Celia

This all felt a bit crazy and out of control. Before we left, we’d shoved our pockets full of cereal bars that Amelia had squirreled away in her room. She didn’t always eat the food they gave her, but she was smart enough to keep it with her rather than letting them take it away.

I wasn’t sure how long we’d be out here, on the run, so I was glad we had food. And Idris…well, he had me.

I held him tighter and marveled at the feel of his strong body cutting through the trees and underbrush with ease. He didn’t seem to tire, and we’d been going for a good hour. I was sore as hell from hanging on, but I didn’t dare make a peep. While he did have vampire strength, he was still carrying two humans—the least I could do is hang on. I locked my arms and ankles and closed my eyes.

Keno had been thrilled to hear what I’d told him. He eagerly deployed his soldiers, muttering about taking down the Gregorie king. And then he’d left, saying he planned to go visit Idris himself. That was when they’d thrown me in with Amelia, where I was so sick to my stomach, I could barely think.

Amelia had noticed my trembling, my near panic attack, but I couldn’t say anything, knowing we were being watched. So all I could do was hold her, and in turn, she’d stolen my heart, her sweet little voice lulling me into some sort of peace.

When I’d heard thumps outside, I’d been fucking terrified, until that door opened and Idris was in the hallway.

Then the beginning circle of yellow began to appear on the horizon, and I realized it wasn’t Idris’s stamina I had to worry about. It was the fucking sun. We had to find cover, quick. Idris saw it, too, because he cursed under his breath and began to sprint faster, which I didn’t even think was possible. I glanced around, but all I could see was trees, trees and a rocky rising to our left. Idris took a sharp turn, heading right for it at a blinding speed.

“Idris!” I said, not understanding why we were approaching a rock face without slowing down.

Then he stuck his wrist out, the wall shimmered, and Amelia screeched as we walked right through the wall. It sealed up behind us and we were plunged into darkness. Inside a rocky mountain. What the hell?

Loud breaths filled the silence, echoing off walls I couldn’t see. Idris helped me off his back, then he said in the darkness, “Don’t move. I’ll get a fire going.”

I reached out and my fingers closed around a hand. Amelia’s. We stood huddled together in the dark while shuffling sounds came from all around us. Finally, a light sparked, a little bit of fire illuminating Idris’s face as he blew on a pile of brush. Once it was ignited, he dropped a couple of twigs on top, then a larger branch. Still crouched by the fire, he beckoned to us. “Come on over.”

I wasn’t cold, but I drew Amelia over to the fire. I gathered some leaves and brush and drew them into a pile so Amelia could lie down.

“We rest here, wait for nightfall, then we head the rest of the way to the Gregorie compound. We’ll be safe there.”

“And we’ll be…welcome there?” I asked.

He didn’t even flinch. “Abso-fucking-lutely.”

Well, that answered that. I looked at Amelia, and her eyes were closing even though she valiantly tried to keep them open. “It’s okay,” I said. “You can sleep.”

She drew her hands under her head and sighed, letting her eyes fall closed. Within minutes she was asleep, her breaths deep and even. I watched the flames flicker over the shadows on her face. She was so young, so peaceful. I wondered if she had the veil, too. Would Keno have put her through the same thing? She’d most likely hit puberty. I could see the faint straps of a bra beneath her shirt meaning…well, she could birth children for whatever Keno was planning. I shuddered, unable to imagine the horrors he would have put us through.

Well, he could still put us through them. No, no, I couldn’t think about that. I had Idris.

I turned to find him watching me where he sat with his back against the wall, knees drawn up. His eyes burned as bright as the flames. For a moment I didn’t move, caught in that wicked gaze. Then I shifted closer to the fire. “When I left that cell, I wasn’t so sure I would see you again.”

He didn’t say anything, only watched me steadily.

I scooted toward him on my knees. “So much could have gone wrong. Keno could have decided not to go. He could have locked me somewhere else, taken Amelia away.”

When I was close, Idris reached for me, tugging me into his lap. I gripped the edges of his shirt. They’d taken his long, beautiful coat, and now all he wore was a bloodstained, ripped T-shirt. He was still handsome, my wild and dark vampire.

“Don’t think about all that could have gone wrong,” he said. “A lot went right, including right now.”

His hands clamped around my hips, and his gaze dipped to my neck. He licked his lips.

“Idris,” I whispered. “Amelia is right there.”

“The cave goes deeper,” he said. “No one can get in here, and I”—a shudder ran through him—“I need you.”

His voice was like hooks in my heart, sinking in, tugging, capturing me and owning me. My body remembered his touch. It hadn’t been so long ago.

“I wish,” he said, pressing a kiss along the hinge of my jaw. “I wish I had time. I want to lay you out on a soft bed, make you come so hard you pass out, then let you soak in a hot tub. I’d point out the bruises I made in your skin, the ones where I gripped you too tight, because I need you that bad, and you need me back. I’d kiss those bruises, and you’d wear them with pride, because I put them there. Me. Only me. Because I’m the only one who touches you, Celia. You understand?”

