Darling

by Claudia D. Christian

  Let me hold onto her a little longer. Let us stay this way, happy and far from the ugliness on our inevitable horizon. I will care for her better. I will make her happier than ever. I will keep my lust under control. I will never go to another ever again. I will wait for her to be ready for me. I can do this for her.

  Constantine lifted Cassandra high. Her arms linked about his neck like a living collar while her small legs squeezed him into submission. She whispered and sighed against his open mouth, imprinting her eternal love for him with each breath.

  His hands settled on her delightful bottom. He squeezed hard. Cassandra jerked against him before fisting his hair. Her hot tongue speared his mouth. She possessed him without conscious awareness of her actions.

  Cassandra would be a dangerous creature once she understood her power over him. Until that night came, Constantine would leash her and shackle her to his illusions.

  Constantine held Cassandra up with one arm. His other hand cupped her chin and broke off their kiss. Cassandra’s heavy-lidded gaze begged for him. Her lips did the same. She leaned forward, greedy to keep their mouths fused.

  Constantine carried her back to the bed. She dragged him on her way down. Covering her naked body with his, Constantine realized he had been kissing Cassandra goodbye. Their course was set. He couldn’t pull away from her even if threatened by decapitation. All his self-control, his planning, his protection of her from him and his world were for naught.

  A scream ricocheted in his body, furious in heartbreak.

  9

  Cassandra reached out for Lord Constantine, desperate and eager to finally know him for a lover. She panted and mewled like a demented thing. Lord Constantine watched her, eyes reptilian and cold one moment before liquefying gold the next. When his fangs slid out he stood up and neatly avoided her grasping hands.

  She scrambled to her knees and crawled towards him. “My lord, please do not turn away from me. I have waited so long for you.”

  He covered her eyes with his long fingers. “And I beg you not to look at me with those eyes. Can you grant me a boon, darling? Can you do this for me?”

  Cassandra’s thoughts buzzed, hitting against the box of her wants and curiosity for what her lord asked of her. She would swear to anything he wanted, anything he needed, if only he would join her back on the bed.

  “Yes, my lord.” Cassandra screwed her eyes shut. “I live for your happiness.”

  Something silky and cool wrapped several times around her head. Cassandra opened her eyes but couldn’t see past the dense layers of fabric. She touched her face gingerly and asked, “What is this?”

  “My cravat.” He covered her fingers with his. “Stop tugging, darling, or you will undo it.”

  Cassandra’s passion cooled as amusement sprung into her voice. “Are you shy of me seeing you nude, my lord? I promise I won’t stare. . .too much.”

  “Trust me, darling. This makes it easier.”

  She pouted, already forgetting her silent promises to perfect obedience. “But I want to see you.”

  “Hush now and be a good girl, Cassandra.”

  She fell silent. Lord Constantine’s annoyance was never a good thing. Cassandra scooted back on the bed. She found the edge of the heavy covers and shimmied beneath them. Arms lay straight like matchsticks. She fisted her hands and waited for his direction. Darkness blotted the landscape of her secret thoughts.

  Why must every aspect of this be controlled by him?

  The bed sank next to her. Cassandra banished her disloyal musing and thought only of pleasing her lord. Fear insinuated itself alongside devotion.

  What if I fail him?

  “Darling, I am going to love you. Do you understand what that means?”

  She nodded, mouth pursed shut until he bade her to speak aloud.

  “This is why I must control it. I do not want to. . .damage. . .you. Can you understand?”

  Cassandra’s heart rattled a traitor’s tune. She nodded, breathless with anticipation, and blind to everything but his approval.

  “Won’t you say anything, darling?”

  “You told me to hush. I was trying to be your good girl.”

  Lord Constantine shuffled her so he could lie next to her. Cassandra nearly lost her composure as his cool flesh touched hers. His arm slid beneath her head, allowing him to cradle her. “Talk to me, darling. I want to hear your thoughts.”

  Cassandra’s fingers traced across his shoulder. “I want to know you as others have known you.” She cried out when he pressed her hard onto her back. Fingers bit deep.

  “What others? What do you mean?”

  She couldn’t connect the panic in his tone with reality. Her Lord Constantine never lost composure. He was the god of her world and as her god he was above imperfection.

  What is wrong with him?

  “Answer me, Cassandra!”

  She flailed. “I want to know your love, my lord. I want to know you as you have shown yourself to your human mistresses.”

