Royal House of Shadows Box Set: Lord of the Vampires\Lord of Rage\Lord of the Wolfyn\Lord of the Abyss (11 page)

“Thank you,” she said, tears of relief filling her eyes.

Nicolai sprawled beside her and gathered her in his arms. He held her for a long while before the dam inside her broke and she sobbed against his chest, clutching him tightly to her. All of her book smarts, and she’d been helpless.

“I killed them, sweetheart. I killed them all. They’ll never hurt you again. This I swear to you.”

The evil of the king stunned her. The complete disregard for her will, the violence he had unleashed… Oh, she’d known there were people capable of such dark deeds, but never before had those deeds been brought to her door. It was frightening and heartbreaking to have seen the evidence firsthand.

“That’s the way. Let it out. I’ve got you,” he said soothingly.

“I was so scared.”

“Never again.
Never again,
” he vowed. “Unless…were you afraid of me?”

She shook her head.

“Good, that’s good. I would never hurt you. Even lost in a temper, I couldn’t hurt you.”

Soon her tears dried. The physical damage, as well as the pain of the healing, had taken their toll, and she sagged against him, sighing and shuddering. “What were you chanting when you gave me your blood?”

“More of my vampire magic. I cast a healing spell to aid the powers of my blood.”

She sniffled, her nose stuffy. “It was better than Vicodin.”

“Vicodin?”

“A painkiller from my world.”

“A killer of pain. Did you love him?” The words were growled.

A burst of unexpected humor gave her strength. “No. In fact, he was hard to shake. He, uh, stalked me, that kind of thing. I had to pretend he didn’t exist.”

Nicolai kissed her temple and relaxed against her. “Shall I hunt and destroy him for you, sweetheart? It would be my pleasure, believe me.”

“You have enough enemies. Besides, I destroyed him a while back.”

Another kiss. “Because you are strong.”

Lovely praise, but she was completely undeserving of it and couldn’t pretend otherwise. “I wasn’t strong enough to save myself today.” The tears returned. She brushed them away with a shaky hand. “I took self-defense lessons for a while, but they didn’t help. Not really. He would have…he was going to…”

“Never again,” Nicolai repeated, tightening his hold. “I will train you further. And when I’m done with you, not even
I
will be able to defeat you.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yes. Your safety is a personal mission of mine. A mission I will not fail.”

Maybe the turmoil of the day had made her emotional, but she got teary eyed all over again. That was the sweetest thing a guy had ever said to her. Even better than what he’d said to Laila. “Enough about me. I was afraid the giants had killed
you
.”

“I doubt even death would have kept me away from you.”

Okay. She was wrong.
That
was the sweetest. She kissed the pulse at the base of his neck. “What—what were those things?”

“Ogres.”

A yawn snuck up on her, her eyelids dipping heavily. “The king seemed to know you.”

He stiffened. “Yes.”

And he didn’t want to discuss it. She changed the subject, suddenly too tired to reason out why or press for answers. “You found me because you’d marked me, right?”

“Yes,” he said again. He traced his fingertips along her spine. “And I have never been gladder for something.”

“Have you marked other women?” Oh, God. She shouldn’t have asked. She wasn’t ready for the answer. Not here, not like this. Not after what had happened. He clearly did not have to be wed or engaged to mark a woman, so there could be a
thousand
out there. She should have….

“Not to my knowledge,” he said cautiously.

She sighed with relief. She would be willing to bet “marking” was more than a memory, that marking was an instinct, biology at its finest, a knowledge that went bone deep. After all, dogs did it. Of course, they peed on what they wanted, leaving their scent behind. And they didn’t need to remember doing it; they simply needed to smell and catch a hint of the desired aroma.

Nicolai had not honed in on any other woman. As easily as he’d found Jane, he would have found any others, without difficulty.
If
they were out there. So, logically, she had to believe she was the only one.

Yes, logically. He was free.

Maybe you’re the one who’s as dumb as a box of rocks. A good scientist studies both sides of the coin
. Fine. She’d argue in favor of the other side. Nicolai could very well be engaged, as he’d feared, as she’d tried to deny. And maybe he hadn’t marked the woman yet, wanting to wait for the actual ceremony to complete the connection.

Or, like the ogres, he could have had a harem of women. Perhaps one woman had not satisfied him for long, so he’d plowed through them like he had a cold and they were tissues. Perhaps there’d been too many to mark. Or perhaps he’d simply never cared enough to do it.

