by E. M. Moore
“Don’t hold back, Ri. It’s just you and me.”
I moaned, the sound filling the dressing room and overflowing. “Nic, we shouldn’t…”
His fingers worked harder, faster. “Tell me.”
“I think…I think… More,” I said, and if no one had heard anything else, they definitely heard that. I winced, but Nicolai’s mouth clamped down on my nipple and now two spots of pleasure bent me to their will. “Please, Nic,” I said.
“Please what?”
I moaned and met his stroke with one of my own.
He pulled back. “Please what, Ri?”
“Make me,” I said, my tone implying everything.
“With pleasure.”
His mouth moved to my other breast as his fingers continued their delicious exploring and playing. My fingers curled into the wall at my back, my nails scraping off the hard surface. I put everything out of my head except for Nicolai’s hands and mouth and lips on me. I focused on the strokes of his fingers and the heat of his tongue. I matched his movements with my own until my breath sawed out of me. If this was Nicolai’s idea of dress shopping. I was down for it. Whenever, wherever. For fun, for real. It really didn’t matter. His thumb massaged the sensitive spot between my thigh and I gasped. He sent me on a spiral, reaching for the top with abandon. “Yes!” I cried out. I was so close. Just a little more.
He knew it too. He kept on giving it to me. Heated kisses, finger swirls, until my body started to lock up. He sensed it, his movements quickening until I cried out and clutched at him. My hips worked into his, prolonging the feeling of wave after wave of pleasure as it coursed through my veins and culminated in the ecstasy between my thighs.
Afterward, Nic pressed his heaving chest against mine. His hand retreated and he placed both against the wall of the dressing room behind me as he fought for breath. “That was perfect.”
“Not yet,” I said, trying to push him away.
He held steadfast though. “What are you doing?”
I rolled my hips into his and was met with his hardness. Though I’d just reached my peak, his arousal was enough to start me again. “Your turn.”
He shook his head and pulled away. His hand came to rest on my cheek. “Ri, nothing will do for me now unless I slide inside you. I’m definitely not doing that here, and I don’t think you’re ready for that anyway. Mine will have to wait.”
“But—”
“Trust me,” he said, his eyes earnest. “I took an enormous amount of pleasure in that too. Now if I can just go find a cold shower somewhere, I’ll be fine.”
“I can—” I started to protest, but he cut me off again.
“I’m telling you, all I want is to be buried so deep inside you I can’t even remember my own name. That’s all I want. So, unless you want me to take your virginity right here, we need to stop.” I clamped my mouth shut. He smiled. “I thought so.”
He let go of me and I slid down his front. “I think I’m more ready than I was,” I told him honestly. It was something I’d been thinking more about. I loved these princes more than anything and that’s what people did when they loved one another. The only thing was, with there being four of them and one of me, the logistics were kind of screwed up. As far as I knew, there could only be one person, one moment that actually counted for the actual virginity taking. I couldn’t have four.
He pulled my hair around my ear and kissed my forehead. “We should talk to everyone about it then,” he said as if his own thoughts echoed mine. “It’ll be a sensitive topic, I think.”
I nodded, agreeing with him. “I want to share it with all of you.”
“I can’t speak for the rest of my brothers, but I’d like to be there in any way you want me to be.”
I accepted my clothes when Nic handed them to me and then covered up when he walked out with the black and tan lacy dress fit for royalty. Apparently, the decision had been made, but another one lingered too. How could I choose just one to share the moment with? And if I couldn’t, would they all want to be there? Or would that just be crossing a line for some?
Chapter Three
I’d just slipped my second black shoe on when a knock sounded on the door. I bent at the waist to pull the strap over my heel and called out, “Come in!”, expecting it to be one of the princes. The door swung open and T.J. filled up the space from door jamb to door jamb. He was dressed in a black suit, the sleeves tight around his arms and one thin tie disappearing into the recesses of his coat. My stomach immediately plummeted. Not because I didn’t like T.J. I did. It was just that the guys didn’t like him, and if he was picking me up at my door to take me to the party, this was going to set one or all of them over the edge.
“Hey,” I said, my voice trailing off in surprise. I stood to my full height, now only a couple inches shy of T.J.’s forehead instead of more than a few. He kept his eyes on mine, never wavering to peer down or act anything other than proper and respectful. Not for the first time I wondered what he had said that made Nicolai punch him in the face. He had never brought it up with me and I wasn’t about to broach the subject either. As far as I was concerned, the less said, the better.
“Hey, you. Miss guard of honor for tonight.”
I smirked at him. “We both know I’m not a full-fledged guard yet and there’s no way I’m taking that honorary spot without you there with me.”
He waved his hand in dismissal. “No one will care about me tonight. I was expected to do those things. You’re the one who is surprising everyone.”
I shook my head. “I’d rather not be the focus of attention so play along with me, okay?” His smile widened and I checked the clock on my dresser. It was too early to head to the party right now. They wouldn’t be ready for us for another forty-five minutes or so. “So, what’s up?”
“Well, hate to do this to you—us, I mean. Lex hates to do this to us on our big night, but she needs you down at the cells. Apparently Soren is finally talking, but he won’t talk to her or anyone else.”
