Immortal Craving (Dark Dynasties) (22 page)

Here in the dark, looming over her, he looked every inch the predator. And she was happily his prey.

He stretched over her, his muscles tight and straining. There was something indescribably sexy about the way he looked at her in that moment, intense need with a hint of uncertainty. She wanted to make it good for him—better than good. Bay took one of his hands and guided it between her legs, to where she was swollen and slick and ready for him.

“See how wet you make me,” she gasped, her hips jerking upward when he curled his finger to toy with the swollen bud of her sex. He hissed something she didn’t
understand, watching her while he slid his finger against her. She clamped her hand around his wrist and pulled his hand, with great effort, away.

“Inside me,” she said. “Not until you’re inside me.”

Tasmin moved fully over her again, until she could feel the head of his cock nestled between her legs, poised to enter her. She slid her knees up to bracket his hips, her eyes locked with his.

When he pushed inside of her, the hard, thick length of him filling her completely, Bay watched Tasmin’s eyes flare brightly, then go hazy as he gave one of the sexiest moans she’d ever heard.

“Yes,” he breathed, and in that one word was everything he felt, everything she’d hoped he would feel. He began to move in her, his hips pulsing slowly at first as he withdrew and pressed forward, the friction between them centering between her legs and coiling tighter and tighter as he picked up the rhythm.

Bay began to move with him, her body taking over when her mind began to slide into incoherent pleasure. There was only Tasmin against her in the dark, driving into her, hips pumping against her while she urged him on, digging her nails into his hips.

He rode her past reason, into madness, until the feel of him inside her pushed her over the edge. Bay cried out as her climax hit, clenching tight around him while she came in hot, pulsing waves. She squeezed him tight and he found his own release, thrusting into her with a harsh cry, his jaw clenched tight while he poured himself into her.

When the aftershocks had subsided, Tasmin lowered himself to her and then rolled to the side, gathering Bay
against him and nuzzling her hair, his breathing slowly becoming deep and even. He didn’t say a word—he didn’t have to.

The way he held her said everything she needed to know.

Bay curled into him, refusing to think of anything but this, here and now, and finally gave herself over to the peaceful oblivion of sleep.

F
OR THE FIRST TIME
since he’d reawakened into this new life, Tasmin slept deeply and without dreams.

It didn’t last.

“Wake up.
Wake up!
”

He breathed in sharply as a bright shock of pain burst through his arm. Tasmin’s eyes flew open, his teeth bared in a half snarl even before he knew what was going on.

The look on Lily MacGillivray’s face immediately erased any thought of retaliation. Pale light shimmered up the arm she’d touched him with, then vanished.

“What is it?” he rasped, his voice rough from sleep. Lily’s blue eyes were wild, and there was an otherworldly look about her that was more than a little unnerving. For a moment he thought she meant to attack him because of the woman still curled in his arms. Then she spoke, and he realized how insignificant the sight before her must seem.

“We’re leaving. Everyone. Now. The Ptolemy have the town surrounded.”

He blinked slowly, trying to understand the implications of what she was saying. “The Ptolemy…”

“They’ve already massed against us. They’re all here. Do you understand what I’m saying? Hundreds. Maybe a thousand. I don’t have the numbers to fight a strike like this, and my allies are too far away right now.
We have to get out.
”

Tasmin sat up, the quick movement jostling Bailey awake. He held her tighter, just for a moment, trying to imprint what she felt like on his memory in case he never held her again. The night she’d given him had outdone any of his expectations, putting years of dark and heated dreams to shame. And now this.

It seemed that even one night of blissful solace was too much to ask.

“What—Lily?”

Bailey’s voice was soft, muddled. Not caring that they had an audience, Tasmin brushed her hair aside and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“The Ptolemy are massing to attack. The Lilim are evacuating. We have to go.”

The fog cleared from her eyes immediately.

“Oh. Oh my God.” She shifted her gaze to her friend. “Lily, how are you going to get everyone out of here? And I… I can’t…”

“Any way we can.” Lily looked grim. “It’s the middle of the night. I don’t have time to get Vlad here, or Sammael. If we leave everything behind, we have the advantage of being able to shapeshift—most of us should make it through.”

