Blood Debt

by Heather MacKinnon

  With our hands clasped and our bodies aligned, he took a step to the side and we were dancing. It was a little rough at first as I tried to navigate and predict where he’d lead me next. With a little prodding, he got me to relax enough to let him lead us through the moves.

  We twirled across the floor, weaving in and out of the other beautiful couples but lost in our own world. His hazel eyes held mine, almost like a physical embrace. They spoke to me, making promises not just for the night ahead of us, but for the months and years to come.

  “See? You dance beautifully,” he said.

  A corner of his full lips tipped up, and without warning, he spun me around before dipping me low, my hair almost touching the glossy marble floor. With one hand supporting my back, he brought the other one up to trace along the side of my face and across my jawline. He then pulled me closer and pressed his soft lips against mine, putting every ounce of longing and promise into the kiss.

  Moments later we parted, both of us breathless but smiling, and he pulled me up so I was standing again. He placed his arms around me and went to step into another dance when a vampire I’d never seen before came rushing over.

  “Mr. Talbot, I must speak with you,” the dark-skinned vampire said in a deep, melodic voice.

  Nicholas frowned at the man before turning to me. “Excuse me, Adrienne. I’ll meet you over at our table in just a minute.”

  Releasing his hand, I watched his lips tick up into a small grin at my reluctance. I shuffled back over to his table, already missing the airy feel of twirling around the dance floor with Nicholas.

  When I reached the table, I saw a thin woman with pitch black hair in a deep red skin-tight dress. She turned around, and I recognized the vampire as Victoria, the woman who’d expected Nicholas to bring her to this ball. Why she was sitting at our table I didn’t know, but I assumed it wouldn’t be pleasant.

  As I approached, she remained in my spot and I cleared my throat gently. “Excuse me, but you’re sitting in my seat,” I said.

  Her beautiful face twisted into an ugly grin. “Well, if it isn’t little Arianna.”

  “It’s Adrienne,” I corrected her through gritted teeth. I just knew she wasn’t here to play nice.

  “Adrienne. Whatever. It doesn’t matter,” she said with a wave of her hand. Her eyes scanned me from head to toe. “Nice dress. I know Nicholas loves his women in red.”

  Her comment struck a nerve, but I held my ground. “Is that why you chose to wear it as well? Hoping you’d attract his attention?” I asked with a laugh.

  Her eyes narrowed, and I felt a hint of trepidation. “I wouldn’t get too comfortable, Adrienne.” She sneered my name. “Nicholas doesn’t hold on to his women for long. You’ll be out on your ass soon enough.”

  Her words hit their mark again, but besides a blink, I gave no other reaction. “Is that what happened to you?” I asked with false pity in my voice.

  She laughed, the sound high-pitched and a little off. “Listen, you little bitch–”

  “Is there a problem?” Nicholas thundered from behind me.

  Victoria’s eyes widened, and I watched her throat work nervously. I couldn’t help the smirk that formed on my face.

  “Nope. Vicky here was keeping my seat warm for me. Weren’t you, Vick?”

  Her eyes shot flaming hot daggers at me, but she smiled at Nicholas. “Of course. I was just coming over to say hi but you weren’t around.” She rose and wrapped her long, pale fingers around his bicep. “I was hoping you saved a dance for me,” she purred, her thick, black eyelashes quivering.

  He grunted and said, “No.” Turning to me, he held out a hand. “Adrienne, come. We need to leave.”

  “Leave?” I asked, confused as I took his hand.

  He nodded, his lips pressed together firmly as he dragged me from the table and along the edge of the dance floor. I watched the other couples twirling around and lamented the fact that we weren’t one of them.

  When we reached the front of the lobby, I dug my heels in and brought Nicholas to a stop.

  “What’s going on? Why are we leaving so suddenly?”

  He ran his hands through his hair in frustration and paced away. When he finally turned back to me, his eyes were bleak and my stomach fell to my feet.

  “Your maker is contesting the fostership. We need to prepare for the hearing tomorrow evening.”

