Ravenous (Siren Publishing Classic) (5 page)

“If you believe their behavior will be cured by spending time in my company in the evenings, then we shall start tomorrow evening, but the days are my own, Miss Goodwin.” That last was said with finality.

It was a start, Emma thought.

“Thank you, my lord. I am sure they will be pleased to start dining with you. However, I think my company would inhibit your progress.”

Gabriel thought he must have not heard her correctly, but in the end he had. “Do you mean to say you will not dine with us?”

“I mean to say, I think you should spend time with the children without the aid of hired help,” she finished.

“No, that is unacceptable.” Something hard and hot spiraled through his chest at the thought of her wanting to spend time away from him. It was not a sentiment he was willing to examine, but nevertheless it was there. He came to her night after night and watched as she made love to herself. She did not know this, but he was affronted that she wanted to pull away from him.

“We will dine together and then we will put the children to bed jointly. Is that understood?”

“I really think…”

“You are not paid to think, you are paid to do a job of work. And you are overstepping your confines yet again!”

“I would not have to overstep if you saw to reason. These children need you,” she all but bellowed.

Gabriel set his drink down and stalked her to the wall; she stopped as her back hit the wood. His gaze delved into her bright-blue eyes and he felt the hunger rise up within him. He wanted her in his arms, his fingers pumping into her slippery pussy, her breasts wet with his tongue and teeth. This stranger of a woman raised a sexual hunger within him that was foreign, but needed assuaging. He could smell her initial cum in the air, her longing to connect to him in the most basic way.

He touched her hair with his hand and lowered his fingers to run along her jawline. She shivered not with fright, but with lust.

“Who are you, Mercy?”

And with that statement, he sealed his lips to hers. She tasted as he expected, simply delicious. He was ravenous for her. She was honey and sunshine, and she felt of silk. She was everything that he was not. And he wanted to gobble her up.

Emma felt his tongue invade her mouth, and she could not help but allow him entrance. He moaned at her acceptance. She knew this was wrong. She was his employee, but she could not help the heat that coursed through her veins and centered in her twat. Her knees were weak and there was the uncomfortable feel of her swollen clitoris. She had a raging need for him to plunge his cock within her as she fingered her pussy.

“My lord…”

“Say my name. Call me Gabriel,” he stated.

They kissed a while longer until he moved his lips to her neck. She repeated his name, “Gabriel.”

He kissed her along her breast line. He wanted to move the blasted material of her dress out of his way. Instead, he scraped his teeth against her pale throat. She shivered in response.

Emma thought this was much better than any dream she had fantasized. He was holding her in his arms, he was kissing the life from her, and she was too enthralled to stop him. She would give him anything he wanted. She wanted the same things. She grasped onto his shoulders and dug her nails into his muscles to keep herself upright.

Gabriel gave a curse of frustration. Her breasts were confined by her proper dress. Insane with desire for her, he ripped the neckline open and exposed her naked breasts to the chilly night air. He moaned in gratification as her nipples pebbled. He rained kisses upon her teats as his hand made his way up her skirts to trip along her thigh.

“Please, please,” she moaned.

She must be mad to let this man touch her thus, but she wanted him. She felt her slit warm to his fingers. If she was not careful, she could fall in love with him. She certainly knew she wanted him. She weighed her options in her fogged brain. She was a gently bred lady, who escaped to work for a man who was perceived to be insane. However, she was willing to give her innocence to him without the benefit of marriage.

He came to her wet, hot pussy and groaned to feel she was ready to receive him. He wanted to throw her to the floor and take her upon the rug. He was crazed with lust for her body, and he knew instinctively she wanted his as well. He may not be able to read her mind, but a man knew when a woman wanted him.

He circled her clitoris, and she bucked her hips in need. She wanted to reach for his ballocks, but did not know how to touch him, to please him. He sensed her hesitation and said, “You want to touch my cock. I know you do, however, this is for you, let me please you.”

Emma nodded her head as he began to bring her to an agonizing orgasm. She was ravenous for his touch, his taste. She would have agreed to anything he suggested. She was limp with relief and slight frustration that he would not let her touch him.

Gabriel held her in his arms and felt, for the first time in a very long time, at peace. She brought calm to his life that he had never known, and he found he could relieve her lust without taking her blood, which made him happier tenfold.

Emma raised her eyes to his chocolate brown and moaned when he brought his glistening fingers up to his mouth and licked her cum from them. It was the most erotic action she had ever seen or imagined.

Gabriel smiled at Mercy’s reaction to his tasting of her pussy. She would be an explosive lover.

When her trembling subsided, she started. “My lord…”

He stopped her with a finger and said, “You are about to tell me that the encounter was a mistake, but I must say I do not feel the same way, and neither should you. We are both adults needing companionship. I enjoy your company, Mercy. Do not spoil it by a postmortem,” he stated.

Emma knew he was right. Being upset by something they both wanted and needed was indeed silly. However, he was her employer. And she could smell herself on his fingers, which made her shake with more need. For Christ’s sake, she could smell her cum on his fingers!

He saw indecision waver in her mind and cursed his inability to read her thoughts. He needed to find out who this woman was and why she was different.

Emma felt a crushing headache coming on. She tried to stand, but found her knees buckle under her.

With an expletive, Gabriel picked her up and disappeared from the room. He rematerialized into Mercy’s room, and then removed Anne from the room.

She is sick, and I need to see to her, Anne.

Aye, my lord, I will be below stairs if ye need me.

