Ancient Blood: Infernal Read online

  “Let’s go home,” Matthew whispered breathlessly against her lips. “I’m going to drive you insane tonight.” He grasped her waist and jerked her so close that her soft breasts crushed against his hard, lean chest. “You’re going to scream tonight, Dulcie.”

  “Is that a promise?”

  “Yes.” He nipped her lower lip. “Oh, yes.”

  She snapped her teeth close to his face and gazed at him through her lashes as they walked back to the house.

  They paused before stepping inside.

  “Do you smell that?”

  Dulcie nodded, inhaling deeply. “Hybrid.”

  “I wonder who?”

  “One way to find out.”

  No sooner had they entered the house than Robert Black, accompanied by a slim, dark-haired man, approached.

  “Matthew! There’s someone I want you to meet. This is Jay Ashford, a hematologist from the West Coast. Jay, this is Matthew—”

  “Winter,” Jay finished, casting Matthew a slick smile and offering his hand.

  Dulcie studied Ashford carefully. Being a hybrid, the man was by no means physical competition for Matthew. Even among other Immaculates, Matthew and his twin, Adam, were alpha vamps in every way. Until he’d met Dulcie and confronted her ex-lover, Matthew hadn’t fully understood the extent of his strength. He’d even taken Dulcie by surprise, though she reveled in his power each and every night of their lives.

  “I’m very familiar with your work,” Jay continued. “Highly impressive. Your entire career has been quite amazing. You’re innovative, Winter, and you’re not afraid to defy convention.”

  “Thank you. This is my wife, Dulcie Evans.”

  “Ms. Evans, it is my pleasure.” Jay also took Dulcie’s hand and squeezed it. “I caught your exhibit last month in LA. Your interpretation of the Old Testament was thought-provoking. An unusual subject for you, though, isn’t it?”

  “Not really.” Dulcie tugged her hand free of his cool grasp. In spite of Ashford’s friendly manner, she disliked him. “I’m glad you enjoyed my work.”

  “I’ve always had an interest in art. It’s a hobby of mine. I’ll be looking forward to seeing more of your paintings.”

  Matthew stepped forward, easing himself between Jay and Dulcie. A low growl, completely imperceptible to human ears, rumbled in Matthew’s chest. Dulcie heard it, and so did Jay. He stared at Matthew and nodded slightly. “I see you and your wife are on your way out. I won’t keep you. However, I do hope you and I will see each other again, Matthew. I’ve recently moved to Boston, and it’s nice to have contacts.”

  “Of course.” Matthew offered a smile as sincere as Jay’s had been.

  He and Dulcie nodded to Robert before leaving.

  As soon as Matthew pulled their car away from the curb, Dulcie said, “There’s something weird about that guy.”

  “He wanted you so badly I could smell it.”

  “So did I. Sort of a disgusting thought.”

  Matthew glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “Glad you feel that way.”

  “You didn’t actually think I’d go to bed with him?”

  Over his dead body, Matthew thought.

  “I heard that.”

  “Dulcie, you know I don’t like you to read my mind, especially since I can’t read yours. Unlike my twin, I’m telepathically deficient, remember?”

  “But you’re the super-genius.”

  He glanced at her. “Let’s talk about something else.”

  “Like what?”

  Matthew removed one hand from the steering wheel and slid it up the curve of Dulcie’s shapely thigh. “Want to hear what I’m going to do to you when we get home?”

  Her heartbeat fluttered. “Well, duh. Each and every lustful word.”

  Closing her eyes, she cupped his knee with her hand, not the least bit disappointed with the promises that followed.

  Chapter Two

  As he pulled into the driveway and stopped the car, Matthew glanced at Dulcie. She smiled at him, tracing her voluptuous lips with the tip of her delicious tongue before she slid out of the passenger seat.

  He fell into step beside her. Nearing the house, she clung to his arm and pressed her warm body close to his. The aroma of her perfume, so woodsy and wild, was overshadowed by her own alluring scent. She slid her palm over his chest and extended her claws. They pressed through the fabric of his shirt. He growled deep in his throat, not bothering to keep his fangs sheathed.

