Robert Read online

  Then she was amazed to realise that the headache was gone.

  She looked at him, only to see him smiling.

  “I told you my blood was the best painkiller.”

  She smiled back. She couldn’t help it. When he did smile—which wasn’t often—it lit up his face. It transformed him from handsome to downright sinful. Her heart fluttered in her chest.

  If he used that smile more often, she would be on her knees begging for his attention.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  He moved up on the bed until he was directly facing her, lifting her chin with one finger. He gazed into her eyes.

  “You’re very welcome.”

  Sophie couldn’t look away. The startling clearness of his eyes eased the pounding ache in her heart. The headache was gone, but her treacherous body was creating other problems, opening up and coming alive underneath his searching gaze.

  It was as if her body became active when she was around him. No other man had ever created these conflicting feelings.

  Sophie went from wanting to cover up and hide to wanting to drop the sheet and beg him to make love to her.

  “I can smell you,” he hissed.

  Sophie watched as he got up from the bed and paced the room. It was a small room for such a large man to walk repeatedly in the same pattern.

  There she went again, thinking of him as a man rather than a vampire.

  When his words registered, Sophie couldn’t stop the blush staining the tops of her breasts working its way up into her cheeks. She bowed her head, embarrassed.

  She heard him curse, and moments later he was on the bed before her. Sophie watched him through lowered lashes. She could safely observe him like this.

  Robert sat there and looked at her. She could feel his ardent gaze lingering on the upper swells of her breasts where they peeked from beneath the bed sheet.

  Her arms began to ache. The sheet, suddenly feeling heavy, slipped from her grasp. She gazed up as she heard his growl.

  The noise—primal, heat-filled—echoed around the room. The sheet had fallen away to expose her full breasts and rounded, quivering belly to his eyes.

  Interested to see what he thought, she took a chance and glanced at him. His gaze was searching her body. Absorbing it. He didn’t move. He just stared at her.

  His pupils dilated and she watched as his eyes moved from one of her breasts to the other. They responded in kind, her nipples hardening to painful points. The knot in her stomach wound even tighter than before.

  Sophie wanted…no, she needed him to reach across the small space separating them and touch her. She wanted to see him bend his head—without asking her permission—and suck one of her nipples into his mouth. She wanted his dark hair brushing over her naked skin. She wanted to see the darkness of his locks against her paleness.

  Inside her head, she pleaded with him to take her.

  Sophie closed her eyes, no longer able to look at him, hoping.

  She cried out as his wet mouth sucked in her nipple. She opened her eyes. The vision before her was more beautiful and powerful than anything she could have imagined.

  He circled the painful tip, flicking his tongue. She moaned as her hand moved up to grasp his soft hair.

  Her legs fell wide open.

  His hands went to her sides, pulling her down onto the bed until she was lying with her head resting on the pillow.

  He moved over her. His erection, beneath the fabric of his trousers, thrust against her covered pelvis. She groaned as she felt how deeply he was affected by her.

  His tongue went from one nipple to the other. She writhed beneath him, wanting more contact. She stirred with him, rubbing her body against his, enjoying the delightful friction they were creating between them.

  Robert bit down suddenly, drawing blood from the side of her breast, and she screamed, jerking against his mouth. As his teeth pierced her flesh, she held on to his head, moving her hips faster against his shaft. She arched up into his touch, shaking her head from side to side.

  Robert leant back to look at her. She saw his yearning, his struggle to remain in control. She tilted her head back and kissed him. She could taste her own blood but she didn’t care—he needed her blood and she was happy to give it to him.

  He returned her kiss, poking his tongue inside her mouth, and she accepted him like she wanted to accept his cock between her legs.

  “Get naked, please,” she begged, her fingers going to his shirt, trying to rip it off his body. His skin…she hungered to feel his skin pressed against her own.

  Since their bonding three years ago, she hadn’t been able to bear another man coming near her, let alone touching her intimately. The time at the bar had reflected her desperation to force Robert back into her life. Katie and she needed the protection but, more than that, she needed the vampire who’d started this hunger within her. Dancing with the man had been a means to an end. Sophie had used him.

  She’d had nothing to keep her company but thoughts of him, hot flashes of fantasy that lasted only a short time, satisfying her body but never her mind.

  She couldn’t think of her heart. She couldn’t love a vampire. She just couldn’t bring herself to do it.

  Robert pulled his shirt off and pressed his naked chest to hers. Their groans mingled between fervent kisses.

  Although they were together, it still wasn’t complete. He still had his trousers on. She wanted them off. She wanted them both naked. She moved her hands down his back, sinking her nails in as a wave of pleasure rolled through her.

  Passion—blinding passion—consumed them both.

  “Take these off,” she asked.

