Chapter Nineteen

His body exhausted from multiple orgasms, shock coursed through Raphael as his head snapped to the intruder: Massimo. This was the worst possible scenario he could have ever imagined. He’d been too lust-drugged for his senses to register his enemy before it was too late.

Now Massimo stood near the door, a gun pointed at him. And considering he was a Guardian and knew how to kill a vampire, Raphael was sure it was loaded with silver bullets.

From the corner of his eye, he saw how Isabella had snatched the bed sheet and pressed it against her naked breasts. His own modesty was the least of his concerns now. He calmed his mind and tried to think the situation through. If he could stall Massimo long enough, either his brother or one of his friends would show up. If they’d continued tailing him like they’d done the nights before, they would be here soon. Very soon.

“Massimo! What are you—?” Isabella’s question was a mere gasp.

“My love, I think you should know something about your late husband’s dear cousin,” Raphael drawled and glanced at the man. “Would you like to explain it to her or should I?”

“Please do,” Massimo replied with an evil grin. “It’ll be the last time you speak to your whore, so enjoy.”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call her a whore. She’s my wife.”

Massimo only snorted.

“Isabella,” Raphael addressed her, “Massimo is here to kill me. I suspect he already tried a few days ago by pushing me into the canal.”

“Alas, I can’t take credit for that. One of the other Guardians deserves that praise.”

“What Guardians?” Isabella interrupted, her voice high pitched.

Raphael kept his voice calm as he answered her, knowing her nerves were at breaking point. “Massimo is part of a group of men who hunt vampires and kill them. Just like your late husband was.”

Isabella gave him a shocked stare. “Giovanni? No! That can’t be. Giovanni was a good man. He wouldn’t kill anybody.”

“Yes, he was a good man, that’s why he was one of us. A protector of the human race, a Guardian. Until they made him one of them. Until they turned him against his will.” Massimo’s voice was full of hatred. His jaw clenched tightly when he continued, “He came to me and told me what you monsters did to him, how one of you bit him and fed him vampire blood. He told me he’d continue fighting against your kind, but it wasn’t possible, of course.”

“Oh God!” Isabella gasped. “Not Giovanni. Please, say it’s not true.”

Raphael saw the tears building in her eyes as she looked at him. Would she hate him now for what his kind had done to the man she’d once loved? He searched her eyes for a sign that would tell him whether she would remain his. But her tears made it impossible to see beyond her immediate grief.

“Yes,” Massimo droned. “He did that to you. He made you a widow.” He pointed at Raphael. “He took the man we loved.”

“I did no such thing,” Raphael protested. “Yes, a vampire turned him, but it wasn’t me, and it was certainly none of our kind who killed him.” He took the gamble. If he was right in his assessment of Massimo, the man wouldn’t be able to resist the bait.

“Killed?” Isabella echoed. “But he drowned.”

Raphael nodded. “Yes, he drowned because he was vampire, and vampires don’t have any natural buoyancy. They can’t keep themselves above water. Just like I couldn’t.”

“Yes, and Giovanni knew that,” Massimo interrupted. “He knew when I pushed him into the canal that he wouldn’t survive. He looked at me. He couldn’t believe that I’d done it, but he should have. He of all people should have known that I couldn’t let him live. He’d become a creature so vile, there was only one thing to do. He should have understood. I loved him like a brother. I did it for him.”

A sob tore from Isabella’s chest. Raphael looked at her, but she turned away from him and let herself fall face down into the sheets, facing away from him. Had he lost her? Was this what this meant, that she would hate him now for what one of his brethren had done?

“Isabella. I’m sorry.”

She didn’t respond.

“Well, it appears all has been said.” Just as Massimo cocked his gun, Raphael’s sensitive hearing picked up the sound of the front door opening.

“Wait.” He had to stall him just a few more seconds until help arrived. “At least tell me how you figured me out. I deserve that much, don’t you think?”

Massimo chuckled, but it wasn’t a friendly sound. “Nothing easier than that. A servant told me that you nearly drowned in the canal. So I made inquires and found out that one of my fellow Guardians had pushed a vampire into the water that same night. It was easy to figure out from there that it was you. You might have escaped death once, but now, vampire, you’ll die.”

A shot rang out the moment the door burst open. Raphael closed his eyes and steeled himself against the pain the silver bullet would inflict on him seconds before his life force would drain from his body.

“I love you, Isabella,” he whispered his goodbyes as the shouts of his brother and Lorenzo filled the room.

