Blood Wicked (26 page)

Where were you born? Do you know that?

I was … Her voice died away. I was born in a brothel. It was on a small lane off the Strand.

Close to here. Was there a reason Nikolai had come to the place where Vivi had been born? Then he blinked. He’d heard the shame in her voice.
Vivi, there is no reason to be embarrassed
.

Heath, I was born in a brothel. A prostitute’s child. And you are an earl.

Are you trying to say you believe I think I’m better than you? Hell and damnation, Vivi, you are infinitely better than I am. Now, there’s something I have to do. From now on, you can’t talk to me—don’t try to contact me through our thoughts. He feared Nikolai, with his strong powers, would hear. I’m going to find my sire. I’ll be back soon.

Heath, wait for me there. Dimitri is worried for your safety and that completely terrifies me. Let me come and help you.

No, love, you can’t
. There were a thousand reasons why not, beginning with her safety. And he could hunt better if he was not restricted. But he knew he had said no because if he searched for his sire with Vivienne at his side, he would want her at his side for … hell, forever.

Stay there, Vivienne. I will come home to you. And this is between Nikolai and me.

Then he smelled the presence of another vampire. He raced to the door, stood in the shadows of the door stoop.

One man sauntered down the road. He moved so swiftly, he looked like he was floating. The light touched on his hair, but Heath had already noted it was auburn, like his. And he knew the silver-green eyes, the shape of the face, as well as he did his own.

Raine.

A prostitute came out of the shadow, right in front of his brother. Her hair fell in matted curls of soft blond, the color of butter. Her oversized dress slid off her shoulder. Dirt streaked her neck, but the display of collarbone and small, round breast were surprisingly clean.

He could feel Raine’s blood lust.

And surprisingly, he could also feel his brother’s internal battle. Raine hungered for blood, but he didn’t want to feed.
That startled Heath. When he’d turned Raine, his brother hadn’t been squeamish about drinking from mortals.

Raine was watching the girl but not approaching her. But he wasn’t drawing away. Heath knew why. Raine was now caught between the compassion and morality of being human and the driving instincts of the vampire.

Agony was etched on his brother’s face. It was how Raine had looked when their parents had died. Their mother first; she’d died in childbirth. Their father soon after, felled by a bee sting. Raine had worn this same look—this stricken expression—when he had looked upon their dead father. He had been only seven, young and frightened. Heath had taken care of Raine as best as he could, but an older brother, one suddenly thrust into the role of earl at thirteen, could never replace a father.

“Oh my god,” the girl cried suddenly. “What are ye?”

Raine gave a fierce shout of agony, tipped his head back, and his fangs shot out, lengthening to lethal arcs. The girl shrieked. Heath leaped forward out of the shadows and he dragged the girl against him as his brother launched for the girl’s neck. Raine stumbled and his hands shot out. His brother’s palms slammed into the brick wall so hard, chips flew off.

Heath pushed the girl behind him. “Run,” he told her, knowing she would for he had commanded it. She wasn’t like Vivi; she wasn’t strong enough to resist him. The girl dragged up her hems and ran, sobbing with fear, down the lane.

Raine swirled to face him, his fangs bared, hissing in animal fury. His eyes gleamed red. The glowing irises went suddenly black as his gaze fell on Heath.

And the older brother erupted inside Heath. “Raine, what in the name of Hades are you doing? Where in hell have you been? I was told Nikolai had you. Is it true? Nikolai made me; he’s a brutal beast, a sadist, a raving lunatic. You have to bloody well come home.” He was shouting at Raine, drowning him
with questions and commands, like he had done ever since he became head of their house at thirteen.

Raine took a step back. “That home is yours.” He glowered. “I was always second place to you. I was born to be a spare, and you’ve always treated me as less. Now I’m as strong as you—stronger—with the magic Nikolai has bestowed on me.”

This was his fault. He had pushed Raine too much; all he had done was make Raine crave power and position. Damnation, he hated himself at that moment. “What happened?” he asked sadly. “Did you run away willingly to my sire or did Nikolai find you and take you?” As Raine merely snarled at him, Heath grabbed his brother and shook him. “What is Nikolai doing? I think he wants to unleash the demon in me—or in you. Is that true?”

