by Marian Tee
“Do you want us to follow them?”
Startled at the sudden question, I whirled around and saw Jeff staring afar, a twisted smile on his lips.
“Wh-what do you mean?”
“I know where they went, Georgina and the dog princess.”
“Jeff!”
He grimaced. “I’m sorry. I just can’t help but get mad at the way he’s treating you. How the fuck he thinks that bit---that girl is better than you is beyond me.”
I shook my head. “She’s a wonderful girl.”
“You’re more wonderful.” He said it so strongly I almost took a step back.
Frowning, I asked, “Are you okay? Have you too much to drink already?”
“Dance with me,” he said instead and didn’t give me any chance to argue. I wouldn’t have anyway, not with Luka and Emilia coming back into the ballroom, her hair delightfully mussed.
It was a ruse. It was just a ruse.
Emilia reached out to fix his bowtie.
No.
My fangs started to come out and I missed a step.
“Caylie?”
The fangs kept coming out and the world around me started getting dimmer.
“Caylie?”
Caros around us were beginning to stare and I knew I had to do something before they found out about me. Without thinking, I twirled my arms around Jeff’s neck and pulled him down for a kiss. I bit his tongue, just to blunt my fangs and have it retreat. Jeff moaned against my lips, but the sound was more repulsive than arousing.
When I pulled away, the first thing I saw was the hard glitter in Luka’s gaze as he stared at us, his jaw clenched, his face inscrutable.
“I want more,” Jeff said huskily.
I tried to laugh it off even though I was sick to my stomach. “Don’t be too clingy or I might lose interest.”
Jeff took the bait, immediately backing down. “How about another dance?” But he was already whirling me back into the dance floor and by the time I was facing him again, I realized all he wanted to do was to use the dance to cop a feel.
Closing my eyes, I let his fingers drift over my nape, my bare shoulders and down to my waist. It was the only thing that kept me from wondering where Luka was and what he was doing, the only thing that kept me from turning.
When I opened my eyes, Emilia was smiling in Luka’s arms as he twirled them around.
Jeff spun me around, too, letting go of me momentarily as was custom.
When I spun back, it was Luka facing me, his hands easily catching mine before letting one settle on his shoulder while entwining his fingers with the other. “Did you enjoy your dance?”
“Did you enjoy your dance?”
“Don’t play with me,” Luka hissed.
I pressed myself against him, and Luka froze, almost missing a step as I took our dance to another level of intimacy, one that Caros often used to prelude sex. “Caylie, dammit.”
“Could you just tell me why, Luka? Just say it once and I won’t ever…”
Luka tipped my chin even as we swayed to the music. “Tell me, Caylie. I’ll answer, whatever it is. I swear.”
I asked brokenly, “Why won’t you take me?”
He sucked his breath.
I laid my head against his chest, listening to the way his heart thudded painfully hard.
“If I take you and learn someone already had you before me, I would go berserk and kill that person, no matter who he is.”
I stiffened.
“But if no one has touched you then I can’t touch you because it would be unfair. I don’t want you to give me your virginity because I seduced it from you. I want you to make the choice---”
“No one has ever touched me.”
Luka cursed. “Caylie, don’t---”
“And you don’t need to seduce me because I choose you. I only choose you and if you don’t take me now, I’ll choose someone else right this---”
Luka’s kiss stopped what else I had to say. Then he kept me from thinking altogether when he swept me in his arms and walked past the guests, climbing all the way up to where the bedrooms were in full view of everyone.
I kissed his neck, inhaling his scent. Just for tonight I wanted to be his. Oh God of Caros, let this tonight be mine.
“No one disturbs us,” Luka growled at the first uniformed guard he saw.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Luka reached his room and nudged it open. The door swung shut as he strode towards his bed, an enormous extra-king size decorated completely in white. But the overall effect was more elegant than stark, just like Luka.
He lowered me gently to the bed. “If I take you now,” he said harshly, looking into my eyes, “there will be no going back. You will be mine and the betrothal can’t be cancelled.”
“I’ll always be yours,” I whispered even as I knew I meant it in a way that Luka didn’t yet comprehend. If I ever turned vampire, I hoped, oh God of Caros I hoped this memory would be with me.
Luka gently turned me over and started on the row of hooks of my gown, expertly unhooking them all in seconds. And then he was peeling it down my body, leaving me in my lacy underwear and garters.
“Did you fucking wear this for me?”
“Only for you,” I promised as I flipped around, raising myself up to kneel in front him while I started to undress him. The jacket went off, followed by the tie, the shirt, the belt, and finally the pants. I swallowed when it was time to pull his briefs down, revealing his already enormous cock, its head glistening with pre-cum.
I reached for it but Luka shook his head, a cruel masterful smile on his lips that made me want him more. “No.” He gently lifted me up to my feet. He settled against the headboard and looked up at me. One word left his beautifully thin lips. “Dance.”
The command made me burn, goosebumps popping all over my skin as I felt Luka’s smoldering gaze roam my body. I started to dance, cupping my breasts as I did, running my hands on my belly before letting my fingers flutter against the lace-covered triangle before my legs.
“Shake it for me.”
