Commitment in Blood Read online

  “While you are with me, I will make you forget he exists.”

  “How nice of you.” Snippy but pretty much justified.

  “Nice?” He bent so close their noses almost touched. “No, Ferda. It will be hot, fast, slow, wild and abandoned but nothing between us was ever nice.”

  He swept her up and deposited her in the warm pool. The water almost covered her breasts and submerged jets made ripples and currents that moved the water across her skin and between her legs.

  She looked up at Julius and with a thought he was naked. (Neat trick. Useful, too.) He was beautiful as ever. And aroused. She couldn’t help herself. “Very nice!”

  “Nice!” he echoed. “You and your nice, Ferda Wallace. I’m going to give you nice.” He stepped into the bath and stood over her, legs astride her waist.

  She took her hands out of the water, slid them up his thighs until her fingertips brushed the base of his impressive cock. Her memory had not played her false. “Let’s see how nice you really are.” She took his cook deep into her mouth.

  She’d have sworn he sighed, but vamps didn’t sigh. They couldn’t. But they could cradle your head in their hands and slide your mouth up and down their cock while you worked your lips and tongue, reveling in the power and heat and sheer wondrous taste of glorious vampire flesh.

  Ferda could happily spend forever here, her tongue caressing his cock and his strength between her lips. Though she wasn’t altogether surprised he had other plans.

  Good ones.

  He washed her. Taking liquid soap that smelled of summer flowers, he rubbed his hands together until his long fingers were full of scented foam.

  How she remembered those fingers, the slow and tantalizing touch as he spread soap bubbles over her breasts and neck before gently splashing them away with warm water. This was going to last some time. She sensed that, from the slow caress of his hands and the wicked glint in his eyes. Strange that after all these years she still remembered.

  “You haven’t changed one iota, Julius.”

  “We don’t, lover. Surely you know that by now.”

  “I knew but never really understood. Until now.”

  “You humans see and feel change. We do not.”

  “You were human once.”

  “Not now.” He paused. “I could turn you, Ferda, keep you with me.”

  Stop the arthritis and her fatigue and her slowly weakening health. It was a temptation. “If you did, it would never be the same between us, Julius. Whatever time I have left to me, I want that.” She kissed him.

  His mouth offered heat and cool sweetness and power. His strength hidden behind the caress of his tongue. His sure hands stroked her back, cupped her breasts and traced lines of heat across her belly.

  She leaned her head against the tiles and sighed.

  He seized the opportunity and practically made a meal of her breasts.

  She couldn’t be heading for another climax so soon, but she was, her body tensing with need and arousal. Until he stopped. Took his mouth away and grinned, showing his fangs.

  “Damn, Julius, that was no time to stop!”

  “Oh, yes, it was. Can’t have you coming again too soon. I know how you humans tire. And I intend to keep you up with me until morning.”

  “Can you tell, this far below ground?”

  “I can. Stand, love.”

  Why not? He washed her legs, stroking her thighs and caressing her calves. Spreading her legs to kiss the sensitive skin on the inside of her thighs and, finally, what she’d been waiting for: he knelt at her feet, cool fingers opened her wide and he fastened his mouth on her.

  She grabbed his shoulders, using his strength to keep herself upright as he teased her with his tongue. Praise the heavens that vamps never changed. Never altered. His touch was as magical as her very first time.

  Her climax built and almost peaked. He had to let her orgasm this time. She needed the wild release, the rush of hormones and sensations, the wild abandon she’d always known in his arms.

  And he took his damn mouth away.

  “Fuck, Julius!”

  “With pleasure, my love.” As he spoke, he stood, grasping her by the waist and ignoring her complaints and wriggles, lifted her up and lowered her.

  On his erection.

  Her long, slow sigh of pleasure wiped out any disappointment. She wrapped her legs around his hips and he supported her arse with one hand, his other arm circling her waist.

  “You, Julius Roma, are an unmitigated tease.”

  “And you love me for it.”

  Why bother to argue? She had far better uses for her breath and energy.

