Round Two

by Eden Wildblood

  “Whatever it is, you don’t need to worry, Jak,” she whispered against him, “I told you. No strings.”

  He shook his head and whispered the same phrase again and this time, and Wynter frowned at him questioningly.

  “It’s nothing. Let’s go,” he grumbled, lifting her up. Rather than push him to tell her the truth, she just followed his lead without argument. She didn’t want to end their night with a fight, so figured it’d be easier to relax and leave him be.

  She pulled on her dirty clothes and then climbed back into the passenger seat, where she turned to watch him drive. Jakob was closed-off again but he seemed relaxed enough and she smiled, thinking of their amazing night together. She hoped they’d be able to do it again sometime soon. “Here,” he suddenly said as he turned to her with a boyish smile, and then lifted the centre armrest to reveal a small compartment. Inside were a dozen cereal bars and a couple of bottles of mineral water. “I remembered to feed you this time,” Jakob added with a small laugh, which Wynter echoed.

  She thanked him and helped herself, watching out the windscreen as he drove them away in what was now a heavy, thundering rain.

  He was slow this time though. Leisurely. Like he didn’t want to rush back, and Wynter smiled to herself as she took another bite of her makeshift meal.

  When she was finished, she shifted in her seat and peered out at the grey and wet morning, but didn’t care. Nothing was going to dampen her mood. They’d had a night to remember and she didn’t regret a thing. If anything, it’d been exactly what she’d needed and the perfect way to re-establish her new mantra. She’d done exactly as she’d wanted to do. Taken charge of her self and her future, and had gone onto have the night of her life. And why the hell not? She was beholden to no one and had let her impulses lead her. No harm had been done and she felt amazing.

  Tiredness claimed her after eating and relaxing in the warmth of the heated seat, and soon Wynter was dropping off to sleep. She tried to stop herself, but it was no use. Her body had been thoroughly worked out and now it was time to rest. She let out a soft moan and then felt a hand on her thigh. It was a gentle, reassuring hold, and she liked it. “Sleep now, Wynter,” Jakob then told her, “we have a long drive ahead of us.”

  “Huh?” she grumbled with a frown, wondering why they weren’t heading back to the mansion. He didn’t give her an answer, and actually, she didn’t really care, so she just put her trust in him and let herself succumb to her body’s need for rest.

  When she awoke, it was late morning and they were still on the motorway heading south. The rain had stopped and a bright winter’s day seemed to lie ahead, and she stretched as best she could in her seat. Wynter hadn’t slept particularly well, but she felt good, in spite of her having had just a few hours’ brought on by sheer exhaustion, and didn’t mind the warmth still resonating from between her thighs. The memory of her and Jakob’s night together was so fresh she wanted to blush, but instead she just grinned to herself and took a few gulps of water from the bottle beside her. There was no doubt about it, their time together had been amazing, and she wasn’t going to let anything make her feel bad for having let him take her over and over again both atop and inside of the same car they were still travelling in.

  She then caught Jakob watching her with a soft smile and couldn’t get over how much she was beginning to like that damn face of his. And his company. She didn’t crave space like she did with Marcus after their liaisons were over, and while it scared her to think of how much trouble those emotions could get her into, she also reminded herself of how she’d promised not to shy away anymore. Not to close herself off from her feelings. Nope, she was embracing them. Becoming a whole person again, not just an empty shell. So, she remained strong and attempted to be fearless in the face of her desires. Yeah, she liked Jak and wanted to be around him some more. Big deal. It didn’t mean that anything between them was forever. Even if it was just for a few more days, that’d do nicely.

  “How much longer?” she asked, her bladder having given her a sure signal that it needed addressing soon.

  “We’re almost there,” he answered, and soon pulled off the motorway and down towards the coast. He was right, and it wasn’t long until he’d pulled up at a tall red brick house that overlooked the ocean via some rocky cliffs with a beach further below them. The cool sunshine was beaming down on them, lighting up the epic stretch of coast brightly, and Wynter soaked up the view.

