Count Dracula smiled as he watched his wife sleep. She always got drowsy after a good climax. He lifted his hand and caressed her soft lips, pink and bruised from his kisses.

He now realized that he had been lying to himself when he had thought that a few happy years with her would be enough because there was no way in hell he would ever let her go, curses or no curses. If he ever died, he would come back from the grave to haunt any man who breathed near her.

In her sleep, she was so relaxed, looking as peaceful and content as his soul felt in that moment.

"You're so beautiful." He whispered.

His wife made a sleepy sound and mumbled, "So are you," without opening her eyes.

She snuggled closer to him, throwing her leg over his and tightened her arm around his waist, as if she didn't want any distance between them, even in sleep. The whole week had been like that, if he wasn't in her, she wanted him beside her. There was a certain neediness in their bond, that even Vlad could feel.

There was general desire, he always felt that around Erinna, but this need, it was new. Maybe it was pregnancy hormones but something was happening between them that made it impossible to not be constantly touching each other. It was almost a compulsion at that point. His eyes locked on Erinna and he just had to be inside her. It didn't matter if they had spent the day locked inside each other's arms.

Normally he would embrace these feelings and growing desire but he was trying to be careful with her. It had scared seven years off him when she had bled that time. Luckily it had not been a miscarriage and had not had any lasting effects according to the midwives who examined her everyday but it was not something Vlad wanted a repeat of.

"Didn't mean to wake you up," he said, playing with her hair.

But she wasn't awake because she didn't reply to that statement as she had the previous one.

Vlad didn't usually sleep at night, his body was too awake during that time to achieve any form of restful state, so he just held her as she took a nap. He had taken her for breakfast at dusk then to the stables since she wanted to see Astaldo. She had begged prettily for a ride but Vlad's answer had been a firm no. He was not going to have his first born delivered on a horse.

They had returned to their chambers so that she could have the final fitting for the dress that the seamstress had made for her for the ball that would happen tomorrow night. Once he saw her in that dress, Vlad had had to have her. She was irrisistable like that.

Looking at her now, he wanted to take her again. She would let him too, if he woke her up. But she needed the rest so he kissed her forehead and let her sleep.

In the end, it was their baby who woke her up.

"Are you alright?" He asked when she woke up writhing, her hand on her back.

"I don't feel so good." She opened her eyes, her face looking miserable.

Alarm danced down Vlad's spine but he kept his expression calm.

"You don't feel good like you sprained a muscle or you don't feel good like the baby is coming?"

She frowned, thinking about the answer. "The first? I don't know."

Vlad was pleased to note that she was practicing the breathing techniques that the midiwives had taught her and trying not to panic.

"Contractions?" He asked.

She shook her head.

But Vlad didn't want to take any chances so he called the head midwife. The woman said there was nothing alarming but gave her a serum to help with the pain and advised her to take some rest.

"She doesn't need a serum, I can absorb the pain from her," he told the midwife.

"I wouldn't advise it. Pain in this moment can save her life. She cannot tell anything is wrong if her body is desensitized. We need the natural signals from the body to decide the next course of action."

She made sense so Vlad accepted the serum. The trouble was that the serum could only be taken after food. Her pregnancy had made Erinna very picky and she did not like to eat healthy meals, even when she was feeling fine. Convincing her to eat when she was already feeling terrible was nearly impossible. It took Vlad bribing her with a surprise for her to even swallow a forkful of spinach.

"I've done what you wanted, now where is my surprise?" She was still pouting, to show that even if she had done what he'd asked, it had been under duress and she had not liked one minute of it. It was cute.

"Where is your surprise, you mean?"

Her face fell.

"I don't really feel like going anywhere, Vlad."

He knew that. Whilst the serum would reduce her discomfort she would still feel wretched. Vlad hated seeing her so down.

"You'll like this place," he promised.

