Aaron's Kiss Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 7) (39 page)

Aaron had already spoken to Bradley. He hadn’t gone into a great many details, but did tell Aaron that the problem had been dealt with. And as soon as he’d found Peterson, the one who had murdered Becca, he would beg Shade’s and Sara’s forgiveness. Aaron had heard the pain in the wolf’s voice and hoped he’d be able to resolve this soon for all their sakes.

“Sherman isn’t dead. I kinda figured he wasn’t. Not the way he disappeared like that. He isn’t stupid, or he wasn’t the last time I dealt with him. He would have made plans in the event that something went wrong. I would guess that he has bolt holes all over the place in both worlds.” Aaron looked at his mate as Mel spoke.

Sara had told Aaron much the same thing when she had first tried to kill Sherman all those months ago. To have Mel say the same thing made him glad that he had taken a few extra precautions with their security both inside and outside the house. He couldn’t lose Sara. Not ever. He loved her with his entire being.

Aaron placed his hand over Sara’s flat belly. He would not…no, he could not allow anything to happen to them.

“He’s using black magic and it was dark and strong. I could smell it on him; it practically poured from him when he was angry with me. Do you think it could have been him who was helping Lynne with her spells against the alpha?” Shade asked the room quietly.

“I believe the alpha thought so. Mel, is it possible Sherman has been doing this, playing against you for a lot longer than you had first thought? Centuries even?”

Aaron was glad that Sara had asked. He was wondering the same thing. Aaron had wondered for some time that even if Sherman was actually dead, would that be the end of the evilness of the man? The group talked for a little while longer, asking questions of Shade, when Aaron noticed that Colin was getting restless. When they made eye contact, Colin finally spoke.

“I would have a word with you, sire. If Shade remembers anything else, I’ll be sure to let you know what it is. It’s...this is important for us, for Shade and I, that I speak with you. There are things that I would ask of you…things that I would show you.”

The two men left the room and entered Aaron’s study. It was overflowing with books and papers. Aaron was still going through all that had been left to him and didn’t feel any closer to knowing all that he had acquired, even after one year. Once Colin had shut the door and flipped the lock, he began speaking and suddenly, Aaron became nervous for what he was going to be told.

“I need to show you something...something personal. I’m asking you to keep my secret, even though I know that you would never betray me any more than I would you. But Shade and I have talked it over and we want to get used to this on our own first before we share with the rest of your kiss.”

Aaron sat on his desk. He wanted to tell him, “no. Whatever it is, I don’t need to know.” Instead, he nodded to Colin to proceed. Colin began unbuttoning his shirt while he continued.

“I talked with Shade’s mother a few days ago before all this happened. She knew that I had seen Shade’s mark and told me what I might expect when we were truly bonded. Fiona called it Shade’s sigil, her crest of sorts. Fiona told me that in order to complete our bond, the bond of the Fae, I needed to taste the sigil. She was not sure what that entailed with me being a vamp, so I improvised. I...I bit Shade and the crest, her sigil, during sex. I could taste the fruit, all the different flavors. Flavors I haven’t tasted in centuries. It was then that I felt it—we felt it—the bond moving from Shade into me. Then, this evening when we woke up, I was marked as well.”

Colin took off his shirt to show Aaron his mark, the mark that would match Shade’s in every way. He looked at Aaron expectantly.

Aaron got up to get a closer look at the area where Colin indicated. He started to reach out and touch it, but looked up to gain permission before doing so. At Colin’s nod, he ran the back of his hand over the flawless skin. Aaron looked up at Colin again and said nothing, just backed away to the desk chair and sat down again. Hard this time, hard enough to snap his teeth together.

Aaron looked from the place Colin had indicated just over his heart to Colin’s face. He wasn’t sure what the other vamp wanted him to see; he felt out of his element right now. And not just a little frightened.

