Ember's Curse (Prime Wolf) (23 page)

"Let her through, she needs to rest. You can all thank her later," Sadie announced to everyone. She then took it upon herself to grab my arm to help guide my sluggish body through the crush. "Some of them have been imprisoned in those cells for years," she explained.

I saw an older lady squeezing the arm of a teenage boy tightly, who was her mirror image. Tears rolled down her face as she winked at me. I wondered how long it and been since she last held her son like that.

"Tegan deserves their thanks, not me," I said remaining humble.

She smiled, "If you say so."

I climbed up the wooden steps leading to the backdoor of Collin’s house. To call it a house was putting it mildly. The building was massive.

"Do you like it?" Collin asked. He ran up the stairs and held open the door. "I can have anything changed to fit your tastes, just say the word."

I stood there stunned. My mouth fell open like a door without its hinges and I slowly shook my head. "It's perfect just the way it is." I somehow stammered out. And it was.

Large stone pillars held up a wood balcony that towered high above us. It was the perfect setting to lounge around and lose oneself in a good book. The house stretched out long, and wide enough to take up the dimensions of half a football field. The entire back wall comprised of stone pillars. They matched the ones holding up the porch, with large panes of glass placed seamlessly between each one. Several of them were opened wide to an outdoor lounging area. There were a few werewolves lying around in animal form, next to the Olympic sized pool, taking full advantage of the warming sun. I felt like I was in another world, one where it was okay to be something other than human.

"This is all yours now, Ember," Collin said, grabbing my hand with a feather light touch. "Would you like a tour of our room?" he asked wagging his brows at me.

"Do you ever stop?" I asked amused.

“Now that I have a woman as sexy as you to warm my bed? It’s not likely.”

***

My bare feet sunk into the plush carpet that covered the floor of Collin’s bedroom. Everything was decorated in hues of gold and tans with subtle punches of brilliant red. I gazed up at a tall ceiling that was bordered with crown molding; the moldings had different images of wolves meticulously carved into them. The scenes depicted in the wood were amazing. There was one with two wolf cubs playing by a lake. Another with a mated pair wrapped intimately around each other. The attention to detail was beautiful.

My eyes landed on a round platform bed that sat smack dab in the middle of the spacious room. There were carpeted steps surrounding the bed frame and yards of silk pooled at the bottom of all four posters that attached to a wooden canopy. I walked over to the bed and stared in wonder at what was placed neatly on top of the plush blanket.

"Are those for me?" I asked, practically drooling all over myself.

Collin pulled off his shirt and tossed it aside. I was torn between ogling the guns displayed in front of me on the bed or the ones flexing and pulsing across the room. My gazed lingered more on the hunk but I still kept the .38 revolver in my peripheral.

"I will explain the guns in a minute," he said, throwing on a fresh shirt. He rifled through a department store bag that sat next to the huge walk-in closet. Shirts and pants overflowed from it with tags still attached to them. With a smile, he pushed the bag in the closet and stood up. There was something in his hand, but he shoved it behind his back before I could see what it was.

"What are you up to?" I asked him. He wore a devilish grin as he stalked slowly towards me. His gaze ran up and down my body and the musky scent of his desire assaulted my senses. My heart began to pound and raw heat spread throughout me, overtaking me, making me a puppet to his whims. He pressed his hard body to mine. I could feel the length of his erection up against my stomach and my legs weakened. I had no choice but to lean on the wall behind me. Collin smiled and with molten eyes, held my gaze. I returned the heat filled look with one of my own and he pressed himself even harder against me, pinning me between him and the wall. I was trapped. There was nowhere for me to run. There was no way in hell I wanted to. Collin reached down and slid the t-shirt from my body, dropping it to the floor. My nipples puckered at the sudden exposure to the cool room and his keen eyes zeroed in on them. He leaned down and slowly sucked one nipple into his mouth and then the other. Oh my God, his tongue felt so good as it traced the very tip of my breast, swirling in slow circles, then sucking the rosy bud back into his mouth. His hand traveled down my belly, and with a firm nudge, he pushed my legs apart, opening me up, giving him better access to my sex. He parted my folds and slipped one, then two fingers deep inside of me. A moan of pleasure escaped my lips and I gently bucked and rode his hand. The ball of his palm rubbed against my clit with delicious friction, making it swell from heat and arousal. I was close to the edge. I was hungry for it, for him. His tongue traveled down my body and I almost screamed out when it replaced the fingers delving expertly, in and out of me.

