BRIAR
My skin hummed with anticipation and the need to see Lucas as I watched the moon slowly rise in the night sky. I’d met him in the garden every night since our first clandestine tryst. Tonight would be no different, as long as I could slip away. I needed him. He was my escape from a life I didn’t want. I’d dreamt of him again the night before, dreams filled with sighs and moans, sex and blood, danger and reward. I was already in so deep, I didn’t know if I’d be able to claw my way out.
“You have to stop this silent punishment you’ve decided to dole out, Briar. We are your family. We deserve better.” Frustration radiated from my mother.
“I don’t. I’ll never be able to look at you again without seeing the people who sold me without my consent. You may end up getting your way, but you’ve lost me forever.”
She gasped, and her eyes, exactly the same shade as mine, widened. “You don’t mean that. You wouldn’t.”
“I would. You have a pack member in me, but you’ve lost your daughter forever. No matter my decision about Nik.”
She reached for my hand but I jerked it away. “Run with us tonight. Run with your pack. It’s the first night your father will be able to join us since the attack on us.”
I shook my head, but my wolf pushed at me, wanting to run, needing to be let out to play with her kind. “I can’t.”
“You can. You need it. I can feel the tension rolling off you. Your wolf is meant to run with us. Don’t deny her. She will make you live to regret your choice.”
I growled without thinking and balled my hands into fists. “You should have thought about that before you pawned me off like a prized mare.”
I turned on my heel and left the parlor, my heart hammering at a rapid pace. Nik caught me at the staircase, his warm palms gripping both of my shoulders.
“What are you running from, Briar?”
“All of this.”
I shrugged out of his grasp and dashed outside. Mother was right, I needed to let my wolf free, but Lucas was waiting for me. Just a quick run, that was all I needed. I could let my wolf feel the earth under her feet, smell the forest, feel the wind, see the world through her eyes. Then I’d meet him, and this ache in my chest would go away.
I slipped out of my clothes and shoes and folded my stockings and garments neatly before leaving them tucked behind a bench in the garden. Then I changed. The world became brighter, more vibrant, scents sharp and intense. My wolf stretched and rejoiced, then we ran.
It wasn’t long before I was joined by Nik. His tawny-haired beast was double the size of mine, strong and powerful. He ran alongside me, never letting me out of his sight. I wouldn’t be able to get away, not like this. He knew that. He suspected something. That was the only explanation I could come up with while he was next to me. Nik was protecting what he felt was rightly his.
We ran for hours, long into the night, but I couldn’t shake him no matter how I tried. Finally, the two of us returned home, Panting, exhausted, and completely exhilarated. We shifted back to our human forms, naked and unashamed, but this time, things were different. This was the first time we’d run just the two of us. In the quiet of the night, we stood behind the sprawling manor house. Both breathing hard, hearts racing, eyes locked on one another.
“Is freedom from me really worth giving up all this?” he asked,
I wasn’t sure. There were so many factors to this, so many things he couldn’t understand. The biggest of which was Lucas.
“Nik, I—”
He closed the distance between us, wrapping his arm around my bare waist and tugging me against his body. In one smooth movement, his heated kiss stole my words and breath. I felt his erection pressing insistently at my belly, the need in him pulsing through his kiss.
With firm hands, I pushed him away, not ready to deal with the multitude of problems this gesture brought. “Stop. I’m not…we aren’t doing this now.”
“If not now, when? When is the right time for you to see the truth about us?”
Anger replaced the shock he’d given me. “You don’t get to decide this for me. You’d have me whether I chose you or not, so your desires don’t have any bearing on my decision.”
He reached for me, but I held up a hand and backed away before retrieving my clothes and rushing inside.
I locked my door, leaning against it and letting the trembling of my limbs take over. My wolf had responded. I could feel the urge to mate with another of my kind, an alpha in his own right. She wanted to let him stake his claim on me, but I couldn’t. The rest of me didn’t want him. I wanted someone I shouldn’t ever be with.
