From the Ashes (Force of Nature #1)

by Amber Lynn Natusch

  “This was my doing,” he said aloud, drawing a collective gasp from the others in the room. “Not hers. We will be an excellent pairing and will serve you well. You will see the advantage to having Piper as one of our own one day.” As he spoke, I could feel a shift in the air around us. The king's brow furrowed for a moment, then relaxed. His entire demeanor changed, from his head to his toes. He sidestepped Merc so that his eyes could once again fall upon mine. But this time, they were not full of malice. Instead, they brimmed with acceptance.

  “Perhaps you are right, Mercenary. Your persistence in the matter speaks to your commitment to your decision. In light of this, I will grant you your request. Tonight you will be bonded to Piper. All here will bear witness to the ceremony.”

  For the first time since we’d stood before the king, Merc dared to look down at me. An uncharacteristic and mischievous smile played across his face. Somehow he'd gotten exactly what he wanted that night, and he was clearly pleased. Though my heart still raced with fear from the threat of the king's wrath, I smiled back at Merc, knowing that, finally, the bond I felt between us would be officially consecrated, making us one.

  Forever together.

  Forever bound.

  “Let us begin at once,” the king said, raising his arms in a grand gesture to the crowd. He continued speaking, but my attention drifted back to Merc, whose steel blue eyes remained fixed on me. There was something in them, an intensity, a longing, that I'd never seen before. Then, before everyone present, Merc shared the reasons for the look in his eyes. The passion that he felt for me was so plain in his words.

  “I choose you, Piper, to be bonded to me for eternity,” he started, taking my hand in his to place over his heart. “The curse of the vampire is an emptiness so profound that I cannot begin to explain it to you. But you...you are a light in the darkness I face, both figuratively and literally. Your vibrance is a beacon that leads me from the black abyss that I have fallen into countless times. I see the sunset I can no longer face in your eyes. I smell its radiance in your hair. Feel its warmth in your skin. Make no mistake, Piper, you are a fire that could consume me, and I would gladly let it. Such sweet agony...” He released my hand to cup my face, brushing a tear I didn't know I'd shed from my cheek. “You've cast a spell on me, little one. Such power you possess, and yet you doubt it. I am your mirror now, Piper. The strength you see in me will now be reflected in you. You are every bit my equal. Every bit the being that you see me as. And you—you are my soul. You will forever fill that emptiness in me.”

  I stood in awe, staring at the being before me, wondering what in my life had changed so drastically—erased a lifetime of bad luck and unfortunate circumstances—to allow me that moment. All he’d said, everything he felt, spoke to a part of me that I'd never known. Never felt before. Just as I'd awakened something in him, so had he awoken something in me.

  Something I would never let go of.

  “Piper,” the king called, distracting me from my realization. “Do you accept Mercenary as yours?”

  “Yes,” I breathed, my heart racing wild.

  “Do you know what happens now?” he asked, his tone not unkind. I shook my head. “There is an exchange of blood.” He looked at me, willing me to see the complication.

  “Oh,” I said as my eyes widened with surprise. I hadn't known about that little snafu. Perhaps that was one of the reasons the other races didn't mix well with the vampires. Maybe they knew about that little caveat going in.

  Merc, seeing my anxiety rise, smiled before unleashing his previously retracted fangs. He lifted his index finger to the tip of one and pricked it just enough to draw a single drop of blood, which he offered to me. I leaned forward, hesitating only for a moment before I took hold of his hand and placed the droplet on my tongue, drinking back the sweet liquid. My eyes rolled back in my head as I swallowed; the heat I felt from that small taste was all-consuming. I practically moaned as it traveled down my throat. Thankfully, I remembered that an entire ballroom full of guests was staring at me, and I managed to stifle that response. But when my eyes shot open, they were all for Merc.

  And judging by what I saw in his, he approved.

