by Riley, Alexa
Not until I ended up on the doorstep of the very house I swore never to return to again. I shouldn’t be here. Ravana and Valen are mated, and I would know if one of them had died. There would be no reason why the mated pair won’t live until the end of time.
Selfishly I’d checked in on the vampire coven as the years went on and I’d heard that the human females that were mated to the vampires gave birth to children. It’s somewhat of a tall tale among the immortals and I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t met the family and known that they’d never lie about something like that.
As I’m about to enter I can feel the heartbeat of the person I’m here for inside my chest. This connection has never been so tight before and I’ve never experienced this heightened need to help someone. Heat inside me spreads and suddenly the need to get to the person on the other side of the door is greater than anything I’ve ever felt. I run up the steps and lower my shoulder as I barrel through and break it down.
I grip my axe tightly as the dust settles and the sight before me comes into view. Ravana is there in front, holding her hands out to stop me. I see Valen behind her shielding a young woman who I know instantly I’m here to collect.
My eyes scan quickly, but when her dark blue eyes find mine my chest tightens and I know everything I’ve ever done in my life has led me to this point. She’s the one whose soul calls to me. Not because she’s dying, but because she’s my mate. She called to me from the other side of the world and I came running.
“You’re not taking her,” Valen says as he widens his stance to protect the woman behind him. “You can’t have our daughter.”
“Your daughter?” I break eye contact with my mate and look over at Ravana, who is stepping closer. There’s a deadly look in her eyes and I know she’s a mother trying to protect her young.
“If you lay one finger on her, they’ll be sending a new Grim Reaper to collect your soul,” she says, and for the first time she looks at me with murderous rage.
I grip my axe with both hands now and hold it in front of me in warning. I don’t know how to tell them that she’s not dying, she’s in pain because she needs me.
“How is she your daughter? Female vampires can’t give birth,” I say, but when I look back at my mate I can see how she favors her family.
“We chose to keep her identity hidden from everyone else. She’s our miracle,” Valen says, not backing down an inch. “Our daughter is all that we have. You can’t have her.”
Ravana moves closer and it’s then I see pleading in her eyes. “I’ll do anything,” she says, holding her hands open at her sides. “Name it and it’s yours. Please don’t take our Ariella.”
I look her up and down and I think back to the reason I left all those years ago. There was something I felt when I looked at her, but now that’s completely gone. Before me she is a mother who would do anything to save her child. I feel her pain and I see her desperation, but she is just like the rest of her family. Nothing more.
“It’s not you I want,” I say softly as look over to my mate. Valen has his eyes on his wife and doesn’t see when his daughter steps out from behind him. “Come to me, my Ariella,” I say and hold out my hand.
“It’s you,” she whispers, and her parents turn around in surprise that their daughter is walking towards me.
“Ariella, don’t!”
Before they can stop her, I’ve got her hand in mine and I’m pulling her against me. “You’re mine now,” I say before I lift her up in my arms and I’m storming out of the room.
Her parents chase after me and just before I get to the door, I feel Valen lunge for me. I turn around and hold my axe out and he hits it before he falls back against Ravana. She hisses and does the same, but there is nothing they can do to stop me.
“I’m taking my mate,” I say, and finally what’s happening registers on their faces.
I leave them in shock as I turn and walk out into the night.
“Tell me where you sleep, my treasure. I want to look at you while you’re laid bare before me.”
Her dark blue eyes peer up at me through her lashes, but there is no fear inside of her. I feel her warm and soft in my arms, and her heart is glowing right now. She’s unlike any soul I’ve ever held in my arms, and the fact that she’s mine fills me with pride. I don’t deserve such a gift, but she’s mine and I’m going to claim her.
“There,” she whispers and points in the distance.
I put my axe in the holster on my back and wrap both my arms around her as I begin to run. I don’t waste a second now that I have her, and I plan on never letting her go.
