by J. M. Davies
“Easy, love. I’m not going anywhere.”
His husky words and gentle stroking down her back calmed her and she slowed her speed. Blood flowed; the most exquisite taste shot to every cell, lighting her with an incredible excitement and wondrous sensation. Cool bursts of energy rippled throughout, dulling the pain and putting out the fire in her veins. An ice-cool rush of adrenaline flowed, and she growled in satisfaction. He released her wrists and as the blood flowed down her throat, she whimpered as she sucked. Isabella drank until a heady, pulsing euphoria snaked its way through her body. She squirmed against him, pressing her breasts into his firm chest, and threw her leg over his, arching her pelvis into his groin and moaning.
“That’s it—take what you need.”
Roman’s hoarse voice deepened a blistering desire and she stroked her hand up his arm, feeling the power in his solid forearms and biceps. He groaned and stroked her skin down over her bottom and moved to her hip. With each stroke of his hand, her core pulsed and throbbed. Roman lifted his hand to caress her breast gently, fondling the soft, rounded flesh and brushing over her sensitive hardened nipple.
“You’re a masterpiece, Isabella.”
Flutters beckoned inside her chest. She released her teeth from his neck and lapped at the blood until it stopped. Lifting her head, she glared up at the dark brooding face that tightened at her examination. His nostrils flared as she ground her hips, nudging his solid erection, unable to stop herself from rubbing against his obvious hardness.
The need for him to touch her everywhere exploded. Staring at her, Roman tweaked her nipple and she hissed in response. But as he simultaneously rubbed her hardened nub and lowered his head to suckle the sensitive bud, she moaned, enjoying the pleasure and pain. She dug her nails into his skin, wanting more. Roman leaned into her and pressed his erection near her sex. A wave of incredible pleasure gripped her. For a moment, she stared into his eyes and then down at their linked bodies. She was naked, but he still wore dark pants. The need for more contact with his skin rose and she tore at his pants.
He wrestled but chuckled at her actions. “You didn’t need to destroy a perfectly good pair of Armani pants, my love.”
Leaning over her, he bit her shoulder. Again, she hissed at him, but her gaze wandered to the fully aroused cock that stood to attention between them. A shiver of expectancy thrummed through her. She wanted to taste and touch him. She arched, pressing her breasts into his chest, and slipped her hand down to grab his manhood. As her hand wove around the wide girth, he placed his hand over hers.
“Gently, my love.”
Roman kissed her neck and a tidal wave of flutters burst to life. Encouraged by his gentle kisses, she stroked the length of his arousal, milking him up and down. She explored the full, rigid, veiny length of him as he shuddered against her. Isabella smoothed her fingers over his tip, massaging it as a creamy wetness covered her fingers and his cock bounced. A need to press him deep inside, to fill her, pulsed, and she crawled up his body until she could feel the tip of him right at her hot core. She pivoted and stroked it back and forth at her entrance, marveling at the riot of sensations.
The friction made spasms ricochet outward from her belly and she cried, lapping up the erotic, blissful waves. Again, she stared down at his thick shaft and her body quivered as a need to impale herself onto him roared in her mind. She held her position ready, but his hand clutched her wrist and using his strong legs, he twisted her until she lay sprawled on her back. She growled and grabbed at him, wrestling for dominance. I want to fuck. I need to. She hissed and snarled, using all her strength as she maneuvered him over. She straddled his legs, pressing her knees on either side of his hips and stroking her hands all over his chest to explore his hard flesh. Acting on instinct, Isabella rocked into him, rubbing herself over his steel rod.
He growled and bucked. “No, Isabella—not today.”
Roman broke her hold on him and flew off the bed, as she twisted around, ready to launch at him. She hissed. He stood there, now fully dressed in tight jeans and a navy pullover.
“Come, my love. Your thirst will return. Let me show you another way to satisfy your craving. You’re not in full control, Isabella, but you will be soon, and when you are, if you still wish to fuck me, I will be more than happy to comply. But not until you are fully aware of who you’re fucking. Right now, the blood lust runs through your veins, but it will settle, like all your senses will.”
