Lizzy Ford (32 page)

“You ready for me?” He trailed hot kisses down her neck.

“Yes,” she groaned.

Chapter Thirteen

When Jessi awoke the next morning, she was wrapped in Xander’s body. He’d taken the time to appreciate every inch of her body with his mouth and hands, all the while driving her into a haze of such yearning and sensory overload, it was almost dreamlike. She understood why the girls who left his bed were so dazed. She felt like a cooked noodle; no part of her body wanted to move.

As if sensing she was awake, one of his hands moved over her body light enough to tickle. He kissed her neck then nipped her. She shivered at the sensations, desire blooming hot and fast within her.

“Did you tell Ingrid you need a new assistant?” she asked.

“Not yet.”

Jessi smiled to herself and closed her eyes, enjoying his touch. His solid body was warm at her back, the arm wrapped tightly around her a sign she wasn’t going anywhere. She could avoid reality for a little longer.

“You’ll have to stick around long enough to make me coffee,” he added.

“You can make your own damn coffee.”

“Ah, then breakfast.”

“I can’t cook,” she replied innocently.

“Got it covered.” Xander pushed her onto her stomach. “Spread ‘em.”

Jessi sighed as his warm, solid body settled over hers. He kissed her shoulder and took her arms, holding her wrists over her head with one hand.

“Don’t move,” he whispered the familiar warning.

Jessi held her breath. He entered her at the same time he bit her, and her world exploded into hot desire and need so intense, she thought his passion would consume her. Half an hour later, when he was finished with her, she lay trembling.

“Breakfast in bed,” he murmured, nuzzling her face and neck. “Not so bad, is it?”

She gave a breathless laugh. Xander rolled onto his side and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his body once more.

“My god, Xander,” she whispered.

“You’ve been fighting that all week.”

“I was more concerned about my job!” she returned. “If I’m not mistaken, you’ll now toss me out.”

“Gotta find a new assistant first.”

She elbowed him in the chest, afraid to see his face and realize he was serious. She’d never felt as at peace or sated or relaxed as she did now, and she couldn’t imagine any other man making her feel the way he did last night or this morning. That he was done with her was not a thought she was ready to handle yet.

“You intrigue me. I might keep you around today so I can tap that ass whenever I want.”

Jessi roused herself enough to twist in his arms so she could see his face. Her heart was hammering at his casual declaration. The idea she might really be of interest to someone as enthralling and terrifying as Xander was almost too good to be true.

“You’re serious?” she asked.

“Absolutely. I love your ass.”

“You are something else, Xander.”

He responded with a deep kiss. When he withdrew, she reached out to touch the planes and angles of his face. His jaw was roughened, his red eyes glowing.

“What if …” she trailed off, aware she almost revealed something she wasn’t ready to.

“You betray me?” he finished.

“Sort of. Am I number seven?”

Xander sat up. She felt the loss of his warmth and body at once and assumed he was angry at her. Jessi almost sighed. Already, she ached to regain the intimacy with him.

“When I was ten, I met Eden, the woman who often hired my mother for errands,” he started. He rose and crossed to his clothing.

Jessi’s eyes went over his powerful body in wonder. He was so strong, yet he’d been tender with her only minutes before.

“Close your eyes, Jessi.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t kill you when I had the chance. I’m not going to now,” he said, amused by the suspicion in her voice. “I need you to listen to me.”

She hesitated then rolled onto her stomach for warmth and closed her eyes.

“We were at the bedside of my mother, and she was dying. Her benefactor was a human, an Oracle,” Xander continued. “I was too young to understand why she sought out my mother and me. I didn’t understand it until much later that she wanted to destroy the immortal world and use my vamps to do it.”

She listened as he rustled around.

“The night my mother died, Eden gave me advice I’ve never forgotten. She said life was about choices, the ones we make as well as the ones we don’t. She offered to take my mother and me in at one point, but my mother refused. The Oracle told my mother that she wanted to turn me into a creature beyond mercy with power no one could counter.”

