by Laura Kaye
A new blooded family. Maybe even a newling, someday.
She’d brought him back to life, and now she was giving him the world.
Trembling fingers stroked over his hair. “It’s done,” she said, voice tight with need. “What should I do with this one?” She held the last jewel between her fingers.
He drew her down for a single slow, deep kiss, then took the stone from her. “This one is going to bring you ease.” Placing a faceted edge against the uninjured side of his throat, he pressed the jewel hard into his flesh until he felt the burn of the laceration, and then he scored a long line. Warm blood bloomed over his skin, pooled and ran down the side of his neck.
Her eyes went wide, her mouth dropped open. Her heartbeat thundered in the quiet of the room.
“What do you want, Katherine?” he said in a tight voice, his cock reawakening against his belly.
He didn’t have to ask twice.
She fell over him, her mouth finding and licking the crimson stream, her body writhing and shifting until she lay atop him.
Masculine satisfaction roared out of him, pounded through his dick, made his balls grow heavy with need. But this wasn’t just about him.
Nothing would be, ever again. Thank God.
For, he was meant to serve. And while, by lineage and all that was just in the world, he had a duty to serve as king and commander, by choice he would also serve his mate, his angel, his…love.
Always and first, for however many nights he had left.
Her mouth sealed over the cut and sucked the lifeblood directly from his body. Five hundred years of living and fighting all came down to this moment, and he could wait no longer. Lifting his head, he struck his fangs into the soft tendon where neck met shoulder, and completed the bonded circle of blood between them.
The first swallow of her nectar brought her thoughts into his mind.
Oh, God, I love him I love him I love him.
The words reassembled him into a new male, a better male, her male, tonight and forever.
Feasting on her blood, and feeling the connection cycling through and between them, Nikolai thought in reply, As I love you, Katherine. Now, take whatever you need, take everything, because we have all night, and I am yours. Forever.
Chapter 12
Four months later…
Kate stood in the shooting booth, aimed her pistol at the target at the end of her firing lane, and squeezed off six quick shots.
A grin crept up her face.
Three in the head. Three in the heart.
And bonus that she didn’t even have to reel the target in to see the details of her hits, because the combination of Nikolai’s and their newling’s blood in her system had given her remarkably improved eyesight.
If Nikolai had been protective of her after their consummation ceremony—well, after both of their ceremonies, one official with all the warriors present, and that first private one that was just for them—it was nothing compared to how protective he’d become since they realized she was pregnant with his son a month later. And while he did pamper and fuss over her sometimes, Nikolai was a warrior through and through and agreed that she ought to know how to defend herself—and their young—should she ever find herself having to do so.
After all, Kate had once had to defend Nikolai, which was the argument that finally convinced him this was a good idea.
Strong arms wrapped around her baby bump. “There you are,” Nikolai said in her ear, his voice low and sexy.
“Hey. How did your meeting go?”
He unleashed a long breath. Nikolai had been bringing her up to speed on the state of the vampire world—and specifically on the state of the threat posed by the Soul Eaters. And the long and short of it was that the threat was growing, which was why the world’s seven remaining vampire kings had a strategy meeting by teleconference that’d taken up the whole night and half the morning.
“As good as it could go. The good news is that our mating and that of Kael and Shayla in Northern Ireland has the Electorate Council more committed than ever to what we need from humankind.” He pressed a kiss to her throat, one that spoke of needing comfort rather than wanting something of a more physical nature. “What are you doing down here?”
“Just practicing. Look at that. I’m getting good.”
“Fuck good, angel. You’re getting great. Remind me never to get on your bad side.”
She threw her head back on a laugh, until she was resting against his broad shoulder. “You mean by, like, throwing me in your dungeon?”
He took the Sig from her grip and secured it, then urged her to turn to face him. “Not everything that happened in the dungeon was bad, was it, Katya? I still get hard remembering you up against the bars.” A glow flashed from behind those sapphire eyes.
She felt the proof of his words growing against her belly. “Do you now?” she said, trying to play it like she was all nonchalant when she knew she was failing because him talking dirty and getting aroused made her aroused, which he had multiple ways of determining that she couldn’t control—he could smell her arousal, see her eyes dilating, and hear her heart beat faster.
She really couldn’t hide much from her vampire. Not that she wanted to.
“Mmhmm. Everything about you makes me hard.”
Kate grinned, just feeling so damn happy. Every single thing that had happened since that winter night had been unexpected—and in some cases things she thought she didn’t want—but standing here with the man, the vampire, the king she loved, she couldn’t imagine her life any other way. Didn’t want to imagine it, either. “Surely not everything.”
Dark humor crept over his expression, and damn did he wear humor and happiness well. In the months since they’d met and mated, it was almost as if a weight had lifted off Nikolai. It wasn’t that he wasn’t still grieving his brothers, because he was and that might never stop, but everyday he was getting closer to being able to admit it wasn’t his fault. And Kate was doing everything she could to make him believe he was lovable and worthy of being loved.
