Trials (The Forever Series, Book 6) (17 page)

Wrath? Oh this is wrath, more than wrath. They don’t even
have a word for it.

“If you plan on hitting me again could you mind the
furniture and ornaments? There are some priceless pieces scattered about,” he
says worriedly. Not so much about me hitting him but about his priceless
artifacts. That makes me giggle. Idiot.

I shake my head at him. “Just don’t be surprised when I show
up with my own set of T & C’s,” I say breezily.

“I won’t be,” he says, relieved I am not about to go
homicidal on his arse for being a tool. He takes the document from me and rips
the pages from the back. “These can wait,” he says, holding up the Terms. “This
I want you to sign now.” He hands me the property transfer document back.

“I will read it first,” I say, taking it from him and
sitting on the bed.

“I expect nothing less,” he says and sits next to me while I
read. It is fairly standard but with clauses I am unfamiliar with due to the
Italian way of doing things. As the document is in Italian there are also some
legal words I am struggling with but I point them out and he fills me in. Once
I have read it and then read it again this time with full understanding I hold
my hand out for a pen and he hands me his Montblanc. I sign with a flourish.

“That is two castles I have given you this week. What next?”
he says happily.

I am about to smile back but then my face freezes. So does
his as he realizes what he has just said. I stand up and hold my hand up to
him. “You bastard,” I hiss at him as he stands up quickly.

“Wait, Aefre. That came out wrong. I didn’t mean it to
sound…”

“Save it. It came out exactly how it is. You haven’t given
up. You haven’t given up at all. You are still fighting and now you are
fighting dirty. Making me, us, think that you were going back to the original
terms. That you were going to respect our marriage.”

“I meant what I said, Aefre. I did step back. I am going to
respect your marriage,” he says desperately.

“Then what the fuck is this?” I gesture at the pages he is
gripping tightly. Probably so I won’t rip them out of his hand and tear them
into two million pieces.

“Our future,” he says quietly.

I shake my head, “Cole wondered what you would cough up next
after giving me
Cassis
. The only other thing in the world that was out
of my reach, that only you could give to me.” I look around sadly and say,
“This place.”

“No, that is not what this is about,” he says firmly. “I
promise you, that is not what I am doing. Please don’t turn this into something
foul.” He frowns, “You know how hard these things come to me. You know what
this means to me, and I know what it means to you. Please don’t crap on it by
making it into something that it is not.”

Please don’t crap on it? That is a fairly amusing phrase
coming out of his mouth.

“Constantine,” I start.

“Don’t call me that,” he sulks. “You only call me that when
you are mad or upset.”

“I am mad. And upset.”

“Don’t be, please, my love. This is an honest gesture and
you are ruining it.”

Wow, the man can pout.

“You are being petulant. Stop it,” I order him.

“No,” he says. “I won’t have you overreacting about this.”
He stamps his foot with his hands on his hips and I stare at him. Is he
actually about to throw a tantrum right now? Because if he is I want a front
row seat, with popcorn and extra large Diet Coke.

I bite my lower lip to stop myself from laughing at him and
he glares at me, “You find this amusing?”

“What I find amusing is that a 2760 year old Vampire is
about to throw his toys out of his crib,” I say before I bend over laughing,
forgetting about the turban towel on my head and it flops down onto the floor
at my feet, which makes me laugh even harder as my wet hair tumbles into my
face.

He leaves me to laugh at him as he stands there crossing his
arms and trying to look nonchalant, which of course sets me off even more. “I
love you,” I snort at him. “I am sorry for crapping on your moment.”

“Our moment,” he says with a sniff as I continue to snicker.
“You shouldn’t be so suspicious of my motives, Aefre. We have seen the future.
We know that we are going to be together. That is enough for me. It is enough
for me to have seen us together and how we will be with each other. If I try
and tear you away from Cole before you are ready, you will never be fully mine.
You will always be in love with him and wonder about what could have been had
nature taken its course. You think that I want you that way?”

He has been speaking really quietly and my laughter has died
down to stone cold silence.

“I’m sorry,” I say again, crossing to him, tripping on the
cursed towel at my feet in the process. I fall into his arms as he steps
forward to catch me. “I am paranoid at the moment. This Thirteen thing has me
rattled,” I say just as quietly. “I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.”

