Bonded by Blood

by Laurie London

  “I joined the ranks of the Agency as a Guardian over a century ago and now oversee our team here in Seattle. My father, as an Elder on our high Council, spearheaded the efforts to fight the Darkblood Alliance by allocating funds for the Agency’s creation. Back then it was called the Society of Guardians, but today we simply refer to it as the Agency. Guess it sounds more modern. We’ve got a presence in many parts of the world and we work to keep humans safe…when we can.”

  She chewed on a nail for a moment. “And these Darkbloods want to live like your ancestors did?”

  “Yes. There have always been fundamentalist vampires, those who shunned the new ways. In the middle of the last millennium, when my ancestors consumed only human blood, much of Europe’s population was stricken by the Great Plague, or Blood Fever, as we refer to it. Not only did it kill millions of people and eradicate our food source, but vampires who fed from a human with Blood Fever died, as well. Although some humans recover after contracting the Fever, vampires never do.

  “After generations of seeing our population dwindle even more rapidly than the human population, our ancestors discovered we didn’t need to rely solely on human blood for sustenance, that we could simply absorb much of our energy needs through skin-to-skin contact rather than blood consumption. Just like the human diet has changed dramatically over the centuries—vegetables used to be thought of as food primarily for animals and the poor—so has our diet. However, some vampires believe it’s our true nature to feed from humans and they shouldn’t be denied this right. Unfortunately, there will always be those of my kind who feel this way.”

  They drove in silence for a few miles as he let her process everything.

  “My missing day. We didn’t just happen to meet at the auction, did we?”

  “No.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I was injured by a silver bullet in a shootout with Darkbloods. I managed to float downstream to the cemetery before I was able to pull myself ashore. You found me at my weakest point and because you are Sangre Dulce, I took too much of your blood and almost killed you.”

  “You bit me,” she said softly, almost to herself, and lifted her hand to rub her neck. Although the interior of the car was warm, his fingers felt suddenly cold. Then she lowered her hand back to his and he was warm again.

  “And I absorbed your energies.”

  She looked confused.

  “Here.” He turned his hand over. “Slip your palm onto mine.”

  When she did, his body tingled with her energy and he quickly released her. “Did you feel that?”

  “Oh my God, yes.”

  “Hand-to-hand or hand-to-face is how we absorb most of the energies from…a…you. We’re sensitive to the sun’s rays, unable to process ultraviolet light into energy. We must obtain it by absorbing it from humans. But too much can make some of us more aggressive. In parts of the world with higher amounts of UV full spectrum light, there are higher concentrations of this energy within the human population. The more aggressive members of our race tend to live in those regions.”

  “But how can you absorb it without us knowing? I mean, it’s like a jolt of electricity when you touch me. And I find it very…nice.” She closed her eyes as if she were savoring the feeling.

  “Most people are tired when the energy leaves their bodies,” he said. “A little rundown, like you’d feel if you didn’t get enough sleep. But it appears you feel what I do. I think you must be taking some of my energies.”

  “And that’s not normal?”

  He shook his head.

  “And when you took my blood, why didn’t I turn into a…and I didn’t die.”

  “Just a bite won’t turn a human into a vampire. It takes an almost complete blood draining followed by a blood transfer from several vampires. In fact, it’s forbidden unless…well, it’s not allowed.”

  “And why don’t I remember any of it?”

  “We are able to manipulate a person’s recollection of events, suggest a different memory of what happened.”

  “So that explains my missing day.” When she paused, the atmosphere inside the car grew thick with all the questions he knew she had for him. It was just like her to look at things from all angles, as the artist she was, to better understand what stood before her.. “If you’re like them, like the ones who have been preying on the Sangre Dulce members of my family, how are you able to control yourself around me? Why didn’t I die that day if I’m…if my blood is so…sweet to you?”

  “I don’t know really. I surprised myself. To stop was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I almost killed you and for that I’ll always be horrified.”