  It looked as though it took a great amount of control on his part to not leap forward and grab me, but he managed, if only barely. Instead, he looked to the king for confirmation, then, once given, he gently reached for my neck and drew me to him, tilting my chin up to him. Still, my heart raced.

  “Do not fear me,” he whispered, his lips brushing mine. “Never fear me...”

  Then he pushed my long black hair off of my neck, exposing the throbbing vein he sought. The source of my life. The life that spoke so deeply to him. With the sweetest of pains, he bit down into it and drank of me, filling himself with the radiance he saw in me. And with every draw, I saw flashes of his memories—memories of me outside the mansion, at the club, and during Kingston's attack. The first time he touched me. My charred body limp in his arms, the ride home from Central Park, my screams from the infirmary. The first time he spoke to me. My leaning form perched on the bridge's railing, the king's ballroom, my fight with Sylvia. The first time he claimed me. So many memories came at me like a freight train, assaulting my mind with the images of me that he held most dear.

  When he pulled away from me, that connection broke, but remnants of it lingered. I felt him, and he undoubtedly felt me too.

  “What has been freely given cannot be revoked,” the king boomed, addressing the crowd. He then turned his attention back to us. “You are forever bound.”

  Forever bound...

  I smiled at the thought.

  But my excitement was tempered by trepidation. I'd never been in love before. Never known that it could override all logic and rationality. To have known someone for such a short time and already feel the way I secretly did about him made no sense to me at all, but even still, I knew it was right. The second he showed me how he truly felt—the second I experienced that for myself through his eyes—my heart sang. Its song eclipsed the voices in my head that tried to steer me the way of reason. I didn't want reason; I wanted love. Acceptance. Passion. Safety. And with Merc, I would find all four.

  If only for a while.

  8

  Merc looked down at me with a steely reverence that made my blood rush through my veins. He'd already seen me nearly naked that night; I knew that in my mind. But the heat in his eyes was hard to comprehend. He truly didn't see my scars when he looked at me. He only saw what he wanted—me.

  And I wanted him too, there was no denying that. Like the dreams of him I'd had, filled with visions of him on top of me, inside me, consuming every bit of me that he could. That night, with him standing half naked at the foot of his bed, I wanted to be exactly where I was, and it was plain that he could read that in my eyes.

  The dream had finally become real.

  Like the predator he was, he stalked toward me, climbing onto the bed with the elegance of a lion about to pounce on his prey. But he stopped himself, hovering just above my legs to stare down at my expression more closely. Always watching. Always assessing. Then I saw the doubt flicker through his eyes. He may have viewed me as strong, but even he couldn't deny that a part of me had broken the night I was attacked. He was far too intelligent to think otherwise. He'd studied my every move afterward, undoubtedly analyzing everything I said and did. His quiet contemplation when he was around me made far more sense. He was torn between what he wanted and what he thought I needed. If I did nothing to reassure him, then our wedding night would fizzle out in a hurry.

  Time to man up, Piper...

  “So...I know it's been a really long time since I've done this, so I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure you need to come a bit closer if you want to have sex with me,” I said playfully, trying my best to be funny yet seductive. There was no reason those two things had to be mutually exclusive.

  His eyes narrowed, the desire in them pushing through the reservation they had just displayed. />
  “I didn't want to appear too eager, but I won't lie to you, Piper. I've wanted this since the first time I saw you,” he replied. “I have since realized that my intentions may not have been clear to you—that my nature made it difficult for you to see what seemed so obvious to me. But make no mistake, the thought of you has all but consumed my every thought since that night. Especially the thought of you beneath me. ” He stared down at me while he knelt between my legs, and I spread them wider, enticing him to lie between them.

  He took the bait.

