SovereignsChoice (25 page)

After seeing the predatory way the vampires
of the Council are watching us, I don’t doubt him for an instant. If we don’t
manage to repair or at least patch the spell, they’ll be on us. And though I know
without asking that Aiden would die fighting to protect me, there’s no way he
could take on twelve ancient, powerful vampires alone and win. We’d both
die—they’d bleed us until the spell is mended.

That’s not going to happen,
I tell myself sternly.
I won’t let it happen!

Determined to make this work, I hook my
thumbs into the elastic sides of my panties and prepare to push them down. But
this time Aiden stops them.

“Wait,” he murmurs. Then he kneels in front
of me, just as he did that first night, and looks up into my eyes. “Let me,” he
says. Holding my eyes with his, he slips my panties down, revealing my bare
pussy, making me utterly vulnerable—claiming me as his. “Spread your legs,
darling,” he says softly.

The word
why
trembles on my lips but
I clamp down and don’t ask. Whatever he wants, I’ll give him. I need to focus only
on him, just as he said. I need to forget the ring of hungry eyes surrounding
us and concentrate on submitting completely to my Master.

“I need to make sure you’re wet enough,”
Aiden murmurs, as I spread my legs without protest. “Need to taste your sweet
little pussy until you’re hot enough to take me, Emma.”

A soft moan of submission comes from my
lips as he spreads me with his long fingers. I brace myself with one hand on
his broad shoulder, trying to be open enough for him, trying to give myself completely.

“Good girl,” Aiden says softly, sending a
shiver of pleasure through me with his praise. His breath is hot against my
inner thighs. “Such a good girl to let me spread open your pussy and taste you,
Emma.”

I want him so much I can barely breathe. I
grip his shoulder harder and moan as his long tongue slips between my pussy
lips to tease my clit. Honestly, I’m already wet and hot for him—just the idea
of giving in so completely, of offering him my pain as well as my pleasure—has
me more turned-on than I can ever remember being in my life. But it’s not as if
I’m going to turn down a tongue bath by my oh-so-orally talented Master.

It seems to go on forever, the soft, slow
licking, the feel of his tongue inside me, probing my depths. I get closer and
closer to the edge, feeling at any minute I might tilt over. But somehow he
keeps me just on the edge, never quite pressing the magic button for long enough
to get me off. Finally I’m panting in frustration, my hand on his shoulder
gripped into a fist, my entire body tense with need.

“Master,” I gasp as he laps me gently,
sucking my swollen clit into his mouth and teasing it unmercifully with the tip
of his tongue. “Oh Goddess, Master…please, I’m so close!”

To my disappointment, Aiden pulls back. “I know,
Emma,” he says in a soft, stern voice. “But I don’t want you to come—not yet.”

I want to ask
when
I’ll be allowed
to come but again I bite down hard, stifling the question.
This is all about
submission
, I remind myself. I must give myself completely and not question
my Master’s every move.

“I think you’re ready now.” Aiden rises,
towering over me, a look of stern disapproval on his face. “It’s time, Emma. Get
on your hands and knees and spread your thighs for me.”

Trembling, I do as he says. The flagstones
are hard and cold against my hands and knees but I put my head down and try to
ignore my discomfort. I can feel Aiden hovering over me, the heat of his skin
like a flame against my spine.

“Wait,” one of the vampires says, forcing
me to remember that we’re being watched by the entire Vampire Council.

Aiden looks up, irritated. “What is it?”

“She’s too hidden.” The eyes gleam in the
darkness. “Too hard to see. If you’re going to do this, Aiden, you must do it properly.
Bring out the breeding bench.”

I have no idea what a breeding bench is but
the words turn my blood to ice water anyway. Still, before I can protest, one
of the other vampires is bringing a strange contraption, which looks like a
medieval torture device, into the circle.

The breeding bench is kind of an inclined
plane that slants slightly upward. Clearly my body will lie along the wooden
bench. There are holes in the wood for my breasts to fit through as well as
straps for my wrists at the top and stirrups coming out from the sides.
Adjustable
stirrups
,
I realize, feeling ill as I look at them. They’re made
so that once my feet are strapped into them, they can be winched higher or
lower, effectively lifting my ass and spreading my legs, giving Aiden much
better access to my naked, unprotected pussy.

