Bound in Darkness (Misplaced Halos Book 3)
Page 26
“Her name’s Leilana,” he said. “The female we’re meeting with.”
“What position are you interviewing for?”
“The personal assistant to the Alpha. According to her resume, she’s fully qualified.”
“And what makes someone qualified to be the PA to the leader of a race?” she inquired because she enjoyed talking to the male.
“Killer typing skills, for one.”
“And what exactly are we looking for in this candidate?”
“Think about the assistant as being the go-between. She’ll be the face of the kirlesgun.”
The face of the current regime. Made sense. “So we’re looking for someone who’s well-dressed and well-spoken?”
“Her attire’s not as important because we can work on that. However, her ability to communicate clearly is crucial, yes.”
“Do we know anything else about her? I assume she’ll be residing within the Lair.” It only made sense that they know her history.
“I did a background check. Free and clear.”
“No marks at all?” Bijou peered over at him. “So she’s managed to remain clear of humans?”
“I know, it’s a shocker, right? But yep. She implemented a school system within her clan, and she’s focused on educating the offspring mostly.”
Sounded very noble.
“How old is she?”
Blāz’s eyes cut to hers briefly. “One forty-five.”
So still very young in the eyes of the vampire community. Probably a good thing. Not too jaded from history.
“And her feelings on the current kirlesgun?” she asked.
“That was the first thing I asked her.” He grinned. “She and her family were staunch supporters of Kardobahn, and they support Kaj though they would prefer to get to know him better.”
Bijou understood that. Her father had yet to make a name for himself as the phaal. Then again, he’d been too busy running for his own life to have time to make an impact. Now that they had settled somewhat, she hoped that would change in the near future.
“What would you like me to do?” she asked as Blāz flipped the turn signal and steered the SUV into a parking lot lined with stand-alone stores, including Books & Beans. She assumed that was their destination, and her mouth watered with thoughts of a cappuccino.
“Preferably lead the interview,” he said, motioning for her to get out.
Bijou stepped out into the cool night air and inhaled deeply. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been outside, but it was glorious to be beneath the stars, the crisp air slipping into her nostrils, the scent of coffee drifting toward her. When she joined Blāz at the front of the vehicle, she noticed he was tucking in his shirt, adjusting the weapons he had beneath the suede jacket he wore.
“You look beautiful,” she teased.
He offered a smirk, then gestured for her to walk before him. Their keen senses scanned their surroundings as she led the way to the glass door of the coffee shop. A tinkling overhead signaled their arrival, and they were instantly greeted by a couple of employees manning the coffee bar at the very back of the shop. Warm air billowed their way, along with the delicious scent of coffee.
She was just about to ask how they would know who they were looking for when she caught the scent of a vampire nearby. She scanned the various seating areas and located the female sitting in a small section blocked in by short bookshelves.
The female’s eyes lifted as though she, too, had caught their presence.
“I have to have coffee while we’re here,” Bijou whispered to Blāz. “We can introduce ourselves, then I’ll get us something.”
“I’ll get it,” he countered.
“Scared to be left alone with her?” she joked.
“You have no idea,” he rasped.
She actually found that interesting since she wasn’t sure Blāz had ever met a stranger. He was likely the most outgoing of all the males who worked for her father.
Oh, yeah. This was going to be fun.
When Kaj asked her to join him for a walk-thru of the new training facility, Acadia had been surprised but not at all disappointed.
Now, as they stepped into the din, she smiled.
Angels and vampires alike were scattered about, working diligently on their tasks. A few were chatting softly, a couple of them had headphones on their heads, more were moving to the beat of the music drifting out from a set of speakers set up on a table.
“How long have they been working on this?” she asked, sliding her hand in his when he offered it.
“This is their first full day together. The angels arrived just before dawn, the vampires a couple of days ago. On Thursday.”
The enormous space spread out before them was brightly lit with various forms of lighting, none of which were coming from the inserts in the ceiling, which had yet to be connected to power.
As they neared, she noticed Huracān talking to two young males, using hand signals to exaggerate whatever it was he was explaining to them.
Heavy footfalls sounded behind them, drawing them both up short. Obsidian strolled over, his eyes shielded by those dark lenses, but she could tell he was taking it all in, likely determining what was different from the last time he was there.
Out of habit, Acadia offered a slight curtsy to the male when he approached. It wasn’t that she’d always been formal with him, but right now, she felt the need. Probably had everything to do with the fact she felt as though she was abandoning him and had yet to explain herself.
“How’re they doing?” Obsidian asked, his question directed at Kaj.
“Just got here myself.” Kaj caught Huracān’s attention, motioned him toward them. “Perhaps we can get an update.”
The enormous male strolled over, a wide grin on his rugged face. “Greetings. You just missed Bijou. She stopped in to check it out.”
“What’d she think?” Kaj inquired.
Huracān smirked. “She didn’t say, but the vampires sure took notice of their princess.”
