“Dreya, always lovely to see you,” Renard greeted with a smile and a nod to me, the surrounding light above him a mix of yellow and blue. He stood and pulled Arthur into a hug that my father did not enjoy before letting him go. “Never thought we’d see you again, you old bastard!” We sat down before Arthur could behead Renard, and Olivier served us some orange juice in big tumblers.
“I never thought I’d be plotting a coup again with my ex-boyfriend, Arthur,” Olivier said into her glass.
“Again?” Renard snorted, coughing on his drink. His mate simply shrugged and went on sipping her juice. Arthur had briefed her on the situation a few days before, tonight was simply discussing our next move.
“I’m betting Lisbeth is unwilling to leave any of us behind?” Olivier guessed, drumming her fingers on the wooden table. Arthur nodded and she rolled her eyes. “Bleeding heart, that one. She might be terrifying in her fits of rage, but she’s soft as a kitten otherwise. No offense, Dreya.” I shrugged because she wasn’t wrong, even if I didn’t agree with her thoughts on leaving everyone else behind. I saw the merit in it, since our, or rather my life was on the line right now. If our small group left, we could get reinforcements and take Salvation over as soon as we were ready. Mother was unmoving on the matter, and she insisted she’d rather stay a prisoner than make everyone else one in her stead.
“I still have to stay in the shadows, and it limits my scope,” Arthur grumped. “I need you two to start questioning the guards, see who’s on our side and who’s not. Hendrix has several of us loyal to him. I suspect he’s even created a few dhampirs, though I’ve never seen them.”
Olivier squeezed at her glass so hard it cracked on the side and Renard took it from her before she could break it. “He’s made fucking dhampirs?” She said the word like it was an unholy swear word, so bad even the pope wouldn’t utter it. It was followed by a tirade in French and the few words I knew brought a quick blush to my cheeks. “None of us would give him one willingly, Arthur. We’re not even allowed to make our own children. If a vampire gets pregnant, we’re not allowed extra blood and the baby dies.” Renard gently took her brown hand and squeezed it, making her colors shift slightly pink.
They couldn’t have their own children since Renard was a turned vampire. I’d often wondered how they coped without the option, but not everyone wanted babies. I kind of did, I suppose. I was far too young for it, but I could picture it. Little blonde-haired babies with crystal blue eyes. Or maybe they’d inherit the black curls and purple eyes that skipped me over.
Unbidden, the image of a baby with Thomas’s green eyes came to me, and I grabbed my tumbler of juice to take big gulps in an attempt to wash the image away.
“The problem isn’t just who’s under Hendrix’s control. He has human soldiers too, and they have guns that can hurt us,” Renard pointed out before taking another sip of juice. He ran a hand across his bald head and down to his red barbell mustache that he stroked in thought. “Bullets aside, we’re stronger, even if they out number us.”
Arthur’s orange juice lay untouched, but he stared at it like it was a crystal ball that might tell him the outcome of this battle. “We should strike at night, when they’re most vulnerable. They’ll be tired, weakened, and they can’t see in the dark like we can.”
A crash came from outside making us all jump. Arthur knocked over his glass and Olivier dropped hers on the floor where it shattered.
“Get Dreya home, now,” Olivier hissed in warning, and Renard led us to the back door while she picked up the pieces of glass. We scurried out the back door and Renard closed it behind us, leaving us in the dark alleyway. Were there rats here? I couldn’t see any in the corners of the alley, but it smelled rank, like something had died in here. Arthur’s colors rippled with gray and green, and I felt his concern when he took my hand and led me down the dark alley. We reached the end, Arthur checking both sides before we walked into the empty street.
“We should talk to Darius, I’m sure he knows who’s loyal to Hendrix or not,” I whispered in a very low tone so any humans couldn’t overhear us. Arthur was leading us away from the clock tower, probably just being overly cautious, but it made my stomach feel like it had a thousand knots, and my spine tingled with hot dread like something bad was going to happen.
Maybe I should’ve gone with Kitty. I wasn’t cut out for espionage, and every move I made was putting my life in danger.
