by Renee George
Guillermo and Tyr immediately started for the door, but Nathan jumped in front. He grabbed the door and slammed it shut, leaving them all out in the hallway. “No.” Nathan couldn’t believe what he was going to do, but after everything he’d seen, he knew there was no other choice. “Don’t go in there. Anyone.”
“But son…”
“No!” Nathan roared. “You don’t understand. I’ve seen it, Mother. I’ve seen everything and everyone I love die because of her. I won’t let it happen again.” He collapsed at the base of the door. “I won’t. Not you, not Tyr, not Nadine, not Guillermo. You will all leave me to this. If you love me, any of you, you will trust me and leave me to this.”
Tyr pushed his way forward to Nathan. “We can’t just let her die, Nathan.”
“If I’m right, she won’t. If I’m wrong --” The words choked in his throat. “If I’m wrong, the world is still a better place.”
“Madre Dios,” Guillermo whispered. “Your heart, amante. It is beating.”
Nathan nodded. “Yes.” He inhaled a stuttering breath. “I’m human again.”
* * *
Nathan stayed outside Rebekah’s door that night. He refused to talk to anyone, refused to think about the horrible thing he was doing, wanting to die as he listened to his daughter’s screams. He’d promised to protect her. Keep her safe. And in his way, he was doing just that. On the second night, her screams became a whimper. On the third, her cries were that of a child. That was the night Nathan went inside the room.
Snot and tears streaked her little face as she held her arms out to him. “Daddy.” Her voice was that of a normal toddler, no longer deep, sophisticated. Her little fists, clenching and unclenching, reached out to him. Nathan’s hand went to his heart as he fought back hard on the tears of relief, of joy.
“It worked.” He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer of thanks before running to his child, embracing her. “Daddy’s here, little one. Daddy’s here.”
Guillermo walked into the room. “Nathaniel.” He watched as Rebekah twirled and played with her father’s hair, blowing raspberries on his neck.
Nathan’s face hurt, he was grinning so hard. “She’s fine now, Gui. She’s fine. I don’t know what the future holds for my girl, but at least I know she has a chance now.” He jerked as her little fangs nipped his skin. “Stop that, Bekah.”
She looked properly ashamed. “Hungry, Daddy. I want some-tin’ to eat.”
“Yes, Bekah. Something to eat and a long, long bath.”
“How did you know?” Guillermo walked to them, petting Bekah’s arm. She giggled. “How did you know she would survive?”
“I didn’t. But her future self gave me the clues. When she kill… well, she said something about when a vampire dies, the soul moves on to be reborn in another body, but the host never remembers the past life. It got me thinking about why Rebekah would remember her past life.
“And the only thing I could come up with was the stones. Lilith, somehow with her magic, managed to stay attached to her soul, maybe because Rebekah was born and not made, but as her consciousness weakened, she needed the stones to maintain those memories, those experiences. Without them, they just… left.”
“She still has magic then?”
As if on cue, Rebekah floated a stuffed animal from her bed up into her arms. “Mister Bunny!”
“Yep.” Then to Bekah, “No, we don’t use magic for such things, Bekah. Do you understand?”
Her lower lip stuck out. “Okay.”
“After you get her cleaned and fed, can we talk, Nathaniel?”
Nathan cooed at Rebekah. It was near dawn and Guillermo would be out soon, but Nathan wasn’t ready to talk to him yet. Everything had changed now. He was human, and that had ramifications for their relationship, whether Nathan wanted to admit it or not. “Can we talk tonight? I’m not ready to have this conversation with you yet.”
Guillermo’s eyes grew more liquid and dark, a storm brewing behind them. “If it is what you wish. I will not bother you further.”
“Hey,” Nathan reached out, not quite touching. “Don’t be angry.”
“Sometimes, amante, you ask too much.” Nathan heard Guillermo muttering Spanish curses in the hallway as the vampire retired to their bedroom.
Tyr’s hulking form took up most of the doorway and Nathan sighed. It seemed like there was always some kind of revolving door in his life. “Hey, Tyr.”
