Viper (31 page)

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Cara leaned down and kissed the old man’s balding pate. Knowing that her grandfather wouldn’t have to learn his last living relative had nearly died made the scorching pain of the last few days worth it. There had been times she felt as though she wished for death. To say the transformation had been painful was an understatement. Liquid fire coursed through her veins and arteries.

“You best eat that peanut butter pie after supper, Grandpa. Otherwise, you’ll spoil your supper.”

“Bah! Nonsense. You can’t spoil the meals they serve here. Anything would be an improvement.”

Cara laughed, her fingers going to the scarf wrapping her throat. The deep wound had healed for the most part, leaving behind nothing more than an angry scar and a sore throat.

“Now I know you jest. You forget I’ve eaten meals here with you, old man.”

She patted his arm and stood, clearing her throat. The gesture had Kane reaching for her hand and squeezing her fingers. The simple gesture warmed her heart. Cara glanced at him, holding his gaze and offering him a tender smile. He winked at her and mouthed the words, “I love you.”

Cara’s smile grew. She’d never tire of hearing it. Turning back to her grandfather, she leaned down and kissed his weathered cheek. “We have to go, Grandpa. But we’ll be back soon.”

The old man turned his watery gaze on Kane and pointed a gnarled finger in his direction. “You take care of my granddaughter. Otherwise, you’ll be answering to me.”

“I wouldn’t allow anyone to harm her, sir. Death to anyone who tries.”

He nodded in acknowledgement. “She ain’t got anyone else in this world but me.”

“If you don’t mind me saying so, sir, she now also has me.”

Her grandfather held Kane’s stare for a long moment, then turned to Cara and grabbed her free hand, taking it to his lips, placing a kiss on the back, then whispered, “He’s a keeper.”

“You don’t have to tell me that, Grandpa. I’m not letting this one out of my sight for a minute.”

He smiled, then touched his throat. “You take care of the cold.”

Cara almost denied the fact she was ill when she realized he referred to the hoarseness of her voice and the scarf draping her neck.

“You worry too much.”

“Get on out of here. I’m sure you two have something better to do than spend your evening entertaining an old fool.”

Twenty minutes later, Cara lay stretched out, naked in Kane’s king size bed, reveling in the feel of the sheets against her highly sensitized skin. They had the clubhouse to themselves for the time being, and Cara planned to take advantage of every second of it. Relocating Kane to her house seemed the better option, and maybe she’d even talk him into it, but for now she just wanted to be wrapped within his strong arms, with him buried deep inside her.

Kane pulled his shirt over his head; his black jeans hung low on his muscular hips. His tee hung from his slack fingers as he advanced upon the bed and dropped it at the foot. Cara’s mouth watered. His six-pack abs and the muscles at his hips arrowing into the Levis had her fairly salivating.

“You ready for this?”

Her gaze widened and he laughed. “You have no idea what you’re in for, Mia Bella.”

Cara laid her hand on his chest, feeling his heart beat mightily beneath her palm. “This isn’t our first time.”

“No,” he kissed her brow, “But it’s your first time as a vampire. Take your last orgasm and times it by ten.”

Her brows rose. “Seriously?”

What a perk!

Kane ran a hand from her shoulder, down the soft flesh of her chest to her breast and covered it with his palm. Heat like she had never felt before pooled between her legs and and spanned out along the rest of her body. The ache between her thighs grew nearly unbearable.

Cara could hardly speak as she shifted on the sheets. “Please, Kane.”

“Oh, I plan to please. You have no idea.”

He lowered his head and covered her other nipple with his mouth, suckling it, teasing it, then nipping it with his growing fangs before soothing the ache with his tongue. Cara cried out, her back arched off the mattress and her gaze heated and her vision sharpened. Fangs filled her mouth and suddenly, not only was her libido at an all-time high, she was ravenous. Instead of waiting for permission, she sank them into Kane’s shoulder, tasting his blood, drawing it into her mouth. He tipped his head back, cords in his neck standing out as he roared from the pleasure.