Raine hissed, flashing fangs.

Christ. “We can’t let that happen. Use sense. We can’t destroy the world. You have to come with me.”

“No.” Fierce pride blazed in his brother’s reflective eyes.

He’d started wrong. Things had changed. Since their parents’ death, he’d kept Raine under control by issuing orders. Once Raine had listened to him, up to the age of sixteen, then Raine had rebelled against every one. Another sixteen years had passed and he was still rebelling now.

Hades, what had Nikolai done to Raine? Heath could guess. The same way his sire had used his guilt and regret and despair to create a monster, he was using Raine’s youthful pride and competitiveness to turn him into something destructive and vicious. He didn’t want to have to do this—fight his brother. “Have you been with Nikolai since you left the moors?”

“Yes,” Raine spat. “He came to me there and offered me a way to enjoy my life as a vampire. He wasn’t like you, insisting we had to fight the urge to feed.”

“There have been eight innocent people murdered around here. Was that you or Nikolai?”

An evil smile touched Raine’s face, distorting the recognizable features. “Why did you come to find me? What do you want? To haul me into the vampire council and watch while they tear me apart?”

“Of course not. You’re my brother.” God, he loved Raine. And he had failed Raine, if his brother believed him capable of betrayal.

But Raine reared back and looked upward. Heath had been focused on his brother and stupidly, dangerously blind to everything else. A dark figure swooped down from a rooftop and landed silently on the cobbles. Suddenly Heath was facing a man with white-blond hair, black eyes, an unlined and angelic face. Nikolai. The vampire who had made him a decade ago, who had chained him in a dungeon. Heath expected to feel a rush of hatred, even a long forgotten sense of fear. But all he felt was the need to grab Nikolai by the throat and force him to reveal what he wanted from Vivienne….

Nikolai lifted his hand, palm out, toward Raine. His brother howled, clamped his hands to his head, sank to his knees. “Raine, patience. I cannot allow you to destroy him.” He turned to Heath. “But if you attack me, I will destroy your brother.”

Blue light swirled suddenly around Raine. And when it wafted away, there was nothing there. Raine had vanished.

Heath leaped toward Nikolai, but his sire, older and stronger, could move faster. The blond vampire somersaulted over his head. “Not yet, Blackmoor. We will meet again later, though, I promise.”

And in a burst of blue light, Nikolai disappeared.

D
amn his brother for being such a blinking idiot.

And damn himself for pushing his brother right into Nikolai’s hands. For being more of a commanding officer than a brother. For not showing Raine how important and valuable he was.

Heath stalked into his bedchamber to undress. He ripped his tailcoat off and threw it across the room, where it hit the wardrobe and slid to the floor. His waistcoat followed, the buttons popping off and clattering to the floor.

Then he scented
her
at the exact instant she sat up in his bed. The thick claret-red comforter slid off Vivi, revealing her lovely ivory skin, her voluptuous curves. Sleepy blue eyes looked him over from head to toe. “Thank heavens you are safe and in one piece.”

Anger at his brother, at himself, and white-hot rage at Nikolai still pounded in his head, but desire overwhelmed it. The kind of desire that a man had to act on, or he’d explode bit by bit—starting with his cock.

Dimitri, damn him, had given Vivi a new nightgown. This one was concocted entirely of ivory lace. Two skinny little lace straps lay on her smooth shoulders, then the lace cascaded down to cling tightly to her generous breasts. Her nipples, when they got hard, would poke right through the lace….

He was going to have to explain to Dimitri the concept of avoiding temptation.

“You shouldn’t have waited up for me, love.” The sight of her, the knowledge he could never have her, turned anger into tormenting agony. But for the first time, his next thought wasn’t “and the curse is your own damn fault.” For once, he didn’t want to punish himself.

“I didn’t. I went to sleep.” She stretched her arms to the ceiling.

The movement stopped him cold. Her breasts rose and fell, mesmerizing him. He was right: her nipples did peek through the scanty lace.

“You look so frustrated. So angry. You didn’t find your brother?”

She was offering him a welcoming embrace. Christ, it floored him.

