Blood Mate (12 page)

“Good morning,
my dear, did you sleep well?”

“Nice suit.”

“I found a men’s
store in the airport.”

The room was an
upturned nightmare. They’d destroyed both of the beds, and it was
hard to tell if sex or a massacre had happened because of the blood
they’d exchanged. Lamps were turned over, one of the bulbs broken
on the floor. Pictures were askew, and one was off the wall. The wall
itself was dented where he’d slammed her against it, or where his
hand had slammed to take the force so her body wouldn’t have to.

“This room looks
like a crime scene.”

He bent to turn
the table right side up and set the Styrofoam cup on it, then he
tossed a dress that had been in her suitcase at her. Her clothes were
already packed. “Get dressed. It’s time to go home.”

He couldn’t get
there fast enough.

“What about my
car?”

“I enthralled
someone to drive it back. Someone else is driving my car home. Do you
really want to drive for days?”

“Then how are
we
getting home?” Had she referred to his house as home?

“We’re flying.
I chartered a jet at the airport you were planning to escape from.”

She only wished
she’d had the nerve to leave the country. She’d just been too
tired to drive any further. She hadn’t noticed the airport until
she’d been in the room for over an hour and kept hearing planes
overhead.

“Aren’t you
going to do anything about this room?”

“Why should I?
Is your DNA in a database?”

“No… but…”

“I’m going to
the office to take care of the bill and erase the clerk’s memory.
I’ll meet you outside in five. Don’t make me wait. And Nicolette…
run again and I will not be so kind when I find you.”

Chapter Nine

When
the jet landed, they rented a car to take them the last few hours to
the mansion. It was late in the evening when they got home.

August
didn’t have to look back to know Nicolette had followed him up the
stairs. She wouldn’t so readily acquiesce if not for the threat of
never seeing her husband again.

All
he wanted was a chance. If she could only see how easy he could make
things if she’d just accept both men into her bed—not just one.

He
held the door open for her when they reached his bedroom. She sneaked
a quick glance into his eyes and then darted past him.

“No
shoes, poppet. It’s expensive carpet.” He removed his own shoes
and socks by the door.

She
slipped her sandals off, and August caught the brief bliss on her
face as her feet sank into the thick, soft, red carpet. It was red
because he’d once entertained the notion of bringing meals up to
his room. The color would mask any spills. In the end, he couldn’t
kill in the same room he slept in. Now it felt more natural to take
blood in this place than anywhere else. Feeding below ground seemed
bizarre and profane.

He
shut the door then reached into his pocket and took out a cell phone.
“Here, call him.”

“What?”

“Call
your husband and let him know you’re okay. I’m sure he’s used
to hearing from you every day.”

She
took a couple of steps back; her suspicious gaze rose to his. “And
what will it cost me to use the phone?”

“Nothing
I won’t demand anyway.”

Nicolette
sighed, took the phone, and dialed. She curled up in a chair in the
corner, no doubt seeking some small measure of privacy. But his
hearing didn’t allow for such luxuries.

“Dominic!”

“Hey
there.” August could hear the other man’s smile over the phone.
Dominic chuckled. “You don’t miss me, do you?” he teased.

Nicolette
smiled, a genuine smile, the tension melting at the sound of his
voice. “Of course I miss you.”

“Oh
good, because I thought you were finding a way to leave me in small
increments to soften the blow.” He was teasing her still, but the
shadow that fell over her face gave away her thoughts. She
was
leaving him in increments. And the poor fool didn’t know it.

She
looked up to August, a question in her gaze.
Are you going to take
him from me now?
She may as well have spoken the words aloud. Her
eyes conveyed more than her lips could have ever spoken.

“So,
how is your aunt today?” Dominic asked, unaware of the tension and
drama on the other end of the line.

“About
like yesterday. It could take a while to heal, but it’s not
especially serious.” The lie fell from her lips with an ease that
surprised the vampire.

“When
are you coming home? I miss my insatiable slut.”

