Chapter 11
Eleven
Nero
I’d only wanted to tempt her last night, to make her lose her head and drink from me.
Instead, I’d snapped, my control slipping beyond my ability to regain it. That never happened, not since I was young, not since I was that wild thing, but after she’d buried her little fangs in me, the monster had taken over because it hadn’t been enough.
Fear and desire were an intoxicating mix.
Making chase, hunting my prey made me so fucking hard.
I’d expected her fear. I knew chasing her would terrify her. I’d counted on it. I thought I could use it to stop myself when I caught her.
But she’d fucking loved it.
My little doll had gotten so wet, her juices were sliding down her supple thighs. Being chased, the fear and anticipation of being caught, had excited her. Stopping was the last thing I wanted to do when that realization had sunk in.
My innocent Mina had gotten off on the chase—on the fear—as much as I had.
The fates knew what they were doing when they chose my bride, and that realization had been tormenting me all night.
I couldn’t remember the last time I felt that way—that I’d felt anything.
Day by day, she was chipping away at my defenses, shattering my resolve—weakening me. Even now, all I could think about was the taste of her blood and her cunt. All I could hear were the sounds of her screams and her calling my name when she came for me.
With the way she affected me, I knew using my mouth, my fingers to pleasure her wouldn’t be enough for long. I’d barely stopped myself from fucking her on that table last night, mating her in truth. Soon, I’d need more, and though my needs and wants had been few the last couple of centuries, I wasn’t used to denying myself.
Resting my hands on the frame of her door, I gritted my teeth as the urge to go inside slammed into me. I had a meeting tonight. The war between the fae and the vampires had ended when the new king had taken the throne, but there were members of the previous royal house who were out for revenge.
My services were still very much needed.
“Nero?” Mina’s voice came through the door.
I stayed silent.
“I can smell you,” she said, surprising me. “I can also see your shadow under the door.”
“What do you want, Mina?” My throat felt impossibly tight. I hadn’t thirsted for blood like this since I was young, but now not anyone’s blood would do, only hers.
“I need your help…please.”
Just hearing her say please had me hardening against the front of my trousers. My self-restraint right then, with her taste still on my tongue, was nonexistent. I should walk away and come back when I’d mastered the unrelenting need still stirring inside me, but I couldn’t do it.
Instead, I unlocked the door and pushed it open.
Mina stood by her bed in only a pair of pink lace panties and matching bra, her eyes were wide, her hands trembling slightly at her sides. With a snarl, I slammed the door shut after me in case Pretender walked by and saw her like that.
I rounded the bed. “What do you think you’re doing? Put your clothes on, now.”
She looked up at me, one of her little fangs, biting down on her lower lip. Just the sight of her fangs had my gut clenching and my mouth going dry.
“That’s why I called you in. Pretender said you were going out tonight, and I wasn’t sure what to wear.” She motioned to the bed, where two dresses were laid out, both of which had been given the same treatment as the one she wore last night.
“You aren’t going anywhere,” I said.
“Yes, I am,” she answered and, straightening her shoulders, stepped closer. “I have the key to that door hidden somewhere in this room. Either you take me with you or I walk out of here in my underwear the moment you leave, let myself into The Vault, and bury my fangs in the first handsome donor who offers me his vein.”
Irrational rage slammed into me. I hadn’t felt anger in centuries, but it had been returning again and again since I’d brought Mina here. “I’ve already told you, if you feed from anyone else, I’ll kill them. Are you willing to risk another’s life, just so you can prove a point?”
She held my gaze. “Yes, I am. You can kill every donor in your club if that’s what it takes, but I don’t think that would be very good for your business. I don’t think anyone would want to offer to feed your customers if they’re worried the great Nero Kossek, feared member of The Five, might murder them.”
She was far too fucking clever. “I don’t take kindly to threats, Mina.”
“And I don’t take kindly to being a prisoner. So choose a dress…or I will.”
Her heart was pounding. Despite the bravado, she was definitely afraid. This little stand she was making had taken all of her courage. “I have a meeting; this isn’t some social event.”
“I don’t care. I’m going with you,” she said.
I should say no. Agreeing to this would only make her think she was the one who held the power in this situation, and she very much did not. But I found that I wanted to reward her for her bravery, and that I…I liked the idea of having her with me. Pretender could watch her while I was in my meeting.
This display of bravery definitely deserved an appropriate response. Reward, yes. Courage should always be acknowledged. But my little Lalka also needed to be punished for her defiance, and I knew exactly what that punishment should be.
I was playing with fire, I knew that. But the cracks had already formed, my emotions were slowly seeping to the surface, and there was no repairing those fractures now or turning back time. It was too late for that.
Mina was mine. Perhaps I should just enjoy her any way I saw fit.
“Very well.”
Her face lit up. “You’ll take me with you?”
“Yes,” I said, spotting a bag on the bedside table, something gold poking from the top catching the light. Her jewelry, I guessed, and judging by how rounded the bag was, all of it stuffed into that small bag. The only items she had of value.
“Well? Which dress do you like best?” she asked.
