by L. L. Raand
Sophia followed Niki out into the hall. “What is it that you want, Niki?”
“I…I needed to see you.” Niki entwined her fingers through Sophia’s and drew her outside. The brush of Sophia’s shoulder against hers warmed her. She could smell Lara on her, and knowing Lara had touched her blurred her mind with fury. She battled down the urge to go back and drag Lara to the floor and bloody her. Sophia had needed Lara, and there was no fault in any Were—or Vampire—she chose answering that need. Still, she couldn’t help herself. “Did she fuck you?”
Sophia jerked Niki to a halt at the edge of the woods that ringed the Compound. “Stop it. Why torture us both?”
“Just tell me,” Niki growled.
Sophia pulled her hand free and cupped Niki’s jaw. “No.”
Niki shuddered and rubbed her cheek against Sophia’s palm. “I’m sorry.”
“I know.” Sophia kissed her. “I know.”
Niki dropped her voice to a subvocal level, conscious of Jody’s guards outside the infirmary. “There’ll be a mission tonight. I wanted to see you before I went.”
Sophia pressed against Niki’s side, caressing down Niki’s chest until her hand rested on Niki’s bare abdomen. Her fingertips feathered the pelt along Niki’s midline. “What is it? Can you tell me?”
“You need to know, so does Elena. You’ll need to prepare. We’ve gotten word there are more Weres left in the installation where Katya and Gray were held captive. We’re going to get them.”
“More?” Sophia stiffened. “They can’t be ours. We’d know.”
“Maybe,” Niki said. “But we always have a few adolescents who run solo until they decide how they fit in the Pack. We might not know anything was wrong if we didn’t hear from them for a few weeks. Even a month or two. We can’t be sure if we’re missing anyone.”
“Bring them home, Niki,” Sophia said fervently. “What they did to them—bring them home.”
Niki wrapped her arm around Sophia’s shoulders and pulled her close. She rubbed her face in Sophia’s hair, trembling at the touch of Sophia’s breasts against her chest. “We will. We will, and you will heal them.”
“I want you to come home too.” Sophia rubbed against her and licked her neck.
Pheromones, Sophia’s and hers, misted the air and Niki’s sex readied. She let her hands roam over Sophia’s back, tracing the delicate but strong muscles along her spine and the swell of her ass. She edged her thigh between Sophia’s, aching to empty. Her clitoris distended, stiffened with urgency, and she growled low in her throat.
“I need your head clear tonight,” Sophia murmured, edging her hand under the waistband of Niki’s pants, pushing lower until her fingers slid on either side of Niki’s clitoris. “I need you to be careful.”
Niki’s ass tightened and she pushed into Sophia’s hand. “Sophia, what—”
“Shh,” Sophia said. “You need this, so do I, before you go.”
Her fingers worked magic, stroking the hard nodes of Niki’s glands, caressing the length of her clitoris, sliding lower, deeper, until she cupped her inside and out. Niki’s breath caught in her throat, her back arched, and she threw her head back. The stars revolved overhead, swirling faster and faster until all she saw was swaths of white light blinding her with unbearable pleasure. Sophia scraped her canines down Niki’s throat, drawing blood, and Niki exploded so hard and fast her legs gave way. She dropped to her knees and found herself cushioned in Sophia’s arms. So much stronger than she realized, so much more than she’d ever dreamed. Shuddering, she rested her head on Sophia’s shoulder.
“Come back tonight, Imperator,” Sophia whispered. “I’ll be waiting.”
Chapter Fourteen
The door opened and Lara jumped up, ready to fight. She’d been expecting Niki to return and challenge her for tangling with Sophia, to try to prevent her from feeding from Sophia again. She’d smelled the possessive fury coating Niki’s skin. Sophia was in heat and Niki wanted to claim mating rights. A week ago, when she’d been Were and not part Vampire, she wouldn’t have disputed Niki’s claim, even if Sophia hadn’t taken Niki as a mate. But she wasn’t who she had been. She didn’t burn to quench the fires of Sophia’s heat, but she hungered for her just as strongly as Niki. Sophia’s blood ran sweet and strong with the exhilarating pulse of life, giving her something she hadn’t known she sought. Calm. No Were or human she’d fed from had given her that.
