Vampire's Soul: A Vampire Queen Series Novel

by Joey W. Hill

  “Cai…”

  “You come for me, right now. I need something to slick up my cock and I don’t want anything out of a damn tube. Only you. That’s all I want.”

  Rand came with hard jerks, his body registering his shock that Cai could command him so swiftly, so ruthlessly. Yeah, you better believe it, wolf. I can see down into your soul and I know you have this in you. As much as you have the looks outside that make the girls cream their panties. But your cream…that’s all mine.

  The words came, no brain cells needed. Catching a generous handful of the male’s release, Cai used it, working it over the cock he’d freed from his jeans. He used the residual in that tight opening he wanted enough to kill anyone who tried to stop him. Then he thrust in, hard and fast, giving Rand no option but to do his best to keep up. The male’s fingers were digging into the forest floor, his head dropped.

  Cai ripped out the tie for Rand’s hair, and it spilled gloriously over his bare shoulders. He’d go back into the limo looking used. Cai should have shredded that shirt.

  He preferred him naked. The Rand in clothes, riding in a limo, that wasn’t Rand. Rand was a wild thing, running through the forest on four legs. Shifting to two and standing aroused and virile, watching Cai stalk him with narrowed eyes that said he’d put up a fight, but if and when Cai took him down, he’d be generous in defeat.

  Such that, when all was said and done, it felt like Cai was the one surrendering, the one gifted.

  Cai exploded, the release relentless. Hammering, pounding, shot after shot of his come in Rand’s ass, until he ran out and was draped over him, hand on the back of his neck. A position of control, but when Cai felt the quiver through Rand’s thighs, the mix of emotion coming from him, messed up, he couldn’t not respond.

  “Sometimes,” he murmured, his voice not quite steady, “This is a moment where calling me Master might help. To keep it all straight.” He didn’t clarify for who, because he wasn’t sure how to answer that question.

  Rand slightly stiffened, his gaze sliding up to meet Cai’s in that position that was so hot, so subjugated, and yet not. Rand wet his lips, eyes sharpening. They pierced Cai through. “Master.”

  Cai closed his eyes, riding that feeling. Rand let out a groan as one more spurt of seed came from Cai, inciting an extra little push of his hips.

  What the hell was he doing? He’d gone from being a vampire who claimed to know nothing about how the whole Master-servant bond worked, because he wanted nothing to do with it…to this. He must have internalized more about vampires and servants than he realized. Or maybe it was just instinct, like blood drinking. The bond between vampire and human servant wasn’t learned. Okay, yeah, the marking process needed some guidance—he had an uncomfortable flashback to that major gaffe—but the connection…the soul connection…it guided a vampire like a damn lighthouse to claim full ownership of his servant, hold him, keep him. Need and want him.

  Cai remembered a few moments ago, when their bodies had been melded together and the shifter had shuddered, every muscle tightening, his throat working against a cry. He’d been pissed, but he hadn’t refused Cai. He’d never refused him, had he? He’d never refused his Master.

  Cai drew out, reluctantly. If Daegan and Gideon had any kind of vampire-servant senses at all, they’d know exactly what they were doing, so in a way, he’d done as he’d threatened Rand. It didn’t feel bad to either one of them. But the whole thing had taken things up a notch into complicated waters.

  Things hard to describe, but made Cai want to get where they were going, let the dawn come, and fall asleep buried in his servant, arms and legs tangled. He’d order him to keep his damn beautiful ass in the bed with him. That way, if Cai woke any time during the day, he could have him again and again. Rand might just obey.

  He’d struck out in anger in the limo, because Rand was a first for him, on so many levels. He’d had plenty of things he wanted in his life. For a hundred years, his batting average in getting any of those things had been zero. So when he’d won his freedom from the Trads, he’d made a practice of not wanting anything beyond what he could completely control. Being alone helped with that.

  He’d stayed isolated, even when he’d immersed himself in the human world to stay out of the range of Trads, but that need for isolation had eventually taken him back into unpopulated places, far beyond where anyone could reach him. No connections to vampires there, and choosing to take humans down as full kills, rather than drinking them or entering servant relationships, kept any human connections out of the picture. Except temporary ones, like the kid at the cabin, or the special forces guy who’d never seen Cai.

