There was a momentary pain, but Jaelyn barely noticed as she felt him suck at the wound, causing her orgasm to crash through her with dizzying force.
“Holy ... shit,” she muttered, feeling as he thrust to his own climax.
She wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders, clinging to him as the last of the powerful convulsions wracked her body. Sex with Ariyal had always been a combustible event.
But this went beyond all fantasies.
Ariyal was hers.
Completely, utterly, and for all eternity.
Slowly relaxing beneath him, Jaelyn was floating on a warm sea of contentment when Ariyal slowly slid off her, ignoring her sleepy protests as he regarded her with a mysterious smile.
“We’re not done yet.”
She lifted her brows. Again? Well, hell, why not?
“If you insist,” she murmured with a small smile of invitation.
“I do.” Without warning he was off the bed and holding out a commanding hand. “Come with me.”
She frowned. “Come where?”
He arched a brow. “Do you trust me?”
She did, of course. This was the one person in the entire world who would never, ever hurt or betray her.
Placing her fingers in his hand, she allowed herself to be pulled out of the bed and coaxed out of the farmhouse to stand in the center of the backyard.
Ariyal turned to face her, his expression somber, but before she could ask why they were standing buck naked in the middle of nowhere, a shimmering mist began to form around them.
Jaelyn’s eyes widened as the mist thickened, the color flickering from the palest silver to the deepest crimson as it surrounded them.
“What is it?” she asked, her voice low with reverent wonder.
He lifted her hand to the center of his chest, his eyes reflecting the various colors of the mist.
“The Sylvermyst mating ceremony.”
“It’s beautiful.” Almost as beautiful as the man standing before her, she silently acknowledged. “What will it do?”
“The sharing of our blood has united our souls,” he explained softly. “The aurora will unite our hearts.”
She trembled as the mists brushed her bare skin, bringing with it the scent of herbs.
Suddenly she could sense the beats of Ariyal’s heart. And more than that ... the basic essence that made him the man that she loved.
His ruthless loyalty, his strength, and his ability to love without conditions or judgment.
“Yes,” she said, pressing against him as the mist wrapped them in a shimmer of light. “Mine.”
He wrapped his arms around her, his face buried in her hair.
“Mine.”
Behind the Veil
It was like a building out of ancient Greece.
Lots of fluted columns, arched windows, and carved friezes.
Not that Santiago was in the mood to appreciate the vaulted marble chamber that surrounded him, or the mosaic tiled floors, or even the thick hush that filled the ancient air, stirred only by rush of scurrying servants.
His entire body quivered from the unpleasant experience of being pulled through the Veil.
Dios.
For a few seconds he’d feared he might actually be ripped in two as he’d briefly hovered between two separate worlds. And then there had been the painful prickles of electricity that had nearly flayed the skin from his body.
It had lasted less than a few seconds, but it had been enough to convince him that it couldn’t be the normal passage. Who the hell would ever travel to this place if it threatened to eviscerate them?
Pushing away from the gold-veined marble wall that had been keeping him upright, he glared at the female who stood in the center of the corridor.
“You did that on purpose,” he growled, as annoyed by the sight of her perfection as by the lingering weakness in his knees.
The raven hair flowed smoothly down her back, framing her exquisite, icily composed face. Her robes were unwrinkled, without a speck of dust. And her slender hand was infuriatingly steady as it stroked over the large medallion lying just over her unbeating heart.
Worse, he suspected there was a hint of amusement in the dark eyes as she regarded him with a faux air of innocence.
“Did what?”
“Yanking me through the Veil like I was a barnacle you were hoping to scrape off,” he snapped, his hand instinctively reaching to make sure his sword was safely stowed in the scabbard angled down his back.
She shrugged. “You were in no danger, I assure you.”
“No danger? I was nearly fried.”
Her dark brows lifted as his words bounced eerily among the forest of columns.
“Is anything hurt beyond your pride?”
“Do you care?”
“I will take that as a no.”
With a faint smile she crossed toward the nearest doorway, moving down the long corridor. Still seething, Santiago followed in her wake, barely noticing the occasional glimpses of vampires moving through the columns, or the doorways leading to libraries, antechambers, and a dozen other rooms, which they passed at a rapid pace.
He’d heard rumors of what was beyond the Veil.
Glorious buildings constructed by the finest artists all shrouded by constant night. An endless countryside that remained untainted by humans. Or even demons. Gardens that bloomed with flowers that had no need of the sun.
And no doubt the roads were made of gold and the rivers ran with honey, he silently mocked.
A regular Garden of Eden.
Without the serpent.
Or was it?
The same rumors he’d heard regarding the beauty of this world also hinted that while the vampires lived in peace, they had maintained ancient powers that had been lost to his brothers.
Shape-shifting, mist walking ... mind control over lesser vampires.
And now one of them might be determined to unleash hell on his world.
“You are being frighteningly quiet.” Nefri at last broke the silence, halting to study him with blatant suspicion.
