Feral: Part One (10 page)

“As your mate, there is nothing that is personal,” he responded. “I will answer any questions you have, no matter how personal you believe them to be. Whatever I know, you have a right to know as well,
mia diletta.”

“You said vampires inherently want to drink their human mates’ blood,” I stated calmly. “So you want to drink my blood?”

“Yes.” It was frank for sure, but I could not help but think there was something missing from his answer, and it took several minutes of prodding for him to continue with what it was he really wanted to say. “While I am unsure what you smell like to others, to me you have the bouquet of an exquisite Amarone wine. A fragrant blend of coffee and cherries. Full and generous. Almost awe-inspiring with its powerful flavors, with just a small bite at the end of the experience."

His fingers caressed my throat slowly, and I leaned into the touch with a moan. "To a creature such as myself, you are something so rare and divine that it would be a sin to just drain you thoughtlessly. No, Sofia. I would only occasionally soothe my palette with your delicious flavor, for you,
mia squisita diletta,
are most tempting. You—" he trailed his tongue over my fluttering vein— "you are meant to be sampled,
mio tesoro.
That is what your blood is to me," he cooed. "I could never just drink of you so carelessly, until the last drop was pulled from you. No, no, no. I would savor your blood for years to come."

Figlio di puttana!
Son of a bitch.

Those words should have not have been as arousing as I found them. The man had compared me to a popular Italian wine, and had proceeded to describe, rather tantalizingly, how he would drink, or rather not drink, from me. Of course, in my mind this equated to the same thing, and to my mortification, I found myself inquiring if he ever would give in to the enticing pull he felt and indulge.

“I must confess that denying myself the taste of your blood would be almost as painful as denying my feelings for you,” he answered. “But you should be aware I could never bring myself to drink from you. It would be inappropriate to do so.”

This shocked me and left me feeling strangely disappointed.

My face must have betrayed the myriad of emotions, because he sat up to face me when he spoke. “From the moment I awoke to my condition, I swore to myself I would not let the blood of humans pass my lips, and I failed,” he continued, “as I still do. I have striven for centuries to attempt to perfect my control, and while I have succeeded for some time, I inevitably fall short. Yet even with my failures, I still endeavor to be a better example. How do you think it would appear to my clan if I were to so easily succumb to the temptation of your blood, if I were to allow myself to partake of the luscious life that flows through your veins?"

“Do you not just love how he presumes to know what we think? It is so horrendously aggravating.”

My head snapped up, and I found two women standing in the door way. One was pale as porcelain; the other had a hint of mocha in her pearly skin, and after taking another look at Simon’s coloring, I reasoned she was probably of Middle Eastern descent. Either way, they were both incredibly beautiful, more so than any human I had ever met.

"May," the younger one warned softly.

The one named May had raven hair as straight as a yard stick which flowed all the way down her back, and eyes that seemed to be a perfect blend of rosewood and cinnamon. She looked elegant and exotic, and I felt an uncomfortable twinge of inferiority just looking at her.

I couldn’t help but notice that while the fiery red-head’s murky brown eyes looked directly at mine, they did not seem to focus on to them, see into them, and it took me several moments to realize the reason was a lack of sight—a blind vampire!

I felt like I would get whiplash at how fast I glanced between Simon and May then back to this other female.

“Yes,” she interjected into my silent questions, sounding amazingly pleasant and entirely unoffended. “I’m blind, and yes, it took me awhile to learn how to be the only blind vampire I know of.”

“Sofia Deering,” Simon began, “allow me to introduce
Maymūna bint Fātima bint al-Hārith ibn al-Basīr
, also called Maymūna Bashir or May O’Cleirigh. The number of her names makes mine look positively pitiful. She is both Kendal’s wife and mate.”

And she was definitely of Middle Eastern decent.

“So-fī-uh. What an interesting pronunciation,” the other succubus said cheerfully, pulling me from my thoughts as she walked straight to the edge of the bed. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Sofia. I’m Grace Bennett. And you’ll have to forgive May; she’s rather blunt.”

I nibbled my lower lip for a moment then spoke up in defense of the exotic vampire. "Well, she may have a point."

