He exposed his chest. “My heart beats normally now. Come, feel.”
“No, thank you.” Raven narrowed her eyes, examining his face, chest, and hands. He looked like William, it was true, but William at about age forty rather than the twenty-something vampyre she’d known him as.
“You changed your hair.” One side of his mouth tipped up. “And your eye color.”
She didn’t respond.
He rubbed his thumb across his lower lip. “This reminds me of the day I had to prove to you I was a vampyre.”
He lifted his hand and stared at it. “I’ve been transformed. My heart beats, and red blood flows through my veins. I can’t be driving daggers into this body without doing damage.”
Raven ignored his display and kept her gaze focused on his eyes. “How do you know about that?”
“I think you know the answer.” He studied the floor, as if he were measuring the distance between them.
Raven flattened herself against the wall, her eyes moving to the brace she’d abandoned next to the desk. It was her only weapon.
The man’s gaze moved to hers, and his expression took on a new intensity. “Do you remember the first time I came to your apartment? When I gave you the relic from my teacher?”
Raven’s eyes widened, for as far as she knew, she and William had never discussed the events of that night with anyone.
“I called you Jane by mistake, because I’d seen the name in your passport. We talked about mercy and justice. I ordered you to leave the city.” He chuckled. “Of course, you didn’t listen. I’m glad. If you’d fled the city, I’d never have known you. I’d never have known hope, dancing in my arms.”
Raven covered her mouth with her hand.
The man’s brow crinkled. “I brought your stepfather from California and presented him to you as a macabre birthday present. But you instructed me to send him to the police instead. You asked me to set up a fund to help the children he’d abused. Did Monsieur Marchand tell you that he and his staff manage the fund? It was set up in your name, your name and Cara’s.”
Raven shook her head, too surprised to speak.
The man took a step forward. “I’m sorry it took me so long to find you. When I woke up, I had lost my memory. I thought it was 1274, and that my teacher had just died. I only came to myself a few days ago. But I’m here now. I love you, Raven. I swear by all that is holy I will never leave your side again, so long as I live.” His expression grew tortured.
“William?” she whispered, hoping against hope.
“I swear on my teacher.”
She rushed over to him, throwing her hands about his neck.
William’s arms were strong as they wound around her, crushing her to his chest. “Did they hurt you?”
“Sarah was able to get me away from the Curia before they could adjust my memories.” She spoke as her tears rained down on his chest.
“You’re crying.”
“Of course I’m crying. You’re alive.”
Beneath her ear his heart pounded, strong and steady. She pulled back in wonder. “Your heart is beating.”
“It tends to do that now.”
“Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare make a joke. I saw what they did to you.” Her voice broke. “I watched you die.”
William’s own eyes began to water. “I am sorry you had to see that. I’m sorry it took me so long to return.”
Raven brushed the tears from his eyes, and William grasped her hand, staring at the evidence of his emotion.
“Those are the first tears I’ve cried since 1274.”
Raven placed her palm inside his opened shirt, against his chest. The rhythm of his heartbeat continued without any of the strange pauses it had favored while he was a vampyre.
She shook her head. “You’re human?”
“Yes. I’ve aged, as you can see. The scar I earned in a fall from a horse when I was sixteen has returned.” He gestured to his chin.
Reverently, Raven traced his scar. She placed her hands against his face, studying it intently. “You’re older than I am now.”
He chuckled. “I was always older than you.”
“You know what I mean. You were in your twenties when you were changed. You look older than that now.”
“Is that a problem?” he asked quickly.
“Of course not. I just don’t understand what happened.”
“I can’t explain why I’ve aged. This was the face I saw in the mirror after I awoke. But as for the transformation, Cassita, it’s nothing short of a miracle. I don’t know if you’ll believe me. But first…”
Tentatively, he grazed her cheek. When she didn’t pull away, he brought their mouths together. His warm lips poured over hers, a contrast to the coolness of his previous form.
He kissed her intensely, but with patience, tasting and savoring her lips and the inside of her mouth. When they parted, he pressed her ear to his heart and kissed her hair, over and over again.
“I didn’t expect you to be here. I thought Sarah’s people evacuated you to Prague.”
“They did, but Borek paid me a visit.”
William pulled back. “Borek? Were you wearing a relic?”
“Yes.” She pointed to her necklace. “Borek said he came to warn me—that Aoibhe sent him to hunt me. He looked for me here and in Budapest, then decided to visit Prague. That’s where he found me.”
“You believe him?”
“I don’t know. He warned me Aoibhe could have sent others and that I should flee. He also told me she had seized control of Florence. He didn’t want to live under her rule.”
“I can imagine. So Aoibhe gained the throne she always wanted. My poor Florence.” William wore a faraway look on his face. “We should go upstairs.”
