Any Price

by Faulkner, Gail

  “Yes,” Boris agreed with obvious excitement in his voice. “It’s not only sealed but protected with deadly intention. However, it called her highness and now me. I have to assume it must be something our ancestors were involved in.”

  “I know we must have joint ancestors,” Kenna agreed, “but do you know how joint? Your connection feels as direct and strong as these three but different, different from everyone else too.”

  “Ah,” Boris hesitated. “We have what could be called parallel ancestors.”

  “Wait!” Kenna held up a hand. “Does this involve anything shocking, reality altering or otherwise overwhelming? I promise to be enthralled tomorrow but right now I am full up with fantastic information.”

  “Of course, my lady.” He nodded and smiled. “Suffice to say my ancestors came here because it was the only place for them to hide among their own kind.”

  Kenna groaned and turned her face into Lore’s chest. That little snippet of information was tempting and promised such a fascinating story.

  Evening had long since fallen around them. Removed from the normal daily schedule, Lore found it was later than he’d thought. Whatever the next story was, it’d wait. Today had been enough for anyone to deal with.

  Julianna was already clearing the table and stacking the trays on the rolling cart they’d arrived on. She’d summoned the second chef to take away the meal’s remains. He was dark, but that ended his resemblance to Boris. Where Boris was almost willowy in a very masculine way, his younger brother was solid. He looked like a football linebacker in a white chef’s jacket. Kenna watched as the extended family functioned around her.

  These were no servants. The connection made them all much more than that. Each person was immediately seen and valued in a way that went beyond appearance. They were simply fulfilling their role in what needed doing. The fact was, though she and Lore were thrust into leadership roles, they were not as removed from those around them as human monarchs usually were. This inner circle was a family that crossed the royal barrier.

  The activity around them distracted Kenna from the mounting pressure surrounding Lore and herself, but not for more than a second. Pressing against his chest, she inhaled deeply. His scent was amazing, and suddenly she couldn’t get enough of it.

  In a fluid motion Lore stood to hold her chair, taking her hand as soon as she stood and leading her to the bedroom door. The room had not emptied fast enough and he was done waiting. Lore was totally done waiting for everything.

  As the door shut behind him he picked her up, their mouths met and opened as he held her against his chest with no effort. The intimate touch of this deep kiss once again soothed a raging need and yet whipped the carnal demands to almost pain. Kenna’s legs clamped around his hips as they both groaned. Her body twisted in his arms, rubbing over him with every ounce of strength she had. Then everything changed.

  Both of them felt a rushing sensation. Desire became demand as they experienced a dizzying plunge into a need that consumed all reality or awareness. There were only these two bodies that must become one.

  “I need, Lore, please I need so bad,” Kenna whispered into his mind. Both of them felt the painful contractions in her empty channel as her body tightened in unrestrained demand. Something had changed since this morning and it was Kenna paying for it.

  Lore wrenched his mouth away from hers. “My God, baby! What the hell was that?” he asked as her pain subsided.

  “Lore!” she gasped in fear. “I don’t know but it’s coming again. Do something!”

  Cursing, Lore lunged across the room and dropped her on the bed. Grabbing the waist of her slacks as she bounced, he ripped them in half with a single yank and didn’t pause as the panties were shredded off her in the next instant.

  The pain hit her and her body arched. Screaming, she dug claws into his shoulders. He fell on her, trying to absorb her pain and hold her. He was still fully clothed and she clawed at his clothes to remove them the way he’d done hers. Her nails ripped and pulled as her small body endured a wave of fire that flashed her from head to toe. Gritting her teeth as tears streamed down her face, she focused on getting his clothes off instead of the pain.

  “Let me,” he snarled, rearing back to shred his own clothes.

  Kenna grabbed the front of her blouse and yanked it over her head as the pain subsided. Her tear-bright eyes watched him as he slung shoes off and straightened to lift her fully on the bed.