“Yeah?” I asked, wondering where this was going. “Didn’t they use a little bit of coercion?”
He chuckled. “I believe there was a fair bit of that, too, yeah. He’s actually asking for you.”
My head careened back. “Me?” My hand instinctively went to my shoulder. Since Stephan had put the salve on it again and had been texting me every few hours to remind me to put it on again, it hadn’t been bothering me, but I would always think of that vamp when that shoulder hurt now and vice versa.
T.J. shrugged, his gaze dropping to the floor. “We don’t understand it, but she thought maybe if you were actually there, they could try and get something out of him. They’re trying to find out where Dumont might be hiding and if Soren will actually tell you, they can move on him.”
I was already pulling the small black purse I’d prepared for tonight off my bed as T.J. told me the plan. Of course I’d do anything to try and find Dumont. He needed to be stopped before any of the Ravanas got hurt.
T.J. hid a smile. “I actually didn’t expect you to be dressed yet. Aren’t girls supposed to spend hours doing that stuff?”
I gave him a look. “What about me makes you think I’d spend hours in front of the mirror?”
“None, I guess. I just still expected it.”
I shook my head and pulled my cell from my purse and sent a group message to the princes: Heading to the cells with T.J. Soren’s asking to talk to me.
There were a few things about that text that would piss them off so I put it on vibrate and placed it back in the purse as fast as I could. They knew where I was and could come join if they wanted, but both T.J. and I didn’t need my phone going off every five seconds.
The journey to the main building was slow. I wished I’d chosen a more comfortable pair of shoes, but then again, who knew I’d be interrogating a prisoner tonight instead of heading over to the Rajyvik house for a party?
We started down the empty halls and then T.J. showed me to a door at
the very end of one hallway that led to a staircase. They looked the same as the steps that led to the stake-throwing area, but that door was on the other side of the stone building. I reached up to rub my neck, my stomach bottoming out as soon as we hit the bottom of the stairs and heard voices.
“Don’t be nervous,” T.J. said. He pulled me to a stop and faced me. “Just try and get him talking. Lex and I will be there the entire time. We’re not really sure what this angle is by bringing you into it, but if we can use it to find out where Dumont is hiding, it could change everything.”
“I’m happy to help,” I assured him. That didn’t mean I couldn’t be nervous about it though. I hadn’t seen him since he tried to take out the Rajyvik’s.
“I knew you would be. You look…very pretty, by the way.”
“Thanks, T.J. A suit suits you too.”
T.J. was a good guy, but there was nothing but brotherly affection for him on my side. Hopefully he could work his way into feeling the same because there was absolutely no chance of anything else happening.
He motioned for me to head toward the voices so I did, taking the lead down the hall. The wide rock-laden hallway was lit with single lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling every few feet or so. Up ahead, more light shimmered and when we got there, it opened up into a cavernous room surrounded by cells. A lone wooden table sat in the middle with two folding chairs, which sat empty. To the right, I saw Lex standing in front of one of the cells. I walked straight for her. The click, click of my heels alerted her to our arrival and she turned at the same time a very pale, almost sickeningly white hand gripped one of the solid metal bars from the inside of the cell. I looked past her to the vamp almost hidden away by the thick black bars of his small room. Greasy black hair fell to the vamp’s chin. He smiled and it brought out a shiver in me. He looked much more fierce now than he ever had. Vampires were known to look cunning, but this one was trodden down, even beaten down—literally—with the black and blue marks on his face. This less exquisite vampire looked ruthless.
He motioned toward the metal folding chair in front of him, completely ignoring Lex. “Have a seat. Ariana, isn’t it?”
I nodded and looked to Lex for confirmation. She gave me a slight nod and I headed for the chair and sat in it. “Soren.”
His lips peeled apart, showing off his needle-like fangs. He was so different than the other vampires I’d met around here. Their fangs never came out unless warranted or provoked. That was one thing with these rogue vamps, going off the reservation and sucking humans dry had done something to the way they reacted. He sniffed the air, his eyes closing. I looked up at T.J. questioningly. His face was hard, and I quickly looked back toward Soren. “You smell as good as I remember. All dressed up I see. I heard it through the grapevine that you’re being honored tonight. Something about how brave you were in killing all my friends.”
I smiled and sat up straighter. “Considering your friends wanted to kill my friends, I had to do something about it. You can’t really blame us for stopping a bunch of rogue vamps. You were bound to be shut down sooner or later.”
Soren gripped the bars in front of him, then threw his head back and laughed. The sound of it curled my toes in hesitation. He rested his face against the bars. “That’s where you’re wrong. You’re all wrong,” he said. “We’re not rogue vampires that just decided one day we didn’t like the way things were going down. We’re much more than that.”
“To Dumont?”
Soren nodded.
“Where is he?”
“You don’t do foreplay, do you?”
“Alright,” T.J. said. “You wanted to talk to her, so talk. Where’s Dumont hiding? We know you know. Remember that he left you with us. You could be all safe and sound with your master right now except he chose to leave you there and save himself. You have no allegiance to him.”
