Immortality Stolen (The Mortal One Series Book 2) (18 page)

I nodded and reached for my wine glass, which he topped off for me. “Yes, thank you.”

We ate the rest of our meal in relative silence.

When the check came, I reached over and he swatted my hand away. “I have this.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“No thank you is required. You are about to make me very rich tonight,” he said. “I can handle this.”

My mouth opened in surprise. “That is not your normal fee?”

“One million dollars? For one night’s ceremony? Of course not.”

“Then why…” Before I could finish my question, I knew. They were vampires and most vampires he had met were assholes. This was his way of sticking it to them. He also knew that they had the money and they were desperate. Kudos to him, really. I couldn’t say I wouldn’t do the same when given the chance.

“You get it,” Gregorio said. It was a statement not a question. He saw the realization cross my face.

I nodded. “Yes.”

“You will not say anything?” His voice held some shock.

“The deal has been made already.”

“You are a smart woman, Dylan,” he said.

“Sometimes.” Here I was in Paris sitting across the table from a necromancer, waiting for the two vampires I kept company with to wake up. If someone had told me a year ago that this is where I would be, I would have told them to check themselves into a mental institution.

He threw some money on the table and we got up.

“Would you like me to take you back to your hotel?” Gregorio asked.

I shook my head. “No, I’m going to do some more walking around. You?”

“Scouting. We know where three are, but I need to see if I can locate the other eight so I know they are all within city limits.”

“Oh.” I wanted to tell him to have fun with that, but left it at what was said. There was no way I’d accompany him for that. The zombies were disgusting creatures rotting as they walked around and the sooner they went down, the more soundly I could sleep at night.

“I will see you tonight,” Gregorio said.

“Yes,” I said and we walked off in opposite directions.

Chapter 17

I WAS ONLY a block or two from
Rue des Martyrs
, which I had read about in a travel magazine years ago. It was filled with vendors that sold cheese, fruit, wine, chocolate and just about anything else that was edible. While lunch was good and filling, there was always room for something else.

The vendors were nice and provided samples of more than I expected. Once reaching an upscale chocolate shop, I gave in and bought some truffles and some interesting pieces of chocolate with little decorations on top. The sun had finally started to set and it occurred to me that I should probably head back to the hotel.

While I was on the right side of the Seine, it was still a long walk so I grabbed my map to figure out how to get back to the hotel. I took a turn down one road and then proceeded down the steps to get on the metro line. While I leaned against the pole and waited patiently to be delivered to my stop, the chocolate called out to me. By the time I got off at the
Republique
stop, the chocolate was gone and I felt a bit gluttonous for eating it all.

The hotel was just around the corner once I made it back up to street level.

As I entered, Leuc came up to me. “Did you enjoy the river tour?”

I smiled. “Yes, thank you.”

He eyed the bag in my hand. “I see you also visited the
Rue des Martyrs.
”

“Couldn’t help myself.”

“I don’t blame you one bit,” he said.

There was nothing else to say, so I excused myself and headed to the elevators. It was only six in the evening, but sometimes Nico surprised me by being up a little earlier.

I clicked the card into the door and quickly slid into the room. The large bump under the comforter was still there, so that answered the question about Nico.

Since he was still asleep, there was no point in hanging around the room. I slipped into some gym clothes and threw the first note away and wrote another one for Nico. It was time to burn off the calories from all that chocolate and I headed up to the top floor where the hotel had a fitness room.

A high-end treadmill was located right in front of the windows, providing me with a relatively good view of the city. I stepped on, enjoying the privacy because no one else was in here with me. I started off slow and then brought the speed up faster and faster. Within a few minutes, I was in a full sprint on the conveyor belt.

My legs burned, but it was the good kind of burn. It was safe to run where I was in Italy, but in Paris, I didn’t trust the city enough to run alone in the mornings. Not running was biting at me because it had become part of my routine. I hung out with too many people that could harm me. Nico and, if I was being completely honest with myself, Olivier, were the two I knew would not harm me and would protect me. As for anyone else, there was no way to be sure and they weren’t always around, especially during the day. That meant I had to lookout for myself and if I could run, I stood a chance of getting away from trouble if it presented itself.

My eyes were closed. I ran and ran as if my life depended on it. Techno blared into the headphones and I kept running. Sweat dripped from my brow and I grabbed the bottom of my shirt to wipe it as I continued on.

I stared out the window, watching the sun set further into the clouds. I was getting darker and Nico could wake up at any minute. I started to slow down the treadmill in a cool down mode. The headphones tugged and I almost tripped while trying to turn around.

“Nico,” I said, pulling my headphones down around my neck. “Hey.”

I continued to jog on the treadmill and he came to stand in front of it. “Saw your note,” he said. “Damn you’re fast.”

I smiled. “Working on it. Thought I’d get some running in while I waited for you.”

He nodded. “Sure. Almost done?”

“Yep.” I wiped more sweat away with my shirt.

“That’s hot.”

“My sweat?”

“You. The way you grab your shirt up like that. The hint of your skin.” He stared at me and I saw the hunger fill his eyes.

He had that way of looking at me that turned my insides to jelly. My body responded to him and suddenly, I didn’t want to run anymore. I knew my body would hate me if I didn’t do the cool down properly, though.

“Give me five minutes?” I asked. The treadmill was coming down off of its incline and the speed slowed down again to a brisk walk.

Nico nodded. “Of course. I was going to shower. Should I wait?”

“Yes, I will need one, too.”

That made him smile. “Yes, you will.” He left me to my workout.

The treadmill finally came to a stop. Sweaty and satisfied, I headed out of the fitness room and down to the room.

