Out of The Shadows (Shadows Ascending Trilogy Book 2)

by Jenn D. Young

  Dark eyebrows rose as he looked at Vincent. “I would argue the same thing about you and Kaniul keeping Lorelei’s powers and heritage from us.”

  He growled. “Leave her out of this. You know as well as I do that mates are a protected class. We are under no obligation to disclose their existence to the council. I knew that Lorelei was my mate and did not want to put her in more danger by calling more attention than was absolutely necessary to ensure her survival.”

  “No, you just went behind our backs to place guardians and tried to tear apart our world by connecting with her,” Leo ground out.

  “If you had any idea how it feels to have a mate, you would know that my actions were in the best interests of the entire supernatural world.” Vincent seethed with anger, his fingers digging painfully into the flesh of my thigh. His jaw was set in a firm line and his eyes glowed with malice.

  “Gentlemen, I think it is best to stop this line of conversation,” Damius interrupted. “It has nothing to do with our objective, which is to get Nicolae back, just in case you have forgotten that little fact.”

  Vincent turned his fierce gaze to the elder vampire, “He is my fucking best friend and second in command. I have not forgotten. Get your vampires in line and maybe we wouldn’t get off topic like this.”

  Leo opened his mouth to interrupt, but Damius held up a hand and he shut his jaw with an audible snap. “Enough. I am tired of this childish behavior.” He rubbed at his temples, his face forlorn as he cut his eyes toward his progeny. “You two need to learn to get along and put your differences aside. I am tired of playing referee.”

  Beneath me, Vincent stiffened, his spine going straight as Damius’ words sank in. I squeezed his hand tighter. His fingers returned the gesture, his mind seeking mine for a small measure of comfort.

  “Naomi will be present at the grand fight tonight. She will tip me off if we should make our move.”

  “Good. I’ve had enough of this bureaucratic bullshit. We are leaving,” Vincent said, flexing his arms tighter around me and teleporting us back to his flat.

  Chapter 14

  Vincent

  My emotions ran through me with errant fury, swirling uncontrollably until I felt as if I was going to explode with the rawness. The despair at Nicolae’s situation. The bonding sensations between Lorelei and I. Leo and his damn attitude always goading me. One of these days I really was going to seriously hurt him. Damius may not like it, but if he kept pushing me, then I couldn’t be responsible for my actions much longer.

  Fucking sneaky vampires.

  This Naomi that he had been keeping from us was an intriguing development. A variable chameleon. A power that was rare and did not manifest often in our kind. Able to slightly change their features in order to make themselves blend into crowds, they were perfect for espionage.

  A perfect ace to have in your back pocket. The selfish way that Leo played the game, I was surprised he even called her out to be used in this situation. Insufferable vampire must have a heart, after all.

  Then again. Probably not. There were probably other motives behind it.

  Lorelei stirred in my arms, bringing my thoughts back to the present. “You need to get some sleep. You haven’t slept in days, Vincent. Please,” her soft blue eyes pleaded with me as she laid her palm against my cheek.

  “I know, Theera,” I responded, covering her hand with my own large one, giving it a hard squeeze. “but I can’t rest yet. Not knowing he is still out there.”

  “Running yourself into the ground isn’t helping Nicolae, Vincent. It is making it worse. You are running on fumes. Your powers need recharged and you need rest.”

  Damn it, she was right. I sighed, closing my eyes and gathering her into my arms. “You need rest too, then. You have been awake just as long as I have.”

  She leaned her head back up at me and smiled. “Of course, let’s go and get some sleep, my demon prince.”

  *******

  Lorelei was secured in my arms when I awoke several hours later, rested and relaxed. Her face was serene in slumber, pale golden skin begging for my touch as it always did. Her dark mane of hair was spread out behind her and across my chest where she slept with one hand tucked under her chin and the other thrown over my torso. One leg intertwined between mine.

  It was the best part of mating with her.

  Getting to wake up to her in my arms. In my bed. Every. Single. Day.

  I was one lucky demon bastard.

