An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Flaming Fantasies

ISBN # 1-4199-0715-8

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Flaming Fantasies Copyright© 2006 Elizabeth Lapthorne.

Edited by Sue-Ellen Gower.

Cover art by Syneca.

Electronic book Publication: August 2006

This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written
permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.®1056 Home Avenue,AkronOH
44310-3502.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or
locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used
fictitiously.

Warning:

The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers. This story has been
rated S-ensuous by a minimum of three independent reviewers.

Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E
(E-rotic), and X (X-treme).

S-ensuouslove scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.

E-roticlove scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall
word count. In addition, some E-rated titles might contain fantasy material that some readers find
objectionable, such as bondage, submission, same sex encounters, forced seductions, and so forth.
E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry; it is common, for instance, for an author to use words
such as “fucking”, “cock”, “pussy”, and such within their work of literature.

X-tremetitles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Unlike E-rated titles,
stories designated with the letter X tend to contain controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.

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MONTAGUEVAMPIRES:

FLAMINGFANTASIES

Elizabeth Lapthorne

Lovingly dedicated to Danni and Ian.

Anyone willing to abandon an intimate evening out at my hysterical call, come over and debug my
computer, rescuing my manuscript late on a Saturday evening is worth their weight in gold to me.

Thanks. I love you guys.

Also with major kudos and eternal thanks to Beth—for hours of help! You’re an absolute doll, love!

Prologue

The Annual Vampiric Desperate and Dateless Ball, late 2205

Ruthie finished her fifth blue vodka for the evening and thought seriously about heading back to her
lodgings. The ball tonight had certainly been an eye-opener in far more than one way. Most intriguingly of
all she had forgottenjust how stupid twenty-something-year-old single women could truly be!

Ruthie frowned to herself as she tried very hard to clear the muddled, happy haze from her head and
think back to remember those seemingly long-ago years of her mid- to late-twenties. Even though she
was only thirty-four, those years seemed so very far back in her history. Many a war and fight during her
years as a mercenary, or merc, made the years seem to stretch even further back in her rather
alcohol-muddied mind.

Hadshe been that juvenile, desperate and stupid five-plus years ago?

Ruthie shrugged as she decided that if she couldn’t even remember acting like these desperate, super
skinny young women ogling the vampires and other creatures like so much raw meat, then it was highly
unlikely she had indeed acted anything like this at all in her past.

Shaking her head as she watched yet another size zero, scantily clad young woman shimmy her body
enticingly against yet another handsome male vampire as they swung together to the heavy, dark beat of
the music, Ruthie decided it was well past time to call it a night. She rose carefully, automatically gauging
her own reaction to the heavily potent alcohol.

Usually she stuck either to draft ale, or the slightly more potent red-fire whisky. She had never been a
big drinker, but when the situation warranted it she often enjoyed the odd few shots of green or blue
vodka.

After wandering around the mazelike structure of rooms and enclosures in the enormous vampire
compound, and seeing scene after scene of eager young, fresh women vying for the attention of a vamp
for the evening, Ruthie had admitted to being slightly turned on and curious, but also somehow
simultaneously feeling as if she were some decrepit, dirty voyeur.

Letting her eyes rove over the room, Ruthie catalogued her own, personal state of inebriation. After

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mentally reciting three of the Merc Rules of Conduct, easily estimating the distance to the back of the
room, and observed three separate couples in the shadowy background in varying stages of sexual
intercourse, she decided she was certainly tipsy, but by no means badly inebriated and more than
capable of defending herself and reacting to any given situation.

Having assured herself of her sobriety and her competency, she began to try and make her way through
the closely pressed crowd in the vague direction of the exit.

Ruthie smirked to herself as she glanced at the crowd, mostly still of the teeny-bopping young women,
barely a one of them over twenty-five and most of them aging somewhere between their Majority
Eighteenth birthday and twenty-two or so.

Ruthie realized she felt old and jaded.

As she would be turning the soberingly mature age of thirty-five in a few months time, she had convinced
herself she really did need to experience a D and D ball for herself, and not rely on the usually hyped-up
gossip-fest following the Annual Ball.

Besides, in recent years rumors had circulated the Vampire Council might be considering imposing an
age limit on the human women able to apply for the “public” tickets, in other words, those granted
admittance without a vampire to vouch for them.

Judging by the average age of the women she had seen present, Ruthie had a feeling she would be
classified as “too old” and she disliked asking her friends for favors to something as trifling as a ball
ticket.

The whole thing was a joke, she snorted silently to herself, seeing as many, many vampires here would
be around the five-hundred-year-old mark. Part of her mind felt the rumors were entirely false and
merely to push the more mature women into attending despite the recent “cool” factor amongst the young
to be seen at events such as these.

Either way, the rumor highlighted vampire chauvinism at its best.

Amused despite herself, Ruthie started to giggle, which only worsened as a girl who could barely be past
her Majority Eighteenth birthday, and thus be considered legal in every sense of the word galaxy-wide,
glared at her while sniffing disdainfully.

The look on the young woman’s face, so clearly stating “What the hell do you think you’re doing
here?” made her laugh out loud in earnest.

Ruthie had worked for years as a merc, and both her parents had come from the Force, the more
legitimate branch of Legal Enforcement Bureau, helping to train her in millions of ways to protect herself
from the cradle.

Ruthie found it hysterically funny how this barely legal woman, who appeared as if she would break if
you held her incorrectly, thought to insult her with a simplelook . Ruthie found herself giggling even
harder.

When the young woman finally realized Ruthie was laughingat her, and not just drunkenly giggling at
random, she stiffened, looked Ruthie up and down and then turned away to grab the nearest vampire and
hold him close, grinding her body up against his.

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Ruthie laughed harder, almost doubling over, as the young woman cast a haughty glance over her
shoulder, clearly stating with her body language “look what I have and you don’t”. Ruthie tried to
swallow her mirth, but found it difficult as the young woman so clearly struggled to pretend to ignore her
humor.

Ruthie hiccupped a few times as she continued to attempt to contain her laughter, knowing full well she
didn’t give a damn who the young woman ground herself against.

“Ruthie love, I don’t believe I haveever heard you giggle like that. I’m thinking you’ve had one blue
vodka too many.”

Ruthie paused, nearly choked on her laughter as she swiveled around. She momentarily considered she
must be more inebriated than she had realized if Rylan Montague had managed to sneak up on her for the
first time in…she didn’t want to think how long.

Trained quite thoroughly in both hunting and tracking skills not to mention being able to tell whenshe was
being hunted or tracked, as well as being a damn fine investigator in her own right, Ruthie truly couldn’t
recall the last time someone,anyone , had managed to sneak up on her.

“Why, Rylan,” she replied cheerily, refusing to let her annoyance at herself, nor her ever-present horny
reaction to the studly man in front of her show either in her mannerisms or her face. “Fancy meeting you
here. You can’t be spying on me or following my drink count—there are so many pieces of barely legal
ass around here you wouldn’t need to focus on my nearly thirty-five-year-old one.”

Ruthie frowned once again as she realized her comment had been a little too close to incoherent for her
peace of mind. She also noticed she had told Rylan Montague more about her state of mind than she
necessarily felt comfortable with. From the interest glinting in his eye he had not missed a word she had
spoken.

Her comments about her advancing age and knowledge of his love of a well-rounded ass had not gone
unnoticed from his sharp mind, and she had the sinking sensation she had just bared a small portion of her
mind and soul to this sexy vampire.

She ran her tongue around her mouth, trying to work out if she had underestimated her inebriation. Since
she couldn’t recall the last time she had let her guard down around this vamp whom she found almost
devastatingly attractive, and likely had the highest bed partner count of any male she knew throughout the
galaxy, Ruthie admitted maybe her mind wasn’t as sharp as she had assumed.

She softly chided herself as she digested the fact she likely wouldn’t be competent to fly herself back
home for at least another hour, or maybe even more.

Dammit,she cursed to herself, truly annoyed now.Hired inter-galactic travel is so bloody expensive.

Ruthie sighed, shrugged and mentally wrote it off to yet another expense of the D and D ball. Between
the dress, ruinously expensive shoes and the energy for her ship to get in here, not to mention the cost of
having to come back and retrieve her ship tomorrow morning, she pondered her odds at there being a
room free in one of the local hotels. She really didn’t want to have to pay for a ship back home and then
bum a lift from a work or social acquaintance early tomorrow morning.

“Darling, you must be a hell of a lot more plastered than even I realized. You looked almost ready to

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leave. You do know the party has barely begun?”

Ruthie shrugged and cast a wary eye up and down Rylan’s perfectly proportioned form. As always, his
shoulder-length dark brown hair curled teasingly around his handsome face, framing the chiseled planes
to perfection. Dark, dark brown eyes seemed to register everything in a single glance, making Ruthie
uncomfortable enough to want to check her unruly long red hair did indeed still crest in waves and not the
tangled mess it usually ended up in.

Under Rylan’s intensely seductive glance Ruthie could feel her temperature rise and she silently cursed
herself again.

The man looked indecently sexy in black pants and a cleanly pressed white shirt. A navy blue, formal
necktie complemented the outfit perfectly. With his tanned gorgeous looks and his silky soft curls looking
perfectly in place, Ruthie knew he could have practically any woman in the whole damn complex.

She ground her teeth at the thought of being merely one of a hundred or more. She knew she found him
almost irresistible, but she had managed for a number of years to not simply be another notch in his
bedpost.

Their odd friendship had indeed been an interesting journey, fraught with perils and sexual innuendo,
which she always miraculously managed to either deflect or ignore. She knew sooner or later she would
lose out and they would end up in bed, but she sincerely hoped to put that moment off as long as
possible.

Their relationship, their friendship, would inevitably change then, as well as her strong friendship with
Rylan’s twin brother, Simeon, and their older brother, Michael. She didn’t want that to happen and so
she diligently tried to put off that final outcome.

Besides, she shrugged to herself, she had been here for close to three hours, and had answered her own
questions about the fun and games on offer at the Annual Vampiric Desperate and Dateless Ball. She had
been more curious about the ball itself than interested in picking up. Not that she wanted to admit and tell
such a thing to the Montague standing in front of her.

With merely a shrug and a noncommittal noise from her mouth, she started heading toward the door
once again. She could hear andfeel Rylan following behind her. She thought for a split second about
telling him to just get lost, or go and pick up some size-zero bimbo but instead decided it wouldn’t be
worth more argument from him than if she simply ignored his presence.

Besides, at least with him following so closely behind her, barely a hair’s-breadth between them, the
crowd parted a helluva lot more easily. They walked across the room in sync together, almost as if they
had been a couple for ages. The antsy thought made Ruthie want to flinch, and she found herself trying to
think ofanything but getting intimate and sexy with the vampire behind her.

And so she began to babble to keep her mind away from the sexy, erotic images she wished more than
anything to enact.

“I was merely curious,” she started quickly, not really knowing why she felt the need to explain her
actions, but anything was better than imagining ripping the necktie and shirt from Rylan’s perfectly
muscled chest. “Personally, I don’t feel either desperate or dateless, unlike a number of the women here.
But I was interested to see the annual ball firsthand, for myself. Just as a life experience, you know?”

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Ruthie wrinkled her nose and bit her lips shut, wishing she were here with almost anyone but this
particular vampire. What the hell was it about him that had her babbling her secrets, explaining her
actions and turning into a pile of mush every time they shared intimate spaces together?

Ruthie wished she felt confident enough in her sobriety to take the control seat of her ship. She knew she
would give almostanything to be able to fly home safely right now, far away from the temptations of this
vampire.

She stood and attempted to wait patiently for the security to nod her through the door. One thing that
was done properly at each vampiric ball was the security. No underage illegal men or women, no
excessive or illegal drugs, everything was aboveboard, although some of the sexual acts Ruthie had
caught glimpses of she felt certain would be illegal in many of the other planets around the galaxy.

Rylan was practically panting down her neck, he followed her so closely, and Ruthie was feeling the
pressure of trying so desperately hard not to think of him, of them together doing some of the sexual acts
she had seen this night. Oddly strapped machines where the woman, or the man, was bound and
pleasured by both the vampire and the machine itself. Sensory pools, either heightening the sensations or
depriving one of the stimulations until the master deemed it time.

Thankfully for her peace of mind and rising blood pressure, security waved them both through the door
and out into the hallway. Ruthie practically stumbled in her haste to get out of the room and away from
her highly charged thoughts. Unfortunately, Rylan caught her arm gently to stop her stumbling. Ruthie felt
the faint electrical charge between them yet again.

She always spent so much time and effort ignoring the charge between them, pretending it didn’t exist,
she let herself wonder—just for a second—what it would be like to give in and experience the thrill the
two of them could create.

Ruthie shook her head. With the faint fog of blue vodka still swirling around her brain and coursing
through her body, she didn’t like her chances of being able to suppress her desire for too much longer.
While the hallway was by no means empty, it at least gave her some breathing room and there were
people moving to and fro, so stripping naked and jumping Rylan Montague then and there was certainly
out of the question.

Not that anyone would mind. In fact from what she had observed any number of vampires and other
creatures would be more than happy to watch the “show” she and Rylan could create and have their own
voyeuristic party at the same time.

Intriguing as the idea was, Ruthie wasn’t interested enough in such things to lower her guard. Or at least,
she wouldn’t be doing that here, tonight.

“I never thought you desperate or dateless.” Rylan’s soft tones snapped Ruthie back into the present
and their conversation. For once, she felt grateful. “I must admit though, I was shocked to see you here,”
he continued.

Ruthie shrugged and looked about for the nearest exit.

“Yeah, well I won’t be here much longer,” she commented, hoping she sounded tired and uninterested,
not hot and horny. “I’m trying to work out if I should shell out for a hired ship home, or try my luck at the
neighboring hotels.”

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Ruthie stopped in front of what she hoped was the exit and fumbled for her wristband. Everyone had
been tagged upon entering, to show which people were allowed in some of the more private rooms, but
also to help identify who the VIPs were and such. On top of everything else, it enabled most people to
move freely in and out of the building, while still keeping everyone on the main complex grounds.

Ruthie thought it was a brilliant idea and had already made a mental note to get in touch with the
organizers and security detail and request the information details. She could think of a number of
day-to-day uses she and her company could gain with such wristbands.

As the door opened, letting in the fresh, chilly night air, she looked up and saw Rylan hesitating. He
gently took hold of her arm again and led them both out of the building.

“You can crash in my room if you like,” he offered and Ruthie blinked, utterly stunned.

“Ry, thanks,” she stammered, surprised at the strength of her mind’s reaction to what could occur with
the two of them sharing a room for the first time, “but I really don’t want to cramp your style. You go
back in there and—”

She didn’t even manage to finish her sentence as Rylan captured her lips in his. She kissed him back,
astonished how delightful he tasted.

She and Rylan Montague had flirted, teased and generally tormented each other over the last three years
they had known each other. Theirs was an uncertain and strange journey, mostly between two friends
who understood one another.

Ruthie understood Rylan couldn’tnot flirt with a woman if his entire life depended on it. Rylan
understood Ruthierefused to have sex withanyone , vampire or no, as a one-night stand. She had been
there and done that and had no real desire to ruin a perfectly good friendship with complicated sex.

Yet suddenly, with his lips upon hers, gently pressing and searching for new tastes and textures, nothing
else seemed to matter.

Every thought of how complex sex between them would be, all thoughts on how it would ruin their easy,
companionable friendship, not to mention her friendship with his two siblings—all rational thought fled.

Only the feel of his lips on her mattered. Only the taste of him in her mouth entered and computed in her
mind. With barely a sound of resistance, she allowed him to lead her to the valet spot. The valet, as highly
paid to do, brought his cruiser around to where they were locked together, and he left with barely a
glance or squeak of sound.

Ruthie allowed Rylan to seat her in his cruiser, and she merely licked her lips, lost in her mental haze of
hunger and lust as Rylan drove them both back to a small, medium-level hotel.

Ruthie waited patiently as Rylan parked the cruiser and once again came around to her side and gently
helped her out of the snazzy machine. Hand in hand they entered the hotel and easily glided across the
lobby.

Obviously Rylan had already booked and paid for a room. Ruthie smiled at his forward thinking, refusing
to think about how seriously she doubted this planning ahead had been for her.

As soon as the door to the comfortable room closed behind them, she pressed Rylan back into the door

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and started kissing him wildly. For once, Rylan allowed her to show off her strength. Usually when she
tried to flex her muscle and prove to him she wasn’t some weak little breakable girl he retaliated with his
far, far superior vampiric strength.

Usually, there was no contest at all between the two of them. This time though, his acceptance and
allowance forher to take the lead between them made the world spin dizzyingly. Ruthie, for the first time
that evening, felt truly drunk, but not from the potent blue vodka shots she had imbibed.

Ruthie was drunk on the overwhelming sense of power and electrically charged sexual energy that arced
between her and Rylan Montague.

No man had ever made her literally dizzy, she mused to herself, partly in shock but partly in
wonderment.

“Ruthie, baby, are you sure?” Rylan muttered softly as he started untying the strings on her shoulders
holding her sexy little slinky dress together.

Ruthie grinned, feeling slightly unsteady for the first time all night. She felt powerful, potent, as if she
could conquer the world and still run a marathon afterward. She felt all warm and tingly inside, and for a
moment she could have sworn she could count every molecule in the worried face of the sexy vampire
who held her close.

Ruthie opened her mouth to respond to the genuinely concerned query from the man she had been
dreaming about for far longer than she cared to admit.

Instead of a snappy, airy brush-off, which usually sprang so easily to her lips, she felt the world tilt on its
axis. In the space of a split second a dozen things hit her all at once. She felt dizzy and as if she were
about to be sick. Rylan’s arms tightened around her, but she still had the odd sensation of freefalling.

“Ruthie? Honey?” she dimly heard, and although she wanted to reply, to assure the very
worried-sounding vampire she was perfectly fit and well, she instead gave it up as far too much effort and
slid softly into unconsciousness.

* * * * *

Early the following morning, Ruthie woke up in a sudden rush. As always, she instantly remembered
everything from the previous night, and only a monumental effort of will had her not groaning and burying
her head under the comfortable pillow on which she lay.

She shifted slightly, surprised to find herself wearing a large soft shirt she had never seen before. The
size, and the remembered knowledge that only Rylan and she had entered the room, had her guessing it
was his shirt she wore.

She smiled, grateful for small mercies that she at least hadn’t spent the night in the disastrously expensive
slip of a dress she had worn to the ball. The delicate, sequined material was not only disgustingly
expensive, but it would never have survived being slept in overnight.

Startled, she reached a hand down, and sighed in true gratefulness that she still wore her own skimpy
satin panties. It might not be much, but in the early morning light, her own panties still covering her body
was something to genuinely be thankful for.

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Deciding it was well past time she left, perfectly sober now, she started to crawl out of the huge,
comfortable bed. Being only human, she cast a longing, but faintly regretful glance at drop-dead
handsome, utterly naked Montague vampire who lay next to her in the bed.

She had no idea why she was so attracted to Rylan Montague, yet after the truth of the blue vodka had
smashed her upside the head she could no longer deny it. It seemed she just couldn’t help herself when it
came to the sexy bastard.

Ruthie recognized the feeling of mingled happiness and regret that she hadn’t had sex with him last night.
Particularly after their fierce, almost wild reaction to one another, she knew it truly was only a matter of
time. Their attraction was elemental, primal and almost truly out of their control.

While wild, half-drunken sex would certainly have been a delicious memory, one guaranteed to keep her
warm at night, it would also have likely been too hard to try and keep her hands off him forever
afterward.

Grabbing the holo-pad always on the bedside table in hotel rooms, she hastily typed up a note for the
sleeping vampire, and then gathered her shoes and discarded dress.

Sorry to pass out like that. You were right. I must have had more than enough blue vodka. Thanks for
the hospitality. I owe you one.

R

Worrying her lip, debating whether to write more, or less, Ruthie shrugged and saved the uncomfortable
note and left it to blink in the predawn light. Dressing quickly, folding Rylan’s comfy soft shirt on the end
of the bed, she strapped her delicate, ridiculously expensive sandals on her feet.

She felt a moment of true gratitude as the door opened to her palm-print, and then locked it silently
behind her from the outside. Since she hadn’t seen or heard anyone else in the small hotel room there
was no sense in leaving it open to anyone except Rylan.

As she flagged down a cab to head to the port, she couldn’t decide if she felt relieved or depressed at
how the night had ended. In either case, she knew it was her first, and last, Desperate and Dateless ball.

But damn, the experience had been worth it.

Chapter One

A few months later, early 2206.

Rylan watched as the woman he felt a burning need for blithely typed at her PCC, her long, slim fingers
clacking over the inbuilt keys with barely a glance from her, so natural was the ability. He bent one leg up
and rested it on the knee of his other leg in a vain attempt to hide the raging boner straining for attention in
his pants.

Rylan easily and he hoped casually answered her standard questions as she set up the file for her
records. Rylan spent the time it took to answer Ruthie’s questions to study and survey this woman who
could wring such exaggerated responses from him.

Rylan smiled in sarcastic amusement to find his usually nonexistent patience had reared its head and he

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felt not even a stirring of his usual antsy impatience. Rylan also felt pride in himself for not needling Ruthie
for asking her standard questions. She knew very well who the mark, Gavreel Montague, was. Ruthie
had met his father any number of times over the last few years, and she knew quite clearly what his
physical description was.

Even so, needing the easy chatter to help calm himself, Rylan answered her questions with a patience he
almost felt deserved an award. He had no real understanding why he was suddenly so mellow, but for
now he had no intention of rocking the boat. He and Ruthie always ignited sparks between them, and he
had a feeling more than soon enough they would be at each other’s throats, metaphorically if not
physically.

Rylan casually described his father, along with his last known coordinates and the details of his ship. But
as his mouth worked, his brain was busy with other details, such as how Ruthie had looked when he had
last seen her at his hotel room straight after leaving the Desperate and Dateless ball.

With her long red hair, a teasing, tempting wave halfway down her back, and her mischievous green
eyes, any man with blood in his veins would find her attractive, no matter what his species or origin.

Yet she teased and tempted Rylan more than he felt was usual, and almost more than he sometimes felt
capable of bearing. He had been astonished to catch a glimpse of her at the ball, her long locks freed
from their usual bondage, a tiny slip of a silver dress tied in two neat bows at each shoulder. Her delicate,
daring “come and fuck me” red heels exactly matched the polish on her toes and fingernails.

Even though she had been the same woman he’d lusted over for close to three years now, she had
seemed wilder, freer,and different somehow while at the ball. Maybe it had been the blue vodka in her?
But he doubted it.

Curious, Rylan glanced down at the nails of the fingers that clacked over the keys. He noticed her nails
were clear once again.

With disappointment running through him like a heated wave of molten lava, he felt like pouting like a
schoolboy.

He craved to see that wild, free young woman she had been at the ball. He had no idea why or how she
had been different then, maybe she simply kept her work persona on all the time when he met her at her
investigations firm. Rylan had no idea, but he recognized inside himself the fierce determination to bring
that free, wild woman out of this Ruthie once again.

At the thought of how close he had been to finally satisfying his lust and curiosity with this woman, he felt
a shaft of fiery desire sear through him. He clenched his hands, unwilling to show anyone how he
trembled with heat and lust for this particular woman. He especially didn’t wanther to know and realize
just how much power she potentially held over him.

Damnation,he swore silently to himself. His twin brother had entered into heat a few days ago. Luckily
for Simeon, he had met a particularly special woman, Clare, who had not only been able to satisfy the
raging heat and lust within him, but also had been able to complete his Soul’s Circle.

Vampires were a species who had seemingly always existed, yet who wandered with an incomplete Soul
Circle. Rarely, a vampire would be lucky enough to come across a woman, or man, whose own Soul
Circle could complete the vampire’s, creating a special intimacy unknown throughout any other race
Rylan had ever found.

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The easiest method of finding if a woman might be compatible was to attempt telepathic mind
penetration. Rude and unsociable it might be, but it was the quickest and most expedient way normally to
discover such a thing.

Rylan thought back once again to how he had tried to penetrate Ruthie’s mind at the ball, and his
amazement at not being able to. This was the easiest and most trusted first indication of a woman’s
potential to complete a vampire’s Soul Circle.

One of the many reasons he had been so eager to lie with her that evening had been to see if they could
read each other’s thoughts and fantasies, to discover if they could share each other’s mind.

To discover if this strong, temperamental woman whom he desired so very much could possibly hold the
other half of his Soul within her own.

Of course, he had been trying to get into Ruthie’s pants practically since the moment they had met. A
funnier, wittier woman he rarely found, and none had come to mind since he had begun their friendship.

The fact she seemingly held no interest in him, he, who had been propositioned by his first woman at
fifteen, made her appeal that much greater. While he sometimes felt a seconds worth of panic that she
trulywasn’t interested in him or he had no appeal to her, he knew since that night of the ball that she
acted around him almost as much as he tried to suppress his own feelings around her.

