Good As Dead (Dying To Meet You Book 1) (18 page)

Lainey found herself holding her breath. She felt as if her limbs had frozen solid in the frigid December air, and she was beginning to wonder if she’d ever move again. Then she heard a strangled noise, and it finally managed to cut through the glue that seemed to have held her in place. Scrambling to her feet, she rushed forward stumbling through the trees and into the stone circle. All evidence of Kalliope’s power had now left, and all she could feel was her grandmother’s protection surrounding her, its warmth penetrating the cold stone that her body had become.

Looking up at the vampire, his body dripping with blood, she couldn’t stop her gasp of horror. He looked awful. His skin was almost translucent, and his irises were orbs of blood red surrounding massive black pupils. She didn’t know what to do first. Pull the nails out? Pulse some healing energy through him. Go and get help? Paralysed for a moment, she felt her hands begin to shake.

Mercer raised his head as if he’d finally sensed she was there and with some considerable effort, he looked straight at her.

“Hello, princess.” He gave her a wry smile that must have cost him, and said, “Do you think you can you get me down?”

“How?” Lainey’s mouth hung open as the question took shape. She truly had no idea where to begin. What she needed was a large claw hammer. It wasn’t something she’d find in the house and she could hardly go ask the neighbours to borrow one at this time of night. Looking down at her hands, she frowned knowing they would not be up to the task but she rushed over to the tree anyway. She gave it her best shot, pulling upon the big cast iron spikes with all her might. However, it was like trying to move a mountain with a shovel. To make matters worse, the nails were slippery with his blood and trying to get a grip on them for any length of time was virtually impossible. In the end, she stamped her feet and let out a yell of frustration. Already angry with herself for her poor magic skills during Kalliope’s cruelty, she now felt helpless to free him. Tears stung her eyes.

“No.” His voice was calm now, and the ragged desperate lilt of earlier had left. “You need to use magic, Lainey. Focus. You can do it.” His eyes bored into hers as if trying to give her the courage to perform such a feat but Lainey wanted to wail. If she tried and failed, her confidence was going to take a nosedive that no amount of counselling could ever restore.

“But I’m no good at magic, Mercer. My talents lie in healing. I can’t even perform the simplest of spells. I never have been able to.” Grabbing a hold of one of the nails again, she frantically tugged upon it with all her weight but it was wedged in far too deep, and all she managed to do was rip off a fingernail in the process.

“You can do magic. You shot out a tire in a moving vehicle with a gun you’d never seen before. That wasn’t luck. At the chateau, you asked the rain to pour and it crashed down from the heavens. You focused on what you wanted to do and made it happen. You
can
do this. Try for me. Please.”

Unable to ignore the pleading tone in his voice, Lainey bit her lip and felt her stomach drop. She owed him a shot at this, though the thought of failure was more than she could bear. Stretching her arms out in front of her, she tried to remember what her grandmother had said all those years ago when she’d first been instructed in the art of magic.

Feel the power ripple up within you. Channel it through your body, from the tips of your toes all the way through your hands, and then wait. You’ll know when you feel it. Concentrate. Believe.

Therefore, she concentrated trying desperately to channel the mystical power inside her that she had never seen, or sensed. Closing her eyes because others had told her that helped, she tried to imagine the nails shrinking in size, flying out of the tree, and landing harmlessly on the ground below. She felt nothing as she flicked her fingers in Mercer’s direction—no tingle, no fire, and no threads of energy or colour. Swallowing hard, she bit back a sob of distress. This was never going to work. She wasn’t strong enough. At this rate, the pair of them was destined to be sitting ducks for Kalliope to torment and destroy. They might as well go crawling to her now.

“I should go and get Gran,” Lainey mumbled, unable to look at him as she turned around and started walking away with her shoulders slumped in defeat. Shuffling through the mud, she heard no sound for a few long moments until he let his head fall back and screamed a harsh cry of anguish. Spinning around, she found his arms and legs pulling at the nails, ripping his flesh open as his body sought to free itself from its imprisonment. She knew she had to do something or he was going to tear himself in half. He’d already lost far too much blood and if she left him like this, he was going to try his best to kill himself.

“Stop! For the love of God, please stop!”

