Royal House of Shadows Box Set: Lord of the Vampires\Lord of Rage\Lord of the Wolfyn\Lord of the Abyss (7 page)

She flattened her hand over his heart, as if measuring the erratic beat against her own. So trusting she was, so trust
worthy
. She hadn’t left him when she’d had the chance. So forgiving, too. He’d allowed her to be whipped, yet still she’d taken care of him. Had even, he mused, cleaned his teeth. His mouth tasted fresh, like mint.

She groaned again, but this time, oh, this time, there was no pain in her voice. Only pleasure. Such a decadent sound. Instantly his cock stood at attention, filling, hardening, readying. He bit his tongue, his fangs sinking deep into the tissue.

“Nicolai?” Jane breathed sleepily.

“All is well, Jane. Go back to sleep.”

“No, I—”

“You’re right. You may sleep after you tell me
who hit you,” he interrupted before she could make a demand of her own.

“You did.” Warm breath trekked over his chest, tickling his skin.

“What?” he shouted. “Me?”

“Accident. No worries. And I didn’t mean to cuddle up to you. I’m sorry.”

She
was sorry? “Jane.
I
am sorry.” Shame beat at him more stubbornly than any opponent ever had. “Name a punishment and I will render it against myself immediately.”

“No punishment necessary, you silly man. I told you, it was an accident.”

Even in this, she forgave him so easily. Her worth far surpassed his. “I will never hurt you again, you have my word.”

“You were out of it. You couldn’t help yourself. I’m just glad you’re finally awake. I’ve been so worried.”

She was going to roll away from him, he thought, feeling her muscles bunch, preparing for movement. He tightened his hold on her. “No. I put you here.”
And here you will stay.

“Oh,” she said, and he couldn’t decide if she was pleased or upset. “Are you, uh, thirsty? For blood, I mean.”

Yes. “No.” She was in no condition to feed him. But even the idea of tasting her had his fangs extending, moisture filling his mouth.

“Okay. Well, you might be wondering about the number of times I bathed you, but I promise you I never touched you more than necessary. Okay, maybe I did, but not by much. And I cut up the hem of my gown
to use as rags, so that you wouldn’t have to endure skin-to-skin contact while you were out.”

Endure? The thought of her delicate little hands on his body caused his testicles to draw up tight and his erection to throb, close to exploding. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

“My pleas—I mean, you’re welcome. So how are you feeling?”

“Better.” Now that she was relaxing against him. “You?”

“My legs hurt.”

Her legs, not her back. It was the first complaint she had ever uttered, yet she’d cast no blame his way. Determination consumed him, suddenly and completely, blending with a sense of urgency. “Hurt, from the walk?”

“From an old injury.”

“Tell me.”

“Car accident.” She paused. “A car is a vehicle used for traveling along roads at high speeds. Anyway, two of them smashed together. I was inside one. My family, too. I survived. They didn’t.”

He could not imagine what she described, but could identify with her pain. “I will make you better.” He eased her to the ground and sat up.

“You can’t. Only time can. I only just started walking again a few months ago.”

“You could not walk?” When he turned and moved between her legs, a hot blush flooded her cheeks and she quickly covered her breasts and stomach. She also kept her gaze on the large emerald-and-white leaves forming a barrier between them and the sky.

“Not for almost a year. So, hey, did I tell you that I
washed my gown and that’s why I’m practically naked like this? The material wasn’t dry, and I didn’t want to wake you up if I accidentally rubbed against you and the gown was cold and wet. But I probably should have risked it,” she babbled. “My scars, I know how ugly they are and as perfect as you are, you’re probably used to perfect women, too. I mean, not that you had a choice with Laila, and not that she’s perfect. But before her you probably—”

“Jane.”

She licked her lips. “Yes?”

“Let’s tackle this one issue at a time. You think I’m upset by your nakedness?”

“Well, yes. After what Laila did, I—”

“You are not Laila.” And every part of him knew it.

“I know that, but you are a victim of sexual abuse and I…I just don’t want to push the boundaries and upset you.”

Upset him?
Him?
“I’ve told you how much I crave you, Jane.”

