Desire After Dark: Lords of Pleasure

by Jo Carlisle

  For eternity. Without love. Without her mate.

  She nodded. It was done. And now it was more important than ever that Luc not learn the truth, despite her previous resolve to tell him. She would have to lie outright. Because if he knew, he might try to sacrifice himself to save her, and she wouldn’t risk that.

  He must go home, to New Orleans—soon.

  Until then, she’d have to make enough memories to keep her sane during her long, lonely existence in Valhalla.

  Luc paced the hallway, listening to the murmur of voices from inside the office. Whatever was going on between Kass and Odin, it was much more than a simple “chewing out” by the boss, as she’d put it.

  He could reach out with his vampire hearing and eavesdrop. It would be simple. Then he’d know what was going on and what she was keeping from him. But there was the issue of trust.

  Kass was his mate, and he’d told her during the session in the dungeon that he did in fact trust her. If they were ever going to build on the bond that had started to flourish, he had to trust her to handle things, and to tell him about it when she was ready. She was a warrior and had existed long before Luc drew his first breath. She had a lengthy history with Odin. It stood to reason that she knew what she was doing.

  Okay. So, he wouldn’t listen in. But it was difficult to resist, so he walked to the sitting room before he changed his mind. And continued to pace. He started when he heard the door finally open, and he hurried across the hall. Kass emerged alone, shutting the door behind her. For one unguarded second, her beautiful face was the picture of sadness.

  Then the next, she saw him and smiled warmly. Had he imagined it?

  Three steps and she was in his arms, kissing him so passionately, he almost forgot his worries. But not quite. He drew back and studied her closely. “What happened?”

  “We worked it out,” she said, beaming at him.

  “That’s not what it looked like when you came out.”

  “Oh, come on.” She poked him in the ribs with one finger. “Of course I wasn’t thrilled when he was finished serving up my ass. Since when is getting called on the carpet any fun? How about we get out of here and make some real fun of our own?”

  She wanted him to let it go, so he would. For now.

  “Sounds good. Where to?”

  “Would you like to see some of our realm? I would love to show it to you. The countryside is beautiful, and the open market in the town near our palace is really neat. There are all kinds of booths and every type of food you can imagine.”

  He perked up. “Food? Now we’re talking.”

  “I figured that would make you happy. Sightseeing first?”

  “Sure. As long as we won’t run into any werewolves.” He was only half joking.

  “There are no werewolves here, but there are plenty of other creatures that the inhabitants of your world should be grateful they don’t have.”

  “Such as the banshees Benji mentioned? I always thought they were myth.”

  “Oh no,” she said seriously. “They exist. They’re horrible creatures, and we definitely wouldn’t want to meet up with one. They are omens of death, and their wailing is atrocious.”

  “Gods,” he muttered. “I’m glad we don’t have those.”

  “Be glad you also don’t have trolls, ogres, or minotaurs—among hundreds of other beings the earth realm believes are legends.”

  He made a face. “Don’t you have any that are cute and lovable?”

  “Of course we do—I just can’t think of any at the moment.” She took his hand. “First, let’s get out of here. Close your eyes again.”

  He did, and instantly the floor vanished from under his boots. Thankfully, the loss of equilibrium, the stomach-dropping feeling, lasted only seconds before they were on solid ground again. He opened his eyes and had to blink at their surroundings.

  The scenery before him was like a television set with the brightness turned on a bit too high. The trees and rolling hills were a vivid, emerald green, the wildflowers almost neon. The sky was a fairly normal blue—he’d seen it while at the pool, after all—but the rest of nature was unbelievable.

  “I’ve never seen anything like this,” he breathed. “How do you stand the vibrant colors?”

  “I’m used to it. In fact, the tints of your world are muted to me.”

  “I can imagine, when this is what you’ve always been around.”

  She smiled. “Come on.”

