Soul Mates: Sacrifice Read online

"There is no price too high to be sure we're safe and secure." I smiled at Silver and pointed to the door. "Reid's about to get Lucien authorized for the system. Can I have a word with you?"

  "Sure."

  He opened the door and walked out, leaving the door cracked open for me to follow. I glanced at Lucien as I grasped the knob. He looked up at me with a knowing expression, giving a slight nod.

  I walked out and shut the door. Silver's eyes met mine and he frowned. "What's wrong?"

  "Lucien and I discussed the position of team leader earlier. He – we – have decided that with no one in the lead position now, that the best way to decide who will lead is—"

  "Dog law," he finished with a whisper.

  I nodded. "This wasn't exactly what I'd planned on, Silver."

  "It's the way it should be, I suppose. After all, who's to say that I actually deserve the position anyway?"

  "You know you do."

  "Of course I think I do. And maybe I can convince you and a few others of that. But unless I earn the position, all I'll ever be is the guy who got promoted because someone else fucked up."

  "Is there anyone on the team you're worried about facing?"

  "Gage."

  My gut twisted at the mention of his name. Gage was a hotheaded, arrogant bastard who had a habit of acting without thinking. He was also one of the half-shifted werewolves who'd taken part in eating someone right out in the middle of the club a couple years back. No matter how much I was a part of this world, that fucking image was one I could not get out of my mind.

  I shook my head. "Gage cannot be leader of our team."

  "No," Silver said thoughtfully. "It would be a disaster. While he's an invaluable member of the team because of his strength and his size, he has power issues—mainly, a desire for more."

  "And he eats people," I whispered, mostly to myself.

  Silver crossed his arms over his chest and looked at me oddly. "That is why you don't like him?"

  "Did I ever say that I didn't like him?" At Silver's raised eyebrow, I threw my hands in the air. "Jesus, Silver! There are some things I can't wrap my weak, human fucking mind around, okay? You don't have to like it or agree with it, but the last thing I need from you – or anyone – is to be called on it."

  Silver dropped his arms and clasped his hands before him, bowing his head. "It won't happen again, m'lord."

  The last thing I needed was for word to spread that there were certain members in the coven that I didn't like—or that I played favorites. Even if I did.

  "And I expect that anything you and I discuss will remain private?"

  "Of course, m'lord."

  "Good. Now stop calling me 'lord' and tell me you're going to win this."

  "I know better than to make promises I'm not a hundred percent certain I can keep…but I will do my best."

  "I'm afraid it'll take all you've got." Silver started to say something, but the words never passed his lips. "What is it?"

  "I hate to bring it up in fear of being labeled a cheat…"

  "I believe we're already cheating."

  He still seemed somewhat uneasy. "Well. If I could feed well beforehand—"

  I raised my hand to cut him off. "Do not let those words pass your lips."

  "I… Sir?"

  I inclined my head, gesturing down the hall leading to the dungeon. "Let's take a walk, shall we?"

  Silver nodded as we started walking. He remained silent, though I knew that he was confused as hell by now. It wasn't often that Silver was uncomfortable with anything, but I could feel the tension radiating off him. But I didn't want to talk about this with him. I didn't want the words to pass between us.

  Didn't want it to sound and seem exactly how it was.

  We stopped before Nikolas' bedroom door a short time later. Before I managed to knock, the door opened. Nikolas stood there in nothing but a pair of raggedy, old, low-slung jeans and a knowing smile.

  "Well, hello there, princess." He glanced at Silver, frowning a little. "Something wrong?"

  "Wrong? No. I just thought maybe you and I could have a little… talk."

  Nikolas raised an eyebrow and stepped back, gesturing for us to come in. "Okay, then."

  I patted Silver on the arm. "If you could just wait here for a minute? This won't take long."

  Before Silver could object, I shut Nikolas' door in his face. Nikolas scratched his head. "What are you up to?"

  "I need a favor."

  A grin slowly spread over his face. "Now, I'm all about favors. What's in it for me?"

  "I haven't told you what I wanted yet."

  "I know you, princess. It can't be that big of a deal. I just want to know if I get something out of it."

  "In a way… yeah."

  Nikolas groaned. "This can't be good—you beating around the fucking bush."

  I figured the best way to say it was just to get it over with and wait for his reaction.

  "The team needs a leader and with Caleb in his condition there's no way for anyone to challenge him. Tomorrow night there will be a challenge for team leader."

  "And this concerns me how?"

  "The main fight will be between Silver and Gage."

  Nikolas sat on the arm of a chair, shaking his head. "Gage can't be allowed to—"

  "No. He can't."

  "What exactly do you want me to do? What are you asking me for?"

  "I'm not asking you for anything."

