He collapsed on the bed next to me. Both of us glistening with sweat and breathing hard.
“Don’t grow a big head over this, but God, you’re an amazing lay. Though it’s not surprising, four centuries of pussy is a lot of practice,” I said between heavy breaths.
He looked at me incredulously. “How many lovers do you think I’ve had?”
I did the math in my head. “Even if you only slept with three women a year, that’s over a thousand. And come on, you have looks, money, charm, I’m sure it’s way more than three a year.”
“Is three a year your average?” He sat up on his elbow.
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, we’re not even going there.”
He smiled that wicked grin of his that melted panties. “Your past doesn’t matter to me. Only our future.”
“You know who says that? Someone who’s slept with so many women they want to change the topic so they don’t have to cough up a number. So, give it up.”
“Two,” he replied leaving me to guess the number of zeros.
“Two thousand?!” I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I had to wonder if he could remember all their faces.
He shook his head.
“Two hundred?” That wasn’t bad at all. That was less than a woman a year. That almost counted as celibacy.
But he didn’t confirm, which started to make me nervous. Unless we were talking two million, than the only other possible number…
“Two? As in one plus one, two?”
He nodded.
“Wait, are you counting me?”
He nodded again.
“The only people you’ve ever slept with are me and Claudia?”
Concern colored his features. “Does it disappoint you that I’m not as worldly as you imagined?”
“No. I would never be disappointed over something like that. I’m just shocked. You are obviously a very sexual being. How did you hold out for so long?”
He held up his right hand, then he made a fist and moved it up and down.
I could feel the blood rushing to my face. “Oh…”
It floored me that this man who could have any woman that he wanted, several at a time for that matter, chose me. “I’m not that special.” I argued, unable to bear the weight of what he’d just told me.
“You are to me.” His soft smile turned into a frown. “Why are you crying?”
I touched my hand to my cheek and my fingers came away wet. I hadn’t realized I’d been crying, but when I thought about it, it wasn’t hard to figure out why. “I love you. I really, truly love you.”
Attraction was one thing. Sex was one thing. But this bastard had snuck in and made off with my heart, leaving me more vulnerable than I’d ever been in my life. He didn’t say anything, which was the exact right thing to say. He just held me close as I shook with sobs, mourning the girl that I used to be.
CHAPTER 14
G oodbye, Kiera the Fearless. Hello, Kiera the Insecure Wreck of a Woman with No Clue What She’s Doing. I’d have to work on a way of shortening my new title. I looked over at Max’s sleeping face and my heart skipped a beat. If it had to be someone I was glad it was him. He was the kind of man that took good care of things that were precious to him. I hoped some of that rubbed off on me because I seemed to be failing miserable at it.
I leaned down and kissed him awake. “We should get going if we want to reach the Deabru castle before nightfall.”
He stretched and yawned. So cute. “We could use the money you won to rent some horses. I mean since we’re already in a populated area, we may as well take advantage of it.”
We got dressed and Max went to buy horses and supplies. He walked up with the reigns of a black and a chestnut brown horse in his hand. As he walked towards me, his eyes went wide with horror which made me turn to see what he was looking at.
Soldiers wearing livery that indicated they were Lucius’s men. I dashed for my horse. Max helped me on it and I took off full speed knowing that he’d be able to catch up. And just as I expected he was right behind me.
We rode off in a full gallop. I didn’t have any idea where I was going, I just knew that I should be headed south, so that was the direction I went. Adrenaline flooded my veins. It seemed as though we were riding forever. I started to question if we were still being followed. I decided to risk a glance over my shoulder.
I turned just in time to see the arrow as it arched through the air from the soldiers bow right into my side. I screamed in agony as the metal tore through my flesh. It took all my discipline to stay on the horse. Every step was like being shot all over again.
The pain confused my senses. I didn’t know where I was or where I was going. I just knew I couldn’t stop. That was the one and only thing I focused on. Don’t fall. Keep going.
I wasn’t sure how we got away because the next thing I remembered was looking up at trees and seeing Max’s desperate expression.
He looked at me like a man about to lose everything. Awww, I’m his everything. That’s sweet.
Wait, he’s about to lose me. Crap.
I thought being shot was the worst pain I was going to feel that day. Couldn’t have been more wrong. Max broke the end of the arrow and pushed it forward to get it out. All I could do was scream. Thoughts didn’t form during pain like that.
He wrapped me up to stop the bleeding, but even if I didn’t know enough about the human body to know what an injury like this meant, I could see in his sad puppy eyes that I’d be dead soon.
“I need to get you to the castle. They have healers. They can help you.”
“Do they have the magic equivalent of a surgeon and a fistful of antibiotics because that’s what it’s going to take.”
I could tell from his face that they didn’t.
“Bite me,” I said.
He looked at me confused.
“I saw you walk off a sword through the back in less than a day. Make me a werewolf, it’s the only way I’ll survive.”
“Possibly survive,” he argued.
“Well, if you don’t do it, I’ll definitely die. Fifty-fifty is better than definitely dying.”