She didn't look too excited but allowed him to help her off the bed and into a dress. It wasn't what he would normally let her wear outside but for what they were going to do, she didn't need restrictive clothing. The white dress was one of her risqué nightgowns. It was made from soft, chiffon material that had slits on the side, running from her hip to the ground. Every time she moved, he got a glance of delicious, pale skin. It had short runched sleeves and a deep neckline that complemented her beautiful breasts.

The dress was downright inappropriate but since he knew they would be seeing no one else, it was perfect.

"I'm wearing this? Outside?"

"Don't you trust me?"

"Not right now, no," she teased him, a hint of her usual humour peaking out.

He laughed and teleported them to a place he had not been to in a while. It was one of the few places still untouched by mankind.

Erinna's face filled with awe the moment she saw the view before them. There were at Sumaya, a beautiful enclave surrounded by dormant volcanos. The volcanoes had erupted years ago, creating several natural hot springs with exquisite turquoise blue waters. Because of the contoured nature of the region, each pool poured into the one beneath it, creating a view like a staircase of pools stretching into the distance.

The rugged walls of the tiered pools were covered in ice and therefore looked like the water in them would be extremely cold but this was very deceiving. Although the pools were surrounded by frozen ice, the water within them was actually hot, one of nature's paradoxes. Vlad's surprise for Erinna lay at the bottom of the last last of seven tiered pools.

"Vlad, this is so beautiful." His wife's hand went to her chest, her eyes looking around to take in the beauty that had been born out destruction.

He could feel her joy and wonder through the bond and it send a thrill through his veins. It felt good that he knew how to make her happy.

"Sumaya pools." He introduced. "Want to take a swim?"

He held out his hand and she put hers in it, allowing him to guide her to the pool nearest to them, the one on top. When they were close to the edge of the pool, he went behind her and slipped his fingers underneath the short sleeves of her dress and peeled them down her arms.

"Aren't there people around, Vlad?" She asked but did not stop him as he continued to remove her dress.

"No, there hasn't been any settlement around these areas for over a thousand years. The last eruption was very destructive."

"Eruption? These are volcanoes, Vlad? And you somehow thought it was a good idea to bring us here?"

He laughed at the horrified look she gave him when she tilted her head up to look back at him.

"Dormant volcanoes, angel. They haven't been active for years. So long as you don't do anything, Miss-I-awaken-sleeping-volcanoes, we'll be fine."

"Hey, that was completely unintentional." She pouted at his reminder of what she had done at Silvercrest.

"Don't ruin the legend. You have quite the reputation in our other provinces."

She winced. "They still talk about it?"

"In the highest complementary terms."

"Your people are very strange."

He supposed they would seem strange to her. What she viewed as recklessness, they viewed as power and strength. He knew the deaths of the Silvercrest battle still tortured her but they hay had gained her a lot of respect throughout the territories. His people had seen what she could do first hand and knew that she was no pushover. Even other kingdoms had gotten the message.

"They are your people too now." He kissed her shoulder, his arms going around her, one over her belly and the other over her chest.

Her breast was very soft in his palm, the weight just right. Erinna shivered as he played with it, his lips laying kisses all over her shoulder and neck. His hands lingered on her, teasing her without any urgency as he removed the rest of her undergarments. When all her clothes were pooled at her feet, Erinna turned to face him.

She hands went on his chest, her head tilted to look into his eyes. Her face was flushed from his teasing and her eyes sparkling with mischief. She stood on her toes and kissed his collarbone, making Vlad's body shudder. He rued the day that she had discovered that he was sensitive there. Now she used it against him all the time.

Erinna laughed at his reaction and kissed his jaw.

"You smell really good," she told him, her tongue darting out to taste the skin on his collarbone.

"All this fixation on my neck today, are you trying to tell me something, Countess? Should we turn you as well, this Awakening?"

"Would you be the one to do it?" She said looking at him from beneath her eyelashes.

Vlad's blood heated at the flirtation gesture. There would be no swimming if she kept this up.

"I can be convinced."

"What would I need to do to convince you? I'll do anything." She said turning, wide doe-eyes up to him. Vlad's cock went from interested straight into rock-hard territory. She knew exactly what she was doing.

