by Scott, Talyn
“At Rock and Sixten’s insistence,” she repeated in the barest of whispers.
“When I misted you here,” he couldn’t stop now, “I watched you stand before me while truly traumatized, nervously waiting for your mates to come home.” Kash groaned, wishing he could allow her the consideration she needed. “Your trauma withstanding, how can I continue waiting? No day in the immediate future will be the perfect time, and, by God, no night will ever flow flawlessly.” She dropped down, her knees shaking. In a flash, Kash’s arm wrapped around her waist, bringing her against him once more. “Life’s not easy for us, Blythe, probably never will be.” Only a fraction, he moved his mouth against hers, gently scraping a single fang over her tender flesh. “If I keep on waiting for the right time to tell you that I love you, I’ll be waiting forever.”
Blythe opened her mouth and he shushed her. “Don’t say anything. Don’t think about anything.” With blood rushing his head, his mind whirled back and forth. Never had he encountered anything comparable to this. What was more? Feeling this disconcerted desperation, Kash was certain that once his Species got his fangs on Blythe again, his body would not stop no matter her useless arguments. Harsh, yes, it certainly was. Even so, he could not deny it stayed the simple reality of the moment. Kash was a predator fueled by egoistic genetics, and it would be far easier for him to stop a nuclear warhead turning Blythe’s way than to stop his will to claim her. “Please, allow me this.”
Then he kissed her.
His lips brushed hers once, twice, and then finally Blythe opened beneath his gentle pressure. Swallowing her first gasp, inhaling her intoxicating breath into his own lungs, Kash moved his tongue against hers. Unable to help himself, he cupped her ass with one hand, pressing her giving softness against his aching hardness.
“Kash,” she said on a needy moan, her hands sliding up his shoulders and twining around his neck.
“My name on your lips, calling on me for more,” he said between licks and easy nips, reaching up and fisting her hair. “I’m undone.” Bringing her head back, her chin pointing towards the ceiling, Kash placed his lips against the tender flesh underneath her jaw. And he sucked, hard, drawing her skin between his unrelenting fangs. And although he didn’t bite, he offered Blythe the taste of his pleasure, for her to decide. Hoping she would offer to mate him soon because, among other things, he wanted to feed from her so badly. “Irresistible…to me, Blythe,” he rumbled his approval, moving back over her mouth and tangling their tongues in a succulent kiss. “I live to taste you.”
Kash sensed Rock and Sixten reforming in the entryway, though Blythe stayed oblivious, her eyes closed. When they flanked her, Rock pressed his mouth against the side of her throat while Sixten moved her hair and stroked her nape with his expert tongue. Hormones rising in double time, Kash’s body singing for hers, he pushed the solid, hot length of his cock on her soft stomach. Pumping it while mimicking the action with his tongue, he offered a definite suggestion with all hopes Blythe would follow his lead. Without a care over what Rock or Sixten heard, Kash told her he loved her repeatedly. Made promises between kisses, mostly uttering nonsense like a lovesick youngling.
He couldn’t stop.
In an instant she stiffened, then pushed against his chest. “You’re both back,” she said, blinking several times as if she just awakened from a dream. “Are you hurt?” she asked, patting each of them.
“We’re fine.”
“The flying freaks?”
“Imprisoned, being questioned, and the prince has decreed all others on the ground for the night. Tonight, at least, the skies are to remain clear.”
She glanced between them. “I’ve been worried sick.”
“I tried to call you, moja láska, even before I phoned Kash.”
“Her phone’s toast, lost in the mangroves,” Rock said, holding her in place when she took a step back. “I’ll get her another tomorrow.”
“You’re talking about my phone?” she asked incredulously, now struggling to get away from them.
“Everything’s fine.” In a quick rush, Sixten wrapped his arms around her. “We know how you feel about Kash, angel.” She closed her eyes, her breath leaving in short pants as Sixten coaxed her. “Why not show him?”
“Gotta relax, baby,” Rock encouraged her. “Just like you did for me.”
