Vampire's Soul

  "Yes," she said, her voice breathless. "I would like that."

  Cai tossed a feral grin at her. "But I asked him."

  "Yes. God, yes," Rand said.

  Good. Slide her up your body and suckle her nipples, her neck. Women love that. And it drives vampires fucking over the moon.

  Like you. You like it when my mouth is at your throat.

  Fuck yeah. But with her, go gentle at first, then be more insistent. Grip and caress her breasts as you do it. Don't just pay attention to the nipples, because that can get uncomfortable. But when she gets more aroused, you can pinch and tug. If you're doing it right, she'll rub her wet little cunt all over those obscenely hard abs of yours.

  The male might not know his way around a woman, but he earned high marks for following instruction. There was a brief hesitation as he realized he'd be releasing the pipe she'd commanded him to hold, but Cai sent him an encouraging push in his mind. It was okay. The time was right, and Rand had proven he could follow his instincts about her better even than Cai could.

  Despite a half-hearted protest from the female, Rand gripped Dovia beneath the arms and brought her up higher, adjusting his hands to circle her breasts, squeeze them with caressing pressure as he took first one nipple in his mouth, then the other, suckling. Her head dropped back on a gasp. Cai's satisfaction surged as she hooked her leg high over Rand's hip, her calf brushing Cai's, and she rubbed her mound hard against Rand's washboard stomach.

  She'd brought the leg into play well above his wound, their considerate princess, and Cai gripped her thigh, additional strength to keep it above the affected area, and offer her support.

  Rand made noises as he was suckling her, the right kind that increased her response. And the size of Cai's cock, because it was his servant doing this, bringing pleasure to another vampire. Not his own vampire, so Cai was damn well going to remind him what vampire commanded him. Even though he didn't begrudge Dovia this. He'd given her permission and he was stronger than her, higher on the food chain.

  The two different feelings made total sense. No conflict. Just what it was. Right now, there was no question of time limits between him and Rand, or what would change in their relationship when Dovia was back with her family. Rand was Cai's, and he was going to reinforce that claim with the subtlety of a baseball bat.

  It didn't help ease that fire and need to see in Rand's mind that he wanted that reminder, craved it. He was getting caught up in the experience of being between the two of them, the worry that he wouldn't be able to please Dovia diminishing.

  The only way Rand couldn't be pleasing was if he were a stone-cold corpse. Only if all that character, power and life were leeched away from the physical form. The male had a hell of a body, but it was the charisma and energy that infused it that made him so desirable.

  Rand had put one hand behind her head, cradling it, and Dovia turned her mouth to the inside of his forearm. As he continued to suckle at one of her breasts, she struck again, looking for more blood. She wanted to feed again, but for different reasons this time.

  Bring her down to your throat, wolf. Give her time to unlatch so she doesn't tear your flesh.

  "Kiss me," Rand murmured, and Dovia eagerly disengaged her mouth from his arm to bring blood-tinged lips to his. Rand did a proper job on that, cupping her head again to make the kiss deep and long, a kiss that would melt any woman's knees and liquefy her in all the right places.

  Cai saw the wolf imagining the first kiss the two of them had shared. Though Rand kept the present-moment kiss sensual, forceful to the right amount for a young woman, the elements of the near-violence he and Cai had shared were there. Cai got lost in the memory as he pressed his face to the back of Rand's shoulder and stroked his hip, his buttock.

  Cai used his saliva to lubricate himself, but it wouldn't be enough. He was too big, too hard. He'd underestimated his response to the horror of everything that had happened. He wanted to take his servant with the primal instinct of a tiger, set free from the soul-shattering prison of a circus. I am vampire, hear me roar.

  A little tap and thump. The sound of something hitting and tumbling off his hip, behind his ass on the bed. Cai felt for it and came up with a tube of lubricant, the perfect pocket carry size. He lifted his head to glance over at Daegan's bed. The vampire still had his eyes closed, but his hands had changed position.

  "Nice aim," Cai muttered. "Thanks."

  The vampire's head inclined slightly. Of course Daegan would carry lube. While Cai still had mixed feelings about Gideon, the vampire hunter was undeniably fuckable-looking. If he was Daegan, Cai would be tapping that ass whenever he could.

