Temptation at Twilight: Lords of Pleasure

by Jo Carlisle

  But hard on the heels of those thoughts, burned into her brain, was the image of his draining that helpless boy. The picture just didn’t fit with the male she’d believed him to be.

  Now she was just gawking stupidly. She hadn’t had this much trouble talking to him before. Maybe she was just tired. Oh yeah—tired of the noises of scorching sex coming from his room at all hours.

  “I’m surprised to see you up so early,” she blurted.

  “Why’s that?”

  Great. My big mouth. From his bemused expression, he was enjoying her discomfort a little too much, which irked her a lot. The acrobatics tended to keep her awake. Awake and jealous as hell. “Well, I’m assuming you don’t have a cat in heat locked in your room every night. Wild guess.”

  He actually had the grace to appear embarrassed. “I apologize for the racket. I’m not used to having to keep quiet in my own home.”

  Now she felt sort of bad. “Don’t apologize. It’s no big deal.”

  “Truly, I can have you moved to a quieter wing if you’d like.”

  “No!” Her outburst startled her, and she cleared her throat. “That won’t be necessary.” The idea of being farther from him was painful, for some reason.

  Blessedly, he changed the subject. “I have an idea. I’ve been keeping a low profile since the mistake with Jordy.” He grimaced, as though the memory pained him, as well it should. “Would you like for me to give you the grand tour?” His engaging grin set her heart thumping. This wasn’t the same vampire who’d turned and snarled at her, holding Jordy’s limp body as though he were a jackal guarding a kill.

  She gathered her courage. “That sounds fabulous. Where shall we start?”

  “Hmm. I’d say the kitchen, but that’s Alasdair’s domain and he rules it with an iron fist. If you get hungry between meals or at night, send word to Nikki, the assistant. He’s always happy to deliver food and drink whenever you’d like.”

  “Good to know. So, what about the cottages? I’ve been outside, but just right around the house, and I’d love to look around.”

  “You bet.”

  Soren held out his hand and she took it, loving how small hers felt in his much bigger one. What was it about holding hands with a man that made a woman warm and trembly inside? The contact shivered through her nerve endings in a good way, made her feel special. Like he’d chosen her. And he had. He’d picked her to remain here and serve him. She couldn’t wait to experience all he had to teach her.

  Despite the voice in her head, urging her to be cautious.

  The vampire led her down the hall and turned, then hurried through a sunroom where a few people were gathered at a mahogany dining table, munching on bagels and muffins and sipping juice, coffee, or milk. Most glanced up and called a cheerful greeting to Soren, and a couple asked to meet the newbie.

  Soren simply smiled and promised, “Later!”

  The vampire kept going through a glass patio door and out into the sunshine. She shot a sidelong look at him. “You won’t burn in the sun?”

  His lips turned up. “Haven’t spent much time around vampires?”

  “Not really, except for my time at the paper when I covered social events. Most of those were in the evening, and everyone is out at that time.”

  “Understandable. And it’s not like we’re out on the street corner, advertising what we are. Aldric refuses to play that up to bolster our business. He says the resort makes plenty of money, and I suppose he’s right.” He made a thoughtful sound in his chest. “Anyway, newly turned vampires should be careful in the sun.”

  “No vacation in the Bahamas?” she teased.

  He laughed, squeezing her hand. “Exactly. Born vamps, however, don’t need to be especially concerned. I’m not going to sunbathe, but I’m not worried about disappearing into a pile of charred ash. Makes for good movies, though.” He winked.

  “Wait. You were born a vampire, not made?”

  “Yes, me and my brothers. The Fontaine family can be traced back thousands of years. Vampire children are rare, and the fact that there are three of us is almost unheard of. There aren’t that many Fontaines left, though.”

  “Aren’t you immortal?”

  “Yes, but we can be killed. The sad fact is that death catches up to most of us sooner or later.”

