Lover's Betrayal: Misfits of the Lore Series (26 page)

A knock on the door startled Olivia. It was Lucian. Olivia hid the drug and allowed him to enter. He opened the door and surveyed the broken headboard and torn sheets. The memory of what caused this destruction inflamed the desire he was trying to suppress. “I owe you a new bedroom set.”

“Well, I believe we were equally responsible.”

“Yes, cara. I think it was our mutual passion that led to this destruction.”

Olivia sought to satiate the desire burning in her but she was not sure if Lucian felt the same urge. His eyes reflected passion, but after what they discussed at Reysa’s club, would he still allow himself to have her?

“Has anyone heard from Corinne?” Olivia asked, trying to fight the overwhelming need.

Lucian approached her slowly with that devilish grin that always caused her to melt. “She called again. She will be here shortly. I told her whatever news she has had better be worth the wait. She told me to go to hell but Lorenzo assured me they had worthwhile news.”

Olivia giggled. “I wish you and Cori could get along better.”

Lucian shrugged. “It’s not Cori’s feelings that concern me. I owe you an apology for my behavior at the club. I’m usually more in control of my emotions, but lately I have been a wreck. I’m not dealing with all of this very well. Being this close to you, but still so far away, is unbelievably hard.”

Olivia was startled by his admission. “Then come closer,” Olivia beckoned. Lucian walked over to Olivia until he was close enough that she could feel the heat of his skin. “How can you be so warm? We’re creatures of cold, yet I always feel warmth radiating from you.”

“It’s desire, cara. It’s what you do to me. It’s what you have always done to me. You heat my blood with my need for you.” Lucian traced his lips from her jaw to her chest. His light kisses were causing Olivia to ache for him. She urged him closer, but he continued to tease with his light touches. His hand slid down her stomach to the top of her pants. She trembled as he undid the button and zipper as her pants pooled at her feet. He used his claws to slice her lace panties in half, letting them drop to the ground. “I can smell your desire, cara.” He stroked her as Olivia clutched his shoulders, claws digging into his flesh. “I can feel how much you want me.”

“Arrogant ass,” Olivia quipped.

“Should I stop?” Lucian joked, knowing that nothing would stop him from taking her.

“Stop and I swear I’ll kill you.”

“That’s my feisty Livy. As you wish, mi amor -- I will not stop, but I will taste you.” Olivia stiffened. “If you cannot offer me your blood, then I will have your sweet honey.” Before Olivia could catch her breath, Lucian was on his knees, his tongue tasting her.

“I will have my taste as well, Lucian,” Olivia promised before she submitted to Lucian’s lethal tongue.

Lucian paused to look into Olivia’s eyes so dark with desire. “I will never deny you.” He continued his assault on Olivia’s flesh until she erupted. She barely had a moment to recover before he had his fill of her again.

Several passion-filled hours later, Olivia lay contently in Lucian’s arms as he plucked several feathers out of her silky tresses. They were on the floor of her room, the bed no longer able to support them as they managed to split it in half. “I think we should get you a metal bedroom set next time. Wood is not strong enough.”

Olivia hesitated, but then asked the question she needed answered. “A new bed for us, or just for me, Lucian?”

Lucian did not respond, but his silence was all the answer she needed. She tried to pull away, but Lucian held on tight. “Don’t leave, Liv.”

“I need to get dressed. Cori will be here soon.”

“Yes, but I need you to understand something first. I don’t want to hurt you, at least not any more. I didn’t expect this to happen for us. I came here to solve this case and to get closure with you. Rather than closure, we’ve opened the door again to us and I’m not sure I want it closed again, but I don’t know if I’m ready to walk in either. I don’t know what I want and what all this means. I’m completely and utterly confused. We still have so much to talk about before we can contemplate a future. I still need answers. I still need the truth from you. I can’t promise you anything right now, but I can tell you that I can’t just walk away from this, from you again.”

“Lucian I love you. Always.” Olivia placed her finger on his lips. “I don’t need you to say it back. I just need you to know that I have always loved you and I always will. I’m sorry for so much, but I can’t change the past. I will be honest with you and tell you everything when we have time, but that won’t change anything. If you can’t forgive me, you won’t be able to trust me or love me. Without those things, we don’t have a future. I can’t live with your hate or even worse, your indifference. I survived living that way with Daughton because he meant nothing to me. You’re everything and for you to feel that way for me would kill me.”

