Dracula and His Brides Read online

  “Is something wrong?” I demanded.

  Stela stiffened, almost as if she hadn’t seen me here, yet she had been the one to approach me. Her eyes are the brightest red I had ever seen. Whenever I enjoyed a meal, or rather a drink, with Catina—never her blood of course—Stela was not to be found. I had made it a point to try to drink early in the morning with Stela, but as of late, she had been disappearing from the castle more and more.

  She would always return. I wouldn’t say that I kept her here against her will, not anymore, but she also wasn’t the happiest, either.

  “Did something happen?” I asked her.

  "I killed five men yesterday," she said. Her red tongue darted out and licked her lips.

  “Stela…” I took a step toward her and halted. “Why?”

  Her eyes widened, and she gave me a slow, sexy smile. I doubted she wished to turn me on, but she did.

  “I’ve been learning how to master my… thirst… my impulses, but… I drink from rapists,” she said in a rush.

  I grinned and crossed over to her, rubbing her arms. “That is a wonderful idea. Drink from criminals.”

  “I killed the five because I stumbled upon them gang raping a woman. I caught them in the act. I… I didn’t see them, Vlad. All I saw was red. I drank so much, so fast that their heads detached. I… I cleaned the scene and licked every drop from the pavement. All of it.”

  Her dress—a short black number that made her look like the world’s sexiest maid—was without a speck of blood. She must have changed before coming to see me.

  More than her clothes, it was the name she had called me that gave me pause. Previously, only Catina had ever shortened my given name. Stela, more times than not, did not call me anything at all. She was hurting, terribly so, and if I could bring her a small measure of comfort, I would do so gladly.

  “If you are looking for absolution—” I started.

  “I couldn’t save her,” Stela murmured, interrupting me. “She killed herself.”

  “That is on them,” I said grimly, firmly gripping her shoulders. “You did what you could for her, and those men, they would not have stopped with her. They would have forced themselves on others. You saved countless women from more assaults.”

  “And what about you?” Stela asked, placing her hands on top of mine.

  “What about me?” I queried, confused.

  Anger simmered in her red orbs. “You might not kill, but you still prey on people. You take blood from innocents. You take and take and take. Your wealth is that of blood, and you act as if you are a lord.” Her lips twisted into a sneer, but even that terrible expression could not mar her great beauty. “A count. Count Dracula.”

  Her hands tightened on mine, and her nails dug into my skin, acting as if claws.

  Stela had not come here to talk to me.

  No. She came here to fight me.

  Chapter Nine

  My first instinct was to fight back, but I suppressed it, allowing her to kick me, punch me, even bite me. She did not drink my blood. All she was doing was trying to cut me into pieces, little by little, ripping me into shreds.

  My clothes were torn apart until I basically stood before her naked save for the slashes to my chest. Stela was savage, vicious even, and despite my power and strength, she actually was accomplishing her goal. She was causing me a great deal of pain. The amount of blood pumping through her from her multiple victims must be fueling her, or perhaps she hated me that much.

  Her dress was slick with my blood, sticking to her. Vampires were, but nature, cold beings, and her large nipples stick out. I wanted to pinch them, twist them, lick them, bite them… Pain and pleasure mixed, and I fought back an erection.

  “You’re a monster,” Stela screamed. She threw back her head and then sank her fangs into my neck.

  The feeling of her drinking from me caused me to want to lose myself in her. I gripped her waist, my hands sliding to squeeze her ass, and I couldn’t know for certain if I caused her to wrap her legs around me or if she did so of her own violation.

  The connection between us that had been there since the first time we exchanged blood only grew, and somehow, I could see into her mind. As she drank, she saw flashes of my past, and I guided her to see what had led to all of this, what had caused me to turn into the monster.

