Blood Fire (27 page)
Matthew lifted Octavia into his arms. As a vampire, he now had incredible strength, and he wanted to use it for loving, not fighting. He undid his trousers with one hand. She tugged up her skirts.
He backed against one of the rough stone walls, so that he could brace himself and lift her lush bottom up and down.
Her skirts were all the way up, and she wrapped her legs around his hips. She wore sensible woolen stockings—a maid’s—but her creamy thighs were naked. And no drawers, so the head of his rock-hard cock brushed springy curls, then sticky lips.
He pushed inside her and she rocked on him, taking him deep.
They made love wildly. He moved her around the dungeon, driving his cock up into her, falling back against the walls as his legs weakened with pleasure.
She covered him with kisses. She wrapped her legs tight around his hips, and when she came, she hammered his ass with her heels.
He intended to hold on, but this was so fierce, wild, erotic. A searing heat shot through him as he slammed back against the wall, braced his shoulders against it, then fucked her with long, slow, agonizing strokes.
Her eyes rolled back. “Oh, oh, oh, oh,” she cried. Her hands clutched his shoulders, slapped his chest, and her head lolled.
Then she screamed with pleasure and his control snapped.
He came so hard, his legs gave out, and he sank to the floor with Octavia on top.
She took quick breaths. “It appears cobwebs and dust are not so terrible, and your castle is not so grim after all,” she gasped.
He laughed.
“This is my fault,” she whispered. “You are trapped here now because of me.”
“Love, I feel like I’ve been trapped in the dark, and you’ve brought me light. I was afraid to love anyone after I lost my father and after I had to kill my brother. But I love you.
“What happened to Gregory was my fault,” he continued. “It unleashed a demon—the one who is hunting for you now. Her name is Esmeralda, and she wants to rule the world—”
“Yes, Mrs. Darkwell told me everything.”
“I love you, Octavia. It’s the truth. But I don’t deserve you.”
Hours later, she found her husband standing on the top of the tower—she had discovered another set of stairs that led from his old bedchamber to the roof.
It was twilight. The sky was slate-blue, streaked with indigo and purple clouds. Snow lay on the ground in patches, and her breath misted in the air. She wore a fur cloak that had been found and provided for her.
Matthew leaned on one of the crenellations at the edge of the tower, resting on his elbows. His shirt was out of his trousers, flapping in the wind. It was open at his throat. His sable brown hair was tossed by the breeze.
Octavia came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. She pressed her chest against his back. His skin was cool to her touch. “I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you. I’m a witch, and I’ve brought you into danger. And you should not be out in the cold.”
“The cold does not bother me. The danger is my fault,” he growled. “If I hadn’t freed Esmeralda, who is determined to rule the world, no one would be hunting for you. There’s more, Octavia—” He broke off, and pushed her to the side, so she was behind the taller section of stone.
“Stay there. Stay behind the stone.”
“What is it?” she whispered. Pressing close to the stone, she peeked through the open space intended for archers to fire.
Light—the faint light left in the sky—reflected off something in the trees. She heard a series of muted growls, as if an entire pack of wolves was in the woods, watching and waiting. “It’s werewolves, isn’t it?”
“Yes, and they aren’t alone. There are a lot of beings out there. A lot of different smells.”
Smells? She couldn’t smell anything.
Matthew had closed his eyes and frowned, as though he was thinking hard. “The servants,” he muttered. “We don’t have much weaponry, and there are few men on the estate, but we have no other choice. We have to fight.”
The last glow of sunlight disappeared, and the sky turned a dark purple. Then the moon brightened, and she could see as moonlight illuminated the forest.
Beings were moving. She heard growls and grunts. Between the dark tree trunks, flames flickered. The light made shiny scales glow, revealed wings and tails.
“Dragons,” he said tersely. “Along with vampires, werewolves, and warlocks. They’ve grouped to attack.”
Like an army of powerful, unimaginable beasts. Octavia closed her eyes, and she held up her hands, and she willed a huge wind to blast at the trees.
She hadn’t been able to stop the warlocks from attacking her husband, but her powers could not fail her now.
They didn’t. She felt the wind sucking at her as it left her and rushed down the wall. She screamed as she was almost pulled off the edge of the wall.
