A Vampire To Watch Over Me [Vampire Coven Book II] (13 page)

A groan escaped past Honor’s lips when Laken slid a finger up inside her. In and out his finger searched then settled onto her nub. Honor thought it was a cute piece of anatomy, non-threatening. Her breasts began to throb, and she wanted him to place his mouth back over a nipple; she guided his head lower. Laken didn’t need encouragement, he seemed to be waiting on a go-ahead from her—he had it.

Honor wasn’t certain what to do, and so she simply held him and ran her hands over the generous expanse of his broad back. When she heard him whisper, “Taste me,” she put her mouth onto his hard muscled flesh and sucked. He tasted wonderful. Honor whimpered when he released her breast and moved sensually down her body. Lower he went until Honor wondered what he was going to do. Her body arched of its own accord when his mouth and lips settled over that cute bud and he sucked.

“Laken.” She gasped as he grew more demanding.

A wet tongue slid into her, and Honor gripped the sheets beneath her. She had to have more of the feeling that was building. For long moments, Laken tortured her blissfully, using his mouth and fingers to bring her closer to the brink of wild abandon. Her legs began to shake and Laken pushed them farther apart. Honor buried her hands into his hair, Laken had said he didn’t eat flesh, but he was doing a fair amount of tasting. She cried out when he gently grazed his teeth across her vulnerability.

Laken rose over top of her, licking and sucking and nipping at her fevered flesh, and she noted that man part of him was a great deal longer and thicker than she remembered. She wrapped her arms tightly around Laken when he settled his body over her and the tip of him pushed at her insides demanding entry; Honor still wasn’t certain his huge cock would fit but he had to know more than she did.

Honor screamed then her breath caught and held when Laken plunged. Her insides stretched and Honor was wet with excitement. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, but she accepted all of him; the pain lessened when he began to move. In and out, his cock stroked her. Her pussy tightened and released over him; she hadn’t known she could capture a man. His long hard body slid over her, their skin touched repeatedly; she had always seen men in furs until she met Laken. He was so hard underneath satin soft skin. He whispered sweet words into her ears and Honor hadn’t known how amazing kind endearments would make her feel. Her heart near burst with emotion.

When two sharp points penetrated her throat, Honor groaned. Laken was suddenly in her mind and her thoughts—he was everywhere talking to her, guiding her. Honor was being taken on an adventure in the journey of his mind while his body took her body on a discovery of unbelievable feelings.

The scenery Laken showed her was breathtaking; huge animals roamed beneath them but there was no fear. A beautiful little stream came into view, and Honor could see herself in Laken’s mind. She was dressed in odd furs, and Laken was sucking at her neck showing wonderful things of the life they would lead together. He wanted children at his fire he called a hearth. There was a beautiful polar bear rug he wanted for her to show her his strength. They would be so happy. Honor heard his words.

Look, isn’t it beautiful?

“Yes.”

It was beautiful and Honor had never felt happier. She loved him with all her heart—she felt it. It was astounding to love someone so much after having no one at all. Honor felt so safe in his arms as they circled her tighter. They were joined as one and she couldn’t get enough; she begged for more of him, and Laken was happy to show her more.

The happy scene filled her as his cock stroked in and out taking her to two places at once. The quicker Laken moved, the harder Honor gasped with the feel of him. His hands were everywhere: in her thoughts, on her body. Warm wetness heated her insides making her more slippery, making the sensation that much more enjoyable. Laken was truly inside of her; the wetness would somehow create the baby he wanted so badly, he showed her as much, would the child be like Galf? The idea was confusing, but oh so pleasurable.

“I love you, Laken,” Honor was compelled to say.

I love you so much, I will always find you, I will always love you—Nanya.

Honor was crushed by his heartless cruel word; didn’t he remember her name—how could he not know who she was when he made love to her? It was then he killed her. Honor gasped in horror as she saw her lifeless body lying in his arms by the beautiful stream, and she started to cry. She had been so helpless, so trusting of this man. How could he? Why would he?

“Honor it’s not what you think,” Laken sounded desperate as she began to slide into unconsciousness.

