Masters of the Hunt: Fated and Forbidden

by Sarra Cannon

  She squirmed a little, trying to put some space between them, and he frowned and pressed his upper body against hers. “Where are you going?”

  “I should go back to the house.” She muttered. “It’s late.”

  “Not that late. There is still plenty of time left.”

  “Plenty of time left for what?” She already knew the answer.

  He smiled and rubbed his thumb across her swollen mouth. “Why do you ask questions you already know the answers to, little dove?”

  She had no reply for that and he winked at her before lying beside her and cupping her breast. He rubbed at her nipple, watching as it tightened into a hard little bud and her pale skin began to flush. He cupped her other breast, the nipple had already stiffened, and a moan escaped her throat when he traced it lightly with the tip of one finger.

  “Turn onto your stomach, Abigail.”

  She tensed and shook her head no and he frowned at her. “Why not?”

  “I don’t want to, okay?” She gave him a shaky smile. “Please, Val.”

  She reached down and took his cock into her hand, rubbing back and forth firmly as he inhaled sharply.

  With her other hand she tried to urge him on top of her. “Like this again, okay?”

  He pulled her hand away from his cock and shook his head. “No. Turn over, Abigail.”

  The desire was fading from her eyes and he could see a secret lurking deep within their depths. He scowled. He didn’t want her keeping anything from him. The look of anger on his face made her tense, and he placed a gentle hand on the swell of her belly.

  “I won’t, Val. Don’t ask me again. I’ll fuck you but only on my terms. Do you understand?”

  “I do.” He murmured soothingly. He bent his head and kissed her until her body relaxed and she was making soft noises of pleasure. She clung tightly to him, her soft hands stroking his broad back and her hips arching repeatedly against him.

  He released her mouth and gave her an apologetic smile. “Forgive me, little dove.”

  She blinked. “Forgive you for what?”

  He flipped her effortlessly onto her stomach, pinning her upper body down easily with just one hand between her shoulder blades.

  Her yell of shock and outrage was muffled into the blanket and she whipped her head to the left and glared at him. “Goddamn you, Val!”

  He didn’t answer. He couldn’t answer. The words had been sucked out of him by the horrific sight of her back.

  “Who did this to you?” He choked out.

  She refused to answer and instead kicked at him. He put one leg over both of hers almost absentmindedly. She was no match for his strength and she collapsed against the blanket, nearly spitting at him in fury.

  “You had no right to do that, Val! I told you I didn’t want—”

  “Hush, Abigail.” He was still looking at her back. “You belong to me now, and there will be no secrets between us.”

  She gaped at him. “I do not belong to you!”

  “Yes, you do.” He spoke absently as if the subject was closed to further discussion. He leaned over her and examined her back closely. The pale, soft skin of her upper back was marred with ugly rope-like scars. He dropped his eyes to her lower back and snarled in silent rage when he saw the raised scar in the shape of a cross on her skin. “Tell me who did this to you. Now, little dove.”

  She sighed. “My foster mother.”

  “What’s a foster mother?”

  She squirmed again. “Let me up first.”

  He released her but before she could flip over he had hauled her into a sitting position between his own spread legs. He bent her forward slightly and pushed her long hair to the side so he could continue to look at her back.

  Everywhere he looked he found something else that made his rage grow. Her back was covered with hundreds of thin, pale lines of scars that were nearly hidden by the larger scars. There were small round marks that could only be burns. On the back of her left shoulder, nearly hidden beneath a particularly large scar, the word ‘whore’ had been carved into her skin in neat, block letters.

  “My parents died when I was a toddler. I had no other relatives so in my world they put you into what they call ‘foster care.’ Other people are paid to take care of you.”

  She cleared her throat and raised her knees, leaning away from Val and resting her arms on her knees and her chin on her arms. “When I was seven I was put in a foster home with a woman and her husband. The husband was, well, he wasn’t normal but he wasn’t crazy. The woman was a complete lunatic. She was religious and made me spend hours on my knees praying and asking for forgiveness of my sins.”

  “What were your sins?”

  She shrugged. “Anything and everything. Slamming the door was a sin, toothpaste in the sink was a sin, laughing too loudly was a sin. The rules changed every day.”

  “She said that God came to her every night and told her whether I was truly repentant of my sins for that day. If he told her I had prayed hard enough and he had forgiven me then I wasn’t beaten. If not, she would whip me with a leather belt in the morning. Or sometimes she used piano wire.”

  She stared moodily at the side of the stall. “Just between you and me - if God did come to visit her every night, that dude is a real dick. I prayed for hours every night, begging for forgiveness, and I still got almost daily beatings.”

  “Was there no one to help you? No one that you could go to?”

  “Diana said she would kill me if I told anyone. She told me God would strike me dead with lightning before I even had the chance to tell people what she was doing. I was only a child and scared to death. To this day, I hate thunder and lightning storms.”

  He reached out to trace the word carved into her skin and was not surprised to see his hand shaking with rage. “And this?”

  She actually laughed a little. “Diana carved that into my skin when I was fourteen and she found a romance novel in my schoolbag.”

