The Dark-Hunters (218 page)

He’d hoped the Daimons had merely absconded with Vane’s and Fang’s powers. He should have known he wouldn’t be so lucky.

“You will have to catch them outside the perimeters of Sanctuary. Take a patrol and—”

“Father, you can’t.”

Markus turned to see his youngest adopted daughter, Matarina, standing behind him. Barely fifty years old, she looked to be no older than a human teenager. She was young, and hopelessly devoted to the two half-human sons he had once fathered on his Arcadian mate.

Matarina would never believe that Vane and Fang posed a threat to their pack.

Only he knew, and he intended to keep it that way.

“They have to die.”

“Why?” she asked, moving forward. “Because of Anya? That was an accident. I know Vane would never have allowed her to die. He loved—”

“Enough!” Markus roared. “You know nothing of it, child. Nothing. They were charged with seeing her pups safely home and instead they let them die. I will not allow such abominations to live while Anya and her pups lie in their grave.”

By the look in her eyes, he could tell she knew he was lying. Revenge for Anya was only one of several reasons he needed Vane and Fang dead. So long as Anya had lived, he’d had partial control over his two werewolf sons.

With her death they would be uncontrollable. Unstoppable. Zeus have mercy on them all if Vane ever came home.

He turned back to Stefan. “Take a tessera and go finish their death sentence. Kill anyone or anything who tries to stop you.”

“And the Peltiers?”

“Only if necessary and never on their home ground. If you kill one, hide it, but don’t hesitate to do whatever is necessary to finish this.”

Stefan inclined his head before leaving to follow Markus’s orders.

Markus took a deep breath, but it didn’t help him relax. Every animal instinct he possessed told him that sooner or later Vane would be back to exact revenge on them all.

He was, after all, his mother’s son.

Chapter 5

Vane laid her carefully on the bed. He was extremely glad tonight that he’d paid the movers to set up her furniture. It was going to make this a lot easier than trying to share that old couch with her.

He pulled the pins from her auburn hair and let it fall down around her round face. She had such a delicate, beautiful face. Placing his cheek against hers, he inhaled her fragrant scent.

She pulled the jacket from him while he savored the softness of her body under his.

She tossed his jacket to the floor, then ran her hands down his back. Vane drew his breath in sharply as intense pleasure consumed him. He knew why he hated being human. If he dared use his powers, they would both be naked in an instant and he could feel every inch of her. Flesh to flesh.

But that would most likely terrify her.

So instead, he leashed his powers and shielded his body marks from her, especially his palm. For once in his life, he would be with a woman not as a wolf or a warrior.

He would spend tonight with Bride as a man.

Bride savored the feel of Vane pressing down on her as he pulled her shoes and then her pantyhose off with consummate skill. His muscles rippled under her hands while her tongue danced with his.

Ummmm … this man knew how to kiss like nobody’s business.

She would never get tired of the way he tasted. It was raw and decadent. Desirable and hot.

He held himself up on his arms while she slowly unbuttoned his shirt to reveal, inch by inch, that lean, strong chest. She untucked the silk to let it fall open while she ran her hands over the tanned flesh. She raked her fingers carefully through the masculine hairs that dappled his chest and abdomen, then ran them over his lean ribs.

His kiss deepened and she felt his heart pounding under her hands. He nipped at her lips, rubbing his body against hers in a way that heightened and teased her to incredible arousal.

Bride looked up at him and saw the unadulterated hunger on his face. How could a man like this want her so badly?

Part of her told her to have more confidence in herself, but it wasn’t a lack of self-esteem that made this so hard to believe. She was a realist. Men who looked like Vane didn’t date women who looked like her. They just didn’t.

Not even Taylor was this scrumptious and he had only been using her. She didn’t want to be hurt again. Not like that and especially not by Vane.

Relax, Bride.

Vane pulled back. “Are you okay?”

“I’m just trying to figure out what you see in me,” she admitted.

