The Enclave 2 Undying Embrace

by Jessica Lee

  “Alexandria,” he called for her attention. She jerked her head at the sound of his voice and scowled. “You will come with me.”

  “Fu—”

  “Alexandria!” He cut off the remaining words lined up to spill from her mouth. Words that with any other vampire would have sealed her death. As it was, his failure to kill Alexandria for her current blatant disrespect had gained him some unneeded attention from Marguerite. He could feel the heat of her glare as she waited for his next move.

  In less than a second, Markus was in Alexandria’s face. He seized her head with both hands and forced her to look at him. Anger and frustration met his stare. Welcome to my world, vixen. Reaching deep inside her mind, he sought out the neurons that would give him complete control of her every thought and action. His gut ached; bile sat at the back of his throat. She would never forgive him for this ultimate act of violation. In the short time she’d been with him, he already knew how much this woman loved her freedom.

  Now he would be the one responsible for taking them both away.

  He didn’t have a choice. It was either control her, or they both died. And he’d much rather have her alive and hating him than lose her forever. The one good thing of it was, she wouldn’t hate him until he released her, and that could be a very long time.

  “Alexandria, can you hear me?” He kept his voice low, laced with compulsion.

  “Yes,” she whispered followed by a groan.

  “I want you to blink twice for me.”

  “Why? What are you doing to me?” Sheer terror held her eyes wide. God, he didn’t think it was possible, but there was a deeper level beyond the selfish son of a bitch he’d become. And he’d just sunk ass deep into its pit.

  He pushed harder inside her brain. She cried out, her knees going soft beneath her weight. But he held on, to her mind and her body. She was too close.

  “Blink twice for me, Alexandria,” he commanded.

  She blinked. Once, then twice.

  “Good girl,” he crooned as tears fell unchecked down her cheeks. They dripped onto his hands like silent little bombs of pain. Damn it all to hell. He’d thought Marguerite and the evil cloud surrounding her had suffocated every piece of his heart that felt anything for anyone. How had this woman found the one section that still cared . . . and kicked it in the ass?

  Releasing his grip on her head, he reached up and smoothed her hair. “Now, Alexandria, twirl for me, like the ballerina I’m sure you wanted to be as a little girl.” Immediately, she did as instructed, spinning in a circle where she stood. Her hair lifted and whirled like a beautiful obsidian cape at her back. He ached to bury his hands in it. Ached to have her breath heating the head of his cock, her silky black mane a veil around his shaft. He stifled a hard groan. Fuck. He had to get those fantasies out of his head and figure out what the hell to do with her. He couldn’t keep her. But damn if he wanted to let her go.

  “Stop.” The one word order had its intended effect. Alexandria came to an abrupt halt, turned, and faced him. Perfect. The expression on her face said she awaited his next instruction. Exactly what he’d aimed for, and exactly what she’d hate him for. One day.

  They left Marguerite’s den with Alexandria following behind him like a good little marionette. Marguerite had looked quite pleased with the show he’d let her witness. At least for a few minutes before she’d grabbed one of her eagerly waiting minions to satiate her arousal.

  Markus placed Alexandria back inside her small room in the basement. At least she had a private room, bath, and cot. Things could be worse.

  He pointed to the bed. “Sit down, and wait for me to return.” She walked past him and took her place on the mattress. “You’re not to leave this room. Even if the door is open.” He crouched in front of her. “Do you understand, Alexandria?” She nodded. He cupped her face with his palm. Unable to resist the soft skin he found there, he stroked her cheek and traced the curve of her jaw with his thumb. “Vixen,” he whispered. “I’m so…” The sound of solitary applause behind him jammed the rest of his words in his throat.

  “That, I must say, was quite interesting and very entertaining.”

  With slow and controlled movements, he straightened from his crouch and pivoted in the direction of the familiar voice. Enrique stood propped against the doorjamb, grinning, as if he were on some damn photo shoot. Not like the bloodsucker who was about to lose his head.

