by Helen Bright
Chapter Thirteen
Gregor
I took hold of Maxim’s shirt and dragged him into my study. I didn’t know what the fuck he was talking about, but I was damned sure I was going to find out in the next few minutes.
“Maxim, explain to me the meaning of this outburst. Why did you yell and upset my Keeley?”
“Your Keeley? Does ‘Your Keeley’ know what you usually do to the women you get close to? I wonder if she would still want to be ‘Your Keeley’ if she did?” he said using his fingers to represent quotation marks each time he said your Keeley.
“Maxim you are really starting to piss me off now. I have no fucking clue why you are angry with Keeley, or with me, but I advise you to calm down before you cause a reaction in me that you are not likely to forget.”
“What will you do, beat me? Use a whip or a flogger until you get me to submit?”
“You are fucking crazy. Why would you speak to me this way? What gives you the right?” I shouted.
“Because I’m sick of being overlooked for some blonde with breasts and a cunt.”
“Maxim,” I yelled as I pointed my finger at him.
“Let’s face it, Gregor. Freya is more of a match for you than this human woman will ever be. Although Freya cannot give you an heir.” A look of recognition came over Maxim’s face as he spoke those last few words.
“That’s what all this is about, isn’t it? You want the human woman to bear your children?”
“Maxim, I do not wish for any woman to bear my children, so I do not know where this is coming from, but I warn you not to disrespect either Freya or Keeley. They are both more precious to me than any jewel, and I will not hear you speak ill of either of them.”
“I know why you have chosen the human woman over Freya. She will submit to you in all ways, whereas Freya would not submit to anyone.”
“I do not wish either of these women to submit to me. You have the ramblings of a mad man, Maxim,” I said, still no wiser as to what had caused this outburst from him.
“Oh, I know I am mad, Gregor. Believe me; I have tried not to let this madness take over me, but alas I cannot seem to stop. And do you know what the worst thing is? There are people who are like me, who would welcome my madness with madness of their own. But I do not want to be around these people. No, not Maxim. Maxim chooses instead to fall in love with someone who would not embrace the madness in me.”
“Madness? Love? Maxim are you telling me you have fallen in love with Keeley? Or Freya?”
“Ha! If only it were that simple. No, that is where my madness lies,” he said, and with a speed that only a vampire possesses he crossed the room and kissed me hard on the mouth.
Within seconds of his lips touching mine, I used all the strength I had and threw him across the room.
He laughed bitterly and said, “At least you didn’t manage to throw me as far as Freya did yesterday.”
“You attacked Freya yesterday?” I questioned, my rage building as I stalked towards him.
“No, I was going for your precious Keeley, but Freya intervened,” he said as he stood and leaned against the desk.
I saw red, literally, as my irises became red-rimmed and my fangs descended. The first punch I threw landed square on his jaw and sent him flying into the bookcase on the wall. With the second punch, I felt three of his ribs break, but I didn’t stop there. I carried on punching him until I heard shouts from the decorator Ryan at the doorway.
“Perhaps you want to fuck now after you have used violence,” wheezed Maxim. “After all, that’s usually what you do to the women you whip in your club.”
“Get out Maxim, and keep away from me and the women I hold dear. If you dare to come anywhere near me again, I will kill you.”
Maxim laughed between coughing up blood, then he got up and left. The decorator glared at me from the doorway but said nothing as he also walked away.
I closed the door to my study and sat down at my desk. I could not believe what had just happened. I tried to replay everything that Maxim had ever said or done that would indicate any of what just happened, but I couldn’t.
He had been my loyal bodyguard in Russia for over twenty years. He and Yuri had often accompanied me to my club and had seen me perform in a few scenes with women. I thought they knew that any punishment given was not a form of violence against these women, but to enhance the experience for both of us until I had their full submission, their orgasm, and their blood. I did not consider anything I had ever done to the women who submitted to me to be violent in any way. Yes, I used whips, floggers, paddles and canes, but the women wanted these things, craved them even.
Did Maxim think that I secretly hated women, and that’s why I used punishments such as these? Did he think that the women I fucked did not satisfy me? Surely I gave no indication that I could ever be satisfied by a man.
I remembered the feel of his lips against mine, the scratchiness of his stubble, even though it was just for a few seconds, and it made me want to vomit.
I looked down at my white shirt splattered with his blood. I ripped the shirt open and threw it in the waste paper bin. My knuckles which had busted from the punches to Maxim’s face and jaw were almost healed. He had not once hit me back. My anger was such that it would have been futile, especially when I found out he had tried to hurt Keeley. If I had known that last night, I would have sent him away then.
I got up from my chair and made my way towards the stairs. I needed a shower. I needed to wash away the confusion, the blood, and the sickening feel of a man’s kiss.
Chapter Fourteen
Keeley
Gina texted me to say she was on her way to the Manor, so I texted her back and said that I would meet her in front of the coach house. If I was totally honest, I just wanted to call Josh and tell him to come and pick me up. I wasn’t a coward by any means, but two pissed off vampires are two too many in my book, and due to Maxim’s stupid assumptions, I seemed to be the main cause.
