Caressed by Night (45 page)

Kerstyn knew she was not the only one to notice the way Sonya and Falcon stared at each other.

“Fal-Ah, Sir Kenwrec,” she said, her lips trembling ever so slightly.

Clearing his throat, he bowed. “Your Highness.” Sonya took a step forward, her lips parted.

“Excuse me, Your Majesty.”

Sonya snapped her mouth shut and turned to her second.

Gwendolyn stood just behind her.

“Yes?”

“The Shaw priestess has requested a word with you,” Gwendolyn answered.

“I will be right there.” Her gaze quickly found Silvie by the bar. Turning back to the group of fellow monarchs, she gave Hadrian a smile. “We will have to catch up later.” Her eyes flickered to Falcon for the briefest of moments.

“Most definitely,” Hadrian assured her.

“Excuse me,” she said, addressing them all before she headed off, Gwendolyn beside her.

Dorian wrapped an arm about Falcon and smiled, “I never thought we would all be together again.”

“It is a miracle,” Falcon replied, his gaze following Sonya. He could no longer hear his friend’s conversation. The beautiful queen consumed his thoughts, as she did every night in his dreams. She was lovelier than he remembered. Her flaxen hair spiraled in curls down her back to her hips. Her golden eyes sparkled in the candlelight.

Gorgeous.

Dorian’s hand pounded on his shoulder freeing him from his lustful trance.

“Come back to us,” Dorian teased, “or has she stolen your brain as well as your heart.”

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Flacon blinked in confusion. Each man was staring at him with laughter in his eyes, while Kerstyn and Victoria smiled.

“I’m sorry, what were we discussing?”

Kerstyn and Victoria giggled, while Dorian rolled his eyes.

“While you were lost in thought, we were discussing you,” Dimitri answered.

“Me?”

“Yes,” Hadrian confirmed. “Why did you not tell me of your feelings for Queen Sonya?”

“I do not possess romantic feelings towards Queen Sonya.”

“You needn’t lie to us,” Dorian said with a chuckle.

“It is plain to see,” Hadrian added.

“If I do have emotional inclinations towards the Queen of the Vodkas, it does not matter. Such relationships are forbidden by vampire law.”

Hadrian hesitantly raised a hand, intending to pat Falcon on the shoulder, show affection, but he dropped his arm back to his side. He asked, “Does Sonya return your affection?”

Falcon pulled away from the group. “We are not discussing this. It is against the law for a member of the noble house and a Black Knight to have relations.”

“But if she returns―”

“Please,” Falcon begged, cutting Dorian off, “leave me be.”

“I’m deeply sorry, Falcon. It I had known about your feelings…” No, Hadrian would not say that he would have come back into vampire society sooner, for he knew it would be a lie, though he wished it were the truth. If he had been a part of vampire society, he could have helped Falcon. No law could be changed or thrown out unless all four monarchs agreed. “Now that I have returned, the law can be changed,” he offered.

“No,” Falcon sighed. “This is the way of things.”

“Well,” Dimitri said, wrapping in arm about Kerstyn’s waist,

“my wife seems to think you should ask Sonya to dance.” Kerstyn gasped as Dimitri spoke her thoughts.

“I second the notion,” Dorian said.

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“What harm can come from a dance?” Victoria asked, giving her husband a playful smile. It was obvious the two were sharing an inside joke.

“What harm indeed,” Dorian added then placed a kiss on her cheek.

Falcon groaned and said, “Sire―”

“What do you think, Hadrian?” Dimitri asked.

Falcon turned pleading eyes to his king.

“I apologize, my friend, but I must agree.”

Falcon’s shoulders dropped. Here he was, trying to resist temptation and his friends were pushing him. They all knew the laws.

The punishment for a Black Knight who has anything but a professional relationship with a member of the noble house would be executed, left out in the run to burn to ash. Why would they insist he ask her to dance? Holding her in his arms, feeling her skin, which he knew would be the softest of silks, his mouth inches from her lush lips―

“I guarantee Sonya will say ‘yes’,” Dimitri said.

Falcon nodded in acceptance, his heart leaping with the thought of having Sonya’s lithe frame pressed against him as they danced, while his mind repeated one phrase:
This is a bad idea.

“A waltz would be lovely,” Victoria suggested.

Dorian caught Victoria in his arms and kissed her soundly.

“A waltz would be divine,” he agreed, giving her a soft kiss before leading her over to the D.J.

Falcon straightened his spine and stiffened his resolve. He could not refuse his king. Shoving aside his conflicting emotions, Falcon crossed over the dance floor to the bar. Clearing his throat, he interrupted Sonya and Silvie’s conversation. He quickly apologized, then held out his hand. “Will you grace me with the honor of this dance?”

Sonya blinked in surprise before hesitantly taking his hand.

Dimitri sighed as he watched the pair step to the dance floor.

Dorian flashed the couple a smile as he circled his wife in his arms. The music began and the dancers twirled.

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“That went well,” Kerstyn said with a light laugh. “Now, if you will excuse me, I would like more champagne. Do either of you want a drink?”

Dimitri and Hadrian both sad ‘no’ and Kerstyn turned about, leaving the two alone, to join her maid of honor, Silvie.

“This has been a lovely evening,” Silvie said as Kerstyn approached.

“Thank you.” Kerstyn motioned to the bar tender and he quickly poured her a fresh glass of champagne.

“So, are you upset that your parents did not come?” Silvie asked.

“After the last conversation I had with them? No. They flipped when they heard I was marrying someone I’ve known for roughly three months and are convinced this marriage won’t make it past a week.”

“I’m sorry.”

