Jack sighed. "She knows my personality and character."
"That's not what I meant, and you know it." Father Giuseppe unlocked the door, then turned on the lights. He regarded Jack sadly. "You will have to tell her."
Jack swallowed hard. He knew from past experience that telling a woman the truth meant losing her. He couldn't risk going through that kind of pain. "I don't want to lose her."
The priest rested a hand on his shoulder. "You must have faith, Giacomo. Love does not judge, nor will it be unkind." He turned to Lara and made the sign of the cross in front of her. "May God bless you," he spoke in English.
"Thank you, Father," she whispered.
"Grazie." Jack hugged his old friend, then escorted Lara inside the bell tower.
The priest closed the door behind them, and the loud click echoed through the tower.
"He's not locking us in, is he?" Lara whispered.
Jack shrugged. "If he does, I can always teleport us out."
Her eyes narrowed. "You could have just teleported us to the top, right?"
"I could have, but I wanted you to have the full tourist experience." He led her inside the elevator and punched the button for the top floor.
With a lurch, the elevator began its ascent.
She shook her head. "I can't believe I've been talking to a priest with no underwear."
Jack smiled at her. "I'm fairly certain he was wearing underwear."
She scoffed. "So how do you manage to get preferential treatment around here?"
"I told you, I'm practically a saint." He pressed a hand against his heart.
She made a face at him. "You didn't answer my question."
"Very well. The original campanile fell down in 1902. There was no money to rebuild it till 1912 when... my family gave them a very large donation."
The elevator doors opened, and they exited onto the observation floor of the bell tower.
"Come see the view." He motioned toward the open window.
Lara remained in front of the elevator. "Your family gave them a donation in 1912?"
"Yes." Merda. Was she onto him? He lifted a hand toward her. "Come have a look."
"It wasn't your family, was it?" she whispered. "It was you."
His hand dropped by his side. Nine circles of hell He should have known she'd start figuring things out.
Her face grew pale. "I'm right, aren't I? It would be so easy for you to say that I'm wrong, but you can't bring yourself to say it."
His hands balled into fists. "Lara-"
"Just tell me the truth. How old are you?"
He turned to look out the window. Stars twinkled over a sea of red-tiled roofs. His heart raced. How much should he say? "I have come here so many times over the years, but I was always alone." He looked at her. "Till I met you."
She moved toward him. "Can you be honest with me?"
"Lara, I am falling in love with you."
She inhaled sharply. "Oh God." She pressed a hand to her mouth. "But how can we-is there any hope for us?"
"I've been told that when there is love, there is hope." You must have faith, the old man had told him.
Lara's eyes glistened with tears. "I'm afraid you're so much older than me, and so different from me."
"Inside, we are the same."
A cool breeze swept around them and fluttered her hair. She shivered and wrapped the cape around herself. Music drifted up from the piazza. An accordion played, then a baritone voice began to sing.
Jack glanced down. Lorenzo was playing the accordion, and he'd brought one of Venezia's finest singers to the piazza to perform for Lara.
"Oh my God." She peered down from the window. "He's singing Bella Notte. " She looked at Jack with tears in her eyes. "You arranged that for me?"
"Yes." He took her hand. "Will you be my lady, Lara?"
"I want to be."
"Then no power on this earth can stop us." He pulled her into his arms and kissed her with all the passion he'd kept locked up for so many nights.
This was the night-the bella notte when she would become his. He'd wanted to share Venezia with her. There was so little he could share, so little information he could tell her, that this had felt like the only way to get close to her. And the way she was responding gave him more hope than he'd had for almost two hundred years.
She was clinging to him, opening to him, melting against him. He invaded her mouth, and she sucked on his tongue. He smoothed his hands down her back and cupped her rear. When he pulled her against his swollen groin, she moaned.
"Lara." He kissed a path across her cheek and down her neck. She swayed her hips from side to side, rubbing against him.
Santo cielo. She wanted him. His passion escalated into a frantic need. He swept the edges of the velvet cape over her shoulders, then he undid the buttons down the front of her dress, stopping at her belt. He pushed the bodice and sweater back only to discover some sort of modern, strapless contraption barring him from heaven.
"It's not glued to you, is it?" He didn't want to rip something off her delicate skin.
Lara smiled and caressed his cheek. "It unhooks in the front. Shall I show you?"
"I can manage." He wrestled with the strange plastic hook, then suddenly, the clasp popped open. He sucked in a breath at the lovely sight. "Paradiso."
She shook her head, smiling and blushing at the same time. "They're just br**sts."
"No, love." His eyes met hers, and he smiled. "They're your br**sts."
Her blush deepened, and the scent of her sweet, rushing blood ignited his frantic need once more.
"I want you." He unfastened her belt and with vampire speed, he undid the rest of her buttons before the belt hit the floor. He pushed her dress wide open, then gripped her around the waist. Her creamy skin was shaded pink from the red glow of his eyes. He slid his hands up over her ribs, then he cupped her br**sts.
"Yes." She arched her back, leaning into him so the pink-tinted mounds filled his hands.
With his thumbs, he circled the plump, rosy ni**les. They pebbled before his eyes, and his groin seized up tight. He rubbed the tips of her br**sts and felt them harden beneath the pads of his thumbs. His erection grew hard. With a tortured moan, he pinched the tips of her br**sts and tugged slightly.
"Oh God." Lara grabbed his shoulders as her knees buckled.
"I've got you." He grasped her bottom and lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist.
He pressed her back against the wall and raised her higher so he could feast on her br**sts. He shoved her dress aside with his face and latched onto a nipple.
She shuddered in his arms. "Jack." She held his head tight.
He suckled her and nibbled on the hardened tip of her breast. Then a slight dizziness swept over him, making him freeze for a second. The sun. It was approaching the horizon. Merda.
"Jack, please," Lara breathed as she gripped his hair in her fists.
He nuzzled his cheek against her br**sts as he fought to remain strong. He had maybe five minutes left before his energy would completely seep away. If he fell into his death-sleep here, the sun would kill him.
He inhaled deeply, and the scent of Lara's arousal stirred him. So rich and heady. Santo cielo, he would make her scream before leaving.
He adjusted his hold on her so he was supporting her with one arm. With his free hand, he burrowed under her skirt.
"Look at me," he whispered as he slid his hand up her bare thigh.
She did. "Your eyes are so red."
"Yours are so blue." He reached the slippery folds, and she gasped.
"Oh God." Her eyes flickered shut.
He stroked her till she was quivering in his arms. He teased her clitoris with feathery strokes, then suddenly tweaked it.
She cried out. Her heels dug into his back. More moisture drenched his fingers, and he moaned. She was so sweet, so responsive.
He leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "Cara mia, I love you."
"Oh Jack." She panted, her breath erratic against his cheek.
His death-sleep tugged at him once again. He'd have to teleport very soon. He slipped a finger into Lara's wet vagina, and her inner muscles gripped him greedily. She was so close. His erection pushed painfully against his jeans.
The sun crept closer to the horizon. Sweat broke out on his brow. He inserted two fingers and stroked her slippery inner walls.