“I see a beautiful woman,” he said earnestly, dipping down to nibble the sensitive skin below her ear. “Whose kind heart shines in her eyes and whose spirit is boundless.” He pulled back so that he could stare down into her eyes. “The way you stood up to Taylor this afternoon…” His half-smile made her heart pound. “You wouldn’t ever let anyone get the better of you, would you?”

“I try not to.”

He rolled over onto his back and pulled her across him. The dark tenderness on his face wrapped around her heart and squeezed it tight. “Most of all, I like the fact that you share yourself with me. That I don’t have to prove my strength to you. I don’t have to hurt or be hurt to lie with you.”

There was a note in his voice that told her just how important that was to him.

What an odd thing to say to a woman.

Just what kind of commune did he come from? It definitely sounded like one of those weird ones where people were made to do all kinds of strange things to belong to it.

She ran her hand over the rough smoothness of his face. “There’s something inside you that scares me, Vane. Are you sure you’re normal?”

He gave a light laugh at that. “I don’t know what normal is. But I would never hurt you, Bride.” His eyes burned her with his sincerity. “Never.”

He pulled her lips to his, then moved his hands around her neck to undo the top of her dress and her necklace. He placed her necklace on the box by the bed, then played gently with her breasts. His rough palms scraped her nipples, making them tight and heavy, and sending pleasure through her entire body.

Bride wanted to melt into him. No man had ever made her feel the way he did.

Vane could barely breathe from the emotions warring inside him. He should let her go. He had no business mating with anyone. And yet he couldn’t keep himself from her. Tonight he could very well father children with her. It was the first time in his adult life that that was a concern.

In the back of his mind, he could imagine her with his baby. See her suckling it with love in her eyes …

How could he let her go?

How could he even think it?

The Fates had decreed that they should be united. Who was he to argue against the goddesses?

Vane had spent his entire life fighting. Why should he not fight for this? Just once, didn’t he deserve someone to love him?

What if she never does?

Just as his mother had never loved his father.

The question hung heavy in his heart. What if he didn’t win her over by the end of his three weeks?

No, it wasn’t an option. He would win her and he would keep her.

Holding on to that thought, he took her hand and led it to his chest so that she could feel his heart beating. Unable to stand being without her, he opened his pants and freed himself.

Bride gasped as he shifted his hips and filled her unexpectedly. Mmm, he was so thick and hard inside her. So commanding.

Biting her lip, she looked down at him as he lifted his hips and drove himself deep inside her.

No man had ever been so impatient to be with her. It made her feel strangely powerful. Desirable.

The look of pleasure on his face seared her heart. It made her ache for him. Still inside her, he unzipped the back of her dress and pulled it over her head.

Completely naked, she looked down at him. His shirt was open, but still on his body. He’d only slid his pants down enough so that he could take her.

She lifted one of his hands from her breast and kissed his scarred knuckles while she rode him slow and easy.

He stared up at her with his mouth slightly parted, his eyes dark and hooded. His expression showed her just how much he savored her body. Her touch.

That made her soar most of all.

He placed his hands on her hips and held her still as he took over the thrusting. Bride was amazed at the strength it took for him to do that.

But she didn’t mind ceding control over to him as he quickened his deep, penetrating strokes. Each one went through her, hot and bittersweet. She leaned forward onto her arms, letting her hair fall over them as her body throbbed and ached for more of him.

Her pleasure built until she cried out from sweet release.

Vane watched her face as she climaxed in his arms. Joy tore through him at the sight of her, at the warm sweetness of her body cradling his. He claimed her lips and moved even faster, wanting his own moment of perfection.

Closing his eyes, he found it. He pulled back from her lips to growl deep in his throat as his body exploded into bliss.

Still joined with her, he pulled her down onto his chest and held her quietly while their hearts pounded in time and his body continued to orgasm for several minutes. He ran his hands over her back, delighting in the tranquility of this moment.

It was the only peace his violent life had ever known. There was no fear here with her. No terror that she had the powers to unmask his human heart and kill him for it.

There was only them.

