by Brenda Trim
Orlando’s voice brought him back to the matter at hand. “What do we do about SOVA? You didn’t manage to get any new information from her and Killian hasn’t been able to find anything out.”
None of them had any idea how difficult making these decisions was. He took a deep, calming breath. Honeysuckle had his body as tight as a bow-string. His blood rushed through his veins and his heart raced. He had never felt so alive. He wanted to lose himself in Elsie’s delectable heat so badly his balls hurt. She was human and he couldn’t bed her without risk.
He couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his lips and transformed his sharp patrician features when he heard her tiny snore. It was endearing. “She is remarkable. I almost lost it when it sounded like she was tupping the caramels.” He imagined dripping caramel all over her body and slowly licking up every drop, paying special attention to her perfect, rosy nipples. He would lap it from her sex until she was screaming his name.
He shuddered with repressed desire. Not being able to have her was more torture than spending hours in the sun. He closed his eyes as he held his breath and regained some composure. His eyes opened to meet his warriors’ curious stares.
He ignored the questions he saw there. He didn’t have the answers. “Get to your patrols,” he ordered.
“Liege, are joining us on patrol tonight?” Gerrick asked.
“You ask me he’s staying right here to ogle Elsie. It’s what I would choose to do. The skirm are hard to pass up, but—” Gerrick smacked Orlando on the back of his head, cutting off his ribbing.
“Enough! Santi, Gerrick, you guys join Rhys downtown. Orlando, stay here with me. I need to enter her dreams to see if I can get more information on SOVA. As you pointed oot, Orlando, we don’t have the information we need. You will protect me while I’m in her dream.” Ignoring his desire to ravish Elsie, he watched Santiago and Gerrick disappear into the shadows.
“One of us needs to get close to her and I canna be there during the day. To avoid having to explain that, it will be best if you become her friend. By friend, I doona mean that you tup her. That is something I willna tolerate. She mentioned her sister is leaving tomorrow so my guess is that she will be meeting with SOVA soon. Hopefully we will find out who their members are. If they are out patrolling for skirm, we need to keep them safe and ignorant of the realm,” he expressed to Orlando.
“That will be my pleasure. I like her. She’s spunky,” Orlando responded readily.
Zander bit back the jealousy that comment inspired. He had no reason to have such feelings. He never planned to take the relationship further with Elsie, no matter how much he ached to. Anxious to be near her again, he leaned back against the evergreen, closed his eyes and accessed his dreamwalking powers. Within moments, he was inside her mind and was immediately stunned. She was dreaming about making love to him. He hadn’t expected to encounter that. Shocked by the erotic nature, he forgot to cloak his presence. He wanted to be inside her sensual body.
He would lose control if he went anywhere near her. “I canna do this, ‘tis too much,” Zander choked out on a whisper.
Intending to take one last look, he became transfixed by the sight of her breasts as they jiggled, and the desire to leave died. He was consumed by need and a vast number of virginal emotions. Before he could form a coherent thought, he felt his shaft enveloped by her tight sheath and was pounding into her body from behind. He had lost control of his dreamwalking for the first time in his existence.
His fangs shot out from his gums with a hiss, as his lust for her blood rivaled his lust for her body. He could not recall a time in his life when he had felt stronger bloodlust. His eyes fixated on the pounding flow of blood through the main artery in her delectable neck. He could lean forward and take a sample and she would never know. He clenched his jaw shut, refusing to give into that desire. But, he was unable to stop his cock from thrusting into her heat. Nothing had ever felt so good.
He reached around and grabbed her breasts. Her rosy nipples pearled in his hands. He pinched and pulled, eliciting a moan from her. “Oh, Zander, yes. Dear God, don’t stop,” she cried out. The way she pleaded his name sent him into a frenzy.