“Your chances would be half if you were perfectly healthy. Injured, your chances of survival are even lower.”
I coughed, tasting blood on my lips. “Are they above zero?”
He closed his eyes as if weighing his options. I waited, already knowing that he only had one.
He opened his eyes, sheer determination in his expression. He laid me down gently against the tree and he shifted.
He whimpered in his wolf form before walking over and biting down on my thigh.
I gritted my teeth to keep from screaming. All of this was hard enough on him. I didn’t want to make things any harder.
As he shifted back into a man, my vision started to go hazy. The last thing I remembered was being picked up by him. If I did have to go, the best place for it was in his arms. I’m sorry Abby, I’m sorry I failed to save you.
CHAPTER 15
When I awoke, I was on fire. Or at least that’s what my nervous system was telling my brain, that every inch of my skin was aflame. I couldn’t even scream anymore. My mouth hung open uselessly. If it weren’t for Max pressing a cool cloth to my forehead, softly murmuring words I couldn’t make out, I would have thought I’d died and was in hell. I was grateful when I felt my consciousness waning again.
The next time I woke up, my teeth chattered from the cold. Max cradled me in his arms, his body, my one source of heat, even though I noticed a fire blazing from the corner of my eye, I couldn’t feel it’s warmth. Staring up, I was able to make out that we were in a cave. Max and his damn caves. Sleep took much longer to come that time.
The third time I awoke outside in the dirt—naked and alone. Blood coated the front of my body. What had died? Who had died? Max? Did I somehow?
As I started to fall into despair, footfalls made me look up.
Max ran to me and scooped me up in his arms. “It’s okay
. You’re okay.”
His assurances let me know I had some reason I couldn’t remember to not think I was okay. I started blubbering. “I don’t want this. Make it stop.”
He rocked me in his arms. “Shhh, it’ll be better soon. You just have to hold on a little bit longer. You’re the strongest person I know. You can do this.”
I asked the question I dreaded hearing the answer to. “Who did I kill?”
“No one. It was just a doe.”
I sobbed even harder. I’d lost control of everything.
The next time I woke up to the sound of pounding. It felt like a herd of elephants were stomping on my head. I covered my ears begging Max to make it stop.
He searched around frantically. How could he not see something that loud? It had to be huge. A few feet away he squashed a bug. I sighed in relief as the noise stopped.
But I only had a moment respite before the sound of a thousand pieces of paper being balled up at once cut through my brain. “What is that crackling?” I yelled. “Make it stop!”
He threw stomped out the fire. I looked around in terror for what benign thing would be the next to assault my senses.
Max took my hand and placed my palm flat on his chest. “Kiera, focus on my heartbeat.”
I tried. A strong, steady, thump, thump, thump.
I closed my eyes and focused just on that sound.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
I fell asleep to that sound. The next time I woke up, I was back to my senses.
Max offered me strips of raw meat served on a flat stone. I wrinkled my nose at his offering.
“You eat bugs,” he said flatly.
“Ate bugs. One time and that was out of sheer desperation.”
He started chanting. “Eat the meat. Eat the meat.” Did he really think if he treated this like a kegger I would just—
I ate the meat.
The same stuff I’d been forced to eat for days, but cooked, without any seasoning, suddenly tasted like angels dancing on my tongue. “This is so good. Why is this so good?” I moaned.
“Your body is rewarding you for giving it what it needs.”
I grabbed another piece. “That’s not how bodies work. If they did, ice cream shops would sell broccoli and cauliflower.”
“That’s how yours works now.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “I can’t believe I’m a werewolf. Other than this really gross meat thing, I feel perfectly normal.”
Max offered me his hand helping me off the ground. “Believe me, you’re going to notice other differences. Lets get cleaned up and head out.”
CHAPTER 16
T he Deabru castle was a glowing gray sword stabbing the clouds. The structure was an awe to behold and impossible to breach without the ability to fly.
Four men landed on the road in front of us. At least they were mostly men. They had pitch black eyes, and multicolored wings. When Max said that he’d been battling demons, I assumed it was a euphemism. But as I stared at these strange men I realized he was being quite literal.
Behind them a dragon-like creature sat a silver cage on the road. One of the men spoke. “Our queen is eager to see you. Please step into the lift and you’ll be taken directly to her.”
Well, wasn’t that something to look forward to. I looked at the height we were meant to go. If that dragon-thing at any time decided to drop the cage, we were doomed. I would have liked to have at least one conversation with her to assess whose side she was on before putting my life in her hands, but Max was already moving forward, so I followed behind.
I clutched onto him in the ornate death cage and the giant winged lizard carried us up to the castle. It sat us down on a balcony that led into a throne room. The queen’s delicate black throne was empty. Claudia sat on the king’s throne, one leg dangling over the other. I prepared myself to hate her guts no matter what she said or did, for Max. My mood wasn’t helped any since I was wearing ripped and bloodied rags. Damn Lucius’s determination.
