Undying Embrace (22 page)

“Tie my wrists. Silver side down.”

She hesitated, her gaze lowering to the straps in her gloved hands.

“It’ll be okay,” he said. Love and compassion colored her expression, and it rocked his mind. No one had ever looked at him that way. Saw him the way she did. He prayed he would always be the man who made her look at him like that. Then it dawned on him. For the first time in more than a century, he actually believed he could be someone capable of receiving and giving love—a male she deserved.

“
Is gradhaich leam thu
. I love you,” he said. A soft and sudden intake of air sounded from his lover. “I would do this a thousand times over if it meant forever with you.”

Her mouth covered his in a stolen, hot kiss. “You’re crazy. You do know that?” she said when the kiss was over. “God, I love you too…” Her voice hitched. “I’ve loved you for so long. I can’t remember what it was like to live before you claimed my heart.”

Claimed her heart
. He liked the sound of that. “Then I think you’d better tie me up.”

She made quick work of securing the bindings. And his wrists were on fire the moment she pulled the straps tight. Lowering his eyelids, he focused on his mate. The smell of burning flesh singed his nostrils, making it hard to push the pain to the back of his mind.

“Jesus, Arran,” Her voice sounded panicked as she huddled next to him and her palms stroked his face. He opened his eyes. “How can you lie there so still when you are obviously in so much pain? Tell me what to do.”

“Distract me.” Arran pulled his mouth into a smile. Her sweet lips curled, and then she glided them over his mouth.

“That would be my pleasure,” she said against his lips in a breathy whisper.

She straddled his waist, bringing the hot, moist feel of her folds to his lower abdomen. Her head dipped, and she traced the curve of his neck with her tongue. His cock, having lost some of its mass from the pain at his wrists, revived under her ministrations. Even though his skin was on fire elsewhere, a shiver raced down his spine.

Her head dipped lower still, and she caught one of his nipples between her lips. “Yes,” he hissed. She sucked and gently nipped, sending electric pulses to the sensitive head of his cock. His erection jerked, needy for more attention. Then she was there, her warm palm encircling his shaft.

“God, yeah!” he groaned, lowering his chin. He had to see. Gabrielle looked up, passion taking her eyelids to half-mast. She held his gaze as she dipped her tongue into his slit. He hissed, and his hips lifted from the mattress. In one long swoop, she licked the drop of pre-cum from the tip, curling her tongue back into her mouth. Her eyelids drifted closed, as if she were savoring the finest wine. So fucking hot.

“Shit, kitten. Let me taste you,” Arran groaned.

She arched a playful brow. “Not yet, vampire.” A long hot sweep of her tongue lavished the backside of his erection. Arran jerked his head back onto the pillow. Damn, she had a wicked tongue. Then her mouth covered him and swallowed his length.

“Christ,” he gasped. In hard pulls, Gabrielle sucked him from root to tip. A familiar electric tingle danced at the base of his spine. “Fuck!” he growled. “Kitten, you’re gonna make me come. Not yet.” He panted, trying to pull back from the edge. “Too soon.” Her pink lips left the head of his shaft with a soft
pop
. Her tongue flicked out and circled the rim. A lick that sent his hips arching off the bed. “Gabrielle!”

“God, I love it when you almost lose control,” she purred.

“I need to be inside of you.” He arched his hips once more, calling her. “Take me, Gabrielle. Everything that I am, and become one with me.” Arran lifted his chin, turned, and exposed his throat.

The room went still. Not even the bed stirred for what seemed like several long minutes, when in fact, it was probably only seconds. Then in a whirlwind of sensation, Gabrielle’s hot depths sank over his cock, and her fangs pierced his neck.

“Yes!” His heart rammed against his chest, and the headboard slammed against the wall. The room spun. “That’s it, baby. God, yes. Take it all.” He gasped and thrust his hips, matching her downward strokes.

Again. And again. He surged into her, wanting his cock deeper. Farther. The beast inside needed to claim her in return. He dug his nails into the palms of his hands, trying to last one second longer. She felt so damn good. Hot, tight. Her pussy gripped his cock like a silken glove. She was perfect. Made for him.

