Page 25 of Taken by the Ripper (Time for Monsters #9)
It was brighter in Paris.
It was almost as if a fog had lifted from the skies, as if the darkness that had plagued Whitechapel no longer held her within its grasp. Paris had afforded her opportunities she’d never thought possible, especially with Claude as her source of constant support. He’d believed in her. And now?
The fruits of her labor stood before her as she stared at her new clinic bathed in sunset gold, surrounded by colorful trees beginning to transition to red and yellow with the turn of the autumn weather.
After a couple of years of schooling at Faculté de Médecine de Paris, she was now officially able to call herself a doctor, all thanks to Claude, who had graciously paid for her education.
His generosity had opened opportunities she’d only dreamed of her entire life.
Although she had been one of the few women attending, she looked forward to proving that a woman could also receive the same education as a man and forge a path in the medical world.
Just like her father.
Oh, she truly hoped he was proud of her, smiling down at her from heaven.
Now, she was a doctor with a clinic of her own. A clinic with a catch…
A grin stretched across her face as she glanced first at Mazie and then at Claude as they gazed at the structure before them in awe. A real clinic with beds and equipment and plenty of space for patients.
And it even included a separate, private clinic in the back for paranormal patients.
The non-evil ones that Claude didn’t hunt, of course.
He wasn’t entirely thrilled with the idea, knowing how dangerous the paranormal could be, but he’d allowed her to pave her own path, and she couldn’t be more grateful to her mate.
“This isn’t how I imagined getting out of Whitechapel,” Mazie commented as she sidled up to one side of her, remaining within the shadows of a tree to protect herself from the waning sunlight. “But it’s far better than the alternative.”
“You mean the part where you become a vampire spawn?” Clara teased.
Mazie flashed her fangs at her and rolled her eyes. “I’m stronger in this form. I will not be taken advantage of again. Therefore, I do not regret my choice.”
Clara reached out with one hand and squeezed her fingers sympathetically while squeezing Norma’s fingers with her other hand. “This is a new start for us. No matter how different we’d imagined our own futures.”
“The darkness isn’t so bad. It’s full of new people and waiting adventures.”
She squeezed Mazie’s hand again. “It sounds like a good opportunity for you.”
“And I get to help in the infirmary,” Norma chipped in with excitement in her voice. “I’d like to be a nurse. Maybe even a doctor one day.”
Just like Father .
With a light laugh, she gave her youngest sister an encouraging squeeze around the shoulders. “The doctoring itch must run in the family.”
Her searching gaze found Claude leaning on his cane near the corner of the clinic where the autumn foliage brushed against the glass of the small greenhouse on the side of the building. He gestured with his head for her to follow him.
As her sisters argued about the ethics of vampires, she slipped away into the shadows and rounded a large tree to find Claude leaning against its trunk, his hat resting on top of his head.
A grin played at the corners of his mouth as he reached for her hand and pulled her closer.
He kissed her fingers, her wrist, and then explored her jaw with the light trace of his lips.
A sigh escaped her at his gentle, loving touches, and he quickly muffled the sound with his lips against hers. She was powerless against the warmth of his body, the strength of his hands as he pushed her against the tree and trapped her wrists above her head.
“You didn’t just call me over to kiss me senseless,” she breathed between heated kisses, wrapping one of her knees around his leg.
“And if I did?”
She giggled as his nose skimmed against the ticklish spot on her throat. “Then you must really like me.”
“‘Like’ is a vast understatement, dove.” He lowered her left hand from the tree and kissed her knuckle right above where her diamond ring resided on her finger.
They’d married within a week of first arriving in Paris, and she wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“I think the right word might start with an ‘L.’” He pulled her flush against him and kissed one corner of her mouth.
“Followed by an ‘O.’” He kissed the other corner.
“‘V.’” And then he hovered just over her mouth, his minty scent tantalizing and filling almost every corner of her mind.
“‘E,’” she finished for him, grabbing a fistful of his suit and pulling him into another breathtaking kiss. She threaded her fingers through the soft blond strands of his hair and took the kiss deeper, wanting to taste every inch of his mouth and feel the heat of his body mingle with hers.
“Be careful,” he murmured against her lips. “The Ripper is about to emerge, and he won’t want to show any mercy.”
“Is that a threat?” she whispered, eyes glazed over with desire. “Or a promise?”
According to officials, the Jack the Ripper case was thrown out the window, deemed unsolvable much to the frustration of police and detectives everywhere.
The Whitechapel murderer had taken no more victims, as was included in official police reports.
But unofficially, Claude’s ghoul blood was no longer out there, no longer a threat.
He was free from danger. And she hoped things would stay that way.
“Let’s find out, shall we?”
The last rays of sunlight descended below the horizon, bathing the city in a quiet dusk. The muted blues and oranges momentarily drew her gaze to the beautiful skies hovering over Paris. And when she returned her attention to Claude…
Yellow eyes gazed back at her. Clawed fingers took her hand and kissed her from finger to wrist. Pointed teeth peeked out from a grin. It was their little secret. One she would keep for the rest of her life.