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  We’re not far, about half-a-minute away.

  But Alesia could see that the lead wraith-pair would reach them well before they arrived at Zeph’s house. She could also sense that the vampire’s hand-blast energy had sufficient power to take them both out of the sky if he decided to fire at them.

  She felt suddenly sick at heart because she knew what she needed to do, but it went against everything she believed in. Yet, if she didn’t act, the part of her that was fae knew they would die.

  How close are they? Zephyr had tensed up.

  Just hold us steady, I’m going to do something.

  Alesia, what the fuck do you mean? Oh, shit … Am I feeling a battle vibration coming from you?

  Yes, you are. She hated revealing the truth that she had some battle chops, but she had no choice. Just keep flying at top speed. I’ve got this.

  She stretched out her left arm, bracing herself against his chest and pressing her arm into his shoulder for balance. She let her battle energy build and as the vampire fired, she released her own stream, sending a blue wave pulsing toward the wraith-pair.

  Their frequencies met in the middle and her whole arm felt as though it was on fire.

  Zeph pathed. We’re almost there.

  She didn’t know how long she could keep it up, but suddenly the vampire’s blast gave way and she watched as her battle energy struck home and he started tumbling through the air. His bonded wraith-mate shrieked as she headed after him.

  Got him, Zeph.

  Good job.

  But the other two pairs are still in pursuit, maybe two hundred yards away now.

  Hold on. We’re not far from my house and I need to shift direction.

  She clutched at his shoulders, grateful for the warning, since he jerked in the air and sped straight down. Her stomach lurched as she closed her eyes, then she saw stars, a lot of them.

  The next thing she knew, she was lying on her back on a soft carpet, staring up at a round, metal ceiling and hearing wraiths shriek outside the house.

  She sat up, but dizziness swept over her and she put a hand to her head, breathing hard. She glanced around and saw that Zephyr sat at a nearby desk, his laptop open. He worked the keys like mad.

  The next moment, she heard screaming outside then everything fell silent.

  She looked up at the ceiling once more. “What did you just do?”

  “I fired up an electrical charge.”

  Rising to her feet, she continued to stare up at the interlocking metal supports, waiting, but nothing happened.

  Zephyr flipped through images on what proved to be his security screen. “They’re gone. As they should be. Dawn’s about to break in the east.” Wraith-pairs, thank the Goddess, usually shut down when the sun came up.

  Relief washed through Alesia in a wave so powerful that if she hadn’t moved to sink into the corner of the nearby couch, she would have dropped to the carpet once more.

  She leaned forward, burying her face in her hands. Her arm still hurt and tingled something awful. Even her spine felt like fire had run through it.

  A moment later, she felt something cool tap her fingers. “Here. Drink this.”

  Opening her eyes, she saw that Zephyr had poured something amber into a tumbler. She took the glass readily, not caring what was inside, put the glass to her lips and threw back what proved to be whisky. She came up sputtering and coughed a couple of times. But the alcohol content did its work and put a quick ease through her body.

  “Well, that was horrible.”

  She leaned back and without wishing it, tears started to stream down her cheeks.

  Zephyr disappeared for a moment, but came back with a box of tissues. She plucked out three, then wiped her face, but the tears kept falling.

  He sat down next to her and when he put his arm around her shoulders, she leaned into him and started to sob.

  She wasn’t sure how long her crying jag lasted, but she definitely used up a lot more tissues.

  At last, she lifted her gaze to his. “And you do this every night?”

  He nodded, his expression grim.

  She hugged him hard. “Thank you for getting us out of there.”

  “You’re welcome, and thank you for firing up your battle energy. You’ve never done that before, have you?”

  While still plastered to his chest, she shook her head, her cheek moving against his soft t-shirt. His body was warm and he smelled of resinous oak. She owed her life to him and his quick thinking at flying her away so fast.

  More than at any other time, she was aware of just how much of a warrior he was, that this was his life, night in and night out, that he battled the enemy of the Nine Realms without ceasing.