“You can shift?” Bailey asked. “I didn’t think—”

“I can,” Lily interrupted, looking nervously at the door.
“I’m not great at it yet, but Ty’s been helping me. I haven’t been able to that long. I was waiting to show you until I was consistent, but I’m not going to have that luxury.”

And now Tasmin could hear it, the quick patter of feet, the low and frightened voices. Outside, there was a mournful howl, and then another.

“The wolves,” Tasmin murmured.

“This is their element,” Lily said. “It’s snowing like hell right now, too, which is an advantage for them. And it’s going to hold the Ptolemy back just enough… I hope… to let us get out. They don’t know this area like we do. There will be places to slide past.”

Lily drew herself up, straightening her shoulders, and Tasmin could see just how much helpless fury she was grappling with. It was a feeling he understood well.

“But—but—you can’t just abandon everything here. The mansion, all your stuff…” Bailey’s body had tensed, and she clung to him harder than Tasmin thought she probably realized. He let her, wishing just holding onto her could shield her from all of this.

“I have no choice right now,” Lily said. “This is my fault. I didn’t think she’d start a war. Not now. I was wrong, and now we all have to deal with the consequences.” Her composure wavered. “I’m sorry. I’ll do everything I can to protect you until this is over, Bay.”

The implications of this began to sink in. Tasmin could feel Bailey start to shiver as she thought it through.

“My house,” she whispered. “My shop… Lily, I can’t just take off…”

“You can’t stay,” Lily said, her voice sharper than she’d likely intended. She softened her tone as she continued. “Arsinöe will hurt you to get to me, Bay. There’s no way
in hell I’m letting her get her hands on you. If we abandon this place, the town is probably safe. If you stayed, you wouldn’t be. You’re not going to be until this is over. I’m sorry,” she said again. “I should have pushed to get the dynasty into Boston ages ago. There’s a reason we stay in cities—they’re much harder to attack like this. Here, we’ve been sitting ducks. I just didn’t think—and we’re not ready, not on our own.” She gave her head a hard shake. “Look, there’s no time. They’ll take this house tonight if they can. I refuse to give them even one of us as a prize.”

“Then we go,” Tasmin said. “I’ll make sure Bailey gets out safe.” He had no intention of letting her out of his sight. Whatever dangers he posed to her were, at this moment, inconsequential compared to what could happen if the Ptolemy caught her. Lily, however, didn’t seem to agree.

“No. I’ll get her out. She’s my responsibility.”

His eyes narrowed, his possessive instinct overriding his sense before he could stop it.

“She’s
mine
.” There was an ugly undercurrent to his voice, barely audible, that had him swallowing the rest of his statement. Tasmin could see Lily had heard it, knew she was right to want to spirit Bailey away from here… and from him. But he couldn’t bring himself to let go. Not now.

“Anura told me what happened to you, what you need from her,” Lily said, her voice soft but incredibly deadly. “Whatever is inside you makes you as much of a target as I am. The difference is that my people are in no danger from me.” Her eyes glowed. “Don’t make me waste time fighting you before we go, Tasmin. You’ve come awfully far to throw your life away like that.”

She turned and stalked from the room, tossing a final comment over her shoulder.

“You have five minutes. Meet me downstairs.”

The instant she was gone, Bailey was fumbling her way out of bed, too shaken up to be much more than clumsy. Tasmin followed her, keeping his distance as he quickly slipped his clothes back on. Bailey picked up her scrubs, pulled on the pants, fastened her bra, and then simply clutched the shirt to her chest without putting it on.

Her eyes were wide, glassy with shock when she finally looked at him.

“I need… Grimm… my other stuff. This is dirty. I’ll just…”

She wandered out of the room without finishing her thought, and Tasmin followed her, worried she wouldn’t even make it into her own bedroom. She did, though, dazedly patting at Grimm when he clambered off the bed to greet her.

Slowly, too slowly, she peeled off the cotton pants she was wearing and pulled on a pair of jeans from the open suitcase on the floor, then picked up a light sweater and put that on. She moved like she was underwater, looking at everything but seeming to see nothing. Grimm begged for her attention, but all she did was trip over him.

