by Moore, E. M.
“Can I call them in now? I don’t want to put the bandage on it before they’ve seen it.”
“Please,” I said, grinning from ear-to-ear. He helped me out of the chair and then went into the other room to get the guys. I turned with my opposite shoulder toward them so neither one could sneak a peek before the other. Finally, they were all in the room and looking at me with varying degrees of interest. “Ready?”
They all nodded.
I turned, holding my arm out for them to see.
“Wow,” Nic said, his eyes widening just a little.
They all came closer. Stephan’s eyebrows were practically in his hair. Connor’s grin matched my own. I searched out Christian. He was closer than the others, inspecting it. “That’s…cool. I admit it,” he finally said.
“Yeah?”
“It’s beautiful,” he said. He winked at me, leaving the last part unsaid. Just like you.
Nic started talking to Jared about his own tattoo ideas while the other three still stared down at mine. “Four vines?” Stephan asked.
“Four,” I said. “No more, no less.”
“I get why you wanted it now,” Christian said. “I might even scar my body for something like that.”
“It was already scarred,” I said, pushing him lightly in the shoulder.
Connor touched the outline. “It’s perfect,” he said.
“I agree.”
Nic came over and threw an arm around my shoulder, careful not to touch my sensitive skin. “Ready to head to the pizza place?”
We agreed and then waited as Jared patched me up like he said he would while he gave me strict instructions on how to take care of my tattoo.
When we left, Stephan shook his head. “Forget all that. I’ll just rub some of my salve on you. You’ll be fine. I bet it heals right away.”
I had no doubt about that. That stuff worked wonders.
Nicolai squeezed the back of my neck. “Don’t think I didn’t get the context behind the tattoo, Ri. I love it. Amazing choice.”
I smiled up at him. His eyes glittered.
We all piled into the Jeep and I took a moment to just sit back and take this for what it was, a perfect moment. We were all happy, laughing, joking. They knew how much they meant to me and I knew how much I meant to them.
Life was good.
The end
1
We circled one another. Sweat rolled down my back and pooled at the base of my spine. Every nerve ending I had was hyperaware of what was going on around me, but mostly in front of me. Every time he twitched, I reacted. He would feint, and I would counter. It was a crazy chess match of epic proportions.
Ever since Kay captured me to hold me as some sort of ransom against the Ravana princes, they amped my training up by oh, a few hundred notches. The princes never said anything. They didn’t need to. My performance during the kidnapping was abysmal. I was ashamed of myself. Here I was supposed to have been guarding the most important people alive not only in the vampire world, but my own precious world, and I failed miserably. Instead of kicking ass and taking names, I folded under the pressure. And to the horror of all horrors, my charges—my princes—had to save me. Christian nearly died trying to save me, and Stephan? Well, Stephan was irrevocably changed from what he’d had to do. Even now when I looked at him at different times, I could tell he was thinking back on what happened. Remembering gripping Kay’s shoulder and chin and twisting in the most finite way. He’d broken her neck. It didn’t matter to him that he’d had to. He’d still taken a life when he’d devoted his time and abilities to protect people, not the other way around.
He should’ve been pissed at me. I should’ve been the one to break her neck. Not him. The look on his face would inevitably sour my gut with guilt. I was the reason Stephan Ravana would never be the same.
A long, feline-like arm snatched out, but I batted it away before it could make contact. Dark hair fell in front of his face, drawing my attention to his hard lines, the cheekbones that couldn’t have been more jaw-dropping if they were sculpted by Michelangelo himself, and the most intense pair of dark eyes. It was Nicolai Ravana’s eyes that always got me. They sucked me in willingly as if I’d jump through a plate of glass just to see what was on the other side.
His arm came around again straight for my face. This time, it broke through my defenses. Well, my non-defense considering all I’d been doing was staring into his eyes.
“Focus,” he grunted. “You lost focus.”
