Any Price (18 page)

“No, I think I can explain,” Boris declined firmly. “My likeness to a cat is common knowledge. I like mysteries and I like exploring with an edge. This is probably the oldest, most interesting thing I’ve come across. It feels like there are stories in there and I am meant to find them. I seem to know and yet can’t even imagine what they might be. Perhaps the awakening of the first daughter means each of us develops a better handle on our gifts. You know, enhancement. Mine is stealth and snooping, now I’m better at it.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he continued. “We all felt the sinister edge in there, but for me, that just makes it better. There is nothing I want more than to find the real entrance and go in.”

“We didn’t find it when wiring the castle nor plumbing the place. Both those operations were huge and we all thought involved unearthing every hidden corner. Whoever hid the entrance did one serious job of it,” Yuri contributed.

“Yes,” Boris agreed with obvious excitement in his voice. “It’s not only sealed but protected with deadly intention. However, it called her highness and now me. I have to assume it must be something our ancestors were involved in.”

“I know we must have joint ancestors,” Kenna agreed, “but do you know how joint? Your connection feels as direct and strong as these three but different, different from everyone else too.”

“Ah,” Boris hesitated. “We have what could be called parallel ancestors.”

“Wait!” Kenna held up a hand. “Does this involve anything shocking, reality altering or otherwise overwhelming? I promise to be enthralled tomorrow but right now I am full up with fantastic information.”

“Of course, my lady.” He nodded and smiled. “Suffice to say my ancestors came here because it was the only place for them to hide among their own kind.”

Kenna groaned and turned her face into Lore’s chest. That little snippet of information was tempting and promised such a fascinating story.

Evening had long since fallen around them. Removed from the normal daily schedule, Lore found it was later than he’d thought. Whatever the next story was, it’d wait. Today had been enough for anyone to deal with.

Julianna was already clearing the table and stacking the trays on the rolling cart they’d arrived on. She’d summoned the second chef to take away the meal’s remains. He was dark, but that ended his resemblance to Boris. Where Boris was almost willowy in a very masculine way, his younger brother was solid. He looked like a football linebacker in a white chef’s jacket. Kenna watched as the extended family functioned around her.

These were no servants. The connection made them all much more than that. Each person was immediately seen and valued in a way that went beyond appearance. They were simply fulfilling their role in what needed doing. The fact was, though she and Lore were thrust into leadership roles, they were not as removed from those around them as human monarchs usually were. This inner circle was a family that crossed the royal barrier.

The activity around them distracted Kenna from the mounting pressure surrounding Lore and herself, but not for more than a second. Pressing against his chest, she inhaled deeply. His scent was amazing, and suddenly she couldn’t get enough of it.

In a fluid motion Lore stood to hold her chair, taking her hand as soon as she stood and leading her to the bedroom door. The room had not emptied fast enough and he was done waiting. Lore was totally done waiting for everything.

As the door shut behind him he picked her up, their mouths met and opened as he held her against his chest with no effort. The intimate touch of this deep kiss once again soothed a raging need and yet whipped the carnal demands to almost pain. Kenna’s legs clamped around his hips as they both groaned. Her body twisted in his arms, rubbing over him with every ounce of strength she had. Then everything changed.

Both of them felt a rushing sensation. Desire became demand as they experienced a dizzying plunge into a need that consumed all reality or awareness. There were only these two bodies that must become one.

“I need, Lore, please I need so bad,”
Kenna whispered into his mind. Both of them felt the painful contractions in her empty channel as her body tightened in unrestrained demand. Something had changed since this morning and it was Kenna paying for it.

Lore wrenched his mouth away from hers. “My God, baby! What the hell was that?” he asked as her pain subsided.

“Lore!” she gasped in fear. “I don’t know but it’s coming again. Do something!”

Cursing, Lore lunged across the room and dropped her on the bed. Grabbing the waist of her slacks as she bounced, he ripped them in half with a single yank and didn’t pause as the panties were shredded off her in the next instant.

The pain hit her and her body arched. Screaming, she dug claws into his shoulders. He fell on her, trying to absorb her pain and hold her. He was still fully clothed and she clawed at his clothes to remove them the way he’d done hers. Her nails ripped and pulled as her small body endured a wave of fire that flashed her from head to toe. Gritting her teeth as tears streamed down her face, she focused on getting his clothes off instead of the pain.

