Page 41

Chapter 40

Adeline

A deline poured the last of the water over her hands, the liquid finally clear. As Campbell’s head burned in the fireplace, skin and bones disintegrating into a pile of ashes upon contact, her mind whirled with all the different lies she might have to tell.

The best lies are simple and sprinkled with tiny truths . It had been one of the first things Erik had taught her. Looking back, she wondered how many times he had sprinkled small truths into the stories he told her.

She shook her head, trying to rid herself of those thoughts, and a few hairpins dropped to the floor.

Over her shoulder, she met Rolf’s reflection in the mirror of her vanity. His shirt was unbuttoned down to his stomach, the tuft of his chest hair peeking through. He dried his hands on a towel, but his eyes never left her.

He strode over and bent down to pick up the pins, then began working his fingers through her hair. His deft movements had her tresses cascading down her back in seconds.

“Thank you,” she said and sat down at the vanity. She reached for the brush, but his hand covered hers.

“Let me.” His voice was gruff, but he stared at her with a heat in his gaze she hadn’t seen before. He took the brush from her and, working section by section, started brushing her hair.

She almost purred.

While he brushed, he asked, “Who was that vampire?”

“Campbell,” she said, not wanting to elaborate. There was no telling how jealous Rolf would get when he found out?—

“He hurt you.”

No getting past him, is there?

Adeline looked down at her lap and fiddled with her fingers. She couldn’t hide anything from Rolf, so why try? “Yes, he was Erik’s second when I was away on my assignments. He wanted to be second-in-command regardless of whether or not I was home.”

Rolf grumbled, “He felt threatened.”

Adeline waved her hand. “Most males are when there are powerful women around.”

“It’s a wonder you haven’t killed them all yet,” he snarled, but continued to brush her hair with tenderness. His knuckles had turned white from gripping the brush so hard. It was a wonder he hadn’t snapped it in half yet.

“Truly,” she said bitterly. “Don’t think I didn’t try.”

And try, she had. Back when she was younger. But Erik had worked some kind of twisted magic on her mind. It wasn’t until recently that she wondered why it had taken her so long to break away from Erik’s control. If Rolf had been able to so clearly see the treatment she had been given, why hadn’t she?

Perhaps it had taken her falling for Rolf, back when he was Colin, to show her that she could be loved despite her misgivings. Or maybe it was because she realized that living an immortal life meant nothing unless you had some kind of purpose. And her purpose was never meant to be Erik’s killing machine. It could also have been that the conditions of her servitude to Erik had gotten so bad that she had finally snapped. Or maybe it was everything, the perfect combination of circumstances that finally let her wake up and realize her self-worth. Whatever the reason, she was glad it had happened. She was tired of the smoke and mirrors, the deception, the push-pull between wanting to appease her abuser while still resisting his control.

Rolf seethed behind her. “We have to burn this place to the ground. With every vampire in it.”

“We will,” Adeline said. The fire cracked and popped, and some of the ashes landed on the floor.

And then Adeline was struck with an ingenious idea. But she needed Rolf to think clearly before she told him anything else—he was too emotional right now to deal with logic. Men were like that—too emotional and prone to reacting poorly under pressure. Women, on the other hand, never asked what to do when the world burned. They acted with calm, with precision, with grace. It was why she had admired so many women rulers over the years. And it was also why she hated killing them.

She took the brush from his hand and stood to face him.

Adeline pulled him closer and deepened the kiss, knowing exactly what she had to do to get him calm. She needed the rest of her slapdash plan to come together. His hands roamed, traveling down to her backside. His tongue fought with hers, his scruff burning her face, and her stomach clenched with desire when he moaned into her. Just as quickly as she had begun, she pulled away, leaving him staring at her adoringly, gasping for air.

Adeline wiped her hands on her blood-drenched chemise and smiled. He had ripped Campbell’s head off with such ease—it was, quite frankly, the biggest turn-on. Then, when he spat on the dead vampire’s face before shoving it into the fire, she melted.

What a silly, licentious bloodsucker you are, Adeline. She was not used to her former lovers helping her murder her enemies.

“Can you help me get rid of this?” she asked, all innocence, gesturing to her bloodied chemise. She even added an extra pout and held up her hands. “I think you might need to…cut it off me…”

Rolf exhaled, a soft growl rumbling through his chest as he came up behind her.

“With pleasure,” he whispered, and he leaned down, grabbing one of his blades.

Carefully, he moved her hair out of the way. With two quick movements, he sliced the shoulder ties, and the gown pooled in a flurry of silk at her feet. She kicked it into the fireplace, and it flared as the fabric singed.

