Ancient Blood: Infernal Read online

  INFERNAL

  An Ellora’s Cave Publication, June 2005

  Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.

  1337 Commerce Drive, #13

  Stow, OH 44236-0787

  ISBN MS Reader (LIT) ISBN # 1-4199-0201-6

  Other available formats (no ISBNs are assigned):

  Adobe (PDF), Rocketbook (RB), Mobipocket (PRC) & HTML

  INFERNAL Copyright © 2005 KATE HILL

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. They are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

  Edited by Briana St. James.

  Cover art by Syneca.

  Warning:

  The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers. Infernal has been rated E–rotic by a minimum of three independent reviewers.

  Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (E-rotic), and X (X-treme).

  S-ensuous love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.

  E-rotic love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall word count. In addition, some E-rated titles might contain fantasy material that some readers find objectionable, such as bondage, submission, same sex encounters, forced seductions, and so forth. E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry; it is common, for instance, for an author to use words such as “fucking”, “cock”, “pussy”, and such within their work of literature.

  X-treme titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Unlike E-rated titles, stories designated with the letter X tend to contain controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.

  Ancient Blood:

  Infernal

  Kate Hill

  Prologue

  A shiver ran down Dulcie’s spine and she glanced skyward as clouds momentarily blocked the full moon. She inhaled deeply. His scent. Fierce. Wild. Deadly.

  Immobile, crouched behind the trunk of a thick, old tree, she listened. With her sharp senses, any little sound would tell her exactly where he was. The snap of a twig. The rolling of a pebble. Anything.

  He moved silently, but his scent was so strong. Lust. Oh, God. She shivered again, her clit throbbing and nipples aching with desire for his savage touch, yet she couldn’t let him find her.

  Her heart pounding, she bolted. Though she still couldn’t hear him, instinct told her he was almost upon her. Instinct was the greatest tool her kind possessed.

  Dulcie’s feet seemed to fly across the rocky path winding uphill through the mountains. She shoved lashing tree branches from her face and leapt over fallen logs with the agility of a deer.

  There was no way she could outrun him, but she needed to give chase. She wasn’t about to let him win that easily.

  She screamed, her entire body throbbing with excitement as he sprang from a clump of trees, his eyes glowing lavender and his thick, wolfish fangs bared. His growls filled her ears and his scent dripped with animal need. Shirtless, the muscles of his powerful shoulders, broad chest and sleek arms rippled as he advanced on her. Impossibly long legs clad in faded jeans swallowed the ground between them. At his sides, the long fingers of his big hands flexed as claws emerged from beneath the human nails.

  Dulcie took two steps backward, then ran back down the hill. Within seconds he’d passed her and stood in front of her, clutching her shoulders.

  Her fangs slipped from flesh sheaths high in her gums and she hissed, her booted foot cracking him hard in the shin.

  “You little bitch!” he seethed, his heartbeat echoing in her ears. He flung her against a tree. As his fangs descended on her throat, she managed to free one of her hands and swipe his smooth cheek with her claws. Four thin lines of blood dripped down his face. He touched the scratches and licked blood from his fingertips, his ferocious gaze holding hers.

  Dulcie swallowed and moistened her lips, the scent of his blood stabbing her very core. This much desire bordered on unendurable!

  Twice she tried bolting and twice his tall, powerful frame blocked her path. His growls had grown softer though far more sensual. He reached out a fingertip, retracted the claw, and used the soft pad to trace the shape of her lips.

  Grasping her wrists, he pressed her against the tree trunk, pinning her hands above her head. His torso crushed her breasts, so close she felt his heartbeat and every breath he took. Beneath her thin white blouse, her nipples turned to nubs of pure desire. Damn, he felt so warm and hard. Tilting her face downward, her lips brushed the hair-roughened expanse of his chest. As she lapped and nipped his steely pecs, he used his knee to nudge her legs apart. Dulcie moaned with pleasure as his cock pressed against her.