“Let me,” he snarled, rearing back to shred his own clothes.

Kenna grabbed the front of her blouse and yanked it over her head as the pain subsided. Her tear-bright eyes watched him as he slung shoes off and straightened to lift her fully on the bed.

Knowing what she thought she craved and not hurting her were two different things in his mind. She wanted him in her fast and hard. He couldn’t do it without being sure she was ready. Neither of them even considered the previous arguments. Birth control issues were nothing compared to stemming the pressure that was building across her body again. Both of them felt desperation with need, but only Kenna’s body translated the lack of contact with him to pain.

Lore’s mouth plunged down to cover her entire sex. His tongue thrust into her with a wet push that had her screaming again. Kenna’s knees jerked up and she grabbed them, pulling them apart and arching her body into his face. The sensations burning up her abdomen were ferociously intense. Her head thrashed on the pillow as his tongue sliced into her over and over. It was good, so good, but not enough. Abruptly Kenna reached down between her legs and grasped his head with a hand on either side.

Her hands would not stop and he let her pull him up her body. Helping her with a lunge up, his mouth slammed into hers as their bodies realigned. The clash of teeth and lips brought the taste of blood. It was not a problem for either of them. There was so much need.

Their bodies knew what to do. Both of them naked, her legs slid up the outside of his hips just as his thick cock found her entrance. It was right and it was shattering. The kiss ended as the need to look into each other’s eyes forced them to pause. It was devastatingly intimate, desperately sexual. Her body tensed as fingers dug into his hard back, urging him to take.

“Please,” she breathed.

His teeth bared in a primal snarl, Lore plunged into her contracting channel for the first time.

The velvet fist of her physical need tightened around him in excruciating pleasure. His fast, fierce entrance magnified each sensation instead of minimizing it.

An explosion of sensation crashed through them. Thick and hard, he stretched her narrow channel. Clamping down, she welcomed the urgent entry that could have been painful in normal circumstances. Pleasure ripped every other sensation from them as his body jerked out and thrust into her exactly how she wanted it.

His kiss ground into her as their lower bodies powered into each other. It was ferocious and urgent. Kenna’s nails clawed down his back and he rolled them over so she sat across his hips.

Gasping air in almost a scream, she sat up to get her knees under her for more power to ride the deep pleasure he’d finally given her. As she straightened, he had a good look at her face, kiss-plumped lips and a smear of blood made those lips glisten and he’d never seen anything more beautiful than his woman.

She rode him rough. Bunching muscles burned as she propelled her body on the shaft impaling her. Her head lolled back, eyes squeezed shut, she bared teeth at the ceiling in primal abandon.

The frantic pace of this pounding mating wasn’t enough. Kenna needed more and that need drove her. Her body collapsed on him and her teeth fastened on the tendon between neck and shoulder. Biting down hard, she growled into his flesh.

The connection burned with the power of a midnight pyre, hot and high it flamed through minds and souls. They seemed connected in every way possible but they needed more. She was willing to take a chunk of his flesh to show him how desperately she needed something more.

Growling low and deep, he bucked her off. Her jaw released and he flipped her over. Instinct thrust his arm under her hips to lift her to him. Flushed folds opened as her legs extended wide in natural invitation. There was no hesitation as her back arched to present herself. Grasping his cock, he positioned himself at her glistening entrance and plunged into her again, this time driving in deeper than before.

Large hands gripped her hips, pulling her onto the thick spear as he thrust. His grip ensured she took all of him. Looking down, he watched his body stretch her with each deep stroke. The scent of sex intensified as she welcomed the hard use. Breathing through his open mouth allowed him to taste her surrender in a new way. Raw lust had never been so enveloping, consuming. The wet sounds of possession surrounded them, punctuated with the slap of his body powering into her.

Overwhelming instincts still needed more. Her body stretched beneath him, presenting for his possession was not enough. Satisfying the increasingly urgent demands was not a conscious choice. There were no more choices, only need. He fell forward, his mouth opened over her shoulder to hold her beneath him in the old way, sharp points pierced skin.

