Austin's Lost Bride (The Sterns)

by Mindi Winters

  “It’s not that bad. It hurts, but it’s just a flesh wound. Not too deep.”

  “You can still get infected. It needs to be cleaned.” Then maybe I could wash the rest of your body, he said silently to himself.

  He held her arm and washed it thoroughly, the scent of her clean skin hitting him more strongly than he had expected. She was right. It wasn’t that bad of a wound, but it would still ache badly and need a few stitches.

  He’d sew her up. Make it right. As well as he could anyway. Do at least this one task for her and not let her down. He’d let her down. He didn’t know if he could have killed Mannus all those years ago. But he failed; now Rebecca was hurt, and almost killed. He had let her and her family down.

  He started getting the supplies to sew up her arm.

  “We need to go after Mannus again. No later than tomorrow night,” he said.

  “Are you crazy? He knows we’re after him and close. He’ll be prepared.”

  “He’s weak now. The weakest he’s ever been in centuries, I think. We need to hit him again quickly.”

  “It sounds like you’re being the reckless one now.”

  He applied the alcohol to her arm and she winced. He put his other hand on her knee trying to reassure but she brushed it off.

  “I bet you enjoyed that,” she said.

  “There are other things I’d enjoy more. But this is serious,” he said with visions of his hands on other parts of her body.

  “Fine. What’s your plan then? How can we possibly go after him so quick?”

  “He’s wounded badly. He needs blood to heal and lots of it. But he used most of his blood to escape. Between my bolt and the magic in your dagger he should have been trapped, but he had greater blood power than we thought.”

  She gritted her teeth as he started sewing her up.

  “The hunters charted his vampiric family tree pretty well. We know how much blood power a vampire of his generation should have. He must have used most of it to escape. Whatever blood he has left he’ll use to heal as he sleeps today or he’ll wait until night and go hunting for easy prey to replenish. Either way he’s relatively defenseless even if he has a few thralls around.”

  “Do you have an actual plan or not?” she said.

  “Of course, why do you think I wanted the blood left on your dagger?”

  Rebecca loved it when he took charge. The heat grew inside her as he explained his idea. She had always liked that about him. He took control of their situation as he once controlled her body and her muscles ached in memory of his touch. She had to get away from him, to regain control of herself and what was going on. But Mannus needed to die. Permanently.

  So they were sticking together. She wasn’t sure how much she really trusted him anymore. Once she would have willingly put her life in his hands, or sacrificed herself for him. Now she was still angry that he was the one who saved her only an hour before.

  He would get the weapons ready, while she would use some of the Mannus’s blood to track him. The rest of his blood would go into a special vampire poison that would only work on Mannus.

  The vampire would finally die and she could get on with her life. Doing what? She hadn’t ever really thought about it. But the end was real now and so close.

  Her arousal was unbearable and she decided to hit the showers. The intense cold would take the edge off, she hoped. Plus she was still dirty.

  The water started coming down and she stepped into it. Cold ran down her skin as the water covered her body. She let the water and soap cleanse the dirt and she pulled her hands up from her hips to her breasts, pinching her nipples. The last time she made love with Austin was in the shower. It was the night before their wedding.

  He had run his hands through her hair, down her breasts and into the curls of her heat. The memory pushed her breathing faster, and her own hand went to her pussy. Massaging the outside of her swelling lips, she couldn’t stop the memories from coming back to her. How he had kissed her so gently, biting at her lips, and probing her with his tongue. She slipped a finger inside herself. The tension in her sex was growing with just the power of her memory of him.

  He isn’t even here, she thought. He shouldn’t be able to do this to her any longer. She pulled herself from the edge. Her body longed for the release that was so close.

  Not like this, she vowed. His memory wouldn’t do this to her. His memory wouldn’t control her any longer or have power over her. He’ll be the one to lose control, she swore. Her eyes hardened and she smiled. She knew exactly what she was going to do.

  But business before pleasure, she mused.

  The next few hours were hard. She made sure to avoid him completely. Told him to stay away or he’d ruin the spell with his presence. It was a lie, but it seemed to work and he stayed out the rooms she was in. He steered clear of her so easily that it irritated her endlessly. He didn’t seem to even want to be in the room with her. He didn’t love her so why did she care? She had wanted to finish her work first to help calm her desire down. It didn’t work.

  She finished her preparations before noon and quickly cleaned herself up again. Safe houses didn’t come with perfumes and such, but she managed to look good, she knew. Would he realize what she was really doing?

  She put on a fresh robe and went looking for him. Thuds coming from the backyard led her to him.

  When she opened the back door, her breath left her. Split logs were scattered on the grass around Austin. Eventually he would make them into stakes. But standing there, still holding his axe, and wearing nothing but his shorts, he was pure male heaven. His chest and arms rippled with lean muscle and her heart stopped for a beat. She knew her mouth was open.

  In less than a second she regained her composure. She was in control. Not him. He would lose his control first, she swore. Not her. She gave him her biggest smile and made her move.