I bent halfway down, legs apart and shook my breasts, close enough for the tips of my nipples to tease his lips. “Like this, Your Highness?”
He growled and I laughed. I started to pull away, but his hands settled on my hips, keeping me in place. “Bend down,” Luka ordered.
I did so with a spine-tingling shiver.
“Shake it.”
I did and Luka immediately captured one nipple into his mouth.
“Luka.” I moaned his name over and over as he gave me no respite, sucking hard and fast then slow and long the next moment, switching from one breast to another.
When he finally let go I was gasping. “Strip slowly.”
My fingers shook as I did as ordered.
“Come here.”
I went back to him, the bed dipping with every step I took.
“Offer yourself to me.”
I froze, not knowing what to do.
His smile became crueler. “Scared, mi vavli?”
I shook my head. “Tell me what to do,” I pleaded.
“Part the folds open…” He let out a guttural sound of pleasure when I slowly parted the folds, one hand for each side. “Wider, more, yes…” Luka looked up. “Keep it like this. If you ever let it close, I won’t fuck you. Do you understand?”
“Y-yes.”
And then he was there, kissing me like I had always dreamt he would since the night he had “helped” me sleep. He possessed me ruthlessly with his kiss, tongue thrusting in and out before moving up to suck my clit.
My legs started to shake. “I’m…close.”
Luka responded by biting hard enough to draw blood.
I spiraled out of control, the world giving out along with my legs but Luka was there to catch me, sucking blood and cum as I reached an orgasm against his mouth. As the waves of pleasure died, he gently but firmly pulled me down, settling me on his hips in a straddling position.
And then he started to push up.
My eyes flew wide open at the thickness and length of him. “Ooomph…” I could feel myself stretching to accommodate his impossibly large and long cock, and I couldn’t help moan when he pushed all the way in, breaking into the barrier.
“Caylie.” He said it in agony.
I trembled at the need in his voice, wishing it was something he used only with me.
“Caylie.”
The sound thrilled me, and I found myself slowly pushing down to take more of him in.
“It doesn’t hurt?” he rasped out.
I shook my head.
Luka fisted my hair. “Good,” he muttered before kissing me the same time he started to move. In seconds we found a rhythm, my pussy automatically closing and squeezing his cock every time it went in. Deeper, harder, faster until the thrusts were all I lived for, my eyes rolling back under my eyelids and my body falling against his arm, completely reliant on his strength.
“Luka, Luka, Luka.”
“Yes,” he hissed. “Say you want me more than anything.”
“I do,” I cried out.
Luka groaned the same time he reached for my clit and started flicking.
“LUKA!” My orgasm took me completely by surprise and I writhed hopelessly against him as the pleasure took over. He groaned, hands clamping firmly around my waist as he lifted me up and down his cock, pummeling into me in the most agonizingly blissful way. He let out a growl when he came and it triggered my own orgasm once more, and I sobbed, shattering all over again.
Please God of Caros, please let me remember this if I turn vampire.
~~~
I woke up in my bed, remembering faintly how Luka had taken me home in the wee hours of the morning. My body was heavy and ached in the most beautiful way. I went back to sleep, deliberately pushing every thought away, hoping I could dream of being in Luka’s arms again because it was my last chance to be happy.
The intercom woke me up the second time, and a glance at the tinted windows told me it was already early in the evening. I answered the call.
“Miss Sonora, Luka Georgiades and your parents request your presence.”
“I will be right down, thank you.”
It has started.
Luka was smiling at me ever so gently, but it faded when I didn’t return his smile. Questions burned in his eyes, but Luka being his usual courteous self, he waited for my parents and his grandfather to greet me properly before bowing down to kiss my hand.
Oh, no, no, no. A Caro kissing a woman’s hand in front of witnesses was a declaration of courtship. This had to stop. Even if it broke both our hearts, it had to stop.
My parents engaged Luka’s grandfather in conversation, giving us privacy.
Luka swiftly took advantage of it, leading me to the cushions, sitting next to me and asking, “What’s wrong?”
I said nothing.
“You know why I’m here, don’t you?” His voice was silk-laced steel, cold, polite, but uncompromising.
“Yes, and I’m telling you, it’s not necessary.”
Luka frowned. “Caylie---”
I didn’t want to beat around the bush. I didn’t want to prolong the agony. So I looked up, told myself not to cry, and said very clearly, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, “I don’t want to marry you.”
Silence.
William recovered first, and he abruptly dismissed all the servants in the room with a nod.
Luka didn’t even blink. There was no sign that he was affected by my words. “I want to.”
Oh, if only that were true. But it wasn’t. Luka didn’t want to marry me. He just felt like he had to. I shook my head. “This discussion is pointless.”
“Caylie,” Catherine entreated.
I avoided her eyes. “It’s not what I want.”
“But you did what you did,” my father snapped. “And now, you have to pay the consequences.”
Luka cupped my face, making me look at him. He was so, so beautiful. I would never tire of looking at his face. “Why, Caylie?” His voice was as tender as the softest wind. “Don’t you believe I can make you happy?”
I choked back a sob. “I just don’t want to. Why can’t you accept that?”