"You're a menace." He said, with a chuckle, his hands going to his belt to begin removing it.

"I was doing that." His wife pouted.

"If we left it to you, we would never make it into the pool."

*****************

Erinna still wasn't feeling too well but seeing Vlad looking so good was enough to fool her body into thinking that it could do what her mind knew it couldn't.

With the moonlight shining down on him, he looked forbidding, leaving up to his epithet of 'prince of darkness' effortlessly.

"What's wrong with that?" She replied to his statement of not making it into the pool.

"What kind of a vampire do you take me for, Countess? I don''t take advantage of sick, pregnant ladies," he said with a scandalised tone that made Erinna laugh her heart out. Vlad was just too much sometimes.

"And if they want to be taken advantage of?" She asked, watching him shuck his pants.

He stepped closer to her when they were off. The proximity did wild things to her heart and made her wet in places that had not even touched the water yet.

"Well, in that case, there's not much of a choice, is there?"

Erinna squealed as he picked her up and dove into the pool with her in his arms. They sank and for a moment she panicked but they quickly surfaced. And the water was so warm! She knew from her studies that geothermal springs were but knowing it and experiencing it were two different things.

"This feels so good, Vlad." She put her arms around him, loving the feel of the hot water on her skin and its relaxing effect on her muscles.

He looked down between their bodies to her breasts squished against his chest.

"Yes it does," he said with a dark twinkle in his eyes.

That's not what she had been talking about!

"You're so bad." Erinna laughed but put her arms around his neck and drew him down for a kiss because she loved him like that. It warmed her heart that he had brought her to such a beautiful place just to cheer up.

Vlad's hands moved from the small of her back down to her bottom. His fingers dug into the warm flesh in the most exquisite way as he urged her to lift her legs. Erinna looped her legs around him, bringing her centre right above his erection.

She was aching for him and hoped he would indulge her. Vlad didn't like making love to her when she was not feeling well but sometimes Erinna just needed him to. There was something about coming together with her mate that soothed her soul in a way no amount of resting could do. He was her other half and she needed that bond to be reaffirmed time and time again.

Vlad's hand reached between them and guided his erection to her entrance. Erinna moaned in sweet relief as his thick, gorgeous length sank into her hot, slippery folds. The stretch intoxicating. She could feel every beautiful inch inside her and it had her digging her nails into his shoulders and muttering unintelligible sounds against his throat.

"Look at me." Vlad commanded, his voice tight with desire.

Erinna pulled back, her arm moving from his back to his neck so that she could balance herself as he began moving. Looking into Vlad's eyes as he pulled out then sank back into her was incredible intimate and it made her heart beat faster. His eyes were full of crazy, almost devlish desire. It made Erinna shudder and contract around him.

"Vlad..."

His pupils expanded instantaneously, his eyes becoming even more crimson.

"Do you know how good it is inside you, angel? I could stay here all day."

She had no objections to that.

"I love you inside me."

She drew him down for a kiss. He kissed her back, deeply and thoroughly, as if he was laying a claim. He made loved to her but soon enough, the shallow thrusts that the position allowed, became frustrating for them both so Vlad moved her to the edge of the pool. With her hands gripping the icy edges, he began to really dig into her guts.

Erinna moaned loudly at the deeper and harder strokes, feeling like her soul was on fire. It felt like he was touching her heart with his cock. His one hand was fisted in her hand and the other digging into her hip. The dull pain in her scalp, the underneath her fingers, the hot water around them and the burning of Vlad's cock inside her as he branded her had her senses nearly exploding.

Then he turned her around, sat her right on the edge of the pool and sank into her again. The position was very demanding and required all her concentration not to fall. One moment she almost slipped due to the force of his thrusts but her back hit against a barrier. Confused, she looked behind her but there was nothing. That's when she realised that Vlad must had manipulated the air particles there to create an invisible wall to prevent her from falling.