  “You nursed me back to health then, didn’t you? I’ve had such odd recollections of that time that I’ve not been able to make sense of. Cool damp cloths on my wrists. You brushed my hair over and over, didn’t you?”

  He nodded.

  “And the auction?”

  “I followed you there to get the phone back.”

  “Oh God, that phone.” She laughed, but quickly sobered again. “What about the mind-reading? Back at the warehouse.” She shivered. “And on the ferry. Is that common? Can you all read minds?”

  “No. I’ve never heard of it happening before.” Her shoulders dropped a fraction and he sensed her tension dissipating. Her questions. All her wonderful questions. She wasn’t shutting herself from him. The beginnings of a smile wanted to seep onto his face, but he made himself concentrate on the road ahead.

  “So if you took my blood and can now hear my thoughts, why can I hear your words in my head?”

  “I had to give you a little of my blood. I thought you were dying. I was sick with guilt for what I had done, so I was forced to share a small amount of my blood with you and now it seems…we are blood bonded. Enlazado por la Sangre.”

  “Bonded by blood. Is that why it’s forbidden?”

  “No. The blood bond is a completely separate issue. It’s always forbidden to share blood with a human. Vampires share blood with each other when we—” He caught himself. She didn’t need to know that vampires shared blood during sex. “Blood sharing is common, but blood bonding is not. Before you and me, I thought it was just a myth.”

  “So, you broke your laws when you gave me your blood? To save my life?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s twice now, you know…that you saved me.” Her words trickled off until they were mostly air.

  Saved her? Good Lord. “You also almost died because of me.”

  “How are you able to control yourself around me now? Especially with my arm like this? Is that why your eyes go black?”

  “Yes, I’m afraid so.”

  Tiny lines stacked between her brows and around her eyes, punctuating her apparent confusion. “So your eyes darken because you want me. My blood?” Her voice was low and unmistakably husky. Why wasn’t she frightened? “I saw it happen the first time at the auction. Is the urge hard to control?”

  He kept his eyes on the road as the Porsche’s headlights tunneled through the night. “Yes, incredibly hard. You had no idea that night what your innocent and unexpected touch did to me. Your hand upon my face. But it’s the hardest to control when I make love to you.” The sound of her elevated heart rate reverberated in his head and stoked the embers of his memory. “It’s during lovemaking that couples regularly share blood. The urge to take yours is almost beyond my comprehension.”

  His cock hardened at the thought and he hoped she didn’t see the bulge in his pants. He shifted slightly in his seat. There would be none of that, he thought, as his fingers rubbed anxiously over his naked wrist and what was noticeably missing.

  “What would happen if you took my blood again?”

  “I would not be able to stop. I would kill you.”

  A COUPLE WITH salt and pepper hair—his short, hers pulled to the top of her head in a Gibson-girl style—stood on the well-lit veranda of a huge house. Dom maneuvered the car around the circular driveway and came to a
stop under a porte cochere and a wagon wheel chandelier dangling from the center support. With all the river rock and the massive wood support beams, Mackenzie knew this place couldn’t be just a house. It had to be a small hotel or resort.

  After climbing out of the car, he said something to the couple as he jogged around the front of the hood to help her out. When their gaze met through the windshield, an odd expression passed across his face before he scowled and turned away.

  Mackenzie opened the door.

  “Stay right there. Don’t get out.” What? Why? His bossy tone prickled irritatingly under her skin, so she ignored him. Her cramped legs needed stretching.

  The woman clambered down the steps with an ambling but efficient gait, bypassing Dom, and stretched out her arms when she reached Mackenzie.

  “Mackenzie, this is Shirley Cartwright and that’s her husband, Chuck.”

  “Please call me Shirl.” The full-bodied woman gave Mackenzie a tight hug, crushing her against an ample bosom. Mackenzie winced, preparing to feel the stinging pain of her wound, but then she remembered. Dom had healed it.