It all showed. On his handsome face. In the brightness of his eyes. In the straightness of his shoulders. In the way he joked and laughed with his brothers. And when she and Nikolai fed from each other, she could sense and feel his growing peace from inside the very heart of him. And she loved that for him.
She just…loved him.
“Yes, everything.” He arched an eyebrow, affecting a stern countenance that was so freaking hot.
Grinning, Kate looked down between them. “Really? My growing belly?”
“Fuck, yes,” he said, dropping to a knee, lifting her shirt, and pressing his lips to her stomach. “Knowing you carry our newling absolutely turns me on. You and our son give me hope and solace and make me so damn proud. I can’t wait to hold him in a few months.”
Kate placed her hands over where his rested on her sides. One of the weirdest things to get used to was the ways in which vampire pregnancies—and apparently vampire maturation—differed from that of humans. Everything was faster. Vampire pregnancies were just six months instead of humans’ nine. And vampire young achieved the human equivalent of adult development by the annual age of twelve. So it was hard to believe she was already halfway through her pregnancy, and sometimes actually dizzying how fast her body was changing.
“I can’t wait to see you with a little baby in your arms, either. You are going to be such a hot father—I mean good father!”
“A hot father, huh?”
“I meant good. Freudian slip.” Her cheeks hurt an absolutely stupid amount from smiling so much.
“No way you’re taking that back. And now the fact that you’re going to think it’s hot when I hold Kolya is something else that’s going to make me hard. See?” He boxed her in tighter against the wall that separated the empaneled shooting booth from the firing lane and let her feel every hard inch of him.
Kolya. Short for Nikolai. Like father, like son. And she was completely and utterly oka
y with that.
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Fine. I suppose you’re a little hot.”
He growled. Literally growled. And the sound ricocheted an urgent heat into her lower belly.
Nikolai let her see his fangs extend and then made slow, slow work of lowering his face to her throat. And then his bite penetrated her skin and claimed her. Only a little?, came her vampire’s voice in her mind.
God, she loved the intimacy of their connection. And once she’d worried that a relationship with a vampire would be nothing more than convenient biology.
“I guess more than a little,” she rasped, her thirst making its demands known as it always did, but even more so since she’d been pregnant. She was eating and drinking for two now, and the baby’s accelerated growth meant she was always hungry. For food. For Nikolai. “No fair. I need you, too.”
Do you now? He repeated her teasing words back to her. Damn him.
“Nikolai, please.”
Just like that, he released her, licked the bite closed, and picked her up so that her legs went around his hips. She laughed at the surprising quickness of his movements and held on tight as he carried her out of Vasilievskoe’s indoor gun range. And then up and up and up to their apartment.
But not before passing half the warriors.
From where he was working out in the gym, Leo sniggered when he saw them go past.
“Got something to say, Leo?” Nikolai called without stopping.
“Have fun, my lord.” The gray-eyed vampire’s tone was full of teasing.
“Oh, my God,” Kate said, burying her face against Nikolai’s cheek. He just chuckled.
In the warriors’ vamp cave—re-nicknamed because they all objected to her calling it a man cave since they weren’t men—they passed Mikhail and Anton where they sat drinking whiskey and watching a movie with lots of loud, fast cars. Nikolai had kept the doctor with them wherever they were in case Kate were to have any complications.
Formal as always, Mishka shot to his feet. “Everything all right, my lord, my lady?”
Kate still wasn’t used to that—to being a freaking queen—but at least Mikhail was the only one who routinely insisted on referring to her new status outside of ceremonial occasions.
Nikolai spun in a circle and grinned. “Everything is fucking excellent.”
Mikhail laughed. “Very good, my lord.”
Kate looked over her shoulder as her king kept right on moving. “You vampires need to get mated soon because I need more estrogen in this place.”
“Yeah,” Nikolai called as he raced up the steps. “Consider that a royal order.”
“Ooh, I could get used to giving orders.” Kate laughed as Nikolai kicked their apartment door shut with his boot.
“Is that so?” he asked, those blue eyes flashing with all the heat he’d banked in the time it took them to get to their bedroom. He placed her down on their bed and leaned over her, forcing her to recline beneath him. “Do you have an order for me?”
Kate thought about it for a long moment, until a picture took shape in her mind and she gave voice to it. “Anything?”
“Anything, Katya. But tell me now because I’m not feeling very patient.”
She let him see every bit of desire she felt in the way she looked at him as she spoke. “Undress us, put on your crown, and then get on your knees between mine.”
The growl that rumbled in his throat was so freaking hot.
“And then?” he asked, already working off her jeans as he kicked off his boots.
“Put that sexy mouth on me.” She arched a brow at him.
They both took care of their own shirts, and Kate shrugged out of her bra as she watched six-foot-five inches of devastatingly masculine vampire cross the room to retrieve his crown from its big velvet-lined box.
