“I’m awake,” Ryder yelled back and turned his face back to mine. “I have to go. I’ll be back tonight to teach you how to feed. I’m leaving a small group of men here with you to keep you safe.”
“I don’t—” His lips crushed against mine, stopping my protest. When he pulled away, I glared at him. “That was dirty, Ryder.”
“Who knew kissing you was all it took to shut that sassy mouth up?” he whispered playfully and rubbed his hard cock over my groin invitingly. He wiggled his eyebrows at me. “You will allow me to protect you. I will not be distracted from my objectives by knowing you are unprotected and alone. Give me this, at least until we know who it is that we are up against.”
“Fine, but they better clean up any mess they make,” I whispered, afraid to look away from him and miss this playful side he was showing this morning.
“Duly noted, Pet. If the hunger gets too bad, tell Ristan. We have a mental link, and he can easily get word to me. Don’t push yourself today. If you feel sick, have Ristan take you to Eliran.”
“Okay, you can’t tell me Ristan ate a guy’s heart, and have me ask him for medical help, ya know. That’s just not going to happen.”
“He’s a Demon, and one I’d trust with my own life. You can trust him, Syn. He’d die to keep you safe.”
“I’m not worth dying for,” I said as I chewed my bottom lip. He started to reply, but I kissed him hard. I pinched his bottom lip between my teeth, gently replacing my teeth with my lips and sucked his into my mouth, enjoying the groan that broke as I did so. “Hmm, works on you too.”
He laughed, the sound vibrating through him as he watched me. “If you keep kissing me, Synthia, I’m not going to be leaving this bed for the next week.”
I licked my lips and sighed dramatically.
“I have to go, Pet. Stay inside today. Give me time to figure out who that was in the house last night. Let me protect you, for now.”
“Fine,” I said, and watched as he stood up and glamoured a new shirt on. His thick dark hair hung close, framing his face. He looked sexy with the sleep still hanging on to his eyes and making them look heated and languid.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I got dressed, and headed downstairs a few minutes after Ryder had left. I’d made it half-way down the stairs when I heard voices discussing something; discussing me. I stood perfectly still, listening, unaware of who the voices belonged to.
“I’ll bet he’s feeding from her again. When she has satisfied his hunger, I’m sure he will give her to us as he does the others. I, for one, can’t wait to get my dick inside of her.”
“She’s different; I’m not so sure he will release her. He will probably keep her in the private pavilion. Remember what he did to Sierra?” The other male asked.
“Sierra was different though; she liked us all riding that sweet slit of hers.”
“You really think he’s going to let us fuck her? She’s got his mark on her right now, and he didn’t let us in for Transition. I don’t foresee him letting us anywhere near that sweet peach.”
“Maybe, but I think he will, and I, for one, want to be first in line to hit it. Besides, he was talking to Ristan about her earlier; about taking her memories of him from her. Maybe he’s done with her already.”
“What the fuck do you think you are doing?” Ristan’s voice was angry and held a hint of malice in it. His anger was palpable, even from the distance I stood from them.
“Just talking. No harm done, Ristan.”
“No harm done? Synthia, why don’t you come down the stairs the rest of the way,” Ristan growled.
I did, only to find Sinjinn and one of the other men—I think his name was Aodhan—looking at me in surprise. I ignored them both as I headed into the kitchen to escape them and their words. Would Ryder really try to remove my memories? No way in hell was I going to allow that to happen. I poured myself a cup of coffee and slid into a chair at the small table.
“Syn, don’t think anything about those fucking idiots,” Ristan said, coming into the kitchen.
“You all share women,” I said, making it a statement instead of a question.
“We don’t live by the same code as humans do, Syn.”
“The girl they were talking about…Ryder was with her when you all were—together?”
“Yes,” Ristan said calmly, with a gentle nod of his dark head.
“When was this?” I asked carefully, trying to school my emotions.
“Years ago, Flower.”
I chewed on my lip, considering how much information I could get from the Demon. He was being open with me right now, and I needed to know more about Ryder while he was in such an accommodating mood.
I sat at the table, thinking over everything that I had heard. I could flip out, which would totally be the girlie thing to do. But I wasn’t hot-headed. I could do a lot of things, which wouldn’t make me feel any better. Why would Ryder take my memories?
“Brewing over what the two jackasses said?” Ristan asked, hauling up a chair to sit with me.
“How many women has Ryder shared with you?” I inquired, straight to the point.
“Many, but you need to understand something first, Flower. We grew up together, and we are not human. We feed from what is available, and, as you have noticed, some of the men are not that bright. Probably starve to death, because they got nothing but shit for brains. Anyway, that wasn’t my point. We only share because we grew up together. They feed and I fuck. I like to fuck—a lot. Women love it—well, most do anyway. We are not human, and we have different views on what is normal. They fuck to eat. I just like to fuck. Very seldom do we keep women to ourselves for sex alone, as Ryder is doing with you. In short, we grew up together, so sharing isn’t an issue for us.”
“Will he ever want to share me?” I asked as I looked up to meet his patterned eyes.
