by Eve Newton
I relax against him again now and we sit in silence for a few moments. “It won’t work,” he says.
“What won’t work?” I ask.
“Between you and me, it won’t work.”
I sit upright and spin to face him. “You are breaking it off with me?” I ask incredulously, a wave of fury rising in me.
“What?” he asks, confused. “No, Liv. Christ no! I mean the baby thing. It won’t work. You don’t have to worry about it.”
“What?” I say, now shaking my head.
“You still haven’t put your blocks up. I am trying not to pry but your thoughts pull me in,” he says apologetically.
“Humph, sure. I bet you are having a field day digging around in my brain,” I grump as I throw my blocks up, pulling my face at him.
He chuckles. “Hardly. I told you that first day that your thoughts move at super speed. No wonder you are exhausted half the time. Seriously though, if that is something you are planning with him, be sure that you want him in the everlasting sense.”
“I do.”
He nods. “As I said, you don’t have to worry about us.”
“I’m not worried, just concerned. We had kids in the alternate universe,” I say with a slight smile.
“Yes, you also had kids with Xane and Cade as well as someone called ‘Finn.’ I didn’t get who that was. Someone you obviously haven’t met yet,” he says wryly.
“What?” I squeak in horror. “Finn? She said that? No, no, no.” I shudder. That woman is a devil.
“No, I read it off her. You know someone called Finn? Obviously, her blocks don’t work in this universe. Horrible creature. I thank god you are nothing like her.”
I chew my lip and murmur, “Hm.” I ignore his question about Finn, still wanting to keep my Dragon buddy to myself. “I worry that I will turn into her. She has been Queen for over five hundred years. What if in five hundred years I’m like that?”
“You won’t be, my love. There is no way any of us will allow you to turn into that,” he says in disgust.
Gods, I hope he is right.
“What if she is the real me and we are in the alternate universe?” I voice this awful thought.
“Not a chance. You are the real you and I am the real me.”
“Mm, I want to feel the real you,” I say suddenly, pushing my hand in between us and stroking him. He is rock hard within seconds but pushes me away.
“No, Liv. After what you experienced before…”
“Yes, Linc. I need to get rid of that image. I need you to get rid of it for me. Please.” I look up at him from lowered lashes and he can’t resist me.
“Take your clothes off. The regular way. I want to watch you,” he says gruffly.
Mm, a striptease. Too bad my outfit is the least sexy thing ever. But a girl has to work with what she’s got. I slowly and seductively get rid of the clothes. His eyes are burning into mine by the time I am naked. He slowly strips off his t-shirt and my eyes rake over his abs, so fine I want to drool all over him. He shuffles out of his sweats and I move closer to him. He kisses my stomach softly, trailing his tongue over the spot where Dream Lance had branded me. I turn around and lower myself onto his lap and he groans in delight at this position. He grabs my hips and lowers me gently onto him and then grabs my tits, roughly tweaking my nipples until I gasp. I move over him and he brings his hand around to play with me. He takes the opportunity to bite me again and I clap my hand to his as I come and we both feel me against our hands.
“Show me how much you love me,” I whisper to him and he does. Again, and again until night falls and I have somewhere else to be.
I am reluctant to leave him. I want to stay but I know I can’t. I must get back to Cole.
“I contacted the Shifters,” he says suddenly, grabbing my hand to stop me from leaving.
“Oh? And?”
“They are all in, of course. I expected nothing less.”
“How does that work then? Don’t they already have Packs?” I ask.
“Yes, but you can leave if you are asked by another Pack to join them. There is usually a big fight over it but seeing as you are Queen, no one really wants to take you on.” He smiles at me. “I don’t think it will be a problem.”
I laugh. “Well, at least there are some people out there who recognize my authority,” I say.
“Liv,” he chides me. “You know we all respect you. But it is different for us as we are so close to you. Intimate with you. Those that don’t know you, haven’t seen your vulnerable side, it is easier for them to treat you accordingly.”
