Desires Unleashed (25 page)

She found the clothes she wanted to wear. A sheer, pink, two-piece pantsuit. A button-up blouse that would reveal her creamy breasts with matching pink, sheer pants. The entire outfit hid nothing, it's sole purpose was to enhance by adding a pink shimmer to her skin. She took the pins out of her hair letting her brown curls cascade down her back. The curly ends of her locks nearly brushed her buttocks. She applied a small amount of lipstick and blush before inspecting herself in the mirror. She smiled. She may be aging, which was unfortunate, but she was still gorgeous, of that she was certain.

Elise walked out of her bedroom, heading to the back entrance of the house. She stepped outside and looked at the decorations that had been set up in preparation for the ceremony. Stone pillars had been mounted and set aflame, lighting the aisle leading to an altar. On the altar was a gold chalice and a dagger with a jeweled, ruby and diamond hilt. She looked over the Pride gathered for the ceremony. Everyone was naked, kneeling in a semicircle, they were all waiting for her, looking at her. Sergio stood tall and naked in front of the altar. Elise walked slowly toward Sergio, the other members moving backward to give them room to perform the ceremony.

Elise took Sergio's face in her hands and kissed him lightly on the lips, then on each cheek. Sergio lowered his head so she could kiss his forehead. She released him and turned toward the altar. It was up to her to claim a new mate and in doing so, a new king. However, she was breaking with tradition by not taking Sergio as her mate. Who would protest? Who would dare? She removed her clothing, letting the sheer, pink shirt fall off of her shoulders to the grass covered ground at her feet. Sergio's grey eyes watched her every move, trailing over her body as she undressed. She let the pants fall into a puddle at her feet before stepping out of them. She was undressing herself for the hunt to complete the ceremony, but she would be omitting one part of that ceremony. She would not be consummating their partnership, her duty was to join with Sergio on the altar. She picked up the jeweled dagger from the altar and held her wrist over the gold chalice. She held the blade firmly in one hand and she ran the sharp end over her skin, slicing a deep cut an inch in length. Blood oozed out of the open wound into the chalice. Everyone's eyes were focusing on the ruby red liquid that filled the bowl. The scent of her blood, the blood of the Matron, filled the air. Some of the members licked their lips and moved a little closer to the altar. The only member that wasn't affected by the scent of the blood was Sebastian, Sergio's son. The one he had fathered when he had mated with Madeleine, sixteen years ago. He had mated with her since then, when she had gone into heat, but Sebastian was his only child. It was the responsibility of the Pride to raise all natural born shifters. Sergio let out a low growl as the scent of Elise's blood assailed his nostrils. The growl curled from deep within his throat. It made the hairs on the back of Elise's neck rise.

She pulled her bleeding wrist from the chalice and licked the wound closed. The healing properties in her saliva could heal all wounds, even deep, life threatening wounds with the aid of her blood. The initial sharing of blood between the Matron and the male king of the Pride is what gave the Matron the ability to heal other shape-shifters. Her blood and saliva contained the preternatural elements to heal shifters who were critically injured, preventing their death. Elise continued to lick the wound until it was completely healed. She placed her hands around the gold chalice, slowly lifting it off of the altar. Sergio, his hands at his side, kneeled in front of her, awaiting her next move.

Elise lowered the chalice until it was even with his face. He raised his hands, taking the chalice from her. Tilting the golden cup to his lips, he drank deeply of the blood that would transfer some of her power to him, sharing the leadership of the Pride. His throat worked as he swallowed deeply. Elise could tell he savored her essence in the blood. She knew that by sharing her blood with him, they were creating a link which would stay with them until death. Sergio drained the chalice, then taking the dagger up, cut an identical wound and now held his bleeding wrist over the golden chalice. Everyone watched as his blood filled the chalice. Placing his wrist to his mouth, healed his own wound. Elise took the chalice and drank the blood deeply, emptying it. Sergio threw his head back and roared triumphantly with a mixture of animalistic and human sounds gurgling from his vocal cords. The rest of the Pride roared as well, all except Sebastian, who could only yell to support the ceremony.

