I shrugged. “I have my moments.”
“Send him away before I drink him.”
“Roberto, are you jealous?”
Pepe was pretty yummy; however, he was human and, therefore, untouchable. Roberto seemed to have forgotten that.
“Yes. Now send him away so you and I may converse in private.”
“Pepe, do as the pasty man asks and start my bath. I’ll be there in a moment. And I want the special scrub down tonight. I’m feeling especially dirty.” I winked.
Roberto growled.
“Okay. Speak.” I walked into my bedchamber and started shedding my dirty clothes.
Roberto growled again, and then his eyes locked on me. “I… I… forgot what I was about to say.”
I stood in my chemise, knowing full well it was as sheer as a layer of morning dew.
“You were about to tell me why you’ve returned when clearly you loathe me and my evil ways. By the way, I think you ought to do an evil self-check, ’cause brainwashing a unicorn definitely falls under the sinister category.”
“Ah yes.” He scratched his bristly chin. “I’d meant to explain that little detail. It seems that after many thousands of years in the daily company of my men, she now believes she is one of us. My sincerest apologies.” He dipped his head. “Perhaps with time…”
Ugh! “Blah, blah, blah… why are you here?” I snapped.
He walked over to my bed and sank down, staring at the floor. “To say that I was wrong. I should not have been so quick to believe Mitnal. I realize now that being raised with siblings who looked only to destroy me has tainted my view of the world.”
I stared at Roberto and tried to ignore any feelings of sympathy. He’d caused me thousands of years of pain.
“I’d say I accept your apology, but us evildoers don’t know how.”
He ignored the jab. “I also came to say that you were right. I feel there is goodness in you. But I do not understand why you are helping the Obscuros and Maaskab.”
“Because the evil in me says I should punish you. What better way than to help your enemies?” It wasn’t true, but I hoped the answer stung a little.
Anger flickered in his dark, desolate eyes. He moved with dizzying speed and grabbed me by the waist, holding my body firmly to him. I was about to tell him to back off, but that’s when I felt it. His warmth. His hardness. That little spark deep inside my chest and lower, much, much lower. For as many vampires as I’d gone to bed with, trying to rid myself of any feelings I had for their king, not one held a match to the bonfire of raw, needy, emotions Narmer—err, Roberto—had sparked within me.
I so hated him for that!
“I know you are lying, Cimil. But I do not care. I know the truth about you now—you’re not evil—and I am relieved because I love you and there is no denying it. Not anymore.” He dipped his head and kissed me deeply. His soft lips moved over mine, gently at first, then harder. His tongue slid into my mouth, and he tasted sweet like cinnamon and sugar. His masculine scent was even sweeter, as if time had only made him more potent and delicious like a fine wine.
With one hand planted firmly on my backside pulling me into the hardness jutting from his groin, he moved the other to cup my face. “You feel it, too. Don’t you, Cimil?” he whispered in that deep, lusty tone.
“Uh. Yeah. How could I not feel a giant pyramid stabbing me in the stomach?” I looked into his eyes, and that is when I saw it again.
Crap! I scrambled away and held him back with one arm. This time I hadn’t seen destruction in his eyes, I saw my life. I saw him. I saw our lights pulling toward each other on an unavoidable crash course, destined to become an inseparable life force. I felt our hearts beating to the same easy-listening love ballad compilation that would someday haunt every high school prom for an entire cheesy century.
He is my mate?
No. No. No. The one male in all the Universe born for me, with the ability to make or break me. This guy? Why hadn’t I seen it before? But now it all made so much sense. The way I felt about him even before he became a vampire, the Universe speaking to me through him, and my inability to move on.
“This can’t be happening.” I covered my face with my hands.
“Do not push me away, Cimil. You and I have unfinished business, and you know as well as I that there will be no moving forward until things are settled. We are meant to be.” He lowered his voice. “You are mine.”
“Yours?” I asked.
“Yes. Mine.”
