by Juniper Hart
His fingers closed around the sides of her underwear, her calves locking around his ears. Lane’s frame bucked upward in shock and pleasure as he completed his sampling of her sweetness, his own hardness undeniable.
Long laps of Henry’s tongue brought her higher, arching up until she writhed and squealed in pleasure, clenching the strands of his dark hair mercilessly. But Henry was feeling no pain in that moment. His desire to possess her had overcome all else.
With long, passionate kisses, he moved back up along her perfect form, nuzzling his nose to her flesh. It was unbearable to think that one day, he wouldn’t be able to experience the elation he did in that moment.
“Take me,” Lane whimpered, and Henry happily obliged, slowly and gently. His eyes were trained on her face, watching for signs that she had changed her mind, but there was nothing other than the glowing green of her heated irises staring back.
No, he realized. She wouldn’t change her mind. We are mates, and we will be together, no matter what the cost.
They fell into an intense rhythm, each push bringing him closer to his climax, Lane’s calves tightening around his waist until they were a slick, sliding mass of skin.
“How can I feel this way about you already?” Lane moaned, but the question was rhetorical. Henry felt her jerk against him, and he could take no more, permitting himself to release with his lover simultaneously.
Lane was shaking beneath him, and he held her close, willing her heart to slow. The rush of her blood tantalized him terribly, and for a horrific second, Henry didn’t trust himself not to sink his teeth into her neck.
I could turn her, right here, right now. We could hide it…
“Don’t,” Lane whispered. “Don’t think crazy thoughts. We have our time together and that’s it. There’s no other way.”
“I’m not going to do it,” Henry said defensively, even though he knew he had been almost unable to control himself.
“We’ll both die if you do,” Lane said. Henry bristled.
“You don’t have to remind me, Lane. I know.” He pulled himself off her sweating body and turned his head away. He had no right to scowl like a child, even if the rules were so unfair. Maybe Marjorie’s not wrong. Maybe it’s high time we changed some of the rules for the Enchanted.
“Why would we stop at one set of rules?” Lane asked quietly. “If we change the rules about turning the witches, who’s to say they won’t call for a change in the way the Council is run? Marjorie and anyone else who wants me gone from the Seven would have a real case. You’re a lawyer—you know how precedents work.”
“The Council of Seven doesn’t abide by the outcry of the Enchanted.”
“The Council of Seven is sworn to uphold the rules of the Enchanted,” Lane insisted.
Henry’s mouth became a fine line, but he had to admit that Lane was right. She’d make a hell of a lawyer.
“Thank you,” she said, grinning. “You really think so?”
“Stop reading my mind,” he snapped.
“Stop reading mine,” she retorted.
Their eyes met, and they smirked at one another.
“I guess we’ll just have to accept things the way they are,” Henry sighed. Deep down, though, he knew it was not over. There must be a way. I just have to find it.
12
“Do you know what time it is?”
Lane started at the sound of her mother’s voice, even though she had seen her car when Henry had dropped her off minutes earlier.
“I thought you’d be asleep by now,” Lane said nervously. “Don’t you have a morning shift?”
“Never mind my schedule, Lane. It’s after midnight! How dare you stay out so late?”
Exasperation spiked through Lane’s veins, and she looked at her mother sitting in the dark with blazing eyes.
“Well, if you gave me a phone, I would have been able to call and tell you that I was going to be late.”
Lane didn’t mention that Henry had given her a cell. She was in too good a mood to allow her mother to ruin it by getting into an argument, even if it was inevitable. She’d been vaguely aware of the hours slipping by as she lay in Henry’s arms, but it hadn’t seemed important. The thought of Julia growing angrier didn’t make her want to go home any faster.
I wish I’d gone back to Henry’s apartment with him. I knew what I’d be walking into when I got here.
Julia’s eyes became slits, and she rose from the wing chair, stalking toward her daughter.
“You were intimate with him, weren’t you?” the older Aldwin hissed. “I can smell it all over you.”