Sergio stood, tall and strong, penis erect. This would have been the moment he would claim his Queen, his mate. Elise turned her head toward the altar, then away from both the altar and Sergio. His frustrations were evident, but he had known it would come down to this. Until she could free her mind of Darian, he would have to walk the tightrope. This didn't mean that he couldn't try to convince her otherwise. He held her hand in his and licked her palm, the gesture asking a question. Her green eyes locked with his gray ones as she slowly shook her head in answer. Disappointed, Sergio released her hand. Turning toward the members of the Pride, he raised his hands. They roared again, happy to have a king.

“Tonight we hunt to commemorate the ceremony!” he yelled, the Pride cheered and clapped. He lowered himself to the ground and began his change. The other four natural born members followed suit, lowering themselves to all fours, willing their own changes. The members of the Pride that were bitten and not natural born, stayed in their human form. They would cheer on the hunt, but were unable to join. The groans of pain from those transforming soon disappeared, to reveal five beautiful silky-furred leopards. Two, Sergio and Elise, were spotted black on black. Devin was snow white, while Madeline and Daniel were spotted black on orange. Their sleek bodies rubbed against one another. They walked over to the other members of the Pride, rubbing against them.

The remaining members rubbed their faces against the animal forms of their family, bathing in each other's scents. Low growls echoed through the air as they all shared the moment of bonding. The leopards licked the faces of the human form Pride members to show their loyalty. Then Sergio roared and the other four echoed, before running off into the woods to hunt down a buck. They hunted in a group, using their super senses to smell livestock. Their eyes saw clearly in the night. A deer was spotted drinking at the pond a hundred yards away. Slowly, together, they crept low to the ground, moving stealthily toward their prey. The deer, being upwind, unaware that he was targeted, calmly stood drinking the cool water from the man-made pond.

The muscles in their bodies allowed them to move as one smooth, quiet unit. Finally, they struck, converging on the deer. The buck looked up just in time to see Devin lunging, a harsh growl coming from his throat. The deer took off in a bound, running further into the woods, trying for escape. The five leopards took off after it, Elise leading the chase. Their sleek bodies moved through the thick bushes easily. Elise gained on the prey, paws reaching out, claws extending as she gave one final lunge for the deer, catching the hind legs under her claws. She could feel the flesh and muscle rip under the pressure of her nails. Blood spurted out of the wounds. The animal cried out, but didn't stop trying to run for its life. The wounds slowed it down, but it was Elise's claws, now embedded in its hind legs that sealed its fate.

Elise clawed her way up the length of the buck and buried her two inch incisors into the flesh under the deer's neck, cutting the vocal cords and crushing its windpipe. The other leopards snaked up alongside the prey and began to rip off chunks of flesh from the deer as it lay twitching, dying. Paws held the deer down while teeth ripped at skin and meat, pulling it away from bone. They ate their fill of the carcass. Elise bit into the neck of the remains of the dead animal, carrying it back toward the others. The rest following behind her, Sergio walked alongside of her and licked her nose and whiskered cheeks.

They reached the other members of the Pride, and Elise tossed the carcass on the ground before them. They all surrounded the bloody carcass, some licking the blood from it, others taking small bites. Sebastian sat back and watched. It would be a few years before his body would undergo his first change, and then he would be able to enjoy the hunt. He felt a little left out of the celebration due to that fact. Even though the others never made him feel as though he couldn't participate, he knew he couldn't, which was why he felt the way he did. The other members that were still in animal form began to eat more of the deer, until there were only fragments of bone with small bits of flesh left in a pile on the blood soaked ground.

Sergio, Devin and Madeleine stayed in animal form, Madeleine was in heat and both Sergio and Devin could scent it. They waited to see who she would choose to mate with. Madeleine rubbed against both males, then licked Devin's face. She lay in front of him and exposed her opening. Sergio gave a low growl but left the area to change forms. When he was fully in human form again, he looked at Devin and Madeleine. Devin had mounted her, gripping her neck with his teeth as he pounded deeply into her. Sergio knew she wanted another child. Everyone knew Madeleine was the motherly kind. So, she had picked a different male to father the second child. It really didn't matter who the father was, for any child born into the Pride would be parented by the Pride. When a child misbehaved, he or she could end up getting several reprimands in one day for the same thing, by several different members.

