“He lets you go out alone?”
The dark, rich voice vibrated through her eliciting an immediate response in her lady parts. Spinning about, she found herself face to face with the coyote.
“What’s up, Eduardo?”
It was unnerving how silently he could move. It also bothered her that she had let her guard down and let him get so close.
“Is the old man in the store still? Because there is no way his possessive ass would let you out of his sight,” Eduardo said, obviously teasing her.
Amaliya lifted one shoulder. “Maybe I snuck out.”
The coyote was dressed in very tight jeans and a white t-shirt that showed off his impressive muscles to full effect. The menace that oozed off of him only added to his sultry sex appeal. He was all bad boy and just the type of guy Amaliya had gone after during her college days. Despite his clean-cut appearance, she sensed the feral aspect of his nature just below the surface.
“So, he doesn’t totally control you.” Eduardo tilted his head, his eyes glinting with dangerous allure.
“No one controls me,” Amaliya answered, setting her hands on her hips. He was baiting her and she knew it, yet she couldn’t resist playing along just for a little bit.
Eduardo inched deeper into her personal space, sniffing the air. “You always smell of roses.”
“And you smell like...” Amaliya hesitated. His usual musky cologne was barely masking the scent of fresh blood.
The grin he flashed her was all sharp teeth.
“Did you eat a bunny rabbit or something?”
“I ate a pussy.” The grin widened.
The heavy fragrance of the blood filled her nostrils and her body responded hungrily. Animal blood held no attraction to her, which meant... “Human blood? What the fuck did you do?”
“I told you I ate a pussy,” Eduardo licked one canine as his other teeth returned to a more human appearance.
Wincing, Amaliya took a sharp step back from him. “Oh, fuckin’, gross!”
“Like you never had a period.” Eduardo guffawed.
“Not anymore. Thankfully.” Amaliya definitely liked that perk of her undead existence. She’d hated the cramps she used to suffer.
Eduardo leaned against her car door, his sexy body carefully posed for her viewing pleasure. “Like you vampires aren’t into sick shit. I bet you and Cian are a pretty bloody mess by the time you’re done screwing.”
Amaliya fished her keys out of her pocket. “My sex life is none of your business.”
“I’d like it to be. You and me could tear it up something good, don’t you think? I’ve never had sex with someone I didn’t have to worry about breaking. Or ripping.” Eduardo’s eyes were smoldering.
“Go find yourself another vampire,” Amaliya retorted, then shoved him out of her way.
Eduardo swiveled about, his body almost touching her back, his breath hot on her neck and shoulder. “I want you though. And I know you want me. So let’s do this. Or are you afraid Cian might get jealous?”
“I’ll admit that back in the day I would have fucked your brains out. I’ll also admit that you’re a fine piece of ass, Eduardo.” Amaliya cocked her head so she could see his face. “But I’d never fuck you because you just want to hurt the man I love.” She elbowed him as hard as she could in the stomach, sending him sprawling. “So fuck off.”
Rolling to his feet with predatory agility, Eduardo smirked. “I can smell how much you’d love me to bend you over this car and fuck you.”
“Gross, Eduardo.” Amaliya hated that to a certain extent he was right. Why did she always have to be attracted to the bad ones?
“It’s going to happen. You can’t deny it. You and me.”
“Fuck off.”
Amaliya slid into the car, slammed the door shut, and slid the key into the ignition. She hated the pulse of arousal between her thighs, and her insane desire to do something incredibly stupid with Eduardo. Though Cian and Amaliya were in a committed relationship that was steeped in love, they hadn’t agreed to be monogamous. Eduardo wanted Amaliya’s body. It was an alpha male thing. Cian loved the essence of who she was. It wasn’t too hard to decide how to handle the situation.
When she pulled out of the parking lot, she saw Eduardo slip into the shadows alongside the gaming store, then vanish from sight.
