Lust And The Damned

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Dangerous Cravings 3

Lust and the Damned Kate Hill

All rights reserved. Copyright ©2005 Kate Hill

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Part One

Chapter One

An island off the coast of South America, 1830

They brought Ambrose’s body home and prepared it in the great hall. Apollo washed him, running his hands over the sinewy frame as he had so many times before. There was no warmth left. Only a stiff, cold shell of the man they loved.

Mansi placed gold coins over eyes that had once looked at her with lust and laughter. They were Spanish coins from one of Mansi’s many graves. Ambrose had always admired those coins. How many times had he stared at them? She would never forget the calm, gentle beauty of his eyes. The eyes of her friend, her lover. He had been the one person who had adored Apollo as much as she did. For so many years, the three had shared everything.

Mansi didn’t try repressing her tears. It was best to grieve now rather than let the pain and anger eat away at her. She had learned that difficult lesson long ago. Strange that Apollo, the older and wiser of them, had not.

Not a muscle moved in Apollo’s face. His brow didn’t furrow. Pale skin stretched across his sharp cheekbones, lending him an almost gaunt look. His jaw remained tight. Too tight. She guessed his teeth were clenched, his fangs most likely sinking into his gums. Pain would sustain him. He thrived on it. He enjoyed mastering it, yet she knew he could not master this pain through self-control and denial. It was deep and aching. Though it didn’t show in his statue-like face, it glistened in his eyes.

When Ambrose’s body was cleansed, she and Apollo wrapped him in a black shroud. He left Mansi alone with their deceased lover until midnight. At that time, they would bring him to the funeral pyre on the beach where the three had spent so many wonderful nights, making love and sharing blood. Unlike Apollo’s powerful red nectar, Ambrose’s blood had tasted sweet, filled with all of his innocence and curiosity. That innocence had faded toward the end, when he took up the same sword Apollo had mistakenly claimed long ago.

Perhaps Mansi had been wrong. The pain in Apollo’s eyes didn’t quite match hers. What she felt was pure. The aching loss of a lover. The sting of guilt tainted Apollo’s grief, making it more bitter than the blood of the dying.

If only he would talk to her, share his emotions. Apollo had held her these past days, yet each night she awakened alone, longing for the comfort of his touch. She always found him standing alone outside their home. The wind howled, as if mimicking the cries he was too proud to utter. He wouldn’t come to her of his own free will, so she went to him. When he was ready, he would open himself to her.

Mansi paused before leaving the great hall. She glanced at Ambrose’s shrouded body and wondered if a vampire could die of sorrow. She heard it sometimes happened with humans. A man or woman dies, and their mate soon follows. She still had a mate, though. Apollo was as much a part of her heart as Ambrose had been. The two of them had been together for centuries before meeting the young mortal who had been determined to learn their secrets and share their lives. Once Changed, Ambrose had become such a beautiful vampire.

Now, he was gone forever.

Chapter Two

Massachusetts, 1692

Mansi inhaled the scent of burning firewood. She gazed at the man seated by the fire in the one room cottage she and Apollo had built deep in the woods. She would have preferred living in the town, but Apollo wanted time away from people. These past months he hadn’t even fed on human blood. When the moon rose high each night and Mansi visited the townsfolk to feed, Apollo hunted animals. Later, he would return home naked and bloody with a wild gleam in his deep sapphire eyes. Even his lovemaking possessed a savage edge.

Though she missed town life, she knew that after the recent events in Salem they were better off living in seclusion. If humans accused one another of possessing supernatural powers, what would they do should they discover vampires in their midst?

Perhaps she would find out after all.

“Do you expect your husband to return soon?” her visitor asked. The young man had an innocence about him that she found most charming. His wide-set green eyes reminded her of a deer, soft yet wild. His nose was rather long, though well shaped, and his lips pale pink. The deep bow of his upper lip tempted her to kiss him. Not since Apollo had a man attracted her this much. An image of the three of them, naked and entwined, filled her thoughts.

She held his gaze. “I’m not sure. He might come at any moment or not for several days.”

“Days? Aren’t you afraid to stay alone here?”

“Why should I be?” She walked to the fire and stirred the stew cooking in a black cauldron.

His brow knitted. One of his long legs was stretched out, the breeches hugging his lean muscles. This man was uncommonly tall, though not quite as tall as Apollo. Mansi liked tall men. She liked them lean and hard, as this one looked. So few men could rival Apollo’s handsomeness and virility.

“Well, you’re a woman alone. What if someone tried to cause you harm?”

Smiling, she restrained the urge to flash her fangs. He would have enough to contend with when Apollo arrived.

“The stew is just about ready. Would you like some?”

“Yes. Please.”

“And you won’t tell me why you wish to speak with Apollo?”

“I would rather speak with both of you at once.”

Gazing deeply into his eyes, she considered trying to read his mind. It would probably be simple. Humans were so oblivious to their innate powers of the mind. Still there was something different about this one. She filled two bowls and handed one to him. His hands were smaller than Apollo’s. The fingers were long, almost fragile in appearance.

She noted that he was studying her hands as well. His gaze traveled up her arm to her face. When their gazes locked, the force of his desire attacked all of her powerful senses. A wave of heat from his body crashed over her. His heartbeat quickened, echoing in her ears. When he first arrived, he had been so preoccupied with finding Apollo that other than a single appreciative glance, he’d scarcely seemed to notice her. Most men instantly fell under her charms. Finding one so willful intrigued her.

He moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue, then swallowed visibly.

“Is something wrong, Mr. Brooks?”

“No.” He stood, drawing a deep breath. The scent of his desire filled the room. It stirred her, made her fangs ache. The quick tempo of his heartbeat was like the beating of tribal drums, calling her to dance. She longed to slip her arms around him and sink her fangs into his gorgeous neck. What would his blood taste like? Each person’s nectar had its own flavor. Taking his greatcoat from where it rested on the bed, he walked backward toward the door, his eyes never leaving her. “Perhaps I should return later when your husband is here. Would you tell him I came?”

“He’s on his way.”

His eyes narrowed. “How do you know?”

Apollo’s scent reached her through the closed door and shuttered window. Even after so many centuries, his aroma thrilled her, reminding her of the fresh, wild air found only at the tallest mountain peaks. He moved silently, his footsteps inaudible even to another vampire, but Mansi knew he was almost home.

Mr. Brooks looked a bit startled when the door burst open and Apollo strode inside. Tall with broad shoulders, his body lanky yet powerful, Apollo was the epitome of male beauty. Dark blue eyes gazed from beneath a rather primitive brow, yet the animalistic image was refined by chiseled cheekbones and an aristocratic nose. The purest, most ancient blood ran through his veins. Even among ancient vampires, Apollo was a force to be reckoned with. A protector, a slayer of slayers. Mansi shuddered to think of the violence he had rendered and endured, and not always for the right reasons. For the past century, he had drifted from his vicious connections, though they would not allow him the peace he so desperately needed. Even if they should take pity on their once loyal servant and allow him to leave their ranks, would the centuries eventually wipe out the deaths burdening his soul? Probably not.

Their visitor’s heart raced as if he’d run for miles. In spite of his calm expression, his chest rose and fell with each agitated breath. She couldn’t blame him if he felt uncomfortable, even afraid.

Dirt and blood streaked Apollo’s naked, powerful form. Sparse hairs scattered across his chest, tapered down his flat belly and spread to a wiry triangular thatch from which his thick cock stood, semi erect, above his balls. His long legs were lean and sinewy, shaded with a light dusting of hair. He appeared completely savage. He was the most perfect vampire Mansi had ever seen, and she had seen the best of their kind.

“This is Ambrose Brooks.” Mansi approached Apollo and touched a hand to his upper arm. It was rock hard and warm, the flesh slick with blood from several jagged claw marks. “He wants to speak with us.”

Apollo’s gaze swept Ambrose from head to boot. A low growl rumbled deep in his chest. Startled by the lustful nature of that growl as well as the passionate scent emanating from her lover, Mansi gently prodded Apollo’s thoughts. Unable to breach his mental barrier, she waited in frustrated silence for him to offer some explanation. She had seen him lust after people before, but those were normal desires sated by a few sips of their blood. This aroma was different. It resembled the all-consuming scent of love and lust that he exuded for her.

Mansi’s pulse quickened. This entire situation was strange, unsettling, and far too arousing. Something burned among the three of them, something that warned her to proceed with caution. Should the emotions she sensed from each of them be fully unleashed, they might lose control. Lust with a mortal was one thing. Two vampires sharing a human was not unheard of, but something deeper than desire threatened them.

“Mr. Sheridan.” Ambrose extended his hand to Apollo. It trembled the slightest bit, whether from fear or excitement Mansi couldn’t be sure.

Apollo glanced at the hand, then took it. The handshake lasted for several heartbeats. Lust filled the room, the scent of it almost intoxicating.

“I seem to have come at a bad time.” Ambrose tried to avert his gaze from Apollo, but he seemed unable to. “Perhaps I could return later?”

“Now. Later. It doesn’t matter to us.” Apollo took the towel Mansi handed him, their fingertips brushing. He strode across the room and stopped at the table where he dipped the cloth into a basin of water. Firelight danced across the hard curve of his buttocks and the backs of his thighs. The muscles of his shoulders and back flexed as he washed blood and dirt from his torso. “Have a seat, Ambrose Brooks, and tell us why you’ve come.”

“You might have heard about the trials taking place in Salem?”

“Yes. It seems the town is infested with witches.” Apollo’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“There are no witches. At least not in Salem.”

Oh no. Mansi knew what was coming next. It wouldn’t be the first time she and Apollo were accused of witchcraft, demon worship, or even vampirism. Several times they had been buried alive. Apollo had “died” in even worse fashions over the years.

“A rumor has circulated about a witch and warlock inhabiting these woods. You must have noticed the search parties over the past year.”

There had been groups of armed men stomping through the woods on many occasions, but a few mind tricks had easily thwarted them.

“I’ve been searching for months. When I found this place, I could hardly believe any of us had missed it.”

Taking the cloth from Apollo, Mansi dipped it in the red-tinged water and squeezed it out. She cleaned dirt and blood from his back, noting that the scratches were already starting to heal.

“What is it that you want?” Apollo asked.

Glaring at Ambrose, Mansi sat on the edge of the bed and ran the cloth over one of Apollo’s firm bottom cheeks where a particularly deep cut still oozed blood. “To accuse us of witchcraft?”

“Not at all.” Ambrose drew a deep breath. His pulse quickened again. “I have a keen interest in the occult, you see.”

“That’s a dangerous confession.” Apollo reached into the trunk at the foot of the bed and removed a long black cloak. He draped it over his shoulders, concealing his magnificent body from neck to ankle. Taking a seat by the fire, he gazed at the leaping flames, as if in a trance. Mansi knew he was fully aware and as aroused as ever. How strange yet enticing that both of them were so attracted to Ambrose Brooks. The mortal obviously felt the same about them. She had sensed his attraction to her before Apollo arrived, and his desire for Apollo was even more intense. Ambrose could hardly tear his gaze from the sinewy, black-haired vampire.

“Yes, one I have never made before.”

“Why now?”

“Because the moment I stepped into this house I knew the rumors were true.”

Mansi recognized satisfaction in the slow, wicked smile that spread over Apollo’s lips.

“I’m puzzled by how the rumors started, however. I don’t recall ever seeing either of you in town.”

Mansi visited Salem often, quenching her thirst for human blood on men and women and leaving them with pleasant dreams. She rarely killed, and never while feeding. Wiping memories was simple for one of her age and experience, and contrary to legend, a vampire’s bite was scarcely noticeable, unless they wanted to do damage. Ambrose’s question puzzled her as well. She always cleansed her victims’ memories, and to her knowledge, Apollo never visited the towns. Even if he had, he would have covered his tracks.

“Did you ever consider how simple it is to move unnoticed through a crowd?” Apollo’s smile faded. “People see only what they want to.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t possibly believe either of you could be missed.”

“And you mean that as a compliment.” Mansi smiled slightly and approached the fire. Apollo tugged her onto his lap. Melting against him, she enjoyed his warmth and solidity. No one had ever made her feel as safe and womanly as Apollo, and no one ever would.

Their intimate position seemed to make Ambrose a bit uncomfortable, yet by the increased strength of his scent and the gleam of perspiration across his forehead, it aroused him as well. He shifted in his chair and swallowed hard. The telltale bulge in his breeches made her giddy inside.

“It was intended as such.”

“We’re much more than you could ever imagine,” Apollo said. “And I knew we would intrigue you.”

“How could you know anything about me?”

“All will be revealed in time.”

“Then I am right about you?”

“Come back tomorrow, Mr. Brooks. We’ll talk more then.”

Ambrose’s handsome jaw tensed. Annoyance flashed across his steady green gaze. “Why not now?”

Guiding Mansi to her feet with his hands on her waist, Apollo stood. He held out his hand to Ambrose who took it after a moment’s hesitation. Mansi stared at their locked hands, both well shaped and masculine, yet graceful. Their fingers visibly tightened around each other’s and their gazes locked.

“Come back tomorrow at dusk and I will tell you what you want to know.”

Ambrose nodded and slipped on his coat. When he reached the door, he glanced over his shoulder at

the couple standing by the fire. Nodding, he left them alone.

Mansi glanced at Apollo. “Are you going to tell me what just happened here, since for some reason you’ve shut me out of your mind?”

“What do you think of him?”

“I think he’s a curious mortal who is headed for danger.”

“Are you attracted to him?”

She touched a hand to his cheek. “Apollo, why are you acting so strangely? Is something wrong?”

Taking her hand, he pressed a kiss to her palm. “Just answer the question. Are you attracted to him?”

“I love you.”

“Mansi, you know I don’t like repeating myself.”

“Yes, he is attractive. Intriguing is a better word.”

“I knew you would think so. Sometimes during the day, when you’re sleeping, I go to the town.”

“What?” Her brow furrowed. Though many of their kind could travel by day, they usually refrained from walking around in the sunlight. Their power was low and their senses impaired. Still, Apollo was far stronger than most vampires, even by day.

“I like to mingle with them sometimes, to watch and listen. I wipe myself from their sight, as if I’m not even there. Yet when I first saw him, something inside me awakened. In all my life only one person has even begun to understand me. You are that person.”

“Thank you. I think.” She stood on tiptoe and looped her arms around his neck.

“I love you more than my own life, Mansi. When I saw him, he reminded me so much of you, yet he was different. I knew you would feel the same for him as I do.”

Her pulse leapt. “What are you saying?”

“Our lives are long. Soulmates are rare.”

“So we shouldn’t risk leaving one behind?” She drew a deep breath, her insides churning with desire and a hint of fear. Initiating a mortal was risky and not to be done on impulse.

“His mind is so open. He’s curious.”

“Almost innocent.”

“Yet strong. Could you feel the power in him?” Apollo’s eyes burned with desire. Perhaps she should have been jealous of his keen interest in someone other than her, but she wasn’t.

Mansi nodded. Yes, she had felt Ambrose’s strength, but he was still only a mortal, and a stranger to them.

“I started the rumors about us because I knew he would come. His curiosity would demand it.”

“Youstarted them?”

“I wanted you to see him.”

“You could have just taken me to Salem with you.”

“That would not have been enough.”

Clenching her teeth, she turned away. “I wish you would consult me when you get such ideas.”

He glanced at her as if to say that a vampire such as himself consulted no one. Not ever. While his arrogance stimulated her, it also incited her fury. He was the most frustrating, wonderful man in the world. Now she might have two such creatures to contend with. The thought sent her heart racing with anticipation.

Chapter Three

Ambrose arrived shortly before dusk the following night. Inside the house, Mansi caught his scent and smiled. He was alone, eager, and slightly afraid. His aroma tantalized her and she found herself longing to see him again, if just to confirm her attraction.

Apollo had gone to the lake for a swim, but she knew he had deliberately chosen to be absent at the time of their visitor’s arrival so that he could make an entrance. For a man who was quiet by nature, Apollo could at times be quite full of himself.

Taking a moment to glance at her reflection in the mirror, Mansi ran a hand through her flowing black hair and smoothed the thin cotton shift over her curves. Appearing in her undergarments would no doubt take Ambrose by surprise, and she looked forward to seeing his reaction.

She walked to the door and opened it. Ambrose had tethered his horse a respectful distance from the house and was pacing back and forth, swiping at the insects swarming around him. She felt a bit guilty about making him wait outside at all, considering she knew the forest was absolutely infested this time of year.

“Put your horse in the barn, Mr. Brooks, and join me inside,” she called.

He blinked in her direction, as if trying to decide if she really was standing there half dressed.

“Thank you,” he said, finally turning away and guiding his horse to the barn.

Inside the house, Mansi checked on the food cooking over the fire. It still had a way to go, but if Ambrose was as willing as she and Apollo believed he would be, their time would be put to good use.

Moments later, Ambrose tapped on the door.

“Come in.”

He stepped inside, his intense green gaze sweeping her once, then darting about the room. The quickening of his pulse echoed in her ears.

“Did I disturb you in the middle of dressing?” he asked, still averting his gaze. Charming. Most men

would have been all over her by now, but he was obviously well raised. She might have said well bred, but she was old enough to have known too many highborn lechers.

“You didn’t.” She approached, extending her hand. “May I take your coat?”

He slipped off the heavy wool garment. Their hands brushed as she took it and rested it across the trunk at the foot of the bed.

Breeches, boots, a waistcoat, and shirt with a cravat knotted at his throat covered his lean body from chin to toe. A tingle of desire rushed through her as she imagined undressing him and baring his mortal flesh to her touch.

“Apollo should be home very soon. In the meantime, would you like something to drink?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Have a seat.” She gestured toward one of the chairs by the fireplace.

Ambrose sat, his hands resting on his separated knees, his gaze fixed on the leaping flames. He moistened his lips and swallowed, as if anxious. Coming here again was risky, yet she sensed he thrived on the challenge of associating with those proclaimed forbidden by society. This rebelliousness captured her interest in a world where conventional religion seemed to dictate everyone’s lifestyle.

