by Lia Slater
“If I’m still nothing to you, then this conversation is over, don’t you think?”
“Get out of my home, Worth. I never want to see you again.”
He’d heard that before, too. “What about the ceremony—”
“I’ll postpone it.” Her voice grew solemn. “I have that power, you know. I can empty out an entire castle with a ring of a bell if I have the slightest bit of a headache. Did you know that?”
“No.” Damn. The woman was unstable but her power was evident. If he played his cards right, he’d be home with Blanca in less than an hour.
“Well, I can. And I will. I wouldn’t be able to stand watching you make love to a disgusting animal. That will never happen inside my castle.”
“I understand,” he lied. “We’ll leave right away. Will you give us a safe passage?”
“I should let my guards decapitate you.”
“But you won’t.” He hoped, anyway.
She stared at him for a long moment as a hundred emotions seemed to play over her face. Finally she said, “No, I won’t. I’ll ring the bell and have everyone meet in the ball room. Then you’ll have your chance to leave.”
“Thank you,” he forced himself to say.
“But this isn’t over, Worth,” she said over her shoulder as she whipped past him and stormed away.
Holding his breath, he walked to the terrace door and retreated inside. The faster he got Blanca out of the castle and to safety, the better. With Marta’s instability, there was always the chance that she’d change her mind.
The sound of soft footsteps from behind startled him and he jerked around, only to have Blanca jump into his arms. She’d left her hiding place, which meant…she’d heard everything. About the sun’s nutrients. About his reasons for burning.
Shit.
She clung to him as if she couldn’t get close enough. Obviously she’d been pleased with the news she’d overheard. Unfortunately there was no time to discuss it. He carried her down the hall and stopped at the head of the stairs until he heard the ringing of Marta’s bell.
“Please gather in the ballroom, all.” Her voice was chipper yet commanding. “I have an announcement to make.”
The conversations at the foot of the stairs dwindled as the guests obeyed the hostess, falling in line and bustling into the next room.
As light-footed as possible, he swept Blanca down the stairs, her nose still nuzzled against his neck.
He thanked all that was divine when he slipped out the front door and saw that his carriage was in sight, his horses tied to a post not fifty yards away.
“You can’t tell anyone what you heard,” he said against her ear. “Do you understand that? If they find out that you know this secret, they’ll kill you. Hell, they’ve threatened me with death on more than several occasions.”
Her arms tightened around his neck. “I love you, Worth. I love you so much.”
His heart swelled against his ribs at the words he’d been longing to hear. But, again, he reminded himself to get her to safety as quickly as possible. He lifted her onto the carriage bench and deftly untied the horses then led them to the trail.
“Say it again,” he said after jumping into his seat, eager to hear her echo those sweet words.
She scooted close to him and braced his cheek with her hand. “I love you, Worth. I didn’t want to but you’ve made it impossible for me to feel any different.” Her eyes glistened with unspent tears. “Now what are we going to do about this?”
He tried not to grin too wide. “We’ll figure it out, wildflower. First I want to take you somewhere.”
Chapter Nine
Blanca couldn’t stop touching him, couldn’t stop staring at him. And she couldn’t stop her mind from rehashing every bit of his conversation with Marta. After listening to his words and finding out his secret, her love and respect for him had intensified to the point where she’d wanted nothing more than to cling to him. To think, he’d been enduring the sun’s pain to keep him from having to exploit a blood slave when all around him the other Vamps were taking the easy way out.
Worth was the better man. He was different. She’d loved that he worked hard and took care of his niece. She’d loved how he’d pleased her body so selflessly. But knowing what she knew now, her love was bursting to the point that she could no longer deny her feelings.
But she needed to know more. Why would he keep this secret?
“How did you find out that the sun helps you generate blood?” she asked him. It was almost too good to be true. She’d never guessed it was a possibility.
Worth held the reins in his fists as they sped along a deserted trail. He didn’t look at her as he answered. “I’d lost my first wife to the same Vamp who’d turned me. He’d killed her as I watched helplessly and for weeks I was too depressed to do anything but walk the earth. I hadn’t cared if the sun killed me. I hadn’t cared about anything. Days and nights passed and I couldn’t bring myself to do anything but get as far away from my home as possible. I’d failed to protect her and I’d been turned into one of them. It was more than I could handle.” He drew in a shaky breath.
“So you continued to walk in the burning sun?”
“Yes.” He glanced at her and Blanca saw the anguish in his otherwise gentle eyes. “In a strange way the pain of the sun was somehow the only thing that helped me get through that time. I realize now it was my punishment.”
Blanca rubbed his thigh, trying to take away at least some of his pain. “How long ago did you lose her?”
“Almost two centuries, I guess. Sometimes it’s easier not to keep track.”
“It wasn’t your fault she died, Worth. You know that, right?”
He shrugged. “Anyway, it didn’t take me too long to realize the sun’s effect on me. When I stayed inside for long periods of time, my heartbeat slowed almost to a stop and I thirsted for blood. When I was in the sun on a daily basis, my heart was strong.”
“Truly remarkable.” Her mind whirred with how this news could alter life as they knew it. “Do all Vamps know about this? Surely there has to be some like you who would rather not use a blood slave as their life source.”
