If he had the ability to ejaculate, her frustrated mewl would have caused an eruption. As would her tits swinging back and forth above his chains, her eyelids drooped so low, he could barely see the blue of her irises. Tucker stared in wonder at the naked goddess raking her hips back and forth on his lap, strands of red hair stuck to her lustrous body, still damp and rosy from the bath. Her pussy pressed hotly to his shaft, hips rolling, dragging her slick flesh up and down the pulsing length. She was destroying him with every glide and yet, his hand gripped her backside and urged her to ride faster, harder, aiding his own destruction.
“You’re so thick for me,” she whimpered against his mouth.
His fangs were out before he could stop them, aching in his gums.
Begging for him to tap her vein. Claim her fully as his own.
Forever.
Oh God, I’m going to drink from her.
How was he supposed to stop himself? No man alive could withstand this sweet torture. No immortal, either. Pleasure swelled deep in his stomach, demanding release, and now he was in two kinds of agony. Sex. Thirst. He’d never been more of a vampire in his life.
Roll her over and fuck her.
Drink deeply.
She’s yours. Believe it or not, she’s yours.
Tucker moved so fast to get on top of her, he barely tempered his strength in time to keep from hurting her. He made a hoarse sound from above and demanded to know if she was injured, but Mary only looked up at him with wild excitement, her hair settling around her on the pillow, her radiance lighting up the room with more power than the moon.
“You want to play? You want to be bad and stay innocent? Here. Take it.”
He bucked his hips, sliding his cock through the wet folds of her pussy and a bellow left him, long and raw. The sound of her pulse was like cannon fire against his eardrums, his loins full and heavy and in need of relief. The kind he could only get if he drank from his mate.
“Tucker,” Mary moaned, her fingernails burying in his back, her head thrashing side to side on the pillow. “Again.”
“Yes, again. Anything you want. It’s yours.” His need to give her pleasure overrode every animalistic desire inside of Tucker and he bore down, grinding his shaft lightly on her clit—and harder, harder when she started to scream. The bed shook with the intensity of her orgasm and he watched in reverence, feeling something shift irrevocably inside of him. Not only a vampire bonding with his mate. But a man falling deeply, darkly and hopelessly in love. “Mary,” he managed unsteadily. “I just need you so bad.”
Still shaking, she reached up and guided his mouth down to her neck. “Drink,” she whispered, nodding encouragingly, even as the climax gripped her—
A door slammed at the front of the house.
Tucker broke land speed records launching himself off the bed and getting in between the danger and his mate, his roar shattering picture frames, vases and water glasses throughout the house, objects lifting and remaining suspended in the air.
“Who is there?” he seethed, yanking up his pants and zipping away his erection in preparation of killing the interrupter.
A familiar figure appeared in the doorway of the bedroom, his demeanor calm and collected as usual. Unless, of course, his own mate was being threatened. Maybe that’s why Jonas sounded so understanding when he asked, “Bad time to talk?”
Chapter 11
Tucker’s face burned.
Jesus, am I blushing?
In the midst of reacting like a teenager who’d been caught making out, Tucker’s main concern was Mary and he turned now, grateful to find her shielded by a sheet. Still, he draped the comforter around her shoulders, his hackles remaining up until every inch of her skin was covered. Jonas might be devoted to his own mate, but no one looked at Mary but Tucker.
Wow. Did he hear himself?
In case he’d forgotten, she was marrying someone else.
And being taken far, far out of his reach.
Pain started to throb behind Tucker’s eye and he dug in a thumb there, twisting it. “How did you get here so fast?” he growled at the king.
A wrinkle appeared between Jonas’s brows. “We spoke hours ago and I had the advantage of flying.” He tilted his head. “Aren’t you going to introduce me?”
“No.”
“It’s like that, is it?” Humor sparkled in the king’s eyes. “Very well. We have a lot to discuss and it couldn’t wait. I’ll be in the backyard.”
