by Scott, K. M.
But he needed it.
She was like his drug.
He pressed his nose to her neck and inhaled the sweet smell of her as he felt her pulse quicken. Its steady beat pounded against his lips taunting him. His body telegraphed his need with shorter, faster stabs into her body as it began to overtake his senses.
“Solenne, I need to taste you on my tongue, but I don’t know if I can control what’s inside me that wants more.”
He let her roll him onto his back and watched as she straddled him, his cock still deep inside her. More beautiful than any other woman he’d ever met, she personified strength and power as she pushed her hands onto his shoulders and began to slowly fuck him.
“Take what you need, Declan. I know you’d never hurt me.”
He’d sooner die than hurt her now.
He pulled her down on him, holding her tightly against his body as he found the tender spot just below her ear. Silently, he hoped he’d be able to stop and sunk his fangs into her, puncturing her vein that instantly flooded his mouth with her precious fluid.
Her blood made his head spin and his heart pound in his ears, almost drowning out the sounds of her moans. His hips pushed up from the bed, ramming his cock into her slick pussy.
Solenne pulled his head to her neck and held him there, letting him know she trusted him. Each gulp of her blood made him stronger, and he fought the demon inside that craved more, no matter what the cost to the woman in his arms.
Tearing his mouth from her neck, he struggled for control as she continued to ride him to climax. She felt so good, her tight cunt wrapped around his cock, squeezing him until he craved release, and to take her blood as he came inside her would be heaven.
“You look so sexy with my blood on your lips,” she said sweetly as she rocked back and forth on him.
With his thumb, he touched her swollen clit and she bucked wildly. “And you look so sexy riding my cock.”
Solenne ran her tongue over her fangs and smacked her lips as he rubbed tiny circles over her nub. “I’m thirsty,” she whispered in a needy voice.
“Take from me. Everything I am is yours.”
The feel of her mouth taking what she needed to exist sent his body into overdrive. He thrust into her willing body one last time before his release exploded into her, and a sense of complete happiness took him over.
This is what life was meant to be. The love of a good woman in his heart and in his bed. The feel of bringing one of his kind the pleasure he’d only given human women more nights than he could count.
Solenne stilled on top of him and murmured softly in his ear the words he’d missed for so long. “I love you. I always have from the moment I saw the true soul behind those dark eyes.”
She slid her tongue like a whisper over his neck and rose to kiss his lips. Her face was flushed with satisfaction, and the pleasure of knowing he’d given her what she needed made his heart swell with love.
“My Solenne. My life was empty without you. No love, no meaning. Nothing. There has been no one in my heart since the last time I pledged my life to you.”
He wiped the tears that ran down her cheek before she lifted his hand to cover her heart. “This is yours, Declan. It always has been. It’s waited for you to return.”
Saint felt her heart beat beneath his palm as she placed her hand on his. For the first time in a century, he wasn’t alone.
Sliding from the bed, she began to ready herself for her time at the Archon’s. Saint moved to stand behind her and brought her close to his body, not wanting to let her go, but he knew she had to, at least for tonight. Following her to the main hallway, he began to miss her already.
“I’ll be back before dawn. Maybe you should try to get some rest because I think a repeat of last night is in order,” Solenne said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “You better be careful. I might be too much for you.”
“You think so? We’ll see. But I want you to be careful tonight. In fact, I plan on telling Vasilije we need to find someone else. You can help us better right here with me.”
Solenne lifted herself up on her toes and kissed his lips. “You won’t get any fight from me. Every time I have to go to Verrater’s I hate it. But there might not be anyone else who can get in there like I have.”
Saint kissed her deeply, his tongue playing with hers as his desire began to rise once again. Pressed against him, her body ignited the urge to sweep her into his arms and carry her back to his bed.
Knowing she had to go, he reluctantly broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to hers. “The Romanian is a resourceful vampire. Let him figure out who can replace you.”
