“I’m not yours; you walked away from me. You lost me, and you don’t get to have me back. I would have walked through fire at your side, or done anything you asked me to, but the moment you left me, you lost me.”
Chapter 7
I awoke to the sensation of something rubbing against my cheek. Turning my face, I stared into turbulent violet eyes that watched me, studying my reaction as the events from the night before came rushing to the front of my mind. I’d screamed his name, begged him for more, and worse, I’d enjoyed every minute of it, even the overwhelming pain of him tearing through the scar tissue.
“You made quite the mess, imp,” he said with a huskily seductive tone as he watched me carefully.
I continued to stare absently at him, wondering what game he played now. He wanted to hurt me, but he didn’t act like that was his purpose. He seemed keen on keeping me, on using me as he needed or wanted. Conner wanted to know the past. He didn’t want to hear the truth; he wanted to punish me, to get revenge for what I’d done. I pulled my cheek away from his thumb and turned to face away from him, knowing he wouldn’t allow it.
The moment I’d turned from his stormy gaze, he pulled me close against the heat of his body. His fingers trailed over my hip, dancing over my flesh, sending chills racing down my body. Lips pressed against my neck, and the sensitive flesh where he’d bitten me ached and burned for more. His bite hadn’t been like the others, his had sent pleasure racing through me so white-hot that I’d unraveled for him, coming undone from the multitude of sensations it had created through my entire system.
“You were a virgin again, how is that even fucking possible,” he said as his tongue rubbed over the twin puncture marks he’d left on my throat as a claiming mark to others. When I didn’t respond, he rolled me onto his long frame, lifting his hips as his cock hardened beneath my soft folds. His hand touched the amulet that was cradled between my breasts before his eyes left it to stare into mine. “What is this?”
“I told you, I have not been fucked in over two hundred years, and shit grows back. Not to mention, it was well used by others, and the sort of shit that happened to it, well, it had some internal scarring. Rough sex is what the coven medic called it, I believe.” I stared at him as he watched me, dropping his gaze back to my amulet as if he was done speaking of the men I’d allowed to fuck me. “It’s an amulet, Conner,” I replied, watching him closely as he studied it.
“What is it for?” he pressed.
“Don’t ask me that,” I uttered and tried to move from him as dark memories swept through me.
“It’s spelled,” he growled. “It’s also powerful. Take it off,” he demanded as he reached for it. I grabbed his hand, moving it down my body as I lifted to stare down at him.
“It is very powerful, and it is also spelled to never be removed from my throat. If you try or have your witch try to do so, you and he will die,” I uttered as I slid over his rigid length that teased my naked flesh. “When will you release Laura and Clara?”
“When you fully submit to me and agree to my terms,” he countered.
“I did submit to you,” I replied carefully as I stared down to where my flesh was swollen from his cock and touch, lifting a brow at him. “Have I not pleased you? And what terms, I thought I am to be your whore and feed you, is that not enough punishment?”
“You fucked me, but you did not submit. As for the terms, I have not decided what they will be yet. You murdered a King, and punishment for that is death, and yet after all this time, I can’t bring myself to murder you. I’ve considered a few things I want to do to you.”
“And that would be?” I asked, uncertain I wanted to know what he’d considered for me.
“You will remain here as my feeder, that much is a given. You will give me the use of your body to do as I wish. That means anything I want, I can do to you, and you will allow it and welcome it. If I want to fuck your throat, I will, if I want to penetrate your perky ass, I will. The hive expects punishment for the crimes you committed though, and so do I. I’ve considered having you give back what you took from me.”
“Give you back what exactly?” I asked carefully.
“My family. It is no longer forbidden for us to create life, and you took my family from me. It seems only fair you give me one back.”
I stared down at him as nausea churned in my belly. “You want me to give you children?” I asked, making sure I hadn’t misunderstood his words.
“Yes,” he chuckled darkly. He lifted my hips and pushed into my body, and I moaned as he filled me full, stretching me wide. “You will give back the family you stole from me, orphan.”