“No, you shouldn’t have, but I can see why you would. It
doesn’t help that your husband is putting ideas in your head,” he scowls at me.

“That isn’t what he does. We talk. About everything. I know
you don’t want to hear that but I make the point so you won’t blame him.”

“I don’t want you to tell him about this,” he says
seriously. “This is ours to know.”

And Sebastian, I think absently. But his words have
reassured me.

“I won’t. I want it to be just ours as well.”

He takes my face in his hands and kisses me. “I like having
secrets with you,” he says with a cheeky glint in his eye.

“Mm, especially as our secrets are so delicious,” I say,
taking a nibble on his bottom lip that makes him sigh, “I love you.” He closes
his eyes as I pull away and turn to get dressed. “You need to feed.”

“Oh, I already have done that,” I say. “I ran into Ramon
downstairs.”

“Oh. You fed on your own?” he doesn’t look very pleased.

“I am a big girl, Constantine, I am quite capable of feeding
by myself. Oh, and revise his job description, will you?” I say in annoyance.
“Besides which, Jess is on top of it,” I add. “She has set me twice daily
reminders.”

He smiles then, “Good. Maybe it will go some way to getting
you into the habit.”

“Are you coming back with me now?” I ask him.

“No, I am going to file this with the lawyers here first.
You go and I will see you later on.”

I nod and he kisses me again, “I love you.”

I leave the bedroom, our bedroom, and walk over to the
alcove. He follows me curiously but then stops when he sees me retrieve my
phone and the pages that I abandoned. I feel him watching me as I walk down the
stairs and I feel the pang of his hurt as he watches me leave.

I reach the bottom and find Cade who is talking to Nico and
a very leggy, very beautiful, blue-eyed blonde.

“Oh, there you are,” Cade says. “I was just coming to find
you. We should be getting back.”

“I know, I’m ready.” I focus on the girl. A Vampire. Nico
steps forward with introductions.

“Liv, this is Serena. Serena, your Queen.”

Oh, so this is Serena. No wonder Nico wanted to work with
her on this little project. She is quite the looker. I shake her hand a feel a
small fizz go through my palm. I now recognize this as a bloodline link. She
isn’t CK’s charge, but she is a descendant. I have probably met thousands of
his descendants over the years, having only been shielded from his actual
charges. I say probably as “So who is your sire?” and “Your sire’s sire?” are
not questions we ask. If the information is offered up then grand, if not,
leave well enough alone. I am dying to know who her sire is but out of this
tacit arrangement I don’t ask.

“Nice to meet you,” she murmurs and bobs her head.

“And you,” I say. “Thank you for all your work.” I hold up
the pages and she smiles.

“No problem. If I can help in any way, please let me know.”

“I will do. Thank you. Cade?” I hold my hand out and he
grimaces at it but takes it anyway. “Bye Nico.”

“Bye Liv, Cade,” he says before I Astral us back to Toronto.

Landing back in the suite I let go of Cade, much to his
relief. “I hope we won’t be making a habit out of travelling that way,” he
grumbles.

“Only now and again,” I reassure him. “I’m going to find
Lincoln. I’ll be with him until Cole gets home.”

He scowls at me, “How do you do it? Jump from bed to bed? I
don’t understand it, not that I even want to try.”

“It’s hard to explain,” I shuffle slightly and uncomfortably
under his scrutiny.

“Humph. Well, stay safe. Do call if you need me but only if
you are fully clothed, if you please.” He leaves and I am relieved he dropped
it. I care about his opinion for some reason and his disapproval is bothering
me. Not enough, however, that I don’t go off in search of Lincoln. I mean, who
is going to pass up a roll in the sack with his gorgeous self?

I Astral into his suite without warning and he looks up from
his laptop as he senses me.

“Hi.”

“Hi. You okay? You look a little flustered.”

“Oh, it’s Cade. He is quite the prude,” I say softly and he
laughs at me gently.

“I find it amusing that his opinion matters to you.”

“I find it disturbing,” I comment, to which he laughs
harder.

“Come here. I have thought of nothing else since our
telepathic dalliance earlier. I am dying to get my hands on you.”