  Before the dark-skinned vampire could wipe the smile off his face, Markus had yanked him the rest of the way into the room. Shoving Enrique’s back into the wall, he wrapped a hand around his throat. “What the fuck are you up to, you son of a bitch?” Markus snarled in his face. “What kind of game were you playing by allowing Alexandria to escape? Hell, you didn’t even try to hide the fact that it was you.”

  “I was testing a theory. And…” Enrique lifted his chin, indicating Alexandria sitting on the bed staring blankly at Markus. “No harm done. You have your pet back.”

  “No harm done!” He couldn’t contain the ferocity in his voice. The hold he had on Enrique’s neck tightened. He was about one second from ripping his throat out. “Does she look fine to you?” he growled. “I had to take her fucking mind!”

  “Poor baby.” He puckered his lips and added a kissing sound for effect. “But I would back off my throat, if I were you,” Enrique croaked. “I would think you’d want to keep the feelings you have for your puppet away from Marguerite’s ears.”

  “What are you talking about?” He dropped his hand from Enrique’s neck and pushed away from the wall, turning his back to the other vampire.

  Enrique laughed. “Damn, Markus, don’t play ignorant with me. You’re not that good at hiding your emotions. I’m surprised Marguerite hasn’t already questioned you about the time you spend down here. Hell, I can smell how bad you want to fuck her.”

  Markus spun, the same growl resonating from his chest, only this time, even more feral. “What do you want?” How had this happened? Enrique was the last person he needed holding information over his head. The vampire had too much to gain if Markus went down.

  Tilting one corner of his mouth into a smile, Enrique slipped his tongue out for a lick of his lips. ”You know what I want. The game is quite simple, really. And either you decide to start playing, with me, or I go to Marguerite and tell her all about how your priorities have changed. Make the right choice here, and we both win.”

  Markus swallowed the groan trying to force its way out of his throat. The damn thing felt like a fist blocking his airway. Shit. He was going to have to fuck the bastard. His gut churned like a cauldron of bile threatening to burn its way through the lining of his stomach.

  At least if he gave Enrique what he wanted and played the part well, he would have the bastard under some semblance of control. For years, Enrique had commanded Marguerite’s minions. Now that position fell to Markus. Not only had the vampire lost his place as Marguerite’s preferred lover, but his power as well. The bloodsucker would love nothing more than to shove a dagger into Markus’s back and resume his position.

  The one good thing about this was Alexandria would never know what he was about to do. To protect her life and his.

  With a slight nod and lift of his eyebrows, he gave Enrique the answer he wanted. Markus looked over his shoulder at Alexandria. She hadn’t moved from the original spot she’d assumed on the bed. “Stay in your room, Alexandria, until I return. Understand me?”

  “Yes,” she answered in a soft voice.

  Glancing back to Enrique, he couldn’t miss the erection tenting the male’s white trousers. His mouth went dry and barren like midday in the Sahara. It wasn’t as if he was a virgin when it came to men. But his experience had been limited to a handful of orgies when he was half out of his mind with bloodlust. Never like this. One-on-one. He might have danced on the other side, but it was a beautiful woman that made his cock stand up and take notice—not a man.

  “Come with me.” Markus headed out the door. He
didn’t need to look back to see if Enrique followed. He would. The soft click of the door closing behind him confirmed the fact.

  After selecting the empty room two doors down, he stepped in and stood to the side of the door, waiting the few seconds it took for Enrique to enter. He walked in and stood before the bed in the center of the room, his back to Markus.

  “Undress and get on the mattress,” Markus commanded in his best Dom voice. “Facedown.” This was the only way he was ever going to get through this. He had to be in charge. And if his suspicions were correct, the other male would respond, wanting it precisely how Markus had to give it.

  Enrique turned on his heels. “Fuck you!”

  “That is what this is all about, isn’t it?” He tossed a sexy, kiss-my-ass grin at Enrique and moved in close enough to grab him by his belted waistband. He jerked Enrique into his face and bared his fangs. “You want this? Get undressed.” Leaning in, he scraped his fangs along Enrique’s neck. The male shivered against his lips. “And next time, address me properly. Or I will punish you.” Markus peeled his hands off Enrique’s pants and gave him a shove.

