Stolen Sun (The Juliana Lucio Series)

by L. C. DeCarlo

  “I can’t let him threaten my family either, he’s sadistic and will continue hunting them no matter what I do or say. I won’t apologize to that madman, and I can’t believe you’d ask me too! He may not be able to compel me, but he can control me through them, and he knows it.”

  I decided to forget about the coffee, the smell wasn’t going to do anything to calm me down tonight.

  Ana came into the kitchen and was standing just at the edge of the entryway. She wasn’t moving, and I could tell she was feeling incredibly anxious.

  “She’s right Will, you know it. It’s what he did to me. I’m sorry Juliana, this is my fault” Ana looked more upset than I’ve ever seen her, “he lied when he said it was all yours.”

  “What are you talking about?” Something on her face had me incredibly scared, she seemed paler than normal. She looked like she was trying to tell me something but wouldn’t look me in the eye.

  “Ana, what are you talking about?” I repeated myself a bit more firmly.

  “Nathaniel. He’s my Sire.”

  The world fell out from underneath me; I couldn’t believe what she was saying.

  “You set me up!”

  I was filled with so much rage that I was ready to attack her right here and now. To think back on everything I had gone through, what my family was going through, and to know it had been a setup was beyond words.

  “No! I didn’t set you up. I swear everything I told you about why I turned you was true.” She was almost frantic now, pleading with me to listen to her, “but Nathaniel is my Sire, when I turned you he felt it. You’re right, he is sadistic; he came into town because I turned you. He wants to hurt as many people as he can, if he can take you from me, it’ll kill me. If he has to take your family from you in the process he’ll do it without thinking twice. I don’t know if Victoria really does have a thing for Christian or not, but he will make her turn him if he thinks it will help his cause.”

  I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, “How did he know when William and I would be here? Why were they waiting for us tonight?”

  “Juliana, please listen to me --”

  “How did they know when we would be here?”

  My hands were clenched into fists, my vision was sharp so I knew my vampire guise was up, I was so angry I felt my fangs lengthening.

  “He made me tell him. I’m sorry, I tried not to, but he compelled me into it! I don’t know how you can resist him or the two of us for that matter!” She said gesturing to herself and William.

  “Are you planning on helping him?”

  I was as still as death and spoke just loud enough for her to hear me. My plan was falling apart, if she was going to help Nathaniel attack my son, it was hopeless. I couldn’t fight them all.

  “No. I’m going to leave. If I stay here, he will come to me or make me go to him. I don’t want to endanger you any further; I don’t want to tell him what you are planning.”

  I felt an incredible loss at the thought of her leaving. I was supposed to be angry with her, hate her for turning me, but I realized I didn’t. I didn’t want her to go, I wanted her to stay and fight with me, to help me.

  “Ok, are you planning on coming back?”

  I asked her even though I wanted to beg her to stay. I didn’t know where this emotion was coming from, but I did realize the threat she posed. If Nathaniel got to her, she would tell him everything, and he would come after us all.

  “I’ll come back when it’s safe for you. I’m sorry Juliana, I am. I never meant for any of this to happen. You must kill him though, if you don’t he will hunt you until you turn to his way of life, and he will still take your son no matter what.”

  She just stared at me for one long moment, her face etched with concern and longing, she then fled out the back door. I vaguely heard the sound of her BMW screeching out of the drive, but that was it. She was gone.

  I stood still for just a moment taking it in then I turned on William, “What about you? Any secrets you need to reveal? Any plans on betraying me to the monster that wants to kill my son?” I knew it was harsh, but I wasn’t feeling reasonable at the moment.

  “Juliana, I told you my sire is dead, and I would never let anything hurt you. That’s why you have to stop this, you can’t attack him. He will kill you!” William was the one looking pissed off now as we stood in the expansive kitchen.

  I turned and went into the library. I loved being in there, it was my favorite room in the entire house. I went and stood next to the stone fireplace that covered half of one wall. I was trying to calm myself down and think things through, but all I could focus on was that I needed to stop Nathaniel. Ana had said so herself, and he was her Sire. I went to stand near the floor to ceiling bookshelves and began leafing through a book, not really seeing it.

  “Are you even listening to me? You can’t fight him; he is 400 years old!”

  “Yet, I did tonight, and survived. What do you have to say about that William?” I wasn’t looking at him; I was trying to ignore him.

  I felt a blur of motion next to me and then I was being spun around my back slammed into the bookshelf. The book fell from my hand as William wretched my arms above my head and pinned them above me.

  “Yeah, I can see you’re very well prepared to take on a Master Vampire.” He was pressed against me holding me tightly to the bookshelf making sure I had nowhere to go.

  “Let me go.” I told him as sternly as I could.

  “If you can’t manage to get me off of you, you don’t stand a chance with him.”

  His eyes were fully black, his grip on my wrists getting stronger. I felt my own vision getting sharper, my fangs lengthening.

  “What’s the matter, Juliana can’t get me off of you?” William said as he pressed his body harder into mine.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” I was getting pissed, but couldn’t deny the effect the closeness of his body was starting to have on me.

