Maybe she shouldn’t have cut the cloves? It didn’t seem to her, though, that they really smelled strongly enough to ward off anything before they were cut. Besides, she hadn’t gotten nearly enough. Once she’d cut them in half, she was not only able to make a garlic chain to go around her neck, but she had enough left over to mince and place in bowls near the door and windows.
She sat up to wait for him.
It was well into the wee hours of the morning before she saw the drift of smoke into the room and Nigel abruptly appeared at the foot of her bed.
He was holding his nose. "What the bloody hell is tha’ smell?"
Emily blinked the tears from her eyes and pasted a smug smile on her lips. "Garlic!" she announced triumphantly.
"I ken that, but where’s the bleedin’ stench coming from?"
Emily lifted the garlic lei she’d formed for herself and waved it at him tauntingly. "Garlic wards off vampires."
"I’d think it would ward off anyone. What the bloody hell are ye doin’ wearin’ it?"
"I told you. It wards off vampires. I’m warding off a vampire," Emily said with determined patience.
He glared at her a moment over his pinched nostrils and finally strode to the windows opening them one by one and tossing the bowls of garlic out. Dragging in an untainted breath of air, he returned for the bowl she’d left by the door and tossed that out, as well.
"The garlic doesn’t affect you," Emily said, daunted.
"Like hell it doesn’t! I’ve na’ smelled anythin’ less appealin’ in many a day!" Nigel growled, planting his fists on his hips. "If you weren’t in the mood for lovin’ why dinna you say so?"
Emily gave him an indignant look. "As if you’d listen to any damned protest! You just use that voodoo shit on me and do whatever you please!"
"I don’t do voodoo shite. I dinna even ken what it is!"
"Mumbo jumbo, then!"
"Tha’ neither! You’re na’ gonna sit there an’ tell me ye dinna enjoy it as much as I do!"
Jerk! He just had to throw that up to her! "That’s beside the point! I didn’t tell you you could just move in with me! I don’t recall offering to be your fuck buddy! I didn’t tell you just to help yourself any time you wanted to fuck!"
He reddened. "Ye’ve the mouth of a sailor on ye, lass! Nay, worse! I’ve a mind ta turn ye over my knee! Yer my concubine. I claimed ye. It’s na’ fuckin’. It’s makin’ love an’ I’ll thank ye ta keep a civil tongue in yer head!"
Emily gaped at him in disbelief. "You claimed me? And just like that, I’m yours?"
He frowned. "Tha’s generally the way of it. I’m a vampire."
"Which is supposed to tell me exactly what?" Emily snatched her book up and shook it at him. "I looked up all the rules about vampires and I can’t see that you follow any of them! I’ve nailed up crucifixes and strewn garlic all over the place and you just waltz right in here like I invited you! Sunlight doesn’t bother you! You don’t suck blood. What kind of vampire are you anyway?"
"A real one," he growled. "I told ye na’ ta pay any mind ta tha’ nonsense! I’m na’ undead, na’ an unnatural. I was born a vampire, lass. It’s no different than bein’ born … with red hair or a different color of skin. I may be as much a freak of nature as an albino, but I’m just as much a part of nature as ye are."
Emily blinked at him, stunned. "But … people don’t live that long. You said you’d been around for centuries."
He gaped at her. "Ye mean ta tell me ye’d have an easier time believin’ I was a walkin’ dead man than tha’ I happen ta live a good deal longer than a mortal?"
Put that way, she supposed he had a point, but his comments had prompted a worry that hadn’t occurred to her before. "Go back to the other thing. You said you were born a vampire?"
"Aye. Why?"
"As in pregnant?"
He gave her an uneasy look.
"Are you saying I could get pregnant?" Emily demanded.
He paled slightly. "Nay."
Emily’s lips tightened. "Why don’t I believe you, I wonder?"
His eyes narrowed. "Mayhap because ye’ve na’ believed a word I’ve said so far?" he growled. Turning, he stalked toward the door.
