Set In Flames (Morningstars Book 1) (35 page)

Their first time had been primal, almost animalistic, but now he gently kissed her behind her ear, then down her neck until he ended up nibbling on her shoulder.

She wanted to turn, but he caged her, placing his hands directly above hers. It was the most comfortable prison ever and she closed her eyes, letting her head hang. He kissed the back of her neck and then licked down until it he had to choose between stopping or letting go of her arms. She shivered, wanting him, needing him, being ready only because of him.

Jaden couldn’t look at Maya. He had felt the goodbye in her touch and he couldn’t say why. She had saved him. She had given all of her blood and then some, having him worried that he’d kill her in the end.

The contrary was the case. She was warm, soft and his. Their renewed glow proved it. His mind was foggy, but he could have sworn Kaden had been there with them, talking to Maya. Then again, maybe that had been nothing but a delirious dream.

He needed to make love to her. He needed to feel her and it was obvious what she, too, wanted. All the regret and worry that had poured through the bond from her side just a few minutes ago were replaced with need and lust. She was his and he needed to feel all of her.

“Keep your arms up,” he ordered and she sucked in a breath, excitement traveling through their connection. His little Origin was all for the naughty it seemed.

He cupped her breasts, feeling her pebbled nipples poke into his palm. He wanted to bite her. He wanted to come inside of her, but he needed to be patient. This time it would be all about her.

His hand went over her stomach and he longed to kneel between her legs, but she felt way too good against his body.

“Jaden,” she breathed and he found her wet and ready for him. She shivered as he rubbed his finger over her clit. Maya threw her head back and bit her lip.

“More, Jaden. I need more of you,” she pleaded and he was happy to comply. Pushing two fingers into her he was ready to come. She just felt way too good around him. Her breath came quicker and she stilled his hand, turning around enough so she could look at him.

“You, handsome, nothing else,” she explained and he kissed her quick and hard before bending his knees slightly, placing his erection against her opening and then he paused, knowing that he’d be done too fast if he didn’t pace himself.

She wriggled her cute little butt, slipping down deeper, taking him in fully. She was his perfect fit.

“By the Creator, Cupcake, stop. Shit, you just…” She chuckled as he moaned and he found her a little too bubbly. He was on the brink of coming and she seemed to be totally relaxed. That wasn’t happening in his book.

He started to move slowly in and out of her until she wasn’t giggling anymore, but ready to crawl up the walls. He found her sensitive nub with his thumb, teasing it while with his other hand gently playing with her hard nipple. She moaned his name, whimpering, shaking.

The water they stood under had gone cold, but Jaden felt as if he was burning. The slow movements were pure torture for him and yet, he wanted this to last. He wanted this to be intense while they sampled their feelings to the fullest.

“Jaden,” she pleaded and he moved his arms up again, entwining his fingers with hers above her head, pushing her against the cold tiles while thrusting into her. He kissed the side of her neck where it met her shoulder and she slightly bent it, inviting him in.

He didn’t need more than that, biting the perfect skin, moving faster inside of her. She panted, whispering his name over and over until an orgasm tore through her, making her move harder against him, making him come right along with her.

He kissed the bite, resting his forehead against her shoulder while they stilled.

“This was something else,” she whispered and he stepped away so she could turn back around to him. Taking his sweet time he leaned in and kissed her, cleaning her while staying close enough so his body heat would warm her. Cold water obviously wasn’t something she liked very much.

Outside of the shower he wrapped her in a towel, making sure she wouldn’t be freezing. He had done everything wrong so far, but that wouldn’t happen anymore. She’d be his first priority from now on and he’d make it all right with her.

All the conflicting emotions that had vanished during their lovemaking now rushed back in tenfold, making him worry what went on in her beautiful mind.

He wanted her in his clothes, so he handed her a sweater he had taken out of his drawer, dressing next to her, staying silent. She just reached out to push her arm through the sleeve and Jaden grabbed it, pulling her close before cupping the back of her neck to give her a long, sweet kiss. She easily complied, opening her lips for him, letting him taste that perfect vanilla-raspberry flavor.

