She tilted her head. In the olden days they used to stick a sword into the ground to mark a grave, and she"d always fancied that the rods made this place look like one of those ma.s.s burial sites. Even at this distance, shrieks could be heard coming from within. The Valkyrie often screamed. If Annika got angry enough, car alarms in three parishes would blare.
Okay, it might be a bit bit h.e.l.lish. h.e.l.lish.
"It"s time you had someone take you from here," he bit out as he continued closer.
She frowned at him. "You forget. This is where I belong. I"m as much monster as what lies within."
"You"re a lot of things, Bride. But you"re not a monster."
"You"re right. I"m what monsters like you fear beneath their beds."
"But now you"re in in my bed where you belong." my bed where you belong."
"So in this life of ours that your crazed mind envisions, I"m not going to fight?"
He shook his head as he parked down the gravel drive. "No. I"m well aware that you"re deceptively strong. I know that other beings would rather die than risk your wrath. But I won"t ever allow you to put yourself in danger again."
She batted her eyelashes at him and in a syrupy voice said, "Because I"m just so darn precious to you?"
"Yes," he answered simply, making her roll her eyes. He got out of the car, and she followed, but he quickly traced to open it for her, looking at her as if she was crazy not to wait for him to a.s.sist her.
Perfect. A gentleman warrior. Which she was discovering she might have a weakness for.
As they walked the drive, he said, "Hold my hand."
"Big vampire scared the wittle Valkyrie will get away?"
He turned to her with his brows drawn. "I just want to hold your hand."
What was that flutter in her stomach? And why didn"t she mind that her hand was slipping into his big, rough one to be completely enveloped and secured? They walked like this to the side of the cavernous thirty-room mansion.
He was tense here, ready to trace them away in a split second, and she almost felt sorry for him when she realized he"d never seen anything like her home before. He was of the Lore, and yet in so many ways he was as human as he"d once been.
When he made her point out the window to her room, showing him a destination, he was able to trace them again. Inside, he scanned the lace and silk filled s.p.a.ce with those discerning eyes, studying everything within. She was the girlie-girl of the coven with her candles and silk sheets, her room and lifestyle the most human-like of any of them. girlie-girl of the coven with her candles and silk sheets, her room and lifestyle the most human-like of any of them.
Her room was next to Kaderin"s, which housed only a spartan sleeping mat, her armory, and a string of vampire fangs she"d taken as trophies. Across the gallery was the room of pet.i.te, timid Emmaline. Though she was part Valkyrie, she was a vampire through and through and made her little nest on the floor under under her unused bed. her unused bed.
It could be argued that Emma proved that not all vampires were evil and that the coven could coexist with one. Yet Emma had been the daughter of a beloved Valkyrie, and that half was believed to "temper" the other. An exception had been made for her, but Myst often wondered if she was the only one who noticed Emma flinch and tremble, her big blue eyes glinting with apprehension whenever the coven shrieked and railed about killing leeches. "Present company excepted" really was a weak statement when one thought about it.
"So what do you want me to pack?" Myst asked.
He raised an eyebrow. "You should be used to this. Choose clothes as if you were going away with your lover." Her hands clenched as she crossed to her drawers that housed her Agent Provocateur, Strumpet & Pink, and Jillian Sherry collections, and those were ma.s.s purchases from just last week. "Depends on which lover." She plucked out a red leather quarter-cup bra with one hand and a translucent babydoll teddy with the other, holding them up for him.
"Both," he rasped, his expression pained. She saw he was getting hard again. He noticed her noticing and his eyes darkened.
a.s.suming a brisk manner, she crossed to the closet to gather a weekender bag, but he picked her up bodily by the waist and set her out of the way to gather a four-foot-long moving case. He dropped it at her feet. "Fill it, because you"re never coming back to this place."
At his words, Myst nodded, making it somehow sarcastic, no doubt thinking to herself how wrong he was. Nikolai exhaled wearily. If he had to battle against her for the rest of their lives, he would.
He moved to a.s.sist her, but every drawer in her room was full of thongs, hose, lace and silk nightgowns that made his blood pound. She had a drawer for nothing but garters. It would take him months to bite all of these off her body.
He frowned. Women wore clothes like this for a lover. How many did she currently have? When he imagined them relishing her beauty, the gold chain slapping against her body as she writhed on them, he crumpled the iron post end of her bed.
Now she smirked at him, reading him so clearly. "Wroth, if you can"t control your jealousy, we"re heading straight for divorce." She tapped her finger on her chin and added, "Make a note now that I"ll expect the house, the kids and the h.e.l.lhound. Actually, you can keep the schwag house."
He scowled before turning away, examining her belongings for more insight. Her film collection was copious. He was unfamiliar with them, as he was with most things that had to do with leisure time. "Which of these do you prefer?"
She clearly hated having to answer his questions and struggled against it each time. "I like romance and horror."
"A bit disparate."
She eyed him. "Funny, I used to think so."
