Choices (The Forever series, Book Four) (24 page)

“Open your eyes,” he whispers and I do as he says, unable to
disobey. He is smirking at me now and I lean forward to kiss him, my hands
going up to the back of his neck. My brain is yelling at me to stop this to get
off him and kick his arse, but I don’t. Instead I kiss him deeper and he moans
into my mouth as he is now all the way inside me.

“Oh Christ, Liv. You feel so good. It’s no wonder they don’t
want to share,” he murmurs against my lips. “Fuck me, baby,” he says and
releases my hips from his too-strong grip and I move over him. He is rubbing
against me in all the right places and I can’t help the rush of desire I feel.
My Dragon ripples across my back, but in protest now, not passion. She is not
happy about this and quite frankly neither am I, but I can’t think why. He
places his hands gently on my behind and coaxes me to ride him, all the while
his eyes never leaving mine. “That’s it baby. Oh you feel so good,” he murmurs
as I speed up, feeling the pressure starting to build deep inside.

“Are you close? I’m so close. Kiss me,” he commands. I do as
he says and he hisses as he runs his hand down my back. I feel a jolt go
through me again. I pull away from his lips and cry out softly as the pleasure
rips through me.

“Oh fuck, yes,” he says, bringing his hands up to cup my
face. “Christ, I want you to do that again. It feels so good.” And just like
that I do and he groans. He whispers something to me in a language I am
unfamiliar with. All I can follow is the cadence of his words, a lilting, and
beautiful sound. I blink as he comes inside me, increasing the pressure on my
rear to pull me closer to him.

“Oh Liv. You were worth the wait,” he says before he plunges
his mouth to mine. I now have full control of my senses again and I push away
from him. “You need to get out of here now,” I say in a panic as I climb off
him, grabbing my robe. “If he comes back and finds you here with my scent all
over you and vice versa, he will punish us both.”

He adjusts his clothing and stands, “I told you I will deal
with him.”

“Seb, just get out. I need you to leave before he comes
back. This was a mistake. It should never have happened.”

“A mistake? I wouldn’t call it that. You could have stopped
anytime you wanted but you didn’t,” he points out.

I just stare at him, silently.

“I know you wanted me,” he murmurs.

“Not like that,” I say, finding my voice. “Please go. I need
to shower before he comes back.”

With narrowed eyes he leaves and I Astral straight into the
shower, doffing my robe as I turn the taps on. The water pounds on to me and I
want to cry. I soap up, hating myself for what I just did. I betrayed my
husband. I told him he could trust me. Trust me to keep within the boundaries
he set and I didn’t. And Constantine will see this as a huge betrayal--going
behind his back when I am supposed to be here with him, and with Sebastian of
all people: the one he wants me to stay away from and I didn’t. The water
washes away all the bubbles and I lather up again trying to clean away the
self-loathing. I don’t understand why I just did what I did, but it doesn’t
change anything. I betrayed those I love, who love me, and I now have to live
with that guilt.

I get out of the shower and get dry in a matter of seconds.
Pulling my robe back on I sit on the sofa where I was before and pick up my
magazine.

Constantine finds me like this a few minutes later. I don’t
know how long I was sitting there just staring at the same page.

“Everything, okay?” he asks in concern as he sees my blank
expression.

“Yes, everything’s fine,” I lie with a smile and get up to
kiss him, hoping that he doesn’t see my guilt. Or read it off me. Or whatever
it is that he does.

“You should get ready. We are meeting everybody downstairs
in half an hour.”

“Okay,” I say and slink off to the bedroom.

He follows me. “Aefre. What have you done?” he asks me
suspiciously.

I stop dead. “Nothing,” I lie again.

“The guilt is rolling off you. Do you want to try that
again?” he says.

Shit, shit, and more shit. I can’t tell him. If he knows
what I did then he will punish me by punishing Cole and then Cole will also
know what I did. Everyone will know what I did. Well, the best offense is a
good defense so I turn around and quip wryly, “Can’t you just read it on me?”

He doesn’t look amused at my defiance and he shakes his
head, saying, “I don’t know what powers you think I have but I don’t ‘read’
people. Leave that to your assistant. Perhaps I should bring him up here and he
can tell me what you are hiding.”

“Look, I don’t want to talk about it, okay? Can you just
leave it for now?” I beg, unable to say anything else.

“Oh no. Now you have most definitely given me reason to
suspect you are up to something.”

I ignore him and get dressed the old-fashioned way by
actually looking through the closet and choosing something at random. He isn’t
going to let it drop so I make a choice. I land on the only other thing I can
think of that I want to hide from him. I really didn’t want to do this but it’s
the lesser of two evils. I hope.

“It’s to do with Xane,” I say, my back still towards him.

