EIGHT

SEVEN

WE DIDN'T HEAD for the Gargoyle, instead driving outside the city toward Galena and the house Liam had there. I"d only been there a handful of times, but every visit felt like coming home.

The wheels of the car crunched over the gravel driveway as Liam pulled to a stop in front of a house built around the turn of the last century. It wasn"t the sort of house I"d ever expect a vampire to live in. Sitting on a wooded lot full of mature trees, it was cheerful and charming with a large wraparound porch. Patio furniture invited you to put up your feet and watch the world mosey on by. Large pots of bright flowers adorned the steps adding a pop of color.

His house was three stories tall and had large windows that were each outfitted with blackout shades that automatically shut when the sun rose.

It was the sort of place you were more likely to see in a movie, not the type of home I"d expect Liam to buy for himself. Half of me was always surprised he hadn"t chosen one of the high-end condos in Columbus.

I found myself liking him better for not succumbing to expectations.

Liam unlocked his door and stepped inside. He inhaled sharply as I brushed against him, a secretive smile on my lips. It was empowering to know I wasn"t the only one who felt this pull.

His nose brushed the side of my neck, and I shivered.

The door closed behind us as Liam pulled me more fully into his arms, kissing his way down the side of my neck. My breath sawed in and out of my lungs, the sensation sending shivers to my core.

Vampires, I"d learned during my time with Liam, were highly sensual creatures. The stories had gotten that part right at least. In the right circumstances we could be downright hedonistic.

We felt things more deeply than our human counterparts. Every touch, every taste was a masterclass in desire.

My head sagged against his shoulder, suddenly heavy. I reached up, threading my fingers through his hair as he nipped the spot where my shoulder met my neck.

I groaned and a contented rumble answered me. The man had a map to my libido. All he had to do was follow it and I was his.

I pulled away, knowing if he continued, we"d spend the rest of the night on the floor in his entryway. It had happened before.

Dawn wasn"t far off and since I didn"t want to spend the day naked next to his front door, it was time to move this somewhere a little more private.

I kept thinking this lust between us would fade. It hadn"t so far, managing to grow hotter and more consuming as if every touch, every taste drew us deeper into the web.

Liam let me go, his dark, enigmatic gaze on me as I started slowly up the steps toward his bedroom.

Expectant silence filled the house as I pulled my top over my head and dropped it on the steps. I shot a teasing look over my shoulder. "Are you coming?"

Liam sucked in a deep breath.

I took off running, not even making it two steps before he swept me into his arms and sped through the house. I shrieked with laughter at the intense look on his face, as if he was preparing for battle.

The bedroom door opened and slammed behind us. Seconds later, I felt his bed under me as he came down on top of me.

"Impatient, are we?" I asked, trying to stuff down my laughter.

His scowl faded as a teasing smile came out. I had a moment of trepidation.

"Shall we play a game?" he asked.

I shook my head frantically. No, no. I always lost his games.

"I think we should," he cooed.

I bared my fangs at him as he reached up, dragging one sharp nail along his neck to open the thinnest of lines. A bead of blood welled. I licked my lips, my eyes locked on that delicious drop of awesome.

It would taste so good.

I inhaled sharply, catching the slightest tang of chocolate and wine, of a decadence so consuming it must be a sin.

A hunger of a different sort moved through me.

I struggled to think past the haze. "Stakes?"

His lips curved in a dark smile. "Resist and I"ll let you lead for the night."

I hissed at him. "Bastard."

I was going to lose and we both knew it. We"d played this game many times before. His blood was a siren song, one that would need a will power far stronger than mine to resist. When it came to him, I was weak. Some could even say my willpower was nonexistent.

"I"ve never pretended to be anything else," he said. "When you play the game, you have to play to win, otherwise it isn"t much fun."

He leaned forward, ensuring I got another whiff of that addicting blood. I stopped breathing through my nose, sucking air in through my mouth. Mistake.

My hands opened and closed as I fought the urge to yank him against me.

