Wynter's Bite | Historical Paranormal Romance: Vampires (Scandals With Bite Book 5)

by Brooklyn Ann

  Justus shook his head, still solemn. “No. I am a vampire.”

  Then he opened his mouth to reveal sharp, white fangs that gleamed in the moonlight.

  Chapter Nine

  Bethany’s breath fled her body. That was the last thing she’d expected him to say. “What?” she said dumbly even as she stared at those impossibly sharp teeth, visible proof of his words.

  “I said I am a vampire.” Justus repeated and stepped back, hands open and withdrawn as if to reassure her that he wouldn’t pounce. “Do not worry, though. I am not a living corpse like the legends say. But I do have to drink blood to survive and I cannot go out in daylight lest the sun burn me to a cinder.”

  “Which is why you could not pay me a call during the day,” she whispered, unsure of whether or not she should run. Awe mingled with her trepidation. Never had she imagined that such things as vampires could be real.

  “Yes.” Justus cocked his head to the side, his green eyes searching hers. “Are you frightened?”

  The deep sorrow on his face wrenched her heart. “Only a little. But mostly I am shocked. It is not at all what I expected. Did you lure me out here to drink my blood?”

  “No!” His vehement tone rang with truth. “I asked you to come so I could declare myself, but to do that, I also had to tell you the truth about what I am.”

  “I understand.” His promise that he wouldn’t hurt her emboldened her to take a few steps closer to him. “Wasn’t it dangerous to do tell me?”

  “Yes. It is forbidden to reveal ourselves to mortals.” Justus held her gaze and took a deep breath before he continued. “Unless we offer to Change them.”

  The full meaning of his words slammed into her chest like a hammer. “You want to make me into a vampire?”

  He nodded. “For us to wed, I would have to.”

  That made sense, but… “What if I do not wish to become a vampire?” And what would it mean for her if she did?

  He flinched at her words before emitting a grievous sigh. “Then I would banish your memory of this night and we would have to never speak again, for your safety as well as my own.”

  “You wouldn’t see me anymore?” A hollow ache formed in her heart at the thought. “Even though you love me?”

  “Because I love you,” he said firmly, the words warming her like a balm. “I could never place you in danger.”

  “And I love you.” The truth remained, despite their troubling circumstances.

  His eyes widened. “Even after I told you what I am?”

  The vulnerability in his voice undid her. In that moment, she knew she would walk through fire to be at his side.

  “Yes.” Slowly she stepped even closer to him, until their bodies were only inches apart. “You’ve always been kind to me, and I still believe you wouldn’t hurt me.”

  With utmost gentleness, his hands grasped her shoulders. “You are a miracle, Bethany Mead.”

  Remembering the dire circumstances looming over their love, Bethany searched his face and asked, “Do you kill the people whose blood you drink?”

  “Never,” he said fervently. “That is forbidden as well. We take no more than a pint from one or two people each evening.”

  That put her at ease more than anything. She didn’t know if she could bear it if he was a murderer, much less having to kill anyone herself. Though the thought of drinking blood still made her queasy. “And the sun burns you. What else would I be deprived of?”

  “Food, though we can take a few nibbles. Any more though, and we become ill. Same with all drink except for water.” His eyes held hers as he frowned. “And we can never have children.”

  No children? To be honest, Bethany hadn’t given any thought to children. She’d just assumed that she would have them, yet regarded the thought of offspring as inevitable rather than something she anticipated. So perhaps she didn’t want them. However, the prospect of not having a choice did rankle.

  “Are there any good things about being a vampire?” she asked. Though being with him was what she wanted most in the world, surely being like him wasn’t all unpleasantness.

  He nodded. “We never age, and we never fall ill. We can move fast as dragonflies and possess the strength of ten men. We also heal fast when wounded, so very little can kill us.”

  Goodness, all that did sound nice. To be young and healthy forever… She frowned. “You said you were older than you appear. How old are you?”

