Moonlight

by Amanda Ashley

  He closed his eyes as he imagined what it would be like to have Adrianna forever at his side. Together, they could roam the world. He could show her all the wonders of the ancient world; together, they could explore the future. Ah, the lure of having her share his dark sleep, of waking each day with her in his arms. With Adrianna by his side, he would never again be alone.

  Lowering his head, he let his tongue slide over the pulse beating in her throat, felt his fangs lengthen at the thought of piercing her tender flesh. One quick bite was all it would take. And then the ecstasy of drinking her sweetness, drinking until her essence filled him, flooded him. Listening to her heartbeat fluttering wildly, like a frightened bird, slowing, slowing, to the brink of death, and then the magic of bringing her back, changed to a creature who would be forever young, forever beautiful.

  Forever cursed, as he was cursed.

  He drew back, his gaze moving over her face, imagining her eyes glowing with the lust for blood, her full pink lips stained crimson.

  “Navarre?”

  “Not tonight, Annie.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and held her away from him. “Let me think on it.”

  “Don’t leave me.”

  “I won’t.”

  She moved into his embrace again, her head resting on his chest. “Are we going to make love?”

  Her voice was soft and low, with a husky, sensual quality that sent healing spiraling through him to pool in his groin like hot lava. His arms tightened around her, a low groan rumbling deep in his throat as her breasts were crushed to his chest. She thrust her hips forward in silent invitation, and he knew he was lost.

  Sweeping her into his arms, he carried her down the hall to her bedroom. He made short work of removing her clothes and his. There was no patience in him now, no tenderness, little gentleness, only an urgent need that refused to be ignored, a hunger that went deeper than desire.

  He cradled her to him, clinging to her as the world spun out of focus. She wanted him. He needed her. She had begged him to give her the Dark Gift. Did she know what she was asking? He sheathed himself deep within her, wanting only to bury himself in her sweetness, to forget everything but the woman in his arms, but the questions would not be denied. Why had she asked him to bring her over? She had never mentioned it before, never hinted that she would welcome the Dark Gift.

  “Navarre!” She cried his name as she found fulfillment.

  A moment later, he forgot everything as he found his own release. And then, for a long while, they lay wrapped in each other’s arms.

  Later, he made love to her again, slower this time, taking her to the peak again and again before he carried her over the top.

  He was almost asleep when he sensed the dawning of a new day. Gently, he extricated himself from her arms.

  “Where are you going?” she murmured sleepily.

  “It’s near dawn,” he said, pressing a kiss to her brow. “I’ve got to go.”

  “No, stay.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Then take me with you.”

  “No.”

  Insist on it! the voice inside her head demanded. Don’t let him leave you behind.

  “Please, Navarre. I want to stay with you all day.”

  “No, Annie. I don’t want you to… I don’t want to frighten you.”

  “You won’t.”

  “Annie, don’t ask this of me.”

  “I am asking.” She looked up at him, her eyes filling with tears. “Please don’t leave me. I’m so afraid when you’re gone.”

  Her eyes went blank for a moment, and then she smiled. “Please, Navarre, this will give me a chance to see what it’s like for you during the day. Please?”

  Everything within him warned him to say no, but he couldn’t help thinking it might be a good idea for her to see, firsthand, how he spent the day, the deathlike sleep that held him in its power. And if she got scared, she could always leave.

  Knowing he might be making a terrible mistake, he wrapped her in a blanket, lifted her into his arms, closed his eyes, and willed himself to the place where he rested during the day.

  Adrianna blinked, and blinked again, bewildered by the sudden change of surroundings. “Where are we?”

  “An ancient underground graveyard.”

  “Are we still in Moreno Bay?”

  “No.” Gently, he put her down. A blink of his eye brought a fat white candle sputtering to life.

  Her eyes seemed huge in a face gone suddenly pale as she stared at the rotting timber above her head, wrinkled her nose at the smell of death and decay.

  Shivering, she huddled deeper into the folds of the blanket. “Why did you bring me here?”

  “I needed a new place to rest.”

