Sacrifice of the Septimus: Part 1 (Afterlife saga Book 7)

by Stephanie Hudson

  “That makes no sense,” he told me sternly and I took some extra steps towards him and said,

  “Yes it does.” To which he took a step closer to me and said,

  “None…whatsoever.” He lent closer to me and whispered this last part. At this point I was breathing heavy and my chest was rising causing my own t-shirt to feel tighter. I took another step towards him and decided to continue pushing my point.

  “It makes perfect sense…One… Hundred… Percent.” I emphasised each word looking up at him and feeling it get hotter by the second. It was at this moment when he took his final step putting us only inches apart that I knew the argument had been long ago lost to something far more important gained…it was when his eyes flashed purple that I sucked in a sharp breath and his winning words finished me off for good…

  “Zero…Fucking…Percent.” The second the last word left his lips he was on me and in the best way possible. One hand snatched out, gripping me on the back of the neck at the same time the other one entwined in my hair by my ear. Then with a small motion he pulled me to him, tilting my head up so he could take my lips in a possessive kiss. I gasped, opening up to him so he could taste how much I needed him.

  Suddenly all other thoughts fled my sex clouded mind the second his lips touched mine and I was lost to him. His hands roamed my body like he was relearning every curve and it was obvious when he reached his favourite parts as his grip would tighten making me groan. It was when he had one hand hitching up my leg pulling me closer to his straining erection that I threw my head back in ecstasy. He took this as a sign of submission and all gentlemanly behaviour evaporated as the beast within surfaced.

  I cried out as his kiss on my neck twisted into blissful pain as his extended fangs pierced my skin. There was once a time when I had to encourage Draven to bite me like this but that was definitely a thing of the past. Especially considering the way it made my body convulse in his arms when I felt the first pull of my blood leave my body and slip into his. I don’t know what it was but the erotic feeling was like no other and made me come every time without fail.

  His arm banded around my torso tightened so I couldn’t slip away and crumble to the floor like my legs were begging for me to do. His other hand tangled in my loose hair that was thrown back as my body was being arched into him. It was a mixture of feeling safe in the fact he would never let me fall and also feeling captive as though he would never let me go until he had finished feeding from me. Every time the bite of pain would pull at my hair I couldn’t help but moan as he would soothe the raw skin around the wound he had made with his gentle lips. This along with the possessive way he gripped my hair in his fist would be a maddening combination to the senses, one that sank me further into the depths of the world in which he wanted me to stay.

  His was wild, brutal and carnal in the way he manipulated my body into needing him, craving him like a desperate woman. The way he made me feel as though nothing else mattered but the feel of my body next to his. Like a precious plaything that he never wanted to give up and one he would not only kill for but also declare war for if needed. I wasn’t sure where all these feelings were coming from but when he picked me up, ripped away my clothes and entered me, it was no longer the Draven I knew looking back at me…

  It was Draven the Warrior King.

  I had seen him twice before in my dreams but what was happening now was something far from the images planted by Lucius all that time ago. I looked around in my dizzying state and saw sand coloured stone walls. I saw flickering flames from bronze bowls hanging by chains from above. I could even breathe deep and make out the scent of jasmine as it dripped from my skin, mixing with the scent of incense being burnt in the air. The rougher texture of his hands as if the feel of a blades handle was one he was never without.

  It was only after all of these things came to me one by one that I was finally brave enough to look and what I saw took my breath away. It was Draven but not the one I knew. That handsome stern cut beauty I was used to seeing had been replaced by the angry warrior, whose darker tanned skin was one that fought under a harsh beating sun. The black around his eyes spoke of a different time entirely and gave him an exotic deadliness about him, one that had me shuddering. His longer hair was still as black as a starless night and was wild and unkempt, giving him a barbaric appearance, one that combined with his actions had me soon shuddering for a completely different reason.

  I screamed as I came, shouting my pleasure up to the Gods of a different time to witness. My inner walls clamped down around the length of him and he threw his head back and growled his own desire. However, this wasn’t quite enough to push him over the edge of his own release yet and he turned us both as I briefly caught sight of furs piled high on the floor. But as he lifted my body up and spun me round something happened…

  I was back.

  I put my hands out to brace myself and found soft black sheets under my palms and in between my fingers.

  “Draven?” I whispered his name, unsure of what was going on but my worries went unnoticed as he started kissing the back of my neck before taking me again from behind. The feel of his length entering me made me cry out at the same time my hands shot forward, bending my body down for him to continue entering me easily. His large hand ran the length of my spine and like a feline I arched back into his touch.

  “My beauty,” he said at the same time holding himself buried deep inside me. I looked back at him snapping my head to one side enough to flick my hair over so that it wouldn’t obscure my view of him. A sigh of relief also went unnoticed as I took in the face I knew so well. One void of facial hair, harsh black eyes or untamed hair that had gone years without seeing the sharp side of a pair of scissors. It was the Draven I knew and loved.

