“Don’t you dare spill a drop,” he says roughly.
Holding my hips up he dove again and again into me roughly. His mouth is off my neck and he grunts each time he dives deeper inside as if he’s trying to find a long-buried treasure. Arsen is splitting me apart, and I can no longer keep my mouth on him. I pulled away, licking me lips, careful not to waste any of his blood. I jammed my hips down on his steel within velvet cock, until I’m past pain, past pleasure and climbing in a space that is only heat and need.
“Come for me, baby,” he says. “Come, Sasha!”
All that I am burst apart in little pieces, and I’m flying through the universe, no longer separate from any of.
With one final spearing thrust, Arsen groans, and let’s loose within me. His heat fills me, and consumes me until we both final still and hold each other with his cock still inside me.
I don’t know how long we sat like that. I may have dozed off and he might have as well. The next thing I knew a voice crackled over the ship intercom.
“We’re about to land. Please strap into your seats.”
“Well, we better get ourselves together, or,” and he smiled at me, “we’ll never get off this plane.”
My mouth opened. “Do you think he heard?”
Arsen gave me a wicked smile as if he just talked with the devil and got an answer he liked.
“Sweetheart, there is only one reason a client declines a steward.”
“Now you tell me.”
Chapter 8
The beauty about Boston is that Logan International Airport is close to the city proper, and it is very easy to get into the city from it. The hell about Boston is that once you get inside it nearly impossible to move around it.
“I should have hired a car and driver,” says Arsen, frustrated with the constant log jams, and detours because of the continuous road work of this major city.
“We’ll keep that in mind the next time we come here.”
“There won’t be a next time. There is a reason I don’t come to Boston often.”
“Traffic?”
“No. Bad luck. It follows me everywhere here.”
“Arsen, the scientist in me says there is no such thing as bad luck.”
“And me the man who has had to flee for my life more than once from Boston says otherwise.”
“You should have told me. We could have sent someone else.”
“No,” he says stubbornly. “I mean to put an end to this nonsense with Niko. He’s gone off the deep end, Sasha. Rivalry is one thing. Slaughtering whole covens is another. I’m going to end him one way or the other, regardless of the consequences.”
“Wait, there will be consequences?”
“He’s the Baetal prince. Of course there will be consequences. Hopefully we’ve documented his crimes enough that should I have to kill him it will stand up in a tribunal.”
Now I’m getting frightened.
“Arsen, what would happen to you if a tribunal decides his killing wasn’t justified?”
“Then they’ll kill me.”
“No!”
He patted my hand while we sat at a stop light. “But that won’t happen. Why do you think you are with me?”
“Because I’m irresistible?”
He smiled. “Well, that too. It’s because Niko is your maker and you should have a natural allegiance to him.”
“Well, I don’t.”
“That’s because I made you feed from me right away.”
“Wait? Are you admitting you manipulated the situation?”
“Sasha, understand I did it with the best of intentions. If I got you into my coven, then Niko didn’t have sole control of the only cure we knew.”
“Arsen!”
“What did you expect me to do, Sasha? My people were sick and the only one who got well was Niko after drinking your blood. Ah, here it is, the entrance to the highway.”
Arsen casually swung onto the highway making some progress while we drive deeper into the city. I see signs for places I’ve only heard about. Harvard. Fenway Park. But I’m not in the mood for sightseeing. I’m pissed, and he knew it. And I shouldn’t be, and he knew that too. I had told him I wanted him to tell me everything, and now that he does, I’m ticked to find out all his ulterior motives. And it's not like I didn’t suspect he kept his true machination to himself, but I really hate this manipulative part of Arsen.
We pull into an area that is less commercial and older and graceful buildings, mansions of another era sat in neat like street blocks. We pulled into the driveway of an especially large house. The air about it was dark and forbidding and I noticed human walking past gave us furtive glances and hurried by.
“What is this place?”
“It’s a chapter house.”
“Say what?”
“Different factions keep houses in the larger cities for their visiting members. We find that it is a convenient way to keep problems at bay. Each house keeps a certain number of thralls for feeding. It keeps the police out of our business. This is the Boston Draugur Chapter House.”
I shove my hands in my pocket not liking this idea at all.
“What do these thralls get out of this?”
“We treat them very well. They get free food, housing and the education of their choice. If you noticed we are in the middle of Harvard country. Most of our thralls go to Harvard.”
“So,” I say sourly. “It’s no worse than selling your blood for cash.”
“Come inside, Sasha. I think you need some rest.”
The inside is gorgeous, all gilt painted in the cornices and expensive oriental rugs throughout. Dark wainscoting panel went halfway up the walls and the ornate molding frames the doorways. Burgundy velvet wallpaper shot with gold graced the walls.
“Well back, Lord Eskandar,” says a butler at the door.
“Jameson, this is Sasha Keleterina, my mate.”
If Jameson was surprised he didn’t show it.
“It is an honor to meet you Lady Eskandar.”
If there is anything I learned it was to keep my mouth shut when someone made a mistake like this.
