“Yes, but I hold the right to attempt to change your mind.”
Knowing just how difficult his concession had been, Juliet readily smiled, her hands drifting down his bare back in a sweet promise.
“Agreed.”
Shivering in ready response, he brushed his lips over the soft skin of her temple, sensing the rapid beat of her pulse. The hunger to taste her blood was near unbearable, but he ignored his ravaging thirst.
“I have conceded to your demands, little one. Now it is your turn.”
“Does this compromise include removing my robe?” she husked.
He chuckled. “It is my robe, although what is mine is now yours, and it most certainly is going to be removed.”
She allowed her nails to scrape lightly over his skin, the sensation sending pleasure jolting through him.
“So confident, my lord?”
He pressed a hard, hungry kiss on her lips before pulling back to regard her with a brooding gaze.
“Desperate. But that is not the compromise I speak of.”
“Then what do you desire of me?”
“I want you to leave Hawthorne,” he said, his voice revealing he was unwilling to bargain on this point. “Your place is in this lair with me.”
“But our bonding is not yet complete,” she said softly. “Would that not mean we were living in sin?”
He frowned at her foolish words. The connection between them was sacred.
“You are my mate.”
“But you are not yet my mate.”
A bleak, ruthless pain spread through his body. He had rarely given thought to taking a mate. Most vampires never encountered the one destined to make them whole. But on the few occasions he had considered the possibility, he had never envisioned binding himself to a woman who did not desire him in return.
“I see.”
She bit her lower lip at his frigid tone, her expression rueful.
“I do not think that you do, Victor, and it’s no wonder. I am making a complete muddle of this.”
“Of your wish to return to Hawthorne?”
“Of my very awkward proposal.”
“Proposal?”
She licked her lips, the nervous gesture astonishingly charming.
“Victor, would you be my mate?”
A wary hope replaced the icy chill of rejection, although he was careful to hide it behind a scowl. He might be mated, but that did not mean he had lost all pride.
“Juliet?”
Her breath caught, a hint of distress marring her beautiful face. “What? Did I do something wrong? Are women not allowed to—”
He captured her lips in a kiss of urgent longing, allowing her to feel just how desperately he wanted to complete their bonding.
“You are certain?” he muttered between frenzied kisses. “The mating is irrevocable.”
Her hands moved in a restless path up and down his back, each caress sending sizzling sparks of heat through his body.
“This mating has been irrevocable from the beginning,” she muttered.
“Thank the gods.” Kissing a path along her jaw, he paused to revel in the poignant scent of peaches and willing woman. “I did not believe you would ever come to your senses.”
She chuckled. “There are many who would claim I have lost them completely.”
He pulled back, his fangs throbbing in protest. This was too important a moment to rush.
“And what of you, little one?”
“Me?”
“Does the thought of becoming my mate please you?”
Her expression was somber as she framed his face in her hands. “Victor, since my parents’ death I have sought a place to call home.”
He frowned at the tender ache he could feel blooming in the center of her heart. It bothered him that he was helpless to protect her from the wounds of the past.
“You have never revealed how your parents were killed,” he said gently.
She winced, but she did not pull away. A victory, considering Juliet had never before trusted him enough to share her secrets.
“My father was considered beautiful, even among the fey,” she said, her voice so low even his acute hearing struggled to catch the words.
His gaze skimmed over her delicate features, lingering on the wide emerald eyes that spoke of her fey blood.
“That I well believe.”
A tremor shook her slender body, her nails unconsciously digging into his back. It was a pain Victor welcomed, wishing he could take away her wounds.
“Unfortunately, he attracted the attention of Morgana le Fey.”
Victor was startled by the mention of the queen. It had been centuries since she had retreated behind her protective mists.
“I did not know she ever left Avalon.”
“It was rumored she was hunting for some mystical weapon that is destined to kill her.” The emerald eyes flashed with a long-brewing hatred. “Instead she found my father.”
“And desired to take him as her lover.”
“Yes.”
Victor had heard rumors of the queen’s insatiable lust for beautiful men, as well as her habit of treating them like pretty baubles that were inevitably destroyed when she grew bored.
Juliet’s father had been destined for death from the moment he had caught the eye of the fickle Morgana le Fey.
“I presume your father declined her royal invitation?”
“He was not foolish enough to publicly reject her, but he attempted to flee with my mother and myself.”
“Morgana was no doubt displeased.”
“She commanded that we be hunted down and slaughtered.”
Victor flinched as his bond with Juliet allowed him to feel the savage intensity of her loss.
“They died to protect you.”
“Yes.” Her gaze lowered, as if she could hide the tears that filled her eyes. “They died and I was alone.”
“Never again,” Victor swore, cupping her chin and lifting her face until he could capture her bruised gaze. “I will be at your side for all eternity.”
Her hands swept up his back, the shadows lingering in her eyes.
“Victor.”
“Yes, my love?”
“I want you to be my mate.”
