Sensual Danger (Venice Vampyr #4)

by Folsom, Tina

  “That’s good, my sweet. You’re all wet and ready for me.” He pulled his finger from her and brought his cock to her pussy. “You know what that is, my love?”

  She breathed heavily, her body pushing back toward him.

  “It’s a vampire’s cock. Because a vampire is going to fuck you now. Just the way you like it.” Oriana had developed a taste for being taking from behind. She’d confessed to him that she liked to be dominated by him in that way, and he’d greeted the confession with enthusiasm.

  Nico plunged inside her, driving his cock to the hilt.

  “Oh, God!” she cried out, her interior muscles clenching instantly.

  Already he could feel the waves that hit his cock as she spasmed around him. “Not yet! Oriana! Fuck!”

  But it was too late. She climaxed, igniting him as if his cock were made of dynamite and her arousal were the fuse. On his next thrust, he shot his seed into her, coming without warning. For a few more movements, his body thrust as if driven by an invisible force, then he collapsed onto her. Before he could crush her with his weight, he rolled to the side, pulling her with him, wrapping his arms around her to prevent himself from sliding from her body. This was where he belonged.

  His breathing was ragged, and his cock still pulsed. His fangs were still extended and he now scraped them against her neck, hungry for her blood.

  Oriana shivered when she felt his teeth connect with her skin. Yet her body felt too lethargic to be able to move, her sex still dealing with the aftershocks of her release. She’d never felt so good. So thoroughly pleasured. To her surprise, the spanking had added to her pleasure, the shocks the slaps had sent through her body traveling directly to her pearl and igniting it. It was the reason why she’d been unable to stop him, even though she’d tried at first.

  “My love,” he murmured. “Was it so bad to be loved by a vampire?”

  She hesitated, unsure how to answer, when she felt Nico’s hand slip from her belly farther down. He combed through her pubic hair until his moist finger slid over the spot where her center of pleasure was hidden.

  A sigh escaped her. “Oh!”

  Then she felt his hips move, delivering the tiniest of thrusts. “Tell me, is loving a vampire as disgusting as you thought?”

  “No,” she finally confessed. “But will it always be this way?”

  “No.”

  Her heart stopped. She’d feared as much. He would be the gentle lover now, but one day he wouldn’t be able to hold back his violent vampire side anymore and he’d hurt her.

  “It’ll be better,” he whispered into her ear while his finger rubbed in circular motions over her pearl, stoking the flames that she’d thought had already died in her body. But the embers were still glowing, and now, with as little as a gentle caress and slow thrusts of his still hard cock, they were igniting again.

  “Ah, my wanton wife, how I love it when you show such passion.”

  His lips sank onto her neck, kissing her. Then she felt his sharp teeth scraping against her delicate skin. A shiver raced through her, making her tremble.

  “Don’t be afraid! I’ll never hurt you. How could I? I love you.”

  Surprised by this revelation, she turned her head to stare at him. A golden hew shimmered from his eyes, and there was nothing frightening about it, because all she could see was the affection he held for her.

  Their eyes locked.

  “Yes, Oriana, I love you. And by God, I had no intention of falling in love. It happened nevertheless. I’m at your mercy now. Because if you can’t love me and accept me for what I am, I have no life worth living. I need you. As my wife, my lover, my companion. I have no intention of robbing you of your freedom or the things you enjoy, but I’ll do everything to protect you. Because you’re precious to me. Without you, I’m simply an empty shell.”

  Oriana turned fully to him, making him slip from her body. Nico didn’t move and let it happen. Her hand came up to touch his cheek.

  “Can a vampire truly love?”

  He closed his eyes in lieu of a nod. “As intensely as a human. And our hearts can just as easily be broken.”

  She dropped her hand to his chest and laid it over the spot where his heart was. It beat into her palm, strongly and evenly.

  “It beats for you now.”

