Heart Ache (Bound by a Touch Novels #1) (21 page)

Vindication.

Nikolai should be elated by Stephon’s little object lesson, but his nerves were raw, totally exposed. Just because she believed the findings didn’t mean she’d forgive him for … Hell, he’d screwed so many things up he’d have to spend the rest of forever apologizing to her. A small, soft touch on his back made him jump.

“
Niko, please look at me.” Gabby pleaded. He obeyed her request and was rewarded with adoration twinkling in her green eyes. “I’m just going to ask this once. I want the truth. If I find out you lied to me, then there will be no forgiveness, do you understand?”

He did understand—completely and right now, he would bare his very soul to her if that was what she needed. He placed his hand over his beating heart.

“
I never lie.”

“
Did you have
anything
to do with Jayson’s death?”

“
No.”

“
Anything, Niko? Like sending a little mental nudge to convince him to go for a walk in midair? A little lift over the banister?
Anything
?”

“
No. I swear on my love for you, Gabrielle, I had nothing—absolutely nothing—to do with his demise.”

She stood, frozen in front of him with tears filling her eyes again. When the first one broke the lid, a sob broke from her throat.

“
I loved him.”

“
I know.” And that knowledge stung like a dagger to the carotid.

“
I never wanted to hurt him.”

“
I know. I’m sorry for what happened.”

“
It’s my fault.”

“
No, love, it’s not your fault.” He pulled her close, savoring the feel of her against him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tight. Tears soaked through his shirt. She sniffed.

“
I shouldn’t have let it get as far as it did.” She looked up into his eyes. “You were right; I never should have said I’d marry him when I was in love with you.”

He kissed her full on the lips and so much was released in that kiss; passion, love—an apology. She moaned into his mouth, making his taste buds dance with her flavor of coconut and lemon. His heart swelled with his love for this female. His female.

She was his life, his love, his everything.

He lifted her off of the floor, holding her tightly against his chest. The feel of her heart beating in time with his was a kind of home he hadn’t felt in forever.

She pulled away from the kiss, but not from his embrace. “Niko, there is still a lot we need to talk about.”

“
Yes, there is.” He gently set her back on the floor.

She bit on her lower lip, avoiding his eyes. He could almost see the questions forming in her mind. Her hands moved slowly up his chest and came to rest on the space directly above his beating heart. The contact was more intimate than Gabby could have realized and he loved her all the more for her innocence, her intuition. He took her by the hand and led her to the couch. She sat down, turning sideways with her leg under her bottom.

He gingerly sat, tucking his leg under his thigh, and held her hand tightly in his. He rubbed his thumb over her long fingers, using a circular motion hoping to soothe them both.

“
Ask me anything you want to know.”

“
How long have you been a vampire?”

“
I was born a vampire,” he answered with a shrug.

“
How old are you?”

A sudden sheen of sweat broke out on his forehead. Would his answer send her running for the hills, screaming her head off?

“
Do you really want to know?”

“
A hundred?” she inquired, leaning toward him.

“
Yes … and then some.”

“
How many
somes
?”

He heaved a weighted sigh and dove in. “I was born in Romania in 1580.”

She gulped audibly, but didn’t pull away. Her eyes scrutinized him, moving slowly over every inch of his face. “That makes you…”

He nodded. “I am over four hundred years old.”

Her eyes widened. “Holy crap!” Her fingertips moved slowly, lovingly, over his face. “You hardly have any wrinkles.”

He chuckled softly. “Yes, I do look pretty good for my age.”

“
Pretty good? I’d say damned good!” She dropped her hand in her lap. “Freakin’ hot,” she muttered under her breath.

“
I heard that.” His smile felt smug.

She blushed. “How much have you heard over the last three years?”

“
Not enough to know you … loved me.” His heart pounded wildly in his chest. Goddess, it felt good to say those words out loud—and for her not to deny it, or shrink away.

“
Damn, maybe I should have grumbled a little more. Because I do. Love you, I mean.” She glanced up at him from under her long lashes and the love reflecting in her eyes verified her words.

She loved him.

This was the moment he’d waited his very long life for. He gathered her to him and kissed her. Hard. He ran his tongue over her lower lip and she sighed into his mouth. She tasted like tropic sunshine, like life—his life—captured in a breath. Suddenly, she pulled away.

“
Stop. Please, we have to stop.”

Hormones raged through his bloodstream and it took all of his self control to stop what had been started, but he wouldn’t push her. Hard as it would be, he’d proceed at her pace.

“
Did I hurt you?”

She shook her head and her tongue peaked out of her mouth, running over the lip he’d been devouring.

“
No. But—” She leaned her back against the couch behind her. “—I need some answers, Nikolai. And as much as I’d like to, I can’t get them with your tongue down my throat.”

He opened his mouth to protest, to remind her she’d enjoyed his tongue down her throat and she would enjoy it other places even more, but chuckled instead.

“
You’re right. I hate to admit it, but we should get your questions out of the way before we go much further. Ask away, my love.”

Her hand moved over his thigh, making small, unconscious circles. He could almost see her mind working, questions forming and being vetoed. Or maybe she was just thinking of how to word them. A couple of times, she’d opened her mouth, shaken her head and closed those cherry red lips.

Finally she asked, “Vampires are their own race, right, like humans?”

“
Yes.”

“
Where’d you come from?”

