The Last True Vampire (14 page)

Ronan stepped out of the shadows and braced a shoulder against the doorjamb. “He’s your king, too, Siobhan. Your disdain is what has caused him to form an … unsavory opinion of you.”

“Do you think I care what Mikhail Aristov thinks of me?” The dhampir female strode across the room, her black hair cascading over one shoulder and her green eyes alight with heat. The sway of her hips held Ronan in thrall. Her black leather pants left nothing to the imagination and her breasts nearly spilled from her corseted top. The female oozed sex. “Why are you here?”

“You know why I’m here.”

Her lips brushed his ear as her hand reached down to cup his cock through his slacks. “Maybe I just want to hear you say it.”

It showed how badly he needed to take the edge off that he’d come here tonight. His reasons weren’t entirely selfish, however. Siobhan had something he wanted and he wasn’t leaving until he got it. Mikhail needed all the help he could get. He needed answers as to why he’d been tethered by a human and he needed an army with which to hold the Sortiari at bay. And so here Ronan was, right in the lion’s den ready to serve himself up as a main course in order to ensure he could do those things for his king. He seized Siobhan roughly by the wrist and brought her hand up between them. “Your constant and foolish attempts at a power grab have been ill conceived. It’s time to stop this nonsense. You’ve made an enemy of your king when what you should have done was align yourself with Mikhail as soon as possible.”

She jerked her hand from Ronan’s grasp and a feral hiss slipped from between her bared fangs. “I’m not interested in aligning myself with him.”

“Not even now that he’s no longer one of the soulless?”

Siobhan’s eyes narrowed to emerald slits that glittered in the darkness. “You’re a liar.”

A corner of Ronan’s mouth quirked. “He’s been tethered. You’d recognize it if you had a scrap of sense. His power has been awakened by this female and Mikhail’s throne will be once and for all solidified in the resurrection of the vampire race. He will rule
both of our races.
”

Siobhan began to pace, the click of her stilettos echoing across the nearly empty room. “Who is the female?”

He chuckled. “Like I’d tell you.” Though Siobhan offered certain distractions that he appreciated, Ronan’s loyalty to Mikhail was unquestionable.

She rounded on him, her pupils flashing silver. “Why tell me anything then?”

“Don’t be a fool, Siobhan. His allies will be rewarded for their loyalty, and all you’ve managed to prove to him is that you’re a bigoted, power-hungry bitch who’d just as soon see him dead.”

“Such compliments, Ronan,” she said with a smirk. “You’re making me wet.”

It was spoken with her trademark sarcasm, but the heady scent of her desire thickened the air with a rich perfume. Ronan’s body responded in kind. There’d be time enough for sport later, though. Right now he needed something from her, and he wasn’t going to leave until he got it.

“I came here for the
kodeks krovi
. And you’re going to give it to me.”

Siobhan stared, eyes wide, before bursting out into a round of incredulous laughter, wind chimes in a hurricane that rang in Ronan’s ears. “The blood codex. You’re joking, right?”

Gods, he wished he were. Mikhail had all but proclaimed that he would never take Claire as his mate. Ronan suspected that it had more to do with her delicate human state than Mikhail’s desire to claim her as his. He could drink of her, but he could easily kill her if he wasn’t careful. And likewise, she could never drink of him, fortify her strength, if Mikhail suspected that the transition would kill her. Withholding himself from her, denying that base instinct, would send him into madness. He couldn’t rule, couldn’t resurrect the race to its former glory, unless he was fully mated to Claire. And Ronan was determined to find a way to make it happen.

“Do I look like I’m joking?” He was about to make a deal with the devil, and already Ronan could feel his soul slipping away before Mikhail would even have an opportunity to send it into oblivion. Siobhan was good for a toss when the mood struck, but the female was as deadly as a viper. This was no trifling thing Ronan did here tonight.

“You won’t reveal anything about Mikhail’s female, and you show up out of the blue, asking for a relic of vampire lore his own father put to record.…” A smile stretched across Siobhan’s full crimson lips. “Am I sensing trouble in paradise for your king?”

The female was not only heartless but also vicious. If she had even an inkling that Mikhail might be weak she wouldn’t waste a moment to take him down. “Hardly.”

“Is she a shifter? Werewolf? Perhaps a lowly white witch?” Siobhan clasped her hands together gleefully, reveling in the possibilities.

