Saving His Heart (Sisterhood of Jade Book 11)

by Billi Jean

  “A request?” Aidan said silkily. “To me it sounds like a demand. Why would my captain make demands of me?”

  “Because your captain also believed for centuries that this woman was evil, that she had not only committed regicide, but she had trapped and held you away from saving your father. Have you ever met Isobel, Aidan?”

  Aidan twisted his lips and finally flickered a glance over Isobel. “Come here.”

  Bryson went to grab her but she obeyed Aidan, walking across his threshold and up to Aidan on her own. “If you harm her—”

  “Bryson, I can speak for myself,” she said in a soothing tone. “If he will listen.”

  “I am here, am I not? Speak.”

  Isobel bowed then startled him, as well as Aidan, by going to one knee, left arm over her chest with her head lowered in supplication. “I swear on my honor as a Dragon Guard that I have never, nor will I ever, raise my sword to harm a member of the blood. I did no harm to my king, nor would I ever do so to his son. I will swear my oath to you, if it will please you, Aidan, but I did not kill Aaron, this I swear easily.”

  Aidan stared down at her bent head for so long, Bryson grew concerned. From Isobel all he could sense was her calm acceptance.

  “If you did not, then who did?” Aidan finally asked, his voice skeptical but no longer sharp and harsh with anger.

  “Those that I killed when I rose, along with Agatha, who is alive, and Gideon, posing as the young Vampire Warren.”

  If the impact of that surprised Aidan, he didn’t show it. “And you are a Dragon Guard?”

  “Yes.”

  “And my uncle is alive?”

  “Rowan is alive, as is Gideon, in another’s body.”

  Aidan’s gaze darkened ominously. “And you were going to tell me this when, Bryson?”

  Bryson threw his arms up. “Are you going to let my bonded up off her knees, Aidan?” Bryson hauled her up himself with a gentle hand under her arm. He checked she was safe then faced Aidan to see the man hiding a grin. “Come in, but don’t make a habit of showing up uninvited. I have very few houses that don’t seem to be overrun with unwanted guests.”

  “Well, I can see why this one is still unknown. Do you even have electricity? Now, Isobel, what of your brother? I thought he was the reason you killed my father.”

  “Just cut right to it, Aidan, don’t give her a moment to adjust to you not wanting to kill her.” Bryson walked her to the larger of the two sofas. She gave him a reassuring smile then motioned to where he had a wet bar.

  “Drinks?” he guessed.

  “Yes, that would be nice.” Her lips curled, but he wasn’t in the mood for her humor, not yet. The next time—if there was one—she wasn’t going to step away from his protection.

  “A brandy, yes, or if you have more of the French 1648 hoarded away here, I will have that.”

  Bryson grumbled but fetched a bottle of the red Aidan had referred to. It was a good year, the best, but sharing it with Aidan wasn’t what he’d had in mind for one of the few bottles he had left.

  Isobel was waiting when he returned, Aidan sitting across from her, looking cool and calm. Bryson handed her a glass of wine first, then Aidan. The man smiled but took the insult with only a lifted brow. Isobel pulled him down next to her.

  “You appear to have survived your torture.” Aidan sipped his wine. “Did you kill Aquinas?”

  “Yes.”

  Aidan paused with his wine to his lips, but Isobel didn’t continue.

  Bryson took her hand. ‘Stop blocking me.’

  She didn’t respond but softened against him. “Aquinas was one of the members that entombed me.”

  “Why did they entomb you and not kill you?” Aidan asked.

  Isobel hesitated before saying, “I believe they feared me and thought that entombing me would secure their success.”

  “What success?” Bryson hadn’t given much thought to why they had entombed her, rather than killed her. Why? Why didn’t I ask this?

  “The throne. They wished for someone else on the throne so they could be members of the ruling class, unhindered by Aaron’s ideas for unification.”

  “Unification?” Aidan repeated in a dazed tone. “What do you mean?”

  Isobel tilted her head. “Your father was to begin a new era amongst us, to stop those that used their gifts to harm others. It was his wish that Vampires would not drink from the flesh until death, nor drink from the flesh of humans at all. He wished for us to begin using cattle for such.”

