“Does that mean I can manipulate bodies?” She had never even considered it.
“That’s more difficult, because there is muscle and will involved, but eventually, yes, you will.”
“Even vampires?”
“Only if they let you.” A whip of water wrapped around her legs, throwing her to the ground as he answered her. “Remember, we all have amnis. If a vampire is protecting himself, your amnis will not break through unless you are far, far more powerful. It’s almost unheard of. Humans, on the other hand, are your toys to play with.” She rolled away and climbed to her feet.
“That’s kind of creepy.” Beatrice attempted to trip him with a thin strand she drew from the tip of her bare foot. He caught it in the corner of his eye and jumped over it with ease.
“Clever one.”
“Thanks.”
They spent another half an hour trying to best each other with water, combining it with kicks or punches as it benefited the fight. Baojia dominated her, and she spent most of her time on the defensive, but slowly, Beatrice began to predict his movements.
“You’re a fast learner,” he said with a playful smile. She was embarrassed by how that smile affected her. It had been weeks since anyone looked at her with that kind of approval or admiration.
“That’s good to hear, considering how completely inept I feel most of the time.”
“You’re not inept,” he said with a sudden scowl, as he almost knocked her over from the right. The water splashed her eyes, and she struggled to blink it out. “You’re just young. And you’re far more powerful than I was at less than a month old.”
“Did you really leave China to work on the railroads?” She had been curious about the vampire’s history from the beginning, but he was even more secretive than Giovanni.
“What? You think because you are a vampire now, I will confide in you?”
If she could have blushed, she would have. He knocked her back with a punch to her shoulder. “No! I’m just… sorry, I was just curious.”
“Curiosity killed the little water vampire, you know.” He smiled and she wondered what, exactly, he was referring to.
“I may be immortal now, but I don’t think I changed that much.”
“I don’t think you did, either.” She was distracted by their conversation and blinked in surprise when she twisted instinctively to dodge a kick to her midsection. “Sadly, Mrs. Vecchio, you have lost none of your… unusual appeal.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
His lips curled into a smile, but it wasn’t a lighthearted one. “You’ll give me a run for my money one of these days… Mrs. Vecchio.” His arms lifted, calling the water from the stream into a thick coil that wrapped around her torso and spun her before knocking her over.
“Stop.” She spat out the water that slapped her face as she fell. “Stop calling me that.”
“Stop calling you ‘Mrs. Vecchio?’ But that’s your name, isn’t it?” He circled her, and his dark eyes held a trace of bitterness.
“My name is Beatrice.”
“Not ‘B’ anymore, huh?” he said softly. She stood and they eyed each other, continuing to circle, each looking for any sign of weakness. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. “You are what he calls you?”
She narrowed her eyes, confused by his shifting moods. “What the hell is your problem?”
She felt the thin brush of amnis stroke the small of her back a second before he sent the shock. She winced and instinctively blocked it with a surge of her shield.
“Didn’t fall over that time, did you?”
“No!”
“Stop thinking so damn much, B. You’re stronger when you’re angry.”
Suddenly, Baojia came at her, a fury of fists and kicks that she tried to block, but even with her new speed, his blows knocked the air from her lungs. She couldn’t keep up. He was aggressive; and, despite his iron control, she sensed an edge of anger in his blows.
“Hey—”
She was cut off by a fist.
“Defend yourself.”
“What—”
A slap hit her cheek.
“Don’t think about it. Hit me.”
She stepped back, shaking her head to clear it. It didn’t hurt the way it had as a human, but it still hurt. She could feel the cut on her lip closing even as he landed another blow.
“Hit me!”
“What are you—” A flurry of water pounded her. Beatrice tried to block each surge, but they soon knocked her to the ground. In a flash, Baojia had grabbed a sword and had the edge pressed against her neck.
“And you’re dead.”
She shoved the blade away, ignoring the bite of the blade against her skin, crawling to her knees and glaring at him as the blood rushed through her veins. Anger reared up and her fangs descended. “What do you want from me?” She felt her amnis swirl along her skin, out of control as her fists clenched. The water in the air quivered around her.
“You’re more powerful than they realize, but you’re not using it.”
“What?”
“Instinct,” he spat out. “You’re still a human in vampire skin. Your muscles know these patterns, but your mind hasn’t caught up. If Lorenzo attacked you tomorrow, he would kill you. Let your instincts take over and fight!”
“You want me to fight?”
“Yes!”
“Fine!” She hopped up and took a deep breath. She stood in her normal ready stance, but Baojia only sneered.
“Such a cute little girl, Mrs. Vecchio.”
A thin red veil fell over her eyes, the fangs grew long in her mouth, and she felt her amnis pulse. Her heart beat its own unique rhythm, no longer bound by the trappings of biology. She felt the water in the air around her. Beatrice stopped concentrating on moving her limbs deliberately, as she had in tai chi, and just felt.
Baojia was crouched across from her.
“Hit me.”
She let the amnis flow down her arm. Her fist landed in a blur, and Beatrice grinned.
He wiped the trickle of blood from the corner of his lip and smirked.
