She sat on the chaise lounge in my office, holding a ripped blouse over her bare breasts —a weak attempt to hide her naked body. Her heartbeat raced, and she stole glances at the door each time she thought I wasn’t paying attention.
The pungent smell of sex permeated the air. I’d taken my pleasure and my fury out on her. I should’ve killed her for betraying me, for stealing away with my prisoners, but I needed her to further my power in the SECR government. If she was dead, she wasn’t useful. And she was still very useful, even if she was behaving badly.
The fight in the street had gone south quickly. The Drakonae in dragon-form gave me no choice but to leave in a hurry. I couldn’t fight him, not without shifting myself, and I refused to reveal that card to the humans.
They killed dozens of my soldiers before I secured Manda. And I nearly lost her to a fucking Phoenix of all things. A Phoenix… I hadn’t come across one of those in centuries. Rose had a few more tricks up her sleeve than I’d anticipated. Who else had she talked into joining her merry band?
All the other prisoners had been lost. Charlie. Eira. The Kitsune female and her baby. Gone. I needed that baby.
The only ones that didn’t escape were the Lycans I’d already killed. At least the death of Charlie’s parents would be a heavy blow to the pack.
Bitch. I gave Manda another glare and snarled.
I was left with a rebellious Djinn who could barely be controlled. Even after taking away her teleportation abilities and torturing her at every opportunity, the female still seemed more determined than ever to undermine my plans.
Humans were fickle creatures, though. If I killed her now, it would create a power vacuum in the SECR, and her open position in the government would attract more attention and chaos than I wanted to deal with at the moment. I needed to have a lieutenant beneath her to step in, but I didn’t yet. Losing the Kitsune baby was a huge setback for another project. Now everything had to start from scratch again.
Fucking vampire. Fucking dragon.
“You fucking bitch, you just had to stick your neck out. They will never trust you again. Even after letting them out of those cages. If you think they’ll ever talk to you or even look at you, you’re wrong.” I reached out in the air with my empty hand and curled my power around her neck, squeezing until she began to gasp for air. She dropped the blouse and clawed at her neck, as if she could remove the invisible force that held her tightly.
“Please,” she coughed. “Master.”
“That doesn’t work anymore,” I answered, clenching my fist tighter. Then I pushed out my arm and launched her through the air. Her body hit the wall of my office with a thud, and she fell into a heap on the hardwood floor.
She raised her head and met my gaze, revealing the spark of determination I’d hoped the last beating and fucking had knocked out of her. It hadn’t.
This strength of will was what made her such a strong queen and such a valuable asset in my war. No matter how hard I hit, she just kept getting back up. But I hadn’t climbed to where I was today by allowing a woman to dictate my actions. She would pay for this mistake like she’d paid for the ones before it.
I just needed the right victim. She was willing to let some of the Lycans die. She’d even tried to kill herself to escape me. That needed to be nipped in the bud immediately.
“Get up.”
She climbed to her feet and wiped blood from her bottom lip. “Just kill me. It would make both of our lives simpler.”
“If you don’t start following orders like a good little bitch, I’m going to kill someone.” My lips turned up into a wicked smile as the answer to my problem popped into my head. “It’s just not going to be you.”
If she was afraid, she didn’t show it.
“I’ll just keep trying. I refuse to continue to help you gain even more power.”
“You will help me. I don’t offer choices. You will serve me in all capacities or I will bring your ladies-in-waiting out of the quppu boxes they’re in and kill them one at a time in front of you. If that doesn’t motivate you, I’ll bring out the rest of your court and kill them slowly and painfully while you watch. So they can know their queen chose the lives of others over her own people.”
“You are a bastard, Xerxes Amir Hilah.”
“I take it we have an agreement then. From here on out, each misstep will cost you the life of one you hold dear.”
Her gaze sank to the floor, and her head bobbed slowly. “I will do as you wish.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
KILLÍAN
Mikjáll stood at the wall of steel barring the entrance to the mine. His body heated the air around him like furnace. In fact, between his heat and Jared’s, the entire mineshaft was warm and toasty, unlike the biting winter air that swirled outside.
I wiped sweat from my brow. “Can you see anything?”
“No.”
He was a man of few words, but vigilant. Plus, having a Drakonae on our side put us in a pretty good position to fight off almost anything. Still, it was dangerous for him or any of the others to expose themselves. The fight in town where he and Jared’d shifted would cost them.
Everything was videoed and recorded these days. They would be hunted. Jared had exposed his entire species to help save the group. His loyalty to Sanctuary was overwhelming. What was it about that place that made powerful supernatural beings who preferred to live alone band together and fight to save each other?
Rose had achieved something that no other being had been able to create over the course of thousands of years. A place where Others, as the humans called us, lived harmoniously and worked together for the greater good of the world.
They were protecting something. I just wasn’t sure what.
A moment later, Eira appeared in front of the small opening where Mikjáll stood, and he stepped back to let her inside.
Her eyes were wide. Even in the low firelight from Jared’s lit hands, I could see her eyes had turned almost completely red.
