Resurrection: Part One of the Macauley Vampire Trilogy (A Paranormal Romance)

by Rebecca Norinne

  “I’m not offended. I was just startled by the question.” She paused before continuing. “And no, I’ve never had a child. Children are not in the cards for me.”

  I had guessed as much, but hearing her say it aloud gave me an odd thrill I didn’t want to examine too closely lest I discover more about my intensions and desires toward her than wise.

  “Ah, well. Then it seems we are both unaccustomed to that type of attachment, for I had no such bond with my maker.” I felt the tremors begin in my hands and the tiny pinpricks running down my back that let me know it was time to calm down. Hundreds of years later and I still wanted to rip that bastard apart for what he’d done to me, for what he’d made me do to Ceara, for the life he’d forced me into.

  I opened my eyes, not even realizing I’d closed them, and there she was standing before me. I’d been so focused on controlling my anger that I had blocked out everything around me, including her presence. That lack of awareness had only occurred a handful of times during my long existence; being perpetually alert and always attuned to one’s surroundings was the difference between life and death for vampires.

  How have I let this woman unhinge me so?

  I knew the answer, of course.

  Olivia stepped into the space between my knees and took my shaking hands in her own.

  “Perhaps you have known that type of a connection before,” she whispered. “Maybe that sort of love is why we’re both here, against all reason or logic. I think we’ve both experienced it. And I think it terrifies you because I know it terrifies me.”

  She might be on to something. I’d loved Ceara my whole life—both natural and preternatural—and I was petrified by how quickly and all encompassing I’d come to love Olivia in her own right. Was her acknowledgement her way of telling me she was ready to be with me for the rest of her life? I stifled my hope, knowing she could always change her mind. I didn’t know how I would handle it if she did.

  So even though I was humbled by her show of faith in me—in us—I remained cautious. Too much in my life had gone to shit for me to ever trust what was right there before my eyes. I’d lived too long, witnessing the fickle and tumultuous emotions of humans, to put too much stock in what they said. Even though I knew Olivia truly meant what she’d said just now, I’d seen over the centuries how time could test even the staunchest of beliefs and how fear could turn a person’s heart against you. I wanted to trust her, but I couldn’t. Not yet.

  “Those are brave words, Olivia, when you are still afraid of me. When you tremble in my presence.” I ran my hands up the length of her arms, testing the strain in her posture. “Even now you stand in front of me tight as a bow, nerves fraught with tension. You’re ready to snap at any second.”

  She looked pleadingly at me, begged me with her eyes to understand her predicament. The truth was I did understand. All too well. But that didn’t mean I had to accept it. I removed my hands from her body, then stood and stepped away. I couldn’t touch her while her eyes still looked at me with fear and mistrust.

  “I am, as you’ve pointed out, a monster. And as the years go by my powers grow. I don’t know who or what I’ll be in ten years, fifty years, a hundred years ... or even a thousand,” I said in my most soothing voice, cognizant that even the slightest change in pitch could startle her, break our tenuous connection.

  “You remember loving me, but you also remember what that love cost you. I know all too well what that love cost us both. Yes, we are inexplicably connected, but please do not speak too much of this love unless you are unwilling to turn your back on it.”

  Even from this distance, when she sighed I felt the slight gust like a warm caress on my cheek, the scent of her wafting over me and inciting a hunger I fought to control. Swallowing back my venom, I willed my body into submission. The words following that sweet exhalation struck me like hot iron to flesh, the pain searing straight to my heart.

  “I’d die for you,” Olivia whispered, the words hanging in the air, suspended like ice on a cold winter’s day.

  The tenderness in her voice could kill me if I let it, so I did what I’d always done: I tried to protect myself.

  “You already did, remember?” I asked, lacing the words with a menace she’d comprehend. “Or no, you might not. Let me remind you then. In a frenzy of fear, hunger, and carnal frustration I feasted on you, the love of my life. You saw me for what I’d become and I terrified you. You tried to run and I tore out your throat, mad with blood lust. I loved you and I murdered you.”

  I wanted to scare her, remind her that she was in the den of the enemy and that she lived only because I allowed it. Advancing on her with fangs bared and eyes aglow, I tried to get her to run away and never look back but she would not be cowed by my display. No, not my brave, foolish Olivia. She held firm. Lifting her head and staring straight into my eyes, her steady, penetrating gaze stopped me dead and held me captive.

  “I would die for you,” she repeated, stronger this time, elongating her neck to reveal the artery I longed to claim.

  “Please, stop. I’m begging you. Don’t do this. Don’t say anything more.” My voice cracked, revealing how close to the brink I was, but she kept talking, making it harder for me to resist.

  Now it was she who spoke in subdued, unthreatening tones as if I were the one ready to bolt.

  “That first night together, when we made love, I knew then that I would do anything—be anyone—or you. These few weeks apart have reminded me of that vow I made.”

