Wild Hearts (Blood & Judgment #1) (30 page)

I give him a wicked grin, wanting that too. I reach around to unhook my bra and let it drop to the floor, my heavy breasts tumbling out of their casing for him to cast his gaze upon them.

“So, so beautiful,” he whispers, shedding his jacket and shirt and tripping out of his pants to join me on the floor in a less than graceful sprawl. “Shit,” he exclaims. “That was not the smooth move I was hoping for.”

I giggle as I pull him towards me, lowering myself to the rug. “I love you, Draven, you are a perfect man.”

“Well…” he mutters, embarrassed.

“You are perfect for me,” I say to him, cupping his face.

“Well, I can’t argue with that,” he replies, before he plunges his tongue into my mouth, as his hand trails down my side to hook in the side of my panties. With a rough tug, he snaps the panties, pushing them to the side so that his hand can find me wet and inviting.

“Oh, yes,” I moan as two of his fingers bury themselves inside me. “More,” I pant in his ear and to my delight he adds a third, sliding them in and out, while his thumb works on my clit. I shudder unexpectedly in a rocking orgasm that makes me scream his name.

“Again,” he murmurs. “I want to hear you scream my name again.”

“Draven!” I cry out, giving him what he wants as he positions himself on top of me, his tip teasing my entrance now that his fingers have been removed. I wrap my legs around him, drawing him closer to me as I lift my hips up. “Now. I need you now!”

He doesn’t waste any time in jerking his hips forward, shoving his cock deep inside my pussy with one thrust. “Fuck,” he breathes. “Fuck, Ember, you feel amazing.”

“Ah!” I moan, unable to reply due to his mouth descending on mine, his tongue wrestling with mine.

Draven pumps in and out in an intoxicating rhythm that I get swept away in, losing control and forgetting about what needs to be done. I arch my back so that he can take my nipple in his mouth, but he rolls us over instead so that I am straddling him. He sits up and positions my legs around him, getting us even closer together.

“Now,” he whispers. “I am ready.”

Fuck, I had totally forgotten that I am meant to bite him, so incredible is this sex. I drop my fangs and flash them at him. His look of awe makes me cream myself and spikes the vampire’s natural instincts into gear. With a low growl, I lower my mouth to his neck, still working his cock in my pussy with a gentle rock of my hips. His hands find my ass, gripping hard to keep up the steady rhythm as I lose myself in the bite. My fangs puncture his flesh, tearing into his vein. His sweet-tasting blood pours into my mouth in a gush before I start to suckle gently to control the flow.

“Oh fuck,” he mutters after a gasp of pain. “Oh fuck, Ems.”

He shudders in my arms, shooting his load into me, unable to help the rush of pleasure he feels at my bite. It causes my pussy to clench around him, thrilled to have evoked such a response from him.

“I love you,” he says. “I love you so much.”

I release him and drag one of my fangs across my wrist. This has to work both ways and it will be a true test of his acceptance of me and us.

I place the wound at his mouth and he hesitates for only a second before his eyes fix on mine and he grabs it with a steady hand. His gaze never wavering, he draws my wrist to his mouth and licks the gash with a slow, firm tongue.

I whimper softly, as watching him taste my blood in such a way has to be
the
most erotic thing I have ever experienced in my many years.

“Oh, Draven,” I murmur, shivering when his mouth attaches itself to the cut and I see him swallow. “I love you so much, my heart…” I stop what I was going to say quickly. I was going to say that my heart will break if anything ever happens to him. But, I don’t want to think of that vision. That vision will not come true now that we have bonded, I am sure of it. I have
changed
it.

“What is it?” he asks, removing his mouth from my wrist, his lips stained with my blood.

“My heart…has never experienced love like this before,” I say, instead. “I hope you know this means forever,” I add with a little laugh to pretend I am joking.

“It is,” he says, avoiding my gaze for a second, before he cups my face and focuses his blue eyes onto my light gray ones. “It is forever, Ember. Nothing and I mean
nothing
will ever tear us apart. I promise you that.”

“I will hold you to that,” I say, placing my hands over his, the tears welling up. “I feel so connected to you now. I know this was meant to be. Do you feel it?” I ask, hesitantly.

“I do,” he says softly. “My heart, my soul, my body all belong to you. We are one, my sweet vampire. I will make sure you are protected, no matter what.”

I frown at him. “What does that mean?” I ask, trying to hold his unsteady gaze.

“It means that nothing will ever happen to you while I am with you,” he says, fixing me with a look that is too piercing. “My magic will always protect you.” He runs his hands down my sides and lightly over my flat stomach, before placing them on my backside.

I know he is hiding something from me. “Draven, about the spell…” I give him the opportunity to come clean, but he shushes me.

“It is all taken care of, Ember. We won’t fail. Come nightfall tomorrow, we will fulfil our destiny and form the Circle to take down those who hunt us,” he says.

I bite my lip. I should trust him. That is part of what being in love with someone is. You trust them implicitly. It is one of the many reasons why I have never been in love before. I don’t trust a single soul, other than myself. I nod tentatively. I have to take that leap of faith and believe that it will all work out. “I—I trust you, Draven,” I say with a small stammer.

He closes his eyes and breathes in deeply, a soft smile playing at his lips. “That means more to me than you will ever know, my love. We are partners now, two halves made whole.” He opens his eyes and I lean forward to kiss him.

“What is it?” he asks as I pull back.

“I can’t promise that I won’t kill again,” I say, looking down, suddenly feeling ashamed of my needs. “But, I will try to be the woman you want me to be.”

“Oh, Ember,” he says with a sigh, tilting my face to look at him. “You
are
the woman that I want you to be. I don’t want you to change, because of me. You won’t be yourself and that is not what I want.”

