“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I can’t. Not yet. It’s all happening too quickly.”
Abel sucked in a breath. “I understand,” he pressed out from between clenched teeth.
“I didn’t mean to lead you on,” she said quickly. “Just give me a little more time. Until the wedding.”
Abel wasn’t a man to be denied what he wanted. He didn’t speak for seconds that seemed to stretch to minutes. She heard her own heart pound in her chest.
“Very well. Until the wedding then.”
He turned abruptly and left her room, shutting the door behind him with a loud bang.
She’d bought herself a few more days until she would have to give into his sexual demands. A few more days during which she could remain faithful to Cain. Faithful to his memory.
If only that night she hadn’t let him go, if only she’d bonded with him then, maybe he would still be alive.
One year earlier
A hot breath blew against her nape, causing a pleasant shiver to run down her spine. Faye turned in the silk sheets, her naked body sliding against hard muscle and soft skin.
She ran her eyes over her lover. Cain’s skin was bronzed and flawless, his chest nearly hairless, his hair cropped short. He sported a permanent stubble, one that he shaved occasionally, but which returned after each restorative sleep cycle. His eyes were a golden brown, but often when they were together his eye color would change to a glowing red, a sign of the passion that raged between them.
Faye put her hand on his chest, tracing the ridges of his pectorals with her fingernails, before sliding down to his abdomen.
He hissed in a breath, but didn’t stop her descent.
“You’re quite insatiable today,” Cain said.
She met his gaze and saw the color of his eyes change, evidence enough that he wasn’t going to deny her.
“I’m only adapting to your appetite,” she responded and wrapped her hand around his erection.
She’d already felt his cock inside her several times during the past hours. They’d barely slept since they’d gone to bed just before sunrise. It was almost sunset again, and soon they would have to leave the privacy of his suite and deal with clan matters. But before he’d be all business again, she wanted to feel him once more.
Faye brought her lips to his mouth. “Make love to me.”
“Again?” he murmured back.
“Are you getting tired of it?”
Cain threw his head back and laughed. Two rows of brilliantly white teeth flashed. “Tired?” His eyes sparkled when he looked at her. “My love, I’ll never get tired of making love to you. That’s why I want you as my blood-bonded mate.”
He pressed her back in the soft mattress, making her lose her grip on his cock. His knee pushed her legs apart, making room for him. He slid into the space, bringing himself above her. Before she could take another breath, his cock thrust into her, until he was seated to the hilt.
His hand pushed a strand of her long hair to the side, exposing her neck.
“Why don’t you bond with me now?” Cain asked.
Her heart stopped, but she knew she couldn’t accept the offer. “Because you need to be sure that you love me.” There were moments when she knew he hesitated between her and his kingdom. Whenever she saw him torn between love and duty, she knew he wasn’t ready. But she would patiently wait until he was. It was also the reason why she hadn’t let him pin her down on a wedding date even though she’d accepted his proposal.
“But I am,” he insisted, caressing her neck and making her tremble in the process.
She smiled at him and shook her head. “I’ve loved you from afar for so long, ever since you saved me. But you never even noticed me until two months ago. You—”
He put a finger on her lips, stopping her. “I noticed you. But I had no right to make you mine. You’d gone through so much. You were vulnerable and trusted nobody. Had I shown my love for you then, you would not only have been scared but also become the object of everybody’s dislike. Nobody would have accepted you as the king’s mate. That’s why I had to wait. To give you a chance to heal the wounds of your past and make my subjects love you for yourself. And they do love you.”
Her heart melted at his confession. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
His fingers traced the vein along her neck, and farther below, his cock pulled out, only to slowly slide back into her.
She sighed contentedly.
“Tell you that I loved you?” Cain smiled. “It was enough that I suffered every day that I had to spend alone in my bed. Besides, I didn’t know you felt anything for me. You weren’t exactly very demonstrative with your feelings toward me. In fact, there were moments when I thought you disliked me profusely.”
She closed her eyes, ashamed at how she’d treated him in the past. But it had been so hard to trust anybody, even Cain. “I had to protect myself. And it was painful to be around you, thinking I meant nothing to you.”
