Secrets in Blood

by Patricia D. Eddy

  Nic kissed her palm. “You’ve never tasted any of these foods, and yet you just chose my favorite combination of flavors.” He insisted she sample the salty, sweet, richness of the wrapped fruit herself, and she complied as he fed her again from his hand.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you agreed to the interrogation to protect me?” Evangeline asked as she offered Nic a small cookie dotted with slivered almonds.

  He took his time, washing the cookie down with a sip of wine before he linked their fingers. “Carlo and I are going to have words tomorrow. But the simple answer? Italy is a part of me, cara. Italians…we are a proud people, there is a spirit there you cannot find anywhere else in the world. And I want you to experience it. If I refused to submit to the interrogation…we could have never returned.”

  “But…you could be…” She couldn’t say the words. Now that she’d agreed to bond with this man she’d fallen in love with, the idea of losing him terrified her.

  Nic pulled her close. “The Conclave has no reason to find me guilty. I did nothing wrong. I will not lie to you, Evangeline. The idea of voluntarily allowing someone to bind me in silver again terrifies me. But I can survive another few days if it means we will have a lifetime together.”

  One lifetime.

  She rested head on Nic’s shoulder, leaving the rest of her fears unvoiced. For the moment, she only wanted to finish this dance they’d started.

  He ran his hands up and down her back, then lifted her shirt over her head. “Merda,” he whispered when he saw the black lace bra. “What else are you hiding under those clothes?”

  Evangeline smiled as she flicked open the button of her pants and wriggled her hips, revealing matching panties. Trembling, clad only in the thin strips of lace, she bit her lip, waiting for him to join her.

  “Vieni qui.” Nic used his enhanced speed to shed his clothing, and when he stood in a pair of boxers and nothing else, she wrapped her arms around his neck. He teased her lips with soft kisses, his cock straining against the silk.

  The scent of their shared arousal swirled around them, and Evangeline reached between them, slipping the small pocket knife from her bra.

  She smoothed her hands down his chest, and her smile faded. “Are you sure about this?” So many scars. All her father’s doing. And she was supposed to give him more?

  With a frown, Nic cupped her cheek. “How can you ask me that? You do not feel my love for you?”

  “My father made these,” she said, brushing the scars from Henry’s silver spikes. “He almost killed you. Are you sure you won’t think about him when you look at me?”

  Nic pulled her down, and when they were both on their knees, he held her gaze. “No, cara. I will think only of you saving me.”

  Straddling his thighs, she touched the mark on his neck. Their connection flared, stronger than ever. Nic shuddered.

  “I never believed in…love at first sight. Or even…fate. All the romance novels I wasn’t supposed to read—but did anyway—were crazy with that stuff. But they were just stories.”

  “Many stories have some basis in fact,” Nic murmured as he brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

  “Will—” she bit her lip, “—will you let me go first?”

  Nic angled his head, but she hesitated as she rested the knife against his skin. He covered her hand with his. “You could never hurt me, tesoro. Our bond prevents this.”

  Cringing, Evangeline let him guide the knife as it sliced across his vein. Blood beaded, and before the wound could heal, Evangeline pressed her lips to his neck. A jolt of warmth hit her belly as his blood flowed over her tongue.

  With a low moan, she pulled away, smoothing her tongue over the wound. “Oh, wow,” she said. The new mark almost glowed in the moonlight, and Nic yanked Evangeline against his chest. With a possessive growl, he sank his fangs into her neck, directly over his mark.

  Tenderly, he stroked her back, and she surrendered to his bite, to the way he held her—like nothing and no one would ever come between them again.

  When he sealed the wound, he nuzzled his lips against her ear. “I never imagined I could feel…this much for anyone,” he whispered. “I need you, Evangeline. More than I need my next breath.”

  Evangeline turned her head, claiming his mouth with hers. Somehow, he managed to pull her closer. Tasting the hint of blood on his tongue—her blood—something inside her caught fire. The scent of aroused male surrounded them as she nipped playfully at his lower lip. He laughed, but his words were anything but humorous.