From behind them, Vasilije said, “Thanks, Saint. I think that might be the only nice thing you’ve ever said about me.”
Saint tensed at the sound of the Romanian’s voice, but he saw the pleading look in Solenne’s eyes not to take his bait and knew she was right. His brother’s sire wasn’t worth it.
Turning to face him, he held her hand. “Was the door open, Vasilije?”
“Not exactly, and I do apologize to Solenne for intruding. But when you find out why I’m here, you’ll understand.”
“Since you’re smiling, can I assume you’ve heard when the Archons plan to kill me?”
“Declan,” Solenne chastised and playfully grimaced at him.
“Declan? Interesting. No, we don’t know when the attack will occur. Hopefully, Solenne, you’ll find out something soon.”
“About that. We need to find someone else. It’s too dangerous for her,” Saint said in a voice he reserved only for Vasilije.
“Fine. But about why I’m here.”
“Vasilije, you look…” Solenne stopped and took a step back. “How?”
Saint followed her gaze to a figure standing behind Vasilije. For a second, he looked like any other stranger, but quickly Saint recognized the familiar angles of his face.
What stood facing him was a ghost. It had to be.
Solenne stammered a few words he didn’t understand and dropped his hand to move closer to Vasilije. “What is this? Vasilije, what’s going on?”
The emotion in her voice cut like a knife through Saint’s heart. He stepped forward to stand with Solenne, but as he wrapped his arm around her, she slipped out of his hold.
“Teagan! How can this be?” she cried as she threw her arms around his neck. “They said you were dead. I felt you leave this world. How?”
“That’s the magic of New Orleans voodoo, love. I’m anything but dead.”
Saint’s gaze met Vasilije’s and he saw the smirk grow on his face. Fucking Romanian!
“Incredible, wouldn’t you say, Saint?”
Incredible wasn’t the word he’d use to describe his brother rising from the dead. Impossible seemed more appropriate.
Saint heard Teagan ask, “No welcome for your long lost brother?” and he looked over to see him with his arm around Solenne, who seemed at home next to him after all their years apart. The closeness between them made Saint’s stomach knot, and everything he and Solenne had just shared seemed to evaporate before his eyes.
“I’m happy to see you still among the living, Teagan.”
His brother—the only family he had left in this world—stood in front of him after nearly one hundred years, and Saint felt the pressure to finally put the past behind him. Solenne’s eyes pleaded for him to accept Teagan as she had, and even though jealousy threatened to explode out of him, Saint adored her too much to disappoint her.
“Voodoo trumps the stake then, brother?”
Teagan let out a full laugh and wrapped his arms around him. “You’d be surprised at what that voodoo can do, but no, it can’t trump the stake.”
“Then what happened? Sasa said that Tatiana woman staked you in front of her right in your house in New Orleans,” Solenne said.
Releasing Saint, Teagan backed away and began to explain. “Unfortunately for my friend Jake, Sasa saw him turned to dust that night. Poor guy. He was wai
ting for me, but that bitch got to him first. I got there to find what she’d done to him and got out quick as I could.”
“But I felt you leave this world.”
Teagan smiled at Solenne’s words. “That’s the voodoo. I knew I had to lay low and make Vasilije believe I’d bit it or I’d be in danger, so I quickly worked a little voodoo I’d learned when I first moved to New Orleans. Wild stuff. I guess it worked pretty well, if the look on your face is any indication.”
“Whatever you did, it’s good to know I didn’t lose another one of my favorites,” Vasilije said.
Saint felt like an intruder among them. They were all connected, more it seemed than he was to his own flesh and blood. Sire who’d begat a vampire turned sire who’d begat the woman he loved.
And he was a mere brother, something history had shown Teagan harbored little respect for.
Solenne touched his hand and he looked down to see where hers joined with his. In his ear, she whispered, “I love you. Thank you for being the bigger man.”