I look at this thing in disbelief. It’s one
thing to kneel on my hands and knees, to open myself to my Master and let him
hurt me or pleasure me as he sees fit. It’s something else entirely to allow
myself to be strapped into this monstrosity—held in position whether I want to
be or not. Goddess, who invented this thing anyway—some kind of sadist?

I open my mouth to protest…and catch sight
of Aiden’s face. He knows what I’m thinking, how vulnerable and frightened I’m feeling.
I am certain of it. And I’m also certain that the Vampire Council expects me to
refuse to be strapped into this strange sexual device. The minute I defy my
Master and refuse to submit completely, this little foray into sex magic will
be over and we will have failed.

I can’t let that happen.

Taking a deep breath, I approach the
breeding bench. I press my chest and abdomen to the cool, varnished wood of the
supporting plane, fitting my bare breasts through the holes provided, noting as
I do that the vampires of the Council now have an excellent view of my tight nipples.
I put my hands into the straps and fit my feet in the stirrups. I lean forward,
getting into position—almost the same position I would be in if I were riding a
horse and leaning over its mane. Then I wait.

I feel incredibly exposed. My ass is on display
and my pussy is open, showing the slippery pink of my inner folds. I can feel
every eye in the place trained on my nakedness but I tell myself I don’t care.
The only eyes I care about are my Master’s. The only man I want to see is
Aiden.

When I risk a glance in his direction, he
is looking at me with something like wonder in his eyes.
Now he’ll see,
I
think, not letting my gaze waver from his.
Now he’ll know how much I love
him. How I’ll do anything to keep him alive.

“Emma,” he murmurs, walking over to stand
by my side. “Darling…”

“I’m ready, Master,” I tell him in a
shaking voice. “Ready for…for my punishment.”

His gray eyes go suddenly hard. “That’s
good to hear, Emma, because I’m going to punish you hard tonight. I’m going to
use your little pussy very roughly and thoroughly and I don’t want to hear a
word of protest. Do you understand?”

His stern words start a fire between my
legs. “Yes Master,” I whisper. “I-I understand.”

“Good.” He moves around behind me and I
hear the low purring sound of his zipper being lowered. “Because I’m going to
fuck you now, Emma. Going to fuck you
hard
.”

I feel him fit the broad head of his cock
to the entrance of my pussy. I can’t help remembering the last time he did
this—the way he slid into me so slowly and was so careful not to thrust in me
too hard. The way he was so gentle, so loving in his treatment of me. I have a
feeling tonight is going to be the opposite but somehow no less pleasurable for
all that.

Two strong hands grip my hips and I can feel
my Master’s breath hot against the back of my neck. “Get ready,” he advises me,
his voice a deep, menacing growl. “I’m not just going to fuck you tonight,
Emma. I’m going to
breed
you.”

His words remind me suddenly that I’m not
on birth control. And since my period is over—has been over for a while—I’m
fertile and completely unprotected. I open my mouth to say this…and close it
again.

“I know,” Aiden murmurs in my ear as his
thick shaft slides slowly into me, stretching me wide. “I know you have no
protection, Emma. I know you’re open and fertile. Completely vulnerable to my
seed.”

“Master?” I whisper, making his name a
question. “Are you…will you…?” I can’t finish the sentence. He’s all the way
inside me now, and this time he’s making no effort to hold back. The broad head
of his cock presses hard against the mouth of my womb, making me shiver with
fear and anticipation.

“I’m sorry, Emma,” he tells me. “But I
won’t pull out of you tonight. I’m going to claim your pussy and come in you
whether you want me to or not. The best thing you can do is simply submit—open
your pussy for me and let me fill you. You have no choice.”

My chest feels tight and it’s suddenly hard
to breathe.
Submit. I have to submit,
I remind myself. And then slowly I
start to relax. If my Master wants to come in me while I’m fertile and
unprotected, I have no choice but to let him. The knowledge that I am his—completely
and totally his to do with as he chooses—fills me with a strange kind of peace.

