by Celia Kyle
Her hard nipples seared his chest, heat floating through their clothing until her warmth infused him. This. This was what it was like to have a Fire. An inferno roared through his veins, heating him from inside out, and his cock hardened within his jeans.
His shaft pulsed and throbbed, seeming to fight to be released, to sink into Victoria’s moist heat.
Not yet…
No, it was too soon. She’d admitted to being inexperienced, and he wasn’t about to fuck her on a river bank. No. They needed a bed. Something soft and welcoming.
Victoria shifted, rocking against his hip, and he groaned aloud, returning the motion. That simply dragged another moan from his chest as her heat branded his cock.
Shit. Pleasure rocketed through him, arousal wrapping around and invisibly stroking his hardness. It built as they worked against each other. They battled the rough texture of their jeans.
Still the kiss continued, heating with every shift of their bodies. Liam tightened his grip on his Fire, unwilling to let her slip through his grasp. He swallowed Victoria’s tiny gasps, sobs and moans, savoring every one.
He ached to let his hands roam and learn the lines and curves of her body. Hell, he wanted her to touch him, slide those delicate fingers along his skin, down to his groin and then wrap around…
With a shuddering sigh, he withdrew from Victoria’s mouth, easing their kiss until their lips barely touched. “I didn’t bring you out here for this. We’re supposed to get to know each other. We’re supposed—”
Victoria let out the barest of whimpers and then pulled away, burying her face against his neck. He inhaled her scent, letting it fill his lungs while he held her. Each curve taunted him, begging him to touch every one.
But he wouldn’t. Truly.
“Get to know each other.” She took another breath, and he could feel a delicate shudder overtake her. “Right. But, I’ll tell you that I can see, er, feel, that you know what you’re doing.” Another shudder, and the scent of her desire danced with the wind.
Liam barked out a laugh and rolled his eyes. Yeah, life with Victoria wouldn’t ever be dull. “I do.”
Chapter Five
Tory kicked at the hoity-toity rug lining yet another endless hallway in the mansion.
“I do.” She grumbled, and her voice dropped low. “I’m the man and I know how to wield my ancient sword. But none for you! Jerk.”
Tory had been left alone while the Protectors met on super-secret vampire stuff, but Liam had told her not to worry about wandering around the space alone. He assured her that the entire mansion and grounds were “secure”.
Yeah, she just bet. They’d conveniently forgotten that she knew just how unsecure the place actually was. Okay, now the security system was impenetrable, but before her…
She huffed. Being a whiny brat wasn’t going to bring the vamp back any quicker.
Straightening her shoulders, she continued down the hallway until she stood before the end. She faced a flat wood-paneled wall, somewhat new but still in keeping with the mansion’s original design. Only the manse’s architectural plans from the eighteen hundreds listed the hallway as a hell of a lot longer than what it appeared.
Which made Tory wonder what the Knight Protectors were hiding. And, well, she always loved finding things that others wanted to keep hidden.
Besides, she’d totally been good for the first five hours she’d been cloistered in the library. She’d watched TV, reviewed more of the data she’d collected from Pinxton and even translated a scroll or two. See? Super good. Which meant she only felt a tiny bit guilty about what she was about to do.
Scanning the panel with her gaze, she then got to work running her fingers over the wall, digits stroking each rise and fall of the carved wood. Since their electronic security was crap, she didn’t think this would be very difficult to breach.
And it wasn’t.
It took her fifteen minutes, which annoyed her to no end, but she smiled wide when a soft click signaled her success. A nudge sent the door swinging wide to reveal a softly lit hallway stretching before her.
Not wanting to be discovered just yet, she stepped into the space and then pushed the door closed behind her. If she got in, she was sure she could get back out again. Or be found by pissed off vamps. Whatever.
She put one foot in front of the other, ready to discover the Knight Protectors’ secrets.
