by K. A. Jones
He was wrong; I held the power to make that choice. Dario would’ve loved me even if I refused to carry his child. I found myself reaching for the bond, I needed his reassurance that Carlos was lying. I was drowning in a black pool of nothingness, being pulled into the darkness and swept along in its brutal current.
Carlos cursed and crossed the distance between us. He sat next to me and held me close. I felt his hands smooth over my skin before he wrapped his arms around me and began whispering words of comfort.
When I had pulled myself together enough to move away, his arms became rigid, holding me in place. I relaxed slightly against his chest and wondered why I was letting him hold me. Anger bubbled up and I pushed away from him. I swiftly rose to my feet and paced the room feeling like a caged animal. I wanted answers, I needed to burn off some excess energy, but most of all, I wanted to be left alone.
“So what happens now? You go after Marco and Dario and claim your title as King?”
His eyebrows quirked up and his lips became thin lines, “That is twice that you have mentioned me killing my uncles to claim a title of King… Is that what you have been led to believe?” Before I had chance to answer, he shook his head and said, “There are many factors that my dearest uncle has failed to mention. I don’t want to rule the vampires Shyla, I want peace between our races.” He patted the seat beside him. I remained standing. Carlos gave a small irritated shrug of his shoulders. “Over the years my goals have changed. I’ve seen how vampires are manipulating people for monetary gain. Vampires are powerful.”
I couldn’t help interrupting him. “Carlos, are you saying that you are not interested in becoming King and ruling the Vampires and Hunters? You see, I had a quick history lesson whilst I was with Dario. He told me things that were never mentioned in boot camp.”
Carlos had a smug grin on his face; he stood and made his way to my side. “Did he tell you that as soon as I knew that you were with him that I tried to reason with him and begged him to let you go?” His hand went to my hair and he played with the ends of a few strands before looking back to my astonished face. “Did he tell you that I sent several of my best men to bring you back to me? I chased you around the country Shyla, but Dario was always one step ahead ensuring that no one would get close to you. He’d claimed you and he wasn’t going to give you up without a fight.”
His fingers gently brushed the side of my neck before his hand dropped back to his side. “You see, I knew that you were different Shyla, as did Thane and Khalon that is why we worked you harder than the rest. You were able to keep your humanity and personality because you are strong, don’t you see Shyla? I sent you into the field so that you would become known and feared by the vampires. The Chairman of the Security Council and the Chief executive of Security have been keeping a close eye and they want you to join the council.”
My head was spinning with this information. Why would he chase me across the country? When they had found me, several attempts had been made on my life… “If that were true then, why are hunters trying to shoot me?”
“As in all organisations, there is a certain amount of corruption. Everyone has a price Shyla. Money can buy whatever you please. In your case, money bought me the deaths of vampires that were manipulating the humans.” Wait…. That didn’t make sense… What did, was the accusation that I was corrupt. I was doing my job, one that Thane and Khalon had trained me to do.
I bit back a retort and didn’t defend myself, because that is exactly what I had done. Killed for money. I was hoping to make enough so that one day, I could disappear and find myself a nice property away from civilisation and live a happily ever after life – that was providing I didn’t die an untimely death before enjoying the profits of my job!
Carlos gestured to the sofa, “Why don’t you make yourself comfortable and I will go and fetch the bottle of whisky and a couple of glasses.” Before he stepped from the room he glanced back and said, “There is still much to discuss Shyla, we need to break the sire bond with Dario so that you no longer feel at a loss.” It wasn’t a loss; it was a great big gaping hole in my mind, soul and heart.
Chapter Eleven
As soon as he left the room I cleared my mind of everything that Carlos had just told me and forced myself to remember what Dario had said. He told me that his nephew, Carlos had killed his own parents so that he could control the hunters. He trained them to become silent killers. Dario had also told me that even though he had committed crimes against the vampires, if Dario and Marco should fall, Carlos would be accepted as their King because he still had royal blood flowing through his veins. Put that information together with the fact that Carlos claimed to have been trying to bring me back and that I had been involved in some witchy magic to carry Dario’s child, well, things weren’t looking too great for me. Now, throw into the mix that Carlos was talking about breaking the bond between Dario and myself, that would probably mean that he would bite me and force his will onto me…. No, this was so not how I was expecting things to turn out!
If Dario was dead then surely the bond was already broken? The pain and emotions I was going through were from hurt and great loss. No, Hunter could keep his fangs away from me…. I didn’t need to be bonded to anyone. I didn’t plan on living long enough to bond with anyone else.
Carlos came back holding a couple of lead crystal glasses and a bottle of whisky. I sat back on the sofa and watched him put the glasses on the fireplace mantle and pour the liquid heaven. I swallowed a mouthful and enjoyed the burn as it made its way down my throat. I needed this, I needed oblivion, but given that I was sitting in a building full of hunters and three vampires, I would have to settle for ‘delusional drunk!’
Chucking the contents down my throat, I rose and filled the glass. I held out the bottle to Carlos who declined a refill.
I sat back on the sofa so that I could see him and asked, “So, why are the government interested in me?”