“Well, you needed me to save you. You might have been buttering my toast, so to speak.” When he looked at her blankly, she added, “You know, softening me up so I’d do what you wanted.”

Indeed, that had been the plan. From the first moment he’d spied her, however, everything had changed. He’d operated only on instinct. “You are also too smart for your own good and convince yourself of the silliest notions.”

Her eyes narrowed, just not enough to hide the fire inside them. “Anything else you want to complain about, you lazy vampire?”

His lips twitched. Even angry, the woman wasn’t
concerned with his new position. Her knees were poised at his hips, his erection lifting his loincloth and nearly brushing what was definitely the sweetest spot in this world or the other. Despite her insecurities, she trusted him completely.

She was uncomfortable about her nudity for reasons that had nothing to do with him, and that he couldn’t allow. “You know I’ve…climaxed recently,” he said.

“Well, now I do,” she replied cautiously.

“The last time was the morning of your arrival. Mere hours before, in fact. And not once, but twice. Yet, look at my cock, Jane.”

A slight gurgle was her only response.

“Look at my cock,” he repeated.

This time, she obeyed. Slowly, slowly, her gaze lowered. She gasped when she spotted the angle of his loincloth.

“If I did not want you, I would not be hard.”

“I know.” A heated sigh.

“Any time you doubt your appeal, just look here.” He fisted his length and moved his hand up and down, up and down, hissing in a breath at the painful but very necessary pressure. “You’ll remember how exquisite I find you. So much so you are in constant danger of being devoured.”

“But my scars…”

“Your scars simply prove how strong and capable you are. They prove you survived a terrible accident. They are lovely.”

“Really?” she squeaked, her cheeks brightening another degree.

“Really. And just so you know, there are no boundaries with us.”

“There aren’t?”

He stopped his assault on himself before he spilled. “No.”

“But…but…there are always boundaries.”

Oh, really. “Is there something you don’t want me to do to you? Some place on your body you don’t want me to touch?” He was tense as he awaited her response. He could have misjudged. He could be wrong about her feelings.

She gulped. “No.”

He relaxed. “It is the same for me. Therefore, no boundaries.”

“Okay, I believe you. But I—I don’t think we’ve explored all the ramifications of this.”

“This.” A sexual relationship? “I think you think and reason too much. We will mate. One day. Not today, but soon.”

Another sigh, her entire body sagging into the ground. “I know that, too. I’m too attracted to you not to give in.”

He loved such an open, honest admission. “Good. Now. Have I covered everything that worried you?”

“Well.” She chewed at her lip until a tiny bead of blood formed. “I’ve been thinking.”

“I have already mentioned that you do that far too much.” Before he realized what he was doing, he reached out, collected the blood with the tip of his finger and licked it away. Her flavor, as sweet as her scent, fizzed and crackled over his taste buds, and he moaned.

Dark Abyss,
nothing
had ever tasted that good. The need for more grew…grew…until he was sweating, panting, fighting for control.

He would not fall on her. He would
not
.

He had known she would delight him in this way, but he had not expected
this
.

“I could return home at any second,” she said, unaware of the change in him. “I mean, you’re free now and isn’t that the reason you summoned me? So it stands to reason that the magic that brought me here will soon begin to fade, whether you want it to or not.”

“No,” he practically roared, his hunger forgotten in the face of his sudden terror of losing her.

Her eyes widened. “No?”

“I will not allow it.” Not now, not ever.

Ever? Yes, he would keep her forever. Would never let her go.

“Just like that?” She snapped her fingers. “You won’t allow it, so it won’t happen?”

Sweat beaded on his brow as he sat back on his thighs. “I am not safe yet. Therefore, you have not fulfilled all of your duties.” He would remain in perpetual danger, if need be. He’d lost so many loved ones already. He could not bear…the pain. The damned pain, wiping his thoughts. “That subject is now closed.”

“Fine,” she grumbled. “Are you always this grouchy in the semimorning?”

Only when you talk of leaving me
. “Would a grouchy vampire tell you that you are the most beautiful female he’s ever met?” he asked, determined to soothe them both.

A luscious softening of her eyes, her mouth. “No.”

