by Lacy Danes
The coldness in his voice pulled at his mind in a way he’d never imagined when he’d taken on this task of marriage. Or was it the strange wine and ritual that caused this? Was a promise of abilities and eternity worth this? Damn, he scratched at the door like a dog! Not like the magical creature he was promised to be.
Hudson had grown more powerful since he’d given his blood away and drunk from the gold goblet, that was for certain, but something darker than he thought possible pulled at him. He wanted what Madoc and his brothers took for granted.
Knowledge beyond what any human could imagine. To perfect oneself over the decades. To be immortal and to make others so too. He would never lose another person he loved. No mortal illness would touch him or his family again. There had to be a way to achieve his goal. There had to be something more than this base, primal urge to destroy those he wished to become a part of.
“I do not have the time or patience for this.” Hudson’s cheek twitched. “Either you watch her no matter what she does and report back to me or…” Cold, invisible fingers wrapped about his throat and thrust his chin higher. The dark presence seeped deeper into his soul. He clenched his teeth.
“Do what I say, or your usefulness has ended.” The dark voice echoed in his mind.
He reached his hand out toward the bath doorknob without glancing back into the room. He would take her.
“No, Your Grace. I will do as requested.” A bird flapped its wings and flew up to the small oval window that separated his wife’s dressing chamber from her bedchamber.
Hudson spun about to find that the room remained empty and the same shadows captured his mind. He turned back and stared at the bird. Where had that come from? He dropped to his knees and ran his hands through his hair. He went mad, worse than mad. He had unraveled everything his family had worked so hard to achieve.
Laura…
Tears pricked his eyes and disappeared. He gritted his teeth. Had his goal taken his grief for his true love from him? The urge to conquer this otherworldly desire gripped him, then shattered.
He had to take the Zir on face-to-face and learn by force how to become one of their kind. But he couldn’t; he had made a deal—and as powerful as he was, he was still human, for now. No match in a challenge with a creature from the dawn of time.
Jordan’s beauty flinched, and a nervous giggle floated past her delicate lips. He stared down at her. “I have not had the pleasure of your Christian name.”
“Celeste.”
He ran a finger down her cheek. “Caelestis. Heavenly, divine. Your name suits you.”
Celeste shifted against him, spreading her legs slightly. The heat of her opening cupped the head of his cock.
His mind fogged, and the pulse of her dripped in a steady stream down onto his shaft, attempting to capture his mind. He groaned. Who was he trying to fool? She had captured his soul.
“Oh.” She bit her lip and closed her eyes.
He slipped his fingers to her wrist—the same one from which he had taken the bracelet, his death treasure—and raised it up above her head. Her body elongated before him, and she wrapped her legs up and about his hips.
“Celeste,” he breathed out through clenched teeth. He flexed his hips, and the tip of his cock pressed against her opening, stretching her flesh.
She squeezed her eyes shut and tossed her head to the left. His bite mark on her neck glowed golden.
He leaned in and licked the puncture. “I have waited a long time for you.”
Her entire body arched into him, and she cried out, the flesh of her womb pulsing with a release of wetness. That was unexpected.
She wanted him to claim her even when her mind swirled with what this all meant. He wanted to savor her, no matter how rushed the evening was, but slow would wait. There was no time, and their need to join was destined in the stars. He would take her now without restraint.
She gazed at him though lust-heavy eyes that begged him to join with her and create their pleasure.
He thrust forward. Her tight, wet flesh stretched and encased his hardness.
She cried out behind clenched lips. Her body shook against his.
He moved his hips forward and back. With each stroke into her, his humanity cascaded away. He growled and bit her salty flesh, dragging his teeth along her neck and shoulder, tasting her sweet blood.
He grabbed at her hips and demanded her body to mold to their pleasure. She was designed for him. He would take her any way he wished. Reaching up, he dragged her wrists farther up the wall and anchored her with one hand.