Fury burned briefly in his eyes before he simply answered, “That’s easy to answer, because you are Prince Dario’s Consort. They would gain the upper hand in the supernatural world with you on their team.”
“What makes them so sure that I will co-operate and work with them?”
He glanced down at the floor and clenched his jaw tight before looking back at me. “If you don’t, you will end up with a contract on your head.”
I let out a derisive snort and caustically said, “They have already ordered me dead, what’s the difference?”
“This time, I will not be able to intervene. The hunters that came after you were not ordered to do so by me. Remember that there is always a price that will get whatever you want done…I have cleaned up my team. I sent them on the mission to collect you knowing that they would each want to cash in on your death. My loyal men were aware that I was sending some on a death mission. I was certain that no harm would come to you. I took a chance and it paid off.” I couldn’t dwell on his answer. If I thought about it for too long then I would see how easily I could’ve been killed.
“Okay, so next question… If you didn’t want me dead, what do you want me for? It’s obvious that you have a plan…”
He took a long drink from his whisky glass. He was stalling in answering. Once he had worded it carefully in his mind, he said, “I want us to take over the running of the government. I want us to police our kind, both Vampires and Hunters.”
“At the risk of offending you, I will say what is on my mind, I’m just throwing it out there, take it and apply it at leisure – You are a jerk.” I heard him snarl and held up my hands to hold him off. “You haven’t changed Carlos; it’s still about power, about who is in charge. Male testosterone at its worst. Give him a set of fangs and he thinks he can take over the world.”
Carlos knocked me back on the sofa and pinned me to it with his muscular frame. He was glaring down at me with a deadly glint in his eyes. Power was pouring off him; this was bad, very bad!
My body squirmed underneath him and
my breathing became ragged. Fangs bit into my bottom lip as I fought against my desire for him. The smell of blood hit the air and Carlos licked his lips as he watched it trickle down my chin. His groin was pinning me to the sofa, I could feel that he was hard, but the blood flowing from the small incision that my fangs had made, excited him further. Anger was replaced by desire. He lowered his head and licked the blood, finally sucking my lip into his mouth. I rocked back and forth enjoying the feeling of him against my sensitive parts. He sucked my lip harder and groaned against my mouth.
His fangs elongated as he lifted his mouth away from me only to return it to my neck. His fangs skimmed over my skin, threatening to break the surface. He pressed harder against me and rocked his hips in a slow seduction, each movement designed to heighten the growing passion between us.
We’d both reached the point where neither of us could stop. There was no going back. Too turned on and too intoxicated by the power that was radiating from him, I boldly lifted his shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor. His body was every bit as perfect as Dario’s. Before I had a chance to regain my equilibrium, Carlos tugged me forwards and with one quick movement my top was off and he was pushing me back down of the sofa.
His hands trailed over my bare skin, squeezing, and holding me with possession. His eyes devoured me making me feel sexy. I tried to sit up I wanted to feel his skin on mine, but Carlos held me in place and with one hand spread across my tummy, he unfastened the button and zip on my jeans. Carlos leant back and tugged them down and flung them out of the way. I watched as he stood up and removed the lower half of his clothes. I held my breath as I took in the sight. The only words that formed in my mind were ‘personification at its finest’ and ‘I hope he’s as good as he looks.”
I didn’t have to wait too long to find out. He knelt between my legs and pushed inside of me. My body, eager for release, welcomed him.
Carlos lifted me so that my chest pressed against his. My legs wrapped around his trim waist and I pressed my body close to his. I wanted and needed to be held, to feel him against me. My hands ran over every inch of skin until they settled at the base of his neck, letting me lean back and press my core closer to his. I matched his rhythm, welcoming the hard and fast pace. I felt his hand wrap around my hair and him tug my head closer to him. His fangs scraped back and forth over my neck heightening the sensual feeling. His tongue flicked across my skin several times as my orgasm built.
As it hit, his teeth broke my skin and he took my blood. I could feel him forcing his will into my mind. I tried to break the contact and block him out. Yet his power made me want to bend to his will, submit myself to him and give him whatever he wanted. I cried out as my orgasm.
I heard him, Dario…. He was there; I could feel him as Carlos forced his will into me, forcing a bond between us. I had to block Dario out; he couldn’t know what we were doing, what we had done…. Shame slapped me in the face and disgrace kicked me in the gut. Carlos reached his climax; he threw his head back, gripped my hips tight and growled out my name as he released his seed. I heard Dario whisper into my mind. ‘Mine,’ and then more forcefully ‘Mine Brother, always mine.’ I stared into Carlos’s eyes, there was a look of satisfaction there, and I didn’t think it was because we had just slaked our basic needs.
I slammed the walls up high cutting off the connection with Dario; no sucker was going to penetrate my mind. No one. I had reached out to Dario over and over again and suffered pain and loss every time. My soul had been torn in two, my heart ripped from my chest.
Carlos tugged on his trousers and sat next to me on the sofa. He reached over and pulled me against his chest. I went voluntarily. I wanted the comfort that his arms could offer, if only for a moment.
