Love and Brimstone

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“Matthias knows, by the way,” Rafael said on their way back from dinner. “You can quit stressing.”

“What?”

“About this afternoon. Our little indiscretion.”

She groaned, stopping. “You told him?”

“I didn’t have to.”

“What?”

“Do you really think he’d leave me alone with you during an experiment like that, when you were so vulnerable?”

“What do you mean?”

Rafe laughed, putting an arm around her, hugging her to him and walking with her. “He was there the whole time, in your mind.”

Taz gasped, horrified. “No!”

“I didn’t realize it either. He told me you forget when he’s there.”

“He was there all day?”

“He said unless you deliberately block him, he’s there.”

“So he’s here right now?”

“Oh, I doubt that. Only when he’s close to you.” Rafael staggered as she pulled away from him and slammed her defenses closed.

“Uh, wow. Or unless you do that.”

“He saw us kissing? He heard…” She felt nauseous.

“Oh yeah, all afternoon. Hey, I’m embarrassed about it, too. Like I said, I thought—”

“Why the hell didn’t he stop us? And what the hell right does he have to stay in my head unless I tell him he can be there?”

“Uh, listen, Taz baby, I—”

“I’m going to kill him.” She stormed toward the cabins when around the corner walked Matthias, Albert, and Tim.

Matthias was smiling. It wasn’t until he was close enough to see Taz’s face in the fading light that he realized she was pissed.

“Taz, what’s—”

SLAP! Her hand stung, but the stunned look on Matthias’ face made it worth it. She didn’t know which was worse, her anger at his betrayal of her privacy and trust or her guilt over what she’d done with Rafe.

Nope, definitely anger in the lead.

“How dare you? You’ve been staying in my head all this time? You saw me kiss him this afternoon and you didn’t stop it? How”—SLAP—“dare you!”

She stormed to their cabin while Matthias contemplated the stinging in both cheeks.

Tim stepped up to him. “See, I told you so.”

“Shut up.”

Matthias turned to Rafael. “What the hell did you say to her?”

Rafael looked sheepish. “I told her you knew about the kiss. She was worried how you’d react. I was trying to make her feel better.”

“Yeah, that worked.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault you haven’t told her all this stuff yet. I apologized, told her the only reason I’d played around with her was because I thought you’d marked her.”

“Oh, no. Please tell me you didn’t?”

“Well how the hell was I supposed to know she didn’t know anything about that? What you haven’t told her would fill a friggin’ book, Matts. I figured you and Mr. Nanny here had at least taught her some basics. Considering there will be strong vampires at the meeting, it might be a good idea she kept her distance from them.”

“We hadn’t got that far.”

“Well, duh. When were you going to clue me in? How am I supposed to help her if I don’t know what the hell is going on, big guy?”

Matthias turned and followed Taz, but she’d locked the cabin door. “Come on, Taz, please. Anastazia, don’t do this.” He reached out with his mind and met a razor wire barrier.

“Go away, Matthias.”

He tried the doorknob again and realized he didn’t have his key with him. He knocked. “Anastazia, please—”

Matthias felt the force of her anger slam into him, blasting him off the stoop and onto the ground nearly three feet below, knocking the wind out of him. He lay in the dirt trying to catch his breath while Tim looked down at him, not offering a hand.

“I told you so.” Tim had apparently slipped into protective father mode.

“Shut up!” Matthias got up, brushed his clothes off, and climbed the steps to try again. “Anastazia, would you please give me a chance—”

“Go away, Matthias. I don’t even want to look at you right now.”

“We have to prepare for tomorrow.”

“I’m not going.”

“You have to.”

“No, I don’t.” He could barely hear her through the door. It hit him for the first time that he couldn’t make her go if she decided she wasn’t going unless he physically dragged her there.

And even then, she was so powerful, she might be able to resist that.

He rested his head against the door and dropped his voice. “Please, let me explain.”

“No. Go away. I’m too angry to talk to you right now.”

He looked to Tim, who shrugged. No help there. “All you can do is wait for her to calm down,” he told Matthias.

“How long will that take?”

“At the rate you’re going? Maybe half past the Apocalypse. If you’re lucky, you stupid sod.”

Matthias shared Albert’s room that night. Rafael offered to let Matthias bunk with him, but his cabin was on the other side of the compound, and Matthias didn’t want to be that far from her. At least Albert’s room was just a wall away, in the same cabin. The guards remained at her door, two at a time.