It was too much.

His balls drew tight, and a guttural roar tore from the back of his throat. He thrust his hips into her, seating his shaft deep as his release jetted from the end of his cock. She shuddered. Her mouth released its hold on his neck, and she cried out with her own orgasm. The rhythmic pulses around his cock milked the last drops of his cum.

As her tremors eased, Gabrielle’s fingertips turned his head, and her lips brushed his. The metallic taste of his blood lingered on her tongue. Her body lay draped across his, hot and damp from their lovemaking and from his blood coursing through her veins.

“Are you still sure?” She hovered over his lips. “It’s not too late.”

“More sure than anything ever in my life.” Arran lifted his head and touched his forehead to hers. “Do it, kitten….please,” he whispered.

“God, I love you.” Her voice hitched. She moved back toward his neck, and he turned his head again, giving her more access. The warm feel of her tongue bathed his skin, and then with a sharp twinge, her fangs reentered his flesh.

A hot flash raced over his body with each pull at his neck. His breathing quickened. This wouldn’t take long. “You’re doing good, baby,” he called out.
Don’t stop
. The room swam. Arran blinked, attempting to focus. Little white dots twirled, gathered, and filled his vision. “Keep…going.” His voice sounded hoarse and weak to his ears. So cold. He shivered. “I…love you.” He pushed the words across the dry thickness of his tongue.

Then.

Blackness.

Awareness kicked and jolted his mind awake. Where was he? Arran searched his surroundings. But there was nothing. Nothing but darkness and a raging urgency for something—someone. He reached for it, and suddenly he was free. Weightless. Floating. And it was wonderful. He stretched the ethereal lengths of his arms, twisted, and looked down. There on the bed lay the remains of his empty shell. He was in the inbetween.

Gabrielle straddled his naked body. “Arran!”

She needed him.
Yes
. He remembered now.
She
was his purpose. His reason for being. He flew toward her presence. Her voice and her essence called to him. He reached out and sank the ghostly fingers of his soul into the warmth of her body. They slipped into Gabrielle like the parting of warm waters. She felt…amazing. He sank farther. First his elbow, then up to his shoulder.
Mmmm
. This was where he belonged.

Arran crawled inside heaven.

“Gabrielle,” his mind cried out to hers. Swirls of colors, red, blue, and white, danced before his eyes. Her spirit crawled over him—through him—like thousands of electric tingles making him writhe. It wasn’t unpleasant, no, quite the opposite… It was energizing. An awakening of sorts.

Arran. It’s really you
.” Her voice leaped inside his head. “
I feel you. Here, inside me
.

So good, Gabrielle. I don’t want to leave you. But something screams inside my head that I must
. Arran whirled. So free and yet so wrapped up in her soul. Confusion clouded his mind. A part of him was right where he wanted to be, but another section warned Arran that he had to leave.

“Take from me, Arran. Feed!” Her voice echoed through his being.

A hard jerk tugged at his essence. He reached out with insubstantial arms and embraced a delicate section of her spirit. He was leaving now. It was as if powerful gravitational forces were pulling and stretching at the tendrils of his soul. They were splitting him in two, leaving a part of him behind. Yet a part of her still clung to his embrace. Through it all, there was no fear. Instead, there was peace in the knowledge that he’d never be alone. He and Gabrielle would forever be entwined.

Arran’s eyelids flew open. He drew in a long, deep breath through his nostrils. Honeysuckle. A smile tugged at his lips. He rolled his head to the side. Tawny-colored eyes glistened and stared back at him with unshed tears.

“That was incredible,” Gabrielle murmured and placed a warm palm against his cheek. “We did it.”

“
You
did it.” Arran rolled to his side, facing her. He grasped her hand in his and brought it to his lips. “
Annsachd
.” He kissed her fingertips. “My beloved—my mate—I assure you, this is only the beginning.”

Epilogue

Enclave Headquarters

One week later

Guerin stared at the male lying on the cot, facing the wall inside the silver cage.

