Haven

by Celia Breslin

  “Carina.” His hips rocked, hitting me in the right place, sparking my lust.

  “Hi.” My voice was breathy. His hips rolled again, making my toes curl, my back arch.

  His lips curled in a wicked smile. “Hi.”

  He dipped his head and kissed me, careful not to cut me with his fangs. The gentle assault made me hotter and I wriggled my hips, ready for more. He nuzzled my neck, nipping, licking, grazing my flesh with his fangs until I shivered and buried my hands in his hair.

  “Please,” I moaned. Bite me.

  He stilled, his breath hot on my skin.

  “Please,” I repeated. Do it. Now.

  He licked the hollow of my neck once, twice...his fangs slid home. The pain stole my breath, but it was a fleeting thing. Endorphins crashed through me, our power whirled around us, and all I could do was wrap my legs around his waist and hang on as he bucked against me and suckled at my neck. Every pull of his mouth sent shocks of pleasure straight to my core, where his erection pressed against me through the thin material of his pajama bottoms. He was hard, ready.

  Me, too. More than ready. Hot and wet. And my inner vampire—no—all of me chanted, Yes, more, mine, more.

  We were way overdressed for more. “Clothes. Off.” Had I said that out loud? Apparently so, because Alexander growled against my throat, sending another shockwave through me. In the next second, my shirt disappeared and Alexander’s fangs sank back into my neck. His hand slipped between our bodies, heading south.

  Stella appeared by the bed. “Basta. Enough.”

  Alexander pulled back, but I clung to him, ignoring Stella.

  “Carina, what—?” The look on my face stopped him.

  “My turn,” I rasped, voice low, sultry.

  Alexander impaled his tongue on one fang and closed his mouth to let the blood pool inside. A strangled moan escaped me and I attacked. I kissed, licked, fed at his mouth all the while pushing him back, back, until I straddled him, gripping his head, drinking him down. Good, so good. I rode him as if we were naked, imagining him inside me, filling me with his hard heat. His hands gripped my hips and squeezed. A fang nicked my tongue. More blood. We moaned in unison.

  A fierce male roar and a hailstorm of power—from Jonas—broke us apart. Stella grabbed Alexander by the throat and hurled him against the wall. I snarled and lunged for her, but Jonas caught me around the waist, pulling me to the floor. He wrapped himself around me from behind, holding me with his iron arms and legs while I growled and writhed. My power stabbed at him, trying to free me so I could get to Alexander, but his superior firepower beat mine back at every turn.

  “That’s enough, my little warrior.”

  I hissed and scratched at his arm. Lucky for him, he still wore his fancy coat.

  Thomas and Tessa flew over the railing. Great, more annoying vampires to rain all over my lust parade. I snarled. They glowed like pleased parents.

  “Well done, my darling,” Tessa beamed.

  I frowned. Damn you and your happy vibe. But the fight left me and I lay acquiescent in Jonas’s arms.

  Tessa looked at Stella and Alexander. “Sit,” she commanded, as if talking to pets instead of people.

  Stella released Alexander and flopped onto the bed. She cocked a mocking brow at Alexander. He scowled at her and took a seat on the foot of the bed, arms folded across his chest. He glanced my way. Blood decorated his chin and mouth.

  “There’s blood on your face,” I whispered.

  He wiped his face, glanced at his bloody hand, then gave me a sexy, naughty twist of his lips and licked his hand clean. A guttural moan escaped my throat. Jonas tightened his grip on me. I bit my lip, eyes glued to Alexander. He watched me, watching him. Hungry. We were both so hungry. We wanted each other. Why did they keep us apart? He’s mine. His blood is mine. I made a frustrated sound, bit my lip harder and tasted blood.

  My need to get to Alexander increased and I renewed my squirming in Jonas’s arms. “Let me go.”

  I managed to free an arm. Or maybe Jonas let it go. I didn’t care either way. I made a fist and prepped to pound it into Jonas’s head when Alexander’s voice stopped me. “Carina.” He touched his chin and pointed at mine.

  I grazed my fist across my chin, coming away with blood. I licked it clean while Alexander watched, his body taut, ready to pounce. God, how I wanted him to free me from Jonas, rip off the rest of my clothes and devour me whole. But he would never disobey Tessa, not after what he’d suffered at her hands.

