by L. J. Red
Talon gripped her tight, staring into her eyes. “Say it again,” he whispered, and Eden choked out a laugh as wings unfolded in her chest. “I love you,” she said again. “I love you, I love you,” she repeated as he pressed close to her and dropped frantic kisses over her lips. A shuddering rush of emotion came roaring through the open bond between them and Eden sank into it. “I’m yours,” she whispered.
“Mine,” Talon growled with finality, his arms closing around her.
They stood in the wreckage, clutching each other, staring out as the fire burned down around them. The Shadows and guards gradually started to make their way out of the Sanctuary. They’d won, but at what price? So many dead, the Sanctuary building itself half destroyed, pockmarked from explosions and bullet holes, glass and brickwork scattering the ground. Eden gripped Talon tightly as Lucian, Dana, Neal, May and the other Shadows emerged from the building. They had each other. It would have to be enough.
Chapter 34
Two weeks later, Eden watched from the truck as Talon, Rune, and Jacob took out the last of the Ravager strongholds in the city. The abandoned, graffitied building had been a safe house for the scum and the cowards that had fled the final battle between the Ravagers and the Shadows. Radiance wasn’t crushed; Roman was still out there, recovering from this blow, working on his mad plans to gain power, but Chicago at least was finally free of the Ravager threat. The gang members would no longer terrorize the city, spilling violence and brutality onto the streets.
Eden gripped her medical kit, tightly attuned through the bond to Talon’s movements as the doors to the building blew open wide and a Ravager member was thrown out, turning to dust in midair.
Talon strode out of the building, flinging a desiccating heart to the side. Rune followed at his back, and a moment later, the shadow that was Jacob slipped out beside them. They spun and faced the oncoming threat as more Ravagers spilled out of the doors behind them, straight into their waiting arms. The three Shadows moved in concert, cutting through the enemy vampires, turning each to dust before moving onto the next.
The wild rage that had shivered through Talon’s limbs was gone. In its place a calm, relentless killing instinct that stole Eden’s breath whenever she saw him fight.
As soon as the final Ravager’s skeleton turned to dust, she sent a quick question through the bond and opened the door, gripping her medical bag and standing ready for the go-ahead. Talon turned and caught her eyes. A clear sense of possession and love streamed down the bond between them. “No injuries,” he said softly, her vampire hearing carrying his words to her. She grinned and dropped the medical kit back on the seat, waiting for him as he strode toward her, still fired up from the heat of battle. Over the past few weeks, they’d found a system that worked, balancing his protective instinct with her desire to be there to patch them up.
She could feel the energy from the attack transmuting into a deep raging desire as he grew close to her, and she stretched her arms out toward him, meeting him halfway, and both of them launched into the shadows together, flickering through the darkness. Behind her, she faintly heard Rune say to Jacob, “I guess we’re driving the truck back to the Sanctuary then.” And she laughed, the sound caught and echoing in the shadows around them as they sped through the city, back to the Sanctuary, skimming rooftops and scaling walls like a playground ride.
They landed in the courtyard between the Shadows’ rooms and Talon drew her up onto his balcony. Inside the doors was the same room that Talon had claimed her in so many weeks ago, but everything about it had changed. Gone was the bare monk’s cell. Instead, the room was filled with the marks and possessions of two individuals: Eden’s medical books spread out on a bookshelf, Talon’s weapons ranged against the table, the bed sporting a rich decorative coverlet taken from the Sanctuary stores, which was also where they’d found the art for the walls. The room was starting to feel lived in, like a home.
Eden sank into Talon’s embrace. She felt like she belonged here, not just in the Sanctuary, but at Talon’s side. These past few weeks, they had been circling each other, gradually growing closer, pushing each other’s boundaries gently, testing, familiarizing themselves with each other’s habits. And all the while, Talon waited patiently, coaxing Eden’s desire for him out into the open. Waiting, always waiting, for her to make the first move. She loved him for it. Loved that he let her set the pace. He told her how much he wanted her in every touch and every caress, but they had not yet taken that final step together. They had not yet shared the gorgeous, inviting bed that lay in the room. Eden had wanted to wait, her memories of past hurts with Riker too fresh in her mind. But now, with the Ravager threat finally wiped out, she felt a sudden weight lift from her. She was free. Free of Riker’s ghost that had been haunting her these past few weeks. She gripped Talon’s arm, drawing him back to her. “I’m ready,” she said, looking up at him. “I want to be with you.”
