Sweet Ruin

by Kresley Cole

  "Are you sure?"

  I want inside Josephine. Inside the silken heat he'd pleasured with his tongue. I want to see her reaction when I enter her for the first time. "Hundred percent."

  Dalli pursed her lips. "You might as well start talking. Tell me her name. I want to know all about her."

  He exhaled with resignation. "Very well. Her name is Josephine." He poured another healthy serving for them both.

  "What is it about her?" Dalli asked, excitement in her demeanor. "Why is she different from all the others?"

  How to put into words what he was feeling? "She's a walking contradiction. She's powerful, but young. She seems world-weary at times, but again, she's so bloody young. She's insanely secretive--and yet she's outspoken to the point of being blunt." He recalled her telling him, "You. I like. I like you so much." How could she have been so believable in the throes?

  "When you say young . . . ?"

  He hesitated, then admitted, "Quarter of a century."

  Dalli coughed on her wine.

  "I know. And, damn it all, Dalli, she's a vampire."

  "How can that be? Female vampires are so rare."

  "I don't know a lot"--anything--"about her. But she's definitely a vampire."

  Dalli's excitement faded. "Rune, I'm so sorry. No wonder you're miserable." She put her hand over his. "Maybe your Josephine could drink bagged blood or something like that. Not feeding from her partner would be a sacrifice, but I'm sure she'd want to try for you."

  Over the rim of his goblet, he said, "She drinks my black blood. Couldn't crave it more." His tone was smug.

  "What? How is that possible?"

  "She says it's because she's 'wicked strong and all.' "

  Dalli's eyes grew merry. "I like her already. Is she transitioned?"

  "She was injured recently. I slathered her with runes, but I suspect she would've regenerated on her own." He still couldn't believe he'd remembered those rune combinations after so long. But then, I'd needed them enough in that brothel.

  "Are there no physical boundaries between you two? Can you be with her fully?"

  "So far, so good." Though he hadn't been inside her yet. If she was his mate . . .

  "This must mean she's yours. You've found her, Rune! Do you understand how blessed this makes you?"

  That word had never been used to describe a being like Rune.

  Dalli studied his face. "Are you . . . engaged when you're with her?"

  "Engaged? When I come with her, I yell so hard my throat hurts. I say things before I think them. Speak in bloody Demonish!" His head fell back against the settee, and he stared at the leafy ceiling. "I lose control totally. The first time I got a taste of her sex, my eyes rolled back in my head." Those plump lips . . . that maddening clit ring . . .

  Lost in memory, he said, "She gets so wet. When she comes on my tongue, it's a luscious reward for me. And gods almighty, when she pierces my skin with her sharp little fangs, my heart thunders, and my balls tighten and ache as never before. My cock feels like it's going to explode. . . ."

  Dalli cleared her throat.

  He blinked, amazed that he'd been stroking himself. She grinned. He scowled and yanked his hand away. "This is what I'm talking about--no control!"

  "You can't have it both ways, Rune. You can't fear losing control and becoming deadened."

  Dalli was right.

  "I think you're falling for her."

  "As in love? My kind doesn't love; we're not capable of it. Much less me, with my past."

  He'd lived with the threat of that sword over his neck for ages before a fair master had come along, freeing him and offering a percentage. Numb to violation and blind to an alternative, Rune had said, "Why not?" He'd considered himself nothing more than a coin whore.

  His thoughts had never strayed toward the future. His feelings had been stunted, as cold as ash.

  Were they still? Josephine had gotten him excited and frantic and agitated. Frenzy had overcome control. Was that sparking cinder inside him catching flame?

  With her, he'd been flung into some place he'd never been before.

  I want to return there.

  Dalli said, "In the past you had to distance yourself to survive. But no longer."

  To survive his patrons--and Magh. When she'd learned he was volunteering to be used, she'd been enraged. Evil to the core, she'd recaptured him, imprisoning him in her dungeon. She'd desired him and hated herself for it. Then the real torture had begun--

  "Stop right now," Dalli said, reclaiming his attention. "Stop reliving days gone by. You can begin again with Josephine. Someone so young will help you see the worlds anew."

