Darkest Risings (31 page)

“No.
The subject has already come up, and we both felt the same about it. Neither of
us wanted to force our life mate to accept us.”

“Why
didn’t you tell me all of this before?”

“I
didn’t want you to feel obligated to be tied to me. I am a selfish man,
Wilhemina. If you choose to be with me, I want you to do so because of me. Not
because you are backed into a corner. I’m aware you were having doubts about
us. I didn’t want to force you to make a decision you were not ready to make.
All I want to do is make you happy and protect you. I need you, Wilhemina. And
I’m sorry I didn’t say it sooner, but…I love you.”

Tears
immediately pooled in her eyes and spilled onto her cheeks. He wiped them away
with his thumbs. “You should have explained to me and Lindsey the possible dire
outcome our decisions to accept our life mates or not might have on everyone.”

“Don’t
cry. It kills me when you do that. If you don’t want to be with me, that is
your choice. Prophecy or not. If you decide not to accept me, I’ll try my
hardest to understand. But be forewarned. Until I draw my last breath, I won’t
stop trying to convince you that you need me as much as I need you.”

He
loved her. She hugged him to her and the leather of his duster creaked. “I’ve
dreamed of you saying those words to me, Aldin.”

“I
would have said them sooner, but I wanted to be sure of how I felt. I’ve never
been in love.” He slightly pulled back and cupped her face in his hands. “Right
before I met you, I thought I had fallen in love, but I’d made a horrible
mistake. Then I saw you, and I was confused beyond reason.”

“You
were in love with someone right before you met me?” An unfamiliar streak of
jealousy slithered through her veins.

“No.
I
thought
I was in love. Turns out I
mistook a close friendship for love.”

“You
thought you were in love with Alaina, didn’t you?” She frowned.

Now
the fuse of jealousy was lit and burning rapidly. Alaina was everything
Wilhemina could never be. Tall. Leggy. Thin. Gorgeous.

“Yes,
but what I felt for her was not love. You, however, make me feel things I never
thought I could feel. I’ve told you about my dominance preference in the bedroom?”

She
nodded.

“While
I will probably always be a little rough around the edges where making love is
concerned, I don’t have any need to use you for stress release. With you, I
only want to please you, to possess you, to make you come so hard you’ll never
forget me. There is an urgency within me where you are concerned. An urgency to
climb inside you and stay there forever.”

She
took a deep breath as heat shot through her body. Concentrating was becoming
difficult when all she wanted to do was make love to him.

“Why
did you avoid me for the last two days then?”

“Because
I was a coward. I was worried that you were going to tell me that you couldn’t
be with me because of your sister, and I wouldn’t have blamed you. But at the
same time, I couldn’t bear the thought of it. I understand what you went
through with your sister. I understand the anger you hold toward Marilena for
it.”

“How
can you possibly understand?”

“I
had a sister too. Her name was…” He squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed past
the lump in his throat. “Estril,” he whispered. “She was beautiful, kind, lived
to help others. There was not a mean bone in her body. She was perfect. My
mother’s actions may very well be the indirect reason she is…” He swallowed
hard again. “Dead.”

“Oh,
Aldin.” She reached up and covered his hands with hers while tears pooled in
her eyes. “I’m sorry. But it’s not the same. I have my sister back. You will
never have yours. Damn, I’ve been selfish and unthankful for what I’ve been
given.”

“You
have not. You have dealt with the situation admirably. While I’m severely
pissed at my mother, I cannot tell you how relieved I am that you have Lindsey
back. I would never wish for anyone to lose a sibling.”

“Damn,”
she whispered. “Thank you for telling me about Estril, Aldin. Even though I’ve
never met her, I will honor her memory forever.”

“I
love you so fucking much it hurts, Wilhemina,” he gasped.

“I
came to your room today to tell you that I want to be with you, that I know we
can work things out. I love you. And you may be many things—stubborn, sullen,
predatory, to name a few—but you are no coward.”

“You
want to be with me?” Aldin whispered.

“Yes,
but I might need some time to come to terms about becoming a vampire.” She
smiled up at him. “I’m not extremely keen on the idea of drinking blood.” She
was even less keen on the idea of him, his family, or anyone else dying because
of her decision. Thankfully, she’d already made up her mind to be with him.

He
chuckled and bent to place a quick kiss on her lips. “It’s not bad. You can get
all of your nourishment from me.”

Strangely,
the idea of drinking his blood didn’t repulse her. She thought about the times
he’d taken her blood. It had been an enjoyable experience for her, and had
obviously been so for him.

“And
you can get what you need from me?” She arched a brow in question.

He
nodded slowly. “Unless I’m injured. It seems as if I should heal faster if I’m
wounded and drink from another vampire, but it has quite the opposite effect.
In cases such as those, the consequences could be dire. Possibly fatal.”

“I
don’t like the thought of you drinking from someone other than me.” She
frowned.

His
eyes went dark. “I feel the same, but understand that there are times when it
will be necessary for survival.”

She
thought back to when she gave Aiston her blood, and only now realized how hard
it must have been for Aldin to watch her do so. “I hope I’m never injured
because I can’t tell you how distressing to me even the thought of drinking
someone else’s blood is.”

“You
won’t get injured as long as I’m around. I won’t allow it.”

“Conceited
much?” She snorted. “You can’t protect me from everything all of the time.”

“Watch
me.” He kissed her again then trailed his lips along her jaw to her ear.

“I
wonder why the thought of taking your blood doesn’t bother me all that much?”
she said quietly.

He
sucked her earlobe into his mouth before gently nipping it. “Drinking from one
another is considered an intimate act by most vampires. It can be
quite…stimulating.”