  “Why?”

  “Because too many people know about Cliff House.”

  “No one knows except me.”

  “And Shaylyn.”

  “But she’s gone.”

  “Is she?” He took hold of her arm, his grip like steel. “Has she turned you against me?”

  “No!” She winced as she tried to twist out of his graph. “Please, Navarre, you’re hurting me.”

  “I’m sorry.” He released his hold on her immediately.

  “Couldn’t you have found a more pleasant place to rest?”

  “I was in a hurry when I came here. A vampire is vulnerable during the hours of the day, Adrianna.” His gaze pierced her heart and soul. “Never, in all my existence, have I let anyone, mortal or vampire, know where I took my rest. Until you.”

  “Navarre…”

  Be silent!

  “What’s wrong?” He watched her carefully, wondering what she was hiding.

  “Nothing.” She glanced at the dirt beneath her feet with dismay. “Do you sleep on the ground?”

  “No.” He picked up the candle with one hand, held out his other hand in silent invitation.

  She didn’t hesitate as she put her hand in his and let him guide her deeper into the catacombs. Gradually, the passageway widened, and she saw a pile of quilts and blankets spread on the ground.

  Navarre placed the candle on a flat rock, then drew Adrianna into his arms. “Are you sure you want to stay here?”

  She nodded, her eyes wide, guileless.

  “Will you make love to me before I sleep?”

  At her nod, he drew her down onto the blankets. He wondered briefly if he was making the biggest, most fatal mistake of his existence, but then there was no more time for thought, there was only the woman in his arms, and the magic of her touch filling him with light and love where before there had been only darkness and loneliness…

  Adrianna sat bolt upright, her whole body trembling as she glanced around the cavern, her heart pounding with dread.

  “She’s coming!” She grabbed at Navarre’s arm, shaking him, willing him to wake up.

  The panic in Adrianna’s voice penetrated his daytime slumber.

  “Navarre, she’s coming!”

  Adrianna needed him. The knowledge severed the darkness that held him fast.

  “Navarre!”

  He knew, an instant before it was too late, that they were no longer alone. Thrusting Annie behind him, Navarre struggled to his feet.

  “You’ve done well, my foolish little mortal,” Shaylyn said smugly. “And now you will finish what you have begun.”

  Adrianna stared up at the vampire woman. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean to destroy him, and you shall be the instrument of his destruction.”

  “No!”

  “Oh, yes.”

  “I won’t. You can’t make me.”

  “Can’t I?” Eyes narrowed, Shaylyn stared at Adrianna. Her lips curled back in a hideous smile as Adrianna dropped to the ground and began to writhe in pain.

  “Shaylyn,” Navarre rasped. “Leave her alone.” He swayed on his feet as the darkness sought to enfold him. “Why are you doing this?”

  “You’re a threat to me, Navarre. I haven’t survived this long
by being foolish. Your powers are too strong.”

  “No.” He stared at Adrianna. She was curled into the fetal position, her hands pressed to her head, her mouth open in a silent scream of agony. “Let her go.”

  “Does it bother you to watch her?”

  “Shaylyn, I’ll do whatever you want. Only leave her alone. She’s done nothing to you.”

  “She took you from me.”

  “No.” He closed his eyes, willing the darkness away. But he could feel himself growing ever weaker as the sun climbed higher in the sky.

  “Stand up, Adrianna,” Shaylyn demanded.

  Adrianna tried to refuse, but her limbs moved with a will of their own. Her legs felt as though they were weighted with lead as she went to stand beside Shaylyn.

  “Take this,” Shaylyn said, and thrust a knife into Adrianna’s hands. The handle was of thick wood, the blade was long and slender and made of pure silver. “When I tell you to, you will cut out his heart and throw it into the fire.”

  Adrianna tried to refuse, but no words passed her lips.

  Shaylyn glanced at the blankets that had served as Navarre’s bed, her nostrils flaring, her eyes narrowing. A moment later, the bedding burst into flame.

