by Emily Bex
He lay quietly, knowing there was another step for them, the issue of her mortality. As a mortal, she could easily be killed, taken from him, and there would always be those who’d use that against him, but she was nowhere near ready to be turned. He couldn’t risk that yet. She must be much stronger before he could take her that final step.
"Bel, sit up for me please, and turn your back to me."
She sat up and slid off of him onto the bed and turned with her back to him.
Shade reached to the side table and picked up the blood vial necklace he’d prepared for her and let his hands travel gently up the soft, white skin of her back. His fingers barely brushed against her skin, but she felt so soft against his roughened fingers. Her skin was so white and flawless, against the dark olive tone of his heritage. He brushed aside her crimson locks, kissing her neck softly, giving each side their due. He slid the necklace around her neck and closed the clasp, laying his head on her shoulder. Her skin smelled sweet, of roses and passion.
"This is a special gift I give to you. It is a vial of my blood. I have made it into a necklace for you to wear. I ask that you wear it. If there should come a time when we are separated, and you cannot feed from me, you need to break this vial and drink it empty. It will ease your body and give you strength. Carry it next to your heart. It lays cradled between your breasts. I will feel it there, my blood always warmed by your heart."
"I’ll wear it always, but I hope you’re never far from me."
Kissing her shoulder blade, his arm surrounded her small frame. He gently turned her to face him, kissing her sweetly, letting his love pour through her.
"Mi amore, nothing can take me from you, not even death, and I will fight to my last breath to be with you. I will know if you are in danger, I will always come. If you need me, you call to me, and I will be there before my name leaves your lips.”
He tipped her chin up slightly with his finger tip, her dark, beautiful eyes roll up to gaze into his blue ones. "Nothing will touch you. Nothing will hurt you ever again. It is my job to love and protect you with my life. You have all of me. I love you, Kate."
He made a pledge to her he hoped he could keep. The history of the Medici had been instilled in him since birth and kept him from mating for over five hundred years, despite his obligation to continue the bloodline. But from the moment he saw her, he knew there was no turning back.
Pulling her to his chest, they lay back on his bed and he felt her breathing slow its rhythm as she laid there. Her beautiful lashes lay across her delicate cheeks and once again he was overcome with love for this mortal female who’d stolen his heart so swiftly. Together, they’d rule Medici. They’d rise and forge a new Medici legacy on American soil. He’d find a way to overcome the history that had plagued his family. With this female, he finally felt whole, and without her, he was nothing.
26
He held her in a tight embrace through his death slumber as she slept her mortal sleep, her first night and day in Castello. He woke to the sounds of the soft whir of the blinds that sealed the windows from the killing rays of the sun as dusk settled in. They were mated now. After five hundred years of waiting, he’d almost given up hope. He thought he’d found his mate in Adriana, but something always held him back from committing to her, resisting her pleas to allow her to feed from him in this very room. And yet, she held a place in his heart, and he carried the guilt of her still.
Sabine took him on a different path, a dark path that exploited the most savage parts of him. She called it love, and he almost let himself believe it was love. But if he was honest with himself, he knew it was depravity, and it tortured his soul, even though he found it hard to walk away. He knew Sabine resented him still. In between, there were countless others, who served his need for food and sex, until it became hollow and meaningless, but a release his body demanded.
Then there was Kate. So unexpected, but he knew the moment he saw her. The last person he expected to fall in love with was a mortal. But he had no doubts, no reservations. He could no more have turned away from her than he could stop breathing.
He didn’t kid himself. He knew he’d chosen a difficult path, for both of them. He had shielded her from much, and in many ways, didn’t want to change that. Her innocence and purity were a big part of what drew him to her. He felt such a strong need to protect her, especially from the baser elements of his vampire community. He knew there’d be those who would reject her as his legitimate mate, even after she was turned because he was master and royal blood, and they’d see his choice as a rejection of their kind. But none of that mattered to him. His choice was made, and the bond was sealed. She was his.