  “I need to feel you deep inside me,” she whispered. “Let me go so I can unzip you.”

  He licked her ear and pierced the lobe with one of his fangs before releasing her hands.

  “Umm,” Dulcie purred, unfastening the button of his jeans and sliding the zipper down. The blue briefs beneath bulged with his massive erection. She traced it through the cotton. Sinking to her knees, she tugged the jeans from his lean hips and down his hard, hairy thighs. The man’s legs seemed to go on forever, and Dulcie’s lips and tongue savored every delectable inch of them until she reached his ankles. He kicked off his boots and jeans while she removed her blouse. Braless, her firm but fleshy breasts dangled freely. She smiled as his black pupils dilated so much they nearly filled his entire iris, leaving only a faint rim of lavender amidst whites tinted dark, vampiric red.

  Using his claws, he slashed off his underpants and squatted, cupping her breasts, gently squeezing the soft flesh and stroking the nipples with his thumbs. Dulcie arched her back, thrusting her breasts deeply into his hands. He leaned forward and took one of the nipples in his mouth. He sucked, his tongue laving and the tips of his teeth scraping the sensitive skin. Dulcie panted, clutching his head closer and running her fingers through his curly black hair. Her clit throbbed and her pussy felt so hot and drenched with desire.

  Moving to the other breast, he teased her with his lips and tongue until she felt ready to explode. Glancing at him through half-open eyes, she smiled. He was just as lost in passion—even more. His attention was focused entirely on her body. Soft growls rumbled in his chest, and the rhythm of his breathing told her he was just about ready to fuck the hell out of her.

  It was the perfect moment to take him off-guard. She stood swiftly and kicked him in the chest—not enough to do any harm, but enough to incite his wrath as well as his passion.

  She didn’t get a chance to run far. Strong hands grasped her from behind. Dragging her to her knees, he slashed off her jeans with his claws. Wearing only socks and boots, Dulcie sat on her knees, her forearms braced on the ground, sinking into dirt and leaves as he grasped her hips and thrust his thick, steely, velvet-skinned cock inside her. Inch by divine inch he filled her with his erection. Her bottom squirmed against him as he thrust, his hands stroking her belly and back before he clutched her hips and drove into her with such speed and ferocity she nearly lost her breath.

  “Oh! Yes, yes! Oh, damn. Oh!” she cried, clutching handfuls of dirt, her entire body trembling with need as she sped toward climax. He stretched an arm in front of her, tickling her lips with his fingers. She sank her teeth into the fleshy part of his palm.

  At the taste of his blood, she exploded, pleasure running from her pulsing clit and clenching pussy and spreading to her fingertips, toes and the top of her head. Somewhere through the scarlet haze of fulfille
d desire, she felt his teeth sink into her back and his tongue lick the wounds. The pleasure of his bite rekindled her desire, driving her toward a second, quick orgasm even more intense than the first.

  Suddenly he pulled up, his hips jerking as he came, his deep, wolflike howl resounding through the forest.

  God, Dulcie thought as she collapsed on the ground, panting, I love being married.

  Chapter One

  “Did you get a good look at her?” Lana Adams whispered to her friend Dr. Jacqueline Black. The two women glanced across the room at the dark-haired, green-eyed beauty with a curvaceous body draped in a black, short-sleeved dress. Pearls dangled above the square neckline. Black low-heeled pumps adorned her feet. Yet the understated outfit couldn’t conceal the woman’s raw sensuality. The wildness of her eyes and the fullness of her red-painted lips exuded sexual magnetism beyond the reach of the hostess and her companion.

  “Is it possible to miss her?”

  “I wonder if those breasts have been reconstructed or if they’re that perky naturally.” Lana glanced at Jacqueline. “Well, Jacki? Breast jobs are your specialty.”

  Jacqueline shrugged her thin shoulders and curled her lip. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I’d say they’re real.”

  “Figures. At least she’s dressed acceptably. I’ve seen her at the mall a couple of times. What a bimbo.”