  But he had his own servant who made him feel the same fucking way. Rand was pushing back against him, and he took it for the invitation it was. Cai lubed up fast. Dovia had broken the kiss, Rand directing her to his throat as Cai had suggested. He let the hand that had been holding the back of her head drop, his arm settling around her upper back, stroking. However, he'd returned the other over his head to grasp the pipe again, as she'd originally dictated. When she struck at his carotid, fangs sinking in deep, Cai slid his cock into his backside.

  Rand arched into both stimuli, a groan breaking from his lips. Cai slid a hand forward to Dovia's hip, gripped there. The shifter's cock was near the opening of her slick pussy.

  Condom...

  His wolf, so conscientious.

  No need. He could get into why vampires didn't use protection, rare fertility, no STDs and all that, but all he needed was one explanation to allay Rand's concerns. One that underscored why Goddard's no-marks behavior toward his human captives had been purist idiocy.

  Vampire-human conception doesn't happen outside a full servant marking. Only I can impregnate you, wolf.

  Rand choked on a sound that might have been a laugh, or a lust-filled response to what they were doing to him. Or both.

  Cai could smell Dovia's arousal, strong and thick. She was ready, but they both waited, knowing the importance of her being the one to decide when and if. Rand's thighs shuddered as Cai thrust into him again. The shifter's cock slid along her thighs, teasing her clit while she drank from his throat, nourishing herself. And suddenly, her hands clutched his biceps, she adjusted herself over him, and she sank down, down. She did it fast, as if running from demons, and as she took him to the hilt, she made a deep, moving cry against Rand's flesh, an overflow of emotions.

  When she lifted her mouth from his throat, Rand sucked gently on her lips to remove the blood. She had her eyes on his, still lowered. He didn't put her in a spotlight. This moment was all hers. There were a couple tear tracks on her face, but it was still suffused with physical desire. She began to move.

  Lifting and lowering herself, the strength of Rand's arm helping, adding to the movement. Another cry broke from her lips when male need took over and his grip on her waist tightened, bringing her down more firmly upon him. A reaction to Cai, who'd thrust deep in the very same motion, plowing him. The muttered expletive that escaped Rand's working throat was music to Cai's ears.

  "Yeah, we'll both fuck you into oblivion, wolf," he muttered. "Use your cock and your ass until you're worn out, every beautiful inch of you."

  Rand choked on a snarl. The two of them were building fast toward a pinnacle. Cai reined himself back, remembering that this was about more than the two of them. "Not until she goes. When she goes over, so can you. She's getting close. You can tell from how she's gripping you, those sweet little sounds she's making..."

  Rand nodded, a quick jerk of acknowledgement, but Cai loved feeling his struggle and didn't mind making it even more difficult for him. Bringing his fingers around to grip Rand's base, he played around that hard, thick circumference, made slick by Dovia's juices. Her pussy pushed against Cai's hand, a nice, soft female cushion of heated flesh. He played his fingers over Rand's balls, dug deeper to find the space between them to knead and roll.

  "Fuck..."

  It was rare he could get the wolf to curse dur
ing sex. He took it as a victory. Cai's arms overlapped Dovia's as they held as tight to the large male as they could, their movements becoming close, small, increasing the intensity. There she goes...

  Dovia's head dropped back, a cry breaking from her lips, body rippling and flushing. Rand caught her skull in his large palm, brought her back to his lips and captured her wails. Cai bit Rand's earlobe as he slammed into his ass a couple more good, grinding times. "Go, wolf. I want to feel you release."

  Want you to go first. Rand's mind-voice was blissfully strained, on the edge of breaking.

  "Wasn't giving you a fucking choice. Go. Now." Cai teased and stroked, thrust and demanded, with body, voice and heat. Rand succumbed with a groan, his body bucking between the two vampires. Dovia's climax had ebbed, but she held onto him, a generous lover, her lips passing over his cheekbone, his throat, his chest, murmuring to him as Cai did the same, only with far rougher endearments.