In the end, I didn’t call Josh, I just decided to take my mind off things as much as I could by checking on the progress of the window company before Gina arrived.
By the time I got to the coach house, the last couple of men were leaving and the finished windows were fully installed.
The difference that the windows made to the converted building was remarkable, and you could now clearly see that there were separate cottages. The windows had been specially crafted in hardwood and had a chestnut coloured finish which seemed to complement the old stone building.
I stepped inside the coach building to the left and worked my way around the builder’s leftover tools. They should have been removed or cleared away, as leaving them could have caused a tripping hazard to the window installers. I made a mental note to tell Ryan about it.
I heard a noise behind me and turned quickly to find that Maxim had entered the cottage.
My heart began beating too fast all of a sudden as I tried to stand my ground and explain away the earlier misunderstanding.
“Maxim listen to me when I...”
“No, you fucking whore, you listen to me. I accept that Gregor will never want what I could give, but that does not mean I can stand back and let you have him. He would tire of you anyway; I am sure of that. But because of you, I have to leave the man I have served loyally for decades. Because of you, my life as I know it is over. Therefore, I must take your life away too; it is the only way that I will find any peace.”
I tried pulling out my phone while I walked further away from him, but it fell to the floor in my haste.
“No, Maxim please, I am engaged to Josh. You have it wrong …”
Before I could say anything more Maxim leapt across the room and grabbed me from behind, then seconds later I felt his fangs sink deep into the side of my neck before he sucked hard.
I struggled to get away, but it was no use, he was too strong and the more movements I made, the more I felt his fangs tear into me. I screamed as loud as I cou
ld, but I hardly heard the sound due to the growling noises that came from Maxim. Josh’s bite was something I found arousing, and I welcomed the significance. This was anything but. It was frightening, painful, and I knew that I would die today.
I thought about Daisy, and how I wouldn’t see her first day of school, or see her grow and learn all the important things in life. I thought of my brother and my father and wondered how they would cope with the loss of yet another woman in the family. And just as my vision began to darken and my breaths became shallow, I thought of Josh, and how I wished I could have him hold me one last time.
Chapter Fifteen
Gina
After visiting my mother in Rothley, I made my way over to the Manor. The sun was high in the sky by the time I reached the coach house. I decided to take a look inside and see how the builders had sectioned it off to make two separate cottages. As I approached, it looked so different; it didn’t even have windows and doors the last time I saw it, but now the building was unrecognisable. It looked like someone had taken two cottages from a fairytale and placed them on the grounds of Rothley Manor.
A woman’s scream came from inside the building. It was loud and shrill, and a tingle of fear raced up my spine. I dropped the bag of food and drinks that I had bought in Rothley town and ran towards the building. I could hear sounds coming from the cottage to the left, and froze when I got to the doorway. Maxim was grasping Keeley from behind and was feeding on her neck. In the mere seconds that I stood there taking in the scene, I saw her lose consciousness.
Yelling for Maxim to stop what he was doing, I ran towards them and jumped on his back. He threw me off him with little effort, and as panic set in I tried to remember the self-defence training Nik had me do on a weekly basis. I picked up a wooden-handled chisel and started back towards Maxim. I swept his legs out from under him which caused him to fall to the side with Keeley still in his grasp. I noted that she was still unmoving and was deathly pale.
I refused to believe that I was already too late to save her and focused all my efforts on separating the two. I quickly stamped on his head, but he shot his arm out and grabbed my calf before I could repeat the action. Kicking my foot out I once again caught him in the head, and he yelled out in pain, releasing Keeley in the process.
I quickly flipped myself upright and launched myself at his chest with the chisel in both hands. It sank into his chest and he let out an unholy roar as he tried to pull it out. I leapt away from him and realised with the amount of movement he was making I hadn’t sunk the chisel deep enough to pierce his heart.
Looking around I saw a thick plank of wood to the side of me; so as quick as I could, I lifted it up and brought it down on the chisel with as much force as I could manage.
Maxim coughed out blood before he went still and his eyes glazed over. I watched him for a few more seconds as I got my breath back, just to make sure the chisel had really hit its mark. Then I threw down the wood and went over to where Keeley lay.
I tried to feel for a pulse, but my hands shook so badly at that point that I couldn’t keep still enough to feel anything. There were two deep holes in the side of her neck and I could see that she still had blood trickling out of one of them. I saw the sharp blade of a knife glinting at me from the top of a work bench, and I reached up to grab it.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I called through to Nik before sliding the blade across my wrist.
“Gina, where are you, what’s wrong? I can feel your fear, but I couldn’t communicate through our bond.” I heard Nik’s panicked voice as I placed my wrist in Keeley’s mouth.
“Nik, please come to the coach house,” I sobbed, hitting the speakerphone button with my free hand before using my fingers on Keeley’s throat to try and make her swallow my blood.
“Gina what’s happened? Please tell me you aren’t hurt?” I heard Nik pick his car keys up and the squeak of our front door opening.
