Her Vampire Prince (Midnight Doms) Read online

  I am an early bird. Have been my whole life. But my eyes simply refuse to open to the new day.

  I have a lot of false starts. Waking and dozing. Something demands that I rest, that I stay put.

  It is no hardship. My body feels heavy from pleasure. Oh, the pleasure I experienced before falling to sleep. Part of me wonders if it was a dream. But I know it was real.

  There is an ache between my thighs from being forced to stay open. There’s also an irritation down there, right at the crease of my thigh. I supposed the binds Hadrian used chaffed there.

  But I’m not bound any longer. I am free. My fingers and toes are still curled from clenching hard. And long. And repeatedly. I didn’t know multiple orgasms were a thing. I thought that most women don’t even experience orgasm their first time.

  Wait? Was that actually my first time? Hadrian didn’t penetrate me with his penis. So, technically I am still a virgin.

  A very satisfied virgin. A very satisfied virgin who does not want to get out of bed. But I want to see what this new day with Hadrian has in store for me.

  My thighs aren’t open any longer. I can press them together. But when I do, the space between my thighs, my intimate lips feel swollen. I’d rather keep my legs apart.

  My knees are no longer bent so I stretch them to the edge of the bed. I stretch my arms out too. Reaching my limbs down and out to the sides of the bed I realize I have the entire queen bed to myself. I am alone.

  Hadrian cut me loose from the binds. And he left me. My eyes have no problem springing open with that devastating realization.

  And there he is.

  He sits by the bed in a tall backed chair. His chin rests on one hand. His thumb rubs his bottom lip. His gaze is intent on me, watching me.

  “There you are,” I say.

  “Where else would I be?”

  He doesn’t move to gather me to him. Or kiss me. Or return to the bed. He simply looks at me.

  I am covered, but naked beneath the sheets. Somehow I feel the sheets are no barrier for him. He sees all of me. He always has. Even from that first night… way back two days ago.

  “You always show up exactly when I need you,” I say.

  He tugs at his bottom lip. Pressing the plump flesh between thumb and forefinger. I note that there is a tattoo on his bare chest. It looks familiar, like something I’d seen in a history book at school. A crest with a cross in the center. A sword on one side and a tree branch on the other.

  I fidget with the edge of the bedclothes, staring at his chest instead of meeting his gaze. “Why is that?”

  “Fate,” he says.

  I shift in the bed. I don’t want to get into a discussion of God and how He’s let me down. No. That wasn’t why I asked Hadrian that particular question. That wasn’t what I wanted to know.

  “How?” I ask. “How is it that you’re always there exactly when I need you?”

  I sit up. The sheet falls away exposing my breasts. Hadrian’s gaze latches on to my girls. My nipples greet him with a full-pebbled salute.

  I pull the sheet up. Not out of embarrassment. He’s seen me from angles I haven’t seen myself. I just want his full attention to answer my question.

  Hadrian’s gaze lifts from the sheet to my eyes. And holds. And holds.

  After a second too long, I get the message. I let the sheet drop as per his silent command. Then I move the sheet from my torso as well, giving Hadrian a view of all of me. All that he owns.

  He said it last night. But this morning I come face to face with the truth of it. I am completely owned by this man; body and soul. And my heart is fast catching up in the transfer of goods.

  “Ragazza brava.”

  Hadrian rises from the chair and looms over me. I’m certain he doesn’t stand over me to prove his dominance when he sinks to his knees. With the barest of nudges, he parts my thighs and puts himself between them.

  “The answer to your question, stellia, is very simple. But you are not ready to hear it. I will tell you when you are.”

  I don’t question him. I trust him. He opens his palm and I give him my hand, just as I’d done with my life.

  Hadrian kisses my knuckles. Then my fingertips. The numbness of the past year has been gone since yesterday. It was like I was alive again.

  “I want to talk to you about something else.” He pulls my body onto his, cradling me against his chest. “Would anyone have any reason to harm you?”

  I nuzzle into his chest. “Harm me?”

  “Do you have any enemies?”

