by Jackie May
Kat comes forward, holding Sapphire’s hand. “I will give my essence freely,” Kat says, holding her free hand over her heart in a tight fist.”
“So will I,” the young girl whispers.
“Sweetheart, no.” I smile at the girl. “I could never ask you to risk hurting yourself for me.”
She gives me a timid smile. “You did not ask. I offered.”
“Nora,” Nick murmurs, squeezing me to his side. “Please do not insult us by refusing this gift. Allow us to make our own choice on this matter.”
I gulp back another sob and look at Nick through an ocean of tears. I don’t want them to do this, but how can I refuse? “Okay.” I sniffle. “If you’re sure.”
Nick turns me toward him and rests his forehead against mine. “I need my partner,” he promises, not a trace of play in his voice.
He takes my hands while still holding his forehead to mine, and he closes his eyes. A warm power pours into me. I gasp, and Nick clamps onto my hands so that I can’t pull away from him. I close my eyes and absorb the energy that’s filling my soul.
Hands clamp onto either of my shoulders, and a small hand takes one of mine from Nick. A tidal wave of power rushes into me so strongly that I cry out and collapse. Nick catches me in his arms, and still the life pours into me. I start to tremble, and I begin to cry again, but this time my tears are of joy. I have never felt anything more amazing than the energy filling every fiber of my being. Something so pure, so good.
As if my body can simply take no more, a burst of power explodes from me in a flash of light, and for what must be the hundredth time in my life, I lose consciousness.
I wake up feeling vitalized and full of life. My mind is completely clear and feels lighter than it ever has. The headache caused by all of Henry’s compulsions is gone, and my body feels strong. I’m alone in bed, which is a little disappointing, but I don’t stay alone for long. There’s a soft knock on the door, and Charlie enters without waiting for my permission. “I felt you when you woke up,” he says, coming into the room and leaving the door open behind him.
I sit up and blush when I realize I’m dressed in a short silk and lace black chemise. It’s much sexier than anything I’ve ever bought myself. I’m also clean. The filth of the abandoned church has been washed away. It makes me wonder which of my men bathed me and dressed me. The expensive, tasteful lingerie seems like a Parker thing, but, honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if any of my men, or even Cecile, had done it.
I pull the covers up a little, still feeling shy around my new mate whom I hardly know. We’ve been through a lot together over the last week, but I still need to learn about the man my fey instincts claimed. He comes to stand beside the bed and gives me a soft, loving smile. “May I?” he asks.
I nod, and he climbs onto the bed. He surprises me when he slips under the covers and slides over until he’s flush against my side. He slips his arm around my back and turns me toward him so he can pull my legs over his lap. Goose bumps form on my skin when his hand starts gliding up and down my bare thigh.
My instinct is to pull away and run from the contact, but I force myself to stay put and enjoy the feel of his skin against mine. And I do enjoy it. There’s something so calming about being near Charlie. I lay my head against his shoulder and let out a small, content sigh. “It was you who found us,” I murmur in the peaceful quiet. “Wasn’t it?”
“It was. When we realized it was Henry behind the whole thing, the guys went nuts. They knew that we were going to have to go up against nearly his entire clan in order to stop him once and for all. That’s when they called all of your allies.” He squeezes me and leans his head on top of mine. His cheek lifts into a smile, and there’s a chuckle in his voice when he says, “I was quite impressed by the number of underworlders willing to go to battle for you against the largest underworld clan in Detroit.”
I smile, and my hand finds its way to Charlie’s chest. “I’ve been busy since joining the underworld.”
“Yes, you have. Hopefully, now, with Henry gone, you will get some downtime before the next disaster. Maybe we could even get some time to get to know one another.”
My heart flutters. “I’d like that.”
He squeezes me again and kisses my head. “I could feel you,” he says. “Once you woke up, I felt you calling to me like we were tethered together. I was led straight to you.”
“Thank you,” I whisper. “For coming to get me.”
“Always, darling.”
