Embrace the Passion (The Blood Rose Series) (11 page)

Without using his fangs, he took her throat in his mouth and held on, shaking her gently, a move more shifter than vampire. He had a sudden image of taking her from behind and holding onto the back of her neck as he plowed into her.

He’d been with a few shifter women before, but he’d never felt this possessive and demanding. Her fingernails found him next, digging into the muscles at his shoulders, and scraping downward just short of drawing blood. The sensation struck home, teasing his balls and sending shock waves the length of his cock.

He wanted her like he’d never wanted a woman in the course of his entire life.

* * * * * * * * *

Lorelei dugs her nails into his flesh and could feel how much he liked what she was doing. For herself, she loved the way he’d clamped onto her throat, not in a vampire fang-hold, much more like a shifter claiming.

Her body roared with need. She wanted to wrap her legs around his waist again and let him use all the strength of his lean powerful body to give her what she craved.

She was in a heightened state, moving along the crest of desire, part blood rose and part prime female, needing her man. But was any of it real? Or were they just two chronically lonely people caught up in a bizarre, realm experience?

Whatever the case, her body demanded release.

But just as she locked her arms around his back preparing to literally jump him in order to take that beautiful length deep inside her, a familiar vibration hit her skin like an electric shock.

At first, she thought perhaps Margetta was nearby. But then she recalled that she’d felt this way in her den when she’d first experienced a communal call through her shifter frequency.

She pushed against Seth’s arms and twisted from the hold he had on her throat.

“What’s wrong?” He looked pained as she climbed onto the spring’s bank.

She shifted to wolf for a brief moment, giving herself a good long shake to get rid of the water, then shifted back to her fae form almost completely dry. “Our time’s up. The packs are about to implode.” She scrambled quickly into her clothes.

Seth levitated in a sudden bolt of movement straight up through the water and high into the air. She watched him go, pretty sure she understood that his intention was to dry off. She zipped up her jeans, pulled on her boots, then put on her fur hat.

He returned a moment later, completely dry from air friction, except for some dampness to his hair. Moving swiftly, he dressed as well. “And you can sense the packs?”

“All four of them with greater clarity than before. Each pack wants to go to war.”

She started to shift, ready to run back to Big Timber, but he caught her arm. “I’ll fly us back.”

She nodded. “That would be faster.”

He grew very solemn, so much so, that she quieted her shifter need to be going and met his gaze. “What is it?”

“I need to say something.” He drew a deep breath. “I want you with me, Lorelei. I don’t know how this is going to work, or if it will work, you and me, I mean. I’ve been alone a long time—”

“So have I.”

He nodded briskly, a furrow between his brows. “But I’m willing to do what we need to do here, even though I don’t understand it all. What about you? Can you take a risk on me? Can you stand with me as my blood rose, as my prime female? More than anything, I want to keep the shifter community from falling apart. Which means my motives here are more for what’s best for the realm than what might be best for you, or even for me, which makes me sound like an asshole.”

She grabbed his arms and squeezed hard. “Seth of Walvashorr, I have met a lot of brutal, selfish men in my time, but you’re not one of them. Do I have concerns? Yes, of course. And we’ve been together for just a little longer than one moonrise, but I am willing to start down this path if you are.”

“I am.”

She smiled. “Good.”

He planted a kiss on her lips so that she felt both his determination and his commitment.

What she feared had more to do with the unknown than with her doubt about the man kissing her, especially what tricks her mother might have in store for Walvashorr.

When he drew back, he slung his arm around her waist and she followed suit, balancing her foot on top of his and holding onto his neck. “I’m going to make this quick, so don’t let go.”

She tightened her grip and he launched, straight up, then angled south. When he said ‘quick’, he meant it. The G’s he pulled made her stomach turn, especially as the forest flew by in a blur.

She finally just closed her eyes, and a handful of seconds later he dropped her back to the center of the Big Timber conference grounds.