When Aaron had mated with Sara, her mark had been visible to all who wanted to see it. Very few people, other than those close to the couple, knew what it meant and how it played into their lives. Aaron had been granted all of his mate’s powers, though not as strong as Sara’s, but he had them. He was also able to stay awake for longer periods of time, well past the time most, if not all, vampires needed to seek their bed and shelter for the day. But with what Sara and the other women had told him last week before Shade’s disappearance, he wasn’t sure what this new mark meant to Colin and his mate.

“You don’t see it, do you? As far as you can see, it’s just my skin. I could see hers because she is my mate. Now that we have bonded, I thought...I guess I assumed that...actually, I didn’t know what to expect.” Colin rubbed his hand through his already mussed hair. “Our marks are in the same place, over our hearts. Hers moves around on her body at times. Sometimes it will be out of sight for weeks, and then it will appear again where she’d be able to see it, or maybe not. She knows where it is, what fruit is on the tree because of the attachment it has, or I guess the energy it has with her body. I’m not sure if I can or will feel mine move, or even if it will. As yet, ours hasn’t moved, but then it’s only been since last night. But, like Shade, I know it’s there. There is a hum of energy it gives off to let me know.”

“What do you think it means? Are you still a vampire?” Aaron wasn’t sure what to say, not even what he should be asking. But he wanted to understand. He wanted to be there for his friend.

“I still have fangs, and I still crave blood, or at least Shade’s. I don’t know about the sunlight or anything else. I haven’t suddenly found myself hungry for human food. Shade, she...I had her cut me and I do heal very quickly, but I don’t know if that is because of her or me, as I could heal before. There are other things...powers that I have. I don’t know what to do with them yet. But I will learn.”

Colin shuddered. Aaron smiled at that. He wondered what had happened when Colin had discovered whatever it was that made him realize that he had powers.

“There are easy ways, safe ways, to test the sunlight theory. We can do that at first light tomorrow morning. As for the others, Colin, can you tell me what they might be?”

“There’s more of me. I have...powers or abilities that I didn’t have before, and the ones I had, like moving quickly, it’s much more enhanced. My hearing is more acute. I can hear Duncan in the kitchen two floors below us. I can see things...I can see things beyond walls, the heat of things, not the people it belong to. But I have a feeling that I will once I get the hang of all this. I’m not just a vampire, but more than I was before. I also have strength that I didn’t before. Plus, there’s this…”

Raising his hand, Colin pointed his index finger toward the laid hearth in the fireplace. Lightning arched from the tip. The dried wood burst into flames, leaping and dancing in the hearth.

“Holy shit!”

Colin grinned. “My thoughts exactly when it happened. Scared a century of life right out of me – Shade, too, I think. All I was doing was thinking to warm the room for Shade and pointed to the fireplace…I’m not sure why now. And then this fucking arc of light jumped from my finger. Dinna know what to do for nearly a minute, just stared at the thing. Then we both just burst out laughing, damn near laughed our asses off every time we looked at it.”

Aaron could well imagine. Colin had a wicked sense of humor anyway, and he could just see the two of them rolling on the floor with tears streaking their faces with every glance at the flames.

“What do you need from me, Colin? Anything. You’re my friend and I will do whatever you need for me to do. Just keep your fingers pointed to the ground until you have better control over those things.”

“Deal,” Colin agreed with a laugh. “They could be useful, I think, on some level. That’s why I wanted to talk to you. I need to provide for Shade, provide her with everything she’s done without her entire life, love, warmth, security.
I
need to do this, Aaron. But I’m not stupid enough to think that I can do this on my own, nor that I won’t need your help in making things possible.” Colin moved over to the burning fireplace. Aaron came to stand next to his friend.

“I can understand that. I have never felt the need to care for anyone until I meet Sara. Tell me what you need and if it’s within my power, it’s yours.”

“We want to...you see...it’s Dominic. Shade and I, we want... Maybe you should sit back down. Shade and I have an idea that I’d like to discuss with you.”

