Page 70 of John’s Yearning

A sigh of relief worked its way up her throat and rolled over her lips. “What makes you think that I would stop you from kissing me? We made love last night.”

“Before you knew what I was. I don’t expect you to still want me, now that you know what I am. What I hid from you.”

She slowly nodded. “I should be mad at you for not telling me.”

“Yes. I took advantage of you. Of your vulnerability.”

“You did what was best at the time. I wasn’t ready to see the truth. Now I am. Because the truth is my only hope now. The truth about you and your allies, because only a miracle can save Buffy now. And you’re that miracle. You and your friends. So I’m not gonna refuse to see what’s right in front of me. I’m not gonna question what I can see with my own eyes.” She took another step toward him and ran her index finger over his lips. “Or what I can feel beneath my touch.”

She moved her finger, intent on touching his fang.

A firm hand wrapped around her wrist so fast she hadn’t seen it coming.

She sucked in a breath, but she wasn’t scared, only surprised. “Let me touch them.”

A shaky breath burst from John’s mouth. “Savannah, a vampire’s fangs are very sensitive.”

“I won’t hurt you,” she promised.

He chuckled unexpectedly. “That’s not what I meant. If you touch my fangs, it’ll feel like an orgasm to me.”

“Oh!” She hadn’t expected that, but now that she knew, the temptation to touch him was even greater. “Let go of my wrist, please.”

He immediately released her hand, proving to her that he was still in control of himself, even in his vampire form. He was still the Southern gentleman he’d always been.

“I need to do this,” she said, “so I know that I’m not dreaming.”

“Savannah, darlin’, I hope you know what you’re doing.” Despite his words, John didn’t protest any further and let her proceed.

Slowly, she slid her finger onto his teeth and rubbed over his incisors backward to one of his fangs. When she touched the razor-sharp canine, a jolt went through John, and suddenly the color of his eyes changed again.

“Your eyes shimmer golden,” she murmured.

“Because I’m aroused.” Both his hands were on her shoulders now, but she didn’t feel any barbs on his fingers any longer. She felt him draw her closer to his body, pressing her to him. “I need to kiss you. I need to feel you.”

Under her finger, his fang suddenly receded back into its socket and turned into a normal tooth again. She met his eyes and slid her hand to his nape, pulling his head closer to hers.

“Yes,” she murmured.

His lips were on her before the word was even out of her mouth, and he kissed her with a passion she understood now. The passion of a man who carried a powerful beast inside him. A beast she could embrace, because she knew that it was her daughter’s salvation. And her own too. A beast she knew she could love without reservations.

30

John felt Savannah yield to him in a manner so trusting, he couldn’t believe his luck. She wasn’t afraid of him, wasn’t running screaming from his office, wasn’t staring at him in disgust. She had accepted him. Accepted the vampire in him. The vampire who craved her even more now.

A firm knock on the door made him release Savannah’s lips and look over his shoulder. “Yes?”

The door opened, and Virginia entered. The redhead was not only a Stealth Guardian, and a member of her race’s ruling body, but also Wesley’s mate.

“We’re ready, John,” she announced.

“Thanks for coming so quickly, Virginia.” He reluctantly let go of Savannah. “Savannah, this is Virginia. She’s one of the Stealth Guardians I told you about.”

Virginia raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t realize she knew.”

“I only just found out,” Savannah said, and offered her hand to Virginia, who shook it. “I’m so grateful to you and everybody involved in trying to get my daughter back.”

“For a woman who just found out that there are preternatural creatures roaming this world, you seem remarkably calm,” Virginia said.