Immersion: Bloodlust Series Book 2

by L. L. Ash

  “You can imagine my surprise when I got a phone call yesterday telling me my mate is fucking my brother.”

  “Calix,” Papa scolded in exasperation.

  “I know you don’t like the phrasing, Bampás, but it is what it is. We’re all adults here. Mostly.”

  His gaze turned sharply to Ariston who stiffened at the insult.

  Calix moved his gaze slowly from his brother to me, settling cold eyes on me.

  “And drinking? With a baby inside you, you go get drunk off your ass and act crudely in public?”

  I swallowed.

  I hadn’t been thinking of that at all.

  “I wasn’t thinking...”

  “No, you weren’t,” he growled, interrupting me. “It’s a Goddamned good thing it’s incredibly hard to miscarry a royal’s baby. Though if someone could figure it out, it would be you.”

  Calix turned away again and grabbed his jacket off the chair he had been sitting in and started pulling it on.

  “We’re leaving, Lily,” he said without looking at me and I choked.

  My throat closed up and terror kept me from breathing.

  “Ari...” I managed to squeak and I saw him puff out his chest.

  “Bampás, you can’t seriously be thinking of letting him have her back? After what he did to her?”

  “Son,” Papa said with a weary voice, “Calix is her mate. He has every right to want to take her home. I had told him I would protect her and keep her unblemished and I have failed him.”

  “Unblemished?” Ariston scoffed. “Are you serious? At least she consented with me. I didn’t have to force myself on her. You’re sending her back to be abused! You know that!”

  “Forced?” Calix raised an eyebrow. “Brother, I know you are young and naïve, but I expect you to be smarter than that.”

  “What else do you call it?” he demanded.

  Calix actually laughed, like he was enjoying this. He approached Ariston, standing toe to toe.

  “Brother, you know you’re not forcing a woman when she’s crying out, begging for you. Actually, you would know her little sounds now. Did she beg you, brother? Did she beg you for your cock? Did she come on your tongue?”

  “Calix, that is enough,” Papa finally said. “Take her and be done with this. There is no need to humiliate either of them.”

  “That’s what I was doing when my brother challenged me,” Calix told Papa with a frown.

  “Bampás, I ask you to please release Lily from Calix. You’ve seen him. Will you really send her to continue being abused by him after everything she’s been through?”

  “Son...” Papa groaned, shoving his hand through his black hair.

  “Ariston,” Calix called to his brother with a dead serious voice. “There is only one way to release a mate.”

  Ariston’s eyes lit up.

  “But it’s not begging Bampás to intervene on your behalf.”

  “I wouldn’t need him to if I had my bloody ceremony.”

  “You’re too immature. You aren’t ready for the responsibility.”

  “Fuck you. I’m ready.”

  “Oh really?” he asked sarcastically, motioning to me. “First thing that indicates to me that you’re not ready? You’re letting a woman come between you and your family. A woman who is not even yours. You’re just a petulant boy, throwing a tantrum that your favorite new toy is being taken away before you had a chance to play a little more.”

  “Bampás!” Ariston called.

  “Calix,” Papa almost whined.

  “Good God. This is quite the mess you’ve created Lily.” He turned to me, a smirk on his face. “All this over little ol’ you! I’m impressed.”

  My only response would have been to tell him to suck it.

  So I didn’t say anything.

  “Bampás, I will take responsibility for her. And when I can have the ceremony I will become her mate. Calix doesn’t deserve her. We can all agree on that.”

  Calix shrugged like even he agreed.

  “Do you want to know how you can do that, brother?” Calix asked finally.

  “Please enlighten me oh mighty one.”

  Calix smirked.

  “It’s a fight, to the death.”

  Ariston’s expression faded, the fight draining out of him.

  “A woman can’t have more than one mate. You have to kill her old one to take her as yours. Are you prepared for that?”

  For the first time, Calix’s face filled with compassion.

