Fated Betrayal: A Paranormal Erotic Romance (The Twisted Destiny Saga Book 2) (13 page)

CHAPTER 20

“Better?” Vazra asked as he watched Nathanial finish the last of the blood bags that he’d given him. He set it down on the plate in front of him on the dining room table.

“You need to keep some
fresh
blood around here.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Vazra said, eyeing him from across the table as he picked at his own meal in front of him.

Nathanial pushed back his chair and turned to leave.

“You’re not going to ask me?” Vazra called after him.

Nathanial stopped in his tracks and breathed a heavy sigh. “Ask you what?” he responded coyly. He already knew exactly what Vazra was talking about.

“The same thing you ask me every time you see me. Where she is.”

“I do not need to.”

“What?”

He turned around and smirked at him. “Her grandson was born tonight. She will come soon enough of her own accord.
After
I have left the White Realm, I suspect. But, regardless, she
will
come.”

“What are your intentions?”

“Not what
you
believe them to be.”

And with that, he turned and swept out of the throne room.

In a burst of vampire speed he stood outside the bedchambers that had been prepared for him. He pushed open the door and stepped inside, kicking it shut behind him.

He took in the room and smiled at the huge, four-poster bed. Just what he needed. It had been a while since he’d last slept. Now he would take great pleasure in it. He approached the windows and felt the dark red drapes. Good, they were thick enough to protect him from the sun’s rays. He unbuttoned his silk shirt and draped it over the back of one of the armchairs in the seating area at the back of the room.

A knock on the door surprised him and he spun towards it and called out, “Yes?”

It opened slowly—cautiously—and a woman of breathtaking beauty stepped inside.
Marella.
Unlike earlier, during the ordeal of the wolf child’s birth, she had changed out of the white robes she’d been wearing and was now dressed the way he’d remembered her. Sophisticated and elegant. A floor-length, silky, silver gown hugged her in all the right places and hung down, sweeping the floor majestically. Her royal blue eyes gazed upon him warily as she stood in his doorway. She flicked back her snow-white, curly hair nervously as his gaze continued to rake over her. She fiddled with her arm-length, silver gloves, unable to hold her gaze steady against the intensity of his. Some things didn’t change.

“You may come in. I won’t bite,” he said with a wry grin. He watched her shut the door behind her. Only when she walked further into the room, did he add, “Unless you want me to.”

She blushed and broke his gaze. “I just came here to thank you for what you did to help Cora with the birth.”

“I barely used any power at all. It was no great strain.”

“I know it must have been hard, Nathanial. Seeing another woman give birth to a pureblood wolf tonight, like your wife had with Ryan.”

His eyes narrowed at the comparison and the unwelcome trip down memory lane, but he forced himself to swallow down his feelings as he said, “It was fine.”

“You have changed,” she said softly.

“Is that a statement, or a question, Marella?” he queried, stepping closer to her. “I heard some hesitancy there.”

“No…it’s not…you….”

“I…what? I make you nervous?” he asked, stepping into her personal space. He smiled to himself when she didn’t back away. He hadn’t expected her to—it would be an act of weakness to do so. And Marella had never been weak. Not at all.

“No.”

He leaned into her and breathed in her ear, “I know who you are.”

She gasped and stepped back in shock. “I don’t know who you think I am, Nathanial, but—”

“You are her sister.”

“I…no….” she fumbled.

He smiled with amusement. “You cannot deny it. I can smell your
blood
. Just like Oriana’s. Just like Ryan’s. You
are
their blood kin. My wife’s sister.”

She released a heavy sigh. “Yes,” she admitted.

“You have kept that secret well. You told the wolf, though. I saw Cornelius’s ring on him. You saved his life by giving it to him when you did.”

“He is family. It is my duty to protect him.”

“I am glad that you did. The wolf is important to me.”

She shook her head sadly. “You cannot right the wrongs that you inflicted upon his father with his
son
, Nathanial.”

“Isn’t it my duty to try, Marella?”

She swallowed hard at his pained words. “You forced his mother into hiding.”

“You know that’s not what happened. After what she did, my advisors wanted me to spill her blood, to torture and kill her. They believed it the only way for me to overcome such an embarrassment and maintain my impervious image as King of the Dark Realm. I saved her
life
, despite what she did.”

“I know,” Marella said softly. “I know and I am sorry.”

He waved his hand dismissively. “It was several lifetimes ago.”

“How long have you known about me?”

“Always.”

“What? Why didn’t you say anything in all these centuries?”

“
Because
, I sensed that you did not want Vazra to know. I am not sure why you chose to hide it from him. Regardless, I didn’t want to make things difficult for you.”

“Why? What concern was it of yours?”

His gaze softened as he told her, “It was a great concern to me.”

“Because of Oriana?”

“No, because of you,” he said, taking her hand in his and pulling her close. “I
always
liked you.”

“Stop it,” she said, trying to pull away.

But he maintained his firm grip. “I’ve wondered for some time what it would be like with you. I saw you long before Oriana, but you were with a warlock at the time.”

She nodded. “Yes, I remember. He was abusive. Fortunately, he was murdered by a vampire.”

Nathanial grinned at her. “I know.”

“It was you?”

He nodded.

“Why?”

“He hurt you,” he said, reaching out and trailing his finger down her cheek.

She flinched and breathed, “Stop, Nathanial.”