Cain pressed small kisses on her face. “So that’s why you were so cold to me?”
“I wasn’t cold,” Faye protested.
“You were. I think I’m going to have to punish you for it. After all, nobody treats the king badly and gets away with it.”
“How?” She nearly swallowed the word, when Cain’s hips drew back and his cock plunged deep into her, repeating the same motion again and again.
“That’s the punishment,” he announced, his breath bouncing against her lips.
“If that’s punishment, then you’re not doing it right.”
“Wrong answer, my love,” he replied before he captured her lips and drowned her in a passionate kiss that robbed her not only of her breath but also of the ability to think.
All she could do was respond to him the way her body dictated. Her hands slid to his firm ass, where her fingernails dug into his flesh to force him deeper into her, while her legs wrapped around his upper thighs. Cain moaned and released her mouth only to bring his lips to her neck to kiss her where her pulse beat like a violent drum.
A fang scraped against her skin, and she shivered involuntarily.
“Oh God, Faye, I need you.” His words vibrated against her heated flesh.
His mouth opened wider, and she knew what he wanted. Her blood. Despite the fact that the blood of a vampire provided no nourishment; only human blood did. But the bite would heighten their pleasure, his as well as hers. She knew that, though she’d never experienced it. Cain had always held back until now, but today he was different. As if having confessed that he’d loved her all this time had brought them closer.
“Bite me,” she whispered her consent. “Drink my blood.”
A deep growl came from his chest, a sound more like that of a beast than that of a man. His vampire side was breaking through now. For a moment, he lifted his head and stared at her. His eyes glowed red and his fangs were fully extended. Long and sharp. Deadly. He’d never looked more regal than now.
A thrill shot through her body. The most powerful vampire near and far loved her and wanted to make her his.
“You’re everything to me,” Cain said and lowered his lips to her pulse.
His fangs pierced her skin, sending a bolt of adrenaline through her body. As he lodged them deep in her neck and drew on the vein, she shuddered, unprepared for the sensations that overtook her body.
Cain’s hips moved relentlessly, his cock filling her tight channel and stretching her, his pelvis rubbing against her clit with each thrust. Those actions alone would bring her to a monumental climax, but feeling his fangs in her neck made everything even more electrifying. Her entire body seemed to burn, the flames inside her threatening to incinerate her, yet she couldn’t stop, didn’t have the will to douse the fire inside her.
She felt Cain’s power in her. She sensed him wanting to share himself with her, to prove his love to her. They moved in synch as if they’d made love for centuries when they’d only been lovers for a few short weeks. Everything was new, yet familiar. The scent of Cain’s clean sweat filled her nostrils and made her womb clench. She’d never wanted a man as much as she wanted Cain. Never dared hope that she would find such happiness after all she’d endured.
“I love you,” she murmured.
The words seemed to spur him on, because his movements became more frantic, faster and harder, as he pounded into her with such force that had she still been human, he would have killed her. But her vampire body greeted his ferocity with a wildness of its own.
Her fingers turned to claws, drawing blood where they were digging into his flesh. The scent filled the room and combined with the smell of her own blood. Mingling with the perfume of their lovemaking, it was a powerful aphrodisiac that she couldn’t fight against any longer. Her body exploded, waves of pleasure rolling over her, when she felt Cain’s cock spasm inside her.
He pulled his fangs from her neck and groaned as he came, shooting his seed into her. “Fuck!”
Again and again, he drove his steel-hard cock into her, until he finally stilled and brought his lips back to her neck. She felt his tongue lick over the spot where he’d drawn blood. The tenderness with which he kissed her skin now seemed to be contrary to the wild man who’d made love to her only moments earlier.
Cain lifted his head and looked into her eyes. The golden brown color was back in his irises. “I love you, Faye. Don’t make me wait much longer.”
Tears shot into her eyes. She didn’t want to wait any longer either. She knew now that they were both ready, ready to blood-bond with each other. She was ready to bind herself to the only man who could ever make her happy and wipe away the painful memories of her past. The only vampire she could ever entrust her heart to.
