Undeniable (26 page)

Her gaze flicked between his teeth and eyes. She brought the
tip of her finger up to touch one of his fangs. The point pierced her skin.

“It doesn’t hurt,” she murmured, staring at the drop of
blood rising on her fingertip.

While holding his gaze, she ran the tip of her tongue over
the small hole, entrancing him.

She reached up, wrapped her arms around his neck and brought
him with her as she lay back down. “I want you, Sebastian. Man or vampire.”

His heart felt as if it would burst free. Resting his
forehead upon hers, he drew in a shaky breath. “I feared…” He brushed the tip
of his tongue over her lips, then rose up to gaze into her eyes. “Never have I
been so afraid.”

Her eyes filled with horror as he bit down on his lower lip.
His blood splattered her breasts. She mentally cried out to him that she didn’t
understand. Her cry changed to one of rapture when he thrust his cock into her.
He stilled, reveling in the feel of her body’s embrace.

When she wriggled her hips, he withdrew, then entered her deeper
and deeper until he was buried to the hilt in her moist pussy. Cupping her face
in his hands, he gazed at the gift she gave him with every glance. “My gift for
you, Diana.” A curtain of cascading stars arose from the ground, surrounding
them in a shimmering cocoon. “For my goddess,” he whispered, “a million stars
to grant her every wish.”

“Oh, Sebastian.” Diana blinked as tears filled her eyes.

Raising his hips, he groaned from the caress of her body on
his cock. Plunging back into that slick heat, he brought his mouth to hers and
kissed her tenderly. His blood flowed over her tongue, down her throat.

That sweet, sweet taste…blood!

He felt her stomach lurch, her mind rebel. Shifting the
kiss, he slid his lower lip between hers and rejoiced when she only hesitated a
moment before taking what little blood he was allowed to offer tonight.

His rhythm had been slow, torturous, but swiftly picked up
momentum when her nails dug into his hips. He slammed into her, caught himself
and tried to be gentler. Diana moaned into his mouth and raised her hips.

Faster, Sebastian. Harder. Faster.

Sebastian smiled against her lips.
Your every wish,
goddess.

Take me.
Her mind cried out to his.

He drove himself into her again and again, sending her
higher and higher, until her body started to tremble beneath his. He swept the
hair from her neck.

Yes, oh, yes, Sebastian. Take me. Take all of me.

Sebastian tore his mouth from hers and brought it to the
spot on her neck that had pulsed incessantly for weeks.

The sound of her blood flowing in her veins roared in his
ears. He sucked the quivering flesh between his teeth, teased, nibbled and
licked until her head fell back. “You belong to me, Diana. Only me.”

She cried out when his fangs sank deep into her flesh and
brought her hands up to push his head away. But when he sucked deeply, when her
blood surged through her veins and rose up eagerly to fill his mouth, she
clutched his head to her neck, sinking his fangs deeper, silently begging him
to suck harder.

Sebastian drove his burning cock in and out of her
convulsing body. He shuddered and growled like a wild beast against her throat.
Her blood flowed into him as his seed filled her womb. When she thrust the
sensations coursing through her body as she climaxed into his mind, Sebastian
felt his own soar even higher.

Every star surrounding them exploded and blanketed them with
flaming sparks. Unimaginable pleasure streaked through her body into his,
pooling where they were joined.

Her screams sent birds soaring into the air, squirrels, raccoons
and chipmunks scurrying through the forest. She shattered over and over again,
taking him with her as he spilled more and more of his seed and drank more and
more of her blood.

Filling her with his seed while taking in her life’s essence
consumed him. The hunger he’d denied for weeks mushroomed.

He forgot about the night, the elders, the ritual.

There was only Diana. Diana surrounding him, Diana filling
him, Diana screaming from the power of their union.

She’d chosen him, offered up her life to him. He couldn’t
get enough of her.

Am I dying?

Diana’s inner voice was so weak, Sebastian almost didn’t
hear it.

He tore his mouth from her neck, his gaze frantically
darting down to the woman he’d vowed to protect. A scant droplet of blood
escaped from each of the two gaping holes over her jugular and trailed down her
neck.

