Blood Mate (8 page)

He nodded. “We’ll
deal with everyone on a case-by-case basis.”

“You mean you’ll
use mind control.” She didn’t like the idea of him being inside
the heads of those she loved and cared about.

“Would you
prefer they suffer thinking something happened to you?”

She shook her
head. “You know I wouldn’t.”

“Okay, then. Eat
your dinner. I want you to start taking care of yourself. Put some
weight back on, and get back out in the sun. You’re far too pale
and thin.” He trailed off abruptly and she wondered if that
sentence was about to end with “for my tastes.”

When she’d
finished eating he led her through the huge entry hall and up a grand
staircase. She followed him to a closed door and waited—feeling
awkward and afraid of what he might expect next—while he produced a
key from his pocket to unlock the door.

“This is your
room.”

Nicole couldn’t
focus on the room for all the extra stuff that was in it. Bags filled
with designer label clothes, boxes of shoes, cases of fine wines,
most of them Cabernet Sauvignon—her favorite. Boxes of fine
chocolates, plush bath robes, an uncountable number of velvet jewelry
boxes, as well as bubble baths and lotions and expensive cosmetics
and fragrances. There were several tall stacks of first edition
books, many of them classics that would have been very hard to find
in such condition.

Every available
table and solid surface held vases and vases of red roses which had
wilted and died, the petals dried and crumbling apart.

“I apologize for
the roses. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in this room. I
thought things would happen more quickly between us.”

She dragged her
gaze away from the gifts. “You can’t buy me! I’m not a thing
you can purchase!”

His eyes were sad.
“You’re already mine, poppet. If I’d thought I could buy you, I
would have brought you here first. It’s already sealed between us,
these are only small tokens of my gratitude. I know they can never
repay you for your sacrifice. Just know that there is no limit to
what I will give you now that you’re mine. There are glasses in the
minibar if you’d like to try the wine.”

Nicole hadn’t
noticed the minibar in all the piles of boxes and bags.

“I won’t
hover. I’ll leave you alone for now.” He shut the door on his way
out.

A corkscrew lay on
top of the minibar. Nicole poured a glass of wine as she sifted
through the bags and boxes. It was no surprise that all of his gifts
reflected the same level of good taste as the rest of his remote
estate. She opened one of the jewelry boxes to find an ornate,
glittering filigree gold necklace which would lay flush against her
skin and make her look like royalty—if she could ever bring herself
to put it on. Wearing any jewelry but the bracelet her husband had
given her, felt like more betrayal.

She closed the box
and went back to the wine. It didn’t matter what the vampire said;
she felt bought. And he
had
bought her—with the promise of
Dominic.

***

Nicole
woke the following morning, her mouth dry. Something shifted across
the room and she bolted upright to find August sleeping—or trying
to—in a chair in the corner. He’d watched her for hours, which
made her more grateful that she’d be sleeping in Dominic’s bed
tonight.

She’d
been surprised when the vampire hadn’t tried anything sexual. He
hadn’t insisted on sharing the bed. Maybe he wasn’t into her—only
her blood and the hope of freedom it brought him. If that were
true, she hoped his feelings remained that way—blood only. She
squeezed her eyes tight against the memory of his bite, of the
unrelenting sting. Large, dull needles poking at her skin like some
medieval torture.

Though no physical
mark had been left on her—and she didn’t want to begin to guess
about that—she felt bruised, somehow broken inside beneath the skin
where he’d bitten her. The soreness was a different kind of
virginity lost, and she prayed it was only a remnant of the first
time. Somehow she doubted it. Flesh was never designed to take fangs
inside it. There was no reason to think it would ever stop hurting
when he bit her.

She breathed
slowly and deeply to push away the edging hysteria. If it built too
large in her head, being fed on would hurt even more from the
anticipation and tension.

“Nicolette, are
you all right, my dear?”

She opened her
eyes to find his sharp gaze on her. How long had he been staring like
that?

