VEILED Complete Boxed Set: A Paranormal Vampire Romance Thriller

by Victoria Knight

  “Yeah, I think I will. How are you doing? About Jason, I mean.”

  “I’ll be okay,” she said. Her eyes told a different story. Saul did not think that Nikki was okay with what had happened tonight – with the fact that she’d had to kill Jason. He doubted she would ever be okay with it, really.

  Nikki went into the bathroom, stripped her clothes off, and stepped into the shower. The water was a blast of freshness, momentarily erasing the thought of the last few hours. Nikki stood under the water for a moment, simply relishing the feel of it against her skin, before she soaped up. She thought of Jason as she washed herself – not of the Rogue, but of her friend and all the memories they shared. The night was not through yet, and she missed him terribly. .

  Nikki wondered if Jason’s life might have been any different if she had not rejected him before their lives had been so drastically changed. She knew that she would never get that answer and that hurt her more than anything else. Nikki had never cared for Jason romantically, but he had been the best friend she had ever had. She felt guilty, as if it was her fault that he had been Turned. Would have Leibald tracked Jason down if Nikki had not spoken to Saul that night months ago? If Jason and Nikki had not been connected? The thought that the answer might be no made Nikki’s heart ache.

  Thinking of a past that could not be changed would not help anyone. For now, Nikki decided, she’d let her sorrow and anger fuel her. She’d be damned if Jason’s death would be for nothing; she’d make sure something good came out of his death. She would make sure that Gestalt pays with his own life.

  Nikki remained in the shower for another ten minutes, letting the steam work its way into her sore and aching muscles. She cut the water off and when she slid the shower door open, Saul was standing there with a towel ready for her.

  Nikki smiled and stepped out of the shower. Saul wrapped the towel around her. Her drew her close and pulled her to him with her back to his chest. He hugged her, his embrace soft and warm. Nikki leaned back against him and enjoyed his sturdiness. She felt safe. She felt at home. Her heart seemed to swell and she was terrified that she knew what it meant.

  “You did well tonight,” Saul said. “It had to have felt overwhelming.”

  “It actually felt natural,” she said. “Scary, huh?”

  Nikki turned to him and looked up into his eyes. “Thank you for being there for me, throughout this nightmare.”

  “Of course.” He wiped a strand of wet hair away from her forehead and smiled sleepily at her.

  Nikki kissed him softly on the lips and meant to pull away. But when his tongue slipped between her lips and touched her own, she leaned back into him. Her hands went into his hair and she smelled the masculine scent of him, stronger than usual thanks to the night’s battles. It was not a bad smell at all, but natural and inviting.

  Nikki kissed Saul harder, her head angling up to meet his. She dropped the towel and pressed her naked body against him. Saul shuddered. Smiling, she slowly slid his shirt off and kissed his neck, his chest, his abdomen. She worked her way back up to his mouth and found his kiss a bit harder but still gentler than what she considered rough. She unbuttoned his pants and slid them down, her entire body wanting him naked with her, every inch of her skin needing his against her.

  Saul’s hands slowly explored Nikki’s body, running along her back, caressing her shoulders and tracing her arms. His hands then found her waist and he held on there, not wanting to let her go. She leaned further into him, her breasts now pressing against him. Saul cupped one in his hand and stroked its underside. Nikki let out a sigh against his lips and began to let her hands roam as well.

  Nikki ran her hands down Saul’s chest and to the hard wall of his stomach. She then reached down and took him gently into her palm. He tensed up against her as she grazed her fingers along his still-soft length.

  Maybe it was because he was so tired, but he needed a bit of coaxing. Nikki was more than happy to oblige, stroking him a bit faster and taking the time to feel him grow hard in her hand. Her grip tightened slowly but surely, her hand knowing every contour of Saul’s body. There was urgency in their kisses and touches, but it was a soft and gentle kind.

  “I thought you wanted me to rest,” Saul murmured between their kisses.

