The Vampire Bracelet: Erotic Paranormal Romance ( # 2: Blood Genies series) (9 page)

His Adam’s apple bobbed. He looked as jittery as she felt. “All I know is that I want to be with you all the time. If I don’t become mortal when this ends, I’ll be devastated. Not just because I didn’t win the mortality prize, but because you won’t be part of my life.”

“I can’t imagine living my life without you, either. But how qualified am I to fall in love? I’ve only been broken up with Keith for—”

He cut her off. “I hate it when you talk about him.”

“And I hate that he made me leery of me trusting my own instincts.”

“Is what you feel for me stronger than what you felt for him?”

“God, yes.” It was a million times more. A billion. A trillion. “But I’m still scared.”

He choked out a laugh. “I’m petrified, too. I’ve been acting so cavalier, but I’m far from being an expert. The reading I’ve been doing hasn’t helped a bit. I’m totally out of my element.”

She searched his gaze, needing to hear his side of it. She’d never seen him so nervous, so humble. “What scares you the most?”

“Honestly? I’m worried that that I won’t appeal to you if I become human. That I’ll be lacking the qualities you’re attracted to.”

His response confused her. “That doesn’t make sense. You’ll be the same, only mortal.”

“Will I?” He expressed his doubts. “I won’t be able to create magic anymore. That’s a major part of who I am. It fuels my personality.”

“That isn’t true. You’ll still be you, with or without it. The ability to create magic doesn’t fuel you.
You
fuel
you
. Your charm. Your sense of humor.”

“That sounds good in theory. But I’m still worried.” He shifted in his seat. “What about the blood?”

“What about it?”

“Won’t you miss our feedings if I become mortal? Won’t you miss the high it gives you?”

“Yes, I’ll miss it.” She gotten used to the strangely hungered side of their relationship. “But if we stay together as humans, I’ll have new experiences with you that will matter so much more.”

He prodded her to expound. “Like what?”

“Big things, like holidays. Small things, like sitting around watching TV. Annoying things, like catching each other’s colds.”

He teased her, making a cross with his fingers and warding off the foreboding evil. “I haven’t had one of those for over sixty years.”

She teased him right back. “Then you’ll probably catch a doozy.”

They both laughed, and he said, “Tell me about the holidays. What will they be like?”

She went dreamy. “They’ll be perfect and hectic and everything they’re supposed to be. During Christmastime, we can decorate our tree with homemade ornaments, string lights around our house, and hide the presents we bought each other. And on the actual day, we can cook for our families and ply them with eggnog.”

He grinned. “What about New Year’s Eve? Are we going to get sloppily drunk?”

“Sloppily, happily drunk,” she supplied. “With lots of midnight kissing.”

“I like that.” He looked ready to kiss her now. But he queried her instead. “What’s our Valentine’s Day agenda? Do you have anything in mind for that?”

She thought about it for a second. “You can write me a love song.”

He gazed longingly at her. “A love song, huh?”

She nodded, answering his look with one of her own. “If you become mortal, it will be because you love me.”

He finally said it. “I do love you, Marie. By God, I do.”

In an instant the dream turned into reality. “I love you, too.” She couldn’t deny it any longer. Living without Nicholas would be impossible. “I want everything with you.” Everything she’d mentioned and more.

“So do I.” He drew her into his arms. “We’re going to have a big beautiful wedding.”

“And a slew of gorgeous kids.” Their mouths came together and they kissed like desperate fiends. He’d just proposed, and she’d just accepted. Her heart swam with it.

He tugged her onto his lap. “We’re also going to have explosive sex as often as we want.”

“Are we still going to use restraints?”

His eyes flashed. “What do you think?”

She rubbed against him. “I say yes.”

“Absolutely, yes.” He carried her to the bedroom and placed her on the bed. “Would it be wrong for me to use my magic tonight?”

She contemplated his question. In three more days, their new life would begin, his mortal existence, the future they were meant to have. Their destiny, she thought. There was no such thing as wrong. “I think it will be fitting. A farewell of sorts.”

“Then I’m going to restrain you with these.” He created two wickedly rugged pieces of rope. “And this.” One long silky piece of rope.

Once he did away with their clothes, he secured her wrists to the bedpost. Next he harnessed the silky rope in an intricate design, winding it around her breasts and knotting it between her legs. He did this magically, making it slither on its own. Marie’s breath rushed out. She was caught good and tight, the piece between her legs causing a delightful friction.

As he sat back to admire his handiwork, she gazed expectantly at him. As always he was the quintessential bad boy, with his tousled dark hair and rangy muscles. But with those exotic green eyes, he also reminded her of a jungle cat. He behaved like one, too. With the grace of a panther, he moved toward her.

Slow. Calculated.

A chill snaked through her bondage-wrapped body, and he went for the jugular. Fangs bared, he made the connection.

Hard. Sharp. Feral.

She cried out, but he didn’t stop. Her cry was one of excitement. In the throes of his seduction, she relished the feeling, the feeding, the frenzy.

While he drank, he strummed her clit, using the rope to do his dirty work. The more he took, the deeper he rubbed.

Choppy pants. Deep-throated moans. Were those sounds coming from her? She arched her hips, giving him complete control. She wanted him to be her husband, her master. She couldn’t wait to marry him. He was still playing with her pussy, making the rope do its thing.

Her nipples grew achingly taut. Her clit pulsed like a heartbeat. Every hot thrilling moment was an awakening, a screaming burst of pleasure.

Blood and sex.

The climax that exploded could have been fireworks. Colors shattered before her eyes: diamond-white, emerald-green, wedding-ring gold.

The second it subsided, he made the clit-taunting rope vanish and nudged her legs apart, warning her that he wanted to fuck. Eager, she braced herself for his penetration, and he slammed into her, thrusting to the hilt.

