She was saying goodbye to him.
He would fucking die first.
Kara smiled, again, but it looked strained. “As sweet as the offer was, though, I don’t think you should be anywhere near Slade tomorrow. You need to stay here, safe from the temptation of trying to kill him. It’s the only way you’ll survive, I think.” She nodded earnestly. “I can rescue that dingbat on my own. To’kel’s a free-agent now, but all he knows he learned inside the book. I’m pretty sure I can outmaneuver him.”
Damien cleared his throat and tried to keep his voice level. “So, you plan to go to the Vampire Isle alone, then?”
Apparently, his neutral tone was a pleasant surprise for her. She smiled in relief at the polite inquiry. “Well, I don’t have all the details worked out, but I’m thinking maybe I can recruit the Dragons.” She looked suddenly smug. “You said they’re mercenaries, right? And they worked for Slade to kidnap me, so they must be buddies with him. Maybe I can pay them enough to make them forget you killed that Nestor guy and get them to help me.” She hesitated. “This is going to sound really crass, but can I borrow some rubies from you, by the way? That’s the currency, right? I think the Dragons are gonna be expensive to hire. Also, we might need to buy diamond swords. Where do you think they sell those?”
Damien didn’t know whether to laugh wildly or start ripping out his hair. “You are an amazing woman, Kara Lynn.”
She blinked, like he’d caught her off guard. “Oh.” Another smile curved her lips. “Thank you. Boy, you’re taking this really well. I thought you’d be okay with it, but I was a little worried you might think I was trying to run off to be with Slade. You kinda had that idea in your head for a while and...”
“You’re not his Eternal-One.” If Damien had a soul, he’d owe it some god or other for making that wish come true. Karalynn was only his. The Vampire had no claim on her. “Since both of you seem reconciled with that fact, I am no longer concerned you might bond with him.”
“Great!” Kara beamed. “Damien, I am so impressed with you, right now. Really. I was hoping we could get all this stuff out-of-the-way and just have a really nice night that we could remember. I’ll deal with the rest tomorrow, but right now....” She trailed off with a contented sigh. “You’re making it so simple. I really appreciate that.”
“I’m happy that you’re happy, cari.” There was a frenzied buzzing in his head that grew louder with every second. “Is there anything else you’d like to discuss before we continue with the mating?”
“Hmm...” Kara frowned. “Well, there’s Melessa. She needs to be with Slade. If something does go wrong on my end, do you think you could... You know... Give her back to him for me?” She held up a palm. “I know, you’d like to use her as bait, but that’s just a dead end for you. I’m not doing all this so you can get yourself killed when I’m gone. Let her go free, alright?”
“Of course.” Damien agreed, the words staggeringly insincere. “With you gone, Melessa’s happiness will be my very first concern.”
The sarcasm caught her attention that time or maybe it was the fact that he’d actually gotten the woman’s name right. Either way, Kara frowned at him.
He ignored it. “So you wanna mate now?” He asked, turning her casual words back on her.
Kara’s frown grew baffled. “Uh, yeah, I guess so, but... Hey!” Her voice rose in a startled shriek as Damien’s powers propelled her backwards. She hit the massive bed poster, pinned there. The velvet ropes used for tying back the morbid, draping fabric that decorated the sides, slithered down and wrapped around her wrists. “Holy... Damien!” Her eyes went wide as the cords pulled her arms up over her head, anchoring her in place, stretching her so she was on her toes, helpless. “What are you doing?” She still wasn’t scared of him. The scent of her arousal hit him even as she tried to pull free of the bindings. Kara liked it when he took control.
At least, in mating.
It was the only time she ever acquiesced to him.
Damien put his hands behind his back and watched her, thoughtfully. “Let’s review our discussion.” He suggested. “You feel that our endless, timeless, destined-from-the-gods mating is merely temporary. That you will probably die tomorrow or you’ll go back to your own time. And all of this,” He gestured around the room. “Including me, will just be a pleasant memory for you.”
