She looked around the dark room and saw no one. Walking to the window, she nudged the curtain aside and looked out at the mountains in the pink pre-dawn light. It was beautiful here. She loved the open spaces and the fresh, clean air. She’d found a home and mates in just three days and she loved them so much.
Rubbing at the pain in her chest she thought of them. Sean may not hear her, but she hoped he felt the love she was sending his way. Aiden, on the other hand, may hear her. “I love you, Aiden.”
“As I love you, my heart and soul.” She smiled into the dawn. He was very formal, but he was right. She felt the same way, times two. Aiden and Sean were her heart and her soul now.
She didn’t remember going to bed, but she felt clean and fresh. Her mates had washed her and dressed her in a clean T-shirt before they’d put her to bed. Walking to the bathroom she flicked on the light and laughed as she saw her reflection in the mirror.
Goodness. They must love me. Her hair was knotted and tangled from sleeping on it. She was dressed in one of Sean’s shirts, the sleeves of which reached nearly to her hands, the hem to her knees. I look like I’m wearing a sack. She took care of business and brushed her teeth with a new toothbrush that was left on the sink. She had wonderful mates. They’d even left a hairbrush for her. She wet the brush and got to work on the tangled mass of her hair.
When she exited the bathroom she was swept into Sean’s strong arms. “I missed you,” he said, kissing down her neck to his mating mark. She moaned and tried to get closer to him. Her pussy felt empty and aching. Her clit began to throb. She needed him.
As if he’d read her mind he pulled her T-shirt up over her thighs, freeing her to wrap her legs around him as he lifted her, his hands tight on her ass. He turned until her back was pressed against the wall. The wall may have been softer than Sean’s chest, but Sean’s heat burned her through their clothes. His lips found hers, his breath scented of coffee. Their mouths met in a clash of lips and tongues.
His fingers ran along the seam of her panties and slipped underneath to tease at her entrance.
“You’re so wet, Kaitlyn.” He murmured the words against her lips.
She heard the sound of his pants zipper and wanted to feel the hard length of him in her hands, but she just couldn’t stop touching him.
She ran her fingers over the planes of his chiseled jaw, down his strong neck and onto his wide shoulders. He was hard everywhere, and big. He was just a huge man. He tore her panties away from her body and she reveled in his savage urgency.
She felt the head of his cock slide into the entrance of her pussy. He pushed up into her as she simultaneously pushed down to meet him. He was huge there, too, stretching the walls of her pussy. The slick glide of his cock stimulated every inch of her.
Holding her under her butt he squeezed her in time with his thrusts. He ran one finger through her juices before caressing over her anus. She gasped into his mouth as he breached the tight entrance of her ass.
“I’m going to take this virgin ass tonight.” He slid his finger deeper as he whispered into her ear. She moaned, her climax so close she was shaking, her head thudding against the wall each time he pushed into her.
“Aiden will be in your sweet, tight pussy. We’ll both be inside you and you’ll come so hard.” They were both panting now. His words inflamed her, and coiled her tighter and tighter.
“Come.” With that one word he pushed another slick finger into her ass and she came around him, burying her face into his chest to stifle her moans. He grunted softly and bit into his mark as she felt him shoot hotly inside her.
She felt the tears run from her eyes. These men were becoming her everything. What would she do without them now?
He kissed her tears as they flowed over her cheeks. “I love you, Kaitlyn.”
“I don’t know what I’ll do if something happens to you. To either of you.”
“My desire to stay alive has never been as strong as it is now. I’ll protect you with my life, but I’ll be fighting just as hard to always return to you.”
* * * *
When they’d finished showering and dressing each other, Sean held Kaitlyn’s hand as they walked into the kitchen together. He could get used to showering with Kaitlyn. She’d touched and explored his body with an innocence and enthusiasm that was totally beguiling.
He’d wanted to fuck her through the wall. She had him so turned on. But she hadn’t touched him to tease or arouse him. She had just been learning his body and getting to know him. He never wanted her to feel that their relationship was just about sex, so he’d touched and explored her, too. Showing her he loved and cared for her, that she was more than just a sexual release to him. Showing her she was his everything.