  “Mmmm-hmmm,” Nikki said, grabbing his free hand and placing it on her right breast. “I just want to make sure you sleep soundly.”

  Saul kissed her neck and then ventured down to her chest. He cupped her breasts one at a time, lifting them slightly and kissing the underside in a way that he knew she liked. She arched her back as he lightly sucked at her nipples. He then worked his way to her navel and she knew where he was headed after that.

  But Nikki didn’t want that. She suddenly wanted Saul with a fierceness that she had not felt before—which was odd because she also wanted him gently, tenderly, and slowly.

  She grabbed him playfully by the hair and brought his face back up to hers. She looked into his eyes and felt her heart speed up, swelling as if it might burst. She leaned into him and kissed him longingly. She went back to work on his member with her hands. She stroked the head of his manhood with agonizing slowness and then guided it to her. She teased him, wanting to see him shudder for her, pressing its tip just barely into her so that he could get a glimpse of how wet he was making her. When she couldn’t take it anymore, she placed him perfectly and lowered herself onto him just enough to barely penetrate her.

  When she felt Saul tensing up in anticipation, Nikki gave him a devilish smile and turned around. She leaned into the sink, perched against it, and offered him her backside. She looked back over her shoulder and winked.

  “Are you too tired for this?” she asked.

  Saul was a man of few words once things had reached this point. He cupped her backside in both hands and squeezed. He then slowly guided himself inside of her. Nikki was not usually a fan of doggy style, but he knew her body well now and could make her tremble in any position.

  “Slow, please” she gasped as he entered her fully.

  Saul obliged, taking his time and running his hands along her sides. She reached back and held him close as she pushed herself back to meet him. She was surprised to find that she was already on the verge of coming and had to remind herself that Jill was in a nearby bedroom. She bit her bottom lip and continued to thrust slow and hard against him. Every nerve in her body wanted Saul to go faster, harder, to take her with his usual force. But at the same time, she knew that this was different—that the climax she was working towards could probably make her collapse in its intensity.

  Nikki arched her back into Saul so that she was practically standing. Something about the angle –or maybe his restrained grunts in her ear and hot breath against her neck –pushed her beyond her limits and she climaxed with an almost violent shudder. Even as she reached release, she still kept the agonizingly slow pace of her hips. Nikki bit her lip hard and stifled cries escaped her throat. She looked up into the mirror behind the sink and watched them together.

  Saul fed on Nikki’s climax and he started to build to his finish as well. Nikki kept him close to her, clutching at his hands and bringing one to her mouth. She bit down on his palm to stifle her moans; this seemed to spur Saul on even more. He gave a few final thrusts as he finished and then, without any awkwardness or even speaking, Nikki turned around and embraced him.

  “I’m afraid you’ll get tired of me,” Nikki said softly against his chest. She had no idea where those words had come from and hated herself for speaking them out loud.

  “No,” he said, looking down into her eyes. “Never. If you’ll have me, you and I will be linked forever now. Has that not sunken in yet?”

  Nikki smiled and suddenly found that it was hard to stand. After what they had just done, her knees quivered. “No,” she said. “I don’t think it has.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Saul cooed. He kissed her deeply, cupping her face in his hands.

  She simply nodded and th
en took his hand, the same hand she had bitten less than a minute ago. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s get some sleep.”

  They collapsed into bed. Minutes later, Nikki had fallen asleep; the last thought in her head before exhaustion claimed her had been alarming, but surprisingly warm:

  Oh my God, she thought. I’m falling in love with him.

  3

  Kara was not finding sleep as easily as the Bentons and Nikki. In fact, her hands were trembling as she took a shower to get the blood off of her. She had done her best with the police force after leaving The Marked, but almost half of the officers on duty had been lost. There had been some discussion about calling in the National Guard, but the matter had been dropped right away. Essentially, the town had been left to ruin.

  And something was very wrong with that.