“I never said pleasant.” She shot back, still tugging at the cords.
Damien disregarded that. “You also recommend that I remain here, while you go traipsing off to the Vampire Isle by yourself. Since I could be hurt or accidently kill your precious Slade.”
“He’s not ‘my precious’ anything and I’m not going after him by myself. I told you, I’m going to hire the dragons as backup. I just need to borrow some money, first. Unless assassins take VISA, I’m currently broke.”
“Yes, it’s a foolproof plan on many levels.” Damien strolled closer to Kara and was rewarded with a hitch in her breathing. He stopped directly in front of her. His body brushed hers and he nearly growled when she bit her lower lip in response. “And lastly, you think this will be the only time I ever mate with you.” One of her curls had fallen over her cheek and he brushed it back. “That we have one night, after I waited twelve. hundred. years. for you. That this is our entire future.”
Her eyes stayed locked on his, her breasts rising and falling rapidly.
Damien leaned closer to her. “Kara Lynn, do you honestly believe I will ever let any of that happen?” His hands came up and found her nipples right through the fabric of her dress, caressing. “That I will ever let you go? Be it to death or time or Vampires? If you love me, you should know me better than that.”
“I do love you, but...” She broke off with a cry as he yanked the front of her neckline down, exposing her breasts to his view. “Damien, shit.” She arched forwards into his touch as he began exploring them. “We’re not done talking. It’s no fair...”
“No, cari we are done talking.” The soft globes overflowed his hands. “You will not go to the Vampire Isle without me. You will not leave this time period or get yourself killed. You will not fucking endanger yourself, again. And you will acknowledge me as your mate. That admission I will have right now. Say it.”
Chocolate eyes gleamed. “Or what?”
Damien smiled, mysteriously. She would tell him he was her mate. Hearing her deny their bond in that ballroom had infuriated him on every primitive level. The woman was his. She would listen to him, and mate with him, and stay with him. She would acknowledge the claim. If she didn’t, this would never be real to her.
He would never be real to her.
“Damien?” She looked a little worried when he didn’t answer her taunt.
He lowered his head, his tongue finding her nipple and tugging it into his mouth.
“So unfair.” Her body began to rock in time with his suckling. “God, you’re just so good at being bad.”
Satisfied, he turned his attention to her other breast, taking his time and enjoying himself. He’d waited a thousand years to have his mate. He was in no rush. He wanted to touch and taste every inch of her.
Karalynn didn’t have his patience. “You need to untie me, now.”
“Oh, I don’t think so.” His teeth nipped and she jolted. “Not until I hear what I want from you.”
“Please.”
“Please, who?”
“Please, Damien.”
“No. Try again.” He blew across her damp flesh and she gasped.
“Come on, I can’t move or touch you or...” His fingers tugged and she tried to push against his palm for more. Damien immediately moved his hand away and got a frustrated sound in return. “You can’t keep me tied like this. You’re killing me.”
“I know, cari. I’m the villain, remember?”
“You’re sure acting like it.” She accused as he knelt down in front of her.
“Well, I’ve had many centuries of practice.” He got to work untying her skirt.
She was bare under the dress. It had tortured him all night, thinking of that. Damien stripped the fabric off of her, ripping it and not caring. He tossed the shredded dress aside, leaving her naked and wet before him. “So much better.” He moved back to admire the view. “You know, I do have that dungeon. I could leave you just like this for days.” Unable to resist, his hand slid along the chain at her ankle. He loved her legs. “Who would save you?”
Kara didn’t answer that. She tried to arch her body closer to him and he responded by nudging her knees further apart. She was open to him, off balance and vulnerable. He absently brushed his hand over her, knowing she couldn’t get leverage. Kara pulled at the taunt ropes and whimpered. In that second, she was totally at his mercy.
And Damien was the one spellbound.
He stood up again, before he got completely distracted. “Who will protect you?” His index finger went deeper, wanting to feel her softness.
