Viktor: Heart of Her King (12 page)

Kat laughed out loud at Viktor’s comment, and said, “When have you ever been humble.”

Shrugging with a grin, Viktor continued, “Zeus did not want his champions to live a lonely existence so he made a promise to the
Unum
that each King would have one woman to love, one woman to share eternity with. She would be all the King ever needed. The light of his soul and the love of his heart. She and she alone would possess the ability to communicate directly to his heart and know his secrets, both spoken and unspoken. This woman would know his truths and share his beliefs. His mate would be his only nourishment. He would know the instant the keeper of his heart, or his
custos animae
, was born and their bond would be immediate.

“Now, the Father of the Gods was smart and having loved many,” Kat chuckled at the raise of Viktor’s eyebrows as he gave mention to Zeus’ many affairs, “knew that if a man had the chance to know when the woman of his heart was born and could track her at any time, he would most likely be there to claim her as soon as she was of age. So Zeus made an absolute rule for the Kings—he said the
custos animae
had to come to her King of her own freewill and in her own time. The only exception being if her life was in mortal danger.”

Viktor paused and Kat watched emotions flow through his dark eyes. Unconsciously nodding, he began again, his voice lower, more serious than before, “The only other stipulation was that their mating, blessed by the gods and completed according to Zeus’ law, was consummated by the King’s three thousandth year. If not, the King would die, and because of his service enjoy eternity in the Elysian Fields and the keeper of his heart would be free to live out the rest of her days as she saw fit.”

Kat started to speak, but stopped when Viktor slowly shook his head. For several seconds they simply stared into one another’s eyes and then, as if reaching a monumental decision, Viktor stood and pulled Kat up in front of him. With her hands in his, holding her eyes hostage, he spoke with a certainty that made her tremble, “You, Katarina Romalesky, are my
custos animae
, the keeper of my heart, the woman I have loved since before you drew your first breath. Look into my heart as only you can. See the truth of my words. Feel the strength of my love. This is all for you. I offer myself and all that I am to you. I am yours to love or to leave, the choice is yours.”

There were no words. Her heart was beating so hard and fast Kat thought she might pass out, but there was no denying the truth. It was just as he’d said...she
knew
. It was all right there. She could see who he’d been and who he wanted to be, what he’d done and what he wanted to accomplish,
everything
was in her consciousness as if she’d experienced it herself. It was all so amazing and miraculous and that was just the tip of the iceberg, because at the forefront of three millennia of life was so much unconditional love and acceptance that Kat couldn’t stop the tears that flowed freely down her face.

“Oh,
amica mea
. Don’t cry. You are not stuck with me. It is your decision.” 

Shaking her head so hard she felt a little dizzy, Kat tried to speak through her emotion but barely managed a whisper. The look on Viktor’s face changed from disappointment to confusion, which she could tell he wasn’t at all used to. For some crazy reason his befuddlement gave Kat a case of the giggles and before she knew it, she was gasping for breath.

Holding tight to Viktor’s hands, she took several deep breaths and once Kat could speak again, she said, “No, you big dope, I
want
to be stuck with you. I mean...I want us to be stuck together. No, hell, that’s not right. I’m screwing this all up. You were so eloquent and I sound like a hooker trying to get out of community service. What I’m trying to say is I love you. I never imagined it was possible and we have a serious age difference, but I love you with a love that defies an explanation.”

Without another word, Viktor dragged her up against his naked chest and claimed her lips in a kiss of raw passion and possession. His hands moved frantically over her body, completely removing her blouse and bra in one swift motion. A primal need grew between them. It became a necessity that they feel every inch of one another. The need to be one was a living being within both Kat and the man of her heart.

He kissed across her jaw. His teeth grazed her collar bone. He sucked her nipple into his mouth and Kat threw her head back, arching into his touch, her hands in his hair holding him in place. All she could do was feel. It was a pleasure so intense, so perfect, Kat never wanted it to end. Releasing one nipple, Viktor immediately moved to the other, giving it the same fierce attention.

Kat rolled her hips, trying to feel the length of his erection against her wet, throbbing center. She groaned when their pants stopped her quest. Then sighed as Viktor began an erotic dance that caused his cock to bump her excited clit with his every motion. Lights flashed behind her closed eyelids. How had she ever been afraid to admit her feelings.

