Blood Awakening (35 page)

You would do well to watch your tone, female,
Nathaniel
snarled in response
. Do not forget who the master of our house is.

Jocelyn sighed loud and long.
How could I
possibly? He’s squirming in my arms and demanding to be fed even as we speak
.

Nathaniel’s drawn-out hiss was positively
frightening. His sculpted muscles contracted and released in a series of waves that
started at his shoulders, moved down his arms, and ended at his torso. His dark
eyes turned even darker—if that was possible.

When I return home and tie you to our bed,
perhaps then, you will remember who the
true
master is. Or perhaps,
should you continue to try me, I might just have to teach you the difference
between male and female—dominance and submission. Make no mistake, woman, I can
have you calling me
master
for the next thirty days—in  public—should  I
choose. Now tend to our son, and leave us be.

Jocelyn’s answering snarl shook the overhead
lighting.
Nathaniel Jozef Silivasi!

Nathaniel’s eyes flew open wide at the mere tone
of Jocelyn’s psychic voice, though he tried to hide his reaction. Ciopori bit
her bottom lip in an effort not to laugh.

Listen here, oh great male vampire: Do
not
make me come in that room and slap you upside your head right in front of our
new sister—because I will if I have to.

Nathaniel laughed heartily then, both his sense of
humor and his tenderness for his mate getting the best of him.
I’m afraid
you are neither that strong nor that quick, my beautiful love, but you inspire my
soul. Tonight,
colega mea de sexy,
save it for
tonight.

Jocelyn giggled then, the love in her voice
apparent.
Ma asteptam, de masterat.

Ciopori knew exactly what the words meant—
I’ll
be waiting, master
—and the look on Nathaniel’s face was priceless. He was
no longer a stern, domineering vampire, but a grinning ten-year-old boy with
glazed-over eyes, looking much like he had just discovered candy.

“Yes,” Ciopori said, laughing, “I can see you have
things well under control at home,
my fearsome brother
.”

Nathaniel chuckled and tightened his grip on Ciopori’s
hand. “Ah well, a male has to try.” Concentrating, he continued to absorb the
full range of sensation from Ciopori’s pregnancy, shielding his new sister-in-law
from even the slightest tinge of discomfort.

Marquis leaned back against the sturdy railing of the back porch, his legs
crossed casually at the ankles, his arms folded in front of his chest, waiting
for Kristina to stop pacing.

“I still don’t know what you could possibly have
to say to me, but fine, I’m listening. What now,
boss
?”

Marquis raised his eyebrows and smiled. He reached
into his back pocket and pulled out a black and gold rectangle of hard plastic
and handed it to her.

“What’s this?” She snatched it out of his hand.

“It’s a credit card...with a two-hundred-fifty-thousand
dollar limit on it.”

Kristina’s eyes grew enormous as she read the name
on the bottom of the card: 
Kristina Riley Silivasi.
“You’re still
giving me money? And you want me to keep your name? I don’t get it.”

Marquis shifted his weight from one foot to the
other and re-crossed his legs. “Of course I’m still going to take care of you,
and why wouldn’t I? It’s
your
name now, too. The bills for the card will
come to me, and on the first business day of every calendar year, any
outstanding balance will be paid in full. Then the original two-hundred-fifty
thousand limit will be restored, so consider it an annual...salary of sorts.”

Kristina looked stunned. “But how? When?
Why
?”

“Nathaniel took care of the details for me.”

Kristina tried to suppress her excitement but
failed, which pleased Marquis greatly. “Kristina, I may not be your mate, but I
am still your
sire
. You will be taken care of for the rest of your
life.”

Her large blue eyes widened with surprise...and
appreciation. “Wow, that’s really cool of you, thanks.”

Marquis nodded. “As for living arrangements, you
will not be going back to the apartment you shared with...that human. I wish I
could give you a place with more privacy, but as your safety is my utmost
concern, I am having one of the executive suites at the lodge renovated as an
apartment. I think you will be quite satisfied with the accommodations when they
are through, and there will always be guards and security within reach. You
will stay in a guest room until the suite is finished.”

Kristina’s lips parted like she was about to ask a
question, but then she slowly pursed them back together. For the first time
since he’d claimed her, the female was speechless.

Marquis chuckled. “Yes, there will be a theatre
room in the suite and a large Jacuzzi as well. A wet bar should be no problem,
but be careful—vampires must never lose their inhibitions...for obvious
reasons.”

Kristina frowned then. The news that she would no
longer be mated to Marquis had clearly been a relief, but the caveat that she
would never be human again must have been devastating. “So then, uh, how will
I—”

“Feed?”

Kristina looked down. “Yeah.”

Marquis sighed. “Kristina, you will become
accustomed to your new life in time; it will not always be so difficult. I want
you to understand something very important,
un pic—
little
one. When I sired you, my blood became your blood,
my DNA part of your DNA. You are a
true
Silivasi now—by name and blood—despite
our not being together. That cannot be reversed.”

Kristina tilted her head as if trying to absorb
the information.

“That means that you now have four living
brothers, and trust me, as rare as females are in the house of Jadon, the idea
of having a sister is an extraordinary treat. You couldn’t get away now if you
tried. Not to mention, as you know, vampires can be a bit
overprotective
.”

Kristina sighed, finally getting it. “They
wouldn’t.”

“Oh, they will.”

She shrugged. “Well, it’s not like there’s anyone
for me to date anyhow.”

Marquis shook his head. “That is not necessarily
true. There are widows in the house of Jadon just as anywhere else. Between
vampire hunting societies, wars with our dark brothers, and our natural
enemies, the lycans, many males have lost their
destinies
over the long
centuries. The problem, however, will be getting any one of these males past
your new brothers.”