“I’m not sure but the High Council is well aware and they don’t want the word spreading.”
“That’s ridiculous. This news could change how all Weres are treated everywhere.”
“Exactly. If all other species find out about this then the Vamps will be forced to use the sun to get their blood. They’d be forced to burn in the sun, as I do.”
She snorted. “The bastards would rather take the easy way and torture blood slaves.”
“Blanca,” he gave her a wary look, “it’s very dangerous for you to know about this. If the High Council has the slightest suspicion, they won’t hesitate to have you killed. I won’t lose you. You must promise me that you’ll keep this to yourself.”
“I don’t know if I can do that, Worth, if it means I could save so many other Weres. You saw them all tonight. You saw how mistreated they are. If that could be prevented…”
He turned the carriage off the path but Blanca couldn’t concentrate on where they were going. Several minutes of silence passed before Worth spoke again. “For me and Kerene then,” he said slowly. “Can you keep the secret for our safety?”
“Because they’ll think that you told me?”
“Most likely. Marta certainly wouldn’t take the blame for it.”
Blanca would never do anything to hurt Worth or Kerene but how would she live with herself knowing she wasn’t doing everything possible to end the slavery and mistreatment of her species? The irony of it was almost laughable. How in the world had she ended up in love with one of them?
The answer was right before her. With his tanned skin and beating heart.
“You can answer me later,” he said, looking back at her with a sad smile. “We have several hours of moonlight left. Do you feel like letting your wolf loose?”
“You want to see me that way?
”
He chuckled. “The only time I’ve seen you in your wolf form, you were running from me.”
She gave him a cheeky grin. “What makes you think I won’t run from you again?”
“Well, wildflower, why would you want to run from here?” He gestured toward the pasture they were closing in on—a pasture completely covered in an array of wildflowers. Purples, blues, pinks, whites. The moon shown on the rainbow of colors and the potent perfume scent tickled her nose.
Her attention was drawn to where a spring trickled through the area into a small lake to the right.
“This is where you wanted to take me?” She couldn’t tear her gaze from the breathtaking sight.
He eased the horses to a stop and leapt from the carriage. “I thought you might like this place. It reminded me of you.”
“Oh? How so?” She stood and jumped into his arms, having complete faith that he’d catch her.
And he did, of course. He was just that kind of man.
He swung her around and gently brought her to her feet. “A beauty that can’t be controlled or denied.” He kissed her forehead. “That’s you, Blanca. That’s who I’ve fallen in love with despite all better logic.”
“Logic? What does that have to do with us?” She ran her hands along his steely chest and, sure enough, all so-called logic faded from her mind.
“Absolutely nothing.” His lips grazed her nose, her cheek, her chin. “We’re destined to be fools in love, I think. And if you don’t shift to your wolf form soon, I’ll be forced to make love to you right here and now.”
“So I suppose I’ve found my incentive for not running away.” She giggled and stepped away from his grasp. “You’ll be here when I get back, ready to ravage me?”
The way he looked at her—his eyes heavy with lust, his dark locks of hair fallen from their hold, his lips curved into a sexy half-smile—made her knees wobble. And his next words didn’t help much either. “I’ll always be right where you want me, Blanca.”
Yep, that’s just the kind of man he is.
Before she said something to ruin the moment, she quickly undressed herself, shifted and ran out into the pasture. She soaked in the moon’s energy and reveled at the renewed power strumming through her veins. She leapt over the spring, stretching her limbs and using her strength to its fullest. Oh, the power, the freedom. She’d forgotten how much she missed this.
Her senses were heightened. The scent of the flowers breezed through her nose and into her lungs. The taste of the fresh air on her mouth. The sound of…
The sound of Worth diving into the lake. This sight of his sinewy body swimming from one end to the next. He was fast and graceful. And appetizing.
Suddenly the call of the wild wasn’t all that appealing. To be free to roam didn’t quite have the allure of joining Worth in his nighttime swim. To be in his arms. To be wrapped up with him, wet body gliding against wet body.
Blanca stopped running and turned back toward the lake. There would be other times to roam. And every fiber in her body warned her that each second she had with Worth needed to be treasured.
She shifted back to her human form and began to walk back. He must’ve noticed her returning to him because he swam to the shore and rested on the sandy beach, seeming to smile larger with each step she took.
His long, muscled body spread out as he picked a purple flower from its root and twirled it in his pinched fingers. “Wildflowers don’t thrive long after they’re picked, do they?” He looked up at her as she approached.
“No, I don’t think they do.” She didn’t give a damn about wildflowers, or the veiled meaning behind his statement, when a feast for her eyes was right before her.
Worth, naked and wet, grinning like a boy who’d just gotten his way. His lust-filled eyes sparkled as he raked his gaze from her face to her toes and back up again.
“I’m glad you came back.”
“Me too.” She dropped to her knees beside him then lay on her tummy. “Now are you going to fuck me?”
He chuckled. “Now that’s the kind of foul-mouthed language I like to hear.”
