“I bet by the time you get home with Carissa he will forgive us,” Alina said, smiling.
“Besides,” Paris put in with her own smile. “How could you not forgive us? You say yourself how adorable we are.”
Tempest laughed again as Julian stood there looking down at them without one word on his tongue. His own daughters outwitted him with words, something Tempest never thought she would have seen.
“Come on you two,” Tempest said. “Say good-bye to your daddy.”
After a long hug and many kisses, Julian went in search of Lucian, who was waiting for him at the front door. He waited until Lucian was done saying his own good-byes to Tempest before he hugged her himself.
“You take care of my girls,” Julian said to her.
“As if they were my own.” Tempest smiled back. “You just take care of him.”
Chapter 3
Lucian and Julian crept over the edge of the roof they were hiding on to watch three people clad from head to toe in black leather. For three nights, they had been following a faint trail, tracking what was left of the group Ambrose wanted home. A group that Lucian was quick to point out was very small.
The three who were left were dressed like ninjas with bows and arrows on their backs, short fighting sticks on hips, and long knifes on legs. It was a sight that both of them knew they would be talking about for a very long time.
“So, what you want to do?” Julian asked Lucian as he watched the three walk up to the building as if they owned it.
“Well, let’s see,” Lucian remarked casually. “Those three look like they are about to kick some ass.” Lucian pointed down. “The one in the middle seems to be in charge.” He lay down on his stomach, taking a deep breath. “I think I am going to stay right here and watch.”
Julian chuckled. “You have gotten soft.”
“That is what a good woman does to you.” He smiled. “And I am in no hurry to get back to Ambrose. Even less hurry to watch you get your ass kicked.”
“What makes you think it is my ass this time?”
Lucian smiled. “Cause when Carissa gets her hands on you; I bet your balls are going to hurt worse this time.”
Julian grinned, shaking his head as he continued to look at the three, who had stopped walking and were now standing in front of the double doors. Julian was about to say something smart back to his friend but was stopped by the double doors suddenly opening.
“Looks as if we might have some action,” Julian remarked, lying down next to Lucian.
Twenty men came walking out of the building, snarling. They all were dressed in dirty, ragged clothes and looked like some kind of animals. These were the animal half breeds that Ambrose told them about. The breed that Carissa and a few others were fighting against.
Most of them didn’t even look as if they were changed right. Their skin was gray and hanging from their bodies as if they were decaying on the spot. Only a couple looked halfway close to a true vampire but still had the dead look to their eyes.
“Nasty fuckers,” Lucian remarked, wrinkling his nose. “They even smell like shit.”
“Do you think she is down there?” Julian asked.
Lucian watched Julian closely. He saw the need in Julian, saw how much his friend wanted to be with her. It tore at his soul. Lucian wanted so much for Julian to have what he had—to be complete again. To have the smile and brightness around him that he did when Serina was alive.
“Well, if she is, then I am going to feel very sorry for her,” Lucian remarked. “Those bastards just reek!”
Both of them watched as the breeds charged after the three clad in black. Both were amazed at how well the three seemed to handle themselves.
The three split apart and seemed to take the same amount down. One seemed to catch the attention of Julian. He watched closely as he pulled out the staffs on his hips. The guy gave them a jerk, and the things lengthened as he walked up to two half breeds. He swung with his left and right at the same time, crisscrossing in front. He hit the half breed hard in the gut and legs, knocking it down.
Pushing both staffs back into his hips, Julian watched him raise his arm and pull a long arrow from his back. With his other hand pulled a small crossbow, which he gave a jerk to, making it longer. The guy swung around and quickly shot the arrow in Julian and Lucian’s directions.
“Oh shit!” Julian cried out, ducking down.
There was a shrill scream, and Julian was watching as one of those things fell behind him. He stood up and looked back at the guy who just shot the arrow.
“What the fuck was that?” Lucian asked.
“Cover blown maybe?” Julian remarked.
Lucian brushed his hands together. “Guess that means we are going to get dirty on this one.”
“Yep.”
Julian jumped off the building and did a flip before landing on his feet, inches from the breeds. Lucian also jumped off but landed with a soft thud next to his friend.
They looked at each other then quickly dashed off in different directions. Lucian ran to a small group that had one of the guys in black circled. By the time he reached them, the guy was ripped apart. There wasn’t even anything left for Lucian to identify.
Julian found he had the same problem. He ran up to a large group that was circling around one. The single fighter didn’t stand a chance with so many breeds. The cry of death was heart-wrenching to Julian as he fought beside this person only to watch him fall to his death.
“There are too many,” Lucian yelled.
Julian looked over his shoulder to the one and only fighter still standing. He watched the guy bring his bow up, noticing that it had a gold explosive tip. Julian never got to warn Lucian or run out of the way.
The arrow shot off in the sky toward them, and the large group seemed to double in size. The ground exploded around them all. Julian, Lucian, and the breeds went flying, along with a few body parts. The explosion was so powerful that each and every one of those breeds was killed on the spot.
Both men coughed as debris fell on and around them. Dust seemed to be everywhere, making it difficult to see.
