Pain had replaced his anger when he met my gaze. “I wish I could make it better for you.” I shook my head, my own pain overflowing. “It makes me think of my little sister, who can’t possibly understand why I haven’t come home when my face is all over TV and the police are looking for me. She’s mourning a loss that hasn’t happened. I wish I could tell her that I’m okay. I bet Alexandra would’ve done the same thing for you if she could have, just to make your suffering go away. It must’ve brought back all those feelings, seeing Sierra tonight. Knowing that she’s got to go through that alone. You won’t ever have to go through that again.”
Everyone in the coven looked to Nash for guidance without regard for how much he’d lost. All of their losses resonated with him because he was the one they expected to make it better. Nash needed someone to lean on, too.
Nash crashed against my lips in a kiss. He needed every single thing I had to give him, and I was thankful for the chance to help someone heal instead of breaking them all over again. We were opposites—a man of God and a child of the devil, an immortal and a girl whose days on earth were numbered—that came together in darkness to complete one another.
Where that path led us, I had no idea.
I gasped for air when the kiss was over. Nash traced his finger along my bottom lip, slipping it into my open mouth. I was too stunned to react.
“It reminded me of what drew me to you in the first place,” he said softly. “Your power. The raw, untamed energy that flows from you. It’s unfair for me to punish you for the very reason I kept you here. And even more so when you have no idea how to defend yourself from a vampire attack.”
“Half the time I’m not sure if what I see in my head is really happening until someone else sees it, too.” Something else I’d never told anyone. I would’ve been committed for sure. But now wasn’t the time for secrets. If I’d only asked Sabrina if she saw the police flashlights, heard their barking dogs...
“You cared for Sabrina. Desiree was exasperated when you amended my contract to include people who helped you that first night. I angered her even more when I signed it without countering your offer, or offering you less money. I knew I’d made the right decision.”
“I wanted friends.” Now I knew I didn’t deserve them. “And I wish I could make you want me for me.”
Nash had the nerve to laugh. “Don’t you see? I do. When I talk about your power and your energy, it’s everything about you, Corynne. The fact that you stood up to those awful bitches that made your life miserable. You didn’t let them win, even when it meant you had to leave everything you loved behind. You came here, of all places, because you wanted a second chance. Not knowing what you’d get. That’s bravery. So many courtesans turn to putty in my hands. If you’d done that, you’d be gone by now, and you’d probably be in a jail cell. But you had the nerve to challenge me, and I wanted more. This is the beginning of a beautiful partnership.”
Maybe Nash was just old-fashioned or used to being in control with all his talk of power and partnership. But I finally got it. He wanted me, not despite the fact I was a complete fuck up, because of it. He saw it as a strength.
Little by little I began to understand him, the differences between us. And how we were so very much alike. He didn’t understand why he’d been turned, what made him worthy of living forever, but I did.
I went up on my tiptoes and brushed my lips against his. I had no place to initiate anything—Nash owned me, and right now, he was as confused as I was. He could’ve pushed me away, but instead he grasped my torn shirt, finishing the job, and ripped it off me as he claimed my mouth with absolute authority. There was no question what he wanted—me.
Nash backed me up to the couch, our feet moving in time, dancing to music that no one could hear but us. He guided me down onto the arm, only letting go of me to unbutton his shirt. I don’t think I’d ever get tired of watching him undress. Usually, he was immaculately groomed, but tonight the emergency left him disheveled. He considered me before touching me again, all business. He pushed my hair off my shoulder, then slipped his hands around my waist before sinking his fangs into my neck.
I loved the way it felt—the sting of impact, the warmth of his lips against my skin, and most of all, the freedom it gave me. A brand new start. My eyes grew heavy, and I wanted to tell him so many things. How I wanted everything to turn out. With me, with him, us together. Sabrina, Olivia, everyone we cared about. But all I could manage were moans and cries.
