Undeniable

by Doreen Orsini

  “Diana, please…” Sebastian inched closer, realizing too late that moving forward on his hands and knees made him look even more animalistic, more dangerous.

  “Oh, no, no, no.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Oh, Sebastian, no.” She hugged her knees and began to rock back and forth.

  Consumed with grief over her loss, he rent the night with a roar that ripped free of his throat. Nothing compared to the pain of her rejection.

  With a yelp, Diana covered her ears.

  An argument amongst the elders filtered into Sebastian’s mind a moment before he felt them open his mind and heart to Diana. Shocked by their intrusion, he watched her face as his emotions crashed down upon her head. She winced when she felt the pain of her rejection. Exposed to his torment over his existence as a night creature, she buried her face in her knees.

  “Do you want me to take you home?”

  When she shook her head, he silently thanked the elders. “If it meant winning your heart, I’d sell my soul to be a normal man.”

  “A normal man with no soul?” Raising her head, she peered out from her lashes. Her lips turned up into a sad smile. “Not very appealing.”

  Smiling back, he bared his fangs. “This is better?”

  Diana laughed on a stray sob. “I don’t seem to have a choice.”

  “Yes, you do, Diana. You can leave.”

  She held out her hand. “No… I can’t.”

  He crept up to her, lowered his head and rested his cheek in her warm palm.

  “Will you drink my blood, Sebastian?” Her voice quivered.

  He closed his eyes. “Exchanging blood is inseparable from our passion.”

  “Is one bite enough to change someone into a vampire?”

  Sebastian stilled. Lifting his head, he steeled himself for her reaction to the fact that it was too late, that she’d already started to change. “Diana, I—”

  “Will it hurt?”

  Closing the gap between them, he ran the pad of his thumb over her trembling lips. “When you scream, Diana, it will be from infinite pleasure. Not pain. You have my word.”

  Her gaze flicked between his teeth and eyes. She brought the tip of her finger up to touch one of his fangs. The point pierced her skin.

  “It doesn’t hurt,” she murmured, staring at the drop of blood rising on her fingertip.

  While holding his gaze, she ran the tip of her tongue over the small hole, entrancing him.

  She reached up, wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him with her as she lay back down. “I want you, Sebastian. Man or vampire.”

  His heart felt as if it would burst free. Resting his forehead upon hers, he drew in a shaky breath. “I feared…” He brushed the tip of his tongue over her lips, then rose up to gaze into her eyes. “Never have I been so afraid.”

  Her eyes filled with horror as he bit down on his lower lip. His blood splattered her breasts. She mentally cried out to him that she didn’t understand. Her cry changed to one of rapture when he thrust his cock into her. He stilled, reveling in the feel of her body’s embrace.

  When she wriggled her hips, he withdrew, then entered her deeper and deeper until he was buried to the hilt in her moist pussy. Cupping her face in his hands, he gazed at the gift she gave him with every glance. “My gift for you, Diana.” A curtain of cascading stars arose from the ground, surrounding them in a shimmering cocoon. “For my goddess,” he whispered, “a million stars to grant her every wish.”

  “Oh, Sebastian.” Diana blinked as tears filled her eyes.

  Raising his hips, he groaned from the caress of her body on his cock. Plunging back into that slick heat, he brought his mouth to hers and kissed her tenderly. His blood flowed over her tongue, down her throat.

  That sweet, sweet taste…blood!

  He felt her stomach lurch, her mind rebel. Shifting the kiss, he slid his lower lip between hers and rejoiced when she only hesitated a moment before taking what little blood he was allowed to offer tonight.

  His rhythm had been slow, torturous, but swiftly picked up momentum when her nails dug into his hips. He slammed into her, caught himself and tried to be gentler. Diana moaned into his mouth and raised her hips.

  Faster, Sebastian. Harder. Faster.

  Sebastian smiled against her lips. Your every wish, goddess.

  Take me. Her mind cried out to his.