Kara’s head went back on a moan. “Oh yes.” The woman loved this. He could tell from the breathless laugh she gave. “God, this really is getting kinky. You’re such a bad influence on me.”
“I believe it is the other way around.” He pushed his finger in as far as he could go and nearly came at the feel of her. He was hanging onto control by a thread. “Who will keep you safe, Kara Lynn?”
“You will.” It was a whisper. “You always keep me safe.”
“I will.” It was a vow. “That’s right. And why will I do that? Why do you know I’ll protect you? What are we?” She had to say it. He slipped another finger inside of her. “Tell me and I’ll give you what you want.” He rubbed just hard enough to have her gasping and then held his hand still. “Tell me, Kara Lynn.”
She tried to move against him and couldn’t. He could see her scheming for a way to defy him and still have her release. “Please, Vlad.” Her body undulated in a sensual wave.
Damien was briefly hypnotized.
She knew it, too. “Let me go and, I swear, I’ll do anything you want.” Her tone offered all the hot, dark promises in the world.
His tongue barely fit in his mouth. “Oh, you’ll be doing that, anyway. Say it.”
“You think you’re the only one who can play this game?” Her eyes went to the front of his pants and he could feel her gaze like a physical touch. She smiled like the seductress she was. “You thought about doing this earlier, didn’t you? When we were downstairs and I was leaving to find Slade without you, you held me up against that door. You liked that I was your captive. I could tell. And then at the Fair, when I wouldn’t just leave the Vampire, when I ran off to help him, you wanted to tie me to that Ferris Wheel and take me right there, didn’t you? Prove you could make me submit.”
“Yes.” He said huskily, transfixed by the sensual words.
Oh, she liked that admission. Karalynn licked her bottom lip. “Now, I’m your prisoner, just like you wanted. The villain can just take whatever he wants, can’t he, Damien? Who can stop him? If you want me, you can have me, right now. You can do anything to me. My body is aching for you and spread out for your touch. I’m sooo helpless and you’re sooo bad. Take me. Hard. Make me promise to obey.”
Damien’s eyes nearly crossed at the way she was turning things around. Everything she said was for show, calculated to unhinge him. It worked. Against his better judgment he started his fingers moving in and out of her, again. Stretching her for his invasion.
Her breathing hitched. “Yes. Just like that.”
“I’m going to be inside of you when you come and you’re going to give me everything.” He snarled, his attention on his hand. He watched his fingers disappear into her flesh, enthralled by the sight. “Every fucking thing I want.”
“Yes. Whatever you want. Just don’t stop.” She twisted, driving him deeper.
“Tell me.” His teeth ached from clenching his jaw to hold back. “Who am I?”
“Mine. You’re a villain, but you’re my villain.”
That answer certainly deserved partial credit. Everything he was belonged to this woman. “Good human.” He moved faster. “What else?”
“Harder. Make it harder. Please.” Her cries and tightening muscles told him she was she very, very close. “Right there. Oh, Damien. Right there.”
Damien stopped his stroking. “Not yet, cari.”
She let out a shout of displeasure. “Damn it, do you want me to beg?”
“Oh, yes.” It was a purr.
Brown eyes sparkled with passion and impudence as she switched back to her persuasive sales pitch. “You know, if you really want that, you could push me on the bed, right now. You’re so big and powerful, and I’m just a teeny human. I wouldn’t be able to do anything but cry for more as you punished me for defying you. Make me sorry. Make me kneel there, while you hold me down and take everything you want. Make me yours. Make me scream for you.”
“Fuck.” All other words just vanished from his brain, burned away by the picture she’d created. His breath sawed in and out. Karalynn’s submission was never anything but a façade over her incredible vitality. He was kidding himself to think that she’d listen to him more after this mating. In every way that mattered, Kara was so much more powerful than Damien. She’d always be plotting to take control. The woman was a force of nature. He loved that about her even as it drove him mad.
His body was on fire and she knew it.