In mere seconds he was right where she’d told him to be. On his knees, pushing her knees apart, wearing a priceless, ancient gold crown at a rakish angle. He nailed her with a heated stare. “I am going to fucking devour you.”
“I was counting on tha—” His actions stole her breath.
His mouth stole her sanity.
His heart had utterly stolen hers.
Because she was all the way seduced by her vampire king. And always would be.
Thank you for reading! I hope you loved meeting Nikolai and Kate. The next book in the Vampire Warrior Kings series is TAKEN BY THE VAMPIRE KING. Find out what happens when a dying vampire king rescues a woman—then takes her prisoner when he realizes she’s the only one who can save him. If you’re a Beauty and the Beast fan like I am, you’re going to love Henrik and Kaira’s love story!
CLICK HERE TO READ TAKEN BY THE VAMPIRE KING NOW!
“OH.MY.GOD. Laura Kaye delivers as only she knows how….The sensual tension is…h.o.t. and the love making is…*sigh* Laura Kaye’s fans will fall in love yet again!” ~In Love with Romance Blog
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READ ON FOR AN EXCERPT FROM TAKEN BY THE VAMPIRE KING
Read the Next Book in the Series!
TAKEN BY THE VAMPIRE KING
CHAPTER 1
“I am dying,” Henrik Magnusson said. “We all know it.”
Standing at the head of the council table, he looked over the grim faces of his warriors, most of them suddenly fascinated by the three-hundred-year-old expanse of spruce in front of them. He didn’t blame them for the avoidance. It was hard to stare mortality in the face, especially when your kind was supposed to be immortal.
“It’s time to talk succession.”
Jakob’s gaze shot up, anger and resolution burning in his blue eyes. “It is not. My lord,” he added as an afterthought. “We will bring in more Proffered.”
Over the past decades, they’d brought in many virginal human women trained to serve the blood needs of the vampire warrior class to cure him. Not only had Henrik not found a mate to sustain him, he’d never once blood-matched with any of the women. And their blood, at best, provided only a temporary alleviation of his inexplicably deteriorating condition. It had gotten to the point that he barely found blood palatable anymore.
“We will. But it will not likely work. My death is an eventuality for which we must plan.”
Jakob shoved up from his chair. “I will not rest until we find the one who can…” Save you.
The words hung in the cool air and bounced between the gray, stone walls as if the warrior, Henrik’s brother and the sole heir to the throne, had shouted them.
His brother shook his head and met the hard gaze of each of his brothers-in-arms. “We will not give up.”
Murmurs of agreement rumbled through the room.
Henrik slammed his fist upon the table and flashed his fangs. “I. Am. Dying!”
The room and every vampire in it went preternaturally still. Jakob’s expression was frozen somewhere between grief and rage.
Breathing hard, Henrik willed the tension from his shoulders. Human blood, especially from a mate, was a stabilizing force that guaranteed a vampire’s immortality and humanity. But it had been a long time since Henrik’s body had processed blood that way, so he’d steadily been losing both—and the past year had been the worst of all. When the rages came, he struggled to control them, and he was walking a very fine line right now.
Henrik stared at his brother a long moment.
The male appeared a much younger version of himself. He possessed the blond hair Henrik had before his mysterious ailment had turned it nearly white. And Jakob’s eyes remained a dark, turbulent blue, like the color of the seawater that flowed through the many fjords snaking through the
ir native Norwegian lands, while Henrik’s had dulled to pale blue ice.
“Goddamnit.” The king stalked away from the table and crossed to the uncovered windows along the far wall.
The polar night afforded them the luxury of leaving open this portal to the outside world. For three months each year, the sun never rose, turning the north lands into the perfect home for a vampire. But as with all things, the full darkness of Mørketid ended, bringing a month of Seinvinter, when daylight slowly returned in advance of the sun once again cresting the horizon.
Tomorrow was Soldagen, the first day of sunlight’s return. The day marked the end of the last polar night Henrik would likely ever see.
He braced his hands against the ledge and stared up at the undulating lights in the night sky. Within the diffuse green of the aurora borealis was a sharp-edged curtain of rare—and ominous—red.
“Even the lights foretell my fate,” he said, forcing calm into his voice.
He turned back to his warriors, every one of whom would’ve laid down his life for Henrik if they could. Jakob remained standing, stance ready, muscles braced. His dogged determination would make him a good king. And since only seven vampire warrior kings remained around the world, Henrik would do everything he could to ensure his brother ascended to the throne with the full support of these males.
“I require a vow from each of you. Follow and honor Jakob upon my death as you have followed and honored me these past four centuries.”
For a long moment, no one reacted. And then Erik pushed up out of a chair.
Jakob’s face went red, his fangs punching out. “Erik—”
The warrior held up a hand. “What my king asks of me I am more than willing to give.” He crossed the room, met Henrik’s gaze and sank to one knee.
Henrik held out the hand adorned with the ring that bore his family’s royal crest.
