The Sextet - Sharing [The Sextet Anthology, Volume 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (3 page)

She still felt the heat on her skin as she heard the door shut behind

her.

* * * *

Leaning back against the heavy door, Adrian took a few deep

breaths to calm his racing heart. He’d been right. Katrina Mason
was

the one. Their mate. The one he’d waited his extraordinarily long

lifetime to discover, and the one who would complete his tribe.

Feeling as if her essence had been branded on his heart, he returned to

the hall to look over his copies of the papers that gave him ownership

of his new home.

Ethan slinked from the shadows first, which wasn’t a surprise.

Patience had never been his strong suit. He moved quickly but silently

to the table where Adrian sat
.
“Is she what you expected?” the blond asked, the hope clear in his voice. “Is she really the one?”

Immortal Kiss

19

Before Adrian could answer, Nicholas joined them. The legs of

the chair he pulled out scraped against the stone floor, the sound

echoing around them. His tall frame sprawling into the chair, he raked

his fingers through his chestnut hair and frowned, an expression the

staunchly serious man often wore. “She seems too timid to complete

our tribe. I cannot see her as a nightwalker.”

“Timid, yes. But just because I was unknown to her,” Adrian

replied. “The passion is there. I smelled it in her blood. Hot. Strong.

Undeniable. No, she will make us a perfect mate. And she
will
be a nightwalker.”

“You tasted it in her kiss, too,” Ethan replied, sitting himself

opposite Nicholas. “A kiss that should have been shared by all.”

Adrian’s fist came down hard on the table. “This is
my
tribe. It was my right.”

“Possessive of her already?” The frown on Nicholas’s face

deepened. “You know the tribe must share her.”

Of course he knew. And he understood why. To be their own

tribe, they had to pledge every part of their world to each other. Body

and soul. Their very existence depended on their bond, their trust.

Their futures were forever linked, had been from the moment Adrian

met and turned the two men, and now, he was closer to them than

anyone else in the world. They shared a connection few people could

ever understand—one that went beyond friendship, beyond mutual

dependence. It was as if they shared a soul.

To bring a woman into their trio would change the delicate

dynamic considerably. The men knew each other so well they could

anticipate each other’s actions, sometimes even their thoughts. On a

hunt, they were always successful because of that connection, keeping

safe from detection or capture. It wouldn’t be at all easy to add a

woman. They’d have so very much to teach her simply to help her

survive a nightwalker’s life.

Not every tribe was able to find a perfect mate, a fate Adrian

feared. Even after years and years of searching, he knew they could

20

Elizabeth Raines

come up empty handed. Yet he still searched, wanting that last

important piece of the puzzle that would make their lives complete.

Luck was truly on Adrian’s side to have stumbled across that

fateful picture. The one showing a young woman with straight brown

hair and a pert nose. The one revealing paralegal Katrina Mason

standing by a large glass window overlooking the skyscrapers of

downtown Los Angeles. The one that would change all their lives.

As members of their old tribe, the three had shared women as

lovers over the years. They were so in tune, quarrels had never

erupted over petty things like jealousy or resentment. Everyone left

the bed satisfied, but no woman had ever inspired strong feelings of

possession in Adrian. None had been their mate. From the moment

he’d seen Katrina on his computer screen, he’d known she was the

one. Smelling her, tasting her, had only confirmed that. She
was
the one.

Was it those warm, brown eyes? The almost irresistible air of

vulnerability? The touch of mischief in her smile? Something,

perhaps something inexplicable, had called to Adrian. He’d known. It

was that simple.

Damn, but he’d been searching for her forever and a day. All over

the world. Woman after woman after woman. Desperately hoping to

one day find an elusive mate. And to discover her face—the face of a

nightwalker’s mate—in a picture formed of light? The irony was

exquisite. As was Katrina.

He’d finally embraced technology despite the fact he was a

stubborn creature of habit. Computers had not only come easy to him,

but they’d opened up the world, ceasing his seemingly endless years

of isolation. Ethan had transitioned into the twenty-first century as

well, albeit he was the youngest of the three, initiated by their former

leader in the early part of the twentieth century. Finding her so he

could complete his small tribe had been such a long quest. What if

Adrian might have missed her had he taken Nicholas’s approach of

ignoring anything new or innovative? A shudder ripped through him.

Immortal Kiss

21

One heated kiss had confirmed what Adrian already knew in his

heart. Katrina
was
their mate. She would give them the freedom to keep this tribe here in America, to break free of the talons of the

Elders, and to become whatever they wanted to be—at least within

the limitations of being nightwalkers.

“She’ll be back?” Ethan asked, the excitement now tinting his

voice. His blue eyes searched Adrian’s, betraying the hope he knew

they all shared—to claim Katrina and become an independent tribe.

“She’ll be here tonight?”

“Yes,” Adrian replied. “She’ll be back. And tonight, we’ll make

her ours.”

22

Elizabeth Raines

Chapter 2

“I’m absolutely insane.” Katrina took a deep breath and stared at

the familiar oak door. What had she been thinking? Standing there

dressed in the perfect “little black dress” she’d found at a vintage

store—the one she’d saved for just the right occasion—she clutched

her beaded purse to her chest and tried not to have a panic attack.

While she’d been known to fall fast, hard, and even a bit stupidly

into a relationship, casual sex had never been her thing. Being brought

up Catholic meant she carried the burden of guilt whenever she

crossed the line between flirty and sleazy. Only once had she

participated in a one-night stand, and that had involved precipitous

amounts of alcohol and a guy who looked too much like Robert

Downey, Jr. to even think of turning down. Even drunk, she’d kept

enough self-control to insist on protection.

