Tears glisten in her beautiful eyes. She blinks several times, and I notice a soft shade of pink bloom in her cheeks. The hand that was on my face is now covering her mouth, but she’s smiling. Her eyes crinkle, and two streaks of water trace into her temples.

  “Come here,” I growl, clutching her to me.

  A slim arm snakes around my chest, and she holds me tightly. It’s all the response I need. My breathing slowly calms, and after several moments of simply holding each other, she wiggles to free herself again. Of course, I let her go.

  “You love me?” Her smile is contagious.

  “I just said I did.” My voice is gruff. “You might as well be walking around with a bulls eye taped to your back. Every revenge-seeking bloodsucker in the—”

  Her soft lips cover mine as she pushes up and over me. I roll onto my back, allowing her to take control, forgetting whatever the hell I was saying. Her legs straddle my waist, and she’s holding my face, kissing me roughly, biting my lip before covering my mouth again and plunging her tongue inside.

  I notice her cool fingers fumbling down behind us to my dick. No worries there—as soon as she started kissing me like I was a gourmet meal waiting to be consumed, my erection roared back to life. One little lift, a slight repositioning of our bodies, and…

  “Yes!” she cries. I groan loudly, back in heaven. She’s so hot, so wet and clenching, and she’s riding me like we’re winning the race of a lifetime.

  Melissa sits up straight, her beautiful hips rocking like a dancer’s. Her long hair falls over her shoulders, and the tips curl around her beaded nipples.

  “Fuck me,” I groan, clutching her ass. “You’re a fucking goddess.”

  She moves faster still. Her small hand drifts between her legs, and her slim fingers circle fast. She’s working her clit furiously, and nothing is more erotic than the sight of my beautiful lady getting off on me.

  “I can’t last,” I groan.

  It’s too much. This time I’ve lost all control. My fangs extend before I can stop them. I move her hard, grinding her pelvis against mine as the force of my climax lifts my hips off the bed.

  “Oh, god!” She wails, arching forward with the power of her orgasm.

  Her fingers still circle, and I feel every spasm of pleasure deep inside her. She’s massaging and pulling me, and I never want it to end.

  The haze gradually clears. My angel laughs weakly, collapsing against my chest. Her cheek is warm on my cool skin; the top of her head is under my chin. I wrap her in my arms and close my eyes, holding on tightly as my body returns to normal, my fangs retract. Yes, Melissa, I love you more than my lust for blood.

  Contentment fills my veins with every heartbeat. We breathe together, coming down from that amazing place. She takes a deep breath, circling her nail in the light hairs on my chest.

  “Does this mean you’ll change me now?”

  My brow pulls together, and I answer fast. “No.”

  Her head pops up, and she’s frowning. “Why not? I want you to change me. I want us to be together forever.”

  Pushing against the mattress, I rise to a sitting position, my back against the headboard. She sits back to face me, pulling the sheet across her breasts.

  “I love you!” She’s emphatically cute, claiming my heart with her declaration, and I fight the urge to slide that damn sheet away again. “I’ve waited here for you, miserable, for months! And now…” Her voice breaks.

  Is she starting to cry? “Hey,” I whisper, catching her chin. “Why are you crying? I won’t leave you again.”

  Pulling her face away, she wipes her eyes roughly. “I’m not crying. I’m just… having a lot of emotions. For one, I was almost killed then you walked in… Now this—”

  Leaning forward, I stop her with a gentle kiss, capturing those full lips I love. She holds on a moment longer, touching my cheek. I take another hit of her amazing scent before sitting against the headboard once more. Her chin drops, and she studies her hands in her lap.

  “Look at me,” I say softly. She doesn’t at first. “Melissa.” Slowly her face rises, and I smile. “I love you, and I’m never going to leave you. And I won’t doom you to this existence.”

  “It wouldn’t be doom if we were together.”

  “I won’t take away your chance to have children, watch them grow up—”

  Her jaw drops and her eyes go round. “You think I’ll stop loving you?”

  “That’s not what I’m saying.”

  “It’s exactly what you’re saying. Sloan already took all of those things from us when he changed you. I’ll never have children because I’ll never have children with you.”

  My jaw clenches, and my head drops back against the wall. “You might not feel that way… in time.”

  In one swift move, she’s in my arms. The sheet is still between us, but she’s holding my face, forcing me to look into her eyes. Her expression is fierce.

  “I will never change my mind!”

  A deep exhale, and I pull her to me, wrapping her in my arms and looking out the large window facing down toward the dusky beach. The sun will rise soon. A new day will begin—the first day of the rest of our lives together. The rest of her life.

  “You need to sleep.” I gently massage her skin, and her body begins to relax.

  Sleep enters her voice. “I’m not giving up on this.”

  I smooth my hand over her soft hair, watching as the first glimmers of dawn lift the edge of the horizon. The curtain rising.

