The Blood Bride (Blood Secrets) (25 page)

He grabbed her skirt and pulled. The sharp noise as it ripped rent the air, louder than she had ever before experienced. She arched beneath him now, wild with passion, and she felt the air on her nearly naked body.

“Oh, God!” she cried. He tugged on her panties. “Don’t rip them. I love them.” Her head thrown back, her nipples exquisite points of sharp, hard pleasure, she realised he had pulled them down over her cast. She splayed her legs wide. Wanting and needing to feel the pleasure of his body, his hands, even his mouth on her. She keened in her throat, once more in appeal.

He fastened his lips to the skin at her throat, positioning himself between her thighs. “More, Xavier! Please!” Her words were hoarse with arousal and she shook.

His touch roamed over her sweaty wet flesh.

She felt his blunt shaft at her entry, felt his push, as his teeth once more entered her skin, his movements mirroring his sucks. She pushed his mouth away, and instead demanded his kiss.

He thrust and she met it.

Parry for parry, both of them gripping the other, each fought for the release just beyond their grasp.

She pulled his lips to hers, seeking the coppery taste once more of his wet mouth. Swiping a hungry tongue over his blood-tainted lips while she exploded around him. Aware of the coppery tang filling her head, so heady and rich, her body splintered beneath his.

The long pulls of her body’s muscles welcomed his orgasm, milking him, and the wish of one last thrust, one last pull, filled her to bursting point, as she felt him come apart in her arms.

The feel of him jetting into her body left her feeling replete as never before.

They stilled, panting in each other’s arms, the aftermath of their cataclysmic loving a revelation. She smiled sleepily, as she lay quietly in his arms, until a sharp pain racked her, tearing through her head, intense and sharp.

She gripped both sides of her head, but the pain grew exponentially. “Ahhh…”

Dull with the pain of the initial explosion, it continued to grow. Her stomach roiled in defence while she curled against the tremors that were now racking her body. “Dear God, what’s happening to me?”

She was even more shocked to realise she had asked the words out loud, but the pain in her head increased. She moaned loudly, feeling the bile rising in her throat.

She slumped back in his arms, her breath coming in wild pumping gasps. Her mouth stung viciously. Hot tears leaked from between tightly closed lids.

Xavier swung his arms around, as she experienced vertigo and her limbs feeling almost soft and boneless. “Oh, I really don’t feel so great,” Hope moaned, holding onto her head, the seesaw sensation increasing.

“My eyes hurt,” she whimpered. He swung her up into his arms. The grip of darkness filled in at the edges of her vision, creeping closer before finally overtaking her.

Chapter Nine

She woke. The buzzing nearby was annoying so she flicked at the mosquito, finally realising that there wasn’t one. The noise continued, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was. Hope opened her eyes, and the light, shining brightly above, hurt them. She moaned. At least she thought it was her. Loud and guttural.

Her mouth hurt, it was dry and irritated. In fact, her whole head hurt, but especially her jaw, and she tried to think if there had been an accident.

Thinking back hurt, but all that came to mind was the amazing sex she had enjoyed with Xavier, after he had fed from her.

The intensity of it had caught her unaware. Hope attempted a smile, groaning as the move made her face throb. She raised her fingers to touch the side of her mouth. Something protruded from her aching gums. Something sharp. Long. The touch stung her flesh a little, and she gasped at the unfamiliar sensation.

What was going on?
The thought reverberated through her aching brain.

A movement close by caught her attention. A hand. Male. Short hairs dotted along the pale skin. She looked up. Xavier.

“Where am I?” The words slipped from her lips. Awkward, muffled and almost lisping, and it certainly didn’t sound like her.

“You’re awake. How do you feel?” Xavier leaned over her, and she thought about how anxious he sounded, the soft touch of his hand upon her skin. She took a quick inventory of how she felt. Her leg no longer ached and she felt full of energy.

“I feel fine. Actually, better than I did before the attack on the cars. Why?” Her head still had that filled-with-cotton-wool feeling, but even now that was dissipating. “Where am I and what happened?”