When she turned back to him, he winked at her and Erinna laughed. He always thought of everything. She drew him down for a kiss, wanting to feel him on her mouth. He kissed her then hooked his arms around her thighs, lifting them a bit to deepen the penetration.

Erinna's eyes rolled back, her whole body shuddering. When she opened them, Vlad's eyes were on her, looking like he wanted to devour her alive.

"I love you, you know that?" His eyes remained on her as he moved in and out of her. Not fast, just deep. It was killing her.

Her heart blazed and caught flames because of that gaze.

"I know. I know, I uhmmmm...." The word dragged into into a loud moan as he pushed into her at just the right angle.

He pulled out and sank right back it, hitting that spot again and again. Erinna began boneless, her knees shaking at how good everything was feeling. Now that she knew she wasn't going to fall if she let go, her hands explored his beautifully sculpted body, hungry to touch every part of him that she could reach. Feeling the muscles in his back flexing as he thrust in and out of her was exhilarating and sent a fresh wave of arousal through her.

Her walls tightened around him involuntarily, trying to contain the pleasure. The sound that left Vlad's throat was inhuman.

"So perfect. You're so perfect for me." He groaned.

The amount of feeling in that statement had her stomach dropping and her insides quivering. Heavens this man...

"Kiss me." Erinna ask, the desire to devour and be devoured roaring inside her.

When Vlad's lips crashed with hers, her pulse skyrocketed and her blood heated in a manner that would concern any physician. His mouth was pure wickedness, stimulating all the pleasure centres in her body. She kissed back with just as much fervour, trying to feed the bottomless hunger inside her.

The more and more she kissed him and surrendered herself to the power of their bond, the brighter the colours swirling around them became and the energy in the air buzzed. The colours were like lightning but also like the rainbow at the same time, beautiful, charged and deadly. With their bond ricocheting Vlad's pleasure to her, it felt like Erinna would die. Everything was doubled and magnified.

Vlad had made her feel really good in the past, more than she had ever imagined. But this was something else. She hadn't even know it was possible to reach such heights of pleasure. It wasn't just about physical or even soul connection. There was something else, something inexplicable. It felt like they were creating something or feeding something, even without knowing.

As Erinna got closer to her climax, her hands went around his neck because it felt like she was falling. Every stab of her cock was hitting her in her soul and her sounds echoed around them as she begged him again and again to give her the ending she craved.

"You want to come for me, angel?"

"Yes, yes, please, Vlad. Please make me come."

She would never have said this if she was not on the precipice of what promised to be the most earth-shattering orgasm. She needed it, needed it with every cell in her body. Even her body was begging, her channel squeezing tightly around him in a series of convulsions that had him roaring.

"I can never get over that." He groaned and thrust deeply into her in three consecutive strokes that tumbled her straight into the most mind-blowing orgasm she had ever had. Her vision became white, losing concept of everything around her except the waves of pleasure crashing against her again and again. Her thighs shook, her toes curled and a silent scream left her throat as her whole world fell apart. She had never felt such ecstasy before, pure and undiluted pleasure.

Vlad kissed her, as if wanting to taste everything she was feeling. The kiss was anchoring, it grounded her when she might have actually lost her mind. When the most intense waves had passed, leaving her body trembling in aftershocks, she pulled back from the kiss so that she could breathe, But cheek rested against Vlad's, not wanting to be separated from him.

"Vlad," she said. There was so much she wanted to say to him. Thank you, I love you so much, you are perfect, I'm so glad it's you, this was the best moment of my life, can we do it again, you make me feel so alive, I'm connected to everything when I'm with you, how can I worship you, I never want this to end, you make me so happy, you're my whole world.

"Feeling better?" He asked, pulling back, to look into her eyes.

"I.. what happened..." She shook her head, unable to explain it. "I've never felt anything like that. Was it like that for you too?"

"Mmmm. Still want to devour you." He said and kissed her hard. "These lips," he said after sucking the living hell out of her mouth.

Erinna felt him flex inside her and her eyes widened.

"Vlad, already?" He had stamina but not that kind of stamina. Unless... "You didn't come?"