His head dipped as he set the hard length of his fangs against my throat, careful not to pierce the skin. My legs moved restlessly against his as I tilted my pelvis, an unspoken invitation.

"You are more than I ever dreamed." His breath stirred against my skin. "My punishment and reward."

I whined, my fangs denting my lower lip.

"Not fair," I panted, still resisting.

"I"m a vampire. We"re not known for playing fair, a chuisle mo chroí," he whispered.

I moved against him again, arousal and hunger twining together, making it difficult to think beyond my needs.

I wanted him. His blood. His body. That unspoken quality that made Liam, Liam. I wanted all of it.

I could feel myself leaning toward him like a flower toward the sun. Like he had a gravitational pull and I was the object caught in his orbit.

My lips brushed his throat, my tongue darting out to capture that tiny bead. Pure need consumed me. My resistance snapped.

Liam"s laugh was husky as I pounced, my fangs sliding into his throat. Hot blood splashed on my tongue. A guttural groan came from Liam as he collapsed the lower half of his body against mine, rubbing the hard length of him against my center.

He whispered words in another language, his hands coming up to cup my head as I fed from him. He rolled onto his back, taking me with him. I paid no attention now that I had what I wanted. An insatiable need for more made everything else unimportant.

His hands moved between us. There was a yank at my bra. It ripped and was gone in the next moment.

Buttons flew as he tore my jeans open, his eyes nearly glowing as he glared up at me. Any humor we"d had was gone, replaced by urgency and desperation.

As was always the case when we exchanged blood, inhibitions were left behind.

A snarl escaped me when he moved. He laughed, rolling us again so I was on the bottom.

His hips working against me, his length hard, my bite as arousing for him as it was for me.

At some point I"d come unlatched, my head falling back to expose my throat. A sharp sting told me he"d returned my bite.

Bare skin slid against mine, our clothes somehow gone.

His hot length plunged home, and I made a strangled sound of surprise and need. He snarled and his fangs slid out of my skin only for him to suck hard. Sensation splintered through me.

Pleasure zipped along my nerve endings as he tweaked my nipple.

"Damn, I really wanted to win this time," I managed to gasp out as his hips rolled, his cock hitting a sensitive spot inside.

I keened, clutching him to me.

He chuckled. "Next time. Maybe."

He withdrew only to plunge forward again, gliding over that spot and wringing a needy sound from me. "I find I quite like the way things turned out."

He would. He"d won. Then again, so had I.

His pace was slow and measured, a contrast to my undone state. He glared down at me, torturing me with his control.

My fingers dug into his back, urging him to hurry. I wanted to be fucked, not tortured.

One leg rose to curl around his hips as I tilted mine up, urging him deeper. Faster. Harder.

He grunted. "Naughty girl. I won. The only one deciding the pace tonight is me."

He grasped my hands, drawing them over my head and pinning them there as I growled in frustration. That just made humor slide through his face. Humor that disappeared when I clenched around him.

His breath escaped him in a gasp, his gaze zooming in on me as playful challenge glinted there.

One hand reached for my clit as he bent, a fang scraping the top of my breast. He smiled before piercing the nipple with it. My back bowed as razor-sharp pleasure with a direct line to my clit speared through me.

"Bastard," I panted again.

Liam"s only response was to move his attention to my other breast, repeating the action on it. I threw my head back on a silent scream, the pleasure so intense it was nearly pain.

"Liam," I warned, my patience gone.

He chuckled, not picking up his speed as he played me like I was a violin, forcing me to ride the shining edge of my orgasm but never letting me fall over the edge.

Two could play at that game, I decided.

I plunged my fangs into his chest right over his nipple. His body tightened around mine, his head dropping.

His pace picked up, one hand planting next to my head as he fucked me.

My climax built, that delicious thread tightening low in my belly. I could feel it rushing toward me like a freight train, only this was one collision I had no intention of avoiding.

It hit, consuming me. My body rippled around his as I threw my head back on a moan.