A humorless smile curved his lips. “Just taking in the magnificent sight of Shangri-la.”
“This is my home, not a fabled paradise.”
He grimaced. Home? It felt like a mausoleum.
“You have a real thing for marble, don’t you?”
She tilted her chin to a proud angle. “I enjoy beauty.”
Santiago stepped toward her, oddly annoyed by the sight of her standing there, so aloof and untouchable she didn’t appear quite real.
“Cold perfection?” he taunted.
“I beg your pardon?”
He was moving before his brain could remind him just how stupid it was to provoke a vampire who was not only stronger than him, but whose own territory he was standing in.
While he was very much the outsider.
“True beauty should be untamed, even flawed,” he growled, one hand grasping her upper arm as the other lightly circled her slender neck, his thumb stroking the cool satin of her skin. “It should entice and entangle the senses.”
The dark eyes widened. “What are you doing?”
Now that was a good question.
A fan-fucking-tastic question.
“You had your fun” was his lame comeback.
He felt the cool rush of her power, but she made no move to pull away from his touch.
“What fun?” she inquired.
“You made the journey through the Veil as unpleasant as possible.”
There wasn’t the smallest hint of apology on her pale, lovely face.
“I am unaccustomed to having a passenger.”
He snorted, not fooled for a minute.
“And you didn’t enjoy watching me squirm?”
“I told you ...”
Deciding to be hung for a sheep as for a lamb, or whatever the hell the saying might be, Santiago tossed away the last of his common sense and leaned forward to halt her words through the simple pro
cess of kissing her.
“I know what you told me,” he whispered against her lips.
“Santiago.”
She pulled her head back, but not before Santiago tasted her fleeting response.
And was struck by lightning.
Perhaps not physical lightning that came from the sky. But it was just as potent and seared through him with far more damage than the traditional bolt.
Dios. She tasted of exotic woman and forbidden pleasure.
His brooding gaze lingered on her parted lips, a heady desire pulsing through his body as his fingers continued to caress the bare skin of her throat.
“I like my name on your lips,” he said, his voice harsh in the still air.
“Halt this at once,” she commanded.
“Halt what?” He moved closer. “Touching you?”
“Yes.”
“Why? Like you, I appreciate beauty.”
The dark eyes flared with an indefinable emotion. “Does that mean you consider me flawed?”
He chuckled, his fingers drifting to trace the line of her jaw.
“Clever women are always the most dangerous.” He dipped his head down to nuzzle the corner of her surprisingly sensuous mouth. “And the most exciting.”
“Enough of this nonsense.” With an ease that scraped against Santiago’s pride, she pushed him away, turning to resume her trek down the corridor. “I must speak with the Elders.”
With fluid speed he moved to block her path. “Do they know that we’re here?”
She halted, her expression smoothed to an unreadable mask.
A certain sign she had something to hide.
“They would have sensed my return,” she admitted. “Even now they are gathering in the Great Hall.”
Santiago went rigid as he was struck by a nasty suspicion. “You can sense them as well?”
She was silent so long he thought she might refuse to answer. Then at last she gave a dip of her head.
“Yes.”
“Are they all accounted for?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s simple,” he rasped. “Have all the Elders gathered?”
“Not yet.” She waved a dismissive hand. “But there could be any number of reasons for their absence.”
He stepped toward her, his barely leashed anger making the torches that were set in shallow alcoves flare in reaction.
“What reason?”
She stood firm, even as her hair stirred from his swirling powers.
“You are here as my guest, Santiago,” she warned, the words coated in frost. “Do not make me regret having allowed you to travel with me.”
“Why are you avoiding my question?”
“I do not discuss our clan business with outsiders.”
“Outsider?” he hissed.
“Yes.”
Why did he find that word so insulting?
He sure the hell didn’t want to be included in a clan of vampires who cared more for their precious desire to find a higher purpose than their own brothers.
“Have you forgotten that one of your clan might be a traitor ?” he snarled. “That makes it very much my business.”
Her lips tightened, but her composure remained intact as she moved to brush past him.
“I think it is best if you wait here for me.”
His hand shot out to grasp her upper arm, the sickening foreboding making him blind to the danger.
“Nefri.”
“Not now, Santiago.”
“What are you hiding from me?”
“I have told you.” She grudgingly turned to meet his hard gaze. “It is clan business.”
“It’s Gaius, isn’t it?” he charged, knowing that if he hadn’t been watching her so closely he would have missed the slight flicker of her lashes. “He’s the missing Elder.”
Naturally she refused to admit the truth.
Most vampires were talented in the art of deception and this was one seemed more skilled than most.
“Your bitterness toward your sire has made you incapable of thinking clearly.”
Santiago refused to be bluffed. “I’m thinking clearly enough to know that I’m right. Can you deny it?”
She averted her face, her profile revealing precisely nothing.
“Remain here.”
“So you can try and hide the truth?”
“Nothing will be hidden,” she attempted to assure him.
