Absolution of Fate (Fate Series Book 3) (16 page)

Alexa’s heart melted. There was nothing like having such a powerful man completely vulnerable and at her mercy. “Oh, Ethan! I’m so sorry, I didn’t even think about that. You have to forgive me; after spending a quarter of a century thinking I was just a human, you’re going to have to give me some time to get up to speed on vampire etiquette,” she teased, trying to ease his mind as she hugged him to her chest and ran her fingers through his hair.
 

She lifted his face to her and kissed him hard. He crawled up, sliding her back onto the bed as he covered her body with his. He deepened the kiss, stroking his tongue in perfect rhythm with hers, lighting a fire in the pit of her stomach before he rolled to his back and pulled her on top of him.
 

She sat up and yanked off her top, tossing it aside as she reached for the button on her jeans. Ethan grabbed her hands, as if he intended to stop her. She gazed down at him and smiled softly. “I don’t want anything between us when you feed me,” she whispered.

She squealed at how fast Ethan moved her, and within seconds they were both completely naked and back in their original positions. “Wow, ask and ye shall receive; I’ll have to remember that,” she said jokingly, her tone growing more serious with each word as her gaze moved down Ethan’s sculpted torso to the hardness laying against him reaching almost to his navel.
 

“Come here,” he said in what she thought had to be the sexiest voice ever heard by anyone, a command she immediately obeyed. Her eyes zeroed in on his full lips with the slightest hint of his fangs pushing out against the lower one and all she could think about was licking them. The instant before she reached her target, he turned and she smiled with her mouth against the base of his jaw, right over his pulse. She teased the skin lightly with her tongue, the scent of him calling forth the hunger she thought had already been more than satisfied. She should have known her appetite would always rise for him. She opened her mouth as he ran his hands down her sides and gripped her hips, pushing them down against his erection, a promise of the reward to come. With that she struck, a load moan vibrating her throat as his blood slid over her tongue and in that moment, she was certain nothing would ever taste as good as Ethan Kellar and he was all hers.
 

While she drank, Ethan lifted her hips high enough for him to shift his beneath her and position his hard length at her opening. She moaned against his neck and pushed down, sliding her warm folds over his silky steel in one long slow stroke.

“God, Alexa; I love the way your body feels around me,” he husked.

She released his neck and whispered against his ear. “I love the way you taste.”

Ethan couldn’t hold back any longer. In a blur, Alexa was on her back and he pressed between her thighs, moving in long deliberate strokes as he claimed her mouth in a deep kiss. He growled at tasting himself on her lips and her body trembled beneath him. He released her mouth and kissed her shoulder before he scraped his fangs over it and up to the base of her neck. He inhaled her sweet scent before pressing his fangs into the soft skin. The blood slipped down his throat, sending jolts of pleasure through him as her body tightened around him, squeezing his cock relentlessly with the pulses of her climax until he couldn’t contain his own any longer. Ethan reared back, growling out into the room with his release, with Alexa’s blood coloring his fangs and tongue.
 

Completely spent, Ethan collapsed beside Alexa.
 

“I could sleep for a whole day,” she said with a satisfied, but sleepy smile.
 

“Then we should do just that,” he replied, lifting up to run his tongue over the twin puncture marks in her neck before he pulled her to his side. Alexa slung her leg over his thighs and her arm over his stomach just before exhaustion claimed her.

CHAPTER 12 -
An Unexpected Ally

After taking a rather distraught Asana back to her quarters, Chloe finally made her way back to her own room, where she waited anxiously for Lucias to make his next move. Her last vision had given her the first glimmer of hope since her arrival and it had already been ripped away. Her family was safe, but now Lucias knew about Kaleb. She reached for Kaleb’s mind and nearly fell over with the pain she felt.
 

She had to do something. She couldn’t just let him suffer like that for hours; it was unbearable.

Before she could think better of it, Chloe opened the door and sped off in search of Lucias.

After traversing several corridors, she found him in the place she knew he would be, but avoided all the same; his playroom, as he liked to call it. For everyone else, apart from Molly, it would be more appropriately named a house of horrors.
 

