Cult of the Hexad (Afterlife saga Book 6)

  I took the lifts up to the top floor penthouse suite ready to crash again after such an emotional day. Last night, or should I say the early hours of this morning I must have passed out on the way back to the hotel because I woke up in the comfiest bed and surrounded by Draven’s heat as I found myself locked in his arms. As was most mornings with Draven it was always the perfect start to whatever you faced in the day and I was looking forward to finding myself in those arms once again.

  I didn’t know what to make of my sister’s emotional state, having really no clue as to where her head was at. But I knew where my head was at after it all and that was soon to be lying on a comfy pillow and passing out. I was exhausted and it had been a difficult day for all of us. In a way I would have loved to have pushed Ari into Vincent’s arms, knowing secretly that was what was best for her. Because that type of comfort was like no other and far surpassed even my abilities as a sister. But if she had what I had, what I was about to receive for herself, that level of love and understanding from someone who would hold you through the night…

  Well, there was nothing like it in the world.

  This is why I smiled all the way up the floors and straight to the only door on this level. I was about to walk straight in but I stopped when I heard Draven getting angry at someone on the other side of the door.

  “Where the fuck is she?” Draven roared and I heard his sister reply,

  “Dom calm down. We don’t know where she is right now, no one does.” After this answer I knew his anger wasn’t about my whereabouts at least.

  “Well she needs to be found to sort out this fucking mess!” He snapped and I reckon if I’d been in there I would have seen Sophia flinch.

  “You really think anything can be done?” She asked and I jerked back when I heard him say,

  “She’s the fucking fates! If she can’t then tell me who can, because I won’t accept that I just killed the only fucker out there that can bring her back to me!” On hearing this I felt like he’d just rammed a dagger straight through my heart. I took a few steps backwards and with each one my heart sank just that little bit more. And here was me thinking he was dealing with it in his own time when really he was just biding his time until he could get ‘This mess fixed!’

  I couldn’t help feeling betrayed by all his lies when telling me he had me back and that was all that mattered. When in actual fact he was glad I was back but just wanted a slightly less broken version of me!

  “Dom! You need to calm down and think rationally, if Katie knew this is how you felt…”

  “She won’t!” He snapped back interrupting his sister.

  “Yes but if you carry on this way.”

  “I wouldn’t let it happen. She doesn’t know how I am struggling with this and I want to keep it that way. She has enough to deal with at the moment than to know what my issues are as I very much doubt she could cope with this as well.” At this I started to get angry instead of upset and the more I heard the more I wanted to give him a piece of my mind! I actually gave him the finger through the door but knew it wasn’t nearly enough for what I was feeling right now.

  “Have you shown her the newspaper article yet?” Sophia asked and I frowned wondering what else he was hiding from me other than his obvious resentful feelings towards me.

  “Again you think this is the time?” Draven said being sarcastic and Sophia snapped back,

  “Actually yeah, I do! Because I have to say, in the past Dom, keeping shit from her has never really worked out for the best for you, don’t you agree?” I think at this point if I had been in the room I would have high fived Sophia for being on my side. Draven growled and said,

  “I know what she can and can’t handle!”

  “Oh really and how do you think she is going to handle knowing you lied to her?” At this I heard a table being upturned and breaking against what sounded like the door I was listening through, which is why I jumped back in fright.

  “She just handled a fucking battle!” He roared and suddenly I was lost…he was defending what I could handle now? Thankfully Sophia spoke for me,

  “Exactly, which means she will be able to handle the article.”

  “You think that the best thing for her right now is reading about how her and her twin sister died in a car crash at the age of seven! You don’t think that is going to fuck with her mind even more!” At this I put my hands to my mouth just to keep my cry of shock from escaping.

  “No, I think it is the closure that her and her sister needs right now, so they can move on with no more doubt.” I decided that biting my fist was safer at this point, especially when Draven lost his temper completely and shouted,

  “It isn’t even her real sister for fuck sake! She has a real one who we… I have been lying to for nine months now and am I am sick of messing with their minds, letting them think they see her once a week! She has a niece who I swear looks at me like I am the biggest lying asshole in all the world but thankfully is too young to speak!”

  I mouthed the words ‘oh my God’ at hearing the lengths he had gone to just to keep my family from worrying but then it got worse,

  “What else am I supposed to do? That family has been through enough the first time she was taken and they have the scars as everyday proof, do you really think Keira would want them to go through that again?”

  “No I don’t and I understand why you do it. We all do and Keira would want that but Dom, Keira is home now…” Sophia said and the next thing he said almost killed me,

  “No Sophia, she isn’t.” He said quietly and even Sophia gasped,

  “Dom, you don’t mean that.” I listened closely, desperate to hear what his reply would be, even going as far as putting my ear to the door.

  “No, I…” He was cut short suddenly as Zagan appeared and said a loud,

  “Katie?”

  Suddenly the door opened and Draven was there and at the very first sight of tears streaming down my face, he knew that I had heard…

  Everything.

  Chapter 43

  Trust

  With that one look Draven knew he was in deep shit as my face must have said it all.

