Malakai (7 page)

"You want a ride home?" Rev asked.

"Thanks, but my truck is down the street. And
thanks for pulling me out of there. I don't know where my head was.
I should be home working on the sword, but…I need her. You know?
It's like she's become a part of me, and if I'm away from her too
long I can feel her absence strain my muscles. And I think about
her kissing me and touching me. Always."

Rev whistled. "You want Bree to talk to
her?"

"No. I—I'll figure this out. If it is love,
I'll have to deal with whatever consequences come my way."

Kai punched Rev on the shoulder and strode
off without a goodbye. He eased his fingers over his bicep,
surprised at how weak he felt. Like he needed a nap or something.
How strange was that? He had been working in the forge a lot
lately, and when he wasn't, he had been dreaming about making love
to Rissa.

Did he need to rest? He'd never felt so
taxed. Maybe he was coming down with something. Could werewolves
get the flu? No. His breed was not susceptible to mortal
illness.

At sight of his truck, and the shadowed
figure sitting inside on the passenger's seat, Kai heart stuttered
in anticipation. Was she waiting for him?

He trod across the street to the truck and
slid into the driver's seat, only to find a strange woman with
black hair, streaked through with white, sitting on the passenger
seat, smiling at him. A disturbing smile, actually. Forced, as if
she were trying to make nice. Blue woad marked her cheek in three
slashes and he spied a glint of crystal at her hip. And he knew,
instinctively, who she was from tales his father had told him
regarding his parents' deal to conceive.

"Ooghna," Kai said flatly. He turned and
gripped the steering wheel, not wanting to give her the pleasure of
his complete attention. "I'm not in love."

"Lie to yourself all you wish, wolf. I know
differently. I can feel your heart pulse for the leanan sidhe."

"Leanan sidhe?" Now he did look at the
unwanted passenger and found her face was narrow and sharp like a
warrior's blade. Her lips were painted with the blue woad as well.
"What are you talking about?"

"You don't know? But of course, the leanan
sidhe would frighten off all her marks should she reveal her
truth."

"What truth?"

"Syrissa was made leanan sidhe after she
pissed off the Unseelie king, Malrick. She was once his courtesan
but had an affair with the Summer knight. He cursed her a leanan
sidhe and banished her to the mortal realm."

Sensing the faery spoke the truth yet baffled
as to what that truth meant, Kai feigned calm; when what he really
wanted to do was grab her by the throat and squeeze until she
expired. She was the one who held the curse against him and his
sister. He must tread carefully.

"Syrissa?" he asked.

"The faery you've been fucking. You don't
know what leanan sidhe is?"

He shook his head. Did it matter? Yes, he was
in love. There was no denying the pining in his heart, the constant
thoughts of Rissa. And it wasn't because he needed her in his bed
again; it was because he simply wanted her in his arms.

He didn't care if she had once been some
faery king's lover. Right now she was here and in his life, and she
was…his.

Except she wasn't his, and he felt her
absence in every muscle and bone in his body.

"It means she is a vampire sidhe," Ooghna
explained. "Leanan sidhe feed on the life force of others. Through
sex."

Kai flashed her a disbelieving gape.

"Constantly," she reiterated. "Syrissa must
satisfy her body's demand for energy through orgasm and bonding
with another. And in exchange for taking a lover who will feed her
that life, she becomes his muse, inspiring his creativity while she
slowly drains away his life and, ultimately, kills him."

Kai closed his eyes tightly. He'd been so
inspired lately. He'd thought Rissa his muse. And it was all
because she was some kind of vampiric faery intent on sucking away
his life?

"When one lover dies," Ooghna said plainly,
"she moves on to the next. And the next. And—well you can figure
the rest. You're looking tired, wolf. I want that heart in good
working order when finally I hold it in my hands."

Now he did lash out and grip the faery by her
hair at the back of her head. She mocked his aggression, sliding a
crooked smirk up into her cheek.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I can remove the curse," she said
slyly.

"So I can love a vampire faery? I don't think
so. Take my damn heart and be done with it."