  “You love her. Don’t you, little brother?”

  I watched Ariston bite his lip before he pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers for a minute.

  Calix sighed as if in defeat.

  “I’m sorry Ris. There’s nothing I can do other than die.”

  Ariston cleared his throat and wiped over an eye harshly before turning to me.

  “I’m sorry Lil...”

  With that he walked away quickly, leaving me with Calix and Papa.

  “The boy is still volatile. He’s still learning his place amongst us. Of course he fell in love with her. It might as well have been me and your mother.”

  Calix collapsed back into his chair.

  “What do you want me to do, Bampás?”

  “There is nothing to be done. She is mated, and that is that. But I ask you to take her away. Her presence will only torture him further.”

  “Papa...” I dropped to my knees. “Please Papa, don’t—”

  He stopped me with a hand on my head.

  “My darling girl… You made your choice and now must live with the consequences. Calix and I have talked. He will treat you fairly but that is all I can guarantee. You have betrayed him and that is a matter for the two of you to work out.”

  “What do you mean betray? Calix said he wasn’t going to be faithful, then why should I?”

  “Because you are the human, and he is the prince. You certainly haven’t shown him reason to respect you like I have been asking him to. Now it is out of my hands. I hope you find a good place between you. Else it will be a miserable eternity for the both of you.”

  “I will do as I promised, Bampás,” Calix told Papa who nodded before leaving the room.

  “Come, Lily,” Calix said in an emotionless voice.

  “No. I won’t go.”

  Calix sighed.

  “What did I say before you left, Lily. What was I very specific about?”

  “Please enlighten me,” I said sarcastically.

  He took a step forward, then another and another until he was directly in front of me, leaning in and speaking in a low voice directly into my ear.

  “I told you,” he growled, “That you are mine and only mine. That this—” his hand cupped my mound between my legs and squeezed. My eyes closed at the wicked pleasure of it. “—this is mine and only mine. Now you’ve made a fool of you, me, and you’ve confused the shit out of my little brother. As if he wasn’t confused enough already.”

  Calix removed his hand and a whimper escaped my mouth before I could catch it.

  “I see you’ve missed me.” He sighed, the same lust reflecting back at me that I felt beating through my veins for him.

  What the hell kind of weird—

  “You should know,” he said in a low voice. “That no matter who you sleep with, it will never satisfy you. When we mated we formed a bond. You will always crave me and I will you, whether we like it or not.”

  “This is so fucked up...” I groaned angrily.

  “You’re telling me.” He ran a hand through his hair, identically to his father. “Kind of makes me regret not looking at backgrounds before bedding those girls. You’re such a fucking handful.”

  “Yeah, that’s on you.” I frowned.

  “But that doesn’t mean you have to make my life hell, Antheia Mou.”

  “Yes I do. I will make you pay for it for as long as I live.”

  Calix looked at me and then he smiled.

  “I like it when you m
ake promises,” he said in little more than a whisper before turning and leaving the room.

  “Come Lily,” he called exasperatedly from the hall and I looked up, saying a little prayer before following.

  “You know,” I hedged as I caught up to his long strides. “You’re sadistic.”

  He laughed.

  “A little bit of a masochist too, to be taking you home with me again.” He looked at me, smiling.

  Holy hell his smile was even prettier than Ariston’s.

  “But I suspect you are, too. Both words would fit you, depending on whether you’re playing the victim or the goddess.”

  “And which do you prefer?” I asked, then wanted to slap myself.

  He smirked.

  “You can figure that out for yourself, Mistress.”

  I growled in irritation and folded my arms as we walked.

  “Don’t you worry, I won’t touch you,” he told me as we got into the car, his man Petrick in the front seat, driving through the UV protected windows. “You still reek of him. I don’t prefer any man’s sloppy leftovers.”

  His remark pinged right in my chest and it stung. A lot.

  “At least I’ll have some good memories to think of when you’re demanding another baby.”