Well, I suppose he kind of has a point, but I really do have to go now, so I kiss him goodbye and with reassurances that I will call for him if I need him, he watches me Astral out.
Cole isn’t back yet which is good in a way. It is unnecessary for him to know where I have come from. I already showered at Lincoln’s, so I just sit and relax for a few minutes before he comes home. I think over what Cade said. I really do need some discipline in my life. I want to get back to training and meditating and I think Xane needs to sit with me and instruct me on Demon magick. A girl can only pick up on so much by herself. This Thirteen character is not pleasant, and I don’t think in my current state of not being the most powerful creature in all the Realms (massive bugbear, that one) I can beat it. I reach a couple of decisions which are not going to go down well with anybody, except my husband, I think with a small smile. But tough shit. I said last week, it is my show and I will run it as I see fit. This is how I see fit. If anyone has complaints, they can take it up with Jess. She is, after all, my assistant and that is her job. Poor girl. She is going to get an earful.
Shortly thereafter, Cole returns, and I greet him warmly with a deep kiss. He greets me with a quick shag on the dining table and then we are happy again. I tell him of my plans, and he is delighted but then concerned about CK’s reaction.
“Don’t worry about him. He wants what is best for me and this is what is best. I…” I trail off.
“What is it?” he asks, concerned.
“I can’t defeat this thing. It is coming at me half-mast and It is still so much stronger than me, I must do something, Cole. Something drastic.”
“I get it. I will support you and make them see reason. All of them,” he adds forcefully. “You said in your message earlier that you know more about It?”
“Yes. Cade, Nico, and a woman called Serena dug up quite a bit. Xane wasn’t all wrong. Here.” I hand him the pages.
He takes them from me and proceeds to read them at normal speed.
“Baby,” I say to him after the third page and I am beyond impatient now.
“Yes, my love?” He looks up from his reading.
“You do know that you can speed read now. As a Vampire, like everything else, you can do it ten times as fast?”
“Yes, I know. I just want to read it properly, so I don’t miss anything,” he says and turns back to it.
Oh well, in that case I will go and get myself a drink or two. I pour a glass of red wine. I have a craving for it which is bizarre as I am very much a white wine girl, and then I stop midway of pouring it. No, not just red wine. Red wine mixed with blood. I grab a bottle out of the secret compartment of the fridge and top up the glass. Mm, delicious. I take a big gulp and then freeze and stare down at my still bare feet. No high heels, not even shoes in general, and cravings. I swear to the almighty god if I start to get fat that woman is dead. Deader than dead.
I swiftly finish off my drink and pour another, it is just too delicious. I make one for Cole as well, so he doesn’t think too much of my weird cocktail.
“What is this?” he asks, looking up. “Red wine and blood? Bit of a cliché, don’t you think?” he says with a chuckle.
“It’s yummy. Taste it.”
He takes it off me with a sniff and takes a small sip. “Oh, that is nice,” he says and takes another bigger sip.
He finishes off his reading and hands me the pages bac
k and says, “Wow. That is pretty out there. You definitely need time to focus, my love. Especially if you think that you aren’t strong enough.”
“I know I’m not. But let’s just keep that between ourselves.”
He nods, smug that we have our own secrets to keep.
I have missed him and tell him so.
“I have missed you too,” he says with a yawn.
“Are you tired, baby?” I ask him.
“I am. Unusually so,” he says with a frown.
I frown back at him because I know why. I have been too far away from him and not focused on him for months now. This has to stop. “I’m sorry. This is my fault. You need me and I haven’t been here properly for you.”
“No, don’t blame yourself. You have other things to do,” he says in a way that only a charge to a sire would say and I sigh. I know I do the same with CK and he gets mad at me for protecting him. I know how he feels.
“Come to bed.” I pull him up by the hand. “To sleep,” I add.
“It’s only 8 PM,” he says. “And I don’t want to sleep, I want you.”