They started circling faster. She bent over, weaving back and forth, ready to strike. The amnis took over her limbs, and she began to move even faster, dipping and bending. In the back of her mind, she realized she was moving in ways she never would have attempted as a human, but there was no pain.
“Faster,” he whispered.
She spun faster. Punching. Kicking. Flips and rolls did not challenge her immortal body.
It was effortless, she realized, as she took a deep, unnecessary breath. Her body was made for this. Her limbs moved without thought, the long practiced muscle memory colliding with her amnis as she moved in her own lethal ballet. Her amnis crackled as the water in the air was drawn to her, creating a thin sheen over her skin.
She flipped toward him, and her foot struck his face before she rolled away and shot up again. He sent another stream of water toward her, but she lifted a hand and blocked it with ease. Beatrice crouched down and swept his legs from under him before she rolled away. Then Baojia leapt on her shoulders. She bent back, nearly folding in half until he lost his grip and rolled away.
He reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to his chest. She could feel his cool breath at her neck.
“More,” he whispered.
A swift hunger rose in her, and she thought of the blood dripping to the ground from her cracked mug. She wanted more.
More blood.
More fight.
More…
She bared her fangs, hissing as he shoved her away.
Beatrice stumbled for only a second before she was on her feet, spinning into a kick that landed near Baojia’s ear. She smiled as her heart raced. She heard the door to the practice room swing open and was distracted for a second when she saw Giovanni enter. Baojia’s kick landed on her jaw, knocking her back as she heard a snarl rip from her mate’s throat.
A heartbeat later, she
had been shoved back, and Giovanni pounced on Baojia, rolling across the floor in a tangle of limbs as the fire flared on his back and arms. She sent a wave of water over the two vampires, who were twisted in a growling heap.
Baojia pulled away and the two immortals began to circle each other. The water vampire’s shirt was half torn from his body, and Beatrice could see burns healing at his neck. Giovanni eyed him, snarling as he placed himself between Beatrice and the perceived threat.
Beatrice knew instinctively that Baojia had triggered Giovanni’s most territorial instincts, and she shook her head, trying to clear her mind so the practice session didn’t end in death or serious injury. With her blood roiling, she was having difficulty focusing on anything other than the rippling muscle that spread over her mate’s back, bared through the burned shirt and dripping water from the shower she had thrown at him. She could already see steam rising from his skin as his ire spiked.
Giovanni was magnificent. Pulsing energy and raw power. Beatrice could sense the amnis surge over his body. She could see the low flames licking along his chest. She could hear his blood roaring in her ears and smell the smoke pouring off his skin.
“Gio,” she breathed out.
His head lifted and his eyes darted toward her voice and scent. Baojia leapt on him, but Giovanni only batted him across the room before he moved toward her, nostrils flared and fight forgotten as the blue flames swirled along his arms.
Not a word passed his lips when she pounced on him. Beatrice heard the hiss as her damp skin met his burning arms. He grabbed her, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her hips and burning through the cloth that covered her before he strode toward the doors. As they sped down the hall, she saw Baojia, watching them with bared fangs from the door of the practice room. He narrowed his eyes and glared before he ran in the opposite direction.
They reached their chamber door, and Giovanni kicked it open.
“Fight later,” he growled before he slammed it shut.
Chapter Fifteen
Penglai Mountain, China
November 2010
“Fight now,” she panted as her fingers clutched his neck. Their mouths crashed together as they stumbled through the room. She felt his fangs run along her neck.
“Later.”
“Now!”
He reared back, glaring at her before he threw her on the bed. Giovanni paced, silent and furious around the room. Finally, he spoke in a tightly controlled voice.
“How could you do it?”
“You know how!”
“No, I don’t.” He bent down and grabbed her chin, forcing her face to his. “Why don’t you explain it, Beatrice? Explain why my wife would conspire with my best friend to turn herself without even telling me or letting me be involved!”
She rose onto her knees. “You know why. And I told you over and over again, you just didn’t listen. You weren’t the vulnerable one. You weren’t the weak one. I was done with it. I was ready.”
“You were not! You have no idea what you’re giving up.”
“I do, too. Don’t be so arrogant. Do you think I don’t know my own mind?”
He paced, still glancing over his shoulder toward her. She could see him struggling to extinguish the swirling flames that covered his torso.
“I can be your equal now,” she continued, peeling the wet clothes from her body. “I’m not weak anymore. Look at me. My mind is my own. My body is my own. He can’t make me do anything anymore.”
Giovanni pounced on her, rolling in the sheets as he trapped her under his body. She reached out with her amnis, throwing a layer of cool air over his back as they were enveloped in a cloud of steam.
“Your body is mine,” he growled through clenched teeth, “as mine is yours. You are my wife. My mate. We are one. And you shut me out.” His angry eyes suddenly furrowed in pain. “Did it hurt? Were you frightened? Who held your hand as the life drained out of you? Whose eyes did you see before your heart stopped?”
She had no answer.
“That should have been me, Beatrice. Even if I could not turn you, it was my right to be there to care for you.”
