CHAPTER NINETEEN

I paced in Draven’s house as I waited for him to come inside. I had no idea what was happening and why he was so angry all of a sudden. When I tried looking out the window, all I saw were two figures standing at the end of his driveway. What was happening? And why was it taking so long?

Since I was taken aback by Draven’s order for me to get in the house, I’d forgotten to actually look at his house when I came inside. I turned around from looking out of the front window and gasped. It was beautiful. I’d expected his house to be beautiful because I figured that a man that lived as long as Draven had to have good taste and not live like a lonely bachelor. Exposed wood beams supported a vaulted ceiling with a stone-walled fireplace that went all the way up. Giant windows overlooked a moonlit view of the Susitna River, and a rustic, wrought iron chandelier sat in the middle of the room with a brown leather couch and matching armchairs below it in a U shape. It was cozy and homey, and instantly I wanted to curl up on the couch with a fire going while reading a book.

“Oh my God,” I said to myself, running my hand along a table behind the couch, wide-eyed as I looked around. I kept walking and straight into the kitchen where I’d come in from. For a vampire who didn’t need to eat food, his kitchen was spectacular. A huge, brown granite island with two wrought iron chandeliers above it was in front of a giant stove with an arched stone wall over it and counters on either side. The high beams continued in the room, and not only was the stove stainless-steel but so were the rest of the appliances. It was a kitchen built for family gatherings—something Draven would never have—and parties.

Adjacent to the kitchen was a dining room that had a view of the river on one wall, and the other wall was another stone fireplace. A humongous, dark wood table that easily sat ten was in the center of the room with a deer antler chandelier above it. High back, white fabric chairs accented the room and once again I couldn’t believe he had a room this beautiful. I wanted to cook any meal in the kitchen and eat it in the dining room with a fire going.

As I was admiring everything, I didn’t hear Draven come into the room, so when I turned around, I jumped. “You really need to stop doing that to me. That’s twice in one night.”

He cracked a smile. “Sorry.”

“Is everything okay?”

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Okay …”

“We can sit in the living room or at the kitchen island. Whatever you prefer.”

“Which room do you use the most?” I teased.

“Actually, I do use the kitchen to heat up my meals.”

“Right. Meals.” I chuckled. “Either room is fine.”

“Let’s go into the living room, and I’ll start a fire.”

“Sure.” I followed Draven into the room, and while I sat on the couch, he put wood into the fireplace and lit it.

“So?”

“There’s been another development.” He stood and pushed up the sleeves of his grey sweater.

“A development?”

“Do you want a drink? I think you need a drink.”

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “I do?”

“I need a drink,” Draven stated and walked to a cabinet on the wall that led to the kitchen and opened it. He pulled out a decanter of amber liquid and poured it into two glasses. “One second.” Draven dashed off to the kitchen in a blink of an eye. A minute or so later, he returned.

“What’s going on?”

Draven handed me the glass, and after taking a big gulp of his, he started to pace in front of me. I noticed he had an erection, and I realized he’d drunk a blood bag to get his blood flowing so the whiskey would work.

“Will you tell me what’s going on? I think I can handle it given the situation that’s my life right now.”

He set his glass on the wood coffee table and then knelt in front of me, grabbing my hands in his cold ones. After spending four days and nights straight with him, I was getting somewhat used to the icy feeling. “The vampire that killed your father was just here.”

The glass I was holding slipped from my grasp, and before it fell onto the floor, he caught it. “What?” I whispered in shock.

“He explained the situation.” He set my glass on the table.

“What is there to explain?” I hissed. “Did you rip his heart from his fucking chest?”

Draven shook his head. “I wanted to, but he explained what really happened.”

I pushed past him as I stood and then started to pace. “He explained? What was there to explain other than he’s the reason my father’s dead?” A tear slid down my cheek.

“It was an accident.” Draven stopped me from pacing and cupped my cheeks as he looked into my eyes.

I laughed sarcastically staring back at him. “An accident? How was it an accident?”

