At the same time, he drew back from her neck and began to push inside her, faster now. “Look at me, Brianna. You’re bound to me now. I can feel that we’re one. That you’re my blood rose and I will forever be your mastyr vampire. I pledge myself to you, and to you only, from this time forth.”
Her body and soul felt on fire. She gasped out each breath as ecstasy began to rise within her. She kept her eyes fixed to his as he moved faster and faster, as their shared mating vibrations began to hum within her chest and within her heart.
“Your blood has powered me, made me more than I ever thought I could be.” He drove into her harder now. Her hands clutched at his massive shoulders, feeling the flex and release of his muscles.
Her body tightened low. “I’m so close.”
“Yes.” His voice came out in a long groan. He rose up slightly and arched his neck.
He was rock hard as he increased his speed, which sent her suddenly hurtling over the edge. She screamed as the orgasm rushed through her well and pushed upward in an explosion of pleasure that kept rising and taking her higher and higher. Her chest felt full of fire. Stars bloomed in her head. She watched him at the same time as he shouted his release and kept pumping.
The sensations swirled around her, the feel of her well pulsing with pleasure, of her abdomen spasming and her chest igniting with so much love.
Coming down took time as she slowly made her way back to earth and his hips grew quiet.
She breathed hard as did he.
“You look so beautiful.” Yolen wore a soft smile on his lips and in his eyes.
She touched his face, one of her favorite things. “I love you.”
He nodded. “I never thought that love would feel like such a small word. What I feel right now seems as big as the night sky.”
“I know exactly what you mean.”
“Can you feel the bond?”
She nodded against the soft furs. “Like an invisible line between us now, something that can never be broken.”
“Yes, just like that.”
He kissed her again and she embraced him, holding him close.
* * * * * * * * *
Yolen made love to his woman repeatedly, taking turns with the champagne and strawberries, and only decided to leave the living room when the fire in the hearth had broken down into a dim layer of red coals. He lifted her in his arms and carried her to his bedroom.
Once there, he laid her in his bed in the same way he’d placed her on the chaise earlier. He loved seeing her there, taking up a space in his life he’d once thought would never be filled because of the way he viewed his dangerous profession.
Now she was here, his blood rose. Because of Brianna, he would never know the intense crippling effects of chronic blood starvation that usually came with rising to mastyr status. Instead, her special gift would keep him permanently satiated as well as empowered. He felt blessed beyond words.
Ethan had told him what he might expect once he gained mastyr status and a little guilt hit him that he’d just avoided a truckload of suffering, and all because of Brianna.
He would treasure her forever. That’s what he promised himself as he made love to her for the first time in his bed. He confessed his love repeatedly and she did the same, always touching his face, caressing him.
At last, when it was time to sleep, he made sure the security sun-shades were lowered around his entire house, then crawled in next to her. She murmured her love once more as she curled into him. He surrounded her with his arms.
She relaxed against his body and he had the thought that life truly got no better than this, to have made love to his woman, to have secured his home, then to be holding her in his arms while she slept.
His heart felt full of so many things. But mostly, he felt gratitude, a deep, pervasive thankfulness that spread through his entire body like a soothing balm. He felt that he’d been made new.
Brianna was his blood rose and he’d just become a mastyr vampire.
He felt the level of his power and he knew now that he truly did equal Mastyr Vampire Ethan in his mastyr status. He’d always suspected, but until this moment, he hadn’t been sure.
But what to do with so much power?
He would soon have to appear before the Sidhe Council, the governing body that had existed forever in the Nine Realms. The exalted group of fae leadership would be required by realm law to test him, yet he already knew the truth. He and Ethan were the same.
Under Realm law, they would even be required to battle to prove superiority.
But Ethan was his friend and he didn’t want to challenge him. And on some deep level he knew that he didn’t have the same heart for the Bergisson Realm that Ethan did.
Maybe he’d grown tense, or maybe his arms around Brianna had tightened because of these new concerns, but suddenly she woke up, then rose onto her hip to look down at him. But what she said, stunned him. “Yolen, I just had the most amazing dream or maybe it was vision. You were standing with Ethan before the Sidhe Council. You’d been judged to be his equal in mastyr power.”
“And did we battle?” His worst fear. “Under the law, two mastyrs of equal power must battle until one or the other is the victor.”
But she shook her head, then she smiled. “No. You didn’t. The council asked what you wanted and you said, to be made Mastyr of the City of Cameron. And that’s what they did, and all with Ethan’s blessing.”
He leaned his head back and laughed, then said, “Yes, that’s exactly what I would choose. Ethan has a heart for Bergisson, but mine is here, with you and with your paintings downstairs of the future of our city.”
She nodded and kissed him. “Now go back to sleep and try not to worry anymore. All is well.”
He had Brianna with him and that was all that mattered, all that ever would.
All was well.
The End
***
SEDUCED
***
Dear Reader,
Welcome to the third short tale set in the world of the Blood Rose!