There he was. That man. The fearless king who stood before an ocean of people, daring them to defy him. Oh, the confidence, the power, the light of raw conviction and sheer determination. It radiated from some place deep inside him. He was magnificent.
And I would crush him before I’d let him own me. I would not let the Universe dictate one more piece of my life. Yes, I’d let him have a taste of me, of heaven, and then I’d leave him.
I pasted on a smile. “Perhaps I feel something for you, but the apology is not enough. How do you propose to make amends?”
Roberto’s lips formed an arrogant smile. “I merely ask you to give me the chance to redeem myself, to complete the thirty days.”
“Okay.” I headed for the bath but hit a hard wall of muscles before I reached the doorway. “No. No other male shall touch you. And we will spend the rest of the month at the estate I’ve purchased for you.”
Oh. I’d forgotten about that. “Is it nice?”
He nodded. “I spent half my fortune on it before giving the rest to the local orphanage. They are now the wealthiest children on the planet.”
Awww… that was so nice. I loved children. Especially when they were rich. And boogerless.
“So do we have an agreement?” he asked.
There were nineteen days left. “Yes. But I’m bringing Pepe.”
“No. No males. I meant what I said, Cimil.”
“So, you’re telling me that you will not touch another woman for nineteen days?”
Roberto’s eyes narrowed. “You do realize I must feed, and I cannot take from you—you are not human.”
Oh, I knew. “Yep. Deal or no deal?” I couldn’t wait for television to be invented. Watching TV through the memories of the dead from the future was so lo-fi. It sucked.
Roberto winced. “I will not bed them, Cimil.”
“Nope. Not good enough. You can drink from all the dudes you like, though.”
He stared.
“Men. I mean men,” I clarified.
His lips scrunched up into a sour little pucker. “I disdain the feeling of holding a man in my arms. Women are much nicer. Soft and curvy and luscious.”
Idiot. “Not winning.”
“My apologies. Of course, I will make the sacrifice. I would do anything for you.”
I felt sorta tingly with anticipation. I was so going to enjoy breaking his heart. Or maybe I wasn’t. A part of me wanted him to triumph as much as I wanted to punish him. How could I want both?
Ummm…’cause you’re Cimil?
Good point!
“All right,” I agreed. “I will go and see this magical oasis you’ve acquired for me. But if I don’t like it, you’re taking back your money from those orphans and buying me another.”
Roberto studied me for a moment. “You jest.”
“Not really. Why? Is that wrong to take money from orphans?” His mouth twisted with disapproval. I made an awkward little chuckle. “Oh. I’m only… jesting away.”
Damn. I really am evil.
Chapter Ten
The villa wasn’t more than a few hours by horseback from Barcelona. Of course, we took Minky, so that was, like, a two-second hop. (Insert visual of a large, well-built, powerful vampire riding on a unicorn with me driving. Two words: Fun. Knee. As in, to slap.)
In any case, I had to admit, the ex-king had taste. Exquisite taste. Hundreds of acres of rolling hills, thousands of vines bursting with grapes, fountains, fruit trees, and a beautiful rose garden in the
back. The gorgeous three-story house was like heaven on earth. He’d spared no expense.
“You did all this in a week?” I asked.
Roberto gloated. “If you are not pleased, I will gladly live here.”
“You’re trying to mooch off me already? I’m not going to be your sugar mama, you hobo.”
Roberto tilted his head. “Your vocabulary has become most peculiar these past millennia.”
“Tell me about it.” It was impossible to maintain a time-period-appropriate vocabulary when I constantly listened to and conversed with dead from multiple “time zones.” Luckily, I’d been able to give up grunting after most of the cavemen left the pool of souls. But the dead from the present and future? They were abundant.
I entered the foyer, and the vaulted ceiling with an enormous wrought iron chandelier immediately caught my attention.
“Ah yes,” he said. “I had that brought in from a small village in Northern Italy.” He waved his hand in the air. “My army has been working around the clock for a week, sifting to the farthest reaches of the globe to find the perfect furnishings.”
