by Nana Malone
The smell, the taste of salt, the sensation of swaying, cushioned by something fluid made her world tilt on its axis.
Anais became dimly aware that he was licking her neck, lapping at her skin.
Then he sucked his fingers and stroked his own neck, but none of it made any sense and then his mouth captured hers in a dark, erotic kiss that again had her womb clutch and her core grip him like a vice and she couldn’t think at all.
‘Christ, Anais,’ Marcus gasped barely coherent and his big body shuddered as his hot seed spurted deep into her tight channel.
They kissed again and again and it was bruising, passionate and left them breathless.
* * * * *
Chapter Four
Marcus unbound her wrists and pulled her to his side.
He held her tight in his strong arms and kissed the top of her head as his cock remained stiff inside her and felt so right, so good.
He was holding her as if he’d never let her go.
All the while stroking her back, her buttocks, her hip as their frantic hearts finally began to quiet.
They stayed like that for endless moments and when she finally found her voice, Anais pressed her mouth to his strong chest.
‘Haven’t we just broken every single company rule in the book?’
Her thighs ached and her arms ached but she didn’t give a damn as Marcus’s deep laugh vibrated under her ear.
‘Nope. Because I’m no longer your mentor,’ he told her as he stroked her hair with a gentle hand.
She went totally still as a feeling of utter betrayal burned in her gut.
Anais pushed him away to roll and sit on the edge of the bed.
Reality dumped her out of the heady haze of passion and lust and into the present.
His hand reached for her and she slapped it away.
So he didn’t keep his word.
She’d lost her job and he’d fucked her brains out.
Way to go, Anais.
She buried her face in her hands.
How the hell had she been so stupid and naive?
‘Anais?’
The bewilderment in that deep voice only fired her temper.
Too late, much too late, her logical brain started to function.
What on earth was she doing?
She’d just fucked Marcus Gillespie?
Had she lost her tiny mind?
Anais leapt to her feet and dashed for the sitting room to pull on her clothes.
Fumbling with her bra, hot tears coursed down her cheeks.
In sheer temper she tossed it away and dragged on her skirt.
‘Damn,’ she muttered.
The zip was stuck hard.
Totally naked and proud of it, Marcus grabbed her arms and gave her a hard shake.
‘What the hell is the matter with you? You wanted this too.’
Anais blinked frantically trying to focus on that fabulous face.
Heaven help her, her heart soared just looking at him.
‘You’re a liar,’ she sobbed in a way that made her feel a pathetic excuse for a human being. ‘You promised.’
He took a deep breath. ‘You didn’t make a mistake.’
Stunned, she simply stared at him and couldn’t believe it when he actually blushed.
‘But you said...’
‘I know what I said.’
He cleared his throat and that heat spread down his neck.
Mystified, Anais stared up into his face and realised he was unsure.
‘You lied to me?’
Jet brows drew together. ‘About the contract, the deal, yes.’
Utterly bewildered, she thrust a hand through her hair trying to get her head around his words.
‘But, why?’
Those amazing eyes held hers.
She blinked what she saw in them, for her.
‘The first day you walked into my office I knew I had to have you. I’ve dreamt of you, yearned for you every single night, Anais. Today was our last day together and I was desperate. For six months you didn’t give me a sign you even liked me, until recently.’
Her brain simply refused to function as she blinked up into his dark eyes.
‘But you’ve treated me to Mr Granite Face every day. I don’t think you’ve ever cracked a smile.’
His smooth forehead creased in a way that caught her heart.
‘I was your boss. And it would have been totally inappropriate for me to touch you. But you might have thrown me a crumb, Anais. A smile would have been nice from you too.’
A statement hit her in the solar plexus.
‘You were my boss?’
He took another breath and shook his head.
‘You were made a partner late last night.’
Anais jerked her arms free and folded them over her breasts as sheer joy coursed through her veins even as she warred with utter disbelief.
‘Marcus Gillespie, are you telling me that I’ve been a junior partner for almost twenty-four hours?’
He gave her a grin that melted her heart.
‘Yep. Congratulations.’ Worried eyes found hers. ‘Tell me I haven’t screwed us up. Tell me you have feelings for me.’
She shook her head in total amazement that he’d behaved in such an underhanded and controlling way.
He was an unscrupulous bastard at times.
She’d always admired that about him.
‘You son-of-a-bitch.’
He winced and ran his hands through his hair and over the back of his neck.
But then his eyes met hers and her lips twitched.
He moved into her and cupped her face between his hands.
‘I adore you.’
Anais tried very hard to be angry.
She did, but it wasn’t working.
How could she be furious with him when she’d just had the best sex of her entire life?
Her eyes flicked to his heavy cock pressing into her belly and she wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a cheeky grin.
‘I’ve dreamt about you for months too. But do you always tie up your women?’
He had the grace to blush even as his mouth caught hers in the sweetest kiss she’d ever received.