“Hello?! Bladdron to Rylan, do you copy?”

Rylan smirked and turned his attention back to Ruthie. “Sorry, babe. What was that?”

“Can Gav pilot his own ship?” Rylan snapped his mind back to the present, smirking in what he hoped
was an impish manner at Ruthie, who had sighed heavily in a galaxy-weary manner.

“Of course,” he said cheerily, wrestling with his mind how exactly to entice this remarkable woman.
“Though he hasn’t taken Alderic to navigate, so either he logged his coordinates and route with the
normal authorities, or he’s hooked up with someone unknown. I mentioned the tome, right?”

“Yep.” Rylan felt his chest constrict as Ruthie flicked her green gaze momentarily up to his face, their
eyes clashing. He could see the knowledge of that night, their kiss, the heat that had flared so strongly
between them. He smiled as she quickly glanced back down to her holo-screen.

He had never thought Ruthie a coward, nor did he now. Yet he knew the intensity of their attraction
unsettled her. He smiled. He had never played a slow stalking game, never had the need. Yet he found
his blood heating at the thought of doing so now.

He and Ruthie had been slowly meandering down an interesting path, a journey of sorts, and now
seemed to be the perfect time to try and herd them both onto a slightly different path. He truly had no
idea where it would lead, or how long it would last, but a new and slightly altered journey path seemed
utterly perfect in that moment.

He smiled, and began to plot while Ruthie cleared her throat, and in her best “I am talking business” tone
of voice, continued.

“So the first thing to do is look for the logging of any records, and then I simply have to follow the trail.”

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“I’ll come along,” Rylan interjected, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt he would need to keep a
close eye on Ruthie, for his own peace of mind more than anything else. The last thing he wanted was for
her to slip out of his net simply because he wasn’t paying attention. “I can navigate or pilot the ship,
whichever you prefer.”

“I do have working partners I can use,” she started slowly, as if unsure exactly how to progress with his
sudden serious interest.

Rylan simply snorted and shook his head in denial of her hesitant offering.

The mere fact she had offered to take a workmate in such an unsure manner, only to let her words peter
out proved to him her heart was only half in the suggestion. The Ruthie he knew could argue a man blind,
continue to harass him until he wanted to beg for mercy and give up.

Instead of her usual “don’t fuck with me” attitude and vocal insisting he butt his big head out of her
business, she now just watched him quizzically. Rylan knew for certain he could talk her around and
convince her to take him on the trip with a minimum of fuss.

“Not a chance,” Rylan said firmly but without any heat or anger in his tone. “This is my father we’re
talking about and I will need to keep both Michael and Simeon informed every day, or likely Simeon will
have a nervous breakdown.”

He watched as Ruthie rolled her eyes and tried not to let his tongue slip out and start to pant at the sexy,
utterly feminine gesture. She knew he loved to tease Simeon for his protective instincts toward not only
both his brothers, but also Vasili, their best friend and practically a member of their family. It had been a
running joke for years that they all had to check in with Simeon or pay the consequences.

Even so, this time his twin had seemingly been correct. Gavreel was usually very careful to touch base
with one of his sons so none of them would be worried or upset about his safety. Something was
definitely afoot, and now with Simeon waist-deep and sinking fast in love with his woman, Rylan knew he
would need to continue to carry the ball for their father.

Besides, he shrugged to himself, any excuse to have Ruthie’s undivided attention was good in his book.
Why waste a perfectly legitimate and almost too-easy chance to spend some quality time with this
woman who intrigued him. If nothing else he could satisfy his curiosity, and the best case scenario was he
could get some brilliant lovemaking in on the trip.

Rylan snapped back to attention as Ruthie began to save and close down the file in her PCC.

“Give me a few hours to check out the records first,” she said idly, her fingers tapping the keys with a
practiced ease, “I’ll hack into the databases if I need to. I’ll need your authorization codes for access and
I’ll comm you when I get something.”

Rylan nodded and recited the codes by heart. He added his personal comm numbers just to be sure,
smirking again as Ruthie merely sighed, but added them into his file.

“So, a few hours?” he said casually as he stood up.

“At the most,” she assured him, angling her body to indicate he should head toward the door.

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Rylan merely smiled, wondered how the hell he could have spent the last three years either consciously
or unconsciously following all her hints and small nudges. Instead, he stepped forward, only half an arm’s
length away from her body behind the faux-wooden old-fashioned desk.

“I’ll start packing,” he said casually, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. He chuckled happily, astonished
she hadn’t instantly reached for her beamer and zapped him a good one on the nuts. Instead, his beautiful
spitfire hellion had merely frowned, but allowed the friendly, though pretty chaste kiss on the cheek.

Any progress is good progress,he reminded himself sternly, when his cock and mind eagerly clamored
for him to duck in and try for another kiss, this one on the lips. This was the woman who a few weeks
ago had kneed him in the groin when he had leered at her while casually passing each other in the street.
He still hadn’t been able to return to that particular street, as the vendors had a long memory and had
laughed him out of the shop the next time he had gone in.

“I’ll comm you,” Ruthie replied, a dark frown marring the pale beauty of her face.

Obviously she was questioning herself and why she had let him have the casual intimacy of a friendly kiss
linger between them. Rylan decided to quit while he was ahead and didn’t say anything, but merely nod
at her “commands”.

“I will leave details of where to meet me if…when I find something.”

Rylan smiled. Ruthie had corrected herself quickly, but he knew how deeply ingrained her sense of
honor was. If she said she would contact him when she had data, she would.

Again he nodded, willing to wait and play this game through properly.

“Otherwise,” she continued again, “I’ll look into a few other things before we need to meet again.”

Rylan merely nodded and, casting a longing but brief glance at the delicious lips he could still taste on his
tongue, he headed out the door.

“Lovely to do business with you, Ruthie love,” he said cheerily as he pressed his palm to the panel
beside the door.

“I thought I was supposed to say that, when we part ways,” she groused, sitting back behind the desk
and attempting to bury her head behind her console.

Rylan merely laughed and stepped out onto the street.

Life was certainly looking up. He had legitimate business with the woman he was fascinated with, and
she hadn’t caused him bodily harm in almost an hour of them sharing fairly close personal space.

If his luck held out this much for a while longer, he might even get laid in the next few days. Rylan smiled
and laughed up into the sunshine. He closed his eyes as he walked the familiar pathway back to his
lodgings. The warmth of the sun on his face cheered him, but it was the vivid mental images of Ruthie
kneeling before him, taking his cock into her mouth and suckling him deep and hard that had him smiling.

Not that anyone else could tell.

Rylan opened his eyes and felt deep satisfaction course through him. He could see a long road unwinding

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before him, but with Ruthie along for the ride he seriously doubted he’d be bored for a moment.

He felt a decided jaunt in his step as he headed back to his lodgings.

Chapter Two

A small lodging on Owanus

Chandra tried to concentrate on the tome she had opened on her lap, but her mind was whirling madly.
More amazing than the plethora of thoughts coursing through her mind was the startling knowledge that
Gavreel Montague ownedland on Owanus.

The planet itself was pretty tiny, with only one main city and a small amount of surrounding countryside.
It was one of the reasons land held such value here, but also had been why millenniums ago the vampires
had searched the surrounding galaxy for more space for them to grow as a nation of creatures.

As one of the most ancient of civilizations, not only did they hold pride in leading many of the
technologies across the board of living creatures, but they also enjoyed their status as one of the higher
race of beings.

Here on Owanus, land was literally worth its weight in gold, and lodgings were so rare and so
ridiculously expensive it was a standard joke almost galaxy-wide.

And Gavreel Montague outright owned a lodging here in the small main city. Sure, it was tiny, but with a
bedroom, main room, kitchen and bathroom, here on Owanus for a non-permanent resident it was
considered practically a palace.

The various princes, both old and new—otherwise called “blooded” or “political” by non-vampires—all
had lodgings around here in the main city of Owanus. By and large their lodgings were larger and more
opulent, but when one considered most vampires went their entire existence never owning land on their
home planet, or only owning a one-roomed lodging, Gavreel’s place was more than livable.

Chandra sighed. She loved her research, she loved her studies into the various origins and legends
surrounding their kind. But today, she just couldn’t seem to concentrate. After a few wild guesses and a
pinch of luck, hearing faint murmurs about his having made a discovery of the ancient and long-lost
“Ancient Civilization of the Early Vampires”, a tome thought to have the most highly acclaimed
mythological background to their species, she had finally tracked Gavreel down to the Colonial Library
here on Owanus.

While the two of them had shared more than a few seriously heated arguments through their various
journals and papers, they both, however, grudgingly had to accept each other as the joint best in their
field. Chandra had twisted Gavreel’s arm to let her tag along and help his research, and he in turn had
insisted on her taking a blood oath to follow his lead.

Although they had been back at his lodgings a fair time, neither of them had brought the subject up again,
as they had immediately cracked open their books and continued to study. Chandra had never been
particularly successful atnot thinking about a subject, and with something as heavy and important as a
blood oath sitting between them, now was no exception.

The only factor that gave her a glimmer of confusion was she truly thought Gavreel, so immersed in his
study of the text he perused, might have utterly forgotten his earlier insistence at her swearing the

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unbreakable and irremovable oath.

Her conscience also now needed to wrestle with the question of shouldshe bring the subject up, or hope
Gav might forget it totally. That would be highly unlikely, as she felt fairly confident as soon as he cleared
his mind of his studies, he would once again insist on her blood oath. But maybe ifshe brought the subject
up she could bargain with him, maybe offer him a bloodvow , instead of the more serious oath?

Come on Chandra, her mind whispered softly to her as she squirmed on her seat,that’s not the only
thing stealing your attention .

Chandra frowned at herself. Sighing in resignation she capitulated to herself and for the first time ever let
herself acknowledge just how truly handsome she found the scholarly Gavreel Montague.

He would likely never be a trendsetter, or the coolest man in the galaxy, but with his short dark hair and
soul-deep dark brown eyes she found him astonishingly handsome—considering some of the completely
wrong-headed views he could take on some of the texts they both wrote arguing papers on.

Chandra allowed her mind to wander as she looked over the odd vampire sitting only a few paces out of
reach in the matching comfortable chair. She had for so many years been absorbed in her academic
studies, using the gaining of knowledge to fill the void in her life, yet for the first time in ages, she found
herself awakening sexually again, and weaving a naughty fantasy.

Gavreel would turn his face up toward her, the full mouth smiling at her in welcome and interest. He
would insist that the small, petty arguments they had been involved in for all these many months, years
maybe, were utter rubbish and he had been an imbecile for not seeing her for the sensual woman she truly
was beneath her thirst for knowledge.

Chandra could see vividly in her imagination how Gavreel would grab her hand, lead her over to his
large chair and pull her face down to meet his own, kissing her mercilessly.

Chandra felt her face flush with the force of her fantasy, her clothes felt constrictive and tight, as if she
had swollen and grown, or the material itself had shrunk. She thought she felt a few dots of sweat appear
on her face, but she brushed the thought aside with ease.

Vampires didn’t sweat.

Chandra smiled as she began to really get into her fantasy, really started to enjoy it.

She imagined Gavreel would then stand up, his lips swollen from their kiss and her heart and blood
would be pumping furiously, her body aching and crying for release.

He would pull her close to his body, lower his head to hers once more and thrust his tongue in her
mouth. He would taste hot, spicy. He would moan at the heat rising between them and they would tangle
together.

A heated fusion of two minds, two bodies.

Two souls.

Chandra blinked, the simple words, “Two Souls”, echoing in her mind as she came crashing back to
reality. Annoyed with herself for letting her imagination run away with her, she berated herself.

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Since when had she lost her focus halfway through a quest? Was she losing her mind?

Between fretting over the blood oath and her bizarre attraction to Gavreel, Chandra realized her
emotions were beginning to overwhelm her. She needed to get herself back on track, stop looking at
Gavreel as a sexy vampire, and return to her more comfortable mental image of him as an adversary with
whom she currently found herself aligned.

Looking down at her rather dry book of mythologies she pursed her lips a moment. With so much heat
flaring around her mind and body right now it was no wonder at all she had trouble concentrating on
anything other than flaming fantasies of a vampire she had only met in person a half-dozen times or so.

Instead of beating her head against the proverbial brick wall any longer, Chandra decided to test the
waters with some casual conversation instead.

Small steps, she reminded herself,quit trying to take a leap before you’ve checked the depth of the
water, Chan .

“So why don’t you live here permanently, Gav?” she asked curiously as she looked up from her text to
stare at the vampire sitting across the room from her.

“You’d have permanent access to the Colonial Vampire Library,” she pointed out in what she hoped
was a reasonable tone and not a slightly breathy one as she once again tried to ignore her sexual
attraction to the vampire currently sitting only a few feet away from her. Had the room grown more stuffy
in the last few minutes? “Not to mention most of the ancient and rare texts,” she trailed off, wondering if
she were losing her mind.

Chandra watched as the handsome vampire merely shrugged without even looking up from his text and
continued to study it while he spoke, not even shifting slightly from his seat and the hold he had on the
massive tome.

“I’ve always had itchy feet, could never settle permanently in the one place for too long,” Gavreel replied
without looking up from his text. “I started traveling after my hundredth and fiftieth birthday. I wanted to
see more of the world. I met Rebeka a number of years later when I entered heat, and she gave me
Michael. I tried hard to settle down with her, to make living in the one place work. She was killed in one
of the insurrections I was studying when Michael was still a baby, two or three I believe.”

Chandra felt her spirits sink. She hadn’t meant to pry, but the easy, familiar way Gavreel talked about a
woman he had obviously loved made her feel uneasy, almost like a voyeur. She frowned at the odd
notions. What on earth was getting into her?

“I’m sorry, I have never known someone to lose their mate,” she said, floundering for the right words of
condolence, or just something neutral to say.

“Oh, we didn’t complete each other’s souls. We both figured we had years and years to do that, if
indeed we would. In a sense I am glad, it means I didn’t waste away, or at least suffer even more than I
did, after her death. I still had Michael to live for, after all, so I likely would have lived even if her death
had literally torn half my soul out. But it strengthened my determination not to complete my soul, not to tie
myself down in such a permanent manner. I love my sons, more than anything else in the world, but I
need my solitary pursuits, to continue my studies.”

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Chandra stared, feeling slightly dumbfounded. She felt her breath hitch as her own much lighter brown
eyes clashed for a split second with Gavreel’s as he glanced up, and then directly back down to his text.

Feeling faintly shocked at herself, she realized she wanted to ask more questions—to find out more
about this vampire whom she knew so well in an academic sense, but barely at all in a personal sense.
Even while she thought this and felt her curiosity about this vampire rise, she could practically see him
draw back in on himself, regain his composure once again and close down that open and confiding nature
which she had drawn out for a moment.

She stood up from the comfortable chair she had ensconced herself in earlier in the day and brought her
tome on Ancient Vampiric Artifacts over to where he sat.

“Here,” she said, laying the tome on his lap on top of the text he already read. “Adedenious states
clearly that she buried the Vampiric Rune of Knowledge on Klampor. Now if we can find the rune,
assuming it’s still there, that should lead us to the Sacred Vow.”

“Adedenious is famous for her misdirections, surely evenyou know that, Chandra.”

Chandra sighed, prepared for a familiar battle. Her stomach turned over at finally,finally being able to
have it in person and not across a number of months’ worth of journal letters.

“And evenyou know you have less solid information than what I just put in front of your face. Iknow you
didn’t want me to borrow this text, Iknow you think Adedenious is just anther flighty woman,
demigoddess or not. But no matter what else she was, no one in their right mind can deny she was a
great and brilliant scholar and obviously did what you have failed to do—find the rune. And I might also
point out,she didn’t have the Vampiric tome to help her.”

“That tome has the key,” Gavreel insisted stubbornly.

Chandra felt herself smiling at his tone of voice. She could feel his will bending, even as he struggled
against it.

“I’m sure your precious tome does have the key. It’s just of no particular use without the lock.” Chandra
blinked as she thought she saw Gavreel incline his head in the tiniest of nods.

She thought to rub her eyes for a moment, unsure she had seen the gesture at all. It would have been an
excessive concession Gavreel had just given her. Why, from anyone else that would have been a
surrender, a waving of the white flag.

Chandra stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn’t want to push Gavreel too far, but it
would be ridiculously stupid not to try and push a little while she held the upper hand and he was
admitting to such.

“You’re being stubborn, and you know it, Montague,” she said in her most scolding tone. Outright
frustration would only make him dig his heels in further, so she hoped the scolding tone would work.

“Besides,” she continued, “since when has anygreat scholar,” she pierced him with a look showingshe
was willing to give a little in their argument in the hopes of finding a middle ground, “had the luxury of
ignoring something purely because it’s conceived and written of by a woman?”

She nearly laughed at the angry, scorching glance Gavreel sent her. He rightly ignored the flattery she

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had tried to lay on him, and concentrated more on her meaning. She watched as Gavreel bent his head
and began to read the chapter she had found and so roughly pointed out to his notice.

Chandra stayed her ground, didn’t move from beside his chair and give him any room to relax or change
his mind. She read the words again over his shoulder as he also read them, likely not for the first time, but
hopefully for the first time with an open mind.

When he had finished, he sighed and she could practically hear him thinking.

“Okay, you can navigate,” Gavreel’s deep, husky voice filled the room.

Chandra blinked, surprised and slightly put off balance by the seemingly easy capitulation.

“Huh?” she replied stupidly “You can navigate us to Klampor,” Gavreel said, his dark eyes searching her
face.

Chandra nodded and grinned, wondered if it would be considereddéclassé if she started to do a victory
dance around the room.

“I still don’t think Adedenious is right,” Gavreel continued, his low voice slightly rough with his
annoyance of having to defer this particular point to her. Chandra felt relieved he was conceding her the
point at all. “But I have no newer records at all regarding the Vampiric Rune of Knowledge, and so it’s
the next best thing to a lead we have.”

Chandra nodded and stood there stupidly for a moment. She took a moment to stretch, giving herself a
few much-needed seconds to shift her mental gears and help herself to think coherently once more. Her
body still felt warm and slightly cramped.

Damn,she thought in wonder,that fantasy really shook me .I can’t recall the last time one has taken
a hold of my mind and hormones like that.

She frowned, wondered for a moment at how such a simple fantasy could be so very potent, and why
now? While she enjoyed her private life, it was completely out of context for one little fantasy to get
blown so completely out of proportion for her, or foranything to come between her and her research.

Thankfully, Gavreel didn’t seem to notice anything amiss with her. Maybe she just looked deep in
thought? Which was true, just not in the sense she assumed he thought.

“I think we should pack up all these tomes and take them with us,” Gavreel continued musing aloud, the
mention of packing up finally bringing Chandra out of her haze. “We might find something there which will
need referencing, or if we find nothing we’ll be back to square one again and we might as well start out
again from Klampor and not have to waste the time coming back here again.”

Chandra cleared her head and brought her mind firmly and finally back to the task at hand.Pack , she
reminded herself,move out, and navigate ship .

“Oh, yes, right. Well, okay then. I should be able to pack my books, I never even got around to
unpacking my soft bag from when we came in from the library, so I will likely only be a few minutes.”

“Are you okay, Chandra?” he asked, resting a hand on her shoulder in friendly concern.

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Chandra cringed when she realized even knee-deep in his own thoughts, Gavreel still could figure
something was amiss with her.

Chandra squirmed a little under Gavreel’s probing eye and the warmth she could feel penetrating her thin
shirt from his hand.

She had never been one to fantasize so strongly, she was more of an action woman when it came to her
sexual life. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been reduced to fantasizing about a man instead
of merely taking him.

She brought her body back under control, quashed the fires raging for release inside her. She had
indulged in a magnificent bout of fucking before shipping over here, knowing she likely would be on a
journey once she caught up with Gavreel. She should be fully sated, not on edge like this.

She shook her head and idly wondered if she had packed any of her toys. She might need a few minutes
alone in the cleansing chamber to take the edge off.

Realizing Gavreel still stood next to her, waiting for her reply, she cleared her throat and spoke of the
first thing that came to mind.

“Sure, I’m okay. I’m just a bit nervous about that blood oath you mentioned you wanted me to take.
Such things really should not be taken so lightly, and it has me a bit on edge.”

Chandra never would have believed it, but Gavreel tilted his head and seemed to take her very seriously.
She flushed faintly, ashamed to have lied about her slip of attention, but in truth, it was accurate to a
degree. Not ten minutes ago she had been feeling as if she were walking around delicately, waiting for
him to pounce and decree he wanted her blood oath.

She met his steady gaze, unwilling to flinch or back down from her statement.

“I know you would never knowingly jeopardize our research, you’re too similar to me in that respect.
But also like me, you are a damnable stubborn vampire and I refuse to spend half or more of our trip
trying to rein you in.”

Chandra merely waited, not willing to start a fight until there was something seriously worth fighting
about.

“On the other hand,” Gavreel continued, “you do have a point. Blood oaths are a nasty business, and
when taken the wrong way have heinous consequences.”

Chandra nodded. She opened her mouth to mention the alternative option of a blood vow, but quickly
shut her mouth. Lethim mention the blood vow. Why dig herself deeper into any hole?

She stood there, waiting in what she hoped appeared to be a patient manner, even though she felt
nothing of the sort. When Gavreel sighed, shrugged and turned around, she felt her spirits lifting.

“Do not mistake me, Chandra,” he said in his even tone of voice, “the moment you appear to be
compromising the search, I will insist on a blood vow, if not your oath. But for now, particularly
considering I know you want this knowledge as much if not more than me, I think we need to learn to
trust one another.”

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Chandra nodded and smiled. “I agree. It might be amusing and academically helpful for us to be
adversaries over the journals, particularly when we so strongly disagree with some pretty major points of
contention. But in this instance, we are searching for the same thing, coming from similar angles, though
different viewpoints. We will make far more inroads into our own discoveries if we attempt to work
together than if we work separately or in opposition to one another.”

She smiled as Gavreel nodded and glanced searchingly at her. Chandra felt a faint flush of desire creep
through her body. She turned to pick up her tomes to try and hide her surprising reaction from the
vampire.

“You’re right,” he said, and she stopped, almost dropping the heavy tome she had picked up.Had the
bastard read her mind? She worried, gnawing on her lower lip. She felt her breath escape in a whoosh
of relief when he continued his thought unknowing of her moment of panic.

“We should get packing. The quicker we leave, the faster we can head out to Klampor.”

Chandra smiled and started moving with a quick, concise ease. She ordered her mind to start a packing
list so she could be fast and efficient.

She sincerely hoped the quicker they could get in the air, hopefully the faster she could sort out whatever
the hell was wrong with her body and the suddenly far-too-intense fantasies she seemed to be harboring
for this vampire who shared the room with her.

Gavreel watched as Chandra bustled around the room, running a hand through her short, spiky blonde
hair, her light brown eyes glowing with suppressed excitement for the journey upon which they were
about to embark.

He watched, totally intrigued as she picked up heavy tomes and texts as if they were thin paperbacks.
She was an amazing, remarkable vampiress—he grimaced to even hear himselfthinking such thoughts. If
anyone had told him he’d truly believe such a thing even yesterday he’d have wet himself laughing so
hard.

This was the woman who somehow managed to constantly annoy him in print, the only vampiress he had
ever known todare question his beliefs and research in print as well as over the communications unit. Yet
sometime between her approaching him in the Vampiric Colonial Library, him bringing her home and
them studying together searching for the same object, he had found a new respect for her. He had never
disrespected her as such, but he squirmed when he realized he had simply never thought her own
thoughts and approach to subjects as being simplydifferent to his own instead of outright incorrect.

He frowned darkly, wondering if her air of abstract concentration was because she was mulling over
their hypothesis—or whether she found herself as surprised as he to realize he actually rather enjoyed her
company.

He moved sluggishly, picking up texts and tomes at random and carrying them to his own bag to begin
packing. Instead of pondering and plotting the course ahead, as he likely would be under any other
circumstances, Gavreel found himself wondering why he had spoken about the woman he considered his
first wife.

He would never have consciously considered talking to Chandra of all people about Rebeka. He had
barely mentioned the first love of his life to anyone other than his sons, whom he strongly believed ought
to know about the woman who was so important to Michael as well as himself.

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He didn’t understand this need he had felt, almost overpowering in its fierceness, to confide in this
vampiress above all other men and women. Since he hadn’t thought consciously to confide in her, maybe
he finally was beginning to feel the need for some companionship, for a confidant.

The stars knew he had few enough people in his life—his three sons, their best friend Vasili, and finally
Gavreel’s oldest friend, Alderic. Five people in the whole galaxy who knew who he was other than a
name or a face. Maybe he reallywas subconsciously needing to add another person to the ranks of
people whom he could share some part of himself with.

