Bonds of Blood [Lords of the Expanse] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Honor James

  * * * *

  She was pacing as she moved back to the bedroom, still wearing his robe and feeling angry. Angry at everything, the life she had up to that point, the fear she had at him for yelling at her, and angry at life in general. She was tired of feeling as if she had no place in society, because she did. She had her grandmother’s strength of will on her father’s side, likely why he hated her so—being a constant reminder of the woman he hated. She would be damned if she took this lying down.

  Emptying his glass as he heard her coming, Andries swore to himself he’d keep his head. He knew he’d been an ass, losing his temper with her as he had. Setting the glass down, he waited for what he was sure was a dressing down that he more than deserved or tears, which would be so much worse.

  She stormed out of their bedroom and moved back to where he was standing. “You are never, ever to walk out on me.” Her tone was less than friendly and more than slightly raised. “We have barely been married half a day and yet you walk out on me. Granted, it’s to another part of our home, but you left me.” She was pacing now. In her fury, the robe and her hair flying behind her with each stride she made across the floor, she said, “I know nothing about this life except that I need you in it. I need more from you than you are willing to give. I need warmth, Andries, and you are darn well going to learn to give that to me because that is what a husband does, makes sure his wife is happy.” When she stopped before him, her face was flushed in her anger, the robe was slightly askew, and her eyes snapped in fury.

  All he could do was look at her. She was magnificent in her anger, and for some absurd reason, he was amused by her anger. “And if I don’t?” he asked in a calm tone. The blink of her eyes seemed slow, as though she was trying to process his words. “What if I’m just not capable of what you consider normal, Xandra? I’m not human. I have never pretended to be, nor will I ever be like any man you may have known or likely will know.” Stepping into her, he crowded her, making her back up or stand fast depending on what her mood was. “Are you truly prepared for that eventuality?”

  “I pray that you are not anything like any other man I have ever known, Andries,” she said and didn’t step back, but closer. “I like you just as you are, but I would really, really like for you to touch me as if I mattered, to touch me on your own because you want to and not because I am the one forcing it. I never want you to be like a human man, Andries, because from what I have seen of them they are brutal, sadistic, and would kill their own mother if it would gain them a dime. Stay who you are, but care for me, at least a little.”

  “If I did not, do you think I would be the least bit disturbed by what your father has inflicted on you?” he asked in a very quiet tone. He wanted to pull her close but he resisted, instead lifting a hand to the back of her neck, as before, his thumb stroking over her pulse. “I don’t wish to hurt you, Xandra. You are very fragile compared to those of my world. One wrong move and I could kill you. Do you understand that?” he asked. “I am not human. I do not have human needs or desires. Vampires are darker beings. Our needs and desires turn many off.” It was the closest he could come to telling her things his people never spoke of.

  “Yet humans and Vampires find love with each other.” She braced her hand on his chest and looked up at him. “As you can see by the color of my skin and hair, I am not fully human.” She was something more. She was something their mystics had foretold and a product of something more. “You really don’t know why I was chosen, do you?” At the look on his face, she smiled. “Because of a many times over great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was a Vampire, daughter of one of the great lords from your past.” She whispered softly, “She fell in love with a human pilot when the Vampire species and humankind first met so long ago. I was chosen because of the ability to be able to mate with your species.” She shrugged. “I look fragile. However, I can assure you I’m not. Believe me, it has been tested just how much I can take.” And it was a lot.

  Well that is new, he thought as he stared at her, his thumb moving in a slow rhythm up and down her soft flesh. He would have said something, probably, but there was a knock on the doors. Glancing away it took him a moment to figure out why someone was there. She was extremely distracting. “Wait here,” he said softly before he went to the bedroom and collected the bags. Carrying them down, he handed them to the guard with orders to hand them to the lieutenant on duty who would take them to Andries’s personal quarters.

