She held her gun steady.
“Oh no, a Rip Snorter Babe fight!” Binja gasped.
Payne glanced over at him. “There will be no fight today, Binja. Put the gun away, Valentine.”
Her gaze swung to him.
“She’s not the killer here,” he warned. “Plus, all you’ll do is make pretty little holes in her clothes.”
“Oh, so now she’s innocent?”
“I didn't kill those men,” Sabrina spoke softly. “I was thrill seeking, I admit. But—”
“Well, for someone so fucking innocent? Dead, dismembered bodies sure as hell follow you around!” Valentine exclaimed.
“A beast follows me.” She stared back with cold blue eyes. “He kills anyone who gets near me.” Her voice broke, “I really loved my husband and I thought that—in Australia, we would be safe!” Tears rolled down her face.
Payne stepped close to her. “Who?”
Sabrina hesitated, as her eyes grew wide. “A Lycian.”
“Impossible!” Payne shouted.
Valentine stepped forward and tucked her gun back into the holster. “So, you’re saying he killed all those men in California?”
“I don't care what you believe. I came to warn Payne.” Sabrina released a heavy breath.
“About what?” he asked.
She turned to him. “He’ll try to kill you.”
“Why?” Valentine glared at her blonde twin.
“He thinks Payne is my mate.” Sabrina lowered her eyes.
Valentine gasped and swung her shocked gaze to him.
He raised his hands. “Oh, fuck no! Don't look at me like that!” His eyes narrowed at her.
“He never touched me, but it won't matter,” Sabrina sighed.
Payne grabbed her arms. “Who?”
“Your brother.”
“That's impossible.”
She shook her head. “He has his own clan, he wants me for a queen, the power he would have—”
“I thought it looked like him flying from that bloody field.” Payne released her arms and stepped back. “But he’s dead.”
“Who are you talking about?” Valentine drew close.
“It was long ago.” He shook his head.
“Everything was long ago, Payne!”
“Lucas, Damon’s twin, was trying to take my throne in the seventeenth century. I sent Lycian, and he killed him. He had no choice.” His eyes glowed. “Luke must have powerful help to have hidden all this from me.” His voice echoed out with a strange vibrating sound. He closed his eyes and became still.
Valentine stepped close to him.
The grass next to his feet burst into flames.
Sabrina grabbed her and yanked her back. “We’d better give him room!”
His whole body glowed brightly.
Valentine’s mouth fell open.
The wind whipped up strong as though a great whirlwind had come.
“Oh, my!” Binja shouted, as he lie flat on the ground, putting his hands over his head as blades of grass flew from the field and sticks flew around above him.
“There are only two in the whole universe who have this power,” Sabrina whispered close to her ear while they watched him grow. “One is our brother, Gio, and the other is the King of Beasts.”
At the surreal image, Valentine’s body shook with shock.
The light from him grew to blinding as Payne shimmered and disappeared.
He’s gone? Valentine gasped.
Sabrina sighed heavily and looked over at Valentine to see the glimmering white streaks in her dark hair. Her face paled. “You became his queen?” Her hands dropped away. “He spectered and you survived? You don't even know what you can do now, do you?”
“What?” Valentine slowly turned to stare at her.
“You’re connected to him forever now.” Sabrina grinned.
Valentine’s eyes filled with tears.
“You can follow him, you know?” Sabrina took her arm.
“What?”
Sabrina shook her head at her befuddled twin. “Serena, for once in your existence, you’re gonna listen to your big sister.”
“Okay,” Valentine gulped. “How do I do it?”
“Oh, is he gonna love his new queen!” Her twin gave her a mischievous grin.
~* * * *~
Paris, France
Violent tremors vibrated through her as Valentine shook while spinning endlessly in swift circles, and then everything stopped. She opened her eyes and gazed around the room. Her legs buckled from underneath of her as the room spun around her and she crumpled like a dead weight, looking upward from the floor.
