Blood Kin (26 page)

“Not a bad idea, sis, but I wouldn’t hit her with that right away. Let’s figure all of this out first, then I’ll help you convince her.”

“You will?”

“Absolutely. You’re happy with Adam,” he said. “It’s been a long time since you’ve been happy.”

“Did you tell Niko and Adam about Gideon, about what we’ve found out?”

“A brief overview. We can supply details on the plane. Right now, I really want you to get some rest with no nightmares and then, tonight, I want to get you out of here and safe.”

“You’re a good brother, you know that?”

“I make a good sandwich, too,” he said, noting my near-empty plate.

“Excellent taste in ale, too.” I took another drink. “And, Tucker? Thanks for backing me up about Adam.”

He smiled. “Don’t forget, sis, I’m happy with Niko and I have every intention of continuing. This isn’t all about you.”

“You being with Niko isn’t exactly predicated on my being in the same place, Tucker.”

“Actually …” Tucker went to the fridge.

“What?”

He came back to the island with two more cold bottles. “I haven’t really said anything up to now, but you know that Gigi sent me to keep an eye on you.”

“Yeah, because I was Changing, and she knew it.”

“Well, that and …” He stopped a moment as if to figure out how to say whatever it was he was trying to say. “It was kind of more than that.”

“How so?”

“I’ve been assigned to you.” He opened his ale.

I took a bite of my sandwich and chewed it before I could say something I would regret. I put the rest of it down on the counter, finished off my ale and took a deep breath once I’d swallowed.

“Assigned. As in … bodyguard. For the heir.” This was all falling into place. Gigi had known—or suspected—my eventual Change results. To that end, she’d formally assigned Tucker to be my body man. The person who would be by my side constantly, my companion, my guard, my advisor—my official Protector.

It wasn’t as if I didn’t have a say in it; from what I recalled of how this worked, I could request a new companion at any time. I looked at my brother. “I’m not going to request a replacement,” I said. “You could have said something, though.”

“I didn’t know, honestly,” he said. “At first, she told me that she was worried about you and for me to come watch over you. Then, the other day, after—”

“After I Changed.”

He nodded. “She called me and told me the assignment was permanent. I would have said something, but we were having too much fun being wolves. I wanted you to spend a few days enjoying yourself.”

“Thanks,” I said and took his hands. “I accept your service, brother.”

With a solemn look, Tucker squeezed my hands and bowed his head quickly. “I shall serve you well, my liege.”

A burst of energy slid between us, wrapping our hands and shimmering about our wrists before vanishing.

Well, fuck. I’d just bonded my brother into service.

“Better open that bottle for me, bro.”

E
XHAUSTION TURNED TO
pleasure as I sank deeper in the giant Jacuzzi bath. Thank the powers that be that the person or persons who helped our dear matriarch build this penthouse believed in pure sybaritic gratification. The bathroom itself was larger than most standard master bedrooms, with two standalone showers, each large enough for sharing. The deep tub could hold up to four comfortably, six if you were very friendly. The entire decor mirrored that of the penthouse—luxuriant, elegant but deceptively simple. Clean lines and accents against rich woods complemented the silver steel of the fixtures.

Stored on the shelves of a hidden closet, I’d found a near endless supply of Lush bath products, lotions and other wonderful goodies. I’d unwrapped a lavender-scented bubble bar and prepared for a long, hot soak. Downtime. Something I hadn’t realized I’d been craving. I needed to recharge something fierce. All this craziness: not conducive to relaxation. But a good built-in music system tuned to some Sarah McLachlan, a bubble bath, some candles and some quiet time: just what the new heir ordered … for herself.

“Keira Kelly.”

Adam’s voice, slightly louder than the quiet background music, didn’t even startle me. I’d almost expected it—expected him. When I’d finished my sandwich, I’d
walked past him and Niko, saying nothing, no intention of interrupting the conversation they were still having. I’d only smiled and touched his shoulder lightly and continued on to the suite we shared.

I opened my eyes and turned my head. I’d lit several vanilla-scented candles and turned out the overhead light when I entered the tub, preferring subtle luminescence over harsher artificial light.

Adam stood in the doorway between the bedroom and the bath, the light from behind creating a soft halolike glow on his bare skin—yeah, all of it. He was nude, dark hair flowing loose down his back, hands open as if in surrender.