  Robert left her for a split second. She watched as he unbuckled his belt. There was something carnal in watching him undo his zip. Her body responded to the sound. Her pussy clenched and her clit seem to pulse as a fresh wave of desire assailed her. He wore no underwear. Her breath stopped as she got her first look at him. He was beautiful, his muscles big and bulging. He was twice the size of her, which should have terrified her, but his size made her feel safe and excited. Her gaze travelled further down. A patch of hair traced a path to his throbbing erection. She gulped. Sophie had nothing to compare it to—there had been no other men before him. But he was huge, the head of his cock flared, moisture leaking out of the tip.

  She searched his eyes, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

  He simply waited for her response.

  Sophie didn’t know what to do. On one hand, she was terrified of what she wanted—what her body craved. On the other, she was suddenly desperate to be loved, to let all her problems melt away in the arms of this man.

  Her desire to feel safe and loved was stronger than her terror.

  She opened her arms to receive him again.

  He went back to her, pulling the cover out of his way and tossing it off the bed. She lay open to him, her arms still spread wide in invitation, ready to accept him.

  He took her in his arms, moving one arm underneath her head to provide her with a cushion. It didn’t matter that a cushion lay perfectly ready to rest her head. Robert wanted to be her cushion, to have her body lying on his. Sophie moved to the side so she could hug him.

  He entwined their fingers as he took her lips in another kiss.

  She inserted her leg between his as he held her against his body.

  It might have been hours that they lay like that, kissing. Holding each other. Sophie didn’t know why, but she felt like she was falling in love with him. She couldn’t describe the feeling. He didn’t rush to take her body—he didn’t just want her virginity. Instead he touched her, learning her body and allowing her to learn his. In moments like this she could forget he was a vampire—he was just her Robert.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he muttered against her lips.

  She smiled, loving the compliment.

  “Thank you.” She didn’t know what else to say.

  He kissed her again to soothe her. He curved
his hand over her stomach. He touched her everywhere.

  “You’re so small.”

  “Only because you’re so big.”

  She trailed kisses along his neck.

  He moaned.

  The ringing of the telephone pulled them both back to reality. For that period of time it had been like they’d forgotten about the outside world.

  “I have to answer that.” He kissed her one last time, then moved over to the phone.

  Sophie retrieved the covers and pulled them over her body, suddenly feeling a chill in the air.

  This was bad news—she could sense it.

  Robert cursed when he saw William’s name flash up on the screen of his mobile phone.

  “What?” he growled. William had interrupted his time with Sophie.

  “What? Don’t take that tone with me, oh big, powerful brother. You haven’t got the first clue about the problems I’ve had tonight and I’m not fucking happy.” William stopped and Robert heard his brother swallowed a drink. He guessed it would be the strongest whisky he owned.

  “What’s the problem?”

  “Problem? Which problem would that be? The one where your mate is in the shit with the Council for keeping secrets, or the problem of where she’s been hiding a first-generation witch?” William stopped, allowing his revelation to sink in.

  Robert tensed. “How is this possible?”

  “Katie, the little friend. It would seem Sophie has been hiding one of the most powerful witches left in the world.”

  “Where is she?”

  “Passed out on my sofa. The magic she’s used tonight has drained her. She’s untrained and has been left in the world un-nurtured. She has no control over what she does.”

  “What have you seen?” Robert turned his back on Sophie. She had sat up and was trying to listen to the call.

  This was the reality. The place where they’d been moments before was a dream.

  “Well, this brings us to another problem.” Robert heard William pour himself another drink. “The wolves know of her existence and they attacked tonight. Her powers are strong. She blew up a wolf.”

  Robert swore. She was powerful and uncontrolled, which could only mean she was unstable. The Council would have to choose between having her locked away or killed. An unstable witch was the worst thing in the world.

  They were up shit creek all right.

  “She wants to see Sophie,” William said.

  “You know I can’t allow that.”

  “We can’t kill her, Robert.” There was something in William’s tone.

  “Why?”

  “She’s the answer to finally ridding the world of the wolves.”

  Robert doubted that was all that was on his brother’s mind, but he let it slide for the time being. They had more important things to deal with.

  “Do you think the Council knows this?” Robert glanced over his shoulder to see Sophie tense and waiting.

  “Yes. I got a call asking about the rumour of a witch. I told them you’d bring them up to speed.” William took another long drink.

  “I’ve got to take this call. Stay here,” Robert ordered Sophie. He left when she gave a slight nod of the head.

  He moved to his study, shutting the door before he sat down at his desk.

  “You know, after what you’ve just told me, that they’ll kill Katie and punish Sophie.” He could speak bluntly now. He was out of earshot.

  “Yes. You also know there is a way around that,” William pointed out.

  “That can’t guarantee—”

  “Look, we both know that the Council will not take extreme action if you and Sophie are fully bonded. You want her, otherwise, you wouldn’t have agreed to this. Katie is the first witch we’ve seen in generations—”

  “But her magic is unpredictable,” Robert interrupted.

  “She was alone in the world when her powers came to fruition. With training and guidance, she could be helped,” William reasoned.