  Austin stopped his work when the back door opened. It was Rebecca and for a brief moment he thought her face had become softer. But something was different. Her expression held a determination that he thought more suited to a hunter on a mission.

  The second she smiled those thoughts vanished. Her face became inviting as she walked over to him. He felt a tingling in his groin and laid down his axe.

  She was by him in seconds. Reaching her hand up, she wove her fingers through his hair and pulled him in for a kiss. Her tongue moved across his lips before parting his mouth to explore deeper. His shock lasted only a moment and he was kissing her back with all his passion. His tongue danced with hers.

  Her hands moved down his chest to his abs and then made quick work of his shorts. His cock was engorged and throbbing. She pulled back from their deep kiss and regarded him. With that sweet smile still on her face, she untied her robe, letting it fall to the ground.

  They stood naked in front of each other. Her breasts had tightened around the nipples and longed for a touch. His heart pounded at the idea that she wanted him as much as he wanted her, and that she could finally bear his touch again. His shared determination to kill Mannus with her and avenge her family must have won her over.

  Even in the outdoors air he could smell her musk.

  “Rebecca,” he said, and her smile became bigger, triumphant even, if he didn’t know better.

  She reached down for his cock, rolling it around in her hand. He reached for her breasts but she brushed his hand away. Working his cock slowly, she gently bit his nipple. Her mouth moved down his body, biting, licking, and kissing his skin.

  His skin was aflame with pent up desire. Desire for her. For the five years they had lost together.

  In an instant her lips were on his cock. A quick bite of the head and she opened and drew him into her mouth. He let out a groan that had been building in him since he saw her.

  She kept one hand on his balls, massaging them. His cock moved in and out of her mouth. With a quick move she pulled him in deeper, the tip of his cock hitting the back of her throat. His knees began to buckle and
he dropped to the ground.

  For a moment his cock was free of her mouth, but Rebecca would have none of that. Moving back in closer, she began licking the underside of his sensitive manhood. Pleasure tore through him and he felt his muscles began to twitch.

  Rebecca felt the change and brought him back into her mouth, increasing the tempo of her sucking. Austin knew his release was close, but he wanted to be in her heat.

  Resolve filled him and he managed to pull her off his cock.

  “Not like this,” he said, sitting up.

  Rebecca kept smiling and kissed him. His own saltiness and sweat filling the taste in his mouth. She sucked his lip into her mouth and laid on the ground for him.

  “Fuck me,” she said.

  Her legs opened and wrapped themselves around his waist. She was wet and he ran a hand down her slick folds. Her hand grabbed his as it was playing with her swollen sex and she pulled him down to her chest. When her breasts hit his chest, she repeated her request.

  “I said, fuck me.”

  She kept smiling and Austin felt something out of place.

  It didn’t matter. A quick positioning with her hands on his cock and her legs pulled him into her with a quick pull.

  Once inside, his cock knew what to do. His hands gripped her hips and he drove into her without any thought. He loved her. He always would. He would make up for the time apart.

  His hands reached for her hair and he pulled her head to him for another kiss.

  He kept thrusting in her. The muscles in his face tensed, he was getting close to his release. Her moans came more clearly now. Fingernails scraped down his back. Her tongue seemed to fight against his for superiority and he pulled away to lock with her eyes.

  What he saw was not love. She wasn’t smiling anymore. What he saw was desire.

  Need.

  A relentless longing for the same release that he craved.

  All exceeded in intensity by one other emotion. The emotion that broke his heart: anger.

  He realized that they weren’t making love as they used to: sometimes with tenderness, sometimes with wild passion, but always with love.

  This was battle. Sex was the weapon. The victor claims the last release.

  He was close to losing.

  Rebecca saw the change sweep over his face. He knows she realized, but it didn’t matter. He couldn’t control himself and his cock kept driving into her. The friction in her heat was immense and she squeezed the muscles in her tunnel to hold his cock tighter. She could feel the intensity of her desire rising and she struggled to control her own release until after Austin filled her. It wouldn’t be long.

  His tempo changed, slowed, and she knew he was fighting for control. She couldn’t allow him to hold himself back until he finished her off. He needed to come first, and her hands left his hips and moved down under his groin to massage his balls. He wouldn’t be able to take it and she flashed a hard, triumphant look at him.

  He shook his head fiercely and slapped her hands away from him as his pumping ceased.

  “NO,” he said.

  His face looked ashen, filled with the agony of unfulfilled release. A thin coating of control had come over him and he started to pull away. Out of her. His seed still unspent.

  Rebecca’s face contorted in undisguised anger. No pretense of any other emotion or affection.

  “You’re not leaving until we finish.”

  In three quick moves she had flipped their positions. Austin looked up at her from his back, the desire and determination on his face unmistakable. A second later she had repositioned the entrance to her pussy over his cock and ground herself down on him. Pleasure swept her body but she felt his control weaken more.

  He tried to push her away, but her strong thighs and legs held onto him too tightly to throw her off without hurting her. She arched her back, reaching with her hand to his manhood. Massaging his balls again, one after the other, his muscles started to twitch under her.

