by Celia Kyle
“Hello, Cason.”
Okay, now she was maybe a leetle afraid.
For Cason.
Arik’s sources had provided him with Zoe’s schedule and he’d laughed at himself through the drive from his home to the college campus. He was sure even his driver chuckled at his infatuated behavior. He’d craved her since the moment he’d let her leave the building, his body calling for her presence just as much as it yearned for her blood.
Now he was thankful for his obsession—for his unending desire. It seemed his bloodchild had similar wants.
The smile he received from the man did not frighten him. No, if he was honest, it did. He was afraid for Zoe, not himself. It was evil, twisted, hinted at a broken piece of his bloodchild that he should have handled long ago.
When he’d found the first family slaughtered by Cason. Was that merely fifty years ago? What else had his bloodchild done? How else had he failed the human population?
“Fancy seeing you here,” Arik murmured, his grip firm without impeding Cason’s blood flow. He needed to speak to the man. A little longer anyway. “Do you have a sudden interest in schooling?”
Cason’s gaze flicked to Zoe and then back to him. “Merely visiting the little pretty.” He smiled widely. “Thought I’d have a taste.”
Arik tsked. “What did I tell you about Zoe, Cason?” When his bloodchild didn’t answer, he curled his fingers, pricking the man’s neck with the tips. “What did I tell you?”
“That she was yours.”
“And?”
“And I shouldn’t touch yours.”
Arik nodded. “Exactly. You won’t taste. You won’t touch.”
Cason licked his lips and then smiled, fangs exposed. “Just want a sip of the little pretty. You always share.”
“Not this one.” He hated talking about Zoe as if she was simply a thing, but he needed Cason to understand—to know she truly was off limits. To everyone. He glanced over his shoulder, and met Zoe’s eyes. “Skatten min,” he jerked his head toward the parking lot. “I have my car waiting. Reidar and Espen are waiting for our return. Inform them I am speaking with Cason and will be there momentarily.”
She opened her mouth to protest. “But— “
“Please, skatten min. For me.” He needed her trust at this moment so he could deal with the vampire threatening what he sought to build with Zoe.
“O-okay,” she stuttered, unsure, but squared her shoulders and strode past them as he’d asked, heading toward the safety of two of his most trusted vampires.
Reidar and Espen would watch over her just as they’d watched over him for over a thousand years. He listened to her fading footsteps, tracking her by the soft sounds of her shoes on the walkway. His enhanced hearing allowed him to listen to her hesitant, murmured conversation with his men and the tension that filled Espen’s voice when Zoe explained the situation.
Espen worried overmuch, like a clucking mother hen. The thud of his car’s door resonated in his ear, followed by a lowly murmured “she’s safe” from Reidar.
That allowed Arik to return his attention to his bloodchild. “What are you doing, Cason? You were told she was not to be touched.”
“She isn’t your exclusive cattle,” Cason snarled. “She signed the club’s waiver and did not enter into a contract with you.”
“And yet, as your sire, I instructed you not to touch her. Ever.”
“You’ve never kept one from me.”
Which was true. Until Zoe, Arik didn’t mind sharing his donors with any and all. But Zoe was different. “I haven’t before, but now I have. You aren’t to approach her, Cason.” He squeezed hard. “Am I understood?”
Cason sneered, that anger and frustration directed at him. There was disgust and a hint of madness in his eyes.
“What happened to you, my son?” Arik loosened his hold slightly.
“You,” he rasped. “Eight hundred years ago you happened. You…”
Arik didn’t need a rehashing of his plentiful sins. “You’re letting the rage overcome you.”
“Justifiable rage.”
He couldn’t deny the truth. “You can’t keep allowing it to rule your actions. Attacking a human?” He clucked his tongue. “Threatening her with death.” That was nearly enough to have him ending Cason’s life—now. “Have you been wandering the Earth too long?” He gently rubbed his thumb over his bloodchild’s throat. “Do you need mercy?”