  Jonas’s limbs relaxed around me, and that’s all I needed. I flew from his arms, faster than I’d ever moved in my life. But not fast enough. Jonas caught my arm. A frustrated growl escaped me. With lightning speed, I whirled and pounced, crashing us to the floor.

  Teeth bared, I struck at his neck. Jonas blocked my attack and I received a mouth full of chesterfield coat sleeve. I froze. Why am I biting Jonas? Why am I acting like a crazed, rabid animal? He held me by the throat. He could snap my neck anytime. Did he want to? I released his arm.

  Thomas knelt next to us. “Ease up, Jonas. It would appear our little feral vampire has come to her senses.”

  Jonas freed my neck. I rolled off him, scrambling away until I hit the wall near the stairs. I hugged my knees to my chest and avoided eye contact. I was afraid, confused, embarrassed, and strangely high and sort of happy all at the same time. That made it worse. I closed my eyes, praying to the gods to make me invisible.

  No answer to that prayer.

  Thomas and Jonas approached. “Come, cara mia, let us help you,” Thomas said.

  “No.” Stay back you idiots. I want to bite you, I do. Oh god, back off. Crazy newbie vampire. Out-of-control half-breed. Destructive hybrid.

  “We can help you, if you let us in.”

  “No.” Go away.

  Thomas knelt before me. “Tear down that mind barrier. You are all too adept at keeping us out now. We understand the drives, the urges you experience right now. We can assist you better if you open to us.” He placed a hand on my leg.

  “Don’t touch me.” I fought the urge to grab his hand and bite down on it, draw blood and lap it up.

  Yes, more blood.

  I hugged myself tighter, muscles trembling with the effort to stay still. Or maybe I should haul ass downstairs, out the door, down the hill. Run the blood lust from my system. But there were people outside, warm-blooded, innocent humans. In my state would I go feral? Would I work my vampire mojo on them, rip open their jugulars and have a drink?

  Yes. No. More. No more. I moaned. Someone please stop the seesaw.

  The scent of lavender perfumed the air. Tessa, making it stop. My limbs uncurled, body relaxing against the wall.

  Tessa folded her legs to the side and smoothed her dress with small, graceful hands. Even sitting on the floor, she managed to look regal. Stella handed her a wine glass. Tessa pressed it to my lips. The metallic smell made my mouth water. I took a sip, then another, then chugged it. So thirsty. When I finished, Stella pushed a shirt over my head and helped my arms into it. Large, soft, and black, it smelled like Alexander. Even cocooned in lavender, I detected his now familiar musky scent on the fabric, like newly turned spring earth and cinnamon and fresh air after a good storm, both spicy and clean. So him.

  “Mmm,” I purred.

  I hazarded a glance at my audience, relieved to discover I no longer wanted to rip out their throats.

  Tessa’s blue-green eyes sparkled at me. “There now, all better. Come.” She extended her hand.

  I curled up with my head in her lap, recalling countless times we’d cuddled like this when I was a kid. Not on the floor, though, but on the couch in my bedroom while we stared at the fire and Thomas read us a bedtime story. Or on the divan in the ballroom, while listening to Zi—I mean my dad—play the piano.

  She removed my headband and handed it to Stella. The latter padded over to the bed and tossed it onto the nightstand then settled back onto Alexander’s bed as if she owned it. I didn’t li
ke how comfortable she looked over there, though it was difficult to work up much anger about it between Tessa’s vampire valium and her petting of my hair.

  Alexander, on the other hand, appeared far from cozy on the foot of the bed. He drank a glass of blood, eyes on me. Jonas stood over him like some gloomy prison guard yet kept his gaze on me. Thomas also eyed me from his spot at the railing. Great, I was the center of the vampire universe. My mind made another futile attempt at crankiness and failed, Tessa’s power too soothing. It was more than that. With each rhythmic stroke of my hair, our mother-daughter connection resurfaced, solidifying in my bones. In my heart.

  “Tessa.”

  “Yes, my darling?”

  “You are...I feel—”

  “I am the only mother you have ever known,” she translated for me. “And you love me.”