I eyed the dresses she’d laid out and lifted a deep pink lace one, the color of the peonies that had filled the flower boxes outside Mina’s bedroom window. The gown had been cut short, but the sleeves had been left long. I’d be able to see peeks of her skin through the lace. “This one.”
I held it out, and she curled her fingers around it. Instead of releasing the fabric, I tugged her forward. She stumbled closer, and I slid my fingers into her long blond hair, tilting her head back. Her breath rushed from between her luscious, cherry-colored lips.
“You know there will be a price to pay for this, don’t you, little doll?” But not just for her defiance—for her plan to try to escape me tonight. Why else would she have removed her jewelry from its box on her dresser? Why else would she have every piece stuffed into that little bag. If she brought it with her tonight, I’d know I was right.
Her tongue darted out, sliding across her lower lip, and my abdominal muscles tightened. “Yes,” she whispered.
Her eyes were wide, but they glittered with anticipation. Did she really think she could escape me? That I’d ever let her leave?
I took in her lovely body. Oh, yes, I’d enjoy tearing those flimsy scraps of lace from her later when she was panting and sweaty, when her pussy was dripping and her skin was smeared with blood.
This night just got a lot more interesting.
“Be ready in twenty minutes,” I said and walked out.
There were preparations that needed to be made.
Mina sat fidgeting beside me. Her fingers were twined around the drawstrings of that small bag stuffed with jewelry that sat on her lap, and she kept crossing and uncrossing her legs, which was impossible to ignore.
“Nervous?”
Her gaze shot to me. “No,” she lied. “I’m with my bonded. What do I have to be nervous about?”
She watched me with wide lavender eyes, daring me to contradict her. I couldn’t. She was right. I would protect her—every instinct in me roared to do just that—and hearing her say it, despite her plan to run. For some reason, my chest felt warm and strange. Even if she was lying, even if her words were more a dare than anything else, hearing her say it made me feel—well, I wasn’t sure I could name it. But it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.
We finally reached our destination. The large parking lot was all but empty at this hour but was always watched closely.
Pretender pulled the car over. “Wait here,” I said to Mina and got out.
I strode across the lot toward the main doors and had just pushed it open when I heard Mina running after me.
“Wait for me,” she called.
I spun back with a snarl. Pretender was chasing after her, and by the look on his face, afraid for his life. As he should be.
I strode forward and grabbed her arm, my gaze sliding to Pretender. “Go back to the car and keep it running.”
He nodded and rushed back, and I pulled Mina into the building with me. I gave her a shake. “I allowed you to disobey me back at the apartment because it amused me to do so. When we are out in the open like this, you do not ever defy me, do you understand?”
She tried to pull away from me, her fear real and not mixed with anything else, not this time. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Your sorry is meaningless.” I took her chin in my hand and tilted her head back. “I am one of The Five. There are beings, not just fae, who would love to discover I have a weakness. You, Mina, are a liability, and running after me the way you did, out in the open for anyone to see, puts us both at risk.”
“The lot was deserted,” she said, blinking rapidly.
I could smell her threatening tears. The scent of these ones was bitter, not delicious like the ones she’d shed last night while I played with her. I didn’t like the scent at all or that she found the need to shed them. “There are cameras all around us,” I said through gritted teeth when the urge to snatch her up and take her out of here grew almost impossible to ignore. But doing that would only make this situation worse. Showing how strong my protective instincts were toward her would only show how weak she made me.
She blinked up at me, confused.
“There are members of our race who would love to control me, Mina, and if they thought they could do that by using you, they won’t hesitate.”
“Oh,” she whispered.
That frightened, befuddled look on her face made me want to suck her lower lip into my mouth, to nip it and lap up her blood, to hold her warm soft body against mine while I filled her and fucked her and—
With a growl, I took her hand and led her across the deserted foyer to the elevators. The doors slid closed behind us. It was hard, but I didn’t look down at her. We’d be watched in here as well. “Once these doors open, don’t speak unless spoken to, understand?”
I felt her looking at me, but if I looked down at her now, in this place, I would give myself away. I would prove she was the weakness they were looking for.
“Do you understand?” I said again, needing to know she understood.
“Yes.”
Her voice sounded small. Mina didn’t do that—she didn’t make herself small, not in the face of the monster she’d been forced to bond with, not for anyone. I didn’t fucking like that either.
The doors slid open and I let ice fill my veins as I took her hand and led her into the elders’ domain. The room was large, with five doors leading to each of their offices. Cressida, the prime’s secretary, sat at her desk in front of his door and glanced up, a cool smile on her face.
Not good. I hadn’t expected this meeting to be with the prime. I never would have let Mina come with me tonight if I’d known. Only I dealt with the prime directly when there were special missions. Most of our orders came from lesser elders or the vampire court.
This had just become far more dangerous. “I’m expected,” I said, my voice frigid. She nodded, hitting a button on her desk to let me into his office. “Mina, stay out here with Cressida.”
Cressida’s smile brightened, eyeing Mina like the vapid piranha she was. “The prime would like to meet her.”
