Page 28 of Prince with a Chance of Darkness (Grimm Cove #7)

Vlad

One month later...

Vlad still couldn’t believe he wasn’t dreaming. That this was his life now. He loved it and had finally started to exhale and let his guard down enough to enjoy it all.

Teya’s words of warning still haunted him. Death’s just a door…and she’s coming soon. But not today. She’s waiting to play until the other shows himself again.

Despite his best efforts, he’d been unable to get a straight answer out of her on it all. Who was coming, and was his family safe? What was the great darkness Lucian had been warned of? Was it The Order of the Dragon? Who was the man who had given Mina the thinly veiled threat to pass on to Vlad? And how did he know what Radu had said to him long ago? And what did the forest witch have to do with everything?

These questions robbed him of sleep and left him pacing the house when Mina and Temperance slept, worry eating at him that something might come along and snatch them away from him. He loved them more than words could ever describe. They were his everything.

If only they were fine with dress clothes for all occasions , his demon said.

Vlad tugged at the collar of the cotton t-shirt Mina had purchased for him, fighting the urge to rip the offensive garment to shreds. The fabric was soft enough, but it was not the fine linens he was known for having his clothing tailor-made from.

The jeans were equally confining, though Mina's appreciative glances when he bent to retrieve the paint roller made the discomfort somewhat worthwhile.

His mate was like fire, always ready for him—always willing to accept him into her bed.

Our bed , the demon reminded him. After all, they had been residing with her and their daughter in Grimm Cove for a whole month now.

The accommodations are somewhat lacking , he thought, but didn’t dare say as much out loud.

Mina was so proud of the home he dared not comment.

Instead, he sighed as he glanced around the tiny study that they’d spent the last three days working on. Vlad owned six homes in total. All of which were considered mansions. And all of them had bathrooms bigger than this.

Shut up, Vlad, you’re what our daughter would call a one-percenter , said his demon.

Vlad groaned. “What do you know of one-percenters?”

Mina glanced over at him. “Deep discussions with your inner self again?”

She had gotten used to him speaking to his demon but had yet to hear him herself. He suspected that would come with time for them.

She will like me more than you, said his demon. I have a sense of humor. Kind of like your hairstyle.

“What is wrong with my hair?” he asked. It was pulled up so that he wouldn’t get paint in it while he did manual labor.

Nothing , pushed the demon, laughing as it did.

He grunted and dipped the paint roller in the pale blue paint, trying to remember what he and Mina had been discussing before his demon interrupted. “Ah, yes, about the home I could have commissioned for us here.”

Mina let out a long sigh. “Vlad, we have a house here. You’re standing in it.”

“It’s…quaint.”

She snorted. “If you have too much money, raise your hand.”

The demon picked that moment to push forward so fast Vlad wasn’t expecting it. The demon forced Vlad to lift his hand high in the air. A drop of paint fell into his hair in the process.

Mina laughed loudly.

Told you, she will like me better, said the demon smugly.

“Think about it, lumini?a mea . We could build by the water,” he said casually, lowering the paint roller. "And the north tower would be great to?—”

"We're not building towers," Mina interrupted, her attention on carefully edging around a window frame. "This is South Carolina, not Transylvania."

"A man can dream, lumini?a mea ."

She glanced over her shoulder at him, her gaze lingering. A smile touched her lips.

"What?" he asked.

"You have paint in your hair.”

“I am aware,” he said with a grunt. “It is my demon’s fault.”

It is an improvement over the man-bun , said the demon.

“And you have it on your cheek." She set down her brush and approached him, reaching up to touch the spot. "Right here."

His demon bounced around him like a puppy at her proximity. Four weeks of having her back in his life had done nothing to diminish the effect she had on him. If anything, the pull was stronger.

Tell her to touch us—all over , said the demon. Or let us touch her. Last night, we only made love to her three times. We can do better.

"Your hair's coming loose," Mina said, reaching up to tuck a strand that had escaped the tie behind his ear.

The things he did for love. Six hundred years of commanding armies, striking fear into the hearts of his enemies, and now he was painting a study.

“Nice hair, Dad!" Temperance's voice carried from the doorway. "Way to go full-on basic dad bun.”

He turned to face her, arching one brow. "I do not know what that means, but I sense mockery."

She grinned, the expression so like her mother's it made his chest ache. "Me? Mock you? Never." She pulled out her phone and snapped a picture before he could stop her. “Sending this to Uncle Jonathan.”

"You will do no such thing," he said, trying to sound stern.

