The Kyriakis Curse (25 page)

She sat still for a moment, his cock embedded deep within her. Then she took his

hands and placed them over her breasts; he happily squeezed the firm globes. At last, she began to undulate, riding him in steady motions. He’d never seen a more delicious sight than her sitting astride him, her eyes blazing with lust.

She was his. All his.

“I love you so much, Sarah. I don’t know how I got by before you entered my life, but I know I can’t do without you.”

She paused in her movements, her eyes filling with the suspicious gleam of tears. “It means a lot hear you say that. I love you, too.”

No other words were needed after her declaration. Constantine grasped her hips while she bounced up and down on his shaft. Her breasts jiggled with her every movement. Sarah leaned forward, her hands on his chest to steady herself and provide support for her plunges.

She strained and ground against him, her vaginal walls clenching his cock, sucking him deeper. Already he was unbelievably close to reaching yet another climax, but this time he would make sure Sarah came with him.

His fingers tightened on her flesh as he lifted his hips, thrusting deeper and harder into her. She arched her back, mashing her pussy against his cock and belly.

“Oh, yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!” She screamed once more before collapsing forward and

shuddering against him, gasping for breath with her own orgasm. He continued to pound into her in frenzied motions.

“Tell me you love me again,” he demanded.

“I do. I love you, Constantine,” she moaned, her exhaustion evident. Her words rang in his head. Then his peak hit him like a thunder clap, lightning rushing through his body. He emptied his balls into her tight sheath and released a shout of pure satisfaction. Surrounding her with his arms, he rolled them both over to their sides, his cock clamped tightly in her pussy.

“Constantine?”

“Yes, mana mou?” He stroked her hair and kissed her forehead.

“I... I just want you to know, no matter what happens, I love you very much.

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He found that statement odd. “What are you talking about? Why do you think

anything will happen? We’re bond mates. That means forever. I hope you’re not still

harboring doubts about my love for you.”

She smiled. “Not anymore. I just wanted you to know how much I love you. No matter

what.” The grave way in which she spoke those words bothered him a little, but maybe he was imagining things.

He hoped to God he was.

* * * * *

though to offer comfort.

Sarah scooted away along the rail, blinking back the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. Leaving Constantine was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do. It gnawed at her gut, but Eleni was right. If she truly loved him, she’d leave. Learning that Paris had been attacked because of her had been the clincher. Sarah didn’t think she’d be able to handle it if any of the Kyriakises were to become hurt simply because she was with them. Especially Constantine.

They’d made love one last time before he’d drifted into slumber. She’d waited as long as she could until she was sure he was sleeping before she’d dressed and slipped out of the room. There’s been no sign of Paris, thank God, so the coast had been clear. And just as she’d promised, Eleni had been waiting with a boat for the two of them.

Now Sarah could see the mainland ahead of them, and there was no turning back. “Are

you sure Paris didn’t hear us leave?”

The redhead shrugged. “Even if he did, I told him I had to go to a party. Besides, I’m sure he assumes you’re with my nephew. The two of you were certainly loud enough.”

Eleni’s face contorted in disgust. “By the time they realize you’ve left, you’ll be long gone, I trust.”

“That’s my intention.”

“Hmm. To ensure that, I’ve secured you a couple of escorts. You’ll be in their hands when we dock.”

Sarah frowned. “Escorts? I don’t need--”

Eleni laughed. “Of course you do. You deserve no less.” The boat’s speed decreased, and then the woman skillfully maneuvered the vessel to the dock.

A sense of danger suddenly struck Sarah’s heart. Something wasn’t on the up and up,

and the uneasy feeling she’d had about Eleni earlier came back. A feeling of doom dropped on her. There was something familiar about this. Something nagging in the back of Sarah’s mind that she couldn’t quite get a hold of. Why did this woman’s laughter seem so familiar?

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The look of malicious anticipation in Eleni’s eyes definitely sent the red flags up and waving frantically. The knowledge suddenly came to her, and she gasped.

“You were there that day,” Sarah whispered.

