Nikoli marveled at her. An all-or-nothing woman. She gave all to her Loups, all in her kisses, in her passion. Gave her all to anything she wanted or demanded. And she slipped effortlessly from one compulsion to the next as if no distance varied the desire.
Remembering that he’d seen her Loups only moments ago, Nikoli reluctantly removed his lips from hers. “We can’t. Not here, not now. Not this way.”
Viv groaned and the sound quickly took on the tone of a low growl. She crossed her arms in front of her, grabbed the bottom of her sweater and quickly pulled it up and over her head. Then she reached behind her back and unhooked her bra, letting it drop from her breasts and arms and fall into her lap.
Her breasts were perfect. Full, firm. Her nipples dark and hard.
“Yes,” she said, her voice low and husky. “Here. Now. And this way.”
Before Nikoli had the chance to respond, she swung her legs about and sat astride his lap. She pressed her body against him, grabbed a handful of his hair and lowered his head down to her breasts.
Where they were and why they were there became lost to Nikoli. He inhaled the delicacy of her skin, her undeniably erotic scent—lilac with an earthy undertone. A scent that would drive any man crazy, making him beg for more.
He cupped her breasts, rolled her nipples between his forefingers and thumbs, tugged on them gently until she threw her head back and moaned with desire. Nikoli turned his head to her left breast and flicked his tongue over the nipple, nipping at it gently with his teeth. He took his time before turning his attention to her other breast. The heat from her, from between her legs, penetrated his body. A scorching fire that refused to be denied.
Nikoli struggled with not taking her right then and there. Her hands were still tangled in his hair, and she pulled hard, forcing him to look up at her.
“I need you,” she murmured. “I need you inside of me.” She held on to his hair with one hand and reached down between his legs with the other, searching for the fly on his jeans.
Nikoli gritted his teeth, reached down, grabbed her wrist and held tight. He looked deeply into her eyes. “Not—this—way,” he said, his voice low and gravelly.
The smallest of whimpers escaped Viv. “Yes—this—way.”
Unable to resist her, Nikoli leaned forward, pushing Viv gently onto her back. She unfurled her legs so her body lay flat on the brush beneath them. Her eyes were bright with hunger and need.
Nikoli swung both of his legs to one side of her and knelt near her waist. He leaned over, put his lips to her right ear, kissed behind it, beneath it and let his tongue slide down her neck. He bit into her flesh ever so gently.
The groan that escaped her sounded animalistic, feral. It injected his own desire with adrenaline that made Nikoli want to rip off the rest of her clothes and shove the hardness throbbing behind his jeans deep within her without any preamble. But this wasn’t about him and his needs. Everything was about Vivienne. He longed to satiate the hunger within her more than he desired the air he breathed.
Lowering his mouth to her breasts again, Nikoli forced himself to slow his pace, take his time as he licked and caressed her breasts. Her moans echoed throughout their cocoon.
He slid his tongue down her sternum to her belly while his fingers worked the button loose on her jeans and lowered the zipper.
As he licked down the length of her belly and back up again, he worked her jeans and panties off one hip, then the other and tugged them off her buttocks. Viv had already kicked off her sneakers and she began working the jeans down lower with her feet until she’d freed herself from pants and panties.
Nikoli didn’t have to touch her to know she was wet, swollen and ready. He smelled the sweet musk of her and moaned as he lowered his head to the core of her heat. He pressed the tip of his tongue between the slit that held the fire that raged within her. The heat emanating from her amazed him, devoured him.
As he pushed his tongue in deeper, tasting her sweetness, Viv arched her back and lifted her hips. He knew what she wanted, but he knew what she needed.
He let his nose graze over her clit, and she bucked up against him.
“Yes!” she cried.
Keeping his tongue at her center, he pushed it inside of her slowly. In and out. Lapping up all she had to offer. He purposely stayed away from the swollen nodule that would cause her to explode beneath him.
Not yet.
