Forbidden Blood: A House of Comarré Novella

by Kristen Painter

  But sparing her meant his days as nobility would end. Arnaud did not make empty threats. He’d expose Dominic without compunction. Once that happened, Dominic would have little time to flee, leaving behind everything he’d worked so hard for. Or worse, if they captured him, they’d turn him to ash.

  No matter how much life was behind him, he wasn’t ready to give up his future so quickly. Not when he’d just remembered how enjoyable the company of the right female could be.

  Daysleep closed in as the potion he’d taken wore off. Perhaps the twilight would bring him an answer. But even as his eyes closed, he knew what lay ahead would change his life forever.

  * * *

  Evening brought him no solutions, so as he did most nights, he secluded himself in his laboratory and went to work while he awaited Marissa’s arrival. She didn’t keep him waiting long.

  His head lifted from his tools at her entrance. “Buona sera. I trust you slept well?”

  She nodded and greeted him with a weak smile. “As well as I could knowing what I’m here for.” She closed the door behind her and leaned against it. “I don’t blame you for it, you know. You are as much a pawn in this game as I am.”

  “I appreciate your understanding. You would be well within your rights to be cross with me.”

  She laughed, a sad sound very different from the one he’d first heard on the plane. “I am a comarré. I have very few rights.”

  He put his things down and moved away from his workbench. There was little he could say that would make her feel better. Instead, he fell back on his heritage. “Would you care for an espresso? I don’t drink it, but I still enjoy the smell.” He smiled. “That must seem foolish to you.”

  “No, not at all.” She came toward him, her gaze flitting from the overflowing shelves to the stuffed-until-they-could-barely-close cabinets. His laboratory must look like a junk shop to her. “I imagine there are a great many things you must miss. Thank you for the offer of espresso, but I’m still full from breakfast. I’d rather we just get on with whatever it is you intend to do.” She raised her brows as she leaned against his workbench and gave him an intimately appraising look. “What do you intend to do? Did you come up with a plan?”

  “At the moment, the only plan I can think of is trying to introduce my existing daywalking serum into your bloodstream. There will be testing required, but it should give Arnaud the desired effect. It won’t last, of course, so the next time he attempts to breach the day, he’ll be in for a shock.”

  She frowned. “He’ll be furious with you.”

  He shrugged. “I’ve already told him what he wants is impossible. If he calls me back, I’ll simply tell him I’ve done everything I can.”

  “And then he’ll turn you in to the Council of Dominus.”

  Dominic arranged a few things on his bench, trying to focus on something else. “I will deal with that when it happens.”

  He stopped moving when her hand alighted on his arm. Her burnt-sugar scent rolled over him, making his body tighten and his gums ache. She tipped her head toward him. “You’re putting yourself in danger for me.”

  The softness of her voice combined with the warmth of her touch and his growing hunger made it impossible for him to think. “Si. No. I mean…” He pulled away from her, his face shifting from human to vampire. “You have me at a disadvantage.”

  “Because I ruined your dinner. Should I get Catarina?”

  “No.” He turned abruptly.

  Marissa made a derogatory sound. “You need blood. That’s her job. If she’s not doing it, you can return her to her house and pick another.”

  “I didn’t buy her blood rights. I inherited them.” He was glad for the distraction. “Her former patron was one of my clients.”

  “One that you killed?”

  “One I assisted in ending his life. He included her blood rights as part of our contract.” He sighed, remembering the transaction. He’d thought it such a good idea at the time. “Things were fine between us at first, but when she realized that I was not going to dote on her like her previous patron, showering her with gifts and taking her on every trip, she soured toward me.”

  Marissa pursed her mouth. “You don’t venture out much, I take it?”

  “No more than I need to. And now that my reputation has grown, I go out very little. I prefer my clients come to me. Saves me time.”

  She lifted her hands and looked around. “You prefer this space to the ballrooms of the nobility?”

