by A. C. James
“Thanks,” I said before biting into her.
***
I called Arie at the club and he said he wouldn’t be home until much later. After Denise left I took a hot bath and fell into bed. Today had been a lot to absorb. My brain felt like mush, and I couldn’t think or feel anymore. I just wanted to sleep. When I was human that’s what I would do. Sleep. Sleep always combated the numbness I felt after dealing with something difficult. I’d wake up and the heavy weight would still be there, but it would be manageable—doable.
My way of dealing with stress hadn’t changed even as a vampire. I thought it was strange that Arie didn’t need sleep like I did, but when I told him, he said that happened when a vampire gets older. I guess it made sense, because it was like that for humans too and we’re very similar. But when I cracked a joke and asked if that’s where the term sundowners came from, he glared at me. All of these drifting thoughts ceased as I fell asleep.
I woke up to Arie kissing my shoulder.
“I missed you tonight.”
“Mmmm,” I moaned as I rolled over to face him. “I missed you too.”
“How are you holding up?” he asked, his voice turning soft.
When I called the club I’d told him that I’d finally met my grandmother but the club was loud and he was working so I didn’t tell him much else, other than that I was tired and planned on crashing early. It was sweet that he knew how much I needed him and put everything else aside for the moment.
I sighed. “She has Alzheimer’s and she thought I was my mother.”
I didn’t feel like sharing what seemed like a strange premonition because I didn’t know what to make of it myself. But Arie visibly flinched. Not much fazed him most of the time.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Don’t be. I’m just glad that I got to meet her.”
He brushed a hair off my cheek and tucked it behind my ear.
“Hey, I have to tell you something.”
Arie raised an eyebrow. “What?”
I inhaled. “I had to dazzle Harry. I’m sorry.”
“Why on earth would you have to do that?” Arie asked.
“Someone was here looking for Katarina and they think that I’m her. I guess they thought Katarina changed her name and said as much in front of Harry. He threatened to tell you and call the police. I figured having the police involved wouldn’t be good for either of us.” I sighed. “So I had to dazzle him.”
“Did Harry say anything else?”
Here it was. The moment of truth. Time to tell him and see how he took it.
“Just that the man left a note and signed it with the initial ‘T.’ Arie, who’s ‘T’?”
Arie cursed. “A pain in my ass. It’s a long story, and I don’t have the energy to dredge up our long and sordid past with Katarina tonight.”
I nodded. After meeting my grandmother and my aunt for the first time I felt that way too. It felt good to clear the air and not hang onto the secret I’d been keeping from him.
“Yeah, I know the feeling. Tell me tomorrow. We’ll discuss it over coffee.”
“I just want to hold you, and I imagine after the day you just had that’s probably what you need right now.”
I smiled. “You know me.”
“So what did the note say?”
I bristled. “Pretty much the same thing that Harry told me.”
“May I see it?”
“Um, no.”
Arie arched an eyebrow. “And why not?”
“I threw it away.”
“You threw it away.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Why?”
Oh, crap.
“Because I didn’t think it mattered.”
“Bullshit.”
What the hell was I supposed to say? Tell him it was a twisted love letter of sorts? That wouldn’t float. I looked away.
“Fine, don’t tell me. I’m going to go grab a shower.”
So much for holding me. But if I was being one hundred percent honest, I really couldn’t blame him.
Chapter 14
I heard the shower shut off. Honestly, I didn’t have the energy to fight with him and dreaded picking up right where we’d left off. Minutes later the bathroom door opened and the bed shifted. I pretended I was asleep.
“Cut the crap, Holly. I know that you’re awake. Why did you throw the note away?”
I sighed and rolled over. “It said I looked good naked. He was at the club the night we, er, well, the night you cuffed me to the pole. There, I said it. Are you happy now?”
Arie laughed. “Well he’s right. You do look good naked.”
Not the reaction I’d expected. I thought he’d be pissed. Instead he was laughing at me, his gray eyes filled with mirth.
“It’s not funny.”
“I think it is. And you know what else I think?”
I huffed. “I’m positive that you’re going to tell me whether I want to know or not, so just go on and say it.”
“I don’t think we’ve ever had make-up sex.”
My pussy clenched. I couldn’t help it. His low, rumbling laugh and husky voice made my body respond involuntarily. And I could tell by the way he was looking at me that he knew exactly what I needed. We both enjoyed my submissive side, at least in the bedroom, but like most men he didn’t mind a little bit of challenge and sass.
“Is that so?” I asked.
“Unless of course you’d rather just cuddle,” he said, teasing me.
“No, we can play.”
Arie turned and opened our fun drawer. He pulled out the scarf he’d used on me so many times before. I never thought that I’d enjoy being restrained, but Arie took full advantage of the fact that I did.
“I think I like this game,” I said.
“I’ll let you pick. A, blindfolded or B, restrained.”
I licked my lips. “Restrained.”
“Lose the clothes.”
I rose from the bed and slowly undressed. His eyes practically memorized every curve as I tried to keep my eyes down but peeked at him from beneath my lashes. My nipples already gave away my state of arousal and their reaction to the cool winter air.