  In a flash, his body was pressed tightly against mine, and it became clear just how badly he wanted me. His breathing was ragged and erratic, and his erection pulsed against me. Even with his pants on, I could tell he had a lot to offer a girl, a revelation that both excited and terrified me. It really had been a long time since I'd been with someone—years, to be exact. But what worried me most was the damage I'd sustained in the fire. It wasn't only my abdomen that had been burned beyond recognition. Everything down to my upper thighs had been as well. Though I’d healed, I hadn't exactly explored that part of my body beyond the occasional naked stand before a mirror. And that never ended well. I'd basically blocked my girly bits out of my mind, trying to forget what they looked like after the attack. I certainly hadn't played around with them to see what, if any, feeling still remained.

  With my luck, there was probably none.

  “I want to see all of you,” he whispered into my neck, grinding his body against mine. My breath caught in my throat, which pulled a growl from his. He reached behind me, unclasping my bra, and let his fingers trail along the bottom edge of it, teasing the underside of my breast devilishly as he did. He traced the clear delineation between scarred skin and smooth, kissing a line along my neck to my chest. As his lips made their way down to the top of my breast, a desperate gasp escaped me.

  He stilled instantly.

  “Nonononononono,” I protested, locking my hands in his hair. “Don't stop. Please don't stop.”

  I lowered my gaze to find mischievous eyes staring up at me.

  “But you said no,” he countered, pulling away from me slightly.

  “NO! I meant 'no, don't stop'! Not 'stop',” I argued, my heart racing with anticipation.

  A smile spread wide across his face.

  “Perhaps you're not ready for that,” he said, sliding down past my breasts to my stomach. “Perhaps here would be a better place to start.” He dragged a single finger down the line of my once-perfect abs, stopping as he met the top of my underwear. I felt my body clench at the thought of him dipping below that elastic barrier, willing him to do it. Instead he backtracked, trailing his finger back up to where it had started.

  “Nonononono!” I protested again, the note of pleading in my voice impossible to ignore.

  “No?” he asked with a quirk of his brow. “No what?” He shifted his weight to his elbows, sliding down the length of my body, his pace painfully slow. “No this?” he inquired as he grazed the skin above the line of the thin black fabric. The only thing keeping him from where I wanted him to be. “Is that what you're suggesting, Piper?”

  Before I could answer, his hand dove just below my underwear. Again I gasped, arching my back in a futile attempt to force his fingers just an inch or two lower. I needed him inside me.

  Just as he started to draw his hand out from underneath the black fabric, I caught his arm, thrusting it back down again. I positioned it right where I wanted it to be—his intended target. This time, it was his turn to gasp. Then he growled, tearing the thin fabric from my body with the flick of his wrist. I could feel his breath fall heavy and erratic on my tender flesh. The tingle of anticipation it caused was unlike anything I'd ever known.

  Then his mouth fell upon my core, and my body erupted into a fiery ball of need that bordered on pain. It was hard to process all the feelings at once. I felt like I wanted to pull him closer and shove him away as the pressure built. My body rocked rhythmically against his face as he continued to do things I'd never experienced before. I felt his finger slide inside me, drawing a guttural sound from deep within me. The tension building inside my core couldn't sustain itself much longer, and I begged him to put an end to this sweet, sweet torture. As if he'd been toying with me all along, waiting for me to tap out of our sexual exploration, he reached his finger deeper, expertly finding the exact spot needed to allow my body to let go. With a cry, my body convulsed as I let the wave of energy crash over me—through me—my muscles clenching tightly against the finger that remained behind, caught in the crossfire.

  “Oh my God,” I repeated over and over again, my head extended so far back that all I could see was the headboard. “Please...”

  “Please what?” he asked, his words suddenly tickling my ear. While I fought to put together a coherent sentence, I could hear him unzipping his pants.

  “That!” I finally blurted out. “I want that. All of it.”

  “All of it?” he said incredulously. “Are you sure about that?” He pushed his body away from mine, once again kneeling between my legs, his pants around his hips. With a smooth slide of his hands, his boxer briefs found their way down as well, exposing everything I had just claimed to want. All of it.

  I gasped at the sight.