I studied his strength, the muscles smooth under the pale surface, lines flowing in pure elegance from limb to limb. He stepped forward, moving with the grace I’d once thought came from his vampire nature but now recognized as that combined with the sheer poetry of the Sidhe. Despite their treatment of me, I was always able to recognize their beauty, no matter how cruel. Adam, however, was never cruel—not to me.

“Will you have me join you, then?” The timbre of his voice remained steady, neutral, questioning. I knew what he was asking, what his body language said. Not just a question of physicality: could he join me in the bath, but a grander, more important query—would I have him, could he join with me as partner, lover, friend, even family. He’d bared himself before he entered—another symbol. An offering, perhaps—here he was, Adam Walker, nightwalker, vampire king, heir to the Unseelie Court, and my lover of less than a year. But so much more than that. This was a man, not human, but still a person who’d touched me in ways I’d not thought possible, bonding to
me in blood, in mind, in spirit … so open to me that I’d thought I knew everything about him—why he’d stopped drinking human blood, how he’d survived in a concentration camp, the guilt, the sorrow, the deep sense of responsibility that laced his every action. Yet, he’d still had secrets. Now, though, he stood before me in all his naked glory, green eyes glittering in the candlelight, his very self offered.

Would I accept? Could I make this commitment? I was just shy of thirty-eight, a baby compared to every other soul in this penthouse. I had no clue as to Adam’s real age, first Sidhe then vampire for more than four and a half centuries. Niko, closer to me in age but still 450 years from his human birth. My brothers, both older than Niko, and here I was, about to make a decision that might affect my life for centuries to come. Yeah, my family chose all sorts of familial and sexual companionships, but none of them were heirs. None besides me … and if I’d learned anything from reading historical novels and real history—the joining of two heirs: never that simple.

But hell, when was my life ever simple?

I extended my hand.

As he slid into the tub, his voice, its resonance now even deeper, richer, sent a shiver of pleasure up my spine. He whispered words so soft that even my preternatural hearing couldn’t make them out. It didn’t matter. I knew his intent, his meaning. He brushed his lips against mine, a touch delicate as a ghostly breeze, a promise of more. Fingertips grazed my side, touching nothing more than skin, yet sending a tingling along their path, energy that spread across my body, setting me afire. I shifted against him, the scent of the lavender oils in the water intensifying as energy built between us. I met the force of his gaze as
he held my face in his hands, thumbs brushing along my cheekbones. Green eyes darkened to olive as his thumb swept across my lips. I licked and nipped its tip, my mouth dry, wanting his lips on mine. His tongue licking along my jawline, he slid atop me, hands sliding to my shoulders, down my arms to my waist.

His mouth pressed the curve of my neck, below my ear, breath hot against my skin, teasing with teeth, not yet a bite. I slid my hands up his back, cupped the nape of his neck and clasped his mouth to my neck, giving permission.

He’d offered himself, I was offering myself. I’d done this before, but it wasn’t until I’d Changed, until he’d nearly bled me dry, that we’d shared blood voluntarily. Whatever demons he’d conquered coming out of that coma no longer shadowed his lovemaking.

One of his hands dropped between us, teasing, rubbing between my legs. My hips bucked against his hand, his hardness sliding against my thigh. Our hearts both pounded in time, the synchronous beat increasing as he finally raised his mouth to mine and took it, claiming it, not in possession but in acknowledgment. I was his, he was mine.

I growled as we both deepened the kiss, my need growing, energy rising—needing release, needing connection. With a strength I hadn’t realized I had, I flipped him, water surging as I straddled his thighs and took control, sinking onto him, my physical body welcoming his, even as our energies merged. We gasped together, the power ripping through us as Adam raised his head to my neck and bit down hard. As I felt my orgasm tear through me, I grabbed his wrist, scratched deep enough to bring the blood and I, too, drank.

I
SNUGGLED
against him under the comforter, both of us relaxed, but still thrumming with the energy we’d shared, too wired to drop off to sleep.

“It’s already dawn,” I said in a whisper, not wanting to break the quiet afterglow.

“You can tell?” Adam murmured, his lips next to my ear as he drew me even closer.

