A Taste for Blood (The Godhunter, Book 6) (29 page)

“
You don't?” He frowned, his blue eyes going wide. “I think maybe we better get you back to bed,” he started to turn me around but I pulled away.

“
No,” I backed up, “I need to go home, if you won't help me, I'll find it on my own.”

“
Tima,” the man sounded like I'd hurt his feelings. “Please, of course I'll help you. It's this way.” He turned and led me through the corridors until we entered one that ended in a flat wall. “Here it is.”

“
Oh,” I looked it over. “Thank you.”

“
Are you sure you're okay?”

“
Yes,” I tried to smile widely at him but I was anxious to figure out this tracing point thing. “I'm fine.”

“
Okay then,” he frowned but walked away.

I turned back to the wall and cocked my head. What did I have to do to get home? I knocked and all I got was a hollow sound. I rubbed at it, searched for a hidden door, kicked it, but nothing worked. Finally, I sighed and just asked it to take me home.

“Please,” I put my hand on the wall. “I want to go home.” I thought about the room Arach had showed me and how much I wanted to go there. Then a tingling began and I felt my body start to loose its form. Just as I became pure thought, I heard someone screaming after me.

“
My lady, not without me!”

Chapter Forty-Three

I reformed in front of a huge tree. I was standing in the middle of a dirt road, at an intersection. One path led from my left to my right in a sort of circular fashion, and the other led straight ahead. Both went through a forest of trees that seemed strange to me. I would have inspected them further but there was also a black carriage in the road and it was kind of hard to ignore. Four black horses were attached to it, their eyes a bright red, and on the door was the crest of a dragon breathing fire, the tips of his wings coming to a point above his head.

The door opened and a man emerged.

“Arach,” I whispered.

“
A Thaisce,” he had me in his arms in a moment, smiling as he lowered his lips to mine and my heart started beating wildly. I opened my mouth to him, accepting the fire I knew was coming and feeling it pit in my belly, collecting my own fire before I breathed it back out into him. I had a flash of lying beneath him in the grass and accepting his flame for the first time. I leaned into his kiss, adding tongue to fire and his body tightened against mine.

“
Come now,” he pulled back but his eyes were still burning. “We should get you home.”

“
Where are we?” I glanced back at the tree I seemed to have arrived through.

“
We're at The End of the Road,” he waved a hand toward the tree, “at the intersection of the Road of Neutrality,” another hand wave to indicate the road that seemed to curve left and right, “and the path to the Castle of Eight which lies in the heart of the Forgetful Forest,” one final wave down the straight road. “Now come along,” he helped me up into the padded confines of the carriage.

I looked around with interest. I must have been in it before but I truly had no memory of the thick velvet cushions and curtains, or the polished wood of the black walls. It made a perfect backdrop for Arach, who shone on against the black like a fine jewel. His hair looked more red, the scales at his temples shining like glass, and the embers of his eyes casting a glow.

“I can't express how happy I am to have you home, Vervain,” he had my hands in his and I didn't even see him move.

“
Where is home?” I glanced out the window, seeing the forest roll by.

“
Castle Aithinne,” he smiled and I noticed his canines seemed to be pronounced. “We live in the heart of the mountain that guards the Fire Kingdom. It's beautiful, you'll see.”

We sat in awkward silence awhile, until he made a satisfied grunt and gestured out the window.

“There she is.”

I looked out and saw only the entrance to a cave, which we were stopping before. Arach exited deftly and reached a hand up to help me down. I frowned as I realized my feet were bare but then I looked up and saw the castle.

So beautiful, he was right. It was as if the mountain itself had decided to form the castle. The range of it spread out to both right and left as far as I could see but at the center it rose up into numerous thin peaks, towers actually or maybe spires would be more accurate, as they came to deadly looking peaks. The mountain was bare of foliage, just strong stone and unmined metal that glinted in the sunlight. The stone was a cinnabar red and the numerous metals glinting inside it gave it a mosaic appearance, like if you stared long enough, you'd see pictures take shape.

To either side of the section of mountain that was obviously castle, were rivers of lava, flowing from openings low on the mountain. They flowed sluggishly toward each other, dark crusts forming on their surface, and collided directly in front of a silver drawbridge, where they flowed down into the earth again.

The glow of the lava spread up over the mountain like a stretching cat, glinting off the exposed metals while trying to reach the tallest spire. The center tower must have been its goal, it being the widest and most prominent, but the glow fell much too short of reaching such a grand height.

I focused on the central tower, it had a large window overlooking the clearing we were standing in which was just off of the road. Something about that window seemed familiar and I thought that it may be the room Arach had showed me in the mirror. Several windows dotted the jagged spires of the castle, so there must have been hundreds of rooms, but I was certain it was the center spire that Arach had been in.

“Do you like it?” Arach was standing beside me, his face in cautious lines.

“
Yes,” I smiled and he seemed to relax. “Is that our room?” I pointed to the central spire and he grinned.

“
Yes,” he led me forward as the silver drawbridge lowered, revealing a cave behind it, “you remember. Come, I'll take you there.”

The bridge was warmed by the lava beneath, even though the magma moat was far below us, and it felt good on my bare feet. Once we were in the cave, I saw that it was long and narrow, like a hallway, and then it connected to real hallways, snaking out to the left and right. We turned down the right and the hallway opened up to a grand staircase, spiraling up into the castle. Arach escorted me up the stairs and we barely climbed at all before we were on a landing and then entering a room that I actually remembered.