Matthew grabbed her around the waist.
But she didn’t stop the wind from flying over them. She envisioned all the beasts flying through the air, being carried miles away, tumbling through the air.
With a roar, the wind she’d created hit the trees.
Just as she had imagined, hundreds of dark forms flew through the air, silhouetted against the sky.
But some held on to trees and stood their ground.
Howling with fury, the remaining creatures rushed at the stone surrounding the castle bailey.
The wall held most of them off, but then something ripped the drawbridge out of the wall, and ran inside. It was heading toward the bailey—toward their fortified home. Octavia didn’t know what it was, but she heard it roaring. She had run along the battlements, and now she must use her magic to fly across the courtyard to their house. Below, servants were flooding out of the house, armed with axes, pistols, swords. They ran toward the wooden drawbridge that had been torn off. But Matthew had few men on the estate, and whatever the beast was that had gotten through, it crashed through his small army of servants, knocking them over like skittles.
Men screamed and fell. Their faces and chests were slashed.
“Octavia, stop!” From behind, Matthew grabbed her.
Octavia tried to wrench free. “Lottie,” she screamed. “There are only two nurses watching her. She’s in danger. I must get back to our house.”
Matthew released her. “Stay up here; you should be safe.”
He ignored her protests and left her. He ran as fast as he could along the wall to the stairs that led through the wall to the courtyard. As soon as he reached the ground, he transformed into the shape of a bat. It was dark; Octavia wouldn’t be able to see him, and he had to get to Lottie as quickly as he could.
He swooped across the yard and flew up the side of their fortified house. He flew through the window of the nursery. Glass shattered; wood splintered. Charlotte was howling, waving her fists and kicking in the bassinet. A man stood over the baby. Instantly, Matthew took in every detail of the naked man with large muscles, black hair on his head and his body, and the wickedly lethal-looking set of fangs.
Then he returned to the form of a man, launched through the air, and tackled the werewolf to the floor.
The beast sank teeth into his shoulder and tore off some skin. Matthew howled in anger, but the werewolf had incredible strength. The huge man dragged Matthew’s arm behind his back. It broke like a snapped twig.
It healed almost as quickly, working perfectly as he threw punch after punch at the beast’s jaw, ears, nose. Claws shredded his clothing, leaving gouges that stung with pain. Then he went to punch the werewolf in the stomach but it moved, faster than he could.
Teeth snapped at his chest, the tips plunged, but he threw the werewolf off before his heart was torn out.
The werewolf fell to the floor with a thud that shook the bassinet. Lottie shrieked. He had to get rid of the assassin. And Lottie, fortunately, was too little to understand what he was going to do.
He lunged and bit the beast in the throat.
Strong arms threw him off, but his teeth had opened wounds. Blood flowed down the werewolf’s neck.
The rich, heavy, metallic tang of it filled the air of the nursery. The scent overpowered him. It made his body shake and shudder. Shooting pain raced from his fangs through his head.
Hunger . . . all he could think of was sating his damned hunger.
Roaring, he plunged his teeth in again, into the neck of the beast who’d intended to hurt or steal his daughter. A river of blood was released by his teeth, filling his mouth.
He reveled in it. It felt good to suck the life out of this monster.
The werewolf writhed in his arms, his muscles trembling and popping under Matthew’s tense grip. Matthew moved his hands off the body as it shifted shape, but he kept his fangs sunk deeply into the neck.
Legs transformed from human to animal; muscular arms became legs with paws. Though the beast writhed to escape his teeth, his vampire strength made it impossible for any prey to break free without ripping its neck open.
This is for coming for an innocent baby,
he growled in his thoughts.
he growled in his thoughts.
A girl child must die, along with the succubus,
the werewolf snarled in return.
Destroy me, but it won’t end. There’ll be more. They will both die—
the werewolf snarled in return.
Destroy me, but it won’t end. There’ll be more. They will both die—
Matthew jerked his fangs along the neck, slicing the throat of the assassin who was halfway between man and wolf. In his peripheral vision, he saw Octavia rush in and scoop Lottie out of the bed. She hugged their child to her and backed toward the door.
“Matthew—?” she whispered.