  Navarre felt the heat of the fire at his back, but he didn’t take his gaze from Adrianna. Powerless to move or speak, she stared back at him, her eyes filled with a silent plea for help.

  Slowly, deliberately, Shaylyn took hold of Navarre and forced him down to the ground. Exerting her superior strength, she crouched behind him, her hands pinning his shoulders to the ground.

  “Now, Adrianna,” she commanded.

  “Navarre…” His name escaped Adrianna’s lips even as she moved toward him. “No,” she whimpered. “Please don’t make me.” But even as she begged Shaylyn for mercy, she was kneeling beside Navarre. She stared at her hand as if it belonged to someone else, watched in numbed horror as the hand lifted the knife.

  Summoning every ounce of will she possessed, she dragged her gaze from the blade and looked down into Navarre’s eyes. There was no condemnation in his deep gray eyes, only a deep and abiding expression of love and understanding. And forgiveness.

  “Do it!” Shaylyn’s voice cut across the stillness.

  Tears filled Adrianna’s eyes as she tried to resist. But she had no will of her own, no power to refuse. Her hand tightened around the handle of the knife as she prepared to plunge it into Navarre’s chest.

  “I love you, Annie,” Navarre whispered, and closed his eyes as the knife arrowed toward his chest.

  Time seemed to slow as the knife descended toward Navarre’s chest. His voice, his words, rang in Adrianna’s ears, stronger and louder than the screech of Shaylyn’s command.

  Drawing from the wellspring of Navarre’s love, Adrianna launched herself at Shaylyn, shuddering with horror as she drove the blade into the other woman’s breast.

  Shaylyn shrieked with pain and outrage as the knife pierced her flesh. Cursing loudly, she grabbed Adrianna by the shoulders, holding her in a vise-like grip as she buried her fangs in Adrianna’s throat.

  Blood spurted across Navarre’s face, hot and warm. His blood, he thought, and wondered why there was no pain.

  It took all his strength to open his eyes, to drag himself out of the arms of the darkness.

  Shaylyn and Adrianna were locked together in a violent struggle, each trying to wrest the knife from the other. Blood spurted from a deep gash in Shaylyn’s left breast. A crimson tide gouted from a hideous wound in Adrianna’s throat.

  He knew in an instant that somehow Annie had found the inner strength to defy Shaylyn’s command, that she had turned the knife on the vampire, and that she was going to lose her own life in trying to save his.

  Feeling as though he were moving through thick mud, he struggled to his feet and lunged forward, his hand grabbing for the knife.

  The silver seared his skin even as the blade sliced into his hand, but he ignored the pain as he wrenched the knife from Adrianna’s grasp and plunged it into Shaylyn’s breast, cutting the heart from her body, flinging it into the fire.

  A scream unlike anything he had ever heard filled the air, and then Shaylyn was falling, weightless, lifeless, to the ground.

  With a feral cry of triumph, Navarre tossed the bloody corpse into the flames.

  Staggering, bleeding, he made his way to Adrianna’s side. Dropping to his knees, he gathered her into his arms and pressed his hand to the wound in her throat. Her blood was hot against his palm. Unable to help himself, he lifted his hand and licked the wetness. Its heat, its life-giving force, burned into him, strengthened him, driving away the darkness.

  “Annie! Annie, can you hear me?”

  “Navarre…?”

  “I’m here.” He stared into her face, willing her to open her eyes. “Don’t leave me.”

  “I’m…sorry…” Her voice, low and weak, seemed to come from far away.

  “It wasn’t your fault. Annie! Please, Annie, don’t leave me.”

  Blood. So much blood. The scent of it rose in his nostrils, tempting him to finish what Shaylyn had started.

  “Annie, help me!”

  Her eyelids fluttered open, and she stared up at him, her gaze unfocused. Death lurked in the shadowed depths of her eyes. “Am I…going to…” She swallowed. “To die?”

  Navarre nodded, unable to speak, unable to lie to her.

  “Want to stay…with you.”

  “Annie, tell me what to do.”

  “Do?”