  Falling for Mihaela… our marriage and our lost babies… the war… Mihaela dying… my trying to join her… my being reborn as a vampire…

  Stela stood sucking and pulled back as much as my arms around her waist and her legs around mine would allow. So many emotions filled her dark-red eyes—confusion, sorrow, empathy, pity…

  And lust.

  And maybe something else too.

  "Now you know," I said, my voice hoarse. I felt as if I had survived a battle the likes of which I had faced during the war. My body was beaten and bruised—something I hadn't thought a vampire's body could experience. It was daytime, yes, so I was weaker, but the sun was not directly shining upon me.

  “You are capable of love,” she murmured.

  “I was.”

  “You are.” She brushed back a strand of my white hair and kissed me.

  This kiss was like the one I had compelled from her, the one with passion and zest, but this one was freely given, earned, one meant to touch another’s soul, not that vampires had souls.

  Stela lifted her short skirt and rubbed her soaked panties against my cock. I had lost too much blood for me to get an erection. Perhaps she suspected this because she tilted her head to the side and ripped off her choker.

  Her skin was porcelain, perfectly unmarred, and I was loathed to cut her tender flesh.

  “I am offering myself to you,” she whispered. “Take me if you want me. Make up for… Make up for the first time.”

  Here, I had thought she sought absolution for killing those men and then for failing the woman, but it was I who had needed forgiveness for the crimes I committed against Stela. I stared at her neck, at the swollen vein there, filled with the blood of her enemies.

  How could it be that she had thought to be a bight to the darkest sinners in the world whereas I had taken blood from innocents? I might not have killed anyone in a long while, yet I remained the monster, and Stela, who had slain others, was the master.

  “I… I hadn’t meant to kill you or Lucy,” I said in a rush. “I didn’t know that you dying with my blood would turn you. If I could go back—”

  Stela kissed me hard, nipping my lip, licking my blood. Without a word, she bit her own lip and forced me to lick and suck hers, and my cock filled immediately, larger than ever, desperate for the relief only she could provide me.

  She rubbed herself against my hardness, and I groaned against her mouth.

  “Sit,” she whispered before kissing me again. She must have bitten her tongue because I could taste more blood as our tongues dueled.

  I was so drunk on arousal that I stumbled to kick out a chair for me to sit on. My strength, though, caused the chair to tip over and fall with a clatter.

  Stela wiggled and squirmed, but I held her fast around me, kicked out another chair more gently, and sat as she bid.

  Immediately, she shoved her panties to the side and impaled herself on my throbbing cock. I gasped, enjoying her, relishing the feel of her slick walls tight around me. She rode me hard, vicious, plunging more and more of me into her with each bounce. Stela threw her head back, but instead of going for her perfect neck, I eased her breasts out of her corset and suckled from them, nipping her nipples, drinking a little blood from them, not enough to hurt her, not too much. I never wanted to cause Stela pain or anguish again.

  “Suck harder,” she moaned, riding me even faster now.

  The friction, the heat, I felt alive, like I was flying, and her blood filling me gave my cock a new life. I came but remained hard. She orgasmed but kept on riding. I couldn’t be certain how many times we climaxed together, but by the time we collapsed against each other, sliding from th
e chair and onto the red rug beneath the table, I realized I had told Catina a lie earlier.

  “My heart is closed to love,” I had claimed.

  A mistruth.

  My heart was open, but I didn't know if I was ready to feel again, to experience the inevitable sorrow that followed giving of oneself to another.

  If I wished, I could love Stela already. Perhaps I always had. As for Catina, no. Not as long as she remained a human. I would never wish to suffer another loss as I had Mihaela.

  But if Catina were to turn…

  I would never create another vampire without permission, but for that to happen, Catina must learn the truth. Would she accept me for the monster I was? Would she wish for this life, for this dark existence?

  Stela shifted ever so slightly, and I rubbed her back, watching her head rise and fall to the rhythm of my breaths. She slumbered peacefully, a smile curling the corners of her lips, and I loved how peaceful she looked.

  I loved how well we fit.