Luka looked at me, saw the pain I was in and pulled me up with him from the cushions. “We need a private moment,” he said. Without waiting for the others’ agreement, he took me to the balcony, closing the doors so that this time only the dark starless skies would be our witness.
Everything seemed too silent, I thought numbly. Normally, you would hear noise…but not tonight. Even the humans seemed to have instinctively recognized the dangers that surrounded them, no matter if they were unseen.
Luka said quietly, “Give me a good reason why I shouldn’t insist on the marriage. If I deem it valid, I’ll let you go.”
“It’s not just your call to make, Luka.”
“It is in this case.” He paused. “I can make you happy, Caylie---”
But I can’t, I thought. I shook my head. “That’s not the issue.”
“I think it is and you just don’t want to admit it.” Luka took a step closer, cupping my face again. He lowered his head. “Caylie---”
I tried to pull away but it was a half-hearted effort. He tried to kiss me but I twisted my head away. “No, Luka!” But it was too late. Luka captured my face again and this time his lips touched mine. It was a feather-soft touch, but it reached the deepest core in me, making my body shake.
“Why are you pushing me away?” he asked hoarsely.
I hated being the one to cause the hurt in his eyes, but I would hate myself more if I were the cause of his destruction. Our race needed him far more than they needed me, and I would never forgive myself if I became the reason Luka’s ambition didn’t come true.
My head bowed as I prepared to twist the sharpest knife into Luka’s heart. Vengeance was going to be mine, after all. It just so happened that I didn’t want it any longer.
“Let go of me.” I said it so coldly Luka’s hands fell away. I felt bereft and scolded myself for feeling so. It was a feeling I had to be used to from now on. “What I did yesterday…” I took a deep breath. “It’s like a goodbye thing, you know?” My throat ached.
Luka’s eyes flashed. “Why would you say goodbye?”
“Because…” I gestured to the night as if he’d understand everything I wanted to but couldn’t say with just that move. “Because I don’t believe you’re going to live past the upcoming war. And I can’t be married to you because you’ll put my family in danger.” I wanted to cry when I saw the naked hurt in Luka’s face, the flash of betrayal.
“I see.” Luka’s head dipped.
I wished he did. I wished he didn’t. All I knew was that I was hurting more right now.
“I’m sorry, Caylie,” he whispered. “I failed you.”
I wanted to scream at the defeat in his eyes. I wanted to run after him, to hold him in my arms and tell him it was all a lie. But I couldn’t. Because I loved him.
Luka walked away swiftly.
Inside the living room, I heard Luka apologizing to our families as he announced the end to our betrothal.
Luka’s voice was tight as he said, “I apologize for being unfairly selfish. I should have considered how my position could present a danger to Caylie and your family if we were to be betrothed.”
Chapter Sixteen
A week had passed since I last saw Luka. Every day, I waited for the Invisa to visit me. Every day, I waited for Luka to call. But neither happened and I felt like I was slowly going out of my mind with waiting.
Sabina and Ever invited me out once again, and this time I took them up on their offer, knowing if I stayed another minute inside my house I would likely do something really crazy. We decided to meet up in a Caro-owned boutique mall, with every store selling a special catalog for our race.
It was just my luck that Emilia Moretti happened to be there, too.
&nb
sp; She was dressed all in black, her long-sleeved blouse and skinny jeans making her look tough and chic at the same time. Next to her, I felt almost silly in my halter summer dress.
“Finally,” she snapped when our eyes met.
I came to a halt in front her, stunned at her angry expression. She already had Luka. What else could she be mad about?
“I hope you’re happy,” she snarled. “Luka’s facing charges for treason in your beloved Brethren because of you!”
I paled. “Wh-what did you say?”
Emilia frowned, her voice reluctantly hesitant when she asked, “You don’t know?”
“It’s my first time to come out of my room in over a week.”
“And you haven’t watched any news since then?”
I shook my head.
She muttered something in her language. “God, what a mess.” She took a deep breath. “Luka isn’t defending himself because he wants to die. He thinks it’s better than turning vampire---”
“He can’t turn vampire!” I protested sharply.
“Of course he fucking can when you broke his heart!”
My hand itched to slap her. “Are you blind? Luka’s in love with you. That’s why I broke the engagement. So he doesn’t need to feel guilty about me and he can have his fucking happy-ever-after with the girl he loves---”
“And that’s you!”
I stumbled back.
Emilia laughed bitterly. “You’re right in guessing I loved him. I’ve always loved him since my brother first brought him to our home. But even then, I knew he would never be mine. He talked about you all the time and everyone in our family knew about you even before any of us met you. When I got the chance to work with him, I fought my brother for it, even though it would put me in jeopardy. I fought for it because I wanted a chance to make him fall in love with me.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, couldn’t let myself hope that it just may be true. I whispered in a faltering voice, “But he went to the monastery---”
“He almost killed you three years ago. My brother had to tell me when I was about to demand an alliance between our families.” Emilia flushed. “I thought I could make him love me in time, if we were married.”
I watched her struggle not to cry, and this time I could find it in me to feel bad because I knew – oh God of Caros, I knew how she felt because that was how I felt, too.