Emily pulled the garlic lei off and threw it at his head. "If you’ve gotten me pregnant, you ass, I’ll … nail a stake through your heart myself!"
He vanished. The garlic smacked into her door and then hit the floor.
Emily felt vaguely nauseated, but she wasn’t certain if it was because of the garlic or the sudden realization that she’d been playing without protection. Not that it had been her idea any of the time!
All right. Granted it was the best sex she’d ever experienced in her life and if it hadn’t been for the circumstances she would’ve been more than willing to take him for a lover, but there were circumstances that made that a very bad idea. Besides, she would’ve gotten protection if she’d had the option of choosing.
She was a little relieved when she realized that she was probably in the middle of the least fertile period of her cycle, but not completely easy.
After a few moments, she climbed from the bed, gathered a change of clothing and headed for the shower. If the garlic wasn’t going to ward him off, no way in hell was she going to try to sleep reeking of that smell.
Anyway, she’d made it clear enough that she didn’t welcome his attention. Very likely he wouldn’t bother her again with or without the garlic.
She’d just stuck her head under the shower spray when Nigel appeared in the shower behind her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back against his broad chest.
"I knew you’d come around, lass," he murmured huskily, nibbling along the side of her neck as he skated his palms over her breasts, cupping them, massaging them. Emily jumped all when he grabbed her. Weakness surged behind the startlement, and directly behind that, warmth as his fingers plucked gently at her nipples, making them stand erect and sending pulses of burgeoning desire through her.
"Nigel!" she gasped in a strangled voice.
"Aye, luv?" he murmured, running one hand down her stomach and cupping her mound.
She gasped as his fingers parted her flesh, delved into her cleft, rubbing the tiny nub of her clit and sending shafts of pleasure stabbing through her. Her mind melted into chaos. "What are you …? You left."
"I’m never far from ye, luv. Ye’re my concubine. I feel all that ye feel, ken what ye ken."
The play of his finger made it difficult to gather her thoughts into any semblance of order. "Ken? Know, you mean? You’re not saying you can read my mind?"
"Aye."
"You can’t!"
"Aye, I can … Oft times."
That comment created a thread of uneasiness, but before it could fully form into a specific dread, he’d stroked her ability to think right out of her. When he nudged her away from him and turned her to face him, pushing her back against the shower wall, she didn’t even think to protest. She lifted her arms and looped them around his neck, stretching upward to plaster her body against his hard form.
Heat surged through her as he hooked a hand beneath one thigh, lifting it and fitting his body into hers. She gasped, arching her hips to meet him, luxuriating in the feel of his turgid flesh as it melded with her own, stretching her, filling her.
Grasping a handful of her hair, he tipped her head back, sucking kisses along her throat and finally covering her mouth with his as he thrust into her, deeply, his strokes aggressive, possessive. A fresh, hard wave of desire swept through her as his taste filled her mouth, as he stroked his tongue along hers.
Feeling the advent of her climax, she tightened her arms around his neck, sucked his tongue. He made a growling sound deep in his throat. A hard shudder went through him. Abruptly, even as her crisis caught her, and she began to moan as bliss shot through her, he began to thrust harder and faster, desperation in his movements as his body hovered near it’s own culmination. He groaned into her mouth as it caught him, ki
ssing her hungrily.
Weak in the aftermath, Emily clung to him, shivering, wondering as her mind slowly kicked into gear again what had come over her to yield to him … again, without a whimper of protest.
Finally, he released her, allowing her to slide slowly down his length until her feet touched the shower floor once more. Her body felt about as substantial as gelatin. With an effort, she locked her knees and pushed against him, demanding release. Almost reluctantly, he stepped away from her.
Refusing to make eye contact with him, she moved beneath the shower spray, rinsing herself and finally stepped from the shower. "I thought I’d made it clear I’m not here for your convenience!"
"No?" he growled, anger threading his own voice. "I find it ver’ convenient myself. An’ most enjoyable, as well."
