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“We longed for your return,” Elina declared breathlessly as she ran her hands over his hair.

“We were starving,” Cneajna dared to say. “We needed you!”

Like fawning cats, they rubbed seductively against him, caressing him with their bodies and hands.

Save for me.

I stood over the dead guard, staring into his hollow eyes.

“Come to me, my Bride,” Vlad called to me.

I lifted my gaze. I knew in that moment they were burning with defiance. “You must bring us another. ”

Vlad hardly seemed to notice my outburst. He amorously kissed Elina with his thick lips.

“Do you hear me? It is not enough, damn you! It is not enough! It is never enough,!” I cried in anguish.

The blood of the hunter who had stumbled across us earlier and the guard had made us soft, pale, and rosy once more with our hearts beating in our chest, but still the hunger was there. Clawing, pleading, needing to be fed.

“It is enough for tonight,” Vlad said softly. Staring down into Ariana’s adoring eyes, he gently smoothed her tangled hair. “Tomorrow, I shall bring you another. ”

“We need more now! I feel the hunger deep within me! The need is gnawing at me!” I trembled with rage and desire. “We need to feed now. !”

Vlad pointedly ignored me as he caressed his wives' faces and kissed their lips.

“Do you hear me, you stupid bastard? Call back your carriage and give us those men! Give me Sir Stephen!”

Slowly, Vlad’s darkly burning eyes slid toward me, his most defiant Bride. “Do not task me, Glynis,” he said in a low, threatening voice.

“You made us what we are. You have starved us since you left. You cannot let us starve any longer!”

“I can do as I please, dear one. I am the Master. ”

“Sir Stephen is your servant. Give him to me. Let me feed. ”

I had seen Sir Stephen’s frightened eyes as he had gazed at me and beyond that, I had seen his lust. All I wanted was to rip open his throat and feed. Feed on his blood to satiate my hunger and avenge my family.

“He is worth more to me than you know. Hate him if you must, but his blood is not yours. ”

“Damn you,” I whispered in a fierce voice.

Vlad threw back his head and laughed with delight. “You are such a wild creature. You amuse me, but I will break you. ” Elina covered his neck with desperate kisses as he spoke. His wives closed in around him, seducing him with their beguiling bodies.

“Just a taste more, my love, a taste more,” Cneajna whispered in his ear.

Vlad just shook his head. “No more tonight, my darlings. ”

I screamed at him with rage. I picked up the corpse of the guard and flung it at the writhing vampires. The dead man smashed into Ariana and Elina, knocking them to the floor. Cneajna drew back in fear as Vlad whirled about.

“You will not defy me!”

“Feed us or I will slaughter the servants!”

Yes, I realize now that I was being temperamental, but I was furious. Seeing Sir Stephen brought back the stark reality of his betrayal of my family. Also, I might as well admit, I was disgusted by the fawning attentions of my vampire sisters. I was barely recovering from the agony of our starvation, and I wanted nothing more than to feel full, alive, and strong.

Vlad’s form blurred and I found myself dangling from his grasp. “You will not dishonor me! You will wait for the night to return and then you will feed! If you defy me again, I will lock you in the dungeon with your dead mother and let you starve for weeks! This is not an idle threat, Glynis. I have killed Brides less disrespectful than you. ”

To emphasize his point, he slammed me into the wall several times, then flung me across the great hall. I slid to a halt against the wall, my hair splayed out about me. My anger burned in my eyes as Cneajna hurried to my side. I pushed myself up, growling deeply in my throat.