Saint looked into her eyes and saw what had been there when she’d been in his arms earlier. “I didn’t do it because I’m the bigger man. I did it for you.”
“Then I love you even more,” she said as she squeezed his hand and stared lovingly into his eyes.
“What are you two whispering about?” Teagan asked, breaking the moment.
“Will you be staying at your sire’s house in Romania?” Saint asked before anyone else could answer his brother’s question.
Solenne squeezed his hand again and both Vasilije and Teagan appeared confused by his question.
“I’m sure Teagan would like to spend some time with his vampire. And his brother, of course. And you certainly have enough room here, don’t you, Solenne?”
Vasilije’s phony concern for Teagan’s relationship with Solenne made Saint’s blood boil. Stroking the back of his hand, she tried to calm him, and Saint remained silent for the moment.
“Of course we do. Declan and I would love to have you stay with us, Teagan.”
“It’ll be like the old days. Remember our times together, just the three of us?”
Teagan’s reminder of the past that linked all of them only served to make Saint uneasy. Every bit as much an intrusive sire as his own, Teagan seemed to have decided to truly reconnect with Solenne. It was his prerogative as her sire, of course, but that didn’t make the thought any more welcome in Saint’s mind.
“I’ll leave you to get reacquainted. Teagan, enjoy yourself, but I want us to talk soon.”
Vasilije flashed a satisfied grin and before Saint could remind him about finding a replacement spy for Solenne, he vanished, leaving the three former friends alone.
Together.
Saint watched as Teagan made himself at home, laughing with Solenne about some long forgotten memory and subtly reminding her of her responsibility as his vampire. But no matter how many times he tried to accept it, Saint couldn’t.
He was happy his brother wasn’t dead. He wasn’t happy he was here with them.
His memories of their past together gnawed at him. For him, very few contained anything worth laughing about.
But at least the Romanian was gone.
Padding up behind Solenne, he placed his hand securely on her shoulder as she listened to Teagan explain the voodoo spell he’d used to avoid suffering the same fate as his friend.
“You should see New Orleans, Solenne. It’s like nowhere else in the world. I can’t wait to get back. If you’d like, I can show you the town.”
“Solenne has to go now.”
Teagan’s brown eyes grew wide and he raised his eyebrows. “Don’t worry, Declan. You’d be welcome to come too.”
“Thanks. Excuse us for a minute. Go into the kitchen and help yourself to something to eat. I’ll be in to join you in a minute.”
Saint led Solenne toward the front door, as Teagan headed for the kitchen. Pulling her into an alcove, he held her to him and kissed her possessively.
“What was that for?” she asked sweetly when he lifted his head to look at her.
“Just a little reminder of last night.”
He knew he was acting like a jealous ass, but he didn’t care. Solenne was his and the fact that his long lost brother returned from the dead was her sire wasn’t going to change that.
“Keep those lips ready for when I return from Verrater’s. I’m going to want some more reminding.”
Solenne stood on her toes and placed a kiss on the tip of his nose. “And don’t forget I love you.”
Saint ran his fingers along the length of her hair and fondled the ends. Just hearing those sweet words coming out of her beautiful mouth made his heart pound faster. God, the effect she had on him!
“And I intend on reminding you why when you get back. Just be careful. Do you understand. You don’t need to get any deep dark secrets from that bastard tonight.”
Her smile seemed forced, and he fought the urge to press her on exactly what went on each time she went to the Archon’s office, knowing that if she confirmed the suspicions he held in his mind, he wouldn’t let the Archon see another night alive.
“I love you, Declan, darkness and all.” Looking past him, she added, “Don’t let him get to you.”
“Don’t worry about Lazarus in there. I wouldn’t trade my second chance for his for anything in this world.”
Fifteen
Ramiel and Thane sat quietly at the table that had become their home since arriving at the monastery. Old volumes of Greek and vampire history surrounded them, giving off a musty odor that hung heavy in the cool cellar air. Each man’s face showed the exhaustion of their task and the frustration each night presented.