  She was dying. Her breathing was shallow and uneven, the life was fading from her eyes. “Forgive me,” he whispered, and letting her head fall back over his arm, he pressed his mouth to the hideous wound in her neck, felt the sweet salty taste of her blood as it flowed through him.

  He drank deeply, absorbing her life, her essence. Her pulse slowed, her heartbeat grew faint as her strength ebbed, flowing into him, renewing him.

  Sated, he lifted his head and gazed down into her face, now drained of all color.

  “Forgive me,” he murmured again, and pressed his mouth to her throat once more, stealing away the last precious drops of life.

  Chapter Thirteen

  She opened her eyes to a blinding white light, and quickly closed them again. She was dead, she thought sadly, and all the stories were true. There really was a white light. And voices…

  “Annie? Annie!”

  She gasped as she was swept into a pair of strong arms.

  “Annie…”

  Navarre’s voice, calling to her, pleading with her to…what?

  She opened her eyes again and saw his face hovering over her, his deep gray eyes filled with concern. And regret.

  “Navarre? Am I dead?”

  He shook his head as he brushed a lock of hair from her brow. “No.”

  “What is it?” she asked. “You look so…” She shrugged, unable to decipher the expression in his eyes.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Feel?” She glanced around, her gaze mesmerized by the glow of the candle, by the colors trapped in the dancing flame, by the blue-gray smoke that spiraled upward. Realizing that it was the candlelight that had blinded her, she frowned, wondering why it seemed so bright, wondering why she had never before noticed how many colors could be seen in a single flame.

  “Annie?”

  “I feel fine. A little strange… What happened? Where’s Shaylyn?”

  “She’s dead.”

  “She is?” Adrianna frowned, searching her mind for some recollection of what had happened. “She wanted me to kill you…”

  Adrianna sat up, her hands moving over Navarre’s chest. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes. Are you?”

  “Why do you keep asking me that? I’m fine. I…” Slowly, she raised her hand to her throat. “She bit me… I cut her with the knife, and she bit me. I was bleeding, dying…” Her voice rose in panic. “Navarre, what happened?”

  “You were dying,” he said, r
efusing to meet her eyes. “Bleeding to death. I… Adrianna, forgive me, but I couldn’t let you go. I’ve been alone for so long, and I love you so much. I…I took your blood.”

  “My blood?”

  He nodded, hoping she would understand. “I took your blood, Annie. I drained you to the point of death. And then I gave it back to you.”

  “You took my blood?” Her eyes widened with comprehension. “You made me what she was. What you are.”

  “Can you forgive me?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I’ll take care of you, Annie, I swear it. You won’t have to hunt. You won’t have to kill. You can exist off my blood.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve never made another vampire. My blood is very strong, very powerful. When you feel the lust for blood, I’ll give you a little of mine.” He smiled sadly at her look of revulsion. “Mixed with wine, it’s not so bad. It will sustain you.”

  “I can’t be a vampire,” Adrianna exclaimed. “What will my mother say?”

  Navarre’s brow furrowed. “Annie…”

  She felt a bubble of hysterical laughter rise in her throat, and then deflate, like a balloon pricked by a pin.

  “I’m a vampire.” She shook her head. It was incomprehensible. And yet she knew it was true. She could feel the increased power in her limbs. Her senses were alive as never before. She could hear distant sounds, see through the darkness as if it were day.

  And Navarre was there beside her. She could hear the steady beat of his heart, feel his apprehension, his concern. His love. And then, to her delight, she discovered she could read his thoughts.

  Forgive me, Annie. I never meant to hurt you. I know it was selfish of me to bring you over without your permission, but I couldn’t let you go. Please, forgive me. I have no excuse, except that I love you…

  I forgive you, Navarre. And I love you, too.

  With a start, he rose to his feet. Are you reading my mind?

  Joy bubbled up inside her. Yes. I can’t seem to help myself. Do you mind?

  “I don’t mind,” he said, stroking her cheek. “My heart, my thoughts, my life, they’re all yours, my darling Annie, to do with as you wish. We’re bonded now, by blood.”