Honeymoon Bite (Golden Vampires of Tuscany) Read online

  She stripped off the sheets on her bed and threw them in the washing machine. She added the new silk sheets she’d bought this afternoon and had washed in lavender soap. They were still warm and filled the room with fragrance.

  Anne closed her eyes. She concentrated on the way Marcus’s lips felt on hers as she pushed the number “8,” which automatically dialed his number.

  He picked up at the first ring. “Anne. Is everything well with you?” There was an edge of concern in his voice.

  “Yes, Marcus.”

  He exhaled in relief. “Good. I’m glad. How do you feel?”

  In truth, she felt the best she had ever felt in her life. “I feel fine.” It was an understatement, but she didn’t want to seem too eager. Would it scare him off?

  His rolling chuckle starting a buzzing in her ears, like he was blowing on them. “I had hoped you would feel more than fine . . .”

  “Yes. You know how I feel.”

  “Do I? Tell me. I want to hear you say it.”

  “I. Feel. Wonderful.” There, she’d said it. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.”

  Anne felt her face flush at his words. Everything in her body attuned to the vibrations coming from his words. “Listen,” she began. Why was she so nervous? “I was putting on some dinner and wondered if I could have the pleasure of your company?”

  He uttered something she couldn’t make out. The happy ripples of his laughter trickled down her spine and warmed her.

  “You hungry so soon?” he asked.

  “Is it too soon? I’m starved.”

  “That makes two of us.”

  “I have a couple of rare steaks I would like to share. You do eat rare meat.”

  “Only the rarest.”

  “You didn’t tell me I would feel this way. Positively wicked. Dangerous. Am I dangerous, Marcus?”

  “Yes and no. To me, no. To others, like your husband . . .”

  “Almost-husband,” she corrected.

  “To all your human family and friends, you are dangerous.”

  “As in, I could harm them.” She was enjoying playing with him.

  “I promised I’d help you protect your husband. I won’t violate that promise.”

  “So you— the man I’ve known for less than twenty-four hours—are someone I can trust, and my non-husband, who I have known for three years, I cannot?”

  “That’s about the size of it,” he said into the phone. “But I’ve searched for you for three hundred years. Don’t forget that part.”

  “I found your candle. I thought you might want to watch it burn with me.”

  “Next time I’ll have to bring a bigger one.”

  “You’ve already saved his life, you know.”

  “Robert? How is that?”

  “I admit to having unkind thoughts towards my almost-husband. But it wouldn’t have been fair to make you visit me in a jail cell, now would it?”

  “Inconvenient is the word I was thinking,” he said.

  “He actually did me a favor, didn’t he?”

  “I hope he’ll do you one more by releasing you from your vows.”

  “He already discarded me, Marcus.”

  He was silent. Then he whispered, “You shouldn’t feel . . . discarded.”

  “I’m needing to feel wanted right now. Can you do this for me?”

  The warm breath at the back of her neck carried his words. “I shall devote my whole life to it, I promise.”

  Chapter 11

  Marcus put his arms on Anne’s bare shoulders as he stood behind her and kissed her neck. She shuddered as if she were cold, yet her body was burning like a torch. He brought his arms around her chest and she leaned back against him. She pressed her cheek next to his, as if seeking his connection. He’d thought she’d be more afraid of him.

  Fated. She feels it too. She is mine, after all.

  He turned her around, then smoothed a hand down her chest, tracing the space between her breasts with his forefinger. He eased his fingers underneath the satin bra. His fingers grazed over her nipples. She leaned back, making him hold her up with his other arm.

  “Are you hungry now?”

  “No. Yes.” She began to cry. “I’m confused. I feel everything . . . stronger.”

  It made his heart ache to see this. He pressed her face against his chest, and she sobbed as he stroked her hair.

  “It is a lot to take in. That’s why I’m here, to guide you, to keep you safe. Ease you into this life of ours. Perhaps you had too much this afternoon. In time, you will adjust.”

