Lust Immortal (Immortal Series Book 1) (2 page)

Suddenly, he
spun her around to face him and the absence of his body pressed against hers
left Isabel disoriented for a moment. Had he decided to stop? No, his eyes
trailed from the flush of pink on her nipples to the dark mound between her
legs with a look of hunger she’d never seen before. In the dim light, his eyes
seemed to glow.

Leaning
forward, she untied his cravat with ease and her fingers fumbled with the
buttons on his shirt as he threw off his waistcoat and unlaced his britches. She
knew it took him a good twenty minutes to get dressed, and was amazed at how
quickly the layers of fine silk and cotton came off. Standing in nothing but
his thin white undergarments, William eyed her like a cat would a mouse, and
for the first time Isabel felt exposed. Should she be frightened? He could kill
her, and he wouldn’t be punished for it. But she knew him. She knew he wouldn’t
let himself go that far.

His pale
chest shone in the dim light like that of an alabaster statue perfectly carved,
and the symbol of his pleasure stood at rapt attention. As he stepped up to
her, Isabel’s breath caught in her throat. She’d saved herself for this moment,
although she never dreamed it would actually come true.

William grabbed
her roughly and pressed his lips to hers, his mouth chilling hers as she opened
it for him. Together, their tongues and lips found a perfect rhyme, and she
moaned into him, gripping onto the smooth flesh of his back. She wasn’t sure
how they ended up on the floor, the warmth of the hearthstones pressing into
her skin and making her feel feverish. William’s body hovered over hers, his
hands pushing up the chemise to reveal her naked form. His lips left a soft
trail of kisses down her chest, taking extra time to suckle at each nipple before
moving lower.

Isabel’s
world narrowed to the brisk touch of William’s fingers and lips as they traversed
down her body. She wanted more of him, the length of him to fill her up like no
man ever had, but at the same moment she didn’t want it to end. Didn’t want his
lips to ever stop kissing her, his hands to ever stop exploring her form.

Pushing her
legs open, William’s fingers probed into the wetness between them, and Isabel
moaned as a new world of pleasure opened up to her. The tingling delight it sent
through her body seemed to travel to her very soul, making her ache for more.

“Have you
ever been touched like this?” William asked as his fingers tickled the velvety
lips of her crevice.

“No,” Isabel
breathed, and stared at his impossibly handsome face as it softened for the
first time since she’d touched him.

Lowering his
face between her thighs, Isabel gasped as the wet tip of his tongue traveled
over the most sensitive of her flesh. She gasped as each lick quivered over her
and moved her hips in time with his talented tongue. Suddenly, the long
coolness of his finger pressed into her depths and she moaned even louder as he
eased it in and out in a steady rhythm with her hips. Each pleasure built upon
each other until she was sure she could feel no more.

Then, as
suddenly as he started, William backed up and slipped his finger out, licking
his lips as he moved over her panting form. “Look at you,” he purred into her
neck as he pinned her narrow wrists above her head.

“William,”
she whispered, her voice little more than a breath.

“Yes,
Isabel,” he said as he lowered his face into her neck.

She wasn’t
sure what entered her first, as the confusion of teeth and manhood melted
together. The familiar pinch of pain pricked her neck just as his length found
its way inside, her warmth pulsing around his sizable hardness. He didn’t move
for a moment, and Isabel’s whole body trembled in anticipation for him to do
something
as she relaxed around his size.

Slowly, he
pulled out and eased it back in, his teeth still buried in her neck. Isabel
gasped, partly out of pain and partly because the pain ebbed away into an
aching pleasure she’d never experienced. He throbbed inside of her. The draw of
blood filled the desperate need that pooled in Isabel’s groin, and she moved
her hips in time with each thrust as achingly slow as the sustenance he drew
from her body.

When he
pulled back from her neck, the paleness of his flesh lessened and his skin
suddenly held the same scorching heat as her own. Leaning forward, Isabel
caught his full lips on hers, the coppery taste of her own blood exciting her
taste buds as their tongues mingled together. William’s fingers trailed off her
wrists, and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he lifted her back from the
heat of the hearthstones.