Jonas zipped out of sight and Tucker moved to the window, pulled the curtains so Mary wouldn’t be visible from outside, either. Protectiveness teemed inside of him, growing more potent by the second, and apparently nothing could stop the upwelling. Even if he refrained from drinking Mary’s blood or claiming her physically, his mating urges were getting harder to deny.
A few moments more and he would have claimed her.
Drunk his fill of her blood.
“It wasn’t a bomb going off back in the diner, was it?” Mary whispered from the center of the bed. “It just happened again. All the glass breaking and…and the air gathering together like wool. It was you. Why did you lie to me?”
“It’s not unusual for vampires to have certain abilities,” he said, staying as close to the truth as possible. Lying to Mary made him feel ill and he was tiring of having to do it. “Sometimes they develop as a vampire grows older.” Or finds his mate and cultivates weapons to protect her. “It can be unexpected.”
She was still frowning in his general direction.
“I have to go speak with Jonas,” he said, throat tight over his mate’s displeasure. “Are you…all right? Do you need anything before I go?”
She wet her lips and Tucker’s cock throbbed in response. “No.”
Reluctantly, he turned to leave.
“Tucker.” He looked back over his shoulder, finding her conflicted, her palm smoothing over the rumpled sheets. “I’m sorry for making you hurt.” She shook her head as if trying to clear it. “I just…”
“Yes?”
A beat passed. “Never mind.”
Wishing he had the freedom to crawl into bed with Mary and hold her, kiss every inch of her skin, tell her she was the most beautiful creature alive, he dragged his sorry ass down the hallway instead and went to go meet the king.
* * *
Mary fell back into the pillows and replayed the last…hour? Two? It came back to her in the form of sound and sensation. How much time had they spent naked in this bed, lost in one another? For some unknown length of time, they’d been lacking in all shame. Under each other’s power. Tomorrow hadn’t existed. Only now. Only pleasure. Only them.
But she’d had a passenger on board, too.
The instinct. That’s what she’d started calling it. The instinct that loved his protectiveness. Loved his care and thrilled to his touch.
It pulsated and burned and ordered her to tempt.
To break Tucker’s self-control.
She simultaneously resented the instinct—after all, it forced her to sexually frustrate her favorite vampire—and she also loved it. Wanted to drown in its endless depths. Because it gave her permission to take exactly what she needed…and that was Tucker. Her body screamed for him even now, as replete as he’d left her. The desire wouldn’t lessen. It refused.
And it wasn’t only the needs of her flesh that made her gravitate toward Tucker.
It was more. A lot more.
She loved being in his company. Felt understood and safe there. Optimistic and comfortable and appreciated. He was principled, compassionate and funny. He hadn’t judged her bucket list. On the two occasions where she’d been powerless to hold back her scream, he’d calmed her afterward. While they were in bed, she’d even managed to stave off the scream with his helpful distractions. She’d never done that before. Not once in her life.
Tucker made her…happy.
What could she do about this?
Nothing.
Certainly not…pursue a permanent re
lationship.
Not without betraying her mother. Not without forsaking the alliance and the fae. Losing the chance to see her father again by calling back the Assembly. To stand in front of their leadership whole. A daughter and woman who could see. Guide and protect herself. Someone who would be a valuable asset in the fae realm.
The list of things she would be giving up by staying with Tucker was longer than her arm—and she wasn’t even his mate. What happened when he met this faceless individual? Mary would be abandoned and alone. She’d have lost everything for temporary happiness.
Mary rolled over in bed, using her nose to search for Tucker’s cigar and mint scent.
Inhaling it greedily.
She really needed to get a hold of herself. They almost had sex. She’d encouraged him to drink her blood and while they might not be mated, she couldn’t imagine that wouldn’t bond them even more than they already were.
Maybe her hunger for Tucker was a product of being sheltered?
Yes. Relieved by her own reasoning, Mary reached for that possibility like a lifeline.
