Belonging (15 page)

He smiled. “Oh, kitten. I have much to tell you. I think I may know what’s happening. But first, tell me what happened.”

“Vampires have her.” She relayed the specifics of her dream, best as she remembered. Some of the details were a bit fuzzier now.

“So you don’t know where she’s being held?”

“No. We didn’t get that far before a barbaric vampire hauled her off to do God knows what.” She added, “We need to find her.”

“We will. I promise you, Analise. We will.” He pressed a lingering kiss to her temple.

Analise was quiet for several minutes, trying desperately to understand everything that was happening to her. “You know what’s happening to me?”

He nodded. “Come with me to Boston.”

“What?” That came completely out of left field. She pulled back, looking to see if he was serious. He was.

“Boston. I live in Boston and I need to return for some business that can’t wait. I want to take you to
my
home, talk to you on
my
couch, show you
my
club.” He nuzzled her ear, whispering, “Fuck you while you’re bound in
my
bed.”

She was stunned, speechless, and so very horny. He wanted her to go to his home? Show her his club? He had a club? There were so many things she didn’t know about him. Would it be smart to just run off to another city with him, getting in deeper and deeper until a dump truck couldn’t dig her out?
Not
. Was she considering it?
Yes
. A sudden memory surfaced from earlier today.

“You’re a lord? Like Devon?” His lips had drawn into a thin white line before he nodded sharply. In fact, every time she mentioned Devon, they did. He was jealous. That almost made her giddy. “I don’t want Devon, you know. I just wanted his help to find Beth.” His lips loosened enough they regained their luscious dark pink color.

“I have to work tonight,” she said.

“You’re not going back there, Analise. You only came here to find someone who can help find your friend.
I
am that someone. I can help you find her.” She should be mad that he was telling her what to do again, but he was right. She only came her for a resource to find Beth.

“Do you know who took her?” There
Hope
went again…building her up only to callously push her off the mountain when she reached its peak, laughing evilly as she fell back to the hard, unforgiving earth.

“I have a pretty fucking good idea,” he growled.

Against her better judgment, she made an impulsive decision. “Okay. I’ll go with you.” She had no sooner acquiesced than she felt a strange tingly, dizzying sensation overcome her. One minute she was in the bedroom at Devon’s mansion and the next she was in a strange high-rise apartment.

As soon as she got her bearings, she was screaming at Damian. “What the fuck did you just do?”

“Sorry, kitten. I got a little overexcited. I should have warned you.”

“What. Did. You. Just. Do?” She got in his face…well as close as possible. With an almost foot differential in height, it was challenging. Standing on her tiptoes gave her another couple of inches at least. Okay, so she came up to his neck, but she was still damn intimidating.

“Pretty neat, right? It’s a vampire skill I possess. Flashing. It’s better than spending all day on a germ-infested, defy the laws of gravity plane.” Asshole was grinning ear to ear. He was actually proud of himself.

“Are you for real?” She started punching his chest.
Ouch
. “Next time you decide to go all
I Dream of Jeannie
on me, will you at least give me a damn heads up? Say bippity-boppity-boo! Something!”

He started laughing…
really
laughing. While the sound was glorious, she continued to hit him, only managing to hurt herself in the process. His body was harder than a rock. At that thought, she suddenly desperately wanted to see what lay beneath his tight T-shirt. She wanted to explore each and every tattoo in detail. Wanted to trace each one with her fingers, her tongue.

Damian stopped laughing. His face taut, acute hunger replaced the laugh lines which only moments ago adorned his stunning face.

“Don’t tempt me, kitten. I’d love nothing more than to feel your hot tongue all over my body.”

She was flabbergasted, mouth hanging open. How the hell did he know what she was thinking? That was the second time. He surprised her when he gently picked her up in his arms, cradling her like a child. He carried her over to a soft-looking ivory leather couch and settled them on it, keeping her on his lap.

“We need to talk.” Damian was such a fun-loving guy that his serious side scared her. She wasn’t sure she would like what he had to say, and the feeling that her world would once again turn on its axis intensified. Suddenly, she didn’t want to know anything else. Burying her head in the sand wasn’t her style, but in this case it was warranted.