  “You came back to me.”

  “I came back because I needed your help.”

  “Certain it wasn’t this you needed?” He thrust his hips hard, intruding deep within her with all the power and urgency of a vampire’s cock.

  Ferda threw back her head, looked into the heat and passion in his dark eyes, and laughed aloud.

  He responded by pumping her wildly, driving her back up until her arousal peaked and she came in his arms, screaming with the pleasure of his fuck and the utter joy of their climaxes as his strength filled her. Her climax was just off the edge when he bent his head and bit hard into the base of her neck.

  She gave a startled cry that became a shout of pleasure as a wild cascade of climax after climax burst within her, all but blacking out her mind, the wild sensations of her body bombarding her brain. As she clung to him, the wild ripples of pleasure touched every nerve ending and the rush of pleasure slowly faded. “You are so incredible.”

  “Stay with me,” Julius whispered in her ear. “Be mine forever.”

  It took every ounce of willpower she possessed to answer. “No, my dearest. I love you too much for that.”

  It was the truth. That thought filled her heart and brain as Julius stepped out of the bathing tub, wrapped her in warm towels and carried into the next room to a canopied bed.

  Chapter Four

  Ferda wasn’t altogether surprised to wake alone. One did that frequently with vampire lovers. Watching the dawn together just wasn’t an option. Julius was sleeping the day away in some secure chamber. She smiled. Nothing quite like splendiferous sex to ease the aches and take off the years. And right now she should try to find the others -- or at least Adlet. Drake and Rand were no doubt snug somewhere, in the same state as Julius.

  Her red zipsuit, all washed, ironed and mended -- he’d yanked it off in a hurry last night -- was spread on a velvet chair. On a nearby table stood a bowl of fruit and, she had to smile, a jug of apple juice.

  A note in Julius’s precise handwriting said, ‘For you, my love. Summon my servants and ask for whatever you need. When you are ready, Dr. Batha has news for you.’

  She was tempted to throw on clothes and demand to be taken to Dr. Batha immediately but her rumbling stomach had other ideas. She wrapped the bed cover around her shoulders and tugged on the bell pull.

  The boy from last night appeared. “Heroine of Arrand, what can I get for you?”

  “Do you have ham?” It had been a while but her mouth watered just at the asking.

  “Indeed, madam, we do. My uncle owns one of the pig farms.”

  “Wonderful. Please bring me ham and eggs and java brew, with milk.” She really would indulge. “I need to wash. Is there a small tub or shower I can use?”

  “We have both, Heroine of Arrand, in the Commandant’s baths. Which would you prefer?”

  She wasn’t here to loll around. “A shower.”

  “I will prepare it. Would you like me to send the masseur?”

  “Later. I also need to see Dr. Batha.”

  “Commandant Roma said you would. I will arrange transport and a guide for you, when you are ready. Would you like the ham and eggs before or after the shower?”

  “After.”

  “I will prepare the shower for you.”

  She was perfectly capable of turning on her own shower, but
seems the lad had clear instructions. He left and returned a few minutes later with a toweling robe over his arm.

  “Here you are, Heroine of Arrand. I will conduct you there.”

  She hardly needed a guide to find the shower, but as she followed the lad through four bathing chambers, she changed her mind. She’d read about the extravagant baths of ancient Rome. Julius had replicated them on this once barren planet. The showers were in the fifth room, tiled with brilliant azure. Each stall was large enough to hold two or three. She wasn’t going to think abut how Julius might use them.

  She dismissed Mellam and once he was gone, took off her robe and stepped under the warm spray.

  Her food was waiting when she emerged from the baths. She’d all but forgotten how genuine animal meat tasted. It was almost enough to tempt her to take up Julius’s offer. Almost… but not quite. Life here would be prefect. Too perfect. Besides, she valued her freedom and independence far, far too much.

  But it didn’t stop her relishing every single mouthful. She’d obviously burned up a lot of energy last night.

  She soon finished and rang for Mellam.

  “You wish for something, Heroine of Arrand?”

