by Eve Newton
“Such a romantic,” he says to me with his made-just-for-me smile before he claims my mouth with his and proceeds to give me exactly what I asked for.
Chapter 8
Sometime later, I awake from another Lance dream. This one I don’t even want to recount as it makes me want to be sick. His hands on me, mine on him. Ergh. I feel myself go green at the thought. Strangely, CK is sleeping next to me. That is highly unusual for him. I glance at the clock. It is only 4:30 PM. Not unusual for me to take a siesta but it is for him. Jet lag? Or Astral lag? I watch him as he slumbers. It is one of my favorite things to do. I don’t want to wake him, but I have to touch him. I trail my long, red nail down his chest, not startled when he grabs my hand and brings it to his mouth, giving me a kiss.
“You’re sleeping,” I accuse him.
“I was until you touched me,” he says with his eyes still closed. “No way can I continue to sleep when your hands are on me.”
“Why are you sleeping?” I giggle. “It’s late afternoon.”
“You fell asleep. I wanted to sleep with you.”
I snuggle into him, putting my head on his chest. I fall into a doze again then I am suddenly jolted out of my rest by an image that flashes through my head: CK, Sebastian, and Vivienne. Here at Ponte. I jump out of bed, being led by something other than my own actions and he looks up startled from his desk in the corner. “Aefre?”
I ignore him and grab my robe. “Aefre?” He stands and asks, “What’s wrong?”
“You,” I say to him, “you were here with her.” I spit it out at him with such venom that he looks confused, then worried as I barge out of the room and he follows me. I march down the corridor from his bedroom, past my old room where I hesitate for a moment, though I am unsure why, and then carry on a bit further down.
“Aefre!” He grabs my arm as he catches up with me. “Where are you going?”
“Here,” I say, pointing to the door in front of me. “You were in here with her. And Sebastian. You brought her here, to fuck her, to the place you want to call our home!” I turn towards him with tears pouring down my face at the betrayal. He looks back at me fearful, sad, and almost lost before I collapse.
“Aefre,” he says to me quietly as I open my eyes. My head is banging, and I have three worried faces staring at me. I sit up, rubbing my forehead with my hand. What happened?
“Why am in the middle of the hallway?” I ask.
“You don’t remember?” CK says, almost relieved.
“No.”
“Liv,” Cade says. “It was that…thing again.”
“You felt it? Here?”
“Felt what?” CK says. “Aefre, what are you not telling me?”
“Nothing,” I say. “It’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“If it is affecting you, then I will worry about it. Cade?”
I glare at Cade to keep his trap shut but he sighs. “Sorry, Liv, my job is to protect you, not your secrets. You should tell him.”
I growl at him, but he just looks back at me blandly and asks, “You or me?”
I stay rebelliously silent, so he says, “Fine. I will tell. There is something manipulating Liv’s dreams. Distorting reality, making her think things are different.”
CK gulps. “What do you mean making her think things are different?” he asks. He sounds guilty, which is a bit odd.
“She is having these dreams of Lance. I am going to assume you know who he is?”
“Lance?” he blanches. “How do you know about Lance?”
“She told me. A bit.”
“I am sitting right here, you know. You don’t need to talk about me like I’m not here,” I say annoyed.
“Well, you aren’t saying anything so deal with it,” Cade says to me.
“Aefre, what dreams are you having about Lance?”
“Happy ones. We are at Castle Black and we are married and happy, and other things,” I say, resigned to my fate, better he hears it from me than Cade.
“Married? Happy? What other things?” he asks in dread.
“We are living our life, my love,” I might as well get it all out, so I add, “Our plans.”
“Our plans? All of our plans?” he croaks.
I nod and he pales even more. “Why? Why would you dream of that with him?”
“I don’t know. I am more concerned with who has this power of over me.”
“You are sure someone is forcing you to dream this?”
“Cade is. That is what he is researching. Help me up.” I hold out my hand. He takes my hand and helps me stand.
“Aefre. This is worrying. And it makes no sense.”
“I know. Believe me, I can’t think of any reason why someone or something would want me to…” I trail off, staring into the corner of the hallway in horror.
“Aefre?”
“Liv?”
“What are you looking at?”
I raise my finger and point. “Don’t you see him?”
“Who?” CK asks, looking.
“Lance,” I say and sink back to the floor.
“What? He’s here? That’s impossible, Aefre. You killed him. We saw him die. The three of us.”
“I saw him, he was here. Standing there,” I say in shock.
“No, my love. He wasn’t. We didn’t see him,” he says, looking at Cade and Nico for confirmation. They shake their heads.
“Am I losing my mind?” I ask of no one in particular. “I am, aren’t I?”
“No,” Cade says firmly. “There is something at work here making you think you are. I will find out what,” he says, determined.
CK picks me up and cradles me in his arms. “We will find out what is going on. Nico ask Serena to look through the old Council archives. There may be something in there we can go on.” Nico nods and goes off to call whoever this Serena is.
“Can you protect her?” CK asks Cade.
“No, my magick doesn’t work on her. Just keep the candles burning when she is asleep,” Cade replies.