  She tilted her head back to look up at him. He caressed her shoulder and in his eyes, she saw the depth of his concern for her. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yes. Are you? Zeph, how do you bear your life?”

  At that, his lips curved slightly as he gently pushed her hair away from her face. “It’s simple, really. I’m built for it. If I wasn’t doing this, I’d serve on a local police force, probably solving realm homicides.”

  “Yeah, I guess you would.”

  She lifted her hand to his cheek and let him feel how willing she was to be kissed right now, and a lot more, if that’s what he wanted.

  He angled his head slightly and the next moment his lips were on hers, a warm, soft pressure that sent a thrill racing through her. She parted her lips, moaning as his tongue pierced her.

  She writhed against him and his arms tightened around her. Her body lit up with a new kind of fire as she clutched his shoulder.

  But after a moment, he drew back and held her gaze. “Are you sure about this? I don’t want you to have regrets later because you gave in to an impulse.”

  She wished he hadn’t asked.

  She grew very still as old memories surfaced, about the fights they’d had, and how hard it was, after they’d broken up, for her to stay out of his arms.

  She knew then she couldn’t do this with him, couldn’t open up the old wounds. “I’m sorry, Zeph, and you were right to ask. This doesn’t really change anything, does it?”

  He looked incredibly sad as once more he pushed her hair away from her face. “No, it doesn’t. Just wish you weren’t so damned pretty.”

  She frowned. “There is something I need to know about what happened out there, what I did.”

  He removed his arm from around her, rubbing his neck in a weary manner. “You mean when you sent your battle energy toward the enemy?”

  “I need to know if I killed that vampire.”

  “Tell me what you saw.”

  She explained about watching the vampire spin out of control and how the wraith chased after him, flying through the air. “If the wraith couldn’t stop his fall, he probably crashed hard to earth and I have no idea how much damage my blast did, no way of gauging whether I’d really hurt him.”

  “You’re worried that he died?”

  She heard the incredulity in Zephyr’s tone, but she had to be honest with him. “Yes. I am.”

  Zephyr leaped from the couch, rage pouring off him as he wheeled on her, his hands held wide. “Why do you give the smallest fuck what happened to that wraith-pair? They were going to kill us, both of us. Don’t you get that?”

  “Of course I do. But he wasn’t always bonded to a wraith. There would have been a time when he’d have had his own ideas about how his life should progress. And I’d bet you a fortune it had nothing to do with joining up with a wraith.”

  “He might also have chosen wraith-bonding. Not all realm-folk dislike the idea of teaming up like that.”

  “But those kind of people are a really small minority. You know that.”

  “And I don’t care. That’s the real problem here.” He shoved both his hands through his hair, grimacing. “You’re the only woman I know who opposes what I do. Alesia, you owe me some rational explanation why you’ve held to your position in
this way, even after having faced death just now.”

  Alesia looked away from him. She held a lump of tissues in her hand, which she slowly set aside, her mind drifting into the past. In all the time she’d known him and dated him, she’d never really told him the truth, what lay at the heart of her desire to see every wraith-pair possible sent to prison rehab rather than killed outright.

  “No one knows this, Zeph, but three years ago, my mother was abducted by a wraith and forced to bond with him. I watched it happen. A wraith-pair attacked our family home, killing my father outright. The only reason I survived and why I saw what happened to my mother was because I’d slipped behind a door and watched through the narrow space next to the hinges.”

  “So, your parents didn’t die in a car accident.”

  She shook her head.

  “Sweet Goddess, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

  “A day doesn’t go by that I don’t think about my mother and hope that some miracle will happen, that she’ll be saved and rehabilitated, instead of slaughtered. Given that so few are spared, it’s a vain hope, but one I have anyway, despite the odds against it.”