"Open wider," he demanded. For a brief second, a feeling of shyness shot through me. The position would leave my sex completely exposed to him, but, after another delicious lick to my folds, I obliged his command without another thought. My knees wobbled and he wrapped his arms around my waist, shifting, taking us both to the floor. He grabbed my legs and settled them around his shoulders, all the while never taking his lips from my pink flesh. His pace never wavered and I found myself in the midst of an orgasm, bracing my fingers in his hair, yelling my pleasure to the Gods above. Collin inched his way up my body and settled in next to me.

"I have something for you," he said watching the rise and fall of my bared breasts. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"You're going to be hard pressed to top what you just gave me," I said, teasing him.

He brought his hand from behind his back and placed a square, black box on my stomach. The box’s lid was opened and nestled securely in a bed of velvet sat an exquisite ring. A single, emerald cut diamond gleamed from its perch. I just stared at it, then like an idiot, stuttered out a couple incoherent words. He gazed into my eyes and smiled warmly, a little dimple popped out on his left cheek and I watched his lips part before he spoke.

"Ember Dawn Stilwell," he began. His facial expressions were now completely serious. Collin looked me square in the eyes. His stare pierced all the way through me, straight into my soul. "Will you make me the happiest werewolf in existence and be my wife, my mate?"

His words melted into one another in my mind but I still understood their meaning. He wanted to make our bonding official. I would not only be his mate but also his wife. The thought sent a flood of shivers over my already sensitive body.

"Yes, Collin." Those two words were the only ones I dared to speak over the immense lump in my throat, and somehow, they came out crisp and clear. He drew me into his arms and kissed me hard, then gentle, drawing it out like he was savoring the very taste of me.

"If it's okay, I'd like to wait before announcing our engagement to everyone. At least until we find Nathan," I murmured, snuggling into the warmth of my, now fiancé's, chest.

He nodded in agreement. "I think that's a good idea. I wouldn't want him hearing the good news from anyone but us." Collin paused and stared into the nothingness above him, deep in thought. "We will find him my love, I promise you that."

I could tell that Collin meant every word of that promise, but I still couldn't stop my stubborn brain from conjuring up a million different horrifying scenarios about what might be happening to Nathan.

"I hope so."

***

"Where is everybody?" I asked Sadie, who was sitting at the bottom step peeling an apple. She stood up, and with care, put her pocketknife away in her back pocket.

"I was waiting for you," she said, waving me to follow her. "They are all in the War Room."

I stared at her for a moment, my expression neutral. "Did I miss something?" Collin had left the room before me. I refused to budge before I gave my achy body a good soaking in the jetted tub.

"Your friend showed up about an hour ago," she said.

I took a few steps forward. "Which one?" I asked anxiously. I was too afraid to hope for the best. Nathan and Brady just showing up here with no further drama seemed too easy.

"Your girlfriend, Harper," she said, leading me down one of the many halls that ran throughout the giant house. "The group of men that arrived with her were carrying an unconscious man... he didn't look so good. They said he was a vamp."

The vamp must be Brady. But if they found him then where was Nathan?

"We need to get to that War Room," I said.

"We’re almost there, follow me."