  She kept recalling what Magdeline had said about Red Creek being special—how it harbored certain traits that attracted the weirder things in the world. Currently, the entire town was being destroyed and the few police that were left had decided to just let it happen.

  This is about me, she thought. Well, not me…but The Marked.

  This thought was in her head as the first light of dawn crept in through her window. Kara had enjoyed only seven hours of sleep in the last thirty-six hours or so, but she didn’t let that stop her from getting out of bed and changing into her workout clothes.

  These fuckers are like mythological vampires according to Saul, she thought. That means they’ll be hiding and defenseless while the sun is up.

  Kara toyed with the idea of going into the station to see what she could figure out. She knew for a fact that at least two officers had left Red Creek when they had realized what they were up against. Others had been turned. And then there were two or three others, including herself, who had survived but were now just straggling through town.

  Kara waited until the sun had come up before she picked up the phone. She dialed Paul’s number and was not at all surprised when he answered it right away.

  “You didn’t get much sleep either, I take it?” she said.

  “None,” he answered.

  “How do you feel about meeting me at about ten o’ clock? If these Rogues are bound by all of the old tropes, we should be able to kill them by day.”

  “I’d already planned on it. All of us, actually—Saul and his bunch, too. We hadn’t called you because we figured you’d be exhausted.”

  “I think I am, but my body just doesn’t know it yet.”

  “Get some sleep. I’ll call you at ten. How’s that sound?”

  “Perfect.” She thought about telling them how it might be all for naught—how the town of Red Creek had basically been sacrificed to something larger and darker than they would ever understand.

  But Kara kept it to herself and ended the call. She crawled into bed and thought of Jess. She thought of his well-maintained body and how he had felt next to her, inside of her. And then she thought about ramming the stake through his heart.

  Indifferent to it all, she fell asleep. Besides, Kara figured, if this is the life that I’m to lead as a member of The Marked, there’s no time for sentiment now, is there?

  4

  A tapping at the bedroom door stirred Saul awake. He knew at once that it was Jill and she was sending him a mental image of what Saul thought was thick fog. There were people standing in the fog, one of whom was incredibly tall.

  The Guard, he thought, sitting up. He slid out of bed, threw on some pants, and opened the door.

  Jill was there, looking at him with a concerned expression.

  “The Guard?” Saul asked.

  “Yeah. They’re outside, in the yard.”

  Saul saw the sun slanting in through the bedroom blinds. He wondered how long he had slept. He felt sore and a bit disoriented. He looked back into the bedroom and saw that Nikki was waking up. She rubbed her eyes and looked at them.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “They Guard,” Jill said.

  Nikki seemed to spring awake at once. She got out of bed and got dressed as quickly as she could.

  Before the three of them stepped out to greet their unexpected visitors, Saul paused in the bedroom doorway. “I don’t trust them,” he said. “Kara had a good point in terms of thinking that they had tried to set her and The Marked up. And besides that, there’s just too much adding up against them.”

  “But why would they plot against us?” Jill asked.

  “I don’t know yet,” Saul said. “But I do think it has something to do with our father’s death.”

  With that, Saul stepped out into the cabin and headed for the now-empty frame where the front door had once stood. He looked out into the front yard as he stepped out onto the porch. The Guard stood there, silent and unmoving. Thin tendrils of mist encircled their legs, like coiling snakes, ready to either retreat or attack. It was that sort of uncertainty that made Saul feel uneasy as he stepped out to meet them.

  “Good morning,” Saul greeted. “I assume you know what has been happening in Red Creek.”

  “We do,” said the one known as Aimon. Heating him speak surprised Saul. Usually, it was either Magdeline or Moorcheh that did the talking. The simple fact that Aimon was actually speaking to him made Saul instantly realize that this meeting was going to be different somehow.

  “Yes,” Moorcheh said. “And I must say that you and your new friends within The Marked have defended the town as best as you can.”