  Reaching for his zipper like a good sub, Enrique’s pupils expanded. His fingers shook as he fumbled to release the button and push his pants to the floor. “Yes, sir.”

  Chapter Seven

  Elle had anticipated many things when they’d stepped into Wicked Ways tonight, but she’d never thought Arran would set them up to be sitting ducks.

  “So would you like to clue me in on this plan of yours, since I’m sure by now that Rose has told every vampire in the place that we’re here?” She walked over to the one-way glass. On the other side of the window, the crowd rocked to the chorus of “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark.” How ironic. She smirked. If most of the humans actually knew what happened within the red walls of Wicked Ways when the sun went down they would run screaming for their lives. If only her sister had known what she’d been walking into. Her stomach cramped at the image racing through her mind depicting Alex beneath a horde of DEADs, her mouth gaped in a soundless cry for help.

  Her vision clouding behind unshed tears, she tried to focus on the dance floor and its mesmerizing scene of strobe lights. They blinked on and off over an erotic mass of pure sex moving in time to the beat of the music. She lowered her lashes and dropped her head back, concentrating on the music. The bass thumped inside her head, her body. If only things were different, her sister was home safe, there were no monsters to destroy, and she could let go, get swept away, just for tonight.

  A large hand wrapped around her waist and another dropped on her hip, putting a stop to their sway. She hadn’t even realized she’d been moving. Arran pressed against her rear. The warmth of his body and the hard evidence at her backside shook her back into the reality of their situation.

  “Did you want to hear about my plan, or do you have something else in mind we could be doing?” His deep voice caressed her ear. “Because if you don’t stop right now, I can’t promise to behave myself.”

  “Oh…yeah…of course.” Heat rose to her cheeks, and she shook her head. Is that what happened to her sister? She understood now how this place could make a person forget about the rest of the world. It was a force unto itself. Sighing, she pulled herself away from the window, turning so that she faced Arran. He stared at her with those sexy green eyes that made her weak. She maneuvered around him and tried to find some space in the small rectangle Wicked Ways called a room. “Sorry about that,” she said over her shoulder. “Guess I zoned out for a moment.” She plopped back down on the bench. “Okay, spill it.”

  Elle listened as Arran let her in on why he’d made sure the server named Rose had sniffed him out. She knew Rose would have been able to tell by his scent that he was a vampire, but she was surprised to learn Rose would have also detected that he was more than a century old. Not someone a master of a colony would like to find wandering in his territory. Even Elle knew that. And a sure ticket for them to a front-row seat before the owner of the club: the former master of Fairfield’s colony. Information Arran said he’d gained a few nights ago from a young vampire named David.

  A knock sounded at the door, and the curtain slid back before either of them had a chance to speak. She jumped to her feet as a bald man, who had to be near seven feet tall with skin the color of dark chocolate, entered the small room and swallowed all the square footage in the process. His dark gaze fell upon Arran. The former Enclave warrior eased onto his feet, his gaze never straying off their unexpected guest. The giant slid his upper lip back off the largest set of fangs she’d ever seen in her life. Holy shit, he was one big-ass vampire.

  “You.” Giant aimed his index finger at Arran. “Come with me.” His baritone voice vibrated like a bass drum in her chest.

  “Please?” her date added. What was he thinking, antagonizing the giant freak of a vampire?

  A growl rumbled from the big guy’s chest that she swore rattled the mirror. She held her breath, waiting for his next move. Or Arran’s. This had all the signs of getting ugly. Really, really ugly.

  “Fine.” Arran shrugged and moved forward. Elle released the pressurized air she’d been holding and followed. Two steps toward the exit, the big guy’s hand came out of nowhere and snagged her arm.

  “Just him.”

  “That’s nonnegotiable.” Arran stopped in his tracks, and the look he nailed the giant with over his shoulder was unmistakable: Try me.