  Too true. The sobering thought tried to put a damper on her morning, but she shoved it aside. They walked past the pool area, almost empty at the early hour, down a winding path bordered by beautiful flowers and trees. At the first break in the foliage on their right, the path split off to form a pebbled walkway to the first cottage. It was small but very pretty, a white oasis of tranquillity surrounded by more colorful flowers, trees, and shrubs. A covered porch was built across the front and sides.

  “Oh, my,” she breathed. “This is spectacular.”

  “Isn’t it? We wanted to incorporate privacy and luxury with the fun to be had in other parts of the resort. So guests can play in public, semipublic, or private. Whatever’s their preference. Come on.”

  They kept walking, and he pointed out more cottages here and there. Eventually the path widened into a clearing and they came to a pretty gazebo.

  “This is a popular romantic spot,” the vampire told her, pulling her up the steps.

  “I can see why!” She turned to him, feeling playful. “Hey, are you hinting that you want to make out with me?”

  “Make out?” He laughed. “What a human term. If you have to ask, I wasn’t doing a very good job, was I?”

  Pulling her against him, he captured her mouth and buried one hand in her hair. His tongue parted the seam of her lips, and she whimpered at the taste of him. So good and right. A spark ignited in her belly and quickly kindled to a flame that burned for him as it had for no one else. Not Val or Zen or anyone she’d been with. This sense of belonging was new and powerful, as wonderful as it was confusing.

  She didn’t know why she should feel this way so soon, but it was as if a missing piece of her soul had been found. From a kiss. How ridiculous and yet . . . real.

  His fingers brushed down her cheek and dipped into the V of her borrowed blouse. “Bringing you here as my Chosen might be the best decision I’ve ever made,” he murmured.

  Her pulse sped up and arousal peaked her nipples. “That’s all I’ve thought about since the night you brought me here,” she admitted. “But what about Jordy?”

  Regret etched his features. “You don’t know how sorry I am that I lost control with him. That wasn’t me at all.”

  “And your mate?” The last word was almost spat from her mouth like a nasty bug.

  His golden eyes became hard as stones. “The priestess is not my mate, though she pretends we are for her own reasons.”

  “Priestess,” she repeated. “As in voodoo witch?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Witches are kind of weird, especially her kind, and that sure explains a lot of her creepiness.” A chill slithered over her skin. “But not all of it.”

  Still holding Harley against his body, he stared intently into her face. “Something isn’t right about her besides the obvious. Something is . . .”

  “Off?” she suggested. “Like a piece of fabric that’s been ripped in half and sewn back together crooked?”

  “I couldn’t have put it better. She has this effect on m—” His eyes closed and he swayed a little, clutching his head.

  “Are you all right?”

  After a moment, he opened them again. His pallor wasn’t good. “Whenever I start to talk about Leila too much, my head hurts as though this thing inside me is stopping me.”

  “This is the same thing you referred to after you attacked Jordy?” She stared at him in dread.

  “Yes, though the pain isn’t as bad right now. Maybe that’s because of you,” he speculated aloud. “And I haven’t had any blood since almost going too far with him, either. Guess I’m feeling too hungry.”

  “Poor thing,” she sympathized, smoothing the hair
from his eyes. “What do you need me to do?”

  “Exactly what you’re doing—just let me enjoy you.”

  “I can handle that.” She hoped. As long as he didn’t lose it again.

  He took another kiss, and she palmed his cheek, exploring his jaw and brow. She liked the strength and character in his features. Her journey moved downward to his chest and she rubbed his mesh shirt, admiring how the fabric played peekaboo with his supple skin. Fun as that was, however, she wanted more.

  Seeking the edge of his shirt, her hand crept underneath and slid up. His stomach was tight and flat and ridged with muscle, his chest smooth. The vamp arched into her touch like a feline being petted, and she smiled.

  “Someone likes that.”

  “Want to feel how much?”

  Taking her wrist, he guided her hand to the impressive bulge in his jeans. Apparently, his dizzy spell wasn’t going to deter him from being a naughty vampire. Fine by her. She gave his crotch a squeeze, rubbing as he spread his legs wider. Encouraged by a rumbling growl of appreciation, she unfastened and unzipped him, and pushed the denim out of the way.

