Conquer the Highland Beast: The Vampire Dylan Macgregor (Hearts of Darkness) (16 page)

Somewhere on a Greek island

Dylan awoke with memories of strange dreams. Children. His son and Leif’s daughter. Evie’s children. Later, his mind was filled with hunger and his body was aroused. Sensations of women servicing him amid the fragrant scent of blood triggered a deep driving desire.

He arched his back and felt no pain. He’d been...wounded. Killed. Dead?

Surprised, he placed a hand over his chest, where he’d been sliced open, and gasped in surprise. He squinted down to look. Confused.

Healed. He was clean—and naked. A faint scar confirmed the spot where he’d been w
ounded. More to the point—slashed open.

A moment of panic sent Dylan’s heart pounding in
his ears. Lying beside him on the enormous bed, in a palatial room lit only by firelight, and just as naked, was Niccolai.

Dylan glanced at the man beside him, inspecting him the way he hadn’t been able to wh
en they’d been servicing the women back at the brothel. Niccolai was as tall as he was, even a match muscularly for him, but that’s where they similarities stopped. His were long sleek muscles compared to Dylan’s broad, thick ones. Their coloring was a contrast as well. Niccolai’s hair was darker, a rich, dark brown compared to Dylan’s lighter sun bleached strands. His chest hair led down his belly to a thicker bunch surrounding his semi-erect penis.

The last thing Niccolai asked had been, “
Were you sincere in your wish to help me?”
...and his own final words were ones of regret. Was this what Niccolai had wanted? Him?

Touching himself, Dylan ran his hand over his morning erection. The touch heated him like never before. Every nerve ending in his body was alive—improbably alive. At least, he felt as though he was. Anything was possible. Moreover, the man beside him was responsible for saving his life.

Niccolai was the one being who understood Dylan’s needs. Yet, Dylan couldn’t shake his confusion over his feelings for the man. Was he physically attracted to him? No, he didn’t feel attracted. However, a definite bond between them existed. Stronger now than before.

A compulsion made him reach out to stroke Niccolai from chest to groin. Curious to see what he felt, he cupped the man’s balls in his hand. Niccolai arched into his hand in sleep. Dylan gripped the hardening cock. It felt odd fondling the erect staff. The sensation was almost as if
he were touching himself. Heat shot through him as if someone touched him back.

Why didn’t the idea of being with Niccolai sexually, bother Dylan the way it should, the way he’d always recoiled at any touch or approach from other men? Had returning from the dead put a new perspective on life? Understandably. Being alive had greater value. The pleasurable moments would mean
more after skirting death. This connection was too strange.

“You are awake my young friend and thinking very loudly.”

Niccolai’s voice jerked Dylan’s attention away from the man’s cock and his own. “Uh, I’m sorry.”

“Do not be concerned.” Niccolai gazed upon him like a benevolent parent, caressing his chest affectionately with his hand. “There is much I must explain, but first you must feed.” With that, his fingernail turned into a dagger like edge, and he tore open his own chest above his heart.

At first, panic set in at the sight of so much blood, before it was quickly replaced by a great hunger and an uncomfortable pressure building in his groin. The reaction Dylan had to the scent and vision was hunger, then it became sexual.

Blood poured from the open wound, and Dylan’s original concern for the man’s safety disappeared with his hunger for blood and sex. A strange bloodlust overwhelmed him.
What should have disgusted him intrigued him. The blood looked beautiful against Niccolai’s white skin and smelled even better.

Fangs elongated behind his lips, forcing his mouth open.

“Drink.” The command came at the same time Niccolai pulled Dylan’s mouth against his chest. “You’ll require more sustenance to gain strength. To convert into the vampire I intend, you will require much ancient blood. This evening, Amyra will visit, and the ancient elders will provide more. You will be the greatest made vampire the world has known.”

Dylan couldn’t resist the compulsion even though a small question formed. “
Why?”