  Knowing what she thought she craved and not hurting her were two different things in his mind. She wanted him in her fast and hard. He couldn’t do it without being sure she was ready. Neither of them even considered the previous arguments. Birth control issues were nothing compared to stemming the pressure that was building across her body again. Both of them felt desperation with need, but only Kenna’s body translated the lack of contact with him to pain.

  Lore’s mouth plunged down to cover her entire sex. His tongue thrust into her with a wet push that had her screaming again. Kenna’s knees jerked up and she grabbed them, pulling them apart and arching her body into his face. The sensations burning up her abdomen were ferociously intense. Her head thrashed on the pillow as his tongue sliced into her over and over. It was good, so good, but not enough. Abruptly Kenna reached down between her legs and grasped his head with a hand on either side.

  Her hands would not stop and he let her pull him up her body. Helping her with a lunge up, his mouth slammed into hers as their bodies realigned. The clash of teeth and lips brought the taste of blood. It was not a problem for either of them. There was so much need.

  Their bodies knew what to do. Both of them naked, her legs slid up the outside of his hips just as his thick cock found her entrance. It was right and it was shattering. The kiss ended as the need to look into each other’s eyes forced them to pause. It was devastatingly intimate, desperately sexual. Her body tensed as fingers dug into his hard back, urging him to take.

  “Please,” she breathed.

  His teeth bared in a primal snarl, Lore plunged into her contracting channel for the first time.

  The velvet fist of her physical need tightened around him in excruciating pleasure. His fast, fierce entrance magnified each sensation instead of minimizing it.

  An explosion of sensation crashed through them. Thick and hard, he stretched her narrow channel. Clamping down, she welcomed the urgent entry that could have been painful in normal circumstances. Pleasure ripped every other sensation from them as his body jerked out and thrust into her exactly how she wanted it.

  His kiss ground into her as their lower bodies powered into each other. It was ferocious and urgent. Kenna’s nails clawed down his back and he rolled them over so she sat across his hips.

  Gasping air in almost a scream, she sat up to get her knees under her for more power to ride the deep pleasure he’d finally given her. As she straightened, he had a good look at her face, kiss-plumped lips and a smear of blood made those lips glisten and he’d never seen anything more beautiful than his woman.

  She rode him rough. Bunching muscles burned as she propelled her body on the shaft impaling her. Her head lolled back, eyes squeezed shut, she bared teeth at the ceiling in primal abandon.

  The frantic pace of this pounding mating wasn’t enough. Kenna needed more and that need drove her. Her body collapsed on him and her teeth fastened on the tendon between neck and shoulder. Biting down hard, she growled into his flesh.

  The connection burned with the power of a midnight pyre, hot and high it flamed through minds and souls. They seemed connected in every way possible but they needed more. She was willing to take a chunk of his flesh to show him how desperately she needed something more.

  Growling low and deep, he bucked her off. Her jaw released and he flipped her over. Instinct thrust his arm under her hips to lift her to him. Flushed folds opened as her legs extended wide in natural invitation. There was no hesitation as her back arched to present herself. Grasping his cock, he positioned himself at h
er glistening entrance and plunged into her again, this time driving in deeper than before.

  Large hands gripped her hips, pulling her onto the thick spear as he thrust. His grip ensured she took all of him. Looking down, he watched his body stretch her with each deep stroke. The scent of sex intensified as she welcomed the hard use. Breathing through his open mouth allowed him to taste her surrender in a new way. Raw lust had never been so enveloping, consuming. The wet sounds of possession surrounded them, punctuated with the slap of his body powering into her.

  Overwhelming instincts still needed more. Her body stretched beneath him, presenting for his possession was not enough. Satisfying the increasingly urgent demands was not a conscious choice. There were no more choices, only need. He fell forward, his mouth opened over her shoulder to hold her beneath him in the old way, sharp points pierced skin.

