The Blood Trilogy

by K Loraine

  24

  Cashel

  I watched her sleep, listening to the beat of her heart. Of their hearts. I was sure she didn’t know, but was terrified of what this might do to her. Lucas’ mother had died in childbirth. She’d died in pain and blood with no one willing to save her. That wasn’t how this would end. I’d do everything within my power to keep Olivia alive.

  “Cashel?” Her voice was like a balm to my broken soul. I’d done so much evil in this life, how could I possibly deserve a future with her?

  “You’re awake. Do you need anything? Are you in pain?” I sat at her side, brushing her hair away from her face.

  She narrowed her gaze at me. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?”

  “You nearly died because of me. I…fuck, little bird, your blood saved me. I felt it burn the sun sickness from my body. I almost didn’t stop in time.” Just uttering the words made guilt hit me like a tidal wave.

  “It worked?”

  I nodded. “It worked.”

  “I feel…different. You didn’t turn me?”

  “No, I didn’t turn you. I couldn’t do that to you. Not when you so adamantly didn’t want that.”

  “Then what is this?”

  I smiled and laid next to her, tucking her into the crook of my arm. “It’s a true mate bond. It’s destiny fulfilled. If I hadn’t been so stubborn, we could have had this long ago, and I’ll never forgive myself for the pain I made you withstand.”

  “Lucas?” she asked, but this time his name didn’t send jealousy through me.

  “He’s going to wake. Natalie assured me.”

  A tear spilled down her cheek. “He gave everything up for us, Cash.”

  “I know. It’s a debt I’ll never be able to repay.”

  She stayed quiet for a moment too long. Something was on her mind. “Are you going to have to banish him? Exile him or something?”

  I laughed. “Why would I do that?”

  “Because I’m bound to you but married to him.”

  “Your bond is broken with him. He died and you were released from that contract. As far as the council or anyone else is concerned, your marriage doesn’t exist anymore.”

  “And now that we’re bonded?”

  My chest squeezed. I shouldn’t have been nervous about this moment, but I was. “Now, you marry the Blackthorne you were meant for.”

  Her smile made everything right. “Do I? I haven’t been asked.”

  I pushed her onto her back and fit my hips between her thighs. “Haven’t you?”

  She bit her lip and shook her head. “No. What if I don’t say yes?”

  A low growl left me before I could stop it. “You’ll say yes.”

  “Will I?”

  “I know it. In fact, when I’m done with you tonight, it’ll be your new favorite word.”

  She giggled and wrapped her arms around me. “Prove it.”

  My lips were on hers before she finished her sentence, desperate, hungry for her taste, and for the connection only a mated pair could experience. I ripped her clothes down the front, baring her to me. She laughed and said, “I could have undressed, you know.”

  Kissing my way down her body, I rested my chin on her sternum and looked up at the woman who was finally, finally, mine. “We’re burning those clothes anyway.”

  “I need a shower before we make things official,” she said, glancing down at the state of herself.

  “You’re perfect.”

  “I’m covered in blood. Mine and yours and Lucas’. I need a shower.”

  “Then allow me to help you get clean so I can dirty you up all over again.”

  I stood and held out a hand for her. My beautiful little bird followed me to the bathroom where I turned on the shower and stripped in front of her. The hunger in her eyes filled me with a sense of overwhelming pride, and when I tugged her panties down her thighs and smelled the arousal coming off her, I nearly lost it and bent her over the sink to claim her.

  “Olivia, I need to be inside you soon. I ache,” I murmured against her nape as we walked inside the steamy shower.

  The water washed away the evidence of what had happened between us and left me with her, pure and perfect. I shampooed her hair, taking extra time to scrub and massage her scalp before turning her in my arms and watching the soap run down between her breasts as she rinsed it from the strands. It smelled of lavender and rosemary and the sharp bite of the herbs made me forget the rose oil she’d had to use before.

  “You’re perfect, little bird. Everything I could ever want.”