  But Rand was different. Cai wanted Rand, and not just temporarily.

  It didn’t matter. He could feel it, savor it, even knowing it wouldn’t happen. Cai squeezed the male, pressing a kiss between his shoulder blades. “It’s okay,” he murmured, just as Rand had done for him the other night. He nudged Rand up onto his knees. Since the male seemed dazed in a way that was kind of gratifying yet alarming, Cai handled getting his jeans back over his beautiful ass, tucking in that gorgeous cock, fastening and zipping things again.

  “On your feet, wolf.” He helped, and when Rand’s head turned, rather than meet the gaze, Cai brushed a kiss over his mouth and slid an arm around his waist, steadying him. “It’s all right,” Cai said again. “You’re right and I’m a jerk. What else is new? We’ll go let the queen pat me on the head.”

  But when Rand would have followed his cue back to the limo, a sudden thought struck Cai, making him plant his feet. “I figured it out. What the marks mean.”

  At Rand’s puzzled look, Cai turned to face him and dropped his hold to his wrists, pulling Rand’s arms up between them. He cupped the backs of Rand’s hands, so they were looking down at Rand’s wrists, side by side. The old scars and the new marks over them. The narrow figure eight and the spout of flame.

  It’s not a figure eight. It’s the symbol for infinity, which also represents brothers-in-arms. Cai’s gaze slid up to meet Rand’s. The other one, the flame? That’s a symbol for hell.

  He gripped Rand’s wrists anew, thumbs overlapping those marks.

  No matter what happens, where our paths end up, you need me, I’ll be there. Whether it’s to fight an enemy, or share a fucking beer. He caressed the infinity mark. That’s what this one means.

  Rand’s gaze darkened, and he flinched, an emotional response, as Cai dipped his head and bit his other wrist, let him feel the penetration of his one fang next to the flame mark.

  This one? If you ever try to take your life again, I’ll make your life a living hell, far worse than you can imagine. I’ll follow you if necessary into the afterlife to make that happen. Count on it.

  In this moment, he felt like a fucking Master, all that meant and could mean. When he had to let the shifter go, as he knew he would, Cai was damn well making sure that Rand remembered one thing. That life was worth living. Not for the reasons Cai lived—to send Fate a daily huge fuck you—but for the reasons a guy like Rand should live.

  The world was a much better place with him in it.

  Chapter Twenty

  The small airport was only a few more minutes of driving. The private jet put them in Savannah in short order, and they were back in another limo, headed for the Council’s headquarters. Despite never having been in a private plane before, one outfitted like a luxury hotel suite, Rand didn’t feel like saying much. Occasionally, Daegan and Gideon conversed about some things and Cai joined in. They attempted to keep Rand included, a courtesy he would have appreciated if his mind wasn’t overwhelmed with a lot of other input. Like the faint tingle that lingered on his wrists, the psychological imprint Cai had left by defining what those marks meant.

  At length, they’d stopped trying to talk to him, and Rand suspected Cai had given them some type of subtle indication to leave him be, let him deal with what he was dealing with.

  After what Cai had done in that small grove of t
rees, Rand honestly wasn’t sure where his mind was. He’d seen Cai vulnerable, had looked into his heart. Rand knew Cai had a ruthless side, a cruel side. But he’d overlooked the Master side. Or rather, he’d acknowledged it here and there as a sexual charge, something to lend extra spice to their fucking. Or even to take it to a deeper level.

  But in some way this time it had been different. Their unplanned stop, the fight they’d had, had unleashed that side of Cai in a way Rand hadn’t experienced before. Or perhaps, hadn’t let himself experience it. Maybe it was the anger, or some emotional fallout from the close call with Goddard, or the whole past several years’ accumulation.

  Whatever it was, what had set Rand off balance, what had him feeling so pensive, was accepting his own response.

  He could hold his own with the vampire. Even Cai knew it now. But Rand had capitulated. Willingly. Cai was every bit as much of a Dominant and Master as the other male vampire in this vehicle, no matter the different shape of it. But unlike Daegan, Rand had looked at Cai as his Master.