Sergio went inside. He was tired. Normally, like all of their kind, he could stay up all night, but that was only if he slept the majority of the day away. Right now, after the hunt and activities he'd had for the whole day, his body was tired. He retired to his room, ready for a good night's sleep. But before he could sleep the night away into the day, he needed to get the blood off of his body or the scent would never let him sleep. He climbed into the shower and soaped his body, working the unscented suds over his skin, rinsing off when he could no longer smell the blood of the kill in his pores. He toweled off and climbed into bed. He closed his eyes and dreamt about Elise. It was a good dream, she had finally accepted him as her mate and they were making love. Sergio could feel himself smiling, even in his sleep.

CHAPTER 15

X
avier sat with his back to the bar, scanning the dancing mortals. The blood pumping in their veins mixed with their young energy, filled the area with a succulent aroma. He inhaled deeply and smiled. He thought about the beautiful woman he'd met earlier that night. He wanted to have her, to make love to her, to taste her. He wanted to tell Darian about her. Darian would be amused that he would be so entranced with a human. He turned around to catch the eye of their vampire bartender, Tony and gestured for him to come closer. Tony finished up the tricks he always did to entertain the crowds. He would toss bottles of alcohol into the air, spin around a few times, performing a few tricks, then catch them before pouring numerous drinks for flirtatious women and men. He was a huge crowd pleaser and attraction to the club. Darian, who always made wise decisions, had hired the sexy looking bartender. Tony walked toward Xavier, his skin tight leather pants squeaking softly as his thighs rubbed against each other. He was wearing a fishnet shirt, allowing all to see his twin nipple piercing. Looking at the little barbells made Xavier want to twist them lightly between his fingertips. Tony's ocean blue eyes locked on Xavier as his hands came up to brush his long, blonde bangs away from his face.

“What can I get for you, Boss?” he asked as he stood in front of Xavier.

“The usual, but with a little more kick.”

Tony smiled, reached behind the bar and opened up a brand new bottle of synthetic blood. Reaching again behind the bar, he pulled out another bottle with a plain black label. It contained a special mixture he had personally concocted, he didn't want anyone to steal his special ingredients. This was the only bar in all of Chicago, maybe even the country, where a vampire could get a real drink and become intoxicated. He refused to tell anyone what he put in the drink and for good reason, he could charge an arm and a leg for his signature mixtures. It had tickled Xavier the first time he saw Darian drunk off of one of Tony's “Contenders”. Darian had never lost his charm. Still, it was nice to see him grinning for no reason and babbling on about anything that popped into his head at the time. Darian ordered the drink regularly and was the only one who never had to pay for them. Xavier would just run up a tab, then pay it at the end of the week. He never really mind paying, he was rich through Darian, so it was always Darian's money that paid his tabs.

Tony poured the drink with the same flare he did everything else. He tossed the bottled blood in the air, spun around and caught the bottle behind his back. Juggling both bottles, pausing only to pour the right amount into the glass, he'd serve the drinks with a flourish to the waiting customers. Even though Xavier enjoyed the show, sometimes he just wanted his drink, but he let Tony put on the performance. It always brought more people to the bar and the more people that came to the bar, the more money they would make. He looked at the gathering crowd, thinking that Al Cantone had nothing on Darian.

“Here ya go, Boss,” Tony said as he slid the glass down the length of the bar to Xavier, who caught it without looking. He brought the drink to his lips and took a deep swallow. Halfway through the drink, he began to feel the effects of the secret ingredients, his body felt warmer inside, and whatever tension he'd held in his shoulders, was now gone. He could feel himself becoming relaxed, giddy. Tony had indeed made himself a hot commodity. Tony had come to Darian two years ago, his master had used him for sexual pleasure, would beat him and threaten to destroy him if he would not comply. Tony managed to escape, practically killing himself in the process. He hid himself underground during the day, making his way to Chicago. It's forbidden to enter a vampire master's territory without permission. To do so, would mean death at the master's discretion. Tony pleaded with Darian to let him stay and to protect him. Darian had agreed, but for a price Tony was more than happy to pay. With that, he got the job tending bar. Darian did have to eradicate Tony's old master, a foolish young vampire, who didn't respect the older one, till it was too late.