OwnedbytheNight (4 page)

The night before she became a vampire was the last night of
her ownership. Her Master had beaten her almost to death.

After a long day of cooking and scrubbing floors, Allegra
had wished for a small modicum of peace. Lying back on her itchy straw bed, she
closed her eyes and breathed a heavy sigh. Finally, she could be alone, get
some rest.

The door opened. Her eyes flew open and her gaze fixed on
the figure in the doorway. Her Master entered her quarters with a lascivious
sneer on his face. Fear coursed through her veins, made her heart hammer. She
knew exactly what the sneer meant.

“Please…no more…” She sat up, drew her already sore and
battered body against the wall. Maybe if she begged, he’d give her some
respite.

Bounding forward, he grasped a handful of her hair in his
fist and yanked. Her body slammed onto the cold mortar floor. She yelped in
pain, sure that he’d broken one of the bones in her shoulder.

She wouldn’t give up. “Please…please don’t hurt me. I’m
just a servant.”

His physical strength overwhelmed her. He dropped on top
of her. His weight robbed her of breath but he didn’t care. Pushing up her
skirt, he fumbled with his own tunic and forced his cock inside her.

The stinging pain brought tears to her eyes. He drove
into her over and over.

“You are not a servant, wench. You are a slave. A thing
to be used.” He punctuated each sentence with a hard thrust. “A possession. I’m
your Master. Who owns you, slave?”

She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. She retreated
inside her mind, to a place where he couldn’t hurt her.

“Who owns you? Who owns you, slave?”

A sharp slap on her cheek made bells ring in her ear. He
hit her again and she knew she wouldn’t survive the night.

“You own me.”

Kyrian kissed away her tears. His voice rasped in her ear.
“Say it, Allegra. Say it for me.”

“You. You own me, Kyrian O’Byrne.”

Oh how the mighty had fallen.

Her fall from being the mighty Mistress was complete. She
was owned.

Chapter Four

Allegra inhaled the night air. She stood outside the
Colosseum, staring up at the huge structure. It lay in ruins, a tombstone to
cruelty, yet people still flocked to see it.

A few years into the second millennium and tourism formed a
huge chunk of Italy’s economy. For twenty-five euros you could have your
picture taken with a Roman solider.

She sighed, remembered when thousands lined the
amphitheatre, jeering and clapping for their favorite gladiators. Her culture
had been cruel and harsh and now it was celebrated.

She brushed a lock of hair from her face. She was home, back
in Rome.

Life bustled around her.

She watched as a couple shared a passionate kiss beneath the
Arch of Constantine.

Tears prickled, filled her eyes and threatened to overflow.
Her heart lay heavy in her chest.

Running from Kyrian had been easy. She’d gathered her things
and left. She’d run from him for centuries, building lives in numerous towns,
praying he wouldn’t find her. His love and passion were consuming, even after
all these centuries. She’d heard rumors, pieces of gossip, stories of his rage,
his power and his sheer determination to find her. He’d torn entire villages
apart searching for her.

Now, centuries later, she yearned for him.

She missed his companionship, the sly smirk he gave her when
he knew he was right. She missed hunting with him, waking up at sunset and
knowing he was there.

A human male walked by. He smiled at her. “
Ciao, bella.
”

She didn’t acknowledge him but her stomach growled and her
incisors lengthened. There was no attraction to the male but she hadn’t fed in
months. What was the point? Eternity dragged on and on, bringing with it an
intense loneliness.

Kyrian.

Her mind cried out for his. Yet she resisted reaching out to
him. The tiny amount of pride, the stubborn streak, refused to give in. How
could she admit she’d been wrong?

Had fear of her past clouded her judgment all those years
ago? Could she and Kyrian have had something wonderful? Something based on
mutual love and respect rather than blind devotion and blood?

Dragging a hand through her hair, she closed her eyes,
wrapped her arms around her stomach.

Kyrian. Kyrian. Kyrian.

Tears ran down her cheeks in rivulets. Contrary to popular
myth, vampires could cry real tears. They could eat garlic and they could cast
reflections. Their hearts could break.

