Immortal Craving: Immortal Heart (18 page)

Kat’s eyes slid shut. It was a shame really… Kale was gorgeous and all of him was displayed before her like the gods had offered one of their own to her. Still, the water rushing over her body and his hands slowly massaging the citrus and lavender scented shampoo through her long locks felt so good she couldn’t help but close her eyes and fall prey to the motion of his fingers working against her scalp.

The throbbing in her head was easing with the pressure of his all-too-talented fingers.

“Lean your head back,” Kale told her.

Kat leaned her head back so that the water rushed over her scalp, taking the deliciously scented suds down her arched spine to drip from her backside.

The move exposed her neck and pushed the perfect, perky globes of her breasts against Kale’s chest. It took every bit of Kale’s strength to finish rinsing the suds from Kat’s silky hair before he dropped his lips to her exposed flesh.

“Mmm,” Kat moaned as Kale continued to move his heated lips over her sensitive flesh.

His lips followed the arched line of her throat, to the valley of her cleavage, and finally settled his mouth to devour one of her pink peaks while his fingers teased her other nipple.

Kat let out another soft moan, telling Kale to work her nipples until they were hard buds. He slid his free hand down her back to rub her ass and pull one of her long, luscious legs around his waist—his hand following the firm muscle of her thigh, before finding the heat of her core.

Kale ran his fingers over her wet folds, knowing it wasn’t only water that had her wet. He dipped one finger deep inside of her, reveling at her response as her fingers shoved through his wet hair and fisted at his scalp.

“Kale…” she whimpered. “Please.”

Kale lifted his mouth from her nipple. “Please what, Kitten? What do you need?” he asked as he thrust his finger deeper inside of her.

“My God, Kale… I need you,” Kat cried out.

Kale captured her mouth once more—feeling her pull at his
chi. His power healed her as his tongue continued to ravage her sweet mouth, and his fingers worked her walls as he withdrew slowly then thrust them back, deep inside of her.

Somehow, even after fifteen years, he still knew how to drive her wild—finding the spot deep inside of her that had her knees wanting to give out.

“
Kale
,” Kat pulled back just enough to cup his face and whispered his name against his lips. She felt the need to tell him everything she was feeling and still some part of her was terrified of what he would say.

She knew he still wanted her—was hopeful that he still loved her or cared enough to try and find that love again. She had planned to leave once this business with Brie was finished, but she knew deep down, somewhere that seemed long lost to her, that she couldn’t ever just walk away from him.

Drawing on the emotions swirling in that place deep down that she knew was her soul… she found her courage.

“I’ve dreamed of your face, and knowing you
were out there somewhere, miles and worlds away, was torture.” Kat gulped back the tears threatening to break through what control she still had. “I’ve loved you every minute we’ve been apart and right now, I want you to make love to me, like the last fifteen years never happened.”

Kale wrapped Kat tight to his chest, lifting her feet from the heated tile floor, his heart racing at her confession and near demand at the end. Kale cut the water off and bypassed the towels, to lay Kat still dripping wet in his bed.

The fire roared in the hearth again as he lowered himself on top of this gorgeous woman laid out like an offering beneath him. An offering he thought he’d only ever see again in his dreams, but this time she was solid, naked, beautiful, and waiting just for him.

“I love you, Kat,” Kale said before crushing his lips to hers. “I’ve missed you… I thought I lost everything worth living for the day
Darion tore you from my life.”

Kat wrapped her arms around his neck, threaded her finger through the thick, wet, velvety hair at the nape of his neck, and brought his sinful lips back against hers. Her tongue snaked out to trace his swollen lips before delving deep to memorize every inch of his mouth.

Her tongue swept over his at a frantic pace as need all but consumed her.

Kat felt her strength come back, felt every ache in her body ease, until all she felt was warm skin against hers, and lava flooding her veins. With the new
strength she found, she pushed Kale over and rolled on top of him. Her knees landed on the soft fabric of the bed covers, brushing against the sharp bones of his hips. Kat lowered her body in a quick move that buried Kale to the hilt in her tight sheath.

It was insane and probably cliché and maybe it even made her sound and feel like a teenager falling in love for the first time. But she felt like she had come home, that her soul had found the piece that had been missing before she found Kale, that same thing that had been ripped from her when
Darion had stolen so much from them. But right now, that time didn’t matter. What mattered was them and the way their bodies fit and worked together.

