She giggled. What a sweet, girlish sound. He wouldn’t have thought she had it in her.
He took several long pulls on her neck and his brain tingled as a spider web of connections formed, linking their every cell in the eternal bond. She went limp beneath him from the bite’s relaxing effect. The nascent bond meant that he felt it too, deep in his core. Wet and hot, her tongue was suddenly in his ear—the oral urges had hit. An instant later, the urges echoed in his mouth and he circled the punctures on her neck with his tongue.
“Damn, Andre, I feel amazing.”
Every square inch of his skin thrummed with her pleasure. Amazing was right, and hearing her say so made it even better. He cupped her chin and slipped a finger in her mouth. She sucked on it hard, making him remember her mouth on him.
Her nipples pearled against his chest and his own skin blazed with sensitivity as he sensed her response to the bite.
He caressed her belly, and the muscles of his abdomen quivered. He stroked her breasts, and his nipples tightened. He rubbed her thighs, and his knees went weak, each caress resounding in him because of the bond. And her love burned like a hot coal inside him. His cock strained, his balls tightened, but mostly his heart thundered out his joy.
He teased over the sensitive flesh between her legs with featherlight strokes and she spread herself, wrapping her hand around his length. He shuddered, feeling his own rigid erection through her excited reaction.
“You never get tired, huh?” she asked.
Latched onto her neck, his lips tried to smile. He didn’t want to take too much of her blood, so he licked her wounds closed, and giving his lips free rein, he looked down into her face. “I have yet to find the limit of my stamina.”
Her dark eyebrows rose adorably. “Is that a challenge?” she asked.
“A promise.”
Suddenly, her desire hit him full force. When she guided him into her, he couldn’t have resisted if Hunters barged in the room. The tether of the bond put them in perfect rhythm, and they came together quickly. Her last delicious spasm finished, and he settled his weight on her. It was another promise. He was not going anywhere.
Chapter 39
ZOEY CLOSED HER EYES and let Lena tug her arms up. The bodice of the dress drew tight around her bruised breasts. She tried to imagine Andre waiting in his room, with Kos, Bel, Susan, and Ally to keep him company. Lucas was there too. He was a friend from her old life, and so she’d insisted, even if he didn’t believe he was welcome.
“I’m so glad we’re keeping to the old customs,” Lena said.
Zoey opened her eyes and peeked at her reflection. “You promised they would comfort Andre,” she replied. The dress Lena had found was too big and too white. Pedro stepped forward and shooed Lena away, gathering extra fabric in his hands.
“Is this supposed to be like a wedding dress?” Zoey asked.
“Yes, and a shroud,” Lena replied.
“That’s not very comforting.”
Pedro went gray, but didn’t speak. Apparently he didn’t have any words of comfort either.
“Then go with the wedding idea. It’s a purity thing. Starting a new life with a clean slate.”
“A rebirth,” Zoey said, just like when she emerged from the tunnel, free from her saddest memories.
“Exactly. And you have to die first for one of those.” Lena’s eyes found Zoey’s in the mirror. Again, she didn’t offer treacly reassurance, but a firm nod.
Suddenly, all white teeth and glittering gold eyes, Pedro said, “Ladies, let’s focus on the important things. You’ll never get old and you get to have super-hot bitey sex all the time.” He’d learned about the perks of his new life from Kos.
“I know. It’s totally unfair. I’ve been waiting for super-hot bitey sex my whole life,” Lena said, playfully shoving Zoey’s shoulder.
She couldn’t quite laugh, though she was grateful for their jokes. She needed the distraction. Her stomach roiled, and she wanted to pace, but her case of the nerves was nothing like her anxiety attacks. Normal, pre-vampire-turning jitters, she assumed, but she had no idea how to handle them since she couldn’t numb out the way she used to. It was time to say goodbye to Zen Zoey. Probably a good thing, although she wouldn’t mind a little bit of the old calm at the moment.
Pedro snapped and pointed at a pincushion, Lena handed it to him. Expertly, he began pinning the dress. Zoey’s waist suddenly appeared in the mirror.
