by K Loraine
“That doesn’t mean I don’t want to be near you.”
“Then what does it mean, Cashel?”
“God, you’re infuriating sometimes.”
I snorted. “Back at you. You’re a coward.”
“And you’re a brat.”
He stepped closer and trained his gaze on me, and I swear I almost fell into his eyes. “It means, I want to be near you all the time. I…fuck, I feel better when you’re close.”
My chest tightened at those words. How was it that he could be so cold and terse, then burn hot and make me swoon all in one conversation? “I’m in the same house. I don’t know how we could be closer.”
A fire burned in his eyes, and it was then I realized exactly how much closer we could be. Lust, pure and simple, curled between my legs.
“You speak without thinking, little bird. It’s going to get you into trouble one day.”
“What are you going to do about it?” I shouldn’t goad him, but the conversation I had with Lucas gave me pause. If I could convince Cashel to bond with me—taint my blood for everyone else—I might be able to be free. He’d have to fall in love with me, and I’d have to do my best not to fall for him. His lip twitched with the ghost of a smile and I stood. After a few steps toward him, I leaned forward and asked, “Spank me?”
“Don’t tempt me.”
My heart fluttered, a caged bird beating its wings. “Too bad you have to go to bed or risk burning to a crisp,” I whispered, gesturing to the window where the sky had turned a soft purple.
He stepped forward and wrapped an arm around my waist before pulling me against the hard length of his body. “But I know something you don’t know, little bird.”
Breaths coming in soft pants, I asked, “What’s that?”
“I had a drop of your blood as a reward for doing my duty.”
I swallowed hard, fighting the arousal racing through every cell. “Good for you.”
“There’s nothing to save you from me now.”
10
Cashel
I should have stopped myself. Should have taken a step or a hundred away from Olivia, but her presence called to me and begged for attention, for someone to take charge of her and stake a claim. Her heartbeat has been torture since the first moment I saw her, but now, with her blood in my system, it’s unbearable.
She stood with those perfect curves pressed against me, breaths causing her tempting breasts to rise and fall in an entrancing way. “Maybe I’ve stopped wanting to escape,” she said.
I knew she was lying. I saw the ghost of hope in her eyes. She was trying to get to me, but what she didn’t know was I’d been prepared for her little seduction scene. She thought I’d fall for it, that I’d allow us to have a blood bond. But that could never happen, because the moment her blood was tainted, she would be dead. My father would see to that.
“I’ve told you, escape isn’t an option. You’d end up—”
“Drained the moment I stepped out of your circle of protection,” she interrupted.
“Yes.” I pushed back the need to taste her again and dropped my lips to her ear. “I’m not going to let you go, little bird. But you should stop trying to make me fall in love with you.” A sharp gasp of surprise fell from her, but I stopped her with my hand sliding down her body until I cupped her sex. “Love isn’t possible between us. But I’ll take you to bed and make your toes curl with pleasure if you want.”
I felt her nipples, hard and tight, pressing against my torso. The effect of her blood in my system, even if it was only a trace, made me reckless with desire.
She let out the softest shuddering breath and wrapped both arms around my shoulders. “I want,” she whispered.
That was all I needed. I wouldn’t take her blood, or fill her with my cock, but I’d eat her pussy until she was nothing but a quivering creature who didn’t know her own name. “Come with me,” I said, breaking us apart and threading our fingers. I shouldn’t have let myself be so affectionate. It was really not fair to her, but part of me wanted to ease her, if only a small amount.
“I thought you couldn’t bond with me.”
I shook my head. “There are many ways to make you scream my name without bonding you to me. Today, I’m going to show you.” In truth, my father would be none too happy about what I planned to do to his captive, but if I didn’t touch her, taste her pleasure on my tongue at least once, I would never be able to get her out of my system.
I gave her hand a small squeeze, working hard to ignore the tug at my heart from the intimate gesture. This was sex. Nothing more. It couldn’t be more.
In absolute silence, we walked down the hall until we reached the stairs. She vibrated with nervous energy, like a virgin on her wedding night. I couldn’t help the thought as it raced through my mind. I also couldn’t help that the idea of claiming her like she was mine to keep forever made me hard as steel behind my trousers.
“You need to learn how to cloak your thoughts, little bird. If you don’t, we’ll be caught before this gets fun.”
“I thought you couldn’t read my mind,” she said.
“You’re right. But again, you project your feelings so clearly, anyone with a slight bit of intuition could tell what you’re thinking.”
I pull open her door and wait for her to walk inside. She pressed up against me, her lips tantalizingly close. “Then teach me. Show me how to cloak my thoughts so we can be together. I know it’s wrong. I shouldn’t want you to touch me, but, God, I need it.”
My fingers trailed through her hair, soft and silky, thick and smelling of roses. She was perfection. If I taught her, maybe she could be mine until we had what we needed. Maybe… I backed away, putting much-needed distance between us.
This was a dangerous path. I may want to fuck her, but my loyalty was to my people. I couldn’t allow myself to forget that, and now that my brain wasn’t clouded by the drop of her blood I’d been allowed, I saw the truth. I’d been set up by my father. Another test. One I’d almost failed.