Kerstyn shrugged. “I didn’t expect much else. Now, no more depressing talk. This is my wedding and we will celebrate!” The girls clinked their champagne flutes together and took a sip.

“Kerstyn!”

She spun about to find Denise rushing towards her.

“Who is that with Dimitri?” Denise demanded. “He looks just like Johnny Depp.”

“Only taller and with shorter hair,” Silvie added.

Denise rolled her eyes and huffed, “Well, yeah. So who is he?”

“His name is Hadrian and don’t even think about it, he is not on the market,” Gabriel answered.

Denise jumped and Kerstyn could smell the surprised fear that spiked her blood.

“But you are right, he does share a resemblance with the actor,” he added, setting is empty glass on the bar. The bartender quickly refilled it with Silver Moon. Turning to Kerstyn he smiled. “I apologize for my late arrival. Business.”

“I noticed you and Gannon snuck in during the ceremony,” Kerstyn said.

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“Gannon had a hard time keeping his eyes off,” he glanced to Silvie, who blushed, “your lovely maid of honor. She is the reason he tripped over the chairs,” Gabriel explained with a chuckle.

Kerstyn gave Silvie a wink and the witch’s blush turned to a deep red.

“Well, I am happy you were able to make it, at least one of my fathers came to my wedding,” Kerstyn teased, nudging Gabriel in the ribs.

He shot her a sharp look and downed his liquor.

“What do you mean?” Denise asked.

“Nothing,” Gabriel answered. “It is nothing.”

Falcon struggled to keep his gaze from Sonya as they danced.

He first tried to focus on the bar and then dropped his eyes to the dance floor. He counted how many lights were in the pool about twenty times before he finally gave up. Every two seconds his eyes would flicker to Sonya’s shimmering gold gaze.

His arm tightened about her waist as they continued to dance.

He could feel the heat of her body, the beat of her heart against his chest. Her soft vanilla fragrance filled his lungs. God, she was beautiful and felt perfect in his arms.

He barely heard the music as he gazed into her eyes. Her breathing picked up, matching the rhythm of his own and in that moment he knew. She wanted him.

As the song ended, he did not release her nor did she pull away, though they both knew they should part.

“May I have a word with you, in private?” she asked.

Falcon swallowed his excitement and worry. Giving a nod, he followed her into the house; both praying their absence would not be noticed, at least not right away.

Sonya pushed open the door to Dimitri’s study and Falcon closed it behind them. She walked to the desk, slowly circling the piece of furniture, before coming to a stop behind it.

“Your Highness, I―”

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“Stop,” she said, holding up her hand. “It is just the two of us, no need for titles.”

“Yes…Sonya.”

She visibly shivered as he spoke her name. The scent of her need and desire filled the room.

“We met close to two hundred years ago now,” she began.

“You came with Dorian and Victoria to my territory and remained there while they went to reclaim his throne. During that time, I must confess, I developed feelings for you and have struggled with my attraction to you. Every time we meet I…I’ve tried to stay away from you, but we must interact on a professional level. I have told myself over and over that this…but I cannot―” She stopped herself, gathering her thoughts and her courage for what she needed to say. “This can never be.”

“Us,” he said in understanding. Her words were like a bucket of ice water to his flaming lust, but he knew what she said was true.

“Yes, but every time you are near, my thoughts…everything melts away.”

Falcon forced himself to remain still. He wanted to cross the room. He wanted to take her in his arms and taste her luscious lips. He wanted…oh, so much more.

I’ve had a hard-on for this woman for nearly two hundred
years,
he scoffed at himself. No matter how hard he tried to forget about her, no matter how many other women he had been with, he could not stop wanting her.

Sonya’s fingers nervously played with her choker-style pearly necklace.

“The law clearly states―”

“I know,” he said, unable to bear her saying the words.

She paced around to the front of the desk. With a heavy sigh, she leaned against the edge.

“Then you know we must banish these feelings. Lust hinders proper thoughts,” she added.

His mind agreed, but his body rebelled, compelling him forward. Before he could think of what he was doing, he stood before her, a mere embrace apart.

“We cannot happen,” he said. “This cannot happen.”
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“No,” she sighed on a breath, her heated gaze meeting his.

He cupped her face, his thumbs lightly caressing her cheeks.

“You would be stripped of your title and banished as an outcaste,” he said, his voice low and rough.

“And you would be sentenced to death.”

Their lips met in a frenzied kiss as his hands dropped to her hips. He lifted her on to the desk. Her fingers frantically worked at his pants as his fingers skipped up her smooth legs, raising the hem of her floor length red dress.

He kissed his way down her jaw, over her throat to her shoulders, which were bare since her gown was strapless. The deep, sweetheart line of the top, revealed the tops of her aching breasts and he trailed his tongue over her sensitive flesh.

Sonya bit her lip, fighting back the sighs of pleasure that rose in her throat, trying to remain silent. Flames of desire burned her as she thought of the possibility of them being caught. Damn the law. She wanted him. She needed him hard, fast, and now.

Their fierce, frenzied, passion consumed them, sweeping them away into their own private world of shadows, secrets, and forbidden pleasure. No one would ever have to know.

Her fingers wrapped about his shaft. He was long, hard, and wide. She moved her hand up and down, bringing strangled sighs from his lips as he pulled the top of her dress down, revealing one pink nipple. He drew it into his mouth with his tongue. Sonya’s back arched in pleasure.

With his other hand, he began to massage her inner thigh as he made his way up to her core. Pushing aside her panties…God, she was ready for him. Hot. Slick. Silk. He positioned his hips, the head of his cock brushed against her core.

“Fuck!” Falcon snarled and ripped away.