  "I don't want to begin again." Magh had reshaped him so many times that the mold should have broken. He'd gone from slave laborer, to killer, to involuntary whore, to voluntary whore, to whipping boy. All because of a vicious woman. He was done changing.

  Yet hadn't he considered himself altered after his first orgasm with Josephine in his bed? "All of this is moot anyway." The cinder inside him had caught flame for the wrong female. "She wants . . . someone else." Rune downed his goblet, then stood to pace again. "Some asshole who wears cowboy boots." Was Josephine's male searching for her? Wondering why she hadn't returned to his bed for yet another moonset?

  "What manner of species is he?"

  "I don't know." Rune had been focused on his target, had only paid passing attention to Nix's companion, Thaddeus. Unable to recall the male's scent, Rune pictured his appearance. "He's big. Tall with broad shoulders." The prick's face was much handsomer than Rune's own. Which meant it was boring. He grated, "Attractive, I suppose."

  "You sound jealous."

  "I'm not jealous; I'm pissed. She tricked me. We had a night together, and it was . . . different. I didn't even swive her." Shared breaths, broken boundaries. All an act. "She played me just as I played patrons, making them believe I loved each one alone."

  "What did she do?"

  "I thought she was half-infatuated with me. All along, she plotted to get back to him, the one she truly wants."

  "Then win her from the other. You and I both know you're an unparalleled lay. Unleash your arsenal upon her--your full arsenal--and she'll be yours."

  Rune stopped pacing. "You're right. If I hold nothing back, I could have her eating out of the palm of my hand." Yes, he would make her love him instead of the other. And once she did, Rune would hurt her as he'd been hurt.

  Not that he was hurt. He was simply irritated.

  "That's the spirit!"

  He frowned. "Say I did win her, I think she's the jealous type. She'd expect monogamy, and I can't do that."

  Dalli gave him a rueful grin. "It's not so bad. Most beings want a devoted partner they can call their own."

  "Nymphs don't."

  "Maybe we desire freedom just a bit more." Her gaze grew distant.

  Daydreaming of someone in particular? "Dalli?"

  She raised her face. "By the way, I suggest you shower before you go. The scent of nymph arousal wouldn't be a good opener if she is indeed the jealous type."

  "She needs to get used to it, because I will be bedding others."

  "Rune, trust me on this."

  "Very well. Just this once." He stripped off his trews, then headed for her bathing chamber.

  As he strode past her, cock swaying, Dalli sighed. "I'm going to miss that."

  "Trust me, dove. It's not going anywhere. Rune the Insatiable does not do monogamy."

  THIRTY-ONE

  That little vampire bitch!"

  When Jo strolled back into Rune's demolished museum, she heard him muttering, "Should've fucked Dalli sideways." Whatever that meant.

  He twisted around on Jo. "What the hells is this?"

  She shrugged with a smile. "Dunno."

  "I don't understand you! You knew how much I valued these things." The ends of his hair were wet from a recent shower. How many had he been with this time? "You knew this collection was priceless."

 
"Yep." How could she still find him so attractive? With his black leather pants and white tunic, he looked as gorgeous as ever. The bow slung over his shoulder and the quiver on his leg just amped his hotness level. Outside--gorgeous. Inside--not.

  His expression turned menacing. "Do you think I won't punish you?"

  Try it. You won't like what happens. She didn't necessarily want to show him her powers--no reason to since she would never see him again--but she would if worse came to worst. She started toward the bedroom, making her way to the fire. "I'm ready to be let out now."

  He followed. "You destroyed everything because you couldn't get out? You aren't a prisoner! The wards are for protection as much as anything."

  "If I'm not a prisoner, then let me go." She sat on the arm of his favorite chair.

  "Without repercussions . . . ?" He eye-fucked her T-shirt clad body, as if he'd just realized she was naked beneath. He really is insatiable.

  "I could've trashed your library too." She'd left it untouched; though she couldn't read, she revered books. Maybe all the more because she'd never delved into their mysteries.

