by Tamsin Baker
I gagged at the thick liquid and tried to twist my head away. Emilde gripped the sides of my face. “Drink. We need to heal you fast or you will bleed to death.”
Nic pried my lips apart. “Trust me, you will feel better. I promise.”
Blood still dripped from my wound. The vampire bite had filled me with an anti-coagulant to keep my blood flowing out of my veins and into his mouth. I knew that much from reading Tilly’s papers even before I found her journals. I didn’t have many options. Trust him or die.
He held his wrist against my lips again. The horrid smell pulled a heave from my chest. I ignored it, stopped myself from grimacing and sealed my mouth over his wrist. I tried to pretend I was drinking a Bloody Mary. A very Bloody Mary. It didn’t work, but I forced myself to grip his arms and lick at the blood pooling in the gash. After a few deep swallows, the excruciating agony in my collarbone eased to a dull roar of pain. The bones in my wrist realigned themselves back together and a euphoric pleasure engulfed me. I tried to cling to his arm when he pulled away. He wound his hand in my hair and gently drew my head back, his touch so unlike the other vampire’s it was hard to believe they were the same creatures. Creatures. Predators. Not human.
But then, neither was I.
His eyes changed back to blue, his intense gaze focusing on my face. “Just a little longer.”
I licked my lips in anticipation of more of his blood. The gash on Nic’s wrist had already healed so he cut it again, but this time he dropped some of his blood straight onto the still open wound in my neck. I hissed at the sharp sting and missed the sensation of his pulse throbbing under my lips. In a few minutes, the dull roar of pain settled to a background swoosh. As the hurt eased, I became aware of my surroundings—the hard floor beneath my butt, Nic’s strong arm under my head, his fingers gently stroking my face.
I licked the last traces of blood from my mouth. He lowered his head closer to my own and slowly traced his thumb across my still moist lower lip. With my pulse racing, I reached to his chest. The bloodstains on his once pristine shirt had already stiffened and turned black. I pulled the buttons open and rested my hand on his taut skin. His gaze never left mine as he lifted my hand to his mouth and delicately kissed my palm.
“Let’s get you into bed.” His voice honeyed into a deep baritone.
My passion was ready to say yes, but my body felt like I’d taken on a T-rex and lost. I gripped his shirt as my head swirled with harrowing emotion. “I’m not sure I’ve got the energy.”
He let out a low chuckle. “Not that sort of bed, my sweet Louisa.”
He lifted me as if afraid to break me, but instead of the large bed in the middle of the room, he crossed to a door recessed into the wall. “Is the bath ready?”
Emilde pulled the door open and ushered us inside. “Don’t let the heat out, she’s a regular human. We need a thick robe to wrap her in.”
“I’m not a normal human.” I tried to stamp my foot, but it came out as a tiny tap.
Nic deposited me in a chair, mumbled something back to Emilde and scooted off, presumably in search of something to wrap me in.
“I’m not a regular human.” I faced Emilde. I’d fought off an honest-to-god vampire attack. Almost. The strength I felt while fighting with him was like nothing I’d felt, ever before, at any time. It was as if the attack flicked my latent vampire hunter gene on. I’d ask Ben next time I saw him. I grimaced at her. “I’m a dhampir. That’s half vampire, you know. Wait, could be that I’m an eighth vampire, or maybe a sixteenth.”
“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes, seemingly unimpressed with my claim. “Still human. Can you stand so we can get those clothes off?”
“You want to see me naked?”
“You wish,” Emilde sniggered. She helped me to my feet, unzipped my dress and let it tumble to the floor as I clutched my healing wrist to my chest.
“It’s ruined.” I tried to bend to pick up the remains of the once beautiful dress. A wave of dizziness sent me swaying into Emilde’s legs.
She steadied me until the dizziness passed. “I’ll get it washed and repaired while you heal.” She unclasped my bra and held me steady while I scooted out of my panties.
Nic returned with the fluffiest, whitest robe I’d ever seen. He gave me a soft, lingering kiss, which was over far too quickly, and scooped me back into his arms. He started lowering me into the sunken bath and the sweet yet astringent scent of a meadow after a summer shower enveloped me.