  Shutting the door, he leaned back against it for a moment before he pushed away, turning off the lights, and headed back upstairs. Holding out his hand to her, he waited. “Come, I’m tired. I have to be up in only a few hours, and I know we have not resolved this, but it will need to either wait until tomorrow or you’ll need to discuss this while we settle for the night.”

  “No, I’m done.” She slipped her hand into his and moved up to his side. “Now is time for sleep. I will wear my same gown tomorrow to meet with the clothier and ask them how quickly they can have some simple clothes done.” Tugging the robe tighter around her body, she couldn’t believe she had gotten so angry with him, had gone off so spectacularly.

  She moved to the bed and turned down one side, slipping into the coverings even as he moved to the bathroom to finish his nightly toilette. She tugged off the robe and allowed it to fall on the floor before turning to her side, closing her eyes, and waiting for her new husband to come to their bed.

  Washing up, he stared into the mirrored surface over the sink and shook his head. He had no idea what to do with her, his wife. Gods, even thinking the word made him pause. Drying his face with a light cloth, he hung it up and then turned off the lights before moving to the bed. Looking to the bed, he knew that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath the blankets and, if he were a better man, he’d go to the spare bedroom and allow her to use this one in peace. He wasn’t though.

  Dousing the lights, he drew the shades and heavy curtains over the windows, plunging the room into complete darkness. His night vision kicked in and he stared at her, the faint glow of her form from his heat vision showing him that her core temperature was cooler than the average human, lending credibility to her claims. Undressing in silence, he piled his clothing in the basket for the laundry service to take care of and then, on bare feet, padded to the bed and slid under the soft sheets.

  She moved closer to him and reached out blindly with her hand. “I like to touch you, to feel you close.” She had told him that, but she was reiterating the words. “I don’t want to be alone, Andries. Can we work this out? Can we start the day fresh and new?” she whispered in the darkness of the bedroom.

  Catching her hand, he laid it over where his heart, such as it was, beat slowly, much slower than hers. “We can do anything that we set our minds to, Xandra,” he said as he stared at the ceiling above before looking toward her. Turning, he faced her, keeping her hand pressed over his chest. “You are not alone, Xandra, no more than you wish, my lady.”

  “Thank you, Andries.” She moved an inch closer to him. Eyes closed, she moved even closer. “I would like to have another chance at having happiness with you, Andries.”

  Gently, he moved his arm under her head and drew her in closer, ensuring that the blankets were still between them. “If it is to be found, Xandra, you will have it. Of that I have no doubt, my lady,” he murmured. Shifting a hair more, he pressed his nose ever so lightly to the crown of her hair and breathed in the light and tempting scent that was uniquely hers. “You should gain your rest, Xandra. Tomorrow will be a long day.”

  Her head on his chest and shoulder, she nodded. “You, too, Andries.” Eyes closed, she heard the beating of his heart, albeit much slower than hers. “Am I hurting you by lying like this?” She moved her leg slightly so that it was over his thigh, the blanket still between them.

  “No, Xandra, you’re not,” he said softly, moving his other hand to lay on her lower back. Gently he stroked her back, slowly feeling her relax slightly. He knew this was
likely not the night she’d envisioned for her wedding, but he was not in control of himself enough to give her more. “Sleep, Xandra,” he murmured against her hair softly as he let out a slow breath and relaxed himself to that near-rest state of his kind. It was much like sleep, but his species tended to appear nearly dead unless you knew the signs to look for. It was close to a coma, he’d heard it once described.

  Her body melted into him as she sighed in utter contentment and soon slipped off into sleep.

  Chapter Ten

  He woke before her, just after the sun rose over the horizon, his body telling him that it was not time to get up. But he didn’t move, not for that reason, but because in the night they had shifted and she now lay over him as he lay flat on his back. A light weight pressing him down, he felt as though it was much more holding him still. Breathing deeply, he felt the familiar ache in his incisors. They wanted to lengthen and bury in her soft flesh, her pulse strong and beating smoothly, enticingly under her too-thin flesh.