Before he could focus on his questions, instinct forced him toward the source of power. His massive body crawled over Niccolai’s, blanketing the man beneath him as he suckled at his chest. The experience of having the man’s strong arms around him, felt strangely erotic in a completely different way from the sexual act. The feeding was less like sex and more like melding.

Dylan hardened even more at the first taste of blood. The flavor was delicious. The scent of blood filled his senses. Satiation and heat thawed the ice in his bones. The warm thick liquid filled his mouth, and in turn, his veins and arteries pumped with power and strength greater than he’d ever known.

With
feeding, came knowledge.

“Enough. C
lose the wound with your tongue,” Niccolai instructed him holding Dylan’s head between his hands.

After Dylan did as he was told, Niccolai lifted his chin. “When you are stronger, I will take your blood as I did last night. After the next exchange, we will be as close as one in mind and spirit.”

“One? In what way?” Dylan looked down at their erect cocks bouncing against each other’s and frowned. “What am I feeling?”

“Ah, that. The bloodlust. Do not be concerned. I know you fear a man’s touch.”

“I’m not afraid of a man’s touch—”

“Allow me to clarify. It disgusts you, and you have good reason to find a man’s touch objectionable. You wonder if your uncle told the truth.”

He knew. Dylan shuddered. “How do you...?”

Niccolai smiled and opened his mind to Dylan. A scene
similar to Dylan’s constant nightmare appeared. This was in a different country—a different time—different but the same. There was snow on the ground, fire, and destruction everywhere. In the midst of a group of soldiers, the boy being attacked was dark haired with the beautiful silver eyes Dylan recognized as Niccolai’s.

When the link closed, Dylan choked back the emotions he understood all too well. He cleared his throat. “I am sorry for your loss.”

“So am I. My family has been dead a very long time. Those men are also long dead, and who I fuck now is by my choice.”

“And your choice...?”

“I should just say you and I have similar tastes? I prefer women, as you do, but in this new life you will find your needs are somewhat different.”

“Aye, I do feel different.” Dylan breathed a sigh of relief. His body brushed against Niccolai’s and he stilled. He stared at the other man’s mouth and could almost taste him on his tongue. “But...”

The idea of this man didn’t repulse him. In fact, he found himself wondering what it would feel like to have firm male lips kissing his, the rough beard against his skin, an aggressive tongue whipping inside his mouth. Would the textures be different? Erotic? Would he even respond?

Perhaps. He was tempted to see if Niccolai was so inclined. Testing the water with someone he trusted bore consideration if only to resolve his past issues. Niccolai had been right—he feared men.

Their eyes met, but neither of them moved. Their legs were entangled, and their groins were pressed together, cocks hard and erect. Niccolai took their intimate contact casually. Dylan refused to admit he was disturbed by where his thoughts had taken him and his own reaction.

“I will bring back the women to feed us and service our cocks.”

“Oh.” Dylan exhaled and breathed a sigh of relief. “Good.”

Niccolai chuckled at Dylan. “I’m told the feelings are confusing for a newly made vampire.”

“You have not experienced it?”

“No. I was born as I am. I never knew my father. He was Zeus, and my mother was a Titan, the child of a mortal and goddess, killed during the exchange you witnessed in my mind. Some called us
Vampyre, but it is a poor definition of the ancient ones. Most of us are demi-gods, children born of mortals and gods, and our task on Earth is to protect the humans in our territory from the Fallen.”

“Fallen?”

“Immortals or supernatural beings who have chosen the darkness over the light. You know what I’m talking about, right?”

“Aye, I do. Have you made many others like me?”

Niccolai grunted. “No. You are the first I’ve found worthy.”

“Me? Worthy? Y
e’ve made a serious mistake.”

“No. Your berserker nature made you strong enough to withstand the change. Only humans with immortal lineage can withstand the transformation. Your final mortal selfless actions made you worthy. This may not be Valhalla,” he chuckled, “but I promise you will not be disappointed.”

