Destiny United (32 page)

“Pinch me,” she told Marcelo and he laughed. His joy was
contagious. She’s never seen him so happy.

“I have a better way of proving you’re alive.” He bent
down and kissed her, tenderly, lovingly, but with a hunger that was unbridled
and raw.

Oh yes, she was alive. Pulling away seemed difficult for
him but he did then gazed deep into her eyes.

“Still believe you’re dreaming?” he asked.

“If I am, I don’t want to wake up.”

The door to the bedroom flung open with a bang. A slender
girl with chestnut brown hair, lively green eyes, a black tank top and worn
jeans stormed inside. Sage.

“You crazy little bitch!” she said teasingly as she
shoved Marcelo aside and gave Aila a tight hug.

Marcelo sent an irritated glare towards a figure standing
just in the doorway. “You couldn’t even give me fifteen minutes?”

An unfamiliar masculine voice answered, “You know who I’m
dealing with, right?”

Sage ignored them. “I can’t believe you! You died! You
actually thought to die in my kingdom without visiting me first? What’s wrong
with you?”

Aila couldn’t hold back a soft chuckle. “Sorry, I didn’t
know I needed your permission.” Sage was just as vibrant as Aila remembered.

“You should hear what the fae are calling you. Aila the
Transcendent. Aila the Favored One. Aila the Fucking Savior of the Universe!
Personally, I’m partial to the Favored One. The Transcendent? That will go
straight to your head.” She patted Aila’s head.

Aila rolled her eyes. “I didn’t even
do
anything. Except die.” She frowned. “Which
really wasn’t that difficult considering the circumstances.”

“But you came back to life,” Sage reminded her. She shook
her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe Marcelo let you run into the middle of
a fucking war.” She gave him a disapproving glare. “Idiot.”

His lips twitched. “You already made your opinion of my
intellect perfectly clear.” Under his breath he added, “More than once.”

Sage nodded, unashamed. “It’s true. I tried to kill him.
James held me back.”

She brought her gaze to the man leaned casually against
the door jam. Sage waved him over. “This is James,” she told Aila with pride
and fondness in her voice she had never heard from her sister.

Aila covertly looked him over. Sage wasn’t the only one
who was protective. James was tall and lean with pale skin and even paler blue
eyes. They were beautiful, hypnotic like Marcelo’s. Was that a vampire thing?
His strawberry blond hair was styled to perfection, his appearance neatly
groomed. He didn’t look anything like the rough and tumble Marcelo, but there
was something lurking just under the surface that emanated danger. Like he
could charm the socks off you then snap your neck while you smiled in bliss.
And he had the same regal air as Kieran. He was the opposite of Aila’s wild and
untamed sister. But when he wrapped a possessive arm around Sage’s shoulders
and their gazes locked, Aila could see pure love between them. And that was
good enough for her.

“Hi, James. I’ve heard a lot about you.” She stuck out
her hand to shake his. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Likewise,” he said, his lyrical Welsh accent making him
all the sexier.

Sage shifted away from James’ embrace and took Marcelo’s
spot on the bed. “So, you and Marcelo, huh?”

Aila’s cheeks heated.

“He’s a hottie, right? I thought so too at first but
after he forced blood down my throat…well, that changes a person. But still, look
at that gorgeous body!” She chuckled then muttered, “I suppose I don’t need to
tell
you
that.”

Aila looked for James’ reaction knowing that if she’d
said something so bold about another man in front of Marcelo, he’d have been
pissed. Just as she’d thought, James was no exception. A jealous black fury
filled his eyes before he wrapped his hand around the back of Sage’s neck in a
proprietary hold.

She rolled her eyes and batted him away. “Oh, relax, you
silly, jealous man. You know you’re the only vampire for me.” With a
mischievous look in her eye, she added, “Although…some of those fae warriors –”
She was cut off when James gave her neck a little squeeze.

Aila shook her head, laughing. Her sister hadn’t changed
much, even after becoming Queen of the Underworld.

Sage winked at Aila. “We’ll talk later. I want to hear
all about it, including the graphic details –”

“Enough!” Marcelo boomed from the corner. “Everyone out.”
His gaze landed on Aila. “We have unfinished business to attend to.”

