“And what of the humans? With vampires free to roam, with our kind unchecked and seducing to feed, who protects them?”
To both our surprise, he began to laugh. With a sideways glance at the fireplace and a wave of his cane, red flames sprang to life. “You do. With some help, of course. Do what you do best, but do it together.”
With that, he turned, ducked, and entered the blaze. No goodbye. No mention of when he’d be back. No indication of what the next step was supposed to be.
Before either myself or Alva could react to his departure, there was a knock on the front door.
“Shall I get it?” Alva asked aloud.
“You know that’s the first time you’ve ever spoken directly to me, right?” I queried.
Chapter 20
Sorrel
A second rap on the door spurred Alva into action. Wings hanging low, she made for the egress but paused before reaching for the handle.
Not able to pick up on her emotions, I asked, “What wrong?”
“Nothing,” was her instant reply.
“So open the door,” I urged. “I think we’re beyond worrying over who knows what.”
Our arrangement was strange. Two beings, one body. Two minds, one soul. If you believed in that sort of thing.
I saw through her eyes as she saw through mine. Sound, sensation, and pain were all shared but processed differently according to our individual perspectives.
Her hand held steady while she made her decision. Taloned nails retracted, wings disappeared, and without checking, I knew the horns and tail remained.
“Compromise?” I inquired quietly.
“No more hiding,” she answered, grasping the door handle and twisting the knob.
He stood a few paces back, his left hand holding the strap of a heavy pack that hung over his shoulder, and the other pushed into the front pocket of his jeans.
A few wayward strands of hair draped over his eyes as he smiled and tilted his head.
Alva instantly perked up, and if the bitch licked her lips I wouldn’t have been surprised.
“So you chose horns over wings? Interesting.”
“You can’t have it all, Sorin. Something has to give.”
His amusement shone in his eyes. “Apparently not. Your father just left, I take it?”
Eyes narrowed, we looked at him for a moment before stepping aside and holding the door open.
He accepted the nonverbal invitation and came inside, dropping his pack by the kitchen table and slipping off his jacket. “He seems like a decent… what’s the preferential term?”
“Asshole?” I suggested helpfully, as I closed the door and locked it.
He shrugged. “If that’s your take. How are you doing?”
“What are you doing here?” I asked, getting straight to the point.
“Your father sent me,” he divulged.
“I’d never have guessed,” I drawled, heading to the coffee table to retrieve the two dirty mugs and taking them to the kitchen sink. “Why did he send you here?”
Arms hanging loosely by his sides, he just shrugged. “We have a common goal. He thinks we should work together to achieve it.”
“That’s nice.” Sarcasm dripped from my tone. “And what do you think?”
“I only know what I’ve seen and—”
“That’s not what I asked,” I interrupted, turning on the faucet to fill the sink. “If you take away all the premonitions, all the circumstances, every shitty event that brought the two of us together, and the influence of a meddling demon who apparently has no issue overstepping his boundaries, what do you think?”
His footsteps were quiet on the hardwood floor. But with Alva’s hearing, I was able to count all six of them before he stopped and placed his hand on my waist. “I think,” he murmured, his breath ghosting across my ear, “that you should stop thinking and start feeling.”
“That’s easier said than done,” I admitted, ignoring the way my body lit up at his touch. “If I act on instinct, people get hurt. If I think it through, use reason, take it slowly—”
“How many have avoided being hurt because you acted on instinct?” he challenged, reaching for my hair with his free hand and brushing it over my shoulder so he could see my face.
I continued facing the kitchen window, my eyes firmly fixed on a single flower out in the garden as he continued, “Are you telling me your actions on the road and in the diner were planned? You claimed to be selfish once, describing other witches as altruistic. I’ve had firsthand experience of that being entirely untrue. You, Sorrel Alva Bishop, are nothing short of inspirational. Even in a world where you’re entirely misunderstood, underestimated, and even feared, you fight for equality. I think you can afford a little self-gratification after all you’ve done so far.”
I didn’t have a response for that, not even my go-to sarcastic one. Annoyingly, Alva wasn’t forthcoming either.
He turned me slowly. I didn’t resist, meeting his gray-green eyes with my own. Something had changed with him. Whether it was because he was away from the other two, or he’d had some kind of epiphany since we’d parted ways, I didn’t know, but he was different.
“You’re not alone in this,” he stated, holding my gaze. “I’m not here because he sent me, I’m here because it’s where I’m supposed to be.”
I swallowed thickly, trying to clear the lump that had formed in my throat. “Is that what your visions have shown you?”
His lips twitched in one corner. “No. My visions showed me something entirely different. That would have led me here eventually, I have no doubt, but my instinct was to come to you now.”
“Why?” There was no hiding the confusion in my tone. Alva rolled her eyes.
“First, because I was worried. You took on a fae and two dragonkin alone, and while we’ve been in contact since, I wanted—no, needed—to see you in person.” He paused, holding my gaze for a moment before wetting his bottom lip with his tongue. “Second, we have unfinished business. I’ve come to make that right.”
“You smooth bastard.” His cockiness held no bounds.