A shadow passed over my open window, sending adrenaline racing through my veins. An attack on the alpha’s daughter, in her own room no less, would be reckless, but that didn’t make it any less likely.
“You’re treading on dangerous ground,” I murmured, sure the vampire intruder could hear me.
“You were supposed to meet me.” My heart leapt at the sound of Lucas’ voice.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t get away.”
“I see that.” He stood on the balcony, hands in his pockets, moonlight making his skin glow. “Invite me in, Briar.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Why?”
“Because it’s considered rude for one to enter another’s home without an invitation.”
I whispered, “Come inside,” and he was on me in an instant. His big body pressed me against the door, his lips a breath away from mine.
“You stink of him. Your lips are swollen from his kiss.” The anger in his voice had my body tingling with excitement.
“He’s claimed me as his.”
“No.” His voice was a rough whisper. Low enough only I could hear. “He wants to claim you. You have the power here. You don’t have to give him what he wants. What do you desire?”
My nipples tightened painfully, and something low in my belly twisted with need. “You,” I managed. “I desire you.”
He kissed me then, hard and desperate with a longing I’d only ever read about in books so scandalous I had to hide them. His palms ran up my hips and around my back, pulling my naked form against his clothed one.
“Come away with me, Briar. Be mine somewhere none of them can find us.”
“Where would we go? How would it work?”
He cupped my cheek. “Does it matter as long as we’re together? You can’t deny this between us. We’re mates. You and I.”
“It goes against everything we’ve been taught. We’ll be persecuted no matter where we are.”
He threaded his fingers in my hair and cupped the back of my head, pulling me to him again in the process. “I’d rather be persecuted all of my nights than be without you. Tell me you don’t feel the same. Tell me that and I will go.”
I bit my lower lip and stared at this man. This wonderful, beautiful, deadly man. “I can’t tell you that. It would be a lie.”
“Then be mine. Marry me, accept my bond, be my mate. He can’t claim you. But I can.”
I knew in my bones it was right. That the two of us should be together even if the law said we couldn’t. Who was I to deny destiny? Hadn’t Gwen said that very thing? My destiny couldn’t be escaped. And the last thing I wanted was to escape Lucas. Even if it wouldn’t last.
“Yes. Tomorrow night. Take me away from this. Make me yours.”
His smile made my heart soar. “No, my wild wolf. Tomorrow we marry. Tonight I make you mine.”
LUCAS
“Bolt the door, and do try to keep quiet, but for God’s sake, don’t come up with an excuse to keep me away tonight. My heart can’t bear it.”
Briar blinked up at me, her purple irises darkening with lust. “What happens when the sun rises, and you have to leave? When you realize this won’t work?”
How could she think such a thing? I’d laid myself bare before her, and still she thought this was wrong. “There is nothing that will keep me from you, Briar. I’m abandoning my family, my kind, and my future as a member of the royal family because I know that is the only thing I can do if I’m to honor my destiny. You are my destiny.”
She tucked her chin and rested her forehead on my chest. “What if this is the wrong choice? How many people are we hurting by choosing us?”
“I don’t give a damn about them. I’m tired of caring about what other people want. It’s my turn. Our turn.”
I ran my fingers through her hair, the thick mass of blond silken and smooth to the touch. “Be with me tonight. Forget everything else and just…feel me.” I took her hand and pressed it to my chest. “This heart beats for you. Only you.”
She looked up at me, a slight smile on her lips. “How long do we have?”
I grinned and glanced at the sky, still dark, still safe. “Hours. But when I have you under me, I don't care about the morning light or the danger of the sun.”
“Good. Make me yours, Lucas.”
Scooping her up into my hold, I walked us through the sitting room and into the bedroom. Her decor was simple, all soft lights and golden hues. So like her. She was everything warm and comforting while I was dark and cold. It struck me that I may end up the loser in this union if I wasn’t careful. She might be the one to break me.