Mercy. Meeting the fires and embracing death. Perhaps something he should have done long ago.
“You’ve been dancing on the edge of our laws and I’ve protected you, but you must stop this. You must cease.” He recalled the random deaths over the last few decades.
The serial killer still wandering the streets. Arik had his suspicions, but Cason was… his. One of the few vampires he’d sired over the years.
“Must I, my sire?” The crazed look in his eyes deepened, red nearly taking over the blue. “Must I?”
Cason’s gaze promised violence, but he remained passive in Arik’s grip.
“Do not think I won’t grant mercy myself.”
“You’d choose cattle over your own bloodchild?” His smirk told Arik that the man doubted him. A doubt that would send the man to mercy even quicker.
“I would. I do.” He leaned close, letting his fury over Cason frightening Zoe rush forward. “I will defend others—anyone—against your depravity. I’ve asked that your sins be overlooked, assured others I would control you, but that is done. You touched Zoe when I told you to stay away from her. You threatened her with death.” Arik shoved Cason to the ground, sending the man stumbling and thumping onto the concrete. “I will support you, but I will no longer protect you.”
With that, he spun on his heel, intent on getting to Zoe, the woman who had him abandoning one of his bloodchildren. Was he wrong in his actions? To choose a donor over Cason?
He thought of Zoe’s dark eyes, flowing hair, and her face when she came apart in his arms—the sounds of her pleasure. No, he was not wrong. He refused to put a name on his relationship—his unending craving—with Zoe, but he would protect her with every breath.
And he would keep her.
Arik spied her pale face, the window in the backseat rolled down. The worry in her gaze speared him before he even left the walkway. He hated the anxiousness in her eyes and the scent of her fear that came to him on the breeze. He resolved to wipe that expression from her features before the night was through. He wanted her smile—only ever her smile.
Espen stepped forward, reaching for the door’s handle to open it for him, and he nearly snarled at his longtime friend. He didn’t like being cut off from his… His Zoe.
But that quick jolt of anger vanished when the door swung wide, and he was granted access to the woman within. She eased away from the door and he smoothly entered, the panel thumping closed behind him. He reached for the window button and pulled, the thick glass enclosing them in the interior’s dimness.
Arik was alone with Zoe and he wouldn’t waste a moment getting his hands on her. First to reassure and soothe her. Then to show her a passion like she’d never experienced before.
“Come, skatten min.” Arik held out his hand for hers and he mentally sighed when she accepted his touch.
He drew her to his side, moving her until she was cradled in his arms once more. The perfection was as he remembered, the lushness of her curves and the scent of her desire teased him.
“Cason will not bother you again.” She trembled and he parted his lips, tasting the air. Overlaying the hint of arousal was the sour taste of fear. Fear placed there by Cason.
Fear he had to banish.
“I missed you, skatten min.” He lowered his head and brushed a kiss across her brow. His cock hardened with that tiny taste of her skin, his fangs pressing and stretching his gums.
Zoe sighed and leaned into him, her shoulder brushing his chest. He stroked her arm, free hand resting on her knee as he held her close.
; She didn’t seem inclined to speak, so he took a moment to speak to his trusted vampires.
Reidar, head to the compound, but circle the neighborhood. Zoe will accompany us. She simply does not know it yet.
He cut off the male’s chuckle and pushed Reidar from his mind.
Espen, have human food purchased and stocked within the hour.
Espen’s response, at least, was respectful even though he sensed that the other man would gladly laugh as well. Yes, bloodbrother.
Zoe nuzzled his neck, cheek resting firmly on his shoulder, and he smiled down at the perfect, innocent picture she created. He couldn’t keep his lips to himself and kissed her forehead, breathing her scent into his lungs.
“Skatten min?”
“Hmmm?”
“You are tired.”
She nodded, snuffling and sleepy.