“You can put me down now,” I say to CK. “I’m fine.”
“No, you are not.”
I struggle in his arms. “Put me down.” He does as I ask but keeps a firm hold on me.
“Can we just go back to what we were doing? Why was I coming this way? Were we going somewhere?” I ask, still not remembering what I was doing here.
“You still don’t remember why you were out here?”
“No.”
“Oh, well I was taking you to see the erm, room, down in the right wing,” he says a bit forced and I stare at him in suspicion.
“What room?”
“The room, we have our plans for,” he says cryptically.
“Oh. Why?”
“Cade, please go and see if you can find anything out about this mystery power. Aefre and I need to be alone now,” CK says.
“Of course,” Cade says and squeezes my elbow in a concerned way. “You will be okay?”
“Yes. As long as I am awake, I will be fine. I hope.”
“Come,” CK says to me. “I want you to see.”
“See what?” I ask as I let him take my hand and lead me down to the, still sectioned off, right wing. “Still don’t want to go down here?” I chuckle.
“It’s more to keep prying eyes away.” He stops outside the nursery room and pushes open the door. I expect a cloud of dust like last time and brace myself but nothing. He opens the door wide and flicks on the light. Electric?
I blink in surprise. “Oh, Constantine. It’s beautiful,” I say as I glide into the room. “When?”
“Last year. I asked for it to be done before the whole, well, you know. I had hoped that you would come around to my way of thinking,” he says with a soft smile.
“Pink, though? You seem awfully sure it’s going to be a girl,” I giggle.
“Easy enough to change to blue,” he says and shrugs. “But I am convinced we are going to have a girl.”
I trail my finger over the white co
t with pink and white blankets and pick up the pink teddy that rests there. “Who did you get to do this? It is supposed to be our little secret.”
“Marguerite. She won’t say anything.”
I nod.
“Do you like it?” he asks shyly, coming up behind me.
“I love it.” I smile and turn in his arms.
“When can we do the bonding thing again?”
“Not yet.” I smile at his eagerness. “A few weeks.”
“I wonder if they are pregnant yet,” he says.
I laugh. “It’s only been a day.”
“No, it’s been a hundred years,” he corrects me.
“What?” I ask, confused. “Is that how it works?”
“I assume so. Can’t say that I have ever heard of anyone time travelling before though. You truly are something so special.”
I glow under his compliment. “So, what next? You said you had plans for us.”
“Oh, yes. It’s a bit late now, though.”
“Late? What for?”
“A walk in the gardens. It’s dark, we’ll go tomorrow.”
“No, I want to go now. It has been too long since we walked here together.”
He nods. “You should change.”
I twirl in a circle and his eyes light up as he sees my chosen outfit. “You want to wear that to go walking with me?”
“Of course. This is what I wore last time.”
“I remember. You never fail to amaze me,” he says, and I turn in a pretty circle for him, the full skirt of the eighteenth-century gown swirling around me.
“Oh, one more thing,” I say. I click my fingers and he snickers.
“You won’t be needing that,” he says.
“It’s decorative,” I say as I grab his hand and Astral us outside where I then open the beautiful, white lace parasol. It is almost fully dark, but the grounds have lights that flick on as we walk. He takes my arm in his and we walk in a companionable silence.
“Do you think you really saw him, or a manifestation of him, or do you think it was just the dreams playing on your mind?” he asks, breaking the silence.
“I can’t say for sure. There is definitely something funky going on though. Like this morning. I swear Cole had just left a little after 5 when you showed up. I lost nearly an hour and I don’t know how.”
“Do you think it is something to do with the time travel?”
“No. I had the bad feeling before then. I knew something was coming.”
We fall back into silence; the only sound is the swish of my skirt. “Devon said that our future selves said that there was no way they wanted to live through this again. Whatever it is, it is bad,” he says carefully.
“I know.”
We have reached the small hilltop that lies in the middle of the grounds. “Oh, Constantine. This view is so different. It’s breathtaking.”
“Yes, it is,” he says, his eyes fixed solely on me. I lower my eyes, being deliberately coy and twirling my parasol coquettishly.
“I remember being out here and it being completely dark. Now it’s just beautiful.” I point to the lights shown below.
“I remember bringing you out here in the dark to get you alone. You were always the belle of the ball and so difficult to get to.”
“Same to you,” I say with a sidelong glance at him. “I find it so strange that this place is so empty now. It doesn’t feel right.”
He shrugs. “Times change. I have changed. I no longer need the company and the adoration. Except yours.”
“Well, you will never lose that.”
“Good. Now get out of that dress so I can take you right here.”
“Done,” I say as I twirl, and the gown disappears. “Pity I didn’t have that Power back then. Christ, it used to take an eternity to get these things off.”
He chuckles. “Oh, you don’t need to tell me that. Most times I just wanted to rip the damn things off you and to hell with it.”
“I remember a time or two when that happened. Perfectly good gowns ripped to shreds by your impatience.”
“My impatience? I am sure that some of the responsibility can be placed with you as well.”
“I won’t deny that. I never could keep my hands off you,” I say as I Vamp out and rip his own clothes to shreds to get rid of them. “Now that is more like it,” I say with a wicked grin before I push him to the ground and mount him, much to his delight.
