Grave Sins

by Jenna Maclaine

  Michael raked one hand through his hair and walked to the fireplace. I stood and watched the tension in his shoulders as he stared into the flames and gathered his thoughts. Then I quietly sat down on the bed and waited for him to speak.

  “We all found ourselves in Christiania, Norway, in the winter of 1790. Karin and Drake were lovers, but he didn’t seem bothered when she left his bed for mine. I … cared for her,” he said and turned to me. “I didn’t love her. You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved. She and I … we were friends and I thought we enjoyed each other’s company.”

  “What happened?” I asked softy.

  He shrugged. “When Drake left town she went with him. She left without so much as a farewell. I guess he could offer her something I couldn’t.”

  “And you … what? Thought that Drake would crook his little finger and I would just run away with him?” I asked, incredulously.

  “No. Maybe. Hell, I don’t know, Cin.”

  I smiled sadly at the frustration evident in his voice. “Michael, look at me,” I said. “I don’t know why any woman would be foolish enough to willingly leave your bed, but I’m very grateful that she did because I cannot imagine living my life without you. No other man will ever make me burn the way you do. You are mine, and if I know nothing else about myself I do know that I am yours, now and forever.”

  He swallowed hard and then turned away. It wasn’t the reaction I’d been hoping for.

  Chapter 29

  I watched in confusion as he walked to his trunk, which rested against the far wall, and rummaged around in it until he’d piled all of his clothes to one side. He reached into his boot and pulled out a dagger. The sgian dubh was the same blade he’d used to open a vein the night I’d drunk his blood and become a vampire. I heard the sound of fabric ripping as he cut open a seam in the lining of the trunk and pulled out a small velvet pouch, weighing it in his hand. Tossing the sgian dubh onto the pile of clothes, he turned and came back to the bed.

  Kneeling in front of me, he opened the pouch and spilled a large ruby ring into his hand. As he held it up, I marveled at its beauty. Set in gold, the dark red stone was oval, large enough to cover my finger to the knuckle, and surrounded by small diamonds. I had a particular love of rubies, and Michael certainly knew my taste in jewels.

  “Do you know what this is?” he asked.

  “Other than stunning?”

  I reached out to touch it, but he pulled his hand back. Letting out an exasperated breath, I clasped my hands in my lap and turned my full attention to him.

  “This is the stone that Morrigan gave you in Venice.”

  “You had it cut and set.”

  “Messrs. Garrard in London had that honor. It’s made of our blood, Cin, yours and mine, and fashioned by a goddess who chose us for each other. I cannot think of any greater symbol of our love and commitment. I’ve lived a long time, a hundred and eleven years, but until I met you I have never been in love. I wanted to give you time before I asked this of you—because you’re very young and I wanted to make sure that this is what you truly desired as well—but you are the last thing I think of before I sleep and the first thing I reach for when I wake up. I want your love to warm me, your heart to inspire me, your humor to cheer me, and your beauty to tempt me for the rest of eternity.” He took my hand in his and slid the ring onto my finger. “Cin Craven, will you marry me?”

  I stared down at the ring, unable to believe this was truly happening. Vampires do not get married as humans do, in a church with a priest, but there is a bonding ceremony that any king or regent can perform. Michael and I had been consorts—the term vampires use to describe a committed couple—since the moment of my turning, but he’d never mentioned marriage. Over the years I’d told myself that it wasn’t important—after all, Devlin and Justine had been blissfully happy for over 150 years and they weren’t married. Until this moment, though, I hadn’t realized now very much I’d wanted him to ask me.

  Tears fell freely down my cheeks as I threw myself into his arms and we tumbled backward onto the floor. “Yes!” I cried. “I would be so proud to be your wife.”

  For a long time he held me as if he would never let me go. I wept in his arms, unashamedly, and by the ragged sound of his breathing I wondered if he cried as well. For weeks now it had seemed that I would lose him, but finally we were in each other’s arms again and all was right with the world.