It was exactly what she thought it was. She had been in his arms before and he had betrayed her by killing her. He was killing her now. Honor couldn’t move; she thought she was dead. How many men would deceive her? Touching was a lie, not touching was a lie—where the hell was the truth? Honor slipped into darkness.

* * * *

“Please Honor, drink—come back to me,” Laken’s pleading words roused her.

Honor remembered being with Laken, but she was so desperately confused. The time he showed her wasn’t her time in the present, but in the past, he had wanted a life with the
other
her. Was it all just tricks of the mind? How could she have been with him then and now?

“I know you’re confused,” he said.

Honor could see Caine not far from the bed she lay on in Caine’s office. “Who is Nanya?” she asked Laken.

Laken gave Caine a direct look and he tilted his head in acknowledgment and left the room. Laken lifted her fingers to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

“I’m sorry, Honor. I shouldn’t have taken you there, but I was so filled with your taste—your familiar taste. Thousands of years ago I was to be mated to a woman, her name was Nanya. You and she look so much alike it’s uncanny; you taste so much alike, it was her I thought I was with, and the memories took me back to a time when I wanted to mate her and take care of her. I’m so sorry; I never should have done that. A vampire remembers everything, sometimes it’s a burden not a boon.”

“You killed her,” Honor accused.

“She was my first conquest, I had no control over what I did; Tavish had only turned me hours before I saw her. I only wanted to show her how perfect our lives would be together. I took too much from her, and it was too late to turn her; she died in my arms, and I swore one day I would find her again.”

“You think I’m her? Everything you have said was for her—not me.”

“There are times the vampires in this and other covens have experienced déjà vu with someone. But make no mistake—even if you were from a moment in my past, you are in my present and you are Honor, not Nanya. She’s gone and has been for a long time. This is another time and place and I made my peace with her and I know in my heart she forgave me. She loved me.”

The memories of their last meeting were still prominent. Laken had much more control than he had those thousands of years ago. Honor remembered nothing more and so his glimpse at a doppelganger could be meaningless. But what did this mean to her? Did Laken only want her because she looked like a lover from his past? The idea hurt. Honor rolled away from him and curled onto her side. Maybe she was just like the figurines in his glass chest, something to be captured and controlled, nothing more than a knick-knack. What happened to love? Honor hated the word—it was the worst of the foul four-letter words, because it hid behind a lie.

She had done the sex thing and that’s all it was to him, and so it would be all it was to her. Love could just fuck off. Soon, he would find two men for her to mate with, and maybe one day she could have a child like one of the beautiful little children she had seen smiling at the dinner tables. It didn’t really matter if no one loved her, she was used to it. But Honor could love her child; her father had shown her how.

Laken was rubbing her hip and talking quietly to her; Honor tuned him out. She could make up scenarios in her mind too; she had often enough in the ice dwelling. Honor could picture the little girl she wanted—she had wanted a girl since Talek had murdered his own child. She would have long dark hair, big blue eyes, tanned skin, and she would run, play, laugh and maybe she would love. Honor began sobbing—she didn’t think she would ever be able to stop.

* * * *

The tree she stood under was massive; then again, Honor had nothing to compare it with since she hadn’t seen trees until coming to the coven. Honor was feeling betrayed and hurt. She had stupidly thought Laken cared for her, what a joke. Later that night, he had taken her around the camp and introduced her to things called Anivamps. Strange beasts with huge fangs and glowing white eyes—all turned hybrid vampires by Tavish. From Laken’s stern look, he must have thought she would be impressed, she wasn’t.

The introduction had only added fuel to the fire raging in Honor’s belly. She took Laken’s warning as a threat. Telling her never to go over the fence or she would be in danger was just another excuse to control her. How could anything over the wall be scarier than the Anivamps or the polar bear? Lies, it was all lies—everything Laken said was a lie. Well, she was done with lies and attempts to control her.