Ready to lose her mind from Viktor’s expert seduction, Kat slid her hand inside his pants, running her fingertips over the engorged head of his erection. He shivered in her arms and her world tilted on its axis. There was nothing better than knowing how deeply her touch affected him. Wrapping her hand around his shaft, she rubbed her thumb across the tip, spreading proof of his excitement all around. Viktor shuddered and groaned against her breast. The vibrations caused goose bumps to rise all over her body. Viktor slowly pumped his hips, running his erection across her palm.

Letting her nipple fall from his lips, Viktor groaned as he moved his hips even more vigorously. Pulling back, it was Kat’s turn to groan as his erection slid from her hand and her hand from his pants. 

Kat squeaked her surprise when in the blink of an eye she went from standing beside beautiful flowers to lying on a soft patch of grass between two large bushes with the man of her dreams staring down at her. With his hands planted on either side of her head, Viktor held his body above her and began to once again roll his hips. The friction of their clothing against Kat’s aroused flesh pushed her passion higher.

Viktor threw his head back in pleasure, compelling Kat to raise her lips to his skin and pay homage to every ridge and valley of his spectacularly muscled neck. Viktor laid his pelvis onto hers, the weight of his body pressing his erection against her aroused clit with such force Kat felt the contractions within her channel intensify and the resulting wetness on her thighs. Her eyes opened just as his head fell forward and she was immediately ensnared by his dark, hypnotic gaze.

Lifting his hips again and holding himself above her on one arm, Kat was in awe of his strength as Viktor quickly removed their remaining clothing then slowly lowered his body until he was braced on his forearms with only a few inches separating their mouths. Kat’s lips tingled in anticipation of Viktor’s kiss, but all thought was driven from her mind as he slowly slipped inside her wet warmth. Inch by spectacular inch, they became joined...one to the other. Her inner muscles contracted, pulling Viktor farther into her. Sweat gathered on his upper lip as he fought to go slowly. If possible, Kat loved him all the more for trying to be careful with her, but excitement was pushing her out of control.

Seated completely within her, Viktor held utterly still. One perfect moment to be remembered for all time. Their souls became one even without whatever ceremony he had talked about. She could hear his thoughts and knew he could hear hers. There would never be a time Kat would be without Viktor again. Her eyes slid shut but Viktor immediately commanded, “Look at me, Katarina, look at your King, the one who loves you more than life itself. Who worships you as no other.”

Helpless to deny him anything, Kat watched Viktor’s every emotion as he showed her how much she truly meant to him. Wrapping her legs around his waist, Kat held tight as his casual in and out slide began. She met him stroke for stroke. Their pace accelerated from one breath to the next. Viktor was instantly driving in and out of her, pushing them both to the release they so desperately sought. Kat loved the feel of the well-toned muscles in his butt as they flexed under her calves while he worked deeper and harder into her.

Shifting his hips, Viktor caused his pelvis to bump against her clit and his cock to rub the sensitive bundle of nerves at the top of her channel with every well-placed stroke. Thought became impossible. Kat’s orgasm was building, careening through her body like a runaway train, bigger than anything she’d ever experienced, and the whole time Viktor held her captive with his gaze. “Come with me, my Queen, my
custos animae
.”

The feel of him deep inside, touching places Kat hadn’t known existed before Viktor, owning all that she’d ever been or would ever be, completely undid her. Kat’s muscles contracted so tightly around him she had no idea where she ended and Viktor began. His voice rolled over her and added to her excitement. “Trust me, Katarina. Let go and trust me to be right there beside you. I have you and I am never letting go.”

Kat nodded and Viktor thrust so hard she felt him bump her cervix. The exquisite sensation undid the last of her resolve. She let go and trusted...trusted the man she loved like no other to be there with her. They came together with such force their bodies shook. Lights flashed and colors resembling fireworks burst into the darkness, and then everything was black. Kat floated back to earth and smiled at the feel of Viktor’s soft kisses on her face and neck.