“Thank you, Jameson.”
“Is there,” says Arsen, “a thrall in service tonight?”
“Yes, sir. Both fresh.”
“A male one of them?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Send them both to my rooms.”
“Very good, sir.”
“And see what clothes we have for Ms. Keleterina, will you? Size two?” he asked me and I nodded my head sullenly.
“I can send out to a personal shopper, my lord. It is a new service we have.”
“Fine. Fetch whatever the shopper suggests, for casual wear, sleeping and underwear. We do not expect staying long.”
I am not happy. I cannot believe that Arsen will drink from a thrall in front of me. I’m sullen as we climb the wide staircase to a suite of rooms on the second floor. I know we can’t drink from each other solely all the time, but it's still hard to think of it. It was an intimate act and I can’t imagine sharing blood from someone just for food.
It was bigger than my apartment at school and much more luxurious. The sitting room along was a large as a small house, and two bedrooms, one on each side of the sitting room was almost as large. Each bedroom had an en suite bath.
“Nice,” I conceded.
Arsen answered the knock on the door and one man and one woman, both about my age stood in the doorway.
“Come in,” says Arsen.
“Lord Eskandar, I’m William,” says the man.
“And I’m Susan,” says the female. “We are pleased to be of service.”
“Susan, do me a favor and go to the bedroom there. I’ll be in shortly.”
“Thank you, Lord Eskandar.”
“William, my mate, Sasha, is a new vampire. So far, she’s resisted taking a meal from a living body. Give her plenty of time to do so.”
William nodded solemnly.
�
�Of course, my lord.”
“If she is stubborn, then call me.”
“As you wish.”
Arsen starts for the bedroom and I grab his arm.
“You can’t be serious.”
“But I am. It will not always be convenient to get you a bag of blood from a donation center, and this is how we feed.”
“But you want me to pop my vampire cherry on someone I don’t know?”
“Would you rather it was Jackson?”
“God, no.” The idea horrified me.
“Well then, be grateful it is with someone who knows what he is doing and why.”
“But, but,”
Arsen sighs. “I’m going to eat and you will too. We need our strength for what we will do tomorrow.”
“But you are going in there with a woman.”
“Your point being? Do you think I want anyone by you?”
“Well, no.”
“We can switch up and you take the woman if you like. But it usually easier for fledglings to take from the opposite sex at first until you get used to it.” He gave me a quick kiss. “Now, have your supper, and then we can go to bed.”
Supper. He called a man supper. How I can ever get used to this?
William watches me with placid eyes. “You must be hungry, mistress. You are looking pale. Come sit next to me.”
He patted his hand on the sofa on which he sat and moved reluctantly to that spot.
“Arsen tells me that you go to Harvard?”
“Yes, ma’am. Harvard Law.”
“And this is a great opportunity?”
“The work is easy and gives me plenty of time to concentrate on my studies. This chapter house is not used much, and if I donate a couple times a month, that’s rare.”
“You have to be careful on how much you give.”
“That’s why there are four of us here, on a rotating basis.”
“I see.” Arsen and crew seems to have this system worked out perfectly. Everyone was on board. No one coerced or assaulted. The well compensated thralls, who all seem in perfect command of their free will. Why then, did this seem so awful?
“You will not hurt me, not appreciably,” says William raising his arm. “Can I tell you a secret?”
I nodded my head.
“I like it. You all are so powerful. I hope one day that a Draugur will make me into the clan.”
I move to pull away because I thoroughly disliked his words. Someone aspired to be a vampire? That was a horrible thought. But William will not let go of my hand. He moves his wrist to press it against my mouth and the vein on his wrist pulses, and the scent of his blood seeps through his skin.
“Good ahead,” he says. “I want you to.”
Instinct overcomes common sense, and my fangs descend and slice into his flesh. Blood flows and I suck it in, deep and rich and satisfying, and William moans at the ferocity of my taking.
“Take it. Take it all,” murmured William.
“Sasha!” Arsen’s voice cut through my blood lust. He pulls William’s wrist down, and off my fangs, and he pushed me back from sucking in the wrist once more.
“Okay,” he said. “Cherry popped. I guess that won’t be a problem anymore.” He lifted the handset of the phone. “Jameson, William needs help to get to his room. Also, he needs liquids and iron supplements.”
“I’m fine,” slurred William.
“You will not argue with me. And if you wish to continue with this arrangement, you will do what you are told. No activity today and tomorrow. Rest, and food and liquids only.”
Jameson knocked and entered, and between him and Susan they walked a weakened William out of the room.
Once the door was closed, I turned my primitive ire on Arsen.
“Why did you do that! He didn’t have a problem with what I was doing!”
“Look at you. One minute you can’t consider it, the next you can’t wait to kill a thrall.”
“Kill?” I said. I sat heavily on the sofa and covered my hands. “Oh my god. I almost killed a man.”
Arsen put his arm around me. “Sssh, sssh. This moment happens to everyone. With practice you’ll learn when to stop. I should have been with you but I was afraid you’d be self-conscious if I stayed.”
