Passion Ignited (30 page)

“No need, stay here and have dinner with me.
You don’t need to dine with the others tonight,” Ekhart said.
“Besides, weren’t you the one who brought the Destroyer
back?”

“Yes.” Of course his master would know
that.

Ekhart snapped a finger at one of the servant
demons, who promptly dished up a plate for Pyro. “Quite impressive,
don’t you think?”

He nodded. “Are you pleased?” he asked, taking
a seat as the servant set the plate on the table.

“It’s a thing of beauty. Possibly my best
creation thus far.”

Pyro plopped a roll in his mouth. “Better than
Nitro?”

The room turned cold as Ekhart dropped his
fork. He sat silently, staring at his food, with his jaw clenched.
“I doubt anyone will ever be more powerful than her.”

Pyro said nothing, and after a few moments
silence, Ekhart picked up his fork once more and stabbed another
piece of steak. “I understand you have a special reason for
visiting the Destroyer?”

Pyro could feel his face redden. He kept his
gaze low, not wanting to make eye contact with his
master.

“No need to answer, boy. I understand. We’ll
continue to work on the Destroyer, but in the meantime, we’ll need
to work on our other project.”

“What are you going to do with
him?”

“I haven’t decided yet.” He shrugged. “I
haven’t yet looked at the logs on his stay so far, but I believe I
can use him to get her back.”

He choked on a piece of steak. “Nitro? You
want that rotten traitor back?”

“Of course I want her back! She isn’t a
traitor. She’s my pride, the reason I kept going with my
experiments. Can you
imagine
what we could accomplish if we
had both her and the Destroyer on our side? She’s blinded by what
she thinks is love, but I removed that piece from her when I made
her what she is. She cannot love. And even if she could, no
godsdamned vampire would ever be good enough for her.”

Pyro had finally dislodged the piece of meat
from his throat. He sat there silently, listening to Ekhart ramble
on about his favorite daughter. It was no secret that Ekhart cared
more deeply for Nitro than he was letting on. He didn’t want her as
a daughter, or even as one of his ranks. There was something more
going on there, and he wasn’t the only one to think so.

****

Nitro cried out in ecstasy as Raider filled
her. His hips moved quickly, back and forth, back and forth,
pistoning his cock in and out of her. His forceful thrusts were so
powerful that he had to keep a tight hold on her hips in order to
keep her
mostly
stationary.

And she loved every minute of it.

Never before had she had a lover that could
make her toes curl the way her vampire did. He was powerful, and
oh, so sexy. Her eyes roamed over his body, the same way her hands
did. The need to touch him everywhere as he thrust himself into her
was too much for her to ignore. She brushed her hands up his arms,
feeling the hard muscles pulse as he held her in place. Then she
traced them up to his shoulder, his strong, broad shoulders that
she could stare at all day. She trailed down his back until she
felt his ass, which was clenching and unclenching with every
thrust. Gripping him hard, she met him thrust for
thrust.

Raider released a growl of sexual pleasure as
a scream was wrenched from her. She was getting so close. The feel
of his shaft pistoning in and out of her, the head ramming against
her inner walls, the sight of him focused on her with a heat that
had her blushing. He released one hand from her hip and placed it
on the bed next to her head. The slight change in position had him
shoving even deeper inside. Her toes curled in response. She was so
close. So close. Any second now she was sure she would
explode.

Nitro gnashed her teeth together, trying to
keep her screams silent, but it was no use. His shaft was growing
larger inside her. He was close, too. His other hand left her hip,
and he brought her legs up, wrapping them over his shoulders. He
leaned low again, his fangs lengthened in his mouth. She didn’t
care that she was being folded in two. The deliciousness of his
weight on her, and of his cock ramming inside her was more
pleasurable than anything she’d felt in her entire life. Her teeth
extended as Raider leaned down to her neck and struck.

Stars, and lightning, and blackness greeted
her next as an orgasm crashed through her body. She screamed out,
the sensation far greater than any she’d ever felt before. She
couldn’t tell which way was up or which way was down. Everything
was spinning. He gave a powerful thrust and growled loudly, his
seed spilling as he continued to pound into her. She could feel his
seed jutting inside her.

His hips slowed to a stop, and he plopped down
to the side of her. Pulling her into the warmth of his body, they
laid there together.

“Well, if that’s all I need to do to erase
your hunger, you can sign me on,” he laughed
breathlessly.

She couldn’t help but smile as she lay next to
him, fully sated from their lovemaking. She could still sense the
other Guardians nearby, could tell where they were—exactly—in the
home, but she no longer felt that unwavering need to feed on them.
She sighed in contentment and snuggled in closer to Raider’s
heat.

****

“Don’t you think that Raider would have turned
by now if it were going to happen?” Raine hissed. “I can’t believe
you would ban him from the grounds just because of
this.”

“I won’t risk your safety,” Ferox spat back.
“We don’t know what we’re up against.”

The two were pacing in their room, trying to
keep their disagreement secret from the others. Both were wearing
tracks in the dark red carpet that stretched across their bedroom
floor.

“Raider is fine, and I will be, too. You need
to wait it out and see what happens before making a harsh call like
that. Like with Thrash, you had no right to throw him out of the
brotherhood.”

“I do.
I have the right because I am
their leader. And you. You are nothing but my wife. You have no
right to talk to your king this way. You should be subservient to
my will.”

Her eyes narrowed, but she wouldn’t back down.
Something was changing within her. A familiar power she hadn’t felt
in so long. “Subservient?
I
should be subservient to you?
I
am a demi-goddess. And you are no longer the vampire I
fell in love with!” Outside the mansion, lightning crashed down
around the grounds. Thunder rolled throughout the sky, making it
sound like there were hundreds of jets flying just
overhead.

