by Lia Slater
“I…uh…Worth Sinclaire?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“Oh good.” The man’s face reddened as he attempted to avert his stare. “I have a message for you from the High Council.”
“And what does it say?” Worth growled and the courier’s horse bristled, stomping back a few paces. He waited impatiently as the man got his animal under control.
“The High Council has heard from a reliable source that you now possess a Were blood slave,” the young man said in a shaky, nervous voice. “A marking ceremony is scheduled in three nights at the Great Okantalor Hall inside Vigmy Castle and you are ordered by the Premiere to bring your Were to be marked as Okantalor property.”
“Fuck you.”
The man cleared his throat. “They told me you might not agree. But I’m simply the messenger and I have not been ordered to argue, for they say you know the consequence of disobeying.” He tipped his hat with trembling fingers. “Good day, sir.”
Worth knew the pathetic human was only following orders but he couldn’t help but let out another growl. The horse whinnied, reared, then took off from where it came. Back to Vigmy Castle.
Oh, hell. Yes, he knew the consequences of disobeying the High Council. They kept track of every Were who entered this country and marked them in a way that distinguished them from any other coven of Vampires. The only positive note was that Worth would do the marking. He’d cover the bite scars left from her previous owner and he’d mark her with his own teeth.
The part he wasn’t looking forward to, the part that Blanca would hate him for, was what came afterward.
He loathed that he didn’t have the choice to ignore the order. How could he when it meant death for him, leaving Kerene to fend for herself?
There was no other choice.
* * * * *
Blanca tried not to stare at the woman who sat across the table from her. Worth’s niece, Kerene, seemed to glow with love as she chatted about the poet who worked the orchards. The woman had come to Worth’s home and had spent the afternoon preparing a meal that was suited for royalty.
Yet the pretty young woman with curly short brown hair and intense blue eyes merely picked at the meat on her plate. It hadn’t seemed to bother the girl that Blanca was there against her will. And it surprised Blanca that Worth had trusted her alone with his human niece for a better part of the afternoon.
Blanca had tried on all of the dresses Kerene had brought over and then helped the girl start dinner before Worth had even made an appearance.
The man was an enigma. An irritatingly delicious-looking enigma that teased her with his quick yet passionate glances. Why he pretended there was no spark between them was a mystery to her. Her mind was consumed by him. Nothing else mattered to her. Not even potential for an escape. She could have easily used this human girl to help her get back to Paqualette but, sadly, the only immediate goal in Blanca’s head was to get Worth into bed. If he would just fuck her, if she could feel him deep inside of her, then maybe he’d be out of her system. Maybe then her mind would clear and she could find a way home.
“Nolan said he’d like to come to my home tomorrow evening for dinner.” Kerene’s soft voice pulled Blanca from her thoughts. Well, that along with the clank of Worth’s fork as it hit his plate.
“Absolutely not,” he barked out. “I forbid it.”
Kerene’s naturally rosy cheeks darkened to a cherry red. “I’m an adult, Uncle. Twenty years on this earth last time I checked. I think I can have a man over to my home if I want.”
“Like hell. Not alone. He can come here.”
Blanca bit back a grin. She felt for the girl but she also understood Worth’s concern. Though she was adult in human terms and though Blanca sensed that the girl had lived a difficult life thus far, she seemed very naive. The way she talked about her poet boyfriend led Blanca to believe she was inexperienced with men.
Kerene’s eyes closed in clear disappointment and, for a brief moment, Blanca had the urge to stick up for the girl, even possibly volunteer to chaperone the young pair. But she kept her mouth shut. She wasn’t a friend of this family. In fact she was surprised that the two even wanted her at the same table.
It was odd sitting there with them, listening in to their private world and getting to know them and their personal matters. They almost seemed normal and it was sort of alarming to think that Blanca might possibly fit in with them under much different circumstances.