“Denial doesn’t suit you, Analise. You’re the strongest woman I have ever met. You can handle what I’m about to tell you. I wouldn’t discuss it if I didn’t think you were ready.”

Knowing Damian would do what he wanted anyway regardless of what she said, she nodded.

“I can’t believe how clear your thoughts are, kitten. It’s incredible. It’s so fucking arousing.” She felt him grow hard underneath her bottom. “Maybe having you on my lap isn’t such a good idea, but I just can’t seem to let you go.”

“It’s fine. I like being here.” Something about Damian made her filter vanish. Most comments that she would generally keep to herself came spewing forth instead.

“First of all, I’d like to apologize for leaving you earlier this afternoon. Quite frankly I was stunned at the news and I have a…less than desirable past with witches.”

“So you don’t like witches. I knew it.” Her heart sunk. She knew this was all too good to be true. She’d never deserved someone like him.

“Oh, Analise…” He cupped a cheek with one hand, stroking it softly with his thumb. “It is I who don’t deserve you, my darling. If you only knew how unworthy I am, you’d be running for the hills. But I would follow and drag you back because that’s the kind of selfish bastard I am. I want you, regardless of what you are. You’re mine and I will never let you go.”

His eyes were so soft and warm that her insides turned to mush. She could not only see the truth in his words, she
felt
them. They wrapped around her like a warm, fluffy blanket, providing the comfort and security she so desperately craved. He kissed her lightly before continuing.

“Let’s start at the beginning. I am Damian DiStephano, Lord of the East Regent. Devon Fallinsworth is Lord of the Midwest Regent, and Romaric Dietrich is Lord of the West Regent. Being a lord means we are responsible for all vampires in our Regents. We maintain order, we enforce our laws, we lead our people. Lords are the strongest of all vampires. I am four hundred ninety-nine years young.”

At the last piece of news she gasped. “Are you kidding me? You’re half a millennia old?”

“Now, now…don’t be insulting me,” he smirked.

“I’m sorry. Just trying to wrap my mind around what you’ve seen in your lifetime.” She was in awe. She had no idea vampires lived to be that age, but what surprised her was her intense jealousy at the women that came before her. Had he ever been married? Had he ever been in love? Of course, the answer to these questions had to be yes. He was almost five hundred years old after all.

“Too much, I’m afraid.” Did she detect an undertone of wistfulness in his voice?

“Will you tell me sometime?” She couldn’t help but press. She wanted to know everything about this man that she’d come to care for so much in such a short period of time. Yes, she realized that was in complete contradiction to her earlier thoughts of not getting too close to him.

“Yes, kitten, but not today. We already have a long talk ahead of us. And the sooner we get that over with, the sooner I can get you underneath me in my bed.” She was in a constant state of arousal around Damian, but his sensual one-liners made her pussy weep. If he didn’t actually take her soon instead of just talk about it, she was going to die.

He groaned before continuing. Did he know he was rocking his pelvis gently, his very erect cock rubbing against her? “Fuck, Analise. You have to stop these thoughts or we’ll never get this conversation over with.”

“Well, then stop making it so easy for me to think them. For the next hour, you make no sexual innuendos and I’ll think no sexual thoughts. Deal?” One last not so gentle thrust of his hips and he was hauling her off his lap, settling her to his side instead.

“This is the only way I’ll be able to honor our deal,” he said sternly.

“Why can you hear my thoughts anyway?” She’d been dying to know the answer. “Is it because you’re a vampire?”

“Yes and no. I want to tell you a few other things before we get to this, though, okay?”

She nodded. He was contemplative for a minute before he started again.

Her stomach rolled.
Here it comes
. The news that would forever change her life.

C
hapter
23

Damian

Damian couldn’t believe she was here with him, in
his
penthouse, in
his
city. He wanted to introduce her to his world, on his turf, on his terms. She would soon find out he meant to keep her forever. She was his.

But he had to get some things out in the open first before they could move on together. He had to reveal her parentage. She needed to know the danger she was in, but that he would die to keep her safe. She needed to know about her dreamwalker skills and most importantly he needed to tell her she was made specifically for him and him alone.