We fall into a comfortable silence that’s soon interrupted when most of the rest of my clan squeezes into the room. Most of them find places to stand around the edges of the room, but Ren climbs onto the bed and collapses across Charlie’s and my laps. He wraps his arms around my waist, burying his face in my stomach. His antics, as always, make me laugh. I start playing with his hair, and he sighs happily. “The guys helped me move in. You’re stuck with me now,” he says, nuzzling me. The action is platonic, like we’re best friends and he needs to be close to me after everything that happened. I feel the same way.
“Already?” I tease. “How long was I out this time?”
“Only a day,” Wulf says.
I smirk. “Only?”
Rook sighs and sits down on the side of the bed. I hold out my hand to him, and he laces our fingers together. “Aziel promised us you were fine. He said your body was simply overwhelmed with magic and that you needed time to let it settle in you.”
“So they’re okay?”
Terrance nods. “They’re fine. They would have stuck around to see you wake, but they were anxious to get Sapphire home.”
I’m relieved by that. I would have liked to say good-bye, but I’m glad they took care of Sapphire.
“And what about the rest of you? What about Illren?” My throat closes up at the thought of Illren. I don’t know what I’ll do if he’s not okay.
“All fine,” Enzo says quickly. We all had a few close calls, but my old clan was called in to help heal all of the injuries sustained in the battle. Illren will be fine also. He’s still just sleeping and regaining his strength. I can feel him getting stronger every time I check on him, and Mr. Gorgeous told us that the man you hurt at the FUA office was back to full health after two days, so we’re sure Illren will recover fully.”
I glance around the clan. I don’t like that several of them are missing. “Where are Parker and Oliver?”
“Working,” Terrance says. “The FUA has been working hard to clean up the mess we left behind. It’s no small feat covering up the slaughter of three hundred vampires.”
My stomach clenches thinking about the battle we all just went through. I think of all the underworlders who came to our aid. “Were there casualties? On our side, I mean?”
Everyone sobers just a little. “A few,” Terrance admits. “But not many, and all heads of clans who lost people have already said they harbor no ill feelings. Those men died defending you, and the mythics, and this whole city from Henry’s corruption, and they did so proudly.” Terrance puffs up his chest, as if proud that his clan could inspire such loyalty from other underworlders.
“I’ll pay my respects to every clan who lost someone just as soon as I can.”
Terrance’s expression softens. “We’ll go as a clan.”
The other guys are all quick to voice their agreement.
“What about you?” Rook asks, squeezing my hand. “How do you feel?”
I shrug. “I feel great, actually. Lighter somehow. Freer.” I glance at Terrance.
“Does that mean it worked?”
Terrance nods once. “Aziel, Kat, Nick, and even little Sapphire all confirmed that there was no more darkness in you.”
I want to be thrilled by that promise, and I am, but I can’t help feeling a little wary. “What does that mean for me? Am I even still a siren?”
“You still feel like a siren,” Enzo says. When I meet his eyes, he blushes. It makes me smile. I wonder if he’ll ever stop feeling
so shy around us. We’re his family now, after all.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens the next time you use your power,” Wulf says.
Terrance meets my eyes with a steady gaze. “You could try it now. Test it out.”
My eyes widen, and I shake my head. “No way.”
Terrance frowns and crosses his arms over his chest. “We need to know.”
Charlie squeezes me again. “You won’t hurt us.”
“I’ll volunteer,” Ren says, sitting up. He crosses his legs and faces me with his hands out like he’s ready to have his palms read. “Do your worst, little temptress.”
“Yeah,” Rook says, chuckling, “See if you can tempt him straight. Then he might stop trying to use his incubus power on all of us.”
I raise an eyebrow at Ren, and he shrugs sheepishly. “I can’t help it. They’re all so scrumptious.”
I laugh.
“Go ahead and try it,” he prompts me again.
I’m nervous, but deep down I’m fairly confident that the mythics’ spell worked. Before, it was a struggle to keep my siren locked up. All Charlie had to do when we met was suggest I use my power, and my siren took over. I don’t feel that urge anymore. I’m not tempted to suck the life out of him. I’m pretty sure I’m still a possessive bitch, and that I would go homicidal if anyone tried to hurt my guys again, but right now there is no bloodlust.
