Raven Mask (17 page)

Lenorre kissed me and I returned the kiss, exploring her mouth until my head reeled and I was dizzy with desire.

“How did I ever say no to you?”

Her accent sent a shiver of pleasure through me. “You were scared and being quite stubborn.”

“True enough.” I brushed my lips across her cheek. “So were you.”

“I was reasonably determined.”

“Oh, really? Is that what they call it?”

“Yes.”

I had to fight not to shudder when her breath tickled my neck.

“Why did you tell Eris if I gave my permission, you’d let her sink her fangs into me?”

Lenorre nipped my neck. I jumped, letting out a sound that was uncomfortably close to a girlish yip.

“Oh, Kassandra, you have been too long in your hiding amongst the humans.”

I frowned. “Rosalin told me biting isn’t always erotic for a vampire.”

“She is correct. At times feeding is just that.” She propped herself up on one elbow, gazing at me with those silvery eyes. I traced her jaw with the tips of my fingers.

“If my attraction was so obvious to Eris, I imagine it was obvious to you?”

Her head lowered and her lips brushed my palm. “It was.”

“And that doesn’t make you jealous?”

“You are not the type of woman that likes to feel guilty,” she said. “You struggle with your desires, between those of wolf and human. Now there is a new addition to your personality.”

“The raven.”

“Yes, the raven. As well as the mark The Morrigan placed on your soul.”

I agreed, again. I’d pretty much known the second bit of information from the moment I found my spiritual path and The Morrigan. I also knew she wasn’t an easy Goddess to walk with. So far, I’d been right. The words “difficult to fathom” came to mind.

“I don’t think the raven has actually shown any personality changes,” I said. “Not like when I was infected with lycanthropy.”

“The raven is very different from the lycanthropy virus.”

“What does all of this have to do with Eris?”

“You are going through a transition. You are adapting to our relationship, overcoming your fears, as well as dealing with outside influences,” she said. “I know you well enough by now to be certain you will not do anything to betray me, but you in turn need to know I give you that same amount of devotion. You have the freedom to make your decisions as you see fit, and I will not judge you harshly for them.”

“You were jealous when Rosalin and I slept together,” I mentioned mildly.

“There is friendship between you and Rosalin. I did not want that friendship growing into something more intimate and for you to lose your heart to her. That is why I was initially upset. Do you remember when I told you if you lost your heart to another, it would divert all of my plans?”

“Oh, yes. I’m still trying to figure out all of those plans.”

She pulled me suddenly against her, and my thigh slid easily between her legs. “This,” she said, “was my plan.”

“Not a bad one.”

“I do not think so.” Her voice was as smooth and rich as velvet. “Kassandra, you may find yourself physically attracted to other women. So long as I am the keeper of your heart, I am satisfied.”

I shook my head. “I don’t get that.”

The look she gave me told me she’d seen much more of life than I had in my twenty-six years. “How many women have you slept with?”

“That’s the worst question to ask your lover.”

“But you will answer honestly, won’t you?”

“You really want to know?”

“I asked, did I not?”

I had to think about it, to make sure I wasn’t pushing anyone out of mind. I’d forced myself to forget some of them. “Five.”

“You had only been with three women before Rosalin and me?”

I nodded. “All of which were long-term relationships, or at least I thought they were at the time.”

“How many women have you kissed?”

“More than five.”

“Do you see now how I know your loyalty will not falter?”

I shook my head.

“You admitted you were attracted to Eris, but it is as you told her. You are not a casual person. What happened with Rosalin was because you are not used to controlling your wolf on a sexual level. I would not feel threatened by Eris if you grew a fondness for her…” She shrugged. “I still do not believe I would feel threatened. Intrigued, mayhap. I have seen the way she calls to you.”

“Are you saying Eris is fair game?” I was confused.

“No.” She swept back the long onyx curls of her hair. “I am saying if something happens between the two of you I will deal with it when and if it happens. I am telling you that so long as you are honest with me I will not get angry.”

“I would.”

“If a woman threatens to take more of your heart than I have, if she threatens to take more of you than I have, then she will pay dearly. Does that knowledge of my emotions make you feel any better, my love?”

“Yes, but I can think of something that would make me feel even better.”

“What?”

“Falling asleep in your arms.”

Lenorre pulled me against her and I nestled my knee more deeply between her legs, resting the side of my face against the silken cloud of her curly hair. I wiggled, moving until I was able to bury my face in the bend of her neck. The warm scent she wore lulled me to sleep, but I clung to her unique, personal scent, breathing her in like the cool night air she reminded me of.

Chapter Twenty-Two

There weren’t any lights on when I woke. Lenorre didn’t have a clock in her room, so it was impossible to tell what time it was. I crawled out on my side of the bed and flicked the switch just inside the bathroom door. My jeans were where I’d left them on the marble countertop, my cell phone still in the back pocket. I pressed the button on the side to illuminate the screen. It was twenty minutes till four. Lenorre was still awake, somewhere.

My stomach rumbled, letting me know why I’d woken. I was hungry. I put the jeans back on the counter and snatched a dark green robe from the hook on the wall. Lenorre had enough robes to dress a small army. If it had been my apartment I would’ve walked to the kitchen wearing nothing but my undies and a T-shirt. As it was, others lived here, and I didn’t know quite a few of them. Walking around half-naked in front of strangers just isn’t my thing.

