Undeniable (30 page)

Gasping for air, she vaguely felt Sebastian release her,
rise, then push her further back onto the bed. Her eyes fluttered open. A lump
formed in her throat. Tenderness mingled with untold passion filled his eyes.

“Fuck me, Diana. Make me yours,” he whispered as the head of
his throbbing cock nudged its way in.

Looking into his eyes, Diana grabbed his hips and brought
them forward with so much force she felt the air rush out of her lungs.

Her hunger grew tenfold. Her mind revolted when she finally
grasped exactly what she hungered for. A long guttural moan of denial rose from
her.

She wanted this, wanted him, but his massive size and the
idea of just how much blood she’d have to drink to drain him appalled her. Her
stomach clenched at the thought even as her hunger seized control.

Sebastian’s hands tortured her breasts as his mouth bore down
on hers.

After enjoying the feel of her lips brushing across his for
a few moments, Sebastian offered her his lower lip and, after a fearfully long
wait, almost came when he felt her newborn fangs pierce it. He let her have her
way for a while, enjoying the sensations her suckling sent through his body.
But tonight she had to take much more than his lip could offer.

He closed his eyes, struggling with the wave of doubts that
threatened to tear him from her arms. Because of his own manipulations, Diana’s
actions tonight were led totally by her body’s needs, while her emotions and
thoughts had been weakened to the point where they would be useless when she
needed them most, when he needed them most to survive. Because of his own
manipulations, every time she doubted or tried to grasp the strands still
linked to the memories he’d taken from her mind, her desire took hold.

He grimly resolved he had no choice. He had to release his
hold before they went any further.

But when he pulled away and saw his blood dripping from her
fangs, saw the undeniable hunger burning in her eyes, his own passion
overpowered his logic. He released a roar of triumph that this goddess had
accepted him, then clutched the back of her head and brought her mouth to his
neck, all the while slamming his cock deeper into her hot pussy.

Diana tentatively brushed her teeth against his coarse skin.

As soon as the first drop of blood entered her mouth, their
minds merged, became one. The hunger obliterated all but Diana’s need to feed.
The harder she sucked at the tiny scratches, the faster he thrust himself into
her. When he suddenly buried himself to the hilt and his white hot seed poured
into her, the blood trickling into her mouth grew sweeter, hotter, and she
experienced a hunger so powerful that she was lost to its demands.

She opened her mouth and bit down on the throbbing vein just
as the stab of his teeth piercing her neck sent her spiraling into a vortex of
passion. Suckling harder and harder, drawing in more and more, she imploded into
a mass of writhing ecstasy.

Deep in the recesses of her mind, she knew Sebastian had
only taken a small amount from her, knew she had to be careful of how much she
took from him, but she couldn’t seem to stop. They were one being and she
couldn’t bear the thought of tearing their souls apart.

“Diana,” Sebastian, aware that she had lost control, moaned
against her throat, “enough.” He couldn’t pull away even though he felt himself
growing dangerously weak. Tonight he had no choice but to offer her his life
and trust that she would not bleed him completely even though he knew that only
passion and her faith in her grandmother’s visions had led her this far. If he
died, he had no one to blame but himself.

Diana continued to suckle, a ravenous babe at its mother’s
breast, unwilling to stop until she’d taken in every sweet drop.

Her small frame writhed beneath his weight. He tried to rise
and alleviate it to some extent, but after only a hairsbreadth separated them,
his arms began to tremble. Never had he felt so weak. The sound of her suckling
grew faint. He had to release her mind.

If he died tonight, he’d never have the chance to ask her
forgiveness. He could no longer deny that his own selfish need to possess her,
to have someone beside him for the endless nights ahead, had led him to
withhold why he’d begun their bonding ritual. Each time he’d given her more of
his blood, he’d ensured that her hunger for him would grow.

And if he was totally honest, this night could have been
postponed. He could have relieved her hunger just as he had during the month of
abstinence and given her a chance to love him.

Only his fear that she might never agree to join him in
eternal darkness had driven him to proceed. And now he wanted nothing more than
to free her and discover if she’d choose on her own to stay by his side. He
opened his mouth to speak.