  Nikolas stared at me for a long while. I held his gaze, hoping he'd figure it all out on his own and I wouldn't have to actually say the words with him, either. It would be so much easier to explain and/or deny if the words were never spoken.

  Finally, he stood and went to the door. When he opened it, Silver stood just where I'd left him. "Come on in, Silver."

  Silver hesitated, looking to me for permission. At my nod, he entered, standing just inside the doorway, arms locked behind his back, head held high. Nikolas shut the door and went to Silver, trailing his fingers down Silver's neck. Silver growled, snarling.

  "Easy there, fang boy."

  "You know I have no problems with what men in this coven do, but it's not my—"

  Nikolas' hand over Silver's mouth shut him up and I fully expected Silver to sink fang into Nikolas' palm. But he didn't. He just stood there with a pissed off glare.

  "Not your thing? Yeah, yeah. I know that. I also hear that you need me."

  "I don't…" And then Silver looked to me, realization of what was going on finally hitting him. "I don't know what to say."

  "Nothing. We do this tonight, we do it tomorrow." Nikolas took another step toward Silver, bringing them inches apart. "And we never speak of this again. What I do is not for you, but for the pack and the coven as a whole."

  I felt that was my cue to leave. I stepped up to Nikolas and kissed him on the back of the neck. "Thank you, Nikolas."

  He leaned back against me, rubbing just slightly. "Get out of here."

  "Silver? It was nice seeing you," I said with a smile. "You boys behave, now."

  Chapter Four

  I didn't look back as I left. When I got out into the hall, I paused, wondering if I'd done the right thing. If you wanted to get technical about it, I hadn't really done anything but give Silver advance notice. And, perhaps, give him the tools he needed to win this thing.

  I set off to find Lucien, but didn't expect to see him waiting at the end of the hall as I rounded the corner. I watched him as I walked toward him, but not once did he turn his head to look at me. He cupped his hand to his face and I slowed when I saw a thin trail of smoke rise into the air.

  When I finally made it to him, he offered the cigarette; one of Silver's custom rolled smokes. I took it and looked at it, then at Lucien. "Since when do you smoke?"

  "Simon is cooking," he said, shrugging. "I thought you should eat."

  I took a drag off the cigarette and reached out to steady myself against the wall, knowing that first hit would tilt my world sideways. Instead, Lu
cien pulled me against him, nudging one of his legs between mine. He leaned in and the barest touch of his lips to my throat made my heart skip a few beats.

  "God, Lucien, what are you doing?"

  "If you have to ask," he whispered, sucking up a mark just beneath my ear, "then I'm doing something wrong."

  My head was buzzing and I couldn't seem to come up with any sort of response. He grabbed my hips and pulled me close, forcing me to rub up and down against his thigh between my legs.

  "Oh, fuck…" I dropped my head to his chest.

  His scent washed through me. It was a mix of a dozen things all put together to make it Lucien and Lucien alone: leather, a little cinnamon, clove, and vanilla, and that one deeper, darker scent that had nothing to do with spice or flowers and everything to do with something rich and infinitely dark—blood.

  I pushed his T-shirt up with my free hand and tucked it behind his head, his arms still trapped in the sleeves. For a moment I was dumbstruck, just staring at that flushed skin, his perfectly sculpted chest…

  No matter how many people I'd been with in the course of my life – and even in my time in the coven – no one compared to Lucien. He was the only one who could make me feel like this. Vulnerable. Exposed.

  He was the only one who made my heart race with such excitement and anticipation. The one who owned me with not only his touch, but the intent behind it. The only one whose caresses could leave a blazing trail of fire along my skin so intense that it threatened to consume me.

  He was the only one I could lose myself in completely.

  I ran my hand down the center of his chest, watching in awe as his muscles contracted beneath my hand. The sharp intake of his breath drew my gaze up to his. Pale blue eyes stared back at me with an intensity that just shattered me.

  And he knew it.

  Lucien turned us, putting my back to the wall. He took my hand that held the cigarette, nearly half-ash now, and pulled it close. Confused, I watched as he took a deep drag. He then pushed my hand away and captured my lips with his. Just as I opened to him, he cupped me through my jeans and gave a hard squeeze.

  I gasped, drawing in the smoke of the cigarette.

  He pulled back, putting his fingers over my mouth before I could exhale. "Hold it as long as you can."

  He took the cigarette and held it between his lips as he stripped my shirt off. Once the shirt was off and had been dropped to the floor, he handed the cigarette back. As his fingers worked at the enclosure to my jeans, he bent and flicked his tongue over my right nipple before sucking it into his mouth. His sharp fangs grazed my sensitive skin and I had to fight not to groan.

  Finally, I couldn't hold my breath any longer. I let the thin trail of smoke escape and, just as I did, Lucien turned me around and pushed me against the wall. He worked my jeans down and spread my ass open, spearing me with his tongue.