He lifted his head.
‘Nope, that was a spur of the moment thing and I wondered if I’d stepped across the line with you.’
She shook her head.
‘But what about the contracts? They haven’t signed.’
He smiled, kissed her nose.
‘Not yet, but they will. It’s all about saving face. I’ll give a little and they’ll give a little, its all part of the dance.’
‘You’re a sneaky, underhanded...’
His forehead came to rest on hers.
‘I know it. Can you forgive me?’
Dark eyes stared into hers with the amazing intensity that always turned her knees to rubber.
‘On one condition.’
‘Name it.’
She gave him a big smile that made him growl deep in his throat.
‘Next time, I get to tie you up.’
With a deep laugh rumbling in his chest, Anais found herself lifted high in his arms as he strode back into the bedroom and laid her on the bed.
Marcus stripped off her skirt and tossed it.
The next moment she was on her back with him towering over her.
‘What are we doing?’
‘We’re going to celebrate, darlin.’
‘Celebrate what?’
‘Your promotion and the beginning of a beautiful relationship.’
* * * * *
Chapter Five
Marcus lay on his back and stared unblinking at the ceiling.
Anais lay sound asleep burrowing into his side and he found he didn’t mind it.
He hadn’t been able to tell her what he’d done.
Why he’d taken her blood and given her his and what it meant for them going forward. At the final hurdle, he’d shied away from telling the truth.
&nb
sp; How often had he held forth that once he’d identified his mate she’d have no choice but to commit, be bonded, to a life with him? To service his every physical need and ultimately give him young, no matter the risk to herself.
Now he simply couldn’t imagine why he’d done such a thing to the amazing woman sleeping in his bed.
He’d taken away her free will, which was something that hadn’t bothered him until after the event. Subjected her to a life, a future, not of her choosing and he felt like fucking shit.
How could he have done it?
The beast that lived within him had swept in and simply took what it wanted.
Marcus had never had sex like it.
Even as he’d taken her vein, he realised that he’d lost a crucial part of himself. He’d lost his heart to a wonderful, clever and caring girl and he’d treated her appallingly.
To think he’d scoffed at his brother, James, for not taking Charlotte’s vein and bringing her completely into their clan.
Shame burned his cheeks.
Taking care not to waken her, he slid from the bed and padded to the window to stare out into the night.
Vampyres didn’t need sleep.
The night was their time, their environment, even if it brought with it certain risks.
Wherever they travelled in the world, the Vampyre lawyers of Gillespie, Pattullo and Hindmarch chose the penthouse suite in hotels or apartments.
Now his enhanced eyesight spotted the clan’s Centuri, their leather clad warriors and first line of defence, on the rooflines of Shanghai for as far as the eye could see, which was a double edged sword Marcus reflected.
Yes they protected himself and his brothers but they also announced their presence loud and clear to Ezekiel and his Legion.
‘What did you mean by ‘my kind have heightened olfactory senses?’’
Marcus hoped he’d hidden the little jolt of shock that Anais had taken him by surprise.
It was a unique experience and one he found he didn’t care for.
Turning to her voice in the dark, he blinked as she switched on a low light and sat up in bed.
She swept back the thick curtain of shiny hair behind her small ear.
Her skin was the colour of the clearest honey. Those almond shaped eyes were dark with slumber and a sleepy arousal as they studied him, going dark when they dropped to his cock. He was only human. Well, sort of and his cock swelled.
She licked her lips and something went too tight in his chest.
He’d never met a woman so utterly beautiful and guileless as Anais and over two hundred and fifty years he’d met plenty.
Since arriving in China, they’d been cooped up twenty four hours a day.
Now he wondered if they were linked in a telepathic sense because he’d been picking up a vague impression of her feelings.
His father always said it was better to grasp the nettle and suffer the sting rather than hunt for a long way around to avoid an issue.
‘I mean my people, my family, my clan. We have a heightened sense of smell and other… differences.’
Anais wrinkled her brow.
‘You mean the fact that you and your brothers wear transition lenses in your glasses?’
‘Aye, that’s one of our… issues. The sun affects our eyes.’
That was an understatement.
Thanks to Hollywood, humans believed Vampyres burst into flames or, gimme a break, sparkled in the sun. As ever, folklore contained a tiny piece of the truth. If the sun hit a Vampyre’s retina directly it destroyed the nerve, leaving the being blind.
If caught in time the damage, thanks to medical progress, could be reversed. But it was a process Marcus was in no hurry to put to the test.
‘So is it a genetic thing? Which is strange because the Pattullo and Hindmarch brothers need transition lenses too.’
Marcus cleared his throat and told himself to remain calm.
‘I suppose you could call it a genetic thing,’ he said as his heart beat faster.
Pitiful. When had he become a coward?
Big eyes stared deep into his and narrowed fractionally as she studied him.
He read a vicious intelligence in those dark eyes.
‘I’ve had strange dreams of you.’