  Taking her hand, he let her drag him along, pointing out every rock, tree, and flower. The comforting buzz of insects and tweets of birds were active all around them, letting him know that nothing dangerous was lurking nearby. At least that much was similar to home.

  “You said there are good creatures here,” he ventured. “Name one.”

  She thought for a few seconds. “Brownies.”

  “Huh? The only brownies I know are the kind you bake in the oven.” At her look of disgust he laughed. “They’re a dessert, sort of like chocolate cake but more chewy, and cut into squares.”

  “Oh! Well, our brownies are small, humanlike creatures who dwell in people’s houses and come out only at night. They clean, wash, and do other housekeeping duties in exchange for gifts of food. They especially love honey. To have brownies living in your home is considered the highest of honors.”

  “Why is that?” What intriguing creatures.

  “Because they’ll serve only the kindest and most considerate of home owners.”

  “What a nice thought. Do you have any residing at the palace?”

  She snorted. “Are you kidding? What kind and considerate qualities would you say my sisters possess?”

  Well, he wasn’t touching that one. Instead, he made a noncommittal noise in his chest and pretended great interest in a stream ahead of them. Further inspection revealed the shallow bed to be home to all sorts of interesting fish—brightly colorful, as he’d expected.

  They spent a while longer enjoying the scenery, and best of all, kissing—lots of kissing.

  What red-blooded vampire wouldn’t take the opportunity to plunder his mate’s delicious mouth while he had her alone, away from the decadence of her palace and the other residents? Not that he minded, usually. But this was fantastic, just being with Kass, getting to know her better, strengthening their bond.

  After one marvelously slow kiss, he drew back and cupped her face. “I meant to say thank you, earlier.”

  “For what?” she asked, curious.

  “For deciding I’d earned the right to feed from you. I don’t know what I did to deserve it, but it was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.” He debated how much to tell her. Gods knew he didn’t want to scare her off. “I—I don’t want to take blood from anyone but you from now on, unless I have no other choice. And I don’t want to have sex with another, unless I’m with you.”

  Her eyes widened, and her lips parted. “Why?”

  Because you’re my mate, my heart. Because we’ve bonded, and I’m yours.

  Rubbing his thumbs over her cheeks, he settled for a very important part of the truth. “Because I’m falling for you, Kassandra. I think you felt that from me when we made love this morning, and if I’m not mistaken, you feel something for me, too.”

  “I do,” she whispered. “But Luc—”

  “We can still play with others, if you want. Like the scene with Legion—Satan’s balls, that was hot! But I’d like us to play together.”

  “I’d love that, too, us playing together, but I don’t want you to close yourself off to feeding from others, or having sex with them while you do.”

  “But—”

  She silenced him by placing her fingers over his lips. “I might not always be there to see to your needs, and I want you to feel free to take care of them. There should be no guilt involved in the best part of being what you are—a vampire lord with appetites that must be satisfied.”

  It didn’t escape his notice that she referred to him as a vampire lord, not he
r slave.

  He frowned, unsure. “You won’t be jealous? I got the distinct impression you weren’t happy when I took Maya by the pool.”

  “I was, a little. But I was also very turned on, watching you and knowing you were performing for me,” she admitted. “More importantly, I would never want you to deny your nature. It was fun pretending you’re my slave, but we know that’s not really true. I want something more real, more honest.”

  “So do I, but I’m still not certain about this.” He’d always been sexually free, and this was quite a gift to be able to share this sort of openness with his mate. But something about Kass was off.

  “Promise me you’ll continue as you have. Please?”

  He stared at her, prepared to refuse. But it seemed so important to her, how could he? “Fine. I promise.”

  “Good. How about visiting the market? Are you hungry?”

  “I could eat an ogre,” he teased, breaking the tension.

  “Yuck. You wouldn’t want one, trust me. Too stringy.”

  She grabbed his hand and in short order he found himself standing in the middle of a busy open marketplace. On either side of a dirt lane that hardly qualified as a street, vendor booths displayed bolts of colorful cloth, handmade jewelry, toys, and furniture. There was even a burly man in one stall striking white-hot iron, shaping a horseshoe. As promised, there was food as well, the variety of wonderful smells endless, making his stomach growl.