  Her dark eyelashes fluttered against her face as she stirred. A groan escaped her throat. “Not ready to get up yet,” she muttered.

  “My phone is buzzing rather insistently on the table, Lorelei. I need you to move so that I can retrieve it.”

  “Ugh,” she untangled her limbs from mine and rolled over, snuggling back into the pillows. “Another hour, please. More sleep,” she exhaled on an exhausted whisper.

  I brushed the hair from her forehead and pulled the covers up and over her body before climbing to my feet. I picked up my phone and padded to the main living area, pausing only to throw on a pair of loose-fitting gray sweatpants. I smiled with enthusiasm, knowing that Lorelei would love the sight when she woke up.

  My mood soured as I looked down at the screen of my phone, seeing that I had missed three calls from Damius and another two from Leo. Damn they were insistent, which told me that it was an emergency. I had silenced my phone to try and get some much-needed sleep for Lorelei and I, but it had been only a few hours.

  I scrubbed a hand over my face as I tapped the screen to call Damius, not bothering to return Leo’s call. I was still too pissed off at him to bother.

  “About bloody time, Demon,” Damius growled as he answered the phone.

  “Nice to hear your voice too, Vampire,” I quipped in return.

  “Naomi has more information for us. Get your ass here immediately.”

  The line went dead. I pulled the phone from my ear and stared down at the black screen. “Goodbye to you too, asshole,” I grumbled.

  Sighing, I padded back through the room and back to the bed to wake Lorelei. She was not going to be happy about this. She took my breath away as I took in her sleeping form. Her dark hair spread across the pillow. A delicate hand was tucked beneath her chin as her lips parted as she breathed evenly in slumber. She was so utterly beautiful, my heart contracted in my chest.

  I never wanted a mate. Never had dreamed that one would ever be gifted to me by the fates. After two millennia of existence, I figured it was past time that it would even be possible. Yet, here she was. Asleep in my bed. Bound to me by blood, body, and oath. Every cell in my body cried out for her. Demanded that I worship her. Her body. Her blood. Her soul.

  Shaking my head to clear my wayward thoughts, I placed a knee on the bed and bent down to drag my knuckles across the soft skin of her cheek. “Wake up, little one,” I whispered softly, my lips brushing over her temple.

  “No, I told you another hour,” she groaned and swatted my hand away. Her forehead wrinkled in frustration. She looked so cute when she was angry and sleepy.

  “Damius and Leo have news from Naomi about Nicolae. We need to get up so that we can meet them back at the council chambers.”

  Her eyes snapped open and she rolled over onto her back, the pale blue of her irises glowing in the dim light of the room. “Why didn’t you start with that?” she growled.

  I rolled my eyes, holding my hands up as I moved away from her. She threw the sheet from her body and made her way to the closet. I watched with rapt attention, leaning back against the wooden headboard as she threw on a simple bra and panty set, and grabbed black jeans with a band t-shirt. Hopping as she pulled on her socks, she narrowed her eyes at me as she walked back into the bedroom.

  “Get the hell out of bed and stop staring at me. We have shit to do.” She scoffed and jerked the bathroom door open and threw her shirt and pants on the countertop.

  I chuckled as I gathered my own clothing. With the events of the past few week
s, I needed to take my humor where I could get it. If that was with my bouncing around as she tried to get her socks on—before the rest of her clothing— then that is what it was going to be.

  Lorelei poked her head out from the bathroom door, her blue eyes focusing intensely on me. “So me hopping around is funny to you?” Her brow arched and her lips twitched as she tried just as hard to keep a straight face. Little gurgles of laughter snuck out of her closed mouth and she quickly stifled the sound behind her hand.

  “I find it utterly charming that you put your socks on before the rest of your clothes,” I said as I winked at her.

  Stalking over to her, my eyes heated as I pushed the door open wide with a bump of my hip. I wrapped my arms around her and brought her firmly against the front of my body. She hadn’t dressed fully yet. Still just standing before me in her bra and panties. I growled in approval of the deep red color that had black lace covering the cups. Her full breasts were pushed up, the creamy mounds aching for my touch and tongue.

