by Marilyn Lee
Etienne stood staring at him, his incisors still bared. “Forgive you? When I’ve needed you my entire life and you’ve never been there? How can I forgive you?”
Vlad felt as if his heart were being squeezed into stillness. “If you don’t forgive me, you might as well kill me now!”
“Then die, bastard!”
Acier pulled away from Aleksei and turned his twin to face him. “Etienne! There may come a time when we will call them both to account for what we’ve suffered, but for now… for the good of the pack… we need them both alive.”
Vlad watched, frowning. Why did he feel so close to Etienne, but not Acier?
Etienne jerked away from Acier. “Fine. They can both live… for now.” Etienne turned to look at Vlad. “But you stay the hell away from me. You are not my father and I’ll kill you the first chance I get!” Snarling the threat, Etienne shifted into a big gray wolf and ran into the surrounding trees.
After a startled moment, Vlad flashed through the night after his son.
Left alone in the woods with Aleksei, Acier hesitated, considering his options. Aleksei broke the silence. “Vlad will not hurt him.”
Acier sighed, raking a hand through his long, dark hair. “I’ve never seen Tee so hurt. I have to go after him.” He turned.
Aleksei caught his arm, swinging him around. “No. They need to be alone. Vladimir has a great capacity for love and affection. Up until now, I have been on the receiving end of most of it. Now he’ll be able to share some of it with Etienne… his son.”
Acier frowned. “I don’t understand. I know he’s Tee’s father. I could feel how drawn Tee was to him. But you are our father… at least you’re my father. How can that be?”
Aleksei shrugged. “I don’t know… I just know that it is.”
“But it doesn’t make sense!”
“To mortals, our very existence might not make sense. Yet we not only exist, we thrive. You, Vladimir, Etienne, and I know which of you belongs to which of us. Does the how or why really matter?” Aleksei extended his arm. “Come, my son.”
After a brief hesitation, Acier moved close to him and made no protest as Aleksei hugged him, pressing several kisses against his forehead. “You are my son and I will kill anyone who tries to separate us.”
The softly spoken words infused Acier with a sense of belonging he had long abandoned any hope of feeling. This male was definitely his father.
Aleksei released him. “We will return to your RV and you will tell me about the danger facing you and your pack.”
Acier glanced in the direction Etienne and Vladimir had taken. “You’re sure he won’t hurt Etienne?”
“I am positive.”
Acier nodded slowly. In silence they raced back through the night to the RV. The barrier spirit dissolved to allow them through. As they entered, Aleksei turned to face the spirit. “Rest easy, Bentia. I will guard and protect those within for the remainder of the night.”
Bentia disappeared. Acier closed the door and he and Aleksei sat facing each other in the dark room. Before they could speak, a tall, beautiful woman walked into the living room area. She wore one of Acier’s sweatshirts over her lovely dark skin, leaving her long, shapely legs bare. She turned her green gaze on him. “Steele, is everything all right?”
Acier bolted to his feet. “Raven… this is --”
Aleksei rose.
“Your father? Yes.” She nodded. “I know. Is everything all right?” The two small Keddi, Pen and Drei, hovered in the air near Raven’s head, tense.
“Yes. He… he’s come to help.”
“Then I’ll leave you alone.” She smiled and walked back toward the bedroom at the back of the RV.
“Why does she call you Steele?”
Acier shrugged. “Her father is one of my dearest friends. When we met, she was young and couldn’t pronounce Acier. When I told her it was French for steel, she started calling me Steele.”
“I see.”
Acier resumed his seat, motioning for Aleksei to do the same. When Aleksei had, Acier beckoned to Pen and Drei. They flew through the air. Pen landed on his shoulder. Drei hovered in front of Aleksei, his ears up, his tail down. Friend?
“What is your name, little Keddi?”
I am called Drei.
Acier arched a brow. As a rule, earthbound Keddi spoke in broken, ungrammatical sentences -- except in the presence of the Supreme Alpha, Aime Gautier and his Keddi, Dominator. Yet Drei accorded Aleksei the same respect he would Aime.
