by Tamsin Baker
He opened his mouth, struggling for words for a long moment before he spoke, his voice low and tight. “It is true, brothers.”
“Are you sure?” the darker skinned man asked. He cupped my cheek and turned my head so that I had no option but to look at him.
“She is Fate. My bite has started the process. Look at her, Davon. See for yourself.” Xander moved away, turning his back to me and running a hand through his hair.
He bit me? What the hell? I searched my mind, but could only come up with a hazy recollection of lips at my neck, coupled with an intense climax. But that had to have been a dream. Or a nightmare. It couldn’t possibly have happened.
Could it?
A frown formed between Davon’s brows as he peered down at me. I tried to turn my head away, but a force bound me, compelling my eyes to his, despite my not wanting to. The breath hung in my lungs as Davon’s light blue gaze, so at odds with his darker skin, connected with me.
Because that’s what I felt. A tiny thread of connection had bound us in an instant, just as it had with Xander. A twining light of consciousness wound about my heart, a bond of a sort I couldn’t describe. Deep and without definition. I placed my palm over Davon’s hand that cupped my cheek, drawn to him by the same immovable force.
Davon’s eyes widened. “By all that is Holy.”
“Don’t swear like that around here, Davon. Nothing Holy has set foot on this soil for three hundred years,” Cassius spoke. Cassius, whose expression was shut down and wary stood over me with his hands on his hips.
“Then see for yourself,” Davon said.
“What’s happening?” I whispered, trembling. This was all too much. I was surrounded by killers. Men who could overpower me in an instant, and yet my blood smouldered with an indescribable spark. A connection that bound me to them by an ancient power I couldn’t begin to name.
I didn’t want to look at Cassius, but I was drawn to him by an irresistible pull, just as I had been the other two men. Our gazes locked and the final piece of a puzzle I never knew existed snapped into place. I knew this man. These men. Intimately, despite never having met them before in my life. My breath stuttered, tight in my throat.
“Tu Ena.” Cassius’ gaze roamed my face, searching. The chill in his eyes eased, as he allowed wonder to wash it away. “It cannot be.”
“It is possible, brothers. She is our savior,” Xander spoke.
My heart rate kicked up a terrified notch. I didn’t understand what they referred to, or what had just passed between us. Because something definitely had. Something powerful and ancient.
Something I didn’t ask for or want.
I licked dry lips with an equally dry tongue. “I’m glad I’ve been able to resolve a long-standing issue for you guys. I’d appreciate it if you could just show me the front door and I’ll be on my way.”
Xander came down on one knee and brushed strands of my hair from my face. His touch was gentle despite his stern expression and I had to concentrate not to lean into his fingers. I could only assume concussion clouded my mind. That, or Stockholm syndrome, but surely it was too early for that.
There was a timeless moment when I thought he might agree. That he would help me up off this bed and find Gary’s truck. Maybe even offer to drive me back into town, but then he said, “You’re not going anywhere, Tu Ena. We are all bound, you and us, and now that we’ve finally found you, you’re not going anywhere.”
Chapter Five
My breath came up short as I panicked. I pushed his hand away and surprisingly, he let me. “You don’t have any say in what I do. I’m going, and that’s all there is to it.”
I tried to sit up, my bones and muscles groaning. I gasped as the world spun, cursing my inability to even manage the simple task of getting out of this bed.
“You will do as we say. First of all, you will eat then bathe, and then you will get more rest. We need you restored to health if we are to enjoy the greatest gift we have ever been given,” Xander said.
I brushed the sheet aside, too exhausted to understand the undertone of what had just happened between us. Cool air brushed my skin and I glanced down my body to see I was naked. Trembling, I tugged the sheet back, feeling more exposed than ever, “Where are my clothes?”
“Tu Ena, your clothing was ruined when you fell down the mountainside.” Davon placed his palm over mine and cursed. “She is freezing. Most probably in shock. We should have waited.”
