by F. E. Heaton
"The elders will fight me. They would sooner die than be ruled by me. I was their dutiful son and even then they hated me, loathed me because of my age and my position within the family.” He held her a little tighter, moulding his body against hers and relishing the way it felt. He wished they were skin on skin. He loved the feeling of her soft body against his.
"I thought I was the only one worrying about making a good leader,” she said and he smiled at the way she'd drawn a parallel between them, even though he was sure that most of her family would stay. His family were a whole different matter. If he gave them the option to leave, the only person left would be Cornelius. “You have always been loyal to your family. They will know that what you have done is for the best. You will be a good master to them."
He wished he could believe her. He didn't have the heart to tell her that unlike Arkalus, Kalinor had been a good leader. His family respected and feared him, but he had never crossed the line with any of them. He had always been just and had made their family one of the seven to be truly feared. Kalinor had raised them up, showing the rest of the bloodlines that they were a force to be reckoned with and deserved their high standing. Their two families weren't the same. Hers had needed rescuing and protecting from a tyrant and as Chosen Daughter it was her duty to do that.
His were happy without him present and with Kalinor as their lord.
What he was doing was exactly what Venturi had said he couldn't condone. It was an in-house murder for the sake of power.
Pushing away his heavy thoughts, he smiled down into her eyes, attempting to alleviate the worry that was still lingering in them. He had to get his mind off things for a while.
"I keep thinking about Lady Caelestis and Lord Aurorea,” he said.
A smile curved her lips, his words chasing away her concern and leaving her eyes dark and clear.
"History is repeating itself,” she mused and sighed. “But I can't help worrying that the houses will react as violently as they did that time, too."
"I have the perfect way to help you sleep and keep your mind off the world.” He watched her face and then pressed a kiss to the soft flesh of her throat.
She arched her back into him, pressing her backside against his hips. “What's that?"
Turning her in his arms, he crushed her lips with a passionate kiss. He clutched her upper arms tightly, holding her still while his mouth explored hers, his tongue seeking entrance that she all too willingly gave him. He closed his eyes, taking in the fervent way she was kissing him back, and groaned when her fingers wandered over his hips to his waist and raised his jacket up.
He lost control when she brushed her fingers against his stomach and drew back, his eyes narrowing hungrily on hers and the fire inside him being fuelled by the desire he could see in hers. They were dark with need and the scent of her arousal permeated the air.
In one swift movement, he had torn her shirt open, revealing her black lacy bra and taut stomach to his eyes. He extended his claws and smiled at the breathy moan she loosed when he used one of them to cut the strap holding the two cups of her bra together. Pushing both her bra and her shirt off her shoulders, he gathered her up into his arms, lifting her high enough for his lips to latch onto one of her rosy nipples.
She gasped when he tugged on it, using his teeth to tease and torture her. Her fingers twisted into his hair, holding him against her. He held onto her backside tightly when she writhed against him, her moans punctuating the silence of the room and driving him insane with need. He wanted to make her cry out as she had last time, wanted to feel her body surrounding him, and wanted to look into her eyes and see them full of her desire.
"Valentine.” Her voice was faint with need and he couldn't stop himself from carrying to across to the bed. He threw her onto it, immediately pouncing on top of her and kissing down her chest to her breasts again. Her fingers seared him with their touch as she raked them up his back and dug her nails into his shoulders.
Her hips grazed his and he groaned at the slight contact between them. His groan became a growl that bordered on feral when he ground into her, thrusting his caged erection against her crotch. She flung her head back, her eyes closing and her lips parting to release the sweetest moan he'd ever heard.
When she shifted and looked back at him, he could see how hungry she was and the sight of it heightened his arousal. Her kiss swollen lips beckoned him along with her dark eyes. She stretched her arms out above her, turning her head slightly and luring him in with a smile.
Grabbing hold of her hands, he ground his hips against hers again while his mouth covered hers in a demanding kiss that she matched move for move. She jerked her pelvis up against his and his grip on her hands increased. He forced them against the bed, pinning her there with his body while his lips devoured the smooth milky column of her throat.
The breathy whispers she was making quickly became panting and he had a hard time resisting biting her when her hands found their way to his crotch. She cupped his erection and rubbed it, making his body shudder with need. When he couldn't bear the feeling of her hand against him any longer, he moved backwards, letting his feet hit the floor. He growled with frustration at his boots when they wouldn't come off, causing her to giggle. Tossing them across the room, he groaned when he saw that she was toying with her nipples, her fingers tracing them in slow circles that made fire sweep through him.
He undid the top buttons of his jacket and pulled it off over his head and then hurried to remove his trousers.
Her fingers stopped moving when she noticed he was naked.
She mewled.
He growled.
She was already undoing her trousers by the time he reached her. He didn't wait for her to unzip them. He yanked them off her, removing her knickers at the same time. He pulled her boots off, freeing her feet and then threw them across the room with her trousers and underwear.