  "The only reason I'm not tanning your ass right now is because you're going to pay me back sexually." He closed in on her, towering over her. "And, Josephine, you can't imagine the tab you just ran up."

  A laugh burst from her lips. "You're so not serious."

  He drew his head back in confusion. "I am the one who's been wronged here! Me! In thanks for tracing you to safety and treating your wounds, you wrecked my home. I saved your life!"

  She stood to show him she wasn't intimidated. "Please. I would've rallied."

  "You're young. There was chance you hadn't been frozen into your immortality yet."

  "Frozen means . . . ?" At his frown, she said, "We might call it something different where I'm from."

  "When a Lorean is at his strongest and stops growing older. When he can regenerate from lost limbs and such. The transition to full immortality."

  "Oh, yeah. When did you freeze?"

  "What? I was twenty-nine."

  "Then you think twenty-five would be a good age for me to?" If so, how had Jo regenerated her face and brain at eleven years old? Another question to add to her list.

  "It's within an average range for a female. Males freeze later. How could you not know these things? You align with the Forbearers, don't you? And of course, you're further sheltered by your age."

  Forbearers? "What do you suppose a Forbearer to be? We might call ourselves something different."

  "An order of vampires who were once mortal, still living as humans do. They refuse to drink from the flesh, like vampire monks, and they're uninformed about the Lore. If you were raised among them, it would explain a lot."

  "Gotcha." With so much in common with them, maybe she should try to find them.

  "No denial?" Voice gone rough, he said, "Is my flesh the first you've taken?" His black brows were drawn, his magenta eyes flickering.

  She found her body responding to that look. He was just inside someone else, Jo! But she refused to reveal how jealous she'd been. "I'm ready to be let out."

  "To go where? So quick to leave me behind?" His tone was surly.

  The nerve! He'd been out screwing nymphs--was freshly showered from his adventures. "I have my own life. I have things I need to do."

  "Namely, your male."

  "What are you talking about?"

  He pulled a flask from his pants pocket and drew deep. "The man I saw with Nix is yours."

  "I can promise you he's not."

  Rune's menacing expression eased, before returning full force. "Then why would you say you loved him? Ah, it's unrequited? That's got to hurt. I'd wondered why you'd dressed like a man-eater the other night. You sought to impress him!"

  She considered telling him about her brother, but again, she had no reason to. The less Rune knew about her, the better. "I'm done talking about this."

  "I'm not going to let you leave until I've bedded you."

  God, he confused her! "Didn't get your fill of nymph?"

  "I haven't swived anyone since I first saw you! Four days!"

  She glared. "So you went out just to take a shower?"

  "I did go to a nymph covey. I was with an old friend, and we started to fool around." As if the words were pulled from him, he said, "But I didn't go through with it."

  "Should I believe that?" I want to believe that.

  Shrug. "Don't care if you do."

  He was telling the truth! Their night together had meant something to him. He'd been true(ish) to her. Because he was already falling for her!

  Speaking of falling . . . What if she was his fated mate? What if destiny really did pair people up? Rune had told her a mate was the one female in all times and places a demon was most compatible with.

  Compatible? Oh yeah. He'd reacted to her much more intensely than he had with those nymphs. Plus, Jo was the only one immune to his poison.

  Seriously. Dude couldn't kiss another female without offing her. Ding ding ding.

  He believed dark feys didn't get a mate, but she mentally waved that away because men often believed stupid shit.

  She bit her bottom lip as she thought about his museum. She'd probably found the other half of her unbreakable bond, and she'd kind of destroyed all his things. Maybe she should tell him about her telekinesis?

  He interrupted her thoughts: "You're way, way, way too young for me. And you've got this weird jealous bent. You annihilated my belongings--like a godsdamned hellhound pup escaped from a kennel. But I still believe I want to bed you." He gazed to her side as he gruffly said, "More than once."

  "Is this your idea of asking for a relationship? Is that why you were faithful?"

  "Faithful?" He looked aghast. "Slow down, vampire. I don't want to give you the impression I would be monogamous, because it will never happen. If we spent time together, we'd have to work on your jealousy."

