Sanctifying Grace (Resurrection) by Elizabeth Davies Read Free Book Online Page B

by the massive strides that were being taken in all aspects of the scientific world, from engineering to physics, chemistry, to medicine. Of course he was immersed in it, mesmerised by it.
    I was happy for him. The next century would be all he dreamt of and more. My stories of microscopic worlds and stars without end had given him a renewed interest in life. It was all about to come true for him.
    His fascination with me was overwhelmed by what was occurring in the real world and when I thought about it, I realised this had probably been happening since the time before Lettuce, when he had first shown me his collection, only I hadn’t been in his reality long enough to see its effects.
    Our lovemaking that night was poignant and tender. It reminded me of the last time Joe and I had been together as a couple, when we knew it was the end but neither of us had the strength to put our relationship out of its misery. Joe felt bad about abandoning me when it was certain I was going to die within the year , and I felt bad because he had been the only constant in my life for months. My decision to go back home to Brecon had been a relief to both of us.
    I didn’t feel relief now. Far from it. The pain in my heart was worse than any pain I had ever known. I was going to die soon, so why couldn’t Roman have kept up with the pretence for a while longer. I would never have known. I thought he probably did care for me in his own way, but I had to constantly remind myself he was not human. His brief stint at humanity was far outweighed by the centuries he had been vampire.
    That night, during lovemaking, in desperation, I let him bite me, not caring if the puncture wounds would still be visible when I returned home. Privacy was starting to become a distant memory in my real life and explaining away bites to my mother would be a challenge, but I didn’t care. I wanted to feel the special closeness (and pleasure, let’s don’t forget the overwhelming, exquisite pleasure) that came from being bitten during sex.
    We made enough noise to wake the dead and Wil must almost certainly have heard. It didn’t matter, nothing mattered except Roman.
    He held me afterwards, cradling me to his chest, cool and solid, whilst my heart was being ripped from my body, slowly and painfully.
    ‘You are troubled, my lady.’ It was a statement not a question. I smiled at ‘my lady’: Roman was very good at blending in with whatever era he was living in, whether it be fashion, mannerisms or speech, but occasionally he lapsed, using words or phrases from an earlier time. And always, always, there was that faint hint of accent in his voice.
    ‘Yes,’ I admitted.
    ‘What is it, Eryres?’
    I couldn’t tell him what I was really feeling and thinking. I didn’t want to bare my soul to him to such a degree, not when I could feel him pulling away from me. He knew I loved him. He could probably guess he was hurting me if he cared enough to think about it. And I didn’t want his pity. I’d had enough pity to last me a lifetime. I didn’t need to add his to the pot.
    So pride, and a desperate fear of not wanting to hear him say the words that would end this strange relationship of ours, made me turn my thoughts away from me, from us, towards Wil. Whatever happened between Roman and I would not alter the fact that I didn’t trust Wilfred, and I said so.
    ‘Leave Wil to me. You need not concern yourself,’ Roman advised. ‘I know exactly what he is , but I do not wish to lose his mind and his intellect to old age and death, like so many have been lost before him. He is still young and is coming into the prime of his life. I wish to resurrect him when he is at his full potential so he can carry on the work he is doing. I have let so many sparkling minds turn to dust. I do not want to lose this one.’
    ‘But he’s got the hots for you,’ I blurted out.
    ‘Hots? What are these ‘hots’?’
    ‘He fancies you. He wants to sleep with you like a man and