Giovanni was magnificent. Pulsing energy and raw power. Beatrice could sense the amnis surge over his body. She could see the low flames licking along his chest. She could hear his blood roaring in her ears and smell the smoke pouring off his skin.
“Gio,” she breathed out.
His head lifted and his eyes darted toward her voice and scent. Baojia leapt on him, but Giovanni only batted him across the room before he moved toward her, nostrils flared and fight forgotten as the blue flames swirled along his arms.
Not a word passed his lips when she pounced on him. Beatrice heard the hiss as her damp skin met his burning arms. He grabbed her, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her hips and burning through the cloth that covered her before he strode toward the doors. As they sped down the hall, she saw Baojia, watching them with bared fangs from the door of the practice room. He narrowed his eyes and glared before he ran in the opposite direction.
They reached their chamber door, and Giovanni kicked it open.
“Fight later,” he growled before he slammed it shut.
Penglai Mountain, China
November 2010
“F
ight now,” she panted as her fingers clutched his neck. Their mouths crashed together as they stumbled through the room. She felt his fangs run along her neck.
“Later.”
“Now!”
He reared back, glaring at her before he threw her on the bed. Giovanni paced, silent and furious around the room. Finally, he spoke in a tightly controlled voice.
“How could you do it?”
“You know how!”
“No, I don’t.” He bent down and grabbed her chin, forcing her face to his. “Why don’t you explain it, Beatrice? Explain why my
wife
would conspire with my best friend to turn herself without even telling me or letting me be involved!”
She rose onto her knees. “You know why. And I told you over and over again, you just didn’t listen. You weren’t the vulnerable one. You weren’t the weak one. I was done with it. I was
ready
.”
“You were not! You have no idea what you’re giving up.”
“I do, too. Don’t be so arrogant. Do you think I don’t know my own mind?”
He paced, still glancing over his shoulder toward her. She could see him struggling to extinguish the swirling flames that covered his torso.
“I can be your equal now,” she continued, peeling the wet clothes from her body. “I’m not weak anymore. Look at me. My mind is my own. My body is my own. He can’t make me do anything anymore.”
Giovanni pounced on her, rolling in the sheets as he trapped her under his body. She reached out with her amnis, throwing a layer of cool air over his back as they were enveloped in a cloud of steam.
“Your body is mine,” he growled through clenched teeth, “as mine is yours. You are my wife. My mate. We are
one
. And you shut me out.” His angry eyes suddenly furrowed in pain. “Did it hurt? Were you frightened? Who held your hand as the life drained out of you? Whose eyes did you see before your heart stopped?”
She had no answer.
“That should have been me, Beatrice. Even if I could not turn you, it was my right to be there to care for you.”
Bloody tears filled her eyes, and she lifted a hand, the cool water meeting the burning skin of his cheek. Tendrils of steam rose from the contact.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I shut you out.” She reared up and captured his lips with her own, rolling them over with inhuman strength so she was straddling his hips. “But I’m not sorry I did it. I’m not sorry that I’m a vampire. And your anger is worth being with you forever.”
He shook his head, fury still swirling in his eyes.
“And even if it takes years for you to forgive me, I’m not going anywhere. I have eternity now.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “But, please don’t make me wait that long.”
Giovanni lay motionless as she splayed her hands across the thick muscle of his chest. Both watched in fascination as the vapor rose where they touched. Their room was like a sauna, and thick clouds hung around them, making the lamps glow in the dark room. She could feel his heart pound beneath her hands, and she closed her eyes, arching her back in pleasure when his burning fingertips traced the bite scars that marked her breast, slowly swirling over her preternaturally sensitive skin.
Her fangs grew longer in her mouth, cutting her lip as they descended. She felt him rear up, tasting the trickle of blood that fell from her lips and down her throat. Giovanni licked up from her collarbone, locking his mouth with hers before his tongue invaded. She gasped when he stroked along the length of her fangs.