Every muscle in my body tightened, but I carefully maintained my unaffected expression as I strode up to the door. Fuck, he had been watching. She’d been seen.
Mina’s fingers tightened around mine, seeking reassurance, something I couldn’t give her in this place, not with the sharks circling. She squeezed my hand again, and my abdominals clenched like they had earlier, that warmth in my chest returning even stronger than before. I couldn’t be warm, not here.
Opening the door, I led Mina in. It was dimly lit like it always was. The ever-present musty, cloying smell filled the room. I didn’t need to breathe, and when I was here, chose not to. Mina made a low choking sound at my side, and I squeezed her hand, telling her without words to hold it down.
“Nero,” a gravelly voice said.
Mina’s gasp was low, but I heard it, which meant the prime had as well. His milky gaze slid to her.
The ancient vampire smiled, flashing yellowed fangs. “What do we have here?”
“Prime,” I said, inclining my head. “May I introduce you to my bonded, Mina Kossek,” I said, giving her my name to make sure he understood that she was my property and not something he could have or add to his collections.
“ Mina ,” he said drawing out her name, then licking his lips. “Come here, female.”
Fuck.
She looked up at me, terror in her eyes, and I nodded. I wanted to fucking snarl, to yank her behind me, but showing this male any sign of the possessiveness I felt for her, and how weak she made me, would mean I became this fucker’s puppet.
“Nero?” she whispered.
“Go,” I said coolly and released her hand, yet I felt anything but cool. I was fucking burning up.
Mina walked to him, trembling. My fangs tingled, and it was only age and control that kept them from sliding down.
The prime grabbed her hips when she reached him, squeezing her flesh, then leaned in and scented her. “You haven’t fucked her yet, Nero?”
“Not yet, no.” Fuck . He could smell the truth on her. I couldn’t lie.
“Why?” he asked, his milky gaze sliding back to me.
Any answer I gave would prove she had quickly taken ownership of my fucking spine. “I’m in no hurry,” I said.
He released Mina’s hips and sat back, his gaze sliding down her bare legs.
“Come here, Mina,” I said, and she rushed to my side.
The prime’s gaze sliced to me, narrowing. I should have said nothing, but I couldn’t fucking stop myself. The only reason he didn’t call me on it now was because he wanted me to do something for him. An urgent assignment.
“Go and wait for me in the main office,” I said. I needed her out of this room. What had I been thinking? I should have never let her leave my apartment. I should have made Pretender lock the doors when I got out of the car. As soon as she stepped into that parking lot, the prime had seen her. I’d fucked up in a way I couldn’t take back. Already the male behind that desk would be plotting.
She rushed out.
The prime watched her go, a calculating look on his face.
Fuck.
Finally, he opened the top drawer of his desk, took out an envelope, and slid it to me. “This needs to be dealt with urgently.”
I took it.
He studied me. “Let me know when it’s done.”
I inclined my head and walked out. Mina rushed to my side as soon as she saw me, and I strode briskly to the elevator.
I kept hold of her hand as we left the building and marched across the lot. Pretender knew better than to get out, and he waited for me to usher Mina into the car. Then he planted his foot, tearing out of the lot.
“What’s wrong? What just happened?” Mina asked.
Pretender looked at me in the rearview mirror. “Nero?”
“It was the prime.”
“Fuck,” my ward muttered.
“He knows what I’m capable of. It’s whether he’s arrogant enough to test me on it.”
The prime wouldn’t dare come after Mina, not directly, but he’d be thinking of ways he could use her to get to me, I was positive. Nothing in the past had ever worked. Yet he’d still tried repeatedly.
“Nero, what’s going on?”
I snatched her off the seat beside me, pulling her over my lap. Fisting her hair, I tilted her head back and gripped her jaw, my eyes locking on hers. “I made a mistake. I should never have let you come with me. That won’t happen again, Mina, do you understand what I’m saying?”
I’d even considered taking her out to dine, away from the apartment, giving her another taste of freedom. Like some smitten, fucking fool trying to impress his female. That wouldn’t be happening now.
“You’re going to lock me away in that room and never let me out, aren’t you?” Her lavender eyes were huge and filled with pain. I felt it, fuck, it washed over me. Emotion smashed into me, that anger rushing back that I hadn’t felt in so very long. The ice in my veins had melted and now fire seared its way through me instead.
I dragged my nose along her throat, sliding my tongue over the vein fluttering wildly. “You did this to yourself, little doll.” Fuck, her scent was making me insane. “Anyone following us?” I asked Pretender.
“No.”
If Pretender said we weren’t being followed, then we weren’t. Besides my brothers, my young ward was the only other being I trusted. His eyes met mine in the mirror, and I nodded.
“You know what happens now, don’t you?” I said and scraped my fang along her jaw.
She shivered. “Are you going to punish me?”
“Oh yes. I told you, there’d be a price to pay.” The scent of her fear was mixed with desire now, rich and drugging. My little Lalka was just as depraved as me. “I hope you can run in those shoes.”