After pouring two glasses of wine, she carried them to the hearth and handed him one. She sat in the chair near his and took a sip from her glass, watching as he did the same. The urge to lick the sheen of wine from his lovely lips almost overcame her. Not since Apollo had a man stirred her this much. She longed to be wedged between their naked bodies, enjoying the similarities and differences of each.

The door opened and they turned to Apollo who strode in, draped from head to toe in his cloak. His bare feet moved silently over the floor. Glancing in their direction, he slipped off the cloak and tossed it atop Ambrose’s greatcoat. His nude body was still damp in places from his swim and his hair hung in wet curls over his shoulders and down his back.

“Don’t you dress at all around here?” Ambrose said, his jaw tight, a hint of color along the ridges of his finely cut cheekbones.

“You’re here because polite society bores you,” Apollo stated, approaching the hearth and squatting in front of it. Holding out his hands, he watched shadows from the flames dance across them.

“Yes, but --”

“Simply because we do not followtheir rules doesn’t mean we don’t have rules of our own,” Apollo continued in his deep yet quiet voice. “While you’re here, you will observe them.”

“You want me to undress?”

Mansi smiled and moved to the edge of her seat so that her knees brushed against Ambrose’s leg. “Only if you want to.”

He stood abruptly and headed for the door, but stopped with his hand on the doorknob when Apollo asked, “What is it about the occult that interests you?”

“People fear it,” he replied, staring at the door. Anger and frustration poured off him as strongly as his desire. Mansi couldn’t decide if he was furious at himself for his lust or at them for what he probably considered rudeness.

“So you want to frighten people?”

“No.” Ambrose turned, staring at Apollo’s broad back since he was still squatting in front of the fire. “People fear what they don’t understand and that lack of understanding leads to violence, just like what is happening in Salem. If I can learn more about what others fear, maybe I’ll find it’s not so horrible after all.”

“Really.” Apollo’s word was a statement rather than a question. “And you have no desire for the power that is said to accompany these taboo practices?”

“If I were to gain power, I would only use it for a good purpose.”

Apollo chuckled. “How young.”

“And innocent,” Mansi added.

“Foolish.”

“Courageous.” She approached Ambrose and touched his shoulder. He turned to her and their gazes locked. “It’s a pity there aren’t more humans like you.”

“Humans?”

“You may leave now, Ambrose Brooks. We won’t stop you, but you will not find us again, should you look. Or you may stay and learn everything we have to teach. Unimaginable things. Some wonderful, others horrible. Decide now,” Apollo stated.

“What kind of choice is that? You make it sound like I’ll be missing the opportunity of a lifetime if I leave, yet giving up my soul if I stay.”

“When people enter into a relationship, they do give up part of their soul.”

“What sort of relationship?”

Apollo moved so quickly that he even startled Mansi. One moment he was squatting calmly by the fire,

and the next he had pinned Ambrose to the door, his sapphire gaze fixed on the slighter man’s, his fangs exposed.

“A relationship deeper than friendship. Powerful. Binding.”

“What in God’s name are you?”

“Are you familiar with vampirism?”

“Enough to know I should leave.” Ambrose struggled against Apollo’s hold, but his mortal strength was nothing compared to the ancient’s.

“Apparently you know very little, or else you wouldn’t be so frightened. You came for knowledge. Now that it’s offered, do you have the strength to take it, or are you just like those fools who accuse the Salem witches?”

“I can see what you are.”

“Give yourself a chance to know us.” Mansi approached and cupped Ambrose’s cheek, turning his face so that she could meet his gaze. “Don’t be afraid.”

“Do you intend to make me like you? Drink my blood?”

“Only if you offer it,” Apollo said. “Rape of any kind does not appeal to me.”

“Or me,” Mansi added.

“It’s your choice, Ambrose Brooks.” Apollo released his captive and stepped away, allowing him space to flee.

Once again Ambrose grasped the doorknob, but instead of turning it, his grip merely tightened upon it. For a moment Mansi almost felt sorry for him.

“Mansi, come.” Apollo held out his hand and she took it, allowing him to guide her back to the hearth. They sat on a chair, she in his lap, and watched the flames.

After a moment, Ambrose approached and sat in the empty chair beside them.

“All right,” he said, his voice just above a whisper. “Tell me about what you are.”

Apollo turned to him, the slightest smile on his lips. “What would you like to know?”

“How did you come into existence? Were you sent by the devil?”

“We were created through an exchange of blood with another of our kind,” Mansi replied.

“So you were taken by force?”

“No.” She rested her cheek against Apollo’s head, fondly recalling the night he’d asked to Change her and she’d accepted. “Not by force -- at least not for me. Of course sometimes it happens without the mortal’s consent, but that is --”

“Unfortunate,” Apollo added. “It is imperative that the human in question wants to become one of us, otherwise such attacks only feed the lies about vampires, that we are creatures of evil. We are no more good or evil than mankind itself.”

“But you survive on blood.”

“And most humans survive on flesh,” Mansi said. “Does that make them evil?”

“But eating an animal is quite different than draining human blood.”

“In what way?”

“Well, for one, it is believed that only humans have a soul.” He paused for a moment, his large eyes narrowing. “What about your soul? Do you still have one?”

“If it left, I didn’t miss it,” Apollo stated.

For the next several hours, they answered Ambrose’s many questions and told him about their long lives. Some information they withheld, but with the promise that, in time, they might reveal all.

When Mansi stood to bring their dinner to the table, Ambrose stared at her in wonder. “So you can eat food?”

“We must, just like you,” she told him. “Though we require blood as well, but as Apollo said, we need never kill.”

“If more people would just open their minds enough to understand your kind --”

“It will never happen,” Apollo interrupted. “And many vampires harbor the same type of prejudices toward humans.”

“It’s as if they’ve forgotten that we were once part of them.” Mansi’s gaze held Apollo’s whose jaw tensed slightly. He understood her implication, and he didn’t like it, though he had finally learned to admit she was right.

Long ago he had joined a secret organization called Dark Rhythm, a group of vampires dedicated to protecting their kind against mortal hunters. Unfortunately, they became so enraptured by their cause that they stopped differentiating between the few hunters who would only kill vampires seeking to harm them, and the zealot hunters who sought to destroy all of their kind. Apollo began drifting from Dark Rhythm, though they would not hear of him leaving. Once initiated into their ranks, one remained, quite literally, forever. Apollo was a great asset to them, an ancient, stronger and fiercer than most vampires. The leader of the organization, a man called Lao whom Mansi had despised on sight, agreed that he needed time to collect himself and decide where his loyalties rested. For the past few hundred years, Apollo was only called a few times by Dark Rhythm, when they were faced with the most dangerous hunters. They bothered him so seldom that Mansi had finally started clinging to the hope that maybe they would set him free after all.

Apollo and Ambrose joined Mansi at the table where they ate and talked more.

“Be honest,” Ambrose said, turning a chunk of bread between his slender fingers, his intent gaze switching from husband to wife, “you never intend to tell me everything about your kind, do you?”

“There is one way,” Apollo said. “If you choose to become one of us.”

“A blood drinker?”

“A man with the possibility of living long enough to watch millennia come and go.” Apollo’s voice grew quiet. His words were a deep, steady rhythm in the ever darkening room, a soothing yet powerful chant, tempting the curious mortal into a world where he belonged.

Mansi had no doubt Ambrose was meant to be a vampire. His mind, soul, and even his body demanded it.

Throughout the night the attraction among them had risen to dangerous heights. For several hours, Ambrose’s heart had maintained a quick, steady rhythm. The scent of his arousal mingled with Apollo’s and Mansi’s, yet was he ready so soon? She feared frightening him and decided to leave the timing of their seduction to Apollo. By the burning expression in his sapphire eyes, he believed that time was now.

“What he says is true.” Mansi slid her chair closer to Ambrose’s and rested a hand on his knee. His gaze flickered downward and hers followed it. She repressed the urge to smile at the size of the bulge in his breeches. “We needn’t be creatures of evil. We can thrive in union with our mortal brothers and sisters. We could show you such pleasure…” She gently slid her palm up his thigh, caressing the hard muscles beneath the clinging material of his breeches.

Ambrose reached down to restrain her stroking hand, his gaze riveting to Apollo, who watched them with smoldering eyes.

“That is a wise idea, Mansi,” Apollo said, his words ending in a sensual growl just loud enough for human ears. “To show him the pleasure he can have as one of us. You are attracted to my wife, Ambrose Brooks?”

“I have made no advances on her, sir,” Ambrose said stiffly. “Nor have I encouraged the one she has now made upon me.”

“That is not what I asked. I do not like repeating myself, but since you are apparently in a nervous state, I will bend my will this one time. Are you attracted to my wife?”

“Yes,” Ambrose said through clenched teeth. Standing, his eyes flashing with annoyance, he nodded to his host and hostess. “It is time for me to leave.”

Leaning back in his chair, appearing calm except for his wildly gleaming eyes, Apollo continued, “And me, Mr. Brooks? Are you attracted to me?”

Mansi watched Ambrose carefully, noting the tenseness of his face and form. His fists clenched and his chest rose and fell with emotion. The scent of his passion, almost vampiric in its strength, filled the room.

“This is preposterous! It is bad enough you ask if I have feelings for a married woman, but to insinuate that I would entertain such thoughts for another man --”

“I thought you defied society? I thought you saw people for who they are, not what the rest of the world, in their fear and ignorance, tells you they are. If you cannot even admit to yourself the true nature of your

feelings, then nothing can help you find your way in this life -- not religion, not study, not even vampires, Mr. Brooks. Therefore, I will ask you one last time before I lose my patience entirely.” Apollo rose, advancing on Ambrose who, to Mansi’s surprise, refused to back away. The men stood chest to chest, their gazes locked. Apollo repeated, “Are you attracted to me?”

“Yes, I am,” Ambrose snarled, the staccato rhythm of his heartbeat filling the room. His finely shaped nostrils flared and his teeth clenched visibly.

Cupping the back of Ambrose’s head, Apollo covered his mouth in a kiss that almost stole Mansi’s breath just from watching it. She could only imagine how Ambrose felt absorbing such passion. Apollo’s kisses were all-encompassing.

Still, she marveled at the human’s self-control as some part of him seemed to resist the ancient vampire. Desire prevailed, however. Slowly Ambrose’s fists unclenched and his arms slid around Apollo, his palms traveling up the vampire’s back. His fingers clenched chiseled muscle, stroking and caressing. His pelvis pressed against Apollo’s.

Mansi’s nipples hardened and her pulse skipped just from watching the two gorgeous males locked in a lustful embrace.

Apollo broke the kiss, leaving Ambrose breathless and hazy-eyed. His hand still curved around Ambrose’s neck, Apollo backed slowly toward the bed. The other man followed as if in a trance, though Mansi knew her husband was not using mind control. It wasn’t necessary, since all three of them were ensnared by mutual need.

Apollo had been so right in thinking they were soulmates. Once he surrendered, Ambrose would be part of them forever.

“Relax,” Apollo whispered, pressing Ambrose onto his back. The mortal was now blatantly staring at Apollo’s naked body, fixing on his erect cock. Mansi approached, also admiring her husband’s gorgeous form before turning her attention to Ambrose, who was still covered from neck to foot in layers of clothes. Apollo strode to the foot of the bed, grasped the heels of Ambrose’s boots, and yanked them off.

“Please, let me.” Mansi glanced from Apollo to Ambrose before straddling the mortal’s waist. His

wide-set green eyes fixed on her. His lips parted slightly and he drew a sharp breath when she bent and kissed him. Slipping his tongue into her mouth, he explored her warm wetness with long, tender strokes. Each sweep of his tongue seemed directly connected to her clit. She moaned with pleasure and grasped his crotch, caressing his rock-hard erection through his breeches. When the kiss broke, he was panting slightly, his eyes dark with lust.

She felt Apollo’s gaze upon them and reached out with her mind, sensing the intensity of her husband’s arousal. Breaking the mental link, she longed for the day when the three of them would share the intimacy of body and mind. Once Ambrose became one of them, they would truly share everything.

Ever so slowly she began unbuttoning his waistcoat, her hand slipping beneath the heavy material to stroke his hard, slender torso through the linen shirt beneath. His body was incredibly warm and she could scarcely wait to feel his skin against hers. When she’d finished unbuttoning the coat, he slipped it off and Apollo tugged it out from under him, then tossed it atop the trunk. Glancing at her husband, Mansi noticed his gaze was fixed on her hands, which were now untying the cravat at Ambrose’s throat. Apollo’s cock stood out pole hard, the ruddy head beckoning for a kiss. Though she loved sucking his cock, the urge to watch Ambrose do it was almost overwhelming. All in good time. At the moment, she needed to free him from the confines of his conventional attire.

Turning her full attention back to their mortal lover, she slipped the cravat from around his neck and flung it aside. Her deft fingers worked the buttons on his shirt, baring his lean though well-muscled torso. A crisp mat of brown hair covered his chest. She ran her fingers through it, her thumbs lightly tracing the shape of his flat nipples.

“You have a beautiful body,” she murmured.

“So do you,” he breathed, cupping her breasts and squeezing gently.

Her eyes fluttered shut and she leaned into his caressing hands while rocking atop him. His erection rubbed against her clit, making her throb with impending orgasm. Drawing a deep breath, she forced her eyes open and continued undressing him. While he slipped off his shirt and discarded it, she slid the breeches down his legs and tugged them off.

No sooner had she finished her task than Apollo grasped her roughly by the waist and buried his lips in her neck, the tips of his fangs caressing her flesh and making her tremble with need. She raised her arms straight above her head and he grasped her shift, pulling it up her body and tossing it onto the floor.

Wrapping his arm around her waist he tugged her close to his warm body and kissed her. He tasted of herbs and delectable male. His erection, so hard and thick, pressed against her belly. Though she wanted to curl her fist around it, he refused to slacken his hold enough for her to wedge her hand between them. Instead she contented herself with sliding her arms around him and squeezing his buttocks, relishing the tight muscles beneath smooth skin. Apollo’s fangs pierced her lip and she moaned, sinking her fingers into his bottom and rocking against him, trying to ease the delightful ache in her clit. She groaned, her fangs nipping his lips so their blood mingled. Slowly they parted and turned to Ambrose who was watching them with lustful eyes. His cock wasn’t as long as Apollo’s, but just as thick and beautifully veined. It stood out hard with passion, longing for a touch.

“Which of us do you want first?” Apollo asked Mansi, taking her hand and guiding her to the bed.

“It’s impossible to choose.”

Her husband smiled slightly, revealing the tips of his gleaming white fangs. “Then I will decide for you.”

He stretched out on the bed beside Ambrose, who stiffened for a moment before reaching out a tentative hand and stroking it across Apollo’s chest. Raising himself onto his opposite elbow, he continued caressing, his gaze fixed on Apollo’s body. A long, graceful finger traced the fine black hairs running between Apollo’s pectorals, down his muscle-ridged belly, and fanning into a nest of dark pubic curls. Ambrose’s breathing quickened and his heartbeat echoed in Mansi’s ears. Her pulse raced as if she were mortal again. The excitement of finding a third partner, a mutual soulmate, after so many years was absolutely intoxicating. As usual, Apollo remained calm, gazing with all-knowing eyes at his partners. In regards to the carnal arts, he possessed enviable self-control.

Ambrose wrapped his fist around Apollo’s cock and stroked with the self-assured swiftness only another male could exhibit during a first lovemaking session. A ripple coursed through Apollo from head to toe, surprising Mansi.

“Too hard?” Ambrose asked in a husky voice.

“No,” Apollo stated, once again in complete control of his body, except for the massive erection that belied his intense pleasure. The ruddy head looked ready to burst. A gleaming drop of his essence beaded on the tiny eye.

After several moments during which Mansi thought she might do the impossible and come without any stimulation other than visual, he grasped Ambrose’s wrist, restraining him from any further touch. His gaze riveted to Ambrose’s stiff cock and he grasped it, pumping him with sure, fast strokes that soon had the mortal panting. Ambrose leaned back on his elbows, his eyes rolling back and slipping shut.

“What is it about you,” the mortal breathed. “Both of you are irresistible.”

Mansi smiled slightly, knowing his words were true to a point. Yes, most men found her desirable, but Apollo was a force unto himself. His brooding yet savage charm ignited mortal passions more than Mansi’s wiles. She not only knew it, she understood it because no matter how pleasing she found Ambrose, no one would ever stoke the flames of her desires like her hypnotically sensual husband.

With a final flick of his hand on Ambrose’s supersensitive cock, Apollo once again stretched out on his back in the center of the enormous bed.

“Come, Mansi,” he ordered, reaching for her.

She took his hand without hesitation and straddled him, lowering her hot, drenched pussy onto his erection, closing her eyes halfway as she relished every magnificent inch of hard muscle beneath velvety flesh. His hands grasped her waist and moved in a steady rhythm, setting their pace. Breathing in and out slowly, every muscle straining with desire, she did her best to obey his silent command.

Apollo glanced at Ambrose who watched them with a hint of envy, his hand curling around his cock as he sought to fulfill the need Apollo had created.

“Ambrose Brooks, get on your hands and knees above me.”

It took a moment for the mortal to completely understand what Apollo intended, but once he caught on, his expressive eyes gleamed with excitement. Braced on his hands and knees above Apollo’s face, he lowered himself enough that the ancient vampire could take his cock head into his mouth. While Mansi rocked upon Apollo, he sucked and licked Ambrose’s cock.

The echo of their heartbeats and ragged breathing filled the room. Though it was difficult to keep her eyes open as her climax approached, Mansi didn’t want to miss a moment of watching her lovers. Ambrose was doing his best to stifle his moans. His face was flushed with desire. Tendons stood out on the side of his neck and his entire body trembled with impending orgasm.

Other than a slight tightening of his hands on her hips, Apollo remained calm and steady beneath them. Mansi wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep the slow, steady pace. She wanted to ride him like a savage beast. Her internal muscles tightened almost painfully and her breath came in harsh gasps.

“Apollo, oh, please,” she cried. “Please.”

