Lorraine rubbed her chin on his shoulder. “I was sort of thrown in at the deep end, knowing those horrible men were trying to murder you. Someone had to save you.”
“I am very grateful it was you.” He bit her earlobe hard enough to make her yelp.
“Then there is the little matter of Adam and Herman, sent by Sergey to, umm—” She broke off, searching for the appropriate word. “Acquire me. He wanted to acquire me. I really thought they were decent men, Andor. I would have been fooled by them. If you hadn’t been able to stop them, they would have invited that puppet into the circle of safety you put up and for all I know, I would be dead.”
She rocked on his cock, sending waves of pleasure spiraling through him. It was enough to distract him for a moment. Just that lazy movement between them brought with it an indulgence he’d never known. There was no place they needed to be. Nothing imperative to do. They had this time together, just the two of them. They had come together earlier in heat and fire, now the slow burn felt right. Perfection. Just what both needed.
“Honey.” She turned her head to nibble on his chin and kiss her way over his throat. “I don’t know if I ever thanked you for helping me out during that fight. I was so certain I was right and those men needed help.”
“I have been tracking and destroying vampires for centuries, Lorraine. I have a little more experience than you.”
“How did Sergey even know about me in the first place? I was camping out there for a little while before I heard those men determined to kill you.”
“And you attacked them with that saucepot. Seriously, csecsemõ, I wouldn’t try that again. I can see you are determined to learn to fight these creatures, and I am trying my best to look at all the reasons why it is a good idea that you do learn, but saucepots are out.”
She laughed softly, the sound muffled against his neck. The vibration running through her body surrounded his cock, the hot, tight sheath bathing him in scorching liquid and clamping down hard enough that when she moved, the friction set his teeth on edge. The lazy heat was becoming hotter and faster than he expected.
“How did he know I was there?”
“He knew I had attacked seven of his vampires. Two were very good in a battle. Very good. They had experience and, although it didn’t match mine, Sergey could not have known that. All he knew was that a hunter had taken out seven of his crew. He knew I was wounded and guessed correctly that those wounds were mortal and I was dying. He wanted to finish the job so he sent his spies. Did you see the crows? Those were his spies. He uses birds often. If you look around the compound, outside the fenced-in area, you will see flocks of birds.”
She gave a delicate little shudder. He felt that, too. When she moved, sliding around to straddle him, she pivoted on his shaft, and the action sent flames shooting up his spine. His hands went to her waist, fingers biting deep as streaks of fire raced up his cock. The water lapped at her nipples where her breasts floated enticingly. She looked right into his eyes, smiling as she began to move her hips, riding him, sliding up and down, so that the heat and fire consumed him.
“You were talking about birds.”
“I want to talk about how you make me feel, but I can barely breathe.”
She leaned forward to press kisses over his pulse. “Imagine what I can do when I’m like you. Carpathian. I can take your blood, Andor. When I’m straddling your thighs and your cock is so deep inside me, I can just lean forward like this and help myself to that delicious taste of yours.”
His cock hardened and swelled more, stretching her, lengthening, growing to limits he hadn’t known were possible without completely detonating. Her mouth was suddenly on his, and it was like she touched a match to a hundred sticks of dynamite. Everything in him went up in flames. Completely ignited with her mouth on him.
He took over, his cock surging deep into her over and over. He lifted her and pushed her down over top of him, feeling that burn ride up his calves to his thighs. Water splashed over the top of the rock wall. She ground down as he thrust up, adding to the maelstrom of need that took over both of them.
He read that dark hunger in her eyes. Saw it in the flush over her face. Felt it in the gripping of her sheath. “Tet vigyázam. I love you, Lorraine. You bring me tremendous joy.”
He waited until he heard that singsong music that heralded the arrival of her orgasm. It washed over both of them like a tsunami, taking him with her so that his declaration was nearly lost in the shout of her name. Her soft cry was muffled by his shoulder where she collapsed again, holding him tight, pressing her breasts into his chest and her body down over his.
