Vermilion Kiss (11 page)

“Mm, you’re so wet and ready for me, my dear. I love it when you’re like this,” he whispered huskily and bit teasingly at my earlobe. As he was still inside me, he grasped my right breast and squeezed hard, sending a pleasant shiver down my spine. I felt his wet, cold tongue lick circles around my areolas until the nipples were pebbly and rigid. He pricked the center of one nipple with a fang and I let out a muffled yelp as he lapped up the blood and suckled on my teat like a newborn baby. I twisted and fidgeted wildly in my bonds as he drew long and hard on my nipple, relishing it, savoring the crimson milk that spilled forth.

Then he rocked his hips and ground into me, placed both hands atop my breasts, and plunged violently and swiftly in and out of me, and rode me like an unbroken mare. I groaned in a joyful frenzy as his cock filled me up, slammed against that delicate area deep within, that sweet, sweet flower that burst its nectar onto him as he quickly retracted himself, and released his seed all over my chest. Darius lay next to me and spooned me from behind, combing a hand through my blond locks.

I must’ve been grinning wider than the moon. “That…was…fucking…amazing,” I said between pants.

He mumbled into my hair and I could feel his smile. “I’m glad.”

I was lying inside a sea of black water and staring down at myself through the wet gossamer gauze of shimmering waves. I peered up at myself with unblinking eyes, puzzled as to how I was in two places at the exact same time. Her baby-blue orbs drilled into mine with a violent fervor I couldn’t understand and a slight smile graced her cherry lips as she gazed intently at my limp body.

“Who are you?” I managed a whisper, my voice sounding so foreign and unfamiliar.

The woman reached out a hand and clasped mine. “My name is Rosalie, but you can call me Rose. I’ve been watching you for quite some time now, Lily.”

Rosalie? As in Rosalie
Rosalie
? Darius’ Rosalie?

I began to choke on the water and she pulled me from its inky depths. “Yes, I am that Rosalie. The one that Darius loves. I have much to speak to you about.”

“How are you here? I mean, how am I talking to you?” I asked, feeling like an idiot.

She replied, “As Darius stated, you are me, Lily. You’re the reincarnation of me. So I am a part of your soul. We actually share the same soul.”

My mouth gaped open in confusion. “Oh.”

She grabbed my other arm and hefted my body fully from the water and onto the plane of air in which she stood. She was gorgeous, with long ankle-length wavy blonde hair, light-blue eyes, soft features, and a slim, curvy body. She was completely naked, her hair tumbling over her breasts in thick veils.

“Why haven’t I ever seen you before?” I asked.

“You weren’t strong enough, Lily. Now that your powers have grown, you are able to manifest me from deep within your soul. Your powers are growing at an astounding, very astonishing rate. I’m very proud of you, Lily. You’ve grown so much. You’ve been through so much.”

“Cool. And thanks, I guess?”

“Yes, it is neat. And you’re welcome. Now I want to tell you something, Lily. I want to tell you to become stronger so that the ones you love do not end up being broken. You have the ability to far surpass any other vampire on this earth. You just have to harness that strength.”

“But what purpose would it do?”

“There is a war coming, Lily. A great war between the paranormal creatures of this world. I believe you will play a key role in this dangerous game.”

“How do you know this? Are you clairvoyant or something?”

She chuckled and it reminded me of Darius. “I suppose you could say that.”

“Do you know how to heal Hira? Any knowledge of a succubus or incubus?”

She nodded. “Yes, I do. There is an ancient incubus in Paris that has a taste for redheads. I believe he is the one who assaulted your Hira.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

She began to fade into the breeze, her body becoming translucent. “I’m glad I could be of help. Please give my regards to Darius. I do still love him, you know.”

And then she let go of my hands and I plummeted back down into the darkness of the water.

“He’s still
mine
.” I heard a sinister whisper before I sat upright in the bed, pearls of sweat beading off my temple, both Darius and Sang’s arms flung over me.

What did she mean? A war? And she was inside me? Creepy! What was I to do? How was I going to tell my lovers?

“Thirsty.” Sang mumbled and rolled onto his other side. Darius’s arm tightened around me and I stared at how his long lashes swept his eyelids like butterfly wings. He was so handsome, so stunning, and so perfect.

