The Blood Bride (Blood Secrets) (26 page)

He chastely set his forehead against hers. She closed her eyes too, letting the silence slip around them like an old glove.

What would happen next? For a moment she didn’t care. She had Xavier in her arms, and whatever came next she was sure they would face it together.

“Yes.” His word came out of nowhere, ending her reverie.

“Yes? Yes, what?” She jerked upright against him.

“Yes, we will work this out together.” She pulled back, confused. She had just thought about them working it out—in her mind. Now, he was answering. A cold prickle at the nape of her neck rose as suspicion grew.

“I just thought that.” She could feel her brow furrow with confusion. “How did you know what I was thinking?” The words tumbled out. Hurried and harsh and needing an honest answer.

“Because you and I are linked now. By blood.” He watched her. His face was devoid of emotion, and she felt a cold shiver pass through her system. No secrets? “What do you mean linked? Does that mean you can read my mind?”
No way!
That was so wrong if he could read her mind. She looked for something to cover herself with, but there was nothing. She made to disengage their bodies, but he stopped her.

“Wait, Hope. Not in so many words.” She could feel the hurt and sadness, and a hollow pit formed in her stomach at the loss she could hear in his voice. “I can feel your emotions, and when you are unguarded, I can read your thoughts. Before you wanted to know whether we could or would work through this together, and I answered you. Verbally. If you drop your defences, I can talk to you in other ways as well.”

She slumped back. The enormity of the link overwhelmed her.

Now that you have dropped your natural shield, I can talk to you this way as well. Yes. I can hear you and you can hear me. It is a kind of defence mechanism. It allows me to keep you safe. To be in constant contact, and aware of your physical condition so that I can protect you.
Xavier closed his eyes, as if trying to decide how best to explain. “It works both ways, stops me from putting you in danger, allowing me to communicate distress or defensive tactics, and it stops us from surprising the other with an attack.”

His lips curled up with self-derision. “But it only works if we are open to each other and both want it.” He reached towards her, but Hope shied back, pulling her hand away, and his dropped back down.

“Do we have to be in the same room together, and how did this link thing form anyway?” Questions. So many questions to be asked and things she never knew to learn.

“No, we don’t need to be in the same room, but within a reasonable vicinity, depending on age, experience and ability. As for the other, that is simple. We shared blood when I turned you. In turn, you fed from me. All those things come together, like a chemical reaction. My age also played a part. I am several hundred years old, so my blood is strong and you benefited from it. You took sustenance from me.” He dropped his eyes for a moment, and she felt a frisson of alarm race through her system. Hers or his she couldn’t tell.

“If you want me to leave, though, just say the word and I will go. I’ll leave you with Cressida. I know she would ensure your safety and placement in a suitable nest.” He pulled back from her, and she felt a wrench, not just physical but emotional. Like he was tearing her into pieces with his emotional distance, and her whole body rebelled at the thought.

“No!” The words erupted from her lips. Anguished. She grabbed his shoulder. “Please don’t go.” She was confused, hurt, angry, frightened and when all was said and done, this had not been his fault, and to be brutally honest, she wanted him to stay with her. No matter what had happened, she wouldn’t lie to herself.

And yes, though she wasn’t ready to tell him, she loved him. She let the thought filter, as she imagined a thick brick wall between them, hiding the words from his view. God, she hoped it was enough. It had to be enough, at least for now, until they were ready to face their emotions together.

He didn’t react, so she hugged the knowledge to herself, taking stock of her situation. They could talk telepathically. She was a vampire, now wholly reliant on a blood supply. Damn. How would her parents take that?

The times were a-changing, and she had to work out what she needed to do in order to survive her new reality. Needed to know what she had to do to emerge whole and intact, physically if not emotionally, at least. She closed her eyes, and breathed in and out heavily. “What do we do now?” She let the question hang in the air, as she searched his face.

The words were a gift.
‘What do we do now?’
He wanted to whoop with exultation. Ever since the session on the night he was attacked, he had been waiting for her to wake. Yell at him. Rail that she had been changed against her will, even though they both knew it was an accident.

“Cressida needs to see you, but you may want to shower and dress before seeing her. Then, I guess we need to work out how the…change…affects the dynamics of our problems.”

She watched him, her face luminous as he had never seen before. The shadows below her eyes were finally gone, her lips redder than he’d seen before, while her eyes themselves sparkled with a new light and strength. The whole time she’d been unconscious, during the change, he had stayed beside her. How could he not? It was his fault, even if accidentally.

“Well then, I guess you had better show me to the bathroom and help me find some clothes.”

He helped her off the bed and she smiled at him. He slipped a robe over her naked skin, and found a matching one for himself, thankful that the day shades were pulled down. The sun would set very soon, but even dappled or darkening sun would fry her to little more than ash, and having come this far, he wasn’t willing to take chances with her safety. Not when forever was a possibility yet to be explored.

“Through here.” He padded to a large door and opened it onto a luxurious bathroom. Black marble on the floor and walls, and she gasped, taking in the deeply sunken bath. One large slab of etched marble was fitted with pressure jets, the shower opening to the bathroom, large and fitted with a power spray head. The silver used to make the taps had been polished until it shone brightly.

She stood, looking around, obviously fascinated and he had to remind himself her senses, now enhanced for the first time, would be seeing things in detail she had never before encountered.

He closed the door behind them, and watched hungrily as she shrugged the robe from her shoulders. The dim lighting, enough for his sight, allowed him to see every curve and dip of her body and slowly she turned to look at him, and he could see the hunger banked in her eyes. She stepped towards him, loosening the knot in his sash, letting it spring open so the air caressed his skin.