Mercer didn’t hear her plea far too consumed in his struggle but then when he tore through the femoral artery in his leg, and blood began to gush everywhere his eyes went almost black as he roared out in pain. His yell echoed inside her head until something within her snapped.

“No!” Her hands took on a life of their own as they pushed outwards, forming stop signs as if to confirm her thoughts. Her feet marched into the stone circle with purpose, and a shocking white light flew from her fingertips. Her lips formed the words needed almost automatically, her mind pulling out what it needed from her memory, and then the white threads glistened and glimmered and gently flowed towards Mercer.

The white ribbons encircled his torso, soothing his pain as they spread themselves around every inch of his flesh. They didn’t stop until he was a glowing effigy of light. The vampire almost looked like he was on fire but the light was too pure, and too solid to be flames. Penetrating his body, the ribbons set to work from the inside out, coiling around the long thick nails and slowly pulling each one free. Settling him gently down upon the earth below, they then began to knit the seeping holes together again so fast they were nothing more than a blur of light. The skin, which Kalliope’s spell had burnt and scarred, returned to its former glory and the holes disappeared in a flurry of white sparks as if they had never been.
Magic.

The next thing she knew her head was spinning.
Mercer
. He’d picked her up and cradled her close to his body, letting his warmth seep through to her frozen bones. He began taking long strides back through the woods, and Lainey found she was dizzy and feeling faint so was extremely grateful for his strength.

“Are you okay?” Her voice sounded slurred so she snuggled further into his body for warmth.

“Am I okay? I’m fucking marvellous thanks to whatever stunt you just pulled back there. I feel like I could climb Everest and K2, run the entire length of the Great Wall of China, and then go for a little swim across the Pacific Ocean. Whatever stuff you pumped me full of is doing its thing. But are you okay? You don’t look so good, princess.”

“I’m cold.” She could hear her teeth chattering and wished she’d used those extra seconds earlier to stop for a coat. “Freezing. Can you get me home?” Feeling her body begin to shut down, her tongue stuttered those last few words.

Mercer had already realised the severity of the situation and had begun running through the undergrowth. In no time at all, he had her back in bed his body pressed up close to hers, and his strong arms wrapped around her. She was so tired that she could barely say thank you, but the words somehow managed to slip out of her mouth.

“No thanks needed. We’re even I believe. Just relax and go to sleep. I’ll be here for you.”

She tried to look up at him, but her eyelids were so heavy they were already closing. Wriggling deep under the covers, she finally found some warmth but had to ask the question plaguing her since they’d met. “I thought vampires were supposed to be cold?”

He laughed softly at that. “We’re hot-blooded creatures, Lainey. Don’t believe everything you read. I probably run a couple of degrees hotter than you so by the time you wake up, you’re going to be sweating.”

“Sounds heavenly,” she mumbled and those were her last words before she succumbed to sleep.

* * *

When Mercer woke later, the first thing he saw was Lainey’s body beside him. She’d been up sometime in the middle of the night because she no longer wore the jeans and sweater he remembered. Instead, she wore a functional nightdress of a long white T-shirt, which covered her delectable body to mid-thigh. He found himself instantly hard. She had a worrying effect upon him. It was difficult to believe he’d already fed from two witches—twice—though to be fair to Lainey, she had tried to warn him. He suspected Lainey Hargreaves wished to be bound to a vampire as much as he wanted to be bound to a witch. Watching her sleep, he was coming around to the fact that there were good versions of witches, as well as bad ones, and that perhaps he had judged her too harshly.

Kalliope. Now there was an example of a nasty piece of work. Somehow, she was out of his head for the moment but he had an unpleasant feeling that she would return very soon. He could never be her pet. He’d take any option available bar that one, even obliteration. Living vicariously through Gaius, he had seen plenty of horrors that he’d rather not see repeated. He was under no illusion that she would release either Lainey or his brother once the serum was in her hands. That wasn’t why he was going. The only reason he was going to land on her doorstep was the tiny, almost infinitesimal chance that he might be able to eradicate her from the face of the earth. That and the need to see his brother one more time before the end was upon him. He was desperate to lay his eyes on him again, even if it was only to say goodbye.

At least he’d have Lainey with him. Any chance was better than no chance at all, and he’d happily join services with her if it increased his chances to end Kalliope’s life. Unfortunately, Lainey didn’t appear to be the greatest candidate for using skilful witchcraft he’d seen, but he’d take what he could get.

