by Kyle, Celia
Lourdes Soren had a fiery werewolf temper and a reputation for being a hard-ass who rarely found in favor of the defense.
And then there was Stefan Falkov, who glared through midnight black eyes at Luca as if he were the devil himself. All in all, the trio would happily send him away for a crime he didn’t commit, if only to find justice for past crimes he’d skated on.
The sound of the courtroom’s doors opening and closing behind him barely registered until an intoxicating scent hit Luca full in the face. It jack-hammered through his focus and grabbed him by the fangs—and cock. Both tensed and pulsed, as the rest of his body tightened. Luca’s head snapped around before he could check the impulse, and he found himself staring at a the most unimaginably beautiful female standing just inside the doors.
The pupils in her dark eyes were nearly indistinguishable from the irises as she returned his hot gaze. She wore a slim black suit and no-nonsense heels, her silky red blouse the only splash of color—other than the auburn highlights in her brown hair, which cascaded across her shoulders. Her pallor was more a testament to the obvious shock of his presence than her vampirism. Because he was certain she was a vampiress. Not only by her scent, but because there could be no other explanation for his reaction to her than she was his.
His beloved.
An invisible bond snapped into place between them, sparking with supernatural energy. He tugged at it, experimentally, and found it felt like the woman he now would know better than any other. The woman he would spend eternity cherishing.
A fly buzzed around his head, an annoying pest that distracted him from his beloved. Only it wasn’t a fly. His lawyer scowled at him and spoke through clenched teeth. Only once Luca’s eyes shifted away from his beloved—whoever she might be—did he realize every eye in the room rested on him.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Sinclair hissed, his brown eyes showing more than a little worry as they flicked down to Luca’s arms.
Luca blinked in surprise. The silver restraints chaining him to his chair were pulled taut as he strained against them. They’d been smart to confine him. If they hadn’t, he would have captured his beloved in his arms, dragged her from the courtroom to claim her, and left this mockery of justice behind them. All before he even knew what he was doing.
Instead, he forced himself to relax, despite what his instincts screamed. Securing his freedom had just become the most important thing in his life. He couldn’t claim his beloved if he was locked in some dank dungeon.
“Well, Ravenna,” Judge Falkov sneered. “How do you plead?”
The rest of the world had ceased to exist the moment his eyes had met hers. Falkov must have listed the charges against him and now waited for Luca to acknowledge them. He didn’t need them read again, but he needed a minute to regain his composure.
“I would like the charges repeated,” he replied smoothly, belying his jangled nerves.
Everyone at the prosecution table groused and groaned while Sinclair threw his hands up in frustration. Judge Falkov’s expression remained stony, but Luca could see the fire in his eyes.
“Luca Ravenna, Soldier of the Ravenna clan, you are hereby accused of attempted murder of an Othercross arcane by drinking too much…”
The laundry list of bogus charges faded into the background as Luca listened to his beloved’s hurried approach. The rest of the courtroom probably couldn’t hear her footsteps, but he felt them in his soul.
So, when she reached the row of seats behind the defense table and then leaned over the rail and whispered into Sinclair’s ear, Luca saw red. She spoke with the idiot pup and pointedly ignored him, her beloved.
A growl rumbled up from deep inside him at this unacceptable turn of events. Sinclair wasn’t as stupid as he originally seemed because he had the good sense to shoot Luca a wary look, but his beloved simply glared at Luca as she dropped into a seat. Now that she was so close, he could see the sharp intelligence in her brown eyes mixing with confusion and irritation.
He weighed the feel of her age and decided she couldn’t be much more than a century, maybe a century and a half. Half his age, one of these modern young vampires entrenched in human technology and quaint ideas of individual liberties. As if rights were ever determined by anything other than strength and cunning.
“How do you plead?” Falkov asked again, his tone making it perfectly clear that he’d just as soon chop Luca’s head off than read the charges a third time.
Sinclair held up a hand. “I beg your indulgence, Your Honors, but may I have a moment to consult with my colleague before Mr. Ravenna enters his plea?”