  “You said you wanted to fight, so let’s see it. Let’s see what you can do.” He shoved me harder into the bookshelf causing books to scatter to the floor.

  “This isn’t what I meant and you know it!” I growled back at him as I shoved both my arms down as hard as I could, I simultaneously shot my right knee up into his gut forcing him to release me. The instant he did I flashed to the opposite side of the couch.

  “What are you trying to do William; I want you to teach me. Teach me how best to attack Nathaniel, explain to me how I can defeat him, not this!” I said gesturing to the frail books that were now scattered across the floor.

  “That’s just it!” He leapt over the couch in one fluid movement.

  It was so fast; it made me doubt even more that Nathaniel could be faster than him. He reached out to grab me by the throat, but I saw it coming.

  “I can’t teach you how to defeat him, because it can’t be done.” As I was escaping his grasp, he spun around and grabbed me in a bear hug. I started to struggle against his grip, but he just pulled me tighter against his chest sending flutters through my stomach.

  “You have to Will. I can’t let him do this.” I stopped struggling against him and just stood there with him.

  I tried not to let the despair of what was happening sink in, I wanted to fight, I wanted to do anything to make it go away, to ignore it. He pulled me closer to him and hid his face in my still braided hair.

  “Don’t you get it Jules? As much as you can’t bear to lose them, I can’t bear to let you go either. I can’t let you do this.”

  He was now brushing his fangs along the column of my neck, eliciting all sorts of sensations. I started to tremble at the thought of him kissing me again or biting me or perhaps finishing what we started in the morgue.

  “I just found you; I’m not willing to give you up.” He began to slowly kiss my neck starting behind my ear, working his way down my throat. As he did his hands brushed my tank top up revealing both my breasts to the cool air. I wasn’t wearing a bra because w
hen he brought my clothes to me earlier he of course, didn’t bring me one so he had instant access to my pearled nipples.

  “Will --” I turned in his arms so I was facing him.

  I stretched up to fist my hands in his hair and pulled his mouth down to mine. I began kissing him hard and fast determined not to stop this time, determined to forget all that was haunting me. He didn’t hesitate to follow and bent over to pick me up, grabbing my behind as I wrapped my legs around his waist.

  “Jules, you don’t have to do this… Don’t get me wrong—I want to do this—it’s just that. . .” William started bumbling between kisses.

  “Will, shut up,” I told him while yanking his shirt off.

  I was a little speechless after that. I had gotten a glimpse of him shirtless earlier, but up close I could see why Hollywood always portrayed vampires as gods. Someone that produces movies must have met one at some point because he was flawless.

  His chest and abs were muscular and firm revealing a set of muscles that went way beyond a six pack, and trailed well down past the waist band of his leather riding pants to the bulge beneath. The muscles in his arms were long and lean and glided when he moved. He was truly sexy. I realized I was just sitting on him, staring at how gorgeous he was, when he pulled me out of my trance by leaning down and taking my breast into his mouth.

  I gave a slight yelp in surprise, and he just glanced up at me and smiled, his eyes glinting black though the blond hair that had fallen into his face. I could see his fangs peering out around his full lips, and it made me desire him even more. He released my nipple from his grasp and pulled off my shirt in one smooth tug while lowering me to the carpet. After removing both of our pants, he began to lower himself onto me when I hooked my leg around his and flipped him underneath me. I couldn’t help the smug smile that played on my lips when I took him by surprise.

  I leaned over him and straddled him as I gave him a slow lingering kiss; I’m not sure what he thought really. Perhaps he thought I had changed my mind. I began running my tongue along his chest, gently biting my way up his neck until I found his mouth again, kissing him long and deep. His hands found their way into the long length of my hair, unwinding my braid, and pulling me tighter into him.

  I ran my nails down his chest until I heard him groaning and decided that I had teased him enough. I took the length of him, settled him between my thighs and began to ride him long and hard. He was gripping my hips tightly, and I leaned forward so my breasts were brushing near his mouth. I was riding him hard, but I knew he wanted more, needed more.

  “Will, do it. I want you to do it.” I was looking him in the eye, and I could see how intensely he wanted me. How much he needed me.

  “Do what Jules? Tell me.” His husky growl was almost indecipherable.

  “Bite me.”

  My breast was brushing his lips now, the same nipple he had been sucking earlier. He didn’t hesitate, didn’t ask if I was sure. It made me appreciate him that much more for not questioning me. He opened his mouth wide and sunk his fangs into my breast. The moment he did, I reached my climax and I felt my blood pouring into him.

  He began thrusting his hips harder into me as he sucked on my breast. He slowed his pull on me and licked where he had bitten me to stop the bleeding then flipped me around so I was underneath him. He pulled my leg up over his hip as he drove himself into me, and I felt him shudder. Once he did, I slumped back as he collapsed on my chest; I brushed my lips along his neck eliciting a shiver from him in return.

  “Well, that’s one way to stop Nathaniel from going after your family.”

  “Will.”

  “Yeah, Jules?”

  “Shut up.”

  To which he just laughed and continued stroking my side.