Gavreel tried to sort out the complex maze of feelings and emotions residing inside him and could barely
begin to unwrap the knot inside his chest. For the first time in his close to six hundred years of existence
he couldn’t even begin to understand his own inner turmoil and complex workings.

When had his fascination with this particular scholarly woman begun? When had his feelings changed
from being largely irritation and frustration into a deeper respect?

When had he begun to have a genuine desire to understand her better, and have her understandhim
better?

Gavreel shook his head as he threw half a dozen heavy volumes into a large carryall.No, he argued with
himself. This strange new emotion felt far deeper than a fleeting loneliness requiring some friendship and
companionship. Likely sometime during their heated correspondences he had begun to unconsciously
think of her in a more positive light, but the frustrations of her thoughts and hypotheses had blinded him to
this deeper, far more complex, growing set of emotions.

He chuckled to himself as he recalled Chandra having left him on far more than one occasion snarling at
the chirpy comm message she had left with her latest reference and finding, as he felt certain she had felt
frequently in return to him.

That thought made him pause for a moment, a clean skinsuit half folded in his hands. Did Chandra feel a
similar surprising sense of camaraderie for him in return? Now they had spent more than a few minutes
not spitting in argument with each other? Castigating himself for a fool, Gavreel shook the thought from
his head and continued to pack.

Despite their large and frequent differences of opinion, she was one of the few people he truly counted
as an academic like himself. One of the rare people whose findings he truly listened to and paid attention
to, even as he tried his damnedest to cast down in flames each and every insane theory she came forward
with.

He could have sworn back in the main room when she had been showing him the reference about
Adedenious, he had caught a fleeting glimpse of a thought in her mind. It had been a blurry fantasy of
himself rising up from his chair and kissing Chandra senseless on her full, sensual lips.

Of course, it was far more likely that washis thought or fantasy roaming out of control in his mind and his
brain had simply been thinking of both the rune as well as Chandra and for a moment his fantasy had
sprung free. Chandra had never shown anything but an academic interest in him.

Gavreel shook his head and let his mind so easily slip back into thinking of the knowledge he sought. It
was roughly the equivalent of the Holy Grail, or the Vampire Knowledge of All. He felt a burning,
pressing need to search for and find this knowledge. He knew once he was in front of whatever final gulf

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awaited him, the dedication in the Vampiric tome would give him the key.

To reach your heart’s desire, One must travel far and wide. But then take the time to look
inside—That’s where, for what you search, you will find.

He knew it was a riddle of some sort. He blew out a frustrated breath as he started to zip up his bag.
Bloody riddles had always been one of his weak spots, not that he would admit it freely.

Even so, he had utter, unshakable faith that when the time came, he would be able to finish his quest and
find what he searched for.

An answer to the partners who could complete Soul Circles.

In effect, an answer to love, and soul partners.

The Vampiric Knowledge of All according to legend and many myths, could only be resolved with the
Vampiric Rune of Knowledge, which was the item they sought, as had thousands before them.

Many would say it was a fool’s journey, but Gavreel knew he had found enough references, read
enough texts to know that therehad to be a formula, an answer of some description. And when he found
it, hopefully he could answer his own questions.

Hefting his bag easily over his shoulder, he exited his tiny bedchamber and called out for Chandra. They
stood in front of his lodgings door, eyeing each other. Gavreel could barely believe he was about to take
this vampiress above anyone else with him on the most important quest of his lifetime.

“Shall we, my dear?” he questioned, falling back on the Old World formality instead of trying to sort
through his own jumbled mass of confused thoughts and feelings.

When she smiled, her short, spiky hair seemed to spring out in every which direction, he found an
answering warmth in her light brown eyes.

“Most definitely,” she said easily, waiting while he opened the door for her.

Locking it behind himself with the usual family code, so only himself or his three sons would be able to
reenter, he fell into step beside Chandra as they headed for the port, their ship, and the destiny that
awaited them.

He knew it would be one hell of a journey, and he felt more than ready for it, and more than able to
complete whatever would need to be done.

Chapter Three

Rylan entered the large lodging he shared with his twin as well as—when he felt like it—his elder
brother, with a lot of banging and knocking of the panels and furniture.

Unlike the times he had staggered home rather the worse for drink or after a particularly long and
involved night on the town, Rylan didn’t make a large amount of noise because he could barely see or
walk straight. Nope, he had a very real and strong desire to give plenty of warning to Simeon, his twin
brother.

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There was no particular reason Rylan could think for Simeon to be in the main sections of their lodgings,
the main living areas which all three Montague siblings shared as a general meeting and often eating
area—because Simeon and his partner Clare should, at this particular time, be at work.

Even with this oh-so logical reasoning backing him up, Rylan found he really,really didn’t want to find
himself in the situation of walking in on his twin and his twin’s mate doing something best kept behind
closed doors.

Since he still felt scarred for life the last time he had accidentally interrupted them, Rylan for once found
discretion to be the better part of valor. Besides, Simeon had threatened him with a hideously slow and
painful death if he ever walked in on those two sharing some “special time” ever again.

Not only would a knock-down drag out fight ruin his practically, so far, perfect morning, but also it
would likely send him running from the room like a five year old walking in on his parents doing the dirty.
Which he had once done when his parents had been having roaring, raucous sex late one evening during
an electrical storm.

The young Rylan had awoken from the ferocity of the storm and wanted to feel his mommy’s warm arms
around him. With Simeon asleep and dead to the world, unconcerned only in the manner of a child
innocent of the knowledge of the storm, Rylan had raced into his parent’s bedchamber, only to be
confronted with their passion. He had never been so embarrassed, nor, he felt sure with an adult’s
perspective now, had his parents ever felt so embarrassed either.

Repeating the experience as an adult with his twin brother, whom he admittedly loved very deeply, was
not something he felt prepared for, now or ever.

“I’m in here, Ry,” Simeon called from the main living area.

Rylan heaved a relieved sigh and entered the room with no fear. He felt it odd how the strangest and
most bizarre things could be the one to make him tremble. Generally speaking he was practically fearless.

“How was Ruthie?” his twin asked, butting in on his thoughts.

Rylan cast a searching glance at Simeon, looking for signs of teasing he felt certain should be present.
His brother, however, managed to have a completely straight face as he relaxed in the large, wide couch
they had purchased together many years ago.

Rylan smiled and decided to take the question at face value.

“Gorgeous, as always,” he replied easily, sitting down on the couch beside his twin. “Where’s Clare?”
he asked curiously, his face totally inscrutable. “That’s one stunning woman you’ve managed to snare,
bro. How the hell did she offer up parts of her magnificent soul for a schmuck like you?”

He easily ducked the elbow thrust Simeon sent his way as if he had been expecting it for ages, which he
had in the sense he knew his brother would retaliate from his teasing. He and Simeon were as close as
twins could be, and had been for as long back as either could remember.

Half the time he knew what Si thought even before his twin did.

Rylan moved off the couch, knowing his twin would soon be wrestling for a headlock, and instead sat on
a well-padded chair nearby.

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“Where’s Michael?” Rylan asked, slightly disappointed to be changing the subject away from Clare. He
silently admitted to himself he wouldn’t mind a few tips on how to snare a singularly smart woman—the
knowledge might come in handy for Ruthie, but he couldn’t admit that to Si or anyone else.

And so, when in doubt, change the topic of conversation. The tactic usually worked on his twin, this time
being no different. Simeon cast him a searching glance, but settled back on the couch, his arms easily
crossed over his flat stomach.

“Still talking to Alderic and searching Gav’s office there I assume. I don’t exactly keep trackers on the
two of you, you know.”

Rylan snorted and picked up a holo-zine lying nearby. “Could have fooled me, bro.”

As he idly flipped open the zine, he could practically feel Simeon staring at him.

“You’re in an awfully good mood considering you’ve just come back from talking with Ruthie. Don’t tell
me she didn’t try to cut your balls off?”

Rylan smiled. While he knew when to give up a delicate conversational topic, Simeon often was like a
dog with a bone. Particularly when it concerned family, or worse,his particular feelings. He tried to sound
as casual as possible as he replied to his brother, keeping his eyes firmly on the half-dressed model in the
holo-zine.

“Not in the slightest,” he replied easily, pretending to concentrate on the model’s pose and not flashing
back to the way Ruthie had looked, both twenty minutes ago as well as back at the Ball.

He had purposely chosen to neglect to mention to either of his brothers about encountering her there and
spending the night with her, although platonically. While he felt certain he would receive commiserations
from both his brothers at Ruthie’s passing out after a few heated kisses, he truly didn’t want to have to go
through the ignominy of having their every following conversation hacked apart and commented on like
the latest ball game.

Rylan had actually gone over to Vasili’s lodging the following morning to talk to his buddy about the
entire scenario with Ruthie and himself. He had desperately craved to admit to someone how good it had
felt to simply fall asleep with the surprising woman in his arms.

While he loved his brothers dearly, he felt too raw, the feelings too new and vulnerable to want to have
to deal with the teasing from his two siblings. Besides, whole cities acknowledged him as the stud of the
family. Admitting he had been as close as ever before to blowing his load merely lying platonically next to
a woman who had passed out was not the best way for him to keep his reputation intact.

In any event, Simeon had been acting oddly all throughout the D and D ball, obviously showing his
pre-stages of entering heat, and he hadn’t wanted to burden his twin with his strange musings and the
truly staggering reflection he would be content to lie beside Ruthie any and every night, and just hold her
in his arms. Sure, he wanted sex just as much as he wanted the air to breathe, but there also lay a strange
form of peace and contentment merely holding her in his arms.

Ironically, instead of unburdening himself to his best and oldest friend, he had found Vasili with his head
over the rim of his commode, puking his guts up and looking like he had been on the worst sort of
bender. His friend had overindulged at the ball, in many senses of the word, and had paid the high price

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their kind did for overindulging in alcohol, fun as it was initially.

Rylan snapped back to attention, realized Simeon had asked him something, though lost in his own
thoughts as he’d been, he had no idea what his twin had queried him about.

“So give, what’s happening between you and Ruthie?” Simeon repeated, obviously reading his mind.

Rylan shrugged, knowing he wouldn’t be able to bullshit his twin this time, not with Simeon staring so
hard at him and obviously willing to scan his thoughts if need be. He decided to at least try and give in
graciously.

“She agreed to look into it and call me in a few hours,” he said, hoping he didn’t sound like some
lovesick teenager—or not more than usual anyway. “We’re going to follow Gav’s trail and see where it
leads us. Ruthie thinks he’ll have logged his coordinates, so you can stop stressing, bro. Hopefully we’ll
be tailing him and reaming him for forgetting about checking in with you in a day or two, tops.”

“You really are smitten with her, aren’t you?” Simeon said, a grin across his face.

Rylan debated a moment whether to ignore his twin or maybe just get a solid punch on his face. Instead,
he decided to be truthful. It felt odd to be keeping his growing desire for Ruthie a secret from his twin.

Rylan shrugged and tried to word how he felt carefully.

“Likely I’ll be entering heat soon, what with you already knee-deep in it yourself. I figured I might as
well get myself prepared early, and flirting with Ruthie makes me feel better. You know I’ve had
a…thing…for her for a while. And she was there at the ball looking like sex on a stick in one of those
shoulder-tie slinky dresses and all…” Rylan let his words peter out as he floundered. Simeon’s eyes had
widened so the whites showed clearly at his mentioning Ruthie being at the Vampiric Desperate and
Dateless ball. He’d forgotten he hadn’t mentioned that tidbit to his twin.

Rylan flushed slightly and cleared his throat, but Simeon beat him to it.

“Ruthie was there looking hot and you didn’t mention it to me? What? Did she knock you back again?
So what’s new with that?”

“Uh…” Seriously wishing he had kept his mouth shut, Rylan struggled to come up with something
plausible. Finally he relented and just told Si the truth. “She didn’t exactly knock me back. We kissed,
devastatingly so, but she conked out before we…uh…did much.”

“Ruthie passed out? You didn’t dope her up or something, right? She’d have hunted you down and
killed you if you did that.”

Rylan felt his temper rise in indignation.

“I did no such thing! She had consumed a number of blue vodka shots and I think they simply caught up
with her. You know she’s not a big drinker. We spent a completely platonic night together in the hotel
room.” Rylan snapped his mouth shut before he could dig the hole he felt he was in any deeper.

To his consternation, Si neither howled with laughter, as Rylan felt he would have had the tables been
turned, nor did his twin offer a plethora of advice Rylan felt no need nor any patience for.

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Instead, his twin stared hard at him, as if he were a stranger whom he had never met. Rylan felt the
familiar, faint probing of his twin scouring his mind and seemingly his soul.

Rylan kept himself wary but open, tried to act nonchalant and as if he had nothing to hide. He didn’t
realize exactly what itwas he wanted to hide, but somehow Si seemed so much older and wiser now than
he had before completing himself with Clare.

Rylan felt an utterly alien shaft of jealousy sear through him at the thought of how complete, satisfied and
fulfilled his twin felt with his woman. Feeling guilty and obnoxious, Rylan closed off the strange and petty
emotions before they had even fully taken a hold of him.

Rylan felt Simeon withdraw his intimate mental touch and instead of shouts of triumph or gloating or even
boasting, his twin merely laughed softly and sat back deeper into the couch.

A slightly uneasy silence stretched out before them. Rylan didn’t want to ask what his twin had seen, and
hoped to heaven he hadn’t seen the strange jealousy he had never before experienced. He hadn’t
realized he held his breath until it came whooshing out at his twin’s easy, comfortable words.

“Well, bro, you know how to reach me,” he said as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

Rylan cast a quick glance at his twin and found his dark brown eyes clear and smiling, not any of the
worry or stress he usually saw in Si’s eyes. Rylan had no idea what to make of it. What had Simeon
recognized in his mind that not evenhe knew about?

“Just make sure you check in with me from time to time so I don’t worry about you too.”

Rylan grimaced and stood up. Si almost sounded smug, but in an unusual, new way he had never come
across. It almost felt as if Si were in on a joke and he, Rylan, had no idea what it was about.

He looked once more over his twin, and decided to leave the entire conversation behind him. It would
evidently be safer for his mental state if he did. Mulling and trying to sort out Ruthie and her mental state
was more than enough for him, he could figure out his twin later, once he had sorted his own life out.

Besides, it wouldn’t take him more than five minutes to pack his gear up. He could take his comm unit
with him so he wouldn’t miss Ruthie’s call, and still be able to check in on Vasili before it was time to
leave.

It would be much easier to rib his buddy over his monumental hangover and subsequent fall from grace
than it would be to try and figure out whatever the hell Si had learnt and was happily chewing over in his
mind. Far more entertaining too.

“Sure thing,” he agreed as he started to head out the door. “The last thing I want is you freaking out over
me as well as Gav.”

“No need to worry about that, Ry,” Simeon said, standing up to snatch the holo-zine from where he had
left it. “I’ll at least know you’re alive, but I would appreciate an update every now and then.”

As Simeon brushed past him, Rylan was bombarded with a heated image from his twin. He felt certain,
due to its content, that the sharing of his fantasy had been completely accidental.

His dear, saintly brother, was desperately hot and thinking about pretty much nothing except picking up

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his woman from where she sat behind her desk in the Book Nook, the antiquities book store Gav and his
friend and co-owner, Alderic ran, carting her to the nearest soft object and fucking her like mad.

Rylan shook his head and laughed as he headed out of the main room.

“Better go to her soon, bro,” he called out, “or else you might explode.”

He laughed even harder as Simeon told him, in no uncertain terms, what he could do with himself. Even
though it was physically, not to mention anatomically impossible, it certainly sounded impressive coming
from his twin’s mouth. Rylan made a note of it and filed it away for later use.

He headed across to his quarters to pack. He mightn’t be able to do what Simeon suggested alone, but
with Ruthie and a few select toys, he might be prepared to adapt it a bit and at the very least try it out
with her.

Laughing, he let his mind roam back to all the things he would seriously enjoy doing and sharing with her,
and he quickly began to pack a bag of gear to travel with.

Chapter Four

As Rylan climbed up the stairs leading to his best friend’s lodgings he smiled as he wondered whether
Vas would have fully recovered by now from the ball. While vampires could eat and drink, much the
same as most other species, it didn’t do anything much for them as they didn’t need their energy from
food sources.

Instead, vampires “fed” through emotions, and on the rare occurrence they were life-threateningly ill or
had not fed in a very long time, they could gain emotions through another’s blood. Physically though, they
were perfectly able to eat and drink, only excessing on either caused their system to overload and purge
the stuff from their body.

Alcohol had a very similar effect on vampires as it did in humans and many another races, it created a
false sense of euphoria, lowered inhibitions, but also made one unaware of just how much one consumed.
So the problem with a vampire over-indulging in alcohol had similar repercussions as it did in a
human—only with a twelve to twenty-four hour head start.

The following morning to afternoon, one awoke to a monstrous headache, and began a very long period
of puking one’s guts up and feeling as if one were about to die.

Rylan had helped his best friend get as comfortable as possible at the start of his purging, and then other
than frequent comms to tease him, he also checked up Vas was indeed still alive and kicking, and
swearing up a storm.

A few days ago he had come over, prepared to help his friend out by offering some emotion, or blood if
he had need, but instead his friend had been almost better and back to his normal spirits. Rylan had found
himself sworn at, and at his ribbing, promptly thrown from the lodging. Vasili was well on his way to
recovery, and today Rylan fully expected to see his friend back to normal and with his every hair
perfectly in place and all right with his world.

He signaled his presence, unwilling to press his palm to the panel just in case Vas wasn’t back to a
hundred percent anymore. Vas’ print would let him enter any of the Montague homes, just as all of them
would be gained admittance into his lodging under normal circumstances. Considering his friend still might

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have a bear of a headache, Rylan decided not to press his luck too far.

Vasili answered the door, his black curls perfectly in place and falling like a curtain of silk around his
shoulders. Dark, dark black eyes stared at him with a wary but still warm greeting.

Rylan grinned hugely at his best friend. Obviously Vas worried that he had simply come to tease him
more. He held out his hand and they shook, greeting one another warmly.

“Feeling better, Vas?” he teased, the easy camaraderie falling between them as if the previous few days
had never occurred. His friend shot him a curious look through his black eyes and for a moment he
wondered if Si had commed him before Rylan could arrive.

He breathed easier, seeing no lurking hidden knowledge, just a genuine wariness. Rylan could tell Vasili
felt much better, as not only had his friend’s sarcastic sense of humor returned, noticeably absent this last
week, but also his hair was once more neatly arranged in the perfect manner Rylan had become
accustomed to.

“Har, har. You’re so very funny, Ry. So catch me up. What’s been happening? Heard from Gav yet?”

Rylan laughed as Vasili stepped aside to let him enter the lodging, the two of them easily falling into step
as they had for more years than either preferred to count.

“Nope, no word yet, but Si has found his mate. They’ve closed their soul circles and everything.”

“What? No shit?” Vasili replied, looking over his shoulder in startled amazement.

Rylan walked through into the main living area and sat down on one of the well-padded chairs. Vasili
waved and cold sodas appeared on the table for them both.

“Tell me about Simeon,” Vasili insisted as he shot a nasty look at the soda, finally settling to ignore it. “I
thought he was acting strangely at the Ball.”

“Likely Si was entering heat,” Rylan hypothesized, knowing it was very likely, if not certainly true. “And
probably was suppressing it too, hence none of us really understanding what was going on other than
some maggot being lodged in his mind.”

Rylan shifted uncomfortably as Vasili laughed, his head thrown back in his amusement.

“Know something about suppressing your heat, huh?” he chuckled, and Rylan could do nothing but grunt
and lift his drink up, hopefully enough to hide his eyes. “If Si is in heat you can’t be too far behind, being
twins and all,” Vasili continued, causing Rylan to grit his teeth.

Rylan knew his good friend meant well, but dammit he was not some untried youth, nor was this his first
heat phase. He could take care of himself and his needs just fine.

His conscience butted in with graphic reminders ofhim butting in to Vas’ life and private space while he
had been ill. Sure, Vasili had been sick, but still more than capable of taking care of himself. Sighing,
Rylan resigned himself to monumental teasing as well as friendly butting-in for the next moon cycle or so.

Rylan shrugged at his friend, not really wanting to say anything one way or the other. Instead, he took
another swig of the drink.

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“Mike has been acting oddly too recently,” Rylan stated, hoping to move the conversation away from
himself and his own problems. “I don’t know what’s up with him,” he said, frowning slightly.

“Well, it only makes sense really,” Vasili said in his most I-am-being-reasonable tone of voice.

Rylan looked at his friend, looking deceptively innocent and raised his eyebrows in query.

Vasili continued, “Gavreel went into heat before you were all born, obviously. So it makes sense you all
would fall into heat within a matter of months of each other. You and Si in particular should be fairly close
physiologically.”

Rylan shrugged again, the comment making a lot of sense, but not sure what exactly to say about it.

“I can’t afford to go into heat,” Rylan said, taking another long sip of the soda. “With Si rolling around all
the time, utterly besotted with Clare—she’s a darling by the way—it’s pretty much up to Mike and me to
find Gav.” Rylan paused for a moment, wondering why particularly now all roads, all avenues and even
conversations for him seemed to lead back to Ruthie. What was it about the chick that made him act like
some besotted imbecile?

Rylan sighed, giving up and telling Vasili exactly what heknew his friend waited for.

“That’s why I’ve hired Ruthie,” he finally admitted, feeling as if a weight was removed from his shoulders
each and every time he talked about her to his closest friends and siblings.

Rylan shifted uncomfortably in his chair as Vasili simply said “Ah,” and began to sip his own drink,
obviously waiting for more. Rylan felt his temper bubble under the surface of “cool, calm and collected”
he struggled mightily to retain.

“Dammit,” he exploded, “why does every man and their pet keep on staring at me like that?” When his
buddy merely raised his eyebrow he felt his temper simmer even hotter.

What was he? Some damned open book? Or a pane of shatter-glass? Couldeveryone see so clearly
through him? It started to grate on his nerves.

“She’s an investigator, for heavens’ sake!” he stated in what he hoped was a calm tone, not the raised,
angry one he seemed to be hearing coming from his own mouth in a low growl. “She’s a damn fine one
too, and you bloody well know it! What’s so astounding that I would hire her to look into this? When she
so obviously is going to be a big help with lots of contacts to get to Gav that none of the rest of us have
access to?”

Rylan still felt annoyed, but exerted a fierce amount of will to keep his emotions in check as Vasili sipped
his drink. In an enviably calmer, even tone of voice Vasili then stated, “Maybe we’re all ‘acting in the
same manner’ because of the fact you’ve been hot to bed her for what? Two years now?”

Rylan felt his shoulders slump somewhat as his friend pointed out the obvious, that he couldn’t even try
to argue.

“I’m surprised she hasn’t tried to cut off your balls yet, or worse,” Vasili said, a wicked glint in his eye.
He as well as his siblings knew damn well and good Ruthie routinely tried to cut him off at the knees,
threatening chemical castration and many other similarly disastrous endings for him. It had almost become

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routine, a kind of foreplay between them.

Rylan finished his soda and clanged the bottle back on the table.

“So she’s tried to castrate me a few times, so what?” He winced as he heard the defensiveness in his
own tone. This was worse than trying to explain away his first teenage crush, or harder still, the first girl
he had bedded and then run to Gavreel and complained when she wouldn’t offer her soul piece to him.

“So,” Vasili replied, “obviously Ruthie is a woman of impeccable taste, who hasn’t instantly fallen to
your feet and groveled for your illustrious dick.”

Rylan gnashed his teeth, not knowing whether to take notes or strangle his best friend. Obviously Vasili
thought he knew what he talked about, but Rylan just couldn’t find it in himself to sit humbly by and pay
attention.

“She’s been a challenge to your masculinity,” Vasili pointed out with a calm Rylan envied, “but a brilliant
friend at the same time. A challengeand a conundrum. No wonder you’ve been stuck on her.”

Rylan sat lower in his chair and began to tap his hand on the armrest. Against his will, the words sank
deeply into his mind, and he had to admit there was a definite ring of truth in them. Even so, he felt an
almost petulant need to defend himself and his actions.

“I havenot been stuck on her all this time.”

He simmered as Vasili continued on utterly unaware of his thinly held temper, as if he hadn’t heard a
word of interjection.

“Of course, she’s been stuck on you, as well. You both make quite a pair, preening and hissing at each
other like a couple of animals in heat.” Rylan made a face as Vasili laughed at his own pun.

“You really think she’s been stuck on me?” Rylan asked skeptically. He didn’treally think Vas would
tease him about something so important to him, but one never knew. The honesty in Vasili’s face,
however, convinced Rylan that his friend was completely serious.

“Not that I care or anything,” he hastened to add, but again, a searing glance from his friend made him
shut his mouth. No sense in trying to bullshit his oldest friend. He figured Vasili wouldn’t believe his
protestations any more than Simeon or Michael would.

