Nikalye looked at Belia as he spoke. “I am a dhampir. I hunger for the blood of vampires and other creatures that live among us. Not humans.” He locked his gaze with her wound. “The fact that I am responding to your wound is very bad.”
Hurt shot through Belia with his words. “Why?” She couldn’t make her words louder than a whisper.
Once again, their eyes met and Belia could see the seriousness in his eyes.
“It means we are bonded.”
“Why is that bad?” What’s the bond?
“A bond is something that is formed between two people, an unbreakable bond of lust.” Nikalye moved forward, gently touching her cheek. “We crave each other’s scent.” He ran his thumb across her bottom lip. “Taste and touch.”
Oh wow. Belia inhaled hard, her heart beating fast.
Nikalye licked his lips, eyeing the wound on her shoulder. “I crave your blood.”
She cringed back slightly. “You…crave my blood?”
“It calls out to me, promising to clench my hunger.” Nikalye pulled Belia towards him until they knelt in front of each other on the bed. “I will not hurt you. I promised you that. We will figure this out.”
“I don’t want you to suffer though.” Her words were a whisper as Nikalye ran his lips across her jaw.
“I don’t wish to scare you,” Nikalye murmured. He kissed her gently, moving his lips slowly against hers. When she moaned, she also felt Nikalye harden against her. Pleasure shot through her as he pushed her back against the bed and, being careful of the wound on her shoulder, took her top off.
He groaned as he squeezed her full breasts gently and licked his lips when her nipples hardened into tight buds. She gasped when he plucked one of her nipples, rolling it between his finger and thumb as he captured her lips once more. She moaned into his mouth, pulled his face closer and slipped her tongue into his mouth.
Nikalye grasped her hips tight as he opened her legs with his legs and ground himself against her. He pulled her nipple into his mouth and groaned.
Belia breathed heavily, trying to control the emotions running through her. She’d never felt anything like this before. When Nikalye ran his tongue over her nipple and rubbed himself against her sweet spot, Belia arched, gripping his shoulders tight as she cried out.
Nikalye pulled at her clothes as he ran his lips down her body and opened her legs wide.
Belia felt herself growing wetter by the second, feeling it slide out of her. When Nikalye pushed her legs up, she nearly came when licked a hot trail over her and slid his tongue inside of her. Her back arched off the bed and she grasped his hair tight and pushed him further into her, wanting more from him. “Oh, Nikalye!” Her grip tightened and she twitched when Nikalye growled and slid his tongue over her clit before sucking it into his mouth. I’m going to come! Nikalye!
Nikalye moved up her body quickly and slid himself into her as she came. She threw her head back and cried out loudly while he made her explode, sliding slowly out of her and then back in, aided by the wetness that seeped out of her. Belia breathed heavily, her eyes squeezed shut.
Nikalye captured her breast into his mouth and then made her open her eyes. “Will you drink my blood? To heal your wound?”
“Won’t that change me into a vampire?”
Nikalye chuckled and bit into his wrist. “No, it will not.” He slipped his tongue into her mouth, twisting it with her as she moaned. When she sucked on his tongue, he thrust himself into her hard and growled, sliding it out. He put his wrist close to her lips.
Already the wound had healed, his skin covered in his blood. Inhaling deeply to calm the nerves, Belia put her lips around his wrist and licked the blood from him. He groaned and began to move slowly while eyeing the wound on her shoulder. When she finished, she pushed her head into the pillow and licked the excess blood from her lips.
When she lifted her hips up, Nikalye grabbed them tight and pushed himself into her. His movements grew quicker, and with Belia moving in sync, she felt her pleasure, as well as Nikalye’s rise and his cock harden.
Breathing became difficult when her entire body heated as fast as the pleasure was spreading across her body. When Nikalye sucked in a breath, she knew he was close to coming. She gripped the sheets in a white-knuckled grip and opened her mouth in a scream.
