Blood Deep (40 page)

There was something Miranda had to ask. She caught her aunt’s sleeve. “When I was trying to return Lucifer’s soul, you spoke in my mind. That is true, isn’t it? It was really you.”

Eugenia nodded.

“You told me that I could return Zayan’s and Lukos’s souls.

Why? Do you believe they would want me to?”

“Elizabeth told me the vampire queens want you to. For them, it ensures the vampires cannot use their power to overthrow the queens. And for Zayan and Lukos—”

“They would lose their immortality.”

“You are not immortal, my dear.”

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Miranda turned away from Blackthorne’s chamber and her aunt closed the door. “Zayan tried to change me in the Underworld, when one of the succubi cut my throat. He could not make me into a vampire, though I did heal myself—with his help.”

Eugenia embraced her. “For Zayan and Lukos to be at peace, I believe they should become mortal once more. Otherwise, the queens will never rest easy, and may prosecute Zayan and Lukos for past crimes. They do have the power to banish both men again.”

“Are you implying that I should try to return their souls for their own protection, whether they want it or not?”

Her aunt drew back to face her. “No, love. I am advising you to ask them what they want.”

But Miranda did not have the chance to be alone with Lukos and Zayan for another day. After they left Blackthorne’s bedchamber, Eugenia took her to one of the drawing rooms, in which the vampire slayers had gathered, along with Lukos, Zayan, and Zayan’s children. Ara was resting in her own bedchamber.

Miranda caught her breath as she recognized a man who sat in the corner of the room—Lord Denby, the man she had encountered on the mountain road, the gentleman of the Royal Society who had been betrayed by his compatriot. Lord Denby rose, crossed quickly to her, and bowed over her hand. “I must take my leave of you, Miss Bond. It is urgent I return to London. It appears there is much rot in the Royal Society that needs to be rooted out, and I am making it my task to do so.”

He inclined his head toward Eugenia. “It will be the mandate of the Royal Society to understand the world of magic, demons, vampires, and the like, not destroy it.”

Eugenia nodded with satisfaction.

Deciding to trust Denby, who appeared to have the support of everyone in the room, from the smiles and nods that traveled BLOOD DEEP / 331

around the group, Miranda clasped his hand. “I think that is wise, Lord Denby.”

She noticed then a handsome, silver-haired bespectacled man who had moved to stand at her aunt’s side. Althea introduced him as her father, Sir Edmund Yates. He also bowed over Miranda’s hand. “I have heard much of your unique abilities from Miss Bond.”

Her unmarried aunt, of course, had the same name as she did. She caught the looks of admiration—and smoldering interest—passing between Sir Edmund and Eugenia. She looked to Zayan and Lukos. Zayan was bouncing Marc on his knee, and Lukos was teasingly tugging Lina’s braids. Both men sensed her gaze, and each one winked at her.

It could have been a scene in any English drawing room.

The children scuttled down to the floor before the fire and played on the carpet. Althea and Serena gracefully perched on their seats, their men standing at their sides. Sir Edmund Yates was excitedly recounting stories of researching vampire lore in the Carpathians to Eugenia. But after an hour, Miranda almost fell asleep on her chair—in the midst of telling her own story of the labyrinth to the Underworld yet again.

Laughing, Lukos scooped her up to take her to bed, but Aunt Eugenia stopped him to clasp Miranda’s hands. She whispered, “What you have, my dear, is a gift. The gift to heal and to give love. And whether you possess magic powers or not, you will always have that gift.”

Whether she possessed magic powers or not.

Would Lukos and Zayan want to be moral—as she was? But her head felt too wooly to worry then. Her thought began to fade . . .

Lukos carried her to her bedroom, and she fell asleep in his arms.

* * *

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Billows of steam and an exotic, flowery fragrance met Miranda as, smiling, Althea pushed open the door to the bathing chamber. The women had told her that she’d slept for a day and half!

Serena nudged her. “Go inside. They planned this like excited schoolboys. I never imagined I would see Lukos—who always seemed so frightening to me—look so vulnerable.”

“I believe love does that to every man,” Althea added. Then they both propelled Miranda into the room and backed out, shutting the door behind them.

