“She’s not going to make a run for it,” Declan replied and bit down. “Ugh.” Grabbing the trashcan, he pulled it forward and spit the remains of the lollipop into it.
“What is it with you and those human things?” Lucien demanded.
Declan set the can down and leaned back in his chair again. “I’m trying to figure out how many licks it takes to get to the center, but I keep biting into it before I get there.”
“Why on earth are you doing that?” Saxon asked.
“Might as well solve the mysteries I can in this world,” Declan said.
Ronan sensed more behind the man’s words and his newfound obsession with human snacks than Declan was saying, but he let it go.
Tears streaked Kadence’s face as the sun glistened upon her.
“Why is she crying?” Lucien asked.
“Shit,” Ronan hissed as realization sank in.
“What is it?” Declan inquired.
“She doesn’t know,” he murmured. “I didn’t tell her.”
“Tell her what?” Saxon asked.
“That we are able to go out in the sun.”
Declan’s feet hit the floor as he spun to face Ronan. “How could you not tell her that?”
Ronan scowled at him. “I wasn’t going to reveal everything to her, and then I just… forgot.”
“You should go tell her before she decides she likes the sun more than you. Which, she might,” Lucien said.
Turning on his heel, Ronan stalked out of the security office where he’d been meeting with the others about their next step in trying to locate Joseph. He cursed himself with every step he took to the front door. The sun’s rays hit him as soon as he opened the door, and the cool air brushed over his skin as he strode forward.
Kadence no longer stood by the fountain, but he followed her scent down a trail leading through the privet hedges lining the seashell walkway. At the end of the privet was a far larger garden. It covered at least three acres of land, though there was little to see now except for some heather, lavender, and fountain grasses.
He stopped short when he found her at the end of the walkway, gazing at the remains of the gardens. Seeming to sense him, she turned and her face lit with a smile. Her hand was stretching toward him when it fell back to her side and her mouth dropped open. Her gaze ran over him as if she expected him to burst into flames at any second, and she most likely did.
“Ronan?” she squeaked.
He strode toward her, took her hand, and bent to kiss her. Her eyes remained on his as their lips touched and her breath rushed out of her.
“How is this possible?” she inquired when he rose away from her.
“Only the Savages can’t go out in the sun,” he told her as her eyes ran over him again and then again. “With each kill, they become stronger, yet they also become weaker.”
“But… but… you can be out in the sun?”
“I can,” he replied. “There was a time, after I killed those hunters, that it was more difficult for me, but that time has passed. I no longer experience any ill effect from the sun’s rays.”
“We were so wrong,” she murmured, her skin paler than normal and her lower lip trembling. “I don’t have to give up the sun if I become a vampire?”
“You don’t,” he assured her.
“You have to let me tell Nathan about this, let me talk to him. The two of you should meet. I will arrange it.”
“I doubt your brother would want to see me again, Kadydid. We didn’t exactly part on good terms.”
“I can help to fix that; let me do this.”
He pondered her words as he ran his fingers over her cheek, savoring every detail of her. “Why don’t we do one thing at a time and figure us out first?” he suggested.
“I’ve figured that out,” she said and stepped closer to him. Her arms slid around his waist as she rested her head on his chest. “Whatever this is between us scares me, but I won’t lose you. You have to agree to let me speak with my brother though when this is done.”
“Kadence,” he breathed, kissing her neck as he held her to him. “I will not deny you that.”
“You also have to promise you won’t lock me away. I realize we can’t go traveling all over the world right now, but I won’t be confined again. I want to help hunt Joseph and stop this growing threat.”
“You are not ready for a fight like that.”
“You will keep training me,” she insisted. “And as a vampire, I will probably be faster and stronger. You also said, as a mated vampire, I would be stronger than other vamps. Don’t cage me, Ronan. It will ruin us if you try to lock me away. I am a hunter, and I will hunt.”
“The last thing I want to do is ruin us or make you unhappy,” he admitted as he ran his lips down the slender column of her throat. “But you will agree to listen to me when it comes to Joseph and the Savages.”
“I will,” she promised.
He lifted her against him, and she snuggled closer to his chest as he carried her across the property toward the house. His heart hammered with every step, his cock swelling with its need to be inside her made walking difficult, but he didn’t slow.
He shoved the front door open and stalked across the foyer to the stairs. He took them three at a time to the top and sped down the hall to his room.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Kadence lifted her head from his shoulder to study the angles of his face. She sensed the demon simmering just beneath his surface.
She should be afraid. She wasn’t. She’d made her choice; Ronan was her destiny. She wouldn’t go back, and she wouldn’t dread what was to come. He would protect her, and she would love him.
He set her on her feet before kicking the door shut behind him. Clasping her cheeks, he bent to kiss her. A wave of emotion built within her, warming her to her core as love burst through her. Entwining her fingers in his hair, Kadence kissed him hungrily back. Her body clamored for his as she realized that she never would have been able to leave him again. Her fate had been tied to his since she’d laid eyes on him. Perhaps it had been sealed from the moment of her birth.
