by Sarah Marsh
“You’re serious,” Burton said carefully. “Halle has mated you, and it was consensual?”
The abrupt laugh that came out of Viktor when he replayed the circumstance of their mating in his head was as much a surprise to himself as it must have been to the man on the other end of the phone.
“Well, she didn’t exactly ask me before she decided to do it. On the other hand, I wasn’t complaining at the time,” he answered honestly. “But I feel the bond as strongly as she does.”
It must have been the correct answer because he could hear the tone in Burton’s voice relax as he laughed as well.
“Yeah well, I have news for you. With shifter females, that’s just the beginning of their bossy tendencies,” Burton said before he paused once more. “You know, Krescech, when you saved my life all those years ago, I truly couldn’t reconcile the man who I’d met with the monster that everyone proclaims you to be. But I’m damned well relieved that a sweet girl like Halle is going to end up with you instead of that bastard, Conrad Dair. I’ll have your paperwork drawn up, but you know that the rest of the council is going to need to see Halle to confirm that you’re mated. You’ll have to bring her in.”
“I know,” Viktor said, trying not to think about how dangerous it would be for them to go to the Para Council building where Conrad no doubt had dozens of spies waiting for them to turn up. “Conrad will be trying to stop us. Can you gather the Council and not tell them who the mating confirmation is for? I don’t trust anyone but you not to leak this to him.”
“I’ll come up with something. Just make sure you have her here at nine tomorrow morning,” Burton said before he hung up.
Now all they had to do was walk past a network of supernatural spies and evade a psychotic megalomaniac who was trying to steal and force mate his new bride. How hard could that be?
Viktor was certain they were going to find out.
Chapter Sixteen
Halle walked out of the office as Viktor was ending his own call. She’d overheard a little bit of the end of his conversation and didn’t know how concerned she should be. The phone call to her family had gone about as well as she’d expected. They were relieved that she was okay but were kind of freaking out about the whole “mated to a well-known killer” scenario.
All she could do was plead with them to trust her cat’s instincts and be supportive. So she hoped that her father didn’t send out a lynch mob to relieve her of her new husband or anything. Especially since she’d finally found out what the big deal was about all this sex business—and she had grown rather fond of him so far. He turned towards her, and once again she found herself admiring how handsome he was. After the pleasure that Viktor had given her, she was having a hard time focusing on anything but getting his clothes off again.
“Everything okay with your family, love?” he asked, as he put his phone away and pulled her into a hug.
She loved that Viktor was affectionate without even thinking. Her cat purred as she nuzzled into her mate's strong chest. Halle didn’t want Viktor to get off on the wrong foot with her family, so she thought she’d omit their concerns for the time being. She knew they were just being protective and was confident that when they finally got to spend some time with him, they would realize he was a good man. She just smiled and nodded back in answer. Her tummy picked that moment to start to rumble, much to her eternal embarrassment.
“Sounds like you’re hungry. Shall we go and find Molly to see if dinner is ready? The smell of that prime rib has been making my mouth water all afternoon,” he said, as he leaned down to give her a quick kiss, then took her hand to lead her down the hall.
When they entered the kitchen, conversation abruptly stopped between the two brownies standing over by the sink. From how close they were standing, Halle could only assume that the older male who’d interrupted them in the library was Molly’s husband, whom the friendly brownie had been telling her all about since she’d arrived. His eyes took a look down at Viktor’s hand holding Halle’s tight, and a huge smile broke out on the slight male’s face.
“So it’s true, then?” Gerald asked excitedly. “Molly wasna’ jesting, you really have taken this little beauty as a mate?”
“Yes, Gerald, it is true.” Viktor sighed dramatically. “This is Halle. Halle, this is Gerald. He runs my household, and is Molly’s husband.”
“I’m so glad to meet you, Halle. We’ve been hoping that Master Viktor would find a nice girl like you and settle down,” the sweet little man said, as he took her hand in greeting.
Halle heard Viktor sigh beside her again and almost felt his exaggerated eye roll, but she could also tell how much these two meant to him from the change in his tone of voice when he spoke to them.
“Before you two start to do a happy dance now that you’ve finally seen me married off, can we please get some dinner? Halle is hungry.”
At those words, Molly did do a happy little hop and started to bustle around the kitchen almost faster than they could see.
Brownies. They were a little on the creepy side if you watched them work, like little Tasmanian devils, zipping around at five times the normal speed. Halle hadn’t really been up close to any before, as her father employed mostly members of their pard in his household and businesses, so she was mesmerized.
“Would you like to take supper in the dining room, sir?” Gerald asked, seeming to have recovered from the shock of Viktor’s announcement.
Halle did the calculations in her head, and while she was super hungry, her cat was also clawing at her to satisfy a different kind of appetite. She had twenty-three years of abstinence and sexual frustration to make up for, after all. If they ate in the dining room, it would take even longer before they could find some privacy and she could explore her new mate properly, and that just wouldn’t do.
“Actually, Gerald,” she asked in a sweet voice, “would it be possible for us to have dinner in Viktor’s suite? You know, so we can enjoy some private time?”
