by Marian Tee
I was in another – was I on my third or fourth? – bout of shock by the time he ended his call. “Luka, did you just---”
He cupped my face again, making me meet his eyes, which were so intensely bright it made me blink. “Tomorrow, I’ll explain everything. But right now, you just need to know we’re both okay and I will never let anything – anyone – harm even a single strand of hair on your head.”
“But---”
Luka placed a finger on my lips. “Tomorrow.”
Knowing that Luka wasn’t to be swayed when he was in this mood, I nodded against his lips. When his fingers lifted, I muttered, “You better mean that.”
“I do.” We started walking again and a little while, we reached his car – a flashy red Lamborghini I had never seen him drive before. Seeing my questioning glance, he said wryly, “I was in a hurry so I drove the first car I saw – it’s my grandfather’s.”
A nervous laugh escaped me, and then I laughed some more because I felt like I needed something to laugh about, after everything that transpired. Luka’s grandfather had been a notorious ladies’ man in his younger days. Even though he was happily married for decades now, he was still one of the most charmingly flirtatious men I had ever met.
Patting the hood of the sports car, I said with a forced smile, “I might have guessed. You’re not the type to drive this car. This one, I’ll have an easier time picturing Jeff---”
Oh, shit.
Everything that happened – the attack, the man’s death, Luka’s call to the Brethren – all of it faded away at the sight of Luka’s cold fury.
I cringed when Luka slammed my door shut the moment I was safely ensconced inside the car, and I couldn’t help cringing again when he slammed his door shut as well.
Before I could say something, Luka exploded. “Did you want to date that boy so badly you’d do anything---even if it meant lying to your parents? Was he the reason why you’ve been acting so wild the past three years?”
Luka was shouting.
I could only stare at him in horrified silence, my hands cupped over my mouth.
“Did you never even pause to think---” Luka stopped speaking, visibly struggling to hold on to his control. “Did you ever pause to think what would your parents feel if they found out you attended this kind of party? Attending this event would constitute as a violation, Caylie! They---” He jerked his head towards where we came from. “---may be forgiven for their first violation, but you won’t be. You’re already under rehabilitation. One whiff of this and you’d be in the dungeons. For fifty fucking years!”
Luka gripped the steering wheel tightly. “Did you even pause to think what it would look like if the press got a wind of this and saw me in this kind of party? You know…you fucking know I won’t be able to stop myself from taking you away from this place, but would it be worth sacrificing my fucking career for this party, for that boy, for just one night of---”
“Cerra ti!” It meant shut up in our language and I used the words deliberately because it was cruder that way, harsher, more contemptuous because that was exactly how I felt. “How dare you lecture me when you lied to me as well!” Frustration made my voice shook. “You said you were going to the Brethren, but you didn’t! You fucking went to those dogs because you wanted to marry a bitch!”
They were cruel words, despicable and shameful words that I would have never thought of saying – would never even have thought of them if I didn’t feel so betrayed by Luka. I had nothing against Lyccans. I believed in allying our race with others. But somehow, all those pragmatic thoughts fled from my mind at the realization that Luka was about to marry a werewolf princess.
It hurt but not because she wasn’t one of our kind.
It hurt because once again, Luka had fooled me into thinking I mattered when I no longer did, not when he had again found someone who was more of use to him.
"Dog lover." But I regretted those words, too, the moment I said them.
His fangs went out. That, combined with the look of hurt incredulity on Luka’s face, and now the painful silence when Luka seemed suddenly bereft of words---all of it made my heart shudder in panic. I wanted him to hate me, to regret leaving me, but now that push came to shove – I realized I couldn’t do it.
I just…couldn’t.
"Luka---"
He shook his head. When he started to speak, I knew the words he would say were something I wouldn’t want to hear. We knew each other well, Luka and I, more so than it was right for us.
