Dark Redemption (22 page)

Chapter
22

         
“Oh Dominic, I can’t believe it’s really you. I thought you were dead,” Kate
cried, showering his beautiful, dirty face with kisses.

         
“It’s me,
cara
,
and I’m
alive
because of you. Thanks for saving me,” Dominic said softly, tucking a wayward
strand of hair behind her ear.

His
brown eyes were so full of warmth and love, Kate had to look away. It hurt too
much.

“Don’t
thank me. I don’t deserve it,” she said, pulling away from him.

Dominic’s dark brow furrowed in
confusion.
“But you do,
cara
. Even before you rescued me,
you saved me over and over again. I spent what felt like an eternity chained to
a cold stone floor in the dark, weakened by silver, tortured in unspeakable
ways. Yet you were there in my mind to comfort me, my saving grace and safe
harbor from the endless agony. Thoughts of you were all that kept me sane.”

Kate
closed her eyes at his words. If only he knew. “You wouldn’t thank me if you
knew what I’d done to find you.”

His
warm, callused palm cradled her cheek. “Believe me,
cara
.
Nothing you say or do will ever change the way I feel about you.”

A
single tear escaped to slide down her cheek. “I slept with Alex,” Kate
whispered, her voice so soft she wasn’t sure if she’d actually said it out
loud.

Dominic
sucked in a sharp breath. His hand fell away from her cheek. Oh, he’d heard her
alright.

“So
it’s true?” The pain in his voice was palpable, the plea for denial apparent.
How Kate wished she could deny it for both their sakes, make it all go away
like a bad dream. But no, the truth remained and he deserved to know it.

Her
cheeks burned with shame. Opening her eyes, she tried to look at Dominic, no
matter how much it hurt, but couldn’t see his face through the blur of tears.
She gave a slight nod, letting the tears freefall.

“You
watched that bastard put a bullet in my brain and then you jumped into bed with
him?” The words were spoken in a hushed tone, but the incredulous pain in
Dominic’s voice was unmistakable.

“Dominic,
please. It wasn’t like that.”

“No,
no explanation needed. You were well within your right to do so. After all, I
was supposed to be dead.” His voice was too calm, too reasonable. It made Kate
nervous. Then his tolerance came crashing down like a nuclear strike. “I just
can’t believe you slept with the man you thought killed me. I hope you at least
waited until you thought my body was cold.”

“Dom, please.”

“What am I supposed to say,
Kate? ‘
Thanks
for screwing the vampire who repeatedly castrated and gutted me’?” Dominic
snarled, raking his hand through his dark hair. “‘Thanks for making my
nightmare a reality’? Is that what you want to hear? Well, I’m
sorry,
Kate, but I can’t do it. Not even for you.”

“Dominic,
I…”

Kate
reached with trembling fingers to touch his cheek, but dropped her hand when he
recoiled before she made contact. Sorrow and disgust vied for precedence in his
dark eyes as he studied her face. Kate wanted to drown herself in their dark
depths for the pain she’d caused to burn there.

“How
am I supposed to touch you, knowing you’ve been with him?” Dominic choked on
the words, his voice rough with unshed emotion. “How am I supposed to kiss you
and make love to you, knowing you’ve willingly done the same thing with my
worst enemy?”

“Damn
it, Dominic,” Kate sobbed. “I didn’t
want
to do it. I
had
to.
Seducing him was the only way I could get inside his head. I needed to drink
his blood to find you.”

“You
drank
his
blood?”

Kate
bit her lip and nodded, ignoring the tears free falling down her cheeks.

“Do
you understand what you’ve done,
cara
?” Dominic asked in horror. “You’ve
taken a piece of his immortal soul. He’ll always be a part of you.”

If
the thought of Alex’s blood inside her upset him so, she couldn’t imagine how
Dominic would react to the news that she’d given Alexander a piece of her soul
in exchange. Like a Band-Aid, Kate needed to just rip it off. It was going to
hurt like a bitch regardless, may as well get it over with.

“Then
he’ll always have a piece of me as well.”

A
shadow fell across Dominic’s face. “You didn’t,” he denied, his voice flat and
emotionless.

Kate
sucked in a bolstering breath and reluctantly nodded.

“So,
not only am I expected to live with the thought of another man’s hands and
mouth on your body, of him moving inside you as only I should, but his soul
inside of you as well? How can I possibly live with the fact my wife shared
souls with my worst enemy? That he is a part of you in ways I can never be?

“You
should’ve left me to rot in the dungeon,” Dominic muttered darkly. “At least
then I would’ve still had my sanity. Physical pain I can handle, but this? I
don’t know if I can survive this,
cara
.”

Kate’s
heart hurt so much she feared it might explode in her chest. “Dominic, I’m
sorry. I had t-t-t-o know if you were alive. I-I-I had to find you.”

“Well,
here I am, alive and well,” Dominic said, gesturing to his perfectly healed
body. “Was it worth it?”

“Yes,”
Kate said, straightening her shoulders. She stood by her decision. She’d do it
again if she had to.

“Even
though I’d rather die than know you’ve been with Ambrogio?”

“Yes.”

“Why,
Kate? Why would you want this for me?” The agony in his voice clawed at her heart.

Turning
her back on him, Kate took a deep breath and prayed for strength. She couldn’t
bear the pain of betrayal in his dark chocolate eyes. She closed her eyes and
told him what was in her heart, hoping it was enough to heal his pain.

“Because I love you more than
anything and anyone.
Because I’m selfish enough to want you alive, no matter what the cost.
Because I can’t live in a world where you don’t exist.
I
would do anything for you. Even if you can’t forgive me, even if you can’t love
me anymore, it was worth it because you are alive and free.”

