Taunting Destiny (16 page)

“
I didn’t lie, I played with words, Syn. Adrian wasn’t dead. He’s undead. He got what he wanted; he has more power now. He is no longer regretting his decision to change. In the end, he got what he wanted, what he craved, it just turned out he wanted it more than he wanted you. You ended up being the only victim with the way this played out, and I failed to see that as a possibility. I never expected you to break, and I’m sorry for my part in that. Fae do not grieve the same way humans do, and I didn’t know how to react to what I had done. You broke, and I wanted to pick you up and put the pieces back together. In the end, I just watched you do it on your own, and it drew me to you more than I could have ever expected.”

“
Exactly how long have you been watching me, Ryder?” I asked, narrowing my eyes as I sat back down beside him.

“
Since Marie sent me the letter a few years ago. At first, you were young and looked just like the other humans. I watched you train, and I watched you grow into a woman. It wasn’t until I saw you in the arms of Adrian that I knew that I wanted to know how it would feel for you to touch me like that. I should have realized then that it had become more than just some twisted infatuation. You wanted my secrets, Synthia, and I warned you that my past was messy. I told you that you’d end up hating me if you knew.”

He had.
He’d warned me about this. I didn’t hate him, though. I couldn’t believe the lengths he’d gone through just to have me, but, at the same time, I couldn’t hold him to the same sort of accountability that I would hold a human to. He wasn’t human, and everyone had been warning me this entire time to stop thinking of him as one. He’d crossed the line, though; one I wasn’t sure he could come back from.

“
I don’t hate you, Ryder, but the things you did—I’m not sure I can forgive you for right now, if ever. I need time away from you to think. At any time, did you actually want me, or was I just something to pass the time for you?”

“
You weren’t supposed to be more. From the first time I danced with you, I knew I was in over my head. Holding you in my arms, and watching you smile, set things into motion that I’d never thought possible. As I got to know you better, I knew that when you figured out what I had done, it would be the end of us. I didn’t want you to find out like this. You deserve someone who can give you what you want; someone who can be what you need. There’s a problem with that, though, because honestly, I’m not sure I can let you go.”

“
That’s no longer your choice. I’m going home without you. Ryder, the contract is over. I’m going to feed from you to show you that I can, and then I’m leaving here. I need to know you’ll stay away from me when I do.”

“
It’s not safe,” he argued.

“
That’s my problem now. I am out of Transition. I can sift, and even though I might land at your feet when I do so, it’s still sifting. You have one night left with me. It’s all I can give you. It’s less than you deserve, but we both need to feed. I’m sorry that I got anyone hurt because I was upset and refusing to feed. I learned my lesson. I’ll start looking for someone to feed from when I get home.”

His jaw popped
, but he kept quiet and nodded, before he fisted his hands against my skin. I could feel him breathing shallowly as the rattle deepened in his chest. “Fine, if that’s what you want.”

“
It is, Ryder. I need to be alone to think.”

“
You need to feed, and then, when it’s safe, I’ll take you home.”

I turned to look at him, really look at him. Here was this beautiful
, deadly creature, who’d done what his culture thought was right, just so he could have me. He’d been doing what he’d been taught from birth, and I had paid the price for it. I could feed from him, because the truth was, I’d never been more sexually, or physically attracted to another person, or creature.

“
Fine,” I said reaching up to remove my bra, realizing I’d been arguing this entire time mostly naked. He was faster though. His magic wafted through the room and instantly we were both naked. I allowed my eyes to take in his masculine beauty, memorizing everything, in case I never saw him again.

The
rattling that had started deep in his chest, intensified as he pulled me closer. His hands were gentle, but I could feel his urgency to feed matching mine. I allowed him to bring me close and captured my mouth. I was giving myself to him for this night. Tonight, I was his. Tomorrow I was leaving, with or without his help.

He pushed
me down on the bed and rained magical little kisses all over my skin again. The entire room was wrapped in his magic, stronger than it had been in the human world. The scent of him was wild and primitive here; dark and sensual, like the creature it belonged to.

He pulled his mouth from mine and whispered in a str
ange language, his eyes watching mine for a reaction. His voice had been gentle, and endearing. I wondered if it was an endearment, or something I should fear. I knew he wouldn’t brand me again, as he had the last time he’d spoken in this language. This time, I felt no connection from the words, and, as his hand lowered and stroked my naked sex, I gave in and just felt him. It would be the last time I would be with him like this. He’d given me his secrets, and they’d proven to be just as he had warned—too much to come back from. But, I didn’t hate him. I hated what he was, what I was. That couldn’t be fixed with words, or sex. I needed time to heal from it.