Breaking their kiss, he pulled off his shirt before clasping the edges of hers and sliding it up to reveal her body to his voracious gaze. The demon within him clamored to possess her as he pulled off her boots and socks before kicking off his own.
Concerned he would hurt her, he kept his darker impulses leashed, but he was unable to stop himself from tearing her pants off her body. She gasped at the rending sound of the fabric, but she didn’t pull away from him when he reclaimed possession of her mouth.
Her hands slid across his shoulders before trailing over his chest and down to his waist. Her touch seared through him and burned its mark upon every inch of his flesh. He’d been in a rush to possess her, but he realized then that she already possessed him in every way.
He shook with his need to be within her while slaking his thirst on her blood. Her fingers gripped the button of his jeans, and she slipped it free before pulling the zipper down. Ronan groaned as she pushed his jeans lower and freed his dick from the confines of his jeans. His body jerked when she gripped his shaft and stroked him the way he had taught her to. His teeth grated together as she squeezed him, causing him to nearly come in her hand.
Kadence watched in awe as his head fell back against the door. The corded muscles of his neck stood out as he thrust his hips in rhythm to the motion of her hand. She couldn’t help but marvel at the power she had over this man—a man who was far stronger than her, or anyone she’d ever known, yet he was hers. The possessive urge the thought brought forth set something free within her, something she’d never known existed before, something savage. He was hers, and she would kill anyone who tried to take him from her.
Bending her head, she ran her tongue over his chest, tasting the saltiness of his flesh as his cinnamon and ozone scent engulfed her senses. She was wet and aching to be filled by him when she nipped at his flesh.
Ronan jerked ag
ainst her when she bit him lightly before swirling her tongue over the bite. He growled as she bit him again. This time, hard enough to draw blood.
She licked it away before she bit again, drawing more blood forth. His fingers threaded through her hair as she mewled and her hands dug into his shoulders. She released his dick and bit him again.
“Harder, Kadence,” he said, fisting her hair tighter as he held her closer.
Unable to resist his command, she bit down more forcefully and swallowed his blood.
He felt the unraveling within her, the growing desperation as her fingernails scored him. He didn’t know what had unleashed this need within her, but he was helpless to deny her what she wanted as she bit him again.
One second, he was leaning against the door, the next his hands were on her hips and he was lifting her. He kicked his jeans from around his ankles seconds before he lowered her onto the swollen length of him.
Kadence cried out as he stretched and filled her, completing her. She froze, her eyes locking on his while he stared raptly at her. He was the most magnificent thing she’d ever seen or experienced as he remained buried deep within her while the potent taste of his blood lingered on her lips.
She had no idea what was wrong with her; she should be repulsed to be yearning his blood in such a way, but she wanted more of it, and him. She’d never tasted anything as delicious as it was, hadn’t believed it possible blood could be so sweet.
Her hands cupped his face as she bent to kiss him. A thrill went through her when she ran her tongue over his fangs, feeling the sharp edges of them. He nipped at her lip before drawing it into his mouth to soothe the sting.
Then, his fang pierced his lip, drawing his blood forth. She sucked on it as she laved the puncture. Being buried within her and his ability to feed her calmed the demon within him. Ronan’s hands tightened on her hips and he braced his legs apart as her body moved fluidly against his, yet he sensed something more within her, a hunger he’d never expected as he fed her more of his blood.
Pulling away, she studied his face. Her lips, swollen from his kisses, were also tinged red with his blood. Her tongue slid out to lick it away, and she shuddered against him.
She kept her eyes on his as she rose over him again before sliding slowly back down. She was magnificent, and she was his. Completely and utterly his. He bent his head to one of her nipples, and rolled his tongue over it as he sucked on her. Her body bowed and her head fell back as she thrust harder against him.
Kadence clung to him as if nothing outside the two of them existed anymore. The building tension in her belly and between her thighs splintered apart when his fangs grazed her breast before his lips tugged at her nipple. She cried out, her fingers digging into his shoulders as she came apart.
Panting for breath, her head fell into the hollow of his shoulder. The enticing scent of her orgasm filled the air, but Ronan held back his release. He intended for this to last longer.
He nipped at her breast again as he strode across the room. Each of his steps drove him in and out of her. She moaned against his shoulder when he laid her on the bed. He remained deep inside her as he climbed on top of her.
“We’re not done yet, love,” he assured her.
He braced his arms and withdrew from her before burying himself deep again. Her mouth parted, and her legs wrapped around his waist as she lifted her hips and eagerly took his next hard thrust. He knew he was unraveling, that he should be gentler with her, but he couldn’t stop himself from driving harder and faster into her. She propelled him heedlessly onward as her body rose and fell to match his pace. The demon burst free of its cage as he took her with a ferocity he couldn’t stop.
Kadence held onto him as she felt the unraveling within him and she knew she was the only one who could ease him. He plunged into her again and tossed his head back as his arms went rigid beside her head and a guttural shout escaped him. The pulsations of his release filling her brought forth an answering orgasm from her and she cried out.
Falling back on the bed, she marveled over the beauty of his chiseled body, dampened with sweat, as he remained rigid above her. Slowly, his head came back down and his red eyes met hers. His hair was tussled as it fell almost boyishly across his forehead. There was nothing boyish in the vampire above her as the demon within him was on full display.