“I’m not trusting that boy with anything,” Arthur said firmly, as he had been for the past week. I pouted at his aura, watching it turn red.
“He might surprise you, you know.”
“Doubtful,” Arthur scoffed, and I really wanted to kick his shin bones to make his aura even more red. He continued leading us down dark paths and between buildings.
“If you’d listen to me, I don’t think we even need to use force,” I mentioned, as I had several times. “Darius could help us. He might even be on our side if we tell him all that his father has done.”
“SSSH,” Arthur shushed sharply, as I’d gotten too loud. “We’re going to see Thomas, and I don’t want to hear more about your boyfriend.”
I was about to kick at his shin bones after all when a flood light switched on, turning the dark night into a brightness I had to shield my eyes from.
“Arthur Lancaster, you are under arrest for violating Salvation city limits,” a loud voice came over the announcement intercom. The speaker squeaked several times, making my ears hurt.
We were surrounded by soldiers, and something about them made me pause. Humans? No. Not humans. My senses were overwhelmed from the lights, but my nose was fine. Their smell was off, and I remembered what that meant.
“Dhampirs,” Arthur ground out beside me. Hendrix had an army of dhampirs. Stronger than humans, and loyal to the governor. We were fucking screwed.
“Hands up,” the intercom shouted. We complied, and two dhampirs came up to cuff Arthur. It wouldn’t have been enough to hold him down under normal circumstances, but he complied for my sake.
A figure came from the dhampir ranks and I struggled to focus enough in the light to see who it was.
“My son told me you were here.”
Hendrix.
I’d trusted Darius, and he betrayed me. All that hard work winning him over, making him love me, it was all wasted.
“Darius assumed that his innocent little Dreya had no idea what her father was doing, but I did. Visiting Olivier, gathering support. Tut tut, Arthur. Didn’t anyone tell you to not plan an uprising when your family is on the line?” Hendrix turned to me and he looked me over with none of the kindness I’d seen from him before. “My son was a fool to trust you. You and your traitorous family. I should’ve killed your mother when I had the chance.” He sniffed the air like he could smell something beyond the steel, dirt, and fear. “Take Arthur to prison with the others. And you.” He crossed the distance between us and roughly took my arm. “You’re coming with me.”
27. Prison break
Kitty
With only three motorcycles, we had to pick partners. Marie, of course, wanted to ride with her snuggle puss. Jason was still following Yukina around like a lovesick puppy, despite his denials of the fact, so they were together as well. Dom and I were on the third, and I was happy to be back on a bike and speeding down the highway instead of walking. Having Dom’s arms around me was nice too.
I was still waiting on that kiss I’d told him I wanted. I was unwilling to do so with my brother and grandmother in the mix, because unless we were miles away, they’d hear us. Jason’s sarcastic high fives to our parents every time we caught them making out came to mind, and I wasn’t about to be embarrassed by him. Then again, if he ever tried to tease me about Dom, I could always tell Yukina he had the hots for her already, after just meeting her.
Had Jason even kissed a girl before??
The thought ran through my head as we sped down the road towards Salvation. Maybe it was good they’d found Yukina. Jason dese
rved another creature like him, one that wasn’t our sibling. My heart hurt that he’d been as alone as I had over the many years since the sharks came.
One thing I knew, neither of us would ever be alone again, and we’d make it back to Salvation to save our family. We had to.
The journey was painstakingly slow. I felt like a snail trying to crawl around the world before dinner. Though we had speed on our side, it still took several days to get there as our cycles weren’t as good as my old one and didn’t hold a charge for longer than four hours.
I. Was. Going. Insane.
“Calm down, kitty cat,” Dom soothed unhelpfully beside me. We’d set up camp for another slow, grinding night, and the others were away gathering supplies at the nearby town.
“We’re moving like a turtle, Dom. We need to be there now, god damn it.” I paced the leaf covered ground, my boots rustling them with every step. Dom came up to me and held my arms in a vice to keep me in place. With him so close, I felt the tension inside me coil up like a viper, and wet tears of frustration trickled down my cheeks. “What if we’re too late?”
