by R. E. Butler
“All right. What if I go turn a fire hose on them?” Vex said.
“Let’s just keep watching them and ensure they don’t do anything worse than hurl insults at the people waiting in line outside.”
They accessed the third floor through the security door connected to the family room on the second floor and took the stairs. At another security door, Vex entered the passcode and opened the door for Mishka. The long hallway was sparsely decorated, with a long carpet runner down the center. The last door on the left was open, and he could hear Harmony laughing.
He entered the room, and she turned as soon as he walked in. “Oh, Mishka!” She ran to him and leaped into his arms. “I felt you coming down the hallway.”
He kissed her as she chuckled. “It’s our bond.”
“It’s freaking cool.”
“I wanted to talk to you about security,” he said as she slid down his body and put her feet on the floor.
“Of course. Let’s go talk in private.” She took Mishka’s hand and led him across the hall, opening a door to another apartment. All the apartments were similar – two bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, and living room – but were decorated in different styles. When he’d converted the building to a club with the coven’s living space underground, he’d anticipated having important guests from time to time, but it turned out people rarely stayed the night in another coven’s home.
Rage shut the door behind them.
“What’s up with security?”
“Brone suggested, and I agree, that as the mistress of the coven, you need to have vampire security. Whenever you’re in the club, and especially if you leave the building, you should have at least two guards.”
She hummed. “It’s important to the coven?”
“I think it could be. But more important than that is there’s a group of malcontents who have made it their mission in life to destroy anyone associated with vampires. They went quiet for a while, but they’ve started protesting again. It’s why you can’t go anywhere alone, even in the club.”
“What is the protestors’ problem?”
“They don’t like vampires or anyone who lives or works with vampires. They’re mostly just idiots with nothing better to do, but some of them are violent. They should all be considered dangerous.”
“I promise I won’t go anywhere alone.”
He nodded. “The guards won’t get in your way; they’ll just be alert for trouble. Any time you’re in the club, two males that Brone wants to assign to you would be with you. Even if your friends wanted to be guards with you, I am still strongly encouraging you to have vampire guards.”
“They’d protect me if I needed it, but I don’t want them to be full-time guards. Who did you have in mind?”
“Their names are Finn and Dolan. They’re not family members, but they’re well-trained guards and have been part of my coven for many years.”
“When can I meet them?”
“After the club closes. I’ve called a meeting with the coven so I can introduce you.”
“Cool. Should I change?”
“You look lovely.”
She made a face. “You’re biased.”
He cupped her face and pressed his lips to hers. “Can’t help it that my mate is beautiful. You could wear a potato sack and I’d still find you irresistible.”
“I’ll go see if Cella has anything ‘mistress of the city’ appropriate. Come with me?”
“Of course.”
On the way down the hall, she leaned into the open door where her friends were gathered and said, “I’ll see you guys downstairs for a coven meet-and-greet after the club closes.”
A chorus of “okay” came from her friends, and she hooked her arm in Mishka’s and smiled up at him.
“Lead the way.”
* * *
Mishka knocked on Cella’s open office door. “Harmony is going to meet the coven tonight, and she wanted to borrow something of yours to wear, since you won’t have an opportunity to take her shopping until tomorrow.”
Cella smiled. “Of course! I have just the thing.”
Harmony kissed Mishka’s cheek and said, “I’ll see you in a little while.”
“You’re in good hands,” he said.
He watched them walk down the hall toward the elevator, and after waving at his beloved, he strode into Temple’s office. “I need a necklace.”
“Oh? You don’t strike me as a jewelry sort of guy,” he said and grinned.
“Not for me. For Harmony. She’s meeting the coven tonight, and Cella is loaning her a dress to wear. I want to give her something that is as beautiful as she is.”
“I know a guy. Do you want to go out or have him come here?”
He glanced toward the elevator. “It would be simpler if he could come to the club.”
“I’ll text Cella and tell her to keep Harmony busy until we’re done. I’ll meet you in the War Room in an hour.”
Nodding, Mishka headed to his office to work until it was time to choose something for his beloved. He nearly headed for the elevator, wanting to see Harmony and spend as much time with her as possible. He found it difficult to be without her, and he finally understood how Brone felt. When Brone first met Arissa, Mishka had asked him to hold off on mating with her because his bites didn’t heal as quickly as a normal vampire’s did. Stopping at Brone’s office, he leaned against the doorjamb.
“I wanted to apologize,” he said.
Brone’s eyes widened. “For what?”
“When you and Arissa were first together, I asked you to wait. I didn’t understand the pull of the beloved bond. I’m bonded completely to Harmony, and I can hardly bear to be apart from her. It must have been hell for you.”
“It wasn’t pleasant, but I understood your reasoning. I would have broken my vow to you if she’d asked me to, but Arissa values you and the coven a great deal. She didn’t want me to betray my honor for her, even though I would have gladly done so.”
“I had no right to ask that of you, and I hope you’ll forgive me.”
