MIDNIGHT HUNT: Book 3 of the Bonded By Blood Vampire Chronicles (19 page)

“Oh, yes! Oh, Broderick, that’s divine!” Monika pushed back into him, meeting each of his thrusts, encouraging him to drive harder.

Her muscles squeezed him as she reached her apex. What he hadn’t expected was his own thundering climax. He dropped his head back, grunting and groaning. Their cries mingled as Broderick spent himself, gripping her hips and shuddering. Panting, he pulled from her and encouraged her to lie back. Covering her body with his, he nestled his hips between her thighs and slid back into her. God’s blood, her flesh seared his cock.

With her fingertips, she traced some of the scars on his chest and ribs, kissing them, brushing her tongue and lips over the battle scars. “What happened?”

He frowned. “I’m sure we will have many more discussions of my past, but for now let us just say there is a long history of fighting between my family and a small portion of Clan Campbell.”

“So these are all from clan wars?” She kissed the scars on his biceps.

“Aye, and against one particular man—Angus Campbell, my brother.”

Monika gasped. “Your brother?”

“I didn’t know we were brothers until Angus put you…Davina…in the middle of our feud.” He grumbled. “‘Tis a long story I don’t wish to go into at the moment.” He glanced down at his failing member. “I would much rather make love to you and this is not helping.”

She nodded. “Broderick…would you…I’m curious.”

“What, Blossom?” He kissed her brow and brushed a stray lock from her shoulder.

“Would you feed from me?” She bit her bottom lip with a coy smile.

Pain sliced across Broderick’s gums as his fangs extended. His jaw unhinged. Just the mere request of feeding from her and
The Hunger
raged to the surface and his cock filled with need again. Monika gasped. However, she regarded him with fascination…not fear.

“Your eyes,” she whispered. She placed her palms on his cheeks. “How beautiful! Like silver. They glow like a candle.”

Broderick studied this fascinating woman, gazing into her delighted sapphire eyes, at her precious smile curving her full lips. She was adventurous, curious, enthusiastic and filled with fire. “You are a wonder, my sweet Monika.”

“It is
you
who are the wonder, my love.” She touched the tip of her index finger to one of his fangs.

“You were never this accepting of what I am in your previous life.”

She pursed her lips. “Then I was fool. I know better now. See…we improve with each life.”

He laughed. “I would be honored to feed from you, Blossom. ’Tis the greatest coupling we could experience together.” His voice was thick with love for this soul in his arms. “Know that when I feed from you, I will learn everything about you, everything you’ve experienced from the day of your birth until this moment. No secrets.”

Monika hesitated, her lips parted, her gaze searching. She swallowed. “Very well.”

Broderick narrowed his eyes. “Are you certain?”

“Will I know the same about you?”

“Nay.”

She pouted. “That hardly seems fair.”

He smiled. “As I’ve mentioned, I’ve seen a lot of bloodshed and horrors in my years. ’Tis good I will not share those with you. But I can share some of our marriage in your previous life.”

“I would like that very much.”

Perhaps doing so would give her full recollection of her past life.
Broderick could only hope. He brushed his lips across hers, tender caresses and gentle licks. As he pumped his hips, he kissed a wet path along her jawline and down to her neck, where his tongue sampled her pulse. Monika’s hand cradled Broderick’s head, encouraging him. He opened his mouth and pierced her tender flesh, drinking deep the woman of his heart and soul. Monika fell limp in his arms, moaning as he thrust into her. He absorbed her years, learned her childhood memories, witnessed shared moments with her parents and grandparents, the members of this village, experienced the grief of family and friends who passed on, and gained Monika’s knowledge of herbal remedies and treatments. She had helped bring children into the world, helped others make peace before they died.

And he saw her dreams. Davina’s memories of her love for him. Any shred of disbelief Broderick may have had until now faded like smoke on the wind. She was, without doubt, Davina’s soul inside Monika’s body, Davina reborn.

However, more importantly…he learned what Monika truly was…a supernatural creature in her own right. Shielding her from the experience, Broderick lived the day Marcus attacked her family through Monika’s eyes…

“No, little treasure,” her mother corrected. She took the pestle from Monika and demonstrated how to grind the herbs in the mortar. “Roll your hand thus. You won’t tire as quickly.”

“Ah.” Monika grinned. “Thank you.” She took the mortar and pestle back from her mother and worked at repeating the same motion Katrina just performed.

“Kat,” Symon said, pulling a jar from the shelf. “Should we add—”

The door crashed into splinters and Monika screamed, falling to the floor as she recoiled from the flying wood pieces.

“Kat!”

Scrambling back into the corner, Monika screeched as her mother was hurled across the room like a rag doll by a creature from a nightmare. Wolf-like face with pointed ears and snarling teeth. Bulky, muscular man-like body covered with wiry black hair. Claws the length of her hand. She gasped when her father pulled the shiny silver knife from his belt and lunged. “Papa!”

The blade sunk into the monster’s side. The werewolf bit her father’s shoulder.

Monika’s screams mixed with her father’s tortured cry. She stood, her mouth open, the noise piercing her ears. Flames roared in the hearth, scorching the ceiling. The cottage crackled as fire licked the walls and roof. Her mother stirred and Monika ran to her side, talking the flames away from her. When she tried to ask the flames to stop eating their house, her mother’s dress caught fire. Monika used her hands to cover the fire on her mother’s dress, putting out the flames, but the house still burned.

“Go, Monika,” her mother slurred, blood oozing out of her mouth. “Get out.”

“Not without you!” I’m a Fire Witch. I can control the fire. “Papa!”

“Monika! I can’t reach you! Put out the fire!”

“I can’t!” She sobbed while keeping the flames from touching her mother. “Mama!” Hooking her arms under her mother’s shoulders, she yanked with all her might.