“Okay.” I glance around the room. “But you guys be ready to snap me out of it, just in case.”
Terrance, Enzo, Rook, Wulf, and Charlie all nod.
I look at Ren, and he gives me a wide smile. “I’m ready, sister. Lay it on me.”
I snort and then call on my power. It responds to my call, but it feels different. There’s a sense of contentment that was never there before. There’s no yearning, no need for power that always used to rule my siren. It’s as if she’s…happy. She feels playful and wants to play a joke on Ren. Or maybe that’s me. It’s hard to tell. It’s so strange; she feels more like a part of me now than she did. Before, when I had to work so hard to keep her locked away inside me, she felt almost like a separate entity inside my head until she took over. Now it’s as if we’re one being. I can feel her, but she feels like me. Maybe that’s how all shifters feel. I think of my alternate form and can’t wait to try to shift again. I want to swim in the water as my siren. My siren thrills at the thought.
I look into Ren’s waiting eyes and give him a smirk. “Ren,” I whisper. His eyes dilate and he leans toward me, under my spell. “Do a little dance,” I command, just for the hell of it. My siren and I are both amused, but she’s not taking over. She doesn’t even care to, and I know for a fact now that I will never have to worry about going dark. My curse is broken.
Ren stands up on the bed and starts to sway and shimmy. When he slowly and sensually lifts his shirt over his head, I burst into laughter. “Stop!” I yell, giggling. I let go control of him and hold onto my gut as I laugh. “I ask you to do a little dance, and you give us a striptease?”
“What other kind of dance is there?”
I hunch over from laughing so hard, and tears leak out of the corner of my eyes. Not embarrassed at all, Ren gives me a wink and an air kiss.
“Okay, well, do those of us who aren’t attracted to men a favor and keep your pants on,” Rook grumbles.
Ren grins at him. “I will for you, Rook baby, but just know you don’t have to return that favor. Feel free to take your pants off anytime.”
Rook and Terrance both roll their eyes. “Damn incubi,” Terrance mutters under his breath.
My heart warms, and I laugh again. I love my family.
Ren takes my hand and gives me a wide smile. “You didn’t try to eat my soul,” he teases, much to my horror. “So I guess that means it worked.”
A laugh bubbles up from me, and tears prick my eyes again. “Yeah. It worked.”
Ren claps like an excited kid, and both Rook and Charlie hug me.
“Great,” Terrance says. “Now that that’s all settled, let’s get dinner started. I’m starving, and Nora hasn’t eaten in over a day.”
I grin at my grumpy troll. “You got it, T-man.”
The guys file out of my room, and Rook holds back to help me out of bed. As soon as I’m on my feet, Rook pulls me into his arms and plants a deep kiss on me. I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him back with just as much need. When we finally break apart, he’s looking at me with glowing eyes. His wolf is on the surface. “I’ve half a mind to keep you in here all to myself for a while.”
I comb my fingers through his hair and smile at my wolf. “You know Terrance will just come and get me if we don’t go out there.”
Rook sighs, and the light dims from his eyes as his wolf settles. He gives me another small kiss. “Soon.”
I take his hand. “Yes, soon. I promise. But right now I want to go check on Illren. Tell the others I’ll be right there?”
Rook kisses me again. “If I have to. Don’t be long.”
I give him a squeeze, then he wanders into the kitchen to help get dinner started. I make my way to the end of the hall and only hesitate a moment before pushing Illren’s door open. I don’t need to wake him. I only need to see him, to make sure he’s really okay.
Surprisingly, Illren isn’t in bed. The bed has been made and the door to the bathroom is closed. The shower is running. I should go back out to the kitchen and help with dinner. Instead, take the opportunity to look around. My adrenaline spikes as I enter the room and shut the door behind me. There’s something a little bit thrilling about entering the assassin’s personal space.