“Never mind,” Kerene said softly and stood. “If you’ll leave the dishes, I’ll get to them in the morning.” She turned to Blanca, a new expression transforming her heart-shaped face. “It was nice meeting you, Blanca. I hope my idiot uncle releases you soon. He knows better than this.”
Before Blanca or Worth could respond, she was gone, the door slamming shut behind her.
Blanca dared a glance at the man sitting beside her. His fists were clenched next to his plate, the burns she’d seen earlier were now healed. But she remembered the sick feeling in her stomach when he’d walked in the door earlier that evening. She cared for him more than she wanted to. Even now, she wondered what was going through his mind. Of course he wouldn’t tell her if she asked.
It was time to take matters into her own hands.
She stood and walked toward the bedroom. “Do you want to see the dresses Kerene let me borrow?” she asked over her shoulder, as if everything was fine. As if she wasn’t a prisoner in his presence.
What other way could she seduce him and get rid of this ache deep inside her pussy?
Inside her heart.
* * * * *
Worth kept a keen eye on Blanca as she sashayed into his bedroom with the confidence of a lover. As if she belonged in there, in this home. With him.
Every single thought in his hazy mind wanted to believe that were true. Hell, what was his problem? Where had his logical thoughts disappeared to?
After working the orchard until he could no longer stand the sun, he’d walked inside to see Kerene and Blanca talking as if they were longtime friends, smiling and chatting away. And his plan to tell Blanca about the marking ceremony had instantly fled from his head. If he’d told her about the degrading event then she would no longer have a reason to smile. And damn it if he didn’t love seeing her adorable face radiate with happiness.
The woman was beautiful in a way that he’d never known. Naturally confident, entirely sexy. It didn’t matter that she was here under protest, she brightened his day. And he was just selfish enough to want to keep her here and smiling for as long as he could. He was lost. Whatever she wanted, she could have. He would give it to her. Anything at all as long as she didn’t leave him.
He didn’t know if the bloodlust was doing this to him and he didn’t care anymore.
He swiveled on the bench when she disappeared from his line of vision. She captivated him, his eyes only for her. Seconds later she emerged from the bedroom and stopped short on the threshold. A plain navy blue dress with white lace bordering the V neckline hung loosely on her body, the back still open.
A timid grin appeared and disappeared as she licked her full lips. “Can you help me tie it on? I don’t remember the last time I’d worn a dress with lace. It’s been years.”
He opened his mouth to tell her that she looked exquisite in anything she wore, even a man’s shirt, even covered in mud, but he couldn’t speak. His tongue felt swollen and his chest tight.
“What?” She stepped forward, her hands fisted in the skirt. “I know it’s not a ball gown but it’s more than I usually wear.”
He had no words. He could barely blink, afraid she’d vanish and his life would go back to a pit of loneliness. Having her here was more dangerous than he’d imagined. Because now he realized how tedious his long, boring immortal life had been before she’d appeared.
She looked down at herself and lifted the skirt to her knees. “I’ve never been that comfortable in clothing, not when I was human either. I don’t know why.” Her eyes m
et his again. They glistened with brimming tears. “Do I repulse you, Worth? I understand if I do. I mean, I know what it’s like to desire someone and hate them at the same time. It’s the blood connection that confuses us.”
“No, Blanca.” Damn it, he didn’t want to see her cry, didn’t mean to be the reason she lost her confidence even for a moment. He’d always been such a fool when it came to communicating with women and it had been so long since he’d wanted to try. He crossed the room in three long strides, so quickly that he startled her back against the door jam.
“No what?” Her soft copper eyes widened, a tear spilled down.
He braced her cheeks and swiped the moisture away with his thumb. “It’s not the damned blood that makes me want to rip this dress off of you and bury myself inside your body.” He moved closer and pressed his aching erection against her belly, to prove his point.
A soft whimper gushed from her lips. Her hands clenched onto his shirt. “Don’t tease me, Worth.”
