Darling (7 page)

“Yes, my lord.
You were very, very wrong and Lady Lenore was very right.”

“Cassandra,
what do you mean?”

She pressed her palm
against the hand still on her cheek. “She told me I was unwise
to want your love. She told me it was dangerous. She was right.”
Cassandra moaned piteously. “I hurt so badly, my lord. I love
you so much that it kills me to know this. I wish I had never known
you for the man you truly are.”

Lord Constantine
flinched. His dark eyes filled with tears he could not allow himself
to shed. “Do you really mean what you say, darling?”

“Yes.”
Cassandra laid her head against his chest and sobbed. “Why, my
lord? Why have you made a fool of me? You express yourself freely
with her but not with me. You make her laugh but make me cry. Why did
you make me think I was special to you?”

“You are
special, Cassandra. You are my most special girl for precisely that
reason.” The vampire threaded his fingers through her
disheveled hair and promised, “It will be all right, darling. I
can fix this. Look at me.”

She flung her head
back. “How can you fix this?” Cassandra’s venomous
voice slid into a whimper. His stare caught her wide, unblinking gaze
and she was as lost as if she had fallen into a tunnel to nowhere.

8

Constantine peeled
Cassandra apart, burrowing deep into her mind and stripping away all
that had brought them to their ruin. Guilt leeched the vampire even
as he probed deeper. Frustration lashed him as he unsuccessfully
tried to see how Cassandra had stumbled across his sin. Crystal
memories glistened dark, drawing Constantine to them. Caught in
suspended time, he saw himself through her eyes. Cassandra’s
sense of betrayal stung him to tears. The intimate knowledge of her
suffering poisoned him.

I truly broke her
heart. Lady Lenore warned me but I did not want to believe. Now I
wish I had. . .

The incriminating
memories flaked away from his beloved human only to reassemble in his
ageless mind. Cassandra’s evening became a blank slate for him
to write his lies on.

“You fell ill
while bathing. You have yet to leave this room. You have yet to see
me tonight. Close your eyes and sleep, my love.”

Caught deep in his
trance, Cassandra obeyed him without resistance. She fell against him
with a kitten sigh. Constantine picked her up, mind still absorbing
and dispersing her volatile emotions. Cassandra’s beautiful
hair tumbled over his arm, making her look more a doll than the
beloved human of his heart. He clutched her closer as he made his way
to her bed.

Pain plucked him
with each step. He concentrated on the present task, wishing to
devour his stolen memories without experiencing them so thoroughly.
His non-beating heart burned, making him feel useless and crippled.
Constantine pulled back the plush covers and slipped Cassandra
between the sheets. Her arms flopped, hands striped and still oozing
with blood.

Constantine leaned
over her. His fangs descended in blasphemous ardor. His gaze pulsed
red. Lifting up one delicate limb, Constantine took in her delicious
scent. Justification wrote the script—he had to heal Cassandra
or all would be for naught.

All an excuse for me
to be a very, very bad man.

His tongue rasped
over her skin slowly. She tasted of all things sinful and wonderful.
Constantine licked up every drop of blood, damning himself for how
much pleasure he took in consuming Cassandra’s base essence.
Her moan echoed his. Constantine left her pristine, skin healed and
evidence destroyed.

Never had he felt so
ashamed of himself.

Why do I do these
things to you when I am supposed to love you?

Constantine
undressed her, refusing to linger on her tender curves and
unblemished flesh even as he hungered to press a kiss to her gorgeous
hip. He flicked his wrist and her undergarments, gown, and shoes flew
back into Cassandra’s gorgeous dressing room.

Constantine tucked
her in, careful to ensure her physical comfort and warmth. He
surveyed his handiwork. Horror seized him. Cassandra looked as if she
were lying under a death shroud. Fractured sanity demanded he rip the
covers off and restart the process five more times before finally
finding paltry satisfaction.

It has to be right.
It has to be perfect.