  Shifting slightly on him, she rubbed her cheek on his chest and sighed. “It’s too early to wake, Andries.” She was still more than half asleep as she whispered her words. “Please tell whoever is calling you that it’s the morning after your wedding night and to please leave us alone?” Even if they hadn’t done anything, it was still an acceptable excuse.

  He felt his lips curve up in the smallest of smiles, perfectly safe in the dark of their bedroom. “I know it is early, Xandra. Unfortunately I always wake at this time,” he said in a low tone, not wanting to wake her more than he obviously had. “Return to sleep. You do not need to rise for another hour or more,” he told her, lifting a hand to stroke back her hair. The curve of her throat was a temptation, the skin fairly glowing to his eyes in the darkness.

  “Okay. If you need me, Andries, wake me up?” She rubbed her cheek to his chest and settled once more.

  Her people didn’t sleep a lot, maybe five, six hours a night, but after the eighth hour, she was still finding herself sluggish and not wanting to move. She lay there in the curve of his arms, held close and almost in a protective embrace. “Xandra, I need to get up and ready for my meeting,” he said softly before he rolled her to her back. The press of his weight into her soft flesh gave him a moment where he wondered if he could pull away from her. He knew he had to. He needed to be there for the briefing and to find out what the mission was so he’d know if he could take Xandra with him or not.

  When her eyes opened he looked down into the moon-colored orbs and watched them searching his features. He leaned into her touch when she lifted her hand and touched his cheek gently, tracing a scar that marred his flesh, and smiled when he kissed the center of her palm as she spoke to him. “Will you come back before you leave for your mission?”

  “I will return in a few hours,” he told her gently and, in the dark of the room, he leaned into her touch once more. “I cannot promise I will return before the clothier comes, but I will be here for the noon meal. We will talk then more,” he promised softly before he gave into another urge and turned his head to kiss her palm. “If you have need of reaching me, ask Aleina to inform one of the guards at the door. They will know where I am and how to get a message to me even behind closed doors,” Andries said and then forced himself to sit on the edge of the bed to rub a hand over his face.

  Sitting up in the bed and pulling the sheet close to her, she leaned into him, wrapping her arm around his back and hugging him gently. “If you need me, Andries, you will come to me?” Her cheek pressed against his lightly and rubbed gently. “Is there anything in particular you want me to ask the clothier for when they come?” She wondered if he had a color choice preference, if he had a style preference. She was sure Aleina would ensure she had the most suitable of clothing, but she wanted to ensure that her new husband was happy with what they got as well.

  Looking over his shoulder at her, Andries leaned back slightly so he could better see her, or that was the lie he told himself. “My house colors”—the ones he’d earned through blood and death and not inherited as he should from his “father”—“are silver and dark blue,” he said softly. Letting his eyes move over her face, he reached out to lightly stroke a finger down her cheek. “I think you would look lovely in them,” he commented before he thought through the words too carefully.

  “Then silver and dark blue it is,” she said with a smile and leaned into his light and gentle touch. “Do you have time for breakfast with me?” She knew he had a meeting to get to. However, she wanted to have every moment that she possibly could with him.

  “If we make it a quick one,” he said softly. “I only have forty minutes before I need to be there. If you feel up to the challenge of figuring out the kitchen unit, I can shower and dress,” he murmured as he turned to face her. Cupping her cheek, he lightly kissed her. “Stay out of the bottom left drawer of the chiller if you’re at all squeamish,” he warned and then pulled away.

  “Right, I will stay out of there.” She grinned and nodded. “Go, shower and I will figure out how to make us a meal.” She moved from the bed and grabbed his robe. Pulling it on, she looked over her shoulder at him. “Do you want anything in particular or anything that I can bring up quickly?”

