“I don’t know how long I’ll last, Siona. For all my years of experience, there’s just something about you that sets me on edge. My need is too great. I ask in advance that you forgive me.”
Valad’s voice had been rough with tension and Siona swallowed hard in response. “I don’t want to be bitten yet. Not now Valad, not like this.”
Valad shook his head roughly, “No Siona I wasn’t asking for permission to take your blood, only permission to have you hard and fast.”
As if Siona’s body was responding to Valad’s voice at command, she felt a tightening in her lower belly and a liquid warmth below. “Valad you don’t have to ask permission for that.” Siona said seductively, “I’m ready when you are.”
The teasing light left Valad’s eyes as he stripped himself of the button down shirt in one rip. Buttons flew, hitting the bed and floor with little popping sounds. As he shrugged off the remnants of the beautiful fabric, Siona gaped in awe of his body. The defined muscles of his chest and abs shifted, straining to rid Valad of the shirtsleeves. Siona couldn’t help herself; she lifted up to her knees and ran her hands over his cool skin. First rubbing her thumbs over his nipples until they peaked and then rubbing her own chest over his exposed flesh.
The skin to skin contact made Siona’s breasts ache with need and when Valad raised his hands to knead and stroke them, they grew heavy with desire. When Valad finally dropped his lips to one breast and took the nipple into his mouth, Siona fell back to the bed.
Valad let out a low laugh and scooted her hips to the edge of the bed. The antique four-poster frame was massive, Siona almost needed a step stool to get into the thing, but the tall height aligned their bodies perfectly and she had to wonder if perhaps that wasn’t an accident. Valad lifted two fingers to his mouth and sucked on them before placing them at her entrance. Teasing her, Valad shifted slightly before dipping out again. Eventually, his thumb began to play with the sensitive nub hidden in her folds and it was Siona who was begging him.
“Didn’t you promise hard and fast?” she panted, “I’m ready for hard and fast, now. Ready, now please. Thank you.”
Valad smiled and grasped her hips, positioning his large bulk at her entrance and pushing in one steady thrust. It wasn’t as hard or as fast as Michael’s style of lovemaking, but it was definitely rougher than Valad’s cultured assault had been a few months before. There was ruggedness to his movements, a need that strained his body that simply hadn’t been there before. It turned Siona on to think she was the reason for the need, that she was the answer.
Reaching under their joined bodies, Siona grasped Valad’s balls, massaging them, and the vampire groaned in response. His thrusts became erratic and Siona felt her own body tighten around his cock in response.
“Touch me, please,” Siona whispered and Valad’s thumb found the spot where she needed him most.
She saw stars. That time, Siona was sure she saw the heavens as Valad groaned out his own climax. Letting go of her hips, Valad turned around and fell back to the bed, bouncing on impact. Siona giggled in response, “Well, you seem much happier. No worse for the wear, that’s for sure.”
Valad turned and kissed Siona on her shoulder, “That’s thanks to you, my love. I believe I feel even stronger than I did when I entered this room. Michael has been going about my care all wrong, I needed more of this in my life.”
Siona laughed, “Right now, what I need in my life is a shower. Wait for me here?”
Valad nodded as Siona hopped off the bed, straightening her skirt and top. Valad followed her, shrugged into a pair of jeans. Siona was caught up in the sight of those jeans drifting over Valad’s narrow hips when there was a knock at the door.
Michael walked into the room with a brown package in his hands and an easy smile on his face. “Funny to find the two of you in here. Looks like I was off working while you two were having all the fun.”
Siona stammered and then simply blushed horribly when no easy response came to her lips. Valad stroked her cheeks, “Siona, it’s fine. Michael is just teasing. It’s not as if I didn’t know he was warming your bed at night these past weeks. Over the last hundred years we’ve become very good at sharing.”
Siona knew Valad was trying to make her feel better, but the thought of all those lovers just made Siona blush harder. She managed to mumble, “I’m going to take a shower now,” before slinking off to the bathroom.
“Wait, this came for you while you were otherwise occupied,” Michael winked, “I didn’t know if you needed it.”
Siona went still at the small brown bag in Michael’s hands. Sealed with tape, the thing obviously hadn’t been opened yet. Siona thanked god for small mercies and blushing so hard she thought she might burst into flames, Siona ran off to the bathroom. Once in the beautiful marble room Siona ran the shower and stared at the innocuous brown paper. Biting her lip, she decided to shower first before opening it.
She just needed a little time between sex and being walked in on, before adding another element of drama to the scene. Pulling aside the lace curtain of the shower, Siona stepped in and soaped up with calming lavender. She paid special attention to shaving her legs and using a deep conditioning treatment in her hair. In fact, Siona wasted all the time she could before turning off the water and stepping out onto the mat. After blow drying her hair and taking the time to rubbing lavender lotion over her body, Siona realized she’d reached the end of the road. She was as polished and clean as she was ever going to get.
Padding over to the drugstore delivery, Siona knew it was time. Taking out the long thin box, Siona read the instructions twice through before following them exactly. Glancing at the time on the antique clock hanging on the wall opposite the large beveled mirror, Siona moved as far away as from the counter as she could get. Pressing her head against the door, she heard the murmured conversation of Valad and Michael on the other side.
