Embrace the Power: A Paranormal Romance (The Blood Rose Series Book 9) (26 page)

She released a series of profound cries. The taking of blood always brought pleasure.

He heard the growing ecstasy in her voice.
I want you to come while I’m drinking from you, Rosamunde. Can you do that?

Yes.
One single, breathless, telepathic word. She was tight around him. He wouldn’t last long either.

At the same time, his mating frequency lit up. He didn’t ask permission about this either but pushed inside her body and found her frequency. As his mating vibration rolled over hers, Rosamunde shouted at the ceiling.

“Stone, that’s heaven. Oh, what you’re doing to me.”

With her blood now firing up his veins, and his mating frequency swirling all over hers, he left her throat and swiped the wounds to seal them, then lifted up. He had to look at her as she came.

She slid her arms around his back, her hands anxious and moving. “I’m going to come.”

“Me, too. But let’s make this special.”

The next moment, he levitated them both above the bed. They remained locked in the same thrusting and receiving movement. As she surrounded his hips with her legs, his movements became lightning quick.

She cried out over and over.

Ecstasy built like a massive wave in the distance and what was about to flow had him grunting ferociously. A soft keening sound left her mouth.
Stone … Stone … Stone …
came from her mind in a series of repetitions that sent a thrill straight up his groin and through his cock.

I’m coming,
he pathed.

I’m with you.
He felt how tight she was as her back arched.

Pleasure like a rocket shot through his body as he released into her again. He shouted as he came and as he watched ecstasy roll over her beautiful face. She writhed in the air with him, her body grasping at his cock, pulling on him.

Stone!
Came one last time from her mind to his.

The pleasure seemed to roll longer than usual, sustained by the elf-lord power and squeezing every single drop from his cock. His mating frequency had formed a solid shield around hers. He saw how easy it would be to forge the blood rose bond with her, but they hadn’t agreed to it, so he held back.

As his hips settled down, he floated them to the bed until she lay beneath him. He stayed connected to her and she held her legs locked around him for the longest time. Her beautiful violet eyes held an expression of gratitude. Somehow he hadn’t expected that.

“Thank you,” she murmured softly. She caressed his face.

“Can you feel our mating frequencies?” he asked.

“I’m prone inside yours in the same way I’m lying beneath you now. With a word, we could bond. Do you think we should?”

The question took him aback. “I don’t know, but something inside me resists it. Is this what you want?”

“Not my rational mind, but every other part of me seems to be shouting at me to go the distance. Yet we barely know each other and we have a war going on.”

“I’m thinking the same thing. I’m tempted because I know from the other ruling mastyrs that their powers increased once they bonded with their blood roses. But it doesn’t seem right to me. I’m just getting used to you as Rosamunde and Aralynn.”

She petted his shoulders and caressed his arms. “You are so magnificently muscled, Stone. I’m overwhelmed.”

He loved that she’d praised his body. Like all the mastyrs, he worked out and he battled. Both kept him fit, something he had to be. But it pleased him to know that Rosamunde liked what she saw. He was struck all over again by just how much he’d gotten her wrong.

He withdrew from her body slowly and reached for tissues on the nightstand. Handing them to her, he shifted on his side and watched as she tucked them between her legs. Strange to think how satisfied he felt that she needed the tissues. He liked that he’d left something of himself behind in her. With every other woman, he used condoms, but not with Rosamunde. Or Aralynn.

She turned on her side to face him her wild hair covering her shoulders and arms then sliding down to shade her breasts. He settled his hand on her waist and caressed her hip.

“I can’t believe this happened.” She stroked his arm. “Never in my wildest dreams. And I loved that we did that while levitating. We were high up in the air, too, much farther than a foot above your bed.”

“It was amazing. And my mating vibration is still covering yours, almost protectively.”

“I like it. I’m sure you could disengage, but please, don’t, not yet. It feels comforting to me in a way I’ve never experienced. And for this moment, I don’t feel alone or even so burdened with the rule of Ferrenden Peace.”

“I’m glad.” And he meant it.

