by Joey W. Hill
“You did the water at the mall, didn’t you? Splashed those people watching, made them wet.”
“Mm-hmm.” He opened her jeans, slid them off, leaving her only in a couple scraps of underwear. Then he slid down between her legs, his warm breath coming through her panties. “Now I’m going to make you wet.”
She was already there. She shivered anew and then writhed under his touch as his mouth closed over her, teasing and stroking through silk. Kane might lack confidence in other areas, but not in what he wanted from her. A climax built quickly, brought to intense life from every tease and flirtation they’d shared since she’d gotten out of the car a few days ago. His strong hands held her as she bucked, a pale leaping flame herself.
He slid the panties down her legs, on his knees between them as he gazed down at her bare cunt, stroked it with his fingers. He eased a couple into her, testing. She wouldn’t have a virginal barrier anymore, as much as she’d played with toys and female servants, but it still felt like an offering only to him.
She reached for his belt, fingers sliding along the head of his cock, pressing hard against the denim. She hadn’t touched him so blatantly before. She took her time with it, learning the feel of him, sliding up and down, wanting more, wanting him hard in her hand, inside of her.
He obliged her on one count, standing to remove his clothes. He was as finely made as she expected. The last time she’d seen him fully naked was when he was eleven. They’d dared one another to wade in the pond on the property. He’d stepped in a nest of copperheads and they’d bitten one of his legs six times, potentially fatal to a human. Not to a vampire, but the pain, temporary though it was, had been brutal. When Kane had been rolling around on the bank, gnashing his teeth and cursing, she’d told him to hold still. Blown cool breaths on the angry flesh, then sung him a song to calm him down, help him until the pain faded away and the wounds healed. It was probably then that she’d fallen in love with him and he with her, his head in her bare lap, his fingers curled in her long hair as she leaned over him and softly hummed the words of the lullaby her mother still sometimes sang to her.
Pushing herself up on one hand, she ran her hand down his thigh, though her gaze couldn’t help but go to his erect cock. It had grown quite a bit since he was eleven.
“I want you in my mind, Kane. I want us to mark one another.”
His gaze flicked to her face, surprised. It was possible for vampires to do that. The second mark serum used on a servant would allow them to talk in one another’s minds, though they retained the ability to block one another if they wished, as long as their strength remained on par. He would grow far stronger than her, she knew. He already was stronger, but she trusted him. That was the gift she was giving him. Her eternal trust, no matter where their paths forked or crossed.
Their parents, with centuries of friendships, betrayals, loss and gain behind them, would have likely forbidden it, warned them that it wasn’t wise. But that was why she wanted to do it. Before life and experiences changed them. Maybe the act itself would keep them from ever breaking each other’s heart.
He understood the momentous nature of what she was asking, what she was giving him. He dropped to one knee, cradled her face in both hands. “Rida, are you sure?”
“I’ve never been so sure about anything.”
She rolled to her knees, nudged him back into a standing position. Her on her knees added intriguing flame to his gaze. She was sure to keep her eyes on his, showing him she meant every moment as she put her mouth high on his thigh. His arousal was a strong scent. She laid her other hand on his opposite thigh, thumb caressing the base of his testicles. Then she bit, feeling the shudder that went through him, her eyes closing as his hand closed on her hair. She released the serum, and felt him twitch again, because it had a burn to it. But then it was done.
You have a far sweeter bite than the snakes did, Rida.
She smiled at the sound of his voice in her head and nuzzled his thigh. She wanted to turn her head, close her mouth on him, but she felt uncharacteristically shy about that. This moment was different between them. When she tried to make herself overcome the feeling, do it anyway, he stopped her, showing he understood.
“No,” he said. “Not tonight. I like you on your knees, Rida, but not because…of that. It makes me feel overwhelmed. I want to protect you, hold you, and yet keep you there on your knees, your mouth…” He stopped, his eyes blue flame, her breath short.
“Dominant vampires,” she murmured. “Maybe I’ll have you on your knees one day.”
“You already have had me there,” he said with a serious smile. “Plenty of times.”
Laying her back into the nest of the rug, he knelt between her legs again. He retained one of her hands, their gazes not breaking from one another as he guided himself between her legs. The contact between sexes was an excruciating pleasure, and she closed her eyes, savoring it, the way he fitted himself to her, figuring out her shape, the right angle to pleasure and care for her, the way he started to press inside her, stretch her with his size.
When he lowered himself onto her, she lifted her hips to meet him, her lips parting as he pressed inside one lovely inch after another, taking his time, letting her feel every explosion of sensation that each forward movement created. When he was seated, she was trembling again. She put her hands on his shoulders, dug in. Then tilted her head to the side. “Please,” she whispered.
He thrust deeper and earned a moan from her, her nails biting into his flesh. His mouth was on her throat, nuzzling. His fangs slid over her flesh, teasing. She lifted up against him restlessly. “Kane.”
“I like that begging note.”
“Shut up and do it.”
“Yes, Lady Farida.” But a glimpse of his eyes belied the teasing note in his voice. She was speared through the heart by the sheer possessiveness she saw. She felt it, like a blanket of fire covering her. He could do that, she bet he could, and the only thing that would burn would be what was inside her, wanting this, wanting him.
