Vampire Enchanted: Real Men of Othercross

by Kyle, Celia

  Staring at him now, it was as if she was seeing him for the first time. At their first meeting, she’d registered his face before passion swallowed her. After all the arguing between them, it was as if he had a hard time meeting her gaze.

  The vampire term for the whole fated mate thing was Beloved, and it had been bandied about pretty freely within the last hour or so. But the word witches used was kept far more secret. Beloved spoke pretty cleanly to what everyone assumed love to be. Her word for it was Resonate.

  To be someone’s Resonate was to echo the deepest parts of their spirit. To vibrate with their life as soon as they’re near. And, frankly, Kiki just liked the word better. It felt more romantic and mysterious than the vampire counterpart.

  This makes sense now, she told herself. As unreal as it seemed, it felt as though the last piece of the puzzle had fallen into place. If Thayne was her Resonate, it explained how irresistible that first moment of seeing him had been. It cleared up why he had lodged himself so firmly in her mind so she wasn’t able to shake him out.

  In fact, as crazy as he made her, she hadn’t wanted to shake free of him. Even in the awkward silence of the moment, all she really wanted to do was tear his clothes off and have him again. All the pent-up energy inside her had basically been some frustrated version of that feeling, really.

  “Thayne?” She hadn’t really been able to find his eyes yet.

  “Yeah?”

  “Are you okay?”

  “I think so. I’m just…” he made some vague gestures with his hands, “processing.”

  She could understand that. It was a lot, and he had clearly been running from the fact of it every bit as hard as she had. Maybe even harder.

  Well, if Kiki knew one thing about Thayne, it was that she had never encountered anyone harder. The memory of his firmness lit that little pilot light inside her, but she told herself to approach him as gently as she could. There was no way any of this would work if he wasn’t ready to meet her there.

  “Would you do me a favor?” She closed the distance between them until she was directly in front of him.

  “I’ve been doing lots of favors lately.” There was a gruff edge to his voice, but she could feel that he was simply protecting himself. It was strange, but now that she knew he was her Resonate, she felt like she could read everything about him. As if he was a favorite book that had just fallen open in front of her.

  “I know that. This one is pretty simple, though.”

  “What is it?” He was really guarded.

  Kiki was flooded with the need to reassure him. To care for him in whatever way he would let her. “Just look into my eyes. Just for a minute. I promise, there’s no trick to this. Nothing up my sleeve, see?” She pulled her hands up below his eyes, smiling a bit at her own joke. When he chuckled too, she knew she was safe. “Please, just look into my eyes and tell me what you see.”

  Thayne met her gaze. His dark eyes were like a well, and she fell all the way to the bottom. Something like fear was tucked around the edges, but more than anything, she found deep love and an ocean of desire. She wondered if he was reading her as clearly as she felt she was reading him.

  “What do you see?” Kiki’s voice was barely above a whisper and trembled slightly with the power of the emotions coursing through her. He opened his mouth, but the word seemed to stick in his throat. She unlocked everything inside her and let it pour through her eyes into him.

  “Love,” he said very quietly. “I see love.”

  The wall between them fell away. Reaching up to cradle the back of his head, she dusted her lips over his, almost as if circling in search of the surest place to land. Pressing forward to meet her, he guided her into him, and they dissolved into each other.

  This wasn’t the mad, furious crush of their first kiss. Instead of two souls descending into the riot of passion, they found each other gently. It was an exploration of new territory.

  “Hang on.” Kiki broke away from the kiss, sending Thayne tipping slightly forward.

  “What?”

  “I just have to…” She padded over and made doubly sure the sign on the door was firmly set to “Closed.” What they were about to share couldn’t brook an interruption.

  “Aren’t you going to lock it?”

  “Oh,” she heaved out a sigh, “don’t get me started on that damned door.”

  Their kiss picked up right where it left off, gaining a bit of intensity for the momentary separation. As his tongue snuck between her lips, teasing her own, Kiki knew one thing. She needed this man’s clothes off. Now.

