McKenzie, Cooper - Saving Chloe (Siren Publishing Classic) by Cooper McKenzie Read Free Book Online

Ray of the Porch People who couldn’t say a sentence without the word “fuck” in it.
    She watched Declan sit up and move to lean against the headboard. He crossed his ankles, which pushed his large, hard erection into prominence. That reminded her that she was naked, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. Instead of feeling embarrassed, she went on the defensive.
    “How can you be that old? It’s not possible.”
    She watched as he slowly nodded. “It is if you’re a vampire.”
    Chloe blinked. “Vampires aren’t real.”
    Declan just smiled and nodded. “Yes, darlin’, they are.”
    Chloe swallowed hard. “You’re telling me that you are a 636-year-old vampire?”
    “Yes, darlin’, that’s exactly right. I built that house across the street in 1920. The story around the neighborhood is that I’m the great-grandson of the original owner. You’re the first human I’ve shared this with in more than a hundred years.”
    “Why are you telling me?”
    Chloe wrapped her arms around her middle and with her right hand, pinched the skin of her left hip. She jumped when pain flashed through her. Okay, so she wasn’t asleep. Maybe working two jobs had tilted her over the edge of exhaustion into insanity?
    “Because, sweet Chloe Templeton, for six hundred years I’ve been looking for the woman who would give my life meaning. When ye moved into this house, I found her. You are the woman I’ve spent my life looking for. You are the woman I will spend the rest of my life with. You are the woman I will love, protect, and cherish for the rest of eternity. You are my mate.”

    “You’re a vampire,” she said, backing up another few inches until she overbalanced and fell to the floor. “Please don’t eat me.”

Declan was off the bed and kneeling at Chloe’s side almost before she hit the floor. She struggled, but he lifted her easily and cradled her against his chest as he stood again.
    “Shhh, sweet Chloe, it’s all right. I’d never hurt you. You are my mate, my reason for being. No, little one, I’m going to love you from now until the day we turn to dust together.” He laid her on the bed then crawled back onto the mattress and crouched half over her.
    Chloe looked at him, still in shock by his announcement. “You can’t love me. You don’t even know me.”
    “I know you, little one. I’ve been watching you since you moved in. You are a beautiful person with a caregiver’s soul who can’t seem to say no to anyone who uses the word “need” in a sentence. You’re gentle, kind, and giving to everyone. That’s how you’ve gotten into such trouble with those human vampires. You don’t know how to draw the line and refuse. That’s what I’m here for. I will protect you from them. I’ll protect you from everyone and everything, including yourself.”
    “Show me,” she demanded.
    Declan lifted his head and looked at her. She watched as his eyes turned from pale blue to deep crimson, and his eyeteeth elongated until he looked like a vampire from the movies.
    She made a whimpering sound, and just as quickly, he transformed back into the Declan she had an ever-growing hunger for.
    He cuddled her close, soothing her with gentle strokes up and down her back. As she lay in his arms, she felt more conflicted by the minute. Her brain screamed that he was crazy, and she needed to run away from him as far and as fast as she could. Her body countered with a demand to love him until neither of them could move.
    Her muscles grew so tight that when he brushed a kiss over her left nipple, her brain shut down, leaving only the body’s hungry demand for the man. Lifting both hands, she threaded her fingers through his silky hair.
    “I need,” she whispered, not sure what she was asking for, but certain that only he could provide it. The news that he was a vampire was shocking, but even more so was the need for him that fear had not quenched in the least.
    “I know, little one. I’ll take care of