  She lifted her lids, looking into his eyes. “The bite. Will it hurt?” She was crazy even asking such a thing, but when he looked at her like this, love shining back at her, nothing else mattered. She wanted to be his in every way, even if it meant accepting him as a vampire.

  “No. There’ll be no pain.”

  “Will it turn me into a vampire too?”

  “No. You’ll remain human. But you don’t have to make a decision now. As long as I know that you’ll think about it, I won’t make any demands on you. I won’t push you. I won’t force you. When you’re ready, you’ll tell me. Then, and only then will I drink your blood. Because once you do accept me, once you let me bite you, there’ll be no going back.”

  Oriana felt her eyes grow moist. Nico was giving her a choice. He wasn’t going to force this on her now, despite what he’d said earlier. He loved her enough to give her the freedom of choice. Overwhelmed by his words, she could barely choke out her next words. “I love you.”

  Then she pressed her lips onto his and kissed him.

  17

  Oriana knew that her happiness wouldn’t last if she didn’t remove one last obstacle. Nico had told her that her machine would have to be destroyed, but in her heart she knew it wouldn’t be enough. The Guardians already knew about the machine. And they knew who she was; otherwise they wouldn’t have sent the two thugs after her to steal the apparatus from her. Even if she destroyed it now, Nico’s enemies wouldn’t give up. They would eventually catch her and force her to replicate it—unless they could be convinced that she was a fraud.

  She contemplated telling her husband about her plan, but dismissed the idea quickly, remembering what he’d told her before falling asleep.

  You’ll never get anywhere close to a Guardian again.

  He would stop her, and Oriana knew she was the only one who could execute her deception. It was better if Nico didn’t find out about it. She’d heard his protectiveness shine through his words. He would only stop her. No, this was something she had to do on her own.

  During daytime, while her husband slept deeply, she snuck downstairs, but found her laboratory locked. It didn’t take much to realize who had locked it and taken the key. It didn’t matter: after losing the key once before and not finding it for several days, she’d tried out all other keys in the house and discovered that the key to the cook’s pantry fit the lock to her secret laboratory. Nico wouldn’t be able to keep her from her machine.

  Before she went to the kitchen to retrieve the key, she looked for the footman, finding him in the parlor tending to the fireplace. He rose when he heard her enter.

  “Signora.” He bowed briefly.

  She closed the door behind her and addressed him quietly, not wanting to be overheard. “I need you to arrange a meeting with the group who was interested in my apparatus. It’s of the utmost importance.”

  “B-but signora.” His eyes darted to the door, and he shifted nervously. “You’re not to leave the house, and c-c-considering what happened, Signore Angelotti would n-n-not w-want me to—”

  She cut him off with a hand movement and a glare. “Never mind that now. Do as I tell you! Arrange the meeting. For today.”

  He sighed. “And w-what do you want me to tell them why you want to m-m-meet them?” Giuseppe asked, his voice sounding resigned.

  “Tell them I want to demonstrate the machine to them.”

  Her servant’s eyes widened. “They will try to steal it from you. We have to a-a-arm ourselves.”

  Oriana shook her head. “You’re not coming with me.” She had to do this on her own. Besides, Giuseppe hadn’t been much help the last time. It was better if he stayed at home and made certain that N
ico wouldn’t follow her. She wanted him nowhere near a Guardian. It would only expose him.

  “B-but—”

  “Do it! And not a word about this to my husband. Or I’ll make certain you’ll never find another position in Venice.” She hated threatening him, and she’d never follow through with her threat of course, but she needed his compliance.

  Shock registered on the footman’s face, but he nodded in agreement.

  “Good.” Oriana turned on her heels.

  After retrieving the key, she let herself into her laboratory and went to work. She prepared two vials, each with a different chemical component and tested the machine. Her heart pounded so loudly, she was worried Nico would be able to hear it from the bedchamber.

  Then the waiting began.