“Grimm,” Tasmin said. It surprised him when the dog came immediately to his side, looking up at him expectantly. Tasmin considered what to do about the dog. He was big, and not very fast, and was going to be a problem to get out. But he couldn’t leave him here—there was every likelihood he’d be destroyed simply for being a beloved pet.

The dog had seemed to understand, at least some,
when Tasmin had tried to communicate on a deeper level with him before. It couldn’t hurt now.

There’s danger. Stay close. Use your instincts.

Grimm’s tail drooped, and he whined up at Tasmin.

Stay close
, Tasmin thought at him again, and hoped it was enough.

Bailey seemed to be coming to again, moving a little more quickly even if the shocked haze hadn’t quite left her eyes. She put on her sneakers, the coat she’d thrown on a chair. When she was finished, she looked at him, and her expression was desolate.

“It’s snowing. I don’t have boots. I can’t run.”

“Hopefully it won’t matter,” Tasmin said. “Lily will probably try to get you out in a car, if possible. You and Grimm.”

“And you,” she said. “I don’t care what Lily said, you have to stay with me.”

He could hear the panic creeping into her voice, and sought to soothe her as best he could without lying outright. He didn’t know what was going to happen, but he did know he would be expected to stay with Anura if possible.

“I’ll make sure nothing happens to you,” he said. “Don’t worry.”

She seemed to accept that.

They headed downstairs, Tasmin padding on bare feet. He’d left his coat and shoes down here somewhere. Grimm followed close behind, far more subdued than he normally was. So far, he seemed to have understood what Tasmin had asked of him. He might be a slow-moving beast, but he seemed to be an intelligent one.

They walked into loosely organized chaos. The downstairs was packed with Lilim, all of whom must have been
drawn by a silent call from Lily. Far from milling about, they pressed together, either whispering together or dead silent, their eyes glinting in the soft candlelight Lily kept the mansion lit with.

Lily had been right, Tasmin saw. There were many new Lilim here… but these were the low numbers of a very young dynasty. Arsinöe’s people were many, and most were clever in a fight even if they weren’t trained warriors. All, no doubt, had been waiting to destroy the Lilim, who had humiliated their queen and freed their slaves, then been granted legitimacy.

He didn’t understand why now, exactly, this was coming to pass… but he knew it had to do with him. Or more accurately, what he now knew was inside him. Whether or not she had put it there, Arsinöe wanted it.

The only silver lining was that the thing occupying a space in his soul didn’t seem to like the Ptolemy any better than he did. Otherwise, he would likely already be in their hands.

“Stay here,” Tasmin told Bailey when they reached the bottom of the stairs. “I’ll be right back.”

She didn’t look happy about it, but he rushed to get his coat and shoes before she could argue. He shoved through the throng, earning curious glances from many. No one stopped him, however. Behind him, he heard the front door open. Tasmin turned and watched Eric Black walk in, accompanied by a burst of frigid air that had become a curtain of snow.

The man’s deep gold eyes scanned the crowd, assessing.

“Everyone,” he barked, and what sound there was went silent. “We’re going to open the gate. There are Ptolemy in town, heading here, but the bulk of them are hanging at
the outskirts. We leave in waves, groups of roughly ten. One of my wolves will accompany each group of Lilim—we know these woods like the back of our paws now, and we
will
be going on foot. I know most of you were used to fighting and surviving before coming here, so I don’t need to tell you what to do. Just get to Boston. From there, the Dracul will assist in getting us to Chicago, where we’ll also be joining up with the Grigori.”

Someone, Tasmin didn’t see who, asked the question he was sure was on everyone’s minds.

“What then?”

Eric’s eyes glinted dangerously. “Then we move on Arsinöe. She’s officially renounced the Council. As have her allies, the Empusae.”

There was a soft gasp, and Tasmin saw Anura, up near the front, put a hand to her mouth. A surprised murmur ran through the crowd. Though the Empusae had remained determinedly neutral in the problems with the Ptolemy, an actual alliance was surprising. Especially since Vlad Dracul had been as instrumental as anyone is keeping the ailing dynasty intact, considering the fragile and failing health of Mormo, the Empusa herself.

“They’re divided.” Lily’s voice rang out, strong and true, as she joined Eric. Ty prowled at her side, protective and restless, his silver eyes missing nothing. He spotted Tasmin in the crowd and gave a barely perceptible nod.