“You were just as desperate as I to find out!” Xander exploded.
“We should have respected her. She’s our…”
“Enough bickering. She is in need.” Davon wrapped me in the sheet, whipped me off the bed and strode across the room.
“Fix her something to eat by the time I’m finished,” Davon said over his shoulder.
“What are you doing?” My teeth chattered and however hard I clenched my jaw, I couldn’t stop. Ice seemed to have replaced my blood and all warmth had fled from my body.
“I’m going to warm you up.” He kicked open a door and we strode into a huge bathroom. Reaching into a shower stall that would easily fit four people, he turned the knobs. Water fell from the ceiling. He adjusted the controls and then when satisfied with the temperature, whipped the sheet from my body and stood with me under the water, fully clothed. I gasped, trying to cover myself with trembling limbs.
He pressed his lips to my forehead. “Hush, Tu Ena. You are ill. I would not take advantage of a woman in need.”
The heat from the water started to warm my freezing skin. I wanted to get free from his hold, but as the water cascaded over me and steam rose around me, my limbs were no more than wet noodles. Being held in his strong arms against his solid chest, his soothing heartbeat strangely eased my tension. My muscles relaxed and I rested my heat against his chest, comforted.
I could no more stand than run or escape. I had to get better, obviously, before I attempted to leave. I didn’t fully understand what was going on, and I wasn’t going to stay long enough to find out.
“I’m not precious to anyone.” Why did I say that, and then why did my throat thicken with pent-up emotion? I was the daughter of a sick mother. A keeper of farm animals. A cleaner, cook, a care-giver. A vessel to do what was required. There was nothing left over for me. I had never expected life to be any different, but here, now, for the first time, I questioned there wasn’t more I wanted from life.
But why here? Why now? It made no sense.
Davon bent close. “You’re more precious than you could ever know.” His voice was low and coarse and washed through me like spiced whiskey. No one had ever spoken like that to me, but more than words, I felt his truth.
I shivered for an altogether different reason as an unexplained languidness swept through me. I tangled my fingers in his wet shirt, finding comfort in his strength. “I’m not this Tu Ena person you keep calling me. My name is Ella.”
He chuckled, the wicked sound echoing off the ceramic tile. His lips, sensuous now that I was properly looking at them, lifted at the ends. I had a glimpse of some very white teeth, and the ends of his canines glistened. “You are very much this person, but if it makes you more comfortable I will call you by your name, Ella.”
I couldn’t keep my attention from those brilliant eyes, that smooth mocha skin, those sumptuous lips. I reached to cup his cheek, his dark stubble rough against my palm, tracing the pad of my thumb along his cheek. “And if I’m so precious, you’ll let me go?”
Fine lines crinkled at the edge of his eyes and he shook his head. “I will do my best to always keep you at my side.”
His lips brushed against mine, a gentle, leisurely glide, before he captured my mouth and gently suckled. His tongue swept along the seam of my mouth and his flavor exploded in my mouth like the finest of liqueurs with the same amount of kick.
My hand slid over his shoulder, around his neck to tangle in the dreaded tufts of his hair. I clawed my fingers, as though to keep him right where he was.
He held me as though I were weightless, his arms bands of steel supporting me. He lifted me, crushing me against his chest as I clung to him and kissed him. A part of me, a distant part, knew how strange this was. That this complete stranger under these circumstances was making me feel like this, but I wanted – needed – him.
A sharp prick on my lip allowed some sense to chip into the fog of desire. I flinched back to see a drop of my blood in the corner of his mouth. I felt a little nick on my bottom lip.
The tip of his tongue slid along his lower lip and collected the drop. “Hmmm. Delicious. Although I am very happy to keep kissing you, Ella, it would be remiss of me if I did not provide the care that you need.”
He let my legs slide down his body, keeping me upright with his other arm at my waist. My legs trembled, too weak to support my body. I was never this fragile, even when I did get sick. “How long..?”