I nodded, knowing that even in the pitch black of the heavily draped bedroom, he would feel the movement and perhaps even see a little. “The more I’m around you, the more I can sense it.”

I felt his lips curve into a smile. “Indeed.”

“Indeed,” I echoed. “I guess maybe this is a good thing, huh?” I wasn’t talking about my sensing the sun.

“That it is,” Adam replied, understanding exactly what I’d meant. He brushed a kiss against my neck, the wound long since closed thanks to special Kelly mojo. I’d always been quick to heal from cuts and scrapes, but now, it was so very fast. “Thank you.”

“For what?” I murmured. Surely he wasn’t thanking me for the sex.

“For trusting me.”

“Ah.” Yeah, well, that. “You offered yourself,” I said quietly. “No secrets, no more hiding.”

“You understood, then.”

I turned to face him, needing to see what I could of his face. I didn’t want him talking to the back of my head. “I understood perfectly,” I said. “I’ll be honest. It wasn’t an easy decision.”

He nodded. “Nor was it for me.”

“Being a leader can be craptastic, can’t it?”

He smiled and cupped my chin, thumb brushing my cheek. “At the worst of times, yes, it can be utter shite,” he said. “But there are … compensations.”

“Like me.” I smiled back at him and turned my face to kiss his palm. “And you with me.”

“Yes.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “I don’t want to become Gigi,” I said in a whisper. “I’m scared as all get-out that this power, these Talents, mean I’ll eventually turn into her.”

To his eternal credit, Adam neither laughed nor dismissed my fear. “You are not Minerva,” he said in all seriousness. “You may be heir, may have become the future ruler, but you are yourself, Keira Kelly. You have loving brothers, a loving friend, a support network of people you can trust to help you, to teach you.”

“I have you, too,” I said. “But as far as a friend …” I buried my head in his shoulder. “I tried calling Bea again, Adam. She never picked up, never called me back. She’s the only real tie I have to the part of me that was raised as a human—the part that balances all that Kelly ego, the Kelly hubris.”

Adam stroked my hair, soothing me. “Although she is not your only balance, love, I have no fears that Bea will eventually work out her confusion and once again be a part of your life. Rest assured, your humanity, your compassion, is part of you—look at Tucker, at Rhys. They are no more egoistic than anyone. Perhaps more self-assured, but that comes with time, with learning, with experience. I promise you will not be alone in this. We shall all be here for you … even Bea.”

I settled into a comfortable position, his words
reassuring as no one else’s could be. After all, he was ruler of one world and heir to another; he had to know something about all of this.

“I guess it’s my turn to thank you,” I said.

“For what?”

“For giving me hope.”

“That, my love, is the one thing that we can all give each other.”

I kissed him lightly and closed my eyes, ready now to sleep. Things would work out.

“Y
OU CALLED
a limo?” I zipped my phone into my backpack pocket, making sure that I’d put the charger and cord in with it. “Why, Rhys? We’ve got half a fleet of cars below.”

“Because, dear sister, I really think someone should stay here, in case your wandering cousin shows up. You all could take a car, but leaving it parked in a lot for however many days is stupid. Thus, the limo.”

I rolled my eyes at my brother and picked up a bottle of water. “Well, then, whatever. Shall we go downstairs and wait there?”

“Let’s go,” Tucker agreed. “I imagine the driver will be here shortly. We’ve got an account with that company. They tend to be fairly punctual.”

“Figures,” I muttered, even as I was hugging Rhys good-bye.

“Guess you’ll need to get used to some of this froufrou stuff as heir.” Rhys tugged my hair, which I’d left loose.

I batted his hands away. “Not if I can help it. I’d rather not play the rich and shameless game.”

Rhys gave me another hug. “Just teasing, little sister. I
know you better than that. Besides, you know we won’t let you get bigger than your britches.”

At this, Adam gave me a small smile and a nod, as if to illustrate the point he’d made in bed. I smiled back at him.

I gave my brother another hug. “Take care of yourself, twin,” I said.

“Back atcha, sis,” he replied. “Call me when you get there, okay?”

“Will do.”

I bent to pick up my backpack. “Let’s to it, then.” Tucker and Niko led the way out of the penthouse. Adam and I followed. As we entered the elevator, I clasped Adam’s hand and smiled at him. Whatever awaited us at the enclave, I felt nearly ready to handle it.