Nika pressed her lips together and measured her words. “She was part of Magda’s great conspiracy to make me think you were dead, and she made you do things you hate yourself for. She’s a card-carrying member of the Dark Sisterhood. She’s got a lot of black marks on her in my view, and when you’re hurt, and when I’m hurt, I don’t forgive easily.”
He pushed his food away. “I’d like to think that she had no choice.”
“I know. But I know Valtaeigr abilities, and I know that we’re not as easy to force as you might think. If she didn’t want to enchant you, and if she didn’t want to be an active player in the slaughter of the faery, then she wouldn’t have.”
“She was under Bjorn’s control,” he objected mildly. “He didn’t give her much of a choice, and neither did Magda.”
Nika was unconvinced. “She still needs to pay for what she did to you.”
“Not if she was compelled.”
“Why are you so willing to give her the benefit of the doubt?”
“She’s my daughter,” he protested mildly.
“Yes, and she showed her daughterly love by hazing you out of your mind and taking away your free will,” Nika said archly. “She’s one of the ones responsible for this addictive dreyri mess. You don’t owe her anything but a kick in the ass.”
“That’s harsh.”
“I won’t apologize.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
She sighed. “Erik, unless I miss my guess, you never showed any real interest in her before, not for centuries. Why the sudden concern?”
He put his phone aside. “I was a bad father when she was born, and I remained a bad father for centuries. She was her mother’s daughter, and as you say, she became one of the Dark Sisters. That’s enough for me to want to know where she is, so we can keep her from harming us with her power.” He sighed. “The truth is, I want to make things right now. I know it’s probably too late, and I know that probably too much time has passed, but I need to correct my past mistakes.”
“What about her mistakes?” she asked. “Shouldn’t she have to correct those, too?”
“Yes. As you say, she has a lot to answer for, but I’d like to hear her side of the story before I pass judgment. I just need her to stop running first.” He looked at her intently. “You really hate her, don’t you?”
Nika couldn’t meet his gaze, so she looked at her soup instead. “I hate what she did to you.”
“As do I. But before I do anything to her, I need to know how much was her idea and how much she was forced into by her mother and her lover.” He put his napkin beside his half-eaten lunch as his appetite for mortal food evaporated. “I hope you understand.”
“I understand.” She pushed her soup away, too, and signaled the server for their check. “I hope you get to hear her explanation. It had better be good.”
***
They walked back to the club, but avoided going in. Instead they climbed into Erik’s souped- up Koenigsegg Agera, the newest of his automotive toys. He loved fast cars, and he drove like a demon when he got outside of Stockholm. Within the city, though, he obeyed posted rules and regulations, preferring to avoid issues with the police.
He had been honorably discharged by the SOG and they had stopped hunting him like a criminal or a deserter, so they had been able to move back into his comfortable and very modern home in the neighborhood of Vasastan. The garage door slid open whisper-silent as they pulled into the drive, revealing his Humvee and Aston Martin DB11. The three-car garage, an embarrassingly luxurious affectation, was fully heated and with runway lights set into the floor.
Nika chuckled. “I always feel like we’re going into the Bat Cave when we come home.”
Erik smiled and pitched his voice as low as it would go. “I’m Batman.”
“Honey,” she laughed, “if you’re any superhero, you’re Thor.”
He waggled his eyebrows. “Let me show you my hammer…”
She threw her head back and laughed again. “Stop! You nerd!”
He only smiled in response.
The garage door closed and locked behind them, and he parked the car in its designated spot. Erik went around to open Nika’s door, then gave her a hand out. She smiled. “Such a gentleman.”
“I try.” He closed the car door without relinquishing her hand.
They walked into the house, where he pulled her toward him. She went willingly, interlacing her fingers behind his neck as they kissed. His hands settled onto her hips as he held her tight. When they parted, she looked into his eyes.
“I just don’t get you,” she said.
He frowned slightly, confused. “What do you mean?”
“You can be such a giant dork, but yet you’re this powerful vampire, and you’re so gentle but I’ve seen you fight like a monster.” She shook her head. “It’s like you’re multiple people sometimes.”
Erik smiled and kissed her again. “I’m just one person. You’re not so straight-forward, yourself.”
“Sure I am.”
He chuckled. “To yourself, maybe. But you fascinate me.” He kissed her again. “You’re everything to me, Nika.”
She embraced him, pressing against him. He wrapped his strong arms around her waist and held her close, his cheek leaning against her scarlet hair.
“I love you, Nika. I love you more than time and more than life and more than everything in the world.”
Warmth spread through her, and she held him tighter. She reveled in the feeling of his muscular body beneath her touch, and in the power that thrummed through him and into her, their souls’ connection vibrating. The closer they were, the more their bond shimmered, and the closer she felt to him. Sometimes, especially when they made love, she felt like she could get caught in an endless feedback loop with him, her soul sending energy to his soul while his soul sent energy to hers. She realized now that she relied on those moments, and she was amazed by how much she needed him.
He stroked her back with one hand, and she leaned back to look into his bright blue eyes. She had never seen any man as beautiful as Erik.
“You look happy,” he whispered.