We walked up one side of the grand staircase and reached a landing that had been made into a large drawing room. A log gently crackled in the fireplace giving off a warm glow to the hand-carved furniture and rich silk tapestries. Giant vases in almost every corner held fresh-cut roses. It truly was a Spanish palace fit for a queen.
“Yeah. I guess it’s okay,” I said.
Roberto snickered. He knew he’d totally nailed it.
“Our bedchamber is this way.” He gestured toward a long hallway with windows on one side and a series of arched doorways on the other.
I followed along. “Our? My, my. Aren’t we a bit presumptuous, vampire?”
“Always. I am a vampire.”
Excellent point.
When we reached the last door, he pushed it open and made a small bow.
The room, with its Spanish-style tiles and white plaster walls, was simple yet elegant. A set of French doors, situated next to the fireplace, led to a private terrace overlooking what I assumed was the vineyard. A large bed stood in the center of the room, surrounded by soft, rich velvety red curtains.
“To keep out the daylight,” he said.
“Why would I need that? I like the light.”
He swooped in front of me and locked his arms around my waist. “You may cease with the games, Cimil. I have met your challenge and pleased you.”
“Maybe.” I smiled coyly.
“I plan to continue the pleasing with the same amount of enthusiasm and vigor as we spend the next nineteen days in that bed, making love. I will please you in every way a man could possibly please a woman.”
I tried to swallow, but a glob of lust was stuck halfway down my throat. I found myself really, really wanting him.
You need to punish him, punish him!
But despite that being my evil master plan, that’s not what I wanted.
Okay, punish him with really awesome sex. For nineteen days. That will teach him to never hurt you again!
He pulled me closer, and I craned my neck up to see his face. “Yes. I’ve had many lovers, Cimil. I will not lie. This has allowed me to perfect the art of pleasuring a woman and to prepare myself for you…”
“I always believed that”—I cleared my throat, feeling his erection prodding my stomach—“practice makes perfect.”
“Uh-uh-uh, Cimil,” said Other-me. “He’ll only break your heart. Remember what he did to us?”
Ugh! She’s right! Why was I so easy? So spineless when it came to him?
“Cimiiiil?” she warned. “Are you listening?”
“Shut up! Okay? I know,” I barked.
Roberto glanced sideways, perplexed. “I am confused.”
“I’m not talking to you.” I pushed away. “We can’t have sex.”
“Of course, we can. I am a vampire. I am able to withstand your touch.”
“No, I mean, I don’t want to.”
He moved so quickly, I saw only a blur as scraps of fabric flew through the air. The next thing I knew, I was on my back on the bed, Roberto just as naked as I, lying with his jutting shaft nestled between my legs.
“The smell of your arousal,” he said in a low, gravelly voice laden with sex, “and heat between your thighs, both of which have been driving me mad these past hours, do not lie.”
Dammit. Damned vampires with their sex-sniffing noses.
“Cimil! You can’t do this!” Other-me warned. “This sort of indulgence is what got us into trouble in the first place.”
I looked at her, then at Roberto. His strong jaw and thick, sensuous lips, his exotic eyes, and long black hair falling about his face gave the appearance of a mysterious god from another time. He was beautiful. And my heart couldn’t deny what it wanted: to be whole again. He carried a piece of my light, forever connecting us. Revenge just didn’t sound enticing any more. But loving him did.
He slowly bent his head and kissed me with an unforgiving passion, a yearning that didn’t require words. I knew exactly how he felt.
Our lips moved together, and I felt his hand move down my torso and cup my breast. He massaged it for a moment before sliding down and placing his hot mouth over my nipple. His other hand worked its way toward that magical little spot ready to explode with the slightest touch.
“Gods, Cimil, how you drive me mad with your body.” He lapped and sucked on my nipple, allowing the sharp edges of his fangs to scrape forth a gasp while his other fingers lightly grazed the top of the throbbing bud between my legs. “Yes. I like it when you breathe like that.”
Holy horny pharaohs. My entire body felt like it might shatter into a million particles of light if he didn’t release the pent-up pressure.