“Mom, leave me alone.” Lane spun to head toward her room, but Julia grabbed at her arm.
“You’re making a terrible mistake.”
There was an ominous tone to her words, and Lane felt a fission of fear.
“Mom, you’re wrong about the Council and about Henry. They aren’t what you think.”
“You’ll learn the hard way, then,” Julia spat. “I’ve done everything I can for you, and you refuse to see that.”
“You’ve kept me hidden from the world!” Lane exploded, the resentment she’d been building sprouting from her mouth before she could stop herself. “How does that help me? You knew one day I’d be on the Council, and you’ve done nothing to help me prepare for it!”
“Oh, you ingrate!” Julia snapped. “You stupid, ungrateful child! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”
“You did warn me. You just didn’t prepare me!” Lane shot back. “And I’m not a child! I’m a full-grown woman who can make her own choices!”
“We’ll see, won’t we?”
Lane threw up her hands in frustration. Nothing she said would change her mother’s mind, that much was clear. “I’m going to bed.”
“I’m sure you must be exhausted doing all that ‘work’ today,” Julia barked back, but Lane ignored her, even though it took every fiber of her being to do it.
Her heart was pounding as she undressed and lay on her single bed, the memory of Henry still fresh on her mind and skin. Her mother had been right—she could smell Henry all over her, and she inhaled deeply to let his scent fill her nostrils.
Nothing that feels this good can be bad, she told herself firmly. I don’t care what Mom believes.
Lane decided that the following day she’d talk to Henry about finding an apartment in the city. She couldn’t keep coming home every night to a fight. She was in love, and Henry was right: nothing should diminish it.
She felt like a small weight had been lifted off her shoulders, knowing that she had decided not to betray the Council.
A slight noise reached her ears, and she instantly recognized it as her mother’s cell ringing.
Who’s calling Mom at this time of night? Lane reasoned it was the hospital, asking her to come in early, but as she closed her eyes, she heard Julia’s voice grow louder.
“—control! She’s entranced!”
Lane sat up and listened, her pulse quickening. Something told her that it was not the hospital and that the phone call was pertaining to her. She slipped her feet over the bed and padded toward the hall, her ears honed to what she was hearing.
Julia had lowered her voice again.
“—do anymore. I… guess I’ll have to let you know if I have any luck, but I don’t think this is going to be easy. I… I think they might be mates…” Her mother paused to listen to whomever spoke on the other end of the call. “Okay. I appreciate it. Let me know if you have any luck. The Council has overextended themselves this time. They almost claimed my daughter once. I won’t let them do it again… Okay, talk soon.”
Julia disconnected the call, and Lane pushed open the door to her mother’s bedroom.
“Who was that?” she demanded. Julia gasped and looked at her.
“Don’t spy on me, Lane! Or is that what they teach you on the Council?”
“You don’t—” Lane stopped, listening as the chime of the Council cell met her ears.
; “Oh. No time to lecture your mother now,” Julia chirped maliciously. “Duty calls. You probably have to schedule some toddler’s execution.”
“Mom, the Council wouldn’t ever—”
“You better not leave your lover and new friends waiting,” Julia interrupted. “That could mean your execution.”
Lane grunted and sprinted toward her room, knowing the futility in continuing the conversation. She pulled the cell out from under her pillow.
It was a text from Henry’s number.
We are called to Council. My offices. ASAP.
She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to send a text in response, but before she could, another message came in from Henry.
Sending a car for you. Pls confirm.
Confirmed, she replied, tempted to ask what the meeting was all about. She didn’t know if she should on that phone, though. Their dealings were supposed to be top-secret, after all. Sharing too much information via phone didn’t seem like something she should do.
One day, I’ll be a natural at this, she promised herself, flicking on her bedroom light. I’ll know the protocol no problem.
“What are you doing now?” Julia demanded.
“I’ve got an emergency Council meeting.”
“I bet.”