When Grace raised an eyebrow at me, I shrugged and cast another apologetic glance to my surprised mate. "It’s not like your clan is full of children. They’re adults, very old adults I’m guessing. They’re capable of making their own decisions with or without your help, and at such an age, I’m fairly certain your behavior wouldn’t really influence their choices, nor do I think your choices would the sole basis of their view of you. Not only that, it does make it sound like you’re trying to be better than everyone else,” I challenged.

I saw Maymūna move from the doorway, her arms crossed in front of her as she spoke. "It would seem that way, but it is not," she said softly. "He does not think he is better than us. He just hates himself that much. He believes he’s a monster, a true monster. He can always believe there is forgiveness and redemption for others, but not for himself. He can see the goodness in his clan members, but not in himself. He does not think any less of us for being what we are, but he absolutely loathes his existence.”

She stopped at the foot of the bed. "You would not know this, because you are new to the clan, but he strives, overly so, to be human because he cannot bear to be seen as what he feels is a monster. The only time I have ever seen his genuine nature show through is when he hunts. Even around the mansion, with no humans to see, he has always walked at a human’s pace," Maymūna sighed heavily. "While no one of us chose to be this way, no one of us, save Simon, tries so desperately to deny our instincts.

“I was surprised to see him use his speed earlier and amazed when I heard him growl and purr. It is the first time in many decades I have heard him growl, and it is the first time in the centuries I have known him I have heard him purr at all. For awhile, I was beginning to think he was entirely incapable of doing so.”

“Maymūna,” he growled her name in warning, his face contorting to show his aggravation. “While I do appreciate that you and Grace came to introduce yourself to my mate, I do believe you are pressing the limits of my benevolence. Perhaps you and Grace should visit the city while your mate is out?”

“Of course, Simon,” the woman in question demurred, before her voice took on a playful tone. “Come, Lady Grace. It is not often we are dismissed. Best not to enrage the old lion.”

“Maymūna!” The male’s rumbling voice reverberated off the wall. “Get. Out.”

When we were alone, he exhaled noisily and his eyes drifted closed. “I apologize for her. She is, as Grace said, outspoken… amongst other things.”

“Why? Why apologize?” I returned with firm gentleness. "Simon, if I'm to be your mate, I want to know you, the real you. I deserve to know exactly who and what you are. I deserve to know every part of you." I gave him a sympathetic smile when his eyes snapped open to study me. "Simon, you need to give me more credit and trust than you do."

"Sofia—"

"Simon, listen to me." I placed a hand on his chest. "I can’t believe you are a monster. I can’t believe you’d take delight in taking any creature’s life, human or otherwise. You said you’re a vampire. Since that’s obviously the case, you do what you must to survive. No more, no less. If you were to take pleasure in your actions, it would be different. You said yourself you try to maintain a diet of bagged and animal blood. It's admirable.”

I worried with the inside of my lower lip as I tried to piece together my streaming thoughts. “There's a difference between pushing away the instinct to kill and denying your entire being. From what I know of you, you seem to have more restraint and more humanity than most of humanity. Humans torture, rape, kill. Our species is capable of the most unthinkable horrors." I offered a small smile. "Being a vampire doesn't make you a monster. A monster is born of behavior, and I haven’t once seen anything from you that would suggest you’re what you seem to believe you are. Or was Maymūna telling stories?"

“I have a rather repulsive past,
amore,”
he responded. “I can never forget the actions of my previous life or the beginnings of this reality, but perhaps you are right, and I am not damned. No creature damned by God could be blessed with a gift as wise, charitable and loving as yourself,
bella mia.

“And for you, I will endeavor to relinquish my rather unfounded hold upon my self-hatred." He stroked my ear with a cool finger and I shivered. "But if I am to be quite honest, Sofia, I doubt that I will ever give in to my desires to drink from you. I am afraid, given my past, I would feel rather guilty for indulging myself of your delightful taste."

I sighed. "Wow, Simon. Getting things through your head is like getting a camel through the eye of a needle."

He smirked at me. "Nicely phrased, Sofia."

