The Van Wilden Chronicles Box Set Books 1-3

by Jessica Gleave

  She had to tell him now, so they could have make-up sex. She needed to feel his hard body against hers.

  Her tongue darted out, licking her lips as he sauntered back.

  “What a glorious morning to be whittling and chopping wood, hey?” Gareth grinned wickedly at her. Yep, he totally caught her ogling him. The bond also betrayed her wanton desire.

  “Yes, indeed.” Her voice came out breathy.

  Morgana bit her lip when he winked at her. He seemed to be in a better mood.

  “Yes, and if you don’t get your ass moving, I’ll be the one doing all the work.”

  Gareth laughed and grabbed a piece of chopped wood, picking up his knife. “You’d think they’d have machines to do this for them nowadays.”

  Morgana shook her head. “It also has to do with vampire lore. If the stakes have been handmade according to the ritual, then they can also be used as the wicks for burning the vampire’s body.”

  “I always wondered how the lighting of the stakes worked.” He winked at her, and shivers raced down her spine.

  Morgana slowly smiled back at him.

  Gareth sat himself down beside her, their knees touching as he began whittling his piece. The log they were currently working on was ash. One of the other agents had put in an urgent request for their shipment of stakes to arrive within the next few days.

  “Morgana,” his voice sounding serious, “I need to know your version of what occurred between you and Mariza.”

  Morgana stopped whittling and stared down at the piece of wood. Well, what a way to put a dampener on my arousal. “I know. I haven’t thought about this moment for close to four hundred years.”

  Gareth dropped his wood and knife to squeeze her hand, giving her comfort. “I know. I’ve heard she bit you from others, twice now. But it can’t have been easy to deal with at such a young age. Even for a Dhampir.”

  Morgana gazed into Gareth’s eyes as they pierced into her own. “No, it wasn’t.”

  She dropped her gaze, tracing the grain of the wood with her finger. While she never talked about it even though she remembered it so clearly. “It was the first time I was going to meet Mariza. I remember being so excited to meet her. Finally, I would have a big sister to play dolls with and have tea parties,” Morgana said quietly. “When I first saw her, my eyes were widened with awe. I thought she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. She even had blonde hair as Mother did. But her eyes were so much like Daddy’s.

  “I was suddenly shy, hiding behind Mother’s skirt. But Mariza gently approached me, her smile encouraging. ‘Well, aren’t you the prettiest little thing,’ she had said to me before embracing me. I thought I couldn’t be any happier at that moment. I felt so safe in her arms.

  “We were going to get a portrait painted of the two of us, but the artist was running late. Little did we know Mariza had already fed on him. I was about to ask her if she wanted to see my dolls, but as I saw her eyes change from exuding warmth to a terrifying coldness, I knew I was no longer safe. For where my sister had been, there was now a monster in her place. I had never seen a proper vampire face before. Mother and Father had never shown their fangs to me. They tried to remain as human as possible around me. Mariza’s lips pulled back to reveal fangs, and to a four-year-old, they looked gigantic. She didn’t say anything and lunged for my throat. When her teeth pierced, I cried out for Mother, and a pain shot through my small body. I was scared to the bone. It was the first time I’d been bitten.

  “But then I didn’t know why she was doing this to me. I was a vampire, too. I hadn’t fully grasped my human side yet. I didn’t know my blood was so alluring. What four-year-old does? Mother and Father would often tell me I was special, I was different, but I never understood before. I still didn’t understand why she was feeding on me like a human. Not until years later did I fully grasp why it had happened.

  “Father reached us first, being the faster of the two. When he pulled Mariza away, I was so glad, so relieved. Then I saw Mother’s vampire face. For a moment, I thought she was going to feed on me, too, but instead, she broke a chair, using the broken leg to stab Mariza before pulling me into her arms to soothe me.”

