Chapter 21 Cassie
Cassie
Asshole. How was I supposed to know a small army of Romanians were going to invade a damn awards banquet to try to kidnap my mate?
“Weatherby! Report!”
I jumped as I heard Lois’s voice behind me. When I turned around she was stomping towards us with Martha, Angie, and Marilee flanking her. Meanwhile shellshocked guests made their way out of the ballroom, some of them crying.
As succinctly as possible, I told my boss what happened with Alexei filling in additional details. Lois’s expression went from cranky to thunderous.
“We need to get you all to a safehouse.”
“No way,” I said quickly. “We’ve had bad luck with safehouses.”
Clients had been kidnapped from safe houses. Buildings had exploded. I wasn’t convinced any of our safehouses were safe, even though Wanda had reviewed our security protocols carefully after every event.
Giving me an angry look that would make a lesser being collapse onto the floor in the fetal position to protect themselves, Lois turned to my mate.
“Ruby, for your own safety I’m recommending you hide out at a safe house for the time being. You too Eleanor.”
“I’m a shifter,” Eleanor shot back indignantly. “I don’t need protection.”
Lois growled deep in her throat, and Eleanor’s eyes fell to the floor as she bared her neck in submission. My boss’s expression didn’t change but I could tell by the little sparkle of satisfaction in her eyes she was amused by Eleanor’s easy acquiescence.
“I don’t want to hide.”
My mate’s voice rang clear.
“These guys are pissing me off. It’s not my fault that poor girl killed herself.”
Lois lifted one eyebrow and I quickly updated her on what we’d learned tonight about the Romanian soccer team.
“At least it’s not the Russians,” she said. “Angie!”
“I’m on it, boss.”
Angie held up a phone as she tapped out a message. She had family in Romania, some of them well-connected, so there was a good chance she could get us some intel.
Lois turned back to Ruby but before she could say anything, Mr. Wozniak spoke up.
“Kochana, why don’t you come back to our house tonight? We just upgraded the security system and there’s plenty of space for anyone who wants to come along.”
“Fine,” Lois answered for us. “Marilee, Angie, you stay with Cassie and the bear. We’ll all meet back at the office tomorrow morning at ten hundred hours to strategize on how to end this thing.”
“Alexei,” the bear in question added helpfully, apparently thinking that Lois had forgotten his name. “You can tell because I’m shorter than my brothers.”
He winced as Lois turned her glare in his direction. Eleanor growled softly in protest but kept her eyes on the ground.
“Let’s head out,” I said quickly. “I don’t think they’ll be back tonight, but I don’t want to make us an easy target by hanging around here.”
The limo ride to Ruby’s parents was not as fun as the ride to the banquet. We were all quiet and more than one of us was feeling the exhaustion that follows an adrenaline dump.
When we got back to Ruby’s parents’ mansion, Marilee and Angie did a perimeter sweep while Alexei and I stayed with Ruby, Eleanor, and Ruby’s parents. Once we had the all clear, Mrs. Wozniak passed out towels and room assignments.
“I’ll stay with Ruby, Mrs. Wozniak,” I said when she fixed her attention on me.
Mrs. Wozniak’s eyes bounced between us, but she didn’t look surprised. “Of course. But please, call me April.”
“Is this your childhood bedroom?” I asked Ruby in amusement a little while later.
It was a good sized room with a desk and chair, an entire shelf full of sports trophies, and a full bed covered with stuffed animals and frilly throw pillows. Through the window I could see the lake that bordered the property, the water shining in the moonlight.
It wasn’t a bad idea to come here. The property was relatively secluded, surrounded by tall concrete walls on three sides and the private lake on the other. The entire place boasted a state of the art alarm system and security cameras courtesy of Wanda and her team.
“Yeah. You could have had one of the fancy guest rooms, but you said you wanted to stay with me.” Ruby picked up a stuffed bear. “And Teddy.”
“You named your teddy bear Teddy?” I asked incredulously. “Did you not have any imagination as a child?”
Ruby rolled her eyes and whipped the bear at my head. I easily dodged it, stalking closer until I could band my arms around her waist.
“Thanks for protecting me tonight,” she said softly, her eyes tender. “Won’t you need to take some blood now?”
I’d explained to her once that shifting back and forth between human and vampire form put a stress on the body that was managed with an extra dose or two of blood.
“Yeah, the team will have put some in my go bag,” I explained, pointing at the small tote that Angie had given me.
I knew without looking that it contained a change of clothes, a couple of vials of shelf-stable blood, some energy bars, a universal charger, and toiletries. We all kept several of these kits in our vehicles for emergencies.
“You’d better take it then,” she said lightly.
She’d gotten used to seeing me drink blood over the last few weeks. It still grossed her out, mostly because she was squeamish about blood in general, but at least she didn’t pass out anymore.
“I’ll take a shot while you clean up,” I said.