Yet, here she was with a box of condoms stuffed in her purse,

ready to throw herself into the bed of a man she’d just met.
Just met?

She’d spent a grand total of twenty minutes with Adrian Bishop. Even

if he was the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen, Katrina had a hard

time excusing her reckless behavior, probably because she simply

couldn’t come up with one reasonable explanation why she now

found herself standing in front of that enormous oak door.

Fanciful as it sounded, she’d felt a...connection to Adrian, a strong

and undeniable bond from the moment their gazes had locked.

Something other than sexual tension, something much deeper. The

strength of the lust she felt for him made it next to impossible to sort

out the rest of the emotional tangle he’d caused. But had she felt

nothing but the desire to straddle his hips and ride him like a bucking

Immortal Kiss

23

bronco, Katrina wouldn’t be back at the creepy mansion. She owed it

to herself to discover exactly what existed between them so she

wouldn’t live with regret over what might have been.

Her eyes closed. She whispered a prayer for strength and a touch

of wisdom before squaring her shoulders and deciding to find out

exactly what had drawn her back to Adrian like Gollum hunting his

ring. Knuckles poised to knock, her breath rushed out in a startled

gasp when the door creaked open.

“Good evening, Katrina.” Adrian’s dimple and smooth baritone

made her heart slam in her chest.

“I expected the old lady to answer again,” she blurted out.

“Ah...You mean Agatha. The housekeeper. I wanted time alone

with you, so I gave our servant the night off.”

Katrina couldn’t even form a picture of the old woman in her

mind because Adrian filled her every thought. The man was dark

from head to toe—ebony hair, obsidian eyes, black tux and shirt. And

the look suited him, made him appear not only sexy but mysterious.

The cadence of her already speeding heart increased as her eyes

brushed over his groin and she imagined seeing the cock she’d felt

pressed against her backside that afternoon.

“I hope you like what you see, my Kat.” Humor marked each of

his words.

Sanity came tumbling back. Hadn’t he said something in greeting?

“Um...Good...good evening, Adrian.”

Offering his hand, he grinned, clearly sensing her unease and

enjoying it. The guy probably liked making women feel off-kilter

because it gave him the air of control. With a coy grin, Katrina

decided to be daring, snatch that control back, and set the tone for the

evening.

Instead of taking his hand, she placed hers against that muscular

chest, leaned in, and pressed her lips to his, capturing his smile.

Adrian replied by wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.

He smelled of
Acqua di Gio
and tasted of spearmint. A perfect

24

Elizabeth Raines

combination.

She stepped back before either could deepen the kiss. Too much

remained unsaid for them to go tumbling between the sheets too

quickly. Katrina wanted to know a little about him first, especially to

find out why this connection seemed so powerful and if it could

survive anywhere other than a bedroom. Then perhaps she could feed

the sexual hunger gnawing at her insides. Her thong was already

damp, and he hadn’t done anything to her yet except kiss her.

A glance around the room showed a radical change. The cobwebs

were gone, as was the layer of dust. Silver candelabras had been

scattered around the great hall, and candlelight shimmered from the

top of the stairs to the long table, which now held four chairs—a

captain at the front, two on the left, one on the right. All four places

had been set with red linen napkins and polished silverware. “Are you

expecting company for dinner? Other than me?”

“I’ve invited my closest friends, the men who live with me, to join

us. I hope you don’t mind.” The disappointment that they wouldn’t be

alone must have been clearly written on her face because Adrian

reached for her hand and leaned down to give the back of it a soft

kiss. “They wished to meet you, my love. They’re very curious about

you.”

“You told your friends about me?”

“Of course. We’re...close. Closer than being simple friends. But I

shall explain more later.” He tucked her hand under his elbow so it

rested in the crook. “Let me introduce you to them.”

Two men appeared from the shadows of the second floor as if

Adrian had called them. On the right staircase, descending with the

grace of a ballroom dancer, was a blond. His hair was cropped short,

his face round enough to bear the look of a man still in the bloom of

youth. He couldn’t be any older than twenty-two or twenty-three.

Close to Katrina’s own age.

Funny, but she didn’t consider herself in the bloom of youth any

longer. Life had a way of making a person jaded. She’d had to work

Immortal Kiss

25

her butt off to scrape up every dollar she needed to survive since her

father died and her alcoholic mother kicked her out when she was

seventeen. Paralegal pay was next to nothing, especially in a city like

Los Angeles, but at least she had a roof over her head now.

Her gaze shifted to the left. This one had shoulder-length hair that

was neither brown nor red, but a pleasant mixture of both. There was

no polish to this tall, close-to-thirty man, his large feet stomping down the stairs loudly enough to echo through the hall. Long fingers tripped

down the banister as he descended, and his amber eyes stayed locked

on her. His tongue darted out to lick his full lower lip, sending heat

shooting through her body.

Dinner with three gorgeous men? When had she hit the lottery?

Shouldn’t I feel some kind of fear?
After all, Katrina was now alone in a house in the middle of absolute nowhere with three men—

three very tall and masculine men who could easily overpower her

and enforce their desires. She should be worried about their intentions

and their behavior. This whole scenario had “gang bang” written all

over it. Oh, yes, she should have been afraid. She simply...wasn’t.

Trust
. She trusted Adrian, more than she knew was wise.

As she thought through the extraordinarily tantalizing and horribly

naughty possibilities the evening could but would never present, she