“I can take you home, to the loft you share with others, or we can go to my own.” That had her eyes snapping open, lids spread wide. “It would be quiet, tranquil. You could sleep undisturbed.”
Unless she wished to be. He ached to possess her fully, but his need to care for her overrode his desire to fuck her for hours.
Zoe stroked her neck, the pale column unblemished by his bite thanks to his healing saliva. “I don’t think I can donate.”
He shook his head, drawing her fingers away from her tempting flesh, and kissed her palm. He brought it to his chest, resting her hand over his heart. “I swear on the beat of my heart, I will not feed.” He cupped her cheek, staring into her dark eyes. “I would never do anything to harm you.”
And he meant the words to the very core of his blackened soul.
“I’m not,” she yawned. “Not normally this tired, it’s just…”
“The bite can be tiring, but you should not be this exhausted.” He frowned at her, hating the dark circles beneath her eyes.
Zoe shrugged. “Yesterday was work, feeding you, then more work today, then class. Been busy.”
Arik grunted. He did not like her so busy she became exhausted after he took merely a small sip from her. Yet that small sip had given him strength like he’d never experienced.
“And now I will take you to my home. I will feed you and then you will rest.”
In his bed.
5
On Zoe’s list of the ten stupidest things she’d done ever, going to Arik’s house and crawling into his massive bed was number one. Number two was allowing him to feed her because that pushed all of her gooey shmoopy buttons.
Arik held up another bite of rare steak, juices dripping from the piece of meat. Her mouth watered, body obviously craving the protein. She parted her lips to accept the bite, chewing and swallowing the delicious food. Occasionally he fed her a fry dipped in ketchup—he did not find her amusing when she asked him if the ketchup was some weird blood condiment.
Zoe thought it was damned funny.
He lifted the fork once more, hand steady while she pulled the nibble from his fork. She moaned around the piece, the smoky flavors rolling across her taste buds in a sensuous wave.
“S’good.”
Arik smiled, the happiness reaching his eyes. “I am pleased, skatten min. Very pleased.”
He went back to the plate, spearing another bit.
“You know, you don’t have to feed me.” She reached for the fork and he held it out of reach.
“No, it is my pleasure to see to your needs.” His blue eyes darkened. “Any of your needs.”
“I…” Yes, please, probably wasn’t a good answer. She was tired, right? And, yeah, he’d gotten frisky with her body at Claret, but did that mean he wanted… Okay, his cock had been hard in the car, insistent and thick against her ass.
He… and she…
Gwen would tell her to ride him like a cowgirl.
Natalie would encourage her to climb him like a tree.
Aubrey would remind her to use a condom.
But all three would be pro-banging Arik.
A vampire. One who’d sipped from her neck and given her the greatest orgasm of her life. Then followed her to school and stopped Cason from—
Wait a minute.
Zoe narrowed her eyes and eased back when he went to present her with another bite. “What were you doing at the school?” Arik’s face didn’t flush, but she got the impression that he was embarrassed and he remained stubbornly silent. “Arik?”
He grunted and then cleared his throat, placing the fork back on the tray beside her. “I told you. I missed you.”
“You don’t know me well enough to miss me.”
His blue eyes flared red for a moment before settling back into that sea blue she liked. “I know the taste of your blood, the scent of your passion. I know you work hard and refuse to take what you call charity from others. I know you are determined to have a life better than the one you have now.”
Okay, so maybe he was right about all that stuff.
“But…”
Arik tapped his fingers against her lips. “I know you are brave. Lesser humans would have run from Cason, but you stood your ground. You did not tremble and beg for your life.”
Yes, those words were complimentary, but there was sadness in them as well. Sadness that tugged on her heartstrings. She wrapped her fingers around his, pulling his hand away.
“I wanted to run.”
“You did not.”
She shook her head. “Because I was too scared. Why is he so…”
Homicidal.
“I did not wish to discuss this until I had earned your full trust and perhaps feelings of affection.”
