Key to Redemption

by Talia Gryphon

  “Sweet Jesus, you are already wet.” His breathing was ragged as he continued to tease her with his fingers, reaching down to open his trousers and free his heavy erection, placing it at her opening, listening to her breathing grow faster and shallower.

  Gillian gasped, closing her eyes and leaning in to kiss him.

  “No, look at me,” he commanded, his voice velvety and erotic. “Je t’en prie . . . look in my eyes.”

  As her eyes opened, Perrin’s face held a hunger that she’d never seen. It was dark, primal, accusing, and aching with something neither of them understood. Elegant hands pulled her against him and brought their bodies completely together.

  Buried within her, he shuddered with effort not to thrust. He wanted this moment with her. He had to have it or he would never be completely whole. He had to be as open as she was, as courageous as she was.

  “Gillian.” Perrin’s voice was low, thick and full of sex; oh, so very compelling. “I want you to truly witness what you are having intercourse with.”

  She understood. She’d known before he broached the topic. He was picking a hell of a time to test her nerve and ask his question, but she’d be damned if she’d flinch, no matter what was behind that leather covering.

  His hand rose to the edge of his mask. The moonlight was fully on his face from a beam of silvery light that had found its way into the darkness they coupled in.

  “Can you look at the monster with desire, make love to it?” He pulled the mask off, dropping it at his feet, then he lifted his eyes to lock them with hers, his voice harsh and guttural. “Do you still want this carcass inside you now, Gillian?”

  The night was still except for the pounding of their pulses and the harsh, quick breathing from both of them. Perrin waited as she stared at his face. He waited for her to scream her disgust, for the horror that would make her push him away. He waited to prove her idealistic viewpoint wrong.

  God help him, if she rejected him, he wasn’t sure he could stop, pull out of her and go home before he became a rapist and took her with or without her consent. If he crossed that line, if he hurt her because of his weakness, he would destroy himself.

  The Gargoyle gene had indeed left its mark upon his face. It was as if stone and flesh were carrying out a war . . . fighting for supremacy on his facial canvas, carving almost a full third of his face out of living rock.

  Gillian took her time to observe him with clinical eyes. It was bad. Very bad. Mottled gray granite interspersed with raw skin, flesh and bone, leaving ulcerated, angry-looking, glistening places back as far as his hairline.

  The boundaries of fleshy ribbons strained to meet and close across the rough stone but couldn’t make it. His right eye socket was flesh and was pulled down a little from the stone occupying the area near its space. Both eyelids were flesh and sported thick black lashes just like the left side; the perfect gray green eye was just that, perfect. He even had a perfect ebony eyebrow, curiously growing out of pure stone.

  Brow, cheekbone and nearly half of his forehead area the mask had covered were granite. Most of the right side of his nose appeared chiseled off, lending a cadaverous appearance to it. He looked as though something had raked huge dull claws unevenly across his face in an effort to rip through and expose the stone. The hairline itself was intact and perfect; no stone intruded there.

  It was very, very bad, but she’d been prepared for much, much worse. Having seen battlefield injuries, murder victims, violent death in all its forms, she was braced for something truly horrific, but she would have completed this act with him, no matter what. He needed it. Needed to know that she could still make love to him, even if she saw everything. She put that knowledge into her eyes and let him see it.

  “Yeah, I want you, Perrin, with or without the mask.” Gillian took his face in her hands, gently kissing the damaged side, not sure if she might cause him pain on the raw-looking cheek, whispering to him.

  “You are a whole man, a beautiful, wonderful, gifted man, not a monster or a carcass. A small area of your face does not determine who you are or what you are. We’re here, we’re joined, now take us both where we want to go.”

  She kissed him and she put all her passion, need, desire and warmth into that kiss. He was passive for about three seconds, then his hands moved, tears of relief in his eyes. He responded to her kiss with the same dark hunger as before but the savagery was gone.

  Having her total acceptance, knowing she knew what she was making love to, made the moment all the more important to him.