  It was odd to note there wasn’t an automobile in sight—just the occasional oxen or horse and wagon. He’d gotten so used to technology, it was weird to stand in a place that seemed totally devoid of it.

  “This is like some throwback to medieval Europe,” he said in amazement. “I didn’t know places like this still existed.”

  “They do if you know where to go.”

  He followed her through the crowded market, and enjoyed stopping when she wanted to show him some fascinating item or another. He wanted to buy a pretty pair of earrings and matching necklace for her, and he was faintly embarrassed not to have any money on him, not the strange currency they used, anyway. Kass just smiled and gave him a kiss and ended up purchasing them for herself because he liked them, which made him feel better.

  Finally they stopped at a booth selling some sort of savory-looking meat on a stick that was smothered in what smelled like a sweet honey barbecue sauce. Kass bought two of them and handed one to him.

  “Take a bite—you’ll love it.”

  He did, and moaned aloud at the rich taste. “Damn, that’s great. What is it?”

  “Roasted troll.”

  Coughing, he looked around frantically for a garbage can. But he turned back to Kass when she started laughing hysterically.

  “You should see your face!” Another fit of giggles and she shook her head. “Gods, outsiders are gullible. Relax, it’s just a game hen that’s similar to quail in your world.”

  “Oh.” With difficulty, he swallowed the piece he’d nearly choked on, and gave her a wan smile. “You’re forgiven. But turnabout will be fair play when you come home with me to meet my brothers.”

  The oddest shadow flashed across her face, there and gone so fast he wasn’t sure if he’d imagined it. She rallied quickly, giving him a wink. “I’d expect no less from a crafty vampire.”

  Afterward, they spent the afternoon nibbling on this and that, browsing the wares while sipping wine. Now there was a concept more places should get behind, in his opinion—wine while shopping outdoors on a gorgeous day.

  All in all, their adventure was a success, and he couldn’t recall the last time he’d had so much fun in a female’s company—the good, carefree, innocent sort of fun that didn’t involve sex and that felt very much like they were becoming a couple. Slowly forging their way, just getting to know each other.

  He liked what he saw. Kass was smart, funny, bright. Definitely a good companion.

  Yes, he was falling, Hard.

  His heart light, he was following Kass as she picked through the crowd. He was a mere two steps behind her as they passed an alley between two buildings. If he hadn’t been so preoccupied, he might’ve processed the noise to his left a lot faster.

  Suddenly he was jerked sideways, nearly off his feet, and dragged into the dark recesses of the alley. Before he could yell, a rough smelly cloth was clamped over his nose and mouth. The stench was horrible, making his eyes water. A cough rattled his lungs, but that made it worse.

  The dank corridor blurred in front of his face, and his legs turned to jelly. His head spun, and his knees buckled, unable to support his weight any longer. He had been drugged, he realized, in a crystallized second of panic.

  But he couldn’t fight off his attackers. His limbs went completely lax, and the darkness narrowed his vision until there was nothing.

  “Pretty. His lordship will pay out the ass for this one,” a deep voice growled in satisfaction.

  Then he faded into the abyss.

  Kass smiled, enjoying her trip out with Luc more than she had anything in a long time. In spite of everything, she’d managed to forget the heartbreak that loomed ahead and focus on her vampire. The man was more like a little boy, examining every single item and exclaiming over it.

  “Hey, want to look at those?” She pointed to a stall of sweets. Silence met her question. “Luc?”

  She turned around, and he wasn’t there.

  At first, she wasn’t too alarmed. He’d probably stopped to look at something else and she’d gotten ahead of him. She backtracked some, searching the vendors they’d just passed, but still no Luc.

  A sense of dread squeezed her lungs. He wouldn’t have wandered off, and she was positive he’d be here with her right now if he could be.