He tried to fight a grin but felt the corner of his mouth lift. “Well, when two people love each other…”

She laughed, even though a part of her was clearly annoyed at his teasing. He couldn’t believe how well she was taking everything. He’d heard of females who had cursed their males, females who’d run away and had to be tracked down to have their minds cleaned so they didn’t go insane. Yet, here Gabrielle sat, completely calm.

He raised his fist up to stifle his chuckles and cleared his throat. “How familiar are you with Greek mythology?”

“
That’s the only class I flunked in college.” Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and she’d never looked more beautiful.

“
Okay, well, you do know who Zeus is, right?”

She actually looked offended. “I’m not
that
stupid!”

“
You are
not
stupid. You’re actually pretty adorable.” He ran a finger down her slender nose. “You’ve heard of Zeus. Have you heard of Asclepius?”

She shook her head and raised a brow. “If you’re gonna tell me some fairy tale to make me look like a moron, then don’t—”

He kissed her to get her brain back on track, which only derailed
his
train of thought. Her hands pressed against his chest and she pulled back, his lips the last thing to release its hold on her.

“
Focus. Please,” she chided.

“
Yes, focus.” He shook his head to clear out the x-rated thoughts of what he’d rather be doing. “I promised to tell you the entire truth. Remember?”

She nodded.

“
Asclepius was the God of Medicine and Healing. However, we refer to him as the God of Blood because he was known for taking blood to resurrect people who had died. Zeus found out and wasn’t very happy.

“
Zeus discovered Asclepius had a lover—his true love—and the female was pregnant. As a punishment he cursed the offspring. The child would only be able to live on blood from humans and the light of day would burn her skin to ash. Then as his final act, Zeus pointed at Asclepius and cursed him to reside in the heavens as the Ophiuchus constellation, where he would forever watch his daughter exist only in the darkness.”

Gabrielle stared at him for a long moment. “Wow. So what happened to the daughter?”

Nikolai sighed. “The daughter’s name was Aryhana and because she was the daughter of Asclepius, she was a Goddess. Our Goddess.”

Gabby nodded.

“
We’re taught that when Aryhana was in her early teens, her mother died. Her mother had taken care of her, bringing blood for her to drink. But upon her death, Aryhana was left to fend for herself. She would wait until dark then search through the forests around the cave where she’d resided since her birth for something to sustain her. She tried eating animals and became deathly ill. Eventually, she came upon a hunter. She bit him and nearly drained him. Feeling guilty, she fed him some of her blood.”

“
She created another vampire.”

Nikolai nodded. “Yes, she created another vampire. This went on for years and years. It’s unknown how many she bit, nor how many they then consequently changed. What is known is there were enough to create a new race.”

When he stopped, Gabby’s brows pinched so tightly together, she could have held a toothpick between them. “What I don’t understand is how you know all of this.”

Nikolai smiled. “Aryhana had journals; everything from writings on the cave walls to eventually pen and paper. She kept careful notes of her life—which was a very long one.”

Gabby rubbed at her temples, grinding her palms into her eyes. “Wait a minute. I’ve seen you eat. It’s still daylight outside and you’re awake. You were
outside
today look nothing like a charcoal briquette.”

Nikolai’s shoulders lifted slightly. “Every race has to adapt. It’s told that early generations couldn’t stand the sun, but little by little we can tolerate it for short amounts of time. Do not ask me to accompany you to Lake Powell for spring break. I cannot lie around to get a tan.”

Her laughter warmed him from the inside out. Her hands moved over his arm in tender strokes. “But you have beautiful color to your skin. H- how does
that
work?”

Again he shrugged, then felt the corner of his lip lift in a smirk. “I am the same
beautiful color
from head to toe. I’d be happy to show you.”

A sarcastic snort was followed by even more sarcastic laughter. “I’ll have to check that out later. For now, I wanna get this right—” She waved her hands in front of her, clearing her internal chalkboard. “—you’re telling me you descended from Gods?”

“
I’d never thought of it that way, but yes. I am descended from the Greek God, Asclepius.”

“
Cool.” She pondered the information for a moment. “Well, I guess that explains the whole cursed beings theory. And—” She made a soft snorting sound in the back of her throat. “—I can’t imagine the hysteria Aryhana caused as she was trying to set things right.”

“
We are not the bloodthirsty creatures pop culture makes us out to be. We have souls, consciences. There are good vamps and bad ones, just like humans.”

“
Fair enough. I’ve met some real assholes, who weren’t vampires.” She looked at him, alarm in her eyes. “At least I don’t think they were vampires. How many of you are there?”

“
It’s very possible you’ve met others like me on the streets.”

She grimaced. “And you all have powers?”

He nodded. “Whether one would consider it a power or not, I don’t know. Sometimes I think my inability to tell falsehoods is a curse.”

“
You can’t lie?’

“
No.”

She grinned. “Not even a white lie?”

“
I can lie only by omission.”

Her smile widened. “What are you thinking right now?”

“
How beautiful you are. How much I want to take you to my bed and never let you out. How damned lucky I am.”

He heard her heart’s reaction to his words, but she didn’t outwardly react. His Gabrielle was still leery. He would keep her talking and convince her to stay. The lights flicked on then turned off again, courtesy of his will.

“
I can also manipulate locks with my mind.”

“
I assumed you could control minds, can you?”

“
I
can
control the minds of humans, even wipe memories.”

Panic flashed in her eyes. “Have you ever…?”

He shook his head. “No, it doesn’t work on heartmates. Regardless, I would never do that to you.”