  The women glanced away as the object of their barbs turned in their direction and smiled, revealing teeth that were almost too white.

  “I still can’t believe he married her. What a waste. One of the country’s most respected hematologists, attractive, nice, and he ends up with a bitch who looks like she was a Ms. August centerfold.” Jacqueline curled her lip. “Do you know she’s an artist? What could they possibly have in common?”

  “Probably nothing. He obviously is with her for the sex.”

  “Matthew Winter is the last man I’d expect to marry a woman for sex. He’s so uptight.”

  “No, I always thought there was something wrong with him. He’s too upstanding, too controlled, but there’s something in his eyes.” Lana shuddered.

  From across the room, Dulcie Evans sipped from a crystal wineglass, pretending to watch the people mingling at the dinner party. In spite of her outwardly relaxed appearance, she felt uncomfortable. Most of the guests were doctors and professors, associates and acquaintances of her husband, Matthew Winter, a scientist at a research hospital in Boston. At thirty-eight, he was at the top of his field, well-known and respected. His colleagues liked him, yet he’d never been one to mingle. Dulcie understood why. Matthew was a vampire, yet he’d been raised in the mortal world. Until he’d met her eight short years ago, he’d never encountered another of his kind. Such a secret had made him withdrawn and uptight. To combat his wild nature, he’d kept an impossibly firm hand on his entire life. Perhaps if he’d been a hybrid—a vampire made from the bite of another immortal—things would have been different for him. But Matthew had been born a vampire. Like Dulcie, he was what their kind called an Immaculate. His true nature hadn’t fully shown itself until he’d reached vampiric puberty at the age of eighteen.

  Dulcie winced each time she thought about all he’d endured alone. When they’d met, it had taken her time to breach his rigid ways, but once he’d opened up to her, their romance had been the most beautiful experience. She’d taught him that he wasn’t evil by nature and wouldn’t become a killer if it wasn’t inside him. Immaculate vampires didn’t even have to bite humans. They survived off the blood of other vampires. Most of the time Matthew and Dulcie fed each other. She’d taught him to be the most powerful animal on Earth, and he’d taught her the meaning of true love.

  Dulcie loved Matthew with all her heart. Only for him would she stand in a house full of intellectual snobs, her sensitive hearing picking up the catty conversation between the two ugly women across the room.

  Matthew never socialized with the people he worked with, so when Dr. Adams and his wife invited them to their party, Dulcie insisted they go. She thought Matthew would enjoy himself.

  Though he’d introduced her to some people, he’d remained fixed at her side for most of the night. His adherence pleased Dulcie, even when she was bored to sleep with the conversations he engaged in. When he spoke of medicine, she had no idea what he was talking about. The others guests discussed their personal lives, but Matthew always talked shop—except to her and his twin brother, Adam. In a way she felt privileged, yet she wondered why she’d bothered attending a party that he didn’t want to be at any more than she did.

  She listened as Lana continued in her silly human whisper, “Robert has known him since medical school. He’s had nothing but praise for Matthew, and believe me, it’s next to impossible to extract a compliment from my husband. I should know.”

  Dulcie strolled toward the women and said to Lana, “Jacqueline should know too,” before she left the living room to look for Matthew. She nearly laughed aloud as she heard Jacqueline’s heartbeat quicken with anxiety and sensed Lana’s genuine confusion at Dulcie’s comment. It seemed Jacqueline’s yearlong affair with Dr. Adams was apparent to everyone except his wife.

  Moments ago, Matthew had excused himself to use the bathroom, but Dulcie heard his resonant voice echoing from the kitchen. Her belly tightened just from the sound of it. Matthew had such a beautiful voice, so deep and cultured, so sensual when he spoke close to her ear in an intimate moment, so wild when he howled to the moon. She smiled, hoping her eyes weren’t taking on their vampiric glow as she imagined him howling. Not all vampires made such a sound. As a rule, hybrids didn’t howl, and only a few Immaculates felt the urge, yet it was the most arousing sound in the world. Matthew did it so well.

