10
Cal
Hair down and face flushed, Romy Spencer is the picture of every fantasy I never had for a mate but absolutely would have if I’d ever allowed myself to consider the possibility of love. She’s naturally beautiful, funny, and intelligence radiates from every speck of her worried blue eyes.
Coming here was a risk in every sense of the word—with the Elite Council, with my uncle, and maybe most dangerously, with her.
With temptation, of course, but more importantly, with landing myself a spot in her favor.
Destiny only gets you so far when the woman is scared of you, and I know by declaring my intentions just now, I’ve stacked the deck against myself even higher.
But this isn’t the time for timid plans and managed expectations. This is the last-chance, Hail Mary throw right at the precipice of death.
I either win now or lose for everyone.
And I’ve never, ever liked losing as an option.
“I know that sounds…ominous,” I hedge carefully, posturing myself as a man who understands her position, though I know I never truly will.
“And I promise I’ll explain when I can.” I want to reach out and touch her—to steady her with the righteousness of my intent.
But I carry that to my own chest with a splayed hand instead, gripping at my heart and willing it to show itself in the tone of my voice.
“Just know…I would never hurt you, Romy. More than that—I would kill anyone else who tried.”
Romy’s body folds on itself as the reality of how invested I am in her comes to a head in her mind. The obsession. The primality. The whole premise of a mate and its unbreakable need for its other half.
It’s foreign to her in ways I can’t even begin to comprehend and probably scary in half a dozen others.
But I didn’t stop myself from coming here tonight.
And I didn’t stop myself from tapping on her window.
Didn’t stop myself from climbing through said window.
And I definitely didn’t stop myself from sitting here on her bed.
And because of all those failures in control, I have no choice but to give it to her as honestly as prioritizing her safety will allow.
She swallows thickly, and I look down, hoping to offer her the space and comfort to ask more questions—to ask me whatever she wants. It takes her a minute of silence and the comfort of my best impression of a statue, but eventually, she finds the courage to challenge me for more information.
“Is…killing someone for me something that might be necessary, say, soon?”
“I hope not,” I say. It’s a lie, but it’s the answer she needs both from the man she wants to trust and for the fear she’s already battling. “But for you, for my brothers, I wouldn’t hesitate.”
“Your brothers. Yeah…you said before… You said your brothers and their…mates.”
“Yes,” I confirm. “My brothers have both mated already. I have not. I know it’s confusing with the selection process you see here, but biologically, vampires are meant for only one human mate.
Their fated mate. It’s not a choice or a bidding war—it’s destiny.
Some of the men here don’t think that’s how it should be. ”
“Is that why you’re here? Looking for her? Your…fated mate?”
I shake my head, smoothing the edges of an answer she already knows. “I don’t need to look.” I smile sensitively. “Not outside of this room, at least.”
Her nervous laugh is consciously quiet of the guard in the hall but out of hand at the same time. Her control of her fear is rattled, and I know it’s unlikely she can handle much more.
“So, you’re saying I… That I’m your…” Eyes wide and hands shaking, she clenches the comforter in her lap.
“I know it might be startling for you, but I knew the moment I saw you tonight.” I pause. “ Intrinsically .”
Surprising me entirely, her face softens in understanding, and the tension in her shoulders sinks with a renewing ease. I thought she’d be scrambling for safety right now.
“Is that…is that why I’ve been feeling this way since I ran into you outside the bathroom?”
“What is this way ? How do you feel?”
“Unsettled,” she says simply, her eyes finding the ceiling as she searches for the most accurate words. “Somewhat frantic. I mean, I haven’t felt really great about the whole thing altogether, but since I saw you, I’ve felt…antsy. Until now. Right now, I feel…calm.”
Calm.
The word strikes me like a lightning bolt.
My gaze drops to her mouth before I can stop it, taking in the soft curve of her lips and the way her breath catches slightly between words.
And something low and instinctive pulls tight in my chest.
Mine. Romy Spencer is mine.