“Where’s my dad?”
Sean smiled. They’d been quite noisy when he’d taken her against the wall before their shower. “Perhaps he’s gone for a run.” Sean reached for the coffee pot, but dropped it on the floor when he heard Kaitlyn scream.
He turned in time to see her running out the back door at shifter speed.
“Fuck, wait, Kaitlyn.” He ran after her and saw what had made her scream. She was kneeling beside the prostrate body of her father where he lay on the drive.
Scanning the surrounding area as he ran, he arrived at Ray’s side to find Kaitlyn gone.
“Kaitlyn?” He was lifted into the air then the ground came rushing up to meet him.
* * * *
Aiden completed another sweep of the town and started for home. His new home. It didn’t matter to him where he was, as long as it was with Kaitlyn, but he had to admit there were worse places to live. It was beautiful here. His mate was beautiful.
He’d left Sean to watch Kaitlyn, and was well aware of how closely he’d been watching her. His vision suddenly turned red as he heard the scream of pain from Kaitlyn’s mind, then it was suddenly silenced. As he ran through the early morning he searched for the minds of both Sean and Kaitlyn’s father. Nothing.
“Lachlan. It’s Aiden. Kaitlyn and Sean are in trouble.” He’d reached out to the pride’s beta as the mind of the Alpha was blocked to him. A blood bond to the Alpha would allow Aiden access to his thoughts, but that was a measure of trust that Aiden had yet to earn.
“We’ll keep the town secure and send help.”
Five miles away from Sean’s ranch Aiden knew that help would arrive too late, he scented vampires. Three of them. Even with Ray’s help Sean would have been hopelessly outmatched. He feared they may already both be dead.
* * * *
“Sean. They have taken her, you need to wake up. She needs us both. Now.” Aiden’s voice broke through the fog of pain and Sean snapped his eyes open. Aiden’s face was right in front of him. But it wasn’t a face he’d ever seen before.
Aiden’s eyes pierced him with their fiery heat. His fangs were visible between lips pressed together in a grim sneer. The bones of his face were sharply raised. His transformed features were a mask of rage. Sean roared his own rage, the sound almost loud enough to shatter his tenuous hold on consciousness.
“Can you shift?”
As he swung limp in Aiden’s grip, he nodded. His rage pulled his cat quickly to the surface for the shift. He dropped onto four shaking legs and lifted his nose to the scent trail. Kaitlyn. He had to get Kaitlyn back.
“Follow when you can, I have to go for her now.”
Sean knew his shift would further accelerate his healing, but even at full strength he was no match for Aiden’s speed. “I’ll follow her trail and yours. I’ll find you.”
Aiden nodded and vanished, his speed making him invisible. Sean started to move, walking, then running by the time he’d reached the tree line.
“Sean, are you all right?” His Alpha’s voice seemed to echo in his head.
“I’m following their trail north. Not fast enough.” Sean could feel the pain from his fractured vertebrae. “They broke my fucking neck.”
“I’ll send Brayden and his brother
s down to meet up with you. Their property is the farthest north.”
He followed the sweet berry scent of his mate, the vampire aroma clinging faintly to it. He ran as fast as he could, knowing his effort was useless. Regardless, he would never stop, not until he found her. They had to stop sometime, then he’d find a way to kill them for touching his mate.
He didn’t know if she could hear him, but he sent her the words of reassurance anyway. “I’m coming, Kaitlyn.”
Chapter 18
Kaitlyn’s head was aching and she didn’t know where she was. She tried to reach up and rub her pounding temples but found her arms wouldn’t move. She tried again.
“I say we have a taste now,” said a vaguely familiar voice. “What if it was just a one off? This could all be for nothing.”
“John. Do you really want to go up against Selwyn?”
“I didn’t smell another vampire. Did you?”