  I rest my hand on his heart. “Enemies?”

  No, I’m not really listening. I’m fascinated by the warmth of him, the smell of him, the feel of him.

  Hadrian puts his forefinger under my chin and lifts my head. I obey, giving him my undivided attention. He lifts a brow, clearly not appreciating my parroting. I think back over what he’s said to me.

  Harm me? Enemies?

  “I’m sorry,” I say. “But the question is just ridiculous.”

  The idea is laughable. So I do. I laugh.

  Hadrian does not laugh. He looks very serious.

  “I don’t have any enemies,” I say. “Why are you asking me this?”

  He reaches to the nightstand. I don’t see what he has until he holds up a strap. At first, I think he’s ready to tie me up again. My entire body coils in anticipation. But it’s a harness strap, not a rope or a torn bedsheet.

  “This was cut,” he says, running his finger over the top of the thick fabric.

  I look closer. It’s the harness strap I’d worn last night on the plank walk. “This is from when you saved me? When you cut me loose.”

  “No. This happened before. Someone cut it before you stepped on the plank. And then it tore. What happened was no accident. I’m starting to wonder if the first fall was also an attempt.”

  “An attempt? An attempt at what?”

  His gaze latches onto mine and holds. I know his answer. But it’s ridiculous.

  “Carignan, is there anyone that would benefit from your death?”

  My lips set to say no. But something stops them. I look into his clear green eyes and I wrack my brain for the answer he seeks.

  “My brother and sister. Marechal needs me to agree to keep the vineyard open. But Arneis wants me to agree to sell. I’m the deciding vote. They’re waiting on me to make up my mind.”

  The words tumble out of me without stopping. I shudder at the force with which they are wrenched from a dark place inside me. Hadrian gathers me to him. His heat ushers away the cold, dark feeling.

  “I’m sorry,” he breathes into my hair. “I needed to know.”

  I push him away. I’m not sure why, but I feel violated. “My siblings would never do anything to hurt me. No one’s trying to kill me. Those were accidents. What I was doing was dangerous, not a walk in the park.”

  “Okay,” he soothes, bringing me back to him.

  I come back into his arms without protest. I don’t think I could ever deny this man anything.

  “Okay, stellia. They were accidents. Accidents that will never happen again. I’ve got you.”

  He folds me in his arms and I let him. We stay like that for long moments. The room is dark. The fire has died down to embers.

  “I should probably head home,” I say. “What time is it?”

  “Six o’clock.”

  “In the morning?”

  “At night.”

  I jerk out of his hold, looking around for a timepiece. “I slept the entire day?”

  “I was thorough with your lesson,” he says, prowling toward me. “And I’m not done with you.”

  “I… my brother and sister, they’ll be worried. I’m supposed to have dinner with them tonight. In an hour.”

  Hadrian’s jaw turns to stone. I think he’s about to forbid me to go. Yeah, that is definite disapproval on his brow. I know it well from the way my siblings look at me after each adventure.

  Before Hadrian opens his mouth, so
mething shifts in his features. “Fine,” he says. “But I’m taking you.”

  Chapter 19

  Hadrian

  I sense Carignan’s reluctance at the command in my voice when I tell her I’ll be coming to dinner with her. I do not temper my tone. I do not ask for an invitation to the family dinner.

  I do realize that dinner with the family after only two days of knowing each other is fast. I don’t care. This was a full-blown relationship the moment she fell into my arms. Her safety is my highest priority. She said so herself that her siblings had reason to harm her. I will cut their ties to her if I scent a whiff of ill will coming off of either of them.

  “I need to go home and get dressed.” She grabs her destroyed jumper from the other night.

  “There are clothes for you here,” I say as I walk through a door to an adjoining closet.

  Carignan follows. Her feet are bare. A sheet is wrapped around her naked form. I do not bother with clothing for myself. I’d much prefer to keep her nude and in the bed. But I can make time for this little outing.

  She gasps as I open the closet doors to reveal a full woman’s wardrobe. There is a department store hanging on the dressers and inside the drawers.