I went to the window and looked down. We were a lot higher than we could have possibly climbed and I frowned, wondering if I'd blanked out part of the way. The door closed with a loud thump and I jerked around, startled from my thoughts.

He was suddenly there, his hands pulling me close, his lips on mine again, and I could barely think. I wasn't wearing anything but a loosely belted robe, a fact I hadn't noticed until his hands undid the belt and slid the material off my shoulders. He pulled back and stared down at me, his eyes starting to slant up and his cheekbones going into sharp relief. I felt myself heat in response, knowing instinctively that his altered features indicated extreme passion.

“I've been waiting for you,” his soft lips thinned a little as they pulled back, baring sharp fangs in a show of frustration and strength. “I don't like to wait.”

“
Maybe you need to wait longer,” I teased and pushed away from him, pulling my long hair around my body as I ran around the huge, silver bed that dominated the room. I hid myself behind a poster and grinned wickedly.

“
Oh, I'm done waiting,” he growled, ripping his tunic apart and shredding his pants.

I gaped, taking in his wild red hair, glowing eyes, and the shimmering scales that were spreading down his neck and then along the sides of his chest. I tracked their movement as they continued to his hips, framing his erection before sliding down the sides of his legs and ending just above his ankles. Muscles twitched as he moved closer, bunching and releasing in a sensuous dance as he stalked me.

I couldn't look away from his body. The beauty of his form, thickly muscled and yet so sleek in appearance. It made me feel small, dainty but at the same time powerful, holding the reins of his desire. My breath came faster as I watched him approach, my core running hot for him. I couldn't move a muscle by the time he reached me, I was too ensnared by him, caught in those ember eyes.

His hands slid over my sides and then down to my hips, cresting over my ass and then cupping beneath it to pull me up. He lifted and pushed, throwing me on the mattress and following quickly. I backed away, further onto the bed, to give us more room, and he smiled dangerously as he crawled over to me. I laid back and let him come.

“Vervain,” his voice caught and I saw a moment of hesitation fill his eyes.

“
What is it?” I held a hand to his cheek and he bit his lip, cutting it with a fang.

I inhaled sharply and immediately lifted my face, covering his mouth with my own and licking the blood from his lips. With the first taste, I knew him, knew everything about him. What he wanted from his life, what he wanted from me. I saw his determination and what motivated him to be so focused. I even knew his heart and what emotions were writhing through him at that very moment. I knew he didn't love me but there was a growing affection there that shocked me for some reason. Why hadn't I expected that?

He groaned and lowered his body to mine. He fit perfectly between my legs, my feet finding purchase on the back of his calves as he slid closer. I felt him hard against me and groaned into his kiss, writhing my hips up to try and pull him in. He broke away from me instead and stared into my face for long moments.

“
I'm sorry,” he finally whispered. “I can't resist this. I want you, I want us, too badly and a dragon-sidhe always gets what he wants. Even if it takes forever, he'll chase his desire until it's caught.”

“
Why are you sorry for that?” I laughed at him and his mood eased, his lips quirking up to mimic mine.

“
I don't know,” he shook his head and then lowered it to my neck. “Men can do horrible things when they want something too passionately,” he whispered into my ear. “But I promise I will adhere to your wishes about your other magic. I'll make sure you don't go too far and give in to your dragon.” I would have asked him what he meant but it was then that I felt his teeth in my neck. I sucked in a breath with the brief pain but then he was lapping at the wound, sending these thrilling sensations straight down to my core.

“
I want you too,” I whispered and pulled on his shoulders. I felt my nails lengthen, sharpen into claws and I couldn't resist the urge to dig them into his back.

He shouted in pleasure, surging forward into me and bringing my own cries to add to his. Hot, he was so hot against me, inside me, and it felt like Heaven. It felt like I'd been overheated, my fire raging out of control, until he tempered it with his own. Flames to flames, we completed each other, writhing in the fire we'd lit together.

He continued to stoke it, sliding in and out, generating more and more heat until we exploded together, our bodies running with flame and setting the linens on fire. We burned without burning, aftershocks of pleasure rocking through us both, as we languished in the inferno that was once our bed, until there were only ashes  and bare metal left.

Chapter Forty-Four

“
Where was I?” I asked Arach as we ate at a large silver table while we watched his goblins bring in a new mattress and linens.

“
What's that, A Thaisce?” He ran a hand languidly over my exposed shoulder.

“
Where was I?” I pulled my robe up to remove his distraction. “When you called for me, where was I?”

“
Visiting a friend,” he shrugged. “I missed you, so I called you to come back.”

“
What was this friend's name?”

“
She's
your
friend,” he shrugged.

“
Huh,” I looked over at the bed again. “Are we going to need a new bed every day?”

“
No,” he laughed. “You've just come into your powers, they'd been building up. Last night was special. You should be able to control it better now.”

“
Right,” I frowned, trying to remember. “You were going to teach me.”

“
Yes and we'll begin those lessons later today. Now come here,” he pulled me into his lap and I smacked his hand when it went diving between my legs.

“
Stop that,” I growled. “There are still goblins in the room.”

“
They don't mind,” he smirked and I heard a twittering of goblin laughter as they left. “Ah, now we're alone,” he pushed away his plate and put me on the table in front of him. “I find myself hungry for more tender meat.”