Forbidden Love Series Book 4: From The Ashes

by Danielle James

  “Do you think she will forgive me?” Jacque asked softly.

  Jessica turned her head to look at him. He was exhausted. He had dark circles under his eyes and his skin was so pale she was sure she could see his blood vessels under it. He needed blood.

  “I think so,” Jessica told him. Some of the lines on his face softened as a tiny bit of worry was lifted from his shoulders. “If you hadn’t she would have died.”

  “She still may,” he told her.

  “I don’t think so,” Jessica said. “She’s stronger than you know. I think she will come out of this just fine. But I wonder, will she still be a witch if she’s a vampire?”

  “I have no idea,” Jacque answered.

  “If not, she’s gonna be pissed about that.”

  “Well, she can just be pissed,” Jacque said seriously. “At least she will be alive.”

  Jessica nodded. He was seriously worrying her. “You need to feed,” she told him.

  He shook his head. “We gave everything to Frankie. I’ll be fine.”

  Jessica studied his face. She doubted fine was anything he would be any time soon. She looked at Sebastian and waited for an answer to her silent question. Her husband gave one quick nod. She turned back to Jacque. “Come on. You’re gonna feed.”

  “Jess,” he complained.

  “No,” she stopped him. “My friend is only alive because you gave her more than you could give. I will not deal with her when she wakes up and realizes no one took care of you. Now,” she continued, “I’m going to come over there and sit in your lap. You are going to bite my neck and drink so that you can be strong enough to help Frankie when she comes out of her change. I cannot deal with losing Macy, Frankie damn near dying, and having to babysit you.”

  “And after you drink from Jessica,” Brea chimed in, “You are gonna drink from me too.”

  Jacque shook his head. Not only was he not going to bite his brother’s mate, but Brea was the equivalent of his queen. No fucking way that was going to happen.

  “My friend,” Angel said, “As your Clan Leader, I am giving you a direct order to drink from our mates. You have given too much of yourself and you will not offend these ladies by refusing the gift they wish to give you.”

  Jacque knew he no longer had a choice. Not only could he feel his body shutting down, but Angel had given him a direct order. He had never disobeyed an order before. He looked at his family. This was going to happen whether he wanted it to or not.

  Jessica didn’t wait for him to come around. She walked over and parked her ass sideways on his legs. She brushed her long blonde hair over her shoulder, exposing her neck. Jacque could see the vein in her neck standing out in anticipation. He could smell her blood coursing through her and it called to him. He looked at Sebastian whose face was a solid mask. He knew this was hard for him too. It was almost unheard of for a vampire to allow another to drink from his mate, but his family was willing to take that road.

  “Please,” Jessica said softly. “Don’t let us lose you too.”

  Jacque raised a weak hand to Jessica’s neck and pulled her down to his mouth. He felt his fangs elongate in his mouth as he struck quickly. He skipped all the foreplay he usually did when feeding from a woman. This was no woman. This was his sister. Her blood flowed freely into his mouth and Jacque drank greedily. It warmed him from the inside out and he could feel his strength beginning to return.

  A low growl caught his attention and Jacque knew Sebastian wasn’t going to be able to stand for it much longer. He quickly retracted his fangs and licked the wounds closed. Jessica leaned back and put her hands on his face. “Good boy,” she said with a small smile. Then she kissed him on the cheek and got up.

  He didn’t have time to say anything before Brea replaced her on his legs. “My turn,” she said. Her hair was already pulled into a pony tail so he would have complete access. He didn’t want to bite her, but no way was he going to offend her or Angel. He repeated the process of biting and drinking, being as clinical as he could. He kept his arms to his sides and only drank enough to satisfy the worst of the hunger.

  When he was finished, Brea also kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you,” she said. “I know we don’t often say it, but we love you. You are my brother that I never had. I will always be here for you no matter what.”