  He drove himself into her again and again, sending her higher and higher, until her body started to tremble beneath his. He swept the hair from her neck.

  Yes, oh, yes, Sebastian. Take me. Take all of me.

  Sebastian tore his mouth from hers and brought it to the spot on her neck that had pulsed incessantly for weeks.

  The sound of her blood flowing in her veins roared in his ears. He sucked the quivering flesh between his teeth, teased, nibbled and licked until her head fell back. “You belong to me, Diana. Only me.”

  She cried out when his fangs sank deep into her flesh and brought her hands up to push his head away. But when he sucked deeply, when her blood surged through her veins and rose up eagerly to fill his mouth, she clutched his head to her neck, sinking his fangs deeper, silently begging him to suck harder.

  Sebastian drove his burning cock in and out of her convulsing body. He shuddered and growled like a wild beast against her throat. Her blood flowed into him as his seed filled her womb. When she thrust the sensations coursing through her body as she climaxed into his mind, Sebastian felt his own soar even higher.

  Every star surrounding them exploded and blanketed them with flaming sparks. Unimaginable pleasure streaked through her body into his, pooling where they were joined.

  Her screams sent birds soaring into the air, squirrels, raccoons and chipmunks scurrying through the forest. She shattered over and over again, taking him with her as he spilled more and more of his seed and drank more and more of her blood.

  Filling her with his seed while taking in her life’s essence consumed him. The hunger he’d denied for weeks mushroomed.

  He forgot about the night, the elders, the ritual.

  There was only Diana. Diana surrounding him, Diana filling him, Diana screaming from the power of their union.

  She’d chosen him, offered up her life to him. He couldn’t get enough of her.

  Am I dying?

  Diana’s inner voice was so weak, Sebastian almost didn’t hear it.

  He tore his mouth from her neck, his gaze frantically darting down to the woman he’d vowed to protect. A scant droplet of blood escaped from each of the two gaping holes over her jugular and trailed down her neck.

  Her hands slid from his head and dropped lifelessly onto the grass.

  “No,” he whispered, disbelief and terror nearly immobilizing him. He withdrew his arm from behind her neck. Diana slumped to the ground, her breathing shallow, her eyes fluttering.

  Did I take too much? He cried out to those watching as his heart nearly imploded. The curtain of stars he’d created for her dissolved. “Answer me,” he sobbed. Answer me!

  No. Tobias replied in a soothing voice that slid into his mind. She must learn that she needs you to survive. You have taken her to death’s door but stopped before she could enter. Tomorrow night you will feed her hunger and she will do the same to you.

  A nightingale trilled from a nearby tree. Sebastian recalled how terrified she’d been of the worms that had slithered from the muddy grass into her hair and clothes at her pond and gathered her into his arms to keep her away from the ground. His heart thundered in his ears. Blood dripped from the wounds on her throat and covered her lips, her breasts. He licked her until her skin bore no sign. Sitting with her on his lap, he tenderly dressed her.

  Her skin was too pale, her breathing too shallow as far as he was concerned. She had no idea when she asked if one bite would transform her that he’d sealed her fate long ago without her knowledge or approval, and it broke his heart that he’d betrayed her trust tonight. He leaned over and brought his lips to her ear. “I would r
ather face the dawn than hurt you, Diana. If I could, I would take back that first night, even if it meant losing you. Forgive me, Di—ah!”

  Rage slammed into his head, pummeling him as surely as if someone’s fists battered his brain. The power of Olympia’s attack grew stronger with each passing second, warning that she approached.

  Damien, can Olympia stop us from bonding? He yelled out to the one elder who would know.

  He probed the darkness with his mind and could almost hear Damien’s sigh of resignation.

  Another elder answered, anger lacing every word. She would be banished. Once a bonding ritual has reached this point, it is against our laws to interfere.

  Another laughed bitterly. Since when has Olympia followed our laws?

  Sebastian gritted his teeth and slammed his own rage back at his mother. He rose to his feet, Diana clutched in his arms. Her eyes fluttered open for an instant before she leaned her head against his chest and brought her lips to his skin before once again passing out. He examined the wounds on her throat and was relieved to see they were already closing.