His grip intensified as he drank greedily. My eyelids fluttered; it was impossible to keep them open. Everything I saw was rimmed in that familiar, fuzzy black anyway. No. I grasped his shoulders, tamping down the panic. The night had already dealt us the worst of its hand. Pleasure and pain mingled somewhere deep inside me. I slumped against him, and he pulled away from me.
Nash’s lips and chin were slick with my blood. He held me tightly as my body swayed, threatening to fall. A butterfly kiss landed on my lips. He tasted so sweet. Letting out a sigh, he trailed down my neck, to my chest, lavishing my breasts with nips and bloody kisses. His hand firmly on my back, he led me down to the cushion, curving my body over the arm of the couch.
He ran his thumb down the middle of my stomach. I writhed, the sensation sent electricity surging through my veins in the absence of my blood. Stopping at the button of my jeans, he moved his fingers under the waistband, and I moaned, willing him to rip them off like he did my shirt. This time, Nash was gentle, lowering the zipper, lifting my body so he could strip them away from me.
At this angle, it was hard to see his face. It was better this way—watching him ravish my body through soot-tinted lenses would’ve made me doubt this was really happening. It was still too easy to believe Oscar because he echoed the sentiment of everyone I’d ever met.
But Nash didn’t believe it. He slipped his fingers between my legs, moving along my wet folds. Time was a wasted concept to him, and he was in no hurry. The pulsing began low in my belly and fire spread across my skin as he circled my clit with his thumb. I kicked him, not meaning to, but right now, I was owned and operated by Nash.
One finger slipped up inside me, thrusting back and forth, soon joined by another. He curled them forward, and I jumped.
Nash chuckled. “You like that, don’t you?”
“Less talking, more doing that,” I moaned.
“You wondered if I liked you for you, Corynne. That’s it, right there. I have my fingers curled inside you.” He did that amazing thing again like he had to prove his point. “And you still think you’re in control.”
I picked my head up so I could see him. Just as I expected, he wore my favorite crooked grin. “Sabrina told me the first night I came here, before I even went on stage, that I had what you wanted. And I had no idea what she was talking about.”
“Let me give you an idea. Lay back down, love.” With those words, I turned into the putty that Nash claimed to hate. He slid his fingers out of me and pushed my legs wide open. The first kisses that landed on my inner thigh were gentle, lulling me into a dreamlike state.
I never expected him to bite me again.
That pressure in my belly erupted, throbbing uncontrollably. He didn’t drink much, thankfully, because I didn’t know how much I had left to give him. As much as I wanted him to turn me, tonight was not that night. I screamed when his tongue hit my clit, knowing how close his fangs were. He was just as ruthless as he was with his bite, swirling, sucking, and nipping ever so lightly. The black faded from my vision, replaced with white light. That had never happened before, I didn’t know what that meant. Nash had exactly what he wanted and he was going to take his time coaxing every last drop of it out of me.
“Do you think that was what she was talking about?” he asked.
I nodded.
“I won’t believe it unless I hear you say it.”
“Yes.” I forced the word out.
“Every time I look at you, that’s what I’m thinking of—the next tim
e I can do that to you. You have exactly what I want.” His pants and belt landed on the floor with a thud. He pushed his cock inside me. “And I plan to make you mine.”
Chapter Fifteen
NASH
“Get that little bitch out of here!” Desiree snarled, pacing in front of me. The pain of losing Sabrina cracked her perfect façade. She’d handpicked her and Sierra from the crowd of a giant festival, and they’d served her for almost fifty years. It was hard to remember Desiree without her favorite courtesans by her side.
“No,” I said simply. We all mourned in our own ways. I’d brought Corynne to the brink last night—her heartbeat had slowed, barely able to recover from her orgasm, and I feared I’d gone too far. I’d given her enough blood to ensure she woke up this morning human.
This was my coven, but we ruled by committee. We’d always done it that way to protect ourselves from each other. But there were some areas where I wasn’t willing to entertain the council’s opinions—and Corynne was one of them.