  Freeing him one button at a time, she ran her hands over the dense smoothness of his chest to ease his shirt over his shoulders. Tracing her fingers down his bare arms, she helped his strong hands lift up her own shirt, tossing it aside. He buried himself in the crook of her neck, and the heat of his breath drew a light moan from deep within her.

  When he unfastened her bra, Kiki let it drop and immediately pressed herself to his torso, molding the softness of her curves to the resilience of him. Letting him press her shoulders back, she relished the feeling of his eyes across the plane of her breasts. She knew men admired them, but she had never felt so utterly cherished.

  “You are unbelievable,” he breathed before letting his mouth explore the softness of her.

  He traced a lazy line with his lips and tongue, only coming to her aching nipple when she guided him there out of pure need. For the first time, she felt the gentle graze of his fangs on her skin, and it sent a shiver of excitement through her entire body.

  “It’s all right,” he said looking up at her. “I would never hurt you.”

  “Unless I wanted you to.” She grinned down at him.

  As if invited by her boldness, Thayne unzipped her jeans and slid them down her legs with a swift tug, bringing her panties along for the ride. His face was so close to her, she could feel the warm invitation of his breath mingling with the wetness of her desire.

  “Thayne.” His name crept out of her throat in a hoarse whisper, and her fingers knotted in his rich, dark hair. She didn’t need to pull him to her, and she could feel that he hadn’t needed the invitation. His lips pressed to the front of her gentle mound, and his tongue snuck out to steal his first taste of her sweetness.

  Kiki’s knees nearly buckled where she stood, and she doubled over until her weight was settled nearly entirely on his shoulders. In their position, he wouldn’t be able to reach much of her yet, but she felt she wouldn’t have been ready for it all. She would have lost herself at the fullness of his kiss on her most secret parts.

  After the tender teasing, she found she needed more and more of him. Easing onto her back, Kiki spread herself open to him as Thayne slid out of his trousers and stood for a second completely exposed to her ravenous gaze. Everything about him was firm, inviting, and carved to offer her the fullest pleasure.

  “Thayne, please. I need.”

  As he settled his head at her thighs again, she leaned back in the sheer delight that he knew exactly what she meant. It was as if he could read every impulse, every flicker of need her body offered, and met her with his lips and tongue. His generous mouth explored every sensitive fold and crevice of her before finding its home at her clit.

  Something like an earthquake began brewing in the base of her core as Thayne lavished her with the wet pressure of his tongue. She held onto his hair as if she might sail away at any moment, her thighs squeezing around his head as he drove her closer to insanity.

  She broke. A flash of blinding heat seared up through her, and Kiki arched her back and bucked under the tempest inside her. Gasping and shuddering, she felt the sudden coldness of her exposure and was momentarily lost as Thayne released her from his spell.

  “What...”

  Looking down at him, bewildered in the throes of the orgasm still thundering under her skin, she found he’d climbed to meet her. With a gentle press, the full length of him eased into her, turning the startling roll into a full
-tilt explosion. As she fluttered around him, the spasms grew more erratic, and her breath came in ragged heaves.

  “Yes,” he whispered into her ear, letting the pinpoint edges of his fangs fret against the willing flesh of her throat. “Give over to it.”

  She didn’t have a choice. There were no other options available. As he rocked into her with steady, intoxicating thrusts, it was as if the climax crackling inside her grew and multiplied. With each searching push of his manhood, she tipped further than she ever had. Each blissful moment brought a new horizon.

  “More,” she groaned. She dug her nails into the tight knot of his ass, pulling him up into her. It was unclear exactly how much she would be able to take, but this wild Enchantress was determined to find out.

  “As you wish.”

  Quickening his pace, he dove into her, not with the animal passion of their first tangle, but with the commitment of someone who was bent on the pleasure of his partner. Her legs shook around his hips, desperate to lock together but powerless to do anything but surrender.