She knew that Kale felt the same—she saw it in his eyes. In the way his fingers stroked her rib cage and gripped her hips, the way he rocked in perfect
rhythm, amping up the pressure against her swollen nub and filling her to the core, then pulling back out—just to do it all over again.

Kat had missed this… missed sex that was about more than feeding her body’s need in order to survive.

She was in a pleasure-filled haze that she was willing to drown in. As electricity moved through her veins, clenching her stomach and pulsing through her core to milk Kale, she fell forward on his chest and moaned. Light burst behind her eyes and ecstasy sparked through her body.

Kale’s fingers tightened, biting into her sweat-slicked skin, as he roared out his release, lifting his hips from the bed and pulling Kat down hard against him.

Kale cupped Kat’s face, crushing his lips to hers, rolled her off him, and pulled her tight against his chest.

“God damn, I’ve missed you,
Kitten
,” he said as he pressed a kiss to her temple, brushing her hair from her face.

Kale held her gaze as he trailed his fingers down her perfect face. “I love you too, Kitten—never doubt that.”

Kat shook her head before nuzzling into the crook of his neck. “I never will again,” she whispered before closing her eyes.

****

Kat slipped from Kale’s arms; the sun shining in the room told her they’d slept most of the morning away. She placed a quick kiss to his bare chest, grabbed one of his shirts, and slipped it over her bare body after getting a glimpse of her fully filled in true mate tattoo. Kat’s lips tilted at the beautiful tattoo with all the detail of each raven feather on the wings, behind the gray infinity sign.

With a content sigh, Kat moved silently from Kale’s room. Only after hesitating to take in one more lingering look at Kale’s mostly bare body, and a baby face that was sweet and rumpled with sleep.

Acacia paced the room, glancing out the large window to the desert landscape, though the human city hid most of the natural beauty of the view. However, the human city was something of its own beauty, metal, lights, and concrete. For the first time in a very long life, Acacia felt something she couldn’t explain towards one of her siblings. She didn’t have human emotions, not really, but she guessed what she felt would be akin to human envy.

Makyle was the only one of her brothers and sisters who was able to enter and move freely in the Human World. The only reason Acacia was standing in this room waiting on Katarina to finish in the bathroom was because she wasn’t technically in the human realm—Desert Brew sat in both the Middle and the Human World. She wouldn’t be able to go outside but she could at least look out the window and appreciate what lay just beyond her reach.

Her attention was pulled from the view as the water to the shower shut off. Acacia steeled herself and knew that it was time to fix her mistake…

Alistair had been right—setting Kale on the path to find Katarina prematurely had changed far too many destinies, and while her siblings encouraged her to let fate take its new course, she couldn’t handle the thought that the deaths that would follow were essentially at her hands. She would fix this, best she could.

“Holy shit,” Kat
gasped, her hand flying to her chest as she exited her bathroom. “Who are you?” she asked.

Acacia smiled softly at her.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, but we need to talk, Katarina.”

Kat’s brow lifted. “I’ll ask again—who are you and how do you know my name?”

“I know a lot about you just as I know a lot about every Fae in this building.”

Kat took a critical eye to the ethereal woman standing in her room; long, wavy black hair, graceful movements, soft features, and deep, olive-colored eyes.

“Crap,” Kat breathed. This couldn’t be good. “You’re an Immortal Three? Aren’t you?”

Acacia nodded. “Yes, my name is Acacia, and I’m afraid I’ve drastically changed two very important futures when I informed Kale that you were not
part of my world and were in fact still alive in the Human World. And now I need you to help me fix it.”

“Whose futures did you change?” Kat asked. A sick feeling pushed up from her stomach—she knew the answer wasn’t going to be good.

Acacia squared her shoulders. “I’m afraid I’ve set things in motion that will lead to both Rowan and Kale’s deaths.”

****

Kale woke up alone in his room. Kat had snuck out again. With a sigh, he dragged his ass out of bed and into the bathroom for a quick shower—then he’d find the disappearing Succubus.

He ran a hand over the fogged mirror and couldn’t help but smirk at his own reflection. The haunted look that had swum in the depths of his brown eyes had lightened; he was a different man this morning. Kale wasn’t naïve. He knew there were no guarantees with Kat, but last night had been amazing and provided a drop of hope to his soul.

Kale took a good look at the body reflected back at him in the large mirror. It looked so different now than it had back when Kat had first laid her lips and hands on him.

There had been nothing covering his skin the first time their flesh met. But now? Well, it was decorated with his way of releasing the pain he’d felt over the last fifteen years. Kale had always lived a little outside the box of what had been expected of him. Hell, he’d fallen in love with a Dark Fae Succubus. However, now he had no idea where the box even was. What would his kin expect from him now?

