Tales of the Were: Magnus: Redstone Clan (10 page)

“Everything you heard is true,” he boasted playfully. She felt the teasing tone of his thoughts in her mind. This sharing was going to take a little getting used to, but so far, it was fabulous.

She used the connection to learn from his thoughts exactly the way he liked her to touch him. She used her hands and her tongue, her mouth and even her teeth—very gently—to bring him to climax once more. The flavor of him was like ambrosia to her vampiric senses.

A sound came from her throat that surprised her and Mag laughed. Had she really just growled? Vampires didn’t growl. At least, she’d never made such a sound before.

“This is a give and take relationship, sweetheart.” Mag reached down and lifted her to lie beside him. “If you feed on my blood…and other things…you might just take on a few of my traits. Personally, I think your little growl was sexy.” He kissed her lips and she caught the thought in his mind about whether or not she could shapeshift into a cougar and run with him.

“Wouldn’t that be amazing?” she mused as the kiss ended and they were snuggling again. “I’d love to see the desert from your cat’s point of view. I bet it’s awesome.”

“It is,” he agreed, and she felt the satisfaction in his mind. “You know, sometimes shifters like to claw and bite during sex. Is that a problem? I mean, if I lost control and bit you, would I become a vampire too?”

She felt his concern
along with the very naughty thoughts that accompanied his images of biting her while he was deep inside her. She couldn’t help but respond as her body began to rev up for another round.

“It takes more than a little sip of my blood to turn someone. And I think you can feel how excited the thought of your biting me while I bite you makes me. It’s the ultimate sexual thrill for one of my kind. Having sex with another vampire is rare because so few of them are willing to make themselves
so vulnerable to another. There isn’t a lot of trust in the bloodletter community. But a few do it because they say there’s nothing like fucking and sucking at the same time.”

She knew she was blushing. She wasn’t one for crude language. She’d been born in a time when few women
admitted to even knowing such words, much less used them, and she still hadn’t quite adjusted to the modern world’s casual usage of four-letter words.

“Although I’m not sure what effect a taste of my blood might have on you. It could help you heal faster. Might make you faster in general. Maybe stronger. Though you’re already pretty strong and fast on your own.” She loved his strength
, and she knew he could feel her admiration in her thoughts. It was so amazing having the subtext of emotion behind each word they exchanged. Over time they would grow into this ability and it could become something really special.

“Do you want to give it a try?” Images of them twined together, both sporting sharp teeth sprang into his mind and fired down their connection into her brain.

“Do you have to ask?” She deliberately sent him images of them together, knowing the thoughts were firing his body back up to full speed ahead.

He rolled so that she was on top this time and helped her guide him into her body. He watched the place they were joined with glazed eyes. Somehow that made her even hotter as she began to bounce up and down over him. He helped, guiding her hips. The hard muscles in his arms flexed and moved as he assisted, his strength aiding her. She licked her lips at the sight. He really was the most beautifully built man she had ever had the good fortune to fuck. And he was all hers. For as long as they could make this last.

She banished the thought and concentrated on the man beneath her, loving the way he felt inside her. He was so deep. She felt so full of him. His cock inside her body, his mind joining with hers. The connection had blown open, but it was still new. It would take time to grow into it, she knew, and each time they made love, it would grow a little stronger.

“That’s it, baby, squeeze me,” he coached in a low, sexy voice that made her insides clench on him. He sucked in air as she moaned and swayed above him.

And then it was time. She couldn’t hold out much longer. She needed to taste his essence, to have her aching fangs sink into him and take his blood inside her body, into her spirit. To join them on the deepest, most elemental level. She crept forward, lowering herself over his chest, altering the angle of penetration and ratcheting her excitement higher. His cock hit a secret little spot inside her that made her want to scream with delight every time it rubbed in just the right way.

She licked a path along his neck, looking for just the right spot as his body surged into hers again, touching that spot that sent what felt like joyous jolts of electricity through her nervous system. One more ought to do it. She didn’t want to wait.

Miranda bit him and felt an answering bite on her shoulder, just where it joined her neck as he thrust deep, one last time. She exploded, feeling him do the same. He growled in his chest, sending off little shockwaves against her nipples which only made her rocket higher into oblivion.