“I love you because you are you, Lorraine. You. Not because you were chosen as my lifemate. It is you.”
“I’m not so freaked out by the lifemate thing anymore, Andor,” she admitted. She turned her head to one side, her green eyes looking up at him. “Whatever it is, I know I would choose you with or without it. You were born for me. It was as if someone created you for me and me for you.”
He was wise enough not to say that was exactly what a lifemate was.
“I love you, too. I don’t know how that happened, but I know I do. I’m going to learn to say it perfectly in your language.” She kissed his throat. “Say it again. Teach it to me.”
So he did.
16
Emeline, Dragomir’s lifemate, was every bit as gorgeous as Genevieve had said she was. Her hair was a true black with bluish highlights shining through when the light hit it. She was definitely pregnant, although, in Lorraine’s opinion, on the small side. Andor escorted Lorraine up the steps to the porch of the home the couple occupied. Dragomir stood behind Emeline, his arms around her, both hands clasped around her baby bump, as if protecting them both.
“Lorraine,” Dragomir greeted. “This is my lifemate, Emeline. Hän sívamak, this is Lorraine, Andor’s lifemate. She’s a very brave woman and will be a tremendous asset to the compound.” There was a note of pride in his voice.
Lorraine wasn’t certain if the pride was for Emeline, or for her prowess as a fighter. In any case, Emeline burst out laughing.
“Dragomir, there is no doubt that Lorraine will be an asset to the compound, but it is so like you Carpathian males to put that first.” She turned her attention to Lorraine, although she pushed against Dragomir’s chest with the back of her head, as if nuzzling him with all that long, glossy hair. “I have no doubt that we’ll get along quite well, Lorraine. Come sit down.” She waved toward the comfortable-looking chairs on the porch. “Andor, it’s nice to see you again. I’m very happy for you that you found Lorraine.”
Andor’s bow was almost courtly. “Thank you.”
That was all he said. Lorraine looked from Dragomir to Andor. They didn’t appear uncomfortable with the women. Dragomir had been one of the ancients who’d arrived to help them at the campsite. He’d given blood to the others and had never once seemed uncomfortable with her. She looked back over her experience and realized only Gary, Ferro and Sandu talked very much to her, and then only after their souls had been tied together.
Andor leaned down to kiss her as she sat in one of the chairs facing the playground. “I am going to talk with Tariq again, sívamet. Will you be all right without me?”
For a moment, her fingers, of their own will, clutched at his shirt. She realized what she was doing and forced herself to let him go. It wasn’t that she was afraid to be on her own—she wanted the opportunity to talk with Emeline—it was the fact that she didn’t want the separation from him.
You can always reach out to me. Meeting or no meeting, I will always respond.
The air left her lungs in a little rush. She thought she’d handled him sleeping belowground without a problem, but just this small panic attack made her realize she hadn’t. I’ll be fine. Just know that I will expect a full report, especially if I’m in any way the topic of conversation.
> She touched the back of her head where Gary had healed the laceration on her scalp. It was smooth. There was no pain. Nothing at all to make her think Sergey had placed something inside the wound. Her body gave a little shudder. She itched between her shoulder blades as if there was an invisible target on her back. It bothered her more than she wanted to admit that none of the Carpathians examining her had found anything at all.
When Andor had brought her back from the cave, she’d asked that they try again. This time, several shed their bodies and inspected her with meticulous care. Petru and Benedek had joined ancients named Siv and Val. All four had tried to find something, even a small dark spot somewhere inside her that might indicate Sergey had left a piece of him behind.
When the ancients had returned to their bodies, shaking their heads, four more had examined her—again at her own request. She’d made it clear she was uncomfortable being around the children or women, especially Emeline, who was pregnant, if she wasn’t cleared. Three more Carpathians, triplets Tomas, Matias and Lojos, joined the grim-faced ancient she’d been introduced to earlier as Nicu. He had a curved scar on his face. The four of them had emerged some time later shaking their heads.
