by Jo Carlisle
After a full minute of silence, Luc spoke quietly. “Legion’s mind control didn’t work on me because I’m falling for you, Kass.”
“Luc, this is way too serious a conversation for us to have right now, don’t you think? We haven’t known each other that long.” Having to say that to him, feeling the stiffening of his body against hers and hearing the hurt in his soft reply, scored her soul.
“I—I guess. But we have to talk, sooner or later.”
“We will. Sleep.”
Long, torturous minutes passed before the tension finally left his body. At last, his adventure caught up with him, and his breathing evened out in deep, exhausted slumber.
Oh, they would talk. But when they did, she was going to rip out his sweet heart.
Luc awoke ready to play. Or at least his body did, if the hard length nestled against her hip was any indication. His blue eyes, however, were more than a bit wary as he blinked away sleep and simply studied her.
“Did you take a nap?” he finally asked.
“For a bit, but I couldn’t sleep much,” she confessed.
“Thinking about me?” His teasing was cautious, his expression guarded.
“Always.” She couldn’t help but reach out and trace his full, sexy mouth. He was such a wonderful, worthy man. Her soul wept that he couldn’t be hers for keeps. He deserved so much better. Maybe there was something she could give him. “Before, you said you enjoy serving me in all ways. Maybe you’d let me serve you for a change,” she said huskily.
His expression darkened with lust. Hope. “You mean that?”
“I do.” Her pussy got wet at the mere idea of letting him have complete control. “If you’ve rested enough.”
“Honey, have I ever.” He rolled to his back, his erection tenting his silk pants. “The question is where? Here?”
A flush warmed her skin, desire beginning to simmer. “The dungeon.”
“Are you sure?” He kissed her slowly, slipping in his tongue to taste at leisure.
She arched into him, giving her answer with body language. He responded eagerly, cupping her breasts through her top, pinching her nipples lightly. Little zings of pleasure tweaked her nerve endings and raised her pulse. Grinning, he drew back and waved a hand.
“Beam us up, Scotty. Or down, rather. I don’t want to wait.”
She cocked her head, perplexed. “Who’s Scotty?”
“Never mind. It means translocate us, sweetheart.”
“Oh. Should’ve just said so.” Grabbing his wrist, she barely gave him time to squeeze his eyes shut, then she transported them.
The dungeon was dimly lit as usual, sparkling clean and ready for use. Walking over to a table full of toys, he picked up an anal plug and fingered it.
“Out of curiosity, how many men have you allowed to dominate you over the centuries?”
“Very few,” she said honestly.
“Why haven’t you? Has there been a trauma in your past? Control issues?”
She thought about that. “No trauma, not like you mean. I guess you could say I’m a product of my upbringing.”
“You had parents?”
“No, I was sprung from Zeus’s forehead,” she said dryly. “What do you think?”
He shrugged. “You could’ve been. Anyway, that explains a lot. The entire realm expects you, as a Valkyrie, to be the badass chick. Roles are hard to break sometimes.”
“You got it exactly right.”
“How many men have dominated you here?” He gestured to the dungeon.
“None.”
“I’m conquering virgin territory, then.” He looked very pleased about that.
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
He snickered and she watched him stroll around, examining the various toys, testing their weight, make, and durability, and making his decisions. When he’d seen all he wanted, he pointed toward a padded spanking bench bolted to a raised platform.
“There. That’s where I want you, naked, kneeling, and cuffed.”
Quickly, she removed her clothing and tossed it into a nearby chair. Luc grasped her arm with gentle fingers and led her to the bench, helping her kneel.
“Knees braced apart, wrists out to your sides next to the cuffs.”
She positioned herself, trying to recall the last time she’d made herself this vulnerable to a man, but she couldn’t come up with a memory. Perhaps she never had, because there wasn’t anyone she trusted more than Luc. Even Taryn would never have this privilege.
Excitement spiked as he fastened her in, making certain the furry cuffs weren’t too tight. Apparently pleased, he returned to the table and selected something sort of heavy, if the metallic scraping noise was any indication.
“Spreader bar, baby. Ankles apart.”
Obediently she did as he ordered. Her arousal spiked because she knew the best was yet to come…and she was right. He snapped her ankles in place, exposing her fully to whatever he wanted to do. Then he moved away again, and she heard clinking glass on the table. When he returned, his fingers probed between her legs, slick with oil. Her slit tingled and ached. If she could’ve spread wider, she would have.
Her ass cheeks were spread, and his fingers rimmed her hole, dipping past the ring of muscle and easing into her passage to slicken her there. One finger. Two. Three. Stretching, massaging, making her melt into a puddle of sensitized nerves. So good.
Just when she wanted to scream, the blunt head of a plug breached her entrance. Carefully he worked it inside, and it glided in with only a bit of burn. It felt naughty to be filled this way, and she wanted more. Once the plug was seated all the way, he fetched another object. This one was flat, and she knew it was one of her favorite wooden paddles. He rubbed it on her upturned ass in circles.
“Feel this? I’ll bet this one has some sting to it. What do you think?”
“Yes, it does.”
“Hmm. Your skin is going to look so pretty, all red from my spanking. Are you ready?”