  Jak then cut the engine and they sat there in silence for a moment. The wind seemed to be picking up outside, but there was still some lingering warmth, and she stared out at the scenery with a smile. It was truly stunning, and Wynter stopped and let herself admire it before she climbed out of the car with another stretch, but Jakob seemed intent on getting her inside rather than linger to take in the sights any longer. He hurried her along, and she decided against arguing so headed inside behind her immortal companion without delay.

  The interior of the quaint home was not a let down. She was pleased to discover it had been not only cleaned and fully furnished ready for their stay, but also seemed to be fully equipped with necessities and essentials, plus the food supplies had thankfully been well stocked by the looks of things. She had a quick look around, but soon followed Jak upstairs to a huge master bedroom rather than stay downstairs alone.

  Wynter then watched him check every inch of the place, as if he was looking for bugs or something. Jakob even ran his hands over each of the windows and made sure their locks were secure. He clearly didn’t want any unannounced visitors.

  “What is this place?” she eventually asked, and then took a seat on the huge king sized bed. There were clothes in a small pile atop the duvet, and Wynter picked them up and started to check each one out while she waited for Jakob to answer her. They were all her size. Someone had clearly been expecting her.

  “Safe,” was all he replied, but it was enough. A word that held many meanings of course, but she trusted in his knowledge and expertise. And in his wisdom and guidance. If Jakob had brought her here to keep her safe, then she’d stay, and so she headed for the bathroom without argument and with a contented smile on her still tired face.

  It was so odd how comfortable she felt with him though. She even wondered if she was under some kind of new spell? But surely not. Jak wasn’t the sort to do that to her.

  Maybe she was just happy? Or whatever semblance of it she was capable of while still knowing what chaos laid ahead. Wynter couldn’t deny feeling pleased with the erotic turn of events the night before. It had been nice to get away from the scrutiny and vile company Marcus often was. It was even good to get away from the club for a few nights, and even though things could go sour in a heartbeat, she didn’t care. For now, she’d just settle for the happy little bubble she’d found herself in.

  She used the facilities, brushed her teeth, and then took a long and hot shower. It felt amazing to get freshened up and when she emerged, she felt good as new as she finished drying off and slid into a pair of pyjamas she’d found among the new clothing that’d awaited her arrival.

  Jakob was waiting for her, evidently having finished his checks. He too had washed up somewhere, and when she clambered into bed, he climbed in behind her, spooning around her while stroking her freshly washed skin.

  Damn, that felt so good. He was warm and tender, and even though she knew she was in the company of a killer, she had never felt safer.

  Wynter began to arch against him on instinct. How could she want him again so soon? But there it was, that flourish of heat blooming between them. The need that was building again.

  He kissed and caressed her neck, whispering foreign words while enticing her body with his touch. Wynter didn’t ask his reasons why, but knew he wanted her again too, and so she turned her body towards his and peered up into his impossibly deep blue eyes. They were a whole different colour to Marcus’s. His were icy, while Jakob’s were warm. Like the colour of sapphires.

  “What is that you
keep saying, Jak?” she had to ask, and was disheartened when he frowned, like he didn’t want to tell. But then he sighed and pulled her closer.

  “I keep saying to myself, and to you, that it’ll be okay. I won’t have to do it. There will be another choice,” he answered, but Wynter barely felt any clearer.

  “Do what?” she had to ask.

  Jakob shuffled and looked away as if he were ashamed to say it, but Wynter put her hand on his cheek and pulled him back, locking their gazes again.

  “Kill you,” he then croaked, and she finally understood his unease. They really were in a lot of trouble, she realised.

  “But if she says to, you’ll do it without hesitation?”

  He didn’t want to say it, she could tell, but Wynter needed to hear him with her own ears. She had to know, and still wasn’t scared. Foolish or not, she continued to have hope that things would work out somehow.