Sage pouted. “But –”

“Come,
cariad
,” James
said, tugging on her arm. “Leave the happy couple alone. You can catch up
later.”

She followed her mate towards the door. “I’m really glad
you’re not dead.” As James pulled her into the hallway she gave a backward
glance and mouthed, “Love you.”

Aila’s heart burst with joy. She was surrounded by the
people she loved, and who loved her in return. It was a tangible thing, thick
in the air, making butterflies dance in her stomach.

Marcelo watched her from across the room, his arms folded
across his chest in that protective, masculine way. He narrowed his eyes but a
small smile tugged at the corner of his lips, softening his expression.

 “You’ll have a scar,” he said.

She looked down at the ugly mark on her chest and smirked.
“Well, look at that. I’m a regular badass.”

He chuckled. “You’ve come a long way from the scared
little girl I met in Albany. I only had to drag you kicking and screaming from
your safe little world to get here.”

“No,” she snorted. “You took my safe little world, tore
it up, stomped on it then burned it to ashes.”

He shrugged and stalked towards her. “I challenged you.”

“You taunted me.”

“I pushed you.”

Beyond what I thought I could handle. You thrust my fears in
front of my face where I couldn’t ignore them. You forced me to take a good,
hard look at what was holding me prisoner and decide if I wanted to die there
alone.

“It wasn’t comfortable,” she said.

He nodded. “I’ll bet it was downright painful.”

“By all logic, I should hate you.”

“But you don’t.”

“No, I don’t. Because of you, I’m free.”

“No,
querida
.” He cupped
her cheek. “It was in you from the start.”

She smiled. “And what about you? Did you gain anything
from this little adventure?”

“Ah, love, I gained the most valuable thing of all. My
heart. I can never thank you enough.”

“For existing?” She raised her brows in amusement.

“For loving this overbearing, unrefined vampire.”

“Don’t forget grumpy.”

He threw his head back and laughed. Her heart exploded in
her chest. Being loved by Marcelo was like taming a wild beast. To the world he
was a savage and fearsome thing. Possessive and formidable. Growling and baring
his teeth at every threat. But she would place her head in that lion’s mouth
without hesitation. His love was raw, honest. It stripped her down to her most
basic form.

She was a woman.

He was a man.

They loved.

Nothing else mattered.

She’d spent most of her life afraid of being hurt. And
now she loved so hard that her soul ached from the depth of it.

“How do you feel?” he asked. “Tired? Any aches or pains?”

None. In fact, she’d never felt better. “Nope. I feel
great.”

His thumb traced her bottom lip. Goose bumps rose on her
arms. He grabbed the back of her head and drew her to his lips. His kiss was
soft and tender. She opened her mouth to find his tongue but he pulled back.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

A week ago she’d have hesitated. Two weeks ago she’d have
laughed. Today’s answer was easy. “Yes.”

His mouth curled up on one side and that was all the
warning she got. One blink later she was pinned underneath him, her wrists manacled
by one of his hands over her head.

“Now, I am going to make love to you…” He kissed her,
hard and deep, a fiery branding of her lips. “Over and over,” he mumbled
against her mouth, “until we are both sore…” He kissed his way to her ear. “And
we can’t think anymore.”

She smiled blissfully and melted into the mattress. This
was a part of Marcelo she had grown to love. This primitive, wild thing. One
look at those black eyes narrowed with precision on his target and she was
captivated. A willing slave to his seduction.

He lifted her up, ripped off the baggy t-shirt and sweatpants
someone must have dressed her in, leaving her exposed in only a pair of pink lacy
underwear. Then he sat back on his knees raking his bold gaze over her nearly
naked body. Something dark and sinister flashed in his eyes as he took his time
studying her. She shuddered. This was no romantic vampire. This was a predator.
And he was just about to eat his prey. She felt something much stronger than
longing. More than just desire. She was hungry. For him. She could match his
savage lust with her own.

He licked his lips and she could barely contain herself.
Liquid heat rushed between her thighs. She clenched them in anticipation.

“Marcelo,” she rasped.

He arched a brow.

