He grins. “’Twas Beauty who tamed the beast.”
“Oh hush.” I eye the blood ward. “Is this going to fry me?”
“Not with an invitation.” He reaches through, his hand an elegant offering. “Come here, love. We have things to discuss.”
I lay my hand in his and let him pull me through the ward. It sizzles a little against my skin in a way that isn’t entirely comfortable, but it doesn’t hurt. I touch my lips. “My father’s ward didn’t feel like that.”
“It was keyed to keep Malachi in, not other people out.” He shrugs and pulls me to the couch. “Now, be a good girl and keep quiet while the adults are talking.”
I frown. I don’t know what’s going on, but it can’t be positive. I dig in my heels, for all the good it does me. He just drags me the rest of the way and half-tosses me onto the couch. “What’s going on?”
“We’re going to have some fun.” Wolf throws himself down next to me and pulls me against his body. “You wanted to meet a demon, yes?”
Oh no.
I start to sit up, but he catches my shoulder and tucks me back against him. “Wolf, you can’t. Not without Malachi.”
“Malachi might pass for the leader of our little group, but he won’t let you make a deal, no matter what’s offered.” His eerie blue eyes watch me closely. “Do you deny it?”
I open my mouth to do just that, but I can’t. Not without lying. “He’s overprotective.”
“Exactly.”
“I thought you said it’d be a couple days before we are able to make contact.”
“I lied.” He dips a finger beneath the strap of my sundress, tracing a line down to my breast. He circles my nipple. “It’s a shame we don’t have time. Soon.”
“Wolf—”
The air changes in the room. I don’t know how to explain it. It doesn’t go cold, or hot, or anything like that. There’s no buzz of electricity like when Wolf brought me through the barrier. It’s more like an…aura of danger. Every prey instinct I have demands I go still and silent and hope the predator that just entered the room moves on without noticing me.
“Good girl,” Wolf murmurs. He still hasn’t taken his hand from my sundress, his middle finger idly tracing my nipple.
A few feet in front of us, in the middle of the room, the shadows gather. They seem to gain weight and height in a way normal shadows most definitely do not do. A masculine voice emerges, deep and as decadent as dark chocolate. “It’s been a long time, Wolf.”
“You always were one for theatrics.” Wolf leans back, taking me with him, and crosses his ankle over his knee. “I’m not one of your pretty, desperate women. You don’t have to do the whole song and dance with me.”
“And yet you have a pretty woman with you.” The darkness fades slowly, revealing a man. Except he’d only be mistaken as a normal man if someone didn’t have an ounce of self-preservation or a single instinct to their name. Light brown skin, dark hair and eyes, a face so perfect it’s actually a little eerie to look at. He catches me staring and smiles.
I flinch. Yes, he might be pretty, but he’s easily the most dangerous being I’ve ever come across. And that’s saying something considering the men currently sharing my bed.
The demon doesn’t move, but he seems closer all the same. “Or not a woman at all.” He inhales slowly and his smile widens. “Seraph. Wolf, things truly are never boring when you’re involved.”
“What can I say? I’m a gift.”
“You are.” The demon studies me. It feels like he’s crawling around inside my skin. “I thought you smarter than getting snagged by a seraph bond.”
Wolf shrugs. He finally takes his hand from my breast and moves it to my shoulder. A reminder to stay in place. “Can you blame me?”
“With this pretty package?” The demon shrugs. “I understand, even if I wouldn’t make the same misstep.”
Wolf laughs, his high and wild cackle. “Liar. We both know there’s one pretty little thing that’s turned you into a teddy bear. How are things going on that front, Azazel?”
Just like that, the easiness is gone from the demon’s face. “Watch your tongue, vampire. You amuse me, so I come when you call. The moment you stop amusing me, I’ll rip your bones from your body, one by one. I’d like to see you heal from that.”
“Yes, yes, consider me cowed.” Wolf waves that away. “Can you do anything about a seraph bond?”