No longer able to hold back, he reached down, lifted her skirt and found her wet swollen folds. Moist heat met his fingertips as he skimmed them over her clit, over her creamy pussy. “You want me.”
“Yes. A hundred times, yes. Please.”
He slipped one finger into her tight channel, felt her walls hug him, her juices flow onto his hand. “You want my cock here, pleasing you.” Fuck, he sounded like a caveman but he needed reassurance that this was really what she wanted.
“Yes,” she hissed out and lifted her leg to wrap around his hip. “Don’t make me wait, Worth. I need you.”
That was all he could take. Damning everything else to hell, he jerked open his pants and shoved them down slightly. He grabbed hold of her thighs and lifted her off the ground. She wrapped her legs tight around him, pressing her wet, hot pussy against his erection.
“Wait. Not here.” At least he was rational enough to take her to the bed where he could properly fuck her for their first time.
In a clumsy rush he carried her to his bed and gently dropped her to the mattress. He tore his shirt off and threw it to the floor but didn’t stop long enough to remove any more clothing as her body writhed and her moans seduced.
She maneuvered to the middle of the bed and spread her legs, welcoming him. Her pretty little pussy was pink and glossy with her juices. His nostrils flared as he inhaled her enticing carnal scent. She was more than ready for him. Worth didn’t waste another second. He moved in between her thighs and guided his throbbing cock to her entrance.
With a breath, he glided in, her taut walls stretching and accepting him inch by inch. Slick warmth clutched him, hugged his pulsing shaft.
Paradise. He was in paradise.
Her legs embraced his hips again as she lured him farther in. Her breath panted and she clawed at his upper arms. “All of you. I need all of you.”
“Ah, my wildflower, you have me more than you know.” He dropped down and took her luscious mouth, thrust his tongue past her parted lips, tasted the wine she’d had with dinner mixed with her natural wild essence—a sweet peach on a sunny day.
What a lucky bastard he was to be able to sample her, to have her body molded to his.
He owned her…just not in the way he’d like. Not of her own free will.
But he couldn’t think of that now as she sucked on his tongue with a fierce passion, in a rhythm that showed him what she wanted him to do with his dick. She wanted more. He wouldn’t disappoint her. He eased out, her walls squeezing him, nearly making him explode, as he retreated halfway, then drove back into her pussy.
She stretched for him until the fit was perfect. Perfect for him.
This was a mistake, he knew it. She’d regret allowing this intimacy and she’d hate him. Until then, he planned to savor every last second with her.
Blanca moaned against his mouth, broke the kiss and ground her head back against the mattress. Her body hummed with a pleasure that had been pent up deep inside her since the moment she had laid eyes on this man. He continued to drive inside of her, his cock unbelievably thick and solid. His balls slapped into her with each push. His engorged head pounded into her cunt.
She felt his lips brush her cheek and lower to her neck where he licked and kissed her pulsing jugular. Her heart thrummed as she wondered if he’d bite her. She almost wished that he would to intensify the coiling pressure twisting in her lower belly, trembling in her inner thighs.
She cried out as his cock arched and skimmed a particularly sensitive area. “More. Fuck me more.” She hitched up her hips, meeting his hard thrusts.
He licked his way to her ear, his breath cool against the lobe. “Be careful what you ask for, Blanca.”
The wooden bed frame creaked and jarred as they moved with each other, pelvis to pelvis, grinding and colliding. The sex was wild, animalistic. Perfect. And she was lost in the movements.
He wasn’t holding back and she was glad for that. She wasn’t a fragile human and she wasn’t one of this country’s haughty Vamps, both of which he was probably used to. She was a Were and she liked a man who could fuck without inhibition.
She liked Worth. Too much.
She watched him move on top of her, noticed the muscles on his arms bunch as he held himself above her, his abdomen tighten as he pumped his hips forward. His eyes were leaden and staring down at her with a silent promise behind the dark blue depths.
Damn, it turned her on just to look at him. What he did with his cock shoved her over the realm of bliss.
