Rare Vintage

by Bianca D’Arc

  meant he would live.

  “I’d give my life for his.” Her voice was a mere whisper. She turned her solemn gaze up to Atticus. “Tell him that if…” She didn’t finish the thought. She didn’t have to. They both knew the next moments could be her last. “Tell him I love him.”

  Chapter Twelve

  After a full half hour, the bubbles faded inside the vat. Kelly peered down anxiously, looking for any sign of life. Atticus had insisted that Lissa go to the house. Ian had emerged from the shadows, looking much worse for wear after being subdued by a dozen of Gibson’s goons, to escort her. Atticus asked him to make sure his wife stayed inside the mansion. Whatever happened next, it was better to keep the number of people involved to a minimum.

  Kelly screamed, caught off guard when Marc rose suddenly from the vat with a great whoosh of force as wine spilled all around. His skin was red from both the wine and his injuries, his eyes mad, flickering red in their depths, and she knew he was not himself. It broke her heart to see him like this…so close to the edge of utter madness.

  With a peace in her heart she didn’t expect, Kelly gave in when he grabbed her, hauling her close to his wet body and tearing into the strong pulse at her neck. The pain was nothing when compared to the pain of seeing Marc in such a state. She’d give anything to restore him—up to and including her life.

  He drank greedily and without any finesse, his main objective to feed quickly and strongly from any available human. It didn’t matter who or how. It didn’t matter in his unreasoning mind if he killed. The idea of killing his prey didn’t even register, he was so far gone.

  The sweetness of her blood strengthened him like nothing he could have imagined. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he had the thought that this human was special in some way, but the agonizing pain overrode any real rational thought. He drank and drank, feeling himself gaining strength as the moments wore on. His pain started to ebb around the time he felt her heart flutter, her breath gasping weakly against his neck, and her body going completely limp in his arms. He drew back, a furrowed brow the only sign that his sanity was returning.

  He frowned down at her, then looked around. He was standing in a vat of burgundy, his torso burning with pain and the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, dying in his arms. Another was there too. Atticus, he remembered suddenly, as the other man strode forward.

  “Marc?” Atticus’s voice was tentative, searching for his friend within the monster he’d just seen.

  “Atticus. What happened? Who is she?”

  Atticus strode more confidently up to his friend, looking down at the woman Marc seemed disinclined to release.

  “She is your mate.”

  “Dieu! Kelly!” It all came back in a rush as Marc checked her for signs of life. She was barely hanging on. He sensed it was only a matter of moments before she left him forever, and he knew he would die then himself. There was no way he could carry on without her, especially knowing that he’d killed her in his blind, horrible pain. He had been the monster from Lissa’s vision. He’d been the one they needed to protect Kelly from all along. The knowledge left a bitter taste in his mouth.

  “There’s only one thing to do.” Atticus eyed his friend gravely.

  Marc nodded. “I wanted to give her time to get used to the idea. I didn’t want to force her to this, but I have no choice.” He caressed her pale cheek, taking a moment to shapeshift one of his long fingers into a claw sharp enough to make a clean cut across his wrist. He coaxed her mouth to the open vein. It was important that this first blood exchange be as thorough as possible. He wanted her to wake strong and…immortal, like him.

  Kelly woke in her bedroom, Marc’s warm, naked body wrapped around her equally bare form. She felt achy and a little odd. For just a moment, she didn’t quite remember what had happened, then it came back to her in a rush.

  Something inside her told her the sun was setting though she’d never been internally aware of such things before. She felt decidedly different, but was almost afraid to ask herself why. She knew Marc was awake even before he spoke. He didn’t move a muscle, yet she was aware of him, in her mind, in her heart, in her very soul.

  “I love you, Kelly. You must believe that.”

  She thought about the desperation she heard in his voice for a moment, not quite understanding, but willing to take him as seriously as he sounded. His arms imprisoned her from behind and would not let her turn to look at him. She let it go for now. She felt the desperation in his embrace as well.

  “I believe it.” Her voice was sure, but still weak. She cleared her throat and tried again. “I don’t understand it, but I believe you.”

  He sighed, his breath rushing out against the nape of her neck. She felt his tension ease as he loosened his hold so she could turn around to face him. His eyes were sad and full of regret, but above all, she could see the love shining in them. Love for her.

  “I’m so glad you’re alive.” She cupped his stubbly cheek with one hand. He turned slightly to place a tender kiss in her palm.

  “You saved me, mon amour. Your love saved me.”

  “But what happened after…?” She trailed off, trying to remember, but all she could recall was his glowing, mad eyes and then profound darkness.

  He soothed her, stroking her back gently. “I’m sorry, my love. I’m so sorry.”

  “For what?” She was starting to really wonder now. He was acting strangely—even for him.

  “For attacking you when I was out of my mind. For taking away your choice. For bringing you over without your knowledge.” He appeared to brace himself for her reaction, but she was stunned.

  “You made me like you?”

  “It was the only way to save your life. In my madness, I nearly killed you. It was the only way to keep you alive.”