He released her and he watched her turn away and hastily hurry to the door. “If it makes you feel better to continue to deny it to yourself, so be it. I will not take an unwilling woman. But you cannot deny it to
me
, angel. I have seen you look my way many a time with passion in your eyes.”

Her hand on the door handle, she stopped short at his words. “It is wrong.”

He stood before her in a flash of vampire speed, glowering down at her. “How so?”

“Because…Oriana…she—”

“What about her? She left me two centuries ago, Marella. No, she is not your excuse. Do not insult me by trying to hide the truth behind your hesitancy.” He moved into her, forcing her back against the wall. He traced his index finger down her neck to her chest, between her breasts, before pulling it away. And, as he knew she would, she moaned quietly at his touch. “Say it,” he commanded.

“You…you’re too…strong.”

“And?” he pressed.

“You affect…my control.”

He nodded, knowing that was exactly what she was afraid of—what she had always been afraid of with him. “You have the same effect on me, Marella.”

Her eyes widened in surprise.

“It is true,” he said, leaning into her, his mouth just a few inches from hers. “But true passion is not about control, is it?”

He watched her shake her head, giving him the green light.

He reached out and drew the straps of her dress off her shoulders.

He felt her pulse quicken as he continued until the dress pooled at her feet, leaving her standing naked before him aside from her silver gloves. He slid them off her arms as well. And then his gaze raked over her slowly, taking in every inch of her body—a body that he had coveted for centuries.

“Tell me, angel, have any of the lovers you’ve taken over the centuries stood to admire all of your glory, told you that your exquisite body is the definition of true perfection?”

She smiled shyly at his compliment. “A line you no doubt tell all your whores.”

He kissed her cheek tenderly and whispered, “You are not my whore. If that were the case, I would have seduced you long ago.” His lips brushed hers softly and he looked into her eyes as he said, “But I waited for you to come to me.” He lifted her chin, forcing her to look up at him. “And now that you have, I know it was worth my wait to see this look in your eyes.”

“What…look?” she choked out as he slid his hands up and down her sides.

“That look of love that you have tried to hide from me for so long.”

She broke his gaze. “I….”

His hands cupped her breasts, kneading them gently. He smiled to himself as she arched her back, pushing them further into his hands. “Do you deny it, angel?”

“No,” she whispered.

And that was all he needed to hear.

He pressed his lips to hers, capturing her in a long, lingering kiss. Her mouth opened for him and his tongue plunged inside, tasting her, exploring her. She responded earnestly, deepening the kiss, her tongue dueling with his with a passionate fervor.

His hand slid down to her pussy and she gasped as his icy fingers slipped between her slick folds.

“Cold,” she rasped, breaking their kiss momentarily.

He smirked at her as he continued his ministrations. “Do you wish me to stop?”

“Never,” she said, gripping the sides of his face and forcing his mouth back to hers.

He teased her clit, his expert fingers quickly bringing her to the brink of ecstasy. She whimpered in protest when he suddenly pulled his hand away.

“Nathanial,” she gasped out.

He held her gaze as he tasted her arousal coating his fingers, his tongue lapping at it ravenously. “Mmm…even sweeter than I’d fantasized.”

And then he swept her off her feet and carried her to his bed. He laid her down and shed the rest of his clothes quickly. He watched her eyes widen in surprise at the sight of his hard cock.

“Like what you see?” he asked with amusement, as he straddled her.

“Impressive,” she responded, biting her lip coyly.

He grinned at her compliment and then his expression became serious. “I want to taste you.”

He knew she understood what he was actually saying. He wanted to bite her.

“Will you allow me to?”

“Do you usually ask permission?”

“You are the first.”

“What?” she almost shrieked. “I thought you said, you didn’t take unwilling women?”

“No. No. No. I mean…you will be the first I have ever tasted.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I only ever feed for nourishment. Not at a time such as this.”

“Oh. Wow. I—”

Her words caught in her throat as he slid inside her suddenly.

“Oh God!” she gasped. “Nathanial!”

“Mmm…you feel incredible,” he breathed, as he began to pump at an easy pace, grunting at the delicious feel of her slick, warm walls gripping him so amazingly tightly.

“Yes. Do you understand why?”

She shook her head and then threw it back against the pillow as he slammed into her, picking up the pace, and almost drilling her right through the bed with the force and power of his thrusts.

“I desire you like no other,” he breathed. “That is why.”

Her eyes lit up at his words. “I…I’ve wanted you for a long time, too.”

“I know.”

“What?”

“I’m very perceptive.” He stilled inside her then and told her, “You may taste me as well.”

She watched as he swiped a finger across his chest, making a shallow cut. “Your dark power,” she breathed in awe. He knew that she was aware that he
never
let anyone drink from him. He was infamous for it. He suspected she’d been shocked to learn that he’d allowed Ryan to, although, that had been Cora’s blood coursing through his veins at the time, not his own.

And in a situation like this? Making love? No, he’d
never
allowed such a thing to occur.

“Yes,” he told her.

He teased her with his cock, easing out of her slowly and plunging back inside over and over again, encouraging her, tempting her.

And then he felt it. Her lips on his chest. He moaned as her tongue tasted him. Within moments, the heady power of his blood had her in a frenzy and she sucked at his chest ravenously, drawing more of his blood into her mouth. He picked up his pace and thrust into her powerfully, the force of his thrusts driving her further up the bed. He gave her everything he had and she responded in kind, meeting his pleasurable assault head on.