then time was of the essence … but not now.
Wait. Unless she was on a book deadline. Then time mattered too.
“Thanks for giving an advance copy of your new book to my wife,” he said. “I believe she’s joined your street team, whatever that means.”
“It means I appreciate her hard work on my behalf.”
“Well, I hope you enjoy your new house.” He handed her a manila envelope with the official documents.
“It’s actually an old house. Not that it’s Southern plantation old or New England Revolutionary War old. But it is all mine.”
“Old houses tend to have a lot of things go wrong with them,” he said. “Let me know if you need a plumber, electrician, or handyman. I can recommend several.”
“Thanks, but I’ve already got all the help I need.”
As Sierra drove home in her brand-new blue Mini, she couldn’t wait to arrive and see what Ronan was up to. So much had happened since that fateful day when all the ghosts and the evil mutant vampire had departed.
For one thing, Sierra had bought this car. Ronan wanted her to get something bigger. Nick had recommended a Jaguar. Damon was apparently partial to top-of-the-line Porsches. Bruce had a sentimental fondness for the VW Beetle while Tanya loved the 1956 red Thunderbird convertible.
But Sierra loved Zoe’s red Mini, so she’d gone with that. She’d paid cash, having gotten part of the money from selling some of the diamonds. They were indeed real. A majority of the funds from Hal’s treasure had gone into very large anonymous donations to various charities that helped families who were victims of domestic violence. She would do the same with the Russian treasure when the time came to disperse it.
Sierra had spoken to her mom on the phone the other night, reassuring her that all was well and admitting that she’d fallen in love. Her mom had demanded details so Sierra had given her a few. Of course she kept the vampire part out of their discussion. Sierra was glad her mom had been incommunicado during the month of February as that had prevented Sierra from having to deal with maternal worrying.
Tanya was waiting at the curb the instant Sierra stepped out of the car. “Ronan is a good influence on you,” she said. “That latest sex scene you sent me. Wow.” She fanned herself. “Plus we just added another four hundred likes on your author Facebook this morning. How stinking cool is that?”