Her pussy ached for the touch of him, and with the last scoot of her behind forward on the bench, the wet juncture between her legs made contact with his hard abs. A deep groan escaped from between his lips and reverberated against her neck, and for the first time he moved his hands, pressing firmly into her flesh near her hips.
His fingers were so close. Just a few more inches and he'd give her what she'd waited so long for. What she needed so badly she'd risk the humiliation of rejection once more for the slimmest chance that this time he'd let her in.
The pull on her vein grew weaker, and she held him to her never wanting their time together to end. She felt him push against her hands and reluctantly she slid them over his shoulders as he raised his head to face her.
Please don't pull away from me.
Through closed eyes, she sensed his gaze fix on her. If she never opened them, maybe this moment would never end.
In a husky voice she imagined he'd use as he lay next to her after claiming her in every way a man could possess a woman's body, he whispered, "Look at me, Solenne."
Tears burned her still-closed eyes as the fear that he would now yank her out of her fantasy back into the cold reality of what they were gripped her heart. The gentle touch of his hands as he cradled her face gave her hope, but still she couldn't look at him for fear the moment would be crushed beneath his words.
"Look at me, Solenne. I need you to look at me."
She raised her eyelids slowly and in the pale light of the moon he knelt looking up at her, his dark eyes as gentle as she knew they could be. His face, which so often had shown the hard lines of his nature, appeared softened and kind. If only his words were the same.
"Thank you. I hadn't realized how weak I'd become until I felt your blood inside me. I'd let myself forget what strength feels like. You gave me what I needed."
Words bubbled up inside her, mixed with the joy at hearing his words. She wanted to tell him she'd longed to see this side of him, free of anger and resentment. To see the man she knew all those years ago. Instead, she pressed her lips together so as to not ruin the moment.
And then he leaned in toward her. Tilting his head, he stared into her eyes with a look of longing, and his lips met hers in a whispersoft touch that made her heart ache.
"Sire?"
The voice of a female behind him broke the spell, and they both looked to see a young woman with long, dark hair looking down at him.
"Sire? I'm here to answer your call."
Solenne watched in disappointment as Saint stood and moved away from her toward the stranger. One of his vampires had finally answered his summons, and what she'd given him just minutes earlier would no longer be needed.
"Maria."
He seemed surprised by her appearance. Or was that relief she heard in his voice?
"I knew you'd come."
Saint turned back toward Solenne and introduced her to his vampire. "You're saved from having to deal with me anymore," he joked.
"What do you mean?"
"You won't have to put me up here now. Maria can give me what I need so you don't have to be bothered."
"You're not leaving. You can't. Vasilije and the other Sons need you safe," Solenne stammered out as her head began to spin and her heart pounded wildly. Was she expected to just let him go with some strange woman who seemed to have suddenly appeared from out of nowhere?
But she wasn't some stranger. She was one of Saint's vampires come to give him what he needed like any good vampire did for their sire.
"I'm sure we can find a room in the village. I'd hate for us to put you out," Maria chimed in.
We.
Us.
You.
Her words rang in Solenne's ears.
Solenne watched as Saint's vampire urged him to leave with her at that moment, tugging his arm like a child urgently wanting to return home. Before she could convince him, Solenne had to stop him. Touching his other arm, she whispered close to his ear, "Can I talk to you over here? Alone?"
Relieved for the moment by his willingness to listen to her, she led him to under the trees and away from Maria. He looked down at her as if he couldn't imagine what objection she could have to his leaving.
"Saint, I don't feel good about this. Stay here with Maria. Please. You're both welcome in my house."
Just saying the words made her feel like her heart was being ripped from her chest. She didn't want to beg, but she would if she had to. Whether she was merely jealous or it was something else, she couldn't let him leave.
"Don't worry. She's one of mine, one of the few I was sure would come. We'll just be in the village."
"But what if the Archons move against you?"
"I'll have Maria's blood to keep me strong. Don't worry."
Saint turned away from her, but in desperation she grabbed his wrist and he turned to face her, his look one of surprise. "Please, Saint. Do this for me then. Please."
He stared down at her for a long time and then smiled. "Okay. If it makes you feel better, we'll stay."
Solenne watched as Maria reluctantly agreed to her sire's wishes. Very young in her ways, she seemed especially eager to be alone with him. If her sire were anyone other than Saint, Solenne wouldn't have thought twice about it. But her sire was a vampire known for his refusal to sleep with any female of their kind.
She followed them inside wondering if she was simply being jealous. Maria had, after all, interrupted what she'd waited so long for. And the ease with which Saint had abandoned their intimate moment stung. Just watching him lead Maria toward his room, his hand tenderly placed on the small of her back to guide her, made Solenne's chest hurt.
Will this torture ever end?
There was no way she'd be able to sleep, even though dawn was less than an hour away and she was exhausted. Solenne threw herself down onto the sofa and curled up to watch TV, but memories quickly took her over.
Closing her eyes, she listened to the sounds of the night around her. Insects scurried in the grass near her feet, another world so alive co-existing with hers. The deep call of an owl echoed nearby, and she opened her eyes to see its lush feathers of mottled tan and gold and its yellow eyes searching for its mate, but for as long as she watched the beautiful creature, it remained alone on its perch.
