Phantom Desires (8 page)

And now he was hers.

His fantasy shifted as his thought patterns merged with hers. They were no longer lord and scullery maid. They were Dmitri and Carly, two modern day people with very different lives who were joined now for eternity. They both had much to learn about each other and she got the sense from his thoughts that he would enjoy it as much as she would.

“Do you like to be watched, Carly?” He dropped down over her back to whisper in her ear, his gaze holding hers in the reflective surface of the window.

“I—I don’t know. I’ve never done that before.”

“The
weres
do it all the time. They fuck like bunnies out where anyone can see them. Usually with most of the pack looking on, critiquing the young ones, the older ones showing off for their audience. Maybe we should join them one night, out in the woods. Would you like that?”

“I don’t know, Dmitri.” But the idea of it made her hot. He pounded more fiercely within her, driving them both higher as their crisis neared.

“We’ll save that for another time then.”

He drew back, standing behind her, his big hands roaming over her backside. One delved down between her legs in front to toy with her clit while the other zeroed in on the crevice between her spread cheeks. His fingers were still slippery from when he’d had them up her pussy, and one slid easily within the tight rosette that had never been invaded by a man.

She gasped in shock…and rising excitement.

“Never done that before either?” He must have picked the thought from her mind. Lord knew she was beyond speech at this point. She was so close! A second finger joined that first one, thrusting shallowly into her ass, making her squirm and want to scream. “We’ll have to explore that, Carly. Soon. I can make it so good…” He trailed off as his breathing hitched into high gear. He thrust into her in short, hard digs, his fingers driving her wild.

And then she exploded. She felt him following her in both mind and body. His climax reflected her own, added to it and multiplied it, reflecting back to him and doing the same until they were in a spiral of bliss, an upward climbing pyramid of pleasure. She wanted it never to end, but as all good things, eventually they reached the pinnacle and began the languorous slide back to themselves, far below. But they were together. As it should be. Now and forevermore.

She understood in that moment, they were truly One.

They were drowsing in bed after a protracted bout of lovemaking when Carly’s phone rang. They’d finally made it to her bedroom after a stop in the shower, where he took her up against the wall. By the time he was done with her, she was nearly asleep on her feet, purring with satisfaction.

Dmitri smiled at the memory.

He sat up, leaning back against the headboard to look at the bedside clock. It was about eleven at night—too late for a casual call, but still within the realms of possibility for good friends. Dmitri saw the caller ID and was jolted to full wakefulness. He listened unabashedly to the conversation as Carly spoke with a woman who could be no one other than an old friend. When she hung up a few minutes later, Dmitri thought of delving into her mind to take the information he sought, but he’d promised her he wouldn’t do that.

“Do you care to tell me why you are receiving calls from another Master’s mate?”

“Master? You mean Marc is…” He could see her quick mind puzzling through his words. “Holy shit! Marc is a vampire?”

“As is his mate, I believe, though newly made. It was the talk of the Masters when he took a mortal as wife. I even sent them a gift.” Dmitri chuckled at her look of utter shock. She truly hadn’t known.

“Kelly is a friend. We went to college together. A group of us formed a study group and we’ve been friends ever since.” Realization dawned on her expressive face. “So that’s why she never joins us for dinner anymore. She only shows up for drinks and only drinks wine. She used to love those fruity drinks with umbrellas, but we figured it was her new husband’s tastes rubbing off on her.”

“In a manner of speaking.” Dmitri laughed as he drew her into his arms.

“But then, why does Lissa do the same? Oh my God!” She turned wide eyes to him. “Don’t tell me Atticus Maxwell is a vampire too?”

Dmitri nearly laughed out loud at her surprise, but he was taken aback at the same time. Why would two women—three now, counting Carly—

be vampire mates and close friends? It seemed to defy the odds.

“Atticus is one of Marc’s oldest friends. And I mean that in the truest sense. Marc is Master of his region, but Atticus is his right hand man.

