He lifted one of my legs, slinging it over his shoulder as he crawled backwards and placed a line of kisses along my pubic bone.
My back arched and I clawed at the sand as he continued to keep me in suspense. “Erik - fuck - please.”
He laughed and the deep tone vibrated through to my core. He moved backwards, bypassing the spot where I so desperately wanted his mouth and kissing my inner thigh instead. He caressed the back of my knee as he held my leg over his shoulder and the combination was pure fire. I moaned and writhed, longing for more.
His mouth moved ever higher and I teetered on the edge of insanity until he finally gave me what I wanted. His tongue dragged up the middle of me and electricity darted through my body so powerfully it was like the stars were falling from the sky and crashing into my flesh.
My back arched and my hips bucked, but he never stopped, his tongue soft and circling, pushing me further and further toward the edge.
His fingers drove into me and my eyes rolled back into my head as pleasure seized every inch of my body in its grip. He drew his fingers in and out in a tortuously slow rhythm while his tongue matched the same pace.
“Faster,” I urged, needing more. So much more.
He bowed to my command and I cried out as my body throbbed under the intensity of his tongue.
I wrapped my other leg around his neck, drawing him closer, carving great gouges in the sand with my hands.
My climax ripped through me and I made so much noise, I feared it would reach the ears of our group. But I didn't care. The world was lost to me as I rode out the waves of pleasure spreading through my body in an endless ripple.
Erik lifted his head as I released my thighs from his neck. He licked his lips and the sight was so erotic that I almost came undone again. He caught my waist with a feral look in his eyes, flipping me over in one swift movement. He drew my hips back at the same moment I heard his zipper rolling down and I braced myself against the sand as he drove himself inside me.
He gasped his delight, his hips slamming against me as he claimed me in this entirely new way that felt wholly animal. He reared over me, pushing my hair aside and digging his fangs into my neck.
“Yes,” I sighed, relishing the bite as pain and ecstasy met somewhere in the middle. The sound drove him on and he pushed deeper inside me, filling me until I cried out again. He caught my chin, turning my face sharply so my mouth met his at the awkward angle. I tasted myself on his tongue and an icy blush invaded my cheeks.
His hips moved more aggressively, one of his hands digging into my waist while the other held me firmly against his mouth. As he slammed into me again, I buckled forward into the sand receiving a mouthful of it. I laughed and Erik snorted his amusement, pulling out of me and pushing me onto my back. I was covered in sand and I couldn't stop laughing until he dropped over me again and shoved himself inside me.
The sand rubbed between our skin, causing a friction that was somehow incredible. I snared my legs around his waist, clinging to his shoulders as he buried himself in me with one fervent thrust that blew my mind.
I gasped, my body tightening sweetly around every inch of him. He was fire and I was ice, my body pooling into something entirely fluid beneath him.
I gazed into his eyes and the intensity that passed between us rocked another rolling wave of ecstasy through me. My thighs squeezed him fiercely as I came apart beneath him again and again and again.
He caught my lower lip between his teeth, chewing and sucking before forcing his tongue into my mouth. With a breathy groan, he fell to ruin, his hips crashing into mine so fervently that we shifted up the sand. Pleasure dripped from his lustful gaze as he held me in place, finding a release that made every one of his muscles tense.
His lips fell to mine and sand, salt and sea was all I could taste. When he leant back, he brushed the sand from my forehead with a bark of laughter.
“You're covered,” he said, pulling out of me and tugging up his pants.
I felt like jelly on the ground beneath him, unable to move as I watched him slide a hand into his boxers and reorganise himself.
“Let's go wash.” He pointed to the sea and I shook my head.
“I can't move.”
He grinned devilishly, leaning down and scooping me into his arms before striding out into the water. Spray speckled my skin and I dipped my toes in as he waded further out then laid me down to float atop the calm waves. I sank under and rubbed the sand from my skin before rising at his side, completely entranced by him.