He felt her sigh. He didn’t say anything further in response, he just caressed her and slowly rubbed her back. Her body began to relax and she scooted closer. She even nuzzled him, pushing her head into his shoulder.

He held her for a long time. He didn’t quite understand all that was happening, but he found himself grateful that she’d shared the terrible guilt she lived with because of her mother’s death.

Stone knew about guilt. He carried his own damn weight on his shoulders.

His thoughts were drawn back to Charborne. The village and farms were situated at the foothills of the Dauphaire Mountains, in view of the tall, mist-shrouded peaks.

The village had shown him so much love. He’d been raised on a nearby farm, in the predominantly troll community.

The villagers had been nothing but supportive when he’d finally joined the Tannisford Vampire Guard. They’d thrown him a farewell bash that had lasted for hours. He was pretty sure the ale he’d drunk hadn’t left his system until at least two nights later.

If only better provisions had been made for a possible future attack.

But who could have predicted the arrival of twelve wraith-pairs that went through the village and surrounding farms, slaughtering anyone they could find.

Half the villagers had perished by the time three squads of Guardsmen had arrived to take on the Invictus. Two of those good men had died as well because of the overwhelming numbers.

It had happened centuries ago, but like the aftermath of so many tragic events, he still felt the pain of it. His parents had been two of so many who had died that night. Grief had been a constant companion since, a reminder of the necessity of staying focused on his Guardsman duties.

Rosamunde stirred in his arms and he pulled her closer. He realized he could relate to her. He knew what it was to lose family to Margetta’s depredations and now that she’d shared more of her life experience with him, he’d begun to understand her.

Still, he smiled. Rosamunde, both Aralynn and a blood rose. His blood rose. It seemed impossible.

And the sex had been fantastic.

~ ~ ~

Rosamunde had never felt so satisfied, so content in her entire life. Lying in Stone’s bed, with his arms around her felt like she’d come home after a long difficult journey. She wanted to stay there forever.

She still couldn’t believe he’d made love to her.

After a few minutes, she drew back so that she could look at him. She even shifted to lay her head on the pillow and meet his gaze. “You know what I’d love to know. When did you first meet Davido?”

He chuckled softly.

“What?” she asked.

“Just wasn’t what I was expecting.”

“I guess I want to know more about you and your life. I mean, we’re here, together, and this might be a good time to exchange histories. Davido and Vojalie have been part of my life for a long time and they’ve been such a huge support. I don’t know what I would have done without them.” Especially when it came to the horrendous Margetta visions, but this she didn’t share with Stone. She honestly hoped she’d never have to.

Stone shifted onto his back. “I know both Davido and Vojalie really well. As for the first time I met Davido, well that’s hard to say. He took an interest in me early in my life. I’ve never told anyone this but he used to sneak into my room during the day when I was a little one. My earliest memory is of him sitting on the floor, near my cradle and talking to me. Or rather,
pathing
with me.”

“Do you know why he used to do this? Didn’t it seem odd?”

“I asked him about it later on. He said he knew I’d be a mastyr one day and he wanted to be sure I was protected.”

“Davido is a good man and one of the best husbands I’ve ever known.”

“He’s very devoted to his wife.”

“That he is.”

The conversation continued in this vein for a good long while. He asked her about castle life and she asked him his favorite swimming spots. He preferred his lake, but he also enjoyed the chain of grottos at the Sea of Vermed. She confessed to swimming naked in a small spring at the western edge of Ferrenden Peace. Teleporting made it possible. If anyone ever came near the spring while she was paddling around, she simply took herself with a thought back to the castle.

No, she’d never driven a car.

Yes, he’d owned several Harleys over the years. One of them had been stolen, maybe Joseph’s devilment.

The hours moved swiftly by and their sharing of stories was steady except for the occasional hourly contact Stone made with Harris. Throughout the night, Tannisford remained quiet, a circumstance that continued to trouble Rosamunde. Her fae instincts told her Margetta was up to no good.

After Stone’s final conversation with Harris, he made love to her again, only this time she remained solely as Rosamunde.

