Blakewood Read online

  My own hands found their way behind his neck, my fingers curling in his hair. His spicy male scent filled me, and I remembered he said he could smell me. A dark thrill went through me, and then I realized he was shaking. His lips tore from mine, and he bowed his head to my shoulder, dragging deep breaths into his lungs.

  “I must leave you again, I’m afraid.” His voice sounded odd, his words slurred. “I’ve waited too long…and now…”

  “You need to feed.” I felt like crying. My whole body screamed for him.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered. When he straightened, my breath caught. His eyes were completely blacked-out and his canines pushed from his gums and against his bottom lip. I could see his veins through his skin, like dark vines winding their way through him.

  He whirled and strode from the room. I listened to his steps quicken and then thump up the stairs. He was going to Claudia. Marcus was wrong. Leander Overton was not weak. As he said, if he were, he could have easily fed off of me.

  Mrs. Loman appeared in the doorway. “Are you…leaving us?” I realized she’d never truly left. She’d remained in the corridor to wait for me. Warmth filled my chest.

  “Ritchie’s education demands me to remain, but I need time…” I felt the heat in my cheeks as I realized I was still sitting on the desk. Hopping down, I smoothed down my dress.

  “Leander Overton will not harm you,” she said softly. “There are secrets at Blakewood, but that is not one of them. He is kind and decent. I knew he was fond of you, and I should have told you of his condition when I realized he was attracted to you, but I have spent so many years trying to protect his secrets...” She clasped her hands together and stepped into the library.

  “You must love this family very much.” I saw the small smile find her thin lips.

  “I do.” She nodded. “I am grateful you are not leaving us.” She held out a hand, which surprised me. I took it and those long fingers curled around mine, giving them a reassuring squeeze.

  “Come, then, before Mildred worries a hole in the kitchen floor. She’s been useless these past days. Once she sees you are well, she might remember that she has work to do.” Mrs. Loman gave my hand a little tug before releasing me, and I followed her from the library.

  Chapter Nine

  I sat straight up in bed. There it was again! I looked at my window. It sounded like someone tossing pebbles against the glass pane. Rising, I inched toward the window and then pushed open the pane to look down and came face-to-face with Marcus Highcrest. I just stared. It did not register for several moments that he was hovering outside my window three stories high. When I did realize, I jumped backward, surprised.

  With a finger to his lips, he grinned. “Shhhh. Don’t alarm the dragon lady.” I knew he was referring to Mrs. Loman.

  “What are you doing…how are you doing that?” I retracted the step and peered down to see his feet dangling below the windowsill.

  “I’m a vampire. You already know that. Now that you do…” he said, holding out a hand, “let’s have some fun shall we?”

  I bit my lip, staring at him. His eyes glittered like that of a mischievous child, and he wiggled his fingers playfully at me. Hesitantly, I reached out and slipped my hand into his. His smile widened, and he assisted while I climbed onto the sill.

  “You won’t let me fall?”

  “What fun is there in that?” He reached forward and grasped my waist, and suddenly I was suspended in the air, the ground far from my feet. I grasped his shoulders as fear stalked through me.

  “That’s right, love, hold on to me,” he purred, curling me flush against him. Then we were moving, sweeping through the air over the tree tops. I considered that I might be dreaming. No one could truly take flight like a bird! I laughed as we soared over Blakewood's expansive grounds, enjoying the rush of air across my skin. He swept us down low and then brought us upward in the blink of an eye, spinning so fast that dizziness filled my head. Then, slowly, our feet drew closer to the ground. It was an odd sensation to have the earth firm beneath my feet when only moments before there’d been no solidity anywhere.

  A feeling of breathless wonder filled me, and I looked up at him. “You can go anywhere this way!”

  “That’s not all we can do in the air, you know.”

  His eyebrow arched and I gasped, glancing up at the dark sky. Surely, he didn’t mean that two could come together while in the heavens?

  “That’s too wicked for me to think about.” I finally told him, and he laughed out loud. “What else can you do?”

  He was suddenly gone from sight, though I still felt his arms beneath my fingers. I started when his hot breath rushed against my ear. A moment later, his lips pressed against the lobe and parted, and his tongue licked at my skin.

  “Is this too wicked for you to think about?” His voice sent shivers down my spine.

  “I know you are here, but you can disappear from sight?” I stared as he suddenly reappeared. “Oh, Marcus, what else?”

  He grinned like Ritchie did when he was showing how fast he could run. Again he disappeared, but this time not completely. Instead, he took on the form of a thick fog and settled low to the ground. The fog swirled around my bare feet and ankles then began crawling up my legs, beneath my gown. I gasped and tried to move away, but the fog moved with me, winding upward until that tingling iciness touched the most intimate part of me.

