by Aubrey Brown
“I am like no other gentleman you have ever encountered. Now clarify to me, Farnsworth, why I should not dispatch you right now.”
Gagging and choking, the marquis was bereft of speech.
Feeling Rose dash to his side, she stated, “William, please, do not harm him.”
“I have no intention of just wounding him, sweeting. I am going to simply execute him.”
Chapter Eighteen
“I told you, Nigel, that he was no manner of a man you have ever met. Now please, William, put him down. There has been an error made here, and I think we need to discuss this calmly,” Rose insisted.
William was almost beyond reaching until she placed her hand upon his shoulder and massaged gently.
He must have felt her warm touch, for he turned, and the fire left his eyes at the sight of her.
“William, Nigel has explained to me why he felt it necessary to take me from your arms. His father is insisting he marry and produce an heir, or he will bequeath their family fortune to another, which means he will have no means to run the estate.”
The marquis was nodding in front of her as her words began to penetrate the monster’s ears, and her William was coming back to her.
“That is still no excuse, there were any number of eligible young ladies for him to court this season,” William insisted, while he was still holding the other man’s neck.
“That may be true. However, I may perhaps have encouraged the match, William, and he stopped searching then.”
Confusion clouded the duke’s eyes at her words. She then immediately sought to clarify the problem.
“If you recall, we were rowing at the time, and I did want to move forward and forget you. So I did as any young scorned lady would have done, I courted the attention of another. You had made yourself clear at Halverson castle that you had no thought to a future with me other than one that contained friendship and filial love. When our circumstances changed, it was far too late in the season for him to seek another wife. He is desperate, William. He is in love with another as well, but that person is unsuitable. I did, however, try to seek to end his suit after we, well, you know.”
William must have loosened his purchase upon the other man’s throat for he began to speak.
“She speaks the truth, your grace. I am in dire straits, and I saw no alternative. Please, let me go and I will seek another answer. Please do not kill me. I swear, I will leave here and never tell a living soul that you are some sort of red-eyed monster!”
“You are going no further until I have thought this through,” William stated.
“William, I see no alternative. Let us forget this incident, give him another memory of this season, and move toward Halverson. The unsuitable person of whom I spoke of is a person of his same sex. I think the marquis may not be completely satisfied being married to a different lady, and I would hate for another woman to suffer her husband’s indiscretions as I would have if we proceeded forward.”
William took in what she was saying and felt sickened. Not by the fact that the other man had sex with other men, but that a father would put so much force upon that of his son for titles and money. It reminded him of his former self, and it brought bile to his throat. Perhaps if someone sought to help him, he would have led a very different existence. However, then again, he looked at Rose and decided his existence before this night was worth its pain and trials in spades. He would have never met Gabriel and then consequently, his Rose would have wedded another. Feeling sentimental, he decided to help the misguided pup.
“Give me a moment with him, Rose. I shall give him a memory of meeting you, and that is all. I will also give him the will to tell his father he will not marry, and he will have to strive and work hard to make money for the estate. Excuse us for a trice.”
“What do you mean you will…” Nigel started, but stopped at the look in William’s eyes.
Rose recognized the clouded look in the other man’s eyes and waited. Once it was over, Nigel passed out upon the ground. The marquis looked young and innocent and nothing like a man who could strip an engaged woman from her fiancé. Rose just hoped he would follow William’s suggestion and move forward with the love of his life. It was not done to have couples that are same sex, but it was spoken of among the gossipers of the ton.
“I will transport him home after I place you within the carriage and make sure you are safe. Let us go.”
He conveyed them to the carriage where Rose only felt slightly ill and not ready to be sick all over the ground. She was then lifted into the vehicle as William left with the marquis in an instant. They only waited but a few moments, and the duke was back inside the carriage. As soon as he was inside of the carriage, he hit the roof, and they were once again underway.
“I have instructed the driver to pull into the smartest looking inn for the night, so he may rest and the horses can be fed and watered down. And you can then explain to me why you felt you should have saved that man’s life.”
They continued on to the nearest inn and checked into two rooms, of course, and were guided to the dining area, where Rose ate quickly, for she wanted to be in her room to put herself to rights. William had been dangerously quiet, for he was still angry. As soon as she finished, they walked the stairs together. Their driver had retired into his room after a healthy meal of meat and drink. The horses were secured as well.
William stopped her at her door and leaned in. “Ready yourself as well as you can for bed, and I will come to you through the window.”
William knew she would heed to him and not balk for she looked tired as well as frightened. Her ordeal must have been difficult for her.
* * * *
William waited in his room for as long as he could. He wanted to hold Rose and see that she was indeed all right. He had never been so distraught in his two hundred years of life. She was taken from his arms as he slept the sleep of his kind. She could have been forcibly ravished, or worse, killed. That thought alone sent heat into his cold blood. He wanted to kill the marquis. He would have been quite happy to snap the other man’s neck and leave his rotting corpse for the beasts of the wild. His hunger for Rose knew no bounds, and he was completely terrified of the prospect that she could die and leave him alone someday. Even if he was to cross her, she could leave him, and he could not bear it. So with a little thought, he left his room to slide into hers through her slightly opened window.