“Pedro, where did you learn to alter a dress?” she asked.
“Drag bar in Buenos Aires.”
“Really?” Lena’s eyes went wide.
“No.” He shook his head with a smile, keeping his eyes trained on the dress. “My mother taught me.”
“What do you think you’ll miss the most, Zoey?” Lena asked. “The sun?”
“Yes. And bourbon. And coffee,” Zoey replied.
“What about food? Pedro, do you miss it?”
“Not that much. Although sometimes, like when I smell your scones baking.” He stood behind Zoey, and shortened her straps. “I know what you’ll miss most, Zoey.” He looked at her in the mirror and wiggled his eyebrows.
It took her a moment to get it. The jerk was teasing her about when the vampires overheard her masturbating. “Oh shut up!” She swatted at him to cover her embarrassment and a strap came unpinned. “Andre assures me I won’t need to do that anymore. So now you’re the one who’s not getting laid.” She stuck her tongue out at him.
“I’m afraid this is as good as it gets,” Pedro said, stepping back to look at Zoey.
It wasn’t bad at all, she had to admit.
“You look lovely.” Lena’s smile was genuine as she pulled Zoey’s hair back over her shoulders.
“She’s all yours,” Pedro said to Lena, who offered Zoey her arm and led her out of the yellow room.
Her bare feet pattered on the wooden floor. She was about to become a vampire, to give up food and sun and isolation for an eternity with Andre. And there was no second guessing. It seemed her subconscious had made peace with her happy ending after all.
“You okay? Getting cold feet?” Pedro asked.
Zoey had started this adventure almost a week ago in Ethan’s apartment with cold feet. “Nope.”
“Who’s going to feed you?” he said in a whisper, as they neared Andre’s room.
“Lena volunteered, but I think she needs a break from being food for a while.” She squeezed the younger woman’s arm, and Lena placed her hand over Zoey’s.
“Susan offered,” Lena said. “For a householder, it’s a great honor.”
And then they were at the bedroom door, looming in the shadows at the end of the hallway.
Lena knocked and raised her voice. “I bring Zoey Porter, bonded of Andre Maras, for her turning.”
Zoey watched Lena say the strangely formal words, then glanced at Pedro, who rolled his eyes. She almost managed a smile. The door swung open, and Andre’s room was bathed in light.
When she walked in, wearing a dress that didn’t quite fit, his heart leaped. Lena told her to lie down on the bed.
In Croatian, Kos said the traditional words for turning a human into a vampire. Andre had forgotten how beautiful they were.
Bel translated for Zoey. “It’s a bunch of nonsense about rebirth.”
“Be quiet, Bel,” Kos said. “Zoey, it’s a blessing for the turn. It means that we will be with you as you end one life and begin another, we promise to help you, and we welcome you.”
With the words in mind, Andre rallied his courage. The morbid ritual was downright frightening when you loved the person you were turning. He would have to remove almost all of Zoey’s blood in order for her body to accept his. The memory of the pleasure they had shared last night brought him comfort; his bite would subdue her body as it was drained of blood. And through their new bond, her pleasure would soothe him too.
Andre laid himself down on the bed next to her. She smiled a nervous smile for him. “You’re really sure?�
��
“Stop asking me. I’m all yours.”
When it was time to bite her, the act seemed newly intimate and he wished they were alone.
Zoey must have sensed it. “It’s okay. Pretend they aren’t here,” she said. The words were meant to calm him, but she seemed more at ease herself, once she said them.
He licked her neck where her pulse fluttered. Biting her warm skin, he immediately began taking long draws of her blood. He wanted the whole thing over as quickly as possible.
She responded to the bite even more intensely than the night before. Body limp. Skin on fire. Tongue searching. Wet between her legs. Her arousal soothed them both until she was unconscious and he was in a stupor caused by her blood and her pleasure pulsing through him.
“Now, Father!” Kos roused him.