  * * * * * * * * *

  Zephyr stared down at the woman he’d fallen in love with well over a year ago, the one he wanted to spend his life with. He finally understood why she’d held so hard to her view of wraith-pairs. “You must have thought me the most cruel and insensitive man in the entire Nine Realms the way I’ve talked to you on this issue. I wish you’d told me before. So, why didn’t you?”

  “I couldn’t, but I don’t know why. I’ve never told anyone. The local police know but that’s it.”

  “Alesia, I’m so sorry.”

  Now that she’d opened the door, she added, “But the memory of her caught in the wraith’s arms and carried into the night, of seeing her twist just enough so that she could see me, still haunts me, probably always will. She even pathed her love and that was the end of it.”

  He took her hand and lifted her to her feet. “Come on. You’re exhausted. How about a shower and bed.” He added hastily, “Just for sleep.”

  “I’d like that.”

  He guided her to his bathroom and gave her some privacy. He had a guest room and told her he’d sleep there, but she called out, “No, Zeph. Please sleep in the same bed with me. I don’t want to be alone.”

  “You got it, but I’ll grab my shower in the other room and be right back.”

  Twenty minutes later, and wearing pajamas that he never slept in, he curled up behind her and held her tight. She fell asleep right away, but he remained awake for a long time.

  He kept thinking about the loss of her family. Learning that her mother had survived an attack, but only to be forced into a wraith-bonding, helped him to understand Alesia. Having spent some time in the rehab center, he also knew that those realm-persons who survived a bonding said they had only faint memories of their time as part of an Invictus pair.

  But these people also lived with a painful realm version of post-traumatic-stress-disorder. Many lost years and even decades of their lives and returned to find their children grown, beloved spouses remarried, jobs and businesses long gone.

  At least now he understood why Alesia was so adamant about her insistence that wraith-pairs should be rehabilitated.

  Until this moment, he’d never been so close to someone who longed to have a loved one returned to them. Compassion had always been the last thing on his mind when he battled the Invictus and witnessed the results of their carnage every night. Except for the attack on her parents, Alesia never saw what he saw, the drained and mangled bodies of realm-folk.

  Finally, the night’s fatigue got to him and he fell asleep. But a few hours later, a different issue surfaced. He awoke in acute pain, his stomach twisted into an excruciating knot. Because his attention had been fixed on Alesia, and not his blood-needs, he’d forgotten to call one of his doneuses.

  Right now, he was just a couple of hours away from death.

  ***

  Chapter Three

  Alesia opened her eyes, uncertain what had awakened her. For a moment, she wasn’t even sure where she was.

  She looked around and recognized Zephyr’s bedroom, but he was no longer in bed with her. Glancing at the open door of the bathroom, she was pretty sure he wasn’t in there either.

  Exhaustion crowded her and her heart seemed to be laboring in her chest. She’d been feeling like this a lot in recent weeks, especially when Zephyr would show up last thing at night to take her home. A couple of times, she’d almost offered to feed him just because she felt certain she’d feel better if she opened a vein for him.

  She sat up and rubbed her chest.

  Then she heard his voice. “You can’t come? Are you sure?” A pause. “No, that’s okay. I’ll call someone else.” A heavy groan followed.

  Her senses came alert and her drowsiness disappeared.

  Zeph was in trouble. She could feel it now.

  She slipped from bed, wearing a long t-shirt of his that hit her mid-thigh.

  She hurried into the living room, took one look at his pallor, and made a quick decision. “Zeph, you need to feed, as in now.”

  He looked up at her, his arms around his stomach, his body bent over in pain. His blue eyes had a wild, almost feverish appearance.

  “Oh, dear sweet Goddess, why didn’t you reach for me? Damnit, you’re the most stubborn man.”

  She dropped in front of him, and swept her hair away from her throat. “Take what you need.”

  He probably couldn’t have stopped if he’d wanted to.

  He fell on her, pushing her to the floor, his fangs at her throat, striking to just the right depth. Withdrawing his fangs, he sucked hard, too hard.

