Chapter 10 Tatyana #2
“I have no idea.” She’d turned her phone on before daylight the night before and found multiple messages from him, but when she called, it was to hear the message that his phone was turned off.
So they were playing that game now.
“If he does, simply let me know and I will make sure the men remain at a further distance,” Sándor said. “You should not be confined to your quarters when he visits.”
“That is thoughtful. Thank you.”
“Yes, thank you, Sándor.”
The voice from the trees was quiet, but the moment Oleg spoke, a flood of awareness entered Tatyana’s body as he released the amnis he must have been holding in strict control.
Sándor was already in the air, hovering in front of Tatyana, blocking Oleg from her view. In his hand, he held a silver short sword with a wicked curve.
Her chief Hazar leaned his head to the side and murmured into a small communication device affixed to his shoulder, but his eyes never left Oleg’s.
“A clever trick, Lord Oleg,” Sándor said quietly. “You kept your amnis well hidden.”
“I couldn’t even feel you,” Tatyana said.
She didn’t mind that Sándor had his sword drawn. She kind of enjoyed it even though Oleg’s face showed not a hint of fear. He was keeping his fire leashed. For now.
“A millennium of practice.” Her mate walked into the clearing, and the planes of his face glowed silver blue in the moonlight. “There is a gap in the perimeter.”
“Only because I am with her.”
Tatyana wanted to run to him. She felt the infuriating urge to slap him and his arrogant face. She also wanted to kiss him and bite his neck.
And apparently her energy wasn’t as well-disguised as Oleg’s, because Sándor cleared his throat and floated back to the ground. “Terrin?”
“He’s fine, Sándor.”
“I will leave you.” He glanced at Oleg. “And expand the perimeter.”
“No need to worry.” The corner of Oleg’s mouth turned up as he stared at her. “No one will touch your mistress when I am here. Save me, of course.”
Sándor turned to Tatyana. “Terrin?”
“Oleg, don’t be an ass,” Tatyana said. “Sándor, I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“Yes, surati.” Sándor bowed and took to the sky, disappearing into the shadowed night.
Oleg lifted his chin and stared down his nose. “Hello, wife. Did you hear the news that I am getting married?”
“I cannot believe you think this is funny.” Tatyana had her arms crossed over her chest and had so far resisted the urge to tackle her husband.
“I don’t think it’s funny. Amusing, perhaps?”
“That’s the same thing.”
They were sitting in the barn behind her mother’s house, at a table where Marko, her mother’s caretaker, often sat and drank with the other old men from the village after the day’s chores were finished.
Marko and his wife Marie were in their cozy house, and wafts of cold air gusted under the barn door, but Tatyana didn’t care.
“Do you know how many times there have been rumors about me marrying since Luana died?” Oleg asked. “Very few take them seriously. Your friend shared that to irk you and get a reaction. You could not have actually believed him.”
Tatyana said nothing.
Oleg’s eyebrows went up. “Tell me you did not believe these rumors. Do you think me a bigamist?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I didn’t think—”
“Is this why you ran from Budapest?” He glared at her. “Because you thought I would betray you like this?”
“I didn’t run!” She curled her lip. “I was finished with all the people and the meetings and the fake smiles. And I knew… after I thought about it, I knew the rumors must be nonsense.”
Oleg narrowed his eyes. “But you did think it. You wondered.”
She sighed. “You are a very powerful immortal lord who has an empire to think about, and I am one of three leaders of a small vampire clan with no fixed territory.”
He nodded. “You are correct. But I don’t need to marry for the security of my people. Perhaps I’ll marry Ivan off like an annoying second son. He might be very happy being a kept man.”
Now it was Tatyana’s turn to roll her eyes. “Really?”
“You were stunningly beautiful the night of the ball.” Oleg lifted his chin as if remembering.
“And I never got the chance to take that dress off you. I feel that you owe me a private waltz where I may undress you and show my true appreciation.” His eyes fell to her lips.