Examining his wrists, he found there wasn’t a mark upon them, which surprised even him. Although he healed quickly as a vampire, he didn’t heal instantly and the holes should have taken at least a couple of days to disappear completely. Maybe having a friendly witch around wasn’t such a bad thing.

Nuzzling up to her neck, he inhaled her familiar scent of orange and spices. It was a Christmas-type smell of happiness, joy, and contentment. It was also addictive. Stroking the blonde curls tumbling around her face, he let a plan form inside his head. It wasn’t particularly pretty, and it involved a considerable amount of luck but with a little help from his sidekick, it just might work. Stranger things had happened.

Looking at the glowing dials of his watch, he saw that the time was fast approaching six in the morning and knew that they’d have only one last day together before Kalliope decided to beat seven bells of hell out of them. There was no reason he couldn’t make it count though. As Lainey stood less chance of making it into next week than he did, he probably owed her a few happy memories and it would be no hardship delivering them. Besides, he needed this too. Devouring Lainey’s body would help him forget his last encounter with the lilac-eyed monster, and that could only be a good thing.

Chapter 14

Wake up, princess
.

He whispered the thought aloud in her head as he pulled the duvet down her body. In her sleep, she tried to make a grab for the coverlet but he was too fast, trailing it quickly down over her belly before his hands began to peel her T-shirt back up past her legs and over her hips. “Oh sweet Jesus, you’re not wearing panties.”

Mercer’s eyes widened in appreciation as his hand cupped her sex. There was a moan and Lainey tried to roll over on her side to stop the hands that were trying to plunge her into the land of wakefulness but he held her fast, and allowed his breath to tickle her sex.

I want you
. His voice became a little louder and a little more insistent in her head.

“I want your body,” he purred in his native Latin, losing himself in the moment as his lips bent down to taste her. Hips bucked forward to meet him and he smiled, because even asleep she was wet for him. Plunging two fingers inside her, he continued to torment her with his mouth, whilst his velvet voice seduced her.

“And I’m going to have it. I’m going to own your every whimper and groan. I’m going to work each muscle in that body of yours from large to small, and I’m going to make you explode, over, and over again. Lips, teeth, fingers, cock, and anything else I can think of. I am going to worship you, Lainey. You’re going to lose yourself, every single shred of control you possess, and you’re going to burn for me, sweetheart—in the worst way. And what’s more, you’re going to love it and beg me for more.”

This time he granted her no quarter for there might not be a tomorrow, so every second counted. The sex was not slow, sweet, or careful. It was hard, fast, punishing, and uniquely vampire in style which meant that it was expertly controlled by his lightning-fast reflexes, responding to her every inhalation, heartbeat, and whimper. He knew exactly when she was close to losing it, and he moved his lips or fingers to another part of her body before returning them for more torment. It wasn’t long before his princess was fully awake and beating down upon his shoulder blades with a fury born of denial, but then when she pleaded with him to take pity on her, things got truly interesting.

Using his vampire speed and strength, he flipped her body from front to back then sideways and every variant in between. They were against the door, on the rug, bent over the bed, and then straddling the chair. Throughout it all, she could only feel his body pressed against hers, his cock plundering her depths, and her clit crying out for mercy, which he refused to give of course. She tore a hole in her T-shirt, yanked at his hair, and raked her nails down his body but he took no pity upon her. He swallowed her moans, dried her tears, and caressed her body from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. He went from painfully slow and deep, to hard and fast in a split second. He timed the moment of climax to perfection, her heart rate thundering in his ears as she struggled to draw in breath. The human body might have severe limitations but he enjoyed pushing them to the max and he knew, with a little encouragement, his witch could probably enter the land of multiples. Corkscrewing his cock into her with just the right amount of pressure, he finally let her fly.

Lainey bounced off his body, her face drowning in ecstasy when he finally allowed her to come. Her hair was a tangled knotted mess and rivulets of sweat covered her body, but she had never looked more beautiful. Bringing her neck close to his face, he inhaled a lungful of her and found that it was all he could do not to sink his fangs in deep. He wanted her.
So. Damn. Much.
He realised he could stare upon the fragile, porcelain splendour of her body for hours at a time, and never become bored. They fit so well together. She was so sweet, tight, and mesmerising that he feared he might almost lose his mind—whatever was left of it.