Faye parted her lips, ready to give him her decision, when a ping from the bedside table interrupted her.
Cain turned his head and glanced at his cell phone. A scowl crossed his handsome face almost instantly, before he pulled out of her and sat up. He grabbed the cell phone and swiped his finger over it.
“Fuck!” he hissed a moment later.
On alert, she rose. “What’s wrong?”
He cast her a sideways glance. “I have to deal with this.” He jumped up and reached for his clothes, all business now. The passionate lover from moments earlier was gone, replaced by the man who was married to duty.
Her heart pounding now, Faye watched him get dressed in a hurry. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
When he looked at her, she flinched at the savage look in his eyes. “Someone’s gonna lose his head tonight.”
Cain stormed to the door.
“Wait! Cain!”
But he charged outside, slamming the door behind him. The echoing sound reverberated in her body, making her shudder, while the cell phone he’d hastily placed on the edge of the nightstand fell onto the floor.
Something was wrong.
11
Cain closed the door to the shed behind him and looked at his colleagues. They were all still there: Thomas, Eddie, Haven, Blake, and Wesley.
“Where’s John?” Thomas asked immediately, glancing behind Cain.
Cain ran a hand through his short hair. Had John betrayed him? “I don’t know. I was hoping he was here with you.”
“But he left with you,” Haven interjected.
“When I entered the palace through the tunnels, he was supposed to wait for me there, but when I came out, he was gone.”
“Shit!” Thomas cursed. “Have you tried his cell?”
“It’s going straight to voicemail.”
“Do you think he warned the palace of your coming?”
“We have to assume that,” Cain admitted.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Eddie chimed in. “Why show you the tunnels so you can enter the palace, bypassing whatever security they have, and then alert them to your presence?”
“What are you suggesting?” Cain asked, staring at the blond biker.
“What if somebody snatched him?”
Cain shook his head. “The only people who know about the tunnels are he and I. Nobody would have been able to find him there.”
“You can’t know that,” Eddie insisted. “All you have is his word that you and he are the only ones aware of the tunnels. We must assume he lied.”
“I agree,” Haven spoke up. “In either case, whether John betrayed you or whether he was overpowered by somebody, the palace might already know that you’re here. Which doesn’t give us much time. If whoever planned your assassination is still in the palace, he’ll prepare to fight you when you come back. Let’s not give them time to mount an attack. We’ve gotta go in now while we still have the element of surprise. Did you speak to Faye?”
Cain shook his head. “She wasn’t alone. I couldn’t risk it. Nevertheless, I’m certain now that I am the king. I recognized my surroundings from the dreams.”
Haven nodded.
When making his case to Samson about needing men to check out John’s story, Cain had informed his boss about the dreams he’d been having. No details of course, but only what Samson needed to know: that the woman in the picture John had presented was the same woman as the one in his dreams.
“You’re right,” Cain now said to Haven. “We can’t allow them to mount an offensive. We have to go in now. But we’ll split up.”
“No!” Thomas protested. “We’ll go in with full force. You’ll need as much protection as possible. We have no idea how many vampires we’re dealing with, and how hostile they are.”
“It’s not wise. Two of us will stay back,” Cain ordered, firm in his decision. “Eddie and Blake won’t enter the palace grounds.”
Thomas glanced at his mate, then clenched his teeth. “Why them?”
“Because Eddie is your mate. If anything happens in there and we’re unable to use cell phones to communicate, you’ll still be able to convey that we need help via your telepathic bond. And nobody in the palace will even realize it.”
Slowly Thomas nodded his agreement. “Fine.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that
I
have to stay back. I want to come,” Blake complained and pointed to Wesley. “Why does he get to go?”
Cain put a calming hand on his shoulder, knowing he had to placate Blake with something so that he didn’t feel left out. “I need you out here with Eddie. The two of you will search for John. Should we find him in the palace, Thomas will send a message to Eddie, but if he’s not in the palace, we need to find out what happened to him. I rely on you for that. You’re human. You’ll be able to go places that Eddie can’t.”