by S J Williams
Effie’s phone rang. She winced then picked it up to look at the screen.
“This will my contact with the History department at Durham.” She said with a grimace. “No doubt they’ll want to know what’s going on.” She answered, standing up to walk a little way from the table and the others. Lucien took her seat, still reading through the emails.
It wasn’t her contact.
“I suppose you think you’re clever?” A cold voice snarled in her ear. Pausing just outside of the dining room, Effie frowned.
“Who is this?” She demanded, managing to sound a lot braver than she felt.
“Why? So you can add some fresh details to my entry in your book?” The voice sneered.
“I don’t know—” Effie began but the voice cut her off.
“I’ll be coming for you. Make your next few days count, because they’ll be your last.”
Numb with shock, Effie barely heard the dial tone droning in her ears.
Sebastian watched Effie take the call through a red haze of anger. Of all the things he could have defended her against, this one left him helpless. He might as well have broken his neck again.
“One of these emails is from a lawyer saying he is the representative of one of Oscar Mansfeld’s descendants.” Lucien shook his head. “They’re not wasting any time.”
Sebastian closed his eyes. Every one of Lucien’s words hit him like a bullet, ruthlessly tearing into him. This was why Bartholomew had been pushing Effie so hard to finish her research. The big exposé had revolved around Mansfeld’s case.
“I think we’ve found the stage Bartholomew wishes to use to expose immortals to the rest of humanity.” Lucien said grimly.
Catarina’s tense voice from the other room, barely keeping on an even pitch, suggested the call to the council wasn’t going well.
Sebastian’s phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the screen. Withheld number, but it didn’t take a genius to work out who might be calling. The rich, sultry voice was not, however, what he had been expecting.
“Sebastian, you have found yourself in a tricky spot, haven’t you. Or, rather, your Effie has.”
“Sonya,” Sebastian said on a heavy exhale, “are you calling just to gloat or is there another reason?”
“Gloat? I can’t imagine what I might have to gloat about. I simply offer you my commiserations. It must be so hard to have found so dear a lover only to lose her again so swiftly.”
Sebastian felt his anger turn to ice.
“What do you mean, Sonya?” He asked with a bite in his voice.
“Tut tut, temper temper. Surely I’m not telling you anything you didn’t already know? What can you expect when the girl writes and publishes a book like that?”
“It wasn’t Effie who wrote or published that book. The publisher is a vampire known as Bartholomew.”
“Of course. It was a vampire.” Sarcasm was still sarcasm, even when it purred.
A faint cracking sound. Sebastian glanced over his shoulder. The window panes were riddled with hairline cracks. His control was slipping. He didn’t really care.
“Whatever you say, you cannot deny that your Effie is in trouble. Ah, before you explode on me, let me offer you the helping hand of a friend. Come to my soirée this Friday and I promise that I will extend the council’s protection to Effie.”
Sebastian narrowed his eyes.
“Why would you do this?”
“For the sake of old times? Surely you don’t think so little of me that you cannot credit me with at least some compassion? There was a time when your opinion of me was much more generous.”
“My eyes have been opened since.” Sebastian said, his voice flat.
“Yes, that incident was regrettable.” She said, regret like molten molasses on her tongue. “Perhaps, then, we can see this as a chance to balance the scales. Bring her to Paris, Sebastian, and I will do the rest.” She hung up on those words.
Slowly, with immense satisfaction, Sebastian crushed his phone in his fist. It wasn’t until the glass sliced through his palm, spearing sharp pain through to his brain, that he was able to think with any degree of clarity or rationality.
Catarina walked in after finishing her own call, silently seething.
“The council are demanding explanations and refusing to accept the ones I offer.”
“Not all of them. Sonya just rang to offer her support.”
“Sonya?” Looking up, she blanched slightly when she saw Sebastian’s expression. “What’s she got to do with it?
“I don’t know, but she’s summoned us to Paris with the promise of her protection.”
“Which probably means if we don’t go, she’ll side with the hot heads on the council. Bitch. And then there’s that vampire. When I get my hands on him, I’ll…” She couldn’t finish. Instead, she turned on a scream and threw her phone through the already cracked window.
“Steady on.” Henry protested, coming through from the kitchen with a tray of steaming drinks. “We won’t have any phones left if you keep that up.” His eyes noted Sebastian’s bloodied fist.
“Just as well.” Catarina growled. “I have no desire to hear their smarmy voices again.”
Effie returned from taking her own call, white faced.
Sebastian was at her side in the next instant. “Effie? What’s wrong.”
Blankly, she looked down at her phone. “I think…” she began, but her voice came out as a hoarse croak. Clearing her throat, she tried again. “I think that was one of the immortals mentioned in the book. He…” She swallowed. “He wants to kill me.”
“Effie!” Sebastian grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look him in the eyes. “Believe me when I tell you I will not let that happen.”
She searched his expression, a lost look in her eyes. Then she rallied and nodded. “Okay.” She said, her voice sounding a little stronger. “Okay.”
She scanned their grim expressions. “It looks like you’ve had some bad news too.”
“We’ve been summoned to Paris. Do you remember Sonya’s party? She’s offered to protect us providing that we attend.”
