Age of Vampires- The Complete Series

by Caroline Peckham

  I leant back against his shoulder, sighing as one of his hands trailed further south. His fingers dipped below my panties and brushed feather-light across my most sensitive area. A loud moan escaped me and Erik chuckled, sliding his hand lower and feeling my arousal for him.

  He groaned longingly then tugged his hand free from my underwear, leaving me wanting.

  “Erik,” I begged and in response he pressed a knee into the back of mine and I dropped my hands to the bed to brace myself.

  Painfully slowly, he tugged my underwear off and I stepped out of the lingerie with a cool blush creeping into my cheeks. He slid his hand over the curve of my ass, his palm slipping between my legs and moving in a torturously slow circle.

  My hips swayed with need and he placed his free hand on my back to keep me still. “How much do you want me?” he asked and my embarrassment gave way to so much arousal I could only answer with another lustful moan. His fingers toyed with me, but never gave me what I wanted, brushing too lightly between my thighs.

  “Rebel,” he demanded an answer of me.

  “So much. Please, Erik,” I pleaded and his response was driving two fingers inside me.

  I gasped as he held me in place while his hand tormented me. He kept me wanting, ever so slowly pushing his fingers in deeper until I was coming apart at the seams.

  “More,” I begged, forcing my hips back.

  “Patience, wife,” he chuckled, his hand moving faster as he gave me more of what I needed.

  He slid his other hand around to my stomach, skating his fingers to the point between my thighs which was screaming for his attention. He rolled his thumb over me in a way that made me yelp in utter delight.

  My moans grew louder as his hands continued to move in the most delicious way. He was pushing me toward a cliff I was going freefall off of at any moment and a sea of ecstasy awaited me beyond it. I clutched the sheets in my fists, unable to stop the noise I was making despite fearing the whole house would hear me.

  His fingers moved inside me more fervently as he controlled my body with expert skill. His thumb grazed and massaged that divine spot which promised me so much pleasure. Soft then hard, circling and circling until I was losing my mind.

  My legs tensed and I cried out as I fell into the precipice of bliss, my body shaking and my limbs impossibly heavy. Before I could fall forward onto the bed, he pulled me back upright by the throat.

  I gasped at the sensitivity of my skin as he pressed his mouth to my ear, gently biting down. “I’ve never wanted to please a woman as much as I want to please you,” he whispered.

  “I want to please you too,” I breathed, sliding a hand behind my back and running my palm down his sizeable shaft. He growled in response, his fangs suddenly digging into my shoulder. My back arched from the delicious feeling somewhere between pain and pleasure.

  Need grew in me again like a starving animal. My thighs trembled with urgency as he spun me around and pushed me onto the bed. I hit the mattress with a soft laugh and he kicked my legs wider as he stepped between them.

  It felt like a hurricane had just passed through my body and I knew it was far from over as Erik crawled over me, smirking at my post-climax expression.

  “Had enough?” he teased and I shook my head several times.

  I eyed the muscular lines of his shoulders and raked my gaze across his firm stomach. I wriggled on the bed, reaching for him as he delayed the satisfaction his body could bring me.

  He caught my hands, pressing them into the sheets with a roguish smile. I bit into my lip as I tried to stop my body from writhing but it was like trying to harness a storm. I longed for him so badly, it was driving me to madness.

  I wriggled a hand free from him and reached for his belt with a grin. His eyes bored into mine as I undid the buckle, then dragged down the zip parting me from what I wanted.

  I decided to give him a taste of his own medicine and keep him in suspense as I brushed my fingers through the hair that led into his boxers. His hips jerked hungrily and I grinned up at him as his eyes became hooded with lust.

  I slid my hand beneath his waistband and ran my palm down his firm length.

  He released a feral noise, reaching between us to try and free himself, but I caught his wrist to stop him.

  “Patience, Erik,” I taunted and he pressed his tongue into his cheek, allowing me to continue.

  I tightened my fist around him and his eyes begged me to give him more. I revelled in the feel of him against my palm, rubbing and stroking until neither of us could take it anymore.

  Erik pushed his boxers down and I dropped my hand, too hungry for him to keep up this game. His weight dropped onto me and he moulded our bodies into one being with one deep thrust that set my skin on fire.

  A moan ripped from my throat as I wrapped my thighs around his waist, clinging to him as he moved in an achingly slow rhythm that made every part of me tingle. His hand clasped mine and the runes that bound us crashed together, sending another wave of ecstasy through me. His thrusts grew more fervent as he filled every space inside me, making each one of my muscles tense.

  Lost to my desires, I reared up and dug my fangs into his shoulder on instinct alone.

  He hissed and I immediately extracted my teeth in alarm. “Sorry,” I gasped, embarrassed by what had come over me.

  “Don't be,” he growled, his movements growing more frantic as he clutched me even tighter.

  My mind fell into a haze as I was intoxicated by him once more, the feral side of me unleashing again as I bit into the muscle of his neck. He pulled out of me before driving into me so hard, I cried out.

  His body lay siege to mine again and again. Neither of us grew tired and the energy rolling between us was charged like an electrical storm. His hips slammed against mine over and over and pressure built at the base of my spine, promising me another wave of utter bliss.

