I knew I could disintegrate him into dust with a thought.
I pushed his image away and searched deeper. I saw Dad lifting me up onto his shoulders, his eyes worried as he checked the sinking sun, but he kept his voice light, his manner happy. He didn’t want to scare me. Mom rocking me against her, singing something soft and low in a language I recognized but hadn’t understood at the time. After visiting the goddess’s pyramid, I knew those Egyptian words. “You are my sunshine”, sang in her native language. Despite knowing she’d die because of me.
“Not because of you,” Mom whispered in my head. “For you. Gladly.”
“Why?” I asked, not sure that she could hear me.
“Because I love you.”
Love. That single word sparked something inside me. A chip of heat, a tiny ember, glowing like a miniature sun. As I focused on it, the flame burned a bit brighter. So beautiful, so pure. A drop of molten sunlight. It expanded inside me, illuminating my stilled heart, blood heavy and cold in my veins. One touch of that brightness melted the blood and warmed my heart. I felt it beat, a heavy, echoing thud. So slow, but strong.
With a huge gasping breath, I jerked upright. My chest ached, my heart thumping frantically like it was trying to escape my chest.
“I’ve got you. We’re here. You’re safe.”
Daire. I felt his skin on mine, his heat wrapped around me. I couldn’t seem to make my eyes work yet, but something banded me to him. Something granite-hard and cold. That moved when I touched it. My mind recognized him, sensing his immense relief through the bond we’d formed. “Alrik? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, my queen, not now that you’re back.”
His voice rumbled like a massive thundercloud tearing through the room. It made my eyes flare open wide. I looked at the massive… thing… holding both of us and the only thing I could say was, “Oh. My.”
Daire laughed. “I think he’s a rock troll. Hot, huh?”
Alrik did look like a giant boulder-man. I laid my hand on his chest and felt stone, not skin or flesh. “Actually, he’s cold.”
I felt something in the bond with him. A tightening, as if he was withdrawing, or hiding. I reached for his thoughts and realized he was afraid.
Afraid I’d be disgusted by this new shape. Or worse, afraid of him. Trolls were nasty creatures who lived beneath bridges, or ate people they kidnapped. His stomach was a mess of churning acid, rather than joy at finally coming into his power, because he was afraid I wouldn’t want to touch him or look at him using the very gift my blood had given him.
Stupid man.
I thought that at him very hard, making sure he heard it. His eyes narrowed but he said nothing.
I rose up on my knees, bracing myself on one of his gigantic thighs the size of a Sequoya tree trunk. Even then, I had to reach up for his face, stretching to touch him. He obligingly bent down to me and I cupped his cheeks in my palms. Then I very deliberately locked my mouth to his.
His lips were hard and cold, too large to kiss me back without covering most of my jaw, but he relaxed into my hands, sinking his face deeper into my caress. I traced the shape of his stone lips with my tongue and his breath exhaled on a low rumbling purr that vibrated my bones.
Daire pressed against my back, tucking me against the solid wall of Alrik’s chest. “We feared for you.”
At his words, Alrik shuddered against me and pressed his forehead to mine. “You died in my arms. It was the most horrible thing I’ve ever lived through.”
“It wasn’t pleasant for me either,” I said wryly. “I guess that’s what you meant by a curse.”
“Everyone’s heard rumors of House Isador’s deadly gifts,” Alrik said grimly. “And no one was missing Isador the past thirty years.”
The crushing weight of this new legacy was going to take some getting used to. “She,” I said with emphasis, because it felt disrespectful to use the goddess’s given name, “said they would try to kill me. Is that true?”
When they both tightened their arms around me, I had my answer before Alrik said, “Yes.”
“But that’s what we’re here for,” Daire said, rubbing his cheek against my shoulder.
I could feel Alrik in my mind, his touch solid, steady, protective, alert. I felt his emotions as my own. Relief that I was alive, anger at the thought of anyone trying to hurt me, and yeah, desire. The big guy was already hard and thinking about sex again, though I couldn’t feel his erection when his entire body was a chunk of concrete.