“I can’t even look at her without wanting to rip her to shreds. The only reason I didn’t do it last night was because Sabrina needed every last bit of my energy. But that... She’s not human, Nash, you know that, right? She’s a black hole.”
“She’s human. Most humans can naturally suppress the urges that Corynne struggles with. Instead, they’ve strengthened within her. It’s fascinating—”
“Fascinating? She’s a murderer!” All the blood Desiree had stolen from her courtesans rushed to her face. “I covered for her when the police came, and that wasn’t the first mistake I made when it comes to your little blood slut. No more. I should’ve never let her go to auction. Instead, I should’ve tossed her back to whatever hellhole she crawled out of and let nature take its course.”
I laughed. Desiree pursed her lips but said nothing. “You’re a hypocrite. What’s kept you alive for the last couple of centuries? Murder. Deceit. You want to punish Corynne because she’s just like you, but she’s got the one thing you can’t have—a heart that still beats. And a way out of here. Alive.”
Her expression softened, absorbing the blow of the truth. “She’s brought this coven to the edge of disaster. Sabrina is dead, those savages in the forest are surely planning retaliation for whatever the hell you hoped to accomplish the other night, and we’re waiting for a useless vampire to awaken.”
“Olivia is the least of our problems.” I remembered her the minute I found her in the forest. She’d stood on our stage many times, remaining hopeful even when she received no bids. The light in her eyes had been snuffed after Oscar and his feral followers used her as a human chew toy, but she had the strength to smile when she saw me. No one could kill Olivia’s spirit. For her sake, I hoped she brought it with her to the afterlife. She was going to need it.
Desiree rolled her eyes. “Our coven doesn’t want her. She kept coming back, too stupid to get the hint. I wanted to throttle Oscar’s guy when he slipped in that last minute bid. She’d used up all her chances. I have half a mind to throw her back to the forest and—”
“No. Absolutely not. We need her—she’ll have information about the forest vampires that we can’t get anywhere else, without risking anyone else in our coven.” That shut Desiree up. “If we have any hope of quieting that uprising without causing a war, we need her.”
“It’s her or Corynne.” Desiree folded her arms across her chest, tapping her heeled foot. “It should really be neither of them. There’s only so much this coven can tolerate.”
I shook my head, relishing Desiree’s glare. “You don’t give me ultimatums, Desiree. Do I need to strip you of your responsibilities while you mourn, and give you a chance to find some humility?”
“No.” Her answer was sharp. “Someone needs to exercise some common sense with the girls that come in here. I’ve learned my lesson, and I won’t make the same mistake again.”
“That’s more like it.” I gathered my things, this conversation was over. My intention had been to check on Desiree, knowing the pain of losing a chosen one.
“Nash.” She stopped me with my hand on the doorknob. “The council won’t allow them both to stay.”
“Yes, they will.”
“You know the rules. The council exists so no one vampire has too much power over the coven. If the council is unanimous in wanting Corynne and Olivia to go, you have to respect their wishes.”
I left without responding. I had to help Corynne learn to control her mind before I turned her, yet I didn’t have the luxury of that kind of time. I had to turn her now.
There was a catch—becoming immortal wasn’t a cure-all to disease, and this plan could backfire.
CORYNNE WOULD WAKE soon, sore and hungry. As much as Desiree considered her to be uncontrollable, she was the least of my problems tonight. I ventured to the basement to check on Olivia.
We brought humans here to make the transformation. At one time, this building had housed a bank, and we’d left the heavy vault door in the basement. There was no way to predict how a vampire would come into the world. It was much like a human birth—many of them came in screaming. The locked room kept them safe from the sun, and most importantly, themselves.
The room was kept cool. New vampires struggled with sensory issues. Everything was much more intense and vivid, and many of them had a hard time adjusting to their new body temperature. This eased them into it and gave them a chance to acclimate.