  “That might be true,” Saul said, “but the Rogue that calls himself Gestalt got away. And since you can’t track him, nor can I, he will likely get away.”

  “Doubtful,” boomed the giant Dominiscus. His voice sounded like the opening of some ancient tomb. “He essentially made Red Creek his hive.”

  “Yes,” Moorcheh agreed. “I believe he had some hidden agenda. I feel certain that he will return.”

  “I need to ask you a question,” Saul said. “Is that permissible?”

  “Of course,” Moorcheh said.

  “You knew that the members of The Marked were in Red Creek,” he said. “How long have you known?”

  “Fifteen years or so,” Moorcheh said.

  “And you chose not to tell me? Even when the Greelys were trying to knock my entire family out?”

  “That’s correct,” Magdeline said. “As you know, there is certain information that we keep close to us. The location of The Marked was such information. If word had gotten out, there could have been plans just like the ones the Greelys tried to implement—plans to come to Red Creek and kill off the one mortal unit that could undo them.”

  “But now is not the time for such matters,” Aimon urged. Beside him, the Guard known as Polyxia looked solemnly at Saul. She also eyed Jill and Nikki, her eyes like slate.

  “Aimon is correct,” Magdeline said. “We come with news. And they are rather urgent.”

  “What news?” Jill asked, stepping up beside Saul, clearly feeling that something was very much amiss.

  “A week or so ago,” Moorcheh said, “Benali told us that the town of Red Creek would be soon crawling with death. We assumed this was nothing more than his way of trying to entice us—trying to fool us into freeing him. He has tried several different ways to get us to release him since we put him into bondage.”

  “But it turns out,” Aimon put in, “that he was only taunting us. Soon after what transpired in Red Creek, he told us that he knows where Gestalt is going and what his ultimate plans are. It seems that the two of them have been working together on this, and for quite some time.”

  “It seems that a Rogue infestation was Benali’s backup plan if the Greely overthrow was unsuccessful,” Magdeline said.

  “Where does Benali say Gestalt is headed?” Saul asked.

  “He won’t tell us. He says he will only give the information in exchange for his freedom.”

  “No,” Saul said flatly. “Gestalt also said he was the one that killed my father. I’ll be damned if I’ll free a
nyone or anything that had a hand in his murder.”

  “There is no evidence to suggest that Benali played a part in your father’s murder,” Moorcheh denied.

  Saul noticed that Polyxia looked away for a moment when this was said. Saul looked at her, waiting for her to return her attention to the porch. When she did, she looked almost angry about something.

  “Then who did?” Saul asked.

  The Guard remained silent. Saul walked down the porch stairs and into the yard. He knew that it was considered rude to face the Guard in such a way, but he was far beyond caring. The deeper into this he got, the more certain he became that the Guard had indeed played some role in the murder of his father more than thirty years ago.

  “You know that we have no answers for you,” Magdeline said.

  “Then you can consider my services to The Guard off the table. You promised me answers and you have not delivered.”

  “But Saul,” Moorcheh argued, “we need your help on this. If Gestalt and Benali really are working together, you are likely their target. You can help us put an end to both of their plans.”

  “I will,” Saul said. “If it comes to that, I certainly will stop them. But it will be on my terms and for my life…not to help The Guard.”

  “Don’t be foolish,” Aimon sneered. “You will have no way of knowing if a Rogue is on its way.”

  “Neither will you,” Saul countered. “Or have you forgotten that?”

  “That’s true,” Madeline said. “But if we free Benali and he gives us his information, you’ll have a warning as to when and where Gestalt is coming from.”

  Saul considered it for a moment and then shook his head. “No. I get the sense that for some reason, you need me far more than I need you right now. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to rest. I have to spend the day hunting down vampires that you were unable to keep out of my town.”

  With that, Saul turned his back on The Guard and walked back up the porch and into the house. He never turned back to look at them. When Nikki and Jill followed him in, he still did not look back.