“Please.”

He smiled. Damn him, he liked the sound of her begging.
“Please what?”

Irritation ignited her. She was lying there, almost naked,
like an offering and he was toying with her? “You know what!” she hissed.

“No, I don’t. Tell me.”

She grunted and reached for him but he dodged her greedy
hand. “Say it Aila, love. Tell me what you want.”

With a sly smile she feigned disinterest. “The book
Kieran gave me. I was going to catch up on some read – ”

She yelped when two hands clasped her ankles and she was
dragged under his warm body. “You wicked little thing,” he said, his voice
muffled against her neck.

She laughed at the small victory.

“I’ll have you begging before we’re through.”

“Or maybe I’ll have you begging.”

He lifted his head from her neck and looked into her
eyes. “
Querida,
it would be my pleasure.”

His hand grasped her breast, kneading it while his mouth
took over hers, his tongue plunging inside. He kissed her until she couldn’t
breathe. She moaned against him, rocking her hips into his erection. He broke
off the kiss only to lick and nip his way down to her chest, stopping at each
breast to lash them with his tongue. The need within her rose to fever pitch.
She squirmed under his assault, urging him to touch between her legs where
liquid pooled and she throbbed for him. He gave her aching nipples reprieve and
dragged his tongue down her abdomen to the top of her underwear. A sexy grin,
then they were gone and she was bare to his gaze.

Again I find myself naked while
he’s fully clothed!
“Obviously I need to pay more attention to my mate,”
she said tingling from the kisses he was planting on her thighs. Her voice was
tight with need but she was adamant. “You still have your clothes on.”

“Mm,” he mumbled in half-hearted agreement.

She grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him back up her
body. He smiled at her attempt to take control, allowing her to pull off shirt
then helped her shuck his pants as well. Leaning back he grabbed both her knees
and pressed her thighs open, baring her completely to his gaze. For a moment
she was embarrassed and fought to close them. But his hands were like a vice.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered.

She blushed but smiled extending her arms out to embrace
him. He obliged her, wrapping his arms around her back. She gasped when he
swung her onto his lap as he moved to the edge of the bed.

In one brutal thrust he set her down on his length,
filling her so suddenly she cried out in shock. His hands roamed, over her back
and bottom, on her breasts, rubbing against her nipples. He was everywhere. He
pulled her back up then slammed her down again. She was flying, spinning,
unsure of where she started and he ended. Waves of pleasure rolled over her.
Her fingers dug into his shoulders, holding her down when gravity ceased to
exist.

She gasped for air and the orgasm went on. She was
vaguely aware of his voice, whispering words of love in Spanish. When she came
back down to earth, she clung to him, kissing his face and neck. She pulled
back and gave him a sultry glare, her eyes half-hooded, a satisfied smile on
her lips.

“Oh no, love,” he told her, his voice husky with need.
“I’m not done with you yet.”

He placed her on her back at the edge of the bed. She put
her arms out to stop his rapid descent towards her breasts. “Wait,” she cried.
“Just wait.”

He grabbed her hands and pinned them to the mattress next
to her head. “No waiting,” he growled, more animal than man. “Trust. Surrender.
Let me take control.” His eyes softened at her wary expression. “I won’t hurt
you. And you won’t regret it.”

Trust. Surrender. Yes, she could give him that. “I trust
you. And I love you.”

A deep kiss was her reward, and a little shock of pain
when he nipped her bottom lip. Still holding her arms pinned, he entered her
sheath, surprising her with long, slow strokes. His gaze was fixed on hers. She
wanted to shield herself from the intensity but couldn’t seem to pull away. His
fangs extended and it was so erotic her body tingled with excitement. She
wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him deeper.

When he lowered his mouth to her neck she didn’t stop
him. She trusted him not to take her blood without permission. His teeth
scraped lightly against her skin sending sparks down to her toes. He kissed his
way to her collarbone, grazing sharply then licking the small sting away. He
brought one hand between their bucking bodies and pressed on her throbbing
clit. She almost flew out of her skin.

Her free hand grabbed onto his head, threading through
his hair, holding him tight while she moaned and writhed beneath him.