“Yes,” she said breathlessly.
He made her wait, squirming. One minute? Two? When the first smack hit, she gasped in surprise more than hurt. The sting was pleasant. Immediately, pain dispersed, the shock traveling to her pussy where it became warmth. And warmth became arousal.
“More, please.”
She wasn’t ashamed to ask. A submissive in the proper zone had always turned her on, and more, she respected a partner for trusting her to see to his needs. Luc would take care of her and respect her in turn, she knew.
The next blow was harder, increasing the sting. The pleasure. The one after jiggled the plug and rubbed it against her inner walls with delicious torture. The blows increased and she moaned, reveling in the rush of pain mingled with the dark delight. If this kept up, she was going to come before she was ready!
“Please,” she whimpered. Had she actually made that needy sound?
“Please what, baby?”
“Fuck me, please. Need your cock….”
“You beg so beautifully, honey,” he praised. “I’ll take care of you.”
The plug was removed carefully, replaced by the blunt head of his cock. Her ass was filled slowly, the sweet torment almost too much to bear. When he pushed in all the way and the material of his silk pants brushed the backs of her thighs, she had to fight off her orgasm. There was something naughty about him fucking her while he was dressed, only his cock exposed, as if she were his captive whore.
Sliding in and out, he fucked her, groaning in gratification. “I’m not going to last, baby.”
“Don’t try. Please, give it to me hard and fast!”
He did, pumping with stronger, deeper strokes. “Oh yeah. So tight.”
A few more thrusts and he was shafting her hard, giving her exactly what she’d demanded. Their flesh slapped in noisy rhythm, and there was nothing but his cock. Luc, owning her as she’d never allowed before.
As no one else but he would ever own her again.
“Oh! Yes! Gods, Luc!
”
Her orgasm swept her away in a red tide, and she rocked back to meet him as he stiffened. He spilled into her with a shout, bathing her with heat. Gripping her hips, he milked the last of his cum into her, making the passage nice and slick. Floating back to reality gradually, she went limp, brain and body refusing to cooperate any longer.
“That was wonderful, baby,” he whispered, kissing her temple. “Let me help you out of these.”
Her ankles were freed first, then her wrists. At his soft directive to stay put for a minute, he moved off. Water ran in the sink set in the counter on the far wall; then he was back, using a warm, damp cloth to clean her with great care. His tenderness made her suddenly ache to cry.
Tossing the cloth into a laundry bin in the corner, he assisted her in standing. Then he scooped her into his arms and carried her all the way up the stairs to her bedroom.
“Bath, baby?”
“Too tired…Later…”
“Take a nap, beautiful.”
His arms came around her, and she burrowed into his chest.
And she tried to forget the coming hours that would wash away all their beautiful promise with lies.
Luc awoke alone.
Frowning, he sat up and stretched. He’d wanted Kass beside him when they got up from their nap because he had something really important to say. His frown curved into a smile.
Tonight he’d tell her that he’d fallen in love with her. That she was his mate.
Where would they live? Could they have children? It was rare among vampires—and perhaps Kass wasn’t able to bear children if she hadn’t in all this time. Then again, maybe she wouldn’t want any. He decided it didn’t matter. None of it seemed worth the worry right now, their love being new and bright with possibilities. Everything would work out the way it was meant.
Unconcerned with his nakedness, Luc returned to his own room. After showering, he dressed in simple jeans and a T-shirt and went in search of his mate.
On the way downstairs, he noted how quiet the place seemed to be. There was always someone bustling here or there, but the corridors were empty. He hadn’t even seen Taryn lately and wondered about that, too. The only person he passed was one of the twins, but he couldn’t tell them apart. When he paused to ask her where Kass might be found, she turned and teleported away. What the fuck?
“That was rude,” he muttered. “I know she saw me about to speak to her.”
As in-laws went, he supposed the cosmos had a grim sense of humor in giving him these particular ones. Annoyed, he set about conducting a search. Methodically he went room by room, peeking inside and finding most of them empty. He came across a servant who was cleaning and straightening. But she hadn’t seen Kass, either.
Through their bond, he felt that she was somewhere in the house. But it was just an impression.
Finally, as he neared a set of double doors that led to a room he remembered to be a parlor, he heard voices raised in argument. Female voices, one of which belonged to Kass.
Not sure what to do, he paused outside. He didn’t want to interrupt a discussion that was none of his business, but he wasn’t about to let one of the sisters harass his mate.
“I don’t know why you don’t just tell him, Kass.” The voice was Serena’s, sharp and disapproving. “He’ll have to find out sooner or later.”
“There’s no reason for Luc to know anything just yet,” she replied coolly. “Not until absolutely necessary.”
“You can’t keep lying to him. It isn’t fair.”
Luc’s heart began to pound in dread. Lying to him? About what?
“What’s fair about any of this? I’m trapped in an impossible situation with no way out. Luc is going to get hurt, and I can’t stop that from happening.”
“Then just let him go now, before he finds out.”
Before he could check the impulse, Luc pushed into the parlor. Startled, the two women jumped in their seats and faced him, wearing expressions of guilt. Then Kass’s expression closed, resembling cold stone as she rose from the sofa. Her eyes were flat.