Viv arched her back again and lifted her hips, a sure sign that she wanted, needed more. He worked his tongue inside her. In and out. In and out. In. Out.
When Nikoli felt she could bear no more, he quickly replaced his tongue with his right middle finger and covered her swollen pearl of pleasure with his mouth, his tongue flicking over it again and again. His other hand cupped her buttocks, lifting her hips higher and he drove his finger in deeper. Her heat became fluid, flowing out of her body and over his hands. She cried out loudly and shuddered with the violence of her orgasm. He lowered his mouth, dipping his tongue into the hot lava that flowed from her.
When her gasps became short pants, Nikoli sat back on his knees, lowered the zipper of his jeans and released the hardness that had been causing him physical pain for some time. He leaned over her, allowing the tip of it to press against the hot, wet opening of her. He kissed her and she greedily sucked on his lips, nipped them with her teeth, shoved her tongue into his mouth.
Nikoli entered her gently, a fraction of an inch, then pulled back until the tip rested against her heat once more.
Viv released her mouth from his, arched her back, thrust her hips upward, trying to drive the remaining length of him inside her. But he held back.
“More!” she cried, arching her back, her neck.
Slowly, purposely, he lowered himself into her. Each time she thrust her hips up to him, he’d pull back. Only when her buttocks rested in his hand did he push deeper inside her.
He heard his heart pounding in his ears, his body demanding more, feeling ready to implode if he didn’t act quickly.
When he could take no more, Nikoli thrust the remaining length of his hardness into her. “Yes!” Viv screamed, then wrapped her legs around his waist, her hips meeting him thrust for thrust.
It took mere seconds before her body shuddered and she cried out with release. She bathed him over and over with sweet, hot lava, her body contracting around him, pulling on him as if she needed the whole of him inside her.
Only then did Nikoli allow his own release. He groaned with the intensity of it, was blinded by it, and he called out her name.
“Vivienne...”
When his own body stopped convulsing, he lay atop her, putting a hand to the ground on either side of her body to minimize his weight. He whispered in her ear. “Vivienne—my Vivienne.”
Moments later, she lay in his arms, her head resting against his chest. Nikoli held her tightly, stroked her hair and before he realized what was happening, he found himself silently mouthing the words, I love you. Although he hadn’t said it out loud, those were words he’d never even considered saying to another woman.
Slightly unnerved by his emotions, he kissed the top of her head. Ever so slowly, his mind and body began to take on the weight of the responsibilities that awaited him. He kissed the top of her head again and was about to tell her it was time to get dressed when he caught the sudden scent of cloves. His arms tightened around her and he sniffed the air to make certain.
Cloves.
He hadn’t been mistaken. It held only a hint of sulfur, which meant the Cartesians were working their way into the third dimension through some rift nearby.
Viv pushed away from him abruptly and sat bolt upright. “Cloves,” she said.
“You smell it, too?”
“Yes.” Viv scrambled for her clothes. Not bothering with her bra, she yanked her sweater over h
er head and wiggled into her jeans. She grabbed her sneakers and shoved her feet into them.
Nikoli pulled up his zipper and righted the clothes on his own body. When she finished dressing, he got to his hands and knees and crawled quickly toward the opening of their cocoon. Viv followed closely behind.
The closer they got to the opening, the stronger the sulfur scent grew. The smell of cloves became overwhelming, mixing with the sulfur, both growing thicker, heavier by the second.
When Nikoli broke free of the opening, he turned back to Viv. “Stay in there!”
“Screw that,” she said and popped out from the opening.
Nikoli didn’t have time to argue with her. The smell of the Cartesians was so strong that he knew the rift had already been opened. Lightning streaked across the sky and a clap of thunder shook the ground.
He reached for his scabior and realized it wasn’t in its sheath. Shocked, he glanced down to make certain. No scabior.
Puzzled, he looked over at Viv, who stood beside him on the right. No scabior in her hands.
“What the hell,” he said. “Viv—”
“I smell it, I smell it!” she cried. “Where are they? What direction?”