I strode across the room, putting distance between us, cursing my stupidity for losing focus. “Did you think you were going to get me on your side?”
“I’m not the one who suggested this,” she countered, crossing her arms over her chest. “But you said I wasn’t a prisoner. You said you were keeping me safe. Why do I have to go through my life miserable and lonely then? I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m here to help you.”
“You’re doing everything wrong just by being who you are. It’s like you’re a ripe, juicy apple, ready for me to take, but if I do, I’ll realize I’m naked. I’ll understand shame. I’ll break my father’s trust.”
She walked slowly toward me, bottom lip between her teeth as she assessed me. “But you found me first. You tasted my blood before anyone else, don’t you remember?”
Of course I fucking remembered. Her scent had been intoxicating in that elevator. The adrenaline and fear mixing together created a cocktail I couldn’t resist. I’d known how special she was as soon as she fell into my arms, but still, I’d had to take a taste. “I found you for him.”
She shrugged. “Finders keepers.”
Her words were temptation in its purest form. Was I stealing from him if she’d been mine from the beginning? I closed my eyes and fought down the untamed desire to pull her into my arms again. Stepping backward, I tried to put more space between us. Warmth covered my body, tingling with an almost pins and needles like sensation.
“Cash, the sun,” she said, awe in her tone.
I glanced down at my torso and saw the beam of golden light in a slash across my chest. It was beautiful. I narrowed my eyes and slid my fingers over the place that should be burning. “It worked.”
It didn’t hurt. I didn’t burst into flames like every one of the stories I’d been told my whole life. “Fuck,” I murmured, not able to tear my gaze away from the sunlight.
“Are you…are you okay?” She asked the question with genuine concern and reache
d out to touch my shoulder.
“I’m fine.” I jerked away, leaving the light but aching to be returned to the sun all the same.
The sky had changed to a pale pink as the sun crested over the tops of the trees. “You’ve never seen the sun?”
I shook my head and stared down at her. “I was born a vampire. The sun means death.”
“But my blood did what it’s supposed to do…”
I nodded and stared at the woman who would likely be my ruin. I couldn’t take her. Not now that I knew for certain how valuable she was. Not if she could cure the sun sickness.
“I have to go,” I said, unable to look her in the eyes.
“Why?”
“Because I have better things to do than sit around here with you, little bird.”
She flinched but pulled her shoulders back almost immediately. “Fine, get out of here. Don’t bother coming back. I don’t need you to relieve my tension. I’ve got perfectly good fingers that can do the job.”
Instead of responding, I left the room, locking the door behind me. She might have thought she was safe, but I wasn’t the only one who’d had her blood. My father could have been roaming the halls just as easily. I slid a chair next to her door and sat. No one was going to get their hands on her, but me.
11
Olivia
I hated him. I hated the vampire who wouldn’t let me win him over. But more than that. I hated that Cashel made my body react the way it did. Even though he knew I was trying to seduce him to get out of here, he still went ahead with making me want him. He didn’t care, because he knew exactly what he was doing. It wasn’t from a place of affection. He was playing with me.
“I guess I’ll just have to take matters into my own hands,” I said at full volume. “If you won’t give me an orgasm, I’ll do it myself.”
I knew he desired me, that much was apparent in his body. He may have separated us, but I hoped he was listening. I was going to do my best to give him a damn good show.
After lowering the lights and drawing the curtains, I stepped into the bath. Steam filled the bathroom in thick, heavy clouds of mist. I wished I didn’t have to be protecting myself, covering my scent. I didn’t want to taste roses on my tongue or feel so covered in the oil I’d likely bleed the crisp floral scent. I needed a little normal to combat the absolute insanity that my life had become.
I stepped in the bath, the heat from the water radiating up my legs, sinking into my bones and making my skin break out into goosebumps. I let out a sigh and settled into the tub, water rising all the way up to my chin.
“God, that’s good,” I moaned. My muscles relaxed and I laid my head on the sloped wall of the big bathtub.
My thoughts drifted, giving in to the fantasy of what might have happened if Cashel hadn’t left. My fingers grazed my breasts, tweaking my nipple and sending sparks through my whole body. I let out a groan of pleasure and imagined Cashel was here, sharing my bath, touching me like he wanted me. Like I was his equal and not his responsibility.
My touch wandered over my stomach and down to my lower belly before settling on my needy clit. Immediately I sucked in a sharp breath and Cashel’s handsome face flashed in my mind. I whispered his name as I stroked the sensitive rise of flesh and hoped he was near enough to hear me. But my need to tease him wasn’t there any longer. Now, I just wanted him to know I was thinking of him, desiring him, and fantasizing he was the one touching me.
“Cash,” I whimpered, on the cusp of orgasm with barely any effort.
I swore I heard a muffled, “Fuck,” through the door, and the idea of Cashel standing there, in my room, right outside the bathroom as I got myself off to thoughts of him, finished me off. I fell over the cliff, my pleasure flooding me in a powerful wave that sent tingles all the way to my toes. I gave in to my need, losing what small inhibitions I’d held onto. As I cried out and my back arched, a sound echoed through the room. It was a low, masculine groan of frustration and want. I had been right. Cash was listening.