Brone was silent for a long moment. “Mating makes males soft in some ways. It’s not a bad thing to be more aware of others. I accept your apology. Forgiven and forgotten.”
Mishka nodded at Brone and resumed his walk to his office. He was thankful for every member of his family. They weren’t just the inner circle of his coven; they were the family of his heart. Harmony was the newest and most important member of his family, and he was thankful that she had been so welcomed. He hoped that the rest of his family found their beloveds.
* * *
“You look amazing,” Mishka said as Harmony walked into his chamber. He was sitting on the bed, waiting for her, his gift heavy in his pocket. She twirled in a circle for him, giggling softly.
“All her stuff is so revealing! You sure do like to have the girls in the office wear sexy stuff.”
He could have denied it, but there was no reason to. She wasn’t jealous; she was teasing him. “Now that I have you, I’m rethinking the sexy clothing. Maybe for you I’ll recommend turtlenecks and floor-length skirts.”
His beloved was truly the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. She was very swiftly becoming his everything.
“Come here, beloved,” he said, his voice tipping huskily.
She moved into the V of his legs and cupped his face as he gripped her hips gently. “Can I tell you something?”
“You may tell me anything.”
“I don’t like being away from you. It’s…difficult. I feel like I can’t breathe unless we’re in the same room.”
If his heart were beating, it would have been racing like a thoroughbred. He so dearly loved to hear that she felt the same. “It’s like that for me, too. When you’re not with me, my thoughts are on you. It feels fast, but because we’re beloveds, we share far more than others ever have an opportunity. You know everything about me. You can access my memories as if they’re your own. I cherish the memories of your childh
ood. Yours was so different from mine.”
“A few centuries difference in birthdates will do that,” she murmured with a smile.
“Indeed. I’ll tell you something now.”
“Anything.”
“My heart is yours, entirely. I want you to be mine in every way, not only as beloveds but also as my wife. Will you marry me?”
Her mouth fell open. Her voice cracked with emotion as she whispered, “Yes, of course I will.”
Sliding his hand into his pocket, he pulled out the diamond necklace he’d picked from the jeweler’s collection. The small diamond and platinum chain was stunning. She gasped and sank to her knees, turning around and lifting her hair off her neck.
“I didn’t plan to ask you to marry me tonight, beloved. I wanted to give you a spectacular piece of jewelry, so I bought this. But as I was waiting for you to join me, I knew that I didn’t want to go another moment without asking you to be mine in every way. Whenever you’d like, we can go pick a ring for you.”
“You’ll wear one too?”
“Whatever you want.”
“Just you,” she said as she turned and gazed up at him from between his legs. “Diamonds are good, too, though.”
* * *
Harmony fidgeted next to him as they stood in the War Room, tugging on the hem of the short dress. “I feel like my butt is hanging out. Is it?” She peeked over her shoulder and looked down toward her bottom.
“No,” he said, trying to hide his smile. “You look delicious.”
She giggled and leaned against him, wrapping her arms around his neck and going onto her tiptoes. “Delicious? I’ve never been called delicious before.”
He kissed her cheek. “I’ll plan to call you it often.”
She looked up at him, a soft smile curving her lush mouth. “I like it when you call me ‘my heart.’”
Brushing his knuckle lightly along her jaw, he said, “You are. If it were beating, it would beat only for you.”
“Complimentary and romantic. You’re a double threat.”
The coven had been instructed to meet in the War Room after the club closed. Sunrise was in ninety minutes, and while most of the coven members lived in the club, there were some who had chosen to live outside of the club and would need to leave in time to beat the sunrise.
Mishka raised a hand, and the quiet murmuring from the coven ceased entirely. Behind him stood the inner circle and the band. Both groups had seamlessly joined together to support them, and Mishka could feel how much that meant to his mate.
“As many of you witnessed yesterday evening, I have found my beloved mate. This is Harmony Celeste. She is a muse, and as my immortal, beloved mate, she is now also mistress of the coven. Her friends join our coven as well, as honored members,” he said, gesturing to her band mates.
Mishka’s inner circle clapped, and the band and coven joined in swiftly. Harmony smiled brightly and winked at Mishka, stepping away to greet the members of the coven as they came to meet her. He watched, from not too far a distance, as she and her bandmates shook the hands of every coven member. Judging by the sincere smiles of the coven, he knew that his people had graciously accepted her.
By the time the last coven member had met the small group and exited, it was nearly sunrise. Mishka’s desire to take his beloved to bed overrode the need for decorum. He swept her up in his arms with a soft growl. She squeaked in surprise and then laughed as she threw her arms around his neck and hugged herself close.
“We’ll talk at sunset,” she called to her group. To him she said, “In a hurry?”
“To get you to our chamber and out of this far-too-short dress?”
“I knew my butt was hanging out!”
“If it were, I’d have slaughtered every unmated pair of eyes that gazed at your lovely curves.”
“There you go again being all sweet,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder.
“Just for you.”
Chapter 8
Mishka held her with one arm as he entered the code for their chamber door and then hurried inside. He laid her down on the bed, his hands sliding down her sides slowly until he reached the hem of the dress.