  In a pack, an alpha would give way before a stronger alpha, and it didn’t have to get ugly. But it had gotten ugly between him and Cai, and some of that had remained, adding to the confusing mix. Those echoes of conflict remained even now.

  Until Cai closed a hand over his, linked fingers. He put his other arm behind Rand’s shoulders, curling his fingers in Rand’s still loose hair. When he dipped his head, he brushed his mouth and nose against Rand’s face. It was more a wolf gesture than a vampire one, something he would do because he knew Rand responded to it, would nuzzle back, open his mouth and nip Cai’s cheekbone lightly.

  Rand felt the vampire’s lips pull in a faint smile when he did. Lifting their linked hands, Cai touched his mouth to the top of Rand’s. Turning it over, Cai did the same to the wrist, above the markings, sending questing tendrils into Rand’s stomach.

  It’s okay, wolf. What can I do to make it better?

  He didn’t know. He didn’t know…anything. Not this way. It wasn’t like Cai to be gentle, considerate. But he had been, in the aftermath of the rough sex, and now. It felt like there was something driving it, something Rand couldn’t put a finger on. Like they were on a sand timer with the sand running out.

  Their argument in the limo had started on that subject, but it was Cai’s callous treatment of their friendship that had set Rand off, not the knowledge that their time together might be drawing to a close. Cai had always treated the marking as temporary. So as not to make Rand feel trapped. So Cai could protect himself from rejection.

  The vampire had noticed how Rand gravitated toward Fane’s family. Maybe that was what had triggered what happened in the limo. Cai had decided the best thing was to treat their relationship exactly like a soldier thing. When the combat was done, they’d go their separate ways but still be friends, linked by the intense experience.

  And it had pissed him off, his reaction to anything that he didn’t want to feel. Cai was damaged. No question. The family dynamics, the emotions that Rand felt and proffered so easily, were a foreign language to Cai. Maybe that was why Cai had switched gears now. Realizing there was no point to being pissed off. It was what it was, and all fighting did was squander the time they had left.

  He hadn’t given Cai an answer to his question, but the vampire wasn’t pressing him. His gaze had turned to Daegan.

  “How far are we?” Cai asked the other vampire.

  “About five more miles.” They were going down a wooded two-lane road, and Cai peered out at it through the darkness. When he pressed a button to roll the window down, he let in the scent of deep forest. Rand lifted his head, nostrils flaring. “The estate surrounded by this, too?” Cai asked.

  As Daegan nodded, Cai’s fingers tightened on Rand. “Pull over and let him out. He needs to run. He’ll meet us there.”

  Yes. Things loosened in his gut and heart like they’d been freed from a cage. Cai slid a knuckle along his cheek. “Give me your clothes and I’ll take them with me.”

  Rand took off the shirt. He stepped out of the car to remove the rest. He didn’t look toward Daegan and Gideon. He only wanted to look at Cai. But he also wanted everything to disappear for a while.

  Before he shifted, Cai set the clothes aside and held out his hand. “Other wrist,” he ordered.

  When Rand complied, he brushed his lips above that scar, closing the circle. “Meet us at the house, wolf. Just follow our mark or track my scent. I want your ass in my bed at dawn, though. Got me?”

  Rand should have a smartass remark for him, but he was the more serious one of the two. The one-liners didn’t come to him the way they did to Cai.

  But as he met Cai’s gaze, he didn’t see any humor there. The vampire dropped his grip and nodded.

  Rand backpedaled and then turned. The forest was calling to him. The wolf, too, humming through his blood. God, he was glad for the freedom to shift and tune it out, run. He glanced back at Cai, but Cai had closed the door. The limo was pulling off. Rand had a weird compulsion to chase after it. He put that aside as some latent canine thing, something no wolf with any pride would indulge.

  That wasn’t why he wanted to chase after the car. He wanted Cai to run with him. Maybe Cai could hear it in his head. Maybe he wasn’t listening. Rand wasn’t sure which option made him feel any better.

  So he shifted, and let it all go to run.