He leaned in and kissed my forehead. “Then we’ll raze that city to the ground, kitty cat. I won’t let them hurt your family without punishment.” He smiled down at me and my heart pounded in my chest.
“When are they coming back?” I asked absently, focused on his pink lips.
Dom took in a breath when he caught the change in my scent, and his pupils dilated, making my pulse race under his gaze. “No idea.”
“Cool.”
I stood up on tiptoes and pulled him in for a kiss that made every nerve in my body come alive. Everything was right with him by my side. Our kiss deepened, prompting me to work us backward to my tent where we zipped up the door, finally alone again.
Kneeling down to the tent floor, Dom broke from my lips to remove his shirt, and he sat back on his heels so I could see his naked front. I marveled at the shape of his muscles, the hard bumps along his taut skin, and I timidly ran a hand along his chest, down the planes of his abs. I looked up at him through the curtain of my lashes, and he kissed me when my fingers touched the top of his jeans.
Desperate to see all of him, my clumsy fingers undid the button and zipper of his pants before pulling them off his hips with a decided yank. His hand came to clutch my neck, steadying me with his mouth as his other hand pulled his jeans off and he tossed them away.
My hands were free to cup the front of his boxers, right where his erection lay waiting for me. Before he could stop me, I reached inside his underwear and gripped his hardness in my hand, admiring at the shape with my fingers as I pulled it out of its confines, and I looked down to see what it looked like.
Oh.
“Let me just say, since you don’t know, I’m very well equipped,” Dom said in my ear. “But if you keep touching me like that, this is going to end very quickly.”
My hands fell and I looked up at him in fear. “Why? Did I do something wrong?”
He chuckled, kissing me as an apology for laughing. “I’ll tell you if anything you do is unpleasant, but I can assure you,” he said with another deep kiss. “I’m enjoying this very much. And I want you to enjoy it too.” Slowly, his hands came up to the neck of my jacket and he worked it off my arms, kissing me every few seconds to reassure me. Then he pulled my shirt off, tossing it on top of my jacket. By the time he worked me backwards to remove my pants, I was beyond caring. He un-hooked my bralette while I shimmied my panties off, and I was fully naked underneath him.
The appreciative once over he gave me removed all of my doubts.
I grabbed at his shoulder so he would move on top of me. “Now. Please, Dom. I don’t want to wait.”
He obliged, moving us to my sleeping bag and laying me out on it, then he moved up my body, settling between my legs and parting them tenderly, kissing my knee as he bent to kiss me fervently. Every nerve in my body was alive with a fever, and I clung to Dom’s head when he put his hands between us and I felt something rubbing against my slit before pushing slowly inside me. I cried out and clutched him closer, not from pain, just surprise at the way he felt, filling me completely.
He stopped and bent up to look at my face. “Am I hurting you?”
My hungry eyes turned pleading. “More.”
He obliged, pushing into me until the extra space between us disappeared and he was fully inside me. Though I cried out a second time, his hips withdrew, pulling his cock along my walls, and he shoved back in, pushing me into the ground. The rhythm was like what we’d shared in the shower, but it felt so much better.
Kissing me slowly, Dom sat up over me and he took my thighs in his hands before his thrusts picked up speed, and it took my breath away with every second. Even though I felt completely overcome with pleasure, I knew Dom was holding himself back, not wanting to hurt me.
I pushed up on one elbow until our faces were almost touching, his bobbing in time with his pace. “Fuck me like I belong to you.”
“Shit,” he swore, smashing our lips together so hard it hurt, but I wanted more. He pulled my elbow so I would lay flat again, and he lifted my legs until they were straight up against his chest, then he brought my hand over to my mound, right where he was fucking me with an increasing intensity. The angle of his entry with my legs up like that was making my toes curl. He moved my fingers, laying them on top of my clitoris. “Touch yourself for me. I want you to come on my cock.”