Her heart started to beat so fast her chest hurt. They’d found her. She opened her eyes and blinked against the bright light that sent more pain shooting into her already pounding head. She was lying in the dirt on her stomach, her face pushed into the strong smelling soil. She rolled over onto her back, glad she could move. It made her retch as the pain in her head grew unbearable.
“Kaitlyn. Nice of you to join us.”
She looked around and saw two men standing over her. The city councilors, John Taylor and Paul Dixon. She shuddered as she remembered the last time she’d seen them. She didn’t want to be here. Where are Aiden and Sean?
“I’m here, Kaitlyn. I’m coming for you.” Aiden’s voice was a balm to her pounding head. She wasn’t alone.
“Sean. Where’s Sean?”
“We’re both coming. Do you see where you are?”
Kaitlyn was plucked from her prone position and held aloft by Paul. “I find myself extremely curious again about what exactly she is.” She was hanging from his hand by the back of her shirt.
“She’s fantastic,” John said. He moved to stand beside Paul and Kaitlyn found the sight of the two suited men incongruous to the barn she saw surrounding them.
“There’s only two of them there, and you’re in a barn. Good work, Kaitlyn. Anything else?”
Kaitlyn wanted to cry with relief. Aiden was coming. “Please come soon.” She didn’t want them feeding from her again.
“So what exactly makes you so special, Kaitlyn Winters?” She refused to answer them. She glared at Paul and clamped her lips tightly together.
“I should be able to hear those, obviously, malicious thoughts you’re sending my way,” Paul said slowly. “But I find I can’t. John?”
“I can’t hear her either. I usually don’t bother listening to my meals anymore.”
“Likewise. I only listen to humans when I can make money from them.”
Kaitlyn couldn’t stop the shudder of revulsion that ran through her at the way he’d said the word ‘human’. These creatures may share genetics with her mate, but they were nothing like him. They were the vampires of nightmare and legend.
John stepped closer to her and held her bound hands in his. “Your blood is like nothing I’ve ever tasted. Your veins contain the new drug of choice for our entire race.”
“It’s a high our kind will pay a fortune for,” Paul said. She watched as he adjusted his obvious erection in his suit pants. “We are going to use your blood to make us kings of our race. God, I’m hard just thinking about how good you taste. Tell me why that is, Kaitlyn.”
Kaitlyn opened her mouth to tell him, but her mind was still her own and she was able to refuse the command. The two men exchanged incredulous looks.
“Has a human ever failed to obey your command, John?” John shook his head, his brows creased as he regarded Kaitlyn. “They want to know what I am. Why my blood is different.”
“Come now, Kaitlyn,” Paul said soothingly. He placed her on her feet and straightened out her shirt. “You can tell us.” He cupped her face with his hand.
Again her mouth opened, but she refused to talk, so no words came out.
“Why don’t you sit down, my dear,” Paul said.
She immediately sat on the ground.
“Well that just makes me even more curious,” John said. He touched her head. “Stand up and don’t move.”
Despite her pounding headache, she stood straight up and swayed in front of him. “One more chance then I fuck the answer from you.” He brought his face close to her neck and swiped his tongue along her skin. “Tell me what you are.”
Kaitlyn’s cat shuddered inside her at the menace in his voice and the horror of his threat. It hated to be contained and effectively caged. It wanted desperately to kill these men. Men who had hurt her father, hurt her mate, wanted to hurt her again. Her mouth opened obediently even as her mind stubbornly refused their compulsion.
“Fuck, will you look at that,” John said.
“Oh, yes indeed. We have ourselves a little shifter.”
Kaitlyn screamed in her mind. She hadn’t told them. How had they known? Sean and Aiden had said she didn’t carry any scent of shifter.
“It’s your eyes, my mate,” Aiden said. “They are shining beautifully with your cat’s fury.”
* * * *
Selwyn stood in the tree line, and watched as the unknown vampire entered the barn. He’d had to circle back several times, but he’d eventually found him and followed him straight back to where his coven waited with Kaitlyn.