“The water is yellow and full of grassy stuff.” I yanked my toes up.
“Stop wriggling. It’s full of healing herbs.”
“What herbs?” I clung to his neck.
“Ginger, hops, lavender, meadowsweet, parsley. What else, Emilde?”
“Stinging nettle. Combined, they will help your circulation, skin, muscles, and joints.”
“But I want bubbles.” I started giggling and couldn’t stop. I’d almost died at the hands of a vampire, drank the blood of another—admittedly much sexier—vampire, and I was about to be laid in a bathtub of sodden herbs by the same delicious man. Some days just went bad, then got better and better.
Emilde flicked a switch and the water swirled. I may have heard the words “I’ll give her bubbles” before she stomped out of the bathroom.
“I’ll be right out here.” Nic lowered me into the warm, gently fizzing water, propped my head against a bath pillow, and turned to leave.
I grabbed his wrist. “No. Stay. Please.”
He pulled my hand off his arm and held it gently between his own. “I’d like to talk about it, if you are ready.”
I knew from past experience that by tomorrow I’d hate to be reminded of the attack and would probably try and wrap it in shrink wrap until it was barely a dot on my soul. Not healthy, according to my mom, who was usually right.
I puffed out a sigh and nodded.
Nic ignored the chair, folded a towel next to the bath and sat cross-legged at my side. He took my hand in his and softly stroked my forearm. “Tell me what happened.”
His touch should have been a major turn-on, but instead I found it calming. “I guess you mean everything before you twisted that vampire’s head right off his shoulders.” Every breath of scented steam eased a band of tightness across my shoulders. “He introduced himself as Adrian Boardman.”
“We will get to him.” Nic’s eyes tightened, but so quickly I wasn’t certain what I’d seen. He hid whatever he was really thinking by a small, enigmatic smile. “I mean from when Armand pulled me away on a business matter.”
A yawn escaped me, followed by a sigh. “At the bar in your club? The man in the tux?”
Nic nodded.
Images flitted through my mind and I squirmed in the water. “Was the business matter related to the girl getting the transfusion?”
Nic lifted his brows. “You first.”
I didn’t have to try to recall the agony and fear of dying, but the events between parting from Nic and meeting Adrian were a lot hazier.
“What happened to Adrian’s body? Is he a pile of ash now?”
“No, but his body is desiccated and will be ash before morning.”
“But in the books—”
“We can discuss that later. Back to your story or you can rest.” Nic’s tone permitted no argument.
“I remember the girl, and Emilde. Gaspard kicked me out. Then the other one tried to kill me.”
“Go back to how you came to see the girl getting the transfusion.”
“If you just want to tell me off for entering out of bounds areas—”
“No.” He leaned closer. “I do not tolerate attacks on my guests. The safety of my people is up to me. I need to know what happened. But you are tiring, this conversation can wait.”
“No. It’s important. What if I forget details by the time I wake?” I settled back against the bath pillow and struggled to put the events in sequence. I befuddled myself a few times, but I did get through the story in the end. My heavy
lids drooped. “Now I’m lying in a bath of yellow water trying not to fall asleep when that’s all I want to do.”
“Then sleep.”
“But I’m here with you.” I tried to stifle a yawn and failed. “I don’t want to waste time sleeping.”
He smirked. “It won’t be wasted. You will have the energy of a dozen nymphomaniacs when you wake.”
“Just a dozen, huh?” I yawned again, and this time could not stop my eyes closing.
Chapter Nine
A soft duvet caressed my bare shoulders when I woke. I stretched my arms above my head and gazed across the airy bedroom. Someone had dried my skin and hair and laid me naked in this huge, firm yet soft mattress. I loved everything about the elegantly decorated room. The Shaker-style bed looked like a genuine antique. I stroked a finger across the gleaming wood until naughty thoughts of my hands tied to the headboard while Nic pleasured my body came from nowhere.
I’d been reading too many romance books. I snatched my hands back under the covers as if the wood singed my skin.
