Sweeter Than Wine (9 page)

“It’s just the beginning, my love.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles with teasing nibbles. “Our lives are joined now and things will only get better from here. I promise.”

“Sebastian, I want to make love to you.” She couldn’t control her wayward emotions. She’d wanted this man for a long time but hadn’t dared dream he could be hers in any way. Now here she was, with Sebastian in his secret lair, alone at last. She wanted to join her body to his once more as they were now joined in mind. “Just you. Only you.”

There wasn’t time for words as Sebastian rid them both of their clothing. Within moments they were skin to skin on Sebastian’s luxurious bed. The silk of the sheets felt cool and soothing against her overheated skin while Sebastian’s masculine fingers trailed down her body with an expert’s precision. He knew just how to touch her to stimulate every last nerve ending and erogenous zone.

But if she wanted to change her life, she was going to start now. No longer would she play only a passive role. Jeff hadn’t wanted her to take much initiative in the bedroom. She’d been a virgin when they’d married and let him take charge. That had been enough when they were newlyweds, but over the course of their marriage, she’d often felt she wanted more. Jeff wasn’t inclined to let a woman take the initiative, but it had taken her years to realize how insecure Jeff really was. She knew Sebastian was quite different though. He wanted her to spread her wings and experiment. She saw that in his mind and in his heart.

Reaching up, she drew his head down so she could kiss him. When they broke apart after long moments, both of them were breathing hard.

“I love what you do to me, Sebastian.”

67

“You’ll not get an argument from me, my love. You’re more than I ever could have dreamed of having for myself and I will cherish you the rest of our nights.” He clasped both of her hands, kissing her lips, her cheeks, her eyes and then moving downward over her collar bones, pausing at her breasts to nibble and suck while she writhed in ecstasy beneath him.

“Sebastian!” His name was torn from her lips as her fever rose. All Sebastian had to do was look at her a certain way and her body responded with overwhelming passion. “I need you now.”

He rose over her and smiled. “I need you always, my Christina.”

“Then come to me now, lover. Make me yours alone.” Christy felt sexier than she ever had and knew Sebastian was with her. He wanted her. Her! And he felt the same way about her as she did about him.

It was fantastic. In less time than she could have believed, the bonding they’d undergone made them closer than any mortal could understand or hope to achieve. The magic that was Sebastian lived in her heart and soul, never to be displaced.

Sebastian rose over her, gazing down at her with love and longing as he slid between her thighs. With tender motions, he joined them, sliding into the place that welcomed him now, and would for eternity. When he was seated fully, he rested there, holding her gaze.

“I wish I could stay joined to you like this all the time.” His sexy, low voice fired her senses, while his masculine scent drove her wild.

“Mmm. Me too. But right now…” she whimpered as he moved by small degrees, setting off shockwaves within her core, “…I really need you to move, Sebastian. I need you to make love to me. I need you to make me come.”

Sebastian’s eyes glowed as he thrust. His motions were slow and deliberate at first, then increased in urgency as their passion expanded. He moved like a wild man, but she wanted it all. She wanted him, any way he chose to come to her and she knew he felt the same. It was a novel experience, feeling your partner’s thoughts, but the more time she spent joined to him, the more natural it felt.

“Come with me now, my love. Come for me.”

68

“Sebastian!” She crested the highest wave yet. She’d never felt such an explosion of pleasure, never known a person could fly so high. “Sebastian!” She shouted as her orgasm rocked her world to its core. She felt him convulsing inside her, joining her in the greatest bliss she’d ever known.

“I love you, Sebastian.” Her voice was weak with strain, her mind barely functioning as she drifted down, her body still quaking with aftershocks as he cradled her close. “I love you so much.”

He kissed her face with soft touches, stroking her hair with one large hand. “I love you too, my lady, and I want you to be my bride.” When she would have objected, he soothed her with gentle motions. “Let’s not think of the difficulties right now. It’s enough to know that as soon as you’re free, you’ll consent to join your life to mine in the eyes of man. Will you marry me, Christina?”

A soft smile hovered around her lips as she drifted. “Yes, Sebastian. Nothing would make me happier.”

He brushed her lips with his as he shifted them to lie side by side on the large bed.

He didn’t release her. He held her close, stroking her skin as sleep claimed her, his proposal and her answer foremost in her mind.

She slept with a smile on her face the rest of the night and all the next day, as did Sebastian.

69

The next evening Christy awoke wrapped in Sebastian’s strong arms, her body and mind humming with the knowledge that they were One. He’d let her sift through some of his memories, as he’d seen into her past. Of course, he’d lived a couple of centuries longer than she had, so the marvelous things he’d seen and done in eighteenth-century England were like something out of a romance novel to her. It also would take some time to sort through all she could now see in his mind.

There was bad and good, mixed with the fond memories of friendship with people like Marc LaTour, but under it all, a deep loneliness that haunted him. When they’d joined the night before, that vacant space in his soul had been filled, just as its mate in her own soul had been forever filled with the new beauty of their union. It was the purest form of magic and it humbled her to think this wonderful man could want and love her as much as she wanted and loved him.