  “You would have to agree to be with her, William. To have that link to a witch. Not only would you be opening yourself up to another witch, but you would be bonded to her for life. It would be the only way the Council would accept it. Fully bonded mates, where you took sole responsibility for her. Could you cope with such a connection after Emma?”

  At the other end of the phone, Robert heard the shattering of glass. William had smashed the bottle.

  “Emma has nothing to do with this. I’ll do it, but don’t be thinking that I want anything more from Katie than her help in fighting this war.”

  Robert said nothing, but he knew William and the demons he’d been fighting for far too long.

  “Get your witch up to speed. I’ll sort this out. You know they’ll be punished, I can’t stop that,” Robert reminded him. His power against the Council was limited.

  “But you can stop them being killed.”

  “Take care, brother.”

  “Happy mating.”

  The call ended. Robert threw his phone against the wall, the small device smashing under the force of his anger.

  Chapter Five

  An empty warehouse, somewhere in Beyer West

  “She got away, sir.” The soldier bowed, going onto his knees, asking for

  forgiveness.

  James, the leader and the greatest power among their pack, let out a ferocious growl and lashed out, and the soldier before him was no more. James was brutal—the pieces of the soldier lay spread around them on the ground as if he’d never been alive.

  “I wanted that witch. What part of that statement did you mongrels not understand?” His voice carried along the ranks of his army, an army of both men and women, pure-bred wolves and mongrels—mongrels had originally been humans, who had been made into wolves by a ferocious bite from a pure-bred wolf—strong and weak. The thing with mongrels was, they were stronger than humans but weaker than any pure immortal.

  One of them dared to raise a hand. James moved, his speed and presence obviously scaring the young man who would dare to interrupt while he was speaking.

  “What could you possibly have to say to me right this second? You failed me. You failed me and you failed in your mission.”

  A whimper escaped the young man.

  “There was someone else there, my leader.”

  James turned to the female guard who had spoken.

  He walked over to her and shot out his hand to squeeze her neck. What he had learnt early on was to show these bastards that he didn’t accept weakness. They did as they were told or would forever suffer the consequences.

  She didn’t flinch; her gaze never wavered. She stared at him with respect. He liked that—he deserved respect.

  “What did you say to me?”

  His anger was in control…barely.

  “A vampire was there, sir.” She spat the word ‘vampire’.

  He released her and glanced around the room. “Did anyone manage to see who this vampire was?”

  The room was silent for a moment.

  “It was a Valentine, sir.”

  He growled at the room. ‘Valentine’ was a disgusting word among his kind.

  “Which one?” There were four Valentine brothers.

  “William, sir.”

  They knew all the family—they had detailed files on every member.

  “How did they know about the witch?”

  “We don’t know, sir.”

  James sneered at them. “Don’t any of you read the reports? Three years ago, a Miss Sophie Ford was offered up to the Valentines by her parents as payment for protection.” He circled the group, reciting his information. “Up until that time, the Fords had been a prosperous and established family. Overnight, their millions just went. It was completely unexplained. The humans believed it was down to bad business decisions and gambling, but the head of the Ford family has never gambled in his life. Magic provided this cover.” Mumbles erupted among the group.

  “What do you mean?” one of the soldiers cal
led out.

  “What I mean is that Katie, the witch you failed to obtain for me, cast a spell that rid the Ford family of all of their money. Overnight, it was like a global recession but for just one family—everything gone. Only, if you look at all the correct figures, it shouldn’t have been possible. I don’t know why the witch did it, but I’m betting it had something to do with the protection provided by the Valentine blood bond that just so happens to be with her best friend.”

  James had spent years trying to understand what had suddenly gone wrong. The Fords were a human family, but a powerful one. One he could have used if it hadn’t been for the fucking Valentines and the bastard interfering witch.

  “Your key to understanding why William Valentine was anywhere near the witch—besides his personal history—is that Sophie Ford is the bond mate of Robert Valentine. Sophie was the payment to provide protection for the witch. Now that witch is in the company of vampires. Find her and kill her or get her to me.”

  He left the warehouse, his guards following close behind. His plans wouldn’t work without the witch. All of the wolves would answer to him if they didn’t capture her soon. The Valentines were always ruining his plans. He couldn’t wait to see every last one of them fucking dead. Turning behind him, he glanced at the array of soldiers about to move out.

  “Oh, and if any of you get the chance…kill one of the Valentines.”

  Chapter Six

  Sophie heard a crash seconds before Robert reappeared in the doorway.

  She could tell by his expression that he was angry. She swallowed past the lump of fear building up in her throat.

  “What’s the matter?” she croaked.

  He glared at her. “Do you have any idea of the problems you and your little friend have caused?”

  He began his endless pacing again.

  Sophie tensed. She didn’t know what to do in these situations. The only thing she’d been thinking about was protecting Katie. Katie—she still had to keep her safe and so her lie would continue.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” she said, before she could stop herself.

  He charged over, terrifying her. She flinched away from him but he caught her.

  “Don’t lie to me.”