As she stretched before him, her sheath about his thickness clenched, grasping his crown. Tingling waves rippled into his sac. His hips rocked faster. The sloppy sound of his thrusts into her hot core shot pin-like prickles straight to the arches of his feet.
He growled again and captured her lips, nipping and licking. He wanted to prolong this sensation. It overwhelmed him.
Her tongue thrust into his mouth, and he slitted his eyes open. She stared straight back, desire, longing and purpose binding them solid. All was meant to be.
His sac contracted with haste, spurting his essence into her wetness. His body jerked, and he held back a cry of pleasure that would have woken the house.
Shaken to his soul, he untwined his fingers, and her hands fell to flutter on his back as he leaned into her. He couldn’t catch his breath. His cock still stood hard inside her. His essence marked her by more than a supernatural bite and blood. A new generation would grow with them. His throat tightened on emotions he fought to hold down. He leaned back.
“Celeste… I… Are you well?”
She stared up at him and then turned her head to look at the door. Her eyes widened, and she quickly concealed her face against his shoulder.
Jordan turned his head to glance at the door. Nothing was there. “What did you see?”
She glanced over his shoulder at the door. “A man. I-I thought it was Hudson.”
Jordan glanced back. The door was shut. He would have heard the door and felt the change in atmosphere on its inward swing. He had seen much in his life, including some otherworldly beings that could walk through solid objects. Hell, he had just become the water he envisioned in his mind. But Hudson? Hudson was human through and through.
He glanced up at the ceiling. A strange dark-gray-feathered raven sat on the window watching him. As he stared at it, the bird’s eyes glowed a pale green. He had seen the bird before. The night he’d found Celeste, he’d seen a bird with green eyes. “Your bird?”
She turned her head and lifted her graceful chin to gaze upon the odd-colored raven. “I have never seen it.”
“He watches us for a purpose.” Jordan’s vision colored. He tensed, and his eyelashes prickled. In a flash of blue light, he saw a man kneeling, holding a woman, in what could only be the main hall of a castle. The walls shimmered with rubies and sapphires pressed into them. The man stared at the ceiling. His complexion was ghost gray, and his eyes glowed with green power in their depths. The woman did not move. Her black hair hung down to the floor in curly waves, and her ebony complexion was icy to the touch. Tears streaked the man’s already pale skin and turned to blood as they hit her gown. He raised her arm to his lips and trailed his tongue along a gash in her wrist. He lifted his head, and fangs extended from his mouth.
The vision vanished. Jordan shook his head. A vampire? Or one of them?
“Are you well?” Celeste gripped his shoulders.
“I am…” He gathered his attention back to her. No. He would not start this out with lies. “I had an odd vision. They used to only come to me in water.” Though since he’d met her, he had them at other times. Even as he’d dragged her from the ocean, he’d had flashes of her in the sunshine. But this vision had nothing to do with her.
“I have been hearing a woman’s voice since I awoke on the beach.” Her voice came out a whisper.
Jordan tilted his head to the side. Her eyes remained closed, and a warm pink touc
hed her cheeks. She was embarrassed by this admission. He clasped her hand in his and gently rubbed the back with his thumb. “Nothing to concern yourself with. Many hear things. Doing so is simply another sort of vision. What does she say?”
A tear ran down her face.
“What is wrong?”
“Hudson bedded me before you arrived tonight.”
Jordan’s stomach pitched, and he clenched his teeth.
“My family is important to me. I-I had no choice. I wed him.”
Jordan stared at her green eyes filled with tears. He hated that another had taken her, but it changed nothing. She was his. She needed time. Time to mentally and emotionally adjust to the fact that she was no longer normal. That society’s rules did not apply to them. She would grow to understand she was powerful on her own and more so with him. That would only come in time.
“I understand, Celeste. I told you not to bed him, and this will be dealt with. We are fated. We belong together. Nothing can change that. To ease this for you, I want to do this as correctly as possible. If you need me to court you, to prove beyond this physical perfection that we do belong and your family will be safe, I will do that.”