“I’m going to make you come again and again and again until you can’t speak, move or breathe. Do you want to beg for mercy now, or save that until later?” His body was once again on top of hers and he was kissing a wet warm path up her neck. “Tell me, Lainey. Tell me what you want.” He growled impatiently in her ear and his erection rubbed against her belly. Her thighs trembled beneath him and he could feel her body clenching in anticipation.

“Everything…give me everything you’ve got.” Her throat was raw, her voice reedy and sexy as hell.

“You can’t take everything I have to give, baby, but I’ll give you ten thousand
little deaths
and then some.

Mercer then showed he was as good as his word.

Practise Doesn’t Make Perfect

Lainey could barely get out of bed when morning arrived. Stiff, sore, and utterly drained, she wanted a large glass of water and an aspirin—make that two aspirins. Then she wanted to return to her bed and stay there forever. Sleepily patting the space beside her with an arm that protested its use, it was only to discover her vampire was nowhere in sight. She fell back against the pillow and sighed. He was probably off somewhere sharpening his fangs.
God, the things he’d made her do last night!
He’d bent her body in ways, which it surely was not meant to bend and then made her orgasm again, and again with nothing more than a few paltry seconds in between. The sweetest pleasure plus the sharpest torment, all combining into the longest night she’d ever had, and she suspected he’d ruined her for any other man. Then again, she suspected it no longer mattered since Kalliope would probably slaughter her sometime in the next twenty-four hours or so anyway.

Magic!

A sudden memory from the night had her sitting bolt upright in bed. She’d used magic. She’d created proper threads of flying ribbon-swirling, incantations uttered magic, and it had worked so well. She had no idea how she’d done it, or if she’d ever be able to manage it again but at least she’d managed to perform a half-decent spell—once. If only her grandmother had seen it, she would have been so proud.

Lainey had always felt she was the family failure, and even though being a healer was enough of a blessing in itself, she knew that her grandmother had always expected more. Of course, that was the least of her problems. The whole coven was expecting big things from her shortly, and she wasn’t at all sure she would be able to deliver them. What had she done back there in the woods, and how was she to do it again?

“Morning, princess.” The door to her bedroom opened, and Lainey resisted the urge to bury herself back under the duvet and pretend she was still asleep. Her resistance won out only because Mercer was carrying a large mug of coffee and a glass of water. She hoped they both had her name on them.

“Which one do you want…coffee or water? Or I could make tea. All you English people drink tea, don’t you?” Mercer waved the two drinks up and down in his hands as he waited for an answer.

“Both,” said Lainey, sitting up in bed. She propped two of her pillows up behind her. “And can you get me a headache tablet? I don’t feel so good.”

“I was just talking to your grandmother. She says you’ll be a bit cranky this morning, and I quote, ‘Spells take a lot of energy and you have to know how to replenish your batteries.’ Have humans evolved really quickly without my noticing, or is that just some weird saying?”

Lainey ignored that comment. “Spells, huh? And the all over the bedroom, crack the ceiling, and bounce-off-the-walls type sex…that hardly counts?” Lainey stared at him.

He pressed his lips together as if trying hard not to laugh. “That might have something to do with it as well, but in all fairness I went fairly easy on you. It’s not my fault if you can’t keep up.”

Lainey threw a pillow at him. “Not all of us are blood suckers.” She stuck her tongue out at him and instantly regretted it because his eyes lit up, and he went into sexual predator mode. If seeing him half-naked in jeans hadn’t already made her instantly wet, the look in his eyes would have managed it.
Damn
. The vamp needed to carry a warning label because he was playing havoc with her libido.

Setting both drinks down on her bedside table, he must have noticed her copy of
Little Women
because he smiled and picked up the dog-eared book. “You like the classics, huh?”

“I like everything. Reading is my favourite hobby. I must have read around a thousand books, maybe more.” She pulled the book delicately out of his grasp as if afraid he might damage it.

“You’re not old enough to have read that many books.” Mercer gave her an expression of scepticism, smiling as he watched her cuddling her mug of coffee close, doing little more than inhaling the fumes.
Why did coffee smell so good?