“Eira.” I stepped forward, and she turned her head to face me. Her tongue traced the edge of her lips, and she curled her mouth into a snarl. The edges of her fangs peeked from beneath her top lip.
“Who’s next?” she growled.
Her body was trembling, and her hands clenched and unclenched at her side.
“You have to drink, Eira,” Mikjáll said, stepping up behind her.
A blood-chilling hiss erupted from her mouth. She lunged at him, but he caught her before she could bite into his shoulder.
She struggled in his arms, cursing him in a variety of languages.
“Eira!” I said, hoping my voice would cut through the pain of the hunger. She couldn’t drink from the vein without connecting that person to her permanently. She knew this. But she’d let herself go too long. Her body was starving.
I moved forward slowly. “My beloved. You waited too long. You need to feed, but not from Mikjáll.” Pulling a knife from a sheath on my thigh, I drew up my long sleeve and pressed the blade into the flesh of my forearm.
Another growl from her sent a cold chill through me, but I knew she was still in there. Even though her beast was straining to kill, she would be able to regain control. She had fought through her hunger in the barn that first day she appeared in my life again.
My blood ran across my arm and dripped to the ground.
“You ready?” Mikjáll caught my gaze.
I nodded, and he released her from his constricting hold.
She lunged forward and sank her teeth into my arm.
Pain flowered for a moment before the enzyme in her fangs deadened the bite, erasing the sting. She drank deeply, each pull taking a good amount of blood. There would be no way I could feed her again tonight and stay conscious.
Using my free hand, I ran my fingers over her head and through the loose strands of her hair in the tightly bound ponytail.
“You are so strong, Eira. You can do this.”
Her mouth closed over my arm. T
he light touch of her tongue caressed my arm, and I knew she’d returned to me.
A long sigh slipped from my chest.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, the weight of the world reflected in the azure pools of her eyes.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “We would all be trapped here if it wasn’t for your ability to move so quickly and the strength to carry others with you.”
“He’s right,” Mikjáll said. “Take Killían and another with you this time. I’ll feed you next time.”
Her postured relaxed as she realized we weren’t going to hold her loss of control over her head.
I reached for her, slipping my hand around the base of her head and pulled her close, claiming her mouth with mine. She tasted of copper, but I needed to feel her close to me right now and didn’t care.
Her arms looped around my neck, and our tongues danced between our mouths, tasting and thrusting. We both wanted more. Needed more.
“Once we are all at the lake, my love, then I want a real taste,” I said, murmuring the words slowly against her lips as we kissed.
A smile played over her face as she pulled away. “Promise?”
“Can we just get moving? You guys can fuck later,” Mikjáll said, his voice mixed with equal portions of amusement and irritation.
Eira’s eyes rolled, but she turned to the Drakonae male with the patience of a nun.
“Who should I take with Killían?” She appeased his impatience by allowing him to direct who left the mine next.
His aggressive stance melted away in an instant. “The woman and baby. If we have to run, she won’t be able to. Riza,” he called out.
The small black-and-red-haired woman appeared from the shadows, clutching the bundle of blankets hiding her baby from view tightly in her arms.
The hulking Drakonae male rubbed his hands up and down the female’s arms and whispered a few words of encouragement and assurance that Eira meant her and the baby no harm.
Eira’s mouth curved into a smile, and she extended her arm toward the woman and baby.
She left Mikjáll’s side and stepped toward Eira.
Eira wrapped one arm around the woman’s waist and her other arm around my waist.
“Take a deep breath,” Eira directed.
I sucked in a breath and felt her leap into motion. We blurred though the mine opening. Time seemed to stand still as the world around us passed by so quickly. I could barely tell where the ground stopped and the midnight blue sky started.
A few minutes later, she stopped on the porch of a small house situated on the banks of a large lake. The water rippled in the soft breeze whipping across my face. The clouds were scattered here, and the moon hung in the sky like a huge gemstone.
Candles burned inside, twinkling through the large bay window. The scent of food drifted from the house.
“Go in and eat,” Eira said, releasing me from her hold.
I leaned into to her before she could disappear again. “Be sure you feed before you make another trip. Do not let it go like that again.”
She nodded and moved her mouth to my ear. “Take care of Riza until I bring Mikjáll over. He seems to have connected with her.”
I nodded, putting a hand on Riza’s shoulder, helping her unsteady form up the porch steps to the front door. When I glanced over my shoulder, Eira was gone.
The next hour passed painfully, second dragging to second. Each time Eira returned with more of our group, I could feel a little more tension fade from the room.
She brought the rest of the Lycans before she brought over Mikjáll and Jared. The Gryphon, Alek, arrived last of all.
The breath I’d been holding since she dropped me at the steps finally released when the door opened and she walked in with the big badass guy who called himself Sanctuary’s sheriff.
Four hundred miles between us and Savannah should help slow down the soldiers searching for us. Because of how fast Eira could move, their satellites wouldn’t be able to track her movements once she blurred. She didn’t have a heat signature herself, and when she moved that fast, our heat signatures wouldn’t register, either.