She frowned. “Why would she do that?”
“That’s a bloody good question.” Henry growled.
Lucien cleared his throat. “Sonya is notorious for her political games. No doubt she sees some advantage for herself and her clique if she takes your side.”
Effie shuddered and hugged herself. “They think I wrote the book. Why would they want to help me?”
“It’s possible they think you’ve made it all up.” Sebastian said grimly. “If they could persuade you to take back your claims, it would go a long way to mitigating the damage.”
Effie stared at him hopelessly. “But that’s insane! Why would I make up a story like this?”
“We can safely assume that no one is thinking very clearly over this.” Lucien said gently.
Effie groaned and tightened her hold around herself. She felt like all she had to do was take one wrong move and she’d be sick.
“I wish I’d never got up this morning.” She mumbled. “In fact,” she added, standing up carefully. “I think I’m going back to bed.”
Nobody stopped her when she disappeared from the room.
When Effie stopped at the foot of her bed, she knew she wasn’t alone. She considered asking him to leave, to let her sleep. But that felt wrong. To be alone felt wrong. Memories, deep, deep memories, stirred.
“I had a dream a couple of nights ago,” she told the silent shadow at her back. “You were in it.”
“What was I doing?” Sebastian’s deep voice was a soothing balm on her senses, making her tense muscles relax, one by one.
Effie opened her mouth, then she blushed when she realised what she was going to say.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said quickly. “Forget it.”
Sebastian’s large hands cupped her elbows and ran gently up her arms. His thumbs began to gently knead the knots between her sh
oulder blades. Effie’s head dropped forwards as her eyes closed with pleasure.
“I don’t think I can forget it.”
“Hmmm?” Effie had forgotten what they were talking about.
“What did you dream?” Sebastian’s voice was hot on the edge of her ear.
Effie frowned. “I don’t think it was a dream. I think it was a memory.”
“A good one?” Sebastian’s hands ran back down her arms, still working out the tension.
Effie smiled, a secret smile just for the two of them. “I enjoyed it.”
Sebastian’s arms snaked around her, pulling her back against his chest. Gently, he pushed her hair over one shoulder and began to kiss a burning line down the side of her neck. She tilted her head back to give him better access and he rewarded her by trailing kisses down her throat.
“Did we do anything like this in your dream?” His breath blew on the damp patches he’d left on her skin, sending goosebumps running all the way down her back. Her heart sped up, a steady thrum in her ears that added a primal rhythm to the intimate dance between them.
“Should we be doing this now?” She asked, voice embarrassingly high and breathy. “The book…”
“I’ve found,” Sebastian kissed her collar bone from her neck to her shoulder, “in all my long life, that we should take moments like these whenever we can. I think we both need to forget about the world, at least for tonight.”
Effie couldn’t suppress her shiver.
Slowly, Sebastian’s hands reached up to pluck the buttons of her shirt open. She swallowed, her breath coming in quick pants.
“Shh.” He whispered against her neck. “I have no desire to hurry this.”
She moaned, beyond words. She reached back, trying to touch him where she could. His hands stilled on her shirt.
“We’re doing this my way this time. That means your hands stay in front.”
“This time?” She started to ask, but she didn’t get any further than that. She was left gasping when Sebastian tore off her shirt in one swift jerk. A few buttons pinged against the walls. She watched them with wide eyes. Her skin seared hot against the chill of the room.
He stroked an index finger over one bra cup, circling the hard nipple he found there. She jerked, arching her back a little. He pressed his other hand over her abdomen, holding her in place.
“Stay with me.” He murmured. “I want to feel every inch of you.”
Every inch of her was quivering with anticipation.
She was barely aware of her surroundings. The only things that mattered were Sebastian’s fingers and his lips as they stroked her and whispered endearments in her ear.
“So soft.” The words were a bitten moan. “I’d forgotten how soft your skin is.”
“Sounds like you need to refresh your memory.”
“I intend to.”
Sebastian knelt behind her, his hands caressing patterns down her waist, leaving goosebumps in their wake. Then he turned her to face him, moving those clever fingers to the button on her jeans. She clasped her hands behind her back so stop herself from giving in to temptation and running them through that thick mahogany hair. Would it be as silky as it looked?
“When can I touch you?” She asked, her voice strained.
“Not yet.” Was the husky reply.
Slowly, oh so slowly, he undid the buttons and pulled down the zip. She could only be grateful they weren’t super tight skinny jeans, she thought as he slid the material down over her hips and thighs, or this might have been much less dignified. The image that conjured made her giggle. Sebastian glanced up with a quick grin.
“Ticklish?”
“No, I—” She squeaked and squirmed in his hands as he played his fingers against the sensitive skin at the back of her knees. It turned out she was ticklish. Very ticklish.
She stepped out of her jeans as he lifted each foot in turn. He tossed them away then swept his eyes slowly up her body. She was a shivering wreck now.
“You have too many clothes on.” She protested.
“I fully intend on rectifying that.” He murmured. “But, first things first.”
Her underwear went with the same excruciating slowness.