His grin was ridiculous, and I couldn’t stop myself from matching it.
My smile appeared to give him the confidence to make his move. With his eyes trained on mine, he closed the distance, and I weighed my options. Dodging would be easy the first time, but he was here to stay, at least for a little while.
My tail rose, curling up and over my shoulder to flick my hair, the motion causing my hips to sway.
Alva. Traitorous bitch.
I didn’t want to kiss him. I certainly didn’t want to give off any welcoming signals. Did I?
“I see your sister agrees,” he remarked, allowing his eyes to flick to the barbs hovering over my shoulder.
“She isn’t my sister.”
His lips quirked up as he glanced to my horns. “No. That’s right, she’s all you and you’re all her. You just need to reconcile yourself.”
“Reconcile myself?” I parroted, acutely aware of where he’d heard that and his proximity. He wasn’t touching me, but somehow his presence was all-encompassing. I fought the effect he was having and argued, “Have I had a minute’s privacy since we’ve met, or do you pick and choose which conversations you eavesdrop on?”
Alva was loving it. With her new, more prominent status came a greater sense of self, and she was more than happy to make her introductions to Sorin. But I couldn’t hand her control. Not like this. Not with him.
He stepped closer still, reaching up with his right hand to skim his fingers over my hair. “Sorrel, I know you well enough to understand how this works and why, but you’re missing so much. People love you.”
At my eye roll, he insisted, “It’s true, even when you’ve been your least loveable, they’ve seen the very best in you. You’re smart, fair, incredibly altruistic, and most of all, you’re entirely unique. You just have to learn to let them in.”
There it was again. That damned word. I was beg
inning to wish I’d never used it. It seemed he had a gift for creating his own list of buzzwords to use against me.
I was a lot of things, but selfless wasn’t one of them. The argument was on the tip of my tongue, my examples, the hundreds of reasons why he was wrong, but before I could get a single syllable out, he closed the distance between us and kissed me.
I wasn’t surprised by his kiss. Not one bit. It was soft. Tentative. Welcome even. He’d promised this was what he wanted, told me this was what he intended the next time we met.
What I was taken aback by was Alva. The succubus, the demon side of me that fed on lust, relied on it to remain a prominent part of me, stepped away from the encounter, denying herself the longed for taste of our enigmatic acquaintance.
“Stop pushing her away,” Sorin murmured against my lips before breaking the contact. “That isn’t how this works.”
I instantly missed his presence and stepped forward as he backed up, subconsciously trying to keep him close for as long as possible. “Wh—I didn’t. She backed off.”
Without thinking, I reached for his hand, lacing my fingers through his and guiding his body back to mine. “She isn’t always here. She comes and goes.”
He shook his head, scanning my face. “You have to find peace with what you are. You’re not Sorrel without Alva. She isn’t Alva without Sorrel.” He held my waist with both hands and pulled me forward, one arm snaking around my back. “I want all of you, not parts of you. You deserve the freedom to be yourself. If you can’t have that with me, then this is never going to work.”
Hearing that from him was sobering. After a lifetime spent in hiding, denying his heritage to keep himself alive, and he was offering me acceptance. I swallowed. “I told you before, there is no this.”
“Give me the night,” he bargained with a lazy wink. “Take some time to be yourself. You never know, letting the defenses down might do you some good.”
Half of me wanted to say yes, while the other more rational part of me knew he’d either get hurt by Alva, or he’d freak out. No man in their right mind would sign themselves up for that clusterfuck. “You think you want me, Sorin, but I can assure you it’s never going to be what you need. It can’t be. I can’t be.”
With a slow shake of his head, he smiled and turned away, firmly gripping my hand. He didn’t say another word while leading me to my bedroom.
I followed mutely, but willingly. I wasn’t going to turn him down. The truth was, I wanted him as much as Alva did. I needed him. Right now, he was the only person who was able to understand, not only what I’d been through, but where I was going. And it wasn’t only because of what he’d seen.
There was sincerity in his tone and adoration in his eyes that I could tell had nothing to do with what I could offer him.
This was entirely based on his wants. His needs. And right now, it was all me.
Chapter 21
Sorin
I led and Sorrel voluntarily followed as she laced her fingers through mine.
Every word I spoke to her was the honest truth. I wanted all of her. Not because of what she could offer me in terms of her role in the coming conflict, or even for the unique experience her succubus could provide on a sexual level. I wanted her because she spoke to me in ways no one else ever had.
I wanted the sassy, independent witch who didn’t need anyone’s help. I wanted the barely contained sadist prowling beneath the surface of the selfless, kind, and compassionate woman she fought so hard to hide from everyone she met.
Most of all, I wanted to love her.
She’d been worshipped by others. Men of all races had fallen at her feet and begged her to keep them, but none had really loved her, certainly never for anything so simple as just being herself.
When the door closed behind her, I turned to take her in. “Why?” I asked, noting she’d returned to her human appearance.
She swallowed, her tongue swiping across her bottom lip to wet it before she released my hand and answered, “I can’t risk hurting you.”