  “As long as it’s quick it doesn’t really matter,” he assured her before he padded to the bathing room and hit the lights so she didn’t trip on her way from the room. Closing the doors, he moved to the showering stall. He pressed the buttons and stood under the invisible rays of the multiheads of the sonic shower and breathed a sigh as his body loosened under the invisible but powerful rays. Two minutes later, the stall shut off and, stepping out, he moved to his closet to dress.

  Pulling out his uniform, he pulled on the black pants, the thin top, and then the jacket that he cross-buttoned. Moments later, he ensured that his uniform was as it should be. His boots held the correct shine, and his rank was clearly visible at the short lapels of the collar. Eyeing himself critically, he turned moments later and headed to find Xandra.

  Walking into the kitchen unit of their suite, he paused by the doorway and watched her moving about. “Are you finding everything you require?” he asked her, frowning when she jumped slightly. “I apologize. I did not mean to startle you,” he said formally. He knew better than to try and be softer than what he was. He didn’t do gentle. He didn’t do kind. He was a warrior first and foremost, and he had better remember that or he could hurt those that stood closest.

  “Please, don’t apologize, Andries.” She smiled at him and looked him over from head to toe. “You are very handsome, Andries. I don’t think that I have ever told you that before.” She pointed to the meats and bread that lay on a plate for him. “I finished yours first because I heard the sonic showers stop. Mine is just coming up now.” Turning to the refrigeration unit, she asked, “Would you like a drink to go with your meal? I’m not sure what you would drink in the mornings, so I didn’t pour anything yet.” She didn’t know why she was so nervous except for the fact that he was so incredibly handsome, so strong and fierce and he made her body sing and come to life, with just a glance.

  “Some of the clear liquid in the yellow jug. It’s a fruit juice,” he told her softly as he went to pick up his plate. “Thank you,” he said, lifting the plate to indicate what he was talking about. Moving to the counter, he sat on one of the stools there. He knew he should wait for her to join him but his time was running short so, with a sigh, he started his meal.

  She poured him his juice and grabbed her plate to move to sit at his side. “You’re welcome. I had thought this was what a wife did. She cooks for her husband and ensures he is happy.” Setting the juice down, she touched his jaw. “You have a small piece of lint.” From where, she didn’t know, but she pulled it away and showed it to him. “Now, finish your meal and I will clean up.”

  “Some do, some don’t,” he said as he watched her toss the piece of lint away. “Many of your station decide it is beneath them and hire others to do the wor
k instead. Others do it for the novelty, until it wears off,” he told her as he began to eat. Checking his chronometer, he drank the rest of his juice. “I need to leave. Will you be all right?” he asked quietly.

  “I have grown up cooking and cleaning, Andries. What is my station is whatever I can do to make myself happy. Cooking and cleaning helps me to relax.” She hid with cooking and cleaning, plain and simple.

  “Just remember, when Aleina arrives, she’ll have an escort that will knock at the door. Do not open it unless you see this symbol”—he pointed to the mark of his people on his shoulder—“upon his uniform. Anyone without it isn’t allowed in this tower,” he said, reaching over to pull a piece of her hair from where it was caught on her cheek. “If you need me, use the communications console and punch in four six six nine one. It will ring directly to me, but only if you are in danger, Xandra, all right?” he asked, watching her closely.

  “I understand, Andries. I will be fine.” She smiled at him and leaned back. “Be safe, husband. If you have need of me, you know better than anyone how to reach me.” She wanted a kiss from him, the kisses he had been willing to give her in the darkness of their bedroom, but wasn’t sure if he would impart them in the bright light of day.

  Standing, he looked down at her, stroking his finger over her cheek. Before he could think better of it, he lowered his head and kissed her softly. But her taste hit him and he took it deeper, kissing her with a pent-up need that was a burning fire in his gut. Before he knew it, his incisors slid out and he tasted blood, hers. Lifting his head sharply, he winced. “I’m sorry, Xandra.” He frowned at the small drop of blood that swelled on her inner lip.