Lorcan frowned. Damn. Blythe had mated her nearly a year ago—what was the problem? The clairvoyant woman had made a deal with the devil, and she’d better keep up her end. She was what, a starving homeless artist when they found her? The gods certainly had a sense of humor requiring his superior race to mate with their own prey.
“Hm. Pity that. Well, we could always use you for the experiments.” Leather protested as Kalin shifted his weight. “Or I could knock you up. Blythe need never know.”
Her gasp preluded the sharp smell of sulfur that accompanied raw terror.
Lorcan rolled his eyes. “You’re dismissed. I’ll pour my own tea.” Now the little shit was offering to procreate with the mates of his soldiers. What was next?
Her muffled “Yes, sir,” barely made sound as she all but ran out the door.
“Jesus, Kalin. She almost spilled on my desk.” Lorcan leaned forward and poured tea into his cup, raising his eyebrow at his son.
“No, thanks. Tea’s not my thing,” Kalin said, his gaze on the door.
A warning tingle wandered down Lorcan’s spine. “She’s a mate, Kalin. You leave Lila alone.” That’s all he needed—a war among his own people. Killing was a fine sport, but as a future leader, Kalin needed to learn diplomacy. Strategy. “Plus, the mating allergy might kill you at your age.”
Kalin shrugged, settling back into the chair. “No worries. She’s not my type.”
“You’re fifteen. You have a type?”
“Yeah. Fighting mad and desperate. I’d be bored in two minutes with that bitch. We should use her for the experiments.” Kalin flashed his canines again. “Speaking of challenges, how did the conversation go with the king? I take it they have our females?”
Fury danced along Lorcan’s spine. “Yes.”
“Hmm. Well, we’d better get going on the experiments. You know one of the Kayrs will mate the mother.”
Bastards. “I know. We’ll get to her before that.” Lorcan took a sip of the tea, and orange spice exploded across his taste buds.
“Maybe.” Kalin rubbed his chin. “I’ve always wondered why they only get one mate. I mean, if one of ours dies, we can just get another to give birth.”
Lorcan shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s their biggest weakness.”
“Or, their biggest strength,” Kalin said, pursing his lips.
Perhaps. Lorcan took another gulp. “Though, we have had Kurjans mate for life.”
“But you didn’t.” The purple in Kalin’s eyes swirled with the green. “With my mother, I mean.”
“No,” Lorcan agreed, a pit lodging in his stomach. “Though I didn’t kill her, Kalin.” He wondered if Kalin would’ve engaged in his extracurricular activities if his mother had lived. Had shown him the love of a female, if the worthless bitch had been capable of it. Not that Lorcan gave a shit. But, if the hunt, if the killing, overshadowed the war at hand, then Kalin must stop.
“I know. She killed herself the day after birthing me.” No emotion showed on the young man’s face. Maybe he had no real emotions.
“Yes, Kalin.” And it worked out—now Lorcan could mate the Paulsen woman. “Your mother was a whore I took off the streets of Dublin.” But a gifted one and not just with her mouth. “How are your psychic abilities coming along?”
Kalin shrugged. “Well enough to know that my young mate won’t be captured.”
That was unacceptable. Kayrs couldn’t hide the child forever. “You’re wrong; we’ll acquire your mate.”
Kalin hissed out a breath. “I already told you—I don’t want her acquired yet.”
Shaking his head, Lorcan sipped more tea. “Of course you do. If we get the child now, you’ll have time to train her—to teach her our ways.”
Standing and heading toward the door, Kalin turned. “I don’t want her trained, father.”
Lorcan paused with the cup halfway to his mouth. “That’s ridiculous. Why in the world would you want her to grow up with the vampires, rebellious and independent?”
“So I can break her.”
Chapter 9
The rain drummed an idle pattern on the roof while Talen tangled his fingers in his wife’s silky hair, the scent of lilacs surrounding him. His wife. He had always figured he’d be the last of the brothers to mate, not the first. Or rather, the second. He rarely remembered that Conn had mated nearly a century ago, since the dumbass hadn’t seen the woman in that long. Talen stretched in surprising contentment and wondered at the gift he held. He was no stranger to sex, but never had he felt the merging and pure searing pleasure of the night before. He had told her in temper he would never let her go. He now knew that to be the full and absolute truth. “Mine,” he whispered quietly into the cozy cabin.
