He arched his neck in offering.
Selena shuddered and backed away from him.
Gareth frowned, different pieces of a puzzle twisting inside his head. He covered his blunder by tracing his hand down her neck to the mounds of flesh exposed by the bodice of her gown. She leaned into his hand and he spread his fingers, absently caressing her flesh.
“I am sure you can think of many ways to relieve our boredom,” she breathed.
“Indeed.” Gareth hid his revulsion. How odd, that he would be willing to give his blood, but cringed at the thought of bedding her. But the idea of someone other than Millicent in his arms made him feel… empty. He prayed words would suffice. “Perhaps you would like to hear of the many ways I can pleasure a woman.”
Her black eyes sparkled. “Oh, yes.”
He launched into a detailed description of a lover from decades ago who had a taste for the exotic, while his mind tried to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. Fear had passed across Selena’s face when he had offered to feed her. Why? He remembered that she had acted strangely when she had fed from him before, her lust for him turning into a mindless infatuation.
The Duke of Ghoulston had taken a cup of his blood.
And then he had given Millicent a gift for the queen.
Ghoulston wanted power and position.
By the time he finished his tale, Selena’s eyes had turned glassy, her pupils dilated and her breath coming hard and fast.
“I knew you would like that story,” whispered Gareth, leaning closer to her.
“Such ingenuity,” she murmured, stroking his bare chest. He remembered how Millicent had touched him, with tenderness and longing, as if the were-panther had tried to memorize the feel of him.
Selena scraped her nails across his skin possessively.
“Show me how you managed that position,” she whispered.
“Shall I? I am not sure you have the courage for it, lady.”
She blinked. “What do you mean?”
“You do not trust me enough to gain pleasure from it.”
“I am not afraid.”
He shrugged. “There is a part of you that fears me, and until I understand why, it is too risky. I would not harm you, lady.”
“What are you talking about? I am not like stupid Millicent, frigid and fearful of being with a man.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what is it?” She near shouted the words, her fingers curled into fists, and color rose in her pale cheeks.
Gareth judged her frustrated enough to speak carelessly. “When I offered to feed you, it made you nervous. Why?”
“Because it made me a mindless ninny before.”
“How do you mean?”
“I did not know what happened to me at first. But His Grace deduced it soon enough. Your blood made me fall in love with you. A feeling I have never experienced before, and do not wish to repeat. It has nothing to do with bedding you.”
Gareth started. “How is this possible?”
“I do not know. I’m just glad it wore off. Now, let us try…” She pulled at his waistband.
He grabbed her fingers. “Selena, this troubles me. I have never had anyone… drink my blood before. Is it part of Merlin’s spell? How can it have affected you that way?”
“Oh, for the love of—” She twisted her hands out of his. “His Grace says it has nothing to do with magic. Or rather, it does, but it is natural. A result of the spell put upon you.” She grinned rather maliciously. “He thinks that after all these centuries of seducing women, your blood has actually changed into some sort of love potion. Now, can we get on with it?”
Suddenly the pieces of the puzzle started to make sense. He needed to speak with Millicent. Gareth leaned forward and hugged Selena. “My dear lady, you have no idea—”
The bedroom door flew open and a snarling, spitting bundle of black fur leaped into the room. Selena grimaced and spun around, the shadow of her were-creature outlining her body. “Go away, Millicent.”
The panther growled, soft and menacing.
“What is it? You don’t want him, but no one else can have him either?”
The cat stalked closer.
Selena frowned, her gaze darting from Gareth to the were-panther. “I am not as stupid as you seem to think.”
Millicent shifted to human, hands on hips, black hair tumbling over her shoulders. “I beg to differ.”
Gareth sat back. What had Millicent done? If Selena suspected he had lured her here to find out information about the duke’s plans…
“I do not know how you managed it,” continued the vamp, “but you have bedded her, haven’t you?”
Gareth tried to look innocent.
“The were-cat is too protective of you. Too jealous for me to believe she hasn’t claimed you as mate. What I don’t understand is how you kept the relic on her wrist.”
Millicent stepped forward. “You are wrong.”
“The hell I am. And I cannot wait for His Grace to get back so I can tell him.” She stood, giving Gareth a glare that should have singed his eyebrows. “And you have been playing me for a fool. But do not mistake me, Sir Knight, for I shall have you in the end, only it will be with your hands tied above your head.” She lunged for the bellpull.
Millicent leaped forward, shifting to panther in midair, slamming into Selena’s back, and sending them both tumbling to the floor. She had her teeth around Selena’s throat before the woman could shift to bat.
“Don’t kill her,” commanded Gareth.
The panther’s eyes rolled to acknowledge him, but did not relax their hold around Selena’s throat.
“We can use her,” he continued, pulling his eating dagger from his belt and slicing open his wrist. Red blood dripped down his hand. He strode over to the women and leaned down, holding his wrist over Selena’s mouth. The vamp’s nostrils flared and she swallowed several times, but clamped her lips tight.
“Drink it,” he said. “Or I will let Millicent tear out your throat.”
Whether she took his threat seriously, or the smell of his blood was just too much temptation for her to resist, he did not know. But her red lips opened and she sucked his hand when he placed it against her mouth. Gareth grimaced. He did not have the vamp’s bite to inject him with whatever drug she released to dull the pain and bring euphoria to her victims. He could bear the pain, but the sensation of her lips moving across his skin, the suction of her mouth as his blood drained…
He watched the were-bat’s eyes change as she stared up at him. Within moments they softened and she blinked at him in confusion.
Gareth straightened. “You can let her go now, Millicent.”
She let out a mew of exasperation, stood, and shifted to human. “What is going on?”
“I appreciate your following my lead, my lady. Do you have aught I could use for a bandage?”
Her golden gaze darted from his bloody wrist to Selena’s blood-smeared mouth. Nell chose that moment to peek around the doorway, the sprite perched on her shoulder.
“It is safe to come in, ladybird,” said Gareth.
The old woman hobbled into the room, strips of fabric within her gnarled hands, and began to wrap his wrist. Gareth pointed at the little man. “You. Ambrose. Return to Bran to summon his warriors.”
He twisted his pointed face. “I would not call them warriors, Sir Knight. A motley horde perhaps, but not warriors.”
Gareth picked up his tunic and pulled it on. “How long will it take them to assemble and get here?”
The sprite furrowed his brow. “Lord Bran said he stands at the ready… perhaps an hour or two.”