by I. T. Lucas
But then, if her suspicion was right and he had some kind of a deformity, he might not want her to see it.
Greggory paused with his fingers on the shirt’s third button. “I’ll wait for you to be done. You should always call a friend when you’re hooking up with someone new.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I should.” She pointed a finger at him. “Wait for me.”
He smiled. “I will.”
11
Kian
As Kian walked through the door, Syssi looked up from her iPad. “Come sit with me.” She patted the spot next to her.
Usually she got up and hugged him, but lately, she wasn’t as spry on her feet. The pregnant belly wasn’t big yet, but it still made her feel heavier. She was also tiring more easily, which worried him a little. As an immortal, she shouldn’t feel drained by the pregnancy.
Bridget kept dismissing his worries, but she didn’t know Syssi as well as he did. The small changes in her routine he was noticing might be normal, but he would have preferred for her to take it easier and rest more.
Sitting on the couch next to her, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and dipped his head to plant a soft kiss on her lips. “How was your day?”
Syssi lifted the tablet. “I’m helping Amanda prepare a seating plan for the wedding.”
“Why? Isn’t it easier to just let everyone choose their tables?”
“Not really. The more organized the event is, the smoother everything will go. If left to their own devices, Kalugal’s men will all sit together and not mingle. She wants to seat them next to our single ladies, so they will start getting acquainted. Amanda also ordered a large dance platform to be put in the center of the lawn. The podium for the ceremony will be on top of it, but after it’s done, the Odus will take it away to make room. Unlike the other events we’ve had there so far, this time she anticipates many more couples will be dancing.”
Kian groaned. “Am I the only one worried?”
Syssi patted his arm. “You can’t help it, but I choose to be optimistic and think of this as a great opportunity and not a potential disaster.”
“With Annani present, we don’t really need to worry. By the way, I spoke with Sari, and she is coming to the wedding. She’s going to hitch a ride with Annani and Alena.”
“Awesome. Do you know how many people she is bringing with her?”
“She didn’t say, but if she plans to come on Annani’s jet, she can only bring one more person, which would most likely be her Odu. Unlike me, she doesn’t keep bodyguards with her at all times. She claims that one Odu is enough to protect her.”
Syssi arched a brow. “Can’t you use the same argument?”
“I tried. Annani insisted that since I go out a lot and interact with humans, I need proper bodyguards. Sari rarely leaves the castle.”
He’d often wondered about that. If she was anything like Amanda and him, Sari had a healthy libido. Where was she getting her fix?
Did her people bring thralled males into the castle?
It would have to remain a mystery. Even though immortals were open about their sex lives, it wasn’t the kind of question he felt comfortable asking his sister. Besides, he didn’t worry about her. Sari was cautious by nature, and he was sure that she didn’t do anything reckless.
“Poor Sari. She must get lonely.” Syssi tapped her stylus on her lips. “What if one of Kalugal’s men catches her eye?”
Kian’s gut twisted. “Fates forbid. That’s the last thing I need.”
“Why? Where else is she going to find a mate? I think it’s time for the Fates to grant some wishes in Scotland.”
“Not by choosing one of Kalugal’s men. Sari needs a refined male, and none of his men qualify, other than Kalugal himself, that is. But he’s her second cousin, and he’s taken.”
Syssi shook her head. “Did you catch the snob bug from Kalugal? Amanda, who’s a freaking professor and probably the second most beautiful woman on the planet, mated a simple Doomer and couldn’t be happier with the Fates’ choice for her. Who’s to say that Sari can’t be happy with a down-to-earth, simple man as well?”
“Sari is not Amanda. They have very different personalities and temperaments. Sari is a leader of her community, she can’t mate a simple guy.”
“Oh, really? And what about me? I’m not royalty.”
Kian chuckled. “First of all, you are my queen. And secondly, there is nothing simple about you. You are well-educated, smart, and you’re a lady. You are perfect for me.”
“Thank you. But other than the well-educated part, some or all of Kalugal’s men could be smart and gentlemanly. We only got to know a few of them, but those we did were polite and had good table manners.”
“That doesn’t make them gentlemanly.”
“Then what does?”
“The way they treat the ladies.”
“True.” Syssi tapped the stylus on her tablet’s screen. “After the wedding, I’ll survey the ladies who have interacted with them. I’m willing to bet that most of Kalugal’s men will get good scores on the gentlemanly scale.”
Kian chuckled. “They will get excellent scores alright, but not necessarily on their good manners.”
12
Eleanor
In the living room, Eleanor took the phone off the charger and texted a message to herself.
Talk about a mood spoiler.
Having no friends or family to contact was so damn depressing, but she had no one to blame for it but herself. She’d always been a loner, but things had gotten much worse after her bitter breakup with Eliot. Then Josh had died right after that, and she’d just plummeted into a black hole of misery, resentment, and despair.
She hadn’t had time to recover from grieving over her failed relationship, when fate had dealt her another blow that had almost done her in.
In a way, anger and hatred had saved her from the devastating grief, but the effect was the same. She wasn’t the kind of person anyone wanted to hang around with, and the truth was that she didn’t like the vast majority of people either.
