AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My entire body stiffens as I turn to glare at him. “Livid.” I hiss the word.
“You never have to worry about me wanting another. You are all I want, all I crave, the only one I belong to.” His teeth scrape the skin over my clavicle. “I don’t want anyone else’s blood to coat my taste buds or another cunt to hug my cock. You are my heart.”
How can a woman not swoon at those words? I melt against his chest, our lips finally finding one another as I straddle his thighs. I can feel his length pressed against my center through our clothes. Heat blooms in my core and I want to feel him all around me, inside me.
A knock on our door interrupts what I was hoping would be some sexy fun. Aziel doesn’t wait for either of us to reply before entering.
“What the hell!” Kyson growls, setting me beside him.
“My apologies,” he says, not looking directly at us but over our heads. “I know it’s almost dawn, but we have a problem.”
“I have been away from my consort for all my waking hours,” Kyson responds. “Can this really not wait?”
Aziel turns a sharp, angry gaze on him. “That depends on how long you want Liam to remain standing outside the gate.”
Chapter Eighteen
Kyson
Unexpected Visitors
This must be what whiplash feels like. I run the gamut from biting back laughter, to aroused, to furious, and finally plummet to something that tastes like dread in a matter of mere minutes. The dread is not mine alone, however.
As soon as Aziel’s words ring in the air, Scarlet’s breath catches in the back of her throat. For the last few weeks, Scarlet has been plagued by recurring visions of a Jagter whose description matches Liam’s. Sometimes the events of the visions vary, but always she wakes choking on a scream. She has seen him try to kill her, she has seen him behead vampires she has no names for, she has seen him come for me. So the notion that he has found our home and stands at our proverbial door fills her with fear as quickly and thoroughly as it fills me with rage.
The timing could scarcely be worse, with less than an hour before dawn. But that doesn’t matter.
I pull Scarlet to her feet as I stand and turn her to face me, brushing my lips against her face in a vain attempt to soothe her nerves. “Aziel is right. I have to deal with this, Red. You remember the plan we talked about?”
The idea of the compound being compromised was purely theoretical when we discussed it, but Scarlet’s safety is not something with which I’ll play games. I’m sure she remembers what I need her to do now.
Her eyes blink rapidly as if she is clearing her vision and she nods. “I won’t let myself be alone.” She grips my shirt. “But you must promise me you’re coming back. I don’t care what you have to do out there, just come back to me.”
I want to smile and offer her my reassurance, but we both know those words would be a lie. So I kiss her one more time, briefly, and tell her the truest thing I can. “Only final death could stop me.” Then I force myself to step away, because time is of the essence, and I follow Aziel’s already retreating form from the room.
Scarlet will pull herself together and seek out one or three of our covenmates to keep her company, out of those who aren’t expected to be part of the main fight that’s landed on our doorstep. I have to believe that.
More than that, I must pull my own focus together. I have mere seconds to prepare for a confrontation I had never intended to have on our property. Later, presuming we all survive, I’m going to have a word with Mateo about the alarm that never went off.
Mateo himself meets us in the hall. “It’s not just Liam,” he says. “Movement in the forest suggests he brought a full crew. They’re spreading out to surround as much of the perimeter as possible.”
Aziel growls low under his breath. “Fantastic.”
I slip into an old, familiar headspace. “Gather all the noncombatants in the safe room downstairs. We can’t risk this spilling past daybreak. The rest of us need to layer up, we might get a little toasty.”
Mateo blinks at me. “Is that a joke?”
I shoulder past him, moving for the closet. “I’m not in the mood to be making jokes.” Most of our individual items are, of course, kept in our personal spaces. But we all have a coat or two in the hall closet. I’m still fully dressed otherwise, and I keep gloves in my pocket, so in seconds I’m tugging those over my hands for added protection. It’s not perfect. There’s little I can do to protect my head from the sun. It will have to do.
Mateo, designated second line of defense, rushes off to spread the word.
There really aren’t enough of us. I would like to bring more of the men out to help fight, but I’m hesitant. And I don’t know if I’m hesitating because of the unusual circumstance or because I want to leave some of the strength at the ready in case we fall, in case Scarlet needs defending when I can’t do it myself.
A pang of what feels like anger and terror blend roughly together inside my chest causing me pause at the threshold. No. I cannot allow myself to fall here. I have too much to lose.
Aziel lays a hand on my shoulder. “I understand your distraction, Kyson,” he says, “but you need to keep your focus sharp. None of us can afford to lose you.”
I inhale deeply. He’s right. This is my home. These are all my family.
