Point of No Return

by Tara Fox Hall

  There was a knock at the door. “Sar? Can I come in?”

  “Wait, door’s locked—”

  There was the sound of a key in the lock, then Devlin opened the door. “You think you’re the first woman to try escaping into my bathroom?” he said with a wide smile. “I had a key made to open the door from outside, after the first time I had to break down the door.”

  “That’s so charming of you,” I replied scathingly. “And just what I wanted to know right at this moment.”

  Devlin closed the door behind him, then took off his clothes. Despite my anger, I watched him hungrily, the sight of his excellent physique stimulating. He turned to me suddenly. I averted my eyes, blushing.

  Devlin eased into the water with a sigh of pleasure. “I like your desire for me,” he murmured, putting his arms around my shoulders gently. “Watch me openly, Sar.”

  “You’re only being sweet because you’ve gotten what you want,” I said tiredly.

  “Would it be so bad to be already pregnant?” he said, lifting my face with his hand gently so I had to look at him. “Ours will be a beautiful baby, Love. I will see to your every want and whim.”

  I gave him a half smile. “It’s going to hurt Theo if it’s yours and it’ll hurt you if it’s his. It’s a no-win situation for me.”

  “Has your love for him returned?” Devlin asked, curious. “You don’t act as though you’re head over heels for him.”

  I moved closer to hug him, resting my head on his shoulder. “My feelings for you are no different, nor mine for Danial. Maybe that was also something Titus just said to upset you.”

  “Don’t tell me what you think I want to hear,” Devlin said sternly. “Tell me the truth: do you love Theo?”

  I moved back, giving him a dark look. “I’m telling the truth. Yes, I love him, but my feelings for you haven’t changed.” Despite some odd thoughts here and there, anyway.

  “Sorry, Love,” he said gently. “Come back here, please. I want to hold you.”

  I went back into his arms. We stayed like that for a while, just embracing in the warm water, not speaking.

  “We should get out,” Devlin said, rising and offering me his hand. “Come, I’ll make you a fire.”

  Devlin helped me out, wrapped me in a towel, then led me to the fireplace. As I dried off, he added a few more logs. Soon the burning wood was crackling merrily.

  We sat down on the gold love seat, and he pulled over our shoulders a long white blanket of soft, fluffy yarn.

  “What is this?” I said, feeling the fibers. “Wool? Angora?”

  “You should know, being a country woman,” Devlin said with a smile. “It’s alpaca.”

  “Ah. It’s wonderfully soft,” I said, stroking the blanket.

  Devlin looked down at me, his great golden eyes shining in the light from the fire. “Are you hungry?”

  I was lost in his eyes, and didn’t answer. He leaned in to kiss me, and I kissed him back, my arms going around him.

  He kissed me chastely, then drew back, his expression both seductive and happy. “You’re right, we are unchanged, Love. Still, I need to know: are you hungry?

  I hugged him tightly. “Yes. But I’m happy to stay here if you are.”

  “We can, if you wish,” he answered. “Among her talents, Serena is a short order cook. She can make you dinner.” He kissed my hand. “Besides groceries, I’ve also laid in a supply of chocolate. Danial reminded me of your favorite foods this morning.”

  “Did he?” I said, laughing. “Be careful, Dev. He might have told you wrong items just to make you look bad.”

  “Why would you say that?” Devlin said, hurt. “Danial wants you to be happy, for me to treat you well. He would not deliberately sabotage us. He is enjoying our shared Oath, that things have worked out between us three.”

  Shame suffused my face. Danial would never do what I had just accused him of. I moved back from Devlin, upset. “I’m sorry I said that, Dev. I don’t know why I did—”

  “Maybe the reason is your condition,” Devlin said soothingly, bringing me back into his arms. “Danial warned me to watch for any sign that you might not be yourself.” He kissed me harder, then brought my hand down to rest on his stiffening penis. “I am so looking forward to your lust,” he whispered. “I can’t wait for you to demand that I take you. Just the thought of it—”

  The Lust was a double-edged sword, prompting me to entice violence from my lover along with sex by whatever means necessary. If I was pregnant with his child, Devlin would find that out soon enough.