Perhaps she should get a dog.
Dogs were loyal, right? And protective. That was more than could be said about most men. She should get a Doberman. A scary dog for a scary woman.
But with her damn luck, the dog would get run over by a car or die from some horrible canine disease. She and her family were cursed. There was no other explanation for what had happened to Joshua, and then to Vivian and their kids.
It was like a damn Greek tragedy.
“Gina? Are you okay?”
The sexy voice reminded her that she had a hunk in her bed and that it wasn’t a good time to reflect on her family’s bad luck.
“Yeah, I’m coming.” Not yet, but hopefully soon.
Before heading back to the bedroom, Eleanor emptied what was left of the wine into her glass and drank it up.
Greggory eyed her with a frown. “Did something happen? You seem troubled.”
How astute of him.
She shrugged. “I had to wait for my friend to acknowledge my text, and I got impatient.”
“I know how to get you back in the mood.” He started on the shirt buttons again, slowly. “First, I’m going to give you a show, then I’m going to put a blindfold on you and undress you, and then I’m going to give you the best sensual massage you’ve ever gotten.”
Make that the only sensual massage. Eleanor hadn’t met a guy yet who had been willing to give her one.
“Sounds like a plan.” She walked over to the bed and sat on Greggory’s lap. “Can I undress you?”
“Just the shirt. If you want to get a massage first, the pants need to stay on.”
Was he that hot for her?
Stealing a glance at his groin, she was disappointed to see no tent. Maybe he had a problem, and that was why he wanted to blindfold her? That could be another explanation for why a hot guy like him was showing interest in her. He must have figured that she was desperate enough to accept a
nything he could give her.
Not that he was wrong.
If Greggory couldn’t get it up, she would be happy with his tongue. Heck, that would be a treat. When was the last time any guy had done that for her?
“No problem, handsome.”
Taking care of the remaining buttons, she kissed his chest as she revealed it, and when the last one was done, she pushed the shirt off his shoulders and took a long moment to admire his muscular chest. “You must work out a lot.”
“I do.” He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a black silk scarf. “May I?”
Eleanor swallowed nervously. “I see that you came prepared.”
“I always do.” He reached into his other pocket and pulled out a condom packet.
Okay. It seemed like impotency wasn’t Greggory’s problem.
Taking a deep breath, she nodded and closed her eyes.
As he tied the scarf around her head, Greggory’s fingers were surprisingly gentle. “Comfortable?”
“Yes.”
As he knelt in front of her on the floor, she realized that he’d been right about all the other senses being enhanced when vision was eliminated. She could guess his movements from the way his body heat shifted away from her and the sound his knees made when they hit the rug.
Lifting her leg, he peeled one boot off, and then did the same with the other. Next, he took off her socks, and then pulled down her tight pants.
She was wearing a thong under them, and Greggory’s breath hitched when it got exposed.
“You have killer legs.” He kissed her belly and proceeded to peel off her bustier. Alternating kisses and soft caresses, he murmured words of praise for her tight breasts, her perky nipples, and her flat stomach.
He hadn’t touched her intimately yet, but he seemed to truly revel in her.
It was such a different experience from what she’d been used to. Eleanor had never had a lover that attentive, so attuned to her pleasure, and slowly but surely the layers of stress and wariness melted away, leaving her boneless to his ministrations.
“Greggory,” she whispered when she felt his hot breath on her core.
“Just relax and let me take care of you.” He kissed her inner thigh.
“I can do that.” And that in itself was a miracle.
When was the last time she’d been able to let go with a man?
Had she ever?
When he peeled her thong down her legs and then put his mouth on her core, Eleanor arched up and moaned shamelessly.
He’d been so right about all the sensations being amplified without sight. In no time, an orgasm erupted out of her like a volcano, but Greggory wasn’t done with her yet, and he wrested a second and a third before she made him stop.
He obeyed immediately, and after planting a soft kiss on her inner thigh, he pushed up. A moment later, she heard the wrapper tear, and then his shaft was at her entrance, nudging it lightly as if asking permission to enter.
“I’ll go slow.” He pushed just the tip inside and then waited for her to get used to his girth, which was quite challenging, but not painful.
Did he know that it had been a long while since she’d had sex? Or was he just thoughtful?
The truth was that he didn’t need to go as slow.
Greggory felt so wonderful inside her that Eleanor wondered whether he’d put on the condom or not, but she probably didn’t feel it because she was so wet from climaxing three times.
“Okay?” he asked.
“Amazing.” Arching up, she got him to surge all the way in.
“You feel so good, Gina,” he whispered in her ear.
In her post-orgasmic state, it took Eleanor a moment to recall that Gina was the name she’d given him.
“Same here.” She wrapped her arms around his back.
The slow and gentle didn’t last long though, and soon he was pounding into her like a man possessed. The intensity was off the charts, and as she felt him swell inside her, the sensation spurred on her fourth orgasm.
Was it possible to die from too much pleasure?
