Dracula and His Brides Read online

  “Or me,” Catina suggested.

  Stela swayed her hips as she came over to us, and that was all it took for us to have another lovemaking session, albeit a shorter one. We fell asleep in a heap on the floor next to the caskets.

  My first thought as I woke was that I should ask Catina if it would be possible to have a casket made that would be large enough to fit us all?

  My second? Why did I hear a heart beating?

  Chapter Seventeen

  My grip on Andreea tightened. She stirred slightly, her tongue flicking out of her mouth to lick her lips and also caressed my nipple. So as not to disturb her, I shifted her to the side, eased out of her embrace, and sat up.

  A quick race around the castle—okay, five quick laps and then a slower, human-paced on to ensure I didn't miss any signs of breaking and entering—and I returned to my bedroom. I hadn't seen anything, and I couldn't hear the heart beating anymore. Had I dreamed it? Or had the person come and gone? A servant coming to collect something he or she accidentally left behind?

  If I had enough leftover blood in me to pump to my heart, my own would be racing. Feeling fear wasn’t something I ever anticipated as a vampire, and I hated it even more than I would’ve guessed.

  Andreea was the only one of my brides to be awake when I returned. I motioned her to follow me, and I led her to her room. Even if we spoke in low tones, the others would be able to overhear but only if they woke up first.

  “Is something wrong?” Andreea asked, crossing her arms underneath her breasts, pushing them up.

  “Have you ever heard of a vampire hunter?” I whispered. “He’s supposedly a tall, dashing man.”

  Andreea frowned, her forehead wrinkling in an endearing way. “Do you mean Anton Van Helsing?”

  “Van Helsing.” I scowled. “He sounds like a buffoon.”

  “He’s not actually,” Andreea said.

  My scowl deepened. “You speak as if you know him.”

  “I do. We, ah, we even dated for a time.”

  “Did you know.” I stared at her without blinking.

  "It was a few years ago," she said defensively, "well before I met you."

  “Who ended it?”

  “I did,” she said absently. “Why are you asking about him? Is he here? He can’t be.”

  “Why did you end it?”

  She reached up as if to adjust an imaginary ascot. “You truly do act like Count Dracula at times. It’s almost as if you’re Dracula reincarnated.”

  “Now who is the one changing the subject?” I asked.

  Andreea laughed and cleared her throat. “I don’t think it’s all that important, but if you must know, he was too much like me. He was so focused on his work all the time. He saw the world as black and white. He saw monsters and thought they all had to be destroyed. I, on the other hand, saw a chance for knowledge and learning and growth. I told you about the first troll I saw, how I fainted, yes?”

  “You did.” I grinned and ran my tongue along my fangs. “You have come such a long way since then.”

  "Indeed, I have." She grinned and wiggled her eyebrows before turning more serious. "The second troll I encountered was a young one. I tried to teach him how to talk like we do, to understand his emotions, to control his impulses. I even tried to teach him how to read, not that we got far. He finally learned the vowels and was so excited he gave me a hug. Van Helsing saw, and he didn't hesitate. He killed the troll in my arms."

  “So he’s not just a vampire hunter then. He kills all monsters.”

  “Yes, but his first kill was a vampire, so he’s most known for slaying vampires.” Andreea worried her lower lip. “Why all the questions about him?”

  “I made a mistake and might have garnered some attention.”

  “His,” she hissed.

  “Possibly unless you know of any other tall, dashing vampire hunters.”

  “The only dashing one is him. The others not so much and more and more of them have been falling lately.” She frowned. “Vampires might be on the rise,” she murmured.

  “Clearly.” I winked at her.

  Her cheeks would’ve flushed if she had still been a human. “Seriously, if Van Helsing has us on his radar, we need to be prepared.”

  "Prepared for his attack."

  “Yes.”

  “And how exactly do we do that?”

  Just then, the faintest of whispers sounded. I grabbed Andreea and tackled her to the ground. As I landed hard on top of her, the window shattered, glass flying everywhere. She did not shriek, not startled at all, and the familiar heartbeat sounded in my ears once more.