He felt her stir beside him as she lifted her head, and looked up at him with those dark eyes, peering through that mass of red crimson, a soft smile on her lips. "Lover," she whispered. He kissed her lightly on the nose, before pulling her from the bed. He wanted to share a little more time with her here before they returned to Bel Rosso.
Shade took her outside into the cool crisp air of the early night and walked with her through the formal gardens of Castello. He took her to a spot where red roses bloomed. Taking her in his arms, he kissed her softly and then turned her in his arms and pointed up to the moon. “It is a full moon. A lover’s moon, si?”
She looked up into the clear sky. “A lover's moon, yes. Are you giving me the moon, Shade?”
“No, mi amore, but I can give you the stars. The moons of Jupiter were named the Medici stars by Galileo, in appreciation of my family’s patronage, so now, they too, belong to you. But I have something far more important to your heart.”
He stepped in front of her, putting his arms around her waist, staring into her face, the moonlight glinting off her eyes. He dropped down on one knee and took her left hand, placing the massive multi-stone diamond on her finger, kissing the diamond. He looked up at her. “You are the only one, bel. We are mated now, si?”
“Lover…” She looked down at the ring, so large it caught the moonlight. “This is beautiful.”
“You honor me with your acceptance. Ti amo, mi amore, per sempre. This ring, it was my madre's favorite. Not her ring from my padre, but one she held close to her heart, because I gave it to her. It was my first gift to her after I left home and went out into the world as a warrior. I had tried to make something of myself, so she would be proud of me. I had made my fortune, or what I had thought was my fortune at the time. This was my first big purchase, buying this for her.
“She cherished it and wore it always. When they died, and I came back to Castello, I came out here in the gardens, to where their bodies had been left to burn with all the other treasures that were dragged from the castle. All that remained were ashes. I sat in this very garden and wept like a small child. In the pile of ash that was once my parents, I found this ring and I have kept it all these years, hoping another would wear it someday.
“The gardens had been destroyed by the mob as well and the only thing that remained was a single rose vine. It grew and survived through the charred remains. Madre had several rose bushes, but they had all been trampled and destroyed under the feet of the angry mob, yet here was this single vine, almost as if she was calling to me to remember her and padre. From that single blooming vine, I have made sure the gardeners of Castello have nurtured and cared for it, and all the red roses you see surrounding you are from that single vine that survived their ultimate devastation. They bloom constantly, just as if she tends to them still."
“Oh, Shade, I wish I could have known her. I hope she would be happy with your choice for a mate. I hope to be the kind of mate she would have wanted for you. I want our children to look back and think of us in the way you think of her, and your parents' love for each other. I want our children to see the power of our love and how it carries us through, and to strive for that in their own lives. That's what I want to pass on to our children.”
“Si mi amore, I want babies with you, many! And madre would have loved you. I am t
he man I am because of the love I saw between my parents, so you can thank them for that. They taught me well the importance of loving your mate, protecting and caring for each other. The only comfort I have from their demise is that they went together. They tried to save each other. One would not survive without the other, and it is the same with us.
“Let us stroll through the gardens and then we must teleport back to Bel Rosso. There is much we need to accomplish."
He hoped that he could make her happy for the rest of eternity. It was a task he felt bound to accomplish for them both. He took her hand and interwove her fingers between his as they walked together in the Florence moonlight.
27
He held her tight as they teleported back to Virginia and lands them back inside their bedroom. He sat her down and she staggered slightly, dizzy from the ride, and he reached out to steady her.
“You okay, bel?”
“I’m fine. I’m just not sure I’ll ever get used to it…the teleporting.”
“Si, you will get used to it, and someday, when you are turned, you will learn to teleport on your own, although, I admit, I like taking you with me.”
She leaned against the bed and smiled at him. “And I like being taken.”
He chuckled at her. “My walking sin, are you tempting me already?”
