Carnal Magic: The Wraith Accords, Book 1 (15 page)

When the cabin door opened, Isabel forced herself to pay attention. If this was a spot inspection—otherwise known as a shakedown for bribe money—she was going to be seriously tempted to use the inspector as her evening meal. But it wasn’t a Romanian official who ducked into the plane.

It was Aed.

Isabel braced her hands on the arms of her chair, her tongue tingling with questions and accusations. Snatching her phone off the side table, she dialed Ionel.

“Lady Isabel,” he answered.

“Why is Aed here?”

Isabel felt Aed’s gaze on her but she ignored him.

“He said that he was supposed to come with you, but you were separated.”

“And you believed him?”

“No, Lady, I did not. I called the mansion to see what I should do. The Judge told me to bring Aed to you, that the stranger was tasked with your protection.”

“The Judge said.” Isabel’s teeth ground together. Drake.

“My lady, if I have offended—”

“It’s fine.” She hung up.

Aed took the seat across the aisle from her, watching carefully as the flight attendant buckled his seat belt. They didn’t speak as the plane started to taxi. It was night, so the window shades were up. Magnetic locks kept them closed during the day, but for now Aed was able to look out the window as the plane’s engines whirred and rumbled, lifting them into the air.

Aed was whispering something. The only word she caught was “Danu.”

Danu—the god his people worshiped. He was praying. The first trip in a plane was frightening, especially if you’d never seen anything like this before. Aed was a stranger in a strange land, and though she wanted to beat her fists against his stupid face her heart went out to him.

She was a fool in a thousand different ways, because she leaned over and took his hand in hers. He squeezed so hard her fingers ached, but she didn’t mind.

She really was a fool.

C
hapter Thirteen

H
e was going to die.

The metal tube was hurtling through the air, kept aloft by some magic he couldn’t even begin to fathom. He knew about airplanes the same way he knew about cars—from human videos and movies—but there was a world of difference between that and actually sitting in one of the terrible things.

The human woman who’d greeted him asked him if he wanted anything in well-accented French. Aed thought about asking if he could get off, but that would mean leaving Isabel, so he just shook his head. The woman didn’t believe him, because she brought him back a glass of pale gold, bubbly liquid. He shook his head, not wanting any champagne.

“It’s ginger ale. It will help your stomach.”

Isabel kept her head turned away from him when she spoke, but at least she said something. He would forever be grateful that she’d taken his hand for the beginning part, but the instant she’d released him he’d been forced to confront his oncoming death alone.

He took the glass and sipped a little. It was sweet and bubbly and nothing like he’d thought it would be. After a few minutes he started to feel better.

Isabel unbuckled her lap belt and stood. She went to the other occupant of the plane, another human woman. When she touched this human’s shoulder, the woman set aside a book and followed Isabel to the back, where there were long benches instead of chairs.

Aed tugged at the metal fastening of the belt. Isabel must have heard what he was doing, because she called out, “Stay there, Aed.”

Curious, he leaned over the side to look back at what was going on. The human woman was lying on a bench. One arm rested across her waist, the other was stretched out to Isabel, who knelt on the floor at her side.

Isabel turned her head enough to meet his gaze. Even from a distance he could see the pain and anger in her eyes. She opened her mouth, her fangs longer than he’d ever seen them.

Aed tugged at the seat belt again, but didn’t look away from the tableau.

Isabel lowered her head to the human’s wrist. Aed saw the tips of her fangs press against the human’s skin, saw the moment of resistance before the sharp points penetrated flesh. The human’s body arched and small sounds of pain were barely audible over the roar of the engine.

“Isabel, stop.” Giving up on the metal clasp, Aed grabbed the strap and with a hard yank ripped it free of its mooring.

He raced back and dropped to his knees beside Isabel. Her lids flickered and then she looked up, her mouth still fastened around the woman’s wrist.

“Don’t do this. You’re angry. It’s my fault. Don’t take it out on the human.” He wanted to pull Isabel away but didn’t want to risk harming the human.

Isabel raised one eyebrow. The human who’d brought him the drink appeared at his shoulder. “Sir, please leave the Sage alone while she feeds.”

“I won’t let her take out her anger at me one someone else.”

“Her anger?” The human was wringing her hands. “Sir, please return to your seat. We can arrange for someone for you when we land.”

Isabel raised her head, clamping one hand down on the human’s wrist. “He’s not Vampire. He thinks I’m hurting her.” Isabel’s voice was thick with disgust. Her gaze flickered to him before she lowered he head to the human’s wrist once more.

“Hurting her?” The other human sounded shocked. “No, sir, I assure you the kiss of a Vampire is not painful, not unless they want it to be.”