A distant explosion rent the air, and Cara awoke with a soft cry. She found herself curled on her side against Talen’s large and warm body, her hand flat over his heart while his fingers moved softly through her hair.
“It’s all right,” Talen’s sleep roughened voice whispered above her, and she lifted her head. God. He looked even more like an ancient warrior with a day’s growth of dark beard and golden eyes mellowed with sleep. The breath caught in her throat as her body came alive. Then his eyes deepened to liquid gold, and she exhaled on a gasp.
He leaned down and gently pressed his mouth against hers before lifting to study her face. “Are you all right?”
Heat spread over her cheekbones, and her lids closed to cover her eyes. “Yes, er, I’m fine.”
“Open your eyes, Cara.”
She looked up into deep gold. “I’m fine, really.” She ran a hand down her arm and pulled at the metal cuff still attached to her wrist. A burnished gold, it wrapped twice around like an ancient Egyptian armband she had once worn with her Cleopatra costume during Halloween. “I can’t take this off.”
Talen grinned. “I know. It’s my cuff. Only I can remove it.”
Seriously? Good thing it wasn’t a chastity belt, for Christ’s sake. “Is it gold?” She pulled at the warmed metal, frowning when it didn’t budge.
“There’s gold in it. A Shaman Alchemist created them for us brothers centuries ago as a gift to my mother. He figured she’d need help tracking the five of us.” Talen shifted onto his back and tugged her into his side, running a hand down her arm to clasp the cuff. “We can track each other anywhere in the world with it.”
“Can you put it on anybody?”
“Nope. The cuff goes on us or a mate.” His hand wrapped around her wrist, the gentle motion in such a strong man making her breath catch in her throat. “Or, in Conn’s case, it’s thrown in a drawer somewhere.”
“Conn’s a brother?” She shifted against Talen’s side, warmth pooling in her abdomen from his heat.
“Yep. He’s the fourth—pure soldier. My older brother, Dage, is always on Conn to wear it, but it’s a sticky subject, so …”
Cara tilted her head back to meet Talen’s golden gaze. “Why?”
Talen grimaced. “Conn accidentally mated the youngest daughter of an Irish Witchcraft High Priest about a century ago. The cuff belongs on her.”
Accidentally? How in the hell … “Oh.” Cara snorted. “You mean he had a one-night stand and ended up mated?” Not that she believed in this mating crap, but still. Served him right.
Talen’s full lips tipped up. “Close enough. Though, I do believe he’s given her enough time to come to grips with the situation.” Thunder bellowed in the distance, and a slight pattering sounded from the roof.
“Ah, a witch? Like a real witch?” Curiosity battled with Cara’s scientist’s mind.
“Yep. You’ll probably meet her soon. I wouldn’t be surprised if you had a sister-in-law to gripe with sometime soon.”
Unease swept through Cara. “Um, Talen. We should probably talk about this whole thing. I mean, it’s temporary, you know?” One just didn’t get married and mated after a couple hours of knowing somebody.
“Temporary, it is not,” he said, dropping his head to place
a smart kiss on her mouth. Thunder now pounded directly overhead. His eyes narrowed, and he rolled out of the bed, apparently unconcerned with his nudity. She couldn’t blame him. He was all smooth skin and hard packed muscle. Good God, a bite marked his left pec—one that matched her teeth. She fought a blush as he quickly donned his clothing and weapons from the previous day.
“Stay here, darlin’. I’m going to check out the cabin and make sure my surprises for the human gang-members finished the job.” He leaned over and gave her a hard kiss before heading for the door.
Cara waited until the door closed behind him before stretching in the big bed with a soft groan. She was tender everywhere. Her mind played scenes from the previous night like an old movie projector. Talen had alternated between wild sex and gentle seduction, leaving her relaxed and loose in the morning. And sore.
