The Wicked Vampire

by Kate Baxter

  “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Sasha reached up to stroke her fingertips along the stubble that edged his jaw. Though hadn’t she tried to do the same for him tonight? She’d hunted the demons that harangued him, determined to end their miserable lives.

  His tongue flicked out to trace the seam of her lips. “Believe me. It’s the only promise I would never dare to break.”

  For a moment, Sasha allowed herself to become lost. To the moment. To him. To the sensation of their mouths meeting, their tongues sliding against one another. She lost herself to his scent. His taste. The strength of his embrace as he crushed her body against his. It was so easy to let the world and all of their problems fade into the background. So easy to let her world revolve around only him. Her arms wound around his neck and they collapsed back to the mattress. Sasha’s heart pounded. Her clit throbbed in time with her pulse and her thighs grew slick with renewed desire. She wrapped one leg around him and thrust her hips, letting out a low moan as the length of his erection slid between her swollen lips.

  Ewan flipped her onto her back and spread her legs wide as he thrust home with a groan. Sasha gasped at the delicious intrusion, the intensity of being filled as his cock slid against her inner walls. She couldn’t form a coherent thought to save her life. There was so much between them that hadn’t been shared. So much they still needed to discuss. But for the life of her, Sasha could do nothing but feel.

  “You are mine.” Ewan’s voice was a territorial growl in her ear. He thrust hard and deep to drive his point home. “Say it.”

  “I’m yours,” Sasha replied on a breath. How could she possibly belong to anyone else? He’d owned her from that very first glance. “And you are mine.” She needed him to understand she wasn’t willing to share any more than he was. Ewan had tethered her soul. He was her mate. The bond was absolute and nothing but death could sever it. “Say it.”

  “Yours,” Ewan agreed. “Above family. Above allegiances. Above all else.”

  Emotion clogged Sasha’s throat as her back arched up from the mattress. His words were sacrosanct and she knew making such promises to each other would only hasten them to their inevitable ruin.

  He fucked her with all of the intensity of his words. Every thrust sending her closer to the edge of her restraint. No other male had ever affected her in the way that Ewan did. With nothing more than a look, the deep tenor of his voice, a simple touch, he awakened her passion. Her body coiled tight moments before the orgasm exploded through her. Her nails dug into his shoulders as she threw her head back and cried out, each wracking sob matching the waves of sensation that rolled over her.

  “That’s it, love.” Sasha shuddered as Ewan’s hot breath brushed her ear. “Give yourself over to it. Let it take you.”

  “Come with me.” Sasha managed to form the words through the blinding pleasure. “Please.”

  Ewan drove into her harder, faster, deeper. His jaw squared and the bright silvery gray of the oncoming dawn lent a strange otherworldly sheen to his golden eyes. The change was almost indiscernible but it was there. Like oil over water. Or the glow of the northern lights. His brow furrowed as though he’d come to some sort of realization and then he threw his head back and let out a roar.

  “Sasha!”

  The base of his cock pulsed against her pussy and Sasha was flooded with warmth. Her breath raced. Her heart pounded. Every inch of her trembled against him and she kept her grip on his shoulders as though he were the only thing anchoring her to earth.

  Ewan pulled out slowly to the tip and slid back in just as agonizingly slow. Sasha swallowed a groan as he continued with his easy thrusts to bring himself down from the high. He rested the bulk of his weight on an elbow as he settled against her. The only sound in the room was that of their mingled breaths that became one. Exhaustion tugged at Sasha’s eyes, weighed down her limbs, and she cursed the coming sun. Hated that she had no choice but to succumb to sleep. Hated that it would separate her from Ewan until it retreated beneath the horizon once more.

  She never wanted anything to come between them ever again.

  * * *

  Ewan had never felt so at peace. He listened to the sound of Sasha’s breaths and let it ground him. Focused on the way she felt beneath him. Soft. Warm. Yielding. He’d never known comfort like this could exist. And he’d found it in the arms of a sworn enemy.