  When the male's ass tightened down on him like a lemon press, Cai released, pressing his face in his hair, against the side of his throat. He loved the movement of their bodies together, how he could feel every inch of Rand's rippling, writhing response against his heart, his loins, every possible exposed inch of skin.

  They'd survived, and this was a hell of a reward. As well as a victory for the young woman whose cheeks were flushed, eyes bright and mouth set in a way that Cai well-recognized.

  I'm broken, I'm wounded, but you fuckers did not break what mattered.

  He'd always told himself that, over and over, because he was determined to make it true. But holding Rand now, Cai felt it down to his soul. For a second, Cai even believed it.

  As the three of them drifted toward sleep, Cai had an alarming thought.

  Fuck. He did love the guy.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Voltaire's betrayal had been communicated to the Council delegation still camped at Greenwald's. Directly after, Daegan had kindly informed Dovia that, "Your parents are eager to have you home. But they want you to stay here one more day to address additional security measures."

  Gideon re-phrased Daegan's message a little less subtly to Cai and Rand when they were alone. "The housekeeping staff needs to mop Voltaire's blood off every-fucking-where. And they need to finish interrogating Chavez and Tyra, make sure no one else was involved."

  "Just tell me Greenwald got to do the honors on Voltaire," Rand had said, with a set jaw and flashing eye.

  "Even better." Gideon's lip curled with satisfaction. "After Greenwald messed him up so bad he couldn't walk--hard to do when someone's broken every bone with a tire iron--

  Leona staked him. Lyssa said this was a no-brainer exception to the servant-killing-vampire death sentence provision."

  Rand blinked. "I would hope so."

  Dovia had seemed oddly relieved to have more time to recuperate. Or perhaps she was glad that, when she came home, she wouldn't have to see the male who'd been responsible for her kidnapping, and the killing of her second mark.

  So that decision made, they all passed a companionable evening with Fane's pack. Rand played video games with the teens on the braided rug in front of the hearth. When the competition turned fierce, it became an excuse for roughhousing. Darcy and Chad tackled Rand like a litter of pups with a favorite uncle. He was saved from complete annihilation--according to Chad--when Lynn announced the homemade ice cream was ready. That brought Fane, Gideon and Stalker in from the porch, where they'd been discussing everything from football to car engines.

  Cai sat on the periphery in a far-too-comfortable chair. With no lamp in that corner, it was thankfully flanked by shadows, which allowed him to do more blending and listening than having to engage in conversation. It was a lot of bodies in one space. A lot more noise than he liked.

  But he couldn't leave while Rand was playing video games, laughing and teasing with the kids. Or now, when he was eating ice cream.

  The night before the rescue, there'd been a lot of underlying tension, but it was gone tonight. This was a side of the shifter he hadn't yet seen. Cai wondered how long it had been since Rand had allowed himself to be this relaxed. He hadn't been among his own kind in over two years, but fitting in with a pack seemed as easy to him as doing magic was for Cai.

  It was kind of a magic on its own, because despite the noise and more than a mild case of agoraphobia, Cai stuck. He wondered what it would be like to taste the butter-pecan and hot fudge sauce on Rand's lips. He'd politely declined a bowl for himself, but he took a tumbler of Jack from Fane and clinked glasses companionably with him. See? He could do social.

  Now leave me the fuck alone, so I can watch my servant.

  Dovia spent most of the evening in a protective circle of female offspring. Cilya engineered that, effectively drawing the young vampire into deliberately light fare conversation, and picking up on Dovia's specific interests that meshed with that of the other females. Soon, they were all chatting about everything from fashion to books, movies and travel experiences.

  Not including the current abduction trip, obviously.

  Dovia was handling the social interaction with grace and class, until someone let the screen door slam a little too loudly. In a blink, she'd bolted to her feet like a startled animal. She nearly tripped over Darcy as she escaped to a corner where she had a wall on two sides. Her fists clenched and she was breathing fast, her face two shades paler, except for spots of color high on her cheeks.

  Before either Cai or Rand could move, Cilya had stepped forward. Not touching her, but close enough she drew Dovia's attention.

  "Boys," Cilya said firmly. "They're like having a bunch of animals in the house."