  Lord Constantine’s touch abandoned its destructive mission. “You know?”

  Cassandra reached up to remove her blindfold. Her hands slammed back down at his bark of “Don’t you dare!” She blinked away a few wayward tears. “Please forgive me, my lord. Please do not be angry with me. I cannot bear for you to be upset with me.”

  “You would grovel like this for me, darling? Am I worth that much to you?”

  Cassandra picked up on his disgust, never imagining she wasn’t the target. “I have no shame when it comes to you, my lord.” She held her hands out in supplication. “I can be like them if you want. I can do to you whatever you would have of me. I just want to love you, my lord. I want to love only you.”

  “Stop it.”

  “Please let me love you. . .”

  “I said stop it!” Lord Constantine hauled her up. “You are not interchangeable with anyone else, do you understand? You are not a whore, Cassandra! Do not act like one just for something as insignificant as my love!”

  “Insignificant? How can you say it is insignificant? I have lived my entire life for your love, Lord Constantine! I have done everything in my power to be pleasing to you, to be all that you would ever wish for in a companion and it is never enough! I am here naked as the day I was born, as naked as the day you stole me away from my family, and you speak to me about insignificance? It is clear what is truly insignificant.”

  “I did not steal you.”

  “Pardon?” Cassandra hated not seeing him. Her fingers tingled. She wanted to rip off the cravat.

  Lord Constantine knelt, knees touching hers, vicious tone gone as if it never existed. “I did not steal you.”

  “Then what happened?”

  He brushed back her hair. “I bought you.”

  Cassandra nuzzled his palm with her cheek. “But you always said you stole me. . .why are you telling me this now?”

  Lord Constantine replied in a low, melancholy voice, “I wanted there to be some truth between us.”

  “Then why did you lie all this time?”

  “I thought it better than the truth. I was wrong.”

  Cassandra absorbed her new reality. “I see.”

  “You are angry.”

  “No.”

  “Truly?”

  “It does not change my life with you.” She reached out until finding his thigh. “I do not even remember them. All I remember is you. I am far more yours than I ever was their daughter.”

  “All because you do not remember them?”

  Cassandra shrugged. “Perhaps if I had grown up with those people, known their love and was one night snatched away to come here, perhaps I would hate you.” A besotted smile curved her lips. “But I do not think that possible. I could never hate you, Lord Constantine. I love you far too much to ever hate you—especially over an incident I do not even remember.”

  “Thank you.” He pulled her onto his lap. “I do not deserve you, darling. I truly do not.”

  “I disagre
e, my lord. It is I who does not deserve you.” Cassandra pecked him sloppily on the mouth. Her hands smoothed over his face. “I wish to have you forever—no matter how long it takes.”

  Lord Constantine turned her so she straddled him. His arms snaked about her waist. Cassandra felt his hard maleness slide against her stomach. She quivered, giddy to know he was finally going to be all hers. Her vampire feathered his lips against hers and whispered, “We will always be together, Cassandra. We will never part as long as I have the power to make it so.”

  Cassandra whispered her love for him, promising to never, ever leave him no matter what. “I want to be yours, my lord,” she cooed slavishly. “Please make me yours.”

  Lord Constantine kissed her carefully before showing his love for her physically. His hands brought delight as they cupped her breasts, paying delicate attention to her nipples. His mouth soon followed. Cassandra writhed as he alternately licked and sucked one breast before devoting his focus on the other.

  His fingers slid between her splayed thighs. Cassandra moaned softly, feeling wanton and impatient for Lord Constantine to touch her in the tender place which craved him the most. When the vampire finally tired of teasing and petting his darling, he urged her onto her back and committed himself fully to her pleasure.

  Soon Cassandra blindly reached for him, needing to hold onto Lord Constantine as her world fractured into blissful pieces. Once she collapsed with a satisfied whimper, he began again.

  Lost to the beautiful skill which he played on her body, Cassandra felt herself transform into a shameless, hungry creature. She wanted him to possess her completely. When his mouth latched onto her, Cassandra arched up with a greedy scream.

  Much later Lord Constantine settled himself between her trembling thighs. He murmured beautiful words of devotion and adoration. His kisses traveled along the graceful lines of shoulder and neck. Cassandra tensed as the pressure built between her legs. Pain threatened to erase all traces of ecstasy.