  “Just under two hundred years.” He eyed her nervously as he uttered the number.

  Her head spun at his answer. And she’d thought Lord Tench was ancient. That meant that Justus had lived to see the French and American Revolutions, the Seven Years’ War, and even the witch hunts in the seventeenth century. And if she were to live that long… “My parents would grow old and die before me.” The notion was so strange, as was the idea of never seeing them again. Though it didn’t hurt as much as she’d feared it might.

  He nodded. “That is often the most painful thing about our existence. Many refuse immortality for that reason alone.”

  “But once I’m married off, I wouldn’t see them often anyway.” Her mother hadn’t seen her own parents since Bethany was born. So perhaps that wouldn’t affect her too much. After all, they were the ones who were trying to get rid of her. Yet there was so much more she wanted to know. “How would you make me into a vampire?”

  He gave her a wary look and spoke quietly. “I would drink almost all of your blood and then feed you mine.”

  Struggling to hold back her revulsion at the process, Bethany raised a brow. It did not seem overly magical. “If it is that simple, why is the world not full of vampires?”

  His lips curved up as if in approval of the question, the same smile he favored her with when she told him her analysis on a piece of literature. “Because it takes at least a century for a vampire to build up the strength to Change a human.”

  “How many have you Changed?” She pronounced the capital letter of the word, tamping down the worry that he’d fallen in love before and she could face a rival for his affections.

  “None,” he said so emphatically that his answer could be nothing but truthful.

  Tenderness unfurled in her heart like a summer rose. After nearly two hundred years, Justus had chosen her to spend his life with. Taking a deep breath, she made her decision. “Would you Change me before or after we marry?”

  “After. I first need to seek permission from the Lord Vampire of Rochester to Change you. Then I would speak to your parents and secure a special license, so that we will be permitted a nighttime ceremony.” Justus bent down so his face was inches from hers. “Are you saying you’ll be willing to become a vampire to be my wife?”

  Many of the novels she’d read featured the protagonist enduring some great test to prove their love. Bethany couldn’t think of a greater test than becoming a mythical monster. Though truly once Justus explained what being a vampire entailed, they did not sound all that monstrous. Aside from the blood drinking aspect. And she would miss the sun.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “But I ask two things.”

  “Anything,” he vowed.

  “First, I want you to kiss me again.” She reached up and linked her hands behind his neck. “Then I want you to bite me, so I know what it feels like.”

  He frowned, but his eyes began to glow a bright, phosphorescent green. Just as they had that night in the Willoughbys’ garden the first night he kissed her. So it had not been a reflection of the fireworks. Did they glow like that when he was hungry? Part of her longed to pull away, for he looked so deadly, yet he was also so beautiful. She had to know, to experience what was integral to his existence, to feel his bite.

  Bethany tilted her chin up, silently imploring the vampire to kiss her. A low growl trickled from his throat as his lips came down on hers, teasing and caressing. Heat spiraled in her belly at the taste of him, the feel of his strong arms pulling her tight against his lean, firm body. Her limbs went weak as she
kissed him back, craving more of this deep, sensuous connection.

  When his mouth dragged away from hers, Bethany whimpered at being deprived, then gasped as he trailed kisses along her cheek and down her neck. He was going to do it! The feel of his lips on such a sensitive part of her body made her tingle all over. Tangling her hands in his hair, she pulled him closer, needing more of this sweet pleasure.

  Justus drew back, eyes glowing bright as fiery emeralds and fangs peeking out from his lips. “Are you certain about this?”

  “Yes,” she gasped. “But please, be gentle.” Those teeth did look awfully sharp.

  His hand slid up the back of her neck, fingers slipping into her hair at the base of her scalp. Those brilliant eyes held her captive as he whispered, “No pain.”

  Then he tilted her head and lowered his mouth back to her neck, kissing her until she was quivering in his arms. A sharpness pierced her flesh and a sense of dizzying pressure emanated from the place.