She moved backwards so her head was resting just short of the pillows. He watched her raise her knees up and he ran his hands over them, slowly parting her legs and revealing her to his eyes. She bit her lip, the only sign of shyness when the rest of her was screaming for his touch.
The brush of her fingers against his sent a current through him that made his hips jerk forwards greedily. He wanted her to touch there. Damn his hand to Hell. He needed her to touch him.
"Valentine,” she mewled, her eyes half closing when she leaned her head back into the bed and arched.
He frowned at her manoeuvre and crawled up the length of her body. His lips met hers at the moment he buried himself deep inside of her and he caught the breathy moan as it escaped her. His hips thrust forwards, making her moan again and he smiled when she whispered against his mouth.
"Harder."
The tattered remains of his control disintegrated on hearing that sweet word of permission uttered on her lips. Burying his face in her neck, he kissed and nipped while he drove into her with hard, deep strokes. He groaned against her when she ran her tongue along his ear, her breathy moans tickling it as he slammed into her. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, her nails puncturing his flesh and making his hips thrust desperately forwards, searching for a release he knew wasn't far away.
Her legs wrapped tight around him and held him there, forcing him deeper inside of her. He brought his mouth back to hers, kissing her as frantically as she was kissing him. Her teeth grazed his lip and he realised that she'd changed on him. He let his demon visage come to the forefront and sliced her lower lip with his incisors before fusing their mouths together in a hungry kiss.
The taste of their combined blood sent desire racing through him and he couldn't stop the shudder that followed in its wake. She tensed around him, her body stiffening and her muscles clinging so tightly that he couldn't help but lose himself in her. It drove him over the edge, sending him falling into a lust-fuelled haze that begged him to bite her.
He wasn't prepared for the way she bit down hard on his shoulder or the way her body ar
ched against him, shuddering and quivering with her release. His eyes widened and his body trembled against hers as he came.
Collapsing against her, he wrapped his arms about her as best he could and breathed heavily into her ear while she drank from him, her body still intimately entwined with his and still trembling around him.
He scratched her neck with his teeth and lapped at the wound, too tired to do anything more than idly drink from her. She released his shoulder and licked the marks she'd placed there.
Rolling onto his back, he drew her on top of him and smiled at the way she curled up with a contented look on her face. Reaching one arm out, he pulled the blankets over them both and wrapped his arms about her.
He watched her sleeping for a few minutes, mesmerised by the little sighs she kept making and the way her lips were permanently curved into a smile.
Heaving a sigh, he thought about tomorrow.
It wasn't going to be easy for her to face her family and see how many had left.
It was going to be even harder to take on his family and win.
He carefully removed a few strands of hair that had fallen down over her face and smoothed them back into place.
He knew that he'd defeat Kalinor.
He'd seen it in her blood.
Chapter 27
Prophecy held her head high and squashed her nerves back down inside of her while she walked along the dull grey stone hallway. There was no point in fearing what she was going to find when she entered the main reception room of the house. She had no control over who had stayed and who had left. All she could do was accept whatever happened and lead her family into war.
She rolled her shoulders, trying to get used to the tight confines of the strapless black bodice she wore with her black trousers. Valentine had ruined her best shirt last night but she wasn't complaining. He'd been right when he'd said that he could take her mind off the world for a while. Her mind had been so full of him and the pleasures of being with him that she'd not been able to think about anything else. She'd slept straight through the day in his arms, not one bad vision or nightmare marring her dreams.
Her boots sounded heavily on the floor, joined by the confident echo of Valentine's and Venturi's.
Out of the corner of her eye, she looked at Valentine. He looked handsome in his red jacket and polished boots. She knew why he had chosen to wear them. They were more than the uniform of his position within his family. They seemed to give him the confidence to do anything and he needed that tonight. He was walking in step with her, his eyes fixed on the end of the hall. She could sense Venturi following behind them. When she had gone to get him from his room tonight, he'd mumbled something about his armour. She understood his reluctance to go into battle without it. She would feel better for having some kind of protection too. It had been a while since she'd seen him in the black stand up collar jacket that he had worn when they'd left Romania. It suited him more than she remembered
Valentine's words about Venturi last night had caught her off guard and she'd felt like such a fool for believing she had feelings for the Tenebrae. Whatever she felt for him, it didn't stretch beyond friendship. She didn't love him like she loved Valentine. He was right. Now that she looked back on all the times she had been alone with Venturi, she recognised that he had intentionally muddled her feelings, making her confused about them and making her believe they were anything other than friendship.
She wanted to hate him for it, but it didn't make her angry any more. She felt sad for him. He clearly had feelings for her, just like he'd implied last night. She felt wretched for knowing that she'd never be able to reciprocate those feelings and give him what he wanted most of all—her love.
Stopping in front of the door, she drew a deep breath and sighed it out, pushing away those thoughts and focusing on what was about to happen.
"Here goes nothing,” she said to herself and smiled up at Valentine when he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Ready?” he said and she nodded. “Remember that it is probably my fault if any of them have left."
