“If anyone can lead them out of this, it’s you.”
Remembering Arthur speaking about me with such passion made me smile. “Everyone seems to think that, but I couldn’t prevent it from happening. I was right there on the cusp of this before the word rebellion was even mentioned, and everything I did made it more of a shit show. Maybe it was the system and not me, but still.” Something Lucas had said came to the forefront of my mind. “My father told me about the way life was before Anastasia did what she did. We were brothers with Lycans, and they sat by our side on the Council. Maybe it’s time for a change. A Council where every voice is represented, not just Born vampires.”
“They’ll never go for it,” he said dryly, resting his hands on his stomach in the rocking chair.
“Maybe not. Maybe someday, when the world is different. When we’re different.” Kitty rested her head against me when she finished drinking. With that feeling of dread still there, I knew making plans was necessary, even if nothing happened. “Balthazar,” I said, turning to him, and he looked up at my serious tone, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “If they come. If we’re threatened again, I want you to take Kitty away. Take Cameron with you to feed her, or make a new vampire baby with a really attractive librarian, someone who will stay with you and her forever. I don’t care what you do. I won’t have her pay for the crimes of others. I’ve given everything to this war, and I won’t lose her too.”
“It will not come to that,” he assured me, his words not calming me down in the slightest, not when it came to our daughter.
“I want you to promise,” I insisted.
Sighing, he stood up and laid the blanket from his lap across the rocker. “I promise.” He came closer and I let him hug me, his kiss on my forehead warm and loving. “I hope you’re wrong.”
I did too.
Kitty spent the rest of the day with me before Balthazar took her again and I could work late. Olivier came into my office when it was almost midnight.
“Someone is waiting for you in your room,” she said, yawning into her dark hand.
A visitor? Castilla’s prediction came to me. I’d have three pairs of visitors, and two pairs had already come. Maybe… no. She wouldn’t come here. Even so, I was excited, and I raced upstairs to see who was there.
Slowly, I creaked the front suite door open and heard Lionel Richie on a speaker. Was he who I was looking for? The song played out and I marveled at everything in the sparse living room that hadn’t been there before. There was a fur rug with pillows on it, and a tray of chocolate with strawberries. What in the world?
A large arrow of rose petals pointed to the bedroom, so I went there next. The petals danced around the carpet, leading this way and that in a very precise path. I followed as best I could without falling over. The bed had more rose petals, and there was a bottle of champagne chilling on the nightstand. Another arrow led to the open bathroom door.
Just as the song said hello, I stepped inside the bathroom to see Knight sitting in a tub of hot water wearing a very fancy tux. He sipped champagne like this was completely normal and pretended to be startled when he saw me.
“Oh, I didn’t see you there. Come. Sit. Stay awhile,” he said in a weird voice. He flashed me a flirty smile and drew shapes on the water’s surface.
“I missed you.” He didn’t respond beyond flicking the water more, as if the mere act would turn me on somehow. “Why are you sitting in a tub with clothes on?”
“Why indeed. You see, I was hanging out with the Lycans the other day. I’m surrounded by testosterone, and I realize there’s something I forgot to do before we attacked the turned vampires.” What had he forgotten? To not wear camo? “And then, I talked to someone about what I was planning, and he told me just how these things are done. Only, I’m not one of you, so I need to do things my way.”
“What things?” He flicked a finger to the counter where a wooden box sat. I eyed it with suspicion. What was in that… I picked it up, opened it, and found a pewter bracelet with three pink crystal hearts in the center. “A bracelet?”
“For you. Because I’m your blood sugar daddy. Your snack with benefits.” I tried and failed to not laugh. He glared at me in a playful way. “Sssh, no laughing. I’m giving you my best Deadpool impression right now.”
I laughed harder, wiping my eyes. “That’s what that was? It was pretty spot on. Keep going.”
Sighing happily, he looked towards the heavens. “She knows who Deadpool is,” he squeaked. “Anyhoo, so I got you that bracelet because an inside source said that vampires don’t wear rings.”
