Eternal Reign

by Melody Johnson

  I bit my lip. His eyes honed on the minute movement of my teeth on my lips, and my breath caught. The air was suddenly charged between us, his loneliness and my fear transforming into a different, all-consuming flavor of adrenaline.

  “People deserve the truth. The people I love have the right to know they’re in danger, so they can protect themselves.”

  Dominic made a scoffing noise in the back of his throat.

  I could feel the heat of my blush light my entire face. “They deserve the chance to try to protect themselves,” I amended on a whisper.

  Dominic shook his head. “And what is it that I deserve? What about my rights?” he asked. “Eradication,” he accused softly.

  “When I reveal your existence, it won’t be to eradicate you,” I reasoned. “I wouldn’t reveal you otherwise.”

  “How would revealing me not eventually eradicate me?” he asked snidely. I could feel the ties between us stretching beyond their ability to bend.

  “You’re helping to solve the case, providing essential forensic evidence. You can be the face to the name, so when people think ‘vampire,’ they think of someone who saved them from the Damned. You’ll be the hero of the night, not the creature who stalks it.”

  “I didn’t choose this life, but I damn well won’t lose it. I’ve lost enough through the years, and if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s to keep to the shadows—unseen, unheard, and forgotten if noticed. I’d rather live as a creature who stalks in darkness than die a hero.”

  “Then you made a huge mistake,” I whispered.

  He raised an eyebrow in challenge.

  “I noticed you,” I said. The spice of his pine scent wafted toward me as he leaned closer, and I shivered. “Some things simply can’t be forgotten.”

  “You’d risk my life for a scoop,” he said accusingly.

  “Nothing I wouldn’t risk myself,” I reasoned. “For the bigger picture.”

  The tension between his brows and his pursed lips released, and my breath caught. He understood my reasoning for everything I’d done, everything I’d planned to do. Yet he didn’t come any closer. He was waiting on me. He might understand the logic behind my actions, but he still felt betrayed by them.

  I’d have to show him through action that even if I betrayed my promise, I wouldn’t betray him. And I knew exactly how he wanted me to show him; it was exactly what I wanted, too.

  I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his.

  He didn’t respond at first. Although it wasn’t quite the cataclysmic experience I’d had while high on his blood, kissing him moved me nonetheless. In fact, being grounded in reality, with my very human senses and desires and knowing they were all mine, his lips against mine affected me more than I’d ever imagined a kiss could. I felt the softness of his lips and the brush of his stubble against my chin and upper lip. I smelled the heady pine scent of his skin. I heard the sharp intake of his breath and the deep, instinctual growl in his chest. And everything I smelled, felt, and heard rooted and grew inside me until, just as a flower blooms in the warmth of the sun, despite our shared darkness, my body basked in light.

  Then he responded.

  And my body incinerated.

  He was on me, in bed on top of me, and although he took care with my leg and hip, he devoured every inch of me. His lips rocked over my lips, raw from his teeth and tongue. His arms surrounded me, his hands on either side of my face, urging me closer, tipping my head and angling our mouths to kiss deeper, anchoring me to him in the gale force of his desire. His lips and hands and hips demanded, and I conceded.

  The fierceness of his response ignited a matching response inside me—a visceral, instinctual, predatory response that I didn’t recognize—but I reveled in the power I had over him even as I was swept away by the equal power he had over me.

  I made an indecipherable noise in the back of my throat. “I should have told you the truth about my article sooner.”

  “They say honesty is the best policy,” he murmured.

  The heat of his breath against my neck raised goose bumps down my side. I shivered. “You’ve never lived by that motto before.”

  “I’m starting to see its merit.” He nibbled my neck.

  “Thank God,” I gasped.

  “You’re welcome,” he said, and I could feel his smile against my skin.

  I would have smacked his shoulder except he was doing something distracting with his tongue to the curve of my neck where he’d just nibbled. “No. I just, um—”

  “Pardon?” he asked when it was evident I couldn’t finish my sentence. His voice trembled with restrained laughter.