Feeding from Niki had been like opening herself to a forest fire. Niki’s blood was a fury, boiling with power and undercut with rage. Niki’s blood had filled her, driven her to mindless release, but left her restless and needing. Sophia had not only tamed her hunger, she’d silenced her need and given her an overwhelming sense of peace. She would have fed from her again if Niki hadn’t arrived. If her hunger hadn’t been so recently sated, she would not have allowed Niki to take Sophia without a fight. Sophia had come to her willingly, and a Vampire did not allow another predator to claim her host.
But she would not fight for peace tonight. The enemy who faced her was not Niki.
“Peace is not what you need,” Jody said. “What you need burning in you is the thrill of the chase. We are, above all, hunters.”
“What I need is freedom,” Lara said. “I know how to hunt.”
“Do you even know what freedom is now?” Jody said. “You once hunted prey who did not challenge you. Now you pursue the most intelligent prey on the planet—humans and other Praeterns. And you still have much to learn.”
Lara hated the Vampire who’d made her what she was by destroying everything she had been, especially when she knew Jody was right. She wasn’t born for peace. And she ached for the rush of blood in her throat. “What do you want?”
“You will pledge to me now,” Jody said quietly, “or you will never leave this room.”
“Do I have a choice?” Lara looked at the window behind her—at the night outside. Once she had run beneath the stars, strong and fast and sure. She could feel the distant longing of her wolf to leap free, to find the Pack, to hunt. If she turned her back on Jody, took her chances at surviving without Jody’s protection, would she find herself alone in the night? She was no longer centuri. She was no longer Were. She’d rather keep her wolf in chains than find she had no longer had a home. She wanted to kill the Vampire whose power filled the room with such force she ached to kneel and offer up her throat. She struggled to bury the foreign desire to submit. “Why don’t you kill me now? I will never bend to you.”
“I did not ask you to bend.”
Jody was suddenly in front of her, her warm, long fingers clamped around Lara’s throat. Jody had fed recently, and her strength took Lara’s breath away. The crimson flare in Jody’s eyes flamed through to Lara’s core. The part of her that was Were readied for the release promised in Jody’s bite, her glands filling so sharply she gasped. She shuddered with need. Her heart might beat with Sophia’s blood coursing through her veins, but her body burned for Jody, the master she craved and loathed. “What is it you want?”
“You are so much stronger than you should be,” Jody murmured, her mouth brushing along the edge of Lara’s jaw. “You were so completely empty when I animated you, only my blood flows in you. I was wrong about what you are.”
Lara’s stomach iced. “I don’t understand.”
Jody released Lara’s throat and stroked her fingers over Lara’s cheek, tracing the curve of her cheek with her thumb. “You are not a newling—not a living Vampire. You are Risen, a full-blooded member of my line. Your powers are already stronger than a youngling Risen Vampire’s. I suspect you’ll be able to stay awake during the day before long.”
“Like you?”
“Yes.”
“And if I want to be free from your Dominion?”
Jody smiled. “Do you seek to challenge?”
Lara didn’t think she could defeat Jody in battle, but she would not surrender, she would not submit without a fight, and she would die before she would k
neel. “You haven’t told me what you want.”
“I need a warlord—a Vampire to lead my soldiers, to enforce my word, and to protect my consort. Pledge to me, and you will live.”
“And if you go to war with the Weres?”
Jody’s alabaster face was as unyielding as stone, her crimson eyes volcanic. “You pledge to me for life, with your life. Break your pledge and you will die.”
Lara thought back to the moments with Sophia. Lara’s wolf had longed for the touch of another Were, but Sophia had not wanted a mate. If she had, Lara would have failed her. She could never mate with a Were—never provide a mate with young, never be part of the Pack the way she had been. She was other now, Vampire, and the Weres could never be more to her than hosts. She had no place in Sylvan’s army, no place in the Pack. But she was and always would be a warrior. She was Praetern, Were or Vampire, and the Praetern struggle was hers, as it always had been. Jody, her lord but never master, was offering her honor and purpose. She went down on one knee.