As we approached, I made note of the lack of guards in the room. That was a better sign than last time. When we were six feet away, Max stopped and bowed. “Your Majesty.”
I stood there watching him through the corner of my eye. I didn’t bow. She wasn’t any royalty I recognized.
Claudia rose from her husband’s throne. Instead of the massive dresses I’d gotten used to seeing, she wore a leather dress with thigh high boots and slits that didn’t leave much to the imagination.
I whispered to Max. “Why couldn’t I have gotten that dress? Do you know how easy it would have been to walk in that?”
I shook his head at me. “I’ll get you one later.”
I folded my arms, still trying to figure out how she got to wear that when I spent a day carrying around eighty pounds of satin and lace.
Claudia stood in front of me. She was almost a head taller. Taller, thinner and blond. Yep, hating her for Max was going to be easy.
Her eyes trailed over me as if she was studying a specimen in a dish. “You’ve turned her,” she said to Max even though her eyes were still locked on me.
My fist clenched at my side. She tore his heart out of his chest and used it as a paperweight. The very least the bitch could do was make eye contact.
I expected Max to explain how I was dying and turning me was a last ditch effort to save my life. Though that was probably evident with the condition of my clothes. Instead he simply replied, “Yes.”
And to that, all she said was, “Interesting.”
Max interrupted my staring contest with Claudia. “Do you know why we’re here?”
“You wish for me to use my army to remove Lucius from the throne, so he is no longer a threat to Julian.”
“And will you?” Max asked.
“No.”
My mouth fell open. No matter how many times Max tried to explain to me vampire pragmatism, it just seemed like coldheartedness to me.
“But he’s your brother,” argued Max.
“Yes, and I will not plunge this realm into a war that may never end to secure for him a throne that he abandoned. The cost is too high and I believe my brother would agree with me.”
“So you’ll just let him die?” Max looked as though he couldn’t fathom her words, but she seemed consistent with the woman he’d described. The one that would leave him scratching at the door while she married another man.
“Of course not. I was waiting here for you to make sure you got back to Julian safely. We have a mage here who can open a portal to that realm. After you leave I will head directly to Lucius and try to reason with him about Julian.”
“I doubt it will work. You vampires don’t seem like very reasonable people. You seem to be drawn to whatever will cause the most damage.” Man, it felt good to get that out.
But she simply ignored me. She got up again and walked over to Max. “If our business is done, I’ll have a mage open that portal for you now.”
“That’s it?” I snapped. “Not even an apology?”
“Our relationship was a long time ago. It’s clear to me that we’ve both moved on. But if it makes you happy…” She looked into Max’s eyes. “I apology for any pain I may have caused you.”
Her apology was just as cold and as stilted as the rest of her. I was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to make her feel anything, but especially pain. I wanted her to suffer the way he’d suffered all those years to balance the scales. But that was impossible.
So I did what I could. I grabbed Claudia of House Corvus, Queen of the Deabru, Princess of the Sanguinese, by her long blond hair and tugged like I was trying to repo that shit. It wasn’t what I planned and it certainly wasn’t dignified and it went all downhill from there.
Turned out, somewhere in vampire finishing school, someone taught Princess how to fight. With claws and fangs out she broke free of my grip and we each struggled to grab the other while Max watched dumbfounded.
She was just too fast and capable of blocking everything I threw
at her. I needed more. More strength. More speed. I needed to be powerful enough to make her pay.
My arm bent back in the opposite direction sending shooting pains through my body.
With the fight forgotten, I screamed, “What the hell did you just do to me?”
She stood there, with every hair in place. “Nothing. You’re shifting,” she said in her even tone.
The guards came rushing in at the sound of my scream. Claudia waved them away.
Max hugged me to his chest. “Just relax. You’ll shift back if you calm down.”
I took deep breaths and watched as my clawed hand returned to normal.
Claudia smiled at Max. “I like her. She’s spunky.”
Spunky? Spunky!
“And she defends you fiercely, it’s charming, even though I’m much older than her and she didn’t stand a chance.”
Max was trying his best to bite back laughter. “Yeah, but she managed to get a fistful of your hair before either of us could react.”
“Yes. She did manage to do that.”
Max’s smile faded. “I think it’s time for us to go home.”
Claudia nodded. “I’ll go fetch the mage.” She was almost out of the room when she turned and looked back. “I’m glad to have seen you again Maxwell, and I don’t think you could have found a more suitable mate.”
CHAPTER 17
T he mage opened a portal back onto the island, not far from the main house. As soon as my feet hit the ground I went charging towards the house. I found Abby sitting at the kitchen island, staring adoringly at Julian as he cooked. He stopped mid-stir when he saw me.
I was so happy to see her, I just pulled her into my arms, not caring about anything other than her being okay. “Have Lucius’s men come here yet?”
“What do you mean Lucius’s men?” Julian asked setting aside the pan he’d been using for sauce.
Max walked into the kitchen. “That’s who is behind the attack. He wants the crown for himself. I’m sorry, Julian.”
Moonstruck (Warring Hearts Book 2) Page 8