  “Yeah, what you said.” Contentment swelled my heart. My gaze wandered to Thomas.

  “You, too.” I held out my hand. Thomas strolled over and sat with us. He flipped my arm, tracing a line up and down the vein in the middle of my forearm. Nice. His caress sent me further into the land of bonelessness.

  “Why are you doing that?” I mumbled. Even my jaw was relaxed now.

  “It calms you,” he replied. “It always has.”

  “Oh.” I quieted for a moment, enjoying their touch.

  Alexander tossed back the last of his drink. “Contessa.”

  “Yes, Alexander?”

  “I’d like to change.”

  “Go,” Tessa replied without missing a beat in her constant smoothing of my hair.

  Alexander stalked to two shoji screen doors. Walnut and modern Japanese like the frame of his low platform bed. I liked it. He glanced at me then pushed aside one door and disappeared into his closet. The door slid shut behind him and I snapped to attention, the happy fog in my brain dissipating. Alexander out of sight was bad.

  I stood on shaky legs and paced back and forth between the stairway and the bathroom door trying to both shake off the remnants of Tessa’s magic and resist the impulse to follow Alexander. I wanted to rip off the clothes he donned right now, push him to the ground, have my lusty way with him and then toast our union by drinking more blood. In short, I was an oversexed, vampire cavewoman.

  Just like that I hopped back on the no-control-newbie train. “You know, I understand I’m acting like a newbie vampire. Jonas already explained that last night. But he neglected to tell me how long it will take to get over it. I don’t like feeling so unpredictable. Seriously, I’m redefining moody over here.”

  Tessa and Thomas joined Stella on the bed. “It takes time, darling,” Tessa replied.

  “Yeah, but how much?”

  She shrugged. “You are no longer cut off from your heritage and thus, you have gained what is rightfully yours by birth. Eventually, you will adjust.”

  I stopped. “Great. Eventually. Wonderful.”

  “But even then, you will always and forever be vampire,” Thomas added.

  “So what, I’ll always want to indiscriminately tear out throats, wreak havoc, drink blood and have—” Crazy, Neanderthal sex with the hottest guy on the planet? I snapped my mouth shut before I died of embarrassment.

  “Yes and no,” Jonas replied.

  “Helpful as usual, Mister Gloomy.” I glanced at the doors. What was taking Alexander so long anyway?

  Jonas flicked his hand. “We are not fresh from the grave.”

  “I’m not from the grave at all.” Open the doors, already, Alexander.

  “But you are vampire.”

  “Half,” I replied on auto-pilot. Jesus, how long does it take to throw on pants and a shirt?

  “Half, whole, you are one of us,” Thomas proclaimed.

  Finally, the doors opened. Alexander stepped out and I lost interest in talking.

  Charcoal jeans encased his sexy legs. A black, long-sleeved Henley clung to his muscles like a second skin. An extra layer he didn’t need, in my opinion. I could remedy that. I strode toward him, but Jonas barred my way. I stepped to the side. He mirrored me. We performed the side dance a few times until I lost patience and pushed him. Damn unmovable brick wall.

  “Out of my way,” I snarled.

  “No.” That from Jonas, Thomas, and Tessa.

  I shoved Jonas again. He trapped my hands against his chest and unleashed his power. It was like touching an electrified fence. As the current flooded me, my power roared to life and attacked. The two forces pushed at each other, back and forth, back and forth. The harder his pushed, the harder mine fought. Because I wanted my man and I wanted him now. Jonas needed to get the hell out of my way before I fried him.

  “Yes,” Jonas exclaimed. “Yes!”

  Okay, gloomy Jonas acting happy about my attempts to barbecue him shut me down. “Yes, what? Why are you so happy?” I panted, shaky from that unexpected power play. Jonas released my hands, but I kept them on his chest for support.

  “That, my little warrior was a perfect example of letting go. You acted on pure instinct, and that is what you must do to survive in our world.” He sounded almost jovial.

  “Trust your instincts at all times,” Thomas agreed.

  “Your mind may trick you, but your instincts never will,” Tessa added to the mix.

  “Well, yay me,” I quipped. “Now move.”

  “No,” the three vampires repeated.