“What about him?” he snaps.

“We did a ritual. It may have linked us together,” I say
quickly, turning around to gauge his reaction.

Well, “fury” doesn’t quite cover it and I flinch. “You had
better be joking, Aefre. I am not putting up with another bond that you feel
you have to nurture.”

“It’s not a bond. And I won’t be nurturing anything,” I say
huffily.

He sighs, “Why did you feel the need to hide this from me?
And why only now do you feel guilty about it?”

“Because I knew you would be pissed and look at it in the
way that you did. I don’t feel guilty about doing it, just that I knew I had to
tell you but I didn’t want to,” I say, sidling up to him and taking his hand in
a placatory gesture.

“I am pissed,” he says. “I don’t want to share you with
anyone else, Aefre. Especially him.”

“You aren’t going to have to share me with him. Why
especially him?”

“I have my reasons,” he says mysteriously. “And no, I am not
going to tell them to you,” he adds as he sees me about to ask. “You don’t ever
have to hide anything from me, my sweet. Secrets come out and I would have been
more pissed if I had found out later.” He pulls me to him and I want to die. I
cannot let the other secret come out. Somehow I am going to have to get
Sebastian to keep his trap shut.

“Just do me a favor?” CK says. “Don’t get involved with
him.”

“I won’t. I told you that I won’t.”

He nods briefly, “Make sure that you don’t. I won’t share
you with anyone else and I will make certain of that.”

I gulp and nod.

“Good, now get ready. Everybody will be waiting.”

He turns around and leaves me to get dressed, fearful of the
secret I am still holding onto.

We head downstairs to the private dining room where everyone
is, as expected, waiting.

“Liv.” Lincoln comes over to me and gives me a sly kiss.
“You look wonderful.”

“Thank you,” I say. In the end I chose a black dress similar
to the pink one CK dressed me up in. I kept my hair down in loose curls as I
know that’s the way CK likes it. I am all about pleasing him now, keeping him
happy and not suspicious. I avoid Sebastian in favor of Devon who grins at me
and comes to give me a hug. “I am so glad you are coming home.”

“I can’t be away from you. It’s ridiculous to even try. I
will look forward to my Fridays,” he says, excited. Out of the corner of my
eye, I see Jess glaring at me like she wants to stake me. Let her try, bitch.

I nod to Scott and then I have to turn to Sebastian. He
leans over and kisses me lightly on the cheek. “You do look lovely. I prefer
you in white though,” he murmurs in my ear.

“Sebastian,” I warn him and he chuckles.

“Don’t panic,” he whispers. “I won’t tell, as long as we do
it again.”

I glare at him but don’t have a chance to respond as CK
sidles over and says, “What pray tell are you two muttering about?”

“I was just telling Liv that she looks lovely this evening.
She responded by saying she wishes you would let her take us both to bed.”

I stare at him horrified, mouth open.

CK’s eyes flick to me with a small smile. “I am fairly
certain she didn’t say that judging by the look on her face.”

Sebastian chuckles, “No she didn’t but I know she was
thinking it. One of these days, it will happen whether you like it or not.”

“I don’t like it. You are to stay away from her,” CK says
quietly, menacingly, as he steps closer to Sebastian.

“And what if I don’t? I could always just make her, you
know,” Sebastian says just as quietly.

CK’s face hardens into stone at that and the growing
atmosphere is palpable. “You should know better than to threaten me, my boy,”
he says, lowering his voice even more so that all of our eavesdropping ears
struggle to hear, well, everyone except me as I use my super hearing abilities
to carry on listening. “Use your gift on her and I will see you dead.”

Gift? What gift? He has a gift? Did he use it on me before?
I thought I was immune to such things.

“Noted,” Sebastian says also in tones so low that even
Vampire hearing can’t pick up, adding, “But if she starts, I will finish.”

CK growls deeply and loudly so that everyone who hasn’t
overheard the last three sentences looks at him warily. I take delight in
seeing Jess look terrified and move to stand behind Devon who ignores her as he
is looking at me with that way he has that tells me he knows something about
something.

“If you are that worried, you should keep her on a tighter
leash,” Sebastian says.

“You are the one who should be on a leash. Make a move and I
will ensure you get it,” Constantine says and I gulp. This is not going to end
well for any of us. I step forward as I don’t want CK to provoke Sebastian into
spilling the we-already-did-it beans. I place my hand on CK’s arm and he turns
towards me as if he had forgotten I was there. “Whatever you are growling at
each other about, can you forget it and play nice? I don’t need a quarrel to
fix right now.”

“Of course, my sweet,” CK leans down to give me a lingering
kiss.

