Fashionably Hotter Than Hell
Page 16
I placed my hand on the wall to keep the dizziness at bay. Raquel could probably make me come with her voice alone. The thought of taking her in the Palace of the Angels made my balls so tight I had to lean forward. I was the luckiest bastard in the world.
“Do it,” I ground out and moved to unzip my pants.
“Stay still,” she instructed. “I’ll do all the work.”
And the day got even better…
“Close your eyes,” she whispered in my ear. “Concentrate on my voice. Hear and visualize everything I’m saying and your big problem will go away. I promise.”
“Are you that good?” I teasingly challenged.
“I’m that good plus ten,” she guaranteed.
Her breath feathered warm and sweet on my cheek. The scent of her was my addiction. My need for my mate was almost debilitating. At this point if we didn’t take care of my problem, I’d be useless in a battle or whatever was about to go down.
“I’m ready,” I said gruffly.
“You’re alone in a beautiful room on a big bed—the lights are low and there’s a gentle breeze blowing through the open window. Your sexy body is completely bare and you’re so hard it hurts,” she said softly.
“That’s fairly accurate,” I choked out.
“Shhhhhh,” she admonished. “Just listen… you hear a noise outside your room. A laugh and a moan of desire,” she continued, pulling me into her spell.
Her tone was hypnotizing and I pictured her entering the room gloriously naked and falling atop me. The thought of her bare breasts made my fangs drop.
“There’s a soft knock at the door. Someone wants to join you. Someone needs you more than life itself. Someone wants to pleasure you. Someone wants to fuck you so badly you can feel the need through the closed door. Do you want this?” she asked in a barely audible whisper.
“Yes,” I hissed. “I want it.”
Her light giggle caused me to clamp my hands to my sides. The desire to grab her was enormous along with my dick at this point. However, the game was sexy so I fought to still myself.
“You tell the person to come in… ”
She paused and I thought I would fucking burst. Why the Hell did she pause?
“And?” I urged her on waiting impatiently for her description of me burying myself to the hilt inside her willing body.
“And in run Martha and Jane naked as jaybirds except for an image of your face waxed out of their private areas. They grunt with glee and their sagging bosoms smack them in their heads as they sprint for your naked body. They jump you and hump you like Samuel’s baboon, Blobbityflonk, humped the couch last week when we were tutoring him. They lick you from head to… ”
“Stop! Sweet Jesus in Hell,” I grunted as my eyes flew open and my erection deflated instantly. “I’m going to be ill.”
“Do you still have your problem?” she inquired with a shit-eating grin and a very un-ladylike cackle.
“No. No I don’t, but I now have an image that’s goddamned un-erasable living in my frontal lobe,” I griped.
“You’re welcome.” She shrugged unapologetically and smirked.
“For scarring me for eternity?” I shot back.
“Yep, and for getting you to think with the right head,” she added with a wink. “Better to use the one on your shoulders when dealing with the Old Guard and the Angels.”
“You could have been a bit more gentle,” I complained. “I feel defiled.”
“I thought you liked it a little rough.”
“Stop,” I insisted and raised both hands in surrender. “Just leave me with alone with my flaccid dick. I don’t think I can take another visualization if you make me hard again.”
“No problem. Happy to have helped.”
“Remind me never to ask for help like that again,” I told her with a grimace.
“Will do. You ready to enter the shit show?”
I glanced down at my now un-tented pants and chuckled. She really was that good plus ten.
“Yes. I’m ready.”
***
It was just as Henry had reported—staid and monotonous. The Angels, about a hundred, sat on the left side of the room. They were clearly one unit, all dressed in flowing white robes that blended into the décor splendidly. Pam was the only celestial creature who stood out in her purple robe and floral headpiece. I smiled at her audacity. She could have sat on either side as she was an Angel mated to the King of the Vampyres, but she loved stirring it up.
The hundred Vampyres were a different story. They were dressed to impress in Prada, Gucci, and everything in between. Clustered on the far right sat the Old Guard. Just as expected, Vlad was clearly in charge of the faction. Raquel’s father, the King, and a contingency of younger Vamps from all over the world were separated from Vlad and his cronies by a few feet.
To the untrained eye it was minimal, but to me it was a clear line drawn in the sand. Raquel’s almost inaudible hiss led me to believe we were in agreement on that point. The loyalists for our King outnumbered the Old Guard, but the sheer age of the elders meant the power division was equal.
We slipped in quietly. It gave us a brief moment to assess the situation. Initially our entrance went unnoticed as the head Angel droned on about punishments for breaking treaties. It was old news—beheadings, banishments to Hell and other unsavory forms of justice. For the times we lived in, our tenets were still quite medieval. However, we were both violent races and brutal consequences were what most of us understood.