An enormous bathtub stood in the middle of the chamber.

Lukos lounged in the water, a glass of brandy in his right hand.

His wet hair was slicked back, darkened to rich amber, and droplets clung to his lashes and full lips. She was not quite used to his blond hair, though it was beautiful.

Silver reflections glinted in his eyes, rippling like water.

“Come here, Miranda. I want to taste you on my lips more than wine.”

She knew what he meant, her heart making a merry dance of arousal in her chest. Zayan stepped out of the shadows, naked, and he stripped her bare with a wave of his hand. She should have expected it, but it still astonished her when her buttons opened themselves and her gown slithered off her body of its own accord. Winking, Zayan set her petticoats whirling up around her, a froth of white lace.

Then he came up behind her. He nuzzled her neck while her corset magically unlaced itself. As her shift leapt over her head and pirouetted by itself to the floor, he cradled her breasts. Her hard nipples tightened even more as he whispered, “I want to taste every inch of you, myself. I love you.”

Lukos crooked his finger to urge her to come to him, then flicked out his tongue. She knew exactly what he intended to do.

She stood still, her hair loose and falling to the small of her back. Zayan’s breath gently brushed her shoulder blades. She BLOOD DEEP / 333

knew she should ask them now. She had to offer to make them mortal—

To protect them all.

Lukos reached out, water sloshing around him, clamped his hand over her bottom, and dragged her cunny to his mouth.

And she knew it was not the time to talk of serious things. But she was so tense, his tongue slicking her clit made her almost melt to the floor.

She had to grip the edge of the tub. From her view, she could see his golden head at her quim, his big shoulders, the beautiful, muscled vee of his back. She could see his tailbone, and the curves of his arse disappearing into the water.

Just the sight of him seduced her.

And he was using magic. It felt as though his tongue was teasing her clit and her anus at the same time. But in her thoughts, he murmured,
I was betrayed by the demoness who took me
into the Underworld. I believed I’d lost Ara, whom I adored,
and you helped me rescue her. You’ve wiped away the pain of
my past, Miranda, and helped me to discover love.

You have done that for both of us, Miranda. Saved us from
the wasted existence of anger and vengeance, and opened our
hearts to love.
Zayan tweaked her nipples, sending shock waves down to her throbbing clit. “We vowed to share you, Miranda.”

Lukos stopped suckling. “And when we share, I want . . .

mmm, the bottom half.”

“Lukos,” she gasped.

Zayan tickled his fingers down her spine, making her jump.

He nuzzled the nape of her neck. “You can have the back, Lukos. I’ll have the front.”

Gazing down at Lukos, at the droplets of water that beaded on his lashes, lashes that swept over his eyes and revealed the vulnerability in his heart, Miranda whispered, “I want to kiss you both. I love you both. It is as simple as that.”

She crouched until she was at the same height as Lukos’s 334 /
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face. He wrapped his wet, muscular arm around her. Miranda gave herself to the magic of his slow, sensual kiss. Her blood burned with the heat of it.

Then Lukos broke the kiss and took her hand. Clasping his fingers, she hoisted her leg over the side of the enormous tub.

He gave a teasing tug and she fell in with a splash. And surfaced with an indignant splutter. But she climbed on him and licked the water along the edge of his hard jaw.

In a hearbeat, Zayan had joined them. “Tonight,” he said,

“we are at your command.”

“Hell,” Lukos chuckled. “The truth is, we are always at your command.”

“What is your most illicit fantasy, my love?” Zayan asked, water sloshing around him. “What would you love to do with us that you would be too afraid to ask for?”

“If I am too afraid to ask, I couldn’t put it into words, could I?” Miranda felt a blush sweep over her, from the tips of her nipples up to her hairline.

Lukos held her hips and guided her to float over his long, naked body. His cock nudged between the cheeks of her rump.

Slicked with the warm water, he eased inside her. He pulled her down on top of him.

Oh, it felt delicious to be floating in the relaxing, hot water, and rocking up and down on Lukos’s thick cock. He was huge, filling her rump, and she bit back a sob of intense pleasure.

