She couldn’t see Aric’s reaction from here, but she imagined him nodding magnanimously and walking away gracefully because there were no more words exchanged before Garret clicked the door closed again. And this time he didn’t lock it, so all must’ve really been well.
He still wore a slight frown of confusion as his gaze lingered on the door, but Garret’s shoulders had relaxed and the hiss had died in his throat. “You make me crazy, you know,” he said through a teasing smile as he set the picture frame she’d gifted him onto the desk against the wall. Then Garret stood beside the bed and pulled off his shirt.
She was nearly dumbfounded by his sexy back, but shook her head hard to rattle her thoughts loose. “What do you mean I make you crazy? The crazy trophy just went to Aric, not me.”
“No, I mean you have me feeling like I want to fight all the time now, always looking for things to defend you from.”
“It’ll be even worse when we adopt our pot-bellied pig.”
Garret snorted and sank onto his bed, leaned back on locked arms, and jerked his chin, inviting her closer. He had one knee drawn up, one leg dangling off the bed, and his abs flexed with each breath he took. A leather necklace trailed down his chest and rested in the defined indentation between his pecs. The leather was old, stiff, and from the end, metal glistened in the dim lamplight.
She’d never seen it before. Slowly, she approached and settled onto the mattress between his legs. She hesitated only a moment before she fingered the etched metal. It was crude and lumpy, but it seemed to be some sort of cat with fangs. The eyes were black except for a tiny glint of silver in each. Chills rippled up her arm from where she touched it.
“What is it?” she asked softly.
“Protection,” he murmured. “It was a gift from my chieftain after I survived injuries I shouldn’t have in a raid. I had protected him, and together we made our way through a shield wall. I was supposed to die protecting him. He said I had the spirit of a wild thing and gave me the name Geir the Destroyer. He made me this and told me I would know what to do with it when the time came. I never knew what that meant until now.”
Dawn canted her head and looked up from the metal. “What will you do with it?”
Garret rocked forward and lifted the necklace over his head, then put it around her neck and settled it gently against the fabric of her dress. “It’ll protect you now.”
Stunned, Dawn clenched the metal in her hand. It felt warm already. It felt like it belonged there near her heart. “I’ll keep it safe for always,” she promised.
Garret smiled slightly and brushed her hair off one shoulder, then cupped her neck, right over the leather strap. “We didn’t give rings.” He lifted his dark gaze to hers. “Do you understand?”
The blood drained from Dawn’s face as shock settled in, leaving her skin feeling prickly. Wide-eyed, she looked down at the metal talisman on her palm. This wasn’t just an old necklace. It was one he’d kept for hundreds of years for this moment, to gift it to her. It was a declaration bigger than any promise ring, or any words he could say.
“I’m yours,” she whispered.
“And I’m yours,” he murmured. “My body is for your protection, my heart is for you to hold, my nights are yours, and my days, too. You can have whatever parts of me you want.”
“All of you,” she said on a breath. “I want all of you.”
His smile stretched a little wider, and he nodded once. “Then all of me belongs to you. This will be my final lifetime, Dawn. I’ve waited for you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I’ll enjoy every moment of your mortal life with you, and when you are a hundred and don’t wake up anymore, Aric will end my life. Whatever afterlife there is, I’ll be ready for it with you.”
“Garret,” she whispered, her vision blurring with the burning tears that filled her eyes. She didn’t like when he talked about this, but he sounded so confident, so sure. He had thought this through and was giving up what he could for her—his immortality. Perhaps it wasn’t as big a deal to him because he hadn’t wanted it in the first place, but this was a big sacrifice. He’d lived so long, and now he was anchoring himself to one remaining lifetime. She imagined such a short amount of time passed in the blink of an eye to a vampire.
It was the greatest gift anyone could’ve ever offered her.
Dawn slid her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. She stared at the picture of them on the desk and shook her head at how lucky she’d gotten. She’d known he was a huge element meant to be in her life, but she hadn’t realized anything could feel this deep and this right. Garret was everything.
