Sleeping With The Vampire (Immortal Vampire #2)

Chapter 8

Lucca

The Citadel has not changed much over the years.

It is still the same beast it always was, hungry and horny and looking for fresh prey.

Either you take it head-on, or you keep out of its way.

I prefer to keep hidden for now.

I decide to drop in on Sunil without any warning. I want to see his face when he opens the door and finds me there.

Sunil’s house is a grand, old mansion close to the city center.

Queen Simonis had bought it as she liked to come to the capital, to see her friends, many of whom lived here. She’d liked the parties and the intrigue that surrounded those on the Council. Even then, I disliked the drama and preferred to stay at Grey Castle. After her death, Sunil took over the house and ran the administrative side of business from here. He dealt with councilors and new markets.

Sunil was sophisticated and cultured. He had grown up in the capital, gone to school here and learnt different languages. He liked art and music, and kept up with the advances in human technology. His house contained both elements of the old and the new world. It didn’t have the damp of my castle.

“Father! What a surprise!”

There was a dinner party at his house. I could see people seated around the table, drinking wine and laughing. He came out to see me and took me to a private room downstairs, the study.

He seemed genuinely pleased to see me, and yet I was not completely convinced.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?”

I told him what had been happening out West, and that I was concerned.

“Yes,” he nodded. “I’ve heard it too.”

He paused and fetched us some refreshments.

His product tasted slightly different, he told me he’d added some flavoring. I didn’t like it and put it down, pushing it away.

“What is going on with the Council?” I asked.

“My sources tell me there is something happening behind the scenes at the Council, but I don’t know exactly what. I’ve been trying to establish what, but I want to be careful.I have no wish to die yet,” he said with a dry laugh.

The Council had been effective for so long and I did not want to stir up problems.

“Dominic is growing old,” said Sunil. “His influence has weakened and this has caused the power battle between MoZa and Tempesto to flare up. They are openly challenging each other at hearings now, I’ve been told.”

“We cannot have another war,” I warned.

“I don’t know if it will come to that,” Sunil objected. “I think we have come too far.”

I thought of Simonis, who had believed that war was a natural state, the only state of being. When all were openly at each other’s necks, not pretending to be getting along and working together. Kill or be killed, she liked to say. It was not a very savory idea, but Simonis was practical and efficient. Until the day she died in a horrible attack at the house of Councilor Lare. It was said a group of demons had been released to try to take out the councilor as a warning. Everyone was torn to pieces, but Lare had managed to escape. It was a brutal attack for which I demanded retribution. The demons were captured and extinguished. Lare had apologized to me in person and I’d accepted her apology.

“Where is Tempesto now?” I asked Sunil.

“He has a compound outside the capital,” he said. “I’ve heard it is quite big, with fortifications.”

“Have we been able to get inside information on him?”

“His security is too tight,” Sunil shook his head. “I have befriended someone on his inner circle but I have not been able to learn much.”

“Get someone to monitor his compound and see who comes and goes. Make a note of his visitors.”

“Yes, Father. Will you be staying?”

I had the sense that Sunil didn’t want this and I wondered why. I knew his tastes were a bit exotic, but I had no wish to hold him back. If he wanted to fuck rent boys, that was his business.

“I intend going out tonight, but I will be back tomorrow if that is all right with you? I want to spend perhaps another night in the Citadel.”

The crow had given me the location of Izzy in the Citadel and I took care to camouflage my appearance as I went out into the streets. I left my royal guards at Sunil’s house, slipping out the back.

I had received a message from her a short while ago.

It was terse, saying only We need to talk.

But the fact that she had contacted me was significant. It meant that she was ready to see me and was open to further contact. I was delighted at the thought of meeting up with her. Even though I had seen her only days ago, it felt too long.

The crow had followed Izzy and her friend to a shabby place at the edge of the Citadel. This was apparently where they were staying. I waited for her outside, knowing she was on her way back from the meeting she’d had earlier.

I felt her approaching before I saw her.

I could feel it in my body, yearning for her, wanting her. We had shared blood now and she would feel it too. I hung back in the shadows when I saw them approach. When they reached the inn, she spoke to the big man who went indoors, alone.

Then she turned to look for me.

“Over here,” I called to her.

She came to the side alley and I pulled her towards me, kissing her before I could stop myself. She pulled away after a moment, catching her breath.

“A bit presumptuous!” she said.

“I’ve missed you,” I said, unapologetically.

“Where can we talk?” she asked. I took her to a hotel I’d booked into earlier. It was in the Capital but I knew the owners and they’d given me the top floor. I wanted to get out of the Citadel where there were too many eyes on me.