I clenched my teeth together and bore down. I always wanted to snap back with, ‘You try focusing in front of you.’ It was damn near impossible. It was only mere coincidence that the rest of them weren’t here. There’d be no way I could concentrate then. When I was around the princes now, it was ten times more intense than before. Though I felt all the guilt for not having protected them, I also felt this exhilarating rush at still having them around. We’d been given a gift of more time. I’d thought we lost Christian, and for that brief moment, I didn’t even know who I would be in this world anymore if he was gone. Since that hadn’t happened, I was a never-ending flow of hormones. Highs, lows, you name it, I felt it. Every time they touched me now, I couldn’t breathe. I kept waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under us again, but before that happened, I wanted to make the most of it—the most of whatever this was between us all that made my heart beat like crazy and heat simmer in my lower stomach.
A slap caught me on the shoulder, and I zeroed in on my opponent again.
Nicolai dropped his stance and sighed. “You lost your concentration. Come on, Ri. This isn’t a game.”
Didn’t he know I was all too aware of that? I groaned inwardly, chastising myself. The last thing I wanted was for them to think I wasn’t putting my all into this. I had a lot to atone for. No more Ravanas were getting hurt on my watch—physically or mentally.
I motioned for him to put his hands back up and bit back all the excuses I had in my head. When it came to their safety, there were no such things as, ‘You’re too distracting’, or ‘I’m literally on fire over here. Have a little consideration.’ No. Nothing else mattered but them.
Instead of waiting for him to attack, I knuckled down and came forward. I bobbed to the right and then slid left with a hook to his midsection. He parried it away easily.
“Again,” he ordered.
I circled him, not trusting myself to look at his face. Instead, I looked directly at the center of his chest, watching his extremities for movements that might give his thoughts away. He stepped to his right, and I immediately moved in, trying to kick his leg out from underneath him. He planted his foot on the mat as if my kick didn’t even faze him.
“Good,” he said. “Again.”
Good? I hadn’t done what I’d tried to do. That was a fail in my book. What if this wasn’t Nicolai standing across from me, but someone who was trying to get to him? Then what would I do?
I closed in, faking a punch to his face, and then going for the low kick again. This time it connected better, and he stumbled. My eyes widened in awe right before I moved in again, not wanting to give him the chance to recover. I’d actually gotten in on him. I jumped forward.
Too late. His feet were already planted firmly back into his fighting stance. I only succeeded in running right into a statue; his base holding strong. He grabbed my forearms, and we struggled back and forth for a little while before he pulled me in to drop a chaste kiss to my forehead and then shoved me back.
A groan ripped from my chest. A devilish smirk turned the corner of one of Nic’s lips. “Again,” he said, waving me forward.
Frustration curled in my stomach now. Why wasn’t I good enough? They’d chosen me, and I was going to fail again.
I tipped my chin down and let the anger consume me. It lit my body up like a Christmas tree.
“That’s it,” Nicolai said. The smirk dropped from his face quickly as we started to circle around each other once more. He lifted his hand to move his
dark hair away from his eyes. I thought I’d seen an opening, but he was so lightning quick. His fist was back in fighting stance right before my brain registered there was an opening. With reflexes like that, how could I ever win?
I shook my head. Vampires weren’t the only ones with abilities, I reminded myself. What about a woman whose very life depended on the safety of others? Now she could be a queen at these kinds of things. I twisted to throw a sidekick, but at the last second, drove forward and went for the takedown. After a second, Nicolai and I were freefalling through the air until my head slammed against his rock-hard chest. There wasn’t enough time to be dazed. I postured up to bring my legs in, but he was already throwing his legs around my middle, holding me solidly in his guard, his fingers wrapped around my arm.
I clenched my jaw together and yanked my arm up, but it was futile. I groaned in frustration again, willing away the heat that crept behind my eyes. “Again,” I said, trying to pull away.