“You're so, so beautiful, Montana,” he said, running a hand over the damp strands of hair that clung to my shoulders. “And not just because of how you look. It's your heart. I've never met anyone so pure. Someone who sees the good in everyone.”
Emotion swelled inside me and my soul whispered sweet promises of forever to me.
We will always be together. Always.
I moved into his arms and he held me close, kissing me sweetly and sending a flood of love into my body as if it had come directly from his heart.
I bathed in the moment of calm, knowing once we continued our journey tomorrow, reality would hit home again. Who knew what we would have to face once we reached the holy mountain? More trials could await us, but tonight I'd enjoy my time with Erik. It was one of the few peaceful days we'd been offered, but it wasn't entirely without the shadow of Valentina looming over us.
“I used to dream of places like this,” I said, gazing up the beach to the line of trees that flanked it, rustling in a gentle breeze. “Our Realm was all concrete, the only green I ever saw was beyond the fences.”
Erik frowned and I laid my hand over his heart, not having wanted to upset him.
“Whatever happens after we find the mountain, we can live wherever you want. The beach, the mountains, the city. Whatever it is, I'll give it to you,” he promised.
I gave him a knowing look. “You have a responsibility to rule the empire, Count Erik.”
“If we become human again, there'll be no empire to lead,” he said, his brows pinching together. “At least...I assume not.”
“The country will still need guidance,” I said thoughtfully. “But I can't imagine what the world will look like without vampires in it. Will the humans accept them even if all the vampires return to their mortal forms?”
“My experience of the world is that people only find a way to get along if they have a united cause. They'll need a reason to live side by side. They'll need hope, a promise of a better world.”
“And who will give them that if you relinquish your throne?” I pressed.
Erik sighed, looking up at the cloudless sky above and I followed his gaze to the sight of the sprawling heavens. “Perhaps you'll do it,” he suggested lightly and I prodded him in the ribs.
“Don't be ridiculous,” I laughed.
“I'm not.” He looked down at me. “You and your sister are the only ones who've closed the bridge between mortals and vampires. Maybe the two of you should lead us in the future.”
“Ha. Ha,” I said dryly.
He captured my chin. “Of course, I'll happily advise you on how to run a country.”
“Well you are good at bossing people around.”
“Mhmm,” he hummed, pressing his lips to mine once more.
I let go of the strange suggestion he'd made, knowing there was no point in any such discussion until we actually broke the curse. Right now, all I wanted was him, the ocean and a single peaceful night to commit to memory and carry with me when our time here was up.
I laughed as my sister raced away down the beach with Erik and I headed to my tent to get changed.
As the night was drawing in, the temperature was dropping but the huge fire Julius had built was more than enough to keep the worst of the cold at bay.
I rummaged through my things in search of a sweater but gave up as I spotted one of Magnar’s on top of his pack. I grinned as I tugged it on and the thick, blue wool dropped down to skim my thighs. For so
me reason I got a real kick out of stealing his clothes and I grinned like a naughty kid as I rolled back the sleeves to release my hands from the overlarge material.
I left my legs bare, sticking with my shorts and enjoying the feeling of the sand between my toes. I located a hair tie next and headed back across the sand towards the fire once more.
Before I could get more than a few steps, Julius poked his head out of his tent and he frowned as he spotted me. “I have a bone to pick with you,” he said, prodding my bare foot with his finger.
“Really?” I asked, raising an eyebrow as I looked down at him and started twisting my hair into a braid over my shoulder.
“Yes. You’ve made my brother too happy.”
“Too happy?” I asked with a smirk.
He nodded darkly. “My life wasn’t missing a damn thing. Me and Magnar were just fine, plenty of battles to fight, ale to drink, a different woman every night-” I raised an eyebrow at that remark and he coughed awkwardly, glancing back at the fire as if he expected Magnar to have overheard him. “Anyway the point is, that then you come along and now he’s got this constant look on his face like... like you’re literally the best fucking thing.”