“Yes Master,” I murmur, turning my head and
pressing my cheek to the cool wood of the breeding bench. “Whatever you want.
I-I submit.”

“Gods, Emma.” His deep voice is tight,
filled with emotion. “You’re so beautiful when you give yourself to me. I love
you so much.”

“I love you too.” I spread my thighs wider,
trying to open myself still more for him, to give myself completely. “Please,
Master, do it,” I urge him. “Take me. Punish me.”

“I’ll punish you when I’m ready and not
before,” he growls with soft menace. The hands gripping my hips tighten and I feel
him tense inside me. “Remember what I told you about topping from the bottom,
Emma?”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I just…I want you
so much. Whatever you’re going to give me—pleasure or pain. I want it.”

“I’ll give it to you, all right,” he says,
sounding almost angry this time. “Don’t move, Emma. I’m going to fuck you now.”

I open my mouth to reply but then I feel
him pull almost all the way out of me…and thrust back in hard and fast. I cry
out as I feel the thick shaft filling me, the head of his cock pressing hard
against the mouth of my womb with each deep stroke.

Punishment fuck…he’s giving me a
punishment fuck,
I remind myself, trying to
remember to breathe as the hard fucking goes on and on. I want to try to twist,
to get away—but there’s no place for me to go. Aiden’s hands on my hips hold me
in place, not letting me move from my submissive position. His breath is hot
and furious against the back of my neck and his cock seems to throb within me,
stretching me to the limit with each deliberately rough stroke.

Strangely, his roughness seems to push me
closer and closer to the edge. I’m experiencing as much pain as pleasure but
the feeling is so intense, so deep. I feel so opened, so taken by my Master.
I
am his,
I think as he rams into me yet again.
Utterly and completely
his. He’s finally claiming me. Finally marking me as his own.

“You’re mine, Emma,” Aiden growls in my
ear, echoing my thoughts as he fucks me. “You belong to me now and I’ll
never…let…you…
go
.” He punctuates each word with a particularly deep
thrust, making me cry out, making me gasp my submission.

“Yes Master,” I cry, feeling the magic of
the wounded spell flow over me as my pleasure and pain start to peak. “I’m
yours…only and always yours.”

“Come for me.” One of his large hands
leaves my hip and travels around to my pussy. His long fingers rub roughly
against my clit. “Come for your Master, Emma. I want to feel your pussy holding
me tight when I fill you with my cum.”

“Master…” I moan and suddenly it’s too
much. The pleasure of being owned, the pain of his roughly inflicted
punishment, the magic of the ancient spell pouring over me, yearning to be
healed… It all comes together like a cyclone inside me and I feel myself
exploding, my pussy contracting helplessly around Aiden’s thick shaft as he
shoves himself hard inside me and pumps me full of his hot, creamy cum.

“Mine,” he growls again as he fills me with
his seed. “Always mine, Emma. Never forget that.”

“I won’t,” I try to say but the magic gets
in the way. I can feel it tingling all through me, rushing over me, invading
me, calling my own, long-dormant power to the surface.

Suddenly my eyes feel strange and so does
my hair—my pupils burn while my scalp feels as if someone poured a bucket of
ice water over my head. Even my bones ache. Bizarre energy rushes over me,
drowning me, overwhelming my senses until I can’t see, can’t hear, can’t
breathe
.

It’s too much to bear all at once. Dimly
I’m aware of Aiden calling my name. I try to answer but my mouth won’t work. I
shiver and gasp as the world goes gray around me. I open my mouth to scream…and
everything fades to black.

“Emma? Emma, darling? Wake up!
Wake up.
”
Aiden is shaking me, a look of fear and desperation on his strong features.

“A-Aiden?” I blink up at his white face barely
visible in the darkness, trying to make my eyes focus. Why is everything blurry
and then suddenly sharp? And why does my scalp itch so badly? I put up a hand
to touch my hair but blue sparks fly from my fingertips. With a gasp, I pull my
hand back. I don’t want to set my own hair on fire! “What’s…what’s going on?” I
ask him in a trembling voice.