  "Goddamn, Lucien…"

  "Finish the cigarette," he whispered.

  The last thing I wanted to do was smoke, but there were only a few hits left. I took another drag, managing to hold it in just long enough for it to count as an inhale. The thing about panting and smoking was that the quick breaths of air rushed the drug into the system even faster.

  I closed my eyes.

  Lucien alone was a trip. Lucien on drugs was a euphoria that I wasn't sure I could handle.

  As Lucien stood, he licked a long line up the middle of my spine, sending a violent shudder through my entire body. I pushed back against him, feeling the blunt head of his cock brush my hole, the hair on his thighs as they cradled mine, the scrape of his nipple rings against my back.

  One of his strong arms wrapped around me, holding me tight. He took the cigarette from my hand and held it to my lips. "Take the last hit, lover."

  It took me a moment to comprehend how to even do that. The way he flicked his tongue against my ear and thrust his hips, teasing me, I could only think of him being inside me. When I finally managed that last hit, Lucien pushed his way into me.

  I inhaled so deeply I thought I'd pass out.

  "So good," Lucien whispered, hands holding my hips tight, "Stay still."

  Exhaling, I reached back with one hand, curling my fingers around his thigh, letting my head fall back. My muscles clamped down around him and I ached for him to just move. "Please…"

  He traced up the back of my neck with his tongue, pulling out and pushing back in just a little. "That what you need?"

  It wasn't enough. That shallow fucking, while good, was more frustrating than anything else. I shook my head. "More."

  "More?"

  At my nod, he sped up, but continued with those short, quick thrusts. I whimpered, trying to pull him deeper, and failing. His hands moved up my chest and he teased at the rings in my nipples, pulling at them, rolling them between his fingers.

  "Do you know what you do to me, Peter?"

  My heart was racing, body breaking out in a sweat. I swallowed hard, my words coming out broken. "I've g…got an idea."

  "What I could do to you?"

  Before I could respond, he sighed. "Tell me how you want me, lover."

  "I need more."

  "Faster?"

  "No."

  "Harder?"

  That one made me pause. It was always difficult to say no to 'harder'. But that wasn't what I wanted—what I needed.

  "No."

  "Deeper?"

  "Yes…"

  He pushed hard and deep, stealing my breath, claiming me, my thoughts, my everything. Filled me so completely, I could think of nothing else. Lucien's head dropped to my shoulder, hands holding my hips close.

  Once my brain registered that I could move, I ground against him. He sucked up a mark in the bend of my neck, rocking his hips forward. His hands moved up my sides, around and over my belly, up my chest. The sensations took my breath away, set every nerve on fire.

  Lucien's pants and groans at my ear set me on edge. It was too much and not enough and the only thing I could manage to do was brace myself against the wall and let him take me. Take me as deep and hard as he wished. Take me to the point where I didn't think I could possibly stand any more—and then take me beyond it.

  I came without warning, the orgasm shattering me, threatening to turn me inside out. Lucien's pants and moans at my ear increased and before long he filled me with his heat, arms holding me tight. My whole body shuddered, legs feeling weak and wobbly.

  Lucien kissed the side of my head. "Now. About dinner…"

  I laughed, struggling just to form words. "I'm gonna need a moment."

  * * *

  Simon's ability to grill salmon to perfection reminded me just how much I loved eating. I was back up to one full meal a day instead of choking down whatever junk food I thought wouldn't come back up; Simon made such high calorie, high fat foods for Reid and me that one meal a day was probably all I needed. Lucien and I were left alone, Simon excusing himself to take Reid his meal.

  Lucien poured himself a glass of wine and sat close, stealing touches every now and then, the look in his eyes full of love and a vibrancy I'd missed for so long.

  When I couldn't possibly eat any more, I pushed my plate away and sat back, closing my eyes. Lucien's hand covered mine, thumb moving back and forth over my hand.

  "You feel like taking a walk?"

  I opened one eye and looked at him. "Guess that depends on how far we're walking."

  "Just to the garage."

  I closed my eye again, pretending to think it over. "Well, I guess…"

  He chuckled and grabbed my mostly empty plate as he stood. "It won't kill you."

  "Might."

  "Peter…"

  "Okay, okay, I'm coming." I stood and grabbed the glasses, taking them over to the sink where Lucien had just set my plate. "Why are we going to the garage?"

  "I want to see this painting you and Xander saved." Lucien took my hand, lacing our fingers together. "And I thought it would be nice to do something we haven't done in a long while."r />
  "What's that?"

  He grinned and tugged at my arm. "I would like to hold your hand, lover."

  I started to tease him about being such a sensitive romantic, but decided against it. There were things we needed between us that had nothing to do with the coven and everything to do with us as a couple.