I was quick to understand why this area was aptly named The War Room. The walls, ceiling, and floor, were built out of pure iron. There wasn't a witch alive strong enough to cast a spell on anyone hunkered down in this place. A bank of computers sat whirring softly on one side of the rectangular room, while on the other side there stood several lockers lined up next to one another. Men dressed in black combat fatigues were standing in front of a few of them, unloading their weapons. The air was saturated with the scent of gunpowder and metal. The smell spurred on the fighter in me, and my fingers tingled with want of grabbing one of the rifles hanging, with a family of others, on the very back wall of the room.

I liked this frame of mind better than the one from earlier. I needed to shake this regret that had been gnawing on my conscience ever since I upped my body count. I had to be realistic. There was a good chance there would be several more notches to add to my belt, before it was all said and done. Did that make me a monster? I didn't know. That was a hard question to answer. My conflicting feelings didn’t help the problem either.

Collin was across the room, leaning over a shaggy haired guy with a headset resting around his neck. The man was seated at one of the computer stations, typing away like a madman. Collin rubbed his stubbly chin. His eyes shifted rapidly, trying to read something off the monitor. "If we follow the obvious pattern," he said pointing at something on the screen, "it would indicate that they are most likely still in the area."

"Hello, Collin," I said, entering into the room. His head turned and a sexy glint entered his eyes at the sight of me.

"Hi, Beautiful," he said, abandoning what he was doing to walk over and hug me. "You smell delicious."

I squeezed my eyes closed. I wanted to savor every moment I had with my mate. He was a precious gift that was never meant to be taken advantage of.

"Sadie told me that Harper is back now."

Collin took me by the hand and led me over to the computer. "Who is Sadie?" he asked absently, typing in a few words.

Sadie popped her hand up from where she was standing by the door. She was leaning next to a water cooler with a paper cup in her hand. "That would be me." She swigged back the water and tossed the crumpled cup in the wastebasket. "We came here to find out about the unconscious vamp your men brought in earlier."

Collin raised one brow. "We?" he asked, looking at her confused.

"I told her she could help us. I didn't see any harm in it. Besides, she's a cop," I explained.

Collin shrugged and turned back to his task.

"Well?" I said, crossing my arms.

"Well what?"

"Are you going to tell me about the vamp and Harper?" I huffed.

Collin tore his eyes from the screen and glanced at me. "I'm sorry, Love. I'm a bit distracted," he gave me a peck on the lips. "Harper is in the other room with Brady. He is pretty bad off."

I was relieved to hear that they found Brady. Even if he was injured, it was a better fate than the alternative. Injured we could work with.

"Can you point me in their general direction?" I heard a gasp from behind. I turned to see Harper standing like a zombie in between the doorframe. In her arms, Brady hung limply. She was covered in blood and so was he. I couldn't tell which one it was coming from, but it was apparent that one of the two vampires had lost a lot of blood.

Sadie cautiously took several steps away while keeping her eyes trained on them. Her cop instincts had kicked in.

"I tried," Harper stammered. She looked frantic. Her once blonde hair was now pink from the saturation of blood. Her eyes bulged. There were tiny blue veins fanned out underneath them. "No matter how much I fed him," she said shaking her head, "he still fell into the death sleep."

I could hear what she was saying, and inside my clattered mind, I rushed to put all the information together. It would be almost impossible to save him from the death sleep. It would take procuring his Sire’s blood to do it.

"Oh, shit," I said.

"What?" Collin asked me. He was in the process of instructing the shaggy haired guy, whom he referred to as Barnes, to relieve Harper of her burden.

"How in Hades’ fire are we going to get some of Tyson's blood?"

"May I make a suggestion?" Sadie asked, jumping into the conversation.

I gave her a slow nod. "Be my guest."

She pulled out a piece of gum and popped the stick in her mouth. I looked at her and shook my head. "Sorry. I do my best thinking when I'm chewing gum," she tossed the wrapper and looked at me. "Rule one. In any investigation, is that you always start from the beginning. Harper," Sadie turned and looked at my friend who was now sitting down drinking her own cup of water and asked, "where did you guys find Brady?"