Davido was waiting for them, but despite the chaos of the packs, he smiled when they touched down. “I have to go, my sweetlings. May the Goddess give you wisdom and protect you.” Then he vanished, one of the few, or perhaps the only realm person, capable of disappearing with a thought.

Though the Shifter Brigade had dined well, and the scent of roasted venison still permeated the air, all four packs boiled with the need to fight, half the number already in wolf form and howling.

She stepped off Seth’s foot, but looked up at him.
I guess we’re on our own.

Looks like it.
As Seth released her, however, he took her hand.
All right, prime female. You’ve got the dominant shifter gene here, so I say have at it.

She nodded, smiling ruefully.
There’s just one problem. I have no idea what I’m doing.

He met her gaze and his green eyes warmed up as he smiled.
Well, don’t look at me. I’m just a vampire.

Yes, but aren’t you the regis?

Only in that I support my prime female. You can do this, Lorelei. Just trust your instincts.

In the middle of what promised to turn into a shifter war, Lorelei had the oddest thought that she could get used to this, being this close to Seth, standing by his side, figuring out impossible situations.

Finally, she closed her eyes and let all four pack frequencies hit her. She would have fallen at the strength of their vibrations, but Seth caught and steadied her.

What do you need me to do?

His voice in her head gave her confidence.
Turn with me. I want to feel each pack clearly. I have their frequencies separated but they’re so close to disintegrating.

You got it.

Opening her eyes, she moved in a slow circle, and met the gaze of each alpha male head-on: Ephyx, Cohoet, Valgus, Alophi. Four massive shifters, physically powerful, each almost as tall as Seth but not nearly so lean.

They were magnificent leaders, each different from the other. Fur sprouted on her wrists in layers to her fingers tips as well as a deepening of the ruff that encircled her throat.

The chaotic energy of the packs resonated within her and her body wanted to go wolf and wanted it now.

But without shifting, she opened up her pack frequency, that same vibration of energy that she’d experienced before at Seth’s home and more recently at the hot spring. All four pack vibrations pulsed heavily now, battering her.

Her first instinct was to shut it all down because the vibrations overwhelmed her. But she squeezed Seth’s hand hard and his voice entered her head.
You’re doing fine. I can feel the vibrations as well because I’m connected to you. Just let them flow. I’ve got you.

He couldn’t have spoken wiser words right now. For most of her life, she’d had only herself to rely on and now Seth stood with her in what was proving a very painful process.

The vibrations became a growing fire in her body, burning her up from within. She also knew that if she didn’t do something soon, she would die from the onslaught, but what was she supposed to do?

Once more, Seth pierced her mind.
I can feel that you’re close to what you need to do next. Just focus. You’re almost there and I’m with you.

She settled her breathing and closed her eyes, then the words began forming in her head and left her throat in a strong, vibrant voice, something she’d never done before, as she called out, “The community of shifters in Walvashorr is one, and I am with you, to serve you, for as long as the Goddess wills me to do so.” The fire began to flow out of her now and along each frequency. But what she was saying felt more fae than shifter, another sign that she wasn’t normal. “Let the territories and boundaries be restored.” The last few words came out as a fierce command and she could feel the four pack territories realigning.

But there was more that needed to be said.

“You are one in battle from this time forth, though four separate units, and you will continue to serve the Mastyr of Walvashorr. One day you will hear his commands within you and see his visions to aid you in battle. Come now and submit yourselves to him.”

The power streamed steadily and she could sense that each alpha had begun calming down, his troops with him. The experience was very realm and mysterious, something she knew the shifter community valued, as all realm-folk did. Not everything could be understood rationally.

She opened her eyes, the fur at her wrists moving in soft waves as the frequency faded.

The alphas came forward and each knelt in front of Seth, confirming once more their loyalty and service, pack hierarchy at work. The crisis was over. Somehow, she’d effectively returned the territorial boundaries back to their original demarcation points.

Lorelei still held onto Seth’s hand, knowing that the connection to him had played a part in altering the volatility of the situation. She held the frequencies open and as each mastyr rose, she knew his signature as surely as the moon rose and fell.

