Everything I’ve held back, everything I’ve feared revealing, comes to the surface as if it’s been suffocated and finally found the very air I need to breathe. To live.
I pour it all into Rory as I kiss her, sweeping my tongue against hers as she opens to me.
And then I feel it. The brush of her magic against mine, amplifying our connection. I respond in kind, touching her with my own magic.
Hey there, sweetheart.
Hey.
Her response comes back simply. Accepting me. Trusting me.
Rory winds her fingers around my neck, gripping me as she returns my kiss with fervor.
I lose track of time and space as our kiss draws out, deepening until I feel Rory inside my very soul. She gives herself over to our passion, surrendering to me in a way she never has before.
Mine.
I can’t help the possessive feeling that comes up inside me. The need to make Rory mine is overwhelming.
Yours.
I hold her even tighter, our bodies fused together as we kiss until we’re panting for breath. When I finally break the kiss Rory looks up at me, eyes dazed and lips swollen. I tip my head down and nip at them, not ready to let her go.
But there are still things to be said. We can’t stay on this boat forever, of that I’m certain.
“You’ll trust me then?”
She nods. “I trust you.” I feel a wave of relief until I hear her next words. “But I need you to trust me as well. We have to get those sapphires, Xander.”
I know we do. I want there to be another way for Rory to uncover the secrets she so desperately needs to find. There has to be another way.
But as I look into her eyes, I know there’s no other way. Whatever my family did with those stones once they acquired them, there’s no way we’ll find out without confronting them face to face. Even if there’s a snowball’s chance in hell that they’ll tell us.
“You realize the minute we step foot on their property, they may just hand us over to the Regime.”
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take. I have to know.”
I nod once. “As long as you know what we’re walking into. I don’t want to do it. I’m serious about that. I think it’s going to land us in more danger than we’ve faced yet. But I also don’t see any other way.”
“You aren’t alone now, Xander,” she says softly, running her fingertips along my jaw. “We’re in this together. You don’t have to be the lone wolf anymore.”
Old habits die hard, though.
It’s one thing for me to trust Rory. It’s quite another to bring along her rag-tag band of guardians and other pets. Even if I can trust them to follow Rory to the ends of the earth, I can’t trust what will happen when we encounter my family.
When. It’s not even if anymore.
“Damn you, Rory.” I chuckle against her hair as I pull her to me.
“So you’re in?”
With that statement, I realize she would have gone on without me if I’d stayed adamant about abandoning her search. God, this woman. Stubborn as hell, always ignoring reason, even when it’s smacking her in the face.
“Can’t let you go alone, sweetheart. You’ve got me wrapped around your finger for sure now.”
She smiles and bites her lip teasingly. “Now that I know all your secrets.”
“Hmm.” I yank her hips hard against mine for good measure. “I think I’ve still got a few surprises for you.”
Her mouth falls open and her eyes go dark with desire. Damn, the idiot things people do for love. And I guess that’s me now. A love-drunk idiot. Because when the houseboat’s door swings open, banging against the wall and startling us, I don’t even care that Rory turns to the four men pouring out of it and says:
“Xander’s taking us to the stones.”
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on out here before they interrupted. So I’m sure they all think I’m totally pussy-whipped, not able to stand my own ground in the face of Rory’s wiles. And they’d probably be right.
But fuck them. Because every last one of us is in the same boat. Crazy in love with this woman.
“Let’s go,” I say, ready to get the hell away from Arendale’s family, even though it means we’re only leaving one screwed up situation for another.
The look of relief on Rose’s face is almost comedic. “Lovely to meet you, love,” she tells Rory, but it feels forced. And we all notice there’s no open invitation for our return. “Nico…”
But she doesn’t finish her sentence, instead shaking her head and returning to her family dinner, closing the door behind her.
“Well, I guess that’s goodbye,” Rory says awkwardly.
“Come on, sweetheart, let’s get you out of that dress.” I give her a wink but don’t wait for an answer, just pull it up and over her head.
What about that bed you promised me? I hear in my head. And when I look back at her from where I’m tucking the dress into a waterproof bag that’s lying on the deck, the look in her eyes tells me she isn’t the only one who’s ready to finish what we’ve started.
Oh, I’ll have her in my bed alright. Just as soon as we get this next part over with. Which means we can’t start a moment too soon.
Rory
“There’s a river into the city,” Nico grumbles—and not for the first time since we set out on our journey to the North estate. “Mum could’ve given us a ride.”
“After she found out my last name, your mother couldn’t get rid of us fast enough,” I remind him. “I don’t think she was exactly offering to carpool.”
“That’s not fair, Rory.” Nico gives me his best pout as he helps me out of the train car. Our stolen military vehicle ran out of gas days ago—luckily, it had just enough left to get us back to the train line. “Empaths…we’re protectionists, that’s all. It’s about survival. You know what this world is like…it’s dangerous to choose a side. Especially when you don’t know which side everyone else is on.”
“You’re her guardian,” Xander reminds Nico, clapping him on the chest as he hops down from the boxcar. “You’re on her side, vampire.”