It didn’t matter to him that he was not physically with her. This was her dream, but spiritually, physically, emotionally, he had never experienced anything more satisfying. The connection between them was tangible. He forgot that she was a fragile human and grabbed her breasts and slammed into her hot pussy. Her walls began to tremble and spasm. She was close. He gave her breasts and nipples one last squeeze and ran his hands down the silky planes of her abdomen.
Her skin was smooth and he caressed the slight roundness of her stomach before trailing his fingers lower. He was touching and making love to Elsie. His hands shook with emotion as he worshipped her body. His fingers grazed her closely shorn mons and easily found the engorged nub at the apex of her thighs. It throbbed beneath his fingers. He wished they were awake and experiencing this skin to skin. He was beyond the moon that this fiery, little female wanted him despite the fact she had rejected any thought of a relationship.
Her pussy clenched his shaft tightly and he groaned in pleasure. “Careful, a ghra, I want this to last. You bring me to my knees and unhinge me. Goddess, you feel incredible.”
“Oh, yes. Zander…I’m close…” He knew what she needed. He pinched her clitoris and rolled it between his fingers and she detonated.
She cried out her pleasure. He stilled and clenched his teeth against the spasms surrounding his cock. Not yet. He wanted that again.
He continued to tease her flesh and brought her down only to withdraw and slam back in. “No, it’s too much. I can’t,” she protested while she met him thrust for thrust.
“Yes you can, a ghra, I want that again,” he growled as his hands explored her back and the round globes of her fine ass. His movements became frantic and he chastised himself. Get control, he admonished. Savor her. Show her how good it can be. Doona rut on her like a rabid animal.
He slowed his movements, but her passion was too high. “Mmmm…no, harder. Please,” she begged.
A beast took over his body, one that was intent upon having all of her. He bared his fangs as he pounded into her and lowered his head to her neck. A much needed moment of clarity struck. She feared vampires and wouldn’t like being bit. He kissed and sucked her neck and roved his lips to nip at her ear. Her breathing was erratic and her walls began to clench his cock. She was getting close again and he couldn’t hold back much longer.
“Zander,” she attempted to turn around and look at him. With one hand, he grabbed her hair, holding her head in place so that she wouldn’t see the glow from his eyes or his fangs. She arched and moaned. He nudged her legs with his knees so she was spread wider for him. He sank impossibly deeper and a groan slipped out. “You...are so…beautiful,” he groaned while he continued his frantic pace. He would not come before she gave him another orgasm. His free hand rubbed across her buttock and hip and curved around. His fingers slid through her slick channel. He rubbed and pinched her clitoris, sending her tumbling into another orgasm.
Her eyes were squeezed shut and she was screaming his name, over and over. “I’m coming…Elsie,” he groaned as he pumped his seed into her hot, little pussy. His release continued and showed no sign of waning. Pain tore through his back, scorching his skin. He arched and tried to see what it was even while his release continued. Pleasure and pain surrounded him until he knew nothing else.
“Holy crap, are you still coming? Damn, I love this dream…It’s…oh, shit, I’m going to come again,” Elsie gasped.
Hell yes, he reached up and cupped her face as he poured everything he had into her and growled against her lips, “Give it to me, give it all to me,” and ground himself against her ass. That was all it took.
After Goddess only knew how long, their orgasms ended and they collapsed to the bed. He was heavy and probably crushing her, but his body wasn’t moving. He rolled to the side taki
ng her with him, careful to keep from rolling onto his burning back.
“That was incredible,” he breathed as he traced circles on her arms and kissed her neck. He glanced down and was stunned silent. There was an iridescent Celtic cross behind her left ear. It couldn’t be…
“Too bad it wasn’t real,” she murmured.
“What?” he replied too sharply. It had been more real than she realized. Irrevocably real.
“Dream,” she reminded him. “This is a dream.”
“Felt more real to me than any encounter I’ve ever had.” His powers slipped away and he woke, sitting in a stupor with his back resting painfully against the evergreen.
Elsie was his Fated Mate!
