She went wild. Marcus wondered at that moment whether he might not be able to contain himself. But he forced a stop and kissed the redness he’d left behind while her body still shuddered from her orgasm. He slowly lapped up the juice from her sex, then sucked her with his lips and tongue.
“I could live on your taste alone.” In his dialect, he whispered some of the ancient love poems he knew, calling forth the goddess of her womb. He would teach her these words in time. In time, she would say them back to him. In time.
In time.
She dropped her knees, then leaned forward and wrapped herself around his body. He floated with her across the pool. Their lips caressed each other’s, their hands explored and rubbed. Marcus wanted to put his shaft inside her, but that would be on another night, when he was given permission to take her in the ancient way of their kind.
They lazily wafted around the pool. She was now looking at the white gazebo structure overhead and the stars in the background.
“Don’t count them. I am all you need,” he said, smiling.
“I don’t think I can. I seemed to have lost the ability.” She smiled, as if shy.
“Then you’re satisfied, my pet.”
Chapter 12
“It pains me to leave you.” Anne could hear the crackling in Marcus’s voice and the catch in his throat. Sun had invaded her brightly wallpapered bedroom. She rolled over to entangle their legs again, loving the feel of the hard length of his lean body against hers. They’d stayed up all night. First at the temple, then from the early morning hours until this glorious dawn in her own bed. The satin sheets still smelled of lavender as she moved about. But there was also the scent of their mingling love.
“Then don’t. Don’t leave me, Marcus.” She tried to reach his neck again, so he lifted her small frame and held her by her buttocks as she straddled him. She kissed him, begging him to resume their passionate play.
He cupped her face with his enormous hands. “Even immortals rest sometimes. Last night you wore me out, little one.” He placed his hand on his chest. “My heart feels like it is going to burst. But there are some things that have to stay the same for awhile. There is much we need to talk about.”
His warm smile made her hot for him all over again. She could see herself spending days in bed with him. “But I have only just started.”
“Yes.” He chuckled deeply, drawing her body to his. “I can only imagine what you have in store. That’s what I’m talking about.” He put his forefinger on her nose and tapped it. “You have much to do today.” He held his palm up to his eyes, looking at the fancy watch he wore on his wrist. “In fact, you’ll start in about three hours. These things you must do on your own. It is a big day for you.”
“And for you,” she said.
“And for Robert.” Marcus did not smile when he said this. She had told him Robert was coming to the house to collect his things. They both knew it was important that he recant his vows.
“He will be safe with me. I’ll help him with the packing. I could probably move everything for him!”
They both laughed. “He is lucky you are so strong.” Marcus kissed her along the sensitive part of her neck just under her right ear. “So deadly beautiful.” They kissed again.
She could tell he wanted to say that she belonged to him. She ached to hear it. Anne traced the pectoral muscles of his chest, circling a nipple. “Marcus, what do I have to do to be . . . released, so we can . . . you know?”
“He must agree to let you go. He has to declare it. I must hear him say it.”
“Doesn’t the fact that there is no license on file satisfy the requirements? I’m not legally married.”
“You swore an oath in front of witnesses. The paper is not significant. The oath has to be taken back.”
She slipped her fingers along the bulging muscles of his abdomen. “And you have to hear the renouncement?” She continued counting his ribs, running her fingers up and down his chest.
“Um hum.” She kept up her fiddling. “Counting so soon?” he asked.
She nodded and sighed. “I’m a hopeless case, aren’t I?” She felt his eyes on her as she reveled in the glory of his tanned chest, kissing his nipple in order to feel his flesh on her lips one more time. “Can a golden vampire want . . .” She looked up at him and saw his warm brown eyes pulling her to him again. Resisting him only made the experience more delicious. “Is it a bad thing to want too much?” She gave him a pout, knowing what it would do to him inside.
She felt his body lurch. His erection, unfulfilled, persistently looked for a way inside her.
He laughed. “I have never heard of a golden vampire dying from exertion in the arms of his fated love, but somehow I think if there was a first, I could claim it.”
“And then I could bring you back to life, as you brought me back.”
Marcus stiffened. “Anne, listen to me. You must never do that. You must never create new life that way. That is forbidden, you understand?”
This new revelation concerned Anne. There was so much she did not know. Could she accidentally do something that could cost either one of them their lives? She suddenly felt vulnerable.
“Then, Marcus, you must teach me these things. Please, I don’t want to make any mistakes.”
“Yes. We must begin your training tomorrow.” He drew her to him again. “We have a lesson, then we play, okay? It has to be in that order.”
“Then I’ll look forward to recess.” She kissed him again, wrapping her legs around him.
After Marcus left, Anne stepped into the shower. The water trickling down her body made her think of the temple and her evening with Marcus. Just the thought of him between her legs, hungry for her, tasting and drinking blood there, made her little nub pulse. She rubbed it in slow circular motions, her eyes closed. Willing his mouth there, willing his tongue scraping over her pinkness, perhaps taking a tender bite . . .