  So many years lost. So much energy wasted on unfounded hatred. On helping to further a cause he knew so little about. Believing a truth simply because he’d been told to do so. For months, he’d been trying to find a way out. Looking for an escape. For forgiveness. For absolution for so many fucking sins he’d lost count. When all along, his salvation had been right under his nose.

  Sasha was his freedom. His absolution. His everything.

  The gray dawn lightened in the confines of the bedroom, causing Ewan’s stomach to clench. He hated the sunrise like he never had before. Hated the way it took Sasha from him, the hours always more than he thought he could endure. He placed featherlight kisses to her forehead, her temple, across her cheek to her jaw. The corner of her mouth. And her luscious lips, so soft and pliant.

  A tome of words sat at the tip of Ewan’s tongue. He wanted to tell her she was beautiful. Fierce. Loyal and smart. Strong and full of fire. He wanted to tell her that he loved her. Cherished her. Would never let anything happen to her. Would never let anyone come between them. So many gods-damned words. And he was too much of a fucking coward to say a single one.

  The muffled sound of his cell brought Ewan out of his reverie. He knew the ringtone and didn’t move an inch despite what ignoring Gregor would mean. Sasha lifted her head and he rolled to his side, settling Sasha in against him. The ringing stopped and immediately started up again. Ewan swore it sounded angrier. Louder than it had just a moment ago.

  “I think someone’s trying to get ahold of you.” Already Sasha’s voice was drowsy with sleep. Ewan held his breath and waited for the ringing to stop only to be assaulted by the offending sound again. Sasha let out a gentle laugh. “I think someone’s really trying to get a hold of you.”

  “It’s Gregor.” There was no point in lying and besides, he didn’t want to. “No doubt summoning me to perform some ridiculous task.”

  Sasha stroked a hand from his shoulder to his wrist and chills danced along Ewan’s skin. “You should go,” she said through a yawn. “He’ll be angry if you don’t.”

  No doubt about that. And Ewan would surely receive the beating to go along with their so-called leader’s unreasonable impatience. “He’ll be angry no matter what I do,” Ewan replied. “The sun’s about to rise. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “That’s why you should go.” She couldn’t put enough force behind the words for anything more than a whisper. “I’m just going to be here completely zonked out until sunset. You’ll be so bored. There’s no reason for you to stay.”

  Zonked out. Ewan gave a humorless chuckle. Dead to the world was more like it. Defenseless. Helpless. At the mercy of anyone or anything that sought to do her harm. And in the past several weeks, the list of those who wanted to hurt her had grown. “That’s exactly why I’m staying. You need someone to look after you while you’re helpless and at the sun’s mercy. To protect you until the sun sets.”

  She peppered his chest with light kisses that made his heart pound and his breath hitch. “I’m not so helpless anymore. My mate’s blood makes me strong. You don’t have to worry about me.”

  The affection in her words stabbed through him. Mate. How Ewan loved the way that word sounded coming from her sweet lips. “If you think I would ever leave you unprotected, whether you’ve had my blood or not, you are in for quite the surprise.”

  “So you agree?” Her tone became playful. “You’re my mate.”

  “Aye, love.” It was the easiest thing Ewan had ever had to agree to. “I am your mate. And you are mine.”

  “Mmmm. Yes.” Sasha stifled another yawn. “I am. Yours. You
’re stuck with me, forever.”

  Forever. The word ended on a sigh as Sasha’s breathing became deep and even. The windows were blacked out, but he didn’t need to see beyond the heavy blankets covering them to know the sun had crested the horizon. His cell began to ring again, insistent in its annoying tune. He eased Sasha from under his arm and left her to rest as he retrieved his phone from the pocket of his discarded jeans.

  “Yeah.” It was the most cordial greeting he could muster.

  “Where the fuck are you and why the fuck haven’t you been answering your phone?”

  Ewan swallowed the “fuck you” response he wanted to give Gregor and instead took a deep cleansing breath. It would do him no good to pick a fight. At least, not yet. “Wasn’t safe to talk. What’s up?”

  “I don’t care if Mikhail Aristov himself had a blade buried halfway through your throat,” Gregor growled through the receiver. “When I call, you answer.”