  Gareth let go of Morgana’s arm, putting his hands over hers, stilling her movements. She looked down to see she had hacked the stake she was making to a short stub. He took the knife and weapon away from her, placing them on the ground near his feet before pulling her in close. “That motherfucking bitch needs to die.” He stroked Morgana’s back. “First, she attacks you, then Vivienne, and turns me against my will. She’s a cruel one.”

  “No one is born cruel, but certain choices in life makes one become vindictive.”

  “Are you defending her?” Gareth asked incredulously.

  “Hell, no. From what my brothers have told me, and even the way Father still loves her, I don’t think she was always like this. Something made her become the way she is now.” Morgana pulled back. “I hate her for what she did to me, and even though I was young, there was something in her eyes.”

  “Hunger?”

  “No, not hunger, though there was a little of that. It was more like something had snapped inside, then she attacked.”

  “I still don’t like it. How could she be so cruel as to attack her own sister?”

  “It was no picnic for me, either,” Morgana said dryly.

  Gareth laughed, pulling her in closer. He rubbed circles around her back. “I’m not going to lie. If I ever get the chance to kill her, I will.”

  Morgana shook her head. “Father would never forgive us.”

  “Who said anything about us?”

  “Don’t think I wouldn’t hesitate to kill her either if she tries to hurt either one of us again.”

  “I knew there was a reason I loved you.”

  “But you’ve already killed a Primus. The Council isn’t going to look kindly upon you killing another.”

  “What can be worse than whittling thousands upon thousands of stakes?” He pointed toward the large log pile.

  “Being locked in a cell with only one cup of blood per week. Or they’d choose to eradicate you.”

  “You have a vampire jail?”

  “Some holding cells at Headquarters back home. Still, I wouldn’t want to be placed in there.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Gareth wrapped his arms around her. “Now see, what was so difficult to say, you couldn’t tell me in the first place?”

  Morgana laughed into his chest. “I’ve missed this.”

  “Missed what, my love?”

  “Us. The banter, talking to each other, just being with you.”

  Gareth held her tighter. “Me, too. Bloody nearly killed me watching you have an orgasm over a sandwich.”

  Morgana pulled back, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She placed a hand on his chest. “You know my parents aren’t home.”

  Gareth smiled, tilting his head, feeling for their presence. “So, they ain’t. What about our punishment?”

  Morgana shrugged. “We’ve got vampire speed. We’ll finish it in no time. Right now, I need to be with my boyfriend.”

  Gareth placed his hands on either side of Morgana’s face, kissing her hungrily. He missed the taste of her lips. She opened her mouth, allowing his tongue to delve deeper, tasting more. Her moan escaped into his mouth. He had to have more of her. Sliding his hands down her face, skimming over her breasts, he cupped her ass, lifting her onto his lap. Morgana wrapped her legs around him. Without breaking contact with their mouths, Gareth stood, rushing her inside and up the stairs toward her room.

  They fell back onto the bed, finally breaking apart when their teeth gnashed. His fangs had started to protrude. Morgana giggled, her head falling back onto her duvet.

  Gareth chuckled as well before raining kisses down her neck. He longed to taste her blood again. His fangs scraped her skin, but he pulled back, allowing only his lips to trail over her skin. What kind of asshole would he be if he bit her after what she
had told him? Clearly, her adamant stance against being used as a blood bag stemmed from Mariza’s attack.

  “Damn clothes are in the way.”

  “Well, take them off.” Morgana’s voice was husky.

  He smiled against her skin, making Morgana giggle.

  “Do you like this top?”

  He grazed his hand over her taut nipple as he gathered up the material.

  She arched her back. “I can always buy another.”

  “Good.” He ripped it apart, exposing her mauve lace bra underneath. “Now this one I like, so I won’t wreck it.” He reached around her back and unclasped the hook, exposing her breasts. “Oh, I missed these.” He ran a tongue over the left nipple.

  Morgana gasped.

  But Gareth wasn’t staying there. If he couldn’t taste her blood, he was going to lick her sex—the next best thing.