Through the wall, Matthias heard her take a shower. He lay on his bed, his eyes closed, reaching out to her.

Taz ignored Matthias hovering outside her mind. Keeping the barrier up that long exhausted her, but she wasn’t about to drop it. She fought the urge to reach out and hurt him even though she knew he couldn’t stop her. She was powerful—she realized that now. She hadn’t understood how powerful until her talks with Rafe. He must have sensed her looking through his mind at dinner, trying to find more information about Matthias, yet he hadn’t tried to stop her.

And Rafael was attracted to her, too. Why did he feel so damn familiar, when she’d only met him that morning? It was more than just the trace of his blood in Matthias’ veins.

Why do I love him?

Well, how about that? Not one, but two gorgeous guys who wanted her. Loved her.

Hallelujah, it’s raining vampires. Amen.

She lay in bed and ignored Matthias tapping at her mental barrier. Vindictive? Hell yes. Matthias could have stopped her. And he spied on her. She didn’t know which made her angrier. To think she’d felt mortified that she kissed Rafael while Matthias knew the whole time and let it happen.

Big fink! Ugh.

Or voyeur. Ick!

She closed her eyes and let her mind drift across the compound. She found Rafael lying in his bed and not quite asleep yet.

Naughty boy. She sensed what was in his mind, saw that she was the star in a pretty hot fantasy. He was a bit of a perv, but harmless.

She withdrew then hesitated. Let Matthias have a taste of his own medicine. He wanted to watch? Fine. She’d give him an eyeful. She couldn’t deny her steamy afternoon kiss with Rafael left her wanting more.

A lot more.

Rafael was easy to take control of, especially so close to sleep. She infiltrated his fantasies and teased, taunted, deliciously tortured him. This is where succubi must have come from. Pissed-off vampires like herself getting even with their boyfriends and husbands.

Rafael squirmed in his bed, naked, powerless against her, begging her for release.

How much would he remember in the morning? Or would he think it was just a really hot wet dream? She toyed with him for nearly an hour, enjoying the power and control surging through her. Even more, she enjoyed knowing exactly what he wanted, as if she knew his body. Even though it was only in his mind, she saw his body, ran her hands all over him.

She enjoyed feeling his attention in return. In real life, she knew he was one hell of a lover. Probably even better than Matthias. It felt like she’d made love with Rafe countless times before, yet still felt passionate.

She smiled as he rolled over, his erection springing free from the sheets.

“Oh, naughty Rafe,” she whispered to him, bending her mouth to him, knowing even though it wasn’t real he felt her lips grip him, her tongue caress him.

He moaned as her own desire grew, knowing she was giving him pleasure.

She felt Matthias’ presence hovering near. Watching?

She hoped so. It would serve him right. She’d teach him not to use her as some damn guinea pig.

Rafael’s words at dinner suddenly came back to her. Matthias hadn’t marked her, wanted her to have free will to choose her path. And then Rafael moaned.

“Cassandra!”

Her stomach rolled as her own mind suddenly slammed back into alignment. This wasn’t how she wanted to be. If this was what power did to people, it wasn’t worth it. She did not want to control someone like this. Hurt someone with her powers just to get revenge.

That was enough to quench her desire faster than a bucket of ice water and pictures of dead puppies.

Unfortunately, she’d already done a damn good job of driving Rafael into a frenzied state of sexual limbo. She’d worked him to the point he clung to her mind, pleading with her for release, and she didn’t know how to extricate herself without finishing what she started. Feeling more than a little nauseous and self-loathful now, she gently pushed him away and allowed him to climax, not sure how else to break the connection without hurting him.

Taz felt his orgasm as if it was her own, heard him moan her name in his mind, and then she was able to withdraw without him clinging to her mind.

Oh, I’m going to be apologizing in the morning. From her to Rafe. No matter how mad she was, she had no right to do that to him. Especially after he’d opened up to her at dinner.

She felt Matthias was still there, clinging. Out of guilt more than anything, she lifted the barrier a little, enough to see him, afraid to let him in too much.

Matthias was also nearly asleep. She belatedly realized this time that he had not seen what she did with Rafe. She felt some relief there. He was so in love with her, so upset at hurting her that his mind clung to her, even in sleep.

Oh, she really owed Rafael a huge apology. And Matthias, too. This was way more than a kiss.