Isabella sat on the edge of the bed, blinking and trying to unscramble her brain. She swallowed an invisible lump and covered her breasts with her hands, brutally aware now of her nakedness. She shot a glance at Roman, who stared at her in such a peculiar way. Is this a dream?
“What’s going on, Roman?”
Her scratchy voice didn’t sound right and her dry throat ached. She grabbed the crumpled sheet off the bed and covered herself even though the vampire had seen every inch of her naked curves. The vamp beckoned to her with his finger and she left the bed to walk to him but stopped.
“You don’t need to be afraid of me. Come—I will explain.”
His sexy drawl created goose bumps down her spine and a lazy stupor washed over her despite her fear. This wasn’t her room. The exquisite gold gilt bed and gunmetal-gray walls weren’t familiar. The enormous room had black velvet chairs next to a large window covered by heavy red brocade drapes, which only revealed a sliver of light. The light hurt her eyes, and she honed her vision back at the vampire, dazed and confused. She didn’t know whether she could trust him or not. Did I fuck Roman? Am I ill? Where the hell am I?
Roman put his hands up and stepped forward, but she backed away.
“Do you know who I am?”
“Of course, I do, you idiot. Why wouldn’t I?”
Roman sighed and held his hand out. “Good. You haven’t been fully awake for days.” He snapped his fingers, and a cool silk slipped over her skin. She stared down her chest. The sheet from the bed rested on the floor, and a ruby red silk sheath covered her.
“Let me show you something. I’m not going to harm you. With your newfound strength, it’s more the other way around.” He rubbed his pale cheek.
Piqued at his choice of words and the power they held, she tread closer, but even the soles of her feet winced as she walked. Every part of her, including her bones, ached, and she covered her ears as the noise of his voice and a million other sounds boomed around her.
“It will improve. Come.”
When she reached his outstretched hand, he drew her into his arms. Wrapped in his muscled arms and surrounded in his scent, a sense of wellbeing settled inside. The sounds muted and instead of aching joints, the coolness that surrounded her renewed her energy and the need for a proper explanation. Roman twisted her around. Standing in front of them was an elaborate six-foot-tall gold rectangular mirror that rested against the wall. She stared, entranced.
“Step in front of the mirror and take a good long look.”
Isabella frowned, unwilling to move, and bit her lip, but he nudged her forward. An involuntary hiss sounded from her mouth. She clutched her throat in sudden desperate need, but she did as instructed and stared in fascination at the elegant woman in the mirror. It was her, but it couldn’t be. She did a complete three-hundred-and-sixty-degree circle, checking herself from side to side. Her long, wavy, red hair reached her waist in sleek glossy waves, as if fresh from the salon. Blood-red lips and snow-white flawless skin stared back at her.
Rigid in disbelief, she ran her hands all over her curves, exploring the sexy red silk sleeveless dress that encased her slim frame like a second skin, displaying her ample cleavage as the neckline dipped low. A slit at the side rose to the top of her thigh and she gasped as Roman pressed into her back. He rested his chin on her shoulder and studied her expression in the mirror. Flicking her hair away from her neck, he pressed a light kiss there. At the delicate caress, she tilted her head to allow him more access, wanting more. He brushed his teeth along her throat a
s he wove his hand down to the slit in her dress to sneak underneath.
Feeling him everywhere lit a fire. As he smoothed his hand over her belly, he cupped her sex, and she gasped, free-falling as the pulsing, circling desire rose again. All she could process was how much she wanted him to devour her. Her body ached for him. His finger rubbed over her sensitive spot and she moaned as he thrust it deep inside. Her muscles clenched around him and when he inserted a second finger to fill her, she tilted her hips, panting. Isabella gripped his arm wrapped around her chest, holding her upright.
“Look at who you are, my exotic Isabella. This is you. Seven days ago, the life you knew ended.”