  Devlin’s lips moved to my neck, his fangs pricking lightly in his passion “—I’ve fantasized about you coming after me, tearing my clothes in your haste—”

  I didn’t need The Lust to give him his fantasy.

  “Take me to your bed,” I said gutturally, grabbing his hair in my hands and pulling it back roughly. “I want to ride you until you scream—”

  Unbidden, the image of Lash below applauding suddenly came to mind. I faltered, but Devlin had already thrown the wrap aside and bolted to his feet. He leaned over to pick me up.

  Forget Lash; he’s not important. “You’re going to scream for me again,” I demanded quickly. “I want to hear you come.”

  “You will, Lover,” he said seductively. “Come here.”

  I grabbed Devlin’s throat. Startled, he went motionless.

  “Tonight, I want it all,” I ordered, my eyes flashing as I squeezed. “Prove to me you’re the best, Lover, or face the consequences.”

  Devlin’s lips parted, then he lunged for me. With fangs bared, he strode to the bed carrying me. Falling back on it, he maneuvered my hips over his, then drove up into me with so much force I let out a scream.

  “Me first,” he panted, his hands clamped on my thighs, holding me immobile as he slid in and out of me as fast as he could. He closed his eyes, his body straining beneath mine as his back arched.

  “Deeper,” I hissed at him, digging my fingers into his chest. “I said all of you!”

  Devlin’s eyes opened, their red-gold depths hot as flame. With the next thrust, he put himself inside as far as he could, letting out a sharp cry of fulfillment.

  My cry echoed his, pain edging my pleasure. Devlin was panting hard, possessing me as if he might never get the chance again. I screamed with every fierce movement of his body in mine, my hands gripping his skin, slippery with sweat.

  Devlin’s body began to tense, his orgasm moments away. I concentrated, using my internal muscles to squeeze him, tightening my body around his.

  Devlin let loose a savage cry, his eyes like twin suns, his body shaking. Then he screamed my name, convulsing under me in orgasm. “Saaaaarrrrrr!”

  He jerked a few more times, then lay shaking, gasping for breath. I stroked his chest gently, loving his tremors beneath my fingers.

  “I can never get enough of you, Dev,” I said, kissing his brow. “Not ever.”

  Devlin raised his head, his eyes bright. “Good. My desire’s always been strong, just like my libido.” He kissed me. “I’ll need you to fulfill both for a long time, Love.”

  His talk about not being exclusive sprang to mind. “Just me?”

  Devlin rolled over onto me, putting his finger to my lips. “Stop,” he said firmly. “We are going to be together for a long time. I love you. That means all of you, Sar: your confidence, your fearlessness, your tenderheartedness that you hide behind your tough exterior just as I hide mine—”

  I smiled. “You know me better than I thought.”

  “—all the things that make you who you are. It’s true that as the years pass we might not be together as much and I might take a lover besides you—”

  I frowned at him to tell him he was off his intended path. He ignored my look.

  “—but I won’t love anyone else like this. I don’t love easily, Sar. I never cheated on Anna, and I won’t be with someone else without your permission.”

  “Good to know,” I said uncomfortab
ly. “Though if you want to just sever our bond then, we could—”

  He pushed me back to the bed, dominant. “We are never breaking our Oath, ever, end of discussion. Understood?”

  I nodded.

  “Good. You must listen to me carefully now, Love,” he said, somber. “I have something important to tell you.”

  Chapter Ten

  It was going to be very bad, by his tone. “What happened?”

  Devlin let out a breath. “I had a call from Samuel this morning about Harriet.”

  “And?” I prompted.

  “Samuel reported that Harriet’s blood has turned “summer-like” already. He and Perseus took the same potion I took last week. They’re actively trying.”

  While my sympathy went out to Harriet, as I wouldn’t have wanted either Samuel or his nasty ally Perseus to be my bedfellow, I didn’t see why this was so upsetting to Dev, given his views on a female’s right to refuse. “Why are you upset? It’s not because of her situation.”

