Arsenic for the Soul (20 page)

“
You fought them
off?”

“
Like any bully, they only
stand tall when they have others to back them up. In the end, they
all fall down without any spine of their own. Humans are weak when
alone and weaker still with each other.”

His eyes glittered like spitting
embers and Vivian sucked in a breath. She immediately took a liking
to this darker side of Milo.

He quickly sublimated the anger and
looked the part of the gentle caretaker once more. His fingers ran
through Vivian’s hair, bringing her more comfort than she cared to
admit.

“
I need to check the wound
again for signs of infection. It’s been a few hours since I
bandaged it. Do you mind?”

Vivian shook her head and held her
breath as he unbuttoned her shirt. Her heart bounced painfully off
her ribs, straining against the sudden outpour of excitement and
fear.

What would he say when he looked upon
her body? Would he desire what he saw or be mildly
disappointed?

She didn’t want to know.

Vivian’s shirt slipped from her
shoulders and she felt blood rushing to her face. She felt
mortified and exhilarated before him. She searched his expression
carefully, taking pleasure in the lust in his eyes. His fingers
brushed ever so gently against one of her breasts.

Vivian scanned his bachelor pad as he
dressed her wound. If anything, it was a tribute to an era of
vintage that radiated elegance and style. Curiously, she saw no
photos of family, relatives, or former lovers.

Somehow it hinted at profound
emptiness in his life. She could sense it under the alluring façade
of souvenirs and scenic photos from his world travels across
Southeast Asia and Europe. No amount of adventure would change that
fact. Despite the magnitude of freedom and wanderlust, he was no
closer to finding what he sought.

She wanted so badly to fill that void
for him and be his everything. She wanted to be the only one he
loved. No other woman could occupy that precious
pedestal.

As those thoughts whirled through her
mind, Vivian noticed the blood leaking through Milo’s shirt above
his shoulder.

“
You didn’t say you were
hurt, too! What did they do to you?!”

“
No, it’s not from the
fight. A patient attacked me today when I tried to draw blood,” he
chuckled. “Never underestimate the fear of needles. It took a
nurse’s aide to get him off me! Damn, the fight probably tore the
wound back open. I must look like a mess.”

Vivian’s gaze turned
predatory.

“
And who takes care of you
when you’re injured?”

“
No one. I live by myself
here.” He smiled warmly. “But fortunately I know someone who plans
on becoming a nurse.”

Vivian smiled cunningly. Those words
were as much an invitation as she could hope for. Curled up in his
lap, she undid the buttons on his shirt to “examine” him. His toned
chest caught her attention before she could even look at the
injury. Her hands ran over his thick shoulders to his arms as the
firelight danced over their naked skin, drawing them both deeper
under this heady spell.

At some point, Milo’s touch began to
knead her body in delicious ways.

She relished the feeling of his teeth
on her neck. His fingers gently caressed her flower where it was
wet against her panties. She ached for him to explore her
depths.

He knew exactly what to do and where
to touch her. Vivian surmised that a woman’s body was no unfamiliar
territory to a man as beautiful as Milo.

“
Milo…”

He opened his eyes and gazed upon a
veritable echo of Red Widow. The ferocity in her face drew him in
until his lips barely grazed hers.

“
Do you think you can
dominate me?”

His mouth slammed against hers in
response.

The next touch triggered an erotic
adventure that knew no end to their hunger. She wanted him to
devour her heart and soul. She wanted to die and be reborn as
something greater.

Vivian didn’t know if she was
possessed by the adrenaline still pumping through her veins or her
appetite for physical liberation.

Damn whatever the cause.

Milo seized her by the throat and
captivated her with smoldering eyes. She was throbbing between her
legs for him. She couldn’t bear much more as she felt him teasing
her, denying her.

“
Beg for me.”

“
Fuck you.” Anger simmered
inside Vivian at the mere thought that he wasn’t giving her
everything she craved, but at the same time it thrilled her. He
pinned her hands above her head as he indulged her fantasy. Every
curve of her body was his to explore at his whim, be that with his
hands or lips.

Vivian threw her head back in pleasure
as he pressed her firmly against the wall. Her first instinct was
to fight this submission and yet she also wanted to be a slave to
his passion. She wanted to be his only lover, his favorite
tormentor. The taste of his lips burned into hers as he ripped off
her clothes.

For the first time in her life, having
sex didn’t feel unclean. She was giving herself to a man who longed
desperately for her.

This was a far cry from the times when
she plied her trade as the Red Widow.

No, Milo viewed her as more than just
a tool to achieve physical release. Vivian dared to dream that the
look in his eyes was unequivocal love.

Milo welcomed her punishment as her
nails dug into his back. She claimed him as her property from this
day forward. The bloody furrows in his muscled arms made it clear
that no other woman was allowed to touch him. Vivian was hardly
perfect but that made her all the more irresistible. Milo was drawn
to her darkness, her sadness, her hunger, and her beautiful
pain.

Vivian’s thighs melted as he made his
desire all too clear for her. She rode the decadent waves of
pleasure that sent her into spasms.

Vivian didn’t even feel the bullet
wound in her side anymore. Her orgasms dulled her flesh to the
pain. She felt healed by this angel who took her in and showered
her with undeserving mercy.

Vivian’s head was in such a haze that
she was only aware of the slick sensation of skin. One moment Milo
cradled one of her breasts against his palm and the next moment his
wandering fingers pushed her up against a cliff of sheer mania. She
screamed in ecstasy before his kiss silenced it.