“You…” she whispered and twitched with surprise. “You want me to have feelings for you?”
Arik looked at her as if she was an idiot. “No man wishes to crave a woman so completely without her feelings matching his.”
“So that means you…” Zoe shook her head. “Arik, we just met.”
He patted her hand as if she were a child. If he were a southerner, she would have sworn she heard a mental bless your heart. “I have over one thousand years behind me, skatten min. I’ve learned how to weigh a person’s worth in moments.” He leaned forward, lips brushing hers, and then he spoke against her mouth. “You, dearest Zoe, are rarer and more precious than water in the center of the Sahara.” He lapped at the seam of her lips. “And you are mine.”
Zoe whimpered, liking the sound of that. “But not in a creepy way?”
He grinned, lips tipping up. “No, skatten min, not in a creepy way. I do not wish to claim you as Cason does.”
That sobered her right the hell up and she jerked, easing away from him. “Are you gonna tell me what tonight was all about? And last night?”
He sighed and she wondered if he’d answer or ignore her question. When he rose and lifted the tray from the bed, padding to the hallway and leaving it just outside the door, she figured he was going down the ignore path. Except then he stripped off his shirt, button-down falling to the ground, soon followed by his tailored slacks.
Her mouth went dry, staring at all of the pale, muscular flesh. He was toned, stomach rippling with an eight pack, the carved lines at his hips making her mouth water. His chest was broad, shoulders wide and strong. She wondered what she’d find below the belt, but only glanced down long enough to see that he wore a pair of boxer briefs.
Huh. Vampires wore boxer briefs. Weird.
She noticed something else about him—the scars. Thick ones from large weapons and smaller ones that had to have come from knives. They crisscrossed his chest, the uneven skin a stark contrast to the perfection of his face.
“You’re…” Half-naked? Heavily scarred? She wasn’t sure what she was gonna say. It was hard to form words with all the sexy in front of her.
He waved his hand and tugged back the blankets. “Ease closer, skatten min.” He slipped onto the bed, arm lifted. “I will not tell you my secrets without you in my arms.”
He lay there, massive body, rippling muscles and… vulnerability. She
saw it—recognized it—and took pity on the big, bad vampire.
She wiggled across the bed, thankful for the large t-shirt that covered her and the new panties that had somehow miraculously appeared—store tags still attached. She didn’t want to know how the vamp pulled that one off. Or if he’d bought them before he even went to the college because he’d been so sure she’d go to his home.
Zoe rolled into his arms, resting her cheek on his chest, and breathed in his spicy scent. Musky and hot, the flavors reminding her of home and happiness. She laid her hand over his heart, feeling the thud against her palm. He might be a vampire, but he was still a man.
Was she trusting him this much—a vampire that could end her life as quickly as he’d saved her from Cason? No, probably not. But there was a spell he seemed to cast over her, a feeling of contentment and warmth despite the coolness in his touch.
“Tell me, Arik,” she whispered those three words and then waited.
Tell her. As if it were so easy. Arik remembered that dark time in his life. The pain of the change and the overwhelming desire for blood.
Though, for some reason, Zoe made him want to bare what was left of his blackened soul.
“It was nine hundred ninety when I was caught by a vampire—a draugr.” He let his mind drift, the events hazy, but ever-present. In his head, he was a Viking, but he had to use English so his Zoe could understand. “Stian, Espen, and I were raiding. Rowing up the coast, singing to Valkyries, and hoping that if we died, it would be in battle. To then be chosen by Odin and to spend eternity in Valhalla with other fallen warriors—the einherjar. I carried my ax and shield up the cliffs, we three anxious to win riches.”
He closed his eyes and turned his head, breathing in Zoe’s sweet scent. His body craved her, vampire heart calling for her blood, but he suppressed those needs. Her presence was more important. Blood—and passion—could come later.
Zoe stroked his chest, delicate fingers running along one of his scars of the day. “What happened next?”