by Aliya DalRae
W hen we reached Raven’s quarters, we headed straight for the shower. Part of me wanted to stay the way we were, covered in Raven’s blood. It was a creepy, Vincent Price voice inside my head, whispering that this was Vampire sexy, but my human side won out on this one.
Raven beat me into the shower, having shed his bloody boxers on the bathroom floor with very little effort.
It took me a little longer to shimmy out of my jeans, wet as they were, but once I had, I was so happy to find that the water was warm, and my Vampire was oh, so very hot.
He stood under the shower spray, his head tilted back as steamy water soaked his inky hair before streaming down his chest and limbs, taking with it some of the blood.
When he heard me join him, he lifted his head to look at me and that look shot tingly waves through my entire body. One glance told me he was as ready for me as I was for him. When he saw the direction of my gaze, he stood tall and proud, every inch of him on display and at attention.
Two steps and I was enjoying the wet pounding of the dual shower spray, a third step took me directly in front of him. I reached out to wrap my fingers around him and his body convulsed as he moaned.
“Christ, Jessica, you don’t know how much I’ve missed your touch.”
“I do,” I said, as I placed soft kisses on his chest before biting my way to his nipple. “I’ve been waiting just as long.”
Raven lifted me in his arms and backed me against the shower wall before crushing his mouth against mine in a kiss deep and penetrating. I wrapped my legs around his waist, the feel of him trapped between us making me incapable of holding still. I slid my body against him, my own wetness mingling with the water to create sensations that had me biting my lip in anticipation.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Raven groaned, then lifted my hips just enough for him to glide inside of me. The way he filled me, so tight and warm, I knew I was back where I belonged. He raised me up and I felt him slide out a bit before he thrust into me again, driving home the knowledge that we were exactly where we were supposed to be.”
“Bite me, Jessica,” he moaned into my mouth, but I was a stickler for following doctor’s orders.
“You first,” I said, baring my neck for him.
He didn’t hesitate. Sheer ecstasy replaced the sting I felt when his fangs sunk into my skin and my body reacted as it never had before. Sure, the orgasm was off the charts, but there was more to it than that. My own fangs surged forth and brilliant white light sparked from my eyes as an electric charge burst through me. It was at that point that I began to accept who and what I had become.
Raven continued to pound inside me, taking me to places I’d never been, and when he offered me his wrist I took it.
Only this time, I used my own shiny new fangs to score his flesh, and I eagerly drank what he offered.
Chapter Eighty-Seven
H aving Jessica’s teeth in his wrist was nearly his undoing. It was sheer willpower that allowed Raven to keep it together, but he wasn’t sure how much longer that would last.
He pressed his wrist more firmly against her mouth, and she sucked his life’s blood into her. She drank from him now not because she was dying, but because she was alive. They were alive, and they were well, and they were sharing this thing that was so special between Vampire mates.
His Jessica was Vampire.
And that was the thought that did him in. Raven held her to him as the orgasm powered through, a force of nature that had him trembling with feelings he couldn’t put a name to. Love, of course. There would always be love between them, but this was so much more.
Jessica’s legs tightened around him as she joined him in climax, her teeth clamping more tightly in his skin as she drank from him.
Raven threw back his head and roared as Jessica trembled in his arms. With a reluctant groan, she released his wrist, and the two of them slid to the shower floor.
The water was still warm, its clean droplets pouring down as their hearts pounded and they struggled to breathe.
Jessica moved her hips, sliding all of that slick warmth against him, and he hardened again inside her. He laid her down, never breaking the connection, and he rode her slowly, gently, until the ride turned frantic, and her screams pulled him over once again.
Jessica smiled up at him, her eyes sparking that brilliant white, her tiny fangs glinting in the bright bathroom light.
“Oh. My. God,” she said with a lift of her hips, a sexy grind. “I need a nap.”
“Do that again and you won’t be sleeping for a year.”
Jessica reached up and rubbed her neck where he had taken her vein. Two round wounds seeped blood that swirled with the water raining down on them. When she touched them, she tightened around him again as an aftershock rocked her. Raven shuddered as well, burying himself inside her.
“Let me get that for you,” he whispered, then leaned down to close the wounds. The taste of honeysuckle and wine assaulted his tongue, and he resisted the temptation to reopen her vein and drink until he couldn’t hold another drop.
“Mmm,” Jessica moaned. She turned her head to lick his wrist, following his lead by closing his wounds, but he hated to see them go.
“Jessica?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Should we take this to the bedroom?”
She opened her eyes, taking in every inch of him she could as he propped himself above her. “You’re still dirty,” she said, and closed her eyes again.
Raven laughed. “As are you, mi amante. Can you stand?”
“Uh.”
“Let’s go,” Raven laughed. “Up and at ‘em. The sooner we’re clean, the sooner you get that nap.”
“You need to eat,” Jessica mumbled as Raven lifted her to her feet and propped her against the wall.
“And you need to wash my back.” With a wink, Raven grabbed the loofa and dumped a boatload of clean-smelling shower gel on it, scrubbing it into a thick lather. “Here,” he said, handing it to Jessica and turning to give her access to his hard to reach places.
