His breathing grew harsh as well and she could feel his cock now, experience his tremendous pleasure, the result of the chain she held in her hand.
Ecstasy hit and he roared, the sound of his voice, very vampire, pulsing over her as he thrust.
Another wave of pleasure arrived unexpectedly so that her cries joined his. Lightning strikes of ecstasy whipped through her repeatedly, expanding up through her chest until she couldn’t breathe. Stars flashed through her mind.
Just when she almost passed out, his movements finally began to slow and the orgasm passed like a beautiful ocean wave washing up on shore.
She was left feeling as though she’d just flown through the heavens, touched the moon, then floated back to earth.
She lay slack on the bed. “Marius.”
Nothing else followed, just his name. There were no words to express what she felt, what he’d done for her. He was the first man she’d had sex with in a year, and because of her previous troubles with Michelson, she felt free in a way she hadn’t in a long time.
* * *
Marius stared into Shayna’s eyes and leaned down to kiss her. “Thank you.”
She nodded. She looked incredible with a flush on her cheeks, her lips still swollen, and her eyes glittering. “I should say the same thing.”
Still connected to her, he stroked her cheek with his thumb and kissed her again.
“I can’t believe we just did this. I’m pretty much shocked by it all, and yet it felt so easy with you, so natural.”
Marius felt the same way, though he was having trouble aligning all that he felt. Mostly, he felt a tremendous gratitude for what Shayna had done, that she’d gotten him through the worst of his recovery process, that she’d fed him, and finally that she’d had sex with him. Even now, he could tell that she felt a whisper of concern that she’d broken out of her usual standards and slept with him. He owed her his life.
“I understand,” he said at last. “But just so you know, this isn’t something I would normally do, either.”
“Really?” She seemed so surprised.
He chuckled. “Really.”
He still couldn’t believe he’d just had sex with her. He’d kidnapped her out of Seattle, brought her here in great pain, forced her to be witness to things she should never have seen, and now she’d given him release.
Slowly, he eased out of her. He grabbed the T-shirt she’d worn, then planted it between her legs. He smiled, loving that he’d left so much of himself inside her. He also loved that she didn’t seem embarrassed. “I’m going to take a shower,” she said. She scooted to the side and he had a wonderful view as she walked across the room, then disappeared into the bathroom.
He sat up and shifted his legs over the side of the bed, the cool stone beneath his feet. He saw the plastic tub and memories surfaced of feeling something cool on his face and his body, something that had made the experience tolerable when for the early part he’d felt as though he’d walked through a fiery hell.
The lump of his cut-up battle leathers and his T-shirt told their own story. Shayna had done that for him.
He owed her so much.
He thought back to the moment when he realized that her blood had empowered him and that he’d be able to break free of the bonds. Something had happened inside him as each strap broke, as though the release of each binding had freed a part of him long dormant, something lost on Daniel’s punishment table.
He felt alive and aware, more sensitive to his surroundings, and acutely aware of Shayna.
He felt her in the shower, soaping up her hands and washing her arms, her abdomen, and deep between her legs. He wanted to go there again, repeatedly. He wanted to chain her up in his secret New Zealand cave and never let her go.
He planted a hand against his chest. He felt the secure beating of his heart, his pecs where she’d suckled him, and the seat of his soul that he knew was expanding.
What the hell had Shayna’s blood done to him?
When he heard the water shut off, he decided that Shayna didn’t need to see him naked right now. It was one thing to be bound on the bed and suffering through blood-madness recovery, even to have made love, but another thing to have his big, muscular body in her face.
He crossed to his nearby built-in closet and grabbed a robe. He found a second one of his that would work for her.
He took it to the bathroom and, keeping his gaze away from her, he hung it on the back of the door. “Thought you could use this.”
“Thanks. That’s really thoughtful and I love the paisley in your robe. Is that silk you’re wearing?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a great look for you.”
He would have left, but she grew very still and he sensed something from her, as if she was in shock. “What is it?” He turned toward her. She held the towel to her chest and it hung well past her knees. She was covered up—and then again, she wasn’t.
“Marius.” She had tears in her eyes. “This was what I saw, back in Seattle. The vision that I had, while standing on the sidewalk, of the future, of you and me. Do you remember? I said those exact words, I love the paisley in your robe. Is that silk you’re wearing?”
Marius stared at her. “I remember now. I thought you’d fainted but instead you were having a vision. And this was it?” He held his index finger pointed toward the stone floor.
Her lips curved. “Yeah, this was it. I’m flabbergasted all over again.” She started moving her towel over her breasts and down her abdomen. Now he should leave, but instead his gaze got hooked on watching her breasts as she continued drying off. He could feel her thinking hard again, trying to figure it all out.
She met his gaze a couple of times, which encouraged him to wake up. “You’re okay with me standing here? Am I invading your privacy?”
At that, she smiled fully. “Marius, you just invaded my body, I think I can towel off in front of you.”
She hung up her towel, spreading it out fully to dry, and all he could think to say was, “That’s a good idea, hanging the towel up, I mean. This cave is near a water source and has issues with damp.”