“Am I taking his attention away from you?” I teased.
“No. Not that. You’ve taken my contentedness.”
“Are you sure that’s a word?” I frowned.
“It is. And I was. I was perfectly content. Before you made me see that maybe I’m not,” he accused.
“You’ve lost me,” I admitted.
“Pfft.” Julius waved me off and I laughed as I stretched my arms above my head, arching my back to stretch it out.
“Well, when you’re done being cryptic, I can smell dinner.” I turned from him and headed towards the fire with my stomach rumbling.
I dropped down beside Clarice as I arrived and she looked to me with a smile. Fabian and Chickoa were sitting to our right talking in low voices and she almost seemed happy in his company.
“Hungry?” Clarice asked as the smell of the food Magnar was making washed over us.
He’d found ingredients growing wild close to the beach and I was excited to see what he cooked. He’d been mixing all kinds of herbs and roots with the tinned food we’d brought from the mall.
I looked across the fire at him and he smiled at me in greeting. He’d left his shirt off and the flames cast flickering shadows over his bronze skin.
“Very,” I agreed as I eyed his bare chest.
“You’re as bad as your sister and Erik,” Clarice said with a laugh.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I replied innocently as I turned back to look at her.
Julius arrived and dropped down to my left, his eyes set on the fire as he started twirling a large white seashell between his fingers.
“Just in time,” Magnar announced as he moved towards us with two steaming bowls of food.
I accepted mine with a wide smile as the smell set my mouth watering.
I devoured a heaped spoonful of the stew and groaned despite the fact it burnt my tongue.
“This. Is. Everything,” I sighed, closing my eyes.
Though the dehydrated food we’d taken from the camping store was definitely an improvement on the junk food we’d had to survive on before that, it couldn’t compare to a properly cooked meal. And Magnar was a damn good cook.
Fabian got up and walked away without a word and I watching him go with a faint frown.
“This is why I’m glad you parasites don’t eat,” Julius said as he shovelled the food into his mouth. “So that there’s more for me.”
Clarice snorted a laugh and her eyes stayed fixed on Julius while he ate.
“By the gods, I wish I could remember what that was like,” she murmured.
“With a bit of luck you can find out again soon,” I said.
“I want that more than anything in the world,” she replied softly.
Magnar nudged his brother aside and sat down beside me, pulling my feet into his lap. I shivered a little at the contact with his cool skin but it wasn’t unpleasant.
“No,” he grumbled as he reached for my hair and tugged the hair tie out of the end of it. I rolled my eyes as I continued to eat while he pulled my hair out of the braid again, leaving it loose down my back and trailing his fingers through it.
Clarice watched us with amusement in her gaze and I noticed Chickoa smiling at us from the corner of my eye.
“Have you been stealing my clothes again?” Magnar teased as he released my hair and his fingers trailed across my ankle instead.
“I think you like it,” I replied with a smirk. I lifted another spoonful of food to my mouth but somehow managed to miss and the red sauce splattered down the front of his sweater.
Julius barked a laugh at me and I grinned sheepishly as I scooped it back off with my finger and put it in my mouth.
“On the bright side, you don’t get cold so you don’t really need a sweater,” I pointed out.
“Well in that case, feel free to steal all of my clothes then,” Magnar said in mock disapproval.
“I will,” I agreed.
“They look better on you anyway,” he murmured, his eyes skimming over my bare legs. “So I guess I’ll just have to go without.”
“Pity,” I replied with a smirk.
Fabian reappeared with two large bottles in hand. I looked at the amber liquid curiously and he grinned as he noticed everyone’s attention on it.
“I figured if this could be one of my last nights as an immortal then I should make use of my body’s ability to heal from the effects of this,” he said as he unscrewed the top from the first bottle and took a swig.
“Where did you get that from?” Clarice asked incredulously.
“I took them from the mall and I’ve been waiting for the right time to drink myself into oblivion alone. But I decided to share instead.”