Azazel goes back to studying me. “If I may?”
“By all means.” Wolf answers before I can do it myself.
That’s all the warning I get before he’s in front of me, pressing a cold hand to the center of my chest, right where I feel the bond the strongest. It’s not a welcome touch, but he’s hardly being untoward. At least on the surface. Beneath the surface is another thing entirely. I can feel his power course into me, thick and smooth. It leaves a prickly taste on the back of my tongue and I flinch.
Azazel moves back slowly, expression contemplative. “I can break it.”
“Really?” I don’t mean to speak, but I honestly didn’t think he’d be able to.
He flashes me a smile that’s all charm and no little amount of threat. “Human religion might be more fiction than truth, but they weren’t wrong on this one subject. Demons and seraphim are natural enemies, and our powers reflect that. I can dig out a seraph bond.”
Wolf narrows his eyes. “Would that mean seraphs can negate demon deals?”
“Careful, vampire. You’re playing with fire again.”
“Silly me.” Wolf tucks me more firmly against his side. “Let’s hear it. All the nitty gritty details.”
Azazel is still studying me. “It’s not likely to kill the vampires involved, though that’s always a possible side effect.” He shrugs. “I like you, Wolf, so the cost is my normal rate. Seven years of service.”
I open my mouth, but Wolf beats me there. “We’ll consider it. You’ll have the answer within a week.”
“Normally, there’s little rush, but I have a pressing engagement in ten days.” He gives that dangerous smile again. “Having a seraph on the auction block would be quite the feather in my cap. The others would love it.”
“You’ll have the answer within the week,” Wolf repeats, an edge in his voice.
“So be it.” Azazel shrugs and then he gone, disappearing in a surge of shadows. It takes several long minutes before all remnants of his power dissipate as well.
Only then does Wolf release me and sigh. “Well, that’s a dead end.”
“What? Seven years isn’t that long.” Even if I’m not immortal—something I still need to investigate—I’m going to live significantly longer than a human would. Seven years is nothing if it means breaking the bond.
“Here’s a hint, love. If it sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is.” Wolf leans his head against the back of the couch and closes his eyes. “Azazel says seven years, but he’s not talking about in the mortal realm. He’s talking about in the demon realm. That might mean a few seconds gone here, or it might be a few hundred years. There’s no way to tell, and he’ll lie if you ask him. The way the realms interact when it comes to time passing is one of the few things Azazel’s deals can’t control.”
Panic flickers through me, but I shove it down. “So a few hundred years pass. Who cares? It’s not as if I have any ties to this…realm.” Later, I’ll have a mental breakdown about the fact that there is apparently more than one realm. Right now, compartmentalizing is the name of the game. “You’ll all still be alive.”
“Maybe.” Wolf’s stares intently at the spot where Azazel disappeared. “But if he’s auctioning you off…” He shakes his head. “Malachi would go nuclear. Rylan might be more subtle about it, but he’s not going to let you auction off that pretty pussy for his sake.”
“What about you?” I don’t mean to ask the question. I really don’t. But it’s out in the air between us, and there’s no taking it back.
“What about me?” Wolf grabs
one of my thighs and tugs it up and over his lap. He skates his hand up beneath my dress and palms my bare pussy. “I’m a horrible cliché, love. I’m not overly fond of the thought of you fucking any monsters but us.”
“But…” My thoughts scatter as he pushes two fingers into me. “But Wolf.” It’s nearly impossible to focus while he’s slowly fucking me with his fingers, that hungry look on his face, but I give it a valiant effort. “But the bond.”
“Eh.” He pulls his fingers out to spread my wetness up and around my clit. “No matter how much it triggers Rylan, you’re hardly an evil overlord.” He uses his thumb to stroke my clit. “If that ever changes, I’ll kill you myself.”
Chapter 9
Maybe I should find the threat of Wolf killing me terrifying. Wolf is terrifying. Even knowing him such a short time, I’m painfully aware of the fact that he doesn’t bluff. It doesn’t make him more predictable, though. He changes direction as easily as the wind.