“Take a few sips of the whiskey, and then I’ll explain. Just like the night you found out that I’m a vampire, I’ll tell you everything.”

“There’s nothing to explain, Draven. He killed my father and deserves to die.”

“It’s so much more than that, and while I agree with you, I think we need him.”

“Need him? Why do we need someone who kills innocent people?”

“Let me explain.”

“You won’t sugarcoat it?”

Draven pressed his lips against mine. “No. You need to know everything.”

He dropped his hands, and I returned to the couch. After Draven handed me my glass, I downed all of it and not just the few sips he’d recommended. Once it was empty, he took the glass back and set it on the table. Like he had done before, he knelt in front of me and grabbed my hands.

“Don’t leave anything out.”

Draven smiled warmly. “I won’t, sweets.”

I took a deep breath and tried to prepare myself. “All right. Let me have it.”

“Renzo is your great-grandfather.”

“What?” I shrieked. “How is that possible?”

“Apparently vampires can knock up their true loves.”

“That can’t be true. She married my great-grandfather after that picture was taken on Valentine’s Day, and she had to be pregnant in the picture since my grandma was born in August. She wouldn’t have just met my great-grandfather and then married him almost immediately after.”

“Are you sure about that?”

I thought for a moment. “No. I don’t really know her story.”

“It’s possible—just like with Mary—that Gael got pregnant before she was married.”

“But how can vampires have babies with their true loves or whatever? You don’t produce semen.”

“I’m still not sure how it’s possible, but Renzo saw the picture of your great-grandmother in the paper and knew that she was the mother of his daughter.”

My eyes widened. “Is my grandma in danger then?”

He paused for a moment and then whispered, “Yeah.”

I bolted off the couch for the second time. “We need to call her. We need to go there.”

“Usually I would ask Athan, but there’s more you need to know.”

“Right,” I said. “Why was my dad—Wait, why wouldn’t you send Athan now?”

“Let me keep going from the beginning.”

I started to walk in front of the fire again as Draven continued, “Renzo saw the picture in the paper and read the story of how OBB is a family business run by your father. He remembered that Gael had his baby—I still don’t know the details—and he sent Donovan to bring your father back to Chicago.”

“What?” I whispered.

“Donovan said that your father wouldn’t go willingly and couldn’t be compelled.”

“What?” I whispered again and turned to Draven. “My dad couldn’t be compelled just like me?”

“Right.”

“So he wouldn’t go, and Donovan killed him instead?”

“Donovan tried to force him to go. There was a scuffle, and your father got cut somehow. I don’t know how old Donovan is—how long he’s been a vampire—but he said that he couldn’t control himself the moment he smelled your dad’s blood.”

More tears slid down my cheeks as I remembered seeing Donovan over my father’s body and everything that happened afterward. “Of course he wouldn’t go. How did they think he would just up and leave everything? Leave his family on Christmas?”

“Because Renzo doesn’t care. All he cares about is himself.”

“I hate him.”

Draven grinned. “I hate him too.”

“Now what? Why did Donovan tell you all of this?”

“Because he’s now on the run.”

“Like you and Athan.”

He nodded. “Yeah, and he warned me that Renzo might send someone else or he might come himself. He doesn’t know your father is dead.”

“Am I still in danger?”

He stopped me from my pacing, grabbed my wrist, and brought me to his chest. “I will never let anything happen to you—ever. But yes, once Renzo finds out that your father is dead, then I imagine he’ll look into his children.”

I looked up into his dark eyes. “You told me that older vampires are stronger. He’s much older than you and Athan. How can you protect me from an old vampire and his coven?”

“I’ll do everything I can if it comes down to it. That’s why I didn’t kill Donovan. He told me he’ll stick around for a few more weeks so he can be another set of eyes and ears—keep an eye out for Renzo if he decides to come here. We both know that when Renzo wants something, he gets it. It’s only a matter of time.”

“I don’t like this.”

“I don’t either, but my world is different from yours. And while I don’t agree that Donovan should have killed your father, he didn’t do it on purpose. Whether you like it or not, vampires are killers. It’s the blood that keeps us immortal. I fight it, but not all of them do.”