  “Let me hold you now. We’ve got time for the future.”

  Her fingers lightly touch my chest before her lips follow them with a kiss. “We can be one through immortality,” she whispers.

  I kiss her head. I don’t want to argue anymore. I only want to hold her. “But for now, I’ll be your one immortal.”

  The End.

  Epilogue: Little Gypsy

  Stuart

  Mariska’s chestnut hair is braided into a thick rope. Her heart-shaped ass is perked up, waiting for me, and damn if the sight doesn’t make my mouth water.

  “I’m going to fuck you hard.” It’s a low order, and I see her body shiver in response. “Open your thighs.”

  She immediately complies, spreading her knees and giving me full view of her beautiful body. My dick points straight up, ready to plunge inside¸ but instead I bury my face in her gorgeous scent.

  “Stuart! Oh, god!” She gasps as I grip her ass, spreading her apart and tasting her. My tongue explores every part of her, starting with her clit before making my way up again. She’s perfectly delicious, and I want her scent all over me.

  I kiss and slide my tongue over and over until her elbows bend. Her face is buried in the sheets of my king-sized bed, and her entire body shudders as she moans. She’s coming so hard. She’ll be so wet and throbbing.

  “Straighten up,” I order, grabbing her braid in my fist and giving her a pull.

  With some effort, she pushes against the bed, lifting her shoulders as I position my cock and drive into her core. “Fuck,” I growl.

  “Oh!” she wails, taking my full length.

  I have to hold myself a second so I don’t lose it like a fucking teenager. My beautiful mate is beyond perfect for me. She’s submissive, she’s responsive—hell, half the time she initiates this—and if I don’t fucking watch it, I’m done before I’ve even had a chance to savor what a lucky bastard I am.

  Once I’ve regained my bearings, I start to rock. “Oh, yes, Stuart,” she whimpers, a noise that registers like a pulse of energy straight to my dick. My hips move faster, and she’s pushing back against me, meeting me with every thrust.

  “Shit, Mariska.” My voice breaks, and I can’t hold it any longer. From her taste to her scent to her incredible way of moving with me, I’m coming, pulsing deep inside her, filling her to the core.

  My grip on her hair loosens, and I reach beneath us, holding her stomach as we collapse onto the bed. Her back is against my chest, and my face is buried in the crook of her neck.

  A few moments pass, and I notice her fingers tracing lines along my forearms. One is locked around her waist. The other is over her chest, clutching her small breast in my hand.

  My voice is lazy, satisfied when I speak again. “What kind of witchcraft have you used on me?”

  Her small body ripples with her laugh, and she pushes out of my arms. I release her and she rolls onto her stomach, lifting on an elbow to narrow sexy, golden-hazel eyes on me. I love the way she smiles.

  “I’m not a witch. I’m your mate.”

  Reaching out, I trace the line where her light brown hair meets her light brown skin. “You’re bewitching.”

  “I’ll never forget the first time I saw you.” Her face is on her hand, and her eyes are dreamy. “I’d been waiting for you to come to me, and there you were. And then you left me.”

  My thumb moves down to her full lips, and I slide it over the bottom one, tugging it gently, revealing her straight white teeth.

  “I didn’t believe it. It didn’t make sense.” Dropping my hand, I remember that day vividly.

  This gorgeous, incredibly sexy girl who couldn’t have been more than eighteen captivated my mind completely. She walked around that tiny shack in Algiers in that swirling gypsy shirt with her long arms uncovered, her hair in a high ponytail… I felt like my entire universe shifted to revolve around her.

  “Imprinting doesn’t make sense,” she says leaning toward me. “But I love it.”

  “I love you.” I’m not ashamed to say it now, after fighting her pull for nearly six months.

  I lost myself in working with Derek, doing everything in my power to either find a cure for his vampirism or to find a way for him to control it. To live a life where he could tolerate what he’d become, where he didn’t have to kill. It was hard, but it kept her out of my mind.

  When Derek finally faced Lilith, when he finally learned that Sloan was her ultimate tool for revenge against him, both in killing Alison and in taking away his mortality—when he finally killed that bloodsucker and was reunited with Melissa, I didn’t have anything left to shield me from Mariska’s pull.

  Patrick has Elaine. They’re a match that makes perfect sense, and they haven’t stopped touching each other since the day they met. This innocent girl, however… this virgin… I ran as far away from her as I could get. All the way to my uncle’s horse ranch in the middle of nowhere Montana. Of course, Elaine brought her straight to me. Fucking telepaths.

  “I’m glad you finally let me catch you.” She glances up at me with a naughty smile. Her fingers trace the lines on my stomach.

  Taking that hand, I pull it to my lips. “I’m getting pretty old. I don’t run as fast as I used to.”

  That makes her laugh, a soft musical sound that lights up every nerve ending in my body. “As long as you never get to old to love me like you just did, we’ll be good.”

