Enduring Retribution e-book (17 page)

His heart rate doubled when she reached behind her and opened her ass cheeks for him, exposing the tiny rosebud to him while she was still bent over. Bringing one hand to the front of her, she spread her legs wider and inserted a finger into her dripping wet pussy. His eyes crossed when she brought her finger to her mouth, suckled it, and moaned.

“Turn around, turn around and lean over the couch.” She walked around to the back of the couch and placed her hands on the back. She leaned down into it and spread her legs wide. He got up and moved up behind her, rubbing his cock in the juices that dribbled down her thighs.

“If you think this is going to make me forget what we were talking about, you’re wrong. I’m going to make you pay for teasing me like this.” He smacked her ass hard, bringing a small cry from her. He smacked her twice more, her ass bright red and he was sure burning.

He touched her pussy, gathered her cream onto his fingers, and opening her ass, began rubbing it into her bud. He didn’t ease his finger in this time, but rammed it into her, deep and fast. He added a second finger too soon and nearly came when she moved back against his invasion after the initial assault. He kept his fingers working her, grabbed his cock with his other hand, and began working her cream from her pussy over the head.

“Bailey, I’m going to fuck this tight ass and it’s going to hurt.” He removed his fingers and moved his now drenched cock head to her entrance. Moving slowly against and away, he waited for her to answer him, all the while stretching her wide, opening her for him.

“Please, Tristan, please, fuck me.”

He pushed the engorged head into her. She cried out but didn’t pull away. He moved another few inches in and pulled back, then into her more. He did this slowly over and over until he was buried to the hilt. Sweat was pouring off him. He’d never worked so hard for something in his life, and it was worth every bit of it.

He stopped moving. As much as he wanted to fuck her now that he was inside of her, he didn’t want to hurt her any more. Leaning into her, he reached around to her pussy and found her clit. She was swollen and the little nub was no longer covered by her nether lips but peeking out for his touch. He teased it with his fingers, and when she started to ride against him, he began to move inside of her again. The grip she had on his cock was tight to the point of near pain but he couldn’t stop.

He was close, the heat and the tightness making it impossible for him not to shoot his load into her sooner than he wanted. Pinching her clit, he felt her contract tighter around him as she came, crying out his name over and over. He roared, his own climax seizing him quicker than it ever had as he rammed deep and emptied himself into her.

He couldn’t move. He knew that his weight leaning onto her had to be too much, but he simply couldn’t make his legs move to stand up, much less hold his own weight. He kissed her shoulder, tasting the salty sweat. Bath, they needed another bath. He wished he was home in his lair. The underground pool that he’d had the room built around would have been wonderful right now. But he didn’t have the energy it would require to transport them both there. She had drained him. He chuckled out loud at that thought.

“If you can laugh, you can move.” She started to move, to stand, but he wasn’t ready to leave her body just yet. Pulling her hips back against him again, she moaned before she leaned back against his chest. “I don’t think…I can’t again, Tristan. I’m…I…”

“I know, love. I just wanted to hold you. I hurt you, I’m sorry. Next time it won’t be so bad.” She turned to him and brought her mouth to his for a gentle kiss, her back still pressed to him, his semi-hard cock still deep inside of her.

Pulling away and out of her, but not breaking the kiss, he bent over, picked her up in his arms, and carried her back in the bathroom. The water was still running, but he stepped into it and sat in the warm water. He held her tight against him and after a few minutes, he sat her up and began cupping water over her hair. When it was wet, he poured a good amount of shampoo into his hand and started working into her hair. Rinsing it proved a little tricky, but she gave him a plastic glass she had hidden among the plants around the tub. When he had finished washing her body, using more of her scented soap than necessary, he stood her up, set her outside the tub, and dried her off, moving the fluffy, thick towel over every inch of her body. Sitting down on the toilet, he sat her on his lap and began running his fingers through the tangles in her hair. When he had removed as many as he could, he picked up her comb and ran it though the long mass.