I launched myself in his arms. “I’m sorry!” It was a near-impossible thing to do, with the limited confines of the car, but I did my best, settling on my knees as I straddled Luka on his seat. In my mind, I could still see the pain on his face and I loathed myself for it.
More than anyone else, I should know that Luka only sought an alliance with Lyccans for the sake of our race’s survival. The Brethren – to be accepted by the entire Caro society – meant everything to him, enough for him to forsake his childhood…to forsake even me.
He stilled as I landed in his lap. I took advantage of course, my arms going around his neck as I pressed my lips to his. “I didn’t mean it, Luka. I know…I know protecting our race means everything to you.”
He tried to pull away, but I went after him, doing my best to coax his lips to part, nibbling his lips, and teasing it with tiny licks as I rubbed my scantily-clad body against his. Even as heat invaded my body, I almost cried in relief when I felt something hard starting to stir between my thighs. With my short dress hiking high almost to my waist, Luka’s hardening erection bulged against my thongs, which were slowly getting wet.
“Luka, I’m sorry,” I whispered against his lips.
But still he didn’t answer.
Passion was my only weapon against Luka’s iron control, my only way to get past the coldness of his anger. Luka getting mad at me was a rare thing, but when he did – it scared me, but more than that – it pained me.
“Please.” Closing my eyes, I let my lips trail down, leaving kisses on his skin until I reached the strongly beating pulse on Luka’s neck.
Luka knew instantly what I was up to, and he tried his best to rear back into his seat, away from my lips. His actions made me giddy with relief. It meant that even after all these years, his weak spot hadn’t changed---a secret I instinctively knew was only mine to keep.
My fangs went out, and I bit him, not to draw blood but just enough to leave a mark on his skin.
Luka bucked in his seat, and then his arms were around me, his lips parting but only so he could conquer mine. I melted against him, relief and desire making my body utterly soft and compliant even as my fingers clawed into his hair, even as I gasped out loud when his lips left me so he could return the favor. I gasped again as his fangs sank into me for a second and I moaned, my body shuddering in utter pleasure. Just a millimeter more and he would have drawn blood. That was the ultimate forbidden pleasure, and that Luka, the most straitlaced Caro I knew, was almost doing it to me---
“Luka.” I couldn’t help moaning his name as my knees pushed inward, as if by doing so I could control the heat pulsing between my legs. Even so, I couldn’t help rubbing against him more insistently.
A gasp broke out from me when I felt his hands climb up on my body, all the way to my breasts, which he cupped with sure fingers, the gentle firmness of his touch evoking something inside me, making me want to submit. The way he kneaded my flesh was so wonderfully sure – no fumbling touches, but all heated and passionate knowledge, the absolute assurance that he knew what he was doing and that all he wanted to do was to please me.
“Caylie,” Luka said, his voice huskier than I ever heard him speak.
“W-what?” It was hard not to gasp the word, not when he kept on squeezing my breasts, his fingers moving up to twirl my nipples before pinching them. I squirmed and moaned, he groaned and pushed up harder against me, our bodies rocking against each other.
Luka pulled me down hard on him
, grinding his erection against my now-wet thong. I couldn’t help moving against him more restlessly in response, and Luka squeezed my breasts as if scolding me. “Stop moving.”
Shaking my head, I gasped out, “I can’t!” And my hips moved even more aggressively against him, as if emphasizing my words.
He squeezed my breasts harder, growling, “Caylie.”
I shuddered. Ah, God of Caros, to hear Luka growling my name was…heavenly. And such a fucking turn-on I could feel myself getting wetter. “Say my name again,” I pleaded.
He growled, a rough, wordless I’m-so-horny-I-could-hump-you-like-crazy kind of growl. And that Luka, the perfectly etiquette-conscious Luka was doing this kind of growl…
I moaned.
“Fuck, Caylie,” he rasped.
I moaned again. Luka and dirty talk combined in one sentence was enough to have me climaxing.
