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He grinned at me, and I pushed my hands into his hair, claiming his mouth as I rocked carefully against the hardness still inside me, enjoying each flutter and spasm of pleasure, and each tiny murmur of the same from Nic.10LeiaOne week later, life had already settled into a predictable routine. I woke in Nic’s arms, offered him my neck, and he fed a little, sometimes while he finger-fucked me, but often while he just created networks of goosebumps over my body by stroking his hands across my skin, weaving a fragile net of bliss around my body. It was almost my favorite part of the day.Almost. Except our nights were even better. So many orgasms, even more bliss.I floated from moment to minute to hour to day…thoroughly annoying Aimée every time I zoned out on our conversations, I was sure. But I couldn’t help it.Nic filled my thoughts and my senses.“Hellooooo,” Aimée waved her hand over my face. “I assume Flight Nicky-Forever has already departed this morning, with you well and
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I could say almost anything while she wasn’t looking. “I overheard Nic talking to some of his guys the other day…”She lifted her head, her face now streaked with grime, and raised an eyebrow. “You overheard?”My face heated. “Yeah. He was on the phone in the other room…”She’d disappeared back into the box and started taking out books that looked like they needed delicate handling and just allowing them to thump to the floor. “You were waiting outside a room while he was on the phone?”“Yeah.” I’d been eavesdropping—Aimée and I both knew it—but I just needed to style it out. “And it sounded like the war with New Orleans, against Francois, is escalating. Do you know anything about what’s going on?”She paused again, long enough to cast me a skeptical glance, her eyebrow raised. “Don’t you think that might be a question for Nicky?”I huffed out a sigh. “He won’t tell me anything. Just keeps saying to stay out of it and let him handle it. But…”“But what?” Her tone was muffled now. “You
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He hissed a breath and closed his eyes. “Leia.”“Do you need blood to help you heal?” I automatically offered myself to him as I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his tattoo then followed the paths of some of the lines with my tongue.“Leia.” He groaned my name and cupped the back of my head, his fingers threading into my hair. I kissed his chest gently before sucking experimentally at his nipple, probing the tiny nub with my tongue, and he hissed again. “We’ll never make it down to dinner with Aimée and Tomas, if you keep teasing me.”I glanced up at him. “Do you think they’d mind?”He chuckled. “I’m pretty sure Aimée takes very little pleasure in nursing a goblet of warmed blood while we watch you eat. She’ll take even less in nursing that goblet and simply looking at your empty place.” He dropped a kiss into my hair. “Raincheck on the teasing and the blood?”I nodded. “I guess.”He strode to the closet and shrugged out of his jacket and shirt as I tried to ignore his obvious aro
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“But I said thank you.”Nic grumbled but didn’t chastise him further.“I came to see how you are, to see how you left things…” Sebastian glanced at Aimée and Tomas and me. “Earlier.” Then he looked at Aimée again and inclined his head. “Sister.”It was a very polite, neutral greeting and I filed it away as one of the things to explore about this mysterious family one day. None of them seemed to truly get along, but then how could I expect them to if they’d all been plucked from their human lives and just lumped together?I shuddered at fresh thoughts of becoming a vampire. So far, nothing I’d seen presented it as a good lifestyle. They couldn’t enjoy Chef’s food, for a start.“I found Nicky’s Book of Gray,” Aimée said conversationally as she watched Sebastian.Nic rolled his eyes. “Aimée,” he started.“No, no, I think that’s a really good idea. Well done, Aimée.” As Sebastian praised his sister, she preened a little, and I held back a chuckle. Their family dynamics really were insane.
