Page 16 of Siege of Blood and Betrayal
They are bound in life and death.
Thinking of Bran brings images of his daughter to my mind. Scottie was the only true friend I’ve ever had. She was my partner in crime, my confidante, my conscience in a world where everyone around me had an agenda.
She was my frustration and my muse.
She was my happiness…
Until I fucked it up.
“Sire? Is everything all right?” the vampire asks. He and his partner are naked and sitting on their knees on the bed as I instructed.
“A moment of distraction.” I blink and put it out of my mind. Pulling the tie on my robe, I release the belt and let the silk slide off my shoulders and onto the floor. “You, on your back, legs open. You, on your knees at the top of the bed, so he can suck onyour cock while I feed. His blood always tastes better when he’s horny.”
The two scramble to get into position and I let them settle in and get started with a little oral before I crawl up the bed like the predator I am.
The skin on the human’s legs is warmer than that of a vampire and the body hair is always a distraction for me. It’s nice. I like the tactile sensation of brushing my fingers over coarse hairs.
Hair on his sack and cock is another story altogether. I like my partners bare. Male or female, I don’t care. Bare and smooth is the only way to go.
I grip my shaft and give myself a few rough strokes. “I’m in a mood tonight, boys. Brace yourselves.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Scottie
Itrack Zane to an elegant building in mid-town and catch the door as a woman comes out with two mop-top dogs. The place is beyond fancy and if my world wasn’t spinning off its axis, I probably would’ve been taking it all in and reminiscing about the days when I lived in a palace instead of a postage stamp flat in Manhattan.
Being here feels both familiar and foreign.
Zane was my touchstone for twenty-one years. We were more than friends—we were everything. I believed in the fairy tale of us against the world and lost my footing when that dream shattered.
Huntley had been training with my father for a couple of years by then and was there to pick up the pieces…
But he was no better.
When the elevator lets me off on the thirty-sixth floor, I stride to the end of the hall and stare at the suite plate mounted to the wall beside the door. This is going to hurt.
I stretch my neck from side to side, letting the pop of my vertebrae settle back into place. I’ve been putting this behind me for seven years. Rebuilding my core beliefs. Finding the strength of my own identity…
I’m not the same girl I was at twenty-one.
But standing here, knowing that I’m about to see them…
That Ihave toface them…
Forgive him, lass.My father’s words echo in my mind and threaten to break the wall of anger holding me together.
I don’t think so, Da. Sorry.
I take a deep breath, pushing down the hurt that threatens to overwhelm me. What’s done is done. And the truth is, we’ve got monumentally bigger problems to worry about than me being rejected.
I shake out my hands, hoping to steady my nerves, and raise my fist to knock.
The rhythmic sound echoes in the hallway, and I steel myself for what’s to come. The door swings open, and there he is—Huntley’s towering six-foot-six frame fills the doorway, his expression morphing from surprise to wariness. “Scotland?”
I don’t meet his gaze. I focus on his throat instead, keeping my voice steady. “I need to see Zane.”
He bends, dropping into my field of vision, his gaze locked on the damage to my cheek. “Who did this to you?”