“Oh, God,” she groaned, but in moments her hands were on him, the loofa, the soap, all creating sensations on his skin that had parts of him standing up and taking notice.
Jessica turned him toward her to give his front equal attention. “Oh, for crying out loud,” she laughed when she saw his arousal.
“I’ve a lot of time to make up for,” Raven said before claiming her lips with his own.
Jessica kissed him for a moment, but then pulled away, holding the loofa between them like a weapon. “If we don’t get out of here soon, we’re both going to be pruny all over, and I mean all over.”
“Well,” Raven said, snuggling his lips against her neck, “we can’t have that can we?”
Jessica pushed him away and laughed as she attacked him with the loofa. Raven backed himself against the shower wall for support, as having her hands on him was making him weak-kneed again. When she reached her hand between his legs, being thorough in washing his every nook and cranny, he nearly went to the floor again, but she pressed herself against him and held him in place as she finished what she’d started.
When properly rinsed, Raven took the loofa from her, reapplied the gel, and lifted his eyebrow as he took in her luscious curves. She was perfect, his Jessica, and nothing they had done to each other, no sins, no betrayals, would ever change that. She was now and always would be his life. Forever.
“Turn around,” he said. “It’s my turn.”
Chapter Eighty-Eight
N ox’s journey to consciousness was down a path of bizarre images and strange sensations. All around him he sensed a malicious presence, dozens of shadowy wraiths lashing out at him with evil intent. His body was floating freely, a sensation of weightlessness carrying him through the gauntlet of angry shades. He fended off the weapons that thrashed against his bare body as best he could, but was ultimately incapable of defending himself.
And he was in utter darkness. He blinked several times to confirm that h
is eyes were open, and regardless of the position of his lids, a blackness pressed upon him, so thick, so complete, that no light could possibly penetrate it.
He moaned when a piercing pain exploded in his skull and reached a leaden hand to brace his head from the torment. His fingers met with the feel of cotton rather than that of his own flesh.
“He’s coming ‘round.”
The voice was female, soft, with a familiar Scottish lilt he equated to safety.
A sudden coolness touched his opposite hand as the warmth that had surrounded it disappeared. He heard the rustle of footsteps as someone stepped away and another someone approached.
Nox opened his eyes, or rather tried to open them, but only his right eye answered the command. Through blurred vision he saw that he was lying on a bed in a bright white room. Allon hovered over him, his brow knitted in concern.
“Welcome back,” the doctor said, as he lifted Nox’s eyelid and shined a light into his pupil before quickly flicking the beam away. After the third time, Nox grabbed the doc’s wrist to stop the incessant flashing.
“You trying to blind me?” Nox growled.
Allon turned to place the instrument on the counter behind him. He busied himself with the tools as though he were avoiding Nox, but whatever. At least he’d doused the damn pen light.
“How are you feeling?” the doc asked, still not looking at him.
“My head hurts. My eye…” Memories slammed forward, the ritual, the girl who had muttered “an eye for an eye,” before stabbing him…
“My eye.” Nox sat up, ignoring the minor pains that assaulted the rest of his body and focusing on the throbbing in the left side of his face.
“Nox, please lie down.” Allon was at his side again, pushing gently on his shoulders to try and force him back against the hospital bed. “You need to rest.”
Nox was having trouble fighting against the doctor and decided maybe Allon had a point. “How long have I been out?” he asked as he rested his head on the pillow.
“It’s been nearly twelve hours.” That voice again. Nox turned his unbandaged eye to the foot of the bed where Harrier’s sister, Rachel, stood watching him with concern. “Allon has been working tirelessly to…to help you.”
“What is she doing here?” Nox turned to Allon, unable to suppress the agitation in his voice.
The doc exchanged a glance with the female before saying, “She’s been assisting me. Hasn’t left your side from the moment you were attacked.”
“Get her out,” Nox growled.
“Nox, she’s given you blood several times, and I can’t tell you how helpful she’s been.”
“I don’t care.” He shifted his gaze to the female, her face flushed with emotion, that tangle of red hair tumbling around her face as she looked upon him with—pity. Wrong answer. “Out!”
Rachel jumped and took a step backward, but she wasn’t moving fast enough. Nox sat up again, his head spinning from the pain and the inexplicable rage that had taken him at her presence. “Out!”
Rachel took another step in startled retreat before squaring her shoulders and glaring at Nox as though he were being completely unreasonable. “Fine,” she said, turning her attention to Allon. “If you need me, I’ll be in my suite.”
“Of course,” Allon said, shifting his gaze from Nox to the female.”
With a final glare at Nox, Rachel left the room, not quite slamming the door behind her.
Nox turned to Allon, who seemed to be at a loss. “You were about to explain to me why I’m still experiencing this level of pain so many hours after I was stabbed.”
“I…yes, of course.” The doc finally turned to him and met his eye. “I’m afraid the damage was too severe. There was nothing I could do. Infection set in so quickly, I can’t even begin to tell you why. I’ve seen the like of it only once before, with your brother.”
“I’m not following you, Doc.” Nox’s chest tightened as his heart beat an unsteady tattoo against his ribs.