He roughly pulls my hips down and I boldly rake my claws down his chest and stomach, wanting to feel his flesh ripping underneath my nails. “Feisty tonight, aren’t you?” he asks as he grabs my hands to stop me from doing it again. I know he has issue with being clawed but sometimes I just need to do it. He flips us over, pinning me to the damp grass underneath him, his blood dripping onto me from the wounds I inflicted, that are healing far too slowly for him.
We both look down. “Interesting,” he says. And I wonder, briefly, if I am now developing his ability to inflict more serious wounds.
“Now you know what it’s like,” I say smartly, before he kisses me on my clever mouth. He pushes my hands up above my head with his and then rakes his claws gently all the way down my palms, down the inside of my arms and keeps going all the way down my sides as I writhe in a mix of pleasure and pain. He hasn’t drawn blood, but the red welts are stinging, and I draw in a sharp breath. I push him back over and underneath me and as I ride him, I notice someone watching us from the terrace in the distance.
I can’t make out who as it is, just a dark figure but it must either be Cade or Nico. I have no problems with people watching. I know I give a good show, so it doesn’t surprise me that people want to watch me. I moan as I start to feel an excited rush at being watched. CK brings his hands up to cup my breasts, pushing my nipples into twin peaks that are aching to be bitten.
“Just this once, do it without making a fuss,” I say to him, pulling him up and he obliges me without hesitation, clamping his fangs down on me as I lean back and come instantly as he bites me and starts suckling. “Oh, yes,” I murmur and push my hands into his hair to keep him close. I cast a quick glance towards the terrace. We are still being watched and it is turning me on in all sorts of ways. I move my legs around him now, getting even closer to him, pushing him deeper inside me. “I love you,” I whisper to him and he lifts his head up from his suckling and takes my mouth with his, fangs still down, slicing into my lips and tongue. The taste of blood causes my own fangs to drop and I pull his head to the side to feed on him. Long and hard, needing him this way. I come again as he does and I groan as I taste the rush, still drinking from him. I reluctantly pull back as he pushes on me to release him.
“Hungry, my love?” he asks.
“Very,” I say, fangs still down. “I want to feed, Constantine. I want to feed on a human until every last drop of their blood is inside me.”
He blinks at me. “Is that what you want?”
“Yes. I am tired of being so restrained,” I say and push him back to the grass. “I want to feel what it’s like again.”
“Oh, Aefre. It has been so long since we shared someone.” He pushes my hair out of my face. “I want to feel that again with you.”
“Then get someone,” I say with a cruel laugh. “A murderer or someone equally as bad. Someone who deserves it. Someone we can punish.” I am riding high on this power trip and I don’t know where it is coming from.
He looks at me then, concerned. “Aefre, it has been so long for you. I know that it isn’t really what you want.”
“It is,” I insist.
“No, you are too good for that now, my sweet. It isn’t who you are anymore. This feeling must be coming from the mystery power that is trying to mess with you.”
I pout at him and he sighs. “Don’t look at me like that. I find it hard to refuse you.”
“Please,” I coax him. “Please do this for me.” I run my hands down his, now healed, chest.
He pushes us over, so I am underneath him aga
in and says, “This way you are feeling isn’t you, Aefre.”
“Yes, it is,” I snap at him. “I want to feed, to kill.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Leave it for tonight. If you still feel this way tomorrow, I will personally take you Hunting,” he says, deliberately using the word ‘Hunting’ to try and put me off.
“Then you had better start thinking where you can take me,” I say before he kisses me, so sweetly that I know he is trying to distract me. I am about to protest his actions when he enters me and, well, I just forget about everything else. He makes slow love to me, ensuring I get the maximum pleasure (and distraction) out of it until I am throbbing around him for the third time.
I roll us over. “I want to fuck you,” I whisper to him.
“Don’t let me stop you then,” he purrs. “I love it when you take over.”
“You do?” I asked, surprised. “Whatever happened to sire dominance?”
“It is replaced with your soon-to-be-husband’s love,” he replies.
“You don’t want to dominate me anymore?”
He shakes his head.
This disturbs me a bit. It is not like him at all. I try a different tactic. I lower my eyes to his mouth and say in as submissive of a tone as I can muster, “Don’t you want to play with me, Master?” I peek up at him through my lowered lashes.
His eyes flash. “Don’t, Aefre,” he warns me.
“Please,” I whisper. “I’m not asking you to go hardcore on me, I just want to play. It has been months.” I lean forward so my nipples are brushing against his chest and I start to move over him slowly.
“I can’t,” he says. “I don’t want to. It’s all or nothing,” he says despondently.
“Then give me your all,” I say bravely.
“No.”
“Stop denying me!” I am getting mad now. “You said you would give me anything I wanted.”
He grabs my wrists tightly. “But the two things you want are the two things I won’t give you. I’m sorry, my love, I don’t want to deny you anything, but you can’t ask me to hurt you and you can’t ask me to allow you to kill.”
I howl in frustration. “I’m not asking you to hurt me.”