Afterwards he, too, pulled on a sweater like she sported, then he took her hand. Together they went downstairs and Jaden couldn’t help but feel as if he was walking up against a wall of dread.

Everyone jumped up once the two came down the stairs. Maya did a quick headcount. Everyone was there, even Colbin and Lara.

Lex already knew. She hadn’t bothered to hide her thoughts. She wasn’t going to hide anything anymore.

“Hi,” she finally said into the silence and to her utter surprise Cany, her courtier, was the first one to embrace her fiercely, then Red followed, picking her up of the floor.

Maya took a deep breath, raising her eyes past Red to see Kaden standing in a corner. He was beaming, but the smile wasn’t reaching his eyes. Besides that, he’d never be able to lie to her again. He was relieved and yet broken. She could tell his feelings as if they were her own. There was no way around being glad that he couldn’t feel her feelings back, because that would mean he’d be able to tell how glad she was that Jaden was alive and he would have felt all that she had felt upstairs. He would have felt his twin making her fly.

It was better that he didn’t know.

“I don’t know what to say, but thank you for saving Jaden and, dearest Creator, I am glad you are alive,” Red said, making her focus back on him. She hugged him, holding onto one of the few people she truly trusted, then he placed her back on her feet and Devon stepped close. She went willingly into his arms, too. He smelled like night and rain, blood and fights and she realized that the others must have spent the night out fighting. That probably meant they were coming on morning. She and Jaden had spent more than a night up in that room.

She touched Devon’s chest, looking up at him.

“Are you okay?” she wanted to know and he slowly nodded, kissing her forehead.

“No’ my blood, princess,” he said and she felt his deep voice rumbling through his chest under her hands. She nodded and then stepped away. The guys had already hugged Jaden and she refused to let anyone else touch her.

Going back to Jaden’s side she took his hand to kiss his palm before she spoke.

“Before I actually became Queen I thought once I was turned I’d happily move into a new home with Jaden, or come back to live here. The only reason I actually knew that much was because one of you …” Her eyes found Lex. His guilt above everything he
hadn’t
said was almost tangible, but she couldn’t change that. “… felt the need to inform me about it. He thought keeping me in the dark wasn’t exactly the nicest thing to do. He didn’t tell me all of it though. I wasn’t long in that house, but it was enough to realize that I had always run from my mother in order to not feel pain, to not hurt constantly. The one person I actually thought I could trust most in this world betrayed me and cut me open like no one else could have done.”

She could feel Jaden’s pain through the bond; the guilt at what he had done, and squeezed his hand. “I’m not mad at you anymore, Jaden, but being in that house alone, and being up there with you tonight made me wonder if maybe you have been right all along.” Hope came over her like a wave and Maya paused before continuing. Kaden didn’t have his feelings under control at all and she knew he’d be hurt by her next words.

“Maybe you just loved me because you were supposed to…”

“Cupcake, stop,” Jaden pleaded, but she silenced him by kissing his palm another time, giving him a smile.

“You don’t know anything about me besides the fact that I am eternally yours. I want you to woo me, treat me like you still need to win me over. So far you hurt me, betrayed me and then hurt me some more. I want to see if you can do better than that. Let’s just pretend I’m the girl you need to get. You know where to find me. You always will be able to find me,” she winked, giving him a weak smile before turning back to the rest. She found Kaden’s eyes and held them while speaking, simply because he was her source of strength.

“For all of you who never thought of me as an equal, who figured lying to me would be better than trying to reason with me, be happy. I’m gonna fulfill the task that you wanted me to fulfill. We’ll go out and find whatever Origin, vampire or not, will need our help or a home. I will do my job the way I see it fit, and you will have to live with the fact that I will not consult with you about my decisions. You didn’t trust me enough to handle it, so I don’t trust you enough anymore. One person told me that this was so much bigger than me and he was right. I should have realized that all of you, not only my mate, lied to me. I was weak and pathetic, trusting you all to do the right thing for me. No more. Your traditions I’ll honor if I see it fit, but be ready for a change because I want to make this right, and I want Jaden to prove that he wants to be by my side. So, whenever you think I treat your values with disrespect, remember that I do it because I respect you as individuals too much to follow senseless, century old rules. I’m going back now and starting this moment, I’d love to take my life in my own hands. So … I want to drive,” she finished.

