She noticed her hand trembling as she tried the front door handle. Like earlier in the day, it was unlocked. She pushed it wide and stepped inside.
"Ah, you have returned. And with a present I see."
"As promised, the diary of the original Noble."
"Be a dear and close the door, would you?"
Her heart was beating fast and loud as a drum. She turned to close the door, shutting her eyes for a moment to draw on her courage. She needed to fake wanting him until they moved from the front room. Just pretend. No different than drama class at high school…
The moment the door snicked shut Toki's warm hand snaked around her waist. She groaned as she did her best to suppress the shudder of revulsion.
"Hmm, so I believe you need some reminding of who you belong to, blondie."
Nope, I have no trouble at all remembering that I'm Barret's.
But she couldn't say that out loud.
Suddenly she found herself spun around and pressed against the wall. As she gasped at the impact against the hard surface, he lowered his mouth to hers for a kiss. Taking advantage of her shock, he thrust his tongue into her mouth and before she could hold back the response, she gagged as bile rose along with memories. Tears pricked her eyes and coursed down her cheeks as she recalled the first time he'd kissed her. He'd dug his thumbs painfully into her cheeks, forcing her lips to open as he pushed her flesh between her teeth so she couldn't bite him when he assaulted her mouth. She whimpered and he pulled back with a growl.
In a daze of remembered horror, she vaguely saw him raise his palm. Moments later, she gasped as heat and pain flared in her cheek and lip. His harsh slap brought her mind back to the present.
"Don't you dare space out on me. I will not allow you to pretend to be elsewhere. Your place is with me, nowhere else. Understand?"
He roughly gripped her wrist and began to drag her down the hallway. She moved the key fob in her palm until she felt the raised bump. She pressed it and put them in her pocket just in time to stumble over the edge of the hallway runner. Damn, she'd been focused on the keys, not her feet. Toki continued to pull her until he reached the last doorway. He pushed her through and she found herself in a small bedroom with a large bed against the rear wall. Its head and foot were made of wrought iron.
Perfect for him to tie me to.
She shut her eyes. Forcing her mind to focus, she could not get lost in her memories again. She needed to focus, to fight. She was not tied up this time. She was not in some unknown underground facility she couldn't escape. All she needed to do was to keep Toki busy until the cavalry came.
She felt his hand slide up her back and into her hair. He threaded his fingers high on her scalp before he tightened his grip on her, pulling her hair. Out of reflex to stop the pain, she reached back and gripped his hands. She dug her nails into his skin but his hold didn't loosen. All he did was chuckle.
"Does my little kitty have claws after all? Show me your fire, Sharon. That too is mine to control."
Rage descended over her like a cloak taking any chance of pretending to want this bastard.
"I will never be yours. Nothing about me is under your control."
She took hold of his pinky finger and pulled it back hard and fast. With a hiss, he released her and she spun around throwing her leg out. She landed her kick but her body wasn't prepared for the sudden stop of motion and she over balanced. She landed heavily on her butt, but thankfully managed to catch herself on her arms before her back and head met the floor.
She looked for Toki and found him curled over, holding his groin. Oh yeah! She couldn't help but grin at her aim. Her relief was short-lived, however. Agony roared through her system. She fell to the ground as Toki rose to stand straight.
"How dare you show such disrespect! I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice. For now, you will be bound and kept immobile until you show signs of being worthy of freedom."
Her body bowed off the floor from the onslaught as he increased his hold over her. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She couldn't fight him off while she was in this much pain, hell, she could barely breathe.
"I don't know what you thought you were going to do here, Sharon. There is no way a mere Bride can take on an Elder Noble. I am going to check on the boys and find some restraints. The boys' adoptive father is a cop, I'm sure he'll have something lying around I can use, because I can't very well remind you of the pleasure you felt with me while your frozen in pain now can I?"
He left the room in a rush while tears continued to run down her face. Please let the boys be out of the house. She began to wonder if she'd pressed the car fob button correctly when she heard the sweetest sound.
"Sharon…"
Barret's voice was hoarse with grief as he dropped to the floor beside her. He ran his cool fingertips down her cheek and jaw but she couldn't respond.
"I'm sorry I took so long, baby. Toki had guards outside waiting for us. Angelo is still fighting them, as is Orlando. Andre is with the boys, they're safe."
She locked her gaze with his but could do no more. The pain was intense. Movement had her glancing behind Barret. Toki stood frozen in the doorway gripping two pairs of shiny handcuffs, his face red with rage. The hold he had on her intensified as he stalked closer. Her lungs stilled, unable to function with such agony racing through her body. Spots danced over her vision, partially blocking out Barret as he turned with an animalistic roar and faced off against Toki. With her vision now gone, all she could do was listen as Toki began yelling at Barret.
"You took my sons! And now you think you can take my wife!"
"Sharon is my Eternal Bride, no one else's. Release your hold on her."
"She will always be in my control, Vamp."
"Can't you see? She's not breathing. Release her or she'll die."
Sharon gasped as the pain lessened enough to allow her to gulp down air. Her lungs burned and her eyes watered. She curled into a ball on the carpet. All her concentration was on breathing.
She could hear nothing.
See nothing.
Breathe. She needed to breathe. In. Out. In… Out…
As the burn in her chest began to lessen, her other senses came back online. She could hear the sounds of fists meeting flesh and loud grunts. She blinked several times to clear her vision and looked up to see Toki and Barret trading punches. They looked evenly matched, both had taken hits. Fear coursed through her as Toki landed a fist to Barret's jaw. She couldn't risk Toki winning but with them moving like they were, she had no chance of getting close enough to press her little Taser against him.
Where are the other Vampires? She needed one of their high-powered Tasers that shot out darts. Something she could use from a distance.
