Eternal Hearts

by Tamsin Baker

  Nothing.

  When the butler confirmed Margaret had left two hours before, panic began to set in. Michael’s pain was lessening, but so was the happy, content part of his soul that had arrived when they had met her.

  “Oh my God, we are doomed. She is going to die, and we ... we...” Michael fell to his knees in the snow, unable to finish the sentence. They would die also. They couldn’t go back to how they had been before, now that they knew the difference.

  “I thought we could be happy without her, Nathaniel. I thought...” He began to sob, the pain of his loss overwhelming.

  Nathaniel grabbed him about the arms and hauled him to his feet. His mate shook Michael hard, his head moving back and forth.

  His knees went weak again, but Nathaniel grabbed him hard. Nathaniel pressed his lips against Michael’s, forcing a response.

  Michael took strength from his mate and forced his legs straighter, pouring all of his energy into kissing Nathaniel back. Their tongues tangled, their cocks hardened, and there was the pulse. Margaret’s pulse.

  They broke off, gasping.

  “Did you feel that?” Michael panted. Had their connection strengthened their ability to feel her?

  Nathaniel nodded, his eyes wide with awe. “Yes, let’s go.”

  They ran without thought, following their senses until they smelt her blood, lots of her blood.

  Michael reached the carriage first, his stomach dropping in fear. The scent of her blood was very thick. Could she already be dead?

  The horses had pulled the carriage off the road and into an alley way. The driver had been thrown, but he was alive.

  Michael jumped on top of the carriage and threw the door open. His heart pounded hard as he realized his whole existence hung in the balance with her one fragile human life.

  Margaret lay at the bottom of the carriage, a pool of her own blood surrounding her.

  “Nathaniel!” He yelled as he manoeuvred into the carriage.

  To his horror his fangs extended, Margaret’s blood so sweet and intoxicating he wanted to lick up every drop. He hated himself at that moment, but forced that feeling aside. She needed him.

  Michael held his breath, picked her flaccid body up, and held her above his head. Nathaniel reached down and pulled her up, out of the carriage, and Michael jumped out after him.

  Desperate to save her, he tore at his own wrist with his fangs. His own thick blood oozed from the wound.

  “No!” Nathaniel moved Margaret away from him, his eyes wide and fearful. Nathaniel’s own fangs were extended in hunger, but he looked more in control than Michael felt.

  “She didn’t want that.”

  Michael gasped in fear and anger. His mate could not stop him now.

  “We can save her.”

  Nathaniel shook his head. “She won’t forgive us. I’ll carry her home. You find a doctor and summon him. I’ll meet you there.”

  Nathaniel disappeared with Margaret in his arms before Michael could stop him, leaving Michael feeling impotent. He had only wanted to save her, save them.

  As his wrist wound healed and his blood stopped oozing he realized that he hadn’t been totally selfless in wanting to turn her. He wanted her as a vampire, their vampire.

  It would have saved her life quickly, but at what cost to him and Nathaniel? Perhaps Margaret herself?

  Michael ran to the closest doctor and demanded his presence at Margaret’s house. The man came quickly, and Michael followed him into the house.

  Margaret’s blood scent trailed up the stairs, and he directed the doctor that way in the absence of the butler.

  They caught the butler coming out of her bedroom.

  “Oh doctor, thank goodness! I just sent a footman to summon you.”

  Michael opened Margaret’s bedroom door and beckoned the doctor inside.

  Nathaniel walked out, covered in blood. He didn’t speak, and as Michael’s own fangs began to extend he realized that Nathaniel probably couldn’t speak.

  “I will take Nathaniel home to get changed. We will be back shortly.”

  The butler nodded, his relief a palpable thing.

  “Thank you both for finding her and bringing her home.”

  “Your coachman is still there. At the corner of Trafalgar Square and Somerset Road. Send someone to fetch him.”

  Michael nodded to the butler and walked down the stairs, Nathaniel on his heels.

  They managed to walk outside at a human pace before they called on their vampire speed and ran home. They collapsed as soon as the door to their suite closed behind them.

  Michael burst into tears, his pain overwhelming. He fell across Nathaniel’s lap, and his mate’s arms came around him hard.

  “Stop, my love. We found her. She will be fine.”

  The pain continued to well inside of him. He hadn’t been honest with Nathaniel when he had arrived home. The guilt of his secrecy and the guilt of trying to turn Margaret against her will, hammering him like a physical force.

  Michael sobbed until he could cry no more, hundreds of years of pain flowing out of him and onto the mate who loved him.

  When he finally stopped he sat up and used his white shirt to wipe his face. He was exhausted, a mere husk of the vampire he had been. Nathaniel was staring at him like he was insane. He felt it.

  “What was that all about, Michael? I’ve seen about five tears in five hundred years.”

  Michael sighed and picked up his mate’s hand, holding it in his own.

  “I wasn’t completely honest about why I came home to you.”

  Nathaniel tried to jerk his hand away, which Michael had anticipated and held on tighter. He smiled sadly at his suspicious mate.