Chapter 5
Cian sat on the kitchen counter watching Cassandra chopping vegetables with impressive expertise. Aimee had a cauldron bubbling on one burner, while sautéing mushrooms in a skillet on another. Amaliya had rushed off on an errand, so he’d opted to hang out with his daughter and her girlfriend before dealing with any of the problems that had brewed during the daylight hours. He was wearing his favorite Homer Simpson t-shirt and black cargo shorts, which his daughter had found hilarious.
“Oooh, scary vampire,” she had joked when she’d seen him.
Scratching his stomach, he tried to ignore the hideous smell of human food. “So you modeled and went to culinary school in Paris.”
“Yep. But I had to quit because of Mom.” Cassandra’s voice took on a guarded tone instantly at the mention of Galina. “She gets confused easily.”
“That’s what you said,” Cian said, lowering his gaze. It was his power that had plunged Galina’s mind into constant confusion. He wasn’t about to admit that to Cassandra. It had been deliberate. Cian had wanted Galina not to remember the terrible things she had seen. Dr. Summerfield had hid her away and not let Cian know where she was to protect her. Though Cian was still miffed that Dr. Summerfield, who he had considered a friend, had kept Cassandra’s existence from him, he had to admit it was a smart move. The man he had once been may have killed his offspring.
Cassandra pinned him with a warning look. Her mother was a topic she did not discuss with him. They had accidently stumbled onto the subject while discussing Cassandra’s life before she became a thief and vampire hunter.
“And then you were recruited by this man Scott to be a thief?” Cian asked, prompting her away from the matter of her mother.
“Yep. And I did that while also working as a waitress as my cover story. It was pretty lucrative until I got hired to steal a relic in Vegas.”
“Then she ran into me,” Aimee grinned. “Literally.”
Cassandra bestowed a loving look on the witch. “I got lucky.”
“No, I did,” Aimee said, smiling affectionately at the dhamphir.
The two women shared a sweet kiss, then returned to their tasks.
“Frank, the asshole who had her enslaved to him, figured out what I was, so he set a trap for me.” Cassandra handed off the sliced vegetables to her girlfriend. “Aimee managed to use some of her magic to warn me. So I went in knowing what was up and we basically rescued each other from the jerk.”
“And this is when you broke the blood bond,” Cian said, trying to sound nonchalant.
Cassandra narrowed her eyes, while Aimee nodded. “Yes. I cast a spell that broke it.”
Busying herself with cleanup, Cassandra pressed her lips together, giving her father speculative looks out of the corner of her eyes, which were green tonight, he noted.
“May I ask how?” Cian tilted his head, his attention squarely on the witch.
Aimee finished whipping the eggs before starting to create the actual omelets. Her long hair was braided around her head and she wore a simple brown maxi-dress with lots of sparkling necklaces, bracelets and rings adding color. Cian could see why Cassandra was so drawn to the woman. Not only was she lovely, she exuded intelligence, confidence, and power.
“Cian, I’m a witch. What worked on me won’t work on Amaliya,” Aimee finally said. “The Summoner’s blood made her. His power made her. To completely break the supernatural ties between them may be impossible. Hell, it may kill Amaliya.” Aimee didn’t look at him while she spoke, but concentrated on the egg mixture bubbling in the skillet.
The words she spoke made sense, but Cian couldn’t accept them as the complete truth
. “Rachoń and I benefited from age and being apart from him for so long. The ties between us wore down and eventually broke. Maybe you could find a way to accelerate that process.”
“But you’re a regular vampire,” Cassandra said over the running water spilling into the sink. Scrubbing the vegetable knife, she finally looked directly at him. “Amaliya is anything but a regular vampire.”
“Cass, is right. The rules that apply to you don’t necessarily apply to her.”
“You used Cass’s blood, didn’t you?” Cian asked, addressing the one point they were all trying to ignore. “Dhamphir blood breaks bonds.”
“Yeah, between vampires and humans.” Aimee finished one omelet and started on the next.
“And between vampires and witches,” Cian added.
“And maybe even vampires and other supernatural creatures. But a vampire and the offspring he or she created with his own blood?” Aimee shook her head. “I doubt it. It would be like trying to remove your genetics from Cass.”