I couldn’t feel Daire the same way, even though he was tight against my back. I didn’t have a full bond with him. Yet. I looked up at Alrik. Smiling, he carefully drew one of his large fingers down my cheek. “You have another Blood to take, my queen.”
Daire didn’t say anything or move, but I felt his intensity ratchet up a notch. Hunger. Desire. Desperate aching need. I didn’t need a bond to know how much he wanted my blood, and my body, the same as his friend had done.
I turned my head toward him, and that was enough encouragement for him to lift and turn me fully around to face him.
He smiled, a dimple flashing in his cheek. “Hi.”
Fuck, he was sexy as hell. “Did you want something?”
He nodded vigorously, his hair tumbled down into his eyes. “Yes, my queen.”
“What do you want?”
His smile slipped, his eyes wide and dark as he stared at me. “You.”
“But how?”
He shook his head slightly. “You. The rest doesn’t matter.”
I reached out to play with his hair, twirling one of the touseled locks around my finger as I tried to figure him out. He liked to joke around, that was obvious. He could flirt one second, and be deadly serious the next. He was just as protective as Alrik, but not as … driven or solemn or intense. He could take things lighter, because he trusted Alrik to have things under control.
“I’m his alpha,” Alrik whispered against my ear. Very human lips. I hadn’t felt or sensed him changing back into his normal shape. There hadn’t been any flash of light or even a hair prickling on my skin. “Now you’re his alpha too.”
“Am I your alpha?”
“You’re my queen. You’re so far beyond alpha that if you ordered me to cease breathing, I’d die trying.”
But there was an element of… not pride, exactly, but steel, in his manner. He would take my orders, probably even gladly, because he chose to do it. Even before he’d gained his troll power, he’d possessed that steel in his spine, the weight in his words, the directness in his manner. Yet they’d said they’d never served a queen before. It must have chaffed his pride for years to be so far removed from the queen, the primary source of power in his world.
A normal man would probably get ideas in his head about how quickly he could overthrow the woman and take control for himself. I didn’t sense that kind of drive in him—only a determination to take care of me. He was the kind of man who’d fight to the death, even if stark naked and unarmed. Protecting me.
Dying for me.
That made me shudder. I’d only known them a few hours, but I couldn’t imagine going back to my old life. Always alone. Moving. Scared. Lonely. Aching for comfort and safety.
:Never again, Shara. You’ll never be alone again.:
I realized that even if I was physically separated from Alrik, I still wouldn’t be alone, because he’d be in my head. He’d know what I was feeling or thinking. It should have felt intrusive, like a violation of my privacy, but at least right now, I actually liked it. I liked having his touch, even if only in my mind.
And I really wanted Daire to have that same ability. I looked into his eyes and watched the way his pupils dilated, his nostrils flaring.
“Take me to bed.”
CHAPTER NINE
Shara
He scooped me up into his arms and climbed into bed, still holding me in his arms. Lying flat on his back, he looked up at me and quirked his luscious mouth. “I’m at your disposal, my
queen.”
I’d never straddled a man like this. Even sitting on his stomach, I could feel the ridges of muscle beneath me. I squirmed a little, drinking in the feel of so much power and strength beneath me. Then I squirmed some more when I noticed the way his breathing caught.
I smoothed my palms across the planes of his chest, his powerful shoulders. His skin felt like warm silk over steel.
“I taste even better.”
I arched a brow at him. “Is that an invitation or an order?”
Until I said it, I hadn’t registered the difference. Not really. I’d never thought about giving orders to anyone. All I’d worried about was hiding, staying alive, living to fight another day. Even when Alrik had said he was Daire’s alpha. That I was even higher than that. It hadn’t made sense.
Until I had Daire beneath me. Until I thought about him telling me to do something.
And something inside me rejected that notion. Wholeheartedly.
“Neither. Only the most sincere and humble plea, my queen.”
That made me snort. Daire might be a laughing, teasing jokester, but there wasn’t anything humble about him.