“I can’t…” Tyr bowed his head, his blond hair falling down his chest. “What’s wrong with me? I don’t feel like me anymore. I feel…”
“Free.” He understood what Tyr was feeling. He’d shared the Viking’s thoughts, emotions, even hungers, for over a year. And now it was gone. “I’m human, Tyr. No longer a vampire. When my vampire soul died, the bond died with it.”
“No.” Tyr shook his head, disbelief written on his face. “I’ve felt the bond break when Min died, it was… different.”
“Different because the bond didn’t break, it merely transferred. This time, because of what happened in the future, the bond has disappeared.” He set Rebekah down on in her crib and stepped to Tyr, taking his hand. “You are free, my friend. No longer my servant. You can go anywhere, feed where you want, make your own decisions from now on. Your life is no longer tied to mine.”
Tyr’s blue eyes sparkled with bewilderment, confusion. “But, what do I do now?”
Smiling, Nathan embraced him. “Tyr, you need to decide that for yourself. But remember, you’re family. You will always be family, and even though we don’t share the bond anymore, we will always be friends. I think you should stay… if you want to. But I won’t ask you to, when I don’t even know what I’m going to do.” He released Tyr and went back to Bekah. “Other than get this girl a bath and a decent meal. Anyway, we both have things to sort out.”
“I don’t think Nadine would want me to stay.”
“What makes you think that?”
“She hasn’t spoken to me since we reappeared. She’s still pissed about an argument we had.”
“Listen to me, my dear friend. And if you never ever listen to another word I say, know this is the truth. Nadine loves you.” Nathan turned to get clothes from Bekah’s drawer. “Loves you more than her jewelry, more than her latex, more than anything. She would pack up her belongings and move to the Arctic with you if you asked.”
When he turned back around, Tyr had already left the room.
* * *
Tyr jiggled the doorknob on his and Nadine’s room. It was locked. Taking a step back, he pounded his fist against the door. “Woman!” he roared.
Nadine flung the door open, hairbrush in hand, wearing a hot pink latex body suit unzipped down the front to her navel. “Are you fucking crazy? Have you gone and lost your damn mind?”
“I’m free.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“The blood bond. It’s been severed. I’m a free man, or vampire, as the case may be.”
Anxiety skewed her face, making her small, pert nose wrinkle. “So, you’re leaving then. You didn’t have to break down my damn door to tell me that.”
Don’t let it be too late. “Do you want me to leave?”
“What does it matter what I want? You can do whatever you want now. Why would you stay?”
“For you.”
“But… I thought…”
“Do you love me, Nadine? Nathan says you love me more than anything or anyone else. Does he have it right?”
“Nathan said what? What the hell does Nathan know?”
Crestfallen, Tyr’s shoulders dropped as he mentally prepared himself to leave. Where would I even go? He’d spent so long as his master’s toy, then he belonged to Nathan, and looking at Nadine, he wished he belonged to her. Then she would always want him, need him just like he needed her. “I’m sorry, I only hoped…”
“Well, I didn’t say he was wrong did I? I was just… surprised is all.”
“So, you’re sayin
g…”
“I’m saying… do you love me?”
“I asked first.”
“This is so childish.” She stomped her feet. Her round smooth breasts bounced at the jolt, making Tyr’s cock grow uncomfortably rigid beneath the fabric of his slacks.
“Well…” He rubbed his hand over his groin, caressing the large bulge. “I’m feeling distinctly adult right now.”
“So, no more bond?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Nope.”
“You really hurt my feelings. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yes, and I’m sorry.”
Nadine got up and walked to the bathroom.
“Where are you going?”
“Just a minute.”
When she returned moments later, she was gloriously naked, wearing nothing but nipple rings connected by a chain, and a thick gold ring in her clitoris.
Tyr reacted, his cock growing rigid as he drank in her lithe, supple body. “Oh, I missed those.” He grinned, sitting up on the edge of the bed as she approached.
“The things I am going to do to you,” she purred and snapped her teeth.
