Jacob… She was getting lightheaded, but she didn’t want him to stop.
Though he’d inherited her abilities, he was still a very young vampire, capable of being goaded into full bloodlust. Moments like these could be particularly dangerous for them, because everything disappeared but this. She knew she would fully surrender to his ferocity, let him drain her, because she would give him everything. There was a destructive part of her that no longer feared death, only losing those few, precious things that meant the most to her. And yet it was when she was most careless of her life that his protective instincts overcame his savagery, his yin to her yang.
Because of the powers she’d transferred to him, it was as if there was an essence of her will that he could grasp, to help cal himself back. Which might explain why she had less will with him than she’d ever had with a servant—he’d taken some of it from her. Of course, she knew that wasn’t the whole truth of it, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of admitting it. Giving him her life was one thing.
Female pride was another.
Lean back, my lady. Now. His fangs eased, a split second, and she pul ed free. Lifting his free arm, he took firm hold of the trellis, a self-restraint. His fingers were trembling, his eyes flickering with that red glow. Though he made a noise of protest, a warning, she reached toward that hand, molded her slim fingers over his. She loosened his grip, turned it so they were palm to palm. Slowly, their fingers tangled as his heart rate modulated and his eyes came back to blue. The vines slipped away so he was fully free, and his other arm came around her hips, giving her support again. Moving to the center of the trellis, he sank down on the bench with her straddling him. She was fully naked, while his jeans were raked to his thighs, the tatters of his shirt barely on his shoulders. She moaned as he sank deep inside of her. Watching his face, she saw his jaw tighten in a similar reaction of pleasure and fierce need.
Close your eyes, Jacob. Lean forward and lick the rest of the blood away. Slow, easy.
She had to close her eyes when he did it. Then she began to move, a gradual rise and fall, aided by the constriction of his arm over her hips. When he suckled the blood away, his powerful body trembled, bloodlust warring with his love for her, his ever present need to care for her. She knew which would win. In a thousand years, she’d never trusted anyone the way she trusted Jacob Green. If the day ever came that he did kill her, it would be because she’d offered her life to him freely, knowing it was meant to be.
I love you, my lady.
Before she could reply, he lifted his head and brought her mouth to his. She tasted herself as he caught her in the demanding kiss, channeling the bloodlust into something else entirely. He thrust up deep into her channel, as he’d promised. Her fingers pressed into the cuts left by the vines in his throat, his biceps, and he let out that feral growl again.
Love your cunt… could fuck you forever.
Male need taking over, finesse gone. She threw her head back, hair lashing her buttocks and his knees as he dipped his head and covered her nipple, sucking it in, scoring it with fangs, a sensual threat. When she clamped down on him, he thrust even more violently into her, her slim body banded in the restraint of his arms. Slipping her legs out from their folded position, she locked them around his hips and dropped to a deeper angle of penetration, one that increased her sounds of need. He gripped her ass, fingers bruising, pushing her down on him, again and again. The fire in her belly expanded, the orgasm coming, driving up from their joining.
Come for me, my lady. Make me come…
She would let him give the order this time, because it matched her own desire. Her pussy was already spasming, and as she gave herself to it, the long, low cry that split from her throat grew higher, more frenetic. She held him fiercely, determined to have her way as well.
Come, Jacob. Come for your Mistress.
His thighs were hard columns, his booted feet pressed into the earth beneath them. As the earth responded to their magic, the energy they raised, she twined it around them, made it part of their shared orgasm, driving them even higher. The shiny leaves became even shinier, the moon sliver whiter.
The ocean pounded louder in the distance, and the stars seemed closer. The whole world was connected to this magic. She rode the wave of it with him, twisting, turning, lost in the pleasure of it, screaming as he spurted inside of her, his seed bathing her cervix, teasing her over another pinnacle.
Though she already had her arms wrapped around his shoulders, she pressed her face against his skull and held him even closer, reveling in the equal lock his body had on her, all that need and desire culminating in one moment that shattered them both.
