Blood Awakening (12 page)

His head was thrown back, his glorious, wild hair
spilling out around him. And in his primal nature, he grunted and growled...and
groaned...as he took her with such primal power.

With absolute control.

Ciopori thought that she might die from the pleasure.

This
was where she belonged
: lying
beneath Marquis, existing only for his pleasure…while drowning in the same. The
intensity was overwhelming, and she began to weep.

Marquis brushed away her tears and dipped down to
kiss her lips even as his hips kept up their furious thrusting, taking her
higher and higher with each passionate stroke. He understood her tears to be
exactly what they were, and they seemed to only heighten his response. His need.

Marquis’s eyes were half-open, half-closed, his
handsome face stamped with a look of such pleasure that it almost appeared
pained. “I want to come inside of you,” he groaned into her ear. “I want to
fill you, and I want you to take all of me…to keep inside of you even when I’m
gone.”

Ciopori cupped his face in her hands. “Will I be
in danger of getting pre—”

“No,” he assured her, his thrusts becoming shorter
and faster, his pounding harder. “Not unless I command it. You can’t—”  His
voice cut off in midsentence as he suddenly inhaled and shuddered. His back
stiffened; his body froze; and his face became
harshly beautiful
in a
way Ciopori had never imagined a male could be.

Marquis shouted his release, his body trembling as
stream after stream of his essence spilled into her core. He plunged deeper and
deeper even as he climaxed, almost as if he wanted to crawl inside her and hold
her there forever.

Ciopori clung to the magnificent warrior as her
own body came apart a second time. She held on for dear life, riding out the
waves of pleasure with him until they slowly came down together.

Finally spent, Marquis fought to catch his breath,
his head falling forward against her chest. Careful to shoulder the bulk of his
weight with the strength of his arms, he slowly withdrew and rolled to his
side, gathering Ciopori close to his heart.

The moment was too delicate.

Too sacred.

Too timeless to interrupt with words.

Everything and nothing was said at the same time,
both of them knowing this was their final good-bye.

After at least an hour had passed, lying in each
other’s arms, Marquis moved. “I have to go, my love; I’m surprised my brothers
have not come for me yet.”

Ciopori exhaled and sat up. “And Kristina, she’s
probably wondering—”

Marquis held up his hand to cut her off. “She’s
probably resting. Please…don’t go there, Ciopori.”

Ciopori sniffled and climbed off of the chaise. They
both dressed side-by-side in silence. When finally, there was no more excuse to
linger, Marquis opened his arms one last time and bid her into them.

Ciopori fought to maintain her dignity, struggled
to preserve her composure.

While she should have felt guilty over what they
had just done, she could not. The female downstairs had no feelings for Marquis
whatsoever.

Ciopori had pressed Nachari for information on the
way to the clinic, and according to him, there was no existing relationship
between the two of them. While Marquis’s future was dependent upon them
building one quickly, that process had not yet started. For all intents and
purposes, Ciopori was his past. And this new woman...
Kristina
...would be
his future. The two points were linear, and never would their destinies intersect.
No, Ciopori would not taint the only part of Marquis she would ever have—her
memories—with guilt.

Marquis’s arms tightened around her as if he had
read her thoughts. And truth be told, he probably had. She felt his throat
constrict against her forehead as she nuzzled into the hollow of his neck. He,
too, was swallowing his pain.

“I will miss you always, warrior.”

Marquis stood as still as a statue. “And I, you, Princess.”
He stepped back swiftly and caught her by the shoulders. “Look at me.”

Their eyes met, and an unspoken grief passed
between them.

“
I love you, Ciopori
.” He stroked the side
of her jaw, allowing his fingers to linger over her chin before his arm fell
back to his side.

“I love you too, Marquis.” She choked over the
words, unable to stop her tears. When she reached out for his hand, he backed
away…swiftly, defiantly.

Resolutely
.

Ciopori felt the blood rush out of her face the
moment she looked into his eyes. Her stomach turned queasy, and her heart sank
in her chest. Marquis looked like a granite statue: dark, cold, and lifeless.

Hardened to the core.

Whatever passion or life had been in the warrior
just moments ago—just an hour ago—was irretrievably gone.