I could only nod, because I did understand. All this time it was like my body had been lying dormant, only to come alive for Idris. I rolled my hips where they rested in his lap, and he moaned.

I cast a glance at Amelia, but she was asleep, the fire low. I didn’t want to leave her but…“Need you, Celia,” he mumbled against my skin, and when I felt the sharp edge of his teeth on my vein, I was done with hesitation. “Then take me.”

We were airborne in seconds, striding around a bend in the cave so we were out of sight. The fire reflected off the back wall, but it was mostly dark as Idris once again sank down with me on his lap. I loved this position—I could feel his hard shaft nudging me, and I ground myself against it. My blood felt like it was on fire, burning through my veins, eating away at my flesh. “Please, feed from me,” I moaned. It was like my body knew what I needed and directed my brain to do anything it could to get it. I needed Idris. His teeth, his touch, his saliva.

He didn’t keep me waiting, didn’t torture me. He pulled me to him and sank his teeth into my neck.

My eyes rolled back in my head, and I bit my lip to stop myself from crying out and waking Amelia. But it was damn hard when my entire body was singing. I ground my hips into Idris, and the feel of his hard shaft against my aching core was driving me insane. Feeding wouldn’t be enough. I needed him or I’d die. I knew that with a certainty that should have scared me.

Idris drank and drank, his arms around me growing tighter and tighter. He was growling now with every suck, an inhuman sound that turned me on more, vibrating down my spine to make me even wetter.

“Idris, please,” I whined, out of my mind with need.

With a snarling grunt he pulled me off his lap, and his tongue lapped the bite before he shoved me onto my back on a pile of leaves. He tore my jeans down my legs, and maybe I should have been frightened at the intensity of his eyes, the redness that seemed to shine from within. God, he was bigger somehow, his shoulders straining his shirt, his neck veins pulsing—actually pulsing.

But I wasn’t scared. Not at all. I only wanted him more.

He threw my legs over his shoulders and dove between my legs. His tongue surged inside me, and I arched my back, slapping one hand on the ground, the other across my mouth because a scream was rising up my throat. He didn’t stop, didn’t let up. He ate at me like my pussy gave him life, like he’d find the answers to all the world’s problems in the folds of my wet flesh.

I writhed on the floor, abandoning my desire to keep quiet. I couldn’t. All I could do was grip Idris’s hair and grind against his mouth. He nipped at me, and small sucks told me he was drawing blood along my inner thighs, and along the most sensitive parts of me. I loved every minute of it. Every flash of teeth sent me to a higher plane of ecstasy until I wasn’t sure I’d ever come back down. I didn’t want to.

I came on a cry, my hips churning against him as he nuzzled into me, his tongue, nose, teeth, and lips working me over.

I didn’t have time to recover before he was over me, and something hard was pressing at my entrance. I opened my eyes to see Idris’s head bent, watching as the smooth length of his cock slid into me. “So beautiful,” he was saying. “So fucking perfect, little one.”

It was. It was so fucking perfect that a sob began to rise up my throat. I was able to hide my face against Idris’s neck as he gathered me close, because I didn’t want him to see me lose it. I didn’t want him to stop, because the ache was still there, and I knew it wouldn’t go away until he filled me completely, until he released inside me. That was the only way to cool the fire raging in my blood.

Idris pulled his hips back and snapped them into me. I hissed as his thick cock stretched my abused flesh. I could feel every nip as his cock dragged along my skin and each time, I jerked, the sensation like having a dozen clits all over my pussy. Amazing.

He held me close, cradling me to him like I was precious, like I was his everything as he plundered me with everything he had. I held on, opening my mouth against his shoulder and biting down with my blunt teeth. He grunted as I pressed harder, seeking more, seeking everything. The pressure in me was building and building. How could I not see the boiling blood underneath my skin? Surely it was that temperature by now.

Idris pounded into me—harder, harder, the sound of flesh smacking flesh filling the small space. He slipped his thumb inside my mouth and I bit down, needing it, craving it. And just that action sent Idris over the edge. With a roar in my ear, he came, pulsing inside me.

I felt his release flowing through me. And while I’d been a virgin before him, I knew enough to know that wasn’t normal. But Idris’s seed reached everywhere inside me, from fingertip to fingertip, to the top of my head and the bottoms of my feet. He filled me, and it was the only thing that calmed the raging boil in my blood. Finally, finally, I let my head fall back and enjoyed the cleansing rush of it.

I didn’t open my eyes as I felt fingers on my forehead, across my eyes, down my cheeks. Idris was still inside me, and he was still hard, and his large body was still draped over mine.

His lips traced the shell of my ear. “Never thought I’d find this,” he said softly, in a tone devoid of the aggressive, adversarial Idris I’d first met. “Never knew it was possible to feel like this. To crave someone so deeply, to be consumed with it. Every breath I take is for you.”

I opened my eyes to see Idris’s irises a calmer maroon. The heat still lurked there. I could see it swirling, but he now glowed an inner warmth that pierced me. I lifted my hand and cupped his jaw. “I love you.”