I’ve known them both for many years and have called them friends for almost as long. I’ve even met your friends, Lissa and Kelly, when I was staying at Atticus’s winery a few weeks back. They are lovely women.”

“You’ve met them? And they’re both…”

“Both have been turned by their mates, and they are true mates. They share minds as we can.”

He felt how overwhelmed she was by the news that two of her best friends had become immortal. He soothed her as best he could, all the while planning to contact Marc and Atticus to compare notes. His old friends would no doubt have much to say about a third mate being found among such a tightly knit group of women.

“So if they’re vampires, does that mean you’ll want me…” she trailed off and he felt her discomfort.

“I would like it if someday you decided to share immortality with me, Carly, but I wouldn’t ask you to give up the sun lightly. We have time before decisions of that magnitude have to be made. Years, even. So don’t worry about it now. We can go on as we are for quite some time.”

He knew his words didn’t make her feel that much better, but they did take the edge off her panic. The turmoil of her thoughts, however, wouldn’t be conquered so easily.

They rolled along at status quo for a while, Dmitri sleeping the day away below ground while Carly inhabited the house above. She enjoyed a few hours of sunlight each day while she continued to put her house to rights. Dmitri would join her each evening after the sun went down and they’d do various things.

Sometimes he’d help her with the restoration work. Sometimes they’d just sit and talk. They always made love. Usually several times a night and always at those times, the passageway between their minds opened wide for those heart-stopping moments of rapture.

A few nights after the
were
wolf had shown up at her door, the moon went full. She heard howls in the distance even before the sun went down as she stood on the porch, rubbing her arms against a chilly wind, looking toward the far pasture. She couldn’t see anyone or anything out there, but she heard them. And it sounded like more were arriving as the sun set in the western sky.

Dmitri’s arms came around her, instantly warming her. She hadn’t jumped this time. She was getting used to him sneaking up on her as soon as the sun left the horizon. She melted back into him with a sigh.

“What else is there besides wolves?”

“Oh, there are shifters of many kinds. Wolves, big cats, even bears. Most of the larger predators have their shifter equivalents. Even some birds of prey. Hawks, eagles and the larger owls.”

“It must be amazing to fly.”

“It is.”

She turned in his arms, startled by the knowing in his voice. “Can you shift shape?”

A sexy smile played about his lips as he nodded. “I can. It is something we learn with time, but it is not the same magic the shifters use. From what I’ve heard, they can only take on the form of the animal spirit that shares their soul. We use an altogether different sort of magic. It is hard to master, so only the oldest of us have the skill.”

“What do you turn into?” She was fascinated by the idea.

“Just about anything I want. I can replicate the same animal forms as the
weres
—wolf, panther, the larger birds—but because my change is entirely magical, I can also become creatures of legend.”

“Like a dragon?”

“That’s one of my favorites.” His eyes sparkled. “I can also do partial shifts. My hands into claws, for example.”

He held out one hand in front of her and let it change. Gleaming, dark claws slid out from the tips of his fingers making her jump. Then the claw turned back into his hand, and she breathed easier once more.

“That’s…startling.”

“Isn’t it?” he murmured, rocking her back against him. The cool night air washed around them, cocooning them in its inky darkness.

“What do you use that sort of skill for?” She almost dreaded his answer.

“Combat,” came the terse reply. “Every once in a while, a man is called upon to fight. Masters are challenged and the only answer to such a challenge is a show of strength. Such fights are to the death, and there are no rules as to how the battle is conducted once engaged.”

“That’s barbaric.”

“It’s the way things have been done among my kind for thousands of years. It has never changed, and I doubt it ever will. We are ancient creatures that live by an ancient standard. It probably does seem barbaric by modern standards, but it is simpler by far than your bureaucracy of laws. Not to say there are no laws. That’s why we have Masters in each region. My word is law and my lieutenants and I uphold the ancient laws of our kind. We police ourselves—which is another instance when partial shifts can come in handy. There are no jails that can hold us. Many infractions call for a death sentence and a quick death by combat is seen as more humane than staking someone out in the sun to die slowly. That is reserved for only the basest monsters. Usually we catch up with rogues before they earn that kind of punishment.”

