Black Heart (5 page)

Deegan shook his head. “You have your
children, your friends, and the Blackthorne Clan. You do not have
to merely exist, my friend.”

“
Julian barely speaks to me. He
still blames me for his mother, and he is just to do so. And
Raylene? She is my heart.” Raynor gazed at him intensely. “And
yours as well. Did you not think I would sense the bonding scent
when she returned home last night? Is it settled between you at
last, after all this time?”

Deegan leaned his head back and
stared
at
the ornately plastered ceiling.

“
And what did Raylene
say?”

“
She ran to her room and did not
respond.”

Deegan laughed softly. “Then I would say
no, it is not quite resolved. You would not be averse to such a
connection between us?”

Raynor stood and walked toward Deegan and
laid a large hand on his shoulder. He squeezed gently in genuine
affection.

“
My brother, I am surprised it
has taken this long. I said nothing. It is not for me to interfere.
Plus, I can surmise your apprehension and disquiet over it. Perhaps
the madness is not passed on genetically. Vampire DNA is a sticky
wicket, as we both know.” Raynor removed his hand and moved to the
sideboard. “I have Black Bush, a double, old friend?”

Deegan nodded. As Raynor poured, his
deep voice changed pitch to a hopeful tone. Something Deegan had
not heard for ages.

“
Edward called not one hour ago.
He finally may be on the right track with a potion that may bring
Laura out of her Twilight state.”

Deegan was shocked. He hadn’t heard a
thing. He should’ve been told first, being head of the Blackthorne
Clan. Raynor passed him his drink.

“
I know, Edward should have
reported to you. I told him I would relay the news. He has more
tests to run and could be some time yet. But Draighean, my old
friend, some excellent news at last.”

The two men clinked glasses. “To success,
Raynor. You deserve every happiness.”

Raynor raised his glass in salute. “As do
you. Embrace love, Draighean, you also deserve it. Nothing or no
one is perfect. Not even you.”

Deegan laughed as he sipped his drink.
“Aye, truer words never spoken. I will settle things with Raylene.
You’re right. This situation has gone on long enough. I have your
blessing, which means more than I can say. Raylene is devoted to
you, and she is concerned, as am I.”

Raynor took a swig of his Grey Goose.
“Tell her nothing of this possible development. I do not want her
to get her hopes up. Perhaps we shall all get our happy endings
after all. Now, she is down at the boathouse. Go to her and claim
her as yours. Tell her what is in that blackened heart of yours.
Tear down those walls. Live and love, my dear friend.”

****

Raylene sat at the end of the dock and
watched the setting sun’s reflection dance and sparkle on the
water. She swayed her bare legs back and forth while thoughts of
last night occupied her mind. Deegan said he didn’t want her around
when he spoke to her father, but be damned if she would leave the
property. No sleep again last night, not that she needed any more
than four hours or less a night. But the altercation at Deegan’s
last night played over and over in her brain.

Thropes? She had no idea they
existed. She knew of the Weres, but there were none in the
immediate vicinity, so she never really met one
before
, but
shape-shifters? What else existed in the Shadow World? She supposed
she lived in a private bubble all these years under the protection
of one of the oldest, strongest Vampire clans in North America.
Never gave much thought to other species. That was the Vampire way,
to protect the Clan and all in it. Vamps were insular in their
existence. The only ones they chose to bond with that she knew of,
besides other Vampires, were humans.

And what was the story with
that Thrope? Turned him? Could such a thing even be feasible?
Apparently so, and he wanted—Deegan.
Join the club.
How dare Deegan touch her the way he
did and lay claim to her, verbally anyway. Part of her was pissed
off to the core, but another thrilled beyond reason. That is, if he
ever acted on it. She supposed having him admit it aloud at least
was a major victory, but now what?

Her head shot up. She sensed him before
she heard him. His scent was strong, musky, spicy and earthy. Fresh
sea air could also be tossed into the mix. How could that be
possible? His stride was determined and hurried, his boots thumping
fiercely on the ground as he moved toward her.