  “How I adore looking down at your body beneath my own, writhing in ecstasy and mirroring my own feelings of …need…” He said this last word as he kissed his way up my back, then the next…

  “Want…” then the next…

  “Desire…” and then the next…

  “Love.” Until his lips reached my own and once our kiss blossomed into a fiery passion so did his movements, getting wilder and faster as his need to erupt inside me became frenzied. One muscle bound arm held his weight above me as he continued to take me from behind, whereas the other snaked around me, came up in between my breasts and held my neck in his hand. This primal gesture of ownership tipped me over the edge for the last time and combined with a few final thrusts we both came crying out until euphoria took over. We both collapsed onto the bed and I moaned the loss of him inside me making him chuckle.

  “It pains me more to leave the comfort of your warm body, trust me on this my love” he said before kissing my bare shoulder softly. He then gripped me under the arms and hoisted me up the bed into his arms where he could hold me close to him. I tried to control my breathing and he smoothed back my hair from where strands of it had stuck to my perspiring forehead. I looked up at him and damn him for looking like he had done a mild jog around the park. Whereas I knew I looked like some brutal drill Sargeant turned physical trainer had taken out his frustrations on me in the form of a cardio workout two press ups short of torture! In other words, I looked a mess and not the sexy kind that they portrayed in the movies. For starters when wearing my hair down, all that was needed for it to look like a great place for birds to live was a light breeze. So give me a wild sexathon and I was always going to end it looking like I was a victim to Victor Frankenstein pulling down on the electro switch.

  “Your hair looks fine, sweetheart,” Draven said and my head snapped up, eyes no doubt wide with panic.

  “I don’t need to read your thoughts to know what your over critical mind is chastising yourself for.” I frowned making him laugh before clarifying,

  “Your eyes always give you away.” I huffed not really meaning it, making him laugh again. Then he slid his body further down and leant his head on one hand with his elbow to the bed. This was enough of an
action to tell me he wanted to talk about things. I was silent as he looked down at me and it didn’t take long before he broke me.

  “I may have overreacted,” I admitted and he raised one eyebrow no doubt mocking me.

  “Really? You overreact…never.” Oh yes, he was definitely mocking me.

  “Oi!” I shouted smacking him playfully on the arm, happy now we were at least making light of the situation and no longer arguing about it. But Draven and I arguing, then ending up having hot steamy sex usually went hand in hand. Not that I was complaining as we could both be quite hot headed and if this was one way of letting off that steam before actually being able to talk about it in an orderly manner then so be it…if needs must and all that, I thought giggling to myself, exhausted after my third orgasm.

  “Okay so what can I say, I saw her and freaked out.” And it was the truth.

  “I would have liked the chance to prepare you but her return was unexpected and therefore I was not granted the blessing of time to do so.”

  “Then why did you tell Zagan you were ready for me if you weren’t?” I asked thinking this was odd, until I received his answer that was.

  “Because she came to me moments before you walked through the door. I didn’t know what to do other than restrain you…and well, we both know how well that worked out don’t we?” he said sounding angrier at himself than with me.

  “Ah, well that would explain that but I think it’s time to tell me who she is…I mean really is because I gotta tell you, the sight of her freaks me the Hell out Draven!”

  “I know love,” he replied with sympathetic eyes that held just the slightest amount of guilt, a guilt he didn’t need to feel.

  “First you should know that she is someone I trust in…deeply.” When I gave him a look that said it all there wasn’t much he could say to argue against the reasons behind it. Not when the amount of people who had betrayed us seemed to be mounting and time became something to dread as old enemies seemed to be worming their way out of the woodwork getting ready to strike.

  “Please know that after all we have been through I do not make that statement lightly,” he added before I could speak my thoughts aloud.

  “Okay, so you trust her, I get it but…should I?” I asked knowing this question would most likely go straight over his head as ‘the green eyed monster’ was still a fairly new concept for him. He was more of a ‘My woman!’ or ‘Touch her and die!’ kinda guy, so sitting quietly on the sidelines and having no choice but to sit through the jealousy wasn’t something he understood all too well.

  Although maybe I was wrong as he had to deal with the whole Dickhead Alex thing.

  “I am not following.” Nope, not wrong, I thought groaning to myself. Also the memory of him attacking Lucius at the council meeting hit me like a thunderbolt as I was still unsure half the time what was real or just a dream from the last nine months.

  “You attacked Lucius!” I shouted and it was as if something else finally clicked.

  “You’re jealous!” Trust him to get it now I thought bitterly.

  “No I am not and don’t change the subject,” I snapped and he laughed at me saying,

  “Why not, you just changed the subject to that blood sucking…”

  “Eh…Draven, kettle…black,” I reminded him and when I got his confused look I stupidly thought that the next thing the conversation needed were charade style actions. So I first did the kissing a fake person action then moved on to the classic ‘I want to suck your blood’ action, pretending I then had fangs.

  This accomplished two things, the first was Draven looking at me as though I had lost my mind and then Draven losing his mind by roaring with laughter, close to the point of tears. The added third thing was my neon, atomic blush that could have melted skin! ‘Why Keira…just why?’ My internal normal side said after smacking her forehead then mine.