Was this stranger after his prize? He’d told his useless coven that he’d scented another vampire. They’d been too focused on the woman to even notice the stranger’s scent. Idiots.
Selwyn was about to follow the stranger into the barn when he heard the wolves. Spreading out his psychic search he found even more shifters on the way. One in particular was a surprise. The cat from the ranch where they’d found her was approaching faster than he’d thought possible. Ahhh… So he’s her mate. Is that why she’s here?
That sparked his interest. His little Kaitlyn wasn’t even a shifter. He would have known if she were. Not only had he personally interviewed her for the position as his PA and worked with her for an entire week, he’d tasted her.
The dual nature of shifters may have made them immune to mind control, but that only mattered to vampires who cared about not killing their blood donors. Selwyn had never been encumbered with such concerns, so he’d tasted lots of shifter blood.
Perhaps her blood was special because she was a human mated to a shifter. If the answer was that simple, he’d easily be able to procure more such blood. Human mates were not a rarity amongst shifters.
Vampires weren’t able to read each other’s minds. If he wanted to hear what this stranger said, he needed to get a little closer. He ran to the water tower beside the old barn and seconds later was lowering himself into the water. The water would serve to mask his presence from this new vampire, and he would also be able to hear what was being said.
This vampire was around Kaitlyn for a reason, and Selwyn’s instincts told him it was important that he learn that reason. He could always take the woman again if necessary. He’d found her easily enough once...
* * * *
“What are you talking about?” said the soon to be dead vampire who had just placed his mouth on Aiden’s mate. His taunting tone showed his foolish overconfidence. Aiden felt his claws slide out further. Such overconfidence made their defeat a certainty.
Aiden had tried waiting for Sean or the wolves to arrive before confronting the vampires holding Kaitlyn, but she was terrified and in imminent danger. She’d been through this sort of terror in her previous attack and he’d promised her she’d never suffer its like again. He would not let her down.
He struggled to control his rage as two creatures of his breed threatened his mate. If he lost control he would only put Kaitlyn in further danger. Kaitlyn’s terror and her cat’s helpless fury shone from her eyes as she stood frozen, her eyes fixed on him alone.
&nb
sp; “I can’t move.”
She would remain in that state until the compulsion she was placed under was removed.
“You don’t need to, my love. I will not let them touch you again. Trust me.” Her mind calmed and her breathing slowed a little.
“Lachlan, I have two vampires contained in an old barn. One is unaccounted for.”
Failing his mate was not an option. The trust for him shone in her gaze. It gave him the added strength and focus he’d need to succeed. He walked slowly closer to his mate.
“Do you know the punishment in our world for taking a mate?” Aiden asked sardonically.
“This bitch is ours,” said the other vampire. He moved to stand between Aiden and Kaitlyn. That was a mistake. “We’ve tracked her from Idaho. We’ve already placed a claim on her.”
Aiden moved with an added speed born of his burning rage. The vampire didn’t even see him coming as he ran straight at him and twisted his head from his body. He looked down briefly at the head gripped tightly in his hands and noted the scream frozen on the creature’s face.
The vampire holding Kaitlyn backed slowly way from Aiden. He had one arm around her waist, holding her close to his chest. The other was wrapped around her neck, cupping her chin and pulling it at an acute angle. Only his desire to keep Kaitlyn alive was stopping him from breaking her delicate neck.
“Let my mate go and I will kill you quickly,” Aiden said. He dropped the head he’d been holding beside the vampire’s lifeless body. Aiden remained motionless. He’d give the vampire no cause to make that final twist.
“Take another step and your ‘mate’ suffers the same fate as Paul,” he said.
“I think it’s extremely unwise to threaten the mate of a predatory shifter like that. Especially as she’s mate to a cougar.”
The vampire’s eyebrows rose in confused surprise. “What?”
It was exactly the reaction he’d been aiming for. The momentary lapse in concentration he’d needed to affect Kaitlyn’s rescue. On Aiden’s mental signal, he and Sean both moved.
A Thousand Years Dead [Pine Falls 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 10