Ciopori reached out to him once more in an effort
to take his hand, but he pulled it away, his eyes completely devoid of emotion.
“From now on,
stay away
.”

The arctic words caught her off-guard, sending
shivers of ice down her spine. She tried to force his gaze, but it was as if she
wasn’t even there. Her warrior—
her lover
—was no longer standing before
her. There was only a vampire. A creature with ghostly, obsidian eyes. A male
who was cold and cruel…and empty.

Her heart beat a mile a minute. She had to reach
him. “Marquis,” she whispered, “don’t do this to yourself—to us—
to me
. To
never see you again would be a fate...” Her words trailed off. He was looking
straight through her as if he didn’t even see her now.

Dear gods
, she was as dead to him as his
little brother.

“Be well, Princess.” His words drifted into the
empty space, and then he simply disappeared, vanishing from her view before she
could respond.

Ciopori stumbled back to the chaise and sat down,
her mind a cauldron of jumbled thoughts, her stomach tied in knots.

Her heart irreparably broken.

She stared at the space where Marquis had been—where
the empty shell that had briefly been her world had just stood—and shuddered.

Dearest virgin goddess, how will I go on?

 
She had lost him forever.

“You can stay in the guest room tonight. I’ll retrieve
your things tomorrow.” Marquis spared Kristina a sideways glance as they pulled
up to his house on the northern edge of the Dark Moon Forest.

Kristina blinked several times but said nothing as
the rugged Hummer came to a complete stop in front of the old-fashioned, three-story
home. She stared at the wide wraparound porch, thinking it reminded her of
something one might find on a farm, absently imagining it filled with dogs and
cats. She tried to make sense of the fact that this was now her new home, but
she just couldn’t grasp it.

“Did you hear me?” Marquis asked.

“Huh?” She turned her gaze to the huge,
intimidating vampire who had been her boss for the last eight years.

“I said you can stay in the guest room tonight,
and we’ll go get your things tomorrow.”

Kristina nodded like an obedient child. “Yeah…okay.”
Boss.

Marquis came around to the other side of the truck
and opened the door for her. Well, wasn’t that just all gentlemanly and stuff. At
first, she tried to fold in on herself, making her body as small as possible, and
then she quickly ducked by him, putting several paces between them.
Please,
God, don’t let him touch me.

Marquis didn’t appear to notice...or care.

Good.

Kristina followed the angry-looking vampire to the
front door and stopped just short of the threshold. She didn’t want to go in. She
didn’t want to be anywhere near Marquis Silivasi right now. She knew exactly what
the Blood Curse was—what it required of her—and frankly, she wanted no part of
it.

Kristina shivered at the mere thought of having
sex with Marquis Silivasi, wishing her mind would quit wandering like that.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t good-looking or anything:
The man was fine as hell, actually, but he was a
vampire
, after all! And
he was three times her size. And ten times meaner than the meanest man she’d
ever met...Dirk.

Marquis frowned and held the door open:
the
door to his lair.
“Come inside, Kristina. I’m not going to bite you.”

Kristina blanched and took a step back. She hadn’t
thought of that possibility…yet. Oh, hell, was she going to have to start
drinking blood now too? “I...I think I left my purse in the car.” While it
sounded like a pitiful excuse to get away, it was actually true.

“I’ll get it,” Marquis barked. He sounded more like
a bloodhound than a man, and apparently, she was his new bone.

“No! I can get it myself.
I’m not
helpless
.”

Marquis’s frown deepened, his freaky blue-black
eyes turning as dark as the night. “I will not have you arguing with me at
every turn, Kristina. I am entrusted with your safety now, and I will retrieve
your—”

“Look,
Mr. Silivasi
…” Kristina held up her
hand to shut him up, clearly catching her boss by surprise—well, her former
boss, anyhow.
What was she supposed to call him now, anyway?
She cleared
her throat and continued: “In the last three hours, you told me my relationship
with Dirk was over—all but admitted you were going to kill him...” Her voice
began to falter, so she quickly changed the subject. “And now you’re forcing me
to give up my life completely and come live”—she pointed at the house—“here in
this Victorian mausoleum.”

“It’s not Victorian,” Marquis said
matter-of-factly.

