Embrace the Passion (The Blood Rose Series) (12 page)

In short, he held a miracle in his arms.

So, he wasn’t exactly sure how to adjust to her.

He reached his home swiftly, landing on the sweeping front porch which overlooked the gorge.

She stepped off him and her hands caught his eye. “You’re still sporting a ruff.”

She lifted both hands. “This is weird. I mean, they usually disappear right away.” She touched the ruff at her neck. “I didn’t expect it to stay.”

He took one of her hands and as he’d done earlier to her neck, he now buried his nose in the soft white fur, flared his nostrils, and drank in her scent. With the fur, the apple blossoms carried an earthy layer that aroused him. Using his teeth, and without thinking, he nibbled at the layers.

He heard her gasp. When he lifted his head, she seemed startled. “What is it?”

“You have that feel about you right now, like you’re going to stop thinking any second and go all caveman on me.” She smiled, adding, “And as much as I’d like that, I think we should eat before things go any farther.”

“You’re right.” But his mind felt muddled.

When she turned away from him and opened the front door, he followed behind as if she held him by a leash. With her scent in his nose, he wanted more. He was almost behaving more shifter-like than vampire—another undecipherable in his current life.

He was pure vampire. That much he knew, but not necessarily around Lorelei. And maybe that’s what Davido had meant, that the few indiscernible markers he carried simply by being ‘realm’ had been awakened by Lorelei. The fact that he wanted to bite the back of her neck was proof enough that his thinking had made a jump in an unexpected direction.

She went straight to the kitchen and simply took charge, heating a bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup that his housekeeper had left for him in a tureen in the fridge. She sliced off thick slabs of the homemade sourdough bread, buttering each thoroughly, popping them afterwards in the oven to broil.

Finally able to access his rational brain, he asked, “Wine?”

“Lovely.” She smiled at him over her shoulder, the fur still visible on her wrists.

His jaw trembled for things he didn’t understand. He needed to bond with her. That’s what shot through his head. He needed to mark her, mate with her, bond her to him and do it now. His whole body called out for it, demanded he pull rank and let her know she belonged to him, only to him.

Taking several deep breaths, he forced himself to leave the kitchen and went down the stairs into a deep cave where he kept hundreds of bottles of wine, all at appropriate temperatures. He pulled a bottle of sweet German white wine from a cooling fridge. He wasn’t sure why, but most realm-folk, and especially his mastyr vampire brethren, loved this wine.

He took it upstairs and found Lorelei had set the table and was already ladling the soup into bowls.

“Smells wonderful.” She’d added a platter of sharp cheddar cheese, grapes and figs, the fruit imported from Columbus, Ohio, his realm’s earth access point. “You work fast.”

She put a hand to her stomach. “That’s because I’m beyond starved.”

She fetched a couple of wine glasses as he opened the bottle, then brought the soup and bread to the table. She sat down to wait while he poured the wine.

He took a seat across from her, and here was another first, a woman in his breakfast nook, dining with him. His brain refused to compute this new information so he picked up his spoon and she joined him.

She ate slowly and quietly, her gaze moving as it often did to the view of Defiance Falls to the north. In the distance, the Shauck River fell from tall, three hundred foot cliffs in a dozen different places. Fir trees and shrubs grew up around the same area, and for some reason he started telling her about the Shauck Mountains and more about the bridges he’d built, and all the help he’d had, especially from the troll community who were excellent at executing the wood suspension configurations.

She asked simple but pointed questions that kept the topic moving from bridges to gorges, to the farms that he had the most difficulty protecting, to his Vampire Guard that had spent two weeks in Ferrenden Peace.

She smiled. “I often went into town during that time, when your Guard was there, especially the pubs. Quinlan and Batya had already left, but I was free to roam at will, never having to worry about Margetta. Your men, as well as Quinlan’s troll brigade, had a superb time, having been given permission to spread their seed at will to help expand the city’s genetic base. I had to keep my shifter-senses shut down a little because the scent of sex in the air was everywhere and you were on my mind.”

He leaned forward and took her hand, holding her gaze. “Wish I could have been there to take care of you. I would have, in a heartbeat.”