  I loved her strength, her conviction, her power.

  Even as a human, she had been strong, trying to help her friend. She hadn’t bargained finding a vampire, yet she had almost fought through the compulsion at least once.

  Mihaela had been my human love, but perhaps I had found another or even more than one to be my vampire loves.

  Chapter Ten

  When I next stirred, I was surprised to realize I had been sleeping in my coffin, shocked to see that I wasn’t alone, and beyond pleased to have red lips on a fair face with long blond hair on my hard cock. I did not move for fear this might only be a dream, but when Stela toyed with my balls, I came so hard that I cried out.

  This was no dream.

  I gripped Stela, pulled her down, and kissed her, biting our lips, giving us both blood as I twisted her to be beneath me. I rammed her hard, taking her, giving as much as receiving, and once we were both spent, we collapsed into each other’s arms and slept.

  By the time I woke, Stela was gone, and it was nearly dinnertime. Stela was nowhere to be found, so I entered the dining room.

  As expected, Catina sat, waiting for me. She—Had she raided Stela’s closet? Most likely not. Catina had been the one to purchase all of Stela’s dresses, so of course she would be able to buy herself a similar one. In fact, this dress’s detached sleeves perfectly matched one of my other vests, but I had not worn that one today.

  Unexpected was the woman sitting beside Catina. Her eyes were a listless black, her expression blank, and if I didn’t know any better, I would think her compelled.

  I turned to Catina, holding the top of my high-backed chair without moving to sit. “Catina?”

  She smiled at me and folded her arms on the table, clasping her fingers in front of her empty plate. “Vlad, dear,” she cooed.

  “Who is this?”

  “Aren’t you hungry?” Catina asked innocently.

  I said nothing.

  “Or should I say thirsty?” Catina questioned, lifting her glass with a sly smile curling her lips.

  Again, I did not respond.

  “This is Andreea,” Catina said, gesturing to the other woman. “I brought her here for you.”

  My gaze fell on the woman Andreea. With black curly hair that framed her face and reached nearly to her elbows, she would have been lovely if not for her utterly blank expression. As she was sitting, I could only see her top, a tiny bit of it as most was hidden beneath the table. Basically, I could see her breasts, and with her deep breaths, I spied the pink of her nipples whenever she inhaled.

  “I do not want her,” I said gruffly.

  “Oh, she’s not here to pleasure you. She’s here for you to feed on,” Catina explained. “Drink on? Thirst on?”

  I gaped at her.

  “Vlad, dear.” Catina finally released her glass and reached over to pat my hand. “I love you. I know what you are.”

  “And what is that?” I growled, my gaze shifting between the two women.

  “A vampire.”

  “How long have you know?”

  “It wasn’t that hard to put together. You don’t kiss me often, and when I bite you, you’re even more aroused…” She rubbed her choker. “Your eyes, your strength… I’ve known for a long while or at least suspected for a long while.”

  “And Andreea…”

  "She's to be your meal," Catina murmured. "I don't know if she can hear us. I drugged her. She'll do whatever you want."

  I stared hard at Catina. She knew the truth, and she wasn't upset I hadn't told her myself. What was more was her complete and total acceptance. To bring me someone to drink from was the best possible present she could have given me.

  But what of Stela? What would she think? She most certainly would not approve of me drinking from a drugged woman.

  “Why did you drug her?” I demanded.

  “Oh.” Catina’s blushed slightly. Such a small, human reaction. The only time Stela’s face appeared flushed was after she had consumed a great amount of blood.

  “Well?” I growled.

  My knuckles were white, and I released my hold on the chair before I would break it. Still, though, I did not sit.

  “I… Andreea is one of my dearest friends. She’s always been fascinated by monsters. Not that vampires are monsters, but she’s actually a researcher of lore. She’s the only person to explore part of the Devil’s Precipice without going mad or getting lost. She thinks it’s because she wasn’t trying to find the treasure but rather the minotaurs. I think it’s because she’s amazing and doesn’t realize how amazing she is.”