“Now hold out your wrists.”
I held my wrists out in front of me and Arie bound them together with the scarf. He gently ran his fingers up my arms, over my shoulders, and slowly down the crest of my breasts, but stopped his descent short of my nipples. His touch taunted me and teased me, and the way he denied how I really wanted him to touch me was a total turn-on.
I bit my lower lip to suppress a moan.
“Look at me and tell me you want me to touch your breasts.”
-You know I do.-
Arie cupped my chin in his hand. “Yes, but I want to hear you say it.”
My pulse quickened at his words. God, how I wanted him.
“I want you to touch me.”
“Be specific.”
“My breasts…please, I want you to touch them, suck on them…”
And my pussy was wet from anticipation. Arie’s penis lengthened against my thigh. But instead of giving me what he’d made me ask for immediately, he teased me some more. He stood so close to me that his hot breath scorched across my cheek when he leaned in. Arie didn’t kiss me on the lips like I was expecting. He planted kisses along my jaw line before kissing his way down my neck instead.
“God, do you know what you do to me?” he murmured against my ear.
I moaned.
Finally, he ran his hand over my breast and plucked the nipple, elongating it. He bent his head and took my nipple in his mouth. I gasped as he sucked and nibbled on it. His hand gently brushed my skin as it traveled down my stomach and stopped at my navel. His lips were playing catch-up with his hand as he licked the underside of my bre
ast and planted kisses along the contours of my ribcage.
“Tell me you want me to taste you, because God I want to tongue you and taste you until you’re screaming my name,” Arie said.
Before I could respond he raised his head and nipped at my breast. Every inch of my body tingled just from his words. They were so fucking sexy. My pussy was drenched from hearing him describe what he wanted to do to me and how he’d make me come.
“I need you, Arie. I need your tongue. I need you to kiss me.”
“Where, love? Tell me where and I will and I won’t stop until you come.”
I moaned. “My pussy.”
He ran his tongue around the edge of my navel and his hand wandered further down my body, stopping at the edge of my pubic bone.
“Spread your legs wider.”
I did what he told me to.
Arie kissed along my hip and the crease in between my thigh and my mound. His hand moved down to my pussy, which was soaked by now. Yet it still amazed me how he could do that to me without ever touching me. He pinched my lips between his fingers and I arched my body. I had no idea how I was still standing, but I trusted Arie not to let me fall.
He nuzzled my mound. “You’re so beautiful.”
His mouth was on the move again. Arie kneeling to kiss me completely turned me on. He flicked his tongue across my clit. Then his fingers plunged inside of me, first two, then three as he curled them upward until he found just the right spot. Arie began to move them while he continued the assault on my clitoris with his tongue.
I wasn’t sure whether he wanted me to come yet or not, but I knew if I didn’t tell him I was close I might get more than I bargained for.
“Please…I’m getting close.”
“Then come. Come for me, Holly.”
He barely got the words out before my pussy contracted around his fingers and I found my release. Still his tongue didn’t stop until I stopped shaking. Slowly, Arie pulled his fingers out of my pussy; they were soaked. Arie rose and pulled the scarf loose. I sunk onto the edge of the bed. Suddenly I was tired, but I wanted to return the favor.
I smiled and wrapped my arms around Arie’s neck. “Your turn,” I murmured against his lips before kissing him.
Arie kissed me back before pulling away. “Not this time. This was about you. I wanted to pleasure you. Besides, you’ve been through a lot today. You should get some rest.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Arie scooped me up and gently tucked me into bed, pulling the covers around me.
“Yes.” He paused. “I love you. There are things I need to explain. Things you need to understand…”
He had that haunted look on his face, the look he always got when he was thinking about Katarina, and it killed me. I didn’t want anything to tear us apart, least of all the shitty circumstances of his past.
I sighed. “It’s about Katarina, isn’t it?”
“There’s more to the story, and I thought it was over until tonight. But then you dazzled Harry and now there are things you need to know.” Arie ran a hand through this hair. “And it’s better if you hear it from me.”
Arie looked worn, and I was so incredibly tired. I knew I wasn’t ready for whatever he had to share. Katarina was dead to me, but obviously that wasn’t as true for Arie, no matter how much I wished that wasn’t the case.
I brushed my hand across his cheek and smiled. “I think you had the right idea when you said we’d talk about it in the morning. And Arie…I’m really sorry that I didn’t tell you.”
“Holly, I want you to come to me no matter what.”
I nodded. “I’m thinking that after all this is over maybe I should take Luna up on her offer.”
Arie sucked in his breath. “You’re having second thoughts.”
“Not about us, but after seeing my grandmother it got me to thinking about what it means to live out one lifetime. I have this whole other family I never knew.”
“Holly, I know that you were thrown into my world, and that’s it’s not always sunshine and roses, but you’re stronger than you know, and I need you. I told you it was your choice and it is, but I want you to choose to stay with me—to choose us.”
His words reminded me of my grandmother’s premonition. “Can you just hold me?”
