In Blood and Worth Loving 3 Kiss Cover (21 page)

She tingled, her senses, like her body, afire with need for him.

He whispered to her in a language she assumed was his Native tongue. She couldn
’
t understand a word he said. It didn
’
t matter. With her eyes closed and his cock in complete possession of her pussy she imagined he was declaring his undying love.

Seconds before she climaxed, he clutched her ass, ground his hips against hers, and bit into her neck.

Oh God. Yes! She shuddered and happily lost herself under a wet wall of pleasure that cascaded over her in wave after wave.
“
Mmm. I love you,
”
she whispered.

He tightened his hands on her ass and ejaculated in her.

She cupped her hands over the back of his head and held them there until he finally withdrew his teeth from her skin. Sinking against the mattress, she sighed with contentment.

He kissed her neck and eased out of her, rolling onto his back.

She curled her body against his side, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder.

He slipped an arm around her and lifted her onto his body.

Even though she knew Hartford and his friends were still a threat, she felt safe. Without his saying a word, she knew Conner would protect her with his life if necessary.

She drifted into a contented sleep that slowly spiraled into a frightening nightmare. Instead of lying in bed with Conner, she found herself pinned to the bed by Hartford
’
s body while he rutted into her, threatening to impregnate her.

The more she struggled, the harder and rougher he fucked her until every inch of her body ached and her pussy felt on fire with pain.
“
Please, Hartford. You
’
re hurting me. Stop! Please! I can
’
t take anymore!
”

“
Wake up, Desiree. Wake up.
”

Desiree opened her eyes and blinked up at-not Hartford but at Conner. An angry Conner, who had damp hair and was already fully dressed
sat on the side of the bed
. That was no way to start the day after an almost perfect night. She touched his cheek.
“
What
’
s wrong?
”
she asked.

He drew away from her hand and rose.
“
How the fuck could you let him touch you?
”

She frowned.
“
Let who touch me?
”

“
Hartford! He
’
s the one who fucked and battered the hell out of you. Why did you lie to protect him?
”

She bit her lip, struggling to clear the remnants of sleep from her head so she could process what was going on.
“
What do you mean?
”

He gripped her shoulders and lifted her into a seated position so he could stare into her gaze.
“
You slept with Hartford. He
’
s the bastard who left all these bruises on you.
”

She shuddered. Oh God. He knew. For one moment, she longed to tell him everything and then sob in his arms. Then she reminded herself that if she did that, he
’
d feel honor bound to go after Hartford. That would entail putting him on the Brotherhood
’
s hit list since she knew he would kill Hartford.

“
It didn
’
t mean anything. I was hurt and he was there and…
”
She looked away from the mixture of hurt and anger in his gaze. What a relief it would be to tell him the truth.

“
How could you
sleep
with him?
”

“
It didn
’
t mean anything, Conner and I
’
ve already told you how much I regret it.
”

His grip tightened on her arms.

“
You
’
re hurting me.
”

He compressed his lips before he finally loosened his grip but he glared at her.
“
How could you let him touch you?
”

She tried to shake off his grip.
“
You
’
re hurting me.
”

“
Answer my question, you
two-timing–
”

Knowing he was on the verge of calling her a bitch or worse, she lost it. She jerked free of his grip and scrambled to the other side of the bed.
“
I didn
’
t let him touch me, you self-righteous bastard!
”

“
Don
’
t you lie to me,
Desiree?
”
He stalked around to the other side of the bed so he could stare down into her gaze.
“
Don
’
t think I didn
’
t notice that you also allowed him to ingest your blood. How could you willingly allow anyone else to do that?
”

Recalling her anguish when he
’
d taken her blood, Conner
’
s hurtful words infuriated her and loosened the tight grip she
’
d held on her desire to share her pain with him.
“
I didn
’
t willingly allow him to do anything!
”

“
Lies will make it more difficult for me to forgive you.
”

After all she
’
d suffered if an effort to protect him, she found his accusations unbearable. She slapped him so hard her hand stung.
“
What the hell part of I didn
’
t let him touch me don
’
t you understand? I didn
’
t willingly sleep with him or offer my blood to him! He didn
’
t give me a choice! Is that clear enough for you or do I need to spell it out even more
, you stupid, ungrateful bastard
?
”
She slapped him again.

He ripped her wrists and held her still.
“
What? What do you mean you didn
’
t let him?
”

“
What the hell part of I didn
’
t let him do anything are you having problems understanding, Conner? How many way
s
do I have to spell it out for you? He raped me! He raped me and brutalized me and took my blood because he was stupid enough to think I was important to you! Is that clear
enough for you
?
”

The relief of finally saying the words out loud opened a wellspring of emotion. She collapsed onto the bed, sobbing.

