Master of the Night (16 page)

Odd,
she thought sleepily.
He's a vampire, yet nobody has ever made me feel this safe
. Not David. Not even Llyr, powerful though he was.

Llyr's right,
she realized suddenly.
I'm in love with Reece
.

Oh, this was bad, she thought, with a rising sense of panic. Losing David had wrecked her. Losing Reece would be even worse. He was so damn much more that David had been—more intelligent, more capable.

And more driven. The king was right when he said Reece's sense of honor would make him choose duty over her. Even if it destroyed him.

No. She'd been there, done that, and had no intention of sticking her head in the lion's mouth again.

Yet she couldn't bear the thought of turning her back on Reece. She'd lost one man she'd loved. She wasn't going to let another one fall without a fight.

There had to be something she could do.

Llyr.

Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Now, that had potential. The king had a hell of a lot of power, magically and politically. If she could harness it, she could use it to protect Reece from his Council.

And the only way to do that was to marry the king.

Under normal circumstances, she'd never consider it. But Llyr intended to use her, too—her, and the children she could give him.

She didn't much like the idea of bringing children into the danger swirling around the Sidhe court. So she wouldn't. She'd tell Llyr they had to find a way to take care of this brother of his before she'd agree to give him children.

Suddenly Champion stirred against her, muscle flexing all along his powerful back. He murmured something in his sleep, his voice deep and rumbling. She lifted her head so she could see his face. He looked like a boy in sleep, his eyelashes long and dark as they lay against his cheekbone. Something in her heart clenched hard at the sight of him.

Erin sighed and dropped her head, snuggling her face against his back and breathing deeply of his scent.

Deep in her chest, her heart ached from the weight of a love she knew had no hope at all—and the choice it was forcing her to make.

She fell asleep trying to decide on the best way to save him.

 

Reece woke to
the mingled scent of Erin and another man.

Frowning, he lifted his head and looked over his shoulder. She lay spooned against him, her delicate body limp in sleep. He inhaled again, sampling the air, and recognized the Sidhe king's scent.

Along with the far more familiar scent of Erin's arousal.

Reece glowered. The bastard had been romancing her again. And what was worse, she'd responded. He could smell it on her scent.

No, they hadn't actually made love, despite her arousal. Or if they had, Llyr hadn't come within her sex—though that left no shortage of alternatives.

And then she'd come to Reece's room and crawled in next to him wearing nothing more than her panties. Now she lay there, sprawled in innocent slumber, her pretty bare breasts mounded together as she lay on her side. Her nipples were flushed and pink, soft and sleeping, as though waiting for a male mouth to awaken them.

He wondered if Llyr had tasted those luscious little peaks.

Jealousy coiled through him like a snake until he wanted to turn into a wolf and howl. And rip out the Sidhe king's throat.

The strength of his own anger surprised him. He'd never been a jealous man; among the Magekind, you couldn't be. It wasn't uncommon to make love to a Maja, only to find she'd gone on to make love to one of your good friends the next day.

That had never bothered him. Magi needed the blood of Majae to survive, and Majae needed to donate it; unless they did, their health could be at risk. It wasn't personal.

This, though—this was very, very personal.

He rolled out of bed and began to pace, trying to burn off some of his anger. His deep, vicious jealousy was irrational, and he knew it. He and Erin had known each other barely three days, and she'd made no vows to him. No vows meant no betrayal.

That, however, was the voice of rationality, and he was feeling anything but rational at the moment.

Reece pivoted to pace in the other direction, and his gaze fell on her face. Her lips were parted as though for a kiss. He stopped in his tracks as pain stabbed him. He drew in a breath.

You're being an ass,
he told himself, impatient with his own roiling emotions. He'd always despised insanely jealous men. Erin was not his possession; she was her own person, and she had a perfect right to want the Sidhe king. And why shouldn't she? Just look at the gorgeous palace he'd built, not to mention his beautiful Sidhe subjects. He was richer than hell, and so damn handsome he made Reece's back teeth ache.

And what did Reece have, after all? True, there was Champion International, but the company belonged more to his descendants than to him. Even if she'd wanted him, he was always being called off to some war zone or other on behalf of either the United States or Magekind.

His body was decent enough, but he'd always thought his face looked like ten miles of bad road, particularly compared to Llyr's inhuman beauty.

Why shouldn't she prefer the Sidhe to him?

But I Gifted her,
a voice insisted in the back of his mind.
I fought for her.

But Llyr had been the one to actually save her life. Without his kiss, she would have died.