The shower curtain abruptly parted, and she was caught in Robert’s gaze. He looked angry. He had reason to be. But not for the reasons he knew about. His neck was a solid mass of bruises, some of them very dark purple. He looked like he was wearing a collar of black raspberry jam. Anne almost laughed.
“You called Monika last night and woke her up.”
“Robert!” Anne crossed her breasts with her arms and turned away from him to hide her nakedness. He disappeared behind shower curtain after yanking it closed.
“I still live here,” he whined.
“We’re fixing that today.”
“You called for me, over at her place. You needed me.”
“I called her,” Anne shouted over the top of the curtain, “before . . . dinner . . . and told her to confirm you’re coming over here today to begin the move. I didn’t wake her up, Robert. It was the middle of the afternoon.”
“Yeah, well someone called at one A.M. this morning. Someone with heavy breathing.”
“Absolutely not me. I was . . .” She couldn’t tell him what she was doing. She felt her cheeks blush. “Maybe it was one of Monika’s boyfriends you don’t know about.”
Robert swore.
“Weren’t you there? With Monika last night?”
“No.”
“So what happened to you? Who did that to your neck?”
“Long story. Gary and I . . .” Robert’s voice trailed off. “We went out and met some girls . . .”
Terrible timing. Now you decide to be a little honest with me. You dog.
“Ah, so that explains your wounds.” The thought pleased her.
“Wounds?”
“Your neck,” Anne said as she turned off the water and took the towel Robert offered her through the curtain. “Thanks.”
She secured the towel around her and pulled back the plastic curtain. Robert’s sad eyes scanned her face and shoulders. “Looks like someone repeatedly stabbed you with a pencil,” she added. “You got any vampire girlfriends I don’t know about? Not that it makes any difference to me.”
/> He squinted and sucked in air. Then he cursed and left the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him. Through the wooden slats he yelled, “I’ll talk with you when you’re out. I’ll wait in the living room.”
Anne slipped into her bedroom, dropped the towel, and dressed quickly. The cream-colored terrycloth still smelled like Marcus. She straightened the satin sheets on her bed and got another whiff of him. She missed him already. Her heart flipped.
She found Robert sitting on the living room couch, one knee over the arm.
He sipped from a mug of fresh coffee. “Damn, I sure do miss your coffee.”
Too late.Way too late, Robert.
“I’ll bet. I’ll bet you miss it real hard as you bang my former best friend all over our house.”
“You don’t have to say things like that, Anne. Only makes things worse between us.”
“How could it be worse, Robert? There is no us.”
Robert nodded. “Okay. I get how you feel.”
“No, you couldn’t possibly know how I feel.” She heard his heart skip a beat, saw the vein tense at his neck. She held no attraction for him. Just for his blood.
Got to get this over with quickly.
“Forgive me, Robert, if I indulge in a little resentment, seeing as how my best friend was fucking my husband. My husband who should have been enjoying his wedding day with his wife instead of that bimbo.”
He turned and faced her.
“She’s not a bimbo.”
“So, just what is she? She’s your girlfriend, the girlfriend you chose over your own wife?” Anne was getting riled, in spite of her desire for control. Was this anger something she would have to be careful of? She felt the fangs in her mouth extend slightly. Calm down. He doesn’t understand.
“We decided to end it,” Robert said. “We talked about it this morning.”
“What?” Anne stood there in shock, listening to the sounds of the shower drip. She also heard the lovemaking going on across the orchard, the dog barking on the back porch three streets over, and the bees talking among themselves as they buzzed and hovered in apple trees. She could hear all this, and yet, her world suddenly seemed so small.
“That’s all you can say, ‘What?’ Not exactly a ringing endorsement for my former role as your husband.”
“No, you were never really my husband.”
“And you in there feeling yourself up. Who were you thinking about, hmm? You have a new boyfriend? So soon?”
“Soon? You, the one who said ‘I do’ and then banged my maid of honor? What do you care?”
Anne was confused by Robert’s comments. Monika apparently was smarter than Anne thought. The mere idea of Robert moving in probably had sent her former friend into a panic. She would bet almost anything except Marcus’s life that Monika broke up with Robert, not the other way around. Her admiration for the slut went up a notch.
“I want to talk it over, see if we can work things out. Maybe go to counseling.” Robert’s eyes were contrite and pleading.
Oh, God, no. This can’t be happening. She realized what she had longed for was now beginning to happen—just when she no longer wanted it.
“Sit down, honey.” He patted the area beside him. She sat in the cotton flowered overstuffed chair across the room. Robert shrugged and hung his head. He rubbed his face with both hands, suddenly reached for the ceiling, stretching and letting out a large groan.
How hard could this be, she wondered, finally telling the truth? But she guessed whatever Robert had to say wouldn’t be one hundred percent the truth. Not like Marcus.
Marcus.
The pain in her heart, the need to be enveloped by Marcus, brought tears to her eyes. She wished she were sitting on his lap. She wished she had his strong neck and chest to hold on to. Then perhaps Robert could see he didn’t have a chance. Perhaps he would no longer delude himself that Anne would take him back.
So this is what he’s thinking.