  “I would have died?” Intellectually, she’d known she was very likely trading her own life for his. Atticus had told her how out of his mind Marc would be when he came out of the vat, but to hear him say it so starkly still shocked her. She’d been prepared to die to save Marc, but the question remained, was she willing to live as a vampire?

  Marc had given her the choice…before. Now the choice was taken out of her hands. Whether to live with Marc as a mortal and die together at the end of her natural span of years, or to allow him to change her into an immortal that needed blood and lust to live was the choice she’d been faced with. She honestly didn’t know how she would have solved that little conundrum had the choice not been taken from her by fate.

  She could see that Marc was agonizing over her reaction. She also knew that he could read most, if not all of her thoughts. He would know the truth of her feelings, no matter what she tried to tell him, so it was worth thinking through and reasoning out.

  In an odd sort of way, she was glad the decision had been made for her. She didn’t want to give him up, and she didn’t want to be the cause of his premature death if she’d chosen to remain mortal. She didn’t doubt for one moment that he’d meant what he’d said about living out her lifespan, then choosing death when she died of old age. She couldn’t bear the thought of that.

  Yet, she found, suddenly all of that didn’t matter. If he was to be believed, she was immortal. She would live forever, barring unforeseen circumstances, and she could share that time with him. Her spirits perked up. This was going to be okay. So, she’d have to drink blood. The thought still repulsed her, but then, so did liver, asparagus and caviar, but she’d eaten them all at one time or another. She could do what she had to do to survive. Even if it meant biting some poor guy on the neck every once in a while.

  Marc growled. “The only man you will ever bite is me, mon amour, so don’t even entertain the thought of drinking another’s blood.”

  “I only have to bite you?” She snuggled closer to him. “Suddenly the idea has possibilities.”

  She gave him a devilish smile, which he returned full blast. He took her breath away when he smiled like that.

 
His mate was even more precious than he’d known. Not many women would have forgiven him so easily. Not that he wanted any other woman ever again. She was it for him. She was his one and only. His mate, for all time.

  He was the happiest of men. His joy bubbled over and spilled into her, his smile touching both souls, joined as they were.

  “I love you, my mate.”

  His lips found hers in a torrent of love, joy and need. He kissed his way down her throat, pausing at her pulse, knowing that this, her first feeding, would be special for both of them. He placed her on the bed, ridding them of the covers with one hard tug. They billowed out behind them to the floor, unnoticed.

  “You will drink from me as I join with you, body and blood. Don’t be afraid, Kelly. This is as it was meant to be between us.”

  She nodded, swallowing hard. Her eyes were enormous in her beloved face, her fear of what was to come shadowed only by her desire. Which was the stronger of the two was yet to be seen.

  “I don’t know if I can do this.”

  “I believe in you, cherie. You will do what you must so that we both may live and thrive. Never forget that I love you. You are the other half of my soul.”

  She smiled softly. “When you say it like that, I can’t deny you a thing, Marc. You’re downright dangerous.”

  “Never to you. Never again.” His eyes were serious, his lips curving in invitation as he moved over her. “I will protect you from all harm for the rest of our nights. I will love you, honor you and give you sustenance as you sustain me.”

  He rubbed against her, his hardness sliding into its home between her legs, though not within her just yet. He felt her slick heat against his aroused skin and grinned.

  “I want you inside me, Marc.” She tugged at his shoulders, but he didn’t move.

  “You’re so impatient, my little love. All in good time.”

  “I’m going to die here, if you don’t get a move on!”

  “You will never die, mon amour. Not now. Not ever. You will stay here with me, and when it is time for us to move on to the next realm, we will do so together. Do you understand?”

  He couldn’t help the fear that shot through him. She felt it too, he knew, echoing his emotions through their link, but he couldn’t control it. When he’d come to his senses with her life draining away in his arms, he’d known a panic the likes of which he never cared to feel again. She would not leave him. She could not.

  She must have understood his desperation because she tugged him closer, kissing his face with tender touches. He allowed himself to be pulled down into her warm embrace.

  “I’m here, Marc. I’m not going to leave you. Not ever. I love you.”

  To hell with waiting. He’d love her slow the next time, but right now, he had to join with her. He had to be inside her, body, mind and blood. His passion flared, and he knew she felt it.

  He felt the resulting echo of her joy and passion as her body rose to meet his. With one long, hard thrust, he shoved home, finding his place inside her tight body.

  He groaned as he thrust within her, knowing she welcomed him in every way. He could feel her mind opening to him and soon he’d take her blood into his body as she would his. He could hardly hold himself in check, just thinking about it.

  Slowly, he began to move in and out of her tight pussy.

  “Do you feel the need building? Do your teeth ache with the need to expand into fangs?”

  He knew she was feeling the ache of her first fangs, and he had to guide her through this first small change. He moved deeper into her mind as well as her body, bringing rhythm to them both as he gave her a gentle, mental nudge toward the change of which she was so afraid. He witnessed the surprise in her mind as her canine teeth elongated into the sharp, piercing fangs that would allow her to feed from him.

  “Marc?” She was uncertain, he knew, but willing to follow where he led. God, how he loved her.