Sitting outside at night had become a habit born out of loneliness for her. More and more, Teagan was absent from this house and her life. Other women, other vampires took him away from her, as she feared they would after hearing his words to his brother that night.
And Declan? Each night she yearned to tell him how she dreamed of him—his strong hands caressing her body, his sensual mouth bringing her the exquisite pleasure she knew it could give her—but he remained aloof, seemingly content to watch in dutiful silence as his brother neglected her as he'd promised.
Declan's quiet strength had kept her from going mad on all those nights alone, but she wished for so much more. At times, she even wondered if he avoided her, his brother's cast off.
In truth, Teagan had never promised her forever when he sired her. She'd just hoped for it. The wishes of a young woman in love died hard. But she should have seen the truth of who Teagan was. He never kept it hidden, after all.
She was still his, though. Not interested enough to even return home most nights, he remained the only man she could give herself to by vampire law.
A neglectful sire, but her sire, nonetheless.
If only he'd release her...
Her mind buzzed with treacherous thoughts. No, I must resist what my very soul desires.
She hoped a walk in the night air might clear her mind. Solenne entered the garden pathway outlined with tall hedges and struggled to clear her mind of what she knew would only bring harm to those she loved. Footsteps shook her from her thoughts, and she turned to see Declan behind her.
"Teagan called. He's not coming back for a while. Something to do with Vasilije."
Solenne smiled at his lie. "I understand."
/> "Has he agreed to let you sire?" His voice verged on pity.
Shaking her head, she smiled at the question, if not the sound of pity in his tone. She'd never even considered siring another vampire. "No, but I've never asked."
"Don't make excuses for him," Declan said angrily. "He doesn't deserve it."
"I'll be fine. I have everything I need—a beautiful home, Teagan's money, and more freedom than most of us can dream of."
Declan's expression clouded over. "Freedom can be just as much a prison. Trust me. I know."
"Is that why you stayed here? I know it's not for your brother."
He grimaced as if in pain and looked away from her.
"I'm sorry things between you haven't worked out."
She understood his disappointment. He'd also hoped for something that never could be.
Stepping closer, he stood in front of her and looked at her with a look she'd never seen from him before. It reminded her of how Teagan had looked at her in those first wonderful days of her life as a vampire.
"I stayed here because of you, Solenne."
"Me?"
"You."
Before she could respond, he kissed her and everything began to swim around her. Everything she'd fantasized about how his lips would feel on hers paled in comparison to the delicious sensations his kiss produced in her. Forceful, yet yielding, his mouth crushed against hers. Soft, full lips feasted on her desire, taking and increasing it at the same time.
The feelings his touch created threatened to overwhelm her. Whimpering into his mouth, she feared both continuing down the path their passions had led them to and stopping, never to have the sweet taste of him on her lips again.
"This is wrong. No matter how much I want you, I'm still his," she said as she finally broke the kiss.
"I don't care. But from this moment on, you're not his. You're mine."
Mine. Did the man who spoke those words so full of love even exist anymore? Was the man she'd given her heart and soul to—Declan—inside him somewhere, or had he been eliminated by the man Saint had become?
A century of missing him pressed on her heart. There had been men in those years, some she even cared for, but no one had ever taken his place. After a while, it had just become easier to be alone than wish that the male next to her was Declan. Often, she'd been sure it was a foolish wish, but that desire to be with him again never went away, no matter how much she tried to convince herself she should just forget him.
Solenne groggily looked around for some indication of the time and saw the clock on the fireplace mantle. 3:38.
Stretching her body, she worked to smooth out the kinks from lying on the sofa all day. Her back arched and her legs felt like they'd been twisted like pretzels for hours. By the time she made it to the kitchen, she was cursing her age.
A noise from the side of the house Saint's room was on made her instantly forget her body's aches and pains, and she raced toward his room, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.
Was he...?
Were they...?
The door was closed, so she opened it just enough to see if what she feared was true. The shutters that kept out the sun were closed, and in the darkness of the room all that could be seen were the outlines of their bodies. Saint lay on his back on the bed and Maria sat on top of him, her arms above her head.
Tears blurred Solenne's vision, but she couldn't look away. Jealousy settled into her chest like a two-ton weight as she saw the truth.
Saint was making love to a vampire.
Maria rocked back from his body, and Solenne watched the woman who'd dashed her hopes clasp her hands together high in the air. She'd won what Solenne had so wished could be hers.
As the tears rolled down her cheeks, Solenne saw the faint outline of an object in Maria's hands that made her eyes widen in terror.
"No!"
In a blur, she was next to the bed, her hands on Maria's wrists. The woman was stronger and no matter how hard Solenne squeezed, the wooden stake continued toward Saint's heart.
Hatred flashed from Maria's eyes. Solenne felt panic like she'd never felt before. "Don't do this! He's your sire. Saint, wake up!"
Her arms began to shake violently as Maria's strength finally overpowered hers. Beneath his vampire, Saint woke as Solenne's arms finally gave out. The stake crashed down toward his body, just missing his heart when he turned out of its way.
