“Nothing in particular that I could say. Things just felt off. They all answered a question at once, with the same answer—and unless that was planned, it made me think they were hiding something.”
“Could be because I renamed her and haven’t made much of a secret that I’d love to have her for our own.”
“I doubt it. How would that lead to them all speaking at once?”
“Awkward men who can’t communicate their thoughts and feelings well?” I sigh. “It’s our first night back. Let’s give it a rest for now, what do you say?”
“Agreed.” Rafe wiggles his eyebrows. “Besides, I’ll be keeping you warm tonight. We don’t need a dog in the bedroom with us.”
A warm glow of anticipation flows through me. “Sounds good to me.”
He trails both hands up and down my arms, but his face looks preoccupied, like he’s deciding to broach a difficult topic. “There’s something I want to talk to you about.”
“Okay,” I say with an encouraging smile, hoping it’s a dirty thought followed by some dirty action. “Go ahead.”
“I’d like to recommit our mate bond. Do the entire ritual again.”
Surprise lights my face. “Really? So soon? We recommitted ten years ago. And even that’s an oddity as far as I know. Most bond rituals occur once and then never again. Why now?”
He firms his grip on my biceps, squeezing once, then releasing me, tucking his hands in his pockets. “If it wasn’t for the blood exchange we did the night Coraline ambushed us, I’d be dead.”
A shudder runs through me. “I know. And I’d have soon followed, I have no doubt.”
He nods, looking away. He understands what I hide from others, even if he’d rather not talk about it again. I’d rather end my long existence than face living without him. “That exchange saved me. Your blood helped me to heal. And our bond helped keep you alive during the silver torture. I need to make sure we’re as strong as we can be for what lies ahead.”
“Uh-huh,” I say, still unsure why a recommitment of our mate bond matters so much to him right now. “Isn’t that why we hired a wizard to teach you magic?” Could he be stressing about what’s to come, and this is his way of planning for every conceivable result?
“Yes, but that was more like continuing education for a long-term result, not an immediate solution for our current situation. Did you really think I expected to be able to learn enough before the proverbial shit hits the fan with what we’re up against?”
“I’m glad to hear you have realistic expectations. I’d rather not count on anything too new to save us when we need it.”
“Agreed.”
The memories of our last ritual flood my mind, snapshot-like naked images of us rolling around in orgasmic bliss for hours on end flash across my consciousness. Damn, this is going to be a nice bright spot of fun I wasn’t expecting. Seven whole days of sucking and fucking. What more could a horny, power-hungry vampire ask for?
Oh, I know, a private bungalow somewhere, like last time, so we’d have no interruptions. And no obligations. The ritual feels like a dream honeymoon for a vampire. God, our week in the islands was heaven. Peaceful. Quiet. Just the two of us. It felt like we were the only two souls on earth. Since a recreation of that scenario is not an option at the moment, I’ll settle for wild, blood-filled sex every day—no problem.
The power surge experienced during a mate bond makes for a potent aphrodisiac. Warmth floods my mid-section, trailing downward to the juncture between my thighs. Holy crap, I think my panties are damp. Me! The woman who experienced sexual satiation on the plane home only a few short hours ago. I obviously have no problem becoming aroused again so soon.
Damn, I love that man.
I draw away and take a seat on the couch, patting the cushion next to me, an inviting smile stretching my face. “I have no idea what’s in store for us in the coming weeks, but only a fool would turn down a chance to reconnect and strengthen our ties.”
“Good,” my husband says, looking like a weight has been lifted from him. He notes my sexy, come-hither expression and smiles. “Hold that thought. Let me go check on Asa. Get him started on the journal scanning, and then I’ll be right back.”
He opens the door and strides down the hall toward the basement entrance just off the kitchen.
“Huh. I think I just got rain-checked on having sex.” A devilish thought occurs to me. “I’m going to make him want it really, really bad.”
I chuckle as I walk to our bedroom, stripping my clothing as I go.