  “I’m with you, love. It’s okay.” He lowered his head, nuzzling her. “Lick my neck just below the ear,” he coached in an excited whisper, “find the pulse with your tongue.”

  He nearly came as she followed his instructions, but held himself ruthlessly in check. This first time they would come together as they fed together. As it was meant to be.

  He licked her in return, showing her without words how to zero in on the pulsing throb that meant sustenance to their kind. He groaned as she teethed him, teasing him as only a vampire lover could. He hadn’t made love to many fanged women in his time, but he’d been with enough to think eagerly of the ways they could play together as she became more comfortable with her new strength and abilities.

  They had a lot to look forward to.

  “Bite me, Marc!”

  Her plea rang through his heart, surprising him into action. She was ready.

  He bit down, through her delectable skin and into her pulsing essence. Her taste flooded his mouth at the same moment he felt her first hard bite. His face buried in her throat as hers was in his, he could only groan against her skin as she took her first tentative sips from his body.

  She moaned in pleasure, and he knew all would be well when she sucked harder at his pulse, demanding more. Her fears were still in the back of her mind, but the hunger for her mate was stronger at the moment. He pulsed within her, and she took all he could give and demanded more. He was nearly out of control. She was precious, his mate, and perfect for him.

  He stroked into her as her essence flowed into his body, reviving his cells as his blood restored her in return. The psi energy of their mating was strong. It pulsed in them both, feeding their need for blood and lust at the same time—the way only mates could do.

  It couldn’t last forever. Marc neared his climax even as she began to shiver and shake around him. Her mouth stayed on his throat even as she screamed in their shared minds, her orgasm overtaking her and dragging him over the edge into the blissful oblivion of her body.

  He groaned, his body seizing as pleasure washed over him. He knew she was flying every bit as high as he was, deep as he was in her mind, her body, her soul. He rejoiced in the joining that was as complete as they could make it. Never would he be alone again.

  After long moments of bliss, they slowly floated back to earth. She kissed his neck, sucking lightly as he licked her wounds closed with a few final, nuzzling nips. She followed his example, healing him with her tongue, using her new powers without really thinking about them, having learned from his mind how to wield a few of the lesser powers of her new form.

  “Are you okay?” He knew she was dealing well from the merging of their minds, but he wanted to hear her say it.

  She nodded, nuzzling his jaw. She was soft in his arms, and very distracting, but he wouldn’t be distracted. This was too important.

  “Mon amour?”

  She made a humming sound of satisfaction deep in her throat that threatened to make him hard again. He fought against it until he was sure she was okay with all that had transpired. He drew away, taking some of his weight off her and was slightly amused when she refused to let him go far. He took it as a good sign.

  “Kelly? My heart?”

  She lifted one sleepy eyelid to look at him. “Can’t you see I’m basking here?”

  He grinned. “That good, eh?”

  “Don’t get a swelled head. I’ll admit the opening round was fantastic, but I have yet to learn if that was just a fluke.”

  He chuckled at her words. It had been centuries since a lover had teased him so brazenly. Never had he been with a woman he’d taken into his heart and his very soul. She was so special to him, it hurt, but in the best possible way.

  “I can assure you, that was no fluke.”

  “Oh, yeah?” She arched an eyebrow. “Prove it.”

  He growled and pushed his newly awakened cock back into her. “Never dare me, ma petite. You’ll find I’m always up to a challenge.”

  “Mmm, sounds like a good quality in a man.”

  “Not just a ma
n,” he panted just a bit as he started to stroke his way inside her, “your mate.”

  “Is that the same as husband?”

  He slowed, looking down into her eyes. He knew how important it was to her. He hadn’t wanted to push her, but yes, he did want her to accept him as her mate and her husband according to the traditions in which she’d been raised.

  “If you want it to be. I was going to wait for you to get used to the idea of me before I sprang the question.”

  “Popped.”

  “What?”

  “Popped the question. That’s the proper phrase.”

  “You can correct my English at a time like this?” He stroked deep to emphasize his point.

  She nodded against his shoulder, kissing any skin she could reach. “I was a school teacher before I started working for Lissa and Atticus. Correct use of language is important.”

  “I had no idea I was joining my life to such a stickler.” Satisfaction purred through his voice as he picked up the pace, moving deep within her, though still in a leisurely way. “You’ll be able to teach our young.”

  She pulled back, staring at him with hope burning in her eyes.

  “We can have children? I mean, I thought—”

  He sorted through the confusion of her thoughts. “Ah, I see. You thought our kind could not reproduce in the traditional way. It is rare, I’ll admit, but possible between a truly mated pair. I suspect Atticus and Lissa may have the first announcement, but we will not be far behind. I want to have a child with you, Kelly, if you want it too.”

  She pushed at his shoulders again. “Then you damn well better pop the question, buster. I will not have our baby without a ring on my finger.”

  He laughed with the pleasure. “You’re an old-fashioned woman, I see. That’s good, for I am an old-fashioned man. I’ve made you mine in the way of my kind, but you’re right, we should observe the traditions of humans. You will marry me.”

  “Stop.”

  Chapter Thirteen