Constantine
reluctantly left Cassandra to wash his face. The dried blood left
from her hands tainted him as a fiend and he couldn’t stand it
for another moment. Staring at his reflection in the enchanted
mirror, Constantine watched as each pass of linen further erased the
evidence of his deceit. He wished flushing his mind was as easy. He
flung the small towel to the counter. It refolded itself, dry and
clean as before he touched it.

I am king. I can
change everything in this world. I can change this. Everything will
be as I wish it. Cassandra will love me again and things can go back
to where they were.

Constantine walked
away, momentarily flush with conceit. He climbed onto the massive bed
and lay next to Cassandra. Careful to keep his body a respectful
distance away from her, he held Cassandra’s small hand in his
and wept.

Self-contempt tore
into Constantine. How could he have been so despicable to believe his
dalliances would never harm Cassandra? She had turned his thoughtless
cruelty against him and easily unmasked him for the disgusting
creature he was.

“Then must I
adopt a more vampire way of being, my lord? Will you let me have any
handsome man I fancy? Will you look the other way, secure in my
feelings for you, as I spread my legs for him?”

No matter his
rationalizations, Constantine had taken pleasure from his human
women, thinking them a necessary balm to the dangerous craving he had
for Cassandra. He used them, ignorant and believing himself to be a
good man for keeping his lust away from his darling. Instead,
Constantine had been anything but a good man.

And now my Cassandra
is paying the price.

She stirred.
Constantine quickly wiped his tears away. Her eyes fluttered. She
sighed and stretched. Her fist knocked against his shoulder.
Cassandra gasped and sat up. “Lord Constantine?”

“Yes, my
darling?” He stitched a false smile designed to dazzle.

“Why are you
here? Where is Lady Lenore?”

He smiled wider,
cursed for what he had done and miserable because he knew he would do
it again.

“The bath
overheated you. Lady Lenore called for me, darling, and here I am.”
He caressed her cheek with the backs of his gloved fingers. “Are
you happy to see me?”

Cassandra pinked
with girlish delight. She flung her arms around his neck and
squeezed. “Lord Constantine! I have missed you so much!”

Constantine
swallowed the hard kernel of remorse and found it choked him silent.
He hugged her back and buried his face in her neck.

“My lord? Is
everything well?”

“Yes,”
he whispered, sick with what he had done to her. Cassandra tried to
look at him but he merely tightened his embrace. “Everything is
well, darling. I have just missed you so much.”

Constantine heard
her smile and shuddered.

“I have missed
you too. I love being with you, my lord. You are everything to me. I
could never love you more than I love you now.”

Please do not say
those words to me, darling. Not after what I have done.

“I love you
too.”

“My lord,”
she whined. “Let me look upon you.”

Constantine loosened
his grip. In light of her unbearable sweetness, he wanted to hang his
head and mourn. Instead, he gave into her wishes with widespread
arms. “Look your fill, my precious darling.”

Cassandra sat there,
blankets around her waist and lacking modesty at exposing her lovely
breasts in his presence. It had always been that way between them.
Constantine wondered if he should have insisted on more decorum on
her part.

“Darling,
perhaps you are cold?”

She shook her head.

“Really?
Perhaps I can fetch your robe?”

“No, my lord.
I am fine. Truly.”

Constantine shifted,
feeling like a frustrated beast. He focused on her smiling face and
attempted to purge all the inappropriate, lustful thoughts he had of
kissing, licking, and biting her beautiful nipples. “I think we
should cancel our outing, darling. I hope you are not disappointed.”

Cassandra reached
out for his hand. “Stay with me?”

“Of course, my
love.”

“Then I am
more than content, my lord.” She scooted over and patted the
space next to her. “Will you lay here with me, my lord?”

Constantine smiled
again, suffering the strain on his conscience in face of Cassandra’s
adoring countenance. “Anything for you, darling.” He got
off the bed and approached the bedside table. He removed his gloves
and top hat, wondering how in spite of the evening’s
heartbreaking events, his clothes had managed to remain undisturbed.

“I have so
much to tell you, Lord Constantine. I learned how to…”

Her cheerful words
washed over him, leaving him slicked with guilt. Her unbridled joy
scalded. He imagined his skin bubbling beneath the rays of her
unblemished and undeserved regard of his character.