  Damien stepped out from the shadows. Take her to her home, Sebastian. She’ll be safe there.

  His heart dropped at the thought of returning her to her house and the control of a man more dangerous than the Slashers on the Isle of Fentmore. But her father and the Slashers were meek compared to Olympia. The threat of banishment would not stop her and now that the bonding ritual had reached this night, now that Diana’s hunger would grow to unbearable proportions as she transformed, their bonding had to continue on to completion. For her sake.

  He silently thanked the elders as he felt their combined powers wash over Diana as they bestowed her with enough strength to carry her through the day.

  His grandfather appeared beside him. “With our help, your mate will be fine. She must be under her roof and you under yours.”

  Tobias was right. The ritual forbade any contact between him and Diana until tomorrow night. Her father and the sun would protect her until then.

  Chapter Ten

  The next morning, a bright, white flash exploded behind Diana’s lids. Crying out from the pain, she shielded her eyes and peeked through her lashes. Sunlight streamed through her window. Rolling over, she dragged herself to the far side of the bed and turned her back to the glaring rays.

  She heard her kitten mewling and peeked over the edge of the mattress. Squinting, she reached down and ran her fingers through the soft fur. Recalling Sebastian’s claim that he was her phantom, she smiled. “So, the big bad vampire has a soft spot for kittens.”

  Her room seemed brighter than usual, the white and yellow gingham her mother had insisted on covering the windows and bed with practically blinding her. She had hated them, but after her mother had vanished from her life, found them comforting to see them the moment she awoke.

  Not today. Today they captured the sunlight and hurled it back at her with a vengeance. And her head! It felt like a road crew was using jackhammers on her skull. Clutching her forehead with one hand as she shielded her eyes with the other, she sat up.

  “Advil,” she muttered to herself. “At least three.”

  The short walk to her bathroom took forever. Each step sent a jolt of pain into every muscle. Each peek to check her progress allowed the light to stab at her eyes. She stood before the mirror and stared in shock at her pale reflection as she probed her memory of the previous evening.

  A smile slowly appeared as, bit by bit, images flashed before her eyes.

  Her alarm went off. Music filled her room, but Diana only heard the sound of Sebastian’s roar when he’d taken her virginity. Although his lips had been on hers, she could have sworn he told her he was her first and last and wondered why he had been so confident when her maidenhead had not been present.

  Oh, but that roar. It had sent a multitude of electric shocks hurtling through her body.

  Just thinking about it had her quivering with passion and she knew if she so much as touched herself where he’d filled her, she would tumble into an orgasm.

  With a shake of her head, she mumbled, “I’ll wait. Let it brew all day.” Lifting her eyes to the mirror, she smirked, “And then I’ll be the animal.”

  The sound of her cell phone ringing set her heart pounding. Sebastian? As soon as the thought entered her mind, logic stepped in. Even before she’d known her lover spent his days asleep, she’d never expected a call until evening.

  With a groan, she glanced at the bathroom door. Her cell phone, unfortunately, was on her nightstand. Reaching out to grasp the wall, her dresser, then the footboard of her bed, she slowly made her way through the room. By the time she reached her cell phone, she’d missed the call and was already receiving another. She glanced at the display. Both calls were from her grandmother.

  She flicked the phone open and smiled when her grandmother spoke before she’d even gotten the phone to her ear. “Diana?”

  “Tell me what happened to me last night,” she demanded, entering into their usual game.

  “I know, I know. That’s why I need you to come over. We have a lot to discuss and I have so much to explain.”

  “I have students—”

  “You have to come over, Diana. I had a vision last night. You’re in danger.”

  Diana shook her head in denial even as a chill ran down her spine. “Sebastian would never hurt me.”

  “I don’t think it’s him. I…you must come over.”