Stepping from the cell, the Master of the Enclave rolled the sleeve of his shirt back into place. Michael, their friend and human assistant at the mansion, locked the cage door behind him.

“Did he feed?” Guerin asked as Kenric neared where he stood at the room’s door.

“Very little,” he muttered. “What I got into him I had to force using compulsion.”

Guerin had only asked out of curiosity. He really didn’t care if Markus lived or died after what the bastard had done. He just wanted him alive long enough to get the answers he needed. Kenric brushed past, heading back up to the main level. Michael followed but stopped in the doorway.

“Are you coming?”

“Yeah,” Guerin answered. “I’ll be up in a minute.”

Michael nodded and continued on his way. Guerin sauntered closer to the cell bars, listening to the slow and steady breaths coming from the Enclave’s traitor. The heavy fall of boots sounded outside the room, drawing near.

“Hey, man, I was looking for you.” The sound of Arran’s voice had Guerin glancing over his shoulder.

“You found me.”

“Yeah, you and I need to talk,” he said at the doorway, his hands shoved in his jeans pockets.

“I’ve been waiting for you and Gabrielle to come up for air so we could do just that.” Guerin moved away from the cage and met Arran halfway across the room. “Follow me,” he instructed the fellow warrior. They stepped into the corridor just outside the holding room. The few feet they’d moved weren’t totally out of Markus’s hearing range, but the bastard had been so out of it since returning that he wasn’t much of a risk. Guerin scoped out both directions, making sure the area was clear before continuing. He turned and faced Arran. “The…information—what Marguerite said before she died—you haven’t shared that with anyone, right?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Not even with your mate?”

“I said no.” Arran growled. “I don’t like keeping fucking secrets from her or Kenric, but when I gave you my word the other night, I meant it.”

“I’m his best friend,” Guerin snapped. “How much do you think I’m loving this?”

Arran swiped a hand through his hair and blew out a rough breath. “What’s your plan?”

“First, I want to see what this bastard knows.” Guerin tossed his head in Markus’s direction. “If anyone knows if what she said about having a daughter with Kenric might be the truth, he would. He’s been fucking her long enough to have had some pillow talk.”

“What if he says it’s true?” Arran’s voice grew somber. “That somehow, she’d been able to conceive. What then?”

That was the exact question that had been torturing his days and nights. Because he could only come up with one solution. “If it’s true, and like Marguerite said, she is her mother’s daughter…” Guerin pulled in a long, deep sigh. “I’ll have to kill her before Kenric learns the truth.”

Acknowledgements

A big cyber hug and thank you to two ladies in whom I am forever grateful for their time, talent, and generosity in helping me to mold
Undying Embrace
: Lanna Lejeune and Naima Simone.

To Entangled Publishing: Thank you so much for your interest in the Enclave Series! Thank you for taking it under your wing.

To Erin Molta: Your patience and talent have been such a blessing to my work. Thank you for everything!

About the Author

Almost every author’s bio states they’ve been writing since they learned how to read. It’s what they’ve always wanted to do. Well, my journey wasn’t so straight and narrow. I was a nurse for more than twenty years and hold a bachelor’s degree in science with a major in biology. So as you can see, my career path had originally gone in the opposite direction. I didn’t discover my passion for the craft until after I’d had my son and decided to work part-time.

I’ve always loved to read but had never read a paranormal romance. Then one night at work on break, I began reading Karen Marie Moning’s
Spell of the Highlander
. I couldn’t believe what I’d been missing, and I immediately fell in love with the genre.

I wanted to write like that. I wanted to create worlds where others could find the same escape and fascination I did when I read my first sensual paranormal romance.

And I hope that’s what I’ve accomplished in my work. Please dive in, hold on tight, and enjoy the adventure. Just be careful in the dark—you might find more than you expected waiting for you there.

…

Jessica Lee lives in the southeastern United States with her husband and son. She loves writing and can’t wait for that quiet time each day when her son is in school, and she can get lost in another place and world with the fantastical, sexy creatures in her head.

She’s a member of Romance Writers of America, FF&P, and Carolina Romance Writers.

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