"You hypnotized me … again," she muttered accusingly as she snatched her towel up and began to rub herself briskly.
"Mesmerized."
"Whatever!"
"I did na’."
Her head snapped up. "You did."
He shrugged. "I did na’ have ta, but if it makes ye feel better ta think so...."
Emily’s eyes narrowed on his back as he put his head beneath the shower. Without even stopping to consider the possible consequences, she stepped over to the toilet and depressed the handle. The moment she did, he let out a roar as the water cascading over him instantly turned uncomfortably hot. Her eyes widened guiltily as he jumped away from the shower spray and snatched the curtain back to look at her. Without a word, she whirled and darted toward the door. Snatching it open, she ran toward her room as fast as she could. She didn’t make it. She was less than halfway there when Nigel suddenly appeared before her. Before she could skid to a halt, he caught her, snatching her off her feet and tossing her over his shoulder.
"It was an accident!" she lied.
He smacked her bare buttock with the palm of his hand. "I’m na’ likely ta believe tha’ with the look ye gave me!"
"Damn it, Nigel! Put me down!" she screamed at him as he strode down the hall with her and into his suite of rooms.
He did. He dropped her in the middle of his bed so hard she rebounded almost a foot. One of the boards supporting the springs slid off the bed rail and the mattress collapsed beneath her as she landed again. The tilt of the mattress helped her as she rolled away from him. She almost managed to make it off the bed before he dove after her, collapsing the other side of the bed.
Chapter Fourteen
They tussled, but there was no contest and the wrestling match was brief. Emily glared up at Nigel, huffing for breath as he pinned her down with the weight of his body, his hands clamped firmly around her wrists.
"Ye want ta tell me what tha’ was all about?" he asked mildly.
Emily pursed her lips. "You know very well what it was about!"
"Nay. I do na’."
Emily gave him a look. "You’re not serious!"
He lifted his dark brows, but finally frowned. "Ya took issue with tha’ comment about convenience?" he guessed.
"It was such a totally chauvinistic comment!"
"I can’t say I’m familiar with the word."
"Well, you’re certainly well versed in the attitude," Emily said tartly. "You’re such a … such a...." Words failed her.
"Man?"
Emily gave him a look. "Yes!"
His lips twitched. "Tha’s a relief, at any rate."
Emily pursed her lips. "That wasn’t a compliment!"
"I dinna take it as one, but I’d na’ be happy if ye thought otherwise, I can tell ye."
Emily rolled her eyes. "Look! The only reason I’m still here is because I bought this place. I’ve got everything tied up in it and I’m not about to leave. I don’t know how you got the idea that I’m your woman, but I’m not!"
"I never like ta argue with a woman, particularly since it’s usually a waste of breath, but ye are my woman. I ken ye don’t understand the way of the vampire, but I’ve marked ye as my own, lass, and there’s no gettin’ around tha’. I’ve never apologized for takin’ what I need an’ I’m na’ about to start now." He lowered his head, breathing deeply of the scent of her skin. "Your life force is a powerful one, an’ I’ve need ta feed of it ta regain my strength. I canna do otherwise, for I’ve no notion when I might run into an old enemy an’ have need of my powers. If ye want apartments of your own, I’ll na’ deny ye, but I’d prefer it if ye stayed here."
He nuzzled the tip of one breast with his nose until it stood erect and then sucked it into his mouth. The moment his heated mouth closed over the turgid flesh, her belly clenched. Heat spread outward, filling her with desire she struggled to ignore.
It was a losing battle. She felt herself weakening almost at once. By the time he released her nipple and moved to its twin, she’d ceased to struggle against him and began to writhe and twist from mindless need instead. He settled himself on his arms, slightly above her, watching her face as he entered her. Emily gasped with pleasure as she felt him possess her, felt the stroke of his hard length along her clinging passage.
He moved slowly, stroking the length of her nether throat almost caressingly with his hard flesh. The pleasure escalated inside of her at a far more rapid pace. Within moments, she was hovering near culmination.