The raw honesty proved it all. “You won’t hurt me,” I told her, closing the distance between us. “I spent a year setting up our meeting, expecting the opposite of who you are. I’d only seen flashes, just horns and wings and razor-sharp claws, but even through those the best of you still shone through. Then I saw you, I got to know you. I’ve watched you face most other people’s fears head-on, and you’ve come out stronger than ever. I’ve seen you defend those who have done nothing to deserve it. I know what you’ve suffered, Sorrel. You deserve to be happy. I’m not claiming to have that power, but I want to at least try.”
“So why does it matter how I look?”
Her voice was thick with emotion, another side of her I’d never experienced. The need to touch her was overwhelming, and I didn’t fight it as I reached for her, cupping her soft cheek in my palm. “It doesn’t. I love all of you. I just want you to let your guard down and be yourself, even if it’s only this once.”
I traced the back of one finger down the side of her face, continuing lower to splay my palm over her throat. She swallowed as my thumb pressed into the hollow. She sucked in a breath, as though expecting me to apply pressure, but that wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t need to assert my dominance, I needed to get to know her, to familiarize myself with every curve and contour of her body. Tilting my head slightly, I placed a chaste kiss on the corner of her mouth before moving on. Maintaining eye contact, I brushed the curve of her breast with the backs of my fingers.
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” she offered with a small, hesitant smile.
“It’s not about seeing, Sorrel,” I murmured, moving my hand to the dip of her waist and pulling her close. “More like letting yourself go.”
“I can’t do that,” she whispered stubbornly, her breath warm against my ear. “I don’t want to—”
I cut her off with a kiss and turned her toward her bed. Holding her firmly with one hand on her waist, I pressed the other against her chest and explained, “I’m not here for pieces. I want all of you. You already have all of me.”
Whether she understood the meaning behind my statement, I wasn’t sure, but I was beyond asking questions.
Reluctantly, I released her waist and took a step back before tugging my shirt over my head and discarding it.
When I looked up, her gaze was fixed on my right shoulder.
“Who shot you?” she questioned, her tone sharp.
There was a slight tremor in her fingers that was contrary to the anger in her tone as she reached out and traced the puckered scar.
I took her hand, raised it to my lips, and kissed the tips of her fingers, then answered, “I’ve been to war before. I know how it works, and I’m prepared to put my life on the line for you. I already have.”
Eyes averted, she laced her fingers through mine, and with a slow exhale, she released her wings.
They tore the fabric of her shirt as they broke free, and the fabric fell away. But I kept my eyes fixed on hers and tugged her closer.
She allowed me to guide her toward me, bringing her body against mine, and smiled as I reached out with my free hand to trace the edge of her right wing.
The dark gray membrane was warm and soft beneath my fingers, and her involuntary sigh was followed by sudden and complete relaxation of her body.
“You like that?” I asked, trailing my fingers in long, slow strokes along the more sensitive lower section of her wing.
Her head rolled to the side, exposing her neck, and I kissed along her pulse point.
She arched her back, pressing her bare breasts against my chest, and I left the wing, released her hand, and lowered her back onto the bed.
With her wings fanned behind her, the black of her wings against the white of sheet created such a stark contrast. But I didn’t stop to enjoy the sight for long, my need and hers wouldn’t allow it.
She watched through lowered lids as I took the waistband of her layered skirt a
nd peeled it down, exposing her shapely hips, plain black panties, and the creamy skin of her toned thighs.
Letting the fabric pool on the floor at my feet, I lay at her side, careful of the sensitive skin of her wings, propping my head on my right hand to look down at her beautiful face as I cupped a heavy breast and brushed her puckered nipple with my thumb.
“Not so terrifying as you made yourself out to be,” I teased, kissing her mouth as she reached for the button on my pants.
“Haven’t gotten these off yet,” she countered with a wicked grin, making short work of the button and the zipper. “Nice to see you came prepared.”
My cock strained against the fabric of my boxers as she splayed her hand and ran the flat of her palm against me, but I wasn’t ready to move on just yet.
I made slow work of exploring her body, tracing every curve and dip with my fingertips until I was positioned between her barely parted legs.
She raised her knee, hooked her ankle around the back of my thigh, and forced me closer. Her hand pressed against my chest as her mouth claimed mine. I rolled my hips, and she squirmed at the feeling of my hard cock brushing against her pussy through her panties.
Her body tensed beneath me, and she tilted onto her side. I took the hint and lifted her, rolling to position her on top.
Caught up in the moment with lust and hunger filling the room, she didn’t have the patience to remove her panties, and instead, reached between us and pulled them to the side as she arched her spine to angle her pussy.
I groaned at the heat of her sliding over me, the intense pleasure of sinking deep inside of her too great to keep in.
She pulled back, holding my gaze, and with her so close, I couldn’t help myself. The feel of her body taking pleasure from mine was so intense, I was losing myself in a sea of desire and adrenaline, and when I drew her to me and kissed her, it spiked again. I could only assume she was feeling the same, because she crushed me against the bed, grasped my wrists, and forced them over my head.
Vengeance Page 15