“Ah!” Ambrose cried out sharply, the powerful muscles of his shoulders, arms, and legs bunching. The scent of his blood filled the air and she knew Apollo’s fangs had pierced his cock. Ambrose continued shouting, “Yes, oh, hell and damnation. You’re biting me. Please keep biting me. Keep biting me!”

Apollo’s hands rocked faster on Mansi’s hips and she took the opportunity to ride him as quick and hard as she desired. His hips bucked, meeting her thrust for thrust, though his mouth never ceased its carnal work on Ambrose’s cock.

With another hoarse cry, Ambrose stiffened and flopped onto his back as his essence sprayed the three of them. At least in the final seconds he’d managed to avoid collapsing onto Apollo’s face. That was the last thing Mansi saw before her eyes squeezed shut and she exploded in a blinding orgasm. Somewhere in the red haze of fulfillment, she felt Apollo come hard, his body straining beneath her, his breathing raw.

She melted onto his chest, her leg curved over his, and smiled. As she drifted off, she felt Ambrose settle next to them, his hand resting lightly on her ribs.

After several moments, Mansi stirred. She stroked Ambrose’s arm from shoulder to wrist, relishing the sensation of smooth flesh over hard muscle. He took her hand, squeezing gently.

“You’ve heard about us,” Apollo said quietly, “now tell us about you.”

“What do you want to know?” Ambrose asked.

“Your family. What are they like?”

“I have no family.”

“Please explain.”

“I was born in London, the only son of a well-to-do merchant and his wife. My parents expected me to marry and take over the family business. I’ve always been outspoken in my beliefs -- probably too outspoken for my own good. My views on religion and many other things strictly dictated by society were in direct opposition to most peoples’. My family couldn’t accept that. Not that I blame them. It isn’t easy having a son who is the focus of gossip and contempt. They disowned me, so I decided to come here and start a new life for myself.”

“How long have you been here?”

“Slightly over three years, and things are no better for me here than in England.”

“No wonder you sought us out,” Mansi said, shifting position so she could kiss his cheek.

“We believe you belong with us,” Apollo said, “and offer to share our long life with you.”

“How long do I have to decide?”

Apollo rested a hand against Ambrose’s neck and held his gaze. “Take as much time as you need.”

***

Mansi expected an affair of at least several weeks before Ambrose asked for the Change. It surprised her when two nights later, he arrived at their house in a state of disarray.

She was stitching a new dress when hoof beats distracted her. Ambrose’s scent, heavy with rage and a hint of fear, drifted inside. Placing her work aside, she hurried out the door just as his horse stopped outside the house. Ambrose, wearing only breeches, boots, and an unbuttoned shirt, dismounted. His face and torso were streaked with sweat and his eyes gleamed.

“What’s wrong?” Mansi demanded.

“The townspeople arrested me.”

“For what? Did you tell them about us?”

“Of course not!” A quick glance through his thoughts confirmed his denial and made her feel a bit guilty over doubting his loyalty. Still, they had only known each other a short time, so she had to be sure. “Once again my outspokenness has ruined my life.”

“What did you say?”

“I argued that the witch trials are absurd. Now they’ve accused me.”

Raising her eyes to heaven, Mansi dragged him inside. “You really are outspoken to the point of foolishness.”

“Apollo broke me out of the jailhouse and told me to come here. He said we were leaving, but I don’t want to drag you into my problems.”

Panic gripped Mansi and she grasped Ambrose’s arm, her fingers biting into his flesh. “Where is Apollo

now?”

“He’s following behind me. He said he would deter the crowd and that we should meet him at the ship, whatever that means. Look, Mansi, I care a great deal for both of you. If you want me to go --”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she snapped. “We must hurry. Come inside and help me pack a few things, then we’ll take the animals to the ship and await Apollo.”

“What ship?”

“Our ship. Come. Now.”

Apollo and Mansi had few belongings that meant enough to them to take on their trip. Most of their possessions remained at their true home on a private island off the coast of South America. She had no doubt that was where they would now flee to, and part of her welcomed the return to their beloved home, the place where they had spent the happiest times of their long marriage.

Several hours later, Mansi and Ambrose stood on the deck of the small ship she and Apollo had sailed the world over. During their stay in Massachusetts, the ship had remained in a secret cove, awaiting their next journey.

It was a dark night, the moon covered by clouds. She didn’t doubt Apollo had succeeded in sending their enemies on a fool’s chase. His superior strength and cunning combined with his perfect night vision ensured it. Still, she wouldn’t relax until he was safe in their company.

As if by magic, she caught his scent on the wind. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply, a half smile on her lips. Moments later, he raced out of the trees toward the ship. He boarded quickly, his breeches covered with dirt, his linen shirt clinging with sweat and blood to his body. His eyes shone with wildness she hadn’t seen in years. The expression terrified her, for she didn’t doubt the mortals who had attacked their mutual lover had paid the price for their actions. Apollo could be the most wonderful man in the world, but also a vicious killer when his sense of justice was challenged. Such strong emotions had brought him to Dark Rhythm and nearly destroyed him. It had taken him literally ages to control his passions, but at certain times, such as this, those passions still overtook his reason.

No sooner had he placed both feet on deck than he and Mansi sprang into action, sailing the ship out to sea.

“What can I do to help?” Ambrose asked.

“Stay below,” Apollo ordered. “A storm is coming and we don’t want you getting killed before you take the Change.”

Ambrose looked appalled, his manhood obviously slighted by Apollo’s implication that he need hide rather than do his share of the work. “I assure you, I know my way around a ship --”

Apollo sprang, his fangs bared, and landed in front of Ambrose. “Do not defy me, boy! Now get down below and stay there until I tell you otherwise.”

A muscle twitched in Ambrose’s cheek. Balling his hands into fists, he took a step closer to Apollo.

“Don’t,” Mansi called. “Ambrose, you cannot fight him, and besides, he’s right. You must survive this trip so that you can become one of us when we arrive home.”

“Home where?”

“We’re wasting time. Now get below,” Apollo bellowed.

“Go. I will explain later,” Mansi said.

Ambrose met her gaze and her affectionate expression seemed to calm him a bit. Tight-lipped, he nodded and headed below just before lightning ripped through the sky and the rain began.

***

By morning, the storm had subsided to an unfortunately sunny day. A gloomy day would have been kinder to Apollo and Mansi’s vampiric senses. They were sailing smoothly on course, so Apollo told her to go below and rest.

She found Ambrose leaning against a trunk, his expression angry.

“So he’s banished you below, too?” he asked as she sat beside him.

“He offered to let me rest while he endures the day alone.”

Ambrose lowered his eyes and sighed. “I don’t like being told what to do.”

“Apollo’s ways can be harsh, but if he cares about someone, as he does you and me, his loyalty knows no bounds.”

“You look tired.”

She shrugged. “A little.”

His arm slipped around her and he guided her head to his shoulder. Closing her eyes, she sighed, relaxing against him. His delicious, masculine scent filled her, both soothing and arousing her.

“We’re going to the island where I was born. It’s where Apollo, then an explorer, met me and made me a vampire. We built our home in the jungle there and it has been our sanctuary for more centuries than you can imagine.”

“Is that where you plan to make me a vampire?”

“If that’s what you want.”

“I do. You and Apollo are the only people who have ever accepted me for who I am. Though we’ve only been together a short time, I feel you’re the only real family I’ve ever known.”

Mansi opened her eyes and shifted her position so that their lips met in a tender kiss. “You are our family, Ambrose. Now and forever.”

He drew a deep breath and nodded, his eyes gleaming with such affection that her heart twisted. As a vampire, she was accustomed to the unwarranted suspicion and hatred of others. She had never truly considered humans could be as cruel to one of their own simply for daring to question archaic rules set by self-righteous men.

“I’m going up to help Apollo. After all, at the present time I’m more of a day person than he is.” Ambrose brushed a kiss across her forehead before he stood.

“But he didn’t tell you to --”

“I don’t care,” Ambrose stated, heading topside.

Sighing, she settled against the trunk and closed her eyes, thinking about the many clashes to come between the two headstrong men, one young, the other ancient. At least their life together would never be dull.

Chapter Four

They arrived on the island late at night. The star-filled sky seemed a good omen as they unloaded the ship and brought the animals and their few belongings through the winding jungle path to the stone mansion that had taken them and the villagers centuries to build.

Mansi’s people, a small tribe that had survived through the centuries under her and Apollo’s protection, still lived on the island. They knew about the two vampires and worshipped them almost as gods. Apollo and Mansi cared for the villagers and provided them with everything they could possibly want, including a way off the island, should they ever desire it.

They had already told Ambrose about the villagers and intended to introduce him as soon as he was Changed.

Though several villagers acted as caretakers for the mansion while Apollo and Mansi were away, they found it empty when they arrived. All the better for what they planned for that night.

Once unpacked and fed, they retired to the master bedroom, a spacious chamber with an adjoining sitting room.

In spite of the island’s heat, the mansion’s stone rooms remained fairly cool. While Apollo started a fire in the hearth, Ambrose and Mansi cuddled on a couch covered with black cushions.

“Have you decided whose offspring you would like to become?” Mansi asked.

Both their gazes were riveted to Apollo who remained with his back to them while his long, graceful hands busied themselves starting the fire. Though he hadn’t said anything to influence Ambrose one way

or the other, Mansi knew he wanted to be the one to Change him. Perhaps she should have been jealous of the strong attachment between the two men, but she wasn’t. She knew that no matter what, she would always have Apollo’s love. She understood his desire for the touch of another male and was more than willing to indulge it in the form of a man like Ambrose, whom they both adored. The young man wasn’t simply the means to sexual release. His emotions were entwined with both Apollo’s and Mansi’s. Soulmates.

Finally, Ambrose turned to Mansi and squeezed her hand. “Mansi, I care for you a great deal and it would be an honor if you would Change me.” From the corner of her eye she saw Apollo’s spine stiffen and felt a pang of sadness for him. Ambrose didn’t notice, since his attention was at that moment focused on her. He continued, “But something inside tells me that Apollo should be the one. I hope you are not offended.”

Smiling, Mansi hugged him tightly. “I am not. You have chosen the finest of sires. I should know.”

Apollo stood, keeping his back to them for a moment. When he turned, his expression was composed, though he couldn’t keep the gleam from his eyes. “I will prepare.”

“Is it possible for Mansi to remain with us?” Ambrose asked.

“If she agrees, it would be my wish as well.”

“Of course.” Mansi’s heart leapt with excitement and anticipation.

“We will begin at midnight,” Apollo stated. “I suggest you rest until then, Ambrose Brooks.”

In spite of her attempt to relax Ambrose with a soothing massage, he was far too anxious about the Change to settle down. Finally, they rose from the bed in the guest room where they had been awaiting the midnight hour and stepped into the master bedroom. Apollo had lit several candles around the room and turned down the black bedcovers. The aroma of incense wafted on the air, mingling with the scent of wood burning in the fireplace. Apollo stood by the bed, his smoldering gaze shifting from Mansi to Ambrose. The flickering candlelight cast shadows on the pale skin of his naked body, accentuating the chiseled muscles and the sensual pattern of his ribs. Mansi imagined running her tongue along each rib. She longed to lap her way to his cock and suck it erect, but tonight was not for her. It was for Ambrose. She wanted him to enjoy every moment until the Change took place. Then he must endure the pain of

shifting from human to vampire. Part of her worried for his life, for many mortals died during the Change. Apollo was a powerful vampire, however. He had never lost an offspring and she had full confidence in his ability to successfully guide Ambrose into their world.

“Come.” Apollo gestured toward the bed.

Ambrose stretched out on the mattress, his heartbeat filling the room. Mansi sat beside him, stroking his hair. This was the last time she’d ever touch him as a mortal. He glanced at her before Apollo captured his attention by looming above him, his hands braced on either side of his head, his knees planted on each side of his hips. The men’s gazes locked for a long moment, then Apollo kissed him, a deep, possessive kiss, foreshadowing the Change to come. He and Ambrose would be bound forever as sire and offspring, just as she and Apollo were bound.

The ancient alpha broke the kiss, leaving Ambrose panting slightly, his eyes half closed. Apollo’s lips roamed over his neck. He moved down the mortal’s body, his fangs pricking first one nipple, then the other before leaving a trail of kisses down his stomach. When he reached Ambrose’s straining cock, he took the head between his lips and sucked.

Ambrose groaned, his eyes closing completely, his fingers weaving through Apollo’s hair. Apollo grasped his wrists and pinned them to his sides. He sucked deeper and Ambrose’s hips thrust, mimicking the rhythm of Apollo’s sucking. He pulled away just before Ambrose came. Covering the young man’s quivering body, he sank his fangs into his neck.

Chapter Five

1828

Mansi gazed out the open window of the master bedroom and sighed with contentment. Just below, in a courtyard paved with stone, Apollo and Ambrose practiced swordplay. Tall and powerful, they moved with grace and strength that inspired her pride and lust. Wearing only calf-length trousers of a sailor’s style, they shifted stances around the courtyard in a savage dance of attack and defense. Sweat gleamed on their bare, sleekly-muscled torsos, Apollo’s a bit heavier, Ambrose’s slender yet no less pleasing to the eye.

Just as she had suspected from the moment they’d met, Ambrose made a marvelous vampire. Closing her eyes for a moment, she recalled the sensation of his bite when they made love. Though not as fierce as Apollo’s, it was strong nonetheless. Just thinking about the three of them together so intimately made her wet and turned her nipples to pebbles of desire.

Growls from below made her eyes flicker open and once again focus on their practice. Apollo had disarmed Ambrose and held the younger male in an unbreakable hold. Snarling and snapping his gleaming white fangs, Ambrose struggled.

“Surrender,” Apollo said close to Ambrose’s ear.

“Never!”

Laughing, Apollo flung the other man so hard he landed on his knees. “You’re such a problem child, Ambrose. Always fighting me every step of the way. That’s one of the things I love about you.”

“Love?” Ambrose pushed himself to his feet, his face still taut with frustration, though Mansi noted a hint of affection slowly taking over. “It’s rare for you to use that particular word.” Ambrose picked up his sword and studied its tip. “Before I met you, I thought I was well able to take care of myself.”

“You’re a very good swordsman and have excelled in hand-to-hand combat. All you need is a few more centuries of experience behind you and you may become a challenge to me yet.”

“As much as the thought appeals to me, I doubt it.” Ambrose fell into step beside Apollo. His free hand rested on the base of his sire’s spine for a few seconds before sliding up his back in a slow caress.

The men stopped walking for a moment and glanced up at the window. Mansi’s breath caught. Perhaps she should turn away. They might want this private moment, but she so enjoyed watching them together. Ambrose made Apollo very happy, a rarity for her usually sullen husband. Until Ambrose, only Mansi herself had ever been able to make him smile.

During the years since his Change, Ambrose had come to mean more to them than they had ever imagined. To Apollo he was son, brother, and lover. To Mansi, he was the truest friend. They would spend hours in each other’s company, discussing books, religion, and their mutual favorite indulgences of well bred horses and the latest fashions. The trio had traveled all over the world, but they still loved their island home best.

When Ambrose held her in his arms, she felt cherished and respected as an equal, so different from the emotions Apollo evoked. With him, she felt completely protected and loved more deeply than words could adequately describe. Apollo loved with such passion it was almost frightening at times. Desire and affection to the point of madness. He would die before allowing harm to come to either her or Ambrose -- or he would kill for the same reason.

Her dark thoughts faded as the scene in the courtyard grasped her complete attention. Apollo and Ambrose had walked to the stone fountain in the shape of an enormous half oyster shell. Placing his hands on Apollo’s shoulders, Ambrose pressed him to the edge of the fountain.

His eyes narrowed in question and lips slightly parted, Apollo allowed the other man to guide him to a sitting position.

“Sire,” Ambrose said, placing a hand on Apollo’s thighs and parting them as he sank to his knees in a subservient position that Apollo loved from his mates as much as they loved bending to his carnal wishes. “Let me offer some of the pleasure you’ve always given me.”

With a slight nod, Apollo began removing his trousers, but Ambrose placed his hands over his and said, “Let me.”

Apollo’s hands slid from beneath Ambrose’s and rested on the fountain. He raised his hips just enough for his lover to slide the trousers down his legs. After discarding Apollo’s boots and trousers, Ambrose settled himself on the stone ground. His palms caressed Apollo’s inner thighs with long, teasing caresses.

Mansi watched, her heart fluttering with each rub of palm over hair-roughened flesh. She knew how hard Apollo’s thighs were, how marvelous they felt against her lips when she kissed them, just as Ambrose was doing now.

The younger vampire’s face was no longer visible, only the top of his head covered in sweat-dampened brown hair, as he kissed first one thigh, then the other. Mansi watched the pink tip of his tongue draw moist patterns over Apollo’s flesh. A quick glance at the ancient vampire’s face revealed only slight tension in his jaw. Though an enthusiastic lover, it took Apollo forever to give in to his own passions. He liked to prolong the inevitable, torment and tease himself. The explosive end result never failed to mystify Mansi with its beauty, even after so many years.

Ambrose licked the joining of Apollo’s hips and thighs, then moved lower and took his balls in his mouth, sucking and rolling the pendulant flesh. Apollo drew a sharp breath, his fingers tightening on the edge of the fountain. After several moments, Ambrose left his balls and focused on his thick, straining cock. His expert hands rode up and down the shaft, tantalizing his master. A low growl rumbled in his throat, inviting Apollo’s answering growl, but none came. Mansi smiled to herself. This was a game the two often played. Ambrose was forever challenging his sire, longing to beat him at any contest, just once.

The younger man’s tongue swirled around Apollo’s bulging cock head, then he took it into his mouth. He sucked deeper and deeper, a good deal of the shaft also disappearing between his fine lips.

After what seemed like forever, Apollo’s breathing grew ragged. His knuckles turned white where he gripped the edge of the fountain and his chest rose and fell rapidly as Ambrose sucked with added vigor, as if spurred by his lover’s approaching surrender.

Apollo’s dark eyes were only half open. A slight flush stained the ridges of his sharp cheekbones.