  “Wait, I don’t understand. What hearing? Is my maker here?”

  “He doesn’t need to be here to ruin our evening,” he growled. “What it means is he’s trying to get you back, and this time he’s going through the court system. He’s essentially suing for custody of you.”

  Chapter 19

  The drive back to the hotel was spent in tense silence. As Alexander drove, I watched Nicholas’ jaw twitch and his hands clench and unclench where they sat on his lap. I didn’t know what to say, so I stayed quiet, lost in my own thoughts. Although I was having trouble thinking logically around the lump in my throat.

  We reached the hotel, and Nicholas once again ushered me through the lobby. I smiled grimly as I thought about how different our attitudes had been the last time we’d made our way through.

  Nicholas faced me once we were inside our suite. “Why don’t you go get changed? I have a few phone calls to make and then I’ll join you.” With a swift kiss to my forehead, he stalked over to the desk in the corner of the room and pulled out his cell phone, his fingers already flying across the screen.

  Once inside the bedroom I slumped against the door, letting all the emotions of the past half hour wash over me. My maker still hadn’t given up. Not that I’d really expected him to, but a girl could hope.

  I guess he was done slinking around, breaking and entering. Instead, he’d chosen to get the vampire’s legal system involved. Unfortunately, I didn’t know enough about Parliament to guess what the outcome might be.

  Would they let me stay with Nicholas? He’d taken me in when I had nowhere to go. Gotten me off the street where I was in danger of exposing all vampires. He’d taught me how to control my new abilities, how to protect myself, and how to feed responsibly. Surely all of that had to count for something.

  But would it be enough? My heart squeezed painfully, and I raised a hand to my chest. What if they took me away from Nicholas? I couldn’t imagine being separated from this man who’d not only become my friend, but so much more in the short time we’d been together. Alone in the darkness of the bedroom, I admitted to myself that I’d come to have very real, very deep feelings for Nicholas. It would be physically painful to be separated from him now.

  And what about my maker? What kind of vampire was he? The little I knew wasn’t in any way a glowing commendation. His first strike had been when he’d attacked me and changed me without my consent. I knew the mechanics of the change now and there was no need for him to toss me around like he had. He’d been rough and cold in a situation that was meant to be exciting and magical.

  His next offense was when he left me in a basement to wake up alone. It hadn’t even been light proof. If I’d stayed there past dawn, I would have been dust.

  I fought off a shiver and continued to list my maker’s offenses.

  He’d also attacked my poor roommate. Beaten her so badly he’d almost killed her. And for what? Just because she was connected to me? Clearly, he had no regard for human life–my own included.

  I clenched my hands into fists as I remembered the destruction of my beautiful, brand new bed. He’d destroyed it and trashed Nicholas’ office when he hadn’t found me there. How he knew I lived there was still a mystery, although it had fallen to the wayside in light of the more recent events.

  I guess now we knew why he’d taken my foster paperwork. He’d obviously used it to file his claim against us. Would this get Nicholas in trouble? Would it compromise his position in Parliament? I still didn’t know exactly what he did, but I knew he was important and this would probably look bad for him.

  Why wouldn’
t my maker just go away?

  I took a deep breath and crossed the room to my dresser, my mind still spinning in circles. With trembling hands, I reached up to unfasten the halter at the nape of my neck. The material gave way and the top of the dress slid down to gather at my waist.

  “Adrienne, I–” Nicholas’ words ended with a strangled groan.

  I covered my front and turned toward him. His hand was still on the doorknob, looking like he’d frozen mid-stride. Nicholas’ eyes were hot as they roamed over the naked skin. He stepped the rest of the way in the room and closed the door, his gaze never leaving my body.

  Nicholas walked slowly toward me, his expression equal parts hungry and questioning. He stopped next to me and I got a whiff of his spicy, masculine scent. I closed my eyes as one of his fingers trailed down my spine from my neck to where the dress was bunched at my waist. He then spread out his fingers and rubbed circles on my overheated skin.