“Well, Xavier, now that we are both vampires and the night hasn’t settled yet, we have time.” She grinned, and her little twin teeth peeked at him from between the luscious cherry red lips.

She pushed the covering back off his shoulders, and the slide of the material made him shiver as nerves reacted to the erotic sensory delights. He shuddered.

“Hope, you are such a deliciously sexy woman.” He watched her. Giving this woman total completion was quickly becoming his drug of choice.

She moved towards him and placed her tiny hands on his shoulders, slowly, achingly running her soft fingertips down his arms, finding where the fine cotton had snagged on his elbows and pushing it away, down his arms where it fell in a heap upon the floor. His body pulsed in reaction, and he could smell her arousal. Soft and musky. He moved to touch her, but she pushed his hand away.

“No. This one is my turn.” Her voice was husky and sultry in the silent room and he gulped while he closed his eyes, feeling her gently touch him.

She reached out, grasping his erection in her hand. The sight of his cock mesmerised her, the way it stood away from the springy hairs at base of his groin. He groaned, and let his head fall back, accepting her wordless worship of his body. Widening his stance he gave her what she wanted, which he knew was everything. “I want you, lover. All of you.”

Then she swooped, letting her wet, hot tongue traverse his chest. A damp trail lit by fiery electricity followed in the wake of the magic she made. She found one nipple, licking it lightly before suckling. Then she moved and he felt the movement of her breasts, as they abraded him when she swayed gently.

She laved the other nub with mouth and tongue, and all he felt was her tender touches, while he fisted his hands against the wall. The gentle pump of her hand on his cock, the other holding his shoulder as she moved from side to side, had him short of breath and sweating.

He raised his hands, grasping her shoulders, but not touching her in any other way, though the scent of her musk grew heavier in the air around him. He drank it in, accepting her arousal. Feeling her beautiful distended buds growing harder and tighter with each pass of her skin on his.

“Oh God, Hope. Come closer and let me touch you
.” He pushed the thought towards her and her breath hitched. But instead of stepping away and letting him help, she slowly sank to the floor as she tongued a hot wet track down his belly towards his pelvis.

Her hot breath washed over his erection, and he knew what was going to happen. He felt the welling of fluid and squeezed his eyes tighter, as the wet glove of her mouth surrounded his hot engorged flesh.

The feel of her lips, the sucking on him made him rock slightly, and she moaned. “
Oh yes, Xavier, just like that.”

His body ignited. He was on fire with burning need. The stimulation of her tongue, setting off tiny firework like explosions all over his skin, drove him to the edge. She touched his sac and he nearly exploded.

“Enough.”
The thought was a growl, and he wrenched her away, pulling her up, so that they were finally lip to lip and chest to chest.

She swung her legs around, encased his hips, then he slid into her warm and tight sheath, groaning with pleasure at the heat and wetness surrounding him. She cried out, and he pumped her, feeling her match his rhythm, riding him as she was filled. Her lips had opened and his tongue found its way into her mouth, matching their movements.

He grabbed her ass, squeezing and kneading while they moved, hot and fast.

“Oh God, Xavier. Give me more!”
He could hear her thoughts, and he gave her the same back.

“So beautiful. I want to touch you all over, rub you, suck you until you come, screaming.”
He pushed the thought towards her, pumping her, his engorged penis thrusting in and out of her tight core until the final push.

Her body started to milk his length, tight movements while her womb worked its final magic on him. He felt the rush, and he emptied his seed within her. She screamed in time with the warm jetting of fluid, while he held tight to her.

Her scream of delight faded, as he held her against his thumping heart.

“I will never let you go now. You are mine. Body and soul.”
His wordless vow to her, one he had never given before. He held the most precious bundle in his arms. This woman, so beautiful and giving, was now his.

Their skin started to cool and he released her enough to slide down his body to the floor. She smiled, and his heart thumped once more. He reached for the shower and ushered her in.

* * * *

Dear God. I have become the most wanton female ever. What was I thinking in the bathroom?
Not that she was embarrassed—far from it. Perhaps now, knowing she was a vampire had removed the restrictions of her upbringing, allowing her to finally express who and what she was. She shook her head. No. She allowed herself the honesty she swore by. It was all Xavier.

Yes, she wanted him, but there was more. Her hunger for him was fuelled by the wish he would never leave. But she reminded herself he had never promised her love. She pulled on the black pants she found in the bottom of her bag, and teamed it with a red bustier top. She usually wore it under a shirt with the top buttons undone, but his naked approval of her outfit made her rethink the shirt. It was still warm, though the nights were cooling. He threw her a leather jacket and nodded when she held up the long black boots. A weakness her mother had always detested, but, she reminded herself, one that she could take or leave.

Hope fastened her hair in a loose knot at the top of her head, while watching Xavier choose his own clothing including an open-necked white shirt and black shoes. She raked her gaze over his rugged form and she had to close her eyes.

“Keep up those lecherous thoughts and we will never get down to Cressida. Then we will have a problem when she comes up here to check on you
.” The thought was filled with mirth and she laughed out loud.

“All right, I’m ready now. Take me to your leader.” She giggled again, and realised she didn’t do that very often.

“No, you don’t. I love the sound.” He smiled, and she saw his eyes crinkle as he held a hand out to her. She took it and together they left the room, moved along the hallway and down the wide stairs. She knew they were on the first floor. They descended together, and she could see Cressida, immaculate as always, in a pale cream suit watching them. A broad smile wreathed her face.

“My darling Hope and Xavier. I am so pleased both of you are well. Now, Hope, has Xavier explained about the change?” Her eyes sparkled and for an instant Hope was amazed. This strong woman was excited that she had changed?