  Warm, rich blood flowed over his tongue and Lore felt a rush of adrenaline detonate in him. His hips propelled cock into her with building power, slamming home in unrelenting dominance. His whole being drank in that forbidden offering. Shock had less than a millisecond to register as fierce claim overcame the last remnants of his resistance.

  They shared the sudden rush of incomprehensible energy her blood gave him. It was drinking pure power. Every nerve lit to hypersensitive, magnifying both the need and the pleasure. His body covering her, in her, drinking her, melded them.

  Kenna strained beneath him to get more, feel him deeper, and Lore gave her exactly what she demanded. The perfection was primal. Base urgency burned her as animal pleasure ignited the feral lust pounding between them.

  Harsh thrusts lit concentrated sensation. The roaring storm in her body exploded. The blast of his seed welded them together in a ferocious flight of dark pleasures lit by staggering explosions.

  The contractions went on forever it seemed. There was no other reality, no other need like the one they fulfilled in each other. Each hot jet deep in her body triggered desperate contractions that ruled both of them. His hips ground into her as his mouth clamped her shoulder.

  At last Lore pulled his mouth away from her to rear back on his knees and thrust the last jet of seed into her with his full body weight while roaring his claim to the universe. The iron grip of his hands on her hips held her on the pulsing shaft, ensuring his mark invaded the depths of her body. He could not have released her if he’d wanted to. For long minutes he ground into her relaxing body.

  Slowly the blinding haze of sexual gratification cleared. They collapsed on the bed. He lay over her, panting, still embedded in her body. They were drenched in sweat, breathing harshly but fully entwined as the internal explosions diminished and they became aware of the last—what?—ten minutes.

  Chapter Ten

  Lore’s head rested on her upper arm when his eyes opened to stare at the fresh wound on her shoulder, and his stomach knotted. He tried to shield his reaction from her but it was too late.

  Shock ate with an acid burn. He had injured her and enjoyed it. The creature within felt deep satisfaction at the marks on her flesh, there was even pride in them as if those marks meant something. The man he was now didn’t understand his own animalistic response.

  “It was us, both of us,” Kenna murmured. “We are different and we both wanted it. If anyone was an animal, it was me. I needed you exactly like that more than I needed to live. Do you remember the pain? How desperate I was to feel you in me?” Kenna’s gentle voice shook with passionate conviction. Her body was still drinking in the feel of him with an elemental joy.

  Lore gingerly pulled out of her and rolled off to the side. Kenna didn’t move save to turn her head so she could look at him. He lay on his back, one arm over his eyes, hand fisted as he tried to assimilate the viciousness of his response.

  Part of him was still shuddering in gratification at the taste of her. He’d claimed her in the most primitive way possible. Physically, he still enjoyed the unbelievably delicious taste of her blood in his mouth, down his throat, even moving through his body as he ingested. Repelled by his apparent bloodlust, he attempted to examine it.

  Something new was happening to both of them. Her blood flowing through his system ignited his body in ways that were both sexual and elemental. Yet she felt the same gratification. As if they consumed each other. Horror at what this implied receded to the background. His sense of well being was too strong. It bordered on euphoria as their thoughts twined in sensual acceptance. Shared reactions took them to a new place. The gift of blood was the key.

  Still, Lore felt uncomfortable with the direction this took them. He couldn’t deny the emotional fulfillment, but his analytical mind scrutinized the events and calculated consequences relentlessly.

  Nothing felt this good and came without consequences. It was just a rule of the cosmos. He couldn’t see past the fact that though Kenna paid for their changes in pain, he was the one who altered into some other life form. Was he a life form that had traditionally been described as a big, deadly idiot? He didn’t feel his mental capacity slipping away, but then, which crazy monster ever did?

  “I needed you just like that.” Kenna spoke softly into the silent room. “It wasn’t you asking for anything. We both knew there was another level of connection and we were desperate for it. Blood is the most personal marker. The tie we wanted to share. This is the reason we’re instinctively uncomfortable with the other entity having my blood.”