Mansi squirmed, then raised her skirt, no longer able to watch without indulging in some pleasure of her own. Her hand dipped between her legs. Soaked with her juices, her fingertip moved to her clit, rubbing to the rhythm of Apollo’s agitated breathing.

The scent of her lust, or perhaps the soft moans escaping her throat, reminded Apollo of her presence. His eyes opened wider for a moment, his gaze flickering up to the window where she watched, her fingers rubbing faster as her excitement grew. He bared his fangs, a savage, sensual growl finally escaping his throat.

Ambrose growled as well and his mind touched hers, as he’d been training in mind control as well as the fighting arts. He let his desire wash over her, dragging her even deeper into his and Apollo’s carnal play.

Thunder rumbled in the distance and the night darkened even more, but they were too lost in passion to care. Ambrose’s hands moved over Apollo’s shaft while he sucked fast and steady. Without warning, Apollo’s hips jerked. His eyes closed and his head arched back, every vein and tendon standing out in his neck, the muscles of his broad chest jerking as orgasm struck him. At the same moment his lips parted in a bellow of fulfillment, a clap of thunder shook the very walls of the mansion. Mansi’s fingers flew between her legs and she came. Wave after wave of pleasure struck her until she sagged against the window, her legs trembling and her heart slamming against her ribs.

Opening her eyes halfway, she gazed down into the courtyard. Rain fell heavily, dousing Apollo and Ambrose, who still remained in the same position by the fountain, the younger vampire kneeling between the elder’s parted thighs. Apollo was leaning back on his hands, his eyes closed while he drew several deep, even breaths. Ambrose stared at him, a combination of satisfaction and unfulfilled lust on his face. Mansi didn’t doubt he was thoroughly aroused from pleasuring Apollo, yet he had brought about his master’s surrender. To a strong-willed creature like Ambrose, that in itself was fulfillment enough.

Apollo’s eyes opened and he sat up straighter, cupping Ambrose’s chin in his hand. His thumb stroked the lightly stubbled jaw line and a puzzled look, much like the one he often bestowed upon Mansi, shone in his eyes. After so many centuries, she well understood that expression. At times Apollo still couldn’t believe that he had allowed himself to be captured by a tender emotion such as love. There was so much violence in his past, so much hatred. Most of it stemmed from his association with Dark Rhythm. The group hadn’t contacted him in so long that Mansi hoped they might have forgotten him.

She had no idea then how wrong she was, or how soon Dark Rhythm’s bloodthirsty creed would once again seek to destroy the deepest love she had ever known.

***

Two nights later, Mansi sat in the master bedroom helping several of the village women prepare costumes for their village’s festival. The vampires joined them each year for dancing and feasting during

which the villagers worshipped their ancient gods. Though she had participated for centuries, Mansi never grew tired of the festivities and enjoyed the time spent with their mortal friends. Though not one for socializing, Apollo willingly joined in out of affection for her and the villagers whom he had grown to care for. Ambrose, however, liked the festival as much as Mansi.

The men were off now, helping provide food for the festival -- Apollo in the woods hunting with several of the village men, while Ambrose had gone fishing with others.

In the middle of beading a loincloth, she caught Apollo’s scent along with that of another vampire that sent a shiver of horror and disgust down her spine. Placing her work aside, she walked toward the door.

“Is something wrong, Mansi?” one of the women asked.

“No. Just stay here, all of you, until I return. Please.”

She hurried to the great hall where Apollo stood talking to Lao, the leader of Dark Rhythm, a man he had come to loathe as much as Mansi always had. One who didn’t know Apollo would not have realized he was upset. Mansi knew the extent of his discomfort immediately by the unnatural stiffness of his stance and the flicker of fury beneath the calm surface of his sapphire eyes.

“Ah, the lovely Mansi.” Lao forced a smile in her direction.

“Your attempt at charm has never worked on me, Lao,” she stated, taking her place beside Apollo. “What are you doing here?”

“You know I cannot reveal our secrets to one who has refused to join us.”

“Apollo, what is he doing here?” She gazed up at her husband. “You know I don’t want him here.”

“What’s happening here?” Ambrose said, striding through the front door, his green eyes darting from his lovers to their unwanted guest. The young vampire wore short trousers, dirty from fishing and soaked

with seawater. Muscles rippled in his lean, bare torso. He exuded strength and passion. Mansi nearly cringed and had the sudden urge to hide his fresh, masculine beauty from Lao’s shrewd gaze. Ambrose was just the sort of vampire Dark Rhythm loved to recruit.

“Nothing. Ambrose, await us upstairs, please,” Apollo stated.

Ambrose curled his lip. He hated taking orders from Apollo and his sire knew it, yet this time Mansi understood the necessity of ensuring their lover spent as little time as possible with Dark Rhythm’s leader.

A slow smile spread across Lao’s slender lips. “My goodness. You didn’t tell me there was a new addition to the family. Shame on you, Apollo.”

“He has nothing to do with you.” Apollo stepped between Lao and Ambrose, his scent stronger than usual as his protective instincts rose.

“On the contrary, you know the rules of our organization.”

“He is my family and off limits to you.”

“We are your family, Apollo. The only reason we’ve allowed you to keep Mansi from us is because she has repeatedly shown she has no feeling for the cause.”

“Your cause?” Mansi snapped. “Your insanity, you mean.”

Lao flung her an indulgent look. “Still so naïve after all these years, Mansi? I suppose that is to be envied.”

“What are you all talking about?” Ambrose demanded, his fists flexing at his sides. “Who are you, sir?”

Lao’s dark, expressionless eyes fixed on Apollo. “You’ve never told him about us? I’m wounded, Apollo.”

“I have told him all he needs to know about Dark Rhythm.”

Ambrose’s eyes took on a strange gleam. “You’re Lao?”

The older vampire inclined his head, a slight smile still playing around his lips. “And you are?”

“Not willing to speak to you, sir.” Ambrose moved toward Mansi and slipped an arm around her in a protective gesture.

“Ah.” Lao’s eyes glimmered with what might have been amusement. “Mansi has poisoned your thoughts regarding us.”

“Get out of my home!” Mansi snarled, advancing on Lao.

Apollo grasped her arm to restrain her and spoke close to her ear, his warm breath tickling her flesh, “You and Ambrose await me upstairs. I won’t be long.”

Lao waved his hand. “Do not concern yourself, Mansi. I was just leaving. Apollo, we await you at the cove.”

“What?” Mansi turned to Apollo, her heart pounding with terror.

“I must go for a time,” he said. “I will return as soon as I can.”

“But you can’t go. The festival is tomorrow. The villagers are expecting us.”

“We mustn’t do anything to harm the villagers, must we?” Lao said to Apollo, his implication obvious to one familiar with him. Unless Apollo did as Dark Rhythm commanded, those he cared for would not be safe, especially any mortals. The idea of a member of Dark Rhythm associating with mortals other than to plan their deaths was abhorrent to their organization and quite against the rules. Apollo had convinced them to ignore his relationship with the villagers not only because he was one of the group’s most skilled and powerful members, but also because his questioning of their methods worried Lao.

“Don’t you dare threaten my people!” Mansi hissed.

“Your people are vampires,” Lao told her. “Not thosemortals .”

“Where are you going?” Ambrose asked Apollo.

“Perhaps you would like to join us?” Lao asked him. “You’re young and can be easily trained at your age.”

A growl of pure rage sprang from Apollo and he shoved Lao full in the chest, knocking him to his knees. “Get out. Now. I will meet you at the cove and you will never come here again.”

Lao’s eyes shone with fury. He stood and straightened his clothes. “I will come when your services are required. Good evening to you, Mansi. Ambrose.” The man’s cunning gaze lingered over Ambrose for a moment before he strode out of the mansion.

“Perhaps I should go with you.”

“You will stay here, boy!” Apollo growled, anger rolling off him in almost tangible waves.

Ambrose returned the growl and stepped in front of Apollo, placing a rough hand on his chest. “You might be my sire, but I’m no longer your boy.”

“Ambrose, please.” Mansi grasped his arm and tugged, terrified of losing both of them to Dark Rhythm’s violence. “We need you here. I need you.”

Ambrose turned to her, affection clouding the anger in his eyes. Still growling softly, he backed away from Apollo, who left the great hall.

“He still treats me like a novice,” Ambrose snapped, pacing the room.

“You are to him.”

“If Dark Rhythm is so horrible, then he might need my help.”

“He knows how to handle them.”

“Yet they still yank his chain, like he’s some great, stupid guard dog for their use alone.”

Mansi closed her eyes and shook her head. If Apollo heard such words from Ambrose, she hated to think of the fight that would ensue, no doubt leaving the younger vampire licking his wounds and more bitter than ever.

“You know about the initiation. He cannot leave.”

“Because we’re being threatened.” Ambrose scoffed. “I still find it difficult to believe that a group dedicated to the protection of our kind is as evil as you say. I’ve seen what fear and ignorance can do to people. Sometimes we need to fight back.”

“Defense is one thing, but blatant attacks on mortals is another.”

“I know.” Ambrose sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I just don’t like Apollo telling me what to do.”

Mansi laughed softly. “You’re so much like him in many ways.”

Ambrose’s anger seemed to fade and he embraced her. “Maybe it came through during the Change.”

Apollo once again stepped into the hall, this time carrying a small travel pack. He approached Mansi and took her in his arms, kissing her deeply. She clung to him, fighting off tears. Each time he left to perform his duty to Dark Rhythm, she feared it might be the last time she ever saw him. He would undoubtedly be facing dangerous hunters again. Perhaps one day, they would outsmart him.

Reluctantly, Apollo broke the kiss and turned to Ambrose. For a long moment, the men held each other’s gaze.

“I don’t want us to part in anger,” Apollo said quietly.

“Be careful,” Ambrose said, embracing his sire tightly.

Apollo dropped his pack and wrapped his arms around Ambrose who rested his head against his shoulder. Lifting a hand, Apollo stroked the younger vampire’s silky brown hair for several moments before stepping away slightly and brushing his mouth with a kiss.

Glancing one last time at Mansi, he left the mansion without looking back.

***

At the festival the following day, Mansi couldn’t stop thinking about Apollo. Was he safe and alive? Would he return soon?

Ambrose, too, seemed distracted and she knew his thoughts were also with his sire.

Early the next morning, when they returned to the mansion, both were strangely quiet.

Naked, they slipped into bed. Ambrose drew her to his side and Mansi cuddled against his chest.

He kissed her hair gently and said, “You’re worried about Apollo.”

“Yes. Very.”

“He’ll be fine. I know it. He’s strong.”

“But none of us are invincible.”

“Try to get some rest.” Ambrose caressed her shoulder.

It was long after sunrise before she fell asleep.

When she awoke, daylight still shone through the cracks between the curtains.

Ambrose stood beside the bed. He bent and kissed her. “Didn’t mean to wake you. Go back to sleep.”

“Is something wrong?”

“No. I just need to go for a walk.”

She sat up, the sheet falling to her waist and baring her breasts. “Now? You hate daylight, Ambrose.”

“I just need some air.”

“Are you --”

“Go back to sleep. I’m fine.”

Still groggy, Mansi settled against the pillows.

When she awoke again, it was well past dusk and Ambrose was not in bed. The faintness of his scent told her he had not been in the mansion all day.

Worried, she rose, washed, and dressed. Though Ambrose sometimes spent time alone, she knew he’d been upset since Lao’s visit. In spite of the intense love between Ambrose and Apollo, the tension between them had also grown over the decades. Ambrose was not as strong in body or skill as his sire, yet his soul harbored similar alpha traits.

Apollo’s rules often frustrated him. While Mansi had learned the best way to persuade Apollo to her way of thinking was by asking him to understand her wishes rather than demanding he do so, Ambrose was too quick tempered himself to approach Apollo sensibly.

By the time she’d finished dressing, Ambrose had returned. She met him in the great hall, disturbed by the scent of another vampire clinging to him.

“Mansi, we need to talk,” he said.

“Who have you been with?” she asked. “I don’t recognize the scent.”

“Someone who stopped on our western beach. He’s passing by.”

Mansi felt an inkling of trouble. “You’ve never lied to me before.”

“I’m not lying. He is passing by, and I’m going with him. Mansi, please.” He grasped her arms, continuing before she could interrupt, “I love you and Apollo. You are my family, but I’ve been with you for well over a century. I need to know if I can make my own way as a vampire in this world.”

“Don’t you want to say good bye to Apollo before you go?”

He sighed and tugged her into his arms. Burying her face in his chest, she committed to memory his fresh, masculine scent and the sensation of hair-dusted flesh over hard muscle.

“We have no way of knowing when he’ll return. Besides, if I did wait, he’d try to convince me not to go or to let him go with me. I can’t allow it. Not this time. I will no longer bend to his will.”

“He loves you.”

“I know he does, but unless I do this, he will never respect me.”

“That’s not true and you know it.”

“Then I won’t respect myself. I’m sorry if you don’t understand, Mansi.”

“I do.” She took his face in her hands and kissed him. “I do understand. Just wherever you go, be safe and come back to us when you’re ready.”

“I promise.” Again he held her close, his heart beating wildly against her ear.

Chapter Six

One Month Later

Mansi was sitting in a chair by the hearth in the master bedroom when she caught Apollo’s scent. Her heart pounding, she placed the book she was reading aside and hurried downstairs.

Apollo glanced at her from where he stood by the door, removing his rain-soaked cloak.

He looked slightly paler than usual and carried the same haunted look in his eyes he always did when he returned from a mission for Dark Rhythm.

“Apollo.” Mansi melted into his embrace.

“I’ve missed you, my love.” His grip tightened and he kissed her hair.

“I’ve missed you, too.”

She relaxed against him, lulled by the gentle caress of his hands on her back.

The pleasurable moment shattered when he asked, “Where is Ambrose?”

Mansi glanced up at him, knowing that in spite of his strength, he was not ready for the blow to come. Though he would never admit it, she knew he usually returned from Dark Rhythm feeling uncharacteristically vulnerable. Still, there was no way to keep the truth from him.

“He left, Apollo.”

“What?”

“He said he needed to get away and experience life as a vampire on his own.”

“When did this happen?”

“Right after you left. He met a vampire who docked briefly on our island and --”

“I don’t like this.” Apollo dropped his hold on her and began pacing the room. “It’s too much of a coincidence that he meets another vampire so soon after Lao came for me. This entire situation reeks of Dark Rhythm.”

Mansi had experienced that same fear, but hearing it from Apollo made it seem real. Nonetheless, Ambrose was no longer a novice. Young, yes, but with over a century of vampiric living behind him.

“He promised to come back.”

“I don’t doubt he will, but by then the damage will be done. I’m going after him.”

“Apollo, be reasonable. How will you find him?”

“I will.”

“He’s been gone a month. You couldn’t possibly --”

“You sound like you don’t want me to go after him.” Apollo’s fierce gaze held hers.

“For our sake, I do, but not for his. Apollo, he is a man, an individual. You know how important that is to him. This is something he needs to do.”

“And if he makes a foolish mistake, like I did?”

“You cannot bend him to your will. If you try, we will lose him.”

“Better to lose him that way than to Dark Rhythm’s evil,” Apollo snarled, his hands balled into fists, his pale face turning even whiter. “Do you know how many mortals I’ve killed, Mansi? At one time I believed all hunters deserved death. Now I don’t know who should be punished and who shouldn’t anymore. I hate Dark Rhythm and if they claim Ambrose as well, I will find a way to leave them forever. Rolon and I have discussed this and we both wish to disassociate ourselves from them.”

Rolon Adler was one of the only members of Dark Rhythm whom Apollo considered a friend. The two had been recruited and trained at the same time and had saved each other’s lives on numerous occasions. Though Mansi loathed Dark Rhythm, she had always rather liked Rolon Adler. He was much like her husband and she was glad to know he had at least one loyal friend when he served on dangerous missions.

“I thought there was no way out, except through death,” she murmured.

“I’m starting to think death might be preferable to being their slave.”

“Don’t say that!” Mansi grasped his arm so tightly her nails sank into his flesh. “What would I do without you?”

He smiled sadly and stroked her cheek. “You would be fine, Mansi. I believe you would miss me, but you have no idea how strong you are, how much strength you’ve given me over the centuries.”

“I love you so much, Apollo. I know you love me and Ambrose, so please believe me when I say you must give him the chance to grow outside of your shadow. He has a good soul and will do what’s right. I know it.”

“All right.” Apollo sighed. “I will do as you ask, but if he ever takes up with Dark Rhythm, it will be the beginning of a bloody battle.”

“Apollo, please.”

“Enough,” he said, his jaw visibly taut.

Mansi knew there would be no more reasoning with him tonight. She only prayed Ambrose was as wise as she thought him to be.

***

1830

Tiny ripples of passion coursed through Mansi from head to toe. Closing her eyes, she gripped the edge of the fountain in the courtyard and arched her back, pressing her breast deeper into Apollo’s mouth. He sucked hard on the nipple, then swept his tongue over it with wet, tender strokes. One hand cupped her other breast, kneading the soft flesh and gently pinching the nipple to wakefulness. His other hand dipped between her legs, his fingers gathering moisture, then circling her lust-swollen clit.

Moaning, she wove her fingers through his hair. “Oh, Apollo, yes. Yes, my love! Please.”

With a lustful growl, he straightened, grasped her hips, and repositioned her so that the tip of his erection teased her pussy. He kissed her throat, then simultaneously drove his fangs into her neck and his cock into her sheath.

“Ah!” she cried, wrapping her arms and legs around him as tightly as she could. Her sweat-drenched flesh kept slipping against his, but she relished the sensation. They had been making love for the past several hours on this hot, starry night. It was one of those rare times when they weren’t preoccupied with thoughts of Ambrose, wondering if he was safe and well.

Apollo’s tongue flicked over her neck as he gorged himself on her blood.

You taste so sweet, my love, his mental voice echoed in her head, heightening her desire.

I love when you drink from me, Apollo. I love you, my sire. My husband.

His thrusts increased. Withdrawing from her neck, he kissed her mouth, sharing the taste of her blood. The gesture aroused her so much that she came immediately, gasping into his mouth and writhing in his arms. Tearing his lips from hers, he released a hoarse cry of fulfillment and came hard.