Besides, Vasili wasn’t having a bar of his attempts at deception. Anyway, if he couldn’t be brutally
honest with his best friend, who could he be truthful and up front with?

Rylan shrugged to himself and listened in awed, partial disbelief as Vas continued on blithely.

“Sure she has, mate. Remember that time she nearly took your head off with her beamer rifle when you
jumped so domineeringly and protectively in front of her down at Scooper’s pub?”

Rylan grimaced and nodded at his good friend. How could he forget that night? It ranked right up there
with one of the most embarrassing ever. Vasili, however, seemed to be getting a kick out of reliving those
memories.

“Some off-landers were gawking at her like a couple of kids straight out of college,” he said, chuckling

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warmly at the memory. Rylan shuddered. “She was about to stun them when they went for the grope
and—”

“Yeah, I remember,” Rylan replied with a quelling look, his face heating with what he seriously hoped
wasn’t a blush. He couldn’t believe hestill felt embarrassed about that episode.

He had thought himself charming, coming to his good friend’s rescue. He had even entertained
schoolboy fantasies about being some damned knight in shining amour, and Ruthie throwing herself into
his arms and kissing him senseless, thanking him profusely for rescuing her.

It had come as a shock so bad it felt almost like a body blow when instead of thanking him, or
professing her undying love she had threatened to stunhim for being so chauvinistic as to not think she
could take care of herself. It had been the first time he had ever been embarrassed and hot and still
wanted the woman in question.

Rylan had since discovered Ruthie certainlycould take care of herself, but more, she resented the
implication that she couldn’t. Rylan still deep down believed she wanted some big strong man, but only to
be there for her as an equal, as a partner. He had to admit it made sense to him, and turned him on even
more than trying so hard to pretend to be some damn noble savior.

“Well,” Vasili continued, finishing the last of his soda and placing the bottle next to Rylan’s long-empty
one, “you were too grouchy to really notice, and she certainly was pissy with you, but she was blushing
as well. She was sweet on the fact you tried to help out, albeit in an overly macho, protective manner.”

“We’re slightly off topic here,” Rylan said, wanting to get off the subject of Ruthie. For starters he really
didn’t want his hard-on to become even more pronounced—Vas would never let him live it down. But
more importantly, he wanted to talk through the situation with his friend, not reminisce about what a
doofus he could be when around that one particular woman.

“Ruthie and I will be following any leads she picks up on where Gav logged his routes,” he started, trying
to drag his mind back to the business at hand. Vasili, for once, settled down and followed along like the
wonderful friend, and not the pain in the ass, he could be. “Simeon and Clare will be doing heaven knows
what, but Michael might need some help with searching Gav’s office, and following anything from there.
You up for it?”

“Always up for adventures with you guys, you know that,” Vasili replied easily, a huge grin on his face.

Before Rylan could say anything more, his PCC flagged an incoming comm. He brought up Ruthie’s face
and smiled in greeting.

“Hey there, gorgeous,” he said, surprised at how easy the endearments came to his mouth when it
concerned her. He cleared his throat, really not wanting a verbal reaming in front of Vas. Some things a
vampire simply could not deal with. “What did you find, babe?”

“I followed a depressingly easy trail around a few of our local quadrants of the galaxy. Gavreel has
seemingly library hopped these last eight or nine weeks.”

Rylan snorted, sorting through all the sorts of grief he could give his twin. He loved Simeon, truly he did,
but damn, the boy could be a worrywart at times. He could see the answering gleam of laughter in
Ruthie’s face, certain she understood his immediate understanding.

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This would be almost too easy. He kept his mouth shut, though, as Ruthie continued.

“Gavreel last logged in as arriving at Owanus, and so yeah, it should be a nice and easy trek. Hey there,
Vas, heard you had a rough time at the ball?”

Rylan laughed as his friend groaned and ran a hand over his face. One decent thing about Ruthie was she
didn’t discriminate between the people she harassed. She was just as likely to kick him up the pants as
she was to kick Vas or Si or even Mike when the mood struck her.

Damn, he enjoyed her company and sense of humor. For a split second he wished devoutly Gav was
stuck in some hellhole a week’s flight out, not just nearby on Owanus in some musty old library lost in his
damn tomes.

He shook himself, reminding himself he really was grateful his sire was more than well.

“Damn, it will take years to live this one down, won’t it?” Vasili seemed equal parts resigned and
annoyed, but still smiling cheerily down at Ruthie’s image.

Rylan focused on the tinkling sound of Ruthie’s laughter, instead of the friendly flirting nature of Vas’
voice.

He felt another shaft of heat sear through him as that feminine, tinkling sound seemed to almost enter his
bloodstream. Damn. He was in for a bit of trouble. Yet the thought of lying down next to anyone but her
rankled something fierce.

It was her red tresses he wanted to wrap himself in, her spiky sense of humor he wanted to battle with,
her lips and her hands he wanted touching him everywhere.

For the first time he could ever recall, Rylan had no idea what to do. How could he convince Ruthie to
lie with him, and not offend her, but to also leave the option open for it to be more than a simple, casual
fling?

Damn. Since when had this shit become so complex?

“So, Ruthie, you finally allowed Ry to catch up with you, huh?”

Rylan turned to his best friend and stared daggers at him. Ruthie, however, merely laughed again,
seeming to enjoy Vasili’s teasing.

“Oh, please Vas. It’s not as if we’re in prep school playing catch-and-kiss.”

Even though Ruthie wasn’t there, her words made him fantasize. He could see himself running after
Ruthie, both of them stark naked. And he would certainly catch her, and even more surely kiss her
senseless. And they would both enjoy every second of it.

When Ruthie spoke again, her voice was slightly husky. He wondered if she had been imagining a similar
scene. He grinned wryly, almost positive she wouldn’t have been.

“Anyway…” Her husky voice touched something deep, deep inside him. Rylan struggled to listen to her
words, and not just that sexy, just-out-of-bed tone of voice. “I was just calling to tell you I’ll meet you at
the port. We probably should head out as soon as logistically possible. I’ve left a communication for Gav

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at the Owanus port, but you know what he’s like. If he’s deep enough in researching something he’s
forgotten to communicate with you guys, then likely he won’t be checking messages either.”

“Not that I want to put a damper on the two of you…” Vasili drawled, interrupting. Rylan shot a glance
at his friend, who wore a broad smile on his face and a wicked twinkle in his eye, “but if you know Gav’s
on Owanus, won’t that make Si feel better?”

“I can’t swear to the fact it was Gav who arrived on Owanus,” Ruthie said impatiently.

Rylan raised an eyebrow silently at the woman. Obviously Ruthie was as annoyed at Vas’ suggestion as
he had felt, but he wondered if it was for the same reason? Could it be true she wanted this excuse, or
any other, to be alone with him as much as he wanted it? Maybe hehad been a blind fool when it came to
her?

“It’s certainly entering the realms of paranoia, to think Gav’s ship, minus Gav, entered and docked on
the port,” Ruthie continued. Rylan thought she sounded almost exasperated. “But you know there’s no
vid footage allowed at ports ever since that stupid galactic law passed twenty years ago. It seems simpler
all around if I, or Rylan and I, just arrive and question a few people, chase down any sort of positive
identification.”

“Besides,” Rylan added his credit’s worth, “Gav has a lodging down there. We can have a look about
and see if it’s been used recently. There’s a family palmprint pass, so only Gav, Si, Mike and I can
unlock it. We can hopefully answer our questions out there.”

Rylan cast another look at Vasili, and the smug satisfaction on his face had him wanting to deck his
oldest friend. Suddenly, Rylan knew exactly what his friend had done.

By questioning whether the trip was truly worth it, he had forced both Ruthie and himself to justify
themselves. This had put them fighting on the same team, as well as reiterating to each other as well as
themselves the sound, logical reasoning behind their trip.

Rylan shook his head in amused acceptance. Damn, his friend was good. No wonder he always won
against everyone but Gav at Galactic Chess!

“I have to pack and get ready,” Ruthie said casually. Rylan didn’t think she understood exactly what Vas
had been doing, but she was obviously starting to get antsy anyway. “I’ll meet you at the port at the turn
of the hours, Ry. See you around, Vas!”

Ruthie logged out and Rylan leaned over to punch Vas’ shoulder. Just becausehe had figured out what
his friend had been doing didn’t mean he still couldn’t rag on him anyway.

“You trying to cut me out, man?” he said with more smile than heat. “What was that all about?”

“Oh, come on mate,” Vasili said, grinning widely and showing he knew Rylan understoodexactly what
he had been doing, but was prepared to spar nevertheless. “I was trying to give you a bit of healthy
competition. It’s bloody obvious she prefers you, so don’t get your jocks into a twist.”

Rylan laughed and pounced, tried to get his friend in a headlock. Vasili easily ducked and they smiled
goofily at each other instead.

“I presume you’re packed and ready to go?” Vas asked, eyeing the bag Rylan had dropped as he had

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entered the room.

“Yeah,” Rylan nodded, staring at the small bag. “Won’t be needing much. I figure it should only take ‘til
the end of the day or so to get out to Owanus. It’s a much shorter trip than I was planning for, in any
event. Knowing Gav, I was expecting halfway across the galaxy and across some damn irritating desert
land, or deep within the furthest jungle known to sentient beings or some such nonsense.”

“Wonder what he’s searching for?” Vasili reflected, fully serious for the first time that day. “Any idea?”
he asked.

Rylan looked at his friend and shrugged. “This is Gav we’re talking about here,” he said, standing up and
stretching. “Could be anything. And I’d bet credits Ruthie just tracked him to his most recent port. He’s
been gone nearly three months. She did mention he’s been junketing around the galaxy. My bet is he’s so
deep into researching something he’s lost all track of time and space and is fully focused on whatever the
hell it is. You know what he’s like. It’s what I tried to explain to Simeon, but all he could remember was
that damned uprising and telepath-repellent cell Gav was stuck in that time.”

Rylan started to clear the bottles as Vas rose to help him. They both shuddered at remembrance of the
tiny, cage-like cell Gavreel had been stuck in one time. Stuck in the middle of nowhere, and with no way
or chance to cross their personal links and ask for rescuing, it was why they all stoically put up with
Simeon’s insistence on constant communication.

Even the faint possibility one of them might get stuck in a hellhole like that again meant they stayed in
some sort of touch while away from home. Privately, Rylan also suspected that while Simeon felt nothing
like the level of fretfulness they all teased him about, Simeondidn’t want any of them wasting away in
some Goddess-forsaken hole while everyone else blithely imagined they had forgotten the time.

Rylan actually felt a measure of safety knowing Simeon would round up the troops if he got lost and
didn’t check in. He thought both Gav and Mike also felt a similar level of comfort knowing they wouldn’t
be forgotten or ignored.

“Think he’s hooked up with a woman?” Vasili interrupted Rylan’s musings.

He snorted and threw an empty bottle at his friend. “A woman?” he repeated, incredulous. “Are you
kidding me? To my knowledge Gav hasn’t been serious about a woman since my mother.”

“Janni? Are you certain?” Vasili asked, his skepticism hard to hide.

“Well he’s not been a monk,” Rylan admitted, but still not backing down. “But he hasn’t mentioned any
woman to the lot of us since Mom passed away.”

“Hmm…”

Rylan ignored Vasili’s chewing over whatever thoughts he had rattling around his mind, and helped his
good friend tidy up the small lodgings. They both worked together in an easy silence until Rylan’s PCC
beeped at him again. He didn’t even bother to open and read the message, knowing exactly who it was
from and what it would say.

“That’s my cue, man,” he said, feeling the jingling excitement he always felt whenever he began a new
adventure. “Gotta chase after the old man,” he added cheerily, thinking more about the chase after Ruthie
he planned to set into action.

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Rylan still didn’t know exactly what itwas he was planning on doing, but he figured he could easily work
it out as he went along. Nothing like a bit of improvisation to heat up the blood and get the old ticker
pumping overtime.

“Take care, mate,” Vasili said throwing the washrag into the unit to clean. “Feel free to comm me and
keep us all updated.”

“Sure thing,” Rylan snorted, knowing what Vasactually wanted was to be updated on was his progress
with Ruthie. Rylan knew Vasili truly didn’t want any ill to happen to Gav, but it was the soap opera
unfolding before his eyes that had him so intrigued and curious.

“Hey, man,” Rylan added as an odd thought crossed his mind, “watch the back of that brother of mine.
Mike has been acting damned bizarrely lately.”

Rylan hugged Vasili and slapped an open palm on his back in an appropriately manly manner. He
laughed as his friend suddenly turned serious.

“I can keep an eye on Mike, but you watch your own back, Ry. I somehow don’t relish the idea of
having to come out into the middle of heaven knows where to rescue your ass when Ruthie strands you
there after you explain how you thought it was just sex, or you don’t want any strings.”

Rylan laughed, honestly being able to see the feisty redhead doing such a thing to him. Likely the woman
wouldpurposely fly them into the middle of nowhere, and then ditch him there with a raging lecture on
how chauvinistic he was.

She would then fly off without him, confident he would comm either his family or Vas to come rescue
him. She would even figure a few days without emotions or feeding would also teach him a lesson he
sorely needed.

Yeah, Rylan could see it as clearly as he could see his own face in the reflection-mirror.

“Don’t worry about me, man,” Rylan said with what he hoped sounded like utter confidence in himself.
“I’m a big boy.”

“So’s your dad, and look at the mess he’s in,” Vasili countered.

Rylan snorted with laughter as he picked up his bag and headed to the door.

“So true, my friend. I will most certainly be in touch.”

He shook his head and snickered to himself as the door slid shut behind him and he stepped out onto the
fairly busy street. Laughing, he flagged a passing car and headed to the port.

Headed out to Ruthie, he corrected himself. His grin widened appreciably.

Chapter Five

Ruthie sat in the control chair of her ship, her mind running a mile a minute through all the checks and
maintenance rituals which were so deeply ingrained upon her. She loved this part of the journey, the
orderly task of checking and rechecking each instrument and gauge.

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She made mental notations as well as notes on her PCC, gathering all the data the main control room
would require from her ship before they would be granted rights to lift off into space.

Time ticked by easily and smoothly, and it was just as she started the finishing requirements of her
pre-shipping checklist that she heard the side door open. Ruthie couldfeel who it was who entered her
small space. She bit her lip hard and forced herself to concentrate harder on her list.

She breathed a sigh of relief when maybe thirty seconds later she finished the checks and was able to
send them and all the other data she had collected through her PCC to the main control area.

Even with these legal bits and pieces out of the way, she still had plenty of her own, personal checks to
perform. Yet she found it ridiculously hard to concentrate. Rylan seemed to fill up every inch of available
space in the small cabin with his sheer presence.

She found it incredibly unfair that she should be attracted to such an impressive vampire. What the hell
was her problem? This was her job, she had been performing it easily and accurately for many years.
Why was it she suddenly found her mind going blank and her hands hesitating over her next task?

Giving in just this once, she angled one of her interior mirrors so that she could catch a glimpse of the
handsome vampire who stood a few paces behind her. Even without looking, Ruthie could feel the
laser-heat of his gaze as he sated his curiosity and examined the interior of the small ship.

Ruthie grinned to herself. Even though Rylan’s gaze for the most part centered on the ship, the two
control chairs, the small cleansing space over the far corner, she knew without doubt he also somehow
managed to get a decent eyeful of her as well.

Not that she could complain or take exception to it. She was managing to get a decent eyeful of him too.
She marveled at how Rylan seemed to take everything in, including her, without needing to linger too long
on any one thing.

Ruthie strongly resisted the insane temptation she felt overcoming herself to fiddle with her neat braid.
She chided herself firmly. She was working, she wasnot there to turn him on, or flirt with him, or try and
made herself appear to be decent eye candy. No matter how pleasant each and every one of those ideas
might prove to be.

She was an investigator, and a damn fine one. Her merc and Force skills might be a tad rusty, but her
parents had trained her well and she had been diligent and obedient in their wishes and kept herself
fighting fit in the personal gyms.

Even if her field experiences had been a fair while ago, her skills themselves were still admirably up to
scratch, and that’s what she was there for, not to preen and ditz around trying to snare the youngest
Montague’s attention.

Ignoring the small sag in her spirits at her own self-admonishments, she finished the last of her personal
checks, making sure everything was in perfect order and control.

“Have you set the coordinates, Ruthie?” Rylan’s deep, melodious voice sounded from behind her.

She tried in vain to not let the luscious sound reverberate deep inside her creaming pussy.Dammit , she
argued with herself,I so do not need this right now . Ruthie pressed all her emotions and lusts deep

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down inside the pit of her stomach. She had to concentrate, not turn into a puddle of mush.

“Do you need any help with the pre-shipping checks?”

Ruthie tried to tamp down the unfair irritation and ire that automatically rose at Rylan’s suggestion. She
knew Rylan only meant well, wanted to help, but with her nerves and emotions on the razor edge, she
simply couldn’t deal with too much more of his charming kindness.

“I’m just fine, thanks. Buckle yourself in, Rylan.” Ruthie winced as she heard the snap and irritation in
her voice. She truly hadn’t meant to be so blunt, but she always seemed so sensitive in his presence!

“Ruthie.”

She paused in her checks to turn and look at the handsome vampire. He was so damn sexy even in his
ordinary slacks and shirt, she needed to take deep breaths to stop herself from hyperventilating.

This was not the way to start a mission, even one as simple and easy as checking on Gavreel Montague.
Dammit, she really needed to get herself together, and fast.

She counted slowly to ten, and then slowly counted back to one again.

Ruthie knew she needed every ounce of her control here to not make a fool of herself, but also to not
jump Rylan’s bones.

“I’m sorry, Ry,” she started, glad to hear her voice fully under control again, “I’m a tad tired and feeling
snappish. It’s nothing personal.”

Ruthie didn’t look at the handsome vampire fully for a moment or two. She had no desire to see the
laughter in his eyes, or even the faint mocking of her obvious lie.

She finished rechecking, for the third time, the energy gauges, food stores and other emergency items
she knew only a catastrophic act of the Goddess would require them to need. In truth, this was an
astonishingly simple trip, but Ruthie took her work very seriously.

Approximately half the deadly trips were caused within a day’s ship travel of the participant’s
homes—and almost always this occurred because adequate stores and measures were ignored and not
taken. Ruthie had no intention of ever becoming such a statistic.

Her parent’s cautions and drills aside, she knew it was ridiculous not to take an extra half hour out of her
trip time to make sure everything was prepared as if a month-long journey were about to take place.
Goddess knew stranger accidents had occurred before in the history of flight. Why flirt with fate when it
could be so easily prepared for?

Finally, Rylan’s patience won out and she glanced up at him, meeting his dark, dark brown eyes with her
green ones. She saw the serious glint in his eyes, and knew she was an utter fool.

She should have placed someone,anyone else on the case. Rylan’s whole body seemed readied for
some purpose, his mind sharpened and set on one course only. Ruthie seriously hoped for her own
heart’s sake he didn’t want to just seduce her for the hell of it.

Despite his serious reputation as a playboy and player, Ruthie knew the vampire psyche hidden much

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deeper within that mind and heart. The Rylan she had come to know over the last few years loved
ancient jazz. He studied Galaxy Chess sometimes at night in the hopes of one day beating his father and
Vasili at a game.

The Rylan she knew was devoted to his family, and also secretly kept an old-world herb garden in the
window box of his private section of the lodging.

It was this Rylan she had slowly become more and more attached to, and thus more and more afraid of.
She had no intention whatsoever of becoming yet one of a zillion women who fleetingly passed through
Rylan Montague’s harem of one-night stands. After so many years of growing to know one another
better, and playful, flirting teases, Ruthie wondered if it were only a single night Rylan was interested in
any event.

And that thought scared her even more. The more private Rylan she felt certain could make a
commitment and stick to it, for however long they decided on. Yet so often she could see the two
Rylan’s meet and merge, she never knew exactly which one it was she dealt with.

She bit her lip, forced her mind and muscles throughout her body to relax as he sat on the seat next to
her. She looked back into his dark brown eyes and could swear for just a moment she could see the
reflection of the two of them there in his eyes, naked and making passionate love. He would be a slow,
but complete lover, touching her and learning her every curve with an intensity she couldn’t recall the last
time she’d experienced.

Exerting a huge force of will, she brought her mind out of the proverbial gutter and concentrated on
whatever it was he wanted to talk about while she waited for control central to okay their take-off.

“I know we have a rather volatile relationship,” Rylan began. Ruthie unconsciously mimicked the wry
grin he sported while saying this. “But despite all that and the night we shared…” Ruthie raised an
eyebrow at this blasé reference to the night of the Ball, but let him continue anyway, “I really think we
need to put everything behind us and start fresh here.”

Ruthie cocked her head to the side, a number of questions running through her mind. Was he saying he
wanted to the act like strangers? Or just be professional? She couldn’t really believe that Rylan was
taking a jab at her, backhandedly saying she had been behaving unprofessionally, but she didn’t really
feel comfortable making a comment until she knew exactly what it was he referred to.

She felt grateful when he paused a moment, but continued.

“I suppose what I’m getting at is we have a couple of hours of mind-numbingly boring travel ahead of us,
and I’d like to be able to speak freely, without having to weigh every word I utter. I guess I am kinda
hoping for us to raise a truce of some sort.”

Ruthie nodded silently, weighing up his words and the serious, genuine meaning behind them. She didn’t
really feel surprise at the truthful forcefulness behind his words nor any shock at the directness of his
meaning.

Rylan might act the playboy, might be genuinely carefree and unencumbered throughout most of his life.
But he loved his family above everything and was actually a fairly brainy, serious man, despite how he
acted most of the time.

Ruthie smiled as she realized it was moments like this that reminded her how much like his twin Rylan

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really was.

“Okay, I have to agree with your sentiments there. There is absolutely no use in us both skirting around
issues and trying to play nicely with each other when we’re afraid of stepping on each other’s toes.”

Ruthie ignored the raised eyebrow she received for her very old-fashioned turns of phrase. She resisted
the impulse to stick her tongue out at the roguish vampire.

“We can clear the air between us as soon as we lift off,” she continued in her
don’t-fuck-with-me-I’m-being-serious tone of voice, “but I just want you to remember, I’m piloting, so
no purposely making me swing direction or anything else dare-devilish.”

She laughed as Rylan placed his hand on his heart and solemnly said, “I promise not to make you swing
direction.”

She shook her head and resisted the impulse to chuckle. Sheknew he purposely meant to tease her, to
push her to retaliate, and for once she refused to rise to the bait. She wanted to act professionally, to
prove she was the best damn investigator and that shecould act professionally, even when her heart was
racing and her mouth watered with the hunk of specimen beside her.

Determined not to lose her cool, Ruthie returned to her checks for want of something better thing to do.

“You are such a dolt,” she insisted gently. “Now buckle up so we can get out of here as soon as we’re
given the go-ahead. I don’t know about you, but I am eager to start this journey.”

“Continue the journey,” Rylan insisted softly as he reached behind himself to organize the complex
straps.

Ruthie frowned, and asked “What?” before she could squash the impulse.

“Simeon started this journey,” Rylan insisted with a devilish gleam in his eyes to indicatehe knew he
meant the journey between the two of them, not the search for Gavreel like his words meant. “We are
merely continuing this journey, my dear.”

Ruthie pressed her lips together and nodded, not wanting to start an argument, but strangely enough,
also not wanting to deny therewas a journey going on between the two of them.

She knew the last few years had been an odd dance of back-and-forth between them, a journey in the
true sense of the meaning. Yet she also had to privately acknowledge Rylan was correct. Theywere
merely continuing this journey between the two of them, they just seemed to be on the precipice of
entering a new phase—not an entirely new journey.

Ruthie shook her head, cleared the cramming, scrambling thoughts from her brain and concentrated on
arguing back and forth with the control central.

Over the next ten minutes, Ruthie felt amazed at how easily she and Rylan both settled into a
comfortable, shared routine. They worked seamlessly together, with no subtle innuendo, no snide
remarks and they finished the setup in record time.

Ruthie had to grin as even Rylan joined his cajoling skills with hers to convince control central to bump
them up the list of waiting take-offs.

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Finally, as Ruthie lifted them out into the inky blackness of space, she simply had to admit Rylan had
been an amazing help to her, not a sexy hindrance as she had previously assumed.

“You did brilliantly back there,” she complimented him, truth lending a serious conviction to her words.
She cast a quick glance to the sexy vampire still strapped in next to her in the control seats.

“I always do brilliantly, Ruthie babe, you just don’t usually see it.”

Ruthie grinned as Rylan sent her a cheeky wink and then let her get back to concentrating on steering the
ship.

Ruthie easily set the ship in the direction they required, typed in a few more commands and set the
controls. After a moment or two, the ship was all set up, and she could sit back, relax and finally cast a
long glance at the man seated a few inches away from her.

“So remind me,” she asked seriously, “why the hell don’t I see this side of you more often?”