  My mind demanded that I withdraw my previous statement, but my body told it to fuck off. Whether it was anatomically possible or not, I wanted him to slide himself deep within me until I begged him to stop or I passed out from pleasure. Whichever came first.

  “Yes. I'm sure.”

  “Then say it,” he demanded, collapsing on top of me. The raspy tone of his voice told me his control was waning.

  “I want you,” I breathed, writhing underneath him.

  “To do what?”

  “To fuck me,” I moaned as I felt the tip of him press against my opening.

  “And how do you want me to fuck you?” he asked, pulling away from me. I wriggled down, trying to reconnect us.

  “Hard? Now? Whatever, I don't care, I just want you inside me.” I was practically begging at that point. I was senseless need and little more. Merc had reduced me to that, and I loved him for it.

  Again I felt him pressing against me, splitting me open, but not entering. Always testing. Teasing.

  “Whatever am I going to do with you,” he asked rhetorically, catching my earlobe in his mouth and biting it lightly. “Have you no manners? Say please.”

  “Please,” I exhaled, arching against him.

  “Say it again.”

  “Please!” I cried out this time, whimpering with desire.

  “Now,” he said, thrusting himself inside me, “that wasn't so hard, was it?” The shot of pain that jolted through me was as intense as the pleasure that followed in its wake. He worked over every inch of my body with every inch of his, driving me to the brink of insanity. With every thrust of his hips, every hungry kiss, he consumed me until we climaxed in beautiful synchrony. He owned me then, mind, body, and soul. There was nowhere else in the world I could dream of being other than by his side.

  9

  I woke up early to find my body entwined with Merc's. His eyes were closed, still heavy with sleep, but I knew he was awake. The smile that spread across his face while I stared at him told me as much.

  “You're staring,” he said, his voice low and raspy.

  “How did you—”

  “I could feel the weight of your eyes on me.”

  “That's freaky.”

  “It's convenient,” he countered, finally lifting his lids to expose his piercing gray-blue eyes. My body shuddered when they fell upon me. And he thought I was staring...“How are you feeling this morning?”

  “Me? I feel fine. Why?” I asked, laying my head back down on his shoulder.

  He shrugged it lightly beneath me.

  “Much has happened to you in the last few hours. I want to be certain that you have wrapped your head around all of it.”

  “And that I don't regret any
thing,” I added, seeing where he was going. His silence was all the confirmation I needed. I propped up on my elbow so that I could look down at him. So that he could see my face clearly, in case my words were not reassuring enough. “I am exactly where I want to be. Last night went from horrible, to desperate, to shocking, then amazing in a flash. I wouldn't change a thing about it.” I smiled at him, leaning forward to kiss him lightly on the nose. “Well, that's not entirely true. I could have passed on the king part. That was scary as all hell.”

  “I would not have let him harm you,” he said matter-of-factly.

  My eyes widened at his treasonous admission.

  “Don't say that,” I said, my heart racing with fear. “You cannot stand against him. To do that is to sign your own death warrant. If anyone ever hears you say that...”

  “Calm yourself, Piper. Nothing will happen to me.”

  “You can't guarantee that if you challenge the king.”

  He smiled widely.

  “Do not be so certain of that.” He leaned in close to whisper in my ear. “Haven't I already?”

  My mind started to race with the implications of his words, but before it could get too far, he shot up and tackled me, pinning me back down to the bed. The weight of his body against mine was more than sufficient to derail my train of thought.

  “Do you still wish to discuss my imprudence where the king is involved, or would you prefer to do something else?” he asked, grinding his pelvis against mine. I spread my legs a little wider to accommodate him.

  “King who?” I breathed as he bent his head low to kiss along the side of my neck.

  “Exactly,” he murmured against my skin.

  * * *

  “Venturing out of your love nest to get some food?” Jase called after me as I attempted to sneak into the kitchen for some snacks. Keeping up with Merc was going to require a trip to the grocery store soon. Preferably not one in Brooklyn.