“Apollo,” she murmured, loving the way his name fell from her lips.

For several moments, they leaned against one another, catching their breath and enjoying the aftermath.

Apollo lifted his head, his muscles stiffening.

Mansi opened her eyes and stared at him. “What’s wrong?”

“That scent.”

Mansi sniffed the air and smiled. “Ambrose.”

They hurried inside and dressed quickly, intending to meet him in the jungle. They had just reentered the courtyard when Ambrose, wearing boots and trousers, a travel pack slung over one of his broad shoulders, stepped through the trees. He paused for a moment, then raised his hand in an almost reluctant wave.

Mansi noted that he was even slimmer than before, but had put on more muscle. He wore a beard close to his handsome face, and even from a distance she saw that his wide-set green eyes had lost some of their innocence. She glanced at Apollo whose expression revealed none of the emotions she knew churned inside him.

“Mansi. Apollo.” Ambrose stepped closer, standing only a few feet from them.

“Ambrose.” Mansi slipped her arms around him and he held her so tightly that for a moment she could scarcely breathe, yet she didn’t care. It felt wonderful to hold him again.

“God, I’ve missed you,” he whispered against her hair.

“We’ve missed you, too.” She gave him another squeeze before stepping away.

Ambrose turned to Apollo. For a long moment, their gazes locked.

“Are you angry with me?” Ambrose asked.

Apollo shook his head. “Have you been well?”

“I’ve learned much.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“I have been well enough. And you?”

“I wish you had spoken with me before you left so suddenly.”

“I apologize for that. It was cowardly of me.”

Apollo raised an eyebrow.

“I owed you at least that much, but I was afraid you would have convinced me not to go.”

“I probably would have tried, or at least suggested we accompany you, but I see I was wrong as well. You have obviously survived and grown as a man and a vampire.”

“Your lessons were often hard to learn, sire, but only until I was on my own did I come to appreciate them.” Ambrose drew a deep breath and reached for Apollo. “I have missed you.”

Apollo wrapped his arms around the younger vampire, holding him closer.

Mansi didn’t need to exercise much power to sense the waves of love between the two men, but it was tainted by apprehension. Ambrose still had much to tell them.

When their embrace ended, Mansi took Ambrose’s hand. “Come inside and rest. We can talk more over a meal.”

They decided on an informal meal in the kitchen. Soon they were seated at the table enjoying stew, bread, fruit, and wine.

“What have you done this past year?” Apollo asked.

Ambrose sighed and lowered his gaze to the chunk of bread turning between his slender fingers. When he raised his eyes, they fixed on Apollo with an almost defiant look. “You won’t like what I’m going to tell you.”

“Try me,” Apollo stated with more calm than Mansi had expected.

“I have been living and working with several members of Dark Rhythm. I am due to be initiated at the end of the month.”

Dread washed over Mansi, destroying her appetite. Actually, she felt sick.

“Did they tell you they exist to protect our kind?” Apollo said quietly, his hands dropping to his thighs and curling into such tight fists that they trembled.

“They do.” Ambrose’s expression revealed his utter belief in their cause. “I know you’ve tried to convince me otherwise and for years I believed you, but you were only giving me one side of the story.”

“The true side.”

“Sire, I know --”

“Don’t sire me,” Apollo said. “If you respected me as your sire you would not call me a liar.”

“I don’t believe you’re a liar, just a man who has grown tired of the fight.”

“How dare you?” Apollo snarled, his sapphire eyes gleaming with fury. “You ignorant young fool. You think you have lived, but you have seen nothing of the world. I have seen millennia come and go. I have been with Dark Rhythm for nearly as long. You think that you, after one year, know them better than I do?”

“You see,” Ambrose glanced at Mansi, “he hasn’t changed a bit. There is no talking to him.”

“I’m sorry, Ambrose, but this time I must agree with him.”

“I should have known better than to hope you would understand.”

“What is it you want us to understand?” Apollo asked, his calm veneer back in place. “That you wish to throw your life away? To present your soul to the devil in the name of justice?”

“You did it.”

“I was wrong, and I have paid the price.”

“Lao told me you would try to persuade me not to accept initiation.” Ambrose stood.

Apollo also rose.

“Have you forgotten that humans loathe us? All my life, no matter what form I have existed in, people have tried to drive me away from life itself for being different, for admitting I have different views. We cannot let people continue to dictate how we live. Over this year, I have seen vampires tortured and killed by mortals. Dark Rhythm offers us protection.”

“And revenge,” Mansi said, approaching Ambrose and resting a hand against his chest. His heart thrummed against her palm. His anger and frustration cried out to her, and though she sympathized with his feelings, she was terrified of losing him to Dark Rhythm.

“That’s what you really want, isn’t it?” Apollo demanded. “Revenge against the human race for their prejudice, but it’s not just humans. Vampires are just as bad, as you will find if you join Dark Rhythm. I will not let you do it.”

“You don’t have a choice.” Ambrose growled, brushing Mansi aside and striding up to Apollo so the two stood chest to chest, eyes on eyes.

The scent of their mingled hurt and anger filled the air and Mansi’s pulse quickened with fear that for the first time the sire and offspring would come to blows.

“You’re thinking you might prefer to kill me than give me up to them?” Ambrose glared at Apollo. “Yes,master , my mind control skills have grown during my year abroad.”

“I warn you, boy. Do not push me or I might just act on that fleeting thought you read so correctly.”

“Try it.” Ambrose attempted to back Apollo away, but it was akin to trying to move a mountain.

“This is your final warning, Ambrose. Stand down.”

“Not this time.”

“Stop it!” Mansi bellowed, shoving her way between them. “Have you both gone mad? You love each other.”

“His idea of love is giving orders and having the rest of us follow,” Ambrose snapped.

“I’m trying to protect you from the mistakes I’ve made, only you’re too stupid to see it. Don’t you understand, Ambrose, they want to use you as a weapon and like a sword or bow, once you’re broken or destroyed, they will forget about you with no remorse.”

“Keeping our race safe is more important than the life of one vampire.”

“What about the lives of men? Are they worth nothing to you? You who have always looked for the good in everything.”

“I was an idealistic fool.”

“Idealism is what will change the world,” Mansi said. “Don’t you see that anymore?”

“Dark Rhythm’s solution to the problem is to kill all mortals. What they forget is that we were once mortal. All of us have the same core.” Apollo clasped Ambrose’s shoulders. “Don’t you see that?”

“I’ve seen death, accusations without evidence. Now I see a way to bring about justice. I’m not saying Dark Rhythm is perfect --”

“Far from it,” Apollo interrupted.

“But they are trying to do what’s best for our kind. I’m sorry if you’re hurt by my decision, Apollo, but this is something I must do. If you wish for me to stay away, I will never return here.”

“This is your home,” Mansi stated. “You are always welcome here, isn’t that right, Apollo?”

“Yes. Always.”

“Thank you. Now I must go. One of Dark Rhythm’s ships awaits me.”

Mansi’s heart sank. “So soon?”

“I’m sorry, but I persuaded them to stop here on the way to our next mission. I will return as soon as it’s over. Until then, remember how much I love you.” He embraced Mansi and covered her mouth with a deep, tender kiss. She clung to him tightly for a long moment, then released him.

Ambrose turned to Apollo. “I would like to kiss you, but I’m not sure you would welcome it.”

Cupping the back of Ambrose’s head, Apollo tugged him closer and covered his mouth with his. Their eyes slipped shut and the kiss seemed to last forever. When it broke, both were panting slightly, their lips swollen and moist.

Ambrose picked up his bag and left, glancing at them once over his shoulder.

No sooner had he left than Apollo headed up to the master bedroom, Mansi close behind him.

“I’m going with him,” Apollo stated, tossing a change of clothes and a set of his best daggers into his travel pack.

Mansi nodded. Though she feared losing them both, she knew this time Ambrose would be better off with Apollo fighting beside him.

***

Three weeks later, on a hot, starry night, Mansi was seated in the great hall when she caught Apollo’s scent and another odor that nearly made her heart stop beating. The stench of death.

Barefoot, she raced outside, through the courtyard, and down the jungle path leading to the dock. In the moonlight, she saw Apollo’s tall form walking slowly toward her, Ambrose’s shrouded body in his arms.

Choked by tears, she approached, resting a hand on Ambrose’s chest. The familiar heartbeat failed to throb against her palm. Glancing up, she noticed Apollo’s eyes shining far too brightly, though he somehow managed to keep tears from spilling down his gaunt face.

He didn’t speak, but words weren’t necessary. For the first time in her memory, his expression revealed all.

That is how Mansi came to stand in the great hall beside the body of her young lover while her husband planned revenge instead of fully sharing her grief. She sensed what he planned to do and though she didn’t want him to return to Dark Rhythm, part of her longed for retribution as much as he did.

Throughout the night, villagers approached the mansion, offering their condolences on the loss of Ambrose. Several of them cried with Mansi and she took comfort in their friendship. Apollo politely accepted their words, but remained dry-eyed and distant. The few times Mansi tried exploring his thoughts, she couldn’t break through the barrier he had erected. She feared losing him as well, but knew it would be impossible to reason with him when he was in such a state.

At midnight, when the villagers had left them to their privacy, they brought Ambrose’s body to the funeral pyre they had built on the beach. Apollo lifted Ambrose atop it, then he and Mansi took torches and lit the branches. They watched as flames consumed their lover’s body.

Tears coursed down Mansi’s face, but she didn’t bother wiping them away. She allowed them to cleanse her. Slipping her arms around Apollo, she rested her cheek against his chest. He held her tightly, yet remained still and silent as stone.

At dawn, they made their way through the jungle, back home.

“I refused to participate in a mission I thought was wrong,” Apollo said quietly. “That’s why he’s dead.”

She looked up at him, noting the anguish in his sapphire eyes. Taking his hand, she held it tightly as he continued.

“They replaced me with him, knowing he wasn’t ready for this particular mission. They tried to bait me by using him and it worked. Still, I was unable to save him from the hunters’ stakes. Dark Rhythm used him and they used me for their own savage purpose. Never again, Mansi.”

“Apollo, you cannot blame yourself. Ambrose was a full fledged vampire.”

“I should have done as they ordered. I ended up doing it anyway. Ambrose would still be alive and --”

“No. You did not stake him. You did not assign him to a duty he couldn’t fulfill. You did nothing except warn him about Dark Rhythm’s evil. He chose to ignore you. I loved him, Apollo, and I will miss him for the rest of my life, but he was wrong, not you.”

At the mansion, they retired to the master bedroom where Mansi fell asleep almost immediately, exhausted from worry and grief.

She awoke at dusk to an empty bed and followed Apollo’s scent to a third floor balcony where he sat, staring at the courtyard below, his arms wrapped tightly around himself, rocking slightly.

Her heart breaking for him, she sat beside him, drawing him into her embrace.

“It wasn’t your fault,” she murmured, stroking his hair.

Another vampire’s familiar scent drifted on the air. Moments later, Rolon Adler stepped out of the trees and into the courtyard.

Apollo stood, offering Mansi a hand up.

Rolon glanced at them. “May I speak with you?”

Nodding, Apollo turned and made his way outside, Mansi close behind him.

Rolon Adler was very tall and well proportioned with brown hair and blue eyes. Like Apollo, he was a strong alpha male. Mansi understood how he and her husband had become such good friends, but not lovers. They were far too much alike, both arrogant bulls demanding to head the herd. Should two such creatures ever mate, one was eventually sure to kill the other; she knew that harsh rule all too well.

“I came to offer my deepest condolences for the loss of Ambrose,” Rolon stated, glancing from Mansi to Apollo before his gaze fixed solidly on the other male. “And to let you know that whatever actions you decide to take from here on out, I am fully with you.”

Mansi’s heart skipped a beat. Though she knew Apollo had been planning his revenge, Rolon’s words drove in the reality.

Apollo inclined his head slightly. “Thank you. I plan to leave on the morrow.”

“Please think about this carefully.” Mansi tightened her grip on her husband’s hand, her gaze switching between both men.

“Once it is done, I will make it clear that I am no longer part of Dark Rhythm,” Apollo stated.

“And me as well,” Rolon said. “It is long past time for both of us.”

“They’ll kill you,” Mansi said, somehow keeping the waver from her voice. “Apollo, I have just lost one soulmate. I won’t lose you, too.”

“You have already lost me,” he said flatly. “As long as I serve Dark Rhythm, I can never fully belong to anyone else, even myself. From here on out I will live as a free man or not at all.”

“It is rumored that Dark Rhythm does have an exit ritual,” Rolon said. “However no vampire has attempted to leave in several thousand years.”

“I despise them,” Mansi whispered, her voice thick with loathing.

“So do I,” Apollo stated.

“And I can no longer obey them,” Rolon said.

“I promise, Mansi, when I return, it will be forever.”

***

Several months later, Mansi awoke at midday to pounding on the front door. Catching Apollo’s scent mingled with several of the villagers, she leapt out of bed, her pulse racing. He smelled of pain and injury.

Quickly covering herself with a robe, she raced down the steps and flung open the door, drawing a sharp breath at the sight of her husband, unconscious, bloodied, and far too thin, being lifted from a wagon by three of the local fishermen.

“We found him like this on the beach,” one of the villagers said. “He hasn’t awakened.”

“Take him to our room. Thank you for bringing him here,” Mansi said, hurrying to collect fresh water and bandages.

Though the men offered to help her tend Apollo’s injuries, she told them it wasn’t necessary. The quickest way to help him would be to feed him her blood. They returned to their village and she began inspecting Apollo’s wounds. His wrists and ankles had been rubbed raw, as if he’d been tightly bound for a long time.

Most of the other wounds on his body had already begun to heal, though more slowly than usual since one on his shoulder and two on the backs of his legs seemed to have been inflicted by silver, a substance deadly to their kind. Because arteries had been severed due to the leg injuries, he had bled to the brink of death.

Once she’d cleaned and stitched the worst of the wounds, she wasted no time before feeding him her blood.

After slicing her arm, she supported his head and forced the blood into his mouth. It took little time for him to begin drinking in earnest. His thin, dirt-stained fingers gripped her arm almost painfully. His eyes closed, he lapped her blood, sinking his fangs into the wound, making it deeper. In his desperate and semi-conscious state, his bite hurt rather than brought its usual pleasure. Mansi repressed a grunt of pain, allowing her blood to nourish him.

In a sudden motion that took her by surprise, Apollo pinned her to the bed and pierced her neck. Growling like a half-crazed dog, he bit and sucked. Mansi felt light-headed. If he didn’t cease, he could do her serious injury.

“Apollo, stop,” she panted, trying to push him away, but even in such a weakened state, he had retained shocking power. “That’s enough! Stop it!”

Arching her body, she managed to push him off with a massive shove. She gasped, part of her flesh tearing away in his teeth.

He reached for her again, but she slapped him hard, hating the thought of causing him more pain, but knowing that he could do her even worse damage.

He paused, blinking as if awakening from a centuries’ long sleep.

“Mansi,” he whispered, staring at her hand pressed to her savagely torn neck. He reached for her with the utmost gentleness. “God, I’m so sorry. I --”

“It wasn’t your fault,” she said. “When the villagers brought you here, you were almost dead.”

“I’m free of Dark Rhythm,” he said quietly. “Rolon and I underwent their exit ritual. They said we will always be their brothers, but we have earned our right to deny them.”

His emotions struck her with such force that she could do nothing but cling to him. They held each other tightly for a long time while his thoughts drifted through her mind.

She watched him fighting like a savage beast, not destroying mortal hunters, but the vampires who were directly involved in Ambrose’s last mission, the ones who had used him as bait and left him to die at the hands of hunters.

Afterward, he didn’t hide from Dark Rhythm, but demanded his freedom or his death. Rolon stood beside him in this, demanding the same. A respected member of the group, a man called Ellis with whom they had trained ages ago, spoke for them, asking for the exit ritual rather than execution.

Lao agreed, knowing that the ritual itself could end in their death. After being beaten to unconsciousness, they were chained in isolation, starved to the brink of death, past the point when the madness for blood takes over a vampire, then restored with just enough blood to keep them alive. Over several weeks their “brothers” repeated this cycle. Finally, Apollo was taken by ship to his island where, bound, he was dragged ashore and the backs of his legs cut with silver. There he was left, his blood seeping into the sand beneath the painful rays of the sun.

“I don’t even know if Rolon survived, since we were separated when the ritual began,” Apollo murmured.

“Once you’re recovered, we’ll search for him.”

He nodded and settled onto the bed with her still in his arms. “I need a bath.”

“Badly, but later.” She tightened her hold on him and buried her face against his chest, not even caring that he smelled terrible. “Rest now.”

“I love you, Mansi.”

“I love you, too, Apollo. And now you’re free.”

Dangerous Cravings 3: Lust and the Damned

Kate Hill

Part Two

Chapter One

Apollo and Mansi’s island, 2004

Apollo lowered himself to the cobbled ground of the courtyard and leaned back on his elbows, his legs stretched out in front of him. Gazing skyward, he enjoyed the beauty of the moon overhead and wished Mansi hadn’t chosen tonight to go to the village. Over the past years, too many changes had taken place there, and while he still considered the villagers friends, he didn’t visit as often as he used to. They had adopted a far more modern way of life and Mansi relished it as much as they did. Even the mansion now had electric lights and telephone lines. Had Ambrose lived, he most likely would have gone right along with Mansi when it came to such changes.

He sighed, closing his eyes. Thinking of Ambrose was still painful, but the raw ache was finally starting to lessen and he was able to smile more often than not when remembering good times they had shared.

Since those horrible incidents with Dark Rhythm years ago, he had wanted nothing more than to stay on the island and enjoy his relationship with Mansi. After searching for Rolon to ensure he had also survived the ritual, Apollo and Mansi had done just that. Retired to the island for a long rest.

She had been indulging his need to cling to their home, but he sensed her growing restlessness.

Her scent wafted on the air and he stared toward the jungle until she stepped out of the trees carrying a handful of mail. He didn’t doubt that most of the correspondence would be bills and letters from several of her off-island friends with whom she kept in touch.