  Next, she lifted his cock and balls free, salivating at the sight of him erect and ready for her attentions. Without hesitating, she hit her knees and tasted the weeping slit, then swirled her tongue around the head to catch all of the salty goodness.

  “Gods, yes,” he moaned. “Suck me. Take it all.”

  She gave it her best shot. Sucked him down, laving him like a yummy stick of candy, eager to get all of his essence. Slowly, she worked him in, sucking him deeper and harder until she took him to the base. Fondling his balls, she kept increasing the suction until he laughed hoarsely.

  “Harley, sweetness, you’re killing me here.” Disengaging carefully, he helped her to her feet and kissed her again, hard. “I like the taste of me in your mouth. A lot.”

  “If you’d let me finish, there would be even more,” she said, grinning.

  “Maybe next time. At the moment, I want you over there, bent over with your legs spread.”

  He gestured at a bench and walked her over to it. Excitement rising, she unfastened her borrowed jeans and pushed them down, along with her underwear. Then she grasped the back of the bench, bending over slightly with her feet at shoulder width, and poked out her ass.

  “Beautiful,” he praised, moving in behind her.

  His hands skimmed her ribs, causing her to shiver. Then lower to her hips, and then on to worship the round curve of her butt. His palms played over her, fingers sliding into the crevice between her thighs, teasing her slit. The contact sent tremors of delight to every limb, curling her toes. Two fingers gently probed between her pussy lips. Slipped into her channel, getting the passage nice and slick.

  She pushed back in silent invitation, hot for more. He set her body aflame without even trying, driving her to distraction. Suddenly, he took her arm, urged her to straighten, and spun her around.

  “Hold on to me. Lock your legs around my waist.”

  She did, and he carried her a few feet to one of the gazebo’s pillars. Placing her back against the support, he held her in one strong arm, brought the head of his cock to her opening, and pushed inside. She nearly lost her mind. Felt so good, Soren lunging deep. Filling her.

  “Oh yes! Master . . .”

  Holding her firmly, he began to glide in and out, fanning the flame into an inferno. Fucking her with even strokes, he pumped faster. Deeper. He owned her, and she loved submitting to him when she had a choice, not because she was required by some twisted slave system. She was glad he and his brothers believed in free will.

  This was where she was supposed to be. Right here with him. She knew she’d do anything he wanted and gladly.

  His strokes sped up, sending her need higher, driving her mad. The pinnacle loomed close, her womb quickening. The rush of electricity washed through her body and her release exploded. She cried out, pussy clenching around his cock, pushing him over the edge, as well.

  “Fuck, yes!” he shouted, emptying his balls. Then he struck. She’d almost forgotten Soren was a vampire. But when his fangs sank into the curve of her neck and shoulder, the bolt of pain took her breath—and was followed by an exquisite tidal wave of ecstasy. As intense as before, but with less pain each time, as he’d said. A second release turned her inside out and then left her a limp rag in his hands.

  She knew how Jordy could’ve allowed him to take all he wanted.

  On and on he drank in great pulls, bathing her with his cum. Cock jerking, he wrung every last drop from his orgasm and finally withdrew his fangs, licking the tiny wounds closed.

  “Thank you, baby,” he whispered reverently. “You give me such a gift.”

  “You’re welcome.” Her knees wobbled as he slipped free and set her on the floor again. “I can see why you like to take your Chosen here in the gazebo.”

  “This is the first time.”

  She laughed, but saw that he looked thoughtful and serious. “Is there a reason you haven’t gotten down and dirty here until now?”

  “Because until now, I never wanted to.” He tilted his head, studying her. “My father built this structure with his bare hands and mated my mother here. This was the last place I saw them before they were killed, more than fifty years ago.”

  Her hand went to her throat. “Oh, I’m so sorry. How . . .”