Horror made her tones soft and raspy. He knew—he could hear it. But he couldn’t stop. He drank the rest of the creature’s blood, then let the drained body flop to the floor. Blood soaked the carpet and floor. Toys and tiny chairs had been scattered in their struggles; things had been broken.
His daughter’s bedroom had been desecrated.
Slowly he stood, towering over his fallen victim, and he brushed his hand across his mouth, wiping off blood with a quick sweep.
Tears rushed down Octavia’s cheeks. “You saved her. You saved our baby’s life. But you—” Her voice died away, and he heard the sound she made—a smothered gasp of shock and pain.
There was no hiding the truth now. She had seen his mouth fastened on the man’s neck. Blood was everywhere. It had squirted so fast he hadn’t been able to drink it all. Red was smeared on his hands, had soaked his cuffs, dripped from his lips.
“How,” her voice came, as a tiny squeak, “did you do that?”
“Now you know the truth about me,” he answered grimly. He took a step toward her, and his heart fractured as he saw her clutch Lottie more tightly to her breast. Octavia shuffled back as though she wasn’t even aware she wanted to escape him.
Matthew glanced out the window. His servants were fighting off the vampires and shape-shifters. Another great gust came, and it formed into a maelstrom. His servants retreated, and the whirling wind picked up the enemy and carried them away.
The attack was over.
Matthew gave a hollow smile. “I’m a vampire.”
17
Hell and Back
H
e had thought she would run from him, or try to stake him in the heart, or use her magic to throw him out the window, as she’d done with the other monsters.
e had thought she would run from him, or try to stake him in the heart, or use her magic to throw him out the window, as she’d done with the other monsters.
Matthew watched Octavia as she laid Lottie in the bassinet. He’d commanded it be brought to Octavia’s bedroom, while the nursery was cleaned. The cleaning had been done by Octavia’s magic. She had made mops and water-filled buckets appear, and had used her powers to make those things clean the bloodstains. Then, with some whispered words and a wave of her hand, she’d sent the fallen body of the werewolf tumbling through the air to land with his companions.
Her magic was growing more powerful.
Even with the nursery clean, neither of them had wanted to stay in it. They hadn’t wanted to try to put Charlotte to sleep there.
“Now I understand—so many things are explained,” Octavia said softly, as she moved away from the bassinet, toward him. “The blood on your lips when you chased the male witches—it wasn’t your blood, from a wound; it was
their
blood. This is why you left me this afternoon when we came here— you had to sleep. It must have been hurting you to stay awake in the day. . . .”
their
blood. This is why you left me this afternoon when we came here— you had to sleep. It must have been hurting you to stay awake in the day. . . .”
“Yes, all that is true,” he said humbly.
“Why—why didn’t you tell me the truth?” she whispered.
“You seduced me without telling me who you were,” he pointed out. They had both made mistakes.
But his words made her go pale. “So you mean because of that, we should never have to tell each other the truth, or trust each other?”
“No.” He groaned. “I thought you would run from me, if I told you; that you would be terrified. Yet you aren’t afraid of me.”
“We’ve been together for days. I expect if you wanted to drink my blood, you would have done so.”
But she didn’t know how much he had craved her blood. It was only because he’d sated his appetite on warlocks and werewolves that he had been able to last.
What would he do when he had no assassins to kill and feed from? What if they were here for days, hiding inside for safety? He would have no source of blood.
He wouldn’t be able to deny the hunger.
But he now had less than one week before he would be destroyed.
Octavia had said those remarkable words:
I love you
. But it was before she knew he was a vampire. Now that she did know, he had not changed back to a mortal. Was it because he hadn’t really captured her heart and her love?
I love you
. But it was before she knew he was a vampire. Now that she did know, he had not changed back to a mortal. Was it because he hadn’t really captured her heart and her love?
The way she glared at him now, he guessed she wasn’t in love with him
Lottie fussed, letting out little squeaks and squawks in her bassinet. Octavia leaned over her at once. Matthew stayed where he was—Octavia’s anger and disappointment with him felt like a wall around his daughter’s bed. He felt that he had no right to go to her.
He had betrayed Octavia’s trust. He could understand why she hadn’t told him her identity: She had needed sex to survive; she’d chosen him to give it to her, and she’d known he wouldn’t do it if he’d known he was ravishing a virgin.