“Your mother said hell no, I’m betting,” Jessi murmured.

“That she did. Eden told me my mother’s love for me was greater than her fear of the consequences of living in the streets,” Xander said. “When my mother died, Eden gave me a choice: to use my special gifts for her benefit. In exchange, she would help me seek revenge against those who cast us out after I was born. Or, I could walk away from her, from vengeance and try to make it in a society that would probably have killed me. Basically, serve her or die.”

“You went with her,” she said with a sinking feeling.

“I do not have my mother’s goodness,” he said with a chuckle. “I chose vengeance. I created an army of vamps Eden used to overthrow her enemies while I overthrew mine. In the end, not much was left standing.”

“How horrible, Xander.”

“At that point, I was more powerful than she and the existing Original Beings. Every time a vamp is created, my power grows. She, however, had no further use for me. She gave me a second choice: immortality or power.”

Jessi listened, enraptured by the tale. “You chose power.”

“Exactly. Except, she had her own agenda. The rest of the immortals had a bounty on my head. Eden could’ve left me to die at their hands. Instead, she bound my power and made me immortal. She forced me to experience all the pain I caused in my life, in the hopes of reforming me.”

“I’m afraid to ask if it worked.”

“It did,” he said with a note of laughter in his voice. “The world wouldn’t be standing otherwise. The necklace became a curse, one that siphoned off much of my power but also allowed me to live.”

“Why didn’t you get rid of it?” she asked curiously.

“It was my mother’s. I was born a predator and trained to kill. There is nothing human about me, Jessi, nothing good, except for the reminder I wear around my neck of the only person who ever gave up her life for me. What mercy I have to give comes from her memory.”

Jessi’s eyes opened. She stared at the pillow clutched in her arms, suddenly understanding the other side of Xander, the one that remained beyond loyal to a woman who had died tens of thousands of years ago. He would’ve destroyed a world for her and refused to surrender the only reminder he retained.

What would it be like to
really
be with someone like Xander, who loved so deeply and completely, he’d only done it once?

The bed sank beneath his weight. She waited to hear more.

“Eyes closed.” Xander lifted her into a sitting position between his thick thighs and kissed her face.

She leaned back against him, comforted by his body again. Then she felt it, the smooth nylon necklace he slid around her neck.

“The red gem. It’s the key to a great power capable of destroying a world is kept,” he said, his hands falling away from her neck. “It’s also the only part of me that’s remotely human.”

Jessi’s eyes flew open. The treasure she’d been after, the one that was supposed to save her life and those of her cousins, was around her neck. She realized he wasn’t telling her a story just for idle talk. There was a moral behind it, one that terrified her.

“There are two people who can call forth its power. I’m one. You’re the second. No one else can touch the gem without dying instantly.”

She took in this information, horrified of what it meant to have the gem nestled between her breasts.

“You … you had me put it on you the first day,” she said, realizing her danger for the first time. “What if it killed me?”

“You wouldn’t be here now,” he said with a dark laugh. “I’ve made my decision. Your turn.”

For a long moment, her fear held her captive. He moved away from her again, getting dressed. Jessi sat frozen, unable to fathom that the simple red gem was capable of such magic. She understood why Jonny wanted it. She didn’t understand what she was supposed to do with it around her neck. What was Xander telling her? That the lives of her cousins were nothing compared to the lives of the entire planet?

That the last vestige of good or hope he was capable of was now in her hands? If she betrayed him, was he turning his back on everything?

She couldn’t handle either thought.

“I don’t want this,” she said at last, reaching for the necklace with trembling fingers. “Take it back, Xander!”

“It marks you as mine. If you remove it, you are making more than one decision.”

Something Jule shared on the beach returned to her. The gifting of the necklace was like a proposal, only much more to the Guardians who gave the symbols of their families and histories to their chosen suitors.

From Xander, however, it was a dare. He was testing her again, making his offer clear. He chose her; was she going to choose him? He wasn’t going to let her walk away. The only problem: Neither was Jonny.