  ***

  Nico had slept like a log. It was still daylight outside when he stirred and reached for Oriana, only to find her side of the bed empty. He shot up to a sitting position. Her scent still clung to the sheets. He looked around the room, but the bedchamber was empty. Maybe she had gone downstairs to eat. After all, he’d exhausted her the night before, and she had to be hungry. He too needed to replenish, and the thought of gorging himself on the blood coming from the thick vein on Oriana’s neck made his fangs lengthen. How long he would be able to hold back his hunger for her until she made a decision, he wasn’t sure. He could only hope that she would realize soon that she had nothing to fear from his bite. After all, she was making love to him with the full knowledge of what he was. It wouldn’t take long until she would accept every part of him.

  Smiling contently, he rose and dressed quickly.

  He walked downstairs, listening for any sounds in the house. From the kitchen he heard the cook going about her work. Other than that it was quiet.

  Nico opened the door to the dining room and peered inside, but it was empty. There were no signs or smells that would indicate that Oriana had been there and eaten a meal in the last few hours.

  Wondering where else she could be, he crossed the hallway and walked into the parlor. Nobody was inside, and the smell of a freshly lit fire overshadowed any other smells, making it impossible for him to know whether Oriana had been here.

  Unease crept up his spine. There weren’t many other places in the house where she could be. When he stepped back out into the hallway, his gaze fell onto the wooden paneling behind which the secret passageway led to Oriana’s laboratory. He approached the door slowly, his suspicion rising with every step.

  A faint whiff of her smell drifted to his nostrils. He cursed under his breath. He squeezed his eyes shut for a short moment, trying to push down the rising anger. Oriana had gone to her laboratory, going against his wishes. Had she not understood that she couldn’t continue her research? That doing so would endanger him?

  He should have destroyed the machine instantly when he’d had a chance, but instead he’d spend the last hours in bed with his wife, making love to her to convince her that she could trust him not to hurt her. And as soon as he’d been asleep, she’d snuck down here behind his back to continue her work. How could she?

  Fuming, he jerked the door open and entered the musty corridor, rushing along in the darkness until he reached the door to the laboratory. The door was unlocked, evidence that she’d gone against his wishes. He pushed it open, ready to give his wife a tongue-lashing she wouldn’t forget for a long time.

  The room was empty. His eyes focused on the workbench where Giuseppe had set down her machine. He froze. It was gone.

  His hands balled into fists, and he slammed them into the nearest wall, breaking through the dry wood.

  “Oriana!” he screamed and turned on his heels, running back into the hallway.

  “ORIANA!”

  But there was no reply.

  Then a sound coming from the butler’s pantry made him whip his head in that direction. Giuseppe’s dropped shoulders and his lowered head told him everything he needed to know. He charged the man and slammed him against the wall.

  “Where is she?”

  The footman trembled. His lips moved, but nothing came over them.

  “Speak!”

  “She w-w-went t-t-to m-m-m . . . ” His voice died.

  “Where?”

  “Th-the group who is i-i-interested in her r-r-research. She’s meeting them to show them the machine.”

  His heart turned to ice. After declaring his love for Oriana, she’d betrayed him. And he hadn’t seen it coming. He’d not seen her deception. How blind he’d been, how utterly blind!

  “Where?” he repeated, his voice dead calm.

  He knew what he had to do now. There was no other solution. And simply wiping her memory wouldn’t be enough. There was only one answer to such a betrayal.

  As he listened to the footman giving him the location where Oriana would meet a representative of the Guardians, Nico glanced toward the small window over the entrance door. Almost an hour of daylight was still left, but he couldn’t wait for nightfall. This situation had to be dealt with without delay.

  Throwing his black, hooded cloak over his shoulders, he headed for the sheltered dock that held his closed gondola.

  18

  Oriana’s hands trembled slightly when she inserted one vial into the metal holder in the center of her machine. Nothing happened at first.

  “What is it supposed to do?” the man barked, his face concealed by the hood of his cloak.