Andor had brought her to meet Emeline, reassuring her that if she had been a danger, with all of them hunting so aggressively, they would have found it. She watched the two Carpathian males stride across the open grass. Dragomir reached down to swing Lourdes into the air. Andor did the same for Bella. The two little girls squealed with delight. The two men set them on the backs of the stone dragons guarding the playground.
“Dragomir is going to make a good father, isn’t he?” Lorraine observed.
Emeline smiled. “Yes, he is. He saved us. Our baby. He was patient and kind. I was so beaten down when he arrived. Vadim’s blood burned like acid day and night. The baby screamed in pain. I couldn’t sleep or eat. I knew I was going to have to tell Tariq, but I was terrified they would want to kill the baby. She was mine. I chose her. I told her I’d protect her. I couldn’t go back on my word, but had no idea of what to do. I think being sleep-deprived and hurting every minute took its toll. I really was confused and couldn’t seem to make decisions. Thankfully, Dragomir changed all that.”
“How does it work? Dragomir’s blood has replaced all of Vadim’s in both of you, but how does that work now? I don’t understand very much about the Carpathian world. Andor told me that the girls would be easy to convert, but that Danny would have to go to the Carpathian Mountains.”
Emeline nodded. “My daughter is safe now. Tariq and Charlotte want to convert Amelia and the two little girls. They could do that now, although Tariq wants to wait to make certain he has word from the prince and those working to make sure our children survive that Lourdes and Bella can live through the intensity of a conversion at their age. They know Amelia can. Liv is younger, and she did. But Danny . . .”
“The girls won’t convert until they all can?” Lorraine confirmed.
“That’s what they say. It may take time before Tariq can take Danny to Europe. It would be a fast trip, but we’re in the middle of a war with Sergey, and now Dragomir has said Vadim is still alive.” Emeline put a defensive hand to her throat. “I wanted to believe he was dead. We all did. Now . . . I’m terrified he might want to come after the baby, although he appears to only want males, not females. He probably is afraid the baby will turn out like her Aunty Ivory. She’s a hardcore vampire hunter with a reputation that scares them all. She’s also Vadim and Sergey’s sister. They want males to shape into the undead like they are.”
“Doesn’t this all seem too unreal? Like a terrible nightmare you’re caught in and can’t wake up from? Not the lifemate part, but vampires? Puppets?” Lorraine shook her head. “I never want to see one of those things again as long as I live.”
“They have worse, I think,” Emeline said. She looked around the compound. “I like to be here, where I feel safer. I know Charlotte sometimes wants to go places and do things. I like being here with the children and creating a home for Dragomir and the baby. Now that I know Vadim is still alive, I might never leave.”
“What happens when the baby is born, Emeline? Does the baby go to ground with you or does Genevieve have to watch her aboveground while you sleep?”
Emeline paled. Her dark hair emphasized the nearly pearl skin. “We don’t know yet. Some of the babies have been able to go to ground, others no. Vadim transferred parasites to both of us. Dragomir and the healer were able to rid us of them, but that doesn’t mean having had them in her, she won’t be affected like some of the other children were.”
“How would you know ahead of time?”
“They talk to us. She will tell us if she can sleep beneath the ground.”
“What will you do if she can’t?” It was one of Lorraine’s worst fears. She didn’t want someone else to raise her children.
“While she is an infant, Genevieve has agreed to watch over her. We hope that by the time she is a toddler, we can take over.”
“Genevieve is pretty cool,” Lorraine said. “Very selfless.”
“We’re lucky to have her. The Waltons try with the children, but they can’t really handle them very well. The children are growing to love Genevieve.” She looked across the lawn at the woman coming toward them. “That’s Charlotte. Have you met her yet?”
Lorraine shook her head. “She was with the children the first night, and tonight she was talking to Amelia and Liv in their house. At least, that was what Tariq told us.”
