Belonging (25 page)

She picked a beautiful lavender billowy sundress and a strappy pair of nude wedges. Underneath she wore a deep purple push-up bra and matching thong. Seemed like whoever had purchased her lingerie had a thing for thongs since that was all she had to choose from. How one small scrap of fabric could cost so much damn money, she couldn’t fathom. It looked like Damian had enough of it to waste, though, given the size and splendor of his place.

She made the bed and tidied the room before heading downstairs. So sue her, she liked to get into a nice tight bed every night. Since Damian was still a no-show, she rummaged through the kitchen and found some bread and peanut butter. Having had so many PB and J sandwiches as a kid, peanut butter wasn’t her favorite, but it would have to do since his selection was limited. She couldn’t even find coffee.
Ugh
. Who didn’t own coffee? That was sacrilege.

All the while she’d been performing these mundane tasks, she’d thought about everything that’d happened since she’d met Damian. She knew some of it had to be verified yet, but Damian seemed so sure, she believed it to be true.

One
. She now knew her parents’ identities. Her father was a self-absorbed psychotic vampire who kidnapped young women and was apparently on the hunt for her. And her mother slash guardian angel was a very powerful, but very dead, witch who’d been teaching her magic in her dreams. And here she’d thought
she
was the fucked up one.
Was that a white rabbit that just ran by?

Two
. She also had other family. She had at least an aunt, Maeve, and possibly two half-sisters. She smiled. She’d never had a
real
family before. Her smile quickly turned into a frown when she remembered that she and her sisters were all in danger from daddy dearest.
Lovely
.

Three
. She was half vampire, half witch and something rare called a dreamwalker. And even more rare apparently, a dreamwalker who could interact with those people she dreamt about. As soon as she stepped out of the twilight zone, maybe she could wrap her head around this one.

Four
.
Your destiny awaits.
She’d met a Vampire Lord, not the one she’d been looking for, mind you, but the one she was destined to find. Who claimed to be her fated one. It was more than a claim…her mind, body and soul knew it was true. Instead of revulsion, his touch sent comfort, pleasure, joy and ecstasy through her entire being. As unrealistic as it sounded, she was already in love with him. He was it for her.
Sigh
.

When Analise was nine, Jana and Jack had taken her to the Eau Claire County fair. She’d never been to a fair before and she’d never forget the smell of fried food or cow manure. Not a pleasant combination when you’re nine. If she thought hard enough, the smell still lingered in her nostrils today. Jana spoiled her rotten, buying her cotton candy, caramel apples and funnel cakes.

When she spied a ride called the Zipper, she begged Jana to go on it with her. Jana tried telling her she’d had too much to eat, but Analise was unrelenting. Finally, Jana gave in and took her on the ride, much to her regret. The Zipper was an egg shaped cage that spun relentlessly for the entire ninety seconds they were trapped in it. Even though Jana held her hand the entire time whispering words of comfort, those were the longest ninety seconds of her life and of course, she was sicker than a dog after they’d been released from their steel prison. Someone would have to hold her at gunpoint before she’d ever get on another ride.

But that was kind of how she felt now. She felt like she’d been forced onto an out of control carnival ride from which she couldn’t escape and the only person grounding her in all of this mayhem was Damian. So here she stood, hoping her anchor would come back to her after she’d so foolishly asked him to leave.

She finished her crumbly toast, now like paste on her tongue, cleaned up her mess and settled back on the couch to wait. Wait for the man who had turned her world upside down in such a small amount of time. Her mate, her anchor. Her destiny.

C
hapter
34

Xavier

“There is no sign of the girl or the other lords, my lord. I scouted the place last evening, but everyone is pretty buttoned up. They are all very loyal to Devon.”

Mother. Fucker.

“Did you at least hear specifically when Devon would return?” He had to ruin all that Devon had built before he returned. But more importantly Xavier wanted to get his hands on his daughters.

“Only that it would be a few weeks yet, my lord.”

“Okay, you know the plan. Keep frequenting the place until a lord shows up. Then you know what to do.”