  “Shall we go upstairs?” Her voice caressed the words as her hand stroked his cock through his pants.

  “No.” He dragged her into his arms. “I prefer the backyard.”

  “Really? Afraid we’ll ruin more sheets?”

  In reply he kissed her. Hard. His teeth pierced her lips and he drank of her flowing blood, his tongue stroking the tiny wounds on her mouth. Dulcie sighed and slipped off his jacket. He took it from her and slung it over his shoulder as they stepped through the wooden gate of the high brick wall surrounding their home. They liked the privacy the wall offered, particularly when they engaged in their midnight escapades.

  Matthew’s heartbeat quickened at the thought of taking her. Though they’d known each other for nine years, each time he made love with her felt unique and no less exciting than the first intimacy they’d shared. Before Dulcie, he’d had no way to release the passion in his soul. He’d always done his best to repress his desires and his powers, fearful of what might happen should he allow himself to indulge his wild side. Meeting her had changed his life, and in a way saved him. He knew she’d resurrected the spirit he’d buried long ago, or more accurately, given life to a spirit that had never been born.

  The gate slammed shut behind them. Hand in hand, they walked across the neatly trimmed lawn. Two large, old weeping willows, a wrought iron chair stationed between them, stood in the middle of the circular yard.

  The full moon bathed the yard in light as Matthew tossed his jacket on the chair. He reached for his tie, but Dulcie clasped her hands over his. “Allow me.”

  She jerked the tie tightly around his neck until he could scarcely draw a breath, then she kissed him deeply. Matthew closed his eyes, his heart racing. His cock leapt to life, responding to her forceful ministrations. Without moving her mouth from his, she loosened the tie and left the unraveled silk dangling around his neck.

  Growling deep in his throat, he unzipped her dress and slid it down her body. His gaze lingered over the curves of her full breasts. He ran a fingertip over the plump nipples then licked them and pricked each with the tip of a fang. Dulcie sighed with pleasure as she stepped out of her shoes. She lifted first one foot then the other as he rolled off her black stockings, slipping them over her small, beautifully shaped feet.

  He almost laughed aloud because she wore neither bra nor underwear. She’d spent the entire evening at the party without any undergarments! He felt glad he hadn’t known, or it would have driven him absolutely mad. As it was, all night his thoughts had drifted to the weekend they’d spent in the White Mountains, chasing one another through the trees, over rocky paths and across lakes filled with water-slicked stones. The memories were enough to make him pole-hard.

  He dropped her clothes on the chair beside his jacket then jerked the tie from his neck. Grasping her shoulders, he spun her so her back pressed against his chest. His arms tight around her, he licked her neck while his hands cupped her breasts, savoring their smoothness. She melted against him while he rolled his thumbs over her nipples, rubbing the hard peaks until she moaned. He grasped her hands and forced them behind her back, binding them snugly with the red silk.

  She arched her neck, her green eyes gazing at him. “I love it when you’re an animal, Matthew.”

  “With you it’s hard to be anything but.” He nuzzled her shoulder before biting it. The taste of her hot blood excited him so much his cock felt like bursting from where it wedged between his stomach and her back. She gasped, wiggling closer to him, trapping the engorged fle
sh. Closing his eyes, he wound his arms around her, caressing her taut abdomen. He folded his arms across her waist, his grip tightening, his claws biting into the backs of his own wrists until blood slicked his hands. Tearing his mouth from her shoulder before the taste of her blood flung him into orgasm, he gasped, his pulse racing.

  “Matthew…” she pleaded, the scent of her arousal almost making him dizzy. She tried to face him, but he grasped her waist and pushed her onto the grass. Shedding his clothes, he gazed at her supple back and firm buttocks in the moonlight. To him, there was no part of her that didn’t scream beauty.

  She growled, and he answered with a short howl before his naked body covered hers. His heart throbbed as he stroked her thighs and back, enjoying her softness and underlying strength. Though tender and smooth, her body was pliable, the muscles toned, undeniably female yet singing of vampiric power.

  His claws ripped the tie from her wrists. Finally free, her fingers clutched the grass as he entered her from behind, stirring memories of their mountain excursion.