Warm, rich blood flowed over his tongue and Lore felt a rush of adrenaline detonate in him. His hips propelled cock into her with building power, slamming home in unrelenting dominance. His whole being drank in that forbidden offering. Shock had less than a millisecond to register as fierce claim overcame the last remnants of his resistance.

They shared the sudden rush of incomprehensible energy her blood gave him. It was drinking pure power. Every nerve lit to hypersensitive, magnifying both the need and the pleasure. His body covering her, in her, drinking her, melded them.

Kenna strained beneath him to get more, feel him deeper, and Lore gave her exactly what she demanded. The perfection was primal. Base urgency burned her as animal pleasure ignited the feral lust pounding between them.

Harsh thrusts lit concentrated sensation. The roaring storm in her body exploded. The blast of his seed welded them together in a ferocious flight of dark pleasures lit by staggering explosions.

The contractions went on forever it seemed. There was no other reality, no other need like the one they fulfilled in each other. Each hot jet deep in her body triggered desperate contractions that ruled both of them. His hips ground into her as his mouth clamped her shoulder.

At last Lore pulled his mouth away from her to rear back on his knees and thrust the last jet of seed into her with his full body weight while roaring his claim to the universe. The iron grip of his hands on her hips held her on the pulsing shaft, ensuring his mark invaded the depths of her body. He could not have released her if he’d wanted to. For long minutes he ground into her relaxing body.

Slowly the blinding haze of sexual gratification cleared. They collapsed on the bed. He lay over her, panting, still embedded in her body. They were drenched in sweat, breathing harshly but fully entwined as the internal explosions diminished and they became aware of the last—what?—ten minutes.

Lore’s head rested on her upper arm when his eyes opened to stare at the fresh wound on her shoulder, and his stomach knotted. He tried to shield his reaction from her but it was too late.

Shock ate with an acid burn. He had injured her and enjoyed it. The creature within felt deep satisfaction at the marks on her flesh, there was even pride in them as if those marks meant something. The man he was now didn’t understand his own animalistic response.

“It was us, both of us,” Kenna murmured. “We are different and we both wanted it. If anyone was an animal, it was me. I needed you exactly like that more than I needed to live. Do you remember the pain? How desperate I was to feel you in me?” Kenna’s gentle voice shook with passionate conviction. Her body was still drinking in the feel of him with an elemental joy.

Lore gingerly pulled out of her and rolled off to the side. Kenna didn’t move save to turn her head so she could look at him. He lay on his back, one arm over his eyes, hand fisted as he tried to assimilate the viciousness of his response.

Part of him was still shuddering in gratification at the taste of her. He’d claimed her in the most primitive way possible. Physically, he still enjoyed the unbelievably delicious taste of her blood in his mouth, down his throat, even moving through his body as he ingested. Repelled by his apparent bloodlust, he attempted to examine it.

Something new was happening to both of them. Her blood flowing through his system ignited his body in ways that were both sexual and elemental. Yet she felt the same gratification. As if they consumed each other. Horror at what this implied receded to the background. His sense of well being was too strong. It bordered on euphoria as their thoughts twined in sensual acceptance. Shared reactions took them to a new place. The gift of blood was the key.

Still, Lore felt uncomfortable with the direction this took them. He couldn’t deny the emotional fulfillment, but his analytical mind scrutinized the events and calculated consequences relentlessly.

Nothing felt this good and came without consequences. It was just a rule of the cosmos. He couldn’t see past the fact that though Kenna paid for their changes in pain, he was the one who altered into some other life form. Was he a life form that had traditionally been described as a big, deadly idiot? He didn’t feel his mental capacity slipping away, but then, which crazy monster ever did?

“I needed you just like that.” Kenna spoke softly into the silent room. “It wasn’t you asking for anything. We both knew there was another level of connection and we were desperate for it. Blood is the most personal marker. The tie we wanted to share. This is the reason we’re instinctively uncomfortable with the other entity having my blood.”

Lore turned his head to look at her. Gazing at her beautiful face, he felt his gut clench. It didn’t matter how many times he looked at her, she stunned him. Now his fears lashed him. He couldn’t send her away, but he should. For her own protection until he had a better understanding of what the hell he was.

“What does it make us? Me? What have we become?”

She raised a brow. “What do you feel like?”