  He trailed more kisses down her stomach until he reached the waistline of her leather pants. He wasn’t going to tear these apart, though. He liked watching her from behind when they scouted together when she wore these pants.

  He peeled them down, taking her underpants with them—no point in wasting more time getting them off later. He flung them across the room and buried his mouth into her wetness.

  He moaned. Nectar.

  It tasted like goddamn nectar.

  Her hips bucked underneath him as he licked her slick folds. He circled his thumb around her clit—he wanted more of her juices on his tongue.

  “Gareth,” she moaned.

  “Come for me, baby.”

  He could feel she was close, sliding two fingers into her so he could get her there.

  “Fuck.”

  Pleasure rippled through him from the bond, and she screamed out, her climax shattering all around his face. He lapped up everything she gave him.

  He groaned—definitely the next best thing to tasting her blood.

  He pulled himself away, undressing quickly, then leaned back over her.

  She looked up at him, eyes half-lidded, a small smile on her lips.

  He crashed his mouth onto hers. She hooked her legs around his waist again, his erection poking her center. He needed to be in there now.

  He sheathed himself inside. For a moment, he couldn’t move and was happy to savor the feeling of her wrapped around him.

  But as impatient as ever, Morgana began to grind her hips, unhooking one leg, pressing her foot onto the bed so she could rock herself up toward him. He smiled down at her as he began to move with her.

  Now he was aware of the bond, the feelings they shared were heightened.

  He could feel everything she felt—her love and her arousal—especially now during their make-up sex.

  He could feel what she experienced, how his hardness felt inside her, how his touch made her melt, how his kisses sent her body aflame. Everything he felt was tenfold as she reciprocated the same feelings he felt back at him.

  “I love you, Morgana,” he said, pushing himself further inside her.

  She gasped, arching her back, allowing him further inside. “I. Love. You. Too,” she groaned, lifting her hips.

  He was sorry he had gotten angry at her, and now he was trying to apologize with his body.

  At that moment of love and passion, he didn’t know why he had ever let her go or how he ever allowed her to leave his bed.

  Fuck the Forest Clan and their jobs. He was going to fuck his girlfriend all day and all night. He was never going to let her out of his sight again. He thrust into her again, his movements picking up speed as she rocked her hips against him. The overwhelming orgasm crashed over him like a wave as Morgana’s inner walls tightened around him, and she screamed out his name.

  He collapsed on top of her, his chest heaving as she fought to catch her breath.

  He lifted himself onto his left elbow. “Wow.”

  “I know,” she agreed.

  “How come it wasn’t like this before?”

  She looked thoughtful. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” she suggested. “But it seems, in this case, it also makes the bond grow stronger.” She smiled at him. “We’re more attuned to each other now.”

  “If that’s the way it’s going to be from now on, I don’t ever want to stop being inside you.”

  Morgana laughed, tilting her head back against the pillow.

  He smiled, smoothing a loose strand of hair from her face. He had missed hearing her laugh.

  “Do we have time to go again?”

  She smiled up at him, thrusting her hips. “Hell, yeah.”

  ***

  Afterward, they laid wrapped in each other, neither speaking as they savored the post-coital bliss.

  “So, are we good?” Gareth asked her.

  “Well, I’m good. But are you still mad at me about Mariza?”

  Gareth moved off the bed, standing next to it. He held out his hand and said, “Get dressed and come with me.”

  ***

  Gareth led her to the old oak tree growing in the town center.

  “What are we doing here?”

  “See this?” He pointed to a carving in the bark beginning to brown as a scar on the tree’s trunk.

  Her eyes went wide. “Is that?”

  “Us. I did it a few days before I came to see you.”

  She traced a finger over the heart, outlining their initials. She turned and laughed. “So, we’re good, then?”

  “Of course.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  One week after Gareth and Morgana had reconciled, they were gathered with Alastor in their living room. Morgana sat on the floor, her cheek nuzzled against Gareth’s calf. He looked down at her feeling their love flowing between them through the bond. They were discussing their next scouting mission when Ava walked in with a grim look on her face.