  In fact, there was also a part of her preferred death as a way out. She didn’t want to face any of Lola’s offered alternatives other than being free to walk away unscathed, and the thought of dying when compared to either being turned, bitten, impregnated, or merged with someone she couldn’t possibly love, didn’t seem quite so bad.

  “Yes,” he confirmed with a pained expression, “you have no idea what it’s like, Wynter. She’s my sire and that bond can never be broken. Not until—”

  “I don’t want to hear your reasons why, Jak,” she told him calmly, and still smiled. “If I have to die then how better than by your hand? So no more fretting over it, okay?”

  Jakob stared down at her in wonder and then shook his head.

  “You are a miracle to me,” he told Wynter as he climbed over her, pulled off her clothes, and then positioned himself between her thighs. “One I shall admire long after our time together is over.”

  Wynter took the strange compliment as she hoped he’d intended it, and then readied herself for another round of his fierce fucking, but instead Jakob continued with his gentle, leisurely pace from before. He slid inside and nestled himself there, looking down at her admiringly as he took her, and Wynter basked in his adoration.

  It was sheer heaven. No one had ever been so attentive with her before. So loving and caring.

  I could die right now and go happily, she then thought as he made love to her.

  Even as the night fell later that evening, Wynter and Jakob continued their exploits in the bedroom and only let up when the incessant ringing of his mobile phone was just too hard to ignore any longer.

  She headed for the bathroom while he took the call, and Wynter could hear him barking down the phone in Russian to whoever was on the other end. She presumed either Lola or Camilla, and was actually glad to be out of the conversation as she had the feeling she might not like what was being said between them. Presumably something vile about her.

  She then diverted for the kitchen rather than nestle back under the sheets and was stood perusing the contents of the fridge when Jakob came down to join her.

  “Who stocked up for me?” she asked, her head still in the huge door of the appliance. There was a bit of everything and some real thought had gone into it. Human thought. “And the clothes?”

  “I have contacts,” Jakob answered, and then he went quiet for a second as he watched her. “This house is cloaked by magic and is a kind of safe house for those who need some space from the elders of any kind. Vampires cannot enter without permission and witches are completely unable to find it. A group of rebel humans use rune magic to create barriers like this and they were the ones I contacted to give us some sanctuary for a while. I told them your clothes size and that you like to eat.”

  Wynter let out a laugh. Well, that was an overstatement. She needed to eat, there was a difference.

  “And now that they’ve finished fucking, I’m guessing Marcus and Camilla want to know where we are?” she mused, plucking some ham and cheese from the shelf and a couple of eggs. Wynter then began chopping the meat and she grated an edge of the yellow block, her focus on her task rather than on Jakob. She wasn’t sure she could deal with too much dark and depressive right now. Not after the amazing couple of days together they’d just had. All she wanted was for time to stand still and for everyone to leave them alone. Let them have their time together. Let them be happy, even if just for a short while.

  “I told them we went for a drive,” he replied, watching her intently. “You’re under my watchful eye now, Wynter. Camilla knows I wouldn’t let you out of my sight and she is satisfied—for now.”

  “And Marcus?” she asked as she whisked the eggs in a bowl and threw them in a hot pan with the fillings.

  “He’s furious,” Jakob answered with a smirk.

  “Understandably.”

  “He demanded that I return you forthwith,” he said with a confused expression. “Such strange words he uses.”

  Wynter laughed and finally gave Jakob her full attention. He was beyond cute, but it was obvious he was holding something back.

  “Or else?” she guessed.

  “He has nothing he can threaten me with,” Jakob replied, but Wynter wasn’t happy. She flipped her omelette over and then stared into the flames beneath the pan while the other side cooked.

  “But I do,” she hissed, “does he know I went with you by choice? Does he know we’re hiding away so we can have a dirty weekend without him knowing?”

  “No,” Jakob told her, “I was sure to let Camilla think I did this for the purely tactical advantages, when instead I did it for my personal reasons.”