  “Oh, yes, Matthew! Fuck me. I want you to fuck me so, so hard!”

  That’s exactly what he did, his hips thrusting with smooth power as he clutched her hips. The raggedness of her breath and the feel of her hot flesh rubbing against his were absolutely intoxicating.

  As his claws raked her shoulders and arms, drawing blood that he licked away, she panted his name and wiggled her lovely bottom, pushing backward as he thrust forward.

  Just before she came, he withdrew and shoved her onto her back. A single long, slow thrust and he was buried to the hilt inside her drenched pussy. Simultaneously, they bit each other’s shoulders, lapping and sucking in sync with the ferocious thrusting of their hips. Her pussy clenched and unclenched mercilessly around his swollen cock as she came.

  Matthew’s control snapped. Deepening his bite, his hips slammed into hers with several short, fast thrusts. Stiffening, he came. He tore his mouth from her neck and howled—a deep bellow of pure animal lust that echoed throughout the otherwise silent suburban neighborhood.

  Rolling onto his back, he tugged her to his chest. One of her satiny legs draped his middle as they lay still in the grass, listening to the slowing of their heartbeats.

  “Well,” she purred, “now do you want to go to the bedroom?”

  He nodded, his tongue flicking over her earlobe.

  “Good, because I have plans for you.” She clutched his lean, hard chest, her claws drawing blood. “Tie me up, will you? You deserve to be punished for that.”

  “Really?” He grasped her wrists and jerked her so close that he could see the beginnings of the reddish glow of vampiric desire surrounding her iris. “Maybe I’ll humor you. Let you think you have the upper hand for a while.”

  “I do have the upper hand, Matthew Peter Winter.” She clasped the length of his stiffening cock. “No matter what you like to think.”

  “We’ll see—” he brushed his face against hers, “—who shrieks the loudest, my love.”

  Dulcie smiled, her bare foot sliding up his hair-roughened leg, her sultry eyes offering him a challenge he couldn’t wait to meet.

  * * * * *

  Dulcie rested her head against Matthew’s shoulder, one hand caressing his face. Her body ached pleasantly, the sting of his claws and teeth subsiding as the shallow wounds on her flesh healed. She gazed out the half-open window across the room, a thrill fluttering in her belly at the sight of the brilliant yellow moon. Tilting her chin upward, she gazed at Matthew. His eyes fixed on the moon. Though he appeared languid as he rested beside her, she sensed the sharpness of his moon-lust, the edge scarcely dulled by their love-play. She smiled, knowing that it would take most of the night to sate him. They had done it on occasion, made love all night. Unlike mortals and vampire hybrids, Immaculate males had incredible staying power. Matthew was the most energetic man she’d ever been with. More often than not, his passion exceeded hers, and that was no small task.

  “I’m going to the lab for a few hours.” Matthew brushed her forehead with a kiss before he slipped out of bed.

  “You’ll take a night off sometime.” Dulcie sighed, folding her arms across her bare chest and snuggling against his pillow His scent clung to the cotton, warmed by his body.

  “Sometime.” He winked at her. “I’ll be back.”

  “You’re sure? Don’t forget to call me if you don’t plan on coming home until tomorrow evening.”

  Though Matthew usually kept his promises, every now and then he’d lose track of time and not bother coming home for a night or two. Dulcie didn’t mind his dedication to work, but she hated worrying about him. She knew her anxiety resulted from the time her cousin—an ex-lover—had broken into Matthew’s lab and tried to destroy him. It had been Matthew’s first kill, the first time Dulcie knew how much he loved her. She had also realized how potentially dangerous he could be. Dulcie’s cousin had been another Immaculate, an older one with years of fighting experience. He’d been a menace to Dulcie’s family, a murderer, the likes of which had given vampires a bad reputation throughout history. He’d considered Matthew an easy mark, a vampire raised by mortals, one who lived by brains instead of brawn, one who had repressed his vampiric urges. How badly he had misjudged her husband.

  “I will be back.” He smiled, grasping her ankle and tickling her foot. “There are some loose ends I want to tie up. I could have been doing that instead of going to the stupid dinner party. What a bore.”