That certainly fit the image of a pampered prince.
Was
he a prince, though?
Had
he been pampered? A man given everything he wanted, never really satisfied?

Sometimes she hated her brain. And coin flipping.

The man she knew was volatile and possessive. He didn’t play nice with others, and he didn’t know how to share. Yet he was as far from pampered as a man
could be.
And he’s mine,
she thought, burrowing her head deeper into the hard line of his body. His strong, warm body.

He knew her, and wasn’t bothered by her verbal and mental tangents. He’d cared enough about her to come back for her—twice—saving her life. That had to count for something.

“Stop thinking and sleep, Jane,” he said.

“All right.” Nothing would happen to her while they were together. She knew it. He would guard her with his life. “Hold me and don’t let go.”

“Always,” he vowed.

Oh, yes. He cared. She drifted off to sleep with a smile.

W
hen Jane awoke, she was still in the cave. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed. All she knew was that she’d never felt so rested. She stretched like a contented kitten, warm despite her nakedness, her muscles liquid, and gazed around.

Startled by what she saw, she sat up. Enough time had passed for Nicolai to clean every speck of blood from the floor and walls. He’d also removed the bodies and subsequent body parts. If not for the lingering taint of evil, this could have been some kind of underground resort.

There was no reason for Nicolai to have done such a thing. They weren’t going to live here. Weren’t even going to spend the day. Unless he’d hoped to spare her any upset. Her eyes widened. That was exactly why he’d done it, she realized. The sweet, darling man.

Hello again, emotional roller coaster. She sniffled, her chin trembling.

“Don’t cry, sweetheart. Please don’t cry.” He was perched beside her, looking away from her, and holding out a bundle of wrinkled material. And God, his profile was gorgeous. Still streaked with blood, though some had been washed away, his cheeks were sharp, his lips lush and his expression relaxed. No ill effects from the fighting. “It kills me inside.”

After everything he’d done for her, she would do anything he asked. Besides, despite his relaxed expression, lines of tension branched from his eyes, as if permanently etched there. Something more
was
bothering him, and she wouldn’t add to his troubles.

“I won’t.” She used the hem of the offered fabric to clean her face.

The corners of his mouth twitched, his inner worries momentarily forgotten. What did he find so humorous? “Did you sleep well?” he asked.

“Yes, thank you.”

“Good. Now. Will you dress for me?” A question layered with apprehension.

She thought she knew why. Her nakedness aroused him—or at least, she hoped it did—but he didn’t want to do anything about it. Not after what had happened here. She was grateful.

She knew the old adage “replace the bad with the good.” She also knew there was nothing better than Nicolai’s touch. He could play her like a piano, stroking all the right keys and creating a symphony. But she didn’t want their first time to spring from any need but the one to be together.

“Jane?” he prompted.

Dress. Right. “With what?” Her robe was ruined beyond repair.

“Your tissue.”

“Oh.” She chewed on her bottom lip as she studied the “tissue.” A faded yellow cotton robe, clean, and free of rips. Perfect. “Where did you get this?”

He motioned behind him with a tilt of his head. “The only other females here were so grateful to be free of their ogre masters, they stayed long enough to help me clean this room and offered you all of their possessions.”

“That was thoughtful of them.”

“They also offered me the use of their bodies.”

“I will wipe the floor with their blood!” She jerked the robe over her head.

When Nicolai came back into view, she saw that he was grinning. That grin…decadent and shameless. Her blood heated. Blood that belonged to him, had once been a part of him.

“I sent them on their way,” he said. “
Without
accepting.”

“Like I care what you do,” she groused. This conversation, on the heels of her harem worries, brought out the fires of
her
temper.

That wiped away his amusement completely. “You had better care.”

She sighed. Honesty was needed if they were going to have any kind of relationship. And she wanted a relationship with him, however long they had left together. A day, a week, a month? Or would she remain here forever?

She wouldn’t worry about that now.

“Fine,” she said on a sigh. “I care.” Her stomach growled from hunger, and in the quiet of the cave, the sound echoed loudly. She blushed. “Do you?”

“More than I can say.”

“I just…don’t want you to be hurt if I leave.”

“You won’t leave. Now, come.” He stood and waved his fingers. “I’ll feed you.”

He cared! And how could he be so certain she would remain? “What time is it?” she asked, accepting his aid with a tender smile. A smile that quickly fled. Her bones creaked and ached as she straightened.