Davon took the bar of soap and gently rubbed it over my shoulders. The scent of lemons rose around me. The soap dipped lower, over my back, but he took great care with the various scrapes and bruises that covered me from head to toe.
“You’ve had a fever for six days.”
“Six days!” Fingers compressed into fists. Mom would be beside herself by now. She would have come home to find the house cold, dark and empty. I’d never been one to cry but the tears were catching up with me in my weakened state.
His lips pressed into my temple, as though he knew the turmoil of my mind. “You are safe. We will not harm you.”
“But you won’t let me go either?”
“That is an impossible thing, as you will find out soon enough.” His hand glided over my buttocks, but although gentle, his ministrations were not sexual.
“Can I at least call my mother? She has to be worried about me.” Surely they could let me do that at least.
“I’m sorry, Ella. We have no reception here. We are quite… cut off,” Davon said.
“I can send her an email?” There had to be some way I could let Mom know I was still alive.
“We have no interaction with the outside world. You shall understand soon enough,” Davon said. His touch traveled down my calf and then the other, washing my legs carefully.
“Here, let me turn you.”
With a deft move, he spun me so that my back was to his fully clothed chest. His arm banded around my waist so I didn’t topple over. He washed my shoulders, the soap gliding over my skin. His guided the soap down each arm to my hands, sliding his fingers through mine as though studying every small part of my body.
His palms moved to my ribs, then slowly upwards to cover my breasts. My nipples peaked, seeking the heat of his skin. A sigh rippled through me. My head fell back on his shoulder as his touch became my whole focus.
“That’s it, Ella. Let me tend you.”
He massaged the tender skin, his fingers skimming my nipples, then capturing one and then the other. Sensation rippled through me, my body awakening to his touch. His palm skimmed down the flat of my stomach. He didn’t hesitate as his finger slid through my slit. There was no teasing, and for that I was grateful. I had no energy to wait. My pussy lips parted, slippery with the soap and the wetness of my arousal.
He slipped his finger up and down, up and down, and the tip circled my entrance before drawing back to tease my clit. I jerked in his iron-clad embrace as sensation built and rose. His lips nibbled my ear and then his tongue skimmed the edge as he eased his hand low, finding my entrance and pushing inside me. I didn’t stop to think why he was being so intimate with me. It just seemed so right. Natural. I accepted his touch, seeking it, needing it.
My mouth fell open as desire flooded my senses, whipping away my despair and my fear. I didn’t feel anything at all except the building pressure of my imminent climax. My body tensed, breath hung in my lungs. His finger hooked inside and pressed on that secret bundle of nerves, while at the same time grinding the heel of his palm against my clit. A wail erupted from me as the golden waves of my climax hit. He held my trembling body as I lost my mind to the blinding orgasm.
“Good girl. I’ve got you.”
I came slowly came back to my senses to find him finishing washing me with swift and deft moves. My lids dipped as I clung to him, the events of the day and my orgasm taking their toll. I was so tired I didn’t even try to work out how and why I’d let him touch me with such intimacy, especially since I was effectively a prisoner. I barely let any man near me and when I did, it usually took weeks, yet here I was in the matter of a few hours letting him touch my most private parts.
Davon turned the shower off, collected me in a fluffy white towel and dried me off, all the while keeping me upright, which was no mean feat, given I would have fallen in a boneless heap on the floor without his help.
He wrapped me up in a fresh, dry towel before picking me up and walking out of the bathroom. Cooler air hit me, stirring my senses from the warm fogginess of the bathroom to find two sets of eyes staring straight at me. Eyes that knew exactly what had been done to me while in Davon’s tender care.
Chapter Six
Xander strode towards me, his gaze never wavering from mine. My heart stumbled when Davon handed me over and another set of strong arms held me tight against an equally solid chest. They felt as good as Davon’s and I didn’t quite understand why. Or how.