“Maxim’s attacked, Keeley. I think I’ve killed him Nik, but he was draining her and she won’t wake up. There’s so much blood and I’m trying to make her swallow mine but…”
“Alex get Josh and drive him to the coach house. Now, Alex. Keeley’s hurt. Julia, you sit with Daisy,” I heard Nik yell.
“Gina, what do you mean, you can’t get her to swallow?”
“I’m trying to get her to swallow my blood because she’s lost so much of hers, but she’s not moving Nik, please hurry.”
I heard Josh let out such an anguished cry as car doors were opened and closed in the background.
“Gina, did he hurt you, too? Why are you bleeding love?” Nik asked, and I could clearly hear the alarm in his voice.
“No, I’ve cut my wrist and I’m trying to give her my blood so she will be okay. I drank your blood today so I thought mine would help her.”
“Fuck Gina, you shouldn’t have done that baby, you can’t help her that way. Tell me it’s not deep Gina. Please, baby, tell me you are okay.”
I was feeling a little dizzy, to be honest, but I didn’t want to worry him, so I just said, “It’s okay Nik, I’m moving her throat so she’s swallowing some down now.”
“No Gina, listen to me, you need to stop what you are doing and tie something tight around your wrist to stop the bleeding.”
Nik must have had me on speakerphone because I heard Alex giving orders to Gregor down his phone.
A wave of nausea came over me, and floaty black spots appeared before my eyes. I suddenly found it hard to swallow, and I had to focus to hear Nik speak.
“Talk to me Gina, stay on the line, babe.”
“Nik.” My voice sounded so far away, and my head felt like it was filled with cotton wool.
“I love you Nik,” I said breathlessly, and just before I thought I was going to pass out, Gregor’s tall, imposing frame came into view.
Chapter Sixteen
Gregor
I had only taken the call from Alex a minute ago, but my race over here seemed to last an eternity. I couldn’t believe that I was stupid enough to think that Maxim would just pack his things and go back to Russia.
Keeley lay bloody, motionless and pale with Gina swaying over her. Gina’s wrist was placed at Keeley’s mouth, and I could see her trying to work her throat to make her swallow down the blood. Not that it was going to do any good. I quickly moved Gina away and bit deep into my wrist, and mimicking Gina’s previous actions; I forced Keeley to swallow my blood. At this point, I didn’t know if it would do any good, but I had to save her, even though she would be forever changed, at least she would be alive. The alternative was unthinkable.
I gave orders to Gina so she could try and stop the bleeding at her wrist, but when I looked around, she was just sat there staring.
She was covered in blood, and I could hear that her heartbeat was perilously low.
“Gina,” I yelled, trying to snap her out of her stupor.
Keeley hadn’t taken nearly enough of my blood just yet, but I couldn’t let Gina die either, and by the way that her wrist was rapidly pumping out blood, I knew that’s what would happen if I didn’t intervene.
Taking away the hand from Keeley’s throat, I bit into that wrist and placed it over Gina’s mouth.
“Come on Gina; you know how to do this. Take my blood from me so that you can heal. Do it for me Gina. Do it for Nik and your children. Do it for Sergei, because there is no way that any of us could deal with him if anything happened to you.”
After a few moments Gina began to take my blood, and within a minute, her wrist was nearly healed.
Although she still needed more blood to help her regain the amount that she had lost, Gina took my hand away and said, “Please Gregor, Keeley needs it more. Daisy is too young to have to grow up without a mother.”
I nodded my head, and I began once again the task of getting my blood into Keeley’s system. In no time at all a vehicle pulled up outside the building, and Josh, Nik, and Alex appeared before us seconds later.
For as
long as I am on this earth I will never forget the look of sheer devastation on Josh’s face as he knelt beside Keeley’s still form.
“Give her your blood Josh,” I said as I removed my wrist from her mouth.
As he got to work on Keeley, I turned to see Nik biting into his wrist as he held Gina in his arms, rocking her gently and whispering soothing words to her as she took his blood.
Alex stared at Maxim’s body, then he turned to me and asked, “What happened here, Gregor? Why did he attack Keeley?”
“There was a misunderstanding earlier. We had an argument and fought. I told him to leave, but he must have come out here and found Keeley, instead.”
“I should have killed him days ago when Keeley first told me about him,” said Josh with anger and helplessness in his voice.
“I only found out about it this morning. I did not know he had this much violence in him. I did not know he was capable of hurting a woman,” I said sadly. How could I not have known this?
“Why Gregor? Why did Maxim have problems with Keeley?” Alex asked.
“Because he thought I was in love with her. He thought that I wanted to marry her.”
Josh growled and his eyes went red as his fangs dropped.
“Was Maxim in love with Keeley?” a confused Alex asked again.
“No,” I answered. “Maxim was in love with me.”
They all gasped and turned to look at me.
“It was not reciprocated in any way. I only found out today.” I went to stand but stumbled to my left before Alex grabbed hold of me.
“Gregor you’re going to need blood before we get you out of here.”
“The kitchen has a refrigerator in the old pantry. Please bring blood for us all. And if you can find Ryan, the decorator, tell him to get his men to take a few days off starting now,” I said weakly.