Soren barely spared T.J. a glance before locking eyes with me again. “I hope all of this is worth it to you.”
“Worth it?” I asked. “What do you mean?”
“I almost feel bad. For you. Not for any of these other guards, but you, Ariana. You were out in the real world just as happy as could be and now you’re here and you have no idea what they’ve all brought you into, have you?”
“Happy, huh? You couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m much happier here.”
“Don’t kid yourself,” Soren said, sneering the words at me. “Anything would be better than what’s about to happen here. Especially where you’re concerned. If I were you, I’d ask for a different station than the one with the Ravanas. Not that you don’t deserve it because even I can tell you do, but you should pick a safer clan. Somewhere remote. A family no one cares about. The Ravanas are going down and I’m afraid if you choose them, you’re going down too.”
“So, what?” I asked, anger surging inside me. “Let me understand what’s going on here. You wanted to talk to me to warn me? That doesn’t seem like something you’d do.”
“Sometimes things aren’t as black and white, or as cut and dry as they seem.”
Soren reminded me of one of those know-it-all’s who just loved to lord their knowledge over you. Like I gave a crap. “If you’re worried about me, where’s Dumont hiding out then? Give me a leg-up.”
“Ha. It’s not that easy, young one. I sympathize with your plight, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to give Dumont to you.”
“Yeah? Why? He gave you up so easily. What’s a rogue clan anyway? You’re only bound by that which ties you together. Maybe a common goal for the time, but nothing like the familial ties I’ve seen shared by the Ravanas and many of the other families here. I could care less if Dumont is stronger than the Ravanas, or so you say, our ties are stronger.”
His jaw clamped shut. “In theory.”
I shrugged. “It’s a theory I’d be willing to bet on.”
“So naive,” the vamp tsked. He looked every bit his age then. Not that any of them ever looked older than thirty-five, but this one had something in his eyes that just screamed he’d been there, seen that, done that, oh about a thousand times.
“Where’s Dumont?”
“He could be many places.”
“But you probably know where. Where is he? That way we can settle this once and for all.”
Lex spoke up then. “You’re never getting out of here, Soren. If you don’t speak up, you’re going to die in here. I’ve told you before no information means death. I’ll stop your feedings right now and let you grow even more tired, desperate. We need information and you’re the only one who can give it to us, but we’re not going to keep you around if you intend on staying quiet. We have other things to work on if that’s the case.”
For a moment, fear flickered in his eyes, but it was barely noticeable and may have even been a figment of my imagination. Did vampires fear death when they were virtually indestructible? Then again, I could imagine a vampire who’d been surviving on fresh, human blood wouldn’t take very well to starvation.
“My death isn’t the only imminent one in this room.”
I stood at that and moved next to T.J. “This was a waste of time. We have a celebration to go to.” I grew cold as I stared back at Soren. His jaw tense, the hollows in his cheeks truly showed off his suffering. Maybe he could be worked on, but not tonight. At least, that was what my instinct told me.
Footsteps sounded on the stone stairs. I immediately spun on my heel and walked toward them. I didn’t want the Ravanas to have to hear any of this nonsense tonight. Though I detested the very idea of celebrating what I’d done, they were happy about it. They couldn’t wait to toast to me and show me off to everyone so if Soren sunk his fangs into their insecurities regarding their parents, he’d effectively ruin the entire evening.
A pair of black dress shoes moved into the light and I immediately stepped forward, my hands coming to rest on two arms. I looked up. Two gray blue eyes pierced mine. I looped my arm through his. “Thanks for picking me up, Christian. Let�
��s go get this party started.”
I closed my eyes and hoped he wouldn’t ask questions or push into the room further. When we started to walk away, I breathed a sigh of relief. “Anything you care to talk about right now?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing important.” I squeezed his forearm and strode with him outside in the moonlight, knowing full well I’d go back down tomorrow if Lex needed me—or even if she didn’t—because for the first time in a few days, I felt like I was contributing to something and not just waiting. Soren was the only way we were going to get information on how to proceed. Well, unless we wanted to scour the countryside and waste a whole bunch of time searching blindly. Soren was our only option and if he would talk to me, that was what we would do. Talk, and talk, until I got some information out of him. One way or the other.
Chapter Four
Christian and I met Stephan, Connor, and Nicolai at the entrance to the Rajyvik grounds. They were all well-dressed in perfect suits that matched their personalities. Nicolai wore all black, of course. His eyes sparkled when they met mine and I couldn’t help the blush that spread through my cheeks, neck, and upper chest. Connor wore a light gray suit that really brought out the color of his blue eyes. Stephan wore dark gray and Christian matched Nic in everything but the dark shadows on Nic’s face.
They all crowded around Christian and I as we walked up, each of them with intense expressions. Connor was the first to speak. “You know we hate it when you send texts like that and then don’t respond.”
“Texts like what?” I teased.
“Texts like ‘Oh, I have to go see the guy who injured me, but hey, no biggie. See you in a few. Byee.’” Connor dropped his face, his chin practically touching his chest so he could stare at me with disapproval.
I stifled a laugh. “T.J. showed up at my door and said—”