  “They traveled to visit friends and were trapped in a house fire.” Looking away, his lips curved into a sad smile. “In the beginning, when my grief was raw, I used to wish one of them had survived so my brothers and I wouldn’t be totally alone. But I knew from experience that I was being selfish. That neither of them would’ve wanted to live without the other. It’s how I felt when my mate died. Thank the gods I had my brothers and parents to get me through her death.”

  He pulled up his jeans and she hurried to do the same, feeling too exposed in this new type of intimacy. For a few moments, he seemed lost in his own memories.

  She didn’t want him upset with her for prying, but she sensed he might be willing to talk about his mate. “Tell me about her.”

  That gained his attention, and to her relief, he smiled, the shadows gone. “Helena was a sheltered girl. Sweet and demure. Nothing at all like this place or the people in it, which is why my parents introduced us. And part of the reason I fell for her so hard, so fast.”

  “So she moved in here? What did she think of the resort and your . . . feedings? Was she a vampire?”

  “You ask a lot of questions.” An amused grin played on his sexy lips.

  “I’ve heard that before,” she said, thinking of Valafar. “I apologize.”

  “I’m just teasing. Yes, we lived here, and she was human. She wasn’t ever really into the open, kinkier aspects of our nature, but she understood what we were. I couldn’t have stopped feeding from the Chosen, but I would have refrained from sex with them or the guests if she’d ever asked it of me.”

  “She didn’t mind? You must’ve felt very lucky.”

  “Of course I did. I mated a woman who knew the depraved predator I am and loved me anyway. And I loved her. When she died, I believed my life was over.” He sighed. “She was attacked by demons while I was away. By the time my brothers found me and rushed me home, I was too late to save her.”

  “I’m so sorry. I know about loss, and it hurts like hell. Couldn’t someone else have turned her?” she wondered aloud.

  “Helena wouldn’t let them. She wanted to speak with me first, and wouldn’t listen to their pleadings. It took me a long time to forgive them for not forcing the issue.”

  “Or her for refusing?” she inquired softly.

  “That, too,” he admitted. “And ever since then, I’ve been searching for a way to bring her back to me. Decades of agony, as one witch after another failed to help me.”

  A sudden, brutal moment of clarity crystallized in her brain. Her eyes widened. “Your bargain with the priestess . . .”

  “I was looking
for a spell, a trade—anything to bring back Helena.”

  “Her last name. Tell me,” she demanded. A memory of his face in the limo, pale with shock, came back to her.

  “Vaughn.”

  Harley sucked in a sharp breath, pain lancing her chest, confusion clouding her thinking. “Helena Vaughn was my great-aunt,” she said, numb.

  “Gods.” He ran a hand through his long hair. “I’d almost begun to hope there was no connection other than a coincidental last name.”

  “So that’s why you were asking me so many questions about my family and my past when we were in the bathhouse! Are you saying you thought at first I was my aunt, brought back from the dead? Or that you wished I was? That’s just sick.”

  “No! I didn’t mean it like that! Well, maybe at first, but I saw almost right away that you’re nothing like Helena, and I was glad,” he said with vehemence. “I swear to you, I wouldn’t have you any other way than just as you are. I know now that you and she are two different women, even if I didn’t before.”

  She stared at him, letting the words soak in. Gradually, she saw the truth in his eyes and relented. “I’m glad you can tell that, because it’s true. There’s no one in here but me,” she said, tapping over her heart.

  He nodded. “I’m glad we have that put to rest. Now, what do you say we tour some of the places where I have gotten down and dirty, many times?”

  Harley let him take her hand and pull her from their sanctuary, unable to help but smile at his enthusiasm.

  8

  Soren grinned at Harley as he began her tour. For the moment he could forget he was in heaven and hell, living two simultaneous lives that were tearing him apart. Housing two minds—his and the beast’s—that were at war for dominance.

  Harley’s eyes gleamed like a delighted child’s as he showed her the various adult-play facilities in the entertainment building; the main house was for family only, off-limits to resort guests except by special invitation. The particular room they were visiting happened to be empty at the moment, since it was favored more at night than during the day. At this hour, many people were out sunbathing naked by the pool.