Several hours later, the two men walked back into the kitchen. Aaron was visibly shaken, but smiling. Colin looked over at Shade and nodded, then smiled at her. Aaron was sure Shade knew everything now and Aaron’s answering help. He was not thrilled with the plan that Colin had laid out; so many things could go wrong. But he trusted his friend and knew why Colin needed to do this. Aaron could do no more than to support his friend.

“Now for some fun!” Rubbing his hands together, Aaron smiled to the room in general. “Dominic, let’s go petition for your admissions into my kiss. That is if it’s something you still want?”

“Yes, sire, more than ever before.”

It seemed, Aaron thought, his kiss just got a few people bigger.

~CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO~

On the trip over to the master of Dominic’s, Sara worked hard at getting Aaron to tell her what had happened between him and Colin. Aaron would only say that all would be revealed, and she wasn’t allowed to pry.

She hated when he said things like that. And she was pretty sure he knew it too. She smiled to herself and thought of the pretty little two-piece lingerie set she had bought yesterday. She thought about what she’d looked like in it and sent the image to him. She laughed when he squirmed in his seat and glared at her. Men were so predictable.

The two of them had made a pact of sorts when they had bonded as mates. As they could read each other’s minds so thoroughly, they needed a place for their own counsel, a place where they could talk or go to be alone, or conduct business privately. It was not as though they were keeping secrets from each other.  On the contrary, they were just trying to keep realm business just that, business of the realm. So they had said that if either of them was in the study and the doors were closed, they were to not intrude on those private matters, mentally or physically.

Sara, Aaron and Dominic got out of the car and were admitted to the home of the Master of the Realm, William, not Bill, Hamilton, as he’d said to call him, with much ceremony and aplomb. Actually, Sara thought it was too much and highly overrated.

William was not as old as Aaron’s fourteen hundred years, but he was old. About eight hundred years old, Sara had been told. Williams’s home was large, lavish and overdone. The deco was over the top Victorian era filled with reds and golds, heavy velvets and heavier furniture, all dark in hue. The walls were covered in an old, blood red brocade paper, dark and musty-smelling. The whole house had a smell of blood, both old and fresh, old man, and nasty-smelling cigars. Sara hated the place the moment she stepped inside.

Each area, or realm, had a different master. Aaron’s realm covered nine states and just over ten thousand vampires. Some had less, very few had more. As sovereign, it was their responsibility to govern the laws and regulations set forth at the beginning of their reign. William’s realm was much smaller, but because of his hard control over his subjects, there were no new vampires coming in to increase his number, and there were too many going out, being killed by the master. William had killed a great many of his peoples, decreasing the number exponentially every year.

The vampire seated in the large throne was adorned with several half naked women at his feet and one in his lap. Most of them were human and devoid of any kind of emotions that had once made them alive, especially since their humanity was gone. He had changed them into his donors, and from what Sara had learned from Dominic, they only donated to him and his closest personal friends, and subjects never fed from the master.

“Ah, Aaron, so you bring back my subject. Thank you. I do hope that he served you as he should.”

Sara noticed the look William gave Dominic. It said that whether he had or not, he would be punished just the same. And the look also said he would enjoy it.

William, not Bill, was not a homosexual, but he did enjoy watching sex between multiple partners, whether they wanted it or not. Dominic told her that one of his favorite type of punishments was to watch heterosexuals have sex with same sex partners. He’d also make it a game of sorts, to see who could go the longest without coming. Sara was sickened by the tale and had wanted to hold Dominic and tell him that things would be all right. She hoped that Aaron knew what he was doing today. She’d hate to have to stake him for screwing up.

“Now, let’s talk about your payment to me. His price will be high; you kept him for a lot longer than I think necessary. It’s a shame you have no one in your regime that could offer you such a service. Yes, a great same. And now you have to pay for that service. I know that you think I owed you a boon for that little issue I’d had centuries ago, but—”

William got no further in his demands, as the front door to the home exploded hard, slamming to the wall and shattering the glass in it. Colin, with Shade at his side, walked inside. Sara smiled at the sight before them.