She eased back and kissed him hard, tight lipped and impassioned because she couldn’t believe how incredible he was. How incredible this building bond was that she could feel growing inside of her.
She loved him. She loved him with every fiber of her being, and part of her was terrified of taking a leap like this. But then there was a part of her that had been opening up since the day she’d met him, and that part had started out just a dark smudge deep inside of her, but had grown brighter and more vibrant with everything she learned about Garret. And now it was maybe the biggest part of her. Maybe it was hope. Maybe Garret was the realization that she wasn’t alone on this earth anymore and would always be there for her. Perhaps it was the bond Sadey had talked about having with Aric. Or maybe she’d been broken somewhere along the way as the men in her life had left her one by one. Maybe Garret had been the cure to make her whole again. Maybe this humming, warm sensation was him putting her together again, piece by flawed piece until she made sense again.
Or maybe it was happiness.
“Shhh, don’t cry,” he murmured against her lips as he rubbed her back gently.
Caring man. He was Geir the Destroyer to Asmund, but to her, he was Garret the Gentle.
Mine. This man is mine to protect always. Her nights would be spent bathing in joy, and her days would be spent sleeping and protecting the vampire she adored.
Dawn didn’t use his knee to lean on like she always did for feedings. This one would be different. It would be bigger. It would weld their souls to each other. Dawn straddled his hips and parted her lips, dipped her tongue shallowly into his mouth. Garret’s grasp went tight on her back, and he dragged her against his erection with a feral sound in his throat. His body was fluid against hers as he rolled his hips.
She hadn’t worn panties tonight on purpose, and when Garret cupped her sex and smiled against her lips, she knew she’d made the right decision. He dragged his fingers through the wetness he’d been creating between her thighs while Dawn worked biting kisses down his neck to tease him. Garret reached to her back and slid the zipper down slowly, then pulled the straps of her dress forward and exposed her breasts to his cool palms. Dawn arched back and rolled her eyes closed as he dipped his lips to her nipple and drew her into his mouth. He licked her in languid strokes until she was drawn into a tight, needy bud. “Oh,” she murmured softly as he rolled his hips against her again.
Could she come against his pants right now? Hell yes. Did she want to finish without him buried deep inside of her. Not a chance. Reaching between them she popped open the fly of his jeans and pulled his thick erection out of his briefs. Already, he was hard as stone and engorged for her.
She pulled a long stroke of his dick and immediately felt his teeth on her breast. For a moment, she considered asking him to feed there, just to see what it would be like, but Garret had other plans. He flipped her over on the bed so fast her stomach dipped. He dragged her roughly to the edge of the mattress and rested her knees over his shoulders. When she realized what he meant to do, she instinctively sat up to deny him. Garret’s hand was there, soothing, firm against her belly as he dragged his tongue up her slit, then sucked gently on her sensitive nub.
Fuuuuuuck, okay this was happening. Dawn flopped back on the mattress as if she had no muscles at all. Already with three, four, five licks, Garret
had the lower two-thirds of her body engulfed in pleasure. He was creating a ball of erotic heat that was expanding by the moment and taking her over completely. He worked her clit like he knew exactly what her body craved, eased off, grazed a fanged kiss against her inner thigh, and then moved back to eating her.
Ooooh, he was preparing her for what was coming, but for the life of her she couldn’t tell whether she was supposed to be scared or turned the hell on. Right now, this was the sexiest thing she’d ever been a part of. There was no fear, only growing excitement about the oncoming orgasm and the sting of fangs she would feel. She couldn’t even imagine the endorphins he would pump into her system, but she was desperate to find out.