  “Gillian, mon Dieu, you are beautiful,” Perrin gasped as he felt the powerful rippling of her climax. His own release followed instantly. The gift she had given him was immeasurable. Now he knew for certain that he could manage out there. Everything she had told him was the absolute truth.

  “You’re beautiful, Perrin. Beautiful, sexy, and you’ve become quite the thrilling lover.” Smiling at him, she stroked his face, wiped his tears away; obviously in no hurry to have him withdraw. He needed to know she was in no rush to end the moment. The shift in him was immediately apparent. Desperation and despair had turned to satisfaction and contentment.

  Perrin hadn’t realized that he’d been crying. His face and neck were wet, and he touched them with his fingertips almost reverently. “What you have done . . . I did not think could be done. I cannot express . . .”

  Drawing back a little, she smoothed his hair, tracing the line around the granite-edged part of his face. “Perrin, do you realize that you just made love to me with no glamour whatsoever?”

  He hadn’t. In his desperation he hadn’t used his talents. “But you responded, you climaxed . . . How?”

  Great Hathor, he really was shocked and wide-eyed with the revelation. “Because you have become a wonderful lover. You don’t need glamour to go to bed with a woman. You are all the man that you need.”

  Laughing, she kissed him again. “You have skill and technique now, not to mention finesse!”

  The lovely green eyes glowed and Perrin felt satisfaction, pride, completely whole, for the first time in his life. Gently disengaging from her, he helped her straighten her clothes, which necessitated removing the torn and ripped pants, and let her tuck him away behind the elegant black cloth and fasten everything back up.

  Once again, Gillian stood in Sacele with only a tunic-size shirt and a pair of boots. Perrin was back to looking extraordinary and elegant in his formally dressed attire. Coat and tails, perfectly pressed pants, even after their encounter. All he needed was a cape.

  He touched her face almost reverently, a smile ghosting across his own face for a moment before he bent down to retrieve his mask. Gill watched as he turned away from her to affix it back to his face.

  “Why, Perrin?”

  Turning back, he cupped her face delicately as always, impressed by this woman who was willing to give so much because she believed. “My angel, you have given me back my soul and my heart. I can never repay what you have done for me this night, but I have worn this mask too long. I cannot throw it down forever, just yet.”

  She blushed, her eyes flicking down, and he brought her face back up with a gentle hand. “Do not turn away, ma chérie. Learn to accept a compliment, Gillian. It is all right to be pleased and proud of yourself. You gave life back to a dead man. I had no hope, no faith; you gave it back to me because you believed. That is something to be proud of, fair one, not embarrassed about.”

  “I’m not very good at this.”

  It was his turn to laugh, deep and low, no glamour, just pure sensual Perrin. “Ma petite belle, you are very good at this, I assure you.”

  He turned serious suddenly. “I would like to come to the castle again, play a little concert for your friends and for the other clientele. But I know that it is time for me to go and discover if I can have a life without Gillian Key by my side.”

  Wordlessly she nodded; her throat was a little tight from the pride she had for him and his courage. Perrin’s face was full of c
ompassion as he brought her hand to his mouth to kiss.

  “Thank you for your acceptance of everything I am. I think that is what every man truly desires. Now it is late and I am being most ungentlemanly by keeping you out here in this place.”

  Gallantly he offered her his arm. “May I escort you home?” She nodded and took his arm, keeping her face away so she could unobtrusively wipe the tear away before he noticed. But Perrin had noticed. He knew it wasn’t sadness. She felt proud of him, but didn’t want to talk about her contribution to his success. He knew she cared. It was what made her good at her job.

  Walking back in the near dawn, he managed to make her smile, then laugh. By the time they turned into the drive, they were enjoying a lively discussion about the CDs she wanted to give him with soundtracks from various movie musicals on them. They held hands till the path diverted to either his guesthouse or the castle.

  Perrin took her hands, a full smile gracing his mouth for a change. “This one night will you stay with me? One final night of instruction to know what it is like to hold a woman in my arms all night?”