Dylan believed him. Being reminded about saving the two children made him uncomfortable. There’d been so many he hadn’t saved when he should have. “I feel so different.”

“Bloodlust, sex, the threat of death,” Niccolai lifted the leg Dylan had draped over his hips and moved him to the side, “they are, at first, quite difficult to distinguish apart.”

Dylan glanced down and agreed. He believed his body was having an identity crisis.

“Volatile emotions such as hunger, anger, lust, or grief all stimulate similar physical reactions. Our eyes change, our fangs extend, all our muscles and organs—including our cocks—fill with blood to enhance our super human strength and performance.”

Dylan flexed his arms, testing his muscles. Aye, there was a deeper power within him now.

“You are the first known of the berserker line to be turned, so there is no way of telling how strong your reaction will be, but the hunger is irresistible.
While you are experiencing the bloodlust, you would fuck me or anyone to take the blood you need.”

“Maybe. I’ll keep that in mind and try not to allow myself to reach that state of desperation.” Dylan was too confused to think rationally. “Sorry.”

“Your apology is unnecessary.”

He moved back from the man, wondering if he would do it, and if he did would he enjoy it.

“Dylan,” Niccolai waited a heartbeat for Dylan to look up at him, “have no doubt, you would enjoy it. We are sensual creatures.”

He nodded. Niccolai was right and he knew it. This bloodlust was driving him, eating through any semblance of self-control he’d had. “The idea of a soft sweet woman in my arms sounds like exactly what I need at the moment.”

“I beg your patience. I will explain all in due time.”

“Aye, do no’ bother yourself on my account.
’Tis enough you saved me.”

“In the future, since I am your maker, what I experience, you will feel, and what you feel will be as if it is happening to me. That will also be confusing for you, and since I have never before made one such as you, this will also be a learning experience for me.”

Dylan didn’t want to think how the concept of shared feelings and experiences could be both a blessing and a curse...for both of them.

“In the meantime,” Niccolai chuckled and playfully gripped Dylan by the throat, “do not do anything to risk this handsome neck of yours, my young friend. Until your power is at full strength, you are in danger. Even an immortal will not survive the full effects of the sun or having his head severed from his shoulders. Guard your head and your heart well. That is your first lesson. Never forget it.”

“I’ll keep it in mind. Going down with a sword through my back, spilling my guts on the ground at my feet, was a remarkable lesson. Not one I’ll be forgettin’ soon. ’Tis a fact, I’ll be watchin’ my neck. I’ll be doubly careful since I already made a fatal mistake once.”

Niccolai’s laugh rolled through him, long and deep. He slapped Dylan on the thigh and rose with the grace of a cat

“Good. Learn from that lesson.” He went to the table and poured two chalices of deep burgundy liquid from a carafe.

“Be assured, I won’t be
makin’ that same mistake twice.” Dylan couldn’t help but savor the sense of camaraderie between himself and Niccolai.

“Protect your back. Make that a rule for the future as well.” He handed Dylan one of the goblets.

The implications of being one with this man had Dylan wondering. He’d been more than a mere mortal the night before, but mortal he’d been. Capable of dying as he’d so aptly proven.

Once turned, Dylan had been awakened into a world of the truly
immortal. The ancient powerful blood of a demi-god pumped through his veins. Every sense he’d inherited from his mother’s lineage and his father’s was heightened. He was more aware, stronger, and more potent than before. He knew all this because...?

“Because I opened my mind to you.” Niccolai answered before the question fully formed in Dylan’s mind. “Soon I will teach you how to survive. I will teach you the ancients’ secrets. In the future, when I come for you, know I am your maker. You can refuse me nothing.”

Dylan didn’t want to refuse him anything. He was the father he’d lost, the brother he needed, a connection with another being he hadn’t had since that fatal night back at Macgregor keep. “Aye, of course, I’ll do what you ask of me. You are my family now.”