"Please call me Friedrich, my lady. And take good care of yourself." He graced her with one of those brilliant smiles. And while they didn't have the effect of one of Nikolai's, her stomach fluttered all the same like a mandatory response when the duke turned his charm on a lady.
"I will," she promised with a returning smile, then hitched Astrophel alongside Nikolai.
Grant stepped forward and pointed to the east. "Right through there, you'll find a crossroads. Take the eastern path, which is the peasants' road to the village of Murdoc. It's craggy and bumpy as hell, but it is the safest for you two. No peasants will be wheeling carts to Winter Hill after last night's snow, but it is easily traversed on horseback. The other roads are for human and vampire aristocracy and soldiers."
"Thank you, Grant." Nikolai gave a nod. "You'd best get back to Sylvia now, lest she haunt the halls in search of you."
He chuckled as Nikolai nudged Ramiel forward. Sienna followed alongside, smiling when she heard Friedrich say, "I believe that's the first joke I've ever heard the man say."
Nikolai didn't even look her way, so they moved on in silence with only the sound of their horses' hooves crunching in the snow. They found the crossroads easily enough and turned east as Grant had said. The road was more narrow than the wide, smooth roads the aristocracy would travel in their large, posh carriages.
Astrophel tripped on a rock hidden under the snow but caught her footing quickly enough. Still, the sudden shift caused Sienna to suck in a painful breath.
"Are you all right?" asked Nikolai, nudging Ramiel closer.
"I'm fine." She waved him off. "Really."
Nikolai veered Ramiel in front of her, bringing Astrophel to a stop. After unsaddling, he rounded to her side and pulled her down to him, setting her gently on her feet.
"What are you doing? Why are we stopping?"
"Because you are not fine. You're a poor liar. Riding a horse is the last damn thing you should be doing right now."
A flush of heat crawled up her neck, remembering why she was so sore. Recognizing the flare of anger riding his vocal cords, she put a reassuring hand on his arm.
"Nikolai, this is natural. It will heal and go away."
"Not soon enough. We have a hard, two-day ride. Give me your hand."
She did. He took her by the hand, palm skyward, and rolled her sleeve up a few inches above the line of her glove.
"What are you doing?" she asked, heart kicking faster.
"I'm going to give you enough elixir to numb the pain."
She tried to pull away, but he held her in an iron grip. "I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why not?" he asked, scowl noticeably deep, even in the soft light under the starry sky.
She laughed, but it was tinged with anxiety not mirth. "You apparently don't know the true effect of your elixir. Now is not the time to have me … in that state."
She tugged. He held his grip and eased closer, backing her against Astrophel who whickered but didn't move.
"If I thought you'd consent, I would turn back and let Friedrich give you his blood and have it healed instantly. But we both know what would happen then."
The duke was descended of the Varis bloodline and held the power to change a human into an immortal. "I'd become vampire."
"Yes. And since that is certainly not your wish, I must relieve your pain in the only other way I know how or I will go utterly mad knowing it was I who caused it."
She had no reply, simply stared up at him with his earnest expression. "If I say yes, then you must drink."
"I don't need to feed."
"Nikolai, you've been pale as a sheet since I woke up. You have circles forming under your eyes, and I know it's from the exertion of the journey to Winter Hill. To bring me to safety. That is the only way I will agree."
His eyes slid closed, and he raised her wrist to his nose, nuzzling along the sensitive skin. "You undo me, woman." He opened his eyes, shining with a preternatural glow, his sharpened canines extending. "Over and over again, you undo me."
He sank his fangs into the tender flesh for a brief few seconds, releasing his elixir. Then he set to sucking from the punctures, his mouth warm, his lips firm. Then his potion hit her like a hot blast, the seductive nectar that was Nikolai-a burning concoction of raw need and sensual ecstasy laced with his dominance and power.
She moaned, gripping her free hand into his hair, wishing she didn't have on these damned gloves. Or these damned clothes for that matter. He finished drinking and lapped his tongue three times across the wound, then rolled the sleeve back into place.