“I had no idea.”

“Nor did I want to make you aware of the brutality of our existence, but I will have honesty between us. There is no other way for true mates.

You will come to know all this soon enough.”

He kissed the side of her neck, making her shiver.

“But come, we should make an appearance at the shifter party after they’re done with their hunt. I want them to know who you are and that you are under my protection.”

“Do you think they would try to hurt me?” She felt the undercurrent of caution in his words and the slight connection between their minds.

“Not if they want to live.” For a moment, his gaze went flat with death. “But no. I don’t think you have anything to fear from the
were
. In fact, I want them to know who you are so that they can keep an eye out during the day. Many of them prowl near your land. If they know you’re here alone and unprotected during the day, they may help if they see something amiss.”

“So you think I’m in danger? From what?” She didn’t like the direction of this entire conversation.

“I didn’t say that. I know of no direct threat against either myself or you, but having just found you, I can’t bear thinking of even the possibility. Please indulge my overabundance of caution. In times past, mates were targeted by enemies of my kind for they knew without our mates, most of us would not go on. Without you, my life is over, Carly.” He turned her in his arms and she searched his face.

“You’re serious?”

“Utterly. We are One. Where you go—even into the next realm—I will follow.”

“Oh, Dmitri.” Fear struck her as she clung to him. She didn’t want to be responsible for his death or even the contemplation of it. She would do all in her power to keep him safe, even if it meant making friends with a grizzly bear who could turn into a pimply teenager. “Let’s get ready. We have a party to go to.”

They went indoors, but it was some time before they got dressed in their party clothes. In between Dmitri had some very creative ways to dress her in silk scarves tied at her wrists and ankles. The man seemed to love tying her up, and she didn’t mind in the least, even though she’d never experimented with bondage before in her life. Dmitri made her want to try new things and made her enjoy each and every one of them.

It was well after midnight when he ushered her into his car—hidden one level below her own spacious garage, which had originally been a small barn¾and drove them down the deserted country road leading past her far pasture and into the woods. Every once in a while she saw animals running through the trees beside them. She even caught a few flashes of male wolves mounting females in a blatant display of animal lust. Why it turned her on, she didn’t know. Then she caught sight of pale skin through the trees dappled with moonlight and realized she was watching a naked woman bouncing up and down over an equally nude man. And they weren’t the only ones. As they drove, she saw more and more couples doing it out in the open, in the woods.

“I’m almost afraid to ask, but what sort of hunt were they doing tonight?”

Dmitri chuckled and she looked over at him. She didn’t doubt he’d also seen the pairs in the woods. “Well, they call it a mate hunt, but it’s more of a
mating
hunt. Few pairs find their perfect match during these kinds of events. Mostly they just hook up for the night.
Weres
are very open about sex. When they shift, they can’t bring their clothes with them like we can, so they don’t think much about nudity. It’s a very open society.

But when they do find their mates, they’re as loyal to them as we are. I respect that.”

“But not much else about them, right?”

Dmitri seemed to think. “No. There’s a lot to be admired about the
were
. I suppose you’re picking up on old prejudices I didn’t even know I still had.” He shook his head. “At one time, in the distant past, they say we were close allies. But after we won the struggle against darkness, our peoples drifted apart, or so the story goes. Like I said, I have more contact with
weres
than most of my kind because of where I chose to live.

They’re not bad people, but they can be stubborn about us. They aren’t immortal, though they are long-lived. Still, few alive now remember what once was. It’s kind of sad really.”

“Well.” She reached over and lifted his hand into her lap, offering comfort. “We can change that. That is, if you want to.”

“All I want is their assurance that if they see anything strange on your land, they’ll help you out. I think Jason is chivalrous enough to manage at least that. He and I have worked well together so far.”