"Is that so? Giving up like that? That's not
the Malakai Saint-Pierre I know. You love her fiercely and with all
your soul."

"No, I don't. I only just realized—" Had he?
He felt something for Rissa, but—a vampire faery?

"You are going mad without her."

She pinned his emotions pretty damned
close.

"Obviously it's because of her nature," he
tried. "You said she becomes the man's muse? That's the only reason
I desire her. It's not real love. So tough luck for you. My heart
stays where it is."

And his heart sank deep into his gullet as he
spoke that realization. Truly? Was it false love because she was
luring him into her dangerous web? He'd thought to finally know
love. But…not real?

There was one way to know for sure.

"Remove Rissa's curse," he demanded. "You can
do that?"

"I cannot. Only Malrick can do such a thing.
But with your curse removed you will be free to love whomever you
wish."

Kai dropped the faery onto the seat and
slammed his head against the window behind him. Too much to
consider; too many details. Loving Rissa could kill him? Then it
didn't matter if the curse was dropped. One way or another he would
die.

And he presumed death by heart removal would
be delivered right now since he'd all but confessed his love for
the faery. It had to be real. Hell.

Suddenly leery, he asked, "Why are you making
this offer?" No boon with a faery was ever offered without
expecting a return boon. "Wouldn't you prefer to take my
heart?"

"Normally? Yes. I can do wondrous things with
a werewolf heart." A sweep of her fingers slashed iridescent dust
in the air between them. "But there is another thing…"

Hmm… So he had something she wanted? This
grew interesting. Of course, what woman could resist his
appeal?

"Listen, sweetie, my Casanova days are over.
Despite some wacky curse, I do love Rissa—"

"I don't want you to fuck me." The faery made
a throat clearing sound of disgust. "I want the sword."

Kai met her gaze in the rearview mirror. Her
violet eyes glittered with malice and the promise of his death. He
wagered that crystal blade at her hip would neatly cut out his
heart. But he also guessed the sword he had forged was valuable to
any sidhe. He wanted to ask what she planned to do with it, but
then it didn't matter.

He needed to see Rissa again, to hold her and
make love to her, and to look into her eyes and decide if, indeed,
he did love her. And he must do it before she sucked the life from
him.

"Deal," he said. "You can claim the sword in
two days. I will have it finished then. And the curse?"

"Dissolved," Ooghna said. "Once I hold the
sword."

"And my sister—"

"I'm dealing only with you, Malakai
Saint-Pierre."

"Then we have no deal. My sister and I are
twins. We were cursed as one; you must lift the curse as one. I'll
not allow her to suffer while I am able to walk free."

The faery drew the crystal blade from the hip
sheath and tapped it against his chest. "One day to complete the
sword, and you win your sister's freedom as well."

He gritted his jaws and nodded. "Fine. But
I'm weak. She's already drained me. I'm not sure I've the energy to
complete the sword so quickly."

"You'll need a breath of life."

Ooghna tipped the crystal blade under Kai's
jaw and as he turned to face her, she leaned in and kissed him. It
was a cold kiss that gushed down his throat and chilled his lungs
and heart, but at the same time he felt his muscles tighten and his
thoughts grow clear and focused as if touched by Rissa's
inspiration.

He had to get home to finish the sword and
claim his freedom from the curse.

***

Rissa slipped behind the billboard
advertising the weekend fall bazaar on the sidewalk in front of the
bar. She'd spotted Kai's old pickup truck and hadn't argued with
her conscience for more than a few seconds. Desire won over her
need to keep him out of danger. Hell, the vampire inside her had
prodded her to go to him, bedamned her feelings regarding saving
him.

But as she'd taken a step off the curb to
cross the street and approach his truck, she'd seen the woman
sitting beside him lean in to kiss him.

Kai had gripped her hair and they held the
kiss for what felt like an eternity to Rissa's shattering heart.
And when they parted, Kai had nodded, as if satisfied, then fired
up the engine and drove away.