After my bath, I slept deeply, but my dreams were plagued with him, and when I woke, it was all too clear my plan to seduce him had failed. In my attempt to trick him into bonding with me, I’d already started falling for him.
Cashel
What the fuck was I thinking? In no universe would it be a good idea to be near Olivia while I knew she was naked in the bath. But I’d ignored my own advice. Ignored the signs that said I’d crossed a line between curiosity and attraction. I wanted her in far too many ways.
I paced the expanse of the floor in my study, working to calm the need in my mind and body for the woman on the other side of the house. I swore I could still taste her blood on my tongue from the single drop my father had forced on me. He constantly needed to assert his dominance, to test my loyalty. One of these days, I’d fail. I didn’t know if he was hoping or fearing the latter.
Once I was sure she was protected, I stayed holed up in my room, hard as a rock and aching for her. The sounds she’d made. God, they were everything I wanted and despised all at the same time. I could take myself in hand and stroke my length until I came with her name on my lips. But I wouldn’t. Finding release to thoughts of her would be another step toward my ruin.
Minutes turned to hours, but still her moans echoed in my memory. “Hell,” I muttered, dragging a hand through my hair. I pulled open my door and stalked out into the hall, stopping at the staircase. I had a choice. I could go to her. Take her and ease my lust simply by joining our bodies and spending myself inside her. Or, I could leave. I could leave her here, put her behind me, and move on. But then she’d be alone with my father, and after what he did to her, I knew she wouldn’t live past a few months without me.
“So, you didn’t kill her then?” Lucas’s voice carried from downstairs. “Come on, brother. We need to have a little chat.”
For the first time in decades, I was happy to hear my brother tell me what to do. He broke the spell my little bird had put me under. I joined him downstairs, finding him draped across the velvet chaise lounge, his posture mimicking the painting of our long dead grandmother.
“All you need is the gown and you’d make a perfect mockery of her,” I said, glancing up at the painting.
“Grandmother Marie…what a bitch.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and nodded. She was. If sun sickness hadn’t taken her, I was sure one of her children would have eventually committed matricide. “What did you want to talk about, Lucas?”
“You tasted her. Father nearly killed her. You smell like sunshine.”
“One drop. Just a taste he forced on my lips.”
“And?”
“And I almost fucked her on the piano. I wanted her more than anything in that moment. I was willing to give up everything just to feel her.”
He draped his arm over his eyes. “Instead?”
“Instead, I left her in her room. I had a flash of clarity and control.” I sighed. “It was the hardest thing I’ve done in a very long time.”
“You need to feed.”
I stiffened, my back going ramrod straight under his scrutiny. “I haven’t had time.”
“You’ll lose control and kill her,” he said, his voice a teasing sing-song.
“I won’t feed from her. No matter how much I want to.”
“God, Father is a sadistic shit. I’m just glad I’m not his target. Thanks for being firstborn, brother. I really appreciate it.”
“My pleasure,” I said, sarcasm dripping from the words. “She…tempts me.”
“Of course she does. She’s made for you. We all can feel it.”
“I haven’t given her the blood bond.”
He laughed. “We’d all be dead by now if you’d bonded with her. You’d have killed us for looking at her the wrong way.”
“She’ll keep trying to find a way out.” The thought of her leaving me makes my stomach tight with something akin to hurt. “She doesn’t understand.”
“We need her. She�
�s the only one left.”
“Don’t you think I know that? I’m trying to stay away, but if I leave her…I can’t…”
He shook his head and got to his feet. “If you leave her, it will be Eliana all over again. We’ll all lose her.”
A chill gripped my already cold heart at the mention of our last donor. Of the lies we’d been told about her by our father. Of the affection we all felt for her until the night she died.
“Olivia is not Eliana. She won’t follow through on the threat to end this.” I closed my eyes and fought the memories threatening to send me spiraling.
“Won’t she? If she fears there’s no other way, there’s no telling—”
“No!” I shouted the word loud enough for the single syllable to echo off the walls. “She can’t. This time it’s real. She is the one we need.”
“Make her love you, then. Make her fall in love so hard she never wants to leave. Promise her the world as long as she stays by your side.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Oh, brother, you’re already lost to her.”
I shook my head again and walked to the window. My fingers dug into the sill, denting the wood from the force of my grip. “I don’t want this. I want to find a cure, end this plague, take the throne.”
“None of that will end with her remaining alive, you understand.” Lucas’s voice was soft, almost tender.
I didn’t want to acknowledge the truth in his words. “Even if she can’t cure us, her blood—”
“Will prove too tempting for him…or you.”
The thought of our father sinking his fangs into her again had me seeing red. The wood cracked under my fingers as I fought for control. “Where’s Callie at with her research?”
“Callie is working hard.” My sister’s voice caught me off guard. I was far too distracted if she’d been able to walk into the room and I hadn’t noticed. “But the results aren’t promising. Olivia’s blood hasn’t been able to kill the virus in the samples.”