  “Don’t mind Chuck.” Shirl inclined her head toward the house. “He’d hug you, too, if he could, but Dom didn’t want him to get too close. At least, not yet.”

  Mackenzie looked over and Chuck lifted a stoic hand to her as Dom took the porch steps two at a time.

  “Dom didn’t give me much notice, so I hope I’ve got everything you need down there.” Shirl looked Mackenzie up and down and clucked. “He described you perfectly. Let’s hope the things I picked out from the gift shop will fit. If not, you come up tomorrow and we’ll get you situated.”

  “Uh, thank you, but I’d imagine we’ll be leaving by tomorrow.”

  Shirl patted Mackenzie’s hand and the lines around the woman’s eyes deepened as she smiled knowingly. “You’ve got that deer-in-the-headlights look. I think I might be able to give you some insight into all this craziness.” Mackenzie raised her eyebrows. Was it that obvious? “We’ll talk tomorrow. Go. Get some rest. You must be exhausted after what you’ve been through. Dom’s a good man, dear. But then you knew that, didn’t you?”

  Dom returned and with his hand at the small of her back, he guided her across what appeared to be an expansive lawn, though she couldn’t be sure in the dark. Strings of draped twinkly lights illuminated the oyster-shell pathway and, as their feet crunched on the packed surface, the sound of the nearby surf intensified.

  Before she could protest, Dom stooped in front of her and hoisted her up, piggyback style. A surprised squeak escaped her lips and with one little hop, her arms and legs wrapped comfortably around him as though she belonged exactly here.

  When they reached the edge of the bluff, waves hit the beach in the darkness and she saw just the hint of white crests before they faded to black. If she focused on a point slightly away from the waves, didn’t look at them directly, she could see them better.

  After passing three other cabins, Dom bounded up the steps of the last one. The interior was airy and clean with a wall of windows marking the view, framed by an automatic blind system similar to the one in his loft. The living room functioned as a great room, with the kitchen in the back and a small dining table off to the side. A short hallway ran next to the kitchen and two doors led to what were probably the bathroom and a bedroom.

  “Why don’t you freshen up? It’ll do you good to wash away the night. I’ll see what there is for you to eat before I leave.”

  “You’re leaving?” An invisible hand wrung out her insides.

  And then he was there, wrapping his arms around her. His fingers slipped up into her hair, running across her scalp before he grabbed a handful and pulled her head back. Her parted lips tingled in anticipation of his kiss.

  He abruptly dropped his hands and stepped away. “We’ll talk about this after you eat. Now go.”

  Disappointed, she shuffled toward the bathroom. A shower did sound fabulous, but once inside, when she saw the large soaking tub, she opted for a bath instead. She turned on the hot water and peeled off her clothes. After dumping a few capfuls of bath salts, she climbed in and moaned with contentment. The heat melted away any remaining tension as the scent of lavender wafted up and she slid down deep.

  Her mind was a jumble as she tried to sort through everything that happened to turn her world upside down in a matter of hours. Vampires? How completely crazy was that? She’d never have believed it if she hadn’t seen it herself. She had so many questions. But what she kept coming back to was that Dom had saved her life and had given her answers.

  Leaning back, she closed her eyes. Only just for a minute. God, the water felt good. When had she ever felt this calm? So completely at peace? Hearing the clink of silverware from the kitchen, she knew it was because she was here with him.

  She awoke with a start to hear a light tapping on the door. The water was tepid.

  “You all right in there?”

  “Yeah,” she called. “I must’ve dozed off. I’ll be right out.”

  After drying off and finger-combing her hair, she realized she didn’t have a change of clothes to put on, so she donned one of the robes hanging from a peg behind the door and walked out.

  The smell of tomatoes and spices made her mouth water. She didn’t realize how hungry she was. “Smells wonderful. Spaghetti?” she asked as she padded barefoot into the kitchen.