  “Cattle?” Aidan spluttered.

  Bryson agreed. He had never used an animal for sustenance. Now he used blood banks and butchers, but to hunt and bite a cow?

  “My father wished for us to stop hunting?”

  “No. He wanted us to hunt, but not to kill and never to drink from humans again. He wanted to forbid it but knew such a thing would cause unrest, so he planned on slowly introducing the concept through firmer leadership in the Houses.”

  Bryson was stunned. By Aidan’s slack-jawed expression, so was he.

  “But…how did the members of his council learn of this? And, if they learned of it, what did it have to do with your brother?”

  “Nothing, other than Jorge was their chance. He did not kill those villagers. Gideon did. To hide that fact, the council agreed to protect Gideon if he aided them in killing Aaron. They accused Jorge, Aaron believed them, and had them kill Jorge. But instead of simply doing this, since Jorge and I both knew who had really killed the villagers, they sent his soul into the mist. He is able to neither move on, nor return. The council used Gideon to end Aaron’s ideas on unification and to hide Gideon’s crimes. As soon as Gideon aided them, they killed him. They were greedy, you see, and in their haste to win power, they did not send his soul into the abyss. He lingered, and now has a body, a Vampire, whom he controls.”

  “And now he wants to kill Agatha,” Bryson added.

  Aidan swirled his wine. Next to him, Isobel sipped hers. By outward appearances, she was calm, but he could sense the tension radiating from her. She believed Aidan still wanted her dead. He wasn’t allowing Aidan to touch her.

  “Ah, yes. Agatha. Why should I let her live? She was one of the ones who killed my father, and your brother.”

  Isobel shifted uneasily.

  “If you kill Agatha, Gideon may be able to use a spell that would allow him to claim his body again.” Bryson held up a hand when Aidan immediately sat forward. “On the other hand, in order to save Isobel’s brother and allow him to move on, if we kill her, we have only to kill Warren, who is Gideon.”

  “And this will free your brother?” Aidan asked sharply.

  Isobel nodded. “Yes.”

  “I take it your brother allowed his death?”

  Bryson frowned and turned to see Isobel nod again. “He forbade me to save him. It was his only chance to be with his bride.”

  There were tears in her tone, ones he knew she fought and ones he knew she had shed centuries before. Alone. She suffered all this alone, without me, when I was there and could have aided her. He brought her closer, warning Aidan with a look that if he didn’t turn the questions around, he would. There was much he had to do to make amends to Isobel for misjudging her. Beating Aidan to a pulp if he pushed her too hard would be one he’d gladly do. Even now having Aidan here, near her, his woman, set his teeth on edge.

  “So, it is now our job to find Warren, who is my uncle. Where is Rowan?”

  Bryson loosened up enough to answer. “He is searching for Gideon.”

  “Ah, and he has been where?”

  “I think he has been alone,” Isobel said. “He was…harmed. Then I believe he slept, perhaps too lost without us. The Dragons were few, but we were loyal, and to him and to Aaron, we were family.”

  “Now you have a bonded, he will be your family. Will you let this vendetta go if we decide not to kill Agatha?”

  Bryson sighed. It was a question she’d already answered by saving Agatha’s life, but
Aidan wanted more, always more from them. He’d been betrayed too young, too many times, for him to trust easily.

  “She has already allowed Agatha to live, Aidan.”

  “I see, so by allowing her to live, you have given up on your brother?”

  Isobel tensed. “No. There are other means to send his soul onward,” she finally responded. “It is not as easy—”

  “Killing six ancients is easy, is it?”

  “Yes. Corruption and evil weaken a soul, not strengthen it. Gideon will have to be destroyed, Aidan. There is no other way. Agatha, for all her greed and selfishness, is not truly evil for she fears to put herself forward too deeply into such things.”

  Aidan’s gaze turned fierce. “And you can sense this? Evil and good?”

  “Yes. We all can. It is part of why God created us, not to kill or be killers, but to cull from his flock those that are. As a Dragon I was taught this, and I still believe that as stronger, more powerful beings we are given a job no human can accomplish.”