She didn’t hesitate. Raylene leapt up, ran
to him and threw herself in his arms. She clung tightly, her arms
like a vice around his neck, as her feet no longer touched the
ground. Deegan spun her around—and laughed, a sound she had not
heard from him in decades. The laugh was deep, husky, and
masculine, and had her insides flipping like flapjacks on a hot
griddle. He stopped in mid-spin and looked down at her. His
silver-gray eyes were dark, stormy, and full of desire.

God, she wanted him. He lowered her slowly
so her body rubbed against his long and lean, muscular frame. They
might as well light a bonfire for all the heat their bodies gave
off. His hands cupped her face, his touch tender.

“
Are you sure this is what you
want? The Mate Bond?”

Was he serious?
Her hand
immediately moved down to his straining erection, and she grasped
him tightly. She knew she had to speak her acceptance aloud for the
Mate Bond to take. “Yes, mark me, fuck me. Drink me. Make me your
mate.”

The sensual growl that escaped from his
full, luscious lips made her heart tumble. He turned her around.
Raylene instinctively reached for the nearby piling and held on
with all her might. Deegan stood flush against her, his erection
hard and throbbing at her back. His hands lifted her top from the
waistband of her skirt. Thank God it had snaps as he tore open the
blouse and pulled it down until it hung from her wrists. His hands
lifted her skirt, and in a firm grip, grabbed her silk panties,
tore them and threw them to the ground. She heard a zipper being
lowered, and the anticipation killed her.

“
I can’t wait, Raylene. It has
to be here. Now. I have to be inside you.”

“
Yes! Do it, just
do…”

He took the breath and words
clear from her as he thrust into her wet pussy with a
deft
, slick
slide. He held himself inside as if savoring and memorizing
everything, every sensation that battered both their enhanced
senses. He pulled his huge, thick cock all the way out, inch by
agonizing inch, and then thrust back in to the hilt. A glorious
moan of raw, sexual satisfaction rumbled deep from Deegan. Oh God,
she was going to come already, she was so close.

Nothing, however, prepared her
for the double assault of Deegan suddenly pounding into her at such
a fast pace and his fangs sinking into her back just above
her
right
shoulder blade. He pulled and drank deeply, his greedy gulps in
concert with his throbbing and pummeling cock. He marked her—as his
mate. She blew apart; she would have sunk to the ground if Deegan
were not holding her tightly around her waist. The climax hit her
like nothing she’d ever experienced before. It was if someone held
sparklers in front of her eyes. Her world exploded. A kaleidoscope
of colors swirled in her vision. Wave after wave of orgasms hit
her.

Deegan pulled his fangs out,
his tongue brushing over the holes and sealing the bond for
eternity. His semen blasted through her, hot,
thick
, and
potent, splashing into her womb and marking her there as well. Oh
God, they didn’t use a condom. But that thought was soon overcome
by her need to mark Deegan as well. Her Vampire blood demanded it.
Deegan still pumped and shuddered behind her. Well, she would give
him something he would never forget. She broke the connection
between them and turned around, giving him a push backwards. She
dropped to her knees on the dock, splinters be damned. She glanced
out briefly toward the water. Well, if a sailboat went by they
would get an eyeful, but it would not deter her from her
mission.

Deegan’s cock remained hard as stone,
gorgeously thick and long; he had to be in the double digits for
length or close to it. It rose proud from the open zipper in his
jeans. Her hand gripped him, and air hissed through his teeth. She
stroked him a couple of times, his foreskin similar to a piece of
velvet over granite. Here, she would put her mark on him so he
would throb and shudder only for her. Forever—or until one or the
other died or was destroyed. She quickly took his cock into her
mouth, sucking, licking, and tasting every inch. Spicy, musky and
salty, if she could spread his essence on crackers, she would. Her
fangs distended and without any warning, she bit into his cock. He
cried out, saying her name over and over, his voice deeper and
huskier than she’d ever heard. He grabbed the back of her head and
thrust. She drank; his blood was hot and enticing.