  Asshole. Ewan stretched his neck from side to side to release some of the tension that pulled his muscles taut. “Roger that.” The last thing he needed was for Gregor to send out a search party to look for him. He needed to placate the son of a bitch and keep him calm. “I was with Sasha.” It was important for Gregor to believe Ewan’s loyalty still rested with him. “She trusts me. I’m sure it won’t be long before I know the location of every coven in the city.” The fact of the matter was, Ewan had no intention of giving Gregor a scrap of information on any of the covens. The warlord could beat him to a bloody fucking pulp and he wouldn’t get shit out of Ewan. He’d made his choices and soon enough, he’d face the consequences for those choices.

  “Get back to the building. I had an interesting chat with Andrew just now. I thought I told you to stay out of that gods-damned fighting arena.”

  Fuck. If Drew had talked, it was because Gregor had beaten it out of him. A surge of anger welled up inside of Ewan, so intense it tightened his skin over his frame. He’d tear Gregor’s head from his shoulders if Drew was in anything less than the condition Ewan had last seen him in. “I haven’t been fighting. Not for several days.” At least that much was true. He’d been too damn busy jumping through hoops for Gregor and dealing with a gang of bloodthirsty demons for anything else.

  “Get back here,” Gregor snapped. “You’ve got an hour.”

  The line went dead and Ewan squeezed his phone so tight the screen cracked. Fucking hell. That’s all he needed, was to spend what little money he had squirreled away on a new gods-damned phone. He glanced over the bed, at Sasha’s still body, and cursed under his breath. If he didn’t do as Gregor asked, Drew would pay the price. He couldn’t let that happen, no matter how much he wanted to stay here with her.

  Ewan quickly dressed. His temper mounted with each passing second until the battle rage collected and pooled in his gut, churning like lava about to unleash its destruction. Indecision warred within him, his desire to protect the two most important individuals in his life playing tug-of-war with his mind and heart. Drew was family, but Sasha was so much more. She was his mate. His life. If he failed either one of them, he’d never rebound from the loss.

  “Fuck.”

  Ewan punched at the air and found it incredibly unsatisfying. He wanted to feel bones crunch beneath his fist, wanted to do the maximum damage. He’d die before he ever got the upper hand on Ian Gregor. Which was probably why the battle arenas had been so enticing. The perfect place to take out centuries’ worth of frustration.

  He’d run out of time and choices. No one knew about this apartment, except for the vampire, Lucas. Sasha would be relatively safe here. Drew on the other hand, had nowhere to hide. He needed to face the music. Face Gregor. And pray to whatever gods might listen that he’d come out of all of this relatively unscathed.

  Ewan finished dressing and crossed to the bed where Sasha slept, her back toward him. He placed a kiss to the top of her head and let his fingers slip through the silky strands of her hair. “Sasha, I have to go. But I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Gods, he hoped that through her deathlike sleep, she’d heard him. If not, Gregor wouldn’t be the only one he needed to explain himself to.

  And somehow, he sensed Sasha would be even less forgiving than the infamous warlord.

  CHAPTER

  31

  A silent tear rolled down Sasha’s cheek as she came fully awake. Ewan’s words as he spoke on the phone were the last thing she’d heard before succumbing fully to sleep. They’d stayed with her through the seemingly endless, dark hours of sunlight that held her in their grip, tortured by the realization that everything she’d thought to be true was a lie. The heartfelt words spoken in the quiet dark. Every gentle touch. His proclamation that she belonged to him. All lies. All constructed to gain her trust so he could help to bring Ian Gregor’s twisted plans to fruition.

  Some small part of her didn’t want to believe it. Couldn’t. Not after everything that had happened between them. The things they’d experienced together, the words they’d shared. Tender touches and gentle kisses … Sasha’s breath hitched on a sob. Ewan’s betrayal sliced through her and left a raw gaping wound she feared would never heal. She’d turned her back on her coven, her family, for him. Gods, how could she have been so stupid?