He stepped back from her, and he slipped from her warmth. Her body trembled, and he held her until her legs stood firmly without shaking on the ground. “I will not walk away, Celeste. Parting is simply not an option.” He leaned in and gently kissed her lips. “But I will give you some time…” He pulled her robe closed about her waist and inhaled the scent of sweet orange blossoms and candied cherries once more. Her scent…so sweet. He wanted to ask her if she knew she smelled like such a delicacy and if in fact she liked candied cherries. But that would have to wait. He turned from her.
“Wait!”
He turned back. She stood in a protective stance with her arms folded over the swell of her breasts. “What do you know of me being on the beach?”
He smiled. “That is an interesting story and one I will tell you tomorrow. The night grows late.”
“I…” She glanced to the door and back to him. “All right.”
“Sweet dreams, Celeste.” His mate’s name meant heaven. A smile curved his lips. Heaven, indeed.
He stepped back into the tub with a splash. The Zir’s town residence had a fountain in the garden. The image filled his mind, the room blurred, and then he stood in the water of the fountain. What a capital new skill that was. He stepped from the fountain onto the cold stone path to the back stairs.
Her marriage to Hudson was an issue, but one that would be overcome on the morrow. He would see to it.
What had happened with that bird, and both of their visions, had to do with the Zir birth. He was certain of it. He simply needed to figure out what they told of.
Celeste stood against the wall in the same spot where Jordan had left her. She couldn’t move. Her heart pinched. Her entire being ached for Jordan to return to her. For him never to leave her side. Yet the consequences of this match screamed for her to use her head. Lord, what a mess. She held in a nervous laugh, and her breath hitched.
Tears welled in her eyes, and she looked up at the ceiling. She was married to Hudson. She shook her head, and her lip trembled. All that came with that fact could not deny that Jordan had just thoroughly taken her. Their connection was undeniable. But was it more than a simple base need he stirred in her? He wished to court her and make things correct in her family’s eyes, but would he love her? Would she love him?
He was unlike any man she had known or would ever know again. She could not deny that.
She inhaled deep, closed her eyes, then stared back at the white wood door. Would Hudson still be in her bed when she opened that door?
Guilt sliced through her. What would she do then? Would she tell the man she married not a day before he could not have his rights again? That certainly would not go well. But what if the vision she’d glimpsed of the man standing in the bath chamber was of him?
She stared at the door so hard that her vision wavered.
If it was he, then he knew of her betrayal.
Chapter Four
Celeste’s hand shook as she reached for the knob to her bedchamber. She inhaled deep, again. Where was that voice that had urged her on? She could use a little fortitude, even if that strength came from a woman named Carmen, whom only Celeste could hear. “Carmen.” She gripped the cool metal handle. “Carmen. Give me strength.” Her heart hammered in her chest.
She pushed the handle down and slowly inched the door ajar. She couldn’t look. She squeezed her eyes shut, and when her arm extended full out, she opened them. The room before her stood dark. All the candles had guttered, and a strange acidic scent burned the hairs on the inside of her nostrils. Her nose twitched, and she raised her hand to hold in a sneeze. The skin on the side of her neck heated and tingled. She brushed the spot with her fingertips. Jordan’s bite.
Think of…Jordan.
“Mmmm.”
She flinched and turned toward the noise.
Cloth rustled from the direction of the bed. Her heartbeat seized in her throat, and a humming cut all other sound to her ears. She squinted in the dim light.
No one was there. And Hudson was not beneath the sheets.
She bit her lip, let out a heavy breath, and closed her eyes. Thank the stars!
But what was that noise?
Her heart sank, and she rushed forward. The bed linen still lay rumpled. Her hands shook, and she slid her fingers along the empty sheet. Pinpricks shot up her fingertips to her spine.