All I wanted was to feel Arie’s arms wrapped around me and not deal with anything else. I’d dealt with enough in one day to last two lifetimes.
“Always.” He brushed a chestnut curl away from my face and walked around the other side of the bed to climb in.
I fell asleep to his body wrapped around mine. Little did I know that we’d never get a chance to have a cup of coffee, let alone breakfast.
Chapter 15
God, he looked good in the morning. I always looked like a rumpled mess before splashing water on my face and running a brush through my hair. It wasn’t fair.
Arie’s cell phone rang. I rolled over with a yawn as he answered it.
“Hello?”
“We’ll be right there.”
Arie swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat on its edge.
“What is it?”
“Tessa called a meeting at the club.”
I bit my lower lip. “Oh, no. This can’t be good.”
“We’re about to find out. Come on. Get dressed, we have to go.”
Arie threw on a pair of black jeans and I hurried into the bathroom to at least brush my teeth and stick my hair in a ponytail before heading over to the club. It wasn’t open yet when we got there, but then I didn’t expect it to be until the evening. We took the elevators to the second floor, where Tessa was stationed behind the bar and Luna and Victoria were perched on barstools. They were all drinking shots; from the looks of it they were celebrating but Luna looked a little teary. Her silver eyes were red-rimmed and it looked like she’d been crying.
“Hey, what’s going on?” I asked as I took a seat next to Victoria at the bar.
“Have a drink,” Tessa said. She filled a shot glass with whiskey and slid it across the polished surface.
I pushed it away. “It’s a little early for me.”
“Suit yourself.” Tessa shrugged before pouring Arie a shot.
“What are we celebrating?” Arie asked.
“Taking out the trash,” Victoria said.
“It’s over. It’s all over,” Tessa said.
Arie arched an eyebrow. “Well what the hell happened?”
“We found Victor’s brother Lucca. He owned a remote cabin that he’d turned into a make-shift lab where he was cooking up more of this synthetic garbage. The Slayer interrogated him to make sure that was all of it, burned the lab, and left him in it.” Tessa threw back a shot and poured another. “Lucca Monti is dead.”
Luna sniffled. Victoria gave her shoulder a squeeze.
“I’m so sorry my family caused so much trouble,” Luna said, her voice cracking.
“Shhh, hush.” Victoria rubbed her thumb across Luna’s shoulder.
“And what about Victor? What if he tries to make more of this stuff?” I asked.
“He has no idea how, because the recipe died with Lucca in the fire,” Victoria said.
“And I’ll deal with Victor,” Tessa said.
Luna’s hands were shaking as she took another sip from the shot glass and grimaced.
“Well, I guess this really deserves a drink. Pour me that shot, Tessa,” I said.
As Tessa grabbed another shot glass from a shelf below the bar as the elevator chimed and its doors swung open. Now I really needed that shot. Victor Monti, the water sprite Naida who I’d seen poison the Puncture, and some other fae trooped off the elevator. He looked pissed, and with damn good reason. His brother was dead.
“You!” he screamed, the firey light trailing behind him intensifying.
&nb
sp; “Who else would I be?” Tessa asked drily.
“You killed my brother.”
“Hardly seems the point. You had him create a lethal toxin that killed five of us,” Tessa said.
Victoria and Arie looked ready to rumble. I figured I better be ready too and braced against the bar, ready to launch myself at whatever flew in my direction. I didn’t have to wait long, because Victor looked even more pissed off than before once Tessa piped up with her smartass retort.
“Kill them,” he ordered.
Victor launched himself at Tessa. She deflected what could only be described as a Molotov cocktail that Victor pulled from the fiery light that emanated from him. His thug had thrown Arie across the bar. Then Arie bent time, and the two of them were rolling across the marble. There were so many blows I couldn’t keep track. Meanwhile, Victoria had grabbed Luna and pulled her back, shielding her.
Let light wrap around you…
I felt the power of Rue’s words, just like when I’d defeated Katarina, vibrating through me. Light filled the room. But I didn’t have time to follow anything else, because Naida was coming at me with a stake that she pulled from a satchel. I didn’t notice her soon enough, though I tried to dart to the side to avoid the pointy weapon heading straight for my heart. The stake was in my chest. Sharp pain spread across my chest. When I looked down all I could see was blood.
“No!” Luna screamed.
I sunk to the floor. Luna rushed Naida, but it didn’t matter. The light that I’d summoned wrapped around the water sprite and she screamed. Her skin turned an ugly gray before she fell to the ground. She wasn’t moving. I’d managed to eighty-six her, but hadn’t been fast enough to save myself. Tessa had Victor by the neck and was draining him. I supposed that was all that mattered. If we stopped him, then at least my current predicament—a stake sticking out of me—meant something. Across the bar I saw Arie pummeling his thug. I couldn’t tell what the thug’s face looked like anymore because all that remained was bloody pulp.
“Arie, stop. He’s gone,” Victoria said.
He stood, but when he saw me with the stake protruding from my chest he bent time and was by my side.
