“About that…since when does Drake have a queen? All the years I’ve known him he hasn’t had a mate.”
“It was a bit of a surprise to me too. I never figured he’d take a human for a mate.”
“You did.”
“I know.”
“No offense, Mica, but—”
“Caleb, you’re objecting like you have a choice. You don’t and you know it.”
“I know, don’t remind me. But I will add that no one said I had to be happy about it.”
“Keep it to yourself, and don’t let Drake hear you. By the way, there is another reason for you to be here.”
“Oh?”
“We’ve received word that Santana’s clan may be trying to overthrow Drake’s rule for New Orleans. We need everyone close by just in case.”
“Another vampire war. Hmmm…New Orleans has never seen a vampire war. This could get ugly. But a good fight could make my forced confinement worthwhile. Does that mean you too?”
“Yeah.”
“Does Dez know yet?”
“She and the queen went out, so, no, she doesn’t know yet.”
Caleb laughed into the receiver. “Dez is gonna be pissed.”
“Yeah, I know.”
***
Desiree sighed. “Sher, you haven’t said a word in the last twenty minutes and only picked at your lunch. I know how you must feel—”
Sherry’s mouth gaped. “You know how I feel?” she interjected. “I’m numb, so please tell me.”
“I know you’re depressed, but—”
“Depressed? What do I have to be depressed about?” She laughed and Desiree saw the fury in her eyes. “I just found out that I’m the fucking queen of the vampires, and I’m supposed to be depressed?” she nearly shouted.
“Keep your voice down.” Desiree glanced around the room and saw Sean glaring. “People will hear you.”
Sherry scowled. “Do you think I care if people hear me?”
“Sherry, please calm down,”
Sean rose from the booth and approached their table. “It’s time to go.”
“Go?” She glared at Sean. “Go where?”
“It is time to take you back, sire.”
She laughed mechanically. “Sire—you know that’s really funny, fucking hilarious in fact.”
Desiree was worried now. “Come on, Sher, he’s right. We need to go.”
“Go? With you?” She laughed again. “I don’t know where I’m going, but it certainly isn’t with either of you.”
“You’re coming with me,” Sean said calmly.
Sherry slid out of the chair and took a few steps back. “Like hell I am. Tell Drake he can kiss my a—”
“Sleep.” Sean interjected as he locked eyes with her. Sherry dropped into his arms. His cell phone rang as he hoisted her over his shoulder.
Desiree’s mouth gaped. “What did you do to her?”
“She’s in thrall,” he said as he fished his phone out of his pocket and answered it.
“Yes, sire…Your queen is unharmed, just unconscious… She was causing a scene and refused to return.” Sean glanced around the room. “As you wish, we are on our way.” The cell phone snapped shut.
He shifted Sherry’s weight on his shoulder then nodded to Desiree. “Drake said we need to return now.”
***
Sherry rolled over and snuggled closer to the warmth as she felt the cold prickly gooseflesh travel across her bare skin. In the dark, her hands felt around behind her for the covers and found none. Reaching out in front, her hands brushed across smooth hard abs. She yanked her hands back as if burned. Oh God, there’s someone in bed with me, her mind screamed. Where are my clothes? Her eyes flew open, but the pitch-black in the room made it impossible to see, adding to the fear gripping her heart. She had no idea where she was or how she got there. In that split second panic settled in. Run. Her heart hammered in her chest as she tried to scramble away, and strong hands pulled her back. “Drake?” she squeaked.
“Yes, vixen,” he said, pulling her across his chest and then wrapping his arms around her. He brushed his lips across her forehead as he spoke. “Calm your fears, it is only me.”
The deep, familiar, rumble of his voice washed over her, and a sense of peace calmed her soul as she relaxed in his arms. “Thank God…I can’t see…it’s too dark in here. I woke up not knowing where I am, how I got here, or who I suddenly found myself in bed with. I was praying it was you. I think the shock took a couple years off my life.”
“You are safe,” he said. “and where you belong.”
“Where are we? I’m cold.” She felt him shift and a soft comforter slid across them both. “Thank you.”
“You are in our chamber.”
“I don’t remember how I got here.”
He sighed deeply. “According to Sean you were trying to run from me.” She heard the sadness in his voice and it clutched at her heart. “He put you into a deep sleep and returned you to me.” His statements touched the very root of her fear, her loss of choice.
“So…you forced me back here. We need to talk.”
“I do what must be done. You belong with me.”
“I don’t have a say in all this?”
“You do, but the Fates have made their decision. Our ways and laws are as old as the threads of time and we are bound by them. The rules of our race allow us only one mate in a lifetime, and since we are immortal the choice of the mate is determined by the Fates. You were chosen at the time of your birth to be my mate.”
“Come on, Drake. You can’t tell me that you really believe all that crap. The year is two thousand and eleven, not seventeen eleven. Look at us. Look at yourself. You are perfect and I am…not. I am just me, plain ole Sherry.”
“I do not know why you always try to belittle yourself to me. I see you as a strong, desirable woman, worthy to be my queen and rule beside me. And yes, I do believe it. I know it to be true. You are the one that the Fates have chosen for me, and you are perfect to me.”