  Lore turned his head to look at her. Gazing at her beautiful face, he felt his gut clench. It didn’t matter how many times he looked at her, she stunned him. Now his fears lashed him. He couldn’t send her away, but he should. For her own protection until he had a better understanding of what the hell he was.

  “What does it make us? Me? What have we become?”

  She raised a brow. “What do you feel like?”

  “I feel different, Kenna. The type of different that isn’t able to remain sorry for doing something I know is, well, really not normal. Your blood on my tongue completes me. Everything is…” He stopped, searching for the word. “Everything is better. I’m not sure what this means. Am I losing the ability to care about anything but my own needs? Am I the monster we both suspect?”

  “Do you want to do that with another?” Kenna asked cautiously. She was unwilling to look into his thoughts. Whatever they were becoming, talking about it made it feel a little more normal. Perhaps the only normal thing about them at this point, she needed it now.

  “No,” Lore mused as he searched his feelings. “I don’t have some sort of insanely ravenous hunger either. It is part of making love to you, an intensely personal, very private connection, but only about us. How about you? Got fangs?”

  Kenna ran her tongue over her teeth. “Nope. What do they feel like?”

  “Dunno. They’re gone.” Lore frowned.

  Kenna jerked up on an elbow to look down at him. “Gone? Seriously? Show me.”

  Lore obediently pulled his lips back to show her. She stuck her finger between his teeth to feel.

  “I’m not a horse, babe,” he growled around her finger. “We can be pretty sure of that.”

  “Oh yeah? Some parts of you bear a close resemblance on occasion,” she snapped, still looking at his teeth.

  “I know, hung like one. That was what you were going to say next? Right?” He sent the words to her mentally since her fingers were still in his mouth.

  “Of course, stud. I wasn’t thinking of the south end of a north-bound animal,” she teased gently. Kenna gave up on the teeth and regarded his perfectly handsome face seriously for a few seconds, studying each feature.

  “What?” he asked as his hand caressed her side.

  “Again there doesn’t seem to be any physical change, damn it.” Kenna kept studying him as his hand slid around to cup her breast, caressing it gently.

  “Hollywood let you down on this one too?” Lore chuckled. “Hon, Hollywood doesn’t know Jack about this.” He avoided using the word “vampire” even though it wa
s the thought in both their heads. His eyes were serious as he continued. “Since the stories exist for Hollywood to tell badly, we have to assume there are, or were, others like us. Perhaps not exactly like us. Not a couple, I mean.”

  Kenna sank down on his chest. His arms folded around her as her head settled into his shoulder. “I know, the stories are about a single male or group of males. At least they started that way,” Kenna agreed.

  “You’re on the right path. I think we have to look to the origins of those stories. There is a grain of truth in them, but it’s garbled with fears and superstitions. Julianna and Yuri never said a word about exchanging blood, and I didn’t feel them hiding anything. It’s seems they don’t know about it.”

  “Speaking of them, every time we change, they do. Have you noticed that?” Kenna asked.

  “Yeah.” Lore thought about reaching out and checking with Yuri, but that would mean explaining why he wanted to know if the commander felt anything different. “They said you were the light switch and something from you flows through me. I bet that’s more correct than they know,” Lore agreed. “If we are more intensely whatever we are, it’s logical they are as well.”

  “You said you felt different. What does that mean?” Kenna wanted to know.

  “Hard to explain. I am fine at last. Those are the words that come to mind. As if I’m complete and I wasn’t before.” His hands glided up and down her back in a caress he couldn’t stop. He needed the feel of her soft skin, the weight of her body resting on his, the scent of their lovemaking drifting around them. This was perfect and nothing had ever been perfect before. “Baby, I can feel how tired you are. I’d like to make it up to you now, but you’re exhausted. Get some sleep. I’ll work on this awhile.”

  “Make what up to me?” Kenna mumbled.

  “Our first time shouldn’t have been hard and fast.”

  “Shut up. I already told you how I feel about that, and besides, if you’d taken any longer, I’d have had to kill you.”