Reece, on the other hand, had repeatedly talked about killing her.

Ass.

His shoulders slumped as his anger tumbled into a confused depression. Wearily he turned to pace the other way.

“Good morning,” Erin said sleepily from her mound of sheets. She smiled at him, her face lighting up with it. “Though ‘Good evening' would probably be more apt.” She stretched sinuously, her full, bare breasts arching. His mouth went dry. She yawned delicately. “Sleep well?”

“Well enough,” he said gruffly, thinking of everything he wanted to ask her.
Did you sleep with Llyr?
He winced, imagining her reaction to that question.

She rolled out of bed and reached for her jeans, then wrinkled her nose at the dirt and leaves that covered them. He eyed them, trying not to wonder if she'd been rolling on the ground with the king.

“Man, these are nasty. I wonder if they've got a washing machine around here somewhere?”

“Why don't you just magic them clean?” The suggestion emerged with more of a snap than he intended, and he winced.

But Erin didn't seem to notice his tone. “Good idea.” She gave her jeans a brisk snap, and sparks danced over them. Holding them up in front of her, she gave them a once-over and nodded in satisfaction. “Much better.”

Reece looked away as she started wiggling into them, her breasts bouncing. He could feel his cock hardening behind the zipper of the jeans he'd worn to bed.

“Need yours clean, too?” She asked.

At his tight nod, she flicked her fingers at him. He felt the dance of Mageverse energy over his skin and looked down to see his clothes looking freshly laundered. “You seem to be more comfortable with the magic,” he observed carefully.

“Yep.” Erin looked at her hand. A brush appeared in it, and she started vigorously brushing out her hair. “Llyr showed me a couple of tricks.”

Reece barely bit back the words
I'll bet he did.
“That was nice of him,” he managed.

She nodded. “He taught me how to create a mental shield so I can control my contact with the Mageverse. I'll also be able to block anybody who wants to touch my mind without my permission.”

Remembering the times various Majae had used spells to manipulate him, Reece nodded. “That's a skill I wouldn't mind having myself.”

“Yeah.” She bent over and flipped her hair over so she could brush it out upside down. The sway of her breasts drew Reece's gaze like magnets pulling in iron shavings. “I think he was feeling guilty.”

“What about?” Her legs looked a mile long the way she had them spread. He wanted to run his hands along her thighs.

“He put some kind of arousal spell on me.” She straightened up and shook her hair back.

Reece stiffened. “What?” The rage he'd almost managed to subdue roared back to hot life. “He used magic to seduce you?” He swore viciously and turned toward the door. “King or not, I'll kill the son of a bitch!”

“Hey!” Wide eyed, Erin caught his arm. “No, he wasn't trying to seduce me—he took the spell off the minute he cast it. He was trying to make a point.”

“I'll bet he was!”

She shook her head. “No, Reece, his intentions really were honorable. He asked me to marry him.”

“What?”

 

Reece listened in
disbelief as Erin described Llyr's proposal and the reasoning behind it. He felt as if he'd taken a hard blow to the face he wasn't expecting. “You're actually considering this.”

“He makes a good argument.” Then she frowned. “Though I'm not that comfortable with the idea of bringing children into this war with his brother. We're going to have to do something about that.” She shrugged. “But he's right. We don't know what kind of welcome I'm going to get from your Magekind. Besides, I'm not sure I'm comfortable belonging to any group that would execute us just because you didn't get all the proper paperwork filled out.”

It was as though something precious was slipping through his fingers, and he had no idea how to stop it. He said the first thing that came into his head. “Are you in love with him?”

Erin stared at him. “Oh, please. I just met the man yesterday. I don't even know him.”

Reece himself had met her only three days ago, yet she'd managed to slide barbed hooks into his soul anyway. “He evidently knows you well enough to propose.”

“It's a business deal, Reece, not a romance.”

“What about your job?”

She stretched her long legs out in front of her and studied the toes of her bare feet, brooding. “Considering my boss was just murdered, I don't think I've got a job. And even if I did, how could I do it with your Council sending hit teams after me?”

“Which brings up the question of Geirolf.” Blessedly, anger was beginning to crowd through his panic. Was she just going to abandon him, now that she'd gotten an offer from a royal protector?

She looked up at him and frowned, probably sensing his growing temper. “Actually, I've been thinking about that. The Sidhe are pretty damn powerful, right?”

“Not as powerful as we are,” Reece growled.

“Okay, but do you think Llyr and his people could take out Geirolf?”