I needed to get my shit together, but so many questions buzzed about in my head. Was I bonded to two vampires now? What had happened to Dario? Why had he waited until ‘that’ particular moment to come to me? Gentle fingers tilted my face up. He gave me a small smile and said, “Understand that there are consequences to being bound to the Prince, just as there are being bound to me…. I will hear him every time he uses the bond and he will hear me.” His thumb gently smoothed over my mouth, he bent down and planted a soft kiss on my lips and said, “I will refrain from using the bond to communicate with you Shyla, but he will know every time that we have sex. He will feel your pleasure as I take you.”
I felt hot tears in my eyes but refused to let them fall. I had unwittingly become bound to two men, a Prince and his nephew. Each had their own agenda and now, now I had experienced love and lust. I loved Dario, yet I had given into lust with Carlos. I could feel Dario at the edge of my mind, trying to force his way in. He would offer me comfort. It wasn’t comfort I needed. He should hate me, hate the fact that I’d just… that I’d just shacked up with his nephew and let him use me. If Dario hadn’t made contact I would be saying that what we had just done was perfect and now, now I didn’t know what to think or how to feel.
Carlos reached for his shirt and wrapped it around me. “I didn’t know that Dario was alive Shyla… I could see what it was doing to you every time you reached for the bond. I wanted to take away your pain. I thought that by binding you to me that it would make you feel whole again.”
He acted as though he had two personalities, one that took pleasure at causing hurt and pain, the other that wanted to do the right thing and ease your pain. He didn’t make sense to me. If they were his true intentions then what he had done was admirable. If not, then he was a bigger jerk than both of his uncles put together!
He kissed the top of my head and said, “The fact that he is alive and knows what we have done will eat away at him. He will come for you and I will be ready.” I pushed up off his chest and looked him in the face. Without looking guilty or ashamed he said, “Love can rip your soul in half, it can make you lose control when another threatens to take what is yours, and that is what I am counting on. Dario is going to lose his control and that is when I will make him fall.”
I felt sick; bile rose in my throat as I jumped off his lap and ran for the bathroom.
Splashing water over my face didn’t help. Looking at my reflection in the mirror did nothing to make me feel better either. I’d had sex with Carlos to make myself feel better. His power had called to me on some deep level that I really didn’t understand, but one thing I did know was that I would never be fooled by a show of power again.
What was it with me that was drawn to the bad boys? Not every bad boy thankfully, I could get a reputation, but the DeLuise family. A Prince, the King and now the crazed nephew. I desperately wanted to reach out to Dario, I wanted to apologise but I knew that Hunter would be able to hear my thoughts. He’d not said that he would be able to, but I knew how it worked. So all I had to do was – avoid the link, kill hunter and escape. If the sun wasn’t rising so quickly, I could probably achieve all of those things.
Soft knocking sounded and the door slowly opened. Carlos held his shirt for me to put on and softly said, “The sun will be up shortly, I wanted to make sure that you are okay before we go to bed.” I gave a small nod of my head and went to step past him. Carlos caught hold of my hand and tugged me against his chest. I felt my tears return. His dual personality was playing havoc with my frayed emotions. “I’ve hurt you. I can feel it through the link. It was never my intentions to hurt you; I wanted to make things better for you, not worse.” He kissed the top of my head and tilted my face up to his. I closed my eyes not wanting him to see the tears or hurt in my eyes. “I will try to be a better bond mate. We can work out the details tomorrow. Come on.”
I let him lead me to the bedroom/cell. I slipped under the covers and tugged the blanket around me. He locked the doors to his private level and came into the room. I closed my eyes so I didn’t have to look at him. Guilt bore down on me.
The bed dipped as Carlos climbed on behind me and snuggled in close. I felt his soft kisses on my shirt covered back. I froze in place, not wanting to f
eel anything as he wrapped himself around me. I wanted to feel safe, needed his warmth to chase away everything that I was feeling. This was crazy, my mind and my heart were at war with one another. I knew that it was the bond. It made me feel things that I didn’t want to feel.
His hand smoothed down my hair and settled on my hip. “I have spent my whole life plotting my revenge Shyla… You were part of the plan, but not like this… I didn’t want my hunters to have feelings, to feel love or be loved; I didn’t want them to retain their personalities or humanity…. Those are the things that make you weak… Yet now I see they can also be a greatest strength. I know that I will fight harder now that I have you in my life.”
What? .... Why? ... Oh god!
“We will work this out Shyla, we can make this work.”
I fought to stay awake against the rising sun. “No Carlos, what you are feeling are my emotions, mine. You can’t have them… You don’t get to switch personality just because we had sex. You don’t get to care because you saw me when I was weak and you don’t have the right to keep me safe.” His hand cupped my face and gently pulled it so he could see me. “I did everything that you wanted, everything that I was trained to do, but it wasn’t enough. You have a plan, but I can’t be a part of it. I have my own plans now and they don’t include you or Dario.”
“I won’t let you go.” His words were gentle, but full of possessiveness and his eyes held a steely determination.
I smiled weakly at him and managed to say, “I was never yours to keep,” as the sun crested the horizon sending us both into the sleep of the dead.
Chapter Twelve
The sun had set and the moon was rising in the night sky. The previous nights events came crashing to the forefront of my mind.