Rings? …
“I’ll wear a ring,” I said without missing a beat.
He was out of the tub and down on one knee in front of me before I could say, ‘you’re getting water all over the fucking floor.’ Right then, I didn’t care that he was sopping wet. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold signet ring with flowers on the sides and the initials EB on the top. It was old, but it shined like a star. He took my hand, as serious as I’d ever seen him.
“Lisbeth. When I first met you, I said to myself, ‘fuck that chick is hot.’ I kid you not. My first thought. And I hated that I was so attracted to you right off the bat when we were enemies, and you had just fanged me out of nowhere. Of course, I was repulsed by you, and that helped curb any attraction I felt for you. Totally not true now. Flag up the pole, I swear. But every day you changed my perspective until I stopped seeing the vampire, and all I saw was you. The attraction came back and the only thing I wanted was to stay by your side. I knew you didn’t feel the same, and I was okay with that, until you did, and it was perfect. Kissing you was like… like I’d never really kissed anyone before. It was all pretend before you. Touching you was like running my fingers along a holy text, and I wanted to make it my life’s mission to memorize every line.”
He kissed my hand and studied it mournfully. “And then you were taken away from me. I was locked away and I knew, I knew the vampires would execute you. I drifted in and out of sanity because I can’t live in a world without you. The only thing that kept me together was the hope I could be freed and then kill Arthur for capturing you. It’s totally cool, he understood.” I giggled. “Finally, I was free, and the first thing I did, after months of a freezing, cold cage and only scraps to eat, I went back and I found the bracelet from Alexander. It would’ve been the only thing of yours I’d have if you were gone. Alexander ended up finding me afterward, and he brought me to the castle, your home, where I saw you with a baby, and it was more than obvious that things had changed between you and Arthur.”
I twisted my hand so I could hold his tightly, and he continued. “I got sad, then angry. I’d thought we had something, and you apparently didn’t feel that way.” Don’t cry. For god’s sake, don’t cry. “Then I saw the way you were looking at me, and eventually I realized that you had been trying to move on. You were trying to find a way to be happy without me, not because you didn’t care, it was because you cared too much. I know you well enough to know that. Am I wrong?”
I shook my head.
“I was mad for about ten minutes, and when that first meeting was over, I understood you. I wanted you back so badly, I ached for you. Then you told me that you felt you didn’t deserve forgiveness for what you did, so I forgave you, but I did it to make you happy. I don’t want to forgive you, because there is nothing to forgive. You tried to continue living a life you felt was meaningless without me, and there is no shame in that. And I know you don’t see it that way so I will forgive you every day for the rest of our existence, gladly. And as for what you have with Arthur…” I opened my mouth to stop him, but he held up his free hand. “I meant what I said. I am willing to share you with him, but I know Arthur has said he doesn’t want you, and I know it hurt you when he rejected you like that. I can see it all over your face when you look at him, it makes me want to strangle his stupid face.” Amidst my giggles, he swallowed and kissed my hand. “If one day Arthur feels
differently, don’t fear my feelings. I’ll always be yours, no matter what.”
I was speechless, so he let go of my hand to hold the ring out again. “Clara gave me this at the airport. She said it belonged to her mother, the Countess, and she wanted me to give it to you as a wedding ring if you were okay with wearing one. Only, vampires don’t get married. You bond, and it’s deeper than marriage, because its meant to last a lifetime, and it can never be undone. I love you, Lisbeth Bathory. I want you. Forever.”
He slipped the signet ring on my ring finger and my heart burst into a thousand pieces. I pulled him up from where he knelt and hugged him, wet tux and all.