What if she’d been denied basic life experiences, including love, for so long…that her first attraction was coming on stronger than it normally would?
Her soul rebelled against that theory, but it was possible just the same.
Wasn’t it?
Restless and confused, Mary drifted into a fitful sleep where Tucker’s voice called to her from a great distance, but she held no stick, had no idea what obstacles lay in front of her. Couldn’t feel her way forward.
And with her very first step, she tumbled into an endless pit without a bottom.
* * *
Tucker paced on the backyard grass, his gaze glued to the bedroom window.
How close he’d come to making the ultimate mistake.
Sealing their bond by drinking her blood, dooming her to a life of servicing his hunger. Or sentencing himself to an agonizing death without her. And this…this was what it meant to have a mate. Because he could only think of the guilt his death would cause for Mary.
Not his own loss of life.
Her happiness and well-being was—and would always be—what mattered most.
That meant delivering her safe to Hadrian, who had the ability to make her see.
Tucker could never mess with that. He had nothing even close to offer.
“This is the longest I’ve ever witnessed you go without laughing.” Jonas said, looking up from his phone with a squinted eye. “Your circumstances must be dire.”
“I thought vampires weren’t supposed to get headaches,” Tucker complained, grinding his fist into his eye socket. “I want to file a complaint with management.”
“Sorry, we’re a little busy at the moment.”
“Figures.” He tore his attention away from the window. She was safe and sound in bed. No tile to slip on this time. “What did you come here to talk about?”
“What didn’t I come here to talk about? That’s the better question.”
The weariness in Jonas’s tone made Tucker really study his friend for the first time since he’d arrived. Concern lined the king’s forehead, tension bracketed his mouth. “Let’s start with the easy stuff.” Jonas leaned a shoulder against the fence, his stare taking on a far-off quality. “Just kidding, it’s all hard.”
“That’s what she said.” Tucker threw up his hands when the king leveled him with a stare. “I’m supposed to just ignore an opportunity like that?”
Jonas nodded at the house. “What did I interrupt in there?”
Tucker snorted, raked a hand through his hair. “Use your imagination.”
“No, thanks.” The king blinked once and drawled, “Are you out of your fucking mind?”
That was the last thing Tucker expected the usually crisp and calm king to ask him. But as soon as the words were spoken, he started to wonder the same thing. He was driving this girl to her wedding. She was marrying their enemy. And he’d been caught rolling around with her half naked like two teenagers drunk at a frat party. What the hell had happened to his judgment? “It’s complicated. You of all people should understand.”
“Yes, believe me, I know complicated well. Ginny is back at the hold.” Jonas’s eyes flickered with blatant possessiveness. “Based on the way you’re avoiding looking at me, I’m guessing I don’t have to explain why getting involved with Mary is a terrible idea. Her intended groom is already hell-bent on taking my throne. Now imagine Hadrian finds out my right-hand man has been intimate with his bride? He could very well decide to try and decimate us, instead of a mere battle for supremacy. Hadrian isn’t known for his even temper.”
That meant Hadrian had a bad temper?
And Tucker was going to leave his sweet Mary in the vampire’s company?
Fire ants crawled up the back of his neck and into his hair, swarmed in the palms of his hands until his whole body felt engulfed in flames. To his right, one of the fence posts freed itself from the earth, rising, rising, unsnapping from its neighbors and hurtling somewhere into the darkness. Tucker watched it go, then pitched forward, gripping his knees and trying to rein in the dark rage spearing him in the middle.
“Jesus,” Jonas whispered, coming off the fence. “She’s your mate.”
Tucker could only stare down at the ground, visions of the girl exchanging themselves in his mind. One for the other. “Yes.”
The king didn’t speak for long moments and Tucker could almost hear the cogs turning in his friend’s mind, running through the implications. “Am I too late, then? Have you already drunk her blood?”