Her hands in his hair, she grabbed the back of his head and rocked her hips the next time he sucked on her clit. Garret reacted by plunging his tongue deep inside of her. She was floating on a high of absolute ecstasy, writhing against him, chanting out his name. Orgasm exploded through her in deep pulses, gripping at his tongue. He eased back and sank his teeth into her inner thigh as he worked her clit with his thumb, dragging aftershocks from her as he pierced her skin. The transition was so fast she didn’t register the pain until the numbing sensation Garret gave her with his tongue was already working. She was still panting and twitching as he drank, so she reminded herself to relax. Clenching up would hinder blood flow and make Garret desperate. Already he clung possessively to her leg, and his black eyes flashed intensely at her.
When the last of her aftershocks pulsed softly, Garret released her and licked the puncture wounds until they stopped seeping and closed up.
He stood up, tall and powerful, muscles rigid. His pants were open and hanging low on his thighs as if he’d been getting off while he’d eaten her. His face was twisted and fearsome, and his chest heaved with each breath. His lips glistened with red, but her man wasn’t sated yet—not after such a short feed. Not after he’d gone so long without eating.
Garret shoved her farther up the bed and climbed over her, spread her legs with his knees. Relief washed through her as she lifted up and kissed him. His fangs had grown so sharp, and she offered him her neck as he rocked against her body, pushing the head of his cock into her by inches. Fuck, he was perfect. Perfect width, perfect length, big, but he didn’t hurt her.
Garret gripped the back of her neck and plunged his tongue into her mouth, ignoring her offered neck, forcing the copper flavor onto her taste buds. God, she loved this. Loved that Garret the Gentle was giving way to the destroyer.
Fearsome creature devoted to her.
Protective creature offering her all of him.
Mine, mine, mine…
Dawn closed her eyes to the room to give her body completely to sensation and clamped her teeth onto his neck. There was warmth against her chest—something burning like an ember. The talisman was on fire. Garret pressed harder into her, stretching her and stealing her attention.
“Oh!” she cried as he hit her sensitive clit. She was going to come again. “Garret!”
His body was water against hers. Stone hard and powerful, but with the grace of ocean waves as he slid deeply into her, then pulled out, never stopping the rhythm, never slowing.
When she bit down harder on his throat, he snarled a feral sound and gripped her neck tighter. He reared back and slammed into her. She was close. Too close. It shouldn’t have happened again so fast, but Garret was so fucking good at this. He knew exactly how to draw pleasure from her body.
“I’m coming again,” she gasped out to warn him.
Garret reacted by slamming into her faster and gritting his teeth, closing his dark eyes to the world, and now he was the one yelling out her name mindlessly. He sank his teeth into her neck without hesitation like their normal feedings. He bucked deeply into her again, and then he was coming with her, shooting heat inside her, filling her while he took from her. This was the trade, and she loved it. He came so much that it spilled out of her and made a warm puddle on the mattress under her, but still he didn’t stop. With a grunt, he pushed her farther up the bed with his powerful thrusts as her body shattered around him. Dawn dug her nails into his back and raked downward as she cried out.
Garret buried himself and froze as he fed. A few long, hard sucks, and his thrusts went shallow, stayed buried deep, hit her clit in short bursts as she twitched against him. As the pulsing between her legs faded at last, Garret released her neck and licked the marks there until there was no trickle of warmth, no pain.
She ran her fingertip across his cheek and smiled at the vivid green color that was there now. His pupils were still blown out, but the color meant he was sated and back to himself.
“I’ve missed you,” she whispered. It wasn’t enough. She should’ve told him what she meant. She should’ve explained she had missed the green color in his eyes and the way his shoulders stayed relaxed when he was well-fed.
But Garret smiled like he understood.
And then he kissed her gently and murmured something in a language she didn’t understand. She could guess at his sentiments though.
“I’ve missed you, too.”
Chapter Nine
Garret pressed the heels of his hands over his eyes and grimaced at the monster headache pounding behind his eyes. What the fuck had happened?