Liam continued to thrust through it, causing the orgasm to go on and on until the pleasure turned sharp and cutting. Almost impossible to bear.

He reached his climax, his hips pushing forward, once. Twice. Three times.

His head hung low, and the sound of our panting filling the room.

Words weren"t needed as he pulled out, shifting until he was lying next to me. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled up the covers, creating an intimate cocoon.

This right here was what I missed most about relationships. Sex was phenomenal. With Liam it was damn near world ending, but it was the extra things that made you want to linger a little longer. That moved this from a physical transaction to something that had the power to touch your soul.

The quiet moments between lovers were nearly as important as the passion and flash.

I lay still, enjoying the weight of a man behind me, his warmth soaking into my bones. Something like peace felt like it was within reach.

Liam rested his chin on my shoulder, comfortable as we drifted in our own thoughts.

So, this was snuggling. I"d been missing out until now. Liam was a first rate snuggler.

"Was the idea for a House yours or did Thomas spring it on you?" Liam asked.

I snorted. "Guess."

Liam"s smile brushed against my skin. "How angry are you about this?"

Hearing the caution in his voice, I twisted in his arms until I was facing him. I studied his expression, noting the careful guardedness as if he was bracing for my explosion.

I guess I deserved that. I had a history of reacting poorly to being driven into a corner. It had led to some poor life decisions on more than one occasion. It was something I was trying to do better at.

I traced his eyebrow, trailing my fingers over his cheekbones and over his lips. "Less angry than I was before."

"Oh?"

My smile was small. "Connor has proven himself surprisingly useful so far."

He arched an eyebrow in an unspoken demand for more.

I leaned forward, dropping a kiss on his mouth. His hand pressed against my neck, deepening the kiss until it threatened to become more.

I drew back, my breathing unsteady. Satisfaction glinted in Liam"s eyes.

I pinched his chest in retaliation. He caught the offending hand, pressing it against his skin.

His gaze searched mine, seriousness entering his expression. "Tell me."

This time it was more of a request.

I screwed up my mouth before letting out a long breath. He was going to have to know eventually. I didn"t want a relationship where I hid the important stuff.

He needed to know I"d be honest with him, and I needed to be able to share my day without fearing he"d fly off the handle.

"What do you know of the Scattered?" I asked, making a decision.

Liam went still under me. Not even his chest moved to draw breath as he did that statue thing other vampires were so good at.

With an explosive movement he rolled me onto my back. His face hovered over mine as his eyebrows lowered, his gaze intent. "Why are you asking me about them?"

I drummed my fingers against his chest as I looked away, reconsidering my open communication policy. Perhaps I could live with the motto "need to know" after all.

"I have reason to think they"re in town," I admitted.

Might as well, the horse was already out of the barn and wreaking havoc on the countryside.

"What reason is that, a chuisle mo chroí?" Liam voice was carefully controlled, but I could see the storm clouds brewing in his eyes.

I shrugged, sending him a smile that was little more than a grimace. "One of them might have tried to kidnap and/or kill me. We"re not quite sure which he was going for."

His fangs snapped down, his eyes glowing bright blue. A blast of cold air rolled off him, causing my nipples to peak.

I patted his chest in what I hoped was a soothing manner, letting him have his moment. In his shoes, my reaction to learning someone had tried to take him would probably have been similar.

Hell, I"d killed the Fae who tried to enthrall him at the end of last year.

"And you"re just telling me this now?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Connor and I handled it."

His eyes flared. "Not entirely if you"re asking me about it."

"As a precaution," I clarified. "Technically, we"re not one hundred percent sure Umbrella Man was a member of the Scattered."

"What made you consider the possibility he was?"

I winced. He wasn"t going to like this. His views on the book were well known and not complimentary.

"The book," I confessed.

His lip curled. "Of course, it was the book."

"It"s been pretty spot on until now." I didn"t know why I was defending the thing when I had more than my own fair share of problems with it.

"Fae artifacts can be dangerous," Liam instructed. "They are powerful, yes, but there is more than one story of how they"ve caused their owner"s downfall."

