by K Loraine
“Did he? You seemed very comfortable with him. Drawn to him, even.”
“I stopped dancing and left him on the floor. Does that seem drawn to him?”
Lucas dragged a hand through his hair and sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I shouldn’t give two shits who you’re interested in, but this bond has its hooks in me.”
“I know.”
“Maybe we need to just give in and let it be what it is, you know? I could be yours if you’d let me.”
My chest ached at those words. Lucas wasn’t vulnerable. He was a playful tomcat. Devilish and charming. Not devoted and loyal like this. At least, not to me.
“This is so strange,” I whispered. “So not what I planned on.”
He stepped back and grabbed his jacket off the chair to his left. “I have to leave you for a few nights. There is business I can’t ignore any longer that I have to attend to.”
Relief mixed with excitement flooded me. I could see Cashel again without fear of Lucas smelling him on me. “When?”
“Shortly. I wanted to make sure you were all right before I left.”
“No one can contest our bond now?”
He shook his head. “No. They won’t try to feed from you for fear of retaliation from me and…of course, illness from feeding on a bonded mate.”
I looked at him, the tension easing between us. “Will you know if someone tries?”
“Yes. I’ll feel it and I’ll come for you.”
“Can you feel all of my emotions?”
His eyes locked on mine. “No. Just the…most intense.”
Guilt curled in my belly. “When you come back…”
“We finalize everything and move on with our lives.”
He pulled me to him, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “Be careful who you trust while I’m away.”
“I thought you said they wouldn’t hurt me.”
“I said they wouldn’t feed from you. There’s nothing stopping you from having an accident.” His tone scared me. “You could fall down the stairs and no one would be the wiser to exactly how that happened. Just…be on guard.”
“I promise.”
He left the room, and I felt as though he took all the air with him. It was both freeing and oppressive at the same time. Fucking bond. The stronger it got, the less I wanted it. Standing at the window, I watched for him to leave, my heart in my throat. My pulse hammered in my ears when I caught sight of him, striding purposefully toward the garage, head down. He looked up at the window, and I swore he could see into my heart, every dark, dastardly thing I’d been doing. I waved but he didn’t respond. It was like he was looking through me.
Then he was gone, his car speeding off down the long driveway. I was alone. Unchained. Restless. I knew Cashel was waiting for me in the King’s rooms. There was no way he expected me to resist going to him after our dance. But Lucas had doused every bit of fire inside me with ice cold shame. I couldn’t see Cashel again.
Two nights wore on. Dark and silent. Empty without Lucas or Cashel to keep me company. Even Sorcha would have brought me some comfort. I could have spent my time wandering the manor, risking being caught alone with Logan or Anne, but I didn’t. All I had was the occasional visit from Martin with trays of food so I wouldn’t starve.
A soft tapping on the door had me pulling a robe over my thin nightgown. Breakfast was served. I walked to the door and flipped the lock, readying a false smile for Martin. Instead, it was Cashel who greeted me, his jaw clenched, eyes hard.
I stepped back and let him inside the room, shutting the door behind him without saying a word.
“You didn’t come.” His words were just as steely as his gaze.
I didn’t answer. Instead, I dropped my focus to the shiny black shoes he wore. Until he tilted my chin up with his thumb and forefinger. “You didn’t come to me. Why?”
“I…I couldn’t.”
“Because you didn’t want to? Or because my brother wouldn’t let you?”
I walked away, heading for the window. He didn’t follow me, but his presence filled every space in the room. Reaching up, I pulled the heavy velvet drapes closed. No one could see him here. He’d taken such a risk walking the halls.
“Coming here was reckless, Cashel. So was dancing with me at the ball.”
His lip twitched into a sneer. “It was. Watching you with him nearly killed me. You let him feed from you.”
“I had to.”
