by K Loraine
“I’ll feed from you just this once. After that, keep your bastard blood away from me.”
“As you wish,” he whispered. “But before long, you’ll be begging for me.”
“You always were overconfident. I’m surprised it didn’t kill you.”
We ascended the stairs, my head resting in the crook of his neck, his arms holding me tight. “It might’ve if it weren’t for my brother.”
“Cashel saved you?”
“More than once. I tried to end it all with the very stake that killed you…that I thought killed you.”
Alarm shot through me. “You did?”
“Yes, Briar. Is it that hard to believe losing you was my undoing?” His jaw set tight and he wouldn’t look at me. “I sat in the throne in the very room we just left and held the point of that stake to my chest, your blood staining the silver, and prepared to end it all so I could be with you.”
“Well, that’s a little dramatic, don’t you think?”
He didn’t laugh. “I think losing one’s mate is the worst punishment for a vampire.”
“A shifter too. A true mate is rare and precious.”
Opening the door to his chambers, he set me on my feet and watched with concern in his eyes until I proved to him I wasn’t going to fall to the floor.
“When he stopped me, I went to Callie and made permanent my reminder of you. You might have thought I forgot about you, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I burned you into my flesh forever and vowed never to give my heart to another.”
With one hand reaching behind his head, he tugged off his shirt and revealed the jagged scars along his side. Slashes over where my mating mark once had been.
I reached out on instinct, fingertips barely brushing the marred skin. “How…”
“Silver. Callie poured it over the wounds the night you died.”
“That must’ve been terribly painful.”
He shook his head. “No more painful than watching the light leave your eyes.” Taking my hand, he led me to the soft gray couch in front of the fireplace. I ran my fingers over the smooth fabric and frowned.
“This wasn’t here before.” Looking around, I realized none of it was here before.
“It’s been a century, Briar. Of course things have changed.”
“Have you?”
“We all change. Even when we don’t want to. We are victims of our history.”
“We’re only victims if we want to be.”
He arched a brow. “Isn’t that a bit of the pot calling the kettle black?”
He was right. That didn’t change how I felt about him. I didn’t answer him, choosing to sit on the couch and close my eyes against the pounding in my head.
I could feel him moving around the room. His presence was overwhelming in more ways than one. Opening my eyes, I watched as he stood in the corner, a wine goblet in one hand filling with blood as he held his wrist over the glass.
“What are you doing?”
“Feeding you,” he murmured. “Isn’t that what you need?”
I sat up straighter. “I thought…”
“You thought I’d let you bite me? Sorry, darling, that’s not happening. The last time you got your hands on me, you left me with blue balls and a broken neck.”
I didn’t want to admit that I was disappointed. There shouldn’t have been a part of me that wanted to touch him in such an intimate way. But there it was. My hormones were begging to be entertained.
He handed me the glass, and I snatched it without a second thought, my gaze locked on the red liquid. I needed it like I used to need air.
The moment his blood hit my tongue, I moaned. Arousal coursed through me. Damn. I wasn’t going to be able to resist him if his blood did this to me.
“You’re going to have to contain your pleasure if you want me to survive an arrangement like this.” Lucas’ voice was rough with desire, and from where he stood, leaning against the cold fireplace, I could see the bulge in his trousers, the hunger in his eyes. So I took another taste, moaning again.
“Fuck,” he muttered.
Licking my lips, I sighed. “Sorry. It’s just…it’s so good. I’ve never tasted anything like it.”
“Yes, you have.”
“When?”
“You wouldn’t remember. You weren’t a vampire then. This is what a mate does for his partner. My blood will be the only thing that truly satisfies you, just as yours will for me. We can feed on others, but consider it a salad when you really want a steak.”
“I like salads,” I protested, not wanting him to get pleasure out of knowing what he said scared me.
He shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’ll get you donors from now on.”
“I can find food on my own. I have my criteria.”
A snort—a fucking snort—left him. “Oh, yes, I know. You only eat the bad boys. Well, darling, I am the baddest boy in town, so I suppose if you want revenge, you’d better get it straight from the source.”
“I don’t do it because of you.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and assessed me. “Oh, really? Do tell. I’m dying to know why you hunt and kill men who scorn their lovers.”
“I…” How could I possibly explain what it was I was trying to accomplish by killing the men I was hired to kill?
“Exactly. Vengeance is best served when you can take it out on the one who wronged you. Not on others. Believe me, I know.”
“This isn’t about you, Lucas. It’s…the things I endured. The way Nik hurt me. I had to do something to stop it from happening to other women. I’m not defenseless. They are.”
“What did he do?” Lucas sank down onto the wingback chair in the corner and frowned at me. “I need to know just how drastically I failed you.”
I shook my head and fought a tear that threatened to trail down my cheek. “I don’t want to talk about it. It’s taken me the better part of a year to bury the damage he did to me. I don’t want to dig it all up again.”
“I spent a century with my heart locked away, Briar, and here you are, breaking the cage with one well-placed kick. In my experience, things don’t stay buried even though we want them to.”