“I’ll say whatever it takes to—” She stopped talking, stopped breathing, when he brought the flower to her shoulder and glided its petals down her body. It tickled her skin, curving along her spine and rounding over her ass.
The light, teasing touch on the crevice of her bottom was enough to make her wet for him. Already. Her pussy squeezed tight as she thought of his cock penetrating her sensitive anus. He hadn’t attempted anything so bold yet but something seemed to have shifted inside him after she’d professed her love. Had that been what he was waiting for?
He leaned over her and kissed the path the flower had taken, his lips were cool against her heated skin, his tongue thrilling her with its random dips and flicks.
“Come here,” he murmured.
The fine-grained sand beneath her was still warm from the sun’s heat. It was soft against her skin as he pulled her hips until her ass was propped up and she was on her knees. When he moved over her, she angled herself higher for him, ready to have his stiff shaft thrust deep inside her.
On her elbows, she looked up at him from the corner of her eye. Passion flickered in his roaming gaze as he grasped her ass and spread her cheeks. Cool water rippled around her legs when he moved. The clash of heat and cold, fevered and icy, was enough to keep her on edge.
“I love every curve of your body, Blanca.” His hand ran steadily over her flesh until he cupped her pussy. “And how hot and wet you get for me.” His palm rubbed against her moist folds while his thumb circled her anus.
She moaned and pushed back against his hand. “More. Give me more.”
He slicked two fingers into her creamy pussy then pulled them out only to slip one slippery finger past the tight rim of her anus and into her puckered entrance. Tendrils of heat spiraled through her belly and down her thighs.
“Here?”
“Yes. Right there is perfect.”
His groan rumbled into the night air as he slid his finger in and out of her ass, stretching her, readying her for his cock. He added a second slick finger before long and worked them both in a steady rhythm. Blanca dropped her head to the sand and let the exquisite, sparking sensations splinter through her. She bit into her bottom lip and purred at his skilled movements.
“I need to be inside of you.” His voice was raw with hunger and it wasn’t long before his cock found her pussy entrance and thrust deep and hard. Once, twice and again as if he couldn’t fill her deep enough.
Her body jolted forward with each driving thrust but he kept a secure grasp on her hip. His newfound aggressiveness was a huge turn on and her body reacted. She easily gave herself to him, trusting that he’d bring her the ultimate pleasure. Her anus stretched more against his ministrations as he worked it along with her pussy, plunging and bucking forward.
“You’re too far away, love. I want you on my lap.” He eased his fingers out of her ass and withdrew his shaft from her pussy, leaving her feeling empty without him.
Her body hummed anxiously as she waited for his next move. “Please, Worth. Don’t tease me.”
“I’ll take care of you.” He grabbed hold of her waist and pulled her to his chest. “I’ll always take care of you.”
His cock, wet and primed with her juices, pressed against her anus as he let her slide down onto his lap. “I’m going to fill you here, Blanca,” he said, his voice a seductive warning. “I’m going to explore every part of you tonight.”
Yes. She opened her mouth to speak but another moan whimpered out. He inched his engorged head past her taut, but loosened, rim. Then, as she slowly lowered down farther, his cock, thick and solid, filled her completely. The sensation was almost too much. She arched her spine and lifted her arm to wrap it around his neck. “Ah, Worth,” she moaned.
He groaned against her ear and held her closer to his chest, his arm enveloping her body. “You’re very tight, love. Loosen for me. Re
lax around my cock.”
Little by little, she adjusted to his size. He held lightly, allowing her to shimmy and move just how she wanted. She’d never been filled there so completely, never in this position.
“That’s it,” he crooned. “This is our first try. You’ll get used to me in time.”
“I…ah,” she panted, “I love how big you are. You’re perfect, Worth.”
“Am I big?” He chuckled, sheepishly. As if he didn’t know.
“Yes. And I love it.” She laughed softly and her body relaxed more. “I love you.” She swiveled her head and met his lips to give him a sweet kiss.
“I love you too, Blanca. Forever.” He kept one hand flat against her belly and slid the other up to her breast. Her tender flesh tingled in his grasp.
With his cock sparking nerves deep in her ass and his hand massaging her breast, an intense coiling of pressure built steadily inside her belly. Her nipple beaded tight between his fingers, her breath panted and her skin grew moist. It was bliss from head to toe. Pulses of heat zipped from one nerve ending to the next. Her eyes rolled back as she took it all in, savoring the ecstasy.
“Mark me,” she said, not really knowing where the thought had come from. But after the words were spoken she realized how very much she wanted him to bite her deep, to take her blood, to be a part of her forever. “Mark me, Worth.”
He nuzzled her neck and kissed her bite scars. “Are you sure, Blanca?” he murmured against her ear.
“Yes. Please, yes.”
“Then I mark you as my One.” Not a second passed before his fangs sank into her lower neck, exactly over the spot where her old scars had been. There was a pinch of pain as she flinched slightly, then the immense pleasure took over.
The sharp canines burrowed into her flesh. The marks would scar if he punctured her deep enough, long enough and didn’t clean the wounds with his saliva. The act was savage, yet her body convulsed and writhed with the orgasm ripping through her, attacking her from every limb, every nerve.
