Dark Rapture (31 page)

With a sigh he sank into a chair. He clasped his fingers around the brittle flower and held it to his chest, closing his eyes to wait.

Chapter Thirty

Encapsulated within the mysterious orgasmic swoon, the pain hit his heart. It shattered and spread throughout his veins, swiftly encompassing his body.

“Aaahh!” The terror in his voice brought Vince back to reality and he jerked upright behind the steering wheel, his fingers clenching it.

For a moment he looked blankly around the parking lot, unable to shake the visions of blood. Blood pouring from his stomach, and his hands, and even from his mouth. But then the rain started. Water pounded the hood of his car, sounding like a rubber mallet against a metal can.

Shaking frantically, he reached for the key and warmed the ignition. He wondered if he was hyperventilating, his breathing was so erratic. Leaning over, he felt beneath the passenger’s seat for a bag. But when his chest hit the seat and his cheek brushed across the smooth interior he closed his eyes and rested.

“What’s happening to me?”

He’d never passed out during a headache before. Why had it happened this time, and with that dreadful dream?

Rolling his forehead across the seat he wiped the sweat away and then sat up.

It was going to be a long drive home.

***

“Elisabeth.”

Scarlet turned to see the carved oak panel on the far wall open up and Sebastian slipped through, closing it behind him. He carried a single white rose in one hand and in the other, a candle that dripped wax down to the well of a brass holder.

“Sebastian, it’s nearly midnight. Is the vicomte all right?”

“
Cherie,
my apologies. And yes, I believe he is going to be well, in time. The fever broke and he was able to take some broth before I left. But the man wanted me to get back to you and . . . well, I couldn’t argue with him. Do you forgive me for being away from you for the whole day?”

“Of course.”

“This is for you.”

He handed her the rose, then turned his back to place the candle on the table. At that moment she couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, her life had been carefully planned by some greater force and she was following the blueprint.

Turning to her, Sebastian said, “I’m eager to hear your answer.” His voice was shaky and quiet, but he took her face into his hands and kissed her deeply, lighting the flame that had simmered all night.

To begin with her plan. “I received a letter from my uncle Vincent today. He feels I’ve spent enough time here and directed me to leave tomorrow.”

“Oh, I understand. But—”

“Let me finish, Sebastian.”

He nodded and stared helplessly at her as she spoke. “I want to tell my uncle about your proposal and discuss it with him. I’m sure he’ll want to meet you, as will the rest of my family. I don’t think they would like it if I got engaged in their absence. You understand, don’t you? I don’t want to leave you, Sebastian, but we’ll be together again soon.”

His dark eyes shimmered with tears. “Does that mean you cannot accept my proposal?”

He was going to make this hard, she thought, looking away toward the window. “No, but I don’t want to give you my answer just yet. It’s only fair that my family know about this before I make my decision. So I must be cruel and keep you in the dark for a while longer.”

She hated lying to him. But she would tell him the truth later. Much later, like two hundred years into the future. If everything worked as planned.

“I love you, Elisabeth. And it is right what you must do. But it’s going to be hard for me in your absence. I love you dearly.”

Those words never sounded as good to her as they did right now. She loved him. So why was fate forcing her to perform such an unspeakable injustice?

“I love you too, Sebastian.” Tears flowed down her cheeks and she brushed them away.

He took her into his arms, crushing the rose between them as he did. His kisses were sweet, but untamed as his discretion made way for passion. A thorn pushed through her silk bodice, piercing her skin. Scarlet didn’t cry out; she couldn’t, she didn’t want him to stop, now that she had made up her mind.

She was to be the creator of this wild child.

She slipped her hands inside his brocade coat and worked the buttons of his lacy shirt until she could spread her hands over his chest. His chest was hard and hot and he flinched momentarily when her cool fingers flitted over his skin, but then he relaxed and renewed his frenzied kisses and the heat from his body quickly warmed her hands.

Scarlet sighed and skated her lips down his skin, eager to feel his heart beat under her mouth. His skin was salty on her tongue, the pounding furious under his chest, and soon she felt her own heartbeat match his.