  He cupped my cheek, forcing me to look into his eyes as my body came apart once more, an earth-shattering wave of pleasure racking through me.

  Erik came close to his own release, biting into my shoulder as he groaned my name. He finished with one, last, mind-blowing thrust as he forced himself deeper and fell still on top of me.

  I folded my arms around him as he kissed me sweetly and my heart swelled in my chest, nearly bursting with my love for him.

  He rolled to lay at my side with a breath of satisfaction and I giggled as I curled up against him. “Do you think they heard us?” I asked.

  Erik started laughing loudly. “I think even the cows heard you.”

  I smacked him playfully, falling into my own fit of laughter. “You're to blame for that.”

  “If you're expecting an apology, you're not going to get one.” He angled himself toward me, lifting a brow and I buried my face in his chest to stifle my giggles.

  His hand skimmed down my spine as he held me. I breathed in the scent of him, letting the moment of calm wash through me.

  The world was right again once more. And now there was just one last task weighing over us. The holy mountain was our final destination. And I was more than ready to take on whatever awaited us there...

  I wandered through the valley, vaguely heading towards the huge red barn which stood at the top of the hill opposite the house while I enjoyed the feeling of the sun on my skin.

  Chickoa had said that she was going to milk the cows but I couldn’t see how that could be the case with the sun shining down as it was. She hadn’t returned to the house though and curiosity drew me to seek her out. I half expected to find her crawling across the fields, desperately seeking shelter from the sun. Or perhaps she was caught in the barn, unable to leave until the clouds returned. Though as I looked up at the clear blue sky I knew she’d be in for a long wait if that was the case.

  As I made it to the barn, the doors opened and two large, black and white cows trotted out. They eyed me curiously and I held my breath as they passed. The only real experience I'd had of animals that size was the horses
Magnar and I had ridden back west and I wasn’t sure how safe the cows were.

  “Do you want to tell me why you seem so close to Fabian despite the fact you refuse to call him your husband?” Chickoa’s voice came from within the barn and I moved inside to join her.

  “I’m not close with him,” I replied as I looked up at the huge space stacked with bales of hay and straw. “We’re just... weird friends.”

  “Weird friends?” she raised an eyebrow at me and I turned to give her my full attention. The cool wind shifted to blow through the doorway and the long, blue dress she’d leant me fluttered around my ankles.

  “I dunno what else to call it,” I replied. “But he saved my life, I’ve saved his... we were bound together by the gods so I guess some of it is because of that but the rest... I’m beginning to see he’s not all bad.”

  Chickoa snorted in disbelief. “He’s a selfish creature. If he is treating you with kindness then it is because he desires something from you. Nothing more. And I saw the way he looked at you; he wants your flesh as well as your blood.”

  I shrugged. “He knows I’m not offering either.”

  “Then you may want to be careful he doesn’t just take it.”

  I nodded, wondering how I would ever have come to terms with it if he’d turned me into a vampire against my wishes.

  “I think you’re very brave,” I said. “For living the way you have after what he did to you.”

  “I didn’t have much choice,” she replied. “I considered ending my life. But if my body is turned to ash then my bones will never rest alongside my loved ones. And I will never join them in the afterlife. My soul would be cast adrift, wandering alone for all eternity. My only chance for a release from this world is for the curse to be broken so that I might die a mortal death.”

  “Well hopefully we’re close to that,” I said.

  “I wish for that to be true more than anything,” she breathed. “And I’ll do whatever I can to help you achieve it.”

  I smiled warmly at her as she stooped to lift the pail of milk she’d just gathered from the cows.

  She headed further into the barn and opened a trap door. “My late husband built tunnels all over our land so that I wouldn’t be stuck in our house in the sunlight,” she explained. “Fabian has always sent me more money than I could ever need to help him appease his guilt and Terry decided to use some of it to grant me a bit of freedom. He knew how I hated to be trapped in the house when the sun came out so this was his gift to me.”

  “He sounds like a wonderful man,” I said.

  Chickoa smiled as she thought about her late husband and a tear slipped from her eye. “He really was. I’ll see you back at the house when you’ve had enough of the sun.” She headed down into the tunnel, pulling the door closed behind her and I was left in the silence of the barn.

  I wandered back outside, lowering myself down so that I could drink in some of the sunlight as it danced across my skin.

  The dress Chickoa had leant me was thin and had no sleeves which wasn’t really practical for the season but I guessed after a thousand years as a vampire she’d forgotten that. My gifts helped me to fight against the chill but goosebumps soon started to rise along my flesh.

  I closed my eyes, resisting the urge to head back to the house and warm up as I listened to the soft animal sounds around me and the rustling of the grass in the breeze.

  I didn’t think I’d ever been this alone in my entire life. I was sitting in a field, far beyond the Realm with no one for company but myself. It was strange and weirdly nice. Peaceful.

  Only my time in the wilderness with Magnar could compare to it but he’d never been far from me then. What I wouldn’t have given to hear him ordering me onto a horse now. I’d even take him hog-tying me in place over this desperate ache in my soul to be reunited with him.

  “Callie?”

