Blood Traitor

by Kim Loraine

  I made my way upstairs and to Cashel’s rooms, hoping he wouldn’t be there to stop me from my exploration. The excuse of swimming, of searching for something to occupy myself seemed logical enough to disguise what I was really doing. Looking for Knight. Cashel wasn’t anywhere to be found when I came through the door, and a sigh of relief left me before it was replaced with a small twist of disappointment. I still wanted to see him, to hear his voice, and to fight with him. I was a glutton for this man.

  Rifling through the drawers at the base of the tall wardrobe, I smiled when I found a midnight blue bikini. It was more revealing than I’d normally choose, but I had to admit, despite the bruises on my ribs from training, I looked good. The cut of the suit accentuated my curves perfectly. I grabbed a soft terrycloth robe off the hook on the bathroom wall and slid my feet into the pair of sandals at the bottom of the wardrobe.

  My heart raced at the sound of voices in the other room, and I worked to calm its erratic flutter to keep from being found out.

  “God, Cashel, I’ve missed this. I’ve missed us.”

  My hair stood on end. I didn’t want to hear this. I may have tried to get over him, but Cashel still held so much of my heart.

  “El, I told you, this can’t happen. Not now. There’s too much at stake.”

  “Oh, please, just give me something to hold me over. We can be quick. Let me make you feel good again. I know that whore has you on a tight rope.” I hated her. Eliana was a snake, and if Cashel was back with her, I needed to let my stubborn phantom feelings go.

  The familiar sound of someone being shoved against a wall reverberated through the door, and I had to bite back my disgust. Soft moans and shallow breaths followed, then ceased abruptly before Cashel said, “Stop. I’m not in the mood for this.”

  She huffed, and the door slammed, rattling the walls. My heart was in my throat, thrumming fast enough I was sure he could hear me. But he didn’t come. Instead, he sighed and left. What was going on with him and Eliana? More than he’d led me to believe, that was certain. But he’d turned her down. That was more than I’d done with Logan. I’d let him into my heart and gave him an opportunity to dethrone Cashel as king of my affection.

  When I was sure they were both gone, I pulled the sash of the robe tight around my waist and went searching for the pool. The house was still fairly quiet as I descended the stairs. A few vampires milled about, but none paid me much attention. The rose oil did its job well. The door Lucas had mentioned was easy to find. So easy, I wondered why I hadn’t seen it before. I opened the heavy door and stepped into a dimly lit hallway that led to a stone staircase. “Down. Of course,” I murmured. Everything we couldn’t see on the outside structure had to be underground. I’d been stupid not to consider that option.

  I took the stairs carefully, holding onto the cave-like wall for support. Maybe the dungeon was down here. I could find Knight, make sure he was okay.

  As I walked, I passed a door that, when opened, revealed the media room Lucas had mentioned. It was all deep gray walls and leather chairs with a huge screen at the far end of the room. Their own movie theater. I kept going, passing the indoor tennis court, the somehow still alive botanical garden, and finally, at the end of the hall, I found the entrance to the pool. But as soon as I pushed open the door, it became clear this was not a typical swimming pool. This was an oasis.

  I stepped from a plain stark hallway and into a gorgeous cave pool with stone walls and an honest-to-God waterfall. If it hadn’t been for the lighting under the water, I’d have wondered if this house had been built atop the beautiful place. I descended the stairs deeper into the room and found small cut out areas that housed lounge chairs, a hammock made of beautifully knotted white rope, and overstuffed pillows. The perfect way to escape the world as eternity passed you by.

  After dropping my robe on one of the chairs, I sat at the pool’s edge and let the warm water play at my legs. Then I stood, took a deep breath, and jumped. The silence was perfection. Everything around me was gone except the water. I lay on the bottom of the pool, looking up, even though the chlorine burned my eyes. If I could have stayed there forever, I would have. Peace. Safety. Quiet.

  My lungs began to ache, but still I stayed under. Not wanting to go back to the real world filled with loss and pain.