  She looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears. Her lips called to him. “I don’t want to adjust.”

  “You will learn how to deal with the fullness of this passion, in time. It’s overwhelming at first.” He loved how her tears danced in the candlelight, like the sparkle of diamonds he would buy her.

  “I don’t want to learn how to deal with it. I want to feel this way forever.” She stared at his lips, her tongue coming to the edges, as if seeking to taste his mouth. He gave in to her, covering her quivering lips. Her supple body melted against his frame.

  He understood fully the new, confusing emotions she was experiencing and the intensity that grew in her flesh by the hour. He was suddenly grateful for the more than three hundred years he’d had to prepare. He’d always thought the wait as a curse, when in fact it had been a gift. Anne was young in her new life. And just a few hours had passed since her first taste of her fated male. She was in need of a satisfaction he was not prepared to give her tonight. In his world, the fating mark would be followed by a night of beautiful sex. But he was enjoined from this claiming. He wanted to be very careful. There was eternity at stake.

  He picked her up and sat down on the couch, with her in his lap. He could smell the heat of her passion. “I like these new clothes,” he said, hooking a finger through the ribbon of the black thong at her hip.

  “I’m overdressed.” She begged him with her eyes.

  “Insatiable. I had hoped it would be so.”

  “You knew.” She lightly covered his lips with hers and whispered, “Take them off me. Rip them off me.”

  “Anne, I cannot . . .”

  “Don’t tell me what you cannot do,” she said between kisses. “Do what you can. Please, I need your hands and mouth on me. Please.” She laid her head against his heart. Her hand slid underneath his shirt to fan out over his burning chest. She unbuttoned one button and kissed him there. Her little tongue wickedly played with his nipple.

  The fact she was consumed with his nearness and the heat of his body sent him into his basic primal nature. He felt the pain of knowing he would have to stop her, but secretly hoped he did not have the strength to. He could not have asked for a better partner. Anne had taken to her new appetites like she had missed them her whole life. He hoped he could teach her fast enough to keep her from getting bored.

  “I am flattered you wish to cook dinner for me . . .”

  “But you don’t want . . . food,” she purred to his chest.

  “Perhaps a little wine. But dinners are a bit different for us now.” He smiled with his lips closed. He found it amusing she had forgotten she was trying to entertain him as a human man.

  “A little taste then, Marcus.”

  “Yes, of course . . . Anne.” This he could give her. He would never deny her the taste of his blood.

  Her bite was almost a tickle. She supped his essence but was not greedy. He felt her heartbeat race as his blood hit her system and her passion rose.

  “You want me?” She looked at him with those deep eyes. “You want me, Marcus?” His hand had found its way to between her legs. His long forefinger was tracing the mystery of her sex over the panties. The muscles at her lower belly contracted. She arched into him. “More.”

  He tore the ribbon and her panties went limp. Her pelvis rocked back and forth, calling to his groin.

  She turned and raised one knee, giving his fingers access to her.
“Do you want me?” she asked again as she guided his hand to close in on her mound.

  “Yes. But I cannot take you yet.”

  “I release you from your vow.”

  “You’re not released from yours. So I must uphold it.”

  “But he has. He has chosen Monika. I am released.”

  “He must release your vow, not your body.”

  She sighed.

  It was difficult for him to know that he could satisfy her every need, but was not allowed to do so. He’d not yet been given permission. “Soon, soon, my pet.”

  She raised her arms up to his neck and pulled his head down, then kissed him. She demanded to know his mouth with her tongue. She found his fangs. Her tongue eased over one sharp point, lightly piercing her own skin, and she moaned. A single drop fell to his tongue and he swirled it, mating with hers. The taste of her blood was sweet, and it heightened his passion.

  “Careful, careful, pet.”