Heat
shot straight to her core.

“If
our love-making gets any more
stimulating,
I’m not sure I’d survive it. When we are together, it’s beyond amazing.”

“I’d
make sure you survived. I’ll always take care of you.” He nuzzled her ear.

She
closed her eyes and let the feel of his tongue and lips curl through her.
“Hey?” She finally managed a hoarse whisper.

He
straightened to stare down at her. “Yes?”

“You
have to let me take care of you too. And if we are going to do this
relationship thing, I need to know that you are comfortable enough to tell me
anything. I want to be there for you. Will you let me?”

“I’m
not used to sharing my feelings, Wilhemina, but if you’ll be patient with me,
I’ll do my best. I can’t deny the thought that having someone to talk to is
nice. For most of my life, I’ve kept to myself.”

“I
can be patient. As long as you understand that I sincerely want to be there for
you.”

He
nodded. “I understand. I feel the same about you.”

Even
though they’d talked, she couldn’t miss the fact that he was still tense. There
was something else bothering him.

“What
aren’t you telling me?”

“The
first wave of the uprising starts tonight.”

“No!
I thought this wasn’t supposed to happen yet?” Fear gnawed at her insides.

“It’ll
be all right.”

“No.”
Tears began to slide down her cheeks. “You could get hurt or…worse. I don’t
want to lose you. I just found you.”

He
cupped her cheek with his hand. “I promise I will come back to you, Wilhemina.
I have too much to live for now.”

“When
do you have to go?” She wished she could whisk him away somewhere safe right
this very minute. But he would never turn his back on his family, her, or his
duties.

“Soon.”

She
sniffled and forced back the tears with determination, determination to not
waste one single moment she had with him. “Did I mention how mouth-watering
sexy you look?” She raised a brow and didn’t miss the way the black started
bleeding out over the turquoise of his eyes.

“No.
But I like hearing it.”

“This”—she
slid her hands up over the front of the duster—”is hot.”

He
chuckled. “You’re hot, and you make me hot.”

“I
plan to make you a whole lot hotter.”

His
eyes were nearly all black now. “And how do you plan on doing that?”

“I’ll
show you,” she whispered before firmly shoving him back until he sat on the
edge of the bed.

She
dropped to her knees between his legs and scraped her fingernails along the
tops of his leather encased thighs. When she reached for the fastening on the
front of his pants and quickly released him, his cock sprang out rock hard. The
need to taste him shot through her like liquid fire. She looked up to find onyx
eyes peering down at her from under half-closed lids and she licked her lips.

He
groaned and tunneled the fingers of his right hand through her hair before
urging her forward.

“Show
me how to please you, Aldin.” His heated gaze locked with hers before he
nodded.

She
licked her lips again when she saw a clear drop of moisture beading from the
slit on thick head of his cock.

“Taste
me with that incredible tongue.”

She
licked the tip of him and moaned when he hit her taste buds. “Salty. Good,” she
purred.

“Twirl
your tongue around the head and take me into your mouth.”

She
ached to make him want her as desperately as she wanted him, wanted him to lose
control when she touched him the way she did when he touched her. The thought
of bringing this beautiful, powerful, proud man to his knees with pleasure
drove hot shivers through her body and straight to her core.

She
curled her tongue around the crown of his erection and slowly sucked the tip
into her mouth as he’d asked. A soft whistle escaped from his lips as he urged
her forward with his fingers tangled in her hair.

She
sucked him a little deeper and was disappointed when he hit the back of her
throat. She wanted more. She encircled the base of his thick shaft with one
hand and tried to swallow more of his length without success.

“Relax,
Wilhemina.” He gently massaged her throat then eased her over him.

Her
muscles relaxed and he slid further down her throat. When she moaned around
him, he groaned low, the sound sending vibrations to her clit. She never
thought she could find pleasuring a man with her mouth this enjoyable, but
Aldin wasn’t just any man. She could happily lick on him all night.

“Damn,
you’re good at that, honey.”

She
hummed around him in response.

“Fuck!
You’re going to make me come if you keep doing that.”

His
fingers tightened in her hair, and she managed to get him another inch down her
throat. She loved making him lose control.

She
looked up at him as she let him slide almost all the way out of her mouth, and
smiled before deep-throating him again while humming. His hips surged forward
and his thick cock slid impossibly deeper.

He
urged her up from him, but she wanted to taste him when he came, wanted to
watch him come undone with her mouth on him.

“Wilhemina.
Stop. I’m going to come.”

She
dug her fingers into the tops of his thighs, refusing to release him.

He
flexed his hips once, twice, then once more as he slid deep again. He growled
out as he held her over him. His release came fast, and she sucked hard,
coaxing every last drop from him.

Wilhemina’s
mouth was unadulterated sin. She had just given him eye-crossing, knee-buckling
pleasure like he’d never known. And although he’d just come, the need to have
her surged through his blood like electricity.

Aldin
was still worried he’d imagined the part where she’d agreed to be his, couldn’t
fathom that he’d found his life mate and that she loved him, wanted him,
desired him as much and as desperately as he did her. The need to protect her,
love her, burned through his veins, his cells, his soul. He, his brothers, and
the other hunters had to be the victors of this uprising. If they weren’t? Pain
tore through him.

If he
died, that was one thing. But if Wilhemina died? A shiver of dread slithered
through him like a deadly asp. The mere thought of her being hurt in any way,
of something happening to her, of the possibility that she could be taken from
him…
 
He closed his eyes for a moment
trying to force back the wave of pure anguish threatening to overtake him.