“I am,” Nico reassures me, shrugging apologetically. “But Mum…she doesn’t take this guardian thing as seriously as most.”
I can’t imagine why she would, honestly. Rose Arendale might be many things, but in need of protection from a man is hardly one of them. And to be beaten by someone who fate itself had bound to protect her…she doesn’t have much of a reason to trust the relationship between a guardian and a witch.
“You don’t need to apologize,” I tell Nico. While Nico’s mother might not have given us what we went there for, she gave me a lot of information—almost more than I know what to do with. “I just wish I knew who she she’s so afraid of me for…my mother, or my father?”
No one seems to want to answer that question, so I drop it—for now. But the mystery of my parents’ pasts feels more intense and compelling now than ever before…I know that I want answers. Need them.
Which is why we’re going to get these stones so I can uncover it all for myself.
“Welcome to the esteemed North family estate,” Xander deadpans as we cross through the brief patch of forest between the railroad tracks and the manicured lawns of his family home. “Generally, this is the point where we invite guests to leave their pet humans in the stables, but knowing you, Rory…”
“Drew’s not a pet human,” I remind him, uncertain whether he’s joking or not. “And he’s coming with us.”
Drew laughs, tossing an arm around my shoulder. “No, by all means, North. You’re safer with me muzzled and kenneled when your sweetheart of a witch is around.”
He presses a wet kiss to my cheek in a way that makes me glow—and a way that makes me want a lot more than just a kiss from Drew right now—but this isn’t the time for teasing Xander. Normally, Xander is dry by default, but right now, he’s obviously on edge. The warning Drew gave me the first night we shared toge
ther is still fresh in my mind, too—the fate of any unmarked man who tries to claim a witch for his own is death. One look from Xander tells me that Drew is currently pushing his luck.
“The shifter might be right, actually,” Ryker says, rubbing the scruff on his chin thoughtfully. “If shit goes tits up in there, I don’t want to be stuck in that gothic murder mansion where I can’t do fuck all to save you, little witch.” He raises his head for a moment, sniffing the wind. “Might be a bear wandering around here somewhere—fuckers wouldn’t know what hit ‘em if we had a bear on our side.”
“No bears,” I instruct Ryker. Then, I wrap my arms around his neck. “You’re right, though. Xander and I can manage this—and if we can’t, I’d be happier knowing that the rest of you are safe.”
“Great.” Drew’s obviously not happy with this outcome, judging by the way he crosses his arms over his chest kicks the dirt with the toe of his boot. “So Rory and Mr. Regime himself are going into a house full of Regime supporters, and we just hang out in the forest and sing Kumbaya around the campfire, huh?”
“Don’t worry, roughneck,” Nico reassures Drew. “Shifter homes are unpleasant places as a rule. You’ll be happy you missed out.”
“Be safe,” I tell Ryker, pressing my lips against his.
Like always, Ryker takes what I give him and makes a lot out of it. A little growl of pleasure rises in his throat as his arms encircle my waist. His lips move against mine, tongue slipping into my mouth like he’s just as addicted to my taste as he is the feel of my kiss. He breathes me in the whole time too, like he’s trying to memorize my scent.
“You too, little witch,” he tells me.
Nico gets a kiss too—although his still feels tinged with apology.
“I’ll see you again soon,” he promises. “Or I’ll break down those fucking doors to come and rescue you myself.”
“I might like to see that,” I admit, giggling as he places a second kiss on the tip of my nose.
For Drew—Drew, who I would like to kiss goodbye right now so fucking bad—there’s only a peck on the cheek and a hard, meaningful hug. But what Drew can’t do with his mouth in front of my guardians right now, he makes up for with his body. His arms envelop me, squeezing me tight, and I can feel every perfect, toil-hardened muscle in Drew’s body press close against mine.
He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t need to. Just kisses me on the cheek and lets me slowly slip away.
Killian gets a hug and a smile, and with how fucking cryptic he’s been since this trip began, he’s lucky he gets that. Still, there’s no denying how much I enjoy the feel of Killian’s own muscles pressing against me. He smells incredible, and his silver eyes glint with knowing—but knowing what, I’m sure I’ll just have to get through the next few hours to find out for myself.
As the rest of our party sinks back into the cover of the forest, Xander offers me his arm. I wear the green dress that Nico’s mother gifted me, and as a shapeshifter, Xander never has an issue with being poorly dressed.
“A little makeup, I think, Rory,” Xander suggests, teasing a final tangle out of my hair and looking down at my shoes judgmentally. “And let’s make those boots into flats, shall we?”
I nod, picking up his meaning. I feel our powers join briefly and try to envision my lips a little darker, my eyelashes thicker, my skin tone more even. I think of my boots and how much nicer they would look as kitten heels—not flats.
“Fuck,” Xander breathes, running his hands down my arms and claiming an unexpected kiss from me. “You’re getting too good at this, Rory.”
I look down and wrinkle my nose in delight at the little black heels I’ve magicked into being where my boots just were.
“They’ll change back, right?” I ask.
“When you need them to. If you try hard, you’ll still be able to feel the hug of the boots around your ankles, even.”
When I concentrate on it while we move toward the estate’s massive main building, I find out that he’s right.