He frowned. “Possibly, but Llyr has never been particularly interested in Magekind concerns.”

“Yeah, I sensed that. But what if I made it part of the deal—help us kill Geirolf, and I'll marry him? That would help you get out of dutch with the Council.” She sounded as though she were thinking aloud. “And if I'm queen of the Sidhe, maybe they'll be less inclined to offend me. I could make a big deal about how you saved both of us from the demon during our escape, and how grateful Llyr and I are. Given that, and the good reasons you had to Turn me, plus our killing Geirolf, the Council should leave you alone.”

Dammit, she had the whole thing worked out. He felt his frustration come to a boil. “Don't worry about the damn Council. I'll take care of the Council. I've been Champion of the United States since it was thirteen impoverished colonies, and I've pulled the Great Mission out of the fire more than once. I'll convince them to back off even if they decide to be difficult about this.”

Erin stared at him. “But I thought you said you couldn't predict how they'd react.”

“Generally I can't, but I won't let them kill you.” He stalked across the room and knelt in front of her to bring himself to her eye level. Reaching out, he caught her hands in his. “Look, you can't marry Llyr. You're a Maja. You belong with your own kind.”

“Come on, Reece, I didn't even know there was such a thing as Majae until three days ago. I've never even been to Avalon. Why should I—?”

Before he knew what he was doing, he was on his feet, and he'd pulled her off the bed and into his arms. Fiercely he stared down into her mutinous, lovely face. “You're a Maja, Erin. What you need, no fairy can give you. But I can.”

Then he was kissing her with all the desperation, anger, and hunger in his soul.

What Llyr had
done with a spell, Reece did with a kiss. His tongue slid into her mouth in long, mating strokes as he drew on her lips hungrily. Erin gasped against his mouth as heat raced through her body to gather in her nipples and between her thighs. He dragged her close, then closer still, as if craving the contact. His arms felt hot as they circled her. One big hand cupped her butt and lifted until her soft belly pressed against his thick hard-on. She caught his shoulders out of sheer instinct, clinging to the one solid thing in a world that had suddenly gone molten around her.

He was biting at her lips now, his teeth just short of stinging. She threw her head back, fighting to suck in a breath through the sudden, staggering arousal whipping through her body. He went right on kissing her, stringing tiny licks and bites over her chin and across the angle of her jaw. When he reached her ear, he breathed, “I don't need a spell to make your body burn, Erin. You're Maja now. And I'm going to show you just what that means.”

“You can't…” She had to stop to gasp. “…can't change my mind with sex, Reece.”

“Don't bet on it.”

For a dizzy instant she felt herself falling with him. She landed on the yielding softness of the bed behind her, Reece's big body pressing down on hers. He lifted his head, and his jungle-green gaze burned, wild with hunger—and something else she didn't dare name. Then his hands were on her, cupping and stroking her bare breasts until she arched into his hold with a low moan. “Yes,” he purred. “That's right.” He moved down her body and lowered his head just over her jutting nipples. Watching him, she held her breath in anticipation.

But instead of licking or sucking her as she'd expected, he inhaled deeply, breathing in her scent. “God, you were delicious before, but now you smell like distilled sex.”

Automatically she drew in a breath and realized what he meant. She'd never been so aware of the eroticism in a man's scent. His was clean, but with a trace of some dark musk she couldn't identify.

Vampire?

Then he bent his head lower, and she went still in anticipation. His first lick across the peak of one breast made her suck in a breath. That tiny, hot contact felt so much more electric than before. He looked up at her, and a small, satisfied, very male smile curled his lips. “Maja to my Magus, Erin. We're two halves of a whole.”

Then, his gaze still locked with hers, he closed his mouth over her nipple and began to suck. Each pull of his mouth sent streamers of pleasure curling through her body to coil in a burning ball low in her belly.

By the time he lifted his head again, she was trying not to writhe on the slick, cool sheets. “Feels good, doesn't it? Even better than it ever has before,” he said, in a low, knowing voice.

“Yeah,” she admitted on a gasp, unable to lie in the face of such searing pleasure.

He gave her another lick, and her spine arched. She caught that satisfied smile again before he sat up and reached for the button of her jeans. “You're not just a woman anymore, Erin.” She heard the zipper hiss, then felt his big hands catch her waistband. “You're a Maja, and a Maja is more than magic.” She watched, feeling dazed with need as he stripped her, dragging the jeans off her legs.