Maria leapt from the bed, but Saint was on her in a flash, holding her fast to the wall.
"Why? Why the fuck would you come here to kill me?" he asked in a voice laced with pain.
Maria turned away from him, but he grabbed her face and forced her to look at him. "Why? Tell me what the fuck I ever did to deserve that?"
"What did you do? How have you treated me? All of us. Other vampires are treated with love and respect. You treat us like outcasts, only wanting us when you need to feed. We mean nothing to you."
Saint stared at her and said nothing, but Solenne couldn't let him be attacked so viciously without saying something in his defense. "He created you. Gave you the life you now enjoy. Gave you the freedom to go wherever you please. Without him, who would you be?"
Maria sneered at her words. "I see you have someone who believes there's more to your heart than just empty darkness. Maybe she's felt something more than your coldness."
"You'd kill me for that?"
"When the Archons summoned me to kill you, I let myself remember a night so long ago. A new vampire, I came to you wanting you, my sire. Do you remember that night, Declan? Do you remember how I kissed you, so full of love and devotion for the one who'd given me a whole new life? I would have given anything for you to be like other sires. Do you remember what you said to me?"
Saint's shoulders hunched slightly and he lowered his head. "No."
"You said, 'I can give you everything but that.' I didn't want everything! I wanted love from the one who'd created me!"
Maria's words were full of venom, but Saint remained still in the face of her hatred. "Go and tell the Archons I live."
He dropped his hands, releasing her, and stepped back.
"I have a job to do, sire. Wherever you go, no place will be safe. They will not accept failure. For your crimes against our kind, you must die."
Solenne heard a low growl and then something snapped in Saint. In a blur, he grabbed the stake from the bed and jammed it into Maria's chest. An anguished cry escaped from her throat, and then she was dust.
Saint stumbled back into Solenne's arms and she held him to her. "I should've let her go. She didn't deserve this."
"Don't. She planned to kill you. If you didn't stake her, I would've."
Turning in her arms, he looked down into her eyes and kissed the top of her head. "Now I'm the criminal they claimed I was. She won't be the last. It isn't safe for you to be near me anymore, Solenne. Whatever you agreed to with Vasilije, you didn't agree to this."
Solenne shook her head. "I agreed to keep you safe and that still stands." Walking away toward the door, she turned and said quietly, "All these years later and I still can't bear to think of a world without you in it."
Chapter Twelve
Solenne watched as the Archon moved between offices judging cases for hours as she filed official papers and listened to Rochelle give a dissertation on the popes of Avignon. He seemed particularly out of sorts, and with each defendant who passed her desk, she was more convinced that any time she'd be forced to spend with him that night would be painful.
As the last vampire was lead away, Rochelle concluded her history lecture and began straightening her desk before she left. For once, Solenne wished she would stay late.
"Lena, please make sure to finish filing all the papers for tonight's cases. I don't want Mr. Verrater to worry about anything after working so hard tonight."
Solenne watched her carefully place three pens one next to the other and move around her desk toward the door. "Rochelle, do you have plans tonight? Would you like to or
der in and hang out while I finish?"
"Oh, I wish I could, Lena. I have to clean my house to get ready for the painters. They're coming at sundown tomorrow. Have a great night. Remember the filing for Mr. Verrater."
Rochelle happily strolled away, leaving Solenne alone with her work. And Marc Verrater.
It didn't take long to complete the filing, and then she sat at her desk waiting for his summons. Solenne's legs shook as she sat wishing he'd forget she was there. The heels of her shoes made clicking noises as they tapped against the plastic floor protector beneath her desk, only making her more on edge.
Each minute that passed made her more desperate to go home. There Declan waited, needing someone after what had happened with Maria. Solenne wrestled with the idea of just leaving—just going to the man she loved to take care of him instead of spending another night hoping she'd learn something in passing as the Archon spoke. But she couldn't leave. What if tonight was the night that he let slip some fragment of information that could help Declan and the rest of the Sons defeat these bastards?
By 3:15, she wondered if she'd been spared her time with Verrater. She'd sat at her desk for almost two hours without hearing a noise from his office. Cautiously, she let herself relax, lowering her shoulders to ease her aching back wracked with tension. A deep breath and then another and she closed her eyes, relaxed at last and hopeful she'd be home safe and sound with Declan soon.
"Lena, come in."
Opening her eyes, she saw him standing in the doorway of his office. His black dress shirt remained buttoned at the collar, and he still wore an expensive silk tie as he did each night.
But as in the past, that would change.
"Yes, sir."
Dread filled her, making the short walk from her desk to his office difficult as her legs felt like they were weighted down with lead. He stood leaning against the doorframe, his deep blue eyes watching her every move toward him.
This was his ritual every time he took her. She wouldn't be spared this night.
As she reached him, she stopped and turned to face him. Her part in this was to let him do as he willed, and even as every cell in her body cried out for her to flee from this place and him, she played her role perfectly, knowing that her welfare was dwarfed by the need for all of her kind to do whatever they could to defeat Verrater and his fellow Archons.
Blood Betrayed Page 10