  A muffled shout from above startled me, making me suck in an inadvertent breath. I coughed and spluttered, fighting my way to the surface. Strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me quickly out of the water. I lay on the cold cement floor, staring up at Cashel’s handsome face.

  “What the fuck, Olivia?” he growled.

  I coughed again, clearing my lungs as I sat up. “Why did you do that?”

  “You weren’t coming up. You tried to end it all with a fucking fork when I first brought you here. Of course I’d dive in after you. I can’t lose you again.”

  I stood and grabbed a towel, wiping off my wet face. “You can’t lose me. What will Eliana say when she hears that?”

  “Eliana?”

  “Yes, you know, the woman you loved before me. The one you nearly fucked against a wall in your room earlier tonight.”

  He was in front me, millimeters away, seething. “You heard that? You were eavesdropping?”

  “Oh, that’s rich. You’re angry I was in the room I’d been given and happened to hear your escapades with another woman. You’re a fucking hypocrite.”

  “I said no. I pushed her away. She’s not stable. I couldn’t reject her outright. She’d take it out on you.”

  My chest tightened. I had to get out of here before I made the wrong decision. Again.

  Cashel stepped away, his wet hair curling at the edges. My gaze raked his body. Clad in nothing but white swim trunks that hit the middle of his muscular thighs, he was everything I shouldn’t want. Temptation and danger.

  Shaking his head, he cast his gaze away from me and dragged a hand through his hair. “I’m going for a swim. Try not to drown yourself.” He dove in, the water barely splashing with his precision. All I could do was watch in awe. He cut through the water at a punishing pace, back and forth, over and over, flipping at the pool’s edge and returning the way he came. He never came up for air. I shook my head. He didn’t need to breathe.

  This was my chance to escape. I slipped on my sandals and bent to retrieve my robe.

  “That bikini suits you,” he said, his voice rough and needy. “Don’t leave.”

  My hand stopped in mid-air. “I don’t want to distract you from your swim.”

  “It’s a big pool. I can make room.”

  “Why would you swim like that? So hard? You don’t need the exercise.”

  “I need to keep my instincts sharp. For instance, I saw you the moment I walked in, and noticed you trying to leave while I was doing my laps. Something like that can mean the difference between life and death.”

  “True.”

  He swam to the edge of the pool where I stood and braced his hands on the stone. Then with one smooth movement he was out of the water and standing at my side. “Where’s your weapon stored in that tiny thing?”

  His eyes roamed my body and all I felt was desire. “I didn’t bring one.”

  Shaking his head, he reached for my arm and lifted it to his nose. One long inhalation had him stepping closer. “You cloaked your scent, but the water washed it away. No matter what you do, your blood still calls to me.”

  “Maybe that’s because you know what I taste like.”

  “I wish I could forget. I wish so many things.”

  “Like what?”

  “That I’d never found you. That you could live a normal life. But most of all, that I hadn’t given you my heart to destroy.”

  Damn the man. I felt so much for him even though I didn’t want to. “Cashel,” I murmured.

  He dropped my arm and stepped back. “You say you don’t want me, but when you utter my name it sounds like you’re begging me to take you. I can’t stand this.” Dragging his hand thro
ugh his hair, he glanced up at the ceiling, the water clinging to his taut muscles like starlight glittering in the sky. “Are you playing with me?”

  God, I couldn’t keep doing this. I wanted him so badly it hurt. “I shouldn’t want you. You’re bad for me. You’re the bad guy.”

  “And you like the bad guy.”

  I took my lower lip between my teeth and nodded. “Despite everything.”

  “And I still want you. I want you with a desperation so strong my heart feels like it might burst every time I see you.” He stepped closer, sliding his palm up my arm and over my shoulder until he reached the nape of my neck. “Even if you’ve had him between your thighs. Even if you gave him a piece of the heart you should have reserved for me alone. Even if you think you love him.”

  I wanted to protest, but I couldn’t. He didn’t understand the hold he had on me. My breasts ached for his touch and my thighs squeezed together in a weak attempt to hide how aroused I was. “We shouldn’t.”