“Put me down.” I tried to exert some control over the situation that, if I were honest, had gotten away from me before I’d opened my eyes.
“You are too weak to stand. You also need to eat in order to sustain the life we worked so hard to save.”
He sat in a massive winged-backed chair in front of a crackling fire that raged as much as my trepidation.
“I can sit on my own as well.” I tried pushing away from him and was met with the steel cage of his arms.
“I’m sure you can, but I prefer it this way,” he said.
I’m sure confusion was plain on my face when his lips curved up at the ends. I caught a glimpse of stark white teeth before a shiver stole through my body. I’d just been gifted with an orgasm by his friend and my body buzzed with awareness for Xander now. Something was happening to me, but I didn’t know what it was, couldn’t put my finger on it. All I knew was whatever happened between Davon and myself could never happen again. Not with him. Not with anyone.
Especially not these men. I couldn’t help but feel there was a whole lot of information they were keeping from me. I was off-kilter, confusion simmering just beneath my skin.
“I don’t care what you prefer,” I said, still trying to move from his lap, but he was too big, too strong and I was too weak to be able to do anything about it. I was bone-tired, strung out, and worried. I was helpless against these men but I preferred to fight.
“That’s my girl. I like to see your fire.” His face lit for a moment. The stern look dissolved into something resembling amusement. His face transformed from handsome into devastating. My mouth went dry. Confusion became a palpable thing. How could he be so stern one moment, and then like – this – the next? I looked away from his face and into the flames, not trusting myself.
My hand brushed over the towel that barely covered my thigh. I clutched the tucked edge beneath my arms, making sure it was secure, more aware than anything of the body heat from his thighs burning through the fluffy material. It felt as intimate as things had with Davon.
I wondered how Xander might bring me to climax. How fast. I closed my eyes, disgusted by my wantonness, my breathing shallow and sharp. I didn’t know what was happening to me. I wasn’t like this. Ever. I had to admit, it was more than a little frightening. I wondered if they’d drugged me while I was sick, pumped some sort of aphrodisiac into me, because it certainly felt like it.
“I want some clothes.” D
emands. Fighting. I could do that.
“I will get you clothing.”
“What about pyjamas?”
“As well as pyjamas.”
“And how do you even have these things?” Maybe if there was another woman, or staff I’d be able to talk with her. Get her to help me.
“This house is magic. We can get anything we need for however long we need to stay.”
“That’s not even an answer.”
“Not a logical one, no.”
“Then how about a phone.”
Xander’s lips twitched. “Some things we are yet to be able to procure. The rest I will get after you eat.”
I paused, placated for the moment, yet still needing to assert some sort of control over a situation that was so clearly out of my control. My fingers twitched on the edge of the towel. “And I’m not your girl.”
“That’s a matter of opinion.”
I was about to argue when a wonderful aroma burst into the room. My stomach cramped and my dry mouth watered. I was starving. It seemed being ill for six days would do that to a girl.
Maybe that’s why I was so out of sorts. Exhausted. Weak and hungry. Not a good combination. That had to be it. It had to be.
Cassius pulled a small table and set a tray with a steaming, thin brown broth in the middle. It didn’t look like much, but I knew enough that if it was any more than that, my stomach would reject it. Maybe they were kinder than they looked.
Cassius drew a chair close and then picked up the tray, spooned up some broth and held it to my mouth.
“I can feed myself.” I’d been feeding myself, my mother and the entire herd of animals on my farm since I’d been fourteen. I didn’t need anyone feeding me now.
“I know you can feed yourself, but I want to feed you. Davon has washed you, Xander is comforting you and I get to feed you.” Cassius’ eyes flashed a brilliant red—but that could have been the firelight—before he touched my bottom lip with the spoon. A drop from the utensil landed on the tip of my tongue. As soon as I tasted the broth, I couldn’t help myself and I devoured the contents of the spoon.