August
smirked at that, and Nicolette looked down at her lap. If she’d had
any doubt the vampire could hear both sides of the conversation, it
was gone now.

“I’m
not sure. I’ll let you know when she has more help and I can
leave.”

His
voice dropped an octave. “So… what are you wearing?”

Nicolette
looked down at her sundress. “I… I can’t do that right now.”

“Oh?”

“Kids
in the room.”

August
was impressed with her quick thinking. It was a good thing she
was
the loyal type, because her lies sounded like reality. The vampire
could almost believe it—even knowing the truth.

“This
late?” Dominic asked.

“Well,
you know kids.”

“No,
actually I don’t.”

“Well,
now you know. Boy, did you dodge a bullet,” she joked. She was
almost herself for a minute, the happy-go-lucky woman August had met
in the coffee shop. They had such an easy way between them.

“Indeed.
Call me tomorrow? When there are no corruptible minors around?”

“I’ll
try,” she said.

“I
love you, baby. Miss you.”

“I
love you and miss you, too.” She disconnected the call before she
could start crying and handed the phone back to August. “
Will
I be going back home?”

“That
depends on you. Can you handle both of us? Because it’s both of us
or only me.”

“I
can’t lose him. Please. He’s the one safe thing in my life.”
Her eyes begged him with more fervency than her mouth.

He
nodded. “I hope some day you’ll see me as something safe in your
life. I know I’m playing dirty. I wish I could force myself to be
more noble for your sake, but my blood screams for yours. If you knew
what it was like inside my head. It pounds through my ears like a
runaway heartbeat. Every part of my being says you belong to me. I
can’t resist it any more than you can.”

August
unbuttoned his jacket and draped it over a chair that was the twin to
the one Nicolette sat in, then he loosened his tie and pulled it over
his head. He watched her tense as he slowly unbuttoned each button on
his shirt and slid the linen off his shoulders.

“I’m
not going to compete with Dominic. You aren’t his anymore.”

Tears
spilled down her cheeks. “You’re going to take him from me.
You’re going to go back on your word. I sacrificed everything, and
you’re going to take him.”

“The
only person who has gone back on their word is you, poppet. Who took
you immediately back to your beloved the day after the bond was
complete? Who starved for five days hunting his promised meal?”

She
looked away.

“That’s
what I thought. I am not a silly human. I don’t mind sharing. What
I mind is this constant attempt of yours to deny what I am to you
now. If you want to keep him, make me believe you understand. He
isn’t your soul mate anymore. He’s temporary. I’m eternal.
You’d better get that shit through your head.”

She
flinched, but he didn’t care. He was sick of sugarcoating it. The
ingratitude of her taking the first opportunity she could to run made
his blood boil.

“To
tell the truth, I’m surprised you ran away and left your precious
Dominic behind.”

“I
just needed a few days. I just needed space from you, from
everything. Why don’t you get what you’ve done to me?”

He
unzipped his pants and pushed them over his hips, his boxers going
with them. “I’ve understood what I was taking from you the moment
I took you from your home. Why do you think I went to such lengths to
get you to come to me willingly? I knew what I was doing. Would
you
have allowed your one chance to escape an eternal curse get past
you?”

She
looked up at him, her gaze skimming quickly past his erection. “Isn’t
that what you’re berating me for? Wanting to escape an endless
curse?”

“You
weren’t escaping. You were coming back. For him. You were just
hurting me.” His voice rose with his anger, and he pulled her out
of the chair she’d curled herself into as if huddling smaller and
smaller would make her disappear from his view.

He
held her in his arms and slid his hands to her back to unzip her
dress. She stood there, crying silently as he slipped the straps off
her shoulders and pushed the dress down to the floor.

“Look
at me.”

She
obeyed, her lip trembling, unshed tears in her eyes. His gaze went to
the pulse in her throat, that light little
thump thump thump
as the blood pushed through the vein and pressed against her skin in
a hypnotic rhythm that drove him mad.

He
forced himself to look back into her eyes. “If you had never met
Dominic, would you want me?”

“I
don’t know,” she hedged.