He leaned into my touch, and as he did, he began to move his hips. Slowly, oh, so slowly, he canted into me with his still-hard cock, then back out. Again and again, and the whole time, he watched my face. I moved with him, rolling my hips, wanting there to be nowhere inside me that he hadn’t touched.

“Mine,” he whispered, and his hand curled around my neck, thumb over the bite. “Always. And forever. You will be mine, Celia Valerie, do you understand?”

“Yours, Idris,” I answered.

His head descended, and he pressed kisses to my jaw, my lips, nibbling down my neck. “I love how you take me. So tight. So hot. And oh, Celia, your taste. Your taste everywhere.” His hips jerked as if to make a point. “I’m addicted.”

I was going to come again, just from his words, from the slow drag of his cock. I closed my eyes again as this orgasm slowly took me. I came on a soft moan, my fists clenching in Idris’s shirt. This orgasm was less explosive, but it lasted forever, and he fucked me through it, only gaining speed at the end until he, too, came inside me. Again.

My eyelids drooped, and I knew I was losing the battle with sleep. My body was full of Idris, and my blood was sated.

“Sleep, my little one,” Idris said. And just like that, I did.

---

When I woke, it was to Amelia’s curious, sleepy gaze. “Hi,” she said quietly. I was lying on my side next to her. Idris must have moved me. Speaking of…I looked around for him, until Amelia said, “He left to scout the area.”

“Oh,” I said, and I ignored the anxious spike in my chest. Was he okay? Was that safe?

My sister smiled. “He said to tell you not to worry.”

I laughed. “Oh, he thinks he knows me so well?” Who was I kidding—he did. “I know I wasn’t able to tell you about him, and I’m not sure what your father told you about the Gregorie clan…”

“He never told me about them,” she said. “I didn’t know they existed until Keno began to rant about them, and locked me in that room.”

“So you’re not scared of him?”

Amelia hesitated before answering. “I was at first. But then I watched how you were around him, and you aren’t scared of him at all.”

I leaned in closer to her. “Can I tell you a secret?”

She nodded eagerly.

“I was scared of him the first time I met him, too.”

Amelia’s eyes were sparkling in the low light from the rekindled fire. “Really?”

“Really. But he saved my life, and he protected me, and I know he’d never harm me.”

“Do you love him?” she asked, in a voice only a teenage girl who had been isolated all her life could speak.

“I do,” I said. “I love him very much, and when we’re safe, we’ll make a life together. Him and me and you.”

“Me?”

I slid a hand across the dusty stone floor to clasp hers. “You.”

“But I’m a Valarian, and Keno said they’d never acc—”

“Don’t listen to Keno,” I said. “It doesn’t matter. We’ll start a new life. And we’ll be so happy.” My chest felt tight and my throat constricted. “I always wanted a sister.”

“Me, too, and you’re…gosh, you’re more than I dreamed. You’re pretty and brave and selfless.” A tear trickled out of the corner of her eye. “I want to be like you when I grow up.”

I loved her, and it was a burning intensity I’d never really felt in my life…well, since before I met Idris. The love I had for my sister was all-encompassing. I’d do anything for her. “I think you’ll grow up to be an even better person than me.”

She smiled, and a little happy sob escaped just as the portal opened and Idris stepped through in a swirl of leaves. His face was hard, but as soon as he saw us lying on the ground together, a small smile touched his lips, and tenderness slipped over his features like a ray of sun. “Hey, you both sleep well?”

“Yes, thank you.” I sat up. “Everything okay out there?”

A shadow passed over his features. “As far as I can tell, but I’m uneasy. And the longer we stay here, the longer that gives Keno to meet up with the rest of his soldiers. We can’t afford to cross their path.”

I was loath to leave the safety of our little cliff, but he was right. And this safety was only temporary. I wouldn’t get rid of this ball of nerves in my gut until I knew we were ensconced in the Gregorie compound.

My stomach rumbled, and Amelia and I ate the rest of the food we’d taken from her room, as well as the last of her water. It was now or never; we didn’t have rations to stay in here forever. We couldn’t live on blood like Idris could. And I sure as hell wouldn’t be able to give him mine until I was eating.

So once again we set off, me on Idris’s back, and Amelia tucked under his arm. Idris had said we had a couple of hours’ travel time, so I clung to him and hoped my strength held out. I was hungry and thirsty, the half cereal bar and few sips of water I’d shared with Amelia not enough to sustain me for long.

Idris must have seen a landmark he recognized because suddenly he began to run harder. I thought his pants were ones of excitement until a stench hit my nose. I remembered that scent—it’d been in my bedroom a moment before I’d laid eyes on my first Quellen.

“Idris,” I warned, but it didn’t matter. He smelled it, and we had nowhere to turn, not as a group of Quellen dropped from the trees in front of us. Amelia screamed, and Idris whirled around, only to be stopped by Keno standing in front of a dozen men. We were surrounded, and I knew that this wasn’t going to end well with one or all three of us when Keno grinned his evil smile and said softly, “Jackpot.”