Forever (The Forever series Book One) (12 page)

“
Nulla
,” I interrupt. “Zero. I remember, my love.”
And he smiles that perfect smile that I think is meant just for me.

I take the paper from him and look at the numbers:

NNN IIIII II II II IV V V VI VII

1012150617452012

It takes me a moment to separate the numbers on the second
line and my eyes widen. Seeing my reaction, CK sighs. “In light of the way we
now read out years, I think you will find the first three dates of particular
significance to you. I think you are the Chosen One.”

I stare at him in disbelief and shake my head. “That’s not
possible,” I say standing up. “It can’t be me.”

“The numbers don’t lie, my sweet. 1012. It was my intention
to turn you on Holy ground but Radulf nearly killed you before I could and I
had to turn you in the barn. 1506, it was your intention, I believe, to turn
Devon on Holy ground before his mother nearly killed him and you had to turn
him in the barn. 1745. You married Fraser in a church with the desire to turn
him although he refused. And 2012…”

“This year,” I interrupt. “But, I have no intentions of any
Holy Unions.”

“Maybe so, but you have a human lover who now knows about
us. You don’t know what will happen with him,” he shrugs.

I shake my head, but he continues, “As your sire, I am going
to advise you against any course of action that will lead to the possibility
that this prophecy will come to pass.”

“CK, what are you saying exactly? I’m still not sure I
understand,” I say perplexed.

He turns from me to stare at the stained glass window. He
frowns as he looks at it and says, “Aefre.” My heart clenches as he uses my
first name. I just stare at his back trying to process what he is saying.

Knocking interrupts us. CK turns to answer the door with a
deeper frown. Devon is on the other side looking pissed.

“May we help you?” CK asks smugly, switching to English
again as we had been speaking in Italian, just to piss Devon off further.

“I’d like to speak to my sire, if you don’t mind,” Devon
replies.

CK’s face hardens at the reference but opens the door wider,
staying where he is so Devon can’t enter.

“Livvie, Cole is at the gate. Finish up if you don’t want a
disaster on your hands. I’ll stall him as long as I can.”

I nod briskly and CK slams the door shut, his expression is
unreadable.

“If you turn this man, this year, the prophecy will come
true. Of that I have no doubt, however Gregor and Eloise will not stand for
another member being sworn in. Under normal circumstances I would be inclined
to agree and take whatever necessary precautions to prevent this from
happening.” He turns back to me with a menacing look that, I know isn’t
directed at me but at the thought of someone barging into their little elite
clique. “As it is you, it throws a rather large spanner in the works.”

“Constantine, I don’t want this. You can believe me when I
say that this is not something I have ever wanted and nor will I ever want.
Quite apart from the fact that I have never understood how another member, an
ordinary Vampire, would be accepted and respected, this is so far from what I
want, if it is me, you don’t have to worry about it.” I try to reassure him as
the horror of what he is suggesting sinks in.

He nods but is regarding me with those unreadable eyes, “You
must keep this quiet for now. I’m only telling you because it's you and I need
you to understand that you will be in danger. Gregor and Eloise are not aware
of this yet. Lucio is loyal to me and brought it to my attention first. He will
not, however, stay quiet for much longer. You must recognize the danger of
this, Aefre. They are dead set against this,” he emphasizes “dead” and I gulp.
“It was a mistake for you to tell him who we are. I never should have allowed
it.” He steps closer.

“But you said a relationship cannot survive a secret this
big,” I say accusingly.

“That was before I knew about this.” He places his index
finger on the paper I had discarded, and slides it slowly down the edge of the
desk towards me. “Be wise, do the right thing and I will keep in touch.”

“Are you still going to Monaco?” I ask, ignoring his
comment.

“Yes, if for no other reason than to see you again.” He says
softly and leans forward to kiss my forehead and before I can say another word,
he turns and teleports out leaving me bereft and in shock over his revelation.