“Then I am not grouchy. Now close your eyes and relax.” If that ocher gaze met his, he would forget his purpose, lean down, kiss the breath right out of her, then
work his way to her vein. And if his teeth sank inside her, his cock would expect equal measure. “I’m going to ease your hurts.”

T
he most beautiful female he’d ever seen? He must be seeing Odette, then, Jane thought. Thin might be in, at least where she was from, but there was such a thing as too thin and Jane was it. After the accident, she’d been bed bound and tube fed. When she’d finally woken up, able to feed herself, she’d learned of her family’s demise and hadn’t had an appetite.

Now that her appetite had reasserted itself, she’d been forced to exist on only fruits and nuts.

Fruits…nuts…hmm… In that moment, she realized she was starving. For a juicy steak and a side of fries—on top of another steak. The food could wait, though. She was also starving for a man’s touch. A touch Nicolai gave her. Liberally. His strong fingers massaged her calves, deep and hard, hitting her just right. Moaning, she sagged against the moss beneath her.

“Too much?” he asked in a gravelly voice.

“Perfect,” she managed to gasp out. She kept her eyes closed, as he’d demanded. Not because of his order, but because his fangs were still out. There was a slight slur to his words.

Those fangs scared her as much as they aroused her. She’d seen the harm they could do, ripping through flesh and bone, but also wondered about the pleasure they could bring. Every time she wondered, she shivered.

Hell, even now she shivered. If he was hungry, she was going to feed him, she decided. After this massage, she would owe him a kidney, anyway. Because, oh, sweet mercy, nothing had ever felt this good. Not even grinding on top of him—in her fantasy and in reality—and that had felt like heaven.

Okay, so, maybe the grinding had felt just as good.

He worked on her calves for over an hour, and by the time he moved up to her thighs, she stopped trying to conceal her breasts and scars. Why should she? He’d already seen them and had claimed to find them exquisite. Her arms slid to the ground, useless. God, the man’s hands were magic.

Magic. Yes. Somehow, he was using magic. Warmth flowed from his skin and into hers, an unnatural warmth, a drugging warmth, intoxicating her, stealing into her muscles, her bones, until every part of her was tingling—and his property. Oh, yes. Whatever he touched instantly became his, existing for him and only him.

When his knuckles brushed the edge of her panties, every nerve ending she possessed roared to sudden life, reaching for him. Soon she was panting, groaning, trying to anticipate his next move. At her knee,
he rubbed, then stroked up, gliding along her thigh, sweeping over—
yes, there, please there, almost, almost
—only to pause, not quite stroking where she most needed, before reaching for her other thigh. She had to bite her lip to cut off her plaintive cries for more.

If he would prolong the contact, angle it just a little, she could climax. Oh, God. If she climaxed from this…it would be embarrassing.

The massage continued. And really, who cared about being embarrassed? She didn’t. When would he brush across her panties again? She tensed, waiting, hoping, so damn eager. Her entire body vibrated. Even the air in her lungs began to heat. But time ticked by, and his motions became a little jerky as he kneaded the knots, never offering such wantonness again.

“Distract me,” she said. Otherwise, she just might beg him for a happy ending. Something she couldn’t allow herself to do. He said they would mate soon. Which meant, now was not the time.

Or
was
she supposed to beg? Before, in the bedroom, he’d said,
Not until you beg me.
Was that what he wanted now? What he expected? To work her into a frenzy and hear her plead? Well, she would—

“Distract you how?” he asked, surprising her.

Okay, so begging wasn’t on the menu. Astonished with herself, she fought a wave of disappointment. “Tell me a story.”

He stilled. “A story?”

“Yes.” She cracked open her eyelids and added, “Whatever you do, don’t stop massaging!”

His lips twitched despite the tension radiating from him, something she found endearing. Most likely amusement
had not been a part of his life for a while, yet he seemed to enjoy her. As she enjoyed him.

“A story about what?” he asked. He remained between her splayed legs, with her knees bent and framing him.

“I don’t know. Your family, maybe.” The second she said the words, she wanted to snatch them back. She remembered the passage from the book. He did not recall his past. His memory—

“I have two brothers and a sister,” he said, and stopped breathing.