I leaned down and pressed my mouth to his pectoral. I meant to kiss him, maybe tease him a little with my tongue. But once I felt his skin against my mouth, I wanted to bite. My teeth throbbed again. I wanted so badly to sink fangs into him, to feel his skin give way beneath me. To taste the hot surge of blood in my mouth.
Though I was afraid I’d bite him again and again.
:He’d like nothing better,: Alrik said in my head. :Neither would I.:
I gripped that heavy muscle in my jaws, holding his flesh in my mouth. I pressed harder, willing my fangs to come out, but nothing happened. Groaning with frustration, I released him with my very human teeth. “When am I going to be able to bite you like I want?”
His chest heaved and he gripped my thighs. “Still feels good. Bite me some more.”
I gripped the column of his throat in my teeth, pressing slightly harder and harder until his fingers tightened on my thighs. I ran my teeth down the side of his throat with a light scrape. The thick muscle running across his shoulder was next. I opened my mouth as wide as I could, gripping him firmly, and I couldn’t hold back a possessive growl.
It startled me enough I let him go and even sat back a little. I felt… feral. Desire purred and rumbled inside me, hunger rising, and it wasn’t just for sex. Something about him made me want to growl and bite and scratch.
He made a low, rumbling growl too, very much like a giant cat. I had a feeling that his power would indeed be some kind of feline. With his tousled hair and glowing eyes, I could easily see him walking as a lion. Or a sleek panther, prowling through the night.
“Rik,” he panted, staring up at me. “Would you please fucking bite me so she can taste me again?”
I felt Alrik’s touch on the bond, a hint of question, though not words. He didn’t want to interrupt my time with Daire, unless I wanted it.
“Yes, please.” I sat up, lifting my hips so I could move down Daire’s body. His dick twitched as I passed over him, as if it had a homing device focused on my pussy. “I want to taste you both again.”
The mattress dipped as Alrik joined us. He stretched out beside Daire, leaning down over him. Broad shoulders, ripped muscles, but his touch was gentle as he cupped Daire’s nape and lifted his throat to his mouth.
Daire gasped, his hips arching up beneath me. His cock surged, desperate, and I couldn’t wait any longer. I took him inside me as Alrik fed, and all I could picture was the three of us, bleeding, fucking, touching each other. All night long.
“Fuck, yes, soon,” Alrik groaned, lifting his head. “But not until you’re well guarded.”
Daire jerked up toward me, wrapping his arms around me. The scent of his blood drew me like a magnet. I licked the blood from his skin, letting it lead me to the punctures in the side of his throat. Subconsciously, I couldn’t help but worry about so much blood. I’m sure we were staining the bed linens, the carpet, hell, maybe even the ceiling for all I knew. But the more I touched and tasted and saw their blood, the more I wanted. It was foreplay, appetizer, and main meal all in one, especially with his dick inside me. I turned my head away and rubbed myself against him, smearing blood on my throat and shoulder. It felt good.
Damned good.
I suddenly wondered if his blood was somehow addictive, a drug that I was absorbing through my skin. I certainly felt buzzed. My ears throbbed with the thunder of our hearts. The scent of blood and desire and semen stirred my hunger even more. Daire rocked his hips, stroking deep inside me, his mouth on my breast. Blindly, I reached out for Alrik, tugging him closer. I knew he wanted to remain aloof and on guard, but I wanted his touch. I wanted his heat against me.
He drew my mouth to his, supporting my head. Daire gripped my hips, lifting me, pulling me, urging me higher. I knew what a release felt like, now. I knew that it was close. I wanted it. Needed it.
And I wanted Daire’s bite when I came.
I don’t know which came first, his bite or my climax. Maybe Alrik told him through the bond what I wanted, but Daire timed it perfectly. He sank his fangs into me and I shattered. It felt like I had wings, soaring higher and higher into a midnight sky, only to burst into a thousand shining lights.
Awareness came back in pieces. My head was on Alrik’s chest. I smelled his scent of smoke and iron. A heavy weight lay across my legs. I thought it was his thigh, or maybe Daire’s. But then I realized it wasn’t skin against me, but fur.