  She heard him swallowing then, once, twice, three times. It should have revolted her, or at least it should have hurt, but instead, the sensitive place between her thighs throbbed with intoxicating pleasure with every pull at her throat. Her hips arched upward of their own volition, seeking something else to ease the ache in her loins as she moaned with need.

  Justus drew back, licking his lips and breathing heavily. “I hope I did not hurt you. I did not take much, for I cannot have you climbing a tree if you’re dizzy.”

  “No, it felt… incredible. Is it like that for everyone you drink from?” Jealousy niggled at her at the thought of other women experiencing this.

  He shook his head. “They feel nothing.”

  Bethany reached for the wound on her neck, for it had begun to sting, but Justus snatched her hand back and pierced his index finger with a fang. “What are you doing?”

  “Healing you.” He pressed his bleeding finger to the place where he’d bitten her. Once more, her neck tingled, albeit with muted intensity. “If we left the humans we fed from with bite marks, our kind would not be long for this world.”

  “Oh.” She was surprised to be disappointed that there would be no evidence of the magnificent sensations he’d wrought. “That is most practical.”

  The glow in his eyes dimmed so he looked human once more. “I wish we could have more time together, but it is too dangerous to tarry. I will escort you home now before I go speak to my lord. Then I hope to meet with your father tomorrow evening.”

  “Who is your lord?” There was still so much she did not know of this world she’d agreed to join.

  “That I cannot tell you until you are one of us. I’ve already broken the laws by telling you my secret. I will not put others at risk.” He held out his arm. “Shall we go now?”

  No, she did not want this night to end, but she did not want for them to be caught out. “Wait.” She reached into her pocket and withdrew the locket. “This was meant for my intended, so you must have it.”

  He raised a brow. “Were my intentions that transparent?”

  “Oh no, you maintained a maddening aura of mystery about this assignation.” Bethany laughed, relief washing over her that he did indeed return her feelings. “But I decided that no matter what you had to say, I would take this opportunity to declare my love.”

  He opened the locket and stroked the lock of her hair as he gazed at her portrait. “I will wear it next to my heart and treasure it always.”

  Without warning, he pulled her into his arms and embraced her so tightly that she could hear his heartbeat where her ear pressed against his chest. When she raised her head, he kissed her again, so deep and thoroughly that her knees turned to custard.

  As if sensing her tentative balance, Justus scooped her up in his arms like she weighed less than goose down. “Let us get you home now.”

  “Will you run faster than a dragonfly?” she asked, lacing her arms around his neck.

  His low chuckle reverberated through her body. “As you wish.”

  In a shot, he was off. The orchard blurred in her vision and the wind from their passing whipped against her cheeks, making her eyes water. Bethany’s stomach seemed to rise all the way up to her ribs at the rapid rate, so she closed her eyes tight and buried her face in his shoulder, trusting him not to crash into a tree.

  Seconds later, he stopped and she opened her eyes to see that he’d already brought her to her front drive. Gently he set her back on her feet, grasping her shoulders as she regained her balance on wobbling legs.

  “Until tomorrow,” he said and gave her one last kiss before he vanished into the night.

  Tomorrow… The word echoed in her mind. Tomorrow night her life would change irrevocably.

  Chapter Ten

  Justus placed a finger to his lips. They still tingled from the heat of Bethany’s kiss. The taste of her blood sang on his tongue. For a moment, he paused to look up at the stars and thanked the heavens for the outcome of this night.

  He’d been all but certain that Bethany would have laughed at him and accused him of being a madman at best, or fled from him in terror at worst.

  Instead, she’d accepted what he was, and even made thoughtful inquiries. Most of all, she still loved him, despite the fact that he was not human. She even loved him enough to forsake her own humanity and give up her family and the possibility of having children.

  She loved him.

  Heart rejoicing with that monumental fact, Justus raced to Darkwood Manor to submit his request to Gavin to grant him permission to Change her.

