"That's true. You're none of my concern, but Hannah is. She wants to become a hybrid."

"I know."

"She wants you to do it."

"I can't."

"You mean you won't."

Seraphim raised his eyes to the ceiling. "I seem to be having this same type of conversation with too many people of late. No, I will not make her a hybrid."

"Why?"

"It's too dangerous. She could die, and why am I telling you this? Out!" Again he dragged her toward the door. "Get out!"

"Why? So you can sit here like the man of mystery and wallow in depression when you could be spending time with Hannah? And get your paws off me!"

They paused at the door. Trixie poked his chest with her index finger. "I don't know what your problem is, but you have about three days to get over it. Vincent and I are going to Vegas for a couple of days. When we get back, if you haven't made Hannah one of us, I will."

"What?" His eyes seemed to catch fire and she saw his fangs lengthen against his lips.

Trixie smiled. "We took the compatibility test. I promised to change her-if you didn't. Think about it, Seraphim. She can enjoy her pa.s.sage to vampirism with me, or she can absolutely love every moment with you. Everyone knows all hybrids who have been created by a lover say nothing can compare with the feeling. What greater moment can a vampire have than to give the gift of life to someone he adores. Do you want to miss that? Do you want me to change her instead of you?"

Seraphim's eyes blazed and his scent permeated the room as his anger and desire rose. Growling, he grasped her wrist and shoved her hand away from his chest.

"Do you love her?"

"I don't want to hurt her. Her life is worth more than my desires! What if she dies, or what if I do? There are things about me you don't understand, Trixie. You and the Network will know soon enough, but -"

"Stop making excuses. If you're compatible, the chances of her dying are slim so long as you know what you're doing -" Trixie paused and raised an eyebrow. "You do know what you're doing, right?"

Again he rolled his eyes, and she took that gesture as a yes.

"Jules said he even has a special room set up in his office so the process can be monitored by him or another doctor. If anything happens to Hannah, they can revive her as a mortal."

"How intimate, to transform one's mate on a laboratory table."

"Be as sarcastic as you want, but it remedies your worries, doesn't it?" Trixie curled her lip. "I have to go."

"It's about time."

Trixie grinned at him as she opened the door and stepped into the hall. "If you really didn't want to hear what I had to say, you'd have thrown me out. See ya, caveman." She winked at him.

He slammed the door as she headed for the elevator.

With her errand done, it was time for some fun. She was off to Vegas to marry the man of her dreams!

"Quit messing with that mirror," Vincent said, tugging the compact from Trixie's hand as they stood outside the chapel in Vegas. He kissed her cheek. "You look gorgeous."

She smiled, her stomach fluttering as she smoothed her floor-length black dress with a slits running to mid-thigh and a low neckline revealing her full b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Her eyes swept Vincent whose perfect body was clad in black leather pants, jacket, and boots. "Thanks, Dilorenzo. You look pretty s.e.xy yourself."

"Yo." He grinned, wrapping an arm firmly around her waist and strolling inside.

The chapel was decorated in black and burgundy with white pillar candles and stained gla.s.s. The scent of hybrids and incense hung on the air.

"Vincent, my friend." A soft yet masculine voice sounded from a door to their left through which a slim man of middling height stepped. His black hair, moustache, and beard were streaked with steel gray. He approached, extending his hand to Vincent who grasped it.

"Raoul. Good to see you."

"And this must be the lovely bride." Raoul took Trixie's hand and pressed a wet kiss to the back of it. "Stunning. Just stunning."

"So." Vincent rubbed his hands together. "Let's get us. .h.i.tched." "In a minute. I have a surprise witness for you." Raoul grinned.

Trixie and Vincent exchanged questioning glances until a tall woman wearing gray pigtails stepped through the door, her fleshy body draped in a red silk dress.

"Vinnie! Come here!" she croaked in a gravely voice, the cigarette hanging from the side of her mouth bobbing up and down with each word.

"Auntie!" Vincent beamed, accepting the woman's bear hug. He stepped back, waving away smoke. "s.h.i.t, you gotta quit those things. They stink like h.e.l.l."

"Hey, give me a break. I'm an old woman. Gotta have some fun." "Trix, this is my aunt Sophia. Auntie, this is my wife-to-be."

Sophia's eyes raked Trixie from head to foot. She took a long drag on the cigarette and blew it out slow. "Quite a looker there, kid. You better be nice to my favorite nephew."

"I intend to be." Trixie slid her arm through Vincent's and he kissed her.

