by C. D. Gorri
Mascara? Yes. Blush? No. Lipstick? Maybe.
A second later, I opened the door, and there he was.
Gorgeous.
3
CHAPTER 3
Aleksei
Pacing up and down the hallway like some fucking lovesick puppy was not a good look for the new Knyaz of the Delov Clan. And yet, I couldn’t stop.
Yes, I left her alone at first. Tried going to the library, then my office, to get a little work done. But it was impossible.
“Alek, everyone knows better than to enter your wing,” Klaus reminded me.
My blood brother had stayed nearby to guard my Chosen, but that did nothing to soothe my anxiety. What if some young, or old, upstart thought to attack me in my quarters?
It had happened once after my ascension to the position of prince. Some did not care for my role as the new Knyaz, I would weed them all out and destroy them all. It was imperative now that I had someone to protect.
“Fuck, I can’t be here,” I snarled and used my ability of translocation to jump to the hallway in front of my bedroom where I’d left her.
Sprinting tended to leave me winded, but I was anxious to see her. Her caramel and cocoa butter scent drifted through the hair’s breadth of space between the door and the polished hardwood floor.
I sucked it in, relishing it. That crazy sexy scent that was so absolutely perfect wrapped itself around my heart and my cock. Both were hers already, and I was royally fucked. How did I explain to a normal what it meant to be my blood song? Would she understand that I had spent lifetimes without any hope that I would ever find her? That I would spend the rest of my life worshipping her, if only she would let me.
I truly had no idea, and that was terrifying. The idea of losing her was unthinkable. The growl building in my chest deepened, and I cut off the sound before she heard it. Fuck. I was losing my grip on myself. But what could I do? It was a biological imperative. I had to have her.
Shit. Calm. Stay Calm. I repeated the phrase over and over again in my head. This was beyond the experiences of even my vast lifetime.
I heard the knob twist and lifted my eyes in time to see my Chosen standing in the doorway. My breath left my lungs and for a moment my brain seemed to shut down. Desire, need, and a single moment of absolute serenity swept over me followed by a much stronger emotion I could hardly put a name to.
“Hi,” she said but her smile soon left her face, “uh, thank you, for the clothes,” she mumbled and looked down.
I realized why after a moment. I was growling at her like some rabid beast. Fuck. I cleared my throat and nodded.
“Yes, the outfit is very nice,” I said inanely, but she was the true star.
Spectacular in all her curvy glory. Somehow I knew she would approve of the red boots and black ensemble. Holy hell, she looked good enough to eat and yes, I meant that quite literally.
“Fits great,” she replied.
Cocoa butter and caramel wrapped around my senses completely and before I knew it I’d walked closer. The need to be near her was overpowering.
“I am glad you’re pleased with them.”
“I am, thanks.”
“How do you feel?”
“Better. You were right though, I am a little hungry.”
“Come, let’s get some food and then we will talk.”
I led her down the hall to one of the informal dining rooms on the estate. This one was often used by my guard and myself when I was home.
“Wow. This place is enormous.”
“Yes,” I nodded, “a man in my position has to make a statement,” I held a chair for her and her shoulder brushed across my chest as she sat down.
The almost-touch had me trembling like a schoolboy, and I closed my eyes a second to regain my composure. At this rate, I’d spend the whole damn day waking up from the kind of erotic wet dreams that I haven’t had since puberty.
Fucking hell. But it would be a sweet hell for certain.
I sent a command via telepathic communication to the servants to deliver food, and within seconds of entering the room, it was served. Platters of perfectly rare roast beef, asparagus in Hollandaise sauce, sauteed mushrooms, new potatoes with rosemary, and dozens of more small dishes arrived.
“This looks amazing,” she lifted a slice of French bread, sighing as she took a bite.
I had never felt jealous of food before, and yet as she nibbled and moaned happily, I was positively green with envy.
You are behaving like a fucking idiot.
“What?” she stifled a laugh.
“Nothing,” I had to work to stop myself from whispering into her mind with my thoughts.
A side effect of the bite I’d given her, and maybe something more as well. Staring at her was becoming something of a full-time affair, and she noticed too. Carina raised her eyebrows as if to say and what? I smiled, unbelievably attracted to the feisty human.
She was like a walking, talking real-life version of my deepest, most secret fantasies. All curves and valleys, her body was perfection itself. Soft to my hard, dark to my pale. Her bronzed skin was back to its healthy honey-glow and as I leaned forward I got a whiff of that sweet caramel and cocoa butter that seemed to surround her.
Fighting my impulse to kiss her silly right then and there, I continued with my forward bend. The breath caught in her throat and her pulse went wild as I drew closer. Good. She was not as unaffected by me as she would pretend.
“I won’t hurt you.”
For some reason I wanted her to know that. It was important. As important as the fact that I knew if I touched her, I would not be able to control what happened next. Neither of us was ready for our relationship to progress to that level. Not yet.
Carefully, I raised my napkin, waiting for her nod before wiping a crumb of butter from her lips. Then I backed away, exhaling as if I’d just run a fucking marathon.