“Mercy, Mercy!”

She was unresponsive and pale. He felt for her pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when he found her heart beating, but out of rhythm. Her lungs were trying to keep up with her blood flow. Mercy was sick, and he did not know why.

Gabriel moved her to the bed, and made a decision he knew he would probably someday regret. He bit into his wrist and fed her some of his blood. He knew he had healing properties inside of himself since he was never ill and could at no time die by any human illness. He hoped it would help her.

He would not cross her over to his kind. He would have to drain her of her fresh blood and replace it with that of his deceased blood. He had never let another drink from him, and he prayed to a God that he no longer believed existed to help his Mercy.

He drizzled a little from his wrist to her mouth. She gulped and gasped. Her body began to shake as Gabriel tried to keep her from falling off the bed. He did not hold on too tightly. He did not want to bruise her delicate skin.

The shaking stopped, and the pain seemed to leave her. She rested in a peaceful slumber that brought Gabriel relief. Her heart returned to normal beating, and he felt her mind open slightly, not enough to read any thoughts, but enough to know she was better.

* * * *

The Duke of Greensburg’s estate

His Grace the Duke of Greensburg sat in front of his fire as his eldest daughter held her chest in pain. The girl had become vocal this evening, and she needed to be taught a lesson in knowing her place.

“Leave the room, girl.” As he said it, she fled into the hallway.

The duke took a drink of his port and stared into the fire. It had been days and no sign of Emma. His hand flexed upon the glass until he heard it crack. He downed the rest of the contents and told himself he would find her and marry her and teach her a wife’s place, just as he taught all women to mind their places.

* * * *

The earl’s castle

Much later that night Emma awoke to the earl seated next to her bed. She sat up with a start, and realized any lingering pain from her head was gone, as a matter of fact. She felt alive and invigorated. Better than she had in years really.

“I see you are better, Mercy. You had me worried for a moment,” Gabriel stated.

“Aye, indeed, you did not have to wait in a seated chair, my lord.”

“Bollocks, Mercy. Do not act as if we have had nothing except a passing conversation. We made love in my office. I believe you may call me Gabriel now, at least in private. We need to discuss what happened here tonight and the night you came to my home.”

Emma was surprised by his tone and the vulgar language. She must have hurt his pride.

“I am sorry, Gabriel. I am new to all of this. I have never kissed or let a man touch me before this evening. I have had dreams, but they did not quite compare to the real intimacy.”

“You did not answer my question, tell me what happened tonight,” he insisted.

“I do not know, Gabriel. I have had these crushing headaches since my brother’s death. I supposed it was due to stress, but they have become increasingly worse. Last night was the second time I have fainted from one. It would seem after incredible exertion I get them,” she stated, coloring slightly at the comment.

Gabriel pointed at her head and said, “There is something wrong here. You have had these headaches for a year. That is not simple stress.”

“Tonight is different. I awoke in comfort and not in pain and despair. Perhaps they are becoming better?”

Gabriel said nothing, but knew it was his blood coursing through her veins that aided in her recovery.

“Please tell me who you are, Mercy. I want to help you. However, I cannot unless you tell me.”

She looked into his chocolate-brown eyes and quivered. She could not. “I cannot Gabriel. For it may bring danger.”

“If there is a danger to you, you must tell me. For if there is a danger to you, there is a danger to the children,” he added.

She knew all this. She also knew that this could not last. “I will leave tomorrow morning, my lord.”

“What!” he thundered. “You simply cannot leave your post. The children depend on you, and you have signed paperwork stating that you cannot leave unless I consent, and I will not offer my consent.”

She gaped at him. He could not be serious. “Pardon me, my lord. I cannot leave without your consent? I would never sign such a paper.”

“You did, in fact. George would be happy to show you,” he murmured.

She gasped at him. She was so happy to sign the papers, she had not read over them. Rebellion formed in her chest as she looked into his eyes.

“So we are once again employer and employee and not lovers. I do not have to divulge my past to you, and if you see fit you may dismiss me from my post, and I will find employment elsewhere.”

It was lie, but she could not involve him in her affairs. It would not end well, and he may send her back to her father’s care to marry the duke. She held her resolve as Gabriel stood and walked toward the door.

He stopped and stated with finality, “We will dine together and put the children in bed in cooperation. It is your job as the governess to see to the children’s needs.” With that said he walked out of the room.

Emma felt the tears roll down her cheeks before her face touched the pillow.

* * * *

Gabriel heard her tears fall silently. He nearly ran back to the room to take her into his arms, almost.

George, I want you to investigate our new governess. She states she is from Sussex. I do not entirely believe her tale.

Aye, my lord, I will contact Anthony. We shall have the information you seek presently.

Gabriel was so angry that he walked the hallways to his office. He took great satisfaction in slamming the door closed. He was frustrated, aroused, and hungry for blood. He checked the time and noted it was well past midnight. The sun would be rising shortly. He walked over to his glass and realized the blood had been sitting for too long. It had separated.

With an expletive, he willed himself to a local tavern. Gabriel stood in the shadows as a man and a prostitute came from the doorway, drunk and wobbly. Gabriel willed them to him, which was entirely easy since their minds were clouded already. He kept the man in a processed state as he took the woman into his arms and pricked the skin at the base of her neck. With his eyes flashing hellfire, he drank from her. She tasted of blood. However, it was tainted, as if her blood was bad. He backed away from her and took the man into his arms and ended with the same result.