  “A romance novel?” Val looked at her doubtfully.

  “It’s a book about – about a man and a woman falling in love. Anyway, one of my few friends had tossed it in there as a joke. I hadn’t even read the damn book. She took forever to carve it – nearly an entire day. She said she wanted my future husband to be able to read it clearly and know what he had married.”

  He gave another low snarl of anger and she jumped a little, turning her head to give him a cautious look. “Val? I – are you okay?” His eyes were glowing and his normally pale skin had a dark flush.

  He forced himself to calm down and touched the cross on her back. “How did she do this?”

  She gave him a startled look. “Does the – does the cross repel you?”

  He surprised himself and her by laughing. “No, little dove. Vampire’s being hurt or scared off by a cross is nothing but an old witch tale.”

  “But silver hurts – it can kill you.” She whispered.

  “Yes. Silver, a stake to the heart, sunlight and chopping its head off will kill a vampire.”

  He leaned forward and pressed his lips against the scar. “Tell me how she did this.”

  “She had a metal cross that hung over the front door. There was no real reason for this one - at least not that I could tell. I just came home from school one day and she was in the kitchen heating up the cross in the oven. She made me strip off my shirt and bend over the table and then she very calmly took the cross out of the oven and pressed it against my back.”

  “I would kill her for what she has done.” He said furiously.

  “It was a long time ago.” She replied. “For all I know she could already be dead.”

  “How did you escape?”

  “I didn’t. I lived there until I was eighteen and then they stopped paying her and she kicked me out. I could have run away, I guess. But I was too weak and afraid.”

  She sighed softly. “I’m always afraid.”

  “I can’t believe you survived without going mad.”

  “
I created a safe place.” She said in a toneless little whisper. “When she started to – to hurt me, I went to my safe place and stayed there until she was done.”

  He frowned. “Where is your safe place?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I just close my eyes and concentrate and then I’m there. It’s so pretty, Val. It has white flowers and the sun is always shining. The grass is soft and no one can find me there.”

  She sighed. “At least it used to be that way.”

  He turned her head toward him. Her eyes were soft and faraway and he stroked her cheek with his thumb. “What do you mean?”

  She raised her gaze to his. “You found me. I was in my safe place and you came to me. We were naked and making love in the flowers. But then I realized that I really was going to go mad because I couldn’t get away from you anymore. You had found me.”

  Tears were beginning to slide down her cheeks and he brushed them away lightly. “I’m sorry, little dove.”

  She dropped her head onto her raised knees. “Can we stop talking about this now? I don’t like to talk about it. And I’d like to go back to the house and get some sleep.”

  “Soon.” He murmured.

  He was lying. Abigail would sleep but not in the house. She would stay here with him, wrapped in his arms until dawn and only then would he send her away.

  He bent his head and placed soft, wet kisses across the scars on her back. She stiffened and tried to pull away but he held her firmly as he continued to caress her back with his mouth.

  “Val.” She moaned lightly and he turned her until she was straddling his lap. He stared down at her pale body and she flushed and tried to cover herself with her arms.

  “Don’t do that.” He frowned and pulled her arms away. “I would see all of you.”

  She flushed even brighter. “You think I’m ugly.”

  “I don’t.” He insisted. “I’m sorry I told you that. It isn’t true.”

  He grasped her chin and made her look at him. “I think you’re beautiful, Abigail. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. If I didn’t, do you think I would be here with you now, about to make you mine again?”

  She swallowed hard. “You’re doing this only because you want to feed from me.”

  “No.” He brushed his lips against hers. “I could seduce and feed from you without taking your body. I want you, Abigail.”

  He took her hand and pressed it against his throbbing erection as he used his other hand to cup her breast, rubbing his thumb over her hard nipple.

  “Do you see what you do to me? What I do to you? We were meant for each other.”

  She shook her head. “No. It’s because you’ve bitten me. Once we’ve reached Karna I’ll never see you again and my lust will fade.”

  He kissed her, his tongue probing between her lips and tracing her smooth teeth, before he sucked gently on her lower lip. “No, little dove. It is more than that. When we reach Karna I will not abandon you. I will take care of you, provide for you, and in return you will pleasure me with your body.”

  “Val, I can’t—”

  He plucked at her nipple and she moaned under her breath.

  “You belong to me, little dove. Let me take care of you.”

  She closed her eyes. It was pointless to resist him. She needed someone to take care of her. She was weak and afraid, and she knew she wouldn’t last long in this world without someone like Val to watch out for her.

  He smiled at her wordless surrender and pulled her closer until his cock was brushing against her wet center. She moaned again and her fingers dug into the hard flesh of his shoulders when he lifted one heavy breast and ran his tongue over her nipple.

  He lifted her up to settle her down onto his cock and she had time to marvel at his strength before his cock was sliding into her. He pulled her even closer, urging her to wrap her legs around his waist.

  They kissed hotly, their tongues sucking and sliding against each other’s as she rolled her hips against him. He cupped her large ass, his fingers digging into her flesh, and he lifted her easily up and down on his cock. She gasped his name as he placed his mouth on her shoulder. His fangs slipped into the small holes already there and he made a low moan as her blood flowed into his mouth.