  “Shouldn’t or can’t?”

  “Shouldn’t.”

  He pulled me hard against him, the straining erection between his legs pressing insistently against my lower belly. “Well, I’ve never been good at doing what I should, little bird.”

  13

  Cashel

  Olivia in my arms was the perfect kind of agony. I could feel the war inside her, the push and pull of her hatred and want, both fighting for control. But I was too selfish to stop now. I had her. She wanted me. She wasn’t saying stop and I wasn’t going to waste this opportunity.

  I pulled her as close as possible, her body pressed tight to mine. “Olivia, I need you to ask me,” I breathed.

  “Ask you what, Cashel?”

  “To fuck you. I need you to ask me to fuck you until you can’t remember a time before me.”

  She shivered and ran her hand down my back, dragging her nails over the line of my spine. The sensation pulled into sharp focus exactly what this meant for us. We’d been separated, torn apart by the hunters, the council, and all the wrong I’d done. But crossing the bridge back to each other was all we needed.

  Those wicked hands of hers worked their way around my waist to the defined muscles of my abdomen. She let out a shuddering breath, and I set to work untying her bikini top. The scraps of fabric fluttered to the floor, baring her perfect breasts to me and me alone.

  “God, how I’ve missed you. The perfection that is your body haunted me every time I closed my eyes.” My words were rough and tight while my fingers trailed over the swells of her full tits. But the best part, the part I was instinctively proud of, was the mark of my fangs over her nipple. I ran my fingertip over the two puckered scars, barely visible, but intensely meaningful in the vampire world. She moaned in response. “Does that feel good, little bird?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did your hunter know you let me mark you? Did you think of me when he touched you?” Anger burned in the pit of my stomach at the idea.

  “Fuck you,” she said with a shaky voice.

  “We’re getting there.”

  I leaned in and took her mouth with mine. The kiss was harsh and filled with pent-up desire, and she gave it right back. Her palm slid under my swim trunks and she grasped my aching length, stroking slowly, making me groan into her mouth.

  “Touch me, Cashel,” she begged.

  Fuck, she wanted me, and I wasn’t the kind of man who’d ignore a plea from the woman he loved. “Anything for you, little bird.” My cock throbbed with each stroke of her palm, and I couldn’t help but thrust into her hand. I untied the strings at her hips and let the triangle covering her cunt fall away.

  I hated the marks on her skin, the purple bruises at her ribs, the scratches and scrapes on her arms and legs. I should have been there to protect her, to keep her from ever having to fight in the first place.

  “What are you waiting for?” she asked, twisting her hand over the crown of my cock and dragging a moan from deep in my chest.

  “Absolutely nothing.” I slid my fingers over her clit, swirling them around the swollen bud and making her breath catch. “This is mine,” I said, needing her acknowledgment.

  “You wish it was.”

  “I know it is.”

  Gripping her around the hips, I lifted her until she wrapped her legs around me. “You’re an over-confident asshole.”

  “True. And you’re a cold-hearted cheater.”

  She frowned, but didn’t try to get me to let go. Instead, she ground her bare pussy against my still covered erection. “Just fuck me, already,” she said.

  “I’ll take that as a clear statement of consent.”

  “What is it with you and needing consent?”

  “I told you,” I said, kissing her neck and letting my arms wrap tightly around her. “I’m not my father. I’d never take you without permission.”

  “Except for when you’re kidnapping me.”

  I laid her back on one of the lounge chairs and shoved my swimsuit down my hips. My cock was throbbing with arousal, weeping at the tip with need for her. “Except for then.”

  “This doesn’t change anything, Cashel. You’ve done horrible, unforgivable things.”

  “Then why ask for it?”

  “Because I’m weak.”

  I stared down at her, beautifully broken after a lifetime on the run. She had no idea how strong she truly was. “I’m the weak one in this situation.” I knelt between her thighs and kissed my way up her body. “Weak. Selfish. Desperate.” Each word was punctuated by a kiss until I fitted myself at her entrance.