“Wow!” A woman spoke from above her. “Where did you come from?”
Valentine peered up from the floor. Constance?
“Well, crap—I thought only Malias could do that.” Constance gave her a wink. “Although, he appears in a slightly more graceful way.”
“Where is he?” Valentine gasped out.
“In the other room with Jack, and boy, is he pissed!” She smiled. “He’s one beast no one wants to piss off, you know?”
Valentine sat upright and the room tilted.
“Whoa, there!” Constance warned. “I would help, but I don't think I should touch you.” She studied the striking ivory streaks. “Your hair? How beautiful,” she gasped with awe.
“I don't care what you felt!” Payne’s voice shouted from the hall. “You endangered the entire clan by letting him live!”
The women looked up to see them appear in the hall.
“Now we’ll have to...” Payne halted and stared at Valentine.
“He was wiped, Malias,” an identical voice responded. “He’s our blood brother and he couldn’t have—” Jack ran into him.
“How did you get here?” Payne glared at her.
Valentine raised a white strip of her hair. “Apparently, this queen business gives me more than just weird streaks in my hair.” She gave him a nervous smile. “And now you will never escape me again.”
Constance giggled from behind her. “Can you teach me that trick?” Her eyes twinkled at Jack.
Jack swung his surprised gaze over to her and shook his head.
Payne's hands became fists at his sides. “How?”
Valentine swallowed hard at his angry expression.
Jack stepped forward and tilted his head curiously at her.
Constance laughed at her husband’s expression. “Malias has a girl, Jack!”
His eyes narrowed at Valentine. “Yes and not just any girl,” Jack growled.
Valentine squared her shoulders with a defensive flinch.
“Yes, okay!” Payne shouted. “She’s a Merger, all right?''
Jack turned to stare at his brother. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“There’s nothing to be done about it now.”
His astonished brother shook his head. “Just because you’re a king, Malias, it doesn’t give you the right to—”
“I abdicated and dispersed the kingdom.”
Jack studied his twin’s face for a tense moment. “Well, it's about fucking time!”
“Yeah, I knew you would say that.” Payne shook his head with humor.
Constance stared at Valentine. “A Ballatori?” She reached a hand out toward her.
“Don't, Connie!” Jack jumped forward and grabbed her hands.
“I don't have a disease, you know?” Valentine placed her hands onto her shapely hips.
Jack smiled warmly at her.
It was so much like Payne's. Valentine shivered.
“Constance is a sensitive and she would know all of you and your entire history in five seconds, if she touched you.” Jack shrugged.
Valentine stared at the stunning Constance. “Then, she would know more than I do.”
“We’ll have to face him, Jack,” Payne’s gaze never moved from her face.
“I’m done with all the Clan bullshit.” His brother sighed. “Everyone should be responsible for themselves.
I will step in, only if you and Damon are in danger. Otherwise—no.” Jack shook his head.
Payne nodded and grabbed Valentine's arm.
Her gaze dropped to his hand as he squeezed hard. “We’re leaving.” He moved her toward the patio and stopped to nod at Constance. “Bella.”
“Be gentle, oh Beast King.” She smiled wide.
He visibly winced at her words while holding Valentine in a tight grip, maneuvering her to the balcony. His expression remained cold and impassive as he embraced Valentine and shot up into the sky.
~* * * *~
Jack and Constance watched them disappear. He released a troubled sigh and heard his wife giggle.
“The Gargoyle King...in love?” she noted with awe in her voice. “He always scorned it and disbelieved—always so jaded.”
Jack thought of all the years he’d hoped Malias would leave all the stupid clan war and kingdom crap behind.
Constance touched his arm. “He seems so different, more like...” She moved her body closer to his. “You.”
“Oh no, we have the same looks and that’s where the similarities end, Connie.”
