“I know you believe Kaden is guilty, but I know he would not and did not commit these crimes. I just need time to prove it.”
“Livy, no mother wants to believe her son could commit such sordid acts. I get it. But at some point, you have to face the reality that your son is not the man you want him to be.”
“Believe me I have no delusions about who my son is and what he is capable of doing if pushed. He’s no angel, but he certainly isn’t a cold-blooded killer of innocent women. Kaden is troubled and that is largely my fault, but he also has a good heart and a fierce desire to protect those he loves. He wouldn’t just destroy an innocent life for kicks. That’s not Kaden. He would certainly kill any threat without hesitation, but not kill for the sake of killing. He’s not some unfeeling sociopath.”
“You sure about that? He certainly has the genes for it. Daughton was more than capable of committing these crimes.”
“Kaden is nothing like Daughton,” Olivia defended. Any unease she felt before was now replaced with anger. Like a mother hen, Olivia would not stand by and allow anyone, including her mate, to attack her son. “You don’t know anything about Kaden and you have no right to compare him to Daughton.”
“I know more about Kaden than you realize. I know you don’t think highly of the Council, but we thoroughly investigate crimes before making judgments. I assure you, I have a lengthy file about Kaden at my office outlining his various nefarious activities. He brazenly violates Council law. He’s brash and arrogant and uses his abilities to threaten and terrorize other immortals. There’s a list of people who claim they were at some point physically attacked by Kaden. Now, we can pretend that everyone is lying and that Kaden is a misunderstood saint, or we can acknowledge the facts. He had sexual contact with each of the victims before they died, he is known for having a violent temper resulting in physical violence, and…”
“What about motive? What about his alibi?”
“I plan to look into any potential alibi when I question him, but I haven’t mentioned the most important fact. One of the victims did not die immediately. According to the local immortal enforcement, the last thing she said before she died was ‘Kaden, please.’ Now why do you think she would say that?”
“There could be plenty of reasons, none of which mean Kaden killed her. You just want that to be the answer.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? Are you going after my son to punish me?”
An enraged Lucian grabbed Olivia shoulders and pulled her close to his chest. “Is that what you think of me? That I would go after an innocent just to torture you? This just proves how little you know of me and that you could never have really loved me. You’re not the woman I thought you were. Thanks for confirming this. Maybe now I can completely rid myself of you.
“Just to be clear, I take my job seriously and I’m committed to doing the just and right thing no matter how I personally feel about the situation. Don’t ever question my integrity or honor when you have demonstrated that you have neither. I don’t understand how the gods would have mated me to someone like you.”
Olivia’s stomach lurched as those harsh words echoed through her body. “I’m sorry.” She was sorry for so much, but especially the pain in Lucian’s eyes that she knew she caused.
Lucian released her and distanced himself from her once again. The fire in his eyes was now replaced with that cool calmness he used to mask his feelings. “I will talk to Kaden and find out if he has an alibi. If he has one, Lorenzo and I will check it out and see if it’s valid. If not, then we will have to take him back to Italy to be judged by the Council.”
“Please let me help you investigate this. Julian, Corinne, and I were planning to investigate this tonight just before you arrived. We can help with this.”
“You’re too close to the situation, Liv. I can’t trust that you won’t tamper with things to make Kaden look innocent.”
“I just want the truth, whatever it may be. You can trust that I will not do anything to interfere with the investigation. None of us will. I know this isn’t standard procedure and you like to follow the rules, but I’m begging you to let me, let us, help you with this. I know you hate me and you have no reason to help me, but please help me anyway.”
Lucian needed more distance from her. Her presence was unnerving. He had worked too hard to maintain his composed, controlled demeanor and in no time Olivia had broken him. His emotions were erratic, leaving him angry and confused. He resented her for making him feel this way. Lashing out at her for his current state was his only relief. “I have spent years hating you, but seeing you now just makes me feel pity. You chose the wrong man and bore him a murderer. Here you are desperately trying to protect him. It’s sad, really. Things could have been so different for us, Liv, but you defied me, our bond, our love -- and look at what you have left. Was it worth it?”