Chapter Three
Grim
When we enter her home, I notice that it’s eerily similar to mine. She has more things for comfort lying around—blankets and pillows and soft touches. But it’s a small cottage with lots of windows to let in light and a bed big enough for the two of us.
“How did you find me?” she asks as I close the door behind us and carry her to the bedroom.
“I felt you calling to me. How long have you been in pain?” I hate that I wasn’t here sooner to help ease the ache of separation.
“Since my eighteenth birthday.” I feel her fingers along the rough edge of my jaw and I try to remind myself to be gentle with her. She’s delicate and I’m responsible for her life now. “I wished for you to come take me away, but I never imagined I would feel like this. You’re my mate, aren’t you? That’s what this is.”
“Yes,” I say, and the one word rumbles in my chest.
I place her in the middle of the bed and then unbuckle the holster around my chest that holds my axe on my back. There’s a loud thud when it drops to the floor, but I ignore it as I crawl on the bed towards her. The dark dress she’s wearing clings to her, and the moonlight spills in across her. It looks like she’s swimming in silk and every inch of her is glowing.
“I dreamed of you,” she says as she reaches for me and I move on top of her. “I dreamed of my mate and finally being in his arms.”
“I didn’t dare dream of something so perfect,” I confess as I run my hands down her sides and to the edge of the dress. “I couldn’t have even dreamed of a woman so pure.”
She leans up and kisses my lips softly, and for a moment I’m frozen in shock. I’ve never felt anything like this before, never touched a female in this way. But mates are made on instinct and I allow it to take over and I press my lips to hers, slipping my tongue into her mouth. My only thought right now is to taste her and to mark every inch of her as mine.
Her legs spread and she cradles me between them as her hands slip up the back of my shirt and her nails score me there. When her tongue touches mine, I groan before suddenly she’s squeezing her legs around me tightly and rolling us over. My young mate is powerful, and I lie on my back as she grinds down on top of me, letting the warmth between her legs seep into me.
“What’s happening to me?” she asks as I break the kiss and lick the delicate skin of her neck.
“Your need for me is growing.” My fingers dig into her hips and I rock her back and forth over the hard length of my cock. “I need to taste you everywhere.”
I tug on her hips and she sits up. Then I move her towards my mouth while I’m on my back and position her knees on either side of my face. She holds up her dress as I reach up and pull the material of her panties out of the way and reveal her perfect untouched pussy.
“May I lick you, my treasure?” I ask as I look up into her wide yes.
She moans and rocks her hips forward, seeking my mouth. “I’m desperate for you.”
I don’t hesitate any longer and cover her pussy with my mouth. I taste the sweetness between her soft lips and every part of my body lights up with need. This one taste has me addicted and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to stop.
The sound she makes as she rocks against me has my own need growing impossibly stronger. I release her hip and shove a hand inside my pants and grab my cock. I jerk myself hard a
s I tongue her clit, seeking the release my body is so desperate for. I can feel the cum building inside me, but I know that nothing will happen until I’m inside her.
My father told me some of the duties of being a Reaper and what was expected of me. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to find release until it was inside my mate. And once that happened the cuffs of the Reaper would fall away. A new one would step forward and then it would no longer be my burden. The blood in my veins is what makes me who I am, and though I want to seek relief and warmth from inside of my treasure, I don’t know that I want to burden the child we would create with this life.
I fist my cock and groan as her sticky honey drips down onto my chin. It’s so sweet and I lap it up as I run circles around her clit. Her body quakes and she cries out. I don’t expect her pleasure to come so fast, but she climaxes while gripping the headboard and screaming my name. Her legs become weak with the force of it and I roll us over so that now I’m between her legs with her pinned to the bed.
Now I can feast on her while I grind my cock into the mattress. I don’t slow down to give her a reprieve. Instead I double my efforts, desperate for her to cum again. Every time she gets off it’s taking away the pain she felt while I was gone. Now it’s my duty to make her feel connected and loved by me every second of every day.