  There was nothing solid, yet I felt the pressure against my sex; it throbbed like a wet whisper and, from that, heat bloomed. My breath quickened. As that gentle torment continued, a ribbon of that fog moved farther up under my gown until it brushed over my breasts. My feet left the ground again, only by a few inches, so that I was suspended and surrounded by the fog that had thickened until I was completely submerged inside of it.

  It was a glorious feeling. Every inch of my skin tingled while that fog caressed me. Parts of it thickened and continued to caress my sex while other thicker parts swept over my breasts and backside. My body shook, and I cried out as tension tightened and then exploded within me. Slowly, I settled to the ground, my back to the earth. Marcus materialized above me so that he straddled my body where I lay on the cool grass.

  “That’s only a taste of what I can do, love,” he murmured.

  “That was so…unbelievable. It was as if there was nothing but freedom all around me, as if all the impossible was possible,” I whispered.

  “I feel like that all the time.” He lowered his lips to my jaw.

  “Why do you remain here at Blakewood when you have so much freedom available to you? You could go anywhere…do anything.” I tilted my head back when he licked at my throat.

  “Leander Overton keeps me bound here.” His tongue darted against my skin. “I can smell you, love.”

  I giggled. “What do I smell like?”

  “Like some sweet exotic treat.” He licked once more.

  I closed my eyes. How had I allowed him to get so close? I’d made my mind up that I would keep clear of Marcus Highcrest. Yet, here I was lying in the grass with him atop me. He’d given me pleasure and, like an eager whore, I’d allowed him. How could I so easily be tempted by him when I knew in my heart it was another I truly desired?

  “Will you take me to my room?” I whispered as I opened my eyes. I found him looking down at me, his own eyes narrowed as if he were reading my very thoughts.

  “He keeps you bound as well.” He slid his arm beneath me and lifted me, swinging me around so I was cradled against his chest. Then we left the earth again and, in just a few moments, he delivered me back to my room through the window.

  The next morning, Ritchie returned to the classroom, looking in far better health than before I took him to his nurse. He sat at the table, fingers woven between one another, watching me as if he expected me to be disappointed in him and what I’d discovered he was.

  “You, young sir, were not completely honest with me.” I crossed my arms and looked down at him. “You can run much faster
than what you let on.”

  His face suddenly broke with a wide smile. “I didn’t want you to think you were slow.”

  I sat beside him and hugged him close to my side. “You’ll have to show me now how fast you really are. But first—” I waited for him to look up at me. “Your studies.” He rolled his eyes.

  We spent the morning going over mathematics and reading. I had him write out his letters on the chalkboard that had been provided for us. While I know he really didn’t want to do the lessons, he didn’t complain and worked quickly with the promise of playing outside fueling him. We took our midday meal in his garden then ventured out onto the grounds.

  He ran circles around me so fast that he was almost a blur. I learned that while he could hover above the ground, he could not take flight yet and didn’t know how to disappear or transform himself into mist. It was a blessing. If he began disappearing on me, I’d never get him to sit for his lessons.

  As we crossed the small bridge over the river, we were met by his uncle who’d been out riding. Leander looked healthier than he had in some time, the darkcresents beneath his eyes gone, the tiredness erased from his features. He’d fed that morning, I realized.

  From atop his horse, he addressed Ritchie, “Have you finished your studies “Yes, sir.”

  “Then run along back to the house. I want to talk to your governess.”

  I smiled down at Ritchie. “As fast as you can.” He sent me a big grin and then in a blur raced back to the manor. I laughed as I watched him and then faced Leander as he swung down from the horse.

  “You are set upon going against everything I say,” he said as he faced me. “And now that you know the truth of what we are, it’s as if you have thrown all caution to the wind completely.”

  Not knowing what he was talking about, I stared at him. “Sir?”

  “You and Highcrest. Last evening.” He stepped closer. “Haven’t you been warned of how dangerous he can be?”

  My heart quickened. How much had Marcus shared? How much of what we’d done did Leander know? Shame burned in my cheeks. Why would he tell him?

  “I have not seen him to be…”

  “A vampire can kill when he feeds, can drain a person completely.” He took a breath and calmed his voice. “He can’t be trusted.”

  “Yet you allow him to work for you,” I pointed out and then started when he grabbed me by the arms.

  “Listen to me! First, he will charm you, give you just enough of his true nature to make you angry, but eventually accept him. He will manipulate you into believing he cares for you. And when he bores of you, he will feed and move on to the next.” His fingers lessened their grip. “I only mean to protect you.”

  “Isn’t acceptance of what your family is what you wanted of me? You think him so different than yourself?” I insisted. His hands slid away, and he just stared at me for several long moments. I fought the urge to smooth back my hair under his scrutiny.

  “Acceptance doesn’t need to include a sexual relationship.”