“
He raped you?
”
He let out an angry roar that sent a chill of fear and dread through her before he dropped to his knees.
“
Oh God! Oh God, sweet. I
’
m so sorry!
”
He
rose and
held her as she sobbed until her throat ached and she felt empty inside.

When she finally stopped crying and lay shivering in his embrace, he kissed her forehead.
“
Forgive me for my thoughtless words. I didn
’
t know.
”

He sounded as anguished as she
’
d felt before she told him the truth. She lifted her head and looked up at him.
“
I couldn
’
t stop him.
”

The muscles in his jaw clenched.
“
Why didn
’
t you tell me?
”

“
I was…am afraid of what you
’
ll do.
”

He inhaled slowly before he responded.
“
Why didn
’
t you call out to me? I might have been able to get here in time to stop him.
”

“
I didn
’
t call out to you because that
’
s what he wanted me to do.
”

“
It
’
s what I would have wanted as well. You should have called me.
”

She shook her head.
“
He kept trying to make me call out to you, but I wouldn
’
t because I knew he wanted to make you watch before you were killed.
”

“
Oh sweet.
”
He kissed her hair.
“
You should have called out to me. I can take care of myself.
”

“
He wasn
’
t alone, Conner. There were two, menacing full-bloods with him. They were going to kill you. That
’
s why no matter how rough he got I didn
’
t call out to you.
”

He shuddered.
“
Did you know who the other two were?
”

“
No.
”

“
Did they touch you or hurt you in any way?
”

“
No.
”

“
But I did when we made love. I wouldn
’
t have touched you had I known.
”

“
It only hurt for a little while and I wanted it with you to help crowd out what he
’
d done to me.
”
She hesitated before speaking again.
“
He said he did it to get even with you.
”

He sighed and released her. He rose and walked over to look out her bedroom window.
“
And you want to know what I did to him?
”

“
He said you
’
d turned his sister and then killed her.
”
She decided not to mention the baby.
“
Did you?
”

“
As a matter of fact, I did.
”
He turned to look at her.
“
Does that shock you or just make you fear me more?
”

“
Why did you do it?
”

“
You didn
’
t answer my question.
”

“
Tell me why you did it. Please. I want to understand.
”

“
What
’
s to understand? I killed her.
”

“
There had to be a reason, Conner.
”

“
Says who?
”

“
Says everything I know about you. So please tell me why and who she was.
”

He shrugged.
“
Her name was Jane and I was very fond of her and found it difficult to say no to her. She wanted to be a fem and asked me to turn her.
”

“
And?
”

“
Her humanity was part of what drew me to her so I wanted her to stay that way for as long as possible. But she kept at me. Finally, against my better judgment, I turned her. I soon saw what a mistake I
’
d made. She immediately lost all vestiges of her humanity and started killing
–
no slaughtering people for no damn reason other than the fact that she could.
”

“
And that bothered you?
”

“
Don
’
t get me wrong. As you
’
ve probably guessed I
’
ve done more than a little killing myself. However, there
’
s a difference between killing and slaughtering. She took delight in it and didn
’
t give a damn whose life she took. Those she didn
’
t kill, she turned. Despite what you might have misunderstood from movies or books, turning someone is not something we take lightly because you then become responsible for ensuring that person
’
s behavior doesn
’
t bring undue attention on us.

“
She turned people who then started killing indiscriminately. That forced me to put the people she turned down. I warned her that her behavior was unacceptable, but she was in the gripe of the allure of a new fem and was beyond reason.

“
Despite my warnings, she was leaving a trail of bodies or new vampires nearly every place she went. She even turned her
own brother against his will.”

“Hartford?”

He nodded.
“
I knew I could no longer put off correcting my mistake when I came home one night and found her about to ingest Rayna
’
s blood in an effort to turn her into a fem.
”

“
Did she want to be a fem?
”

“
At thirteen the idea was exciting to Rayna but she was too young to make a decision like that. It
’
s not like you can decide you made a mistake and revert to human. Later, when Rayna was an adult, we offered her a chance to become a fem. She chose to remain human...mostly.
”

“Mostly?”

“She’s something less than a latent but no longer completely human. Her aging process has been considerably slowed
and she’s stronger than
most human males.”

“Sounds like a fem to me.”

He shook his head. “It’s not. She’s in a state between human and fem. It’s one many humans who
are in relationships with full–bloods chose. It allows them to severely
impede the normal aging process while re
tain
ing a large measure of their humanity.
In
a
sense they get to have the best of both worlds.”

“What happened with Jane?”

”
When I confronted Jane for what she
’
d tried to do to Rayna, she insisted she was right and I was wrong.
She thought ensuring Rayna remained trapped in the body of a thirteen-year-old was all right.
That
’
s when I knew that I couldn
’
t trust her not to turn Rayna the first chance she got so
…”