He
growled. “You know. Fucking say it!”

“Yes.
Is that what you want to hear? Yes, yes, fucking yes. I would want
you. But that isn’t the story we were given. I can’t be what you
want me to be! Why can’t you accept that?”

She
didn’t fight when August laid her across the bed and spread her
legs. His fangs sank into the artery in her thigh, and he let out a
sigh of contentment against her skin. The taste of her was more
exquisite each time he took her. As he drank, he stroked her through
her panties and felt the gathering wetness, the betrayal of her
desire without even taking a drop of his blood inside her.

He
ran his tongue over the puncture marks even though her healing time
had sped and the wounds were already sealing themselves. Then he slid
her panties down. He allowed his fangs to recede and took her swollen
bud into his mouth and sucked and licked as she thrashed against him,
her hands tangling in his hair. When she came, he slid up her body
and eased himself inside her moist, welcoming warmth, so wet after
coming.

His
mouth found the pulse in her throat and he bit, draining her
feverishly as he drove into her, chasing the pleasure of her blood
and the pleasure of her cunt wrapped around his cock, until the two
sensations blended into one and his own orgasm sent a growl ripping
from his throat.

She
tensed at the animalistic sound.

He
stayed inside of her, their bodies locked together for a few moments,
then he kissed her forehead and pulled out. “Stay in bed. I’ll
bring you something to eat.”

Downstairs
in the kitchen, he slammed cabinets and drawers as he made her a
sandwich and cut up an apple. Before Nicolette, sex had made the
killing urge stronger, made him more violent. The bond did the
opposite. The very taste of her blood on his tongue made him need to
fuck her. And yet, no matter how much her body wanted his in return,
no matter how right it was for them to be joined in physical
completion, she was like an unhappy housewife having duty sex.

How
many years would Dominic have to be dead before she would truly give
herself to August, without reservation or remorse, without holding
back the small bits of herself she kept closed off from his reach? He
could touch every inch of her, penetrate her with fangs and cock, and
yet he was never going to reach anything real.

The
cure was a cruel joke.

When
he brought her food up, he found her curled into herself, sobbing.
“Nicolette.”

She
didn’t look up.

He
set the tray on a small table and got into the bed. He moved her into
a seated position, leaning her against his chest and bit into his
wrist. “Drink, poppet.”

When
she could pull herself out of her misery enough to see his bleeding
arm, she struggled. “What? No… No! I’m not drinking your blood
anymore. It fucks me up.”

“I
just want to use the bond to take your pain. Please.” Her agony was
a palpable thing in the room, hovering between them, seeking to suck
all the life and oxygen away. “Please, Nicolette. Let me do this
one thing for you. Let me make it easier.”

She
searched his face for several minutes before she finally relented.

The
wound on his wrist had sealed, so he opened it again and held her in
his arms and petted her hair as she drank. “That’s a good girl. I
don’t want to hurt you. I’ll take you back home tomorrow. I won’t
keep you here against your will.”

He
wanted her in his home away from the influence of her husband almost
more than he wanted her blood. But he couldn’t stand how he was
wrecking her, how much her pain folded into his pain, how the more he
hurt her, the more the curse continued to thrive in the background,
coming back to life in a new and improved form.

Chapter Ten

Nicole
sat in the passenger side of the rental car, still not believing
August had decided to return her to her husband so soon. And yet, he
wouldn’t stop coming to her. He wouldn’t stop feeding and fucking
her. He wouldn’t stop stealing away all the pieces of her emotional
distress to keep himself from feeling guilty as he took and took and
took some more from her. A little at a time, he was erasing her. Her
honor, her pain, her regret—the things that were real—and
replacing them with his darkness and his bite.

Though
she’d sworn she wouldn’t run again, it was a lie she couldn’t
muster any shame for. She no longer needed “just a few days” to
get away. She had to escape the future she’d sealed herself into.
His insistence that his nature must remain secret hammered through
her mind over and over on the drive home as she formulated the plan
that would free her from the vampire.