When the world reoriented itself, he nuzzled her throat. “You shouldn’t push me that way, my lady.” Stroking the reddish-brown strands of hair back from his strong face, she gathered it on his shoulders with one hand and tugged, giving him a feline smile. He sighed. “I know. I might as well tell you not to breathe.”
He rose, still holding her by the waist, but let her feet touch the ground when he’d moved the necessary several steps to her clothes. Hitching up his jeans, he refastened them, then picked up her blouse, slacks and underwear. “Mason and Jessica are coming,” he said as he helped her dress. He left the slacks half zipped to hold them on her hips as he buttoned her blouse and then tucked in the tails for her, his hands caressing her curves as he did so.
“Is that why you have a sudden urge to make sure I’m dressed?” She gave him an arch look. “You’re not wearing a shirt.”
“Someone destroyed it, so you'll just have to deal with Jessica ogling my manly chest. I think it’s best we don’t test that bloodlust problem of mine too much around Mason.”
She let out a ladylike snort. “Males are so predictable.”
“Perhaps, but not as much as women like to think we are.” Mason emerged from the darkness. As Jacob had sensed, Jessica was with him. Her gaze flickered over Jacob carefully, but despite what he’d said, he knew she was gauging things other than his half-dressed state. The scent of blood and violent sex lingered in the area, and both of those things would make her wary. Though she’d been around Jacob enough to be more at ease with him, Mason’s human servant was always wary around vampires other than her Master.
It was understandable, since she’d spent five years as the second-marked servant of a vampire who’d tortured her in ways that should have destroyed her mind, and nearly did. Only Mason’s third-marking of her, and the bond that had formed between them, had salvaged what was left. It hadn’t taken Jacob long to understand the vampire’s devotion to his fragile servant. She had the courage and endurance of a whole Spartan legion, and the fact that she depended on Mason’s strength and love to manage in the vampire world didn’t diminish that accomplishment one bit. If anything, it just made the powerful vampire all the more dedicated to her.
It was like that with a remarkable woman. Jacob glanced at Lyssa. Sometimes a man would destroy the universe to win one smile from her. Fortunately, tonight such drastic measures weren’t needed. The third member of Jess and Mason’s party was more than capable of winning smiles, and making Jess a little more relaxed. Having an armful of toddler could do that.
Kane had a passion for female hair. Jessica had been growing hers out, to Mason’s immense pleasure, and the chestnut brown locks were past her shoulders, long enough for Kane to secure an iron grip. He looked cranky, which didn’t bode well for the universe after all. The second he registered Lyssa’s presence, his piercing wail split the air, loud enough to spook Mason’s horses on the other side of the estate.
Hungry, Jessica mouthed with a half smile.
“Tyrant,” Jacob informed his son. He took the child from Jessica to pass him to Lyssa since his lady, even without her full vampire powers, still made Jess more uneasy than Jacob. Kane flailed, screwing up his face to scream some more. “Yeah, yeah, I know.
I’m not the one you want right now. Little Judas.”
“He’s gnawed on me a couple times, but I’m obviously not to his liking,” Jessica said with a half smile. “He didn’t want more of the blood mix, so I figured he was ready for a meal fresh from his mother.”
Lyssa nodded. They’d moved out of the maze but there were several benches placed among the landscaping. Sinking down on one of them, she turned away, enough to cloak herself in the shadows as she slipped off the blouse and removed the bra again. Usually she wore darker colors, since she’d learned that wearing pale colors when nursing a child on blood was inadvisable.
With Lyssa being Fae and a vampire of reduced capacity, they hadn’t been sure if her blood could nourish Kane. Often a vampire child with a non-vampire mother had to be nursed on a mix of the father’s blood with human formula, so Lord Brian had shown them how to measure that out, reinforced with a vitamin elixir. Fortunately, it appeared both her blood and the blood mix were acceptable to Kane.
However, as he’d just demonstrated, his preference could vary, but the baby was thriving, the most important thing to all of them. When possible, born vampires were nursed far beyond their human counterparts, until they reached the age of three. It seemed to help their mental and physical development.