“Oh, that hurt.” Lucian groaned in pain, shaking his head to clear the dust from his hair.
Julian coughed, rolling from his stomach to his back. “What the fuck was that?”
Lucian pushed up some on his hands. “Don’t know, and don’t want to know.” He coughed again and then looked up.
Julian also looked up or more like backward. He was still on his back but managed to watch as the only fighter standing and alive walked over to them slowly.
Neither one of them could say a word as the bow was pushed back in place and put next to the arrows. Hands free, the guy walked up to them. It was the first time that Julian or Lucian got to see his face.
The guy’s face was also covered with a mask and what looked like built in eye masks. Not one speck of skin on this guy showed. In fact, the first thing that came to Julian’s mind when he looked up at him was that he looked like a fly.
“Peace?” Julian asked with a nervous smile.
Julian attempted to sit up but was shoved back down hard with the guy’s foot.
“Hey now!” Lucian snapped but was quickly quieted by the staff suddenly at his throat. “Got you.”
“Look, buddy,” Julian spoke as softly and as friendly as he could. “We are here looking for someone.” The guy cocked his head to the side, saying nothing, so Julian went on. “We don’t want any trouble.”
The guy acted like he was going to relax but shocked them both. He raised his foot and quickly slammed it down on Julian’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Lucian sat up expecting to fight him when the guy suddenly yanked his mask off.
“You stupid, dumb motherfuckers!” Carissa snapped. “What the hell are you two dumb asses doing here?”
Lucian started to laugh, but Julian was still holding his gut and trying to catch his breath. Carissa glared at both of them before she took her staff and hit Julian one more time.
“Come on!” Julian yelled out in pain.
“I have a mind to beat the shit out of you,” she snapped at Julian.
“Okay, that is twenty you owe me.” Lucian grinned.
Julian gave Lucian a dirty look and jumped to his feet while Carissa started to walk away from them.
“Wait just a damn minute,” he yelled at Carissa.
“I’ll just stay here and wait for you two,” Lucian remarked.
“Don’t you walk away from me!” Julian snapped.
“Go home!” she yelled back.
“God damn it, Carissa.” Julian rushed up to her, grabbing her arm roughly and swinging her around. This time when she swung at him, Julian was ready. He grabbed her wrist, preventing another hit. “Knock it off.”
Carissa lost it and started to pound on his chest. “Go home!” She suddenly sobbed. “You’re not supposed to be here!” Her fists hit, and Julian took it. He watched her break down in a manner that at one time all would have thought was impossible.
She jerked out of his arms and walked over to the limp body of another fighter. Julian watched Carissa drop to her knees and pull the mask off of another young woman. She picked up the girl, hugging her limp body to her chest.
Without any kind of warning, Carissa screamed. It was something new for Julian and Lucian to see her like this. Carissa had always been the strongest one they knew and to see her this low broke their hearts.
No one spoke. Julian and Lucian stood; letting Carissa have the time she needed to grieve for her friend.
The moment she was done, Carissa stood up with her back still to them. “You had better follow me. The sun will be up soon.”
Carissa ended up taking them to an old underground tomb that she and her friends had transformed into a place to sleep. She showed them where they could sleep, then disappeared.
“Well, I would say she was thrilled to see us,” Julian remarked.
“Especially you.” Lucian smiled.
Chapter 4
Carissa leaned against a cold brick wall, wearing one of Julian’s shirts that she took five years ago. It was the shirt that she slept in each and every night. It was a part of him that she held as close to her heart as she could.
All emotions, all the pain came back in full force. It all tried to bring her to her knees as she thought of Julian. The look in his eyes when she pulled that mask off. The need that slammed into her. All of it was almost too much for her to bear.
“Carissa?”
Carissa closed her eyes and hugged herself. “What…why are you here?” she managed to get out.
Julian sighed, giving her a sinister smile that she didn’t see. “After all this time, that is what you have to ask me?”
The bitterness she heard in his voice seemed to snap her out of the pain she was feeling. She slammed her fist into the wall, turning to glare at him. “Well, excuse the fuck out of me,” she said in a cold voice. “What would you like for me to say to you? How about, hello lover, been a long time? Would you like me standing up, or would you prefer me to lie down and spread my legs for you?” She put her hands on her hips. “I got a better one. How about get the fuck out of here and leave me the hell alone!”
“Well, I am so glad that something hasn’t changed after all. You’re still as cold as ever,” he hissed back.
“Why Julian,” she said sweetly. "Be careful. You might start to sound like you give a damn.”
A tic started in his jaw as he looked at her then around the room. He nodded his head and then rushed her. Julian took hold of her arms, slamming her up against the wall. “I never pictured you as a scorned bitch before,” he hissed at her.
“I’ve always been a bitch, Julian,” she challenged him, breathing hard. “You just refused to see it. I’m a coldhearted bitch, and it will serve you well to remember it.”
Julian grabbed her hair roughly, pulling her neck back. He fisted a good amount of her hair, forcing her closer. Need slammed into him, hard and fast. His incisors lengthened as he ran his lips over her neck, inhaling the scent he thought he had forgotten. He almost did forget what it was like to hold her, to wrap his arms around her body.