He bit. He had powerful fangs that struck hard, and he didn’t spare her, as if knowing she’d relish the pain with the pleasure. Her legs locked over his hips as he drove his cock in further. The sting of the serum made her gasp, but he stroked her, kept his hips lifting and falling beneath the lock of her legs, her body rising to his, making pain part of the ecstasy.
Don’t ever leave my mind, Kane. Always be my friend. Always be this for me…
Something that was more than friends, more than lovers. A bond shared between two vampires in a world where they could trust very few of their own kind. As young as they were, they already knew that, and she felt it in his mind as if in her own. There were as twined together as their bodies as she locked her arms around his back and shoulders. He held her just as close in his strong arms, thrusting until they were both on that pinnacle together.
Vampires didn’t often swim, knowing that body density would make them sink to the bottom, requiring that they fight their way back to the top. But that day at the pond, they had embraced it, knowing hand in hand they could make that journey together.
Now as then, they clasped hearts and hands and made the leap.
* * *
For awhile they stay coiled by the fire, not saying much, just stroking bare skin, speaking in whispers, where the meaning, not the words, was what mattered, lips touching often.
“How long have you been able to do the thing…with the fire and water?” she asked.
“For these past few months, since I turned twenty-five.”
As she stroked his dark hair back from his brow, she saw the shadows in his face. “I can do it to air and earth as well,” he said. “I haven’t told anyone yet. Though John would have noticed, because he doesn’t miss anything. But he hasn’t been around.”
“You can’t blame him for that, Kane.”
“I don’t,” he said simply, and she could hear that he meant it, where earlier she would have heard the resentment that J
ohn had noted himself. “But I wanted the two of you to be the first to know, before I tell my parents. Though hell, my mother probably already knows. She knows everything.”
“When you’ve lived a thousand years, it’s kind of hard not to know everything.”
“Yeah.” He rolled them so she was sprawled over his chest, and he played with her hair, an easier smile on his handsome features. “You’re such a fierce little thing.”
“Don’t be patronizing.”
“I’m not.” He held up both hands in sincerity. “You’re strong and mean. I’ve seen it firsthand. But you’re also this. Extraordinary. Beautiful. Breathtaking. When we were facing that Trad, I wanted to kill him for even looking at you like that. But somehow I knew, if the worst had happened, you would have survived. You would have held on until we got you back. Because you’re strong as hell. I don’t think anything could break you. And that gave me courage.”
“Kane,” she said, moved. That shadow came back to his gaze as he touched her face.
“When I realized he could overpower me, that he could take you from me, it was the worst feeling ever. I hated feeling helpless, knowing I couldn’t protect you myself. But I also realized that what was more important than my pride was protecting you in whatever way I could. Protecting you and John.”
Her gaze softened on him. “You did protect me. You kept him talking, you reached out for help.”
“Not soon enough. If John hadn’t done it first, it might have turned out just as he said. You could have been in that Trad’s hands tonight.”
“No. I don’t believe that. The three of us together, we can figure out anything.”
He wrapped her hair around his hand, unwound it. “But it won’t be the three of us anymore. We both know it. John’s going to go do his think tank. Before long, you’ll be back in your corner of the world, and me in mine, all pursuing our lives.”
“True. But that doesn’t make the connection any less strong. I’m here.” Farida laid a hand on his chest. “Inside. The way you’re inside me. Even before we marked one another tonight, I think that was true. And John loves you so much. Loves us both.”
He pressed his lips together. “He’s on his way here now. I told him I wanted to talk to him. Will you stay?”
“Of course.” When he showed her his intentions in his mind, she loved having that connection, but she nodded, telling him she agreed. That she believed he was doing the right thing. She was pleased to see the glow of warmth in his gaze as a result.
Rising, he lifted her again. She slid her arms around his shoulders, holding him close. When he bent to put her on his wide couch, she kept him over her an extra moment, sliding her lips along his throat. He ran his hands over her, reluctantly wrapped a fleece blanket around her. When she adjusted so she could fold her slim legs beneath her, she looked up to see him watching her, his gaze coursing over the one shoulder that the fleece wasn’t covering.
“Warm enough?”
“Until you warm me further.” Her amber eyes glowed, making him bare his fangs in answering promise. He pulled on his jeans, leaving his shirt off and feet bare, a look she appreciated as he leaned over to stoke the fire, his thick hair falling over his shoulder and framing the noble brow and profile of his sharply sculpted face.
“I love you, you know.”
He looked toward her, his mouth and eyes serious. “I love you, too, Rida. Always.”
“Good.” She tossed her hair back, tried a smile. “But don’t expect me to say it too often to you. You’re a pain in the ass.”
“Like you’re not?”
John’s knock came then, covering her rude answer, though the twitch of his lips told her he’d heard her loud and clear in his mind. “Come on in, John.”
When he entered, John found her immediately, of course. His gaze coursed over her hair, in riotous waves around her face, and she saw the subtle flare of his nostrils, taking in the scent of what had been done here. She forced herself not to blush, knowing Kane wouldn’t let her live it down. Then she’d just have to kill him.