“Yes,” Beatrice hissed as the hint of his rich blood filled her mouth. She pulled him back, fusing their lips as she traced along his own sharp teeth. The taste of their mingled blood seeped down her throat.
Smokey.
Sweet.
Hot.
Cool.
His blood reminded her of the rich taste of the whiskey they had shared before their first kiss, years before when he was hiding and she was human. The memory gave her pause, and she drew back, licking the last of their blood from his lips before she looked at him.
Giovanni’s eyes were closed, and he seemed to sway in her arms. She peeled the scraps of his shirt away and pressed their skin together. His chest burned against hers. Their hearts pounded together, the usually slow movement of their veins excited by blood and anger. His eyes were still closed as she began to rock against him, trailing her fangs across his chest until he shuddered.
“
Beatrice
…” His voice was rough, his hands smoothed down her shoulders, kneading the small of her back as she pressed their hips together and he loosed a low moan. Her fingers threaded through his hair and she brought her mouth to his in a whisper of a kiss, flooding her lips with amnis. Their energy twined, and Giovanni took a deep breath, arching his back and opening his eyes, which finally met hers with tenderness.
“I missed you,” she whispered.
“You are my balance in this life,” he said before he pierced his tongue and kissed her again. She pulled back and drew blood in her own mouth.
“In every life,” she finished.
Their lips met, and they drank the other in, their amnis twisting and melding so that Beatrice couldn’t feel where she ended and he began. Giovanni picked her up and pulled at the thin leggings she wore to practice. She pulled at the buckle on his belt, struggling as he held her.
“Beatrice…” He finally stood up to rid himself of the last of his clothing as he eyed her in the center of the bed. The urgency returned, along with her hunger, and she eyed the thick vein in his throat.
“Gio?”
“Yes?” She heard the low growl in his throat as he stalked toward her.
“I need…” She swallowed the burning in her throat.
Giovanni braced himself over her as she backed against the headboard. “Tell me what you need.”
“I need…” She eyed his neck.
“
Sì, Tesoro
,” he purred, and his tongue stroked the fangs that peeked from her mouth. “Feed from me; I have only one request.” He caught her lower lip between his teeth, biting down as her heart raced.
“What?”
When he whispered, his fangs nicked her ear. “
Do not be gentle
.”
Beatrice hissed before she reached up, pulled his hair to bare his neck, and struck.
Giovanni roared, pulling her close, and fusing their bodies as she drank. He rolled them over and she lay on top of him, drawing the thick blood from his neck as he writhed beneath her.
He grasped her hips, sheathing himself deep in her body. She pulled away and arched back with a gasp of pleasure. He reared up and Beatrice clutched his arms before leaning down to sink her fangs into him on the other side, piercing the curve where his neck met his shoulder.
“Yes.” He hummed in pleasure before he bared his own fangs and lifted her arm, biting his teeth into the soft flesh above her elbow as she gripped his hair. He felt her shudder for a moment before her mouth returned to the thick muscle at his shoulder. They drank from each other, their blood fueling the heated release they both sought. The room began to fill with steam as her skin touched his, each pushing the other closer to ecstasy.
Beatrice pulled away and searched for his mouth. He met her kiss, both of their lips wet with the other’s blood. Fire and water, they met each other as equals as they reached their release together.
They lay together for what could have been days. Nothing else existed for them. Lost in each other, they drifted, their energy spinning them in a thousand silken threads. He lost count of how many times she drank from him, but his hunger for her bite was never sated. Again and again, he pressed her closer, his amnis seeking hers as his blood traveled through her body.
The room filled with clouds as they moved together, only to gather on Beatrice’s body as she rested, an endless cycle of heat and release coalescing around them. Giovanni drank from her, her energy swirling and pulsing in waves. She fell into daytime rest, but he woke her, a cup of fresh blood near the bed and his mouth traveling over her body. He had no idea how much time had passed.
It didn’t matter, he thought, as they moved together.
They were eternal.
“I feel… drunk.”
