Healed Hearts

by Tamsin Baker

  “You feel it, too, don’t you? The connection and the need when we are close by. I am the oldest, so I will be strong for you. Thomas is our peacemaker, and he will make sure you are always happy. Piers is our youngest, and most passionate. You will never wont for love when he is around.”

  Maryanne brought her blankets over her head and whispered through them to him.

  “Please, just leave me alone.”

  Lucas smiled sadly, and they left her, despite his desire to stay and comfort her. He knew she felt as they did. She just had to realize it herself.

  Chapter Four

  Maryanne woke up for the third time with a heavy heart. She had trusted and loved the wrong man. An eligible gentleman, who had wooed her, courted her, told her that he loved her. She had trusted him enough to let him make love to her. Little did she realize he had no intentions of actually following through with a marriage offer.

  That had truly been the biggest mistake of her life, for the wretch had told the entire ton. Now, she was being punished. Her parents, cold, unforgiving people who had never loved her or really wanted her, had sold her to the highest bidder.

  She dressed as slowly as possible and made her way down to the carriage that awaited her. Her future was set.

  The hour’s travel was painful. It gave her too much time to think about the men who had visited her the night before. No, not men. Vampires.

  She had never even considered the idea that such creatures existed, and if she had, she would never have assumed they would be so beautiful, so thoughtful.

  And she would never have assumed that they would want her.

  There had been three of them and only her in the one bedroom. She had been defenceless and barely dressed, yet they hadn’t touched her. Instead they had talked of loving her, protecting her.

  How and why?

  Tears slipped down her cheeks at the unexpected feelings she remembered. Lucas had been right. She had felt a connection to them. All three of them. It had been instant and intense. A yearning within her soul for the love they were offering her.

  But she had pushed them away, and with them, any hope of being happy.

  As the carriage rolled to a stop outside the huge, grey stone castle, Maryanne shuddered. The walls were crumbling, and it was one of the scariest and coldest looking buildings she had ever seen. She would never be warm again.

  She was shown into a meagre sitting room by the ancient butler. A small fire was built in the grate, yet she shivered in the still-frigid room. They served her, and she managed to sip some of the bitter tea but couldn’t find the appetite to force the crumbling biscuits down her throat.

  Too soon for Maryanne, the housekeeper came to speak to her.

  “His lordship is very busy today, my lady. I am to show you to your room.”

  Relief flooded Maryanne that she didn’t need to meet her future husband immediately. But at the same time, she frowned. What was more important than meeting with her for a mere five minutes? Was this the amount of attention she should expect from him? Because if so, perhaps her life would not be as unpleasant as she’s first thought.

  Not wanting to be rude, she stood up and followed the elderly woman up the two flights of stairs. She had thick, grey hair and almost-black eyes. Maryanne shivered just looking at her.

  “This is your room, my lady.”

  Maryanne nodded and turned to the woman she would be talking to on a daily basis from now on. It was best to start on good terms.

  “When will I see the master?”

  The woman frowned at her. “Dinnertime, I expect.” And with that statement, she left Maryanne to investigate her new room.

  It was lovely, but old. The wallpaper that would have once been beautiful was now faded, the silver candlesticks and picture frames a cloudy, dull grey with tarnish.

  She had been told her future husband was wealthy. Either he was a miser who didn’t believe in up keeping his house, or he was deliberately showing her what place she now had in his home.

  She existed somewhere between a guest and a servant.

  Maryanne took the opportunity to have a nap and was soon awakened by a lady’s maid.

  “So sorry, my lady, but I must get you ready for dinner with the master.”

  Maryanne smiled and stretched, vivid dreams of her three vampires coming back to haunt her in her waking present. She had allowed her previous fiancé to bed her several times, but it had been quick and often painful.

  She knew, with her three vampires it would not be so. Her body had tightened and swelled with want when the three of them had been close to her. The way Lucas had looked at her was still impregnated in her mind.

  She could feel his longing.

  When he had caressed her cheek, it had been done so gently, reverently. No one had ever touched her like that before. It had made her yearn for more.

  Once she was dressed for dinner, she made her way down to the well-appointed room and stood face-to-face with her betrothed.

  His black, beady eyes, looked her up and down as though he were assessing a horse at auction. His eyes lingered on her full bosom, and it made her sick to her stomach.

  He was well into his fifties, with a huge belly and a frown that appeared to be permanently etched into his face. The idea of bedding him, or allowing him to bed her, made her want to retch.

  They sat at the long wooden table, bowls of pale grey soup in front of them.

  “We will be married in three days, Maryanne. I have it arranged.”

  “Yes, my lord.” She nodded as she spooned the tasteless soup down her throat.

  “You may call me Hugh.”

  “Yes, thank you, Hugh,” Maryanne said. She had not given him leave to use her Christian name, but he took liberties to do so. It would not be the only liberties he would be taking, she was sure.

  “Your father told me of your indiscretion in London. Have you had your monthly bleed since then?”

  Maryanne spat her soup out all over the table in front of her.

  She dove for the napkin to cover her mouth and wiped the soup from her person.