It left her trying hard not to show her panic.

“I can’t …” she stopped. He was gone, the door cracked open.

How long was she sitting in her stupor?

Jessi got dressed, not surprised to find the small toiletry bag in the bathroom. Xander was right about hook-ups being expected at these parties. She pulled her hair up in a ponytail, gaze settling on the necklace dangling between her full breasts.

His history, legacy and curse. He passed them all onto her. It didn’t seem possible for her to succeed at Xander’s latest trial, and the consequences were far greater than anything she imagined dealing with. Whether she chose him or obeyed Jonny, people got hurt. The chances of her living through it weren’t good. His message was clear: she was either his or she was on her own. Which meant she was probably dead.

Before sleeping with a vampire, Jessi didn’t think life could get any worse. Xander always managed to surprise her. She steadied her breathing and checked her phone.

Kids safe in Texas,
Jenn had texted.

The teens’ texts were far less calm. Jessi grimaced. She’d warned them not to be freaked out but understood it wasn’t possible. After all, complete strangers showed up at their apartment and used magic to take them to some place halfway across the country.

Leaving the bedroom, she sent a couple of quick notes to them. She followed the sounds of talking to discover the balcony was converted into a small buffet with café-style tables. The scene struck her as bizarre. Xander was waiting at one table, mug of coffee in hand.

The sight of him stirred emotions that confused her. Jessi drew out the inevitable by taking her time to select her food. She joined him, warmth creeping up her face at the thought of their night. His gaze lingered on the necklace. His muscular frame was relaxed. He gave no sign of what he might be thinking.

She was too nervous around him to be hungry. Chiding herself silently for behaving like a teenager, Jessi forced part of her breakfast down her throat.

“You’re quiet,” he observed when she leaned back in her chair.

“So are you.”

“Are you freaking out?”

“I think you know that answer.”

He smiled. “Good.”

“Why is that good?” she demanded.

“If the decision was easy, I’d be furious.”

Startled by the confession, Jessi rested her elbows on the table and leaned forward.

“You really do like me,” she said.

He mimicked her pose, his intensity and nearness making her breathing irregular. Her eyes went to his full lips. The memory of what he’d done with his mouth made her lower belly burn.

“I’m considering keeping you, Jessi, assuming you survive this trial. That should terrify you,” he replied.

Her breath caught at the stark pronouncement.

“It does,” she whispered.

“If there’s anything I should know, tell me, before I find out through other means.”

She shook her head. Resistance was becoming harder, but she wasn’t going to put him in danger anymore than she would her cousins. His kiss was gentle, lingering and made her ache to feel his lips elsewhere.

“I’ll find out anyway,” he said against her lips.

“I can’t.”

He kissed her again quickly then rose. “Let’s go.” He held out a hand. She took it and walked with him through the house and to the valet.

“This place is beautiful,” she said. The driveway was lined with trees and the manicured lawns emerald green. She found herself leaning into Xander. He wrapped an arm around her, and she hugged him as they waited.

“I’m sorry to leave before I could see the look on the horse’s face,” she said with some satisfaction. “That reminds me. Did you use your mind magic to set up the photo shoot with you and me?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?” she looked up at him.

“I like fucking with you.”

“That’s it? No deeper reason?”

“I’ve been intrigued by you since we met. I wanted to see what you did. And how you tasted.”

“How often do you … bite people?” she managed.

“Usually only once. You, though, a few times today.”

“Hmmm. I have no idea what to think of that.”

“Consider it a compliment. I hope to be fucking you every time I do.”

Jessi flushed, her insides burning even hotter. She almost felt weak from the ache at her core that yearned for him to be inside her.

“How long can you put up with a rerun before you get bored?” she ventured.

“We’ll find out.

“I hate that answer!”

“I know.”

“You’re such an ass.”

His hand dropped to her backside, and he squeezed. She swatted him away, striding towards the car. The valet opened the door, and she dropped into the passenger seat.