Then he simply wrapped his fist in her panties and jerked. She caught her breath as he reached between her legs to find her hot, buttery core. The entry of one of his long fingers dragged a whimper from her lips. Possessively he watched her face as he stroked deep. “You're as wet as I am hard. You want me as much as I do you.” His voice hardened. “The way you'll never want that fucking fairy.”

Erin blinked at the sudden ferocity in his voice even as she recognized the truth in his words. “He's a good man. Ruthless, maybe, but he loves his people. I could see myself falling in love with him—”

“No,” he growled, his hands leaving her body as he rose from the bed with an easy, muscular flex. His hands went to his zipper, but his hot eyes were locked on her face as he stripped off his jeans. “Oh, yeah, I'm sure you'd come to feel some pale affection. But it'll never be what it could be with me.”

She licked her dry lips as his cock sprang free, thick and hungry, a drop of pre-cum on its tip. “Getting a little arrogant there, Champion.”

“I have a lot to be arrogant about.”

Well,
she thought, looking up at that broad, powerful body with dazed admiration,
it's hard to argue with that.

Naked, he slid a knee onto the mattress and reached down, jerking her up and into his arms. She caught her breath as her body collided with the hard muscle of his. “The Gift made you a vampire's perfect mate.” His breath was hot on her lips. The hunger in his eyes was suddenly more than a man's need. More consuming, more predatory. “You crave me now, as much as I crave you.”

As Erin looked into his blazing green eyes, a delicious kind of fear stole over her she'd never felt before. A woman's fear of losing herself in a man's hunger—and her own. She denied it anyway. “I don't make a habit of giving into my cravings.”

“Maybe not, but you'll find this one a lot harder to fight.” Sitting back on his heels on the mattress, he spun her around to face away from him, then pulled her back between his spread knees. She felt his breath on her pulse as he lowered his head to her throat. “Because you'll know how it feels when I feed from you, when my fangs slide into your skin. When I drink of your blood.”

She shivered at the velvet threat in his low whisper. “I already”—she had to stop to lick her dry lips—“already know.”

He licked one of the tense cords of her throat as he cupped one breast in long fingers. “But it's never been like this. It's different when you're a Maja. Hotter. More intense. Spread your legs.”

Erin blinked at the rough command, but found herself obeying, easing her knees apart.

“Wider,” he growled.

She swallowed and did as he demanded. Then she felt his long fingers tangle in her hair, pushing her head down. She bent and braced her palms on the mattress.

“Yeah,” he said, his tone dark with anticipation. “Like that.” Erin fisted her hands in the sheets as he stroked one calloused hand over her backside as he kept the other wrapped in her hair. Not pulling, but sending a silent message that he was firmly in control.

She knew she should protest the blatant dominance in the gesture, in the way he touched her as though establishing a claim. But she couldn't seem to manage the words.

It felt too damn good.

“God, I love your ass,” he said, caressing her with those deliciously rough fingers. “Just enough muscle, with a perfect peach curve.” He found the cleft of her bottom and slid his index finger down it as she gasped. “I love to watch you walk across a room. Makes me want to bend you over every time.”

“Aren't you being a little…Ah!…politically incorrect?” she managed, then moaned as he worked that wickedly skilled finger into her tight sex.

“Definitely,” he agreed, a dark male chuckle in his voice. “But I just don't seem to care.” A second finger joined the first, stretching her deliciously. “And I don't think you do either.”

She closed her eyes as he began giving her slow, arousing strokes. “I should kick your butt for this,” she managed.

He laughed. “And you probably would if I were anybody else.” A third finger joined the other two, and she jolted. “But I'm not, and you like it.”

The bed shifted as he moved off the mattress. Almost shaking with arousal, Erin gripped her fistful of silk sheets and waited to see what he'd do next.

She didn't wait long. Suddenly she felt his face against her backside as he angled his head to slide his tongue through the seam between her sex lips. Erin caught her breath.

“You always taste so damn good,” he rumbled. “I could bathe in you.”

And if he kept that up, he'd be able to, she thought, dazed, as he went to work with tongue and fingers, lips and teeth. Stroking and teasing until she braced herself on her elbows and let herself float in exquisite sensation. Her aching nipples brushed the cool silk each time he angled his head to torment some new and ever more sensitive part of her sex.

It didn't take her long to feel the first hot coils of her orgasm tightening around her spine. Normally she would have gone over in minutes, but this time…This time she felt the need for something more.

She wanted to feel him take her—and not just with that powerful cock. She wanted to feel the erotic sting of his fangs sinking into her throat, his mouth working on her skin as he drank from her.
Okay,
she thought.
Getting kinky.

