Dark Legacy (Dark 27)

"You're going to get yourself in trouble."

"I like being in trouble," she admitted, batting her eyelashes at him.

His hand slipped from the small of her back to the curve of her butt. Rubbed. Stroked. Massaged. She hoped no one was walking behind them, but of course his shadows would be there. Sandu. Andor. Ferro. She didn't protest, even though she knew she should. His hand felt too good. Heat spread through her body, pushing the cold out--the cold fear brought. Now there was only Dragomir, with his hard body and amazing hands. She couldn't think about anything else but that fire beginning to smolder so deep in her body.

They walked toward the main house where Tariq and Gary waited. She was aware of every step Dragomir took with her. The way his body sheltered hers, every ripple of muscle and the strength in his arms. Most of all she was aware of his hand, massaging her bottom. Then his fingers were around her thigh, under the hem of her long dress, his fingertips caressing bare skin.

"Someone will see."

"They can't see. I would never let them see your body. It is mine. It belongs only to me. I love the way your skin feels. So soft. I've never felt anything so soft, not in all my centuries of existence." The pads of his fingers swirled over her thigh. "My name should be right here." He ran his thumb down the inside of her thigh. His knuckles brushed her slick entrance. "So hot for me, already, sivamet? I love that."

Before she could reply he pulled his hand from her thigh and wrapped his arm around her waist, waving his fingers in a circle to create a breeze. She swung her head around and saw Amelia hurrying toward them. She'd been so caught up in Dragomir and the magic of his hands that she hadn't thought of anything else. Grateful he was still aware of their surroundings, she rubbed her face along his chest.

You're amazing. She poured love into her voice.

I'm hard as a rock, and willing it to go away hasn't worked yet. I need to come up with a spell. Dragomir sounded pained.

She burst out laughing. You get right on that. I'll come up with a counterspell.

"I was worried about you," Amelia greeted. "You looked so sad."

Dragomir halted so the teen could hug her. She swept her hand down Amelia's hair. "They found a splinter in me. Just like the one they found in you. I think it's our fate to have similar lives."

Amelia's breath caught in her throat, but then she forced a small smile. "You found Dragomir, and he makes you happy. I can tell. If I find someone like him, maybe I can find happiness, too."

"You'll find a man who will make you happy one day," Dragomir confirmed. "In the meantime, you have us. We will look after you and ensure your happiness until he comes along."

Emeline liked that. Liked that he was all but saying they would stay there and help protect the children. She'd saved them and she was invested in them. She wanted them to be happy and healthy. She wanted to be a part of their lives.

"You won't take Emeline away from us?" Amelia's voice was tinged with fear, but she tried to keep the emotion from her face.

"We're family. Part of a circle. We might purchase land for ourselves and set up a home, but it would only extend the compound so you would have twice the area to play," he assured.

"I'd like that," Amelia said. "Are you going to take out the sliver?"

"Yes," he said. "Right now. I'll keep her safe."

Amelia stopped walking with them and just nodded her head as they continued toward the house, watching with that same fear in her eyes, but refusing to acknowledge it.

"She's very brave," Emeline said as Tariq opened the door for them.

"The place we want to go is accessed from the great room," Tariq said.

He waved them from the foyer into the large beautiful room. Emeline caught a glimpse of high wood ceilings and hardwood floors as he ushered them through to the longest wall. He waved his hand and an entrance opened into another smaller room. She stepped inside.

She knew it was much like a panic room, but it was built to keep out vampires, not humans. Maybe both. The room reminded her of a huge vault. For a moment, she forgot how to breathe. Dragomir's arm circled her waist, and he pulled her back against his solid body. Leaning down, he whispered in her ear, his mouth moving against her earlobe, yet he spoke telepathically, making his communication intimate.

Think only of me, of what I wish to do to you. I do not care if the others are close. I want to slowly remove this dress, slip the buttons from their holes and allow the dress to slip from your body and pool at your feet. Feel me. So hard for you. I am always like that now.

It was impossible to think about anything else when he spoke like that to her.

Think of me when I'm inside you. When I am a shield and a destroyer. Think of only me, Emeline. Do this for me.

She nodded. I'll try. It shouldn't be that hard. His body was pressed so tightly against hers, the fullness of his cock reminding her how it felt when he was inside of her.