“I’m fine.”
She wasn’t going to get weepy and weak. She’d made her choice,
and she would make it again if it meant Dominic’s arms could be
around her tonight.

August stood and
stretched, popping his neck and back. “Let’s get you fed and back
home.”

She’d worried he
would take it all away. Especially in the light of day, he had to
know he didn’t have to keep his word.

“Why are you
going to so much trouble for me?”
Shut up, Nicole. Don’t draw
attention to it. Just take it and go.

“You’ve freed
me from my curse. You’re everything—the sun and the stars, the
universe. There is no request too great. I told you that last night.
There is nothing you could ask for that I would deny you now.
Including your husband.”

“Last night in
the kitchen I thought you’d go back on your word. The expression on
your face… I thought… ”

“I was hurt that
you wanted to get away from me so quickly. But why wouldn’t you?
After the hell I put you through to get here.”

Shouldn’t her
first thought upon awakening have been of the cellar? Of her
suffering and fear and sadness? It had been a constant companion upon
every other awakening since she’d been there. Now it was chillingly
absent. It had been a comforting blanket that reminded her which one
of them was the bad guy and which one of them was the real victim.
But this morning it felt unreal. Even with his blood, she somehow
hadn’t believed she would still feel whole the next morning.

Nicole’s hand
moved to her neck and her eyes met his, imploring him to answer the
questions she couldn’t yet put words to, but he looked away then
left her alone.

She ducked into
the bathroom to freshen up, drawing back in shock at the skeletal
face that greeted her. She’d lost so much weight, gotten so pale.
No wonder he hadn’t tried to sleep in the bed with her. Who would
want that? She was a walking corpse, little better than he’d looked
that first night in the cellar.

She turned away
from her reflection and went to the kitchen where the vampire was
already cracking eggs in a skillet. “August, I can’t go home like
this. I look… dead.”

He glanced up.
“You’ll regain your weight and color soon. Much faster with the
bond. I can make your husband and family see you as you were until
then. Stay away from work for a few days until you’re back to full
strength and color. And get some sun.”

“Okay.” Of
course. If he could manipulate minds anyway, it would be such a small
matter to change their perception of her. Still, she hated that when
Dominic saw her, he wouldn’t really see her, but the image August
projected onto the screen of her husband’s mind. This whole thing
was sordid and dirty.

“Just my blood,
right?”

He glanced up.
“Excuse me?”

“That’s all
you want from me?” Her voice squeaked as she pushed the question
out, and she knew she must sound ridiculous.

His gaze swept
over her, but he turned his focus back to the eggs without comment.

Nicole felt stupid
for asking. Even someone who could be as hideous as August could
wouldn’t find her bedraggled look appealing, but she wouldn’t
look this bad for long.

It was hard,
seeing him now, to imagine that first night—the way his face had
seemed as if it were rotting off the bone, as if he were decomposing
before her eyes, like watching a flower bloom and die rapidly through
the magic of time-lapse photography.

Since that night,
she’d seen him look tired, and once, when he’d skipped a day’s
feeding, like an older, distinguished man, but then he’d fed and
been returned to perfection and youth once again.

The plate thudded
on the table in front of her, jolting her back. August, in his
perfect incarnation, sat across from her. She felt like a new puppy
that had been brought home where every boring activity was filled
with voyeuristic fascination for the new owners.

“Aren’t you
eating?” She grimaced as soon as the words left her mouth.

A slow smile
spread over his face as his gaze slid to her jugular. “I already
ate, poppet.”

Blood rushed into
her cheeks as she tried to concentrate on her eggs. Her mind drifted
back to the creepy vampire rotting thing. “Will you still decompose
if you don’t feed from me?”

“Yes. And don’t
try to get out of it. There is no place far enough for you to run.
You and I are stuck together now.”

“I-I didn’t
mean… ” What
did
she mean? “What will happen to me? Will
I age?” She hadn’t thought about any of this last night. She
wasn’t a vampire. Maybe she would be immortal and feed him, but
continue to age. She imagined herself old and shrunken and hiding
away in the cellar from people and tried to think about how long he’d
be able to stomach feeding from her before he just went back to
killing.