“I pledge my service to you, Liege.”
Jody drew Lara to her feet with the force of her thrall. Lara shuddered but held her position, even though her wolf trembled on the verge of release. Jody kissed her and a wave of heat passed through her, igniting her, empowering her. She bit back a moan as victus flooded her thighs.
Jody kissed her. “Welcome to my Clan, Warlord.”
*
“I have to go,” Niki murmured, her cheek against Sophia’s breast. She knelt at the edge of the forest, spent and defenseless in Sophia’s arms.
“I know you do.” Sophia threaded her fingers through Niki’s hair, feeling as if she might shatter inside. She couldn’t let Niki feel her terror. From her first consciousness of being Were, she’d known she was different. She’d never felt the same drive to find her place as the young dominants who tussled endlessly in search of their position in the Pack. She didn’t burn with the need to nurture and protect like the non-dominants who became the teachers, the caretakers, and the soldiers. She’d always been other, even while being part of the whole, and Elena had helped her find her place as a healer. As an adolescent she’d watched the hunters foray into the mountains for weeks at a time to bring back food for the Pack, seen the young non-dominants—male and female alike—find mates, care for the young, and create the fabric that held the Pack together. Since the Exodus, she’d seen the warriors leave for battle. Some of those warriors had come back injured and dying. Niki, standing at the Alpha’s side, was at greater risk to die in battle than any in the Pack. Niki would give her life for the Alpha’s, as was her duty, and Sophia could never let Niki know that if Niki did not return, she might not survive. “Go, Imperator. We both have duties. I need to find Elena so we can be prepared if you find captive Weres.”
“I would not leave you if I didn’t have to.”
Sophia smiled and stroked Niki’s cheek. “You don’t need to tell me that.”
Niki’s green eyes were wolf-shot, hot and possessive. “Your heat is not over. You’ll be in need again soon.”
“This is far from the first heat I’ve been through. I’ll be all right.”
“I would not have you suffer,” Niki grumbled, “but Lara—”
“I’m not going to her again,” Sophia said gently.
“There are others who—”
“Perhaps you would like to choose someone for me to tangle with while you’re gone.”
Niki snarled and Sophia pulled her up until they were face-to-face. “Then stop pushing me to tangle with someone else.” She caught Niki’s lip between her teeth and tugged it. “I’m all right.”
Niki cradled Sophia’s face and kissed her softly. “When I return, let me answer your need.”
“I told you I would be waiting.” Sophia grasped Niki’s wrists and kissed first one palm, then the other. “When you leave tonight, your duty is only to the Alpha. That will always and ever be the case.”
Niki rested her forehead against Sophia’s. “Then you know why I can’t mate.”
“I already told you, that’s not what I want.” Sophia forced a laugh. “I’d forgotten why I didn’t want to tangle with you. Your head is like a rock.”
“I might not be what you want,” Niki said, “but I can give you what you need.”
“Go, Niki,” Sophia said, her heart bleeding, her wolf in a rage. She’d had this power struggle with her wolf in every heat. What she knew she couldn’t have and what her wolf demanded were forever at war. The struggle tore her in two every time, and letting Niki close made it worse. Tangling with her and not biting her, not giving herself totally, made the pain unbearable. She wanted her, needed her, ached for her—but her wolf wanted a mate. A true mate, with a union of blood and hormones and victus. She couldn’t risk that, and avoiding the mate bond was endless agony.
“Your wolf is restless,” Niki murmured, skating her hands over Sophia’s breasts. “Your heat is already rising and your wolf wants a joining. How long can you fight her?”
“As long as I have to.” Sophia pressed against Niki’s hot, hard body. She needed the feel of Niki’s heart beating against hers to carry her through the long hours of waiting. “You’re needed with the Alpha, Niki.”
Niki kissed her swiftly, a hard, deep, claiming kiss. The scrape of Niki’s canines over Sophia’s lip made her sex clench and she readied instantly. She quivered in Niki’s arms. “Niki, stop.”
“Sorry,” Niki murmured, sucking the bite she’d made in Sophia’s lip. “I had to taste you.”