  He let out a sharp laugh.

  “Sure. Ok. You just keep telling yourself that, sweetie.”

  I caught Petrick smirking through the rearview mirror.

  Pouting, I folded my arms across my chest and sat there, silent the entire trip to the airport.

  Once we were settled in the plane, me in my windowless window seat and Calix standing, talking to the pilot, I let myself relax. I was entering the world of hell again and there was nothing I could do about it. And even more disturbing is I was kind of excited to go back. LA was home, but that ache in my chest that had been relentless all these weeks was finally gone, the tug in my stomach disappeared, and all of that because Calix was near.

  “Tell me something,” Calix asked as he stopped by my seat as we were about to take off. “Did you fall in love with him, too?”

  I just sat and glared at him.

  He smiled.

  “Good girl. I couldn’t imagine you would, but I needed to ask.”

  “You couldn’t see me falling in love with him?” I demanded. “He’s sweet and he’s considerate and he’s thoughtful. He—”

  “Those things, Antheia Mou,” he interrupted me, tapping the tip of my nose, “are exactly the reasons why you wouldn't. You don’t want a good boy, or a nice boy. You need a man who will fight your demons and one who will make you forget them. For all of Ariston’s many wanderings, he is too young to understand a creature like you.”

  “Oh, and you do?” I scoffed.

  “I’m a little rusty, but I’m remembering.”

  Remembering? What the...?

  Leaving me confused, Calix managed to (with perfect aim) grab a peaked nipple and twist.

  He smiled as I hit his hand away and meandered to his seat as the captain said we’re cleared for takeoff.

  The son of a bitch… I sat there, nipple aching and moisture gathering undesired between my legs as I stewed. The pulse he left with that twist swept straight through me to my core with every heartbeat. I caught Calix, who had chosen a spot across the plane but still in perfect eyeline of me, smile. As if he knew what he did to me. What he was still doing to me.

  I stared back at him with the most sour face I could conjure while I was about three seconds from coming all over my shorts. But as I stared, I got a little lost in his smile. It wasn’t a smile of happiness or joy like most people. His smile was mischievous, arrogant. Irritatingly handsome. Perfect masculine lips on a perfect, masculine face. Full lips but not girly. Strong, high cheeks and powerful jaw bone, prominent without being bulky, all on an oval face. Long straight nose, low brows making his eyes just smolder. Beautiful, perfect pink lips…

  Those lips were moving, Oh God… His tongue peeked out just a little before retreating, lips pressing together and inward...Mmmm…

  My eyes closed, a gentle pulsing starting in the pit of my stomach. The orgasm radiated through my entire body, waves of sensation, warmth and comforting pleasure.

  When the cloud of bliss dissipated, my eyes opened and I realized I was still on the airplane, still with Calix.

  Calix!

  My eyes shot over to him and he was grinning at me like the cat who got the cream.

  I growled and lipped the words ‘fuck you’. He just chuckled, settling his head back against the seat, satisfied.

  I turned away, not wanting him to see how he affected me. I hated him in every single cell, every molecule in my body. Yet, he had control of it.

  Unable to endure another second of feeling his self-satisfied expression, I flipped around, moving to the seat across from me, which put my back to him. And for another measure of preservation, I closed my eyes, leaning my head against the wall, noticing that this jet was different than the first.

  So he had his own jet. Of course he did. He owned the whole of America.

  He owned me, too.

  “Lily,” I heard that voice in my dreams.

  That voice never left me. It was ingrained in me.

  I dragged my eyes open, looking to see Calix leaning above me.

  “We’re home. Let’s go.”

  I managed to stand on my shaky legs, helped by his hand tight around my arm as I followed. The door to the cabin opened and we sent down the steps, right into a limo waiting for us. I breathed in the familiar, smoggy air for just a second before the door was shut and we were off again. This time it was night and Calix was safe, in his element.

