The Blood Bride (Blood Secrets) (15 page)

The slip of a hand against her skin teased her, together with the brush of a leg, and she sighed. He slowly pushed away the covers, revealing pale flesh. He looked at her, deep and long, then slowly swayed forward, until their lips touched lightly while the erotic pleasure spiked through her system.

With a gentle caress he touched her intimately. His fingers quested, grazing her core, and she writhed against him, seeking more of his magic touch.

He opened his mouth over a pink, peaked nipple, taking it into the warm, dark cavern, and he suckled at it. The long slow pulls on her flesh left her quivering with reaction.

Beneath her caresses, the corded muscles were warm and tight and she slid her fingers over the flesh, while his gently slipped within her. Pressure, so intense, ballooned within her chest as she cried out, “Xavier!”

Hope bucked sightlessly, reaching towards him. She grasped his erect penis with her small hand. The soft velvety flesh, rock hard in her grasp, and the abrasion of rough hair impinged on her mind for an instant, before it too was swept away by the tide of emotion.

He moved away. She moaned her displeasure and he chuckled, the shock waves battering her beleaguered senses.

Hope gave a soft, exploratory pump of his erection, hearing his groan of pleasure as she felt him engorge further, the veins hard and pulsing under her soft caress. She lifted a hand and gripped his beautiful silky hair, twining her fingers in the length. Hope urged his face towards her breast once more, silently goading him to suckle. His lips touched her skin, and she moaned her delight at his touch.

Hotter and wilder feelings streaked through her. The primal needs within her demanding release as the fire inside her grew exponentially. Her veins carried the heat to every part of her body, and she gulped in a ragged breath.

She dug her heels into the bed as he pushed her back onto the pillows, but she had no awareness of his actions. Instead Hope allowed herself to be swept into a sea of emotions. He slowly, achingly, opened her legs, settling on his knees at her ankles, exposing her to his view. Xavier withdrew his long slim fingers from her burning centre, the carnality in his gaze making her breath catch, while she waited dazedly for him to move.

Time slowed, and she felt unmasked, her discomfort growing beneath his burning survey. Hope moved to cover herself, a hand fluttering towards her abdomen, but Xavier caught it, stilling the movement. In his eyes she could read both need and wonder. His teeth had elongated slightly during their earthy tussle, and she felt herself grow damp at the thought of him latching onto her, drinking from her during the orgasm she knew was coming.

Xavier leant forward. His hot breath whispered over her flesh, and a whimper escaped again while he lashed her clitoris with his tongue. She felt a contraction of her womb begin. Soft wet movements worked on her and she fisted the sheet beneath clenched fingers, while she thrashed from side to side. Her spine arched under his merciless ministrations.

He continued, even as her heart stuttered in her chest, and while her body finally released the pent-up tension, he continued the seductive assault on her senses, and the sensations wound through her once more. This time, though, Hope grabbed his arms, pulling him over her body, with a strength born of desperation. “Inside me… Oh God!” Her words were broken, as his lips touched hers once more, and she finally felt him nudge her legs farther apart, and he settled himself at her core. Now the movements slowed again, while he stared into her eyes, entering smoothly, pushing and sliding to the hilt.

She rubbed his warm, supple flesh, sensitised by overexerted nerve endings. She met him, thrust for thrust, crying out. He moved faster and harder, all traces of the urbane man long gone. She closed her eyes against the pleasure that raced through her.

His teeth grazed her neck and she climaxed, hard, in long squeezing pulls. Felt one last tremendous thrust through her passionate daze, and the rough grunting exclamatory breath against the soft skin of her neck.

Finally the world slowed, and he collapsed upon her satiated body where it sprawled against his. The beat of her heart slowly returned to normal, while the heat inside her dissipated.

Hope opened her eyes to see him watching her. His eyes so green and deep, she could almost drown in the deep calming pools again, the hunger abated for now.

