Desire by Blood

by Schroeder, Melissa

  “Indeed.” Her voice was already fading. When he heard her even breathing, he smiled…then followed her into sleep.

  * * * *

  Cordelia lay in bed, feeling completely and absolutely decadent. Her husband—and she would never get accustomed to using that word—was feeding her fresh fruit. And she was naked. He’d put his pants on, probably for her sake. She was too embarrassed to tell him that it was of no use. Now that she had seen him completely nude in the daylight, she wasn’t so sure she would be able to think of him any other way.

  “What are you smiling about?” he asked.

  “Nothing.”

  He shook his head. “No, I know that look. You hide a lot behind that sweet smile, but I know you have a devious mind.”

  She blinked. “I do not.”

  He chuckled. “Yes, you do. I have a feeling a great many inappropriate things run through your head when you are at a function.”

  She tried to remain aloof, but it was impossible. She could not resist his grin. It made him appear younger than she had ever seen him. Nico always seemed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.

  She smiled and shook her head. “As if you are any different. You do not like it any more than I do. I am sure you think horrible things, too.”

  “I do, but I don’t try to hide it as you do.”

  “That is true. In fact, I have a distinct feeling that there are very few people who will attempt conversation with you when you don your ‘approach me and die’ look.”

  His cheeks flushed, and she had the distinct feeling he was blushing. “I tend to hate the city.”

  “Indeed?” She cocked her head and studied him. He was definitely embarrassed. “What are you doing here?”

  “Fate?”

  She laughed. “I don’t believe in fate.”

  “I thought women always believed in things like that.”

  She sighed. “Maybe some women, not me.”

  Not after her childhood. No woman would believe in fate after what she had endured. Her father and brother had stripped away any fantasies she had about life in general—and especially men.

  “Well, you should.”

  She didn’t want to talk about it. Her family life mortified her, and she hated Nico knowing that about her. Cordelia knew he did, but admitting it to him face to face was a bit too much. “Normally, you are not in town, but you are now. You said you don’t like it?”

  He shook his head. “Too many people, too dirty. I prefer the country and clean air.”

  “And that is where we will be going this week?”

  “No. I have business to attend to in town.”

  She wanted to ask more, but she had a feeling that Nico did not want to reveal more than that. She reached up to scratch an itch on her neck, and her fingers moved over the two indentions she had found earlier.

  “Nico, did you see this? I can’t tell what it is.”

  If she hadn’t been paying attention so closely, she would have missed the way he stiffened.

  She dropped her hand and studied him. “Nico?”

  “There is something I need to tell you.”

  She said nothing, the warm, happy feelings dissolving at the distant look on his face.

  “There is a bit about my life that I have not told you.”

  He did not continue. She shivered as a chill slunk down her spine and into her soul. Was he a money lender? Or worse, a white slaver?

  Inwardly she admonished herself. A man with a mother like Adelaide Blackburn did not make money from the flesh trade.

  “Go on.”

  He sighed. “My family and I are not normal like you. Well, you are like us, but you don’t realize it.”

  Again she was struck into silence. She opened her mouth then closed it. She could not seem to come up with a response to that.

  He moved away from the bed and started to pace. “We…are not entirely human.”

  He hesitated again. Panic fluttered in her stomach. Cordelia was not a patient woman, and now she was at her wit’s end. Not entirely human? What the bloody hell was going on here?

  “Just tell me,” she said.

  “We’re a family of vampires.”

  “Vampires?” she asked.

  “Yes. I was drawn to you because you have the gene that makes you a Carrier. I mean, that isn’t the only reason I’m attracted to you. But, you are predestined to be married to a Born.”

  She lifted her hand to feel the indentions on her neck.

  “And those. I could not help myself. It is part of the mating ritual. You will just have to accept it.”

  She could not seem to follow the conversation which Nico seemed to be having mainly with himself.

  “Nico,” she said, moving to the edge of the bed. She grabbed her robe and pulled it on, not taking her gaze from his pacing. “Nico.”

  He stopped moving and looked at her.

  “Tell me what you are going on about.”

  “I’m a vampire, as is my father, and now that you have mated with me, you will birth more.”

  * * * *

  The Made looked out the window and took the information in. In his youth he had been impulsive, reckless. Now, though, he listened to the news that Nico Blackburn had married with ease.

  Or, at least, he let those around him think so. Inside, he raged.

  It wasn’t enough that he had to be a success at everything, now he had a Carrier for a wife, one that apparently came from strong stock. Would the man’s luck never end?

  “You should have taken him down when you had the chance,” his mother said. He ignored her as he did most of her suggestions. One mistake he would never make would be to listen to a woman. They were good for bearing children and little else, just as his father had said. It was why his father had never bonded to his mother.

  “I have not had a chance. I can assure you if I had, I would have driven a stake through his heart.”

  She opened her mouth to speak again, and he shot her a look. “I would suggest you find something to do. I am not in the mood to discuss any of your ideas.”