Kale chuckled at himself… Perhaps the box was somewhere under his tattooed and pierced flesh.

He didn’t regret a single thing he’d done to his body. He had needed a way to control the pain that pricked at his very soul every single day since he’d lost Kat. The undeniable truth was… he was a different person now. He’d grown and found himself in the art that covered his body. Granted, his eyes had looked haunted the past years. He never would have guessed the loss of a single woman—no matter how much he loved her—could cause such a change in him.

But Kat had done just that and now she was changing him again—into a man he could be happy being.

Kale pulled himself from his musings and smiled as he took in the dragon that wrapped up his left arm and over his shoulder—the one Kat had liked. It was among his favorites as well. The deep blue and green scales of the creature’s body ended at its large, opened mouth, where the tattooed turned to shades of swirling grey smoke and eventually gave way to flames over his right pec.

Kale’s eyes fell to the swirling smoke below his left
pec. Something was different. Leaning closer to the mirror, Kale could make out a hidden picture in the differing shades of grey—a small infinity sign lay over a pair of nearly black wings.

Was it possible he’d never noticed the nearly hidden piece of art in his own tattoo? No… that wasn’t it at all, because it matched the small tattoo just under Kat’s left breast—a tattoo he had ran his tongue over and was planning to ask her
about when they woke up together this morning.

Kale felt his breath coming in short, shallow gasps. Had he been her true mate all along? Kale pulled the jeans he’d set out in his room on quickly and was tugging his T-shirt over his head when Kat entered his room. He spun to look at her face and knew instantly something was wrong… Did she know it was him? Did she know Fate thought he was perfect for her?

Kat was heartbroken. She’d thought she found her future last night, but if she didn’t walk away, Rowan and Kale would both pay. All because they would stand behind her and fight at her side. It wasn’t fair—fate really was cruel.

Kat swiped at the tears that she hadn’t been able to hold back while she spoke with Acacia. She wanted to curl up with Kale, she wanted to kiss him, wanted to hold him, wanted to make love to him while she could.

“There you are,” Kale said cautiously as he tried to regulate his breathing.

“Yeah, I just needed a shower.” She smiled and stepped to him, pressing her soft lips to his. But something was off—
her eyes seemed a little puffy as if she’d been crying.

Kale studied her body language, her facial expressions, and every small move she made. Even the sad quality of the kiss she’d just given him.

She knew.

And she wasn’t happy
… fate had dealt her a card she didn’t want… but she had wanted him last night! Had said she loved him. Kale was steeling himself to tell her he knew—when his phone dinged telling him he’d missed a call and had a voicemail.

Kale growled in frustration, moved to his nightstand, and grabbed his phone. He held a finger up to Kat and listened to the message from
Lothar.

Once
Lothar’s message was over, Kale shoved his phone in his pocket.

“We have to head out. Evan called
Lothar this morning. He has some information for us on Brie. Since it’s daylight and he can’t come to us, we need to head over to his estate.”

Kat nodded. “Ok,” she said softly.

She was disappointed that she was going to lose even a second of
quality
time with Kale—because if she was going to change his destiny, if she was going to keep him alive—she had to walk away as soon as possible.

Kale’s brows pinched together.
“You alright?” He watched her intently to see if she would be honest with him or simply brush his concern off.

Kat forced a smile.
“Yeah. I’m good,” she said, slipping her arm around his waist. “Let’s go see what the Vamps have for us.”

So she was going to brush it off… Kale forced his own smile, knowing this conversation would have to wait.

“Alright, I want to check on Uriah and then we’ll meet up with Lothar.”

Uriah was in good spirits and was mostly healed, although while he wouldn’t admit his wings had suffered any damage, Kale couldn’t see how they wouldn’t have.

Kat and Kale left Uriah with Bain and
Izzy, who were taking him back home to see Jelena—a feeding would help him to fully heal. Sliding onto the soft leather of one of Desert Brew’s town cars, Kat and Kale headed for Evan’s estate.

Kat’s eyes widened as they drove down the long, paved driveway once they’d been granted access to the
compound… There really was no other way to describe what she was seeing. The security around the grounds was obvious. Best part of all, in Kat’s opinion, was the fact that the Vamps, who were known for their strength, had to rely on humans for security during the sunlight hours.