“I can promise you that I will love you every day for the rest of eternity,” I say, stroking his face. “I can give you my fidelity, my loyalty, my trust and my heart.”

“I can promise you the same, my love,” Draven says, taking my hand and kissing it.

I give him a tired smile. We have just declared our undying love to one another in a way so beautiful I want to cry. “This has been a rough night.”

“Let’s go to bed,” he says. “Tomorrow will be tough and we need our rest.”

“Rest?” I joke. “Oh no, I am not ready for this night to be over yet.”

He chuckles at my salacious smile and all seriousness is gone as he stands up and then sweeps me up into his arms. “This time we do it on the bed,” he says with a gorgeous smile.

I sigh lightly, happy for the first time in my long life, even though the vision headache is still lingering slightly. I ponder it for a moment as Draven carries me to his luxurious bed.

I usually end up a drooling mess, but this time I managed to stay on my feet. Does that mean I am getting stronger? I fucking hope so, because if my visions are in any way accurate, we are all going to need to be as strong as we can be.

I put all that worry aside and concentrate on my love for the man in my arms.

Chapter 25

~Aria~

“Wow,” I breathe, eyeing Cahl as I sit on the bed with my legs dangling over the edge. Cahl is pacing up and down the bedroom in a distressed state.

He frowns at me and comes to a sudden stop. “That is the extent of your reaction to what I have just revealed to you?”

“I…how else did you expect me to react?”

“Your usual way. Intensely with a flurry of curse words and that fierce, fiery look in your eyes.”

“No. I don’t get why you didn’t tell me sooner.”

“I had finally earned your trust. Telling you something like this was the last thing I wanted to do. I did not want to jeopardize what is between us with such a revelation, but I realized it was not fair to keep it from you any longer.”

“Cahl, I’m fine.” I flash him a reassuring smile. “Now, come here,” I say, patting the bed. “You can’t just leave me here like this, half-dressed.”

His eyes roam over me in that strange, studious way of his. I’m sitting in my leather pants and just my red, lacy bra. Moments ago, he’d been in the process of stripping off my clothes. And then he’d suddenly stopped and announced he couldn’t do it until he told me the truth. The truth being that he’s lost his ability to wield his Sword of Judgment. That, in turn, means he’s lost his immortality. All because he’s defected from the Jurisdiction.

He crosses to me and sits down next to me.

I reach for him, but he grabs my hands, holding them between us. “Why are you barely exhibiting a reaction to this?” He eyes the amulet hanging from my neck. “Ah, of course. It is subduing you, Aria.”

I scoff. “How weak do you think I am?”

“It is not about weakness. That is what the amulet does. It blocks the effects of the moon and, thus, the wolf itself.”

“No. I’m not reacting badly, because I know how to fix this.”

He shakes his head. “Aria, it cannot be—”

“Once I complete the ritual with the other two, I’ll be strong enough, like you said. Your immortality was taken by the Jurisdiction, which means they have the power to give it back as well, right?”

“For all intents and purposes, yes, logically, that should be the case. However, no Ambassador who has been stripped of it has ever regained it, Aria.”

“Because the Jurisdiction didn’t want to give it back.” I shift closer to him. “
I
will give it back to you.”

“What? I am not following you, princess.”

“My mother was Queen. With her gone, the throne should technically be mine, right?”

“Uh…yes…technically. She did not bear any other children. You are her only offspring. However, that being said, Aria, it is not that simple, because of the King’s actions. Two were meant to rule, but he removed your mother. He will not accept your claim to take your rightful place and rule alongside him.”

“Then I will kill him and take the throne by force.”

“Take the power of the kingdom to return my immortality to me,” he realizes aloud.

“Exactly. I can also save all the supernatural creatures they’re imprisoning there.”

“Aria, you cannot just claim the throne to wield its power for those ends. Should you claim the throne, you will have a responsibility to your people. You must take up residence in the Realm. You must rule eternal.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

“You will have to give up your life here in the human world. It is a great sacrifice.”

“What
life
, Cahl?”

He hesitates.

“I don’t have my pack anymore. My father’s been gone for six months now. I don’t have anyone. Except for you. And now I have someone I trust beside me, I’m not gonna lose that. I…care about you. More than
care
.”

He lifts my chin gently with his index finger. “You love me.”

It’s not a question. It’s a statement.

“Do
you
?”

He smiles with amusement. “Do
I
love
you
?”

“Yeah. Do you?”

He cups my face in his hands and says softly, “Indeed, I do. My princess, you are all I see.”

I wrap my arms around him and whisper in his ear, “Good, because I do…I…I love
you
.”

“Is that so?” he whispers back with a chuckle.

I nod against him, hating how shy I am about saying those three words to him. It’s unchartered territory for me. Being vulnerable is really not my thing at all. I hate it with a vengeance. That’s what intimacy and being in a relationship is though, I guess. It’s gonna take a lot of getting used to. One step at a time. Although, this—me telling him I love him—is a major one.

“Will you tell me now?” I ask, eyeing him intensely.

He frowns with confusion. “Tell you what, my love?”

“How she died? How my mom was killed?”

He edges closer to me and says softly, “Of course.”

I brace myself and draw in a deep breath to prepare myself for what I’m about to hear. He wraps his arm around me and it has
some
of the tension leaving my body.

“Alessandra perished here, in the human realm…in your father’s arms.”

I look up at him, trying to absorb his words. He hesitates off my pained look. “Uh…go on.”

“She had given birth to you a day earlier. It had left her weak as her body fought to heal. Giving birth to a wolf baby with such profound power for someone not built to carry such a creature to term is…destructive and—”