  “Katie I…” I held up my hand to stop him and said,

  “Don’t…just, don’t.” Then I wiped away my tears with an angry hand gesture, not really knowing what I was feeling the most…anger or beyond upset.

  “Oh Katie, no.” Sophia said coming to the door and looking gutted on my behalf.

  “Come on sweetness, I think it’s best we say goodnight.” Zagan said gently, holding his hand out to his wife. Sophia gave me a small smile of regret and walked past me but before she did I stopped her with a hand on her arm.

  “Thank you.” I told her honestly, feeling a sense of not only sisterhood but loyalty, as it was comforting to know that someone would stand up for me that way and have more faith in what I could and couldn’t cope with. She nodded in understanding and as they walked off I turned back to face Draven. I pushed myself past him into the room and walked straight over to the bed. He followed me after a big sigh and shut the door. He turned to face me and said,

  “Alright, I understand you’re…Umph!” Draven was cut short making this noise because I threw a pillow at him.

  “What are you…?”

  “You’re gonna need it!” I said with my chest heaving I was that angry and ready to explode.

  “Uhh…why?” Okay so it was obvious this was a new experience for him, so I snapped,

  “What, perfect little Keira never threw you out before?”

  “You do realise how ridiculous that sounds considering you are Keira!” He threw back at me and I was seriously getting emotional whiplash from this man!

  “Well not according to you, buddy boy!”

  “Did you just call me…?”

  “Yeah and trust me, that was one very low on the list right now, so count yourself lucky!”

  “Look, I know you’re upset and heard…”

  “Upset? Your thin
k this is upset!? You haven’t seen fucking upset! So save your damn speeches for someone who gives a shit and get the fuck out of here!” I screamed at him and now he looked shocked. Good, maybe now he would be taking this a bit more seriously.

  “I’m not leaving!” He stated throwing the pillow back on the bed and then folding his arms.

  “Fine then you can sleep in the tub! Lucky for you it’s big enough for about ten people so you should have no problem getting your big man ass in there!”

  “Big man ass?!”

  “You heard me!” I said really wishing I would have gone for something a bit more insulting that ‘big man ass’ but I gathered men didn’t really get over protective about their ass being called big.

  “I am not moving.” He stated ignoring my insults and no wonder, as they were kinda lame.

  “Fine! Stay there all damn night if you want to, you’re not coming in this bed!” Then I stripped all my clothes off in some angry attempt at proving how little I cared and I had to say, it was hard to keep in my satisfied grin when I saw how hungry his eyes got as they roamed over my body. Then I turned off the light, leaving him standing in the dark so that I could finally get away with smirking to myself.

  “I can still see you, you know.” I inwardly cursed at being caught and then said,

  “Good, can you see this?” And then I gave him the middle finger.

  “I’m ignoring that and enjoying what comes with it.” He told me in a rough voice that spoke of desire so I checked and sure enough the bed sheet was around my waist, showing him my naked breasts in the dark.

  “Yes well you can just go on and keep enjoying it because this is the closest you’re gonna get, ‘cause you’re certainly not going to be getting some for a while!”

  “That sounds like a challenge.” He purred back and I snapped,

  “More like a promise...! Ah!” I shouted in surprise as he was suddenly on top of me. He yanked me further down so I slid under him and I quickly found myself breathing heavy.

  “You were saying, sweetheart.” I growled back at him and I felt him chuckling above me. Fine. He wanted to play, then we were going to play! I gave him a sweet sickly smile and as soon as he raised his eyebrow I quickly brought my knee up and caught him in the ribs. I knew it wouldn’t hurt but it caught him off guard enough that I could wriggle from under him. I was just scrambling off the bed when I felt him shackle my ankle and say,

  “Going somewhere?” Then he pulled me back, making me slide back up the bed. I twisted my body so that his hold slipped enough for me to launch myself at him so now I was on top.

  “Ha! I win!” I shouted suddenly having way too much fun and forgetting what I was actually mad at him for…well, almost.

  “Not yet you don’t!” He shouted back and then first got his leg over me before twisting me round so I was back to where I started. I was panting from all the effort and Mr cocky pants above me I could barely hear him breathing at all. So this was when I decided to cheat. I stuffed my hand down in between us and grabbed his obvious erection in my hand. Now this definitely got his attention!

  “You’re not playing by the rules.” He warned and the sound of his zipper going down was my only answer to that. I reached in his trousers and grabbed the steely length suddenly hungry to play a different game. I don’t know what had come over me but the urge to have him inside was getting intense. I was angry yes, I was hurt, oh hell yeah, but all of these things were never going to be enough to make me not want him. And right now, all that insecurity I felt was quickly warping into need.

  He groaned above me as I worked my hand up and down, loving how powerful it made me feel having this control over him. Then I let him go and pushed up, tipping the scales and flipping him onto his back. I knew he obviously let me do this, probably knowing that I needed that power exchange right now. So before he knew what was happening I moved my legs to either side of his hips and lowered myself agonisingly slowly onto his length.