He wasn"t telling me anything I didn"t know.

"I promise to treat anything it tells me with a grain of salt," I said seriously.

My lips twitched as his expression grew grumpier at the sight of my amusement.

He lifted up. "That"s it. You"re going to train more."

I slammed my open palm into the inside of his elbow. His arm collapsed under him. "Maybe so, old man, but not tonight."

Liam regarded me dourly from where he was face down on his pillow. "I miss the days when you were afraid of me."

I leaned over and nipped the tip of his ear. "That"s because you"re a weirdo with control issues."

Liam"s arm swept up, snagging me around the neck. He maneuvered me onto my back next to him, tangling his legs with mine. They were effective at pinning me into place as he draped one arm across my stomach.

"We both know what I really need is to be two centuries older," I told him.

I could get faster, deadlier with a weapon, but that would only do so much. There were things out there that weapons wouldn"t kill.

The kind of power that both Thomas and Liam wielded took time to develop. There were no shortcuts.

Most of the time I was fine with that. I was content with my life and had no intention of wading in the same ocean as the big dogs. Unfortunately, the big dogs kept wanting to play with me.

"There will always be someone more powerful than you," Liam said.

True enough.

"Though age does help," he admitted.

I snuggled into the pillow as he drew a caress along my collarbone, waking appetites I thought had been sated.

"So was Connor always so—" I wiggled my fingers.

Liam cocked an eyebrow at me. "And what is that supposed to represent."

I wiggled my fingers at him again. "You know, woo woo. Spooky? Magicy? Odd?"

He nodded slowly with an expression that made it clear he was simply humoring me.

I dropped my hand, running my fingers along the arm he had across my stomach.

"To answer your question, yes, Connor has always been a little woo woo." Liam hid his smile against my shoulder at the use of the term.

"You"re related," I guessed.

It wasn"t much of a guess. Anyone with eyes could see the resemblance.

Liam didn"t speak for a long moment, drawing an absent-minded pattern across my chest and the upper swell of my breasts.

"Yes." He dropped a kiss onto the stretch of skin he"d been tormenting. "He"s my nephew."

I waited.

Liam didn"t often talk about his past, and what I knew of him was mostly from second hand sources.

I probably could have pried for more, but doing so would have made me uncomfortable. We all had things that we didn"t like to talk about. There was a regret and sadness in him that said Liam probably had more than most. Living for centuries would do that to a person.

He"d either share or he wouldn"t. The choice was his.

"My sister"s son," Liam finally said.

"What was her name?"

"Nora," Liam said with pain in his voice. Even after all this time it was clear he missed her. "Connor is like her. Special. Woo woo, in your words. She could sense when someone wasn"t what they seemed. In today"s era, you would have called her a sensitive."

It made a lot of sense, considering what I knew of Connor. Sensitives were rare even today. They were attuned to the supernatural, able to tell when someone wasn"t entirely human. Most of them didn"t know what they were since their abilities manifested in unease or dislike when they brushed up against our world.

A part of me thought one of the reasons my relationship with my mother was so strained was because she might be a sensitive. She seemed to know something was different about me, no matter how many explanations or well-crafted lies were thrown her way.

Liam"s face was contemplative as he propped his head on his hands, his gaze unfocused. "The children in our family have always been different."

I took that to mean himself as well.

"Brax called you the Wolf of Galway."

Liam nodded. "That was a long time ago. I was a powerful warrior in a time predisposed to violence. Life favored the strong and merciless. To protect my people, I had to become a monster long before I ever took my first sip of blood."

He dropped a kiss onto the spot where he"d marked me with his fangs earlier. It throbbed as if in greeting.

"My reputation as a nightmare in battle was what drew my sire to me," he said. "He and his human blood companion came to stay. At the time, the boy was much younger, still only a child, which allowed my sire to pose as his father and join our band as a warrior."

I listened without speaking as Liam told me the story of his past.