Me, prophesized to be the fourth Council member? It makes no
sense? Why me? There are far more powerful Vampires out in the world than
little old me. I’m no one special, and I really don’t want all of that hassle,
apart from having to see Gregor and Eloise on a daily basis. That thought alone
makes me shudder. And what is this Power of One business? That sounds like bad
news to me. I accept magic in the world, but I don’t like it and I certainly
don’t want to wield it. Thinking about it rationally for a moment though, one
has to concede that to be equal to an Initial Vampire, one would need a bit of
a power boost. Maybe that’s what that is? It’s the whole “One” thing that is
daunting. That has far too many connotations for me to be comfortable with. No,
Constantine is wrong. It’s not me. I just want my nice little, normal Vampire
life. Me and Devon against the world; like it’s always been. Only now there is
Cole. I know exactly what CK meant by saying doing the right thing. He wants me
to end it, but I am not doing that. I push the paper with the numbers on under
the ink blotter. I love him but that doesn’t mean that I will turn him or that
he wants me to. We have avoided anything to do with the subject after the other
night and it is indeed the elephant in the room. I look back to where I have
pushed the paper away. But… I can’t deny that I knew there was something about
him the first minute I laid eyes on him. Just as I did with CK, just as I did
with Devon and Fraser. Could it be?

A knock on the door and I forget about it as Cole pops his
head in, smiling that delicious half smile, “Hi. Devon said you were on a call.
Are you done?”

“Yes, all done. I am happy to see you.” I embrace him
tightly and he responds.

“Everything okay? You look a bit shaken,” he asks concerned.

“I’m good, baby. It’s nothing,” I say with a smile.

Cole is perfectly accepting and at ease now. He still hasn’t
seen my fangs and we have a tacit agreement of no biting of any kind during
sex. He has all but moved into the mansion, which is to my delight, but Devon
has pulled his face once or twice. We are on our way to work while Cole goes
back to his house to sort stuff out for when we are away. Cole took the Veyron,
which pissed Devon off greatly, to my amusement. I giggle inwardly at the
thunderous expression on my boy’s face when he found out. So we are in the
Lamborghini Aventador. I personally love this car. What’s not to love about a
Lambo? Fierce, fast, sexy, and this particular one is also flashy in lime
green!

Pulling into my space he leaps out and stalks to the
elevator, all business. I sigh as I follow. My boy is not happy.

“Devon,” I start.

“Don’t want to talk about it,” he snaps.

“We have to at some point.”

Clear blue eyes glare at me.

Ding!

He strides into the elevator and once again I am left to
trail in his wake in a most un-sire-like manner. The ride takes an age with
smiles and greetings. Finally Devon’s floor arrives and we both step forward to
get off. He glares at me again but this time I glare back and he submits, as I
knew he would. I exit first and he follows me this time and I head towards his
office.

Shutting the door a bit too loudly he huffs over to his desk
slamming his briefcase onto it.

“I will get over it, if you’d just let me,” he says through
gritted teeth, eyes on his briefcase. “I always do,” he says bitterly and I
flinch at the look of sorrow on his face.

“Devon just talk to me,” I plead.

He sighs, “I really don’t want to.” Then he adds to my utter
surprise, “I guess I was hoping it was just going to me and you again this
time.” He shrugs, “It doesn’t matter, you found Cole and now he knows and it’s
all good.”

“Oh Devon,” I falter, “I don’t know what to say.” I move
around to his side and place a light hand on his arm.

He stares at it for a few seconds then sighs again. “There’s
nothing you can say. I just need to get used to you not needing me as much
anymore,” he says sadly.

“Oh baby, I will always need you.”

He pulls me into a tight hug, asking, “And when he asks you?
And he will. What then? I’ve had you to myself, as my sire, for over five
hundred years. I will find it difficult to be replaced.”

I pull away sharply, “You will never be replaced. It will
never happen. Please don’t ever say that again. I can’t bear you feeling this
way. Besides which, he hasn’t asked and I don’t think he will. He hasn’t even
asked me to bite him, let alone turn him.”

He looks surprised and somewhat relieved by that. “You
haven’t bitten him yet?”

I shake my head. He laughs woefully, “Well at least you
still need me for something.” My heart breaks.

Making a quick decision I say to him, “Come on, we’re going
back home.”

“What?” he looks startled.

“Our home, now. I want to show you something.”

“What about work?”

“Fuck work. I'm the boss and I say we’re going home. Give me
the car keys!” I snap, wishing I had CK’s teleporting power right about now.

He follows me all the way down to the parking garage and
hesitantly gets in the car as I roar the engine to life.

“Liv, what’s all this about?” he sighs, running a hand
through his hair.

“You’ll see when we get home,” I say, uttering nothing else
on the whole way home and neither does he.

As soon as we drive up to the front door, I leap out leaving
everything in the car. Esther will sort it out later. Grabbing his hand, I drag
him upstairs and to his bedroom. His room is similar to mine, all dark wood,
reds and blacks.