  I wanted to crush her to my body and bury my fangs deep in her neck, suck her life away as I took it in to sustain my own. I wanted to claim her as she’d never been claimed before.

  But I could not. I should not.

  “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

  I heard the fear in my voice and it horrified me. In all my years as a vampire, I’d never been reduced to this terrible mixture of desire and revulsion. I wanted so badly to give her what she was asking for. I didn’t think I had the willpower to prevent myself if she pressed. It was my deepest, darkest desire made real and I wanted nothing more than to honor it.

  “I do know what I’m saying. I do. It doesn’t matter what you are. I don’t care.”

  I knew she felt the conviction of her words to the depths of her soul, but I also knew she was terrified what would happen if I took her up on the offer.

  At least she’s not completely insane then.

  “What I am matters a great deal and you know it. Just days ago you felt you couldn’t be with me given some very pertinent details about how I live. Days, Olivia. Surely you haven’t changed your entire philosophy on human life in what amounts to a fraction of a second in my world.”

  “You are my life William. All that you are, whoever you are. We belong to one another, and we belong together—in that old life, in this one, and in our lifetimes to come.”

  I fell to my knees and gripped her waist, bruising her delicate skin. “Why are you doing this to me?!” I bellowed. “Why are you tormenting me like this? You can’t possibly know what you’re asking me to do. It is irrevocable, what you think you want. There is no undoing it once it’s been done.”

  To Olivia’s credit, no matter how tight I held onto her she never wavered, never let me see any weakness.

  “I know what I’m asking you,” she said, dropping to her knees as well so that we were eye to eye, heart to heart. She placed her palms on my cheeks, staring into the depths of my soul, begging me to surrender to her.

  I shuddered and dropped her gaze, completely defeated. “You’re asking for the thing I want most in this world,” I admitted. “I have no right to want this.”

  “You have every right to want to love me for eternity. We were born for one another. We lost our way, but we’re together now and shall be forevermore.”

  “No.”

  I could feel the fight slipping away from me, replaced by visions of what it would mean to have Olivia by my side for all of time.

&nbs
p; “Yes, William,” she answered, her voice strong and full of clarity. “Forever. You and me, and the life that we were meant to lead.”

  “This is not the life we were meant to lead! We were supposed to have children and grow old together and die surrounded by our loved ones. This was never supposed to happen!” I flung my arms wide as if to encompass everything we’d ever touched.

  “You’re wrong. I’m not Ceara. That wasn’t supposed to be my story. This right here is the life we are meant to lead.”

  Her words triggered a new, startling response in me and the thought took root and bloomed.

  Olive was not Ceara. There was nothing I could do about what had happened those first few days of my vampire life, and I would never know how our life together would have transpired. But right now I had a future looming bright in front of me, out of the darkness of despair for the first time in over 350 years. I could bury the past and focus on the here and now, on what was to come. I could see it so clearly: Olivia by my side across the span of centuries, my eternal love bonded to me in a way no marriage vow ever could. I was tired—so so tired—of living in the past. I wanted this woman. I wanted a life with her and now that it was there for the taking, nothing could stop me.

  I pulled Olivia to me for a searing kiss, my fangs catching her lip and drawing blood. I sucked that sweet nectar, savoring the feel of it on my parched tongue. Drawing the last drop, I licked her mouth and kissed my way down her neck, stopping to lathe at the pulse point that beckoned me so wantonly, while my fingers deftly unbuttoned her shirt to reveal petal soft breasts, rising and falling with the weight of her desire.

  In seconds we were undressed and I was carrying her to my bed, her breathing uneven from anticipation and a tinge of fear, mine steady and controlled in anticipation of what was to come and the discipline I would need to master. We would never be together like this again and I wanted to prolong the experience, to give Olivia my all so she would leave her mortal life knowing the devotion and adoration I had for her, the mortal woman she was.

  I made love to her, not with the fervor of our previous coupling, but slowly, never once taking my eyes off her. I spoke with my body, my love searing her soul. When the time came, I could sense the trepidation Olivia felt but there was nothing that could have stopped me from claiming her as my eternal wife. I held my release in check while I watched her climax reach its crescendo before she descended into a state of sated bliss. Through it all her eyes stayed locked with mine so I saw the moment her fear was replaced by longing desire to mate with me for life.

  I had never felt more complete or more in awe of another than I did in that moment.

  Our bodies entwined, I repeated the most sacred of vows, and for the first time in my immortal life, I felt at peace. “By the life that courses within my blood, and the love that resides within my heart, I bind thee to me as my chosen one. To possess thee, and to be possessed by thee. You are blood of my blood—the keeper of my soul—in this life and beyond.”

  “I love you William,” she whispered in response. “Forever.”

  I dropped my head to kiss her one last time. When I dragged my lips from hers, Olivia tilted her head, revealing her thrumming pulse, the blood moving heavy in her veins beckoning me.