  He raised his head. “I do. Does that make me boring?”

  She smirked. “Maybe. But I don’t care for them much myself, either.” She nodded at the array of tools before him. “Do you want me to leave you alone now?”

  “No. I need you here, at least for a little while.” He tapped one of the syringes. “I need a sample of your blood.” He cleared the notebooks off the top of a nearby stool and pulled it closer to the bench. “Please, sit.”

  She did, rolling back the sleeve of her white tunic and exposing her arm. The overhead lighting set her signum on fire.

  He stared, transfixed. “Forgive me. I’ve never seen signum this closely before. They are beautiful, aren’t they?” He cradled her arm in his hands, turning her slightly to see the marks better and savoring the heat spilling off her delicate flesh. Every inch of her was a revelation. “Is there meaning behind them?”

  “You ask questions I cannot answer.” She leaned closer, enough that her warmth radiated over him. “Would you tell me how to make your potions?”

  He looked up from the gilding and met her elfin gaze directly. Was there anything he wouldn’t tell her if she asked the right questions? Each moment with her drew him deeper under her spell. “Which one would you like to learn first?”

  She smiled slightly. “I still cannot answer you.” She rolled her arm in his hands, exposing her naked wrist.

  Not a single signum marked the skin there, leaving the pale expanse as it had been the day she was born. He stroked his finger over the spot and instantly felt as though he’d touched a part of her he had no right to. “This is…”

  She finished what he could not. “Where Arnaud bites me. Yes.”

  Unfounded jealousy sprang up in Dominic. He had no license to such feelings and yet they swelled within him like wind filling a sail.

  “Does that bother you?” she asked. “Thinking of Arnaud doing that to me?”

  More than he cared to admit. Not that he would. He broke contact and picked up a syringe. “It doesn’t matter to me one way or the other. That is his business with you and certainly none of mine.”

  “Then why did your eyes go silver?” She fiddled with a nearby pestle and mortar, rolling the pestle back and forth. “A vampire’s eyes turn when they feel emotion. I’ve never known one who could control it.”

  This was not a conversation that would do either of them any good. He held up a length of rubber tubing. “I need your blood.”

  She stretched out her arm, watching him so intently he wanted to ask her to stop. Instead, he tied off her arm and waited for the veins to rise. It didn’t take long. He took up the syringe. “You’ll feel a pinch.”

  “I’ve felt worse.”

  He slid the needle in. Blood spilled into the syringe’s chamber, unctuous and deep red. The imagined taste of it caused his fangs to punch through his gums. He had to feed soon or he was going to lose control around her. He stuck a bit of cotton wool on the site and slid the needle out.

  “I barely felt that. You’re very gentle.” She bent her arm, keeping the cotton in place. “What now?”

  His brain was so muddled by her blood scent he didn’t know if she was deliberately provoking him or not. He chose not to look at her. “Now I see how your blood reacts with one of my existing potions. If all goes well, I’ll inject you with it.”

  “And then?”

  “Then we see if it works.”

  She slipped off the stool and stood very close to him. “How will you know?”

>   Slightly frustrated by all her questions, he growled softly. “If your blood makes me impervious to sunlight.”

  She stared at him, completely unfazed by his snarling. An easy, wicked smile bent her mouth. “So tomorrow morning, then?”

  “Yes.” What was she playing at? Confound it, he felt like he was missing something.

  “I’ll see you then. I’ll be in my room if you need me.” Smile still firmly in place, she turned and left.

  The moment the door shut behind her, the laboratory stopped closing in around him, but the air remained redolent with her. He collapsed onto the stool and let his lids drop. Breathing wasn’t necessary to know the sweetness of her scent or imagine how she would taste.

  His lids shot open. How she would taste. Is that why she’d been coy and smiling? Tomorrow, when he tested the serum on her, did she expect him to bite her?

  Mamma mia, she must. In fact, she’d acted like she was looking forward to it.