  Jacque found is voice to thank the women. Angel was smiling. Sebastian looked unsure, but Jessica was standing next to him with her arms around his middle and her head on his chest. He felt himself getting stronger by the minute and was able to stand without getting dizzy. He moved to Frankie’s bedside and took her hand into his own. He started talking to her in French, saying encouraging words and begging her to come back to him.

  “Let’s go,” Jessica said to Sebastian. She led him out of the room and up the stairs to their bedroom.

  Once inside, she shut the door and turned the lock. She shoved him against the bed and he fell into it without protest. When she climbed on top of him and started yanking his pants off he tried to stop her.

  “Jess, you’ve been through so much,” he said.

  “I know,” she replied, leaning in to kiss his neck hard.

  “I’m not sure this is a good time,” he said. There was so much going on, it seemed selfish to want to make love to his wife.

  “Please,” she begged. “Show me that I am still here. I need to know that I am still alive and that this isn’t some dream I’m gonna wake up from back at Merrick’s place. Remind me that I am here with you and everything is going to be ok.”

  Sebastian groaned as he felt his pants leave his body. Jessica was already removing her own pants and had her knees on either side of his hips. He had never been able to deny her anything and he couldn’t start now, not when she needed him the most. He put his hands on her hips and guided her down onto his already hard cock and entered her at once. He pulled her down to his lips for a deep kiss and gave himself over to making sure she knew just how alive she really was.

  ***

  Brea had slipped quietly into Antonio’s room. He was still lying on the bed, curled around his mate. She had wanted to go in and tell him that Samuel had returned, thinking it would be easier coming from her. As she stood in the doorway, she found that she wasn’t as strong as she thought she was. She was relieved when she felt Angel at her back. She forced herself into the room where Antonio was still crying softly.

  “Hey bro,” she said quietly as she sat on the edge of his bed. She laid her hand on his shoulder. “It’s time,” she continued.

  “I know,” he said without moving. “Tell them to come up.”

  Brea looked at Angel and he left without a word. Brea continued to sit and stroke Antonio’s arm. “I guess you heard,” she said.

  “Yeah,” he answered. He wouldn’t move to look at her, but Brea knew that he had heard everything that had gone on in the house. He knew Jessica was back and he knew Frankie was almost through her change.

  They sat in silence after that until Angel returned with Detective Corbin and the county coroner. “I uh,” Samuel said,“I’m fucking sorry man,” he finally spit out. “I hate to do this, but we have to now.”

  Antonio knew what he was talking about. They had come to take Macy. They had to take her and get an autopsy and make burial arrangements. That was what humans did. He also knew that Angel had explained what happened and the official report would say that she was murdered. Likely it would remain an unsolved case, unless they decided to pin it on Leo.

  Antonio squeezed his eyes shut when the coroner moved to take his lovely mate away. He knew it had to be done, but that didn’t mean he could bear to watch. He lifted his arm only enough so that they could slide her body out from under it.

  He felt her loss all over again as her body left his side. Something inside him was screaming to snatch her back and stay here together until he withered away and died. But he couldn’t do that. He knew that coming back from the dead wasn’t normal and it was going to cost him. He kn
ew that sooner or later he was going to have to pay the piper, and this was the price. He was doomed to live out whatever was left of his life carrying the grief of losing his mate with him, and knowing it was his fault.

  He heard the sound of a bag being zipped and knew that it was hers. He knew that she was being carried away from him. He felt so alone, so empty that he thought maybe his body might just implode. Then he felt warm against his back. Brea had stretched out behind him and was hugging him to her chest. Then the bed dipped again. This time it was Angel. He lay down in front of Antonio and wrapped his arm around him. Two more joined and he knew it was Leigh and Rebel. Leigh was sitting in the crook of his knees and rubbing his leg and Rebel had laid his head on Antonio’s. His brother gave him a quick kiss on the top of his head. That was when the damn broke and Antonio began to sob uncontrollably in the embrace of his family.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  Frankie was pretty sure she was dead. She was surrounded by darkness but the strangest sounds echoed in her ears. She could hear a soft, steady whooshing noise as well as a steady thumping. Really, it sounded like a heart beating, but in stereo. She imagined that this must be what an unborn child must hear. Maybe that was it. She was dead and seeing her life, beginning with being in her mother’s womb.