Toki apparently needed one hundred percent of his attention on the fight so she was now free of his mind-hold. She forced herself to move. Adrenaline assisted her oxygen-starved body to function. She bolted for the door and skidded into the hallway. Orlando was striding toward her. He had signs of his recent fights with the Noble's outside, but didn't appear to be impaired by injury at all.
"Give me your Taser."
His frown said it all. He wasn't going to hand over his powerful weapon. "Where's Barret? Toki?"
"Please, Orlando. They're fighting. But they're too evenly matched. Please, let me be the one to take him down. After all the years he's hurt me, I deserve to have a hand in this."
Orlando closed his eyes for a moment before unclipping the Taser gun from his hip. "Barret's going to kill me for this but okay. Use the laser to aim. Go for the biggest target. His back or chest preferably. The safety is off."
She grabbed the gun and dashed back into the room with Orlando a step behind her. Then she cleared her mind of all fear, worry and pain. Gripping the plastic handle in both hands, she carefully placed a finger over the trigger as she raised the weapon toward the circling men. She caught Barret's gaze when he quickly glanced her way. He moved so Toki's back faced her. She lined the red dot with the center of Toki's back and fired. Instantly, Toki's body contorted and dropped to the ground where he convulsed. Sharon couldn't help the flare of morbid glee that he was getting a taste of his own medicine.
She dropped the weapon and raced to Barret who knelt on the ground his head hanging down. She wrapped herself around him as he straightened to gather her in close to him. She turned her head and watched as Orlando used Toki's own cuffs to secure him.
It was over.
Epilogue
Eight months later…
Barret relaxed into his lounge chair with a grin as he took in his very crowded house. He'd been pleasantly surprised when he came to visit his old home to find that Madison was still living there and had kept everything well cared for. In the twenty-seven years he'd been gone, she'd raised a family and the evidence of their lives was all around. Little signs of wear and tear that hadn't been there before showed on the walls and furniture. But he didn't mind. His and Sharon's boys would add plenty more before long.
Speaking of boys, among all the visiting Vampires and Brides, there were currently fifteen four year olds in his living room. None of them were biologically his but that didn't change a thing. Two of them were his Sharon's. That made them his. He'd loved learning how to be a father these past months. Jari and Vali were both so inquisitive and open to everything. They had no taint of the Nobles' beliefs at all.
Thankfully.
In fact, it seemed this whole generation of sons had managed to escape any Noble influence at all. Amazingly their raids had proved most successful. Nearly all the stolen sons had now been found, only a few of the older ones remained missing. He moved his gaze over all the boys. Each one was happily shredding wrapping paper to get to their birthday presents, just as any normal child would do.
Straight after their rescue, this youngest generation had been returned to their mothers, who were all stolen brides Sharon had befriended while they'd been locked away together. After the following rounds of raids, the Lower Level Nobles along with the older sons had been sent off to a specially set up boarding school where they were going to be taught the truth about Vampire and Noble creation. Along with how to live in harmony with all three species: Vampire, Noble and human. Fiona had led the charge in researching the history of both Vampires and Nobles and she'd made some fascinating discoveries. As Queen, Darcy was now pushing that all Vampire sons learn the history of both races too. Personally, Barret liked the idea but only time would tell if the concept took off.
As to the fate of the Elder Nobles, including Toki, they had been executed. Their crimes against the Brides and Vampires were too great to allow them to go free until the human law caught up with what had happened. Darcy was working with government officials who were saying all the right things about getting the police force to no longer allow crimes against Vampires to go unchecked, but it would take time to see any results.
Sharon moved past him and he wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her onto his lap. He pressed a kiss onto her neck while he reverently placed his palm over her swollen belly. Turns out the reason they hadn't been woken time and again by Sharon's fertile hormones back on the twenty-ninth was because it only took that first time to impregnate her. He frowned at the tension he could feel in her body.
"What's on your mind, love?"
"Just wishing for things not meant to be, Barret."
Ahh, her other sons were on her mind.
"Brandt and Colborn will be fine I'm sure. The College is fully set up and operational now. All the stolen sons will soon be taught all they need to know to be free to make their own choices. We can only pray they choose to join us once it's all over."
Brandt was sixteen and Colborn was twelve. Still young, but certainly old enough to know their own minds.
"I know. It's just I've missed out on so much of all my children's lives. I want them with us now."
He pulled her closer into his chest as his heart ached for his Eternal Bride and all she'd lost due to him. "I know, love, but it's too dangerous. Brandt and Colborn are older and more likely to kill us both in our sleep to uphold the Nobles' way of life. I'm sorry, but we can't risk it. Especially with another son on the way."
She sighed heavily while she snuggled her face against his throat. She laid a soft kiss over his pulse point that had shivers of arousal running through his body. He'd never get enough of her.
"I love you, my Sharon, and I can't wait for this little one to arrive so we can raise our son together from the very beginning."
She leaned away from him for a moment to cup his face in her hands, his whole world stilled as he locked his gaze with her identical Paraiba Tourmaline one.
"You always know just what to say to make me feel better. I love you, my tall, dark and handsome Vampire. I always will."
About the Author
Khloe Wren started writing her first novel in high school, until it mysteriously disappeared from the family computer (her older brother was the lead suspect but nothing was ever proved). She didn't put pen to paper again after that for a number of years but she did keep reading. Khloe has always loved all things paranormal: sexy Vampires and sultry shifters have always been her favorites. So when she picked up writing again, it seemed only natural to write paranormal romance.
Khloe lives in country South Australia with her incredibly patient husband and two daughters. When she's not sitting at her laptop writing, she's spending time with family or friends, kicking butt at karate or feeding her addictions of reading, eating chocolate and drinking Coke.
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