  Chapter Six

  Marissa smiled all the way back to her room. Dominic may not have come up with a plan, but she had. And it didn’t involve becoming Arnaud’s personal UV protection. Not since she’d met Dominic. He was everything Arnaud was not, including a gentleman, a word she’d never used in conjunction with a vampire before.

  She discarded the cotton wool and lay back on the bed. If Dominic didn’t like her plan, he had only himself to blame for giving her an ounce of hope, a glimmer of what could be. Somehow, she would escape Arnaud’s clutches and persuade Dominic to help her.

  She just had to make him fall in love with her first. Or at least desire her deeply enough that he would come to her aid. She told herself she wasn’t using him, even though she knew that was a lie. Or part of a lie. Dominic would use her, too, for blood or for…other pleasures if that’s what it took.

  But she had a child to think of. A child who didn’t even know Marissa existed. A daughter who at this very moment might be under the fangs of her own patron. If Marissa did nothing else with her life, she would find a way to rescue her daughter from the comarré life. If only her son had lived…but perhaps he was the lucky one.

  It was her heart’s desire to see her daughter set free, and the only reason she’d not run from Arnaud. The break had to be clean. She couldn’t build a safe place for her daughter if she was being hunted. Because Arnaud would hunt her down, of that she was sure. No one crossed him without paying.

  Which led her back to Dominic and the price Arnaud would extract from him. She swallowed down the guilt already clogging her throat. Maybe there was a way for both of them to escape. Would he go? Would he leave this life behind?

  She turned her face into the pillow. She already knew that answer. No. What vampire would willingly leave the noble life to live as an anathema? Because they would cast him out, if not for his crimes against his brethren, then surely for helping her.

  Pushing upright, she sighed at the enormity of what lay before her. Maybe she should just run. Could she get Dominic to tell Arnaud that she’d died during an experiment? The thought lightened the weight pressing down on her. Yes, that might work. Except Arnaud would want to see a body.

  The weight grew heavy again and she covered her face with her hands. She was a fool. How would she make Dominic fall in love with her? With what skills? Being part of the comarré breeding program only meant she’d been impregnated; it hadn’t educated her on the finer points of male/female relationships.

  She knew nothing about love, except what she felt for her child. Knew even less about men. Her heart felt like lead in her chest as hope receded. Liquid welled in her eyes. She squeezed her lids tightly, trying to make the tears go away.

  The door to her room burst open and Dominic flew into the space. “I am not going to bite you.”

  “What?”

  As if he’d just realized he was on the edge of losing control, he straightened himself, calmly closed the door, and came toward her, his voice low and even. “I know you expect me to bite you in order to test the sunlight serum, but I’m not going to. You’ll simply drain some blood into a glass for me.”

  She pushed off the bed to stand before him. She took a breath and focused on his eyes. He really was a handsome man when not in full vampire mode. “That’s not how it works. You know the comarré benefit from the bite. Would you allow me to weaken during the time I’m to be here? What if your potion doesn’t work and I’m forced to defend myself against Arnaud? What then?”

  For a moment, he said nothing. Then he shook his head. “It isn’t proper. You are not my comarré. And you’d have to drain the blood anyway. I know how the comarré system works. Too much blood in your system and you’ll become sick.”

  She decided on a different tactic. “Hmph. You’re afraid of Arnaud.” She leaned in and poked her finger into his hard chest. “You’re a fool.”

  He grabbed her wrist, the tiniest shards of silver dancing in his eyes. She hoped it was desire and not anger. “And you’re as disrespectful as Catarina. If you’re not afraid of Arnaud, then you’re the fool. He could ruin me.”

  She refused to back down, pulling herself up a little taller. “And he’ll kill me.”

  The silver resurfaced in Dominic’s eyes. He turned and paced across the room, muttering in Italian and waving his hands. She sat on the bed, waiting for him to stop. When he did, he glared at her. “You will be the death of me.”

