The Warlord Wants Forever Part 8

Bliss welling up, strengthening, so close.

"Myst," he growled, releasing her neck.

She thought he would order her to come, thought he was tightening his arms even more as if to threaten her should she disobey, but he didn't. "Milaya, I want you so much." "Milaya, I want you so much."

Milaya, the endearment from years ago said in his accent, sent her over the edge. She cried out from the shattering pleasure. But it only built as he desperately wrenched her up and down on his shaft. the endearment from years ago said in his accent, sent her over the edge. She cried out from the shattering pleasure. But it only built as he desperately wrenched her up and down on his shaft.

Groaning, snarling, he tensed to come. Another bite made her shudder with her second o.r.g.a.s.m. Then he threw his head back, neck and chest tensed with corded muscle, to bellow from the force of his spending. She felt it inside her, searing, palpable, seeming endless as he pumped and pumped within her. She came the entire time, her body squeezing around his thickness.

Then after-shudders. Arms loosening though she didn't want them to. She didn't want this to end.

When his breaths had calmed somewhat, he drew her back to search her face. His eyes had cleared. "I didn't want to hurt you," he rasped. "I didn't-Your neck," neck," he said in a shocked tone, staring. he said in a shocked tone, staring.

She brushed her fingertips over her marks. "It didn't hurt. Even before you ... we ... uh, worked it out." They were nothing and would be healed by tomorrow. "You've really never seen this before?" nothing and would be healed by tomorrow. "You've really never seen this before?"

"Never."

"I was your first bitee?" Myst didn't understand why that would please her so much. She didn't know why she wasn't leaping away from him in disgust. She was just so overwhelmed with everything. And she felt ... tenderness tenderness toward him. toward him.

Yes, Myst had always been the girlie-girl of the coven, but she'd never in her long, long life felt truly feminine until this male had squeezed her in his arms and taken charge. taken charge. She had never-in all the life-times she'd endured-experienced that much pleasure. She had never-in all the life-times she'd endured-experienced that much pleasure.

"You were the first." He rested his forehead against hers. "Myst, my eyes will go red from this. I will turn."

He looked so horrified, the words slipped out, "Your eyes will go red only when you kill as you drink living blood. The ones whose eyes turn drink to the marrow of their victims, sucking from the pit of the soul. They take all the bad, all the madness, all the sin."

His jaw slackened. "Is that why pure-blooded vampires go mad?"

She shook her head. "It's more than that. They get addicted to killing, which means they can never drink from the same source. After years and years of different victims, the memories add up."

He cupped his hand behind her head. "Every sunset I checked my eyes, not sure if I would turn from your blood. Not knowing if my brothers would have to kill me."

His tone wasn't reproaching, but h.e.l.l, could she feel more more guilty? This male was still guilty? This male was still inside inside her body, which was humming as she'd never even known it could ... and she'd tortured him. "Wroth, you're a vampire. Others might not agree, but I for one believe that you're meant to drink. To connect, to live. But never to kill like that. And it takes decades of killing every day for the memories to acc.u.mulate." her body, which was humming as she'd never even known it could ... and she'd tortured him. "Wroth, you're a vampire. Others might not agree, but I for one believe that you're meant to drink. To connect, to live. But never to kill like that. And it takes decades of killing every day for the memories to acc.u.mulate."

In a stunned voice, he said, "I won't turn. I'm meant to drink." His lips curled, and he stroked her hair, still supporting her with one arm. He would never let her go.

He's bested me-she s.h.i.+vered.

"And you found pleasure in it."

It wasn't a question, but she answered, "Your bite was the only thing that saved you from a stiff legged kick at your groin." When he grinned, she added softly, "It was intense pleasure."

He groaned in approval and thrust into her once more, still semi-hard. To her surprise, she moaned, desire stoking again.

"Did I take too much?" he asked. Still on his knees, he laid her back until she was horizontal, secure in his arms, one hand cupping her head, the other clutching under her shoulder as he pulled her along his length in a long, strong stroke.

Her eyes fluttered closed, and she answered without thought. "Immortal here. Remember?"

He stopped suddenly, brought her back into his chest, arms around her, protective once more. "I heard something."