  “You dress a lot of women the morning after?” she asks.

  “These were all purchased specifically for you.”

  “For me? When?”

  “While you slept. I had them ordered and brought in.”

  I put in a call to the three shifters just before the sun came up. I never had any intention of taking her to her home. I have no intention of letting her out of my sight again. Until I reveal who and what I truly am, keeping her asleep through the day will be difficult. But not so much.

  She is highly susceptible to my wishes. Each time she woke in the day, I only needed to nudge her mind to send her back to sleep.

  “Pretentious,” she says as she fingers the sundresses.

  I smile, eager to have her model each one for me. But not as much as I want to decorate her skin with twine and bind her to the mattress.

  “I guess you do this a lot?” she says after selecting a deep purple dress that brings out the cinnamon color in her eyes. “Seduce a woman to your bed and have everything she needs the next day. Cute trick.”

  Her head disappears inside the dress as she pulls it over her head. When her face pops out I am the first thing she sees. She swallows at the displeasure on my face.

  “There’s never been another woman in that bed,” I say.

  Her lips part. Her fingers fumble on the ties of the dress. I take over while I watch her features shift and contort, trying to figure out the puzzle of my words.

  “Well, you haven’t been here very long,” she says.

  “No. But I intend to stay for a very long time.” I pull the last tie tight, gathering her to my chest. “And I plan to keep you with me.”

  Her features relax, no longer shifting to decipher my meaning. My words are pretty clear. I think she’s finally getting the picture.

  “Man, you slept late. I’ve been waiting for you — oh!”

  We both turn at the unwelcome interruption of Gaius’ voice. He is lucky she is dressed. Otherwise, I’d have to gouge my best friend’s eyes out.

  Gaius stands in the doorway and simply stares. His lips move and nothing comes out. The male is never at a loss for words.

  “Carignan, this is my brother Gaius. Gaius, this is my… Carignan.”

  “Yours?” asks Gaius. “So soon? But I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. You fell hard for-”

  I clear my throat. If Carignan weren’t pressed against me I’d flash my fangs and tear into my brother’s throat. Luckily, Gaius gets the hint and recovers.

  “Enchante, mademoiselle.” He takes Carignan’s hand and bows over it like the courtly noble he pretends to be.

  “Tout le plaisir est pour moi, monsieur,” she says in perfect French.

  “Carignan’s family owns Durand,” I offer, mostly to keep that baby talk language off her tongue. While they chat, I take the moment to slip on clothing of my own.

  “I’ve sampled the white wine,” says Gaius. “It’s very good.”

  He’s lying. He hates white wine. I don’t bother to call him on it. I’m too busy wincing as Viri walks by the door in a kilt and cowboy boots.

  He stops and stares at Carignan. From here I can see his fangs.

  “Since when do we order take out?”

  “She’s not here for dinner, Viri,” says Gaius.

  “A prostitute then?”

  “She’s Hadrian’s special friend.”

  There isn’t much that scares vampires. We are the highest predators on the food chain. Even more deadly than lion shifters.

  Viri’s face goes ashen. A visible sweat breaks out on his forehead. He steps back from the doorway. His hand cups his privates. “Is she going to bind my dick in chains? I hated it when Domitia did that.”

  “Viri, manners,” said Gaius.

  Instead, Viri dashes out of the doorway and down the hall. His heavy footsteps boom as he makes a run for it. He was a favorite toy of Domitia’s, but he did not appreciate her attention.

  “Viri is not good with people,” Gaius offers. “Carignan, would you mind if I borrow your Latin Lover to talk business for a moment?”

  “We’re headed out,” I say, navigating myself and Carignan around Gaius. Grapes are the furthest thing from my mind.

  “It’s important,” says Gaius. “We’re experiencing a bit of root rot with the grapes. It’s spreading along the vines. Nothing I’m doing works. Look.”

  Gaius holds up a sickly vine. There isn’t much I can do. My father’s vineyard never experienced root rot. Any vineyard in the Middle Ages that did was in danger of losing it all.

