Wicked Soul (Ancient Blood #1)(102)

“Say you’re mine,” he growled into my ear, never slowing thrusts. “Say you’ll never leave. Tell me I am all that matters to you, as you are for me.”

His cool breath raised goosebumps along my neck, tightening my nipples ever harder and making my clit throb, but as much as I wanted to reassure him…

“Warin, please, I love you. I love you so, so much. That’s why I can’t—“ I didn’t get to finish my sentence, because Warin interrupted me with a furious snarl. He dug his fingertips deeper into my hips and slipped back into his brutal, inhuman pace.

I squealed and bucked, my hands slipping as I scrambled for purchase. He ravaged my pussy without mercy, taking me for every inch I had until I could no longer tell where he stopped and I began.

It finally sunk in, then.

I couldn’t leave, because we were one. I couldn’t save him by fleeing any more than I could live without my heart. There was no me without him. And there was no him without me.

If I left, I’d kill us both.

“I’ll stay! I’ll stay, my love. Always! I’m yours!” I cried out into the darkness.

Warin didn’t slow down, but he pulled me up so he could hold my body tight against his, wrapping his strong arms around my ribcage.

I clutched onto his arms, drawing red lines in his skin as he pounded me brutally, perfectly, showing me how we belonged together. He drove me over the edge twice in quick succession before a deep groan finally escaped his lips, and his cool essence filled me.

We stilled together, me breathing heavily as the blood pumped in my veins, the delicious aftershocks of my orgasms making me shiver. Warin with his mouth pressed to my neck, brushing kisses to my still blood-tainted skin.

“What will we do?” I whispered after a few moments of quietness.

“I’ll speak with the Guard. They are loyal. But if they are not… I will end them.” Warin shifted his hips, pulling out of me much more gently than he entered. “Nothing else matters, little one. Nothing and no one. Only you.”

I turned in his grasp, wincing from the ache between my legs. “You don’t mean that,” I said softly, placing my hand against his cheek.

“I can’t live without you, Liv,” he whispered. “How can anyone compare to you? I am nothing but animated flesh without you. I was… hollow.”

I closed my eyes and raised up to press my lips to his. We kissed slowly, such a gentle contrast to the wild sex just moments before, sweet brushes of his lips and tongue against mine until he finally pulled back.

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” he asked, blue eyes searching mine. “Why keep your powers a secret?”

“I thought, if you didn’t know… I could protect you. And Aleric said—“

“Aleric?” Warin’s eyes narrowed. “Aleric knows?”

“Yeah, I… When he blood bonded me, I was so high, and I… told him. I thought he was gonna kill me, but he just told me to keep it secret. He was scared you’d get yourself killed to protect me.”

“I will speak with my brother later,” Warin said, and from the tone in his voice I didn’t expect it’d be a pleasant conversation. At least not for Aleric. “For now, I will ensure no one who survived the slaughterhouse will speak of this. I will Compel the witches, and have my Guard and Carina swear a blood oath. You will be safe, my love.” He reached up to brush my tangled hair from my face, and in his eyes I saw devotion so deep it stole my breath away. “No one will know of your magic.”

“Well, well, well!” A mocking voice made both Warin and I jolt. Warin spun around faster than my eyes could follow, his back to me and his arms spread out to protect me. A low snarl rumbled out of his chest as we both stared into the darkness where the voice had come from.

Slowly, as if he had all the time in the world, a male figure walked into my range of vision. He stopped a few yards from us, dark eyebrows raised in challenge. “The infamous Warin Waldlitch, promising his blood bonded witch he’ll keep her magic secret? How very naughty of you, my lord.”

Icy dread settled in my veins as I stared at the golden-eyed Ancient.

Zeth.





32





“What are you doing here?” Warin growled, not moving out of his defensive pose in front of me while I fumbled with my ruined pants to cover myself up.

“Let’s just say a little bird told me Chicago’s Night Lord was conspiring with witches, of all things.” Zeth smiled pleasantly, but the deadly danger in his eyes was unmistakable. “As the oldest vampire currently on the continent, it’s my duty to look into such serious allegations. And what do I come across? Warin Waldlitch, promising a dirty little witch he’ll keep her secret. The same witch I saw him feed his own blood to not two weeks ago. How very, very unfortunate.”

“You’re the Ancient behind the skinwalkers,” Warin said, dawning realization in his voice. “You came all the way from the Old World to orchestrate this. Why? Why do you care about my territory? Why risk involvement with skinwalkers?”

“Now, now, that’s a very serious allegation to level at an Elder,” Zeth purred. “One, you have no proof to support your hypothesis. Please, don’t tarnish your dignity, my lord. It’s all you have left. As an Ancient, you have the right to stand trial for your crimes.” His eyes gleamed as he stared Warin down, silently challenging him.