Kos took Andre’s wrist and sliced it open with a small wide blade, made to stay in his flesh and keep the wound bleeding. Andre let his blood flow into her mouth, which was held open by Kos. The sight disturbed him until he remembered she’d found it beautiful. He tried to see it through Zoey’s eyes as he watched her color return and the fine lines around her lips and eyes smooth away. He would miss them; they were a reminder that she was a woman, not the girl who had married Michael all those years ago. A small scar on her forehead disappeared and he worried that pretty birthmark on her ass might too.
Her breath was coming evenly now, and her eyes fluttered open. Zoey was reborn a vampire. He inhaled deeply. As an immense wave of relief washed over him, his joints loosened and his muscles melted. His heart buzzed with an unfamiliar feeling—joy? Perhaps even ecstasy. His loneliness was over; he belonged to her, and she to him.
“Okay?” he asked, though he could see she was.
“I feel incredible.”
He wanted her to himself, but Lena offered Zoey a hand and pulled her to standing. One by one, everyone hugged her and congratulated him. Susan sat next to Zoey on the bed and offered her neck. Guided by her new instincts, she fed easily.
Susan kept her laughing eyes on Andre the whole time. Her smirk said she wanted him to know how much she enjoyed being his mate’s first meal. When Zoey licked her wounds closed, he helped Susan to her feet and whispered, “Don’t get any ideas.”
She winked and led Ally out of the room.
They were finally alone, and Zoey sank into the bed, glad for the quiet and its softness.
“I have something for you.” Andre sounded pleased with himself as he pulled a silk pouch from behind the pillow. “A birthday present, of sorts, though it is yours by right.”
“Birthday? How did you—?”
“I saw the card from your Aunt Pearl. It made me sad not to have known.” He touched her cheek with the pad of his finger before he tipped the contents of the small bag into her hand.
A plain brass key tumbled out, and her heart stuttered.
“Is this…?”
“The front door. Absurdly small for such a big door, don’t you think?”
She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak. With awe, she held the key between her finger and thumb and examined the stripes on both sides while her pulse slowed to normal. She let the silence go on too long, and Andre tensed beside her on the bed.
“Davo. It’s not enough. There will be a ring, jewels, anything you want. But, there was no time. I just thought—”
“Andre, you thought right. It’s the best gift I’ve ever received.”
The relief on his face was adorable, and she cupped his chin and smiled up at him.
He pulled her to sit between his legs, and she leaned against him.
“Will it feel the same, if we bite each other now?”
“Better, I have been told. But I do not know firsthand. No one has bitten me since I was turned.”
“So I get to pop your vampire cherry?”
He laughed and hugged her against him tighter. “I suppose you could say that.”
“I have another question.”
“Go ahead.”
“Remember our first night together in your office?”
“Every single second.”
“Can we try more of that naughty stuff?”
“I was hoping you would ask. But first, let’s—”
She was already on her knees facing him. She parted her lips and kissed him gently. He slipped his tongue in her mouth and examined her new teeth.
Pulling back, he said, “Zoey, love, these are very sexy.”
“Good. I know just what to do with them.” She licked his neck because she wanted to taste and feel his skin; he didn’t need help healing. Then she slowly slid her fangs into his neck. He gasped and she pressed her body up against him. With the first swallow of his blood, a jolt of sensation overwhelmed her brain. Lightning went off behind her eyes. His feelings and desires were inside her as if they were her own.
Seconds passed as she grew accustomed to the bond. And then, his blood in her mouth was like a liquid orgasm pouring down her throat.
When he latched on to her neck, drawing down swallows of her blood at the same time, Zoey felt him inside her as pure pleasure. He was inside her every cell. His mind in her mind. His heart in her heart. And he would never slip through her fingers again.
Epilogue
Two Weeks Later
ZOEY STRAIGHTENED THE TABLECLOTH on the banquet sized dining room table, pleased to finish the final touch. Her arrangements for the launch party were complete. She took her ponytail down and shook her hair out. Her whirlwind PR project was over, and after two weeks, it was time to celebrate the new brand.