She felt Viktor’s hand tighten on hers, and when he looked over at her she knew by the heat in his eyes that he’d understood the implications of her request perfectly.
“Of course, Mistress Halle, you two go on upstairs. I’ll bring supper up in few moments for you,” the brownie answered with a wink.
Before she could thank Gerald, Viktor had scooped her up off her feet and raced to his suite at vampire speed, so fast she practically had whiplash.
“I guess you’re hungry, too, huh?” she teased, as he set her on her feet and then instantly reached for the buttons that were barely holding her shirt together.
“Indeed I am, love, but you have far too many clothes on at the moment to satisfy my appetite,” he said, as he continued to unbutton his way down her shirt.
But Halle had formulated a plan when she’d suggested this. Downstairs, her mating heat had been so overwhelming in the study that she could barely even remember what Viktor had looked like naked, other than super-hot, of course. But now that she finally had time, and a male of her very own, she wanted to explore every inch of him at her leisure. This also meant that she couldn’t let him distract her with his seductive ways.
“Hold on, mate,” she said, gently batting his huge hands away.
She almost had to laugh at the confused expression on his face when he looked up at her. It was as if someone had taken his favorite toy away and not given a reason why.
“It’s my turn to explore you. I want to kiss every inch of your delectable body,” she purred in her sexiest voice, as she turned them around and pushed him back to lie on the huge bed in his room. “So it’s your turn to get naked.”
“I supposed I wouldn’t be a very supportive mate if I argued with that, now would I?” he answered with a sexy smile as he turned those nimble fingers back on his own shirt buttons.
When his shirt finally dropped to the ground and he fell back against the bed, Halle’s heart fluttered in her chest just to look at Viktor lying there. His skin was like m
arble perfection, so smooth and pale, each muscle carefully chiseled out as if by a master artist. Halle had seen her fair share of naked men throughout her life. Shifters did, after all, grow up being used to nudity. It was just a natural part of shifting, and even though she’d snuck more than a peek at the handsome males in her pard during group shifts, her over-protective father and brother had made certain that she’d never had the opportunity to touch, and her fingers were itching to run all over her new mate.
Chapter Seventeen
Viktor wasn’t sure if he could endure all that Halle had planned for him, but he was willing to do his best to try for her. The first few passes of her delicate hands over his bare chest were hesitant, but as she started to grow bolder in her exploration, he could feel the sweat begin to bead on his forehead as the desire built up inside of him. Once her tiny hands made their way to the button at the waist of his pants, he was almost growling.
She looked up at his face, a small smile blooming before she let go of the button and moved her hand lower to caress his swollen cock through the material of his trousers.
“I like it when you growl at me, Viktor. It makes me want to do naughty things to you,” she said, as she continued to tease him with her hands.
Her statement only had him growling louder at her. He wanted her soft little hands stroking his aching flesh already. When she finally undid the button and released the zipper, she gasped when his shaft sprang forward into her waiting hands. Viktor quickly raised his hips and got rid of his pants as she stared mesmerized at his cock. The longer she stared, the harder it got, and when a bead of pre-cum emerged on the tip she absently licked her lips, making him groan out loud.
“Gods, Halle, I want your mouth on me so badly,” he said, as he took her hand in his and gently wrapped it around his aching shaft.
“You’re so soft and hard at the same time,” she said, as she took a few tentative strokes up and down. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
When she leaned in and her hot breath tickled across his skin, his heart almost stopped, but when her little pink tongue flicked out and collected the moisture on the tip of his cock, he was almost certain he was going to be the first vampire in history to expire from cardiac arrest.
“I love the taste of you, Viktor,” she purred, her eyes meeting his. “I want more.”
“Yes, suck me, baby.” Viktor’s answer was barely recognizable with how deep his voice had gone with desire.
When his new little mate wrapped her luscious lips around his cock and took him all the way to the root, he had to grip the headboard to keep his fingers from curling in her hair to direct her movements. Viktor tried to remember that this was her first time doing this and he didn’t want to scare her away. Sweet Goddess, with how incredible this felt, he wanted her to do it as much and as often as possible.
It had been so long since Viktor had engaged in sex with a woman he actually cared about, the emotional side of it was almost overwhelming him. When she urged his legs farther apart and her mouth began kissing and licking its way down his shaft until she reached his balls below, he tried to recount his favorite ledger entries to keep his mind off coming like a randy teenager. He was doing quite well until she made her way back up his dick with her talented tongue and began to massage his balls with her hand. Then after she took him fully back into the hot recesses of her mouth and began to suckle at him, she added some strange twirl with her other hand and, just like that, he lost all control over his body.
“Ah, I’m going to come if you don’t stop, baby,” Viktor growled out, as his hips began to pump into her mouth and hands.
Halle looked up at him, her eyes full of raging desire, and he’d never seen anything more beautiful in all his life.
“I want to see you come,” she said as she lifted her mouth from his flesh. “Will you do that for me?”