“She’s a female worthy of your admiration and fear, Siobhan. Take care.” Ronan didn’t doubt that Claire would make a fearsome vampire. She had the spirit, the survival instinct, and more than enough fight in her. He just had to convince Mikhail of it. “I came here tonight not only for the codex but to urge you to form your alliances carefully. Your coven is strong. You could serve Mikhail well.”

“What makes you think I’m interested in serving any male?” Siobhan seethed. “Let alone one who would take away my soul. You didn’t come here tonight to urge me to ally myself with Mikhail. You came here for the codex.” Her lips stretched into an indulgent smile. “And to fuck me.”

Ronan hiked a shoulder. He wouldn’t deny it. It had been one hell of a night and he was hoping she’d help him to take the edge off. “Give me the codex. You have no need of it.” Siobhan had a cache of vampire relics stashed away. Sort of ironic, since the female had no interest in being turned.

“No.” She flicked her wrist. “But
you
do. That makes it valuable to me.”

“So rather than give it to me because we’re friends, you’ll use the codex as leverage?”

“Friends?” Her voice was a seductive purr that vibrated down Ronan’s spine. “Is that all that we are?”

A corner of his mouth tugged into a reluctant smile. “We’re very,
very
good friends.”

Siobhan crossed the room toward him and Ronan swore her hips had a magical quality that could hypnotize anyone who dared to watch them sway. She ran her nose along his throat, inhaling deeply. “Swear your fealty to me, Ronan, and I’ll give you the codex.”

She palmed his cock again and the bastard was already hard as stone. If his dick could swear fealty, it would be as good as hers. “I can’t do that. I’m sworn to Mikhail and no one else.”

An aggrieved sigh slipped from her lips. “Such a waste. Then swear your body to me. Pledge to me here and now that you’ll give yourself to no other female and I’ll give the codex to you.”

It wasn’t a mate bond, but swearing himself to her in such a way could be dangerous. Still, he enjoyed Siobhan’s body regularly enough as it was. He’d simply be giving her something that she already had. “For how long?”

She crossed to the king-size mattress at the far corner of the room and Ronan followed as though he had no choice. He’d never understood why she chose to live this way, like a squatter without the means to put a decent roof over her head. It suited her wild personality, though. The female was far from housebroken; that’s probably why he came to her time and again with no other thought but using her for his pleasure.

“For as long as I see fit.” She kicked off her boots, peeled the tight leather pants down the length of her thighs, and shoved them somewhere to the side. Her tight corseted top went next and her breasts spilled free, the dusky nipples already erect and straining toward him as though in need of his touch. Desire swelled inside of him, coursing through his veins with a heat that caused Ronan to sweat. “Come now, Ronan. It’s a small price to pay for what you want, is it not?”

Siobhan stretched out on the bed, her body a pale pearl nestled amidst the rumpled black sheets. The scent of her arousal caused his fangs to throb in his gums, and though he had no need to feed, the urge to sink his fangs—as well as his cock—into her was too strong to resist. If he took her vein it would seal their agreement with a blood troth, and Siobhan knew it. She’d enticed him with her body, knowing that he wouldn’t turn her down.

There were worse things than pledging his body to this female. Convincing Mikhail to turn Claire would guarantee that Ronan would be gifted with the transformation he’d yearned for over centuries. A blood troth was the least of his concerns at this point. “I want the codex tonight.” He fumbled with the buttons of his shirt in his haste to get it off and kicked off his shoes and slacks. Siobhan’s eyes flashed silver as she spread her legs in invitation and Ronan’s cock pulsed hard and hot as he shoved his boxer briefs down over his ass.

“Tonight,” Siobhan agreed. He covered her body with his and jerked her lacy thong aside, shoving into her in a single hard thrust. She arched up to meet him and Ronan hissed at the sharp sting of her fangs as they punctured his throat. A low rumble gathered in his chest as Siobhan drank deeply, her sex clenching around his erection with every pull of her mouth.