Her whole
life narrowed to that one moment, the only moment she’d ever been blissfully
happy. The thundering friction inside her grew with each plunge, and William’s
eyes met hers, the green depths shining in the dim light as the pool of her pleasure
overflowed. Her body trembled as William’s seed flooded her.

William’s
chest heaved on top of her own, and Isabel wondered if she would ever breath
normally again, or if the waves of contentment washing through her veins would ever
fade. She knew they must but hoped they wouldn’t.

Still buried
inside her warmth, William kissed her hand and sighed, his dark hair tumbling
over his shoulders.

Isabel
pushed it from his face, running her thumb over the smooth warmth of his skin,
and smiled at him. “I want to stay,” she said, “but if you think this was a
mistake, I’ll go.”

“No
mistake,” he mumbled into her hair and his hands gripped onto her shoulders as
if they always belonged there. “I do want you to stay with me.”

“I will,”
she said and wondered at how her entire life turned around in the one moment
she decided to speak her mind. She’d have to do it more often.

Chapter
Two

William
smelled her as soon as he walked into the house, the rich scent of her body
that humans so often overlooked. She was in the servants' quarters, but beyond
that he had no idea what she was doing. Sleeping? Eating? Bathing? He’d put off
the inevitable long enough. He needed to talk to her about her upcoming freedom
tonight.

“I’m
starved,” Charles said as he loosened his cravat and slumped into a chair in
front of the roaring fire. The heat from the flames did little to warm either
of their pale white skin.

“Mr. Moorish
had plenty of servants. Why didn’t you drink from one of them?” William asked.
His younger brother could be such a fool at times.

“I did, but
only a little sip from each. I hate to be a hog at those gatherings. Plus, we
have perfectly good servants here. Shall I call Isabel? She should be full up
by now- I haven’t had a drink from her in weeks,” he said and smirked.

William
glared at him. It hadn’t taken long for Charles to guess his weakness around
the indentured servant. Right after they’d taken her in, William knew he could
never get too close to the girl or he’d end up killing her. Her aroma, the
sumptuous smell of the blood pumping through her veins was enough to drive him
mad with desire. As she’d grown, his longing for her blood changed. Yes, he
still wanted to sip from her supple neck, but Isabel had matured into a fine
young woman. Now that she was twenty years old he wanted to do so much more
than simply bite her. William wanted to own her, to possess her as his own- but
he couldn’t. The Vampire Council didn’t look kindly on members who fraternized
with dinner.

“Do what you
like,” William said.

The smile
that crossed Charles mouth made him look like a devil. “Isabel!”

“You could
be more refined about it.”

Charles
shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “How dull. I’m not you, and nor do I
care to be.”

“One of us
has to be responsible else we’ll be fugitives out on the street. Without the
protection of the council do you know what might happen to us?”

“We’d be
free?” Charles said as he examined his perfectly manicured nails.

“Penniless
and vulnerable. We’d be dead within weeks.”

“You think
too little of yourself. I’m sure we could outrun the council’s wrath.”

William
frowned at the fire. “There are worse things out there.”

Charles
shrugged, and William decided to drop the subject. There was no use lecturing-
Charles did what he liked and consequences be damned.

The
pitter-patter of slippers on the flagstones sounded outside the door and perfume
of Isabel’s blood filled William’s nose, draining away all the annoyance he
felt toward his little brother in a manner of seconds.

Charles
smirked at him as the door creaked open and Isabel stepped inside. Her long
brown hair hung loose and wet over her back. Underneath the linen robe, William
spotted the thin cotton of her chemise. They’d disturbed her from a bath, no
doubt. She stepped into the room tentatively and curtsied. “How may I help my
Masters?”

Charles eyes
traveled over her form and his smirk deepened. “I’m famished, but I believe my
dear brother also has something to speak to you about.”

William grit
his teeth and turned to the fire, the annoyance seeping back. “I wish to
discuss that matter in private.”

Out of the
corner of his eye, he saw Charles shrug, but the glint in his brother’s eye
gave his thoughts away. “I’ll just have a sip before I leave.”