A fierce surge of savage hunger combined with pure joy in a potent explosion that left Victor reeling from the impact. Suddenly he felt as uncertain and awkward as a newly turned fledgling.
“Now?” he husked.
A smile of pure invitation curved her lips. “Now.”
“Bloody hell.”
Any hope of a slow, dignified mating that would reveal to Juliet just how much she meant to him was lost as he muttered a curse and swept her heavy curtain of hair to one side, exposing the vulnerable curve of her neck.
He had an eternity to prove just how much he adored her.
For now, he was desperate to make this woman his.
His lover, his partner, his mate.
With one smooth strike his fangs slid easily through her skin, the taste of her blood hitting his tongue with staggering force.
It was perfect.
She was perfect.
Juliet moaned as he fed from her throat, her hands impatiently lowering to tug at his pants, her body arching in silent need. A need that Victor was quite eager to sate.
Reaching down, he ripped off the pants with one vicious jerk and tugged open her robe until there was nothing left between them. They were skin to skin, her delectable heat wrapping around him.
Allowing himself one precious moment to savor the anticipation, Victor chuckled softly as Juliet wrapped her legs around his hips with obvious impatience.
“Victor . . . please.”
Victor reluctantly tugged his fangs from her neck, using his tongue to close the bleeding wounds. He could not afford to be greedy. Not when Juliet was determined to rescue the ridiculous gargoyle. Any loss of blood might weaken her.
Besides, there was more than one means of being a part of her.
r />
“Yes, little one,” he husked, settling between her spread legs and entering her with a slow, steady thrust.
Closing his eyes in pure bliss, Victor sent up a prayer of thanks to whatever god had seen fit to bless him with this beautiful, magnificent woman.
Chapter Seven
After a hot bath, Juliet pulled on a clean smock and pants that Victor had borrowed from the son of one of his vast stable of human servants. Like all vampires, he considered any sort of manual labor as being beneath him.
Unfortunately, he also possessed the vampire habit of forbidding any mirrors to be brought into their lair.
Brushing out her tangled curls, she awkwardly pulled her hair into a braid and tied it off with a thin strip of leather. No doubt she could have requested Victor to assist her, but she sensed that such an intimate act would soon have led them to the wide bed just behind her.
It was not that she wasn’t eager to feel Victor’s arms around her. Or to experience the intoxicating pleasure of having him feed from her vein. Good Lord, if she had a choice she would keep the delectable vampire in this private lair for the next century.
Unfortunately, the same bonds that allowed her to sense Victor’s unwavering love and commitment for her also revealed his heavy sense of duty.
He was clan chief. And that meant ridding London of the Jinn before the powerful demon could bring harm to Victor’s vampires.
“Juliet.”
The sound of Levet’s voice whispering through her head had Juliet on her feet, her heart slamming against her ribs in startled surprise.
“Levet,” she breathed, ignoring his rude intrusion as a wave of relief rushed through her. “Oh, thank God. I have been so worried.”
“Indeed?” the gargoyle said peevishly. “If you were so excessively worried then why have you not yet rescued me?”
“You might have mentioned that your captor is a full-blooded Jinn,” she snapped, stung by his unfair accusation.
“Ah . . . well, I . . .” He coughed in embarrassment. “Does it truly matter?”
“Does it matter? I very nearly was skewered by a bolt of lightning. If it had not been for Victor I would not have survived to rescue you.”
“Sacre bleu. Why would you tell the bloodsucker that I was captured?” Levet demanded in a horrified voice.
“It was not as if I had a choice. He followed me to the docks.”
“That is no excuse for revealing my very private business. I thought our trust was sacred.”
“Do you wish to be rescued or not, Levet?”
“Oui, but I do not desire to be made the source of mockery throughout London.”
Juliet thrust aside her annoyance, reminding herself that the tiny gargoyle was inordinately sensitive when it came to his manly reputation.
“I can promise you that Victor will tell no one you were captured by the Jinn,” she soothed.
There was a moment of startled silence. “Since when do you speak for the vampires, ma belle?” Levet at last demanded.
“Just be patient. I am coming for you,” she said, in no mood to endure her friend’s outrage when he discovered her recent mating.
Levet detested vampires.
“Please hurry,” he said, then without warning his scream of pain echoed through Juliet’s mind.
“Levet?” She grasped her head, her ears ringing. “Levet?”
“That bastard just destroyed my wing,” Levet panted, clearly in considerable agony. “When I get free I am going to turn him into a pile of steaming fairy dung. No . . . wait. Let us be reasonable—”
There was another scream and with an unpleasant wrench the sensation of the gargoyle was abruptly gone from her mind.
“Levet?”
She was distracted as the door to the lair was shoved open with enough force to make it snap off the heavy iron hinges, revealing Victor with his eyes glowing and his fangs fully extended.
“What has happened?” he growled. “I felt your distress.”
Juliet shivered, caught between a terrified awe at Victor’s power and a smug pleasure at the knowledge he would battle through the fires of hell to protect her.
“Levet,” she said, forced to halt and clear her throat. “We have to find him.”