Acadia smiled at that. She could see how these trainees might be intimidated to have royalty in their presence. However, she’d had the pleasure of talking to Bijou, and the female was rather approachable. More so the longer she’d been here.
“Thought I’d give my female a tour,” Kaj said, his hand squeezing hers lightly when he said female.
For whatever reason, that made Acadia’s heart skip a beat. After last night, the movie date, the erotic encounters afterward, Kaj had remained in her bed until nightfall. When he awoke, she had already been up, lying in the darkened room, watching his face as he slept. No sooner had he caught sight of her than he moved over her and gave her a grand wake-up with his body. Afterward he had slipped out to give her time to shower and get ready for the night. When she came down to join the others for the evening meal, he’d been there waiting for her, securing a table at the back of the room.
Needless to say, Acadia was enjoying this time with him. It felt strangely different than before. She had always expected to be utilized for her blood, sometimes engaging in sex because it offered the energy that would fuel her for longer periods. Never had the males made her feel like she was simply a tool at their disposal, but there’d never been any real intimacy, either.
Except with Kaj. He’d always been different with her. In the beginning, when she’d nursed him back to health, he had been hesitant. Then when he returned this time, they’d endured the gathenya, seeking one another out to quench that overwhelming need. Now that things had settled, it was as though they were coming into their own.
“So, what do you think?” Huracān asked Kaj and Obsidian. “Bijou gave them the idea of getting their private rooms built so they could work in shifts, filling the full twenty-four hours with work.”
“Bijou did?” Obsidian glanced around. “That’s a brilliant idea.” Obsidian smirked at Kaj. “Didn’t get her brains from her father, huh?”
Kaj chuckled. “Certainly not.”
Acadia watched as a group of trainees carried in lumber from an exterior door. As Fae, she could sense which were vampire and which were angel. They varied in all sizes, shapes and colorings. These were likely the most formidable of their species, born and bred for this particular purpose—protecting humans or providing backup to those whose sole responsibility was to protect humans, as was the case with the warriors.
As she watched them, she thought back to all the times a new male would come to the mansion, joining the fiestreigh. It was rare they came in multiples despite Michael’s best efforts to reproduce males who were as formidable as the warriors. She and the other Fae had been there to welcome them in, to help them get situated as well as offering them the life source necessary for them to remain on Earth.
“How often will they feed?” Acadia asked, recalling Kaj mentioning Michael had allocated angels to perform those duties.
“Daily for now. The angels come as soon as the sun goes down and it’s safe for them,” Obsidian noted. “As long as we keep our numbers low, we’ll have a one-to-one ratio for feeding. Once they’ve completed their task, they return to Heaven.”
It felt strange that Michael would’ve opted to utilize angels instead of Fae. Though Acadia knew they didn’t have the numbers to handle an additional twenty-seven who needed blood, she still had concerns as to what that would mean for her and the others. Would Michael one day replace them? Send them into the shadows for all of eternity? After all, there was nowhere else for them to go. And if they weren’t needed any longer…
“Acadia?”
The deep cadence of Kaj’s voice drew her attention from her thoughts. “Hmm?”
“Are you okay, balisra?”
Shaking off the negative energy, she stood a bit taller and smiled. “Of course. I find this place fascinating. I’m sure once it’s completed, it’ll be even more impressive.”
“That’s the plan,” Obsidian agreed. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to check in with Reidar. I’ve got someone coming to relieve you, Huracān.”
“Thank you,” the male said. “I figure we could work in four-hour increments so as not to ignore our own duties.”
Acadia listened with half an ear while the males chatted briefly before dispersing.
All the while wondering exactly how much things were changing for them.
Question was: was this for better or worse?
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Friday, April 6, 2018
“Who were you talking to?” Acadia prompted when Kaj ended his phone call and joined her on the small love seat in his room.
“My father.”
Her eyes shot to his face as she tried to discern his tone, more specifically, the concern she heard in it.
“Like I suspected, he thought I was dead.”
“I assume he was happy to hear that wasn’t the case.”
Kaj nodded, his gaze locked on the cold fireplace before them. “He needs me back there.”
Although she’d known this day was coming, Acadia couldn’t deny the ache that bloomed in her chest. The thought of Kaj leaving, of not seeing him was more painful than it should’ve been considering she hadn’t deluded herself into thinking this was a forever thing.
“When will you be leaving?” she inquired, not looking at him as she spoke.
“I told him I’d be back in a week.”
A week. That was all the time they had left together? She wasn’t sure whether that was good or bad. Would it hurt less if he went back now? If she wasn’t subjected to six or seven more nights of him sleeping beside her? Or could she find a way to make enough memories in that time to tide her over for eternity? Neither seemed satisfactory as far as her sanity went, but it wasn’t really her decision, now was it?
“Acadia?”
“Hmm?”
“Look at me, balisra.”
She forced herself to look over, her heart in her throat. She could see the pain in his eyes. He didn’t want to leave her any more than she wanted him to go. But behind that, she could see his resignation. His duty was to his father and hers was to the warriors. They came from different worlds and others expected things from them.