“I am.”
He kissed her, his mouth claiming hers with passion and desire. She opened for him happily, accepting his gentle exploration. She shivered, and he gathered her in his arms, sweeping her off of her feet. She clung to him, feeling safe and sheltered in his strength.
Erik carried her up the stairs to the master bedroom, where he placed her gently on the bed. He knelt at her feet, looking up at her with an expression that burned all the way through her, igniting her body with a need for him that was breathtaking in its power. His hands stroked her thighs, and she spread them for him, letting him in closer. He smiled.
They helped each other undress, peeling away the layers of clothing and revealing the treasure within. She lay back as he finished turned back to her, the last garment discarded. His body was a sculptor’s dream, from his broad shoulders to his well-defined abdomen to the hills and valleys of his muscular thighs. His cock was even beautiful, she thought, straining for her attention and perfectly shaped. She took it in her hand and gave it a lazy stroke, and she was rewarded with another beatific smile on his handsome face.
“I could look at you forever,” she whispered.
“As long as you touch, too, I’m okay with that.”
He leaned over her, one knee on the mattress between her thighs, his hands on either side of her head. He bent to kiss her while she kept working him with her hand. He moaned into her, and she squeezed him gently, her thumb running over the weeping tip.
“I want you so badly," he moaned.
She opened her legs for him. “Then take me.”
He went happily, and she sighed in pleasure and delight as he filled her. She tightened around him, and he gasped breathily, his face pressed to her neck. Nika wrapped her arms around him, one hand reaching down to his buttock to urge him in deeper.
His thrusts were slow
and controlled, and she wrapped her legs around his hips. He was so careful with her, so gentle. He made her feel special and protected, and when she was wrapped around him like this, she finally felt complete.
They rocked together slowly, deliberately, awash in the passion and delight. She could feel him trembling with the effort of holding back. She tangled her hands in his blond hair and told him, “Faster.”
He complied. He drove into her harder, faster, with more energy and purpose. She friction and the heat thrilled her, and she tipped her head back with a moan of ecstasy. He grazed her throat with his lips, then with the sharp tips of his fangs. She groaned and tugged his hair.
“Oh, yes, Erik…”
His breath was hot against her skin, his body burning inside of hers. She arched against him, the first wave building deep inside of her, his long cock buried in her body as far as it would go. She needed him in every way, needed to have more of him. She groaned and whispered his name, then sank her fangs into his shoulder.
He jerked when she bit, his body surging even more powerfully into hers. She drank from him, his powerful blood tingling on her tongue. He was filling her in every way he could, and the sensation of feeding while making love was overwhelming. Her head swam, and her climax exploded around them, shattering her into a wailing mass of pleasure.
Erik shuddered against her and came hard, his hips snapping into hers until the sound of flesh on flesh was loud in the room. She moaned as a second orgasm ripped through her, and she pulled free of his neck with a cry. He took her through her climax, never stopping until she finally fell still. He collapsed on top of her in a sweaty, satisfied heap.
She loved the feeling of his weight on her body and his cock still deep inside her. She almost liked this moment of afterglow more than the climax that came before it, because in this moment, there were no pretenses, no separations, no distance. They were one body and one soul, and she reveled in the closeness.
He pressed his face against her neck and bestowed a gentle kiss to her pulse point, saying without words what words could never have said. She held him as tightly as she could, burning and alive and in love.
Chapter Three
Mia and Dominic walked through busy Paris streets. She had considered trying to lose him, but nobody could track like a wolf, and anyway, she didn’t want to be unprotected in this city. Dominic wasn’t her first choice of traveling companion, but he was strong and clever, and he had already been useful to her once. She might as well let him hang around.
The Ulfen walked quietly beside her, keeping his thoughts to himself. She wondered why he was no longer with his pack, and why he had chosen to leave his home. He’d said he was from the Pikkarala Pack, which meant he was from the largest Ulfen pack in Finland. He didn’t look Finnish, that was certain. She stole a look at her companion. His skin was like cafe-au-lait, and his eyes were a striking golden-brown, almost the color of honey. His hair was black, lustrous and thick, a little long and given to messiness. He was athletic and trim, with compact and useful muscles, not the sort of useless brawn that steroid junkies and bodybuilders sometimes had. He was built for strength and speed, not just for show. As for the rest of him...she looked at him with her Other Sight, through the eyes of her Valtaeigr power, and she examined the radiance of his soul. He was Ulfen, yes, but there was something different about his spiritual signature, something dark and contentious that called out to her. As a Dark Sister, she was a specialist in shadows, and Dominic had shadows aplenty.
“Mia,” he said suddenly. “Look up.”
She did as he suggested, and she saw a trio of people standing on the roof of the building they were walking past, watching them. Even from this distance, she could sense the shimmer of Draugr power around them. They were vampires, but they were relatively young - the oldest was probably turned just after the Second World War. Still, they would be more physically powerful than she was, and most likely more powerful than Dominic. Her mouth ran dry. Any Draugr could overpower any Ulfen in a one-on-one fight.
“What do we do?” she asked.
“We find a house or a flat to duck into,” he said. “They’re Draugr - they still need to be invited before they can come in.”
