by Celia Kyle
“Fire.” He spoke against her forehead. “Fire and blood.” He took in more of her aroma. “Vikings do not steal, we raid. We fight to the death and take the spoils. It was honorable. To be a thief,” he sneered, old beliefs crowding him even though his honor of today was so different from his youth, “meant eternal torment after death. We raided for status, to help our village, and to increase our worth.”
Status. A stupid reason by today’s standards. Death for such a pointless reason.
The images were vivid now, the flickering flames bright as if they danced in front of him at that moment. He remembered the heat, the screams.
“We went to the edges of the village, to the farms, and attacked.” Bile rose in his stomach, the stench of burning flesh filling his nose. “We lit the home ablaze. The farmer and his family screamed and screamed.” They echoed in his dreams to this day. “The farmer…”
He swallowed hard, the sight of a face ravaged by fire, seared into his mind forever.
“We did not know he was a draugr.” The man’s face healing as they fought. “Three against one—hardly fair—but he battled as if he were a dozen, not one.”
Arik traced the scar from the strike of the farmer’s axe. “This felled me.” It spread from his shoulder to the left side of his lower ribs. Sinking past flesh and bone, lodging deep. “He struck and pushed until I laid on the ground, dying. My blood flowing from the injury.” He paused, the pain old but familiar. “I know now that I deserved what happened. I know that what my people did were atrocities by today’s standards. But then…”
“It was your way of life.”
“I was a monster.”
“You were a Viking. Nothing more, nothing less.” Her words were soft but filled with conviction.
Such trust and belief… he didn’t deserve it.
“He felled nearly all of us that day.” So many screams. “He began with Stian, Espen, and me and then devastated the remainder of my fellow raiders.” So much blood. “We still lived when he returned, the blaze that was once his home long gone.”
“What happened next?”
“He stared at us, spat on our bloody bodies, sneering at the powerful Vikings decimated by one man.” He’d been defiant until the end. “I did not ask for the curse, but I received it nonetheless.”
Arik swallowed hard, the feel of his heart stopping and then surging with undeath still fresh after a millennium. “We were nearly drained of life, our wounds watering the dirt with our blood. He sliced his wrist and filled our mouths with his own. What came after was agony and it lasted the full day, into night, and then another dawning.”
Zoe still remained silent, a solid presence against his side.
“I do not know why he left us while the change transformed our bodies and minds to a draugr. But he did. We woke hungry—starving—burning from the brightness of the sun.” The soul-deep pain that the hunger caused flowed in his veins. “We hid, doing our best to shield ourselves. And then… we feasted.”
“He left you alone. I’ve heard of vamps losing control when they’re changed and he— “
“Punished us for our actions. We fed from any and all. We destroyed for pleasure, no thoughts for the damage we caused. It was as if a demon controlled our minds and we… did not care.” And a hint of that emotionlessness still lurked in the back of his thoughts. “For years, we did not care.” Years upon years. “I still do not know how much time passed before I came upon Cason. I travelled alone, Stian and Espen causing havoc across Scotland while I enjoyed the maids of England.” Those pure-blooded nobles with their untainted blood. Purity at its finest.
“I killed his family. Every single one. Except him.” Cason who’d hidden, whose blood smelled so like the others that he’d missed the young boy. “He’d seen it all and, years later, I discovered him once again.” Practically a slave, beaten and broken. Alone.
“I changed him, but his mind was already… damaged. I should have granted him mercy when I noticed his behavior, but by then, I’d already begun to see the errors of my ways.” He nuzzled the top of her head. “I no longer killed, but sipped. I gave pleasure to those I touched. I saw humans as individuals instead of…”
“Cattle,” she finished for him and he nodded.
“Yes.”
“And Cason?”
“Remains controlled for short periods and then disappears. He wreaks havoc. He has been better the last hundred years, but I believe he is merely being more careful.”
Much more careful.
