Blood Red (41 page)

She must do it, must do it to save Yannick and Bastien. It meant leaving everything she knew, the father she loved, the goals she wanted to achieve. Her heart pounded at the enormity of what she was about to do. In England, it was illegal for a widow to marry her late husband’s brother, yet she was about to pledge herself to two brothers.

“What kind of vampire will I be?” she asked, hearing the shake in her voice.

“If you are making the choice with a pure heart…” The smile turned evil. “You will have to wait and see.”

She
must
do it. Love was worth the risk. Her mother had believed that and had married a man who hunted vampires because she loved him.

If she were a vampire like Yannick and Bastien, who were noble and loving, she could give them the love they both needed. Yes, it was truly worth the risk.

And if she became a good vampire, she could still protect mortals from the evil ones.

Bastien kissed her lips. “I would be honored if you were to pledge as my mate. As both our mates.”

Yannick lifted her fingers to his lips, between his fangs. He kissed them. “Will you marry us, Althea?”

A nervous giggle almost escaped. She’d never expected a proposal of marriage at all, certainly not one like this. Not naked on a bed in front of…an audience. Not from two men. She couldn’t help but smile as the queen winked at her. She realized the vampire queen had given her the perfect reason to give in to her wildest desires and claim both twins.

“Your Highness,” she asked nervously, “Will you ensure they live?”

The queen nodded and stood up from the bed. “Well, my dear, aren’t you going to give an answer?”

“Yes,” she gasped. “Heavens, yes.”

“Our shared mate, for eternity?” Yannick asked.

“Yes.” Tears welled as the twins hugged her tight and rained kisses on her cheeks.

To Althea’s astonishment, the queen dabbed at her eyes with a turquoise silk handkerchief.

“Congratulations, gentlemen. I am sure you will endeavor to keep her very happy. And now, I Blood Red by Sharon Page ©2006 Advance Reader Copy www.SharonPage.com 198

have an appointment with Lucifer.”

Before Althea could blink, the golden light swirled around Elizabeth and she vanished inside its vortex. The light faded to twinkles. The queen, and her sumptuous furs, had disappeared.

Althea looked from Yannick to Bastien. “Now what do we do?”

Their fangs lengthened before her eyes. She’d never seen their canines grow so long and they appeared wickedly sharp.

Their eyes glittered, unreadable mirrors.

“Now we give you eternity,” Bastien promised.

She tensed and closed her eyes, waiting for the bite. She caught hold of the strands of hair covering her neck and brushed them back. “I am ready,” she announced.

It wouldn’t hurt too much…surely, it wouldn’t.

“I’m ready,” she repeated. Why wouldn’t they bite now, while her courage was strongest?

Hot moist lips trailed over the swell of her breasts. They kissed so differently. Yannick liked to use the tip of his tongue, Bastien the raspier flat.

“Please…” she murmured.

Or were they having second thoughts? They might love her, but they were both strong, arrogant vampires. Dominant men. Could they truly share forever?

They shared her breasts, swirling their tongues around her nipples in perfect unison.

Pleasure flooded through her. Opening her eyes, she saw Yannick’s pale hands on her hips, his signet ring glinting. He lifted her, settled her on top of his body so she lay on her back over him and she splayed her legs to balance herself.

His cock was hard again, hot and thick and rigid, jutting against her bottom.

Bastien poured a stream of viscous fluid onto Yannick’s hand. Her body blossomed in anticipation and his slippery finger slid easily into her, as he spread the fluid on her. She sobbed at the mind-numbing delight, whimpered as he withdrew, until she felt a bigger, harder pressure against her rim and her muscles resisted opening for something so big.

On a throaty growl, Yannick pushed his cock inside. With a jolt of pleasure and pain, her entrance gave around him, then snapped closed.

He cradled her beneath her breasts once more. Against her ear, his gravelly voice tickled.

“God, I love to feel the head pop in past your tight muscles, to have you grip me so hard…”

She moaned at his words.

“It’s such torture to hold back…”

“Then don’t,” she whispered, “Don’t hold back.” What had she just asked for?

She rocked on him, savoring the way his thick shaft stretched her as he slowly pushed deeper inside. Coarse curls rubbed her derrière when he reached the hilt. At that instant she turned her face to him, and he covered her lips with his own.