“If we break and enter, doesn’t that negate the sanctity of the ownership ward?”
“Not for them.” He took her elbow and guided her off of the sidewalk and into a block house filled with apartments. He hesitated at the post boxes and sniffed at them before selecting their target. “2B. They haven’t picked up mail in almost a week. They’re either on holiday or they’ve moved.”
“If they’ve moved, then there’s no owner, and the Draugr can follow us in.”
“Well, pray that they’re on a cruise.”
They jogged up the stairs to the unit in question, and Dominic produced lock picks from the inner pocket of his jacket. He applied the picks to the lock for a gratifyingly brief moment before the door clicked and swung open. He reached inside and found the light switch. The ceiling lights flickered once, then came on, illuminating the room. The apartment was still furnished; he smiled and pulled her inside.
“Looks like we’re lucky. It’s still occupied.”
She followed him into the apartment, and he closed the door behind them, locking it securely once again. Dominic hesitated by the door, listening, while Mia went further into the apartment and sat on the couch.
They held their silence for half an hour, listening for the Draugr to approach. No footsteps came up the stairs, and they were too far from the roof to hear anyone walking there. It was quiet and serene, and she dared to hope that they might have eluded their pursuers.
Mia felt the need to say something, just to break the silence. Her nerves were frayed. “You’re very good with those lock picks.”
Dominic looked at her, surprised. After a moment, he said, “I’ve learned a few tricks here and there. I’ve done a lot of traveling.”
“Not fond of your pack?”
He grimaced. “My pack is not fond of me. Last time I saw them, they made a chew toy out of me. I’m lucky I’m still alive.”
“Are you the omega?”
Dominic sat beside her on the couch. “Yes.”
She thought to the books she’d read about werewolves. “So, does that mean that you’re waiting to be taken as an Alpha’s mate? And that you can get pregnant, even though you’re male?”
The look he gave her was withering. “No. It does not. That’s just a lot of foolishness.”
She smiled. “I had to ask.” She turned to face him, her knees drawn up, her arms braced around them. She leaned her back against the arm of the couch. “Why did you want to come to Paris?”
“I didn’t. I wanted to get off at Cologne, remember?”
“But you stayed on.”
“Because you stayed on.” He shrugged. “I couldn’t very well let you go unescorted.”
Mia tilted her head, studying him. He had a handsome face. “Why not?”
He took a breath. “Because I already stepped in to protect you once. That means I’m committed. I’ll keep you safe.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know why the Draugr are hunting you, but anytime the vampires are hunting someone who isn’t also a vampire, I get worried. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Do you think I’m innocent?”
He snorted softly. “Nobody is innocent, especially not Dark Sisters.”
“Ah. So you know what I am.”
“I know what you were.” He ran his hands over his thighs, the gesture replete with nervousness. “I also know that you’re a lady, and I won’t allow a lady to get hurt if I can defend her.”
She smiled. “Very chivalrous.”
“I believe in honor, even though very few other people do.”
The door to the apartment crashed open, and they both leaped to their feet. A trio of Draugr barreled into the room, dressed like mafia hit men in their black trench coats and black pinstripe suits. Domi
nic pushed Mia behind himself and growled at the vampires, shifting into his half-wolf form.
“Close your mouth, dog, before I close it for you,” the Draugr in the center of the group sneered. “Paris is a wolf-free zone. Didn’t you get the memo?”
“We’re just passing through,” Mia said. “We won’t be here long.”
The three Draugr stepped forward, crowding Dominic, who would not back down. Mia climbed onto the couch and stood behind him, her hands tingling with readied magic. Dominic snarled again, and he snapped his powerful jaws at the main Draugr, who flinched. The Ulfen chuckled at the vampire’s reaction.
One of the other Draugr poked a finger into Dominic’s throat, scratching at the bite scar that showed through the dark fur. “What’s this?”
He bit at the vampire, who pulled his hand back. The third Draugr sniffed at him. “You’re not even a born wolf, are you? You were turned with a bite.”
“What’s it to you?” Dominic demanded. “And how did you get in here?”
The lead vampire smiled. “We own this building. We fucking own this city. And we don’t like the smell of dog in our streets.” He laughed. “But who’s this luscious morsel you’re protecting? Is she your bitch?”
Mia raised her hand, and it glowed white with magical power. “I’m nobody’s bitch, vampire. Back off.”
The three of them thought that her display was extremely funny, and they roared with laughter. Mia’s eyes narrowed in irritation, and she flicked the ball of power at the trio. It hit the lead vampire in the chest and exploded like a grenade, showering all three of them with eldritch fire. They barely had time to scream before they turned to dust.
Dominic reeled back, startled. “Jesus!”
“Not Jesus. Hel.” Mia shook her hand, dispelling the excess magic she had summoned. She looked at him. “Shift back. We have to get out of here.”
He resumed his human appearance, and she nodded. “We can’t stay here, not if the vampires own this building, and we have to find someplace where they can’t catch your scent.”
He thought hard, then said, “I know just the place.”
Love Beyond the wall (A Rizer Pack Shifter Series Book 1) Page 21