His arms wrapped around her, and she arched into him, feeling a tiny thrill when his hardness pressed against her stomach. She slid her arms up over his head and pulled him back down into a kiss. His chest hair rubbed against the hardening peaks of her nipples, and she sighed, needing to feel more of him.

He pressed his face into the side of her head and inhaled. “You smell more like you now.”

“And what do I smell like, Rolf?”

Rolf nudged her with his nose and sighed. “You smell like rain on cobblestones after a hot summer day. You smell like slow evenings in the forest after the first frost. You smell like the sun on fresh-cut pine. You smell like a late afternoon curled up on the chaise in the library of my childhood home. You smell like a fresh summer garden. You smell soft, you smell like home. ”

Her throat tightened, and tears threatened. Never in her life had she been compared to anything soft. Never had she imagined she would evoke such tenderness as to be associated with the idea of home.

“I need you,” she said, her voice thick with lust.

“It’d be my pleasure,” he replied. “But first, we need to figure out how to get you out of these damned things. I don’t like seeing you restrained by anyone else but me.” His hands slid from her backside up her back, and she shivered when his fingers wound in the hair at the base of her head and pulled.

“They’re dwarven,” she said.

“I may have something that could work,” Rolf said, smiling. From his pants pocket, he withdrew a ring of keys.

“Where did you get those?”

“I found them,” he replied, shrugging.

Adeline raised an eyebrow.

“I lifted them, but they were sticking out of a door downstairs, and no one was around.” He mumbled the last bit as if knowing she would admonish him for something so foolish.

He flipped through the keys, testing each one to see if it would fit. After a few moments, they both realized that none of the keys would work. “Gods damn them all! I thought since these were dwarven keys, they must be a match. After all, one worked for your door.”

“It’s okay.” Adeline tried not to deflate in front of him as her chest tightened. What if these chains were unbreakable? What if she couldn’t get Juliette out like she had promised, and now Rolf was here and everything was fucked and it was all her fault?

She grabbed the keys from his hand and put them back into his pocket. When she withdrew, she brushed her fingers over the outside of his pants, lingering a little longer on the tip of his hardened shaft.

She murmured against his lips, “We can get creative.”

It didn’t matter how little time they had together. Consequences be damned—she’d take whatever stolen moments with him she could since she was still unsure if any of her half-conceived plans would work.

Her hand wrapped around the shape of him, and she squeezed. Her heart yearned to feel his body against hers, as if his touch alone could wipe away the caresses from Erik and Campbell that lingered in her memory.

I have to marry Erik later. Bile rose in her throat. It’s okay, I can do whatever I need to get through. Rolf is here. Make a list.

So she did.

Tonight, marry Erik. Sow more seeds of discontent. Cause a scene so Juliette can escape?

No. That won’t work. The scissors! Stash those in my corset, and then when Erik tries to mate with me, stab him in the…

“Adeline?” Rolf asked, cupping her face in his hands. “Where did you go?”

“Sorry, I…I’m here.” She shoved her scattered thoughts down and smiled at him.

One would assume that after centuries of killing countless creatures, she would still be good at planning, at getting out of tight spots, at being able to think on her feet in a moment’s notice.

What changed?

Rolf. He had cracked her wide open.

Centuries of training were wiped away, all because of the hope and peace she felt around him. A part of her realized how badly she needed to feel that again. The yearning for a future, the desire to have someone to share her life with, the intense feeling of comfort. Things she had long forgotten since Erik turned her.

A life of immortality is wasted without a future, without a partner to share it with.

And her future was right in front of her, worshipping her with his deep brown eyes. And his luscious mouth. And his rough hands.

He pulled her closer to the bed and sat down on the edge. She stood between his knees and ran her fingers through his thick hair. He nipped her underneath the curve of her breast.

Rolf stood and in one swift motion, scooped her up in his arms and tossed her on her back onto the bed. He climbed on top of her, grabbed the chain, and held her hands above her head. Then he withdrew the knife once more from its holster in his boot and stabbed it into the headboard, pinning her hands.

“Will that do?” He grabbed his shirt and pulled it off, smiling down at her devilishly. He was waiting. For what?

Oh. He was distracting.

“Yes.” She nodded emphatically, her eyes roaming over his body.

Chest hair swirled around his muscular chest, and a dark swirling path trailed down to his abs, dipping below the waistband of his pants. She tongued her fangs.

He slid from the bed and kicked off his boots, bending to remove his socks. When he stood, his stomach muscles rippled, and the candlelight caught on the spiderweb scar on his shoulder. She tilted her head, trying to see the hardened outline of him against his trousers. His fingers tapped on his buttons, and she peeled her eyes away, meeting his gaze.

His brows lifted.

“What’re you looking for, Adeline?” His voice was husky.