  She pursed her lips, a sure sign she was not happy with him. Then, without a word, she left him alone.

  He would have to find out if Nico bonded with his mate. If he did, he would be as easy to kill as his brother…but he would make sure that the bastard was there to watch her die.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Nico could not discern Cordelia’s reaction. She stared at him, no expression on her face. For the longest of moments, he thought she might faint.

  “Vampire?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

  “Yes.”

  “You married me because I can birth vampires?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  She started to back away from him. “And your parents are vampires?”

  Relief started to edge out his worry. She was starting to understand. “Yes.”

  He followed her steps, and she stopped by the door. “Stop stalking me.”

  “I am not stalking you. You are running away.”

  She took another step then stopped. Her spine stiffened. “You tell me you are a vampire and then expect me not to be afraid.”

  He hated hearing her say she was afraid, but before he could reassure her he would never harm her, there was a knock at the door.

  “Go away,” he shouted at the same time she said, “Come in.”

  The door opened, bumping Cordelia in the back. She pitched forward, and Nico caught her to keep her from falling to the ground. He righted her. Cordelia wrested her arm out of his hand and shot him a dirty look. His mother poked her head through the opening.

  His mother smiled at him reassuringly. “I see you told her.”

  She looked at his mother. “Told me?”

  “What we are. He told you.” His mother nodded, slipping through the door. “I have a feeling Nico did not explain it quite right.”

  “That you are a family of vampires?”

  Corde
lia’s voice had grown smaller each time she spoke. He didn’t like it. Not one bit. He would rather have her yelling at him.

  His mother took the comment the wrong way. Her smile widened as she stepped into the room. “There. That is all settled.”

  “Settled.” Now, Cordelia’s voice was barely audible. His mother finally realized that there might be something wrong.

  “Yes, dear. I can answer any of your questions.”

  “Cordelia, you look ready to faint,” Nico said.

  That snapped the glazed look out of her eyes, and her spine straightened. “I am not about to faint. What do you take me for? I am not some silly-brained woman who faints at the slightest of shocks.”

  “But of course not, my love.”

  She shot him a look that told him he was in more trouble than he had expected.

  “I think I need to have a moment alone,” she said, her voice measured.

  “Cordelia—”

  “Why don’t you leave us alone, Nico? I am certain that I can make sure your new bride does not run away.”

  His mother’s tone told him she was not happy with him. He didn’t care.

  “I think Cordelia said she wanted to be alone.”

  “Bloody hell, just go away, Nico.” This came from the loving woman he had just been feeding fruit to in bed. Now she was treating him as if he were unwanted. Nico looked at his mother, then back to Cordelia, and knew it was better to retreat. But he would not leave until he made his point.

  He stepped closer, slipped his hand around her waist, and pulled her to him. She opened her mouth, but he didn’t give her a chance to speak. He slammed his mouth down on hers, thrusting his tongue in. It was hot, wet, and thoroughly arousing. By the time he stepped back, they were both breathing heavily.

  “Just remember where we left off.”

  With that, he turned and marched off to his bedroom.

  * * * *

  The silence that followed Nico's exit almost deafened Cordelia.

  "Well, I see that Nico is not that different than his father."

  Cordelia choked.

  "Oh, there I am again with my plain speaking. It embarrasses Nico quite often." She walked to Cordelia, took her by the arm, and pulled her along to the bed. "Have a seat, dear. If you have any questions, ask away."

  Cordelia sighed and blinked against the tears burning the back of her eyes. "I just don't know where to start."

  “Well, I am sure you think we are odd.”

  She felt a giggle tickle the back of her throat. Cordelia tried to clear it, but it didn’t work. The laugh exploded from behind her lips. Even she heard the hysterical edge to it.

  "Odd is not the word I would choose."

  She felt her mother-in-law's study. She turned her head to look at her.

  "Ask anything you want, dear. I told Nico he should tell you before the marriage, but the Blackburn men are not patient. I've had seven hundred years with Samuel, and he still has little to no patience."

  "You are telling me you are seven hundred years old?"

  Adelaide rolled her eyes. "No. I wish I was. I am approaching seven hundred and fifty at the moment."

  "And you have had only one child in all that time?"

  The smile that her mother-in-law had worn faded a bit. "No. I had another son, Demetrius. He died along with his mate almost thirty years ago."

  "So you do not live forever?"

  She shook her head. "No. There are those that choose to go on, then there are those who are killed. A stake to the heart."

  She said the last bit in a whisper, as if saying it would make it happen.

  "You are telling me I am a vampire?"

  She laughed. "Oh no, dear. You are a Carrier, the only ones of our bloodline who can birth vampires."

  "Birth vampires? That sounds strange and slightly archaic."

  "I know that modern literature has us as slaves to blood, that we are all Mades, and that we have no hearts. But we do. We are as alive as you and your friends."

  Cordelia sighed and closed her eyes, lifting her hand to rub away the headache that brewed there. "I can hardly understand it all."

  "There is a lot to take in, dear, but you will definitely be able to handle it."

