Marcello's hand moved to her waist, pulling at the belt that hid her body from him. His fingers moved over her hips, as if fascinated by the feel of her. He touched her thighs, her knees, before answering the call of her center heat. She was moist when he touched her, pa.s.sionate and ready.

Tatiana's hips jerked against his hand, wanting him to test her depths. Her lips pulled away so she could cry out. No man had ever touched her there and she suddenly felt deprived. She wondered what had been wrong with her to never seek a man's touch.

"Stand for me, Marcello," she ordered her slave. Marcello groaned in protest, but had no choice but to obey. Tatiana pushed up on her elbows, letting the robe stay open to reveal her nakedness to him. Marcello walked to the end of the bed, standing dutifully before her. She looked him over with interest, licking her lips as if she were about to devour him. "Undress for me, Marcello."

Marcello pulled at his belt, shameless and immodest. His black robe parted and he let it slide from his shoulders. He had a thick neck that molded well into his shoulders. His upper body was very strong, excitingly so. His arms moved gracefully beneath the burden of their muscles. His stomach was flat, muscular, smooth. Tatiana's green eyes strayed to the thick member jutting from between his hips in a soft bed of hair.

"Turn for me," she ordered quietly, enjoying her first real peek of the male form. Marcello obeyed, turning around slowly so she could see all of him. The edge of the bed hid his legs from view, but she could see his powerful thighs, moving up to a very firm backside, to a back that rippled with as many muscles as his chest. Being a vampire, he was in perfect shape, without a measure of fat to mar his delectable frame.

When he came full circle, his eyes pierced her from their fiery depths. Tatiana knew that he wasn't used to being commanded in such a way. This was a man who wasn't accustomed to following orders--especially from a human woman.

"You may come to me, Marcello," she said to him, smiling a catlike smile. She didn't move as he crawled up on the bed, moving over her on all fours. His eyes only darkened as he drew near, becoming almost black.

In a brief moment of clarity, he demanded, "Release me, witch."

Tatiana grinned, having no such intention. Pursing her lips, she looked over his fine features. Just looking at him made the ache he'd stirred in her body worse. She laid back. Her hair spilled around her head. Lifting a finger, she delicately traced a line from his neck, along his collarbone and along the middle of his chest. Marcello groaned. His eyes closed.

"Obey me," Tatiana ordered quietly, daring him to try and fight her. Her hands lifted to his shoulders, feeling his texture, his warmed skin. He didn't breathe, holding still like a statue. She explored his body, flicked his nipple, giggled as she watched him jerk in pleasure.

Caressing down his stomach, she walked her fingers in a torturous trail down to his erection. His whole being stiffened as she ran her hand onto him. Tatiana gasped. It was harder, smoother than she expected. She bit her lip and her composure wavered slightly.

Her hold slipped just enough so that Marcello could bring himself forward. His lips met hers. His hair streamed alongside hers on the pillow--the dark brown mingling with her vixen's black. This time when he kissed her, he wasn't so gentle. He poured his desire into her. His fangs nicked her lips and he tasted the flavor of her blood.

Tatiana moaned. Her fingers left his arousal to grab his face and hold him to her. His body covered hers, rubbing pleasurably along her softness, as his legs expertly threaded between her thighs to part her to him.

Marcello kissed her long and hard, exploring her mouth as he stole her breath. When her lungs felt as if they would explode, Tatiana tore her face away, gasping for breath. His knees pushed forward, opening her wide for him. His hands braced his weight as his mouth went to a breast and began sucking.

His teeth grazed her, his mouth working in desperation. He wanted to bite her. She could feel his jaw straining as she denied him the impulse. Her power over him kept him restrained. So, instead, he kissed the nipple rough and hard.

Marcello growled. His erection dipped close to her wet heat. He felt it against him, calling him into her ready body. Roughly, he pushed into her. Tatiana screamed out in surprise at the rough entry. Her mind faded away from the moment. She blinked and the pain of that time was gone. But, the past wasn't done with her. Marcello wasn't done with her.