They exited the vault and retraced the path to the elevator. The doors opened to reveal Monsieur Marchand, who was holding a large, flat wooden box. “I have the items you requested, sir.”
“Excellent.” William took the box from him. “We wish to retire to the apartment, undisturbed.”
“Of course.” The director accompanied them upstairs and to the other elevator before taking his leave.
William punched a code into the elevator keypad, and the doors opened.
“You don’t have to have your palm read? Or your eyeball scanned?” Raven gazed at him skeptically as they entered the elevator.
“No.”
“Why not?”
He pressed his lips to her temple. “Because I own the bank, and I didn’t want to give them vampyre biometrics.”
“Do they know you’re a vampyre?”
“That I was a vampire? No.”
“You own the whole bank?”
“Yes. I founded it in the fourteenth century, because I didn’t trust the Medici with my money. Over time, I have notified the bank staff of my death and the name of my heir. Funny how all of them were named William.” He winked.
“But the artwork, our clothes—how did you arrange everything to be moved?”
William’s features grew grim. “Long before I met you, I put in place an evacuation plan for the things I treasured most in case of a human war, fire, or some other threat. When it looked as if the Curia would march on Florence, I ordered my staff to send everything here. I wanted the art collection preserved for you.”
The elevator doors opened, revealing the entrance to the apartment. Once again, William entered a number on a keypad, and the doors swung open.
Raven headed for the bedroom, and William followed.
She sat on the bed and put her brace aside. Then she removed her colored contact lenses, discarding them onto a side table.
“Much better.” William took her hands in his. “The brave young woman with the great, green eyes. I knew the night I first saw you that you were one of the greatest goods of the world
and I should do whatever it took to save you. See how blessed I am because of you?”
Raven tugged at his hand, and he sat next to her.
“What’s in the box Monsieur Marchand gave you?”
“The relics of my teacher.” William kissed her fingertips, one by one. “They were transferred with everything else. I can’t bear to be separated from them.”
“Monsieur keeps referring to you as my husband.”
“Along with the art transfer, I left instructions for the bank to welcome my beautiful wife. I wanted you to have a refuge.” William fumbled in the pocket of his trousers.
He withdrew his hand. Nestled in his palm were two plain gold bands.
“It was not the best of circumstances in which to make a vow, but do you recall the words we exchanged in the Duomo?”
Raven’s gaze lifted from the rings to his eyes. “Yes.”
“I pledged myself to you before God. You did the same.” He lifted the smaller ring, and his face held a question.
She held out her left hand, and he slipped the ring over her finger.
“No hesitation.” His expression grew thoughtful.
“I made up my mind a long time ago.” She plucked the larger ring from his palm and slipped it over his finger. “I would have married you before, if you’d asked.”
A deep sigh of relief escaped from his chest.
She placed her arm around his waist. “Did you doubt me?”
“No, I’m just grateful for this second life. I swear I will do all I can to love and protect you.”
“I swear the same.” She kissed him.
William made a hungry noise in the back of his throat and pulled her atop him. His hands caressed her back before sliding down to the fullness of her bottom and gripping it sensuously.
Raven pushed his shirt open and peppered his chest with kisses. She latched onto the side of his neck and drew the flesh into her mouth.
William groaned.
“This will be different,” she whispered, bringing her face within inches of his.
“Yes.” His gray eyes clouded.
“I promise I’ll be gentle.” She winked with a grin.
He kissed her nose.
“Thank you. Do you—” William’s unspoken question hung in the air.
She squeezed his shoulders. “Ask.”
“Will you miss it? The way it was, the way I was before?”
She cocked her head to one side. “Are you William?”
“Yes.”
“Do you love me?”
He squeezed her tightly. “Without question.”
“Then there’s nothing to miss. I was devastated when you died. I wondered if the pain would ever lessen. I’m not going to waste time coming up with silly pseudo-problems to keep us apart.”
She placed her hand against his face, marveling at the stubble that scratched her palm. “For some reason, the universe gave you back to me. I’m not going to question it, and I’m not going to criticize it. They could have brought you back broken or burned, and I would have taken you gladly and thanked God for you.
“This is our chance at happiness, and we shouldn’t waste a moment second-guessing it. Love me, William, as you have always loved me. And it will be everything.”
William switched their positions, carefully tending to her injured leg.
“I always liked this dress.” His hands worked between them, unwrapping her.
Raven pushed his shirt off his shoulders and unfastened his belt.
“Magnificent,” he murmured, gazing appreciatively at her body as he divested himself of the rest of his clothes.
He took his time removing her under things, his hands gliding across her skin.
“You haven’t been eating.” William appeared dismayed as he explored her curves, curves that were uncharacteristically modest.
“It’s difficult to enjoy food when you’re in sorrow.”
“I’m sorry.” He pressed his lips to each rib, kissing them repentantly.