“Maya, we are your personal guard,” Ryder insisted, but she just shook her head, holding out her hand.

“I said I’d like to drive,” she repeated and finally Jaden handed her his keys.

“Take the Impala, babe. The two most important women in my life should be together,” he grinned ruefully.

Maya looked at Devon, Red and then Kaden, giving each of them a smile before she grinned at Cany.

“You comin’ or do you wanna go back with…”

“Hell yeah, I’m coming, my Queen,” Cany said, instantly jumping forward with a beaming smile. That courtier was ready to get shit done and, thankfully, Maya and her were finally on the same page.

In the door she turned, finding Jaden. “Handsome, this is not the end. This is only the beginning.”

Cany walked around the silent mansion. The Queen had retired to her room, catching some more of the sleep she’d surely need.

Reaching the entry hall she almost ran into a shadow standing there, looking up the stairs. The Morningstar warrior Jaden seemingly hadn’t been as ready to let his Origin go as they had thought.

“I don’t think you should be here,” Cany said softly. She didn’t know him and had hated him until earlier that night. Now though she couldn’t help but feel sympathy for him. There was a lot Cany didn’t know from both sides of the story and even though she’d always be loyal to her Queen, she decided to be less angry at the warriors.

“I shouldn’t be, no,” the shadow replied; only then making her realize that it was actually the twin there.

Her heart broke because he probably was the one hurting most in this whole business.

“I didn’t know it was you. Do you want me to get her? I am sure she will happily see you. After all, from what I gather you are one of the few who didn’t betray her.”

“Ah, but I did,” he said softly, taking a deep breath while burying his hands deeper in his jeans pockets. Now that she knew who it was in front of her Cany wondered why she hadn’t noticed it right away. Kaden’s hair looked different and he wasn’t walking with the same confidence his brother always did.

In fact, Kaden looked broken where his brother suddenly seemed to own the world. And maybe that was exactly the case.

“No, you didn’t,” she answered with a soft smile, but he only shook his head slightly.

“I betrayed them all. I lied to Maya; to Lex, and I would have lied to Jaden. I know she is my mate. I knew once her mark showed on my body, but more than that, I knew she was the one for me even before this all happened. I fell in love with her every time I was with her. I was burning for her when she kissed me that one time to test if maybe, just maybe, we’d conjure the same reaction Jaden and she had caused. I knew that my heart belonged to her and yet, I all but forced her to take my blood. I wanted part of me to irrevocably belong to her. And now it does,” he explained.

“You saved their lives. I don’t think that can be counted as betrayal,” she insisted, her voice rough.

“I hate Jaden because I know he’ll make it right for her. I resent her for choosing him and not me. How can that not be betrayal?”

“She didn’t choose. Fate interfered and she is trying to follow the values society upholds. A Queen living with her mate is new. I don’t dare to think about the havoc it would cause if she actually took two mates … and slept with both of them, no matter what Fate had in the cards for her,” Cany explained.

“I don’t care what society thinks. She loves Jaden, and she made sure to remind me of that. I’m gonna do them both a favor and stay away from her. I just needed to … come and say goodbye.”

Another time he looked up the stairs. Cany knew that he didn’t find anything but darkness there.

“Talk to her,” she pleaded, but the broken twin just shook his head.

“I want her to be happy,” he replied, then walking back to the door. Once the lock clicked, silence spread until…

“How could he possibly not know what he means to me?”

“I don’t know, my Queen. I don’t know,” Cany replied, fearing a whole new drama coming to take over the new Queen’s court.