Sebastian smiles at me when CK lets me up for air and says,
“I think we are done with this conversation for now. We have both made
ourselves quite clear.” I glare at him itching to know if he somehow controlled
my actions earlier.

Lincoln now steps forward and says, “I think we should sit
and find out what Liv learned from Xane. I know I am curious.”

I send him a thankful look for diffusing a potentially bad
situation for me, but he looks back at me in a not-so-friendly way. I tilt my
head in question at him and he mouths, “Put your blocks up.”

What? Oh, crap. I was that nervous about seeing Sebastian
when we came downstairs I totally forgot about my mental blocks. I cast a quick
glance at Scott who is chewing his lip and trying to look everywhere but at me.
Fuck. The cat is so far away from the bag now it can’t even see it. I put the
thought into my head for them both to read: “We’ll talk about it later. Please
just leave it for now.”

I look at Lincoln and he nods grimly as does Scott when I
stare at him.

I heave a sigh and let CK lead me to the table. We sit and
the rest follow. Devon has the sense to dispatch of his little girlfriend first
as this is definitely not something she is privy to. Her furious look wasn’t
well received and I can see there will be words later. Sebastian, being foolish
enough to sit on my other side, grins at me. I ignore him and, gripping CK’s
hand even tighter, I recount the tale of my visit to The Underworld. Leaving
out the part about the ritual, of course.

“Wow, so basically your Dragon brother is the starter of the
Demon race,” Devon says. “That’s pretty impressive.”

CK glares at him and clears his throat in annoyance, never
having been given any recognition for his part in creating the Vampire race.

“It’s also kind of weird. I mean, in a bizarre way, I am
related to them all. Like some kind of great times-a-million aunt.”

Devon snickers at my consternation, and it feels so good to
have him back on my side. “You’ve just got family popping up all over the place
now. So what happens next? Do you get some Demon-y type Powers to go with all
your others?”

“Yes. I already have them,” I say proudly with a little look
at CK’s ring. He catches my glance and tilts his head in question. “Demon
magick works similar to Dragon magick but on a way cooler level,” I say. “Xane
called it ‘something from nothing’ and that is exactly what it is. Conjuring.
It’s beyond awesome.”

“How did you end up with these abilities? Was it another
freaky Power transfer? Oh God, please don’t tell me that he bit you,” Devon
says with a baleful glare at Lincoln who just grins.

“No biting,” I say but hesitate after that.

“Yes, Aefre, why don’t you tell the group how you ended up
with your new Powers,” CK says in a tone that leaves no doubt he is still
pissed with me about it.

“A small ritual,” I say through gritted teeth, glaring at
him. “It was nothing.”

“Ritual? What kind of ritual?” Sebastian asks me now, having
been silent thus far.

Oh for fuck's sake, what’s with all the curiosity with this
group? I sag my shoulders as I know I’m going to have to give up the goods, “We
shared blood and it just happened.”

“Shared blood? I thought you said there was no biting
involved,” Devon says warily.

“Not through biting. He cut me and himself and we…” I put my
palms together to demonstrate.

“He cut you? How did he do that?” Devon and Lincoln ask at
the same time as CK looks most upset at the meeting of palms.

“He had this dagger. It just worked. Hurt like a bitch,” I
mutter and again look at CK’s hands. It was not unlike the effect his claws had
on me.

“Huh. That’s a worry. I was wandering around thinking you
were invulnerable,” Devon says, concerned. “Now we find out there’s some
mysterious Demon dagger that can hurt you. Why did you not know of it in your
armory?”

CK clears his throat as I cast a quick glance at Sebastian,
who does not yet know of said armory.

“Oh,” Devon says catching my look. “Sorry. I just assumed…”

Sebastian is looking curious, but remains silent.

“It’s not in the armory,” I say.

“It’s not?” CK asks now looking overly concerned and I pull
my face at him. “I thought you said every weapon.”

“I did. I do. With that one tiny exception,” I say.

“And that doesn’t bother you that a Demon is on the loose
with the only weapon created that can hurt you?” he snaps at me.

“First thing, I wouldn’t say that Xane is ‘on the loose’,
and secondly no, it doesn’t bother me. It cuts me but I heal. Just like before.
Just like you do.”

He grumbles but I ignore him as my phone buzzes. Blocked
Number. Must be Cade. “Excuse me, I have to take this,” I say and stand up,
leaving them all to watch me go in annoyance that they aren’t privy to the
phone call. I exit the dining hall so that they can’t eavesdrop.

“Is it really necessary to still block your number?” I ask
sweetly. “I know how to contact you.”

He chuckles. “Sorry. Occupational hazard. So Vegas, baby,”
he says and I grimace at the phone. “I told you I can always find you.”

“Indeed, you did.”