She steeled her nerves and scanned inside with her telepathy. Molly was with him, but they’d only just arrived. That made things easier. Going against every instinct in her, Chloe knocked on the door. She immediately sensed Lucias’s irritation.

The door flung open. “How dare—”

He stopped cold, speechless for perhaps the first time in his life as he saw Chloe standing there. “Well, this is a pleasant surprise,” he said, his voice dripping with feigned sweetness so thick Chloe wished he would choke on it.

“You want to have me in here; I will come willingly if you grant me one favor first,” Chloe rushed out, trying to hide the tremble in her voice at what she was about to do.

“Name it,” he replied immediately as he felt himself growing harder with the thought. It wasn’t that he was even attracted to Chloe; he’d realized that almost immediately upon seeing her sweet and gentle nature, but sex was power and knowing he could never be stronger than this powerful female, he knew he could still dominate her in at least one way with the right leverage. She was a virgin, he was certain of that much and taking that from any woman, human or vampire, strong or weak, gave a man a certain irrevocable power.

“Let Kaleb feed immediately; let him complete the transformation and I will do whatever you ask.”

Without another word, Lucias flashed to the phone across the room. “Send the human in to Kaleb. I know what I said, listen to what I’m saying!” he yelled.
 

“Wait!” Chloe interrupted. “Not the human; it has to be bagged blood. Release the human, wipe their memories and let them go. I don’t want him to feed on live blood. That’s my condition.”

Lucias look at her, puzzled by her request at first, and then he realized her intention and smirked. “It seems you have gotten to know my son rather well,” he said, covering the receiver with his hand. “Change of plans, wipe the human female’s memories and drop her off in the city,” he said, keeping his eyes on Chloe. “Yes, alive, you idiot, and do it tonight. You won’t be able to erase enough if we wait another day. Send someone to retrieve ten bags of blood from the cooler and give them to my son immediately.”

He hung up the phone and eyed Chloe hungrily. “Satisfied, my dear?”
 

She swallowed back the bile rising in her throat and forced a smile as she reached for Kaleb’s mind; opening a connection to him she knew she would need to get through whatever was to come. His pain burned through it, giving her strength to press on; she only hope it ended quickly, for both of them. “Yes, thank you…Sire,” she replied, using the term he forced on everyone else.

“Excellent; now please, join us,” he said, gesturing towards the bed where Molly was already laying. Chloe looked at her for the first time since she’d taken her life and turned her into what she had become. Guilt for what she’d done washed over her again, but Molly smiled at her and Chloe couldn’t help but notice that something in her had changed beyond her transformation into a vampire.

Chloe stepped inside cautiously, letting the door close behind her. Lucias sped to stand in front of her, his eyes dark with lust. He reached for her shoulder and slowly started to slide her dress down. He’d only moved it a couple of inches when Molly’s hand covered his. “Let me do it; you should get comfortable and lie down to watch,” she husked in his ear.

Chloe looked at her with confusion, but was grateful to Molly in ways she could never express. Just that small touch of Lucias’s hand made her skin crawl.

Taking Molly’s suggestion, Lucias finished peeling off his expensive suit and sprawled out on the bed with his hands behind his head. Chloe kept her eyes averted. She’d never seen a naked man in person before, only catching the accidental glimpse in the minds of others. If she could help it, no matter what else happened, she wouldn’t let Lucias be the first she saw.

Molly stepped in front of Chloe, blocking Lucias’s view as she slid the white dress from her other shoulder and looked into her eyes. Chloe stared back, surprised to find no cruelty, no malicious intent. In fact, if she didn’t know better, she’d almost think there was something akin to love in Molly’s eyes. She slid Chloe’s dress down over her breasts to reveal her white bra and let it drop to the floor, holding Chloe’s gaze expectantly. Finally, with a look that seemed a little frustrated, Molly widened her eyes and moved her hand to her temple.

She wanted Chloe to listen to her thoughts.

Chloe was usually far more intuitive, but the strain of being in that room with Lucias had rendered her virtually incapacitated with anxiety. Finally getting Molly’s message, she pushed into the petite blonde’s mind.

What is it?
she asked cautiously.