He looked uncomfortable, opened his mouth, closed it as he seemed to think better of his original answer, then opened it again. “We are at Cressida’s.” He swung away, stepping to the end of the bed and coming back, his hair standing up in crazy spikes that made her smile. She grimaced again. “There has been a slip-up, though.” He seemed so upset, leaving her puzzled and wondering what could have happened.

“What’s wrong, Xavier? Why does my head feel odd and my mouth hurt?”

“Oh, God!” Xavier’s lids closed over his pained green eyes for a second, before opening again. A seed of doubt filled her… “Hope, I don’t know how to tell you. There was an accident…when we made love.” Did he drink too much? Leave her with too little blood that needed some attention? Had he been a little rough?

“Xavier, I told you to drink. Did you take too much? I’m still here, so all is fine.” She relaxed, but his face was still white and drawn. “It’s okay. Really.” Somehow he didn’t look like that was sufficient to absolve his guilt, and a seed of dread sprouted in her mind. “Xavier?”

“It isn’t that, Hope. When I fed from you, we got a little carried away. It seems the antibodies and virus within your body which is what our scientists had surmised do not make you immune to the virus. You must have ingested some of your own blood. We already knew I wasn’t susceptible unless I…”

She watched him closely as she swallowed. “What? What happened?”

When he opened them, there was devastation on his face. A deep pain evident in his eyes. “Hope? I turned you. You’re now a vampire.”

Hope scooted back on the bed, away from his words.
Turned?
“No. No. No.” The words dripped like icicles, and even as she said them, sharp pains crashed through her head. “No way. You have to exchange blood for that, and I sure haven’t ingested any of yours.” She shook her head from side to side.

He moved forward, and with each step he took closer to her, she scooted a little farther away from his touch, as if it was going to brand her.

The pained expression on Xavier’s face caught her attention. Pained! What about her life? She didn’t want to become a vampire. It had never featured in her daydreams.

She hadn’t been one of those kids who wrote ‘Dear diary, when I grow up, I want to be a blood-sucking, eternal, light-denied vampire!’

Hysteria grew. “No. I don’t want to be a vampire.”

He winced. “I’m so sorry, Hope. Sometime during our lovemaking, you must have ingested some blood. Do you remember…” God, his faced turned red, as if he struggled with the words. “Ahh…being…with me?” His words seemed uncertain, and she nearly threw up, as she knew exactly what had happened.

She had been hot and so very ready. Something had begun, when he had taken her wrist and his mouth had wandered up her body. God help her, she had been turned on by the time he had finished. It had been rough and wild. She had a vague recollection of kissing him, tasting…

That was it! When he had kissed her and she had tasted it. The blood with its coppery tang and she had wanted more. The thought crashed as another surge of pain rocketed through her. Her head felt like it was going to split on either side of her mouth.

“Ahhh!” The pain took voice, and she reached to grab either side of her head. She could see his face, white and drawn for the first time. “What. Is. Happening. To. Me?” Her stomach roiled and her mouth was dry.

“Your fangs are descending for the first time. The pain will pass soon, but we need you to feed.” He thrust out his wrist, and she noticed the shirt sleeves rolled up.

“How long have I been…changing?”

“Three days. The first you were like a…corpse. There was no rousing you. That is when we removed your cast. The second you moaned a lot, but I stayed here with you. I know you don’t have any recollection, but Cressida has been in to check you a couple of times as well.” He tried to keep her calm. She could see the agitation he was trying to cover with the quiet voice and slow movements. The clenched fist, the tight way he held his lips and the set of his shoulders. “You need to feed first, and then we can talk.” The voice called to her, as a ripple sounded through the room, the pulsing sound mesmerising her. What was that sound?

She sniffed. Her mouth watered, and her vision narrowed to a pinprick. She saw him, the red glowing pulse of his veins as they throbbed with the liquid she wanted. Needed. She licked her lips. Her head ached viciously, and she knew she needed to feed to stop it. Hope closed her eyes.