“I read really fast.” Taking a hearty sip, she stretched her neck from side to side and yawned slowly. Her brain was slowly coming to life and hopefully, her body would shortly follow.

Mercer sat down on the bed, his finger levelling her coffee cup when his weight make it wobble and asked, “So how do you keep track of what you’ve read and what you haven’t?”

Lainey extracted the coffee cup from his makeshift perch and took another sip before answering. “I have an eidetic memory. Ever since I was three years old, that is. My grandmother claims I could remember the strangest things, number plates, and television programmes word for word, picture books…that kind of thing. She nurtured the ability. My skills seemed to have improved with age, when they should have waned but I suspect that’s her helping me along a little bit.”

Mercer looked puzzled. “Why on earth would she want to you remember everything? That’s why they invented the computer.”

“You can’t look up spells on the Internet, Mercer, not ones which work in any case. Witches all write handbooks which are passed down through the generations, and the first secret to being a good witch is to be able to remember every spell you’ve ever read.”

Her vampire pondered that statement for a minute, chewing his lip and narrowing his eyes. Lainey had a good idea of what he was going to say next, and sure enough, he didn’t disappoint. “So doesn’t that translate to meaning you should be the most amazing witch to ever live?”

Lainey gave him a wry smile. “The second secret to being a good witch is being able to figure out how to release your inner energy in order to give your spells life. I really suck at that. If it wasn’t for my healing abilities, I’d be the laughing stock of the local coven.” She twisted her lips in annoyance. “Yesterday was the first time I’ve ever managed to perform a spell.” She shook her head as if the thought was still too difficult to believe.

“Well, that’s good, isn’t it? That means we might stand a chance against the purple bitch?”

“It would be, if I could figure out what I did differently. The first time nothing worked, and the second time, it just did and I have no idea how it happened. There’s not really any time for me to find out either— it’s show time tomorrow as you well know.”

He sighed. “Yes. Your grandmother and I had a long chat this morning while you were in the land of nod. It seems I’ve been played a little. This has been brewing for years, hasn’t it?”

“And here I credited you with higher than average intelligence.” Lainey rolled her eyes.

“I’ve been rather preoccupied rescuing damsels in distress, which also explains why they were so desperate for me to save you. The powers that be obviously believe you have a fighting chance at defeating Kalliope.” He raised his eyebrow as if challenging her to deny the statement.

“Yes, about that. My gran sees the future. She let word slip that I would be the one to end Kalliope’s reign.” Lainey shook her head as her eyes went heavenward.

“And…?” Mercer’s hands rose up in puzzlement. Lainey barely saw them. All she saw was his naked chest and all manner of beautiful bumps upon it. Even though she was exhausted, it probably wouldn’t take too much to convince her to go ten rounds with the vampire-style sex thing again.

“And?” He looked a little impatient now that he’d had to repeat himself.

Her brain snapped back to the present, but it resented the move. “My gran isn’t above lying when the moment suits her. She told me I’d be able to perform flawless spells when I reached twelve years of age. That didn’t happen. She also told me I’d sacrifice my life for a vampire, and there’s no way in hell that will ever happen. No offense.” She looked up at him and grinned. “Today we’re going back to her stone circle to help
release
my energy. This has been an on-going battle with no discernible results since I was a kid. I keep going along with the façade to keep her happy, but I no longer have unrealistic expectations. If we’re facing Kalliope together, you’re going to need a truly huge miracle and I hear they’re hard to come by these days.” She took a deep breath and shuddered on the exhale. “I’m going to get you killed.” Lainey’s head sunk into her hands and the coffee slopped about dangerously as her breath caught and an awkward hiccup emerged.

Plucking the cup out of her hands, Mercer took it to safety and then slowly freed her hands from her face. “Now look here, Miss Hargreaves. I don’t want another witch. And for the record, I believe in your grandmother and I think you need to believe too, but if it all goes wrong you should know I’m not frightened of dying. Even if I end up paired with Kalliope and it’s a very slow death, somehow I will find a way to kill the bitch. That’s the only purpose my life has right now. So let’s work together and see what we can do. You might surprise yourself. Last night, you were truly amazing. Maybe, just maybe, you can figure out a way to do it again.”