When dawn arrived shortly after, she fell asleep in his arms.

When she woke up the next night, she lay on her right side, in a bed that didn’t feel familiar to her. Yet it was comfortable and warm and she was naked and she didn’t want to move. The hour was late, almost full-dark. She’d slept through the day, again, which seemed incredible. She was always up at least two hours before the sun disappeared in the west.

Yet as sleep began to roll away from her, memories surged of having made love with Stone, of all men, on the night before. He’d come to accept her as Rosamunde.

She could smell coffee and the wonderful aroma caused her to roll on her back, flopping her arms to either side. This was heaven, nothing less. She could even forget about Ferrenden Peace, especially knowing that Vojalie and Davido were keeping watch over the veil of mist.

She could also recall falling asleep in Stone’s arms.

But at this thought, she frowned. She knew something about Stone’s birth parents that she wished he knew. She hated having carried around so many significant and difficult secrets all these centuries. She might need to talk to Davido about finally removing the silence-ban on who Stone’s biological parents had been. She was pretty sure most adopted kids, no matter their age, wanted to know their roots or at least to be given the opportunity to say ‘No, thank you. I don’t need to know’.

She stared up at the natural wood rafters of the bedroom ceiling and sighed deeply. Was this really happening? Was she a blood rose? Had she fed Mastyr Stone while in her Rosamunde form? Had Stone truly accepted her?

It all seemed so impossible, yet wonderful in an amazing way. From the time she’d battled beside him as Aralynn, she’d come to discover that she and the Mastyr of Tannisford actually shared some things in common. He was as devoted to his realm as she was to serving the people of Ferrenden Peace. She might have been given the job under extremely difficult circumstances, but never once had she questioned the value of serving as queen. She’d loved being a protector and so had Stone. Neither, it seemed, had looked back once the journey for each had begun.

Stone arrived in the doorway, wearing jeans but no shirt. He must have showered since his long black hair was damp and he wore a towel beneath to cover his shoulders. He carried two cups of coffee.

Without thinking, she sat up and stretched out her hands, ready to receive one of the cups. But the comforter fell away.

Stone started for the bed, then stopped as his gaze dropped to her breasts.

“Oops.” She lifted the comforter and caught it up under her arms to cover herself.

He put his feet back in motion. “Don’t do that on my account.”

But she felt heat on her cheeks again. She had such a terrible tendency to blush around Stone. As Aralynn, not so much.

He handed her a cup and she drew it in a swift motion to her lips. In part, she wanted to cover her embarrassment but also nothing was quite as good to her as coffee first thing at night.

She loved the unique flavor. “So this is cardamom.”

“It’s served in one of the shops near the Com Center. They import a lot of spices from the States.”

“Well, I love it.” She continued to sip while sitting up in Stone’s bed, still feeling very naked though she had the comforter wrapped around her.

He sat down in a wood and leather chair angled across from the bed, which meant it faced the windows and the emerging night sky. He leaned back and with his elbows on the dark wood armrests and the cup in both hands, he sipped along with her. He didn’t seem inclined to talk but fixed his gaze out on the lake.

With the low, wrought iron headboard positioned against the wall of windows, her view was of wood paneling, nice in its way but not the view she preferred. She craned her neck and saw that the protective day-shutters were already half raised, and the sky was filled with a beautiful lavender sunset.

She appreciated that she could look at this level of light, as could Stone, without suffering. She wouldn’t be able to tolerate but a few seconds standing in such light, but now that the sun was behind the hills, she could marvel at the beauty of the sunset.

“Why do you have the bed facing away from the lake?” She took another sip, the mug still in both hands. The warmth felt good against her fingers.

“It seemed right to me because this chair suits me better for viewing when evening comes. Once I’m done batting for the night, I’m usually dead asleep about two seconds after my head hits the pillow. But when I wake up, I like to sit right here.”

She wanted to see the lake at this hour as well, with the sun behind distant tree-studded hills and soft wispy clouds catching the last of the color. So, she made the decision to let her embarrassment go.