Stripping off my jacket I throw it to a chair. Pulling my
shirt over my head, I turn to him and Shift. I am now Elizabeth. I see his eyes
darken, his expression unreadable. Shimmying out of the rest of my clothes, I
stand naked before him.

“What are you doing?” he asks softly.

“Showing you how much I need you. Showing you, you can
never, ever be replaced. In this form I am
your
sire and yours alone and
a thousand years from now, I will still love you, still desire and want you. I
will still need you to complete me. Still need you to need and love me.”

His eyes widen in surprise at my words.

“I’m sorry, Devon. I haven’t shown you the proper
appreciation for you as of late. I don’t and won’t ever take you for granted.”
I step closer and it’s his undoing.

Growling he pulls me to him, crushing his mouth to mine.
Both sets of hands fumbling to undress him, his with his tie, mine with his
shirt. He takes over, ripping it apart, buttons flying everywhere. He kicks off
his shoes as I slide my hands over his smooth chest and he rasps deeply. I dip
my hands lower across his narrow waist and hips into the top of his suit pants.
Unbuckling his belt quickly he unzips and I push them to the floor. He kicks
them away and coming up for air he gazes into my big blue eyes in rapture.
Pushing me towards his bed, pausing briefly to remove his socks and boxers. His
erection is enormous as he moves towards me. I drop to my knees and greedily
take him in my mouth, crying out in pleasure as he pushes his hands into my
hair loosely and he keeps me in place as I move my tongue up and down his
length, sucking when I get to the tip.

“Oh Elizabeth,” he exhales slowly, “oh baby, that feels so
good.” He reluctantly pulls away and pulls me up to kiss me gently, submitting
to me, as is our usual way. I shake my head, wanting him to dominate me. I
again drop to my knees and carry on sucking and licking my way up and down.
Getting my message loud and clear he holds my head in place now and moves his
hips back and forth. Fucking my mouth in delight, he comes quickly. Warm and
delicious, I welcome it into my mouth, swallowing quickly. He staggers slightly
as I pull away and stand. Kissing him so he can taste himself on my lips.
Devouring me, he pushes me onto his bed. His hands finding my breasts, tweaking
my nipples into hard peaks. He moves his head down and starts sucking gently
while his hand trails down to find my very wet entrance. He groans as he slides
his finger into me, then two. Rubbing my clit with his thumb, I feel the
pressure building but slam it back down. It’s for him to decide now.

“What will you have me do?” I ask softly.

Startled he looks at me intently, at a bit of a loss as this
role isn’t the norm.

“Just let me make love to you. Slowly,” he whispers with his
eyes closed. “And no coming until I say so,” he adds, opening them again with a
glint.

I shiver at his words and my nipples tighten even more. I
defer to him completely, as he continues teasing me with his fingers. I am
familiar with this role with CK. The sire always seems to take over, but here
now, my sire-self is languishing, fully aroused under the attentions of my
darling boy.

“Okay, baby, I want you to come for me now,” he whispers as
he ducks his head lower and adds his tongue to the swirling vortex that is his
fingers.

Well you don’t need to ask me twice, and within seconds I am
throbbing around his fingers and against his mouth. He rises up above me and
plunges his tongue into my mouth.

“Oh Lizzie, I want you so much.”

“Take me, my love.”

Needing no further encouragement he slowly, slowly sinks
himself into me, savoring the wetness. Bracing himself above me, he looks into
my eyes with such love and longing my heart wants to break. I lift my hips to
meet him, to bring him further into me. He gently moves his hips, pulsing in and
out all the way and back again. It’s driving me wild but I resist the urge to
flip us over and fuck him senseless. He needs this, and I need to give it to
him. He leans down to kiss me deeply and I trace my nails down his back. He
hisses in delight, all the while slowly, excruciatingly slowly, makes love to
me.

I’ve never in 506 years felt the passion and love that he
has for me, not like this. I’ve never given him the chance to show me this side
of him. I am so aroused by his intensity.

“Oh baby, I’m going to come,” I whisper, “I can’t stop it.”
And before he can say anything I explode into a million pieces around him.

“Ah!” he cries out as he feels the waves of my pleasure,
“Lizzie, my love. Again.” He grunts moving quicker now to stoke my burning
fire, the flames roar back to life, consuming me, and he lets himself go then.
Eyes on mine, blazing as hot as our passion.

Sometime later, we surface from the silence, entwined around
each other.

“Thank you,” he whispers.

“No, thank you,” I whisper back. “That was….” I sigh
happily.

“Mind blowing?” he asks shyly and I giggle at his shyness.

