“If you promise not to hurt me.”
He scowled. “I would never hurt you.” He blinked and scowled even harder. “I mean, I would never hurt such a weak creature unprovoked. I’m too good for that. We Night Bloode only accept worthy opponents.”
“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes, used to the arrogance of a vampire.
“Good.” He kissed her before she could blink, and she closed her eyes, missing this so much. Missing him.
Orion hadn’t realized how much his lack of a connection to the beautiful nymph had bothered him. But now, with her in his arms, everything felt right. Nothing mattered but keeping her close, protected, a part of him tucked away, deep inside.
She sighed into his mouth, and he deepened the kiss, memories of their time together at the lake house filtering in. Of watching her smile, making her cocoa with those silly little marshmallows. Of seeing her naked, sliding his finger inside her and watching her come.
She yanked herself out his arms, staring at him with wide eyes. “Wh-what did you do?”
“Do?”
“Y-you put images in my head.”
“I did?” He hadn’t realized he’d done anything. At least, not on purpose.
“I bet you did too on purpose.” She glared at him with accusatory eyes. “I tried to help you to the best of my ability before. Nothing I did was to hurt you.” She blinked hard, and he realized she was crying. “I tried to help, and I gave you all I could.”
“Hush, female. Your tears are useless in the water and useless with me.”
She had to stop crying. Her unhappiness was pissing him off.
“I’m not crying.”
Such a terrible liar. He felt a great warmth in his chest, his heart pumping harder, then easing, calming her the way a mate should.
With shock he refused to show, he realized he’d been hearing her thoughts and had inadvertently sent her visions of his memories.
The way vryko mates did.
He didn’t think her aware of it either, that they were still tied.
What did that mean? And why did he feel so much better knowing they remained connected? My prey, he told himself. She’s mine until I decide what to do with her.
Satisfied for the moment, he pulled back before he went in for another kiss. The water made her clothes cling to her, and that in addition to a clear recollection of her naked form had him longing to fuck her. Right here, right now. To claim and possess. His, forever.
He shook his head. “I may need to talk to you again. But for now, I think Varu won’t need to.”
“Okay.” She watched him, as if unable to help herself.
“Tell me if your mother contacts you. She hasn’t, has she?”
“No. I’m supposed to have tea with her this weekend. I don’t know if she knows it was me that set you free. I need to go so she won’t be suspicious. And she’s my mom. She won’t hurt me.”
Yet Orion didn’t think she truly believed her own words. “Fine. Just keep me updated. Let me know if you need protection.”
“I’ll let Macy know.”
He frowned. “No. Let me know. Your sister is busy with other things. You will talk to me.”
She studied him then nodded and shyly said, “If that’s what you want.”
He swam with her to the dock, and with no one watching, he hopped to dry land with her. “Remember this number.” He rattled off his phone number. “Call me as soon as you get inside. And if anything happens I should be aware of, you will let me know.” He added a dose of hypnotism to his words, pleased when the hypno-suggestion took root.
“I will.”
Before he left, he said, “I’ll be back again tomorrow, and we’ll talk more.”
She lifted her chin in challenge. “What if I have nothing to say?”
Oddly, her defiance lifted his spirits. He grinned, showing her his fangs. Flirting, though she likely didn’t recognize the action. “You’ll talk to me, sweet. We have much more to say to each other.” He looked her over from top to bottom. “Bet on it.”
CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN
Orion frowned, unsure of his whereabouts until he spotted Spiro laughing as they raced the dolphins under the moonlight. They had been told by their patriarch, a huge dickhead named Leo, to leave the Black Rock Clan alone.
But the Black Rock vrykos had been encroaching on Water Cleave territory, and someone needed to teach them a lesson. So he and Spiro had desecrated one of their tributes to a fallen comrade, because if the Black Rock had the audacity to show their weakness to others, they deserved to be crushed. Regret and grief were for other magir, not death-bringers. Those Of the Bloode were better than everyone else because they put unimportant matters to the background, acting as true predators.
Only the weak-willed cared about love and loss. Orion had lost kin before. But that was the way of life. The Sea gave and it took, a plentiful playground full of fat prey and outstanding battles.
The roar they heard told them they’d been found out, and they laughed as they swam back to their stronghold on the shores of Thira. But they hadn’t counted on a scouting party of Black Rock vampires coming from the south and got pinched between the angry group behind them and the scouts.
Up for a good battle, Orion fought. Stronger than most of his kin, even at the tender age of fifty, he defeated many of the enemy, not hampered by the water as many fledgling vryko were. Spiro didn’t move so well, and Orion hurried to his side.
But he was too late. Spiro fell under a massive attack while someone speared Orion’s side, not with fangs or claws but with a bone trident. It hurt, the pain another reminder that he lived, and he laughed and fought back, enjoying the skirmish.
He must have blacked out, for when he came to, he was held down, forced to kneel before the Black Rock patriarch in a large room on land filled with moonlight, fae torches, and marble everywhere. It looked like a Grecian temple, one not built to honor gods but vampiric ancestors. He recognized a bust of Alecta, the mother of all vrykolakas. A sea witch mated to one of Ambrogio’s direct descendants, she’d written of a brutal history where she’d founded the vrykolakas in southern Greece after the true-death of her mate.
Though the Water Cleave clan didn’t cling to the notion of female idolatry, they accepted their humble beginnings while still worshipping no one but themselves. Water gave life, thus it made sense a female ancestor had given rise to their powerful tribe.
“You do grave injustice to the fallen of our clan.” The male was bigger and stronger than Leo, and a lot angrier. The bastard laughed. “Such youth. Ah, I wonder if your fangs will grow back faster than your nails.”
He nodded, and one of the Black Rock next to him smiled. Wearing mermaid scaled gloves, he used a pair of silver pliers to extract Orion’s nails.
The pain was excruciating, and he screamed despite not wanting to show a reaction. When they’d taken all the nails from his left hand, they moved to his right. He took the opportunity to look around for Spiro but didn’t see his kin.
“My father will make you pay,” he bit out as they worked through his right hand before focusing on his mouth.
Orion didn’t like the shakiness he felt, not wanting to lose his teeth.