And her thoughts about other women and marriage? He just hadn’t been able to address it at the moment without throwing her down on his Italian leather couch and screwing her brains out first, so he chose not to even acknowledge it. He’d get around to that soon enough and ensure she knew that anyone that came before her was completely irrelevant. They always were.

“So, in addition to having some sorceress genes, I believe you also have vampire genes.”

“What? No…no that’s not possible,” she vehemently shook her head.

“And why is that so impossible, Analise? Do you know your parents’ history?” That stopped her short. Of course she didn’t know because she’d been a ward of the state for the first fifteen years of her life until she’d run away to live on the streets. But would she fess up was the question.

They stared at each other; he waited patiently for her response.
Please tell me, kitten
, he thought silently.
You can trust me
. Her eyes widened slightly before she finally answered. Good, she was starting to hear his thoughts as well. He couldn’t wait to push every single dirty thing clouding his mind into hers. Everything he wanted to do to her. All too late he remembered their deal and discreetly adjusted himself.

“No. I don’t know my parents. I’ve never known my parents. Neither of them wanted me and I spent my life in the foster system.” She wouldn’t meet his eyes, her face downturned. He gently placed his finger under her chin, raising her face until their eyes locked.

“Analise, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Those were circumstances beyond your control.” For the first time, he actually listened to the words he was speaking to his mate. The same ones Rom had repeated to him almost verbatim all of these years. The ones he’d refused to believe…until now. He finally got it and now he’d do everything in his power to help Analise believe them too.

Tears formed in her golden eyes and she fought hard to not let them fall. Fuck it. He was holding her on his lap again. Deal or no deal.

“Why do you think I’m part vampire? I don’t have any unusual abilities. Not really anyway.” She leaned her head against his chest and he inhaled her always-enticing scent. Now he knew what heaven was like.

“Ah, but you do. Maybe not vampirism, but the dream you had about Beth solidified my suspicions. You’re a dreamwalker, Analise. Except I’ve never heard of a dreamwalker being able to interact with their subject during a dream. That is unusual and I’ll have to ask Big D about it. But in any case, I believe you were sired by a vampire named Xavier.

“Xavier is, unfortunately, a psychotic rogue who’s been kidnapping young women for years, trying to build his own army with world domination in mind, blah, blah, blah. The stuff Hollywood movies are made of, except in this case it happens to be true. It’s highly probable he has Beth and he kidnapped your mother. So you see, your mother most certainly didn’t abandon you willingly.”

She started to talk, but he cut her off. “Let me just get this out, kitten; then I’ll answer your questions.” He felt her nod against him.

“A vampire is born from a male vampire and a female human. We are born full-fledged vampires, but vampirism has to be activated by drinking blood several times throughout childhood, a small amount at birth and then twice again. Once at age fifteen and once again at age twenty. With each blooding, you get stronger and more of your vampire abilities are formed, with full vampiric skills by age one hundred. If the appropriate blooding doesn’t occur, you’re just an exceptional human being, not a full-fledged vampire. You may have some underlying skills or senses but are never able to fully tap into them, like a full-fledged, blooded vampire could.”

While it was a sad truth, some families did just what he’d described with their female offspring. They didn’t blood them, leaving them weak and unable to fend for themselves. It was a harsh reality of their kind. She sat up straight now, keenly interested in his story.

“Unfortunately in our world, only male vampires can reproduce. Female vampires are not rare, but are fewer in number and they are unable to carry young. Makes no sense, but
c’est la vie
as the French would say.

“So back to Xavier. It’s a long, complicated story, which I promise to tell you later, but the short of it is Xavier didn’t know you previously existed, as you were supposed to be eliminated. For what Xavier has in mind, he had no use for female vampires who could not bear young. Now we believe he knows that you’re alive and he’s on the hunt for you. I’m quite sure his intentions aren’t so honorable.” He chose to leave out the part about Kate and possibly a third daughter for now, as this was surely going to be overwhelming enough without throwing the fact she had sisters into the mix. He’d tell her later once they verified through DNA she was Xavier’s daughter. He heard her jumbled thoughts racing, making no sense.