It seemed he held her there with deliberation, pausing each time she began to feel the first flutters of fulfillment.
The pleasure burgeoned, rose to a near unbearable level, until she was gasping for breath, moaning almost incessantly, writhing as if fevered. And still he withheld release from her torment.
Finally, she clutched at his shoulders, gasping his name.
"Aye, luv?"
"Please."
A shudder traveled through him. Lowering himself until he lay fully against her, he scooped his hands beneath her hips, lifting them and tilting them up to him, driving deeply inside of her. The air left her lungs on a groan of ecstasy. Tremors began inside of her at the rough pace he set, quivers of sensation that erupted within moments into an electrifying, mind shattering explosion of near painful rapture.
Oblivion swept in around her in its wake, bathing her in a warm glow of satisfaction as he found his own surcease. She was scarcely even aware of her surroundings when he gathered her close, pillowed his head on her breasts and joined her in slumber.
She awoke, stiff, sore, uncomfortable. Lifting her head with an effort, she saw that the bed was a shambles, tilted crazily. Dimly, she recalled that the boards supporting the mattresses had slid off when Nigel had tossed her into his bed like a rag doll. One heavy arm and leg were thrown across her.
There was no way to extricate herself without waking him. Irritated, she shoved weakly at the weights pinning her to the bed. With a grunt of displeasure, he rolled away from her, sprawling on his belly on the other side of the bed.
Sitting up, she glared down at him blearily. After a few moments, she looked around in confusion, located her towel and crawled off the bed.
The shower revived her enough to allow memory to flood back, but they gave her little comfort or pleasure.
He hadn’t even tried to deny the accusation that she was a convenience to him--nothing more than a handy body that he could somehow ‘feed’ upon to draw whatever it was vampires needed.
She’d known that.
Why then did it hurt to have it laid out in the open--bare, unembroidered, the plain, unpleasant truth?
He was an annoyance to her, an impediment to her claim of ownership, nothing more. She was still more than half inclined to believe he was some sort of lunatic than the vampire he claimed to be.
It wasn’t like she cared anything about him, was it?
But then, why did she feel like crying?
Swallowing against the knot of misery in her throat, she stepped from the shower, dried herself and went down the hall to her room to dress.
Downstairs, she was greeted not only by the workmen, but a workman from the power company. The realization t
hat she was soon to have a steady, more reliable power supply than the ancient generator was enough to perk her spirits up and when, later that afternoon, the phone man arrived she was able to push her depression firmly into a back corner of her mind.
Mid afternoon, Nigel came down, consulted with Sean briefly and then, after glancing at her for several moments speculatively, climbed into the passenger seat of Sean’s truck without a word and left. Sean returned some time later alone.
Emily had to fight the urge to ask Sean where Nigel had gone. Despite her burning curiosity, however, she knew very well that the workmen all thought that Nigel was her significant other and she couldn’t bring herself to display her ignorance of his whereabouts.
She supposed it was contrary of her to feel slighted. She didn’t appreciate Nigel’s highhanded assumption that she was his only because he’d claimed her and she’d been at pains to convince him that she didn’t feel that way at all. She really didn’t have a leg to stand on insofar as demands of any sort, but she couldn’t help but feel completely unimportant to Nigel, despite his claims to the contrary, when he so obviously didn’t consider her important enough to even tell her where he was going or when he would be back.
She supposed he must have decided to check into the legality of her claim, but even that didn’t arouse enough anger to chase her feelings of ill usage away.
Firmly dismissing it from her mind, she held her depression at bay throughout much of the day by occupying herself with watching the progress of the workmen and working on one of her refinishing projects. It returned tenfold, however, when she retired to her apartment that evening.
Undoubtedly Nigel had decided to take the bed apart to fix it.
The gold coins she’d discovered in the dungeon had been stacked very carefully on her dressing table.
Chapter Fifteen
Eternity Page 9