The urge to close the distance between us is immediate and fucking overwhelming. My body already leans forward before my mind catches up, before I remember where we are. Before I remember what this is.
I force myself still, dragging in a slow breath and anchoring my hands at my sides so I don’t reach for her.
“There’s a reason I went to the bathroom when I did,” I say.
“A reason I came here even though it’s expressly forbidden and scaled the wall to get up here.
There’s a reason . A reason so much bigger than I’ve ever understood before now.
A reason bigger than me or you or the people on this estate who think they’re above it. ”
“Cal.” My eyes shutter as the voice in front of me shifts to another inside my head. Romy’s lips don’t move because she’s not said a word. Intrusively, Kane repeats my name. “Cal. Can you hear me?”
I open my mind to Rook, my thoughts preemptively loaded with annoyance and their shit timing, and his answer is to chuckle loudly.
“Oh, man,” Kane interjects. “You made Rook laugh. Like, really laugh. I can only fucking imagine what you must be thinking.”
“Cal?” Romy asks, confused by the distant haze of my eyes and stagnation of our conversation.
“Sorry,” I apologize, shutting Rook out of my mind immediately.
“Hey, what the fuck? Why the hell are you shutting us out?” Kane complains, but I ignore him.
“I’m sorry. Did you ask me something?” Romy is my only focus right now. Every minute I spend in this room and not in my chateau is a risk to both of us. As much as I wish we did, we don’t have a lot of time.
“I asked if you’re okay with what’s happening here?
” she questions. “Because I want to believe you’re the guy I used to know, and I want to believe that there’s some kind of magical, romantic fate that’s pulling us together as…
mates , but I am so busy freaking the hell out about this… place and the way they’re—”
“I hate this place,” I say, cutting her off gently.
My voice rumbles with the gravel of all the bullshit that’s brought us here.
“This tradition . I hate it with every physical fiber of my being and the theoretical beyond. Romy, I promise you…I would never, ever be here if I didn’t have to be.
And I want to explain that to you in detail, to put your mind at ease in any way I can, but I can’t right now because there are too many variables and too many risks.
” I sigh. “I know it’s selfish and demanding.
But I need you to trust me blindly. I need you to feel this thing between us and give in to it if you can. I need you—”
“I…I will. I do. Trust you.”
I freeze, overwhelmed by her unexpected submission and how wholly it touches me.
“Maybe it’s na?ve of me,” she continues, “or maybe I’m just out of options, but Cal…
seeing you in that hall tonight gave me the first full breath I’ve had in forty-eight hours.
Hell, probably the first full breath I’ve had in years .
And seeing you here, in my room, is the best I’ve felt in a long time.
I don’t understand it, but given the alternative, I don’t need to.
” She shrugs. “I’m going all in on my instincts.
For the guy I had a crush on when we were kids.
I’m going all in for the guy who says he’d kill someone for me, all in on the kind of romance I never thought I’d get, and all in for one last chance to ruin my mother’s day.
Because let me tell you, she is going to hate this. ”
Without thought or pause or restraint or the ability to hold myself back anymore, I lean forward and kiss her.
It’s a slow, closed-mouth kiss until she finds my neck with her hands and squeezes, and then I can’t help but breach the seam of her lips with my tongue and take a full taste.
She’s shooting stars and the lunar eclipse and validation for all the risks I’ve taken to get here.
She’s strawberries and sweet cream, and memories of a childhood in a parallel universe.
She’s the answer to my questions and the reason I don’t ask why and, despite not knowing how badly I needed it, she’s the renewed fire under my ass to take this place apart one fucking screw at a time.
When I pull back, there’s only one word left to say. “ Fuck .”
Shoving off the bed, I take to pacing beside it.
The longing to complete the bonding engulfs me, the smell of her blood and her pussy so distinct I’ll never forget it, and my need rages from the tip of my toes to the top of my head, a visceral reaction I can’t control.
But it’s too much for now—for her to handle and for the risk it creates of discovery by the guard outside her room, my uncle, or the Council itself.