Sitting back in her chair, Ruthie kept a small part of her concentration on the controls and the readings
from the ship itself, but she also gave a large part of her attention to the man who relaxed next to her. The
seconds ticked by companionably and she had to silently admit to enjoying being able to watch the
different expressions cross Rylan’s face as he obviously thought about her truthful enjoyment of
experiencing the man behind the playboy exterior.

Finally, Rylan settled on an open look with his usual, cavalier, charming grin. Ruthie felt grateful for the
truth and honesty in his reply to her genuine query.

“You seemed to prick my interest and pride, a rare combination to say the least, almost from the start.
I’ve been second-guessing you, your motives and interest, practically since the moment we met.”

Ruthie waited patiently as Rylan seemed lost deep in thought. They had a few hours to pass, so she
didn’t press him. They had plenty of time.

“I suppose,” he continued, “the second-guessing and easily changeable atmosphere of our friendship
meant it was never conducive to me being fully open and honest with you. Add onto all that a healthy lust
and desire for you,” he admitted with a grin.

Ruthie couldn’t help herself, she chuckled as well, a knowing grin on her face. She appreciated him
being open with her, and admitting the complexities of their attraction.

“It all wraps up to almost certainly being one of the more complex relationships I’ve ever experienced,”
he concluded wryly. “From a lustful point of view I am well used to acting the flirty, playful bachelor. But
the genuine enjoyment of our bickering and interaction showed you the other more complicated side of
me.”

Ruthie let his observations settle between them as they both mulled over the dual nature of their
attraction to each other. When Ruthie thought of the manner in which Rylan would often act with a far
more carefree attitude in the times she would want to be more serious, she frowned and tried to voice her
new, slightly disturbing thought.

“Okay,” she said slowly, “I can understand all that, but why do you always try to antagonize me? At first

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I just put it down to some stupid macho boy thing, but I’m not so sure anymore.”

“I suppose,” he said silkily, his tone of voice warning her he was about to say something she didn’t want
to hear, “because I would much rather have you thinking of how compatible we are physically and
sexually, rather than sticking your head in the sand and focusing on how well we mesh together mentally.”

When Ruthie merely frowned, Rylan continued.

“Look at it this way,” he said slowly, thinking hard, “I’m all for acknowledging we think along the same
wavelength, and we admire each other’s working skills, mentally and professionally.”

Ruthie nodded when he paused for a moment.

“And so instead of letting you focus on that, think of me merely as a smart guy, or someone you
admired, I soon found that by teasing you, by poking at those feminine shields you seem to constantly
have up, that you started to notice me physically and sexually. Andthat is something I didn’t want you to
lose sight of.”

Ruthie gently chewed the inside of her mouth as she thought over the truth and surprising wisdom of
Rylan’s words. She reminded herself of just whom she dealt with, and thus needed to realize he would
never be able to completely turn off his sexuality, nor his teasing sense of humor.

Strangely, neither did she find herself honestlywanting him to turn that side of himself off. For such an
arrogant, carefree vampire she found the entire package of him devastatingly attractive. She didn’t think
she would want him any other way.

Determined to “clear the air” ashe had initially wanted to, she took the words at face value and ignored
the innuendo for the far more interesting aspects of his psyche he was baring to her view.

“Okay,” she said in a casual tone of voice. “I can agree with the fact you simply can’t turn off your
sexuality like a tap. That makes perfect sense when you think about it, particularly since this isyou we are
talking about here.

“I suppose,” Ruthie continued slightly more forcefully as Rylan opened his mouth, almost certainly to
continue his playful teasing. She would finish her thoughts on this conversation even if it killed her having
to speak over his teasing. “I can so readily believe it because I, too, have been almosttoo aware of you
during many times we’ve spent together. It often tickled my funny bone to put you off kilter by some
nonsense or other. It is just so easy,” she teased, laughing at him as she glanced back from him to the
starry night sky in front of her, “I sometimes just couldn’t help myself, either.”

“You’ve been attracted to me?” he said, the sound of genuine surprise and hesitation in his voice. Ruthie
glanced back at him, the arch of his brows confirmation he sought whether she was yanking his chain or
not. She frowned as she looked back down at the controls.

“Of course I’m attracted to you—purely on a physical level,” she teased, then catching the answering
glint in his eyes she sighed and turned back to her controls.

“I’m a female,” she said, wishing she could quash the topic now she’d started on it. “I have blood in my
veins, and my heart is beating, isn’t it? I bet you couldn’t truthfully say you’dever come across a woman
not attracted to you.” Ruthie cleared her throat and snapped out of the grouch she had momentarily felt
herself slumped in. She would not pout, no matter what.

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“I would have laid a considerable number of credits you were one woman not genuinely attracted to
me,” he said seriously.

Ruthie bit her lip and remained silent as she made her decision. She finalized the set of the controls,
locked in the coordinates and placed the ship on free-call autopilot. It meant she didn’t literally have to sit
there and fly the ship, gave her a little bit more freedom, but she would be commed as soon as anything
differed from what the ship expected.

“I suppose,” she said softly, turning the chair to face him, “it was just much easier and simpler for us both
that way. You must have known after the Desperate and Dateless ball that I am sexually attracted to you,
but we’re so incompatible it seemed stupid to just have a wild fling and then naïvely try to continue on as
normal.”

Ruthie stood up and paced the small ship’s cabin. It was only a couple of paces across and deep, but it
was better than sitting in her chair and fidgeting. Besides, the urge to go back and manually take over
control of the ship was immense.

She by no meansneeded manual control, but it gave her something legitimate to do, to keep her hands
busy. It was stupid, however, to sit there and manually fly the ship when autopilot was just as good.

And so she paced.

“Incompatible, how?” Rylan asked, making her want to groan at the topic of conversation. Why the hell
had she brought all this up? She must be certifiable.

“You’re a playboy, Ry. It doesn’t matter how well I know you have a serious side, when it comes to
relationships and women you personally need a different woman for every night.”

Ruthie paced agitatedly, trying not to notice the flare of annoyance that crossed Rylan’s face. Maybe the
truth hurt—likelyno man wanted a woman he felt interest in expressing the belief that hecould not be
faithful, rather thanchose not to be faithful.

“I’m not exactly a priestess-convert myself,” she acknowledged more than gracefully, “neither do I
expect every man I meet to fall at my feet in abject adoration. But to be fair to myself, unless it is a rare
one-night stand, I tend to have short-lived affairs, not a whole string of sexual, largely emotionless
encounters.”

Ruthie sighed and stopped to stare hard at the vampire who still sat at the controls. She could tell he was
miffed, but still felt willing to let her get it out of her system. She took a deep breath and released it
slowly.

“I know I, and likely heaps of other women, frequently do you an injustice, Ry. I know I sometimes
forget you can be serious and even genuinely hard working! But that is not your whole life, or even a
large portion of your life, whereas I love my job. It fulfils my life, and I am often off on assignment for
weeks on end. We are almost polar opposites in every sense, and it just means I don’t know if I’m
willing to risk a good friendship for one or two nights of fantastic sex.”

Ruthie stopped talking and looked carefully over at Rylan. He, too, stared back at her, and she had the
feeling they were, possibly for the first time, not only being completely and brutally honest with each
other, but also both were seriously considering having an affair, if not a full-blown sexual relationship.

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“Well,” Rylan said huskily as he stood up out of his chair.

She waited while he crossed the two paces to come over to her. He reached out slowly, and she felt a
shudder run through her body as his hands came in contact with her thin skinsuit. His warm hands easily
cupped her shoulders, holding her steady and gently in his embrace.

“We all know what happens with polar opposites,” he commented softly, and Ruthie felt the resistance in
her melt.

She had often wondered if the reason she always foughtso hard against Rylan was because she had
always, deep in her soul, known it would come to this between them both.

Before she could point out that the ancient adage about “opposites attracting” wasn’t exactly what she
meant, Rylan had lowered his lips onto hers and all rational and even the nonrational thought had flown
from her mind, to be replaced only by a mindless craving for more and more of this particular vampire.

Of their own volition, she felt her arms circle his slim waist, pulling him right in, much closer to her
arching, needy body. She felt herself rise up onto her toes, wanting to rub her aching breasts against the
solid, flat mass of his chest.

Ruthie could not believe she had forgotten how warm and solid Rylan’s body felt, how strong and firm
and potently masculine he was. Everywhere her hands strayed she felt rippling muscle, warmly heated
through his own thin skinsuit.

Ruthie could feel her nipples aching. She didn’t need to look down to them to know they were taut,
erect peaks desperately craving this vampire’s warm, strong fingers, crying out and pleading for his
touch.

More startling still was the fierce, almost feral manner in which Rylan kissed her. Whereas after the ball
he had been questing, searching, testing the waters between them both, today he was claiming, ravaging,
hungrily proving to her the emotions that bubbled and coiled between the two of them. Ruthie felt certain
she could feel sparks shooting from Rylan over to her, and she sent them right back at him.

A huge, potently powerful wave of heat and lust rose between them as they kissed deeper and even
deeper still.

It was uncannily like what she had read in some of her raunchier holo-books, late at night, secretly in her
bed.

Rylan acted as if he were dying of thirst, or raging with unquenchable hunger, and only she could satisfy
him. And she simply couldn’t help herself, she kissed him back just as fiercely, matched him touch for
touch, stroke for stroke and breath for breath.

She felt as if there was some point she was missing, something she didn’t understand occurring between
the two of them. And yet everything they did simply felt so wonderfully glorious she couldn’t make herself
stop to query him, to poke at him and ask him for clarification.

For a startling moment, she thought she could feel wispy fingers around her head, stroking her long, neat
braid and then cupping her head, and pressing inside her mind. It was there and gone in the blink of an
eye and so she didn’t stop and ask what it was all about.

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Ruthie was honest with herself for a moment, frankly she couldn’t have cared less what Rylan was doing
to or with her, as long as he continued to kiss her like this until they both either self-combusted, or the
ship crashed and burned onto Owanus.

What felt like minutes later, but in truth must have been almost immediately after she felt those faint,
spiritual-like fingers caress her head and penetrate her mind, she could feel Rylan reluctantly, slowly,
begin to pull himself away from her body.

Ruthie bit her lip, silencing the despicable whimper she could feel lodged in her throat. As they fully
broke apart, both gasping, practically panting from the force of heat and lust they had generated, they
stood rooted to the spot, both staring over each other, incredulous.

Ruthie felt grateful self-combustion was a myth, otherwise she’d have been worried about burning up
there and then. She had never experienced such heated potency in a kiss, let alone in a fairly chaste kiss
as they went. Neither of them were stripped naked, neither had gone groping the other. They had simply
shared a mutual, devastatingly potent and powerful meshing of lips.

Ruthie could have sworn their souls had touched and cauterized together, fusing them into the one being
forever.

Ruthie felt her cheeks flush red-hot, knew her face was sparkled as if she had been covered in moon
dust. She also would bet most of her life savings on the knowledge her green eyes would be sparkling as
if she were lit from within.

Rylan, too, looked as if he had just spent the last few hours in one hell of a heavy petting session. She
felt a quiver of worry course through her. If they were like this after only locking lips and tongue, they
might truly explode with a bit of groping and more heavy petting.

Rylan’s chest heaved, his eyes glowed with an inner fire she couldn’t deny. She now could truly believe
all the sex-diets out there. A few minutes with Rylan and she had almost certainly burnt off more calories
than her last hour-long workout session at the gym.

She frowned for a moment as she stared harder into Rylan’s dark brown eyes. She realized that the tiny
spark of red she had noted earlier, and could very easily see now in his eyes, shouldn’t really be there.

“What the hell is going on?” she asked weakly, trying to tame her panting and simultaneously wanting to
sound strong and confident, in control. In truth, she actually felt simply grateful her legs hadn’t given out
underneath her and embarrassed her totally.

“We need to talk,” Rylan said, equally breathless, but the red fire burning brighter every second in his
eyes.

Ruthie groaned and, shaking her arms and legs slightly, hoping to literally shake the lust from her limbs,
she crossed the cabin to sink into her chair.

No man or woman alive enjoyed hearing those words. She seriously doubted it boded well for her now,
either.

Chapter Six

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Rylan let his gaze caress sensually over Ruthie. For a split second he devoutly wished it were his hands
or his tongue roaming over her delicate features, but for now, he reined himself in and left it to be just his
eyes meandering over her entire body.

He smiled cryptically, amused to note long strands of her deep red hair had begun to come loose from
its tight braid. They wisped around her face and neck, enticing him and inciting an almost unbearable
passion within him.

Not wanting to snap his control quite so early in this journey of theirs, he moved his eyes lower from her
long, slim neck, only to let his dark eyes rest on her chest as it heaved as she tried to catch her breath.

Rylan swallowed and wondered if this would turn out to be some bizarre form of self-inflicted torture.
Maybe he could bottle it up and sell it to the S&M colonies he knew were scattered throughout the
galaxy?

Breathing deeply and calmly, he instead thought about how he had been stunned by the passionate
response Ruthie had given him. While he hadn’t exactly expected her to yawn, or give him a lackluster
kiss in return to his passionate assault, neither had he expected her to match him and even dare him to
push them both further.

He had never questioned the passion he knew to reside inside her, he could see it in her spark for life,
her true and deep enjoyment of her work and even in the manner in which she carried on with him down
at Scooper’s Pub.

But the simple fact that she showed her passion tohim came as an exceptionally pleasant surprise and
had made him hotter than hell, like nothing else he could ever have thought of.

He struggled to get and keep his exploding feelings under control. If he couldn’t keep some semblance
of control then the whole experience would be over before he had even begun.

Rylan could sense the rising internal heat claw in his chest, roaring for release. As he lost himself in her
kiss he allowed himself to drown under the heat and intensity of their lust. All these sensations merely
added on to the falling-down feeling of lust she had incited in him.

His inner heat, which of late always seemed to be simmering just barely underneath the surface of his
skin, had begun to boil out of control.

Worse still than this double loss of control, while locked in her kiss, drowning in their mutual passion, he
had tried to press his mind to hers, use his telepathic gifts to sense and read what she wanted sexually
from him.

Rylan had never before tried to invade her privacy by looking into Ruthie’s mind. They had all been
taught from an early age by Gavreel how rude and insensitive it was to pierce someone’s privacy for
unnecessary reasons. Yet in the hazy need of their kiss, all Rylan had wanted was to make her every
dream and fantasy come true, to give her every droplet of pleasure exactly how she enjoyed it best.

He had wanted to see what she wanted, what she needed from him.

And he hadn’t been able to penetrate her mind. At all. Which brought up a plethora of new and more
startling problems than his rising lust and inner heat.

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Rylan had known this woman for years, and never realized she could complete his Soul’s Circle. He had
staggered back from the shock, certain he had to be wrong. Even the faint pain from breaking their kiss,
losing the sweet, soft touch of her body had not penetrated deeply enough into his mind to dislodge the
sheer terror and shock realizing she was a woman who could complete his Soul’s Circle had smote him
with.

The main problem now, was Ruthie had sat back down in her chair and turned it so she could sit there,
staring at him, waiting for his explanation. Even without any true telepathic skills, she was savvy enough
and in tune enough with him to know something pretty major had occurred.

Dolt that he was, almost like a sexual novice, he had let too much of his control go. Had reacted far too
harshly to the terrifying knowledge that this woman, more than any other he had previously known, was
special just for him. Whatever it had been, Ruthie had been tipped off by something that this wasn’t a
normal situation for him.

Rylan sighed and crossed the few paces to sit back down in his chair next to Ruthie, who still sat calmly
in her own chair, patiently waiting for his explanation.

“You know vampires go into heat,” he started awkwardly, unsure how much she knew or had been able
to guess from his juvenile reaction.

“Yes,” she said nodding slowly, “Michael once explained to me about heat and the cravings vampires
get when they enter into their heat phase, when I asked how vampires procreate. We’d had a few drinks
by then though, so I’m fuzzy on some of the finer details.”

Rylan shrugged and glanced at the controls. They all appeared to be humming along smoothly. He felt
surprised to find himself hoping vaguely for some catastrophe to occur so he could defer the need to
explain what he felt would be coming.

“Once every thousand moon cycles or so, vampires go into heat. You know we can’t carry diseases or
anything like that, but we are only fertile during that short period, and only to a woman who can complete
our Soul’s Circle. That’s the basic gist of the story,” he said, knowing Ruthie’s sharp intelligence would
be able to fill in most of the unsaid things he had left.

“And you’re entering heat?” she asked carefully, warily.

Rylan smiled sardonically, amused at her sudden and totally out of character hesitation. He couldn’t
recall the last time she had hesitated over anything. Ruthie was a gal who always butted things head
on—it was merely one of the hundreds of things he loved so much about her.

“I seem to be,” he said in what he felt relieved to hear was a casual tone of voice. “Why? Worried?” He
couldn’t help but draw the moment out, tease her a little. Fun as it was, he also rather hoped it might
make her relax somewhat, make her feel more in control of their usual, casual, teasing friendship.

“Should I be?” she replied back easily.

Rylan felt a sigh of relief pass through him as her usual feistiness seeped back into her. With her usual
spunk returning quickly, he felt his hope strengthen that all would be well.

“What,exactly , happens when vampires go into heat, Ry?”

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Rylan steepled his fingers together and paused for a moment’s thought. He could gloss over the truth, or
continue in his devil-may-care attitude and hope she took it as well as she had been taking the knowledge
of his entering heat.

He decided to plunge in and to hell with the consequences.

“Well, Ruthie, usually we fuck ourselves raw and wait for it to pass.” He kept his tone light, though
serious. He wanted her to understand he spoke the truth, without trivializing any of the details.

He continued before she could open her mouth and interject again with another question.

“The heat is a sexual one, a craving for completion. Underneath all the sexual heat and the intensity of us
needing to fuck and fuck, we have long suspected that the heat phase makes us want to search out that
special woman who trulycan complete us, our Soul, like few if any others can.”

Rylan paused, not really knowing what else to say and bracing himself for the barrage of questions he
knew would be coming. He felt his jaw drop and he gaped as Ruthie,his Ruthie , and the intrepid
investigator, the woman who questioned and queried everything utterly todeath and usually drove himself
and his brothers bonkers with her incessant curiosity, merely shrugged and turned back to her controls.

After a moment of stunned silence from himself, he realized she was performing a mid-flight check on the
ship and the equipment.

Sure, he reasoned with himself,mid-flight checks were important ,but where were the hysterics,the
incessant questions and the womanly outrage at the obvious point he would need to use her to
slake his lusts?

Rylan eyed her curiously, reminding himself not for the first time in his many centuries of existence, that
women were peculiar creatures. He shook himself and mulled over the curious lack of reaction from
Ruthie. He could sense no outrage, no worry or indeed much surprise at all from her.

“Well, I suppose a bit of sex won’t hurt me,” she said, casting him a brief glance up from the controls.
Her words were stated with a genuine casual ease he felt incredibly jealous of, particularly considering
the rapid hardening of his cock. “Besides, it’s not like I can complete your Soul’s Circle or anything, so
there’s no need to worry about my pregnancy suppression shots.”

“Really,” Rylan drawled sarcastically. He couldn’t believe that, worried and prepared for a practical
Battle Royale, he now felt annoyed and frustrated by her utter lack of concern. He somehow managed to
feel all this, as well as goaded and turned on simultaneously. “What makes you think you can’t complete
my Soul’s Circle?”

Rylan bit his lip, even more aggravated by himself for trying now to goadher , truthful though his
comment had been. Shecould complete his Soul’s Circle, but antagonizing her would not help his cause
one iota.

Frustrated as he was, he still nearly laughed aloud as she snapped her head back to him. Her green eyes
flashed sparks at him, seriously peeved by him now.Well , he mused to himself sarcastically,at least I
have her complete attention now .

“What the five-hells do you mean bythat particular comment?”

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Rylan shrugged.In for one credit …he comforted himself.

“I couldn’t penetrate your mind a minute earlier,” he said casually. “The only womenI have ever heard of
with that particular trait are women who can complete a vampire’s Circle.”

“Don’t be stupid,” she replied gruffly. Rylan felt a moment of guilt that he had pushed her so far, but
quickly suppressed it. She genuinelyhad wanted to know this. “Michael has read my mind plenty of
times,” she insisted stubbornly. “The bastard won fifty credits from me in poker before I remembered to
put my block up again. And I feel sure Simeon has read my mind some time before over the years.”

Rylan shook his head, wishing he could move them back to the easy camaraderie of a few minutes ago.

“That just mean’s you can’t completetheir Soul’s Circle,” he said gently, wondering if she believed him
or not. “Whether they can read your mind has no effect on whether I can or not. And not being
compatible with being able to complete their Soul’s Circle has no effect upon whether you can complete
mine or not.”

Rylan watched, entranced as Ruthie began to punch buttons on the console with far more force than was
necessary. He grinned, amused to see her digesting this information.

“This isn’t happening,” she murmured to herself, obviously hoping he would magically disappear and not
be able to hear her anymore. “This so is not happening to you, Ruthie, girl. You have obviously had a
huge bender of a night and soon you will wake up in your comfy bed and this will all be some
whacked-out, bad green-vodka-induced hallucination.”

Rylan grinned and sat back in his seat.

“I didn’t know bad green vodka could induce hallucinations, love. Have you personally experienced this
phenomena, or are you listening to some tall tales down at Scooper’s Pub?”

Ruthie cast him a searching glance.

“Tall tales obviously. But have youtried the crap they pass out as green vodka over there? It doesn’t
take a huge stretch of imagination to figure out it could cause over-indulgent hallucinations.”

They stared at each other one energetically charged moment, and then both stared back ahead of them.
Rylan smiled as they both looked out into the galaxy spread before them.

Rylan happily kept silent. He wanted to give her a moment of privacy before they continued with this
particular conversation.

Ruthie mechanically did all her checks on the ship and their cruising conditions as if she were on
autopilot. For once, she felt grateful for the boring, automatic routine of piloting the small ship safely
through the endless mass of space.

Inside, however, she fiercely fought a battle she didn’t know if there was even a hope of winning. It
seemed as if she merely moved around and around in circles, never resolving anything or even getting
close to a full understanding of the situation she suddenly found herself in.

Part of her wanted to strip naked, and splay herself wide on the floor of the cabin, uncaring of the future,
its new uncertainties and anything else it could possibly begin to throw at her.

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She fiercely wanted to let herself indulge in every fantasy she had ever held about Rylan, pushing them
both sexually as far as they possibly could go.

Yet at the same time, the other half of her mind cautioned her to jump ship and bail entirely. Bail from the
potential simmering between herself and Rylan—and also bail from the whole quest altogether.

Hell, she even let herself wallow for a moment in the fantasy of turning the damn ship around completely
and returning back home, ditching Rylan and telling him to find some poor other sucker to ferry him to
Owanus and track down his sire.

Ruthie shook herself, berating herself. If nothing else, Rylan, Simeon and Michael were her
friends—Gavreel too if she were truthful. And friends didn’t ditch one another when they became a little
uncomfortable.

Besides, indulging in fantasies was a fast-track way to either heartache or cynicism—heartache when the
inevitable interlude ended, cynicism when one was dumped unceremoniously for something slimmer,
brighter, newer, or all of the above.

Ruthie bit her lip as she took five deep breaths, and calmed herself enough to think through her options.
Always one to think better while talking aloud, she turned slightly to Rylan and decided to break the
silence he had been so patient to give to her.

“If I turn around and say ‘no sex’, what happens?” she asked slowly and carefully. Her mind churned
through the possibilities, but it helped to have Rylan give her his thoughts on the matter as well.

She watched him grimace at himself in the reflection of the window and smiled slightly to herself.
Obviouslythat option wasn’t his favorite.

“I hold out as long as I can, try to ignore the calling and craving of the heat, and bail when it becomes
too much,” he said huskily.

Ruthie felt her respect for the vampire rise a few notches. He hadn’t pulled the punch, yet neither had he
sugarcoated the truth, or even whined or whinged to her about looking through every option.

She nodded and continued to think.

She had never held any illusions about the sexual escapades of the man beside her. Rylan had many,
many lovers scattered around the galaxy. Most of them, from what she had gathered, were either brief
affairs, or even briefer flings. Likely there were a few women he could call to help him out in this
particular situation, yet still Ruthie hesitated.

Partly it was from respect for his truth in this matter. He didn’t treat her like some child, unable to think
for herself, yet neither did he pressure her, expecting her to help him out since they—for the moment at
least—were the only two within shouting distance.

Ruthie pressed her mind deeper, searching for the heart of the matter.

Ruthie felt ashamed slightly to admit it, but she didn’twant him to have to turn around and ask another
woman to help him.

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She held no illusions, she had never thought of Rylan as “hers”. His enormous cast of ex-lovers easily put
paid to that particular scenario in any event. Yet more honestly, Ruthie, herself, had never wanted to
open her heart to being hurt by him. Yet here was a perfect chance, literally knocking on her doorstep.

