First And Last (5 page)

Our gazes glued to each other, we replied in unison. “It is.”

“As it’s your wish, I seal your bond.” When her words ended, power began to whip around us. Then, a bright white light flashed before my eyes, and what happened next was completely unexpected.

I saw myself through Kyden’s eyes. Saw the way he loved me. What it meant for him. The way my smile lifted him, how my being near him settled him, and the compelling need that lived within him to see me safe.

Every moment we’d ever experienced flashed before my eyes.

When the visions stopped, my eyes opened to Kyden’s brilliant smile. With that, feelings of complete and utter love filled me. However, they weren’t my feelings, but his.

He had said it would be similar to what I felt with Haven, but this was entirely different. It captured me deeper—affected me more. I figured it had something to do with being in love. Not that I didn’t love Haven, I did, but with Kyden it went many levels deeper.

Kyden pulled me into one of his earth-shattering kisses as loud applause broke out among the crowd. When Kyden backed away, I laughed at the joy of it.

Zia hugged us and wished us well, as did Talon. Willow gave us both a rub along our legs and Haven just bawled all over me. From there, it was a hundred congratulatory hugs. When the crowd started to dissipate as they went over to the food, Azar approached. “We need to proceed with our ceremony now.”

I glanced at Kyden. He shrugged in response. Little trickles of confusion filtered through me. Mine—his? Who knew?

“Now that you have accepted Kyden as your Lord,” Azar explained. “We must also accept him too. He must agree to adhere to the laws of the Underworld.”

“Oh,” I whispered.

Amusement flickered through me. I met Kyden’s gaze again. His expression didn’t give a clue to the humor he was feeling. I liked this bonding already. His unreadable expressions were history as I looked forward to the ability to feel everything he would feel from this day forth.

Azar stepped in front of Kyden and raised his hand for the others of the Underworld to quiet. They did so instantly.

“Kyden, our Lady has taken you as her Lord. Will you do what you must to protect her, and us, your minions? Will you stand beside her and support her as our Ruler of the Underworld? Will you put personal necessities aside to keep the Underworld safe? Will you do what you must to ensure its survival?”

Kyden nodded firmly. “I will.”

No emotion came through our bond, but I knew he meant what he said.

“By the laws of the Underworld,” Azar stated. “I hereby name you Lord of the Underworld.”

Immediately, Kyden stiffened and his pain tore right through me. He was being marked as a Leader of the Underworld. I’d been granted the tattoo of my weeping willow, which rested at the base of my neck. I’d been lost in its beauty for an entire hour as I watched it moving like a fall windy day in the mirror. Needless to say, I was quite curious what Kyden would be granted.

When his pain stopped, I released the breath I’d been holding and spun Kyden around. When I saw what rested on his back, I gasped.

“What is it?” Kyden asked, breathless.

“My sword.” I ran my fingers along the tattoo that rested between his shoulder blades and ran down the length of his back. I knew it was mine because the sword was slender, but the obvious factor was my name written along the blade, which moved ever so slightly.

Azar had told me you were granted something that was important to you and held special meaning. It touched me that Kyden’s tattoo was of my sword. The sword, a symbol of his Guardian role that he did indeed feel proud of, plus it being mine was the importance of me in his life—the importance of protecting me. It couldn’t have been a better mark.

Azar handed Kyden the mirrors and he looked at it. “It’s brilliant.”

“All hail, Lord Kyden!” Azar shouted.

“All hail, Lord Kyden!” those of the Underworld responded.

Everyone else laughed. Kyden and I didn’t as we had an obligation to the Underworld. They took this seriously, so we would too. Even so, Kyden’s amusement was obvious even without my new ability to sense it, as a little curve to the corners of his eyes would have told me as much.

He held his hand out to me. “Let’s go enjoy our night, Álainn.”

Boy did we ever. The Witches’ Meadow had seen many full moon parties, but tonight, it was more like a ball. None of the rowdiness that usually happened, just soft music, great friends, and way too much smiling. My cheeks hurt.

By the time the sun started to come up, the vampires had left for obvious reasons and the crowd began to dissolve slowly into just a few stragglers. Haven had gone to bed hours ago, obviously worn out from all her amazing preparations and all the excitement.

I stood chatting with a very drunk Talon. I would probably never get this chance again and thoroughly enjoyed every moment of his blubbering conversation about all the battles he’d been in.

Just as he began another round of stories, Kyden wrapped his arms around my waist. “Had enough?”

Leaning back, I rested my head against his chest and he leaned down to kiss my shoulder. “Yes.” His lips continued to kiss my skin as Talon babbled on.

Zia laughed, which drew my gaze. “I think it’s time to take Talon home.”

Talon actually swayed a moment, reached up and touched his head. “Yeeessss…I…home.”

“What?” I laughed.

Zia just waved it away, took his hand and gave him a shot of healing. In a moment, Talon looked clear headed again. He cleared his throat. “A few too many, I suppose.”

“Never, I loved your stories.” I leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

“Go on, you two,” Zia said. “Come on Talon, you can help me clean up.”

I glanced up at Kyden. “Home then?”

He nodded. “Yes, home.” His body closed in on mine, and it was immediately apparent that sleep was far from his mind.

Feeling just as eager, I wiggled against him and he groaned. He grabbed my hand and walked with determined strides back to the castle.

Once we entered the bedroom, I let go of Kyden’s hand and stopped at the door. “I have a surprise for you.”

Kyden’s brow arched as he sat down on the bed, curiosity filled his eyes. “A surprise?”

I nodded, then glanced at Willow, who stood at my feet. “Time for you to get out.”