“I have a younger brother named Andrei whom we call Drei.” Aleksei smiled and extended his hand. Drei landed on his palm. “Who named you Drei?”
“Etienne named him.”
Aleksei stroked a finger over Drei’s back. Drei made a soft, growling noise of pleasure in the back of his throat. Aleksei turned his attention to Pen. “And you are called?”
Pen.
Acier sensed turmoil in Pen, who remained on his shoulder. He suspected Pen wanted a closer look at Aleksei, but wasn’t sure if he were friend or foe. It was apparent Drei had already decided for himself.
“Well, Pen and Drei, I am Aleksei Madison.” He locked his gaze with Acier’s. “I am Acier’s father.”
Acier felt the now familiar ache. His father. After all the years of pain, heartache, and longing, his father sat across from him.
Will help? Pen inquired.
Aleksei nodded, his eyes glowing. “Yes. My son’s enemies are my enemies.”
Pen looked in his eyes. Alpha?
Acier inclined his head slightly.
Pen flew across the room and alighted on Aleksei’s shoulder. Help kill enemies?
“Yes.” Aleksei looked at him. “Now. Tell me who and what we will be facing.”
Acier sighed. “The most pressing need is for a blood transfusion.”
Aleksei shuddered. “Then it’s true. You’ve been poisoned?”
Acier nodded. “How did you know?”
“Your Aunt Katie had a… vision. She saw you injured and poisoned. It was with her help we found you and Etienne.” Aleksei rose and crossed the room to place a hand on his shoulder. “You are now a part of a large, powerful family. Call your physician and tell him to prepare for a transfusion. Then we will deal with those who dared injure you.”
Acier shook his head. “I don’t know how much you know about me, but I am Den Alpha as well as Alpha-in-waiting of the entire Pack Gautier. I have to fight my own battles… not turn them over to… to… my… my…”
Aleksei squeezed his shoulder. “The word you’re having so much trouble with is father, Acier. Get used to saying it in reference to me. I am your father and you will not address me as anything else.”
“Then I will just look at you and start speaking,” Acier said coolly. He was not going to be pushed into addressing this vampire as father.
Aleksei laughed and slapped his cheek. “I will only allow that for a short time, my angry young pup. Now. Call your physician.”
“I’m used to giving orders, not taking them.”
Aleksei responded by slapping his cheek again, this time hard enough to make it sting. “Give all the orders you like to those of your pack… and to Etienne, but not to your father.”
Acier took a deep breath. “Do not strike me again.”
Aleksei curled his fingers in his hair. “I won’t… unless you need it. I will gladly surrender my life to protect yours, but I will not be disrespected. Do not make the mistake of forgetting who I am.” Aleksei released his hair and looked at Drei and Pen. “And that goes for you two as well.”
Acier pressed his lips into a tight line. When the danger was passed, he was going to take great delight in giving the arrogant bastard in front of him a hefty backhand that would send him flying across the damn room and slamming into a far wall.
Aleksei arched a brow and laughed. “I wouldn’t count on that, if I were you, Acier.”
He stiffened. “Did you… read my mind?”
“So it would s
eem.”
“Don’t do it again! I have a right to my thoughts without you coming uninvited into my mind!”
Aleksei’s smile vanished and he sighed. “You still hate me.”
“Yes!” But even as he flung the word at the other male, he knew he lied. How the hell was he supposed to maintain his hate and anger for a male he knew would gladly die for him? Especially when he felt a wall of affection emanating from the other male threatening to overwhelm him?
“Would you like to off me as your brother was about to off Vlad?”
“Etienne wouldn’t have killed him.”
“Would you have killed me in his place?”
Acier looked away. After less than two hours of knowing the other male, he found he could not imagine a world that did not include this big, arrogant bastard. “No,” he admitted.