  “What is wrong with you people?” I huffed. “This isn’t Romeo and Juliet and you can’t keep us apart like this. We’re consenting adults and don’t you even play the more-ancient-and-wiser-than-thou card. Or the minion card, either, Tessa. If this is another one of your tests, you need to stop. I’m tired and cranky and really thirsty—and not for a nice, tall glass of cold lemonade, either—and my urge to go all feral and rip out your throats is rising up again, so can you puh-lease cut it out already?”

  Thomas’s hand descended on my shoulder. “It’s not that simple.”

  “Oh, I think it is,” I insisted.

  “No. You’re connection is too volatile and the Youngling too weak to resist your pull.”

  “I’m all right now. I can help her,” Alexander interjected.

  Tessa approached him in a blur of speed, grabbed his chin and pulled his face down to hers. “He speaks the truth.” She released him.

  I crossed my arms. “Just like that, everything is fine and dandy?” I wanted the green light, of course, but this was too easy, like some sort of trap.

  “Yes, darling. My punishment made him vulnerable to your considerable advances earlier, but he has recovered now.”

  “Why? I mean, how?”

  “I fed,” Alexander replied. Simple.

  “What, blood is the ultimate band-aid?”

  “Of course. For you, as well,” Tessa confirmed.

  “You’re losing me now.”

  “You were in the grip of blood lust, you fed, you recovered,” she explained.

  “I’m still thirsty,” I pouted, refusing to believe it was this easy to shift gears. Why couldn’t I accept it and move on? That’s what I want, right?

  “Then, feed.” Tessa nodded at Stella and the carafe of blood on the nightstand. Stella emptied the carafe into a glass and sped over to me.

  I shook my head. “No, thank you.”

  I wanted it, but I also didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of being right about everything. Dammit, why was I in such turmoil? Oh, right, newbie control issues, roller coaster emotions, murderous drives, blah, blah, frickin’ annoying blah. This sucked. Oh, bad thought. Sucking made me think of necks, which made me think of blood, which returned me to the glass of blood in front of me.

  I clutched my head. “I’m going insane.”

  “No, you are not deranged,” Thomas replied, joining me at the foot of the bed. “You are mature enough to handle this, with our assistance. That is one of the reasons we waited until your twenty-fifth year to bring you back to us.”

  The shift in subject matter distracted me fro
m the thirsty thoughts. “What, you mean if I’d experienced this feral vampire stuff when I was younger, I would’ve gone crazy?”

  “Yes. Or worse.”

  “No way.”

  “Yes,” Thomas insisted. “Think about it, Carina. Remember how you felt as a young girl navigating the murky waters of human puberty and adolescence. How would that girl handle what you experience now? These fierce emotions, animal drives, the blood lust? Even under our protection, even with our guidance, the emergence of your vampiric nature during such a vulnerable period of your life would have sent you over the edge and into the abyss, from which there is no return.”

  Impressive. He’d explained something significant to me without his usual cryptic mumbo jumbo. Problem was I didn’t like his excuse for the twelve-year lobotomy. Not that any reason would make me happy about it, but still. “I know you believe what you’re saying and I know we’ve already gone over this. But I still find it hard to believe there was no other way to protect me.”

  “There was not.”

  Frustration stiffened my spine. “C’mon, Thomas. Did you guys even try anything else first or did you go straight for the jugular?” Pun intended.

  “The risk was too great. And with your power, ours was the only way.”

  “You’re admitting you didn’t try any other options.”

  “Now is not the time to revisit what has already transpired,” Tessa interjected. “What has been done cannot be undone. We can only move forward and face what is to come.”

  I tapped my bare foot on the soft carpet. “Oh, I think we can damn well revisit it. While we’re at it, let’s talk about Dixon and that dark dude who both want a piece of me, and the prophecy that has me exploding in three years, and oh hey, here’s a thought—” My arm slashed the air. “How about we discuss my absentee father. You know, the guy you all claim loves me, but can’t be bothered to show up for this little family reunion?”

  “This conversation is at an end.” Jonas jumped over the railing, landing below without a sound. Stella followed suit.

  I glowered at the remaining vampires. “Well pardon me for wanting some better answers for what you did to me. Blaming my hormones and super power and some spooky dark stalker dude isn’t enough.”