  “I love you, Evangeline. Your body makes me ache, and I both want to finish this immediately and take all night. But you need to know that this is not merely physical. You have a good heart. A brilliant mind. You will make me a better man.”

  Drawing the knife over the other side of his neck, she drank greedily, and he grunted with pleasure. Her second taste of him brought a flood of moisture on lace. With every drop of his blood, he revived and awakened her like she had never felt before. His fingers teased the lace between her thighs. When he slipped a finger inside of her, she mewled and drove her hips against his hand.

  Nic sunk his fangs into the other side of her neck. The combination of the new mark, his capable fingers, and her own desire shot her right over the edge. She screamed his name, her hips thrusting violently. Time stilled. He laid her down, the second mark sealed in permanence, and stroked her cheeks. “Shhh, sweet one. What’s wrong?”

  As he kissed away a tear, she forced her eyes open to see his worried expression. She laughed and took his wrist in her hand, kissing along the sensitive skin. “The only thing wrong is that I want you inside of me when I open this vein.”

  “I believe that can be arranged,” he said, tugging off his boxers. Her fingers wrapped around his cock and he shuddered in her grip. When she released him, he kissed the hollow of her throat, down between her breasts.

  “Help me,” she begged, shifting her hips. He grasped the black lace and tore the panties from her body. As he guided his length into her, supporting himself with his right hand, she nicked his left wrist and pulled the wound to her lips.

  The sensations that flooded her left her blind and deaf to all but his grunts of pleasure. He thrust deep as she fed from him. Nic sunk his fangs into her wrist and climaxed with a shout before collapsing on top of her.

  Her skin tingled, and her heart pounded with such intensity, she feared her body wouldn’t hold out. A star winked over Nic’s shoulder, and she smiled, whispering in his ear, “Have you ever done something silly like wish on a star?”

  “No. Why?”

  “Star light, star bright…” She pointed up at the heavens.

  “What do you wish for, my sweet?” Nic shifted, curling his body around hers as he pulled her against his chest.

  “You.”

  “Well then, your wish has already come true. You have me. Or did you suddenly forget whose name you just screamed?”

  She laughed as she trailed a hand down his chest. “That’s not what I meant.” With a sigh, she pulled the blanket over them. “When I was a kid, I used to watch this video of the forest. One of the security cameras. During the day, we could see the river sparkling in the sun, and at night, sometimes there were stars. I used to wish that I’d belong somewhere. I never felt right down below. I was the leader’s kid. Then I was a hunter. I was useful because I brought in food. But I didn’t really have friends. Only Cassie, and I think that was all my father’s doing. But now I feel like I belong with you.”

  Until that moment, she hadn’t realized just how lonely she’d been.

  “You will always belong with me,” he said as he kissed the tears from her cheeks.

  Her fingers trembled as she took his hand and nicked his right wrist. As she tasted him, he brought her free hand to his lips and pierced the delicate skin.

  Evangeline cried out against him but immediately returned to his vein. He was tender as he fed, while she was desperate, unable to sate her need for him. Her
body cried out for his strength, and his blood replenished what he’d taken. The delicate dance held sway over them, strength ebbing and flowing, time stretching into infinite moments, then speeding up again to reveal more stars, more love, and more need.

  When Evangeline released his wrist, she collapsed against him. He fit her to his side as he eased the knife from her limp fingers, slid the blade between her breasts, and cut through the lace. Sucking a pebbled nipple into his mouth, he worshipped her until she moaned with pleasure.

  “We’re going to kill each other at this rate,” Evangeline said.

  “I will never let that happen. Are you in pain? Have I taken too much of your blood?”

  “No. But…” She shook her head. “Has anyone ever died from this?”

  “If they did, they died happy.”

  “Nic, don’t joke. I’m human. I could…I’m not like you. You’re so much stronger than I am.”