Jacob placed the child in her arms so Kane could sink his tiny, kitten-like fangs into the curve just above the nipple, drawing on the veins there. After Lyssa settled him, she made sure her pale skin was still mostly in shadow. Despite her teasing, she didn’t see any reason to provoke Jacob’s territorial instincts around Mason. As an alpha, he’d had them long before he was a vampire, and that bloodlust was still detectable, though on low simmer.
She glanced toward him. Whether or not he’d read that from her mind, he was giving her that lazy, heavy-lidded look that made her think of what they’d just shared. When Kane bit into her breast, innocently enough, the stimulation reminded her of Jacob biting her just below, around the nipple itself.
A shudder went through her, dual reaction of mother and lover. Jacob’s lips curved in that dangerous smile. He’d folded her blouse and the bra, putting them next to her, though she’d noted how he rubbed his thumb over the heat that lingered in one of the soft cups.
The way he flipped so easily between lover and father was irresistibly sexy. When Kane let a trickle escape, Jacob anticipated him, using his ruined T-shirt to cradle the breast and blot away the escaped blood so it couldn’t drip onto her slacks. “No table manners at all,” he clucked reprovingly.
Mason had turned tactfully away, leaning against the corner post of the lattice maze. As he drew Jessica against his front so they could look out toward the ocean, Lyssa heard him murmur to his servant.
“I’m thinking I might replace the veranda with a saltwater pond. Pipe the water in from the ocean. It would be like having a wave pool in the backyard.
Would you like that, habiba?”
“You know I would,” Jessica replied softly, the sweep of his thumb along the outside of her right breast obviously distracting her, if the way she was biting her bottom lip and lifting her chin, a response to arousal, were any indication. Seeing it, Mason’s tone became huskier.
“I like the idea of looking out the window just before dusk, seeing you disrobe and stroke through the water, your beautiful body tempting me to come out once the sun sets.”
“Good idea. The pond,” Jacob remarked. “Can’t blow up a body of water. Well, you can, but it doesn’t require as much reconstruction. Not like a marble veranda.”
Jessica sent him an amused look, even as Mason bared fangs in his general direction. Jacob shot Lyssa a breathtaking grin. Touching Kane’s head with a father’s tenderness, he knelt to place a kiss on her breast, right above the baby’s mouth, a brush of contact. Then he sat back on his heels to watch them both. If the world stopped turning, Lyssa knew she would be content, locked forever in a moment like this. Such things never lasted long enough.
“I’ve already talked to my pilot. We can leave in the morning if you wish.” When Mason glanced toward her, he shrugged. “I assume I’m going with you. You'll need as much help as possible if you’re going into the Fae world.”
She rolled her eyes. “Goddess save me from honorable men who think a woman can’t do anything by herself. I’ve barely agreed to let Jacob go with me. I appreciate the offer, Mason, but I won’t give you an excuse to dodge Council meetings.”
“Excellent attempt to provoke my temper and change the subject. But I know you too well.” He gave a half chuckle. As he did, he dipped his head to tease Jessica’s throat with tongue and fangs. Her breath whispered out, thready, then sucked back in on a quick catch. Lyssa noted then that he’d made his own use of the shadows. He’d apparently commanded her to slide her fingers beneath the short gauzy skirt she was wearing and was idly watching her play with herself through the thin cloth.
When it came to sex, male vampires were more than capable of multitasking. Lyssa could smell Jess’s unique scent on the wind. So could Jacob. It stirred his blood, despite the fact he’d spill ed himself only moments earlier in Lyssa.
Damn vampire appetites. His rueful look gave her a quick flash of amusement.
“You need backup, my lady,” Mason added.
“I’ve agreed to Jacob’s going. You will not be going with me, Mason. That’s final.”
“You think I’m a child you can order around?” Those amber eyes glinted.
“Hardly. You’re the vampire we’re trusting with our son while we’re gone.”