  I stilled as I heard his voice, not daring to open my eyes in case the dream was banished and I found myself alone again.

  “Callie?”

  My heart leapt. I definitely hadn’t imagined that. He was here. But if he was here, was he really him?

  I opened my eyes and took Fury from my hip, holding it out before me.

  Magnar stood a little way down the hill. His chest was bare and he was unarmed but that didn’t mean I could blindly trust him. I wanted to believe that Odin had fulfilled his part of our deal but I was afraid to hope for such a thing and find it to be false again.

  I got to my feet slowly, tilting my head as I tried to figure out if I really had him back or not.

  The wind pulled at my dress again, whipping my hair out around me and tugging at his too. Neither of us moved. The space between us was alive with promise but I couldn’t bring myself to breach it.

  “Are you afraid of me?” he asked, his eyes falling to the blade in my hand.

  “Are you you?” I asked in response. In my gut I was sure he was but I was afraid that I was convincing myself of a beautiful lie.

  “Yes,” he breathed.

  He took a step towards me. Then another. I watched him advance and my heart pounded in expectation.

  I lowered my blade. Then let it fall from my grasp.

  Magnar stopped before me, a breath of space separating us as the wind still danced across the valley.

  I looked up at him and he frowned as his gaze trailed over my face.

  “I hurt you,” he said, reaching out to gently brush his thumb over my bottom lip which was still split and a little swollen from his attack on me in the blizzard.

  The tenderness of his touch sent a thrill of energy dancing across my skin and my heart beat more firmly in response.

  I swallowed a lump in my throat as he held his thumb against my lip and my mouth tingled with the memory of his kisses.

  “That isn’t pain,” I replied as he drew back. “Pain was not being with you. Knowing she had you and was using you in any way she pleased.”

  “Not a second of it was real for me,” he replied. “My true self wouldn’t have done a single thing she’d wanted.”

  “Is she dead?” I asked hopefully.

  Magnar shook his head and I could tell how much that fact bothered him. But at that moment I didn’t care. I was just glad to have him back.

  My gaze travelled over his body and I noted the bite marks on his flesh. “What did she do to you?” I asked.

  He shifted uncomfortably and I could sense he didn’t really want to tell me.

  “She used my blood to feed herself and gave me to Erik too. She made us act like slaves to her and we were tricked into believing we were glad of it.”

  “I saw her memories of the three of you in her bed-”

  Magnar scowled. “I kissed her, held her... She would have done more with us had she had any longer to do so but fortunately her spell over us was broken before she could.”

  My heart lifted with relief and I reached up to touch his face, trailing my fingers across the rough stubble which lined his jaw. His eyes were a pit of simmering gold that I ached to dive into. And I knew I truly had him back. The man who had saved me in so many ways. Who had taught me and loved me and set my heart alight with so much passion that I was sure we would burn up in it. But we never did. Every trial we went through only seemed to make us stronger. Each moment apart only making our time together sweeter.

  He groaned with longing as if my touch meant more to him than a lifetime of caresses from any other woman.

  “But now you’re free,” I breathed and the truth of it was like a weight lifting off of me. “You’re not hers anymore.”

  “I didn’t know how much I missed you until her spell over me was broken. It was as if all of our time together had just been wiped away and I was left as a shell of the man I am. The worst thing was that she made it feel as though I truly yearned for it. It was as if I’d never desired anything but her. When I remember it happening I can remember how much I wanted it too, though the thought now fills me with disgust.” There was
a war brewing in his eyes and I longed to right what filled him with such doubt.

  “She made you love her,” I stated, wishing the words didn’t sting so much.

  “She thought she did. But the way she made me feel for her was not truly love. It was infatuation, obsession, lust. I feel all of that for you and so much more besides. Her sick spell cannot compare to how I feel for you, Callie.”

  A pool of warmth slid through me at his words and I released a breath, letting the tension slip from my body.

  My gaze slipped down to the bites on his skin again and I inched closer to him, moving my mouth towards the puncture wound by the tattoo above his heart.

  “Maybe I can replace those memories with better ones,” I breathed.

  Magnar didn’t move as I leaned in and pressed a kiss to the reddened mark. He inhaled sharply as my mouth met with his flesh but I didn’t think it was because it hurt.

  I brushed my lips against bites on his shoulder and neck before pushing onto my tiptoes so that I could find his mouth.

  He hesitated, holding my eye as I looked up at him. The space between us was reduced to millimetres and his breath mixed with mine as we waited to see which of us would close it first.

  “I don’t deserve you,” he murmured and the depth of his voice sent a trembling ache all the way to my core.

  He almost had me undone with his closeness and he hadn’t even touched me yet. I was a slave to him. Every trembling beat of my heart was his and the heat building in my body would only be banished through his embrace.

  He dipped towards me, closing the gap and claiming my mouth as I yielded to his desire. His hands found my waist and he dragged me against him, the thin dress feeling like too much of a barrier as it scratched against my skin and I ached to feel his flesh on mine.

  I could feel his arousal as he pressed his hips to mine and I pushed against him hard, revelling in the fact that I could cause such a reaction from his body with only the promise of a kiss.