  A lightning bolt lit up the entirety of her brain, and Kiki knew one thing. She was going to have to ride him again. He was having her, but now she needed to have him. Pressing his chest and guiding them into a roll, she straddled him in one easy move and let her hips take control.

  “Oh, fuck, Kiki.”

  After the way he had just ravaged her with the most shattering orgasm of her life, she relished seeing him spread beneath her, lost in his own thicket of sensuality. In full ownership of this dazzling man under her, Kiki let her body decide when to speed up or slacken her pace.

  With every stroke of her ride, she drew him further along the path she was still navigating. With a sudden jolt, he leaned up to meet her, circling her in his arms and tucking his lips along the line of her throat.

  “Beloved,” he whispered, “I need you. To bind us together. Will you come on my journey?” The depth of his question started the rumble inside her again.

  “Yes.”

  He pierced her delicate skin with the subtlest bite and mated her. Now they belonged to each other. The moment of connection sent them both crashing into chaos and they clung to each other to weather the full extent of what their bodies had to offer.

  When the world came back, they were sprawled out on the floor, almost exactly where they had been the last time. But now, when Kiki reached for him, Thayne didn’t shy away. He rendered his body up to her, and she caressed him with loving hands as the faint aftershocks rippled through them.

  “Thayne?” Something had been eating away at her since she’d first heard it.

  “Hmm?”

  “What happened? With the last Enchantress? The one who almost ruined you.”

  He stiffened ever so slightly at the question. “Why do you want to know?”

  She shrugged against him, using her hands to smooth out the tension that had crept into him. “If it made that much of an impact, I’d like to know so I could avoid ever doing anything like it.”

  “You could never,” he gave her a placating kiss on the head. As much as she loved him, she could tell he was still going to make her crazy.

  “You’re going to tell me eventually. I have my ways…” It was a joke, and he laughed, but she wasn’t wrong. Just because she was now one of the vampire clan didn’t mean she had lost all of her previous powers.

  “It was when I was a young vampire. New to the family.” There was clearly hesitation in his voice, and Kiki grew very still. If the bird of truth was about to fly, she wasn’t about to scare it away.

  “I was naïve. Seeing an Enchantress was still a pretty ravishing experience. It still is.” He kissed her again, genuinely this time. “Anyway, one hexed me as she passed by.”

  “How?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it. It’s too embarrassing.”

  “Are you kidding?” She leaned up and smacked his chest, looking him full in the eye. So much for not frightening the bird. “You can’t bring me up to that point and not tell me!”

  He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I can’t believe this.” After a beat, he went on, looking very sheepish. “When she passed me, I got harder than I had ever been in my life. Up to that point anyway,” he patted her backside. “It was unlike anything I had ever felt. And when she got close, I...”

  “Yes?”

  “Dammit. I came in my pants.” Kiki failed to stifle her laugh. “Oh, yeah, ha ha ha.”

  “How often did it happen,” she asked.

  “Every time I saw her.”

  “And did you see her a lot?”

  “Oh, yes,” he said. “She saw to it.” She laughed even harder, and Thayne gave over to it, laughing at his younger self for the first time.

  “You know,” Kiki said through giggles, “that sounds more like a horny young man than a spell.”

  “Well, now you know why I was so suspicious about getting aroused so quickly. It was the only time I’d been anywhere near as hard as you make me.”

  “I intend to keep doing that, you know.” She ran her tongue over the crest of her teeth, wondering if she would ever make the choice to go fang-y. “Every time you see me.”

  Epilogue

  It was a perfect night.

  Thayne never imagined he was the kind of guy who would feel emotion over a mating ceremony, but it seemed he’d been wrong. Of course, that probably had something to do with the fact this was his mating ceremony.

  “I teared up for a moment there.” He waited as the crowd’s applause died down. Orrin had just delivered a grand speech, one that spoke of love and honor and commitment. Every single word of it had been perfect.

  “I know you’re lying,” Orrin had a cocky smile dancing on his lips, “but I appreciate it anyway.” The Master vampire sat, running his fingers down his silky tie, and leaned back in his seat. He acted as if his speech had been an off-the-cuff thing, and Thayne was pretty sure that was the truth. Orrin was that badass, and he made Thayne feel proud of being a part of the Nicolaides clan.