Her heart cried out to him.

She’d never felt so alone.

Was she ready to seek him out? Ready to seek forgiveness?
The important question was, would he forgive her? She’d heard about his temper,
about the growth of his power, about him razing whole hordes of vampires to the
ground with magical spells in search of her.

Would he use that violence against her?

Only one way to find out.

Tentatively, she lowered the barriers she had built against
his power in her mind.

She whispered his name into the night. “Kyrian.”

Her mind reached out, searched for his, hoping to grasp on
to any small link.

Allegra.

There. She hooked into that one word.
Kyrian.

Let me come to you.

No. Please, don’t…

His temper spiked. Anger reached out across the miles.
I
love you. I always have. I’m sorry I pushed you but it’s time to stop this
foolish game.

Game? He thought she was playing hard to get? Insolent man.
I’m
sorry, this was a mistake.

She started to withdraw from his mind, only to be hauled
back in. His power kept them connected.

No! I need you, Allegra. Please, just let me come to you.

The desperation in his voice almost made her cave. But she
could never ask him to come to her. Her pride wouldn’t allow it. No matter how
much she craved him, she would never beg. In some part of her soul, she feared
him. His passion could consume her. His forceful will could make her a slave
once more.

I’m sorry.

She wrenched her mind from his, blocking their connection.
He assaulted her senses, trying to find a weakness, a chink that would allow
him to reengage their link, but she refused to give in. Imaging a brick wall,
she kept him out.

Eventually his power receded. He was gone. Allegra inhaled,
let out a sigh of relief.

If it was such a relief, why did she feel so empty?

Chapter Five

Present Day

Kyrian O’Byrne. His name was branded onto her soul.

She’d left psychic breadcrumbs across the world, drawing him
to America. He’d trailed her essence and it had led them to this moment. It had
taken two years for him to find her. Two years of waiting.

She’d come to terms with her past and given up running from
the man she loved. She was ready to embrace him.

She knew he was controlling the elements as the waves
continued to crash onto the shore. The oppressive heat clung to her skin,
slicking her body with a sheen of perspiration. Some people experienced soft,
gentle love—one of companionship and friendship. Her love for Kyrian burned
like fire in her gut. Its dominance overrode her senses, its intensity
threatened to consume her.

Yet still she craved him.

Needed him.

For years she’d been hollow. Devoid. Empty. Now her body
sparked to life and her soul sang in anticipation.

“Hello, Allegra.”

Her palms flexed on the glass. His voice wrapped sensuously
around her, caressing her. Despite her fear, despite the centuries between
them, her pussy moistened with need. She wanted his teeth at her vein, his cock
breaching her cunt.

“Hello, Kyrian.”

He didn’t move. She couldn’t hear or feel his movements and
she refused to look at him. She would not meet his gaze in the reflection. Her
defiance of him still surged around her body like molten fire in her blood.

“Did you think I wouldn’t find you, Allegra? Is that why you
kept running?”

She shrugged, hoping to appear nonchalant while her heart
burst. “I was hoping you’d forget.”

A roar of masculine laughter burst through the silence in
the room, shattering it like the waves crashing on the shore below. Kyrian
stepped closer. He slapped his hands on the window pane on either side of her
head, trapping her. He leaned down and nuzzled her neck, scraped his teeth
along her exposed collarbone.

She inhaled his scent. Clean. Spicy. Exotic. Feral. He’d
always smelled that way to her, even when he was human.

Power emanated from him in waves. Not just the power of the
vampire, but druid power. His life force sizzled, his aura exuded so much
strength it almost robbed her of breath. He’d been a busy man over the last few
centuries.

“That’s right, my love. Thanks to your blood, I’ve lived
centuries enough to learn about the power within my body.”

He grazed her skin with his teeth. The sharp sting didn’t draw
blood but it was enough to send shivers coursing down her spine.

“I’m more powerful than you could ever have imagined. And
now I’ve come to claim what’s mine.”

“Yours?” She snorted at the arrogance of his words. “I was
never yours, druid.”

