Sapphire Angel (10 page)

~ * ~

Angelo cursed himself as he laid his unconscious Bride down on the bed. He’d promised her he would only take a sip. He should have known he wouldn’t have been able to stop. Not when her taste was still so new to him. He pulled the covers over her, brushed the hair from her face and dropped a chaste kiss to her forehead. Before he stood and headed to his walk in robe to get a clean pair of jeans. He dressed quickly and with one last look at his sleeping beauty, he turned and left the room. She would need at least eight hours of sleep to recover from the blood loss, and he needed to tell his father about Darcy’s mother.

He headed to his office and grabbed his phone, rung his father and told him to come to his apartment
rapidamente
then he headed to the door to let him in. Once he and his father settled back in his office he started relaying what Darcy had told him about her mother, he slipped back to speaking Italian with his father as they both found it easier to understand and speak than English.

"So, your Bride is the daughter of an unclaimed Eternal Bride. I have never heard of such a thing happening before."

"I thought an Eternal Bride could not have children until they were claimed."

"And you are right, as far as vampires are concerned. Apparently humans are a different matter. No wonder the Nobles wanted her claimed to breed with. They could sense her strength. Have you noticed anything different about her since you claimed her? Any enhanced abilities?"

Angelo felt his face heat with embarrassment, "Ahh, the opportunity has not yet arisen."

His father let loose a loud laugh, "Well, when she wakes at nightfall you need her to attempt a few things, test her limits."

"She wants to come with us to rescue the others."

"I would imagine so. Her mother is there. I suggest you let her come with us, or she will, no doubt, just sneak in anyway."

"I had already drawn that conclusion myself."

Angelo sighed in resignation, "So, how are the plans going? Are we ready to go in?"

"All is going well. But it will be some weeks before we are ready to stage a global attack on all the Noble hideouts you found. The heads of the main vampire families have decided to stage the attack in eight weeks’ time. That should allow plenty of time for all countries to make their plans and prepare."

Angelo’s head snapped up from where he’d been looking at his emails, "The end of February? You do realize this is a leap year?"

His father chuckled, "Yes, son. I am fully aware of the fact it is a leap year. On the twenty-eighth, the day before the brides are fertile, all the captive vampires will be stronger. Even starved of blood, knowing their brides are in need of them will give them extra power. We need them to have that strength to aid in their rescue."

"I had not considered that. It is a valid point. We can’t leave the brides there to be raped if we can prevent it."

"That too, son. That too."

"Where are we going to take them once we get them out? They are all going to need their own rooms for the twenty-ninth."

"I know. Due to the fact we cannot know how many captives they hold I have made arrangements with this building and the one next door to have all their vampire friendly hotel rooms set aside for us."

Angelo nodded, "This apartment has the most room, so we will get the team to meet here to make our preparations."

"Sounds like a plan. Now, you had better go get some rest. Both you and your bride have had a big week. I will meet with you again in three days time to see if you've discovered if your Darcy has any special abilities now she is claimed. That should allow for you both to gain enough sleep to be back to full strength."

Angelo just grunted at his father. How the hell would Darcy take it if she did suddenly have some super power? He followed his father to the front door and let him out then locked the door behind him. He headed back to the bedroom, where his Bride, his Darcy, lay peacefully sleeping. He stood at the door watching her for a minute or two before he stripped and climbed in beside her. She rolled into him and nuzzled her face against his chest, sighing contentedly in her sleep. Angelo smiled down at her. She was so perfect for him. He kissed the top of her hair, took a deep breath, filling his lungs with her sweet scent then closed his eyes to get some sleep himself.

Chapter Eight

Darcy came awake in the most delicious way possible. Cool thick fingers were gently stroking along her cheek bone, then down to her jaw, soft silky lips began to lay feather light kisses along the same path as the fingers had taken. She took a deep breath in and her head filled with the masculine scent of Angelo. She hummed a little as his kisses got closer to her mouth.

Her eyes fluttered open to see her beautiful vampire pulling back to stare down at her.

"Buona sera il mio amore."

Angelo’s sleep-husked voice ran over her skin and she shivered in response.

"You certainly know how to wake a girl up. What did you say?"

"Good evening, my love."

She smiled up at him, absorbing his beauty, still trying to come to terms with the fact he was hers. And that she was free.

"I didn’t thank you for coming for me. For rescuing me—"

Angelo didn’t let her finish, "You speak craziness. Of course I came for you. I love you, Darcy. There was no way I was not moving heaven and earth to return you back by my side where you belong."

Tears pricked her eyes and she closed them against the sting. The feel of his lips on hers, gently coaxing them open stole any thoughts she had. She was lost to his taste, to his feel. If only he would run his hands down her arms, maybe even slide them up to her breasts... Her entire body ached for him.

A moment later his hands left her face and slid down her arms, then caressed their way up her stomach until he was cupping her breasts. She wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened their kiss as he continued to torment her body.

He slowed the kiss, began to sip at her lips before pulling back and resting his forehead against hers with a sigh.

"We cannot do this. If we make love, I will bite you again. You have not had enough time to fully recover from your blood loss."

Angelo rolled from on top of her and lay beside her. With his head propped up on his hand, his hair all tousled from her hands being in it, he looked beyond sexy. She licked her lips, wishing he’d kiss her again. She saw his gaze zero in on her lips and he frowned, briefly, before leaning in to fuse their mouths together.

This time when they broke apart and were both breathing heavily, she was the one who spoke.