“But there are laws…”
Arik snorted. “Laws are just words. Vampires have not survived this long because we were fettered by laws. We agree to work within them as a tentative peace. We are careful, skatten min. That does not mean all vampires stopped.” He sighed. “My biggest regret is not ending Cason after his first destructive act.” A single vampire had done the damage of a Viking horde. “All he has done over the years, all he still does today, is my fault.”
“No.” She pushed away from him, half-rising, and stared into his eyes. “No. He’s his own person. Changing him? Yes, you did that. Making him crazy so that he hurts or terrorizes everyone? That’s not on you.”
“Skatten min.” He smiled sadly.
“You can shoulder the blame all you want, but I refuse to accept your beliefs.” He shook his head again, but that simply made her harden her jaw. “What about parents of serial killers? Many of them were good parents, but their kids were just fucked up. That doesn’t mean they should blame themselves.”
“And if they knew of their child’s actions? Should they not hold some blame?” Arik raised his eyebrows.
Zoe nodded. Good, she understood his point. “I get what you’re saying, and maybe you should feel a little guilty, but he’s his own person, too. Does he know right from wrong? Have you ever tried to stop him?”
“Every time.” Arik closed his eyes, remembering the screams fed to him through his connection with Cason. “Every time I realized he’d delved back into insanity, I hunted him. I kept him away from others until he was under control. I share a connection with him and whenever I witness him slipping…” Arik had traveled the world on his searches, chasing Cason around the globe more than once. “…I hunt.”
“You’ve done all you can, then.”
“I haven’t granted mercy.”
“Arik,” she whispered, her palm warm against his cheek. “From what I’ve read about vampires, he’s like your child. I can’t ever imagine killing my own kid. Let alone one I share such a deep connection with.”
He swallowed hard. “You forgive so easily.”
“You’ve shown me more care and understanding in three days than I’ve ever experienced. I understand you come from a different time, but the vamp today isn’t the Viking of old. You obviously worry about others. You’ve done what you can to control Cason short of killing him.”
“I’m going to have to hunt him.” Soon. “Our connection is hazy at best sometimes. He’s found a way to separate us. I sense the violence, but I can’t find it. There are moments I can’t find him.” Arik traced the length of Zoe’s arm, her skin warm beneath his palm. “I will have to grant him mercy once I confirm his crimes.”
Zoe leaned down, her face nearing his, and she pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. One of healing and comfort. Comfort he didn’t deserve.
“Skatten min…”
“Shhh…” She kissed him again, tongue tracing his lips, scent and taste tormenting him with that soft caress.
And in that moment, all sense of control snapped.
Zoe wasn’t sure why she was driven to kiss Arik beyond… need. The need to connect, the need to prove that his past was just that—his past. He was dangerous, had done horrible things over the years, but she didn’t sense any of that in him now. She couldn’t say his heart and soul were clear, but she couldn’t feel that coat of evil she experienced when around Cason.
He’d made a mistake—egregious—but she had no doubt he’d don
e all he could to fix it short of destroying his own child.
Maybe that was what had her lips on his. The knowledge that this man, despite his horrific past, was good. Anyone a millennia old had ghouls in their closet, but Arik was working to correct his mistakes. By granting mercy to his bloodchild someday.
Possibly someday soon.
So she kissed him, connected with him. When her tongue teased his lips once more, Arik growled. The sound vibrated along her spine, arousing instead of scaring her. He cupped the back of her head, his other hand going to her hip and then ass. He delved into her mouth, tasting her with his nubile tongue. She accepted his domination, returning his sound with a whimper of her own.
He pulled and pushed, dragging her atop him until she found herself straddling his hips.
Zoe remained bent over him, her pussy flush with his hard cock while she let her mouth be ravaged by the vampire beneath her. He rocked his hips, the head of his dick caressing her fabric-covered slit, and she trembled with the rush of pleasure.