"Nora could sense my sire wasn't what he seemed, but no one was inclined to listen to a child. She was much younger than me and my parents had her later in life. She never realized how deeply entrenched the companion was in this world, largely in part because they grew up together."

"They fell in love," Liam said with a soft look in his eyes. "She was so happy when she got pregnant with Connor. By that time, I'd been a vampire just under two decades."

I blinked at him. How was he able to hide the fact he didn't age?

His smile was wry. "I traveled. A lot. When it came time for me to age, I dyed my hair. It also helped that my sire would compel those who started to notice my lack of aging to forget their suspicions. Nora was the only one who ever suspected, but because I was her brother, she never looked too deep. In the end, she didn't want to know."

Liam fell silent.

I reached up, caressing his jaw. "What happened?"

"When Connor was around ten, there was an ambush. I'd miscalculated. In my arrogance, I assumed humans would never be able to fight on the same level as me. I was wrong. The companion was mortally wounded in battle. His master had no choice but to turn him or let him die."

Liam looked at me. "It"s almost unheard of for a master to attempt two turnings in less than fifty years, but he loved his blood companion as a son. The two had been together since the companion was an infant. If my master hadn"t been as powerful and ancient as he was, I have no doubt the companion would have died."

I had a sinking suspicion I knew where this was going. The carefully worded way he made sure not to name the companion was a dead giveaway.

"Thomas was the companion," I said.

Liam held my gaze as he dipped his chin in a nod. "What Nora could ignore in her brother was impossible in the man she married. When we came home, she welcomed Thomas and said she understood, that she"d rather have a vampire as a husband than a corpse."

Pain etched lines of grief on Liam"s face. "She made a place for us to sleep the day away and said she"d guard it with her life. We woke to my people dragging us into daylight, stakes in hand and hatred on their faces. If our master hadn"t saved us, we would have died."

The thought of Liam leaving this world before I had the chance to know him was sobering.

He didn"t have to tell me how close they"d come to death. I knew well the effect the sun had on the newly turned. They would have been defenseless.

Part of me hated his sister for being capable of such an action.

I moved closer to Liam, snuggling my forehead against his shoulder as I stared unseeing at his chest. I thought about my own sister and family. How our relationship had suffered in recent years and what it would feel like for them to try to end my existence.

It wasn"t a comfortable thought.

Already, there was strain and conflict. How much worse would it be if they knew what I was and called me monster? Would they look at me with hate and fear, convinced I was a soulless abomination?

"This is why you don"t want me to have a relationship with my parents and sister," I said softly.

He made a sound of agreement, one finger drawing circles on my lower back. "Both Thomas and I know what it"s like to have the people you love betray you. The pain is indescribable. If either of us seem uncaring or harsh, there is a reason for it. Neither of us want you to live through that."

I understood even as I knew I wouldn"t give up on my family so easily. They might act like Liam"s sister had, but they might not. It was that "what if" that kept me from writing them off entirely.

"How did Thomas end up being the one to sire Connor?" I asked, changing the topic to a less heavy one for now. "He would have been incredibly young, not even out of his first century."

I thought vampires were incapable of siring progeny until they were much older, more powerful.

Liam"s long exhale told me he saw what I was doing but was going to let it go—for now.

"Like you, Thomas was something of an outlier. A decade after she tried to have us slaughtered in our sleep, enemies swept through and killed her and most of our people. Connor managed to survive," Liam said.

Poor Connor—and Thomas.

It couldn"t have been easy to know someone he once loved had died in such a violent manner—even with all that had happened.

"Connor blamed his father," I guessed.

Liam shook his head. "No, quite the opposite. He was overjoyed Thomas had returned. The cracks in their relationship started much later."

I frowned at him.

Liam smiled and dropped a kiss on my nose. "When Connor came of age, Thomas offered to find a master to change him. Connor refused."

My eyes narrowed. "Let me guess. Thomas forced the issue."

Liam inclined his head. "Yes."

Why was I not surprised? That couldn"t have gone over well with Connor. He might have been accepting of Thomas"s special circumstances, but that didn"t mean he wanted the same fate for himself.