When the words ‘danger’ and ‘risk’ floated up to her ears, Siona listened closer.
“This is the worst possible time, we have the first real candidate in years,” Valad’s voice sounded frustrated. “Scratch that, not just the first candidate, the first one we’ve liked so well, enjoyed so much… It’s such a perfect fit. Now, we may have to give it all up?”
Michael’s voice sounded steady, devoid of emotion, “We wouldn’t have to give anything up, if we didn’t want to.”
“Michael, come on. We couldn’t continue this while the blaze gathers. We would have to release her and put our full force into combatting the threat. It’s the whole reason why we even set up the system. We would simply have to move on to the next location in two years.”
“No. It’s her blood...it’s too good. I, well, I can’t walk away.” Siona’s mind tried to fit all the pieces together while Michael paused; were they talking about her? Mrs. Kettle? Some unknown person? She put her thoughts aside as Michael continued, “Are you really saying you can?”
Siona held her breath. She didn’t know what the answer would mean, but she was fairly certain her world hinged upon it.
“I don’t know. But I do know there won’t be anyone to walk away from if we don’t negate the blaze.”
The men fell silent and Siona’s eyes flicked up to the clock. More than enough time had passed. Walking over to the countertop, Siona stared into her reflection. Giving herself a little nod and a bracing breath, she looked down and then, her entire world flipped upside down. Siona couldn’t take her eyes off the thing. Picking it up with shaking hands, Siona walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. Both Valad and Michael looked surprised. Perhaps they’d forgotten she was even in there.
Valad gave a small chuckle, “We thought you might have drowned in there.” Then, as he took a closer look at her face, his voice sounded in concern, “Siona, is everything alright?”
Siona blinked at the tiny, life changing stick in her hands and asked yet another question. She was always asking these men questions and never getting a straight answe
r. But now it was starting to make sense. She wasn’t a mistress, or a sex slave, though, like Valad had said, enjoying sex was part of the deal.
“What is a blaze?”
Her question met stony silence, so she looked up and asked again more forcefully. “Michael or Valad, what is a blaze. How is it a threat?”
Michael and Valad shared a look. “I don’t know what you mean, Siona, it’s another way of saying a roaring fire,” Valad tried to tease.
Siona lost her patience, punctuating her words with the small test she carried in her hands. Asking for a third time she said, “No. Tell me the truth. I deserve to know the truth now.”
Michael froze. Cocking his head, he grew still and asked, “What’s in your hand, Siona?”
“Answer my question first,” Siona said gripping the stick.
Valad looked confused and then understanding dawned as he reached out a hand to lower himself to the bed. Michael closed his eyes then slowly opened them, “A blaze is the proper name for a group of dragons, twenty-five dragons to be exact. They’re planning to converge on your fair hometown as we speak. They have human spies littered throughout the city, but so do we. It’s a big threat, one that is not easily avoided.”
Siona felt her blood run cold, “That’s what almost killed Valad? Twenty-five dragons?”
Michael shook his head, “No. Valad was attacked by two; just two dragons. Now it’s your turn. What’s in your hand, Siona?”
Siona dropped the hand holding the test back down again. Cradling it in her arms, she stared at the little pink lines in wonder. “It’s a pregnancy test,” she confirmed. Looking up into Michael’s eyes, she answered his unspoken question. “And it’s positive.”
CHAPTER TEN
Quarto always forgot how cold it was on this side of the veil. His human form was thin-skinned and weak compared to his natural dragon’s body. He always missed the feel of the fire running through his veins and the sleek red scales that protected his vital organs. The human forms they were forced to take for security measures always left Quarto feeling exposed, and it made him irritable.
“Well, that was a mistake of epic proportions don’t you think?” Quarto huffed, turning to his brother, a man who was also his biggest living threat.
Valermo tossed his long dark hair and smiled, the light in his green eyes as cunning as a snake’s. “I would say it escalated faster than anticipated.”
Quarto lifted a ginger red eyebrow. “Escalated? The fight wasn’t nearly long enough for escalation.”
“Psh, you give our deceased dragon brethren little respect. They fought hard, but they were unprepared. We may have lost our two best fighters, but we may have also killed the vampire.” Valermo stacked his feet on top of the solid cherry table in the cabin and folded his hands behind his head. Stretched back in the chair in front of a roaring fire, he looked like a resplendent country lord of old.
Quarto wanted to knock the smug expression off his face, but with only a weak human fist to work with, he settled for kicking Valermo’s boots off the table. The shit-kickers covering his feet more than made up for the assortment of easily breakable bones.
For a moment, Valermo’s eyes sparked a lick of red flame within their green depths, and Quarto felt the satisfaction of gaining the upper hand. “The vampire is very much alive. He was spotted running an errand to town late one night last week. Apparently, ice cream was needed. It’s been a few months, but the undead didn’t look any worse for the wear. According to our informant, anyway.”
Valermo paused, a combination of surprise and anger washing over his face. Quarto tugged at the sleeves of his thin blue sweater as he watched his brother visibly pull himself together.