"It's nothing." Frustrated, she kicked him in the a.s.s with her heels, rocking on him. He stifled a groan but didn't thrust. When she opened her eyes, she found his gaze furious and focused on ... the sword point tucked under his chin. her heels, rocking on him. He stifled a groan but didn't thrust. When she opened her eyes, she found his gaze furious and focused on ... the sword point tucked under his chin.

Regin was pressing hard enough to bring blood trickling down. Lucia stood at her side with an arrow nocked.

"No," Myst said, her voice sounding hoa.r.s.e from screaming. "Don't."

Regin stared at her in disbelief. Regin, whose entire race had been destroyed by vampires ... and who'd secretly learned to count by her mother's bite scars. "This thing just violated you-"

"We followed the lightning here, Regin," Lucia interrupted. "Whatever he did to her she let him do."

She couldn't imagine what they looked like there in the field. They'd fought ruthlessly. They must be bruised, b.l.o.o.d.y, their clothing in shreds.

Why hadn't he traced her away? Why hadn't he thrown her out of the way and attacked Regin? She suspected the answer to the first-he wanted them to see her like this. Their relations.h.i.+p couldn't be made more brutally clear. She pulled away from him, though his arms tightened around her to prevent it. "Please, Wroth," she whispered in his ear, "let me face them." He finally released her.

But jealous Myst didn't want her sisters to see Wroth hard, huge and magnificent, and she pulled her skirt over them as she drew him free from her, then yanked his s.h.i.+rttail down. That's mine, That's mine, she thought irrationally. She'd been acquisitive all her life but never with men. Now she thought irrationally. She'd been acquisitive all her life but never with men. Now she she wanted possession. wanted possession.

When Myst stumbled away, Nikolai reached for her, but Regin raised her sword against him, piercing several inches into his chest muscle. He didn't fight back-he could hardly feel it-and he had vowed not to harm her family.

He was euphoric. There stood his Bride, putting her chin up as she pulled her s.h.i.+rt closed. Claimed. He stifled an evil grin. With witnesses. She could never go back now. She was his.

His heart pumped madly for her, his blood rus.h.i.+ng inside him-and her luscious blood as well. She'd enjoyed his bite, lightning had streaked the sky each time that she came-he'd She'd enjoyed his bite, lightning had streaked the sky each time that she came-he'd seen seen her pleasure. He could give her lightning each time he drank, without fear of turning, without fear of hurting her. No more checking his eyes each sunset. her pleasure. He could give her lightning each time he drank, without fear of turning, without fear of hurting her. No more checking his eyes each sunset.

They could sustain each other. He'd never known greater satisfaction.

Now if he could just get her witch of a sister to cease stabbing him.

"You just had s.e.x with a vampire," Lucia said. "Myst, where is your mind? You know the repercussions. You'll be shunned by the Lore, mistrusted."

Regin added in a deadened tone, "When Furie rises ..."

Whatever that statement meant, it made Myst's brows suddenly draw together. She appeared shocked by everything, as if her sisters' arrival had splashed ice water over her, waking her from a dream. He needed to get her home, away from them.

Suddenly Regin gasped and stared at Myst in horror. "Oh sweetheart," she whispered, "where's your chain?"

"Quickly," Nikolai snapped to Myst as he reached for her, "take my hand." She obeyed, diving forward to grab it. He traced with her just as Regin leapt for Myst's legs and an arrow sang for him; it hit him in the shoulder but fell away as they disappeared.

Back at Blachmount, he set Myst on the edge of the bed. "Stay here," he ordered, then returned for the G.o.dd.a.m.ned bag he'd gone to get in the first place. Just as he arrived in her room, Regin and Lucia bolted up the stairs. "Give her the chain back, leech!"

"I've claimed her. She's my wife now," he said simply, then traced with an ease he'd never had, covering the distance as if an afterthought.

Back home, he tossed her things to the side, then took her shoulders. "Rest, milaya. milaya. Take a hot bath and relax here until I return." She didn't respond, and he didn't want to leave her unsteady from tracing and reeling from the events of the night, but he needed to let Kristoff know that Ivo was in the New World. They needed to hunt him down and destroy him. Take a hot bath and relax here until I return." She didn't respond, and he didn't want to leave her unsteady from tracing and reeling from the events of the night, but he needed to let Kristoff know that Ivo was in the New World. They needed to hunt him down and destroy him.

