Mortal Bite (Golden Vampires of Tuscany) (18 page)

The bite and the rejuvenating droplets of Paolo’s blood led to another
tussle between the sheets, and a long orgasm that lasted several minutes,
leaving her feeling wrung out and totally limp. She heard things happening outside
in the park next to her complex—details she’d never heard before, like
conversations between people and the tapping of a runner’s feet along the
garden pathways.

Her ceiling looked the same; however, the reflective light from car
bumpers and shimmering leaves cast light and dark shadows on the smooth surface
in greater detail. Light patterns seemed to dance all around her. Her entire
world had shifted. She was in love, no, she was
consumed
by the love of a vampire.

They lay side by side, their thighs touching. Even her sense of smell was
enhanced as she recognized the scent of their joint arousal. The droplet of cum
she’d tasted from him during their lovemaking had sent curious jolts of
electricity down her spine, jarring her and making her sex hungry again. She
knew it was not going to be possible to get enough of him in the days and weeks
to come.

I willingly am your addiction. I
will host off your pleasure, Carabella.

His words send a shudder of pleasure through her body again. Everything
he did sent her into a euphoric state. She turned, leaned onto her side,
propped up on her elbow, and looked down at him. Her fingers traveled the
smooth tanned surface of his muscular chest, up under his stubbled chin. She
wondered if he had to shave. How often did he get his hair cut? There were so
many questions she had now.

He’d blocked something from her. She knew he wanted it to be a private
thought.

“Why keep certain thoughts from me?” She asked as she kissed his chest
and toyed with his left nipple with her teeth.

“I don’t want to scare you away.”

“What would scare me?”

“The future.”

That’s when she realized that she was looking forward to her future with
all her heart, and he was looking toward it with dread.

They dressed and made arrangements to get her car, which had been left at
the University. Cara brought the book and the letter inside it, secreting it
beneath some changes of clothes in a duffel bag.

“Does this mean you’ve invited yourself to what you call a ‘sleepover’?”
he said, his fingers caught in his belt loop. His hips were slung at an angle,
and he was mind-numbingly bare chested. Cara couldn’t decide whether she liked
him in jeans and no shirt, or just plain naked. The effect on her body was the
same.

“Hardly,” she said as she turned and continued to stuff things into the
bag. He moved to sit on the bed, watching her. “I didn’t pack any pajamas,” she
said.

“I don’t like pajamas. I like sleepovers without pajamas.”

“Good to know. So, am I invited?”

“You are commanded.”

She raised her eyebrows and formed an “O” with her lips. “Really?
Commanded?”

He blocked another set of visions, but not before she definitely saw her
own hands bound with black silk ties, and felt him filling her from behind.
“Aha! You weren’t quick enough.”

He, blushed, and then smiled. A noise outside the window drew his
attention. “Cara, we have to go. It isn’t safe.”

She was worried, so went to look out the window, but he grabbed her,
pulling her back into the hallway. “You have the book?”

“Yes, right here.” She held up her case.

“Then we are off. Hang on.”

Again the fluttering of butterflies mixed with his scent carried her on a
sensual cloud until she was standing in the grand room of the Monteleone estate
in Healdsburg. An older woman was polishing an antique curio cabinet and jumped,
startled, when they arrived.

“Oh, good Lord, Paolo. You nearly scared me to death,” she said,
clutching her heart.

“I am sorry. I needed the safety of the house perimeter and didn’t have
time to trace to the front door.”

“Paolo, you’re back,” Marcus shouted out as he appeared from the study.
“Cara? Does this mean you’ll be joining us again this evening?” he said as he
pointed to her duffel bag.

Cara looked back up at Paolo for the proper answer.

“Brother, I believe Cara is in danger, especially with the death of her
assistant.”

“A real tragedy, in more ways than one,” Marcus said.

Cara stepped toward the older brother. “I’ve scarcely been able to get my
breath,” she said until she realized what she’d implied. Blushing, she
continued bravely, “Do you know who has done this and why? I for one think it
has to do with this book.” She held up her bag.