She wanted to be enslaved.

She felt every facet of pleasure and
joy that always seemed so tantalizingly out of reach.

These explosions in her veins were so
potent, so thrilling that she feared she would only taste this once
in her lifetime and forever lose sight of it.

She futilely tried to hold onto one
speck of happiness.

She didn’t remember the next few
seconds. She couldn’t even hear the words Milo spoke as he left her
feeling empty inside. She reclined on the couch in a ball of
warmth. She felt so good that she wanted to laugh, but she had
expended all of her energy in sensual highs.

Vivian curled up against Milo’s chest,
taking comfort in his feather soft skin. Content in the sanctuary
of his arms, she drifted off to sleep.

Into this soulless void.

FIFTEEN

Strahov Monastery and its literary
treasures harkened back to an age when Camilla wandered Uncle
Sebastian’s cottage with a book in hand. She would end up spending
more than a few evenings by the lakeside reading a novel while
mischievous winds ruffled the pages. Even as she left the monastery
and emerged into the rain, she longed to return to her childhood
home in Adršpach.

How many years had passed since she
last heard Sebastian’s voice? Not only that, she wanted to tell him
about her maternal dilemma. Sebastian was likely the last person to
see her mother when he saved Camilla from the horrors of the
Magdalene asylum. Maybe he could help in some small way.

Feeling anxious, Camilla called him as
the storm thickened over Prague. She watched the streetlights
sizzle into existence and peel away the darkness over
Strahov.

A familiar voice tolled over the
phone.

“
Camilla?”

“
Hi, Uncle Sebastian. Sorry
for calling at such a late hour.”

“
Don’t be sorry, dear. What
are estranged uncles for if not waking them for a friendly chat?”
It took the sound of his laughter to realize how much she missed
the mirth in his voice. Sebastian quickly filled the gap in years
between them with conversations about newly discovered stories, the
weather on the lakeside, and every shade of his hermitic
existence.

When Sebastian realized she had gone
mysteriously silent, he stopped rambling.

“
What’s the
matter?”

“
Someone is trying to kill
me!”

“
What?”

“
My mother has been
stalking me for the past few months!”

“
That can’t be right,
Camilla. You must be mistaken, your mother has no reason
to—”

“
She tried to strangle me
in the park—and she was outside my apartment, waiting for me! I had
to fight her off the first time when she had her hands around my
throat.” For the next few minutes, she recounted the stalking and
violent encounters until Sebastian roared over the phone to be
heard.

“
It can’t be
her!
”

Camilla fell silent.

“
But she was here, waiting
outside my apartment for me.”

“
Why else would she want to
see her daughter after years of separation?! After she was just
freed from the asylums?!”

Camilla almost dropped the phone.
Could every illusion she held about her mother be misplaced? She
was relieved to know her mother wasn’t a bloodthirsty maniac
walking in her footsteps, but it put her plight in an even more
sinister light.

“…
Then who? All of my
relatives are dead.”

Sebastian couldn’t keep the shudder
out of his sigh.

“
Not all of
them.”

Standing alone in the dark, Camilla
looked around the rain-washed streets. She was too overwhelmed to
speak now, too nervous to inquire. She almost wished Sebastian
didn’t impart the truth on her and hung up instead.

“
I…I kept one of your
relatives hidden knowledge from you… I thought it would be for the
best that you never met him. If he’s on your trail, you must
promise me—”

“
Him?
A man is after me?”

The words became lodged in Uncle
Sebastian’s throat.

“
Yes, a man… though he
bears more in common with a beast than a human being. If you met
him, you would question if he is even human.”

“
How dangerous is he? What
does he want from me? Am I going to die?”

“
You’re not going to die! I
won’t let him near you!” Sebastian sounded frantic. “Come back
home. Maybe I can protect you here—but as long as you’re in the
open city, you aren’t safe from him! He’ll seek you no matter the
cost! You need to leave Prague at once!”

Camilla couldn’t conceive that another
Vesely still drew breath. Her mother wasn’t stalking her or
scrawling sigils in blood to torment her. This was something
entirely different. At least when she suspected her mother, she had
an idea of why she was being hunted. Now she felt even more
terrified because she had no clue what would happen
next.

What did this man want from her? She
almost hung up when Sebastian’s tired voice stayed her
hand.

“
Camilla… Please forgive me
for trying to protect you. I never wanted you to see
this.”

* * *

“
Will you stay with me for
another night?” Milo asked. He gazed through the opaque curtains
into the shrouded city. As Vivian wrapped her arms around him, she
saw the markings her nails left in evidence of their cruel
lovemaking. On the surface, he looked cold and calm, but a distinct
restlessness simmered underneath.

Vivian wondered what reflected in his
heart tonight. Did he want her to stay because he loved her? She
wanted to pry the depths of his mind and unearth every secret.
Alas, those temptations would have to wait for another night.
Camilla called her not too long ago about her conversation with
Uncle Sebastian, pleading with Vivian to accompany her to
Adršpach.

She nuzzled against Milo’s
shoulder.

“
I’m going to Adršpach
tomorrow night. Camilla says she needs me and it’s extremely
urgent. I should get going soon.”

Milo fell silent.

“
I don’t understand what
you’re getting mixed up in and part of me doesn’t want to
know.”

Vivian stopped midway as she pulled on
her jacket. The tone of his voice grated against her
nerves.

“
You don’t think I’m doing
something bad, do you?”