A dark grin pulled at Nicolai’s lips. “I’m actually a fan of this position.”
I took stock of us, opening my mind to the bigger picture. Nicolai squeezed his legs and brought me back down to his chest. I sucked in a breath.
Our chests were pressed against one another’s, and there were other alignments as well. Ones that made me blush as I became aware of the hardening underneath me. I looked up to stare at Nic. His eyes were open now, his usual hard stare was questioning, pelting me with softness and sincerity. I melted into him, practically lying on his chest like a baby. He relaxed his leg grip on me, planting his feet on the floor, and then he pulled me through until my legs straddled his hips.
Our gazes collided. His chest heaved against mine. “I like this position better,” he said thickly with that same husky voice that usually got my blood boiling.
This time was no different. His hard length pressed into my lower stomach. I couldn’t form words. All rational thought flew out the gym window. It didn’t matter that we were at The Fort gym, or that we were in the building that Samuel and other vampires frequented who could walk in whenever they wanted. No, that didn’t matter. What mattered was the intimacy, the proof of Nicolai’s feelings for me not only pressed against me, but all too raw in his eyes.
His throat worked. “Ri…”
The breath whooshed out of my chest. His gaze was like molten lava, feeding me heat in the most sensitive places. I relaxed my hips, wanting more of this with him.
His head fell back against the mat and he groaned. “You win. You’ll always win.” His grip on my wrist loosened, and he reached up to slide his fingers over my head to the base of my neck. “I think I need to switch off with one of my brothers. I’m too far gone.”
He pulled himself to a sitting position and pulled my legs up to wrap around his middle until I was basically sitting in his lap. We were face-to-face now, his gaze searing into mine. “I-if you think that’s best,” I said.
Really, it wouldn’t make a difference to me. I was still a goner no matter which one of the princes offered to help me train. I’d still want to be in this same, close position, our bodies lining up in the best way imaginable.
His forehead drifted to my shoulder as he took a deep, steadying breath. I knew how he felt. That was usually my routine.
I reached up to run my hands through his damp hair. We’d been training for hours; sweaty, messy, our bodies tuned in to one another. This was when it was hardest to control everything I felt for them. This was when dirty thoughts crept into my brain and set up shop as if there was a devil whispering in my ear.
I shifted in his lap and then paused as a moan passed between each of our lips. Nicolai nipped at my neck. “For the love of God, please stop. We’re being stupid.”
He was so right, but so was this. I tipped his chin up and pressed a kiss to his lips. Not the chaste kind, the kind where I tried to make him feel everything I was feeling. Every pass of my lips was a reminder of what we’d been through. Every stroke of my tongue was a promise to do better. Every pause was asking for more and being rewarded when he gave it all back to me and then some.
I held on tight as he maneuvered me to my back; his expansive chest pressing down into mine. He had the upper-hand now, and I loved every second of it. His hips sunk lower, and I tried to gasp, but his mouth was still on mine. I had to keep everything inside, every last moan, whimper, and feeling simmered inside me like a pressure cooker until I thought I would burst.
Then, he wasn’t there anymore. The pressure released, and he was halfway across the room before my mind caught up with my body. I frowned over at him, but that’s when I heard the footsteps coming from across the gym.
I moved to a sitting position, my breathing irregular and short, though that could’ve been just as easily chalked up to training, but the flare of red in my cheeks probably couldn’t. I ran my hands down my face and tucked any flyaway hairs that escaped my ponytail around my ears while I collected myself.
“Nicolai,” a masculine voice said.
I cringed realizing it was Samuel. If he’d come in any earlier, or if he’d heard anything, we were so in trouble.
“And Ariana,” he said, his voice curt as usual.
I gave a small wave not trusting myself to look any further than his knees.