Rissa hadn't seen the woman leave the truck,
so she could only assume he was taking her home with him to his
cozy little cottage in the woods.

Clinging to the wood billboard frame, Rissa
battled tears unsuccessfully. "He's a Casanova," she muttered.
"He'll never love one woman."

How could she have possibly feared he would
fall in love with her? He had no need to worry about the family
curse of loving a faery. Because he could not love. The werewolf
had only been using her to satisfy his insatiable carnal needs. As
he had done with every other woman in town. He loved them then left
them, bedamned their feelings.

"I loved you," she whispered. Swiping the
tears from her cheeks she forced herself to lift her chin but a
smile was impossible. Because her heart clenched and grew dark. "I
hate you."

Malakai Saint-Pierre deserved to be taught a
lesson, once and for all. She would go to his home tonight. If
another woman was there, she would get rid of her. Then, she would
make love to him all night, draining him of the life force she so
desperately needed to stay alive.

And when he died in her arms, she'd not shed
a single tear.

She stood in his doorway, waiting an invite
across the threshold. Pale cotton candy hair spilled over her bare
shoulders. The sleeveless peach dress hugged her body like wet silk
and revealed nipples and the curve of her belly. Kai's eyes averted
up to hers, and the light from the kitchen behind him dazzled in
her violet irises.

His heart, already captive to her wiles,
could not reason between his needs, desires, and selfish wants.
He'd always been virile and horny and never went more than a few
days without sex. It was just his way. So to determine what was
real love and what was merely infatuation or lust had never been on
his radar.

Until now.

Every molecule in Kai's being reached for
Rissa, even as he pressed his palms to the doorframe to hold a
fierce stance. Her sweet scent intoxicated him, making him weak,
like he had been for days. Only now he was strong, thanks to
Ooghna's kiss. And he'd finished the sword late this afternoon.

She hadn't spoken a word yet, nor had he. So
when she reached out a hand, and Kai took it, his heart pulsed in
expectation while his brain screamed
traitor
.

He pulled her inside and crushed a brutal
kiss against her mouth. Rissa wrapped her legs about his hips and
her fingernails clawed into his bare shoulders, wanting more,
seeking to cling and affix to him.

It was the vampire inside her, he suspected.
He hated that she was using him to survive. And then, he was only
glad that he could give her what she needed. Life.

Marching into the living room, he set her on
the back of the massive black leather sofa. He stripped off her
dress and she shoved down his jeans, rendering them both naked. His
skin hummed as it married to hers in a union that felt so right,
perhaps even…destined. He belonged to her in ways he could not
fathom, and did not want to argue.

Pulling her from the couch, he turned her
around and she bent over, wriggling her peach-sweet bottom in a
silent tease. A lash of his fingers between her legs proved she was
wet for him, and he wasn't about to spend time on foreplay. That
would come later. Right now he needed to hilt himself inside her to
find that familiar fire that was hotter than his forge and which
controlled his very soul.

Rissa cried out in that joyous, encouraging
way that told him she liked what he was doing. He reached for her
arms, sliding them back and gripped her wrists, riding her well and
hard.

***

Hours later, Rissa rolled over in the bed on
top of Kai. They hadn't spoken more than a few words to one
another. Words weren't necessary. Their bodies were hungry for one
another and the answers were too easy.

Besides, she was determined to satiate the
man—to death.

She licked down his stomach, passing the
ridges of abdomen that tensed under her touch. Perspiration
glistened on his tanned skin. Not a single section of him was soft.
He was all hard. Hard as the blades he fashioned.

Hard as her heart?

No. You're not like that! You know you're
not. You…love this man.

Indeed, Rissa's heart was too soft to
continue with her treacherous plan to drain Kai's life energy. Her
heart had surrendered to love days ago. Despite the outcome that
would see her lover dead, surely within days, she must abandon her
wicked plan to kill him with sex. She wanted him alive, his heart
beating, and able to love her thoroughly.

If only she could kill the Unseelie king,
then she would be free to show Malakai how much she loved him, and
not lose him in the process.