"Thank you. I do try, but that wasn't all, I'm afraid," I chuckled. "You have to remember, Simon, if I offer you my blood, it’s consensual. You’re taking nothing. There’s no wrongdoing under those conditions. And I’m guessing with what you said about not being able to hurt me, it’s impossible for you to take my life, given I’m your mate."

"Sofia," he drawled in warning.

"I'm not asking you to drink my blood," I spoke in dulcet tones, “though I suppose in the future, once I’ve gotten used to all this, I wouldn’t be opposed to you tasting it.” I reached up suddenly, pleased when he leaned down into my touch, and threaded my hands through his brown hair, mussing it and letting it spill across his face and neck. "And you might be surprised, Simon. Your clan most likely just wants you to be happy."

He closed his eyes tightly, and I knew that he desperately wanted to argue with me, but I cut him off before he could. "May I ask you another question?"

His eyes popped open, and he grinned mischievously. "You have not run out?"

I made a face then smiled. “Will you purr for me again?”

He slowly lowered himself against my side, his eyes a glittering plum as he braced himself over me on the bed with one arm. With his free hand, he pushed my hair away from my face, then stroked my cheek gently. "Sofia," he breathed, my name sounding like a prayer upon his lips. It sounded so familiar, so comfortable.
“Bella mia, vita mia."
He dropped his head to my shoulder, kissing and licking his way to my neck, where his tongue dragged over my racing pulse. “
Piacevole
."

I was lost to his touch, overwhelmed and, beneath the haze of sudden pleasure, staggered at how quickly my fatigue and soreness disappeared and how easily and instinctively my body seemed to submit to this man. I could not stop my lips from tugging into a smile as I let my hands run languidly over his broad shoulders. When he started purring sentences in Italian, I giggled, and as his head came up, his dark eyes searching mine curiously, I explained, "You stopped speaking English altogether."

I knew in an instant he was blushing even if no blood flooded his cheeks. It was the way he licked those delectable lips. "Does it bother you?" he questioned softly.

I shook my head. "No, not at all. I like it. A lot," I said with a grin, "even if I can't understand any of it."

He smirked and continued purring in his native language.
"Mia diletta."
His eyes gleamed down at me with wistful adoration, and when I repeated the unrecognizable term, he smiled. "Delight."

"Piacevole?"

He rumbled low in his chest and moved his face to nuzzle my neck, his lips parting and latching onto the flesh he found there, sucking gently before giving a flick to the sensitive skin with this tongue. "Delicious. Figuratively, though you are also quite
deliziosa
."

"So you’ve hinted at before."

I moaned as his talented mouth explored every inch of my throat and shoulders, and when his cool hand caressed one breast through the fabric of my top, I gasped and arched into the touch. It was so natural, like his hand had roamed this path before and I had given into it just as I was now. I felt the heat spreading from my face to my neck as my arousal grew more apparent. With the wet heat pooling between my thighs, I knew he could smell my desire, and I shivered as I watched him stop to inhale deeply, the soft purr changing to a sensual growl.

While his purr was a sound of absolute beauty, his growl was pure erotic delight. Before I could even tell my brain to tell my mouth to keep itself shut, I voiced my blissful thoughts through a harsh moan, and to my utter glee, he growled louder.
“Bella mia,
my beautiful.”

He claimed my lips in a tender kiss, his tongue tracing the inside of my lip before battling me for control. He murmured Italian endearments into my ear as I raised my hands to push away the creamy shirt, and as soon as I had the material free from his body, my hands roamed over his torso.

The definition to his chest and abdomen was reasonably defined, pleasing without being excessively muscular. There was a light sprinkling of hair across his upper chest, and a tempting line trailed from just below his navel and disappeared beneath his loose black pants.

He was stunning.

"Simon Treviso," I whispered in my most reverent voice while I continued to memorize every line of his body, "you are truly the most gorgeous man upon this Earth." I looked up at him, my eyes locking with his. "I know I can’t make you see what I see when I look at you. I know you won’t trust in your humanity overnight, but I want you to swear to me that even when you doubt yourself, you’ll never doubt me, because I see the real you. The physical beauty I see only reflects the goodness I know is in your soul, Simon."