The room is decorated like all the others in the den, with a night table on either side of a king-size bed and a dresser with a mirror over it. Unlike all the other rooms, Illren has done nothing to make the space his own. I’m not really all that surprised. He seems the type to live sparsely and not care about decoration. But I’m sure his closet is full of weapons. Probably under his bed and in all the drawers, too.
The only thing in the whole room that has a personal feel to it is a single framed 4x6 photo sitting on his dresser. I gasp when I see myself. I’m standing behind the bar at Underworld, laughing at something Wulf said. In the picture, I have no idea my photo is being taken. I don’t recall the moment. It could have been any number of a hundred moments at the club. I pick up the photo to get a better look. It’s a beautiful photo, and I look so happy.
“I love your smile,” Illren’s soft voice murmurs from directly behind me.
I nearly jump out of my skin and almost drop the picture, but Illren catches it and places it carefully back on the dresser. Not only did I not hear him come out of the bathroom, I didn’t even notice that he’d walked up right behind me. And I’m standing in front of a damn mirror! “You are entirely too stealthy,” I say, clutching my poor shocked heart.
Illren ignores my comment. His eyes lock on mine in the mirror and fill with a heat that wakes up my body. He grips my shoulders and presses his chest to my back. Heat radiates off him, and I realize he’s not wearing a shirt. In fact, he’s in nothing but a towel. “Sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean to intrude. I was just checking on you. I’ll go and let you get dressed.”
I don’t even get to turn away because Illren doesn’t let me. He holds me in front of his dresser, his body pressed to mine, and stares at me in the mirror. I gasp when he ducks his head and brushes his lips up the side of my neck. A violent shiver rocks me. There’s so much sexual tension in the air I could probably swim in it.
“I’m so sorry I hurt you,” I say, my voice shaky from the feel of his hot breath on my skin.
“You are forgiven, Mistress.”
“It’s Nora,” I correct as my eyes fall shut.
“Open your eyes,” Illren demands with startling force.
My eyes fly open, and I meet his heated gaze in the mirror once again. “Keep your gaze on me.”
Something in me thrills at the command.
<
br /> Illren’s hands slide down my arms from my shoulders to my wrists. He takes my hands and places them on the dresser, as if trying to make me brace myself. The demand to not move them is implied in his stare.
Next, he moves his hands around my waist and slides his fingers over the silky nightgown I’m wearing. It’s then that I realize that I’ve come to his room in lingerie and that he’s in nothing but a towel.
My pulse quickens.
“I like this,” he says, grabbing the hem of the short nightgown. He lifts it slowly and grabs the underwear I have on underneath.
I swallow thickly, loving the feel of his body pressed against my back and the promise of his hands on me. I could stop this. He would let me. But I don’t want to. His touch is lighting a fire in me and building an ache that I need him to soothe.
In one rough move, he rips the panties away from my body and I gasp. Then I hear his towel drop to the floor.
I stare at him with wide eyes, and my heart leaps in my chest as I realize what he plans to do. I cling to the dresser with a white-knuckled grip, nervous with anticipation. “Keep your eyes on mine,” he murmurs.
I meet his gaze, and we just stare at one another. His eyes demand my trust. I cry out, startled, but also with pleasure when he takes me by surprise. He isn’t gentle, but I wouldn’t expect him to be. Illren has never treated me with kid gloves. He’s never let my fear hold him back. He’s always pushed my boundaries, certain that I’m capable of more than I give myself credit for.
I wait for the panic to hit me. I hold my breath as I anticipate the flashbacks of all the men in my life who were rough with me. But they don’t come. I can’t be scared when I’m gazing into the bright violet eyes of a man that I love and trust with my life. He has me locked in his stare and never looks away as he makes me his.
I never imagined I would like such a dominant lover, but Illren makes me feel so desired that I lose myself to the moment with him. And when we’ve both had as much as we can take, he scoops me into his arms and lies with me on the bed. We’re sweaty and out of breath, but I’ve never felt so sated and so at peace. Illren holds me in his arms, and I lay my head on his chest. “Thank you, Illren,” I murmur.