After scenting her escalating fear, it was Kash’s turn to step back, loathing that two males were suddenly his cheering section. He didn’t need a fucking cheering section! “Everything was fine until they misted it, Blythe. You were soft and willing, accepting my touch. What changed just now?”
“All of you are very male…so tremendously overwhelming.” She lifted her hands in a helpless gesture. “The shortest of you three is six and half feet of solid wall-to-wall muscle and unimaginable power. You command magic at will.” She shrugged but it was off, a forced casualness. “None of you seem to realize your presence. I mean – you take down aliens and hunters, behead things, ripping them to shreds with your claws and your teeth. It’s all in a day’s work, right? And although I’m mated with a male who still scares me on a regular basis, especially,” she admitted, smiling apologetically Sixten’s way, “during sex and feeding. Might I remind you that last night I mated a longtime friend who is a… werewolf empowered by the moon. And just now, in the refuge… Holy shit. It’s a bit much, you know?” She palmed her forehead, sucking in a deep breath. “Tonight, Kash, you admitted that you love me, bringing that powerful Vojak body against mine. Felt fantastic, I won’t deny it. I’m wet and aching, and I’m sure you can smell it.” A burst of strangled laughter left her lips. “There are no secrets in that department, right?” Sixten let go of her, and she back away several steps. “Not as if any of you need Oycher here to give you a mind-stalking run down on what I’m feeling. Still, the three of you closing in on me takes some getting used to.”
“I understand,” replied Sixten softly, “you’ve never been in a group situation. We have to slow down for you.”
Rock shook his head no. “You’re part werewolf, Blythe; this is natural for our kind.”
“You’re overwhelmed? Need to get used to us?” Kash wanted to scream, but somehow he kept his voice level. “Remember, at Sixten’s request, when I licked your wounds, fed you and healed your broken bones? You took my blood in your mouth.” He pointed to himself, his chest heaving. “Mine.” At that, his teeth snapped audibly. “However you took your pleasure from Sixten, releasing your climax right on his hand, doing so with me watching on and your mouth still sucking my vein. For me, that was more than overwhelming. My Species fought with me to mist you away, to take you for my very own. Obviously, I held back. Somehow. In fact, I fought the urge every time I serviced you in any platonic way you required. In case you don’t know by now, Blythe, a noble male does that for his female, healing and protecting her isn’t a duty, it’s an honor. You never thought about that, did you? So let’s continue discussing the overwhelming, shall we? In the process of our platonic encounters, I have tasted and have seen nearly everything you have to offer. Nearly.” He groaned in spite of himself, fantasizing, visions of her perfect pussy messed with his mind even now. How he longed to lick her there, inhale her where her luscious, feminine aroma was the strongest. Rub her scent all over him. In turn, rub his scent all over her. “What’s overwhelming me now, you wonder?” He realized he was now yelling, but couldn’t seem to stop. “There’s one thing I want more than your sex, and that would be your heart!”
Her mouth dropped open before she made a run up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Stopping on the landing between the second and third floor, she gripped the wooden bannister and met his eyes. She loves me. He could see it clearly, shining back at him. “I’m sorry,” he mouthed, wishing he could start this night over.
Sixten stared up at the ceiling when Blythe moved to climb the next set of stairs. “There’s an unfinished room on the third floor she enjoys for reading,” Sixten explained, “and for pri
vacy. If you don’t go to her now, I will. And if I go, I’ll be inside her in no more than five minutes, comforting her, feeding from her, too. I’ve missed her. Decide. Now.”
“She doesn’t have a gun hidden up there, does she?”
“No, but I may shoot you for upsetting her,” Sixten snapped.
“Don’t let me down again, Kash,” Rock joined in.
“She’s still reeling over her capture. I am still reeling over it. And then tonight….” Sixten’s cheekbones sharpened into blades under taut skin. “Don’t taint my generosity in sharing her with you, my friend.”