“Of course,” he said softly, her request reminding him to be gentle with her. “Here, climb up and straddle my thighs.”
Halle looked curious as to what Viktor intended, and when she swung her leg over to straddle his legs, he growled again when he saw how drenched she was.
“Did you like that, baby?” Viktor growled low, the smell of her desire causing his teeth to extend. “Did you like licking and sucking on my hard cock?”
Viktor could see her panting increase at his dirty words, and he was glad she responded so freely. It would be such a pleasure to explore his new little mate's sexuality. He would enjoy every second of showing her a whole new world.
“Yes, I loved it,” she whispered, as she settled her ass over his upper thighs.
He met her eyes and kept the contact as he brought his hands up to cup her ass, and then he slowly moved her up so that her wet folds were nestled right up against his achingly hard cock. He loved the sound of her gasp as he took his shaft and rubbed it back and forth against her swollen clit. He knew it wouldn’t take much for him to come all over her stomach at this point so he moved one of her hands to cover his and guided her until she took over.
“Watch us together love. I want you to use me to rub that little clit until you’re coming all over my cock, and then I’ll come just for you.” Viktor panted, trying like hell to wait until she came first, but her pussy felt like hot silk over his skin.
Her eyes flashed to feline as her lust increased even further and he could see her fangs clearly now as she bit her lower lip. Viktor had lived for a very long time, but he’d never seen anything sexier than his mate above him right now, her hand moving furiously to chase after her orgasm. He almost thought he had lost the battle holding his own back until her hips started to buck and she finally moaned his name out loud while still gripping his cock firmly. Her eyes closed as she sighed in pleasure, and that was the sound that broke the rest of his self-control.
“Baby, watch me.” He urged her to open her eyes because he couldn’t wait any longer.
As she watched, his cock erupted, releasing all over her stomach as she leaned back to rest on his thighs. The look on her face was full of possession and wonder, and it left him getting hard all over again even before the last of his orgasm cooled on her skin.
He pulled her forward for a long, slow kiss, and settled her on his chest.
“Wow,” she whispered, as she ran her hands up and down his body. “That was extremely hot.”
“I agree. Where on earth did you learn that trick with twisting your hand if you’d never done that before?” he asked, gathering her up and carrying her into the en suite bathroom.
“Oh,” she said with an adorable blush. “I like to read.”
“Well, you will have the largest library possible then, as the results were undeniable,” he answered with a wink before he turned on the shower and stepped into the steam with her still cuddled in his arms.
That had her laughing, and it was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard. He slowly lowered her to her feet and began to gently soap her soft skin up when her stomach growled loudly and her face turned a charming shade of pink.
“I guess we forgot to eat again,” she said, as she washed him as well. “I’m still surprised you eat at all really. I didn’t know that vampires ate food. It’s been driving me crazy all week not asking about it, but I didn’t know if you’d consider that rude or not. I haven’t spent much time around vampires before.”
“You can ask me anything you’d like, Halle. I like that you’re curious about me. It’s different for every vampire. We can eat food, and if we do it reduces our need for blood. But many of the older ones were made in a time when it was easier to find a blood donor than a good meal, so it’s habit for them, I suppose,” he answered absently, as he rinsed them both and turned off the water. “Gerald left our dinner in the hall while we were—occupied. We can eat it in bed, and then it’s my turn to devour you, kitten.”
Chapter Eighteen
Halle was starting to get a little nervous as she stepped into the large shower all alone the next morning. The night before, after a lov
ely dinner of delicious prime rib that they’d eaten snuggled up in bed, Viktor had spent hours making love to her until they’d finally drifted off to sleep exhausted. This morning, however, the Viktor she’d woken up next to was not the same man who’d held her all night. He was back to the distant warrior she’d first met, and it was freaking her out. She knew that he was worried about going in to see the Para Council today and for a male so capable to worry about it? Well, that, in turn, worried her even more, so when Dori magically popped into the bathroom as she was stepping out of the shower, Halle was relieved to see the fairy.
“Dori! I’m kind of freaking out here. How is this going to go today?” she asked, as she dried herself off. “Conrad is going to be there, isn’t he?”
Dori certainly wasn’t looking like her sassy, sarcastic self when Halle asked after Conrad, which only made the butterflies in her stomach ten times worse.
“As your Fairy Godmother, I am only allowed to show you the path to your Happy Ever After. The rest is supposed to be up to you. But I do have a message I can give you, Halle: don’t be afraid to fight for what is yours. You’re stronger than you think,” Dori said with a wink and stole a quick hug before she disappeared.
“Dori! Get back here. What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Halle yelled at the mirror.
The bathroom door burst open and Viktor rushed in ready for battle.
“Are you all right, Halle?” he growled, looking frantically around. “Who were you yelling at?”
“What? Oh, it was just a little pep talk to my reflection before we go,” she answered with a fake smile, hoping that her face wasn’t flaming red with embarrassment for being caught supposedly yelling at herself. “I’m almost ready.”
She saw him visibly relax when he confirmed that she was alone in the bathroom.