  “What a bunch of cats.” Dulcie gazed at her red-painted fingernails. “All Lana and Jacqueline did was rip us apart. Think they’d get a life.”

  “Jacqueline needs plastic surgery on her own face,” Matthew called over his shoulder as he walked to the bathroom. “She and Lana are jealous because you’re beautiful and they look like they’d tie for winners at a dog show.”

  “And I have a husband who doesn’t cheat. I only wanted to go because I thought you’d have fun.”

  Matthew glanced out the bathroom door and wiggled his eyebrows. “I had more fun with you.”

  “All right. No more parties…at least with that bunch.”

  “Thank you for small favors!”

  Dulcie heard the water running in the shower. Stretching, she stepped out of bed. She pulled on shorts and a tank top. Barefoot, she walked to her studio, set up her pallet and placed a fresh canvas on her easel. Her painting soon absorbed her. She and her friend, Charlie Ayer, were combining their work for a display at a local gallery. Dulcie was to paint nighttime scenes and Charlie daytime ones. Charlie was one of the only mortals who knew about Matthew and Dulcie’s true nature. Charlie’s husband, Jocelyn, had once been a hybrid vampire himself. Jocelyn had been killed in his vampiric state, but through a special ritual and by the blood of Matthew’s brother, Adam, Jocelyn had been resurrected as a mortal again. Several years ago, the couple had helped Matthew and Adam destroy the First Father. At that time they’d learned, as Matthew had always suspected, that vampires were not supernatural beings but descendants of an alien race who, thousands of years ago, had sought to interbreed with humans. Unfortunately, humans were unable to handle their vampiric powers. Many turned evil, so the Originals—the aliens—sank the island upon which they’d settled—the island of Atlantis.

  Since discovering the history of vampires, Matthew had been curious about the Originals, but there was little known about them. Few vampires from Atlantis still existed to tell their tale.

  Dulcie sighed as she gazed out the window. Matthew was a very complex man. Highly intelligent, a scientist, he believed in rational answers for everything. The past nine years had been a time of emotional upheaval for him…and Dulcie. He’d discovered the truth of his nature and also that he was not alone. He’d discovered he didn’t have to kill but was more than capable of it. He’d had the most difficulty accepting that he lacked the psychic powers innate in his kind. Matthew was known in the vampire community as “telepathically deficient”. Still, during the final battle wi
th the First Father, Matthew had been able to master ancient incantations—a talent usually reserved for strong psychics—and call up the sun in the middle of the night, burning the First Father beneath its rays. Such an occurrence was scientifically impossible. It had been in the newspaper headlines as a fluke, since no one in the mortal world could explain it.

  Matthew had tried to find a reason for the phenomenon. There was none except for some power of the mind that called forth magic. Matthew had the potential to become a warlock, but he wanted nothing to do with it. Matthew didn’t believe in religion or magic or anything that couldn’t be sorted out and explained in black and white.

  I still can’t understand how he can stop himself from exploring that power, Dulcie thought. There are people who would kill for it.

  Matthew, dressed in black pleated pants and a gray cashmere turtleneck, his hair still damp from the shower, tugged her into his arms and kissed her. “I’ll be back around three to catch a few hours’ sleep. I have to be at the lab at seven tomorrow.”

  Dulcie splayed her hands across his chest and nuzzled his neck. The scent of his cologne aroused her nearly as much as his own scent. She tightened her fingers on his hard pecs beneath the cashmere. “I love this shirt.”

  He smiled and grasped her wrists, tugging her hands from his chest and kissing her palms. “Don’t rip this one. I just bought it.”

  Dulcie looked up at him through her lashes and purred, the tips of her incisors lengthening against her red lips.

  Matthew kissed her deeply, his tongue stroking hers and tasting every corner of her mouth. His incisors pricked her lip and he gently sucked droplets of her blood. Dulcie smiled and clutched his hair.

  “Dulcie, I have to go,” he whispered.

  She slipped from his arms and returned to her easel, winking at him over her shoulder. “Have fun.”

  He nodded, reaching for a final kiss, but she slithered away and giggled. “You have to get to work and I have to finish the painting. See you in the morning.”