I quickly rolled him over onto his back. I paused briefly and stared into his dark eyes.
“Cimil! Don’t do it!” Other-me barked in the background. “He broke our heart, and he’ll do it again.”
I looked at him and then at her. Dammit. She was right.
I swung my leg around and hopped off the bed. “No can do, big boy.”
“What is the matter?” Roberto’s voice hummed with frustration. “I know you want me. Your body does not lie.”
“No, it doesn’t. But my human body doesn’t know any better,” I said. He now sat on the edge of the bed staring at me, and I truly wanted to return to him. “But my heart does. Just ask it. Part of it’s sitting right there with you.”
His shoulders raised and then sagged as his lungs released a heavy sigh. “I feel it. I feel it very well. It has been my constant companion, Cimil. All these years, not a moment passed when I did not wish to die because of the sadness living inside me—your sadness, your loneliness. And mine, I suppose. I tried to forget you and what I’d done. I knew it was unforgivable despite what I’d believed about that first year we were apart. But as many women as I took and drank from, none washed away the mark you left on my heart.” His head fell. “I finally gave up trying. Though I feed from them, I have not been with another for a thousand years.”
Roberto sifted in front of me and cupped my face. “I love you, Cimil. I know that you love me, too. Your light inside me glows when we are together. It does not lie.”
Dammit. Shit. Hell! I did feel it. I wanted to give in to it, to be with him, to forgive him for everything. How had he done it? He’d accomplished the one thing I’d never thought possible and that I’d sworn to never do: love him again.
No. It didn’t make an ounce of sense, other than when the Universe gets involved, everything you know to be true flies out the window. You cannot help but bow down to its will. No human, vampire, or deity can resist her.
“Don’t, Cimil. Just… don’t,” Other-me pleaded. “You know this will end badly the moment he realizes what you truly are—the bringer of the apocalypse.”
Hell in a tie-dyed fanny sack!
The entire situation felt ridiculous! I couldn’t win. On the one
hand, I was wired to unknowingly drive every situation toward catastrophe, which meant I always had to row my boat against the current. That also meant I had to sometimes do bad, bad things and simply have faith that good would come from it. Roberto would never accept that, especially not when circumstances led me to help someone like Philippe. Or those horrible Maaskab. On the other hand, I knew that loneliness would ultimately lead to our downfall. If the gods didn’t find love, we’d all go crazy and destroy the planet anyway.
But if I chose Roberto, I’d only hurt him, betray him. He was better off without me.
I. Was. Evil.
I gazed into his eyes and then stood on the tips of my toes, planting a gentle kiss on his lips, savoring the warmth of his muscular body against mine. “I cannot be with you.”
“I understand, my love. You need to learn to trust me.”
“Yes—wait. No.” I sighed. “I mean, we can never be together.”
He stepped back. “You are serious. I-I feel it in your light.”
“I am, Roberto. I am serious.”
He looked at me with suspicion. “But I sense something else. It’s… fear.”
I walked over to the armoire and opened it up, finding several silk robes inside. I shrugged one on. “Just leave, Roberto. And don’t look back.”
“I cannot do that.” I felt his hot breath on my neck.
Why was he making this so goddamned hard? Why?
“I will not. You do not command me,” he said.
Stupid, arrogant pharaoh!
That’s when I exploded. “Then I will kill you. Do you hear me? I will rip out your heart and eat it while you watch. I will dance on your sticky vampire ashes. Do you hear me?” I screamed. “Do you?”
The anger I felt was so dark and foreboding that it left a charred taste in my mouth. But I wasn’t angry at him, I was angry at her. The Universe.
Roberto’s eyes reflected the deep gash I’d inflicted on his soul. “As you wish.”
He disappeared out the doorway, that image of me smiling back. From his… back. So ironic.
I burst into tears. Uncontrollable laughter followed. My life had evolved into one giant farce. I could do no right. I would have no love.
Accidentally...Cimil? Page 9