Kristina rolled her eyes. “Well,
whatever
!
The point is, forgive me if I need a few seconds alone right now without you
hovering over me like…like Freddy Kruger or Jason Voorhees
or something.” She gestured toward the thick
surrounding trees and mountains. “This place is already creepy enough, don’t
you think?”

Marquis shook his head, clearly annoyed. “I can
assure you, Kristina; I haven’t the faintest idea what—or who—you’re talking
about.” He waved a cocky hand through the air like a king dismissing a slave. “And
frankly, I don’t care to know.” He leaned back in the doorway and stared at her,
looking totally like the big bad wolf in that story about the girl who liked to
wear red.

Hmm, did the wolf actually eat Red Riding Hood?
Or—

Kristina’s heart sank into her stomach.
Blessed
Mary, mother of God
, the guy was scary. Even as her boss, he always had
been. But at least then, their interactions had been limited to
Hi—yes, boss—are
the paychecks here yet?—
and
good-bye
. Now that she thought about it,
he acted like he wanted to keep it that way: the boss-employee power structure.
Well, maybe except for the paying her thing, ’cause that would make her a prostitute,
wouldn’t it?

She forced herself to meet his scary gaze and
tried not to show her fear. Damn, but the man was fine, though. His body was
cut…like iron…like some kind of sex god decided to reproduce himself as a
vampire. And his face was freakin’...well,
perfect
.

Except he was just too harsh.

All those sculpted features were just like the man:
rough, cold, and hard as stone. There was no give or take in Marquis Silivasi,
just absolute command and control.

Kristina stared at the ancient vampire like she
had never seen him before as he stood in the doorway with his rock-hard arms
crossed over his chest and his dark, demon eyes boring into her skull. And then
it suddenly occurred to her, Marquis didn’t just look like a demon; he had all
the powers of one too.

Oh, shit!

The man was dangerous as hell…

Maybe she needed to chill—just a bit.

She cleared her throat. “
Please
,” she said
as nicely as possible. “Just five minutes? Then I’ll be right in.”

Marquis pointed at the truck. “Fine. Take ten if
you like, but I’ll be right here watching.”

Kristina was just about to argue when his land-line
rang inside the house. She closed her eyes and threw out a quick Hail Mary—
who
the hell still had a land-line?
—praying he would just go and get it. She
could hardly breathe with the old geezer hovering over her like that.

Marquis looked back and forth between the truck
and the kitchen, and then he growled deep in his throat like a tiger. “To the
truck and straight back,” he snarled. And then he leaned in so close she could
feel his breath on her cheek. “Don’t even think about running, Kristina; it
would only serve to irritate me.”

Kristina restrained herself from rolling her eyes
and nodded.
Yeah, that’s what I’m gonna do—outrun a vamp—and in high heels,
no less.
She forced a smile. “To the truck and back.”

Marquis didn’t return the smile—not that she was
surprised. The moment he turned his back and headed down the hall she swore
beneath her breath…

And then the cursing really got good to her.

Apparently, she was channeling her inner sailor.

She kicked at the ground on her way to the truck,
blinking back a fresh onslaught of tears. How in the hell had this happened?
Her.
Kristina Riley! Marquis Silivasi’s destiny?
The vampire gods had to be
smoking crack or something.

As she got closer to the truck, she tried to calm
down. She took a few deep breaths, noticing how cold the mountain air had
become with the changing seasons. She tried to collect her thoughts.

Steady as a drum, Kristina. Just breathe
.

She had all of eternity to get ticked-off and
freaked out. Right now, she just needed to take it one minute at a time.

She opened the heavy door to the H3T—damn, her
boss had a sweet ride, though. She leaned over to pick up her purse, when all
at once, a big hand snatched a handful of her hair and yanked like there was no
tomorrow.

Kristina started to scream, but the other hand
clasped over her mouth before any sound could escape. “So, you’re sleeping with
your
boss
now, Kristi?” The fist in her hair tightened. “How long?”

Kristina froze at the sound of Dirk’s voice. How
in the world had he found her so quickly? How could he possibly know that she
was with Marquis?

Oh,
shit
…
Marquis!

“Dirk.
Dirk!
Listen to me,” she cried
against his hand. “You gotta let go and get out of here.” The words came out
muffled: Why she was trying to save his sorry-butt in that moment, she had no
idea.