All three judges rolled their eyes, but Aya Holloway granted him permission with a nod.
When his beloved leaned over the rail again to confer with Sinclair, Luca’s eyes couldn’t resist drinking her in, as if they had a mind of their own. But as much as they wanted to dip down to indulge in the view revealed by her gaping red blouse, Luca kept his attention trained on her lovely face. When he first looked on the lush fullness of her perfect breasts, it would be with her full consent as she lay ready for him to claim her. Not with him chained like an animal.
“Call for a recess, Devon,” she muttered quietly.
Sinclair balked. “Are you nuts, Alena? I’ve got this handled.”
Alena. His beloved’s name was Alena.
The sound of Alena’s teeth grinding brought a hint of a smile to Luca’s lips. Alena…a lovely name. Feminine. European, maybe Russian. A frown creased his brow.
Possibly in response to his long appraisal, she shot Luca a brief, hard glance. She knew what he was, perhaps even who, yet she wasn’t afraid of him. Interesting.
“You’re in over your head, Devon,” Alena continued. “Trust me. You don’t want to cut your teeth on an attempted murder trial. Odofin must have been blood drunk when he assigned you to this case.”
Was she concerned for his fate? Of course, she was. No way would his beloved be anything less than brilliant. She must have assessed the situation in the few seconds it took to cross the room and determined—as Luca had—that Sinclair was a fool and his being assigned to Luca’s defense was a mistake, if not something even more sinister. If she was an attorney as well, and competent, she would take over his case. The thought pleased him. If the Falkov clan was attempting to frame him to cover the actions of one of their own, as he suspected, he needed every ally he could get—including his own beloved.
Luca bristled at the way Sinclair scowled at her. “I’ve got this, Alena. Thanks for the vote of confidence and everything.”
“Your Honors,” protested the prosecutor, Malone Falkov, waving a hand toward the defense table.
He’d been trying to nail Luca to a cross for decades and had never been as close to a conviction as now. There were witnesses this time. Luca snorted. Falkov witnesses, of course.
Lourdes Soren’s nail tapped on the table in front of her like a mini gavel. “Has this courtroom become a board meeting with me unaware?”
His beloved, clearly no fool, straightened and nodded deferentially toward the Triune and then took her seat behind Sinclair, avoiding Luca’s gaze. That didn’t sit well. A growl slipped from his lips again. She was his and he hers, but she refused to acknowledge him. She hadn’t even spoken one word to him, though the pulse in her neck beat wildly.
Luca had done a great many things during his centuries as a vampire that deserved a trial, even punishment—despite the fact he was innocent in this particular case. Still, he resented her rebuff. She didn’t seem pleased, as one should be when they found their beloved.
Not that it mattered. Her displeasure was as irrelevant as his irritation. Before she’d walked into the courtroom, he’d been willing to accept his fate and spend the next fifty years in a cell because he deserved some kind of punishment for his past and inevitable future misdeeds, but now… Now he was no longer willing to go quietly into the enclosed dark of a dungeon. Fate had granted him his beloved. His duty now was to remain by
her side, and she by his. Whether she liked it or not.
“Alena,” he murmured, his voice a croon.
His mouth quirked up at the corner when she finally met his gaze and frowned at him, a perfectly enticing pout. No doubt she recognized the look in his eyes, the implication in his tone. His promise that she belonged to him, his demand she work in his defense. They would rise—or fall—together.
“I’ll owe you one, Devon,” she whispered. “Give me the files. I’ll work this case.” She wiggled her fingers, ordering the puppy to obey her and go away.
“Conflict of interest much?” Sinclair sniped. “They won’t allow it.”
“Why not?” Luca asked, keeping his voice pleasant and curious.
Alena ignored him. “They’ll allow it.”
“Maybe because the Falkov clan is fixing the case?” Sinclair asked under his breath.
Maybe he wasn’t as foolish as Luca had thought.
“Fighting words, Devon,” Alena growled, her dark eyes flashing a warning. “I suggest you be a little more careful about who you slander inside a courtroom.”