“I like these.” He said as he plucked at the lace of her knickers. Her breath caught as he kissed her right over her sex through the fabric. Tender. It was the only word she could think of. He was so incredibly tender.
Underwear gone, there was nothing between her and those lips as his head descended again, parting her curls to suck delicately on her clit. Electricity raced through her body, pinging in all her extremities in a thousand tiny aftershocks. Her knees buckled.
Effie was so absorbed by what he was doing, it took her a while to notice she was floating.
“Sebastian.” She said in warning.
“Shh.” He said again, moving with her as he laid her gently down on the bed. “So sweet.”
She stiffened. She couldn’t help it. Bartholomew’s voice had floated into her head. Sebastian looked up, intimately aware of every minute change in her body.
“Sorry.” She blushed. “It’s just what Bartholomew said…”
His expression darkened and took on a new look of determination. “I will make it my mission to erase every memory of that man from your mind.”
She would have struggled to recall any memory in the next few minutes as he lapped and lathed her into a sensual oblivion. Nothing existed except the present and Sebastian’s tongue. Then those fingers came into play, pressing her clit just at the right moment.
Fire rushed through her in a pleasure so intense, she forgot her name. Floating on the waves of the aftermath, she hummed in contentment.
It’s just like my dream, she thought. Only the burning is so good.
“I’m glad to hear that.” Sebastian crawled up her body, looking thoroughly pleased with himself.
“Did I say that out loud?” She murmured lazily, eyes fluttering closed.
“You might have done, in between the other adorable sounds you made.”
He didn’t let her answer, pressing his mouth on hers, stroking his tongue against hers, tugging and nipping at her lips until she was thoughtless once more.
The heavy clunk of jeans against the carpet, the scrape of fabric as it was removed, the heat of skin against hers. She wrapped her arms around his back, digging her nails in, daring him to make her let him go. He only chuckled and nestled himself between her thighs. She wrapped her legs around his waist for good measure.
Hard, hot steel nudged her in that most sensitive of places. So empty. She felt her whole body was begging to let him in.
“Now, Sebastian. Please.”
“Now.” He agreed and eased himself into her, stretching her to aching fullness.
For a moment, they stayed like that, quivering together. Then, slowly, he pulled back.
She was so ready for his next thrust, she screamed when he rammed home. It was like a switch had been flipped. Gone was the sensuously teasing Sebastian and, in his place, was a wild and powerful animal. Wave upon wave built inside her, each thrust pushing her higher and higher until she wasn’t sure she would stay inside her own skin. Too full, too much…
The final burst, when it came, sent her soaring into the stratosphere. She screamed against his mouth, a scream which he echoed in a hoarse shout as he shook against her. Then his mouth was on hers, devouring her with a feverish intensity.
She burned. And she loved it.
13
They took the train for Paris the following morning.
It was utterly bizarre, Effie thought, sitting among these incredible immortal beings in something so mundane as a train carriage. Well, perhaps the first class coach wasn't mundane precisely but, still, it was hardly unicorns and enchanted pumpkins.
She watched glumly as some of the most stunning landscapes in Europe flashed past her window. Were they travelling for any other reason, she would be in heaven. A first class view of the Alps, Paris as their des
tination and Sebastian, the impossible dream that was Sebastian, by her side. Instead, the whole thing was overshadowed by unknown hunters on her tail and an unknown fate awaiting her.
I’m dead, she thought, half with disbelief and half with disgust. I’m enjoying the Alps on borrowed time.
Someone tapped on her shoulder. She jerked out of her reverie and looked back to the seat behind her. Henry was leaning over the back of her seat, his arms snaking through the gaps. While she, Sebastian, Catarina and Lucien had got seats around a table, Henry had, with a gallantry he’d made them all feel, offered to take the seat behind her.
“Can I help you?” She asked with faux formality.
“Just thought I’d grab you while the grizzly has stepped out for a bit.”
Effie pulled a face at the description of Sebastian. She wouldn’t have said a grizzly came to mind. More like an angry tiger. Any second, she thought he would suddenly produce a tail and start lashing it. His tension had been steadily increasing her own for the whole journey. He’d muttered something about needing to move and left her on her own a few minutes ago. She wasn’t sure which was better. At least with his surliness beside her, she had some distraction from her own bleak thoughts.
“Well, you’ve got me.” She said to Henry. “What can I do for you?”
“I know right now things aren’t looking so great and everyone’s a bit tense.” He began.
She snorted. To say things were a bit tense was to say the sun was a bit warm.
Henry smiled briefly and inclined his head in acknowledgement. “I know. Master of the understatement. That’s me. I just want you to know that, with all this trial business put to one side, things have never been better.”
She turned herself fully in her seat to frown at him.
He held up one hand. “Let me explain. You haven’t been here for most of it, but Sebastian has been in a dark place. And when I say dark, I mean there were times I feared he wouldn’t make it.”
Effie sat back to lean against the window, suddenly somber.
“I can hardly imagine he’d… The Sebastian I’ve met is quiet and reserved, sparing with his smiles, yes, but he teases me and he laughs, sometimes at the smallest things.” She couldn’t help grinning in memory. “I’ve been messing around a bit just to make him laugh, if I can.”