He was on me in an instant. His big body pressing me against the door, one knee between my thighs, both hands holding my wrists. My heart raced. Not from fear, but from pure adrenaline. I shouldn’t let him do this, but I couldn’t stop it. “You enjoyed it. He made you come. I saw it. I fucking smelled it.”
“Cashel, please. I wanted it to be you.”
“I can’t make you come with my bite anymore. Your blood is his.”
He tilted his head and nipped my neck, making me moan. “My body is yours.”
“When does he return?” He rolled his hips and ground his erection against my sex, a low groan filling my ears as he did so. “How long do we have?”
“He said he’d be gone a few nights. I don’t know when he’ll be back.”
“I can’t let him breed you. You understand what that would do me?”
I nodded. “He won’t. We already discussed it. He’s going to take every precaution when we…” I trailed off, unable to say the words.
“When you fuck in front of the entire goddamned council.”
I closed my eyes and rested the back of my head on the door. “I don’t know what I can do to stop it.”
“You can’t. But I’ll be there with you. It will bring me to my fucking knees, but I won’t let you go through it alone.”
“I love you, Cashel. I tried not to, but I can’t stop.”
He kissed me hard in response, the force of his lips almost painful in the best way. “Fuck, little bird. I love you so much it hurts.” He took my hand and pressed it against his chest. “Do you feel this? My heart beats only for you.”
“But…Lucas…the bond.”
“The bond is wrong. You’re my mate. My forever. He can’t have you.” Cashel’s hand slid up my thigh, pulling the hem of my silk nightgown all the way to my hip where I was bare. “Fuck, Olivia. No knickers?”
He didn’t give me a chance to respond. His mouth crashed onto mine, tongue delving inside, claiming my kiss. Hands roamed my body, closing over my breast, running down between my legs, his thumb brushing my clit and making me buck against him. It had been too long since he’d taken me. I needed him. Needed this. “Please, Cashel,” I begged. “Inside.”
He chuckled against my lips and looked down to where his thumb was playing over my slick folds. “I can’t wait any longer, but next time…next time, I promise I’ll take more care with you.”
“Fuck me like you own me. Fuck me like you wanted to when you first took me as yours.”
A low growl rumbled in his throat, and he tore open his pants, revealing his rock-hard length. Then he positioned himself at my opening and slid inside to the hilt in one fierce thrust. I didn’t care that I was married to his brother, that I should have felt guilt for betraying Lucas. All I cared about was this moment. Cashel moving inside me, connecting us like we were supposed to be.
I dug my fingernails into his back, wishing he’d taken off his shirt so I could find purchase with his skin. My pussy clenched around him even though he didn’t move a muscle. “Cashel, please.”
He pressed his forehead to mine. His entire body trembled with the obvious effort he was exerting not to move. “I need…a moment.”
“And I need you to fuck me.” I rolled my hips, and he hissed. His fingers dug into my ass as he lifted me up and forced himself deeper inside. I wrapped my legs around his waist and kissed him hard.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” I whispered against his lips.
“But doesn’t being bad feel so good?”
/> God, yes. It felt so good. He held me tight and walked us to the bed, kissing me tenderly with every step. Then he lay back, keeping me astride him. His eyes burned me with intense longing even though we were as close as we could be. “Cashel,” I moaned.
His hands slid up my body, stopping when he cupped my breasts. “I can’t spend the rest of my life loving you while my brother has you in his arms.”
I moved over him, sliding my fingers across his lips to stop him from breaking this moment. “Be here with me now. I don’t want to think of anyone else while you’re inside me.”
The pain in his eyes nearly broke me, but I kept moving, bringing myself close to climax and dragging him right along with me. I bit my lower lip when he pinched my nipples and ran his thumb over the marks he’d left on my breast when he’d bitten me. My orgasm hit me with the force of a typhoon. I cried out and clenched around him. He bucked and groaned, his fangs extended as he resisted the urge to take the blood he clearly wanted. Then my erstwhile captor spilled his pleasure deep inside me in the bed I shared with his brother.