She glanced up at Seth.
What do we do now?

I’ve got this.

He spoke aloud, his resonant voice echoing through the conference grounds. “This marks a new night in realm history that will set a precedent for all the Nine Realms, that our packs can come together and function as one. Yours is the first, the Shifter Brigade of Walvashorr, and will be known as the ancestor of this new beginning for all time.”

Almost as one, a cheer rose up from the four packs. The alphas acknowledged each other with stiff dips of chins, then each blurred through the transformation from man to wolf. The packs followed suit then ran into the forest in different directions heading back to their territories, to guard the Shauck Mountain realm families from the Invictus depredations.

Within less than a minute, Lorelei stood alone with Seth, in the middle of Big Timber, the snow trampled with hundreds of foot and paw prints, a cold wind blowing.

“This feels so strange, so much colder without the troops.”

He squeezed her hand. “One moment surrounded and now alone.”

She turned toward him. “I couldn’t have done that without you. There was a moment when the chaotic nature of the frequencies caused unbearable burning.”

“I know, I felt it. What did you do? How did you overcome what was happening?”

“With your support more than anything.”

He nodded. “You amaze me, Lorelei.”

She felt flustered. “Well, these are just abilities I have, they’re not something I’ve created.”

“I know, but you handle it all with tremendous grace.”

She stared up at him and felt her throat grow very tight. “Thank you for that, Mastyr Seth.”

His smile grew crooked. “I think with what we’ve been through, you should stick to calling me Seth. Anything else just feels wrong.”

“I suppose it does.” She searched his eyes. “So, we’re prime female and regis?”

“I guess we are.”

Lorelei straightened her shoulders and drew in a deep breath. She became aware on a basic level that she’d never truly accepted who she was in her world, especially since she was a product of genetic manipulation. She’d always felt like a freak and her current role as prime female had spoken to her deepest fears of being found out and treated exactly like what she believed herself to be.

Yet even Batya and Quinlan had shown her great kindness and the deepest respect by helping her get to Ferrenden Peace, to a place where she could learn the skills to stay hidden forever from her mother.

Seth released her hand but held his arm out to her. “How about we get back to my house and see if we can’t figure out the next step.”

“Good idea.” She wrapped an arm around his neck at the same time that he slipped his around her waist and drew her close.

He didn’t take off right away, however. Instead, he stared into her eyes, then he kissed her, his moist, sensual lips plying hers until some of the tension left her and she parted for him.

He slid his tongue inside her mouth, thrusting in and out and making all sorts of promises. She shivered as he drew back.

“Cold?”

Shaking her head, she smiled. “Hungry for things I should probably ignore right now.”

“I beg to disagree.”

She caught his meaning and kissed him back. “I’m just worried.”

“You worry a lot.”

“I do, but probably no less than you.”

He nodded. “And that’s one more thing we share in common.”

“One more thing?”

“We both worry, we’ve both lived solitary lives, and we each know that to some degree the future of the Nine Realms rests on our shoulders, on doing what we’ve been required to do, or in your case, not getting trapped by Margetta again.”

“When you put it like that, now I really am worried.”

“Let me get you home. We both need a good meal.”

“Oh, you’re right. Neither of us have had first meal, have we? And I should probably tell you that my heart is feeling pretty laden about now, blood rose that I am.”

His turn to shiver as a hint of fang appeared.

And with that, he took them both into the night air, heading south to his home at Shauck Gorge.

Chapter Six

Seth felt knocked out of stride, but not necessarily in a bad way. He had never factored someone like Lorelei into the equation of his life. Now she was here, a warmth pressed to his side that had been cold for so long.

She seemed to have bumped up more than one aspect of his life at the same time since she’d altered, maybe forever, his chronic blood-starvation. He had a sexual need and a drive toward her he couldn’t explain, and if that wasn’t enough, her role as prime female had created a new type of unity among his realm’s four, extremely volatile shifter packs.