The man she loved rolled to the side taking her with him. Kat ended up sprawled across his body, boneless and spent. A peace she hadn’t known possible flowed through her. Glancing up, she found Viktor looking down at her with such love and affection a lump rose in her throat. It took a few seconds for Kat to find her voice and when she did speak, it sounded rough and gravely, coming out barely above a whisper, “I love you, Viktoras Katsaros.”

“And I love you, Katarina Anna Romalesky, with all that I am, for all eternity.”

The air chilled as the couple spent the next few hours gazing at the stars and discussing everything that came to their minds. Kat was amazed to find out she’d been healed by an actual god and Viktor bristled at any mention of Bjorn’s name. He did explain the names he was calling her in his native tongue and informed her that over time, she too would be fluent in his mother tongue.

Kat shivered and Viktor immediately sat up, bringing her to his side at the same time. “We need to get you dressed and inside. You are not yet immortal, my love. I cannot risk your health.”

He brought them both to their feet, handed Kat her clothes, and took the few steps to his pants when Kat offhandedly said, “Yeah, I meant to ask you how that all works. How I become like you? I’ve kind of been avoiding the whole ‘vampire’ discussion.”

Viktor immediately stopped what he was doing and demanded her absolute attention with his stare. “We are not vampire,
amica mea
, we are not out of a storybook or a tale you tell your children to make them eat their vegetables. We are the Kings of the Blood. Revered by the gods and feared by our enemies.”

He spoke with a resolution that left Kat only able to nod her understanding. “I’m sorry. I meant no offense.”

Smiling as he made his way to her, Viktor shooed away her fingers and finished buttoning her blouse while explaining, “I am not angry or offended. I simply want you to understand and it is I who is sorry for my abrupt comment. Vampire is all you know to explain our sustenance but as soon as we return to
our
castle, my comrades and I will make sure you understand the difference.”

Kissing the tip of her nose, Viktor slid his fingers through hers and began to lead them out of the garden. All at once, Kat stopped and gasped, “No way! You really live in a castle?”

Viktor’s chuckle filled the night air, “As will you,
mea amica
, as will you.”  

T
he next month was filled with preparations, for not only Katarina’s transformation and their mating, but also the hundredth or maybe it was the thousandth ‘reincarnation’ of Viktor Katsaros. He had laughed as his mate explained how she’d tried everything possible to find information and pictures of him prior to their meeting. It had been the perfect preamble to their discussion about her transformation. Viktor was shocked at the logical, almost detached way Katarina approached his explanation but wondered how much of it was her simply putting up a good front for his benefit. His suspicions were quickly confirmed.

“I’m going to die? There’s no other way?”

“No,
amica mea
, there is no other way.”

“And you’ll be with me the entire time?”

“I will not leave your side for even a moment.”

“But thirty days is a long time to lay beside your dead wife, or mate, or whatever I’m going to be, in a hole in the ground.” She was talking quickly and wringing her hands but Viktor could feel she needed her space, so he simply rubbed her leg and let her talk. “Will I feel anything while...while you’re...”

Viktor finished her sentence and answered the question Katarina was trying to ask. “You will feel absolutely nothing. It will be like falling asleep in my arms and then you will awake, transformed and ready to begin forever as my bride.”

Katarina stood and slowly walked toward the window that overlooked the gardens behind his home. He’d kept them as close to the original as he could. His mate had loved the history of the castle where Anne Boleyn had lived and laughed aloud when she got the irony of the former queen being beheaded and that being the only way for a King to lose his immortality. He’d found her by the fountain several times over the last few weeks after intense conversations about his life over the years or their future together. Sharing one another’s thoughts and emotions was wonderful, but during this discussion, like many others, Viktor had blocked her thoughts.

It was important that she come to terms with all that was going to happen and their eternity together on her own. He didn’t want her to look back later and decide she’d made a mistake. This was forever, the kind of forever a person only escaped by being decapitated and burnt to ashes. That was not the life Viktor wanted for Katarina. If she chose to live out her human life then he was fully prepared to enjoy every moment by her side for whatever time he had left. Every second with Katarina was a breath of fresh air. Never in all his years could he have imagined what it would be like to have her in his life instead of simply in his heart and mind.