CHAPTER SEVEN
Elsie drove through the entrance to Mt. Pleasant Cemetery with Cailyn to visit Dalton. It was their wedding anniversary and she needed to be close to him. After her erotic dream about Zander the night before, she was racked with guilt. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t real and something she would never allow in real life. She had betrayed Dalton and vowed to never forget. She shut down all thoughts about the countless times the man gave her orgasms in her dream. She would not go there, not today.
She gazed out the windshield at the beautiful landscaping. Mt. Pleasant was forty acres, located atop a hill in the middle of the historic Queen Anne district in Seattle, and was home to the largest variety of mature trees in any cemetery on the west coast. The sprawl of gravestones interspersed with the trees created a calm and peaceful atmosphere, even though it was a place full of death.
She parked on the street close to Dalton’s gravesite. All those months ago, she had been guided as if by an invisible hand to this particular spot. The marble headstones were topped with stone angels. Each enormous angel had outstretched, black wings and stood sentry at the entrance to this particular section of the cemetery. She exited her car and waited for her sister. She grabbed the flowers from Cailyn and walked across the sprawling lawn.
She traced her fingers across one of the exquisite angel’s black wings. Goosebumps raced across her skin. There was leashed energy beneath the stone. She couldn’t explain or describe what she felt, but her sister had agreed. Neither of them understood why certain objects felt different to them, but they had learned at a young age to keep their abilities and odd experiences to themselves. She shook off her brooding. Now, Dalton’s angel stood amongst these powerful protectors.
“I love these headstones. The first time I saw them, they spoke to me. They reminded me of Dalton and how he looked out, and ultimately gave his life, for those kids.” Her black hole pulsed painfully in her chest. She missed him so much and it was made all the worse today because she had betrayed him.
She stopped at Dalton’s grave and knelt in the damp grass. She took the flowers and placed them in his vase. “I love you, D. I miss you so much. I was able to get new detectives assigned to your case. They told me that Jag did this to you and that he is dead now…” she broke off and let the tears flow.
Her sister crouched next to her and smoothed the tendrils of hair from her face that had escaped her ponytail and handed her a tissue. She wiped her eyes. Cailyn was always taking care of her. It warmed some of the ice from her heart. Her sister was the one she went to when she had been called a ‘freak’ and teased at school. When Elsie’s first boyfriend had dumped her they shared a gallon of ice cream.
“I’m so sorry that you are going through this. I wish I could take your pain away,” Cailyn cooed.
Elsie put her arm around Cailyn and hugged her tight. “I love you, sis. Thanks for being here for me.”
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else. We’re all that we have now.” They sat like that, with one arm around each other, in silence, for some time. Her arm fell to her side when Cailyn crouched, making kissy noises.
“Come here, kitty, kitty,” her sister crooned. She looked over and noticed a beautiful, white cat approaching Dalton’s burial plot. The animal was pure white but for one black spot on one of its front legs. They laughed as it rolled over and exposed its stomach for attention.
As they petted the cat, it dawned on her what seemed familiar about it. “Look at the eyes on this cat. The intense, green color reminds me of Orlando’s eyes.” Picking up the cat, she stroked its soft fur. The cat curled into her chest, purring loudly.
“I wonder whose cat this is, he has no collar. He doesn’t look malnourished or anything,” Cailyn speculated as she reached over and stroked the cat’s head. They both scanned their surroundings, searching for anyone it might belong to. There wasn’t another soul in the place. It could be lost. Unfortunately, she had stuff to do and didn’t have time to look into it, so she set it down with a final pat to its head.
She stood up and watched the cat run into a stand of trees at the outskirts of the grave sites. She turned to her sister and blinked against the tears welling in her eyes. “As much as I don’t want you to go, we’d better get you to the airport.”
Hey sister wiped her cheeks with her thumbs. “Hey, none of that. I’ll be back in a couple months for your graduation.”