  But she wouldn’t be denied. She raised herself up to straddle his lap. Her white breasts shone in the candlelight as she arched and undulated in his crotch. He found himself groaning as his cock rose in response to the feel of her warm body massaging it through his jeans. He touched her nipples and then squeezed them with his hands. She was perfect for him, filling his palms with the flesh he had missed for centuries. He kissed the nipples, and then suckled them, grazing one with a sharp nick. He lapped the single drop of blood from her like it was the last on earth. He could feel his resolve and control vanishing. He wanted her, wanted to fill her with his seed. He could not bear the thought of being without her for even a minute.

  “Marcus, take me. Please take me.” His heart soared with the words, words he thought he might never hear. His hands moved up and down her back, then he kneaded her buttocks as she leaned into him, arms about his neck, squeezing her breasts together, pressing them into his waiting mouth. She rose up, tilted her pelvis over one of his hands that had drifted down her front side to between her legs, and spread her folds by using his own fingers. He rimmed her opening, stroking gently. He felt the slick muscle of her opening and breached her with his first two fingers, indulging in the warmth and wetness there. She moved her sex back and forth, allowing him to massage her clit with his thumb.

  She was fully orgasmic, moving to his ministrations of love. He felt her muscles clamp down on his fingers. A new wetness thickly rewarded his efforts.

  He whispered in her hair that covered the side of her face, “I have a place I want to take you. Will you let me trace us there?”

  “Trace?”

  “May I show you how we can travel together?”

  Her large eyes scanned his soul. He felt her trust and the blissful experience of her need. She nodded. He stood and held her thighs around his waist, then moved her so he was holding her sideways, one arm under her knees.

  “Hold on. Sometimes it gets cold.” He set her down, then brought a throw from the couch and placed it around her shoulders. It was his excuse for touching her while covering her lovely body. She nodded again and, laid her head against his chest.

  There was a flapping sound as they instantly transported to the sacred temple pool. He set her down at the top of the stairs that descended into the water. Steam rose. A faint smell of oranges and spice lingered in the air.

  He started to take his clothes off. Anne let the blanket fall to the tiled floor, then stood naked before him. His erection throbbed. She finished his undress. Each piece of his body that was revealed to her brought kisses. He had never felt so worshiped. No woman had demonstrated her desire for him in such a manner.

  On her knees, she encircled his cock with her fingers and looked up at him. She took him into her mouth, the force of her tongue wrapping around his shaft, calling forth a hardness he had never experienced in his ancient lifetime. It was heaven.

  Fated. We are fated. It has to be.

  She worked over his skin, sucking and caressing him, making him harder, the blood expanding him still. She dug her nails into his buttocks to push him deeper into her mouth. She gasped, and he felt her need for his seed as she drew him in and out with her wet lips. Her moans nearly made him explode. He was desperate to release into her mouth. She paused, the look of need in her eyes, confirmation of what she wanted from him.

  He could not speak. His passion flared as she studied him, let him see her desire. With her mouth all over his throbbing cock, her tiny fangs grazed the flesh. The small wound wasn’t painful. She drew him in deeper and sucked again, which drove him over the edge. He spilled his seed deep in her throat. The edges of her lips curled up as she swallowed him again and again. He felt her body temperature rise.

  She was hot with lust, and she refused to stop. Her skillful mouth and tongue worked on him again, urging his full member on. She rubbed her sex against his leg. He smiled and motioned for her to rise up.

  “I am thrilled beyond belief, my little pet, that you have such an appetite.” He smoothed the hair back from her forehead and kissed her there. She claimed his lips, pressing her sex into his thigh and rubbing back and forth.

  “Ah, Marcus,” she sighed into his open mouth, “I will never be able to get enough of you.”

  “Well, you have only tasted blood these past weeks. We don’t want to upset your delicate stomach.”

  She shot him a questioning look.

  “My semen is an aphrodisiac, as perhaps you have noticed, especially for my fated female.”

  She flashed him a sinful smile. “Then you must not give me so much.”