Nikalye swore and slammed himself into her, his hot come shooting into her and triggering another orgasm. Holy crap! She pulled the sheets closer to her, grabbed anything within reach until Nikalye slumped against her and blew out his breath. He moved off her quickly, drawing her against his body as she swallowed, her chest rising and falling quickly against his.
“Holy crap. Oh wow…that was…”
Nikalye kissed her. “Amazing?”
“I would have used a word that wasn’t such a simple way of describing it, but yes. Amazing. Thank you.”
“You are thanking me for sex?”
Belia blushed. “Well…it’s…I haven’t…I’ve been alone for a long time. A girl has needs.”
Nikalye chuckled and brushed her dishevelled hair away from her face. He kissed her gently and sucked her tongue into his mouth.
Belia’s arousal sparked and ignited in her stomach and she felt Nikalye harden inside of her. Her eyes widened and her lips parted as he began to move slowly again, her heart picked up speed and heat spread across her skin, making her moan. This bond is amazing!
Nikalye laughed and pulled her on top of him, gazing up at her. “It is amazing. Now, let me show you how amazing it really can be when I don’t hold back.”
Chapter Seven
A knock sounded at the door softly before it opened. Doxiak poked his head around and met Nikalye’s eyes.
He hadn’t slept like Belia had. He’d chosen to stay awake, watching her lay peacefully next to him, relaxed. He wanted her again but didn’t want to wake her. So he’d held in his feelings. Barely.
Careful not to wake Belia, he climbed out of bed. He pulled on his shirt and followed Doxiak out of the room.
Once the door was quietly shut, Doxiak spoke. “I take it Belia has recovered from what happened earlier?”
“She…I…” Nikalye was lost of words. He was unable to explain to Doxiak what happened.
Doxiak smiled and placed his hand on Nikalye’s shoulder. “The bond can affect even the strongest of people, Nikalye. Believe me, I have been around to see it happen.”
“She is human. Others will not accept her as I have.”
“The only one you have to worry about is Layla.”
Nikalye hung his head. “She will hate me.”
“She will not, but she will not trust Belia after what happened with her. It will probably take time. Now, go and wake your young beauty. Our transport is ready to take us to the beautiful warrior in speaking.”
Nikalye nodded. Leaving Doxiak in the hall, he went into the hotel room. Belia stirred as he neared and hunger for her touch and taste burned inside. As he sat next to her, she reached up to stroke his cheek and he leant down to kiss her lips. “We must hurry, our transport awaits us and Doxiak is outside the door. If you do not dress quickly, I am afraid I will be joining you in that bed and it will be quite some time before we leave.” Nikalye almost groaned as he brushed his knuckles over her nipples.
Belia moaned softly but was quick to climb across the bed to where her clothes lay across the room.
Nikalye watched her dress with hungry eyes, holding himself where he was so he wouldn’t push her against the wall and take her.
“Is it natural that I know how you’re feeling?” Belia stepped into his embrace.
“I would think it was obvious.” Nikalye rolled his hips against her to emphasise his words.
Belia sighed and pushed him away. She folded her arms and raised her eyebrows. Who knew vampires could be so…horny?
Nikalye chuckled at her thoughts and picked up her bags. He opened the door for her to walk ahead while he replied. “We are bonded. My emotions are your emot
ions, just as your emotions are my emotions.”
A smile tugged on the corners of her lips as her cheeks and neck reddened. Images of the two of them together in bed flitted through her mind and she let out a soft sigh.
“Nikalye is right. Because you are bonded, you can feel all his emotions, and he can with you. It is so you both know when one is in danger, or feeling unhappy.”
Belia smiled at Doxiak before frowning at Nikalye. “How do you know this? Don’t you have amnesia?”
“He does, but what comes naturally cannot be forgotten once it’s awakened.” Doxiak replied and led the way through the hall to the elevator at the end.
“Oh, I guess that makes sense. Kind of.”
Nikalye chuckled and pulled her close. She truly was an amazing woman.
“You aren’t Spanish.” Belia eyed Doxiak. “Why speak it?”