Silence
filled the room, spreading between them like an unsurpassable wasteland. Kate
silently prayed for him to say something, for him to accept her for what was in
her heart. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing him.

When
Dominic finally broke the silence, his quiet words chilled her heart.

“Then
do it with me,” he interjected quietly, an edge of challenge in the soft spoken
words.

Kate
froze in place. “What?” He couldn’t possibly mean what she thought he did. Had
he lost his mind?

“Blood
share with me. Mate with me in every way known to your kind. Show me you want
to be with
me
forever, to be of one soul and one fate.” His voice was a
velvet whisper, caressing the line of her neck as he came to stand behind her.
“Give me a chance to wash away his memory, to lay claim to your body and soul
once and for all.”

His
words made Kate’s pulse race in a combination of fear, excitement, and desire.
No matter how much she wanted those things for them, they weren’t worth the
risk.

Katerina
roused from her corner in the shadows and heartily volunteered to take care of
the issue, since Kate was clearly too chicken shit to do so. Kate told her to
shut the hell up and mind her own business. The demon cackled.
Sex and blood?
This
was
her business.

“Dominic,
I don’t think that’s a good idea. I-I-I might lose control.”

A
ghost of his old smile flashed across his face. “So? I like it when you get a
little wild.”

 “You
don’t understand,” Kate protested. “I never told you, but something happened
after my transition. The vampire-me split from the human-me. Most of the time I
can keep her under control, but there are times when I have no control over
her. I-I-I- she could kill you.”

“Then
I’d die with a smile on my face,” Dominic said with a half-smile.

“I’m
serious, Dominic.”

His
face sobered. “I know and I understand, but I need this,
cara
.”

Kate
bit her lip and shook her head.

“What
if I promise to stop you if your evil twin comes out and tries to have her
wicked way with me?” He asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

“You
wouldn’t.”

“Oh,
I would. Then I’d punish her for being a bad girl,” he threatened with a laugh.

Katerina
purred at the promise, but Kate pushed her aside and focused on the matter at hand.
“Okay, so let’s say I drink your blood. You’d need to drink mine as well. Won’t
my blood turn you into a vampire? Or worse, poison you?”

Dominic
shrugged. “Who knows?”

“Um,
that’s a pretty big gamble, babe,” Kate protested.

“It’s
a risk I’m willing to take.”

“Has
it ever been done before?”

“Not
that I’m aware of,” Dominic said. A sad smile played at his lips. “That would
involve a vampire and a werewolf spending more than two seconds together
without trying to kill each other.”

Kate
closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Then we’ll be the first,” she said
quietly.

His
face brightened. “You’ll do it?”

“I
may regret it for the rest of eternity, but yes, I will. I would do anything to
make things right with you again, Dominic. If this is what you need, then so be
it.” She gave him a half-hearted, teasing smile. “Besides, I’ve been dying to
sink my teeth into you since the first time we met.”

His
dark brows arched high over his laughing brown eyes as his signature smile
spread across his face.
“Oh, really?”

“
Mmhmm
.”
Her body coursed with
anticipation. Crazy, how this one man could drive her wild with a single look.

“Come
here then.” He held his hand out to her, an offering of peace and forgiveness.
The smoldering heat of his dark chocolate gaze pled with her to accept him, to
love him, and to heal the pain of the past.

Kate
placed her hand in his and Dominic’s warm, scarred fingers enveloped her
dainty, pale ones. Dominic gave her a soft, reassuring smile and scooped her up
in his arms.

“Where
are we going?”

“If
I’m going to make love to my wife for the first time in weeks, I’d like to do
so not smelling like a rat that died in the sewer a few weeks ago,” Dominic
said, a small smile playing at the corner of his lips.

With
a quick sniff, immediately regretted, Kate wrinkled her nose. “I see your
point.”

“Hey,
I thought you vowed to love me for better or for worse,” he joked.

“Oh,
I did and I do,” Kate said with a laugh. “But loving you and loving the way you
smell are two very different things.
At least when you smell
like that.”

Laughter
rumbled through his chest.
“Fair enough.”

Dominic
carried her into the luxurious bathroom, setting her on her feet beside the
marble walk-in shower. Starting the water with the twist of an ornate handle,
Dominic stripped off his shirt and tossed it in the trash can. Kate froze,
gaping at his scarred torso, caked in blood and grime. The healing bullet holes
from their honeymoon were easily identifiable on his chest. But it was a new
angry, red welt that held her horrified gaze. The puckered mark slashed down
his chest, marking him from the top of his sternum to his navel.

Dominic
reached for the button fly of his jeans, but paused as he caught Kate staring
at him. He arched a dark brow in question, his eyes sparkling with amusement.
“You going to get undressed or are you just here to enjoy the show?”

Kate
reached up with a trembling hand to touch her fingertips to the puckered skin.
Dominic exhaled in a low hiss, withdrawing from her gentle touch. Kate’s heart
clenched.

“Sorry,”
he said, training his eyes on the floor. “That one’s still pretty fresh.”

Kate
bit her lip, afraid to ask, but dying to know.  “What happened?”

“You
don’t want to know,” Dominic said with the shake of his head. He still wouldn’t
meet her gaze.

Straightening
her shoulders, Kate summoned all the strength she could muster and prepared for
the worst. “Yes, I do. I want to know everything. No more secrets, remember?”

Dominic
looked up, raw pain in his eyes. “Ambrogio carved this mark with a silver dagger
last night.”