Thane retained a spark of hope, which was rekindled with each sunset, but Ramiel’s temperament wasn’t so well-suited to their chore, and he chafed at his inability to make any significant progress in the hours they’d spent hunched over ancient scrolls and books.
A sense of desperation filled the room, and Vasilije would have liked to avoid spending any time there, but each Son understood the key to defeating the Archons existed somewhere in those ancient texts and the prophecies of Idolas, the youngest of the eight sons of Navarus and Macaria. Taking a seat next to Thane, he hesitated to interrupt them, but finally said in a low voice, “What can I do?”
A small smile appeared on Thane’s face as he looked up to see Vasilije. “I’m afraid we’re no further than before. I’m not sure there’s anything you can do.”
The resignation in his voice struck Vasilije. One of only four vampires still alive believed to possess an ability to crack the true meaning of the Idolas Prophecies and one of the two Sons saddled with the task, Thane appeared almost as an enigma to the other Sons. Made a vampire in Tudor England, he seemed to be of no particular age or era. His one defining feature, his eyes, projected a sense of warmth and kindness so rare among their kind, yet he remained distant from his fellow Sons, friendly when spoken to but silent for the most part. Of all at the monastery, only Sasa had succeeded in drawing him out of his preferred silence.
Vasilije looked across the table at Ramiel, a very different kind of vampire from Thane. Forever enraged it seemed, he barely contained his frustration with the task he’d had thrust upon him by his sire when he’d left the world over a century ago. Black eyes appeared to burn from anger, making Ramiel an odd complement to Thane in their duty to the entire vampire race. Cursed with an unrelenting rage, confinement of the kind he was forced to endure now was truly more punishment than anything else. His long existence as a vampire had been marked with violence, and Vasilije wondered how long one such as he would be held by the restraint of duty, no matter how important that duty was.
“Ramiel, my offer is a standing one.”
He nodded, but said nothing. Known for having the face of an angel, the expression he now wore was cold and hard.
“We have found some parts of the prophecy we can translate, but as of now, they make no sens
e,” Thane said as he rummaged through the books and papers in front of him.
“That’s some progress, at least,” Vasilije said, feeling more hope than on any of his past visits there. “Perhaps another head added to the job might help?”
Thane spread a book out in front of them and pointed to a passage written in Greek. “In the end of ages at the twilight of years. They rose to heights as great.”
“Fucking riddles leading to more riddles,” Ramiel mumbled.
Vasilije couldn’t disagree, but he truly hoped the look on Thane’s face meant he saw something in these lines that they obviously hadn’t. “Still sounds like Greek to me.”
“I admit it’s not much,” Thane said.
“Repeat it and maybe something will make sense,” Vasilije said, trying to be helpful.
“In the end of ages at the twilight of years…”
“Not a good start,” Ramiel said angrily.
“Do you have any idea what this means, Thane?” Vasilije asked.
Shaking his head, he grimaced. “No, but maybe with the next line it’ll make some sense. They rose to heights as great.”
The silence in the room when he finished the second line was deafening.
“Let’s assume for now we won’t know what the hell the first line means until we figure out who they are,” Ramiel groaned.
“They can only be vampires in general, the Archons, or us,” Thane said confidently.
“Or humans.”
Thane stared across the table at Ramiel, who seemed to find some rare amusement in their inability to decode even the first two lines. “You’re not helping.”
“It seems illogical that a vampire prophecy would spend time on humans,” Vasilije said. “So which of the other choices do we think work?”
Neither man said anything for a long moment and then Thane finally answered. “Archons.”
“So the Archons became powerful. Unfortunately, this is nothing we didn’t already know,” Vasilije said. “Have you deciphered anything else?”
Thane motioned toward Ramiel. “Read what you’ve got.”
“One born not made will hold the key.”