“No one’s ever bathed me before. It’s very decadent, isn’t it?” They were in bed now, her in yet another pair of lounge pants and sleeveless tee. The pants were a strange-looking sponge in a pair of shorts and a sailor hat. The shirt was a picture of the same character, but he was swollen up with water while sitting in a tub.

“It can be if it’s done correctly.” He pulled her close to him and held her tight. He realized after a few minutes that she was asleep, her soft snores puffing against his bare chest. He yawned himself and pulled the blankets up and over them both. He inhaled her scent deep into his lungs, thinking that he would need to buy the company that made that particular soap; it would be so worth every penny of whatever they wanted. He fell asleep with a smile on his face and one in his heart.

~CHAPTER SEVENTEEN~

It was late afternoon when he woke up. He knew right away that she was gone, knew that she had gone on her assignment. He went into the bathroom and found her note to him.

“Thanks for making the bed,”
it started. He looked back into the bedroom and noticed that he had indeed made the bed, the linens in a pile at the foot and the fresh ones he’d found in her closet now on it. He started reading again.

“Thanks for making the bed. I knew you wouldn’t be able to help yourself.

I’ve gone to take care of the target. I’m sorry you’ll feel that I’ve disobeyed you, but I have
no choice in this matter.

Griff has some things for you to sign and a few things I’d like for you to have. I don’t have a
lot, but it’s all yours.

There will be some things said, most of it will be true, but I wanted you to know that I love
you. I don’t know how long I’ve known, it seems like all my life, but I love you.

When this is all over, please go to see the queen. She has something for you as well.

Goodbye, my love.