“Okay.”
She headed into the en suite bathroom, returning ten minutes later with her hair down, her face scrubbed clean, and wearing a pair of pajamas with rubber ducks on them. I couldn’t help laughing.
I could count on one hand the number of times I’d laughed in the last year, or any year in recent memory, but with Ruby, I found myself smiling like a fool several times a day.
“Cute jammies.”
“How about you get naked and let me show you how hot it was to watch you punch that giant Romanian in the face?”
I cocked my head in surprise. “I thought you didn’t like violence?”
“Turns out I like it if someone’s trying to kill me. Or you.”
That guy wouldn’t have killed me, although we were pretty evenly matched.
My father’s unexpected intercession helped me get the upper hand.
Given how rude he was when I talked to him about the Romanian blood oath, I was shocked that he’d deigned to help me out.
Who knew that my father had any paternal feelings for me?
Ruby stepped closer, her expression tender, and lifted one hand to cup my cheek. I loved it when she did that, the touch felt so intimate.
“I’m glad you weren’t hurt,” she said. “When I saw that guy’s hands on your throat, I felt so helpless. And regretful.”
“Regretful?” I asked.
She took a long, shaky breath. “If he’d killed you, I would have spent the rest of my life regretting not asking you to bite me and make me your mate officially.”
I felt my eyes widen. “You’re ready?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I mean, if you still are?”
“I’ve been ready since the first day we met,” I said firmly.
“You didn’t say anything since that first time we talked about being mates,” she said quietly. “I thought maybe you’d changed your mind?”
I met her eyes. “Never,” I said fiercely.
“So how does this work?”
“The best time to do it is during or right after an orgasm,” I explained. “The endorphins mask the initial pain. I’ll bite you here,” I touched a spot on her lower neck, “then I’ll close your wound by licking it.”
“And that’s when you’ll drink some of my blood?”
“A few drops. For both of us, it will be a powerful aphrodisiac. We’ll feel a surge of euphoria, and as the mate bond strengthens, we’ll be able to feel each other’s emotions in a way that we can’t now,” I explained, trying to remember everything I’d heard about the initial joining.
“I’ll be able to sense where you are, when you’re close.
And even if your feelings somehow change in the future, I’ll never even be able to look at another person and find them attractive. ”
“You’d better not look at another person,” she said firmly. “I’d have to stake you and turn you into a pile of dust. I don’t like cheating.”
“I told you that doesn’t work on vampires in real life,” I reminded her. “There’s no turning into dust unless you throw us into a fire or something.”
Ruby stepped on her tiptoes, her face moving closer to mine. “Don’t cheat and I won’t throw you into a fire.”
It seemed important to her, making me wonder if someone she’d dated in the past had cheated on her.
Or maybe she was afraid I’d turn into my father or something.
I was curious, but this wasn’t the time or the place.
I didn’t want to distract her from the business at hand – me finally claiming my mate.
I closed the distance between us and gave her a rough kiss that left us both breathless.
“You’re mine now,” I whispered against her lips. “My mate.”
“Are you going to talk all night?” she sassed. “Or are we going to seal the deal?”
With a smirk, I picked her up and tossed her on the bed, ripping off my clothes and following her down.
Ruby wiggled out of her ridiculous rubber ducky pajamas, leaving her naked, and shoved all the stuffed animals onto the floor, clearing space on the bed for us.
It wasn’t the biggest bed, but at least it wasn’t a twin.
We rolled into each other, meeting at the center of the bed in a mash of teeth and hands.
Kissing, touching, whispering sweet nothings like we had all night.
And technically we did. Tomorrow morning we’d have to go to the Sapphic Security meeting, then Lois would expect me to give her a written report on everything that happened at the banquet.
But for tonight, we had the luxury of time.
We could focus on each other, and on the commitment we were making.
A commitment that would last for the rest of our lives.
Ruby was still in danger, and we still had a group of Romanians trying to fulfil a blood oath by killing her teammates from the International Games, but right now none of that mattered.
All that mattered was the feeling of silky skin under my fingers, the way her mouth latched onto my breast, giving me long, hard draws of suction that sent zaps of electricity right to my clit, and the way my heart beat in perfect rhythm with hers.
When I’d had enough, I pushed her on her back, making my way down her body and lifting her legs onto my shoulders. I blew a hot breath over her pussy, making her shiver, then licked my way in between her pussy lips.
My mate was already gushing with arousal, and I didn’t hesitate to lap up her sweet essence.
Ruby made a gasping noise, her hips punching upwards, and when my fingers tightened on her thighs I realized that I’d partly shifted without noticing.
Mindful to not stab her with the claw-like nails that had extended from my fingers, I held her in place while I ate my fill of her.
When Ruby was thrashing below me and making little whining noises, chanting “please, please, please” over and over again, I put her out of her misery and bit down hard on her clit, sending her right over the edge.