Real Vampires: Glory and the Pirates by Bartlett, Gerry (red white royal blue TXT) 📕

“You’ve obviously been busy, my love.” Jeremiah followed me up the winding stairs to the tower room. “Besting the men at archery and even putting Lady Anne in charge of the castle. Then Valdez came to me asking permission to teach you and the lady sword skills. What’s next? Shall I have our gunsmith make you a special gun to fit at your waist, my warrior woman?”

I ignored his mocking tone and whirled to face him. “Would you? I think that would be the most wonderful thing.” I threw myself into his arms, almost knocking him down the stairs. The look on his face was priceless. Of course, he didn’t fall, my man was always steady on his feet.

“Enough, Gloriana. You are not going to be shooting anyone. A little practice with a knife or short sword is probably a good idea and Valdez is a fine person to train you.” He set me down in front of the door at the top of the steps. “If Lady Anne wants to join you, I see no reason to object to that. Have at it. You can spar with each other. Still, I cannot imagine a lady of her standing will enjoy actual swordplay.”

“Thank you, Jeremiah. We will see if Lady Anne takes to it. Now look what we’ve done.” I threw open the door. Mercy and I had made sure the bathing room was ready for us with a stack of drying cloths near a roaring fire. The large tub had been filled except for the water in the kettle on the hob which could be added at the last moment. There was a slight chill in the air because there was no covering over the arrow slits in the tower walls.

“What have we here?” Jeremiah stared around the room. “A bathing room. Very nice indeed. You brought two robes, I see. So we can both bathe.” He walked over to the tub. “Yes, I think we can fit in here at the same time quite handily.” He grinned. “Is that your plan?”

“Perhaps.” I strolled to the window. “Look, I think on a clear night we could see all the way to Ireland. Perhaps we should post a guard here, to warn us if the pirates are coming.”

“There are towers nearer to the sea than this. The pirate problem has been around for more than a century. It is an old challenge that I hope to see resolved under my leadership.” He stared out the window. “This particular band is ruthless. Too many have died at that she-devil’s hand.”

“I’m sure you will defeat her, Jeremiah.” I walked up behind him and put my arms around him. Leaning against him, I felt like he could do anything he set his mind to.

“I may need to take ship for her stronghold. Attack instead of waiting for her to come to us.” He turned in my arms. “It’s something Lord Ralph never dared.”

“But what do you know of the sea?” I held onto him.

“There is much you don’t know about me, Gloriana. I have spent time on ships. Even was captured by Viking raiders once.” He laughed. “They were shocked as you can imagine when they discovered the man in their hold was vampire and could shift into a bird that flew right out of a port hole once we reached land. I left that village with a vampire as a gift from the English they hated.”

“Jeremiah!” I knew he had turned mortals into vampires. I was one of them. He’d acted reluctant to make me one. But, clearly, he was capable of not only siring new vampires but lying about it. I’d thought I was his first. Hah! Well, he had his secrets, that was obvious. Did I really want to know all of them? There had been other women, surely too many to count, during his long life.

My own secrets weren’t by my choice since I’d lost my memory. It had been obvious, though, that I’d not been a virgin when Michael had found me. I was a lusty woman as well. For all Jeremiah knew, I’d been a courtesan who’d lost her memory. He could read my thoughts and now the smile on his face told me he had just done so. I hit his broad chest. He knew I hated for him to invade them.

“A courtesan, Gloriana? I like the notion.” He reached for me but I pushed past him to gaze out the window.

“I do not.” I stiffened when Jeremiah’s arms went around me. “I hope it is too near dawn for the pirates to surprise us. Do you suppose an arrow launched from this height could hit someone on the ground below and still do damage?” I pretended to aim an arrow through the slit. “I doubt a courtesan would be a crack shot.”

“You’re right. Colin said you hit the target twice with ease. I had no idea you knew how to do that.” He pushed my hair aside and kissed me behind one ear.

I trembled at the touch of his mouth, then his tongue. “Neither did I. It was odd, how I picked up the bow and it felt natural as breathing.” I turned in his arms. “It is one more thing from my life before that I just don’t remember. It vexes me. Why can’t I know who I was, where I came from?”

Jeremiah kissed my forehead. “What does it matter? I know where I came from, what I’ve done for the past hundred years and more. Some things I regret. If I dwell on my misdeeds, like loosing that Viking vampire on an unsuspecting village, I’d be tempted to fall on a stake in despair. Trust me, sometimes it’s better not to remember.”

He pulled me against him. “You might have been a warrior in that past life, Gloriana, able to lead men into battle with your bow.” He smiled then kissed my lips. “I quite like the idea of that.