He ignored that and tossed a few DVDs in the bag.
She put the inside of her forearm behind dozens of bottles of fingernail polish, pushing them over her dresser into the bag. The look she gave him dared him to say something. Nail polish was out of his realm of understanding, and he merely shrugged at her.
He crossed to her bathroom, searching the cabinets and drawers. "There are no medicines. No things ... females need."
"I don"t get ill and I don"t have bodily functions. Just like you, vampire."
"None at all?" He wondered if she could get pregnant. Perhaps he didn"t have to be as careful with that as he"d planned.
"None. Why, you can force me to have s.e.x with you nonstop all month!"
"Why would I force you when I can barely keep your hands-and mouth-off me now?"
"Wroth, darling," she purred, smiling so sweetly. "I can"t wait for the next time I get to put my mouth on you." In an instant the smile faded and she snapped her teeth and yanked her head back as if she was chewing something free.
He didn"t even have time to cringe because she wriggled from his shirt then. At the sight of her naked body, his c.o.c.k shot hard as steel. She sensually dragged her underwear up her legs and then bent over in only the thong to step into a skirt. Just as he was fighting the overwhelming urge to take her hips and feed himself into her, shrieks erupted from downstairs. her legs and then bent over in only the thong to step into a skirt. Just as he was fighting the overwhelming urge to take her hips and feed himself into her, shrieks erupted from downstairs.
On edge in this place, he peered over the landing outside her room and found ten or more Valkyrie downstairs. Some were lounging in front of a TV, bowls of popcorn in front of them-that they didn"t eat. One was up and sparring with what looked like a ghost or a phantom. When the pair crossed in front of the television, the others screeched and threw popcorn at them.
Another Valkyrie stalked in the door. She was covered in blood.
"Cara!" they shouted in greeting, completely unsurprised by her appearance.
"What"d you get into tonight?" one asked from her perch on the mantle.
Cara pulled her sword sheath from her back. "My human unknowingly went into a demon bar. A demoness thought to make her lover jealous using my my charge." She shook her head. "It was everything I could do to keep the demon from ripping Michael"s throat out with his teeth." charge." She shook her head. "It was everything I could do to keep the demon from ripping Michael"s throat out with his teeth."
"How"d you do it?"
Without blinking an eye, she said, "I ripped the demon"s throat out with my teeth."
When they all laughed, Nikolai raised an eyebrow, vowing that Myst would never see these malicious creatures again. Never. Never. Without their influence, she would be kinder, gentler. Without their influence, she would be kinder, gentler.
She sure as h.e.l.l couldn"t get worse.
"Have Myst or Daniela returned?" Cara asked.
"No. I"d expect this from Myst-"
Because she often ran off with men?
"-but certainly not from Daniela. She never returned from the Quarter."
"Well, the hits keep coming-I just saw Ivo the Cruel in the Quarter. in the Quarter. " "
When they laughed again, she said, "You should know by now that I do not do not jest about vampires unless they"re dead." jest about vampires unless they"re dead."
They sobered and one asked, "Has he returned for Myst? Somebody needs to warn her."
Nikolai quickly turned back to her room-but Myst was gone.
He traced to the opened window, then to the end of the field below when he caught sight of her sprinting away. He yelled for her to stop and somehow she kept running.
She was fast and might have outrun him with her unnatural speed as she covered miles, but he traced, lunging from that momentum to snag her ankle, tripping her forward. She wore plugs in her ears from a music player. Enraged, he yanked them from her, heard the music blaring and threw the contraption into the woods beyond.
She"d almost escaped him. Before I claimed her. Before I claimed her. Thoughts grew distant. A shadow fell over his vision. He tossed up her skirt, ripping the silk from between her legs, glorying in that feeling. He was finally going to take his Bride. Thoughts grew distant. A shadow fell over his vision. He tossed up her skirt, ripping the silk from between her legs, glorying in that feeling. He was finally going to take his Bride.
Hazily, he realized she was still struggling from him. Her words echoed inside him. "Wroth, you want it? I"ll fight you for it." words echoed inside him. "Wroth, you want it? I"ll fight you for it."
He would always fight for her, always. always. Would he fight Would he fight her her for the right to her body? for the right to her body?
"Then you"re mine." mine."
CHAPTER NINE
A nightmare was about to take her. nightmare was about to take her.
When Wroth"s fingers dug into her skin, dragging her beneath him, Myst knocked her forehead against his. He bellowed with rage, until she squirmed around and drove her elbow back into his throat. As he fought for breath, she took advantage by scrambling from him enough to mule-kick his chest, sending him reeling.
Why hadn"t she broken his neck with her elbow through his throat? She had before with other vampires. Why did she hesitate whenever it came to hurting him? She wouldn"t again, she thought as she leapt on top of him, drilling her fist into his face so quickly it was like a blur. His lip split. Another two hits in rapid succession. She thought she broke his cheekbone.