Sang began to snore and I giggled as I thought of how we’d had fun at the carnival yesterday. I hoped we would have more fun like that soon again. Real soon.

“Why are you awake, my dear?” Darius’s murmur sliced through the silence.

I fumbled for the right words. “I-I had a dream.”

“Oh? What kind of dream?” His tired voice held a hint of piqued curiosity.

“She was there, Darius. She told me that a war is coming and that she knows the incubus who attacked Hira.”

He pressed a finger to my lips. “Slow down, my dear. Who is this
she
?”

For some odd reason it took me a great deal of reluctance to force the name through my mouth. “Rosalie.”

Darius’s eyes widened. “Rosalie.” The name dripped from his lips like honey. Sweet, sweet honey.

Should I have told him the dream at all? Well, he would’ve read my thoughts anyway sooner or later.

“I see.” He mumbled quietly and raked a hand through his chocolate mane. “So she’s finally shown herself. So, what did she have to say?” A hint of a smile curved his lips. He was definitely happy.

Happy that Rosalie had shown herself.

A pang of hurt throbbed in my chest.

Why?

I spoke as gently as I could as to not wake Sang, “She said that the incubus who probably attacked Hira is this one that lives in Paris…and then she said…that there’s a war coming.”

He paused for a moment and caressed his fingers through my hair as he always did when we were close together. “I see. So the incubus is him. I should’ve known so. As for the war, that is inevitable. It has been coming for millennia now. We can only prepare. You must become stronger. From now on, I want you to spar with Caen regularly. Understand?”

“Yeah, I get it. But what are we gonna do about the incubus? And Rose…”

He smirked. “We will leave for Paris at once in the morning. As for Rosalie,
Je’taime, ma petite.
Now let us go back to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be very busy.”

“Okay.” I grumbled against his chest and he petted my back in tender strokes until I finally fell asleep again.

* * * *

“Good morning!” Sang greeted cheerfully, as he shoved a plate of blueberry waffles smothered in syrup onto my lap. He curled my hand around a fork and made a goofy grin as I rubbed my eyes with my free hand and my vision adjusted to the sunlight pouring in from the window.

“Morning, Sang,” I chirped happily, doing all I could not to drool over the delicious breakfast in bed in front of me. I loved waffles, and blueberries, and both combined was an explosive treat for me. I never told Sang I loved them, so I decided to tell him now that this was my favorite breakfast ever.

He set a steaming mug of coffee onto the nightstand and took a swig of his own mug that was black and had bold red letters that read “Bite Me”. Sang was a sucker for vampire jokes and propaganda, and was one of the reasons he wrote vampire romance novels on the side.

I reached for my coffee and the sweet scent of warm vanilla filled my senses. Just how I liked it, creamy and brimming with French Vanilla creamer. Sang knew just how to make my coffee the way I liked it.

I sipped at it as he sat on the edge of the bed and swung his legs up and down playfully.

“Thanks so much, Sang,” I told him sincerely. “I’m still aching a little from last night, if you know what I mean.”

“Hey, he was rougher with me than he was with you!” he pointed out.

I laughed and stuck out my tongue. “You’re used to it, you baby.”

His whole face was like a brilliant star lighting from within. Just like at the carnival yesterday. “Eat your waffles before they get cold.”

“Okay, okay, Mr. Bossy.”

“You know that Darius told me to make them for you,” he admitted.

I popped a bite into my mouth and swallowed. “Really? I might have figured. He knows me better than I know myself sometimes.”

“Same here.”

“Speaking of him, where is he?” I asked.

Sang drank the rest of his coffee. He liked his black. “He’s busy right now preparing everything. Said we’re going on a trip! I’m so excited!” Then his eyes hooded solemnly. “He…he told me what you told him last night. About what Rosalie said about Hira. We’ll definitely find that incubus and get his soul back!”

I pumped a fist. “You bet your ass we will!”

He chuckled. “Oh, and Lily. About Rosalie. How, um, how is she? I mean, what kind of person is she?”

I opened my mouth but no words came out. I was at a loss of what to say. How was Rosalie? My first impression of her was that she was drop-dead gorgeous, a perfect body, smart, likable…but something kept tugging at my chest, some peculiar feeling that I couldn’t shake off. I’m sure I was just jealous of her, but why? She was dead and I was alive. Darius loved me now and not her. Her time had long passed. So why did I have this weird tightness where my heart was?