“I can’t,” I uttered hoarsely as he lifted my hips and my sex cradled the head of his thick cock. He slammed me down hard, my head rolling on my shoulders as the moan escaped past my lips and I took what he gave, rocking my hips for more.
“You can and you will,” he growled as he rolled us and, towering over me, he stared into my eyes. “I’ve tasted you, imp,” he hissed. “I know you are mine, and I won’t ever let you go now. I feel you, Avery. I have felt you inside of me since the moment I pulled your scrawny ass out of the pile of bodies in that dark alleyway beside the pier. I knew tasting you would ruin me, so I never did, but now that I have, you are mine. You won’t leave here, ever.”
“I will,” I argued as he slowly rocked his hips. “I will either leave here on my own, or you will bury me. I am too much of a threat for the coven to permit me to remain here with you. I hold too many of their secrets to allow an enemy to control me. We both know this doesn’t end as you want it to,” I hissed as he began to move in earnest. His every thrust was meant to drive home his meaning, his dominance and ownership over my pleasure. I screamed as my body unfurled, coming undone around his thickness as he lowered his mouth to my throat and sank his fangs deep into the sore tissue. His first pull of my blood sent me over the edge, violently bucking against him and his driving cock. I murmured his name as I buried my fingers into his silken hair, holding him to me as he fucked me hard and steady, keeping me lost in the pleasure he delivered.
He didn’t stop feeding, not even when my hands lost their hold and I whimpered from blood loss. His cock hammered into my cunt, taking everything I had to give as he left me boneless, barely conscious of my surroundings.
“Conner,” I moaned as he pulled back, staring down at me as I fought the blackness he had pushed me into. My hands searched for him before dropping to the bed. He’d done it on purpose, I realized too late.
“Sleep, Avery,” he growled and stiffened above me, moaning as his mouth brushed against mine, painting my lips red with the blood that covered his.
I was barely conscious when he’d finished fucking me. My hands were lifted, placed in thick metal cuffs before my legs followed the same punishment. The covers were removed, exposing my nakedness to his greedy eyes and I fought the pull to give in to nothingness that promised a respite from the pain and emotional turbulence that danced over my subconscious. Hands touched my naked flesh, pushing through the wet folds as he bent over, pushing his tongue through the slick mess he’d created.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he growled gutturally, staring down at me, eyes skimming over every curve as if he was imprinting it to memory. My knees were lifted, blankets were pushed beneath them, and then someone else was in the room. “Do it,” he stated.
“She’s very pretty and exposed, Con, is she for me?” a deep voice chuckled as a growl exploded from Conner, along with scuffling of feet. “Fucking chill out, dick, it was a joke. I know she is the one thing you won’t ever share. You’re sure this is what you want?”
“She’s mine, and she isn’t fucking leaving here. I’ll go to war to keep her, so fucking get on with it.”
“They will come for her,” the other male said. “She’s one of the oldest witches alive, and they will fight to get her back. If she f
ights us to go, I doubt magic will assist us in keeping her here. Her magic is a lot stronger than mine, Conner, and darker. She’s created from one of the purest and oldest bloodlines. I know we’ve come a long way since you were born, but there are lines they still don’t cross. You breeding her is going to be one of them considering what you both are, and what it could mean if it happens.”
“Do it, Luca. I’ve tasted her, and I know she was created for me and me alone. I’ve known, ever since I pulled her from the pile of dying orphans where I found her, that she was mine. I tried to protect her, to shield myself from what I knew she was, and it cost me everything. I won’t give her back, ever. Just do the fucking binding spell, now.”
“No,” I uttered through heavy lips and a tongue that felt useless and heavy in my mouth. “Conner,” I whispered as stars erupted behind eyelids that refused to open. Luca was a witch, but from which coven I didn’t know. He was powerful, and yet he seemed to be working willingly with Conner, which explained how he had managed the spell to create an eclipse.
“Sleep,” Conner demanded roughly.
“This won’t work like you think it is going to. Avery will fight it because that fight is ingrained in her genetic makeup. She isn’t from this time; her line is not watered down like most of ours are now. She is a purebred bitch; you might as well try mating with a fucking unicorn because it would be more open to a forced mating than she will ever be. You want my advice? Keep her; put her in chains and keep her as a pet, but don’t fucking breed her. Bury the bitch so deep that no one knows you have her, and neuter the magic running through her veins. Mating with her though, will be a fucking mess.”