“Not even a kiss for your dear husband?”
Desire curled in her blood. “Stop it.”
He leaned toward her, the table still between them. “That’s the tricky thing about sharing blood, isn’t it? Am I feeling your desire, or are you feeling mine? I feel it must be both, because though I had a week of you in my bed, it was not nearly enough.”
“Oleg—”
“We cannot exist like this, volchitsa. It is torture for us both, and it leaves us vulnerable as our enemies gather around us.”
“The Poshani have no enemies. You need to do something about Ivan.”
“I was listening as you danced with him.”
“I noticed. The brooch—”
“Do you like it?” He smiled. “I had it made for you. A very good designer from Saint Petersburg.”
He was trying to change the subject from his troublesome brother. “Ivan knows it was from you.”
“Yes, but you diverted his attention brilliantly. Who is to say that it was not a gift to the Poshani on your accession to office of terrin? It would have been appropriate for me to come to the ceremony with a gift or two after all.”
“You brought a sturgeon full of caviar and my favorite battle-axe.”
“Who is to say I did not bring you jewelry as well?” Oleg shrugged. “Ivan was insinuating much, but you stymied him. You handled him well. Are you truly angry or hanging on to your mood for other reasons?”
Why was she angry? Oleg was being Oleg. Arrogant, entitled, and confident.
“When are you going to kill Ivan?”
“Tatyana.” He held out his hand, and Tatyana sighed and stood. She walked to him, looking down at the man she had agreed to marry.
The man she loved. “Oleg.”
“Do you worry about me?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t.” He pulled her into his lap and slid his hand up her thigh, cupping her bottom with his warm hand.
Oleg was always warm. He made her feel alive, even in this brutally cold barn in the middle of the woods.
“Do you remember?” he murmured, his lips near her ear. “All those years ago, when I was seducing my pretty bookkeeper?”
She remembered it as if it were yesterday, this brilliant, mysterious monster in the back of the fanciest car she had ever seen, pulling her onto his lap. He was taller than her, so when she sat in his lap, they were eye to eye.
You don’t worry about me. You don’t take care of me. That’s not how my world works. I take care of you. I take care of all my people.
She leaned forward and sucked his lower lip into her mouth, teasing it with her tongue and her fangs.
Oleg made a short, growling sound at the back of his throat, then spun her around so she was straddling him—her back to his chest—with her bottom pressed against his growing erection.
He spread her thighs and yanked her back, grinding into her backside as his fangs sank into her shoulder, through the thin sweater she had been wearing to train, and into her flesh.
Her breath puffed out, barely steaming in the cold air, as Oleg slowly slid the zipper of her pants down, and then his hands were sliding under her clothes, his heated flesh against her cold body.
“Do you remember this, volchitsa?” He slid two fingers inside her, teasing her with one hand as his other slid under her sweater and up the front of her body to capture her breast. “Do you remember what I told you?”
“Yes.” She gasped as his fingers curled inside her, teasing a bundle of nerves that sent shivers all over her body.
“What do I do?”
She felt like sobbing and screaming at the same time.
“What do I do?” he asked again.
You bring me so much pleasure I can barely think straight.
She felt like her body would shatter, her skin would catch on fire, and the top of her head might fly off unless she came. “You” —she gasped again— “take care of me.”
“That’s right.” Oleg pinched her clitoris and she shattered.
Tatyana closed her eyes and rode the wave of pleasure from Oleg’s hands, capturing the soft, dark words he whispered against her neck as she came apart in his arms.
“I take care of you.”
You are mine.
My queen.
My mate.
“My wife,” he whispered. “Never doubt my loyalty. Not ever.”
“I don’t.” She didn’t need air, but her chest was heaving. “I won’t.”
“Never.” His breath was hot on her neck, and blue fire rippled softly over his hands. “Never again.”
Two nights later, Kezia agreed to meet her at a basement tavern in Krakow.
“You left the summit quickly,” her sister said. “I had to make excuses.”