  “Yes. I need to talk to Dr. Batha.”

  “My mother will conduct you there.”

  “And I need to speak to the other mortal who came with me, Adlet.”

  The child bit his lip. “You must ask my mother.”

  What the hell?

  His mother, a tall stately woman called Jadma, appeared in minutes, a cloak over her arm. “To reach Dr. Batha, we must travel across the surface. I brought this. You will need it.”

  “Thank you. And about Adlet?”

  She hesitated, turning to tell Mellam to tidy and check the bathing chambers. When the child left, she said, “Forgive me. I should not say this in front of a child, but your companion, Adlet, left his suite last night. He went out with his host and has not yet returned.”

  “Come to harm, you think?” If so she’d have Julius’s guts. Nothing should happen to him with a guardian’s escort but…

  “Oh, no!”

  Ferda understood. “He’s sleeping it off somewhere?”

  Jadma frowned as if unfamiliar with the idiom.

  “Recovering from too much indulgence?”

  Jadma nodded. “I believe so.”

  “Then we won’t wait for him,” she said, putting the cloak over her shoulders. She needed to find out what they’d learned about the stowaway.

  Jadma hadn’t exaggerated. On the surface the wind blew harsh as a knife and there was little warmth from the distant, orange sun. “Is it always this cold, here?” Ferda asked as they crossed a courtyard toward a row of wheeled vehicles.

  “Only in winter,” Jadma replied. “If you can stay a few weeks until spring, the weather warms and everything is green.”

  Sounded lovely but she hoped to high heaven they weren’t here that long. They couldn’t be. Not with Adlet’s expected return to university. After this she should check with the mechanics and engineers who were supposedly fixing the ship.

  Or maybe she’d leave that to Drake and Rand. They should pull their weight, after all.

  * * *

  “Welcome, Heroine of Arrand. My laboratory is honored.”

  This “heroine” bit was getting to her, but that wasn’t the scientist’s fault. “And I am in debt to you for your efforts, Dr. Batha.”

  She smiled. “Just Batha. Few have titles here on Damphir.”

  Then how did I get stuck with one? “Can you tell me anything?”

  “About the young woman?” Ferda nodded. So it was Mildred. “We reanimated her an hour ago.”

  This was wonderful news, so why did she look so worried? “What happened?”

  “Very little. Vision and hearing are poor and she cannot speak.” At least they knew she was a Mildred not an Algernon. “There is no identification on her capsule or her outer shell. Until she can communicate, we have no way of knowing who she might be.”

  “You think it’s brain damage from poor preservation?”

  “We’re divided. Most of my assistants think so. I’m not so sure. It’s as if she doesn’t understand us.”

  “What language have you used?”

  “The common lingua.”

  Should have worked. It had been spoken across the galaxy for fifty years or more. “What if she was last awake before it came into general use?”

  Dr. Batha stared. “How could she be that old?”

  Ferda didn’t even try to hold back the chuckle. “I am, and I’ve never been cryogenically preserved.”

  Obviously stunned, Dr. Batha replied, “All we speak is the common lingua. The guardians speak the ancient lingua. Maybe one of them….”

  If the poor woman had been out of things as long as Ferda suspected, the last thing she would be up to was facing a vampire. “Let me talk to her. I know some of the older tongues. If that fails isn’t there a language synthesizer somewhere?” The doctor looked utterly confused. “Never mind, I’ll ask Julius. He’ll know.”

  “Julius Roma, the Commandant? I heard you had his ear.”

  She’d had a whole lot more than his ear, but no way was she sharing that right now. “Let me try first.”

  “I must warn you, she was severely dehydrated when she arrived.”

  Damn that Zadde for shipping her off in such a state. “She’ll live?”

  “Yes, but her condition is poor. Her skin, her hair have aged. Maybe brain and internal organs. We’ll have to wait and see.”

  “Let’s see if we can find out what language she understands.”

  It took a while.

