It takes less than a few minutes to round up the guys. We transport back to my estate without another word but in the back of my mind I’m wondering exactly why he told me we’regoing to need to calm her down. He did assign me to go and get her, keep her safe, but that’s the extent of my relationship with the off-limits Embry as far as the fearless master knows, and I’d like to keep it that way, at least for a little bit.
Just until we get to the truth of the shadow books, because after giving it more thought on the way over, something deep down tells me that Embry needs this win. She needs to do something that makes her feel challenged, needed and successful, all while finding out about her heritage too perhaps. Figuring out the secret of the sacred land and the pacts between the witches and vampires so many years ago could be that thing. Something she can give the vampires while making use of her special gifts.
The minute we arrive in the great room of my estate, I see exactly why Descallia was worried. The witches have long since gone, and he’s madder than hell, ranting and raving about what he plans to do to Devora and her witches. While I’m more interested in what’s going on in front of us. The ladies have been busy. The witches’ shadow books are lying open, and bottles of booze and margarita glasses are strewn all over the table.
My eyebrows lift as Embry feels me enter the room. Her eyes are bright purple, filled with a mixture of mischief, rebellion, and anger. The other people in the room may not know she’s mine to calm, to take care of, but she is and I’m not about to let them get in the way.Meet me in the kitchen.
Her eyes flash.You’re not the boss of me, vampire.
I smirk; this is going to be more fun than it should be.Kitchen now. You are mine for a year.
I turn to the others who are all talking at once filling them in on what the witches tried to do. “If you’ll excuse us for a few minutes, I’m going to get an update from Embry and grab some snacks and stuff. Pretty sure these ladies could use something in their stomachs besides alcohol. Make yourself at home to theDescallia Red at the bar, or anything else you want.” I give all the ladies a meaningful look. “If the ladies haven’t consumed it all by now.”
I get sheepish grins from them and smirks from the masters as they head to the bar and the ladies continue talking at once trying to bring everyone up to speed, but I’m only interested in learning the story from one female, and right now, she’s in a very volatile mood.
She leans over the long black marble kitchen island, her cheeks flushed and breathing faster than normal. I take a stool on the other side of the island, unable to keep my eyes from lingering to the creamy swells of her breasts exposed in the v neck cut of her light purple sweater. “Tell me what’s got you in a spin?” I ask.
Her eyes flash. “It’s just my entire life,” she whisper hisses. “The witch books basically say everything that I know about my gramma is a lie.”
I scowl. “How so? What did it say exactly?”
Embry throws her hands in the air as a sign of disgust. “How about everything? That the “vampire lover” tried to get them burned alive, that the vampire lover tried to interfere in areas that didn’t belong to her, and that she was born of another world, not witch, not vampire but something that should be sent back to the depths of hell.”
Her voice raises. “The witches were my great great gramma’s enemy. Clearly hated her. Probably hated every one of us down the line including and especially me. It makes perfect sense now that they would try to lure me into the forest and try to get me to spill any of my gramma’s secrets. The fucking little bitches. Who do they think they are?”
My jaw tightens. This is deeper than even I thought. Especially if she’s a target for some reason, perhaps their hatred for her grandmother. “Then is Lucianna right? Do you thinkbetween the two of you that you have the power to do something extraordinary, break through the secrets that have been locked away so many years?”
She doesn’t say anything, so I continue, treading carefully because I already know how much this means to Embry. “Clearly that’s probably why they want to control your movements, your whereabouts. You know the old adage, hold your friends close and your enemies closer? Is this one of those times? Perhaps that’s all they’re doing. We might have done the same historically.”
Embry sighs. “I honestly don’t know. There are so many rumors. What makes one true over the other? Take the one about the vampires. The rumors of yesteryear say vampires don’t have a heart. The purebloods’ hearts beat just as soundly as the humans’, only our hearts will turn dark, death taking over if left without sustenance, and left to that, we’ll be just like the rogues. Killing and maiming for any sources of blood they can get their hands on. Do you think that’s true? Will at some point our entire fight be for a lost cause? And what if Isala and Lucas are back? My mind just will not shut off. Lucianna thinks it’s a real strong possibility.”
I round the island, scoop her into my arms, and place her on one of the bar stools facing me. Her eyes go wide as I stroke a finger down her creamy skin. “When I said you were mine for a year, that meant all of you, your body,” I tell her, stroking a finger over the tips of her breasts straining against the gauzy fabric of her sweater, “your emotions,” I tell her, caressing just over her heart, “and. . .” I pause, leaning down to graze my fangs against the gentle beat of her pulse on the creamy column of her neck. “And your hot wet little pussy, the one I can smell from here,” I tell her, sliding a finger underneath her skirt and beneath the lacy material of her panties.
Her head tilts back as my fingers sink deep, two sliding in and out so slowly that it almost drives her mad. “Faster, vampire,” she moans softly.
It’s hard not to smirk. “You’re no longer in charge of your pleasure, love. You’ll squirm on the end of my finger, my tongue, or my dick for as long as I want. Understand, because I am the boss of you. For an entire year, mine to do exactly as I please. Remember the deal?” I ask, dropping to my knees.
She stifles a moan and grabs my hair as I rub the length of my tongue against her pretty pink pussy, inhaling her scent as I stroke over that sensitive little nub. Not giving her a moment to breathe until the door opens and Overmaster Descallia’s voice booms into the room.
Chapter 3
Embry
“What’s taking so long?” Descallia booms, the treads of his boots scraping along the marble floor of the kitchen as he walks into the room.
Corvinus doesn’t miss a beat, adjusting my skirt as he stands, bringing up two round dishes from the shelves below us and setting them on the marble counter. He looks at me with a straighter face than I have. “I’ll get the fruit and chips.” All while my heart beats out of my chest at the thought of getting caught by Descallia, who is watching us with narrowed eyes.
His eyes turn to Descallia. “Embry was almost done catching me up. The sandwiches are done. Do you want to take those into the ladies while we finish the rest?”
Descallia nods. “Sure.” He takes the platter of sandwiches Corvinus pulls out of the refrigerator. I bet he’s glad they were already done up ahead because he sure as hell wasn’t working on them all this time. Descallia leaves and if I thought Corvinus was going to do anything else but finish what he started, I was sorely mistaken.
He slides my skirt up, never taking his eyes from mine, petting my clit with a warm finger as he stares into my eyes. Everything south clenches. “I’m going to die before a week is over, much less a year if you keep teasing me like this, vampire.”
Corvinus doesn’t answer though. Instead he drops below and starts slowly sucking, causing every neuron in my body to scream with tension, driving me to the edge and about ready to explode. The minute I can’t take it one minute more, he slides three fingers deep. “Come, love.”
My hands wrap tight in his hair as my thighs quiver around that magnificent man as he kisses and caresses, adjusting my panties and skirt as he makes his way to my lips. “Next time you’re on edge, this is how we get rid of steam. Now that your mind is clear, we can reread the passages and see if they tell us something that helps us in the future.”
This arrogant vampire is too cocky for his own good, but I can’t argue with a thing he says or does because I want it all and more. “I do feel better. Thank you, vampire.” I feel my cheeks heat. While this man gets to me in the most intimate of ways, it’s so much more than just the sex. “I’m probably a little more sensitive about things right now, you know?”