Marcus squinted and tilted his head to the side, obviously thinking. Cara
wasn’t sure he wanted to have anything to do with the book, but Paolo took her
bag in one hand, her elbow in the other, and lead her to Marcus’ study.
“Quickly. We need to act quickly.”

Marcus stood at the doorway while Paolo zipped open the bag, which sat on
Marcus’ paper-strewn desk. “I’m not sure this is wise, Paolo.” Marcus’s long
limbs carried him to beside Paolo in long fluid movements, just like Paolo’s
gait. The brothers looked remarkably alike, except for the slight difference in
height. Marcus placed his hand over the unzipped bag. Paolo took a step back
and clasped Cara about the waist from behind, waiting.

“This unlocks doors that, once opened, cannot be closed,” Marcus said.
“We are investigating something greater than the health and safety of this
great family.” Marcus’s words of warning made her heart pound and her hands
sweat.

What does he mean, Paolo? Help me.

Paolo gave her waist a squeeze. “Brother, perhaps you are saying Cara has
to be brought up to date. It may be time for her to learn about our family and
what she has unwittingly become involved in.”

Marcus examined his knee-high black boots, his legs crossed in front of
him as he balanced himself against the front of the desk. “My brother makes it
difficult for me, Cara. I must tell you things he has not been able to, due
to—”

“I know what he is,” she said. “What you all are. I know you are a
vampire coven.”

Marcus winced. “No, not coven. We are a dynasty. A family. We protect and
stand for one another. We don’t feed off one another. Our family does not
perform the hosting the coven families do. If you can even call them families.”

“They are animals,” Paolo whispered.

“No, not all. We have some who can be loyal, Paolo. Never forget that.
Without them, we would have little information on what is happening in the dark
world.”

The shiver down Cara’s spine forced her to move to the side, away from
Paolo. “Dark world?” Cara crossed her arms across her chest and stepped away
again when Paolo tried to encircle her shoulders with his arm. “I’m needing
some interpretation here. I need some answers and I want them right now.”

Marcus motioned to a red velvet settee and asked Cara to take a seat.
Paolo wisely sat in an ornately carved chair beside her. At the tall windows of
the study, Marcus stared out onto the vineyards below. Mists still burning off
the remnants of morning fog sent tendrils of white swirling through the air,
framing the handsome Monteleone brother’s profile. “Paolo, this is yours to
handle.
 
You have to make a
decision here, brother.”

Paolo stood. The two brothers looked into each other’s eyes before Marcus
broke it off and placed himself behind the huge desk and collapsed into a
wooden chair that groaned under his size.
 
Paolo slowly faced Cara and leaned against the windowsill. He had the
same impossibly long, lean legs as his brother, but his face that always looked
like it had been kissed by sunshine was slightly fairer than that of his older,
brooding brother. No matter what happened this grey morning, she would always
love Paolo’s face. It would be the face she would see in her dreams the rest of
her life.

She hoped it wouldn’t turn out to be a nightmare.

I can do this.
Was she saying
this to convince herself or Paolo?

“I know you can, Carabella. But there is much to share.” Paolo stalked
across the office from bookshelf to bookshelf, each burdened with more books
than Cara had ever seen in a private library. These old books had been dusted
and cared for. Some were wrapped in plastic covering. A couple of rolled-up
scrolls lay on a reading desk built into the bookshelf, next to a white pair of
gloves.

“This is but a fraction of the books we own. The library in Tuscany is
second to none. It would probably keep scholars busy for centuries. It rivals
some of the great libraries in Paris, the U.K. and the U.S.”

Cara noticed Marcus had picked up a book and was letting his fingers
filter through the pages, but she knew he was paying close attention.

“The library chronicles the works of our kind, the history, our
genealogy, things Marcus and I haven’t even had time to learn about. Cara, both
Marcus and I are over three hundred years old.”

He raised his eyes to watch her reaction. Marcus stopped perusing the book
to look up as well.