“Blanca, your pussy is mine.” He grabbed the back of her knee and lifted it to rest on his shoulder.
The position angled his shaft in a new wonderful way. Her vision blurred as a surge of unexpected heat buzzed through her body.
“Worth,” she gasped and clutched at his neck. The orgasm took her by surprise and gripped her womb, hot blood pulsing through her veins. She opened her mouth to scream but a hollow moan came out. Every muscle in her body went rigid against the extreme pleasure until her nerve endings burst and her limbs crumbled.
He thrust once more and shuddered from his own release. The jet of his cum deep inside her pussy sent another round of tremors up her belly.
“Worth,” she whispered and sank her lifeless body back against the mattress.
He released her leg and collapsed on top of her. With his strong arms, he held her close. Heavy breathing slowed to a steady cadence as they embraced each other, each holding on as if their lives depended on that moment.
Blanca braced his neck as he nuzzled against her shoulder. Her fingers grazed his scalp and ran through his thick, silken mane of hair. How easy it was to feel comfortable with her enemy.
He was still hard inside of her and their combined juices made their connection all the more personal, all the more arousing. She wanted him again. So soon. And she feared one night with him wouldn’t be enough to quench her needs.
“Blanca.” He pressed his pelvis against hers, his thick cock sparking sensitive nerves.
“Yes.” She imagined she’d say yes to anything right then.
“Don’t regret this,” he whispered gently against her ear, then lifted his head to stare into her eyes. The intense emotion behind his midnight irises made her shiver. “Whatever happens between us, promise me you won’t feel ashamed or guilty.”
She swallowed against the knot climbing up her throat. Whatever happened between them would surely change her life forever. With the strange bond they were forming, she was certain nothing would ever be the same. But would she regret their time together, their intimacy?
“I won’t. I promise.”
* * * * *
As he slept next to her, their bodies facing each other, melded into one, she visually traced the sharp masculine corners of his face. The sensual line of his lips. The jagged shadows his lashes created as the moon shown through the window. Calling out to her.
She needed to shift soon. The wolf in her was neglected and growing angrier by the day. But the urge to cuddle up
to Worth, to her blood master, was too powerful to deny.
His hold on her was a force she hadn’t dealt with before. Somehow her emotions were being coaxed into the arena with her desires. It wasn’t just sex. It wasn’t just a blood bond. Somehow, some way, she was beginning to fall for this Vamp. And it scared the hell out of her.
She scaled her fingers over the solid plane of his chest, over his heart. He was so different in so many ways from any other Vampire she’d ever met. From the thumping of his heartbeat to the tan of his skin, he was more alive than undead, more human than Vampire.
Of course the tan of his skin had to do with his obsession with the sun. The idiot burned himself to a crisp on a daily basis for whatever crazy reason.
She knew no two creatures were exactly alike on this planet. Humans, Weres, and Vamps made up the population. None of which had the exact same characteristics. A plague had changed her from human to Were. Who knew what might have happened to make Worth able to stand the sun, to live for days without ingesting blood—and to have a heart that beat in a steady rhythm. Yet it still seemed odd that she’d never come across a Vamp such as him. Not one.
He was special and for the time being, he was hers.
Dwelling in the fantasy, taking it for granted, she pushed him onto his back and moved down the length of his long, muscled body until she was able to kiss the tip of his magnificent cock. The wolf in her gave her a boost of bravery and allowed her to take what she craved. And what she wanted was to taste his cum.
“Blanca.” His sleep-heavy voice was damn sexy and his shaft immediately hardened under her lips.
Yum. She pointed her tongue and licked him from his testicles, over his solid base, past his clipped head, to his creamy tip.
He groaned and braced her jaw. His eyes peered at her, half-open. “Am I dreaming?”
“I got hungry.” She gave him an innocent grin. “I want to taste you.”
“Jeezus.” He released her cheek and fell back onto the mattress. “Either I’m dreaming or I’m one lucky bastard.”