“Maybe I should see if I can remove that coldness once and for all.” Julian did not wait for a response from her. He sank his teeth deep into her neck, drinking hard from her.
Carissa felt as if her knees were going to give out on her from the intense pleasure that formed in her belly. She forgot how great it felt to have someone else take the pressure and pain away. She forgot how exciting it was to be held in Julian’s strong arms as he fed.
When she whimpered and her knees started to buckle, Julian picked her up. His lips never left her neck, never stopping the powerful pull as he drank. He wrapped her bare legs around his hips as he turned toward the pallet on the floor. As he walked, he kicked off his boots and worked at the zipper on his jeans.
With a sucking and popping sound, he let go of her neck and let her drop to the blankets. Blood slid down her neck as Carissa looked up at Julian with mixed emotions on her face.
Julian pulled his jeans down his legs before he bent over and yanked her panties from her body. He quickly removed his shirt before he covered her body with his own. He pulled her neck back by her hair again as he licked the trail of blood up to the wounds he had left open. Her taste was too toxic to him. He knew no other would ever match it. She was his drug, and Julian wanted his fix.
Before he sank his teeth back into her neck, Julian reared up and ripped Carissa’s shirt open. More blood poured down her neck, and Julian watched it travel down to a breast. His tongue darted out and licked the red liquid around the hard nipple.
The second her fingers ran into his long hair, the dominant side in him came out. He could smell her arousal and knew she was more than ready for him.
Julian took hold of both wrists and pinned them above her head. His hard cock was already positioned at her heated core, waiting for him to plunge in.
“Julian…” She breathed out, moving her hips slightly.
Julian sank his teeth back into her neck and brutally thrust inside her heat. Carissa cried out, wrapping her legs tightly around his waist as he pumped hard and fast. The slight pain that she was getting by his harsh treatment was so exciting that Carissa thought she was going to burst into flames right there.
For five years, the two of them had lived with the pain of the other. Five years of wondering what the other was doing, or who they were with. Five years of being alone.
“Oh, oh.” She moaned and begged. “Julian, please.”
Julian released her neck again and reared back. He moved his hips faster, grinding his pelvic bone against her hard clit. Blood poured out again from her neck as he closed his eyes. Julian pounded into her with everything he had. The second she screamed out and clamped down, he sank his teeth back in. Julian forced her to ride out the orgasm that hit while he fed even more. When he let go again, he closed the wounds but still did not let go of her wrists. He watched her as he moved within her, watched her open her mouth in a silent cry, and watched her teeth get even longer.
In a flash, Julian flipped over and positioned her on top of him. His hands went to her hips, continuing the motion that he had started. Carissa braced her hands on his chest and moved her hips in hard, short thrusts. In this position, she had all of the power, and she took him into her so much deeper.
“Oh, fuck yes!” Julian cried. “Keep doing that. Fuck me hard!” He flattened his feet on the floor, bucking under her as she moved faster. “I’m so close. Push me over,” he begged her.
As soon as she felt the pressure build inside of her again, Carissa leaned into him. Julian had his hands on her hips, slamming her down as his hips bucked up. His balls started to get heavy as he waited for her to bite him, to give him the ultimate ecstasy.
Carissa sank her teeth under his collarbone as her orgasm hit. She moaned as she drank, just as Julian wrapped his arms tightly around her body. He yelled his
own release, which was heightened by her hard sucking of his blood.
Breathing hard, Carissa closed the wounds and rested her head on his chest. Julian still had his arms tightly around her body and his hard cock deep inside. Both were exhausted, and neither could move.
“I missed you,” Julian said softly, rubbing his hands up and down her back. “God, how I missed you.”
“You have a strange way of showing it.” She sighed, rolling away from him only to be brought back into his arms.
“God damn it, Carissa.” He sighed, rubbing his face in frustration. “Every time I try to take an inch, you nail my balls.”
“Why did you come?” she asked him in a tired, beat down voice. “Why did you have to find me?”
Julian ran his hand up and down her bare back in a lazy manner, enjoying the feel of her silky skin under his fingertips. “I came for different reasons, one being that I needed to find you,” he answered her. “You are the other half of my soul.”
“I’m death, Julian.” She sighed. “The only thing I know is killing. It’s my mission, and I intend to see it through.”
“Even if it kills you?”
Carissa grabbed Julian’s fallen shirt and quickly slipped it on as she moved away from him. “Death is just another step that has to be taken.”
“Bullshit!” he snapped. Julian saw and felt the built up anger boil over. “Stop thinking about yourself for once.”
Carissa turned and glared at Julian as if he had lost his mind. “If I was thinking about myself, then I sure as hell wouldn’t be fighting. If those things take over, then that is the end of everything. Your girls will know nothing but what they want them to know. That is slavery. If my last breath is to make sure that doesn’t happen, then that is what I will do.”
“Ambrose has ordered you back.” He looked hard at her. “He wants a report from the one that is left. That would be you.”
“I don’t have time for that.”
Julian sat up, drawing his knees up and resting his arms on them. “You don’t have a choice. We have been ordered to bring you back, and that is just what I am going to do.”
Bloodmate IV Page 2