“Greetings everyone,” Raquel called out when the Angel took a brief pause to check his notes. She moved to the center of the room with the confidence of a deadly Vampyre Princess—exactly what she was. “I’m delighted you chose to hold the Summit in my European Dominion. I sincerely apologize for my tardiness. I’ve had a few issues to deal with.”
“Apologies accepted,” the Angel with the notes said as he took Raquel in with shocked surprise. “And thank you for agreeing to host. We were informed you would not be in attendance.”
“Whomever relayed that message to you was gravely mistaken,” Raquel replied in a steely tone juxtaposed with the gracious smile.
I walked several steps behind my mate assuming the position of her guard. I noticed the King’s raised brow, but he very wisely stayed silent. We’d chat later.
“It’s almost sundown Princess,” Vlad stated calmly as he stood and gave her a perfunctory bow. His dark eyes perused her from head to toe with undisguised lust. “I would assume you would like to resume the meeting in the morning.”
The air in the room changed from bland to electrically charged with his words. The simple fact that he knew of her curse meant one of two things—we had a traitor in our midst who had given him the information or he’d placed the curse.
Vlad’s demeanor was benign, but his eyes told a different story. I was reminded immediately and viscerally that this was no game. The rules were wildly unclear at the moment, but the match had begun.
“Never assume, Vlad,” Raquel replied evenly as she stared him down. “Makes an ass out of you and me… but mostly you in this case.”
The laughter was somewhat restrained, but it came from both sides. However, the Old Guard was not amused.
“Well, hot damn,” Pam yelled and clapped her hands like she was at a concert. “This is more
like it. I’ve fallen asleep over here at least eighteen fucking times listening to Roberto yack on about how to kill a naughty immortal. You’re looking lovely, Raquel.”
“Thank you, Pam. Purple suits you,” Raquel replied.
A smattering of Angels chuckled at the veiled insult on their hue-less attire, but most just appeared bored.
“We shall adjourn,” the head Angel, Roberto, told the King. “Please feel free to join us back here for an informal gathering.”
“We’d be delighted.” The King nodded as he took Pam’s arm and politely shook hands with Roberto.
“After a brief recess to freshen up, please joi
n us in the great room,” Roberto announced to the crowd who began to disperse.
Surrounded by Old Guard, Vlad approached Raquel and brusquely took her arm. My instinct was to kill, but that would make me wildly unpopular and most likely get me removed from the Summit and sent straight to Hell. Literally.
He was just as I remembered—long black hair with eyes to match. His cheekbones were sharp and his perpetually downturned lips were thin. He stood about an inch shorter than me and fancied himself a ladies’ man. Although any lady who chose to be wooed by Dracula—a name he despised—would have to be mighty forgiving to overlook his penchant for impaling people… no pun intended.
With colossal difficulty, I reined in my inclination and behaved like a proper guard was expected to—for the most part.
One could argue I was slightly too close, but on the off chance Vlad tried to abduct her I was staying near enough to grab her. Of course, Raquel could give Vlad a violent run for his money, but my caveman tendencies would not be denied.
Fuck. This was harder than fighting the Trolls and Wraiths. I tilted my head down to hide my fangs. A sign of aggression wouldn’t do.
“Raquel my sweetling, it’s so good to see you. You’re as ravishing as ever,” Vlad complimented her.
“And you’re as inappropriate as I remembered,” she replied as she expertly extricated herself from his grip.
“Don’t be mean, Raquel,” he said with a pout on his lips. “I was so hoping our paths would cross.”
“Why?” she asked.
“To reminisce about old times and make some beautiful new memories together,” Vlad said, implying a past where he’d seen my mate naked.
Not working for me.
At all.
I was very aware it was hypocritical to judge Raquel’s past. I had quite a past of my own. We were centuries old and a very sexual race. However, I was a newly mated man. I was seconds away from coming apart at the seams and going medieval on Dracula’s ass—right or wrong. The tension in my body was impossible to overlook.
“Your guard’s a bit over zealous, isn’t he?” Vlad inquired in a condescending tone. “Is that you, Heathcliff? Interesting… I see you’ve been demoted.”
His laugh made me grind my fangs and the casual and bored smile that I gave him deserved an Oscar.
“Correct, Drac… I mean Vlad. I owed my Prince a favor and he asked me to protect his sister. Far be it from me to go against orders,” I replied easily. “Speaking of orders, I believe it’s time for you to retire, Raquel.”
Her glance was surprised, but she nodded curtly. “Yes. I think I will. It’s been a long day. Vlad, please excuse us.”
“I’d like some time with you tomorrow,” he insisted as his eyes bored holes in me. “Alone.”