She caressed Matthias’ mind, guilt overwhelming her with what she’d just done to his cousin, when he responded—

“My love, Anastazia, my only, sweet love…”

She cried, hating herself. Now she had more to make up for. With him vulnerable like this, she could see exactly what Rafael meant about her blood running through Matthias’ veins. His love for her permeated every cell in his body, not just his heart and soul and mind.

Why couldn’t I see that before? This kind of behavior was so unlike her, and she didn’t understand it. Worse, she hated herself for it. She was not a petty, overreactive woman. It felt like some alien had suddenly taken possession of her brain. She didn’t want to be like this.

She loved Matthias and wanted to be with him. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him.

She caressed Matthias, allowing him in, letting his mind wrap around hers, lovingly, hiding what she did from him and knowing, like Rafe, that he hovered on the edge between sleep and passion.

“Matthias,” she whispered in his mind, “I love you.”

“My love, please, love me…”

She didn’t do what she did to Rafael, even though Matthias begged for it. Only if he was in bed with her, asking her himself, wide awake.

She allowed Matthias to drift in and around and through her, comforting him, coaxing him into fitful sleep. When she was sure he was asleep, she withdrew and gently closed the barrier. Now content and happy, he no longer clung to her.

Anastazia, on the other hand, couldn’t sleep. She lay there hating herself, wishing she could take back what she did to Rafael. The bed felt huge and cold without Matthias next to her. She’d never felt more alone in her life. She couldn’t even talk to Robertson about this, too ashamed to admit what she’d done.

She drifted into tortured sleep, and her mind roiled with dreams about Rafael. At one point, he screamed her name, and she felt his essence slam into her like a meteor hitting the earth. She woke up trembling, drained, head aching, the echoes of Rafe’s presence and voice still in her mind.

Serves me right.

Rafe shuddered, caught in a dreamlike state somewhere between awake and sleep. Taz came to his mind, and even though he felt guilty and knew it was wrong, he let her have him with only token resistance, let her manipulate him. She was his cousin’s love now, in this life, but she was also a very pissed-off woman. Fighting her wouldn’t do any good, even if he could. In fact, it could make her mad, and she might accidentally hurt him. She still wasn’t totally in control of her powers, wouldn’t understand when to stop.

Besides, technically, she had once been his wife.

He felt why Matthias loved her now. She was strong, yet so tender and gentle, so fresh and new. No man could resist her if she set her sights on him. She still didn’t understand her nearly limitless power.

Rafael gave himself to her and wouldn’t tell anyone. What the hell? She wasn’t married yet. If Matthias wanted to keep her, he would have to mark her, or he would one day lose her to her power. Or to him, if given the chance.

It’s not like I’m actually sleeping with her. Talk about a fan-damn-tastic mind fuck!

Taz toyed with him, teased him, and he’d never felt such passion and power. Not since…

Cassandra.

He cut off that thought, trying to live here and now and not revisit the past. He gave himself to Taz, who she was now, knowing she needed to get this out of her system. And he certainly wasn’t going to complain if she was using him for revenge sex.

Okay, mental revenge sex. And it was the best damn sex he’d had since…since before he lost his sweet Catydid.

Rafael begged Taz for release, knowing it would drive him mad not to have it. When she gave it to him, he thought his entire body would explode through his cock. He moaned, clutched at the sheets, and felt every muscle in his body contract until he was spent.

Then she left. Taz’s abrupt withdrawal from his mind left a gaping void in his soul, driving him to tears of grief he hadn’t cried in centuries.

He rolled over, took a deep shuddering breath, and closed his eyes. The loneliness without Taz there with him was painful. He’d felt her regret at the end, her awareness that she’d made a terrible mistake.

I’ll talk with her tomorrow. Assure her I’m fine with what happened. She’d let her powers get the better of her, something he’d seen happen before. She really needs some breathing room to learn what she can do. She’d spent her entire life unaware of what she could do and keeping a tight rein on her self-control, and now it was backfiring on her.

Rafael felt exhausted, weak, and just as he drifted to sleep, he felt something tickle the edge of his mind.

At first he thought it was Taz and welcomed her back in. She could use him like that any time she wanted. Especially if it meant he could be with her again in some small way. Then the presence crept in, cold and icy. By the time he realized it wasn’t Taz, it was too late for him to fight. He’d welcomed her in and could not push her out.

He stood up, powerless against the person now in control of his mind, and unlocked his cabin door. Five figures entered his room. Unable to do anything else and sensing the end, Rafael reached out to the only person he knew for certain was strong enough to receive him.