He’d done this to her. Mag and Mag alone could make her see the stars without ever leaving the Earth.

They had a
few hours left until dawn, and they spent them in each other’s arms. They made love repeatedly, learning the new connections between their minds. Though they couldn’t always hear each other’s thoughts in words, Miranda said that would come in time. He did pick up on her emotions and the sensations coming from her were pretty amazing. He gained a whole new understanding of pleasure—and of what made her hot. He looked forward to trying out their new ability in other settings too.

Miranda was taking the lead on the mental stuff while Mag was in charge of her pleasure and all physical comforts. He ran a bath in the giant Jacuzzi tub for them both, then made love to her in the water
, and then again on the vanity—sidetracked while he was trying to dry off her luscious body.

When dawn broke, she fell asleep in his arms
. He stayed with her for about an hour, just looking at her and marveling at how greatly he had been blessed. To find his mate and have her be such a caring, loving soul… His joy was beyond comprehension or explanation.

Finally though, he
rose from the bed and started his day. He had a few things to do and wheels to set in motion before he grabbed a cat nap this afternoon. He wanted to be there when she woke in his bed. He especially wanted to make love to her again before they faced whatever the night would bring.

If he was a betting man, he’d expect that promised summons from the
Master vampire to be waiting for them as soon as night fell.

Chapter Nine

Mag wasn’t surprised when he got the message later in the afternoon. It was just before dusk when he checked his
voice mail. All through Miranda’s recuperation, he’d managed to keep up with his paperwork for Redstone Construction. Checking his voice mail had become a morning ritual. Apparently the Master had been unable to find out where Mag had taken Miranda, and had resorted to tracking down his work number.

Nice.

The message wasn’t from the Master himself, but from one of his servants. He kept a few humans employed in his place of business. He was even rumored to have a tame mage he used for daytime missions that required knowledge of the supernatural world. The humans were kept strictly in the dark about the Master’s true nature. They just thought he was an eccentric club owner who partied all night while they ran the day-to-day business. Tony’s vampire magic made sure they kept believing it. He could influence their minds at will, and make them believe just about anything he wanted. Vampires at his level had skills that were kind of scary, but they didn’t have much impact on shifter minds.

For that, Mag was grateful. He listened to the message with surprise. It was very polite and carefully worded. Mag and his
plus one
were invited to a soiree at the Master’s penthouse on top of his luxury hotel on the Strip.

The building was nice. Not up to Redstone Construction standards of course, but nice all the same, Mag thought, as they rode up to the penthouse in the express elevator. Miranda elbowed him. She’d been picking up on the flavor of his thoughts at random moments, and he felt her amusement at his prideful musings.

They’d agreed to keep the connection loose for now. She was able to control it a lot better than him, seeing as how she had more practice with
the psychic gifts she’d gained when she’d become immortal. He was learning, but she was definitely more in control of the connection between their minds than he was at the moment.

H
e was cool with that. For now. He’d figure it out eventually. After all, they would have their whole lives together to work on it if he had anything to say about it.

The door whooshed open at the top floor and they were met by sounds of elegant music being played by a string quartet. Men and women lounged here and there with full glasses of wine. Some were eating from the buffet, which meant this was a mixed gathering of vampires and humans. Mag would be on his guard. He sniffed discretely and noted each scent. Not a single shifter of any kind was in the big penthouse suite.

That didn’t mean Mag was totally on his own here. He’d made contingency plans. His older brothers had taught him well—and pledged their help. Mag had taken them up on the offer, and if trouble arose here tonight, there was backup standing by.

A sleek vampire came toward them. The woman was an icy blond and though she smiled, it did not reach her eyes.

“Miranda, darling, so good to see you again.”

The woman gave Miranda the society air kiss that made Mag want to laugh, but he didn’t dare. It wouldn’t do to insult a vamp
in the Master’s lair. Mag felt Miranda’s reaction to the woman. She wanted to roll her eyes, which pretty much matched Mag’s impulses. Mag sensed there was no love lost between the two women. The emotions he was gleaning from Miranda indicated a complicated relationship existed between the two females.