Silence greeted him and he knew the problem. “You’ve taken quite a shine to one of our girls, I’ve noticed.” Xavier turned and poured himself a tumbler of his favorite scotch.

“I want her.” Geoffrey shrugged, trying, but failing, to play it cool. His fighting stance and coiled muscles belying his cool demeanor.

“And there’s nothing more to it than that? You just…
want
her.” Xavier took a sip of Dalmore and sighed. Bliss.

“Yes,” Geoffrey replied stonily. Lies. He should cut off his fucking head right now.

Xavier watched him quietly. This really was an unfortunate turn of events, but one he would work to his advantage. Geoffrey’s skills were invaluable and he really did not want to lose him. Not at this stage of the war. Fine, he’d let him have his plaything. That was the least he could do to reward such a loyal servant.

“The female will not be touched again.” If one hadn’t been as observant as Xavier, one would have missed the subtle way Geoffrey’s muscles relaxed. Geoffrey was ready for a fight and that could only mean one thing.

“Return to Milwaukee to complete the mission. I don’t think I need to tell you not to disappoint me, Geoffrey. I certainly can’t guarantee this female’s
safety
otherwise.”

Geoffrey’s lips thinned in fury. “Of course, my lord.”

Xavier relaxed. Sated from last night’s events, he savored his drink. There was a slight chance this plan of his would backfire and he’d lose the best lieutenant he’d had in many decades anyway. However, there was a better chance this plan
would
work…at least for one of his objectives. Geoffrey was strong and possessed a skill that he didn’t think the lords were aware of.

Xavier hadn’t a clue where Devon had moved his operation and he’d been looking for a replacement witch since he’d worked the last one into the ground. Literally. Six feet under. Yes, for now this was the best, and only, course of action.

Besides, what better way to undermine the enemy than from the inside?

C
hapter
35

Damian

He hadn’t expected to be away from Analise this long, but the moment he’d walked out the door he knew exactly where he was headed. To Eau Claire, Wisconsin in search of one human male named Smitty, resident of Gibson and Main. He would track down the fuckers that had so horrifically violated his Analise and make them pay.

It took him over an hour to locate this Smitty person. And he was surprised to find he was one of the biggest, blackest humans he’d ever come across. He could see how this man had saved Analise’s life. He’d scare the fuck out of any human.

Smitty was quite cooperative, only too happy to help him track down the vermin that were responsible. Only two of the five still breathed the same oxygen as his precious mate. One died of pneumonia, one was shot in a drive by, gang related, and the last was recently found beaten to death in an alley. That was a far kinder death than any of them deserved. He wanted to resurrect the animals so he could torture and kill them again. Painfully and repeatedly.

Instead, he now stood in an abandoned warehouse—as luck would have it the same one where they’d held Analise—with fuckheads one and two tied tightly to stainless steel chairs. Marco and T had happily agreed to accompany him on his quest to put every one of these scum in the ground.

While one of their basic laws was not to kill humans, these two animals in front of him could hardly be considered human. Damian was one of the few vampires that had the ability to sift memories and the depraved things these vermin had done deserved an eternity of endlessly burning in the fiery pits of hell. And even that was more than they deserved. But before they sent them to an eternity of fire, he was making their last few hours hell on earth.

As vampires, although most appreciated the female taste, they weren’t too terribly picky on human blood, however his lips would never touch such foulness. Instead, it pooled on the floor in dark puddles around their feet; its coppery tang repulsed him. While this had been cathartic, he was ready to finish and get home to Analise. And make it clear to her that she was not leaving him.
Ever
.

Making one final deep slit from ear to ear, the three of them flashed out of there, leaving the humans to painfully bleed out. They’d flashed to Devon’s so he could clean and change into fresh clothes before returning to Analise.

Once cleaned, he flashed back to his Boston penthouse. He was the only one who could flash in and out, but instead of going inside, he wanted to check in with Sebastian first. When he appeared, his men had already assumed a fighting stance. He knew he was right to put them on Analise’s protection team. They would guard her life as their own.