Settling her on the bed, I watched carefully as she slid back on the coverlet until she was resting on the mountain of pillows. I just stood there and took her in. Honeyed locks spilled down her shoulders, the waves covering the tops of her breasts. But my favorite part of her was how her body was all sun-kissed skin with a glow of purity and health. She was the picture of beauty. She was my fantasy come to life.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” she asked, bringing her knees to her chest and crooking her finger.
“Absolutely nothing.” I couldn’t get my buttons undone fast enough; fingers that were usually graceful and fluid moved slowly as I fumbled in my eagerness to have her.
I growled in frustration before simply tearing the shirt off my body and letting the fabric fall to the floor.
“Quiet, someone will hear you.” Her voice held a hint of teasing, but she was serious. I did need to be careful. If her father caught me, he’d kill me after slowly castrating me in front of the entire pack. I’d seen it in his head when I had danced with her at the ball.
“Do you think I fear any of them?”
She bit her lip. “You should. Just because you’re a vampire, that doesn’t make you unkillable.”
“No, but it makes me a worthy adversary.”
“Not against my entire pack. They’ll all rush to defend me if they think I need saving. It’s what we do for each other.”
I stood there, staring at the beautiful woman before me, and wondering if she’d really walk away from everything to be with me.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but…” I closed my eyes and sighed. “I think this was a mistake.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“The way you talk about them, it’s clear you love them and are loyal. I’m pulling you away from all that.”
On her knees, she crawled to the edge of the bed. “Don’t you think I’m doing the same thing to you?”
I couldn’t resist. I threaded my fingers in her hair and tilted her face toward mine. “It’s not such a sacrifice for me. If I could snap my fingers and no longer be a Blackthorne, I would. I would change everything about myself to be the man you deserve.”
She slid her palm up my bare abdomen until it rested over my heart. “You are the man I deserve. What’s more, you’re the one I want. You’re the only one.”
I dropped to my knees in front of her. “What if you’re wrong? What if this is all some kind of trick?”
“How could it be?”
“My father has his ways. He could have paid a witch to curse us or slipped you a love potion. I don’t know.”
She shook her head and cupped my jaw. “You think he’d destroy his own son to tear apart my family?”
“Yes,” I said without any hesitation.
“Well, if he did, I’m glad, because I have never felt this way my entire life.”
I rested my forehead between her breasts, my palms settling on her hips as I breathed her in. Hunger like nothing I’d experienced since I transitioned as a teenager slammed into me. “Fuck, Briar, I am hanging on by a thread. You can’t understand my hunger.”
“If it’s anything like my need to shift, I think I can.”
She spread her thighs, and I wrapped my arms around her, tugging her to the very edge of the bed. “Put your feet on the floor.”
Doing as I commanded, she positioned herself so her pointed toes brushed the floor and her body was beautifully open to me. “Now what?”
“Now, you lie back and let me take control. You might want to grab a pillow in case you can’t stay quiet.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to taste what’s mine. Then I’ll mark you.”
She sat up a little straighter and put her palms on my shoulders. “You’re going to bite me?”
“Yes.”
Indecision flickered in her eyes. “But…somewhere they won’t see.”
“No one had better see you where I plan to leave my mark. No one but me.”
Letting out a sharp breath, she fell backward on the bed, and I gripped her under her knees, pulling until my shoulders pressed her thighs apart. “Calm your heartbeats. They won’t know the difference between panic and pleasure. We don’t want anyone coming to check on you and finding a vampire between your thighs.”
Her fingers tangled in my hair, and the moment my lips brushed the juncture of her thighs, she gripped my locks tight. It was the perfect blend of pain and pleasure. “Yes, make it hurt,” I moaned from my position.
“God, Lucas.” Her breathy whisper of my name had me desperate to sink my fangs into the pulse point at her inner thigh.
“I love you, Briar.” I didn’t know if I said the words out loud or in my head. Either way, I was terrified of what she made me feel. I bit down and tasted her for the first time since the forest. As soon as her blood hit my tongue, I went from hard to throbbing. I knew she was a delicacy, but I had no idea what taking more than a drop would do to me.