“Cassandra, this is Magnus Redstone. Mag, this is my sister, Cassie.” Mag interpreted the flavor of her words along with the mixed emotions to mean something very different than he would have thought when she used the word
sister
. Mag felt the nuances now. Miranda wanted him to stay on his toes. He sent her reassuring thoughts through their link. He wouldn’t let his guard down. Not for one minute.

He shook hands with the lovely vampire, noting that she had none of the warmth or openness in her expression that made Miranda the true bea
uty of their weird little family. Cassandra also squeezed his hand a little too tight. He was sure it was some kind of one-upmanship display to remind him that she may look fragile, but she was far from it. No worries. He wouldn’t forget.

“Tony’s waiting for you,” Cassandra said, letting go of Mag’s slightly bruised hand. Without waiting for an answer, she turned, apparently expecting them to follow. That she used the Master’s nickname was not lost on Mag.

They followed her to a private room where the Master Vampire was holding court. At least that’s what it looked like. Mag had never seen anything like it, though he’d been introduced to the Master a time or two before. It was well understood that the Redstone Clan was the strongest group of Others in the area, therefore the Clan Alpha was top cat in Las Vegas.

Grif kept an open dialog with the Master
, and the two groups occasionally shared information. For example, they talked contingencies when there was a shared threat. Grif was in charge of those kinds of discussions, and Mag knew he was cautious about bloodletters. But Mag also knew that Grif had an overall positive impression of the Master. Mag hoped his brother was right and this guy was okay.

When he saw them standing just inside the doorway,
Antoine de Latourette, known to his close associates as Tony, stood and motioned for the room to clear. Mag wasn’t sure what to make of the somewhat imperious action. He was having a hard time getting a read on the Master. This meeting could still go either way.

The room
emptied quickly, leaving only Tony and Cassandra facing Mag and Miranda. For a moment, nobody spoke. Finally, the Master broke his silence.

“It’s good to see you whole
, young Miranda.” He smiled and Mag almost believed the expression on the Master’s face this time. Then those piercing eyes turned on Mag. “I understand we have you and your family to thank for finding her.”

“I’m not sure how much Grif told you.” A polite lie. Mag knew what his brother had shared with the
Master vampire. Not the entire story, but everything about how they’d found Miranda on that raid months ago. “Miranda was being held captive by one of the mages that murdered my mother. She was near death. Starved for blood. She had been cut repeatedly, drained of her blood and her magic over a period of months.”

Tony’s eyes seemed to hold compassion when he turned back to look at Miranda, but Mag couldn’t be sure.
Grif had told him this guy was over seven hundred years old. He was probably a better actor than most to have hidden within human society for so long.

“You’ve been through an ordeal most of us would not survive.” The Master seemed to look at her with new respect. “But I am surprised no one was killed during your initial release.”

“I slashed the panther,” she mumbled, as if ashamed. “I have apologized to him and his mate, but I have not been able to forget the blind rage that drove me to hurt him so badly,” she admitted under the pressure of the Master’s gaze.

“The panther?” the Master’s brows drew together in question.

“She means Slade. Our priestess’s mate,” Mag helped clarify.

“You took down the snow
cat?” Even more respect filled the Master’s eyes as he looked at Miranda.

Mag also realized the Master knew a lot more about Slade than they’d thought. Slade’s dual nature—black panther and Himalayan snowcat—was something he kept under wraps, for the most part. It wasn’t normal for a shifter to share his soul with two creatures, but then, nothing about the mythical, highly magical snowcat followed normal rules. The Master must have pretty good intel sources if he knew about Slade.

“It was a lucky shot, but still, enough to damage him,” Mag admitted, not sure how much to say. He didn’t want to give away any more information much about Slade’s rather surprising vulnerability to Miranda’s attack, but he also didn’t want to detract from Miranda’s strength. He had to balance his words just right.

“Interesting. But what made her stop?” The Master was talking directly to Mag again, which was fine with
him. He’d spare Miranda the interrogation if he could.

“I did. I arrived
just as she was about to bite him and saw her. I called her name and she stopped.” Mag remembered the moment when he’d seen her again for the first time in over two years. She’d been about ready to savage Slade, and the memory of the state she’d been in still broke his heart. She’d been so weak. So fragile both mentally and physically. So close to the point of no return.