Deegan’s climax was swift. He
gave her a vampire “cock-tail” as blood and semen rushed down her
throat together in a tantalizing mixture. Try ordering
this
at a bar. She
followed right behind his raw, wrenching orgasm by shuddering
herself. She kept drinking, realizing she was close to
gorging.

She pulled back
and stared up at
Deegan. His face appeared dark, not with anger, but with passion.
Love? No, she must have imagined it. She didn’t even have time to
wipe her mouth when Deegan reached down, lifted her with no effort
at all and slung her over his shoulder. He ran toward his car
across the property. She glanced up; her torn panties lay not far
from her sandals on the dock, which quickly disappearing from view.
Deegan hadn’t even tucked his cock back in his pants. She hoped to
God her father wouldn’t look out the window right then, her bare
ass high in the air and her shirt open.

He didn’t open the car door,
just dropped her into the passenger seat of his vintage Thunderbird
convertible, one of
the many classic cars Deegan owned. She could see him
tucking himself back in his jeans as he ran around and opened the
driver door. Turning the key and backing out, he roared off,
leaving a trail of black rubber on the driveway. The wind took his
magnificent raven hair and blew it all around him as he
accelerated.

“
My house, all night, Raylene.
In my bed. On my body, riding my cock. All night,” he
growled.

She reached up to wipe away a
small trail of blood and semen from her mouth.
“All night, Deegan.”

****

It was done. They were bonded,
mated. Bound together by blood. Marked in ownership and allegiance
and partnership.
The experience had been more powerful than Deegan had ever
imagined it would be. His previous mates, at least six in the last
eight hundred years, were all human. He marked them sure, but he
had
never
been marked in return. This was a revelation. The bond had
a stark feeling of permanence to it, which he did not feel with his
previous female mates. He knew he would only be with them a handful
of decades. He never offered to turn any of them, because if he
were to be honest, he did not love them deeply enough to share
possible immortality. The closest was Hannah. The fact she’d given
birth to his child touched him deeply, but he never relayed the
emotion to her, something he still regretted. And to have her die
so horribly in his arms—he shook his head as he rounded the corner,
the classic Thunderbird hugging the twisting Highway 3. He couldn’t
think of that now. Tonight was not the time or place for in-depth
examination of emotions and feelings and making long-term
plans.

All he could focus on was
fucking Raylene thoroughly, every way possible, multiple times.
Decades of want and need for h
er flooded every inch of his soul. He did not want
to examine anything beyond lust tonight. He wanted her. Fought it
long enough, he couldn’t or wouldn’t fight it anymore.

Raynor giving his blessing was the kick in
the ass he needed, sod the rest. He watched as Raylene’s sexy pink
tongue reached out and swiped away his blood and semen from the
corner of her mouth. He almost went off the side of the road. His
cock could steer the car it was so hard and ready to burst from his
jeans. Raylene slowly snapped her top together. If he could drive
the automobile with her grinding away in his lap, he would do it.
Jaysus, thank God his house was only a few kilometers
away.

His mate.

They could only have sex with
each other now, no one else.
It had been over one hundred and fifty years since
he last took the Mate Bond, so it would be quite an adjustment to
be faithful with one woman going forward. But it was done now, no
going back.

He didn’t want to go
back.

This was beyond lust, and he knew it.
Or he wouldn’t have fought it for as long as he did. He didn’t want
to love again. Seemed fate had other plans.

Deegan
pulled into his driveway. He put the
car in park, ran around to the passenger door, and lifted Raylene
into his arms. At five feet-six, she was a perfect fit for him with
her lush curves and full, sensual mouth, plus she had Raynor’s best
facial features. She wasn’t drop dead gorgeous, as Julian had
managed to get the perfect, pretty looks, but Raylene possessed a
beauty all her own.