“Your magic. You finally came into your
magic.” Lexy is suddenly kneeling beside me, free of the tape that bound her
earlier. Beside her Grant is standing, his hands on his knees, peering at me curiously.

“It’s true,” he says. “It came in like an
earthquake when you fused the spell. I’ve never felt such a manifestation of
power before.”

I recoil from him, thinking I’m still
naked, but then I realize I’m wrapped in Aiden’s charcoal-colored jacket. “Is
that true?” I look up at my Master for verification.

“I don’t know,” he says honestly, looking immensely
relieved. “I’m just glad you’re all right, darling. You fainted and I couldn’t
wake you up. Gods…” He puts a hand over his face for a moment in an
uncharacteristic display of emotion. “Emma,” he says in a muffled voice. “Don’t
ever scare me like that again. I thought…thought I’d lost you.”

“You still might.” Lexy puts a hand on her
hip. “Why didn’t you warn Emma this day was coming? Why didn’t you tell her she
was related to Katherine? And what else are you holding back?”

“Lexy, please…” I hold out a hand to stop
her. “I don’t want to fight right now. I’m too tired and I feel too weird.”

“No, your cousin is right.” Aiden sits
back, his grip on me loosening. I don’t like that. I want to be held in his
arms again but somehow I can’t say so.

“What…what do you mean?” I ask softly.

“There are things I haven’t told you.” He
looks down at the flagstones, the curving circle still half filled with his
blood. “Things I haven’t shared. But only because I wanted to spare you pain.”

“What things?” I don’t want to know but my
mouth forms the words anyway. “What…what are you talking about? Please, Aiden,
I need to know.”

Aiden sighs heavily and releases his hold
on me completely. I feel so cold without him near me but I’m afraid to get
close, afraid of what he might say.

“I never told you that you were related to
Katherine because I didn’t want to tell you about the night I first saw you,”
he says.

“You mean…the first time you came into my
shop?” I asked, confused.

He shakes his head. “No, darling, I met you
long before that. You just didn’t remember me. And I had almost managed to
forget about you as well—until I walked into your shop. But the first time I
laid eyes on you was fourteen years ago on the night your house burned to the
ground.”

“What?” I look at him in disbelief. “But
how…why…?”

“I’ll tell you everything.” He looks
defeated and tired, as though he’s suddenly feeling every year of his immense
age. “Though you will not like it and you may hate me when I’m through.”

A sudden thought occurs to me. “Aiden, you
told me that Katherine was a virgin before you found her being…attacked. But
somehow I’m her direct descendant so she must have had a baby.” I feel sick.
“Please tell me you’re not my great-great-great-grandfather or something creepy
like that.”

“No.” Aiden looks startled. “No, of course
not. The baby girl she had was as a result of the rape. I wanted to keep her
and raise her but Katherine refused. The baby was a constant reminder—she
wanted nothing to do with her.” His expression turns sad. “We placed her with a
childless couple who desperately wanted her. I didn’t think about the blood tie
I had to her—to all Katherine’s descendants—until that terrible night I first
saw you.”

“Blood tie?” I ask, frowning.

“When a vampire takes enough of your blood,
it forms a kind of bond,” Lexy lectures. “Depending on the type and quantity of
blood they take, the bond can be very strong—even lasting across centuries and
generations.”

“True.” Aiden nods. “I was bound to
Katherine by her blood,” he says, a faraway look in his eyes. “I loved her so much
I wanted to die when she did, so I went to ground, hoping to sleep away the
pain.”

“I know about that,” I say.

He nods. “When I went to ground, I still
had Katherine’s blood in me—the way I had your blood in me tonight. It formed a
bond to her next of kin—the little girl she gave away. She must have lived a
quiet life and her daughter after her and her daughter as well, because none of
them ever disturbed my slumber.

“Then, one night over a hundred years after
my beloved Katherine died, I felt a calling—a tugging inside me. It was almost
as though someone had tied a cord around my heart and was pulling as hard as
she could.”