Even though desire laced her veins like laudanum, she stiffened. Each word that dropped from his lips shook her despite his fingers strumming at her core. Cool clarity settled for the first time in days. A sudden heaviness swamped her and she studied her features closer. Her face—it was her, but brighter, younger even, and free of her trademark freckles. It was as if she had been touched up by a magazine, eradicating blemishes and marks. A panic rose and the ever-present thirst gripped her throat, making words hard to come by, but his fingers thrust deep inside, demanding attention. She pushed down her fear as her nerve endings flooded her brain with carnal lust.
The rolling, pulsing waves increased and every part of her responded to the amazing feelings floating inside her. As the tide of euphoria rose, her legs quivered. She would have collapsed but for the band of steel that locked around her, holding her in place. Her orgasm ripped through her like wildfire and she screamed out loud as she watched herself come in the mirror with his fingers buried deep inside her. Roman stared at her, dark desire brimming in his eyes and tense features as he held her as if she belonged to him. At that moment, the look of longing in his eyes aroused her, and she had never felt so desired, beautiful, or alive in all her life. Being held and touched by him seemed natural and right somehow.
“What—do you mean?” she managed to ask in a quiet, almost calm voice.
“My sweet love—you’re a vampire. To be exact, you’re my vampire.”
A bloodcurdling anger doused out the flames of desire to fill every pore in her body. What the fuck? She twisted around and lashed out, kicking and punching. He ducked and tried to grab her. But she flew at him, punching, scratching, and thumping him wildly. Power surged through her. What did he mean, she was a fucking vampire?
“A vampire!” she hollered.
“Yes, my love.”
Isabella shoved him as hard as she could.
He flew across the room, crashing into the tall dresser and smashing it into pieces, but he righted himself and flew to her side. “Marvelous. That’s it, my love. Get it all out of your system. All that excess human emotion. You will feel better. I may not, but you need to do this.”
For what seemed an eternity, she kicked, punched, and lashed out at him. Each time she made contact with his ribs or side, he didn’t make a sound. She destroyed the bedroom, throwing everything she touched at the wall. Glass smashed. Wood splintered. She hurled every piece of furniture at him, which he batted away and it smashed to the ground. Staring at his gigantic and magnificent bed, she shoved it with a ferocity that sent it flying and smashing right through the wall to plummet outside, crashing to the ground and detonating like a bomb. Racing to the large gaping hole, she studied the dense forest below, and a range of mountains on the horizon. She stood right on the edge and wondered what would happen if she jumped.
In that pause of destruction, Roman launched and dragged her to the ground. Instead of fighting her, he pressed cool kisses all over her flesh. Her body and mind were at odds, fighting each other. Every time Roman kissed or nibbled her, the need to retaliate withdrew. Exhausted, and calmer, she sat up. Her anger weakened, and her rational mind wanted answers.
“Tell me what happened.”
Roman nodded and stood. He frowned but offered her his hand. Isabella stared at it, tempted to continue the fight, but allowed him to assist her to her feet.
“First, you need to…”
She knew and spoke the words before he said them. “Drink—I get it.”
He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her against him. “Yes, you need to drink, because you’re a new vampire. Your hunger for blood and sex is insatiable. The hungrier you are, the more assertive and sexual you get. Now you are more lucid than you have been for the past week, which is good because I am a highly sexual male, and there is a limit to the number of times I can say no.”
Embarrassed and mortified at his insinuations, she raised her hand to slap his face, but he caught it in time. “No more, my love. You are a vampire. That cannot be undone, and you will not continue to fight me. The time for that is over. Because I turned you, you are now my responsibility. We are forever connected. You stumbled into my domain and twice, I have been there while you were on the brink of death. I am the only one who could save you either time. In the end, even your human, Jake, begged me to take you.”
She cried out at his revelation and spun away, unable to hear any more, but he didn’t stop. He grabbed her chin and twisted it, forcing her to meet his cold eyes. She had no choice but to stare and knew what he intended. As she stared in the inky depths, she saw her life drain away in the misty cemetery as a woman grew out of the shadows. The entire spectacle played before her and she clutched her neck.