Sophia couldn’t hold her wolf back any longer. In another second she would need to taste Niki too, and she wouldn’t stop with a nip. She’d bite and her mating hormones would surge into Niki’s blood. No, God no. Sophia pushed at Niki, her claws scoring down Niki’s chest. “Go. Hurry.”
Niki didn’t budge. She pulled Sophia’s mouth to her chest. “Taste me.”
Whining deep in her throat, Sophia licked.
Niki growled at the soft rasp of Sophia’s tongue over the marks Sophia’s claws had made. “Remember my taste in your blood if you let anyone else take you.”
“If you care about me,” Sophia gasped, “you’ll go.”
Niki vaulted away and landed on the wide porch of the Alpha’s headquarters. Panting, Sophia watched her disappear through eyes slanting to ice blue. Snow-white pelt shimmered over her as her wolf broke free, and she raised her head and cried to the sky before streaking off alone into the dark.
*
“Friday night,” Veronica said, swirling the burgundy liquid in the glass cradled in her palms, “I’ll be attending the governor’s gala.” She smiled at Luce. “You’ll be available?”
“Of course,” the Vampire replied. “What time would you like to leave?”
“Would nine p.m. suit?”
Luce’s mouth curved and the tip of a gleaming incisor dimpled her full lower lip. “Your pleasure always suits, Dr. Standish.”
Veronica’s breath hitched at the sensation of warm fingers brushing over her breasts, though no one touched her. Her clitoris pulsed between her thighs, engorged and insistent, as soft lips closed around her. The tug of a silken mouth had her on the edge of climaxing. Veronica was an expert at schooling her expression so nothing showed, but Luce’s smile widened and her eyes flashed scarlet. The Vampire knew her thrall had excited her. Veronica gritted her teeth. What arrogance! But so intriguing.
“Is it in your control?” Veronica asked, sipping her port to hide the tremor in her hands. Luce was testing her, but she discounted Veronica’s strength. Veronica knew how to gain the upper hand—she’d had plenty of practice with the men she worked with. She hadn’t gotten as far in her life as she had by letting the bluster and physicality of others overpower her. The one thing men couldn’t seem to process, or ignore, was sexual aggression from a woman. They’d go anywhere their cocks led them. Perhaps the promise of her blood would work the same way. “The seduction? Is it selective or will anyone do?”
�
��Oh,” Luce replied, her voice husky and her eyes glinting, “my interest is quite voluntary. You’re a beautiful woman.”
Veronica glanced at Michel, whose elegant features were ever-so-slightly amused. “You’ve no problem with your—employee—attempting to seduce me?”
“Did you expect us to behave like humans?” Michel asked quietly, brushing her fingers over Raymond’s neck. The human servant drew a sharp breath, his hands tightening on his thighs. An erection swelled beneath his black trousers, pushing along his inner thigh.
“I see,” Veronica said, taking in the display of dominance. The Vampires survived by enthralling their hosts, and sex was the currency of their power. Seduction was as natural to them as breathing. Rising, she circled behind the sofa where her new bodyguards sat and leaned over Luce from behind. She brushed her lips over Luce’s ear. “I don’t want you distracted while you’re working.”
Luce tilted her head back, her mouth skimming Veronica’s neck. “I’ll be sure to come to you well-fed. Unless you prefer to feed me.”
Veronica ran her tongue over Luce’s lower lip, so close to orgasm she barely held back a moan. “I’ll expect you at sundown tomorrow.”
“And Raymond?”
“He can watch.”
Chapter Fifteen
“I want you to stay here tonight,” Sylvan said, tucking a tight black T-shirt into black BDUs. She bent to lace up her black combat boots.
Drake crossed her arms and leaned against the bedroom door. “What should I do while you’re leading your warriors on a night mission, Alpha? I think we’ve got plenty of cooks in the mess hall. As far as I know, there aren’t any household chores that need doing.”
Sylvan cut her a glance, strapped on a thigh sheath, and slipped in a twelve-inch double-sided KA-BAR. “You’re a medic. Katya and Gray need you.”