Kristina shook her head. “Oh, great.”

“You also have two sisters by blood now as well,”
he offered as a consolation, “Ciopori and Jocelyn. Three, if you count Vanya. Perhaps
they will assist you.”

Kristina just stared at him.

“And you will soon have two nephews, so you are no
longer alone in this world,
sora mea
.”

“
Sora mea
?”

“My sister.”

Kristina looked down at the ground.

“And all of your brothers will see to your
feeding.”

She looked up, a subtle flash of fear in her eyes.

Marquis shook his head. “It’s okay. Your needs
will not be as urgent as they were when you became ill right after the
conversion. A wrist should suffice. And if that is too difficult, any one of us
can siphon into a wineglass for you as long as the blood is fresh when you get
it.” His eyes narrowed and fixed upon hers. “You will call one of us the moment
you feel hunger, understood?”

She nodded...unconvincingly.

Marquis took a step forward then. “We will keep
track of your feeding cycles, little sister. Do not think you will be left
alone from this point on by any stretch. In fact, I think I already heard
Jocelyn mention something to Nathaniel about your upcoming birthday—something
about planning a party.”

Kristina looked shocked, an odd mixture of both
dread and wonder. “What if I don’t want all this family?”

Marquis shrugged. “It’s a little late for that.”

“Yeah,” she glowered, “I know.” She put her hands
over her neck, indicating the place he had bit her during the harsh, forced
conversion. “How could I forget?”

Marquis shook his head slowly. He was extremely
regretful for the harsh way he had converted her, but she had shot him after
all. “Look,” he said, “what is done is done. What matters now is the future.” He
reached into his back pocket and pulled out a set of keys. They were dangling on
a custom key ring with the crest of the house of Jadon on it.

Kristina’s eyes flashed with excitement, and she began
jumping up and down, trying to reach the keys as Marquis held them higher and
higher. “What is it, Marquis! Let me see!”

After a minute of toying with her, he finally dropped
them in her hand. “You must be sure and thank Nachari. You have no idea how
difficult it is to get a pink Corvette in the space of five days—even for an
auto-enthusiast vampire.”

Kristina’s eyes teared up, and she quickly brushed
the drops away. “I can’t believe this…”  Her voice trailed off.

“If you are still inclined to have a Hummer as
well, Kagen has agreed to take you car shopping this coming weekend.”

Her smile was positively radiant as she held up
the keys to the Corvette. “Where is it?”

“In Nachari’s garage, of course. You may claim it
whenever you like.”

Kristina fisted the keys and nodded her head,
trying to play it cool. “Thanks, boss. You know what? You’re not as bad as I
thought.” She looked out toward the river behind the house and immediately averted
her eyes, trying to shield her face with her hair. She was battling tears—for
reasons beyond the car and family—and trying like hell to hide them.

“Kristina,” Marquis whispered.

“Don’t go there.”

“That day by the river—” 

“Marquis, please...just forget it.”

“I want you to know that I wasn’t using you. I
wasn’t...pretending.”

Kristina held up her hand. “Don’t, Marquis. I
mean, the way I see it…you know...hey, it’s all good, right? You did what you
had to do, and well, I’m not all that hard to manipulate...for guys, anyway...so,
whatever. It’s cool.” She tried to force a smile.

He held out his arm and shook his head. “I will
not make light of this with you, Kristina. Nor will I allow you to believe that
what happened between us was a mistake.”

She looked up at him then, and her blue eyes held
a pain so stark that their reflection startled him. “Nah, it’s okay…you know? I
mean, you’re with the woman you’re supposed to be with.” She laughed insincerely.
“And lord knows—you and me—that was a disaster.”

He smiled. “Then tell me why you are crying.”

She rolled her eyes and looked away. “Dag, you are
so pushy!”

He stood firm, staring at her without any anger or
impatience—just waiting.

“I just…it’s just...no big deal really.”

He continued to wait, the silence absolute.

She huffed in exasperation. “It’s just that, you
know…no one ever treated me that special before.” She turned her back to him. “Dirk
never touched me like that...and neither did any of the others...but hey, it
was a mind control kinda thing anyway, right? So more like a dream—nothin’ that
you actually
meant
.”

Marquis reached out and took her by the hand. When
he spun her around to pull her slight body into his own, the short female measured
well below his shoulders. He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled his chin
against her soft, curly hair. “You are special, Kristina. I chose to…
make
love
…to you in that manner because it was the only way I could approach it
that would be authentic. And I
refused
to use you or lie to you involving
something so intimate. I meant every moment of it.”

She shivered, her heart soaking up his words like
a dry sponge dipped in the ocean.

He felt her tears against his arm. “You
know…there’s one thing that I wasn’t able to finish, though.”

She cleared her throat, and they could have both
heard a pin drop from a mile away. “What?”

“There was something else I wanted to give you,
but Nachari showed up before I could…finish.”

She jerked away then, looking up at him with an
ashen expression. “Uh, I’m pretty sure Ciopori’s not havin’ any of that.”

Marquis laughed low in his throat. “You misread
me, little one.” He pulled her back into the comfort of his arms. “You are
thinking of the physical aspect. I am thinking of the spiritual.”

“I don’t want your charity.” She tried, once
again, to pull away, but he wouldn’t allow it.

He growled. “And I’m not very charitable, so
there’s no problem there.” He held her until she quit struggling, and then he
began to surround her body with a warm, glowing energy until she relaxed into him.
Lightly stroking her hair, he placed a gentle image in her mind: that of a
perfect white canvass bearing the reflection of her eternal soul.