But that wasn’t happening. Marcus had left her alone to clean up the mess that was her marriage. And now the worst possible outcome was in front of her. Robert wanted to apologize and come back. She could read it all over him. She had hoped he would say something that really pissed her off so that she could just get him out of her life quickly.
She wanted to add a couple of puncture wounds to those hickies on his neck, but that would mess up everything.
He stood up and came over to where Anne sat. He kneeled and put his hands on her knees. His eyebrows arched in forced sincerity.
She did not soften to him. He probably didn’t expect her to cave, either. Anne thought his blackberry collar ridiculous and she stifled a laugh.
“Annie, honey, I have been a real fool,” Robert said. “I’ve had the best thing any guy could want, right under my fingers, and I’ve not appreciated it. God, I am so sorry, honey. I love you so much.”
Anne stayed stoic. She was unprepared for this.
“I want to make it work out between us. I want to make it like it was before we got married. Remember that, honey? Remember how we were so much in love? Remember how we found each other, how we just loved being around each other all the time?”
She reached for her memories. Seemed so long ago when the sound of his voice, his laugh, thrilled her. “Yes, I do, Robert. I felt that way at one time. But no more. Something tells me you never did. I don’t think you ever stopped seeing Monika.”
“No, I did. When we went skiing in Canada, and other times too.”
“Damn it, Robert, she was a whole country away!” Anne got up and went into the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it behind her. She was beginning to get hungry and she didn’t want him to see it. She didn’t trust herself.
Robert followed her. He leaned against the wooden door and whined, “Anne, honey. I am a complete idiot. You are always the one I loved. Look, if I could cut my pecker off for you, I would.”
“Go away. I want you to go away. I want you to move out, today.”
“No, honey, I can’t do that. I love you too much. You’ll change your mind. I’m gonna try real hard. You’ll see.”
The thought of Robert trying really hard was almost laughable, if it wasn’t so sad. She recalled her evening last night with Marcus. She smiled and shook her head. It would be impossible for her ever to forget Marcus.
Help me. Help me out here.
There was no answer.
Chapter 13
Robert sat in the cab of his pickup, staring at the outside of Anne’s little place that had been their love nest. At least, up until the wedding the place had been their love nest. Now it was something else entirely. A fortress. A series of locked doors keeping him from talking to her, smiling at her, reasoning with her.
Anne was so different now. She was unshakable in her resolve. He’d had to work to catch a few shirts and another pair of jeans that she had thrown at him. He had begged her not to throw his cell phone, so she’d lobbed it for the easy save. And when he had asked for the cell phone charger, she’d thrown it, aiming for his head. Her arm was as good as any pitcher he’d ever seen, and he even felt she had held back. God, she was beautiful when she got angry. And so strong, too. Why was it he always loved the girls he could never have? Then when he did get one, like Anne, he’d go and blow it by running around.
His life had gone to shit in just a month. Yesterday he had Miss Monika—and as much of her as he wanted as often as he wanted. And he had the woman who had agreed to be his wife, had agreed to share his life with him, and who made him feel like a better man even though she went on their honeymoon without him and claimed the marriage was null and void.
A minor problem.
He wondered why it was that way, how some women seemed to bring out the best in a man and some others, well, they brought out something else.
When they first met, Anne had been everything he looked for in a woman: smart, sexy, and delighted in making him happy. She was always helping out kids at some teen center or at the home for b
attered women where she volunteered. He had done a little free work for some of these women, replacing windows and doors destroyed by abusive boyfriends or husbands. He kind of loved being a good guy. He had no trouble staying away from those poor women. After all, he wasn’t a complete rat.
It was almost like there were two parts of him, the good part, and then the bad part. Anne always fed the good part of him.
He had to admit, he wasn’t ready to give up that part of his life—the good Robert. That’s why he hoped Anne would change her mind, would come around, like she had before their wedding. He thought she knew about some of his dalliances. But she had been occupied with planning the wedding those past few weeks before the Big Fiasco, and hadn’t seemed to notice anything. So Robert had taken the opportunity to roam. And the more he did it, the more the other side of him seemed to pull him harder. He thought one of these days he would change; he’d wanted to keep to the good side permanently. But he sure as hell wasn’t there yet. He really was not to be trusted. He just wished Anne wouldn’t dismiss him and would give him a second chance.
In the last thirty-plus days, he had gone from having both women to now having none. And how the hell was he supposed to get female companionship when it looked like his last date had been with a gorilla? A gorilla that liked to bite? His neck hurt like hell, too. He could barely turn his head.
How he wished Anne would open that front door and take him back, wearing something black and sexy, like what that woman or last night. How could he have been so dumb?
And Monika was acting funny too, with all her toys and experimental things she wanted to try all the time. He was beginning to think maybe she didn’t like his taste anymore. He always had to put something on that smelled like some tropical fruit.
Am I losing my touch? Am I that boring in bed now?
He started the truck and drove off, but not before checking in his rear view mirror, hoping for the sight of Anne running down the street to stop him from leaving. Damn, she’d looked good, healthy and flushed in the cheeks, bright red lipstick that looked way better on her than Monika.
Honeymoon Bite (Golden Vampires of Tuscany) Page 10