  He glanced at her over his shoulder and paused. His eyes went dark for a moment and a little thrill tickled at her insides. She loved that his desire for her was so obvious and knew it was more than just her blood. “It’s nothing fancy. Jars and bags. Hungry?”

  “Famished.”

  Seeing a bag of prepared lettuce sitting next to a bowl, she tore it open along with the dressing pouch and tossed it all together with the tongs.

  “So…a… You eat food, obviously, but do you still… I mean, how often…”

  “What exactly are our dietary requirements?”

  She nodded, making sure every piece of lettuce was evenly coated.

  “Most of us feed from a live source once every few weeks. It may be a donor—yes, there are a few humans who know about us—or we may take it from someone whom we’ve put into a light hypnotic trance so as not to frighten or scare them. We don’t need much and we leave no trace. But we do require human energy on a fairly regular basis.”

  Human donors? She rubbed her neck. What would that be like? she wondered. After finding the silverware drawer and grabbing two forks, she carried the salad to the small dining table, lit with several votive candles, and sat down.

  He thinks of everything.

  Her head hummed and she looked up to see him smiling as he set the pasta on the table and pulled out a chair.

  “You’re listening to me, aren’t you?”

  “I try not to, but sometimes I can’t help myself.”

  His dark hair fell forward as he took his seat. Would it brush her cheeks if she kissed him?

  “I’d say you had an unfair advantage since I just found out about this tonight. You’ve been able to read my mind all this time.” Her face heated as she thought of the times they’d been together. When he—and she—

  He nodded and dished out their meals. “It is rather an invasion of your privacy so I try not to do it too much, although sometimes I find I can’t help myself.” She saw a hint of a smile.

  “You can’t help yourself?” As if he’s so innocent. “I’ll bet you knew I wasn’t wearing panties at the auction. Is that why you took advantage of me on the roof deck?”

  “I seem to recall that you jumped me first. I would’ve let you walk away.”

  “Walk away? You are such a—” She threw a crouton at him, but he dipped his head and caught it in his mouth.

  “I trust you, you know,” Mackenzie said. “I know you won’t hurt me. It’s not in your nature.”

  Even through the pungent smoke of the bonfire, he smelled the sweet scent of her desire rolling off her skin and his
cock grew stiffer. How had he let her talk him into this? She should be in bed and he should be on his way back to Seattle to fry that bastard, but here he was on the beach in the middle of the night with the most beautiful woman in the world. Well, maybe it wasn’t so hard to imagine after all.

  “That’s a pretty bold statement. Rather naïve actually, considering everything you’ve seen. I wouldn’t dare try—ever—because I wouldn’t know if I’d be able to stop.”

  “This thing isn’t one-sided, Dom. I can feel you in my blood, too. It all makes sense now. You’re not capable of hurting me. All you’ve done is healed me.”

  He rubbed his bare wrists and wished he were that confident. Not expecting ever to see her again, he had packed away the cilice. God, he wished he had it with him now. She snuggled into the crook of his arm and he pulled the blanket up higher on her shoulders.

  “How did you find me tonight?” The glow from the fire flickered over her slightly upturned nose and the small mole above her lip that moved as she spoke.

  “Because I’ve had so much of your blood, I can not only hear you, but I learned if I really concentrate, I can see your surroundings with my mind’s eye. I am highly aware of your energy trail—the energy of your life force. When it’s disrupted or disturbed, it ripples inside me and that’s how I knew something was wrong. I tuned into you immediately when I felt your worry. I recognized the part of town you were in and raced to find you. My God, I can’t believe how close—”

  “Shhhh. My energy trail? My life force?” She snuggled in closer. “It sounds so science fictionish. But I like it. I want our life forces to get together again. The feeling is out of this world.”

  He threw his head back and laughed. Her spunk, her sassiness and her comfort with him lifted the heaviness anchoring him down.

  “If I had more of your blood, would I be able to hear and feel you better?”

  “I’d imagine you would.”