  Something had happened.

  Becoming frantic, she looked everywhere, to no avail. At last her attention fell on an alley they’d walked past just a few minutes ago, and hope soared. If he’d been accosted he might still be there. She might find him injured, but wounds would heal.

  But when she rushed down the dirty corridor, the space was empty. There was nothing but a white cloth lying on the ground about halfway down. White. When everything else was filthy.

  Jogging over, she bent to examine the scrap. Yes, it was far too clean to have been here for any length of time. Picking it up gingerly between two fingers, she lifted the thing and gave it a sniff.

  The material smelled faintly of Luc—and oil of belladonna. In pure form, the plant’s extract was lethal to all but the gods. In broken-down form, such as the oil, it was very similar to what the humans called chloroform.

  With the cloth pressed over a victim’s nose and mouth, the stuff would knock him out—or worse, if the thugs weren’t careful.

  Luc had been drugged and abducted. For what purpose, she could only guess.

  The truth fired her blood with anger. Dropping the cloth, she bolted to her feet and delivered a kick to the side of the nearest building, blasting a hole right through the brick.

  Then she screamed her rage to the gods.

  Who, just to keep their perfect record of uselessness, were not listening.

  9

  Kass stomped through the palace, threw down her sword, yanked off her protective vest and flung it hard. The armor went skidding across the foyer and slammed into the wall, knocking out a chunk of plaster. Two days Luc had been missing. Two days!

  Three servants scurried after her, picking up abandoned weapons and clearing up the mess, but she kept going.

  “Fuckers!” she yelled. “Assholes! All of them!”

  She was going to kill someone. She just needed the right target. Wisely, even Millicent moved out of her way.

  Upstairs, she paced the length of the corridor and back. The bay of windows in the sitting area drew her eye, and she ended up walking over to them. The sun was setting, and she gazed over the pool area where Luc had fed from and fucked Maya….

  Now her jealousy seemed so petty. Someone had stolen her mate with Hades
knew what evil intentions in mind. Her gut cramped to think what he’d suffered in the forty-eight hours he’d been missing. He was alone, an exotic creature in a strange world.

  Any number of awful beings would love to use him. For sex. Or worse—food. And they wouldn’t stop with taking a little blood.

  A sob burst from her throat, and strong arms wrapped around her from behind.

  “Mistress?”

  She spun around and buried her face in Taryn’s chest, trying to take comfort in his palm smoothing her back. “Where is he? Who’s taken him?”

  “We’ll find him, I promise.”

  Taryn had insisted on being included in the search for Luc, though it wasn’t his duty. Selfishly, she’d kept him here, at her side.

  “I know.” Pulling away, she studied his serious face. He wore an expression she’d never seen before—or perhaps hadn’t taken time to notice.

  Taryn’s eyes held a solid determination. His back was straight, his hair tied at the nape of his neck to emphasize his features. And in direct countermand to her orders, he also wore the clothing of the guard, snug black breeches and a black long-sleeved shirt. His booted feet were braced apart, shoulders squared. He looked confident.

  He looked, she realized, no longer like a lost waif, and certainly anything but a slave. He was a man—a strong man with purpose that she’d denied.

  “Punish me if you must, but I have to go. I can’t remain here one more second, lounging like a pampered house cat when you’re in pain.”

  She stared at him in amazement. “When did you grow up, and grow into your own?” she murmured.

  “It wasn’t overnight,” he said gently, brushing her hair from her eyes tenderly. “You taught me to be strong. What were those lessons for, if you refuse to let me prove myself?”

  Had she not been paying attention to his needs? It appeared not. And now he stood in front of her, willing her to see what she hadn’t before.

  “Are you…” She cleared her throat, willing back fresh tears. “Are you leaving me for good, Taryn?”

  “Never, mistress,” he said, grasping one of her hands in both of his. He raised it to his lips and kissed the back of it. “I’m only asking for a chance to be more.”