  “Because I don’t know what will happen,” Devlin said, his eyes sliding away from mine in guilt.

  “To her or to them?” I demanded. “What did you do?”

  “What I had to in order to keep you safe,” Devlin replied stridently.

  “Which was?”

  He sighed heavily. “I had Titus do a spell to change her blood to resemble yours.”

  My sudden save at the Gathering hadn’t been a miracle, but instead a well-orchestrated diversion. “How?” I got out. “When?”

  “Titus took a sample of your blood that night I marked you. When I first got to the Gathering, at the beginning of the evening, I watched to see who might be with a woman they had just met. Harriet was with some low level vampire. He’d just picked her up that night, hadn’t even tasted her yet. In an opportune moment, I injected her with some of your blood, and a transformative spell that Titus had prepared.”

  “You tasted her after? She tasted like me?”

  Devlin shook his head. “Luckily, no other vampire there, save Danial and I, had tasted you, or they would have realized that Harriet’s blood didn’t taste the same as yours.”

  God, this was diabolical. “Why’d that vampire let you taste his girl?”

  “He knew who I was, what I’d been. He knew enough about me not to refuse me when I asked to taste her.” Devlin hugged me. “She tasted like flowers, Sar, but not like summer.” He nuzzled me. “Not like you.”

  And there was no way in hell she’d birth a dhamphir, even if she managed to get pregnant. Devlin had known that, and still doomed her. “If months go by and Harriet doesn’t get pregnant, they are going to suspect something.”

  Devlin nodded. “Samuel and Perseus are both cunning and intelligent. If they dig deeper into her past they’ll find out they were tricked, and that the culprit was me.”

  “How long do we have?” I ventured. “A year? Less?”

  “We have a year at most,” Devlin said, resigned. “It’s well known that it took me a year with Anna, and you and Danial about six months. Titus also checked his histories for reported incidents of human pregnancies resulting from vampires. While some of the documentation is likely wrong, the average is still about seven months.”

  Those other women through the years had all died. “What’s your plan?”

  Devlin gently kissed my throat. “I don’t see a way out, Sar. That was why I was so upset about you possibly being pregnant by Theo. We need you pregnant by me when or before they find out I tricked them.”

  “How’s that going to help?” I said sarcastically.

  “They won’t act until you’ve had our child,” Devlin answered. “That will give us that many more months to find another woman whose blood is really like yours. Even now, many vampires are scouring the globe, looking. It’s a matter of time before more are found.”

  When they had, they were going to wish they hadn’t been. My skin crawled. “Dev, I have a better solution.”

  “Tell me, please,” he said curiously.

  “I never wanted all this attention,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “I was lonely when Danial met me, without many prospects but the surety of hard work until I died. Now I tend to look back on that with nostalgia.”

  “I do not understand, Love. Are you unhappy?”

  “No, but everything’s so complicated now. I’m too much in demand, with three men on my dance card, and more looming in the shadows, waiting for an opening. I can’t live like this for much longer.” I took his hand. “I’m happy to be here with you, but understand, I’m not a teenager looking for a party, or a flavor of the month. I’m a grown woman who’s looking for a relationship.”

  “We are building one,” Devlin replied, giving my hand a squeeze. “In any case, there is no going back for a ‘do-over’. All the other Rulers know who you are now, and what you look like. You must accept your situation, Love.”

  Devlin’s tone was soft, but under that softness was hard, cold steel.

  “I do accept it,” I said slowly. “But I want you to understand that after I have your child, I...um, I want to get my tubes tied.”

  Devlin looked at me in silence for a few heartbeats. “Are you asking me for permission?” he said finally. “Because of the Oath?”

  “No,” I said. “It’s my body, so it’s my choice. But like you said, we’re in a relationship. It matters that you’re on board with this decision.” And under those damn vampire laws, Camlyn may not give me one without notifying you first.