  “Have you finished yet?” I snapped at him getting even more embarrassed but secretly loving that I could make him laugh this much. Actually if I were honest I utterly loved the fact that nobody else could make Draven laugh the way I could…not that I would tell him that, as it would make my pouting face a bit pointless and I was trying to be stern.

  “I’m sorry sweetheart but I don’t think the image of you trying to be a Vampire will ever leave my mind…in fact it’s been eternally scorched into my memory bank forever more. It’s one I will save for the darkest of times as it is sure to make me smile even then.”

  “Ha, ha, very funny. Can we move on now?” I said turning away from him and adding crossed arms to my sulk. Although this did nothing when Draven put his arms around me and whispered in my ear,

  “It was utterly adorable and I love how funny you are. And did I mention addictive?” He added this last part at the same time as running his fingertips across my bare breasts. I shuddered under his gentle touch and I could feel his winning smile spread across the sensitive skin on my neck.

  “If you continue down that path then we will never finish this conversation,” I reminded him, closing my eyes as his fingertips grazed my hardening nipples.

  “And you think that by informing me of such that I will be persuaded to stop? If that is your intention then you don’t know me as well as I would hope you would do by now, my Wife,” he hummed in my ear using that smooth velvet voice of his that I prayed to the Gods was only reserved for me.

  “I know what you are doing…Husband.” He growled against me at the way I emphasised ‘Husband’ as it obviously had an effect on him the way I intended.

  “Soon we will be married not only in my world but in your mortal one also…how does that make you feel?” I knew when the question was asked that the reaction I gave him wasn’t one he would be expecting or more importantly one that he would want to hear. But after the decisions I had made only minutes before walking in here then I was left with little choice in telling him.

  Especially when I sucked at keeping secrets. Of course it didn’t help that my whole body went tense and Draven’s quickly followed suit.

  “What? What is it Keira?”

  “Uh…well its nothing really…” This was in no way enough to pacify him and I knew this for certain when I received a stern sounding,

  “Keira”

  “Now it’s nothing to freak out about…I mean it’s a good thing and she said no pink, which I am taking as a good sign for us…cause no offence but you are not a pink kinda guy…” He knew I was waffling and stalling for time when he turned me round to face him and brushed my hair back from hiding my face.

  “Enough Keira. Tell me…are you… backing out?” I couldn’t help my reaction. I was so shocked that he would think this that my hands flew to cover my mouth and in doing so hit him under the chin. He released an ‘Umpf’ sound and my hands soon forgot about my mouth and instead went to his chin.

  “Oh bollocks! Shit, I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to do that but it’s your fault, Christ but are you crazy?”

  “Keira let’s try and leave Christ out of this should we. Now answer me…do you still want to marry me?” he said taking my hands in his own to stop me from fussing over his chin.

  “Of course I bloody want to marry you! Are you mad! I think even the Pope would throw down his little white hat and say yes if you asked him!” His eyes smiled when I said all this but just to be sure in case he hadn’t fully got it with the daft Pope comment, I placed both my hands on his face and said,

  “Draven, listen to me. I love you. I have loved you from the first day we met and I will love you till the end of my time. So yes Dominic Draven, I want to be your wife, in your world, in my world and in whichever world is next for us…am I understood?” He placed his forehead to mine and said,

  “Yes my sweet wife, I understand.”

  After this he pulled me in for a kiss framing my face with his hands as I had done to him and for a moment all our problems were lost in the shadows of bliss…that was until he asked,

  “So what were you trying to tel
l me?”

  “Uh…okay so I might have agreed to Sophia planning our wedding.” I felt him relax the second I said it but what he didn’t yet realise was that this was the less of two evils in regards to our wedding.

  “Ah, now I understand.” At this point I wanted to say, ‘oh no you don’t’ but another kiss stopped me.

  “I know my sister can be a little…impulsive and forthright when she wants something but know it is done out of love and…”

  “You already knew didn’t you?” The smirk he couldn’t seem to hide was enough of an answer.

  “I confess I knew of her intentions.” I groaned making him laugh but knew that laugh would be short lived after what I was about to say.

  “And for the record, I am not at all offended that you would not class me as a ‘Pink wearing man’, in fact I want to marry you even more because of it,” Draven joked, which was a shame because I was about to annihilate his good mood with my next bombshell,

  “That’s good then as you won’t be invited to the Hen do a certain someone is planning.” This time Draven’s body was the one to go tense next to me and even though I think he knew the answer, he still had to ask …

  “Who?”

  “It’s Pip” I answered, scrunching up my face and wincing like I could smell something bad, purely because I knew what was coming…

  “Fuck!”

  Chapter 3

  Snorting Saviours

  Calming Draven down after explaining about the Hen do and how I didn’t really have much of a choice when agreeing to Pip planning it was not an easy thing to achieve. To be honest I was actually surprised that Draven even knew what one was, until of course he explained to me that Pip had already approached him once before. Apparently the first time Draven and I tied the supernatural knot she had mentioned something about planning one then. It was only when he had the good sense to ask his sister what this mortal custom entailed did he reply with a, ‘Not now, not ever’ type of comment.