I nod. “Yes, and then, well you know the story after that. Once I was turned I was all in, and it was just a given that Lucas and I were mates, but it always felt like we had to work at it, something about it just didn’t come naturally. I guess I didn’t realize it until. Well...”
He tips my chin so that our eyes meet. “Finish.”
My voice cracks at the humiliating memory. “He was just keeping me close, using my feelings as a way to stay close, to protect me and keep his promise to my gramma. But still, thebetrayal, the difference in his feelings for me, the way he treated me and the way he tried to kill me when I tried to stop his evil plot still hurts today.”
He strokes my cheek. “Why, love?”
“Because I don’t know what was real and what wasn’t. And I’m embarrassed to admit that it was probably all my doing. I wanted to be with him, to be in this world. Gramma said he loved me just not in the same way, more like a protector, which would explain a lot of fucking things. At least until he tried to kill me. But Gramma said by that time he was the witches’ pawn. The feelings I had for him, it was nothing like this though. Not like us.”
Corvinus draws me into his arms. “Yes, there is a distinct magnetism that has drawn us together. I cursed destiny at first for bringing me to you but now I thank her every day,” he says, kissing the sensitive skin of my neck.
“You do?” I ask, smiling, my heart feeling lighter than it has for so long.
“Every fucking minute of every day. You are mine, Embry, and if it takes an entire year of teaching you to trust me, at the end of that year, you will agree to be mine for an eternity.”
My head spins with the enormity of his desire. It’s not just his words, it’s his heart. It beats faster, his eyes have reddened, and his fangs have descended, and in a nano second, he’s rolled me over and caged me with his power. “I don’t take no for an answer, love.”
“Good, because I’m not planning on letting you get away, ever, vampire.”
13
CORVINUS
The minute we’ve had something to eat, and she’s fallen asleep my feet begin to pace, mulling over all that I’ve been told compared to what I know about the vampire history and Lucas’s role.
If Lucas’s soul was taken by the witches, they may know a hell of a lot more about the vampires than we want them to know, and Embry didn’t even need to tell me. In her mind the question kept being asked over and over. What if Lucas is still alive?
The fucking pesky witches, every year, every decade it’s something new. Just like their Halloween gala every decade where they try to ruin us for good. I swear, why Overmaster Descallia ever let a truce be agreed upon, I’ll never know. But I wasn’t privy to all the details, not like the masters. Well, if they want me to attend the masters’ consulate meetings now, I’m sure as hell not going to keep my mouth shut. Not when these witches have so much control.
Embry turns, her voice cracking as she talks in her sleep. “Gramma said Lucas wouldn’t go back on his promise to me. He would have done anything for me, for you, and for the vampires.”
My jaw tightens. Lucas was Descallia’s right hand for years, swore his entire life to the vampires and if they did cast a spell on him and use him as a pawn, Descallia needs to know. After all the betrayal in his life he deserves to know that his best friend in the world did not plot our demise on his own. That there was an evil plan and curse at play.
I send Descallia a message telling him I plan to bring Embry back to Chicago with me tomorrow and accept his invitation to attend the Masters of the Consulate meeting. He writes back with a short note. “Call me when you arrive in Chicago.”
Embry shivers against me as I try to wake her at first dark. It takes restraint not to take her right here, but there is danger in the woods if the witches know where to find us now that it’s night. They know we can move, and protected cavern or not, Devora is still a witch. Where there is a will there is a way for those sneaky biddies. I don’t plan on giving her a chance to get to Embry before I’ve had a chance to whisk her off and get my love to safety.
The tripback to Chicago is far from my liking. Even though we’re taking Descallia’s private jet, it would be preferable to transport. But unless it’s an emergency, or time is crucial, Descallia wants us to assimilate. Even with all of our money, all of our powers, he wants the humans to be able to relate to us. So we go to the fancy charity dinners, we make deals with humans of power while making sure they know exactly the kind of money and power we bring to the table. Descallia’s way of keeping the power balance exactly as it should be. If I’m going to be traveling across the globe all the time, I’ll get my own damn jet.
A pain in the ass and waste of time if you ask me, but no one did. I put my arm around Embry, who shifts in the leather recliner beside me. A cabin all to ourselves and no one to bother us for hours. I’m pretty sure I can find a thing or two to keep us occupied for an hour or two.
Embry has already read my mind though, and slides her firm thighs across my lap, straddling me as she kisses my lips. “I want you, vampire. I’ve never been in the mile-high club.”
A low growl rolls from the depths of my chest. Will I never get enough of this female? Destiny has cast a powerful spell. I unbutton her clingy little sweater, tracing a finger down the edge of the lace that conceals her breasts from me. “Arms down so I can undress you,” I instruct.
Embry does as I ask without question or hesitation. I peel her sweater from her arms and place it on the seat beside us. Her nipples strain against the lacy bra until I remove it from her skin, baring her bright pink tips. She traces a finger around each nipple, teasing me. Embry likes to be in charge, and I let her play her little game, enthralled with her sexy little show as she strokes her nipples and breasts while almost dancing in my lap.
I slide her skirt past her hips as she rises, and free myself from my pants. Embry moans as I rub my cock against her wet pussy, running it through the wetness I find below. “You’re teasing me,” she pouts.
I smirk, running the end of my dick right over the top of her clit. She grinds into it. “Vampire, you are going to be the death of me.”
“Oh love, we’ve only just begun.” I lift her and she wraps her legs around me as I walk her to the back bedroom of the jet, kicking the door closed behind us. I’m not worried about the pilot or crew walking in, because they won’t. I settle her on the bed. “Turn, all fours love.”
She moans her approval, getting into position as I toss my pants onto the floor, then line my cock up with her pussy from behind. The minute I’m in, her head falls to her arms, and then she raises it back up, arching her back even more. I slide in deeper and my name on her lips turns me to stone. “Corvinus, I’m going to come.”
“Love, you’ll come when I tell you to come and not before, understand?” I ask, gently smacking her ass. She wiggles it in agreement but still she lets out little pants. “I’m already so close, vampire.”
I draw her back, letting her calm, keeping her on top of my dick and in my lap while stroking her tips, then more firmly, and then give her a little pain to get her going again. I feel the tightening of her channel, squeezing my dick with her silky velvet, so close to the edge before I lift her hips, driving her up and then back down hard, letting my dick hit deep, rubbing against her from behind until it makes her scream. “Vampire!”
