Part 16 (1/2)

”What are you thinking, my beloved?” Killian covered my naked body with his, and I smiled as his warm skin melded to mine.

”I was remembering our first night together. When you gave me this,” I said, touching the medallion.

”I gave you my heart that night, Eira.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and rolled him so that I was on top of his chest. ”According to Diana and Calliope, it's much more than just a pretty diamond.”

His eyes darkened, guilt and fear surfacing in their gla.s.sy blue irises. ”I should've been honest from the start, but-”

”Telling me you were an immortal from another realm wasn't really feasible. I understand that now. I was angry at first, but I do understand.”

He raised his head and kissed my lips, teasing and tugging the bottom one until my s.e.x throbbed. I needed him inside me. On me. And I could have him. For just a few minutes, we could pretend we weren't on the run from a Lama.s.su psychopath bent on taking over both of our worlds.

”I planned to stay with you your entire human life, loving and taking care of you until you pa.s.sed from my life. There was nothing to explain. Nothing that would've ever mattered. Eventually, you would've learned my secret.”

A smile played with my lips, and I traced my fingertips along his cheek. The blonde stubble of his beard was soft under my touch. ”You mean you would've had to tell me because you wouldn't grow old. Unless you call these few grey hairs behind your ears age.”

”I do not have grey hairs.” He swatted at my hand, capturing my wrist in his and rolling us again so that I was pinned beneath his broad chest. His hard shaft lay against my mound, and I opened my legs, wrapping them around his waist and pulling him even closer.

I craved the connection I felt when we were entwined. I wanted to disappear into it and forget about the s.h.i.+tty world around us that fought and warred and killed people we loved. Life was never easy, but at least a thousand years ago, it was easier to see your enemies before they snuck up on you.

”You have a few,” I said, catching his gaze and dismissing the depressing thoughts swirling through my head. ”But they blend well. Barely noticeable.”

”Hmmm, except to your vampire laser vision.” He chuckled and latched his mouth on one of my b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Pleasure zinged through my body, and I arched my back, pus.h.i.+ng my breast deeper into his mouth. A moan slipped from my throat, and my toes curled. His tongue and teeth tortured my nipple in the most exhilarating of ways.

”Please,” I murmured, nipping at his shoulder closest to my mouth. ”I need you.”

”Anything for you.” He adjusted his hips and thrust forward, sinking his hard length into my waiting body.

Slowly at first. Then he moved faster, until we fell into a satisfying rhythm. His body rubbed just right against my c.l.i.t, and the feeling of a building climax writhed inside me.

I closed my mouth to m.u.f.fle my scream of pleasure as my climax rushed forward. My body clamped down hard, and he groaned, crus.h.i.+ng my lips against his and claiming my mouth with possessive sweeps of his tongue. His hands grasped my body, one palm kneading a breast while the other gripped my a.s.s, holding me firmly while he continued to drive home.

Stroke by stroke, my body wound tighter and tighter. The burn of another building climax coiled and swirled inside me. He thrust again and again until I came apart. This time the scream escaped, and he joined me in my bliss, his warmth spilling into my body.

I loosened my grip on his shoulder and side.

He rolled slowly to the left, pulling me along with him until I was on his chest again. His hard c.o.c.k was still buried inside me. My muscles tensed, and I sighed, loving the way my p.u.s.s.y gripped him within my body.

I never wanted to leave this farmhouse. h.e.l.l, I never wanted to leave this bed. If only the world would stand still and let me relive moments like these over again.

”I love you, Eira Rennir, with every breath of my body and every beat of my heart. I am yours eternally.”

”I love you, too, Killian. I can't imagine living without you again.”

”You won't have to. I will be with you forever. Wherever you go, I will be there.”

”Even if I move to Sanctuary?”

”Of course. I've lived in that rundown house for too long already. There are so many...” His voice trailed off, and he closed his eyes. Pain was etched into the lines of his face.

I reached up and cupped his cheek. ”We both have demons, Killian. Don't feel as though you have to hide them from me.”

He buried his face in my neck and took a deep breath. ”The things I have done would make you ashamed. I cringe at the thought of how my brother looks down on me from the afterlife. It started as revenge. As payback. But then it turned to hatred and cruelty. I enjoyed killing. Relished it. Eira, I am not the man you loved all those years ago.”

I ran my hands through his hair, stroking the wavy blond tresses. Pressing a soft kiss to his temple, I tipped his head up and made him look into my eyes.

”No matter what has happened in the past, you are that man. You will always be that man to me. You have my heart for as long as you will hold it.” My eyes welled. I wanted him to understand. I didn't care about his past.

If anyone was a monster, it was me.

I was a vampire.

I'd killed so many I'd stopped counting. Their faces had ceased to haunt my dreams because I couldn't tell them apart any longer. They were merely a casualty of my existence. With training, I'd learned not to kill all my victims, but for the first several hundred years, death had followed me like a dark cloud.

”My brother would be happy we found each other again,” he said, kissing my lips gently. His tongue slid across the seam of my mouth, and I smiled. I wanted more. We could both certainly go again. His c.o.c.k felt deliciously hard inside me, but the restless movement downstairs warned me off.

We'd stolen enough time for ourselves. It was time to move again. The few hours head start I'd bought us wouldn't last if we stayed much longer. We needed to reach the bridge at Vicksburg before the SECR army found us here.

Chapter Twenty-Eight.

EIRA.

Voices carried up the stairwell as I followed Killian down into the main level of the farmhouse. Jared and Alek were arguing about finding a vehicle while Travis and Garrett were hovering over Charlie, asking if she needed anything while setting out a spread of breakfast for the inhabitants of the house.

I took a deep breath and turned my gaze to the complacent farmer, sitting off to the side. His eyes were gla.s.sy from the influence I'd placed over him. As soon as we left, it would dissipate. He would be fine and remember nothing of our stopover.

”Feel better now?” one of the wolves snapped as Killian and I entered the room.

To my surprise, Mikjall jumped to defend my honor, moving faster than even Killian could. Both men breathed down the male Lycan's neck, growling threats and reminding him if it hadn't been for me, none of them would've lived past those brief moments in the empty mine shaft.

I took a closer look at the bearded, scruffy face and sank into the chair next to him at the table. My eyes gla.s.sed over, and I placed a hand on his tense arm. I knew him. It was Jesse Luca, Charlie's cousin. I'd buried his mate on the sh.o.r.es of the river.

”Eira,” Killian said, warning heavy in his voice.

I glanced up at him and then Mikjall, shook my head, and turned my attention again to Jesse. ”Let him be.”

Jesse's hands flew to my shoulders, and he shook me, enraged. ”You were there. You should've been able to see them. To warn us all!” His canines elongated as he shouted. His eyes flashed yellow. Pain rolled from him like a fog, and I fought to hold back a flood of tears as his pheromones washed over me. His anguish was mine.

”I'm so sorry.” The words slipped from my lips like a dying breath. So many had been lost. Friends. People I'd known for decades. Family.

Killian stood back, and Mikjall left the room.