“My great-grandfather built this place nearly seven hundred years ago.” The walk is long enough that Xander apparently feels the need to play tour guide—not that I mind. “He was a scoundrel and a thief—and he was very good at being both. It made him very wealthy, as you can image. When he met my grandmother, he built the estate for her.”
“Seven hundred years ago?” I blink in disbelief. “You mean like, great-great-great-great—”
“No,” Xander says calmly. “My great-grandfather. He was named after his father, a common actor who died in a duel and left his wife and child with nothing. He gave his son the same name, and his son passed the name to my father.”
“Alexander North IV,” I say softly. “Which makes you Alexander North V. Wow…is it sad that I only just learned your full name?”
“Is Rory short for anything?”
Shit. I glower in his direction for a moment. No one’s asked me that before. That’s a question probably only Drew and I know the answer to.
“If we get through this, maybe I’ll tell you,” I inform him as we come up to the front door.
“A mystery.” Xander’s interest only seems to distract him from his nerves for a moment—but it’s the little things that count. As he raises his hand to the massive demon-mouthed knocker on the door, he gives me a little smile. “Let’s hope we live long enough to solve it, then.”
The knocker makes an impossibly loud, deadened noise when Xander raps it against the door. We wait there on the front step for what feels like an eternity played out over the span of about five minutes before finally someone answers.
“Oh…oh my,” says a small elderly woman, pointed ears poking up just beneath her white maid’s cap. “Master North…oh, goodness.” There’s a hint of affection in the woman—or is she an elf?—in her eyes as she looks Xander over, but it seems to be quickly overpowered by shock. “Are you…are you quite sure that you mean to be here right now, Master North?”
“Just Xander, Cora,” Xander says with a soft, tired smile. “Don’t pretend like it’s been that long. Here—meet Rory. Rory, Cora.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Cora,” I say, offering her my hand to shake—which she immediately balks from, like it’s some kind of trap.
“She practically raised me,” he explains, taking my outstretched hand and squeezing it in his own. “But normally our kind isn’t so, ah…friendly with the help. You’ll get used to it—I promise. Come on in.”
Xander pulls me through the front door and into what feels like a completely different world. The closest thing I can approximate it to would be the Warden’s house at Aisling—but even that was a tacky kind of opulent, whereas this…
“God, Xander,” I breathe, staring up and looking all around the foyer. “It’s beautiful.”
“Just gilding and money and mother’s sense of interior design.” Xander shrugs like we’re not standing in the most beautiful room I’ve ever been in.
The hardwood floors are polished to the point where I can practically see my reflection in them. There’s a massive chandelier dripping with diamonds overhead that sparkles and shines in its own candlelight. A golden vase of calla lilies sits on an end table near the door next to a little golden bell, which Cora gently rings while glancing nervously up the stairs and blatantly holding her breath.
“It’s insane,” I whisper to Xander, squeezing his hand. “I knew your family was well-off, but…”
“It doesn’t matter,” Xander says, rolling his eyes. “It’s just money, Rory. It’s nothing.”
“Excuse you,” a tart voice calls from the top of the stairs. “It is your home, Alexander North—you ought to show it some respect for once.”
The woman that descends down the stairs following the voice is easily the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life. She has waist-long, glossy dark hair that falls down over one shoulder, pin straight, only to erupt gorgeously into curls at the end. Her cheekbones are high and proud, her lips are full
and the dark red-brown of dried blood, and her eyes are as dark as a looking glass pointed skyward on a moonless night.
She doesn’t walk down the stairs so much as she floats down them. I can see her tiny feet moving in impossibly high heels, but the train of her black velvet gown doesn’t drag the way it ought to. Instead, it wafts gently over each step like smoke on the way down.
“Good evening, Mother,” Xander says, and I’m just trying to figure out how the hell this woman could possibly have given birth to my first guardian—because she doesn’t look a day older than he does now.
“Good evening, Son,” she says back to him with a tight-lipped smile that I’m beginning to think must just be a mark of good Regime breeding. It reminds me of Dr. Belmont’s—but then I remember how Dr. Belmont met her end and I try to look away.
It’s not very effective, considering that as soon as Xander’s mother finishes embracing him, she turns that same tight-lipped smile to me.
“Hello there, Rory,” she says to me. “It’s so good to finally meet you.”
Then I find myself enveloped in a hug as well, and I don’t know what to say—or what to do, for that matter—so I just bite the bullet and awkwardly hug her back.
Xander’s mother’s skin smells like jasmine and lilies. Her hair smells like amber. As she pulls away, something different strikes me about her—something about her eyes that doesn’t quite look like it did when she first wrapped her bony arms around my shoulders.
Green. I realize it a second later than I ought to have—Xander’s mother’s eyes look different because it feels like I’m looking in a mirror. When she first hugged me, her eyes were as dark as Xander’s, but when she pulls away they’re as green as my own.
Your mother is trying on my eye color, dude. I reach out to Xander with my magic while his mother stands between us, keeping us apart.
Yes. She does that.
It’s fucking eerie, Xander.
Emerald Vows: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Marked Souls Book 3) Page 8