Sebastian’s massive chest crashed down upon Diana’s,
knocking the air from her lungs.

With a shriek, she tore her mouth away from his neck and
tried to lift his head. “Sebastian?”

He lay sprawled over her, his head resting on her shoulder,
his weight pinning her to the bed. One glance at the vein she’d been feeding on
so voraciously revealed the absence of the strong pulse she’d felt only seconds
earlier. Sebastian! What have I done?” Tears streamed down her cheeks.

She pushed at his chest with all her strength and watched in
horror as he flopped to the side. Leaning over, she pressed her ear to his
chest and let out a gut wrenching wail. “Damien!”

The door once again crashed open. Damien charged into the
room and placed himself between the bed and any possible threat.

“What?” His eyes darted around the room. “What,” he said in
exasperation, shielding his eyes from another embarrassing scene.

“Help me!”

He lowered his hand.

Diana, her body set aglow by the fire, sat in the middle of
the bed and rocked as she cradled Sebastian’s head against her breasts.

“Diana, what’s wrong?”

“I took too much, Damien,” she sobbed, “I’ve killed him.”

Damien smirked. “He’s fine.”

Diana shook her head. “No, I can barely hear his heartbeat.”
Opening Sebastian’s mouth, she slashed open her wrist with one of his fangs.

“No!” Damien grabbed Diana’s wrist and clamped his hand over
the gaping wound. Blood spurted through his fingers. He pressed his fingers into
the gash.

Diana screamed and tried to pull free. “I have to give him
back his blood.” She tried again to wrench her hand free. “Damien, let go of
me!”

Dragging her off the bed, Damien brought her into the
bathroom, grabbed the first-aid kit and within seconds had her wrist stitched
up. The floor and his clothes were covered with her blood. He turned to her and
laughed at her shocked face.

“I’m an elder, Diana. One of my jobs is to quietly, usually
unknowingly, attend bondings specifically for situations like this. You’d be
surprised how many times I have to stitch up some part of the females’ bodies.
You all, humans and vampires alike, think you’ve gone too far.”

“But he looks…” She ran to the bed, unmindful of her
nakedness.

“He’s fine. This is a test of your love, Diana. And a sign
of his faith. He trusted you to stop as soon as he passed out and you did.”

“But I’ve never told him I love him. I’m not even sure I
do.”

“But you’re here.” Damien rested his hand on her shoulder.
“Why are you here if you don’t love him?”

“My grandmother…she saw us.” She ran her fingers down
Sebastian’s cheek. Her heart clenched at how cold his skin felt. “He’s my soul
mate. What else could I do? My God, I could have killed him, couldn’t I?”

“No, Diana. It would have never gone that far. We don’t
leave our loved ones’ lives in the hands of another so easily. I knew you
stopped as soon as I lost touch with him. I felt every drop you took.” He
draped a blanket around her shoulders.

“Yes, but—”

“He’s fine. We can lose quite a bit of blood after the point
of unconsciousness, so don’t worry. Actually, you stopped sooner than I thought
you would.” Her tears continued as she lay down beside Sebastian and draped
most of the blanket and her body over his.

“Promise me he’ll be all right, Damien. I couldn’t bear it
if I lost him.” She laid her head on his chest. “I just couldn’t bear it.”

“I promise. But you have to promise not to give him any of
your blood. Do you hear me? Not a drop. Tonight and tomorrow you must possess
his life’s essence and he must know what it is to hunger for you. This way you
are both truly pledging to live only for each other.”

Diana ran her fingers through the damp hair covering
Sebastian’s chest. How had she come to this? She barely knew Sebastian, yet she
had just pledged her life to him.

She realized with a start that when she’d opened her own
vein to save him, she’d neither considered nor cared if she died in the
process. All that had mattered was saving Sebastian.

And when she’d thought she’d killed him, the terror that had
gripped her had nothing to do with the fact that she might have killed someone
and everything to do with the fact that she couldn’t imagine losing him,
couldn’t bear the thought of facing one day without seeing his smile.