“Well, as I said, Miss Rachel was kind enough to give you blood several times, and while it helped with the healing of your other wounds, the eye…”
“Just say it.”
“I’m sorry, Nox. I was unable to save it. I tried, but the infection continued to spread and I feared it would enter your brain. I don’t need to tell you how dangerous that would have been.”
Nox knew what the doc was saying. If he’d become delirious, there’s no telling what he might have done, his abilities being what they were.
“You said it was like Raven’s injury. I assume you’re speaking of the scarring on his chest?”
“Yes. It was remarkable, really. If I didn’t know for a fact that the Sorcerer who had cursed Raven was already dead, I would swear he had done the same spell on you.”
“What did you do?” Nox knew what the doc was saying, but until he heard the words, he would be unable to accept the reality of the situation.
“I’m afraid I had to remove the eye. There was nothing to be done for it, Nox. I am so very sorry.”
“For my father,” Nox whispered, echoing the words of the girl who had stood before him and, without emotion, jammed a scalpel into his eye. “An eye for an eye.”
He had seen this before, recognized the zealous look about her, the determination to do something so completely out of character, and yet perhaps not, under the right circumstances.
He saw the longing in her eyes, the desire to carry out this heinous act while feeling sorry for it at the same time.
With Nox, it had been about anger, about rage. It had been about taking what the world had done to him and turning it on the person he blamed beyond all others. Was it so different for the Shifter girl?
Nox buried his face in his hands, the feel of the bandages driving home the truth of what had happened. There was only one Sorcerer who could have done this, and yet with him dead, that left few alternatives. They knew the children had been absconded by a Sorcerer. There was little doubt now about what he was after.
Chapter Eighty-Nine
N ox was laying in the hospital bed, his patched eye to the door, when I walked in. I had been trying to reach him mentally all evening—well, when I wasn’t otherwise occupied—to see if he was awake, but he was either still unconscious or was shutting me out.
Raven and I were upstairs resting when I got the text from Allon. For a really old guy who had been hiding himself in the back woods of Italy for the past millennium, the doctor was taking to modern technology like a champ.
Raven was sound asleep, and after everything he’d been through over the past three days, our most recent activities notwithstanding, I didn’t have the heart to wake him. There would be plenty of time for the twins to catch up later. Besides, I wanted to be sure Nox was okay and I knew he would put up a front for Raven. With me, he might be more honest.
“Hey,” I said, when Nox didn’t turn toward me. “Are you awake?”
“Come ‘round here so I can see you,” he said. He had a thin hospital blanket pulled up to his chest, his arms lying at his sides and he continued to stare at the wall.
I did as he asked and walked to the other side of the bed so that I would be in his line of sight without him having to move.
“Are you in a lot of pain?” I asked. I took his hand in mine. It was warm and dry, but it trembled in a way I would never have associated with this particular Vampire.
“A fair amount,” he said, then drew quiet again.
“Allon said he got all of the infection out, so that’s a good thing.”
“Indeed.” Aaaand more silence.
I squeezed Nox’s fingers, a little tighter than what was friendly, and he finally met my eye.
“Talk to me, Nox. Tell me what’s going on in there.” I circled a finger in the air in front of his face.
Nox returned the pressure on my palm, then withdrew his hand from mine. “I’m feeling angry,” he said, that one eye burning with the emotion he’d just confessed.
“Of course,” I said. I pulled up the visitor’s chair and sat beside the bed, my hands folded in my lap. “You have every right to be angry. The Clowder promised your safety, and they didn’t deliver. If I ever…”
“I’m not angry with the Clowder. I’m angry with myself, with Raven. With the goddamned Sorcerers. What happened with the Clowder was on the up and up. I was to take my punishment, mine and Raven’s, and we would have been able to put this ugly ordeal behind us.”
I looked away, knowing it would be easier for some than for others, chiefly myself and Raven.
“I’m sorry, Jessica. I didn’t mean to imply…”
“It’s okay. I know what you meant,” I said. Now I was the one who couldn’t make eye contact.
“Ah, love, what’s to become of us,” Nox offered up his hand to me again, a peace gesture I supposed, and I took it.
“Raven and I made up,” I said, just for a change of topic.
“I was aware,” Nox said, and I smiled.
“No, I mean we really made up. Like, totally made up.”
“Oh,” he said, raising an eyebrow in understanding. “And you thought I would want to know that why?” His words were crabby, but he had a half smile going so I knew it was a good move.
“Guess what else,” I said, trying to keep the levity going.
“I give up. What else.”
I took a dramatic breath and said, “I’m a blood-sucking Vampire.”
Nox’s burst of laughter was exactly what I was going for, and though it was brief, it still ironed out some of the stress lines that had been marring his otherwise beautiful face.
“Seriously?” he asked, and I nodded.
“Yep. Got my fangs and everything.”
“Now that’s a story I can’t wait to hear.”
“We’ll need alcohol,” I said. “A whole lot of alcohol.”
After a minute the laughter died down and we once again fell into silence. Nox stared at a spot over my shoulder, seeing God only knew what, that faraway look clouding his remaining sapphire-blue eye.