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I never actually wanted to be alone again.So I needed to turn her.But how could I talk to her about that? She’d allowed my claim, but we’d never discussed her being anything other than human. I didn’t know what she wanted. I wanted her with me forever, but I couldn’t force that on her.I looked away. At first, I’d thought I just wanted power. The power a virgin could bring me, then the extended power of a true mate by my side.But by the time I’d claimed her, it had been about more than power. And a true mate turning, according to the Book of Gray, was about love. It was the biggest gift I could give. It was immortal life.Of course, it was also a selfish vampire gift—a lover and true mate, by my side, for eternity. But it was a commitment. A choice. A wedding. The most insane version of marriage ever—where as long as we both should live took on a whole different meaning.It would mean giving all of myself and accepting all of Leia, too.Which I wanted with a yearning that surprised
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“Nic.” Kyle stepped inside, a box in his hands, and his face immediately paled. “Uh, shit.”He covered his mouth and nose with one hand and moved his head to beckon me over before backing out the door.“What’s up, Kyle?” I glanced at Leia before I joined him in the corridor and closed the door.His cheeks reddened, something I’d never seen from Kyle, who was one-hundred percent pure soldier, cold mercenary, and always completely unflappable. “I just… I, uh… I didn’t expect her scent to be so…” He squared his shoulders and looked at me, his eyes the usual harsh clarity I’d come to expect. “I’ll be prepared next time.”“What?” My hand itched as my fingers formed a fist. My mate’s scent had affected him? “She’s claimed,” I ground out.“But not turned,” he replied, his voice even.I sighed. For fuck’s sake. Another person to make me feel guilty—like I didn’t feel guilty enough already. And how the hell did every other fucker know this very important detail?“Is that a problem?” I kept my
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“Witch?” Leia struggled against Kyle, and a growl rumbled through me at the sight of his hands on her as he tried to remove her from the room.“Release her,” I snapped.Immediately, Kyle raised his hands and backed away from my mate.She whirled toward me and crossed the room before I could stop her. “Oh, Lettie.” A tear ran down her cheek even as she looked into the box. Then she raised her pale face to me, her eyes dark. “Who would do this?”I shook my head. “Perhaps Francois suspected…”“I should check on Temple.” Kyle hurried from the room.“She died because of me?” Leia kept looking at Lettie’s head in the box and I gently closed the flaps back up before handing it to Jason.I shook my head. “No, Lettie didn’t die because of you. She died because of what Francois did, because he took you, because of the decisions she made, maybe. But make no mistake, Lettie died because of Francois.” Even if he hadn’t been the bastard to rip her apart.Although it had definitely looked like the w
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She nodded and cleared her throat as she patted her hair back into place. “Got it.”I broke into a jog as I headed toward the high roller room. Damage control. Shit. Had the main door to the casino been closed soon enough? Locked? I fucking hoped so. I couldn’t allow anyone out onto the streets with tales of a vampire on the loose in my casino.Okay, so chances were, no one would believe a day-drinking gambler, but there were always people who followed up on shit like this, and the red-topped tabloids that printed the stories. It would always be too big a risk to take.Shit.Valérie had been right. The room where the vampire had attacked his victims was a bloodbath. Red blood spatter stretched from floor to ceiling, and the four dead victims lay brokenly over tables and chairs. A group of survivors huddled in the corner of the room, and I made my way over to them, already talking in my most soothing voice.It was going to be a long fucking day.12LeiaAimée’s eyes widened. “Some fuc
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21NicI slammed against the door of the safe house covered in blood that wasn’t mine, my body aching, but with a fierce need to hold Leia in my arms. I yearned for her, to comfort her, to know she was truly mine. That she was okay.And if somebody didn’t let me in the door soon, I’d crash my way right through it. I paused as the sound of a bolt being drawn back scraped over metal on the inside, and the door opened.Aimée grabbed my arm. “What the fuck are you doing? If you break the door, Leia’s a sitting duck for any of those vampire fledglings who escaped. It’s not like Francois is going to gather them all up and take them home with him.”I waved a hand, dismissing her concern. “The wolves are feasting on fledgling tonight.”A movement from the shadows at the other end of the room attracted my attention, and the female wolf shifter came into view. She was naked. “Fledglings?”“I’m sure if you hurry, there will be some left.” I didn’t have time for pleasantries or conversation. Not
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When I didn’t move, he sighed, and Nic’s arms tightened around me.“Leia.” Francois never used my name, and I stiffened as I looked into two clear and focused eyes. “We can either do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is for you to accept all that you are—mon destin—and come with me now, and the hard way is for me to kill this man—” He shook Dad then, and Dad gurgled at Francois’s choking hold. “And then I shall claim you anyway.”“Please.” I reached toward him. “I’ll do anything.” I glanced up at Nic. “I need to help my dad. I need to do what Francois wants.”“No.” Nic’s words were a desperate growl. “You’re not his heart, you’re not his destiny. You’re mine. Only mine.”“But…”Nic shook his head.“Non?” Francois cocked his head, his expression empty of anything but curiosity as he studied me. “You reject your sire?” He shook Dad again. “You reject me?” He pointed at Nic. “For him?”I struggled again, sensing Francois’s grip on lucidity slipping away. “I need to do somet
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She gusted out a sigh. “You humans and your privacy. Nicky told me to protect you.”“Congratulations—you bolted the door.” I tried to smile to soften my harsh-sounding words, but tension ratcheted through me and I could only think of Nic out there trying to protect me as well, endangering himself for me—again. “Someone should be with Nic,” I murmured.“He’s got Conri’s pack and he’ll contact his own men, too. Nicky has more than enough protection. As do you,” she added, like I might somehow doubt her.I shook my head. “I’m going to get changed.” Then I walked into the bedroom that had been assigned to me and grabbed some of the clothes Aimée had provided, making sure to select dark colors.It didn’t matter how well-protected we were separately. When we were together, power seemed to course between us, stronger each time we had sex, and Nic needed that power now. I glanced in a mirror, momentary embarrassment coloring my cheeks as I took in my appearance. Moss clung to strands of my ha