That stopped whatever he was about to say and still ed Jessica, both of them forgetting modesty as they looked toward her in surprise. When Lyssa freed a now-sleepy Kane from her breast, Jacob leaned forward, blocking the view. He teased the twin punctures closed with his mouth and gave the silken skin a more personal cleaning. It caused a catch in her throat, a sound much like Jessica had made, masturbating herself for Mason’s pleasure.
When Jacob raised his face, the hair over his forehead brushed her lips. She gazed at him with a mixture of tender exasperation and desire. Male vampires and their insatiable needs, indeed. You feed off of one another. Behave, so I can have this conversation with Mason.
Offering an unrepentant look, he dried the area with his T-shirt and slipped her bra back on to her body. Since he had to lean into her to fasten it in the back, she let her lips touch his shoulder. When she shrugged back into her blouse, he took a far quieter Kane from her arms, offering his free hand to help her rise. Lyssa faced Mason. “You know better than anyone what happens to a vampire child not protected in our world.”
Shadows crossed the male vampire’s gaze. “I was fortunate in your patronage, my lady.” The stiffness to his tone came from the pain of memory.
“I will always wish you’d had it much earlier.” The regret was there, but then she arched a brow, giving him her usual haughty look. “You wouldn’t have turned out so surly and difficult.”
“Yes. Having your gentle nature and flexibility in my life earlier would have been such a great influence on me.” He snorted.
Lyssa almost smiled, but then her gaze shifted to Jess. “Kane is very fond of you already. I know you will protect him with your life if needed.”
“Yes, my lady.” The girl seemed overcome by the vote of confidence, but when she looked toward the baby, her expression eased. “He’s so stubborn and fierce, he could fight off enemies all by himself.”
“With his lungs alone,” Mason noted. “She’s already playing tag with him, building up his strength.
He'll be walking more than crawling in no time. He doesn’t like not being able to catch her.”
“Predator instinct.” Jacob chuckled. “As inevitable as rain.”
“Indeed.” His lady slanted him an ironic glance, even as her fingers settled on the bite mark at her throat, drawing his attention to that sensual reminder.
For all that she teased him about his appetites, Jacob knew she was a master… or mistress, as it were, at keeping those appetites gnawing. He knew that was the
way she liked it.
Mason sighed. “You outmaneuvered me. As capable as Jacob is, I do wish you had more reinforcements. However…” He offered a more formal bow. “I am deeply honored. Your son shall be safe with us.”
“Thank you.” Lyssa reached out, pressed his hand.
“Don’t worry about us. Based on what Brian has said, even an army of vampires couldn’t defeat the magic of a handful of Fae. Our greatest weapon will be our wits. That’s one weapon I wield fairly well without reinforcement.”
“With a skill that makes a man’s blood run cold,” Mason acknowledged. But as he briefly met Jacob’s gaze, Jacob saw his own concerns reflected there.
“You better be back before our next Council meeting,” Mason said lightly. “Else we'll have to take Kane along. He’s likely to stage a coup to overrun Council.”
“Do your own dirty work.” Lyssa gave him a fond look, then returned her attention to her son. He leaned backward over Jacob’s arm to grab a strand of her hair that the breeze had carried over his tender head. “We leave tomorrow night. If all goes well, we should be back before that next meeting.”
Chapter 3
MANY in the vampire world thought Lady Lyssa was aloof, a woman hard to read. She was, but Jacob knew exactly what saying good-bye to their child cost her. The following night, he drew Mason and Jessica away while she took one last stroll with Kane in her arms. They went to a statuary garden on the northwest side of the estate. All the sculptures were creatures, and Kane had a typical toddler’s passion for animals. When Lyssa put him on a miniature horse, he was smiling up at her, waving his arms and holding a strand of her dark hair in either hand as if they were the horse’s reins. Jacob was close enough to see her, though he was also in her mind.
He knew she wouldn’t mind him there for this. He’d said his good-bye to Kane as well, but Kane had a unique sense of the two of them, even when only one was present, and they’d take every moment they could with him before they had to go.
Vampire Queen 8 - Bound by the Vampire Queen - Joey W Hill Page 4