With our eyes locked, I pressed my fingers to my sensitive nub and my eyes rolled back from the pleasure of it combined with his thrusts in and out of me. The wave of heat started rising inside me, completely different from all of my other orgasms, it was deeper and powerful.
Dom’s fucking was almost too fast, I couldn’t tell one wave of pleasure from another, but with a gasp I knew I was close to bursting. I threw my head back, exposing my throat to him, feeling everything come to a head in an endless sensation, and I was frozen in passion mere seconds before I started coming so hard I saw stars, and my fevered cries made my throat feel sore. Dom was right there with me, grunting like a dying man, the sound heightening my release, and he came inside me with ragged thrusts before stilling on top of my breasts, letting my legs fall to his sides.
I felt like I’d never catch my breath, I couldn’t speak or move, I just held Dom’s head in my hands, hoping it would stabilize me amidst the clouds. He kissed between my breasts and let out his own breathless sigh.
“Arthur’s going to fucking murder me,” he groaned, but he coupled it with moving up me until our lips met in a bruising kiss. “Worth it,” he whispered against my mouth.
We stared into each other’s eyes, relishing in the dying embers of our release, and I reached up to stroke his hair out of his eyes. “Wild dogs couldn’t take you from my side, much less stoic bitch faced Arthur. Now kiss me again.”
The next morning, Jason was waiting for me with a smirk and a high five, and I resisted the urge to punch him right in the nose. Dom’s scent was different, as was mine, the result of our night together. There was no trying to hide it. No one else commented because they had decorum, unlike my brother.
We left our camp behind and drove the last length of four hours the bikes would take us. I knew we were close to Salvation, so close I was itching like there were ants in my pants. Dom and I guided everyone to Simon’s camp to leave our bikes.
Clara and Lucas were there waiting for us, and they grabbed Anastasia in a hug that lasted a good five minutes. Clara planted kisses over her twin sister’s cheeks a dozen times, cooing soothing words in their native language. I doubted they had ever been apart for so long, not in all their five hundred years. The two took Marie in their embrace like a sister as well and hugged her for a long time while whispering how much they’d hurt her if she betrayed Anastasia.
Once our greetings were out of the way, we geared up and the Lycans came with us on the long road to Salvation. Dom on my right, Jason on my left, I led the group with Artemis on my
hip. It was a moment that needed some badass theme music, as Knight would’ve said if he were there.
The city’s fence came into view on the horizon and I picked up my pace, trying not to run but eager to get there faster. When we came within scent range, I saw half a dozen soldiers standing guard at the gate. Dhampirs.
“Were they there before?” Jason asked as we took them in. I grimly shook my head. Governor Hendrix had created dhampirs. That fucking son of a bitch. Who had given birth to them? Which of our kind and his did he force? That mother fucker was going to pay.
“Let’s go,” Anastasia ordered, stepping ahead of me with purpose. She was just as angry now, and she was terrifying enough when she wasn’t pissed off.
As soon as we approached the gate, the dhampirs we on alert with their guns out. They had masks over their faces that covered their necks from us. I didn’t need a neck to drain them dry. I’d never drunk from a dhampir before. Would it be enough for me? I’d love to find out.
“Surrender all weapons,” they ordered us as more dhampirs came from inside the city. We begrudgingly handed over our guns and knives to them, and then they slapped cuffs on us. Cuffs again? I didn’t like the way this trend was going.
Cuffed and disarmed, the dhampirs led us inside the gate and it closed behind us with a mechanical whirr. We got pat down, just in case, and once they were satisfied, it was time for the walk of shame. The dhampirs led us through the heart of the city, past all the bleeders and their hateful glares. Several threw things at us and shouted that we were monsters.
Damn straight, I’m a monster. And I’m coming for all of you bitches.
It felt like the dhampirs had purposefully walked us by every bleeder in the city because the walk went on forever. Finally, we reached a guarded door on the north side of the compound. The dhampirs standing outside it opened the doors and we were shoved inside a dark, dank room lit only by torches. Torches. What was this, 1830? Peasants.
The Born Vampire series: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (The Complete Series, NSFW Edition) Page 81