  Van Helsing.

  I second later, I heard the thud of a bullet strike the wall behind where I had just been standing.

  “Can a bullet kill us?” I asked through moving my lips rather than vocalizing it.

  “Wound us, especially if we’re out in the sun. To kill us, he’ll need to come closer. A lot closer.” She grinned wolfishly beneath me.

  I looked her up and down. Would Van Helsing be able to tell at a glance that she was a vampire? It was too much of a risk to assume otherwise.

  I sat up, and immediately, another bullet pierced through the window, shattering the last pieces of glass free from the frame. Sunlight poured into the room.

  “Crawl out of here,” I murmured in her ear.

  “I’m not leaving you.”

  “Please, my bride.”

  She pouted. “That’s not fair.”

  “I don’t want to lose a second wife.”

  “Don’t worry. You have two others.” Andreea leapt to her feet. “Van Helsing! Is that you?”

  A dark-haired, scruffy-looking, passable attractive man’s face appeared in the corner of the window. “Andreea. I always knew your heart was aligned with the monsters. It’s only fitting that you would become one and even more fitting that I will be the one to end you.”

  “Van Helsing.” I stood and appraised the man, well, as much of him as I could see. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am—”

  “A vampire who is delusional and who wanders around his house—excuse me, castle—without any clothes on.”

  “What is the point of having a castle if you have to wear clothes inside it?” I flashed my fangs.

  “I hear you dress and act as if you’re Count Dracula. Is that right?”

  I bristled. If he spread that rumor, my brides and I would never know a moment of peace. Then again, maybe he wouldn't share our secret until after he had a chance to kill us because he wouldn't want another hunter to come on by and try to snatch the kills away from him.

  Not that he would succeed.

  Enough talking. It was time to end him.

  I took a single step forward, meaning to use my vampiric speed, but just then, a wave of dizziness washed over me.

  “Do you feel that?” Van Helsing asked, sounding giddy and gleeful and not at all like a vampire hunter should. “Is your mind getting a little foggy? Can’t move your limbs like you want to?”

  What was he blabbering on about? My mine wasn’t foggy. Not mine. Mind. My mind wasn’t foggy, and I could move my limbs. I lifted my arm, but it moved far too slow, slower even for a human.

  I turned my head to look at Andreea, but even that small movement took longer than it should have.

  “The bullet,” she said, her voice sounding as if from a faraway distance. “Bullets. They’re giving off some kind of vapor.”

  Van Helsing frowned. “How did you figure that out? Can you smell it?”

  I couldn’t, but I nodded anyhow. “Yes. Yes, I can.”

  Slowed reaction time or not, sunlight and the weakness it brought or not, I headed toward Van Helsing. His next bullet hit me straight in the chest. It drove me back a step, and it stung terribly, but I managed to keep on going.

  Van Helsing gripped the broken window edge and hauled himself up. He must have climbed the exterior of the castle to have been outside this window. He brandished twin blades and came at me. So
mehow, I managed to grip his wrists, keeping the glittering silver blades away, but I couldn’t completely overpower him.

  Andreea walked over to the other window in the room and smashed it. At first, I couldn’t puzzle out why she would do such a thing. After all, she was allowing even more sunlight to filter into the room. Then, I realized she wanted the vapor to escape as quickly as possible.

  I couldn’t keep track of Andreea or her movements because Van Helsing was trying to kick me now, to yank his wrists free. I shouldn’t be this weak, but those damn bullets and the accursed sun were wearing me down. It didn’t help that I had wasted all of the blood I had consumed on hours of lovemaking.

  No. That would never ever be a waste.

  Still, if I wanted to have another night of passion, I had to survive.

  “What’s the matter, Count?” Van Helsing boasted. “Can’t handle me?”

  “How does it make you feel, knowing that your ex fell for a vampire, one of the creatures you despise?” I countered.