  “Fine.” This time, vampire freak shrugged and let go of her arm. She smoothed the aching spot on her arm where he’d gripped her. Damn. That had been one hell of a testosterone and fang show. One point to team Arran.

  He waited for the Goliath vampire to circle around him to lead them to his boss. So far, everything had gone according to plan. They followed as the vampire took them past the bar and through a small kitchen. The few staff they passed never looked up from their tasks. Not a bad idea. You can’t be a witness to what you never saw happen.

  At the back of the kitchen, the guard opened a door and motioned for them to enter. Arran glanced over his shoulder and in her direction. Elle gave him a slight nod that said she was playing along, waiting for his next move.

  …

  The door he sent them through hid a stairwell that appeared to lead to an underground level. The wooden steps creaked under Arran’s weight as he descended. The only light in their path came from the red glow of the wall-mounted sconces lining the wall to his left.

  By the time they’d reached the bottom of the stairs, Gabrielle’s heart pounded away in his head. He waited for her to come within arm’s reach at his side. Once there, he reached out and slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her in close. She didn’t protest. He needed to keep up the pretense anyway; they were a couple out on a date. At least, that was his story.

  Keeping pace with the guard, they crossed the expanse of the basement. The sudden intake of air from Gabrielle drew Arran’s attention. Her gaze was riveted to the various instruments lining one wall to their right. It seemed what David had told him about the former master and Markus had been true: their interest lay with the darker side of pleasure. Various whips, ball gags, and masks were out for display on a metal wall unit. And sitting below them, the pièce de résistance: a rack, complete with what looked like well-used leather restraints. Nice.

  A shiver, coming off her, brought his attention back to the woman at his side. Yeah, his thoughts exactly. There were some serious Marquis de Sade fantasies happening here.

  Their Goliath tour director of the underworld turned right and headed down a walled-off section of the basement. Arran started to follow, but the glint of metal caught his eye from the opposite end of the hall. He swung his head around. Fuck. He hadn’t seen cages like that in probably close to a hundred years. Not since the time he’d worked for the master of Eastern Virginia’s territory. There was no mistaking why this master possessed them: vampire imprisonment. Steel cages plated with silver to prevent a vampire from
either manipulating the bars or phasing through them. If a vampire was stupid enough to try passing their molecules through the bars, he or she wouldn’t like the end results when they tried to put themselves back together again. Not pretty.

  Arran’s gaze returned to the dark vampire who had halted at a large wooden door at the end of the hall. Well, damn, what an interesting assortment of goodies the former master had stashed away down here. It seemed he’d once wielded quite a bit of power.

  The vampire guard rapped twice on the door with his knuckles, then twisted the knob and entered. He glanced over his shoulder and indicated with a jerk of his head for them to follow him inside. They entered the room to find an office, quite normal in appearance really, compared to the edgy shit they’d seen on the way in. A large wooden desk filled one wall of the room with a thick leather chair on the other side. Two straight-back chairs sat in front. An assortment of books lined the wall at the other end of the room, while a flat-screen TV sat right in the center. The image on the screen flicked every few seconds from various camera angles throughout the club. Good to know.

  “Sit,” Goliath commanded in his deep caveman voice and pointed to the two chairs in front of the desk. After guiding Gabrielle to one of the chairs, Arran lowered himself into the other beside her.

  As soon as his ass met the wood, another door, this one on the opposite wall of the one they’d come through, opened. A male, rather ordinary in appearance, sauntered into the room. His brown hair was slicked away from his face, thanks to the product he’d combed into it. The ends brushed the collar of the white button-down he wore beneath his average gray business suit. His clothes certainly didn’t scream power. But he carried the aura of someone used to demanding and having others who obeyed. Hello, Fairfield’s former master.

  He dropped into his seat behind the desk. The leather creaked as he adjusted his position and rolled his knees under the desktop. Silence was the only thing left hanging in the air as the vampire studied him and Gabrielle.