"You"ll get no mercy now," he bit out, his eyes black, his deep voice rumbling almost unrecognizably. He caught her fist when she struck again and squeezed it. With her other hand she swiped her claws down his chest, then across his neck, hissing in fury. Lightning came down like a hail of bullets.
Somehow he caught her free wrist and turned over on her, forcing her hands above her head.
Just as she tensed to kick her leg straight between his and send him flying forward, he groaned as if in desperation, sinking his teeth deep into her neck. She shuddered and cried out, body going limp beneath him. Her eyes widened in shock as she stared at the lightning above. This wasn"t pain he was giving her.
His bite was ecstasy.
He did it again and again lower on her neck. Each bite, each time his fangs entered her skin was like the thrust of a man inside her. Each time he released her skin was like a slow, measured withdrawal. The pleasure was dizzying. Exquisite agony.
She"d never been defeated before in a contest of two-no man had ever been strong enough. And Myst had an animal need deep inside her for a powerful male-like this one who"d pleasured her, fascinated her-to win. Her mind rebelled, reminding her of what he was. She"d killed the last three she"d blooded. Why not him? He"d planned to torture torture her in that horrid dungeon, planned to control her with the chain. her in that horrid dungeon, planned to control her with the chain.
But his bite ... It made her body demand, growing wetter, feeling empty without him shoved tightly inside her.
Please be strong enough. Please ... For once in her life would a man take control? For once in her life would a man take control?
So she could finally lose it.
When he pinned her wrists with one hand-hard-she arched her back in delight. He used his other to rip open her shirt and bra and bare her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. He kneaded her flesh, then opened his jeans and freed himself. His huge erection jutted between them, the sac heavy beneath. her shirt and bra and bare her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. He kneaded her flesh, then opened his jeans and freed himself. His huge erection jutted between them, the sac heavy beneath.
Her eyes widened. Too large for her. She fought anew, digging her heels into the ground to scuttle back. Break her in slowly Break her in slowly-that"s what he"d said.
His palms landed with a slap on her upper thighs, lifting her pelvis. Her hands loose, she rose up and fought him viciously-scratched, bit, hit-but it was futile. Still clasping her thighs, he used his thumbs to spread her s.e.x, then wrenched her down on his shaft. Yelling brutally as she cried out in pain, he buried himself into her flesh until he was thick and throbbing deep within her.
He"d done it. Myst will want the first man who can defeat her. Myst will want the first man who can defeat her.
That"s what they"d always whispered about her.
They"d been right. She"d challenged him and he"d bested her. In her mind, he deserved to claim his prize no matter the consequences.
He stilled, then bent his head to her and dragged his tongue over her nipple as if to soothe her. As if somewhere in his crazed mind, he wanted her to have pleasure.
He set to her other nipple for long moments, then sucked from her neck again. Somehow the bite turned pain to pleasure, helping her body grow slick to accept the invasion. She yanked the remains of his shirt open to sweep her fingers over his splendid chest and that helped as well.
As he slowly withdrew, he groaned, "So wet," "So wet," but when he thrust again, she hissed in a breath, eyes watering. but when he thrust again, she hissed in a breath, eyes watering.
"Wroth, it really hurts," she whispered.
"Can"t stop," he bit out. Already his neck and chest sheened with sweat, the muscles rigid from his effort.
"T-tell me not to feel pain."
"Ah, Myst, don"t hurt." His words were ragged. "I don"t want you to feel pain from this." Immediately, the pain muted to only a feeling of fullness. don"t hurt." His words were ragged. "I don"t want you to feel pain from this." Immediately, the pain muted to only a feeling of fullness.
When he drank from her, pulled back his hips and then tentatively thrust, she cried out again. He stiffened. "No, Wroth ... it"s good! ... Keep going." going."
He did. He timed each draw from her neck with the bucking of his hips, and she knew it was over, gave herself up to it, arched her back, arms limp overhead. The lightning whipped up the wind, and it rushed over her heated body, over her tight nipples.
He rose up, positioning himself on his knees. She whimpered when she thought he would withdraw, but he dragged her up with him until she was straddling him. He spread his knees so he could thrust up inside her. He was getting too large to move within her, already hitting the end of her s.e.x so she couldn"t take him to the hilt.
His body was so big around hers, making her feel truly vulnerable. As if he read her mind, he wrapped his arms tight around her, trapping hers to her sides. He completely captured her, holding her in place while he drove into her from below.
She relaxed her every muscle-why not? This was a position she had never allowed before, from which there was no fighting even if she"d wished to. She knew he wouldn"t let her go or fall. She relaxed in the crushing tightness of his arms, her naked b.r.e.a.s.t.s pressed against his scarred chest. of his arms, her naked b.r.e.a.s.t.s pressed against his scarred chest.
He kept her immobile while he continued to f.u.c.k like a piston below them. Her head fell back and she watched the sky in a daze of pleasure, seeing her own lightning thrashing the earth.