  Eventually I pulled away and looked into his blue eyes. “How soon can we do it?” I asked.

  Michael chuckled. “When we’ve sorted things out here MacLeod can perform the ritual, or if you’d rather wait until—”

  “No,” I said, grinning like an idiot, “I don’t want to wait.”

  He ran his hands up my sides and then down across my back and over my butt, pulling me down to him so that my body was flush with his. I ran my tongue along the edge of his ear and then sucked his lobe into my mouth. He groaned and his fingers squeezed me harder.

  “Michael,” I said as I trailed kisses down his neck, stopping to linger in the hollow of his throat. “How did Messrs. Garrard get my ruby when it was stolen several years ago, along with a good portion of my jewelry, from our hotel room in Amsterdam?”

  His hands stilled and I smiled into his neck.

  “Ah, well …”

  I felt my canines lengthen and I ran the sharp tips of them over the big vein in his neck. He shuddered underneath me. “Go ahead and say it.”

  “I robbed you,” he confessed.

  I looked up at him and arched a brow. “Obviously. And my grandmother’s pearls, and my mother’s diamond bracelet, and the gold bracelet you bought for me in Madrid? Where are they?”

  “They’re all safely tucked away in the Bank of England,” he replied.

  I rolled my eyes. “I’ll be getting those back the next time we travel through London. Do you have any idea how distraught I was to have lost them?”

  “I know. I’m sorry,” he said, as he ran his hands over my hips. His thumbs pressed against the front of my breeches, moving slowly from the juncture of my thighs to the bottom button of my leather vest. “I wanted your ring to be a surprise, though. Was it worth it?”

  I watched his hands unbutton my vest with slow precision, and I nearly forgot the question. I glanced down at the huge ruby with its little round diamonds sparkling around it. “Oh, yes,” I whispered.

  He sat up, pushing the vest from my shoulders. His lips were just a breath away. “Yes, what?” he asked.

  “Yes, it was worth it.” I smiled wickedly, and then ran my tongue along his lower lip. “And yes to anything else you want tonight. It’s been a long time, you know.”

  He fell back onto his elbows with a mischievous look on his face. “Yes, it has. You know, I was thinking that since we’ve gone this long without making love perhaps we should do this properly and wait until we’re married. After all, I wouldn’t want to cheat you out of your wedding night.”

  I didn’t bother pointing out that we’d slept together every night for the past thirteen years. If he wanted to play this game, we’d play.

  “If that’s what you want,” I replied, as if it didn’t matter to me one way or the other. I pulled my blouse off over my head and his gaze fell to my bare breasts. My nipples tightened as he watched, and I stood, resting one booted foot on his thigh. “Will you help me off with my boots?”

  He grasped my ankle and looked up the length of my body. Hunger was raw on his face as I slipped my leg out of the boot and then stretched the other leg out. His fingers played over the back of my knee and then trailed down my calf. When my boots were in a pile on the floor, I modestly turned my back to him. Unfastening the buttons on my breeches, I bent over as I slowly slid the leather down my thighs. I deposited the breeches onto the pile of clothes and walked past him to the wooden steps at the side of the bed. I heard a strangled moan from behind me as I climbed them, and then crawled across the bed with the sinuous grace of a cat.

  I la
ughed as he landed on top of me, his body pressing me down into the mattress. That certainly hadn’t taken long.

  “I thought you wanted to wait?” I asked innocently.

  “Ah, lass,” he said against the back of my neck as he slid his hand between my thighs, “you’re so wet. What sort of a man would I be to leave you in such a state?”

  I groaned as his fingertips moved slowly back and forth across my flesh. “Not the sort of man I’d marry.”

  I arched back against him. Wanting him to slip that finger inside me, but he continued to tease me, stroking me until I thought I would cry in frustration and pleasure. The muscles in my stomach quivered and I grasped a handful of pillow. Michael ran his tongue slowly up my spine before he finally slid one finger inside me at the same time he gently bit me on the back of the neck. I cried out as he moved inside me.