  “I can’t think,” I snapped.

  “Then stop trying. Use your mouth for something more useful than talking.”

  “I just wasn’t sure you’d still want me. When you didn’t respond right away, I thought—”

  “Less thinking.”

  He sealed my lips with his, effectively cutting off my words and short-circuiting my thoughts.

  A few minutes later, I tore my lips away to breathe, to catch myself before I hit bottom, but Dominic nibbled my ear, and my brain shorted out again. “Why did you”—I gasped, chills zinging from my ear and down my side—“hesitate?”

  Dominic groaned. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

  “Nope,” I whispered against his neck.

  He shuddered, and it was my turn to laugh to myself. “This is the first time you’ve ever kissed me.”

  I snorted. “Your memory is failing you, old man. We’ve most definitely kissed before.”

  “I’ve always forced you. Or coerced you. Or seduced you,” he said. “This is the first time you’ve initiated and kissed me willingly.”

  I pulled back and met his gaze, the playfulness in both our eyes gone.

  “Like you said,” I murmured. “You and me, whatever this is between us, it’s come pretty far.”

  “It’s far in coming, that’s for sure,” Dominic grumbled.

  “The expression is ‘long in coming,’” I said “And I don’t think—”

  “Less thinking,” Dominic insisted and captured my lips with his again to shut me up.

  I stopped thinking.

  Minutes later, his hand shifted from my back, traveled over my shoulder to my stomach, and slowly worked its way over each rib. His hand didn’t stop when he reached the underwire of my bra. I tore my mouth away and shook my head, having lost my words along with my mind several minutes ago.

  Dominic frowned.

  “My leg is throbbing,” I said, which, according to our new honesty policy, was true if not accurate. My leg was throbbing, but that wasn’t why I wanted to stop.

  Dominic was quiet for a long moment, and I wondered if he would push me this time, demand an explanation or express his frustration. I braced myself for his reaction.

  He lowered himself beside me in bed and held me.

  I blinked, surprised. “What are you—”

  He covered my lips with his finger. “It was a long night and an even longer day. There’s not much time to regain our strength before sunset, so if we aren’t going to continue what we started, we need to rest while we still can.”

  “I hadn’t planned to stay here all day,” I said, but his arm around my shoulders, pulling me to his chest, and his chest, so firm and warm against my cheek, were difficult to resist. Maybe I shouldn’t have stopped him. Maybe I should have let myself finally feel again.

  “I hadn’t planned on you losing your night blood, being a Day Reaper, or staying here, but my very long existence has taught me that if we want to survive, we must adapt,” Dominic simultaneously tightened his hold on me and relaxed into the mattress. “This once, adaptation feels just fine to me.”

  I yawned, exhausted despite myself. “Nathan probably needs me. Meredith might—”

  “Meredith has survived thanks to you, and Nathan will ensure her safety. He will be fine on his own for the rest of the day. You’ll see them bot
h tonight.”

  “Greta might—”

  “Be waiting for you with more questions than you can possibly answer. You infiltrated a crime scene, hijacked an ambulance, kidnapped a patient, and disappeared for several hours afterward.” He ticked my actions off on his fingers. “You should rest and think about your situation before facing her,” Dominic reasoned. “But that’s just my opinion, whatever it’s worth to you. Feel free to leave if you must, but take this with you.”

  He stretched back and opened the bedside table drawer. I blinked, stunned at its contents. Inside were dozens of little glass vials filled with blood and strung on silver necklaces.

  He pulled one out, closed the drawer, and turned back to me, the necklace dangling in his hand. The vial of his blood swung in a gentle arc between us. I stared alternately at the vial and at the closed bureau drawer, dumbfounded by the sight of so many necklaces.

  “Seriously?” I asked.

  Dominic glanced down at the necklace and then back up at my expression. A frown slowly puckered his brow. “You’ve worn this necklace for weeks. Why are you balking now?”