“Don’t do this, please,” Olivia begged, but Lucian would not relent.
“Do what? Make you face the truth? I have been living with this truth ever since your betrayal. Why should you be shielded from it? I would have given you the world. We could’ve had children of our own. You wanted six, right? We could have had the perfect love and the perfect family, but you threw it all away to please your parents and your greed. Now what do you have to show for it? Our bond is weak, but I can still sense your misery. Maybe I do still hate you -- because your pain pleases me. You deserve to suffer for the pain you have caused. That’s justice.”
Olivia’s face had turned ghostly pale and for a moment Lucian wanted to reach out and comfort her. He wanted to take back his painful words, but he could not allow himself to soften for her. He had to protect himself from further pain. Olivia was too dangerous for him. To soften toward her would weaken him, making him a target for more pain. He could not allow her to break him again, for he would not have the strength to put the pieces back together again.
Olivia could not speak. The depth of his hatred was overwhelming. None of the pain she endured from Daughton came close to the agony of this moment. The sickening desperation that was slowly killing Olivia was surfacing once again. Her stomach was clenching and her heart was beating so hard that she could barely keep her balance. She wanted nothing more than to see Lucian once again, but now he was here with hatred in his eyes and a desire to kill her son.
Part of her had harbored misguided hope that Lucian might look at her with love again for just a moment. She would be content to die knowing that he cared even a little. Now she knew that he would likely celebrate her death. Ridding himself of her once and for all would be the best gift she could give him. Maybe then she could ease the pain that had embittered his heart.
Her strength was waning. This painful conversation was taking its toll on Olivia. Her head pounded with a fury. She needed distance from him, but her body would not move. Her limbs felt like lead and she could barely control her body. She tried to look into Lucian’s eyes but she could not focus on him. She barely heard him call out her name before her world went black and she succumbed to darkness.
III
The next thing Olivia heard was a voice screaming her name, urging her to wake, but she wanted to stay asleep – to stay in this dream where she was wrapped in the arms of a warm body that felt like home. He smelled of the sea that matched the color of his eyes. His scent engulfed her and she just wanted to be buried in it. For the first time in a long time, she felt warmth, peace, and contentment. No. She would not wake from this perfect dream, but she could ignore that voice begging her to wake up.
Then she felt his gentle hand on her cheek as he urged her to wake. She could feel his breath on her face and knew he was so close to her now. Close enough to kiss….She tried to dismiss that desire, but the longer she stayed in his arms the harder it would be to resist the temptation.
She slowly opened her eyes to see his cerulean blues looking at her with such concern. Did he still care for her, she wondered? Maybe just a little? His eyes could not
hide the emotion he was straining to hold back.
“Olivia, are you ok? I shouldn’t have said that to you.” His voice was frantic and Olivia wanted so much to soothe him.
As if compelled by some force beyond her control, she reached up to touch his face. Her reaction stunned him momentarily, but he did not push her away. She gently stroked his jaw and he closed his eyes and relaxed his face in her hand. To her surprise, he wanted this contact as much as she needed it. She wanted more. She needed to be closer to him. She forced her body upward so that her face was mere inches from his. She traced his jaw with her fingertips. Seeing his pleasure, she felt bolder and replaced her hands with gentle kisses.
Lucian groaned with this new contact. Olivia’s lips were so soft on his skin. He missed the way she touched him. As she sat in his lap gently rubbing her body against his, he thought he would die from the torment of this unfulfilled yearning. His body shuddered from need, hunger, and desire for that which he had been denied for so long.
He gently stroked her back, but the contact was not enough. He moved his hands to her front as he slowly rubbed her stomach. This time Olivia moaned and the sound intensified his arousal. He continued to move his hands upward until he felt her bra. He easily dispensed with it, finally allowing himself to touch her the way he had craved to touch her for the last 175 years.