I couldn’t look at him. Not if I wanted to keep my resolve strong. Lucas was always charming, always knew exactly what I needed to hear. That was what made him dangerous. He’d already separated me from my pack, taken me away from the place I’d carved out in the world. Isolated me from everything I’d worked so hard to find. I couldn’t trust myself around him. I needed to get away from Blackthorne Manor and go back into hiding.
“What are you hoping to gain by having me here, Lucas?”
“You. I am hoping to gain you.”
LUCAS
There was no way I’d be able to let Briar go now that I knew her heart beat only for me. I’d thought she was my mate a century ago, come to terms that I’d lost her—sort of. But once I heard the beating of her pulse in time with my own, I was gone for her all over again. Everything changed in that one perfect moment.
“I already told you, Lucas, you can’t have me. I’m not the same girl I was. I’m broken. You broke me.”
“Then let me put you back together piece by piece.”
“It’s not that easy. I’m not a puzzle. I’m a monster you created.” Standing, she strode to the window and threw open the French doors that led out to the balcony where she’d given me her mating mark.
“Briar. They’ll catch your scent.”
Turning blazing violet eyes on me, she nearly sent me to my knees with a single look. “And what if they do?”
Before she could register what I was doing, I rushed her, pulling her into my arms and returning us both to the safety of my rooms. I slammed the door shut and bolted it from the inside. “They’ll use you for God knows what. I don’t trust your mother as far as I can throw her. And while, granted, I can throw her rather far given my strength, the saying stands. She’s up to something. It’s not to protect you. She’s using
you to gain more power.”
“My father would never have allowed that.”
“He allowed you to be kept in a bloody tower by a crazed Scotsman.”
She shook her head. “He didn’t know. My mother took me away, sent me to Scotland where she said I’d be safe. Then Nik showed up and…”
I couldn’t stop myself from tightening my hold on her. “We can’t let them get to you until you’re completely in control of your power. If either of the councils deem you a risk, they’ll kill you.”
“I won’t have control. Don’t you get it? This isn’t something as simple as learning how to be a vampire.”
“You can.”
She scoffed. “Arrogant.”
“Confident.”
Heaving a sigh, Briar crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. “And you think you can help me?”
“I know I can. I already have.”
“Fine. But I want my own room. There’s no way I’m sleeping in your bed.”
Pouting playfully, I nodded. “That can be arranged, though I think it’ll be decidedly less fun.”
10
BRIAR
The rooms at Blackthorne Manor were well decorated; I’d give the vampires that. Here the walls were covered in paper that almost appeared silver, but when I touched it with careful fingers, nothing happened. A reminder of their vulnerabilities? Maybe. The layout of the room was identical to Lucas’. A balcony, fireplace, bedroom, and even a bathroom attached to the bedchamber. The best part? It was blissfully silent.
Why, then, was my heart aching ever-so-slightly over Lucas’ absence? Traitor.
Draping myself across the peacock-blue fainting couch near the window, I stared up at the ceiling and let my memories steal my attention.
Nights running in the woods with Lucas had plagued me for years. But now, I thought back to the times where we’d loved each other under the moonlight. When we’d pledged forever. When he’d kissed me like I was the only one he ever wanted. He’d said I was his mate. My heart started beating when I fed from him. How much longer could I deny it?
“You can’t.” A soft, feminine voice floated through the room, causing me to jerk upright.
“Who the hell are you?” I asked, taking in the woman standing in my room. She was pale, with big eyes the same shade as Lucas’. Her long hair flowed nearly to her waist in chocolate waves. I narrowed my eyes in recognition. “Callie?”
She smiled. “It’s been a long time, Briar. Even by a vampire’s standards.”
“I was sort of…tied up.”
Her brow furrowed and she took a step forward. The woman was so graceful she looked like she was floating. “He said you were dead. He mourned you more terribly than I’ve ever seen.”
My chest tightened.
“But you’re changed. You are…he turned you?”
Had he not told her? That was odd. “He didn’t know. It’s a long story.”
“I can hear your hearts beating together. You truly are his mate. Why are you in my rooms if the two of you are destined?”
Her rooms? Oh, that bastard. He put me in here so I would leave. “I needed some space from…all of it. There’s a lot going on. I’m sorry. I didn’t know these were your chambers.”
She shrugged. “I don’t need them. You’re welcome to stay. What’s mine is yours.”
“Are you sure?”
Nodding, she smiled. “Though you shouldn’t leave my brother in misery for much longer. He’s suffered so. He is the most human of all of us. That’s not a weakness. It’s an asset. But he doesn’t agree. Our father told him the opposite for so many years.”
“Thank you, Callie.”
Her eyes brightened. “My pleasure. You look like you could use a bath. A nice soak to warm you up.”
That sounded fantastic. I hadn’t had time to truly relax since…well, since before I became what I was. She walked into the adjoining bedroom, and I heard the bathroom door open. The water began running, the faint scent of peony filling the air. Standing, I went toward the promise of warmth and soothing tranquility.