Her hands slid from his head and dropped lifelessly onto the
grass.

“No,” he whispered, disbelief and terror nearly immobilizing
him. He withdrew his arm from behind her neck. Diana slumped to the ground, her
breathing shallow, her eyes fluttering.

Did I take too much?
He cried out to those watching
as his heart nearly imploded. The curtain of stars he’d created for her
dissolved. “Answer me,”
he sobbed.
Answer me!

No.
Tobias replied in a soothing voice that slid into
his mind.
She must learn that she needs you to survive. You have taken her
to death’s door but stopped before she could enter. Tomorrow night you will
feed her hunger and she will do the same to you.

A nightingale trilled from a nearby tree. Sebastian recalled
how terrified she’d been of the worms that had slithered from the muddy grass
into her hair and clothes at her pond and gathered her into his arms to keep
her away from the ground. His heart thundered in his ears. Blood dripped from
the wounds on her throat and covered her lips, her breasts. He licked her until
her skin bore no sign. Sitting with her on his lap, he tenderly dressed her.

Her skin was too pale, her breathing too shallow as far as
he was concerned. She had no idea when she asked if one bite would transform
her that he’d sealed her fate long ago without her knowledge or approval, and
it broke his heart that he’d betrayed her trust tonight. He leaned over and
brought his lips to her ear. “I would rather face the dawn than hurt you,
Diana. If I could, I would take back that first night, even if it meant losing
you. Forgive me, Di—ah!”

Rage slammed into his head, pummeling him as surely as if
someone’s fists battered his brain. The power of Olympia’s attack grew stronger
with each passing second, warning that she approached.

Damien, can Olympia stop us from bonding?
He yelled
out to the one elder who would know.

He probed the darkness with his mind and could almost hear
Damien’s sigh of resignation.

Another elder answered, anger lacing every word.
She
would be banished. Once a bonding ritual has reached this point, it is against
our laws to interfere.

Another laughed bitterly.
Since when has Olympia followed
our laws?

Sebastian gritted his teeth and slammed his own rage back at
his mother. He rose to his feet, Diana clutched in his arms. Her eyes fluttered
open for an instant before she leaned her head against his chest and brought
her lips to his skin before once again passing out. He examined the wounds on
her throat and was relieved to see they were already closing.

Damien stepped out from the shadows.
Take her to her
home, Sebastian. She’ll be safe there.

His heart dropped at the thought of returning her to her
house and the control of a man more dangerous than the Slashers on the Isle of
Fentmore. But her father and the Slashers were meek compared to Olympia. The
threat of banishment would not stop her and now that the bonding ritual had
reached this night, now that Diana’s hunger would grow to unbearable proportions
as she transformed, their bonding had to continue on to completion. For her
sake.

He silently thanked the elders as he felt their combined
powers wash over Diana as they bestowed her with enough strength to carry her
through the day.

His grandfather appeared beside him. “With our help, your
mate will be fine. She must be under her roof and you under yours.”

Tobias was right. The ritual forbade any contact between him
and Diana until tomorrow night. Her father and the sun would protect her until
then.

Chapter Ten

The next morning, a bright, white flash exploded behind
Diana’s lids. Crying out from the pain, she shielded her eyes and peeked
through her lashes. Sunlight streamed through her window. Rolling over, she
dragged herself to the far side of the bed and turned her back to the glaring
rays.

She heard her kitten mewling and peeked over the edge of the
mattress. Squinting, she reached down and ran her fingers through the soft fur.
Recalling Sebastian’s claim that he was her phantom, she smiled. “So, the big
bad vampire has a soft spot for kittens.”

Her room seemed brighter than usual, the white and yellow
gingham her mother had insisted on covering the windows and bed with
practically blinding her. She had hated them, but after her mother had vanished
from her life, found them comforting to see them the moment she awoke.

Not today. Today they captured the sunlight and hurled it
back at her with a vengeance. And her head! It felt like a road crew was using
jackhammers on her skull. Clutching her forehead with one hand as she shielded
her eyes with the other, she sat up.