Her silky tone stroked every dark, carnal thought in the depths of Luca’s jaded imagination. He envisioned her straddling him, slick pussy pulsing around his swollen cock, a smirk on her lips and her auburn tresses brushing his shoulders as she pinned his wrists above his head. Smart-mouthed, hot-eyed, controlling. In command until he tired of the game and flipped the script. Luca’s cock swelled and he fought for a vicious moment to tamp down his body’s needs. He refused to put on a show for the Falkovs.
This was not the time for such thoughts.
Not the time to imagine future deeds.
Her eyes jerked toward his, pale pink sweat a glimmering sheen on her forehead. Wispy strands of hair stuck to her temple, and one strand pressed against her cheek down to the corner of her plump lips. The bottom lip was fuller than the top, naked except for a swipe of something with the scent of coconut. He imagined capturing that bottom lip between his teeth, his tongue sliding into the hot cavern of her mouth as tiny drops of her blood mingled with his saliva. Her blood now his.
Luca took a shuddering intake of breath, his upper lip curling back as he leaned toward her. Her eyes flicked to the Triune and he stopped, eyes closing for a moment. Control. He must control himself if he had any chance of escaping these proceedings without a stiff sentence.
Leaning back in his chair, he caught her gaze, direct rather than coy, her kissable lips now compressed into a thin line. Her chest rose and fell, breaths slightly faster and harsher than before. She felt it too, the rising tide of undeniable lust.
Sinclair’s gaze bounced between the two of them, suspicion flickering in it. “What’s going on, Alena? Do you two know each other? Because that—”
“No.” Her denial, a flat monotone, fooled no one.
“You know what? I think you’re lying to me—”
Alena hissed at Sinclair, baring her fully extended fangs at him. The little man yelped, jerked back, and then lurched to his feet. Luca smiled. The fire in her eyes bade well for the bedroom.
Not the time for such thoughts!
“Fine,” Sinclair snapped angrily to cover his fear. “Take it and good riddance.”
The man, if he could be called such, scurried out of the courtroom like a dog who’d just been kicked. Luca cocked a brow at his beloved, curious what her next move would be. Like a boss, she stood, squared her shoulders, and then walked confidently to his side and addressed the Triune.
“Your Honors,” she said respectfully, her voice smooth as silk, even though Luca could see how white her knuckles were turning as she clasped her hands behind her back. “I would like to ask for a recess so I might confer with my client.”
Aya Holloway looked at the other judges, confusion written all over her face. “And who are you?”
Luca sensed Alena’s discomfort at the question, though he couldn’t figure out why. She was smart, bold and beautiful—a force to be reckoned with. Just the sort of lawyer he needed.
“I…” She cleared her throat before continuing. “Since Devon Sinclair has recused himself from Mr. Ravenna’s case, I will be handling—”
“You?” Stefan Falkov leaned forward, his keen eyes narrowing at Alena. It was a curious look, but Luca didn’t care for anyone questioning his beloved.
“Yes, Your Honor,” she replied softly, almost as if she were embarrassed.
Judge Falkov leaned over to Lourdes Soren and whispered something to her. Her eyes widened and her dark skin grew even darker.
“I recognize you,” Judge Soren said. “What’s your name again?”
Alena’s gaze darted to Luca before she returned her attention to the Triune and spoke loudly. “Alena Falkov.”
A wave of murmurs rippled through the courtroom, but no one was hit as hard as Luca. His beloved was a Falkov? Despite a treaty between their two clans, Falkovs and Ravennas were far from being on friendly terms. Yet the bond between Luca and Alena would be unbreakable for all eternity. He knew it to his very core. No wonder she’d been so confused.
“Are you an attorney, Ms. Falkov?” Judge Holloway asked gently. “Because I could have sworn last week you were just—”
“No, I’m not, your Honor. As you know, I’m Odofin’s assistant at the Others Defense Office. I’m also a law student.”
