Abandoned to the Night (The Brotherhood Series, Book 3) (9 page)

“I want you so much it is killing me.” The tremor in her voice mimicked the tumultuous beats of her heart.

She could not say no to him.

The fear that usually permeated her thoughts had been suppressed by her overwhelming need to join with her one true mate. If they were quick, if they remained enclosed in the carriage, then perhaps she could contain her emotion. Perhaps then no one else would learn of it.

He must have felt her resolve melting under the heat raging within.

“Come to me, Ivana. Let us indulge our desires.”

Her eyes sprung open. She met his intense gaze and without another word flew to the opposite side of the carriage into his open arms.

Perhaps it was her need to hurry that made her tear at his clothes like a woman possessed. Perhaps it was the need to experience that which she had denied herself for so long that caused her to devour his mouth as though she would die if she did not taste him again.

“Show me what I mean to you,” he panted hoarsely. “Take me into your body.” The urgency in his voice was unmistakable, and he unbuttoned his breeches to let his manhood spring free.

Ivana bunched her dress up to her waist to straddle him. Ripples of pure ecstasy travelled through her as she slid slowly down on the solid length. Despite the slight resistance, her body having been starved of him for far too long, he impaled her with a loud roar of satisfaction.

“Oh, Leo,” she gulped as she took him deep inside, gripped him tight as he filled her full. The sensation of partnering him in the most intimate of acts brought tears of pure joy to her eyes.

His hands were everywhere all at once: on her bare thighs, cupping her buttocks as he thrust quick and hard.

“Don’t stop,” she whispered, as he pounded into her over and over. Once would never be enough for her. She would rather die than be without him again. “Don’t ever stop loving me.”

“Bloody hell, I can’t get enough of you,” he growled before claiming her mouth, tasting her until their tongues became lost amidst the wild frenzy of moans and groans.

“It has been so long,” she murmured as he moved to nip the sensitive skin on her neck. “I need you, Leo. For now, for always.”

“I can’t touch you like this. Turn around,” he commanded, and she felt empty as he withdrew from her hungry body. “Kneel on the seat.”

She did as he asked. Once under his spell, she would do anything he asked.

With one hand braced against the seat, the other holding her crumpled dress up around her waist, he came behind her and entered her in one long delicious slide.

“I want to hear you cry with pleasure,” he said as he bent over her and his fingers found the sensitive spot begging for his touch.

“Oh, Leo,” she moaned as he claimed her body. Her legs were trembling, yet her soul soared.

“You’re mine, Ivana,” he said as he drove deeper, as his fingers strummed a rhythm unique only to them. “Don’t ever forget it. Don’t ever deny me your love.”

Ivana pushed hard against him in a bid to hurry, the audible slapping proof of the desperate need to find her release. The intense flames of passion spread to her heart. Each hot, wet plunge of his throbbing manhood roused a soft sigh.

“Don’t leave me.” The honest words fell unwittingly from her lips as her world exploded around him. Every part of her held him close. The muscles in her core gripped him tight; the muscle that was her heart swelled with undeniable love.

His groan of satisfaction was a sweet melody to her ears. “Lord, help me. You were right,” he panted as his hands clutched her hips whilst he was still buried deep. “Everything about this feels right. We were meant to be together.”

A tear trickled down her cheek, and she was thankful he could not see it. It was a tear to express her happiness at having had one more chance to love him. It was a tear to express her fear of the deadly power she knew their love would evoke.

“Forgive me,” he said as he withdrew from her body.

Ivana suppressed a whimper. “What is there to forgive?” she said, straightening her dress as she turned and flopped down into the seat.

“For being too desperate to wait.” He did not bother to cover himself, and she fought the urge to taste him in the intimate way he liked. “For not expressing the depth of my feelings.”

“It is how things are with us,” she said, thankful he had not conveyed anything other than lust as it was those powerful ripples of emotion that drifted through the night air, drawn to devious hearts and minds.

He smiled. “You’re not curious to know how I feel?”

“I do not need to hear the words, Leo. I see it in your eyes. I feel it in your touch. Indeed, you have opened yourself to me already. It is just that you do not remember.”

“Perhaps I’m glad I have no recollection of it,” he said with a shrug before tucking the most tempting part of his anatomy back into his breeches. “I am enjoying this road to enlightenment immensely.”

You will not feel the same when we reach our final destination.

“Indeed, I think we should spend the rest of the evening in your chamber,” he continued. “I think I would like to take things a little slower, savour every single moment.”

Ivana knew what would happen if they indulged themselves completely.

“We can’t, Leo. We will drink from each other. It will be utter madness to risk everything, to hope that lust, love or whatever this is between us will be enough to banish the demons from our door.”

“I am known for being reckless, Ivana. Up until now, my life has held little meaning. I have never had a purpose. Let me stay here with you. Let me help you with the children. And each night I shall bury myself deep inside the only place I belong.”

He was offering her the world, the only thing she had ever wanted.

And by God, she was tempted.

She looked into his eyes, looked through the mirror to the soul she had already spent an eternity loving.

“How adept are you with your sword?” she asked, as she considered surrendering to the light.

He raised a confident brow. “My tutor believed me to be exceptional. I have yet to meet a man equally matched.”

“And how far are you willing to go to protect what we have?”

Leo narrowed his gaze, fell silent while he contemplated her question. “Nothing will stop me from having you, Ivana. Nothing will stop me from discovering all we could be to one another.”

“Very well.” She sighed. She could not fight her feelings for him anymore. “When we return to the castle we will discuss alternative plans for the children. You must write to Elliot and tell him about Christoph, make sure your affairs are in order. I shall speak to Herr Bruhn. And may I suggest you keep your sword close, preferably next to my bed.”