Lucian reached for her hand and gently kissed each of her knuckles. “Indifference presumes I never cared for you, and you must know that’s not true. There is such a fine line between love and hate -- and for us, we have crossed it many times. I loved you with every ounce of my being since I was a child. But that love turned to hate when you betrayed me. Every day when I imagined you with him I hated you even more until it was as strong as the love I had felt for you. I came here expecting to feel the same, but I don’t hate you, Livy. I just cannot offer you more right now. I’m sorry. I need time to figure out my feelings. You were right. If I can’t forgive you and learn to trust you then I won’t be able to fully love you the way you deserve. You deserve to be happy, and if not with me then…” Lucian could not finish that sentence. There was no way he could handle Olivia being with someone else again. She was his. He would kill any man that touched her again. Despite his primitive possessiveness of her, could he possibly make her happy? She had suffered much at the hands of Daughton Gaspard. Could he love her enough to help her overcome that pain?

“If not with you then with no one,” Olivia confessed. “I will never love another and I will never be with someone I don’t love again. I did that for too long. I would rather be alone. I don’t want you to force feelings for me out of some sense of pity or duty. You owe me nothing, Lucian. I hurt you. I broke us. I have no right to ask you to accept me again, but I still hope you can.”

“I hope so too, Livy,” Lucian replied as he pulled her face to his and kissed her again.

II

“I’m finally here. I know you’re all so excited to see me.” Corinne strolled into Julian’s study with Lorenzo close behind and Julian much further back. Everyone had gathered waiting anxiously for whatever news they might have. They were not sure what to expect with Corinne. Her flare for the dramatic could mean that she cracked the case or had nothing much to offer at all. Olivia feared the latter. They needed a solid lead soon, or else Kaden’s time was up.

“Cori, what have you found out?” Olivia asked impatiently.

“For one thing, I would make a hell of an investigator. I’m like the vampire FBI. I can get answers out of anyone and find info others cannot. I think we should start a vampire FBI and I should lead the charge. I’m that good. I’m not trying to brag, but I’m really that good.”

“You’re amazing, Aunt Cori,” Kaden snipped. “Now can you tell us what your amazing abilities discovered?”

“I don’t like your tone. You should thank me for working so hard to find the real killer so that your sorry ass doesn’t get fried by Lucian’s gang.”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to be so grateful about, since you haven’t told us anything other than the fact that you’re great,” Kaden barked, his nerves clearly on edge.

“You really need to lighten up, Kaden.”

“Lighten up? I am being accused of murder, there are a bunch of people wanting me dead, we have no solid leads, and you’re playing games. How do I lighten up?” Reysa reached for Kaden’s arm, her touch instantly easing his rising temper.

“Look blondie, I don’t know if you can tell, but we’re all a little tense here,” Reysa snapped. “If you have some good information, can you do us all a favor and get to the point sooner rather than later?”

Everyone’s attention focused on Reysa, who was standing at Kaden’s side. She had remained in the background with her jaguar Alejandro who had joined the group shortly after their arrival to Julian’s house. The cat had demanded to be with Reysa during this investigation. In order to appease him and her other overprotective friends, she allowed Alejandro to accompany her. It was either him or Christian, and after witnessing Kaden’s reaction to him earlier, she thought best to keep them separated. Alejandro was the safer choice. As usual, he had not left her side.

Julian had not noticed Reysa when he first entered the room. Now he could not take his eyes off the phenomenal woman dressed in black leather. She was an African goddess. To call her beautiful was an insult, as that word could not come close to describing the exquisiteness of this flawless being. She was true perfection and way too good for Kaden, whose attraction to Reysa was evident on his lascivious face.

Corinne did not like this stranger’s tone, and she wanted to retort with her usual snarky comment; however, one look at the intense warrior standing at Kaden’s side made her back down. Corinne was no fool. Even though she might be older than the woman in front of her, that warrior looked like she was born and raised to kick ass. Corinne knew her limits. You certainly do not pick fights with someone that can slice you into pieces with minimal effort. Besides, the jaguar next to her looked ready to pounce if anyone made a move in the direction of Reysa.