“Are you sure?” Talon asked, looking down at her, his hands closing around her elbow. “We can wait.”
“We have waited,” Eden said. “I don’t want to wait anymore. I want you.” She stared up at him, her gaze slipping down to his mouth, his full red lips. She gloried in the hardness of his body pressed against hers and let the bond open with the flood of her desire for him. His eyes flared and he drew her close to him, his dark gaze roaming over her face, lingering meaningfully on her lips. Her tongue flicked out to wet them and she felt a thrum of deep carnal desire through the bond. He tugged her close, his hand slipping around her waist, pressing her against him. He raised his hand to her mouth, his thumb pressing heavy against her bottom lip. She shuddered, her eyes falling half-closed as he softly traced the outline of her lip, the rough brush of his thumb insistent, teasing, until she was trembling with the need for him to kiss her, to press his lips to her sensitized mouth.
She parted her lips wide, feeling reckless and bold, and sucked his thumb into her mouth, pressing lightly against the pad with her teeth, trapping it there as she looked up at him through her eyelashes with lust-darkened eyes. He growled at her boldness and tugged his thumb free, replacing it with his lips, his mouth, his tongue, catching her in a deep, sensual kiss. His mouth was addictive. She could kiss him all night. She moaned into his mouth as he coaxed flickers of desire from her, pleasure stretching through her, her muscles taut, plucked like a bowstring under the expert ministrations of his hands and his lips.
He kissed and licked his way down her neck, and she let her head fall back, dreamy with the haze of lust. “Fuck, Eden, I want you,” he groaned between kisses. “Feels so good, I’ll make you feel so good,” he promised. She gasped as his hands rose up her back, one cradling the back of her head gently, his fingers plunging into her thick hair, tugging it loose from its tie and letting it cascade around her shoulders. The world spun, and suddenly they were on the bed, the mattress bouncing back from their impact. Yearning for his touch, for more, for his hands all over her, she arched up, delighting in the chance to finally give in to the desire coursing through her.
Why hadn’t she done this earlier? Every bad memory she had of Riker was a million years away, wiped clean from her mind by the flood of pleasure Talon’s touch brought her. He stripped her clothes, teasing with every stroke, every wicked glide of his hands over her skin until she was drowning, her voice thick with lust, making tiny, breathy moans with every exhale. She gripped the sheets tightly, tangling them in her hands, seeking release, her hips twitching, rubbing against his hard body. “Fuck. Yes,” he said hoarsely. “You have no idea how you look, Eden. So perfect.”
She dragged her eyes open, her eyelids weighted, and stared up at him. “Oh God, Talon, please, I need you. I need you inside me,” she moaned as his eyes went dark with lust, the thick male heaviness of his desire unmistakable. He’d lost his shirt at some point and his thickly muscled arms caged either side of her, breathtakingly strong. She needed him, she wanted him inside her. She wanted it more than anything. She’d never felt so
aroused, so desperate, so wanton. Words fled, and desire flowed through her as he answered her call, rolling sinuously against her, his thigh hard against the juncture of her legs, rubbing with an insistent, rising rhythm, driving her to distraction.
She abandoned the sheets and gripped him instead, not noticing her claws come out, uncaring of the deep scratches she cut into his arms, too delirious with pleasure to notice, as he drove her deeper into pleasure. She rubbed herself shamelessly against him, a desperate yearning in her core. “I need you,” she groaned. “I need you inside me.”