  “You know, you never thanked me for saving your life,” he told me, sitting across from me in the limo, Petrick at his side.

  “Thank you for saving my life and kidnapping me, mate,” I bit out.

  “You’re most welcome, mate.”

  He bit out the word mate the same way, as if it were distasteful.

  I huffed, folding my arms across my chest and remained silent as Petrick talked.

  “I’ve notified the Safe Harbor Club of your arrival on Friday. They’ll expect you and have security on alert.”

  “Good.” Calix nodded. “I could use a night out after all this.”

  Petrick huffed in agreement.

  “And is Gent going to be there? You’ve confirmed?”

  “Yes. He will be there.”

  “Good,” Calix said again. “I’ll bring one of the girls as a bribe. The bastard can’t say no to fresh blood.”

  He looked at me.

  “Maybe that Jamie...or is it Janie? A strange name.”

  My eyes shot to him but he was already watching me. As if waiting to see what I’d do. I remained silent.

  “No quick retort, Lily?” he asked patronizingly.

  “No,” I agreed, fisting my hands so hard they ached.

  Disagreeing with him would only guarantee Janie’s place as bait.

  “Hmm...” he hummed, his eyes narrowing on me as he dissected me with his eyes.

  The rest of the ride was uneventful, but when we arrived, everything went into upheaval again. Servants in white scrambled around as we entered through the huge door leading into the underground castle. Calix strode in with purpose, every eye watching him, scared but in awe at the same time. I was one of them.

  “Lily,” Calix said finally, pausing before leaving the room. “Go to the room and get his scent off you.”

  “I already showered. How else am I supposed to—”

  He turned toward me, hands clasped behind his back and eyes narrowed in anger.

  “I don’t care. Do it.”

  Deciding to pick my battles and not complain about some alone time, I went. I remembered generally where the bedroom was and found my way quickly through the maze. Inside was a trunk of clothes that would fit me, thank God, and in the bathroom I found a fluffy white towel to use. Dropping my clothes on the bathroom floors, I climbed int
o the shower and turned the water on hot. It felt devine after the heavy air conditioner of the flight and car ride, so I stayed under the water until it turned tepid. It took a long while.

  Getting out, I wrapped up my hair, secured a towel under my arms, then went out to the trunk to get something to wear. To my surprise, Calix was sitting on the settee lounge waiting for me.

  He looked up at me with a smirk but it melted almost instantly.

  “Are you ok?” he asked, standing and touching the skin on my shoulder and chest. “You’re red.”

  I looked down, trying to ignore the tingle his fingers sent through me.

  “The water was just hot.”

  “I sent you to clean, Antheia Mou. I didn’t mean for you to hurt yourself.”

  “I’m fine,” I insisted, pushing at his hands as he tried to pull away the towel to see the red skin under the cuff.

  He lifted his hands in capitulation before sitting again.

  “I’ve had a long time to think about it, Lily,” he said finally. “I realize I didn’t go about things with us… in the best way.”

  I held back my scoff.

  “And as I see it, we have two options.”

  I lifted a brow, interested.

  “First, we can live off of a system of obedience and reward...”

  “Obedience and reward?”

  That sounded horrible!

  “For instance. You get to earn your clothes by obeying when I tell you to do something.”

  My mouth popped open to object but he put his hand up again to stop me.

  “Or there’s option two. We could attempt this the human way. But that would require a lot of trust in me on your part. You would still have to obey, but I realize it would appeal to your human sensibilities to treat this as a relationship instead of a partnership.”

  “What do you mean ‘the human way’?”

  “I mean...” He sighed. “Dates.”

  What?

  “It wouldn’t be my first option, and I want to make it very clear that I want nothing more than what we have now. A baby and obedience. I don’t want love, I don’t want to be friends.”

  “How could we have a relationship without those two?”

  He shrugged.

  “You’re the expert in humanity, Lily.”

  “So we go on dates? But you won’t treat me as your equal?”