I whimpered with need
as he continued to touch me slowly, leisurely as if we had all the time in the world. Time was passing around us as I reached down to grasp his cock, stroking the velvety softness in my hand. He gasped at the connection, and moved his hips so that I could better please him. We said nothing, both just lying there pleasuring the other until it became too much, and he took control.

His mouth found mine
as his hand continued to work my sensitive flesh. He pushed me back against the bed, pinning me easily. He gave me a sad smile as he parted my legs with his knees and entered me swiftly. He was hard and fast until we both exploded, and fed from each other’s release.

He pulled back
, and his golden eyes locked with mine. He began to move around the slickness of my pussy, until he found the perfect tempo again and continued it. I struggled to make him move faster, but he was intent on doing it slow and gentle this time.

My heart clenched along with the muscles gripping his cock. He lowered his mouth and licked the hard peak on one nipple, and then the other. When he raised his head, his eyes had changed to obsidian, and it was as i
f something else had taken control.

I felt my heart
race as the change took over his face, and he became even more beautiful. Gold lights blazed in the obsidian of his eyes like stars, and the room vibrated with power that made the fine hairs on my arms raise up from it. It was raw, vibrant, and deadly power. Instead of standing by a single power line, it felt as if I was standing inside a power plant; one that had raw power surging unchecked through it.

“
You are
mine
,” he said in the multi-layered voice, his body moving faster until I could only hold on to him as he pounded inside of me until he exploded. I pulled from his orgasm, and moaned with pleasure, mixed with fear, as his powerful orgasm entered me violently. I vibrated from the inside out until I was sure I glowed from it, and when I thought he was done, he turned me onto my stomach, and entered me again from behind.

“
Ryder,” I moaned, but he ignored it and entered me again, making the words die on my lips. My hands gripped the silk sheets as the sound of flesh meeting in lust echoed through the room. I exploded, and still he continued to fuck me until one after another, the orgasms took me over the edge of sanity and left me hanging there. I was barely awake when his teeth sank into my flesh, and drew from my artery while his cock continued to drive home inside of me.

The s
ound of sucking and something else was flittering along my brain, as if I knew what it was, but couldn’t think past it, or around it, to figure out what it was. I heard arguing, and the sound of animalistic growls, combined with Ryder’s voice in that strange language again. To my fuzzy brain, it was as if he was fighting against something for control. Then everything went blank, and darkness swallowed my mind.

I awoke to Vlad looking over me. His silver eyes scanned my face as he slapped my cheek. I tried to make words come out to tell him to stop, but my mouth was dry and un-useable. I squinted and slapped him back. He smiled, and I glared at him. Why the hell was he slapping me?

“
She’s going to be fine. She just needs some rest,” Vlad said, standing up to his full height. His eyes were gentle, but there was coldness to them that hadn’t been there before.

I tried to make my eyes ful
ly focus, but the moment they did, I wished they’d stayed fuzzy. Dristan, Ristan, and Vlad were all inside the room. I had been dressed in a dark-blue silk nightgown, and I struggled to recall what had happened last night between Ryder and myself.

“
What happened? Why are you all in here?” I questioned. Normally, if they were inside the room, something had happened. “Where’s Ryder?”

“
What do you remember?” Vlad asked, watching me closely.

“
Fighting,” I said, remembering that we’d fought over what he’d done.

“
That’s all?” Vlad continued, and I searched my mind.

“
No,” I admitted and blushed profusely. I’d been having sex with Ryder. I realized I wasn’t hungry anymore. For the first time since Transitioning, I felt really full. “Did I hurt him?” I asked, fighting through the sludge in my mind. My neck hurt, but as I ran my hand over it, it seemed fine. He’d bitten me! The memory came rushing back. As he’d been inside of me, he’d taken my blood. Holy shit, Ryder was a Vampire! “Ryder’s a Vampire?” I asked in disbelief.

“
Is that what you think?” Vlad asked with a laugh, as he sat down in a chair that I hadn’t noticed before.

“
He bit me. What else should I think?” I countered him.

“
Ryder is not a Vampire,” Dristan said, lowering his lime and emerald green eyes to meet mine. For the first time, I noticed that Dristan had a thin black ring around his two-toned eyes. I’m not sure if it was my new Fae sight, or if it was being here in Faery that I noticed it now. His full Fae form was painfully beautiful to see. Even Vlad and Ristan were breathtakingly gorgeous inside of Faery.