Colin was dressed like the warrior of old that he had been. He was dressed in his tartan colors, green, yellow and blue, his wrap, and a very large claymore strapped to his back in a leather scabbard and buckled to his massive, naked chest. His hair was pulled back into a que, the braids at his face hanging down to the side, beaded with silver studs at the ends. He looked just like one would think a massive Scot would look, especially a pissed off Scot. Shade, dressed in his colors as well, wore a female version of his. Along her left leg she wore a bejeweled dagger and around her waist, a long, thinner blade in a scabbard. Both looked intensely at William and smiled.

“What’s the meaning of this? You are not welcome here. Get out. I do not allow fairies in my keep.  Get out!”

Colin stood his ground, feet braced, arms crossed over his tremendous chest. When neither of them moved to do as he bid, William screamed to his wayward subject, “Dominic, take care of this, now!”

Colin moved onward and forward. When he walked past Dominic toward the throne, Colin winked at him. Sara nearly laughed out loud at his cheeky behavior. Colin removed his blade from his back when he reached the dais, and slammed it into the floor at the master’s feet, the point of it sticking in a good three inches, the blade quivering from the force of his hand. Shade walked up beside him, her own blade now quivering alongside of her mate’s.

Colin turned to look at Aaron, asking something that Sara did not understand, but apparently, her mate did. Aaron bowed low before his friend, giving him full permission to proceed. Sara decided that staking Aaron was too easy. She was going to drain his ass for this.

Sara looked between the two men for a second before she reached out to Aaron.

“What have you done? He can’t be challenging him; he will die. Aaron, please, you have to stop this. He’s our friend.”

“Have faith love, all will be well. Colin is in love and he is doing this with not only mine, but with Shade’s blessings as well. He will do well, and he needs to do this, for them both. Trust them.”

Aaron pulled her close to his body and ran his hand down to her belly, sending love to their two children still nestled within her womb.

“I am Colin Rachel Larimore, only child of Colin and Rachel Larimore of Blackmore, Scotland. I have been a servant and friend to Master of the Realm, Aaron Xavier MacManus, for nearly four hundred years. As my maker, he has given me permission and his blessing to challenge you for your position as master of this realm. I do so now. I challenge you to your death. What say you?” Colin’s voice bellowed throughout the room, echoing off the ceilings, bouncing from the walls.

Sara watched in awe as the people surrounding William rose as one, left the dais, and disappeared into the darkened room. The only people now within his throne room were the six of them. She glanced over at Dominic and saw that he, too, seemed surprised and confused by this sudden change in plans.

“You have got to be kidding. You’ve come here to die? And you bring this...this bug to witness it? When I am finished with you, Colin Rachel Larimore, know that I will drain her life from her as I fuck her atop your dead body. So be it.” William lumbered to his feet, his bulk making him slow to move as he made ready to do battle.

Sara was amazed at his size. William must have topped the scales at at least three hundred and fifty pounds, and with his diminutive height, he looked nearly as wide as he was tall. He was not a bad-looking man, but his lifestyle had left him with a Satanic appearance. His beady eyes had turned red in his apparent anger. She could sense his masochistic ways and it turned her stomach.

Colin stood his ground, Shade at his side. When William had stood, neither Colin nor Shade made for their weapons, but had stepped back a few feet from them. William lunged toward Shade, making to grab her arm and pull her toward him. Sara started to leap forward, but was stalled by Aaron’s arm about her waist.

The law, vampire law, forbade Aaron or any others to step in and help either Colin or Shade. If Colin lost, then it would be well within William’s right to both rape and kill Shade as he had said he would do. There was no doubt that he would do so.

As Colin raised his hand to grab for his claymore, but before he could touch it, Shade was in William’s grasp. The room shimmered with magic. It wasn’t her, nor was it Aaron’s.  She thought it was coming from Shade but realized it was Colin who was building his base.