More murmurs in the courtroom, but they barely registered with Luca. Not only was his beloved a fucking Falkov, but she’d just dismissed his presumably qualified attorney when she was little more than a personal assistant!
“But I can assure you, I’m more qualified than—”
Judge Falkov cut her off with a mocking laugh. “Every law student alive thinks they’re more qualified to try cases than actual lawyers. What gives you the right?”
Luca sniffed the air and found no deceit between the two Falkovs. Alena seemed genuinely intent on defending him and Stefan seemed just as genuinely pissed off about it. If the judge was part of the plot to frame Luca, she wasn’t. Or possibly vice versa.
More pale pink blood-tinged sweat broke out on Alena’s brow as she licked her lips nervously. One hand inched closer toward Luca, as if she wanted to reach for him but held herself back. In that moment, any thought she might be part of the Falkov plot to imprison him fled. He knew with absolute certainty that she would do everything in her power to clear him of the bogus charges.
Clearing her throat one more time, she stared hard at the Triune. “I claim the case under the laws of matehood. Luca Ravenna is my beloved.”
The court erupted.
Chapter Three
Alena took a deep breath as the commotion in the courtroom died down to a dull roar, but all that did was fill her nose with Luca’s irresistible scent. It was all she could do to stop herself from tearing off her clothes and throwing herself on the table in front of him. But if they were ever going to be able to claim each other, she needed to clear his name.
“Your Honors!” Malone Falkov shouted, his fat face turning an alarming shade of red. “This is ridiculous! She’s a nobody pretending to be an attorney. I demand she be taken into custody for impersonating an officer of the court!”
Alena made a note to scratch him off her holiday mailing list, but it seemed Luca had darker plans.
“How dare you!” he snarled at the prosecutor, straining against the silver chains that held him. The muscles in his arms bunched and his fangs snapped in fury. “Unchain me and we’ll see if you still dare to speak about my beloved with such disrespect!”
Alena’s great-uncle, the only vampire on the Triune, pounded his gavel on the table. “That is enough!”
A tidal wave of energy swept through the room, silencing everyone instantly. Uncle Stefan’s predatory gaze jerked toward Alena, his silent promise filling her mouth with the taste of blood like a mental slap. Even Luca stilled, though rage still blazed in his eyes.
For a moment, Alena questioned whether she should even attempt this mini coup
. Under any other circumstance, she and her beloved would be somewhere private by now giving in to the demand of the mating urge. Newly found beloveds were notorious for throwing off all other concerns under the supernatural imperative to acknowledge and solidify their bond. The longer they denied themselves, the more intense the torment. Instead of a pleasant warmth and a sexy urge to get down and dirty, her instincts turned up the volume to eleven.
As if they were ignoring each other on purpose. How did you tell your instincts to hold up, wait a minute, chill out?
Alena pressed a hand on the defense table to steady herself. Her body clenched, the faint coppery scent of her own perspiration filling her nostrils. Thank goodness she’d worn a red blouse or her pink pit stains would be epic.
Doubtless she would be called before her clan’s council before the night was over. She’d have some tap dancing to do, but what did they expect? If they chose to push cases through without informing clan members who, you know, worked in the building they couldn’t be upset at the results.
She’d claim ignorance and beg forgiveness. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d used that tactic to get out of trouble. She was youngish, as far as vampires went, so it worked most of the time.
Alena needed a minute to regroup, but if she left the courtroom, what tenuous control she’d managed to exert over the proceedings would vanish. Devon had been ousted, but she still had to talk fast to make a case for taking over Luca’s defense.
Luca Ravenna, her beloved. A Ravenna clan Soldier, as she’d just learned, who even now simmered with barely leashed violence. If he was feeling the effect of their connection like she was, his control was probably unraveling at this point.
“Are you okay?” Luca asked her quietly.
Despite his obvious anger at the slight against her, he was concerned about her well-being. He had to be feeling the effects of the unconsummated bond as acutely as she was, but he was a Soldier, not to mention centuries older than her. His control, his ability to mask his feelings, trumped hers even though she’d worked hard in the last half-century or so to strengthen herself.