Inwardly, he rolled his eyes. He was such a romantic, talking about mildew issues. Next, he’d be tell her about bat removal and how best to deal with guano.
She crossed the room and for a moment, he stalled out again. What was it about a naked woman that took a man’s breath away? He wasn’t sure what she intended because she was coming straight for him. He blinked a couple of times, especially when she stood right next to him.
He was about to ask something equally lame, like whether or not the hot water had run out, when she reached past him and plucked the robe from the hook.
Right now, he felt like he was about twenty years old again.
“I don’t suppose you have a brush I could use. I haven’t got any of my things with me.”
“Right.”
He finally put his feet in motion and set her up with a brush. He showed her some other things she could make use of, like a toothbrush and toothpaste. He finally left the bathroom and sat down on the edge of the bed. “We should eat,” he called out.
“I’m starved. Do we have food here?”
“No, but I can take care of that.”
Rumy would help out in a heartbeat.
Once he’d connected telepathically with Rumy, he sent a mental image of the cave. Rumy promised he’d bring a meal and a few other provisions. Marius suggested some girl-type stuff for Shayna, including some clothes if possible.
By the time he hung up, he felt grateful all over again for having a friend like Rumy. He knew he wouldn’t have survived otherwise and not just recently but probably a dozen times over the past several decades when a battle against the darker forces in his world had turned bloody and lethal. More than once, Rumy and his team at The Erotic Passage had patched him up.
When Rumy arrived, Marius didn’t leave the bedroom doorway. He didn’t want Rumy to see Shayna even in his robe, though th
e garment hung well past her knees. None of his rooms had proper doors and he felt protective of her. She didn’t need another vampire looking at her until she was dressed.
“Thank you,” Shayna said quietly.
Marius had his back to her while she slipped into the jeans and T-shirt Rumy had brought. There were other clothes as well, but the casual set would do in his home.
She’d already blow-dried her hair so that it hung in two straight lines over her shoulders. Her eyes and face had a healthy glow, a real sign she was siphoning his power. “Any aches?”
She shook her head as she straightened the bottom of the T-shirt. “How do I look? Presentable?”
One thing that was true of either human or vampire females: They worried about their looks.
He went to her and settled his hands on her shoulders. “You look amazing.”
“Thank you.” She put a hand to her stomach. “I’ve been smelling the food and I’m starved.”
“Then let’s eat.”
As he led her into the living area, Rumy held up one of Marius’s antique LPs. “How the hell did you find this Billie Holiday?”
“I have an agent, always looking. Paid a fortune for it.”
“No doubt.”
Marius turned toward Shayna. “I’d like you to meet Rumy, a good friend and owner of The Erotic Passage.” He turned toward Rumy. “Meet Shayna Prentiss.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Rumy.”
“And you. I hear you saved our boy’s ass here.”
She glanced at Marius. “And he saved mine.” She nodded several times, but when she looked back at Rumy her gaze fell to the LP and she blinked.
Marius asked, “What is it? Something wrong?”
* * *
Shayna stared at the vinyl record that Rumy held in his hands. Marius had asked her something, but she was too caught up in staring first at the LP then at the cave’s different living areas to process his words or to respond.
She moved slowly in the direction of the sitting area.
“Shayna,” Marius said quietly, tracking next to her. “Are you having another vision?”
“She has visions?” Rumy sounded stunned.
She turned and shook her head at Marius. “Not a vision this time. I’m just … looking.”
She’d had this experience before, when she’d arrived in Honduras at a remote village and knew she’d stepped back in time. It was one thing to read about a civilization, to study its current political difficulties, to get a sense of how the community organized itself. But to be in the middle of a undiscovered civilization like this one was a new playground altogether.
Until this moment, Shayna had been too busy staying alive, or helping Marius through his blood-starvation recovery, or even having sex with him, to completely assimilate that she was an outside observer in an entirely different world.
Her heart thrummed as the anthropologist in her came alive.
This part of the cave had a similar decor to the bedroom, the pieces made of fine-honed teak and leather. Some of the walls had been tiled with slabs of rich polished granite, others were left in a raw state, while a third evolution involved the chiseling of the original cavern stone into intricate patterns, clearly the work of craftsmen. In a couple of places, she saw the same pattern as in Chile and in his bedroom here. She began to wonder if she was looking not at a unique sculpting design, but rather a language, similar to ancient cuneiform.
Her heart thrummed a little harder.
She waved a hand at the wall. “Is this something your world encourages? The chiseling of designs in stone?”
Both Rumy and Marius responded. “Yes.”
She could have spent a solid year just studying the sculpturing techniques and patterns of their culture alone. The one on the ceiling intrigued her because it ran at a perfect right angle to the wall that separated the kitchen from the living area. The space had been engineered on so many levels.
She even felt a cool breeze moving through, constantly freshening the air. She had so many questions and wished she had her iPad with her to start making notes. Her gaze moved around each space swiftly. She’d left her iPhone in her other jeans and wanted to be sure to take more pictures before she left.