  “Come for me,” he whispered in my ear, and I was so hot that my body exploded. I arched my back and cried out as his hand stilled, splayed against me, and tremors rocked my body. “That’s my girl.”

  When I was spent I rolled over, smiling, and pushed Michael onto his back.

  “And what would you have of me, lass?” he asked, as I straddled him.

  “Everything,” I replied, and slowly went to work on the buttons of his shirt. When his boots joined mine on the floor I sat back on my heels and surveyed the beauty of his body. From the swell of his chest, to the lean ripples of his stomach, to the powerful muscles of his thighs, he was a symphony of strong, graceful lines. He folded his hands behind his head, watching me watch him, and I licked my lips at the sight of the muscles bunching in his arms and shoulders. Unable to resist any longer, I had to touch him.

  I ran my hands up his legs and followed with my tongue, licking a line up the inside of his left thigh. I saw the muscles in his stomach clench as I blew my breath out over the heavy weight of his balls. I teased him as he had teased me, barely grazing my lips over them and then licking, ever so softly. He arched his hips and I slipped my hands under them, pulling him up to my mouth. I slipped one soft globe into my mouth, rolling my tongue across it and then sucking gently as he moaned in pleasure. His shaft was throbbing and I grasped it, stroking him until he was glistening. I moved slowly up the length of him, his own wetness mingling with my moist tongue as I circled the head of his shaft. One hand reached out and grasped a fistful of my hair, and I knew what he wanted. I sucked the length of him into my mouth, slowly at first, and then harder and faster. I loved to have him in my mouth, and I could do this all day. I splayed one hand against his stomach so that I could feel his muscles clench and quiver when I found a stroke that he particularly liked. With the other hand I ran my fingertips lightly over his balls, enjoying the feel of the velvet sac tightening when his release was near. With a shout, Michael arched his hips, spilling into my mouth as I drank him down.

  He sat up, growling that inhuman sound that is unique among vampires and large jungle cats, and grasped my hips. He pulled me up the length of his body until I was on my knees with my legs spread wide on either side of his shoulders. I looked down into his blue eyes as he smiled wickedly and lay back against the pillows, pulling me down to his mouth. I clutched the headboard of the bed as Michael feasted on the most intimate parts of me, licking and sucking until I was throbbing in his mouth. I threw my head back as my body shook with its second release of the night. He didn’t stop, though, continuing on until he’d brought me to climax once again.

  “I want you inside me,” I said, sliding down his body until I could rub my slick core against his erection.

  He grabbed my wrists and rolled with me until he was on top. “But that’s only three times,” he teased. “Surely we can do better than that.”

  “We will,” I assured him. “Later.”

  I wiggled around until he was once more pressed against me. I was frantic to feel him inside me, and I moved until I felt the tip of him at my center. He pushed slowly forward, stopping with perhaps just an inch of his length inside me. He stayed there, not moving, until I was shaking and quivering around him, wanting more. And then he slowly pulled out of me. I growled in frustration and Michael pinned my wrists to the bed.

  “Not so fast, mo ghraidh,” he said. “I want you to come for me many, many more times first.”

  He punctuated each word with a kiss, moving from my lips to my neck to the taut, pink peaks of my breasts. For the next hour we teased each other, kissing, licking, sucking, biting, driving each other to the edge of pleasure and beyond. When I didn’t think I could possibly have the strength for one more orgasm, he knelt between my thighs and I reached out and guided him to me. The feel of him finally pushing into me, fighting for every inch even though I was so very hot and wet, was almost more than I could bear. When he’d impaled me to the hilt he paused for a moment and the feel of him, not moving, just filling me with the thick throbbing heat of him, nearly sent me over the edge. I held on as he began to move, stroking in and out of me in a rhythm that had been perfected over many years, and many passionate nights.