A moment passed, then another. His fangs slid back inside his mouth, disappearing. Shock and pain replaced the desire and joviality in his expression.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, even though she knew the answer. Or thought she did. He needed to speak, to release. Something she had learned—and maybe discarded—in her therapy sessions. But just because
she
hadn’t tried it, didn’t mean he should not.

“I didn’t remember my siblings until just now. I suspected, but…I have two brothers and a sister. Right now I know,
know,
they are real.” There was a challenging note in his voice, as if he expected her to argue.

“They’re real,” she agreed.

He grimaced, nodded. “At last I can see them in my mind. I just can’t recall their names. When I try, my head nearly explodes with pain.”

“Pain?”

“A
courtesy
of the healer.”

“Oh, Nicolai. I am so sorry.” To know you had a family and to be unable to recall the past you shared, well, that was a true torture, and far worse than not knowing they existed at all. For months, Jane had
survived only on her memories. “Ease away from thinking about their names and describe what you see.” Perhaps, when he relaxed, his mind focused on one portion of his past, other memories would follow more easily.

The glaze of pain faded from his eyes, and the corners of his lips quirked up once more. He dug into her muscles with more ferocity. “My youngest brother, just a boy, has green eyes and hair several shades lighter than yours. I see him chasing after me, and that makes me happy.”

“I bet he looked up to you,” she said to encourage him. “I had an older sister, and I was always chasing after her, desperate to play with her and her friends.”

“Yes.” Nicolai’s eyes widened, but he was looking beyond her, to a place she couldn’t fathom. “Yes, he did look up to me. To all of us. And we loved him. He was sweetness and innocence rolled into a mischievous package. I—I see us standing together, smiling, a unicorn prancing in front of us.”

A
real
unicorn. Jane wanted details—like, had they saddled the creature and ridden it around?—but didn’t want to interrupt the flow of Nicolai’s recollection. “What about your other brother?”

“He is younger, as well, though very close to my age.” He paused, as if searching his mind for validation. He nodded. “They are all younger than me. Even my darling sister.”

“And what are these other siblings like?”

“My sister has her golden head bent over a spell book. I try to convince her to leave with me, as I must visit the market, but she refuses. She wants to stay, has too much to do. She works too hard, wants to please too many people. And he, the brother closest to my age,
has black hair, like mine, and he’s hunting in the forest, racing alongside the wolves.”

The bookworm and the warrior, huh? “You are the dictator, I bet,” she said with a smile. “And the youngest is the sweetheart.”

“Micah is a sweetheart, yes.” His eyes widened, a trace of pain returning. “Micah. Yes, that’s his name. I wonder where he is, where they all are, what they’re doing.”

“You’ll remember, just like you remembered Micah’s name. And maybe you don’t need a healer to do this. These memories came back without her.”

“Maybe they came back because of you.” Nicolai’s gaze returned to her. He caught sight of her encouraging smile and licked his lips, his expression changing yet again. From wistful to heated, his cheeks flushing, his fangs peeking out. Little beads of sweat popped up on his brow.

“Me?” The rising sun cast muted, golden rays over their camp. Though he remained in the shadows, his bronzed skin seemed to glow. His eyes swirled, liquid silver, hypnotizing her.

“Yes. You are the only change in my life,” he said. His attention moved to her breasts, and her nipples pearled for him, as if desperate to please him. “Mine,” he added, reminding her of the beast he had become inside the palace.

This time, the beast delighted her.

The tingling reignited, more intense and spreading quickly. She might have moaned. Might have lifted her hips, seeking more of his heat. Hard to tell, because her thoughts were so consumed with what she wanted,
needed,
from him.

“You keep saying that.” And she kept hoping it was true. But they’d made no promises to each other, had only stated their desire for each other.

And really, despite his earlier shout that she would stay with him, she had no idea how much longer they would be together. An hour? A week? A year? They were literally from two different worlds, and she could return as suddenly as she’d appeared.

“Mine,” he said more forcefully, perhaps sensing her doubts.

“What do you mean by that? Explain.”

“Want you. No secret of that. You want me, too.”

God, those short, abrupt sentences were sexy as hell. As if his mind was locked on one thought—pleasure—and nothing could penetrate his determination to have it. With her and only her.