Did she really think he would just take her word for it?
He might not be an ancient, but he hadn’t been turned yesterday.
“If you don’t have anything to hide then there’s no reason I can’t come with you.”
“By all the gods.” The ice momentarily melted as she turned to stab him with a blazing gaze. “You truly are the most stubborn vampire.”
Chapter 19
Ariyal pulled his damp hair into a long braid as he stepped out of the upstairs bathroom of the farmhouse. Despite the lack of hot water, the shower had at least washed away the dirt from the caves. Not to mention his more recent activities in the cellar.
Wicked, decadent, extraordinary activities.
A smile curved his lips at the delicious memories of the day spent in the arms of his mate.
The past few hours had been a revelation.
After centuries of being trapped in a harem he would have sworn there was nothing that could shock him when it came to sex.
There wasn’t anything he hadn’t done.
A thousand times.
But being with Jaelyn wasn’t just sex.
It was a connection so intimate that there had been moments when it felt as if they had truly discovered paradise.
Unfortunately, the day had eventually disappeared. Along with their excuse to linger in the cellar.
The wizard still held the child, and now Ariyal had to worry about the leeches that his mate had warned would be gathering for a full-out assault at midnight.
He understood, even applauded, her desire to rescue the child, but he intended to make sure that his people were protected from the approaching vampires.
Entering the bedroom, Ariyal pulled on his jeans and boots before tucking a dagger into a holster attached to his ankle. He was reaching for his sword when he sensed Jaelyn approaching the door.
She’d been oddly adamant when she’d announced she intended to search the house in hopes of finding a shirt for him to wear, muttering something about covering his bare chest. As if she wasn’t strutting around half naked.
Watching as she stepped over the threshold, Ariyal was briefly distracted by her sheer beauty.
From the top of her glossy raven hair that had been pulled in a tight ponytail, to the tips of her bare toes, she was lethal elegance that made his heart race and his knees weak.
And, of course, there were the predictable manly parts that hardened in ready approval.
Lost in his silent appreciation, it took a moment to realize that she was holding up a gaudy yellow Hawaiian shirt with huge pink orchids splashed across the silk fabric.
His smile faded as folded his arms over his chest and scowled at the amusement that shimmered in her indigo eyes.
“Are you kidding me?”
“Hey, it was that or this.” She pulled her other hand from behind her back to reveal a frilly apron with the phrase KISS THE COOK splashed across the bib. “Take your pick.”
He snorted. “You did this on purpose.”
“Do you think I actually want my mate to look like an overgrown orchid?”
His irritation melted like dew beneath the summer sun. “Mate,” he murmured, moving to wrap her slender body in his arms. “I like the sound of that.”
She shivered as his lips found a tender spot just below her ear, but, dropping the offensive shirt and apron, she pressed her hands to his chest.
“So do I, but you’re not going to distract me.”
“You mean distract you with this?” He stroked his lips down her throat. “Or this?” His hands g
ripped her hips to pull her against his growing erection.
She groaned, but arching back she stabbed him with a warning glare.
“Ariyal, you promised after your shower you would finish our discussion.”
“Discussion? Is that what you call it?”
“I was attempting to get you to listen to my perfectly logical suggestions.”
He nipped the lobe of her ear before grudgingly dropping his arms and stepping back.
He couldn’t afford to be distracted. Not if he intended to win this particular argument.
“They sounded more like orders than suggestions, poppet,” he said dryly.
She folded her arms, her chin tilting to that familiar angle.
“Only because you refuse to be reasonable.”
“I don’t call asking a Sylvermyst to sashay into a herd of waiting vampires reasonable,” he countered. “In fact, I would call it downright suicidal.”
“Sashay?” Her brows lifted. “Really?”
He held her gaze, his expression somber. “Jaelyn, I trust you with my very life, but don’t expect me to extend that trust to your brothers. They’ve been my enemies for a very long time.”
She wasn’t foolish enough to try and convince him that her fellow leeches were prepared to accept him into the family just because they were mated. He was more likely to believe they were plotting the quickest means to dispose of his body.
“You’re a warrior,” she said with a shrug. “You know that there are times when you have to join forces for the greater good.”
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend?”
“Maybe not friend, but ...”
“Jaelyn, those Sylvermyst in the caves are my brothers,” he interrupted, his tone suddenly harsh.
Her expression softened. “I haven’t forgotten.”
“Then you should understand why I’m not overly anxious to allow them to become dispensable fodder for the leeches.”
She moved forward, running her hands down his arms, her touch comforting as he was battered by the memory of his brothers being forced into slavery by the loathsome wizard.
“Styx is not a savage, Ariyal, although he is ...” She searched for the appropriate word. “Intimidating. He has no more desire than you do for a bloodbath.”
He didn’t doubt the truth of her words. It was well known that the current Anasso was attempting to civilize his people. But he also knew that vampires were predators at heart and no command from their king was going to leash their natural impulses.
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