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As we lay quietly together, I straightened her clothes and drew her against me, content to simply hold her as I considered all of the things I needed to say. I wanted to turn her for all of the right reasons, but time and the prospect of Leia becoming a thrall was also an aspect I couldn’t ignore. I’d withheld myself from her recently, not wanting to hasten her descent, but also not knowing if limiting the blood I took from her would help in any way.The limitation also served to reduce my power gains, but no one else would know about that effect. I would be stronger when we were truly together, but that was fast becoming a secondary reason for wanting her.Hell, who was I kidding? It was already a secondary consideration and slipping in priority every day.I stroked her hair and rubbed the ends between my fingertips as she used my upper arm as her pillow and rested against me, her soft breaths bringing me absolute calm.A howl echoed through the air, then another, and Leia sat up, he
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“Be my bride,” I murmured. “I love you, stay with me.”She stilled, and even my heart paused as I waited for her reply.“Be with me.” I tried again. “Let me turn you. Say you’ll stay. It’s the greatest thing I can ever offer you. The only gift I have to give. And I want to give it to you.”Fear that she might refuse seized me, and I kissed her with fervor, stroking my hands over her warm skin, luxuriating in the softness of her.Her gaze met mine, her eyes gleaming.“I’m human,” she whispered. “And there are so many things I don’t want to forget. My mother, not least of them.” She shook her head then focused on me again. “But I’ll be okay. And we have this. We have now.”She tugged me back toward her and took my mouth again, her kiss almost painful as she pressed her blunt teeth against my lip.My heart was heavy in my chest, but I could try again. I could show her my love this way. Prove myself, and I could talk to her properly after. Explain it all. Make it more than a desperate man
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Her laughter.She laughed harder and beckoned both of the other women forward. “Come at me then,” she taunted, as she took a swaggering step toward them. “If you think you’ve got what it takes.”I could have run so fast I would have grabbed Leia and taken her back to the jetty almost before Aimée or the shifter woman knew I was even there, but the sound of Leia’s laughter held me back.She was sparring with two women who could break her in half as easily as look at her, and she was having a better time than I’d seen her have in days. I couldn’t take this away from her.But either I moved, or I made a noise, or simply her blood ran as fast as mine did when we were near each other, because she turned around. For a moment, she didn’t spot me, and her gaze scanned the trees then back again, looking past me a couple of times before I stepped forward and offered her a rueful grin for disrupting her fun.“Hi,” I murmured.“Nic!” She ran toward me, and her name on my lips was the sweetest of
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“What?” My voice was muffled against her clothes. “From here? Is it dangerous here?”She shrugged. “Hasn’t been so far.” She took my hand. “Come on, you’re coming up to the house with me. Nicky and Sebastian have to head back.”I glanced over my shoulder, barely able to make Nic out in the gloom. “You’re going back now?”His clothes rustled like he’d shrugged. “I have to. We need to chase down some leads, see what we can find out about Jean.”I sighed softly, but when he spoke again, I knew he’d heard it.“I’ll be back tomorrow. I won’t go a day without seeing you.”“Yes, yes.” Sebastian heaved his own dramatic sigh. “We all suffer.”Before I had further opportunity to say goodbye, Aimée tugged my hand. “The sooner he’s gone, the sooner he’ll be back, so we need to let them leave.”When I glanced behind me, I couldn’t see anything but black, and there was no way to tell if Nic was still watching me or not.I stopped when I first saw the house. It was a quaint little log cabin, and lig
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And maybe if I could help get Dad back, I could go home. I glanced at Nic. He was a good man. I didn’t doubt that any longer. And… I hesitated, unwilling to even think the words that might cement how I felt in case they trapped me by his side, burdening him further. What if I explored my feelings, and I found myself unable to leave him?And maybe I needed to leave him.To save him.That thought hurt. But ever since I’d entered his life, it seemed to have been consumed by violence or by saving me. I couldn’t live like that. Nic couldn’t live like that. How could I expect him to?Innocent people had died when my dad’s exchange for me was demanded. Innocent fucking people. I couldn’t risk anyone else.I touched Nic’s hand briefly and he glanced down at me, his smile quick to take control of his lips as he met my gaze.I couldn’t risk him.The boat jolted gently as we nudged up against a new jetty, this one looking even more dilapidated than the one where we’d found the skiff, the wooden
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Sebastian smothered a chuckle in the back.I whirled as far as the seatbelt would let me and jabbed my finger in his direction. “And you can shut up. From my count, I’m two for two on crazy princes so far—one kidnapped me, and one likes to smell me whenever he gets too close.” I faced the front again, folding my arms and breathing hard, shame already taking the place of my sudden anger.“Leia.” Nic didn’t say anything else. Just my name.But it was enough.I pressed my hand over my mouth to stifle a sob. It was all too much. At least with red bills, I’d known where I stood. Now my world was vampires and more vampires, and everyone wanted to fuck me or kill me, and they’d taken Dad… And… And… I closed my eyes as tears spilled from them, and Nic pulled the car over before unfastening our seatbelts so he could pull me over the center console and hold me to his chest.“Conri isn’t a vampire,” he said gently as he smoothed my hair from my damp cheek. He pressed a kiss to my temple. “He’s a