“Thank you, Hope.” The words echoed throughout her.

“What for?”

“For being so giving in your passion. For sharing yourself with me.” He smiled, the crinkles at the edges of his eyes telling her of his pleasure.

“But I should be thanking you. You are a very giving lover.” Hope slid her hand up and down his spine, while she lay in his arms. She was embarrassed on one level, but more so felt an urgency to let him know how much he had given to her. How deeply she had felt the pleasure.

“Then we shall have to thank each other.” He kissed her on the tip of her nose, then pulled her into his arms and she nestled against him quietly, letting the calm fill her once more, before she finally let the embrace of sleep take over.

* * * *

Stress. It had to be the stress of living in the secure quarters with the enigmatic vampire Master. Not having any contact outside the walls, unless Xavier allowed it, weighed on her and she nodded her head and rubbed the toothbrush vigorously over her teeth. It had made her feel abandoned by her family. As if everything that came before had been swept away, rather like an evolutionary change. But even as she thought it, she knew being dishonest with herself was not the answer to this particular problem.

The toothbrush clattered to the sink and Hope leaned both her hands on the counter, looking into the mirror. “Be honest with yourself, Hope. You wanted the sex. You both wanted the sex, and you agreed to it. As a full and willing participant, knowing that would strain things further, true. But you knew that when you started.”

Even as she looked at her face in the mirror, she could see him in her mind’s eye. Beautiful, masterly and sexy. Oh, God! Such an amazing lover. She leaned closer, noting two small grazes barely discernible on the side of her neck. Maybe if she changed to one of the peasant tops, she could wear a ribbon and cameo choker around her neck to hide the evidence, just in case they ran into her family.

Satisfied with that, she hurried into the bedroom, pulled open the doors to the dressing room and hurried in. Drawers faced her and she quickly stripped off the satin dressing gown and began hunting through chests filled with clothing to find a matching bra and panty set. Her fingers closed over cherry red material scraps. She had never worn them before—they had been a gift from one of the nestlings she had lived with during college, as a reminder that she was an adult able to make her own decisions.

They had chuckled that she always took the safe option. She smiled at the memory. That couldn’t be said anymore.

Her mother would be horrified with her choice of underwear. Hope smiled sadly.
But she doesn’t need to know, does she?

With a jolt of defiance, she pulled them out, and started putting the wispy fabric on. The snug panties were little more than a lacy triangle of red net dotted with red kisses at the front and barely any back. The bra was even less, covering just over her nipples, and small red kisses dotted the netting material. She could see her shadowed breasts just behind the naughty kisses, in the floor-length mirror, and for an instant her body quickened while she imagined Xavier’s reaction. She smiled.

There in the cupboard lay a lightweight red peasant top, and she considered teaming it with the black figure-hugging hipster jeans. Perhaps if she wore them with her favourite heeled boots, and pulled her hair up. Once that was completed, she looked at herself critically in the mirror, shaking her head while she added a ribbon choker, hiding the small graze she had spied at her neck.

Better to wear it down.
Hope grabbed the hairbrush and was taming her long black hair when Xavier walked in. She stopped, watching him reflected in the mirror, while he advanced.

The grace of his stride and the hidden muscles under his clothes dried her mouth as she felt the pull of his presence. He smiled, and came to a stop behind her, pulling her back against him with a soft smile.

“You look lovely tonight, Hope.” He lifted a hand and ran a gentle finger over the choker she had chosen, and looked at her. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” The words were low, and his eyes, green pools of forever, reflected in the glass before her.

“No, Xavier. I just thought it might be wise with my parents, that’s all.” She placed a hand over his and turned her head, swiftly kissing the warm hand where it lay on her shoulder, thanking him for his concern.

“Yes, that makes sense. Come, we have work to do, and we do have a timetable.” Once more, her stomach bottomed at the thought of what her parents’ reaction might be when they saw her with him. But she couldn’t hide out here all night, her conscience reminded her.