  “Judge, jury and executioner?”

  “I did not say it was simple. I can judge easily the thought of humans, and be the jury to decide their fate, just as I can for other immortals, such as Vampires.”

  “This was the intention of the Dragons, was it not? To be the police of our people.” Bryson tipped her head to look into her dark eyes again.

  Isobel gave him a slow smile and nodded. “I suppose so.”

  “Perhaps Rowan could be convinced to train once again,” Aidan muttered. He stood abruptly. “I have to go. Allie needs me. Her sister is still risen to the surface. Nor can I locate Rhys.”

  Bryson helped Isobel to her feet. “Rhys will protect Bridget. He has no choice.”

  “He will, if he can.” Aidan anchored his hands on his hips, head down and sighed. “But I worry. This long with no word from them is not good. Their quest is not easy and because of Bridget’s sacrifice I have my bonded. I would not have her suffer for our happiness.”

  Bryson gripped Aidan’s shoulder. “She did so freely. It is Rhys I worry over. His temper is worse than yours, and if he’s put into a position where she might be harmed—”

  “He will lose his cool. Yes, er, he didn’t manage his bonding well. See that you two exchange bonds before you leave this place. You’ve lost enough, Isobel. I would have you training alongside Bryson and Rowan, but not without bonding to Bryson first. You will not sacrifice yourself for another that you love. See that it is done, Bryson.”

  Bryson tensed his shoulders at the warning in Aidan’s tone but also at what he was saying. Then his king was gone.

  “Isobel, explain to me what Aidan meant.”

  She gave him another slow smile and caught him by surprise by sliding her hands under his shirt and up onto his bare chest. If she did this often, his ability to think might become impaired permanently. Leaning on him she whispered, “I suppose he was referring to my fearing to bond with you, for fear of losing you. Or to my fear of dying and leaving you to suffer alone.”

  Of all the things she could have said, this shocked him the most. He had wronged her. He had never thought to seek her out and question her. Nor had he given her the benefit of the doubt, but accused her of vile things without knowing her at all. And she would sacrifice herself for him?

  “Woman…”

  Isobel made him catch his breath with a caress down the front of his trousers to grip his shaft.

  “But I think we should obey our king, don’t you? We should see that this is done.”

  The air left him on a groan. Mine. This was his woman. His hungry and aroused woman.

  “It will be this night, my heart, this I swear. You will never have to face this world alone again, Isobel. Never alone.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Things had changed. Bryson had changed. Gone was the barely in control, but firmly resolved to wait lover from earlier this eve. In his place, her bonded was focused on her with a single-mindedness that equally thrilled and frightened her.

  “What are you doing, Bryson?”

  He hovered above her on stiff arms, his face inches from hers, too far to kiss but close enough that she could see the way the firelight played on the shadows of his fathomless expression. His wide set eyes were pinned on her so intently she worried what was going on in that mind of his. She’d undressed then sought out and found another one of his long button-down shirts and covered herself with it before he’d entered their bedroom.

  “I am memorizing every inch of your beauty. You are mine, Isobel. As I am yours. Forever we will be one. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, I understand,” she whispered, suddenly caught in the magic of this moment. This man was her bonded. Only once before had she wondered if she would find happiness. Then her brother’s death had ripped all of those fleeting hopes aside.

  She reached up and framed Bryson’s face between her hands. The whiskers on his jaw were thicker now. He needed to shave. The idea of such knowledge struck her as momentous. From now until forever, she would be able to touch him just so. Feel him. Know with a glance that when his eyes turned such a light shade he was aroused—for her.

  “You are beautiful,” he murmured, resting on top of her so his weight pressed her down. The heat of his body was incredible. So was the full, long length of his erection pressing against her through the material of his slacks. He leaned on his elbows and gazed down at her. “You take my breath away. Your eyes are captivating. Your lips”—he pressed a kiss to her mouth—“kissable. And your neck…” He trailed his mouth along her throat, nicking her once and sucking the spot. Her body clenched for him. He had the shirt she’d borrowed unbuttoned before she knew what he was about. Only the cooler air on her bare chest alerted her.