“Close to midnight.”

Back home, she would have been in her bed right now, tossing and turning and dreading the coming morning.

They made their way back to the river. Limping at first, but muscles relaxing with the exercise, she gathered mint leaves and twigs, and they brushed their teeth as they walked. Afterward, Nicolai foraged for fruits and nuts to tide her over. As she nibbled, she kind of expected creatures from childhood storybooks to jump out and grab her, or Laila to scream a curse and appear, but no. The thirty-minute journey was incident free.

Nicolai stepped into the water, dipped all the way in, came up wet and sputtering and motioned for her to do the same. “Bathe, and I’ll gather the fish you scare away.”

“Ha, ha. Shows what you know. Fish adore me. Don’t be surprised if they dance at my feet.”

“Are you trying to make me kill the fish in a jealous rage so you can have more to eat?” he teased.

“Maybe.” More than gorgeous, he was sexy. Amused, playful, all that wet dark hair plastered to his scalp and dripping down his face, crystalline droplets scorching a path down his mouthwatering pectorals, the ropes of his stomach—and, sweet heaven, there were a lot of
ropes—and finally catching in the waist of his loincloth.

Without the taint of the cave, there was nothing to dilute her need. Jane hungered for her man more than anything else.

You’ve gotta clean up if you want to get dirty with him.

“Prepare to be awed,” he said, giving her his back.

I already am.
She removed her new robe and jumped into the water—such cool, refreshing water—before he could turn and see her beaded nipples. She scrubbed up until her skin tingled. Well, tingled from more than desire.

All the while, she snuck secret glances at Nicolai. He caught several fish and tossed them ashore. As time ticked by, he became more and more apprehensive, his motions clipped. And he was utterly oblivious to her stare. Not once did he glance back at her.

Moonlight spotlighted him, golden and magical. He was so strong, so capable. She chewed her bottom lip as she treaded water. The water might be cool, but the liquid between her legs was warm.

Perhaps she should have been scared or experienced post-traumatic stress symptoms. Flashbacks at the very least. After all, she’d nearly been raped and
had
been beaten. But this was Nicolai. Her protector. Not even bad memories would dare attack her while he was nearby.

“Nicolai,” she said, a husky note in her voice. She hadn’t meant to call him, but his name had emerged unbidden, unstoppable.

Finally he turned to her. Her breath caught. His eyes were brighter than she’d ever seen them, the gold flecks
out to play, mingling seductively with the silver. His cheeks were flushed, his fangs long and sharp.

“Awed yet?” he demanded.

“Yes.” Oh, yes. Was that why he was so distressed and distant? She hadn’t properly praised his skills? “You’re the best fisherman I’ve ever met. Granted, you’re the only one I’ve ever met, but…”

No hint of a smile. “I’ll feed you,” he said, adding darkly, “After.”

“After?”

“I smell your desire for me, little Jane, and I gave you time to grow used to the idea of being with me. Time is up. Come here.” He crooked his finger. “I want you.”

After
wasn’t such a bad word anymore. “About time.” She didn’t hesitate. She swam the distance, the water caressing her skin. When she was only a whisper away, she let her feet drop to the bottom and stood. The waterline reached just under her breasts.

“I’m going to have you,” he said fiercely.

“Yes.”

“All of you.”

“Yes.” Please.

He stepped closer. Every time they inhaled, their chests rubbed together, creating the most dizzying friction.

“Nothing will stop me,” he said.

“Not even thoughts of another woman waiting for you?” She hated herself the moment the words left her, but she was still glad they had. Another woman was the reason he had resisted her before.

Shadows couched his features, turning him into the warrior of the night before. “There…is. A woman. Most likely.”

Oh, God. “Who?” A plug was lifted, and the desire drained from her, leaving her cold, hollow. “Do you…did you love her?”

“No. My father arranged the marriage. I do not remember my intended’s face or her name, or even my proposal. I know only that I promised my father I would wed her.”

Don’t cry. Don’t you dare cry.
At least his heart did not belong to someone else. That should help.

That didn’t help. She wanted all of him. For herself.

“You’re remembering?” she croaked.

“Not everything, only bits and pieces at a time. I tell you this, not to upset you, Jane, but to warn you. No matter what happens, I’m keeping you. You are mine. That will not change.”

No matter what happens—as in, if he had to marry another woman. “No.”