Her body is covered in a thin sheen of sweat as I suck on her clit and she climaxes once again. I plan on spending hours down here because the sight of her getting off over and over is enough for me. Maybe we can just have this and I don’t have to worry about making a baby with her. I can learn to deal with the throb of my cock as long as she’s happy.
As if reading my mind, she looks up from the pillow and reaches for me. “I need you inside me,” she says, and internally I groan. Can I really do this to her, to our child?
“My treasure—” I begin, but my words of protest are cut off when I hear people in the distance.
I pull her dress down to cover her up and leap from the bed. By the time I reach for my axe I’m being thrown back as a herd of vampires storm in.
“Nice to see you again, Grim,” Kane says with his forearm against my throat.
I’m stronger than he is, but he’s got Valen at his side pinning down my arms.
“Ariella!” I shout as she lunges for me. She’s caught by her mother and is dragged from the room as she calls my name. The sound claws at my insides and I have to get to her. “Let me go now or I’ll take your souls as a trophy instead of sending them into the beyond,” I say, my voice low and deadly.
“You’ll let us take her and make sure she’s okay,” Kane says, and I shake my head. “You’ll do it, Grim, or we’ll make sure you’re locked up so tight that you’ll never get to her.”
“You can’t do this. She’s my mate!” I shout, and Valen gets in my face.
“Not her.” He slowly shakes his head as he looks at me with hate in his eyes. “She won’t be sentenced to the life you’ve been cursed with. You’ve chosen her, Grim. That’s not how mating works. You don’t get to decide to take my daughter because you couldn’t have my wife.”
He spits the last words at me and I don’t understand. “You think that’s what this is?” I shake my head. “I didn’t choose her.”
“Put him in the dungeon,” Valen orders, and Kane nods.
Together the two of them carry me out of the back of the house, and the hole in my stomach begins to grow. I’m already feeling the pains of separation. What must Ariella be going through?
Chapter Four
Ariella
I sit in the middle of chaos in my parents’ living room. My whole body is numb as everyone’s emotions overwhelm me. Sadness, fear and anger coat everything and there’s no stopping it. I have no will in me to try and soothe it. I don’t want to help them because even if they haven’t hurt my mate physically, they have emotionally. Why should I soothe their turmoil when they were more than okay with it raining down on the two of us?
When we touched I knew, for the first time in my life, what it was like to have everything around me silenced. With Grim all I felt was happiness and everything else faded away.
I moved out on my eighteenth birthday because everyone’s emotions started to become too much. I needed a place where I could go to be alone and shut it all off. The only way to do that was by being alone, which I didn’t enjoy. I love being around everyone, but sometimes it’s overwhelming. It’s worsened as I’ve gotten older and my senses have become stronger.
Until the moment Grim walked in the door and I saw my mate. Everything around me stopped and I could focus. I don’t know how he did it, but I was so focused on him I didn’t notice it at first. It wasn’t until they took me away from him that I began to feel the absence of peace. Now the ache in my stomach has moved to my chest. For all I know it could still be there, but the ache in my heart is so strong I don’t notice it.
My mom snaps her fingers in front of my face, but I only turn my head away from her. They won’t hear reason right now, so I’m going to wait. It’s the only option I have since the only person who can help me is locked up. When the sun comes up it’s going to be my moment. My only worry is my mom trying to come after me.
“You’re going to ignore me?” My mom puts her hands on her hips, but I don’t look up at her. I can’t ignore her emotions, but I do my best as my head throbs.
I lick my lips and for the first time my mind flashes to biting into my mate. The repulsion I felt before is gone and now I have a need to taste him.
“You don’t understand.” My mom falls to her knees in front of me on the floor. “He’s death, sweetheart. You don’t understand the life you’d have with him. You’re—”
“Bright sunshine.” My dad finishes for my mom as he walks into the room.