She rubbed her cheek onto his shoulder. “When I first met him, he was fierce and I remember when he spectered in front of me. I mean, I was never so frightened in all my life! The mirrors cracked and all the metal in the room glowed,” she paused. “And I remember thinking how different he was than your beast.”
“He developed it to a more fearsome creature, as that was what he needed to be. Ruthless and cold—he kept the clan alive for a thousand years with that feral power.” He gazed at the setting sun in the Paris skyline. “The most feared beast to ever walk the earth.”
“Ruthless, cleaved spirits crafted to carry vengeance, while bearing stone hearts of marbled wrath.” Constance stood stock-still.
Jack set her away from his shoulder. “Where did you hear that?”
She shrugged. “He told it to me one day, when I was at Lycian Keep, training for the jungle.” She winked. “So, I could find my mercenary husband, remember?”
“I never thought I would see this day come. Malias...human?” He shook his head. “And a Merger for his Queen?”
“What does all this mean, Jack?”
“The war of the ages, my love,” he paused as the consequences hit him. “Immortal blood raining from the skies, while our entire race gets wiped out.” Jack put his arm around her.
Constance swallowed heavily and silently stared out at the streaked sky of Paris.
Jack squeezed his wife’s shoulder and experienced an unaccustomed sympathy for his powerful twin. “Unless, Luke brings it first.”
CHAPTER NINE
Somewhere over the Mediterranean Sea
Payne said nothing during the entire rushing flight as he held her close to him.
All Valentine could see was a blurring as everything went by them. Oh man, he’s really mad. Well, he did it with his so-called spectering; if he’d controlled it, I wouldn’t have the power to follow him! Her thoughts went to the memories Sabrina's grip brought. Her brows wrinkled with puzzlement. I was running all over LA in his red Mustang? He gave me his most prized possession.
Her eyes grew moist with tears. He also gave me the biggest collar of history. She remembered standing with Sabrina in cuffs at the Malibu police desk. But none of that was what I really want—I wanted him. She peered down, and by the changing landscape, she could see that they were back in Australia.
Payne set down in front of the bungalows and instead of releasing her, he swung her around and kicked the door open. He stepped in, shutting it with his boot, unceremoniously tossing her onto the bed.
“Hey!” Valentine bounced helplessly all the way across the springy mattress.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Just what in the hell was that?”
“Sabrina.”
“Sabrina?” he repeated.
“She told me about the legend of your spectering, how no one ever survived it and...” Tears welled up in her eyes. “That we’re connected forever now.”
Payne grabbed her up and drew her high above him his expression looked enraged.
Valentine never seen him angry like this before and she held her breath.
He placed his face to her stomach and slid her body down gradually over his face, halting at her chest; he took in a deep, drawing breath as if to pull in her scent as his glowing gaze rose slowly to hers.
Tears rolled from her eyes.
He lowered her down. “I’ve never seen you cry before.”
Sniffling, she turned her face away.
“Tell me.”
“I’m afraid.” She bit at her lower lip with the admittance.
“You...afraid?” He looked mystified.
She nodded.
“You know no fear, Valentine.”
“I’m afraid to lose you. That you don't care enough.”
“I’ll never leave you again.” His eyes glowed at her while he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her.
The familiar heat flamed in her body immediately and she grew wet just from the feel of his warm penetrating mouth on hers. Valentine remembered how powerful their kisses were. The world would drop away like an abyss around them and she would float through a sensual place where only he existed; his touch and his voice bringing her to a sensuous existence, she could only enter into through him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her body tightly and desperately to his.
He kissed her breathlessly for a long time, delving into her mouth with a fierce needing exploration. Payne used a plunder-like penetration, trapping every bit of her tongue while sucking on it and caressing it with his. More than a kiss, it was a melding of their innermost passions unleashed with a bruising of her lips as though he were thirsty for her very essence. He broke the intense oral plundering and looked into her eyes.
“I discovered...” Her breathless pant came in a rush with her words. “That I love you.”