The possibility of his involvement with another had been so easy to dismiss before. And she could very easily dismiss it now, when it was a reality.
If
he had decided to end the engagement.

She wouldn’t be the other woman. She wouldn’t! She had too much pride. Didn’t she? Oh, God. The fact that she’d even asked meant she already wanted to consider the option.

No. No, no, no. Her parents had loved each other, respected each other, and that’s what she wanted for herself. A deep, abiding love that placed her first. She didn’t want to spend her nights wondering if her man was in bed with his wife, giving her pleasure and babies. She didn’t want to find herself regulated to the fringes of his life. She didn’t want to be the one everyone blamed for their troubles.

She deserved better.

When she returned home and thought back on her time here—she knew she couldn’t stay now, because somehow, some way, she would find a path home—this was the night that would haunt her. Not those pain filled hours with the ogres. Not even the humiliation of her whipping.
This
hurt the most.

She backed away from him. Not allowing the retreat, he reached out and gripped her shoulders, tugging her back to him. Closer this time, until not even a whisper separated them. They were flush against each other, his erection smashed against her belly.

“I know what you’re thinking, Jane.”

“What, you’re a mind reader as well as an engaged man?” She threw the words like weapons, needing to lash out even in the smallest way.

“No, but I know you. You are not leaving me.” The command didn’t come from the tender savior who had held her while she’d slept, but from the dangerous predator who had removed a man’s limbs just to hear him scream. “I told you these things, not to worry you, but to reassure you. Betrothals can be broken. And mine will be. I will have you, and no other.”

“I—I—” Was that a declaration? A proposal? Her emotions ran the gamut, and her mind didn’t know whether to release the despair and accept the sudden tide of joy, or wallow in both. “I know you said I wouldn’t, but what if I do, in fact, leave your world? You would…” Die. She shouldn’t know that, couldn’t yet admit that she did, but then, he hadn’t asked her to forever mate with him, had he?

If he did, mating could very well tie her to this world
forever. Her eyes widened. Was
that
how he knew she would stay?

“You will not leave,” he said. “I will make sure of it, whatever I have to do. Now, we finish this, Jane. Here. Now.” He didn’t wait for her reply, but swooped down, thrusting his tongue deep inside her mouth.

Joy won.

She couldn’t help herself. She welcomed him. He still tasted of mint, warm, wet mint, and she couldn’t get enough. And when he tilted her head, taking more, sampling deeper, her nerve endings erupted with sensation. This was what a kiss was meant to be, a possession, a claiming. An awakening of every sense.

Her hands wound around his neck, her fingers sinking into his hair. Later. She’d ask him what he’d meant by “whatever I have to do” later. Right now, she had the most important fact. He wasn’t pledging himself to someone else. Here, now, she would enjoy him.

They stood like that, kissing and rubbing against each other forever. And every second of that forever ramped up her desire, until she was trembling, needy, aching with a fever only he could assuage.

“Wrap your legs around me,” he commanded harshly.

“Yes.” Even the thought left her reeling. She jumped up and did as commanded, expecting him to possess her in the next instant. He didn’t enter her, though. No, he carried her to the shore, his hard length sliding against her. She moaned as he laid her down and stretched out on top of her. Still he didn’t enter her.

“Don’t stop,” she breathed.

“I won’t.” He placed his hands beside her temples, removed his loincloth and anchored his weight.

“So lovely, my female.”

“Prove it. Prove that I’m yours.”

His lips peeled back from his fangs. “When I’m done, you might regret such a request.”

“Promises, promises.”

Once again, he defied her expectations. He didn’t go in for the kill, didn’t deliver instant relief to her raging desires. Instead, he spent the next few minutes kneading her breasts and laving her nipples, his fingers tracing erotic patterns on her stomach, but he never quite reached where she needed him most.

When he began kissing the same white-hot path his fingers had taken, her legs fell open, a silent plea for contact.

He didn’t give it to her.

He licked her inner thighs, between her damp lips, even speared her core with his tongue, sinking inside for the briefest of seconds, teasing her with what could be, but he was always careful to bypass her clit.

She needed to come, damn it.

“Nicolai. Stop teasing.”

Warm breath trekked over her. “Who do you belong to, Jane?”

Well, well. Now she knew his game. Work her over, tease her with what he could give her, until she gave him what he wanted—what she’d demanded of him. Ownership.