Aed looked at the woman lying on the bench. Her eyes were closed, but he could see movement beneath the lids. Her breath was coming hard and fast and the hand that had been lying on her waist was now between her legs.

“Oh.” Aed rose, rubbing the back of his neck. His mistake was understandable, considering that he’d seen her torture Evon with no more than a bite—or had he? At first glance pleasure could look a lot like pain.

“It seems I cannot do anything but offend and hurt you.” Aed longed to stroke her hair, to touch her cheek. “I wish it were not so.”

He let the human usher him to a new seat and buckle him in. There was nothing to see outside the window, and all the questions he had only Isabel could answer. With nothing to think about except his own stupidity, Aed closed his eyes.

Isabel licked the small puncture marks until they’d started to heal. The woman was fast asleep, her breathing even and deep.

“Is she sleeping?” the flight attendant asked.

Isabel tucked her arms under the woman and then lifted her. “Yes.” Carrying her into the bedroom, she settled her on the bed. “What does she have?”

“Parkinson’s.”

Isabel nodded. Though vampire saliva couldn’t cure human diseases, sometimes being bitten alleviated pain and reduced symptoms of illness. In Paris, the Cabal didn’t allow
oranges sanguines
, instead forcing all members to work with ill humans from hospitals and treatment facilities. Isabel hadn’t kept her own
orange sanguine
in years, but willing donors who wanted to be bitten for reasons beyond sex were never hard to find. This woman would remain with the plane and most likely sleep through the rest of the trip.

It had been nearly two weeks since she’d last eaten, and Isabel felt loose and mellow after the feast. She hadn’t realized how hungry she’d been until she finally got that first mouthful of blood. Even her anger toward Aed was muted in the post-feeding glow.

She started to return to her original seat but instead moved up so she was across from Aed, who was also sleeping. He didn’t look any less powerful at rest. The planes and lines of his face were still those of a warrior, and he’d folded his arms, causing his muscles to bulge. But in sleep his mouth was relaxed, emphasizing his full lower lip.

Isabel leaned over and feathered a kiss over his lips. His brow wrinkled, then smoothed out again. Dropping into her seat, Isabel pulled her legs up and stared at him. She no longer thought he’d followed her to serve as a spy. If that were the case, he would have made more of his time in the mansion, which meant his real reason for being here was exactly what he’d said. He’d followed her out of Fae because he’d been tasked with protecting her—but what did he think he was protecting her from?

As if he knew she was thinking about him, Aed opened his eyes. He stretched his arms up, then turned to face her. He smiled at her, and Isabel’s heart leapt, but before she could return the smile he blinked, seeming to wake up fully. His smile faded and he dropped his head, focusing on his knees.

“Did you enjoy your, uh, meal?” He tugged at the denim, as awkward as a teenage boy.

“You think me the kind of person who would torture and abuse humans every time I need to eat?”

Aed shrugged one shoulder. “Please accept my apologies. I assumed so based on what I saw you do before, and because there was anger in your eyes. I saw it. That is my fault, and I didn’t want someone else to suffer in my place.”

Isabel sighed. Coming from Aed, that explanation made sense, and he wasn’t wrong.

“I
was
angry, but I wouldn’t have fed if I didn’t know I could put that aside.”

He looked up, brows slightly elevated in a hopeful expression. “You
were
angry?”

“Oh, I’m still angry with you, but right now I’m full and that always makes me feel warm and content.” And horny, but she wouldn’t tell him that.

Aed nodded. They sat in silence for what felt like an hour, but was no more than twenty minutes.

“I do not think you’re a…a whore.” Aed stumbled over the crass word.

Isabel rested her cheek on her shoulder. “You do.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Aed, you were willing to let me be punished—how, I still don’t know, but I suspect you do—for a crime you knew I didn’t commit, all because I flirted with another man after I slept with you.”

Aed ran his hands through his hair, the leather strip holding it back falling off so that when he pulled his hands away a lock of hair fell forward.

“I would not have let them punish you. I did not honor the Fianna with my behavior, but it was not because I thought you were a whore.”

“Then why?”

“When I thought you were going to sleep with Cairbe…when I thought that you were done with me…” He swallowed.

Isabel lowered her voice, her pulse hammering. “Why, Aed?”

“It broke my heart.”

The words hung in the air, and for the second time in a week Isabel felt the world changing around her, the planets realigning, the stars shining brighter.

“I love you.” Aed spoke with quiet, firm surety. It was no passionate declaration, no dramatic emotional flourish. It was a statement, all the more pure for its simplicity.

