Page 17 of Embers in the Wind

Corvinus smiles. “You tell yourself that. We’re sheltered in our little cavern in the woods, and for now, it’s fine, but when we go back home, and we will go back home love, we’ll need to have a plan.”

It may be true but I’m not planning to go home for a very long time. It’s he who will be returning and whether the vampireknows it or not, he’ll be leaving alone. There is no way I’ll go back to being the butt of their cruel jokes, their taunts and all the feelings I left behind.

A fresh start is what I need and falling into a relationship, no matter how sexy Lord Corvinus is, will never do. There’s no way it would work between the two of us, both in different regions of the world. And even if I did return. How is that going to work? I can’t go back to the warriors, especially if he’s the boss like everyone says he will be. A no-win situation. Better to enjoy our company, and then say our goodbyes like two ships passing in the night.

That won’t work.

I inwardly groan. Stop reading my mind, vampire.

He rolls me over, swinging a leg over the top of me and keeping me in place with an arm on either side. “See, this is how things are going to happen. You are going to find out what you need to learn about your grandmother and about Lucas. Overmaster Descallia will want to know what you learn about the situation between the two of them, and if it connects in any way with what’s happened recently.”

“But…”

He puts a finger over my lips. “No buts... We are going to do it in a way that does not upset the delicate balance between the vampires and the witches. You heard Rupert, there are things at play that we are not aware of, things that may matter greatly that we should learn while we’re here. It could be valuable to the vampires in the future. When we’re done with that, you will come home with me.”

“But…”

That finger touches my lips again. “No buts, love… You will come back with me. You will keep that head raised and walk back into the community with a steadfast resolve because you have nothing to be ashamed of, right?”

I shake my head. “I don’t but you don’t know the half of it. Why do you trust what I say now? You didn’t before.”

His dark black eyes meet mine with a gentleness that chokes me with emotion. “Because, love, I can read your thoughts as well as I can hear my own. We are connected in the universe, by some unknown force that so many vampires can use to communicate. We are joined.”

“Gramma was a psychic. I’ve often thought I had the gift.”

He arches an eyebrow. “Or it could make you a witch.”

I suck in a breath. “I’ve always hated the witches, until some of the vampire masters took them for mates. Even then I didn’t trust them at first. Kinda gave them a hard time to be honest. But many of them are very good friends now. I don’t know what to say to them now. What if I am a witch?”

He kisses my lips lightly. “It’s daylight already. Get some more sleep. You’ll feel better before the sun goes down tonight and it will give you time to figure out what you want to ask and how much you want to learn, before we find the witch.”

Chapter 15

Corvinus

I’ve learned quickly that a shy Embry is something you do not see every day. She tucks the sheet around her and walks to the bathroom and gets showered up when we wake, leaving me to think about the curve of her ass as the water of the shower behind that door runs. If we thought a night of sex was going to rid us of our itch, it has done just the opposite, leaving us both craving more and more. Completely insatiable, but there is work to do.

I throw back the sheet, determined to put the sexpot from my mind, at least for a while. I put the coffee pot on to brew and scramble some eggs with cheese and steak before she’s finished and walking toward me in a mini skirt that leaves her navel bare and a little jewel dangling from her navel piercing. The one that I already adore.

She is not helping my effort to divert my attention from her in the slightest. Just the opposite in fact. She glances down at my pants and gives me a wink as my cock grows against the side of my jeans.

Determined to keep us on our mission and my thoughts away from sex with my charge, I glance down at her shoes. Shoes area safe thing to look at. They keep my eyes off that snatched little waist and tight abdomen, and those silky and powerful thighs that wrap around my back to hold me close when I’m balls deep in her velvet. “Those shoes will slow you down in the woods.”

She winks at me. “I like it when you’re balls deep in my velvet better than grumping at me about my shoes.” The little sass walks to the counter and pours two cups of coffee and brings them to the table while I gather the plates and silverware.

It’s hard not to watch Embry though, as she heads to the fridge in her little purple skirt, swishing from side to side as her ass moves. I slide into a chair at the table waiting for her to join me. She pulls two quarts out of the fridge to bring back to the table. “What are we supposed to do when we run out?”

One of many things that I couldn’t quite get off my mind the last few hours. Why leave us blood if it were the witches? That would just prolong our stay. Why not leave us with no provisions and we’re forced to leave or at least leave the cavern? It makes no fucking sense at all.

But my money is still on destiny’s intervention, leaving us locked here together with enough blood to keep us sustained until we can find some of our own or wear each other out using our own. She knows it’s not far from Romano’s. Hell, destiny’s no doubt the one behind his attraction to the witch from the academy anyway. No, this is her doing. “When we’re done in the woods, we’ll make the journey to Romano’s estate. It’s not far from the edge of Mystic Forest.”

Her purple eye pierce mine with a sense of anxiety. “He’s one of the vampire masters. Who says he doesn’t haul me back to Overmaster Descallia the minute I walk through the doors of his estate? He is known to be a formidable master in these parts and puts up with very little between the witches and vampires. He is not going to look favorably on the fact that I’m here.”

“You need not worry about Romano, but you do need to worry about me. Now eat, so we can get an early start into the woods. I’d like to find this pesky little witch and learn what she knows before she has a chance to get the drop on us and flee again.”

“Rupert’s fault. I swear, I’ve always thought of him as a friend. I didn’t expect him to be like that yesterday.”

I look up from my cup of coffee. “He is your friend. Very much so. He got you to safety, did not lead you astray, and was genuinely happy to see you again. He just wasn’t happy that you were digging into things that he believes will cause unrest between the witches and vampires. That’s fair. I’d feel the same way if I lived here.”

---