She didn't care.

“Reece…” Erin moaned.

She felt him lift his head. “Need something more?” His voice was dark and knowing.

Her first instinct was to deny it, but she couldn't. “Yeah. Please…”

He straightened. When she felt the broad, rounded head of his cock touch her damp curls, she moaned in relief.

Then he started entering her.

It seemed to take forever, an endless slick glide of shaft stretching her creaming channel, working deep and deeper. Slowly. She felt her knees shake.

“Ah,” he purred. “That's nice. So wet. So tight.” He flexed his hips against her ass, sliding the last fraction home. “How does it feel?”

Stuffed. She was completely stuffed. “I don't seem to remember you being quite this”—she had to stop to breathe—“big.”

He laughed softly. “You have that effect on me.”

Then, as she bent before him, her hands braced on the bed, he fucked her in slow, deep thrusts, working that thick cock in and out as he stood beside the bed. Each thrust slid pleasure through her, burned and teased her closer to the orgasm she could feel building just beyond the next deep thrust.

She found herself bending her arms and lowering her head to the mattress, letting him in deeper and deeper.

It wasn't enough. Even as full as he was filling her, she needed something more.

She needed his bite.

“Reece,” Erin panted.

He pulled out of her. “There something you need?”

The rich amusement stung. “Dammit, you know what I want.”

“Oh, I know.” He picked her up and tossed her farther onto the bed, then pounced after her. Caging her in his brawny arms, he drove into her in one hard, deep thrust. “Because it's exactly what I want,” he said in her ear.

“Yeah!” She angled her head, offering her throat.

But he ignored it as he instead began to lunge against her in jarring strokes that made her gasp at the ruthless delight. “God,” he growled as his hips slapped her butt. “You make me so damn hot and hungry, all I want is to empty my balls and sink my fangs in that long swan throat.”

“Now would be good,” she agreed.

Reece laughed in a triumphant masculine rumble. “You want my fangs, Erin? Is that what you need?”

“Yes!” The admission exploded from her, forced out by desperation.

He chuckled, pressing lower, his weight urging her to relax her braced arms and legs until she was spread on her belly, her ass lifted into his thrusts. Propped on his elbows, he gathered her into his arms, still spearing her. “Your wish is my command.” A big hand closed over her chin, cocked her head at the angle he wanted. From the corner of one eye, she saw him bend toward her pulse.

Just before his lips touched her mouth, he rumbled, “No goddamn fairy can give you this, Erin.”

The sting of fangs sinking deep jolted her with a lushly erotic pain that was somehow shocking. It hadn't felt like this the last time he'd taken her.

He drove in a particularly deep thrust just as he took that first deep swallow.

Heat and fire roared out of nowhere. “Reece!” she screamed as the orgasm engulfed her in a crashing wave of pleasure.

 

She tasted like
straight white lightning as he drank her blood in searing, erotic mouthfuls. He could hear her heart pounding. She writhed helplessly in his arms, overwhelmed by a Maja's pleasure in feeding a vampire for the first time.

He knew just how she felt. Deliciously erotic as it had always been, the experience of taking a Maja had never been so intense. Maybe that was because the Maja he'd known had been too wary to surrender themselves, too conscious of their power to welcome any attempt to dominate them.

But he knew this was more than just a simple sex game, a bit of delicious kink.

This was Erin.

His beautiful, courageous, intelligent Erin, whom he'd come so close to losing. Erin, magnificent enough to attract a king's attention.

Llyr was right, Reece thought as he drank from her. She would make a magnificent queen.

Should he step aside, stop fighting, let it happen? She was right; the High Court would be unable to touch her once she was Queen of the Sidhe.

No.

As he felt her silken depths caress the length of his cock, his entire being rebelled at the thought of giving her up. He'd protect her, even if he had to take on the entire Round Table to do it. She was his, and he wasn't giving her up, not to Llyr. Not to anyone.

He loved her.

As that realization rolled over him, he stiffened, feeling the heat detonate in his tight, aching balls. Releasing her throat, Reece threw back his head in a bellow of raw need and determination. “Erin!”

And he knew as he emptied himself in her depths that he'd never let her go.

 

When Llyr walked
out into the palace gardens, he wasn't surprised to find Janieda perched on the petals of a rose. But for once, she showed no interest in harvesting nectar, normally her favorite treat. Instead she sat with her tiny legs drawn up to her chin, an expression of deep melancholy on her little face. She looked up at his step and stood, stepping off the petal and growing to full size in a blink.