No surprise that the vault was dark, but I didn’t expect to find Olivia alone. Unacceptable. A courtesan should’ve been guarding her and been ready to guide her when she rose. This was a direct violation of coven protocol.
Olivia was being set up to fail.
She hadn’t spent many nights in the forest, but if the vampires there had gorged themselves on her blood without replenishing her, she may have been too weak to make the transformation. Even in the best circumstances, there were no guarantees. Her tiny body lay chained to the stone slab, again for her protection. But no one should’ve wrapped a chain around her neck.
I’d given Olivia my blood, and that was enough to make her a member of this coven. This treatment was extreme. Reactionary. It would not go unpunished. I slipped my fingers between the metal and her throat, crumbling it under my grip. Her color instantly improved, from a sickly lavender hue to something brighter, more hopeful.
I picked up the sheet to make sure she’d suffered no other retaliation. Her skin was smooth, healing from the bites and the slices she’d suffered in the forest. For all the advances our kind had made, the forest coven spiraled backward. Instead of simply drinking blood from her like civilized vampires, they fed from her like cannibals. There was no way I’d let anyone associated with my coven be sent to that fate.
The forest vampires would be punished for this. I had a feeling no one in the human realm had been looking for Olivia, but it was only so long before the feral vampires chose the wrong girl and sent us all back to the Dark Ages, forcing us to hide in the shadows and gutters of society.
Her head rolled slowly, her fingers curled around the cuff that held her in place. I ran my hand lightly over her forehead, trailing down to her cheek. Just enough so she knew she wasn’t alone.
She licked her lips, squeezing her eyes when the sensation was unfamiliar. Her eyes snapped open, trained on me, and she pulled against her restraints hard, angry. The noise that came out of her was somewhere between a scream and a hiss, and exactly as she intended.
I bit through the skin on my other wrist. Her fangs hadn’t formed yet. If anyone else had been down here, they may have let her struggle for her first drink, starving her and driving her mad. No. We didn’t create savages in this coven.
She made a much more welcoming sound as the first drops of blood hit her tongue. I held her head up, but there was no need to coax her to drink. She’d come to our world hungry and knowing what she wanted.
No vampire was created without a purpose. It was in our coven contract. Olivia was no ex
ception.
Olivia blinked when I withdrew my wrist, blood and foreign emotions coursing through her. She didn’t let a drop of blood go wasted, licking her lips clean. “You found me,” she rasped.
“Yes. Do you remember what happened to you?”
“The producer—” her voice was weak, “—said he wanted to film in the woods, that it was a vampire sacrifice scene. I thought it sounded freaky, but hey, I’ve done worse. They drank from me over and over. Everyone had a turn. I begged for blood, for water, for anything...but they wouldn’t give it to me. I thought I was going to die.”
“You did die.” I was glad she’d come here so many times—her smile confirmed she welcomed this news. “And I’ve brought you back to the coven that you came to auction at.”
She nodded. “I thought you looked familiar. Does that mean I’m a courtesan?”
“No. It means you’re a vampire now. A member of this coven. At first, the two roles will be very similar, and I expect your transformation to be smooth.”
Her eyes widened, and she didn’t respond right away. “Wow.” She craned her head, taking in her surroundings. “Does that mean I get to stay here forever?”
“As long as you follow the rules.” I could make her no guarantees. My promises were empty until the council welcomed her. Olivia needed to acclimate to being a vampire, until then I’d worry about coven politics for her. “But you no longer have to worry about food, money, or a place to live.”
Olivia closed her eyes, peace washing over her. “Thank you.”
I placed a light kiss on her forehead. She was my creation, and it was my responsibility to take care of her. Had she been my Lady, I would’ve climbed on top of her and taken her, so she could’ve had her first taste of vampire blood enhanced by the feeling of losing control. That was how it was meant to be. But she’d have to find someone else to do that for her. “Do you remember a courtesan named Corynne?”
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