It was all so sudden, but ever so right.

Sebastian leaned down to kiss her, a smile lighting his handsome face.

“Good morrow, my love.”

“Mmm, Sebastian.”
They kissed, communicating on that new pathway between their minds.

“Glad you two are finally awake.”
The teasing tone of Matt’s unmistakable voice sounded through the intimacy of their link, breaking them apart.

“Would it be too much to ask for a little privacy?”
Sebastian groused.

“Sorry, friend, but we’ve got a situation and you need to know about it, like
yesterday. So no rest for the wicked. Get your asses out here and let’s get to work.”

“Where the hell are you? I thought you couldn’t hear us last night after we put some
distance between us all.”
Sebastian’s tone was suspicious.

70

“That’s true, but I’m waiting outside your door. I knew if I didn’t, you’d spend all
night holed up in there, making love.”

“This better be important then,”
Sebastian grumbled as he rose and scrambled through some drawers looking for clothing. He tossed one of his shirts to Christy, along with a pair of gym shorts that came down past her knees, but at least she was covered.

“It is. I wouldn’t have intruded otherwise.”

Sebastian opened the door and waited for Christy to precede him up the dark passageway to the chamber above. Sealing everything behind him, Sebastian paused a moment outside the above-ground bedroom door to kiss her once, with promise, before opening the door. Matt waited outside, leaning against the wall, dressed in worn jeans and a tight-fitting black T-shirt. Christy was struck once again by his movie-star good looks and killer body.

“Stop that.”
Sebastian ruffled her hair, his expression teasing. He had to know from the way they shared their minds that she was merely admiring a thing of beauty. Her heart was well and truly Sebastian’s, but Matt was just too good looking not to notice.

She shrugged and smiled at Sebastian, knowing from his teasing growl that he understood.

“Now, what was so important?”

Matt straightened and pulled a large envelope out from behind his back. With an apologetic look at Christy he shared his news. “Jeff Kinsey’s out. Seems the first thing he did when he realized Christy was gone from the hospital was place a call to a man named Benjamin Steel. We have reason to believe he’s a highly placed
Altor Custodis
agent.

Hastings had a thick dossier on the man and was already tracking him. Hastings got a heads up from one of his contacts on the East Coast when Steel moved out here a few weeks ago.”

Sebastian opened the envelope and rifled through the papers as they moved down the hall toward the more public areas of the house. Arriving at the living room, he stopped short. Christy looked between the two big men to find a third seated on another large 71

leather couch, studying what looked like a batch of eight by ten photos strewn on the coffee table in front of him.

“When Hastings put out a feeler for more information, he turned up.” Matt nodded toward the newcomer. “I thought you should probably meet.”

“We’ve already met.” Sebastian strode forward as the stranger stood, hand outstretched in greeting and a broad smile on his face. They pounded each other on the back like old friends and Christy took a moment to scan Sebastian’s memories for the stranger’s identity.

“Cameron.” The name slipped from her lips as the men broke apart. Blue eyes twinkled at her, taking her measure.

“And who’s this wee lassie? Can it be you’ve found your One, Sebastian?” The teasing light in his eyes belied the almost awed tone of his lightly accented voice.

Curious, Christy moved closer.

Sebastian put one strong arm around her. “I have, Cam. May I introduce my mate, Christina.”

“A pleasure to meet you, milady. Though I wish it were under better circumstances.”

Christy quickly searched a few of Sebastian’s memories of this man and realized he was a long time friend. There was something different about him though—different from the earthy energy of Matt and not quite the raw sexual energy of Sebastian and his vampire friends. This man was something else altogether.

Christy held out her hand and was charmed by the gallant way Cameron raised it to his lips for a gentle, polite salute. Her hand tingled where he touched. Magic. It had to be.

But it was different from any of the magic she’d felt before.

She turned puzzled eyes up to Sebastian.

“What is he?”

On the other side of the couch, Matt laughed and she realized he’d heard her as well.

Sebastian sent the shifter a stern look while speculation filled the gaze of their new guest.

“We’ll discuss it later,”
Sebastian told her quickly. “Shall we sit?” Sebastian invited his guests to relax as he and Christy claimed the cozy love seat.

72

A troubled expression crossed the newcomer’s face as he ran one hand through his fiery red hair. He had freckles too, but his build was that of a giant and he looked like he had muscles on his muscles, though he seemed a gentle soul, on the surface at least.

“So tell me, why are you here, Cam? I haven’t seen you in a hundred years or more.”

Christy stifled her gasp at the casual way Sebastian spoke in terms of centuries.

She’d have to get used to this immortality stuff.

The other man sighed. “When your shifter friend sent out that information request, red flags went up all over the globe. Of late, there’s been some trouble with the
Altor
Custodis.
”

Sebastian leaned forward. “What kind of trouble?”

“After consulting with some of the mountain
were
tribes and the
were
folk’s High Priestess in Montana,” Cam said, “we’re drawing a rather ugly picture of infiltration at the highest levels. Sebastian, the
Venifucus
are back. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say, they never completely left.”