“I feel different, Kenna. The type of different that isn’t able to remain sorry for doing something I know is, well, really not normal. Your blood on my tongue completes me. Everything is…” He stopped, searching for the word. “Everything is better. I’m not sure what this means. Am I losing the ability to care about anything but my own needs? Am I the monster we both suspect?”

“Do you want to do that with another?” Kenna asked cautiously. She was unwilling to look into his thoughts. Whatever they were becoming, talking about it made it feel a little more normal. Perhaps the only normal thing about them at this point, she needed it now.

“No,” Lore mused as he searched his feelings. “I don’t have some sort of insanely ravenous hunger either. It is part of making love to you, an intensely personal, very private connection, but only about us. How about you? Got fangs?”

Kenna ran her tongue over her teeth. “Nope. What do they feel like?”

“Dunno. They’re gone.” Lore frowned.

Kenna jerked up on an elbow to look down at him. “Gone? Seriously? Show me.”

Lore obediently pulled his lips back to show her. She stuck her finger between his teeth to feel.

“I’m not a horse, babe,” he growled around her finger. “We can be pretty sure of that.”

“Oh yeah? Some parts of you bear a close resemblance on occasion,” she snapped, still looking at his teeth.

“I know, hung like one. That was what you were going to say next? Right?”
He sent the words to her mentally since her fingers were still in his mouth.

“Of course, stud. I wasn’t thinking of the south end of a north-bound animal,” she teased gently. Kenna gave up on the teeth and regarded his perfectly handsome face seriously for a few seconds, studying each feature.

“What?” he asked as his hand caressed her side.

“Again there doesn’t seem to be any physical change, damn it.” Kenna kept studying him as his hand slid around to cup her breast, caressing it gently.

“Hollywood let you down on this one too?” Lore chuckled. “Hon, Hollywood doesn’t know Jack about this.” He avoided using the word “vampire” even though it was the thought in both their heads. His eyes were serious as he continued. “Since the stories exist for Hollywood to tell badly, we have to assume there are, or were, others like us. Perhaps not exactly like us. Not a couple, I mean.”

Kenna sank down on his chest. His arms folded around her as her head settled into his shoulder. “I know, the stories are about a single male or group of males. At least they started that way,” Kenna agreed.

“You’re on the right path. I think we have to look to the origins of those stories. There is a grain of truth in them, but it’s garbled with fears and superstitions. Julianna and Yuri never said a word about exchanging blood, and I didn’t feel them hiding anything. It’s seems they don’t know about it.”

“Speaking of them, every time we change, they do. Have you noticed that?” Kenna asked.

“Yeah.” Lore thought about reaching out and checking with Yuri, but that would mean explaining why he wanted to know if the commander felt anything different. “They said you were the light switch and something from you flows through me. I bet that’s more correct than they know,” Lore agreed. “If we are more intensely whatever we are, it’s logical they are as well.”

“You said you felt different. What does that mean?” Kenna wanted to know.

“Hard to explain. I am fine at last. Those are the words that come to mind. As if I’m complete and I wasn’t before.” His hands glided up and down her back in a caress he couldn’t stop. He needed the feel of her soft skin, the weight of her body resting on his, the scent of their lovemaking drifting around them. This was perfect and nothing had ever been perfect before. “Baby, I can feel how tired you are. I’d like to make it up to you now, but you’re exhausted. Get some sleep. I’ll work on this awhile.”

“Make what up to me?” Kenna mumbled.

“Our first time shouldn’t have been hard and fast.”

“Shut up. I already told you how I feel about that, and besides, if you’d taken any longer, I’d have had to kill you.”

“Shhhh, I know, hon. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow.”

Kenna mumbled something and surrendered to sleep.

Lore lay staring at the ceiling. Slowly he became aware that he could see the ceiling with complete clarity. Glancing around the room to test the theory, he found the next new thing. His night vision was as perfect. He scowled. Did this mean something about his daylight hours? How much of those old horror stories were true?

* * * * *

London

Simon frowned at his computer screen. The message presented an opportunity. He could feel it. The woman was sending her new lapdog, the younger Tosh brother, after something and it was important enough that he took the royal jet. Flight plan was New York City, her hometown.