As she approached, he stood and kissed her.

Smiling, she handed him an envelope. “A letter for you.”

“For me?” He cocked an eyebrow and took the envelope, a strange feeling washing over him when he saw there was no return address. He opened it and scanned its contents, rage coiling inside him, then crushed the letter and envelope in his fist. “Junk mail.”

She wrinkled her nose. “You liar. What was it?”

“Dark Rhythm wishes me to return for one last assignment.”

Mansi’s eyes flashed with anger. “They can’t be serious?”

“Can’t they? It doesn’t matter. I’m no longer a part of them, whether they want to accept it or not.”

“What are you going to tell them?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

“I got a letter from my old friend Louisa. She’s asked us to visit her in Mexico.”

He shrugged. The idea of leaving the island didn’t suit him at the moment.

“Apollo, listen to me. We have been stuck here in mourning for well over a hundred years. I loved Ambrose and I miss him, too, but we can’t hide here forever.”

“I am not hiding.”

“This isn’t good for either of us.” She caressed his cheek, her expression pleading. “I would do just about anything for you, but I will not allow us to waste our existence. I am bored, Apollo. I need to get away.”

His teeth clenched for a moment before he reminded himself to relax. Perhaps she was right. Maybe he had grown too comfortable and complacent. Cupping her chin in his hand, he tenderly stroked her soft flesh with his thumb. “I will consider it.”

That night Apollo tossed the message into the fire. Over the next several weeks, more letters followed, each one more disturbing than the last. Ellis, the vampire who had spoken for him and Rolon when they wished to leave Dark Rhythm, had been destroyed by a highly skilled group of hunters. Even Rolon had agreed to return for this one last mission out of respect for their deceased friend.

Apollo told himself Rolon could return if he wanted to, that he didn’t have as much reason to despise Dark Rhythm as he did.

Late one night while Mansi went swimming with several of the village women, the telephone rang and Apollo answered.

“I must talk to you.” Lao’s voice sent a ripple of anger coursing through him.

“How did you get this number?”

“I flew here this morning and have taken a room at the bed and breakfast in the village. Nice of you to allow mortals to use your land as a resort.”

“What I do with my land is none of your business,” Apollo’s voice dripped with hatred. “And since this is my island, I want you off it. Immediately.”

“Rolon needs you to back him up on this mission. You both owe it to Ellis. The three of you were as close as real brothers.”

“I will not become your pawn again, Lao. The answer is no.”

“If you change your mind, you know how to reach me.”

“I expect you to leave on the next helicopter out of here, which is tomorrow morning. If you stay against my wishes, you will regret it, Lao.” Apollo hung up before his former leader could reply.

He didn’t mention Lao’s call to Mansi until two days later, when he decided to assist Rolon.

They were seated at the dining table eating dinner when he told her of his decision.

“You’ve thought about this carefully,” she said, her disappointment and concern obvious.

“Yes. We must leave tomorrow. With any luck, I’ll arrive in Vermont in time to help Rolon.”

“Are you certain Dark Rhythm won’t take this as a sign that you want to rejoin?”

“I will make that clear.”

“You don’t want to rejoin, do you?”

“Of course not,” he snapped. “When I’ve finished with the mission, you and I will travel.”

She folded her arms across her chest and watched him with the expression of a woman who knew all of his quirks. “You’re saying that to appease me because you know I don’t want you to go on the mission.”

“I’m saying it because you’re right, Mansi. Staying on this island any longer goes beyond grieving and into hiding.” Locking his foot around her chair leg, he dragged the chair closer. He shoved aside his plate, grasped her waist, and guided her onto the table. “Enough talk, Mansi. I think --” He kissed her neck while unfastening a button on her blouse. “I’m ready --” He kissed her collarbone and continued unbuttoning. “For dessert.”

Mansi drew a sharp breath when he grasped one bare breast and gently bit the nipple. He sucked and lapped, drinking her, sending ripples of delight through her entire body.

“Oh, Apollo,” she breathed, weaving her fingers through his hair. “Take me, my love.”

He growled softly and continued teasing first one breast, then the other. She tasted so delicious. The taste of her blood and the scent of her arousal had him rock hard and ready, yet he wanted to take his time and enjoy her, give her all the pleasure such a wonderful woman deserved. Even after so many years, she still aroused him more than any other woman he’d ever known. Pushing her skirt up around her waist, he was pleased to find she wore no panties.

His hands resting lightly on her hips, he squatted in front of her, nudging his chair behind him. Her smooth skin teased his lips as he kissed his way across her belly, then used the tip of his tongue to circle her navel. Caressing her hips with sweeping strokes, he sank a bit lower and covered her clit with his mouth.

“Ah!” she cried, tightening her grip on his head and thrusting against his lips.

He ran his tongue over the plump flesh. Taking it between his lips, he sucked gently, then licked with

long, slow strokes that soon had her quivering with desire.

“Please, Apollo. Oh please don’t make me wait any longer.”

He allowed a low, possessive growl to escape his throat. Licking faster, he drove her into orgasm. His hands steadied her bucking hips and he refused to tear his mouth from her clit until she fell back on the table, panting and fulfilled.

Controlling his grin of pleasure at the knowledge that after so many years he could still make her writhe with lust, he dragged her closer to the edge of the table. He entered her with a long, swift thrust that roused her from her relaxed state.

“Apollo,” she gasped, her wide eyes fixed on his. Her fingers sank into his shoulders, biting through the fabric of his shirt. A throaty, sensual moan escaped her throat.

“I’ve always loved the sounds you make.” He slid his tongue over her neck, his teeth aching to taste her once more. “Continue.”

She obeyed, thrashing and crying out her pleasure.

Each time she moaned his name, his thrusting increased. Her heated body tensed around him and he knew by the rhythm of her breathing and heartbeat she was as near to climaxing as he was.

“Taste me, Mansi.”

She sank her fangs into his shoulder and exploded in orgasm at the first sip of his blood. Trembling, her pussy throbbing around his almost painful erection, she held onto him even tighter.

Apollo growled louder this time and bit her, his hips jerking so fast that the table shook. With a final massive thrust, he came, gulping her blood and pressing her beautiful, satin-skinned body into the table.

After a moment, Mansi giggled. “Good thing this is a strong table.”

“Because it was made the old way, not on the assembly line like the modern shops you fancy in the village.”

“If you visited them for longer than two minutes, you might find you like the modern shops.”

“Perhaps.”

He lifted his head and their gazes met. Though she didn’t speak of it, he sensed her concern. No matter how courageous Mansi’s veneer, he knew she would not fully relax until this last mission was over and he had finally turned his back on Dark Rhythm forever.

Chapter Two

New York City, six days later

Apollo’s vision blurred slightly as he gazed outside the cab window at the buildings and lights of the city. It was nearing midnight, but he wanted nothing more than to curl up in a comfortable bed with Mansi in

his arms and sleep. For almost a week he had scarcely gotten any sleep, except for a couple of hours scattered among rushing from plane to bus to taxi. He had managed to arrive in Vermont, USA, just in time to meet Rolon at the farmhouse where they were to execute a group of hunters as obsessed with wiping out vampire-kind as Dark Rhythm was determined to destroy humankind. Though he did help with a bit of a scrape, he had no doubts that his friend could have completed the mission without him. Still, Rolon had stood by him all those years ago when he’d sought revenge against certain members of Dark Rhythm for participating in events leading to Ambrose’s death. Apollo always paid his debts and he never forgot a friend’s loyalty.

Now it was over. Both he and Rolon agreed never to have anything to do with Dark Rhythm again. All Apollo had to do was convince Mansi that this time it was the truth.

It probably wouldn’t be too difficult. She understood why he had felt the need to help Rolon and appreciated the support he had once shown Apollo.

When they had arrived in the US, Apollo had wanted Mansi to wait out his mission in a safe place. A club called Burgundy Peak in New York City was run by a vampire called Zigor, an ancient who was well respected among their kind. He considered all of New York his territory and defended it fiercely. He openly disliked Dark Rhythm, yet never opposed them, unless they ventured into his territory. Zigor’s reputation as a savage protector was based in fact, as many unfortunate vampires as well as mortal hunters had come to learn the hard way.

Burgundy Peak seemed the ideal place for Mansi to stay. Not only would she be safe as a patron there, but the club, though small, was known for its entertaining atmosphere. Unfortunately, it was also one of the finest vampire bordellos in the country, but he didn’t concern himself with Mansi participating in orgies -- at least not without him by her side.

Almost lulled to sleep by the sigh of tires on pavement, Apollo jerked to a more alert position when the cab stopped abruptly in front of Burgundy Peak.

After paying the driver, Apollo approached the club, catching the scent of many vampires and several mortals within. The aroma of a few ancients reached him, Mansi’s luscious scent among them. He strode up the steps and entered the foyer. A tall, powerfully built black man stood, his arms folded across his chest. Long fingernails painted black tapped against his enormous biceps and he watched Apollo with stern, dark eyes.

When he spoke the tips of his fangs flashed white in contrast to his ebony skin. “Welcome to Burgundy

Peak.”

The vampire’s deep voice rumbled in the foyer, and Apollo sensed his words were not merely a greeting, but a warning. When two alpha males met, wariness always hung heavily on the air, and it was no different for Apollo and this man whom he guessed was some form of club security.

“Good evening. My wife checked into a room here several days ago. Where is the reference desk?”

“Your name?”

“Apollo Sheridan.”

“Yes. You are expected. Enter the club’s main floor through that door. She is dining with my wife this evening. The fifth table to the left when you step inside.”

“And you are?”

“Onan,” the man stated gruffly. His gaze fixed on Apollo, not inciting a challenge, but revealing willingness to accept one, should it be given.

In spite of his harsh appearance, there was something about this man Apollo instantly respected. Yes, it seemed he had chosen the right place for Mansi to stay during their time apart, for he didn’t doubt Burgundy Peak was indeed well protected.

Apollo had already traced Mansi’s scent, but he nodded to the bouncer and opened the door, almost crashing into Mansi.

“Apollo!” She flung her arms around his neck and held him tightly. Obviously, she had caught his scent and come to greet him. A warm feeling oozed over him and he returned her embrace. Tilting her face up to his, she gazed at him with concern. “Are you all right? How did it go? You look tired.”

“We succeeded and I am unharmed. From now on, we will never speak of Dark Rhythm again. It is forever behind me. Agreed?”

A smile of pure happiness lit her lovely face. “Agreed. Come have dinner with us. I would like you to meet my friend, Elizabeth. We met on the day I checked in and have been hanging out ever since.”

“Hanging out?”

Mansi smiled. “Spending time together. Trapped on that island for so many years, I’m afraid we’ve fallen terribly behind in slang terms, and you’re far worse off than I am because at least I spent time with the villagers and tourists.”

She took his hands and guided him through the busy club. Men and women mingled at the bar or enjoyed meals at booths and tables while others danced to music played by a live band. Pausing, she glanced at him. “Unless you don’t feel like eating? Would you rather go right to bed?”

“Lord, woman, I’m not that old and decrepit,” he teased. “After dinner is soon enough for sleep. Besides, I would like to meet your friend. See how and with whom my wife has been spending her time without me.”

A quirky expression crossed her face, sparking his curiosity. To his surprise, when he tried to communicate with her telepathically, she blocked him out.

“What’s wrong, Mansi?” he demanded. “What are you keeping from me?”

“Don’t look so angry, Apollo. It’s nothing terrible.”

“But it is something?”

“Something good.”

“If it’s so good, tell me now.”

“Come meet Elizabeth first.” She nodded toward a table to their left where a lovely red-haired woman sat eating her dinner.

“Someone has aroused you. I can smell it,” he said quietly. “Is it her? Does her husband approve? I saw him in the foyer and it would be a difficult fight, but one I vow to win --”

“Apollo, stop it,” she snapped. “You’re not going to fight anyone. No, I am not having an affair with Elizabeth.”

Apollo had to admit to himself he felt a hint of relief. Fighting a vampire as big and old as Onan wasn’t at the top of his list of ways to spend the evening. Not that he doubted he’d prevail, but not without losing his share of blood, that was for sure, and he’d seen more than enough bloodshed during this last mission.

At the table, Mansi introduced him to Elizabeth who turned out to be a charming young vampiress with a pleasant Irish brogue and a good sense of humor. It was hard to believe such a sweet, outgoing woman had matched herself with the ominous Onan, but people had often made the same remark about Apollo and Mansi.

A waitress took Apollo’s order, and Mansi insisted he share some of her food until his came. There was something intimate and almost playful about eating from the same plate, and he had to admit he enjoyed it more for the sake of flirtation than to sate his hunger.

During the meal, the scent of another ancient caught Apollo’s attention. He glanced toward a booth at the back of the room, half hidden in the shadow of a potted tree, and saw a tall, black-haired man with piercing blue eyes seated there. The man stared in his direction and their gazes locked.

“That’s Master Zigor,” Elizabeth explained.

“Master?” Apollo raised an eyebrow. Though Master was a term commonly used in the old days to refer to ancients, particularly by their offspring, he was slightly surprised to hear it, since it had been seldom used for centuries. He knew some vampires who still used the title, but it was not something Apollo had ever demanded of his blood children. He preferred the gentler, though no less respectful, title of sire, and then only to be used in moments of affection.

“Just about everyone calls him Master Zigor.” Mansi smiled slightly and Apollo growled, a low sound deep in his chest. Mansi looked worried. “Please don’t start. Not here and not with him.”

“He frightens you?”

“It’s not that. I’ve just had enough violence, of worrying, of --”

“I suppose we should be used to it by now,” Elizabeth told her. “It is often the same for me with Onan.”

“I was surprised to see a man such as your husband working for another ancient,” Apollo stated.

“Master Zigor is his Creator,” Elizabeth said.

“I see.” Apollo sighed, turning a strawberry between his fingers. “They’re lucky to still have one another after so many years. Sometimes things can go so very wrong between sire and offspring, especially the males.”

For a moment thoughts of Ambrose, as well as his own Creator, filled his mind, but he pushed them aside and guided the conversation toward more superficial topics.

When the meal ended, Elizabeth excused herself, leaving the couple alone at the table.

“Now you will tell me what was on your mind earlier,” Apollo stated.

“I think we should go upstairs.”

“I see this is going to be something I won’t like hearing.”

Her smile faded slightly. “On the contrary, I hope it will please you.”

After paying the dinner bill, Apollo took Mansi’s hand as they took the stairs to their second floor room.

The mid-sized room was comfortably furnished with an oversized bed, dresser, and breakfast table. Through the sheer black curtains covering sliding glass doors, Apollo saw a small balcony decorated with several potted plants. He noted that the door and window to his left had room darkening shades.

Mansi closed the door while Apollo continued his exploration, glancing in the bathroom and noting with pleasure the enormous black-tiled shower. His cock twitched when he imagined playing with Mansi in there.

At the moment, however, there were more important matters at hand than physical pleasure.

He approached Mansi, who had busied herself by searching through her box of jewelry on the dresser.

“I have been patient long enough, Mansi. Tell me.”

She closed the box and turned to him, slipping her arms around his neck and gazing deeply into his eyes. “Apollo, I’ve met someone and I want to introduce you.”

“Met someone? As in you’ve been having an affair behind my back?”

“How dare you?” she snapped, her angry expression taking him by surprise. Mansi possessed a fierce temper, that he knew, but she rarely used it, especially with him.

“Explain yourself, Mansi.”

“You honestly think that after all these years I would enter a relationship with someone behind your back?”

The idea was preposterous. He and Mansi had always been honest with and dedicated to each other. He was simply on edge over his recent dealings with Dark Rhythm and was taking his frustration out on her.

Taking her hand, he squeezed it gently and held her gaze, apologizing with his look. “Please continue.”

“A couple of days ago, I met someone in the club. At first he caught my attention because he resembled Ambrose, but once I started talking to him I realized how unlike Ambrose he was, but Iliked him.”

Apollo’s chest tightened at the mention of Ambrose. “No, Mansi. I do not want to meet him.”

“But --”

“You have my answer.”

“Apollo, listen to me! Not since you or Ambrose have I had such strong feelings for anyone. I know that once you meet him, you’ll feel the same.”

“The discussion is closed.” Apollo strode to the bathroom and stepped inside, slamming the door behind him. Bracing his hands on either side of the sink, he held his own gaze in the mirror and he hated what he saw. Anguish. Fury. A man still unable to come to terms with his failure.

“It is not closed!” Mansi burst into the bathroom, her eyes gleaming. “You have made a decision before even meeting him.”

Clenching his teeth, he grasped her upper arms and forced her against the wall. “You attempt to bend me to your will? I think not, woman!”

Hurt mingled with the fury in her expression. He sensed the battlefield of emotions within her and it was more painful than he wanted to admit because he was the cause of her turmoil.

“Bend your will? As if that’s fucking possible!” she seethed. “Was Ambrose right? Do you not care about anyone’s needs and desires but your own?”

His jaw tightened so much that his very bones started to ache. Releasing his hold on her, he cupped her cheek and stroked gently. “You honestly think I don’t care about you?”

She closed her eyes for a moment. “I know you care about me, Apollo, but you’re being unreasonable.”

“Mansi, I --” He drew a deep breath and released it slowly. Turning his back to her, he clenched his fists at his sides. “I cannot endure another Ambrose. Not now.”

She rested her hand on his back, rubbing in slow, tender circles. “He is not Ambrose. His name is Huxley.”

“But if he’s like --”

“I said he resembled him, but he is as different from Ambrose as -- as day is from night.” She tugged on his arm until he faced her again. He didn’t like looking at her while in such a state, knowing his raw emotions were reflected in his eyes. “You once told me something, Apollo. Something very true.”

“And what was that, Mansi?” His voice dripped enough sarcasm to cover his pain.

“Our lives are long. Soulmates are rare, so we shouldn’t risk leaving one behind.”

They held each other’s gaze for a long moment before he said, “All right. I will meet him.”

“Good.” She embraced him tightly, resting her head against his chest.

Apollo wrapped his arms around her, inhaling the aroma of her hair, perfume, and her own arousing, distinctive scent.