Acier was rewarded by a warm smile and a hug. As he leaned against Aleksei, he closed his eyes. Just for now he would enjoy being close to him. When the danger to the pack was passed… well, there would be no reason not to kill Aleksei.
Chapter Two
Aware that he would not be able to outrun the vampire following him, Etienne stopped abruptly, and shifted back to his human form. Deep in the forest, he and the vampire faced each other. “Why are you pursuing me? What do you want of me, vampire?”
Vlad spread his hands wide, a helpless look on his bronzed face. “I don’t want anything, but I need to be close to you. I know how you must feel about me… I know the hate and rage that no amount of words can assuage. But I did not desert you. I would never desert a son of mine.”
Etienne clenched his hands into fists. He knew this vampire had sired him -- he felt a connection with this vampire that he had not felt with the other one. This vampire was the bastard responsible for making his childhood so miserable. He had never realized how much he had missed having a father around -- until he had heard him calling earlier that night and been drawn, almost against his will, to the RV park.
Rage ate at him. He felt feral. He longed to cut and tear into the other male’s flesh until the forest ran red with blood. Yet another part of him longed to burrow against the other male and allow himself to be held.
Etienne shook his head. “I am an adult. The time when I needed you in my life is long passed.”
“No! I am well over three hundred years old and I still have an abiding need for my mother who I thought had abandoned me. She hadn’t. I did not abandon you. When you think yourself abandoned, you have a deep-seated need that eats at you and makes you bitter and dangerous -- if you allow it. That’s what happened to me. I will not allow the same thing to happen to you. You can run… you can deny who I am… you can try to kill me, but unless you succeed, I will be here for you. I will spend the rest of my life atoning for your pain, my son.”
Etienne’s chest tightened and he had to swallow hard to dislodge a lump in his throat. He wanted to hate and hate he did, but there was something else… something inside the other vampire that reached out and grabbed and twisted something in him -- binding them together. “Did you leave us because you knew we would be hybrids?”
“No!”
“Then why? Why? Acier and I would have been the best sons any vampire could have wanted.”
“I didn’t know you existed until you started calling out to me and even then I didn’t know who you were. Aleksei told me and we immediately took steps to find you and your brother.” He extended a hand. “Come close… touch my mind and read the truth of what I’ve said. Touch my mind… my heart… the heart of one who will do whatever it takes to make things right with you… even if that means dying at your hands.”
Even with the distance between them, Etienne could feel the other’s pain as well as his sincerity. Whatever his reason for having deserted them, Vladimir now seemed prepared to die to ease his pain. That was far more than he had expected. The well of hate and fury burst inside him. Overcome, he dropped to his knees, gasping for breath.
When Vlad dropped beside him, Etienne turned and buried his head against his chest. Eager hands pulled him closer, cool lips touched his forehead, and Etienne allowed the tears in his eyes to spill down his cheeks.
Forgive me… my son. Forgive me.
The anguished plea released a wellspring of pain in him. Etienne collapsed against his father, releasing total control of his emotions. It wouldn’t be easy, but granting his father forgiveness was what he’d always wanted to do. He’d never expected to have the opportunity.
Vlad rocked him in his arms, whispering softly to him in a language he suspected was Russian. Malchik moy… solnyshko moy. The words meant nothing to him -- and yet they meant everything. Hearing them chanted over and over, for the first time in his life, Etienne experienced the love of his father.
One silent word sprang from his heart. Father.
A great shudder passed through the other’s body, then the two of them clung together, sobbing unashamedly in each other’s arms.
* * *
Vampire fem Deoctra Diniti, naked and hungry to have her cunt filled with hard, hot cock, leaned over the end of the bed. She glanced over her shoulder. A tall, handsome blond stood behind her. Also naked, his erect cock sprang from a mass of dark blond pubic hair. His green eyes alight with lust, he closed the distance between them, cupping her ass in big palms.
“You are the loveliest female I have ever mated with.” His low, warm voice sent a tingle through her.
“I require cock, not talk,” she told him. “Fuck me now and romance me later!”