“No panties?” he murmured softly as he pushed up the dress slowly. Her legs were bare save for the stilettos she’d borrowed. She wasn’t normally a no-panties sort of girl, but being around Mishka made her feel over-the-top sexy.
“Would you have acted differently if you’d known one way or the other?”
He leaned over, resting one knee on the bed next to her legs as he continued to push up her dress. “I don’t know. Maybe. I might have been tempted to slide my hands under your dress and play with your beautiful body.”
“You could do that anyway,” she said. She could feel the cool air of the chamber clashing with her heated skin. Being with Mishka made her body overheat in the best of ways.
He hummed, flicking his golden gaze to her face for the briefest of moments before returning it to her lower body. Pushing the dress up past her hips, he growled softly as he bared her naked body to his gaze, the lack of panties feeling scandalous and risqué.
“You drive me wild, beloved,” he said, bending low to brush his lips over her flesh, his tongue flicking out to gently probe her clit.
“You make me feel so wickedly wanton.”
“I’ll slake your thirst, anytime, anywhere.”
His eyes darkened, the gold turning molten as he inhaled slowly and exhaled with a growl. He pushed her thighs apart roughly, and she gasped, her heart pounding as her breath hitched in her throat.
“This is mine,” he growled, climbing between her spread legs and lifting her lower body from the bed. He held her pussy close to his mouth, her legs bent over his upper arms as he slid his tongue into her. She felt his fangs scrape gently against her flesh, and she cried out at the pleasure that spun through her. He fucked her with his tongue, holding her immobile, half on the bed and half in his arms.
As he speared her over and over, he rubbed her clit with his finger, driving her toward a hard climax. He held her roughly, growling as he licked her pussy and flicked her clit until everything inside her twisted with pleasure and she screamed his name.
He drank her down, practically purring as he fingered her slowly and brought her climax to his lips. Lowering her body to the bed, he undid his belt and pants until his cock was free, the thick length making her mouth water. He looked feral, his eyes dark and wild, his lips glistening with her arousal.
Grasping the hem of his dress shirt, he tore it open, buttons scattering. She reached for the straps of the dress, but he stopped her, tugging them down until the dress was caught at her waist, her breasts freed. He kissed her, drawing her close with a bruising kiss. She slid her hands into his hair, tugging away the band and freeing the dark-blond locks.
He lifted from her mouth and straightened, fisting his cock. She grasped her knees and rolled over, straightening her arms and spreading her knees. He cupped one cheek and spread her apart farther, moving forward until their bodies nearly touched, his thick cock brushing against her wet pussy.
“Fuck, I want you,” she groaned, grabbing hold of the wrought iron headboard.
He pushed in, just until the thick crown of him was inside. “Not as much as I want you.”
She tossed her hair over her shoulder and looked back to watch his face as he guided himself slowly and deeply into her center. He looked awestruck and possessive, his fingers digging into her bottom as he watched. She groaned as he thrust in suddenly, bringing their bodies flush.
“You’re mine,” he said, growling the words.
“Hell yes.”
Watching Mishka’s desire flare brightly as he moved within her made her whole body shiver. He pulled his cock from her pussy and then plunged in. As he fucked her hard and fast, she held his gaze. Releasing her tight hold on the headboard, she touched her clit. She gasped at how sensitive she was, but she wanted to come with him.
“Yes,” he urged
. “My Harmony. My beloved. Mine.”
She rubbed her clit in time to his thrusts, pushing herself forward as pleasure warmed her from the inside out. She felt her climax pool in her belly, twisting little fingers of pleasurable fire all through her. With a shout, she came, her body locking down on his as stars lit her vision and her voice cracked.
He followed her, shouting her name. With a chuckle that was all male, he pulled from her body and wrapped his arms around her, taking her gently to the bed and curling around her.
“That was amazing,” she whispered, still shivering from the pleasure.
“You’re amazing,” he said, kissing her ear and her throat, where her pulse still thundered.
Rolling to face him, she cuddled close and tilted her head to kiss him. When their lips met and parted, she sighed happily as their tongues touched and slid together. He slid his hands up and down her back slowly. “I can’t believe how lucky I am to have found such an amazing mate,” she said.
“I’m the fortunate one,” he said, curling his finger under her chin and lifting it until she was looking at him. “You’re powerful and gorgeous, and you’ve made me feel more in a day than I’ve ever felt in all my five hundred years. I’m entirely besotted with you, Harmony. As far as I’m concerned, the sun rises and sets because you want it to.”
Her cheeks heated as she smiled. “If it were up to me, it would never rise again.”
He kissed her once more and then sat up enough to draw a blanket from the bottom of the bed to cover them. After extinguishing the light, he slid his arms around her and held her close. She’d never felt so safe or so loved in her life. This man, this beautiful, deadly vampire, was the only one who would ever have her heart.
* * *
That night, Harmony left Mishka in his office with his inner circle, and she met her bandmates in Wyst’s apartment to discuss the club and the band’s future.