  Soooo… Here they were, in the fucking Council headquarters. Lots of brick and spires, gardens and fountains. According to Gideon, it was similar to Lyssa’s primary home in Atlanta. The limo pulled up to the front door, set at the top of ten graduated marble steps. Gargoyles both menacing and majestic flanked either side of the doorway. Cai would have felt more comfortable entering through a side entrance. Garage. Kitchen.

  “With it being close to dawn, Lady Lyssa plans on meeting with you at twilight rising,” Daegan said. “For now, you’ll be shown guest quarters and given what’s needed to see to you and your servant’s comfort. The only vampires here are the Council delegation you already met, and the servants and house staff whose discretion is assured. With Voltaire dead, you don’t have to be concerned about concealing your servant’s nature.”

  “Good enough. Kind of sorry I missed seeing him get his.”

  “Not alone in that,” Gideon grunted. “Think Mason also wished he’d had a shot at him.”

  Cai hoped they’d made Chavez watch and he’d pissed himself at the warning. But in hindsight, maybe not. Oh, not about the Chavez thing. That would have been tons of fun. But on further reflection, Cai wasn’t sure if he was in the mood to see anything killed for a while. Or even imagine someone else watching someone get killed. He turned his mind to better things.

  “I’m going to hang out until Rand arrives. Who do we need to see? Once he gets here.”

  “Him.” Gideon pointed to the wide and tall front door, which had opened and revealed a slim boy in early adolescence. Dark skinned and with expressive eyes that reflected keen interest in the new arrivals. Well, not the ones getting out of the vehicle. As his gaze darted over and past them, Cai suppressed a smile. Vampires were old hat around here. It was obvious he was looking for the wolf.

  Cai didn’t detect a full marking on the kid, but he was at least second marked, under someone’s protection. With his superhero nose, Rand could probably tell him who, though Cai could make an educated guess. If the boy was confident enough to be escorting strange vampires to their rooms, then he belonged to Lady Lyssa. No one was going to fuck with a human marked by her.

  “Is she aware of child labor laws?” Cai queried.

  Gideon chuckled, and even Daegan’s eyes sparked. “John’s the grandson of her majordomo, Elias Ingram. John works with Lord Brian in the labs a lot, because he’s a science geek, but he also likes to help his grandfather out. When he’s not at school.” Gideon tucked his tongue in his cheek and confirmed what Cai had suspected. “But he’s Johnny-on-the-spot today because he heard a rumor that there’s a shi
fter around.”

  Rand, you might want to come in hot as a wolf. There’s a kid here expecting to be mightily impressed.

  He didn’t know if Rand would answer him. They weren’t fighting, not exactly, but there was definitely a strangeness between them right now.

  John’s mark wasn’t considered a sure protection in certain company, apparently, because as the kid came down the steps and they exited the limo, Daegan ambled over to a pretty trellis area. He took a seat on its bench, obviously intending to wait until Rand arrived and ensure that John had no issues getting them to their rooms.

  “I just got my ass barbecued to get Dovia away from those assholes,” Cai directed bluntly to the male. “You really think I’m going to do something to hurt a kid? And Rand would chew off one of his own feet first.”

  Daegan lifted a shoulder. “Dovia is a vampire. You follow the Trad preference to kill humans for food. So you assign their right to live no more value than the fisherman does the fish he has snared. While I don’t believe you intend to harm him, your lack of regard for his kind means a mistake could be made. John is quite important to all of us.”

  “I suppose the non-Trad kind of vampire is so much better,” Cai said bitingly. “Where humans are important when it suits your purpose. Whether it’s for food or fucktoys, or to be a bellboy, they’re still being used according to vampire whim, right? Your property.”

  John’s eyes had widened. Maybe Lyssa didn’t let vampires use rough language around him. Maintain the illusion that the kid was being raised in some Beaver Cleaver style household.

  It stuck in Cai’s craw. He didn’t like Daegan’s even tone. Yeah, nothing he’d said was technically wrong. But Cai felt like the hillbilly vampire who might just decide to eat the help because he didn’t “know no better.”

  Fuck all of them. He’d sleep in the woods and, if he decided to hang around and talk to Lyssa in the evening, he would. Or he’d take off and say forget it.