With a thought, he closed the window and secured the lock into place. He materialized into the room only to find Rose with her glorious hair still down around her shoulders, but silky in the candlelight, for she had combed the fine curly locks. An image of her preforming her nightly rituals in his home, in his bed chamber, sent a shaft of longing through his heart. In their home, he corrected himself, for she was to be his duchess. She would be the lady of the house, and her presence would be the most vital part of his nightly existence.
Emotion threatened to overwhelm him as she turned to face him.
“William, is there anything amiss? You look as if I am a two-headed monster ready to swallow you whole,” she ended with a laugh.
“I was thinking of what could have happened to you when he took you. I was helpless to stop him, and you could have been killed. It sickens me to think of you thus. I have no explanation for my actions tonight, other than I wanted to kill the person that took you from me.”
Smiling at him, she stood and walked toward his trembling form. She grasped his shoulders. “Perhaps the stress of the funeral and your thoughts of telling my father we are to be married has you out of sorts. We both know that the vampire within you is hot-tempered and very protective. The marquis was desperate for a wife and not thinking clearly. I want to thank you for saving me, William. You are indeed my knight in shining armor.”
Pulling his head toward hers, she sealed her atonement with a kiss that brought sheen of tears to his eyes. She was the most beautiful, caring woman he had ever known. Her heart was full of love for him, and he
felt a bastard for his inability to love her in return. He should let her go and find another love that she could share with another man. However, the thought of her coupling with another man sent a shaft of angry heat through his blood. He was a selfish man who wanted this woman by his side forever.
So as it went, he kissed her deeply, and she moaned her pleasure as he cupped her breast through her thin night rail. She was warm where he was cold, and soft where he was hard. They seemed to be complete opposites, but fit together perfectly.
“William, please….”
She wanted him to make love to her, and he wanted the same. He was hungry for her flesh and her delicious blood. He could never taste another without feeling dissatisfied. Rose was his blood partner forever, and he could not have been happier about the prospect.
He clasped her bottom and lifted her to the bed. She hesitated for a moment, which brought a pause to William.
“Rose?”
Instead of answering him, she smiled and came to her knees in front of his cock. His body shook as she unclasped his breeches and placed her hand within to hold his penis. Her small warm hand shook him to his core. He wanted to push her down upon the hardwood floor and ravish her heaving young body.
Practicing the self-control he learned at his father’s keep, he let her reveal his cock to the cool night air in the room, and then place her lips to the tip, where she licked a pearl drop of cum from him.
Seemingly, to moan in pleasure at his flavor, she appeared to be having a love affair with his cock. As if he was a sweet treat, she took him into her warm mouth and suckled him.
“Ah, Rose, please, sweeting, you will make me come into your sweet mouth and then all will be over.”
She ignored his plea as she suckled him even harder. Grasping the back of her head and twisting her silky tendrils into his fingers, he helped her move her head in the motion that he found most pleasing. She was an avid student and almost had him coming within her mouth when he moved her mouth away from his cock and threw her upon the thick mattress.
“William…”
He was beyond hearing her as he dove for her and moved her night rail to her stomach and began an assault upon her painfully wet and swollen pussy. She tasted of honey and sunshine, and he wanted to taste her cum in his mouth. He wanted to see her orgasm at least three times before he settled his cock within her cunt.
He moved away long enough to say, “I want you to come upon my tongue. I want you so wet that my cock is bathed by your slit.”
His words must have brought her to an excitement that she lacked before, for she came in that instant. He groaned as her sweet-tasting cum came to his mouth like a river. It was the most delicious and erotic moment of his life. He licked and suckled her until she calmed.
He then inserted his finger within her tight twat and pressed his teeth and tongue upon her clitoris. She began to writhe under his ministrations even though she was sweaty and sated.
“William, I cannot possibly come again,” she pleaded.
He ignored her assessment and doubled his efforts to bring her to a peak once again. He felt her body begin to bow, his mind then connected with hers and felt her orgasm as if it were his own. It was madness to feel such passion, such longing to connect with another. He could not see himself ever connecting with another woman as he had with Rose.
As she finished her second climax, he came to sit upon his knees and grasp the underside of her thighs to steady her upper legs over his shoulders. When he had her placed just right, he penetrated her swiftly and surely. She was indeed very wet and extremely tight. He moaned at the feeling of her twat greedily grasping his cock as he pumped into her. Her breasts were still covered by her night rail, and he immediately hungered to see her fleshy globes bounce as he pumped his cock in and out of her pussy. So his mind willed away the cloth and his eyes feasted upon her suddenly taught breasts. They were heaving and swollen, and he wanted so badly to bite into the delicate green and blue veins that ran underneath the fragile skin.
