by Anne Rainey
“Don’t give me too much credit.”
Lucas frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“I didn’t go back for you. I went back to deal with Rafael. He never would have stopped until one of us was dead. He wanted me to suffer.” In his mind, Cain saw Diamond chained and at Rafael’s mercy. He wanted to kill him all over again. “We’re free of him now.”
Lucas nodded. “Yes, and thanks to you, Elizabeth and Diamonique are alive. That’s all that matters.”
“Too true.”
“If you ever have need, I would be honored to repay my debt to you.”
Cain looked at Elizabeth. “You can repay me by keeping her alive. She will save you, Lucas. In more ways than you can know.” Then, before Lucas could say anything else, Cain dematerialized.
When he reappeared, he was standing inside the doorway to the living room. Diamond had settled back into the cushions and closed her eyes, though he could tell she wasn’t really sleeping. With Diamond unaware of his presence in the room, Cain took a second to simply watch her. Christ, every time he closed his eyes he was going to see her bound to that cold brick wall, Rafael smiling. He’d come so close to losing her forever.
Never again.
He yearned to stay close, but they both needed nourishment so he forced himself to leave. He landed in the street, near a nightclub. There was a car close by with two young men and two women inside. They were just girls really, barely out of their teens. Cain didn’t relish taking their blood. He hadn’t really wanted the blood of women since meeting Diamonique. However, it couldn’t be helped; he needed whatever he could get tonight.
Cain strode up to them and knocked on their window. The silly fools rolled it down. Anyone with an ounce of sense would check, before blindly rolling their car window down in the middle of the night on a dark and empty street. Hadn’t their parents taught them a damn thing about survival? Before the night was through Cain would teach them a lesson they would never forget.
One of the boys laughed at something the other said, but all Cain heard was their hideous music. He never could figure why young people had to kill their eardrums in order to enjoy the sound of an instrument.
“What do you want?”
The skinny want-to-be stud was entirely too brave for his own good. Cain smiled, allowing his fangs to gleam under the light of the moon. The pierced youth stuttered and stammered, giving Cain ample time to take full advantage. He wrenched his door open and grabbed him by the front of his t-shirt.
“You have something I want, boy.”
The gangly boy flailed about, his feet dangling above the sidewalk, totally at Cain’s mercy.
“What’s your problem? Let me go!”
Cain smiled. He had to hand it to the kid; at least he was attempting to appear brave in front of his girlfriend.
“You’re about to be dinner.” Then Cain dipped his head towards the boy’s throat, stabbing at his jugular with his sharp incisors and then drank greedily. Cain was careful to take only a small amount, then closed the holes in his neck with his tongue. The marks would ensure the boy remembered this night. He wanted to instill a little fear in him. Maybe next time he would think twice before talking to strangers.
After sitting him gently on the sidewalk, Cain looked through the open door of the car. The other three stared in awe. As if he were some damned hero from a movie. They should have been scrambling to get away from him! One girl was dumb enough to say, “Awesome.”
What the hell was the matter with kids today? Cain reached in and yanked out the other guy. He had dark hair like the first but was considerably larger. There was no argument at all this time. In fact, this one seemed eager. Even bared his neck.
“Lord save me from teenagers,” Cain growled.
A moment or two later, he sat the second teen next to his friend and turned to stare at the two girls in the back seat. One was a blond who didn’t look any older than thirteen. The other a redhead. To his chagrin, they actually smiled at him and got out of the car. The blond sidled up next to him and batted her pretty baby blues. The little chit was flirting with him! Well, hell, didn’t that just beat all.
If they only knew moments ago he’d thrust a stake through the heart of the leader of The Dark Dominion they’d be running in fear. But, like sacrificial lambs to the slaughter, they both bent their heads and bared their necks for him. As if that wasn’t strange enough, the blonde one also tugged at the miniscule tank she was wearing until her tiny breasts spilled over the top, then smiled coyly up at him and murmured, “You can bite me anywhere you like.”
Christ, she was just a kid! If he had a daughter who acted like this, he’d turn her over his knee. He frowned at her blatant display and tugged her top back up, covering her barely-there chest.
“Go home little girl, before you find yourselves getting into more than you can handle.” He started off, but not before he heard one of the boys call out to him.
“Hey dude?”
Dude?
Cain laughed. In his many centuries, no one had dared to call him dude. He turned back and arched a brow in question.
“Does this mean we’re going to become vampires now, too?”
So, that’s what this had all been about. They were hoping for immortality. Ah, the follies of youth. The bigger boy was much too eager and excited to truly understand what he’d just asked.
Cain walked back and watched sadly as they anxiously awaited his answer. He decided the only way to make them understand the dangers they were naively putting themselves in was to give them a demonstration.