He remembered biting Dawn, but then his bedroom had faded away to leave his old house in Norway in its place. Every detail was the same, from Torunn’s herbs hanging on the rafters above and the stack of metal plates near the wash bin to the scratched wood floors he’d carried in and secured one-by-one and the table he’d made with his own two hands. It had been midday, and dust was swirling in little tornados in the rays of sunlight filtering through the window. The cabin had been bathed in shades of blue, and under him had been Torunn. He’d just spilled his seed inside of her. They’d been trying for a baby.
“I missed you,” she’d murmured.
And he got it. It was autumn, and he’d been away conquering lands at his king’s side. He’d missed her, too. Missed this. Missed fucking and having moments of normal after all of the fights and bloodshed of the raids.
But the second he told her that, the cabin had faded away, and he was covering Dawn in his bedroom. She was looking up at him, the pain of betrayal a deep well in her pretty blue eyes.
How had that happened? He hadn’t ever lost his mind like that before, and now this headache? Something was wrong. Something was happening that he didn’t understand.
Garret swallowed hard and rested his elbows on his knees as he stared at the bathroom door. Dawn had gone in there and hadn’t come out yet. He could see her shadow move in the light that leaked from underneath the door, but he didn’t want to rush her.
She was hurt. She’d known he was talking to Torunn and not to her. He’d basically called her by another woman’s name. His regret was infinite. It had been a mistake. He didn’t see Torunn in her. They looked similar, but they weren’t the same, and now he was fucking panicking. He didn’t want her to leave because of a mistake.
And why the fuck did his head hurt so bad? It pounded like someone was taking an ax to his skull over and over again. He winced away from the line of yellow light under the bathroom door. Aric had acted strange, Sadey, too, and if he opened up the door to his mind, he could feel Asmund there, so close, watching and waiting.
Watching him. Watching the coven. Watching Dawn.
Asmund had done this. He’d manipulated his mind and hurt his Dawn, and that was where the headache had come from. This wasn’t the first time Asmund had filled his head, and the residual pounding ache felt just the same as before.
Garret needed to talk to Aric. He needed to tell him that Asmund had power in the coven house and ask him to send out search parties tonight. Garret had been going out every chance he got to search the dark crevices all around Winterset, hoping to find the monster’s temporary lair. Asmund had been smart, moving every night. Already Garret had found two of his sleeping places by opening his mind
just a little to the bond his maker had forged between them the day he created him. Garret had learned over the centuries to block him out, to shut down the bond between son and origin, and it was dangerous opening up to Asmund, but he would do anything to keep Dawn safe. He could close in on his maker tonight with help from the coven. If they covered enough ground, they could find him, and end him.
Garret wasn’t prey.
It wasn’t in him to sit around and see what treachery Asmund was planning.
He was the hunter instead.
Garret stood and leaned on the bathroom doorway, frowned at the closed door. What could he say through this barrier that would make her pain go away? He’d never been good with tears, and Dawn was a tender soul.
He’d waited so long to finally touch her and tell her how he felt, but their relationship had been born during the chaos of Asmund, and until the monster was dead, she wouldn’t be safe from pain. Until he was ashes, she wouldn’t be safe from the tears.
Garret shoved off the frame and strode for the bedroom door.
Words couldn’t fix this.
The best thing he could do for Dawn was drive a stake through his maker’s heart.
Chapter Ten
What the hell was that? Dawn traced the burn on her chest with a light touch. It hurt so badly. Desperate to see it better, she leaned forward against the sink in the bathroom, but she didn’t have a reflection. Shit, it was flipped to vamp mode. She jammed the button on the side, and the lighting in the bathroom changed, the purple tone fading from the mirror to reveal her image. She hadn’t any guess how vampires had fixed their hair before these mirrors were invented.
Squinting, she leaned forward and stared at the burn on her chest. The talisman had singed a perfect cat shape at the top of her cleavage. Mother fucker. She lifted the necklace and studied the small hunk of metal, but it was cool to the touch and harmless looking.