To have your humanity ripped away against your will? Been there. Done that. It wasn"t fun.

Even as I thought that, I could sort of understand where Thomas was coming from. I"d never been a parent—and now likely never would—but it would take someone far stronger than I to watch my child die while I lived on knowing I could have prevented it.

Better to be hated and have them still out in the world than to live in a world without them in it.

A thought occurred to me. "Why didn"t Thomas have your master do it?"

That could have prevented the feelings of betrayal when Thomas circumvented Connor's wishes.

Liam hesitated. "By that time, our sire wasn"t well. Having him change Connor would have ended badly."

I felt curiosity at that. This was the first time anyone had really shared anything about the man who had made both Liam and Thomas.

Liam set one hand on my throat, his thumb moving back and forth across my skin. "Enough of this maudlin topic. Tell me something of you."

I considered him. It was tempting to push, but I knew how it felt for someone to disregard my boundaries. He needed to think of something else. It did no harm to let him.

I smiled as a memory came to me. "Did I ever tell you about when Caroline and I were young?"

He shook his head, his gaze curious.

"I'm still not sure how we became friends. We"d always known about each other because of our parents, but we drifted in different circles. She was kind of popular, but she never really tried to be. I was always the one who never quite felt like I belonged."

Still didn"t on some days.

"Like I always seemed to be dancing to a song that nobody else heard, you know?"

"Somehow that doesn"t surprise me." Liam expression was tender. "It"s what first drew me to you."

I quirked my eyebrow at him. "You mean it wasn"t my impression of a bird as you hurled me into a kitchen island."

His grin was slow. "That too."

I snickered. "Anyway, one day Caroline tore into an older boy. Really mean stuff. Most of it very high level, the kind of thing you"d never expect to hear kids our age saying. He looked so confused, but he knew she was insulting him, even if he didn"t entirely understand."

"But you did," Liam guessed.

I nodded. "Yeah, I did. It made me laugh too. I think that"s what made her notice me. She had this arrested expression on her face, like she hadn"t expected anyone to pick up on what she was saying."

I let more of my weight lean against Liam as I moved onto my stomach, using his chest to prop myself up.

"That"s when the boy lost patience. He tried to slap her. I attacked. I thought Caroline would run. Instead she threw herself on top of us. I think she hit me more than him, but that was it."

I drew a line along his collarbone. "The very next day she dyed Jimmy Grey's hair green in her version of a thank you."

Liam's gaze was curious.

I smiled. "While sitting in the principal's office, I may have let slip I liked Jimmy Grey. She said I was an idiot. Turns out she was right. He'd been talking trash about me. The dye was Caroline's idea of revenge. We"ve been friends ever since."

How could we not when we'd bonded over beating one boy up and teaching another a lesson?

It had been years since I thought of those days. We had a lot of good times after that.

"She seems like a good friend," he said, nudging me.

I nodded. "Yeah, she is, when I let her be."

"Our lives make it difficult to connect with those in the mundane world," Liam said. "I know it probably hurt you to pull back, thinking you were protecting her."

My smile was filled with regret. "Didn"t exactly work out, did it?"

He lifted my chin, his expression grave. "You didn"t make her a wolf. Taking on responsibility for a transgression that isn"t yours brings no credit to you or her."

"Is that what you tell yourself when you think of Nora?"

His hold loosened. "Touché."

I patted him on the chest. "You be easy on yourself, and I"ll try to do the same."

His nod was short but heartfelt.

I tapped his chin. "Now, about you and Brax? How did that friendship come about?"

He scowled. "Who says I"m friends with that mutt?"

"You forget, I"ve seen the two of you together. You have a bromance for the ages," I said, grinning.

"That is a story for another time." He leaned up, stealing a kiss. "The sun is coming up."

Lassitude stole over my limbs, preventing any argument from me.

"Fine, but you owe me."

At least that"s what I meant to say, what came out was garbled and slurred. Sleep took me before I caught his response.