  “Only if you promise to take off the mask as soon as we’re inside and no glamour.”

  “That I believe I can do, now.”

  “Good because I think you’ve forgotten that I am not wearing any underwear under this very short tunic.”

  The curtsy she made was comical, but it flipped the edges of the shirt up enough that Perrin knew he hadn’t remembered.

  An uncharacteristic gleam grew in his eye and he moved toward her slowly, sensuously. Gillian’s eyes widened and she backed up a step, giggling. Then he had her, sweeping her up and tossing her over his shoulder. Gillian half shrieked as he reached up and smacked her bottom playfully as he carried her to the house in long strides.

  “Perrin! What the hell is this?” Torn between laughing and being annoyed, Gillian kicked her feet and tried to make sure her butt was covered. He rewarded her by carrying her in straight to his bedroom and tossing her onto the bed.

  “I have wanted to do that for a very long time, ma chérie. Being able to relax, be playful with a woman . . . You have no idea how good this feels.”

  Her eyebrow arched as she looked at him with the most wicked smile he’d ever seen on another being. “So you want to . . . play? Be playful? As in a little role-playing? Like pretend?”

  Getting the gist of what she was hinting at, Perrin sat properly on the edge of the bed, holding out a hand to her and shifting his look from playful to stern. “I think that is a lovely idea. I think I will be the autocratic music teacher and you may be the young impetuous student.”

  “No mask and no glamour.”

  Complying, he removed the stylized piece and laid it on the table next to the bed. He never thought about the light still being on as Gillian rolled off the bed and ran to the living room to hop up on the piano, ready for her voice lesson.

  CHAPTER 19

  IT had been so dark in the alley that Gillian hadn’t even thought about being observed. Her empathy had been solely focused on Perrin’s needs, but the watcher, a lone, black-clad figure, had looked down from high on the rooftops, secluded in plain sight by his own power. A power that she had never before encountered. A power hundreds of years old, with the ability to mask itself from her with little effort.

  Long, straight black hair, shimmering as it gathered starlight, waved in the gentle evening breeze. Gillian’s mystery patient decided that he definitely needed the services of this petite blonde after watching her with the man in the alley. It had been a surprise to see what it was that she welcomed into her arms and between her legs when the man she embraced so passionately had taken the mask off.

  The Vampire had watched with eyes that could only be described as pale glacial green. The man she’d coupled with was a monster, yet she had been docile, compliant, a lovely receptacle for the semen that the Vampire knew had been expelled.

  Her own scent was lovely, snow on mountain clover, sunshine and wet, hot sex. That she had the compassion to take such a being in such a loving embrace confirmed what he had been told. Her innate empathy was powerful indeed and she used it well. She truly was a healer, though he had no need of that particular brand of her services.

  He had done the right thing by coming. Her abilities had not been overstated or exaggerated. Perhaps he had been wrong to wait so long. He’d avoided her, wanting to know that she was as good as her agency and press said she was. Now he knew.

  The Vampire had turned away from the couple mating in the darkness, hearing their cries of completion from a distance and catching their combined scent on the light night wind. He was no voyeur. Watching others make love was not what excited him.

  Tomorrow night, he would introduce himself to Dr. Key. If there was hope for that creature she had held, there may yet be hope for him. Spreading his arms, he’d stepped off the roof, becoming a night-flying raptor and spiraling lazily away into the darkness to hunt for his own prey.

  Gillian hadn’t come home last night. Aleksei knew what had happened and where she had been the instant he stepped inside the castle, which was devoid of her presence. Part of him was torn apart with jealousy but not because she’d had sex with Perrin in the alley. That was part of her job with him. The other half of him was tremendously proud of what she had done for the dynamic yet tormented genius.

  In the short time that Perrin had been at the Rachlav Institute of Paramortal Healing, he had made so much progress that Helmut Gerhardt, Ph.D., IPPA’s director, was considering asking Gillian to do a paper on the case. Bravo, Gillian.