  “I’m not. I just wasn’t expecting you to be stockpiling an entire drawer full of them.”

  Dominic gave me a withering look. “How many times now have you wasted my blood on someone other than yourself?”

  I blinked. “It’s not as if I’m keeping count.”

  “Three times,” he promptly answered. “You healed me, for which I’m thankful. You healed Bex, for which I know she is also thankful. And then you allowed Dr. Chunn to run tests on my blood, for which you are forgiven. After you healed Bex and me, I had to open a vein to refill your necklace. Without my forethought, I wouldn’t have anything of worth to give you this time.”

  It was my turn to frown. “What do you mean?”

  “In my current strength, thanks to the approaching Leveling, I can no longer heal,” he reminded me. As if I needed the reminder. My leg was throbbing because of it. “My blood would still make a beautiful piece of jewelry, but it would no longer be helpful for its intended purpose: to heal you. You being the operative word and the only one you can’t seem to understand.” Dominic unhooked the clasps and draped the chain out before me.

  I leaned forward and allowed him to clasp the necklace around my throat, his fingers already steaming from the silver exposure. At one time, it would have taken several minutes for his skin to react from contact with silver. Now, after only a few seconds holding the necklace, his fingers were burning.

  “After you used my blood to heal Bex,” he continued, “I realized that wasting my blood on others instead of healing your own injuries would be a recurring pattern with you. So I filled a dozen vials with my blood before I lost the majority of my abilities, to prepare for the day when you would need a replacement vial and I would no longer have the strength to provide it.” He gave me a knowing look. “You’re welcome.”

  I touched the vial of his blood where it rested in the center of my chest between my breasts. His blood was thick and dark, nearly black, like lava, and when the light passed through the etched glass vial, it fractured into dozens of sparking crimson hues.

  “I would argue that using your blood to heal you and Bex was not a waste.”

  He nodded.

  “But I appreciate your forethought. Thank you,” I murmured.

  “You’re very welcome.” He hunkered down in the sheets and gathered me close.

  I raised my eyebrows. “What are you—”

  “Like I said, do as you please,” Dominic said, closing his eyes on a deep sigh, “but I, for one, need rest.”

  I stared at the ceiling and sighed. Dominic knew damn well that I couldn’t leave the bed, let alone the coven, without help. Unless I convinced him otherwise, I was stuck in bed with him until sunset. I glanced down at his thick, black hair, the slope of his straight nose, the plump curves of his lips, punctuated by the jagged scar across his chin. He was dangerous and beautiful and even more dangerous for that beauty.

  And he was snuggling with me.

  I could think of worse ways to spend the rest of my day.

  I closed my eyes, let my head relax against the curve of his shoulder, and tried not to let the taint of longing and regret ruin the serenity of this moment. I could hear my heart beating in the silence. His arms, with hands that could transform into talons sharp and powerful enough to disembowel me, gently curved around my waist. The scent of Christmas spice surrounded me, reminding me, as always, of my parents and the sharpness of their loss, but the comfort of his arms made the pain bearable. The pain was still there after all these years, and always would be, but his body against mine made it easier to breathe without them.

  And that unthinkable thought kept me awake long after Dominic stopped breathing and went limp beside me.

  Chapter 22

  The rhythmic vibrations of both our cell phones woke me. I reached my arm out from beneath the covers to silence them and shivered. Dominic was a shield of ice at my back. He hadn’t moved yet, but I knew better than to think he was asleep. He claimed to rest, but he was always aware of his surroundings. Always alert and ready to strike. If I hadn’t known before, I knew for certain as my backside slid away from him and his front followed me, not allowing even an inch of air between us.

  The last time I woke in this precarious position, I hadn’t had much choice, or so I’d told myself. The last time, Nathan had been Damned and waiting for us outside the coven, just daring us to face him to our certain deaths. The last time, our lives had been at stake, and the illusion of me as Dominic’s loyal night blood demanded that I stay the night, no matter my discomfort at such close and intimate proximity to Dominic.