CHAPTER FIVE
RAFE
I rush down the stairs, eager to get Asa started, so I can race back up to be with Dria. Her agreement to the idea immediately stirred an eagerness I haven’t felt in a while. Despite this being a really stressful time for all of us, we’ll have a way to work off that stress together and strengthen our ties at the same time.
After a few minutes, I’ve relayed our meeting with Jon to Asa, and passed on the information we uncovered. Asa’s going to research the names from the Tribunal’s list and see what he can uncover, but only after he’s gotten a jump on scanning the journals. He didn’t appear too hopeful when I told him some of the names were from over a hundred years ago.
“Are you sure you want to get started right away?” I ask while settling the first stack of leather-bound journals on the long table. “We dropped a lot on you with the possibility of a long-lost brother and I’d completely understand if you want to deal with that situation first.”
The young soldier dips his chin in thanks. “Appreciate it, boss man, but the knowledge in the journals is time sensitive for the next leg of this plan, right? Time is something we don’t have much of if I’m understanding the scope of the threat correctly. And despite me wanting to work as long as I can, I’ll be asleep for the day by four a.m.”
At my raised eyebrows, Asa adds, “Vivian spiking the bagged blood helps us stay awake, don’t get me wrong, but the effects don’t last forever against the natural pull of the sun for a restorative sleep.” He smiles, possibly to show he’s sincere in the offer to work first. “And besides, if he really is my brother, I don’t need to barge in on him this late for an unexpected reunion. How about if we arrange something for tomorrow night, after Eric gets back from the mail transport and I have a chance to wake up?”
I nod. “Okay, as long as you’re sure.”
“Yeah,” he says while reaching for the first journal. He flips open the cover, pausing when he catches sight of the date. I look over his shoulder to see what made him hesitate.
May 15, 1451
“I can’t even fathom being around for a hundred years let alone living for over five centuries,” he says. “Insane.”
The black ink has faded only a little on the thick paper. My wife’s precise handwriting fills the page, easy to read, teasing me with the desire to see what she felt was important enough to keep record of.
“Does it matter which one we start with?” he asks.
“Obviously, it would be thorough of us to start with the oldest ones. But Viv claims she didn’t sire any vampires the first seventy years or so. Something about hiding a lot and trying desperately to survive unnoticed by her fellow undead. Not to mention learning to master her manipulator skills on the down low. I got the impression she isolated herself from her kind for a long time.”
“What if she’s remembering wrong?”
My eyebrows creep up. “That’s a viable point. She could be. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. How about you start with scanning the journals with dates after fifteen-hundred, and then create a file named with the start and end dates contained on the first and last pages? After you complete the first one, I’ll launch a search in the file for words and phrases that may point me in the right direction.”
He nods and looks through the stack, selecting one with a start date of 1503. After lifting the lid on the flatbed scanner I brought down earlier, he carefully spreads the ancient journal open to lie
flush on the glass surface and scans two pages at one time. Once the first pages are captured, he turns the page and scans again. The job is easy, but time consuming.
It takes him almost a half hour to finish the first book. Twice during the process, I felt Dria’s presence in my mind. Like she was checking to make sure Asa stuck to the job at hand and didn’t indulge in reading any of the entries. She always has had trust issues.
Once he compiles all the scans and converts them into a document with searchable text, he sends it to me via email. “One down. Forty-nine more to go,” he says with a mock grimace. This is going to be time consuming job. “At this rate, and considering I have limited waking hours this time of year, I think it’ll take me at least three days.”
“Duly noted. You get started on the next one and after I look through this first file, I’ll see about commandeering another scanner. No reason why I can’t help with scanning, too.”
I settle into a chair in front of one of the terminals, and open the document he sent. After scrolling through for a few minutes, I grab a notebook and start taking notes.
Asa sees me writing and looks like he can’t resist the curiosity pulling him. “Find anything?”
“There’s a list of what I can only assume are ‘rules’ she made up at some point.”