“My lord.” Sebastian nodded, relaxing slightly.

“How is she? Has she tried to leave?” Damian knew Sebastian wouldn’t let her leave, but he’d been gone so long he wouldn’t put an attempt past her.

“No, my lord. She came out shortly after you’d left asking for me, but I was checking a potential security breach downstairs and Raymond was in my stead. She never returned so I don’t know what she wanted.”

Huh?
He opened the front door to an empty room, but it took him all of two seconds to pinpoint where she was.

Standing in the doorway to his office, he watched his love with fascination. Of everything she could be doing in there, she was reading yesterday’s
Wall Street Journal
. She looked intrigued by an article and hadn’t noticed him standing there, drinking her in.

Living up to his asshole reputation, he’d planned to storm in there and forbid her from leaving. She’d given herself to him already and he’d made it clear that once she did that, there was no turning back. She was his. Forever.

But first he wanted to memorize every feature of her face. Her perfectly shaped brows were pinched together, causing several wrinkles in her forehead. Long, dark lashes framed her hazel eyes as they quickly scanned the paper. Her pert nose crinkled slightly as teeth chewed on her full bottom lip, which was glazed in a light pink gloss. She had absolutely no idea how incredibly beautiful she was. Inside and out.

“How long do you plan on staring at me?” she asked, eyes never leaving the paper. He couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him. She was spectacular.

“Until I get my fill. I’ve been away from you about five hours too long.” True that. If it were up to him, he’d never have left in the first place. They’d be naked and probably trying out their fourth room by now. He wanted her in every room, on every surface of his home.
Their
home.

She finally looked at him, her irritation clear. “Where have you been? You said you’d be gone only a couple hours.” He was enjoying her perusal of him from head to toe, until the next words came out of her mouth. “And why are you wearing different clothes?”

“I’m not letting you leave, kitten.” When in doubt, divert.

She sat back in his oversized leather office chair, crossing her arms, letting a smirk turn up her gorgeous lips. “Is that so?”

What he heard instead was
I’m staying
. He’d already known that the moment he saw her sitting in his office reading the paper, like she was simply waiting for him to return home from a hard day at the office.

“Come here, kitten.” She sat stock still holding his gaze, clearly trying to decide how she was going to play this little game she’d started.

“We need to talk, Damian.” Disobedience it was then.

“Analise, I asked you to come here.” He’d been away from her too goddamned long and he wasn’t going to waste any more time talking. At least not with his mouth. Well, not with
words
, anyway.

“One, you didn’t ask, you demanded. And two, we’re not fucking until we talk. End of.”

In an instant, he was nose-to-nose, leaning over the chair that dwarfed her small frame. “Let’s get one thing straight, kitten. I am not going to
fuck
you. Not this time anyway. I’m going to
make love.
To. My. Moira. End of.” He closed the small distance between them and, never breaking eye contact, gently took her lower lip in between his, biting down softly until she moaned, closing her eyes. He repeated the same process with her upper, tasting the fruitiness of her gloss. The muskiness of her arousal filled his nostrils and his dick throbbed with the frantic need to be inside her.

He pulled away and she groaned her protest. The thought of taking her in his office rolled like a movie reel in his head. He imagined her over his desk with her ass high in the air. The thought of her naked on his couch or riding him in his chair almost made him abandon his original plans. But not today. Today he had other plans. For making her
his
. Permanently.

Without a word he held out his hand and she hesitated only momentarily before taking it. He ushered her into the living room and started the fireplace with only a thought. Yes, it was June and yes, it was blasting hot in Boston in summer, but for what he had in mind, he wanted the ambiance of a roaring fire, even in the middle of the day. Because he was not going to wait one fucking minute longer for this.

“Sit.” He gestured toward the couch. Once again, she hesitated but did as he’d requested, demanded. Whatever. He flashed to the bedroom and returned quickly, arms filled to the brim with pillows and the plush comforter. He situated them all in front of, but not too close to, the fire.