Simon’s fingers flew across the keys, directing minions of his own to check the obvious. Search her apartment and the dead grandmother’s possessions. It was not necessary to tell them what to look for. His followers were well trained. They could find anything. It was unfortunate there was only around two hours before the dog arrived in New York. That meant his people had to give up stealth for thoroughness. Warning her someone was coming was worth it if he managed to acquire an important piece of the eternity puzzle.

Sitting back as the acknowledgements blinked across his screen, Simon smiled. He was greatly amused at the current communication system he’d devised. It tickled his sense of the ridiculous.

They used an extremely popular publisher’s internet message board. It was stunningly easy to pass information, even post lengthy instructions as a book excerpt. Becoming an author wasn’t as simple as he’d imagined, but even that exercise had been amusing. All he had to do was provide embellished accounts of his sexual experiences. His work was the SM part of BDSM and considered extreme, but there was a market for it and that was all he needed.

Simon glanced across the room at the body he was currently playing with. He always started with the gag, and they always accepted it. That removal of the possibility of a safe word was for them and about the only thing he did for them. It reinforced their comprehension that they had willingly accepted this deal. Using greed to get enthusiastic consent from a beautiful woman was easy and entertaining as it became another tool.

After the first ten hours, he removed the ball gag. By that time the woman was fully aware there was no hope of mercy and her screams were generally weak and pitiful. The hopeless utterances she could not suppress.

His current amusement was bound in a particularly painful contortion designed to stretch her joints. Right now he figured the pain was excruciating and she probably thought it’d be better to die than endure this. Time to fuck her virgin ass and show her there was always more.

When he was finished with them, he never actually gave them the payment he’d promised. His methods molded them into mindless instruments dedicated to fulfilling their destiny as amusements for his men.

Training the human mind was amusing and so easy when done right. Normally, Simon only indulged in this particular exercise once or twice a year. He’d procured a toy this weekend before going to Covia. It was wise to work off some of his tension at being so close to the answers his family had been seeking for thousands of years. Idly he wondered if this female would survive. He was very tense.

* * * * *

New York City

Local time in New York was six hours behind Covia so the eight-hour flight meant Thomas arrived in New York at six in the evening. The bank would not open until nine the next morning.

During the limo ride into town, both the driver and Thomas suspected there was a tail on their vehicle. Not expecting any attention at all, this development flicked on every bit of the extensive training Thomas had acquired.

Thomas had spent significant time in the hands of several military organizations. The little countries they represented only had a handful of men with this level of education. There was normally no need for highly trained killers, and currently there were only six, all officers in Lore’s military and his personal guard. Three of the six were Yuri, Thomas and Boris.

Arriving at the hotel, Thomas checked in normally.

Slipping out undetected was an exercise in stealth that involved acting as if he were having a meal in the hotel dining room. Unsure who the watchers were or why he was being followed, Thomas made very certain he’d lost the unknowns before he headed to Kenna’s apartment.

Nine o’clock was early evening in the city that never sleeps. Thomas exited his taxi in front of the apartment building and glanced around.

The sidewalk was bustling as it should be, but the trained eye saw two items of possible interest. There was a sedan idling at the corner. It might be nothing, but the high-performance tires didn’t match the nondescript model. And a scruffy man leaning against the building reading a paper had a manicure that didn’t match the worn jeans, old running shoes and dingy t-shirt. When Thomas reached for the door, the scruffy man shifted suddenly and bumped him as if startled. The guy mumbled an apology and turned away to stride down the street toward the corner.

Thomas entered the brick building with a frown. The building felt wrong. Not being able to pinpoint it, the wrong feeling bothered him. Everything about the lobby appeared clean and well cared for, the elevator reasonably maintained. Stepping off on the fourth floor, he could see nothing amiss, but the distasteful feeling persisted. So strong was the feeling of misgiving that it slowed Thomas’ steps and caused him to reach out with senses newly developed but familiar. They were his natural talents, but now he had greater access to them.

Being aware he and his family had unusual abilities was one thing. Having them explode into action in a risk situation was something else. Thomas’ increased sensitivity to the mood of inanimate objects was a talent he’d only caught glimpses of before. He had no real experience with what he was feeling now and couldn’t trust it. How could he be sure he wasn’t interpreting information wrong? New senses gathering impressions didn’t make understanding the results a given.