  “So you lied? I didn’t think you ever lied, Jak?” Wynter countered as she shut off the gas and then transferred the omelette to a plate. But all of a sudden, she was no longer hungry.

  She was afraid instead. Part of her wanted to demand they jump in his car and go back. She would appease Marcus in whatever way he demanded and go with him. Leave all of this behind—including her hopes that something might actually change. She couldn’t risk the lives of those she cared about.

  “I didn’t lie, but I told part truths. I gave Camilla only what she needed, and not the full story.”

  Jakob then crossed the room and pulled Wynter to him. He smoothed her messy hair away from her face and watched her with his brows tightly knit in a frown. “But do not fret, Wynter. This is what she wants. You’re out of the way and she can have Marcus to herself, and she will keep him busy. This is the best alternative for now.”

  “Until he resists her advances and she takes her jealousy out on me again,” she replied sourly, and wanted nothing more than for Jakob to shake his head and tell her she was being foolish. But of course, he didn’t. She was right.

  “That’s why we’re here,” he assured her, “so she cannot make either of us do anything we don’t want to. I took you far away from the mansion so that she cannot act against you without first having a clearer head. And also so he cannot come charging in after you and prove her right.”

  Jakob then planted a soft kiss against Wynter’s lips and smiled. “And so I can have you all to myself a while longer,” he added, before pushing her still untouched food towards her, “now, eat.”

  ***

  Marcus was livid. After everything he had forced himself to do in that bedroom with Camilla he still didn’t have Wynter back by his side like she ought to be. Jakob had taken her away and not told a soul where the pair of them were, and Marcus believed Camilla when she said she had no clue where they might be. It was just like the devious assassin to steal his precious slave away and hide her. And just like his mistress to have ordered him to do it.

  He’d better not have dared taste her blood. Marcus seethed with just the thought of Wynter being tainted by his bite and could do nothing but pace the bedroom in wait for Camilla to reappear. She’d of course offered for him to go home to the club and return to his other managers. She’d insisted she would send word when Jakob and Wynter were back, but that was not an option. He had instead told Camilla he’d wait with her
a while longer.

  If he left now there would be nothing but a battle on his hands to get Wynter back. Camilla would feed him excuse after excuse and Jakob would be the same. They were playing him for a fool and he wanted nothing more than to teach them both exactly who they were dealing with.

  He needed a plan. A strategy.

  His Priestess was the only one who could be trusted to give it to him. But she couldn’t come into the mansion or else face the wrath of Camilla for trespassing on another witch’s territory, and he couldn’t have that. There was nothing else to be done but for him to act on this treachery alone.

  He could wait it out and be patient, but instead, he wanted to give Camilla a reason to hate him. For her to see that she couldn’t control him no matter what she tried. Perhaps he’d set fire to everything she had built and make her watch it burn, just because he could.

  In search of inspiration, he headed out of the bedroom and straight for the nearest set of stairs, where he caught the lingering scent of his darling Wynter. She had been here, in this part of the house. She hadn’t been alone either, nor had she been afraid.

  Marcus took a deep drag of the scent and cursed. Wynter had indeed been here, and she’d been horny as hell while she was at it. He could taste her pheromones on the air.

  Had she seen him in the throes of passion with Camilla? Yes, she had to have witnessed the pair of them. And he knew exactly which vampire had led her to them. The Russian. Someone else who would now have to die simply because Marcus desired it so. How dare he bring Wynter up to watch them? What had he hoped to gain by it? Her compliance and disgust? But his plan hadn’t worked. Jakob had hoped the sight would repulse her, but instead she’d been stirred up into a sexual frenzy by what she’d seen. She had enjoyed the view.

  Marcus smiled to himself at the thought. Oh, how the tables had turned. His darling had watched him fuck another vampire and the fire she had for him had only been fanned, rather than put out. Had she enjoyed seeing him naked and going for it with Camilla? Had she wanted to touch herself because of it? Or perhaps yearned to be touched by the same vampire she had ran both from and towards these past few weeks?