When his hands clamped on her head from both sides, Eleanor expected a passionate kiss. Instead, Greggory hissed, and a split second later, her orgasmic bliss was shattered by the burning pain of twin blades penetrating her neck.
She screamed and tried to push him off, but his hold on her head didn’t waver. A moment later, the pain disappeared though, washed away by the drugs he’d injected her with. As an intense euphoria followed, and Eleanor soared on its wings, her panic dissipated as well. Floating on a cloud of bliss, she felt one with the universe, and all her worldly troubles didn’t matter anymore.
13
Kalugal
“We have a problem.” Rufsur walked into the library. “Greggory called. He hooked up with an immune, and he’s freaking out.”
Kalugal uncrossed his legs. “What happened?”
“He bit her, she screamed and tried to push him off. He tried to thrall her, but her mind was totally impenetrable.”
“That’s a rookie mistake. The thrall needs to happen before the bite, not after. Panic can block a thrall. Did she black out?”
“Yes.”
“Then he needs to walk away. When she wakes up and finds no bite marks, she will think that she dreamt it.”
Rufsur grimaced. “There is one problem with that. The woman knows where Greggory lives.”
Kalugal’s anger flared in an instant. “Did the guys break the rules and bring girls over here while we were gone?”
“She delivered food from a restaurant, and he gave her his phone number.”
“Idiot.” Kalugal pushed to his feet. “Tell him to bring her here. I’ll compel her to forget everything.”
“Maybe you should go there?” Jacki suggested. “It will make it easier. She will go to sleep and wake up tomorrow morning in her own bed with no memory of this place or the bite.”
“I second Jacki’s opinion,” Rufsur said.
Kalugal shook his head. “The woman might wake up at any moment and start screaming murder. He should load her into his car and bring her to the bunker. I want to do this in a controlled environment.”
Rufsur rubbed the back of his neck. “As a precaution, she texted a girlfriend to let her know that Greggory was there, and he thinks that she also gave the friend his address.”
“Unbelievable.” Kalugal pushed to his feet. “He’s not a young buck. At his age, he should be more careful than that. Tell him to take the phone and bring it here as well. You can find the girlfriend and thrall her to forget the text.”
“Yes, boss.” Rufsur turned around and walked out into the corridor to make the call.
Jacki looked worried. “Your men should know better than to go on a date with someone who knows where they live.”
“Damn right. It didn’t occur to me to cover delivery personnel in the list of rules I gave them. It should have been self-explanatory.”
Rufsur walked back in. “The good news is that there was no girlfriend. Gina sent the text to herself. Greggory says that her contact list is nearly empty.”
“That’s odd. Which restaurant did she deliver from?”
“I don’t know. I’ll call Greggory.”
Kalugal waved a hand in dismissal. “Don’t bother. I don’t want him to stay in her place any longer than necessary. I’ll ask Phinas and also give him a piece of my mind.”
“He probably didn’t know that Greggory hooked up with the delivery girl.”
“Perhaps he should have.” Kalugal pulled out his phone and called Phinas. “Come see me in the library.”
“What happened?”
“Something that shouldn’t have. Did you know that Greggory gave his phone number to a delivery girl?”
“I didn’t.” Phinas walked into the library. “Trouble?”
“She might be an immune. He couldn’t thrall her.”
“Damn. She knows where he lives.”
“Indeed. What restaurant did you orde
r from?”
“Several.” Phinas shifted to his other foot. “What’s the girl’s name?”
“Gina.”
“I’ll group text the men and ask who was there when she made the delivery.”
A moment later his phone pinged with several incoming texts. “Jeremy’s is the name of the restaurant.”
“Call them and ask if they have a delivery girl named Gina.”
“If she is a spy and someone who actually works for the restaurant, she might have used a fake name,” Jacki said.
“Not likely.” Kalugal poured himself a shot of whiskey. “She would have known that we could call and verify. Gina is probably who she claims to be.”
Phinas walked out into the corridor to make the call.
“Don’t worry about it.” Kalugal sat next to Jacki and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Greggory will get the woman here, and after she wakes up from her trip to the clouds, I’ll compel her to forget everything.”
“What if she’s immune to compulsion as well? I can’t be thralled or compelled.”
“Then we have a problem.”
Phinas walked in. “Jeremy’s has a part-time delivery girl named Gina.”
Jacki let out a breath. “I’m glad that she is not a spy.”
14
Eleanor
As awareness started to filter through the dreamy haze, Eleanor smiled and stretched her arms over her head. She’d had the best dream ever, and she was loath to let go of the languid feeling of peaceful happiness, which was inevitable once she came to.
Keeping her eyes closed, she tried to hang on to the fluffy cloud that she was floating on and see more of the beautiful landscapes she was passing, but the images were fading fast. Worse, the tranquility was threatened by a disturbing thought that was beating against the wall of her conscious mind.
Eleanor pushed back, refusing it entry and hoping for a few more minutes of dreaming, but it was no use. As her overactive mind came back online, her first thought was to wonder what had brought about that amazing feeling of well-being, and in turn, that brought back the memory of the fabulous sex she’d had with Greggory…