Kane allowed her to suckle for few minutes longer then pulled her head from his shoulder and chuckled. “Careful, Mia Bella. My blood offers you no nourishment. Save it for a donor.”

She wiped her hand across her mouth, seeing the rich blood now on her palm. “Then why do I have this insane desire to feed from you?”

“You’re mistaking passion and hunger. Biting and drinking from me during sex will give you pleasure you’ve never known, but nourishment can only come from blood untainted with our DNA.” His smile washed over her, increasing the ache between her thighs. “We’ll go to the Rave later, see that you’re nourished. But for now, let’s satisfy another hunger.”

Kane reached for the bedside table and pulled out a condom. Cara looked at him queerly as he tore open the little foil packet with his teeth.

“I thought you couldn’t get me pregnant and diseases weren’t an issue?”

“Diseases will never be a problem for our kind, that is true. But now you’re a vampire, procreation is definitely a possibility. That’s why we only have sex with humans unless we are mated.”

“But we aren’t mated.”

“Yet.”

“You’re still mated to Rosalee.” It shouldn’t bother her and she hated herself for allowing it to.

“Until I visit Mircea. Once he hears of his stepdaughter’s actions, he’ll abrogate the joining and I’ll be free to mate again.”

“Is that so?” She cocked one brow. “And who do you plan to mate yourself with, vamp boy?”

“Need you even ask?” Kane leaned down and kissed her, one full of possession, leaving her no doubt as to who he intended to mate with. “Any other questions?”

“Yeah. How about you get out of those jeans?”

“You don’t have to ask me twice, Mia Bella.” He quickly did as she asked, rolled on the condom then situated himself between her spread thighs. “Now … where were we?”

She framed his handsome face in her hands, loving the features that once had caused her nightmares. “You were about to show me how much you love me.”

“That I was,” he said, then leaned down and kissed her, proving to her just how much.

Epilogue

Kaleb tossed the Vice President patch on the table, the President one now sewn to his cut. Conversation came to a halt as every pair of eyes focused on the telling patch. All voting members sat in a semi-circle around the large oak table in the center of the room. Kane and Ion’s chairs remained empty.

Grayson was the first to speak. “What happened to Viper?”

“Viper’s relinquished his role as head of the Sons of Sangue. That makes me club Pres. This church meeting has been called for a couple of reasons. First, we need to vote on a new VP. I vote Gypsy as the successor. Anyone care to second that?”

Grigore Lupie was the first to raise his hand. “Aye.”

“Let’s take it to a vote.”

One-by-one the voting members concurred, making Grayson ‘Gypsy’ Gabore the new VP of the Sons.

“First order of business,” Kaleb continued, “is what to do about Viper’s actions.”

The members looked from one to another, though no one spoke up. Kane had been the rule follower, the straight shooter. To him everything was black or white, no grey in-betweens, that is until Cara Brahman entered the picture and set out to take him down. Since the interruption in their lives, he had been breaking rules right and left. The Sons had chosen to look the other way for his previous disregard of the rules. Kaleb doubted Kane would be given the same exemption this time.

“What’s he done?” Grayson asked. “Don’t tell me this has something to do with that detective bitch? I take it she’s been found.”

“The primordial, Alec Funar,” Kaleb began, “acting on orders from Rosalee, sliced her throat clean through. She was bleeding out, and there was no time to get her to help.”

“So she’s dead? Good riddance,” said Grigore.

“She’s not dead, Wolf.”

“I thought you said—” he began, then went silent in understanding.

“Kane turned her.”

Everyone started talking at once. Kaleb had to bang the gavel against the wooden block to restore order. Silence once again filled the room.

“Before we vote on the consequences for his actions, I’d like a moment to tell the story.”

“I’m not sure he deserves the right,” Joseph spoke up. “He’s been sniffing that tail and causing this club problems. And yet he continued when he knew it wasn’t in our best interest.”