  “By the Gods, woman!” He said gripping my thighs tight in an effort to anchor himself to me. I started to move, slowly at first up and down, then I tried rotating my hips, so that I was dragging the tip along those beautiful nerve endings of mine. He growled below me and each demonic noise only managed to spur me on even more. I wanted to work him up into a frenzy and then just as I moved faster and faster I would then slow it right back down denying him what I knew he was so close to. Of course by doing this I was also denying myself, which was a lot harder than it sounded but if this was my only way to punish him then it would be worth it to make my point.

  “Say my name.” I told him and saw his purple eyes flash in the dark. He growled and took a chance by saying,

  “Keira.”

  “And who is making love to you now?” I asked at the same time twisting my hips again and forcing myself down hard on his length. He moaned louder and gripped me tighter.

  “You are, my Keira.” He gritted out from no doubt the intensity of it. Because I received the right answer I rode him harder as a reward, ignoring the bite of strain in my muscles.

  “Fuck!” He ground out and hearing it I could feel myself building.

  “So…am…I… her?” I forced the question out through each hard push against him, plunging my body down to take him as deep as I could.

  “Yes! Fuck yes! You’re her! You’ve always been her!” He shouted and this time he couldn’t help it, he needed to go faster than what my body could physically do. So he sat up, gripped my cheeks in each hand and powered me up and down on his cock so fast I came in seconds pulsating and jerking around him as I screamed his name,

  “DRAVEN!” He came straight after I did this, baring my neck and biting into me like a raging animal. I came instantly again and it was a beautiful pain that merged quickly into pleasure that the feeling became lost into the world of euphoria. He was panting through his nose where he was still embedded against my neck and felt him suck me in one more time before his fangs retracted. I wasn’t surprised there was no pain as the endorphins in my body were overriding all my senses.

  “I love you, Keira. You are mine and I was being foolish. Please forgive me my darling.” He whispered into my cheek after kissing his way up there from my neck. I didn’t know what to say, other than knowing that we still needed to talk about this, now that the initial storm had passed. So I didn’t agree to forgive him, not just yet because if we were going to move past this, then I needed some assurances from him. So I lifted myself off him and for a moment I didn’t think he would let me as his hands momentarily gripped me tighter.

  I felt the combined evidence of our love making drip down and thankfully without the blinds down I had grown accustomed to only having the moonlight to guide me. However, Draven must have been worried I could fall because I only made it a few steps to the bathroom before the soft glow of a bedside table lamp lit my way. I walked into the bathroom and cleaned myself up before wrapping myself in a robe. Then I grabbed a damp cloth and walked back into the suite.

  I found Draven sat on the edge of the bed with his head in hands looking lost. I walked straight to him and he lifted his head in question when I lowered myself to my knees in front of him. I then took the damp cloth and started to clean him in the most intimate of ways.

  “Keira, you don’t need…”

  “Ssshh.” I whispered softly and by this it told him that I needed this connection right now. It was my way of showing him that I needed to feel wanted, that I needed to feel… needed.

  Once I was finished I lowered my head knowing what was coming next. I felt his hand reach down and stroke my face and I was mesmerised by how gentle a man as big as Draven could be. With little added pressure he raised my face until I was looking up at him.

  “Forgive me.” He asked me and I swallowed hard before getting to my feet.

  “Do you trust me?” I asked him as I sat next to him on the bed. He sighed probably knowing where this was going.

  “Yes”

  “And you in
return want me to trust you?”

  “Of course.” He said looking sideways at me, making his raven black hair fall to one side.

  “Then you really need to start earning it instead of demanding it from me because you don’t reward trust with lies.”

  “I have not lied.” My look said it all but my words backed it up,

  “You told me you were fine. What I heard back there didn’t sound ‘fine’ to me.” He knew I had him on this one.

  “You have enough to deal with.”

  “And you don’t? What, you think my issues are greater than yours or more important?” He didn’t answer me but just closed his eyes against the cracks that appeared in his logic.

  “Do you think I am not strong enough to be your wife?” His head shot up and he looked at me in confusion, affronted by my question.

  “Keira, I think you are the strongest woman I have ever known.” I gave him a small smile and blushed slightly but then said,

  “But you don’t think I’m strong enough for you?”

  “I don’t think that at all.” He told me.

  “Then you should know I am strong enough to be there for you because I have to say, if you think you are protecting me by keeping things from me then I’m telling you now, you’re not protecting me, you’re just hurting me.”

  “Please don’t say that.” He told me looking as though I had just caused him great pain.

  “But it’s the truth. How would you feel if I kept things from you because I thought you couldn’t cope? Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t this whole thing begin because I kept something from you.”

  “What do you mean?” I wasn’t sure if he had put two and two together but when I found those pictures I certainly had.

  “I found those pictures of Celina in my bag, one that I brought to Afterlife, so I must have brought them to show you but I didn’t…now why do you think that was?” Draven looked to me and you could see all it all playing out in his head. He rubbed a hand across his jaw and he now came up with the same solution as I did and he nodded his head slowly letting me know I had made my point.