After so many years alone, she had found them a third companion. Deep inside, in a place he tried to bury, he looked forward to meeting Huxley as much as he dreaded it. He didn’t doubt Mansi had chosen him carefully, that she was certain they were meant to be together.

Apollo must act carefully if he wished to rebel against fate itself.

In spite of his exhaustion, Apollo spent a restless day plagued by dreams of Ambrose and Dark Rhythm.

He awoke to moonlight shining in through the open window. The sheer curtains shimmied in the warm breeze that carried the city’s combined scents.

“Good evening,” Mansi whispered in his ear.

He growled softly and rolled over, pressing her onto her back and nuzzling her neck.

“Huxley will be arriving soon.”

Apollo raised his head. “What time is it?”

“Almost eleven. You must have been tired.” She stroked his hair and pushed a tendril behind his ear.

Though reluctant to abandon such a comfortable position, he needed to wash and dress before their guest arrived.

Mansi had arranged for dinner in their room.

He rolled off her and stood, noting she wore a fitted, sleeveless dress of pale green that accentuated her luscious dark olive skin.

“New outfit?” he asked.

Glancing down at herself, she smiled. “Do you like it?”

“You look lovely. Is it for him or me?”

“Neither. It’s for me,” she said, turning away from him, but not before he noted a hurt look in her eyes, making him feel guilty over his remark. “Apollo, I didn’t act like this when you sent Ambrose to me.”

He caressed the soft, bare flesh of her upper arm, then walked to the bathroom.

Half an hour later, Apollo, dressed in black slacks and a shirt the same sapphire blue as his eyes, stood on the balcony. The breeze caressed his face and hair. Beyond the odor of smog, gasoline, and restaurant food drifted a scent that made him inhale deeply to enjoy it better. Fresh, like the aroma of the seashore in autumn, it belonged to a vampire. Neither ancient nor a novice, but undoubtedly strong and male.

Apollo took a step closer to the edge of the balcony and gazed at the sidewalk below, searching for the owner of that delicious scent.

A strange feeling twisted around his insides at the sight of a tall, lean man who, at a quick glance, could have been Ambrose. Dressed in jeans and a sage green T-shirt, he crossed the street and approached the club. Pausing in front of the steps, he looked up, his gaze meeting Apollo’s. The younger vampire offered a slight smile and friendly wave, both of which Apollo ignored.

Moments later, their dinner guest knocked on the door.

Apollo heard Mansi answer it and exchange greetings with Huxley. His voice, neither too deep nor too high, caressed each word with enthusiasm. His pleasant tone lured Apollo, made him think of it speaking close to his ear in intimate moments following hours of lovemaking. Thrusting those carnal thoughts from his mind, he stiffened his resolve about keeping Huxley out of his life.

“Apollo,” Mansi called.

He turned and stepped inside, closing the glass door behind him and focusing his attention on their guest.

“Huxley James, meet Apollo Sheridan.”

Huxley smiled and extended his hand. At first he had appeared so much like Ambrose that Apollo had felt dizzy with longing. Now he noticed the differences between them. His hair was slightly darker and his eyes emerald rather than light green. Though tall and lean like Ambrose, he moved with power rather than their deceased lover’s grace.

Apollo grasped Huxley’s extended hand and shook it briefly, yet long enough to feel the warmth of his palm and the sensation of long, slender fingers wrapped around his hand.

“Come sit down,” Mansi said. “Would you like some wine? Room service will be bringing dinner in a few minutes.”

The men joined Mansi at the table where she poured wine. For several moments they talked, getting to know one another. At least Mansi and Huxley did. Apollo listened far more than he spoke. He learned Huxley had been a vampire for slightly over five hundred years, Changed by a young woman who, at the time, had scarcely seen her first century. He remained with her for five years before going on his own. Strange, considering most vampires stayed with their Creators for at least a decade. Obviously his mistress had taken little interest in him. With the flighty life he’d lived, how could Mansi have believed he could settle down into a loving partnership? He’d probably have no idea of where to begin.

The conversation drifted to the present time. Huxley told them he worked in computers. He had a month long vacation saved up and decided now was the perfect time to take it. That’s what he was doing in New York City.

“Apollo dislikes computers.” Mansi glanced at her husband, an affectionate gleam in her eyes. “He has a problem with most modern things.”

“Why is that?” Huxley held Apollo’s gaze. His scent was strong, filled with desire. Apollo knew he was attracted to Mansi and to him as well. The man’s lust cried out to him.

He hated to admit that Huxley aroused him to the point of distraction. The man’s lively conversation was sprinkled with corny jokes that Apollo found most annoying, yet at the same time mildly amusing. The enthusiastic gleam in his green eyes and the way his long, expressive fingers stroked the rim of his glass sent thrills of passion coursing through Apollo, exciting him in a way no man had, since Ambrose.

A short time later, room service arrived with their meal. Though Mansi had ordered Apollo’s favorite foods, he ate and drank little and scarcely engaged in the conversation. He carefully observed how comfortable Mansi and Huxley seemed in each other’s company. When he reached out psychically, he knew how much his wife wanted to explore a relationship with this man.

He tried searching Huxley’s thoughts as well, but the younger vampire possessed surprising telepathic power and was able to keep his innermost thoughts and feelings well guarded. Strange, considering he was practically a vampiric orphan. Where had he learned his skills?

When Huxley cracked yet another silly, rather bawdy joke, Apollo found himself fighting the urge to smile. The man’s pleasant manner was infectious and that irritated Apollo more than anything.

Mansi giggled. “Apollo, come on. That was funny.”

“Don’t you have a sense of humor?” Huxley asked.

“Yes, but not for childish jokes and not when someone feels the need to constantly impress others with his version of an upbeat personality.”

A quirky grin on his lips, Huxley turned to Mansi and asked, “Is he always like this?” He glanced back at Apollo. “Are you always like this?”

Wearing his sternest expression, Apollo held the younger man’s gaze and said nothing.

Huxley stood and nodded to Mansi. “It’s time for me to go. Thank you for a very nice dinner.” Again he turned back to Apollo, anger gleaming in his green eyes. “I don’t care how fucking handsome you are, I’ve never met anyone this rude.”

“You’re still young. Give yourself time,” Apollo said, the evil rasp of his voice cutting through the uncomfortable stillness that had fallen over the room.

Huxley’s jaw tightened visibly before he turned and stalked out. Once the door closed behind him, Mansi leaned against it, her arms folded tightly beneath her breasts.

“How could you?” she asked in a low, dangerous voice.

“Would you prefer I bed someone who doesn’t appeal to me so you can indulge in a fantasy with our dead lover’s look-alike?”

Her fangs bared, Mansi flew at him. He saw her strike coming, but didn’t bother stopping it. Part of him felt he deserved the blow. Her nails raked his face, leaving four bloody scratches across his cheek.

He restrained her before she could attack again. Holding her close, he felt her trembling against him, her pain breaking over him like waves on a stormy beach.

“You’re a bastard, Apollo,” she snapped, not a waver in her voice in spite of the tears streaking her face. “Sometimes I hate you as much as I love you.”

“I’m sorry,” he stated, relaxing his hold when she began to calm down. “I am sorry I didn’t like him.”

She turned to him, her angry expression tempered by sympathy. “Yes, you did like him. You can’t lie to me. Never to me.”

For a long moment they held each other’s gaze. Finally he lowered his forehead to hers and closed his eyes, whispering, “I’m sorry to disappoint you this time, Mansi. I did find him physically attractive, but I did not like him. I brought a soulmate to this relationship. You brought a playmate.”

She shoved him hard and he released her so abruptly that she stumbled onto the bed where she sat, glaring at him. “I never thought I’d see the day that you’d lie to yourself, Apollo. Listen to me and listen well. I’m saying this because I love you. Ambrose is dead. If you don’t let him go, your grief will kill you as surely as a stake through your heart, and it will kill me right along with you.

“It’s been well over a century, coming up on two. One hundred seventy-four years to be exact. I’m done grieving.”

“If being with Huxley means so much to you that you’re willing to goad me with my feelings toward Ambrose, then bring him back.”

“As if he’d come after the way you acted.”

“He will if he’s the soulmate you claim he is.”

“I’m taking a shower. I need time alone.”

She stalked to the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.

Apollo undressed and slipped into bed, his back to the bathroom door. Closing his eyes, he willed his breathing and heartbeat to slow.

He feigned sleep when Mansi joined him in bed and cuddled close, whispering, “I’m sorry we fought.”

Deep inside, in a place he didn’t want to admit existed, he knew she was partly right. He had wanted Huxley as much as she did.

***

The following evening while Mansi went shopping with Elizabeth, Apollo planned to spend a few hours in the gym in the club’s basement.

He had taken his favorite practice weapon, a broadsword, from the closet and was about to leave the room when he caught Huxley’s scent. To his annoyance, his pulse quickened and his mouth went dry at the thought of seeing him again.

Moments later, Huxley tapped on the door.

Apollo opened it and asked coldly, “Yes?”

“I came by to apologize for last night.”

“What?” That was unexpected, and at Apollo’s age very little took him by surprise.

“I know I sometimes come on a little strong, especially when I’m nervous. I guess it’s what they call a coping mechanism. I make jokes so it looks like I’m not afraid of rejection. Also, I like having a good time and making people laugh. Mansi had told me a little about your companion, Ambrose, and I guess you’re just not ready to laugh yet, so I’m sorry if I offended you.”

Apollo studied him carefully. Though he sensed the man’s attraction and sincerity, part of his mind still remained closed. Of course, he scarcely knew Apollo and had no reason to allow him access to his thoughts and feelings, especially after last night.

“It wasn’t you,” Apollo said. “I’m not an easy man to get along with. Never was and probably never will be.”

Huxley smiled, the expression making his attractive face even more handsome. “At least you’re honest. Were you going to practice with that sword, or are you about to kill someone?”

“Practice, so if you’ll excuse me --”

“Could you use some company? Mansi said you have a lot of skills. I’m pretty good with a sword, but could use some pointers from a man of your experience.”

Apollo tried to ignore the possible double meaning of Huxley’s suggestion. His gaze swept the younger man from head to foot, noting Huxley’s lean, hard form and confident stance. If he had been properly trained, he would most likely make a worthy opponent and be a pleasure to instruct.

“You may join me,” Apollo stated. “Have you a weapon?”

“Not here, but Master Zigor keeps some available in the gym for guests to borrow.”

“Fine.” Apollo swept out of the room and down the hall.

Huxley fell into step beside him, his gaze fixed on Apollo in a manner that made his cock twitch. He willed it into submission. No matter what, he would not give in to his feelings for this man -- at least not until he knew him better.

***

Two hours later, Apollo and Huxley stood in one of the training rooms beneath Burgundy Peak. Drenched in sweat, they held each other’s gazes, their hearts pounding with the excitement of the fight.

“Thanks,” Huxley said. “I learned a lot.”

“You have much talent,” Apollo said truthfully. He rarely spoke such compliments, but Huxley’s skill and determination had impressed him. The young man had been quite a lively opponent. He hadn’t enjoyed a match this much since the last time he’d trained with Rolon.

“You must have sought out a wise teacher after you left your Creator,” Apollo said as they fell into step beside one another on their way out of the basement.

“Several, actually.”

“And they took you willingly?”

“Some of them needed convincing, but I don’t easily take no for an answer.”

“Is that why you came here tonight, because my rejection upset you?”

In spite of the slight smile playing around Huxley’s lips, he sensed his irritation. “I thought I was being subtle.”

“Like a bear in a tea room.”

Huxley laughed and glanced at Apollo, amusement gleaming in his eyes. “So you do have a sense of humor. I need to get back to my hotel and take a shower.” He tugged at the sweaty T-shirt clinging to his torso.

“You can use the one in our room, if you want.”

The emotions crackling between them were almost tangible. Their gazes met and Apollo couldn’t decide whose aroused scent was stronger, his or Huxley’s.

“All right. Thanks.”

When they reached the room, Apollo took socks, jeans, and tank top from the dresser and tossed them to Huxley. “Here, even though they’ll be too big for you.”

“Better than putting on the sweaty crap again. Thanks.” Huxley winked and disappeared into the bathroom.

Once he heard the water running in the shower, Apollo peeled off his damp shirt and rolled his left shoulder. During the exit ritual, one of the members of Dark Rhythm had shoved a silver pike into his back, striking bone. Though the injury itself had healed, his back and shoulder sometimes ached after heavy use. He tried rubbing the spot, but it was difficult to reach.

“You okay?” Huxley asked.

Dropping his hand, Apollo spun, angry that he hadn’t noticed the other vampire exiting the bathroom.

“I thought you were in the shower?”

“I wanted to ask if you have a hairbrush I can borrow?”

Apollo walked to the dresser, picked up Mansi’s brush, and tossed it to Huxley.

“So are you okay?”

“What?”

“Your back.”

“It’s just an old silver injury.”

Huxley curled his lip. “Shit. Silver. What happened?”

“Nothing I care to discuss.”

“Sorry.” He turned to the bathroom, then paused and walked back, placing the brush aside and standing so close Apollo felt heat emanating from his body. “I can rub it for you, if you want.”

“No.”

“It’s better than twisting your arm around like that.” Huxley rested a warm hand on the heated flesh of Apollo’s upper back.

At first Apollo thought he should step away, but the sensation of the other man’s hand was almost too pleasant. Slowly Huxley’s hand moved across his back, massaging the flesh and gently kneading the

knotted muscles.

“There?” he asked, finding the sore place.

Grunting, Apollo nodded, then dropped his chin to his chest, his eyes slipping shut. Huxley was using both hands now, rubbing, kneading. It felt so good. Too good. One of the hands strayed lower and swept across his lower back. Long, slender fingertips trailed up and down his ribs. Huxley’s hair-dusted chest brushed against his back. The younger man’s breath fanned his ear, sending ripples of passion coursing through him from head to toe.

Apollo grasped his wrists, stopping the arousing caresses. “My back feels much better. Thank you.”

“All right.” Huxley didn’t try to pull away, didn’t so much as move, save the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.

Apollo tightened his grip on Huxley’s left wrist and tugged the other man in front of him. He stared into those green eyes for a long time, willing them to blink, to glance away, but Huxley’s gaze remained steady.

“I’m wasting water. The shower’s still running,” Huxley said.

“Then I suggest you wash. That’s why you came here in the first place.”

“That’s why you invited me.”

“Right.”

“Of course.”

“Then go.” Apollo growled, a distinct, alpha male sound that meant either lust or challenge.

Huxley’s answering growl was no less passionate.

As much as he wanted to fuck the younger man into oblivion, he couldn’t. Not without letting Mansi know he was willing to attempt another three-way partnership.

“Go wash,” Apollo ordered.

“Coming with me?”

Apollo leveled another of his stern looks on him and Huxley walked to the bathroom, an amused smile on his lips.

His heart thrumming with desire, Apollo spent several seconds fighting an emotional battle. Finally he pulled off the remainder of his clothes and stepped into the steamy bathroom.

Huxley’s silhouette shone against the shower’s frosted door. His face tilted up to the flow of water, he scrubbed his hands over his shoulders and chest.

Apollo opened the door and stepped inside, struck by beads of warm water and the sight of Huxley’s glorious, naked body.

Hair dusted the younger man’s chest, tapering to a slender line down his flat belly and expanding to a wiry tuft around his semi erect cock. The staff was beautifully shaped, the head smooth, pink, and waiting for the caress of lips. Apollo could almost feel the velvety skin against his tongue.

His gaze drifted down Huxley’s long, lean legs, the muscles of the thighs and calves beautifully developed beneath hair-roughened flesh.

He stepped toward Apollo who curled a hand around the back of his neck and tugged him closer for a kiss. Huxley surrendered completely to the other vampire’s demanding lips and probing tongue. He moaned softly when Apollo’s fangs pierced his lip the slightest bit. Their tongues battled for possession of the blood that beaded up from the tiny wounds.

Huxley’s hands rested on Apollo’s shoulders. He caressed the water-slicked flesh all the way up the sides of his neck. Grasping handfuls of Apollo’s hair, he continued meeting each stroke of his tongue with unrestrained passion.

Their arms wrapped around each other as the kiss deepened even more. Their stiff cocks pressed against each other, trapped between their bodies.

Apollo grasped Huxley’s upper arms and pushed him away, holding him at arm’s length. Staring into his eyes, he said, “You better be sure.”

“I am sure.”

“Good.” Apollo turned him roughly so he faced the wall. Standing so close behind him that his cock pressed against Huxley’s firm bottom, Apollo reached around and grasped the other vampire’s staff. Long, velvet skinned, and textured with veins, his cock felt so good against Apollo’s palm. The ancient stroked in a fast, steady rhythm.

“Ahh,” Huxley moaned, a sexy, guttural sound that spurred Apollo’s desire even more. He rubbed faster and Huxley braced both hands against the tile, his slender fingers tense, his breath coming in hard pants.

“Damn it, Apollo! I wanted you the minute I saw you.”

“I know,” Apollo purred against his ear. “Tell me what you want.”

“I want you to fuck me.”

“With my hand or my mouth?”

“With your hand, your mouth, and your cock. I want it all.”

A combination growl and chuckle escaped Apollo’s throat. After several more fast pumps of his hand, he released Huxley’s staff and sank to his knees. Grasping one taut ass cheek in each hand, Apollo squeezed and caressed, then parted them slowly. He ran his tongue along the slit from top to bottom, pausing to tease the sphincter, feeling the ring of muscle tighten and release as Huxley’s excitement grew. Working his tongue in a bit, he explored while his hands gripped Huxley’s bottom even tighter.

Tasting and teasing him felt so good that Apollo was reluctant to stop, yet there was so much more pleasure to be had for them. He stood, his body sliding up Huxley’s, his erection throbbing as it swept against Huxley’s hard, water-slicked body. He rubbed it against his back and hip for several seconds before positioning himself behind the younger vampire and pressing the tip against his saliva-slicked sphincter. Very slowly and with the same gentleness he’d used the first time he’d made love to Mansi and claimed her virginity, he entered Huxley.