“Eira.” I stood from the table and pulled her into my arms. Her clothes were clean, thanks to the special enchantment, but her skin was dark from all the grime of running, making her once creamy skin a little on the brown side. “Thank the gods,” I said, nuzzling her neck and taking a deep breath of her scent.
“Here,” Mikjáll’s deep voice rumbled behind me. I turned and took the coffee mug from his hand. “For her.” His gaze flicked to Eira’s and then to mine again. “We would’ve had to fight again or run all night if not for your sacrifice. I know you pushed yourself to the very edge of your abilities. Thank you.”
A sigh slipped from Eira’s chest. “Besides the Mason pack, my friends in Sanctuary are the closest thing I have to family.”
“I’m lucky to count you among friends, Eira Rennir. You saved my mother’s life, and that’s a debt I can never repay.”
Eira loosened her grip on my neck and stared down the seven-foot giant man. “You can take the time to get to know your mother and fathers. That is how you can repay me. Believe me, if I had the chance to talk to my mother or father again, I would trade anything for it. You have that chance. Don’t squander it. This will not be the last fight with Xerxes.”
Shame flickered across the Drakonae male’s face for a brief moment before he masked it again and answered, “I will.”
“Come, my beloved. You need a bath, a drink, and some rest.” I slipped my arm around her waist and headed her toward the stairs after Mikjáll disappeared into the kitchen.
“Is everyone okay?” She pulled away, but I tightened my grip.
“They are fine. The guys are patching up the ones with wounds, but most of them are already well on their way to being completely healed. You are coming with me.” I handed her the coffee cup full of the Drakonae’s blood. “Drink this while I get your bath started.”
She finally relented and allowed me to lead her upstairs. A satisfied moan slipped from her throat after the first sip from the mug. Strangely enough, I was jealous that the dragon was able to feed her more than once in a night without feeling sick. I was still woozy from feeding multiple times this evening. The stew Travis had whipped up helped re-energize me, but I knew if I had offered again and she fed, I would’ve passed out.
“Are you okay, Killían?” she asked as we entered the bedroom at the top of the stairs.
“I’m fine, love.”
The master suite was beachy with just a touch of feminine taste. A large bed underneath a light blue comforter lay to our right. Two square wooden end tables sat at either side with a plain white ceramic lamp with cream shades. The whole room was neutral blues and creams, mixed with the natural wood colors.
I walked through the room to the bathroom and started filling the large claw-foot soaker tub in the center of the room. Soon steam rose from the water, filling the small area with a soft mist.
The mirror on the wall reflected Eira as she followed me into the bathroom. She put her mug on the counter, and I turned to face her. Desire made my heart pound as she slowly pulled her shirt off, baring her smooth torso. The purple bra was next. Her dark pink nipples and the perfect rise of her breasts arrested my focus. The way they bounced just a little with each movement.
She kicked off her boots. Then her still-pristine pants hit the floor along with some bright pink panties.
A smile curved my lips as I perused her gorgeous body completely naked except for a pair of black socks.
She folded one leg up at a time and removed them as well. The skin that had been hidden by her clothing was milky white, while her face and arms were nearly as brown as my much darker complexion.
“Come.” I patted the side of the tub.
The exhaustion in her eyes only moments ago had disappeared, replaced by a spark of desire as she sauntered closer. She stepped over the ledge of the tub and took my hand as she sat, sink
ing below the hot water.
She used her foot to move the lever and turn off the flow gushing from the chrome faucet.
“This is heaven. Thank you.” She slipped beneath the surface, allowing the water to flow over her head and soak her long, dark hair. As she rose up again, water ran in rivulets down her cheeks and shoulders. Her hair floated around her shoulders as she leaned backward a little and rested against the porcelain wall of the tub.
I grabbed a loofah from the basket on the corner of the tub and squirted out some bath gel. “Turn around, love.”
She turned and moved her hair to the front, exposing her shoulders.
I swirled the loofah around her shoulders, falling into a pattern as I lathered her entire back, dipping my hand beneath the water’s surface to massage lower. The small moans and sighs slipping from between her lips had me as hard as steel.
She twisted in the water, and suddenly, I was massaging her breasts instead. Dropping the loofah, and I slipped my other hand into the water as well, soaking the sleeve of my shirt, but I didn’t care. My fingers trailed along her abdomen to the juncture of her thighs. A quick caress to her swollen clit elicited a throaty gasp of pleasure.
Eira leaned closer, pressing her mouth over mine, driving her tongue between my lips and tasting the inside of my mouth. She was my paradise, and I wanted her out of the water and in my arms.
I climbed to my feet and lifted her as I did.
“What about my bath?” It was a half-hearted whine at best.
“I’ll run you another later.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
EIRA
The dry cotton sheets met the cool damp skin of my back as Killían laid me down. He pulled off his shirt, revealing his tanned muscled torso. The years had been kind to him. His physique had barely changed from the man I’d known so many centuries ago. Perhaps a few grey hairs speckled behind his ears, but nothing worth mentioning except as a tease.
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