His hands curled over her shoulders. He jerked her body back
against him. His hard cock prodded the cheeks of her ass. His arousal spiked
hers to another level. It felt good knowing that even centuries later he still
craved her body.

“You always belonged to me, Allegra. Mind, body, soul. They
are mine. You cannot deny me any longer. I’ve wandered the earth to find you,
searched hundreds of years for this moment.”

His hips gently surged forward. Back and forth. Back and
forth. His cock lay nestled against her ass cheeks and the slow, sensual rhythm
imitated a good, hard fuck.

Unable to stop herself, Allegra moved her hips in time to
his. An age-old dance of coupling between two mates. Her fangs lengthened,
burst free from her gums as her pussy creamed.

Maybe she hadn’t fed because she’d been waiting for this,
waiting for his blood, to feed from his body and mind. To feel the life force
of her mate, of the only man who truly understood her and her needs.

“You had a wasted journey, druid. You found me. Now it’s
time for you to leave.”

“You delude yourself, Allegra. You called me, remember? Left
your mark all across Europe hoping I’d find you.”

He grasped her shoulders, turned her to look at him and
slammed her body back against the glass. His eyes blazed like starlight. Passion,
anger, dominance burned with an erotic intensity that made her crave him.

Lifting her arms above her head, he shackled her wrists in
one of his giant hands. With the other, he stroked a fingertip down her cheek,
along her jawbone, finally feathering the pulse point that beat wildly in her
neck.

He’d grown physically stronger. She was no longer the
dominant strength. She couldn’t overpower him physically or mentally. No longer
the Master, Allegra was once again the slave.

For once that didn’t fill her with dread. Her need for him
overrode the doubt.

Her pussy clenched, ached to be filled by her Master’s cock.
To be taken.

A smile played on his lips. “I can smell your arousal. There
will be no stopping, Allegra. Not now, not ever.”

His hand skimmed down her body to caress her breast. Her
nipple peaked and she bit her lip in an effort to suppress a moan.

“Tell me you want this.”

“I want this.”

“Tell me you want me, Allegra.
Say it.
”

“I want you, Kyrian.”

His lips crashed onto hers, tempting, demanding her submission.
Allegra’s body came alive in a way it hadn’t for centuries. Electricity fired
along her synapses, sending a direct line of heat from her brain to her pussy.
Her breasts became heavy with the need to be touched, her nipples hard, turgid
peaks, begging for Kyrian’s fingers.

His tongue rimmed the outer seams of her lips, coaxing her
to open for him. When she did, he darted into her mouth like a marauder. She
moaned low in her throat at the taste of him. Dark. Forbidden. Powerful.
Masculine. A lick of feminine heat coursed through her, reveled in the dominant
male before her.

Her tongue dueled with his, attacking and retreating,
mimicking the movement of what she wanted him to do with his cock.

As they kissed, he ran his hands down the bodice of her corset,
found her nipples and plucked. His erotic ministrations made her rip her mouth
from his and cry into the night.

“Kyrian…” Her fingers fisted in his dark hair, tugging,
nudging his face down to where she needed his kiss the most—her throat.

His laughter sent shivers dancing across her skin.

He didn’t deny her. His lips closed over the pulse point in
her neck and sucked, not breaking the skin but leaving no doubt he was going to
bite her, and soon.

He ripped open the bodice of her shirt and she gasped at his
use of force. Deep down, she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. With his strength he
could do some serious physical damage yet his mind reached out to hers, linking
them. He bathed her in warmth and comfort, sensations previously unknown from
the feral druid and at odds with the raw, turbulent passion he exhibited.

“So beautiful. So damn, fucking beautiful. I’ve missed you.”

He cupped her breasts, kneaded the soft flesh. Bending his
head, he swiped his tongue across one nipple then the other. His rough, wet tongue
drove her wild. Her cunt clenched, moisture gushed between her thighs, soaking
the material of her pants.

“More, please, more…”

She wanted him to take a nipple into the warm cavern of his
mouth and devour her.