The father and daughter exchanged amused looks that perfectly mirrored one another.
Aimee slid a plate over to Cassandra along with a fork. “That just proved my point.”
“Can you try to find a way?” Cian tried not to flinch as Cassandra started to eat.
“I’m already on it.” Aimee pointed to the small cauldron. “Amaliya gave me some of her blood tonight before she left. Cassandra gave me some of hers, too. I’ll need some of yours. Sadly, we don’t have any of The Summoner’s.”
Cian slid off the counter, grabbed a knife from the butcher block, and held out his hand. “Take what you need.”
“After I eat, okay?” Aimee laughed.
“Dramatic much, Dad?”
Cian smirked and shoved the knife back into place. Then he realized his daughter had actually addressed him as her father. It hadn’t been said scornfully or mockingly. It surprised Cian to realize how much it meant to him.
“And you’re not?” Cian raised an eyebrow and she matched his look.
They both burst out laughing.
Cian left them to their meal and busied himself in his office. Though most of his companies ran themselves, Cian did try to keep abreast of the latest developments. Relief filled him when he saw that Sergio had cashed the check he had given him. If Sergio was wise, he’d have his family safely in hiding within the week. Cian did not want Amaliya to lose any more of her family and he also did not want The Summoner using them against her. Cian had hired mercenaries to watch over Sergio and his family from afar, but hadn’t told the man. Sergio was just as prideful as Amaliya.
“Eduardo is an asshole,” Amaliya’s voice said from the doorway.
“Yeah, I know.” Cian glanced toward her. “What happened?”
“I ran into him and he was an ass.” Amaliya said dismissively. “He was hitting on me.”
“He hits on you because he knows you’re attracted to him,” Cian said, not with malice. He hated Eduardo, but he wasn’t foolish enough to discount the man’s appeal to Amaliya. Whenever they hunted together, Amaliya always went after the men who perfectly fit the classification of bad boys. Cian enjoyed watching her feed off of them, her power dwarfing theirs. The sexuality of Amaliya’s predatory nature appealed to him and he enjoyed seeing it in action.
“Yeah, but he’s a fuckin’ dick. He only wants to sleep with me to put his mark on me or something. He might as well just piss on my leg and get it over with.”
Cian burst into laughter. Rocking back in his chair, he swiveled it around so he could see her clearly.
Amaliya leaned against the doorjamb, one hand on her hip. “Honestly, tonight, he kinda freaked me out.”
“How?”
“Other than him boasting about eating out some chick out while she’s on her period, he was just...” Amaliya hesitated. “I felt he was hunting me.”
“Well, Liya, he has been. Since he first saw you.” Cian shrugged. “You’re beautiful, dangerous, and forbidden. He’s going to want you. Plus, he hates me. He probably feels if he can seduce you it’s a way of asserting himself over me.”
“I’m not property.” Amaliya scowled.
“No, but he knows how much I love you.” Cian rocked lightly in his chair. “He’s figured out that the best way to get to me is through you. Though, he’s been saying shit to Cass more and more, too.”
“Is this going to be an issue? Seriously? Eduardo sniffing around the women in your life?”
“It’s just his way. He’s a coyote. A trickster. Causing shit is second nature to them. He’s going to keep sniffing around you until you give in, or he finds another way to annoy me.”
“I’m not going to give in,” Amaliya sniffed. “His hot factor went down a few notches tonight.”
“I’m not threatened by you sleeping with someone,” Cian said. “As long as your heart is mine, I don’t give a rat’s ass.”
“Really?”
“Well, we’ve never agreed to be monogamous.”
“No, we haven’t.” Amaliya tilted her head, her eyes narrowing in thought. “Do you want to be?”