I smile seductively and turn from him and walk into the
bedroom. He follows quickly, slamming the door behind him.

“Oh, Liv. It feels like forever since I had you,” he says as
he comes closer. I back away, teasing him as I strip off until I hit the bed.
His eyes laser over me as he comes to stand, towering over me.

“How do you want me?” I murmur to him.

He pushes me down to my knees with a low growl and I grin
wickedly. “I want to feel your hot mouth wrapped around my cock,” he says as he
undoes his pants and lets them drop to the floor. He kicks them aside and takes
his shirt off as I plunge my mouth to him, opening wide to get him inside me.
“Fuck yes,” he whispers as I work my way slowly up and down. “Oh to see you
kneeling in front of me with my cock in your mouth is the sexiest sight, my
love,” he says to me and I quiver at his words. “I want to taste you,” he says,
pulling me roughly up and flinging me into the middle of the bed. I giggle at
his assertiveness and he crawls onto the bed and pushes my legs wide open. He
dips his head and licks me and sucks on me until I am thudding against his
mouth. He whimpers as he pushes his fingers inside me, feeling me clenching
around him. He shuffles up to his knees and brings my legs up straight into the
air. He grabs my ankles and opens them again so I am practically doing splits
in the air before he pushes himself inside me. Slowly. Oh fuck, that feels
good.

“Oh Linc, baby,” I moan. “More, I want more of you inside
me.”

He obliges me to my delight and shoves himself deep inside
me before he starts to rock his hips back and forth. “How does that feel?” he
asks me.

“Oh god, it feels amazing. You are amazing. Faster, baby. I
want you to make me come.”

“Not yet,” he says and my eyes flash at his denial of me. He
whispers, “I want this to last. I want you crazy with desire for me.”

“Oh baby, I am always crazy with desire for you. You turn me
on in ways I can only dream about.”

“Oh yes. I love hearing you say that.” He continues his
steady pulsing in and out and I am getting wetter by the minute. He can feel it
too as he closes his eyes in restraint. He doesn’t make me wait too much longer,
not that I can hold out much longer anyway, as he pulls my legs back up slowly,
closing them, thus forcing himself even further into me and forcing me tighter
around him.

“Oh fuck!” I cry out as I come in an explosion around him
and he groans but to his credit carries on until my ankles are resting on his
shoulders. He grabs my hips and pulls me onto him as he speeds up his pounding
into me until I have no choice but to come again and then he follows suit with
a loud rumble.

“Oh fuck, Liv,” he says as he collapses on top of me, hands
on either side of my head, as he kisses me. I pull him to me and we just kiss.
For the longest time. I roll us over when he is ready for me again, his Shifter
stamina not quite as strong as our Vampire one, and I sit us up as I lower
myself onto him. “I love having you inside me,” I murmur against his lips. “I
love how we connect so perfectly together.”

He whimpers again at me and I revel in it. Revel in bringing
this man, so strong, so capable and so enormous, to his knees. I drop my fangs
against his mouth and he pulls my head back and just looks at me, all Vamped
out, with a look of such adoration I almost want to cry. “Bite me,” he rasps
harshly and I duck my head to his neck and pierce his flesh with a quick snap
of my jaw. His blood is most delicious. I didn’t really get to taste it much
during the whole Alpha-Pairing thing. Had I remembered what he tastes like I
would have insisted on biting him again sooner. He moans as he brings his hand
to my clit and starts to play with me as I move over him gently so as not to
disturb my fangs. I am unclear on his healing reaction time and it wouldn’t do
to rip his neck open without some clue. I retract my fangs and swipe my tongue
slowly over the puncture marks noting with relief that they are healing much
the same as a Vampire’s would. “Oh baby. You taste so good,” I mutter as I
start to speed up my movements and he continues to circle my clit. I feel a
double rush of pleasure shoot through me as he clamps his own set of sharp teeth
down on me, raking his claws down my arms in the process.

Motherfucker. His bite is sharp and sweet. I remember from
New York only a few short weeks ago. I should point out here that he isn’t
drinking my blood, per se. Shifters don’t do that. All he is doing is biting me
slowly, letting his teeth break my skin and the blood seep into his mouth.