  Her answering grin made me harden even more than I already had. It was a smile that said she had plans for us. She lathered her hands up with soap and began running them across her breasts and belly, down between her thighs and across her hips. Her nipples were hard and begging for my mouth, and when I saw the absence of my mark over her right breast, I stopped her. “My mark is gone.”

  Wide eyes met mine. “Yes. Lucas healed me after you…”

  “After I attacked you.”

  She nodded. “I need it again. Make me yours again.”

  I backed her up into the spray of water, cleaning her off before I lifted her in my arms and pressed her against the tile wall. She moaned and writhed as my fangs grazed her sensitive skin and my fingers played with her clit. Then I bit down and sent her spiraling into an orgasm that had her crying my name. I released her breast, not healing the mark, not feeding, just leaving evidence I was there once again.

  Her eyes were heavy lidded as I put her back on her feet. “That was intense.”

  “Oh, we’re not done. Turn around. Hands on the wall.”

  She did, and I spread her legs with my feet. I reached between her thighs and found her wet and warm and ready for me. Then I lined myself up with her tight heat and sank inside, palm on her lower belly as I carefully moved in and out of her. I nuzzled her neck and groaned, “Oh, fuck, Olivia,” as she tightened around me over and over.

  “Cash, I need…God, I need…”

  “What do you need? Tell me.”

  “Faster. Move faster.” I picked up my pace and drove into her, each thrust bringing me closer to release. “Bite me. Please.” She whispered the words, but she didn’t have to ask me a second time. I sank my fangs into her shoulder and filled her over and over as she came around me. Then I couldn’t hold back any longer. Blinding pleasure raced up my spine and exploded across my senses. I rested my forehead between her shoulder blades and just stayed right there. I needed this time with her, with our bodies joined and the only sound our combined breaths and the cascade of the shower.

  After the water ran cold, I turned off the spray and handed her a towel. The two of us dried off and got back into bed, naked, clean, and sated. I couldn’t be near her without touching her though, it was like my heart needed hers to beat. So I wrapped her in my arms and pulled her back against my chest, trailing my fingers over her soft skin in gentle patterns.

  “Will the council make you turn me?” Her question caught me off guard, but I knew I couldn’t ignore it.

  “Perhaps, one day. But that won’t be able to happen for a while yet.”

  “Why?” My palm slid down her torso and rested on her belly, cradling the child we’d made. “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Hm?”

  “You keep…touching me there.” Her voice held suspicion.

  “I have to tell you something.”

  “What?”

  “I heard something when I was giving you my blood. It’s why I can’t turn you, even if you asked me to.”

  “Cash, you’re scaring me. What is it?”

  “You’re pregnant.”

  Her eyes widened and she brought her hand down to rest on mine. “Are you kidding? No. I can’t be.”

  “You are. I can hear the heartbeat. I promise you, it’s there. New, but very real.”

  “How?” She asked the question and I had to fight the urge to laugh.

  “Are you sure
you want me to answer that?”

  “I mean, I know how but when? I needed your blood to get in and out of the King’s rooms. I wasn’t able to open it on my own. Not like Eliana had.”

  My chest tightened at the mention of Eliana. “What does she have to do with this?”

  “Martin said she must’ve been pregnant or had at least carried your baby at some point. That was the only way a vampire could have had your blood and gotten inside.”

  “She never had my child. I would have known.” My skin prickled with unease. “She would have told me.”

  “Maybe. She seemed pretty secretive to me. She could have been hiding it.”

  I released my hold on Olivia and stared at her as I sat up in bed. “Olivia. Eliana was not pregnant with my child. It would have been completely impossible.”

  She bit her lower lip and stared at me as though willing my words true. “It’s okay, you know. If you were with her. I wasn’t celibate when we were apart.”

  That cut me like a knife. The reminder of her time with Logan was a brand across my skin. “I. Wasn’t. With. Her.”