  “Keep going,” she demanded.

  “You broke me,” I admitted as I thrust inside.

  She cried out and clenched around me. “You lied to me.”

  “You chose him.” I moved deep inside her, my pain and heartbreak taking control.

  “I chose you. Until I found out the truth.”

  Grabbing her by the calf, I lifted her leg and placed it on my shoulder so I could move deeper inside her. Each roll of my hips was my way to remind her of what she’d thrown away. Our talk devolved into sharp breaths and groans. Her nails dug into my back, but she refused to open her eyes and look at me. I moved us, shifting our position until the two of us were seated, facing each other. Her arms wrapped around my shoulders, and she had no choice but to kiss me or look at me. I’d take either.

  We moved together, her body tensing, her tongue dancing with mine. I never wanted it to end. “You’re mine,” I whispered against her lips. “Now show me how much you love it when I fuck you.”

  She let out a cry and rode me hard, her orgasm cresting and making her perfect cunt tighten around me. “God, Cashel.”

  “That’s it, little bird. Come for me. Fuck, yes.”

  Her pussy squeezed me with each wave of her pleasure, and I couldn’t stop. My own climax hit me with the force of a freight train, filling her with pulse after pulse of my release.

  Then she shut down, pulling away before getting to her feet. She grabbed her robe and covered her body with the terrycloth. “We can’t do that ever again.”

  Olivia

  Cashel didn’t join me in his room after our tryst in the pool, and a big part of me was thankful. I was swamped with guilt over what we’d done, over my weak will, and the betrayal of Logan’s memory. I’d fallen right back into Cashel’s web. But my lips were swollen from his kisses, and my body felt used in all the right ways. There was more between Cashel and me than I wanted to admit. We were fire and passion and explosive need.

  “Damn it, Cashel,” I whispered into the empty bedroom as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Was he right all along? Did I want to be his?

  I drifted to sleep with the memory of him moving deep inside of me and bringing me to orgasm as he found his release as well.

  “Wake up, darling, you’ve slept through sunset,” Lucas’ voice pulled me from a dreamless sleep. The scent of freshly brewed coffee filled the air and tempted me to open my eyes. “The clans will
be arriving soon for the ball.”

  I blinked a few times, the world around me coming back into focus. Lucas stood over me, his handsome features not entirely unwelcome, but he was definitely not the Blackthorne my heart craved. He leaned close, inspecting me. “You’ve been up to something naughty.”

  My cheeks burned, and I sat up, shoving him away. “It’s not happening again.”

  “So, that’s why my brother sent me to see to you.” He laughed and stepped back, crossing his arms over his chest. “You gave him what he wanted and now you’ve had second thoughts.”

  “I shouldn’t have…he’s…he’s in my head.”

  Lucas frowned. “You still think my brother is manipulating your thoughts? If he was, he’d have ensured you wouldn’t have wanted to leave from the moment you got here.”

  My stomach twisted. He was right. Why would Cashel have let me even consider escape or fighting if he could easily control my thoughts?

  “He’s sadistic. He likes to toy with me.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Oh, please. Our father was sadistic. Our wicked stepmother is twisted. Cashel is the noblest of all of us.”

  “That’s not saying much.”

  “Perhaps not, but he loves you. He admitted it to me the night he brought you back here. And, I assure you, darling, he would never have forced your return unless he had a damn good reason.”

  “What is that?”

  “Callie.”

  Chest tight, I took a sharp breath. “What about her?”

  “She’s dying. I don’t know how much time she’s got left.”

  “Sun sickness?”

  “Yes. Your precious hunter delivered the deadly blow after you and Cashel escaped the manor.”

  I swallowed past the lump in my throat, not knowing what I could say to make this better. “Where is she?”

  “Cashel has her hidden away. He’s been giving her every drop of your blood we have stored.”

  “Sorcha told me she needed a donation when you two ambushed me. She said it was to find a cure, not to cure Callie.”