Her body responded to his touch instantly as if it missed him and was welcoming him back home. Olivia was overwhelmed with sensation. She was so close to climaxing and they had not even kissed. It was time to remedy that. She lightly touched her lips to his, testing his reaction to see if she would welcome her kiss or reject her. His lips sought hers in return and she happily obliged. They explored each other’s mouths with a desperate hunger.
For so long she had missed his taste and touch. Part of her still believed she was dreaming. Her body’s response made it clear she was not dreaming. Lucian’s hand left her breast and for a moment she was bereft, but then she felt him tug at the button of her pants and reach inside to her moist heat. She was soaking wet and that elicited another groan of pleasure from him. His kiss became even more intense as his hand stroked her.
Lucian’s desire to feed from her, to drink her essence the way mates were intended to share, grew stronger with every moment. Her blood was calling out to him, beckoning him to taste her. He refused to submit to such desires. To taste her in such a way would awaken the bonds that embedded this woman in his soul. He could not allow her in his heart again. His body might crave her, but he would not completely surrender to its weaknesses.
He would resist her blood, but not the taste of her honeyed breasts as he gently sucked her nipples, reveling in that familiar taste that his body missed. He wanted more. Her response to him deepened his desire to savor more of his Olivia. He lifted her up further on the arm of the couch. Before she could lament the loss of his mouth on her breasts, he yanked her pants and panties off. Spreading her legs wide, he could see how she glistened in anticipation of his touch. There was no mistaking how much her body wanted him, and his painful arousal reciprocated his need for her.
Lucian gently stroked Olivia’s core, eliciting such an erotic groan of pleasure that he desperately wanted to hear more. He wanted her screaming his name. He wanted to hear how much she missed him. He needed to know she yearned for him the way his whole soul had ached for her.
The hunger was overwhelming. Lucian replaced his hand with his tongue and Olivia shouted his name. He had dreamed of tasting such bliss for years, but the reality of this forbidden fruit was more that he could imagine. His body could not cease craving the warmth and pleasure of this woman, of his mate.
Olivia was blinded by her desire. She had not been touched like this in so long that her body could not contain its excitement. Within moments, she was climaxing. Olivia would have been embarrassed by her reaction, but she felt too good to care. She was overwhelmed with this unexpected bliss, but it was short lived when she looked into Lucian’s cobalt eyes that peered into her like daggers.
Lucian was infuriated, mostly at himself for allowing this to happen. He knew he should have stopped this, but she looked so beautifully happy as he touched her. He could not deny his own pleasure at seeing her come alive in his arms, then come apart as she surrendered to her body’s passions. What happened was so wrong, but it felt like heaven. That was Olivia. She was his heaven and hell.
Olivia watched as Lucian stood there solemnly. That look of disgust in his eyes pained her heart. “Lucian…” Olivia could not find the words to say to ease the obvious tension Lucian was feeling. She knew she should regret what happened, but she could not. She could only regret that it ended before she could feel him inside her again. Her mind could not focus on anything but the memory of his touch and how her body craved more.
“Was this your plan? Distract me with sex so that I give you what you want?”
“What?” Those words awoke Olivia from her blissful reverie. She reeled back as if she had been slapped. She reached for her clothes and urgently redressed. Clearly there would be no time for afterglow. Lucian’s face was filled with regrets and revulsion. For the first time in years, she felt like she wanted to live, and Lucian regretted giving her hope.
“You heard me, Livy. Did you offer me your body in exchange for my agreement to help Kaden?”
Olivia was horrified that he would imply such a thing. “How could you say something like that to me? I would never try to seduce you like some whore. You know me better than that. Maybe I should have controlled my feelings better, but we’re mates, Lucian, and the desire between us is real no matter how hard we fight it. We can’t ignore the bond.”
