Wicked Lord: Part One

by Shirl Anders

Beth smelled a scent she'd never encountered before and the overpowering strength of it halted her thrashing head. Quickly, cold, thick liquid pressed to her lips. Her scattered thoughts held no reason, and then she heard the voice she'd learned to trust commanding her … and she drank.

  Heat seeped into the tissues of her mouth, then down her throat. She moaned … and without her immediate knowledge, her body began to relax as she sucked more of the intoxicating liquid into her mouth. Her emotional and deranged thoughts began to sharpen into sanity. All at once, she knew where she was. She knew what was happening and she knew why. The miracle was she was no longer afraid.

  "Finish it, Doctor," Trinity's voice sounded above her, and she smiled … drinking his essence.

  She never felt another stab of pain as other things became important to her. She could hear the breathing of each person in the room. Trinity's sounded hollow, but the other two were shallow and strained. Their heartbeats ran fast in the woman and slower in the man. Beth could feel their blood flowing and she could hear her brother's pacing at the front of the mansion. His shoes tapped the marble. His heartbeat was strong.

  But then, Trinity pulled his wrist from her sucking mouth. "It's enough," he warned.

  She mewled with loss, finding herself pleading, "Please, more!" She felt as if she might do anything to have more of the euphoric heat that was spreading through her body.

  "It's done," Doctor Latham announced. "Thank god," he added with a tired voice.

  Beth was ready to lurch upward to try to convince Trinity to give her more of the tempting liquid, but his hands held her down.

  Trinity's hair fell forward as he looked down at the small stitches across the paleness of Beth's back. He'd heard her plea for more of his blood and it disturbed him.

  "Tell the brother it's gone well and his sister is sleeping. He shouldn't disturb her. You will return in the morning to check on her," Trinity ordered.

  He knew Latham had a questioning look for him, but he didn't glance upward to accept it. He heard Beth sigh at his proclamation. She turned her head to the side trying to look up at him, kneeling beside her. He held her wrists prisoner with his other hand pressed into her shoulder blades.

  Latham's helper rose off Beth's thighs, then she fastidiously gathered the bed linen to pull up over Beth's lower torso.

  "Will you let me go?" Beth's voice turned sensual, tempting him.

  He didn't answer, he just laid his hands more firmly and held unearthly still, until the doctor was packed and ready to leave.

  "I will return in the morning," Doctor Latham said. Then they were gone with the door clicking shut in the quietness behind them.

  "I can feel you," Beth whispered.

  "I can feel you," he responded. He could feel her body flowing with the desire for more of his blood as his body flowed to give it to her.

  "What's happening to me?" Her plea sounded as lost as he felt.

  He could tell her he didn't know, because he didn't, but he couldn't frighten her. "The affects will wear off." He grimaced at the lie, even when he was such a good liar.

  "No!" The word was a small cry from her plush lips as she twisted her wrists beneath his hand. "Please, Lord Trinity, please let me taste more. I will do anything." Her breath panted with temptation.

  Trinity could feel her craving like a live thing skittering in his mind. The innocent Lady Beth Winslow was gone, and he knew … he knew all he had to do was to release her and she would curl and press her naked body against his. Her body would move with driving lust for more of his essence, but not of her own conscience. It would be his blood's fake allure.

  All he had to do was release his hold. "Maiden, you must be stronger than your urges, you will regret them," his voice rasped low over the pain in his fangs.

  Beth mewled in disappointment and he could feel the battle she waged internally. She wanted him. He wanted her. Why must they deny it?

  "You want my blood, not me," he charged harshly.

  "That's not true," she cried. "I-I …"

  "You are too innocent to know the consequences."

  "You are so cruel," Beth sobbed. "I hate you!" she cried.

  "You would tempt the beast?" he asked with a harsh snarl as he pushed away from her, releasing his hold.

  "Trinity!" Beth implored, rising upward. She turned to sit, clutching the bed linens to her chest as her gaze frantically shifted over the room looking for him. He was gone.

  "No!" she cried tragically. "You cannot leave me like this."

  Large tears fell hot on her cheeks as she whimpered with loss. Her desire was to feel the heat of Trinity's blood again. It held the most exquisite feelings she'd ever felt. It made her feel worldly and mature. She thought with the essence of it flowing through her she understood the desires of men and women, something she was innocent of before. She'd also felt the dark demons that lurked in Trinity's soul. Things that drove him, but he feared to look at too closely.

  Then tingling began in the far reaches of her limbs, like the sparks from fire, moving up her arms and legs. Haunting intuition told her the amazing effects of Trinity's blood were leaving, and she moaned in denial, falling on her side, unconscious.