“The blood tie,” I whisper and Aiden nods.

“Your mother knew, darling,” he says. “I
don’t know how—maybe she researched your family tree. But she
knew
I was
bound to Katherine and her descendants and she called me up from the grave to
save her and her little girl.”

He puts a hand to his face and I sense that
what he has to say next is hard for him. “I came as soon as I was roused but I
couldn’t save your mother—I’m so sorry. I don’t blame you if you hate me for
that. But I
did
manage to bring you to safety. I put you in your aunt’s
arms before I left.”

“That night,” I whisper. “I always dream
about that night…” Suddenly The Dream comes back to me. Its details are vivid
and for the first time, I can remember it all. The man with the deep, kind
voice and white hands, the one who shielded me from the flames and saved me
from the man with the slotted yellow eyes…it was Aiden. He was there for me
from the first!

“But…” I shake my head in confusion. “If
you were there, you must know how the fire started. And who was the man you saved
me from? Was it…?”

“It was Sanchez,” Grant says. “He told me
he’d been sent once before to get you, back when your power first started
manifesting, early on when you were a child. The vampires wanted your blood to
mend the spell, which was already in bad shape, even fourteen years ago.”

“Sanchez…” So that’s why when I see him I
always smell burning and hear weeping. I shiver. “That bastard.” I ball my
hands into fists. “I’ll kill him! Is he the one who set fire to my house?”

Grant frowns. “No. At least he says he
wasn’t. According to him he went to your house but your mother intercepted him.
They had words and fought—she managed to drive him away, back into the yard. He
claims the fire started on the second story—he saw witch-flames shooting up the
curtains in one of the bedrooms and then suddenly the whole place was ablaze.”

“Witch-flames?” I feel sick and dizzy. I look
down at my fingers and see the crackle of blue sparks shooting from their tips.
The Dream peels away like a piece of protective film that’s been covering my
mind. Suddenly I realize that its safe fuzziness has been protecting me,
keeping me from knowing, from understanding what really happened that night.

“Emma.” Aiden puts a hand out to me but I
shake him off.

“Me,” I whisper, balling my crackling,
dangerous hands into fists and stuffing them under my arms. “
I’m
the one
who started the fire. I heard them arguing and I thought he wanted to hurt my
mom—I didn’t know he was after me. So I called the flames. I-I wanted to throw
them at him but somehow they got out of control. Oh Goddess…” I put my head in
my hands, no longer caring if I set my hair on fire, as sobs rise to choke me.
“I killed her—she sacrificed herself for me because she knew the fire had to be
satisfied. The fire
I
called.”

“Oh, Emma, hon…” Lexy puts her arms around
me. At first I resist but then I wrap my arms around her neck and bawl.

It all makes sense now. The way I couldn’t
find my magic and thought I was a dud. It was because I’d buried it, hidden it
along with the horrible memory of the night my mother died. Because I didn’t
want to know. Didn’t want to admit to myself what I had done, that I had killed
the one person who meant more to me than anything else in the world.

“I’m so sorry.” Aiden’s voice sounds far
away and oddly formal. I force myself to pull away from Lexy and look up at
him. He is standing there, in the circle, a look of grim despair on his white
features. “I never wanted you to know that, Emma,” he says softly. “I fear that
I’ve brought nothing but pain to you, just as I brought nothing but pain to
Katherine.”

“Aiden…” I whisper but he shakes his head,
a look of determination crossing his face.

“I release you from your servitude. I am no
longer your Master.” He stoops down and I think he’s going to kiss me one last
time. Instead he reaches behind my neck and unfastens the leather collar. Then
he rises swiftly, regret filling his eyes. “I’m sorry, Emma. I hope you’ll live
a long and fulfilling life.”

Before I can say another word he’s
gone—flashing out the door in a white blur—showing the supernatural speed and
grace vampires are known for.

For a moment I’m stunned. I feel as if I’ve
lost my mother all over again and now I have just lost the man I cared for, the
man I love. And Aiden said he loved me too.
Only now he’s gone,
whispers
a little voice in my head.
He’s gone and he’s never coming back.