“I didn’t ask for your opinion or advice. I told you to bind her to me so that she is mine. Now do it before she wakes up and fights it. Avery is strong, very strong. I know because I’m the one who taught her to use the magic that pulses through her veins. I have watched her grow into a woman, and I was the first man to show her what it meant to be one. I will not allow her to leave here, so do as you were told, now.”
I felt my stomach churning with what his words meant. Vampires had mates, and Conner had foregone tasting my blood because we’d long suspected that I was his mate because of the unnatural relationship we had. I was the Queen to his King, and yet that was forbidden. Not to mention that he had been sixth in line to the throne before I’d murdered those who had stood in his way of reaching it. If he did this, I’d be his in every way he wanted, and everything inside of me would fight to help him make it so. That would be an issue when it came time to leave here.
I turned my head, staring into his pretty eyes as I felt the magic in the room thicken. My flesh puckered against it, sending goosebumps over my skin as he leaned in, kissing my lips, I uttered his name. His fingers skimmed my belly, drawing absent circles over it as the witch in the room continued speaking even though I was beyond hearing it. Conner had drained me to the brink of death to leave me powerless. He was trying to mate with me. He planned to keep me, by force, by blood right, and if he succeeded, not even the coven could argue his right. Mates were a law unto their own rules, and nowadays, you didn’t dare try to break them up.
Something warm was pushed against my stomach as Conner pulled back, opening his wrist which he held above my mouth, dripping blood into it. I swallowed, drawn to the coppery substance that I’d once been an addict of. Vampire blood healed, but it also did a lot more for witches than it would for mortals. In my veins, he was an aphrodisiac that drove me wild, but that wasn’t the problem. It was when our blood combined that everything went horribly wrong.
The first taste created warmth within me. The second created a storm of need that had my hips rocking for what only he could give me. I fought the chains to reach him, to assuage the growing need that curled in my belly as hunger for more of his essence gnawed at me.
“Take her blood,” Luca ordered.
The bed dipped against Conner’s body weight. His mouth skimmed my throat, and I growled with need as his hand curled around my neck, bending it to give him unhindered access to my vein. Pain rushed through me as his fangs pushed through my flesh, then pleasure exploded through me. My body trembled as he sucked against my throat, running his tongue over the flesh as he fed deeply from me. My cunt wept, needing him to touch me in the ways a man touched a woman and the moment his fingers swept over the sensitive nub, I screamed as pleasure took control and my body succumbed to his touch.
“Conner, stop, she’s already mated, pushing this could make her go insane,” Luca whispered thickly, not immune to watching us fuck.
Conner pulled his bite from my vein and stared down at me, his eyes heavy with lust as he watched me squirming with an orgasm that refused to release me. Words were jumbled, my aching flesh hummed with the aftershocks of his touch, and blood pooled behind my head as I stared, unseeing at the ceiling.
“Impossible,” he growled. “I am the only vampire who has taken her,” he hissed as he pushed his hand through the slick folds, gliding his thumb to my flesh before one finger entered me, and then another. I slipped into oblivion as yet another orgasm took me over the edge.
“The amulet, it is spelled against us removing it I’m guessing?” Luca asked.
“Yeah, but why it is, I have no idea.”
“She’s immortal, but she’s also very much mated, Conner. My guess is, that amulet is covering her mating mark and protecting her from the coven finding out she is mated to an enemy. The only way to know for sure would be to do a memory spell or try to remove the amulet to see what it is preventing us from discovering. You’d have to drink the spell, then her, to figure out what she did, and to whom she is mated. Being she is so old, she could have been mated centuries ago, which, as you know, tends to wane the bond over time. You’re sure you didn’t mate with her when you were fucking her before?” he asked carefully.