*****
The day Zander had waited for his entire life had finally occurred, yet it brought no peace. He was going out of his mind. Images from his dream with Elsie tortured him relentlessly. His connection to her grew by the minute, and through that bond he sensed her conflict. She shifted from grief and sadness to guilt and shame and back again with dizzying speed. He surmised that she was agonizing over the passion she not only welcomed but instigated in the dream.
This was not how it was supposed to be. He had been given the biggest blessing in the realm yet there were no parties, no big announcement, and no celebration. The Goddess had not blessed a single soul with their Fated Mate for seven hundred and fifteen years. This was huge news, and he wanted to share it with his subjects and give them the hope they had longed for, but fate was biting him on the ass. He had been given a human female as a mate, and while he was honored, he was floored that he had been given a weak mate who could easily be taken from him. And, his mate was involved with a vigilante group that hated what she believed were his kind. The cherry topper would be that her husband had been killed by his enemies and she refused to even entertain the idea of a romantic relationship with anyone. She was determined to remain faithful to her dead husband. Trapped by the sun and unable to tolerate anymore, he sent Orlando to his mate’s apartment.
The warrior informed him that he had followed her and her sister to the cemetery where her husband had been buried. That explained the grief. He had ordered Orlando to shift and stay close to her. Now, he was pacing his rooms, waiting for an update. When his frayed nerves were ready to snap, his cell phone rang.
He snatched it off the coffee table and slid his finger across the screen to answer Orlando’s call. “Where is she now? What’s going on? Is she alright? Does she need anything?” His breathing was erratic with his anxiety. Anxiety. Another emotion he had not experienced before yesterday. The past twenty-four hours had proven to be a rollercoaster of varying emotions. It was exhilarating.
“Liege, she is fine. She just dropped her sister off at the airport. Talk to me. I don’t understand why you are so hung up on this human. Sure we need to get a handle on SOVA, but this seems like there is something more,” Orlando said.
Zander heard the hustle and bustle of the airport through the phone. He took a deep breath. This wasn’t something he wanted to share over the phone. “Get back to Zeum. I’m calling a meeting in thirty and I need everyone here.”
He may not be able to tell the realm, but he had to inform his siblings and warriors. He’d need their help keeping his mate safe until they mated. Any apprehensions he had about her heritage and questionable pastime, he would mate with her. She carried part of his soul as he did hers and he would finally be whole. And, Goddess willing, love would develop over time.
*****
Elsie watched her sister rush through the automatic doors of the S
outhwest terminal at Sea-Tac. She missed her already. She swore she was not going to call her sister more than once a day and she absolutely wasn’t calling her to come back before her graduation in June. She had been a burden for Cailyn for too long now. Her pain wasn’t something she shared with Mack or the others at SOVA. They all shared the bond of surviving a vampire attack, but the pain of loss was hers alone.
Put your big girl panties on and do what needs to be done, she told herself. She looked over her shoulder and signaled before she pulled away from the curb. A man in an SUV wasn’t paying attention and cut over from the outer lane at the same time, nearly hitting her. She slammed on her brakes and swerved. Her palm slammed down on the horn and it blared as she cursed the man who continued on as if she didn’t exist. Her car shuddered as she pressed the gas. “No, no, no, you piece of shit,” she cursed her car and heaved a sigh of relief when the clunker picked up speed rather than dying on the freeway. One crisis averted.
That brought her around to the disaster she had created in her dreams. Maybe that was a bit dramatic, but she did feel guilt and shame for her desires. She wasn’t a fool. That was her subconscious at work acting out what her body began craving the moment she laid eyes on Zander.
There was no denying she felt a connection to him. He was easy to talk to and was a great listener. It wasn’t only the fierce lust, either. Zander was a friend now. In fact, she had opened up to him and Orlando in ways she had only done with Dalton and Cailyn. Friend with benefits, her inner-sex-fiend purred. Her black hole grew talons and pierced her chest wall. She was a mess.
Their relationship would remain purely platonic. It was all she had room for.
CHAPTER EIGHT