Eternal Hearts (11 page)

He stepped into the room to find
Michael already lying on the bed next to Margaret, as close to her as he dared
though not as close as he would have wanted.

Nathaniel walked up next to the bed,
savouring the way Margaret’s cheek turned slowly to him, her eyes lighting up
when she saw him. The love he saw there he would never stop knocking that air
out of him.

“Nathaniel...” His name whispered on
her lips made his knees shake. To think it was only yesterday they had feared
they would never hear her voice again.

He collapsed onto the bed and
crawled up to lay on her other side. It was like coming home when he had once
been an orphan.
New, exciting, and heart-
breakingly
perfect.

She lifted her hand and cupped his
jaw, and the heat and smell of her skin made his fangs extend. Despite her
injuries, Nathaniel couldn’t believe the crest of lust building within him.
Would there ever be a time that he didn’t want her?

He pulled away, embarrassed.

“I’m sorry.”

She looked up, “Jennings, please
make sure we are not disturbed.”

The butler did something that made
the other servants in the room disappear, and the door shut, leaving them alone.

Nathaniel stared down at Margaret’s
pale face. Her bright green eyes were looking at him with such warmth. He
couldn’t help but stare at the turn of her cheek, her full lips. Every part of
her face tempted him to kiss, to gaze on for eternity.

Margaret reached out for Nathaniel
again, drawing his face back to her. Her hands were cool, but his heart sang in
recognition of his mate’s touch.

“Don’t be sorry. I love how much you
want me.”

He leaned forward, unable to resist
her and kissed her soft lips.
 
His cock
hardened in his breeches from the one soft kiss. How was it possible?

She laughed softly then sighed with
regret.

“I think I’ll need a few weeks
before I can offer you my blood or my body though. I’m sorry.”

Michael groaned as though he had
been injured and laid his head down on Margaret’s belly. She reached down and
stroked his hair gently.

Nathaniel stroked Margaret’s face
and smiled as he felt Michael through their connection. Michael wouldn’t be
able to talk at a moment like this.

Nathaniel kissed the tip of her nose
in thanks.

“We don’t need either, Margaret.
As long as you heal fully.”

“Did you think about turning me?”
she asked, looking him directly in the eye.

Nathaniel opened his mouth and
considered lying. She deserved more than a flippant response when running away
from Michael yesterday had been the hardest thing he had ever done.

“Yes, we did. But we knew it wasn’t
what you wanted.”

She laughed gently again, her breath
rasping. He frowned and stroked her hair.

“You mean, Michael wanted to turn me
to save my life, and you talked him out of it.”

Michael burrowed his head into her
further but didn’t say anything.

Nathaniel nodded and smiled
reluctantly. He had to stop underestimating their clever mate.

“How did you know?”

She stroked Michael’s blond hair and
took a deep breath.

“Because Jennings told me that you
carried me home alone, and I know Michael would have used any excuse to turn
me. Thank you for thinking about what I needed, Nathaniel.”

He nodded and leaned forward to kiss
her again. Thank God he had made that choice. What would she have done if she
had woken a vampire? Nathaniel shivered. She would have left them. He knew she
would have.

Michael’s muffled whisper came
through to him loud and clear.

“I only did it because I love you.”

Nathaniel looked down at his mate
then back at Margaret. A human would never have heard what Michael had said.

“Make him repeat what he just said.”

Margaret looked at him queerly but
stroked her hand down Michael’s face that still covered her belly.

“What did you say, Michael?”

 
Michael groaned and kissed the fingers that
were tracing his lips. Nathaniel could feel Michael’s pain, his fear, but he
willed his mate to be strong. They had everything to gain and nothing to lose
by being honest with her.

“I only wanted to turn you because I
love you.”

Margaret looked back at Nathaniel,
and he saw the tears shimmering in her eyes. She understood how big a step it
was for Michael to tell her such a thing. Indeed, he was the first to mention
love.

Nathaniel threaded his fingers into
Michael’s blond hair and pulled. Michael came up and looked into Margaret’s
eyes.

“I’m not playing safe anymore. I
have loved Nathaniel for my entire existence, and I fell in love with you
almost the moment I saw you.”

Margaret’s lip trembled as she
reached out with both hands and cupped Michael’s face.

“And I fell in love with you the
moment you gave me the time I needed to decide what I wanted.”

She turned her head and looked at
Nathaniel.

“I love you.”

He knew that; he felt it.

“As I love you.”

Margaret’s mouth quivered as she
smiled at him before she turned back to Michael. She pulled him into her,
kissing him hungrily whilst tears tracked down her cheeks.

Nathaniel
watched
them,
smiling despite everything they had gone
through.

Michael
broke the kiss to turn towards Nathaniel. He smiled towards his lover, but
noticed the worry behind his eyes.

“Are
you all right, my love?”

Michael
nodded. “You know that I love you just as much as I love Margaret?”

Nathaniel’s
surprise turned into a deep understanding of how much his mate cared for him.

“I know, Michael. We are equal in
your love as you two are in mine.”

Michael nodded and turned back to
their third. He continued to kiss Margaret, whose cheeks were wet with tears,
and Nathaniel opened her nightgown, feasting his eyes on her breasts.

He stroked over their tips and
smiled as they responded. He bent his head and began kissing the soft pale
skin. They couldn’t make love to her tonight, but they would make sure she felt
loved, forever.

Epilogue

Twelve
months later

“I think our daughter is more
beautiful even than you, Michael.” Margaret looked up at her mate and smiled as
she handed over her freshly breastfed, blonde newborn.

Michael took his daughter and
cradled her in his arms protectively. He walked slowly over to the fire and
unwrapped
her from her woollen blanket. He always loved to
look at her. Michael was obsessed with the beauty of their daughter.
Her perfect nose, her exquisite mouth, and tiny hands and feet.

He laid her on the floor next to her
twin brother, the little boy who was as dark as his father, Nathaniel.

Nathaniel stood close by, staring
down at their children. Although it was quite obvious who had fathered which
child, they chose to treat each member of their family as though they were all
linked by blood, which they were.

Margaret smiled from the bed and
leaned back against the pillows. Her mates had given her the rarest gift a
vampire could give a human, children.
A true miracle.

She didn’t know what life held for
her children. The legends about the half breed immortals were few and far
between. But they would be loved, and they would be protected. She planned on
waiting a year or so and then having her mates turn her.

Vanity alone didn’t want her to wait
any longer than that, but her children needed her body’s nourishment until
then.

There was also the fact that she did
love to feed her mates. Nathaniel and Michael loved her blood, and she had
forbidden them from taking blood or making love to anyone else. She gave them
everything she was, and she expected the same in return. They had agreed
immediately.

As far as society was concerned, she
was married to Nathaniel, and Michael was his cousin who lived with them.

They attended functions together,
and no one guessed as to their true relationship. Margaret was happy, more than
happy. She was deeply, truly satisfied. She had everything she had ever wanted.
Two men who adored her and children born of that love.
She also had their respect and support.

Then she would have eternity with
her men, and God willing, her children by her side.

The End

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