  She cried out and squeezed compulsively around him, her entire body shaking with her orgasm as he continued to thrust back and forth. He forced himself to stop drinking and licked his lips clean of her blood as he pushed in and out of her hot and soaking wet cunt.

  He weaved his fingers through her long dark hair, yanking her head back so he could trail kisses down her smooth skin. He resisted the urge to bite her neck and growled lightly into her ear.

  “Tighten around me, Abigail. Squeeze your tight pussy around my cock right now.”

  She moaned at his hotly-whispered command and clenched her muscles around him. He groaned at the added pressure on his cock and plunged into her twice more before coming violently inside of her.

  She collapsed against his lap and he stroked her long hair before kissing her softly on the cheek. She was weak and limp, nearly asleep already, and he laid her gently on the blanket. She curled up on her side almost immediately, tucking one hand under her cheek, as he stretched out behind her. He spooned her, sliding his hand around her to cup one full breast.

  “So tired.” She whispered wearily.

  “I know, little dove. Go to sleep.” He kissed the back of her shoulder as she slipped into slumber.

  Chapter 8

  “She’s letting him feed from her. She must be.” Neil murmured to Maria. It was two days later and he watched as Abigail laughed at something Bert said to her as she walked behind the wagon.

  Maria nodded. “She is. She’s been sneaking out each night to meet him.”

  “Why is she hiding it? We all understand why she is doing it.”

  “I do not know.”

  “She told me that in her world vampires were considered the undead. That they had no heartbeat and no soul and were evil.”

  “Aye. My husband said the same thing.” Maria said solemnly.

  “Perhaps that is why she feels the need to hide it from us. If she believes that Val is evil then she may be ashamed by her desire for him.” Neil said hesitantly.

  “Perhaps.”

  They watched as David joined her and smiled down at her. She smiled back and he took her hand. She squeezed it briefly before dropping it and a small frown crossed David’s face.

  “He is in love with her.” Maria sighed.

  Neil grinned. “You think? She could do worse. David is a good man.”

  Maria frowned. “Is he? Sometimes I wonder.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Maria shook her head. “Nothing. He’s wasting his time anyway. She belongs to Val now.”

  Neil gave her a puzzled look. “Once we reach Karna and she is away from Val, her need will fade. Why shouldn’t David have a chance with her then?”

  Maria rolled her eyes. “For a smart guy you sure are dumb, Neil.”

  He flushed. “I’ve known Val for many years, Maria. He will never become infatuated with a human.”

  She laughed. “He already has. You can see it every time he looks at her. Did you not see the look on his face last night when David sat so close to her? He has been hiding his own need for her, probably because she has asked him to do so, but he won’t be able to hide it much longer. Especially if David continues to touch her.”

  “What are you saying? That once we reach Karna he will set up house with her?”

  Maria shrugged. “There are vampires who are doing that exact thing in Karna.”

  “Never with a human – they keep to their own kind. Besides, Val is – he’s…” Neil trailed off.

  “He’s what, Neil? Val may be a vampire but it doesn’t mean he is not capable of love.”

  “I know that. But I just never thought that Val would care about anything but himself. I mean, for a leech, he’s kind enough, but he’s been a vampire
for over five hundred years. He’s forgotten what it means to be human.”

  “I thought Val was your friend.”

  “He is. But it doesn’t mean that I believe he’s capable of loving anyone but himself,or that I have to approve of his plan to keep Abby as a pet.” Neil’s voice was growing louder and Maria glanced around worriedly.

  “Neil, keep your voice down!” She muttered.

  “Abby is a nice girl and she deserves someone like David, not Val.” Neil said heatedly, although he lowered his voice.

  “She’s in love with Val.” Maria said softly.

  “Horse shit.” Neil spat. “She’s infatuated with him because he bit her, nothing more.”

  Maria held up her hands. “Okay, Neil. Calm down.”

  Neil, breathing heavily, stared furiously at her. “She is not in love with him, Maria.”

  “Tell me why you’re so upset.” Maria suddenly said.

  “I’m not upset.” Neil gave her a cautious look.

  “Yes you are. And I want to know why. We have been friends for a few years now and I know hardly anything about you. You’re friends with Val, hell you stick up for the vampires more than any other human I know, and I want to know why the thought of Abby being in love with Val is so upsetting to you.”

  Neil sighed harshly. “I was married once.”

  Maria stared at him in shock. “I had no idea.”

  “Her name was Atina. I loved her so much, Maria. We grew up in the same village and I think I fell in love with her when I was still a small boy. We married young. She was nineteen and I was twenty.”

  “What happened to her?” Maria asked softly.

  “A pack of vampires overtook our village for a time. There were more of them back then, although their numbers were already starting to dwindle. They didn’t stay long – a month maybe – but it was long enough. They fed from a bunch of us and Atina, she wasn’t a strong woman. She was sweet and gentle and when the head vampire fed from her, she became obsessed with him.”