Chapter 9

“Look at them,” Alexander whispered through gritted teeth. They stood at the tavern bar observing their wives sitting at the crude wooden table. “Anyone would think they were taking tea with the vicar not drinking in a tavern frequented by a cold-hearted devil with fangs.”

Elliot ordered a bottle of Franconian wine which he had sampled once before and then turned his attention to Grace and Evelyn, who were busy chatting and laughing as though they had not a single care in the world.

“I think they’re just relieved to be out of the carriage,” Elliot said, doubting their babbling had anything to do with suppressing nerves.

The muscles in his shoulders were still painful to touch. But three weeks confined to such a small compact space — other than a few hours spent each night at various inns en route — had not affected his wife’s cheerful countenance.

Alexander snorted. “As we all are. I don’t think I’ll be able to straighten my legs properly for a month. Every time I try, the joints in my knees crack.”

Elliot chuckled but stepped closer and whispered, “We will need to find a way of getting more blood while we’re here. We must make it a priority once we’ve found Leo. An extra dose or two will soon lubricate your stiff bones.”

Alexander glanced around the room, not bothering to hide his disdainful sneer. “I don’t know why, but I feel like throttling every person in here for not alerting strangers to the monster walking amongst them. Perhaps an extra dose would also help me to maintain my calm composure.”

Elliot laughed. “Calm composure? Despite your best efforts, you always appear angry and highly irritated. Unless you’re talking to Evelyn, and then you look like an altar boy who has just witnessed an epiphany.”

Alexander gave a sinful smirk. “Well, she is utterly divine. She’s a saint sent to soothe all my gripes and woes. I’d be lost without her.”

A frisson of fear shot through Elliot’s body when he glanced at Grace’s angelic face. She met his gaze and smiled, but he imagined sharp fangs overhanging her bottom lip, the whites of her eyes littered with ugly red veins. “What the hell were we thinking? We should have left our wives in London,” he said as his chest grew tight and he found it hard to swallow.

“I hope you’re not blaming me.”

“Of course not,” Elliot scoffed. “We were both weak and pathetic when it came to making demands. It seems both ladies do not respond well to orders.”

Alexander gave a weak chuckle, but Elliot could sense his anxiety. “Grace only had to straighten your cravat and flutter her lashes, and you were pinning like a puppy.”

“I seem to recall as soon as Evelyn touched your cheek you fell to your knees and surrendered,” Elliot countered.

Alexander raised an arrogant brow. “So, I’m in love with my wife. Indeed, I shall be glad of a little privacy this evening.”

“I wouldn’t imagine you’ll get to spend much time in your room tonight.” Elliot winced as he anticipated Alexander’s growl of protest. “We need to search for Leo. There’ll be plenty of time to rest come the morning.”

“That bloody idiot,” Alexander snarled. “He has a lot to answer for. Had it not been for his overinflated ego, I would be nestled up in bed with nothing to do but think of new ways to entertain Evelyn.”

“Have you tried to tune into his thoughts?” Elliot asked. He was still struggling to come to terms with the fact Leo had raced off to Bavaria with the intention of punishing the woman who had ruined their lives.

Alexander shook his head. “I can’t hear a thing.”

“Me neither.” Elliot gave a weary sigh. He could pick up the faint strains of desire but assumed it must be the voice of his own inner frustrations. “You don’t think … think she’s killed him?”

“If she hasn’t, I damn well will.” Alexander straightened and threw his hands up. “Forgive my insensitive outburst. I’m just so damn annoyed with him I can hardly contain it. Three weeks cramped in a carriage has done little to temper my foul mood.”

“I understand. I feel your anger,” Elliot said with some sympathy, “just as I feel your fear. And like you, I’m struggling to hide my contempt for everyone here. I had hoped never to come back again.”

Perhaps they should have stayed in England. Leo was man enough to make his own decisions and reap the consequences. But due to the nature of their affliction, the bond forged between them could not be broken. If roles were reversed, Elliot knew Leo would not rest until they were reunited.

The proprietor’s cough disturbed his reverie. Elliot paid the man and took the goblets and the black bell-shaped bottle over to the table.

“Well?” Evelyn said as soon as they’d sat down. “Is he here? Has anyone seen him? Please tell me we haven’t travelled all this way for nothing.”

Elliot suppressed his anxiety and tried to infuse a level of confidence into his tone. “Apparently, he does have a room here and has paid until the end of the week, though the proprietor cannot recall the last time he saw him. His carriage is in the courtyard behind the tavern and his coachman, Chambers, has not seen him, either.”

Grace turned to Evelyn. “Perhaps one of us should talk to the maid, offer an incentive if she agrees to take us up to his room.”

“That’s an excellent idea,” Elliot said as his chest burst with pride at his wife’s logical suggestion. “Although I doubt there is only one.”

Evelyn smirked. “What? You doubt there is only one maid or that he has only taken one to his bedchamber?”

“Both,” Elliot replied with some amusement as he poured the ladies a drink. “Perhaps Leo thought to use his licentious ways to taunt the devil from her lair.”

Grace raised a curious brow. “You still believe that is the only reason she poisoned you all with her tainted blood?”

“We share no other commonality.”

“Except for the fact we’re all peers,” Alexander added.

Evelyn smiled. “And you’re all English. Perhaps she has a thorough dislike for arrogant foreigners.”

“Then that would include most of the gentlemen in London,” Alexander said, the corners of his mouth twitching.

Elliot was pleased they could make light of such a terrifying situation. Doing so helped suppress his anxiety, gave him hope they would find Leo safe and well and could all go home and continue as before. However, there was a strange feeling in the air: an icy breeze capable of penetrating through the hardiest resolve. He suspected their lives would be altered by any further interaction with the woman who had stolen their humanity.