  “Pardon me?”

  Hugh frowned at her. “I do not wish for any bastards to inherit my family’s name or fortune. If you are to bear an heir, it will be my seed. Have you bled?”

  Maryanne nodded and turned a deep red. What a horrible thing to ask her. He could wait a month and not bed her. But that would not appeal to him, she was sure.

  She picked up her soup spoon and tried to disguise the way her hand shook. What sort of man had they sold her to?

  “I expect you to be faithful. If I find that you have cuckolded me I will take a belt to you. Do you understand me?”

  Fear spread through Maryanne. She would never do such a thing. Why would she, when bedding was so incredibly unpleasant?

  But would he believe her if someone accused her of it?

  She feared he wouldn’t, and that truly scared her.

  “I would not do such a thing, Hugh. It was foolish of me to believe his lies of love.”

  Hugh laughed and drank down his fifth glass of wine. “You were. Love does not exist.”

  And with that horrible comment, he ended their conversation. Two more courses were served before Hugh bid her goodnight to retire to his library.

  But before he went, he cast his final slur. “I would bed you tonight. I know you would not object. But it is only three days to wait, my dear.”

  She nodded her head and turned to return to her room, angry tears blinding her vision. Her usually quick temper would not rise in the face of such misery and she feared for her life in a home such as this.

  The sun had set, and her vampires had not come for her. Had she really believed they would? Especially when she’d told them so forcefully to leave her alone.

  What had she been thinking? Anything would be better than this.

  She somehow managed to get back to her drab, sad room and collapsed into the chair by the fire. Her life was over, and she dese
rved it.

  Reap what you sow.

  That’s what her mother had said.

  And she obviously deserved this punishment. But oh, God, it hurt so badly. To know that one small mistake of trusting the wrong man could bring her to this fate.

  A fate worse than death.

  Maryanne dropped her head and let the sobs that had been building all day surface and break free.

  She couldn’t stay here, married to that horrible man for the rest of her life. If she did, she would go insane.

  A loud creak and bang sounded. She looked up, fear keeping her seated.

  Oh God, please help me. Not him. Not tonight. I couldn’t bear it if he’s changed his mind.

  But it wasn’t Hugh there to bed her. It was her men, her three vampires. All in her room.

  Oh, hell.

  “Did he hurt you? I’ll kill him,” Piers, her young, beautiful protector said, his face a mask of determined anger.

  Maryanne laughed through a sob as both Lucas and Thomas knelt in front of her.

  Lucas, her gentle giant, wiped her tears with the pads of his thumbs, his gentle hands giving her the only true tenderness she had ever received from anyone.

  “Tell us what is wrong, Lady Maryanne. We will do anything you ask of us.”

  This was her chance to take the offer they’d given her last night. She couldn’t stay here. Her parents had disowned her. Surely a life of sin with three men was better than this?

  At least they were young and beautiful.

  These men, these magical creatures... they could give her another life. Far away from this miserable pile of stones. They represented a choice, an offering from God, and she needed to take it.

  She reached out to them.

  “Please, take me away from here. I don’t know if I can be what you need ... but, please.”

  Lucas swept her up into his strong arms and stood with her. Maryanne linked her hands behind his neck and burrowed into his huge chest.

  A feeling of pure contentment swept over her and she gasped at the strangeness of it all.

  “Are you sure, my love?”

  She heard Thomas’ sweet voice and nodded. She was damned either way. If there was a choice between her fiancé and three beautiful men who had come to rescue her, she chose them.

  “Oh, yes. Please.”

  And suddenly they were moving, faster than she thought possible. Then they stopped, and Maryanne found herself in Thomas’ lap, seated on a bed in the tavern room.

  The same tavern from the night before, more than an hour’s carriage ride away from the castle. How was that possible?

  “We will rest for a few hours, then we will get you to the boat and stay beneath the deck for the daylight hours.”

  Maryanne nodded but refused to unfasten her arms from Lucas’ neck. Never had she felt so safe, so wanted. She didn’t want it to end. Didn’t want them to realise their mistake and change their minds.

  He shifted but kept her against him and began to stroke her hair. “Tell us why you were crying back in the castle.”

  Maryanne took a deep, shuddering breath, too exhausted to lie. If these men really wanted her then they would have to know about all of her.

  Terrible faults and all.

  “I was engaged in London and very stupidly allowed my fiancé liberties that are meant to be reserved for a husband.” She broke off as her voice shook. It still pained her to think about how stupid she had been.

  She continued, her voice higher than it was naturally. “He then called off our engagement and told every gentleman in London that I was a whore he’d never intended to marry. Too plain, he said.”

  She heard a gasp from behind her and a growl from Lucas’ chest that was a little frightening.

  Keeping her eyes closed, she continued her story.

  “So, I have been sold by my parents to an old, disgusting, cruel lord. But I cannot marry him. I will not. If you three want me, then I will do whatever you want. Just please take me away from here... from him. Don’t let him have me... please.”

  Tears welled up and spilt over as the words she dreaded came out of her mouth. She was begging them now, she knew she was. It was pathetic really, embarrassing in the extreme, but there was no other course.