“Oh, really?” Asa says, his eyebrows creeping up his forehead. “Care to share?”
I shrug, unable to see the harm in sharing something so small. “It’s probably nothing you haven’t already heard from her, I’m sure.” I read the list aloud. “One, never turn a witch. Two, never turn a child. Three, never turn your mate,” my voice hesitates on the last one. I hadn’t expected to see a rule on never changing your bonded mate. We’ve talked about it a lot and she’s open to turning me when the inevitability happens. “And the last one: Four, never lose control during a feeding.”
Silence hangs between us for a moment while we both digest her words.
“Believe it or not,” Asa says, “she didn’t cover any of those with me, and neither did my maker or Cy. Cali told me the horror of changing a child, and how they never grow physically or mentally beyond a certain point. Apparently, if you change them too young, the result can become a pint-sized and blood-crazed sociopathic killer.”
“That makes sense.” I grimace. “And paints an utterly horrible picture.” I turn back to the job and create columns on the yellow paper.
“Anything else in there that’s safe to share?”
“No idea. I’m starting a timeline with names, dates, and places mentioned. Figured it might come in handy as I continue.”
He nods while continuing to scan pages. A name I’ve never heard before jumps out at me from the text. Finnegan. Huh. I read a bit further and shake my head. It’s a good thing I’ve never been the jealous type. Especially when I discover another former husband I didn’t know about.
Pushing the discovery out of my mind to deal with later, I decide to return upstairs to seduce my wife into starting the mate bond ritual again. There will be plenty of time to read these pages when I’m hyped up from our blood exchange.
I may not have been her first husband, or even her second. But, Fates willing, I will be her last. Nodding to Asa, I leave the command center and make my way back upstairs.
The aroma of vanilla drifts down the hall. There’s a flickering light as well, coming from our bedroom. Intrigued, I follow my nose and my heart.
I cross the threshold of our bedroom with my heart thudding loudly in my chest. Tall, short, round and square candles line the room’s every surface. Their warm glow the our illumination.
Dria lies in a silk robe, reclined against the headboard, a sensual smile curving her lips. Between us stands the small round table where we normally sit and enjoy coffee. On its surface, she’s spread out a beautiful tapestry, one with swirling designs and geometric patterns combined. I’m not sure where she got it, but she’s used it before when we’ve had a ritual. And judging by the chalice and silver knife laid so innocently on its surface, she’s ready for us to begin our mate bond.
My pulse quickens as a smile draws the skin tight across my face. “So, I take it you want to jump right in?”
A rich, seductive chuckle spills into the air. “You asked. I agreed.” She sits up. “You’re right. It’s a good idea.” Her eyebrows wiggle. “Am I saying all the things you want to hear so you’ll get naked?”
I grab my shirt hem and pull the fabric over my head, tossing the material toward the club chairs Dria has pushed against the walls. “You’ll get no argument from me.”
I step closer, my eyes landing on the cup and knife laid out on the fabric. To my surprise the cup is not empty, but is filled halfway with a dark red liquid that can only be one thing.
“Did you start without me?”
“I didn’t start without you, per se. But I thought it wise to get the ritual started.” She stands, the green silk robe delicately hugging her curves. She joins me by the table, and links her hand with mine. “Say the words with me, my love.”
She picks up the fancy chalice on the table and holds it between us. I lock gazes with her, seeing a portion of my own soul reflected in her eyes as she stares back.
With a slight nod of her chin, she opens her mouth to speak, and the words rush unbidden to my lips as I repeat along with her, “My life is your life, the blood in our veins will bind us for all eternity. There is no beginning, there is no end, there is only one. We combine to make a bond that is unbreakable, binding your soul to mine.”
As before when we’d done the ritual, each and every time, I feel a tingle along my nerve endings. It’s not magic, well not magic in the truest sense of the word. But there are lots of energies swirling around—energy in the air, energy between us, and energy that binds us. And no matter what you call it, magic, woo-woo, or just good thoughts, whatever the hell it is, is real and I feel it. I feel it with her. I feel every moment of our lives coalesce between us, to become a real living thing.