Their tongues tangled, his heat sliding over her taste buds and the flavors arousing her even further. Her pussy clenched, tightening as if begging to be stretched and filled by this dangerous—delicious—man.
He fisted her hair, pulling the strands tight, and that hint of pain went straight to her clit. The small bundle of nerves twitched and she whimpered, needing more than the blunted feel of his hard length.
He cupped her ass, large palm settling over the plump mound, and he kneaded her flesh. She let him do as he wished, pleasuring her with his every touch, squeeze and stroke. It was glorious, beautiful and gave her unimaginable pleasure. This entire situation was stupid but so fucking good.
Their tongues stroked and teased, mimicking what she craved most at the moment—his cock deep inside her.
She gathered more of his taste, savoring each droplet as if it was the last, and then flicked the very tip of one elongated fang. It pricked her, the coppery flavor of her blood joining their passion.
Arik yanked his mouth from hers, panting as he spoke. “Skatten min,” he rasped. “You cannot…”
Zoe traced his lip with her tongue and she had no doubt remnants of the tiny prick remained. “Cannot what?” She rolled her hips, groaning with the renewed sensations. “Cannot what?”
He groaned, his rough grip on her ass forcing her to move as he desired. “I ache, Zoe. I want to taste you. I want to fuck you. I will do both if you do not stop.”
“Hmmm…”
“You do not have to fuck me to ease my pain.”
She repeated the rocking of her body, grinning when he clenched his jaw.
“I am not a little boy that needs to be soothed.”
Zoe nipped his lower lip this time, nibbling and tugging on the bit of flesh. “Maybe I want you. Maybe I need you, too.”
“I’ve…”
She stilled, pressing her forehead to his. “Changed. You can’t forgive yourself for the past? Fine. Beat yourself up for the next thousand years. But don’t expect me to stop what I’m doing because you’ve made mistakes. Vampires aren’t humans. They can’t all be judged by human laws.” A tendril of hope entered his gaze, wariness tinging the expression. “I want you, Arik Lange. Will you let me have you?”
She still couldn’t explain this need and the trust she gave him, it just was, but she wasn’t about to stop. She could beat herself up for it later. For now…
Arik growled low, fangs flashing and sharp nails raking her ass. It was a stinging pain, not the piercing agony of cutting into flesh, and then the room’s air blew against her pussy. Her hot, wet, exposed pussy.
He stroked her slit, fingers gliding up and down her sex lips in slow, tormenting strokes. “Is this what you desired, skatten min?”
Zoe shook her head, whimpering when he circled her clit with a single finger. “Want you.”
“Where?”
She decided to be bold. “Inside me.”
“My fingers?” She heard the teasing in his tone and didn’t care that he poked fun at her.
“Your cock, Arik.”
He ran his fingertip around the edges of her center.
“Your cock in my pussy.”
Another tearing of fabric, the soft cloth no longer separating the juncture of her thighs from his heated length.
“This?” The blunted head of his shaft teased her opening. “Is this what you desire?” he murmured against her lips.
“Yes,” she whispered. Before she finished the word, he was inside her. He entered her in one smooth motion, piercing her with his delicious length in that single thrust.
He shoved her hips down, lifting his until their bodies were flush, and she gasped with the rush of pleasure. The stretch stung, but the way the head of his cock caressed her sheath was more than enough to make up for the hint of pain.
“Now you’re mine.” The growl, the possessiveness, should have frightened her, but it didn’t. Being his seemed… right.
Arik encouraged her to sit up, to put space between their chests so she could ride him.
And she did. Zoe rose and fell along his cock, the mushroom head stroking her sheath and sparking nerves she’d forgotten existed. She stroked him with her pussy, up and down, moving faster and faster with every breath. Arik caressed her breasts, pinching and toying with her nipples, giving her more as she took from him.
One hand dropped to the juncture of her thighs, tapping her clit while he gave her even more bliss.