“This damn bond!” Lucian shouted. “It feels like handcuffs. My body craves you, but my head knows that touching you is a grand mistake. This insidious bond makes no sense. How can I be mated to someone I can’t love or trust?”
Olivia knew he would be forever trapped in his bond as long as she lived, and this confirmed what she needed to do. She needed to free both of them of this prison. Although she loved being his mate, she hated the captivity he felt at being hers. She would free him soon. She owed him that.
Olivia waited patiently as Lucian ranted about the “mistake” they just made. She could not deny the pain in her heart as he expressed his regret about the one moment of happiness she had finally experienced in 175 years of torment.
She was so lost in thought that she did not hear Corinne storm into the room. “Tell me you guys did not just get nasty on Julian’s couch? You guys are lucky that Julian stepped out and that the crypt holding Kaden is virtually soundproof, otherwise both of them would have heard Olivia climaxing….” Corinne paused when she saw the agonizing look on Olivia’s face.
Olivia could not disguise the pain her eyes and when Corinne saw her, she erupted. Corinne saw that tortured look in her best friend’s face and knew that despite what might have transpired in this room, Lucian had managed to hurt Olivia once again. She assumed that Lucian denied Olivia’s request to give them time to investigate these murders. Well, she refused to sit back and allow him to break Olivia again.
“Listen, Lucy, you pride yourself on how ethical and righteous your Council is, but all I’ve ever seen is your precious Council using its position to bend others to its will. Well, now’s your chance to prove you guys are worth more than the crap on the bottom of my Jimmy Choos.” Corinne was fuming as she watched her best friend cowering from Lucian’s intimidation, his words breaking the little resolve Olivia had left. Corinne prayed she never mated. There was nothing worse than allowing someone to have this much control over you. She would rather die alone than live as a prisoner of her heart.
Lucian’s silence was tempting Corinne to strangle him on the spot. She hated his brooding style and his rich upper class arrogance. He represented all that she despised about the vampire elite. Those that thought everyone that lacked their wealth was worthless -- or at most, tools to help them enhance their wealth. She had h
oped Lucian was different, but he was just like the rest. So blinded by his own arrogance that he could not see how he needlessly destroyed the one person he was destined to love. “Stupid!” Corinne shouted.
“Excuse me?” Lucian asked.
Corinne had not realized she spoke out loud, but she didn’t care. She wanted Lucian to know what she thought of him. “I said, stupid! You’re a stupid, arrogant, self-righteous bully and I can’t wait for someone to put you in your place. I’m sure there’ll be a long line of people waiting to get a piece of you, but I’ll be first to kick your sorry ass.”
“Cori, please don’t do this,” Olivia begged as her voice trembled. The last thing she needed was for Lucian to get angrier. She would never be able to convince him to help them.
“I’ve been silent for too long.”
“You, silent? That’s a joke. You’ve never learned to keep that trap of yours shut. You would do well to learn to stay quiet.” Lucian’s patience was fading fast.
“You’ve never learned to get your head out of your ass long enough to see what’s going on. You remain a blind jackass.” Corinne would not back down. Her temper was inflamed and when she was in this state, no one could calm her.
“Ah, but that’s better than being a hypocrite, which is something you excel at, Cori.” Despite that look in Corinne’s eyes that indicated an attack was imminent, Lucian refused to back down. “You pass judgment on me for growing up a rich, indulged, privileged brat, but that’s exactly who you are. You grew up in the same world that you spit upon now. The same world I live in now. You went to the same social gatherings, hung out with the same snobs – all of it was the same. I know you, Cori. I knew you before you met Livy. Don’t forget that. Don’t play games with me. You can’t fool me. You pretend to be a lowly peasant, when you grew up just as spoiled and privileged as I. I don’t love everything about our class, but unlike you I fight to change it rather than run from who I am like a coward.”
Lover's Betrayal: Misfits of the Lore Series Page 9