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Chapter Fourteen
~Claire~
I woke up slowly, my body warm and comfortable as if I were wrapped in an electric blanket on a snowy winter night. But it wasn’t a blanket, because the thing I was burrowed against had arms that were holding me firmly and hands that were gently stroking my skin.
Not wanting the moment to end, I allowed myself to drift a while longer, reveling in that space between sleeping and wake where it’s dark but peaceful. And then the memories returned, and I sat up violently, clawing at my neck as if to attack the vampire that had tried to kill me.
“Claire!” A man yelled, his voice deep and smooth as he grabbed at my hands, pulling them away from neck and holding them firmly in strong fists. “Darling, wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”
I blinked open my eyes to see Victor staring at me, wide eyed and clearly scared as he held my hands in his, keeping me from scratching at my skin again.
“Victor,” I whispered, tears stinging my eyes as two sets of memories drifted forward, reminding me of both first times I’d ever seen his face. The young, handsome man sitting before me now, and the shriveled, half-dead corpse that had woken and attacked me.
“I will go if you wish,” he offered. “The doctor suggested that our bond might help you recover. But I understand if you do not want me here.”
“Bond?” I asked, looking down at our joined hands and watching in amazement as sparks of light flashed over our skin. “Are we bonded?”
“No,” he answered quickly, squeezing my fingers gently until I looked back up into his face. “No, I would not ever take that from you without permission. But our souls recognize one another and being close will always help you.”
“Okay,” I said, rolling my lower lip between my teeth as I pulled one hand free to tug the edges of the robe I hadn’t remembered wearing closed over my chest. “Am I a vampire now?”
“Another thing I would not take from you without consent,” he assured me. “The witch and the doctor were able to fix what I’d done to you without the need for vampire intervention. You are human and free.”
I thought about that for a minute as silence stretched between us. Had he just taken his liberties, it wouldn’t be a decision I would have to make. The memories of being a vampire all those years ago were fresh in my mind as if they’d just been my truth, and sadness permeated every part of me to know that I’d lost that. But my current, human memories were terrified of losing everything I’d worked so hard for in my present life.
It was completely understandable why Trudi had been concerned about unlocking back then Claire’s memories. I didn’t feel as if I were losing my mind, but I wasn’t sure how I could balance what the old me wanted and what the present me needed.
Victor was my soulmate. That was undeniable. The physical manifestation of that was still dancing in arcs of electricity between us. We belonged together. We completed each other. And while I’d only had twenty-six years of this life, the previous twenty were also inside of me.
“Are you alright?” Victor asked, pulling me out of the warring memories to bring me back to the actual present. “Do you wish me to leave?”
“I want you,” I said, my words clipped as they hitched on a breath lodged in my throat. “Right now. I want to be one with you Victor.”
“You’ve been injured,” he reminded me, his eyes squinting as if in pain. “And you are dealing with much confusion and fear right now. I believe I’ve hurt you enough for one evening.”
“You haven’t hurt me,” I insisted, propping my head on my fist and staring at him. “I’m fine. I’m right here and you’re right here and we’ve waited forever to take this step. That was our downfall two hundred years ago. Please, Victor, I’m done waiting.”
“Claire,” he said, my name like a prayer whispered on his lips. “We have forever to build a new life together. Once this step is taken, it cannot be undone. You will be mine. And I yours. Forever.”
“Don’t we already belong to one another?” I asked, fear clawing at me as I realized that maybe he was the one who didn’t want to reclaim what we’d once had.
“You are the heart of me,” he assured me, pulling my hand to his lips and pressing a soft kiss along my knuckles. “I have loved you for centuries and will continue to love you until the end of the time. That much will always be true.”
“Then prove it,” I whispered.
Victor’s hand cupped my jaw, his thumb gently stroking across my cheek as his gaze searched mine. I wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but he must have found it, because he finally leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine.
Our robes were discarded in a flurry of hands, my body so on fire for his touch that I didn’t even bother to ask why we’d been wearing them in the first place. I didn’t actually care in that moment. Now that I had him here, I just wanted him inside of me. Wanted to complete the bond that should have been consummated centuries before.
Victor trailed hot, wet kisses over my throat and across my chest, pausing to sip each nipple between his teeth before continuing his descent down my body.
I arched into him, my fingers tangling into his hair as he dragged his tongue across my stomach and over my mound before settling between my thighs and flicking over my sex.
My body convulsed as he pressed his face against my folds, his mouth sucking at my core, tongue flicking over my clit until I thought I might combust with need for him.
“Victor, please,” I whined, clawing at his arms to urge him to come back up and take me. “I need you inside me.”
“As if I would deny you anything,” he whispered, kissing his way back up my body to settle his hips between my thighs.