  Van Helsing's face colored but only for a moment. "You can have Andreea," he said coolly. "That is... until I kill her."

  Something shifted in his eyes, and fog or not, I was certain he had moved on past Andreea, maybe even married another. Someone clearly didn’t mind his dangerous work or his workaholic tendencies.

  “I’ll have her always and forever, well beyond your lifetime,” I said with a slow-growing sneer. “She and I are wed.”

  “And so are we,” Catina announced from the doorway. She stood shoulder to shoulder with Stela, Andreea just behind them. She must have gone to fetch them.

  Swiftly, Stela raced toward him, her movements slowing slightly the farther she entered the room.

  Van Helsing kicked me in the balls and finally freed himself from my grip. I went down to my knees immediately. Thank the moon I did because he slashed with his blades before jumping out the window.

  Stela reached the window first, shielding her eyes. “I can’t see him.”

  Catina joined her. “Neither can I.”

  I hobbled over to the other window. Damn. He was gone, vanished. It was almost as if he had vampire speed, but that wasn’t possible. How had he left so quickly?

  Andreea ushered us out of the room and to one of the parlors where the curtains were thick and shut, and the air was clean and fresh. It didn't take long for my body to return to rights, my mind, too, and I almost wished it hadn't. The agony of being kicked in the balls by someone wearing steel-tipped boots was not fun.

  Andreea must’ve realized this because she sat next to me and reached over to cup and massage my balls for me.

  “Who was that?” Catina demanded.

  “Seemed like a vampire hunter to me,” Stela said. She stared at me, a question in her eyes.

  “My fault. Not yours,” I assured her.

  “Don’t you dare blame yourself,” Andreea admonished, gripping my balls a little too tightly, but, damn, if that didn’t feel perfect right not. Although I had very little blood in me, my cock still began to stir.

  “How can I not?” I asked, miserable despite my arousal. “I knew a vampire hunter was nearby, and I didn’t warn you all. That was reckless and irresponsible.”

  “Well, you were a little distracted,” Catina pointed out.

  “We all were,” Stela added.

  “You had no idea when he would attack,” Andreea protested. Her other hand began to stroke my cock.

  I groaned despite myself. “You all shouldn’t be defending me.”

  “Why not?” Stela demanded, jumping up and marching to stand in front of me, hands on hips. “You would defend any of us. Why shouldn’t we defend you?”

  “My rescuers,” I murmured. “How can I ever repay you?”

  Stela winked and dropped her gaze to my erect dick. “I think we can come up with something.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  My first mission as soon as we finished a relatively short—meaning two hours long—lovemaking session was to have Catina in charge of replacing the glass in the guest room and then for her to look into reinforcements for the castle, using Andreea as an expert on what dangers Van Helsing might pose to us.

  As for Stela and myself, I had us dress in our most subdued attire before heading toward the market. I hoped to see Viorica again, and it only took two hours of wondering about to find her. By now, both Stela and I were dying of thirst, but we couldn’t risk even a simple swallow. Red eyes right now would give us away, and that was if Van Helsing hadn’t already.

  But when Viorica spied us heading in her direction, she broke away from the lady friend she had been talking to and approached us. She clasped her hands, looking as pleased as a cat who caught the canary.

  “You sent for your wife!” she cried.

  To my shock, she embraced Stela as if the two had known each other all their lives.

  It was a good thing I had explained to Stela who Viorica was and why we would seek her out on the trek to the marketplace. Still, Stela seemed a little put out, especially when Viorica kept holding Stela's hand.

  “I trust you,” I informed Viorica and snaked an arm around Stela’s waist. “I never would have brought my wife here otherwise. The vampire hunter has killed the vampire? Or vampires?”

  Viorica shook her head. “I’m afraid I don’t know, but I… I don’t think so. But it won’t be long now, I’m sure of it. He’s one of the best hunters in the entire world,” she said reassuringly. “You truly don’t have to worry. He knows how to rid the world of monsters, and he’ll take these ones out too. Mark my words.”