“I’ve got this.” Ascending the steps, Kash took them the human way for only one reason: Blythe needed time to calm down. With every passing inch, he wondered if she would consider him a suitable husband, as he sure as hell wanted her for his Bride. Stupidly, he had figured the highest hurdle to jump would be Sixten. Then when Rock came along, he mistakenly thought the Beast would challenge him away, considering he was not another werewolf scenting Blythe as his. Kash was wrong on all accounts.
From what Rock had revealed after a long night of negotiations with Sixten, which he also attended, Blythe’s secret dreams whispered of Kash, too. Rock insisted that Blythe would never be complete if she harbored her longing for her third mate the rest of her life. Maybe it was her commanding werewolf blood – the Beta line, demanding in the way of their females for her to mate more than one male. Perhaps it was her vampire blood calling out to Kash, an ingrain desire to mate with a pure blood Species male. To Rock, it was a tossup. The werewolf did not have the answer for his hypothesis. Furthermore, it had become obvious to both Sixten and Kash that Rock didn’t care why Blythe wanted another vampire in her bed. The Beast in Rock wanted its mate to feel happy, more than contented, secure, and loved beyond reason. Therefore, Rock intended to make it all happen. From there, surprisingly, the werewolf became Kash’s personal advocate.
However, what Kash truly sought, was for Blythe to crave him the way he craved her, to want him for him alone, which certainly was not a common, vampire notion. Would she agree to him sharing her with Sixten and Rock, welcoming him into her bed, her body, truly completing Blythe’s family? His jaw clenched until he thought it would crack, his fangs drying in his mouth. Rejection never boded well for one, such as him. If she refused him, well, the very idea of not being with Blythe left him dead inside. He forced himself to shake away that disparaging thought. In its wake, an easy fix came to mind. Kash would refuse to accept her refusals.
When he reached the door, an amused smile lifted his lips when he found it locked soundly. With Blythe’s intimate knowledge of vampires’ abilities, she knew better than this, knew any lock would not keep a determined vampire from entering. Quickly, his smile turned down, a small frown forming. She was asking him to stay away. Was Blythe this frightened of him? Yeah, obviously she was. Kash waved a hand over the lock. He wasn’t having it, not anymore.
Turning the knob, he eased inside, fighting not to glide in the way of his kind. Giving her a chance to adjust to him being there, Kash drew in Blythe’s enticing essence when he moved forward a few steps. Though her scent had clearly changed, it curled around his body, furiously, hardening his flesh to the threshold of pain. Forcing himself to inhale slowly, breathing in and out, he lifted his eyes and followed her scent’s pathway.
With the sliders opened wide, she perched herself on the balcony railing, glaring angrily at the shutters covering the pool cage. When he crossed over to her, she kept her gaze steady on a few moonbeams that had worked their way through cracks and seams, not acknowledging him. Clearing his throat, he asked, “Are you considering that I’ll be an unsuitable mate for you? Or is it worse than I imagined?” Kash’s voice dropped to a fervent whisper. “Do you refuse to admit your feelings for me?”
Only then did she look at him, her eyes wide and shining with unshed tears. “No to all three, I cannot deny you.”
One precious leg dangled over the railing, the pool waiting below, and even though he could move at inhuman speed, could easily catch her, Kash’s stomach plunged at the thought of her falling. He couldn’t miss the fact that she chose her seat purposefully. Blythe needed to feel as though she had freedom, without walls pressing her sides or a ceiling coming down on her head. Night’s sinuous breath on her face would have been perfect if the shutters weren’t necessary. Partly, she descended from celestial creatures, and he could see the way she fed from the slivers of moonbeams. Clearly, though, Blythe didn’t realize she was soothing that bit of werewolf buried deep inside her.
“So I’ll assume that you’re not up there to jump.”
“I hope you’re joking. After everything I’ve lived through, why would I give up on life now?” She retorted with a shaky laugh.
Lifting hands up to her, he curled his fingers around her waist, silently asking her to accept his touch. When Blythe didn’t push him away, he replied, “Well, I’d say joking with an air of concern.” With their vast height difference, the railing leveled them nearly eye-to-eye. Her chest brushed against him as she slipped down a few inches, her nipples pebbling from friction – from need. “Vojaks are proud creatures, in case you don’t know.”