He parted her nether cheeks and pressed the head of his length against her puckered hole. “Get ready, my lovely.”
“Bitch,” she hissed, tensing. “Call me bitch and ram your entire hot cock in with one thrust.” She braced her arms on the bed and looked forward, preparing herself for the coming onslaught.
“Get ready for the fucking of your life, pretty bitch!” He leaned over her and raked his teeth against the back of her neck. His hot breath there sent a jolt of anticipation through her.
She wiggled her behind against his groin. “Take me in your natural form.”
He pressed closer. His skin slowly sprouted hair… fur. He pressed his hairy groin against her ass. Her small gasp turned into a scream of delight as his hot, silken dick forced its way between the cheeks of her nether regions and slammed deep into her cunt with a speed and power that nearly made her come.
She looked over her shoulder. Moisture and lust filled her pussy at the sight of her body impaled on the cock of a big, gray biped wolf with lusty green eyes. Without giving her time to adjust to the invasion, he wrapped his paws around her body, and shot his hot length in and out of her with a power and speed that left her gasping and shuddering with unmitigated lust.
She reached back to grab a handful of his hairy ass, grinding herself against him. Lord, who knew she’d love being fucked by a male in animal form. He leaned closer, grunting with pleasure, and thrusting wildly and viciously into her body, with no regard for whether his movements gave pleasure or pain. He didn’t care. Neither did she. She loved sex that brought pain. One thrust shoved her onto the bed. As she sprawled on her stomach, he followed her down, driving his cock deep into her pussy and sinking his fangs into the back of her neck.
His large wolf body completely covered her small, slender form. Still biting her neck and tearing her flesh, he fucked her wildly, growling with his pleasure… wild and totally uninhibited, licking at her bloody neck. Waves of pleasure and pain dashed over her. She moaned and shuddered, her entire body teetering on the edge of an explosive climax. Only Acier and Etienne Gautier had given her a harder, more enjoyable fuck. But thoughts of the lust-filled night she had shared with them were washed away as Leon gave a particularly painful thrust, driving his cock deep within her wet cunt. Keeping his groin tight against her ass, he forced his knot into her.
She screamed and exploded. As the first wave of his climax crashed over her, she tightened herself so that his knot
, hard and hot, was held inside her as he blasted her full of his seed. She lay under his heavy body, her hands curled into fists at her side, milking his plundering dick of the last few precious drops of his wonderful seed.
She turned her head, pressing her cheek against the bed. Hot breath fanned her face and a pair of wolf lips closed on her mouth. She parted her lips and welcomed the long, skillful tongue inside. They lay kissing and biting at each other while he continued to fuck her, gently now, his knot still inside her body.
She moaned, squeezing herself around his shaft. You’ve made a mess of me. Now clean me up. She whimpered with a combination of regret and pain as he withdrew his delicious knot out of her protesting cunt. Moaning and tingling, she turned onto her back, spreading her legs wide. Remaining in his natural form, he stood between her legs. Instead of eating her as she had ordered, he drew his hips back, and shot his still hard cock back into her pussy, knot included.
Lord! It hurt so good! She sobbed, blindly reaching up to draw him down to her. Wrapping her arms and legs around his big, hairy body, she fucked herself wildly on him, gasping and nearly coming each time he shot his knot deep inside her. Overcome with lust and need, she bared her incisors, and sank them into the side of his neck. As he shot jet after jet of seed into her receptive cunt, she fed on his blood, lost in an ecstasy of delight she had never expected to feel again.
She held him tightly, surrendering to the pleasure sweeping through her, setting her blood, her heart afire with need and more -- for this male alone.
He collapsed on top of her. She continued to feed on him, drinking his warm, pure blood as she wallowed in the after bliss of the most incredible fuck she’d ever had.
They fucked over and over again until they were both so exhausted he couldn’t muster the strength to pull his now limp cock out of her. It remained inside her because his knot was still erect. She licked her lips and growled softly.