He passed it to Chickoa and she gave him half a smile before taking a drink herself.
I finished with my meal as Magnar took a sip from the bottle and he passed it to me next.
I sniffed it, wrinkling my nose as the scent burned the back of my throat. “What is that?” I asked in disgust, not feeling remotely tempted to drink it.
“Whiskey,” Fabian replied. “You tried some in my dream once.”
“Oh yeah,” I said as Magnar shifted uncomfortably. “It was gross.” I tipped a mouthful of the liquid into my mouth and shuddered as it passed down my throat. “It’s gross in real life too.”
I passed the bottle to Julius and he smirked at my obvious disgust.
Heat simmered in the pit of my stomach as the drink found a home there and I smiled a little as the warmth of the alcohol tingled beneath my skin.
Magnar took my empty bowl from me and headed away with it.
“Well trained, isn’t he?” Fabian teased.
“A real man looks after those he cares about,” Julius replied darkly, daring Fabian to contradict him. “Perhaps if you’d done that a thousand years ago, the woman you loved wouldn’t hate you now.”
Fabian scowled at him as Chickoa inspected her nails, clearly agreeing with Julius.
Clarice was eyeing Julius like she wanted to say something but she kept her mouth shut.
“Well this is cosy,” I said, tugging the bottle from Julius’s hand and taking a long drink of the disgusting liquid.
Magnar reappeared and he tossed a large greenish fruit to Julius before passing a second one to me. He sat down beside me again and handed me a knife from his belt so that I could cut into it.
“What is it?” I asked.
Fabian sighed dramatically before Magnar could answer and I raised an eyebrow at him, wondering what had him on edge.
“It’s a mango,” Fabian said. “Which no doubt you’ve never seen before. So you can add it to the endless list of fuck-ups you attribute to me and point out what a piece of shit I am. Yet again.”
I narrowed my eyes at Fabian, deciding not to respo
nd to that as I cut into the fruit.
“You know, you probably wouldn’t feel so touchy about everything you’d denied her if you just apologised for it,” Chickoa murmured.
“I don’t think Callie is interested in my apologies at this point,” Fabian replied.
“You could give it a whirl,” I muttered.
Fabian’s gaze fixed on me as he opened the second bottle of whiskey. He tipped the contents into his mouth and didn’t stop drinking until it was half empty.
“I’m sorry,” he blurted as he pulled the bottle away from his lips. “Sorry that I fucked up the Realms so that you never saw the sea or the grass or a fucking mango before. Sorry that I kidnapped you and married you and wanted you when you didn’t want me. Sorry that I didn’t fight against the bond the gods put on us and tried to make you love me. Sorry for all of the screwed up shit I’m responsible for directly and indirectly to you, your family, humanity and my own siblings... Miles and Warren...”
I shifted uncomfortably and no one said anything as he lifted the bottle to his lips again.
“But most of all,” Fabian continued, his gaze turning to Chickoa. “I’m sorry that I was ever stupid and selfish enough to believe that you wanted to love me for eternity. I never should have turned you. I should have just loved you for as long as you were supposed to have and accepted the inevitability of your death.”
He tossed the empty bottle into the fire then stood and shot away into the trees.
My mouth parted in surprise and Clarice began to rise to follow him.
“No,” Chickoa said as she got to her feet instead. “I’ll go. I think it’s time Fabian and I had a long talk.”
I watched as she darted into the trees after Fabian and I bit my lip awkwardly. I lifted the mango to my mouth and chewed on it for several seconds. The sickly flavour washed over my tastebuds and I stopped chewing as the urge to spit it out seized me.
I fought against it for several seconds but I really couldn’t force myself to swallow it. I spat the fruit into my hand and Julius laughed loudly.
“After all that drama, you don’t even like it.” Magnar smirked as he took the rest of the fruit from my hand and passed it to his brother. I tossed the half chewed piece into the fire and frowned.
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