She had never considered herself a passionate woman. Her father had taught her early on that men weren’t to be trusted—the bigger they were, the harder they hit. She graduated high school a year early and immediately headed into college and graduate school. After losing her parents, she had thrown herself into her studies and concentrated on plants, not people; resulting in her being shy and a bit awkward. Her one sexual experience had been more of an experiment with her good friend and associate lab geek, Simon, who died in a car accident a mere month later, leaving her with the wonderful gift of Janie. Between motherhood and work, there had been nothing left. She smiled softly about her newfound knowledge—she could be a very passionate woman.
Cara lost her smile as she ran a finger over the already healing puncture wounds in her neck. His unique scent of spiced pine clung to her skin. She barely knew Talen; well, maybe she knew him quite a bit better than she had the previous night, but still, they weren’t even of the same species. He had claimed her on a primitive level she didn’t know how to define; she didn’t know how to protect herself from him. Even more, she knew he wouldn’t allow her to.
And that scared the hell out of her.
A crash of thunder outside made her jump and propel herself out of the bed to grab her clothing off the hardwood floor. She needed to be dressed when Talen returned. She paused in pulling on her underwear. “What the …” She twisted her torso to stare at her right hip. Her skin held the full imprint of fingers from a man’s hand. A large hand. She swiveled to see the connected palm on the backside of her hip with the intricate black crest settled in the middle. Was that a K? It was the perfect imprint of Talen’s hand as he had held her when he had bitten her. A marking on her ass.
“How?” she hissed as she poked at the imprint. It didn’t hurt. So it couldn’t be a burn. But she remembered how hot his hand had been, though her focus had admittedly been elsewhere.
The front door crashed open, and her mouth opened in shock at Talen.
“You branded me?” Fury greater than she would have thought possible swept through her and made her voice hoarse. Rage quickened her breath and sprang the nerves along her skin to life.
She was going to kill him.
Talen paused as the wind threw hard pebbles of rain inside the cabin before he stalked inside and slammed the door shut. “Not now darlin’. Get dressed, quickly. We have a problem.” He turned to peer outside the window, pushing a button on his watch.
“Dage, come in.” His voice was low and controlled, but the sense of urgency in the air had Cara throwing on her clothing. She’d kill him later.
“Dage here.” Tension crackled across the line.
“Are you at headquarters?” Talen peered into the drizzly grey day as Cara stared at his back.
“For a few more minutes. They’ve hit us in Texas, Canada, and Spain.”
“Shit. We’re at war.” Disgust coated Talen’s voice. “I need you to pull up satellite for my location and tell me how many Kurjans are in the area.”
“It’s daytime. There shouldn’t be any,” Dage said as the sound of typing came across the line.
“Tell that to the one I just killed,” Talen retorted. “Plus, it’s raining. No sun in sight.”
“Crap. A squad of five is about two miles southeast of your location.”
Talen nodded. “I killed the scout.”
Jesus. How many people had he killed? How often did he kill? Fear slumbered down Cara’s spine to settle below her ribs.
“I’ll send someone to you,” Dage responded.
“No need. We’ll head your way. You take care of Texas.”
Cara moved toward him with a soft sound of distress. Talen turned narrowed eyes on her. “Dage? How’s my daughter?” His eyes held her wide ones captive.
A male snort echoed over the line. “She’s now the proud owner of seven ponies. Though, she liked the one I gave her the most.” Pleased pride came clearly across the miles. “Tell your mate Janie’s safety is our highest priority. I’m leaving Jase and Brack with her while I’m in Texas.”
Talen’s brow furrowed in concern. “Brack? He’ll protect Janie with his life, but looking at him could give a sweet child like her nightmares for years.”
Dage chuckled. “Yes. Uncle Brack is currently learning how to make sprinkled iced cupcakes with your bewitching daughter.”
“Cupcakes? He’s the deadliest soldier I’ve trained—his frown is rumored to bring the devil.”
“She even has him wearing an apron.”
“What?” Talen grinned at Cara.
“It’s blue with white flowers,” Dage laughed out loud. “I’ll be in touch from Texas.” The line went dead.