  The problem plaguing him was that Perrin was able to do what he, a newly anointed, immensely powerful Vampire Lord, could not. Perrin was able to hold her all night, wake with her in the morning, see her hair shine in the full glare of the noonday sun. Haunted and damaged as he had been before he started therapy with Gillian, Perrin would always be able to walk in the daylight with her.

  Grimly, Aleksei wondered if Gillian had missed having a lover who could be with her all night. He could remain conscious long after the sun rose with his age and level of power, as long as he remained out of its direct rays. She woke alone since being with him. He always left her, allowing her to get the amount of sleep her Human body required, instead of waking her too early in the morning before he went to ground.

  Her code of ethics would prevent ongoing contact with any patient for a year after their professional relationship terminated. Somehow he suspected that Perrin might consider finding his way back to Romania after that time. Aleksei would cross land or sea himself to reach her; Perrin was no different.

  Aleksei had recognized the hard truths about the limitations on their relationship before he ever got involved with her. Waiting two years, knowing that she was having sex with his brother Tanis in a nontherapeutic sense for part of that time, had made it agony for him.

  Tanis. He wished he could talk to Tanis, but he was off in Egypt with Jenna, and Aleksei didn’t want to intrude on them. The close call with Jenna nearly being Jack’s serial killer fodder had shaken his younger brother badly. Jenna had been remarkably brave and stable afterward, but it had haunted him. A visit with his friends Anubis and Osiris would be healing and allow Jenna an up-close-and-personal view of Tanis on a night-to-night basis.

  They’d been gone a week but Aleksei knew they couldn’t be safer where they were. Dracula would never dare try a direct attack in Osiris’s territory. He missed his brother but refrained from contacting them via their link.

  Tanis had survived the conversion from Dracula’s Line to his own. Now he was free to love Jenna if he chose or, if they didn’t work out, to have a relationship with another. Free of the taint of the Dark Prince, Tanis had his Reborn life back, as Aleksei did.

  Neither would have chosen to become Vampire if they’d been allowed the choice. However, if this was what they must be, then it was better to live without the corrupting shadow of their former Lord.

  He missed Tanis but h
e missed Gillian being there when he rose and returned to the castle from feeding. Rationally he knew that if she’d stayed with Perrin, then she had good reason. He trusted her; he knew that without mentally kicking himself this time. Perrin would be gone soon and they could try to work out the kinks in their relationship.

  Gillian was right about one thing—they had rushed headlong into this and needed to be more attentive to the details. Aleksei fervently hoped that Gillian would still find beauty in the night and passion in his own arms.

  On cue, the heavy front door opened and Gillian came in, disheveled and wearing very little clothing. She was still in the green tunic and boots but her hair was wet, her pants were missing and she was shivering.

  “Piccola, come to me,” Aleksei said hoarsely as she shut the door.

  Gill’s head snapped up and she saw Aleksei sitting by the fireplace, which had a crackling blaze going. Willingly she went to him as he stood to enfold her in his arms.

  “I am glad that Perrin will leave us a whole person, Gillian. Truly you have worked a miracle with this man’s psyche and soul.” Aleksei’s voice had a black velvet quality which got inside her and warmed her from her toes to her head.

  “I’m sorry, Aleksei. I know this has been rough on you but I really appreciate your support in all this.” Gillian had wrapped her arms around his waist and let him hold her.

  Surprise registered across the Vampire Lord’s face. “I am sorry if I have been that obvious with my level of discomfort. I have tried to remain distant to give you room to do your job.”

  Smiling, she looked up at him. “You’ve been great, Aleksei. Thanks. I mean it.”

  “You are cold and we are talking about my magnanimous nature.” He scooped her up in his arms and carried her swiftly through the hallways and up the stairs to their shared bedroom.

  “Woo hoo! Door-to-door service.” Gillian laughed as he set her down and moved to the bathroom to turn on the heat and start the shower running hot for her.