  They stood in an archway that led through a row of houses to a bridge crossing one of the many canals. It was quiet in this mostly residential part of Venice. There were no shops, no street vendors, no passersby. She’d realized too late that the location the Guardian had chosen to meet her was remote. Unease settled in her belly. What if she was mistaken, and the machine didn’t work the way she wanted it to?

  Trying to keep her voice from revealing her nervousness, she said firmly, “When a human touches the rod which protrudes from the front, the center of the machine will glow orange, indicating a human’s warmth.”

  “And how does that help with detecting a vampire?” he asked impatiently, suspicion rolling off him like rain water off the smooth tiles of a roof.

  “I was coming to that.” Her hands fumbled underneath the machine, partly concealed by the dark cloth she’d attached to its bottom before leaving the house. “But first, I need to ask a question.”

  “Mmm?”

  She swallowed nervously. “Who knows about the machine?”

  He chuckled unexpectedly. “All my uh . . . brothers do.”

  “Yet, you’re the only one who wanted a demonstration of it?” she countered, hoping to get more information from him.

  “A wise man doesn’t share his sources.”

  “I beg your pardon, signore?” Could this possibly mean what she thought it meant?

  “Every society has its hierarchy. To climb, one needs advantages.”

  The wheels in her mind clicked. “You’re the only one then who knows who I am?”

  “As I said, no man has ever risen to the top by sharing all his secrets with his competitors. But enough of that. Explain the machine! You said it would be glowing if a human touched it. I don’t see it glowing now, and you’re touching it.”

  “I simply have to establish the connection from the vial to the rod by way of a tube.” She felt for the tube underneath the fabric and shoved it into an opening. Then she touched the rod with one hand, and the center of the machine instantly started glowing orange. “See?”

  The man shrunk back a step, then curiosity made him move closer again.

  She removed her hand and slipped it underneath the machine again, and the glow dissipated. Underneath the cloth her next action remained hidden from his eyes.

  “Would you like to try it out too?” she asked, keeping her voice indifferent, so as not to make him any more suspicious than he already was.

  ***

  From his hiding place across the bridge, underneath a sheltering archway, Nico watched his wife demo
nstrate the machine to the hooded man. His heart broke into a thousand pieces at having her deception confirmed. She was there to sell her apparatus to the Guardians, thus giving them a valuable tool to help them eradicate him and his fellow vampires.

  Still, he waited, unable to do what he had to do: kill her and the man with whom she was striking the despicable trade. Why hadn’t she simply staked him in his sleep? It would have been a kinder death than letting him suffer like this. Suffer, because the woman he loved was betraying him to his enemies. Was that what he was waiting for, to hear her tell the stranger where he could find a vampire on whom to test the machine?

  His throat constricted, allowing no more air into his lungs. For an instant, he closed his eyes, wishing for this nightmare to end, but when he opened his eyes again, he was still standing at the same spot.

  Yet one thing had changed: the machine suddenly glowed blue, the same way it had glowed when he’d touched it that night. Only, the person who touched the apparatus now, was the Guardian!

  Panic surged through him. He couldn’t see the face of the man. Was it possible that one of his fellow vampires had tricked Oriana into believing she was meeting with a Guardian? And once he knew the machine worked, would he then kill her?

  Oh God no!

  “I’m not a vampire!” he heard the man shout furiously. “It doesn’t work! The machine is a useless piece of garbage! How dare you waste my time?” He raised his hand to strike.

  Too many emotions collided in Nico, rendering him unable to make a decision. His body made it for him: no matter what she’d done, how she’d betrayed him, he couldn’t allow Oriana to get hurt.

  Nico charged from his shelter and barreled over the bridge, feeling the late afternoon sun’s rays on his back. Even though he was covered head-to-toe by the heavy hooded cloak, he could feel the heat instantly as it tried to penetrate the cloth and reach his skin.

  In the seconds it took him to cross the bridge, one thing became instantly clear: the man wasn’t a vampire—now that Nico was close enough, he could not only smell the man’s human blood, but also see that he wasn’t surrounded by the telltale aura that identified a vampire to other vampires.