He grinned.
‘Yeah? Erotic?’
A rosy flush swept her high cheekbones as her thick lashes lowered.
‘Yes, along with other, more disturbing images.’
Those eyes met his and he read anxiety and fear and was sorry for it.
She took a shaky breath. ‘I dreamt you bit me, right here.’
Tipping back her head, she placed fingertips on the main artery in her neck.
He said nothing, held his breath.
Endless moments passed.
Anais went bone white.
He moved to sit on the bed.
Taking her hand in his, Marcus brought it to his mouth and nuzzled her fingers to inhale the scent of her fear.
His eyes never left hers.
‘How did it feel?’
‘It stung. I had the most amazing orgasm.’
‘And then what happened?’
She gave a nervous laugh, ran a jerky hand through her hair and shook her head.
‘And then I woke up. I ran to bathroom to make sure I was still in one piece. This is ridiculous. I’ve been working too hard.’
He took her hand again and stroked the silky skin of her palm and didn’t miss the dilation of her pupils or the catch in her throat.
‘You are adopted?’
Now Anais gave him a big wide smile and the squeezing sensation in his chest made it difficult to breathe.
‘Yes, and they’re wonderful people. I owe them everything.’
‘They loved you, cared for you?’
He realised the careful tone of his voice had alerted her this was not a casual enquiry.
Those dark eyes searched his. ‘Yes.’
Again he attempted to settle her by stroking her palm before pressing his mouth to that soft, silky skin.
‘Who were your parents?’
Her heart rate climbed.
He could feel it in the frantic pulse of her wrist.
‘They don’t know anything other than I have Asian, perhaps Vietnamese, blood in my veins. Along with French and Welsh apparently.’
‘You had a DNA test?’
‘Yes.’ Her voice was a mere whisper.
‘If I told you there was a possibility of another blood line in your past, what would you say?’
She blinked once, twice.
‘What sort of blood line?’
This time he stroked her hair in an attempt to soothe.
The evil moment had come.
There was a sense of inevitability about it.
Grasp the nettle, Marcus.
He braced himself.
‘Vampyre.’
* * * * *
Chapter Six
She’d heard people use the phrase the world spun.
However, Anais had never experienced the phenomenon until now.
Two things hit her.
Marcus was absolutely serious and he was looking at her as if she was a grenade with the pin pulled.
For unremitting moments she forgot she was naked and stared into his eyes.
It was like watching a flickering movie as everything that had happened when they’d made love was replayed in her brain.
Heat flashed into her face as she remembered the total abandon and pleasure she’d experienced, to drain away as she recalled the sensation of being bitten and of the warm, thick fluid in her mouth.
Her eyes flicked to his neck.
Leaning forward to take a closer look, she found a couple of tiny bruises on his carotid artery.
A shaky hand went to her throat, her mouth, as her fingertips pressed into her incisors but they felt normal.
Forcing her frantic mind to slow down, it seemed to split into two separate parts. One part screaming like a fr
uit loop while the logical, analytical and trained to observe part required her to confront the facts.
Her voice was no more than a whisper.
‘Did you bite me?’
Those dark eyes never left hers.
‘I did, yes.’
She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe.
Marcus took her hand again, threaded his fingers through hers.
The simple act brought her back from horror to her crazy reality.
‘Did you drink my blood?’
She saw the truth in those eyes before he spoke, ‘I took your vein, Anais.’
The shudder was so violent it rattled her teeth and her vision blurred.
Blinking furiously, she knew now that the burning sensation in her belly was real and not imagined.
A heavy wave of nausea rose reminding her of severe motion sickness.
Her voice was harsh as it sawed through utter terror, ‘What the fuck does that mean?’
His eyes narrowed fractionally at her use of the expletive before going icy cold with a determination and a possession that chilled her to the marrow.
‘It means you are my mate. Joined to me, soul to soul, flesh to flesh and heart to heart until we die.’
Anais snatched her hands from his as if she’d been electrocuted.
Leaping to her feet she instantly regretted it as the world did indeed spin.
Marcus held her arm and she slapped his hand away before tearing the cotton sheet off the bed and wrapping it toga style around her trembling body.
‘Don’t you dare touch me,’ she spat the words and raced to the bathroom to check her neck in the mirror.
Yes, there were two tiny pinpricks on her carotid artery but no bruising and it wasn’t painful to touch.
She bared her teeth, checked her gums, and decided she was losing her frigging mind.
Or worse, that she was in a hotel bedroom alone with a raging lunatic.
Marcus opened the door wearing low slung jeans unbuttoned at the waist and she didn’t know whether to be relieved or bitterly disappointed.
He leaned against the frame looking all loose and limber and totally relaxed as he met her eyes in the mirror.
‘I suppose you think this is really funny, a big ha-ha joke? You scared me to death, Marcus.’
She checked her neck again and couldn’t find the pinpricks, everything looked perfectly normal.