My fingers sank into her heat, feeling the telltale flutters of her walls as she approached orgasm. I released my mouth’s grip on her and sat back on my heels to watch her face as she rode out the last moments of her pleasure.
“That…that was…I…” She wasn’t making sense, and I didn’t push her.
“It was my bite.”
She sat up on her elbows and stared at me. “That was what being bitten by a vampire feels like?”
I chuckled, “It was what my bite feels like. But more than that, it was what it feels like between us.”
“So, if another vampire bit me, it wouldn’t feel like this?”
I couldn’t stop the growl that built in my chest from filling the room. “No other vampire will ever get the chance to taste you. Not while I’m alive.”
A giggle spilled from her. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant…I don’t understand why it’s something to be afraid of if it feels like that.”
Needing to be closer to her, I crawled up the bed, over her body. “Never underestimate a vampire. Some of us don’t stop. Some make it hurt because they want to. Some make it a game. They stalk and seduce and eventually kill.”
I lay on my side, tracing the swell of her breast with one fingertip. “And they enjoy every moment,”
“But you don’t?”
“I’m…unique, as it were. My mother was human. Father says it makes me weak, but I think it makes me better.”
“Do you really think none of them leave their donors alive?”
“Oh, I know most of them don’t. In fact, those two men your friend was flirting with at my club were the very kind of vampires who should have drained you both dry in the alley.”
“What?” The disbelief in her voice proved exactly how sheltered her life had been until this point.
“Have you never met a vampire until us?”
She shook her head and stared into my eyes. “They didn’t want me to spend time with anyone who wasn’t a shifter.”
“God, you’re a lamb to the bloody slaughter.” I rolled onto my back and focused on the intricate carving work on the ceiling. “Can you even spot a vampire at first sight?”
“I spotted you.”
“From less than a foot away.”
“Well, I know your scent now. All of you smell the same.”
I laughed. “No. We don’t.”
“You do. All of the vampires who were at your house smelled the same. Bergamot.”
Shaking my head, I turned my gaze back on her. “Those are vampires from my line, Blackthorne vampires.”
“There are others?”
“Yes. Three other lines. We all came from fallen angels.”
She nodded, “I know. You told me.”
“But we didn’t come from the same fallen. There were four of them. Each line has different abilities and restrictions. The vampires you met at my club were the worst kind. The Watcher kind. They kill no matter what because they have no souls. Their lust is only for blood.”
“And your kind is the best?”
I laughed again. “My kind will slit your throat while you sleep and bottle your blood to enjoy later.”
“And the others?”
“It doesn’t matter whether they can turn to mist or come into your dreams. We’re all dangerous.”
The furrow of her brow was my only indication something was wrong. “Why didn’t they tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
“More about the world? Humans are one thing. They’re limited. Even the hunters. But there are four types of you. Four different kinds of vampires with different strengths. I should have been taught that, don’t you think?”
My fingers ran through her hair, and I watched as her confidence in her pack crumbled. “I do. I think one of the greatest disservices that can be done is to assume not knowing is better than knowing. There is great power in having knowledge.”
“Then you’ll need to teach me everything you know. If I’m going to be with you, I need to know all of it.”
“I will. I swear to you, everything I know you will. Everything we do, we’ll do together. I will not leave you to wade through this alone. You are mine to protect and cherish.”
“And you’re mine.”
I loved those words coming from her lips. Tomorrow I would make her mine, I’d claim her and we’d leave together.
I heard the footsteps the same moment she did. Both of us sat up silently. Her hair was a mass of wild waves tumbling around her face and down her back. If I didn’t have to get out of there, I would’ve sat and taken in her wild beauty.
“You have to go,” she whispered under her breath. “Out the window.”
She was right. I pressed her into the bed, kissing her deep and with every ounce of passion I could give her. “Dream of me tonight and meet me tomorrow, so we will never have to spend another night apart.”
The door to her chamber rattled, and as she stood and pulled a robe around her body, I escaped out the window. It was nearly impossible to leave her, but I would make her mine soon. I would be free with Briar.