“Would you care to share the name of this informant?” Valermo questioned through gritted teeth.
Quarto brushed the request aside. “You know I can’t reveal sensitive information like that. I don’t want to further endanger the lives of the humans who work for me.”
“I thought we were aiming for transparency, brother.”
Quarto gave a wolfish smile. “Then you won’t mind telling me if you’ve committed your entire blaze to the cause? Or if you have reserves waiting in the background…”
Valermo tipped his head to the side slightly, an unspoken agreement to keep to their accord. Getting a foothold beyond the veil was important for both of their aspirations. There would be time enough to attack each other later. “Can we at least agree that we believe that the vampire was heavily wounded?” Now it was Quarto’s turn to incline his head in agreement. Valermo nodded and continued, “Then with twenty-five dragons, we should easily kill two bloodsuckers. I don’t understand your concern regarding their position on this side of the veil.”
Quarto looked deep into the ale sitting on the table, counting the rings the foam had left on the sides of the glass as he drank it down. As many rings as he had spent centuries trying to gain access to the human world. Access that had been guarded at every entry point by a small stronghold of undead. Even Valermo didn’t know of Quarto’s previous attempt to cross the veil.
Picking up his heavy glass, Quarto decided that would not be the night he shared his full history with his brother. The brothers’ accord was built upon a shifting foundation comprised of “need to know information.” Flicking the red fringe out of his eyes, Quarto simply said to his brother, “Let’s just say the vampires usually prove to have more tricks up their sleeves than one would expect.”
When Valermo opened his mouth to push the issue, Quarto continued, “Remember that they are the only creatures that exist on this side of the veil first, and our side of the veil, second. They have always been the guardians and gatekeepers of the human realm and because of that, they have deep and long-standing connections with the humans. Our only benefit is the brevity of human life. Their relationships are short and need constant attention to maintain. It gives us a chance to infiltrate.”
Valermo nodded, standing to walk to a sleekly designed beer fridge to the side of the large dining area. The appliance blended into the rustic accommodations of the luxury lodge, making the beautiful, warm wood space as modern as possible, while still maintaining old world charm. Walking back to the table with two more frothy ales, Valermo tracked through their next moves.
“So that’s where we need to start. We need more human contacts on our side of the playing field.”
“What we need is to find out where the vampires are living. One would think it would be difficult to hide their stronghold in the human world, and yet it feels like searching for a needle in a haystack.” Quarto sighed.
Their cabin was beautiful. It was a huge log home settled high up in the mountains of upstate New York. While the seemingly rustic wood and glass looked pedestrian enough, it was laced with magic from the other side of the veil. The entire home was as secure as possible for the royal dragons, but he knew it didn’t match whatever the vampires had in their defenses.
“Wouldn’t more human contacts offer opportunities to find where the vampires have made their home?” Valermo offered logically.
Quarto gave a slight shrug. “It also opens us up to attack. The more humans that know about us, the better chance the vampires have of locating us as well.”
“What makes you think that they don’t already know where we are? The vampire appeared as though he was on a direct course when we attacked him.”
Quarto took a deep sip of his drink. He had worried over the same piece of information. He could curse those dead dragons to hell and back, for attacking the vampire too early. They would never know how much intel the vampire had on them.
Valermo sat in his seat and continued, “We haven’t been attacked since. That either proves that the vampire didn’t know where we were, or that his defenses are too weak to take on our full blaze.”
Quarto nodded his head from side to side, considering. His intuition told him there was a third option. “I think there is more that the vampires are protecting than a simple g
ateway. I think there are secrets about this area we know nothing about. The humans are far too knowing. The look in their eyes tells me they are guarding something but what could it be?”
Valermo’s boots landed against the table yet again with two resounding thumps. “Oh, that,” he said easily, “They take a girl from one of the villages every ten years. Apparently, it’s common knowledge around these parts. Strange, I think, that such an ancient custom would still be honored? Sacrificial virgin and all.”
Quarto whipped around and in a flash, he was at his brother’s throat. “What did you say about a girl?”
Valermo’s eyes looked confused. Brows furrowed, he responded, “So they take a girl to eat every ten years. That’s not so strange.”
Quarto wanted to strengthen his grip around his brother’s weak human windpipe, but he forced himself to let go, to back away a few steps. “It didn’t seem odd to you, in this day and age of blood clubs and vampire sluts, that two vampires would need a sacrificial virgin? And only one every ten years at that?”
Sitting up straighter, Valermo considered, “I mean, I suppose it’s old-fashioned, but I don’t know what their endgame would be. It couldn’t possibly endear them to the townsfolk.”
Quarto started to pace, the new information banging around in his brain. “No, no. You’re right. It couldn’t serve their straightforward purposes, the move does nothing but hinder their duty to guard the gateway. Thus, it must serve a variable. Something we don’t know about.”
Both brothers stared into the fire, communing with their inner natures. Quarto stated the final course of action into the roaring flames, “That’s where we start, then. Send men to the village, recruit contacts and parse the information. We need where they live, but more importantly, we need their secret.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The Vampire's Shared Bride Page 7