She found Andre next door in the parlor. Excitement skittered across her skin. His green eyes drank in her appearance, and she could feel his hunger for her in her own belly. He broke the gaze, and she shook off his pull. They’d gotten stuck looking at each other for hours the day before, and right now they had a party to host.
Looking at his lapel, he said, “I cannot believe so many people said they’d come. You’re a miracle worker.” He picked a piece of non-existent lint of his jacket.
“Nervous?”
“I haven’t been around this many people since I left Croatia.”
Kos strolled in and said, “Guests arriving in thirty minutes. I need a glass of wine.”
“Me too,” Zoey said.
Andre poured three glasses and passed them out.
“To the homeland,” Kos said.
“To Blood Vine,” Andre replied. His voice deepened with pride—he liked her name for his wine. From toes to scalp, her body heated.
She raised her glass to them.
After he took a sip, Kos turned on the stereo. With Lena’s help, he had imposed a song on the happy couple: George Gershwin’s “Our Love is Here to Stay.” Andre wasn’t a fan, but Zoey didn’t mind, especially when Kos played Ella Fitzgerald’s rendition. As Ella’s voice filled the room, Andre surprised her by wrapping his arms around her and shuffling her in a little dance step.
“You’re dancing?”
“Any excuse to touch you.” He nuzzled her neck, sending shivers of anticipatory pleasure down her spine.
“Why do you need an excuse?”
The doorbell rang, and Kos left the parlor to answer it with Andre and Zoey trailing behind. A delivery person held an enormous flower arrangement.
Andre came to a sudden halt. “Did you order those?”
“No.”
“They’re Dalmatian Irises. They only grow in Croatia,” he said.
“That’s right. We had them flown in this morning,” the delivery woman said.
Zoey signed for the flowers as Andre opened the envelope. Inside were a card and a folded piece of paper.
He read it aloud: “Congratulations on Blood Vine. Very good news for all of us. We need to talk. I’ll be there soon, Uta. P.S. Say hello to the halfling for me.”
“Who’s Uta?” Zoey asked.
“She’s the oldest vampire I know. An old friend, I guess you could say,” Andre replied.
�
��Friend is perhaps an overstatement,” Kos said.
Bel walked into the room. “Did you say Uta? What does she want?”
“So, who’s the halfling?” Zoey asked at the same time.
“Did she call me that?” Bel snatched the card out of Andre’s hand and snarled. “What a bitch.”
Kos looked intently at the paper Uta had sent. “Holy shit.”
Zoey jerked her head to look at him. His fair complexion went white, and he handed the paper to Andre. Andre’s teeth clacked shut, and his molars rubbed together loudly.
“What is it?” Bel and Zoey asked at the same time.
“It’s a color photo of an ancient Greek text, with illustrations,” Kos said.
“What does it say?”
“I don’t know. My Greek is pretty rusty. It’s the illustration that’s got my attention.” He handed it to Zoey to examine. Behind her, Bel stepped close so he could look over his shoulder.
On the page was a gruesome illustration of a battle. Men were fighting with heavy swords. All the men had yellow-gold eyes. Half also had fangs, exaggerated in length by the rudimentary drawing. It was a battle between Hunters and golden-eyed vampires, and they fought under a bright yellow sun.
Acknowledgments
I have been blessed with an amazing cadre of encouraging, helpful friends during the process of writing Blood Vine. My first fantasies of being published included the chance to thank them from the depths of my heart, so here goes. Sincerest thanks to my very first writing partner Jim Ludwig; to beta reader extraordinaire Emily Mellott; consultant on all things m/m Will Hocker; “chemistry” consultant Salying Wong; and the two best writing friends a girl could have—Jess Russell and Celia Breslin. Most importantly, I thank my husband, who helped me squeeze time out of stone so that I could follow my heart into writing this novel.
About the Author
Amber Belldene grew up on the Florida panhandle, swimming with alligators, climbing oak trees and diving for scallops…when she could pull herself away from a book. As a child, she hid her Nancy Drew novels inside the church bulletin and read mysteries during sermons—an irony that is not lost on her when she preaches these days.
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