Dirk hauled her out of the car, slammed the door
shut, and started to drag her across the lawn toward a grove of trees. Her head
splintered from the pain. She kicked with her legs—trying to regain her footing
in order to ease the pressure—all the while, thrashing her arms wildly in a
wasted effort to break free.

“I asked you a question!” Dirk shouted.
“How
long!”

He stopped dragging her and threw her carelessly
to the ground. He knelt over her and slapped her crisply across the face. “How
long have you been screwin’ your boss, Kristi?”

Kristina was too stunned—and too scared—to speak. She
was scared for herself, scared for Dirk, and scared what would happen if Marquis
found them. “I’m not,” she whimpered.

Dirk frowned and put his hand to her throat. “Don’t
lie to me, bitch! Tell me now, or I swear I’m gonna kill you this time.” He
leaned over until his nose touched hers. The smell of alcohol was thick on his
breath as he whispered, “And then I’m gonna kill that arrogant bastard you work
for.”

A deep, sinister laugh rumbled behind them. “
Really?
Well, this should be interesting.” Marquis’s voice was dark and deadly. His
eyes glowed feral red. “By all means, Dirk, kill me if you can.”

The human piece of trash released Kristina’s throat and spun around like a
madman. He was violently enraged and completely...off balance. Marquis was just
about to strike when he pulled back. This was just too easy. The fool couldn’t
even stand up straight. Besides, he preferred to play with his prey a little
longer.

Taking his time, Marquis stepped back and allowed
Dirk to regain his footing, and then he reached out with supernatural speed and
slapped him so hard he flew back five-feet before slamming into the tree behind
him.

The foolish human never even saw it coming.

“Get up,” Marquis drawled calmly. “We’re not
through.” He turned to Kristina. “Are you okay?”

Kristina slowly sat up and grasped her throat. She
rubbed her head at the scalp. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Can you walk?”

Kristina tried to stand up and weaved. Marquis
caught her, holding her upright, while she fought her disorientation. She
steadied herself on his arm and then took a step back. “Yeah...yes...I can
walk.”

Marquis nodded, keeping one eye on the tattooed
idiot by the tree. For the love of Perseus, how long did it take to get up? “Then
you need to go inside, Kristina. Go inside and stay there.”

Kristina glanced at Dirk, who was kneeling on the
ground, on all fours now. When she looked back at Marquis, her face was pale. “Mr.
Silivasi,” she pleaded, “please.”

Marquis spared her a glance. “Please what?”

“P-p-p-please don’t…”  She cleared her throat. “
Please
don’t.
Just send him on his way and come inside with me, please.” She
looked back and forth between the two men and cringed when she saw the same
thing Marquis did—Dirk pulling a huge, serrated hunting knife out of the inner
pocket of his leather jacket. She swore under her breath. “Better yet, let’s just
go in and call the police.”

Marquis seared a powerful command directly into
Kristina’s mind, leaving no room for error:
As long as you live, Kristina,
you will never think to bring a human into our affairs again. Do we understand
one another?
Vampires never involved humans in their affairs.
Never
.
And Kristina should have known this.

Kristina blinked at the psychic intrusion and nodded
her head.

“Are we clear?” Marquis repeated aloud, just to be
sure.

Kristina started to cry. “Don’t do that, Marquis,”
she whimpered. She was obviously referring to the power he had just exerted
over her mind, knowing she was helpless to defy him. Still, her desire to save
the human cretin was strong. She looked up into his eyes. “Yes, we’re clear. No
police...
ever
. But please, just let him go.”

Marquis frowned. “Get inside, Kristina.”

She hesitated.

“Now.”

Kristina took a healthy step back, but she held
her own. “Marquis, look—” 

“Now!”

She took a long, deep breath and fidgeted with her
hands. The smell of fear permeated the air. “I’ll trade…okay?
I’ll trade
.”

Marquis suddenly had a very bad taste in his mouth.
“You’ll trade what, Kristina?”

She swallowed hard.

“
Trade what
?”

“Myself.”

Marquis stared right through her.

Her hands trembled, but she stood her ground. “Me…
my
body...
okay?” She looked away then, embarrassed. “I won’t fight you on this
whole…curse thing. You can have whatever you need from me. Just let him—”