“Advil,” she muttered to herself. “At least three.”

The short walk to her bathroom took forever. Each step sent
a jolt of pain into every muscle. Each peek to check her progress allowed the
light to stab at her eyes. She stood before the mirror and stared in shock at
her pale reflection as she probed her memory of the previous evening.

A smile slowly appeared as, bit by bit, images flashed
before her eyes.

Her alarm went off. Music filled her room, but Diana only
heard the sound of Sebastian’s roar when he’d taken her virginity. Although his
lips had been on hers, she could have sworn he told her he was her first and
last and wondered why he had been so confident when her maidenhead had not been
present.

Oh, but that roar. It had sent a multitude of electric
shocks hurtling through her body.

Just thinking about it had her quivering with passion and
she knew if she so much as touched herself where he’d filled her, she would
tumble into an orgasm.

With a shake of her head, she mumbled, “I’ll wait. Let it
brew all day.” Lifting her eyes to the mirror, she smirked, “And then
I’ll
be the animal.”

The sound of her cell phone ringing set her heart pounding.
Sebastian? As soon as the thought entered her mind, logic stepped in. Even
before she’d known her lover spent his days asleep, she’d never expected a call
until evening.

With a groan, she glanced at the bathroom door. Her cell
phone, unfortunately, was on her nightstand. Reaching out to grasp the wall,
her dresser, then the footboard of her bed, she slowly made her way through the
room. By the time she reached her cell phone, she’d missed the call and was
already receiving another. She glanced at the display. Both calls were from her
grandmother.

She flicked the phone open and smiled when her grandmother
spoke before she’d even gotten the phone to her ear. “Diana?”

“Tell me what happened to me last night,” she demanded,
entering into their usual game.

“I know, I know. That’s why I need you to come over. We have
a lot to discuss and I have so much to explain.”

“I have students—”

“You have to come over, Diana. I had a vision last night.
You’re in danger.”

Diana shook her head in denial even as a chill ran down her
spine. “Sebastian would never hurt me.”

“I don’t think it’s him. I…you must come over.”

Diana’s mouth went dry. She’d never heard her grandmother
sound so frightened. “But today I get to lead an advanced trail group up Pikes
Peak. On Midnight. I’ve been waiting all year—”

She brought her hand to her chest. “Is that it? Will he
smell Sebastian’s blood and throw me?”

“No, no. The horses are used to it by now.”

“What?” Diana plopped down onto the bed.

“Listen, you go to work. You have a way with animals. But
come here right after, you hear me? Before sunset.”

* * * * *

Diana arrived at her grandmother’s house much earlier than
she’d originally planned. Her grandmother opened the door before she could
knock and embraced her, clucking the way she had when Diana had run to her for
comfort after her mother had vanished.

“My poor, poor baby. Midnight wouldn’t let you ride him?”

“The horses were fine. It was me.” She rubbed her temples.
“I have this wicked headache.”

Nana Lina wrapped her arm around Diana’s and drew her into
the dark living room. As usual, every shade was pulled down and a fire glowed
brightly in the fireplace. Diana would have thought her grandmother had set the
scene for her, if not for the fact that her home always looked this way.

Her grandmother switched on the lamp beside the couch. The
soft, golden light set her gray hair aglow. Fine lines sprang from the corners
of her green eyes and curved around the outer edges of her mouth, yet she still
looked much younger than her sixty-four years. “Nana, you’re not…”

Her grandmother laughed. “Oh, no. Not quite, my dear.”

“Not quite?” Frowning, Diana sat down on the plush couch
before the raging fireplace. Even with its heat battering her, she wrapped her
sweater around her and shivered. “But the lights, or should I say lack of. And
what about you always having a fire lit and the heat up, even on the hottest
days?”

“Let’s talk about you, Diana. Last night was your first of
the final stage of the bonding ritual. Do—

“Bonding ritual? No, we just—”

Her grandmother sat beside her and grasped her hands. “Last
night was part of a bonding ritual. To them, it’s very sacred. It’s a ritual of
commitment. You to him, him to you.”