“I’d like nothing better than to tempt you, but after our trip, I think I need a long, hot bubble bath.” She started to undress and drops her clothes to the floor on her way to the bathroom. She looked over her shoulder, “But, of course, you’re always welcome to join me.”
Shade rushed up behind her and picked her up as he kept walking with her to the bathroom, kicking open the door as he willed the tub to fill with steaming water, and the wicks of every candle flickered and came to life. He kissed her forehead and smiled, “Oh I will join you, bel rosso, but not for a bubble bath. My new mate needs something more extravagant, si?”
The steam rose above the water, the surface covered in a thick layer of rose petals in varying shades of red and pink, their scent carried on the steam.
She giggled. “I should have known bubbles would be too conventional.”
“Si, just for my bel!”
Sitting her down before him, he slid off her bra and panties and held her hand as she stepped into the tub and sank into the hot water, her face and shoulders surrounded by the rose petals, the candlelight making her pale skin glow. He stood back and winked as he began to strip. He placed his booted foot on the edge of the tub.
“Unlace them with your teeth mi amore, take them off your master.”
She looked up at him as she grabbed the shoe-strings between her teeth and pulled at the laces, slowly loosening them. As she finished with the one boot, he changed position and placed his other booted foot on the tub for her to loosen.
She gave him a coy look. “There...anything else you want me to do with this mouth tonight?”
He gave her a wicked grin. “You are one impatient imp, and I must teach you patience.”
He pulled his t-shirt over his head, baring his broad chest. “Stand up, bel, and take off my leathers.” He watched as she stood, the water cascading off her body in rivulets, and rose petals sticking to her skin. “You tempt me, bel, you tempt your master!”
“Patience, lover. You must learn patience,” she said, lightly mocking him.
She grasped the button of his low-slung leathers and released it, and slowly unzipped his pants, which fit him like a second skin. She slid her wet hands inside the waistband on either side of his hips and lowered the leathers. His thick patch of pubic hair was exposed and she nuzzled her nose into him, inhaling his musky scent. As his cock was freed, she ran her tongue over the length of him. Pulling the leathers down his thighs, her tongue followed in their path, until they were below his knees and he could pull them off and step free of them.
“So how was that? Tell me again, I am your walking sin.”
“Your mouth aches to fuck my cock, si? No, my walking sin, you must learn to have patience. Move forward and stand at the faucet, look straight ahead.”
She followed his orders and he was pleased. She understood that the tease only intensified the pleasure. Stepping in behind her, his hands went to her waist and he slid his cock along her ass, snuggling it between her legs. He lowered them both into the steamy water, allowing her to lay back against his chest, her nipples bobbing out of the water, surrounded by the rose petals, their pink almost camouflaged, tempting and teasing him.
“Lay here with me, let me wash your crimson locks, my hands cannot keep to themselves.” With her head against his chest, he expertly shampooed her hair, massaging her scalp and shoulders.
“Hmm, I love it when you touch my hair. How can you relax and excite me at the same time? You said you wanted to talk. Are there things you need to share with me? ”
“I do want to talk to you. I know you want me to let my beast loose. But you need to feed more from me. I will know when it is time. He could hurt you, drain you. I cannot control him once I unleashed. He is the evil inside me, and you will need to be much stronger to handle him. He wants out. So when I tell you to stop you must listen. I use all my power to restrain him.” He slid his soapy hands over her breasts and kissed her neck. “Can you do that for me please?”
“I hear you, Shade, but your words say one thing, and your actions tempt me to push forward. But I’ll follow your lead, in all things. It brings me pleasure to bring you pleasure. I can't teleport us to exotic places, or cover you in diamonds, or make rose petals rain down on us, but I can tempt you and bring you pleasure. Guide me...and tell me if I’m pushing too far, too fast.”