He held still, kissing her, as Bastien mounted her from above. Golden hair trailed across her face, as Bastien pressed the head of his prick to her sticky folds. Like an artist with a brush, he stroked her wetness, nudged her lips apart.

The moment of shock as Bastien filled her too. Impossibly full. Instinct made her tense—it would be too much. Once again, they soothed with kisses and caresses, until she relaxed and Blood Red by Sharon Page ©2006 Advance Reader Copy www.SharonPage.com 199

knew nothing but pleasure and the urge to come. They both thrust together, the two shafts withdrawing and then surging forth.

“My bite will be gentle, little dove.” Bastien kissed her cheek, nibbled her ear, put his mouth to her throat.

She knew he would take care, knew she could trust him—

They thrust hard, another deep double thrust. She was being pleasured in every way possible, in cunny and rear, her nipples caressed, her neck suckled, Bastien’s shaft kissing her clit with every long stroke.

Her skin stretched as his fangs pressed. She was so dizzy with pleasure that the touch of his canines sent a jolt of delight through her.

A pinch. A prick. A push. The sharp pain vanished in a heartbeat or two. But another twinge came as the tips of teeth found the wall of—

No, don’t think. Don’t think about it…Heavens! Her blood was flowing. She felt it being drawn from her.

They were supposed to feed her their blood but only at the point of death, she knew. Which meant they must take hers until—

Yannick’s fangs plunged in. She was growing weaker as they pumped their cocks in and drank her blood. Their thrusts grew harder, more frenzied. Every stroke became magnified. It was as though they could stroke her very soul.

Yes, yes, it was worth dying for this.

Her climax crashed through her. She couldn’t cry out—she was too weak. All she could do was whimper and moan and gulp for air.

Now
. Althea heard Yannick’s soft, deep voice in her mind. Dimly, as though she was floating away from him. Her orgasm kept pulsing in beautiful, powerful waves, as though she would never stop coming. Never.

Yannick’s wrist touched her lips. His blood dripped into her mouth, struck her tongue with its coppery heat. She put her lips to his flesh but was too drained to suck.

Yannick’s blood filled her mouth in a choking stream. She forced her throat to swallow.

Bastien’s wrist replaced Yannick’s. A different taste—more tart, almost spicy. She found the strength to drink and suckled at his wrist. He timed each stroke of his cock with her sucking, riding so high that his cock must be painfully bent.

But she was still coming…still coming with long, wonderful pulses, and—

One hard, slippery stroke ignited her. She exploded with the force of gunpowder. Oh God, she was coming apart. Shattering.

Drinking made the pleasure last, so she grabbed Yannick’s wrist and drank greedily.

Yannick had to pry her off so Bastien could give her more. She must be draining them of their blood, but each gulp gave her strength, heightened every sensation, until she sobbed with the racking spasms of her never-ending climax.

Beneath her, Yannick cried out. His hips pushed up, hard and demanding. She felt him come. Felt the hot rush inside her. An instant later, Bastien joined them both in ecstasy.

Althea’s chest rose and fell fervently, trying to draw in air. Bastien, still buried inside her, lay on top of her, his head snuggled against her neck. He’d licked both wounds and Blood Red by Sharon Page ©2006 Advance Reader Copy www.SharonPage.com 200

miraculously they no longer hurt.

Did she feel different? Did she feel…dead?

She didn’t feel crushed by Bastien’s weight though her skin felt especially sensitive, as though she could feel the tickle of each golden hair sprinkling Bastien’s beautiful body. She felt the ridges and planes of Yannick’s muscular body beneath her more acutely than she had before.

The candles seemed to glow brighter.

Everything surrounding her—the bed, the paintings on the walls—was clear, in focus, even without her spectacles. The air held a different scent. Her nose filled with the rich, ripe aroma of blood. She drank it in as though it was the finest perfume. A rhythm drummed through her head. She could hear all three of their heartbeats.

Tentatively, she ran her tongue over her teeth.

“Fangs don’t appear until the night after you’ve changed,” Yannick murmured. His cock was still in her, soft now, but thick enough to leave her breathless. Shifting his hips, he withdrew. Bastien rolled off and moved from the bed.