"Oh yeah." Sophia grinned with approval. "She's a true lady, Vinnie. A true lady. Let's get this show on the road."

Trixie and Vincent approached the altar where Raoul waited. Trixie cast a glance over her shoulder at Sophia who lowered her bulk onto one of the pews. When Vincent had proposed, she'd never once considered what his family might be like-not that it mattered. She just expected relations of Roman senators to be a bit more.. .smooth.

"Got the rings?" Raoul asked.

"Right here." Vincent reached in his pocket and pulled out two gold bands. He dropped one in Trixie's hand as the ceremony began.

"Do you, Trixie Caroline Greenly take Vincent Augustine O'Neil Dilorenzo to be your husband in sickness and health, in blood and soul for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," Trixie said, allowing Vincent to place the ring on her finger. She lifted an eyebrow at him. "O'Neil?"

"It's a long story," he muttered.

"Do you, Vincent Augustine O'Neil Dilorenzo take Trixie Caroline Greenly to be your wife in sickness and health, in blood and soul for as long as you both shall live?"

"You bet I do."

Trixie took Vincent's large hand, admiring his long, rounded fingers as she slipped on his ring.

"By the power vested in me by the state of Nevada, I p.r.o.nounce you husband and wife. Kiss her, stud."

Vincent dragged Trixie to his chest, his eyes gleaming with happiness. "I love you, baby."

"You, too, Dilorenzo." She looped her arms around his neck as he kissed her.

"That was beautiful!" Sophia roared, hurrying to the altar, hauling Trixie out of Vincent's arms and into hers. "Welcome to the family!"

"Thanks." Trixie returned the woman's embrace, trying not to gag on the cigarette smoke. How in the world could she abide such a filthy habit? As a rule, vampires couldn't stand tobacco smoke.

"Vinnie." Sophia embraced Vincent and kindly removed the cigarette from her mouth before kissing his cheek. "You kids be good-but not too good. You got a honeymoon to go on, and I've got to get back to the casino."

"Good to see you, Auntie," Vincent said.

"You and the lady come by the villa one of these days." Sophia coughed and Raoul lunged for a waste bucket before she spit a plug of mucus on the chapel floor. She glanced at the cigarette. "Maybe I should give these things up. What the h.e.l.l. They sure can't kill me."

With a wink at Trixie, she loped down the aisle and disappeared into the streets outside.

"Good luck to you both." Raoul shook their hands.

"Thanks for everything, bud." Vincent clapped Raoul on the back before sweeping Trixie into his arms and carrying her to their car.

"I got us a room at one of the best hotels in Vegas, Mrs. Dilorenzo." "Mrs. D.." Trixie grinned. "I like the sound of that."

On the way to the hotel, Trixie's eyes kept switching from Vincent to her wedding band. She honestly couldn't believe they were married . She could hardly wait to introduce him to her parents.

At the hotel, Vincent and Trixie ripped off their clothes as soon as they stepped into a suite as cla.s.sy as most of the Vegas chapels were tacky.

Vincent opened a bottle of champagne and offered it to Trixie who took a swig. His fingers brushed hers as she pa.s.sed it to him and reached for a strawberry. She bit the plump fruit, then held it out to him. He took it between his teeth, nipping and licking her fingers as he did so.

"Do you have any idea how happy I am, Dilorenzo?" she asked, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her naked curves to his rock hard body. His hair-roughened chest felt so good against her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and she rubbed her nipples over it, causing him to groan.

"As happy as I am." He took her face in his hands and kissed her. "f.u.c.k me, Vinnie."

"Oh yeah, baby." He purred like a big cat as he slid down her body, kissing between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, across her stomach, and finally reaching her c.l.i.t. Grasping her hips, he licked, sucked, and nipped until she thought her legs would collapse from under her. Just before she hit the floor, he picked her up and carried her to the bed, kissing her lips as he walked. She tasted her own wetness on his mouth and groaned with excitement. How much she wanted him!

He placed her on the bed and covered her body with his. "Hold me tight, Trix."

He thrust into her and she clutched his neck while her legs squeezed his waist. Their hips rocked together in a fast, hard blur as their teeth pierced each other's flesh. Trixie's o.r.g.a.s.m threatened to rip her apart, and by the sound of Vincent's groans, his was just as powerful.

"I got a surprise for you," he panted in her ear. "What?"

"Put this on." He stood, reaching into his suitcase and tossing her a black silk robe. He donned a matching one and grasped her hand.