The first few rooms revealed very boring secrets. The small spaces were little more than bedrooms, easily half the size of what the rest of the mansion held, and each occupied by a single bed, night stand and a mini-fridge. Since this was a vamptastic home, she figured the fridges were intended to hold bagged blood. Blech.
Another few doors revealed more of the same. A set of double doors teased her with what she figured held the mother lode, but she forced herself to investigate everything in the order presented. No sense in rushing to the finish line when the journey could be sweeter.
At least, that’s what romance novels said. Then again, they were usually talking about sex…
Three more rooms and nada, but now she was at the end, staring at ornately carved double doors. Images of battling knights covered the wood, men dying while a single figure stood atop a hill with the sun at his (or her) back, watching it all.
Bloodthirsty person.
Gripping the sturdy handles, she shoved, grunting with the effort it took to get the damned things open. And then she gasped.
Holy-frijoles.
It was a library, but not. Books and weapons lined the walls, two book cases separating every section of weaponry.
And then there was the table. A round table that looked seriously old. Like as old as…
“I wondered when you’d find your way here. You’re too smart for your own good.” Liam’s voice had her jumping and squeaking in surprise.
Tory spun to face him. “Um… You see…”
Her vampire smiled, revealing a set of long, white fangs and her heartbeat stuttered. She’d seen that naughty look before. Like, right before he chased her around Ancient scrolls and then pulled her into his lap and with the hard cock and the… “Nervous, love?”
“Of course not.” She cleared her throat and inched away from him.
“Liar.” A smirk on the vampire’s lips showed he was teasing. He stepped nearer, slowly closing the distance between them. “This has to be a room-sized orgasm for you with all of the old books. Most are even in foreign languages. I think the only one of us who could actually make sense of ninety-nine percent of them is Brom.” He leveled a passion-tinged gaze at her. “Or you.”
Arousal spiked in her blood and her inner-vamp-whore purred. “Wow. You really know how to talk to a girl. I mean, woo hoo, I’m smarter than the old guys.”
Then he was before her. Like, right there, his body inches from hers and his scent enveloped her. “Victoria.” He lowered his head and brushed her lips with a light kiss. “Sweet, bitchy Victoria.”
She shoved at him. “Ass.”
“Your ass.” He gave her a lazy smile and leaned against the round table. “Carac wants you to do some research in here. With Brom gone, he figures you can translate some of this stuff. He says, and I quote, ‘there are more dead languages in the room than I can count’.”
Curiosity pushed back her annoyance. And arousal, but she wasn’t touching that feeling with a ten-foot pole.
How long would it take to learn those languages and read the books? Okay, the learning outweighed the reading, but it still sounded fun. If the guys were going to be training and meeting on “Protector business” all the time, she needed something to do, right? The TV, Pinxton’s electronic world and those scrolls had held her attention for only so long. Hence the field trip.
Liam pushed away from the table and snagged her around the waist, lifting her until her feet left the ground and then he planted her ass on the wooden surface. “You know what this is, right? I mean, it’s not an original, just a knockoff that’s a couple of hundre
d years old, but it’s a reminder of sorts. You’re sitting on history, love.”
“Oh, hells no.” She gulped, mind working double-time. He smirked. Tory had studied the Middle Ages once upon a time. Then again, there wasn’t much she hadn’t studied. And only one legend featured a round table. One. “So, you guys…”
Liam nudged her thighs apart and stepped between her legs. “We were officially formed in the fifth century by King Arthur. We didn’t begin using the round tables until the twelfth. Really hard to build, you know?” He ran his hands along her arms and goose bumps rose in his wake. “We have one purpose: protect the world from the Broken. Each species has their own laws, but the first is never to use a human for their own purpose, or kill them without cause. Witches can’t use them for sacrifice, vampires can’t bind them as slaves and shifters can’t turn them to increase their numbers.” He leaned toward her and nuzzled her neck, teeth scraping her vulnerable skin. A burst of need blossomed at the juncture of her thighs. “With you and Wren, we’ve bent the rules until they are very close to breaking.” He breathed against her ear, lips teasing. “Carac thinks our king would have found it amusing though.”