Her lips curved into a smug, feminine grin and Damien figured he had about thirty seconds before he broke. He went with the quickest way to gain her compliance: Biology. The woman was a sorcerer’s mate. He knew what she really desired, even if she didn’t understand it, yet. His head dropped to her neck, teeth scrapping harder than they had in the past.
“Damien.” Kara did scream his name. He felt her body contract around his fingers, trying to go over the edge that he withheld. “Please.” She rocked, fruitlessly. “Move just a tiny bit. I need just a tiny bit more. Please.”
“Give me what I want first.” His own arousal was going to consume him, but not yet. Not until he had the words. He twisted his fingers, pushing a third one into her.
“Oh God.”
“Tell me, Kara Lynn. Now. Who am I?”
“Mate.” She surrendered with a sob. Her neck instinctively turned, baring her throat to him completely. “My mate.”
Damien’s body gave an involuntary jerk at the words he’d waited for. “Yes.” He buried his face on the exposed skin of her throat and growled out an animalistic sound that vibrated through them both. She was his. Triumphant and possession roared in his missing soul. “Say it, again.”
“You’re my mate.” She was panting. “I admit it. Please.”
“Almost, cari.” He was already working on his belt buckle with his free hand. “Tell me the rest of it. Who are you?”
Her eyes were hot, desperate, watching him undress. “Your mate. I’m yours.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“You’ll give yourself to me, right now? You consent?”
“God, yes.”
“It’s about fucking time.” Damien pulled his fingers from her, ignoring her frustrated cry.
“Damien... Oh.” Her eyes widened as he stripped off his clothes using magicks.
He wasn’t sure whether that surprised gasp was because of his naked body or the casual use of his powers. It didn’t matter. Damien closed the distance between them, pressing against her as he untied the ropes. He didn’t use his powers to loosen the bonds. He did it by hand, liking the primitive surge of dominance it gave him to have her body at his command.
The moment she was free, she was reaching for him. Damien saw stars at the feel of her soft hands on his bare skin. In that second, he knew why his people had lived and died to please their caris. Why Wizard Warlocks always put their mates’ happiness above all. He would sacrifice anything before he lost this woman. Going back to the darkness before he’d found her would be unbearable.
Every oath he knew screamed th
rough his head as he pulled back. “No. I can’t stay in control if you touch me. You have to be still.”
“But, I want to touch you.”
Holy Gods, did he want that, too. “Not now. Just stay still or I’ll tie you up while I take you.” Part of that order was just because they were both enjoying the game and part of it was serious. He wouldn’t risk hurting her during the mating. “Understand?”
“Uh huh.” Her eyes went down in another skin-deep show of submission that would have been a lot more convincing if she wasn’t staring right at his rock hard erection. Her fingers found him, sliding down in one mind-blowing stroke. Then, she dropped her hand and fluttered his lashes damsel in distress style. “Just hurry up.”
He almost laughed. He almost cursed. He almost exploded. The mating instincts and her own desires were letting Damien direct most of the action, but the woman was in control. Free of the bindings, she stood before him, fearless and tempting. This tiny, vulnerable girl who teased him when she should have run. Who ripped him apart without even trying. His other half.
“You know, I don’t think you’re a good human, after all.” He would have liked to be considerate, but the wild drives of his ancestors had him looming over her, using his size to corral her. His hand found her wrist, pulling her arm behind her back before she could touch him, again. “You wouldn’t test me, if you were being good.” He rubbed against her, the friction tormenting them both. Holding her still, he ensured that she couldn’t escape, although she didn’t seem eager to get far. “And bad little humans are dealt with harshly.”
“I’ll be very good for you. I promise.” Kara gave an experimental tug on his grip and smiled in wicked delight when he didn’t release her. “You’re really getting off on this evil fiend stuff, aren’t you?”
“Oh yes.” He bent his head to her ear. “You can be my obedient captive.”
A shiver passed through her. “Fun role.”
“I thought you’d like it.” The bed was huge. He pushed her backwards so the small of her back hit the mattress. “Turn around.”
Not Another Vampire Book Page 24