  “Adrienne,” he said again.

  The ball was in my court. He wasn’t going to do anything I didn’t want, and I needed to make a decision now.

  Did I hide and deny myself the pleasure of being with Nicholas? Or did I be brave and give myself over to the man who already has such a big part of me?

  I took a deep breath and turned to face him, letting my arms fall to my sides. His hand wrapped around my waist as his eyes slid over my exposed chest, heating my skin and pebbling my nipples.

  “You’re gorgeous,” he said, his voice rumbling from deep in his chest.

  Feeling bold, I reached forward to unbutton his white shirt, thankful he’d already lost the tuxedo jacket. His molten eyes watched me as I slowly bared his chest, caressing every inch as I exposed it. When I’d run out of buttons, I peeled the shirt open and pushed it over his shoulders.

  His broad chest was like a marble sculpture. The rock-hard pecs preceded a defined set of abs I wanted to run my tongue across. My eyes raked over his skin and I watched his flat nipples harden under my gaze.

  “You’re beautiful,” I said.

  He shook his head before gripping the back of my neck and pulling me to his mouth. His kiss was starved, like he’d waited years to get his lips on mine. I kissed him back with everything I had, hoping to show him all the things I couldn’t put into words.

  His hands drifted down to my waist and tugged my dress loose, the silky material falling around my ankles with a whisper. I shivered as he slid his hands down until they cupped my ass.

  With a choked groan, he pulled away from my mouth, his eyes wide. “What kind of undergarment is this?”

  I looked down, my mind so scrambled by this man I wasn’t sure what I had on. With a breathy chuckle I answered, “It’s a thong, Nicholas.”

  His fingers dug into my exposed flesh. “It hardly covers anything,” he said, his hands still squeezing and caressing.

  “Anything else would have showed panty lines in that dress. Besides, I don’t see you complaining.”

  His hot gaze met mine and a rueful smile pulled at his lips. “Not complaining when you’re here with me in private. If I had known you’d worn this out in public…” With another groan, he cleared his throat and continued, “If I’d known what little was beneath that dress, we might not have made it out of here.”

  I laughed lightly, my breath ending in a gasp as his fingers traced below the skimpy material.

  Nicholas caught my gaze and held it. “I want you, Adrienne, but if you don’t want this to go any further, you should tell me now.”

  I’d already made my decision. Nothing would stop me at that point. “I want you too.”

  The words were barely out of my mouth before Nicholas let loose a low growl and tugged on my panties, ripping them from my body. I gasped as he slid an arm behind my shoulders and dipped low to grasp the back of my knees with his other arm. He lifted me with ease and carried me to the bed. He stood above me, shirtless and panting, his eyes roaming over my naked flesh, and I’d never felt more beautiful.

  Silently, he unfastened his pants and stepped out of them before joining me on the bed. He crawled until he was on top of me, his weight held up by both arms planted by my shoulders. We lay like that for a breathless moment, the anticipation and sexual tension rising until it felt like a physical presence in the room.

  When I couldn’t take it any longer, I reached up to wrap my arms around his neck and pull his lips to mine. I devoured his mouth like a starving woman, my hunger growing by the minute. Nicholas groaned into my mouth and shifted his weight, freeing up a hand that he used to palm my breast. His skillful fingers caressed and pinched, squeezed and soothed.

  “More,” I demanded between kisses.

  Nicholas chuckled but trailed a hand down my stomach to the place I needed it most. His fingers lightly traced my folds, but he didn’t tease me for long. I gasped as he used two fingers to enter me, finding no resistance whatsoever. His nimble caress brought me to the fringe of my climax over and over again as his lips left mine to tease my hardened nipples.

  I panted, struggling to catch my breath as his mouth and fingers brought me to the edge of my sanity.

  “Nicholas, I–”

  “Let go, I’ve got you,” he whispered against my nipple.

  He bit down hard as he pinched the bundle of nerves at my center and I shattered beneath him. My nerve endings fired in rapid succession as the pleasure swept through my body, leaving me breathless. When I came back down to Earth, he was softly stroking my velvety folds and kissing every inch of skin he could reach.