“We only just got back and you’re kicking me out?”
She looked appalled in her own kitty way.

“Trust me, Willow, you don’t want to be around for this.”

Kyden’s arched brow rose higher at that comment. I simply smiled in return.

“Perverts.”
Willow hissed and scampered out of the room.

With her gone, I gave Kyden a sheepish smile and headed toward the bathroom. I quickly closed the door behind me.

Nerves tickled every part of me. Haven had given me a gift before the ceremony and told me to use it. A little bonding gift for Kyden, she said, and I knew exactly what to do to make this night a special one. Our bonding night had to be memorable.

I reached behind me, unzipped my dress, stepped out of it as it fell to my feet and hung it on the back of the door, I rushed over to the antique bookcase that rested next to the sink and grabbed the small black boutique bag that sat on the counter.

I reached in and took out the white lace bra, tiny thong—like what’s the point of it—tiny garters, and thigh high stockings with lacy tops. Quickly, I slinked into the lingerie, pulled up the garters, and attached the stockings to each clip.

“What are you doing in there?” Kyden snapped from the other side of the door.

“Patience, my Guardian, patience.” A heavy sigh came thereafter.

I laughed, fluffed my hair and looked myself over in the mirror. I had to admit, I looked damn sexy—fit to be a playboy centerfold. I took a couple of long deep breaths to dispel every ounce of my nervousness as I slipped into the three inch stilettos. I wouldn’t pull off this outfit if filled of nerves.

With a last glance in the mirror, I grabbed the door handle and opened it. It was almost comical what happened next. Kyden sat on the bed, his head lifted as I walked into the room. When he looked me over, his eyes went wider than I’d ever seen them. His famous unreadable face showed so many emotions—shock, awe, desire, were just the ones I knew well and all those emotions rushed through me just as quickly.

“Do. Not. Move,” Kyden growled.

I chuckled and leaned as sexily as I could against the doorframe. One arm up, legs crossed—I had him eating out of the palm of my hand. “You like what you see?”

“That…Álainn…” Words were lost to him.

I lightly ran a lazy finger down around the curve of each breast. His eyes followed the movement without missing a beat. “I said, do you like what you see?”

He gulped and nodded. His jaw was so tight, muscles contracted with each clench. He made a sound in his chest that wasn’t just need but pure possession. I slowly started to move toward him.

“No,” he shouted. I jumped, startled by the loudness of his voice. “Do not move. Let me admire you there.”

I played along, stepped away from the door and slowly did a little spin, let him enjoy all there was to see of me. When I turned back around his eyes were hooded—almost slits as his desire rushed through our bond.

“I’ll never know what I did to deserve such a beauty as you.” He stood up, took a step forward and touched my breast. I slapped his hand away. He met my gaze with a fierce wanting. “I’m not to touch you?”

I made a tsk, tsk sound and shook my finger at him. “No.” His shoulders sank a little. “Not yet anyway.”

His eyes glowed with the need to devour me. “What is it you wish of me then?”

“Go and sit on the bed.” I slowly walked over to the CD player on the dresser, an extra wiggle in my hips that caused Kyden to groan with each step I took. Once there, I pressed play and
Little Bird
by Annie Lennox sprang to life from the speakers.

So, I stole the idea from
Striptease
. I needed a little help in this area, I’d never done anything like this before, and hoped I didn’t trip and make an ass out of myself. Hell, if Demi Moore could do it, so could I. I killed vampires for Christ sakes!

I spun around and ran my hands slowly down my body to let Kyden know my intention. He stood quickly and looked ready to pounce. I shook my head at him, waved my finger again. “Sit back down.” He let out a frustrated groan, but took a seat. “The rules are as follows…”

He arched a brow. “There are rules?”

I nodded as I continued to run my hands up and down my stomach. “Tonight, there’s no touching me. Got it? We have a strict hands-off policy here.”

“I will comply.” His eyes burned, every intention to break that rule clear. I wasn’t the least bit surprised when he sat on his hands to insure he kept to the rules.

I stepped closer toward him and got right down to business. I slowly danced in front of him, rubbed myself to please him. He never said a word. He didn’t have to. His eyes said it all, plus the little flickers of desire coursing through our bond told me he enjoyed himself immensely.

When I had him ready to beg for more, I straddled his thighs to continue my dance on top of him. His breath came out in sharp gasps. “You’re going to kill me, if you continue this.”

“Mmm… you like this?” I teased.

“I’ve never…” he started, but when I rubbed myself against his hardened length, he groaned loudly, unable to resume his words.

Only a few minutes later, his need made his face squint in pain. I could’ve drawn this out just to tease him more, but I felt the same. I needed more of him.

Kneeling down front of him, I unclipped his kilt. He lifted his hips and I removed his shorts. His eyebrow arched in a sultry question, which I answered in the only way I knew how. I took him into my hand then devoured him. He jumped, then instantly fell back on the bed as I took him with all the passion I felt in my soul.

There was no hesitation, stopping or slow movements. His groans were louder than I’d ever heard. He was at a complete loss for control as I swept over his body with my mouth and hands in a way that was purely primitive.

The bond just encouraged me. His pleasure washed through me, showed me what he liked most. How he liked the swirl of my tongue, the rough stroke of my hand, the way I took him in so very deep.

His body bucked against me as his climax approached. “Stop…you must stop,” he shouted. “I’m…” His words cut off with a loud grunt as his orgasm rippled through him.

When he gasped at the sensitivity of his completion, I lowered my hands and sat back on my legs, waited for him to come around. I was more than pleased that I’d just rocked his body.