  This time, nothing was at stake, certainly not our lives, and I was anything but uncomfortable.

  I ignored those feelings even as my stomach warmed and my toes curled, and I distracted myself by checking our phones. The five missed calls from Greta effectively doused any residual, comfortable heat.

  “We need to move,” I snapped. “Can you get my scooter?”

  Dominic growled.

  The hairs on the back of my neck instinctively stood on end, but I ignored them. No matter what my instincts thought, the truth was that Dominic wouldn’t hurt me. No matter his own instincts to hunt and feed, he wouldn’t feed from me because I was injured, still blood-deprived, and I needed as much strength as possible to face the challenges waiting for us aboveground.

  “Stop it,” I admonished. “The sun will set in a few minutes, and we need to meet with Greta and Dr. Chunn, determine where the creatures are likely to strike next, and plan a stakeout before they attack.”

  “Need blood,” Dominic said, his words halting between his growls.

  I eased back and winced when my leg flared in pain. “Not from me. Feed on someone else. Anyone else.”

  His chest continued to rattle. “Your blood smells—”

  I rolled my eyes. “I smell delicious, I know. One can smell a hamburger, and despite his hunger, have the willpower not to eat it.”

  Dominic smiled, but his pointed, elongated teeth were less than comforting. His growl stalled and became stilted, and I realized he was laughing.

  “Would you get my scooter?” I asked, and softened the demand by adding, “Please.”

  Dominic’s snake-like laughter stopped abruptly, and the ensuing silence was deafening. “Your scent hasn’t altered from last night.”

  I frowned and unobtrusively smelled under my arm. “Should it have? After falling into the sewer, I doubt I could smell much worse.”

  “I’m not denying you need a shower before we meet with Greta. So do I. But you don’t smell like fear. I can still smell the wet musk of your desire.”

  I blushed at his frank perception. “No hiding anything from you,” I groused.

  Dominic raised an eyebrow. “I’m not at my most desirable after waking.”

  I ran my gaze over the skeleton skinniness of his limbs; the boney protrusi
ons of his temples, cheekbones, and ribs; the pale, nearly translucent ice of his skin; and the frightening chill of his dilated eyes. Had I not known him, I’d have been terrified. He was a creature born of nightmares and horror movies. He was living death.

  He was also the man who had saved my life without transforming me into a vampire. He was the man who had risked losing everything—his coven, his position as Master, and his life—to help me save my brother. He was the man who had allowed me to keep my memory when he’d thought I was no longer a night blood, no matter that he was breaking the very laws he was charged with enforcing.

  He was Dominic Lysander, and no matter the skin he wore, I trusted and desired him.

  “Yeah, well—” I picked up a strand of knotted hair and flicked it behind my shoulder. “I’m not my most desirable after waking either.”

  Dominic reached up and touched my cheek briefly before getting out of bed to retrieve my scooter, but that brief press of his cold palm to my face spread inexplicable warmth through my chest. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. More than Damned vampires, Day Reapers, and Greta’s unanswerable questions, the most deadly danger I’d face today was unequivocally the realization that I was helplessly and unforgivably falling in love with Dominic Lysander.

  Chapter 23

  The steady beeps of Meredith’s heartbeat monitor put me on edge. When our roles were reversed and I’d been the injured friend lying nearly unconscious in the hospital bed, I’d found the beep of my own heart a comforting confirmation that I was still alive. The sound of Meredith’s heart monitor, however, made me uncomfortably aware that her heart could potentially stop beating. I ground my teeth together and tried to push aside the anxiety that she wasn’t out of the woods yet, even as she pulled out her IV.

  “Would you stop being a crazy person and just relax?” I snapped. “Lie down. You’re not going anywhere.”

  “I’m fine,” Meredith snapped right back. “You can’t keep me cooped up, not after everything that’s happened.”

  “You need rest, precisely because of everything that’s happened.” I tipped my voice low, hoping she’d do the same. “You were attacked, Meredith. You nearly died.”