  “You’re so stunning,” he murmured against my neck.

  When I finally caught my breath I said, “I need you now.”

  Nicholas shifted until he was fully on top of me between my parted legs. He stroked my thighs gently as his gaze roamed over me. He surged forward and nudged me with his thick hardness. I fought off a shiver and shifted closer, eager to feel him inside me.

  He fell forward, catching his weight on his hands once more and capturing my lips with his. Groaning into my mouth, he finally thrusted inside me with one powerful push. My head snapped back, and I moaned as I felt him stretch and fill me.

  Nicholas continued to kiss my neck and chest, not moving while my body took the time to adjust to his girth. When I was confident I could accommodate him, I lifted my hips and ran my fingernails down his back.

  “I need you,” I said again, my voice deep and throaty.

  Nicholas picked his head up and looked at me, the depth of his hazel eyes incalculable. In them I saw his raw emotions and hunger for me. He leaned forward and kissed my lips again as he pulled his hips back, almost leaving me completely before surging forward again.

  After the first few thrusts, we found a steady pace that worked for us as lovers. We spoke silently a language only we understood. We kissed desperately as he drove me to the brink of another climax. I’d never had two in one night, and I almost couldn’t believe the way my body was reacting to this devastatingly hot man.

  He sat up and gripped the tops of my legs, entering me from a new position that heightened my pleasure. His hips hammered him in and out, grinding against me on the downstrokes. My head thrashed back and forth as the pleasure coiled deep in my belly, threatening to toss me over the edge at any moment.

  “Look at me,” he demanded, his voice rough.

  I opened my eyes and his molten gaze met mine. It was enough to send me spiraling into another orgasm, my body shaking with the force of it. With a growl, Nicholas followed me off the cliff, his body finally still as he climaxed with his own pleasure. His hands that had been gripping my thighs almost painfully now stroked my skin softly.

  The only sound in the room was our gasping breaths as we stared into each other's eyes and tried to understand what just happened. I was nothing close to a virgin, but I’d never experienced sex that explosive in my life. Was it because this was my first time as a vampire? Something told me it had more to do with my partner than my vampiric state.

  Nicholas
slipped out of my sensitive core and fell onto the bed next to me, his arms immediately circling my spent body. He pulled me close and wrapped his limbs around me, his nose pressing deep into my hair.

  “That was…” he began, but trailed off.

  “Earth shattering?”

  “Something like that,” he said, the smile clear in his voice.

  We laid there in silence as our breathing returned to normal and my mind had a chance to start racing. Would this be our last night together?

  Impossible. Nicholas would never let anyone take me from him.

  Right?

  “Nicholas, I’m scared,” I said, my voice small.

  He pulled me closer, his hand raking through my hair and massaging my scalp. “I’m scared too,” he said softly.

  My eyes widened at his confession. Pulling back slightly to look him in the eye, I asked, “What do you have to be afraid of?”

  He watched me for a long moment before replying. “I’m afraid of losing the person who's come to mean the world to me. The one person I can’t live without.”

  My heart stuttered at his words. I’d been holding back, but if he could admit his feelings for me, I felt safe doing the same for him. I didn’t want to lay everything on the line yet, but I could give him something at least.

  In case this was it.

  “You mean a lot to me too, Nicholas. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.” My eyes tingled with the tears I was struggling to contain.

  As we lay there quietly, I finally voiced a question I’d been meaning to ask him for some time.

  “Why me?”

  Nicholas’ hand froze on my scalp for a moment before he answered. “I don’t understand.”

  “Why did you let me in after being alone for so long?”

  Nicholas’ fingers ran through my hair again. “You needed me,” he said simply. “I haven’t been needed in so long. Haven’t had someone want me for something else besides the power I wield in Parliament. But you do.” His voice held a note of wonder in it.

  “I do,” I echoed his words. “And I don’t want to leave you,” I added in a broken whisper.