As Nikolai gazed down at his Bride he wondered how Ivo could not not be searching for her. be searching for her.

He brushed her hair from her face, trying to get her eyes to meet his. "Make yourself comfortable here. Your clothes are here. This is your home now."

When she nodded absently, her pupils were huge, her eyes stark, and he knew he couldn't leave her like this. He would warm her with a bath then put her in bed.

He ran water, undressed her and set her in it. She sat silently as he scrubbed the dirt and gra.s.s from her alabaster skin and held a cloth to her neck, to the bites that marred her. silently as he scrubbed the dirt and gra.s.s from her alabaster skin and held a cloth to her neck, to the bites that marred her.

Suddenly, she turned to him and placed her hands on his face. "Wroth, you said you would vow never to hurt my family?"

"Yes. I make it again."

"I believe you. You could've traced and attacked Regin and Lucia tonight and you didn't. But please, if you take more memories from this night, don't give others our weaknesses. Don't allow others to hurt them either."

Was his first loyalty to his king or to her? She was his Bride, and as he stared into her eyes, he realized that that meant she was his family. Nikolai's family had always come first, and nothing had changed except that he'd now added to it.

"If I learn of other factions I will relate that information. But never about your kind."

She pulled him to her and kissed him softly with trembling lips. "Thank you," she whispered against him, then she gave him a shaky smile that made his turned heart do things he never remembered from being a human before.

Her shoulders tensed just as he heard voices sounding from downstairs.

Trespa.s.sers. His fangs sharpened. That someone would dare enter his home when he had his Bride within it ... "Myst, finish up, then go to the bedroom and wait for me. If anyone comes in that door but me, run faster than you've ever run and escape them."

He traced downstairs, his muscles swelling, his hands itching to kill. He was strong from her immortal blood, taken directly from her flesh, as powerful as he'd ever imagined, and he would use it to protect her. His fangs were like razors- "Wroth, I pity the being who wishes to harm your Bride," Kristoff intoned from his seat at the long table in the great room. Murdoch and a few Russian elders sat with him. All of their eyebrows rose at Nikolai's appearance.

As he struggled for control, he imagined how they saw him. His clothing was filthy, stabbed and shot through, and G.o.d help him, Myst's delicious blood marked his skin and s.h.i.+rt. He was fairly certain that she'd gotten in a few sucker punches at his face as well.

"I would not wish to attend you in such a condition. I'll go wash and change-"

"No, we know you are eager to get back to her for the remains of the night." Kristoff appeared proud. "Congratulations, Wroth. You've now been blooded and and claimed your Bride. Recently. Though it appears she didn't acquiesce to you." claimed your Bride. Recently. Though it appears she didn't acquiesce to you."

Nikolai stood, uncomfortable, reminding himself that she'd kicked him like she would spur a horse when he'd stopped.

"I'd like to meet her."

"She is resting."

"I suppose she would be," Kristoff said. "In fact, we'd wonder if she wasn't."

A couple of snickers from the Russians. Nikolai cast them a look of warning and they quieted.

"And you drank her blood this night?"

Why had I thought this would escape Kristoff's notice?

"Did you take her flesh as you did so?"

Nikolai could do nothing but admit to the most heinous crime among their order. Shoulders back, he said, "I did."

Kristoff commanded, "Take off your s.h.i.+rt."

Murdoch caught Nikolai's glance, readying to fight their way free- "Stand down, Murdoch," Kristoff said. "No one's dying tonight."

Perhaps my king will only flail my skin from my back. Nikolai removed the s.h.i.+rt, hoping. For the first time in his life, he had his wife waiting for him. For the first time, he truly cared if he lived or died. Nikolai removed the s.h.i.+rt, hoping. For the first time in his life, he had his wife waiting for him. For the first time, he truly cared if he lived or died.

"Toss it on the table."

When, he did, the elders' eyes widened, their hands going white on the table. Kristoff had scented Myst's blood, and now the others did as well.

"And what was it like?" Murdoch asked, his voice rough.