I headed for the main room beyond the labyrinth of hallways, doing a little better at finding my way without getting lost. Every one of the many hallways in this place looked nearly identical to me. I followed a map in my head—forward, left, forward, right. Lights burned along the stone walls, making my shadow dance as I walked by. A spill of bright light at the end of the last hallway told me I’d made it to the main room all by myself. Point for me.

I heard voices speaking softly and stopped, eavesdropping.

“Her power is intriguing,” Eris said.

“It is not her power that intrigues me,” Lenorre replied almost idly.

One of them rose from her seat. “Her beauty, then?” Eris’s voice came from farther in the room.

Lenorre laughed lightly. “It is
her
,” she said with emphasis. “Need there be any more reason than that? You are drawn to her for your own reasons. Must I explain my reasons to you? Perhaps you should be searching the depths of your own feelings instead of trying to penetrate mine, Eris. Why are you drawn to Kassandra?”

I leaned against the wall, listening, trying not to make any noise. Which was hard to do, since vampires hear as well as any lycanthrope. I didn’t want to participate in the conversation, but I was curious as to what they were saying about me.

After a long moment of silence Eris responded. “I do not know.” Her tone was thoughtful. “She is a complex and passionate creature, unlike the women that fall at my feet begging for a nightly embrace.”

I didn’t know how I felt about being called a
creature.

“Kassandra would not throw herself at anyone’s feet.” Lenorre sounded mildly amused. “Unless it is what she desired.”

“I have noticed. She’s quite capable of taking care of herself, isn’t she?”

“Yes. Dare I say,” Lenorre put a little faux-awe in her tone, “that you have gained a certain amount of respect for the woman you once deemed my pet?”

Eris laughed then. “I was wrong. Has Rosalin told you her news?” She changed the subject so abruptly they almost lost me.

“That Kassandra has claimed her as one of her wolves?”

“Yes.”

“Rosalin informed me some hours ago.”

“I think your wolf is blossoming.”

“I believe you are correct.”

“She has the mark of an alpha,” Eris said. “Is she aware of such?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

Lenorre didn’t respond and I wondered if she shrugged.

Lukas Morris had told me the white in my hair was the mark of an alpha because it was the same color as my fur. Of course, he’d told me that before I’d littered his chest with silver bullets. But Lukas hadn’t been the first to say that.

“How do you think Sheila will react to this news?”

“She will view it as a threat to her control over the pack and a personal challenge.”

My stomach chose that moment to rumble, and the room beyond fell silent. I mentally cursed it.

“Kassandra, you may come out now. You were more than welcome to interrupt the conversation at any moment, but it seems your stomach has decided to accomplish the task for you.” Lenorre’s voice carried throughout the room.

I stepped around the corner. “You knew I was listening?”

Eris’s brows rose an inch. “I do now.” She turned to look at Lenorre.

The smile Lenorre gave her was devastatingly impish. It suited her, making her storm-cloud eyes sparkle mischievously.

“How much of our conversation did you overhear?” Eris asked.

“You have no idea why you’re attracted to me and Sheila will throw a hissy once she finds out I’ve claimed Rosalin. Right?”

“I’m not fond of being spied upon.”

“Get used to it,” I said, “because if you’re talking about me and I’m within hearing distance I’m going to spy.” I clutched the robe around me, finally summoning the will to walk into the room. “By the way, I have no idea why you’re attracted to me either. Unless you’re just into difficult women and I’m the first one that won’t throw herself at your feet.” I wasn’t sure where the snide comment came from. I couldn’t hide the resentment in my voice. I wasn’t entirely sure where it came from either.

Eris’s beautiful features were empty of any reaction, like she’d thrown on an impenetrable mask. I’d worn that expression before and seen it on other cops. It was a way of hiding. She didn’t want me to know what she was feeling or what she was thinking. I was fine with that.

My stomach ruined the moment again, grumbling loudly. If I didn’t eat soon, I’d get a stomachache.

“Come.” Lenorre stood and offered her hand to me. “We will find something for you to eat.”

“Thank you. That would be nice.”

I had thought the hallway led to more rooms, but I was wrong. Lenorre showed me to an underground kitchen, and though it was small, the dining room connected to it was vast. A long wooden table with intricately carved chairs sat in the middle of the room, with a candelabra chandelier over it. The table could’ve easily seated twenty people. Lenorre struck a match and lit three long red taper candles set in a candelabrum that was placed at the middle of the table, not bothering with the ornate chandelier. The walls of the room were almost a peach color, but too light to be peach and too bold to be beige.

I ended up eating a bowl of fruity cereal, sitting across from Lenorre and trying to ignore her watching me.

She finally broke the silence. “Did our conversation bother you?”

I finished the last of the cereal. “I don’t know. It made me a little uncomfortable.”

“Why?”

“Why were you talking about me in the first place?”

“Eris was trying to figure herself out through me.”

“How does that work?”

“She apparently believed if she could pinpoint my attraction to you, it would explain her own.”

“But it won’t.”

She gave a half nod. “Correct, and I believe there was more truth to your retaliation than you knew.”

I shrugged. “I’m getting used to women being attracted to me because I’m either something to conquer, someone to play with, or someone to use for their own benefit.”

“Your past?” Lenorre asked in a gentle tone.

“Yeah. Rearing its hideous head.”

She seemed to understand. Lenorre didn’t ask me about my past and I was grateful. She didn’t expect me to rip my heart open and spill its contents on the table between us. I’d learned some lessons, and several had been harsh. I remembered those especially, but even when I looked back over the pages of my history I had tender moments, though those often hurt the most. The sweetest memories have a way of reminding us that not everything is absolutely bad or absolutely good.