The sound grew louder, the rhythmic whooshing, as footsteps came closer. She felt the touch of a warm hand on hers, gently extending his wrist to her. She felt it being guided towards her mouth. She snapped her eyes open.

His wrist rested mere inches from her mouth, the veins tracing under the pale skin, and the thirst raged inside her. She snatched it up to her mouth, as her stomach churned painfully. She tasted the saltiness of his skin, and slid her tongue along his arm. He pressed up with a quick jerk, piercing it with her teeth, like a rich ripe peach, and the first spurt hit her taste buds. The taste! So full and delicious!

The first draw exploded on her tongue, just as a fine full-bodied wine would, and she drew again, more this time and faster. Each suck seemed to do something to her. The first opened her to the taste, the second eased her thirst, but the third, dear God, her body tightened with the third.

The erotic pull of the act filled her and left her empty at the same time. Made her in loins ache, that only he could assuage. It pulled at her, from her mouth to her heart and all the way to her cleft, and she felt a heat pool once more, deep down inside. But this was stronger, deeper and far more primitive.

Hope pulled away from his wrist, as he leant forward towards her lips. His deep green eyes were darker and more mesmerising than she had ever noticed before. Deeper and greener than the pools she had originally likened them to. Like the bottomless ones she had seen on some of the estates she had visited. His were so warm and inviting, surrounded by thick lashes that reminded her of the fine fern fronds that fringed tropical pools, inviting wells of forever.

She whimpered at the loss of the dark liquid, but the moan of pleasure that quickly overtook her was filled with a longing she couldn’t contain. She watched as he reached for her. Hope closed her eyes once more, against the tight and lustful look upon his face, but other senses took over. She could smell him—the aroused musky scent filled the air.

She reached out, letting her touch skate over the tight planes of his chest, covered in fine cotton. She wrenched it out of the way, hearing the tear of material. The heaving chest below, then she heard the hiss of his breath.

She opened her eyes and gazed at him, taking in the red tinge around his irises, as his passion for her rose.

This time the pleasure was rough and quick. Tearing at each other’s clothing with sharp questing fingers. The need was a pain that had to be assuaged. She arched. Her sensitive nipples met his hard chest, rubbing and abrading against his skin.

Only him. Only he could fill her need. “Xavier?” Buttons flew, as his pants tore under her quick hands. The sheet that had covered her was flung to the floor, forgotten, as it lay with his discarded and ruined shirt, joined by his leather belt, pants and boxers. The shredding, loud in her ears, and tongues quested in wet-seeking mouths, even as their clothes fluttered to the floor, forgotten heaps of torn material.

“I’m right here. With you.” And he was there. Oh, God! On the bed with her, above her, so fast there was no time for any foreplay as he shoved himself into her body, but she was as wet and ready for him as he was hard and full. His fully engorged shaft entered with a swift thrust, and she cried out, feeling him moving within her tight, hot sheath, pushing her towards completion. He filled her totally, and the sound of their movements rang loud in her ears.

Slapping flesh thudded loudly while they moved and undulated on the rumpled sheets. The smell of sex filled the room, enhancing the senses that already cried out to her. “More! Oh, please, more!”

The explosion was cataclysmic. They orgasmed together, the long hot pulse of his jetted semen, salty in fragrance, mixing with her damp musky fluid coating him. The dying sounds of their incoherent words of passion echoed in the room.

They lay still, holding one onto the other, hearts screaming as they beat against wet and sweaty bodies, still heaving as they gulped down air.

She held onto him while their skin cooled. The smells still filled the air, enticing, and she opened her eyes. She cleared her throat and he watched. Dear God, he was still inside her, watching her. “Will it always be like that?” Too late, she realised she had said the words aloud.

“I have never experienced anything like that before.” His words sounded uneven and strained, as he raised a shaky hand towards her face, pushing back strands of black hair that tangled in his hand.