“Drink of me, my love, gain strength from me. Like I do from you.” Dria’s eyes appear slightly damp, as if the emotions she’s feeling fill her as mine do for me.
I take the goblet from her grasp, and even knowing exactly what’s inside and what the taste will be, I still drink. As the glass touches my lips and the tang of iron from her blood crosses my tongue, I swallow it down never hesitating. Never stopping. Drinking down the lifeblood that runs through my wife’s veins, knowing her eternal life is bound to my mortal one.
The warmth and viscosity of the liquid doesn’t disgust me as it used to. It no longer scares me as it did the first time. I know now what true power is. As her strength seeps into my body, I feel her—her life, her energy—become one with mine. Her vitality flows through my veins, pulsing to my muscles, filling my head with wonderment, and confusing my senses with the brilliance of the room around me.
The candles glow brighter, their subtle heat a warm breeze against my skin. My jeans, snugger than usual with the blood rushing toward my cock, now feel even tighter.
“Your cheeks are flushed, Rafe. I bet you’re starting to feel toasty in all my favorite places.”
“How would you like to proceed?” I motion toward the knife on the table. “Do you want to drink from the glass as well?” One eyebrow quirks up sardonically, I know she doesn’t want to drink of me from a cup. I know what she wants. But do I make her ask for it? That could be fun. Or do I simply give her what she wants?
“Don’t go playing coy with me now. I can read your mind. Do you really question what I want? Do you really wonder what I want to feel? Or is that you’ve always known, because of our bond?”
No. She’s right. I do know what she wants. And it’s not due to the vivid images coursing through her mind. They are colorful and filled with erotic detail. No, I know what she wants, because it’s what I want. I want to make love to her all night long. I want our bodies to join and flow as one, just as our blood soon will.
Without
another word, my hand goes to the top button of my pants. Her eyes dart down, taking in exactly what I’m doing. I watch her every moment, gauging her reaction, feeling what she feels as her blood pounds through my veins. The stiffness of my aching cock hammers its need behind my fly, straining to get out, straining to be exactly where I want. Which will be deep inside my wife.
Her tongue darts out and licks her lips. She reaches out to touch me. And draws back, almost as if remembering she wanted to tease me more. To not succumb to my desires as quickly as she might want to. Seems she’s forgotten I can read her mind, too.
I separate the fabric at the top of my pants, and my zipper eases down, seemingly of its own accord, but it’s more that the jeans are well-worn and the zipper knows its path. Tight black boxers conceal the engorged length of my prick. Seeing her not give in to her desires pushes me to be even more bold than I normally am.
I ease my jeans down over my hips, stopping at my thighs, allowing the fabric to trap my legs. The tight underwear showcases the round, dark-pink head of my cock pushing above the elastic waistband.
“You know what you want, Dria. How long are you going to resist?”
“You like to tease, don’t you?”
I shrug, the action drawing her gaze from my crotch to my exposed bare chest. With her blood pumping through me, our bond is even greater, allowing me to slip into her mind as easily as she would slip into mine. Normally, I can only get this close to her thoughts when she’s sleeping. When her guard is down. When she is open.
Every time we’ve experienced the mate bond ritual we end up closer than ever. Closer than she may like. But never close enough for me. Every fiber of my being is intertwined with hers—I can feel her hesitation. She’s refusing to allow herself to reach forward and touch my bare flesh.
The desire for me boiling in her body is a seedy rush of power in my head. She wants me, all of me, every inch of me sliding into her, she wants my mind and hers to be one, just as our bodies are—or as they will be very soon if I have my way.
“Dria, why do you resist the pull inside yourself? You know you can always take me whenever you want. I’m putty in your hands, my love.”
Sharpen the Blade (The V V Inn Book 6) Page 5