  “Then maybe she had a secret you didn’t know about before she was turned.”

  I opened my mouth to protest, but closed it again as I thought back to my time with Eliana when she’d been human. I’d left her. Been gone a long time. “It couldn’t have been my child. But it could have been my father’s.”

  “Do you think you have a sibling out there somewhere? Like I do?”

  “What do you mean, like you do?”

  Olivia

  “Don’t you know? You knew Hector was my father and didn’t tell me. Didn’t you know about my twin?” I was shaking from the adrenaline coursing through my body. This topic was too fresh, too hard. I didn’t want to talk about it but couldn’t stop myself from asking the questions.

  “No. There was never another who had your blood. Hector was lying to you. He had to be.”

  I shook my head. “He said my brother was useless to him. So he gave him away. I believe him. I have a brother somewhere, but his blood doesn’t do what mine does.”

  “Do you want to find him?” He threaded our fingers together and waited for me to answer, nothing in his eyes but openness and a willingness to do what I needed.

  “Not right now. He doesn’t need me. He’s lived this long without being found.”

  “When you’re ready, we’ll find him.”

  I nodded and took his hand, bringing it to my lips for a kiss. “And you? Do you want to know if you have another sibling?”

  “No. I want nothing to do with the product of Eliana and my father. If there was a child, it’s better off unknown.”

  “But what if he, or she, shows up?” He got out of bed and strode to the bathroom door, offering me a fantastic view of his bare ass. “Distracting me isn’t fair, you know,” I called.

  When he returned, he was covered by a robe and I frowned. He didn’t smile. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, I want to focus on you and our child.”

  I nodded. “I’m glad it wasn’t yours. I know it’s stupid, but it hurt so bad to think you might have fathered her child.”

  He sat on the side of the bed and cupped my cheek. “I told you I wasn’t with her. Not like I am with you. No matter how much she wanted us to be together that way, I didn’t give in. It’s how I knew she wasn’t meant for me. Once I met you, there was no one I wanted more. Nothing could keep me away.”

  “Nothing?”

  He kissed me long and deep, stealing my breath and making my belly flip. “Absolutely nothing. Now, will you agree to marry me?”

  I smiled. “Yes. After we make sure Lucas is all right.”

  25

  Cashel

  My brother sat in the library, a bottle of blood in his hand, fire roaring in the hearth. “Are you recovered?” I asked.

  “It would seem.”

  He took a deep pull from the bottle and sighed. Then he tossed the empty container at the wall. The glass shattered and he stood, slowly as though he were in pain. “What you did—“

  “Don’t speak another word about it, brother. I don’t want to hear her name. It hurts to know she’s not part of me anymore. I can’t change it. She was mine, for a short time. I know now what you fought for. How hard it must’ve been for you not to claim her.”

  “I’ve bonded with her, finally.”

  He nodded, but wouldn’t look into my eyes. “As you should’ve. She deserves freedom from her blood’s magic.”

  “You did the right thing, bringing Natalie and Silas to us.”

  “They were able to cure you, I see.” He raked a hand through his hair. “So you get your happy ending then?”

  “I suppose. There’s still the matter of Sorcha. Logan hasn’t returned with word. Martin can’t locate Anne’s witch. We have to find our sister.”

  “You do. Not me. I’ve given enough to this family. Consider this my goodbye. I’m leaving tonight.”

  I frowned. “No, you’re not. I forbid it.”

  “You can’t tell me what to do.”

  “Yes, I can. I’m the King.”

  He rolled his eyes and clenched his jaw. “Don’t make me do something to get exiled.”

  “No. If you need to leave, then let me assign you somewhere. Let me keep you in the fold. You have sacrificed more than anyone should. You’re a blood prince of the Blackthorne line. You should be given certain rights.”

  “Then by right, I claim privacy. Give me a property as far away from this place as possible. Give me freedom from the pain of losing her.”