“Mom,” Lane sighed. “I think it’s a good idea if I get my own place.”
The hurt in Julia’s eyes was unmistakable, but her mother didn’t respond. She only turned from the room and left Lane to finish dressing without a word.
Am I moving too fast? she wondered, staring at her face in the mirror. It was hard to believe so little time had passed. The woman in the mirror didn’t seem to be the same girl who had dreaded the idea of joining the Seven. What made me mature? Henry, or the Council?
Maybe it was a combination of both. She would never really know, but there was an undeniable confidence in her eyes, a wisdom she was sure she’d never possessed before.
Lane heard the sound of a car honking outside, and she rushed toward her bedroom window in surprise. The car was there already?
“Mom, I gotta go. We’ll talk tomorrow, okay?” There was no reply, and Lane knew she was being ignored. “Love you!”
She slammed out of the house, purse in hand.
As she approached the sedan, her brow furrowed in confusion. “Marjorie?”
The driver’s side window rolled down, and Marjorie smiled coldly.
“Get in,” she said. “I’m your ride.”
Would Henry have sent Marjorie to pick me up? Lane wondered.
“You’re keeping the Council waiting as it is, Lane. From what I hear, you’re not really in anyone’s good books right now, are you?”
“I…” She looked uncertainly back toward the cottage. I should call Henry and make sure this is—
“If you don’t get in, I’m leaving, and I’m not coming back!” Marjorie threatened. “You can explain to the Council why you couldn’t be bothered to show up for an emergency meeting.”
Lane nodded curtly and hurried around the passenger side of the Lexus.
“I wasn’t expecting you,” she said honestly, and Marjorie smirked.
“The feeling is mutual,” she retorted, peeling out of the yard and heading toward the road. Lane sat uncomfortably, unsure of what to say to the contemptuous vampire at her side.
“I’m sorry you don’t like me—”
“You don’t need to speak to me,” Marjorie interjected. “In fact, I would prefer if you didn’t.”
Lane didn’t know why she was affected by the rebuff, but she was, and she sank back into the seat as Marjorie whipped through the streets without any regard for speed limits or other vehicles. Why would she care? She was immortal. If she got into an accident, Lane would be the only one to die.
That was a morbid thought. As they neared Henry’s offices, however, she wondered if that wasn’t Marjorie’s intention: to kill her.
I shouldn’t have gotten into the car with her, she realized abruptly. I need to call Henry and find out if he really sent her.
Lane knew she was probably being paranoid, but that didn’t stop her from reaching into her purse and pulling out the private cell she’d been given by Henry earlier that day.
“What’s that?” Marjorie asked suddenly, her eyes widening as she looked at the phone in Lane’s hand.
“Uh… a cell?” The question was bizarre. What did she think it was?
“Where did you get it?”
Alarm bells began to ring through Lane’s mind, and she cocked her head to the side.
“Doesn’t everyone have a cell phone?” she asked slowly.
Marjorie pursed her lips together, and Lane unlocked the home screen, watching Marjorie through her peripheral vision.
Why does she know so much about me? How could she possibly know I’ve never had a cell before today?
Her fingers were shaking slightly as she fumbled off a text to Henry.
“I wouldn’t bother with that,” Marjorie said, and Lane glanced at her.
“With what?”
“With texting Henry.”
Fear and anger jolted through Lane like a shock.
“For someone who doesn’t want me talking to them, you can’t shut up,” she snapped. “Who I text is none of your damned business.” She was even surprised by how sharp her tone was, but her gaze didn’t falter.
“Well,” Marjorie drawled. “I can see that you have more backbone than your mother let on.”
“What?” Her words made little sense, and Lane was sure that the attorney was screwing with her. Still, Marjorie’s cockiness instilled worry in Lane.
“Your mom. She said you were a lot meeker than you are. It doesn’t matter. You’re still not good enough to be on the Council.”