  It truly was a wicked thought. Impossible to accomplish as well. He chuckled at her humor. Fated. Comfortable with me completely. He took her hand and they walked down the steps into the pool together. Her face became radiant in the light, the ripples of water casting golden ringlets onto her skin.

  “What is this place?” Her eyes were wide, excited.

  “It is special to our kind. We call it the Pool of Grace. It’s where we go to wash our conscience, our bodies of impurities, where we confess . . . things.”

  “What things?”

  “You will see. Soon, my love.” He knew she wouldn’t be satisfied for long with this answer, but was grateful she had no more questions.

  They dipped to their necks into the warm water. She encircled his waist with her legs and wrapped her arms about his neck. She pulled out the leather string that tied his hair back and let the black curls fall at the sides of his face. She kissed him, showing him her hunger for his body.

  “Oh, God, I confess I love this man, this man’s body. Forgive me for wanting him so.”

  “Yes, my pet. I’m yours. I’m yours forever.” But he did not take the oath. He stopped just short. He wanted to complete the ceremony, wanted to bind them together for all eternity when he was at liberty to do so, when the words could take hold. When it was real. Oh, God, how he wished for that moment now. But he would have to be patient. Just like he told her. In time.

  He set her on the steps and watched as the golden waters glowed against her body. He put his hands inside her knees, which parted for him at his slight touch.

  “I wish to pleasure you. I wish to do more, but this is all I can tonight. Please enjoy what I can give. I hope it is enough.”

  “Then take all of me you can, please. Take all you can, Marcus.”

  Her folds were pink and hot for him. She leaned back on her elbows, watching him approach her, her eyes wide and dancing.

  I’ve waited centuries for my female to need me like this.

  He needed to see her desire and abandon for him as much as his cock needed to spill inside her.

  He slipped his long forefinger into her dripping sex. She arched back, breasts reaching to the sky. He massaged her with gentleness, rubbing over her button, causing her to jump with each little friction. He was thrilled to see her spot swollen and bright red. She moaned as he took forever to tickle his next finger up inside her. His other hand squeezed her nipples. Her warm pink breast filled his h
and with the flesh he craved. She jerked as her pleasure began to build.

  Anne sat up onto his fingers, pressing her sex against his palm, squeezing his fingers with her muscles. Marcus felt the need to satisfy her fully as she rocked herself back and forth on his hand, looking into his dark eyes. He smiled, loving the vacant stare she gave him when she began to climax, sweat beads collecting on her forehead and on her fuzzy upper lip. That lip needed to be taken, he thought as he bent down and slanted over her mouth. He tasted the salt of her sweat and his fingers completed their thrusting until she fell backwards, but he caught her with one hand at the small of her back, that place where he had touched her in the coffee shop. Her scream was exquisite.

  “Ah, yes, my pet. But I am not done with you.”

  He seemed to have piqued her attention. She raised her head to look at him, a question written on her face. He smiled. Good, she was not expecting more. His insides were roaring in flames. He could not get enough of the sight of her, spread before him under the lights. Water dripped and splashed, and the warm moist fragrance of orange spice and sex floated on the air. He licked his lips to taste the salt of her sweat.

  He lowered his mouth to her mound and kissed the bare pink flesh. Her lower lips were soft as a newborn’s skin as he teased them apart, running his tongue along the meaty dark pink of her insides. She was fruit of the gods to him—the elixir of life was the taste of her orgasm. He placed one of her knees, then the other, over his shoulders, then knelt on the steps before her, his head deep between her thighs. She clutched his hair. He knew she was pulsing with pleasure that grew inside her with each lap of his tongue.

  “Oh, Marcus, Marcus, please. Please take me.” Her voice was soft and more breath than words. He heard her perfectly.

  “There is one more thing I can do. Oh, sweet Anne, I wish I could do more.” He moved his lips to the side of her sex in the little hollow between her labia and the top of her thigh. He replaced his tongue with his two long fingers inside her, twisting them, causing her to gasp. He first kissed the little hollow area, and then bit her hard, drawing blood.