  Benson, Rochester’s third in command, stopped him at the edge of the manicured path to Lord of Rochester’s manor house. “Justus! I haven’t seen you in a spell. What have you been about?”

  “The same as usual,” Justus said, impatient to be on. He sensed two other vampires approaching with rampant curiosity when they should have remained at their posts. “Now I must see His Lordship.”

  Undeterred, Benson pointed at the locket Bethany gave him. “What have you got there?”

  Justus grasped the necklace in his fist, hiding it from view as if the eyes of another would taint the gold. “It is none of your concern, now let me pass. I have urgent business.”

  Thumb stroking the locket, he made his way up the steps to Darkwood Manor.

  Gavin opened the door before Justus knocked. His elderly butler had doubtless long since gone to bed. “I’d wondered when you’d bother to come round for a report.” The Lord Vampire of Rochester studied him intently, his black eyes seeming to bore into his soul. His nostrils flared and he frowned. “You’ve fed on that girl. Is that what you are here to confess?”

  “She’s a woman,” Justus argued even as a shiver of unease coursed down his spine. Gavin recognized Bethany’s scent.

  “She hasn’t yet reached her age of majority, so she is indeed yet a girl,” Gavin said firmly before opening the door wider. “But let’s not argue semantics. Come in.”

  Justus’s trepidation rose as he followed his lord through the manor with mismatched décor from Gavin’s past few wives. When they entered the study, Gavin poured two small glasses of Maderia and bade him to sit. “From the scent of Miss Mead emanating from you like a miasma and that new bauble around your neck, I gather you are not here to report on any rogue sightings.”

  “I wish to wed Miss Mead and Change her.” Justus said, ignoring the wine. “I’ve come to seek your permission to do so.”

  Gavin’s brows rose to his hairline. “Well then, your encounters with her have been more intimate than I’d thought. And does she return your affections?”

  Justus nodded and opened the locket to reveal Bethany’s miniature and lock of hair. “She gave me this and told me it was intended for the man she would marry. I will be that man.”

  “And when did you plan on doing that?” Gavin inquired mildly. Something in his tone made his question seem like a trick.

  “As soon as possible. I’d speak to her parents and secure a special license.” Justus s
poke faster as his excitement built. “I love her, my lord, and I’m certain she will make a fine vampire. She is intelligent, prudent, and—”

  “And a minor,” Gavin cut him off. “It is forbidden to Change mortals under the age of twenty-one.”

  “But Julia was only eighteen when she was Changed,” Justus argued.

  “She was Changed before the law was made.” Gavin sipped his wine. “Do you not remember when I announced the decree from the Elders back in 1750?”

  Justus shook his head. “That was over sixty years ago.”

  Gavin snorted. “You have the memory of a mortal, I swear.”

  “But surely exceptions can be made.” A pleading cadence imbued his voice, to his shame. “She’s of marriageable age.”

  His Lordship shrugged. “That means nothing. Sometimes the nobility has married off infants.”

  “But her parents are trying to marry her off now.” Justus’s heart clenched with urgency. “May I wed Bethany now and Change her when she comes of age?”

  “I’m afraid not.” A flicker of pity flashed in Gavin’s normally implacable eyes. “We cannot afford the risk of her discovering what you are and telling the world. Besides, we are already discouraged from Changing members of prominent families in the first place. The Meads have been a fixture in Rochester for centuries. Her father has a high position in the House of Lords and is being considered for governor here. One of her ancestors was the Bishop when I was training for the priesthood.”

  Dread pooled in Justus’s belly. The Lord of Rochester could never learn that he’d already revealed himself to Bethany. Gavin wasn’t called “Ruthless Rochester” for nothing. His heart sank. “Is there no hope at all?”

  Gavin sighed, his stern veneer cracking slightly. “As she is a girl, her prominence is diminished at least. But you must wait until she reaches the age of majority to wed her. I cannot bend that rule.”

  “But surely someone has,” Justus grasped at any straw that could provide a precedent.