  She opened her eyes and could not help but ask, "How do you know that?"

  "How? Why dear, you enticed Nico. I have to say I never thought that boy would mate."

  "Boy?"

  Her smile widened. "He is my youngest, the baby, and I will always see him as a boy."

  "How old is he?"

  "Five hundred years old."

  "And you think I can handle a man like that? Handle this?"

  The hysteria was back in her voice. A week ago she was writing for a column, and her only concern was making enough money to survive. Now she was married to a vampire and his mother was telling her he had been alive for five hundred years.

  "You can. As I said, something about you drew Nico to you. He couldn't resist you."

  "I think you might have our relationship confused. There is no love."

  "Oh, for us, love comes second many times. Especially for the males. Borns fight mating because it is for life. Would you want to pledge yourself to a woman who wasn't right for you?"

  "I wouldn't want to be pledged to a man like that."

  She stared at her for a moment then threw back her head and laughed. "Oh, I think we will get on well together."

  "I now have to have blood?"

  "No. You are a Carrier, a female who has the gene to birth the Borns. There are Mades, but that can be dangerous. And, you must have a very prominent birth father for you to pull at both Hurst and Nico the way you did."

  "Hurst?" Then his behavior hit her. "He's a vampire."

  "He was Made, which is why we almost lost him."

  Her head started to spin with the unfamiliar words, the strange world she was now a part of. Just what the bloody hell would she do now?

  "Why don't you get dressed? Nico can explain a lot of this later. I do not want to confuse you. I am pretty sure Malik will be back soon, too. We had an incident that I need to help with."

  "An incident?"

  "A young Carrier was attacked. She needs some motherly care, and it seems her mother...well, I shouldn't use that word. Her family has disowned her. I must make sure she survives now. I am a healer, my special talent. And you will have yours."

  Adelaide rose and walked to the door. "Wait. Mine? You mean talent?"

  "Yes. Now that you have mated, whatever skill you have will grow stronger. I would take no longer than half an hour, dear. Nico might come up here and tear the door down. Nico is not going to want to be separated from you for long so close to your first mating."

  With that, she slipped out the door. Cordelia kept staring at it, her brain almost numb. She was married to a vampire, and now she would birth them.

  Bloody hell, why did she always find herself in situations like this?

  * * * *

  Nico watched his mother talk about his bride then glanced at her rabid audience. It included his father—who was enjoying the story a bit too much—Malik and Gray. They all seemed to take a particular interest in the way his bride handled the information.

  At the moment, he didn’t truly care about what they thought of him. He tried to fight the urge to run up the stairs. He knew it was instinctual, primal, but he hated being away from Cordelia. It would not do for her to think he could not handle their separation, but at the same time, he almost did not care.

  "I think she will be fine, Nico. You should have explained things before the wedding," his mother said.

  "Then she would have run away. You and I both know that. Her reputation would be in tatters. I could not let that happen."

  His mother looked at him for a few moments and opened her mouth, but he was saved by Cordelia.

  "I see that you brought in troops."

  He glanced at her, and his body responded immediately. He could not help it, nor did he care to. A
ll he wanted to do was to strip off the day dress she was wearing and feel her flesh, then feed off her again. The need he had for her was madness. It grew stronger each time he saw her.

  "I like a girl with a little fight," his father said with a chuckle. "I hope you are not going to hold it against all of us that you were not told."

  "What good would that do? I would still be married to a vampire."

  Malik chuckled. Nico frowned at him, but Malik just grinned. It was bad enough this was playing out in front of his family, but having both he and Gray here was making it worse.

  "Mother said she explained it all to you."

  Cordelia looked at him, but he couldn't read her feelings. He really didn't have to. She was definitely not happy about it.

  "I think I will have more questions about us later, but the main one I have is about Hurst."

  The air stilled around them, and he found himself wanting to flee. He didn't want to scare her even more than she already was.

  "What would you like to know?" he finally asked.

  "He is Made."

  Of course she didn't need an explanation on that. She was not a stupid woman. She was lush, beautiful, and he knew just how she moaned his name. His body reacted to the thought, his blood traveling quickly to his groin.

  Dammit.

  He shook his head, trying to bring himself back into the conversation.

  "I sense there is something else you are not telling me."

  He hesitated, and of course no one came to his aid. They left him dangling there, flailing in the wind.

  "Cordelia—"

  "Nico, please do not treat me like a simpleton. I have not run away screaming in the street so please, tell me what you can of this Made business. I understand from your mother that Hurst is Made, and he almost died."

  "It isn't a pleasant tale."

  She glanced around at the room then looked at him. "I have had many an unpleasant tale in my lifetime. One more will not make a difference."

  "Cordelia, have a seat, and I will tell you," he said, keeping his distance. He already captured the faint scent of her, and his body was humming. He needed her more than he expected, but he could control it. It was normal...or at least he hoped it was. He also prayed that once they settled down, he would be released from this insane need he had for her constantly.