To Love a Shifter: A Paranormal Romance Boxed Set (53 page)

The First Night Ball of the Crimson Fetes

The Brethren

31 Months Ago

The ball was in full swing, with every Caro in attendance looking more glamorous than any Hollywood star. After all, it was in their nature to glitter and they loved doing so. Tonight’s theme was
Narnia,
an ironic choice for their race could relate more to the Snow Queen than the benevolent lion Aslan
.
They simply could not conceive how anyone could be so ridiculously, foolishly, embarrassingly…selfless.

Could not the lion have saved all four human children without being sacrificed on the Round Table? Certainly if one of them was the Great Lion, they would have figured out a plan. Unlike Lyccans, a race that prided itself on its strength, Caros believed that their minds were sharper than their fangs.

“Look, Jocelyn,” a woman in an emerald-green gown whispered, yanking her friend to her side. “It’s Luka Georgiades!”

Her friend gasped, craning her neck in an effort to see one of their kind’s most famously eligible males. “Where? I can’t—
oh.
” She sighed, and her friend sighed, too.

Luka was dressed all in white—his version of the Snow King, and he had never looked more coldly beautiful. His piercing violet eyes glowed like amethysts, his hard-jawed face inscrutable as he scanned the crowd.

One of the matrons approached him, and Luka’s almost cruelly thin lips curved into a charming but still aloof smile, his voice soft and courteous as he greeted the woman in their own language. He then bowed afterwards and walked further into the ballroom, a striking, tall figure that every woman in the area couldn’t but help feel irresistibly attracted to.

For a Caro woman, there was nothing more attractive than a man so in control of himself, and Luka was legendary for exactly that.

He was only seventeen and yet, after his parents’ death last year, Luka had lost everything boyish about him. He was a man through and through, towering already over many other Caros, his presence quietly authoritative. His body was both elegant and muscular, a combination that had the women around him wetting their lips constantly and thinking about licking him to test if he really was as cold as he seemed.

If the rumors were true, even at his young age he was said to be beyond masterful in bed, able to do such unquenchably hot things with his hands and mouth to have a woman screaming for hours in ecstasy. Then and only then would he let go—and the women who had supposedly bed him said it was such a sight, to see Luka’s beautiful angelic face as he came—

The two women unconsciously sighed in synchrony as Luka walked past them, lust digging its claws into their hearts as they felt his tightly leashed strength. Oh, oh, to imagine…the famously polite Luka…driven to say
‘fuck’
in the throes of the wildest orgasm—

“Caylie,” they heard Luka murmur, his coldly sensual voice like ice caressing a woman’s skin, making even those merely listening shiver in fear and desire.

For a moment, both women’s eyes flashed crimson red, unable to rein back their jealousy as they saw where Luka’s attention was completely focused.

The younger girl laughed, a tinkling, melodious sound that grated on their nerves for both women knew they could never sound so carefree. It was like a memory of sunlight when every being here—even Luka—was of the darkness.

“Who is that?” Jocelyn hissed, unable to keep her voice from getting shrill. What did that little girl have that could make Luka Georgiades seem so…
alive?
Luka Georgiades’ refined manners were the envy of many, his urbane style and polished ways capable of making even human princes and dukes appear appallingly coarse. His lips were never without a smile, but it was one that never reached his eyes—or at least it had not until now.

The way Luka Georgiades stared at the younger girl was practically indecent—scandalous in fact for a race that looked upon indifference as a virtue. He gazed at the girl as if he wanted to undress her on the spot, ripping away her short forest green dress with his fangs before taking her then and there.

“The Sonora heiress,” her friend spat out in recognition of the young waif on Luka’s arms, adding in disgust, “She hasn’t even come out yet.”

Jocelyn’s eyebrows shot up, her head snapping back to study the girl. She had known the girl was young but if she hadn’t come out yet—then she was not even
sixteen
years old? Her eyes narrowed. What could the little brat have that someone as impossibly unattainable as Luka Georgiades would look at her like she was the hottest lay in town?

* * * *

Half-blood usurper…

The Delicazzi lapdog…

Dog fucker…

Luka Georgiades did not even have to shrug the words away. He was immune to such terms by now, and they hurt him as much as ashes falling on his suit could make him bleed.

“You look so hot,” the girl of his fucking dreams—literally, figuratively—whispered.

Luka froze.
Shit.
He had always been proud with his ability to remain untouched by other people. Nothing could ever rile his blood—or at least nothing had until he discovered what Caylie Sonora’s lips tasted like.

Now, just the mere scent of her was enough to have Luka hard. Caylie knew it—and liked tormenting him for it. Worse, she was doing it here and now, torturing him with the heated promise in her lovely dark blue eyes in the middle of a fucking Brethren Ball.  And not just any ball but the fucking First Night ball!