“Well, excuse me. I guess I will get to the point, then. Sorry to waste your time.” Corinne moved to the center of the room to address everyone. “You guys were focusing on the first and last victims, so we decided to look at the other five. The fourth was the most interesting. Her name was Tessa. She was a human. Apparently, she was a real hottie who knew all about our kind. She hung out in vampire clubs and got off on being fed on.”

“A blood whore,” Reysa acknowledged.

“Harsh, but I guess fitting. Anyhow, she met our boy Kaden at a bar, a human bar actually. I’m not sure why you were there, Kaden, but this chick spotted you. According to the security guard, she flirted with you, practically throwing herself at you. At first you seemed uninterested, but she whispered something to you and then you were suddenly very interested.”

“She was human, but she knew what I was. She knew right away. I don’t know how and she would not tell me how she knew, but she sniffed me out. She offered herself to me.”

“Offered what?” Corinne asked, already knowing the answer but loving the uncomfortable look on Kaden’s face. What she did not know was whether he was embarrassed to answer because his mother was in the room or because of the woman standing protectively next to him.

“You already know that,” Kaden growled.

“I need to be sure,” Corinne smiled. “We must have all the relevant facts.”

“She offered me her blood and her body and I accepted both.”

Corinne saw Kaden glance in Reysa’s direction. It was the warrior woman whose reaction worried Kaden. Corinne smiled at the realization that Kaden was besotted with Reysa. “Don’t be so embarrassed, Kaden. Everyone knows you’re a man whore.”

“Look who’s talking. Who hasn’t tapped that ass yet?”

“Do not speak to Corinne in such a manner!” Lorenzo stood in front of Kaden with his claws extended.

Kaden was not the least bit intimidated by the threat. “Look, Lorenzo. If you want to be with Cori, then go for it, but don’t fool yourself into believing that you’re discovering new territory there. You won’t be planting your flag there marking her as your new land. Many flags have come before you and knowing my aunt, many will come after.”

Lorenzo launched a fist into Kaden’s jaw, causing a loud crack. Before he could respond in kind, Reysa stepped in and flattened Lorenzo’s nose with a hard right hook. Had he been human, that nose might have dislodged completely with the force Reysa wielded.

Kaden wanted to yell at her for interfering, but he could not help but admire this woman’s strength and willingness to defend him. The only other person who had ever defended him was his mother.

Lorenzo was not so impressed, and his fury resulted in his shift. The sound of bones snapping filled the room. Lorenzo’s claws extended further and his clothes shredded as they fell from his body. His smooth olive muscular skin was now filled with long silky brownish hair. Within moments, the man was now a seven-foot-tall beast. A very angry beast that looked ready to destroy anyone that got in the way of his target. Lorenzo roared, shaking the foundation of the house.

Kaden moved in front of Reysa. She refused to stay behind him and fought to be at his side. “Woman, stay back!” Kaden shouted at her.

“Don’t order me around,” she yelled back at him. “I can handle this beast. I’m sure I have more experience with hormonally challenged Lycans than you do.”

Lucian called out to Lorenzo, hoping to calm his friend before he went too far. Lucian knew that when Lorenzo was fully turned, it was almost impossible to reach him. Fortunately, it was not a full moon, so Lorenzo still had some control over his beast.

“Lorenzo, calm down. You need to calm the beast before you do something you will regret.” Lorenzo looked at Lucian. His breathing was steadier, but the fury in his eyes remained.

“Control your pet, Cori, before he gets hurt,” Kaden warned his aunt.

Lorenzo’s attention shifted back to Kaden and he roared again. Lorenzo swiped at Kaden’s face, knocking him into Reysa. Both fell to the ground. Alejandro launched himself into Lorenzo, sinking his teeth into the Lycan’s throat. Lorenzo tried to free himself from the cat, but his teeth were embedded in Lorenzo’s neck. He reached for one of the cat’s limbs and jerked it, breaking it with ease. The cat screeched and Lorenzo pushed Alejandro off of him. The cat would not give up. He bared his teeth and positioned himself to attack again. A shot went off, freezing everyone in the room.