“Stop the car,” Lane hissed, abruptly aware of the danger she was facing. “Let me out.”
“I can’t,” Marjorie sighed. “You have a Council meeting, remember?”
“What did you do to my mom? Was she talking to you on the phone?”
“Oh, look at that, you even have the power of deductive reasoning!” Marjorie cried. “Still, you’re weak, Lane. The entire Aldwin bloodline is weak now.”
“My grandmother wasn’t weak!” Lane choked. “And I’m not weak, either!”
“At least we can agree that your mother is,” Marjorie chuckled. “She’s batshit crazy, isn’t she? Locking you up like you were some flower that couldn’t be handled. It’s probably for the best. You’ve been out for two days and you’re feisty. I imagine a lifetime would make you formidable.”
“STOP THE CAR!” Lane shouted, grabbing for her phone again. With a single swipe of her hand, Marjorie sent it flying to the floor of the vehicle.
“You can make a jump for it if you want,” Marjorie said conversationally, spinning around a corner at breakneck speed. “Oh, that’s right—you’ll die if you do.”
“You can’t tell me that you have been conspiring with my mother,” Lane stammered. “She loves me. She would never do anything to hurt me.”
“I agree,” Marjorie laughed. “That’s why I had to appeal to her sense of madness. She thinks I’m helping her dissolve the Council.”
“She can’t know you’ve kidnapped me right now!” Lane insisted in disbelief. “There is no way!”
“So much drama for such a boring girl,” Marjorie sighed, pulling toward the offices and stopping before the darkened building. “See? You’re safe and sound.” She nodded toward the lobby. “Have fun at the meeting! Hope they won’t vote to throw you out today.”
Lane stared at her. “That’s it? You’re just dropping me off?”
Marjorie looked at her innocently.
“What did you think I was doing?” she asked, a sly smile on her face. The expression churned Lane’s stomach, but she jumped from the car before Marjorie could change her mind. “Toodles!” Marjorie called, zooming away.
It wasn’t until she had left that Lane realized she’d left her bag and both pho
nes inside the car.
I have no idea what that weirdness was about, she thought, but I am telling Henry that she needs to go. I’ll bring her before the Council myself for treason.
She knew she wouldn’t. After all, if Marjorie was brought before the Council, she would undoubtedly sell out Julia, too, and no matter what their problems were, Lane wouldn’t harm her own mother.
As she rushed up the steps to the building and used her key card to let herself in, she wondered if that wasn’t the entire reason that Marjorie had made her position known. The vampire was using Julia as leverage for something.
Getting me off the Council. Lane suddenly wished she was locked away again, where her life was simpler and she was protected. Mom isn’t wrong. The world is cruel. Maybe I would have done the same if I was her.
She would warn Julia about Marjorie. But first, she had to meet with the Council.
The offices were dark when Lane arrived, and she stood before the elevators, looking for signs of life anywhere.
“Hello?” she called out. Her voice echoed emptily through the corridors. “Is anyone here yet?” She felt foolish, but she padded toward Henry’s massive inner office, unsure of what else to do.
“Henry?” she called, pushing open the double doors. It was exactly as they had left it hours earlier, the settee slightly off center from their passionate lovemaking.
She heard the elevator ding in the hall and exhaled. Someone else had arrived.
“Hello?” she called out again. “It’s Lane.”
There was no response, and as she pulled the doors open again to seek whomever had come, she saw nothing.
“Hello?” She had heard the elevator, she was sure of it. “Henry?”
There was a flurry of movement, and before Lane could brace herself, she was knocked onto her back, a dark figure looming over her.
“Marjorie!” she gasped.
“I’m sorry,” Marjorie leered. “This evening’s Council meeting has been canceled.”
She bared her teeth, her fangs elongating. Before Lane could stop her, Marjorie sank them deep into the witch’s pulsating jugular vein.
Slowly, Lane felt the life being drained from her body, the futile attempts to fight off the vampire weakened with each pint of blood being sucked from her body.