  “Mia sposa, this is where you are wrong. You are the stronger one.”

  “You have a skewed definition of strong.”

  He pulled back to meet her gaze. “You went against everyone you ever knew to save my life. You would not let me die. You gave me your blood, your trust, knowing there was a risk I could compel you to do terrible things. How is that not strong?”

  Evangeline slid down his body, kissing his chest and every mark caused by her father’s torture. When she took him into her mouth, he moaned.

  Her tongue swirled around his firm length, playing along the head of his cock. A drop of his essence escaped the tip, salty and pure. He muttered a desperate oath in Italian. “Per favore. Non fermati!”

  She drew her lips over him, smiling. “What did you say to me?”

  “Please, tesoro, I said 'do not stop…'”

  She kissed her way back up his thigh and hollowed out her cheeks to take him deeper. Swiveling her head, she let the tip of his cock rest against the back of her throat, purring softly.

  “Dio,” he whispered. “Sto per scoppiare!”

  Evangeline’s fingers dug into his thighs as she sucked, licked, and tried to drive him over the edge. His muscles corded under her grasp. The scent of his blood and her own arousal settled in her nose. With a desperate cry, he jerked his hips, and the taste of him filled her. As she drew her mouth back over him, he watched her with raw desire churning in his gaze.

  With a savage growl, he pulled her up and rolled with her, trapping her under his weight.

  “Nic.”

  “I love how you say my name, cara. I want to hear you say it every day, moan it as I bring you to the peak of ecstasy. I want your heart, your soul…as you have mine.”

  The bonding marks radiated heat throughout her body, and her climax rushed towards her as he lapped at the throbbing nub of her sex.

  “Hold on to me.”

  She did. One finger, then another slipped inside of her, and when he returned his tongue to her clit, she lost herself to pleasure.

  A single word ripped from his throat. “Mine.”

  “Mine,” Evangeline whispered. Nic pumped his hips slowly, soothing her battered body. The touch of his lips to hers fortified her and she clutched the knife, ready to make the final mark that would seal them forever.

  Waves of emotion brought tears to her eyes. “Now…please…claim me,” he begged.

  Evangeline drew the knife across his chest and he howled with pain. Blood flowed over her lips—more than she thought safe. Her tongue traced the line of the wound until he jerked up. The final mark had to be done together. Blood to blood.

  With her breast firmly held in his grasp, he met her gaze. “I love you, sposa.” With that, he sank his fangs into the soft pillow of flesh over her heart.

  Her scream echoed his. Pain threatened to overwhelm her, but Nic worked his hips harder and faster, pulling her deeper into the intense pleasure of their coupling. Evangeline’s core tightened around him. The bonding marks flared, glowing silver in the starlight. Angling his body, he pressed his heart to hers. Their blood mingled, and the pain started to fade. She kissed his neck, the new mark tender under her lips.

  “Mia sposa…Evangeline…mio tesoro,” Nic chanted to her mind.

  She couldn’t breathe. Even unable to speak, she could reach him. She could always reach him. “I love you.”

  As he said her name and those beautiful Italian words she had only begun to understand, his entire body tensed. When he lost himself to her, his cock reeling in spasms again and again, she let herself fly over the edge with him.

  29

  A strange sensation filled him. As his life mate shivered under him, he tried to identify the feeling.

  Contentment.

  For the first time in eighteen years, he was at peace.

  He tried to stifle a laugh, failed, and the deep rumble shook his entire body. Evangeline pushed up on an elbow to stare at him. “Are you okay?”

  “Evangeline, my heart, I have seen birth, death, war, and peace. When you have lived more than eight hundred years, you start to believe you will never see or feel anything new again. But here we are, on the roof of a gas station, hunted, naked, and cold, and I am the happiest I have ever been.”

  When she joined him in laughter, he thought his heart might burst. Under the blanket, he caressed her naked breast, feeling the twin marks of his fangs over her heart. Her laughter turned to giggles as the bonding mark flared. “Will it always feel like that?”