Still…
“Promise me.”
He pauses, his dark brows pulling together. “What?”
“Promise me that you’ll kill me if I try to abuse the bond.”
He lets loose one of those mad laughs that I’ve come to enjoy so much. “No. I don’t make promises I don’t intend to keep.”
“But—”
“What if you abuse the bond on accident, baby seraph?” He goes back to slowly fucking me with his fingers, his thumb playing across my clit. “It would be a shame if I had to rip out your throat because of an ill-worded promise. Malachi would never forgive me.”
“Can’t have that,” I say faintly.
“Now you get the idea.” He topples me back onto the couch and settles between my thighs. “Ah, this brings back memories.”
From the first time we met. I try to glare, but it’s half-hearted at best. “You mean when you held me down and drank my blood a few minutes after meeting me?”
Wolf chuckles. “You mean when Malachi extended guest privileges and it infuriated you so much, you welcomed my bite and the ensuing orgasm.”
He has me there. I was furious. “You would have fucked me then if I gave you half a chance.”
“Of course.” He lifts himself off me enough to undo his pants and work them down his hips. “Just like I’m going to fuck you now. For old times’ sake.”
“Uh huh.”
He tugs down my sundress, baring my breasts. “You really are exquisite, love. Perfect breasts. A pussy that’s enough to have a partner willing to cage you for eternity.” He palms my breasts, lingering over my nipples. “The demon deal is off the table.”
“You don’t get to make that decision.” I arch into his palms. It feels good, but it’s nowhere near enough. “I need you.”
Wolf wraps a fist around his cock and guides it to my entrance. “This is exactly why. Do you know what kind of monsters they have in the demon realm, love?”
“I didn’t know the demon realm existed until an hour ago.”
His laugh is a little strained. He’s moving slowly, teasing me, sinking inch by inch deeper. “They make us vampires look like house cats. They’ll get one taste, one touch of this pussy, and they’ll chain you up and never let you go.”
I reach down to grab his hips even as I lift mine to take him deeper. “My choice to make, Wolf.”
“I’m not a jealous man.” He surges forward, sheathing himself inside me completely, and moves down to press his entire body to mine. “I’m not.”
I can barely think past how good it feels to have him inside me, but I give it a valiant effort. “Say it again and you might even believe it.”
His shifts down a little and bites me. His teeth sink into the curve of my breast. Not a spot where he’s going to get much blood, but the effect is overwhelming. I release his hips and grab his head, guiding him to my nipple. “Again.”
“Must be the bond,” he mutters. “I want to mark you up. Rub my scent all over you.” His hands find the spots where Rylan held me down earlier, at my neck and back. “Mark you just like Rylan did. Just like Malachi wants to.”
I guide him to my other breast. “Do it.”
He does. Again and again and again. Tiny little bites that ramp up my pleasure. Looking down my body and seeing little rivulets of blood marking my skin do just as much for me as the bites themselves. I love these marks just as much as I love the ones from Rylan’s claws. A sign of mutual ownership, of them claiming me the same way the bond demands I claim them.
Later, I’ll worry this is some sort of magic. Right now, there’s no room for anything but the feeling of Wolf’s little bites in time with his cock sliding in and out of me. Need winds tighter and tighter, arching my body and drawing a cry from my lips. “More!”
He gives me more. Even so, he’s not rushing. Time ceases to have meaning as we fuck, our bodies moving in a rhythm as familiar as breathing. With each wave of pleasure, my orgasm edges closer, stronger. When he finally loops his arm under my waist and lifts my hips to find the sensitive spot inside me with each stroke, I lose control completely. I grab his arms and scream. I think I might even black out. All I know is one moment I’m coming so hard the room goes black, and the next I’m blinking up into Wolf’s crimson eyes as he finishes inside me.
I’m so dazed, I almost miss the low word he utters. “Ours.” A promise and a threat.
