Kerrelyn Sparks: Vampire Mine

“They figured I was only staying there because of my wife and child. So they killed them to be rid of me.”

“Connor, I’m so sorry.” She touched his arm.

He scoffed. “Do ye think the story ends there? That I cried for my wife and daughter, then quietly made my leave?”

Marielle’s eye widened.

“Oh, I cried, all right. I shouted and screamed. I tore the house apart. I flew into a rage that ye canna imagine. A cold rage that turned the world blue and froze the blood in my veins. I took my claymore and went to the village. And I slaughtered every man there.”

Her face grew pale.

“I knew it was wrong, but I dinna care. I did it anyway.”

“You were distraught,” she whispered.

“That is no excuse!” He gritted his teeth. “I killed them all, and I found great satisfaction in it.”

“You—you don’t mean that.”

“Aye, I do! There were women and children screaming in terror, begging me to stop, but I kept going till every man in the village was dead.”

Tears glimmered in Marielle’s eyes. “You were in terrible pain.”

“Love can do terrible things.” He rubbed his brow. “My wife died because she loved me. Then I took her love and the innocent love of a wee babe and twisted it into an ugly rampage for revenge. I doomed my soul.”

A tear ran down Marielle’s cheek. “I’m so sorry for all the pain you’ve endured—”

“What about the pain my wife and child endured? What about the widows and orphans I left behind? After a few nights, I realized the true impact of my crime. Women and children slowly starving to death because of me. I would go hunting every night and bring them a deer or a handful of rabbits. And they screamed in terror whenever I came. Eventually, they all left, running away from the nightmare I had foisted upon them.”

He sighed. “The village disappeared. There’s nothing there now but empty fields. And the grave where I laid my wife and daughter.”

“I am truly sorry,” she whispered. “For everyone.”

He tilted his head back and gazed at the stars. His heart felt lighter just for sharing the secret of his crime, but his punishment was about to begin. Any minute now, she would rebuke him for being a cruel and vicious monster.

She was silent.

He glanced at her and saw that her eyes were shut. Tears glistened on her cheeks, and her mouth moved silently as if in prayer.

He took a deep breath, preparing himself for rejection. He’d known all along he wasn’t worthy of her. It didn’t stop him from loving her, though. And it wouldn’t stop him from keeping his pledge.

Her eyes opened, and she regarded him sadly.

His heart squeezed. For the first time, he could see her age in her eyes. Millennia of pain, joy, and wisdom.

“I want to be clear on this,” she said softly. “I never want to hear you say again that your soul is doomed. Do you think you are God that you can make such a judgment?”

He blinked. “But I am doomed. Even the demon said I was on his list.”

“A demon will say everyone is on his list. But he is not God, either. The decision is not his.”

Connor swallowed hard. “Ye’re no’ . . . appalled by what I did?”

“I am constantly appalled by what humans do. And constantly amazed.” She sighed. “Why should I point out the seriousness of your transgression when you already know it? You have great remorse for what you did. You should ask our Heavenly Father to forgive you. And then begin your life anew.”

“I doona deserve it.”

She smiled. “You can feel that way, but He still loves you. I love you, Connor Buchanan. I will always love you.”

His heart stuttered. “Ye—ye canna mean that.”

She made a face. “Oh, you’re right. I changed my mind. I hate your guts now.”

“What?”

She swatted his shoulder. “When I say I love you, you should accept it. If you don’t, then you’re calling me a liar.”

“Nay, I—” Tears stung his eyes. “Ye still love me?”

She gave him an impatient look. “Only a man with a good and noble heart would punish himself for centuries. Your wife and daughter would not be pleased to see you wallowing in misery.”

“I’m no’ wallowing,” he grumbled. “I fought a battle earlier tonight.”

“You’ve kept a black pit of suffering in you for so long, you have trouble accepting love when it falls in your lap. It’s time to stop the suffering. You have a woman here who loves you.” She crossed her arms with a huff. “And I’m getting really tired of waiting for my blow job.”

He laughed.

She gave him one of her radiant smiles. “That’s more like it. You have centuries ahead of you, Connor Buchanan. They should be filled with love and laughter.”

He pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her hair, his tears mingling with her damp hair. “Ye are the light in my darkness. I love you more than I can say.”

“Will you become one with me?” she whispered.

He leaned back. “We . . . canna . . .”

“I want to.” She caressed his cheek, wiping his tears away. “If I ever make it back to heaven, I want to know that I gave you everything I have.”

“But what if it . . . soils yer—”

She touched his mouth. “I’ve come to realize that joining with you could never be a soiling of our love, but a celebration of it.”

His heart swelled and he squeezed her hand. “I like the way ye think.”

She smiled. “I thought you would.”

Marielle jolted when she felt his tongue against her private parts. Good heavens! She clutched the blanket in her fists.

Connor was amazing her with his speed and determination. In a frenzy of movement, he had undressed her and himself in just a few seconds. Then in a whirlwind of sensation, he’d tumbled her down on the blanket and kissed her all over. Her nipples were red and hard from his suckling. Her heart pounded from the wild things he’d done with his fingers. Still reeling from that climax, she’d watched him kiss his way up her bare legs to her thighs.

And then . . . his tongue. Good heavens, the things this man did with his tongue. She gasped. She moaned. She cried out for mercy, and he kept going, kept taking her higher and higher. She was spiraling toward the heavens, flying without wings. She screamed, but instead of plummeting to Earth, she landed in his arms.

“Oh, Connor.” She gasped for air. Her heart thundered, and her body rocked with spasms.

He leaned over her, smiling. “No speaking in tongues?”

She smiled back. “ Magnifique .”

“Wrap yer legs around me.”

“Mmm?” She did as he asked, then jolted when she felt him pressing against her. And the two shall become one . “You didn’t want your blow job?”

“I want inside you. Now.”

“Oh.”

He looked at her closely. “Did ye change yer mind?”

“No.” She gasped when he nudged at her. Her grip tightened on his shoulders.

“Am I hurting you?”

She shook her head. “No. It’s just strange. As an angel I never even noticed this sort of thing. It seemed so . . . unimportant. But now, it . . . it seems like a really big thing.”

“Aye. It is.”

She searched his eyes and saw so much love and tenderness there. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He rested his brow against hers.

He plunged into her. She gasped. He gasped, too, their breaths intermingling.

“You’re inside me,” she whispered, then hugged him tight with her arms and legs. Even her inner core squeezed tightly around him.

He groaned.

The small amount of pain she had felt faded away. The discomfort of feeling overly stretched melted away. She smiled. And the two shall become one.