“I need to drink.”
In seconds, they were transported deep into the quiet and still forest. Thick evergreens surrounded them and the ground crunched as they walked over fresh snow littered with amber leaves and pine cones.
“Where are we?”
“Maine. One of my homes. It is not far from Steel’s, actually, more inland, and private. I have my head office in Boston, one in New York, as well as a home on the Amalfi Coast. I will take you there one day, if you behave, my dove.”
Roman stroked her cheek and she shoved his hand away. “Why did you turn me? Why not another of your vampires? Or better than that, why didn’t you let me die?”
He darted away and stared around at the vicinity, and she watched him as he crouched low, barely making a sound but touched the ground with his hand. She stepped back, but he flew to stand before her. The speed of his movement was unnerving.
“Ah, the anger, it was to be expected, but Isabella, I will not feel guilty for the decision those who loved you made. Everyone, including your sister Zephra, knew it was the right one. As for my turning you, no other vampire would dare. You are marked and have been from the moment I met you.” He gripped her shoulder and brushed his thumb over her back. She twisted her head to see what he was rubbing, knowing she should push him away altogether, but as his other hand teased and fondled her breast, a yearning and hunger grew.
“Every vampire knows from the scent that covers you and my mark, which looks like an oval, that you are mine. I let you live this human existence for as long as I could. I even walked away to give you the chance of a boring life with your human, and look what you do. Fight the fucking queen of war—alone.”
The venom in his words sunk in. She remembered charging off after a shadow of a woman, determined to strike the bitch while in her human form. Staring down at Roman’s hand as he squeezed her nipple, she hissed and hit him away.
“You fucking branded me. You son of a bitch. What the hell.”
She slapped his chest and flew away, but he flew to join her.
“Giving you the tattoo was necessary, to protect you.”
She zeroed in on him. “I bet you tell yourself that every night, but I am not a possession to be tagged.”
Roman reached out for her, but she stepped away. “Don’t touch me—I can’t think straight, and I need to know everything. I need the truth.”
“Right. You want the truth—well, here it is. You’re a hunter. You live for the thrill of danger, albeit in the name of saving the innocent, but honestly, anyone could be forgiven for thinking you secretly wanted to become a vampire. Man
y do. You’ve already seen the strength you have after ripping my guest bedroom apart. That bed was a particular favorite. An original all the way from the fucking seventeenth century from Versailles, minus the pompous canopy, but anyway. It illustrates one of the many aspects of your transformation. By becoming a vampire, all your senses are heightened. Everything is bigger, brighter. Every experience sharper. Whether you admit it or not, Isabella, part of you wanted this. You escaped death once, but the second time, you forced my hand. You lost too much blood. Now, it’s my duty as your master to train you.”
“Fuck you. You are not my master.”
“Isabella, it’s the term we use for the person who created you. It is what it is, and as your master, I will guide you. Rein you in when necessary. Because like I said, you’re vulnerable right now and a danger to others. The need for blood will call to you constantly, as well as the need for sex. You’re less inhibited.” He stroked the outline of her breast as it peeked through her dress, and her nipples hardened in response.
“You’re a natural, my love, but gaining control takes time. Until then, I will stay with you day and night. But don’t worry. No matter how much you plead and beg, I will not fuck you.”
She pounced on him, slapping his chest, but he grabbed her wrist and twisted it, dragging her against him.
“Fuck you,” she said.
“It will be my pleasure and yours—when you’re ready and not before.”
A noise to her left distracted her and she slid her gaze to the bushes. She listened to his heated words that drowned out over the steady rhythm of a strong heartbeat. Not checking with Roman, she flew between the trees. Acting on instinct, she reached and grabbed the startled rabbit that sat there watching her before it could race away. She gazed upon the wide brown eyes. In an instant, Roman stood there at her side as she examined the animal. Before the vampire could intercede, she sank her teeth in and drank. As thick blood gushed over her tongue, she met his gaze, unsure what he was thinking.