  Batha had been right about “damaged.” Mildred’s skin was pasty. That was to be expected, but her wrinkles and creases made Ferda’s skin look like a teenager’s and the poor woman’s hair was pure white. Her hands, resting on the cover, showed age spots in the dry, almost transparent skin. Cryonics was not Ferda’s specialty but surely no one should end up in this condition.

  “I’m Ferda. We found you. You are safe,” she said in Falin. “What is your name?”

  Mildred didn’t understand Falin, nor the dozen or so other languages Ferda had picked up over the years. Whatever Ferda tried was met with blank incomprehension, until a shriveled hand grasped Ferda’s, and a harsh, rough voice croaked, “Water.”

  Apparently she spoke the common lingua, though she hadn’t responded earlier. She was coming around. But her voice seemed damaged. Ferda understood. “Batha, can someone get her something to drink?”

  “Drink?”

  “She needs liquid, and not just from this darn drip.”

  At a nod from Batha, an assistant produced a feeding glass with a straw. Mildred’s blank eyes met Batha’s as she held the straw to her lips. For a minute or so it seemed she was unable to understand what was happening. Batha touch a few drops of water to her lips and she blinked, then closed her lips over the straw and drained the glass. As she looked up she said, “My thanks.” Her voice was tight and raspy but she could at least speak.

  “We’ll give you more in a little while. Too much will overload your body as it returns to normal functioning,” Dr. Batha explained.

  “Normal” was being overly optimistic to Ferda’s mind. “You’ve just woken up,” she said, using the common lingua but speaking slowly. “This is Dr. Batha.” Adding the title would hopefully reassure the woman she wasn’t in the clutches of mad scientists. “I am Ferda. What is your name?”

  Seemed the question stumped her. She shook her head, her brow creasing as if concentrating very hard. “Gelda. Gelda Marrian.”

  One hurdle over, now they only had a few million more. “Gelda, you’re on Damphir IV.” That got another vacant stare. “You’re safe. But we need to know where you came from.”

  Gelda shut her eyes and shook her head as if trying to unjumble scrambled thoughts. “I am Seng Gelda Marrian. They asked me to…” She shook her head, a flash of panic in her eyes. “
I don’t know! How did I get here?”

  Now was not the time to go into Zadde’s suspected perfidy. “We found you frozen in a stasis chamber and brought you here.” Best omit the pirates at this point. “We’ll help you get home when you’re well enough, but we don’t know where you came from.”

  Confusion, fear and then panic showed in the bright blue eyes. “I don’t know.”

  Batha sighed. “Never mind. It will take a little time for your memory to return.”

  Only it didn’t.

  Within hours, Gelda was sitting, propped upright by pillows, and Batha and her crew were planning therapies, muscle augmentation and drug and nutritional regimens. Just looking at Gelda, the changes were stunning. Her skin was firmer and pinker as artificial blood slowly replaced the chemicals in her veins. Her sight and hearing improved, her speech became clearer.

  But she had no memory, had no idea where she came from or what year, decade or century she’d been placed in cryonic hibernation. She knew her name, or what everyone assumed was her name, and that was that. One of Batha’s assistants had spent the better part of an hour accessing the galactic databases, seemed Gelda had never been born on any known planet, never held a job, opened bank credit, or registered for employment. It went beyond “interesting” to astounding.

  “This is incredible,” Dr. Batha said, shaking her head. “There has to be some trace, even if she’s been suspended for decades. Do an etymology search, see what we can turn up. Her names are unusual.”

  “That could take hours,” the assistant replied.

  Given all the known languages in the numerous planetary and galactic alliances, more likely days.

  “She doesn’t have anywhere to go,” Batha replied. “We keep searching.”

  Ferda tried her own searches, but had no more luck than the hapless assistant. She gave up and returned to the laboratory, hoping perhaps Gelda had remembered more.

  She hadn’t.

  Dr. Batha nodded at Ferda. “Rest, Gelda. We’ve tired you out.”

  “You’ll come back?” Gelda asked, her voice stronger, but still tight and scratchy.

  “Of course, but you must rest. You’re safe here.”