Would have… Well, not everyone could live forever, no matter their species.
“What about Changing? He was gonna Change me, right?”
Liam moaned against her and her nipples hardened. “Yeah, but because you asked. Plus, Brom has been finding gray areas in the laws.”
“Huh.” She gasped, a piercing sting fluttering through her. He bit her and she liked it. “So,” she swallowed, fighting for breath. “Y’all are sword wielding medieval knights and shit.”
“But not the originals” Another nibble. “Carac was the first knight into Jerusalem during the Crusades, though.”
She simply hummed and tilted her head, encouraging him to continue. Except the asshole pulled away, mouth and body no longer keeping her prisoner in his seductive jail.
“The point is: we’re too old to remember what we’ve forgotten.” She raised an eyebrow at that, her arousal lowering to a simmer. He continued. “Carac would like you to go through some of the books in this section,” He padded toward the opposite wall and she slipped from the table, following in his wake. Mostly. Her legs were a little jelly-esque. “With Brom in Rome and the fact that any of us can go over Pinxton’s records, Carac hoped you could help with this.”
Arousal fully deflated, she sighed. “No more sexy times?”
That earned her a cocky smile. The buzz of his phone drew his attention and he pulled it from his pocket, staring at the screen. “Not right now, love. Gotta run.” Pure sex entered his features. “But maybe later, if you’re lucky. That chair over there has our names on it.”
With that, the vampire sped away, body moving in a blur and she couldn’t resist the urges flooding her. She snatched a book from the shelf and threw it at his racing form. She missed. Sometimes she hated being a geek.
Defeated, she turned back to the shelves Liam had pointed out, resolutely refusing to look at the single ornately carved chair, a throne really, that could only be considered the “head” of the table. If it had one. But being circular…
* * *
Reading had started out über fun. With all the languages and stuff. But ten hours and twenty books later… Not so much.
She’d never read so many “thous” and “wherefores” in her life. Or horrible poetry. She shuddered. How those people had managed to get their work printed was beyond her. Way beyond. Apparently standards had been low back then.
Tory recognized an author or two as she perused, tugging books from the areas where Liam had requested she begin. Which turned out to be mostly metaphysical, specifically seers or whatever the hell they were called…clairvoyants, oracles, diviners…
So she read. And read.
Tory flipped through her notes, scanning page after page as she hunted for the words that poked at her mind. She pored through the notations and grabbed the book that held the original text, searching for the specific passage. Leaving the book open, she snatched another, repeating the process. Then another. And another.
Four were books spread before her, each of them in their own language, but all held the same prophecy.
There had to be another book. A tome that pointed to some other answer to the coming conflict. Like one that didn’t involve a guy who was, but wasn’t, dead and the end of humanity. According to the texts, the world would survive. It just wouldn’t have any humans left hanging around.
Tossing the books aside, she went to the shelves, picking through the volumes in search of another answer because she didn’t like the future laid out before her.
“I didn’t think you’d still be here.” Liam’s deep voice washed over her, touching places that hadn’t been stroked in years. Okay, she’d petted those parts herself, but she didn’t think that counted.
Tory turned toward him, admiring the barely constrained power within his body. Abandoning her books, and willing herself to forget about the stupid prophecy for a while, she approached him. He countered her journey, moving with lithe grace, feet not making a sound as he drew closer.
In five steps, his scent teased her. In ten, his body engulfed her. Liam’s arms wrapped around her, holding her close, and she sank into the feeling of being in his embrace.
Then the sweet, coppery tang of his blood reached her, and the beast that she’d come to recognize as her vampire pushed forward. Tory’s gums ached, and a sharp pain shot through her as her fangs descended. Wanting his blood was one thing, but then her body began craving him, too. Her pussy became heavy with desire, aching for Liam as her heat grew damp, preparing her for his invasion.