Ruthie smiled as she ran through the situation in her mind again. She could have sex with Rylan—as
much or as little as she could physically handle—and then they could both move on, hopefully keeping
their friendship intact. The sex would even be mostly guilt-free, as Rylanneeded the release
physiologically.

Likely such a perfect opportunity would never cross her path again, particularly with her as the only real
viable option available. Ruthie smiled as she realized she could experience her fantasies in reality, while
helping Rylan with his need, and that fact should guarantee their friendship would not be ruined at the
inevitable conclusion of their sexual affair.

Ruthie chuckled softly to herself as she realized she even had the solution to Rylan’s proclamation to her
being able to complete his Soul’s Circle. Simply because shecould complete his Soul’s Circle didn’t
mean shehad to.

Ruthie frowned and thought over that part again. She figured giving in to herself and allowing a
long-desired sexual fling with Rylan was one thing, but they were friends and companions, not soul mates.
Would crossing the line from part-time flirt and solid friends into short-term lovers change the parameters
of their friendship? More importantly, would it matter that Rylan obviously believed they were “destined”
in some manner, and she didn’t believe a moment of it?

As she chewed over those complex thoughts, her mind handed her another problem. As they had both
pointed out earlier to each other, they were close to polar opposites. They thought about things, almost
everything in vastly different ways.

Who could say that after sating their sexual desires Rylan would still believe this nonsense about her
being able to complete his Soul’s Circle? Or who could think they would want anything more than
friendship together after a few rolls between the proverbial sheets?

Ruthie smiled, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Thingsshe worried and currently fretted over likely hadn’t even entered Rylan’s head as problems. Just
as likely whatever hesitancieshe had likely weren’t things she even considered an issue.

So what on earth was she waiting for?

In any event, Ruthie consoled herself,the point about the Soul’s Circle ritual and issue is completely
moot .No way can he wave some mythical vampiric wand and make it all happen without my
say-so.

Ruthie grinned to herself, feeling much of her tension and worry simply glide away. She felt absolutely
certain something as monumental as offering a piece of her soul to Rylan, or indeedany vampire, would
surely have to be voluntary.

She frowned deeper, doubting herself and trying to see both sides of the argument as always. Rylan
couldn’t simplysteal a piece of her soul, could he?

She began to gnaw her lower lip as she thought through the plan once again, looking for any holes she

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might have missed.

She could indulge herself, have ecstatic sex with the man of her dreams and fantasies, and still walk
away heart-whole at the end. What sane woman would turn that down?

Ruthie made her decision and decided not to fret over it anymore. The issue of completing souls and
joining irrevocably with vampires was banished from her mind. If she didn’t think about it and didn’t let
herself offer her soul with alien vampire words, then she would be perfectly fine.

Her mid-flight checks well and truly finished, she turned back to smile brightly at the man she was about
to make her lover.

Rylan knew she had reached some sort of personal decision by the manner in which she turned
purposefully to face him and smiled the sweetest, most brilliant smile he had ever received from her.

“One more point to hash out then we’re done. We can do this, fuck our way through your
heat—however long that takes—and not do the ritual, right?”

There was only one vampiric ritual he knew anything about, and so he didn’t pretend to think or question
her otherwise. Even so, he couldn’t exactly see where Ruthie was headed with this, other than likely
laying down the law akin to “no exchanging Soul Circles”.

“Technically, yes. But we both know we can complete each other, fill that missing void in each other’s
souls. Why wouldn’t we—” He didn’t even get to finish his sentence before she cut in on him with a
wave of her hand.

“I don’t feel comfortable with doing the ritual, or binding ourselves together when we only seem to drive
each other nuts. So I am happy to do anything you want sexually, but no weird shit. No ritual, no binding
of souls. Those are my terms.”

Rylan sat back and looked at her offer from all angles. He would never say Ruthie was scared of
something, but she did seem uneasy and adamant about not fulfilling the ritual.

Then her exact words echoed back to him.No weird shit. No binding of souls.

Rylan smiled as he began to understand.

Ruthie was concerned because she had no understanding or knowledge about the soul-joining ritual and
what it would mean to them both together as well as individuals. They would still live perfectly well as
individuals, but simply be completing each other and complementing each other as none other could.

Having lived centuries, even with his twin, his eldest brother and father to depend upon and have
surround him with love, after the first century or so heknew he had significant pieces of his soul missing,
pieces only one, or maybe two women in theentire galaxy and across all time would be able to fulfill for
him.

Despite the love and support of his friends and family, he had felt that ache, that loss and that loneliness
only she could complete, within himself. Ruthie, being barely older than a mere quarter of a century,
knew nothing about the ache of soul-deep loneliness he had experienced.

Rylan frowned as he realized if he didn’t at least try and let them work together, give what they could

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potentially have between them a chance, she might possibly experience that ache inside herself one day in
the future. The thought that Ruthie, his fiery, spirited investigator might one day experience a similar sense
of ache and wanting inside her soul purely because he hadn’t wanted to face rejection and her possible
scorn, had him cringing.

He had to at least give things between them as much of a chance as possible. Had to do everything
within his power to ease Ruthie’s mind of her fears and help guide her to whatever future and destiny they
held together.

He smiled to himself.

Well, old man, Owanus is most certainly the best place in the galaxy to gain knowledge, understanding
and to find anything one wants to about vampires,he consoled himself.

Besides, how could he reconcile it with his ego if he didn’t at least try to seduce her sexually? Once she
had all the information she could possibly need or want on the ritual, he could declare open warfare on
her, and attempt to convince her to complete the ritual with him.

Rylan nodded his approval of their pact.

“You’ll really do anything I want sexually?” he teased, leering at her. He laughed outright when she made
a face at him.

“I am open todiscussing and debating anything sexual between us. You swear you won’t try to
complete the ritual with me?”

Rylan laughed, “Of course I willtry to convince you to complete my Soul’s Circle, but I have never yet
in all my years wanted or needed toforce a woman to do anything. I solemnly swear I will notforce you
to complete the ritual with me.” Rylan tried hard not to whispernot that I could , under his breath, but he
had a feeling Ruthie heard his unspoken words nevertheless.

Rylan saw a light flicker in her eyes and knew he had been made. He smiled as he thought howhe had
thought just a moment earlier that he could convince her of what he wanted, thinking he had the better
end of the deal.

He wondered for a moment which of them really had the better end, then figured if they were both
happy then the both would likely win. Anyway, no one had ever accused him of convoluted thinking and
planning where his cock was concerned.

“You really think you can convince me to offer up a portion of my soul? Let you bind us together
forever, with no out clause, when we can barely keep from snapping at each other in our real lives for
more than a minute at a time? Your ego is astounding and this doesn’t bode well for my thoughts on your
brain power either.”

Rylan laughed, feeling exhilaration run through his body. Damn, he loved the challenge this particular
woman gave him, and she didn’t even realize it while she did it.

“Darling, it will be my pleasure to make you eat those words,” he said cheerily, still chuckling to himself.

“Darling,” she said softly.

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The serious note in her one word stopped his laughter and he bent his head in to meet her challenge. He
smiled slightly, leaned even further in, so their faces were mere inches apart.

Rylan felt his heartbeat accelerate and his blood temperature rise and the heat swirling so potently
through his system threatened to engulf him. He waited patiently for Ruthie’s words of challenge, knew
they were right on the tip of her tongue and about to spring free from her.

“It will be my pleasure,” she said lowly, softly, challenge and a feminine independence dripping from
every word she slowly drew out, “to make youeat …me!”

Rylan threw his head back and laughed, unable to form any direct answer to her challenge. He had been
certain she would talk about shoving his words and seduction up his ass, or some other pithy figure of
speech.

Even more surprisingly, and turning him on even harder and faster, Rylan found his laugh cut off as
Ruthie took the initiative right there and then and kissed him, wrapping her hands around his head to
draw him in closer to her.

For a moment time hung suspended, utterly still. Rylan felt the soft, female press of her lips upon his. He
could feel every inch of her body pressed so enticingly into his own harder frame. For a few seconds,
everything seemed to be catalogued and crystallized.

And then, as soon as he could wrap his head around it, the moment passed and Rylan felt as if a spark
had ignited him. He felt his heat, which he had previously thought about to explode, totally storm through
him, burning and singeing everything in its wake.

Rylan felt his hands wrap tightly around Ruthie’s waist, draw her even closer into his body and press her
into his hard flesh. He tried to take control of the kiss, but instead she met him, touch for touch and taste
for taste.

Rylan, faced for the first time with all of Ruthie’spassion aimed sensually at him, and not all her anger
and distance, felt his resistance and good intentions burn in the heat she generated with and in him.

He wondered how he could have gone so long and not realized this was the special woman just for him.
He felt enlightened, utterly stupid and elated all at the same time.

Even more enticing than the soft womanly flesh caressing his every sensitive spot, was as they kissed,
explored each other more intimately, he found Ruthie’s mind subconsciously begin to open to him.

Rylan only caught brief, utterly tantalizing flashes, but they were far more than enough to whet his
appetite. His Ruthie seemed to have avery erotic, sensual imagination, and even catching only fleeting
glimpses of a plethora of heated fantasies made him want to devour her and explore each and every one
of them.

Mental images of the two of them intertwined, naked and sweating lightly. Locked in passionate
embraces where it was almost impossible to see where they were joined and where they ended.

Rylan knew she was unknowingly sending him her fantasies, through the intimacy of their kiss, through
their heated devouring of each other, and through their fingers trekking as much naked skin as possible in
their highly restrictive suits.

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Rylan saw himself already naked, kneeling before a naked Ruthie who lay sprawled on a divan of some
description. He watched through Ruthie’s own eyes as he spread her luscious, long, long legs wide and
bent down to eat her. He could practically taste the thick creaminess of her juices as he lapped her in a
long stroke with his tongue. His fantasy-self smiled wickedly and bent down for another taste.

Rylan nearly groaned as this teasing image was quickly replaced with another sexy fantasy. Personally,
he was rather fond of this first fantasy, more than willing to eat Ruthie out anywhere, anytime.

Yet when he saw the image she now fantasized about, he felt his cock tighten alarmingly. This time,
Rylan watched himself thrust his cock deep, monstrously deeply inside Ruthie as she wrapped her arms
and legs around him, drawing him close.

Rylan felt his head spin at the scene before him. He had wanted to bed Ruthie from the first night he had
met her at Scooper’s Pub, wanting to be inside her with a slow, but ever-increasing urgency.

And now here, with the familiarity of an old, worn shirt, Ruthie showed him her very own fantasy of the
two of them making slow, hot, sweet love. Rylan couldn’t decide if it was the sweetness of the fantasy
that caught his breath, or the obvious fact this was not some newly created fantasy. Each and every detail
was exact, as if Ruthie had been thinking of this particular scene over and over and over again, night after
night.

Before he could say anything, before he could pull himself from the slow, sensual rhythm of himself
thrusting into Ruthie over and over, next came an image of Ruthie herself astride him.

Rylan nearly choked as he saw himself, still naked as the day he came from his mother’s womb, with his
arms bound tightly to the headboard of a bed he had never seen before but assumed to be Ruthie’s back
at her lodgings. His arms flexed tautly, his face a mask of desire and need as he climaxed inside her as
she pressed down, her own climax imminent.

Rylan could barely catch his breath, so deeply embedded in each passing scenario she showed him. All
were hot, many were frenzied, and most were of them wildly, passionately making love. Some were him
teasing her, some were her teasing him, all made him hotter than the depths of hell and he felt his own
sense of urgency rise with every new fantasy scene she showed him.

Image after image flitted through his head, Rylan being far too hot and interested to call a halt and ask
her about the sexy scenarios she showed him. Each new scene, however, drove Rylan closer and closer
to the brink of ecstasy, from her mere thoughts alone.

Even while he watched her fantasies unfold before their eyes, he could feel her soft lips nibble on his,
could feel her tongue reach in to taste him again and tangle playfully with his own. He could hear her heart
beat inside his mind and he stifled a moan of urgent need as he touched the softness of her flesh in his
bare hands.

“If you continue to show me your fantasies, love,” Rylan finally warned softly, pulling his lips from hers to
speak huskily, “then this won’t last one minute, let alone long enough to try all these luscious scenarios
you’re tempting me so strongly with.”

He felt a moment’s fission, the jarring sensation of being lost and so desperately alone as she pulled
away from him. He opened his mouth, wondering frantically what he had said to make her change her
mind, when he realized Ruthie had merely leaned back into the console and she pressed in quick
succession the controls to check the ship still flew on its correct course.

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He smiled roguishly as he watched her turn around and lean seductively back on the console. He waited
for her sultry invitation, but instead, surprising him once again, Ruthie silently kicked off her shoes. He
watched her bare her feet, appreciating even that small measure of skin she bared to him.

Rylan forced himself to wait, to hold himself in check just for this shortest of moments. For once, he felt
more than happy to follow her lead. Firstly, he didn’t want to scare her away with the force and strength
of his hunger and heat. But he also had no qualms about letting her be in full control of this first time
between them and so he merely licked his lips as he watched her stand upright and begin to slowly,
teasingly removing her skinsuit.

He simultaneously seemed to feel his throat close up and become painfully dry, while he could have
sworn drool began to leak from his partially opened mouth. Ruthie, he silently acknowledged to himself,
had the sexiest neck and shoulders of any women he’d ever had the pleasure of seeing. He could spend a
year, easily, just licking and sucking the skin covering that delicate, feminine flesh.

Rylan rested his palms flat against the strong muscle of his thighs. He knew outwardly he appeared calm,
but internally, his heat had just skyrocketed a thousand degrees and he was in serious danger of shooting
his seed inside his skinsuit pants there and then.

He couldn’t recall ever needing to shoot his load as he watched a woman,any woman, pull her shirt
away from her neck and shoulders. He shuddered in heated lust while he wondered how he would react
when she finally got around to baring her breasts.

Rylan felt a jolt run through him the moment he fully realized just how much trouble he was in. Ruthie, the
sneaky little she-cat she was, asked him a truly intriguing question just as she, with torturous slowness,
pulled her shirt up over her head, baring her chest and torso to his ravenous gaze.

“I thought you said you couldn’t read my mind,” she queried softly.

Rylan, well versed in Ruthie’s different moods, particularly the huffy, tediously annoyed ones, heard the
slight annoyance in her tone. Frankly he had to admit to himself, with his cock primed to explode and the
veritable feast of pale, creamy, lightly freckled skin on display before him, she could have asked for all his
credcards and he’d have happily handed over everything he owned.

Rylan swallowed convulsively as he tried to make his throat work, to explain the intricate nuances of
what could, and what might occur between a couple who could complete each other’s Soul’s Circle.

As he tried to order his scattered thoughts, he groaned at the muted sound of Ruthie’s suit pants
unsnapping. He had no idea how, but the simple sound made his cock iron-ore hard, and he knew he
had to do something fairly quickly, or he really would utterly disgrace himself.

Rylan swallowed, a desperate attempt to gain moisture in his parched throat and, coming to a
lightning-quick decision, also began to strip himself.

He had hoped by following suit and stripping himself, he might gain some measure of physical control
over himself. He had thought the promise of getting inside Ruthie soon, by stripping himself, might return
some of his lost control.

Rylan’s shoes were toed off in an instant, his naked feet not having any relevance to his overly aroused
state. And so Rylan brought his hands to the snaps of his suit, and purposely ignoring the slight shake in

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his fingers, he began to strip.

Despite all his urgent attempts to retain control, to give Ruthie her first experience with him to be long,
and tender and gentle, he had a seriously sinking feeling this first time would be hard and fast.

Veryhard and fast.

Rylan admitted silently to some level of relief. From the excessive dilation of Ruthie’s pupils, as well as
the short, sharp and quick pants of her breath, he knew without even touching her, testing her, she felt
more than ready.

He had to drag his mind away, as he reallywould begin to drool if he imagined how hot, soft and creamy
her pussy would be right at this moment. Instead, Rylan merely consoled his mind and body with the
knowledge that they both seemed far, far too caught up in the moment to aim for tender and soft with
their lovemaking.

Besides, if Ruthie really wanted him to be either tender, or fast and hard, she was more than able to
insist her point of view toward him. She knew he would never push her too far, never do something
against her wishes. They had been friends long enough that virginal embarrassments were well beyond
them both.

He knew in almost any other circumstance he would have enjoyed the slow, tender explorations of each
other’s bodies. He knewhe sure as hell had been fantasizing about this moment for more months and
years than he cared to think about. Deep down, he had a strong feeling Ruthie would sooner or later
have to admit to something similar.

Wanting to answer her question, and now the ball between them was fully rolling with a momentum all its
own, Rylan felt himself under control enough to do truthful justice to the complex answer.

“I can’t penetrate your mind, love,” he stated huskily, pulling his skinsuit shirt over his head. He tried
desperately hard to ignore the lustful hunger in Ruthie’s dark green eyes as he began to unsnap his pants.

“You, however,” he continued huskily, not as unaffected as he could have hoped for, “have a much
closer link with me than either of us recognized. In the heat of passion, when we kiss like that for
example, your barriers go down and you project to me.”

Rylan took a deep breath and cursed as he tried to wrestle the stupidly tight pants from his body without
causing embarrassing harm or even semipermanent damage.

“They are two very different things, my dear, mereading your thoughts, and youprojecting to my mind.
I’m not invading your mind, and I would hope I never felt the urgent need to. You were just in a
passionate haze and very kindly shared your thoughts with me.”

He felt his heart turn over as Ruthie smiled and slowly finished stepping out of her suit pants.
Unimaginably, the lust he had been feeling overwhelming him grew even more as he watched the naked
sway of her ass and hips as she turned to place the discarded skinsuit on her seat.

He felt his cock jerk in violent lust as the realization dawned on his overwrought brain that Ruthie,his
spitfire Ruthie, had been completely butt naked under her suit all day.

She had not worn any underwear, no nothing.

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Rylan felt his hands shake and he paused in his own removal of his pants as the ramifications and
knowledge seeped deeply into his beleaguered mind.

“Do you always pilot ships naked underneath that suit, Ruthie darling?” he asked hoarsely. “Inquiring
minds just curiously wanting to know, you realize.”

Rylan felt frozen, somehow frozen in the fire of his own lusts and needs. Somehow, his mind seem
riveted to the burning curiosity about the state, or non-state as the case appeared to be, of Ruthie’s
underwear. Very dimly, at the far back corner of his mind, a small voice popped up, arguing that maybe
for his own peace of mind he might notwant to know whether Ruthie routinely wore underwear or not.
Yet the words were spoken, and Rylan held firm, waiting for some semblance of an answer.

His hot, desperately hungry gaze followed the pale skin and gorgeously deep red hair that fell about her
shoulders in spiral curls. Ruthie merely shrugged casually at him, causing the curls to dance around her
shoulders and face as she headed over to the far wall of the ship.

Rylan swallowed at the play of muscle and flesh as her back arched with the movement of her arm
reaching up to pull down the slim cot. Rylan knew the utilitarian cot was present in all ships for the
co-pilot to sleep on over long journeys, but somehow Ruthie’s teasing, drawn out movements made the
easy gesture seem sensual and erotic.

Rylan hungrily watched the sway of her ass, the slight flex of arm muscles and the intriguing manner in
which her long curls simultaneously hid and played peekaboo with the slim line of her back.

Rylan ached as he watched Ruthie fluff the pillows that had inflated instantly upon the cot being laid flat in
its correct position. He contemplated this complex woman, a perfect mixture of sexy and sultry, while still
being a perfectly independent, capable and strong woman.

He chewed over his thoughts as he felt himself entranced by her feminine movements as she carefully
arranged herself in a half-lying position upon the cot, her legs only very slightly apart. She paused a
moment, her legs spread apart enough to show him the glint of neatly trimmed, short red curls.

Rylan wanted to groan in frustration. Her curls were clipped enough to only hint at the pale flesh
beneath. Fiery red curls hid Ruthie’s most delicate treasures and he wanted more than anything to pounce
on her and taste them all.

“I know the suits are specially designed to not show panty lines,” she said huskily, devouring him with
her eyes but otherwise showing now outward signs of her hunger for him. Rylan mentally gave her the
points for being the more in control of the two of them.

He smiled as Ruthie continued huskily, her throaty, womanly voice acting almost as potently upon his
body as her physical caress could. “But I never trust the damn things.”

Rylan felt his heartbeat accelerate at her rich chuckle.

“Far easier to forgo the underwear,” she continued. “Besides, for something like piloting I don’t need a
bra—it’s not like I’m enormously endowed.”

Rylan felt his control snap and dimly he heard a smallrip as he yanked his suit from his feet and the thin
material obviously caught upon something.

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He felt the fire race through his veins, knew beyond a doubt that he needed to touch her more than he
needed his next breath. He knew part of his sudden desperation was the heat singing through his veins,
clouding his mind in a lustful frenzy of red-hot need, but he also knew deep within his soul that he would
not be experiencing such a powerful response if the woman had been anyone else.

Rylan could not deny he had always found this woman more beautiful than most, more intriguing than any
other, more tempting than any naughty sin. For years they had been teasing and taunting one another, an
agony-filled stretch epitomizing the art of prolonged foreplay.

Rylan felt confident in the thought that neither of them had truly expected it to come to a head quite in
this manner, but they both had known over the years that sooner or later they would end up in bed
together. Privately, when Rylan had seen Ruthie bombed out of her mind at the Desperate and Dateless
ball, he had expected it to all come to a head then.

But he had decided Ruthie’s friendship was worth more to him than one night of rolling between the
sheets. She had half-awoken numerous times during the evening, and he had acted like an utterly platonic
eunuch of a friend, and not the hungry, sexually crazed vampire he had been. He had promised himself
over and over as he had held Ruthie’s glasses of vita-water and led her to the hotel room’s bathroom that
he would have another chance with her.

And now, here they were finally at the same point. Somehow the intricately woven journey they had
both taken to arrive here seemed overcomplicated. Rylan gave thanks they had managed to reach this
identical point at all.

The journey of life always continues, Gavreel had proclaimed to his youngest son on more than one
occasion,it’s the people whom we meet and the interactions we choose to have that make the
journey interesting and more palatable .

Rylan smiled. Wherever his father was, he hoped the old bugger was having even half as much fun as
Rylan currently was.

In a few easy strides, Rylan crossed the floor of the ship and knelt down on the warm tiles. Noticing all
the small things in life, he felt grateful for the advancement of central floor heating. Originally, it had not
been thought safe for the ships, but the wonderful art of modern technology had overtaken that concern.

As far as he was concerned they could stay naked until they reached Owanus, with no chance of Ruthie
contracting a chill.Especially not with me to keep her warm , he thought cheekily.

Slowly, tenderly, as if he were reaching for the Holy Grail, Rylan spread Ruthie’s legs apart. He didn’t
feel just his heat rise within him, he felt as if he were finally about to live out each and every fantasy he
had ever held with Ruthie. He bent forward, eager to find the delicious treasures hiding between her
creamy thighs and buried within her short, fiery curls.

He felt elation sweep through him as Ruthie relaxed back onto the semihard mattress of the cot, an
indulgent and mellow expression on her face. The quirk of her eyebrow clearly stated to him “go for it,
buddy, but you better make this worth my while”.

Rylan suppressed a grin as he bent down to the fragrant delight of her pussy.I sure will make this
worth your while, darling , he thought naughtily. He wet his lips with the tip of his tongue, softening
them and preparing himself to feast.

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With a hungry delight he had never felt previously, Rylan carefully licked a hot trail from the apex of her
thighs to the creamily weeping entrance of her pussy, sweeping up the juice she offered him. His tongue
found her clit and, unable to help himself, he paused there a moment lapping hungrily over and around the
hard bud.

The little nubbin grew fully erect and demanded its share of attention. Closing his eyes to better feel
Ruthie’s body’s demands to him, Rylan happily complied and suckled her clit. Lapping the juice flowing
even more freely now, Rylan carefully placed both his big, warm hands on each of her thighs, spreading
her wide for him to fit more easily between her.

He moaned as he tasted her hot, spicy cream throughout his mouth, and he smiled as Ruthie shifted
restlessly. The rumbling in his throat, pressed so closely against her sensitive skin, had merely heightened
her arousal, and Rylan felt his hunger rise another notch.

After countless moments of teasing and suckling the little bud, rumbling approval in his throat and just
generally indulging himself and driving Ruthie wild, he moved down from her clit and her outer labia lips
to her heated pussy.

Its swollen folds, drenching cream, and the quivering of Ruthie’s thighs, all showed him the restless,
female demand she craved. Gently, Rylan ran a damp finger over and around the slitted opening, enjoying
the sweet-salty taste of Ruthie upon himself as he sucked his finger.

He looked up, not surprised to see Ruthie canted up on her arms, watching his every movement.

“Delicious,” he answered her unspoken question. Wanting to tease and taunt her as she did him, he
sucked his finger into his mouth even harder. Ruthie’s face was delicately flushed, her eyes wide and her
pupils almost eating all of her irises.