Ice formed in Luc’s stomach. “I was outside,” he admitted. “I heard you two talking. Guess you’d better tell me what you’ve been lying about.”
Seconds ticked by as she seemed to try to find the right words. “All right, Luc. I didn’t want you to hear it like this. But you deserve to know.”
“Know what?” He waited, feeling a little sick. Kass walked toward him but stopped a few feet away. The distance seemed like a canyon as she went on.
“The day the werewolf attacked you, I didn’t just happen by like I told you.”
“I’d already figured as much, but why lie?”
“I didn’t know how to tell you the truth: that you were fated to die that day, and that I had been ordered to retrieve your spirit.” Her voice wobbled, but she quickly got it under control. “I was to take you to Valhalla to serve Odin.”
The import hit him hard. “You disobeyed orders?”
“Yes.”
“That was why Odin wanted to see you the other day? That’s what your heavy discussion was about?”
She flinched. “He wasn’t happy, to say the least. I don’t know whether he’ll call you to Valhalla now or not.”
At the moment, he didn’t care about Odin or his damned soldiers.
“Why did you defy the gods to save me?”
“I—I don’t know, really. I guess you could say it was an impulse.”
“Impulse?” The word curdled his gut. “That makes me sound like a pastry you saw in the bakery window and had to have.”
“Well, that’s what you were. A tasty sweet I picked up to enjoy until I’d had my fill.”
He stared at her, at a complete loss. “I…What? I don’t understand.” He glanced at Serena and saw sympathy in her face.
Kass smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Honey, I was playing with you all along—don’t you get it? I was bored and needed a way to pass the time. You fulfilled my desires perfectly, for a short while.”
“I don’t believe you,” he said softly. It couldn’t be true.
“Why do you think I’ve been alone for two thousand years? Males come and go.” She waved a hand. “They serve their purpose, and then I dump them wherever I found them. You’re no different, vampire. It was fun, but now I’m done with you.”
Agony lanced through him, deep and crippling. He grabbed his chest, certain his heart was ripping in two. “You can’t mean that. Kass, tell me what’s really going on here!”
“Serena, would you return the vampire to the place where I found him?” She nodded to Luc. “Good-bye, and have a nice life.”
“Wait!”
But Serena took his wrist and they vanished. In seconds he found himself standing in the woods. Familiar smells touched his nose, and he recognized his surroundings. He was home—very near the spot where he’d been attacked, but not quite.
“Why?” he croaked.
“It will all make sense, eventually,” Serena replied sadly. “Take care, Luc.”
And then she vanished as well, leaving him alone. Far too alone with so many questions and with far too much pain.
Gradually, the pain became anger. He stood and let it come, the debilitating rage, and he sucked in a deep breath. Screamed to the heavens until he was hoarse.
Until his heart and soul ached.
And tears ran down his face.
Kass was still standing in the same spot, staring at the place where Luc had just been, when Serena reappeared.
“I did as you asked,” she spat. “But I think you’re a fool.”
She blinked at her sister. “I’m going to die. It’s better that he believe the worst of me so he can get on with his life.”
“Says who? I say you fight together and let him make the choice to be with you instead of forcing him to suffer from those lies you fed him!”
“But they weren’t all lies. I did save him from death against Odin’s orders.”
; “You’re an idiot,” her sister declared. “Mates don’t come along every day, and you just threw yours away.”
“I spared him the pain of my death!”
“Whatever. Just don’t involve me in this anymore unless you decide to come to your senses.”
Stalking from the parlor, Serena slammed the door so hard, the walls shook.
Kass slumped to the sofa, hand over her mouth. But she couldn’t stop the sorrow that darkened every corner of her heart.
And so she sobbed for their loss. Until the night deepened, and she couldn’t make another sound.
11
Several weeks later
Luc stared out over the vast expanse of La Petite Mort. Home. Where he belonged.
Anger ate at his soul and corroded his guts. From the beginning, Kassandra had played him for a fool. She had lied to him and laughed it up at his expense. By her own admission!
Gods, it hurt. So badly, he almost wanted Atropos to go ahead and cut his life thread. Then he could leave this world and all the liars in it far behind him. Except Kass would have won, and his sense of self-preservation was much more deeply ingrained than to let him simply roll over and die. Not over a scheming female.
Not for anyone.
“Luc?”
He turned to see his brother Soren crossing the veranda toward him. His middle brother was worried about him, and Luc couldn’t fault him for that. In the days since Luc had arrived back in his own realm, they’d all been through too much.
Mere minutes after Serena had dumped his ass back on the resort’s property, Luc had been taken hostage by Leila Doucet, the witch who’d tried to take total control over Soren while Luc had been absent. She’d wanted Soren’s children and Aldric’s seat on the Council, and she had planned to use Soren as her tool to achieve both. Fortunately, her plan failed, and everyone, including Harley, Soren’s mate, was safe.
But all of that was a nightmare ended.
Since then, his brothers hounded him constantly for details about his time with the Valkyries—which he was extremely reluctant to discuss. And apparently they had no idea how to mind their own business.