“Oh, excuse me,” she murmured and took the napkin from my hand, pressing it to her mouth.
The dusky color that tinted her cheeks was entirely too enticing. She looked good enough to eat, but I settled for the rare roast beef instead.
“So, Vampires can eat?”
“I can eat,” I admitted, “we are all different, with unique abilities, talents, and preferences. Food cannot sustain us alone. Blood is required.”
“How do you get blood?”
“Donors.”
“Donors? Like people?”
“Yes. Believe it or not, there are many people who would lineup for the opportunity to feed a Vampire. Some establishments have been created for that sole purpose.”
It was true, though personally I was not a fan of the more popular trends. Seeing people treated like cattle was about as appetizing as most fast-food these days. Quality was rare in both cases.
“Really? People want to be bitten?”
“Yes. A Vampire’s bite usually involves some intoxication and satisfaction, in other words humans can get a sort of high from it.”
“I don’t remember that,” she said.
“I was not feeding from you,” I explained, “I would not do that without permission.”
“Really?”
“Of course. I only ever feed from willing donors, but typically, I drink from my stores.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have a reserve on site. A mini blood bank of sorts.”
“Isn’t it better from the vein?”
Her innocent question echoed in my mind. Of course it was. But how could I impart that to her without rousing her fear? The last thing I wanted was Carina backing away from me.
“I will not lie to you, Carina. Feeding from the source is better in many ways.”
“Then why don’t you?” her eyes were at half-mast and the sweet scent of her filled the air.
Not fear. I was surprised that she was not afraid and running screaming at this point. But she was curious, and I approved wholeheartedly of that. I welcomed her questions with relish.
&nb
sp; There was nothing I wouldn’t tell her. She was quickly becoming the focus of my world, and I knew I had to focus on appeasing Princess Ana and getting the artifact to her then I needed to exact revenge on Vladek, but the truth was nothing had ever interested me more than sitting there with her.
“I have not wanted to drink from anyone in a very long time.”
That was about as honest as I dared be. Hell, if I told her I wanted to bend her back across the table, take her mouth with mine, sink deeply into her sex, and drink her blood, she might actually run screaming. And I didn’t want that.
Mine. My stomach clenched at the possibility. It was all I could do not to reach out and grab her, pull her out of her chair and onto my lap. The female was emphatically dangerous to my self-control. A nerve twitched along my jaw, but I kept myself still.
“I see,” she cleared her throat and pushed her near empty plate away, “Well, um, thank you for healing me, and cleaning me up, but I think I have to get back now.”
It was unclear to me what she thought she saw, but it seemed it was time for our discussion. How did I explain to her, to a normal, what it meant to be moya krov’ pesnya? She had no concept of the important of her position in my life. Nothing to measure it by.
One thing was certain, I could not just let her leave. Her life was still in danger from Vladek and his fucking mutts. The thought brought me from content to furious rage in an instant. I barely managed to shove down my baser impulses and concentrated on her face.
“That’s not possible now, little one.”
“Am I your prisoner then?” she asked and her brown eyes flashed in her anger.
She was beautiful, especially when her eyes glowed with annoyance. Of course, I did not make the mistake of telling her that. One glance behind her and I saw Klaus had joined us,. He stood with his back towards us, as guard to the only entrance to the dining room.
“Carina, you agreed to accept my patronage,” I began in a low voice trying for patience when all I wanted was to take her in my arms, drag her lips under my mouth, and have her in my bed.
“I wasn’t in my right mind at the time, I was dying-”
“You knew enough to accept my offer to save your life,” I smirked, liking the crease in her forehead as she glared at me.
“Look. This was great really. I like the clothes, I won’t be giving them back. But you need to open the front door and step aside while I go finish the job I set out to do.”
“Which was what exactly? Tell me what was a normal like you doing going after a Vampire anyway?”
“I didn’t know he was a Vampire.”
“Your recklessness concerns me, but that is beside the point. What is the job you set out to do, Carina?”
“I want to kill Vladek the Merciless.”
“Why? What has he done?”
“He is responsible for murdering my parents.”
4
CHAPTER 4
Carina
I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. It was impossible. Like some deep dark fantasy finally fulfilled. A thing I would never admit to in broad daylight. At least, not unless asked directly.
First of all, I’d spent the better part of the night in a mansion. Albeit, unconsciously, but still. I’d woken up in silken luxury the likes of which I’d never experienced.
Secondly, my host was a Vampire. Not the old, wrinkly dude with the long-ass braid and hella scary fingernails either. Nope. Aleksei Delov was a different kind of Vamp.
More Brad Pitt than Bela Lugosi. In other words, he was totally fucking hot, but he was also totally off the menu. All my pinkish, girly bits wanted to cry aloud at that decision, but it was what it was.
Just because I avoided supes, didn’t mean I knew fuck all about them. The second I was old enough to understand what they were, I’d studied what I could.
The different species and factions were incredibly secretive, but after being backed into a corner by a couple of Shifters in foster care, I’d done my research.