“Knight,” I whispered with a sob. “I could live a thousand years and never say anything that beautiful. When I first met you, I felt weak at the knees over your eyes.” He laughed out loud at me. “I pushed the attraction away too until I was blinded by the fact that you were a wolf. Even so, something inside me made me want to be around you, and it wasn’t the fact that your scent masked mine when the Hunters came. It was you. I liked you. Your grumpy attitude, and your stupid jokes. I enjoyed your company. Every time I felt attraction to you, I had to remind myself over and over that you weren’t for me, even when your smell was turning me on so badly I wanted to drown in it. Since you insisted on hating me. I kept thinking you would leave me, and you didn’t. You stayed long after anyone else would’ve left. No one had ever been there for me like that. I needed you, and you wanted me to need you. Your kisses burned a hole in my soul, a hole you filled like you were always meant to be there. Love isn’t something vampires do on a whim. We have to really feel as if we will not survive without someone. I felt that way about you long before I realized. Long before either of us realized.” I ran my fingers through his long black hair and leaned down to kiss his forehead. “No matter what I feel for Arthur, or what will happen in the future with him, you’re my mate now. I will stay with you forever.”
“Awwww,” he cooed. “And you said you’d never hear anything more beautiful than my speech.” We drew apart to stare in each other’s eyes, the places we would live for the rest of our immortal lives.
“I love you,” I said, and I leaned in to kiss him again, burning inside with a need for him I had no intention of ignoring for more sleep. “Get that tux off, I want you naked.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Standing, he removed the jacket and started on the buttons. After ten seconds of them slipping out of his wet fingers, I stopped his hands and held up a claw, earning a pout from him. “Aww. This is a nice suit.”
“I’ll buy you a new one,” I promised, and I tore the shirt open with one swipe. We both pulled it the rest of the way off, stopping to slice his cuffs, and then his pants.
“Now you.” My dress hit the floor faster than he’d jumped out of the tub, and he picked me up to bring me to the bed.
Our kisses were fevered and had more passion than we’d ever had before. I needed him now, no waiting, no anticipation. My legs drew him in from around his waist. When he pushed his cock into me this time, I felt as if I would explode right then and there.
I pushed into his mind again, and every thrust, every movement, made me wonder if one could ever feel so much pleasure and survive. Your touch is my harbor, pulling me in until I can bear it no longer. I need you now, I need you always.
He fucked me hard and without mercy, driving us close to an explosive climax as we felt each other’s pleasure rising. I exploded like a canon, shooting ropes of come and gushing wet from my core onto the sheets. The pleasure burst from me and Knight’s lips were there to steady us both, his own breath ragged and harsh. Not stopping his intense rhythm, he kept going this time, and my overly-sensitive body responded slowly, but the sensations built until I was overflowing again and everything became a blur except for both of our bodies coming a second time and Knight holding me closely while I came apart at the seams.
Everything was laid bare in my head now, as I lay in Knight’s arms completely relaxed. I’d been worrying for nothing. We killed the turned. We destroyed them. We could live in peace now. There was no reason why we couldn’t. Maybe we could find the other turned and give them the sunlight immunity in exchange for their promise to never attack us.
“Stop thinking, or I will punish you,” Knight murmured.
“Make me,” I challenged. I grazed his ear with my teeth and nibbled on it, slowly. He swore under his breath, gripping my hair so tightly he was pulling it. His cock was still inside me, and it was becoming hard again, after two orgasms within a half hour. Moving on top of me, he slowly made love to me until I was so sated, nothing else mattered.
24. Stay by my side
Two days later was the bonding ceremony of Olivier and Renard. Bestie, and bestie hubby. In the midst of everything, we’d pulled it together, with everyone chipping in to help. The human women from the Lycan families helped us with food, the Lycans brought in chairs and benches for people to sit on, and the Born vampires gathered flowers to decorate everything with. Most of our newly turned had taken their money and left, but those that stayed were interested in learning our ways and were helping out where they could.
This was what the alliance had created. Not an army. A community, a family. Vampires and Lycans were brothers again. I hoped that part would stay now that we were safe. Watching the vampires chatting with Lycans, and the Lycan mates laughing over something a vampire said, the Lycan children playing with the newly turned, and the sunlight beaming over our head. It was magic. A magic I had created.