Wiggling against him, she stepped out of his embrace, putting a few feet between them. When he started to step closer, she held out her hand. “No, you got hurt and… Are you okay?”
Liam’s brow furrowed. “It was just a scratch.” He beckoned her. “Let’s go upstairs.” His blood red eyes bore into her. “Otherwise, I’m not gonna stop.”
“Liam,” Tory didn’t care that she was whining. Having him so close, the flavors of his blood teasing her, she wouldn’t be able to resist him for long. She’d appreciated him setting the pace until then, calling a halt when things had gotten hot and heavy by the river, but any control she might have had over her bloodsucking side was quickly racing away. He’d teased her before he left and now she wanted him to follow through on his unvoiced promises.
In a breath, her nipples were hard and aching, begging to be stroked and pinched. Her clit throbbed and longed for his tongue. Hell, her pussy wanted in on the action, too. Her sheath rippled in awareness, more than ready to be filled.
A growl was her only warning. Suddenly Tory was in his arms, cuddled close as his lips captured hers. Earlier, he’d tormented her with gentle caresses and teasing flicks.
This time he ravaged her.
Liam shoved his tongue between her lips, swept into her mouth and stroked her. She mimicked his movements, dancing with him and taking pleasure from his possession. Arousal, blinding hot, slammed into her like a train, dragging her along in its wake. His arms were wrapped around her like steel bands, holding her close and then closer still.
Liam’s scent surrounded Tory, not just the seductive musk, but his blood… God, his blood tempted her inner vampire, tormented it with the coppery sweetness that lurked beneath his skin.
With the next advance she nicked his lip, and heaven coated her tongue. A fierce shudder, a pre-cursor to her orgasm, had her jerking in his embrace, moaning against his lips.
She wanted more. Much, much more.
The scrolls’ warning danced through her mind, but she couldn’t hold back. Not when the enticing flavors taunted her. She sucked his tongue, scraping the muscle with a single fang, and she relished the moan that vibrated through his chest. She rose to her tiptoes, searching for his essence.
More. Need.
Without warning, Liam ripped his lips from hers, tak
ing away what she craved.
“Liam.” Tory couldn’t suppress the need that entered her voice.
The vampire rested his forehead against hers. “Victoria… I wanted to go slow. Sex, eventually. But no blood, love.”
She snarled at his words, her vampire raging against his decision.
Liam’s hands stroked her back, and she felt the tension in her muscles ease, but that need… Her need still thundered through her body. Her heart hammered at her rib cage as if trying to rip free of her chest. The arousal he’d stoked forced heat through her veins, and she didn’t just want his blood, she needed it like air. The hint of ecstasy he’d shown her was yet unfulfilled, and the vamp bitch wasn’t having it.
Fuckity fuck fuck. This wasn’t her. This wasn’t Victoria Lynn Price, total über geek, near virgin chick. This was…super horny girl. She could be a super hero. “Super Horny Girl to the rescue! Able to climb onto her vampire’s dick in a single bound!”
Okay, not so much.
But she could shred his clothes. Super strength had its benefits.
“No eventually.” She gripped his shirt and yanked, the cotton parting like butter.
Liam’s hands covered hers, his eyes blood red and seeming to glow. “I’m giving you time here. Don’t push me, Victoria. I’m holding on by a thread. I know I teased you, but—”
Tory didn’t let him finish. She just reached for the button on his jeans and tugged, popping the button off and then ruining the zipper. Now a good bit of his cock was bared to her gaze. And what a cock it was.
He sprang free of the confines, long and thick, the tip glistening with pre-cum. She’d never seen anything more beautiful. Her first time had been after prom in the back of a car. Then there’d been porn she’d watched showing guys trying to be sexy and doing nothing but looking like idiots.
Tory wanted to stroke his cock, learn the lines and ridges of his shaft, pet him until he ca—