Charlotte had real curves, and an abundance of thick, wild, auburn curls. She moved with confidence and stopped to wave at another woman who hurried to join her.
“That’s Blaze, Maksim’s lifemate. She and Charlotte are good friends, too. Blaze and I go way back. I was a kid on the street and I’d climb into her bedroom through the window on nights when the weather sucked. Blaze and her father lived over the bar they owned. Vadim had her father killed. He had taken the children, and Blaze and I went to get them back. That’s how he managed to get his hands on me.”
Charlotte and Blaze joined Lorraine and Emeline, making themselves comfortable after introductions. Lorraine looked around the yard. “Where’s Genevieve?” She was the only human woman besides herself. She didn’t like to think that Genevieve was left out.
“She was tired tonight,” Charlotte explained. “She takes care of all the children from sunrise to sunset. That’s a long time. Bella is upset because she doesn’t have Liv to play with anymore during the day, and she’s been a bit of a trial. We had no choice, we had to convert Liv in order to keep her alive. Bella doesn’t understand that.”
Lorraine had seen evidence of Bella acting up. “Is there any way I can help? I used to teach a martial arts class for very young children. I wouldn’t mind doing something like that. It might give Bella something else to focus on.”
There was a sudden silence. Lorraine looked at the women expectantly. She wasn’t about to apologize or back down. She believed in women knowing how to defend themselves. All of them were in a dangerous position. What Andor had said about the ancients meant that maybe the compound wasn’t as safe as they all thought it was. Tariq would know that. Would he share his concerns with Charlotte?
Charlotte and Blaze exchanged a long look and then both broke out in smiles. “We are so glad you’re here,” Blaze said.
“You have no idea,” Charlotte added.
Emeline nodded. “I can’t say I’m going to be the best at it, but Blaze has been advocating all along that we need to learn to defend ourselves. Then along you came, Lorraine. Dragomir told me you attacked three men who had staked Andor when he was wounded.”
Blaze grinned at her, leaning over the table. “With a frying pan.”
“It was a saucepot,” Lorraine corrected. “I didn’t have time to get my gun. I should have been carrying it, but no one had been around forever a
nd I was making this quick trip to the stream. I didn’t want to stop and get it out of my pack. It was really, really stupid of me. From now on, I plan to carry every kind of weapon I can.”
“A couple of the men are working with Matt Bennet—he’s the head of Tariq’s security force,” Charlotte explained. “They’re experimenting with ammunition and weapons to help all of us better defend ourselves against the undead. Matt was Special Forces, and I think he’s a genius when it comes to weapons. In any case, they’ve come up with a few things that might work for us so we don’t have to get too close.”
Emeline leaned her elbow on the table and propped her head in her hand. “What we really need to do is teach the children, and all of us, I guess, how to see their illusions and not fall for their traps.”
Charlotte nodded her agreement. “I was just discussing this with Amelia and Liv. Amelia was very excited about you joining us, Lorraine. She was impressed with the stories Dragomir told them. She’s been wanting to learn to fight, and she came to me the moment Tariq and I rose seeking our permission to ask you to train her. Blaze has been so busy—the vampires seem to be testing every defense we have. She goes out on patrols with Maksim, so she isn’t here to work with us very often.”
Lorraine nodded. “I absolutely will train her, that is if Andor wants to stay here, and I think he does. You’ve heard that Sergey made a concentrated attack on me, right? I just can’t shake that he was up to something.”
“I wholeheartedly agree,” Emeline said. “Sergey and Vadim are both Malinovs. From what the other ancients say, the entire family was brilliant at everything, especially strategy. Sergey wouldn’t have wasted all those pawns if he had no reason. He definitely had a plan.”
“Well, if he did,” Lorraine said, “no one has discovered it as of yet, but I believe I’m going to be the hot topic of the conversation they’re all having at the knights’ round table meeting.”
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