Page 12 of Vampire Sins
Xavier smiled even though my skin crawled with what sounded to be a very real proposal. “Liam was once a dragon,” he explained. “Don’t let him get to you. He’s retained some of his rudeness from that species.”
Luke scoffed. “I’ve endured my fair share of dragons. I don’t think even vampirism could cure their arrogance.”
Liam’s eyes went wide as if he’d noticed Luke for the first time. “You didn’t mention you’d be bringing another stray. Who’s this?”
It was Nimra who slunk around us, her boots creaking, jarring against her otherwise deathly silence. “I sense... something new.” She drew closer and sniffed, her fangs extending. “What is he?”
“If you behave,” Xavier said, “perhaps I’ll tell you.”
Luke scoffed. “I’m right here. You can all stop looking at me like I’m a shiny new toy.”
Nimra grinned, her eyes lighting up at the challenge. “Looks like a toy, sounds like a toy...”
Another explosion rocked the compound and the vampires locked their gazes on the ceiling. Nimra crossed her arms and frowned. “We should be up there,” she complained. “This is our city. We can’t just let them destroy it.”
Liam growled and smoke exuded from his nostrils. My eyes went wide at the realization that this vampire had kept more of his dragon traits than I would have expected after a turn. “I agree with Nimra. We came down here to make a battle plan per protocol. You’re our leader.” He bowed his head to Xavier. “It’s your call, but my vote is we go en mass and take out our enemies before they get too comfortable.”
Xavier shook his head. “This isn’t a fight we can win without Hades. He needs to be woken.”
Nimra rolled her eyes. “Well good luck with that. The master isn’t supposed to wake up for another fifty years at least. A bomb could go off in this very compound and he wouldn’t even flinch.”
Xavier glanced at me and a shiver ran up my spine. “The power of the Blood Stone is what fuels our vampirism. It’s a sister source to the power of souls and magic. It’ll be enough.”
Liam sniffed the air. “She wouldn’t be able to reach Hades without becoming a vampire first. We don’t have time to indulge a conversion.” He glowered at Xavier. “You’re thinking with your dick instead of your head.”
A hot blush rolled over my collarbone, but I ignored it. Everyone knew that Xavier had the full intention of turning me into a vampire, and to do that, I had the feeling that he had to fuck my brains out. “Enough,” I snapped. “I get a say in this.”
Liam growled at my interruption. “And what have you to say, succubus?”
I glanced at Luke, because we’d both already established our plan was fucking nuts. “We need to amplify the sleep spell that Hades is under and cast it over all supernaturals in Venice. It’ll give us the time we need to turn me into a vampire and wake up Hades.”
Nimra ran a finger over the hilt of a dagger at her hip. She seemed the type that enjoyed playing with sharp objects. “Interesting,” she purred. “But we need a witch for that.”
Xavier grinned at Luke. “We’ve got something even better.”
Luke’s outragecompletely warranted that we hole ourselves up in one of the luxurious vampire rooms. The place was built for sex with rows of chains and restraints, as well as a bowl of strawberries and a bucket of wine suitable for human guests, but as Luke paced on a velvet rug, I knew that sex was the last thing on his mind.
“How do they know about my mother?” he hissed and slammed a fist against the wall, sending yet another crack streaking through the stone. “If they know who she is,whatshe is, then they could have done something. She sacrificed her freedom to prepare me for my fate, but she’d never warned me about vampires trying to take over my life.”
I rested a gentle touch on his shoulder and he stiffened, but didn’t shrug me away. “They’re a little bossy, but they’ve lived for a long time. They’ve learned secrets and have access to powers we don’t fully understand. I’m sure they had their reasons not to get involved.”
Rage burned in his eyes. “What if they could have prevented her from being taken to prison? I’m the one who told the humans about what she’d done to me, but if I’d seen supernaturals were real, if a single vampire had shown themselves to me, I would have believed in my mother’s visions. She didn’t have powers that I could understand, not at the time.” He thrust a finger at the closed door. “But thosethings,no one can deny they’re not human. Even my stubborn ass would have believed it.”
Only wanting to console him, I shushed him and pulled him into an embrace. He bent to accommodate my stature and buried his nose into my neck. His fingers laced through my hair that curled at my back. “You’re still going through with it, aren’t you?” he asked, his words muffled.
I sighed and held onto him as tight as I could. I didn’t know how else to assure him that even if I bonded with Xavier, I’d always belong to my four,allof them. We were meant for each other in ways that completed me and made me feel safe. “Why does everything always have to be so complicated?” I complained. “None of us asked for this life. It’s just the way it is.”
He pulled away and a hard line throbbed at his jaw. His fingers cupped my elbows as he looked into my eyes with such ferocity and devotion that I was glad he steadied my weight. “Xavier isn’t the only one who’s had visions about you,” he whispered, his voice low and demanding. “My mother centered our lives around a future where you held me like you are holding me now. You and I are meant to save the world.”
I smiled. Each of my four was a powerful piece of the puzzle of my heart. Luke was passion, capable of anything. I ran my touch up his arms and took his face in my hands, bringing his lips to mine. The soft kiss was gentle, one that cultivated a more familiar connection between us that grew every day. “And that’s exactly what we’re doing,” I reminded him when I pulled away. I ran a thumb across his lower lip still plump from my kiss. “Your father was an angel, which makes you powerful in magic that this world needs. And your mother, she was a Seer, which makes you the only one capable of spreading the vampiric sleeping curse to supernaturals across Venice.”
He growled and took me in another kiss, biting my lip, making me flinch. He growled again before running his tongue over the small hurt. “It’ll mean that I’ll go into slumber too. What if I never wake?” Darkness crossed his gaze. “Perhaps that’s what you want so that you have an excuse to be with Xavier and the others without the inconvenience.”
I’d had just about enough of his insecurity. Without warning I ripped off his shirt and lashed a hazy red power around his waist, tugging at his jeans until they unfurled and his erection was free for my fingers to explore. “If I have to prove to you that you matter to me, that I wantyou,then let’s do it, right here, right now.”
Luke began to protest, but groaned when my fingers wrapped around the girth of him and squeezed. “Perhaps,” he managed to say, “just a little time together won’t hurt.”
I didn’t take time to explore his body or tease him. That’s not what Luke needed, nor I, for that matter. Luke’s strong hands peeled off my shirt as I pushed him to the bed, straddling him as a growl rumbled in my throat. I was already wet for him, but I wasn’t strong enough to resist the urge to feed on his lust. He tasted so delicious and when I lowered onto him and he entered my body, my mouth parted in a gasp and magic filled my Blood Stone with needed nourishment.