  Dovia steadied, a weak smile on her face. Cilya drew her back toward the other women with an easy palm on her lower back. As Dovia sank down on a cushion, Darcy was looking at her with sober brown eyes. However, at a subtle but meaningful gesture from her older sister, she recovered and picked up a bottle of nail polish and a container of what looked like tiny gemstones. "So, as I was saying, why don't you let me add a couple touches to your manicure? You should have seen the night we painted Chad's toenails while he was all furry. We took pictures. Sangra, where's your phone?"

  As Sangra complied and showed Dovia the picture, Chad groused in the background.

  "Do you have any brothers and sisters, Dovia?" Lynn asked. She was sitting in a nearby chair with a lapful of newspapers and a steadily growing stack of coupons next to her.

  Coupon cutting, thought Cai. Crazy, unsettling stuff.

  "Um, no." Dovia shook her head as she let Darcy take her hand. "Vampires, we don't... It's rare for vampires to have any children, and then only one."

  Her gaze flicked to Cai, and suddenly there was something stark there. It was gone in a flash, but Cai knew Rand saw it. Felt how Cai reacted to it. The wolf was thinking of extricating himself from the couch to come to him. To do what? Reassure him?

  Dovia was still looking at him, though thankfully her expression had changed. He found himself offering her a stiff version of a smile, which he hoped was reassuring. Whatever she saw in his face, he expected it wasn't his smile that helped, because her eyes grew even more serious. She offered him a cryptic, brief nod before she turned her attention to Darcy again.

  Daegan was handling the perimeter watch. As uncertain as Lynn was around Cai, Daegan made her jumpy as a cat. Not a comparison a wolf would appreciate, Cai was sure. The older vampire had noted it and was being considerate. Cai decided it was time to join him.

  Cai rose, taking his Jack with him. He took the time to alleviate Rand's concerns, though, stopping by him to touch his shoulder where he sat on the sofa. Rand dropped his head back, his temple brushing Cai's forearm.

  All right, Cai?

  Had he ever called him by his name? He wasn't sure. But Cai nodded. All good. I'll be back in at dawn. Just going to night owl it with Daegan. He might need backup. You know, in case more than a hundred bad guys show up. I can take a little one or two. Give him a chan
ce for a Gatorade break.

  Rand's lips twisted, but his eyes had some of the same unfathomable look as Dovia's. They all knew what was happening with each of them, an aftermath kind of thing that straddled the thank-god-we'realive and the how-the-hell-are-we-alive lines. With a healthy dose of what-do-I-do-with-myself-now.

  Because the bitch of it was, after something like that, the psyche expected some kind of life-altering, I'm going to go out and be a different kind of person transformation. Or some amazing meaning of the universe revelation.

  The truth was, life just went on, as confusing as it always was. Horror and miracle were woven on the same loom, and in the end, each of them was one straight thread, with a beginning, middle and end.

  Wow. He could become a life coach with bullshit like that. Or the cheering section for a pro-suicide hotline.

  He spent the rest of the evening keeping an eye on the periphery, Daegan agreeably pretending like Cai's reinforcement was necessary. Cai did hang with him long enough to learn from the vampire that Tyra and Chavez had been cleared of any involvement.

  "How can they be sure?" Cai asked. "Greenwald's judgment may not be the best."

  "The Council handled the interrogation. They're not easily duped, and certainly not by vampires of such younger ages and obvious ambitions." Daegan's gaze held a dangerous gleam. "Ambitious they are, but in the way typical to vampires. They're not so disloyal to their lord they would cause harm to his daughter."

  "Well, good. And bad. Would have kind of liked Chavez to be obliterated. Tyra, not so much. Have to appreciate a good-looking woman who can kick my ass. Though she did have the advantage of surprise."

  Daegan responded to that with a chuckle that made the vampire surprisingly appealing, but Cai wandered off soon after, taking the opposite side of the house as his watch point. It gave him a good view of the porch and the living room, which was almost like watching TV, thanks to the wall of windows on that side.

  After the teens went off to bed, the adults settled into some serious drinking and casual talk on the back porch. Cai had to admire their stamina. The wolves acted like they intended to stay up until the night waned to dawn, and Dovia had to go to bed.