Charles’
hand shot out and wrapped around Isabel’s narrow wrist, engulfing it. Then he
pulled her onto his lap like she was only a child. In many ways she was.
William himself had been hardly older than twenty-five when he’d been turned,
and Charles was hardly even twenty-two. That was sixty years ago.

Isabel’s
blue eyes widened as Charles wrapped his hands around her slender waist.
Through the layers of fabric, William noticed how flat her stomach was and the
roundness of her breasts as Charles’ hands traveled toward them.

“No corset?”
Charles said, his hands resting over her pert nipples.

Isabel bit
her full bottom lip; the teeth sinking into it in the way William fantasied
doing a hundred times before. Instead of looking away, she stared right at him,
her eyes burning into his and begging him. No. He just imagined it. She begged
nothing of him in the entire time she’d been in their care.

William dug
his fingers into the arms of his chair and narrowed his eyes at Charles. “You
know how the council feels about such relationships.”

Charles
caressed Isabel’s mounds, and her nipples hardened at the slightest touch. “Do
you think I give a damn what the council thinks?”

William
sighed. Why couldn’t Charles see that acting like a reckless fool would only
get him killed? “If you like your life the way it is you would.”

Charles
rubbed his lips over her smooth neck. “She smells divine. I can’t believe
you’ve never even tasted her, dear brother,” he said, avoiding the subject.

Yes. William
knew she smelled divine. The rich scent already assaulted him on a daily basis.
It was difficult being alone with her at times as the urge to overtake her was
so powerful. Meeting Isabel’s eyes, he wondered if she enjoyed his brother’s
touch. Did she enjoy having the life-blood sucked from her by vampires? She
hardly flinched as Charles sunk his fangs into her delicate skin, and she never
struggled. Then a look of intense desire filled her eyes- a look more powerful
than William had ever seen. He should elicit that look from her! The smell of
her blood overpowered him, made his head light as the pounding beat of her
heart filled his ears. He should be the only one to drink from her!

William
stood up before he realized what he was doing. “Enough!”

Charles
laughed as he pulled out his fangs, a couple drops of blood dripping from the little
holes in Isabel’s neck. “I didn’t take much.”

William
glared. “Get out. I need her sensible.”

Charles
lifted Isabel from his lap and stood. “Whatever you say, dear brother. I do
hope Tabitha’s still awake.”

He waited
until the sound of his brother’s footsteps faded before he spoke. When he
glanced at Isabel, the look of absolute desire was replaced by one of
apprehension. Did she distrust him so much?

Her scent
was about to make him lose his senses again, which was probably what Charles
wanted. Pulling out a clean handkerchief, he handed it to Isabel. Her slender
fingers reached for it, almost touching his, but he pulled his hand back just
in time. Just one touch could drive him over the edge. “Sit down.”

“Master?”

William
sighed. She took her position in the household too seriously at times. “I said
sit down, Isabel.”

Slowly, she
perched herself on the edge of the chair and brought the handkerchief to her
neck. The blood soaked into immediately, the redness seeping out from under her
fingers like a blossom.

“Did we
interrupt you?” William asked, although he already knew they had.

Her cheeks
flushed, and the rush of blood through her veins excited William’s taste buds.
“I was in the bath.”

The thought
of her naked and wet filled William’s mind. His hands caressing her body, lips
kissing every inch of her supple skin while she moaned in pleasure beneath him.
He shook the thought from his head. It couldn’t happen without putting them
both in danger. “Well, I hope you forgive the disturbance.”

“Of course,
Master,”

William
looked into her questioning eyes. “Do you know why I wished to speak with you?”

Isabel
fiddled with the ties of her robe for a moment before she answered. “Yes.”

William
looked at the fire. Ten years had nearly past since they plucked that dirty
child from the streets of London and took her across to the New World. If it
had been up to him, William wouldn’t have forced her into an indentured status,
but the council would think he was weak for helping a human child with no
request for service. Isabel was so small at the time, her long brown hair tied
in a messy braid and her clothes in rags. She’d said her parents were dead and
she begged on the streets for food. William knew, as he looked into her pale
blue eyes, that she’d be dead within a year or two if he left her there. Of
course Charles thought him a fool, but over time he grew fond of Isabel and
played with her as if she was his little sister. William never allowed himself
such frivolities.