Not waiting to let her answer, he thrust his tongue inside her pussy. She felt hot, damp and so damn tasty
he knew he could eat her forever and never tire of her taste. As he plunged his tongue even deeper inside
her, stroking her soft inner walls, he longed for the moment it could be his cock filling this void, stretching
her to her limits.

He hadn’t even been conscious of the fact he had been sharing his thoughts with Ruthie until she rolled
her head back, opened her legs even wider, having them fall listlessly to each side of the skinny cot. As if
the single word was torn from somewhere deep, deep inside her, she huskily moaned, “Yes.”

Rylan desperately wanted to query exactly what she referred to when she proclaimed, “yes”, but he was
loath to move from the heaven of where he was. Instead, he let his fingers roam softly over the heated,
pouting flesh and began to kiss his way up her stomach, aiming for her breasts.

With Ruthie’s obvious need showing in every pant and flush across her body, as well as his own aching
hunger which only seemed to be expanding, his trip up her body, though sweet and very tasty, was not
particularly slow. When he opened his mouth to take and taste one erect nipple, he suckled it hard to see
exactly what her reaction would be.

He needed to know from her reactions if he were moving them too fast, or, with any luck, if she didn’t
mind if he pushed them both a bit harder and faster. The body not really being able to lie, he wanted to
see and feel and taste her reactions—not rely on heated words which might not necessarily be accurate.

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As he rolled the tight nipple around his mouth, savoring the taste, he felt surprised as Ruthie’s hands
cupped his face. He paused instantly, worried she might be requesting him to stop, but as he looked up at
her flushed face, noting the flush now also crossed her chest, he knew without a doubt she was with him
every step of the way.

He groaned and sucked the nipple even harder into his mouth. They both moaned, and Ruthie shifted her
legs again restlessly as he gently thrust two now damp fingers deep inside her soft pussy. Rylan looked
back up at her passion-stained face as she tilted his head to the side, silently begging him to take both her
nipples at once.

“I don’t think we can wait this time,” she murmured softly, her voice rasping with need.

Rylan merely grunted as he deftly brought both nipples into his mouth and suckled hard. He wished he
could simultaneously drink Ruthie’s moan of approval, but chided himself to wait.

He wanted to swallow her moans and cries from her climaxes—he could live without these preliminary
cries.

“It’s been a while, and you’re projecting to me now, and it’s driving me crazy. I know you’re worried
about pushing me too far too fast, but I don’t think that’s going to happen, love.”

Reluctantly, Rylan raised his head, enjoying thepop sound of her nipples as they fell back and stayed
hard in the crisp air. He grinned wryly, self-deprecatingly, “My control is shot, Ruthie. A nasty side effect
of the heat. I promise after a quickie I’ll have more patience.”

He was once again amazed at this woman’s strength when she merely spread her legs wider and
reached down to fist his cock gently in her smooth, warm hand. With one simple, firm stroke he
practically came in her hand, something he hadn’t done since his first ever heat phase.

“Careful, love,” he cautioned huskily, “or this will be over before we’ve begun.”

“I trust you,” she said softly, melting his heart. Rylan felt his determination to make her his strengthen
with her soft admittance. “If nothing else I know you’ll not rest until we’re both sated. You’re a good
man,” she laughed at herself, “vampire, whatever, Rylan. You’re a good friend.”

“And I’m a better lover,” he said seriously, knowing it not to be a youthful boast, but hard fact. Even if
he killed himself, he knew he would push his own body and soul until Ruthie screamed and shied
oversensitively away from his touch, indicating she had truly had more than enough. He wanted to wring
her dry, even if it drove him insane to do so and it took the entire flight for them to both reach that level of
sexual satiation.

Once again he felt the soft, gentle smoothness of Ruthie’s fingers as she gently guided his shaft forward,
lodged him at her entrance. The heated potency of the moment, that bright, shining instant before
penetration boggled his mind, and all coherent thought fled.

He watched, stunned with lust and completely enthralled as she then moved her pale, soft hand away
from his dick to rest gently on his hip. He groaned in approval as he felt her short nails press gently into
his skin. He wondered if there were some book she had read on how to drive him, specifically, totally
wild.

Lodged comfortably at the tip of her pussy, he could feel the first drops of his pre-cum leaking from him,

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lubricating his shaft and coating her slit, making it even more slick than her own juices made her.

Not that either of them needed the extra help, he thought wryly. Ruthie was as wet and flowing as any
woman he had ever had, even after hours of preparation. Even though he was long, thick and solid as a
pole, he knew she would fit him perfectly, stretch wondrously to accommodate him, and they would
likely find nirvana with each other.

In his soul he knew that together, they made a perfect match. They might drive each other nuts, might
often push each other’s hot buttons and argue and shriek like enemies, but such a force of passion
between them would simply explode and set them both on fire in the bedroom.

“I need you now, Rylan,” Ruthie cried out, arching into him and wrapping her legs around his waist.

Rylan could hear the edge in her voice, the tone that clearly stated more than words ever could just how
close to the edge she was and how much she needed him to complete her.

Her hands held his waist strongly, the nails a biting pleasure he had never fully appreciated ever before.
Ruthie pulled him even closer in to her, arching to lodge his tip deeper inside her entrance. Rylan
complied blindly, needing her just as much if not more than she needed him.

He thrust into her in a deep, long stroke. For a moment, he wished he could live that one, agonizingly
passionate first stroke over and over again. The sense of coming home, of being fulfilled and completed
rushed over him, and he felt certain Ruthie felt the same.

Rylan could feel the sensual, velvet friction of his cock entering Ruthie, his soft skin rubbing against her
tight, wet walls, all the way from his root up to the burning need that clawed behind his tightly shut eyes.

Rylan paused a second to catch his breath, knowing with but a few strokes he would explode, and
undoubtedly disappoint the most important woman in his entire life. He relaxed his fierce grip on Ruthie’s
waist, upset for a moment he might leave a bruise. He opened his eyes to look at her, gauge whether he
had genuinely hurt her or not, and felt stunned by what he could sense and see.

With them both so intimately joined, the moment he concentrated fully on Ruthie, he was bombarded
with her thoughts, feelings and fantasies.

She wanted it hard, he realized, stunned and even more turned on by her free acceptance of him and his
needs in this moment. She was desperately trying to urge him on faster and harder so he would pound
into her, rush them both up that peak of pleasure to soar over the edge, climaxing together.

For the first time ever, trulyloving being able to read a woman’s mind, Rylan felt every last vestige of his
resistance disappear as if it had never been. He had never been happier to comply with a woman’s
desires.

He was fit to burst anyway, but he had forced himself desperately to try and hold back for Ruthie’s
sake. Yet she very clearly wanted him to press her, push her, stretch her past her own comfort zone and
see just how far and how fantastically they could be together, and joined in the most intimate way a man
and woman could be.

She wanted him hard and rough, completely himself and not holding back or treating her like something
fragile. She didn’t want their experience to be painful, that much was crystal clear in her mind, but she
wanted him to go wild with her, open himself to her so she could truly see how he was.

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Rylan had never felt more proud, or more able to oblige.

“Hold on, baby,” he said roughly, reaching with his large hands to get a better, safer hold on her hips. He
angled her upward on the thin cot. Even with her legs wrapped closely around him, he needed a slightly
different angle of purchase to penetrate her as deeply as he intended.

Rylan thanked the Goddess all ship cots were reinforced titanium, or he’d be worried about the damn
thing falling loose from the wall with the wild, lightning fast ride he knew would be coming for them both.

With a sturdy grip on the woman of his dreams, he looked down into the most enchanting green eyes he
had ever had the pleasure of viewing at such a moment, and fiercely drove them to the brink.

As soon as he started pulling in and out of her, the friction of her gloving pussy rocketed his pleasure up
another notch. The grip he fiercely held on his control began to slip, and he angled himself even deeper
inside her, pressed until he began to rub against her G-spot.

When he found it, she cried out and dug her nails even harder into his hips. He could sense the exact
moment Ruthie lost her own control, the wash of her feelings flowing over him in a hot rush of female
thoughts and desires.

She loved it, craved it, and needed it more.Rylan could sense the jumbled mass of emotions, lust, a
tingling of fear for her heart, the reckless, desperate craving of a hungry womandemanding her lusts and
physical needs to be satisfied.

As if she were a whirling dervish inside, he threw himself into their joined state, pumping in and out of her
harder and even harder still. He could feel their spirits tangle around each other, recognize their mate and
come together in the beautiful, indescribable way only destined souls could.

With the confirmation that she loved him letting loose, loved his heavy thrusts, he threw caution to the
wind and let himself go wild. He thrust himself into her, over and over, relishing the freedom Ruthie gave
to him so selflessly. They both began to moan and cry out, needing more but never wanting the
pleasurable ride to end.

He could feel them both reaching their climax, a blaze of colors and sensations rocketing through his
mind. Half were his own mindless flashes, half were Ruthie’s—the two of them so intimately entwined not
even their minds could separate whose sensations were whose.

Meshed together until they both were ablaze with the feelings they brought out in one another. For the
first time ever, Rylan could fully appreciate just how special a completed Soul’s Circle could be.

Finally, when he worried he could hold it in no longer, Ruthie threw her head back and screamed. Rylan
could feel the explosion in her head, felt the fierce contractions of her pussy as she squeezed down on his
shaft.

No question about the ferocity of her peak, nor of the intense enjoyment she received from her own
completion. Ruthie obliterated him, a buzz of white sound and colors echoing in his ears from her own
mind. It was an explosion unlike anything he had ever felt, alien and female and very seductive to his
masculine mind.

So intense was her orgasm, she set his own off, the explosion inher head reverberating in and inundating

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his. Rylan felt his cock seize up and explode, shooting his seed deep inside her.

As she felt the heat of his very essence eject into her womb, tiny sparks set off inside her, smaller
contractions, wringing every last drop from him. Rylan felt as if for a short moment in time the two of
them were frozen together, locked in that powerful, potent moment of ecstasy, forever on the cusp of
complete, abandoned fulfillment.

Moments later, panting, utterly wrung dry, Rylan could feel the energy sap from him as if it were
vita-water running down a drain. At a complete loss within a few seconds, he fell down on top of Ruthie
and felt a peace he had never known existed cover him as she wrapped her arms comfortingly around
him.

Vaguely, Rylan heard and felt Ruthie’s legs fall to either side of his body, but neither of them could catch
their breath or organize a coherent thought to say. He knew Ruthie was as wrung, physically and
emotionally, as he was.

They lay panting together for a moment, catching their breath and both trying to sort through the mess of
emotions and sensations. Rylan felt at peace, a soothing, comforting sensation of everything being exactly
as it ought.

Rylan truly tried not to pry into Ruthie’s mind, but after sharing such an intoxicating lovemaking session,
he knew much of her barriers would have dropped between them. With every time they made love, they
would both open more and more to each other, even though technically he couldn’t read her mind.

Rylan knew as their level of intimacy deepened, Ruthie would become easier for him to read, to guess,
to know. And Rylan found himself amazed that he looked forward to this level of knowing and sharing.
He looked forward to unraveling the conundrum Ruthie was, to the complex female she had always been
to him. He felt a deep level of satisfaction and excitement knowing he would rise to the challenge she held
for him.

He smiled as her dreamy thoughts crossed into his mind. Her hazy thoughts and fantasies were nothing
too specific, she just seemed to be floating along on a happy, fluffy cloud, wallowing in the sensation of
being completely and utterly fulfilled.

Becoming conscious of his full weight upon Ruthie, he rolled to his side. Delicately running a hand down
her side he enjoyed the shivering sensation his touch gave her.

“Does this ship have an instant cleansing chamber?” he whispered sexily against her throat as he kissed
the long, slender column softly.

Instead of answering, Ruthie shifted aside, stood up and took his hand in hers. He followed her off the
cot and over to the far corner near the entrance. A small, thin, box-like cubicle, barely two feet by two
feet square stood cleared.

“I thought this was for cargo?” he said, amazed. He eyed the tiny space carefully, still slightly disbelieving
it could be a cleansing cubicle.

He knew ships instant chambers had grown small, much like everything else in modern technology
smaller was often seen as better, though not tohis mind. Still, he wondered how such a tiny space could
fully cleanse and condition them both together.

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Ruthie shook her head, likely knowing what he thought even without needing to read his thoughts or hear
his projections. In her husky, raw voice, she casually called out, “Cubicle. Cleanse.”

Invisible barriers closed off the tiny area, Rylan amazed that even with almost no space separating them,
the steam the chamber filled with managed to make him feel refreshed and clean. Ruthie raised her arms
and turned in a few circles to get the cleansing steam all over her body.

Rylan toyed for a moment with touching her, tasting the cleansing steam on her body, but finally decided
to follow suit and cleanse his own body first. There would be plenty of time later for playing.

Less than a minute later, the steam stopped, and a warm wash of gently pressurized air passed over
them, drying their skin and bodies. The whole ritual had taken less than two minutes, yet he felt as clean
all over as if he had soaked in a long bath for hours.

The cheeky, knowing grin Ruthie cast him had his cock hard again in an instant. The heat deep inside
him, although much tamer this time, still beat an impatient tattoo against his chest, demanding satiation.

Rylan took Ruthie in his arms, enjoying the soft, sensual way she felt against his naked skin. He could tell
from the happy, glowing security of her thoughts and emotions she felt as fulfilled and whole as he felt.

“If we completed each other’s souls we would always feel this fulfilled,” Rylan said softly as he strung a
few kisses across her face. He wanted to tempt her, but more, he wanted her to gain that knowledge she
had wanted about what exactly it meant to complete a vampire’s Soul’s Circle.

“I don’t know about you, Ruthie,” he continued seductively, “but even with my love for my family, and
Vasili and my other friends, there’s always a part of my heart, my soul, and my deepest insides missing. I
might not have realized that it was you in particular, but I knew it was that one special woman who could
complete me. Surely you’ve felt it, that tiny frisson of dissatisfaction no matter how wonderful the
conquest was, no matter how glorious the win?”

Ruthie shifted uncomfortably in Rylan’s arms, but he continued to kiss her gently between sentences and
softly, he pushed her, pressing his point home.

“Without each other,” he continued, his voice low and husky but certain, “without truly being whole.”

He looked down at her, smiled as he saw her green eyes clear from the lustful darkness and come back
into proper focus. At least she listened to what he said. If nothing else he could be satisfied with her
listening and taking onboard his truthful words.

“Rylan,” she said hesitantly, clearing her throat carefully, “you know we drive each other nuts. There is
so much more to this than knock-you-dead sex. You would never let me work like I want to. I know
you, can feel your thoughts and dreams. You’d want me to raise your kids, to only take the safe jobs and
not travel the galaxy for months at a time chasing down leads. For a vamp of the twenty-fifth century you
are surprisingly Neanderthal in some of your views. Besides, you promised.”

Rylan shifted as Ruthie pushed him away from her and crossed the cabin again to pick up her clothes.

“Promised what?” he said groggily, stunned how one minute they could be utterly peaceful together, the
next grumpy like this. How women could just snap the switch and be back to normal after fantastic sex
like that he wouldnever understand.

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It wasn’t until he crossed over to her and she brushed his hand in a gesture of apology he read her true
turmoil. Maybe women were just better at hiding their confusion and dislocation after sex?

If that was true it was the most unfair trait the Goddess had ever bestowed upon a gender,ever .

“You promised not to harass me about this Soul business.”

Rylan stepped back to replace the cot into the wall. As he pulled his briefs and skinsuit back on, he
shook his head.

“Women,” he sighed, remorse and caring both vying for attention in that one word. “I promised not to
force you into the ritual or to offer you my soul at a moment I knew you couldn’t resist me. I do not
consider wheedling or trying to convince you to do this the same as forcing you. Besides, I don’t think
onecan force the situation.”

Rylan fell silent as Ruthie returned back to the controls and seated herself back in her seat. Rylan
watched as Ruthie pressed a quick succession of buttons, and wondered how best to explain the
situation between a vampire and his soul, without overstating the case, or freaking her out.

“We’ll be coming up to the start of the field around Owanus in a few minutes,” Ruthie stated calmly
without even glancing at him. Rylan sighed, hoping the small amount he had been able to speak to her
would be enough for her to think about for now.

“You better sit back down and get ready, we’re heading in,” she continued, looking up at last to make
sure he followed her orders.

Rylan grinned wryly and looked back at the now invisible cot. Sure, he had no hassles following Ruthie’s
lead right now. While he could certainly pilot a ship and land them if the need came, Ruthie’s point was
also valid. She was the boss on this ship, and in general on this quest of theirs.

What she had said of him was true, to an extent. Hedidn’t want her in danger, but there was something
she hadn’t understood from his possessive thoughts. He didn’t want her in dangerwithout him there to
protect her . He had always wanted to follow her on her more dangerous quests, and convincing her he
meant business would be a lot of fun.

Rylan smiled widely as he sat down and strapped himself into his seat.

The smell of their sex still permeated the air, but everything else for all appearances was back to how it
had been not twenty minutes ago. Rylan watched Ruthie working the controls like the pro she was and
felt respect well up inside him.

There were certainly far worse fates he could think of than to trail along after her as a
second-in-command to her captain. He shook his head as myriad thoughts entered his mind of what he
could say and do to convince her of his faith and trust when they reached Owanus.

The fierce look of concentration on Ruthie’s face made him believe she was so deeply lost in her own
thoughts that she didn’t pay much attention to anything else.

That was fine by him, in this particular situation he had a feeling he would need every edge he could
possibly get, and Ruthie thinking so deeply about the two of them she blocked everything else out had to
be a good thing.

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At leastnow she was thinking in terms of “them” and their relationship, and not just writing them both off.

Chapter Seven

Somewhere in the middle of space

“What the five hells do you mean you don’t believe in the elixir of life? How else do you bloody well
think Barnaberry came back from the dead in the Eternal War of 2144?”

Chandra unbuckled her safety harness and stood up so she was able to stalk around the back of the
ship’s cabin. She ran a seriously agitated hand through her short hair and tried not to pull the strands out
with the sheer force of her annoyance with the vampire who so calmly sat in the pilot’s seat next to her.

Nearly thirty hours of nonstop arguing and bitching with Gavreel Montague and she was ready to either
push him out the air lock, stab him a million times with the nearest pointy object, or just scream herself
hoarse from the frustration she felt clawing at her every pore.

And it wasn’t just intellectual frustration she felt in Gavreel’s presence. Oh no.

For some reason she couldn’t fathom, she was getting more hot and bothered the longer she stayed in
Gavreel’s company. She had always been a loner, preferring her texts and research to the parties and
assorted wars many of her kind preferred.

Both her parents had been renowned vampiric researchers and explorers, bringing home many a rare
artifact and tome to the Colonial Vampiric Library.

Their names were in a place of pride on the plaque in the main foyer, both having died tragically in the
XXIVth Tome War on Jargig a hundred or more years ago.

It had been they who had taught Chandra to never quit on a theory, to never be dismayed if she were on
the outskirts of a hypothesis. Until they had gathered the proof, no one had believedtheir theory of the
Goddess having many faces, and a cousin who had founded the Vampiric Race on Owanus.

Yet now it was not only the pervading theory but the only one officially taught in the university, everyone
else’s theories being the ones now shunned and ostracized. There were a few other interlinking theories
which were highly acclaimed, but her parents’ had the most backing, and the most literary support.

Yet her parents, for all Chandra had loved them, were so often entrenched in their own philosophies and
theories they had often overlooked their child, and then practically ignored their adult offspring for months
or at some stages even years at a time.

The lack of family support had made Chandra feel isolated, even as a young child. Yet books had
always managed to fill the void she so regularly felt inside her. Even though her parents and many of their
contemporaries assumed Chandra had followed into the academic lifestyle as merely a dutiful child, or
even to carry on her parents’ work, in reality Chandra had long held an affinity for books and research.

For many, many years, it had been the only solace in a rather bleak, empty galaxy she had found herself
trapped in. Chandra found by totally immersing herself in gathering knowledge, by traveling through
books and journals to different times and worlds helped ease the pain and loneliness of her reality.

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Initially she had studied merely to escape, but quickly her passion for learning and keeping up on the
latest arguments gave her a sense of belonging to a wider community. She had not only helped keep
herself sane, but also realized there were many, many other people out there who held the same passions
she did.

“Barnaberry only held on for a few weeks,” Gavreel replied to her earlier outburst calmly.

Chandra gritted her teeth. Why on earth was she finding herself so very worked up over all this—it
wasn’t as if arguing with Montague was anything new or different for her. So why was this particular time
affecting her so much more than ever before?

“Even humans have been known to hold on to life by sheer will for a short time,” he continued, not even
looking up from the tome he read, “or, that is, until something important they’re waiting for occurs. Then
they pass on, much as Barnaberry did.”

Chandra sniffed and started to pace. She wanted to point out to the insufferably arrogant Gavreel that it
was widely held that the elixir of life only worked for a short period of time. And Barnaberry in many,
many texts had been proclaimed dead without a doubt, and then suddenly he rose to finish his tasks.

Yet Chandra found her mind wandering, her body feeling itchy, overheated, and just generally out of
sorts.

She intensely disliked traveling on a ship other than her own and wondered for a moment if that could be
the cause of her uneasiness. Since neither she nor Gavreel had been able to agree on whose ship would
be taken, they had rented one. Even though the dimensions were larger than the average rented ship, she
still felt stifled, trapped inside the enclosed area.

Chandra fiddled with the tight neckline of her skinsuit, wishing she was in something more comfortable.
She wondered if maybe the pressure in the cabin was off, and that would account for her feeling so odd
since she had never had feelings of claustrophobia before.

Chandra hated the current fashion of never wearing anything other than skinsuits. She understood how it
made things much simpler when traveling with less pockets and flaps to get caught on important
instruments, but sometimes she wished for less restrictive fashionable clothes.

Chandra shook her head. First this odd claustrophobia and now irritation at clothing that usually didn’t
bother her. She frowned and wondered why the oversensitivity with her surroundings.

Could it really be Gavreel? she wondered silently to herself. Chandra laughed to herself. Usually she
would be either concentrating too hard on where she was heading, or lost within a tome or text of some
description while she traveled, she reasoned to herself. Would she even notice the uncomfortable nature
of the suit under usual circumstances?

She had to admit not, yet something about this trip just seemed to be completely different to what she
was used to. She couldn’t sit still, she had to fidget and that was utterly, totally unlike her. Chandra had
been known to sit in the same position researching something for a day or more at a time.

Yet now, here in this stifling atmosphere, she couldn’t concentrate on any of the different texts in her
carryall, and most annoying of all, she seemed to be even more snarky and surly than usual when it came
to arguing with Gavreel Montague.

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She didn’t know what it was about the vampire, but he made her steam, made her so mad!

She barely registered Gavreel setting the ship to autopilot as she stalked up and down the main area, and
until the faintclick registered, didn’t even notice him unbuckling himself and turning in his seat.

Chandra continued to pace, muttering darkly to herself under her breath. Even though she tried to
organize her mind into a coherent argumentative mood, she found herself gazing at Gav under her lashes,
and then fiercely cursing herself for doing do.

What on earth is up with me? she wondered wildly. Chandra knew she was acting totally out of
character, but she simply couldn’t put her finger on what or why.

She wondered at the utterly alien and new sensations coursing through her body. Analytically, she noted
her nipples had tightened, rasping gently against the silky material of her skinsuit.

“What is it, Chandra? What is eating at you?” she heard Gavreel say from his seat.

She shook her head, tried to clear her odd physical reactions toany man of any species, but particularly
this man who infuriated her so often.

“Nothing, I just feel uncomfortably hot in here.”

“The ship’s temperature is regulated, Chandra, you know that. What is itreally ?”

Chandra put a palm to her head and tried to feel if she were unusually hot or if it was just her
imagination. She certainly felt warm, but not alarmingly so. She must be just feeling the differences in air
pressure or something.

“Nothing, it’s nothing,” she repeated.

Gavreel, obviously not believing her, crossed over the room toward her. She held her hands up, warning
him away and barely restrained herself from growling at him like some rabid beast.

“Don’t, dammit! I am perfectly fine!” she insisted, but he paid her no attention. He gently rested a palm
flat on her forehead, his face wrinkled with concern.

“You do feel warm. What’s up with you?”

Chandra closed her eyes and had to force herself not to moan at the sensation of his touch. She quickly
reinforced her mental block, determined none of her childish angst and ridiculous thoughts would seep
out of her mind and into his. The connection of his skin to hers made retaining the block and keeping
herself apart from Gavreel even more difficult than she could have previously imagined.

The last thing she needed was to project some of her confusion at her reaction to his touch to the
damned vampire! He would never let her live it down, and she would never be able to argue a
philosophical point with him again.

Chandra pulled away from Gavreel’s firm but gentle touch and resumed her seat at the cockpit. As she
buckled herself up into the usually comfortable seat, she noticed her hands were slightly damp.