"I thought you said we couldn’t get hot and heavy again."

"We cannot. But I find I am unable to help myself."

She smiled up at him, "I love you, Angelo."

She watched his entire face soften before he repeated the words back to her.

A deep male voice called out Angelo’s name from beyond the room, cutting through their moment and bringing reality back into focus.

"That is my father,
venire
; come, get dressed and meet him. We have much to discuss."

Darcy enjoyed the view of Angelo’s naked ass as he walked over to the walk in closet to grab some clothes before she dragged herself from the bed. By the time she’d stretched and stood, Angelo was there with a pair of lightweight cargos and a plain pink t-shirt, and her sexiest undies and bra. She chuckled as she took the pile from him and began dressing. Angelo was so sweet, but his sweet was edged with sexy.

She dressed as fast as she could while watching Angelo do the same. Every move he made was sensual, elegant and made her pulse speed up. Once dressed, he turned his head and caught her staring at him in a daze.

"
Per favore,
Darcy, before he gets tired of waiting and comes looking for us."

He ushered her out of the room before him while chuckling and shaking his head. With his hand resting on her lower back they moved toward the main living area of the apartment.

Darcy’s steps slowed as she approached Angelo’s father. He stood tall and proud, dressed in a pressed tailored navy suit with a white shirt open at the neck. He didn’t look to be any older than forty, considering how old Angelo was, she couldn’t even guess at how old his father would really be.

"Father, I would like to introduce my Eternal Bride, Darcy."

"
Buonasera
, Darcy, it is a pleasure to see you looking so well."

Darcy gave him a shy smile, "Thanks, Mr..."

While still trying to decide what to call him, he cut her off with a chuckle, "Just call me Luca, or father. You are my daughter now, Darcy."

Darcy’s eyes stung with more tears. Finally, she had a father. This elegant man standing before her was willing to claim her as family. Would he embrace her as he would a natural daughter?

No sooner had the thought solidified in her mind, she found herself in a tight embrace with Luca. Her heart grew at the pleasure of feeling a fatherly hug. She rested her head on his shoulder moments before he suddenly released her and stepped back. Feeling a little rejected she looked up at him. His face was screwed up into a confused frown.

"I do not usually behave as such. I have no idea why I would have—"

Angelo’s bark of laughter cut Luca’s words off.

"I think we just discovered Darcy’s new talent, father."

"New talent? What new talent?"

Darcy’s head began to hurt trying to work out what Angelo was carrying on about.

"Let me guess your thoughts just now,
piccola
. After father told you he saw you as his daughter, you thought about how it would feel to have a fatherly embrace? I can imagine since you have never felt one, it would be in the front of your mind as a strong desire. And earlier, after I told you we could not get too heated, you wanted me to kiss you. Did you not?"

Darcy felt her cheeks heat with a blush, "Yes, but what has that got to do with anything?"

"Darcy,
mia cara ragazza
, you are special. You are the only known female born to an Eternal Bride. I informed Angelo to keep an eye out for things you do differently now he has claimed you, as the claiming may have triggered some abilities in you. It would appear, you have a degree of power over others’ minds."

"What? I... Oh hell, this is too much. I need something to eat before I can process anything else."

Darcy spun around and headed to the kitchen, with the men following close behind.

~ * ~

Angelo turned to his father as they followed Darcy into the kitchen.

"How does mind influence work? I know not of any vampires or Eternal Brides with such a talent."

"It is rare, son. Very rare."

Angelo chuckled as he watched his Bride get herself a bowl of cereal.

"What? I know it’s night time but I just woke up, so to me it’s breakfast. I can’t face a full meal so soon after waking."

Angelo prepared them all a coffee then joined his Bride and his father at the table.

"How did you know to tell me to look for abilities?"

His father caught his gaze, "Because there are legends. Stories believed to be nothing but fables."

Fear gripped Angelo’s heart, "Tell me what these fables foretold?"

"There is one legend which tells of a Bride, born like no other, who will hold special talents. This Eternal Bride will be Queen to all vampires, and she will bring peace to the species."

Angelo patted Darcy on the back as she choked on a mouthful of cereal. He could understand her shock. He was more than a little stunned himself.

"Me? Queen? Of all Vampires?"

His father smiled compassionately at Darcy as she continued to cough. Allowing her a few moments to catch her breath, Angelo turned to his father.

"I hope you can remember more of the legend, father. What is meant to happen now?"

"It has been some time since I have studied it, but I have the legend in my library back in Italy. Once we rescue the others, we will work out exactly what is due to happen. For the moment, we need to focus our energy on saving the others."

Angelo mentioned a plan. When are we going in to get my mother and the others?"

"Not for a number of weeks. We'll go in on the twenty-eighth of February."

Angelo could feel the tension radiate off Darcy, "No. I will not leave my mother there for another eight weeks!"

She stood up to stare down at his father. Angelo did his best to stifle his chuckle.

"Calm down, Darcy. It’s a little over seven weeks now and we need to wait. Sit back down—stop trying to influence me—and I will explain why."

Darcy cocked a brow at his father’s words. “How long did I sleep?”

“Three days. You lost most of your blood. That takes a serious amount of time to recover from.”

Angelo pulled Darcy so she was sitting on his lap. He could feel her inner turmoil and he needed to comfort his Bride.

"Relax,
piccola
. Please, listen to what we have planned. If you want to come with us, it is important you understand what needs to happen."