Cara knew he was telling the truth. “How does that work?” she asked. She
felt immediately it was a stupid question.

No, none of your questions are
stupid. “
We are Golden vampires, which are a different species than the
dark vampire covens. We are able to live in the sunlight. We can appear human,
just as any other mortal. We are not. Our children are human, and, at the age
of puberty or some time beyond, each child is given the choice, one time only.
Our choice is to whether remain mortal, human, or become Golden vampire. We can
only mate,” he blushed, and Cara loved him for it. “We can only produce
offspring with our fated mates. Only then is the blood passed down.”

“So you have had a fated mate, then,” Cara felt the weight of her words
falling into the pit of her stomach.

“Yes. Unfortunately, yes.” Paolo’s steady chocolate gaze poured into her
chest, but it didn’t lessen the burden.

She told herself it wasn’t important. She’d not considered being a
mother. She hadn’t planned to consider it until she met the right man. And then
she knew what had caused the pain in her stomach, what she was unwilling to
believe about herself. She was staring right into the eyes of that man whose
children she would gladly bear. She decided not to hide her disappointment, instead
letting the sadness flow.

Paolo had frowned, furrowing his brow, and brought himself back the task
of completing the story. “Our children are especially vulnerable, and, since
they are very rare, cherished almost above all life.”

As it should be, Paolo. You have a
son and he will always be your primary responsibility. I understand this.

Paolo nodded, appearing glad she understood this. “So, until that time of
choice, our children can be easily killed, just like any mortal child. It is
for that reason we are so protective of our secrets, the secrets of the
family.”

Cara understood she was now the keeper of information few mortals knew.
He trusted her, even if Marcus didn’t.

“The fact that this is coming close to you means there is even greater
danger than we thought, and certainly a lot less time than we thought we had.”

“Time? Time for what?”

“Time to ready for the battle,” Marcus added. “There’s a war brewing
between the dark covens and our kind. It will be a war of annihilation. Only
one coven can survive.”

“It appears they have chosen to embroil you in this war,” Paolo
whispered. “Cara, I didn’t realize this until this morning. They are coming
after you next. You are in grave danger.”

“Is it because of us?” she asked.

“No, Carabella. I believe it is because of the book, and your knowledge
of its existence. But the relationship we share will certainly complicate
things,” Paolo answered. “I did not want you involved in this. And now we have
two choices, if they can be called that. We can either go forward and enlist
your mortal support in this fight, or we can erase your memories and send you
elsewhere.”

“Elsewhere? You mean—”

“You would essentially become a different person. You could not study
vampires. You would not be known as an expert. You could do and be nothing that
would attract them to your scent. You understand?”

“You are joking.”

“Wish I was. It is a valid alternative,” Paolo replied. He walked fluidly
over to where she sat on the settee and knelt in front of her. He took both her
hands in one of his. “I would do nearly anything to keep you safe. The safest
course for you in your life might be to stay completely away from me and my
family.”

“I couldn’t—” she started.

“You could. It could be done. You could be made to forget we ever met.”

Forget we ever met? Are you asking
me to make that choice? I cannot.

“You remember when I told you, with the proper information, we might be
able to do things we never thought possible before? This is one of the choices,
Cara. But it would require you to move, to remove yourself from anything you
ever knew of your past. Your life would start somewhere else. And trust me, you
wouldn’t be looking into vampires or the vampire culture, either. We can do
that.”

Cara felt sick to her stomach. What had she been thinking? She knew Paolo
was concerned for her safety. He’d been blocking his thoughts ever since they
left her place. The controlled, measured communication he’d just delivered hung
over her like an axe. Any way she thought about it, her life, as she knew it,
was over.

How could I have been so stupid?

It is my fault, my fault alone. I
knew better, Bella. I should never have taken another mortal lover.

“Mortal lover? Am I that to you?” She felt like she’d been slapped. “Am I
your pleasure partner for randy afternoons at the Inn, or early morning sex
when danger is lurking around the corner? When those that are close to me are
dying? Who’s next? My students?”