  She slid back her sleeve and extended her bare wrist to him. “I disagree.”

  His face shifted and his eyes went full silver. “I am too hungry to argue with you now.” He put his hand up and headed for the door.

  She got up and stepped into his path. “I’m not Catarina. I don’t care if you bite me.” She cared if he didn’t, though. She knew what kind of bond the intimate experience could create between a patron and his comarré. At least she’d heard about it. Her bond with Arnaud was nonexistent. Based on Dominic’s lack of interaction with Catarina, it was doubtful they shared any connection either.

  Dominic closed his eyes briefly, as if steeling himself; then he took her by the shoulders. His voice was calmer when he spoke. “Cara mia, I have work to do. Your willingness to provide me with blood is”—he shrugged—“not what I am used to. But you belong to a very dangerous man. For both our sakes, it is better if we don’t do this. I’m sure you understand.”

  She did, but her need to save her child overrode all that. “If that’s what you wish.”

  “It…is. Because it must be.” His eyes betrayed his lie.

  She stepped aside and opened the door. “I’m sure you’ll call me when you’re ready.”

  “Si.” He looked disappointed. Had he expected her to fight harder? “Until then.” He left.

  She waited, thinking she should have asked him how long until he needed her, but the serum couldn’t be tested until the sun rose, so she had plenty of time to strengthen her plan.

  If Dominic wasn’t willing to bite her yet, she’d give him a better reason to. She’d make him need her.

  By eliminating the competition.

  * * *

  “Come in.”

  Marissa entered cautiously. She could imagine how Catarina would respond to her visit, at least initially.

  The other comarré’s eyes narrowed. She set her e-reader aside and leaned back on the sofa. “What do you want?”

  “To apologize.” She pointed to an empty chair in the sitting room. “May I sit?”

  Catarina nodded, still wary.

  Marissa took a breath. “I shouldn’t have said what I did to you. I was tired from travel, and to be honest, my nerves have been rather frayed since I found out my patron was turning me over to Lord Falconetti to be experimented upon.” She wrung her hands for effect while staring at them. “It’s been a difficult couple of days.”

  “I can imagine.” Catarina cleared her throat. “Look, what happened, happened and I hate to admit it, but you were right. I shouldn’t have spoken to Dominic that way. He’s not a bad patron. He
’s just not the patron I signed on for.”

  Marissa looked up, relieved her apology had done the trick. “What do you mean?” Playing dumb always got one so much more information.

  Catarina got up and went to the tea service on the side table. “Would you care for a cup?”

  “That would be lovely, thank you. Extra sugar.”

  Catarina began to pour. “Dominic inherited me. My patron was a very wealthy, very old vampire. He treated me like a treasure, not a possession. Our life together was wonderful until the eldest of his sired children was killed under very mysterious circumstances. He was convinced the murder was the work of the caedo and that he’d be next.” She brought a cup of tea to Marissa, then sat with hers. “Eventually he became so paranoid he hired Dominic to help him end things on his own terms.”

  She sipped her tea, looking over the cup’s rim at Marissa. “That’s where Dominic’s wealth comes from, you know. All this”—she slanted her eyes toward the suite—“paid for by the deaths of other vampires.” Another sip of tea. “Very black market and highly illegal. If the council ever finds out…”

  “But you’d never say anything.”

  Catarina laughed and put her cup down. “Of course not. Dominic’s one of the best unsuspecting allies the comarré have. He’s removed more aged vampires these last few years than infighting ever could.” She sighed, her fingers working the fabric of the silk throw resting on the arm of the chair. “Still, I miss Lord Itsak.”

  Marissa nodded. Catarina was a strange one. “Did you go directly from his house to Lord Falconetti’s?”

  “Yes.”

  “Really? I’ve never heard of that. Usually one takes a small sabbatical at their house of origin. It seems to me you were never allowed time to grieve.”