All of my uncles are with him and they look like they’ve been wrestling in the woods. They all go stand by their mates and I feel their eyes on me.
“Did you hurt him?” I ask as my hand goes to my throat. I’m surprised that my words come out in a low, threatening hiss.
“See? His darkness is already trying to take you.”
My mother’s eyes are filled with sadness and I know mine match hers. I also know she doesn't understand the pain she’d causing me. It’s a double-edged sword. If I told her she was hurting me it would make her hurt more.
“Maybe that’s what I want.” She leans back in confusion. “Did you hurt him?” I ask again as I turn my head to look at my dad. I stand, moving with my vampire speed, and soon I’m in front of him.
“Holy shit,” I hear one of my cousins whisper.
“Dad.”
“Ariella—”
I cut him off, knowing he isn't going to answer me.
“Slayer.” I raise an eyebrow at him and I watch his shoulders tense at the name.
“He’s unharmed,” my dad finally answers, and the room goes quiet. It doesn’t matter. The emotions that float around the room are thicker than words.
“If he was your mate, you’d know it,” my mother says, and I turn to face her.
“He is my mate!” I shout so everyone can hear me.
“I think everyone needs to take a breath.” Bishop finally speaks up in a calming voice. “He doesn't want to hurt her, I think that much is clear.”
“He can’t have her,” my dad grits out. “It’s no life for her.”
“I can have any life I choose.”
I don’t look at my dad because I don’t want to see his reaction. I do as Bishop suggests and take a deep breath as I try to get myself under control. If I’m too upset right now, they’ll know that I might go to him. I felt it the second I looked into his eyes and knew he was mine. He saved me and I knew that I couldn’t be without him.
“You’d choose a life without us? We asked him to stay with us before and he couldn't. He hated it here. He was gone before he even unpacked a bag.” My mom takes a step towards me as she tries to get me to understand her reasoning.
My uncle Ka
ne’s oldest son Nick steps forward. He and I have always been the closest out of all my cousins since we were born days apart. “Ariella, you would never leave this family. I know you. Leaving here would break your heart even if it’s for someone you think is your mate.”
I look down at the ground and wonder if he’s right, because a day ago I would have agreed with him. When I moved out, it wasn't but half a mile away and still on my parents’ land. I wanted to be near everyone and still spent more time here than at home most days. I shrug at him and he falls silent again.
I heard my dad say Grim wanted my mom at one point and that he had the ability to choose a wife. He said that Grim wasn't like our kind who had a fated mate, but I told them I wanted him. My family knows how important mates are to our kind. Why would they do this to me?
Then understanding hits me—because I’m not like them either. I’ve always been treated differently, but I’ve been met with love and kindness. We can’t choose the way we’re born, and I can’t imagine that Grim was surrounded by people who care for him like I’ve been. Who would choose to comfort Death? No one looks forward to seeing the Reaper. He’s all alone in this world, but not anymore. I’m here now and I’m going to change that.
Could my dad have been right about him wanting my mom? Jealousy lights inside me and I hate not knowing. I glance around the room and see all my aunts and uncles with their mates along with their children here. None of them see they are trying to take from me the one thing they’d all fight to the death for.
“He’s not your mate,” my dad says, and anger rises inside me again, but I make myself shove it down.
“I don’t want to fight with you guys,” I say with a heavy heart. “I need him.”
“You don’t know what you need. We’re still not even sure—”
“What I am?” I finish for him, and I see the frustration in his eyes. The only thing I need to know is that I’m Grim’s mate. That’s all that matters. “It’s the truth and there’s nothing wrong with it. I’m different.” I hold my hand up to silence my dad before he can say something against it. “He is different, too, and it scares you. Maybe you welcomed him at one time, but if he’s like me, then he still felt it. I mean, look at how you’re acting when I tell you he’s my mate. You’d think I’d been sentenced to—”