“It is the language you both know and feel comfortable speaking in. I use it to make you feel comfortable.”
“Who taught you?”
Doxiak smiled and met Nikalye’s eyes as they exited the elevator and stepped into the roof. “Nikalye taught me, just as he’s taught many others before that.”
“Recently?” Nikalye was surprised. I taught Doxiak and others to speak Spanish? I only ever remember teaching Layla.
“Very much so. You have been missing all but two months. We thought we would never find you. Layla knew we would, she always told us that you would find your way back. It seems she was right as usual.”
Jealously from Belia shot through Nikalye, making his heart to beat hard and his stomach knot.
“Is Layla psychic?”
Nikalye took her hand and squeezed it gently. “She is not. She just…”
“Knows things,” Doxiak finished. “A gut instinct that is always accurate.” Doxiak pulled open the door to the helicopter.
Nikalye pulled Belia close. “You have nothing to fear from Layla and me. Do not let your jealously take control, my love.”
She blushed and but kept her eyes on his despite her embarrassment. “I hate the way you talk about her, as though she’s perfect.”
“She is far from perfect—it is that which makes me so fond of her. Do not worry though. All will be answered soon enough and your mind will be reassured along with mine.” He helped her inside before climbing in behind her.
Doxiak took a seat opposite, obvious of their conversation but not showing it.
Nikalye smiled his thanks.
Doxiak bowed his head and then smiled as the helicopters propellers began to spin. “Let us see if your memories can be restored once and for all.”
Chapter Eight
Layla was meditating, facing Nikalye, Belia and Doxiak’s direction with her eyes shut, her back straight and her arms at her side as she breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly. Though it was dark, Layla didn’t seem to care. She often meditated and trained in the dark and cold.
Nikalye exhaled softly at the sight of her. She was still as beautiful as she always had been, even with her scars. With just the moon shining down upon her, Nikalye noticed she had new scars added with her old, the skin pale compared to her tanned skin.
The scars on her wrist, neck and chest were the first scars she had received while in the hands of the humans—criss-cross marks and dots making a pattern up her wrists and arms from the transfusions and jagged lines on her chest and neck where they cut her open.
More scars on her wrists, chest and face followed after from when she was killed. A circle on her forehead where a bolt had been with marks around her eyes and across her cheeks to her chin, connecting to the scar on her neck.
Nikalye had seen all of Layla’s scars. The new ones on her wrists made anger surge through him. Someone had hurt her and he had been unable to help her.
“Is that her?”
Nikalye didn’t look away from Layla as he nodded. He couldn’t speak, not when he was unsure of what to do or what was about to happen.
Does he love her?
He sighed and faced Belia. “It is complicated. My feelings for her are strange. I cannot explain it. I never have been able to, nor has anyone else.”
“Has it always been like that? She looks so young.”
“Not always, no. Only after I brought her back from bloodlust did my feelings for her change to something more. Layla is thirty years old.”
Belia’s eyes widened. “Thirty? She looks twenty or something.”
Nikalye chuckled. “And I am four-hundred and fifty-three years old.”
“I’m jealous.”
Nikalye smiled as her eyebrows rose and she stuck her chin out. “Of my non-aging skin, or the relationship I had with Layla?”
Belia chewed her lip. “Both.”
“We promised we would never go there.”
“But you forgot,” Belia whispered the words.
“I will not know until my memory has returned, but I assure you that I do not think of her that way anymore. The only woman I want is you.” He stroked her cheek gently.
“Will she feel the same?”
Nikalye was unable to answer. When Doxiak touched his arm, relief shot through him. He didn’t want to upset Belia with an answer he wasn’t sure was true.
“Come, let me escort you both over and we’ll see if your memories can be saved.”
Nikalye nodded and grasped Belia’s hand tight. They headed to where Layla meditated.
As they neared, Layla’s eyebrows rose and her lips curved into a smile. She opened her eyes and met Nikalye’s.
He stopped in his tracks, his head pounding hard. When he swayed, Doxiak steadied him with a hand on his shoulder. His vision blurred as Layla moved forward. Her touch burned his cheeks.