Since Mikhail’s awakening, Ronan had felt stronger with each passing day, his own urges and desires intensifying a hundredfold. He thrust hard into the female beneath him, gripped her soft thighs, and guided her legs around him. Siobhan wound her fists in his hair, her fangs still engaged as she drank from him. With a shout Ronan stood, cupping her ass as he pounded unmercifully into her. She disengaged from his throat with an impassioned cry and Ronan turned to sit on the mattress. He caught a fistful of her silky raven hair and jerked her head to the side. Her pussy clenched him tight as she came and Ronan bit down hard on Siobhan’s throat, eliciting a cry from her lips that only caused him to thrust harder and deeper. Her blood flowed over his tongue, sweet and heady. Ronan sucked as hard as he fucked her, effectively sealing their agreement with the exchange of blood. His orgasm ripped through him and Ronan pulled away from her throat with a shout, his cock twitching inside of her as she continued to ride him with abandon.

“Fuck! Ah,
gods,
that feels good.”

Siobhan’s throaty laughter caressed his ear moments before her tongue flicked out at his throat, closing the wounds she’d made. He returned the favor, closing the punctures and lapping lazily at the blood that trickled down the pale column of her throat and between her lush breasts.

“Carrig,
dewch
â
’r codex mi
!” Siobhan’s voice echoed through the ruins of the abandoned building in the old Welsh dialect she used to speak to her coven. Moments later, a male entered her private floor with a large leather-bound book tucked under his arm.

Ronan shifted on the bed, very aware that he was still buried to the hilt inside of her. Siobhan didn’t seem to share in his modesty, though the other male’s eyes lit with desire when he took in the sight of them still flushed with passion and breathing heavily.

Their pact made, Siobhan kept to her word, though Ronan would have liked the opportunity to put his damned pants back on first. “The book,” Carrig said with a low bow, setting the codex down on the bed beside them. Silver glinted in his dark gaze and his mouth parted to reveal the tips of his fangs. “Would you like me for anything else, mistress?” The male did nothing to hide his anticipation, and he gave Ronan a slow, seductive smile that revealed the full length of his fangs along the row of straight white teeth.

“What do you say, Ronan?” Siobhan purred in his ear. “Should we ask Carrig to join us?” She kept her eyes on the other male as her fingers caressed over Ronan’s shoulders and down his forearms. Their agreement did not include the other members of Siobhan’s coven, however, and Ronan had no intention of allowing her to pass him around.

“No.” The word was spoken with a finality that caused Carrig’s expression to fall like a poorly baked souffl
é
.

Siobhan hiked a shoulder. “Apparently Ronan is shy. That will be all, Carrig. For now.”

Carrig gave a nod of his head and disappeared into the shadows. Ronan thrust Siobhan from his body, no longer interested in playing her games, and she stretched out on the bed, watching through the narrowed slits of her eyes as he retrieved his shirt and slacks from the floor.

“I made my troth to you and no one else.” He shoved his arms into the sleeves of his shirt with enough force to rip the seams. “If you think to play games with me, Siobhan, you’ll be disappointed.”

Siobhan licked a drop of his blood from the corner of her mouth. “Oh, Ronan. I haven’t begun to play with you. Take the codex. I hope you find whatever answers you seek from it. But in exchange for my generosity, your body is
mine
. To use as I see fit, whenever and however I want. Break your oath to me, and I will be … upset.”

Her innocent tone belied the fire in her emerald gaze. Ronan cursed his own foolishness at letting his cock make decisions for him. He could have found another way to get the codex from her. The truth of the matter was, his libido had been raging out of control for days. He’d needed a release, and clearly, there hadn’t been enough blood in his brain to make a logical decision. “I wouldn’t think of upsetting you, Siobhan.” He could argue his point with her later. Right now he needed to get the codex out of there before she changed her mind.

“Good.” She stretched out on the bed, all willowy limbs and creamy skin. “Then take your clothes off and join me. I’m not even close to being done with you yet.”

Her command chafed, but Ronan made sure not to let her see him bristle. Instead, he shucked his shirt and let his slacks fall beside his discarded shoes and socks. He eased down beside her on the bed, reaching out to fondle the heavy weight of her breast, plucking at the hardened nipple as though taking succulent fruit from the vine.

“Harder,” she commanded, and Ronan gave her tender flesh a tight pinch. She rolled her hips, her back arching off the bed, and let out a low moan. “I find it flattering that you don’t want to share, Ronan. You must know that I’m very generous with the members of my coven, though. I’ll give you your way tonight, but in the future, you will deny me
nothing
. Do you understand?”