In this story, Charlotte Vail finds herself irresistibly drawn to one of Grochaire Realm’s top agents for the RIU – the Realm Investigative Unit – a man renowned for his ability to run criminals to earth. In turn, Mastyr Willem, while facing the toughest case of his life, has found himself in dogged pursuit of Charlotte, a human student at the local realm university. His mating vibration, dormant for decades, suddenly comes to life when he recognizes that Charlotte is the phenomenon known as a Blood Rose. When he takes her out on a first-date, passions soar. But as his relationship with her evolves, he discovers unsettling truths about the unique power she possesses and the connection they both have to the infamous Infinity killer.
But can Charlotte accept the new role she's meant to play in Willem's realm? And can Willem overcome the shame of his past to feel worthy of her?
The Blood Rose Tales are longer than a short story but shorter than a novella, just right for telling those stories that develop a unique aspect of the world of the Nine Realms.
And now, time to read. Just settle in and enjoy!
Caris Roane
To sign up for Caris Roane’s newsletter: www.carisroane.com
***
Chapter One
Mastyr Willem slid his forefinger along the line of Charlotte Vail’s throat. Her pulse beat beneath his fingertip, tempting him as he’d never been tempted before. His fangs ached to descend. She smelled incredible, her scent reminding him of wisteria, warm and floral, but with an undercurrent that he knew was all Charlotte.
He stood on his private beach, the waves of Maris Sol lapping gently at the shore so early in the night. It wasn’t even ten yet.
His home was perched on the bluff thirty feet above the surf, but Charlotte had expressed a desire to walk along the beach. Now, barefoot, she wiggled her toes in the sand, cooing her pleasure.
He tilted her head gently and kissed her neck. She whimpered with each small pressure of his lips an
d shivered when he licked above her waiting vein.
She wore a low cut navy tank-top and a long gathered skirt, something the fae women of his realm often wore and which Charlotte seemed to prefer, though she was human. His gaze drifted down her creamy neck to a tempting line of cleavage. This was a first date and he desired her more than he should. He wanted to bury his face in her hair, then bite her throat. The thought of striking through her almost translucent skin had him aching deep in his groin.
“This doesn’t feel like a first date,” she murmured. She writhed against him, her hips arching into his. Layered beneath her excitement, he felt how nervous she was and didn’t he feel the same way.
He’d picked her up at eight. Two hours later, he’d brought her to his beach house. Had to be some kind of record.
“I didn’t plan this.” His voice was low and husky, but he needed her to know he hadn’t intended to bring her here. He’d thought maybe five or six dates before he’d make his move. How wrong he’d been, but he didn’t want her to think he was seducing her.
Yet he ached for Charlotte in ways he couldn’t understand, as though he was the one who’d been seduced.
Breathing in her rich scent, suddenly he felt his realm mating frequency charge to life, something no other woman had ever achieved. Why did this human woman arouse him when none of the Realm-women had come close? Another mystery.
If he didn’t know better, he’d swear the woman had been after him all these months, from the time he’d made eye-contact with her in one of her university classes.
He’d been speaking on the subject of profiling violent criminals and her auburn hair and her pale beauty had been a beacon in a class of five hundred, drawing his attention back to her again and again. But Charlotte had no guile, which was something he loved about her. She didn’t play games. She was forthright, said what she meant and meant what she said. He respected the hell out of her and maybe that was what had gotten him worked up to a fever pitch, why he’d broken his vow to keep women out of his private Maris Sol domicile, and why his mating frequency throbbed deep within.
He tried to calm down the demanding vibrations, but having his mating vibration on fire like this felt damn good and had him hard as a rock. So, he just let things flow.
“Willem,” she whispered, her hands stroking up and down his arms through his leather jacket. She squeezed his muscles and he flexed for her, showing off his strength. He felt as though every cell in his body reached for this young woman. But why did a full-blooded human have the ability to arouse his mating vibration?
From that first talk in her class, he’d been watching her for months, attracted to her like night to his vampire soul. He’d even put together a file on her. Working for the Grochaire Realm Investigative Unit, he had a dozen ways to build a profile and he’d used those talents to get to know the woman long before he invited her out to the club tonight.
She had ambition even though her life so far had been tragic. Her birth family had been no picnic. Her dad had been an abusive drunk and one too many beers while out boating had led to the deaths of both parents and a younger brother. Charlotte had made other plans that summer day, leaving her orphaned. Since she’d been sixteen, she’d lived on her own for eight years now.
So, yeah, he respected her.
He just hadn’t thought that the first time he actually took her out on a date would lead to holding her in his arms beneath a sky full of stars.
He continued to kiss up and down her throat, the sweet smell of her blood thick in his nostrils. All mastyr vampires suffered as he did, with chronic abdominal pain and cramping, the apparent balancing force for the power each accrued with a rise to mastyr status. He’d used a doneuse before he’d taken Charlotte out because he didn’t want to be desperate, but damn, he wanted to drink from her, to taste what he could smell, to find out if her wisteria scent also flavored the elixir of her veins.
He’d never smelled blood like hers before.
And this would be a virgin strike. She’d never donated to a vampire before. She’d already told him she was willing, but what right did he have to take this human’s blood, to be with this human, someone he just met? No right at all.