He pulled her down on top of him, his body hard beneath hers, his arms around her waist, his chin on her shoulder. Just that fast he shed his body, Gary following him. Sandu and Ferro followed suit. To her shock, Andor joined them.

She tried not to think about why they needed five men to go after Vadim's splinter if he wasn't there to defend himself. It took a moment to realize that when Dragomir left his body, he also pulled out of her mind. He'd left behind the feeling of his mouth and hands on her, of his body moving gently in hers, but he'd taken care to remove his mind from hers.

She took a deep breath. He was up to something, that man of hers--something dangerous, or he wouldn't have completely left her like that. He never did. Sometimes he moved in and out of her mind, but for the most part, since he'd claimed her, he had stayed just close to the surface. She pushed gently into his mind, her touch subtle, barely there, so she was able to see what they were doing.

He had moved to her brain very quickly, Gary following. Sandu positioned himself in front of the baby, ready to shield her if Vadim became aware and attacked. Ferro and Andor positioned themselves on either side of her brain, right where the sliver was located. She saw it through Dragomir's eyes. It was a dark crescent-shaped shadow lying in a crevice. She would never have noticed it, but all of a sudden it took on an ominous, vile appearance.

Then Dragomir's light began to fade until it was so dim she could barely make it out. How did one do that? His spirit shone bright. What was he doing to make himself diminish? Then she knew, his heart and lungs slowed. He was more vulnerable than ever. She held her breath. Knowing. Wanting to scream a protest, but afraid it would alert Vadim and further endanger Dragomir. He was so reckless, willing to put himself in harm's way. They'd talked about it, but nothing could prepare her for the things he insisted on doing.

He moved so gently into the splinter, barely a touch, his spirit merging, traveling. A long way. She felt his spirit drawn from them to a distance. Then she was hearing the sound of the sea. The boom of a wave crashing over rock. She felt the ground moving in a swelling rhythm. Again, the sea. Dragomir moved closer, and she could suddenly see the water. It was dark and frightening in the long expanse. There was a ship ahead, anchored in the water. Waiting for Vadim and the others. She felt his glee.

There were men and women on the ship. Several children. As the vampires swept in from the night sky, panic erupted. Screams. She closed her eyes, but she refused to separate herself from Dragomir. If he had to see the carnage, the least she could do was hear it. For

what seemed an eternity, Dragomir stayed in the background, hearing and feeling what Vadim was. Watching the sickening massacre. Then Vadim was soaring over the ocean again, back toward San Diego. Twice he plunged into the water, stayed underwater near a long, thick cable and then he was back in the air. Her heart jumped. She recognized that cable. She'd seen it before.

Dragomir withdrew very slowly and then stepped back to give Gary room to work. Gary was very precise. He had done this twice already and he knew exactly how to destroy the splinter. He hit the sliver hard with laser precision, running up its back, incinerating layers of cells quickly.

Vadim jumped into the sliver, throwing up a shield, halting the attack, having learned from the last two. He sliced deep into Emeline's brain. Excruciating pain radiated through her head. She screamed, jerking in Dragomir's arms, trying to throw herself clear so she could run from it.

Andor leapt into action, inserting his spirit between the sliver and Emeline so that the next slice never touched her. Vadim abandoned her brain, throwing himself into her deoxygenated bloodstream so that he was quickly carried toward her heart. He began jabbing at her vein as he did so, driving holes through the three layers of tissue making up the tubing. Ferro was there, his spirit nearly blinding the master vampire as it burned through another layer of cells, incinerating them. Vadim was forced to stop damaging the vein in order to survive. He leapt to the heart. She could feel his triumph.

Dragomir and Gary were already there waiting. While Ferro and Andor had chased him from the brain, they had moved surreptitiously into the heart. As Vadim entered, their combined spirits hit him, white-hot light incinerating the cells too fast. The sliver dissolved into ash, curling into itself to try to protect even a few cells. Vadim had already lost the other two slivers and a piece of his heart. He fought to protect what he had left, even though it was only a few cells. He tried to make it to the lower chamber, desperate to get to the fetus via the umbilical cord. Andor was there, blocking the way. Dragomir was behind him, Gary and Ferro on either side. The four together incinerated the remaining cells, destroying the splinter.