  Sasha swiped at the rivulets of salty tears and steeled herself against the pain. She pushed herself up from the bed, still a little weak and groggy, but determined to get out of here as soon as freaking possible. She needed to warn Saeed, to warn Mikhail and the other covens. She could at least be thankful Ewan hadn’t had the opportunity to ask her about the other covens. Otherwise, they’d be in a hell of a lot more trouble than they were now. Vigilance was important, but at least they wouldn’t have to pull up camp and move. It could’ve been so much worse.

  She threw her clothes on, refusing to look back at the bed she and Ewan had shared so many times over the past several weeks. She was never coming back to this place. Ever. She’d made so many bad decisions since being turned. She’d been wild, out of control, irresponsible, and immature. And that was saying a lot considering the centuries she had under her belt. It was time to return to her life. The way it had been. Love simply wasn’t in the cards for her. It’s not like she needed it to live. To thrive.

  Snap out of it, Sasha. Just get your ass home. To her real home. Not the illusion of home she’d created here. With him.

  Fuck Ewan Brún.

  Sasha gathered the few meager possessions she had and headed out the door. Her steps were quick and light as she raced down the two flights of stairs, more than ready to catch an Uber and get the hell out of here. She hit the bottom step and white hot pain exploded in the back of her skull. She fell forward and hit the sidewalk face first with nothing to break her fall. Sticky wet warmth trickled down her forehead as her surroundings blurred in and out of focus. Her skull had to have been nearly cracked in two to knock her unconscious. And as darkness settled in to take her, her last unbidden thought was of Ewan’s beautiful golden eyes. Gods-damn him.

  * * *

  Sasha’s head pounded like someone had repeatedly taken a sledgehammer to it, which probably wasn’t far from the truth. She couldn’t have been unconscious for too long, her supernatural healing would’ve made sure of it. She tried to lift her head but she was bound, blindfolded, and secured to the floor by what she assumed was silver netting by the way it pricked and burned her skin. The cold of the concrete beneath her seeped through her clothes, into her bones and she couldn’t help but wonder which of her many enemies had done this to her?

  “The bitch is moving.”

  The scent of sulfur reached her nostrils in Sasha stifled a gag. She supposed she should be grateful the berserkers hadn’t gotten to her first. At least as the demons’ captive, she was practically guaranteed to only be tortured. Whereas the berserkers would’ve tortured and then killed her. Yet one more shit storm she’d been dragged into, thanks to Ewan.

  Her captors had taken precautions this time around, preventing her
the opportunity to fight back. Her wrists and ankles were bound with the same silver cords to keep her from moving too much while the netting held her in place so tight she couldn’t even move her head from side to side.

  “She can’t be moving that much,” another voice chortled. “You damn near knocked her head off her shoulders when you took her down. Even a vampire needs a bit of time to recover from a wound like that. Besides, she’s going nowhere as long as that webbing is on top of her.”

  Don’t be so sure, assholes. Sasha was nothing if not resourceful. And Saeed hadn’t put her in charge of his security because she was a gentle little kitten. Sasha was smart. Strong. Fierce. These stupid greedy demons would regret the day they took her captive. Because she was going to kill every last one of them.

  As soon as she got herself free.

  “What about the berserker? Doesn’t do any good to have her without him.”

  Sasha stilled at the mention of Ewan. She didn’t want to care. She should forget about him and leave him to his fate. He’d asked for it after all. But they were sort of in this together. Like it or not, as far as the demons were concerned they were a package deal.

  “We’ll have him.” Sasha wanted to laugh at their confidence. “Once we separate him from Gregor.”

  Sasha’s blood heated at the mention of the warlord’s name. She forced her breathing to slow and her muscles to relax. Tension only pressed her tighter against the silver cords that bit into her skin. Still better than hellfire any day of the week.

  “That male is as evil as they come,” one of the demons replied. “And we know evil, am I right?”

  They had a good laugh at that and Sasha gritted her teeth to the point that her fangs nicked her bottom lip. She licked the blood away, wishing she had a donor nearby for a boost of added strength. Ewan’s blood would be a supercharge to her system, but since there was no chance of feeding from his vein ever again, Sasha would have to make do with whatever she could get her hands on. Her lip curled in distaste. Unfortunately, the only thing within arms’ reach was a disgusting demon.