  “Not in the way you think, lover. I came home because I watched a vampire pairing end their existence because of their loneliness. They had been together and missing their final mate for more than a thousand years, and they couldn’t stand it any longer. I didn’t want to be like that, and I couldn’t stand the idea of you feeling the same way. I made a decision to be happy with you, and only two days later we found Margaret. I feel like I’ve been put through a wringer.”

  Nathaniel’s eyes were narrowed as he tried to work out what Michael was saying.

  “You mean you came home to me because you were worried about me killing myself?”

  Michael nodded, exhausted beyond bearing.

  “And the minute you finally admitted I was enough Fate sent us Margaret?”

  Two more tears slid down Michael’s face, and he wiped them away impatiently. Enough!

  “Yes.”

  He hauled himself to his feet and put a hand out to his mate. They had been blessed many times. Once with each other and again with Margaret. The fact that she was still alive after her accident was a testament to her strength, and he wasn’t going to waste another moment living in the past.

  “Let’s get some fresh clothes, and then go back to Margaret. I want to be the first thing she sees when she wakes up.”

  Something powerful and angry flashed in Nathaniel’s eyes, and Michael couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him when he hauled Nathaniel to his feet.

  “I hope she says my name first.”

  Nathaniel stalked past him, and Michael laughed again.

  He would have put an eternity bet down that no woman would ever come between him and Nathaniel, but they had met the one. Thank God.

  ****

  They sat by Margaret’s bed all night, pacing, wiping her hot brow with water and talking, catching up and sharing their dreams like they used to.

  It was a horrible thing to see Margaret bandaged up and so pale, but it felt good to be together.

  Margaret didn’t wake up, and they were sent home by the butler just before dawn. Which was lucky, as neither of them wanted to be burned alive by the light of day. Both of them hoped to be the first person Margaret saw on waking, but neither achieved it that night.

  Chapter Eight

  When they arrived at Margaret’
s house the next day Nathaniel bounded up the external stairs. His heart was light, and his soul felt whole.

  Michael and he were the strongest they had ever been, and Margaret would get better, he knew she would. The pain and fear that had originally crippled him had gone. He would be surprised if Margaret was not conscious. Their connection was so strong, and she was still human. Perhaps bonding as a vampire wasn’t as necessary as they thought it was and her staying human did have its advantages.

  The butler opened the front door before they even knocked.

  “Good evening, Jennings.”

  The butler bowed and indicated they should enter. His face was alight, his cheeks rosy.

  “How is she?” Nathaniel couldn’t help asking Jennings as Michael, ever impatient, went ahead, walking up the stairs two at a time.

  Jennings walked next to him, personally escorting them to Margaret’s room.

  “My lady is awake, and the doctor has hailed you gentlemen for saving her life. She would not have survived much longer if left out in the elements.”

  Nathaniel nodded, swallowing the fear that had crept up from his belly. If Margaret had been injured earlier on in the day they would have awoken to her dead. That knowledge would weigh on him for a long time.

  He stepped into the room to find Michael already lying on the bed next to Margaret, as close to her as he dared though not as close as he would have wanted.

  Nathaniel walked up next to the bed, savouring the way Margaret’s cheek turned slowly to him, her eyes lighting up when she saw him. The love he saw there he would never stop knocking that air out of him.

  “Nathaniel...” His name whispered on her lips made his knees shake. To think it was only yesterday they had feared they would never hear her voice again.

  He collapsed onto the bed and crawled up to lay on her other side. It was like coming home when he had once been an orphan. New, exciting, and heart-breakingly perfect.

  She lifted her hand and cupped his jaw, and the heat and smell of her skin made his fangs extend. Despite her injuries, Nathaniel couldn’t believe the crest of lust building within him. Would there ever be a time that he didn’t want her?

  He pulled away, embarrassed.

  “I’m sorry.”

  She looked up, “Jennings, please make sure we are not disturbed.”

  The butler did something that made the other servants in the room disappear, and the door shut, leaving them alone.

  Nathaniel stared down at Margaret’s pale face. Her bright green eyes were looking at him with such warmth. He couldn’t help but stare at the turn of her cheek, her full lips. Every part of her face tempted him to kiss, to gaze on for eternity.

  Margaret reached out for Nathaniel again, drawing his face back to her. Her hands were cool, but his heart sang in recognition of his mate’s touch.

  “Don’t be sorry. I love how much you want me.”

  He leaned forward, unable to resist her and kissed her soft lips. His cock hardened in his breeches from the one soft kiss. How was it possible?

  She laughed softly then sighed with regret.

  “I think I’ll need a few weeks before I can offer you my blood or my body though. I’m sorry.”

  Michael groaned as though he had been injured and laid his head down on Margaret’s belly. She reached down and stroked his hair gently.

  Nathaniel stroked Margaret’s face and smiled as he felt Michael through their connection. Michael wouldn’t be able to talk at a moment like this.

  Nathaniel kissed the tip of her nose in thanks.

  “We don’t need either, Margaret. As long as you heal fully.”