  Diana’s mouth went dry. She’d never heard her grandmother sound so frightened. “But today I get to lead an advanced trail group up Pikes Peak. On Midnight. I’ve been waiting all year—”

  She brought her hand to her chest. “Is that it? Will he smell Sebastian’s blood and throw me?”

  “No, no. The horses are used to it by now.”

  “What?” Diana plopped down onto the bed.

  “Listen, you go to work. You have a way with animals. But come here right after, you hear me? Before sunset.”

  * * * * *

  Diana arrived at her grandmother’s house much earlier than she’d originally planned. Her grandmother opened the door before she could knock and embraced her, clucking the way she had when Diana had run to her for comfort after her mother had vanished.

  “My poor, poor baby. Midnight wouldn’t let you ride him?”

  “The horses were fine. It was me.” She rubbed her temples. “I have this wicked headache.”

  Nana Lina wrapped her arm around Diana’s and drew her into the dark living room. As usual, every shade was pulled down and a fire glowed brightly in the fireplace. Diana would have thought her grandmother had set the scene for her, if not for the fact that her home always looked this way.

  Her grandmother switched on the lamp beside the couch. The soft, golden light set her gray hair aglow. Fine lines sprang from the corners of her green eyes and curved around the outer edges of her mouth, yet she still looked much younger than her sixty-four years. “Nana, you’re not…”

  Her grandmother laughed. “Oh, no. Not quite, my dear.”

  “Not quite?” Frowning, Diana sat down on the plush couch before the raging fireplace. Even with its heat battering her, she wrapped her sweater around her and shivered. “But the lights, or should I say lack of. And what about you always having a fire lit and the heat up, even on the hottest days?”

  “Let’s talk about you, Diana. Last night was your first of the final stage of the bonding ritual. Do—

  “Bonding ritual? No, we just—”

  Her grandmother sat beside her and grasped her hands. “Last night was part of a bonding ritual. To them, it’s very sacred. It’s a ritual of commitment. You to him, him to you.”

  Diana let her grandmother’s words sink in. The chill that had plagued her all day wrapped around her heart. “I didn’t know.”

  “He didn’t tell you? How could he not tell you?”

  “I don’t know.” Picturing the curtain of stars surrounding them the moment he entered
her, she sighed. “Let’s face it, Nana, if I didn’t want to commit to him, I wouldn’t have…well, you know. But a bonding. I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”

  “Let me explain how the ritual works, dear. It lasts two months. During that time, there’s four nights where you mate. The first night of the ritual, you only taste each other’s blood as you mate. Then for a month, you must not mate or exchange blood. But in the case of human soul mates, the hunger is too strong, so the elders allow some blood exchange. Then on the first night of the second month, that would be last night for you, he—”

  Diana shook her head. “You’re losing your touch, Nana. Last night was the first night we…um…you know, mated.” She swallowed, not liking the animalistic sound of the word or the way her grandmother shook her head.

  “No, dear. You’re too pale for it to be the first night. Last night must have been second time you mated. But I’ll leave that little explanation up to him.”

  Recalling her dreams, Diana opened her mouth to ask if they were real, but her grandmother shook her head before she could utter a word.

  “Let him explain. And don’t beg or I’ll kick you out right now. As I said, last night was the first night of the second month and final stage of the ritual.”

  Drawing in a sharp breath, Diana glared at her grandmother. “My dream… Oh, God. The blood on my bed.” She couldn’t believe Sebastian had deceived her all this time. She wanted to scream, to cry her eyes out. “But until last night we haven’t shared any blood. This is so sick.”

  “Think, Diana. You must have.”

  After a few minutes, Diana closed her eyes and let out a ragged breath. Her hand rose to her neck.

  “I think he’s been drinking my blood since the night we met. And then, the night before last, well, I got a nasty cut on my finger and Sebastian, well, he licked it. I thought I felt him suck on it, but as soon as the thought entered my mind, he released my finger.” Diana peeled the bandage from her finger. She thrust her finger under the lamp. “What the hell? I know I cut it!”

  “His saliva sped up the healing process.”