“How do you know, Drake? How do you know that I am the one? I mean, it just doesn’t make sense to me. I am very fond of you and you are very important to me. I definitely can’t deny the attraction to you. I just don’t see why you chose me. I’m nothing special. I’m afraid that one day I’ll wake up to find you gone because you finally realized that I’m a nobody.”
“You were never a nobody, little one. You are my chosen queen. But to answer your question, I know because we recognize our mates for the first time, not by face, but by scent. I knew the moment I crossed Mica’s threshold and caught your scent that I had found my mate. I consider myself very fortunate that you are beautiful as well.”
“But I’m not, and someday soon you will see it.”
“You are.”
“Okay, okay, for arguments sake I am…passable, I guess. What if I hadn’t been? If I had been ugly—”
“Your appearance wouldn’t have mattered, because the scents of our mates drive us to the point of obsession. I would have still claimed you…I would have had no choice. Our primal instinct takes over, and I wouldn’t have been able to fight it.”
She scoffed. “I find that hard to believe.”
“I don’t want to fight it, vixen.”
“I still don’t get it.”
“Sherry—”
“I’m not trying to argue, Drake, I’m trying to understand. As I said before, I’m just me. I’m nothing special. You claim that you think I’m beautiful—”
“You are,” he interjected.
“Let me finish. But then you claim looks have nothing to do with it. Well, if it’s not looks, then what is it?”
“It only took a small taste of your blood to confirm the signs and seal the bond. Your blood sings to me, little one, it sings to my soul. Its siren’s call drives me to the point of irrational thoughts. You are now mine forever, as I am now forever and always yours.”
“Forever?”
“Yes; through our bond
I will always sense where you are, what you’re feeling, and when I wish I will be able to read your thoughts. Once you’ve tasted my blood then you’ll be able to do the same. Our souls are now linked in such a way that we need each other to survive.”
“What do you mean, that we need each other to survive?”
“A vampire cannot survive without their mate. If one dies, the other soon follows.”
“So, the only reason I’m here now is because you can’t survive without me.”
Drake sighed heavily. “For reasons I cannot fathom, you do not deem yourself worthy of love. Although love is not a requirement for mated pairs, you are here now because I love you and cannot survive without you.”
Her heart raced. He loves me?
“I have loved you from the moment our eyes met.”
The darkness of the room was beginning to get on her nerves. She heard the candor in his voice, but wanted to see the sincerity in his eyes. Her heart wanted to believe him, but the years of being shunned by society for what she was had left its mark. Trust in another didn’t come easy to her. “You can’t love me. We haven’t known each other long enough, and for the record there is no such thing as love at first sight.” She felt Drake shift and slightly pull away.
“Come here, vixen.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to convince you of how I really feel.”
“How are you gonna do that?”
“Through our ways…vampire ways.”
“Huh?”
“You only need a small taste of my blood to seal the mental bond between us. The physical bond is already there.”
“I don’t…I mean…will it…ugh! Damn it, Sherry, just spit out a simple question.” She heard him laugh softly and smacked his arm playfully. “Stop laughing at me.”
“I will try. I already know your question because I can hear your mind screaming it through our bond. I will allow you the opportunity to voice it.”
“I’m not saying that I believe all that you’re telling me. I know you don’t lie; we’ve been through that one. I do trust that you believe what you are saying is true. I want to know, if I try what you are suggesting, will it change me? Will I become one of you?”
“You are already one of us.”
She took a sharp intake of breath. What? How?
“You are my mate, vixen, that makes you one of us; but no, you are not a vampire, and tasting my blood will not make you one.”
Relieved, she expelled her breath slowly. “Okay, convince me.”
He nipped at the sensitive spot at the nape of her neck, sending a ripple of need through her. “For our kind, mates typically exchange blood during sex.”
She sighed, snuggling closer, giving in to the intoxicating feelings, and felt herself grow wet. “Mmmm, go on.”
She heard the slight amusement in his voice as he continued. “It is a highly…erotic and a very addicting experience,” he said as he guided her hand to his engorged cock.
Keep laughing, sire, she thought. I may be new to this, but I will make you pay. She ran her fingers over the silken member, and with the other hand touched herself, aching at the mere thought of riding him hard and fast. His cock grew harder beneath her touch. She ran her hand down the length of him, rolling the heavy sack between her fingers, then back up to tease the head. I will make you ache for me as badly as I do for you.
“I’m not laughing at you, love, but I don’t believe that I’ll ever tire of your sense of humor. I enjoy your…eagerness. I can hear your thoughts, vixen, and for the record, I already do. You are playing with fire, teasing me with those thoughts.”
She smiled, knowing full well he couldn’t see her in the dark. “Good.” She didn’t really believe he could read her thoughts, although he was right on the mark about what she had been thinking. She sat up, then draped her leg across his body, straddling him. Growing bolder with his approving growl, she rocked herself seductively over the tip of his cock. “Erotic and addicting, huh?”
He hissed out a “Yesss” as he thrust his hips up.