  “You are trying to tempt me by wearing that,” I muttered, my nose nuzzling against the soft skin of her neck. A deep guttural growl echoed in the bathroom as I scented the sweetness of her arousal.

  “Do you need to feed?” she whispered, clutching at my hair, one leg reaching up to wrap around my hip.

  Fuck. She was killing me right now. We needed to get to the council, but I couldn’t think past the blood rushing south to my aching cock. “Theera,” I groaned, my hands sliding down from her hips to grip the firm globes of her ass. Her need called to me. Stirring the hunger within me. Demanding that I take my mate’s body, her blood, her energy. Everything.

  My lips placed open mouthed kisses against her pulse. My fingers shredded the tiny panties with a swift yank of my hands. She gasped and threw her head back, grinding herself more firmly into my cock, still encased in my sweatpants.

  “Vincent,” she pleaded. Her nails scraped a path down my back. The pain barely penetrated the haze of lust that had taken control of me. Small fingers dipped into the waistband of my pants, pushing them down as much as she could with our bodies still pressed together.

  I chuckled, drawing back from her slightly to allow the pants to slip down below my cock, causing it to spring free. I hissed as her fist closed around the base, stroking me firmly in a slow pumping motion. “Fuck, baby.”

  She laughed, lightening my heart with the lyrical tones. “You feel so good in my hand, but you would feel even better inside me.” Her hot breath washed over my cheek as she whispered huskily in my ear, “I want your cock. Your fangs. Everything you have to give me, mate.”

  Carefully, I unwrapped her hand from my dick and twirled her around. I pressed her torso down against the smooth marble of the countertop before slapping her ass with a loud crack. “Your ass looks so beautiful like this,” I rubbed my hard shaft against her crease, teasing her as she canted her hips back against me.

  “Please, Vincent. I need you.”

  “Mmm.” My foot tapped against hers, demanding she spread her legs wider. She complied with a whimper, her need assaulting me from all angles. Gods, my woman was utter perfection as I looked down at her. Her head was bent, cheek pressed into the counter. The line of her spine was arched at the perfect angle, pressing her luscious ass against me. The scent of her arousal in my nostrils was the sweetest perfume and the glistening of it along the inside of her thighs caused me to growl.

  Grasping the base of my erection, I teased along her folds, pressing my head into her hard little clit. “Always so wet for me, little mate.”

  A deep sound of need left her mouth, her hands reaching out to grasp the edges of the smooth surface. “Such a good mate for me,” I praised, pressing my cock against her entrance. She whimpered as I entered her slowly. Taking my time. I wanted to feel her tight pussy contract around my cock.

  We both groaned as I seated myself fully inside her hot channel. “Vincent. I need you to fuck me. Now. Please.” Her voice rose, her legs shaking slightly as she fought to control her movements. My palm connected with the flesh of her buttock. She sucked in a tight breath from between her teeth. One of her small hands reached back to clutch one of my hips, urging me to fuck her completely.

  “You don’t control this, little one,” I growled, gathering both of her wrists in one hand. Shackling them in a strong grip at the small of her back, my hips drew back and thrust forward sharply.

  “I set the pace.” My hips jerked forward in another hard thrust. “If I want to fuck you hard and slow,” I illustrated my point with a firm, slow drive against her body. “I will.”

  “Vincent,” my name was drawn out from her lips on a desperate plea. Her toes wiggled as she rose on shaking legs.

  My pace increased, driving my cock into her in a brutal hard rhythm. Her cries of pleasure washed over me. The pure sexual energy that oozed from her pores was the greatest aphrodisiac for a demon of my kind. As I absorbed her raw essence, my thrusts grew frantic. My orgasm was just within reach.

  Lorelei screamed as her body contracted around me with her fierce climax. My own climax built in the base of my spine and arched up through my balls and I roared in triumph as I spilled myself inside of my mate.

  Breathing heavily, I released her wrists and laid my forehead down on her back, slick with her sweat. My tongue reached out and traced her smooth skin, tasting the saltiness of her flesh.