Nico was already stripped, walking around the room in briefs alone. His sinewy thighs were a sight all on their own.

He smiled as I set my headphones down and began to undress.

“Are you prepared for tonight?” He asked.

I nodded. “As much as I can be. Gregorio told me a little more about what would happen.”

“Gregorio?”

“Yeah. We bumped into each other after I got off a river cruise.”

Nico’s lips thinned out. “I don’t like that.”

I turned to him, letting my hands trail down his chest. “There’s nothing to worry about.” As my fingers started to nudge at the waistline of his briefs, his hands stopped me.

“So you hung out with Gregorio all afternoon?”

I let out a sigh. “We had lunch. We talked about the zombies. Then he went to do some scouting and I went back to doing my own thing.”

“Okay,” he said, finally.

“Honestly, there wasn’t anything more to it. He had gotten into the city this morning to start looking around to ensure all the zombies were still within city limits. We found three while we were walking and he sent them into the park.”

“Sent them?” Nico asked. I was glad to hear that he was pretty much as clueless to the necromancing as I was.

I shrugged. “He did something and tapped them on the forehead and they headed into the park.”

“How bad are they?”

“Pretty bad. It’s a good thing the problem is being taken care of tonight.”

He reached behind me and unclasped my bra.

“Thanks,” I said and stepped out of my panties. Then I reached for the waistline of his briefs again. He let me slide them down, but he didn’t spring to life as I was accustomed to seeing.

He saw my reaction. “Blood. I’ve been with you since yesterday. There has been no time to feed,” he said quietly.

It was the time where I proved I was with him once and for all. That I trusted him. That I acted like the pet I was. And the wife.

“Okay,” I swallowed and walked into the bathroom to turn on the shower. I dipped my toe in to make sure it was hot enough. “Come,” I said, pulling him into the shower.

I pushed my hair to one side and bent it, offering my neck to him.

He looked confused. “What are you doing?”

“Drink.”

Nico didn’t say anything. He embraced me, pressing my body against the tile of the shower. He licked my neck, planting several kisses there before his fangs pressed into my skin.

“Thank you,” he mumbled against my neck and began to drink. I closed my eyes and could feel the blood leave. It was erotic and as he continued to drink, his right hand slid down between my legs. This must be my thank you for making the offer so he didn’t have to ask. Though I couldn’t imagine him ever asking. He was ever the gentleman about it all.

His mouth sucked and licked at my neck. It felt like he was devouring me and this is what Antonio was talking about. Feeding could be very sexual and enjoyable.

As I began to shudder, Nico pulled away. He pulled away. There was no one there to stop him and he did it on his own. He looked a little tipsy and smiled before kissing me. I tasted the coppery flavor of my blood on his tongue as it danced with mine.

“Thank you,” he said again.

I nodded, not knowing what else to say. It was what I had to do in order to be all in. While I could tell Olivier and Gregorio that I was married all day long, actions spoke louder than words. If I was to truly be Nico’s, sharing blood was a big part of that. Even Antonio had told me as such.

Nico knew it was a big step, too, which I think is why he didn’t say anything right away. He grabbed the washcloth and the soap and formed a good lather before applying it to my body. I watched as a small amount of blood circled around the drain and then it was gone. He licked at the wound a few times and I knew there would be no trace of it by the time I stepped out of the shower.

The blood remaining in my body throbbed and left me weak. Meanwhile, Nico was more alert than ever, and more excited, as he demonstrated with a proud thrust in my direction.

I shook my head as he smiled, the kind that reached all the way to his eyes.

“It meant a lot,” he whispered to me.

“It was time.”

“I didn’t drain you. I promised I wouldn’t.”

“Thank you.”

He stared at me for a moment, trying to read me. “What made you finally change your mind?”

I didn’t trust my voice. He was making it more emotional by talking about it.
I don’t want to deprive you of what you need. You are my husband, my master, and my friend.

“I love you,” he said, defiantly, as if he wondered if I questioned it at times.

I kissed him. “I love you, too.” My voice was a little shaky. Actually, my whole body was a little shaky.

“Good.” He reached behind me and turned off the water. “Now let’s feed you.”

I shook my head. “I ate earlier before heading to the gym and before that with Gregorio.” Jeez, putting it that way made me sound like I had pigged out.

“You gave blood. You need to eat for your strength more than anything. Tonight’s a big night,” he reminded me.

I nodded. Protein and lots of it. A cheeseburger should do the trick. I made the call down to room service.

“Happy?” I said, hanging up the phone.

“Extremely.”

I got dressed, knowing it would be colder at midnight than it was in the middle of the day. I zipped up my boots and saw Nico staring at me. “What?”

Nico smiled and shook his head. “Nothing.”

I gave him a look, trying to read him. He just kept a smug grin across his face.

A knock at the door startled me momentarily. Nico opened the door for the room service to come in and set up at the desk. The man took a quick glimpse at Nico, who had answered the door in jeans and nothing else. He flexed a muscle involuntarily and the man set up even faster, seeming to sense the danger that Nico held inside of him.

“Thank you,” Nico said and handed him money. He nodded and rushed out the door. “What a strange man,” Nico commented and closed the door.

“You scared the shit out of him,” I said, laughing.

“What? How?”

“You don’t know how intimidating you look with your shirt off, do you?”

Nico looked down. “I do?”

“With all those…those…muscles,” I said, waving my hand towards his cut abs. “Yeah. Intimidating. And when you flexed, I thought he would pee himself.”

“He was staring at me, they flinched.”

I laughed some more and opened the dome to my cheeseburger. “Intimidating,” I said again and turned to my dinner.