As he withdrew himself, she opened her eyes. They were on the chair before the fireplace. She sat astride him, riding him hard. She impaled herself onto his thick shaft until he stretched her insides past the brink of her inner depths. He fit fully inside her, so deep she was sure it wasn't possible. She was sore, but the pleasure of it outweighed everything else.

As she rose to thrust again, her memory flashed and Marcello entered her from behind on the fur rug before the fireplace. His strong hands grasped her hips and pulled as he slammed her mindlessly back into him. His loud grunts of approval came out of him in little animalistic noises until she realized that she too howled like a beast.

Marcello took her in endless positions all over the room, including once on the stairwell and once in a room fitted with his s.p.a.cious coffin. With each thrust of his tight body, she remembered each and every time they came together--the ceiling, the floor, the bed, against the wall, the window. He rode her from behind, from above, twisting her body in positions she'd never thought of in a million years. The aching in her hips grew, demanding fulfillment. She didn't want it to stop, she wanted more, was so hungry for him.

Tatiana knew she'd made him come to her. She'd think of him and he would be beckoned to her, dropping everything to be at her side. Each time he tried to resist and each time she commanded him to their pleasure. Her powers fed off of him, growing strong, needing his body's s.e.xual energy to root itself inside her. It had been dormant for so long and it caused her to drink greedily of his pa.s.sions, milking his body's o.r.g.a.s.m again and again. And when the impossible happened, when his male shaft could take no more, needing to recover, she'd take him in her mouth, sucking on him until he grew hard. She would then command his lips and fingers between her thighs so that his mouth could bring her to pleasure. She'd spent four nights like that, letting him have his rest in the day hours while she took hers.

Without warning, the thrusting of their bodies slowed. They were once again on the bed. She could feel him inside her, rocking his hips into her. A wicked longing came to her then and she wanted to let him drink from her. She could see the bloodl.u.s.t in him when he looked at her, when he thrust himself into her body.

Marcello was up on his hands, working his thick member in the deep little circles he'd discovered would make her scream in delight. She felt the pa.s.sion building again. Her mouth opened with a pant.

"Marcello," she called. His dark, piercing gaze met her controlling green one. Weakly, she commanded him, "Drink from me, ah, please. I beg you, drink. Taste me. I want to feel what it's like."

Marcello's body tensed at the words. His eyes turned a b.l.o.o.d.y red almost instantly. His hips didn't stop as he struck out at her.

He bared his teeth, opening his mouth wide. The beast within him had been tempted and tormented by her for many nights.

Now, with her words, it wouldn't be stopped. His teeth sunk into her neck.

Tatiana gasped in surprise to feel it. She felt them connecting. His bite stung, but didn't hurt.

Marcello drank deeply of her. Her blood was like nothing he'd ever tasted before. He could taste the ancient power of her bloodline--strong within her cause it had been lying dormant within her witch's clan for so long. The story of her past was in her blood, a lineage of her ancestry. She was powerful, but he already knew that. She'd have to be powerful to be able to control an old vampire. The more he drank, the weaker her hold on him became until he could break free of it altogether.

Marcello tensed, stopping in his easy thrusting. His mouth tore from her as he glared down at her. Tatiana's hands were weak at her sides. A crimson trail ran over her pale flesh from the puncturing wound. Her eyes opened, the lashes fluttering lazily.

He could see the dazed confusion in the depths.

Marcello's nostrils flared in anger. She'd dared to keep him prisoner to her? She dared to command him? Make him a slave?

His member was still hard, embedded deep. He'd met glorious release in her depths many times, but it had not been under his control to do so. She'd not been under his control and the idea of it drove him mad. He was a vampire. He liked his s.e.x raw, touched with a bit of pain. Pleasure and pain were so closely drawn for his kind and the beast in him wanted its turn.

With a demonic growl, he took over their lovemaking, turning it into something more primal and aggressive. His hips thrust anew, only this time he was wild and hard as he pounded himself into her.

Tatiana gasped at his rough claiming, but her body was used to his size after the countless hours he'd spent inside her and he didn't hurt her. She quickly learned his new rhythm, opening herself to him as she met the fierce thrust of his hips.