11
Cashel
Olivia’s even breaths told me she was sound asleep in my arms, but I couldn’t bring myself to move. I’d had her again and again over the last few hours. I knew this wasn’t permanent. We couldn’t remain together without fear of discovery. I’d hoped being in her bed, inside her body, would pull us even closer together. Instead, I’d turned our relationship into something sordid, dirtied by the salaciousness of our affair. But I couldn’t stay away, and try as I might I couldn’t see a way out of this that didn’t end in my capture and her death.
I knew she was awake the moment her heartbeat sped and her body tensed. She’d gone from peaceful sleep, cradled in my arms, cheek pressed to my chest, to fearful. I hated that she was afraid on instinct.
“Olivia,” I began, unsure where to go from there.
She slipped from my arms and grabbed a robe from the end of the bed, covering herself and walking away from me.
“You have to go. We can’t do that again. It was stupid, reckless. What if Lucas had found us?”
“He didn’t.” I shot the response back to her, sharp enough to make her flinch. “This has been torture. He doesn’t love you the way I do. He can’t.”
“Then give me a solution. Get us out of this.”
I followed her out of the bed, not ashamed of my own nudity. “I don’t know how.”
“You’re right. There is nothing you can do. You’re dead as far as they know. You don’t exist anymore, which means you’re no threat to anyone.”
That stopped me. She was on to something. I was a ghost. No one was looking for me, no one expected me. Instead of hiding, I could be fighting. But that would mean leaving her here with my brother, and I didn’t like the way she worried about him. She was always meant for me.
I heard it before she did, the rattle of a tray laden with...something. Back ramrod straight, I turned toward the door. “Get back in bed,” I hissed.
She didn’t question me, her pulse racing as I blurred around the room, dressing at lightning speed. There was no way out. Someone was coming to her room, and I had no escape. She’d been right. This was reckless. I braced myself for everything to end here and now. “No matter what happens, it was worth it to be with you one last time,” I whispered. Olivia pulled a silver blade from under the mattress.
“No. I won’t lose you to them.”
Her hand shook and I moved to hide behind the tall wardrobe. Until Martin walked through the door, a tray perched on one hand. “Some food, my dear?” he asked.
“Martin, thank you.”
He set the tray on the dresser and stiffened. “Someone is here.”
“I…” Olivia stumbled over her answer, but I stepped out from my hiding spot.
“Martin, it’s only me.”
My family’s butler, the man who’d been at my side through so many trying times, stared at me with his jaw slack, eyes wide. “Your Highness?”
I stepped forward and he immediately fell to his knees. “No. Not any longer. Anne is queen for now.”
“We thought you dead.”
“So did I, until I woke.”
“Cashel, what are you doing?” Olivia asked, putting herself between me and Martin. “He’s under Anne’s control. He’ll expose you.”
“No. Martin can be trusted. He’s not powerful enough to be an ally or asset to her.” Martin’s response was a simple nod. He knew as well as I that his station was purely due to his lack of strength. He’d come to terms, just as Brenna had.
“You can’t be found, Your Highness. Not until there’s a way to prove you didn’t kill Eliana in cold blood. The halls are busy tonight. Lucas has returned and sought an immediate audience with Queen Anne.”
I could feel Olivia’s pulse fluttering like a hummingbird in her chest. How close had we come to this being Lucas discovering us rather than Martin? “Martin, keep Olivia close. Bring her rose oil and draw her a hot bath. She’ll need to carry no trace of my scent when Lucas comes to her rooms.”
Martin nodded. “Of course, but sir, how are you going to leave unseen?”
Moving toward the window, I smile at Olivia and reach for the frame. “Like Romeo left his Juliet.”
Martin was gone before I finished responding, no doubt on his way to ensure Olivia and I weren’t found out.
“But they both died in the end,” Olivia said, her voice haunted.