He left the room
and returned with a gilded book that must have been created at the
beginning of time. The paper would surely flutter into dust at the
lightest touch. But when he opened the book, the pages were strong
and thick. They were made of stiff cloth with words written in an
ornate script in ink that refused to fade.

August thumbed
through several pages and pointed at the top of a new section. “It’s
all there. No. You won’t age. You can’t die. You won’t have to
drink blood to maintain anything. You will be you, but stronger. Able
to heal faster, regenerate blood more quickly. For me.”

She shivered as
that last part vibrated against the air. He stood so close. He
smelled good. Masculine and clean. Nicole tried to ignore him. She
loved Dominic. Any chemical attraction she might feel toward August
was a weird mixture of pity, sadness, gratitude, and whatever
supernatural thing he’d done to her through the blood exchange.
Nothing more.

Chapter Six

August didn’t
attempt to engage her in conversation on the ride home. She would
have to come to him in her own time. Did he have plans for more than
her blood? Of all the questions. She was his mate. Her blood sang to
him like a lullaby, asking him to take her in every way a woman could
be taken. But such a thing couldn’t be explained without sounding
sinister. And he didn’t want to have to chase her.

It would be best
if she could learn to accept things. He would grant this compromise
because he’d spoken the truth when he’d said he would give her
anything. If it was in his power, she could have it.

They sat in the
driveway of her parents’ house while the rain beat against the
windshield, occasional streaks of electricity lighting the overcast
sky.

“Maybe they
don’t know I’m gone. I don’t see them a lot. Maybe we should
go.” Her foot bounced against the floorboard.

She jumped when
August put his hand on her knee to stop the constant movement. “Why
don’t you want to see them?”

Frightened eyes
rose to his. “You’re a vampire.”

“You think I’ll
hurt them.”

“I don’t know.
You could.”

Her gaze went from
his to his hand on her knee and then back up to his eyes again.
Pleading. She wouldn’t say the words out loud. She wouldn’t ask
him to stop touching her, but he knew she wanted him to. It was
almost as if he could read the thoughts right out of her head. She
wanted it to just be her blood. Too bad, but they didn’t have to
talk about that now.

August patted her
leg like a father or platonic friend, and the breath she’d been
holding spiraled out of her in a soft sigh into the stillness of the
car. “Come on. Let’s get this taken care of so you can go home to
your husband.”

When he reached
the front door, she was behind him, waiting like a stray he’d
picked up instead of someone who belonged there.

He rang twice
before a woman in her late fifties opened the door. She had kind eyes
that resembled how Nicolette’s might be if age were allowed to
grace the edges of her features. Silver streaks highlighted the
woman’s dark brown hair.

He hated having to
do this, but seeing a strange man on the doorstep with her emaciated
daughter would not garner him an invitation through a simple request.
It was the one thing he couldn’t gain from people through mind
control. Humans had been allowed that one safe haven when the gods
had worked their curse. It didn’t mean he couldn’t use threats to
gain compliance. And he had strong collateral.

“Can I help… ”
The woman’s words died when she saw Nicolette shivering in the
rain.

August grabbed his
mate roughly by the throat. Her heart rate ratcheted to an impossible
speed. He felt the sense of betrayal with each erratic thump that
pounded against his hand.

“Invite me in,”
he hissed at her mother. The tears he smelled on Nicolette made his
stomach turn, but it had to be convincing.

“C-come in,”
the woman sputtered, barely believing what was happening in front of
her.

Once they were
inside, he released Nicolette and turned to face her accusing eyes.
“I needed an invitation. I won’t harm them. Just trust me for one
minute.”

Despite her time
in the cellar, despite watching him kill, it took this close brush
with her parents and her real world and life to fully grasp his
predatory nature.

“What’s your
mother’s name?”