  My brother had only been this way once in our lives. “You’re really in pain, aren’t you?”

  “Do you recall how hard it was to be parted from her?”

  I nodded before walking to the bar built into the corner of the room. Then I poured us each a glass of fresh blood. “I do.”

  He took the offered goblet and gestured to mine. “You’re not going to enjoy that. Not with your bond.” I set mine down while he drank all of his in one gulp. Then he strode to where I was standing and took my glass as well. “Imagine how much worse it would feel now. To have her ripped from your very being.”

  My stomach ached at the thought. “I can’t.”

  “Exactly. I don’t have any control over this. I didn’t bond with her because I was in love or because she was my true mate, but I chose her. I gave her my blood and my protection. I can’t exist here while she’s in this house with you. So please, brother, send me away. Let me leave this place and don’t force me to watch you live out your fantasy. Because I know what it feels like to have a bond. It’s something you’re not supposed to be able to get rid of.”

  As much as I hated the idea of Lucas returning to life on his own, I saw his point. I frowned and stared into the fire as I mulled over his request. “You’ve made a convincing case, Lucas. I owe you more than a life of pain. You can relocate to the Salem house. It’s yours.”

  His eyes widened. “But we promised the Salem coven we’d never return.”

  I shrugged. “Things have changed since then. We’ve helped a descendant of Sarah Good, made amends for our dealings with the witch trials, killed the men who persecuted them. I think it’s time for the Blackthornes to make a comeback in Massachusetts.”

  Shoving his hands into his pockets, he looked up to the ceiling and groaned. “Do I have to?”

  “If I’m going to let you leave us, I at least need to know you’re doing something that will help us build a stronger foothold. Father damaged our alliances and shrank our reach with his actions over the centuries.”

  He nodded. “We used to have properties across the entire country, allies that spanned the globe. Now we’re lucky if they don’t try to kill us.”

  “So, you will be the beginning of the rebuilding of our legacy. You’ll take our bloodline farther than it’s been in too long.”

  Pouring himself another drink, he downed it before saying, “Fine, I accept. Midn
ight Rose Manor is mine.”

  “Good. I’ll have Natalie alert the coven you will be returning. The last thing we want to do is surprise them.”

  “Yes, yes, I understand. I know how to deal with a witch. If you recall.”

  “I do.”

  I felt Olivia’s presence as she came down the staircase. My body went on high alert. “She’s coming, Lucas. If you don’t want to see her, now is the time to leave.”

  His shoulders stiffened. “When will you have the ceremony?”

  He knew. Of course he did. My brother wasn’t stupid. “The wedding will happen tonight. The council will be here within the hour.”

  “Then I will be gone before that.”

  “I understand.” I walked toward the door, ready to intercept Olivia before Lucas had to see her. “Are you sure you don’t want to tell her goodbye?”

  He smirked and cocked a brow. “You’d allow me time with your mate after I took her out from under you? Brother, you’re getting soft.”

  “She’s mine. No one will take her again.” I wasn’t worried. He knew that. But he shook his head and strode to the secret panel beside the fireplace.

  “I’ll show myself out. Wish her well on her wedding from me.”

  Nodding, I watched him open the panel and slip into the passage. Then he was gone.

  Olivia stood outside the library door, I could feel her. I opened the door and my breath caught in my chest. Dressed in a black gown with a neckline that plunged nearly to her bellybutton, Olivia was every inch the vision I imagined she would be when I finally wed her. The bodice was beaded and when the glasswork caught the light of the fire, I saw the deep red color of the jewels. But it was the skirt that stopped me. Inky black feathers covered the fabric, layer upon layer, all the way to the floor.

  “You…fuck, little bird. You’re breathtaking.”

  She grinned. “Do you technically need to breathe? I don’t know if that’s a compliment.”

  I slid my hand around her waist and pulled her close. “It’s a fucking compliment.” My lips found hers, hungry for her again already. “Where did you find this dress?”