“We will sleep together and then when we wake up, we will be together. I just want to hold you and look after you, please,” I wheedle.
“Well, when you put it like that, I am not going to refuse that offer,” he says and lets me pull him into our bedroom. There is no way I am going to sleep, if possible, after this afternoon’s horror show, but he needs to, and I will make him. I still light my candles, with an added Demonic protection boost, which has the flames flaring up red for a few moments to Cole’s astonishment.
“What did you do?”
“Gave them a bit of kick!”
“You don’t say,” he says and strips off. “Sure I can’t interest you in a bit of nookie before sleep?”
I giggle at him. “Afterwards. Come here. Let me hold you.”
He dives on the bed and snuggles under the covers with me. He leans his head on my chest and relaxes as I stroke his hair and within seconds, he is asleep. His rhythmic breathing soon lulls me into a doze, and I struggle to stay awake. I don’t want that thing coming back. I ponder about that dream. Something is bothering me about it. Apart from the obvious brutality of it, of course.
Oh yes, Dream Lance said he was trying to show me our real sire, but that I wasn’t remembering the visions. What on earth did he mean? Probably just trying to mess with my head.
Real Lance thought that the real CK was the monster inside him, but I don’t think that. I see the good in him, especially now, especially after these last two days. We have become so much closer and he is starting to accept me as an equal, not his charge to dominate. I recall when we were outside, and I asked him what happened to his sire dominance and he said it had been replaced with ‘your soon-to-be-husband’s love’. I mentally shrug. I won’t think any more of it. Dream Lance lies and I won’t listen to him and question my sire. Cole shifts in his sleep and I move with him, now putting my head on his chest. He pulls me close and I pull the covers up around us. Our very own little cocoon. A couple of hours have passed, and I just can’t stay awake any longer. I am exhausted and I vow to just close my eyes for a few minutes…
Chapter 18
“How did it go?” Sebastian asks. He is sitting in his suite as CK stands, looking out of the window.
“Interesting. She won’t agree to it now, but she will. Christ. She argued like a bitch though. Had to know every little detail. She is so tenacious,” he says fondly.
“You told her?” Sebastian asks in surprise. “You told her I don’t have sex with Vampires?”
“I had to. She pushed me so far into a corner with her questions, I had no choice. She knows, of course, about Vivienne though. That you spell her.”
“I’m sure she must have wondered why I don’t do that with everyone.”
“She did. I explained it to her in terms she understood.”
“Oh. Well, thank you for trying. I guess I will just have to wait then.”
“There is another option,” CK says casually.
Sebastian looks up at that. “What?”
“She mentioned something about the future that she learned that was…interesting.”
“The future? No, you can’t tell me anything about the future. It could change everything.”
“So could this information, for you, now.”
“What if you tell me and it fucks things up for you and her?”
“It won’t. I won’t let it. I can assure you.”
“Tell me then.” He sits forward.
“Tell me first when you plan on spelling her again. It has been a couple of days.”
“I don’t know. I told you, when the time is right.”
“I was prepared to wait a few months, but now, having seen us together in the future happy, and she is finally accepting now about the baby, I don’t want to wait any longer than I have to.”
“Baby? What baby?” Sebastian asks in suspicion.
“Our baby,” CK says with a small smile. “We are in the process of…how did she put it…oh yes…bringing me up to scratch,” he snorts to himself, “…to father a child with her.”
“What?” Sebastian shouts jumping up off the sofa. “What? How is that even possible?”
“Nothing you need concern yourself with. But you see how pressing this is. I need her free to be with me. I plan on changing the future myself, my boy, so what I have to tell you shouldn’t make much difference.”
“Fine, I will spell her again tomorrow.”
“Good. I am sure I don’t have to tell you that what I have just told you stays between us?”
“Of course. Christ. I never, ever thought I would see this side of you. Marriage was enough to floor me but then you give her half of your estate and now you are talking about babies. Fuck me,” he says, rubbing his hand over his face.