“
He’s not a Vampire. So what, he just goes around biting people when he’s—ya know?”

“
No, please tell us, Flower,” Ristan said grinning wide.

“
Figure it out,” I said, hating that I blushed even more.

“
You look good in red,” Ristan said as he laughed.

“
Shove it, Demon,” I quipped.

“
Only if you help me,” he continued.

“
Children, if you’re done,” Vlad said. “Syn, what else do you remember?”

“
I remember arguing with him. I remember arguing with him because he told you to change Adrian, in fact.” I leveled him with an accusing look and sat up. “I argued with him, because he thinks he can own me.”

“
You challenged him,” Vlad said.

“
No, I did not. I told him I wouldn’t be owned, and he calls me his pet! I’m not a dog, and he had my boyfriend changed into a vampire, just so he could get in my bed!”

None of them even blinked at the words. No shocked faces, no utter horror. Just three faces that waited for the catch. I rubbed my hands down my face. I had at least expected Vlad to understand why I’d be upset
, since he’d spent most of his life around humans—but no such luck.

“
And?”

And there it was.
The looks on their faces changed into words. I growled and shook my head. “And nothing! I need to get away from him. He’s done things I can’t even fathom, much less process. I need to go home so I can think without him making me want him! He’s impossible to be around because every time he is, my brain shuts off, and my vagigi turns on!”

“
Vagigi?” Vlad asked, as Ristan laughed outright at me and Dristan let out a strangled noise like he was choking on something.

“
Yes. He walks in all tall, dark and deadly, and my brain turns me into a sex addict. I know I have to feed, but if I don’t get away from him I’m going to go crazy. I need space. I just need to think.”

“
No, go back to vagigi. I want to know why you named your vagina vagigi—spare no details,” Ristan said between laughs.

“
Grrrr…is there a reason you Three Stooges are here, or did you just come to drive me insane? Where’s Ryder?”

“
He’s checking your house,” Vlad said calmly as Ristan smirked.

“
You actually told Ryder you were leaving him?” Dristan asked.

“
Yes, I told the caveman I was leaving. He had my boyfriend—or ex whatever—changed into a Vampire just so that he could get in my pants. You may not think that’s a bad thing, but I do. You keep telling me to give him a break because he’s not human, but you forget the fact that I was raised by them. What is okay for you guys is not always the same for me. I didn’t take Claire’s ass out just to get to Ryder, nor did I have her turned into anything. Oh, not to mention that I also found out he’s been stalking me for years, and watching me in my bedroom, and seeing things that no one, and I repeat no one, has ever seen!” Claire was the woman I’d caught Ryder with, right after I’d given him a lap dance. He’d had her bent over his desk in his office and it had been educational to say the least.

“
Were you dressed?” Dristan asked as heat entered his jewel-like eyes.

“
Eyes up here, Buddy. And, does it matter!?” I said pointing my middle finger up as I held it at chest level, where his eyes were currently looking.

“
Please, tell me what you were doing inside your bedroom,” Ristan purred silkily.

“
I prefer lower,” Dristan said, smiling roguishly, continuing his own conversation.

“
I’m with Ristan on this one. I want to know what he saw, and exactly what you were doing,” Vlad said as he smiled wide, which showed off his fangs.

“
I prefer to go home,” I countered.

“
You will have to discuss that with Ryder when he gets back,” Vlad said, his eyes no longer hard.

“
Am I a prisoner?” I asked as my eyes narrowed on him.

“
No, Synthia. You are a guest. Those men came through that leyline to kill you. He won’t let you go back unless he is assured you will be safe. Don’t be that girl; you’re smarter than that. You are as hot-headed as he is. It’s best to let him make sure you are safe.”

“
What girl?” I asked, offended, but not sure why.

“
The one who runs home crying and gets dead.”

“
Oh.” Well yes, that would suck.

“
Flower, you’re upset. We can see that much, but he did what any of us would do. At the same time, though, you have a right to be upset. Just let us make sure you are cared for and that it is safe for you to go home before you run off.”

I nodded.
“How are the wounded?”

“
Feeding,” Ristan said impishly. “They are not complaining, Flower. No one was so injured that they needed more than a good feeding and some fresh Faery air to heal. We all have grown attached to you, so none of us harbor ill feelings toward you for what happened. We could have sifted out and ended the fight before it had begun, but, then again, we would have lost an opportunity to learn more about these Fae who want to kill you. You are an infant in our world, and you are learning. It takes time, and we respect that. Do the same for Ryder,” Ristan said, serious for once.