“I can’t say I disagree, Kinky. However, as club Pres and as my brother, I would like the right to speak on his behalf.” When no one argued, he continued, “My brother loves Cara … deeply. That much is apparent. He was left with the decision to watch another person he loves die,” Kaleb did not have to mention Ion’s name, “or give her … himself a second chance. He didn’t have time to ask for a vote. He acted out of love and gave her his blood.”

“They cannot be mated,” Grayson pointed out.

“Not as long as Rosalee lives, Gypsy. You’re correct. We all know to mate with someone is for life. Unfortunately, unless Kane can get Mircea’s blessing, he’s stuck with that bitch. Cara knows that, and yet she is willing to be with my brother.”

“And the primordial?”

Kaleb took a deep breath, bracing his hands on the table. “Is dead by my hand.”

Blasphemes filled the room before angry talk begun amongst the members, knowing the consequences for killing a primordial. Kaleb would deal with the fallout, without repercussions to the Sons. He had acted alone and made the decision to behead the bastard.

“He’s been ashed.”

“And the pigs?” Nicolas asked.

“They arrived shortly after the shed where Alec held Cara went up in flames. His skeletal remains will be found inside. Cara sported the knife wound to her neck to prove Alec’s misdeeds, though it had already begun healing. What they saw was an attempt made on her life and her testimony that Alec had confessed to her all previous crimes before trying to take hers. Those cases are now closed.

“And although Captain Melchor insisted on taking Kane back to the S.O., the sheriff denied his request.” Kaleb chuckled. “Let’s just say Captain Melchor is returning to Salem sporting a couple of black eyes to compliment his broken nose. Kane said he owed him that. And unless the captain wanted to explain Kane’s reason to the sheriff—that he once raped Cara—then he was to get back in his vehicle and never step foot in Pleasant again. To do so would be disrespecting the Sons of Sangue.”

“And Kane?” Grigore asked. “What do you suggest his penalty be for turning a human?”

“I ask for leniency for what he’s endured already and allow him to live in peace with Cara. I’ll leave the room for you to come to a decision.”

Kaleb walked out, shutting the heavy meeting doors behind him. He prayed his brothers would see reason, because whether they approved Kane’s actions or not, he was still his brother and he’d always have his back. Walking over to the bar, Kaleb pulled down the bottle of Jack and poured himself a shot. He knocked it back, welcoming the burn.

What the hell was wrong with his twin? No woman could possibly be worth turning your back on your brothers and the MC. This had been their life, their family, for as long as he could remember. A woman’s worth was measured by the quality of the piece of ass you got. Why the hell waste your life on just one?

Suzi flashed through his mind and that kiss they shared in the parking lot a couple of days ago. That had been one hell of a knock-your-socks-off kiss. No wonder she had run. Hell, he should be thanking her for putting the distance between them and slapping him with reality. Only once had he allowed himself to tap that. And yet, he hadn’t forgotten one damn second of how sweet it had been to slide between her thighs. And just like that, with one kiss all those old feelings started sliding back in. Yep, he needed to steer far away from that one. Let the rest of the Sons tap that.

Kaleb clenched his teeth, causing an ache to travel up his jaw and end with a ring in his ears. He quickly shook off the jealousy trying to take up residence in his gut. Suzi could fuck anyone she chose as far as he was concerned.

“Hawk?” Grayson said through the now opened door. “We’ve come to a decision.”

Kaleb shook off his thoughts of Suzi, took another quick shot of the whisky, then followed Grayson back into the church meeting.

Once inside, Grayson gave him the verdict. “Kane can keep his rockers, effectively staying a member of the Sons. Hell, it doesn’t seem right him not being a member. But he shall have no voting rights.”

“Is this unanimous?”

“Aye,” Grayson said, and the members around the table nodded in agreement.

Kaleb picked up the gavel and struck the block of wood, pleased the Sons of Sangue had granted Kane the leniency Kaleb had asked for. “Then let it be known, Kane Tepes is to remain a member of the Sons of Sangue and this meeting is adjourned. Now let’s go get us some whiskey and women … I’ve had about all I can take of this day.”

The End