Her life had depended on it.
So did his; he could only save his life if he won her love.
Matthew looked over at mother and daughter—his wife and child—and he’d never felt so alone. That was what he’d vowed he would be. Alone, with his heart untouched.
Now, if he got his wish and ended up that way, he would welcome destruction.
He prayed Charlotte was so young, she wouldn’t understand or remember the carnage in the nursery.
Suddenly Lottie lifted her legs. She gave a funny smile, with her brows pulled down in a serious frown. Then a loud squirting sound came, along with the ripe smell of a baby’s excrement.
Lottie glowed with peaceful delight, then she frowned again, and there came more squirting and more smell.
Octavia looked to him. “We must change her.”
Knowing she wanted him to help was like a weight lifting from his heart. He’d never felt happier in his life—or in his undead existence. He’d never dreamed he would feel such joy at the prospect of dealing with his daughter’s soiled nappy.
It meant Octavia might still care for him.
Or, he thought ruefully, she just didn’t enjoy dealing with an infant’s smelly mess. He had to know. “Do you think you could find it in your heart to forgive me? I should have been honest with you.”
She gazed at him, and he saw so much wisdom in her eyes, he was stunned. In just months, she seemed to have gone from an impulsive girl to a strong woman.
“I’m a witch,” she said. “That would terrify most people, but you have accepted my powers all along. You have never run away from me because of what I am. You even married me after I told you how sex with you had saved me. You should have thought I was insane, but you listened to me. I’m not going to run away from you because you are a vampire.”
Her strength and courage shook him to his core. He was the most fortunate of men to have her forgiveness, to have such a remarkable, beautiful wife.
His father had told him that love was a dangerous thing, that it couldn’t be trusted, that it always betrayed a man.
His father . . . Hell, he was beginning to think his father had been wrong.
Octavia wasn’t betraying him. He was the one doing it to her. He still wasn’t telling her all the truth. He couldn’t. How could he tell her he was condemned to die, that he needed her love, that if she did not love him despite being a vampire, he would be destroyed?
All his life, he’d been afraid that love could hurt him.
The curse was proof that love was the only thing that could save a man.
For the first time since she’d had her daughter back, she was able to change Lottie’s nappy and her swaddling blanket in only a few minutes, instead of a quarter of an hour.
Octavia saw Matthew watching her as she laid the little bundle that was Lottie on the soft sheets in the bassinet. He was smiling a sweet and adoring smile. She smiled as well—she could not help it.
“Success,” she whispered. “All clean and changed.”
“I think we just might get the hang of this business after all,” he said.
That made her smile all the more, a grin that came from her heart.
Gently, he set the bassinet swinging. “She’s gone back to sleep, Octavia,” he said softly.
Octavia watched her husband watch their baby. His smile brought out the dimple in his cheek. His eyes glowed with warmth. It wasn’t because they were a vampire’s eyes reflecting light—they were brilliantly illuminated from within.
Matthew looked happy, and he had once told her he was incapable of love or happiness.
But then his smile faded. Her heart gave a nervous lurch. He had looked as if he’d forgotten about pain and guilt for a few seconds, then it came rushing back. The haggard look returned to his silvery blue eyes. Lines formed across his brow and around his tense mouth.
“Do you think it is over?” she asked. “Do you think we’ve driven the assassins away?”
He shook his head. “I’m afraid not. But you need to sleep tonight. Don’t worry—I’ll be awake to watch over you.”
She sank down onto the bed. She wrapped her arms around her knees. “Would you come to bed?”
He cocked his head. How vulnerable he looked. “You want me to?” he asked. “Even though I was an idiot who didn’t tell you the truth?”
“I need you. I—I want you.” It was the truth. She needed him—she was beginning to feel weak and dizzy. But she wanted him for more than just sex. She wanted him to hold her. She ached to hold him.
She had run away thinking she could survive alone. Perhaps she could; using her powers she could protect herself. But she didn’t
want
to be alone any longer.
want
to be alone any longer.
She glanced up at Matthew. Her breath vanished. It left her so fast she almost fell off the bed.