“Do you have any idea how long I’ve fucking dreamt of this?” he demanded.
I shook my head. All those F-bombs of his had me incoherent with desire.
He cupped my face, his jaw tight. “Fucking forever, Caylie. Every fucking night---”
“Luka, please!” Body up in flames, I looked into Luka’s eyes, which burned violet fire. It incinerated whatever remaining pride I had left. All thoughts of vengeance were forgotten. Now, all I could think of was him. “Luka---”
The word was barely out of my lips by the time Luka had already pulled my dress down. It bunched around my waist like a discarded chastity belt of silk, baring my breasts completely to his gaze. I couldn’t help arching toward him, all inhibitions forgotten, instincts telling me that only Luka’s touch could tame the wildness coursing through my body.
And then his head lowered.
“Luka---aaaaaaaaaah.” His lips were on my breasts and then moving to suckle one nipple ever so gently, his tongue lavishing it with heat just before his teeth closed around it.
“Oh, God,” I sobbed as he started sucking harder. One hand circled my breast, plumping it so he could taste more of my flesh.
“Luka, oh God, Luka.” He switched to my other breast, giving it the same almost-worshipful treatment until I was a sobbing mess in his arms, my fingers clawing into his hair even more wildly, hips bucking against him with complete abandon.
“Caylie.” His harsh whisper made me look up, and I shivered when I saw the look of possessiveness in his eyes, mingled with both glittering triumph and a tender-soft light that I couldn’t at the moment understand.
“Have you let another guy touch you here?” His fingers pinched both my nipples at the same time he snarled out the question.
I gasped my answer. “No.” It was true.
“Good.” Possessiveness coated his voice like a vibrant layer, extending to every inch of me. And then his head dipped, sucking my nipple back into his hot, moist mouth just as his fingers dipped past my bunched-up dress. His fingers slipped inside my thongs, and then he was touching me there, finding with ease the part of me that I had never been tempted to touch.
With just a few flicks of his fingers, which alternated with the bites and licks he gave my nipple, Luka brought me to an orgasm, one that had me shuddering and crying his name out over and over. I moaned and sobbed his name over and over, and each sound seemed to make him shudder harder and harder, his arms tightening around mine as he dry-humped the quivering and sensitive triangle of flesh between my legs.
I think…I think I passed out for a while, due to sheer exhaustion. When I woke up, I was still in the car, still in his lap, but I was properly dressed, and Luka was stroking my hair.
For a moment, I laid still, waiting for the old familiar waves of bitterness and rage to batter against me. But there were none. There wasn’t even an ounce of guilt for betraying myself.
Oh God of Caros, I was so pathetically weak.
“Luka?”
Luka’s heartbeat didn’t even change, telling me he knew the very moment I woke up, as if our hearts were tied together and beat as one. “You could have been sent to the dungeons for what you did tonight, Caylie.” The chill was back in Luka’s voice.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“You lied to your parents, not to me.”
“But I know I disappointed you, too,” I said, my voice muffled against his shirt.
“Yes, you did.”
The flatness of his voice made me unconsciously clutch his shirt. “I’m sorry.”
“Did you want to go to that party so badly?”
“Did you want to go to her party so badly?”
Luka expelled a furious, impatient breath. “I have my reasons.”
“And I have mine,” I said flatly, staring unseeingly at the newly awakened day outside Luka’s car. Luka had so much power over me it was terrifying. In just an instant, he had managed to demolish the hate that had burned inside my heart for years. But it didn’t mean he had to know that.
“Were you jealous?”
The question stunned me, but I recovered quickly enough to ask baldly, “Were you jealous?”
“Fuck yes!” Luka hissed the words out, and his suddenly biting tone stunned me more than the fact that he had cursed again. He forced my chin up, our gazes meeting, his fiery and violent, mine dark and unreadable.
“You’re mine, Caylie,” Luka growled.
