“Sage.”
“What does that mean?”
“I truly don’t know.”
“Then who would?” he snapped, furious that he had wasted his time with the impotent demon.
Wisely taking several steps from the furious vampire, Levet was still struggling for an answer when Anna abruptly stirred beneath Cezar’s fingers.
“Cezar?” she murmured softly.
A savage relief jolted through him as he lowered his head and touched his lips to the pulse beating at her temple.
“Anna,” he husked, allowing the scent of honeyed figs to sink deep inside him. “Anna, what is it?”
She forced open her heavy lashes to reveal a rueful amusement glittering in the hazel eyes.
“Leave poor Levet alone.”
There was the sound of flapping wings, and then without warning, Levet landed in the middle of the bed, a smug expression on his ugly face.
“Oui.” He reached out a stunted arm to pat Anna on top of her head, blowing a raspberry in Cezar’s direction. “Leave poor Levet alone.”
“Don’t press your luck, gargoyle,” Cezar growled, never taking his gaze from Anna’s pale face. Dios. He would happily kneel here for an eternity just to be near this woman.
“Ha. You are the one pressing your luck, vampire,” Levet retorted, his courage miraculously returning now that he was hovering behind Anna. “You should have seen him, Anna. There I was sitting in the kitchen, enjoying a delectable roasted pig, a pig I might add that I was forced to hunt and kill all on my own, not to mention roast, and then this demented vampire comes charging in, demanding that I drop everything to…” His words broke off as the lamps in the room began to glow and then flicker before the bulbs burst in a shower of glass. With remarkable speed the gargoyle was flying toward the door. “Fine, I’m going, I’m going.”
Waiting until the door slammed shut behind the fleeing demon, Cezar regarded his mate with a stern expression. “Don’t you dare smile, Anna Randal. Someday I’m going to do the world a favor and have that pest stuffed and mounted.”
Her hand lifted to run her fingers through his hair, the simple caress enough to send a blaze of heat through his body. Of course, just the thought of Anna was enough to send a blaze of heat through his body.
He’d been blazing for her for two centuries.
“I don’t believe you for a minute, Conde Cezar,” she said, her voice low and filled with an unmistakable invitation. “I think you have a lot more bark than bite.”
His fangs lengthened, his erection so hard that he was relieved he was wearing nothing more than a pair of silk boxers.
“Dios,” he groaned, “don’t say such things.”
Pressing herself higher on the pillows, Anna allowed a wicked smile to curve her lips.
“Why not?”
His gaze instinctively lowered to drink in the beauty of her br**sts, barely covered by the lacy white bra. When he’d taken off the sweatshirt and jeans earlier it had merely been to make her more comfortable. Now he silently applauded his decision for an entirely different reason.
“Because it makes me desire to do things that you are in no condition to enjoy.”
Her fingers tightened in his hair, relentlessly pulling him forward. “I think I should be allowed to decide what I do or don’t want to enjoy,” she husked.
“Anna,” Cezar protested, even as he readily allowed himself to be pulled onto the bed beside her.
The hazel eyes darkened, revealing a vulnerability that revved his protective instincts into overdrive.
“Just hold me, Cezar,” she said softly. “Hold me close.”
With a swift motion he had her wrapped in his arms, her head tucked beneath his chin.
“Always.” He buried his face in the satin of her honey hair, reveling in her heat as it soaked into his chilled body. “Ah, querida, I have felt more terror in the past few hours than I felt in the past five centuries combined. You are turning me into a very old vampire.”
She burrowed even closer, her hands smoothing over his chest in a comforting motion.
“No more. Morgana is gone.”
“Bueno,” he growled with relish. “I regret you were the one forced to kill the evil bitch, but I’m not sorry she’s dead.”
“She’s not dead. At least, not exactly.”
Cezar stiffened, his brows snapping together at the mere thought that Morgana might still be plotting to harm his mate.
“Not exactly?”
With obvious reluctance, Anna revealed what had occurred after being pulled into the portal with Morgana. Cezar didn’t need to be a vampire to know that she was deliberately skimming over the more terrifying details and downplaying her own role in capturing one of the most powerful women in the demon world.
Now didn’t seem the best time, however, to press her for details. Not when she was still battered and bruised from her battle. Instead he ran a comforting hand down her back as his lips touched the tender skin of her temple.
“So her spirit is trapped in the emerald that is now being held by Arthur?” he murmured, unable to disguise his dark satisfaction. The thought of Morgana being trapped for an eternity was even better than a swift death.
“Yes.”
“A fitting end.”
Anna shuddered. “I suppose.”
Shifting on the bed, Cezar put a finger beneath her chin and tilted her head up to meet his fierce gaze.
“Don’t feel sympathy for the woman,” he commanded. He wasn’t about to allow Anna to drown in a guilt that she hadn’t earned. “She would have happily slaughtered us all.”
“I know.” She grimaced. “I still wish…”
“What?”
“That it could have been different.” She gave a restless shrug. “That she had been different. I’ve longed for a family for so many years and now when I finally find them they are either a raving lunatic or a ghost. Talk about dysfunctional.”
A slow smile curved Cezar’s lips. Despite the faint sadness in her voice, he sensed that she was beginning to make peace with her past.
“You’re wrong, querida.”
Her brows lifted. “I am?”
With a fluid movement, Cezar turned onto his back, tugging her warm, delicious body on top of him.
“Your family is a mate who will love you for all eternity; a vampire clan who will protect you with their very lives; a werewolf, a Shalott, and a goddess who adore you; and a very annoying gargoyle,” he murmured as he buried his face in the curve of her neck.