“Back off, Bancroft. You have no idea what you’re stepping in the middle of here,” Jonathan spat.
“You’re the one who doesn’t have a fucking clue,” Kieran replied smoothly. The contrast between the two men’s stances was like night and day. Jonathan was practically frothing at the mouth while Kieran looked as though they were having a friendly chat. His posture was relaxed, with his right hand tucked in his pocket and his left foot forward. “Tell me something, Jonathan. When did you get turned? It couldn’t have been very long ago if you’re this unaware of who you’re up against right now.”
Jonathan’s head reared back, his glowing red eyes widening. “You know what I am?”
“Oh, yes. It’s impossible to miss.” Kieran’s nostrils flared. “I smelled the stench of you on my woman the moment I opened my door to her, nightwalker.”
Keeping my eyes on them, I slowly edged my way over to the table Kieran had pointed out. Wrapping my palm around the drawer knob, I flinched when Jonathan hissed, “You’re one of those daywalkers my sire warned me about, aren’t you?”
“He must’ve done a piss-poor job of explaining shit to you.” Kieran shrugged, and his right hand moved deeper inside his pocket. “Not that I’m surprised. Nightwalkers are soulless bastards who don’t give a damn about anything other than their bloodlust. Your sire probably won’t even notice that I’ve sent you straight to hell.”
I yanked the drawer open, and Jonathan’s gaze darted back to me. His mouth spread in a grotesque grin before he taunted, “You called Thana yours, so that must mean she’s your fated consort. The last thing this world needs is more daywalker brats being born. If I go to hell, I’m taking her with me.”
I had no idea what Jonathan meant about me being a consort—Kieran hadn’t mentioned anything about them when he’d told me about vampires—but his threat to take me to hell was freaking me out even more than I already was. I reached inside the drawer for the garlic and holy water, hoping it wouldn’t come down to me needing them.
Kieran whipped a wooden stake out of his pocket—I needed to ask him where it came from because the only hard rod I’d felt while sitting on his lap had definitely been his dick—and leaped toward Jonathan. I stumbled to the side and backed myself against the wall again, wanting to get as far away from their fight as I could while still being able to keep an eye on what was happening. Not that I was able to see much since they moved faster than I was able to track. I felt as though I was watching a fight scene in a movie on fast forward. Limbs blurred as punches and kicks were thrown at lightning speed. I pressed the back of my hand that was holding a bulb of garlic to my mouth as I tried to stop myself from crying out because I didn’t want to distract Kieran.
About a minute later—which felt much longer to me—he drove the stake into Jonathan’s chest. His body burst into flames and then turned to a small pile of ash on the floor.
“Holy crap,” I whispered, stunned by everything I’d just witnessed. Now that the danger had passed, I dropped the garlic and bottle of holy water and rushed forward to throw myself into Kieran’s arms. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Kieran stroked his hand down my back and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “There was no need to worry. A newly turned nightwalker is no match for a daywalker as old as me.”
His response raised an important question and reminded me that I had others that needed answering. Leaning back, I asked, “How old are you? What’s a fated consort? And what in the world am I going to tell Jonathan’s parents and my aunt about his disappearance?”
6
Kieran
The adrenaline from the fight was still coursing through me, and it was adding fuel to the fire inside me that burned for Thana. Jonathan was no match for me, but it didn’t stop my mind from imagining what would have happened had he gotten ahold of my girl. I wrapped my arms around her even tighter, the feel of her in my arms helping to calm me down.
I barely registered her questions but did my best to find focus so I could answer her, especially knowing where the conversation was headed. Without warning, I scooped her into my arms and began to stalk through the house. “You don’t need to worry about his parents,” I assured her, trying to keep the rage out of my voice so she wouldn’t mistake my anger as being directed at her. “You aren’t going to be seeing them again. I’ll deal with it.”
We reached a set of stairs, and I quickly jogged up to the second floor and turned to the right, heading down the hallway.
“You shouldn’t have to do that.”
I cut her off before she could say any more. “You are mine, Thana. I take care of you, protect you, and give you anything you need. And as for your aunt...well, we’ll figure out how to handle her later.”
“Yours…” she echoed thoughtfully. “Does that have something to do with the fated consort thing Jonathan mentioned?”
I gritted my teeth and growled, “Do not ever mention that bastard again.” I kicked open one of the double doors that led to the master suite, and it slammed into the wall with a loud bang. Thana jumped a little but pressed herself closer to me rather than pulling away. Fuck, I needed her naked. Now.
Setting her on her feet beside the huge canopy bed, I turned her around and brushed her gorgeous hair over one shoulder. Then I bent my head to brush my lips over her mark and gave her a little lick. She tasted the way she smelled, like cinnamon and something that was all her own. My teeth ached to see if her blood was just as sweet.
“Being my fated consort”—slowly, I began to lower her zipper—“means that you were born to be mine. It’s your destiny, Thana.” Her bodice gaped forward when it was fully unzipped, and I licked my lips at the sight of all that pure, milky skin. She had on a lacy, blue bra, and I popped the catch and pushed all of the material off her shoulders.
“Does that make you mine?” she asked softly. Her back was exposed, but she was holding the dress up in front of her and looking over her shoulder with a tentative gaze.
“Yes,” I responded in a low, resolute tone. Gliding my hands up from her waist to her ribs, I yanked her back against me before sliding them around and forcing them underneath hers. I dislodged them and her arms fell to her sides. It gave me the access I needed to cup her full, ripe breasts. When she gasped, it sent blood rushing straight to my cock. “I’ve waited a long, long time for you, baby,” I whispered in her ear.
“And um, exactly how long was that?”
I chuckled and buried my head in the crook of her neck. “Adorable,” I murmured. “I’ll be nine hundred and nighty-eight in a few months.” My thumbs grazed her pebbled nipples, causing them to harden even more.
“Oh,” she squeaked. It turned into a moan when I gently squeezed her globes and licked up the side of her neck to nibble on her earlobe.
“I’ve been waiting nearly a thousand years to hold you, to kiss you”—one of my hands traveled down her stomach until it reached the apex of her thighs and I cupped her there—“to sink my cock into your virgin pussy and fill you with my come while I feast on your blood.”