Marius moved close to her, sliding an arm around her waist. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Well, yes, of course.” She turned to look at him. He’d fed from her. The man was a vampire, a warrior in his culture, a man fighting for his entire civilization. And she had the profound honor to stand witness, in this moment in time, to what was transpiring in his world.
But she was also being rather absent from both men.
She glanced from Marius to Rumy. “Sorry, it’s the scientist in me and a great deal of curiosity that I’m having trouble restraining right now. I guess you could say I’m just assimilating your world.” She turned to Rumy. “I’m being rude. Forgive me.”
“So Marius kept me informed and you’ve sure been put through the wringer. How you holding up?”
She lifted her hand that held the blood-chain. “I’m surviving mostly because I’ve been able to siphon Marius’s power, which is an incredible and, at critical times, a healing experience.” She glanced around. “There isn’t a single light in evidence, but everything appears to be glowing.”
“Yep,” Rumy said. “Vampire power.”
She shifted her gaze back to him and smiled. He was shorter than Marius by several inches. He clearly worked out and liked showing off his tight, muscular body in a snug black T-shirt and gray tailored slacks. His shoes had that handcrafted look. The tips of his fangs showed, though, which apparently had left calluses on his lips. He kept his curly hair cut close to his head, and not even his fangs could detract from his well-groomed appearance.
Rumy moved in her direction, extending his hand toward the dining and kitchen area. “I imagine by now that you’re starved, especially after what you’ve been through. I’ve brought some of the best food around.”
Shayna sat down at the dining table and watched the men unearth the carry-out food and arrange it on plates. Marius opened a bottle of wine, a Chianti to go with an antipasto salad, a savory pasta puttanesca, and loaf of bread.
And in that moment, with the men serving her a wonderful meal, her gaze fell to the blood-chain wrapped around her wrist and laced through her fingers. Her eyes suddenly filled with tears.
Only a few hours had passed, but she felt as though she’d lived a lifetime. She knew that Marius wanted her to stay, desperately, but some questions deep within her heart remained unanswered.
Glancing once more at the intricate stone carvings of the walls and ceiling, she shifted her gaze to Marius. “Will you show me the rest of your home after we’ve eaten?” Maybe something about his culture, hidden in the carvings, would give her the answer she sought.
Marius held two glasses in one hand and the bottle of wine in the other. “Of course.” He moved toward the table, Rumy behind him. “Ready to eat?”
“Absolutely.”
Rumy settled several plates on the table, some containing the food and two blue earthenware plates ready to be filled. Marius set the glasses at each place setting, then poured the wine slowly.
He rounded the table and took his seat adjacent to her.
Rumy patted his hands on his thighs. “Okay. You’re all set.” He waved a hand toward the living area. “Along with the clothes, my friend Eve sent along some toiletries. Just let me know if you need anything else, Shayna, and I’ll plan another trip in.”
“I will and thank you so much.”
Rumy nodded to Marius then lifted his hand, his fingers twisted close to his ear, in the call-me motion.
“I will.”
Rumy waved, shifted to altered flight, and left.
Despite the fact that she had a decision looming over her head, Shayna savored every bite of the excellent meal and each sip of wine.
When she finally finished eating, she knew the time had com
e to figure things out. But before she did anything else, she went to her jeans and pulled out her iPhone. She wanted to take some pictures of the familiar carvings.
CHAPTER 6
Shayna followed Marius to an arched stone opening past the kitchen. The hall sloped downward, but again her vision caught the same, familiar carvings that involved repeated straight lines. The more she saw the patterns repeating, the more she felt certain she was looking at something similar to cuneiform, a type of written language used by the cultures of ancient Mesopotamia. She wasn’t an expert by any means since her field was cultural anthropology and not linguistics, but her curiosity was aroused anyway.
She might have been headed to Malaysia for her fieldwork, but seeing Marius’s undiscovered world was like being in a candy store.
An expansive opening to the left revealed a room she would call a study, with a broad, uncluttered desk. In the center sat a laptop. He moved toward it and the chain around her wrist vibrated softly.
He ran a finger through a line of dust. “I haven’t been here in over a year.” His voice was quiet, reflective.
She recalled now that Daniel had imprisoned three of his sons for supposed acts of treason and that he’d tortured each of them.
How quickly her reason for being in his home came flying back at her. She knew she should choose helping him and saving the human women she’d seen being treated like animals. She wasn’t even sure what held her back.
Except, of course, the obvious: that she risked her life and all her plans by remaining in this cave. She’d worked hard toward all that she’d planned for her life—to study, to become an expert in her chosen field of study, to teach. How could she throw all of that away for a culture completely unknown to her?
She hardly knew Marius.
She’d turned over control of her life to a man once before, and the results had been disastrous for her. The affair she’d had with Michelson had begun as a thrilling experience because he’d been like Marius, very passionate. But their relationship, even in the bedroom, had been about her sacrificing for what Michelson needed at any given moment.
Michelson had been her role model, living the life she wanted. He was dedicated to his work as an anthropologist and spent hours on his research every day. By the time she’d recognized his “passion” for the selfishness that it truly was, he’d shattered her self-esteem with his demands and constant criticisms.