I knew enough to understand that if I fed from Alek, if I accepted even one drop of his blood, I would begin the process of becoming a Vampire. Fae and Demons were born, but Vampires and Shifters could be turned with a bite or scratch. But only if I was predisposed to the change. Some people died during the process.
I felt my entire body tremble with longing at the prospect. Like some part of me wanted that forbidden truth to become my own. It frightened me, that strange, dark longing.
I closed my eyes and breathed in a slow, deep breath. The spicy scent was like plump juicy mangos laced with habanero peppers. It seemed to cling to Alek and whenever I was near him. It invaded my nostrils, soothing my irritability and filling me with security.
Laying my hand on the console that sat between us, my abilities seemed to reach out on their own, seeking, siphoning, and gathering information on the man who owned the vehicle. I was not always aware when my other senses would activate, but they’d never steered me wrong.
In all honesty, I was curious about him. I wanted to know more about my so-called patron. As I allowed the data to come flowing back to me, I became aware with absolute surety that this car was indeed Alek’s. Not some Vampire minion’s.
Then I concentrated on the man. He was an old soul. I saw him in centuries past, and he was powerful too. Important to his Clan. Good and just. His abilities were vast, and even more astonishing was his self-control.
No wonder he was able to risk giving me his bite and taking me back to his place. Alek was a leader. A noble. A Prince. I gasped with the knowledge. He didn’t tell me he was fucking royalty!
“We are almost there,” his voice intruded on my exploration and it took me a minute, but I pulled myself back together.
Vulnerability was one of the nasty side-effects of my psychic powers. I turned my head as if to stare out the window, but instead I was piecing the information I’d learned back together and storing it away for later study.
He was a prince. A real prince. Fuck. Why didn’t he tell me he was the actual leader of his Clan?
“Are you alright?”
“What? Yeah, I’m fine.”
But I wasn’t fine. Inside, I was a whirlwind of thoughts and unreasonable emotions. Why should it matter to me what he was? Why should I feel so hopeless at the fact that he was royalty and I was nobody? I was not his. And more importantly, Alek was not mine.
“We are almost there.”
Timeless Possessions was one of his businesses. His favorite if I wasn’t mistaken. He’d insisted on this little field trip and we were on our way to the warehouse that housed many of the artifacts he’d collected over the years.
“How long?”
“Five minutes.”
I nodded and tried to focus on what was going on around me. What was I even doing? I couldn’t even begin to explain. Okay, maybe I could.
Daydreaming in a car with a dangerous predator, fantasizing about becoming a Vampire, that’s what I was doing. Yeah, well it wasn’t that strange. Every girl who grew up reading as many Young Adult books as I had, had that fantasy at one time or other. But I was just setting myself up for failure. He was a fucking prince and I was so not his type.
The day before I was lying in a gutter choking on my own blood. I must seem ridiculous to him, I thought, and wanted to smack myself on the forehead. My life was a series of mishaps. Orphaned as a baby with no relatives to speak of, I’d been alright in foster care until my abilities started to make an appearance.
That was when they decided I should be grouped with those other children. The Supernatural ones, only I wasn’t like them. I was a normal. A boring, nerdy, and yes, chubby human girl who just happened to tap into the history of an item when I touched something every now and again.
Alek was Vampire royalty, and curvy orphans were not exactly in vogue as appropriate consorts. I knew all about snobbery. The way Ivan had looked at me, as if I was something he’d stepped on when he’d seen us eating together. Even now he
thought of me as something marring his perfect Italian leather shoes. It only confirmed what I already knew.
I was definitely not the sort of woman seen on the arms of a guy who drove a quarter of a million dollar car, lived on an estate, and had actual servants at his beck and call. Speaking of which. The motherfucker in the backseat, the one doing all the glaring, was really starting to piss me off.
“Hey buddy, you mind sliding over?”
Alek turned to look in my direction, but I ignored the silent inquiry of his raised eyebrow. I could handle myself. It was important he knew that.
“Yeah,” I said and looked down my nose at the creepy Vampire version of a butler, “you’re kinda breathing on me and I’d rather not. Type O isn’t exactly refreshing.”
The man raised his lip, but before he could utter a sound, a loud, fierce growl erupted from Alek. Without any reply, the Vampire, Ivan, slid over to the other side of the car.
I glanced at Alek, his eyes were trained on the road, but the telltale signs of a smirk lingered at the corner of his mouth. I shivered and he touched a button on the impeccably clean dashboard. Instantly, my seat began to heat up. He seemed very much aware of every move I made, and there was something exciting and dangerous about that little fact.
“We’re here.”
Alek parked the car and was at my door faster than I could unbuckle my safety belt. I tried not to react, but I was only human. My heart thundered in my chest as I accepted his hand and stepped out of the vehicle. It was close to midnight.
His warehouse was on the outskirts of Elizabeth, between Harrison and Jersey City. It was an enormous building with a surprisingly modern security system that would rival the best museums in the world. But that only made sense, considering his inventory.