  Lord Constantine captured her mouth with his. He kissed her hard before pleading hoarsely, “Just suffer this wound for me, darling, for a small while. I promise to make it better.”

  Cassandra nodded, trusting her lord’s word as one from God. “Please let me look at you, Lord Constantine. I need to see you.”

  He groaned while yanking off the blindfold. Cassandra grabbed his face when he attempted to look away. “No! Let me see you. I want to know you, my lord.”

  “Darling. . .Cassandra. . .”

  “No, my lord. Let me look.” Cassandra brushed her fingertips across the razor-like lines of his cheeks and brow. “I love seeing this way, my lord. You are so beautiful—you do not have to hide this side of yourself from me. I am not afraid of you. I want to see my lord as the proud vampire king he is.”

  “Darling. . .I do not want to hurt you. . .I am trying to be. . .” He hissed, unable to speak as he pushed deeper inside.

  She pressed her thumb against one fang. Her skin split. Lord Constantine’s predatory gaze fixated on the blood drop growing steadily larger. “Do you want to taste it, my lord?”

  He growled in reply, mouth yawning to showcase his unnatural sharp fangs.

  Cassandra smiled with a siren’s confidence. She rubbed her thumb across his lips. “I am yours, my lord. Take me into you as I have taken you into me.”

  Lord Constantine slammed his hips against hers. She screamed and laughed, traveling one extreme to the other. Cassandra had beckoned the beast with a blood-soaked digit and he had arrived in spades.

  The vampire twined his arms around her back as he pounded into her. His mouth settled onto her neck. Lord Constantine’s fangs pinched the skin, effectively holding Cassandra in place as he ravished her.

  I never imagined it could be like this. He belongs to me as much as I belong to him.

  Cassandra happily suffered the exquisite roughness of becoming Lord Constantine’s. Her thighs cradled him while her hands clung to his back. He pushed against her once, twice. Cassandra’s breath exploded in a shrill cry as his fangs sank deep.

  The intimacy of making love with Lord Constantine paled in comparison to feeling him suck her into him. Pinned beneath his large body, Cassandra became his personal blood butterfly. Thought and sound swirled into a pinpoint as small as the holes in her neck.

  This is what I was born for.

  Lord Constantine licked her wounds shut and whispered, “My darling, darling Cassandra, you are my most precious woman.”

  She wept in happiness.

  0

  Cassandra lay in his arms, curled into him like a sated kitten. Constantine covered her shoulder with the coverlet and watched her sleep. Happiness came in short bursts, fettered by the dark knowledge of what he had done to create it.

  This is the last time. I will not tamper with her mind again.

  The door opened. He sat up and bared his fangs at the intruder. “You are trespassing. Remove yourself. Now.”

  “Not yet.” A thin smile curved her lips. Lady Kamilla glided to the bed and noted the slumbering human. “So much like babes when they sleep. So innocent.”

  “What do you do here, Kamilla?”

  “I was checking on your little darling. I am happy to see she listened to me. A girl like her cannot spend this much time among our kind and not pick up a bit of our habits.” Lady Kamilla grinned at the tiny betrayals of his outrage. “Surely you wondered how she found out about your dalliances?”

  “You entered my territory, froze time, and betrayed me. Why?”

  “Because you betray yourself, Constantine.”

  “You pushed her into my bed. It was not for you to decide.” His eyes flashed crimson. Fury rolled through him, setting his mind on fire.

  “Your decisions do not impact you alone, Vampire King, or did you forget?”

  Constantine positioned himself between Cassandra and the vampiress. “I know my duty, Kamilla.”

  Lady Kamilla’s inhuman stare sharpened to shred through him. “Then act like you do! I cannot be responsible for creating terror alone while you go mooning over this girl.”

  “You do not understand how it is between us.” He could’ve bit off his own tongue for sounding like a lovesick adolescence.

  “I understand perfectly, Constantine, and because I understand I am doing you this kindness. Do not question it.” She approached Cassandra. The vampiress caressed the sleeping girl’s cheek with one finger. “How were you able to calm the little darling? She was fit to kill me and you both.”

  Constantine shifted. His mouth tightened.

  Understanding dawned on Lady Kamilla. “You erased her memory.” She shook her head in pity. “You stupid man. How could you do such a thing to her? To yourself?”

  “I did what needed to be done.”

  The vampiress pounced on his guilt. “Will you strip her mind every time you run after one of your mistresses?”