Bailey St. James.”

~~~

“Where is she? I know you know, so tell me who the target is and where she is.” He had stormed into the castle as soon as he left her apartment.

“I can’t tell you and you damn good and well know that I can’t. I also don’t appreciate you slamming doors and acting like you own the fucking place. She said to come here when it’s over.

I don’t have the energy to deal with you today. Go home.” When she turned her back on him, he lost control. He leapt across the room and had her throat in his hands before her guard could react.

“They move and I will take this pretty head of yours off at the shoulders. The woman I love is out there somewhere and I want you to tell me where.” She wasn’t struggling against him, which should have been his first clue; his second should have been the buildup of power surrounding her. He was across the room and against the wall before he drew his next breath.

“The two of you need to learn protocol when it comes to touching me. I can’t tell you where she is, Tristan. I can’t break a promise. I would like to, but it’s in my blood. Once I make a promise, I cannot break it.” She had walked over to where he sat on the floor.

“She’s out there, she’s in trouble, and I can’t help her. I need her, Mel. I need her more than I’ve ever needed anything in my life. Not just for blood, but her. I love her.” He hadn’t even bothered getting up, but sat slumped on the floor in a pile of wood that had once been a Louie the Fourteenth chair.

“I wish that I could help you, I truly do. She needs to finish this, Tristan. There isn’t any way for her not to. Others will die if she doesn’t.” Mel took his hand in hers. “Like me, once a promise is given, she cannot break it. She left you something, your freedom. She bargained for your life before she left. When she dies, you will be free of the bond you have with her. You will no longer be her lifemate. She wanted you to be able to live on without her.”

“She thinks that’s all it takes? Just a little magic and I won’t need her anymore?” He wouldn’t believe she thought so little of him, so little of his feelings for her. “I love her, don’t you get it? I fucking love her. I don’t think I’ve loved anything as much…she’s my life, all of it.

Without her, my life isn’t just meaningless, it’s not worth living. I would rather meet the sun than to go a day without her.”

“Tristan, did you tell her that you loved her? Does she know what you just told me, that you love her with all your heart? That you’ve loved her for a very long time?”

He hadn’t, he realized. He’d never once told her that he loved her. He had called her his love plenty, but never once had he said the words, those three little words.

“I see that you haven’t. Then why should she think any differently than she does? Your freedom is granted. The moment she dies, you will be free of your bond with her and able to feed as you had before meeting her. And don’t even think about meeting the sun, bucko. You already fixed that little out. You can walk in the daylight, eat food, and everything else she can do. Once her blood mingled with yours, your fate was sealed.” She sat down on the sofa and stared at him.

“And just so you know, I love the twit as well. Damn her for putting me in this position.”

“I need to find her. Please, tell me how I’m going to find her.” Before he could plead with her any more, Sara stormed into the room in much the same way he had only moments before.

“You are not going to believe what’s just happened!! The Printer, Bailey, has killed Bradley Wolff, killed him right in front of half a dozen people.”

~CHAPTER EIGHTEEN~

Bradley woke and knew immediately he was in wolf form. He also knew that he was deep within the earth, the smell of soil teasing his senses. Raising his muzzle, he sniffed the air, blood and lots of it. Some of it was his, he realized, but not all.

“You can shift at anytime. She had to pull your wolf to expedite your healing process.” The voice was deep and accented, Celtic, he thought, somewhat like his friend Colin’s.

“I should like to meet him one day,” the voice beyond the darkness said. “If that is possible after this is over. It is always nice to meet one’s clansman. Yes, I can read your mind. It is the only way I have been able to survive this many years. Shift, please. I have human food for you and when you are ready. I will light the room.”

Bradley shifted and had to sit down. He was weak and sore. His body felt abused and he was sure that if he could see it, it would be bruised. He hurt in more places than he thought he had parts for.

“Where…” His throat was sore and tight. “Where am I?”

“You are in the belly of a cave, deep within the mountains of the Netherlands. A friend of my mistress has given you shelter for now. Your throat, its soreness will dissipate soon. Are you ready to remember what transpired?”

Bradley wasn’t sure, but he didn’t like the fog that he felt either. He was almost afraid to ask what he didn’t remember, and then chuckled. He supposed that was the point, wasn’t it? He nodded to the voice across the room.

And just like that, he suddenly remembered what had happened. It came crashing into him like a rolling boulder down a hill, picking up more and more as it went, speeding its way to the bottom. He had to put his head between his legs when the realization hit him about why he was here.

“She…that girl, she tried to kill me.” He moved then, and tried to sit up. He felt clothes hit his chest and the scent of blood increase. Someone else, a female, had entered the room. And she was injured.

“I did kill you, as a matter of fact. Griff saved you.” She sat down hard on something. Her body sliding down the wall made him look to where she was. “Hello, Bradley, I’m the Printer, Bailey Morrison. This is my friend Griff. Please don’t be alarmed by him. He won’t hurt you.

Griff, lights, if you please.” The room lit with hundreds of candles at different places around the cave.

He noticed the creature first. He was huge and wide. A Cynogriffon, if memory served him.

Then he saw the woman, a girl really. She was sitting on the floor, huddled in the corner near a pool of water. And she was bleeding very badly. Bradley, not shy about his nudity, stood up slowly and began to dress.

“Why?” His throat hurt, and talking strained it, so he used as little of it as he could.

“I guess you deserve to know. You should also know that it’s not over yet. I’m sorry, but you’ll need to remain here for a few more days. I should…Griff will take you home as soon as it’s safe.” She nodded toward the creature and he left them alone. “Several days ago, a female vamp called in a hit. At first I refused it, not even knowing who the target was. But she had information, and details that she could only have gotten from compromising my offices and computers. A lot of information.”

“So you took the hit to save your own ass? How very noble of you.” Bradley sat down and pulled the tray of covered food toward him, hunger making his belly growl. “So this was all a ploy to get money. You are a piece of work, aren’t you?”

“You’re still alive, pup, and you’d do well to keep a civil tone in your head when talking to my mistress.” Griff had pounced when he had returned and now stood over Bradley, his massive paw pressing hard into his chest. “I have not decided you are worthy of her death yet.”

“Griff, it’s okay” Bailey said. “He has every right to be pissed. But I would prefer, alpha, if you would keep a civil tone. Griff and I aren’t the only ones that are in this mountain. No, I didn’t do it to save my ass, but others, the master of his realm and his family being just a few.