“You’re mine,” he said, passionately against her ear. “All mine.”

Hearing those words in the midst of her post-orgasmic, drugged-to-the-nines condition sent another dizzying stream of stupor through her veins.

He fucked her, hard and fast. He drank from her again, too. Finally, he came in a flood of hip-pounding spasms, dragging her into madness with him.

He recovered quickly, but she drifted on the edge of slumber. She curled up next to him, encouraging him to hold her. Gone were the restraints. She sank onto her pillow and closed her eyes. When he became mortal, he would be able to sleep, too. But for now, he was still a supernatural being.

Chapter Eleven

Two days passed, and on the morning of the third and final day, Nicholas watched Marie sleep. She looked so soft and pretty, he couldn’t resist skimming his thumb along her cheek. He was thrilled about the future they were planning. He’d already told Anthony and Tessa. Marie told Darrin, too. Now all they had to do was wait for Nicholas to become mortal and rejoice with their loved ones.

Marie stirred and came awake. She sat up, her hair tumbling around her shoulders. Grateful for the gift he’d been given, he smiled.

She smiled, as well. “Is it too soon to ask if you’re mortal yet?”

“Yes. But the day isn’t over.” He leaned forward, and as they kissed, her lips warmed his. They had plenty of time.

But as the day wore on, nothing happened. Nicholas remained as he was. While holed up in the living room, with the late-day sun spilling in through the blinds, they went into fear mode.

“Are you sure you don’t feel any different?” she asked, cloaked in a ray of unhinged hope. The look in her eyes was far too desperate.

He probably had the same look. At this point, they both sensed a problem. “When it happened to my brother, he got weak and hungry for food, not blood, but normal food. That was the first sign. Then later, his fangs disappeared and his pulse returned. None of that is happening to me.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I.”

“Do you think it’s something we did? Or didn’t do?”

“Like what? One of us not really being in love?” He paused, primed to accuse. “Is it you, Marie? Are you causing it?”

“God, no. I love you, Nicholas. I absolutely do.” She turned the emotion-wracked tables on him. “Are you sure
your
feelings are genuine? That you wanting to be mortal didn’t confuse the issue?

“My motives weren’t pure in the beginning, but they are now. I swear my life on it.”

“Then something else must be wrong. If we both feel the same way, then it can’t be coming from us.”

He panicked. “What if there isn’t a spell on the bracelet? What if it was only on my brother’s pendant?”

“Why would the fairy lie and say that she put a spell on all three pieces?”

“Maybe she thought she did, but the spell only worked on the pendant.”

Their gazes locked. Their fear intensified. In the heat of their turmoil, they agreed that they needed to see Darrin and enlist his help.

An hour later, they arrived at the Chakra Circle. Darrin ushered them inside and closed the shop.

“What should we do, Uncle?” Marie asked.

The older man stood beside the counter, surrounded by candles, crystals, and incense. “The only thing I can think of is to summon Mathieu. He’s the one who discovered there was a spell on the jewelry.”

Nicholas’s fear of doom got stronger, especially when he caught sight of a shelf filled with glass fairies, the painted figurines looking far too fragile. “We kept saying that Mathieu couldn’t intervene with the spell. But what if we were wrong? What if we underestimated him? What if his magic is stronger than the fairy’s?”

Darrin tapped his lip, worried, obviously. “We won’t know until we talk to him.”

Nicholas moved closer to Marie. She wasn’t a gen-vamp or a jewelry owner. She hadn’t been exposed to the genie king. “You should go outside and wait until this is over.”

“Why?” She followed his line of sight to the fairies. “Because you think I can’t handle being around Mathieu?”

“I just don’t want you caught in the middle of my mess.”

“It’s not your mess. It’s our life, our future, and I’m not walking away. Besides, we need to show a united front. If I’m not here, it won’t make as much of an impact. However this turns out, I want Mathieu to see how connected we are. And I want to be here with you.”

Protective, Nicholas reached for her hand. “He’s going to try to intimidate you.”

“I’ve known what a jerk he was since I was a kid.” A frown marred her pretty brow. “Are there any rules I should follow? Can I make eye contact with him? Do I have to courtesy? Call him sire? His Majesty?”

“You’re not one of his subjects or slaves, so you don’t have to do anything except withstand his demeanor. That’s all I have to do, too. But I’m used to it.”

“So am I,” Darrin added.

Marie stood as tall as her frame would allow. “Then I’ll get used to it, too.”

Nicholas despised the thought of her getting used to Mathieu. But he admired her poise and determination, loving her even more for it.

Marie squeezed Nicholas’s hand. Her palms were sweating, but she was doing her best to stay calm. Darrin used a magical device called a Jinn wand, a thin silver rod topped with a black diamond, to summon the genie king.

No one spoke. They waited in a silent anticipation. Agony, Marie thought. She’d forgotten to ask how long it would take for Mathieu to answer the call.

It took a matter of minutes. Loud, thundering minutes.

Mathieu appeared in a jolt, rattling the room with his regal presence and knocking things off the walls. Marie squeezed Nicholas’s hand even tighter.

The imposing ruler boasted a powerful physique, a shock of raven-colored hair, piercing blue eyes, and bronzed skin that caught the light. He actually had an angelic-type glow. Only he was far from celestial. Bared to the waist with jagged tattoos decorating his chest and attired in filmy pants studded with jewels, he possessed the air of a frighteningly handsome demon.

During the ruckus he created, one of the glass fairies fell from her perch and landed at his feet. He kicked the little statue aside, and it hit the baseboard and shattered into unrecognizable pieces. Marie held her breath, and he turned his sapphire gaze on her.