  She wanted to strangle him! "You're one to talk about jealousy--you're eaten up with it! Over my 'male.' "

  "Bullshit. I'm pissed, because I don't appreciate being used. Everything we did in bed . . . the things you said. All lies."

  "Like what?"

  "You said you'd drink me, only me, for eternity. You said you couldn't live without my kiss. Pretty words to get back to your male."

  Rune could deny it all he wanted, but he was jealous. Which meant he did give a damn.

  Maybe after so long, he couldn't see himself as anything other than a bachelor, and was struggling against his feelings. After all, he'd left here, intending to have sex, and he hadn't been able to follow through. If he went in the future, wouldn't the same thing happen? It'd be even worse if he fell for her!

  Her thoughts drifted to that wedding she'd ghost-crashed. Once Rune loved Jo the way the romantic groom loved his bride, he'd never be able to stray.

  Now if only she could learn to trust the way that bride had.

  In any case, Jo's path was clear. Make Rune fall in love with her--perhaps through bonding activities such as Valkyrie assassinations.

  "Why would you care if I was with a nymph or not?" Rune asked. "You're in love with another. You're already taken."

  Josephine rolled her eyes again. "I'm not."

  He couldn't believe he was quarreling with her like this. Nightfall approached in New Orleans. He needed to be on the ground, stalking his target. "But you want to be taken by that male." Rune's fists clenched. Kill Nix; kill this vampire's would-be lover. All in a night's work. "You set out to seduce him. Admit it."

  She headed toward the fire, but he caught a glimpse of her disbelieving expression as she turned away.

  Wait . . . What if the male was connected to her in another way, maybe by blood? She wasn't old enough to have a son that age. Perhaps a brother.

  Rune joined her by the hearth. Curling his forefinger under her chin, he lifted her face for his scrutiny. Not much resemblance to Thad overall. But if she removed her glamour, especially around th
e eyes . . .

  Their eyes' unique color was the same.

  The ringing in Rune's ears started to subside. Perhaps he'd cared about this more than he'd admitted to himself. "He's your brother."

  She shrugged. He was beginning to realize her shrug meant Yes, Rune. Suddenly, the destruction of his things felt like a mere irritation.

  She hadn't been using him. There'd been no artifice. "Why didn't you tell me?"

  "Because I didn't want you to use this as leverage."

  "We're not enemies, Josephine." She doesn't have a male. Rune was going to kiss her tonight till her lips got sore.

  "He's my little brother. There's no such thing as being too protective."

  This development brought its own set of challenges. "Thaddeus allies with Nix?"

  Her expression hardened. "Not for long."

  "You might be protective of him, but I'm not seeing the reverse. Did he know Nix was going to attack you?"

  She shook her head. "He doesn't even know I'm alive."

  "I don't understand."

  "We were separated when he was just a little kid."

  "How old is he?" As a younger brother, Thad couldn't be over twenty-four--because she'd lived for only a quarter of a century. The back of Rune's neck flushed.

  "Thad's seventeen."

  Big fucker for his age. But the boy wouldn't be frozen into immortality yet. Which meant Josephine had a glaring vulnerability: she cared for a being who could easily be killed. "How were you separated?" When immortals had offspring, they tended to keep a family united. Unlike my own sire. "Did your parents die?"

  She crossed her arms over her chest, pulling taut the material of his T-shirt across her pierced nipples. "Rune, I like you. And I loved what we did in bed."

  He snapped his gaze from her chest to her face. He'd known that night had been different!

  "But why would I reveal more to you? Give me a reason." Her eyes were almost . . . beseeching.

  "Because you can trust me."

  She exhaled with clear disappointment. "Which is exactly what an untrustworthy person would say."

  Rune let it go. "I'll get your secrets soon enough." He planned to introduce her to blood mead at the earliest opportunity. Before she could ask more, he said, "Nix's allies are staunch. Your brother might choose to remain with her."

  "Oh, that will never happen."

  "Why are you so confident?"

  Her eyes flickered, her irises black as night. "Because I'm going to kill her."