But…could she truly satisfy him? More than being from two different worlds, they were completely different people. One, there was his abuse. Would the things she wanted to do to him freak him out? Maybe, maybe not. Nothing had so far. Two, he clearly knew his way around a female body.

Odette and Laila had been willing to enslave him to experience the joy of his body. Jane knew her way around one man’s. She knew what he had liked, but had no idea what another male might long for.

Her previous relationship had lasted three years, ending with her accident. Not because of him. Spencer had wanted to stick by her side. She had pushed him away, too grief stricken to deal with him or anyone. And the plain fact was, she had no longer desired him. Not in any way. She had tried, she really had, to make herself want him again. She had planned a date night, with
every intention of seducing him. Yet, even the thought of kissing him had made her sick and she had sent him home directly after dinner.

So, the fact was, while she and Spencer had done everything lovers could do, she’d didn’t have any other experience. None. In school, she’d been far younger than her classmates, so no one had wanted her. After that, she’d been too busy. Spencer was the first man to distract her enough to start something.

The lack hadn’t bothered her before. There’d been no time to consider it, not even when she had been grinding on top of Nicolai. She’d been too busy trying to figure out what had happened to her, trying to survive her sudden appearance here.

Now, however, she wanted to be perfect. The best. She wanted to please Nicolai the way he had pleased her in her fantasy.

She had enjoyed sex. And she had missed it, despite her lack of desire, all these months. Actually, nearly a year now. Mostly, she had loved and missed the afterglow, lying in a man’s arms, absorbing his heat, talking, laughing.

“I’ve lost you to your thoughts.” Nicolai cursed under his breath, but there was humor in the undercurrent. “I’m trying to resist you, Jane, and I’m failing. The challenge of engaging your attention isn’t helping.”

“Why?” A breathy entreaty. “I mean, why are you trying to resist?”

“You need time to recover. And there’s something I must tell you first. Something you will not like.”

Stomach cramp.
“What is it?”

One heartbeat, two. “Without my memories, I can’t be sure…a woman could be waiting…”

Another cramp
. “Oh, God. You’re married?”

“No. No, that much I know. Just before my appearance in the Sex Market, I was with a woman…a servant. Yes. I remember that. I would not have been with a servant if I were married. But I might have
promised
myself to another.”

Might have… No. Not possible. “You hadn’t.” This she said with a sudden surge of confidence. He was too possessive to sleep with a servant if a fiancée waited in the wings.

A glimmer of hope in his expression. “I mention this only as a possibility, not a reality. I could never want anyone as much as I want you right now.” He was looming over her a second later, his mouth poised just above hers. He was breathing shallowly, his hands anchored next to her temples, his erection pressed between her legs.

Finally. The contact she’d yearned for. He was hers, hers, only hers. She could believe nothing less. “You may not know yourself, but
I
think I know you,” she said. “Trust me, no one is waiting for you.”

She wasn’t being stubborn or blind about this. Discarding his possessive nature and the fact that any woman he committed to would have his full attention, he was vampire and vampires mated for life. Physically they couldn’t stray. Research had proven that. So, memory or not, he would not react to Jane if his heart belonged to another.

“Perhaps I am a horrible person, because I don’t care about a faceless stranger,” he said. “I can’t resist you. I won’t resist you. Don’t deny me, Jane. Must taste you, all of you. Please.” He didn’t wait for her reply but leaned the rest of the way down.

“Nicolai—” She meant to tell him that she couldn’t resist him, either, and she would never deny him, that he wasn’t a horrible person, but the words were lost in a scorching kiss as he meshed their lips together.

His tongue thrust past her teeth and rolled with hers. Hot, so hot.

He tasted of mint and…candy. Mmm. Yes, candy. Sugary sweet, the flavor all his own, consumed her.

Unable to stop herself, she glided her fingers into his hair.

“Yes. Please. Please,” she said, finally begging.

Her nails bit into his scalp, holding him to her. She needed more, had to have more, everything else forgotten. Her knees squeezed at his waist, and she rocked herself against him. A gasp of hungry joy escaped her. God! The feel of his erection against her was mind-blowing, shattering, necessary, better than anything she’d ever known. Maybe because she was so damn wet and ready. So she did it again, rocking, rubbing, gasping.