  “I am told they remain highly sensitive.” As Evangeline returned the gesture, resting her hand over his heart, Nic relished in the warmth that spread through him.

  “We can’t stay on this roof all night. One of us can’t regulate their body temperature at will.”

  “You are right. Come.” He stood, offered Evangeline his hand, and took a moment to appreciate her lithe hunter’s body. She fumbled through the remnants of their clothes, finally giving up and tugging his shirt over her head.

  Nic headed for the ladder. Jumping down the last few feet, he scanned the convenience store. “We’re alone, sposa.”

  “Where is everyone?” she asked as she climbed down after him.

  “Patrolling. They gave us this time to be alone. Now that the moon has risen, I expect them back soon.”

  When he looked back at her, a grin tugged at her lips. Nic sauntered over to her and cupped the back of her neck, drawing her against him. “Something amuses you?”

  “You. You’re kind of handsome, you know.”

  With a chuckle, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the office. Carlo had arranged sleeping bags into a makeshift bed and left them water, a bottle of wine, and a small plate of cookies and cheese.

  “They did this for us?”

  “Carlo has always had a flair for romance.” Nic set her down on the sleeping bag, then knelt next to her to pour them both wine.

  “Now, mia sposa, we can consummate our union properly.” He lifted his glass, and Evangeline’s brows drew down. “A toast, cara. We touch glasses with an intention, in the hopes it comes to pass.”

  “Like wishing on a star.”

  “I suppose.” Nic inclined his head. “I enjoy seeing my marks on you.” Stroking the silver scars she’d wear for the rest of her life, he marveled at the gooseflesh that rose on her arms. How he could affect her—and she him—now that they were of one heart.

  Evangeline worried her lip under her teeth. “Yours won’t fade, will they? I mean…I don’t have fangs.”

  “Possessive, are we?”

  “Yes.” A pained look crossed her features. “I…understand now. Why you threatened to throw Caro off the roof. You’re mine. I don’t want any other woman even touching you, let alone thinking they can kiss you.”

  Nic cupped her cheek and drew his thumb over her lips. “There will be adjustments we will have to make now. I trust you, Evangeline. And I believe you trust me, si?”

  She nodded, though a current of unease ran through her.

  “We are both strong-willed and
opinionated, and I fear this may occasionally lead to spectacular fights.” Claiming her mouth, he tried to reassure her. “Nothing will ever separate us. I will never wish to leave you, nor you me. The reason vampires do not break bonds? Because our hearts and souls are now two halves of one whole. We are one—even though we maintain our individuality. Over hundreds of years of observation, I have learned one thing about human couples. They often forget that marriage is work. Our bond will compel us to fix any problems that arise between us.” Nic took her hand and pressed a kiss to the center of her palm. “I bonded to you, Evangeline. A year ago, perhaps, something changed when I thought of you. I used to pray that you’d escaped, that you’d found a way from under your father’s control. Then, one day…as I begged my maker to kill me, I imagined what you’d look like all grown up.”

  Nic traced her cheek with the tips of his fingers. “I saw your face…this face. And I knew I would not die. But our bond is not all I feel. I also love you. I have loved you since the day you rescued me.”

  The others returned a short time later—Carlo and Pietro bickering over who would win the World Cup and Vittoria grumbling about the foolishness of football. Pietro’s heavy footsteps bypassed the office, and when Nic heard the vampire pacing the roof, he relaxed.

  “Tell me about your life. Before,” Evangeline said as she took a sip of her wine.

  Nic urged her against him so he could drape his arm over her shoulders, and she pulled the second sleeping bag over them like a blanket. “Sorrento is a seaside town. Many trees, beautiful mountains, long, winding roads. A retreat of sorts from the bustle of Rome where the Conclave’s offices and my company are. Have you heard of Capri?”

  “That’s an island?”