“No can do, old man,” I told him with a grin and a small bow. “You know… orders and all.”
With that, I took a shocked Raquel by the arm and led her quickly away. Five more seconds and I would have destroyed him. This guard thing was not working out very well for me. Hiding the fact she was mine was eating me alive.
“He doesn’t know the curse is broken,” I told her tightly as I led her from the room. “Let’s keep it that way.”
“Are you sure that’s why you’re manhandling me out of the reception?” she demanded.
“Yes. No. Just walk before I throw you over my shoulder and carry you out.”
“You’re being an alpha-hole,” Raquel hissed as she smiled politely and waved at attendees.
Ignoring her accurate assessment, I marched her past them as quickly as decorum would allow. I knew I was being very un-guard like, but I was losing it fast.
“We should convene,” the King whispered as he stepped in front of me halting our exit.
“At my home outside of Paris, father,” Raquel told him as she gave him a quick hug. “Heathcliff is having a few boundary issues with our game of pretend. We should probably go.”
“Yes, I can see that,” the King replied biting back his mirth. “We’ll go to the reception and meet you in an hour.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. We’ll be waiting,” I said with as much respect as I could muster.
I was loyal to and adored my King. However, he was in my way at the moment and very little could stop me from leaving the room with his daughter. My frustration was clearly evident as the King stepped aside and let us pass.
“Rude much?” Raquel snapped as I guided her back to the foyer.
“Losing it here,” I admitted tersely as I pulled her into an alcove and wrapped my arms tightly around her. “You ready to leave?”
“We’re transporting?” she asked. Her brows were raised and she tried unsuccessfully to wiggle from my grasp. “I thought maybe we could fly and you could work off a little of your macho caveman bullshit.”
“Nope. Flying takes too long and I’m fond of my macho caveman bullshit,” I shot back flatly. “Again. Are you ready?”
The look she threw my way would have withered a lesser man. I was not a lesser man and unfortunately it just made my dick hard. This did not go unnoticed by my mate.
“You realize you’re crazy, don’t you?” she accused.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” I hissed. “You’re the one who makes me crazy.”
“Back at you,” she bit out.
“We can have this conversation where we can be heard or we can go back to your palace. Your call, Princess,” I said.
“This is going to be a very long eternity,” she muttered. “You’re a pain in my ass.”
“And thank God you have a very nice one,” I complimented her and grinned at her disgusted snort of laughter.
“Leave,” she instructed. “Now.”
We did just that in a blast of multicolored sparkling glitter.
Raquel was correct in her prediction. It would be a long wonderful, aggravating, challenging, somewhat violent, loving, and sex filled eternity.
I couldn’t wait.
Chapter 18
“You have some nerve getting pissed off about my past,” Raquel shouted as she picked up a priceless antique and prepared to hurl it at my head. She eyed the crystal figurine critically and at the last minute thought better of it.
My weight was distributed evenly between both feet. I was ready to dodge either left or right depending on what breakable object might be hurled my way.
“I know it’s not reasonable,” I ground out. “It’s hypocritical. However, it might have been helpful to know you’d slept with the fucker.”
“How, pray tell, would that have been helpful to you? Because I will tell you now, I do not want lists of the women you’ve bedded over the last few hundred years,” she snapped and casually eased herself over to a collection of brass statues.
Her eyes blazed green and her fangs dropped. She was ready for a smackdown and all I wanted to do was strip her naked and bend her over the couch. It was hotter than Hell, but her obvious jealousy is what made the problem in my pants exquisitely painful.
I kept my eyes trained on her hands. She was fast and had outstanding aim. I was no one’s fool.
“Fine,” I growled. “I’ll admit my behavior isn’t rational. But if he lays a hand on you again, he’ll have to regrow a new one.”
“You cannot be my guard,” she said wearily and flopped down on a sleek leather couch. “If we have to pretend not to be mated, I’ll need Jean Paul to be my keeper. You can’t handle this. Vlad clearly has more information than we thought. He knows of the curse.”
“Speaking of Jean Paul,” I said slowly knowing my popularity was about to take another nosedive. “He has to be the one who revealed the secret. No one in your family would ever do such a thing.”
It did occur to me that there was one family member that could be a potential loose cannon, but I was fixated on the image of her sleeping with Jean Paul. Rational thinking had left my repertoire for the moment.
“Never,” she insisted vehemently. “He would never do that.”
Her silence was stony and her stare was furious. It was wrong of me to ask, but I had to know.
“Have you slept with Jean Paul?”
The brass candelabra narrowly missed my head. It whistled as it flew by and smashed a priceless lamp on a side table.
“I will not grace that with an answer,” she yelled as she picked up something shiny and cocked her arm back.