I chose my path and
will not deviate. Cassandra cannot hate me. I will not allow it.

“I have
something to show you, my lord.”

Constantine shrugged
off his overcoat. He looked about and spied the chaise. Constantine
walked over to set the coat down and missed Cassandra sliding off the
bed. Her feet pounded a merry tune towards her cavernous dressing
room. Constantine heard her cry out just as the forgotten mistake
blew apart his guilt.

No!

Cassandra came out,
empty hat box clutched in her arms. “It’s gone! My hat is
gone! I worked so hard on it, my lord, and…and…I…where
did it go?”

Constantine cursed
himself for a brain-dead fool. “I am sure it’s not truly
lost, darling—”

She stared hard into
the box. “Why isn’t it here? I remember…I
remember…” Cassandra looked up. Her brow knotted into a
perplexed frown. “My lord? I remember seeing you…no…you
would never present yourself in that way…what is wrong with
me…”

Constantine watched
his darling, most precious girl stumble over the resurrected memory.
He imagined the stolen recollections’ ghostly tendrils wrapping
around the anomaly, using the damnable hat’s existence to fuel
them back to life.

Constantine had only
a few moments left to redirect her attention.

Cold to his silent
cry of remorse, Constantine approached Cassandra and took her in his
arms. The box hit the ground to be kicked away promptly.

She left off her
pitiful mewls and stared up at him. “My lord?”

“I love you,
darling. I will always love you.” His mouth touched hers. He
kissed her gently, coaxing her mind to leave off the raw scars he
left behind. Cassandra melted into him. Her tongue swirled past the
soft seam of his lips. She pushed her body hard against him,
reminding Constantine she was more than ready for his plunder.

Let me hold onto her
a little longer. Let us stay this way, happy and far from the
ugliness on our inevitable horizon. I will care for her better. I
will make her happier than ever. I will keep my lust under control. I
will never go to another ever again. I will wait for her to be ready
for me. I can do this for her.

Constantine lifted
Cassandra high. Her arms linked about his neck like a living collar
while her small legs squeezed him into submission. She whispered and
sighed against his open mouth, imprinting her eternal love for him
with each breath.

His hands settled on
her delightful bottom. He squeezed hard. Cassandra jerked against him
before fisting his hair. Her hot tongue speared his mouth. She
possessed him without conscious awareness of her actions.

Cassandra would be a
dangerous creature once she understood her power over him. Until that
night came, Constantine would leash her and shackle her to his
illusions.

Constantine held
Cassandra up with one arm. His other hand cupped her chin and broke
off their kiss. Cassandra’s heavy-lidded gaze begged for him.
Her lips did the same. She leaned forward, greedy to keep their
mouths fused.

Constantine carried
her back to the bed. She dragged him on her way down. Covering her
naked body with his, Constantine realized he had been kissing
Cassandra goodbye. Their course was set. He couldn’t pull away
from her even if threatened by decapitation. All his self-control,
his planning, his protection of her from him and his world were for
naught.

A scream ricocheted
in his body, furious in heartbreak.

9

Cassandra reached
out for Lord Constantine, desperate and eager to finally know him for
a lover. She panted and mewled like a demented thing. Lord
Constantine watched her, eyes reptilian and cold one moment before
liquefying gold the next. When his fangs slid out he stood up and
neatly avoided her grasping hands.

She scrambled to her
knees and crawled towards him. “My lord, please do not turn
away from me. I have waited so long for you.”

He covered her eyes
with his long fingers. “And I beg you not to look at me with
those eyes. Can you grant me a boon, darling? Can you do this for
me?”

Cassandra’s
thoughts buzzed, hitting against the box of her wants and curiosity
for what her lord asked of her. She would swear to anything he
wanted, anything he needed, if only he would join her back on the
bed.

“Yes, my
lord.” Cassandra screwed her eyes shut. “I live for your
happiness.”

Something silky and
cool wrapped several times around her head. Cassandra opened her eyes
but couldn’t see past the dense layers of fabric. She touched
her face gingerly and asked, “What is this?”