“That’s it, honey!” her father encouraged. “Pull Mama! You can do it!”

Monika kept the flames from touching her mother, willing them away from her clothes and skin, pulling on her arms and dragging her from their burning home.

An agonizing groan of wood pressed down on Monika followed by a startling crack.

“Monika!”

Her father cried out and a hand yanked her by the collar, away from her mother.

As she fell backward, she shrieked and the cottage crashed in a blazing heap on top of Katrina. “Mama!”

Symon wailed and flames covered his back. Monika ran after her father and pushed the fire from his body. Thankfully, he was not burned too badly. She stared at their home reduced to a smoking inferno…her mother burning inside. She and her father wept in each other’s arms. Monika had blamed herself for killing her mother since she was the cause of the fire. Eventually, she learned her mother was already dead when Marcus threw her across the room. The blood from her mouth was the fatal sign Katrina would not have survived, even if Monika had been pulled from the burning cottage.

Broderick retreated from her memories, ensuring none of them seeped into Monika’s current train of thought. To help him overcome the trauma of that horrid day and to keep his promise, he shared with Monika some of his favorite moments of their marriage—painting Davina’s portrait, their journeys at sea, the first time he fed from her, her Amorous Invitations.

He reached his peak, trembling as he clutched to Monika. She cried out with him and bucked against his hips, clinging to his back. When he broke from the crimson kiss, he was on his knees, Monika straddling his thighs and panting. He licked her blood from his lips, savoring every last drop. She stared at his mouth, her lips parted in awe, then kissed him. He groaned.

“That is my new favorite position,” she whispered against his mouth, panting.

He smiled. “Feeding while I make love to you?”

She nodded. “Every night.”

He shook his head and gasped for air. “Not every night. You need time to recover.” He brushed her thumb over her mouth as he cupped her face. “But I would much rather feed from you than anyone else, so I will indulge as often as possible if it is to your liking.”

“To my liking?” She fell back in his embrace, playing as if she’d fainted, her arms dangling.

Broderick chuckled and brought her upright. Reflecting over the last few days, he recalled how fire seemed to respond to her emotions, how easily she had struck the kindling in the kitchen house, the heat of her skin—so hot each time she touched him. He fixed his gaze on hers. “You hide your
magick
well, my little Fire Witch. And your grandmother is a High Priestess?”

She nodded. “Yes, but the Grove we belong to hasn’t assembled in a few years due to the persecutions. We meet for important events, like a birth, death or handfasting. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“Having fed from you, I can understand why.” The tears he fought so hard to hold back slipped down his cheek.

“Oh, darling!” She kissed his tears away. “What is this?”

He released a ragged breath. “What you endured the day Marcus attacked your home. You were such a brave wee lass.”

“Such a heart you have, Broderick.” She spread kisses all over his face.

“Only for you, Blossom.” As with most feedings, the memories from the blood took a few moments to settle, sort and solidify with his own experiences. Like a fog lifting, certain events over the last few days came into view…and deep-seeded hatred boiled in the pit of Broderick’s gut.
The obscene odor of rutting animals…the semen on that bush…and the clearing surrounded by trees where Monika performed her spell…where she fingered herself to a climax. That wasn’t a rabbit in the brush…it was Marcus.
Red clouded his vision.

“Broderick?”

Her trembling voice snapped him out of his dark, murderous thoughts and he gazed at her wide, sapphire eyes, regret slicing through his heart. “God’s blood, I am sorry.”

“
What
were you just thinking?” She swallowed and the corner of her lips attempted a smile.

He sighed and shook his head. “Sometimes it takes a few moments for all the experiences of the person I’ve fed from to make any sense. Let’s just say Marcus Sparenland is dead werewolf.”

“What did—”

He covered her mouth with his, licking, sucking and nibbling her silent. “Later.” Some blood dripped from her wound and he licked the small gash, enticing his fangs to come out once more. Piercing the pad of his thumb, he healed her throat with his blood.

“Ohhh, that tingles.” She touched her neck. “What did you just do?”

Lying down on his back, he held her waist to keep her straddling his hips. “Vamsyrian blood is healing. I usually heal the wound when I feed, so as not to leave a trace.”

Her eyes sparkled with speculation. “What else can Vamsyrian blood heal? How can you use it? Just as a salve or will it work to heal diseases?”

Broderick frowned. “Unfortunately, it does have its limitations. It cannot cure diseases, but it can be consumed by a mortal to heal internal damage caused by a disease. It can mend wounds, such as cuts, scrapes, burns and the like. If the blood is applied directly to a broken bone, it will mend, but an incision must be made first. It can also be the antidote to poisons or—”

“Poisons?” Monika’s mouth dropped open and she stared off into the distance, tapping her chin in thought. “Oh, my Gods.” She darted her eyes to Broderick and leaned forward, placing her hands on his chest. “It’s you.
You
are the final ingredient for the cure! Vamsyrian blood is the answer to the cure!”

She hopped off Broderick and scampered into the common room. When she returned, she had her mother’s book in hand and— much to his disappointment—was wearing his shirt. Flipping through the pages, she found an entry and trailed her finger over the strange script, which Broderick recognized through her memories as the Theban Alphabet. Her mind swirled with so much activity, Broderick had a very difficult time keeping it at bay.

He sat up and shook his head, amazed at how rapid this woman could ruminate ideas. “Perhaps you should put your necklace back on.”

She dragged her eyes from the book and regarded him with scrunched eyebrows. “What? Oh!” Monika threw her head back and laughed. “Just a moment.” She scuttled back into the common room, chortling. Putting her head through the chain of the necklace, she settled on the bed and continued her studies.

Broderick sighed and collapsed onto his back. “Thank you.”