He shot her an amused look and she stuck her tongue out at him.
“Well, then.” John cleared his throat. “About time.”
Kane shrugged. “Timing is everything with girls. You told me that when you were fifteen and kissed Darcy Larson on the school bus. Since she didn’t punch you, you assumed that made you an expert on sex.”
“Well, so did you. For at least a year or two.”
“He likes being older and wiser than us,” Farida said, her amber eyes twinkling.
John sank into a chair. “Not a matter of like or dislike. Just the truth. Er…so, since I don’t see any pools of blood or missing limbs, I assume all the parental units are on simmer instead of full boil?”
“Yeah.” Kane straightened, turned and faced him. “But that’s not why I called you here, John. You need to take the job.”
John glanced at Farida, then back at Kane. As if he felt himself at a disadvantage, he rose, faced him. “If I do that, it’s a ten year commitment, at least. Maybe more. Makes it hard to commit to…other things.”
“You’re not going to be my servant, John.” Though the words sounded strained, Kane held John’s gaze and put the words out there John seemed reluctant to say. “You’re going to be my best friend. A best friend who will accomplish untold miracles with that amazing brain of yours.”
John shifted. “Lord Brian and Debra are Master and servant, and she’s still able to pursue science.”
“Because they’re both scientists. They pursue it together. I don’t yet know what I’m going to be, but I know I’m never going to be a nuclear physicist, doctor or mathematician. Or a chef, fireman, plumber or Dumbledore.”
He grinned, glanced at Farida. “Those were all the different things John told me he was going to be when we were growing up together.”
“He told me he was going to be a policeman. Or a Navy SEAL. Though I think that was when he was trying to impress that skank Darcy.” Farida gave John an impish look as he rolled his eyes. But then he brought his attention to Kane. “Kane…we don’t have to make any decisions now. I mean, yeah, the think tank’s important…”
“The think tank is more than important. It’s the fucking accomplishment that anyone like you would give your right nut to join. It’s incredible, John. Me standing in the way of that, binding you to my side? Who does that serve, except my own selfishness? If there is one thing I’ve learned from watching Brian and Debra, it’s that knowledge can benefit all our races, the world itself. But it’s more than that.” Kane met his gaze. “This is what you want. More than anything.”
A muscle ticked in John’s jaw. “We made a deal when you were fifteen that you wouldn’t go into my mind without my permission.”
“What can I say? Vampires are assholes.”
John studied him. “You can be, but not in this. You never have been able to lie to me.”
“Careful, human.” But Kane tempered it with a wry smile. “I know this is what you want because I’m not as clueless and self-absorbed as I’ve been acting. I chose to ignore your heart, and that was wrong of me.” As he put his hand on the other man’s shoulder, he was gratified to see the struggle in John’s face that confirmed what Farida had said. John did love him. A part of him didn’t want to leave Kane’s side either. Knowing that would help Kane to let him go, even as he wouldn’t shy from giving John the same gift, making himself just as vulnerable in this moment.
“You are so much a part of me, John, that I don’t remember a time you weren’t. We could have shared the womb together. That’s why I want you to do this.”
John gripped his forearm. “Damn,” he muttered. “I wanted to be pissed at you.”
“I’m sure I’ll give you cause before you take off. I’m pretty consistent that way.”
John allowed himself a smile, but then looked between him and Farida. “What about you two?”
“She’s another part of me.” Kane shifted his
gaze to Farida. “She’s a light in my heart that won’t ever go out. But it’s like you and me, John. Our hearts are together, but our paths may need to go elsewhere.”
Kane thought of what Lyssa had said about Ingram. “Maybe you’ll meet someone along the way and fall in love, want kids. If I third marked you, I’d have denied you the ability to be with her, grow old together. That’s the one gift a vampire can’t give a human, and I understand it’s a particularly powerful one.”
John pressed his lips together, and now his eyes got suspiciously bright. “Damn it, Kane…”
Kane shook his head, put his arms around him and pulled him close. After a moment, John’s arms wrapped around him, held on. As Kane stroked his neck and narrow shoulders, he thought of John out in the world, not having him by his side. “You promise me one thing, though. You ever need me for anything, even if you’re out of range of my mind, you damn well better call me. You have to take care of your ass.”
“It’s usually only in danger when I’m watching yours.” John snuffled a chuckle against his neck, fended off the side punch and returned one of the same. Kane sobered, looking at John’s face. His handsome, kind, intelligent face. He found himself at a loss, staring at it.
“Hey, show him the fire and water stuff.”
Bless Farida for always knowing how to make a bridge. At John’s quizzical look, he made himself smile, despite the heaviness of his heart. Since he was showing another male the gift, he decided to make it far more dramatic.
John jumped back as the fire roared out of the grate at a flick of Kane’s hand. Then they were both cursing and stomping on the all too flammable rug, because he’d overdone it, lost control and allowed the flame to make actual contact with the fibers. Farida was giggling on the sofa when they got the fire out, on her side with her feet curled up and exposed by the bottom of the blanket. Kane snaked a hand beneath and she kicked out at him with a yelp when he gave her delectable ass a pinch.