“Ah yes. You two knew each other before.
Tell me, was it a long affair? I assume it was. She’s stronger than she should be for her age. I can only assume it was your blood that made her that way.” The accusation was aimed at Mag and he bristled. The cat inside him wanted to scratch and claw, but he repressed the urge.

“If you must know, it was a one-night thing. She was gone when I woke up
, and I never saw her again until that night in the mage’s lair. Before that night she’d only had one hit of my blood.”

“And since?” Tony demanded harshly.

“Yes,” Miranda stepped in, answering the question. “On the night they found me.”

“And nothing since? I find that hard to believe.” Tony scoffed at her answer.

Mag felt Miranda’s anger rising and he thought it was about time. He tried to send cautionary feelings along their bond, hoping she would choose her words wisely.

“Last night, we renewed our bond. Master, I must report to you that I have found my One.”
Her tone was strong and sure, her gaze direct.

“It’s forbidden!” Cassandra gasped and then fell silent. You could have heard a pin drop while the Master examined them. And then he sighed heavily.

“Do you feel the same?” the Master asked Mag in an almost weary voice.

“Miranda is my mate. I knew that the moment I met her more than two years ago. I w
on’t let her go a second time.” Mag stood firm against the Master’s banked intensity.

“You two present a real problem for me,” Tony said at last, steepling his fingers as he sat in his high-backed chair.

“But Master,” Cassandra piped in, “this cannot be allowed! It’s forbidden!”

“Actually, it’s not,” Tony drawled, not even looking at the blond woman. “I’ve seen such unions before.” He looked at Miranda and then Mag. “But the paths of such couples were never easy.”

“We’re prepared to face whatever comes,” Mag replied immediately, standing firm.

“You may think you are,” Tony allowed. “And I have no doubt that you are every bit as tough as your brothers, Magnus. I have respect for them and your Clan. But you cannot know the trials ahead
, and your mate is still very young for a bloodletter. She may not be up to the challenge. In which case, you will both fall.”

Mag could feel Miranda bristling at his side. She didn’t like the Master’s low opinion of her. Not one bit.

“I may be young, but I’ve been through hell and back, and not one of your precious minions even cared to look for me.” Miranda let loose with both barrels while Mag silently applauded. “My dear
sister
,” she practically sneered the word, “didn’t even bother to notice I was gone.”

“Oh, I noticed,” Cassandra said, and not in a friendly way. It was clear the other woman
had probably wanted Miranda dead for a long time. Mag took note, filing away that information for later consideration. For now, he was on guard, watching every detail.

“And did nothing,” Miranda continued, her voice condemning. “I would have died but for Mag. He is my family now. I would renounce you if I could, Cassandra.”

“Now, now, ladies.” Tony watched the animosity between the women with something that looked like mild interest to Mag. Then again, the old guy probably had complete control over his facial expressions after so many centuries. Nothing would show that he didn’t want to show. “You will be civil to one another in my home. Cassie, darling, would you go and fetch a bottle of my favorite? There’s a good girl.” Tony sent the blond off on his errand, clearly wanting her out of the room. Cassie’s expression could have melted steel, but she followed orders and stomped out of the room.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Tony gestured for them to sit. Mag saw the mask of indifference slide of the Master’s face as he leaned forward in his chair.
Finally, he thought, they were seeing the real man beneath the carefully controlled expressions.

“She won’t come ba
ck for at least ten minutes,” Tony said. “Enough time for us to speak freely. Miranda, I am truly sorry nobody searched for you. I had assumed Cassie was taking care of her family, but I have learned since your disappearance how wrong I was about her. You were covering for her all these years, weren’t you?”

Miranda nodded slowly. “For a long time, I blamed myself for the way she is,” she admitted. “But during my captivity, I had a lot of time to think.
I didn’t do anything wrong. Our maker was a cruel and selfish man. If anyone’s to blame, it’s him.” Mag saw a little hint of Miranda’s memories of a handsome vampire through their connection, but he was missing a big chunk of the story, he was sure.

“Geoff was a fool,” Tony admitted. “He got what was coming to him and you are not to blame. Everyone but Cassie knows it.”