“Fight the darkness, Guerrero, fight it.” Her voice cut through the black veil covering his eyes.
Nikalye swore as he remembered everything. Remembered giving into the darkness Shayla had put in him, and watching her hurt Layla. Remembered the sex he wanted Layla to feel, and remembered hurting and kissing her before she stabbed him.
“Mi Belleza Oscura, I am sorry.” He touched her scarred cheeks.
Layla smiled and pulled him into her embrace. “I am glad you found your way home.” She moved back and studied him before her eyes flicked over Belia.
Nikalye could feel the hatred coming from her skin. She really did not like humans.
When she spoke, it was in Spanish. “I hope there is a good reason for you bringing a human to my home.”
“Layla—”
“I helped him find his way back. If you can’t be thankful, then that just tells me you aren’t a grateful person.” Belia also spoke in Spanish.
Nikalye stepped in between them, grasping Layla’s fist with one hand and pushing Belia behind him to keep her safe with the other. “I do not want a fight.”
Layla held his gaze, unblinking. After a few seconds, she turned to Belia. “If you hurt him, believe me, Nikalye will not stop me from ripping your throat out.”
Nikalye let go of Layla to push Belia back as she started laughing, her eyes angry.
“I get there was something going on between the two of you, but whatever that was, it’s over now.”
“Layla, they have the bond. Think before you start drawing blood,” Doxiak murmured quickly. He could no doubt feel the tremor run through the ground as Nikalye could.
Layla glanced between Nikalye and Belia, her anger disappearing instantly. Her eyes met Nikalye’s. “I am glad you finally found someone to love.”
“It seems you were right once again.” Nikalye smiled widely and turned to Belia. “She saved me.”
Belia blushed. “You saved me first, twice now even.”
Nikalye stilled, frowning. He watched Belia’s eyes move across his face.
“You don’t remember?”
“The first attack, no. I remember everything else except that.” How could it be possible to remember everything but the night Belia was attacked?
Doxiak stepped forw
ard. “Interesting. Maybe you need time. Shayla’s dark ability to control one is very strong. Even after the darkness left her, it still lingered inside you.”
“Something dark rose?” Belia whispered. “That was what you spoke about? This Shayla made you forget who you were.”
Nikalye nodded. “Yes.”
“Come inside. Let me explain everything to you both.” Layla turned away and headed away from the river and towards the mansion. The mansion he hadn’t been in since Layla and Akila were taken.
Chapter Nine
“Long story made into a short one for you,” Layla said to Belia. “Shayla drank the blood of an ancient creature known as Priscus. A Shadow Demon. By drinking his blood and killing him, she not only saved my life, but she changed into something evil. Priscus still lurked within her, controlling her. I will not put all the blame on the Shadow Demon. Shayla knew what she was doing and instead of fighting that darkness, she embraced it instead.”
“How did she get rid of it?” Belia asked in a quiet voice.
Layla met Nikalye’s eyes. “Her bonded mate cut his own throat to save Shayla and everyone.”
Nikalye’s eyebrows rose quickly. “Kaiven killed himself?”
“Yes. In doing so, his blood pushed the darkness out of Shayla.” Layla smiled widely, her eyes still on Nikalye.
“Kaiven is alive? How?
Wait what? Belia turned her attention to Layla and then Nikalye and back again, obviously missing something only Nikalye had heard.
Layla chuckled. “He is. That is another story.”
“I don’t get it,” Belia cut in before either of them could speak. “How can he kill himself but not be dead?”
“I have died three times in my life. I am alive.” Layla told her.
Nikalye took Belia’s hands. “Layla is part Spirit Demon, remember?”
“Oh, so you can’t truly die?” Belia couldn’t deny that she was impressed by the beautiful woman standing in front of her.
“I can. I found that out when Shayla squeezed my Mother’s heart and killed her.”
“Queen Surquyn is dead?”
Belia groaned. Okay, I’m lost again.
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