He hesitated to answer, but when Kristoff raised his eyebrow in a silent command, he said, "There is no description strong enough."

"And how did she feel about your bite?" Kristoff asked.

Nikolai didn't want them to know how she'd reacted to that, how she'd come with an intensity that had staggered him.

"You resist answering your king on the heels of confessing to our most reviled crime?"

This was Nikolai's Bride they spoke of. He wanted to lie, to say he wasn't sure, didn't know, and he couldn't. Answering this wouldn't break his vow to her-and if Kristoff ordered him killed, he couldn't protect Myst from Ivo. Though it disgusted him, Nikolai grated, "She found extreme pleasure from it."

Kristoff appeared pleased. Or even relieved. "Do you think I should forgive Wroth his transgression? For which one of us could have resisted the temptation when she was our Bride and her exquisite blood called?"

Normally Kristoff would've called for him to be chained in an open field until the sun burned him to ash.

"Continue as you were, but if your eyes turn red, know that we will destroy you." Kristoff was still staring at the tattered s.h.i.+rt stained with a Valkyrie's blood.

Nikolai hid his shocked expression. "I was coming to Mount Oblak tonight to tell you that Ivo was spotted in New Orleans. He's looking for someone, and I suspect it could be Myst. I need to-"

"We'll take care of it," Murdoch interrupted, his tone harsh. "For G.o.d's sake, you stay here and ... enjoy ... everything."

"Find out as much as you can from her." Kristoff eyed him intently as he stood to leave. "And you will tell us if the memories follow the blood."

As Nikolai left the room, dumbfounded by the events, he heard Kristoff say, "Now which one of you will volunteer to accompany Murdoch to New Orleans where this coven full of Valkyrie is located?"

Nikolai heard every chair sc.r.a.pe the floor as they shot to their feet.

Like a cat licking her wounds, Myst sat in the large bath, replaying the fight.

Since she'd pulled her punches, she wondered if she could've won, wondered if she'd truly been bested. But then she flexed the fingers of the fist he'd caught. They were sore. They were not not broken. Wroth had held back as well. broken. Wroth had held back as well.

She sighed, unable to work up the outrage that should be exploding within her or even concern over the possible threat downstairs. Wroth would take care of it. He was strong. She shrugged, her mind easily returning to tonight's developments. Now her sisters knew her chain was gone and and that she'd been claimed by a vampire. that she'd been claimed by a vampire.

What they couldn't know was how much she'd loved loved it. His bite had turned her inside out, made her toes curl. Even now she s.h.i.+vered to think of it, knowing something was woefully wrong with her for craving it. It might be twisted, but she yearned for him to do it to her again. And again. it. His bite had turned her inside out, made her toes curl. Even now she s.h.i.+vered to think of it, knowing something was woefully wrong with her for craving it. It might be twisted, but she yearned for him to do it to her again. And again.

In addition to that, Wroth had taken her as no other had before. Though she acted as if she'd had tons of lovers, she'd actually had only a couple of steady partners.

She'd dated a wonderful warlock for centuries, but it was long-distance-in those days, it took a half a year to reach each other-and they'd parted ways amicably. She'd only slept with two others, both long-term, and they'd been fun and enjoyable.

But she'd seen a lot, and knew a lot, and she knew Wroth moved and used his body in a way that was nothing short of divine. And she believed it would only get better. She s.h.i.+vered again, unable to imagine how she could feel more pleasure without dying. Then there was a very compelling fact... nothing short of divine. And she believed it would only get better. She s.h.i.+vered again, unable to imagine how she could feel more pleasure without dying. Then there was a very compelling fact...

He'd unchained her where none other could.

Did that mean he was supposed supposed to have it? To have her? Maybe he was supposed to possess her, to command her like a genie with a bottle? She'd always pitied the plight of genies until she'd freed one from a young berserker. Instead of thanks, the chit had laid into her, screaming, to have it? To have her? Maybe he was supposed to possess her, to command her like a genie with a bottle? She'd always pitied the plight of genies until she'd freed one from a young berserker. Instead of thanks, the chit had laid into her, screaming, "To each her own, lightning wh.o.r.e!" "To each her own, lightning wh.o.r.e!"