“I love her. We have, in her words, arsed about for too long now. It’s ridiculous. She is mine and I will make her so as soon as possible. I thought letting her know I was going to fight for her would sway her somewhat, but I underestimated her love for him. So, I will fight dirty, and you are my secret weapon.” He turns to Sebastian with a winning smile that makes Sebastian glow.
“I still think you should do this yourself, but I won’t let you down,” he says quietly.
“I know you won’t.”
“Now tell me, about my other option,” he says eagerly now that he isn’t bothered about messing with the future.
“The girl, Jess,” CK says.
“Jess? What has she got to do with anything?” he asks, confused.
“She mentioned that you and Jess are married in the future.” CK drops that bombshell casually.
“What?” Sebastian says again. “Married? So, she knows? She knows about me?”
“Well,” CK says clearing his throat, “she said no. That you spell the girl not to bite you.”
“Oh.” He looks disappointed. “That’s upsetting. Why would I marry her then?”
“I have no idea, ‘Bastian,” CK snaps at him. “The point is, she said that why couldn’t we trust her as she is so close. She has a point. She wouldn’t dare betray us.”
“No, we tried that before. You sired someone specifically and she betrayed us. I have even sired someone, and she betrayed us. We can’t trust anyone but her.”
Come again, now? They sired specifically for the purpose? And wait now, that raises the interesting question of Sebastian siring at all. They have gone to extensive lengths to keep this a secret. I thought I understood before, but maybe I don’t really understand the power that he has.
“I’m not so sure,” CK says. “It is worth thinking about.”
“Maybe,” Sebastian says uncertainly. “I like her. She is fun and clever. I would hate to have to kill her if it didn’t work out. Plus, not so sure that would go down well with her sire, who happens to be her charge, who happens to be your charge.”
Okay, something has struck me odd about thi
s conversation that I am eavesdropping on. Am I eavesdropping? I am unclear on where I am in the room, just that I can see and hear everything and yet they can’t see me…
Anyway, back to what is odd… they are definitely talking about me, but they don’t call me by name. It’s weird.
Oh, and don’t think that I have missed the fact that they seem to be plotting against me to get me away from Cole. I am so stupefied by that, I haven’t quite processed it yet. There will be words and plenty of them when I have wrapped by brain around it.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. Technicalities. And speaking of her charge, have you…spoken to him again?”
“I have,” Sebastian says. “But it’ll take time. She will know something is up even if it happens slowly.”
“I know,” CK says grimly. “That is why I’m trying to help it along naturally with her knowledge. I need that boy focused on his charge, and not mine, for fuck’s sake.”
Sebastian sighs. “It’s all fucking ridiculous. I’m getting tired of it.”
“So am I,” CK agrees. “But, that aside, I have given you something to think about and now you will do what I have asked you to do. Get her away from her husband as soon as possible.”
“I thought you said go easy on her?” Sebastian asks, concerned now.
“Screw that. Like you said, a few dizzy spells aren’t going to kill her.”
I awake with a start. My head is pounding, and my mouth is dry. “You see, Aefre. I have been trying to show you what our sire is really like,” says a voice in my head, Lance’s voice, but he isn’t here. I reach for the water, scanning the room again in case he is lurking in the shadows. I don’t see anything. Wait? What was I looking for?
Ergh. Why is my head aching so much? I glance at Cole who is still fast asleep and then at the clock. It’s only midnight. Did I have another dream? I don’t remember it, so I suppose not. I creep out of bed and go to get some blood. It eases the pain in my head instantly and I feel tons better. I make my way back to the bedroom and decide it is time for Cole to wake up. I carefully climb back onto the bed and pull the sheets down; he stirs but doesn’t wake. I grin mischievously to myself as I cup his balls in my hand and gently massage them, flicking my fingers over his cock to bring him to attention. He wiggles and I plunge my mouth over him, sucking him until he is rock hard and moaning in his sleep.