She cried out as he pulled away from her, but only long enough to shimmy out of his pants, then he was back, guiding her beneath him. In one smooth stroke, he sheathed himself inside her. She cried out and tightened, seeing him freeze stock-still, his muscles in cords. She couldn’t believe how good it felt, the stretch and fullness of him inside her. Then he began to move, and it felt better still. He drove her higher and higher, her nerves alight with exhilaration. She was drowning in sensation, his lips at her neck, her breasts, his body rocking into hers, every stroke taking her higher, deeper into the bond. She gripped him tightly, rising to meet him, wrapped up in the heat and scent of his body. Surrounded by his hardness, she finally let go and surrendered to the shuddering pleasure flying through her. Higher and higher he drove her until finally, she came, screaming and clenching around him, aftershocks riding her body. Her thoughts scattered and her mind stilled. Years, millennia, passed before she finally returned to her spent body, relaxing into the deep hold of his embrace as they lay sated and exhausted beside each other.
“I had no idea it could feel that good,” she said, her head so heavy on her neck it was a feat to turn to catch Talon’s eyes. Talon grinned, carefully sweeping a strand of hair from her face as he kissed a promise to her lips.
“Next time will be even better.”
Chapter 35
“You can put those there,” Dr. Patil told Eden, pointing to the bandages she was neatly folding.
“Okay,” Eden said, stacking them up where the doctor showed her. She couldn’t believe she had the chance to continue her medical studies as a vampire. Dr. Patil was a stern yet encouraging mentor, and Eden got the impression she was extremely happy to have even a semi-trained assistant rather than the well-meaning but not particularly knowledgeable vassals she had previously had working under her.
There was a knock on the door and Eden turned to see Hope standing nervously in the doorway.
“I was hoping to speak to my sister if that’s okay?”
Eden glanced at Dr. Patil. The doctor looked between them, her dark eyes taking in their expressions calmly before nodding. “Of course,” she said, taking the bandages from Eden. “You go ahead. I can finish up here.”
“Are you sure? Did you want me to check on Aaron?” Eden glanced at the door to the room where Aaron, the leader of Bloodline Clarity, still lay in a coma.
“I can do it,” Dr. Patil said shortly, her hands tightening on the bandages for a second. “I’ll see you tomorrow night,” she said firmly and shooed Eden out the door.
Eden and Hope walked together in silence for a little. They no longer roomed together. Eden had moved in with Talon, and Hope had a room closer to the vassals in the more protected central area of the Sanctuary, but she didn’t spend all her time there. She’d been back at college, catching up on the missed weeks. Eden turned their feet toward the dining hall, where she knew food would be laid out for the vampires that wanted it and the humans that needed it.
Hope finally broke the silence. “I wanted to apologize.”
“You’ve already apologized. You don’t have to—”
Hope reached out and placed her hand on Eden’s arm to hold her back. “I do have to,” she said firmly. “I was an idiot and my actions could have cost you so much.”
“It’s okay,” Eden said. “Talon was fine. We got out safely.”
“But we could have died, any one of us, and it would have been because of me.”
Eden shook her head. “We both shared the blame. I should have told you the truth years ago.”
“I understand why you didn’t,” Hope said. “I was behaving like a child, but I wanted you to know I’m gonna change. That’s why I wanted to apologize properly. I just wanted to say I’m sorry, and I love you.” She gave Eden a tight hug. “I’m going to do better.” She hitched her breath. “I’m gonna do right by you. I’m going to…” She caught her breath again, tears appearing in her eyes, and Eden reached out and drew her into a tight hug.
“I know,” she said to Hope. “I know you will. You’re growing up. Mom would be proud of you.”
“No,” Hope said, pushing away from Eden. “She’d be proud of you. You’re the best sister I could ever hope for.”
Eden smiled. “Well I’m the only sister you’ve got, so deal with it,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.
Hope let her, smiling back. “Well, you are pretty badass. You laugh in the face of certain death.”
“And attack it with a broken chair,” Eden said, remembering the moment she had attacked the vampire in the storeroom, a flicker of nerves going through her at the memory.
