She shouted, her whole body shaking, and then he moved one hand up to her breast, playing as she rode him.
They moved together, him lifting up, her pressing down, both of them rocking. The sensation filled him, making his entire body shake. He couldn’t help but groan, wanting more.
He pulled her down then, needing her mouth, and his fang nicked her lip.
“Fuck, sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she whispered as the taste of her blood settled on his tongue.
“You can bite me if you want. I know you want to.” She winked, and he groaned.
“Mates.”
He bit down on her lip again, just a little bit, and they both froze for a minute and then shattered. The bond slammed into place between them, so intense that he pulled her to the side, holding her close as they shook from their orgasm and the bond cementing into place.
He had never been mated before, had never truly understood what any of it meant. And, honestly, he couldn’t fathom what it meant now.
He could feel her soul, her wants, her desires, her fears. He knew she was just as uncertain about whether they’d made the right decision as he was, but he also knew that they both understood there hadn’t been a choice. This. This was how they were going to defeat the darkness.
And he couldn’t hold back his own fears.
She slid her hands up and down his body even as his cock still twitched inside her.
“I’m scared, too,” she whispered. “But it’s okay, we’ll save your people. I promise.”
He buried his face in her hair, not knowing why he couldn’t speak.
He had waited a lifetime for this, more than one, actually, and now that he had her, he was afraid that he was going to lose her.
Because he couldn’t always protect those he loved, those who mattered.
And he didn’t know if he was strong enough to protect her.
Chapter 5
Caly had done many impetuous things in her life, but mating with a man she didn’t know, and had only just met? Well, that had likely won her first prize in the what-the-fuck-was-she-thinking category.
However, she couldn’t go back now, and she had to trust her gut feelings. They had kept her and her family alive for a long while.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
Misha frowned. “You should see what I’m fighting for.”
Her brows rose. “Where are you hidden?” she asked, staring into his eyes. She could feel the bond pulsing between them and knew that there was no going back from this. She didn’t love him, how could she so soon? But she knew the potential was there. That’s what the bond created. It wasn’t automatic for anything, other than the fact that they would be irreparably changed. And she would figure that out. She would find a way to work through her emotions.
But she needed to focus on the here and now first. Had to concentrate on what she could change. And if that meant protecting Misha’s people, or at least finding out why they were hidden and who that man was who had attacked them, then that’s what she would do. She would figure out the rest of her life, her romance, and her heart later.
“I only left a note for Seth saying that I was leaving for work. I didn’t tell him where I was going,” she said after a moment before they left.
Misha stared at her. “Do you need to tell him that you’re with me?”
She shook her head, looking down at her hands. “No, because he’s going to want to kick your ass, and we don’t have time for that, do we?”
“I would say he could try, but I would probably let him beat me at this point.” He reached out and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She froze, the contact new and exciting.
“Seth has a very powerful mate. Two of them, in fact.”
“One of the fabled triads, then?”
“I know of a few of them, not so fabled. Dante, the dragon you were looking for? I’m friends with him, as well. He’s also in a triad.”
Misha frowned but nodded. “I shouldn’t have come into the Conclave like that. I should have found another way. But we were running out of time.”
“Why? You keep saying that. But I don’t understand.”
Misha lowered his hand and then began to pace again. “The Conclave won’t let us create our own realm or have a voice, not when we are hidden from existence. Meaning, we’ve had to stay hidden from the paranormals, as well. We can’t congregate, not in large numbers anyway. So, we’ve had to spread out over time. That causes a chink in the communication lines of our kind. And when that happens, I’m not able to protect all the people that I need to. The weak, the ones who can’t protect themselves? They need us to help them, and we can’t do it. Not with enough power to keep them protected from our own kind anyway.”
“That was another vampire that attacked you, then? I guessed, but I wanted to make sure.”
“He attacked us, yes. He’s a dark one. One who has killed humans and paranormals alike. He lost his soul in the process.”
She took a step back, her eyes wide. “I thought only demons lost their souls,” she whispered.
Misha shook his head. “If a demon doesn’t take a soul, he loses his own. With vampires, if they take enough life forces, they slowly drain their own soul in the process. The dark one has been coming for my people because he wants to control all of them. He wants the weak to be purged, and then he wants to take the Conclave by force.” Misha let out a laugh, but there was no humor in it. “As if he could.”
“What can I do?” Caly asked, not knowing what else to say. Because she was tied to this man forever now. There was no going back. Only, according to whatever visions she sometimes had, there never had been any avoiding it.
“I’m going to take you to one of the areas where some of my people are. That way, you can meet them.” He ran his hand through his hair. “And then, I’m going to ask you to go with me to the Conclave.”
She twisted her hands in front of her but nodded. “We need to know why the elders shunned you.” She paused. “Did you deserve it?”
His eyes glowed red, but then he closed them tightly, taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry. Our eyes glow red when the predator is at full force.”
“Mine sometimes glow blue, and wolves’ glow gold. It’s who we are as paranormals. Just because your eyes are a different color, doesn’t mean that you’re evil.”
He snorted. “The whole no pulse and not needing to breathe thing doesn’t help. And we’re technically dead because of that, at least according to the elders.”
Pieces clicked. “That’s how you got underwater.”
He nodded tightly. “I don’t need oxygen.” He raised a brow. “Of course, that can come in handy for some sensual things.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to blush. And we’re not going to talk about that. We’ll deal with exactly what this bond means, and the fact that we might have had the best sex of my life later.”
“Best?”
“Later.”
“Come with me,” he said, holding out his hand. She shook her head.
“First, we need to get a few things straight.”