We were silent for a bit while we stayed in each other arms. I replayed everything in my head, and it was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that I loved him because Draven was a good man. Even if we weren’t true loves, I knew without a doubt that I loved him. We weren’t a perfect fit—him being a vampire and myself being a human—but that didn’t mean I didn’t want to be with him. Draven had walked into my life for a reason. I could feel it in my soul.

A wave of sadness washed over me at the fact that I wasn’t pregnant. It wasn’t because I wanted to have a baby right now, but not being pregnant meant that Draven and I weren’t soulmates. I didn’t know what I expected from our relationship because it had just started, but I wasn’t used to dating someone I didn’t think I could potentially have a future with.

“Whatever happens, know that I’ll always love you,” I whispered. I knew he could hear me with his super hearing, but Draven didn’t say anything back, and that was okay. After learning about Mary, I understood why he wasn’t taking the next step. Knowing that he cared for me and wanted to keep me safe was enough since there was a timeframe on our relationship. It sucked, but that was what I got for being in a relationship with a vampire. But it didn’t stop me from loving him because you can’t control who you fall in love with.

“Is there anything else you found out tonight?” I asked, needing to fill the void of silence.

“Yeah.” He paused for a moment and then walked to where he kept the whiskey. After pouring a few fingers and downing it, Draven said, “Donovan said that Renzo has ties with the Russian Mafia.”

“O—kay?” I didn’t understanding what that meant or why he would have a problem with it. Russia was far away and a completely different country.

“Athan lives there.”

“Oh. Right.”

“And he has never said anything about Renzo having ties with the Russian Mafia.”

“Maybe he doesn’t know? Russia’s a big country. Isn’t it the biggest country?” I walked toward him. “I think it’s possible, especially if he’s not in the same area. I wouldn’t be worried until you talk to him. As far as I know, Athan has been nothing but a good friend to you. Don’t be mad at him for something you don’t know for sure.”

Draven nodded slowly. “You’re right. Tonight has been information overload.”

“It has. Are you going to call Athan to come back so you two can talk?”

He thought for a moment and grinned. “No. You promised me I’d get laid tonight, so he’s giving us time alone.”

I laughed. “That I did, and it will be nice to not have him on the other side of the wall.”

“I need to feed again.” He started to walk into the kitchen, but I stopped him.

“Wait.” I didn’t know how much time we had left together or what would happen tomorrow night, so I said what I thought I’d never utter in my entire life. “I want you to feed from me.”

He paused and turned around. “You do?”

I shrugged. “This night has been an emotional rollercoaster, and there’s no telling what tomorrow will bring. I want to experience everything with you.”

“Calla—”

“I understand, Draven. We can’t be together forever. I get it. Just let me have this.”

We stared at each other. “Are you sure?” he asked again.

I took a deep breath. “Draven, I like you. I really do. So much that I love you. I get that we aren’t meant to be together, and that fucking sucks, but given everything, I just want to be with you. I’m not ready to start dating someone else. I’m swamped at work, and our schedules work together. Let’s just—have fun.”

I meant everything I was saying to him. While the hopeless romantic in me wanted Draven and me to be soulmates and live together forever, I knew that wasn’t possible given we weren’t true loves and I didn’t want to become a vampire. I wanted what we had now, and just because there was some underlying vampire rule about when they could conceive a baby, I wasn’t going to let that keep me from being with the one I loved. Even if it was temporary.

“It hurts,” Draven finally stated, referring to him feeding from me.

“It does?”

“That’s where compulsion usually plays a huge part.”

“How long does it hurt for?”

“It’s the initial sting of my fangs, but then once my venom mixes with your blood, you’ll feel pleasure.”

“Okay,” I whispered. “I can handle that.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” I smiled.

In an instant, he moved to me, picked me up and dashed to his bedroom. Before I realized it, my blouse went flying, and then he laid me on the mattress. As he towered over me, I tried to calm my racing heart. Draven was going to feed from me—drink from me so we could have sex. When we had sex in Seattle or on our road trip, he always went into the bathroom.