“I love you, and it broke my heart that you did not feel the same. I would not have let them hurt you, and I will protect you, with my life if necessary.” He wouldn’t look at her, but now a small smile quirked his lips. “I have never behaved with such a lack of honor before. The one person I want to impress the most is the one I instead offend and hurt.”

Isabel’s eyes filled with tears, but these were not tears of anger or sadness. Nothing in all her long life had ever made her feel more beautiful or special than Aed’s declaration of love. All the pieces clicked into place, his seemingly inexplicable actions and words now made sense.

“Love makes fools of all men.” She rose and slid onto Aed’s lap.

His eyes widened. “Isabel?”

“Oh, Aed.” She touched his cheek, committing every line of his face to memory so she could always look back on this moment.

“I swear to you that I was going to explain that I didn’t think you’d killed the servant. I hadn’t imagined the prince would let it get that far.”

“That is one of the many things we have to talk about, but right now I don’t want to talk. I want to kiss you.”

“Isabel…”

“What?”

“I have never loved before. And it seems that love does not make me a better man.”

“That’s true.” He had been a bit of a disaster, from the assassination attempt to unwittingly testifying against her.

Aed cleared his throat. “So perhaps it would be better if you made me not love you.”

Isabel couldn’t stop the smile that tugged at her lips. “You want me to make you fall out of love with me?”

He nodded solemnly.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“Perhaps that was a foolish thing to say, but when you do this—” he gestured to her position on his lap, “—it’s impossible not to think about how much I want to touch you.”

“So you want me not to do this?” Isabel kissed each corner of his mouth. He was rigid under her, his fingers white on the armrests. “Or this?” She trailed her fingers down his cheek, then lower across his chest and abdomen. His muscles rippled under her touch. “Or this?” She feathered a gentle kiss over his lips, the same as she had while he slept.

Aed’s eyes closed, his face twisted with an expression of aching longing.

This man, this amazing, powerful warrior, loved her. Really loved her. She’d been with many men—been the object of their desire, a prize to be won, a confidant and companion and even a political asset and ally. She’d never been loved. No one had ever looked at her the way Aed did.

She cupped his face and kissed him. His resolve broke and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her with a kind of desperation. Isabel ran her fingers through his hair, burrowing her face against his neck when the kiss ended.

Her own confession of love was on her lips, but she held back. The truth was she was a coward. To love was to be vulnerable, to give over power to another person. Despite the feelings swelling within her, she couldn’t say the word.

So she showed him how much she loved him.

Isabel turned to look at the flight attendant. The human woman nodded once then opened the cockpit door and stepped inside, leaving Isabel and Aed alone in the cabin. Climbing off his lap, she undid Aed’s seatbelt before he got frustrated and ripped it. When she held out her hand, Aed took it, rising to his feet.

“Brace your hands on the ceiling.” Isabel took a step back, then pointed up.

He looked at her uncertainly but stripped off his leather jacket and raised his arms. He was tall enough that his head practically touched the ceiling, so it was no great difficulty for him to place his palms flat overhead.

Isabel dropped to her knees and unfastened his belt.

“What are you—” His hissed out a breath as she lowered the zipper. He started to drop his hands.

“No, stay there. I want to play with you.”

“I can pleasure you at the same time.”

“I just fed, so I have enough control to do this.” With a quick yank she had his pants and briefs down around his knees.

Aed’s cock bobbed, the hard length both imposing and enticing. Isabel shoved his shirt up so she could enjoy the sight of his well-muscled abdomen. Pressing his cock up against his belly, she bent her head and licked a path from his inner thigh to his balls, carefully taking them in her mouth as she rubbed the head of his cock with her thumb.

“Isabel. Isabel.” Aed was panting her name.

Pulling back, Isabel raked her nails over his belly, watching the muscles ripple. She felt her fangs start to lower, but she forced them to retract. Knowing her time was short, she stopped playing, wrapping one hand around the base of his cock to hold it steady. As much as she wanted to pleasure him, her own need was also hammering at her, so she slipped her left hand inside her leggings, cupping her sex.

Carefully wrapping her lips over his thick cock, Isabel closed her eyes, reveling in the feeling of pleasuring him like this. A primal part of her enjoyed kneeling before him, serving him—and only him. She would not have done this for another man.

The first time she pressed her head forward, filling her mouth with his cock, she went slowly, making sure she had enough control to keep her fangs retracted. With exquisite slowness she pulled back, rubbing the sensitive vein on the underside of his cock with her tongue.

With the head of his cock still in her mouth, she looked up. Aed was staring down at her. His hair hung loose around him—gone was the restrained man bound by honor and duty. She was seeing the heart of him, the savage core.