“Callie, you don’t have to run a bath for m—” I said when I pushed open the bathroom door, but the ensuite was empty. The bath was running, steam curling from the hot water in the large copper tub, light floral scent filling the room, but Callie was nowhere to be found. “She’s faster than I thought,” I muttered.
I pulled my shirt over my head and dropped the fabric to the floor before removing the rest of my clothes. Standing naked in the bathroom, I inspected the places on my wrists where the cuffs had held me. Not a mark.
Guilt hit me hard in the chest. I’d been cruel to Lucas. Let him burn. He’d taken such care with me even though he’d chained me.
Sighing, I stepped into the nearly full tub and turned off the water. Then, I sank down into the heat, letting my head fall back until it rested against the sloped edge of the bath.
Too many people wanted something from me I couldn’t give. Lucas wanted my heart. My mother wanted my loyalty. I wanted…I wasn’t sure. Thoughts of Seb and the others sent a flash of pain through me as well. I’d practically abandoned them without a word. Not of my own volition, but I wasn’t making moves to return to them either. The truth was, I put them at risk every single day. They were doing fine without me, and once Seb found me, and we found them, we had to run and hide. I shouldn’t plan to ever go back.
Snagging a folded washcloth from the small table within arms reach, I soaked it in the hot water, then draped it over my face, letting the scent soothe me.
“Well, it seems you’ve made yourself quite comfortable here already.” Lucas’ voice sent goosebumps rising across my skin. My nipples tightened in response to that sexy rich tone. Damn my hormones.
“Voyeurism another kink of yours, Lucas?” I didn’t remove the cloth from my eyes. Let him stare. He wasn’t getting another taste of my body.
“Only when I’m watching you.”
“What do you want?”
He chuckled, and the sound of his footsteps drew nearer. Near enough I had to pull the washcloth off my face and stare at him to make sure he didn’t join me in the water.
The vampire took a seat on the small bench across from the tub and smiled at me. “We’ve been invited to join my brother and Olivia for dinner. A few local vampires will be in attendance as well. I’d like you to come.”
“Is that a request? Or are you just going to tell me what to do?”
Brow raised, he smirked. “It’s a request.”
“I’ll consider it.”
“Good. I’m sure there’s something in the wardrobe that will suit you. I’ll see you in an hour.”
He stood and left without waiting for a response from me. Cocky, arrogant, handsome, infuriating bastard. I had to admit, I wanted to see him, though. Just that brief bit of contact had me feeling better. If this was what a mate bond was like, I didn’t want to entertain what it would be like if we made it official.
“I said I’ll consider it!” I called after him.
Nothing. Not even a chuckle under his breath. He knew I would come, just like I knew that he was rock hard behind his fly. I couldn’t resist him, but he felt the same about me. We were perfect rivals set up for an unending game.
I’d simply have to choose something to wear that would be pure torture for him.
LUCAS
God in Heaven. The woman was going to be the death of me, or at the very least, the death of my cock. I’d tried to be the gentleman and avoid watching her tits bob in the bath, I had. But they were so full and tempting, I hadn’t been able to avoid looking once…okay, maybe twice. The way they beckoned me from the top of the water gave a very different meaning to the phrase tits up.
I gritted my teeth and stared out the window at the night sky, trying desperately not to allow myself to give in and have a wank before seeing her again. No. I was saving my orgasm for her. For when she let me have her. Because she would. I knew it as surely as I knew she was mine.
>
“Brother?” Cashel stood in the doorway of my chambers, a strange expression on his face.
“What is it?”
“Are you all right?”
I sighed and shoved my hands into the pockets of my trousers. “Frustrated. Nothing more.”
“Has she not accepted you’re her mate?”
“It’s more complicated than that, and you know it.”
“Yes, I’ve been thinking about your problem, and I wonder if we might reach out to our cousin Silas again?”
My blood ran cold. Silas and Natalie had saved Cashel’s life, but at great cost to me. I still bore the scar over my heart as a reminder of the bond I’d sacrificed. “What can they do?”
“Olivia thought Natalie might be able to help Briar…fuse both parts of her together, for lack of a better term. Bring some sort of balance.”
I let that idea roll around in my head for a moment. It might work. If anything, it was worth a try. “Contact them. See when they can get here. The sooner she can control it all, the better. If we can prove she’s not a risk, the councils will have no reason to fear her.”
“As good as done. Is she joining us this evening?”
Smirking, I unbuttoned my collar before I slipped on my dinner jacket. “If she knows what’s good for her, yes. She’ll join us.”
Cashel shook his head and laughed. “Brother, I don’t think you see how she’s topping you from the bottom.”
I cocked a brow. “Oh, I see it, and I welcome it.”
He continued laughing as he walked away, leaving me pondering how long Briar would stay after we helped her harness her power. Would she leave as soon as she could? Would she be glad to be rid of me? Fear curled in my chest at the thought of letting her go. I didn’t know if I’d survive it again. All the humanity I’d locked away had returned and taken the driver’s seat after she let me feed from her. But this wasn’t weakness. This was my truth. Even if Briar left me again, I’d love her until the day I died, and there was only one word to describe it.