“Ah ha, you want to play, huh?”
“As long as I’m playing with you.” She kissed his forehead, her soft breasts brushing against his cheeks.
“And what do you plan to do with me, vixen?”
“What do you want to do?”
Tyr kissed the inside of her left breast, nipping his way to her nipple, tugging the ring between his teeth, licking at the taut nub. He knew what she wanted. What she needed. A sense of control. She’d always feared she was second best. That Tyr’s only reason for being with her was because he had to be close to Nathan.
That had always been her fear, her insecurity. Tyr loved Nadine, and he wanted her to know that he was hers in every way, only hers. “I’ve been a very bad vampire. I need to be punished.”
“Are you sure?”
“Very.” He drew his hands along her back and felt the ripple of sheer excitement tremor down her spine.
“Oh, yeah.” She clapped, then composed herself, striking a pose. “I mean, on your knees before me, slave.”
Tyr stifled a grin as he obliged, lowering his body to the floor, then turning on all fours. “Yes, Mistress.” They didn’t need a safe word because Tyr knew, when he’d had enough, he was going to fuck all the fear and doubt from her.
Drawing a box from under the bed, Nadine opened the lid. “God, I haven’t seen these in forever.”
Her box of toys, Tyr noted, and his cock throbbed against his inner thigh as he wondered what she had in store for him. Nadine was very creative -- one of the things he loved about her. Tyr didn’t watch her, didn’t speak. It was part of the game to do only what he was asked and no more. Anticipation was half the thrill. His cock ached to be touched and the first drops of pre-come rubbed against his leg, but he didn’t dare move.
He felt the first light slap of the flogger against the back of his thighs. “Spread your legs. I want to see your ass.”
Immediately, Tyr moved his knees apart, his large shaft dangling free now, twitching, exposed. The next sensation was that of an oiled object, a plug, working itself against his anus. He bit his lower lip to keep from moaning as she pushed it into place. “You like that, don’t you, slave? You like having your ass filled.”
“Yes,” he whispered hoarsely.
The flogger smacked across his buttocks this time. “Yes, what?”
He cleared his throat. “Yes, Mistress.”
She strolled in front of him, but he kept his head down, submissive, though he could see her black vinyl boots with five-inch heels. Yummy.
Reaching down, Nadine tilted his face upward. She wore a strap-on dildo, large, at least ten inches long and three inches in diameter. She rubbed the tip against his cheek. Tyr wet his lips.
“Oh, you want to suck my dick. Good.” She moved it to his mouth, playing the soft silicone over his lips. She’d flavored it with strawberry oil, the sweet smell sharpening his senses. “Taste it.”
Tyr’s tongue flickered out, licking the smooth surface. “Mmm.”
“Now, suck it.”
Parting his lips, he took the phallus into his mouth, acutely aware of his own cock as his balls contracted.
“That’s it, baby.” Nadine smoothed her fingernails across his cheeks as he sucked and licked, wishing like hell the dildo was fucking his ass and not his mouth. His buttocks squeezed around the plug as more pre-come leaked from his cock. Unable to stop, he moaned.
“Oh yeah, that’s it.” Nadine’s legs were beginning to shake as the silicone cock bounced up and down over her piercing. Moisture dripped between her thighs. Tyr slid his tongue along the side of the dildo, letting her watch as he snaked the tip into the ring, flicking it against her clit, tasting the salty juice of her pussy.
“Oof.” Her hips jerked forward, the silicone slapping against his neck. “For that, you get punished.” But the grin on her face told him she was in no way angry.
“Yes, Mistress.”
She walked behind him, bent down and fondled his sac, then gave the skin a tight pinch. Tyr winced. With an open hand, she slapped his ass. “Stand up and lean forward on the bed.”
Tyr did as she ordered, the plug shifting but snug within him, making him want to come with each movement.
Holding the flogger again, she whipped him. “This ass is so mine.”
Tyr grunted with the blow as several of the soft leather strands smacked against his balls.
“I want to hear you say it.”