Payne tugged her to his chest and grabbed her ass with his hands, forcing her body closer to his. He lowered his hands to her pants and unsnapped the buttons, sliding them down over her hips. “Say it again,” he growled low as he unzipped his own jeans.
In anticipation of having him inside of her, she seeped with more moisture. “I love you, Payne.”
His expression remained intense as he lifted her and braced her hips with his hands, thrusting his cock high into her.
Valentine sucked her breath in and shuddered at the exquisite feeling of his cock filling her completely.
He tilted her away and pulled from her.
Her body quaked with a severe tremor of need to feel another glorious thrust. “I love you, Malias.” Her voice shook.
At her declaration, he guided her down hard onto his throbbing cock again and held her there while grinding deep into her.
“Unh,” she moaned while he throbbed inside of her. “Oh!” She threw her head back with the penetrating grinding, and simply reveled in the sensuous impalement for a long shuddering moment. Rising up, her lips met with his satisfied smile. “I love you, my king,” she whispered breathlessly into his mouth.
Smothering her mouth with his, he kept her body locked to his and imprisoned her lips while moving her back to the bed. He laid her down, stripped away her blouse along with her bra, and pulled out of her.
Her body jerked at the separation as she moaned low and stretched her lithe body out on the bed, her hands caressing a path to her own breasts. “The only time I feel whole is when you possess me.” She seductively smoothed her hands along her body. “I will give you anything you want.” She opened her legs wide to his gaze as she placed an inviting hand on each thigh, spreading them even wider. “Anything you need.”
His eyes glowed down at her and his skin marbled. “Are you sure?”
“I am just for you.”
Payne grasped her legs and spread them open, pulling her to the edge of the bed. He paused while looking over her heaving body
and gazing into her eyes.
“Do I have to beg?”
“You don't beg.” He tilted his head at her.
“I would—to have you,” she panted.
He drew his pelvis closer to her hips.
“Please, Victor?”
He gave her a Payne-like wicked grin, plunging up and forward into her.
“Mmm.” Releasing a light growl, she locked her hands behind his neck.
With powerful force, he thrust into her repeatedly and grabbed her ass cheeks to deepen the penetration.
Valentine marbled and gripped his hips with her thighs as they rose from the bed.
His eyes widened as they floated higher.
She giggled and flipped him over. “I learned from the best.”
He did appear surprised and his eyes danced up at her with amusement.
“You will give your queen everything she needs,” she growled low.
The startled beast king blinked up at her. “I am your humble servant.” A twinkle appeared in his eyes.
“Mmm, so wonderfully built.” She slid her slick pussy up and down repeatedly in a sensuous rhythm on his hard pulsing cock. “Built just for me.”
Payne watched her sweet greediness as she satisfied herself.
She lowered her torso and lifted her breasts. “Taste!” she commanded and placed a nipple to his lips.
Obediently, he latched on and sucked on a rosy tip.
Moaning loudly again, she continued her gratifying grinding pleasure.
He nibbled on her nipple. “Slow, or you will make me...” He winced.
Valentine met his lips with hers. “What? Make you come?” she taunted with a wicked purr while she placed the other nipple to his mouth. “Yes, that’s what you’ll do, my sweet king; you’ll give me all of that glorious, hot cum.”
He dutifully suckled on her nipple.
She grinded herself on him with a slow, delving rhythm. “Mmm.” Valentine was without inhibition, while her muscles rippled with ecstasy.
Payne’s body grew rigid and he tensed beneath her.
“Yes, my king, come inside of me,” she whispered with ecstatic pleasure as she felt his hot cum bolt up inside of her. An orgasm swept through her with a surge of gratifying bliss. Her head fell back, her long black hair streaming out behind her like a living, rippling wave of streaked silk, while her skin marbled to a light pink.
Voracious Vixens, 13 Novels of Sexy Horror and Hot Paranormal Romance Page 209