Talen turned amused eyes on Cara. “Apparently our daughter has enthralled our soldiers.”
Cara’s eyes filled with tears. “We’ve never been apart, Talen.”
Talen’s gaze softened on his wife. “Then let’s get to her, darlin’.” He opened the door for her. A beat-up brown Chevy pickup with its engine running waited in the pelting rain.
After grabbing the plant, Cara ran through the deluge and jumped inside the truck to settle on a rough thunderbird blanket. She buckled her seat belt as Talen settled his large bulk and starting driving across the bumpy road toward the north. “We’ll keep heading northwest to meet some friends,” he murmured as the windshield wipers worked at top speed to clear the window.
“What about the Kurjans?” Cara scrutinized the trees before peering out the back.
Talen shrugged. “They’re a couple of miles behind us and at some point we should hit sunshine.” He turned toward her. “Can you sense them?”
“Of course not.” What was he talking about?
“I think you can, Cara.”
“That’s ridiculous.” She ignored the big rock in her stomach as she protested. “Whose truck is this?”
“I borrowed it from a neighbor.”
“Ah.” Cara’s mind reeled. “Who are Brack and Jase?”
“Jase is my youngest brother, and Brack is one of our soldiers. Janie couldn’t be any safer than she is right now.” He swore under his breath as he dodged falling branches from the pine trees surrounding them. “You can’t ignore your abilities forever, mate.”
Cara again ignored the subject. “You called her ‘our daughter,’” she said softly, her eyes on the muddying road as lightning lit the sky before them.
“Of course,” Talen said in surprise. “I meant what I said, Cara.”
“Where is she?” The softness had steel beneath it.
“She’s at our headquarters.”
Cara let out an irritated hiss of breath. “Where, Talen?”
He was quiet for a moment. “In the mountains around Boulder.”
“Boulder? Colorado?” She turned in surprise to his profile as a fierce wind beat against her window.
Talen nodded. “Yes. We like the mountains and the amount of sunshine ensures the Kurjans don’t visit.”
Cara thought a moment. “Boulder?” Her voice rose as fury slammed into her. “You couldn’t just take us there—I mean, without the ceremony?”
“You were mine t
he second I saw you.” His eyes didn’t leave the road.
“You didn’t need to marry me.” Her eyes searched for something to belt him with.
“I did. Besides, only mates may know the location of our headquarters—it was necessary to keep you safe.” He expertly maneuvered the large truck around a fallen tree, and its branches scraped the brown paint off with a shriek.
Anger caused her entire body to tremble. “How long will your damn handprint stay on my hip?” She needed to get her daughter the hell away from the vampires.
Talen turned surprised golden eyes her way. “I marked you, Cara. I told you I would.”
“How long, Talen?” she asked through clenched teeth. How could he sound so calm when every cell in her body burst with fury?
Talen shook his head, turning back toward the road and clenching his jaw. “It’s a marking, Cara. It’s permanent.”
“You son of a bitch.” She needed a weapon.
Talen wrenched the truck to the side before snapping it into neutral, and her heart surged to her throat. Silence echoed like thunder. He smoothly, deliberately shifted to face her. His eyes glowed a livid topaz in the dusky light, and the predator inside revealed himself.
Chapter 10
Mother Nature beat her fury against the rapidly fogging windows. Cara’s mouth turned to sawdust as Talen’s eyes blazed hot green sparks through dangerous gold. She reminded herself that she was right. And that he didn’t scare her.
Yet she almost yelped when he reached out and deftly unsnapped her seat belt. Reason gave way to survival as she grabbed the truck’s door handle with both hands and lifted up with all of her might. She didn’t make it. Two hands grasped her arms and hauled her across the seat to perch on his firm lap. The marking on one palm heated her arm. She slammed her own palms against his chest. He lowered his furious face to within an inch of hers.
“Apologize, wife.” His voice was low and controlled as were the hands gripping her arms. He wasn’t hurting her, and yet the rapid pounding of her heartbeat echoed in her head. Spicy pine and male musk filled the air.
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