There’s so much I want to say to you. I’m sorry, thank you. I love you,
all rattled out of Molly’s head in rapid succession, as she urged Chloe to turn and started to work on the clasp of her bra.

I don’t know how to describe it, but since I turned, I can feel you all the time. I feel so different; every minute that passes I feel better, good somehow, like I’m becoming a different person. A good person if you can believe that.
 

Chloe’s bra fell to the floor and she turned to face Molly, confused by what she was hearing; so much so that she didn’t even think about Lucias watching them.
 

Then it dawned on her. The infected were bound to Lucias because he fused his blood with the virus, creating something similar to the sire bond he shared with Kaleb, but even more potent. Was it possible that turning Molly with her blood had created a similar bond? It certainly seemed that that was the case.

I’m so sorry for what happened, Molly. I never wanted to hurt you,
Chloe sent.

Don’t apologize to me,
Molly said, reaching to unfasten her own bra.
I attacked you. To be honest, now I can’t even understand why, but I owe everything to you. You could have let me die, but instead you saved me and gave me this incredible gift
.
 

Molly pulled her panties down her legs, slowly bending over. She looked back at Lucias coyly and winked before she stood facing Chloe again.

I know you don’t want to do this; I can feel it. I can protect you, just follow my lead and don’t say anything, okay?
Molly sent, leading Chloe to a chair in the corner.

Chloe nodded almost imperceptibly and followed. Molly pushed her into the chair and moved in close, hovering with her lips almost touching Chloe’s. Just trust me; I won’t let him near you.

And then Molly pressed her lips to Chloe’s ever so gently. Lucias groaned behind them and Molly flashed away pinning him to the bed and sinking her fangs into his chest while Chloe stared into Lucias’s eyes, confused and terrified, but she remained silent. Lucias stared at her, holding her gaze until Molly flipped him over to his stomach and started licking down his back effectively diverting his attention. She paused for just a moment and smiled over her shoulder at Chloe. She gave a shaky smile in return and averted her gaze as Molly moved lower.

Uncomfortable and afraid, Chloe stayed in the chair for the next thirty minutes, averting her eyes for most of it, while Molly did as promised, pulling out all the stops so to speak, to keep Lucias so occupied with her that he didn’t give Chloe a second thought.

✧

Chloe bolted up on her bed, sensing Lucias’s approach. It had been nearly twenty-four hours since she’d slipped out of his playroom, untouched thanks to Molly, while he was in the shower. She thought back to the last silent conversation they’d had and what it meant.

I’m yours, Chloe; I know that as well as my own name. Whatever you ask of me I’ll do.

I don’t want to control you, Molly; I don’t want any of this.
 

It’s yours whether you want it or not. I know some of Lucias’s plans. His tongue gets quite loose in bed. I can help you, tell you everything I learn from him, but you should leave before he returns. He’ll be ready for more, um, fun by the time he gets out of the shower. I’m not sure I can keep him at bay if he sees you here again.

It wasn’t hard to figure out that Lucias would use Chloe to expand his army with turned vampires. Would they all be bound to Chloe like Molly was? Chloe focused, trying to get a clear picture of the future, but it remained elusive, just beyond her grasp.

As if she’d summoned him with her thoughts, Lucias appeared in the doorway.

“It seems I’ve been neglectful, my dear. My sincere apologies, but Molly can be quite distracting,” he said, slipping to sit beside her. “But take heart, we have all the time in the world,” he whispered, stroking his fingertips down the side of her face. Chloe fought every natural instinct and smiled up at him. “For now we have more important business to attend to. I hope you’ve gotten some rest,” he said, standing and holding out his hand for her.

Chloe took it reluctantly and followed him.

✧

Chloe’s heart jumped before they even entered the room. She could feel him. Kaleb was nearby. Her elation quickly evaporated when they crossed the threshold and she saw him. He was standing across the room, which reminded her of the training room at the compound, except it was larger and devoid of equipment, with eyes locked on some invisible thing, glowing red, absent of any feeling or emotion. He wasn’t the first infected she’d seen, of course, but before that moment she’d never really understood what Lucias’ infection did. It was almost as if Kaleb wasn’t even there anymore and all that remained was an empty shell.