Eleni didn’t bother to pretend ignorance, somehow instantly knowing what Sarah was

referring to. “Of course I was. As long as your mother lived, Paris would continue to carry his misguided torch for her. The way he used to go on about her made me sick! Your mother wasn’t worthy to be the alpha fem! But I am. She stole what was always meant to be mine!”

“You killed her... and my father. You were there with those men.”

“Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out quite as I expected. I should have taken care of all of you myself instead of letting the help handle it. They bungled the entire affair; you should have been killed first.”

“You’re the one who’s been chasing me all these years.”

“That credit actually belongs to Gage, but I let him know where you were when Paris

and I saw that painting in the gallery. I knew there was only one person who could have painted it, and I wasn’t going to allow some little half-breed ruin my plans. I’ve waited years to be Paris’s mate. Years, I tell you! Once I convinced your stupid mother to run away -- just as I did with you -- she later ended up with Gage. Why he didn’t kill her then, I don’t know, nor do I care, but word soon got back to me that she’d escaped and was living with a human who apparently didn’t know what she was.” Eleni’s smile was filled with glee.

“They had you, of course, and I knew I wouldn’t rest until the three of you were gone.

There was no way I would let Paris know of Zahara’s existence after I had worked so hard to first get rid of my husband long ago, then later, my sister, too. You see I’d been keeping tabs on your mother. Once she escaped Gage and I finally tracked her down again, I sent some...

friends of mine to get rid of her and your father. They were supposed to take care of you as well; they swore they had. I shouldn’t have trusted them. No matter, I had them killed so there’d be no tales told later. Once your mother was out of the way, I led my sister to an ambush. I won’t let you destroy my beautiful plan now.”

Sarah’s eyes widened. “You killed your own sister?”

Eleni batted her lashes in mock innocence. “Feral wolves did. I had no clue they’d be there.” The little girl voice in which she said it made a lie of her words.

“You’re crazy.”

“No. I’m determined to get what I want. And when I’m alpha fem of Pack Kyriakis as I was always meant to be, I’ll rid the world of every single half-breed.” She laughed again.

“You know what, you’re just like your mother. I wonder if you’ll scream like she did when you’re being torn apart.”

Enraged, Sarah flew at Eleni, going for the woman’s throat. Fury like nothing she’d felt before tore through Sarah. This woman was responsible for all her pain and suffering, had 144

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deprived her of her parents. Though Sarah had loved her father, the loss of her mother had hit her the hardest.

Despite the fact that she was many years younger and a half-breed, the full-blood

shifter still had a difficult time throwing Sarah off. The boat rocked violently in their struggle.

Eleni punched Sarah in the face hard enough to send her reeling, but Sarah kept her

arms firmly around the shifter’s neck. Eleni dealt Sarah another powerful blow, this time to the side of her head, dislodging her.

Sarah fell back, nearly going overboard. That was when she noticed two men racing

toward the boat. She immediately knew they weren’t human, but neither were they shifters.

Before she could recover her balance, Eleni pushed her hard, sending Sarah flying into the water. Sarah was a pretty strong swimmer, but the blows she’d suffered had disoriented her and caused her to react more slowly than she normally would.

When Sarah surfaced, she could hear Eleni’s laughter. “You are so pathetic. Did you

actually think you could best me, half-breed?”

In a desperate attempt to flee, Sarah tried to swim away, but something yanked her

below. She struggled, kicking and clawing to reach the surface, but the invisible force held her under the water. Just when it felt like her lungs would burst, she managed to break through.

The sweet relief of air filling her lungs was short-lived; she looked up to see the two men standing above the plane of the water as if it were solid ground.

“You’ve caused us a lot of problems, half-breed. This is only a taste of what you’ll get from Gage,” the tall menacing blond said to her before the invisible force drove her back under.

As much as she fought, she couldn’t come back up. She wasn’t sure if she ever would.

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Constantine tore through the house, but there was still no sign of Sarah. He should

have known something was going on when she’d acted so strangely earlier, but he hadn’t examined her behavior too clearly. Now he wished to God that he had.