  She continued working her fingers on him, while sliding up and down with her tight heat along his shaft. Her clit was engorged but she willed herself to maintain control. She felt as his last bits of control began to crack. Just a moment longer and he would erupt inside her and then she could let herself have the pleasure her body demanded. She smiled in triumph.

  The first blow was so subtle she would have missed it except for the crack she felt in her mind. She pulled herself back up and looked down at him as his hands lightly landed a second blow to her body, opening her chi paths, breaking her control.

  Three.

  Four.

  There was no time to react.

  She let out a primal scream as her orgasm took hold of her. It exploded into her and swept out to every part of her body. She wanted to stop her hips from thrusting onto him but her body wouldn’t obey and she kept grinding. He arched his back, grabbing her hips to pull her down on him. His cock burying itself as deeply as it could as his seed filled her.

  Rebecca was shaking. Her body had experienced pleasure. Deep, satisfying physical pleasure, and she had been powerless to stop it, to control it as she wanted. She held back tears as she rose from him, his cock slipping out of her. Her legs wobbled as she stood and he rose to stand in front of her.

  Austin regarded her and his face was stone. She had lost the fight. The fight she had started. She felt her anger rising to the surface, ready to burst.

  “We finish this with Mannus tonight, then I never want to see you again,” she said.

  He nodded.

  Fine, she thought. Don’t say anything, her anger finally bursting. She hit him.

  He didn’t even try to block her as her fist crashed into his face. Blood started coming out of his nose and he stood there.

  “I hate you for what you did and I will never forgive you,” she said.

  She turned and ran back into the house, neither one of them noticing the empty eyes watching them from behind the second floor curtains of the neighboring house.

  Chapter 3

  The cool water practically froze Rebecca’s skin as she washed away the evidence of her lovemaking. She couldn’t clean herself enough, couldn’t stop crying. She hated herself as much as she hated him.

  Despite all her training and everything she did to control herself, she had come first, and worse, she had liked it. Liked it a lot. Five years without him, without his hands touching her, caressing her, giving her the pleasure she had felt moments ago. She expected to be over him after so long, but she wasn’t. Her body had remembered how much she had once loved him.

  Tonight she vowed it was over. They would kill Mannus and she would never see him again. That was the only way. The only way she could be certain to keep her control.

  She’d run away back to Los Angeles, she thought. A cowardly way to act, but she had no other choice.

  She finished up her shower quickly and decided to get the hell out of there for a few hours to clear her head. Weakened vampire or not, she needed to be rested and clearheaded tonight or she’d just get them both killed.

  Clothes were hanging in the closet and she managed to find some things that fit her. That was the good thing about hunters, she thought, they stocked the safe houses with street clothes that look good and let you just blend in. Nothing too fancy or flashy, but simple, recent styles so you wouldn’t attract stares.

  The house wasn’t too big, but she didn’t know where Austin was. She didn’t want to see him until they needed to leave. Opening the front door, she slipped out quietly. She didn’t bother leaving a note. Screw him, she thought. He knows she’ll be ready on time to head out.

  Life in the neighborhood moved slowly but it wasn’t dead, and she realized how utterly foolish she’d been to have sex in the backyard, even with a high privacy fence. She went ten shades red as a neighbor grinned at her as she walked by his porch.

  Another rule of the hunters broken, she realized. She should have veiled herself as she left. Safe houses needed to be anonymous and she’
d let herself be seen leaving. Too late now and a few people were outside, making a last-minute veil impractical.

  She sighed and kept walking. They’ll go on with their day and forget her in a few minutes, she hoped.

  After a few blocks she made it to a small park and decided to rest under one of the trees. She needed to think. Find a way to control the images that swept past her even as she walked.

  Thoughts of Austin. Of that day five years ago that changed her life forever.

  Rebecca Carter was happy, ecstatic, and totally nervous. This was their day. In less than thirty minutes she’d be married to Austin and then he’d whisk her off to her dream vacation in Hawaii. Nothing could ruin it for her.

  She met and fell in love with Austin in training, and when she was still and meditating she could see the love in Austin’s soul. It was a six sense she developed that told her Austin’s love was true and that her late mother was always watching over her. It never failed her. Except for that day.

  Standing in the church, waiting for her father and Austin to take their places and let the ceremonies begin, she felt her mother’s presence with her. Not serene as usual but excited and trying to reach out to her. She thought at the time that she was trying to share in her joy, but seconds later she realized she was wrong. It was a warning.

  The windows shattered with teargas and flash bang grenades. Guests started screaming but it was too late to get out. The grenades went off stunning people and teargas filled the room.

  Gunfire erupted outside and people dropped to the floor crying, not knowing which way was safe. Only guests who were hunters, some shielded, could still move around and they headed straight for the fighting. She was shocked and outraged. Her friends, her extended family, had just been hurt and she was going to make whoever did this pay. She prayed that Austin was safe.

  She turned to head outside and hit the floor. The attack on her mind came so suddenly she almost didn’t have time to defend against it. Her mental defenses went up as she went down and the last thing she remembered was a vision of Mannus laughing at her.