“We are soul mates, Sebastian,” she whispered. “We belong together forever.” And then she whispered so softly that he couldn’t hear, “I should never have doubted it.”

The ties behind her neck loosened under Sebastian’s rapid fingers and her dress fell to the floor in a heap of poufy white satin.

“Soul mates.” He tried the words. “Yes, I like that. We must never part,
cherie."
Lost in a frenzied desire, he whispered, “I feel it, too. My heart belongs to you forever.”

Eager with the task at hand, Scarlet fell to her knees and quickly unbuttoned Sebastian’s breeches, releasing the metal clasp in the back that tightened the waistline. He slipped free of his clothes, kicking his shoes to the edge of her dress.

Words were not necessary as he cupped her chin in his hand and their eyes met. Scarlet pressed her lips to his palm and then his wrist, where she felt his rampant pulse.

Sebastian inhaled and pushed his hands through her hair as she kissed his stomach and journeyed slowly upward. She took her time, enjoying the salty flavor of his flesh, the sweet smell of lavender that lingered from his clothes, and the tormented moans he struggled to contain. She lingered over his nipples, as she nipped and kissed the hot flesh.

Finally Scarlet stood in his arms and Sebastian pulled her onto the bed. The moon highlighted their naked bodies as they clung to one another and began to make love for the first time in history. Their bodies came together in a desperate attempt to join forever. He, to hold onto his new love, and she, to savor the last moments of her mortal lover’s life until she must do what was inevitable.

Sebastian shackled one of her wrists over her head. This was not the time for stolen kisses or discreet embraces. His tongue was hot against her flesh as he slid from her lips, down her chin and throat, and lashed at her nipple. She gasped and pulled him to her breast, and he began to kiss and suck at it fiercely.

She arched her back, and Sebastian slid his hands beneath her back, locking her in his frenzied embrace. Scarlet slipped her fingers through the curled hairs between his legs and grasping him firmly.

“Oh,
cherie,"
Sebastian gasped. “I have said before that you are an angel, and this is true.” His lips feathered across her stiffened nipples, and his tongue flicked out to tease the curve of her breast as she kept a firm hold on him. “But what you do to me . . . you must be the devil’s angel in disguise.”

“Perhaps I am.” She breathed and began to stroke him with her encircled fingers. “No man had ever had this effect on me.”

He set his chin on her chest, his eyes pleading. “I must have you now.”

His body melded to hers as if made from the same mold and his fingers seduced her into an uncontrollable rage of unearthly excitement. If ever she’d feared or doubted his love for her, now she was able to accept it. Vampire or not, she did belong to Sebastian. She was his blood child, his soul mate. And tonight he would become hers.

Scarlet wrapped her legs around Sebastian’s hips and pulled him to her body, gasping as he entered her. Her body tensed with trepidation as her lover moved above her, his eyes closed as each movement brought them closer to the edge.

“I promise my love to you forever,” she whispered and unable to prolong the ecstasy, she relaxed and let Sebastian bring her body to a tumultuous climax. “Forever, Sebastian DelaCourte.”

He looked up, having heard her slip with his name, but at the same time his body stiffened as he matched her orgasm. He shuddered tremulously, his jaw clenched as he shared her rapture. Falling to his side, exhausted, he gasped. “I can’t let you leave me.”

She sighed as the last shudder traveled through her body. She hated to be reminded of her imminent task. “We will see each other again, I promise.”

He twirled her hair around his finger and kissed the hollow of her neck. “You haven’t lied to me yet.”

Yet?
Oh Sebastian, if you only knew. This whole thing has been one big charade.

She was going to cry and desperately held the tears back. She smoothed her hand along the side of Sebastian’s neck. She could feel his pulse. Their heartbeats had synchronized. He smiled at her, taking her finger from his neck and slipping it into his mouth.

Yes, she wanted them to be one again. One in heart, one in soul. And one in blood.