Mina laughed, the sound making his chest ache with love. "Leave your father alone. I happen to like his hair like that.”

"He still stuck on wanting to build a castle here?" Temperance asked, rolling her eyes. “You can take the count out of the Middle Ages, but you can’t take the Middle Ages out of the…”

“Temperance,” scolded Mina, even though she was laughing. “Don’t pick on him. He means well.”

“Mom, I heard him talking to Lucian about having a moat dug,” Temperance said, her eyes wide.

“A moat would help protect the home from a siege,” Vlad muttered, returning to his painting.

"No moat," both women said in unison.

He couldn't help but smile, even as he pretended to focus intently on the wall. Having them both here, safe and whole, made him feel whole. But this house was not secure enough to be long-term. Not with who he was and the enemies he’d made over his long life. He had not told Mina yet that he’d already broken ground on the new home. It would be near Bram and Jonathan. There was safety in numbers.

The Weird Sisters knew. They were overseeing the build and probably snacking on the builders.

Temperance rushed into the room with her bag in hand. “Hannah texted. She and Uncle Jonathan are out front.”

“Have fun at the movies with them,” said Mina as Temperance kissed her cheek.

Temperance came to him next. She went to her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.

He hugged her.

“You sure you don’t want to go? It will get you out of painting,” said Temperance. She grinned. “Plus, Uncle Jonathan is going to die when he sees the man bun in person.”

Mina laughed. “Go on. They’re waiting. Behave and stay close to Jonathan. Elis, Austin, Dwayne, and Dave are going too, right?”

Temperance nodded. “And your ex-boytoy, Professor Jekyll. I cannot believe my mom was doing her college professor when she was only a little older than I am now.”

Vlad squeezed the handle of the roller too tightly, and it bent. He had to put it down quickly to avoid getting paint all over the hardwood floor.

Temperance ran out, laughing as she went.

Mina touched Vlad’s upper arm. “She says those things to get you going.”

“It works,” he said.

We should kill him, offered his demon. Slowly.

Mina eyed him. “Are you and your inner partner in crime plotting Henry's death?”

“No,” he said while nodding.

She snorted. “You’re hopeless.”

He dragged her against his body and licked his lower lip. “And you smell good enough to eat.”

She moved the hair from her long ponytail to the side, gifting him her neck. “Someone hungry?”

He lifted her, making her squeal as he carried her through the home, up the stairs, and to their bedroom. He kicked the door shut and raced to the bed with her. He had her stripped down to what she’d been born in within seconds.

Mina laughed and stared down the length of herself as she lay on her back on the bed.

He stood at the end and pulled the T-shirt off, throwing it aside, hoping it vanished. He undid the jeans next as he kicked off his work boots. Once he was undressed, he stroked himself, his gaze locked on his wife. She was breathtaking.

“ Lumini?a mea , I plan to do very, very bad things to you while we have the house to ourselves.”

“Fun,” she returned with a husky laugh.

He spread her legs and dipped his head, inhaling deeply. The smell of night jasmine and honeysuckled filled his head and left him hard as a rock. He buried his face between his wife’s legs, understanding fully what paradise was. It was here, with his mate. She came undone on his tongue, and he lapped up the evidence before turning his head and kissing her inner thigh.

“Vlad,” she whispered, his name sounding like music from her lips.

He let his fangs pop out and then bit into her inner thigh.

Mina arched her back, her hand working through his hair, pulling out the man-bun as she held him to her, the aftermath of her orgasm causing her thighs to shake.

Vlad drank her blood, his body wanting to be in hers. He gave her thigh another long suck and then licked the wound, closing it over instantly.

He moved up and over her, pushing her thighs apart more with his knee. He lined up and slid home, pushing into her, finding bliss between her legs. His lips slanted over as he pumped in and out of her.

She dug her nails into his upper arms, and pleasure raced through him. Vlad kissed his way to her neck and sank his fangs into her flesh. The second her blood slid over his tongue, his hips went wild, thrusting so hard and fast the entire bed frame groaned.

Mina cried out as her body tightened around his, and he lost himself in the moment, releasing in her as he licked the bite wound on her neck, healing it over at once.

He stayed rooted in her, grinning down at her. “ Te iubesc, lumini?a mea .”

Her brows met. “What does that mean? I got the little light part. The rest?”

“It means I love you, my little light,” he said.

She ran her fingers through the blood on his upper arm and then licked her fingers. The act left her body squeezing his.

He hardened at once.

“Mm, I love you too, Dracula .”

THE END