Giovanni chuckled as she lay boneless across his chest, her arm draped across his waist in their bed. The steam had finally dissipated in the room. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Beatrice blinked, but didn’t make a characteristic smart remark. He smiled. She did sound drunk.
She asked, “Is it the blood?”
“I have no idea. I’ve never shared blood with anyone before. It’s probably a combination of that and our amnis combining.”
She stretched out next to him, and her energy flowed over his body, touching each corner of his skin like a feather.
“You feel so good,” he breathed out, shivering at her touch. “Is that what my amnis always felt like to you? Soft? Like feathers or silk?”
“Hmm,” she mused. “Kind of, but hot. Your energy is always hot, even when your skin isn’t.”
He frowned. “Not painful?”
“No.” She shook her head. “Just warm. I’ve always loved to feel you. From the beginning, I’ve loved that.”
“I love it, too,” he whispered, brushing the hair from her face, in awe of the startling creature next to him. It was Beatrice, but stronger. Delicate, but not breakable as she had been.
“Beatrice?”
“Hmm?”
“I understand.” She looked up at him, her eyes wide at his quiet declaration.
“You—you do?”
He gave her a small nod. “It still hurts that you chose to go through that without me. And I still think there are reasons you should have waited, but I understand why you did it. And I understand why you wanted to do it here.”
She shook her head. “I never wanted to hurt you, Gio, but you’re so stubborn. And I was so worried—”
“Shhh,” he whispered, leaning over to kiss her. “I know I can be stubborn.” He lifted an eyebrow. “But so can you.”
She smiled. “You’re stuck with me now.”
“And I am
eternally
grateful,” he whispered.
Her hand began brushing over him again, combining with the current to arouse him. Giovanni had little hair on his body, most of it burning off when the fire took over, but what little there was lifted and followed her fingers, as if pleading for attention.
“I had no idea you liked biting so much,” she murmured as her lips trailed down his chest.
He took a deep breath, releasing it as he enjoyed the feel of her mouth and the scrape of her teeth. “I had no idea I did, either. Maybe I didn’t until it was you doing the biting.”
She gave a throaty laugh and looked up, her fangs gleaming in the candlelight. “I like it.”
“Good,” Giovanni said with a hoarse voice as she bent her head, sinking her fangs into the V of muscle that ran from his waist. He arched his back and gave a low hum of pleasure. “What do I taste like, Beatrice?”
“Your blood?”
“Yes.”
Her tongue lapped at the punctures in his skin, licking the blood before the wounds closed.
“Like smoke. Spicy. Rich.”
He smiled. “Like your favorite foods.”
She cocked her head, smiling at him. “Yeah, I guess so. That’s convenient.” She grinned, then leaned down to taste again. “You’re like… my own hot sauce.”
He burst into laughter. “That’s what I get for marrying a Texan.”
Giovanni pulled her up to kiss her lips and taste his blood on her tongue. It was startlingly arousing.
“And I think I discovered why the food here is so bland.”
“Yes,” he brushed a hand through her hair. “When they cook for vampires, it’s very mild. Your taste buds will be heightened for quite some time. I think it was ten years before I tasted any food that didn’t seem too strong. Like everything else, you will adapt.”
“Gio?”
“Hmm?” His lips moved along her neck, nipping and testing the soft skin.
“What do I taste like? Is it different now?”
“The same,” he breathed out, “except perhaps a little stronger, sweeter.”
Giovanni had always loved the flavor of her blood and had worried about taking too much for that reason alone when she was human. Now, it wasn’t an issue. What they took from each other couldn’t harm them when they were exchanging blood. He could already feel his energy swirling inside his mate, heightening their connection and their pleasure.
Beatrice slid down and nibbled across his waist before she sank her teeth in the other side of his waist, her fang marks mirror images in his perfect, sculpted body.
He pulled her up to meet his mouth again, as his fingers fluttered along the crease of her thigh.
“I’m keeping you locked in our room for the next several nights. Just in case you had any plans, cancel them. No working. No training. You’re
mine
.”