Not surprisingly, Victor’s brows snapped together at the mention of the gargoyle.
“I should have known the ridiculous creature would be troubling you the moment the sun set.”
“He has been hurt.”
He planted his fists on his hips, the long caped coat doing little to disguise the various swords and daggers strapped to his lean body. With his hair pulled back to reveal the elegant beauty of his pale face and the lethal shimmer in the silver eyes, he appeared to be an ancient god come to earth.
“I do not care.”
She lifted a warning brow. “Victor.”
His jaw tightened, but with a muttered curse he turned to lead her down a narrow corridor to a door hidden by a cleverly woven enchantment.
“The carriage is waiting for us.”
Ignoring his cold disapproval, Juliet smiled wryly and followed him through the narrow tunnels that crisscrossed beneath the vast estate. Despite their intense connection, they were both strong-willed individuals who were destined to quarrel on occasion. And while she might not have much experience with being a mate, she did know that Victor’s natural arrogance would overwhelm a woman who did not have a stiff backbone.
“Good,” she said. “I need to return to Justin’s house before we go to the docks.”
“Why?”
“Because there is an amulet that might be helpful to us.”
He turned into another tunnel, this one with a flight of stairs at the end.
“What is its power?”
“It is capable of absorbing our scent.”
He paused at the base of the stairs, glancing over his shoulder in puzzlement.
“Forgive my ignorance, but how would that be helpful?”
She shrugged. “It can be divided and left in several tunnels, ensuring our scents are in many places instead of just one.”
The silver eyes flashed in appreciation. “Clever.”
“We shall see.” She grimaced. “First I must find the means to take the amulet without alerting Justin. It is one of his more valuable possessions.”
He turned to smoothly climb the carved stairs, pushing open the trapdoor at the top.
“You have no need to fear Hawthorne.”
Juliet gritted her teeth as she hurried to catch up with her aggravating mate, not surprised when she stepped directly into the stables. Vampires delighted in being able to travel from place to place without fear of sunlight.
“Victor?”
He inspected the sleek black carriage that was already attached to a pair of restless black steeds.
“Yes, little one?”
“You are feeling remarkably smug,” she accused. “What have you done to Justin?”
He turned to meet her frown, casually leaning against the back of the carriage.
“Hawthorne arrived at the front door demanding to see you.”
She shook her head, not surprised by Justin’s brazen stupidity. Indeed, she had expected him to arrive hours ago. Not out of any love for her, but out of sheer greed. And, of course, a petty refusal to allow Victor to steal what he considered to be his personal property.
“Is he . . .”
“Dead? No, but he was foolish enough to threaten Uriel with a nasty spell.” A cruel smile touched his lips. “My servant decided the intruder was in need of a lesson in manners.”
A chill inched down her spine. “I do not think I want to know.”
“He will survive.” With a sudden motion, Victor straightened and opened the door to the carriage. “Which is more than he deserves.”
Rolling her eyes, Juliet climbed into the carriage, waiting until Victor was settled at her side before offering her opinion on overly arrogant men.
“I am not certain who are
more annoying, vampires or mages.”
He flashed a smile that would have been a great deal more reassuring if it had not revealed his massive fangs.
“You shall have an eternity to decide, my love.”
She settled back in the soft leather of the seat as she watched several vampires appear from the shadows, one climbing on the carriage to urge the horses into motion while the others ran silently at their side. It would be a waste of breath to continue the argument. Besides, Justin no doubt deserved a bit of punishment for being idiotic enough to enter a vampire’s lair uninvited.
Leaving the estate, the vampires once again disappeared, no doubt headed directly for the docks while the carriage turned toward Mayfair. Their pace slowed as the streets became flooded with vehicles rushing from one glittering society event to another. Juliet smiled as their frantic gaiety filled the night breeze with the sound of laughter, for once not feeling the least pang of envy.
She at last had what she had always desired.
A home with a man she loved beyond all reason.
They halted just long enough for Juliet to dash into Justin’s townhouse and retrieve the amulet she had discovered during their travels through Spain. Then, returning to the carriage, she used the short time during the drive to the docks to activate the amulet with her and Victor’s scents before splitting it into several small pieces and handing half of them to Victor to spread through the tunnels.
All too soon they had reached the docks, and not giving herself the opportunity to consider just how insane it was to deliberately enter the lair of a Jinn, she shoved open the door and climbed out of the carriage.
In the blink of an eye, Victor was standing in front of her, his expression somber as he wrapped his arms around her in a protective motion.
“Juliet.”
She tilted back her head to meet the fierce emotions smoldering in his silver eyes.
“Must we repeat the same arguments yet again?” she asked softly.
“If you are harmed it will destroy me, little one.”
Her heart melted at the stark simplicity of his words. Lifting her hand, she pressed her palm against the cool skin of his cheek.
“I promise to take the greatest care.”
“You free the gargoyle and leave the docks. Do you understand?”
“Very well, but if you do not return to me—”