CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 1 3

INTERLUDE

A new plan

I SPENT TWO days in bed recovering from my last encounter with the Contessa. During that time the only person I saw was Rosetta, who brought me my meals and on this second day, towels and water to bathe.

"She has been asking about you," she told me as I dressed in the new underthings she had brought.

I was feeling stronger, able to stand for long stretches at the window before tiring. I liked to watch the old man puttering around in the garden below and wondered what had brought him into the employment of the Contessa. I also wondered that about Rosetta.

"Why are you here?" I asked her as she emptied the used water from the basin back into the urn.

"What do you mean? I come every day. "

"No, I mean here, in the Contessa's house? What brought you here? Why do you stay?"

She looked down as though ashamed. "The Contessa owns me."

"Owns you? What do you mean?"

"My parents were very poor. There were ten of us in the family, and there was not enough food to go around. The Contessa saw me one evening while she was passing through our village and offered my father a fair price for me."

"Your family sold you?" I was incredulous. I had heard of such things happening but never had I known anyone who had experienced it.

"They thought I would have a good home with her. And the money would go far to feed our family."

"How old were you?"

"Twelve."

"And you've been here ever since?" She nodded. "Does she…feed off of you?"

Rosetta wrung her hands as she replied. "Sometimes. Mostly when her captives are recovering."

"Captives? There are more than just me?"

She nodded. "There are three of you here right now, though one I fear is not long for this life."

"Why is that?"

"He has displeased her one time too many. She punished him severely for it the last time and I think he has given up. He refuses to eat or bathe."

Despite my situation, I couldn't help a flare of jealousy at the mention of other lovers residing here in the house. Was that to be my fate if I didn't please her? "How long was he here? "

She concentrated, as though trying to recall. "She captured him last summer. Like you, he came from a good family and fought her from the beginning. At first she was amused by his spirit, but then she grew weary of it. That's when the torture began."

"Torture?"

"You don't want to know." She stepped closer, imploring me with her eyes. "That's why you must do whatever you can to please her. If you do, you can live a good life here."

"A good life in captivity?"

She shrugged. "For some of us who came from nothing, it is better than what we left. She has one captive who has been here for years. She trusts him enough that he can come and go as he pleases."

"He can leave? Why does he come back?"

"She found him on the street. This is better than what he had."

Perhaps if you didn't know better, living in this house could be considered a step up. But that was not the case with me. I'd had a good life, a life of privilege where I had every luxury and was allowed to come and go as I pleased. For me this was not a step up but a prison, regardless of the plush surroundings.

And yet, I was here now and there didn't seem to be any way out of it. At least not yet. Maybe I too could convince the Contessa I was trustworthy so she would allow me to leave with the promise that I would return.

"How long was this captive here before she allowed him that freedom?"

"A few months. You met him the night you came here. Tomasso, the one who brought you to the Contessa. He would do anything for her, including finding her new captives. He always accompanies her when she goes into the city. "

The way she said it made me think she didn't care for him much. I thought back to the boy who'd approached me on the street and how eager he'd been for me to follow him. "I take it he's not popular here?"

"Only with the Contessa. The rest of the staff, well…" she lowered her voice and looked around as though someone might overhear her, "we are careful what we say around him, though it is wise to stay on his good side."

"So is taking care of the captives your only job here?"

"I also help in the kitchen and see to the Contessa's room. Now I must go." She headed toward the door with the towels and urn. "She will no doubt send for you tonight. Remember what I told you about pleasing her."

I watched her go, thinking the conversation had been most enlightening. Could I do it? Could I play along long enough to win the Contessa's trust? Since there didn't seem to be any other way out of it, I supposed I would have to try.

? ? ?

As Rosetta had promised, she arrived just after sunset with instructions to escort me to the Contessa's room. When we got there, she paused before knocking on her mistress's door and reached back to squeeze my hand.

"Remember what I told you."

I took a deep breath and nodded. I could do this. It's not like the woman was hideous.

The door swung open and the Contessa was there, smiling at me, her dark eyes simmering with heat. "Come in, Julianus," she purred as she grabbed my hand and pulled me into the room, closing the door behind me .

She was dressed in a shimmering gold dressing gown that clung to her curves, her dark hair slightly mussed, as though she had just awakened. I held my breath, waiting to see what new torments awaited me at her hands, but she seemed to be in good spirits, like she was the night I had arrived.

"I'm glad to see you've recovered," she said, stalking around me as though sizing me up. I could feel the force of her behind me, her presence causing me to hold my breath as I waited for her next move. She trailed her fingers across my back and around to my chest, their touch leaving goosebumps in their wake. Try as I might to remain clear-headed, I found myself falling under her spell.

"Did you miss me?" she breathed against my ear. I shuddered, still affected by the sound of her voice, and nodded. "Of course you did. You're more like me than you know."

That was hardly true, I didn't say. "What do you mean?"

Her lips curled up in a slow smile as her hands slipped under my shurt. "A sexual creature. I knew it the minute I saw you on the street." She pulled the garment off me and tossed it on the floor, her eyes sparking from the sight of my fading scratches. She traced her fingers over them, eliciting an unbidden hiss from me. "The sooner you accept that, the sooner we can begin to explore all the ways we can please each other."

"I know what you are." It was a risky move, but I wanted to hear her admit to it.

"Do you really?" She leaned up and brushed her lips across mine. "And tell me, what is that?"

"Vampira."

She smiled again, her hands trailing down to the waistband of my breeches. "What a clever boy. And how did you come by this knowledge? "

I didn't want to implicate Rosetta in any way, so I took credit for the conclusion myself. "You bit me, leaving me weak for days."

Her husky laughter sent ripples of lust through me despite my predicament. "And yet you recovered, and here we are." She yanked my breeches down and closed her hand around my cock, teasing me until I pressed against her with a desperate groan. "Would you like me to stop?"