  “Now, lass,” he said in a ragged whisper, as his movements became less controlled. “Please now.”

  His fingers bit into my hips as he thrust one last time, burying himself as far as he could as he spilled inside me. I felt the hot pulse of his release and I let go, falling with him over the edge and into the sparkly, weightless wonder beyond.

  Tonight I had wrought magic powerful enough to have drawn the attention of a goddess. In that moment, though, I was certain of one thing: Of all the magic I possessed, none of it could begin to compare to the magic he and I created together.

  Chapter 30

  I woke to find Michael propped up on one elbow, staring down at me. I smiled back at him and stretched, glancing at the clock. Dusk was a few hours away.

  “Would you like me to get you a pot of chocolate?” he asked.

  “I would love that.”

  He leaned down and kissed me swiftly on the lips, then bounded out of bed. As I watched him dress, I almost called him back. It was such a shame to cover that luscious body. When he had gone, I crawled out of bed, feeling the muscles in my body protesting against any sort of movement. I shrugged into my dressing gown and was admiring the way my new ring matched the red silk when someone knocked softly on my door. I crossed the room and opened it, surprised to find Devlin standing.

  “I collected your weapons after the fight,” he said.

  “Thank you, Devlin,” I replied, motioning him in. “Would you lay them on the trunk?”

  It was a testament to how worried Michael was about me that he’d left his great claymore behind. The sword was older than he was, and his prized possession. Devlin laid our swords and knives gently on the trunk lid and turned to me.

  “I cleaned them for you,” he said.

  “I appreciate that,” I replied and walked over to him, intending to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

  He backed up a step before he caught himself and stopped. I froze. He was afraid of me now. How was I supposed to handle this? He was the leader of our group, and it was imperative that I make things right between us. I decided that the best course of action would be to act as if nothing had changed, to make him see that I was still me, the same girl he’d known and shared a life with for all these years.

  I put my hands on my hips. “Oh, for the love of Danu, Devlin, I won’t bite.”

  He looked startled and then let out a nervous laugh, raking a hand through his black hair as he paced the room and settled against the mantel. He leaned back against it and crossed his arms over his wide chest. Nodding toward my hand, he said, “I see the boy finally came up to scratch. It’s about time.”

  I glanced down at the ring and smiled. “You knew about this?”

  “We all knew. It took all three of us to organize that bit of thievery.”

  I smiled and we lapsed into silence again. It was a weighty, uncomfortable silence that had never occurred between us before.

&nbs
p; Finally, he said, “It’s a great and terrible thing you did last night, Cin.”

  “I know,” I replied softly.

  He nodded. “If this is something we’re all going to have to live with, then I need to understand something, Cin.”

  “If I can explain I will, Devlin,” I said.

  “It’s apparent that you’ve had control over this dark magic for a long time. What went wrong last night?”

  I sighed and shook my head. “Michael did. When I saw him lying there with that arrow sticking out of his chest, I lost it. Black magic feeds on all your darkest emotions. Gage’s magic seems to like my temper. Most of the time I don’t feel it inside me but it rises when I get angry, and last night I was very angry. I could have kept it bottled up if I’d tried, but I didn’t want to try. If that arrow had been made of oak or rowan, any of the sacred woods, he’d have been killed. I set the magic free on purpose. At the time I didn’t know what it would do and I didn’t care. Now I know, and I’ll never set it free again.” I paused and looked up at him. “If it had been Justine lying at your feet and you’d had the power, you would have done the same thing.”

  He nodded. “You’re probably right. I don’t have that power, though, and I didn’t think you did, either. I never thought I’d see your eyes turn black like that again.”

  “I hoped you wouldn’t, either, Devlin. I never wanted any of you to look at me the way you just did when you walked into this room. I’m no different than I was yesterday, or the day before that, or the month before that. This has been a part of me for a long time now and it seems that, as long as no one stakes my lover through the heart, I can control it.”