“I think I would know if I’d mated Avery. I sure as fuck wouldn’t have been able to walk away from her if I had been. I left her with my father to keep it from happening. I assure you, I wanted nothing else than to be mated to her. She was everything to me, and back then, it would have been a death sentence if it had happened. She was already being hunted by covens for being in our hive. I released her to be free from me, Luca, to breed with her own kind to have the child she craved. I sheltered her, and she took everything from me.”
“You did what you had to do, and no one foresaw what she would do in her anger. You’re enemies by blood and law, and it is a miracle she ever allowed you to get close to her. Back then it was a different world, a law unto itself that your coupling was more than forbidden. Had she been caught with your mark on her, she’d have been burned at the stake. You’d have been given a traitor’s death, and neither one of you would have been alive today. Don’t carry that guilt, Conner. You released her, and she took everything from you. You’re not wrong for wanting to punish her. The hive demands she pays for her crimes and not even the witches can argue that she pays for them. They can argue you mating her, as she carries centuries of their secrets within her. I will brew the spell, but I have to warn you, it will make you feel what she felt, and if she endured anything horrible, you will feel all of it.”
“I will also know why she took everything from me,” Conner said with a thickness filling his tone that sent a ripple of pain through me. He wouldn’t ever see me as he had before that day. No one would if they knew the truth of the demons that haunted my nightmares.
“I’ll see what I can figure out on that amulet as well. There has to be a way to remove it and figure out what it is for.”
“Do that,” he said as his hand skimmed over my cheek, turning my sightless eyes to his. His mouth brushed over mine, kissing unmoving lips as his forehead touched mine. “I need to know the truth of what happened. I need to know if she was planted to destroy us. If she was, if this has all been some kind of plan to get to my father, I will rip her apart and bury h
er around the world to send a message to the witches that we will not allow such an atrocity ever to occur again.”
“Do you love her?” Luca asked.
“Since the first moment those pretty green eyes looked up at me as if I’d hung the fucking moon for her. I loved her enough to let her go, and that love destroyed us. There hasn’t been a single day that has passed that I have not wished for her to be by my side or with me. I need to know the truth, so I can either end her life or begin it anew with her, Luca. I need to know she wasn’t planted to destroy me.”
“And if she was?” he asked.
“Then she will die by my hand, and I will show the world that I have no mercy against those who trespass against my hive. If she was, then I do not deserve to be King. If she was placed in my path and I fell for it, I will vacate my throne and allow Mayhem to ascend to King of the hive. I will go to ground and sleep until I am ready to rise.”
“Mayhem isn’t ready to be King. He’s a fucking menace to the female population. He’d spend his time doing nothing but wrecking uteruses and sleeping his way through the damn continent. Royal is too twisted to even consider as a King, Addison isn’t interested in ruling, and the hive follows the bloodline. Your bloodline. You are one of a very few born vampires. The four of you lead us together, and if you go to ground, this entire hive will fall apart. You know that.”
“If Avery was placed into my path to bring down my father and the hive, I don’t think they’d stay together either way, Luca. I fell for my enemy, and I fell hard and fast. I watched her grow from a dirty street urchin into a woman. I brought her into our ranks because I couldn’t stomach the idea of her dying in that dirty fucking alleyway with the others who had perished. Avery wasn’t a decoy to me; she was my mate even though I didn’t allow it to happen. I have never looked at a woman and not compared them to her. Fuck, Luca, I moved the entire hive out of England to these fucking mountains because I can’t let her go. Do you know what it took for me to hand her to my father? I was drained, placed into the ground, and given the eternal rest of the dead for an entire year before Addison and Mayhem brought me back from it. I had to be mindless, unable to go after her to let her go. So she can’t be mated, because she is mine. She’s always been mine. We both knew what we were, and we were careful to not conceive a child, or for me to feed from her vein because that is all it would have taken for her to receive my mating mark, of that I am sure. That would have been a death sentence, one my father assured me he would carry out for both of us should it happen. I need to know why she murdered them, but more than that, I need to know what happened after I left her with my father. He was to wipe away her memories of me, of us, from her mind and release her to the Americas. Something went wrong, or it was what she was placed there to do, and I wasn’t there to stop it. I have to know what happened and I’ll do whatever it takes to get that information.”
Immortal Hexes Page 7