He stripped off his sweater, threw it onto the floor and then leaned down fusing our mouths together. He left me breathless as he broke free and asked, “Are you ready?”

I swallowed and nodded.

“Do you want me to count down or just do it?”

“Just—”

Before I could utter any more words, his mouth was on me, and his sharp fangs pierced my skin. I hissed as they sunk into my flesh. It felt as though two knives were being jabbed into my neck. But then, just like Draven had said, the pain turned into pleasure as a wave of heat washed over me, and my panties dampened between my legs.

As he sucked, I reached for the button of his jeans. He moaned against my neck but didn’t remove his mouth from my flesh. I reached into the waistband of his boxers and pulled his growing erection free. Gripping his cock tightly, I squeezed it slightly as I pumped up and down over the length. He sucked as I gave his shaft long, slow strokes, feeling it pulsate as his penis became engorged.

Draven licked me and then finally pulled away from my open neck and slid down my body, taking my jeans and panties with him in one swift movement.

“Fuck you smell like heaven.”

I smiled, staring up at the high beamed ceiling. The moment his mouth went between my legs, I moaned. He drank from me, sucking my arousal like he’d sucked my neck—minus the teeth and blood. His tongue worked my clit over and over and then I came. My knees clenched his dark brown head between my legs as I rode the wave of pleasure.

When it subsided, Draven pulled back. “That’s one, sweets. Time for two.”

He stood and discarded his remaining clothes before returning back to me and spreading my legs wide. I looked down at him finally and noticed my blood was smeared on his chin. Instantly I wondered if it was pouring from my veins.

“Is … Is blood still coming from my neck?”

“No, sweetheart. I licked the wound closed.”

“Oh.”

Draven hovered over me and brought his lips to mine. He guided himself into me, not removing our mouths, even when I gasped from the fullness of him as he stretched me. He pumped into me vigorously, going deep inside with each thrust. My head swarmed with pleasure, and I wasn’t sure if it was still the effects of being fed on or from the way his cock worked me, rubbing all of the right spots.

“Grab your tits, sweets.”

I did without hesitation, kneading the globes and pinching my sensitive nipples as my body rocked with the force of his thrusts. Draven groaned, pumping and causing the bed to sound as though it was moving against the wood floor. Before I realized what was happening, he stood, dragged my feet until my ass was on the edge of the bed and then he sank into me again.

My breathing became rapid as I moaned uncontrollably, and the warm sensation of another orgasm started to build in my core. Draven pumped into me, holding my legs open as far as they would go and then he groaned just as I whimpered and came.

I was still coming down from the high when he said, “Two.”

It didn’t register what he was referring to until he flipped me over onto my stomach. As I lay flat on my belly, he sank into me from behind and said into my ear, “I’ll make three come fast.”

With my head turned to the side, I saw Draven reach above me, hold onto the edge of the mattress and then he drove into me hard and fast. My pussy was sensitive as he worked me.

“Fuck,” he roared, going deeper.

Sweat coated my skin, and I didn’t think it would be possible to come again, but before I knew it, the spasm coursed through me and I fell over the edge into bliss once again.

This time, Draven didn’t say anything as he leaned up and positioned me on all fours without leaving my body. He started to pump again, and I clenched the sheets. The bed began to squeak, and Draven started to growl.

“You’ll come again.” It was an order that I wasn’t sure I’d meet. Never had I had more than one orgasm during sex until we started having sex and that wasn’t all at once. There were minutes in between each one. But now, as he moved me all around, and pumped into me hard, I wasn’t sure I could.

“I—” I started to protest, but he cut me off.

His grip tightened on my hips. “Calla, you were made for me. Every fucking inch of you. Every curve, every dimple, every smooth line.” My body started to shake as Draven ran his hand along my spine as he paused his thrusts briefly. He started again. “The way your pussy squeezes my cock each time I drive into you is a feeling I crave more and more, and I don’t want to stop.”

“Then don’t,” I whimpered.

And he didn’t until I screamed out again for the fourth time.