Duet in Blood (32 page)
“Me too,” I said with some vehemence.
DUET IN BLOOD
J.P. Bowie
213
Joseph looked suitably modest. “Well, if it hadn’t been for Charlotte, a woman Darius had rejected some years ago, it might not have ended as it did.”
“But you beat the crap out of him, didn’t you?”
Joseph chuckled. “Not exactly, Roger.”
“Darius used the wizard’s magic tricks,” Marcus explained. “Even so, Joseph bested him. He knew Joseph was the better swordsman. Darius could not trust his own skill as a fighter, so he took the coward’s way out.”
“What d’you mean?” I asked, taking Joseph’s hand.
“He weakened Joseph’s arms so he could not wield his sword.”
“The bastard,” I muttered.
“But he misjudged the loyalty of his followers,” Marcus continued. “They were not willing to overlook his cowardice. The woman Darius betrayed restored Joseph’s strength, and evened the odds.”
Joseph squeezed my hand. “Like I said, Charlotte’s intervention saved my life. In the end, Darius must have rued the day he let her down.”
“Hell hath no fury like…whatever it is,” Ron said, grinning at me.
“Like a woman scorned,” Jean-Claude added.
“Yeah, that. Shakespeare right?”
“Actually, it was William Congreve,” I said. “And it’s ‘Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned’.” There was a slight silence as everyone looked at me with varying degrees of amusement. “Well,” I said, my face growing hot. “I
did
work in a bookstore!”
“Wow…” Roger’s eyes gleamed with mischief. “And Ron told us you were a bit of a
dummy.”
“What?”
Ron looked stricken. “I never said that. Roger, tell him you just made that up.”
Roger’s laughter was contagious. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”
Marcus gave him a stern look. “Try harder next time.”
Amidst good-natured laughter and the clinking of glasses as we toasted Joseph’s safe return to LA, I wondered,
could it get any better than this?
DUET IN BLOOD
J.P. Bowie
214
“Alone at last,” I sighed, closing the door after wishing them all a goodnight.
Joseph took me in his arms and planted a long, hot kiss on my lips. “Alone together,”
he murmured. “Something I have dreamed of, time and again, since you left Paris.”
“Joseph, there’s something I must say to you…about what happened with Darius—”
He put a finger on my lips. “You do not have to explain, Micah. I know of the power he used to make you want him.”
“But I should have stopped him,” I protested.
“You could not, my love. His power transcended your reason, just as Angelo’s almost forced me to make love to him. You have nothing to feel remorse for, Micah.”
“It’s just that…” I choked, and tears stung my eyes as I gazed at his beautiful face. “I feel as though I betrayed you…betrayed our love…that I was weak—”
“Hush…” His arms tightened around me, and he stilled my words with his lips on
mine. “Don’t torture yourself with these thoughts. Darius can never hurt you again. He is gone from our lives, forever. Just know that I love you, and nothing will ever change that.”
“You are so wonderful,” I whispered. “Running from you was the dumbest thing I have ever done. It seemed all I did was make the whole situation worse.”
“You could not know that monster would follow you here. He was obsessed by you—
not that I can blame him for that.”
I shook my head in wonder. “Obsessed…not an emotion I ever thought I would instil in someone like Darius.”
“Oh?” His silvery eyes darkened as he gazed at me. “But it’s all right that you instil that emotion in me?”
“Are you obsessed by me?”
“Completely, utterly, totally, and any other -ly you can think of.”
His smile made my heart turn over. “While you were still in Paris,” I said. “I had the most incredible dream.”
He kissed me tenderly. “Tell me about it,” he murmured, his lips lingering on mine.
“We were floating, high enough to touch the clouds, and you made love to me…up
there. It was the most wonderful dream I’ve ever had.”
DUET IN BLOOD
J.P. Bowie
215
He smiled and took my hand, and we walked to the glass sliding door that led to the tiny balcony outside. We stepped out into the cool night air. He raised his head and stared up at the stars above us.
“Up there?” he asked
“Uh huh…but it was just a dream, Joseph.”
“Dreams can come true,” he said. He lifted me into his arms. “Hold tight.”
Into the night’s dark sky we soared, wrapped in each other’s arms. I laid my head on his shoulder, my lips touching the cool skin of his neck. Below us, the lights of Los Angeles spread out in a seemingly neverending vista, but as spectacular as I knew it would be, my eyes were only for the man who held me pressed to his hard-muscled body.
“I love you,” he whispered. In the moonlight, his eyes seemed to shimmer with an incandescent glow, giving them an almost unearthly quality, and a beauty that could not be defined. Lost in his loving gaze, I knew without a doubt what my destiny would be.
“Take me, Joseph,” I murmured. “Take me now. Make me like you. Bind us in blood, never to be parted.”
“My love…”
His arms tightened around me, his mouth nuzzled my throat. I arched my neck,
cording the tendons and veins beneath my skin. His bite was fierce, and I cried out, but then the sweetness of his mouth soothed the pain, once more bringing me euphoria and, with it, a deep sensual desire.
As we hovered there, somewhere between heaven and earth, my blood infusing him
with its life-sustaining gift, I smiled. Here, at last, was the one to fulfil me in every possible way. One day very soon, I would be changed. I would be like Joseph, and eternity would lie before us…an eternity filled with love, laughter and every possible adventure. How sweet life would be—for my vampire and I.
About the Author
J.P. Bowie was born in Scotland and toured British theatres in numerous musical
shows including Stephen Sondheim’s Company.
Emigrated to the States and worked in Las Vegas, Nevada for the magicians Siegfried and Roy as their Head of Wardrobe at the Mirage Hotel. Currently living in
Henderson, Nevada.
Email:
[email protected]
J.P. loves to hear from readers. You can find his contact information, website and author biography at
http://www.total-e-bound.com
.
Also by J.P. Bowie
My Vampire and I
My Vampire Lover
The Set Up
Summer Bliss
Ride ‘Em Cowboy
Fabulous Brits: Under the Law
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