She spoke softly. “Seth.” And her light apple blossom scent rushed over him.

He let her hand go and leaned back in his chair. She needed to eat especially since she’d be feeding him soon, but he longed to pick her up and carry her to his bed.

He picked up his spoon instead, and focused on eating. He kept the conversation from that point focused on the history of his realm.

When he was done with his meal, he rose from his chair. “Please take your time and eat all you want. Right now I have to call my second-in-command to see how things are shaping up tonight in the south.”

“Of course.”

He moved into the living room and pulled his cell from the pocket of his battle leathers. “Hey, Aaron. What’s the climate out there?”

“The Invictus are quiet, maybe too quiet for my taste.” He detailed how he’d apportioned the Vampire Guard throughout the lower half of the realm, standard procedure, an arrangement Seth had built through reviewing battle logs over the past century. His Guard had one of the highest kill-rates in the Nine Realms because of his attention to enemy attack patterns, and his analytical mind.

Aaron added that Mastyr Jude had called about half an hour ago. “He said one of his most powerful fae had had a vision that he’s to come to Walvashorr to help out with some kind of event, but he couldn’t say what. I think he wants a call back. Do you have something planned I don’t know about?”

“Things are changing,” he murmured, his gaze falling once more to the fur still enhancing Lorelei’s hands. “If Jude’s fae thinks there’s something here and that he needs to be present, then he should come. But don’t worry, I’ll take care of this. I’m at Shauck Gorge and Lorelei’s with me.”

“Your bodyguard.”

He drew a deep breath, one of many in recent hours. “Yes. And there’s something else you should know.” He trusted Aaron implicitly not to spread the word around, but he felt his second-in-command should have full knowledge of what was going on. “She’s a blood rose.”

Long pause, then, “Holy fuck. You’re kidding. So, she’s your woman.”

He made the statement so succinctly, that Seth spoke before he could even process what he ought to say. “Absolutely, she’s my woman.”

And there it was again, that powerful need to lay claim to her. And yet, he knew how he’d responded to Batya as a blood rose the moment he’d seen her two months ago in the queen’s receiving room. He’d lost complete sense of where he was, took her in his arms, and would have pierced her neck with his fangs if Quinlan hadn’t knocked him flat.

Which meant that if Jude was coming anywhere near Lorelei, he needed a plan in place and to make sure one of the biggest mastyrs in the Nine Realms knew that Lorelei was taken. Returning to the kitchen doorway, he glanced her direction.

She now stood by the far window near the table and stared out at the falls, her glass of wine in hand. He called to her quietly, “One more phone call, and I’m all yours.”

His choice of words surprised him, but they were damn accurate. The fact that she turned toward him and smiled, a blush rising on her cheeks, gave him confidence that they were on the same page.

He headed back to the living room and called Jude.

A moment later, the mastyr’s voice came on the line. “Seth, you dumbfuck, how’s it hanging?”

Seth smiled. Jude was a lot like Ethan, just really out there. He might even have been Seth’s opposite, built as Jude was like a tank. He had more muscle than Quinlan but probably ranged at six-six. And no doubt when he flew, he bruised the air that rushed toward him.

“I got a message from Aaron that you’ve had some kind of fae revelation.”

“Yeah. Looks like you’ve got an attack coming, something big. Remember when we last spoke, after you met Queen Rosamunde and you shared what you knew about Margetta?”

“Of course.”

“Well, it’s Margetta again. According to my fae source, Margetta needs to shut something down in your realm and if she can do this successfully, she’ll gain a huge advantage in her bid to dominate all the realms.”

Seth thumbed his forehead. “And what is it she needs to shut down?”

“The fae couldn’t say exactly, but she kept having a recurring image of long slender female hands, fae hands, trimmed with white fur. Which made no sense to me. Does it to you?”

And there it was, another indication that he and Lorelei were caught in a powerful realm experience. “Perfect sense.” But he didn’t like that Lorelei, despite her intricate enthrallment shield, was still in danger.

“And I’m supposed to lend a hand.”

Seth scowled. “What kind of timing are we looking at?”

“Within the next two days, that’s all I know. And I was to be at your bidding. I’ll come now if you want.”