“You’d do well to release my mate, boy-o. I’ve only just gotten her back and we’ve made plans for our future. This is all the warning I plan to give you. Let her go and I will make your death a quick one.”

Sara looked at Colin then, really looked. He looked...bigger, stronger, and she could detect a strong magical aura around him. Glancing again at Shade, she saw her love for Colin shining brightly in her gaze; there was not a bit of fear in either of their eyes. Sara realized then that this was their plan. They knew exactly what they were doing. She relaxed against Aaron and waited for the outcome. She had no doubt that it was going to be a doozy.

“Really?
You’ll
make my death quick? Why you insolent child! Perhaps you should have stayed at home and fucked her instead of coming here and messing up my evening. I’ve plans too, young man, and because of your stupidly, I’ll have fresh blood too.”

Colin shrugged and repeated William’s words, “So be it.”

They all watched in amazement as William licked down the side of Shade’s neck to her pulse. The look on his face might have been funny if it had not looked so stricken. He released her so quickly she nearly fell to the floor. William began spitting and scrubbing at his tongue.

“You’ve poisoned me! You can’t poison me! That’s not playing fairly. I demand your forfeit,” William bellowed.

“No, no poison. But you cannot taste a mated vampire, especially one who is as magical as Shade is. Her skin, while delicious to me, is tainted to all those who taste it who don’t have her permission, and she doesn’t give that to anyone such as you. Her blood will actually kill you had you tried to sip from her.” Colin’s smile was pure evil; there was no other way to describe it.

Sara laughed outright at that. She had actually forgotten about that. Mel had told her months ago that she must always obtain a trade of sorts when she offered her blood to someone else or her blood would cause more damage than good and more than likely, death.

William glared at the room. Each person there got a full taste of his menace. He drew his sword, pulling it up from behind his leg. His stance was wide and ready, even if he did occasionally lean and spit again—Sara laughed again. William looked ready to do battle.

Shade moved to stand beside Sara and Aaron. When Shade blew a kiss at William, he actually flinched away from it, nearly toppling over from the sudden move.

Laughter bubbled from Shade’s and Sara’s mouths and she felt Aaron’s body shake with his. This was proving to be quite entertaining.

Colin did not move, but stood with his claymore at the ready. He neither blinked nor laughed. He was impressive. And Sara knew in that moment that she loved Colin and was glad to call him friend.

“You’ll die this day for your treatment of my mate and of those of our kind. Before I kill you, William James Anderson Hamilton, know that when you die, my mate and I will gut this monstrosity and turn it into a home for injured and helpless children. We will take the money in your coffers and supply this realm with the needed help you’ve neglected over the centuries. I will increase this realm to beyond its original size and become a great leader among men. You should also know that…” Colin raised his hand toward William, his claymore held at the hilt. Lightning arched from his fingertips toward the chair behind the master. “That I hate that stupid chair.” It exploded into small shards of wood. “And you are no longer needed.” His next arc of light sliced into William’s throat, killing him instantly, his body disintegrating in seconds.

No one moved. No one seemed to breathe either. Embers from the chair still burned and smoke eddied about the room. The dust that was once William, not Bill, James Anderson Hamilton blew off the dais and scattered about the room. Shade ran to Colin. They wrapped their arms around each other tightly before Colin pulled his love into his arms and sat down hard on the steps of the dais. He was slightly pale and Sara noticed he trembled slightly. He held Shade to him tightly as he kissed her.

Colin then turned to Aaron with a sappy grin and said, “So, what did you want to talk to the new Master of the Realm about?”

Aaron threw back his head and laughed. He was soon joined by the rest of the group. Colin had done exactly what he wanted, came in and conquered for his lady love. The newly mated couple now had a home all their own. Sara was glad she had witnessed this. She never would have believed it otherwise. And she decided that Aaron might have been correct, but there was no way she was telling him that.