“No, he won’t. You, he is different with; very territorial and possessive. If he’d been planning to share you, he’d have left that door unlocked at the club when your Transition began. He wouldn’t have warded it against us coming in. He is different with you and has been from the very beginning.”
I didn’t know he’d done that. “Can I ask you something…err…well, can I ask you something that’s a little uncomfortable, Ristan?” I swallowed down the uncomfortable feeling that was causing my cheeks to fill with heat. Now, was as good of a time as any to get this out of the way.
“Uncomfortable how, Flower?” His eyes lit up with mischief. “Are we speaking toys and nipple clamps kind of uncomfortable, because I’m an expert with that shit, or are we speaking your vagigi uncomfortable? I’m game to look at it, play with it. Hell, Flower, I’m pretty much open to it all. Lay it on me.” He smirked, and his eyes laughed at me.
“No, this has nothing to do with that…” Mental Note: Ristan was a freak! “Uh, yeah, there was a courtyard that I saw in Faery.” I couldn’t make eye contact, but I noticed that he’d stiffened and sat up straight in his chair. “There were a lot of women there, and Adam was told that they all belong to Ryder.” I heard Ristan sigh.
“That’s the reason you ran, Flower?” he asked softly as he reached over and lifted my chin. I met his eyes and nodded. “Yes, there is a pavilion, you heard the idiots referring to it earlier. The women there do belong to Ryder. Most are there voluntarily, and some are there for protection.” He shook his head and moved the hair from my eyes with the tips of his fingers. “Ryder hasn’t been inside of it since he took you to his bed, Synthia.” His lips jerked up in a wicked smile. “You locked him into a contract as much as he locked you into one. You made him agree to only feed from you while he had you under contract. Smart, but useless. He wouldn’t have touched anyone else while he had you. He’s protective of you, and he’s also different around you. He’s a good man to have at your back. He’s the one person in this world and any other that I’d give my life to protect.”
“So, he hasn’t been with anyone else since we started this…wha
tever it is we have?”
“You have to ask?” He shook his head.
“Why would he erase my memories, Ristan?” I asked as I lowered my gaze to the smooth wood of the simple table. I felt conflicted about knowing the answer.
“He won’t. I’d have seen it if he’d intended to go through with it. He talked about it; thinking it would make it easier to leave you if he had to. You gotta understand, Synthia. He has an objective here in this world. A lot of people depend on him. You’re a distraction; one that no one saw coming.”
I narrowed my eyes on him. How the hell was I supposed to respond to that!?
“Obviously, I weighed the outcome, and decided, while you are a distraction, you are also a part of this mess. I’m not sure how I know, but I do.”
“I’m not sure why you think I have some sort of an important part to play in why you came to this world.”
“I’m not sure either, but somehow you do play a part in this,” Ristan replied as he smiled impishly.
“So much shit is happening. Everything is changing, so fast that it’s hard to take it all in. I’m not sure where I stand anymore. I’m not even sure of whom I should stand by.” For some reason, I had always found it easy to talk to the Demon, even if he was a huge demented pervert.
“The Guild? So he told you then,” Ristan said as he eyed me cautiously.
“That’s why he treated me the way he did when we first met, isn’t it?” I probed.
“Yes and no. He wanted you; still does. It pisses him off, Synthia. He’s been through hell, and I think you are something he knows he won’t be able to let go of, but he also knows he needs to. He has set his goal on finishing this mission and getting home since day one. Now, you walk in all sexy as fuck and throw a monkey wrench in the whole thing. You’re this beautiful fucking mess, and it draws us to you. You have so much emotion pouring through you that we could feast off it alone, endlessly. You are unlike the Fae in Faery, because of the way you were raised. Ryder won’t erase your memories, but I don’t think this will work out as either of you hope it will either. I am afraid you both will be fucked up when it ends, and I don’t see it ending well, either…not that I actually saw this, it’s just my opinion.”
I didn’t need to turn around and look at him to know he was there; I felt him. I felt him as I felt my own legs connected to my body. As if he was a part of me. The air grew thick with the electrical tanginess he created when he entered a room. The rich scent that was unique to him filled my senses; intoxicating me. I could sense him anywhere, but inside a room this small, he took it over. Where it had been a kitchen minutes before, it was now filled up with his presence.
“Ristan,” he said from directly behind me. His voice wrapped around me, like a silken caress.
“Any luck?” Ristan responded.
“No and yes. We need to find more information on the items, and someone who can easily pass through so as and not disturb them.”
“What for?” I asked Ristan, since he was more likely to answer my question. He didn’t, of course—not with Ryder standing directly behind me.
“I told you this wasn’t your fight. You have enough shit trying to kill you right now. The Guild has closed ranks, and, from the sounds of it, they are weeding out those opposed to turning on us. My guess is they are going to make it very public, very soon as to which side they are choosing.”
“That’s shit! They don’t have the right to do that. Alden would never…oh shit. We have to get him out of there, now!”
“He chose to go back inside, Syn. If you go in to get him out, they will know for sure which side he is on. Right now, they have no idea he’s our inside man,” Ryder said gently.
“No, screw that. I can’t lose him too,” I said as my heart dropped to my feet. My hands gripped the coffee mug hard enough that it cracked.