  It was my turn to stare. “Doesn’t it?”

  He winced. “You must think of us all as uncontrollable maniacs.” Looking at the ground, he blew out his breath..

  “Why do you hate him so much?”

  I saw his hands clench at his sides. “Because he takes everything I want.” His gaze darted up to meet with mine. There it was. Right between us. He wasn’t truly angry at me, I realized. He was jealous.

  “I fed this morning,” he said softly.

  “I can tell. You look healthier.”

  He moved closer. “I fed because I didn’t want to be so hungry for blood when I saw you today.”

  “Thank you. I’ve no desire to be someone’s meal.”

  The corners of his mouth curled upward. “Have you asked Claudia what it feels like?”

  It had never occurred to me to ask that question though now, I certainly would. “No. I can’t imagine it feels pleasant.”

  “It hurts at first. But the pain fades. Your body becomes sensitive, so sensitive that if a draft swept across the room, you would feel it on every inch of your skin. The slightest touch or…caress…makes you tremble beneath the sensation.”

  I licked my lips. “You said that when you fed you also…” My eyes widened when he nodded. He was saying that Claudia enjoyed him when he came to her to feed.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  He arched an eyebrow, reminding me very much of Marcus. “You think I would lie to you?”

  “I think all men lie, vampire or not, to get what they want,” I said, and his smile widened.

  “That may be true.” He chuckled. “Come, it’s growing cooler. I’ll walk you back to the manor.” He removed his coat and draped it over my shoulders. His masculine scent wrapped around me.

  “I’m sorry for my foolish temper,” he said softly after we’d walked in silence for a few moments. The horse fell in step behind us, guided by the reins held loosely between Leander’s fingers. Although I didn’t look at Leander, I smiled, warmed by his humble apology.

  Chapter Ten

  I couldn’t sleep. Instead, I found myself getting up and looking out the window every few minutes and wondering to myself what I thought I was looking for. Since coming to Blakewood, nothing about me seemed the same as before. It was as if on the very first day, the place itself changed me from the responsible educated woman I’d worked so hard to become into someone I barely knew. I’d only had one real relationship in the past. Now I felt myself being drawn to two men of the same family, both vampires, both extremely handsome, yet both very different from one another.

  Marcus was a passionate spirit who took from life what he wanted. He made no excuses for himself and accepted what he was as if it were gift. Leander was the exact opposite. He fought for control over his condition until it made him ill, and he kept his passion locked inside. But he’d shown great kindness and consideration towards me when others might not have.

  Finally, giving up on my efforts to sleep, I walked to the door and opened it only to find Leander Overton standing there on the other side. He looked tortured, like he did when he was struggling for control over the need to feed. But he’d fed. He’d told me so that morning.

  “Did you knock? I didn’t hear you.”

  “I didn’t knock.” He shook his head. “In fact, I’d just about thought myself out of it when you opened the door. I should have guessed you would decide to wander around in the dark again.”

  “I’m not the one wandering in the dark tonight. Can’t you sleep?”

  “No.” He stood there just looking at me, his gaze dropping only once to the sleeping gown I wore. Did he want me to say something? I realized he might be waiting for him to invite me in.

  “Do you want me to invite you in?” I asked.

  He shook his head again. “If you do, I will remain through the night.”

  I didn’t mean to laugh. “Then I suppose I’m no safer coming out there with you.”

  “No.”

  I licked my lips. “What is this between us? It’s ridiculous to feel this way. I have tried to convince myself to stop it, but it won’t go away.”

  “I know. It’s not your fault. I’m a vampire. Women are naturally drawn to me.” He winced. “That sounded horribly conceited. It’s not me they are drawn to, but what I am if that makes any sense.”

  “None of it makes sense,” I murmured. “If that’s why I’m drawn to you, why are you looming outside my door?”

  “I’ve liked you since the first moment I met you. And then you came to the library wearing that blasted thing you are wearing now, and I can think of nothing else.” His gaze dropped again to my sleeping gown. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a plain, cotton gown and thinned from years of wear.

  “My gown is about six years old and not enticing enough to make a man stand in the corridor and gawk.” I laughed.

  “It’s not the gown I want to gawk at.” He frowned. “You are right. It makes no sense.”<
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  But his words already put the idea in my head. He couldn’t touch me, not unless I invited him in. It would be an outrageous thing to do. Wicked. Before I could let myself think on it too long, I reached down, grasped the hem and, in one movement, pulled the garment over my head.

  His eyes widened with surprise before his gaze lowered over my naked body. One word whispered from his lips. “Elizabeth.”

  “You won’t tell anyone I just did that?” Heat was already rushing to my cheeks. It was the most sinful thing I’d ever done. When he said nothing, I readied to put it back on.