Raven looped an arm around his neck, drawing him to her so their mouths could meet. She slid her hands down his spine, reveling in the warm smoothness of him and the small imperfections she encountered for the first time.
William tasted her breasts, nipping and sucking as his hips aligned with hers.
He was warm, so warm. And the heat between their bodies grew as they made contact.
“I need you.” Raven’s green eyes burned into his.
His thumb found her cheek, and he brushed it tenderly. Then, with his other hand at her hip, he entered her.
Raven shut her eyes. It was a fullness she had never expected to feel again. But he was there, above her, inside her, surrounding her with love and warmth.
William groaned, bracing his arms next to her shoulders.
She opened her eyes just as he thrust against a most delightful place.
“I don’t think I can—” William gritted his teeth, unable to complete his sentence.
“It’s okay. I’m close.” Her hands trailed down to his backside, urging him forward as she lifted her hips in time with his thrusts.
She moaned softly with his movements. And then, she felt it. The beginning of a glorious completion, like a note that hung in the air for several beats. The pleasure coursed through her body, igniting every nerve.
William grunted his frustration and began to thrust erratically.
As her orgasm crested and waned, Raven’s body relaxed.
“Did you?” he whispered roughly, his pace quickening.
“Oh, yes.” She grinned.
“Good.” With a loud cry, William thrust deeply, pouring himself into her.
His arms gave out, and he collapsed, burying his face in her neck.
“Usually you bite me during and not after,” Raven remarked.
William nipped at her skin.
She laughed, and he joined her, the happy sound echoing through the opulent apartment.
“I didn’t think I’d ever laugh again,” she confessed, running her fingers through his mussed hair, paying homage to the gray bits at his temples.
“I didn’t either.” He shifted to his side, his hand on her abdomen. His eyes were grave.
Raven read the question on his face. But she took her time choosing her words.
“I think, perhaps, there were three different Williams.”
“Three?”
“The William you were when you were young, the William you were as a vampyre, and the William you are now. But something has remained constant. Some part of you remained the same. That core, that soul, is who I love.
“Not the money, or the power, or even the beautiful art collection they’re hiding downstairs. I would have traded all those things to have you with me for one more day.” She hugged him close. “Now I have you, I’m never letting go.”
He kissed her forehead. “Skillfully put.”
“I speak the truth, Mr. Malet.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Malet.” He cleared his throat, and his gaze wandered to her breasts. “Let’s try the never letting go part one more time.”
Two hours later, the couple had showered and finished lunch.
“Why didn’t you go to Prague first?” Raven asked, sitting on William’s lap.
“I needed money, and I needed to arrange safe transport for both of us. So I came here.”
“How safe is the bank?”
He traced a pattern on her thigh. “As a fortress, it’s modest. But the relics of my teacher are strong enough to make the bank as safe as our villa against vampyres. If Borek followed you from Prague, and I surmise he did, we are safe from him and his kind—unless the Roman learns I’m here.”
“Could he attack a building that houses relics?”
“No, but he’s powerful enough t
o find a way around it or perhaps even to join forces with the Curia.”
“Borek thinks the Roman is going mad.”
William gave her a long look. “I think Borek is right. I didn’t see it clearly before, but I think madness has seized part of the Roman’s mind. In his twisted thinking, he believes I betrayed him for you. He was always jealous of my affections. Perhaps he took perverse pleasure in handing me over to our enemies.”
Raven muttered a curse. “Do the Curia know you’re alive?”
William scratched his newly shaven chin. “I don’t know. Obviously, they don’t have my body. But I don’t know if reports of my current state have reached them. For both our sakes, I’ve been praying they remain ignorant.”
“If you aren’t a vampyre, why would they want you?”
William grimaced. “They want both of us, Raven. Your priest wants your memories adjusted so you won’t be a security risk. The Curia wants me to inform on the Roman and other powerful vampyres. But they’d interrogate me first, trying to understand what made me different from the others.”
“Do you know the answer?”
“I think so. But I only realized it after I died.” He gave her a half smile. “It’s a strange story, and a bit of a long one.”
“I want to hear it.” Raven adjusted herself into a more comfortable position on his lap, resting her head on his shoulder. “I should probably mention that Borek said Father Kavanaugh quit the Curia and returned home.”
“That would be the honorable thing to do.”
“You haven’t forgiven him, have you?”
William studied her. “I don’t believe he intended to kill my human nature. I think they wanted to destroy the vampyre.”
“That’s still killing.”
William tightened his arms around her. “The last thing I remember before everything went dark was the sound of you screaming. I felt my soul leave my body, and I hovered over everyone. I saw you and Father Kavanaugh. I—”
William’s story was interrupted by the ringing of a telephone.
He frowned. “I told them we were not to be disturbed.”
The telephone rang again.
“Excuse me.” He helped Raven to her feet and strode over to the bed, lifting the handset of the telephone. “Yes?”
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