Page 17 of The Vampire's Bride

She gives me a wary look. “Then I may come and go as I please?”

“You may go anywhere that you wish. If you have somewhere you desire to go beyond the castle, tell me and I will arrange it. If you want to keep daylight hours, I ask that you allow Eben to escort you for any travel outside of the estate.” She opens her mouth as if to protest, but I continue. “I am a Vampire. And as such, I have many enemies who would seek to harm what is mine, including my wife.”

“I understand,” she replies. “But I’ve decided I will keep the same hours as you.”

I frown. “You do not wish to be awake during the day?”

“It’s not that,” she hedges. “It’s just… we are new to each other and I’d like to get to know you better.”

She is the first of my wives to want this. The others preferred to keep to themselves, only meeting with me every three days to fulfill the blood requirement of our bargain. And even then, they would bleed themselves, leaving a goblet of blood outside their door, wanting to see me as little as possible.

I always made sure they had a vial of my own blood to heal the cuts they made when they gave me their blood offerings.

Juliet continues. “The only time I anticipate that I’ll need to be up during the daytime will be when I must go to the village for supplies or to the apothecary for more moon tea leaves.”

I’m still shocked she would take me to her bed. And as much as this thought appeals to me, I do not want her to feel forced into doing so. I desire her, but I want her to come to my bed willingly. “Eben usually retrieves our supplies. As for the tea, it will not be necessary.”

“I… do not understand,” she replies a bit hesitantly. “You don’t want me to take the tea for contraception?”

“You are mine, Juliet.” I meet her gaze evenly. “Regardless of whether or not we consummate our marriage, you are still my bride, and I will allow no one to take you from me.” I take a small step closer and curl my fingers under her chin, tipping her face up to my own. “You do not need to take the tea unless you wish to, because I vow that I will not touch you in that way, unless you ask.”

“Truly?”

“Yes.”

Her gaze holds mine a moment as if trying to gauge the truth of my words. “Why did you marry me? Why take a wife?”

I could tell her that she is my ashaya, but I’m not sure how it would be received. Humans do not have fated mates.

Then, there is the problem of the witch. If Talindra ever discovers that Juliet is my fated one, I have no doubt she will find a way to use this truth to her advantage. She might hurt my bride simply to punish me.

“It was necessary.” It’s not entirely a lie, but it isn’t quite the truth either.

Her small brow furrows before dawned understanding spreads across her face. “You needed someone for a steady supply of human blood.”

My gaze drops to her neck as dark hunger rises within. In truth, my kind can exist without human blood, but I do not tell her this because the witch crafted her spell so that my curse makes me crave it regularly.

Every time I am bound to a human, I must have her blood every three days.

Partaking of human blood, directly from the source, can be a very intimate thing. It’s the reason Talindra made this intense craving a part of my curse. She wanted to encourage my attachment to the women she chose, so I would suffer heartache at their inevitable loss, and also to inspire fear in them at the same time.

After all, who could ever love a monster that must feed upon them every three days?

I’m tempted to tell Juliet of the dark enchantment that controls my life, but I worry that if I do, it will only make her afraid. “It was more than that,” I reply, trying to speak around my curse even as my intense thirst threatens to drive me mad.

She studies me, her emerald eyes searching mine. “I have heard terrible stories of people indebted to Vampires. You could have taken me as your bloodsworn, but you made me your true wife, instead. Whatever your reason, I thank you.”

Juliet continues. “You said you need my blood every three days. I’ve been unconscious that long, so your thirst must be great.” She tilts her head to one side, exposing the elegant column of her neck. The scent of her fear permeates the air, but she hides it beneath a brave mask. “You are my husband. Take what you need.”

Guilt wars with desire as the darkness within me awakens fully. I am ravenous, but it is not just her blood that I want. Needburns through me like fire as my gaze rakes over her form. I want everything: her mind, body, heart, and soul.

Fierce possessiveness surges through me, and I struggle to maintain my control.

She is right. I do hunger for her, but I cannot take from her in my current state for I have not even slaked my thirst on the blood of lesser creatures these past three days. If I taste her now, I will be unable to hold back, and she could be hurt.

Juliet gazes up at me, her eyes wide and full of trust.

Unable to resist, I reach out and lightly caress her cheek, watching in wonder as a pink flush spreads across her petal-soft skin. “I cannot. You are not fully healed,” I rasp, barely hanging onto the part of me that remembers what it was to be human. “I will hunt this night to sate my thirst.”

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