She and Ferox had been fighting for hours, and
she’d finally reached her boiling point. Over the last week, she’d
grown tired of his demeaning her, making her feel like she was no
one. At first, she’d tried to ignore it, but no longer.

He crossed to the door. “I am through with
this. I’ll come back once I feel you are being reasonable.” He
slammed the door behind him, leaving Raine angrier than
ever.

Reasonable? Had he said
reasonable
? She
paced back and forth, unable to calm down. What had happened to her
husband who had hardly ever raised his voice to her? Actually, she
couldn’t remember a time when he’d actually yelled. Growled? Yes.
Never yelled. He’d turned cold lately. Their bond that she always
felt had withered as well. Sure, she could feel him, but sensing
his moods had grown difficult.

She whipped their bedroom door open and took
the hall at a quick clip. She descended the stairs, rushed through
the foyer, and rushed down the basement stairs as quickly as she
could. She needed to work out some of this stress, and she needed
to do it now. She passed the deck, and just as she passed, Ethan
called out to her.

“Mom, get back here.”

She doubled back and stood in the doorway, not
wanting the interruption. “What?”

“I was just trying to call you.” He looked at
the computer screen and then back at her. “I think you’ll want to
see this.”

She walked over to him and peered down at his
screen.

“They say they’re here to see you. I thought
you said they couldn’t.”

Her eyes widened as she recognized who was at
the gate. She turned to face Ethan. “They can’t. I mean, it’s
forbidden.” Her eyes darted back to the screen where she looked at
four women who stood, staring into the camera. She couldn’t mistake
where any of them came from. Their hair, clothing, and weapons were
trademark. Which could only mean one thing: her
sisters—Valkyries—had come for her.

Chapter Thirty

“Be my mate.”

Nitro shot out of bed and turned to face
Raider. His room was almost completely black. Neither of them had
wanted to even move after their bouts of sexual pleasure earlier.
Both were still naked, in fact. “Are you
nuts
?”

He leaned on an elbow and looked up at her,
tracing her back with his finger. “What?”

“I can’t be your mate. I don’t think you
realize just how bad I want to drink all your blood.”

“I can’t think of a better way to die,” he
said, sexual satisfaction coating his voice.

“That’s not funny. Do you realize that if we
were mated you’d have to give everyone you love up for me? I can’t
be around the Guardians anymore. I can sense them even now, and my
body craves a taste.
At least
!” she added. “At
least
a taste. More likely I’d kill every one of them just like I almost
killed that little boy.”

His eyes widened. Very slowly he pushed
himself up and faced her. “What little boy?”

“The one I handed to you.”

“You saved him.”

“I
bit
him,” she snarled. “I drank his
blood, and I
loved
it. Why do you think he was in as bad of
shape as he was? They made him bleed and I attacked
him.”

Raider’s mouth dropped open, but he quickly
forced it shut.

“What, are you finally understanding that I’m
a monster? We could never be mated. I’d kill you and everyone you
love.”

He shook his head. “No. Can’t you feel that
we’re supposed to be together? We’re Fated, Nitro. We’re meant to
be mated.”

“No, we aren’t. Maybe before I got turned into
this…this…
whatever I am
. But not now.”

Raider stood from the bed. He had to get up.
How could she not understand? Couldn’t she feel what he felt? He
turned and faced her again, forcing their gazes to lock. “How do
you feel now?”

Her brows lowered. “What do you
mean?”

“How. Do. You. Feel. Now?” he repeated
slowly.

“I feel fine. Why?”

“Maybe
I’m
what you need. Maybe that’s
the reason that you don’t actually attack anyone when I’m
around.”

“Stop it.” She stood up and started to pull
her clothes on. “Don’t make this out to be more than it
is—”

“Let me prove it,” Raider interrupted, placing
a hand on her shoulder. He had to convince her any way he could.
“If I’m wrong, then we’ll give up if that’s what you want.” He’d
never give up. “Let’s do a test.”

****

“Godsdamned corn dog!”

Raine turned the corner into the library just
as Blaze dumped a handful of corn dog sticks into the
garbage.

“Again?” she asked.

He turned toward her quickly. “What? A boy’s
got to…” His reply was short-lived as he witnessed four women file
in behind Raine. He kept his eyes on the females as he reached over
slowly and closed the laptop.

Raine guessed based on the flush that crossed
Blaze’s face that he was more than a little embarrassed that her
Valkyrie sisters had likely seen him playing a video game featuring
a royal corn dog.

Maybe that would make him stop
playing.

“Out. Now,” was all she had to say before he
got the hell out of there.

The taller brunette Valkyrie waited until he
was out of sight before she sat down on the couch. “Bad
timing?”

Raine paced the middle of the library while
the others patiently stared up at her. Now it all made sense. She’d
started to feel stronger today, the sensation growing the closer in
proximity the Valkyries were to her. It had been so long since
she’d experienced it that she’d long forgotten the connection
inherent in all Valkyrie. “Umm, how…did you get here?”

“Easy,” one of her sisters replied. “We saw
the lightning.”

She shook her head. “Not what I meant. How did
you get
here
?”

“To this realm?” another one asked. “Oh, well,
we were sent here to warn you.”

Raine paused and looked at the brunette
Valkyrie who’d just spoken. “Warn me about what?”

The other three faced the brunette one as
well. Caleen was her name. She’d been one of her closest friends
growing up and had even gone to the tournaments where Raine had met
Ferox. It had taken a while for her to remember the others’ names,
but she’d recognized each of their faces. The shorter brunette,
with dark curls that rivaled her own, was named Odette; the blonde
was Savannah, and the one with pitch-black hair was
Raven.