She licked her lips, tongue lingering on her fangs, because she refused to answer, worried she would sound too desperate. His hands hovered around the buttons, and then he stroked himself through the tight fabric. He was toying with her, and she loved playing along.

Her stomach fluttered with anticipation.

He chuckled darkly as he slowly unbuttoned his trousers.

Suddenly, he was naked, kneeling on the bed between her legs, her ankles in his hands. She stared, awestruck. He was large, and though she had been with him as Colin, she swore that this part of him had also been enhanced when his magic came in. She craned her head to see if he had the rumored knot that were-shifters supposedly had.

Nothing. She couldn’t help but feel a little deflated. She had always wondered if that was another rumor were-shifters had started to ward off other species. Still, the thought of finally being with him thrilled her.

Can he tell how aroused I am?

Heat pooled low in her belly. She clenched her legs together, but he grabbed her knees and held her open. His pupils dilated, and a low groan reverberated through his chest. The sound zipped down the length of her spine, and gooseflesh erupted across her skin.

He slid his hands down her thighs and stared lovingly at the most intimate part of her on display before him. It was the same look he gave her in the cabin—one of complete adoration.

She doubted she would ever get used to it.

“You’re perfect,” he breathed. “Never forget how perfect you are.”

How could her scarred body and her damaged mind be perfect for him? It would never be what it once was. But her thoughts went blank as he slid a finger through her folds.

“Perfect,” he said again. “And so wet.”

He settled between her legs, holding her open with two fingers. Slowly, painfully, he licked up her center. A guttural moan escaped her lips so loudly she shocked herself, but he continued feasting on her. Her head swam with desire so thick that she could barely make out that he had said something about her and forbidden fruit, and how delicious it was.

“Rolf?” Tears lined her eyes with imminent release.

“Yes, my darkness?” He lifted himself, but his fingers slid inside her, and she bucked against his hand. Hers pulled against her restraints.

“I need you.” Her legs trembled as she tried to hold off. The tension wound tighter, building with each twitch of his fingers inside her. “I’m going to…”

“No, you aren’t,” Rolf said and sat back on his heels. He stroked himself with one hand, while his fingers slowed but never withdrew.

I’m going to kill him , she said as the spool of tension began to unwind. She was at his mercy. “You’re a beast.”

“Trying to hurt my feelings?” He smiled smugly. “I’ve been called worse.”

He squeezed his cock and, just when she thought she was going to lose all control, he slid his fingers out. He began kissing his way up her body, paying extra attention to all of the scars that peppered her skin.

She inhaled sharply when his mouth found her breast. He pulled one of her nipples between his teeth and bit down. Her back arched into him, and he wrapped one of his arms around her as he settled between her legs, his tip brushing against her entrance.

She shuddered.

“How’re your hands?” he asked as he busied himself with biting the curve of her neck.

“My hands?” She had forgotten he had pinned them above her head.

“Can you stay like that a little longer?”

She nodded, her body twisting as it begged to be full of him.

“I need to hear you say it, Adeline,” Rolf said.

“Yes, I can stay like this.”

“Good,” Rolf growled. “Because I never got to finish what I started.”

His head dipped and he took one of her nipples into his mouth and sucked. She sighed when he moved to the next and then sucked on her breast. He dragged his tip through her folds, slicking himself with her wetness, teasing her open with his swollen head.

“You’re enjoying this a little too much,” Adeline ground out, desperation covering her with a fine sheen of sweat. He chuckled against her nipple, rolling it between her teeth. Then his fingers again found her entrance. It didn’t take long for her to start aching for release again. It was unbearable. She panted, “You’re taking too long. Someone could hear us.”

“My wolf would let us know.” Rolf framed her in his arms, then looked over his shoulder at the small window, sunlight streaming in. “Besides, the sun is up. We have time.”

She was speechless when his bright amber gaze met hers, and she melted, head over heels in love with a were-shifter she had twice thought was dead.

But here he was, alive again. How? How did he survive the vampires in the caves? She had heard his howling as the sun came up, and she thought for sure he had been killed. How did he find her here? And how did he get past the dozens of vampires and the enchantments that Erik had placed all over the castle? That Rolf had made it through was a feat of great strength. And determination.

Does he love me, too?

There was so much she should say, but she didn’t want to ruin the moment. She didn’t want to tell him that she loved him. She didn’t want to tell him she was tired of losing him over and over again. She didn’t want to admit that she didn’t have a plan beyond tonight. And she did not want to tell him that she was worried this was all a dream.

But when Rolf looked at her with so much hope, she let herself give in. At least, while the castle slept, they had time together. The sunlight never affected Adeline as much as the other vampires, and it was a small bit of mercy—she wasn’t about to waste this time.

The sun would go down, and then she would kill Erik and be free of him once and for all. She just needed to figure out how she was going to do it.