Old feelings of unworthiness surfaced, like the jagged edge of a rock.
He should stop right now, take her home, then call one of the women he’d used for years, who happily donated to relieve his mastyr suffering.
Yet, he couldn’t seem to help himself. Charlotte was what he wanted, what he seemed to need desperately right now. But he had to make sure she wasn’t feeling pressured. “We don’t have to do this, any of it.” He rubbed his hands up and down her back while he spoke. “I need you to know that. There’s no obligation here.” If he took her blood, sex would follow. He desired her fiercely and he wanted to be buried inside her when he took from her vein.
Even the thought of it made him nuzzle against her cheek. He repressed a groan.
She lifted her face to his, the scent of her desire perfuming the air. Yet he felt her concern as well, probably questioning that she should even be here. And Goddess knew he wouldn’t blame her if she shut everything down and told him to take her home.
“The wind has whipped up my hair.”
Though it wasn’t an answer, he nodded. “Yes, it has.” She had beautiful auburn hair, layered in soft curls and now moving with the ocean breeze. Her skin looked like cream poured from a cold pitcher. Her softly arched brows framed her features. She was so beautiful. Something in his chest ached as he looked at her.
“I’d love to see your house, Willem. Why don’t we go inside?”
Okay, that was an answer and this time a faint moan left his throat.
He stared into glittering brown eyes, wondering if the woman had bewitched him. Although right now, he didn’t care if she had.
He held out an arm, the standard vampire invitation to hop on board. She stepped onto his right booted foot, settling herself against him as he slid his arm tight around her waist, her satchel over her shoulder.
Once secured, he rose easily into the air, straight up to the bluff then forward onto the paved, front walk. Shrubs framed the house, none of them taller than three feet to obscure the ocean view.
Setting her on her feet, he led her to the front door. For reasons he couldn’t explain, that also added to the mysterious feel of the date, he felt he needed to make his confession. “I don’t usually bring my dates here.”
Nearing the threshold, she turned toward him, her brows high on her forehead. “You don’t? Why not?”
He wasn’t sure how to answer the question. “I don’t know. It generally doesn’t quite feel right.”
“But it feels right now?”
“As strange as it seems, it does.” Then it came to him: His entire experience with Charlotte, from first seeing her a few months ago in her classroom until this moment felt laden with a true realm quality, something fated.
And that’s why he’d brought her here.
He opened the door, letting her cross the threshold first and once he closed out the off-shore breeze, she combed her hair with her fingers, settling it down.
What would she think of his home and why did everything feel so damned important right now, as though he needed her to like what she saw and to feel comfortable, to want to stay?
But he had to make the offer. “I can take you home if you want.”
* * * * * * * * *
Charlotte worked to calm her nerves. In other circumstances, with another man, the idea of ending up at her date’s home, on a first-date, would have been unthinkable. Yet with Willem, she felt as though she’d known him for years. Sure, she’d done a mountain of Realm Internet research on him so that she felt as though she had a solid idea about his character and his temperament. But something else was helping her to feel safe, something she could only describe as very Realm-ish.
Mastyr Willem was tall at six-five, heavily muscled, and if she hadn’t trusted him as much as she did, she would n
ever have let him take her to such an isolated location. From the flight in, she’d seen that the nearest house was a quarter mile away.
Yet she trusted him in that way, that he would never hurt her. Never.
But, Sweet Goddess — as realm-folk liked to say — he was one tall drink of water. He had eyes she could get lost in. They were hazel, a beautiful blend of gray and green surrounded by thick black lashes. His dark brown hair was always in sexy disarray and he used his hands often to push it away from his face. He always wore a snug, two-inch leather band on his left wrist, with a silver hook closure.
She felt drawn to him on every level, as though he’d been made for her. But the man was a vampire and she’d always planned on returning to her home in Lebanon, Tennessee once she’d finished her studies. She’d thought of her several-year stint at Grochaire U as temporary. Yet, here was Willem, a huge surprise in her life in every way imaginable because after about five minutes of being with him she’d become determined to end up in his bed.
On their first date.
And that was a rule she never broke.
Yet for Willem, she felt ready to break a lot of rules, like never donating to vampires.
She didn’t know what it was, but she wanted him tapping into her vein and taking his fill. Her heart even labored being this close to him, as though longing for him to release his fangs and have at her.
He smelled amazing as well, like a rich cologne laced with the smell of the sea as it crashed over the shoreline.
When Willem started to remove his black leather jacket, she shifted a little more in his direction and didn’t bother to hide her interest. He wore a sexy snug black T-shirt that clung to his muscled warrior’s body like a second skin.
Her lips parted as her gaze drifted slowly over his massive pecs, shoulders, and biceps. He wore tailored slacks and a black leather woven belt. He lifted a hand to push his hair back, which of course caused all those tempting muscles to flex.
He smiled, that big gorgeous smile of his, completely aware of her perusal. Somehow she managed to draw air into her lungs as she settled her satchel at the foot of the table. He turned and hung up his coat on a peg by the door, which of course gave her another exquisite view of broad shoulders and tight buttocks.