"What are you up to, Dilorenzo?"

He placed a finger to his lips to silence her as he tugged her to the stairwell. They descended, finally stepping into an empty gym. A trampoline with a big white bow in the middle stood in the center of the floor.

Trixie smiled, feeling herself blush. "Vincent, what did you do?" "Rented the gym for the night. We've got it all to ourselves." Trixie's heart swelled. "That is so romantic." "I thought you'd like it."

Trixie slipped into his arms and held him tightly. Never in her life had she been so happy.

Chapter Thirteen.

After slamming the door behind that impertinent young b.i.t.c.h Trixie, Seraphim walked to the balcony and stared out at the nighttime city. She was right. He actually was wallowing in depression, but not because he was indulging some illusion of being a mystery man. He already was. The only living creatures who knew the truth about his past were hidden in a cave below the Mojave desert. No one in this world would recognize him by sight or scent-even the one remaining person he knew had seen Atlantis. He'd met her face to face when the Jury had inducted him into the Network. Marina was the oldest member of the Jury and the oldest hybrid on Earth. She'd been changed by the Originals and had been among the small group of vampires who had survived the sinking of Atlantis. Yet she hadn't known him. He'd been a child when they'd last met-scarcely grown. After vampiric p.u.b.erty, his scent had changed, so there was no way for her to recognize him. Meeting her had somehow enforced his loneliness of more than ten thousand years of keeping secrets.

Perhaps both Trixie and Matthew were right. He was afraid of allowing someone- even a woman he loved-to truly know him. The idea of someone else infiltrating his thoughts, of seeing his naked soul unsettled him. The Originals knew him so intimately, yet their total knowledge of him was almost comforting. They were as close to tangible G.o.ds as the world would ever know. He trusted them not to use his emotions against him. Yet even they had encouraged him to join his life to Hannah's.

"Has it been that long, Seraphim?" he whispered to the night, narrowing his eyes until the lights on the street below blurred. "Have you become so old that nothing frightens you except having another person embrace your soul?"

If he could choose a person to see inside him, it would be Hannah.

If. He didn't have to imagine it. She was here. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. Unlike Nenet, she wasn't afraid of becoming what he was, but wanted to share in his immortality. If they were compatible.

Seraphim sighed. He wasn't going to find out if he could change her by staring over his balcony thinking about it.

He stepped back in, undressing before making his way to the bathroom where he stood beneath the stream of hot water and closed his eyes. His heart fluttered at the thought of what he was about to do. He wondered how angry Hannah would be. He didn't doubt she'd hold a grudge. Women always did. Not that he blamed her, but once they joined, she would hopefully understand his reasons and forgive him.

Jules had given Seraphim directions to the hotel where Hannah was staying. It was a Network approved hotel, and the scent of hybrids and Immaculates struck him long before he stepped through the tinted gla.s.s revolving door. The lobby, decorated in black and burgundy, had a floor and ceiling of midnight blue tile. Two clerks stood behind a polished marble desk. They greeted Seraphim as he approached. He would have asked them to ring for Hannah, however her sweet, mortal scent emanated from the dining area to the left, and he stepped past a potted tree and into the black and gray room. There was a dance floor where several hybrid couples mingled, and many of the tables and booths were filled with guests. He glanced around, his eyes fixing on a booth in the far corner of the room where Hannah sat with Mercedes.

"Speak of the devil," he heard Mercedes whisper to Hannah as he approached. "Hi," he said, his eyes fixed on Hannah.

Mercedes smiled. "I think I will as they say, make myself scarce." She kissed Hannah's cheek. "Don't worry, and remember what we talked about."

Seraphim glanced at Mercedes as she walked away. Though curious to know exactly what the women did discuss, he knew Mercedes had most likely been trying to purposely pique his curiosity, so he refrained from asking.

"We need to talk." He slipped into the seat across from Hannah and reached for her hand.

She pulled away. "We already did."

"No, you were talking, I was acting like a fool."

Hannah's lips curved upward as she shook her head. "Nice psychology, but it's not going to work, Seraphim."

"I understand." He held her eyes until she glanced away.

"Stop looking at me like that. I owe you, Brett, and Mercedes for helping my family, but that doesn't mean you can string me along. I know your kind love to practice your powers of seduction and all that -"

"I don't need any further practice, Hannah. I'm an expert. This has nothing to do with phony seductions or seeking grat.i.tude. It has to do with love."

"Love?"

"Do you love me?"