The thing about this place was it looked like a luxury resort. The driveway was lined with palm trees and golf-course-worthy green grass stretched out past them. The front even boasted a water feature with a clear, hopefully very sturdy, Plexiglas bridge, which you had to walk over to get to the front of the estate. The estate was huge, with a sweeping staircase that lead to a second-story balcony. The place was breathtaking.

“The Vampires live a good life,” Kat noted, taking in every detail she could.

“Yes, they do,” Kale agreed as they approached the nine-foot, double-solid wood doors.

Kale was lifting his hand to knock as the door swung open.

“Katarina and Kale, I presume?” a brisk English accent greeted them. The woman wore what Kat assumed was a standard uniform for the human staff in Evan’s home: black slacks, a black button-up blouse, and, in this woman’s case, a pair of stunning black heels. She looked sleek and professional.

Kale nodded at her and Kat smiled.

“Good, I’m Vanessa, Master Evan’s personal assistant. He and your brother,
Lothar, are waiting for you. Please follow me.”

They followed Vanessa at a brisk pace to keep up with her in the marble halls. If they lost her, it would take
them days to find her again in this massive house.

“Ah good.”
Evan lifted his head as Kat and Kale followed Vanessa into his office. “Let’s get down to business.”

Kale shot
Lothar a curious look but he gave Kale the one-shoulder-don’t-ask-me shrug.

“Take a seat.” Evan gestured to two chairs next to
Lothar.

Kat noticed that Evan’s office looked out on a very impressive maze of short bushes, stone paths, fountains, and a garden. The windows were also deeply tinted like the ones at Desert Brew—blocking the sun’s rays so Evan could enjoy the beauty of his grounds.

“I asked you all to meet here because I have some news about your Succubus… she’s gone.”

Lothar
narrowed his eyes. “How do you know that?”

“Ben, come in here please.” Evan barely spoke over a whisper, but a young Vampire stepped into the office, his hands clasped behind his back.

“Yes, master?” Ben greeted Evan.

“I need you tell these folks what you told me this morning.”

Ben’s eyes flicked between the brothers and Kat, then back to Evan, who dipped his chin.

“Josh called me to him last night; he had a female in his car just outside the gates. He told me he and the female were leaving and that I was to wait until this morning to tell Master Evan.”

“The female was Brie?” Kat asked Evan.

“Yes,” Evan looked to Ben. “Tell then the rest.”

“Josh said that he found his true mate. I didn’t know Vampires had true mates—”

“You don’t,” Kat said, “but
Succubi
do.”

“Right,” Ben continued. “Anyway, he said he had to keep her safe and that the Warriors would punish her for the mistakes she made when she killed those men. That was all he said.”

Kale narrowed his eyes on the Vampire. “Why did you wait to tell Evan? You were aware we were looking for her, were you not?”

Ben nodded. “Of course, but he told me I had to wait to tell Master Evan.”

“I don’t really give a shit what he told you—you should have told us immediately,” Kale said with a frustrated tone.

Ben’s eyes flicked from Kale to Evan, his nerves clearly getting the better of him.

“He couldn’t, Kale,” Kat said, giving Ben a reassuring smile. “Josh is your sire?” she asked.

Ben nodded. “Yes.”

Vampires were a fiercely loyal kind… to the one who sired them. Kat thought it might have had something to do with their compulsion. Even though Ben had known how important it was that they find Brie, his bond to his sire would actually keep him from telling anyone what Josh had done. Once Josh gave the order for Ben to wait, he had no choice in the matter.

“What time did all of this happen?”
Lothar asked.

“Around four this morning,” Ben answered.

“They could not have gotten far. That only gave them two hours or so to find somewhere to sit out the sun.”

“Afraid not,” Evan said. “My Benz is gone. One of only three light-tight vehicles I own with tinting dark enough any vampire can go out in the daylight with it. Also Ben can no longer sense Josh, which means his sire is at least a good two hundred miles from him.”

“Shit,” Lothar muttered. “I need to call Rowan and see what she wants us to do.”

“Please let her know that should you choose to attempt to track Bonnie and Clyde down, I will offer Ben to your efforts.”

Lothar nodded and excused himself.

“What do you think Rowan will do?” Kat whispered to Kale.

Kale shook his head. “I’m not sure,” he admitted.

Lothar
returned. “Thank you, Evan. We’ll be in touch.” Lothar shook the Master Vampires hand and then turned to Kat and Kale. “Head back to Desert Brew and get your stuff. Rowan wants you two and Jake at Hawk’s Eye this evening to meet with her.”