Heat rose in my face until my cheeks and the tops of my ears burned. I’d let Emilde see me nude. The fact that I’d been helpless as a babe didn’t lessen the embarrassment. I buried my face in my hands. Sweet heavens, I’d let Nic hold my naked body in his arms like a shameless hussy. Was almost dying at the hands of a bad-boy vampire a good excuse? Perhaps drinking Nic’s blood freed my inhibitions.
A tingle started in my chest and ended up as a whole-body tremor.
Forget naked. I’d. Drank. His. Blood.
Far out. I moved to Dogwood Grove barely two weeks ago, discovered my beloved Aunt Tilly enjoyed a secret life as a vampire hunter, felt my own dhampir genes switch on when forced to fight for my life, and to cap everything off, I’d drank fresh freaking vampire blood straight from a real-life vampire’s arm.
At least I lived. Or would I become a vampire myself after drinking Nic’s blood? I tried to recall Tilly’s words on the subject but my brain was too scattered to think straight. The good news was that I’d survived so far, even if I now found myself naked in a bed, in the Gravier mansion.
The robe Nic found for me lay across a wingback chair, too far for me to reach without getting out of bed. My bloodied dress was nowhere in sight.
I flexed my wrist. Still a little stiff, but usable. I fingered my neck where Adrian had bitten me. I needn’t have worried about forgetting any of the details or shoving the memories into a tight ball. The attack still played like a movie in my head and emotional memories were still fresh, but two small depressions—a little sore but otherwise healed—were all that remained of the physical wounds.
I couldn’t sit here nude. Besides, I needed the bathroom rather urgently. A proper bathroom, not a room with nothing but a giant sunken tub like the one I’d bathed in last night. Nothing to do but to grab the robe and go in search of the facilities I needed. I tossed back the covers and slipped out of the bed. At the same time Nic swept into the room, carrying a perfectly balanced breakfast tray in one hand. Another flush of heat rose in my throat. I lunged for the robe and wrangled it over my shoulders.
Nic was at my side in a heartbeat. “Never be ashamed of who you are or how you look.”
Had he read my mind or my face? Probably my useless-at-hiding-emotions face.
He softly touched his lips to each shoulder as he helped my arms into the sleeves and knotted the robe around me. “You are perfect.”
Not a description often applied to me, nor one I agreed with. I could have mentioned my sticking out belly, but ignored the compliment instead. “Breakfast smells amazing, but I need the bathroom. I mean, a toilet.” My flush deepened.
“This is one of the rooms reserved for human guests, with all the facilities humans need.” Nic slipped his hand around my waist. “Can you walk?”
“I feel great. Whatever you gave me worked better than a pharmacy full of drugs. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Don’t ask me to explain.” He lifted his palms and shrugged. “It’s the arcane magic in vampire blood.” He nudged me across the plush carpet to an elegantly glazed door. “Breakfast will be waiting when you return.”
Mysterious magic had to explain everything about vampires. I padded to the bathroom deep in thought. I still had so much to learn. The deluxe room was as large as my bedroom and bathroom combined, and fully equipped for all human needs. My clean and repaired dress hung on a rail, my clean underwear and shoes sat under the dress in a low credenza. Next to them, someone had laid out jeans, a t-shirt and a soft-looking sweater.
Someone with talent had mended the dress, only a razor-thin line of sequins in an inconspicuous place hinted at a major salvage operation. I made a mental note to thank Emilde before going home. The lights around the huge mirror over the double sink hid nothing. I didn’t feel tired, but purple half-moons under my eyes showed my body’s stress. The faint remains of a shiny bruise surrounded one eye, and an almost healed gravel rash decorated the same cheek. Both courtesy of Adrian grinding my face into the ground when I shot him the second time. I stared at my reflection. It didn’t improve under my gaze but my stomach rumbled and I realized I was famished.
Sunlight filled the room when I tiptoed back to the bed. Nic had opened both blinds and a luminous blue sky shone behind the bare branched trees outside the windows. I slipped under the covers without removing the robe and burst into tears.
“What is it? Are you in pain?” Nic wrapped his arms around me and stroked my back.
I blubbered into his chest until hiccups replaced my hitching breaths.