What had transpired between them had done nothing to ease his need for her. Instead, it had only whet the demon’s appetite for more.
Kadence braced herself for what was to come. However, he didn’t strike as he stared unwaveringly down at her and kept her body caged beneath his. He didn’t so much as breathe. She knew it was taking all he had not to pounce on her and take the rest of what he needed from her.
She loved him even more for it.
“It’s okay,” she murmured. “Don’t fight it anymore. I want this too.”
“The transition is difficult, Kadence, prepare yourself for that, and I have no idea what it will be like for a hunter.”
“I know,” she whispered and brushed back a strand of his hair.
“Kadence—”
“I have made my decision, Ronan. There is no going back now. This can’t be changed for either of us. Whatever happens, we will deal with it together.”
He gazed wordlessly at her as some new emotion came to life within him. He wasn’t sure what this feeling was, but she was the only one who had ever brought it out in him.
Kadence smiled at him as the red bled away from his eyes and she found herself staring into a pair of beautiful, deep brown eyes once more. “There’s the Ronan I love,” she whispered.
Chapter Thirty-Five
His mouth parted on an explosive breath. He stared at her as if she’d punched him in the gut. “Love?” he choked out.
Kadence took a deep breath, bracing herself against the sorrow that would follow if he rejected her. “Yes, I think… no, I know I love you.”
His body softened around hers as one of his hands clasped the silken strands of her hair. “I will spend forever trying to be someone who deserves your love.”
“You already deserve my love.”
He lowered his forehead so it rested against hers and inhaled her enticing scent. She humbled him in ways he’d never expected to be humbled in his life. He was determined she would never again feel trapped and lost. Never again be unhappy.
“I may not be able to give you everything you dreamed of right now, but one day you will have everything you’ve always wanted. One day, when things settle some, I will take you anywhere you ask to go. I will make you the happiest woman in the world, Kadence.”
Her hands ran over his sweat-slicked back as tears burned in her eyes. “I am happy,” she whispered.
“Good.”
She shivered with delight when his arms tightened around her and she felt him harden within her once more. Her body quickened in response to his arousal. Wrapping her hand around the back of his head, she turned her head as she guided him to her neck and lifted her hips to him.
He slid out of her before burying himself within her again. He ran his tongue over the pulse pounding in the side of her neck as the rush of her blood filled his ears. Thirst burned him when he rested his fangs against her vein.
Taking deep breaths, Kadence tried to stay relaxed even as her body braced for what was to come.
“Don’t fight it,” he whispered in her ear before he sank his fangs into her neck.
The piercing sting caused her body to jerk beneath his, and she winced as she waited for the excruciating agony she’d experienced with Joseph, but when Ronan gave his first pull, all she felt was joy as he took her blood while his body moved within hers.
Strength flooded through Ronan as her blood filled his cells, branding him forever as hers. He’d never tasted anything as intoxicating as her, or experienced so much power from another’s blood. He’d only rarely fed from other vampires, and they’d all been turned ones. It had been centuries since he last fed from another of
his kind, but her blood felt far stronger than theirs ever had.
For the first time in centuries, he was free from the burning in his veins and his unquenchable need to kill. Joy swelled within him as a peace he’d never thought to find settled over him. Her fingers curled into his back and her pleasure slid through the connection opening between them.
Turning her face into his neck, she sank her teeth into his shoulder and cried out when she broke through his skin and licked away his blood. Too far gone in the freedom she gave him and the ecstasy of her body, Ronan didn’t think about her reaction and craving for his blood.
She arched beneath him and bit into him as she came again. With one final thrust, he found his release within her welcoming body. He pulled out of her as her blood continued to fill him and she bit him again.
Gathering her closer to him, he bit deeper into her vein. Her grip on his back loosened, her fingers eased their hold on him. The slowing beat of her heart sounded in his ears as the life drained from her, and he knew she was almost to the point of no return. Retracting his fangs from her, he licked the drops of blood from her neck when her head lulled to the side.
Panic gripped him as her shallow breaths rattled in and out of her chest. He had to get more of his blood into her soon. He bit into his wrist. Blood welled forth, its new scent causing his nostrils to flare. Kadence was etched into his cells now as her blood flowed through his veins, making him stronger than he’d been before.
He brought his wrist to her mouth and rested it against her parted lips. His blood trickled inside, but whereas she had eagerly consumed it before, she remained limp beneath him now. “Drink, Kadence,” he commanded gruffly.
Her dazed eyes met his before fluttering closed again. Gathering her closer to him, he cradled her in his arms. The weakness in her body caused his heart to race as he kissed her forehead, and his fingers entangled in her hair. He could feel his blood seeping into her, but he couldn’t feel it making any changes within her or strengthening her.
Terror clawed at his insides. Maybe a hunter couldn’t become a vampire; maybe it was impossible to turn them. It had never occurred to him that might be a possibility, but maybe the fact they were already part demon would make them immune to the change.
[The Alliance 01.0] Eternally Bound Page 24