Rising to her knees, Scarlet breathed in the fresh air that drifted through the opened window. The candle flickered across the papered walls and cast a shadow over Sebastian’s face. With a seductive smile, she pushed him back into the thick pillows and straddled him.

She closed her eyes and prayed that her thoughts would travel through the barriers of time.
I'm coming back to you, Sebastian.

“Trust me now when I say that some day you’ll understand, Sebastian. I love you.”

Chapter Thirty-One

Vince pushed his head back against the seat. The sun had set hours ago and the half moon curved into the pink sky. He'd be home soon.

If he could he make it.

The roof of his mouth was dry and his tongue felt as scratchy as a cat’s as he swished it back and forth in an attempt to bring the saliva to his parched lips. His mind fought to see the road clearly while his body battled the unknown enemy within.

He flicked the radio off. “Just a little farther,” he moaned to himself. "I can do this.”

He gripped the steering wheel, and bit down on his lip. He bit so hard he could taste the blood. The wetness in his mouth felt good so he bit again, and this time sucked at his opened flesh, and for the moment, he was satisfied.

***

The room was silent. Sebastian watched with fear and wonder as Elisabeth rose from the bed and padded to the water basin across the room. Although her image was blurred he knew that she was naked and could see she was washing her skin. But he couldn’t hear the water splash, even though he could see it drip from her towel.

She crossed the floor, carrying a wet cloth.

He wanted to speak, to question her, but he couldn’t find the words. What had just happened?

Carefully she sponged his body off, sending shivers to his limbs as the cool cloth moved from his face down to his stomach. And then she walked silently across the room.

He was surely delirious or perhaps even mad. Elisabeth stood across the room from him pulling on the white material. But still no sound.
Shouldn’t hear something? Her footsteps? The rustle of her dress?
He squinted to bring a sharp edge to the picture, and noticed the spot of red on her chest where the thorn had pierced her skin.

Was she really an angel?

The edge of sanity tore back with a loud buzzing between his ears—and he remembered. She’d ripped open his flesh like an animal and had feasted on his blood. And then, using the rose thorn, had slashed her neck and then had forced him to drink from her.

Surely she was an angel from hell! A dark angel sent here by the devil himself.

He blinked and the image faded. The figure of the woman—what was her name?—standing over him was growing blurry around the edges. He struggled to maintain a clear view of her but he was growing so weak.

***

The antique silver watch that Sebastian twisted between his fingers showed 1:00 A.M. He rubbed his forehead and sank further into his chair.

He wondered if Gary was still awake. Of course he would be. He had helped him open the vault door earlier this evening. Though he had declined the idea of sitting out the night in the vault, Sebastian knew that Gary would be waiting outside the huge iron door for any signs of Scarlet.

To make matters worse, Gary told him that Vince had called. He’d buried his mother and done all he could in his hometown. He figured he’d be getting back early this morning. Sebastian hoped that they’d have Scarlet back before Vince arrived.

1:15. He wasn’t sure when she had disappeared from his room that night. He had been so weak, he had thought that he would die for sure. And when she finally had disappeared he hadn’t been sure what he was seeing. It took him a few days after his transformation to realize what had happened to him.

He still believed her to be an angel, though. The devil’s angel, for sure, but an angelic being just the same.

***

Scarlet stared out the paned window. Moonlight shone across the courtyard. She couldn’t bear to look toward the bed and see Sebastian suffering. She knew he was. Even though his body was going through a remarkable transformation and it was growing stronger by the minute, he still suffered. And of all the pain he would endure, she knew that he would suffer the most to know that
she
had done this to him.

“I love you, Sebastian,” she whispered out the window, hoping that the winds would carry her words forever until they reached him in the future.

A piercing twist of darkness ripped through her body and pulled her head down to her knees. Scarlet struggled to call out to Sebastian, who pushed himself up on the bed but he couldn’t help her—it was too late.

Blackness fell over her eyes and she felt the air forced from her lungs as she fell. The dust rose in thick clouds as her body slammed into the hard floor.