Free Up in Smoke by Alice Brown

her shaking body a second later. “Shh, I’ve got you. Just talk to me, baby,” he crooned in her ear.
    As she always did when she drew near him, she buried her face into his neck and breathed deeply. He leaned down and hooked his arm under her knees, bringing her securely up against his chest and carried her upstairs to his bedroom.
    When he reached his bed, he gently laid her down. She was still clinging to his neck, so it was easier just to follow her down. They lay like that for a few minutes. She was simply breathing in his scent as he gently stroked her hair. Finally, in infinite degrees, she loosened her stronghold from around his neck. He turned his head and kissed her forehead, her eyelids, and the tip of that cute, button nose.
    “Babe, I can’t fix it if I don’t know what’s wrong,” he urged her gently.
    She looked up at him with tears still in her eyes. “You. Me. Us. Everything!” she blurted out.
    Nathaniel hadn’t lived as long as he had by being stupid. “Okay, let’s start with me,” he suggested, keeping a tight lid on his emotions. “What do you see wrong with me?”
    She was quick to shake her head as a frown appeared on her face. “Not you. There is nothing wrong with you…it’s just,” she stopped and swallowed loudly, and then took a deep breath before plunging forward. “I find I have strong feelings developing for you and I know this is way too soon, but God, if you leave me, it’s going to break my heart. I hate feeling like this. I swore when Joe died I wouldn’t become dependent on another living soul ever again.”
    He grinned a wicked grin at her. “You have feelings for me?” He stopped and nibbled on her left earlobe before continuing, “Could it be that you are being affected by the mating call, too? Could it be,” he licked the shell of her ear and watched her shiver, “could it be that maybe you are starting to fall in love with me?”
    He didn’t even give her a chance to answer before he swept down and claimed her mouth in the most sensual kiss Susan had ever experienced. When he finally let her come up for air, he continued talking. By this time, her mind was in a complete fog and it took her a moment to catch up.
    “Because I already know I love everything about you. And as far as your promise to yourself? Easy answer. You didn’t break your promise. You promised not to depend on another living soul and everyone knows that vampires are soulless creatures from hell.” He dropped a feather light kiss to the end of her nose.
    She swatted at his arm. “Stop putting yourself down like that! You are not soulless! Hell, you and the rest of the unit are the most honest, moral, upstanding people I know. There is nothing you can say or do to convince me you don’t have a soul, because I know better!”
    His hands were behind her, resting on her shoulders. It was easy for him to reach down until he felt her bra closure. He quickly flicked it open and gave her another wicked grin as he glanced down at her breasts. “You’d be surprised at what people think of us, babe.”
    As if something finally clicked in her brain or a light bulb suddenly got turned on, she sat up so fast she almost head butted Nathaniel straight in the nose. “Wait a minute! Did you just say you loved me?”
    He smiled as he kissed the tip of her nose. “I did, and I’ll say it again. I love you. And now, I’m going to show you how much I love you. So you just lay back down, little darlin', because I want to learn every inch of your body. From your head all the way down to your cute, little toes. And I want to learn it with my lips and tongue.”
    His dick had been throbbing, wanting release, wanting their mate, and there was only so much willpower a man/vampire had. However, he had to show her just how much he loved her.
    Susan fell back down onto the pillows behind her. “Oh God,” she moaned as his hands snaked up her shirt.
    “No need in calling on him, babe. I’ve got everything