  “You’re correct that you’d be safer,” Devlin said. “I’m ‘on board’, as you called it. One child is enough for me. But where does that leave Theo? You’ve made a point about how he’s hoping for—”

  “Having Elle almost killed Tawny,” I said guiltily. “Everyone was quick to assure me that I wouldn’t have that kind of trouble having Theo’s baby, but I don’t care. No matter how much he wants another baby, he’s not going to get one from me.”

  “Have you told him that?”

  “I will,” I said defensively. “But I can’t very well say something like that when I might be having his, can I? I’m so angry and frustrated that I’m in this position.”

  “Shh, Love,” Devlin soothed. “I agree with you that having a normal baby is a big drain on a woman’s body. Having two extraordinary babies should be the limit for you, unless there is something Titus or Stephen could do to help. Let’s ask him next time you go for a checkup to instruct us on the best path to take. Titus I’ll speak to tomorrow.” He hugged me. “I want a child badly, Love, but not at the cost of your health.”

  He’d said he was on board with my plan, but everything he’d said in the past indicated that was only after I’d given him a child of his own. I didn’t reply.

  “Don’t worry too much about Harriet,” Devlin continued. “According to Samuel she is embracing her new lifestyle of luxury. She was and remains an eager participant, her chief desire to go down in history as you have. For your sake, and mine, I hope her enthusiasm is enough. Otherwise, we’re screwed.”

  “Won’t she die if she gets pregnant? If she’s not resistant to the virus, she can’t carry the baby to term, right?”

  “Without knowing what it is about your blood, I can’t say for sure how changed she is. All I can attest to is she doesn’t taste like you do. Titus said that he did the best he could, that her blood was as close to yours as he could make it. She may be changed enough—”

  “Or you may have doomed her.”

  “Sarelle,” Devlin said, his tone razor sharp. “I had to have a backup plan to divert them in case I couldn’t get Samuel to back down. I knew if another woman like you appeared at the right moment, that I could back them off.”

  Harriet had come to the Gathering for a good time. Maybe she’d had a life she’d loved. Now she was little more than the broodmare Lash had alluded to, some of that breeding maybe against her will. Likely, no matter what happened, she would die in a lot of pain.

  “Sar, it w
as you on the auction block,” Devlin said, resolute. “I would have sacrificed a hundred other women to save you, if that’s what it took—”

  It was there in his voice that he meant it. Although I was grateful for his devotion, I was also terrified at the level of his commitment.

  “I told you that night we pledged to one another that you had my all,” he continued, terse. “You asked me for my protection, as well as my love. I swore to you I would do whatever it took, whatever was necessary. This was necessary.”

  That didn’t change the fact that Harriet was collateral damage. Worse, she wasn’t the first; Devlin had held Brian’s wife Demi captive for months, to ensure Brian’s total commitment to protecting me. Something told me she wouldn’t be the last.

  “Say something, My Oathed One.” Devlin’s tone was hard, nearing anger.

  I hugged him. “I understand it’s necessary,” I said carefully. “I just wish it hadn’t been.” I took a breath. “I remember how scared I was that I’d never see Elle or Theoron again, or that Danial would get killed. But no matter what guilt I feel, above all I’m glad you protected me, Dev.”

  “I would do it again and more,” Devlin said lovingly.

  Uneasy, I didn’t answer.

  “Now you know why I wasn’t around at the beginning of the night,” Devlin said in my ear, kissing it lightly. “I wished we’d gotten time to dance.”

  “I thought you were fashionably late.”

  “I was there from the beginning of the party, watching everyone as they came in. I saw you come in with Danial. It took me a half hour to find and dose Harriet, then another two hours for the potion to take effect.” Devlin scowled. “I told that idiot she was something very special. If only Isaac had taken Harriet right to Samuel as I thought he would, we’d have avoided all the drama.”

  “Why would he?” I asked. “Wouldn’t it be natural for him to want to keep her for himself?”

  “They weren’t in love, not remotely. Besides, Isaac is young. He likely doesn’t have enough power in his blood to withstand the spell he would need to use to quicken his body.”