“
I don’t even know if it’s me who wants him, or if it’s the fact that everything is turning upside down and he’s something to hang on to. That’s not being fair to him, Ristan. I told him what I heard him say to Adam. He doesn’t want me for more than we have right now. I’m not built like that. I’m not someone who will go from one man to another. It’s better if I get away from him now. We go at each other hard; we fight more than anything. I’m not even sure we actually like each other, because it’s been one thing after another since Larissa died. He’s not my happily ever after. He told me that from the start of this. Fairytales are full of shit, as far as I’m concerned. There is no happy ending to this. I get it now. I just need to go home and figure out where I am now.”

“
Welcome to the club, Synthia. Life isn’t a fairytale,” Vlad said with a faraway look in his eyes.

I wanted to know abou
t his past. I mean, who got to ask the real deal about Dracula’s past? I needed to go home where my brain could put everything together; make sense of it all. I was still in shock, and processing it all here wasn’t an option.

“
So, you remember nothing else, except that he bit you?” Dristan asked.

“
Nope, only that he went crazy and bit me. Again, should I remember more?” I asked him yet again.

“
No,” Vlad said with a small smile on his lips. “You should try and rest a bit. Ryder will be back soon to talk to you about going home.”

Great! That’s all I
needed—Ryder coming in here and us going at it like rabbits, which we seemed to do every time there was a bed near us. As if my panties had a mind of their own, which was attached to Ryder’s will—they just slid down…or dissolved according to his whim. I was a smart person, unless I was facing Ryder. From the moment I had met him, I had stopped thinking anything through. I had started doing stupid things, making mistakes, like signing a contract without reading it. Normally, I wasn’t that girl. I was a badass Witch who did as she was told, and protected people. What I did had meant something, and now I had no idea where to even start rebuilding my life.

“
Flower, we need to talk,” Ristan said, sitting closer to me on the bed.

“
Go away, Ristan. I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” I replied.

“
Did you tell him how you feel about what he did to Adrian?” he continued to question.

“
Yes, but inside his head it was the right thing to do, and I get that. It hurts knowing he did this to me, to my friend. He stalked me, Ristan, and while I could overlook that, I’m not sure I can ever forgive him for what he did to Adrian. I just want to go home and start living. I need time to heal.”

“
Could you?”

“
Could I what?”

“
Could you go back to your life now that you are Fae, and could you forget him so easily? If it was only because he was using you, you wouldn't be upset. It's because you have feelings for him, and they always get the better of us.”

“
I’m not admitting to anything but distrust and anger right now.”

“
Cheater. You are upset, because you think he hurt someone you loved. You’re upset, because you have feelings for him, and it pisses you off that, even after learning about everything he has done, you still want him. Ryder won't love easily; you will have to fight for him if you want him, Flower. He's a good man, stubborn and very self-disciplined, and, yes, he knows what he wants, and he gets it, no matter the cost. You’re applying human rules to him when he isn’t. He is what he was always meant to be.”

“
Is this another pep talk? I told you, I need time. If Ryder can’t give me that much, then he isn’t the person you think he is. What he did was over the top and uncalled for, Ristan! He shouldn’t have done this, period.”

“
You're missing the point. Shit, you're as stubborn as he is. There's something bigger going on right now, Syn; bigger than you both. You brought the Mages along with that group of Fae to the mansion, and they were ready for war—we weren't. He could have blamed you, but he didn’t. He protected you while he was looking for answers, even though he could have been killed. His worry was for your safety. He sent us to protect you, which left him without his main bodyguards, so you could be safe.” He stopped and placed his fingers under my chin to lift my face to his. “I think you are tied to his destiny, and that’s why you are in my blind spot. I've never once met someone who has no tomorrow inside my head, Syn—until you and Adam.” His silver and black eyes narrowed, and he shook his head. “Tell him, Syn. Tell him how you feel.”

Ristan left soon after that, and I replayed his words
over and over, in my head. I watched the time go by on my watch slowly as I lay in the bed, wondering where Ryder was, and if he was okay.

Time passed endlessly
, before Adam came into the bedroom radiating anger. “Let's go, Syn.
Now
.”

It was the only words I needed to stand up
, and accept his hand.

“
Follow,” he said, pulling me with him as he rushed from the room and took me down a long winding hallway. We stopped at a railing that overlooked a magnificent courtyard full of trees, flowers, and fountains that put the most beautiful parks in the world to utter shame. “Those are all his, Syn, all of them. He owns each and every one of them.” My brain finally wrapped itself around what his heated words implied.