“Talk to me, Louisa. What’s wrong?”
I turned my face so I could speak freely, though not completely truthfully. I didn’t want to admit how much the attack rattled me. “You always appear good enough to eat, but look at me.” I pulled away to point at my face. “An old crone on a really bad day.”
He lifted my chin and kissed my mouth. “You are always beautiful. Even better, today you are a rare beauty who fought a leech and won. Expect your emotions to be all over the place. It’s completely normal after everything that happened.” He’d seen right through me. He plumped the pillows behind my head, set up the breakfast tray over my thighs, and slid next to me. “Now eat. I know you are hungry.”
I forced myself not to think about the attack, the sickening sound of Adrian’s head leaving his body, or what may have happened if Nic hadn’t made it in time. An oval plate of bacon, scrambled eggs, sausage and maple-syrup-drenched pancakes sat under the cloche plate cover. I sampled everything and groaned in appreciation. It all tasted wonderful. “There’s enough for two here. Help yourself.”
“Thank you, but all food tastes like clay, and it’s not nourishing for me.” He flashed me a smile before pulling his knees to his chest and gazing out the window.
I drank him in while I sipped my juice. He wore his dark hair in tousled surfer waves, a light stubble hugged his strong jaw, and long eyelashes framed the amazing blue orbs that were his eyes.
I knew how dangerous he was. I knew I shouldn’t get involved with him. But excitement shot through me every time we touched. I’d felt lust before, but not like this. We were both creatures of the night. I was as much a part of his world, as he of mine. But would drinking his blood make me a vampire too? I had to find out.
“You know how I drank your blood. Thanks, by the way. Will I be a vampire now?”
He laughed at that. “No. The process to sire new vamps is rather more complex and should never be started without express consent.”
I shoveled food into my mouth for several minutes. “If food tastes like clay, I guess you only eat, drink blood?”
“And the occasional glass of wine or cognac.” He circled his fingertip across my wrist.
“Or cocktails.” Laughter died on my lips as my cheeks heated again. Damn it. I’d almost climbed into his lap in the speakeasy. That was before I drank the Negroni cocktail, so I couldn’t burden the drink with any blame.
“And an aged whiskey.” His fingertips continued making lazy figure eights across my forearm.
“Aged in oak, of course.” I tried for a posh, upper-class tone, but the touch of his fingers sent currents of desire from my skin to my very core and I couldn’t keep a tremor from my voice.
He laughed and the soft rumble sent a shiver across my skin.
I had visions of Nic and Emilde warming bags of blood in a microwave and drinking it from silver goblets, quickly replaced by young women bleeding from two holes in their necks. Adrian may have been a rogue vampire, a leech, but all of them needed blood to survive. Even though I knew getting involved with Nic was risky, I wanted to get to know him better and to do that I needed to accept his diet.
“Do you only drink human blood? I’m guessing it doesn’t come from a supermarket.”
His gaze searched my face for a few seconds. “I’m sure you’ve heard of the research lab I fund.” He scooted closer and poured heavenly scented coffee into an oversize mug. “You know there is no shortage of willing blood donors. I need to explain a few things, then I will answer your questions about the girl who received a blood transfusion.”
I let out a breath and felt my shoulders relax. I could trust him. He’d get straight to the point. “Yes, please. It worries me. And how you manage the nests in the area. Can you explain that, too?”
He didn’t answer immediately. I sipped my coffee and waited.
He moved so he could face me easily. “The blood from the lab sustains us, but not in the same way as fresh blood pumping from a healthy human. We keep a number of people here—”
I pushed the tray away and put some distance between us. “Blood slaves? Prisoners. You feed on humans, you keep them in cages—”
“Stop.” He gripped my arms. “You sound like a B grade horror movie. I do not keep prisoners. The humans who live here all choose to do so, enjoy the many benefits I offer, and are free to leave any time they choose.”
I wanted to believe him. Wanted to believe the world I inhabited resembled a paranormal romance story where the vampires were urbane gentlemen, skilled in the sensual arts, rather than gothic horror where vampires were either disgusting or terrifying, or both.