Tucker shook his head vigorously. “No. I haven’t. But God, I want to.”
“Thank God you haven’t. This is one of the reasons I came here myself.” Jonas took a step in his direction, expression cautious. “Tucker, you need to know that fae blood can have ill effects on a vampire. Hallucinations, hunger that can’t be quenched. Madness. You cannot allow yourself to give in to the temptation.”
No. Impossible.
He couldn’t imagine her being responsible for anything negative. He simply couldn’t fathom such a thing and refused to believe it. Her blood would be salvation, not madness.
“And here I thought you’d traveled all this way to convince me not to turn Mary over to Hadrian. To stop the alliance from forming.”
“They’re going to find a way to form the alliance one way or another. Their end games are too important to them to let the opportunity pass.” Jonas laughed without humor. “And I’ve already learned my lessons with Elias and Roksana. When a mate’s happiness or well-being is on the line, a vampire will forsake everything else. Loyalty included.”
At the mention of his friends, Tucker studied the king’s expression. “That sounded ominous. Have you heard from them since they flew to Moscow?”
“Yes.” Jonas tucked his tongue into the corner of his cheek, concern and bemusement at war on his face. “They gave the game piece to the Queen of Shadows.” Roksana’s mother. “Or at least, they pretended to hand it over. Roksana discovered the contents of the envelope prior to the meeting. It was a list of names. Identities and addresses for all the slayers in North America. She decided to hold on to it, rather than hand it over.”
“Why would Inessa need to know names and locations of the North American slayers? She’s head of the Russian guild.”
“Inessa is an opportunist. With a potential war approaching, she saw a better opportunity that meant selling out the slayers. They might be her own kind, but her loyalty runs to power, not faithfulness.”
“But she never got the list.”
“No.” Jonas inclined his head. “We have it now.”
“Oh shit.” Tucker fell back a step. The king and his followers were proponents of peace, but that didn’t mean their existences weren’t constantly under attack from slayers. They were the undead and thus, they were offensive and needed to be eradicated. Knowing who the slayers were and where they lived…that was powerful information. I
t could protect the newer vampires who hadn’t yet learned to defend themselves from the pointy end of a stake. That was…if Jonas decided to go on the offensive, which wasn’t his style. He was more the diplomatic type. So they had the list, but would it even be useful? “What are you going to do with it?”
“I’m getting to that.”
“Oh. Cagey.”
Jonas quirked a brow and let it drop, his demeanor turning serious. “During the meeting with Inessa, Roksana finally saw her mother’s true nature. Elias had to step in to protect Roksana.” The king met Tucker’s eyes. “It got messy.”
Alarm gripped Tucker. “What do you mean, it got messy? Are they all right?”
“In a manner of speaking. Elias was forced to Silence Roksana.” Jonas paused, his expression one of lingering disbelief. “She’s one of us now.”
“Are you serious?” Tucker sputtered. “Roksana, the slayer who threatened to kill us all every day for years is now a vampire?”
“Yes. And happily married to her sworn enemy, of course. They’re honeymooning in Iceland.”
“Iceland? That broody shit suits them perfectly. Holy shit. Roks is a vamp? Literally nothing makes sense anymore.” Tucker slapped a hand to his forehead. “Hold on, we didn’t even get to throw Elias a bachelor party? What a rip-off.”
“Considering his mate is freshly Silenced and volatile, that’s probably for the best.”
“Come on. I would have made it tasteful. Who doesn’t like Jello wrestling?”
“I rest my case.” Jonas’s mouth twitched, but he was obviously trying to stay in serious business mode. Although Tucker could never have predicted what the king was about to tell him. “As I said, we are now in possession of the slayer list. I thought long and hard about what to do with the information and it comes down to this. The slayers might be our long-standing enemy, but right now, we have a more powerful common enemy.” The king’s eyes ticked to his. “As of now, we’re aligning with the slayers. It might be our only chance to defeat the dark uprising.”
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