  “Damius is going to kill us,” Lorelei chuckled, a lazy and satisfied smile splitting her face.

  My chest rumbled in a responding laugh. “I can take him, mate, don’t you fear.” My palms ran up her sides to cup her still cloth covered breasts, squeezing them gently as I withdrew from her body. Her body trembled beneath my touch, still sensitive.

  In the distance, I heard the distinct buzzing of my phone vibrating and Damius’ familiar ringtone cutting through our post orgasmic bliss. “Speak of the devil,” she groaned, placing her hands on the cool surface of the counter and lifting her upper body. I sighed and took a step back, breaking out contact reluctantly.

  “Damn meddling vampire,” I grumbled as I placed one final kiss between her shoulder blades and left the bathroom to retrieve my phone.

  “We are leaving now,” I stated simply the moment the call connected.

  “You are taking too fucking long,” Damius growled and hung up on me.

  I shook my head and retrieved my clothes that I had abandoned earlier and pulled them on roughly. “You alright in there?” I called out to Lorelei.

  “Yep,” she opened the door and stood in front of me, clad in her dark jeans and a shirt with a cello on the front of it. I smiled at her choice. “Let’s not keep the high lords waiting any longer.”

  Rolling my eyes as I wrapped my eyes around her, I teleported us to the council antechamber.

  Chapter 15

  Lorelei

  The giant oak doors of the council chamber greeted me when I opened my eyes. Vincent’s arms tightened around me for a moment before releasing me. A million thoughts rolled through my mind as I sucked in a deep breath and reached for the solid brass door handle.

  The bond between Vincent and I was growing every day. To the point where I felt I could barely breathe when I wasn’t in his presence. My rational mind protested this thought. How could I be so dependent on him already? Yes, I had known him my entire life. He was a shadow in my mind. My dark demon prince, always protecting me from a distance.

  Since we bonded, things had shifted. My soul was entwined with his, needing his presence. I was still my own person though, right? My mind still functioned, I wouldn’t be one of these girls that would be quiet and submissive to her mate.

  Well, outside of the bedroom that is. I quite enjoyed being dominated by him when we were in the privacy of our own rooms.

  Vincent’s lips twitched up at the corners as I looked up at him. He slid his arm around my waist and bent down to whisper in my ear. “I like dominating you in our bed too, little mate.”

  My thou
ghts sobered as I heard the commotion near the front of the chambers. Kaniul was locked in a heated argument with Leo. I couldn’t make out their words, but I heard Nicolae’s name several times. My heart hammered in my chest.

  Would Nicolae be ok when we found him? Would we even be able to find him? How could I even be enjoying myself in Vincent’s arms when Nicolae out there facing hell on earth?

  I lowered my head and wrapped my arms around my torso, letting sorrow wash over me. An image of Nicolae lifting me up and cheering after the first time we played together made my chest ache.

  “Lorelei, don’t do this to yourself,” Vincent whispered, his eyes sad as he tilted my chin up to look at him. “We will find him. We will bring him back here and I have no doubts that he will be just as much of a pain in my ass as he was before.”

  A sliver of a smile parted my lips and I nodded in agreement. “And you will be giving him just as much shit back.”

  Vincent’s eyes lit up as he kissed my forehead. “Damn right.”

  Absently, I rubbed my forearm. The image of the eye of Horus peered at me. Haunting me with its memories. The marking had appeared on my arm after my first vision of my mother and father since coming into my powers. It started to itch and burn today, almost as if it begged me to pay attention to it.

  I was still scratching at the mark when Kaniul looked down at me curiously. “How long has it been bothering you?” he asked insistently.

  “What?” I responded, confused.

  He lifted his chin toward my arm. “The eye. How long has it been itching?” His forehead rose and he placed a hand on a hip. The earlier argument with Leo long forgotten as the men focused on me.

  “So my arm itches, what is the big deal?” I narrowed my eyes, uncomfortable with all of the eyes trained on me as I drew my arm behind my back.

  “The Eye is a symbol of protection. When it reacts it means that there is danger in the air. For your arm to be bothering you, it can mean that there is something coming.”