“Yes, Samuel,” Nic said. His voice didn’t betray any of the emotions that had just been swirling around in here. I peeked up at him and shook my head. Neither did his face. He looked as perfect as he always did. Calm, collected features shaped his countenance that almost appeared indifferent and cold if you didn’t know him. Basically, he looked the opposite of every feeling rushing through my body right now. “What can we do for you?”
“You need to come to the main house immediately. Council business.”
Nicolai nearly rolled his eyes. He respected his father and The Council, but he wasn’t as understanding of every little thing being acted on as if it were an emergency. “I will come when I complete Ariana’s training for today. We have—” He looked over at me, his lips pulling up in a sly smile. “—At least a few minutes left.”
If Samuel wasn’t here, I’d throw my shoe at Nic. Didn’t anyone ever tell him it wasn’t nice to tease? Especially after that scorcher of a kiss.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible. I was told to summon all the princes at once and Ariana as well.”
Nicolai’s face darkened, and his jaw tensed. He refrained from looking over at me even though I could tell his body was positively giving him hell for not cooperating. “Ariana?” he asked. “For what reason?”
My heart hammered in my chest. Since when did a trainee warrant anything to do with The Council? Until graduation, I was just a peon to them.
Samuel shrugged. “Unlike you, I’m not privy to Council business. A missive came from your father. I’m merely trying to fulfill his wishes.”
Nicolai’s gaze finally swept to me. Though I searched his gaze for any clues, I couldn’t tell anything from the shadows falling over his face. He was a harder read than the other princes on a good day. What did this mean for me? For us?
“Fine,” Nicolai said, grinning at Samuel. “We’ll be there shortly.”
The muscles in Samuel’s shoulders loosened, and he relaxed a little. I knew how he felt. Nic was a force to be reckoned with. “And Stephan?” Samuel asked. “I can’t find him.”
Nic’s gaze met mine for a brief moment. I wasn’t the only one worried about him. An agreement passed between us, and then Nic turned to Samuel. “Don’t worry. I’ll find him.”
I closed my eyes, the feelings of the last few minutes falling from me like a cheap dress. Poor Stephan.
Samuel’s footsteps retreated and Nicolai was in front of me once again. He pulled me to my feet and tipped my chin in the air. His gaze seared into mine. “He’s fine, Ri.”
I nodded dimly, but then his lips captured mine in one sweet, hot kiss. After pulling away, his hand kneaded into the base of my neck. He regarded me, his stare landing on diffe
rent areas of my face. My ears, my brows, my cheeks, and then finally my eyes. “We can’t afford to be stupid. No matter how much I want you.”
I gulped. He was right, of course. Samuel seemed to like me, and he respected the Ravanas, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t ruin our future together. In fact, he was one of the last people we would want to spy us. He wouldn’t hesitate to make sure I was sent as far away from the Ravanas as possible if he had even an inkling of the true feelings we had for one another. For all I knew, I was well on my way to guard a vampire clan hailing from Siberia if we all weren’t more careful.
2
I sent Nicolai ahead of me to the main house and walked through the courtyard to the tree I’d tried to use as an escape my first night here. I wasn’t sure if Christian had ever told Stephan what happened, but for whatever reason, Stephan had taken a liking to this tree. He’d sit under it for hours, most likely thinking about the one thing that gave me so much guilt. Sure enough, he was there with his head bent over so all I could see was his dark brown locks. God, he was handsome. I knew as soon as he looked up at me, his emerald eyes would be like the revolving lights of a lighthouse bringing me to safety. If only I’d been able to do the same for him.
He stiffened once he heard my footsteps in the grass, so I called out to him, “It’s just me.”
He relaxed once more. Out here near the barrier wall, the mesh canopy above us barely reached. The tree branches and leaves were the only things saving Stephan from the sun’s harmful rays. Though vampires had means to help shield them such as special long-sleeve shirts and hats, Stephan wasn’t wearing any of that. I hurried over next to him and then squatted, reaching my hand out to graze my fingertips over his beautiful skin. He immediately reached his own hand up to cover mine.