  “Your breasts…” He rose and cupped one in his hand, kissing the nipple until it hardened and ached. Her stomach felt as if it had dropped to her toes.

  “Bryson.”

  At her cry, he took the bud in his mouth and sucked gently. Her toes curled and she clasped his rounded bottom. The muscles there were so hard she dug her nails in, testing them. His shaft jerked, but otherwise he kept up his slow seduction. He placed kisses under her aching nipples, so gently she wanted to demand more from him. Instead, she fisted her hands in the sheets to hold on for more of what he was doing. Only the longer she held her breath the more he seemed to savor her until finally he began sucking and kissing both of her breasts, one right after the other. She was certain she couldn’t take much more.

  “Bryson, please,” she begged.

  He spread the shirt. She shivered as his warm breath heated her skin. Nothing in her life had ever felt so good. So exciting. And it will only get better?

  “Ah, yes, and your ribs, and stomach, I can’t forget how beautiful both are to me.” He left a hot path everywhere his mouth grazed her skin, making her frantic and achy all at once. By the time he reached her mound, she was pressing his head down shamelessly, wanting that devilish mouth on her like nothing she’d ever wanted before.

  He hovered, staring between her open thighs as if mesmerized.

  Embarrassed, she tried to cover herself, but Bryson halted her by grabbing her hand. Eyes on her, he placed a warm kiss to her palm. His eyes were hypnotic.

  “No, don’t be shy. You are beautiful, Isobel. Show me what you like.”

  She couldn’t. She also couldn’t ask him to give her relief because she wanted his mouth on her. Right there. Instead, he left feather-light kisses on her inner thighs and harder stinging kisses along her legs down to her toes. Once there, he gave each digit his full attention along with her feet and ankles until she was brazenly touching herself.

  “Yes. Show me.” His voice sounded rough and only added to the excitement.

  Holding her breath, she let her legs fall open and lightly traced her fingers along her clit, shivering from the small touch. It still wasn’t enough. “Bryson, please.”

  He startled her by pushing her hand away and, thankfully, brou
ght his mouth down on her.

  Perfect!

  Fire seemed to explode in her veins. Electricity zipped along her flesh. Her body took off on its own as she rose to the heavens. Her toes curled. Her fingers dug into the sheets. Her neck arched and she was held there, as if by invisible strings. Bryson growled her name then pressed two fingers past her entrance. At the same time, he rubbed his hot tongue over her clit.

  Without meaning to, she clenched her hands in his hair and held him there. The orgasm exploded, catching her by surprise. She wrapped her legs around his head and cried out as stars burst along her vision. Bliss carried her away, higher and higher than ever before, but she knew he held her and would never, ever let her go.

  “Do you know what a bond means, Bryson?” Isobel whispered. Her voice was rough from the screams he’d dragged from her. She was tousled, sated, and watching him with contentment. “What it really means?”

  Bryson nodded, for words were merely bizarre sounds that couldn’t ever say more. He could taste and scent her sweet essence and knew such pride at giving her pleasure he could barely think straight. Now she wanted to talk? His body ached—he needed to drink from her as desperately as he needed to empty his seed in her body. Less than hours before he’d emptied himself on her repeatedly but that seemed like centuries ago Need her. Sweat soaked his body, making his clothing unbearable. Under his pants, he felt strangled. But her voice, her mesmerizing eyes held him in place.

  “Tell me,” she whispered. “Tell me what it means.”

  The idea that he could take what he felt for this woman and compact it into syllables was an impossible task. But for her, he would move mountains. “It means that for the rest of my existence, I will put your life before mine. As long as there is strength left in my body then I will not stop, will not rest, until I know you are safe.”

  Her eyebrows lifted delicately. “Does this mean you will love me?”

  “Love you? Such a word doesn’t describe adequately the depth of my devotion to you, Isobel. If you were gone from this earth, I would follow. I would not rest until you were once again in my arms. I will be yours for the rest of eternity. So, yes,” he whispered in her ear, “this means I love you.”