Any of them? She was expecting them all to be gone.
Pushing the twin heavy wooden doors open, she kept her eyes forwards, not wanting to see just how few were left until she reached the platform where the throne was.
She could feel that there were more than just the guards and Serenity left, and it went a little way to calming her.
Stepping up onto the platform, she looked out over the people present and smiled inside.
Valentine was right, most of them had stayed. She looked over their faces and her fear about them leaving was replaced by fear of the upcoming fight. She couldn't ask these people to go to war against the Aurorea. They weren't warriors like her guards or herself. Many of them were newly turned, barely older than ten. She would be sending them to their deaths if she made them fight.
Her eyes moved to her guards, in particular Tiberius. He lowered his head in a slight bow and then stood straight again.
"Are you ready to go into battle?” she said to him and he nodded.
"Preparations have been made. We shall leave a small contingent behind to protect the house and those that stay."
She looked at the people gathered in front of her.
"I cannot ask you to fight like I want to,” she said and sighed, her shoulders slumping into it. “To do that is to ask you to sacrifice yourselves. It's something that I'm not prepared to do."
She turned her head to face Valentine. “How many do you expect to be waiting for us at your family's mansion?"
There was a flicker of doubt in his eyes that sent a chill running through her. Didn't he think they could do this? Had he expected her family to be more like his? It had been many years since the Caelestis had been warriors. All of the time that her family had been growing weaker, the Aurorea had been getting stronger.
"At least thirty to forty guards, and then the elders. Ten of them are deadly and live in the mansion at all times. I do not think that the other people who live in the mansion will fight. They will flee. They are not warriors."
"I have to agree,” she said, applying his last sentence to the people in front of her. They weren't warriors. She sighed and called the magic to her hand, letting it soothe her and clear her mind. “Twenty guards of Caelestis, the lord of Tenebrae, Valentine Aurorea, and myself to contend with forty guards, all of the elders and Kalinor. We're outnumbered at least two to one."
She frowned when Valentine moved to stand in front of her.
"Worse than that,” he said. “I have to take on Kalinor alone. No other can touch him. If he were to be accidentally killed by another's hand, then the bloodline would pass to the Chosen Son or Daughter of my house. I am not that son."
She nodded solemnly. “Then we will leave him to you, and the rest of us will keep the others at bay long enough for you to take his life."
Looking over the people in front of her, she realised that there was something else she had to do before going into battle.
"I know this is not the most formal way, and in no way follows the rules of ceremony, but I don't have time for that right now. As the master of this bloodline, I must choose a Chosen Son and Daughter. We have none right now and to go into battle without an heir to the house would be foolish.” She felt the look that both Valentine and Venturi gave her. She knew they'd keep her as safe as they possibly could, but there was always a chance that someone would get the better of her. She needed the peace of mind it would give her to know that her house would pass to a good leader should she be killed tonight. “I do not need to give it much thought. My heart has already chosen the people."
She paused, giving herself a moment to collect her feelings and keeping the room in suspense.
"Tiberius Caelestis, from this moment on you will be known as Tiberius Caelestis, Chosen Son."
He bowed and even though his face remained serious as always, she could see in his eyes when he looked at her that she'd touched his heart with her decisi
on.
She turned to face the crowd again and then her Chosen Daughter.
"Serenity Caelestis, from this moment on you will be known as Serenity Caelestis, Chosen Daughter."
The look of shock on Serenity's face was priceless and something Prophecy would always remember. She knew that it was rare for an aide or servant of the bloodline to be elevated to one of the highest positions within the family. She held her hand out to her friend, smiling at her and letting her see that there was no other woman in her family that she would have bestowed the title upon.
"The ceremony will have to wait until after the battle with Aurorea, I'm afraid,” she said.
There was a murmur amongst the crowd and she looked at them, seeing the calm in their faces quickly turning back to fear as the atmosphere in the room grew heavy again.
"Many of you have not completed your training. You are too young to fight this battle with us. There are those amongst you that I do not wish to fight this night.” Her eyes moved to rest on Serenity. “Although I will need your help when the final battle comes."
A few of the men and women in front of her moved through the crowd and came to stand at the front of it.
"What is it?” she said.
"We will fight. We have passed the training.” A woman with pale blonde hair held her gaze. “Many of us have the skills that you need and it will improve the odds."
She smiled and looked at everyone. “All those who have the required skills and training, and are willing to fight, see Tiberius. The arsenal will be opened and the guards will be sure to give you whichever weapons you prefer to fight with."
Valentine stood up beside her and the whole room went quiet when they looked at him.
He swallowed hard and then knit his brows. “I can only say this once. Leave those that are not willing to fight and focus on those that are. There is a man amongst the Aurorea who should not be harmed. He is my aide. His name is Cornelius. You will recognise him by the mop of blond hair he wears on his head and the fact he cannot successfully wield any weapon without hurting himself. Leave him be. As for the lord of Aurorea, I am sure you have all seen him before. He is mine."