The suite consisted of several interconnected rooms, with low couches and a fire pit and bar with food set out. I encouraged Izzy to try some while I discreetly drank some bottles of product set aside for me. I didn’t think Izzy was quite ready to see me guzzle human blood openly. But I wanted to get my energy levels up. Her reaction to my kiss had been very promising and I was looking forward to a night of uninterrupted pleasure. This was what I needed to take my mind off the intrigue and business problems.

“This place is amazing,” Izzy said, going out onto the balcony and staring out over the capital with its sea of lights. “It must cost a fortune?”

I just shrugged. There was no point telling her that money meant nothing to me. I had so much of it now, Sunil managed most of it in various investments, but it kept growing and growing. I had more money than I could ever think of spending.

She went back inside, looking at the food without much interest.

“Not hungry?” I asked, coming up behind her.

I felt her body against mine and she went still.

“I knew you were there, even before I could see you,” she said then. “Just now, in the street? Is that because of the blood… my blood?”

There was no way of making it easier for her.

“Yes,” I said.

“Does it mean anything else, like, can you read my mind or make me do anything you want me to?”

“I wish!” I said with a laugh.

She turned to face me. “What do you mean?”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t you think if I could have my way, you would be naked right now, and we would be in bed and I would be making love to you in all of the many, many ways I’ve been dreaming of?”

“Oh, really?” She was pretending to resist me, I could tell.

I loved the way she was playing with me, toying with me.

She asked, “You don’t want to hear what I have found out tonight? Don’t think I didn’t notice that crow flying behind me the whole time.”

“Of course, I want to know,” I said. “But more than that, I want to be with you.”

I caught her hand, and pulled her towards me.

“Please say that you want this too.”

“I don’t know what I want,” she said, pulling away from me.

“You don’t have to make a decision, then,” I said, being very conciliatory. “But how about I show you some of the things I can do?”

When she didn’t say anything right away, I added, “Just for a while, let’s forget about it all and just enjoy each other?”

“It has been a long day,” she conceded. “I could do with a bit of relaxing.”

I picked her up and lay her down in the bed, slowly removing her clothing. The leather jacket and the tight jeans, the boots with intricate laces. Underneath, she was wearing a tight T-shirt and small panties. I ran my finger under the elastic as I leaned in to kiss her, her lips parting as I pressed my mouth against her. She was so warm, so full of life, it was absolutely intoxicating to be with her. My finger ran over her belly underneath the panties and I edged slowly over her pubic area, slipping inside of her where it was all wetness and warmth. She moaned gently and arched her back, twisting her athletic legs around my back and squeezing me hard.

I laughed and took off my clothes, pushing her legs back onto the bed. She lay still, expectantly, staring at me, her beautiful eyes glued to mine. I ran my tongue over her thighs, parted her legs gently and then kissed her inside, my tongue prodding and licking. She was ready for me, pulsating with an energy that was driving me wild. I opened her wider, tilted her pelvis to me as I drank from her, the juices flowing towards me like dew drops from the most exquisite flower.

She was moaning and groaning, I nibbled lightly, flicking her clitoris with my tongue and feeling the nub of pleasure pulsate with desire, quickening to my touch. She was so aroused, so ready for me, I wanted to tease her, to make her wait as she had kept me waiting.

But, she then moved so quickly, I had to laugh in delight as she slid over me, pinning me down on the bed and straddling me, taking my cock inside of her as she started to ride me, grinding me into the bed. She was taking her pleasure, not waiting for me to satisfy her. I watched her, her gorgeous breasts with rock hard nipples rising over me, the creamy skin without a blemish, the way the muscles contracted with every rocking movement. She was simply incredible and as the energy mounted between us, I stared into her eyes, willing her to look at me as we came together, bonded in that instant, and forever.

We had sex again, then once more, each time in a different position as she was willing to explore and try out new things. I was only too happy to oblige, manipulating her young body and delighting in her suppleness.

When she was finally spent, a few hours before dawn, she told me what she’d learnt that night. She was ravenous now, standing in front of the buffet of food, stuffing her face with cheese and grapes and little savory pieces that looked very tasty.

Most of what she said did not surprise me. I watched her eating, finding it adorable. Until she told me of The Servant.

That made me sit upright.

“Oh, do I have your attention now?” She asked, sarcastically.

She didn’t understand though, the implications of what she’d said. The situation had progressed far more than I’d realized if we were already at this point. I got out of bed and got dressed in a flash.

“I must go,” I said.

Izzy’s face dropped. “I’m sorry, my love, but this calls for immediate action. I will see you soon, I promise.”

I kissed her quickly and made my way back to Sunil’s house as fast as I could. The news about Tempesto being behind Tanata’s death confirmed what I had suspected. But my satisfaction at learning the truth was eclipsed by concern about what I had just learned.