  “I know Thayne’s joking,” Kiki leaned to the side so she could address the Nicolaides’s Master Vampire, “but we have no words to thank you. The mating ceremony, it was… God, it was unforgettable. And this reception,” she continued, waving one hand at the myriad of tables and guests that filled the ancient ballroom, “it’s incredible.”

  “I make her words my own,” Thayne offered, and then he clasped Orrin’s hand. Kiki was right. Of all of the mating ceremonies Thayne had attended these past few years, none had been as beautiful as the one Orrin had given them. Even if Thayne was feeling biased, he stood by his opinion.

  “What’s this?” Sara suddenly appeared behind them. Cora and Deo were there as well, standing beside Sara as if they offered protection to Orrin’s Beloved. “Buttering up my man? Is that what we’re doing now?”

  “Caught red-handed, Thayne.” Cora laughed. Cora and Deo’s son, Caspian, was nestled in her arms, and he seemed to be growing bigger by the day. His eyes were wide and alert, and he took in every detail of his surroundings. He’d grow into a strong fae like his Siren mother. Thayne was sure of it.

  “Don’t worry, Thayne,” Sara spoke as she took her seat beside Orrin, rubbing her protruding baby-bump. “I forgive you. As a punishment, though, you’ll have to tell us if you’re planning to have kids.” As she spoke, she reached for Caspian and gently fished him out of Cora’s arms. Her face twisted into a funny expression as she looked at the baby, and she started doing weird goo-goo noises to her grandson. Grandson—even if Sara was younger than Cora and Deo by a good thirty years or so.

  Caspian seemed to love her attentions.

  “Well…” Thayne hesitated, not sure on how to answer that question. Did he want to have children? Absolutely, especially now that Kiki had entered the picture. He just hadn’t had the opportunity to discuss things with her. Straightening his back, he decided to deflect Sara’s question. “I still can’t believe this tiny kid here is your gr
andson. I mean, you’re almost half Cora’s age.”

  “Are you calling me old?” Sara arched an eyebrow at Thayne.

  “Hey, we’re vampires,” he replied with a faint blush. “We’re all old.”

  As if to deflect from Thayne’s male faux pas, Caspian’s face turned as red as a tomato. He made a slight grunt and then followed it up with a very audible pooping sound. Then relief washed over Caspian’s face, and he let out a small giggle.

  “My turn’s coming soon enough, but it’s not now,” Sara said, holding the baby out for Cora to take, like he was suddenly radioactive. Judging by the smell emanating from his diaper, that wasn’t as unlikely as one might think. Before Cora could hold the baby, though, Deo sprung to his feet and pulled Caspian into his arms.

  “I got this,” he then turned on his heels and disappeared to tend to the baby’s diaper. Thayne smiled. As much as he was looking forward to having kids of his own, diaper-tending wasn’t something that excited him.

  “What’s going on with Mae? How is she doing?” Kiki asked Cora as the rest of the table started arguing about the merits of Blood-B-Gone charms, something Kiki had introduced them to.

  “She’s doing fantastic,” Cora replied. “She’s about to begin her classes at Othercross University. We had to assign her a tutor to help her catch up on her magical classes, but I think she’s going to do great. She’s as smart as a whip, that one.” Then she glanced at Thayne. “Although some people would have preferred we throw the book at her.”

  “Oh, come on,” he protested with a sigh. “You make me sound like an asshole. For the record, I know it wasn’t right to punish her, given the circumstances and all. You made the right call.”

  “So, what you’re truly saying is that I was right about Mae, huh?” Kiki jumped in, poking him in the ribs with her elbow.

  Thayne shrugged and sighed. After accepting that Kiki truly was his Beloved, he had also come to accept that some battles just shouldn’t be fought. Besides, and as much as he hated to admit it, Kiki had a point—she had been right about Mae from the very beginning.