Her sapphire eyes laughed at him. “I can hear you cursing in your mind.”

His upper lip curled in response.

She laughed out loud this time. “Oh yes, you are, don’t bother pretending.”

Luka allowed his exasperation to show for a moment, which got Caylie laughing even more. “It’s that or kill every man who dares ogle you,
mi vavli.
” It meant ‘my bauble’ in their language, one of the most tender terms of endearment that a Caro could use toward another being he or she felt possessive about.

Caylie giggled, and he relished listening to the sound even as heads snapped towards them because of it. Caros did
not
giggle after all. Most times, Luka preferred to play by the rules but for now, he didn’t give a fuck.

He loved the sound of Caylie’s giggles. It was so fearlessly innocent, lacking the calculated sophistication that most Caro girls inherently possessed. She was like no other girl of their kind he had ever known. Perhaps that was what drew him to Caylie, for Luka had always known he was like no other boy of his kind either.

Everyone here was pure of blood—everyone except him, the offspring of a human female and a Caro noble.

The music changed, and Caylie’s eyes brightened with it. Tossing her long curly blond hair over one shoulder, she asked, “Let’s dance?” But she was already pulling him to the dance floor, the only one in the entire world able to do as she wanted with Luka.

He pulled her close, loving the way her tall, slim, and long-legged figure fit his perfectly. The slightest tremor went through his body as their skin came into contact, sparking a sensual fire Luka struggled to deny.

Ever since that one accidental kiss—

Luka’s arm around Caylie’s tiny waist tightened imperceptibly as they swayed and swirled around the dance floor, one in white, the other in green, the White King with a not-so-innocent Lucy Pevensie, both dazzling in their own ways, two exquisite creatures locked in their own world.

If not for that kiss, everything would have been fine between them.

If not for that kiss, he wouldn’t be lying awake at night just thinking…just imagining how it would feel to finally take Caylie and make her his.

If not for that kiss, he would not have to spend every waking night with other women, fucking hard and long just to erase Caylie’s scent in his memories. Without other women to chain him, Luka would have been long gone, doing the unforgivable and climbing into Caylie’s bedroom to take what he so desperately craved to possess.

Sex for Caros was a tool, an outlet, but for some it was also a weakness, an obsession that their blood instinctively yearned for. Unfortunately, it was so for Luka. Even worse, he was obsessed with having sex with only one girl.

His cock twitched at the thought, and Luka immediately withdrew to himself, taking advantage of the years he had devoted to hiding his innermost thoughts, feelings, and desires. Ah, God, nearly every moment spent with Caylie was an exercise of self-control, a battle between his brain and his cock.

Luka slowed down, and Caylie followed suit. She looked up at him glumly. “I know. Time to stop dancing and time to start working, right?”

“Good girl,” he murmured, ruffling her hair when what he actually wanted to do was run his fingers through the silky strands.

She sighed. “Fiiiiine.”

Just then, a couple danced past them, the blond guy glaring daggers at Luka. “Human trash,” he sneered under his breath just before whirling away.

Luka didn’t even blink. Caylie didn’t react visibly either but she subtly wove her fingers through his, a quiet show of support.
Never wear your heart on your sleeve
was their race’s motto, but it was something Caylie seemed to always love violating.

She tugged his hand for attention.

He looked down. “What is it?”

She tiptoed, answering him with a kiss that lingered on his lips. It was a not-so-quiet display this time, Caylie’s way of saying that she chose to be seen with him, never mind he had a human mother.

And then she was pulling away. “Later,” she said, eyes twinkling. And with a little twirl of her skirts, she was gone, a social butterfly whose wings would forever remain unclipped if Luka had his way.

He started to mingle, too, brandishing polite charm as he casually engaged Brethren officials with small talk. It was never too early to start building alliances. Ironically enough, he had learned that from a werewolf prince even though Lyccans and Caros had long considered themselves as ancient rivals.

Hours later, the ball had ended, and he was taking home a tipsy Caylie. Even though it was not yet dawn, Luka wasn’t taking any chances, instructing the chauffeur to take them through the basement entrance.

“This was the best night ever,” Caylie told him in a singsong voice as he led them into the candlelit underground passageway, with shadows playing on its red brick walls.

“Mm…” Luka flipped the lid for the security keypad open when they reached the heavy iron door at the end of the passageway. He punched the secret code, which only he and the Sonora family were privy to.

“Did you see how that European noble was talking
down
to me?” She wrinkled her nose. “I mean like literally down, like he’s trying to memorize the shape of my boobs.”

Luka
had
noticed. He had also been jealous as hell, and there had been nothing he wanted to do more than smash the other guy’s face. His fists clenched involuntarily. He still wanted to do it.