Seemingly, to see his longing and the monster within, she asked, “Do you need to feed?”
He nodded so forcefully that his roguish brown hair fell over his eyes. She moved her hair away from the side of her neck and offered herself to him.
Shuddering at her action and not knowing why God had granted him such a woman, he needed no further bidding. As he pumped in a few final heart-stopping times, he took her life’s force within his mouth, and gave her one last orgasm that brought her to a swoon and robbed him of his seed.
With his vision blurred and his dead heart thumping within his chest, he collapsed atop of Rose to nuzzle her neck and close the puncture wounds.
He lingered within her until he went too soft to stay within the warm confines of her cunt. Groaning and moving away from her, he brought her back to his side when she was about to protest.
“You need to cease offering your blood to me in the throes of passion, Rose. I will drink you completely arid at this frequency.”
“Mm, William, I enjoy it so,” she purred.
Astonishingly, he felt his cock stir once more. Would it always be this way? Would he unfailingly hunger for her as he had no other? Would she stay with him forever? He looked into his future with Rose and saw no end. He may not know what love is, but this felt as close to it as he had ever felt before, and that alone was enough to convince himself that he hungered for Rose, and he intended to keep her.
“Do not fall asleep, sweeting, you must sleep in the carriage tomorrow, and we should arrive at Halverson castle late in the evening. I have many more activities planned for us this night, and finding sleep is not among them.”
“You, sir, should bring me across, and then I can sleep as you do,” she suggested.
“Not until we have told your parents, and we are wed. I owe your father more than I may ever be able to pay in return. We need to do this properly, Rose. Although the idea of drinking you dry for you to suckle from me sounds highly appealing.”
Smiling wickedly, she leaned into him and kissed him into a lustful passion that lasted just before they dressed to enter the carriage once more before the sun rose the very next day.
Chapter Nineteen
Halverson Castle
The rest of their journey was uneventful, and they came upon the old castle later the next evening. Rose looked fully presentable as the carriage came to halt in front of the building’s massive doors. As soon as the door opened Rose saw her mother run out from the structure as her father followed at a more sedate pace.
“Rose! Rose! Oh my, darling, Rose!” her mother screamed.
As she stepped down from the carriage, her mother enveloped her in an embrace that was crushing and brought tears to her eyes. She had missed her home and her family.
“Mum, I have missed you. Father!” Rose left her mother’s arms to clasp her father closely.
“Rose, you do indeed look very different. Very grown and much a woman,” her father stated with a note of sadness.
She sobered long enough to ask, “How are Beth and James?”
“They are faring well enough. Beth has become very quiet and James has a serious air about him as well,” her mother answered.
Feeling overwhelmed and nervous, Rose looked to William, who was hovering away from the small group. It was too soon to make declarations. After all the funeral would take place presently enough, but for now, she needed to play this charade very carefully. She did not want an all-out war.
“When William came to me and expressed that Beth was in need of my company. I knew all was not well here. Thank you, William,” she added.
William inclined his head toward her and walked toward her father, who began talking with him.
Her mother clasped her arm into hers and began to walk with her toward the castle. “So when can we expect an announcement?” her mother whispered.
Almost falling over her own limbs, Rose answered, “I know nothing of which you are speaking of.”
; “Pray, Rose, do not play coy with me. I have known for a while yet that William has affection for you. I have said nothing to your father of this, for he will take it to heart. However, I do want you to know that I will do my best to help you. In any case, I think your father has his own suspicions.”
Her mother was always an astute person, for Rose could never hide anything from her. As for the mere thought of her father already knowing she and William had been intimate, it made her skin itch.
“We have decided to bring the subject up after the funeral. He has asked me, and I have accepted.”
“Does he love you, dear?”
“He has not expressed the sentiment, but I feel that he does. He has conveyed to me that he cannot live his immortal life without me. He wants to cross me, so we can spend eternity together. William is struggling to love me, for he thinks he loved his former mistress, Josephine, and is incapable of the emotion. However, I have enough love for him to sustain us until he decides to let me have his heart, for I love him more than I have ever loved another person.”
Her mother looked deeply into her eyes and nodded her head. Her mother knew her plight, for her father denied and tortured himself over his love for her. Men felt love differently from their counterparts and in their own time.
“I will keep your secret for now, Rose. We will move through this hardship and then plan a wedding.”
Giving thanks that her mother was so loving and understanding, she moved on to another topic. “Have James and Beth retired for the evening?”
“They have indeed. It has been an unpleasant few days. James has tried to calm Beth in his own way, but Beth has gone into herself since her grandmother’s passing. We feel that this shall pass given the proper time.”
Feeling very sad for her siblings, Rose moved into the parlor with her mother where she partook of food and drink as her fiancé and her parents did their best to make pleasantries.