Thinking the scabior might have fallen from its sheath when they’d crawled through the cocoon or during the heat of their lovemaking, he shouted at Viv over another clap of thunder. “Stay put! My scabior!”
He quickly ducked back into the cocoon, crawling as fast as he could. The flashlights were still burning brightly inside. Three quarters of the way into the cocoon he found his scabior. Grabbing it, Nikoli put it between his teeth, then hurried back to the opening as fast as his hands and knees would allow.
When he reached the opening, he found Viv standing nearby. He jumped to his feet and spotted a wide, black opening in the sky to his left. He took the scabior from his mouth and held it out in front of him. He heard howling, yipping and roars of fury coming from the Loup Garous inside the compound. Another streak of lightning and Nikoli looked up at the sky. A second rift had formed off to the right, and it yawned open right before his eyes.
“Get behind me,” he shouted at Viv over the howling and thunder.
She did as she was told, and he aimed the scabior at the wider of the two rifts above them. He walked slowly to his left, holding the scabior up and out. It only made sense that the slit he was aiming for had been worked over longer by the Cartesians. He was sure this would be where they’d make their first appearance.
He zeroed in on the rift, allowed his breathing to grow shallow. Concentrated.
It was then he heard Viv’s loud scream.
Nikoli whirled about just in time to see a Cartesian hanging out of the smaller rift. It swung its gigantic claws toward them. Viv appeared frozen in place.
With a roar, Nikoli ran, then dove, tackling Viv and dropping her to the ground. But he’d been a second too late for her to go unscathed. The Cartesian’s claws swiped across Viv’s left arm, shredding her sweater and leaving long gashes in her flesh.
Shaking with fury, Nikoli quickly got to his feet, aimed the scabior, twisted his wrist twice, twirled the scabior between his fingers at the speed of light, then took aim again. A bolt of lightning shot from the bloodstone and hit the Cartesian in the head. It folded over with a high-pitched screech, and its body jerked back into the rift.
Nikoli stood his ground, concentrated, putting all his effort into sending the son of a bitch as far away as he could. If possible, he would’ve jumped into that hole and beat the bastard into a bloody pulp. He heard a pop, then a second. More high-pitched screeching.
A third pop, then a fourth—fifth. The screeching grew muffled.
Nikoli let his anger rage, wanting to push the electrical charge from the bloodstone farther. He heard a sixth pop, then a seventh. Only then did the second rift in the sky zip close. The first immediately followed suit.
Drawing in a shaky breath and half-dazed, Nikoli looked about for Viv. She wasn’t where he had left her.
Panicked, he called out for her, “Vivienne!”
When she didn’t respond, he took a step to start hunting the compound for her and tripped over something.
Flailing, Nikoli caught his balance and looked down to see what had been in his way.
It was Viv.
Lying lifelessly on the ground near his feet.
Chapter 21
Startled from a nightmare, Arabella Matthews sat up in bed and glanced at the clock that sat on a nightstand near her bed. It was a little after 11:00 p.m.
The nightmare had been so vivid it was as if she’d been living it right here and now. Arabella rubbed the heel of her hands over her eyes to scrub away sleep. The dream had involved the Triads, she remembered that. Something...something about one of the Triads hurt? No...dying. One of them had been seriously injured and died.
The Benders had been in her dream, as well. Four of them. And they’d been fighting so many Cartesians she couldn’t count them all. Huge, terrible beasts with one mission. To kill and conquer.
Arabella remembered that in the nightmare, she’d stood in the midst of the chaos, along with Taka and Vanessa. Spells. They’d tried so many spells. Binding. Protection. Submission. Nothing worked. Taka screamed. Vanessa cried. She had done both. The dream had felt too real to be a coincidence, which forced Arabella out of bed. She had to let the other two Elders know about it. Something had to be done, although she was clueless as to what.
She walked into Vanessa’s room and shook her awake.