“He chose this,” Ristan said softly “He’s a good man. He’s strong and very capable. He raised you to be strong. Have some faith in him.”
“Fine, but I want in on whatever you have going on then. I’m not just going to sit around idly while there’s a potential war hanging over our heads,” I snapped angrily.
“This isn’t your problem,” Ryder growled.
“No? Then whose is it? The Fae? The Guild? I’m kinda of ‘all of the above’ at the moment. I was part of that Guild, and I still have friends inside of it. I’m also Fae, in case the three day sexual marathon we had slipped your mind!”
He growled beside my ear, so close that it tickled my flesh. “Hard to forget that, Pet, still, my answer stays the same. You need to stay where I can keep you safe.”
“Ryder, I’m not the type to sit around when I can help. I can help you. I’m trained to get into places and get out of them. You’ve seen me do it. I can help you.”
“And I said no,” he warned.
“And I said I’m doing it, Fairy!” I growled at him.
His lips pressed against my ear as he whispered softly into it. “Come upstairs, Pet, and I’ll show you how much of a fucking Fairy, I am.”
I turned, catching his lips and biting his lower one, sucking it into my mouth before releasing it. “Not now, Ryder. We’re fighting,” I said, pausing as a smile crossed my face, “and I’m winning.”
“No, you are not,” he growled.
“You two done fucking? You’re making my cock hard just watching this shit.” Ristan laughed boyishly.
“I’m going up to shower. When I come down, I expect to be included and filled in on the details. I’m either with you, or against you. Figure it out and let me know,” I said, standing up and turning to meet his golden eyes. “Soon.”
“Are you giving me orders? I think you need another example of who is the master in this relationship.”
“Relationship? Who the fuck said anything about a relationship? You can’t give me one, remember?” I glared pointedly and headed up the stairs.
I made it to the middle of the stairs when I felt it. You know how they say that you can tell when death picks your number; how you can feel it as it wraps its cold arms around you? It’s true. I felt the thickness of the air, and turned back to look down the stairs as I felt it. The air grew cold, as if it too, had felt death’s cold clutches coming for me. The entire house grew silent. Not even the birds outside the house made a single noise. A window broke downstairs, shattering the silence. And then it all came back with a vengeance. The sound deafening and damning as my ears exploded from it. I gasped, knowing I wouldn’t make it out alive.
The entire house shook around me, and the sound of wood splintering erupted as the house started to shake with force. I watched the blurriness as something fast moving up the stairs, right before it hit me. And then the feeling of weightlessness sank in.
We sifted into Ryder’s club. It was filled with people dancing and drinking. Right up until we’d sifted in, they’d been having fun. I blinked as Adrian looked right at us, and Vlad, who had been behind the bar, moved in his lighting fast speed to stand in front of us.
“What’s happened, Ryder?” Vlad’s voice boomed over the music, which made it stop on the spot.
“Someone just blew up her house, with us inside of it.” Ryder growled, and held me against his frame as my legs threatened to give out. As if he was afraid to let me go. I was glad he was holding me as I had no doubt I’d hit the floor if he released his hold.
“Adrian, get Syn seated and, get her a drink. The rest of you,” Vlad’s eyes swept the room with a grim look that promised retribution, “follow.”
Vlad’s voice was cold, and sent chills racing down my spine. I almost felt sorry for the asshole that blew up my house—almost. Ryder turned me in his arms and planted a firm, gentle kiss on my lips before sifting out with the others. I looked around the club and blinked, everyone except Adrian and a few humans had left.
Chapter Twenty Two
I turned to Adrian, who moved swiftly to embrace me. “Are you okay, Syn? I know how much you loved that house.”
“No, Syn, you have them inside of you. Here,” he said, placing his hand over my heart. “They can’t touch how you feel, or the memories you made with them. No one can tell you to forget that, or even replace it with something else. You choose what you remember.”
I blinked at him. He’d gone off topic, and I had a feeling he was referring to us. “I need some water, please.”
I walked to a booth, as he moved to the bar to grab the bottle of water I had asked for. My hands shook with the realization of just how close I’d come to being nothing more than a pile of ashes. Had it not been for Ryder, I would be nothing right now.
Tears rolled down my cheek as I considered the fact that he’d gone back to the house, and he was in danger there. I had a feeling that Adrian wasn’t quite sure what to do with me. He had a frown marring his beautiful bronzed skin, and the crease between his eyebrows showed he was trying to figure out how to make me stop crying.
“I’m sorry,” I cried even harder, unsure how to make myself turn off the waterworks. It was just too much, and everything was crumbling around me yet again. I kept getting knocked down, and it was getting harder to get back up each time.
Adrian smiled, and pulled me to my feet. He wrapped his cold arms around me, and whispered that it would be all right. I buried my head in his shoulder and hugged him back, as the reality of what had just happened overwhelmed me.
Adrian was a vampire.
Adam was the Dark Heir of the Fae.
Larissa was dead.
Alden was facing danger to help us.
I was homeless, jobless, and attracted to the one thing that would surely kill me in the end.
The reality set in that I had even lost my dog, and now my life was just one tragedy away from becoming a sad country song.
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