Blood and Wine - Margot Scott Page 0,49
washing over my skin. I’m aware of every wisp of wind, every individual bird call. I smell the papercut on the tall detective’s right forefinger and hear the blood pumping through his veins.
Will takes my hand and squeezes it reassuringly.
“We were here together all night,” he says. “I’m just grateful we decided not to sleep in the main house. Such a terrible tragedy.”
“Ms. Greyson,” the short, round, balding detective says. “Can you corroborate your fiancé’s whereabouts during last night’s animal attack?”
“Absolutely.” I meet Will’s tender gaze. “He never left my side.”
Epilogue
William
One year later...
Mariah’s attorney withdraws a stack of papers from his briefcase and sets them on the glass table in front of her. I stand off to the side, among the plants in the conservatory, watching. Making sure she’s safe.
Not that she needs my help with that these days.
“Once again, Mrs. Durant,” the lawyer says, “I am terribly sorry about what happened to your family. I can’t begin to imagine what this year has been like for you.”
“It was an ordeal,” she says calmly. “But we’ve managed.”
He hands her a pen and shows her where to sign and initial. “Out of curiosity, what do you intend to do with the vineyard now that it’s yours?”
“We’re reverting some of the fields back to pasture and building a new horse barn.”
Both the vineyard and the estate sat in probate for almost a year following the tragedy at Red Cliff, during which time Mariah and I stayed at her old house in Baltimore. She showed me where she went to school, the record store where she once worked. We fucked in her childhood bedroom, surrounded by posters of her favorite bands, more times than I can recall.
Hunting was easier in the city. More people, more crime, less scrutiny. Mariah only gave into her bloodlust once. That was a long and grueling night for both of us. I had to hold her down for five straight hours to stop her from massacring an entire clinic full of people.
That was also the night I gave her one of the most intense orgasms of her life.
My cock perks up every time I think about it.
Baltimore was a fun diversion, but it wasn’t home. We knew we would return to Red Cliff, now the Greyson Estate, as soon as the dust had settled.
The house stood empty for months. The vineyard shut down. When we got back, one of the first things Mariah did was change out the dead plants in the conservatory for live ones.
The first thing I did was make her my wife.
We married in the twilight realm, with Katherine officiating. The ghosts were more than happy to celebrate with us. Mariah and I danced and made love for days following the service. After which, I took her hunting on Virginia Beach.
I reached out to an old vampire contact who helped me regain access to my wealth. We hired new staff, including a farm manager, and set about transforming the property into the horse ranch of Mariah’s dreams.
The only unfortunate thing about coming home is occasionally running into Chastity and her children. Thankfully, with Isabella and Katherine on watch, they almost never come into the house. One of the most satisfying exchanges I’ve yet to witness involved Isabella whispering something to the doorman, after which, he informed the Radcliffs, “I’m afraid your invitation to this soiree has been rescinded. Please escort yourselves off the premises.”
Edward has yet to make an appearance on the estate. Disposing of his head a great distance from his body seems to have trapped him in some kind of spiritual limbo.
I hope, wherever he is, he’s wrapped in chains.
Mariah and her attorney finish up their business in the conservatory and say their farewells. As soon as he’s gone, she pretends to faint onto the chaise lounge.
“Why didn’t you tell me being immortal would involve so much paperwork?”
“Darling, I knew if I told you, you would’ve asked me to make you a ghost.” I lift her into my arms and kiss her, sliding my hand into her back pockets. She rocks against me, humming with pleasure.
Just like that, I want her again.
In fact, I’m quite certain I’ve never stopped.
“Wait,” she says. “You promised we’d watch the sunset.”
“I can multitask.” She laughs, batting my hands away from her breasts, and then saunters outside knowing I’ll follow her.
We make our way across the overgrown field, now free of vines and trellises, to our favorite hill. Someday soon there’ll be live horses out here among the dead ones.
We sit in the grass. Mariah leans into me, and I hold her to my chest. After a short while, she says, “I’m going to say hi.”
“Go on,” I tell her. “I’ll join you in a minute.”
She walks over to where the horses are grazing. They look up, and a couple even flick their tails at her approach. They know us now. I dare say a few even missed us while we were away.
Isabella appears on the edge of the field, like an eraser acting in reverse, becoming more and more solid with every step. Mariah smiles, happy to see her. They walk together and talk. As I watch them, I find myself thinking about how far we’ve all come.
I feel Katherine’s presence manifest in the grass beside me.
“I suppose I owe you an apology,” she says. “Though, to be fair, what I saw did come to pass. I just didn’t see that it was Edward who’d bitten her.”
“Is that part of your apology? Because it sucks.”
She shoots me a look that says don’t push it.
Isabella climbs onto a horse and trots circles around her daughter. Mariah laughs, spinning in place. I’m sure she’s tempted to project herself into the twilight realm so she can ride, too, but then she’d have to miss out on the sunset.
“I am sorry, William,” Katherine says. “I was wrong about you.”
“Apology accepted.”
“That’s it?” Katherine scoffs. “No wise cracks or subtle digs? I’ve waited a year to say that to you. You’ve made it too damn easy.”
“Life’s too short to hold grudges, Katherine.”
“Says the man who’s going to live forever.”
“I doubt I’ll live forever,” I say with a smile. “But watching the woman you love bleed to death puts a lot of things in perspective.”
I get up and join Mariah and her mother just as the show’s about to begin. Wrapping my arm around Mariah’s waist, I turn her in the direction of the setting sun.
The sky catches fire. Clouds glow like cinders, burning orange and magenta. Mariah melts against me, and I hold her up.
I will always hold her up.
Long after the fire in the sky burns out, and the darkness comes to claim us.
Also available from Margot Scott
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More than a loving protector.
I need him to be my Daddy.
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Blood & Wine Playlist
The Power of Love – Celine Dion
Dreams – The Cranberries
No Rain – Blind Melon
Hold On – Wilson Phillips
Come as You Are – Nirvana
Dreamlover – Mariah Carey
Kiss From A Rose – Seal
Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover – Sophie B. Hawkins
Closer – Nine Inch Nails
Come To My Window – Melissa Ethridge
Lovesong – The Cure
Angel – Aerosmith
Landslide – Fleetwood Mac
Zombie – The Cranberries
Rain – Madonna
I Have Nothing – Whitney Houston
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About Margot Scott
Margot Scott likes long nails and short, sexy reads, rainbow sprinkles on vanilla ice cream, and rainy days spent in bed with her furbabies. When she's not writing forbidden love stories about bearded older men, you can find her browsing Pinterest for pictures of pink things.
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