“This ass is so yours… Mistress.”
She pulled out the plug, leaving him exposed, stretched, and aching to be filled again. “You want me to fuck you.” It was a statement, not a question.
Gripping the blankets in his hands, Tyr held tight, waiting for the penetration. She knelt behind him, splaying his buttocks with one hand, pushing his thighs wider apart with her shoulder, and applied a liberal amount of oil. The teasing of his hole nearly drove him to his knees. But he stayed up, refusing to let his legs buckle, refusing to let Nadine down.
When she stood again, Nadine pressed the tip of the dildo against the stretched muscle. “You may voice your pleasure.”
“Thank you, Mistress.”
“But you may not touch yourself.”
The urge to stroke his own cock had become insistent, and inwardly he groaned, knowing that he mustn’t. “Yes, Mistress.”
Guiding the smooth silicone, she pushed slowly, burying the thick dildo deep within Tyr. He moaned, soft and low, the pressure stretching him wide, his cock jerking forward. “Fuck, oh, fuck.”
Just as she had inched it into his canal, she inched it out, invading and retreating, unhurried in her pace. Pure pleasure and torture all at the same time. She reached under the dildo, fondling his balls with every sure and unhurried stroke. “Yeah. My ass. My beautiful ass. I’m gonna fuck this ass hard and fast. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes,” he hissed, the word barely squeezing from his tight, dry throat. “Yes.”
She thrust forward, slamming the silicone cock deep. “Whose ass is this?”
“It’s yours!” Tyr cried out. “Your ass.”
Nadine thrust again and again, perfect rhythm, perfect timing, better than most of the men Tyr had been with, her mewls and moans driving him to the brink of climax.
“Oh, goddess, Tyr. I’m going to come.” Her hips jerked. “I want you in me. I want you in me now.”
Dropping down, Tyr pulled himself from the dildo and turned, grabbing Nadine by the waist and flipping her over onto her stomach. “My turn,” he growled and without hesitation drove his cock between the harness straps into her wet, swollen pussy. Using her hips like a handle, he pulled her on and off his shaft, driving deeper, as her moans became louder.
Bloodlust mingled with desire. He’d never been able to feed like regular vampires, only surviving from his master’s blood, but now… “I want to feed.�
��
“But…” Confusion covered Nadine’s face.
“From you, love. I want to taste your blood as I fuck you. Fuck you so hard.”
“Oh goddess,” she panted. She pulled her hair forward and exposed the side of her neck. “Take from me, Tyr. Take what you need.”
“I need you.” He extended his fangs and thrust his hips forward, spearing her with his cock.
“Only you,” he whispered as he sank his teeth into the soft flesh of her neck, drawing sweet salvation from her body, the small hunger pangs lessening with every suck and lick of her blood as he pumped himself harder and harder into her pussy, feeling every small twitch and contraction of her slick sex. Blood rushed to his cock, his stomach tingling and tight as his climax built, struggling to hold on until Nadine…
“Ahh!” she cried out, her shoulders rolling forward, her back arching then shuddering as she screamed her orgasm. Tyr, no longer able to hold back, grunted his final quick thrusts, his hips jolting forward as he climaxed, emptying his cock into the woman he loved.
“I love you, I love you, I love you,” he murmured over and over, holding her tight against his body, never wanting to let her go.
Nadine was speechless for a moment, but when she finally spoke, her words were shaky, choked with emotion. “I love you, too.”
Chapter Eleven
The breeze sent a fine mist from the JC Nichols Memorial fountain over Nathan Greer as he basked for the first time in over four years in the noonday sun. This fountain had always been special to him; it was where he’d proposed to Anna. He watched his stepfather, Alfred, chase Bekah around the other side, and she giggled with delight and clapped at the fountain’s display. It was right that he share this with her.
The mounted Native American with his spear drawn back ready to attack was his favorite of the four mounted figures. He always looked so fierce and decisive. A warrior ready to take on anything that got in his way. Nathan rubbed his arms. He felt warm. It’d had been so long.