  “Marked,” Stela said. “A vampire hunter. As terrifying as that sounds, it’s also fascinating. Can you tell us a little about him?”

  “Certainly. His name is Anton Van Helsing, and if I weren’t married… Then again, he’s engaged himself to a lovely little lady. She’s almost as beautiful as you are…”

  “Stela,” my bride supplied.

  “Stela. A fine name. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Anton’s fiancée is Cecilia… Oh, dear, I forget her last name. Marmo? No. Marino. Cecilia Marino. Yes, that is her name.”

  “Would she have traveled here with Anton, do you think?” Stela asked.

  “Now that I don’t know. I’ve been trying to talk my husband into inviting Anton over for dinner. So far, both of them are working too hard. There’s still so much to clean up from that other night.”

  “The other night?” Stela asked, shooting me up a confused expression.

  “A vampire or vampires attacked a bar,” I explained.

  “And other villages too,” Viorica supplied, “but most hereabouts only know about the one… incident.”

  “You didn’t tell me about that,” Stela said, sounding frightened and annoyed. “Why didn’t you?”

  "Darling, precious, we've been apart for so long, and I finally found us a house that with you can be our home and—"

  “But a vampire? Vampires?”

  “Hush now,” Viorica urged, waving her hands down to reemphasize the hushing she so desperately desired. “Not everyone knows about this. I shouldn’t have told you, but… I am a sucker for romance and love, and your man here, he’s been so desperate to have you here. He was ready to move away if he didn’t think the county was safe. It is safe, or it will be. Don’t you worry none, and don’t you leave, you hear?”

  “We won’t,” Stela grumbled.

  “Good.” Viorica beamed and kissed my cheek and then Stela’s.

  As soon as the police agent’s wife left, Stela turned to me. “What now?”

  “Now, I have more research to do.”

  “Do you want me to come with?”

  “No.” I gripped her chin, rubbing my thumb along her jawline before kissing her deeply enough that when I pulled away, others were either watching with interest or else looking away in embarrassment. “I need you to help Catina. I didn’t have our… home built so that it can be destroyed by one man.”

  “I know but—”


  “You’re worried about me.”

  “I am. You need to drink soon, and drinking and research don’t exactly mix. Besides, the sun’s out and will be for hours yet.”

  “All the more reason why we have to get a move on the defenses as quickly as possible. What if he returns tomorrow, right at dawn? We have to be prepared. We can’t risk being caught unawares again.”

  “You’re so damn logical,” she grumbled.

  “You love me.”

  She hesitated. Yes, she had wed me, but she had yet to verbalize her love for me. Her actions proved it, but had her mind and heart not come to an agreement yet? Did she not truly accept her love for me?

  Maybe she didn’t truly love me after all.

  The thought hadn’t occurred to me until now. I had assumed that because they had all willingly married me, that my brides were all happy and loved and love in return. Perhaps I had been rather hasty, but when one was immortal, yes, you had all the time in the world, but that did not mean you wanted to waste a single precious second.

  Maybe Stela had felt she had no choice. Maybe lust had overruled her better judgment. Maybe one day, any feelings she might have toward me could change and twist into hatred.

  “So you say,” she finally said.

  She lifted onto her toes and kissed me, but it was a simple peck, and then Stela walked away from the marketplace.

  I stood there, watching her leave, feeling bereft and hating that I felt that way. Once she disappeared from view, I left as well but headed farther south whereas she was going north. Van Helsing didn’t live here, so he must have checked into one of the hotels.

  The first one I entered was nearly vacant. In fact, no one was waiting behind the desk, so I sneaked around the place, listening, hoping to hear something about Cecilia or her fiancé, but I didn’t hear much of anything, which, for a vampire, was actually disconcerting.

  By the time I returned to the front desk, a man now stood there. "Can I help you?"

  “No one’s here,” I blurted. “Is something wrong with the place?”

  The man stiffened. “Absolutely not,” he said, clearly offended.