His hands surrounded her tiny waist and he placed kisses down her spine. “You are my eternity, my walking sin, the beat of my heart, the blood in my veins. I will consume and devour you as my own, for you are mine!”
28
Shade was trying to get back into his routine. Back from Florence, and fresh from having his bel rosso feed from him. There was nowhere he’d rather be than home, with the feel of her mouth at his throat. But it was another night at the Dead House, doing what he was getting paid to do. Alec’s warriors were performing better, but better wasn’t good enough for Shade. Giving them some space tonight, he paired each warrior with a partner, assigning them a quadrant and sent them out into the city. He wanted them to hunt openly. Take out any rogue vampires they encountered, dispose of their bodies, and bring back the numbers and locations of their hits so they could start tracking activity. A rogue was a vampire who had abandoned his master and his coven and frequently traveled with other rogues. They lived outside the boundaries of accepted behavior for the vampire community and risked exposing the carefully crafted façade that protected the species from discovery by the mortals.
He kept tally of the kills and updated the grid activity as the night progressed. It gave them a good indication of where there were pockets of rogue activity. Certain quadrants tended to draw these gangs, because of the clubs and bars where unsuspecting mortals congregated. Shade planned to rotate the warrior’s grid assignments so, over time, they’d be exposed to the entire D.C. area.
Each night, as his warriors became more familiar with the territory, they discovered more about the patterns of rogue behavior. Alec’s territory, here in Washington, was calm in comparison to some assignments Shade had taken in the past, but he never let his guard down.
He felt restless sitting inside this hell-hole and decided to go out and do a little rogue hunting himself. There was nothing like hunting to keep your edge. He no longer needed to hunt for food, so this night he was hunting for the kill. It was what he did best. Skirting across the rooftops, tuning in his hearing and other senses, he didn’t pick up anything. Things were quiet, and it only made Shade more suspicious. When the night was too damn quiet, he began to wonder if something was brewing. Not to mention, he had other things working inside his head.
His mind was preoccupied with his bel. Since b
eing with her, he’d had to fight to hold down his beast. His beast reared up every time they had sex, as the beast fought for release to have his way with her. But his sweet, gentle bel was mortal, and she had no clue what the hell the beast would do to her. Shade knew the beast could potentially kill her. He’d never met a mortal that brought his beast to the surface as quickly as Kate. A mere look from those dark brown eyes of hers, a flip of her crimson mane or a swish of that tight, sweet ass and the beast was clawing to get out and have his way with her. The darkest evil was his beast. He had let him loose on many immortal women, but they could handle his anger, his strength and, his insatiable appetite for sex and blood. It took all of his concentration to keep him under control and he’d never held him down for so long.
Shade always let the beast loose when there was a fight. He was the demon that struck out and made the kills easy and precision-quick. But Shade’s own desire to mate her brought the beast out quickly, anxiously wanting to claim her as his own. He feared if she ever saw him, she’d flee, mated or not. And that was his greatest fear, losing her to the true evil that lived inside him. He’d hidden the beast from her intentionally, but she seduced him with her every move, and he feared losing control.
Dropping down to street level, Shade walked among the clubbers of D.C., shaking his head to clear it of his issues and focus on what was around him. He scanned the streets, watching the mortal couples walking hand in hand, leaving the dance clubs with their throbbing beat, or going for that last drink at the corner bar. Groups of females walked through dark streets, giggling and laughing, young and stupid, with no idea what lay within the shadows.
Shade could feel no intruders, so he hurried along his way. Lighting up a smoke, he made his way closer to G-town. He usually checked Alec’s house and surrounding area himself. He took Alec’s safety as his personal responsibility, at least while Alec was in his home. Alec’s neighborhood was Shade’s private grid, more or less. Shade still couldn’t figure him out. Why any immortal would seek their power in the mortal realm almost made him laugh out loud. Alec hated that he was vampire. Oh, he loved the immortality, and the strength, which he used to his wicked advantage, but he hated that he was more beast than man.