Kaj leaned toward her, his big, warm hand curling around her cheek, his fingers settling under her hair, his thumb stroking gently.
“I don’t want you to go,” she told him, though she hadn’t intended to lay that at his feet.
“I don’t want to go, either.”
But it was going to happen regardless. They both knew it.
“You could come with me,” he whispered.
No, she couldn’t. But he already knew that. Her duties were here, her life here. And even if she was willing to go, it wasn’t an option. If she were to walk out of this mansion, she would be stricken from existence, cast into the shadows, neither alive nor dead.
Kaj scooted closer, his fingers sliding deeper into her hair as he cradled her face and urged her mouth to his. Acadia went without question because this was the only place she wanted to be. With him for as long as time and destiny allowed.
What she really wanted to do was run to her room and bury her head in her blankets, cry for the injustice of it all. But she knew it wouldn’t change anything, and the thought of wasting what precious time they did have left hurt almost as much as the idea of never seeing him again.
To be fair, she’d thought things had changed between them. After he’d witnessed her feeding Khalon, after he’d taken her to the floor and all but claimed her as his own, Acadia had entertained the idea of being Kaj’s forever. Deep down, she’d known that wasn’t an option, but for a while, it had been easy to pretend. For the past month, he’d kept her close and Acadia had stayed willingly.
His lips brushed hers softly as he inched even closer. “Let me hold you, balisra.”
“Make love to me,” she pleaded.
A soft growl escaped him, one that had a way of igniting her insides, warming her entire being. And when he shifted his weight so that he could move over her, Acadia reclined, welcoming his body against hers. For long minutes, his mouth fused to hers and she got lost in the sensation of his kiss. Time seemed to stand still as their hands wandered, clothing began to slip away until they were skin to skin.
And when he settled between her thighs, his erection pushing into her, Acadia welcomed him into her body as she had so many times. He made love to her then, slowly and leisurely, neither of them rushing, satisfied to let the sensations linger, the heat build into a conflagration that consumed them both.
As he cradled her face, she curled her fingers around his hand, holding him to her as she kissed his palm. Tears dripped from her eyes unbidden.
“Oh, sweet love,” he whispered. “Don’t cry.”
She sobbed and attempted to force a smile, but it wouldn’t form. Her heart was breaking, and though he was still with her, she felt as though he were a million miles away already.
His focus shifted, his hips moving faster as he drove them both to the precipice and then over.
Acadia wanted to tell him she loved him, but the words were merely that. Words. They wouldn’t convince him to stay because he had more pressing things to deal with, and the last thing she wanted to do was hurt him more than he was already hurting.
It pained her to know that the week would soon be over and he would be leaving, but she vowed to cherish every last minute with him, and when he walked away, she would keep him locked deep within her heart for eternity. It would have to be enough to know that she’d been loved once in her never-ending existence, and she needed these memories to sustain her going forward.
Kaj lay in the darkened room, his arm looped around Acadia as she slept.
Nearly six months had passed since he arrived here and so much had changed w
ithin that time. Perhaps not for others, but for him. He had fully recovered from his injuries, his body stronger than before because he’d fed from Acadia all this time.
The mere thought of going back to his previous existence, feeding from the cosrobols day in and day out, did not sit well with him. He couldn’t fathom putting his mouth on another, biology be damned.
But he would because that was what was expected of him. His life was not his own any more than Acadia’s was her own. His duty was to the Alpha. Regardless of what his heart wanted, he couldn’t stay here.
“Why aren’t you resting?” Acadia whispered, her lips brushing his chest as she shifted in his arms.
“I’m content to hold you all day,” he assured her, shifting to watch as she moved over him.
Because he didn’t want to miss a moment, Kaj willed the bedside lamp on despite the fact he could see clearly in the dark. The artificial light allowed him the ability to connect with Acadia visually, and that was as much an aphrodisiac as her hands moving over him.
“Take me inside you,” he rasped, sliding his hands up her thighs as she straddled his hips.
Acadia lifted, her small hand curling around his erection and guiding him into the haven of her body.
He groaned as her slick heat slid over him, her tight sheath welcoming him.
Once he was seated deep within her, Acadia leaned forward, her palms flattening against his chest. He quickly covered hers with his and held her to him.
“Take from me,” he urged.
Her eyes met his, and a second later, his back arched as she drew her strength from his body. His cock kicked as the pleasure consumed him. It was as much mental as it was physical. Knowing he could be the life source she needed was a pleasure all its own.
She rolled her hips forward and back, stroking him with the smooth walls of her sex. He watched as she rode him, her hair swaying around her shoulders, falling over his chest, tickling his skin. He would miss this most. Not necessarily the sex, but the connection they shared. This was more than mere physical pleasure. It was two beings coming together as one. Kaj was whole for the first time in his life, complete in a way he knew he would never be without her.