  “I’ll fuck your brains out,” I growl, and she laughs louder, diving into my arms and pushing me back on the bed with a kiss.

  Sliding my hands into her hair, I hold her face a moment, listening once more to the voice in my head saying I need to let her go. My soul might be inextricably tied to her, but she’s not a shifter. She isn’t bound to me.

  I’m not easy on her. I’m demanding and rough. I’m not a gentleman. I’m a cowboy. My work with Derek and Patrick is dangerous, and at any point she could become a target of some revenge-seeking undead fucker. It’s a fear all three of us live with every day, and for Melissa and Elaine, it’s too late. They’re known quantities in the paranormal world.

  “It’s not too late for you,” I say, finishing my thought aloud. “You could still walk away. Have a normal life. Be safe.”

  Her laughter fades as her body stills. She studies me with serious eyes, golden eyes like the sunset over the mountains in Montana. Eyes that speak one word to me every time I’m lost in them—home.

  “You must not know me very well, Mr. Knight.” She’s sliding forward, up my chest. Petite seductress. “It’s way too late for that. I couldn’t leave you if I tried.”

  “I won’t stop you if you decide to go.”

  “Stuart William!” Her bossy voice nearly slays me. “You’d better stop me. Otherwise, I will put a spell on you!”

  The fist in my stomach unclenches at her words. I can’t help it I start to laugh. My head drops back against the pillow, and I look up at the ceiling of my condo in Princeton. I want to take her away from here. I want us back out west, making love under the big sky.

  She’s up on an elbow looking down at me. “What’s so funny?”

  Pushing up, I tackle her onto her back, holding her firmly beneath my body. She doesn’t even try to escape.

  “You have no idea of your power, little gypsy.” Dipping my head, I kiss her neck. She moans, and I’m about ready to flip her over and spank that perfect ass. “You don’t need a spell for me. You’re already mine.”

  * * *

  Want more paranormal?

  Don’t miss my new shifter romance,

  ONE INSATIABLE, everywhere Nov. 15, 2015!

  Preorder on Amazon (link) * On Goodreads (link)

  Love Stuart and Mariska?

  Keep clicking for an Exclusive Sneak Peek at ONE TO LEAVE!

  #SexyCowboy

  See how Patrick & Elaine met in ONE TO KEEP!

  Exclusive sneak peek right after One to Leave.

  * * *

  Books in the One to Hold seres are:

  Derek & Melissa: One to Hold, One to Protect, One to Save

  Patrick & Elaine: One to Keep

  Kenny & Slayde: One to Love

  Stuart & Mariska: One to Leave, One to Take

  Marcus Merritt & Amy Knight: One to Chase, “Runaway”

  Paranormal Romances:

  Derek & Melissa: One Immortal

  Stitch & Mercy: One Insatiable

  All are stand-alone novels.

  * * *

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  Thank you so much!

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  Thank You for Reading!

  Dear Reader,

  I hope you enjoyed One Immortal! I got the idea for this book almost a year ago when I was chatting with readers on Facebook about fun new ways to tell the Derek & Melissa story.

  We talked about their children, writing a new series of books for Dex, Lane, and Camille (Star’s daughter in One to Save). Then we launched into a discussion of how One to Hold really lends itself to a paranormal version, with it’s tense and mysterious vibe.

  I wasn’t sure I’d really do it, but I had time this fall, I was motivated, and I just dove in. I had such a blast writing it, too! I went back and re-read the classic modern vampire story, Interview with the Vampire, I listened to the original vampire bestseller, Dracula. I even watched a little True Blood and read The Vampire Diaries wiki.

  Basically, I wanted to be sure I didn’t forget any critical aspects of the vampire mythology. Also, I wanted to have a good handle on what had already been done when I spun together my own version of the mythology.

  As a vampire fan from way back, I truly enjoyed dipping into this world.

  Up next, I’ve got another paranormal romance on deck for you. If you’ve read One to Love, you might remember Slayde’s old boxing friend from before he met Kenny (when he was still “Slayer”).

  Kona “Stitch” Raiden is a black panther shifter trying to redefine his life when he stumbles across Woodland Creek and a sexy lynx-girl named Mercy. Sparks fly between these two fighters, and you can read all about it in One Insatiable, live Nov. 15!

  After that, I’m heading back out west with Stuart and Mariska. Their follow-up story to One to Leave promises to be exciting, surprising, and of course filled with lots of hot sexytimes. You know how our dominant cowboy can be.

  Be watching for One to Take early 2016!

  Never miss a sale or new release by signing up for my newsletter (link). You’ll also get a subscriber-only bonus scene from One to Love! You can also get a text alert whenever I do a sale or new release by texting “TiaLouise” to 64600. If you’re on Amazon, you can “follow” my author page (link).

  Either way, I hope you keep reading and enjoying my books, and I hope you’ll remember to leave reviews!