Chapter Fourteen
Alvis
Moonscale London
As nice as Annila’s offer to put us up somewhere was, I’d made alternative plans already.
I called old friends, Pierce’s parents, and gained permission to use one of their guesthouses.
It would put us smack dab in the middle of a vampyric community and well away from all the Sharon Claudis craziness.
Sure, I’d arrange for Annila to have her heart if it was possible but I needed a little space from it all for my own sanity.
She was my mate’s cousin-in-law or something like that but she was changing course for a road that might end with Sharon’s heart or might stretch out forever with her chasing one asshole down after another.
I wasn’t stepping onto the path. Dead was dead in my book and the thought of her wasting away inside of some Moonscale prison tower would’ve been enough for me.
Then again, I wasn’t the one who she kidnapped.
When I filled Pierce in on the details over encrypted texting, I was surprised to learn that he agreed with Annila.
Maybe not with the cutting out of Sharon’s beating heart but with the she needed to be dead.
Sure, dead she’d never darken Baby Andy’s doorstep later but all of it sounded like a mental illness to me.
What good would family magic be if it meant killing off all your descendants?
Maybe it wasn’t family magic at all. I didn’t know but I needed some time and space to flesh out my thoughts on the situation and process what had happened.
Plus, Raiel and I deserved some time alone.
So while he took Annila her amulet, I packed him up some clothes and his toiletries.
If I forgot something that he really needed, I’d have it brought over, or we could just get a replacement.
Not that I planned to let him wear pants too often once we were locked up tight inside the guesthouse.
I wasn’t surprised that it took Raiel twenty minutes to get back to the bedroom.
Wearing the necklace put a wall between Annila and Sharon and I wasn’t sure Annila actually wanted that wall.
Luckily for everyone involved, Nic was my actual client and not his mother.
If she didn’t wear it, it wasn’t my fault, but I’d be able to say I’d done everything within my power to keep Sharon Claudis from kidnapping her again.
“Oh, are you leaving?” Raiel asked, his feline eyes going wide. “With my stuff?” his scent morphed from sad to confused.
“No, we’re going on our matingmoon. I just packed you up some stuff to save time,” I said and tossed him one of his black v-neck shirts. “Here, put this on. Your shoes are downstairs by the door with mine.”
“Are we escaping?” Raiel asked.
“Not like that. They’re not in danger anymore.
I mean, maybe if Sharon Claudis shows up at the front door but that doesn’t seem to be the way she does stuff.
She blows out windows from a distance, she gets babies out of their cribs in her astral form.
Hell, she even showed up to the trap in her astral form. ”
“Maybe she’s dead and that’s why she wants to do all that stuff to the baby.”
My brain tried to latch onto what he said but I refused to let it. There would be plenty of time to pursue that later.
“What about Mori’s charm or whatever?” Raiel asked, trying to take the bag from me to carry.
“I got this and I can make that anywhere. Besides, we’ll be on the same estate as Mori when we get there,” I said.
“I gotta live with my boss?” Raiel asked, contorting his features in mock disgust.
“Come on. I’m ready for a vacation,” I said, holding out my hand to him.
“What about Arrick?” he asked, taking my hand in his.
“I told him where we’d be. He’s a big boy.
He can come and go as he pleases. He’ll be planning our mating feast. I hope that’s alright.
He’ll work with Beal, too, of course, and any of your pride who wants to come is welcome.
It just gives him something to do while we’re sequestered away and believe me, I’m going to eat someone – in the not so nice way – if we don’t get some alone time soon. ”
Raiel dropped my hand long enough to pull the black shirt on over his head and to turn out the light.
It occurred to me that he hadn’t officially asked Crilus for time off but surely the elf-wolf-crow expected him to take some time off after meeting me.
He wouldn’t have to work at all if he didn’t want to.
Hell, I was to that point hundreds of years ago but couldn’t imagine sitting on my hands and not doing anything.
Maybe once we had a few kids I’d feel differently.
“Are we taking both cars?” Raiel asked once we had our shoes and were outside.
“Fuck,” I swore under my breath. “Yeah. Let’s take them both. I know you live here and I don’t think they’d tow you, but if we run into a situation where we’d need them both, I’d rather have them than not.”
“Uhh… Why would they tow me?” Raiel arched a brow. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“The vibe with Annila is off,” I shrugged. “I think she just needs some time but when someone asks to personally cut out someone’s heart, I think it’s wise to give them some space.”
“Sharon hurt her, huh?” he asked.
“I don’t know, mate, and it’s getting harder and harder to concentrate on it. Let’s get on the road before I totally lose my senses and jump you right here in the driveway.”
“How long would that keep Sharon away for?” he smirked.
“That’s not how that works,” I laughed, heading toward my car.
I loved to drive but hated being away from Raiel.
The drive to the estate was uneventful except for how hard and slick I was by the time we pulled in.
Thankfully, no one came out to meet us when we got there.
That would’ve been awkward if easy to explain about how recently Raiel and I had met.
Every inch of my body felt like it would melt off if Raiel didn’t touch me soon.
Even my toes were little torches that threatened to burn through my shoes.
“Fuck me,” I cursed under my breath as I killed the engine.
Heat was always a son of a bitch, but I had a feeling this wasn’t a simple heat brought on by a shift in my hormonal cycle.
The true-mate magic deemed it had waited long enough for us to exchange our claiming vows and it kick starting this heat cycle was a way to push us forward.
This time I let Raiel carry the bags inside and I unlocked the door.
I could’ve given him the grand tour, but my head wasn’t in the hospitality game.
Instead, I stripped at the door. All these damn clothes were too hot to keep on when a furnace was burning on high inside me.
Raiel grinned, dropping the bags by the door and kicking off his shoes.
His eyes never left me as I stripped down.
Since he still hadn’t gotten the message that I didn’t like to be naked alone, I started on his clothes as soon as mine were gone.
He laughed and lifted his arms for me to pull his shirt over his head.
I made quick work of his fly and stripped him as naked as I was.
We stood there in the guesthouse entryway naked and hard.
I was so fucking slick for this man that I didn’t know what to do with myself.
“Kids are a yes still, right?” he triple-checked. “I didn’t have time to grab condoms.”
“No condoms,” I shook my head. “Wait. No condoms unless you want them. I don’t need them.”
“Okay. We’re good. You’re allowed to relax now,” he said, reaching out for me. “You’re so warm to the – Oh!”
“Yeah. Heat. I am good. Well, I’m good at what we’re about to do,” I laughed because I was just rambling now.
Raiel pulled me in against his muscular naked body and our lips crashed together.
I plunged my tongue into his hungry mouth, twirling with his as his teeth grazed over it.
His chased mine back into my own mouth and my fangs elongated.
Only it wasn’t his blood I craved. I walked backwards, taking him with me as I led him through the house.
Thankfully for my heels and calves nothing had changed since my last visit.
I led him straight to the only bedroom on the first floor and pulled him inside.
I flicked on the light long enough to check that the sheets and bedding were clean and in place.
Then I shoved him down onto his back and climbed onto the bed to straddle him.
His big, warm hands found my thighs and caressed them as our mouths came back together for another long, slow, tongue-filled kiss.
Coppery blood splashed over my tongue and Raiel moaned into the kiss.
He was as hard as I was. I swore if I could’ve just paid attention I could have heard the pulse in our cocks thrumming along, fast and hard.