They were sitting in a secluded booth, and low jazz music was playing in the background. There were a few humans in the tavern, but other than Sándor and Kezia’s personal Hazar near the door, they were alone.
“I apologize if I caused any inconvenience or extra work for you,” Tatyana said. “I know you spent a lot of time on the events, but I was—”
“Overwhelmed.” Kezia nodded. “I could tell.”
Tatyana nodded.
“Is this why you wanted to meet me?” Kezia sipped a glass of red wine. “To apologize for the inconvenience? Or was it something about the Russian?”
Tatyana widened her eyes. “The Russian?”
“I saw Ivan dancing with you. Did he threaten you? If he did, tell Oleg. I know your relationship is still…” Kezia smirked a little bit. “A bit tempestuous, but you have a history. He’ll take care of his brother.”
“Will he?”
Two nights before, Oleg had flown back to Kyiv with Mika. One night before, Tatyana had come to a realization about her situation and her husband.
He did take care of his people. He held a massive empire together with the strength of his will, brilliant political instincts, and the patience of a calculating predator who had survived for over a thousand years.
But he didn’t expect anyone to take care of him. Not even his own wife.
And Tatyana also realized she wasn’t as patient as her mate.
“Ivan Sokholov is a problem.” Tatyana kept things simple for the vampire who had become her somewhat reluctant sister. They had developed a relationship over the past five years, but it was still strained at times. They were very different women.
But they did speak one language in common.
Kezia’s eyes narrowed. “I agree.”
“Ivan is costing us money and keeping our people from traveling where they want.”
Her sister nodded. “If our delivery trucks can’t go into his territory safely, it’s definitely not safe for our caravans.”
Tatyana knew if there was anything Kezia valued more than money for the clan, it was their right to go wherever the hell they wanted.
And Ivan was standing in the way.
Tatyana continued. “Oleg Sokolov is determined to hold his empire together, and the Poshani have no objection to this.”
Kezia spread her hands. “Of course we do not. Oleg is a loyal ally and has been an excellent host for centuries.”
“But his brother.” Tatyana left the thought dangling.
If Kezia picked up the thread of what she was suggesting, she had an ally, and this could work. Kezia was the only option. Radu was the public face of the Poshani, the political player. He could not be involved in any of this.
But Kezia and Tatyana?
“Ivan is an impediment to our region’s stability.” Kezia spoke after a long silence. “Whether Oleg admits this or not.”
“You and I share the same thought, sister.” Tatyana sat back in her booth and allowed Kezia’s mind to wander down paths her own had trod for months, if not years.
Kezia pursed her lips, staring at her glass of wine. “I understand why Oleg must be patient. He already killed his mate—which he needed to do; she was insane—and I know you like to be cagey about it, but I suspect he killed his own daughter.”
Tatyana allowed the corner of her mouth to turn up. “I can neither confirm nor deny—”
“Yes, yes.” Kezia offered a rueful smile. “It makes me like you more, you know—when you are cagey and secretive. It makes me think you can be trusted to guard my secrets if I need you to hold them.”
“I can.” Tatyana was a professional at keeping secrets these days.
“But this thing with Ivan, Tanya…” Kezia shook her head. “Luana, then Zara, and now their sibling Zasha is dead as well.”
“I agree.” Tatyana nodded solemnly. “They have suffered prominent losses in their region.”
“More than that,” Kezia said. “Even though you may have been sired to water, they are fundamentally an earth clan. They’re protective of their blood, and that blood has suffered. Even though Truvor was a bastard of the highest order, that blood tie still means something to all his remaining sons.”
“You think Oleg will protect Ivan?” Tatyana asked.
“Protect?” Kezia shook her head. “No. Not at all. But I don’t think Oleg is going to kill another one of his brothers. Not for a long time.”
“I know.” Tatyana leaned closer and whispered, “That’s why you and I are going to do it ourselves. I want your help to kill Ivan Sokholov.”