Blinking my eyes open, I lifted my head. A massive striped black cat lay across my lower legs and against my side, tail lashing back and forth playfully. Large golden eyes met mine and his mouth opened to reveal vicious fangs. He was larger than any cat I’d ever seen. Like a saber tooth tiger on steroids.
Alrik stroked his hand through my hair and I nestled back into his embrace. Daire rubbed his giant head against my side, until I draped my arm across his shoulders. “Do you know what he is?”
:Warcat,: Daire said in my head, his mental voice a deep rumbling purr.
I started to laugh. I couldn’t help it. He licked my flank, his tongue a giant piece of sandpaper that made me gasp. “Sorry. I just realized I went from a simple, everyday human a few hours ago, to learning I’m a vampire and having sex with a giant rock troll and furry warcat. That’s all kinds of fucked up. Uh… literally.”
Alrik laughed, tightening his arm around me. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
CHAPTER TEN
Shara
I’d forgotten the luxury of having someone to talk to when you first woke up in the morning. Sunlight streamed in through the cracks around the ugly hotel drapes, but I couldn’t tell what time it was. My stomach growled. Loudly.
Snickering, Daire untangled his limbs and brushed his mouth against mine. “Good morning, my queen. Your alarm clock has pronounced it’s time to get up.”
He started to pull back, but I leaned up, kissing him more fully, and he was only too happy to oblige. I came up for air. “Why does my stomach growl for food if I’m a vampire?”
“We eat food for our bodies. Blood for our power.” Alrik kissed my shoulder. “What would you like for breakfast? Daire will grab something while I help you pack.”
I let my head fall back and Daire started gathering up his clothes. “Where are we going?”
“Do you have a safe house? A nest? Anywhere you feel especially safe?”
I couldn’t help but watch Daire pull jeans up his solid thighs, and I sighed with regret when he covered up his incredible ass. He winked at me over his shoulder. “I’ve never felt safe. I don’t stay in any place for long. Three weeks, usually. Sometimes two, sometimes four. It depends on how quickly they find me.”
“I’ll never cease to be amazed at how incredibly lucky we are that you’re still alive.” Alrik didn’t sound amazed—he sounded pissed. “Where did you live with Selena? Before she died?”
> I stroked my fingers over his forearm, searching for where he’d torn his wrist for me last night. But there wasn’t even a scar. I had a quivering moment of doubt that my half-human genes wouldn’t allow me to heal as quickly, but I felt my throat where I’m sure he’d bitten me last night, and the skin was completely smooth. Amazing. “We had a big old house in Kansas City.”
“That’s where we should start. We need to find your consiliarius.”
“My what?”
Alrik pulled away and joined the hunt for his clothes too. “Each royal house has a steward, a… lawyer, I guess you would call it. A trustee. Someone who manages the legacy for his or her queen.”
“I’ve got a few choice words for the Isador consiliarius, if we can find the bastard.” Daire shot a dark look at Alrik, who nodded back. “It’s intolerable that you’ve been lost this long. That you’ve had no access to the legacy or your family’s wealth. How have you lived alone this long? Food, shelter, transportation?”
“I work when I can.” I shrugged, avoiding their gazes while I sat up and looked about the room. Daire turned the light on and I groaned with dismay. The room was a disaster. Blood stained the carpet and the linens, and the cheap hotel furniture looked like it’d been tossed about by a tornado. The mattress was on the floor, the frame shattered. The end table was kindling and the flat-screen television looked like someone had hit it repeatedly with a baseball bat. Even the walls looked battered and fragile, ready to collapse under the weight of the roof. “Oh God. When did all this happen?”
Daire tugged on his boots. “When you came into your power.”
I groaned and buried my face in my hands. “It’s going to take forever to clean the blood out of the carpet, and the last of my savings to pay Hosea back for the damage.”
Queen Takes Knights (Their Vampire Queen Book 1) Page 6