  But she shot that theory down almost as soon as it had formed in her head. There were other noises. She could hear part of a hushed conversation. It sounded like Jessica and Sebastian. They were discussing if someone was going to be pissed without her witch powers. Were they talking about her?

  Frankie realized that she was not dead, in fact, when she felt her own heart jump in her chest. Dead people didn’t usually have a heartbeat as a rule. As her senses became clearer, she noticed that her whole body hurt. Then the memories came flooding back. She remembered being taken by Merrick. She remembered watching them as they killed Macy and how they beat her. She thought for certain she would die. Her blood boiled in her veins as rage filled her. If she had survived and Jessica was with Sebastian, she must be home. Merrick was going to pay for his actions if it was the last thing she did. Frankie wrenched her eyelids open and jerked up her body.

  The next thing she knew she was on the other side of the room, panting and growling like a pissed off werewolf. She searched the room for signs of danger. She had to get back to Jacque. She turned for the door and then she smelled it. Pine and soap and clean man. She sniffed the air and followed where it came from. In the corner of the room, Jacque was sitting in a chair, grinning his ass off.

  “Welcome back Love,” he said.

  Frankie was astounded by how beautiful his voice was. It was like every pitch was rolled into one alto tone and rolled through the air like a lover’s caress. She no sooner made the decision to go to him when she was literally on top of him.

  He chuckled. “It’s nice to see you too,” he said from somewhere smashed between her breasts. “But I can’t breathe.”

  Frankie moved back slowly. “What is going on?” she finally asked. He didn’t look right to her. He was paler than normal.

  “I hope you can forgive me,” he said, still smiling. “I had no choice.”

  “No choice for what?” Her own voice sounded strange to her ears.

  “Come,” he told her and she got up and followed him to the bathroom. “Look.”

  She looked in the mirror. Her skin was perfect and flawless and her hair was shiny and smooth. She opened her mouth to ask how that happened when she knew damn good and well she had been beaten severely, when she saw what he wanted her to see.

  A pair of shiny white fangs glinted back at her in the mirror. Then she understood. The pain, the wicked weird dream, all of it was because of this. He had turned her.

  She raised a finger to poke at the new teeth and pricked her finger. A tiny drop of blood welled up on the tip of her finger. Jacque growled softly and took her finger and brought it to his mouth. He licked the drop away and kissed her finger. “Be careful, those are sharp,” he said with a boyish grin.

  Vampire. She was a vampire. Jacque had turned her to save her life. She studied his face closer than before. His hair was a mess even by his standards. His skin was wrinkled where he had no doubt been crunching his brow in worry for her. His eyes were dark and the ring in his eyebrow shined bright under the light in the bathroom.

  She felt something filling her chest. It wasn’t a bad feeling, but something good, like a party had started up and the guests just kept on arriving. It was so big that she thought her chest might just burst open and the party would spill out. She recognized it as love. She had known for a long time that she was in love with Jacque, but never had it felt so intense before. She looked at herself in the mirror again. The tattoo-like mark that claimed her as his was still present on her skin. She hadn’t wanted to tell him because she was afraid that she wasn’t good enough or strong enough for him. But she was a vampire now. Like him. Stronger. Faster. That meant she was strong enough. Good enough. She already belonged to him, and now, because of him she was finally brave enough to tell him. He was so pale because he had given his blood to heal her; to change her. He was a part of her for the rest of her life and no matter what she would always carry a piece of him. Now it was time he realized that he belonged to her as well.

  She turned back to Jacque and growled one word at him. “Mine.”