  “Why drug her?” I demanded.

  “Because as much as she is interested in your kind, she’s also, well, human. She’s scared. Here.” From her ample cleavage, Catina produced an envelope.

  I opened it.

  Vlad,

  I hope you do not mind my calling you that. Catina said that is what she calls you, but it seems a little informal for having not been properly introduced.

  I very much want to meet you, but I’m nervous. Most of the monsters I’ve met have tried to kill me, but Catina said you aren’t like the others. You’re good and kind… loving. But you need blood, and I want to offer mine, only I’m… This is absurd to admit, but I tend to faint at the sight of blood.

  So I want you to drink from me, but I don’t want to embarrass myself. I drugged myself. Drink. Take as much as you want, only do not kill me. Catina trusts you, and I trust her, so I, in turn, trust you.

  Please. Do not think that being drugged means this is against my will. It isn’t. I hope to one day be aware when you drink from me. I need to work up to that. I need to. I saw my first troll the other day. His club was covered in blood, and even though it most likely belonged to an animal, I fainted. To continue my research, I must get over this fear, and I think, over time, you can help me.

  Drink. That's all I ask of you. I know I haven't truly met you, so asking anything of you is rather bold, but I am offering myself to you. Please do not refuse.

  Andreea

  I reread the letter and then tossed it onto my plate.

  “I know it’s backward, but the drugging is actually about consent. It’s all in the letter,” Catina said.

  “She didn’t need to be drugged for me to drink from her,” I said bitterly. “I can drink without spilling a drop.”

  Catina grinned and produced a vial, also from her cleavage. “Allow her to smell this, and she will wake.”

  I accepted the vial but hesitated. “This still feels wrong.”

  My human… lover? slid to her feet and gripped the hand holding the vial. “Vlad, I would do anything for you. If you would prefer to drink from me, then do so.”

  She untied her choker and let the ribbon of cloth float to the ground.

  Her exposing her neck was one of the most erotic reveals she could have performed. If my body produced its own blood, I would have hardened immediately.

  I stepped around Catina, opened the vial, and held it be
neath Andreea’s nose. She blinked several times, and her face came to life. Her hand went to her neck, and her expression fell.

  “You didn’t drink.” Her voice was lyrical despite her accusatory tone.

  “If you want to help me by giving me your blood and want my help to overcome your fear of blood, you must be aware,” I said firmly.

  “I… I suppose that’s fair.” She pushed her chair back, stood, and curtsied. “Allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Andreea Vasile. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”

  Now that she stood, I could see her dress, if it could be called a dress. I suspected Catina had dressed her friend up, and the dress could not be lower cut at the top or shorter at the bottom. If she were to turn around, the skirt would hardly cover her ass.

  Belatedly, I realized she was waiting for a response. I bowed deeply and took her hand, running my thumb along her knuckles. "I am Vladislav Dalca. The pleasure is mine."

  I lifted her hand as she giggled. Catina moved to stand behind her friend, placing a hand on her shoulder.

  Instead of pressing my lips to her fingers, I turned Andreea’s hand over, exposing her wrist. Maintaining eye contact with Andreea, I leaned down and bit her wrist.

  Her eyes widened, and she flinched but did not pull away. She also did not ask me to stop, so I drank a little more. Her eyes fluttered shut, and her hand went to her chest. Through her dress, she played with a nipple.

  Aroused despite myself, I pulled away and licked my lips. I didn’t think I spilled any.

  Andreea glanced at the small pinpricks of blood on her wrist from where I had bitten her. She swayed, and I caught her in my arms.

  “That was…” she murmured, her eyelids fluttering.

  “Too much? Too painful?” I asked.

  “I wasn’t expecting the pain…”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “No.” Andreea shook her head. “I wasn’t expecting the pain to be so… pleasurable.”