"No," I gasped, and suddenly all I could think about was the feel of her hand on me and how much I wanted to be inside her. Nothing else mattered. I watched the candlelight shimmer across her sleek ebony hair, the way it gathered in her dark eyes as she looked at me, so full of hunger, and I realized she was not the only one here with power. She wanted me as much as I wanted her, maybe not for the same reason, but it was need, all the same. Something about that thought made me bold, and I questioned my own sanity when I replied, "I was just thinking how much I would like to eat your pussy."

She pulled back, studying me, and that glimmer of lust I had seen in her eyes deepened to a full-blown inferno. "Would you now?"

I grinned at her. "Would you like that?"

She toed herself up and brought her lips to mine again, her pebbled nipples beneath her gown brushing against my bare chest, her hair tickling the still-sensitive wounds her nails had previously wrought, sending shivers of desire coursing through me. I opened my mouth and forced my tongue into hers, wanting to devour her. Two could play this game, and I found I had developed a taste for it.

Her tongue was liquid heat in my mouth, and I sucked it in and tried to swallow it. When she moaned against me, I thought I would cum on the spot. The woman's voice had a direct line to my cock.

She pulled back, herself breathless, and looked at me. "Unexpected."

I reached out and slipped my hands around her waist, untying her gown and pushing it open, my hands wandering across her hips and up to her breasts. "You'll find I'm full of surprises," I said as I rolled her nipple between my fingers. Her eyes widened and she leaned toward me, encouraging my hands to continue their exploration.

"And where was this before?"

"Maybe I'm just warming up to you."

"Perhaps. Know this, Julianus. You belong to me now. I control your fate. I decide when you get rewarded, and when you get punished. Do you understand that?"

I had continued to abuse her breasts while she spoke, and now I lowered my lips to them and sucked a nipple into my mouth. "Yes," I breathed against her.

Her hands tangled in my hair, urging me to continue. "Say it."

I broke away from her and looked up, meeting her eyes. "I belong to you."

I was surprised I didn't choke on the words, but as I stood there in her presence, I knew that I meant them. Whether or not it was the effect of her nature I couldn't say; I just knew that every time I was in her presence I wanted to devour her. Surely she was using some kind of magic on me, but I didn't care. My heart was racing, my body aching for her. I had never felt such desire for a woman before.

"On your knees, Julianus." I met her eyes and hesitated, and she pushed her hands against my shoulders. "Now. "

I dropped to my knees in front of her, wondering what was in store for me this time. She backed up and considered me, her dark hair framing a face almost flush with pure lust, looking more human than I had ever seen her. Looking almost fragile, like she could come apart at any moment with the right trigger, and I felt my own confidence grow. I could be that trigger. I could dismantle her composure.

She shrugged off her open gown and stepped closer. "You said you wanted to eat me?" She wrapped her fingers around my head and pulled it close, burying my face between her legs. "Can you make me scream?"

I breathed in her scent and felt my cock respond. "I'll do my best," I murmured as my tongue darted out and traced across her mound. She spread her legs to give me better access and I slipped past her lips and plunged inside her moist heat, the heady taste of her juices spurring me on. I lapped at them, my tongue circling her clit, punishing it, sucking it into my mouth as I dug deep into her.

Her fingers tangled in my hair, her body rocking against me as tiny whimpers escaped her lips, and with each sound she uttered I was driven to go deeper, to pull more out of her, to take her body to places she'd never been. My cock was rock hard, my own body teased beyond its limit. I wanted to crawl inside her, to lose myself in her, and I hated her for making me so weak while wanting to be the only man she desired.

I could feel when she was close, when her body started to tense, her breath catching, her fingers in my hair squeezing tighter. I reached up and plunged two fingers inside her, rolling her clit between them until she came apart in my hands. Her scream started out as a low moan and grew in intensity while she ground against me, her sweet juices flooding my mouth. I lapped them up eagerly, my tongue still playing with her clit, each pass eliciting another spasm from her, until it was me who held her up and kept her from sinking onto the floor next to me.

When she finally stilled, I withdrew and looked up. Her head was thrown back, her eyes closed, her lips parted, her body heaving and flushed. Completely undone. I smiled to myself. Surely that was worth a little freedom.

She opened her eyes and looked down at me. "Did that meet with your satisfaction?" I asked.

Her lips curled up in a slow, lazy smile. "You did well, Julianus. I believe you've earned a reward." I held my breath, waiting. "What would you like?"

At this moment there was only one thing I wanted. One thing that would ease the discomfort I felt. I couldn't ever recall wanting anything more than I did right then.

"I want to fuck you."

Her eyes widened. "I think that can be arranged."

Before she could stop me, I stood up and grabbed her, throwing her onto the bed. I was on her in an instant, not giving her a chance to deny me or play some other perverse game with me. I fell between her legs and drilled my cock into her in one swift motion, digging in as far as it would go, the satisfaction of that move washing over me as I began to pound into her. She raised her legs and wrapped them around me, holding me captive as I rammed her. There was nothing easy or considerate about my motives. I was like a man possessed, and all I could think about was answering the insatiable need to fuck her senseless, to own her like she owned me. My cock had never been so hard, my hunger for a cunt never as sharp. Had she not been willing, it would have been rape, pure and simple, and a part of me didn't care.

"I hate you," I growled against her neck .

"I know. Isn't it glorious?"

When she bit me, I returned the favor, latching onto her flesh and tearing it between my teeth. When I came, it was like my world was splitting in two. I lost myself in it, my cock exploding while my mind wheeled in on itself. I didn't know if the roar I heard was my voice or merely in my head. My vision cut out and then I succumbed to the blackness that always followed with her.