Bloody tears filled her eyes, and she lifted a hand, the cool water meeting the burning skin of his cheek. Tendrils of steam rose from the contact.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I shut you out.” She reared up and captured his lips with her own, rolling them over with inhuman strength so she was straddling his hips. “But I’m not sorry I did it. I’m not sorry that I’m a vampire. And your anger is worth being with you forever.”
He shook his head, fury still swirling in his eyes.
“And even if it takes years for you to forgive me, I’m not going anywhere. I have eternity now.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “But, please don’t make me wait that long.”
Giovanni lay motionless as she splayed her hands across the thick muscle of his chest. Both watched in fascination as the vapor rose where they touched. Their room was like a sauna, and thick clouds hung around them, making the lamps glow in the dark room. She could feel his heart pound beneath her hands, and she closed her eyes, arching her back in pleasure when his burning fingertips traced the bite scars that marked her breast, slowly swirling over her preternaturally sensitive skin.
Her fangs grew longer in her mouth, cutting her lip as they descended. She felt him rear up, tasting the trickle of blood that fell from her lips and down her throat. Giovanni licked up from her collarbone, locking his mouth with hers before his tongue invaded. She gasped when he stroked along the length of her fangs.
“Yes,” Beatrice hissed as the hint of his rich blood filled her mouth. She pulled him back, fusing their lips as she traced along his own sharp teeth. The taste of their mingled blood seeped down her throat.
Smokey.
Sweet.
Hot.
Cool.
His blood reminded her of the rich taste of the whiskey they had shared before their first kiss, years before when he was hiding and she was human. The memory gave her pause, and she drew back, licking the last of their blood from his lips before she looked at him.
Giovanni’s eyes were closed, and he seemed to sway in her arms. She peeled the scraps of his shirt away and pressed their skin together. His chest burned against hers. Their hearts pounded together, the usually slow movement of their veins excited by blood and anger. His eyes were still closed as she began to rock against him, trailing her fangs across his chest until he shuddered.
“Beatrice…” His voice was rough, his hands smoothed down her shoulders, kneading the small of her back as she pressed their hips together and he loosed a low moan. Her fingers threaded through his hair and she brought her mouth to his in a whisper of a kiss, flooding her lips with amnis. Their energy twined, and Giovanni took a deep breath, arching his back and opening his eyes, which finally met hers with tenderness.
“I missed you,” she whispered.
“You are my balance in this life,” he said before he pierced his tongue and kissed her again. She pulled back and drew blood in her own mouth.
“In every life,” she finished.
Their lips met, and they drank the other in, their amnis twisting and melding so that Beatrice couldn’t feel where she ended and he began. Giovanni picked her up and pulled at the thin leggings she wore to practice. She pulled at the buckle on his belt, struggling as he held her.
“Beatrice…” He finally stood up to rid himself of the last of his clothing as he eyed her in the center of the bed. The urgency returned, along with her hunger, and she eyed the thick vein in his throat.
“Gio?”
“Yes?” She heard the low growl in his throat as he stalked toward her.
“I need…” She swallowed the burning in her throat.
Giovanni braced himself over her as she backed against the headboard. “Tell me what you need.”
“I need…” She eyed his neck.
“Sì, Tesoro,” he purred, and his tongue stroked
the fangs that peeked from her mouth. “Feed from me; I have only one request.” He caught her lower lip between his teeth, biting down as her heart raced.
“What?”
When he whispered, his fangs nicked her ear. “Do not be gentle.”
Beatrice hissed before she reached up, pulled his hair to bare his neck, and struck.
Giovanni roared, pulling her close, and fusing their bodies as she drank. He rolled them over and she lay on top of him, drawing the thick blood from his neck as he writhed beneath her.
He grasped her hips, sheathing himself deep in her body. She pulled away and arched back with a gasp of pleasure. He reared up and Beatrice clutched his arms before leaning down to sink her fangs into him on the other side, piercing the curve where his neck met his shoulder.
“Yes.” He hummed in pleasure before he bared his own fangs and lifted her arm, biting his teeth into the soft flesh above her elbow as she gripped his hair. He felt her shudder for a moment before her mouth returned to the thick muscle at his shoulder. They drank from each other, their blood fueling the heated release they both sought. The room began to fill with steam as her skin touched his, each pushing the other closer to ecstasy.
Beatrice pulled away and searched for his mouth. He met her kiss, both of their lips wet with the other’s blood. Fire and water, they met each other as equals as they reached their release together.
They lay together for what could have been days. Nothing else existed for them. Lost in each other, they drifted, their energy spinning them in a thousand silken threads. He lost count of how many times she drank from him, but his hunger for her bite was never sated. Again and again, he pressed her closer, his amnis seeking hers as his blood traveled through her body.
The room filled with clouds as they moved together, only to gather on Beatrice’s body as she rested, an endless cycle of heat and release coalescing around them. Giovanni drank from her, her energy swirling and pulsing in waves. She fell into daytime rest, but he woke her, a cup of fresh blood near the bed and his mouth traveling over her body. He had no idea how much time had passed.