“I would,” I admitted. “Oh god, that was a close call, wasn’t it?”
“No. I caught you in time. For extreme cases we've procedure to help a thrall recover. He wasn’t even near that point.”
“Arsen, he wants to become a vampire. He kept saying, take it, take it all.”
“And you mustn’t, ever. Only Masters and Princes can make new vampires. It’s our law. If you were to drain a human you must let him die. Otherwise you would be subject to a death sentence, and,” he says with a smile, “I’d hate that.”
“Oh, god, Arsen. What would I do without you?”
“Exactly my point, sweetheart.”
Chapter 9
I am a shameless hussy vampire because the next morning I’m doing my best to seduce Arsen. A satisfied hunger and a good night’s sleep changed my perspective. William might be wonky in his desire to become a vampire, but he is getting a first-class law education. But I don’t want to dwell on William now. My attention is laser focused on one super sexy vampire who for once is not cooperating.
“Come on, baby,” I urge as I put my hand on his thick shaft through the maddening pants he wore. “Need you.”
Part of the problem is that Arsen is taking a one long drink from me, which made me squirm against him, panting with need, needing him inside me. I jut my hips against his and pull on his delicious ass, and I'm insane from needing him and not getting what I wanted.
I unbutton his pants and slide my hand inside. The feel of his cock is delightful, especially when it is hard. It is a kind of magic how this part of the male anatomy springs to life, pulsing, the skin as soft as silk, but rigid and demanding. Why doesn’t the bastard just give it up?
I am totally wet now, ready and waiting for him, and the heat between my legs is nearly unbearable. I growl in my frustration. “Give it up, already.”
Arsen pulled away and kissed me, deep and long, perhaps to reassure me of his feelings in the matter. “And I need you too. We’ll have plenty of time to celebrate after we capture Niko.”
My face burns and my breathing is shallow and all Arsen can think about is asshole Niko who has signed his own death warrant. Now I’m getting angry, partly from frustration and partly because in my mind I'm done with Niko. Let the other vampires take care of him. I don’t understand why Arsen makes Niko’s capture his personal mission.
“And that’s our plan? You said you want to kill him.”
“In the best of all worlds, I do. But I have to make a good try at capturing him. If he comes along willingly, then I’ll bring him to the Elder Council and they can decide what to do with him.”
“You will get Niko on a plane and across the country?”
“I’ve already planned for his transportation this morning while you were soaking in the tub.”
“There are no flies on you? Is there?”
“I hope not,” he says with mock horror.
I’m still not copasetic with leaving this room and pursing Niko instead of carnal pleasures. However, if doing so will get Arsen’s attention back where it needs to be, ergo fucking me silly, then I’m for it.
“Well, then lead the way, my lord. Let’s capture us a vampire and get on with the celebrating.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Where do we look?”
“The Baetal Chapter House. It’s close to here. We can walk.”
I’m shocked. Niko could be that close and Arsen is acting cool about it?
“And you think he’s there, why?”
“Simple. He’s always been a cheap bastard. He won’t spend money he doesn’t have to. If he’s not there, I have more places to look.”
We walk through Cambridge, and I notice that both sides of the street have sidewal
ks as if it is expected that everyone would walk. Cars parked on a single side of the road attested to the lack of parking here. Some houses had old fashioned hitching posts for horses at the gates or at the curb. All the Victorian buildings are similar in age and style. Some are grander than others, but I have the sense of a place stuck in time uncaring whether the world marched past it or not.
Arsen slowed before we reached a large white mansion with Grecian columns holding up the front porch.
“Is that it?”
He nodded.
“Not ostentatious at all, is it?” I say sarcastically.
“The Baetal have always had an overboard sense of style.”
“So what do we do?”
“You walk in and ask to speak to Niko.”
“Me?”
“You’re Baetal, right? They’ll scent you belong.”
"Like each clan has its own scent?”
“Haven’t you noticed?”
“Well, no. Arsen, I swear each day I’m with you I feel like there is a bunch of stuff I should have a clue about that I don’t.”
“You’ll learn.”
“And what about you?”
“I’ll hang out by the door. I’ve drunk enough of your blood that they should not recognize me as Draugur at first.”
“That is why you were driving me crazy?”
“Yes,” he says simply, and I want to smash him.
“I’m going to forget that you feed off me this morning for camouflage.”
“It’s not the only reason. You are delicious.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Just walk in there?”
“It’s our best shot.”
I moved forward, regretting each step, and hesitate at the door. I looked over my shoulder and Arsen nodded, egging me on. I raised the doorknocker but with my first strike the door creaked open.
“Hello?” I said.
No answer. It was eerie quiet. Plus, I caught a horrible scent.
“Arsen,” I say waving him forward. “Come here.”
“What’s up?”
“That smell. O’ de Baetal?”
“Can’t tell for scent of dead vampire.”
“You sure?”
He nodded with his jaw set. “Positive.”
Girl, Immortal (Girl, Vampire Book 3) Page 7