“I promise. Not a drop.” Diana stared down at her soul
mate’s face and felt her heart swell. “You know, up ‘til now, it’s been mostly
me trusting my grandmother’s prophecy.”

“And, now,” Damien asked.

She leaned over and kissed Sebastian’s lids. “Now, I know he
holds my heart. I love him, Damien. So much, it scares me.”

“Never fear love, Diana. It’s God’s most precious gift.”

Damien sat on the floor beside the bed, watching the two
lovers until Diana drifted off to sleep. Her mouth parted and revealed two
small fangs.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a newborn in the house,” he
whispered with a smile. He could remember feeling the same sense of awe upon
seeing Angelina’s new fangs.

If not for Frank Nostrum, he would have had a lifetime of
memories with her. As a young boy, he had put an end to their bonding and now,
as a man, he had killed the fruit of their love. Thank God Angelina had no idea
what her son had done.

“Ah, Angelina,” he whispered and closed his eyes, “how I
long to see you again.”

A hand gently grabbed his shoulder. He turned to see Diana
groggily gazing at him. “She said she would wait an eternity for you to return.
She told me she understood why you stayed away.”

“So you think she might forgive me?”

Lifting her hand, she caught a crimson tear as it dripped
from his jaw. “She already has, Damien. She already has.”

Diana rubbed her cheek against Sebastian’s chest and, with a
sigh, dozed off.

Damien longed to see Angelina. He would risk anything, even
banishment, to be with her. He glanced at the two young lovers, their limbs
entangled as they slept, secure that he would keep them safe during the night.
He would never betray their trust. Not even for Angelina.

If he left, Olympia could attack Diana while Sebastian would
not have the strength to stop her.

Losing Diana would drive Sebastian over the edge Damien
wouldn’t risk that.

Sebastian might not be a son of his loins, but he was his
son all the same. And Diana? He would protect her with his life.

For Angelina.

When he felt the heat of the approaching dawn, Damien drew
the blinds. Glancing down at the blood covering his clothes, he decided to
spare Sebastian the sight and stripped. He quickly washed them and then hung
them near the fireplace. Grabbing a throw from the couch and wrapping it around
himself, he went to wake Diana.

“Diana. Diana, come on, time to get up.”

Diana stretched, then snuggled deeper into the crook of
Sebastian’s arms. “Go away, Daddy.”

A shiver of fear ran down Damien’s spine even though he knew
Frank had no idea where they were. With him in the dark about their whereabouts
and Olympia as trapped by the sunlight as they, they should be safe. What harm
would it do to let her sleep a little longer?

Climbing onto the bed, he lay down on the other side of
Sebastian and closed his eyes.

The whirring of gears filled the room. The three sleeping on
the bed heard nothing. Sunlight began to seep through the cracks in the blinds.
Solid shutters slammed against the windows, completely shutting out the
dangerous rays.

The gears spun faster. Slowly the bed lowered into the hole
that had opened beneath it. When it had dropped fifteen feet, another bed slid
out from wall to take its place in the alcove.

When darkness returned, if the sensors detected no motion in
or around the cottage, the bed carrying the three would return.

Diana awoke. She glanced around, disoriented by her
surroundings. Cherry mahogany walls held dozens of sconces that lit a room much
bigger than the cottage she deduced, after seeing the cables rising on either
side of the bed, was above them. She had no idea how they’d come to be here,
but Sebastian and Damien were with her and even though they slept, she felt
comforted by their presence.

A glance at Sebastian’s undulating chest told her all she
needed to know.

No longer tired, wondering how late she’d actually slept,
she knew that today she would have to protect the two sharing the bed. She had
no idea from what, had no idea how she could even hope to fight off whoever had
led them to seek out this place, but she knew she would die trying.

She sat up and searched the room for her backpack. Groaning,
she remembered Sebastian dropped it by the front door.

“Great. No clothes, no toothpaste or toothbrush.” After a
failed attempt at running her hands through her tangled hair, she swore under
her breath. “No brush.”

At least the room was comfortably warm and the furniture
plush and inviting. She crept out of bed. One corner of the room looked like a
small library. Running her fingers along the shelves holding dozens of books,
she couldn’t help but smile.