“That’s not how it works,” Cain said contemptuously. “I told you once to go home, but now it’s too late.” He let a wicked smile slip across his face. “Now I want to play.”
Fear began to register on the blond girl’s features. Finally! Time to show the boy what he was messing with. Cain allowed his eyes to change and turn a demon red as he stared, willing her mind to obey his command. Cain then opened his arms and said, “Come to me, sweetheart.”
Her eyes glazed over as she fell quickly under his compulsion. With any luck, one of the boys would jump to her aid before she actually reached him, because he really didn’t want to touch her. But he had to do something, before they really did meet up with something evil. There was no way of knowing if Rafael’s death would scatter his followers to the wind.
Cain smiled cruelly as he became aware that she was trying to fight against his compulsion. Good. At least she wasn’t coming to him so eagerly now.
“Get down on your hands and knees. Crawl to me.” That ought to do it. No self-respecting boyfriend was going to allow his girl to crawl to another man.
“No way, asshole!”
Cain wanted to let it go at that, but for their benefit he knew they needed something that would make them err on the side of caution in the future. “Don’t interrupt me, boy,” he growled, then flung his hand out towards the bigger teen who had stood up and tossed him through the air. He landed on his ass several feet away and shook his head, dazed but unharmed. He let go of the girl’s mind and watched as she and the other one scrambled inside the car. “Where are you going, I was just getting started?”
“Screw you!”
“Not very nice,” Cain admonished. In two strides, he reached the car and with ease jerked the door completely off its hinges. The two girls screamed and huddled together, trying desperately to get the far door open so they could escape. Cain was delighted to see that the braver of the two boys wasn’t bothering to wait around to see what happened next. He simply ran over to his friend, yanked him up off the ground, and pushed him towards the car.
When he got within arm’s length of Cain he saw the car door lying on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. His bravado melted away. “Look, mister, just let us go, and I swear we won’t say anything about this to anyone.”
Cain tapped his lip with his finger, pretending to consider his request. “You’re certain you don’t wish to become like
me?” A smile almost escaped when he saw the teen shake his head no.
He shrugged, then stepped away from the car and gave them a grand exit. He lifted himself into the air and hovered just a few feet above them. They stared in horror when he contorted his features to appear more beast-like, then he shifted in midair and took off in a blaze of speed.
When he landed several streets away he saw a drunken man stumbling towards him and Cain groaned. Damn, the only thing worse than feeding off a man was feeding off a drunken man.
He quickly took care of the task of replenishing what he’d lost, then left the man to recover. He stepped around the corner and found another man alone. This time he took enough for Diamonique. She would be hungry when he returned, and he alone would satisfy her cravings.
Chapter Seven
When Cain reappeared inside his home, Diamonique still lay naked on the couch, her eyes closed. In two long strides, he was across the room and kneeling at her feet.
“My love, talk to me.”
Her eyelashes drifted upwards, green heat landed on his face. “You came back for me.”
“Of course. You are my world, Diamond. Without you, I am nothing. Don’t you know that?”
“Why did you take Sareena to bed, Cain? To our bed.”
Tears spilled down her cheeks. It was like shards of glass cutting away at his skin. “You scared me, love. The things I felt for you scared me. I lashed out in the only way I knew. If I could take that day back, I would. Believe that if you believe nothing else. But I cannot. There can be no going back. Only forward. Will you walk into the future with me, Diamond?”
“Are you planning to...lash out like that again?”
He shook his head, more terrified than he cared to admit at the possibility she would leave him, and he’d be left a shell of a man. That he’d end up like Rafael. “I would rather cut out my own throat than cause you an ounce of pain. You are my precious Diamond, and I will always love you. No matter if you leave me right now, I will always love you.”
Diamonique reached up and stroked his cheek, then murmured, “I love you, too, Cain. But if you ever hurt me like that again,
I’ll cut out your heart and feed it to the rats. Are we clear on that?”
He laughed and shook his head. “Crystal, my love.”
Then she frowned and said, “What happened to Lucas and Elizabeth?”
“They are upstairs, in the guestroom. I have a feeling he’s not going to let her out of his sight anytime soon.” Then he thought of something else. “Lucas may not know it yet, but The Dominion won’t let this matter rest. They’ll want his head for this.”
She nodded. “He loves her and he was willing to risk everything to save her. I could see it on his face when he saw her at his father’s feet, looking so broken. It must have hurt him very badly to see her that way.”
“Yes, and I shamelessly used that knowledge to work him into a rage. It was my only chance of getting you out of that room alive.”
“So, none of it was about ancient blood? It was all revenge?”
“It would appear so. Lucas was the only thing that kept Rafael sane. When he left, Rafael’s mind went with him.”