  Dulcie stepped into the large, brightly lit kitchen. Though she disliked how bright humans kept everything, she’d grown accustomed to their preferences. Matthew had little difficulty with it, having been raised by a mortal family. Still, the sun irritated his eyes so much that during the day he usually wore sunglasses.

  He stood by the sink, talking to one of his hospital’s fellows, Nancy Brenner. Dulcie smiled, glad Nancy was there. For the first time that night, she sensed Matthew relax. Nancy had no idea her boss wasn’t human, but Dulcie doubted it would matter. She was a pleasant young woman with a full, freckled face and kind brown eyes. She was a good friend to both Matthew and Dulcie.

  Yet Nancy didn’t capture Dulcie’s attention at that moment. Matthew did. Even after eight years of marriage and a string of previous affairs, Dulcie thought he was the most attractive man she’d ever seen. Though not perfectly handsome or a pretty boy, he possessed magnetism that outshone classic looks. Well over six feet and rangy, he moved with the grace of a great cat, fluid but with underlying power. Impeccably dressed in a dark blue designer suit that accentuated his broad shoulders and long, lean legs, he leaned against a countertop as he talked. The red silk tie knotted at his throat made Dulcie quiver as she thought about what he’d probably do with that tie later in their bedroom. The clean cut of his dark, curly hair formed a perfect square against his smooth, strong neck. His high forehead looked almost primitive, yet the sapphire eyes beneath shone with keen intelligence and decency. His nose—straight, slightly snubbed—was his cutest feature, and his mouth was his most erotic. He turned to her and smiled.

  “We were just saying now would be a great time to get out of here,” Nancy murmured to Dulcie.

  “Sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all night,” Dulcie replied, glancing at Matthew as he slipped the wineglass from her hand and placed it on the countertop.

  He whispered close to her ear, “I told you this was a bad idea.”

  “Yes, you did.” Dulcie tilted her head against his shoulder. “At least the night is still young.”

  “Well, I’m going while the going’s good.” Nancy edged her way toward the door. “See you tomorrow, Matthew. Dulcie, maybe we can get together for dinner at the end of the week?”

  Dulc
ie waved to her. “I’m there.” Once Nancy had gone, Dulcie looked up at Matthew. “Want to go outside for a minute before saying goodbye to our charming hostess?”

  “I detect sarcasm in your voice.”

  “Do you blame me?”

  “Not in the least,” he whispered, his voice only audible to her keen vampiric hearing. “Lana is a jealous snob. Always has been. Robert’s not too bad. I can almost condone his affair with Jacqueline.”

  They stepped through the sliding glass doors onto a concrete porch tastefully decorated with white lawn furniture. The Blacks had just built the large, suburban home, but Dulcie thought the spacious colonial Matthew had renovated looked much more attractive. She’d been thrilled to move out of her condo and in with him after their marriage. He’d added on a studio for her, completely surrounded by glass picture windows since he knew how much she loved to paint by moonlight.

  As they walked through the Blacks’ dark backyard, shadowed even more by trees, a soft-rock love song drifted from the CD player inside the house.

  “Sound familiar?” Dulcie slipped her hand into Matthew’s as they walked behind some tall bushes.

  “How can I forget?” He drew her into his arms. “The song we danced to at our wedding. Care to dance it again?”

  Smiling, she nodded and drew a deep breath at the touch of his hand on her waist. He grasped her other hand and led her in gentle, swaying motions across the grass. His movements slowed as he tilted her face up to his for a kiss.

  Dulcie sighed, her arms sliding around Matthew’s neck, her lips and tongue mating with his. Their heartbeats quickened, beating in time. His incisors emerged from their flesh sheaths high on his gums, and he pricked her tongue with one of them. At the taste of her blood, they clutched one another tighter. Dulcie’s pussy dampened, hot with desire. She felt his cock harden against her.