“Mmm, stop...” Vanessa said groggily. She opened one eye and peered up at Arabella. “What?” Evidently seeing something in the Elder’s expression, Vanessa sat up quickly. “What’s wrong? Has there been another attack?”
“I don’t think it’s happened yet. I had a dream. A nightmare. It felt too real to ignore. We need to gather and discuss it. It’s important. You wake Taka. I’ll go into the kitchen and get water boiling for tea.”
As Vanessa scrambled out of bed, Arabella hurried off to the kitchen, filled the kettle with water and placed it on the stove. As she woke more fully, the dream didn’t dissipate. The details remained vivid. Too vivid. It made her anxious and sweaty.
By the time Arabella had set china saucers and cups steeping with chamomile tea on the table, Vanessa came into the kitchen, wearing a white robe over her white, floor-length flannel nightgown. Her silver satin slippers whispered quietly across the hardwood floors.
Taka followed close behind, her white hair sticking up in wild, tangled tufts. She wore gray sweatpants, an orange, flannel hoodie and green socks with yellow smiley faces on her feet.
The two Elders sat at the kitchen table. Small and circular, it seated four and was where they usually ate breakfast. Arabella needed small, comfortable and familiar. The kitchen table was their usual meeting spot when the three of them needed to discuss Circle of Sisters issues or occurrences in the city that might affect them. Sharing her dream in a larger room would have made her voice echo. Just the thought of that put Arabella’s last nerve on edge.
“What’s going on?” Taka asked, then yawned. She took a quick sip of tea. “Vanessa said you had a bad dream. Is that why we’re meeting?”
“I already told you what happened and why we’re here,” Vanessa said with a huff. “Don’t you ever pay attention?”
Taka rolled her eyes and sipped tea again. “I pay plenty of attention.” She turned to Arabella. “You sure your dream wasn’t from indigestion? You know, from the pot roast we ate earlier tonight?”
“I’m sure,” Arabella said. Before she could get another word in edgewise, Vanessa rapped the table with her knuckles.
“Look here, missy,” Vanessa said to Taka. “I cooked that pot roast, and it was quite delicious if I do say so myself.”
“A little too much
salt if you ask me,” Taka said, and rubbed sleep from her right eye.
Arabella held up a hand to silence both of them. “Stop bickering. Yes, I did have a bad dream, Taka. A nightmare. Only I don’t think it was just a dream. I feel it was a warning.”
“What kind of warning?” Vanessa asked. “What did you see?”
“I saw the Triads in dire straits. One of them was killed.”
Taka gasped loudly and her teacup clattered onto its saucer. Tea sloshed over the cup.
“Dead?” she asked. “Not just injured, but dead?”
“My word, how horrible!” Vanessa said and picked up her cup of tea. Her hands trembled so badly, she set the cup back on the saucer, then folded her hands on the table.
“I know,” Arabella agreed. “I also saw Originals running through the city. All of them out of control because the Triads were fighting for their own lives. The three of us were in the nightmare, too.”
“Including me?” Taka asked, wide-eyed.
Arabella nodded. “It was as if the entire city of New Orleans was in a panic and no matter what we tried, we couldn’t affect any change. None of our spells worked, not one incantation. In the dream, it felt like we were...unplugged.”
“The dream sort of makes sense when you think about what the Triads told us when they came here,” Vanessa said.
“Yeah,” Taka agreed. “Things weren’t exactly okay. So what do we do? Do you have any ideas at all?” she asked, turning to Arabella.
Arabella sighed. “The only thing I can think of is putting all we’ve got into one big protection spell. Wrap it around the Triads.”
“Hell, we need to wrap it around the city,” Taka said.
“What about the Benders?” Vanessa asked. “Should the protection spell include them?”
Arabella pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I’m at a complete loss when it comes to the Benders,” she said. “I don’t know if putting a protection spell around them will somehow negate their powers and effectiveness in fighting the Cartesians. And frankly, and sad to say, I don’t think I want to take the chance.”
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