Her body jerked each time he came into it. His force pushed her up on the bed until her head struck against the solid oak headboard. Marcello didn't stop. Tatiana screamed as a violent release racked her body and her muscles spasmed and clenched tightly around him. It was like nothing she'd ever felt before. The combination of blood loss and intense pleasure left her weak. She couldn't move. She couldn't feel her limbs.

Marcello grunted in agony and pleasure as he came hard inside her body, heavily releasing himself. He felt her strength inside of him, stolen from her body. Angrily, he whipped out of her, lurching back off the bed to land on his feet.

Tatiana could only blink as she watched him. His pupils turned black as he stared at her naked, motionless body. She could see his rigid form, his fists clenching and unclenching as if he would strike her. When he opened his mouth only a roar of rage came out. He screamed violently, causing her to tremble. She pulled her legs up to her chest, but couldn't sit. Her body still sung with gratification and reason was slow to come.

When the roaring stopped, Tatiana blinked. She felt herself coming out of the daze she'd spent the last several days in. In horror over what she'd done with him, she'd screamed--a high pitched bloodcurdling sound. Marcello's demon eyes turned to her.

She was confused, bewildered, as she looked at his naked body then hers. Could they really have come together? Did she just...? Tatiana gulped. Her limbs still remembered the feel of him. Her lips still carried the wicked taste of him. Her skin smelled of him.

Tatiana was propelled into action. She grabbed a silk coverlet and hid herself from view. Her hair was a wild, unruly mess over her shoulders, matching the untamed look of the vampire. In shock, she saw his fangs, saw blood staining his chin--her blood.

Tatiana reached for her neck. It was sore. She screamed again when her fingers came back b.l.o.o.d.y.

"Silence!" Marcello yelled, slashing his hand through the air. He'd wanted her, but that wasn't the point. She'd tried to take his will from him. She had the impudence to command him--make him clean up her brother's mess. He thought with disgust how she'd commanded him to dig a grave and bury the body. For that, she would pay--dearly.

Tatiana instantly snapped her mouth shut and didn't move. Her wide eyes looked at him. He was still naked and didn't seem to notice.

"Porca miseria! Mi fa specie di te!"he growled at her."Baldracca!"

Tatiana trembled. Her lips quaked, as she said weakly, "I don't understand."

"I can't believe you did this to me!" he clarified. "You dare to try and control me, you wh.o.r.e?"

With each word, his voice grew louder until he howled viciously at her. Tatiana jerked, huddling back on the bed. How could she have let him inside her? How could she have demanded he come to her--again and again? She grew nauseous. His words were right. She was a wh.o.r.e. Whatever had come over her? It had been a spell, black magic. That was the only logical explanation for it.

"Please," Tatiana begged. Tears came to her eyes. "I want to go home, now. Please, give me my clothes and let me go."

"You will go home,baldracca ," he stated darkly. "And I will take you there as you are."

"No, please, my lord," she begged. Tatiana thought of how low she'd become. She couldn't let this Count drag her back. The lingering effects of her ancestry stirred within her, but were tempered back. It was the witch in her that made her act with such wanton longing. It was the woman in her that now revolted against it. She hated the part of her mother's people that grew inside her. She knew she'd never again let it to the surface. She wished her voice was stronger, as she said, "Please, I will go alone. I can walk. I know the way."

"No," he said. His body was still tight and he hadn't moved, except to blink. "I will teach you the folly of trying to control me,baldracca --"

"Quit calling me a wh.o.r.e," she screamed. "Just stop!"

Marcello darted forward. He grabbed her about her neck and squeezed. Tatiana cried out in horror to see the blurring speed with which he moved. His grip tightened and it became hard for her to breathe.

"I am going to tell everyone what you've done. I will expose Henry for a murderer," Marcello whispered in deadly pa.s.sion. His accent became thicker as he spoke. "Your family will be ruined,bella mia . You will be ruined. You will be a ...battona ... a prost.i.tute."