Dark Needs at Night's Edge

21

This was Conrad's second sexual encounter, if he counted the time in the shower with her.

The female didn't have a body that he could feel, he couldn't get erect, and yet it was powerful. If they were this way now, he couldn't imagine what it would have been like if they'd met when they'd both been truly alive.

Of course, he'd known there was pleasure to be had. But he'd never suspected the rush, the savage thrill of discovering that a woman wanted him sexually. He'd never known the confidence that if he moved to take a female, she would be wet for him and clutching his hips for more.

She leaned up and brushed her cheek against his. He felt the same electricity but had no perception of her skin. He tried to imagine how soft her flesh would be. "I want to feel you, Néomi. I want to be inside you."

She closed her eyes and rubbed her lips near his. "My God, I wish I could be flesh and blood for you."

He groaned at the yearning in her tone. Their situation frustrated him to no end. He wanted her more than he had any other woman—he was convinced that she would have blooded him when she'd still been alive. And he truly believed she would receive him.

But I can't take her... .

With a bitter curse, Conrad dropped his arms through her, turning away. He prowled the room, pausing only to punch the wall with frustration—

He just stopped himself an inch from the crumbling plaster. He shot a glance at her, and she looked like he'd hung the moon. Damn, he could get used to looks like that.

Would she think him ridiculous if he asked her for more? They'd only known each other for a short amount of time. She was experienced and he... wasn't. To hell with it—he had to know. "Would you want to be with me? If you could? For more than sex."

She gave him a sad smile. "You have a destined Bride out there awaiting you."

"Néomi, you might be... mine."

At his words, her heart skipped, but she forced herself to ask, "Then why haven't you been blooded? Your heart hasn't started beating, and you still take no breaths. You don't... react to me in a physical way."

"I think my vampire instinct doesn't recognize you as my Bride because you're not technically alive," he said. "I need to know if you're merely playing at this, with me, because I'm here and you can."

"I am not playing with you. But Conrad, even if we had no physical limitations, I don't know that we could make this work between us. We're too different."

"How the hell are we too different?"

"All I've ever wanted is life. I covet it so much I feel like I'll scream. But you... destroy it. And you're so cavalier about it."

"I kill. It's what I'm best at."

"If it was in self-defense or for a cause you believed in, then I could understand. But to extinguish life for money? I could never accept that."

"What if I... stopped? What if I told you that when I'm near you, I want to be a better man? Does that count for nothing?"

"It counts for everything!" She raised her hand to her forehead. "This is a moot point anyway. Unless you know of a way to resurrect ghosts... ?"

"No, I don't. But that doesn't mean there isn't a way. I'd search for centuries if I had to."

Centuries. Hundreds of years more of sliver moons and monthly torture.

"And understand this, Néomi—I'll do it whether you want more with me or not. So don't let that affect your answer."

"Conrad, do you really mean that?" Words bubbled up—I need to be with you... I want us to try...

He opened his mouth to answer, then stilled. "Someone's outside." Crossing to the window, he cracked open the drape. And scowled. "Excellent. My sisters-in-law are dropping by."

Néomi sidled up to him to peek out. Two petite women were hurrying out from a sports car into the stormy night. "Those are Valkyrie? They're stunning. Is that what Lore women look like?"

"Some. The redhead is Myst the Coveted. She is Nikolai's. Kaderin the Coldhearted is Sebastian's blonde."

Néomi had heard so much about those two that she felt as if she knew them—

"I'd planned to kill them, too." When Néomi glared up at him, he raised his chained hands. "Past tense. See? Already I'm improving."

Lips thinned, she studied his expression. He seemed earnest.

The Valkyrie began arguing in the muddy drive, drawing Néomi's attention back to them. Myst seemed intent on keeping Kaderin from the manor. When the clash turned physical, Néomi went wide-eyed. I don't know them at all. "They're punching each other," she said in disbelief. "I figured they were fierce since Kaderin is an assassin, but to hit each other?"

Conrad shrugged. "Nature of the beast, I'm afraid. They like to fight."

"I won't let you do this!" Myst struck out with a jab that connected with Kaderin's mouth.

Kaderin swiped her sleeve over her bleeding lip. "Just like that first Talisman's Hie—still sucker-punching me!"

"I'll do worse. If you turn Conrad over to Kristoff, deep down the brothers will never forgive us. If they wanted him given up, they would've done it themselves!"

With a shove, Kaderin said, "I don't know about you, but I want my husband back!"

Kristoff had imprisoned them? And wouldn't free them until he had Conrad? Néomi glanced at him. His expression was inscrutable as he said, "And that answers the question of what has happened to my brothers."

"I want mine as well!" Myst said, returning the shove. "But this isn't the way. For ages, Nikolai has searched for Conrad. All that worry, all that effort, for nothing?"

Apparently, Nikolai was still putting forth the effort—he hadn't turned Conrad over.

"Wait a second." Myst narrowed her gaze. "What in the hell are we doing? We're Valkyrie—we take what we want."

"What do you mean?" Kaderin asked.

"Kristoff won't let our men go? Then Kristoff needs to be taught a lesson. I say we capture the whole bloody castle."

There was a dangerous light to Kaderin's eyes. "Fucking A."

"Just in our coven alone, Regin, Cara, and Annika would spoil for a chance to war with vampires, any vampires. They wouldn't care that they'd actually be helping a few. And I know the inside of Mount Oblak like the back of my hand."

Kaderin's lips curled into a threatening grin. "More fangs for my collection."

Then they were gone as swiftly as they'd arrived.

"Go get them, girls," Conrad muttered.

"Those small women couldn't really start a war?"

"They might be small, but either one of them could lift a train." His tone absent, he said, "Kristoff's sitting across the world—with no idea that hell has just been unleashed against him."