“It’s sad really.”
Cain dipped his head and pressed his lips to hers, then whispered, “Let’s not think of it anymore. I have one hundred years to make up for, my love.”
She tugged on his shirt and growled, “Then why are you still dressed?”
He grinned and with a single thought, he was naked. “Better?”
Diamonique shook her head and touched one of his burns. “We’re quite a pair, you and I.”
“Yes, we are,” he murmured as he leaned forward, picked her up and took her to his room. The instant he entered, he placed her gently on the bed and lowered his body beside hers.
“Now it’s time for some new and better memories I hope.”
When she smiled, Cain pulled her, his precious diamond, into his arms and kissed her. Only then did he feel peace steal through him.
****
Diamonique wrapped her arms around Cain’s neck and drew him in for a deeper kiss. As his tongue swept between her lips, she trembled. She wanted to make love to him, to ensure their fragile bond, but she was so weak from the holy water. Her arms dropped to her sides, useless.
“I need blood, Cain.”
“I know. I stopped before I came home. He swept his ebony hair aside. “Take what you need, love. I will always provide for you.”
Diamonique lifted her head and kissed Cain’s neck, then bit his flesh. Blood flowed over her teeth and tongue. She moaned, greedy for him in every possible way. Cain wrapped both hands around her waist and lifted her, careful not to disrupt her feeding, then placed her body on top of his. As his hands drifted over her back and ass, Diamonique heard him whisper sweet words in her ear. Words she’d never heard from him before.
“You’re warmth heals my soul, Diamond. You are beauty and laughter in my dark world. Kindness and joy. I exist because you exist.” Then he entered her and suddenly she was filled by him.
She pulled back when she was finished feeding, swiped her tongue over the twin holes in his neck, and then slipped down his body. As she took him into the palms of her hands, Cain groaned.
“You said I give you the sun.”
“Yes,” he growled.
“It’s the same for me. It always has been.”
“I love you.”
She smiled, then slipped his entire length into her mouth and sucked hard.
“Diamonique!”
Cain let out a hoarse cry of pleasure, grabbed fistfuls of her hair and held on tight. She wrapped her arms around his hips and dug her fingers into his buttocks as she swirled her tongue over and around the bulbous head of his pulsating shaft.
His moans filled the room, and she used one hand on his balls, fondling and caressing the way he liked. When he seemed close to climax, she leaned back and released him. He was still shaking when she smiled and licked her lips. “Is that the way you like it?”
“Little witch. You know I loved it.”
“I’m glad,” she whispered, then lifted until she was seated on top of his erection. Diamonique rode him with slow, gentle movements. Ever so often Cain licked the burn marks on her chest and torso. Together, as if one entity, they came apart. Joy flooded Diamonique’s body at the beauty of it.
Their loving was more about seeking each other’s souls than sexual pleasure. It was as if they were starting fresh. A clean slate. In that moment, Diamonique was filled with relief that she’d chosen love and forgiveness over bitterness and anger.
Suddenly, Cain flipped her over and caged her in, his muscled strength creating a protective embrace. “My diamond,” he growled. “You are home.”
She lifted her hand and cupped his cheek, then murmured, “Yes. I am.”
“I was dead without you. I would have ended up a shell like Rafael.”
She kissed him, hating the pain in his voice. “No, never like him. He was evil, Cain, his soul black. Yours isn’t. Just a little gray.”
He smirked. “Gray?”
She shrugged. “Well you aren’t lily white, that’s for certain.”
Suddenly he sobered. “I don’t deserve you. I never did.”
“Don’t, Cain. Neither of us is perfect.”
“You are. You’re my flawless gem.”
She adamantly shook her head. “No. I’m as tarnished as the next vampire. You just choose not to see it.”
“It matters little. I’m just glad you’re giving me another chance. I will spend eternity proving it was a wise decision.”
“She nodded, tears of happiness streaming down her cheeks. “Eternity together is a lovely thought, Cain.”
“Yes, eternity together,” he murmured. “As it should be, my love.”
More About The Author
Anne grew up in a small town in central Ohio the only girl with three rowdy, older brothers. When she wasn’t playing tackle foo
tball with them she could be found tucked away in her mother’s book room getting lost in mysterious worlds created by authors such as Martha Grimes and Andrew M. Greeley. She’s had a variety of odd jobs including Chiropractic Assistant, Frame Stylist, Restaurant Hostess, and Nail Technician.
Anne now lives with her fabulous husband, two gorgeous teenage daughters, two ornery dogs, three snooty cats and a snake named Salizar. When Anne’s not dressing, feeding, cleaning or spending time with them, she can be found at the computer writing stories hot enough to make your toes curl!