Longing overcame him. He whisked his shirt over his head and prowled to the bed. She held the sheets open, a saucy, yet sweetly inviting smile on her lips. It was like a dream. A wild, impossible dream in which he was a normal man, one who could marry, who could offer a woman a future.

He yanked off his boots. A vampire had the strength to tear off even the tightest-fitting Hessians. Still wearing his trousers, he slipped in between the sheets.

He didn’t want to make another woman wait for him. He didn’t want to think of Vivi wasting her time, the way he’d demanded it of Ariadne.

His sheets smelled of her perfume and the lush natural scent of her skin. He couldn’t resist wrapping his arm around her and
drawing her close to him. Her lips were poised a mere inch from his, soft and ready.

He couldn’t do this anymore. He couldn’t stand wanting her so much and not having her. He knew he should leave her before he went out of his mind with the torment. But he couldn’t go until he had freed Sarah from her illness and ensured Vivi and her daughter were safe.

Then he would have to face spending eternity without her.

“Did you go to the brothel where I was born?” She bit her lip as she asked. “What was it like?”

“I did go.” It had been after his confrontation with Raine and Nikolai. He had wanted to see where Vivi had been born. “There’s no brothel there anymore, love. The building burned down. Probably years ago.” He stroked her cheek, and she stared at him with eyes filled with raw, open pain.

“I wasn’t sure what I wanted—for you to go and find out what the place was like, or to never know. Now I will never know. I’m not certain whether I’m happy about that or not.”

He wanted her to understand it didn’t matter to him where she was born. And a very naughty way of doing it came to mind.

Vivienne gasped as Heath suddenly turned her so she lay on the bed on her stomach. “What are you up to?” she whispered as he moved over her from behind. His legs rested on each side of hers; he braced himself on his powerful arms.

“If I were to tell you what I’m going to do, you wouldn’t let me,” he murmured by her ear with cheeky arrogance.

Oh no. Suddenly her nightgown slid up. He lifted it higher and higher, until her bottom was bared to him. He gave her cheeks a gentle tap. She’d never allowed any man to spank her, but she liked this. She liked being on this breathless edge, wondering what he would do. The way her bottom quivered when he gave her a light slap … It was very arousing.

“Touch yourself,” he instructed, hoarsely. “Play with yourself, while I play with you.”

Daringly, she lifted her bottom to let her fingers skim down to her quim. She stroked her cunny. Already, she was soaking wet, her nether lips slippery and slick. With her rump in the air, he could see her fingers dallying in the folds, boldly pleasuring her clit.

He growled, grasped the cheeks of her bottom, and spread them apart. “Heath, what are you—?”

Something warm and wet touched her tailbone. Who knew that one spot could make her toes curl in delight? She twisted to see what he was doing, and he licked the base of her spine. He slicked his tongue over her, then ran his tongue daringly, shockingly down the valley of her bottom.

She tensed. Gasped. Moaned. Protested.

But he didn’t stop. He licked the tingling, tensed, sensitive entrance to her bottom. He circled the rim, then plunged his tongue inside.

Good heavens, he was doing … what those two vampires had spoken of doing on the first night she came here. Now she knew why. It was exotic, forbidden, and utterly exquisite.

He thrust his tongue in her bottom, and it felt so hot inside her. At the exact same instant, she raked her fingers over her clit. Pleasure forked through her. His tongue thrust in and out; she screamed to the heavens, and came.

She fell on the bed, her derriere tingling. Behind her, Heath laughed, then stroked the sole of her left foot with a firm, devilish touch. She almost leaped off the bed. “Don’t do that! It tickles—”

Her words died. Heath was up on his knees, his right hand wrapped firmly around his thick shaft, his left harshly massaging his balls. Still breathing hard and floating on the velvety bliss of pleasure, she watched.

He was a typical man, containing his moans. His eyes shut,
his long auburn lashes dusting his cheeks. He looked absolutely adorable when masturbating, and she watched every swift moment of his jerking hands.

He let his head drop back. His mouth opened wide, but he didn’t shout. Instead, his hands gripped so hard she feared he’d break either his cock or his balls, then his hips jerked and he came. His white cum jetted out, spilling over his hand.

He groaned. Then he collapsed on the bed beside her, panting hard. “Flower, even when you don’t touch me, you slay me.”