The younger vampire growled and groaned, his scent growing stronger and more sensual as his excitement grew. Apollo’s cock filled him. Both men panted, their hearts pounding and bodies quivering with need.

One of Apollo’s hands settled on Huxley’s hip while the other wrapped around his straining cock. He pumped and stroked at the same time, driving Huxley into a frenzy.

“Fuck, Apollo. Fuck me! Yes, I knew it would be like this for us. I --” Huxley’s words ended in a cry of animal passion. He came long and hard, his essence spurting over the tile, though the hot water quickly washed it away.

Trembling on the verge of orgasm, Apollo pulled out and leaned against the wall.

After a moment, Huxley turned to him, his hazy eyes fixing on Apollo’s pole-hard staff with its fiery, bulbous head. “Why didn’t you finish?”

“Not without Mansi,” Apollo said. His hand shook a bit as he turned the water from hot to cold.

“Shit!” Huxley leapt out the door. “That’s freezing.”

Apollo ignored him. Gritting his teeth, he washed quickly, allowing the frigid water to chase off the intense sexual ache in his groin -- at least partially. With Huxley still so close, there was no way he could fully control his desire.

He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, accepting the towel Huxley offered.

They had just stepped into the bedroom when they caught Mansi’s scent. She entered, her gaze switching from one towel-clad man to the other.

A smile spread over her lips. “I’m glad to see you changed your minds.”

“Yes. I suppose we have,” Apollo said.

“Am I too late to join in the celebration?”

“Not hardly.” Huxley grinned, whipping off his towel, revealing another growing erection.

The idea of sharing a bed with both Mansi and Huxley was enough to make Apollo instantly hard again.

“You’d better do something about that this time.” Huxley ran a fingertip along the length of Apollo’s cock, then turned to Mansi. “He wouldn’t fully enjoy himself without you, if you get my meaning.”

“I do.” She smiled, slipping into Apollo’s arms and hugging him tightly. “I knew you’d eventually see the truth.”

He covered her mouth with a hungry kiss, his body screaming for sexual release. Both his wife and his new lover aroused him so much that he hoped he could last a while longer. The experience in the shower had him ready to explode with desire.

“Does rough work for you?” Apollo asked, his gaze fixed on Mansi.

“Oh yes,” she gasped, undressing quickly, but not fast enough for him.

He tore off her clothes, using his vampiric strength to rip the material.

Mansi growled, an erotic yet feminine expression of desire. She stretched out on the bed, her nude body gyrating as she beckoned both men with her finger, her dark eyes roaming from one to the other.

Huxley moved onto the bed beside her, one hand lightly caressing her breasts, his thumb rolling over her nipples.

Apollo studied his partners carefully for a moment, then said to Mansi, “You trust me, my love?”

“You know I do.”

Turning his gaze to Huxley, he said, “Hold her hands above her head.”

“What are you going to do?” Huxley asked.

“Claim her.”

“But --”

“Hold her.”

Huxley’s brow furrowed slightly and Apollo sensed his hesitance, yet after a moment, he climbed behind Mansi who had already raised her hands above her head. He grasped her wrists and pinned them to the mattress. She tested his grip, but he was stronger than she was.

Starting at her foot, Apollo rubbed and kissed all the way up one leg and down the other. She gazed at him through half open eyes, her breasts rising and falling as passion grew.

Huxley gazed at them, his emerald eyes filled with lust.

Apollo tenderly parted Mansi’s thighs. Kneeling between them, he grasped her bottom and raised it slightly, the tip of his cock pushing against her wet pussy. He slid into her and, writhing, she wrapped her legs around him.

“Yes, oh yes,” she panted, her eyes slipping shut, the scent of her passion mingling with his and Huxley’s. He began thrusting while at the same time using his hands to pump her hips.

Her nipples stood out like dark pink marbles against her smooth breasts. Moaning, she tugged against Huxley’s grip.

Still holding her tightly, the younger vampire leaned over and took one of her nipples between his lips. He sucked and licked. The aroma of Mansi’s blood filled the room.

“Oh, yes! Keep biting me, Hux! Yes!” she cried.

Huxley sucked with more fervor.

Apollo thrust harder, his control on the verge of shattering.

Then she convulsed, her heated pussy throbbing in wave after wave of orgasm. Apollo forced his breathing to remain under control. His heart pounded hard and for a moment he thought he might explode then and there.

Finally mastering himself, he slipped out of her and stretched out beside her.

“Let me,” Huxley said, his voice husky.

Mansi moved to the edge of the bed and propped her head on her bent elbow. She watched the two men with interest.

Within seconds Apollo’s full attention focused below his waist.

Huxley’s warm, wet mouth engulfed his cock. His tongue swirled over the head before he sucked hard.

Huxley’s fingertips teased Apollo’s inner thighs, then he used his palms to smooth over the flesh while he continued sucking and licking his cock. His thumb tickled the joining of Apollo’s thighs and pelvis, sending ripples of pleasure darting through him.

The sensation on his stimulated flesh sent Apollo’s heart pounding out of control. It had been so long since he’d considered sharing such carnal adventures with another male partner, but at the moment he knew it was right.

Unable to hold back any longer, he thrust his hips and arched his neck into the pillow.

Huxley grasped his cock, holding it steady while he drew him even deeper into his mouth. Sucking harder and faster, Huxley groaned. The vibrations against his cock head felt indescribably wonderful. Apollo thrashed and panted, straining for release, yet each time he felt on the verge of shattering, Huxley

paused in his motions, holding Apollo on the brink. He wasn’t sure how much time passed as he floated in a haze of passion that was almost painful in its intensity.

Huxley’s tongue rolled over his cock head, the tip teasing the eye before he once again sucked hard. This time he didn’t stop.

Drenched in sweat, Apollo’s entire body tensed. His heart threatened to burst through his chest. With a savage cry, he came.

Waves of emotions crashed over him and he continued moaning and panting, not caring that he had surrendered completely. A smile on his lips, he drifted in an utterly fulfilled semi-conscious state.

He felt Mansi and Huxley settle against him, warming him.

“Thank you so much,” Mansi whispered to Huxley. “I haven’t seen Apollo this happy in many years.”

“It was my pleasure,” Huxley replied softly. “I’m glad he changed his mind about me. This is the first time in my life I’ve felt like I really belong somewhere.”

“You do,” Mansi told him. “You belong with us.”

“I know. Thank you.”

Chapter Three

For the next several weeks, Apollo, Mansi, and Huxley spent every day together. Apollo and Huxley were especially inseparable. Even when Mansi went shopping or to dinner with Elizabeth, the men worked out or ate together.

Huxley was a pleasant companion who often used humor to counter Apollo’s sullen behavior. Of course Apollo knew when he was being manipulated, but he liked Huxley enough to allow it.

As Mansi had believed, the younger man fit perfectly with them.

One evening after taking several long distance calls with the villagers left in charge of their island, he joined his companions on the balcony.

Mansi relaxed on a lounge chair, sipping from a tall glass of iced tea with lemon. Huxley sat at her feet, painting her toenails with the fluorescent pink polish she favored in summertime. Apollo loathed the color, but thought her painted toes looked cute nonetheless.

“Here.” She leaned forward and held the straw to Huxley’s lips. He took a long sip of iced tea.

A feeling of warmth spread through Apollo at the sight of them. He was on the verge of falling in love with Huxley and would have fallen already had the younger man not still been holding back a part of his mind, therefore his soul. Before Apollo committed his heart, he required absolute surrender in his mates, a surrender he was just as willing to give.

Huxley was not yet ready to fully trust them, but Apollo could wait.

“Finished with your calls?” Mansi asked. “How are things on the island?”

“Very well. The tourist business has been exceptionally good this summer.”

“Apollo, I need to ask you something.” Huxley handed the bottle of nail polish to Mansi and stood, facing Apollo. “Mansi and Elizabeth are going to the movies for a couple of hours, and I thought you and I could go for a drive? There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“What is it?”

“Will you come?”

Apollo glanced at Mansi who shrugged. “Don’t ask me. Guy talk isn’t generally my thing.”

Apollo turned back to Huxley. “All right.”

“Good. Can we leave now?”

After kissing Mansi goodbye, the men walked to Huxley’s rented car where the younger vampire took the wheel.

During the drive, Huxley was uncharacteristically quiet. Apollo didn’t need telepathy to know something was wrong.

“All right, what is it?” Apollo asked. They were approaching the outskirts of the city, heading north.

Huxley glanced at him from the corner of his eye. Instinctively, Apollo placed a hand against the back of the other man’s neck and applied gentle pressure meant to be comforting. To his surprise, Huxley flinched a bit.

“It’s all right. Whatever it is, you can tell me. I know you’ve been hiding something from us all along, but assumed you’d tell us when you were ready.”

“You knew?” Huxley pulled the car to the side of the road and held Apollo’s gaze. “But you still let me stick around?”

“Of course I knew. Your psychic powers are impressive, but not so flawless that I couldn’t discern your barrier. I’m slow in revealing myself as well, so I’m not surprised it’s taken you this long to start trusting me.”

“Fuck,” Huxley murmured, rubbing his temples with his thumb and forefinger. “I thought I was being so smart, but you were giving me a chance to prove myself. Here.” He opened the door and stepped out of the car. “Take the wheel.”

“Why?”

“Just take the fucking wheel, Apollo. Turn the car around and head back to Burgundy Peak.”

Apollo slid into the driver’s seat while Huxley walked around and got in the passenger side.

“Drive,” Huxley said.

“Not until you tell me what’s going on. Right here. Right now.”

Huxley sighed, the scent of his fear heavy on the air. A feeling of dread crept up Apollo’s spine.

“Huxley, if you don’t start talking immediately, we are going to have a major problem.”

“We already do.”

Apollo glared. “What?”

“Remember when you told me about Dark Rhythm?”

“Yes. What of it?”

“I told you I’d heard of them.”

“Yes.”

“That wasn’t the entire truth.”

A low growl rumbled in Apollo’s chest and he resisted the urge to clench his fists.

“I knew all about them, Apollo. For the past year I’ve been training to join them.”

“I should kill you for this!”

“I don’t doubt you’ll want to once you hear the rest, and I deserve anything you do to me.”

“Go on,” Apollo managed to speak calmly, though his blood pounded with rage and the sting of betrayal.

“My superior gave me one final test mission to prove my loyalty before my initiation.”

“I’m familiar with the procedure. What is the test?”

“Because of my resemblance to your deceased lover, I was assigned to befriend you, then bring you to my superior so that he could kill you.”

“So that’s where we’re headed now?”

“It’s supposed to be, but there’s no way I could go through with it.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“The only way I could get to you was by making you like me and I ended up caring about you both. I’m sorry, Apollo. I just… Get out of here. Now. You can leave me or take me with you. It doesn’t matter much either way. Now that I’ve failed, Dark Rhythm won’t take me and I doubt they’ll allow me to live.”

“What makes you thinkI will?”

Huxley stared deeply into his eyes with a pleading look that Apollo tried, and only partially succeeded, in hardening his heart to. “Why should I believe anything you’ve just told me? Maybe this is the trap.”

“Apollo, my superior is waiting upstate to kill you. I had to tell you everything.”

“There’s only one way I’ll believe you, and that’s if you let me inside your mind. No more barriers. No secrets. If you try to hide anything, believe me, I’ll know.”

“If I don’t agree?” Huxley held up his hand. “Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know. I’ll let you read my mind.”

Apollo grasped Huxley’s face in his hands. Using all of his considerable skill, he immersed himself in Huxley’s thoughts. His life before the Change was one of toil and boredom, farming his foster family’s land since his parents died when he was an infant. A woman stopped in his village and Changed him during their brief love affair. Though kind, she was young, inexperienced, and preoccupied with exploring her own life as a vampire. Huxley spent his first few decades desperately trying to understand what he’d become by latching onto older vampires he met and learning what he could. His first half century was one of loneliness and fear, but he was brave and a quick learner. He eventually met an ancient willing to train him properly. They spent nearly a century together before mutually agreeing to part their ways.

By then Huxley had mastered enough skills to survive comfortably, yet emotionally he still felt empty. He desperately searched for the bond forged between vampiric mates, but never managed to find the right companion. His first taste of such a bond had been when he’d met Apollo and Mansi. By then he had already taken up with Dark Rhythm, thinking he might find the acceptance he sought. His affection for Apollo and Mansi drove him to betray the organization he once sought to join. His love for them was not only tainted by guilt over his extended betrayal, but by frustration and insecurity. More than anything, he wished to be sure they cared about him for himself, not because he reminded them of Ambrose.

Apollo released his hold on Huxley’s mind. Both men continued facing one another, panting slightly with emotion. Huxley had, without doubt, told the truth.

“I am sorry, Apollo,” he said. “Even if you never want to see me again, I couldn’t let them hurt you, especially not after how much they already have.”

“Mansi,” Apollo murmured, his pulse racing with terror.

“They didn’t want her. Just you, so she should be safe.”

Apollo started the car.

“Where are we going?”

“I need to call Mansi and tell her not to leave Burgundy Peak. There is only one man I know of who’s

not a member of Dark Rhythm who has any chance of protecting someone against the organization, and that’s Zigor. Once I’m sure Mansi is safe, you and I are going to contact Lao of Dark Rhythm.”

“Lao. I’ve only seen him once and was to be formally introduced at my initiation tomorrow. Why would you contact the leader of Dark Rhythm after I just said they’re trying to kill you?”

“If Dark Rhythm wanted me dead, they would have killed me when I decided to leave. No, I believe Harris, your superior, acted on his own with this particularmission . I would bet my life that Lao knew nothing of it. It’s not Dark Rhythm’s way to destroy one of their own, even one who has left. They always retain the hope that the lost sheep shall return.”

“Even after what you did to several of their members?”

“Yes. I paid the price in the exit ritual, at least in Lao’s eyes. Harris has his own agenda. One of the members I killed was his offspring, so I don’t fully blame him for wanting revenge.”

Apollo stopped the car near a pay phone where both he and Huxley got out. He called Mansi and to Apollo’s relief, she and Elizabeth had not yet left for the movie. After briefly explaining the situation and telling her to repeat it to Master Zigor and ask for his protection, he hung up.

“How is she?” Huxley asked.

“Very concerned and angry at me for not including her in my plan, but I refuse to risk her life in case I’m wrong about Lao.”

***

By dawn, Apollo and Huxley were seated in Lao’s hotel room in a suburb of New York City. The leader of Dark Rhythm had arrived in the state for the initiation of several new members, which would have included Huxley.

After hearing their story, Lao ordered several of his most trusted men to find Huxley’s superior.

“Until Harris is captured, you will remain here with me, where it’s safe. Where is your wife, Mansi? Is she in a safe place?”

“Of course,” Apollo stated.

“Good. Now we wait. Once Harris is captured, we will keep him under close watch,” Lao said. “In truth, I’ve been concerned about him since Apollo destroyed his offspring, just as I was concerned with Apollo after learning of Ambrose’s death. Grief makes us act rashly.”

“If you are so concerned, then why lead an organization that only knows how to use pain and death to solve its problems?” Apollo demanded.

Lao sighed and shook his head. “It grieves me that you have not come to realize you were wrong in leaving us and that the work we do is necessary.”

Apollo and Lao stared hard at one another. The man would never change. To think for years Apollo had been exactly like him.

***

Several hours later, Apollo and Huxley braved the daylight to reach Burgundy Peak and Mansi as quickly as possible.

Though Lao had tried to convince Huxley to follow through with his initiation, he had refused. Apollo had sensed his fear that Dark Rhythm wouldn’t let him go, but Lao agreed that without the initiation, the organization had no claim on Huxley.

The younger vampire seemed surprised for the second time when Apollo asked him to return to Burgundy Peak.

“You want me to stay with you?” Huxley had asked, his green eyes wide.

“Unless you have other plans?”

“No. Not at all. I do have a question, though. How did you know Lao wasn’t involved in Harris’s plan?”

“I know Lao well, probably better than anyone.”

“How?”

“He’s my sire,” Apollo stated, then fell silent. His relationship with his Creator wasn’t something he liked to discuss with anyone, even Mansi, though other than Huxley, she was the only person to whom he’d admitted the truth about his Creator. After Lao had Changed him, he’d groomed Apollo to join Dark Rhythm. Always willful, Apollo went on his own after a few decades without joining the organization. A few centuries later, after he had fully experienced the hatred of mankind toward vampires, Lao approached him again for recruitment. This time Apollo joined his sire’s cause. Only after meeting and falling in love with Mansi and getting to know her people did he begin to see the error of his ways, and the ways of Dark Rhythm.

He was roused from his thoughts when they stopped in front of Burgundy Peak. They were partway up the stairs when Mansi met them, leaping into Apollo’s arms and covering his face with kisses.

“Thank goodness you’re all right,” she said.

Closing his eyes, he absorbed the marvelous sensation of her love.

Slowly they broke apart and she turned to Huxley. “I’m furious that you lied to us.”

“I’m so sorry, but please believe --”

She placed a finger to his lips. “I know.”

Her arms slipped around him and they clung to each other for a long moment before they walked to their room.

Inside, they stood in silence, gazing at one another.

Finally, Mansi said, “It’s going to take us time to learn to trust one another, but I know it can work, if we want it to.”

“I promise to try,” Huxley said. “From now on, no more barriers among us.”

“There’s one more thing.” Apollo took Huxley’s face in his hands and gazed deeply into his eyes, baring his soul to the younger man. “I hold you dear, not because you resemble Ambrose, but because of you. Only you.”

Mansi approached and ran a hand through Huxley’s hair. “You thought that’s why we cared about you? I hope you believe what Apollo just told you and know I feel the same.”

“Yes.” He smiled, his affection melting over them. “I do.”

For the first time, the thoughts of all three partners mingled, completely honest and unrestrained, no secrets among them, and even Apollo couldn’t resist a blissful smile.

The End

Kate Hill

Kate Hill’s fiction and poetry have appeared in publications both on and off the Internet. When she’s not writing, Kate enjoys reading, working out, and spending time with her family. Visit her online at www.kate-hill.com.