“She’s just as Darius made her out to be.” I forced a smile. “Beautiful, intelligent, kind…” I laughed. “She’s so much better than me, that’s for sure. Looks like a super-model. And she’s so smart and cunning and she even knew about the incubus who attacked Hira! I–”

Sang laced his fingers in mine and cut me off. “Lily…” His crimson orbs bore into mine. “I don’t care about Rosalie, a dead woman. I care about you. You are my love, my everything. So stop comparing yourself to a dead person and be proud of who you are, because I sure goddamn am.”

He closed the distance between us and our lips met in a tingle of magical electricity and heat. He was so smooth and so perfect, our lips molding together as one, tongues swirling together in a theatrical ballet as we explored each other deeply, passionately. I pressed the back of his head into me with my palm and when we broke his lips brushed against my left ear and nipped at the lobe playfully. I moaned and placed the plate of waffles on the other side of the bed as he crawled on top me and set a blazing trail of feathery kisses from my forehead, to between my breasts, all the way to my navel where he laid a hard kiss on the crown of my groin and sensually rubbed his hands along the lines of my legs.

I closed my eyes and was about to ask him to do more when the door swung open and in stepped Darius.

His eyes flicked to Sang and then to me and he sighed heavily. “Lily, please finish your breakfast. Sang, go and pack your clothes and what you’ll need for the trip.”

Sang hastily scrambled off of me and fell to the floor with a thud. “Ow.” He complained. “Whatever you want, Dari.” And he turned and winked at me before trotting off.

Darius closed the door and the distance between us. He picked up the plate of waffles, forked a piece, and put it to my lips. I ate the waffles from him like some spoiled princess, and I couldn’t help but blush crazily at the thought that I was being fed in bed by my lover. When I had finished all the waffles, he took the empty plate and placed it on the nightstand next to the vacant mug and twirled a strand of my hair around a lithe index finger.

Was he looking at me? Or was he looking at…her?

“You should begin to pack your clothes and belongings you feel you may need for the trip to Paris in a couple minutes, my dear.” His voice was like silk stroking against me. It sent a shiver rippling across my body. I then realized that I was still naked from last night and hurriedly pulled the covers over me.

“I’ll do that right now, then. Thanks for the food.”

He frowned. “I was hoping we could spend some time together before we all prepared for the trip.”

My lips formed an O. “If you wanna do that, then why not? So, why are you here? Do you wanna see your precious Rosalie? You know she said she still loves you.” I turned my head away. I couldn’t bear to see what kind of expression he would make at that name.

His fingers forced my chin straight so that he was peering into my face intently. “Lily, I do not care for Rosalie anymore. She is long gone. My love for her is forever, but right now, I only have room in my heart for you. The only one I love now is you, and only you. Do you understand? I do love Rosalie but her time on this earth has been relinquished for quite some time now. I no longer wish for her presence. It is
you
that I want.” One of his hands squeezed my left breast deliciously while the other dipped inside the sheet and slipped delightfully inside me. I squirmed and gasped as his fangs elongated and he pierced into my throat. Ecstasy surged through me as his bite took full effect and he sucked on my blood a tiny bit before pulling away and wiping his face with a handkerchief he’d got from his pants pocket.

I cried my pleasure and my eyes fluttered wildly as he hit that delicate spot inside of me that only he and Sang knew. “Good girl.” He purred and retracted his hands. I sulked as he walked away.

“Be ready by noon, my dear.” He called in a sing-song voice and I could faintly hear him laughing as he walked away down the hall.

The nerve!

I stood up and padded to the dresser where I picked out an outfit of skinny jeans, a pink T-shirt with a unicorn on it, a peach sweater to go over it, and a pair of fluffy faux-fur beige boots. I piled my hair into a sloppy bun and applied some make-up before rummaging through my drawers and packing clothes, shoes, my kindle, and some feminine products into a small suitcase that Darius had left beside the door without my noticing. Then I saw Lacie out of the corner of my eye, my favorite pink stuffed unicorn, and packed her as well. I couldn’t go anywhere without her. We’d been together since I was seven. She was the last thing my mother had given me before she’d passed away.