“You look quite fetching in that dress. Although the pink
number did it for me.”

I narrow my eyes at the phone making sure I’m not secretly
on video call. As I am not I glance up and around but don’t see him.

“Pink is your color then is it? I shall have to remember to
continue to wear black,” I say smartly and he laughs.

“No, I quite like you in black as well. Especially that
see-through scrap you had on a few days ago.”

“Oh yes, the one you tried to kill me in.”

“That would be the one. Although ‘kill’ is such a strong
word. I was mostly sure it wouldn’t affect you, but a guy has to try.”

“Yes, so I keep hearing. ‘Mostly sure’ is not really what I
wanted to hear.”

“Well, it’s all I’ve got.”

“Humph. So what can I do for you?” I ask, anxious to move
this conversation along.

“Not much at the minute. I wouldn’t get close enough to you
before someone took my head off.”

“This is true,” I say in delight. “So why are you calling
me?”

“Just to let you know I know where you are. And that I’m
watching you.”

“Watching me. That’s a bit creepy isn’t it?”

“Again, it’s an occupational hazard,” he says dryly. “Make
sure to get on your own soon. I will find you when you do.”

“I really don’t know how I will do that.”

“Try, Mrs. O’Dell. We have things to talk about.”

“Fine. I will try.”

“Good,” he says and hangs up.

Infuriating creature. I turn to go back into the dining room
when my phone buzzes for a message.

It’s Sebastian: “Meant what I said. My silence for your
compliance.”

Arse. I delete it and take a few moments to Passcode lock my
phone. Wouldn’t do to have prying eyes, should he send me another message. Like
CK, I use letters instead of numbers and randomly chose the first four letter
word that comes into my head. Surprisingly it isn’t “arse,” as even I am not
that crude. Rather, it’s something that no one in a million years would think
of.

I stalk back into the dining room and take my seat, ignoring
Sebastian and his look of annoyance that I didn’t message him back. So what if
he tells. Now all I have to do is say that he used his gift on me. Whatever the
hell that is. Besides, it is making more and more sense that he did do
something to me. I can’t imagine for the life of me why I would do it
otherwise. CK all but offered the three of us together on the jet and I turned
him down. I didn’t want to betray Cole, I still don’t. It makes no sense and
when I try to think about it, it’s all a bit of a blur.

“Who was that?” CK asks anyway even though I try to distract
him with a lingering kiss. Who am I kidding? Just like Cole can’t do it with
me, I can’t do it with him.

“Just business,” I say shortly.

“Anything the rest of the class should know about?” Devon
asks snidely and I glare at him.

“Nope.”

He shrugs and changes the subject. “We need to speak in
private at some point,” he says to me. “I have some questions that need
answering.”

“Yeah, there’s a lot of that going around. Come up later,
we’ll talk.”

Devon looks at CK and he snaps, “What not private enough for
you?”

“If Liv, doesn’t mind, I don’t have issue. As long as you
let us talk and you don’t go all Roman Warrior on us.”

In spite of ourselves, Sebastian and I glance at each other
and snicker at CK who looks like he is about to go all Roman Warrior on Devon
right now.

“Should I be worried?” I ask through my laughter and Devon
shifts his gaze from CK to me saying, “No. We just need to catch up.”

I nod, “Fine. But first I need to speak to Scott and
Lincoln. I’d like to do that now if that’s okay with everyone.” I don’t ask so
nobody answers.

I stand and they follow suit and I lead them back out of the
dining hall.

“You have got some serious explaining to do,” Lincoln snaps
at me as soon as we are out of Vampire earshot.

“I know. I’m sorry. I don’t know how it happened.”

“Look, I’m not comfortable with being a part of this
conversation,” Scott says. “It isn’t anything to do with me.”

“I get that Scott, but I must impress that it has to stay a
secret. I need your word you will forget what you read and never even think of
it again.”

“Done,” he says without hesitation.

“Thank you.”

“I will leave you to talk,” he says and thankfully walks
back into the dining room. Christ, that room should have a revolving door at
this rate.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Lincoln asks me and I
shrug.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t. It’s all a blur. I remember him
feeding from me, which I gave him permission for, before you blow a gasket, and
then all I know is us…you know… doing it.”

He rolls his eyes at my juvenile terminology. “Look, Liv. I
don’t ask you for anything. I don’t ask you to be something you aren’t, but
when you take stupid risks like that it, affects us all.”

“I know. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again, I can assure you.
I feel terrible Linc. Cole will hate me if he ever finds out and with good
reason. I hate myself. I just wish I knew why.”

He pulls me into his big, strong arms and says to me, “He’s
connected to you in that weird way you Vampires have. I get why you are
attracted to him, but I don’t get why you would risk so much just to be with
him.”