  “Hiya, love,” Alastor greeted her with a kiss on her cheek. She gave him a small smile.

  “What’s wrong, lass?”

  “I received a call from one of my sources at the Sheriff’s Department. There’s another girl missing.”

  “Another one?” Morgana asked.

  “Yep,” Ava answered, looking down at her notepad. “She was taken on her way home from work.”

  “How did we not know about it?” Gareth crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Human abductions aren’t always because of vampires,” Morgana answered. “Could it have been a human?”

  “That’s what I wondered, too, but this is Oak Wood Hills. We’re a small town not known to harbor murderers and kidnappers, and given everything that’s been going on with the Forest Clan—”

  “So, you think it’s vampire-related?” Morgana sat up straight now.

  Ava nodded. “According to my source, the girl’s description is similar to the other missing girls and the one Ragnorok was targeting… long black hair, green eyes, Caucasian.”

  “But I stopped Ragnorok from taking a human girl.” Morgana’s brow creased. Was it the same one?

  “Ah, but he could have sent one of his goons to take her. Wouldn’t be the first time.” Gareth remembered back to the bald vampire who accosted him in the woods.

  “True. I wonder why young women, though?”

  “Fresher blood? He likes the taste of them better?”

  “Who knows what’s going through his head. The dude is psychotic.”

  Morgana growled, rubbing her forehead. “Man, I wish I could remember details about the Obscure Clan mission. I can’t wait till I receive the file from Jonas. It may give us a better understanding of his motivations. Speaking of which, it should be arriving here soon. I should head back home in case it arrives.”

  Gareth nodded. “We’ll come back with you, then.”

  Morgana raised an eyebrow. “And you’re okay with that? You know who could be there.”

  He shrugged. “I’m curious about what it says.”

  “And?” She didn’t seem entirely convinced it was the only reason.

  “And I’m trying not
to be a dick of a boyfriend.”

  Alastor chuckled. “Come on then, lover boy.”

  Ava hurried after them. “Don’t forget about us.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Morgana signed for the package and thanked the courier.

  She closed the large, wooden front door behind her with the sole of her foot. She stared at the white cardboard box in her hands containing the answers she needed about Ragnorok’s past. She tore away the packing tape, eager to know, her eyes widened at the contents.

  Huh?

  The mission had been too old for there to be an electronic file. All mission reports back then were sleeves of parchment bound in brown leather. She trailed her fingers over the cover—strange to be seeing this type of mission report again. Everything today was either done through phone calls or emails, which was part of why it had been so strange for Randalf to be here before he died, and hence, why The Council hadn’t come down on them too hard.

  The mission details were written in Morgana’s handwriting with notes added here and there from both her mother and father. She skimmed over the details of the Obscure Clan mission. The year—1816. Location—the old country. A cold shudder ran through her. Then a wave of concern hit her.

  “What’s wrong?” Gareth asked from across the living room.

  She could feel her mother’s gaze through the walls.

  Morgana walked into the room with her mouth stretched in a thin line. “You all need to hear this.” She began to read aloud the details contained in the file, specifically the last leg of their mission. She was instantly transported back to the Obscure Clan lair, the memory finally unblocking in her brain.

  Two Hundred Years Ago…

  Morgana walked down the dark tunnel. It smelled of mold and dampness. Dripping water echoed ahead of her. She lifted the hem of her dark green pelisse coat and gown, trying not to dirty her clothes. While her and Vivienne’s dresses looked to be of the latest fashion, they were cleverly tailored to have a secret split in the front, allowing for freedom of movement when they needed to fight. Of course, they wore breeches underneath their gowns—no lady would dare to bare her legs. She crinkled her nose at the sight of their location, venturing further into the catacombs. Even Night Dwellers lived better than this. These folks were the reason vampires had a bad name.