“Throughout my very long life, sex had played many roles in in my existence.” Cian leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. He felt the past weighing heavily on him. He had lived many lifetimes and sometimes they blurred together. But there were certain lessons he had learned that had shaped him. The most recent was that he could never be a human man again. During his engagement with Samantha, he’d been very careful with her, trying to hide his vampire nature. It had been difficult, so their sexual relationship had been muted. That was not the case with Amaliya. “My first lover was my wife. I loved her dearly. I somewhat remember our first time together. How awkward it was, but how much it meant. Yet, I can’t remember her face or voice anymore.”
Amaliya’s blue-gray eyes took on a sympathetic expression. “I’m sorry. That must hurt.”
“It bothers me sometimes that I can’t remember her, because I know I loved her with all my heart. We were good Catholics that started having children right away. It was a hard life, yet I was happy. And then...I became a vampire. Nothing was the same afterward. Food and drink had no meaning. Love was replaced with much more base emotions. Sex became part of feeding, power plays, manipulations, and seductions.”
Amaliya ventured closer to him. “Are you saying you didn’t love anyone all that time?”
Cian settled back in his chair. “Honestly, no. Not like I loved my wife. I lusted. I had feelings for women. I was completely enamored with Etzli. I can’t say any of it was actually love. I wanted desperately to love Samantha, but I never really did. Not in the way I should have. I failed her in that regard. I wasn’t in love with anyone other than my wife. Not until you.”
That brought a smile to Amaliya’s face.
“So sex as part of a loving relationship is new to me again. I love you. I also lust you. Sometimes the two intermingle. Other times, they don’t. Sometimes I feel completely content just watching you play those damn drums or doing simple mundane things. I feel utterly enthralled with you. Other times I just want to fuck you. And then there are times when sex feels like making love.”
Amaliya swept her hair back from her face. “So, basically, what you’re saying is that sex isn’t love.”
“No. Sex with you is intense and exciting, but I don’t regard it as the core of our relationship. Do you?”
She wagged her head no. “Nah. It’s great, but...I agree. Honestly, I was hoping we wouldn’t have to stick with the monogamy thing for like...eternity.”
Cian laughed. “As long as you and are committed to being together, united, and in love, I am not worried.”
“And we could share,” Amaliya said, a teasing smile on her face.
“Exactly.” Cian was rather relieved that she was of the same mindset, though he had been certain she would. It was quite liberating to be with someone who wasn’t going to try to tie him up in mortal normality. Except for when Eduardo was lurking about.
Cian had to admit that he’d been dreading her possibly wanting to invite him into their bed.
Amaliya gave him a sly look. “But, admit it. It would bother you if it was Eduardo I messed around with.”
Cian had to wonder if maybe she was now able to read his thoughts. “Okay, maybe it would. But you’d still be the love of my life and I’d still be yours.” Cian grinned. “Besides, I have a much bigger dick.”
“How do you know?”
“I have my sources,” Cian said, shrugging.
“In other words, you slept with the same girl and she told you.”
“Actually, she told Roberto. He thought that piece of information was amusing.” Cian remembered his former minion’s delight at the discovery. Roberto had not liked Eduardo.
“No wonder you’re so confident.”
“It has nothing to do with the size of my cock and everything to do with the fact that I have you in my life.”
“Ugh! That’s so romantic! Stop!” Amaliya pretended to fan herself.
Cian chuckled.
Amaliya sauntered over to climb onto his lap. Wrapping his arms around her, Cian kissed her lips. They tasted like fresh blood, but smelled like cherry lip balm. Caressing her cheek, Cian stared into her blue-gray eyes and saw the deep love they shared reflected in them.
“You hunted already?” he asked.
“I took a sip from a girl at Ross. I stopped to grab some jeans and we were the only two in the dressing room. I took advantage of the situation.” Amaliya snuggled against him. “I want to go hunting with you. Somewhere sexy.”
“Then I’ll have to change out of my Homer Simpson shirt,” Cian complained.
“Oh, boo hoo. What a horrible loss that would be.”
Cian pressed a kiss to her full lips, then said, “I love you.”
“Sucks to be you,” she teased.
Threading his fingers through her hair, he relished the feel of her soft, cool body against his. “Aimee is going to try to see what she can do about your bond to The Summoner.”
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