  She beat at his shoulders. “Zeph, you’ll collapse the vein. Ease back.”

  He pulled away and struggled through several deep breaths. He resumed, more gently this time, and her blood began to flow.

  She patted his back. “Better. Much better. You’re okay. You’ll be okay. You’ll be fine.”

  He was so close to death, the man who had saved her life just a few hours earlier.

  She’d never fed a vampire before, but after about a minute, she began to experience an extraordinary euphoria, like nothing she’d ever known before. Her heart felt light and free. She realized she hadn’t truly felt normal in weeks.

  Now that she did, she rubbed his shoulders but wanted more than just the feel of the flannel beneath her hands.

  She caressed his bare neck, and slipped her fingers down his back, savoring his warm skin. Her hips arched against him and that’s when she felt that he was fully aroused, a very natural state for a vampire, lying on top of a woman and taking from her throat.

  He groaned, and though he continued to nurse at her throat, he pathed. Don’t do that, Alesia. I won’t be able to control myself. Damn all the elf lords, but your blood has the flavor of berries steeped in wine. I’ve never tasted anything like this in my life. And the power that comes with each hit. I feel like I could do anything.

  Maybe it was his voice in her head, or maybe her own latent desire for the man, but desire flooded her like a sudden tsunami. She pulled away from him and started tearing at his pajamas.

  He froze and drew back, blood on his lips, his eyes still wild and feverish, but for a completely different reason this time. He tugged at his shirt as well, which popped all the buttons, and at the same time, he freed her in order to strip out of her t-shirt.

  By the time she’d tossed it on the carpet next to her, he was fully naked, pushing her shoulders back, and spreading her legs with his knees. Desire and need poured through her, rolling like waves as he positioned his cock at her entrance. He pushed into her while at the same time, she angled her throat once more. Only this time she exposed the vein on the opposite side.

  He grunted his approval, a low guttural sound, more animal than man. It sent shivers chasing down her abdomen to sink deep into her well.

  Wit
h his fangs fully emerged once more, he struck again, then latched onto her throat.

  With his cock moving in and out of her well and his mouth sucking greedily at her vein, she cried out over and over. His hands skated up and down her sides, then over her breasts. With so many sensations pummeling her all at the same time, she was already close to an orgasm.

  If she’d known that feeding him would be like this, she would have offered her neck the first time they’d been together and never stopped.

  Hard as a rock, he thrust faster now, grunting as he sucked. Her fingers played over the thick muscles of his shoulders, arms and back, then moved lower to caress his buttocks. She savored the flex-and-release as he pumped into her.

  Zeph, you feel like heaven. You’re so damn built.

  At that, he left her throat, his eyes at half-mast, pupils dilated. He supported himself on his forearms as he looked down at her, thrusting into her, hair swaying. She loved the sight of her blood on his mouth and leaned up to kiss him, to taste what he’d tasted.

  He kissed her fiercely in return, rolling his hips to drive his cock deep. She sensed a vibration building in him, then suddenly felt it through his cock, an intense sensation that tripled the pleasure she experienced. She gasped and moaned at the same time.

  “Zeph, what are you doing. Sweet Goddess that feels good.”

  “That’s my mating frequency and I wanted you to feel it inside you.”

  She cried out repeatedly as the sensation took her to the edge.

  “Alesia, are you ready for me? Are you ready to come?”

  She met his gaze, her body writhing against his. She nodded and pleasure released from her in a driving swell.

  He moved faster, which caught up the sensation and carried it deep. The vibrations brought everything to a peak that made her scream. Ecstasy ripped through her, riding her body, up and up, causing her heart to expand and her lungs to fill with fiery passion.

  He shouted his release, pumping harder still, as his body twisted over hers. “Alesia!”

  She saw stars or she swore she did. Pleasure kept flowing and moved in sweet aftershocks so that she continued to grind against him, savoring the last bit of ecstasy.