The unmistakable sound of possessiveness in his voice made me swallow and other parts of my body react. Luka’s nostrils flared, and I knew he had noticed how my flesh was once again quivering in anticipation.
Shit.
God of Caros, why couldn’t I stop being so weak with him?
“Answer me, Caylie.” Luka’s voice, ordinarily gentle and compromising, was completely hard and demanding.
His masterful voice tempted me to submit once again, to let him take me and own me. In fact, a large uncontrollable part of me wanted to do just that.
I forced myself to shake my head, doing my best to resist the magnetic pull of Luka’s dominance. “No.” I uttered the lie in a flat tone.
“Caylie---”
“I’m not yours, just like you’re not mine.” It hurt to say the words, but I managed to keep my voice from shaking. “I won’t lie about wanting you. It would be stupid to, after what just happened. But this…it’s only the inherent weakness we have as Caros at work.”
Luka cursed.
I doggedly continued, “We have always been each other’s greatest obsessions---”
“Cut to the chase,” Luka snapped.
I flinched, the contempt in his voice almost knocking me sideways with the pain it caused. Even after everything he had done to me, I still couldn’t stop myself from hurting every time he showed how much he disapproved of me.
Lifting my chin, praying that none of the pain inside me showed on my face, I said softly, “Let’s stop beating around the bush. This time, we both know where we stand in each other’s lives. This time, we’ll stop with the pretenses.”
Luka whitened.
I pretended not to see it, pretended that my heart wasn’t bleeding with every word I said. “This time, we don’t need to call or see each other as friends. I have no claim to you in any way and you will have no claim to me in any way. You’re free to…” I swallowed. “You’re free to do whatever you want with the Moretti princess. I won’t stand in the way of your ambition because that wouldn’t be in anyone’s interest. I understand that it’s in everyone’s favor if you were engaged with her.”
I forced myself to give Luka a seductive smile, one that promised him all the sinful pleasures that both blood and flesh could bring. “This time, we simply…indulge.”
Chapter Five
28 Months Ago
Dear Cayan,
I am sending to you today a young man who is in dire need of your help. He may turn vampire any moment, and you are the only one I know with the power to stop him. He is vital to our world’s survival so I urge you to do your utmost to save him.
I have high hopes in him so please t
ake him under your wing and keep him there for as long as needed. His name is Luka Georgiades…
Sincerely,
Domenico Moretti
Phillip was chewing on Sabina’s ear while my friend took in a spoonful of yogurt. It should have made a terribly disgusting picture, but somehow the two made an erotic portrait instead. Or maybe that was just my frustrated, pent-up desires for Luka Georgiades talking.
Sabina’s spoon had frozen mid-air at my words. “You said what?” She scrambled off Phillip’s lap just so she could bend forward and take a closer look at my face as she demanded, “Did I hear you right? Did you just---”
“Yes,” I answered tonelessly. “I basically told him we should be fuck buddies.”
Ever groaned, and it just about summed up my sentiments perfectly as well.
The next few seconds were spent in awkward silence. Classes had been suspended for an unspecified reason by the Brethren, with all Caro minors advised to be home no later than two in the afternoon. Since we still had over three hours to kill, Sabina had wanted all four of us to have brunch in a nearby Caro restaurant before going home.
The place was one of the finest Caro establishments in the area, patronized by the upper classes of our race. We all belonged to the same circles, which was why most eyes had followed Sabina and Phillip as they walked inside the restaurant with Phillip’s arm curled possessively around Sabina’s slim waist.
Ever was the first one to speak. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but that wasn’t part of the original plan, right?”
Sabina exhaled loudly, and strongly enough for several strands of her hair to fly up. “You know you’re practically setting yourself up for another heartbreak, don’t you?”
“I know what I’m doing,” I said finally. “I’m not going to be hurt.”
“Forgive me for my ignorance, but I simply have to ask. Luka Georgiades agreed to this?”