“What in hell?” Dante cried out.

“Raphael!” Lorenzo called to him. “Are you alright?”

Raphael opened his eyes. He felt no pain. “I don’t know.” Then his eyes searched for Isabella. She sat up, the sheet that had covered her breasts pooling in her lap, his gun in her hand, still pointing toward where Massimo had stood.

“He’s dead,” Dante said. “Massimo’s dead.”

“Isabella?” Raphael tried to get her attention. Finally she turned to him and ran a long look over his body.

“I thought I was too late.” Then she threw herself into his arms—or rather, against his chest, since he couldn’t embrace her with his wrists still tied.

“You saved me.”

A clearing of throats made him snap his head toward his brother and Lorenzo. He gave them a scolding look. “And what took you guys so long? I thought you were following him.”

“We were, but the crafty fellow tricked us with a decoy dressed just like him. We lost him. When we noticed, we had a hunch he’d go for either you or Isabella. And since we didn’t find either of you at Isabella’s house, we instantly came here,” Lorenzo replied.

“And now that that’s cleared up, would you care to explain why you’re tied up in your own bed?” Dante grinned.

“That’s between me and my wife.”

Isabella raised her head, then pulled on the bed sheet to cover her naked torso.

“Would you like me to untie you?” Dante offered.

Raphael looked at Isabella and smiled. “That’s for Isabella to decide.”

The sparkle was back in her eyes, the tears forgotten. Without turning to Dante, she answered, “I’m not done with him.”

His heart skipped a beat at the underlying promise in her voice. “You heard my wife, Dante. So, if you would be so kind as to leave our bedchamber and take the body with you. My lovely wife and I have things to discuss.”

Dante shook his head. “As I said before: a fool in love. A very lucky fool.”

When the door closed behind Dante and Lorenzo, it was quiet again. All he could hear was Isabella’s breathing. “My angel, this is the second time you’ve saved me. I hope you realize that now my life belongs to you.”

“And your body?” she negotiated.

“My body was already yours long before that.” He kissed her gently. “Now untie me so I can hold you in my arms and thank you properly.”

“Not yet. I want to ask you something first.”

“Then ask.”

“Does it hurt?”

“Does what hurt?”

“Your bite.”

A hot flame shot through his body. Was she contemplating what he thought she was? “When I feed from a human? No, it doesn’t hurt. My fangs are coated with a substance that dulls the pain to a point where there’s none.”

“The nights you left our bed, did you go out to feed from humans?”

“Not every night. I only need to feed every three days. Why do you want to know all this?”

“Do you want to feed from me?”

His heartbeat doubled in an instant. “Oh, God, Isabella! I can’t think of anything I want more, except to make love to you. But you know you don’t have to do this.”

“I want to.”

Could he be so lucky? And if she allowed him this, would she one day allow him to turn her into a vampire so she wouldn’t age or die? So they could spend eternity together? His heart filled with hope for a happy future. Pulling on his restraints, he whispered, “Then get me out of these chains.”

Isabella sat up, and suddenly her breasts dangled right in front of him. His mouth closed over one nipple and sucked on it. Isabella’s moan echoed in the room. He let the nipple pop from his mouth.

“Quickly, my love.”

As soon as she’d untied him, Raphael ripped her breeches from her body and brought her underneath him. She was slick with her arousal, a scent that teased his nostrils. “Thank you.” He slid into her with one smooth glide, seating himself balls deep in her tight sheath.

Isabella tilted her head to the side in invitation. “Feed from me, my love.”

His gaze drifted lower, away from the vein on her neck, down to her gorgeous tits. He hesitated. Then he sensed her watch him.

“You want to feed from my breast?” she asked with surprise in her voice.

“Only if you allow it.” He looked up and locked eyes with her. “Your tits are so perfect, so full and ripe, I can’t think of anything better than having my face buried in them when I take your blood inside of me.” He licked over her nipple. It stiffened in response.

“Then do it. Nothing is taboo between us,” she repeated his own words from earlier.

Slowly, his fangs descended, and he grazed her skin with them. He felt a shiver go through her body. At the same time as he pulled back his hips and pumped into her pussy, he sank his fangs into her plump flesh and sucked. The rich liquid coated his tongue, the taste and scent of it nearly making him delirious.

As he fucked in and out of her warm and moist channel, he took her essence into his body. There would never be any other taste he wanted for the rest of his life than Isabella’s sweet blood.

The End