Romy’s eyes are wide and her mouth flushed as she pushes herself up against the headboard again, no doubt frightened by my frenzy. I take a step away and steady my voice. “Push the armoire back in front of the window after I leave,” I instruct, and she nods.
I charge toward the window, desperate for the relief of Romy-scent-free air and labored by the repeated knocks inside my mind from both Kane and Rook. They’re fighting to break my grip, and I know I won’t be able to hold them off much longer.
But I’ll be damned if I’m going to let them in while I’m still here—while I’m feeling like this.
Romy follows behind me on her toes, her tanned legs feeling forever long as they peek out from under her sleep shirt. Her pretty auburn hair is ruffled, and I want to sink my hands into the roots of it so badly it hurts.
“Tomorrow, if you can, try to build some mistrust in the women,” I tell her. “Nothing huge or obvious. Just little seeds of doubt.”
She snorts. “Oh, no problem there. I’m already on the case. I’ve been complaining about this farce of an honor since the moment they met me.”
“Romy?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for trusting me. I won’t betray it. I promise.”
This time, she’s the one to lean forward and take my mouth with hers. Indulging slightly, I sink a hand into her hair and savor the moment. Soft tendrils feel like silk, and her mouth feels like home. The pull to stay grows and stings so much it might scar.
My brothers’ kidnappings of their fated mates are suddenly making a hell of a lot more sense.
Breaking contact while I still can, I climb out the window and wait just below it until I’m sure Romy has it relocked.
Once on the ground, I watch until the light from the room disappears, indicating that she’s managed to get the cabinet back in its place, and then stalk through the dark with both speed and finesse.
Crickets chirp as I make my way through the garden and past the fountain to the stretch of wooded gravel path that leads to each of the attending vampires’ chateaus.
I take to the trees instead of staying out in the open, carefully listening for any of them to ensure they haven’t noticed me as I make the mile-long trek.
Kane and Rook still beat at my brain, but I don’t allow either of them in until I’m back inside my own villa for the night, with the door closed behind me.
“Hey, fucker. How’s it feel to be as stupid as the rest of us? Because I know you’re doing something you shouldn’t—”
“Kane, stop. He let me in again,” Rook interrupts.
I sigh. You rang?
“Wow, Cal,” Kane says with a groan. “A little space from us and you’re turning into a real smartass. These elite fucks aren’t bleeding into you, are they?”
Don’t even fucking joke.
“Easy, Kane,” Rook warns. “You remember how you felt in the early stages of the bond, don’t you?”
“Fuck talking about the bond,” I demand, touchy on the subject after being forced to leave Romy behind in her room, to say the least. I feel like I’m suffocating, and I don’t even need air to fucking breathe. It hurts too bad. I feel crazy inside my own skin.
I tug at my shirt collar, and when that’s not enough, I pull it off with a hand between my shoulders, tossing it to the sofa and pacing.
I’m handling the bond. I wanna talk about how the fuck we’re going to dismantle this thing piece by piece until it’ll never be built again.
I want to talk about how much fucking pain we’re going to make them feel. I want to talk about murder.
“Okay, yikes. Didn’t mean to push on a nerve,” Kane apologizes snarkily.
I growl.
“We were kind of hoping you’d have some direction, Cal,” Kane says, changing his tone to a much gentler vibe. “You’re the demolition man after all.”
“They’ve got us locked in this villa, bud, so we’re a little short on information,” Rook adds. “All we can do is fuck and, well, fight with each other. It’s not a bad deal, but—”
Forget it. I’ll figure it out myself, I say it to them and myself.
“Whoa, whoa, now calm down,” Kane hedges. “We’re not saying that. We’re just saying we need more information. We need tasks. We need to see you.”
All right , I agree. I’ll find a way to get to you tomorrow.
“We’ll be waiting.”
I’m not certain about a lot of shit, but I am certain about this—plan or no fucking plan, we end this.
Plan or no fucking plan, Romy will walk away from this alive.