“Too soon?” Hope asked. Eden shrugged and waved a hand in the air side to side. “Yeah, maybe.” Through the bond, she felt Talon’s presence, a flicker of a question. He had picked up her flutter of nerves and she sent reassurance back down, feeling his presence nearby. She pulled Hope into a walk beside her and they continued to the dining room. It was more crowded than Eden had expected, and Hope pushed her toward one of the empty chairs, telling her to sit and rest.
“I’ll get you a plate of food,” she said.
Eden smiled, wondering how long the agreeable version of Hope would last. She sensed that Hope truly had turned a corner, but changed or not, she wasn’t going to stop being her annoying little sister. Still, she would enjoy the eager to please version as long as it lasted.
Talon’s presence warmed Eden’s back and his hand appeared on her shoulder, sliding around as he took the seat next to her. “Hello, my love,” he said, and she curled in toward him, relishing his warmth and the strength of his presence.
“Hey,” she said softly.
Across from them, Dana was talking quietly to a short blonde with a badge at her hip that had to be Brigit, Dana’s partner. Eden hadn’t formally met her yet, but she had seen her around, along with the police presence, since the Ravager attack. Lucian and Neal were standing in the far corner of the room, discussing something seriously with Benedict. The vampire guard was standing stiffly, his arm in a sling. He wasn’t the only one to have left the fight with injuries, and Eden should know. She and Dr. Patil had been the ones patching everyone up. But despite the wounds and the traces of exhaustion, the sense of family was strong in the air around her. This was where she was supposed to be. This was the heart of her family, and she wouldn’t give it up for the world.
Chapter 1 of Warrior Mate
Discover Brigit and Rune’s story in the next Bloodline Warriors novel…
Brigit pulled open the door to the precinct and stepped quickly to the side, narrowly avoiding being elbowed in the face.
“You calm down!” the man who had almost hit her shouted, swinging wildly, his back to her, facing down the two officers in front of him. The uniform who had brought him in, a young man, very new to the precinct, was clearly unable to get close enough.
Brigit grabbed at the perp’s flailing hand before he could hit someone else and threw her weight to the side. Using his bulk against him, she brought him smoothly to the floor.
“Hey, get off me,” he shouted, bucking underneath her.
“Cuffs,” she said shortly, keeping the man pinned in an arm lock one-handed and raising her other hand for the cuffs. She didn’t take her eyes off the man beneath her, holding him down grimly, her knee in the small of his back. Despite his attempts to throw her off, and her much smaller size and weight, she managed to get him cuffed in a
handful of seconds. She finally let him up and handed him off to one of the officers. Only then did she pin the young officer who had brought him in with a glare.
“Cuffs on before he gets the chance to maul someone next time, alright?” She walked past him and traded a grin with the uniform at the desk. Ignoring the usual parade of late-night visitors—streetwalkers and soon-to-be locked-up drunks, the state attorneys in tired suits with even more tired eyes—Brigit went through to the bullpen.
The usual smell of sweat and stale coffee made her wrinkle her nose. The strip lighting lit the room with an unforgiving glare; still, it was a shade more welcoming than the chilly Chicago night outside.
Her partner, Dana, wasn’t at her desk, and Brigit’s shoulders eased slightly. It wasn’t that she was avoiding her friend exactly, it was just… ok yeah, that was exactly it. She was avoiding her. How exactly was she supposed to deal with the fact that her best friend and partner had become a vampire?
Not any vampire either but one of the Shadows—the seriously terrifying enforcers of the vampire world. The ones who kept the law and executed the rogue vampires who broke it. Hell, Dana had helped kill the Monster of Chicago—the vampire who had terrorized Chicago for months, murdering innocent humans and leaving their bodies, and body parts, strewn across the city. Brigit was glad he was dead and proud of her friend for tracking him down and stopping him. She just wished the price hadn’t been so high. Plus, it was weird to her that Dana didn’t seem to see it as a price at all. In fact, she’d embraced becoming a vampire. Brigit didn’t know how to deal with that. Hell, if it was up to her, she’d have nothing to do with vamps at all. Only, that was impossible because now her best friend was one of them… and so… avoidance.