  As my fangs pierced her flushed, heated skin, Olivia’s hands clawed at my shoulders. She whimpered, but did not cry out. I rode her body as I took everything she had to give. Olivia stayed with me for as long as she could, saying my name over and over again. When her whispers died out and her heartbeat had become nothing more than a feint murmur, her blood slowed and I knew it was time.

  I pulled my fangs from her neck to pierce the skin of my wrist and placed it against her mouth, commanded her to drink. At first she didn’t respond, but as the blood filled her, she reacted to the life-saving fluid and sucked furiously, drawing me into her.

  Blood of my blood.

  After a minute or so, Olivia eased her sucking and went still. She lay on our marriage bed, my blood transforming her. Her body twitched and convulsed, but still she did not cry out. Not as I had when I’d been made. After what felt like a lifetime, her eyes opened and she looked at me with irises that were a green I’d never before seen. More than that, they glowed as my own often did.

  I was dumbstruck.

  Olivia was a stunningly beautiful woman in her mortal form, but my blood had already improved on her cell structure. Right in front of my eyes, she became the most magnificent creature I’d ever beheld.

  Not wanting to break the spell the magic of my blood had created, we stared at one another for a long while and during those quiet moments, I longed to know what she was thinking. Unfortunately, with her preternatural transformation, Olivia’s mind was forever closed to me. It was a tradeoff I would have gladly made a million times over. Just when I thought my curiosity was going to get the better of me and I’d say or do something wrong to hasten the moment, Olivia blinked and broke her trance.

  “William,” she whispered, and it was like I’d never heard my name before.

  When Olivia cupped my face, her palms were cool instead of the fiery brand they’d been before. As they rested against my cheeks, she stared at her fingers, her wrists, and then her eyes roved my face, my eyes, my nose, my lips. As Olivia absorbed what she was seeing, her body went completely still in a way no human could achieve.

  I’d been okay giving up access to her mind, but not being able to read her emotions on her face was a loss I was going to have to get used to. Right now I was dying to know what she was thinking, but her emotions were forever closed off to me unless she decided to share.

  I couldn’t have said how long she stared at me, her face blank. Eventually, she moved, ever so slightly and it must have shaken something loose inside of her because she stared down to where we were still joined and her lips hitched up in a sexy, knowing smile. Rocking her hips Reveling at the profound increase in sensitivity her vampire senses had given her, Olivia’s eyes widened as she marveled at the myriad sensations she experienced from the friction of our love making. Soon she writhed forcefully beneath me, begged me to join her in abandon.

  I had never been through another vampire’s transformation quite so intimately so I hadn’t known what to expect. I’d tried to keep all of my expectations in check. Anything else would only have invited supposition and uncertainty.

  But there was one thing I was absolutely certain of. I never thought love making could be like this.

  I needed to know what Olivia felt and what she thought, where her mind was. In this, the first few moments of her awakening, I needed her to confirm transforming her had been the right decision, that she was content with the outcome of our irrevocable actions.

  “Talk to me, please. Say something.” I was near to begging, and I never begged.

  “Finish what you started, William,” she responded huskily.

  It wasn’t only her eyes that had taken on a new luminosity; Olivia’s voice now held a new rich timber. Before she’d sounded like warm hot caramel poured over smooth vanilla ice cream, now she was a perfectly aged, peat-smoked whiskey, my absolute favorite earthly delight.

  Grinding against me, Olivia laughed seductively and pulled me closer. There was no question about what she wanted from me, what she demanded. I could deny her nothing.

  Our bodies came together again, repeatedly and with abandon. What had started out measured, tentative lovemaking—a test of her new feelings—had turned into an assault on both our bodies and senses. Olivia accepted all that I could give as I buried myself deep inside of her warm and welcoming cunt. We fought for supremacy and control, giving as good as we each got. I cried her name as with one final thrust, I experienced the most jarring, mind-shattering orgasm I’d ever known. As I emptied myself into her, Olivia pulled me toward her what I thought was going to be a kiss. Instead she brusquely moved my face to the side and sank her newly-formed fangs into my neck and began drawing even more of me into her body, one thick, heady mouthful at a t
ime. Without a doubt it was the single most erotic encounter I’d ever experienced.

  My body was sated from our frenzied, passionate lovemaking, and my heart burst beyond measure with love. I’d thought I’d been free before with Nadia, but I saw now I’d lied to myself. Only now did I realize I’d always held myself in check when I fucked her, afraid of what I would do to her mortal body. Tonight Olivia had given me one of my first real moments of abandon over the course of his many lifetimes. And I had forever to explore her, my woman, roughly and with abandon, or gentle and with tenderness.

  When she’d finished drinking from me, I gradually pulled away from Olivia and rolled to her side so we faced one another, blood from both of our bodies staining the sheets. When she licked perfect, crimson lips and smiled at me, I’d never felt more alive.

  THE END

  To be continued …

  William and Olivia’s story continues in late 2017

  Also by Rebecca Norinne

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