“Will you come on my cock, skatten min?” He pinched her clit and she sobbed with the jolt of ecstasy. “Will you?”
“Arik,” she cried out again, needing more of… something.
“I have you,” he murmured and she trusted that he did. That he could catch her when she hurtled over the edge with her release.
She concentrated on their bodies, on the way they twisted and turned, stretched and reached. They moved as one, both of them hunting the same thing—release.
Zoe increased her pace, pussy milking Arik’s cock, stroking him while he stroked her with his hands. His eyes were ablaze, blue suffused with red, and his fangs peeked past his lips. Her vampire was aroused and needy.
She took more from him, pace doubling, the slap of their hips warring with the sound of their heaving breaths. Her body throbbed with mounting pleasure, the snippets of joy gathering together and stretching through her body. It grew like a balloon, increasing with each flex of her hips.
Arik groaned and growled, his desperation mounting, and she knew what he needed.
Not just sex, but blood also.
She would give it to him.
“Please,” she whimpered and lowered her face, acting as if needing a kiss, but she wanted more than that.
She fused their mouths together, tongue darting into his mouth in a quick, passionate kiss. Then she pulled back, anxious for even more.
Sweat coated her back, and Arik’s temples were decorated with a sheen of moisture.
“Close,” she whispered, pussy still sliding up and down his length.
His eyes turned pure red, captured by his vampiric nature. “Come.”
The tension in his body, the way his muscles bunched and froze, told her he was on the edge as well.
Zoe was ready to shove them both over. “Bite.”
She grabbed the back of his head, tilted hers to the side, and pressed him to her neck. He hesitated a moment and she sensed his indecision.
“Please.”
That pushed him over the edge, pushed them both over the edge. She reveled in the burst of pleasure, the lightning bolt of ecstasy that careened through her body. Her nerves lit aflame, burning with the joy that consumed her body. She trembled and shook, sobbing his name while he drank from her neck. Each pull added to the overwhelming bliss that suffused every inch of her.
He drank and drank, taking more and more, and she whimpered when the pleasure became too much to bear. That was when he slowed, when he released her hips to stroke her back, when he with
drew his fangs and lapped at the wound. It’d be gone by morning as if it’d never existed. One day she’d ask him to leave it be.
One day?
Arik purred, murmuring reassuring words while tending to her.
Yes, one day.
6
Zoe popped from sleep to awake in a quick rush, her body telling her it was time to get the hell out of bed and… what?
She opened her eyes, glancing around the room, and realized she wasn’t home. No, she was in some gorgeous bedroom, windows draped with thick curtains and what had to be antique furniture scattered around the place.
A low murmur from her left drew her attention and she turned to spy Arik beside her.
Arik.
The previous night came at her in a rush, the events unfolding. Cason, Arik, their passion and then sleep.
A clock hung on the wall, its time telling her she needed to get the fuck outta dodge and home so she could shower, change, and get to Nibbles. Arik might be hot and rich, but they were dating-ish. A girl still had to make a living.
Even if she was exhausted from banging and blood donating. Though, really, the steak he’d fed her helped a lot. She’d have to swing by the grocery store later.
She wiggled from bed, quickly finding her bag, and she dug out her cell phone. A soft—near silent—call to the cab company had her ride on its way and she got a move on. Her clothes were a wash, whisked away by some house staff member, so she snared another baggy shirt, panties, and sweatpants from Arik.
Not making a sound, she tiptoed from the room, unwilling to do the morning-after awkwardness. She wouldn’t feel awkward but that was only if he didn’t regret what they’d done. And she wasn’t sure…
Zoe shook her head. Dissecting the night wasn’t gonna give her answers. Those would have to wait until later. If Arik sought her out. Otherwise, it was a fun bang.
Right. She’d keep lying to herself.
She made it downstairs, passing a woman who had to be human—hello, the sun was out. Then again, Arik could wander around during the day, so…