“Your
servitude will be up in a week’s time. As the contract states, we will provide
you with a tidy sum, I believe we agreed on twenty pounds, but we’ll have to
give you pieces of eight instead. Does that sound fair?” It took all his
willpower to say the words out loud- to admit he was letting her go forever if
she left.

Isabel’s
eyes widened. “That much?”

She’d grown
to be a wonderful asset in their household- the perfect servant and a kind and
loving woman. William smiled slightly. “Your service these past ten years have
been worth it.”

Isabel’s
eyes fell to her hands. “Thank you.”

William
cleared his throat and nodded. “What do you plan to do with your freedom?”
She’d probably dreamed of this day since she was a child. He hoped her plans
would bring her the happiness she deserved.

“Work in a
dress shop, perhaps,” she said as her fingers trailed over the wrinkles in her
robe.

If she chose
to work in the city he could still see her- but if she moved elsewhere she’d be
lost to him forever. Perhaps that was for the best. “In Philadelphia?”

“If I can
find work,” she said and a little drop of blood rose from the wound on her
neck.

What would
he do without her fragrance filling his mind with impure thoughts? He should be
happy she would soon be out of the house. She’d no longer be in any danger from
him- but it also meant he couldn't protect her from the others who might want a
taste. “How does your neck feel?”

Isabel
raised a slender finger to her neck, spreading the blood over her skin. “It’s
fine, Master.”

William grit
his teeth and dug his fingers into the leather of his chair. It was all he
could do not to pounce on her that very second and drain the life from her
tender body. “You can also stay on as a servant in our care, if you desire.
You’ll no longer be indentured, Isabel, so you’ll receive a salary and more
freedom than you now know- such as the ability to marry, if you choose.”

“I’m not
sure that’s a good idea, Master.”

The fire
cracked in the hearth, a log falling to pieces in a burst of embers. She didn’t
want to stay with them. She wanted to leave his house and disappear into the
night like a ghost. How was he to respond? “Why not? Have we not accommodated
you? Been kind to you? Most of my brethren are not so.”

Her eyes
burned into his skin, but he didn’t look at her.

“Yes. Both
you and Master Charles have been kind. But I’m not sure I can find happiness
here.”

The words
struck him like a blow. “You’ve been unhappy?” He’d thought she at least
appreciated the care they’d given her, and instead she’d been miserable the
whole time. What a fool he’d been!

He smelled
the salt of her tears before he saw them and looked over at her stricken face.
The wetness shimmered in the dim light of the fire, her eyes soaked in a
despair he’d never seen. “Isabel,” he whispered. This entire time he’d been focused
on his own selfish desires and never taken her feelings into account.

Isabel wiped
the tears away with the back of her hand as if she were sweeping the kitchen
floor. “No. I’ve been alone for the past ten years. I have no companionship and
no love, Master, although that’s all I want. I- I’m not sure why you dislike me
so. Have I ever wronged you? Is my work unacceptable?”

Wronged him?
What was she on about? “Of course not!”

Suddenly,
she stood, her slender frame throwing a long, narrow shadow across the room.
“As I child I idolized you, and as I grew into a woman I wished you would
notice me, but you never have. Do you realize you’ve never once touched me? Not
even on my hand? I’m your servant, yet you’ve never once tried to drink of my
blood! Tabby and Sarah and all the girls that came and went must have satisfied
you in a way I never could.”

She
wanted
him to touch her? To drink from her? Her willingness mixed with his need made
resisting her at that moment almost impossible. “I have good reasons.”

“Reasons
enough to let your friends feast on me as they see fit while you watch on? I
would rather die than have Mr. Moorish touch me again. I would rather die than
watch you drink from other woman, wrap your arms around them in an embrace I’ll
never have. If you want me to stay, you’ve given me no reason!”

All this
time he thought he’d been kind- he’d done her a favor by not possessing her
like he wished. While she’d silently hated every guest who sunk their teeth
into her neck, hoping the next bite would come from him. Of course she didn’t
understand their politics- to refuse a guest a servant was tantamount to
admitting a weakness for a human! It would have put her in danger and him in a
bad place with the council. “Is that all you have to say?”