Seething, Honor began to climb the behemoth. Higher and higher she went until her arms ached. Her feet slipped a few times on moss-covered branches, and when Honor could see over the fence, she was breathing hard and fast. A sea of trees and green foliage met her gaze; it was stunning. Way off in the distance, she could make out mountains, or perhaps they were ice dwellings. The scene was majestic and awe-inspiring. It wasn’t the vast wasteland of white nothingness. There was life out there. How could there be anything to fear in such a breathtaking world?

Honor filled with hope. Out there, she could survive; out there, she wouldn’t freeze. Food grew on trees out there—they had to, because they grew on the trees in the coven. Vampires came back with food from over the wall. Vampires lied to the humans to frighten them and keep them subservient, but Honor knew better. There was freedom beyond those walls—Honor wanted hers.

After a quick, cautious look around, Honor climbed over the wall, guiding her bare feet onto a branch of another tree within close proximity. She could feel her heart hammering—finally she was going to do what she had set out to do weeks ago—prove she needed no one, when she had no one. It was a sad thought, but she hardened her heart and, taking a deep breath, Honor descended into the unknown.

Shaky feet stepped onto the terrain beneath her, and Honor spun in a slow circle. There was nowhere else to go except to be as far away from the steel wall as possible. Once more, Honor made the run for freedom. Free of the encumbrance of heavy furs, her legs pumped, stirring up a breeze in her wake. She felt like she was flying and it was exhilarating. Honor jumped logs and brush; she avoided the pesky ponds with no bottoms—devious pieces of nature as far as she was concerned.

Finally, out of sheer exhaustion, she slowed and then stopped. Her breath came in huge gasps. Honor laughed. She had done it; she had escaped. Looking around, she realized it would be dark soon. She would need shelter and food. It was with frustration she realized a fire was out of the question—the vampires would see it from the sky, unless she found a cave.

Honor began hunting around the area, looking for anything that would be of use. There was a slight overhang in the somewhat open area she had come across. Honor dragged soft branches and ferns under her shelter and, as an afterthought, gathered sticks—just in case she decided to try a fire. She stood back admiring her handiwork, thinking she was right—she could take care of herself in a situation where it was warm and not so empty of life. All she needed now was some water, and she remembered she had passed a pond.

A low growl and a large snapping of wood caught her attention. Trees shook and fell off to the side: the foliage trembled, the ground shuddered. Honor’s breath all but stopped when a massive creature lumbered out of the undergrowth into her little clearing. Honor thought her heart would cease to beat. The being looked thick-skinned with dagger-sized jagged teeth, top and bottom; it was a pale greenish brown. Two black, beady eyes sat on top of a head that sported an extended snout. A long tail whipped around knocking more trees down. The creature was eight times the size of Tavish’s polar bear. Honor had thought she had never seen any creature as large as the Anivamp polar bear or white tiger—she was mistaken.

The creature before Honor was on all fours, bent slightly at the knees and its head was as high as Honor’s; they looked at each other eye to eye. It sported a wide flat back with mini dagger-like scales running the length of its body. Its wide feet had claws which dug into the ground, shredding the earth as though to say what was in store. There was no expression in the being’s eyes, or on its long face, and yet Honor knew she was about to die. Laken hadn’t lied. There were beings in this world more frightening than anything he had shown her. A low growl clicked as it snorted, its mouth opened and a huge pink tongue rose and fell. Its jaws snapped shut making her jump then still—frozen in fear.

“Laken.”

The word and a small whimper escaped from her throat but Honor stood motionless, there would be no running from this creature. Goose bumps dotted her arms as it moved closer; she could already imagine the feel of those sharp teeth ripping off her limbs. The sound it would make as it squished her head between its massive jaws and split her in half, spilling her brains. The creature lunged forward and she could feel its breath, smell its foul scent; Honor closed her eyes.

Honor screamed when she was ripped from the ground as the creature pounced. She was high in the air looking down wide-eyed as the creature roared in frustration. Mouth agape, Honor gazed into Laken’s surprised eyes. She blinked twice, but having no words and no breath, Honor fainted to the sound of her pounding heartbeat.

* * * *

“How the hell did Cronos get so damned close?” Tavish raged. “The beast was on another fucking continent.”