Hudson knew. With absolutely nothing to base the conclusion on, she was sure he knew what had happened in the bath. She had not literally seen him, but she knew there was no doubt. Her knees trembled, and she clutched the tall bed baluster and leaned against the cool, carved wood. Sweat trickled down between her shoulder blades and between her breasts.
She sat on the edge of the bed and fisted her hands in her lap, then squeezed her eyes shut. How could she be so certain of that, simply from entering her bedchamber? If the unsettling feeling in her gut were true, what would she say to Hudson?
Flap-flap-flap.
She surged to her feet. “Who is there?”
The rustling of cloth came again from by the window. Her heart lodged in her throat, and she stared in that direction. The curtain fluttered and moved, although there was no wind. Someone was there. “Show yourself. You are in my bedchamber.”
“Nothing here is yours.” Hudson’s voice came from behind her.
She jumped, screeched and spun about in one motion.
Hudson stood in the now open doorway. “It all belongs to me. Including the water you just bathed in.”
“Goodness.” She rubbed her fingertips against her palms and held in a nervous giggle. Fortitude. She shook her head to try to keep water and Jordan from consuming her mind.
She stepped toward her husband. Hudson’s energy and emotions hit her like the heat on a humid summer day. Her body trembled, and the bite on her neck tingled. He was hard to discern. Jealousy, sadness, pride and something else consumed him. A black fog seeped from his pores. Without doubt, Hudson had seen them.
How did she know that? She glanced back at the curtain. She could figure that out later. For now, she had to tell him something. “I-I keep hearing things.” That was the truth. A woman’s voice, emotions, rustling cloth… What would be next? Chimes ringing?
He stepped into the room and came beside her. “What did you hear? Your lover moaning?”
She flinched and shied away from him. Gracious. Her stomach tightened. He had every right to be furious with her. A slap, she expected.
This…
This was not the reaction she associated with the stories she had heard of Hudson. He had once beaten a man because the horse he rode splattered mud on his first wife’s cheek.
Then again, they had been a love match, and her and Hudson’s story was…unknown.
She pointed to the curtain. “No. I am certain I did not open th
e window, and the covering is rustling.”
Hudson’s fingers gripped her hand. “Nothing to fret yourself with. I opened the sash. You are certainly tired. Why don’t you sleep?” He walked to the window, dragging her along behind him. Then he grabbed the wooden sash and pulled the window closed. He turned, the fingers of his free hand outstretched.
She trembled. Gracious no. There was no way she would openly take hands with him this night.
He stepped forward, grasped her hand, and with his fingers firmly wrapped about hers, guided her back to the bed.
Something was not as it seemed. A chill wrapped about her belly and sank in deep. Her breath cooled in her lungs, and she struggled to breathe.
She sat on the mattress and scooted her bottom back as far from him as she could. She tucked her legs beneath the open coverlet and waited. Something would happen. Just what? A chill racked her body. She had no inkling.
Leaning back on the pillows, she pulled the covers up tight under her chin and narrowed her eyes at Hudson. In the dim light, his golden hair no longer glimmered. His Grace’s tawny gold and his hazed silhouette was that of a withered old man. Sunken shadows circled his eyes and indicated a hard life he could not have led.
His presence darkened, and the covers about her grew stiff and icy cold.
She shivered beneath their hardness.
Hudson pulled the thick coverlet up from the end of the bed, causing ice crystals to fill the air about them. My stars, what was going on? It was summer, not winter.
He caught her hands harshly through the covers and then sat on the bed next to her without releasing her. His hands jerked hers. “I do hope that tonight was pleasant for you.” His voice deepened.
“I…umm.” How did she answer that question? She bit her lip. This night was a bumblebroth mixed with bad decisions, painful deflowering and primal urges. Now this.
Hudson stood abruptly, and the warm air from the room rushed in and brushed against her face. How could a man be so cold? “Indeed, tonight was pleasant, my sweet husband,” Hudson stated in a fake woman’s voice that sent shivers through her body. “I am devoted to all you desire.” Dark sarcasm dripped from his words.