Bracing his right hand on the tub, Zayan wrapped his left around his cock and stroked her nether lips. She hooked her arms around his neck. Then he surged inside her. The tub rocked as Zayan and Lukos thrust into her with long, powerful strokes.

To be filled by two men . . . It was spectacular. To be loved by two men was heavenly.

She could float between them forever, loving each thrust, each long stroke of their shafts. Pleasure sapped her strength and she lay back against Lukos.

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His mouth kissing her neck. Zayan’s mouth at her breasts.

Two enormous cocks filling her. It was so much. Too much.

On a slow, agonized, cry she climaxed.

Instead of taking her to another, as they usually did, they suddenly bucked into her. They’d lost control so quickly. She closed her eyes, savoring the sensations as their hips harshly pounded against her, as they groaned fiercely, as their hot come filled her.

Both slid out of her, kissed her tenderly, and she knew it was time. “Have you thought of . . . of having your souls back?”

Zayan straightened. He moved to the side, and Lukos turned her face so he could see her eyes. “What do you mean, angel?”

“If you could choose, would you want to be mortal men again, or would you still want to be . . . vampires?”

Zayan stroked her cheek. “Elizabeth told me that despite your magic, you are mortal.”

She caught his hand. “That is not why I am asking you. It’s just—I have the power to do it. But I do not want either of you to do it for me. It must be what you want. And I—I don’t care which way you choose. I love you either way.”

“You tried before, Miranda,” Zayan reminded her gently. “It didn’t work.”

“The queens believe it will, so I suspect that love could make the difference.”

Lukos eased her off his body, and set the water lapping at her naked shoulders. “I want to be mortal again. I want to be—

be human. Change me, Miranda.”

Zayan’s eyes narrowed. “Elizabeth also told me it would drain your powers. Are you doing this to protect us—and you—

from the vampire queens? Because I promise I would never allow one of those women to hurt you.”

“No, truly, I just want you both to know you have the choice.”

“Try me, angel,” Lukos said suddenly.

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She took a calming breath. Then reached out as she had done with the devil, but this time, her heart was filled with love as she pressed her hand to Lukos’s chest.

I do not feel any different. . . .

Miranda blinked as she opened her eyes. She had woken up remembering Lukos’s words. He had spoken them as he and Zayan had toweled her dry after their bath. They had gone to bed with the dawn, and both men had dropped into sleep. Was that a sign she had failed?

True, Zayan had grinned as he had vigorously rubbed her rump. “I’ve thought of blood and my fangs did not come out. I have no urge to hunt or to feed.” He had planted a quick kiss to her nose. “I think, angel, you’ve done it.”

But she hadn’t been sure.

She’d realized even if her power had not returned their souls, their capacity to love, their passion, loyalty, and devotion to family had always been there, a part of them. Zayan and Lukos had not embraced evil because they were demons, but because of anger, loss, grief, and the hunger for vengeance.

She loved them, demons or not. And she always would . . .

Sunlight. Shafts of sunlight were playing across the blankets.

That must have woken her.

Then she saw what her power—her gift—had done. The drapes had been opened and she was certain her men had ensured they had been carefully closed. Someone had come in and opened them. Or had appeared in the room to do it. Miranda suspected one of the vampire queens.

There must have been clouds in front of the sun, clouds that had now rolled on. Rays of light slanted across Zayan’s and Lukos’s slumbering bodies. Both men stirred, grunting and grumbling as the light brought them out of sleep.

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Miranda’s heart soared. The light was not burning their skin.

It wasn’t going to destroy them. She had returned their souls and made them mortal again. She’d done it . . .

It would mean they could play with the children in the daylight. They would know again the beauty of a clear blue sky.

They would see flowers bloom.

Lukos opened his eyes. Slowly, he lifted his arms. In the brilliant light, the soft hairs sprinkling his arms were gold. “You did it.” His eyes sparkled at her. A beautiful blend of violet and blue. They did not reflect the light like vampire eyes. “Do you know what I want?” he asked.

“What do you want?” she asked, her heart soaring. She suspected she was being led into naughty banter.

“Ham and eggs. I can smell them cooking.”

Laughter bubbled up from her chest.