“And you thought I was rejecting you,” she whispered, summing him up, “but I wasn’t.”
Kash stared deep into cognac eyes, seeing his face reflected in her dilated pupils. “I get that,” he said with a shrug. “I was an ass back there. If we’d just met, I wouldn’t have had a problem helping you adjust to me, would be patient in doing so as long as you were willing to try. I deal with unfathomable pressure daily. It’s part of my calling, my service to the vampire race. Still, I think I have waited too long for my Species to remain patient with you.”
Her brow wrinkled, her tone teasing. “Still, if a woman had a mind to, could she get away from a persistent Vojak?”
“Not really.”
“I’m nearly terrified,” she admitted, tracing the dip beneath his throat with a gentle fingertip. “I haven’t the slightest idea where to start with you three.”
“I’m the only one you haven’t officially mated.” He threw the thought out there before kissing her tenderly. After a delicious moment, he nearly pleaded, “Why not start there?”
“And you’re asking now?”
“I am, Blythe.” Kash swept her ebony hair back from her face, a slow hiss leaving him at the sight of her bending to his will, thirsting for his love. “Would you do me the honor of becoming my mate for an eternity?”
“Yes, I want this,” she seemed to be discussing it with herself before staring him squarely in the eyes. “I want you, Kash, forever.”
Chapter Fifteen
Blythe couldn’t believe Kash misted her right over to Maestru’s house. On the outside, it was a superb reflection of a typical island manse for the wealthy, complete with wrap around lanais and circling paddle fans. On the inside, it was as creepy and as cold as the Coven Master was. Gothic fusion everywhere the eye touched, Blythe didn’t know where to look, or, better yet, where not to look. Nor did she understand why Kash brought her here. Rudely, Kash, Maestru, and Sixten had been conversing in an odd tongue though it hinted of a Slavic origin.
“So I’m to understand that you’re mating Kash.” Obsidian eyes locked onto hers.
So that was what this was all about. “Yes,” she answered Maestru soundly. Stunningly attractive, as most vampires were, Maestru’s electric sexuality overshadowed his creepiness by a fractional margin. She’d be the first to admit that he was a twelve-car pileup on the side of the highway. If you stared at him as you drove by, you might very well have an accident, too. Nevertheless, he was a risk worth taking just to get in a quick peek.
“Sixten, you are in agreement with sharing Blythe.”
“I am.” Sixten responded clearly. His big body, still covered in dark fighting leathers, contrasted wickedly with his halo of platinum-streaked hair. He would always be her fallen angel. Tossing his hair from his forehead,
he smiled broadly, giving her a slow wink.
“Might I remind all of you,” Maestru said with a finality Blythe felt to her bones. “None of you can ever change your minds once the mating ceremony is completed. Kash will be part of your family forever.” Again, he looked directly at Blythe. “That means vampires do not divorce the way humans do. Not that you’re entirely human, mind you, but you were raised by their…standards.”
She fought not to roll her eyes on that one. Standards? As if there were sweet and virtuous vampires in the world, all living by higher values. Please. “I understand.”
Kash squeezed her hand and she squeezed his right back. “We understand, my Master.”
Maestru leaned against his desk, his fingers tapping restlessly. “And the Beast who now circles my home doesn't object? I’d hate to kill it during her ceremony,” he said, gesturing at Blythe. “I’m sure she’s attached to it by now.”
Blythe realized that during their linguistically strange conversation, Kash and Sixten had explained to Maestru about her mating with Rock. By what Rock explained to Blythe earlier, her werewolf mate wasn't welcome inside Maestru's home.
“Rock is in agreement, Maestru,” Sixten assured him.
“Then it seems as though there are no objections to this union. Very well, since Sixten had no reason to build a lair underneath his home, and Kash’s home is…was at the Sanctuary, I’m assuming you need a lair in which to perform your ceremony.”
“If you’re offering your lair, I would be honored,” Kash replied, his relief palpable.