The sweat is still cooling on my body when I sense the approach of Rylan and Malachi. They’re moving quickly. I don’t know what’s changed with the bond in the last few days, but I can feel the distance closing in great detail. “They’re coming.”
“About time. Really, how hard is it to find a group of unsuspecting vampires, kill all but one, and then indulge in a little torture until he tells you everything he knows?” Wolf climbs to his feet and stretches his arms over his head. Even after all the fucking, the sight of him makes my body clench. I try to push the desire down, but from the way his lips pull into a seductive smile, I fail miserably.
I sit up and try to ignore the way his cock is going hard again. “Malachi told me that you can sense my emotions.”
“Oh that.” He shrugs. “I don’t need magic to know you want my cock again, love. It’s called being perceptive.”
“I need to learn how to shield.”
“Why?”
I blink. “What do you mean, why?”
“Exactly what I said.” He wraps a fist around his cock and gives a few slow pumps. “Did you ever stop to ask what the purpose of such a side effect could be?”
I start to snap, but it’s rare that Wolf decides to go into teaching mode. He prefers to mock and incite instead. I cross my arms over my chest. “No, I didn’t worry about why. The fact that it does is enough for me. I don’t need all three of you in my head.”
“Ah, but we’re not in your head.” He grabs my hand and tugs me to my feet. “We’re in your heart, and that’s something altogether different.”
“Don’t talk in riddles. I don’t have the patience for it.”
“Pity.” He laughs. Wolf dips down and licks the blood from my upper chest. The sound he makes is nearly a purr. “We’re not just eager and willing cocks, love.”
“One could argue that Rylan is neither eager nor willing.”
His drags a single fingertip over my hip where there’s still the slightest pinprick mark from Rylan’s claws. It’s honestly astounding that they haven’t healed fully yet. I’ve taken blood from all three of them since then, and nothing heals quicker than vampire blood. I wonder if there’s something in his claws that slows regeneration—
“Rylan didn’t lose control because he hated the feeling of being inside you.” He chuckles. “Did you know that when he was younger, he was wilder?”
“I thought he’s significantly older than both you and Malachi.”
“He is.” Wolf shrugs. “But he didn’t get that stick up his ass until a little over a century ago.”
It doesn’t take a genius to put the puzzle pieces together
. If I have my dates right, that’s around the time of his falling out with Malachi and Wolf. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“He used to be wilder.” He repeats and gives a happy sigh. “We had so much sex, love. The three of us and others we invited in. It was a wonderfully endless bacchanal for years.”
“Again, what does that have to do with anything?”
His grin goes wide and sinful. “In all those years, I only saw him lose control of his shape when he was with Malachi and me. Only us. Never when someone else was involved.”
Something goes strange in my chest, but I don’t know enough to identify the emotion. “That doesn’t mean anything.”
“Doesn’t it?” Another of those careless shrugs. “If you say so.”
Malachi and Rylan are almost to the house, which is almost enough to distract me from how this conversation has gone off the rails. “Why shouldn’t I learn to shield, Wolf?”
“Oh. That.” He palms my breasts. “It’s a protective measure.”
“Excuse me?”
“When you have strong emotional spikes, all three of us feel it. Knowing when you’re afraid or angry is incredibly useful on that note.”
Part of me can see his point, but I’m not willing to concede. “Maybe if you chose it. You didn’t, so it’s invasive as hell.”
“Probably.” He slides his hands down my sides, his fingers unerringly finding the spots where Rylan impaled me. “Doesn’t mean it’s not useful. We’ve got to keep you alive and all that.”
“Wolf—”
Movement on the other side of the blood ward. Malachi and Rylan appear. They’re covered in blood and look like something out of a horror movie. I gasp, but Wolf tightens his grip, holding me in place. “Took you long enough.”
Malachi lifts his hand. The air wavers a little in front of his palm, and he recoils. “What is this, Wolf? Let us in.”
Heir: A Bloodline Vampires Novel Page 7