“Was that part of the vision?”

“No, only that I was supposed to wait for your call and do what you said. So, it’s up to you. I can come now or later. Whenever you want.”

Seth’s arms shook with the thought of Jude being anywhere near Lorelei. He debated not saying something about his current predicament, but he reconsidered. If he’d had a heads-up about Batya, he would either have controlled the impulse to pull her into his arms, or he would have made himself scarce the moment she showed up without Quinlan in tow. “Jude, I have another situation here.”

“Thought you might.”

“These rumors you’ve heard about the blood rose are undeniably true. Not that you wouldn’t have believed Gerrod or the others, but mine has arrived and it’s Lorelei.”

Jude whistled. “No fucking shit.”

“I’m as shocked as you are.”

“But she’s Margetta’s daughter. How is that going to fly?”

He shared what he knew about her past and all that had happened at Big Timber. Jude was silent for a long moment. “Don’t be a fool and wait to bond with her. I’ve talked to the others, to Quinlan and Ethan. And of course Gerrod. But they’ve each said the same thing, that if they’d had any sense they would have just bit the bullet right away.”

“I wish it was that simple but the whole thing is damn overwhelming.”

“I’ve heard that, too. And I won’t make a move to be in Walvashorr until you call.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. I’d hate to face off with you, but this thing, it’s powerful.” He smiled ruefully, adding, “Besides, I wouldn’t want to ruin that pretty face of yours.” Jude could wipe the floor with him or any of the other mastyrs. He was the one vampire you wanted in your corner when things fell apart.

Jude laughed heartily.

“I’ll be in touch.”

When he returned the phone to his pocket, he headed back to the kitchen. Lorelei had already cleaned up and was drying her hands when he reached the doorway.

“Just talked to Jude.”

“Mastyr Jude?” Her brown eyes lit up.

He moved into the room, his fists clenching. “You know him? You didn’t tell me that.”

“He’s one of the few mastyrs I did meet. Didn’t he say anything?”

“Like the smart vampire he is, he said he intended to keep away from you.”

She rounded the granite counter, a rim of fur still evident on both wrists. But in her eye was a familiar glint and he was pretty sure he knew what would follow. “But I like Jude. He’s a big man. I like him just fine.”

There it was, her pleasure in taunting him, working him up.

“You stay away from Jude.”

“I’ll do whatever the hell I please.”

Instead of approaching him, however, she started moving backward to the door that led to the trail up the mountain.

He felt something from her, something raw and very shifter, an earthy vibration on his skin. His need to claim her sharpened.

Suddenly, she moved fast, a blur to the door, opening it with fae fingers. But as soon as cold air flowed into the house, she transformed, becoming all wolf and flying on four legs up the mountain.

He flew after her, levitating a foot above the ground. She’d already disappeared into the forest, but he could follow her silvery-teal trail and he smiled.

But where was she going? He hadn’t mistaken her desire since the sweet smell of her sex was still in his nose, apple blossoms and earth combined. He knew she wasn’t running from him, just playing a game that his body liked…a lot.

Up the steep ridge he flew, gliding through the trees, ducking lower branches, slowing down to ease his way through interlocked forest brush until finally her trail ended.

He stopped, lowering his booted feet to the ground.

He stood in front of a large rock formation, snow-capped in places. Scanning the entire face, he dropped his gaze to the point at which the snow met the base.

He knew Lorelei was nearby because he could smell her and something more. He could sense her, maybe because he’d taken her blood. He realized she lived here, that he’d found her den.

“Lorelei,” he called out softly. “Won’t you let me in? I want
in
.” He emphasized the last word.

Slowly, her enthrallment shield parted and he saw the cast-off snow where she’d dug out her den.

He would barely fit, and would have to do some serious bending and twisting, but like hell he would refuse this invitation. His woman had created a home for herself out of rock and earth, a very female shifter thing to do.

Using levitation, he leaned low and worked his way through the space, until once inside, he could stand. Lorelei had found a cave to inhabit.

She knelt on a fur rug facing him, completely naked except for the white ruffs on the backs of her hands and around her throat. Her brown hair hung in layers around her shoulders. Her eyes were dark with desire, her nipples peaked.