He wound his arm around her waist, grabbing her attention, and pulled her towards him. “But first, another kiss.” His lips met hers. Tenderly. He lingered for an instant, as the fire streaked through her once more, then he pulled back. “Tonight, I would like to share your bed again, if you will let me.”

 
She felt the thrill of exultation, warming her from the inside, sweeping away the coldness that had filled her since rising from the bed. “Yes.” The words were a whisper against his lips, and he kissed her once more. Another warm touch of lips, and her stomach quivered with anticipation at the long night that was yet to come.

* * * *

Moving quickly up the dimly lit steps led them to the secured door and out into the chandelier-lit bright hall, then into Xavier’s office, their feet tapping on the cold white floor as they went.

“I had a computer set up for you in here. Your degree in information technology will be very useful to us later. But right now, I need you to go through the list of nestlings and consider who would be better in which other nests, as you know them and the others quite well, don’t you?” Xavier stopped suddenly, and Hope nearly collided with him, pulling herself up and nodding.

“Yeah, I guess so.” She nodded absently, her mind already racing, cataloguing those she knew.

“Good. I have a list of how many each can take, and I will also arrange for some to be transferred to the new apartments.” He pointed to a desk that had been set up just to the side of his. A steaming cup of coffee waited for her beside the monitor, and she smiled again at his thoughtfulness.

“Right, I can do that. How many apartments and bedrooms are available in the building?” She seated herself at the computer and turned it on.

“All the information is in the folder Javed is about to bring in.” His words were short and vague, and she glanced around to see he had moved silently into the seat opposite her, and had turned on another computer. A bright red folder was clenched in his hand, and for the first time he seemed tense.

Not long afterward, Javed came into the room, and she raised her head to watch him. “Xavier, James would like to see you, if you have a minute? And here is the list of nestlings.” The words were unhurried, but the look on his face told Hope he had already had a set-to with her father.

“Give the folder to Hope, and tell James I will see him in a few minutes.”

 
She smiled at the absent tone in his voice, imagining her father being brushed off, and let herself focus back on the screen in front of her, setting up a spreadsheet so she could input the suggestions, once she had the information.

“Of course, Xavier.” Hope heard Javed walk towards her, turning quickly, in time to see him hand over a thick folder with a broad wink.

Hope smiled her thanks, then turned back to the computer, thankful the vampire guards had welcomed her into their ranks so easily. She opened the folder, seeing lists of the nestlings, and, noticing tabs, she flicked to the next set of lists, which were the details of the empty apartments. Another tab caught her eye—the details of the numbers of nestlings each other nest was willing to billet. The enormity of the task was clear. It had never occurred to her just how many nestlings lived within the manor grounds or were attached to the household.

Closing her eyes briefly, Hope breathed deeply, clearing her mind of everything around her. Now, with a renewed sense of focus, she reached for the coffee and started work.

He was aware of her, the tapping of her fingers on the keys, the flicking of pages while she moved between the lists. Even as he fought the awareness, he read through the information that had been recovered so far from the testing on the collar. The copper had undergone carbon dating to check its age, although he was sure it was the collar that had been fitted to Estersham. The numbering was the same and so was the lining and the collar itself, right down to the small dent on the clasp. That, and a gut feeling kept telling him that it was the real collar. But if that was so, why hadn’t Estersham died? Who had betrayed them? And whose ashes had they retrieved, if they weren’t Estersham’s?

The thoughts chased around in his mind, and his stomach roiled at the truth.

Someone had known, and that someone had betrayed their oath. Worse still, that someone had been human.

The two rogues who had been captured from the battle at the party had given up very little information, he could see from the report. They were little more than drones, sent into battle with the vague promises of a standing in the new order, and had only seen the leader from the back, never having been considered important enough to address him. Not a lot to go on, Xavier knew, and once more the feeling of anger clawed at his insides.