  “Did you think about turning me?” she asked, looking him directly in the eye.

  Nathaniel opened his mouth and considered lying. She deserved more than a flippant response when running away from Michael yesterday had been the hardest thing he had ever done.

  “Yes, we did. But we knew it wasn’t what you wanted.”

  She laughed gently again, her breath rasping. He frowned and stroked her hair.

  “You mean, Michael wanted to turn me to save my life, and you talked him out of it.”

  Michael burrowed his head into her further but didn’t say anything.

  Nathaniel nodded and smiled reluctantly. He had to stop underestimating their clever mate.

  “How did you know?”

  She stroked Michael’s blond hair and took a deep breath.

  “Because Jennings told me that you carried me home alone, and I know Michael would have used any excuse to turn me. Thank you for thinking about what I needed, Nathaniel.”

  He nodded and leaned forward to kiss her again. Thank God he had made that choice. What would she have done if she had woken a vampire? Nathaniel shivered. She would have left them. He knew she would have.

  Michael’s muffled whisper came through to him loud and clear.

  “I only did it because I love you.”

  Nathaniel looked down at his mate then back at Margaret. A human would never have heard what Michael had said.

  “Make him repeat what he just said.”

  Margaret looked at him queerly but stroked her hand down Michael’s face that still covered her belly.

  “What did you say, Michael?”

  Michael groaned and kissed the fingers that were tracing his lips. Nathaniel could feel Michael’s pain, his fear, but he willed his mate to be strong. They had everything to gain and nothing to lose by being honest with her.

  “I only wanted to turn you because I love you.”

  Margaret looked back at Nathaniel, and he saw the tears shimmering in her eyes. She understood how big a step it was for Michael to tell her such a thing. Indeed, he was the first to mention love.

  Nathaniel threaded his fingers into Michael’s blond hair and pulled. Michael came up and looked into Margaret’s eyes.

  “I’m not playing safe anymore. I have loved Nathaniel for my entire existence, and I fell in love with you almost the moment I saw you.”

  Margaret’s lip trembled as she reached out with both hands and cupped Michael’s face.

  “And I fell in love with you the moment you gave me the time I needed to decide what I wanted.”

  She turned her head and looked at Nathaniel.

  “I love you.”

  He knew that; he felt it.

  “As I love you.”

  Margaret’s mouth quivered as she smiled at him before she turned back to Michael. She pulled him into her, kissing him hungrily whilst tears tracked down her cheeks.

  Nathaniel watched them, smiling despite everything they had gone through.

  Michael broke the kiss to turn towards Nathaniel. He smiled towards his lover, but noticed the worry behind his eyes.

  “Are you all right, my love?”

  Michael nodded. “You know that I love you just as much as I love Margaret?”

  Nathaniel’s surprise turned into a deep understanding of how much his mate cared for him.

  “I know, Michael. We are equal in your love as you two are in mine.”

  Michael nodded and turned back to their third. He continued to kiss Margaret, whose cheeks were wet with tears, and Nathaniel opened her nightgown, feasting his eyes on her breasts.

  He stroked over their tips and smiled as they responded. He bent his head and began kissing the soft pale skin. They couldn’t make love to her tonight, but they would make sure she felt loved, forever.

  Epilogue

  Twelve months later

  “I think our daughter is more beautiful even than you, Michael.” Margaret looked up at her mate and smiled as she handed over her freshly breastfed, blonde newborn.

  Michael took his daughter and cradled her in his arms protectively. He walked slowly over to the fire and unwrapped her from her woollen blanket. He always loved to look at her. Michael was obsessed with the beauty of their daughter. Her perfect nose, her exquisite mouth, and tiny hands and feet.

  He laid her on the floor next to her twin brothe
r, the little boy who was as dark as his father, Nathaniel.

  Nathaniel stood close by, staring down at their children. Although it was quite obvious who had fathered which child, they chose to treat each member of their family as though they were all linked by blood, which they were.

  Margaret smiled from the bed and leaned back against the pillows. Her mates had given her the rarest gift a vampire could give a human, children. A true miracle.

  She didn’t know what life held for her children. The legends about the half breed immortals were few and far between. But they would be loved, and they would be protected. She planned on waiting a year or so and then having her mates turn her.

  Vanity alone didn’t want her to wait any longer than that, but her children needed her body’s nourishment until then.

  There was also the fact that she did love to feed her mates. Nathaniel and Michael loved her blood, and she had forbidden them from taking blood or making love to anyone else. She gave them everything she was, and she expected the same in return. They had agreed immediately.

  As far as society was concerned, she was married to Nathaniel, and Michael was his cousin who lived with them.

  They attended functions together, and no one guessed as to their true relationship. Margaret was happy, more than happy. She was deeply, truly satisfied. She had everything she had ever wanted. Two men who adored her and children born of that love. She also had their respect and support.

  Then she would have eternity with her men, and God willing, her children by her side.

  The End

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  Other Books by Tamsin Baker:

  www.evernightpublishing.com/tamsin-baker

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