When he’d awakened a short time ago to find her gone, he’d thought she might have

gone out to the beach. But she hadn’t been there; a quick check had revealed one of the boats was missing.

His father walked into the house, the set of his mouth grim. “I’ve contacted everyone on the island. No one has seen Sarah, and no other boats are missing except the one your aunt took. The only thing I can think of is that your mate might have left with Eleni. Damn the woman’s meddling!” Paris pounded his fist against the wall. “I heard the boat leave, but I didn’t suspect...”

Constantine’s heart sank. “How long?”

“Less than an hour ago. It takes a half hour to reach the mainland; if we use the

helicopter, it’s possible we can catch up with them.”

“Then let’s go. Sarah is out there somewhere, and so are her enemies.” He rubbed his face. “Why would Aunt Eleni do this? Earlier, she already tried to turn Sarah against me.”

Paris frowned. “What?”

“Let’s discuss it on the way. We have no time to lose.”

His father nodded. “I’ll call Aries and Dante, too. They should still be on the mainland; I’ll have them meet us when we land at the heliport.”

When they lifted off from the island, Paris in the pilot’s seat, his father resumed their aborted conversation. “What did you mean when you said Eleni tried to turn Sarah against you? What did she tell Sarah?”

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“As I told you, I hadn’t mentioned bonding in wolf form to Sarah yet because I wanted to wait for the right time. Aunt Eleni, on the other hand, was only too happy to fill in the blank. From my understanding of Sarah’s questions and words, Aunt Eleni made it seem like I was purposely withholding that information from Sarah because she’s not my true mate.

Not only that, but Sarah was upset about the attack against you when you were looking for us with Dante.”

Paris’s face lost all color. “The attack?”

“What is it, Papa?”

“I-I never said a word about it to Eleni.”

“Then how the hell would she know about it unless--” A sense of utter horror swept

through Constantine; he could practically feel the blood freezing in his veins. His aunt had made no secret of her contempt for Sarah, but would she be devious enough to scheme with Sarah’s enemies? “No,” he whispered, not wanting to believe Eleni capable of such evil.

His father released a heavy sigh. “Now that I’m taking a harder look at your aunt,

several things aren’t adding up. It’s a good thing I contacted Dante and Aries because we’ll need all the backup we can get.”

Constantine was sure the sense of betrayal by one of his father’s own pack members

must cut Paris very deeply. To have the traitor also be a family member... A tense silence fell between the men. Although it was only minutes, it seemed like several hours before Paris navigated the helicopter to land on their private helipad.

Aries and Dante were grimfaced and waiting for them by a car. No words were

exchanged among them as they drove down to the docks.

Constantine threw his door open the second the vehicle came to a halt. The three

shifters and vampire made it to the docks just in time to see Eleni starting up the motorboat.

He wondered what was going on. His father had told him Eleni had claimed she was going to attend a party, yet it looked like she wasn’t going to get out of the boat. There was no sign of Sarah.

“Eleni!” Constantine yelled, ready to dive into the boat after her.

She looked startled, but then seemed to recover. She cut the engine as she climbed out and swiftly secured the boat before rushing over to his father. Eleni threw herself at Paris before bursting into tears.

“Oh, Paris. it was awful! We were attacked! I barely got away with my life!”

Paris shoved her away so hard that Eleni stumbled back and would have fallen on her

butt if Dante had not caught her. Surprise crossed her face.

“Why are you treating me like this? Didn’t you hear me? I was attacked!”

Constantine lunged for her himself, yelling, but Aries yanked him back. “Don’t pretend you don’t know what’s going on. You’re in league with Gage! You led Sarah to him, didn’t you?”

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Eleni’s jaw dropped. “You can’t believe that. Why would I... I mean...” she looked at the other men for support. “Paris, tell your son he’s insane.”

His father’s gray eyes flashed. “I don’t think I can. Why did you take Sarah off the island when I’d already told you about the danger she is in?”