  Chapter Fourteen

  We spent the next two days sparring. William decided he couldn’t talk me out of going after Nathaniel and Victoria so he was going to do whatever he could to prepare me, even if he believed it was a lost cause. He taught me basics of offense and defense, how to anticipate what someone will do next by the muscles twitching in their arms and legs, even their facial muscles. When we fought we used our full strength, I wouldn’t allow anything less from him.

  Each night after I rose and before we started sparring, I would check in on my family. William refused to let me drive the Audi anymore and instead made me run the whole way. He said it was so I could build up my speed, but really I think it was because he was afraid I was going to damage his precious little sports car.

  Each night I got to my house I could sense another vampire signature, I wanted to seek them out but William just encouraged me to focus on determining their exact location instead. He said it would help me from being caught off guard if anyone tried to sneak up on me. He let me know when I was right; still it unnerved me, knowing someone else was out there watching them. I was becoming quicker at determining their correct location, but I wanted to confront them.

  William and I hadn’t had a repeat of our night in the library, but we definitely had a closeness that we didn’t have before. I could sense him better than I ever could before, could anticipate his moves better. William said it was because I was getting better at paying attention to my reflexes, but I had my doubts.

  “How do you know it’s because I’m getting better, what if I can only sense you better and not everyone else also?” I finally asked him a bit nervously.

  “You can find me blindfolded, in a pitch-black field, in the middle of nowhere. Vampire or not, the first time you tried that you walked into a tree, I swear you must be the only clumsy vampire that ever existed,” William replied a little too amused.

  “Yeah, but how do you know it isn’t just you? How do you know it isn’t just because . . . you know . . . of what we did? We’ve shared each other’s blood now, does that mean that we can sense each other better now, sorta like Ana and I?”

  The thought of Ana brought on a little pang of sadness that I tried to ignore, she was gone. She’d left me, granted it was for my safety, and Christian's, but I still didn’t want to think about her.

  “Sharing blood does bring us closer together, but you will only ever have that strong emotional bond with Ana. If you and I really worked at it, we could locate one another through our blood, but we would already have to be in close proximity to one another. The bond you and Ana have is more like one of a parent/child, you and I have a lovers bond, it’s just different.”

  He was looking at me adoringly, and I felt a little guilt for ignoring what we had done. I hadn’t wanted to bring it up, I felt as though I was betraying Antonio and Ana. I still wasn’t ready to talk about it. I just averted my eyes away from his. We were sitting in the tree house in my old backyard watching my house. It was always peaceful here, and I felt I could finally say what had been bothering me.

  “I don’t think what Ana wants from me is the bond of a parent/child. I think what she wants from me is the same as what you want from me, I said quietly.

  William came over and sat down in front of me, holding my cheek in his hand. “Well, we both want you to be safe and happy, so that’s true.”

  “You sound like something off of the Lifetime movie channel.” I said rolling my eyes at him, “you know what I mean. She wants more from me than I can give her. I’m willing to work on the whole sire/child thing, as long as she quits treating me like a child, but that’s all I can give her Will.”

  I was looking down fidgeting with my nails again. It was an old habit that had crossed over with me. William tilted my chin upwards so I had to look him in the eyes. I felt myself getting lost in the deep brown of them but mostly in the sincerity that was always there for me to find.

  “Then tell her that, she’s not as cold as you might think. She’ll understand. I think part of it is the bond anyways; she’s so tied to your emotions that she wants to have a larger part of you. Once that becomes more under control, everything will be easier for both of you. Trust me.”

  Just as I
was about to answer him I heard Christian’s bedroom window opening, we both turned to look over and saw him sneaking very slowly out his bedroom window and slide smoothly down the siding of the second floor to land on the ground with barely a sound.

  “That little . . . where does he think he’s going? It’s three O’clock in the morning!” I hissed, feeling incredulous, that my perfect son would ever do something so teenager like.

  I decided to follow him and see what exactly he was up to. The other vamp signature had left a little while ago so I felt safe leaving Antonio and Evan home without me. William and I followed Christian from a good distance back and watched as he quietly made his way through the neighborhood deftly avoiding any hidden obstacles in his way.

  “Are you sure he’s your kid?” William whispered to me, “He’s seems really coordinated.”

  I just shot William a glare from the corner of my eye and watched as Christian made his way onto the main street off our neighborhood. There was a car waiting for him, it was slightly hidden behind a cluster of oak trees. My anger at him for sneaking out was steadily increasing and my anxiousness at not being able to track him was reaching the point of becoming incapacitating.

  “We can’t let him get in that car!” I frantically told William.

  “Jules — stop — you can’t help him if you can’t keep a level head. He’s just acting like a kid, you need to relax.” William had grabbed me by the shoulders and was trying to get my attention.

  “Really? Relax? While my son who has a sociopath after him, sneaks off out of sight where I can’t protect him!”

  I was beginning to let my emotions get the better of me, I understood that in my mind, I just couldn’t make the rest of me understand that it wasn’t helping. I sped up my pace trying to keep up with the car. They kept getting caught in traffic and hitting all the red lights so I really wasn’t having that hard of a time at it. It was more the principle of the matter, I might technically be dead, but I was still his mother, and I was pissed off that he was sneaking off behind our, I mean Antonio’s, back.