She closed her eyes. How close was it to dawn?

Cool water dribbled onto her inner thigh. Surprised, she snapped open her lids. With a wet washcloth, Bastien bathed her, his touch loving and gentle as he rinsed her sticky quim.

“Roll over, little dove,” he instructed. She did so, but her limbs felt strangely weak now, as though they were going numb. She lay upon the wrinkled counterpane as he washed her derrière. “A hot bath will have to wait.”

Yannick yawned. “God, I feel weak. Drained. It’s almost dawn.”

She yawned too. “I feel so tired...”

“It’s the change. And dawn. We have to sleep—”

“But it’s worked hasn’t it? She didn’t lie? You two aren’t going to die?”

“We won’t know until the sun rises, love.” Yannick stretched and sat up. “Tonight I think I will sleep nude.” He held out his hand to her. “Sleep with me tonight, angel—if we survive.”

“No.” Bastien dropped the cloth in the basin lying on the bed. “Sleep with me, Althea.”

Then he laughed. “Hell, you can have her tonight, brother, because you’re the eldest. But tomorrow, she sleeps with me.”

Sleep? In a coffin? But in Yannick’s arms, she could do it—she knew she could.

Yannick pressed a panel in the wall and a section of the wall swung open with a click.

Beyond was darkness, although she could distinguish two gleaming coffins on the floor. Bastien extinguished the candles in Yannick’s bedchamber and plunged them into the dark. But in moments, her sight adjusted and she could see. It was like her first dream in which the twins had shared her. Even though Bastien stood in the darkness, she could see his golden hair, his bronze-red mouth, golden curls on his chest, and the thick nest of gold between his thighs. Yannick was silver and shadow, pale shining hair and silver eyes beneath black lashes.

“With the drapes closed, we can wait a little longer—we have a few minutes after the sun rises before we must go to sleep.”

Her heart thumped, each beat a countdown to learning the truth. The men were moving away from her, possibly to protect her, but she grasped Yannick’s hand, then Bastien’s. They would meet this fate together.

Blood Red by Sharon Page ©2006 Advance Reader Copy www.SharonPage.com 201

The twins broke free of her grip. “We have to keep you safe, love.”

They stepped into the secret room. “You stay there,” Yannick commanded.

She was so tired she had to lean against the wall to stand up. Only a few minutes…it must be only a few minutes…

Once she’d never believed it possible to fall in love with a vampire. Once she’d thought it unforgivably sinful to have two lovers.

How would she survive now if she lost them? How could she endure eternity with a broken heart?

Althea spun around to watch at Yannick’s crimson velvet drapes. At the top, there was a small gap. Gray light showed there, revealing the brightening sky. The sun must be up.

She was tempted to race to the drapes, to peek outside, to see, but she feared what would happen. And she couldn’t will her feet to move.

She leaned heavily against the doorframe. Yannick moved unsteadily toward her, as though his legs were turning to water beneath him.

“It is dawn, angel. We aren’t going to be destroyed. Now we have to get inside the coffins.

Quickly.”

Dawn.

Tears welled, broke free. The queen had not lied. Dawn had come and they were still alive—undead, rather.

Yannick’s hand was outstretched, concern etched on his face. How clearly she could see now. She could even see the stark emotions in his eyes. Worry. And love. He might have died, yet all he felt was concern for her.

She tried to meet him halfway but her legs wouldn’t obey. She tried to force them into a step but they crumpled. Yannick caught her. How he found the strength to scoop her into his arms, she couldn’t imagine.

Bastien gave her a soft kiss as Yannick stopped beside one of the coffins. “I love you, little dove. And tomorrow night you are mine.”

Finally she could see the color of Bastien’s eyes—a hint of the iris around the large, shiny black pupils. Gray-blue, the color of stormy seas.

Thank you, Althea, for believing in me.
For seeing beyond the demon,
Bastien murmured in her thoughts as he kissed her lips.

Love flooded through her at his kiss, his love, and it warmed her heart like a flame. A flame which would burn for eternity. She didn’t feel as though she had given up her soul. How could she have no soul and feel such wonderful, delirious happiness inside?