  “I’ve seen that before,” says Carignan. “My sister would know how to treat it. We’re headed over there now.”

  My head jerks to Gaius. I glare at him. Like an annoying sibling, he ignores me and invites himself where he is not wanted.

  “Wonderful,” says Gaius. “I’ll join you.”

  I place Carignan in the back seat. Gaius takes the passenger seat with the wilting vine in his lap. The drive is relatively short to the Durand vineyard.

  Gaius and Carignan keep up a conversation over berries and vines and growing up on a vineyard. Something Gaius didn’t do until he had a century under his belt. My thoughts are on the siblings.

  Could one of them have cut that harness? I watched many blood relatives turn on one another during the Inquisition. I was only ever sure of the truly guilty party when I compelled them to talk. Often both had a bit of culpability.

  Not my Carignan. She is guileless. I’d know even if I hadn’t compelled her.

  I do feel a modicum of guilt over that. I only did it to get the truth out of her. I would never do it to influence her feelings for me. Those I know are real.

  I never had that before in my life. Domitia had initially compelled me to want her. But she hadn’t had to push hard. After our first fuck, I was in love. I was also young. Very young.

  Would I have felt the same had I had more experience? I don’t know. It doesn’t matter.

  We arrive at the Durand estates. The house is a sprawling one story. We pull up around the back where the winery is.

  Gaius beats me to the back to let Carignan out. He smirks as he takes her on his arm. He’s playing with fire and he knows it. But he does not want Carignan. He never wanted Domitia. He just likes to get under my skin, the asshole.

  The storefront of the winery is closed to the public this late in the evening. Carignan opens the door and steps across the threshold. Gaius and I halt in the entryway.

  “Are you sure it’s all right that we come inside?” I ask.

  “Of course it’s fine,” says Cari. She doesn’t glance back at us to see that we have stalled in the doorway.

  “We don’t want to disturb your sister’s work,” I hedge.

  Carignan turns back. Her eye
s narrow. Her head cocks to the side as she beholds the two of us standing in the doorway.

  I hate that she is beyond my grasp. She can’t see it, but my body is pressing against the seal of the entryway, impatient to get back to her side.

  “Don’t be silly,” she says finally. She raises her hand and waves us in. “Come on in. I want you to meet her.”

  I exhale as I step across the threshold. I am on her in a second. My hand is around her waist pulling her body back to mine. Behind me I hear Gaius chuckle as he falls into step with us.

  We venture deep inside, to a laboratory. A woman dressed in a tight-fitting skirt beneath a lab coat is bent over a set of vials. Beside me, I see Gaius lick his fangs.

  “Marechal?” Cari calls. But the woman doesn’t lift her gaze. Cari tries again, louder this town. “Mare, I’m sorry I’m late.”

  Marechal looks up, startled. Her dark brown gaze is so like Carignan’s. “Late? Oh. For dinner. I’m so sorry. I forgot. I’ll just finish this up really quick.” She pauses, finally noticing me and Gaius. “You brought guests?”

  “That’s Gaius Serrano and this is —.”

  “Oh, the Serranos. You purchased the old Palmezzo Vineyard. You should know that soil is prone to root rot.”

  “So we’ve learned.” Gaius holds up the affected root.

  “A classic case,” says Mare. “I have just the cure.”

  “Mare,” says Carignan. “Before you start the shop talk, I’d like you to meet Hadrian.”

  “And Hadrian is?” asks Mare.

  “Hadrian is my…”

  “I believe the proper term is boyfriend,” I say.

  Mare frowns at me. “Boyfriend?” She turns to Carignan. “Since when do you have a boyfriend?”

  “Since… now,” says Carignan.

  Mare gives her full attention to me. Her shrewd gaze narrows as she looks at me over her glasses. “Your family label has been around for quite some time. You inherited the business?”

  “I started working as soon as I could walk,” I say.

  “Me too,” she says. “I take my family business--all of it--seriously.”

  “You seem a serious woman. The kind who’d do anything to protect your bottom line.”