  She would die before she lay beneath that man.

  Maryanne was moved from one set of arms to another.

  She was not a petite woman, she knew that, but these men handled her like she weighed no more than a feather. It was disconcerting.

  She opened her eyes once again to see who held her. Piers.

  “We will never let you go back to him.”

  He held her tighter than Lucas had. Maryanne could feel the barely restrained violence in him. Why had Lucas surrendered her to Piers?

  A hand brushed her hair, and she turned to face Thomas. “And we will never make you do anything you do not wish to give freely. If you do not wish to make love to us, then we won’t ask it of you. Or if you would prefer, just one of us? We do not mind. But we need you, Lady Maryanne. Don’t you feel it?”

  Thomas laid his hand on her shoulder, and Lucas moved closer and reached out for her hand.

  A shock went through her like nothing she had ever felt. A burning, a settling, a strength. And beneath it all, a hunger for all three of them.

  It shocked her to want all three, but it felt so right that she didn’t dare question it now.

  She was ruined anyway, and she was now running away from the life she had been damned to. Why would she say no to them if there was a chance of love and happiness?

  If vampires existed then anything was truly possible.

  “I don’t want to say no, Thomas, and please call me Maryanne. We do not need such formality. But I don’t know how or what to do with three of you...” she trailed off, fear getting the upper hand.

  Could she satisfy three men? How would they all make love to her?

  One had been bad enough, but surely this would work better if she let them take over?

  The men exchanged glances, and she found herself on her feet, her gown being stripped from her body.

  Before she blinked, she was naked, and she gasped, horrified they had achieved such a thing. No one had ever seen her naked before. No one.

  Her arms flew up to her breasts, and then she realised she needed to cover her other bits. Oh God in Heaven!

  She didn’t have enough hands.

  Her cheeks burned with blood, her mortification complete as the men stared at her for long moments. Their eyes all roamed every curve and bump of her over-fleshy body, and she wanted to dive under a blanket to cover herself.

  Before she could move an inch there was a flurry of clothes, and they were all naked as well, standing proudly in front of her.

  Maryanne gasped again, too shocked now to care about her own nakedness.

  They were magnificent. All three different, but still beautiful.

  They were also very aroused, their members, long, thick, and hard.

  She swallowed against the fear of the pain. Her old lover was not that size, and he had hurt her. What would these men do?

  Lucas stepped forward, the largest of the men. “We will not hurt you, little one. We promise.”

  Maryanne laughed. Really, what else was there to do? She was completely bare in a room full of naked vampire men. Her world really had turned upside down.

  “I’m hardly little.”

  She yelped as she was once again swung up into Lucas’ strong arms. “You are very little to us. But also, extremely beautiful.”

  He dropped his head and kissed her. Soft, thick lips caressed hers and enticed her to respond. She pressed into him, determined to forget everything else.

  If she’d died and gone to Heaven, then she’d thank God for this chance.

  And if the opposite had happened, and she was damned to dance with these devils for all eternity, she’d throw a log on the fire and keep on burning.

  Lucas’ tongue pressed against the seam of her
lips, and she opened to him.

  Rather than being drowned by his tongue like her other lover had made her feel, Lucas kissed her slowly, possessively, thoroughly. His tongue teased hers, encouraged hers.

  She met his tongue with her own and heard the groan from Lucas.

  He approved.

  That one noise made her bolder, and she ran one of her hands down his chest until she found his nipple. She touched it once then rubbed over it a little.

  Lucas broke their kiss with a curse and laid her down in the middle of the bed. “I am the oldest, so I will love you first.”

  He lay down between her thighs and settled there. His warmth and weight were a wonderful feeling, the full-body skin-to-skin contact shocking to her overly sensitive body.

  Instead of thrusting inside her immediately as Maryanne half feared, he began to kiss down her neck.

  Slowly.

  Maryanne arched her back as heat pooled between her thighs. She really did want this, how amazing was that?

  Lucas continued to move down her frame, all the way to her breasts. She gasped as he took one of her aching nipples into his mouth and began to suckle greedily.

  Pleasure speared through her belly. Who knew such a thing could feel so good? Surprise and pleasure filtered through her as he loved her body. Enjoyed her slowly.

  “Oh, Lucas.” She threaded her fingers through his hair and moaned. But she felt the tug of something else. Her connection to the other two, whatever it was, was crying out for them also.

  Lucas wasn’t enough.

  How very odd.

  Fear pulsing though her, she looked up and saw her other two men waiting patiently, watching her and Lucas together. They were hard and aching, she feared.

  Without any thought of what was to come, she reached out a hand to each of them.

  “Please...”

  She couldn’t articulate the words necessary, but they understood.

  Piers lay down on one side of her and Thomas on the other. They didn’t touch each other, just simply stared at her.

  “Kiss me,” Maryanne implored as she reached for Thomas.

  He swooped in so quickly she groaned in surprise. His kisses were hungrier, deeper than Lucas’ and just as addictive.

  Lucas still lavished attention on her breasts, so while she was squirming with arousal she broke off and turned to Piers.