Bride didn’t move for the longest time. She lay on his chest, savoring the strength of his arms holding her.

She nuzzled her face against his chest, then kissed his nipple before she pulled away.

As she started to move from the bed, he tugged lightly at her arm to stop her. “Where are you going?”

“I was going to clean up.”

“Why? I’m far from finished with you.”

She laughed until she realized he wasn’t kidding. He quickly pulled his shirt off and tossed it toward his jacket. His pants, shoes, and socks quickly followed.

Before she could protest, he had picked her up and placed her back on the bed. He nudged her legs apart with his knees, then slid his hips and groin between them.

Bride groaned at the sensation of him lying on top of her. He was already growing hard again.

He took his time exploring her mouth, nibbling her lips, and tasting her, until she thought she would pass out from his gentle exploration.

They stayed like that for the rest of the night. Skin to skin, body to body. Bride had never experienced anything like it. Vane had more stamina than anyone she’d ever heard of. By dawn, she was exhausted and fell asleep nestled in his arms.

He slept quietly spooned up behind her with one leg nestled between her thighs.

This was heaven. And for the first time in a long while, she felt a sense of belonging. Of acceptance. Vane didn’t care that she wasn’t skinny. He didn’t mind that they were on a rickety old bed in a tiny apartment.

He seemed happy just to be with her.

And that was the nicest part of all this.

Vane lay there quietly, listening to Bride’s soft snore as she slept in his arms. Her scent permeated his head. There was nothing he treasured more than her scent mingled with his. Than the feeling of her in his arms.

He was sore and exhausted. And he loved every bit of it. He looked down at her hand and withdrew his magic so that his mark was visible, too.

Mates.

He pressed his markings to hers and laced their fingers together. They would have to make love with their hands joined in this fashion in order to complete their mating ritual.

Bride would have to accept him.

And he would have to open himself up to her.

In the early light of dawn, that wasn’t as frightening to him as it should have been.

Closing his eyes, he let sleep wash over him, and for the first time in months he wasn’t racked with nightmares. He only felt the peace of his mate nestled up against him.

But what would happen once his mate found out he wasn’t the man he pretended to be?

Could she ever accept the wolf that lived inside him?

He didn’t know, but he promised himself that he would be honest with her. Once she was awake, he would come clean with everything.

He only hoped that being honest with her wouldn’t cause him to lose her forever.

*   *   *

Bride got up fifteen minutes past the time to open her store. As she pulled away from Vane, his arm tightened around her for just a second before he woke up.

Those deep hazel-green eyes opened, then squinted against the bright light of the morning sun coming in through the windows.

“What time is it?” he asked, his voice deep and hoarse.

“Quarter after ten.”

He rubbed his hand over his face and groaned.

Bride bit back a smile at that. “Not a morning person?”

“No,” he said gruffly, rolling over onto his back. He slung a long arm over his eyes to block out the light.

Bride had to take a deep breath at the image he presented lying naked in her bed. The blankets were twisted over his body, barely covering those long, manly legs. His chest was completely bare, showing off the muscles of his abdomen, pecs, and arms. His dark whiskers added an almost deadly masculinity to his face, which was crowned by his long, wayward hair.

Good grief, he was spectacular.

He moved the arm over the top of his face to peep at her with one eye. “We’ve only been asleep for four hours, why are you up?”

She pulled her pink bathrobe on without getting up from the bed. “I have to work.”

He reached out his hand to sink it deep into her hair. “Do you ever take a day off?”

“Only if I make plans with Tabitha in advance for either her or one of her staff to come over and cover for me. And of course I’m closed on Sundays. Other than that, no.”

She kissed his hand, then pulled his arm away. He let it fall back to the bed without making any further comments.

Getting up, she left him in bed and went to shower.

Vane lay quietly as he listened to the water come on in the other room. His entire body ached from last night’s exertions, but he reveled that the pain of it didn’t come from his back, chest, and arms having been clawed. He’d had too much fun with Bride last night and fun was something that was sorely missing from his life.