Both Sebastian and Matt looked as grave as she’d ever seen them, but Christy had no clue what was going on. All she got from Sebastian’s memories—what he’d let her see of them—was a frightening account of a society of watchers. The
Altor Custodis
watched all kinds of supernaturals, though they had never been known to interfere in any way.

“But if they don’t interfere, why are you so worried? I mean, if they only watch and record…” Christy betrayed her knowledge of Sebastian’s thoughts, but nobody seemed surprised.

If possible though, Cameron’s face grew even darker. “That’s the problem, lass.

Recently, they’ve been interfering in a very big way. Last Samhain, a mage who was definitely a member of the
Altor Custodis
tried to assassinate a young priestess and her
were
wolf mates. He would have succeeded too, if not for the intervention of two of my kin and one of your kind, a fellow named Dante d’Angleterre.”

Sebastian whistled through his teeth. “I didn’t know old Dante was still around, but that explains where Marc got the information. He warned me that the
Venifucus
might be back, but I was hoping it was some kind of hoax, or maybe a misunderstanding.”

73

“I heard about this too, Sebastian,” Matt confirmed. “An alert went out to all Alphas after the attack on our priestess. Dante d’Angleterre was given safe passage
among all
were
. It came down from the current Lords themselves.”

Sebastian turned back to Cameron. “So the
Altor Custodis
have gone bad?”

Cameron tilted his head. “Not all of them. But some? Certainly. It’s my belief they’ve been infiltrated. I think the
Venifucus
used the
Altor Custodis’s
existing hierarchy to rebuild and hide in plain sight all these years.”

“For what purpose? What could they hope to gain?” Sebastian wanted to know.

“You’re not going to believe this, but multiple reliable witnesses heard it from the
Venifucus
mage himself before he was dispersed. They’ve got a plan to bring back Eslpeth. They want to return her to power in this mortal realm.”

“Good Lord!” Sebastian shot to his feet, while Christy was left to wonder who the heck this Elspeth was. Suddenly, the words came to her from Sebastian’s agitated mind.

Elspeth, Destroyer of Worlds.

“Destroyer of Worlds?” Christy’s voice rose with shock. “You mean like the apocalypse or something?”

“The very same, lass.” Cameron’s blue eyes focused on her. “If Elspeth comes back to this realm she’ll finish what she started eons ago. It
will
be the end of this world.

That’s the honest truth.”

“Well then, we’ve got to stop it.” It seemed straight forward to Christy and her stark statement won the attention of all three men.

“We? Good lord, woman!” Sebastian was clearly upset as he stalked over to her.

“You’re newly turned. You’re my mate! I’m not risking your safety for anything in the world.”

His arms caged her in the seat and she withdrew, memory shooting her back to the times Jeff had physically threatened her. She knew it was unreasonable, but she couldn’t help it. Sebastian was just so much bigger than she was. Even though she knew in her heart he would never hurt her, in that moment, she grew afraid.

74

She knew Sebastian read the fear in their shared minds as anguish etched his face.

He calmed and dropped down beside her on the love seat, pulling her into his arms and snuggling her close with gentle hands.

“I would never hurt you, my love,” he crooned in a low whisper, rocking her as the fight or flight reaction shook her body. “I’m sorry, Christina. I didn’t mean to frighten you. Please forgive me.”

She became self-conscious, knowing the other men were watching, but when she peeked up at them, they wore expressions of compassion. Pushing against Sebastian’s hold, she worked to gather her scattered emotions. She had to pull herself together. This wouldn’t do. She refused to be a coward.

She felt Sebastian kiss her head as he let her go.
“You were never a coward, my
love,”
he whispered in her mind.
“You’re the bravest woman I know.”

“So where does all this leave us?” She tried to breathe deep, and calm her racing pulse. Somehow Jeff was mixed up in all this. Her problem marriage had just become a much bigger problem for them all.

Christy didn’t miss the significant look that passed between Cameron and Sebastian before the redhead resumed speaking. They all seemed to realize her predicament.

“It leaves me wondering just where Benjamin Steel’s loyalties lie. I’ve been tracking him for a few months, but he’s a wily son of a gun. For the safety of all supernaturals, we need to find out if the
Altor Custodis
organization is aware of its own problems and if so, what they’re doing about it. My goal is to locate and talk to Steel. Your difficulties lie in the fact that he might or might not be a damned
Venifucus
agent. Or even if he’s still loyal to the
Altor Custodis
traditions, those in his chain of command may not be. If such is the case, they won’t like what you’ve become, Lady Christina. Female supernaturals, most of all, threaten the return of Elspeth, for it was prophesied eons ago that Elspeth would finally fall at the hands of a woman of great power and that lady
were
, vampire, priestess and fey would be there, working together against her at the end. As a result, they target our women when they’re young and just coming into their powers. Like you.”

75

“Well, hell.” Matt’s angry voice cut through the silence as he flopped back in his chair. “He only just finds her and now her life is in danger? That doesn’t seem fair.”

“That it’s not, laddie,” Cameron agreed, “but it’s the way things are. The question is, what are we going to do about it?”