He was naked. In a heartbeat, he’d stripped off his clothes.
He padded to the bed. When Matthew felt guilty, he always left her, Octavia realized. So if he was returning to bed, this had to be good. He was opening his heart. He was capable of love and happiness. She was going to be patient and keep stoking that warmth growing in his heart.
Assuming they both lived long enough.
She wouldn’t think of that. Right now, she couldn’t. Right now she needed happiness and . . . and pleasure. She needed it as if it were as potent as a drug.
Using her powers, she had her clothes off in an instant, too. Octavia slid under the covers as her husband lifted them to get underneath. She rolled to him, but he tucked the sheets and counterpane beneath her chin.
“Sleep,” he urged. “Lottie will want to be fed soon. When she wakes, I’ll bring her to you. It’s one of the advantages of being a vampire and a father.”
Matthew gave a rueful smile and held out his arm, so she could snuggle in his embrace.
But it wasn’t enough. Octavia climbed on top of him, saw his brows shoot up. She was so aroused, and so was he—his cock slid in her tight passage as soon as she straddled him.
“I have to make love,” she whispered. “I need it—and right now, I am very glad you stay up all night. For I think I’ll need to do this for
hours
.”
hours
.”
She had indeed done it for hours, exhausting him to his core, but leaving him almost drunk with pleasure and sensual satisfaction. His cock was limp, his heart was thundering, and he had never felt like this. They were in danger; he felt actually . . . content.
And finally, Octavia was asleep.
Matthew eased away from her. She had snuggled her bottom against him. She needed to sleep, and he had to go.
But she lay on top of his arm.
He wished he had magic powers, to lift her so he could escape without waking her. Matthew used his superior speed to slide his arm out from beneath her.
She woke. She blinked, then frowned. “You’re leaving?”
“You aren’t to leave these rooms, my dear. It would be too risky. Stay locked in here, with Lottie.”
Eyes wide, Octavia sat up, the sheets tumbling off her full breasts. Matthew saw her dusky nipples and swallowed hard. His cock bucked against his belly. He really wanted to rejoin her in bed. He couldn’t.
“Where are you going?”
“To ensure you and Lottie are safe. I’m going to end this.”
“How?” she gasped.
“That’s what I intend to find out. They’re going to hunt us forever, unless I can find a way to end this. I’m going to find De Wynter.”
“You’re going to travel all the way to London?”
“One advantage to being a vampire: I can transform into the shape of a bat and fly there in a few hours. But you must stay inside, stay here and be safe.”
The sun was setting.
Holding Lottie tightly to her chest, wrapped in a thick fur throw, Octavia ventured as close to the battlements as she dared. She half crouched behind the tall part of the crenellations and peeped over the stone ledge. A cold wind whipped through the slot intended for archers. It whirled across the tower’s roof. She was afraid if she went any closer she would be shot by an arrow, hit by a warlock’s spell, or the wind would drag her baby from her arms.
Eyes glinted below in the dark of the forest. It was almost nightfall. An entire day had gone by.
Matthew hadn’t returned, but the assassins had.
She had tried to send the fierce wind again to blow the assassins away, but it had hit the trees and then rushed around the men hiding in the forest, leaving them untouched.
She had tried to throw anything she could think of at them. In desperation, she’d tried to start the woods on fire. Nothing had worked.
She had thought her powers were growing stronger. Now, when she desperately needed them, they had failed her.
Where was Matthew? Was he dead—or whatever it was called when a vampire ceased to exist? Or was he still in London with De Wynter, while she and her daughter were trapped here?
She believed he would have raced back at once to protect her and Lottie.
He must be in trouble. Or he must be destroyed.
The thought made her shake with horror and pain. Blinding, stinging tears leapt to her eyes. They blurred her vision when she needed to see. She felt weak. Her faulty powers had drained her strength.
She felt completely drained by the thought that she would never see Matthew again.
She
couldn’t
have lost him now, when she finally knew how much she loved him.
couldn’t
have lost him now, when she finally knew how much she loved him.
Heavens, she couldn’t have lost him when, without him, she and Lottie had no hope.
The monsters were emerging from the woods, massing at the edge of the dry moat that ringed the castle walls.
Without her magic, there was nothing to stop them—
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