He followed, staying invisible, keeping upwind and out of sight of the youngest girl. She had vision beyond the normal, the ability to sense even the shadow of darkness. Manolito was about to undertake a dangerous entry into the home of an ancient, and the shadow of darkness within him grew enough that it would call to the girl.
He waited until they opened the door to the house, an invitation if he ever saw one. The ancient struggled with the tree. It was awkward and covered with snow, a difficult fit for the open door.
«Is that as wide as you can hold it open, MaryAnn?» Nicolae demanded. «Because there's a lot of tree here. Maybe I should just make it skinny for a second or two. Just enough to get it inside.»
«Don't you dare. You promised me we'd do this the old-fashioned way. No cheating. I'll help you,» Destiny said.
MaryAnn bowed low as she pushed the door as wide open as possible. «Please do come in.»
Beside her, Skyler gasped as a cold breeze blew into the house. Snow-flakes from the tree and porch whirled around in a small eddy, and then slowly subsided.
Nicolae and Destiny took several tries to get the very full tree into the house. Snow cascaded everywhere and they both collapsed laughing. «Skyler! Help,» Destiny called as the top of the tree hit the couch.
Skyler leapt to lift it over the furniture. Once MaryAnn closed the door and latched it, Skyler thought she would feel so much safer, but she didn't. Nicolae waved one hand and a fire sprang up in the fireplace, almost instantly warming the room. Skyler turned away from them to stare out the window into the forest. Nothing had happened. Was her overactive imagination at work? Why didn't she ever feel safe anymore?
«There's water all over the floor,» MaryAnn said. «I'll go get a towel.»
«Great idea. Skyler and I will have Nicolae find the best spot for the tree.»
«What do you mean, find the best spot for the tree?» Nicolae demanded. «I'm only moving it once if you're making me do this the human way.»
«You re taking all the fun out of it,» Destiny protested. «Half the fun is seeing that look
of total exasperation on your face.»
MaryAnn laughed at their antics. It was so good to see Destiny happy. It was worth leaving Seattle and traveling so far from home. The mountains were remote, and she knew she was far out of her depth here, but just to see Destiny settling in, happy with Nicolae and confident in herself, was worth every moment away from home.
She stepped into the bathroom and turned in a slow circle to admire all the tile work. For a room that was never used, Nicolae had paid a lot of attention to detail and it was beautiful. She pulled two of the thickest towels from the rack and turned to the door. It swung shut, the lock snicking in place.
As she reached for the door, Manolito materialized, his mouth at her ear, whispering a command, taking over quickly, wrapping her up in his enthrallment. When she'd held the door open for the other male carrying the Christmas tree and said, «Please come in» under his gentle push of compulsion, she had invited Manolito into her home as well.
MaryAnn, you are my lifemate and therefore subject to my wishes. You will take my blood so that I may call to you whenever I have need of you or I can hear you when you have need of me.
His fingers trailed down the perfect skin of her face. He closed his eyes, savoring how utterly soft she was. He slid his fingers into the collar of her shirt, tracing her collarbone and sliding the buttons open. Her breasts swelled above her lacy bra, an invitation in itself.
He bent his head and kissed the corner of her mouth, his body already tightening. But this wasn't about sex. He would never take something from his lifemate she was not ready to offer him. He kissed his way across her throat and the frantically beating pulse there. Pulling her into his arms, he cradled her body to his and sank his teeth over her breast, allowing the erotic ecstasy of his first taste of her to take him over.
Need slammed him hard, his body swelling in reaction, a hard, painful ache of promise. Her taste was exquisite. He'd never known anything like it, and he took his fill and then some, wanting a true exchange. Their first. He didn't pretend she knew her lifemate was claiming her. He simply took, greedy for what was his, and he damned himself for doing so. But this would bind them together enough for him to get through the dark days ahead, keep him from turning vampire. He would ride the high of lust and need until he could safely take her to his lair.
When he could force himself under control, he closed the pinpricks, leaving behind his mark, his brand, one she couldn't easily remove. He opened his own shirt and slashed his chest, forcing her head to him, commanding her to drink. The moment her mouth moved over his skin and her tongue swirled against him, he nearly shamed himself. His erection thickened, jumped in response, and throbbed with the need to bury itself deep inside her.
«MaryAnn?» It was Nicolae, and there was suspicion in his voice. Manolito felt the quick
scan, a hard thrust of a mind probe and then movement in MaryAnn's mind. The ancient had taken her blood at some time, tying them together. Manolito hissed his displeasure, kept her brain patterns the same, a woman using the restroom.
Still, the ancient paced outside the door.
With a sigh of regret, when he was certain she had taken enough for a true exchange, Manolito closed the wound, tidied her and placed memories of using the bathroom. It easy enough to disappear, scattering his molecules throughout the room so that when MaryAnn opened the door and Nicolae peered in, there was nothing to see-no way to detect him.
«Are you all right?» Nicolae asked.
MaryAnn pressed her hand against her aching breast. Strangely, she felt flushed-more than that, in a heightened sexual state. She took a slow, deep breath and let it out. «I'm fine, Nicolae. Here are the towels.» Had she been daydreaming? For a moment, she couldn't remember going into the bathroom. She thought only of a man touching her skin, sliding his mouth down her throat to her breast. She wanted to open her blouse and look at her skin, touch her body, feel hands on her. But Nicolae was already striding down the hall, casting small suspicious glances over his shoulder, and remembering he could read her thoughts, she hastily followed him forcing inane chatter about Christmas trees.
Chapter 15
«Natalya, just what are you doing with that hairspray and lighter?» Vikirnoff Von Shrieder demanded. He peered out the kitchen window to the silent sparkling white world surrounding them. «There aren't any vampires around, are there?»
«Don't be silly. I've learned to call down the lightning when I'm fighting a vampire. I needed a flame thingie for the creme brulee. See, it says so right here on the recipe.» Natalya bent forward to reread the card she had on the low-tiled counter.
«Give it up. The silly recipe isn't worth the amount of time you have put into it.» Vikirnoff came up behind her and circled her waist with his arms, drawing her back up against him.
«I thought you always wanted June Cleaver cooking in the kitchen with her little apron on,» Natalya teased.
«It was you who mentioned June Cleaver, but I do like the apron,» he admitted, kissing his way down the side of her face. His hands burrowed under the thin material stretching to cover her breasts. «If you wore this all the time, I might consider trying out one of these strange concoctions you seem to be attempting to whip up.»
He nibbled on the back of her neck and let his hands slide down her flat stomach to the junction of her legs beneath the short apron. His palm caressed the short curls, and moved up to cover the birthmark in the shape of a dragon. The pads of his fingers traced the
familiar shape, and then moved on around her hips to her firm bare buttocks. «Ainaak enyem, you do not have a single stitch on beneath this apron.»