She backed up just out of his reach. “Uh uh, no, I don’t think so, sire. If you’re trying to convince me, we’re doing this my way. If I want to take my time and tease you first, I will. You will wait until I am ready.” A low growl rumbled from his chest and she laughed. “My way, sire.”
The amusement returned to his voice. “Are you giving an order to your king?”
“Yes, I—”
He pulled her down and covered her mouth with his, cutting off her response. His tongue slipped between her parted lips, plunging deeply, stroking hers. He ran his hands across her hips to her ass, then slipped two fingers into her liquid heat.
She moaned and swayed into his hand, the need for more coiling in the pit of her belly.
His lips left hers to travel along her neck as his fingers continued to plunge deeper with each stroke. He said, “You were saying?”
“You, sire, don’t play fair,” she said as she sat up and stilled his hands, clasping them in front of her. “You cheated.”
He laughed softly. “I didn’t cheat. I’m just trying to maintain order in my kingdom and keep my queen happy at the same time.”
She scoffed, “Yeah, right, like you really care whether I’m happy or not as long as you get your way.”
Drake frowned. “Lights dim.” The lights illuminated to a soft glow. He gazed into her eyes. “Why would you say something like that?”
She shrugged. “You are the king, and naturally you take what you want. At the moment you think you want me—”
“I think—”
“Yes, you have never taken my feelings into it. Never once have you asked me if I want any part of this life. This….” She threw out her hand then let it drop back to her side. “This forced confinement. And you think I should be happy about it.”
“Yes, I have, and yes, I do.”
She shook her head. “You have never asked—”
“I never had to.”
Narrowing her eyes, she said, “Why, because you’re king and that makes you exempt somehow?”
“No, love, I’m not that self-centered.” She sputtered and he continued before she could respond. “I’ve known what you’re thinking and what you feel from the moment I took your blood.”
She cocked an eyebrow and glared. “Care to tell me what I’m thinking now, sire?”
He smiled. “You’re thinking that I’m a self-centered ass and a few other very descriptive words.” Her eyes widened and his smile grew as he continued to read her mind. “You also love my—”
Oh my God, he’s reading my mind. She felt the heat flood to her cheeks. “Okay, I believe you,” she interjected before he could finish, and she was completely humiliated. She hadn’t intended for her mind to stray to the luscious parts of his body. “You can read my mind.”
“Yes, vixen, I can. And for the record, I am a vampire king, not a god.”
You are to me, flitted through her mind before she could stop it.
He tilted his head and disengaged his hands from her tight grasp, then ran his hands up her body to cup her breasts. The nipples pebbled at his gaze and soft touch as he ran his thumbs over the heightened peaks. “I guess that makes you my goddess queen.”
She took a quivering breath as need rippled through her body. Closing her eyes she savored the feelings. “I believe you—that you can read my mind, I mean. But my feelings? How can you know what I feel when I don’t know myself?”
“Hummm, let me see….” He rolled her nipple between his fingers. “I sense your desire....” Her eyes flew open and she cocked an eyebrow. His smile returned. “And your irritation at me.” The corners of her mouth turned up in a small smile. “You feel confused. Your heart wants to believe me, but your mind is filled with distrust.” He frowned. “You’ve been hurt in the past, and don’t feel yourself worthy of love.” His eyes flashed red. “I will hunt this mortal down and rip his throat out for hurting you like th
at.”
She caught her breath. “Drake, no!”
“He has hurt what is mine. He must pay.”
Sherry reached out and caressed his face with her fingertips. “It was a long time ago. He’s now just a bad memory and means nothing to me; please let it go at that.”
“If he means nothing to you, then why—”
“Because he’s human, and we’re supposed to be civilized. We don’t rip each other’s throats out just because we can…or most of us don’t anyway.” He opened his mouth to object and she interjected, “I would feel guilty.”
He expelled a long breath as his eyes turned back to blue. “I will spare him then. I will not have you feel that way.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s time we rid you of your confusion and mistrust.”
“I honestly don’t see how. I’ve felt this way for a very long time. It’s easier said than done.”
“It is actually quite simple.” His eyes locked with hers. “Complete the bond and you won’t have to guess or doubt. You will know.”
“What if I’m disappointed?”
“You won’t be.”
He looked sincere so she smiled. “My way?”
He laughed and hugged her to him.
Chapter Sixteen
She sat up next to him on her knees, and when he reached for her she said, “Do something with your hands. Place them behind your head or whatever, just don’t touch me. I get too distracted when you touch me.”
He placed his hands behind his head, interlocking his fingers. “As you wish, sire.”
She smiled at his remark as she gazed at his body, his cock hardening under her stare.
“If you keep thinking those thoughts I won’t be able to keep my hands to myself.”
“You keep your hands where they are,” she said as she reached out and wrapped her fingers around his cock. It grew, swelling further beneath her fingers. “My way, remember?” she said, then ran her tongue up the vein in his cock, starting at the base, up to the head. Pre-cum pooled at the tip.
She wrapped her lips around the head, taking his thick cock into her mouth. Bobbing her head as she took him deeper with every stroke of her tongue, her hand wrapped around the base. Her own need coiled between her thighs.
Dangerous (Courting the Darkness Saga) Page 10