We all ate the grilled feast and laughed over stories of times long past. Every table was a mix of pale and tan, with blonde hair next to black hair next to red hair. Kitty sat strapped to Balthazar’s chest and strained to look at everything going on. Her purple-blue eyes were happy and bright. Everything was beautiful.
After our bellies were full, the ceremony began. Olivier emerged wearing a red silk dress fitted to perfection on her rocking body. She joined her mate in front of us. In our ceremonies, there is no chaplain, and no paper to symbolize the union.
Two goblets sat next to a knife on a table behind the couple. Renard sliced his wrist and filled one goblet, while Olivier did the same. They exchanged goblets and drank of each other’s blood. With the wounds still open, they pressed their wrists together, their hands tight on each other’s arms, and they stepped around in a circle. Then they spoke the words:
I pledge my life to you. I will spend every moment hereafter with you. You are my family, my hearth. And though the seasons change and the world renews, within your embrace is where I will stay. I will never love another the way I love you, even should there be a day when you are not by my side. Our love will never fade. Eternal and unchanging we shall be. Together.
I sobbed like a baby in my rose pink lace dress and Knight pat my back, kissing my hair consolingly. After their vows were made, the couple came together for a tender kiss, and we clapped and hollered for their new happiness.
This is what we fought for. The freedom to enjoy our lives in peace.
Our ceremony might’ve been different from humans, but we still liked to dance afterward, so that was one thing the Lycans and their mates could understand. First, the couple danced together to a sweet love song. Then we were off onto the dance floor teaching the younger generations dances long forgotten. Everyone was laughing and having a good time, it was almost enough to shake away my fears.
The sun started to go down, and our dancing turned to couples in each other’s arms by the light of a bonfire. I danced slowly with my mate, enjoying the feel of his hands and how long his hair was getting. I ran my fingers through it as I studied his face.
“I’m moon free tonight,” he said happily, totally making it sound like a period. “No wolf to interrupt the party.”
“I rather like your wolf,” I said, giving him a look I knew would give him an instant erection. He hissed at me and smacked my ass as punishment.
In the corner, I saw Arthur sitting alone aft
er over an hour of dancing. No one had asked him, but he didn’t seem like he wanted to ask anyone either. He just stared at the fire like it was a television. And I felt my heart hurting.
“I’m going to talk to Arthur,” I told Knight. He raised his eyebrows but didn’t comment, as he promised he wouldn’t. “You know exactly how much I love you… especially,” I trailed a finger up his buttons, “after what I did last night.”
“That’s sexy face. You know I can’t say no to sexy face. Playing dirty with me, woman, and I love every second.” He kissed my forehead. “Go, talk to your boyfriend. I’ll be here, reminding you how attractive I am. I might even dance with your baby daddy and cop a feel. Who knows?”
I squinted at his teasing and left him trying to dance up on Balthazar who stared at him like he was a cockroach. Arthur looked surprised when I approached him and my stomach flipped as I met his cold blue eyes.
“May I?” I asked him, motioning to the seat next to him. He shrugged, so I sat. We didn’t look at each other, and that made it more awkward. “I’m going to ask you—”
“I’m in love with you.”
Direct as always. I blinked a few times to get my bearings. “Okay. Well. That kind of ruined my speech. I had it all planned out.”
“I don’t need a speech,” he insisted, in a tone I could call grumpy.
“Fair enough. I just had to ask you something.” His silence prompted me to continue. “Are you following me because you love me, or are you following me because you believe I deserve to be followed?”
“I’m surprised you need to ask that.”
“Well, I do. So tell me.”
“The second one, the one where I’m not emotional all the time. If it was the first one, I’d have left a long time ago.”
Good. That was the answer I wanted.
“Can I ask why if you love me you insist on not being with me?”
The Born Vampire series: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (The Complete Series, NSFW Edition) Page 54