  Jacque’s smile split across his face even wider than before just as Frankie sprung at him, knocking him into the wall. She climbed up his slender body and yanked his mouth to her own. She crushed her mouth into his, forcing him to allow her tongue in. Jacque didn’t put up a protest. In fact, he welcomed her assault. If she had a problem with being turned, she sure as hell wasn’t showing it. He felt her new fangs nip his lip and knew the instant she tasted blood.

  Her whole body stiffened and a big red warning light went off in his mind. He tried to gently push her back so that he could explain to her what was happening with her body, but she wasn’t budging. She growled in a way that would make the fiercest predator green with envy and sucked hard on his lip. Jacque used more force to try to move her enough so that he could talk, but the only response was her biting his lip harder.

  He knew how powerful the hunger for blood was in a newly changed vampire. Even though his family had kept her supplied with blood during her change in order to combat that initial thirst, he was positive she was still feeling it. She may not have noticed it at first, but as soon as she tasted blood the hunger would have reared its head loud and proud.

  When she bit down again, Jacque began to fear that he might lose a lip. He raised his hand and shoved two fingers between her jaws and pried them open. It was more difficult than he expected and he had to use more force than he was really comfortable with. Once her iron grip was loose, he pushed her back. She stumbled at first but righted herself quickly.

  Frankie couldn’t understand why Jacque shoved her away. He looked terrified and was holding his mouth. Was her kissing him really so gross that he felt the need to wipe it off? She took two steps back from him. She had been wrong. He didn’t want her after all. “I’m sorry,” she said. Her voice was thick with embarrassment. “I thought, I mean, hell, I won’t kiss you again.”

  Jacque chuckled, which only caused her more embarrassment. Of course he would laugh at her. “Ma Cherie,” he told her, “You will be kissing me again. Just not this second.”

  Frankie shook her head. “No, I don’t want you to do something out of some weird sense of obligation.”

  He outright laughed. When he did, she saw the blood on his mouth. The same blood she could still taste on her tongue. She trampled down the nearly overwhelming urge to lick it right off of him. Her stomach turned in her belly, begging her to fill it.

  “I want to kiss you,” he finally said. “I would just like to keep my lips on my face when I do.” He moved his hand completely away from his face and Frankie saw what he was talking about.

  “Did I do that?” she asked, taking a gingerly
step forward and looking at him sideways.

  “I’m afraid so,” he said. “It’s ok, it will heal. I should have warned you ahead of time but I was too excited about you being alive and all.”

  Frankie tried to smile at him, but she was too worried that she had hurt him. “I didn’t mean to do that,” she whispered. “I just remember thinking how good you tasted and then…” Her face fell. “I couldn’t help it,” she said.

  “It is quite normal,” Jacque assured her.

  She had felt ok at first, but since the first tiny taste of his delicious blood, she became starved, thirsty beyond reason. Her body had acted without her brain’s permission, and he said it was normal. “Is this what it’s like for you?”

  “In the beginning, it is like that for all of us. It will fade in time and you will learn to control it. I will help you.” He closed the distance between them and tried to put his arm around her.

  Frankie darted away from him and until she was backed into the corner. “Stay back from me,” she said. “I don’t want to hurt you again.” She eyed his mouth pointedly.

  “I am healing already,” he said. “And it does not hurt. I am not afraid of you.”

  “What if I bite you again?” she shrieked.

  “I hope you do,” he growled at her as he slowly made his way to her. “I most sincerely hope you do.”

  Before Frankie could get away, he had her trapped in the corner. She shook her head and shoved against his chest, but he wasn’t budging. “Jacque,” she whined.

  “Shhh,” he said as he leaned in to kiss her lips softly. “I will teach you.”

  Frankie was careful not to let her teeth touch his battered lips as he moved them over hers slowly. He had his palms on the wall on either side of her, effectively caging her with his body. The only part of him that touched her was his lips. She could smell the blood under his skin and it was driving her to insanity.