“That about sums it up. I should let you take the lead more
often,” I tease.

His eyes light up. “I’d like that,” he says seriously, and
then grins. He strokes my hair as I lay my head back on his chest.

“You feel guilty, don’t you?” he asks, ever the one to read
me like a book. I glance up at him. “You do, don’t you?” he persists in
amazement.

“I don’t want to think about it.”

“Don’t feel bad my love. We’re Vampires. It’s what we do.”
He reaches down to stroke my face. “Monogamy, not high on the list of things
we’re good at.” I bat his hand away. “You sound like CK.” I frown as he is
right. I do feel guilty. It is easier in this body, this form but I just can’t
shake it off.

“Don’t leave me, Liz,” he whispers suddenly. “Promise me no
matter what you won’t leave me.”

Taken aback by his serious tone I answer him, “Oh baby. I
will never leave you. Not ever. Is that why you didn’t want me to tell Cole?
Because you thought I would end up leaving you?”

“He knows now, the next step is to turn him. I don’t want
you to turn him and forget about me,” he says sadly.

“What?” I say incredulously, sitting up. ”Are you insane?
That would never happen, Dev. Do you really think I would abandon you? After
all this time, after everything we’ve been through. Everything we’ve built
together. Not to mention you are jumping the gun a bit. I haven’t even bitten
him yet and already you’re having me turn him.”

He looks slightly abashed at my impassioned words. “I’m just
trying to be prepared,” he says. “And, no I don’t think you would abandon me,
not intentionally anyway. But look at you and Constantine. You both swore you’d
be together forever, more than once and now you live on opposite sides of the
world, see each other every six weeks or so. I don’t want that to be us. I
couldn’t bear it.”

Taking in his words I realize he has every right to be
worried if that’s how he sees things with me and CK. “Baby, CK and I are what
we are because of you. I have you. You’ve been by my side for over five hundred
years. Forgetting the Rebellion,” he smiles at our coin of phrase, “you are the
one I chose to ultimately be with in the end. We are perfect for each other.
Look at all we’ve done together. CK and I would probably have staked each other
by now if we had tried to build this life together. I love him completely and I
will be his forever, but you are
mine
forever and that will never
change. And as much as I love Cole and as accepting as he is, he may not choose
this path.”

He’s looking at me with such adoration after my words that
my heart just melts. “I love you,” he says simply, but this time I think he
actually means it in the romantic sense.

“I love you too,” I reply, choosing to ignore it if it is.

“I suppose we should head back to work,” he says
reluctantly.

“Not yet,” I whisper, pushing the all these feelings aside
and he kisses me deeply and we start all over again.

I must have dozed off at some point as I wake up suddenly,
pushing my dark curls out of my eyes, and it takes me a second to remember
where I am, who I am. Glancing around the room in search of Devon, my eyes find
him, his naked back turned to me. Standing there in just his suit pants makes me
catch my breath. He hears me and turns around with that devastating grin and
bold blue gaze.

“Hi,” he says.

“Hi,” I say back. “What time is it?”

“A little after 12.”

Shit! Work!

Laughing at the horror on my face he pulls on a new shirt as
I leap out of bed, Shifting at the same time. He stills suddenly and I know
he’s mourning the loss of Elizabeth. I turn my back and dress quickly in
silence. I sense him behind me and turn. He embraces me and sighs deeply and
kisses the top of my blonde head.

“We’d better get going. I had a busy day before our little
rendezvous,” he says softly.

“I love you,” I murmur and he whispers it back.

Back at the office I have a surprise waiting for me in the
shape of Cole. That pesky guilt flares up again but I push it back down,
hearing CK’s voice in my head: “No regrets.”

He’s looking out of the window as I walk in, startling him
when I close the door.

Grinning at me he gestures to the window, “Nice view.”

“Yes it is,” I say seductively, staring at his handsome
face. Surprised by my tone, but the penny drops and he smiles shyly at the
compliment.

“To what do I owe the surprise visit?” I ask.

“I was in the neighborhood,” he shrugs. “Was curious to see
Liv HQ.” He chuckles.

“And?” I prompt.

“It’s quite impressive, but then everything about you is
impressive.” I walk over to him then and tilt my head up for a kiss. He obliges
me softly at first but then more heated. Teasing me again he runs his tongue
over my top teeth. I pull back and stare pensively into his guarded blue eyes.
I open my mouth to ask the inevitable question when Devon barges in,
interrupting us. We jump apart, relief etched on his face.