“According to the world, I’m already dead. I will return for you, little bird. I will return and they’ll all know the truth. Remember who makes you feel this way. It’s me. Not my brother. I am the one your body cries out for at night. The one who haunts you. I’ll be the only man in your bed.”
She bit her lower lip and I saw the shiver of longing run down her frame. “Be careful, Cash.”
“I will come for you when the time is right. I promise.”
“Wait!” Olivia rushed to me, pulling me into her arms and crushing her lips to mine. “Not yet.”
Olivia
“Olivia, I have to go. We can’t be seen together like this.” Cashel pulled away from me and stared deep into my eyes.
"Are you sure about this? You’re going to come forward?“ I stared at him. His strong arms around me felt so right. The moment I realized what he’d meant, panic had overtaken me.
"I can't stay in hiding. I can't let her run this kingdom into the ground. I have to face the council and convince them that I am more of an asset alive than dead.” Cashel strode across the room until he stared in front of the tray Martin brought for me. He lifted the lid and the scents of butter and toast, bacon, and eggs filled the room. My stomach growled immediately. “When was the last time you had a full meal?”
I shrugged. "I've been eating."
“That’s not what it looks like.“
I sat on the bed, legs crossed, eyes trained on the vampire who wasn't supposed to be in the room. "I just haven't been very hungry. Something about being married to avoid death ruins my appetite."
Instead of responding with a chuckle, he frowned. "My brother has no idea how to care for anyone other than himself." He got my plate and sat down next to me. "It may seem as though he is your savior, but the moment things take a turn, he'll run. It's how he is.“
"He told me we would go to his house by the coast. We can live our lives there once… Everything is over.”
I took the plate from him and picked up a piece of toast, still warm and perfectly browned, with a layer of melted butter across the top.
"After you consummate.”
The food I'd placed in my mouth only a moment ago turned to ash, dry and bitter. I had to force myself to swallow rather than gag. “Anne said we have to prove that it's real. It’s required, and, there's no way to fake it."
Cashel nodded. "It's an antiquated custom, reserved for royalty but it hasn’t been observed since the time centuries ago when Anne and my father were married.”
"But
were they bonded?"
He shook his head “No. I believe it's one of the reasons she hates us. She doesn't think vampires and humans should bond. Marriage and procreation between humans and our kind are abominations in her eyes."
“Then why would she want Lucas and I married?”
"You know why. Power. But she's up to more than just creating a hybrid with this union, and I have to stop her."
“We have to.”
He stood again and frowned. “I have to go. There are too many vampires moving around the manor for me to stay safe. Martin will be back with your supplies and then Lucas will come for you.”
Lips crushed against mine, he kissed me like it was our last time before suddenly leaving me alone in an empty room. A slight breeze came in through the window, but I quickly ran to shut it and pulled the curtains.
A soft knock on the door had me spinning around, afraid it would be Lucas and that I’d have to face what I’d done with Cashel. But it was Martin. He held a small vial of oil and a fresh stack of towels. “Master Lucas will be calling on you shortly. I told him you were just finishing your meal and needed to bathe before you’d be fit for company.”
“Thank you, Martin,” I murmured.
“It’s my pleasure.” He wandered into the bathroom and I heard the rush of running water followed by the bite of roses in the air. This time, I wanted the scent. It meant I could be with Cashel and not get caught.
“Your clothes, Olivia.” Martin held out a hand.
“What?”
“They smell of Cashel. If you don’t want to be found out, I suggest you allow me to take those and your bed linens while you bathe.”
My cheeks burned. He was right. Ducking behind the bathroom door, I stripped and handed him what I’d been wearing. Martin left me with nothing more than a short nod and bolted the door behind him. Lucas had a key, I was sure of that, but it still made me feel better.
With the bathroom door locked, I allowed myself to relive the moment Cashel had taken me against the wall. My hands trailed over my breasts and down between my thighs where I was still deliciously sore. I stepped into the steaming tub and sank down until the water reached my chin. Cashel Blackthorne wasn’t my husband, but I loved him.