Even as her mind calculated at a lightning pace the different potential causes of such an abnormal

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physical reaction and the effects they might have on her, Chandra discreetly wiped her palms down the
legs of her suit, squashing every thought in the process.

She refused to enter heat. Particularly at this time in this place.

Chandra knew it was firmly placed down as academically useless to “refuse” to enter heat,
physiologically the body did whatever the five hells it wantedwhen it wanted to. But even so, Chandra
knew full well that the mind could do amazing things if one just opened oneself to it deeply enough.

Chandra breathed deep, the trancelike, meditative breaths she had been taught since childhood. After a
moment, she bent down to retrieve a tome at random from her carryall and opened it up, grateful to have
something else to concentrate on.

“So why would you be searching for the Rune of Knowledge if you refuse to believe in the Elixir?
Candidtina clearly stipulates that information, orverified information about the Rune is even more rare
than the Elixir. How could you so faithfully believe in one and not the other?”

Chandra stared at the gorgeously handsome vampire as he sat himself down next to her. Clearly her
withdrawal from his seemingly genuine concern on her part had confused him, she could read his
confusion and his desire to simply scan her mind and find the real cause behind her odd behavior.
Etiquette being bred into every vampire from the cradle, however, forbade him to do so.

Thankfully, Gavreel buckled himself into his seat. He would talk with her, and more than likely in five
minutes they would be arguing again. But that was all as it should be between the two of them. Arguing
vague reference points between two academic points of view. Not one friend being concerned about
another.

Her whole life, all three hundred and eight years of it, the only thing Chandra had been able to faithfully
rely on was her texts and research, and the arguments and hypotheses she could glean from it.

Damned if she would lose that now because her body wanted to enter heat with only the best academic
rival she hadever faced, present to sate herself and help her through the turmoil. No way would she
screw up the only decent adult relationship she had in her life. Not for a bit of sex and a vampire heat
phase.

Thankfully, Gavreel decided to politely ignore her bizarre behavior and argue his case with her.

Still a little bit wobbly, but as they happily argued once again with each other, Chandra’s world righted
itself on its axis.

And their ship continued to sail deeper into the galactic space.

Chapter Eight

Gavreel Montague’s permanent lodgings

“Hey there, Mike, where would you like me to start?”

Vasili entered the cramped quarters and tried valiantly to stifle a sigh. The medium-sized quarters had
books and papers, holo-zines and microchip-readers, not to mentions piles and piles of hologrammed
files on one table next to a holo-reader, stacked and crammed onto every flat surface.

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Bookshelves overflowed with texts and tomes scattered and stuffed into every available crevice. Chairs,
stools, tables and benches—every available surface had been used to cram reams of documents, texts
and data everywhere the eye could see.

Obviously the order and set-out of these files had meaning and logical placements to Gav, but to
everyone else, Vasili included, it just seemed like an almighty mess.

The look of frustration on Michael’s face could only have been exceeded by the look of horror Vasili felt
upon his own.

“You can’t seriously expect us to search through all this?” he said, pictures of a lazy afternoon in
Scooper’s pub, chatting up a particularly luscious blonde escort called Lea flying from his mind and
crashing and burning into mere embers.

“The hologrammed files will be fine, Gav only uses them for research, and he won’t have left any notes
on them. His PCC he took with him, so we’re spared that catastrophe as well. Everything else is fair
game. I’ve started on the tomes, just flipping through them to see if he left any holo-notes or remind-it
stamps anywhere. Feel free to start with his…desk.”

Vasili felt certain there was a laugh behind Mike’s cough. He felt his plans for the day, and possibly even
the evening dissipate into nothingness.

Sighing drearily, he stood in front of a structure he felt certain would turn out to be a desk, if it wasn’t
covered in files and stacks of disks until it almost reached his neck.

“You and the rest of the guys so owe me big time for this,” he sighed, “and I don’t think a few shots of
blue, or even purple vodka will make up for it.”

Vasili sighed, amused to hear an answering heavy sigh from Michael as they both set to work.

* * * * *

What felt like hours later, he laughed and called out, “Jackpot!”

Michael turned around, a dazed look on his face.

“Tell me you’re not yanking my chain.”

Vasili smiled and threw himself onto the couch, uncaring at the listing pile of holo-news that went
scattering to the floor.

“Have a look at this, Mike,” he said cheerily, throwing one of the holo-zines at his friend. Michael caught
it without even trying, and glanced at the cover.

“The year’s greatest Play-skirts?” he said admiringly. “What the hell does this have to do with Gav?”

“Absolutely nothing,” Vasili said happily, “but man, look at the legs on this girl…” Vasili snorted as
Michael cast the centerfold on the holo-zine he had caught, and came to sit down next to him.

“I don’t know why, but I feel vaguely voyeuristic panting over my father’s stash of dirty zines. Wonder if

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there’s anything worthwhile here to be found?”

“My friend, I think we’ve already found it.”

Both men nodded companionably and turned their attention back to the holo-zines.

* * * * *

Rylan turned his face to hide his grimace as he adjusted his skinsuit around his still impressively erect
cock. Ruthie, thankfully, concentrated on the final landing checks and had no idea just how
uncomfortable he felt.

As their ship came into the port, Rylan knew with all the settling-down checks and forms to fill out, it
would only be a moment or two before they would disembark together on Owanus.

Even after adjusting his pants, Rylan knew the only thing he could concentrate on was getting to Gav’s
lodgings and stripping both himself and Ruthie naked and making slow, passionate love to her once again.

He tried hard to retain the mental block, to not let his feelings leak out and warn Ruthie of just how much
he wanted her again. While he doubted Ruthie minded as such, he felt hesitant to let her become fully
aware of just how much power she held over him.

Sure, he still felt incredibly curious about whatever the five hells it was his father thought he was up to,
but knowing he had flown out here nearly a month ago had assuaged the majority of his worries. How
much trouble could the old man get into in four or five weeks? Here in Owanus of all places?

Right now, although Rylan knew he and Ruthie would have to see this through to the end, he personally
felt far more intrigued and interested in knowing exactly where he andRuthie were heading together.
Would she be open to learning more about sharing souls? Or would she just want a few decent rolls in
the cot and then move on?

Damnation, Rylan swore silently to himself,since when have I become little mister worrywart ?

Rylan wrinkled his nose as he watched Ruthie sign off on the last of the official landing holo-forms and
send them into the main port via her PCC.

Since you realized that Ruthie isn’t just some sexy piece of ass, and a killer friend, but could also
complete your Soul’s Circle, buddy, his mind replied warily. Rylan stifled a sigh as Ruthie turned to him,
blindly unaware of the massive confusion fighting within him.

“Okay,” she said chirpily as a message, obviously the Port Guard’s approval of their arrival, flashed up
on her PCC. Ruthie smiled at him, calling his attention back to her easy “take charge” attitude and her
genuine command of the situation.

“We’re set to disembark,” she said in her usual cheery voice, “I have a couple of contacts here, and I
know you do too. So with any luck we should know fairly soon when Gavreel arrived and what’s been
happening the last month or so. More importantly, we might even understand what the hell Gavreel has
been doing here before we even track him down and speak to him, which might give us a bit of an edge if
you want to take the wounded, self-righteous path with your sire.”

Rylan felt his cock twitch in disappointment, but refused to say anything or let a single speck of his

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emotions cross his face. He really,really didn’t at this stage want Ruthie knowing just how fast he was
sinking under her spell, and just how badly he wanted to lie down and touch her soft skin again, how
much he wanted to thrust himself balls-deep inside her wet warmth all over again.

Instead, he merely nodded, saying as casually as he could, “You’re the investigator, lead the way,
Ruthie.”

She cast him a searching glance, nodding.

“Yes, I am the investigator, and I most certainly will be leading the way. Are you feeling all right, Rylan?”

He smiled and unbuckled himself from his seat. He stood casually, with a fluid grace he never before
experienced. Rylan found himself smiling, if not cynically, at least wryly.

“I’m feeling just fine, love,” he insisted softly, promising himself as soon as Ruthie had done her work
and finished this case,he could let himself free again and seduce her silly, show her properly everything
they could be together and hopefully explain away any and all doubts she held about bonding their souls
together.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said gently, waiting for her to lead the way out of the ship, “and go talk to
your contacts.”

He followed docilely behind her as she simply nodded again and led the way.

For now, he assured himself, he could afford to be patient and let her lead.

Ruthie frowned as she watched Rylan follow almost docilely behind her as she headed to the back of the
ship.

What on earth is eating the damned vampire? she wondered to herself. She hadn’t exactly expected
fights and screaming arguments with Rylan, yet his soft, gentle, almost scarily respectful appreciation of
her being in charge of the investigation here was almost creeping her out.

Idly, Ruthie pressed her palm into the panel to open the door. The door swooshed open and she cast a
quick glance behind her, and around the impressive bulk of Rylan’s body, making sure they hadn’t left
anything necessary on the ship. They both had soft bags slung over their shoulders, which had been the
total of what they had brought with them.

It wasn’t until she began to turn around, her eye casually passed back over Rylan, and noticed the
massive erection straining the pants of his skin-suit. Ruthie didn’t blink, but as she faced forward and led
the way off the ship, her mind started clicking away. The only assumption that made any sense was that
Rylan recognized her capacity to lead their investigation to Gavreel, but as soon as they were done, he
would go back and assert control over their relationship.

For a moment, Ruthie felt truly pissed off, but then she thought about it a bit more. It would have been a
huge concession for Rylan not to just become overbearing and insist on doing things his way here and
now, particularly as he seemed to be feeling even more protective and possessive of her now they’d had
sex.

Made love, her mind interjected. Ruthie suppressed a shudder. The romantic term for the brilliant bout
of sex they had indulged in seemed almost too girly for the heated, passionate coming together of their

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two bodies. Yet even in its most pure form, they had not merely fucked, there had been too much
emotion, too much meaning behind their sport.

Ruthie could practically feel the heat and desire pouring from Rylan like waves. She had barely been
able to force herself back under control after they had cleansed themselves. It had taken every
mental-preparation trick she had ever learned, but Ruthie had managed to box away the waves of
emotion and tender feelings Rylan had brought out in her.

Ruthie had also erected her mental barriers once again and tried desperately for the remainder of the trip
to lower her own body temperature. She had run through the mental lists of names and contact details of
the people she had wanted to question about Gavreel.

She had to continually shake herself, remind her body that Rylan Montague wasn’t an exotic drug of
some sort, utterly addictive and the most potent of aphrodisiacs. Yet even while she had recited the most
boring elements and numbers she had been able to, still a part of her mind continued to tell her that now
she had lain with the vampire, they belonged together. And nothing had been able to sway her mind and
body of this feeling and knowing.

Ruthie had struggled valiantly to regain control over herself. She couldn’t remember having ever had
such a hard time getting a man, or vampire, out of her head. Nor had she even experienced such a
juvenile, imbecilic response to the man she had lost her virginity to many, many years ago.

She wished to heaven she knew more about this “heat phase” thing Rylan had spoken about. Even
though she had been friendly with all of the Montague men for a number of years now, she had never
wanted to dig too deep into the different nuances of their culture or history. Vampires were odd
creatures, fierce about keeping some things private and in certain “blood lines”. She had never wanted to
overstep the bounds of friendship and potentially offend her friends without even realizing it.

With a wry twist of her mouth, she headed out of the small ship and wished she had acted on her
curiosity, and not buried it behind a façade of disinterest. At the time, Ruthie had insisted to herself that to
act upon her curiosity into the race of vampires, or to indulge herself in asking the Montague brothers the
million and one questions she had been interested in, would be tantamount to admitting her interest in
Rylan.

Then again, she was on the planet, which had, for many millenniums, been the only home known to the
vampires back in times gone by. If there were anywhere to learn more about them, their race, and the
intrinsic details of this “heat phase” and couples completing Soul Circles, then this would be it.

Lost in her own musings, she felt herself bump back into Rylan as she lost her footing. Ruthie blushed,
hardly daring to believe she had become so lost in her own thoughts she hadn’t seen the step she had
tripped on.

Warm, strong arms wrapped themselves around her, holding her steady. Ruthie felt her heart accelerate
and nearly pound through her ribs and out into his waiting hands.

“Careful there, Ruthie,” she heard Rylan’s deep, husky voice say softly near her ear.

Something hot and molten twisted inside her stomach. She had no idea if he had managed to do
something to her, purely by making love with her, but she certainlyfelt different now. Not evenshe could
deny it anymore.

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Feeling his need and hunger burn through her as he so lightly touched her shoulder, she quivered, deep
within her soul. She thought about how wonderful they were together, about how marvelous it would be
to spend an eternity making love to him, to drown in his body night after night.

Not to mention how wonderful it would be to never feel that ache of loneliness anymore, to knowing a
piece of you was missing, no matter how many crimes you solved or people you helped.

Ruthie pushed the renegade thought from her mind, and simply for one, all too brief second, let herself
relax and indulge in the heated embrace of Rylan Montague.

He had spoken the truth, she silently acknowledged in this tiny, stolen space of a moment. She had
always felt slightly isolated, alone. As if even with her family’s love and her many friendships she still
stood apart, not included somehow in their private world.

Ruthie frowned, shook the thoughts and feelings from her. She gently, with a privately acknowledged
reluctance, pulled herself away from Rylan and his warmth.

Rylan let her go easily, yet even so, she could feel his regret and sorrow at her not fully accepting him.
She felt an arrow pierce her heart, and she smiled at him, rose up on her toes to lightly brush a kiss on his
cheek.

“We need to work,” she said softly, comforting him. “You distract me.” As soon as the words were out
of her mouth, she worried he would misuse them. She shouldn’t have felt any concern, as he merely
smiled, a hot look in his dark brown eyes.

“I would love to do more than merely distract you, Ruthie. But let’s find these men for you first.”

She felt her heart lighten, and she nodded happily. Keeping her eyes focused on where she walked, she
headed to the mainframe where the droid in charge of the officers would be stationed.

She found what upon first glance appeared to be a rusty bucket, with dimly lit eyes and a clipboard
stood. She looked oddly at the droid, and shrugging, hoped it could be of some help.

“I am looking for Sydenei Jeffers and Drayven Locknell, please,” she said to the droid, making sure to
be within his laser range so he could “hear” her request.

“They are on Shift B,” the droid said in its mechanical voice, not even moving an inch to acknowledge
her presence, “start of Shift B for October 16this 20:00 hours.”

The laser returned to scanning the enormous loading area and Ruthie stepped back out of its range and
turned back to Rylan.

“Do you have local time?” she asked.

Rylan looked at his watch, screwed up his face as he did some mental calculations and replied, “About
four hours from now. Let’s head off to Gav’s place.”

Ruthie cast a longing glance around the port, simultaneously wanting to rush to a private place and tear
the skinsuit from Rylan’s body, but also wanting to take some time out and breathe, to think about what
was happening to her, between them both.

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“It’s okay,” he whispered huskily in her ear, “I don’t think you’re some spineless young virgin. I have full
faith and trust in you to stop us or say no if or when we go too far. That is, if that’s what youreally want.”

Ruthie felt her normal assurance seep back into her body.

Of course, she had the power of control here. And brilliant sex had never killed anyone so far. Ruthie
smiled and threaded her arm through Rylan’s.

“To Gavreel’s lodging’s, huh? Lead the way, Ry,” she purred, enjoying the sound of confidence
returning to her voice.

Chapter Nine

Rylan silently breathed a huge sigh of relief when his palm unlocked the door to Gavreel’s lodging. He
had no reason to suspect his father might have changed the lock to accept only his own palm print, yet if
Gavreel had set it to a “privacy” reading, or worse, been actively trying to hide from someone or
something, then chances were none of the Montague siblings would have been able to unlock the door.

Even so, Rylan hadn’t wanted to mention these thoughts to Ruthie. She seemed to have enough on her
mind already. He could hazard a guess as to what was on her mind, but the few times they had brushed
each other, and even when she had held his arm as they walked the pleasant distance to Gavreel’s
lodging, her mind had been so tightly locked against his he felt surprised it didn’t hurt her or cause a
migraine.

He watched the door swish silently open, and led them both inside the small area. The entire lodging
consisted of a main living area, tiny cooking unit with sink and cupboard space, a miniscule cleansing
chamber and a bedroom.

Due to the tiny area of the place, Gavreel needed to keep it fairly neat and tidy, yet even so, there were
a few bits and pieces of evidence he had been here recently. Rylan walked slowly around the room, his
hand trailed over a few scattered volumes. Empty mugs stood on the table, waiting to be placed in the
cleaner.

“Do you think he’s been here?” Ruthie asked from near the door. Rylan nodded and turned to face her.

“Oh yeah, I don’t know how long ago, but he has certainly been here.”

He watched as some of the tension eased out of her shoulders and she moved a few files from one of the
two soft chairs and onto the floor. She sat down gracefully, kicking off her shoes at the same time. She
crossed her legs underneath her and started to stretch her arms above her head. Rylan simply stood
where he was, watching her, entranced. Ruthie stretched one arm, and then the other. Not knowing the
effect she had on him, she then pressed her hands into the back of her neck and rolled her head around,
moaning softly as she released the kinks there.

“I would kill for a shower,” she said, looking around the room with lazy green eyes.

“I would kill to join you,” he said huskily. She looked at him and he refused to block or censor his
thoughts. He paced over to her, gently dropped a hand onto her shoulder. The small contact helped
convey his thoughts to her. He fantasized about the two of them in the small cleansing unit, the steam and
heated water surrounding them. He would kiss her neck, string nibbling kisses along the line of her throat,
and down to her round breasts. He would nuzzle there, suck one erect little nipple into his mouth—

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“Stop,” she whispered, breaking the contact by standing up. Rylan looked at her, knowing his eyes
burned a heated, molten brown.

“I can’t pretend to not want you, can’t pretend I am not thinking about it, fantasizing about it with every
breath I take.” Rylan stared deeply into her eyes, willing her to understand him, to accept him.

Almost as if she could read his mind, she opened her arms wide to him and cried out softly.

She kissed him fiercely, and he felt the heat rise up inside him, threaten to consume him fully. She pulled
her lips away and rolled her head back, arched her neck for him just as he had imagined her doing.

“I don’t understand what you do to me,” she panted hotly, firing his blood even more. “The need I feel
for you is like a fire in my veins, it doesn’t stop. I can hardly breathe without thinking of your lips on my
skin.”

Rylan wished she would continue, explain the yearning she felt, so damned similar to what he had raging
inside him, yet she stopped herself and started removing his wrinkled skinsuit.

“Take us to the shower,” she panted, the heady desire thick in her tone making him groan as his shaft
became painfully erect once again.

“We’re going to take this time slow,” he said, half reminding himself, half promise to her.

“Whatever, I just need you right now, and to hell with everything else.”

Happy to comply utterly with her demands, he slowly walked her backward through the door into the
bedroom. He paused them both, quickly stripping her of her skinsuit and chuckling at her fumbling hands
as she did the same for him.

When they were both naked, his cock rigid with his arousal, and her nipples begging for attention, he
placed his palm on the panel again, and led them directly though into the cleansing cubicle. The room was
large enough for them to both stand inside the door and not be in the cubicle itself, its frosted fake-glass
already steaming up.

The chamber had turned on the instant they had walked into the room.

“How hot do you like your showers?” he asked softly, his voice low and thick with his arousal.

Ruthie’s eyes glinted, a wicked looking green. She reminded him of the witches, the enchantresses in his
storybooks as a baby. He pulled the tie from her braid and slowly, his fingers caressing her scalp,
enjoyed taking her hair and gently pulling it free from the tight weave.

Her eyes widened at the intimate, sensual caress. He combed his fingers through the tresses, enjoying
their length and the rich, thick texture of her hair.

“I like my showers to start hot,” she said teasingly, “but then I like a quick cold burst at the end.”

“Ah,” he murmured as he nuzzled her neck for a second. He heard Ruthie giggle, and he chuckled
himself.

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“Hot water, medium-level steam,” he said in a clear, crisp voice. The cleansing chamber began to pour
steaming hot water from numerous sources, and the entire room filled up with a rich, foamy steam.

“Oh, wow,” Ruthie moaned, stepping into the cubicle. Rylan, only a step behind her, also moaned as the
jets of perfectly hot water shot out, massaging his cramped, aching muscles.

For a few minutes, they both simply stood there together, enjoying the massaging heat of the water as it
pounded against their bodies. Rylan reached over to the dispenser, pouring a healthy amount of the
cleansing solution into his hands. He worked up a lather, and then began to gently massage the scented
liquid into Ruthie’s arms and back.

She sniffed and laughed.

“Sandalwood? That’s a bit masculine, isn’t it?”

Rylan merely smiled.

“In a lodging that usually only contains one of four men, you’re lucky there’s any scent at all. Simeon and
I had to practically barter our souls to get Gav and Michael to agree to this.”

“Gav and Mike have something against scented body lotion?” she asked idly.

Rylan had to take deep breaths as she, too, began to rub the lotion over his chest, paying particular
attention to his nipples and pecs.

He opened his mouth to respond, but only managed to gasp. One of Ruthie’s hands had lowered, gently
cupped his balls for one sweet, intense moment, and then she had firmly fisted his shaft. He managed to
lean back against the wall of the cubicle, his mind whirling madly as she knelt on the warm floor.

“Ruthie,” he muttered, one of his favorite fantasies playing out right before him. She looked up the length
of his body, her green eyes fathomless and dark, much like green fire or the most exotic of green vodkas,
and she opened her mouth, encasing his head in her damp, wet heat.

He moaned, pressed his back into the wet wall and clenched his hands into two tight fists. He restrained
himself from doing anything, only wanting her to do what she pleased with him. And at this moment in
time, she could do any damned thing she wanted.

He watched, utterly captivated, as her thin, white hands cupped and held his balls, as if he were some
rare treasure she had discovered. Her mouth suckled at his staff as if only his seed could nourish her and
give her the enrichment she needed to survive.

The seconds dragged out, and Rylan desperately tried to burn the sight of this feisty, fiery woman
kneeling at his cock deep into his brain, so he would never,ever forget this moment.

Finally, when he could feel the heat and need begin to burn at the base of his shaft, when he could feel
his balls rise in her delicate hands, he unclenched one hand to lightly touch her head.

He groaned as she pulled her head up, a softpop echoing through the steamy chamber.

“I know you’re getting close. Your fantasies and desires are pressing around me in here. You don’t need
to touch me to warn me you’re close.”

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Rylan merely smiled, speech being well beyond him in this state. He gaped when Ruthie stood up and
moved the half pace to the other side of the chamber. She ran her hand down the wall, a victorious
“aha!” letting him know she had found whatever she sought.

She pulled something again from the wall, and sat down on the bench-style seat she had found. He
frowned.

“I never knew that was there,” he said huskily, not completely sure what she had in mind.

“Many of the larger ships I’ve traveled on have this style of cleansing cubicle. We never get to use the
seat, but I knew it would be here,” she said by way of explanation.

Rylan merely smiled widely as she sat on it, pressed her back against the wall and spread her legs.

“Now what say you come over here and get mereally messed up. No sense in letting such a lovely
cleansing cubicle go to waste with just a bit of traveling grit on us.”

Rylan smiled and knelt between her legs. Inching her slowly closer down so she half-sat on his lap, her
legs splayed over either side of his hips he drew her closer towards the heat of his body. Finally, after the
seconds had dragged out seemingly into infinity, the thick, hard edge of his cock notched right at her
entrance.

Instead of plunging into her, as he so desperately craved to do, he merely lowered a hand to her pouting
lips, stroked his fingers over the fleshy mound, gathering the wet juices flowing so copiously there.

“You want to get down and dirty with me, eh?” he murmured into her ear. He kissed her just behind
there, smelling the fruity scent of her shampoo.

When she breathily replied, “Absolutely,” he felt his control slip another notch. He thrust his fingers
inside her weeping pussy, wanting to test her readiness. He felt like an utter brute for wanting to plunge
straight into her, but her creamy wetness assured him he wouldn’t hurt her at all.

When Ruthie merely wrapped her arms around him, arching into his body and tilting her hips invitingly,
he knew she felt as hot as he. He bent his head and kissed her, plunged his tongue into her mouth to
tangle with her own. She moaned and dug her nails gently into his back. Her heated response, the
intensity of her reaction spurred him on.

As he penetrated her with one fierce thrust, he felt her desires and fantasies crash over him like a wave
of the heat he felt inside him. She wanted him again, as urgently as she had the first time, but now even
more. She thought he had done something to her, addicted her to him somehow.

He nearly laughed at the irony. It washe who was addicted toher taste, her heat, her passion.

He thrust into her, timing his thrusts to the fantasy in his mind. She watched him, wanted him to run wild,
untamed. He wanted to give her everything she desired more than anything else.

“Please, Rylan,” she moaned, drawing him closer. He nuzzled her neck, began to give her softly biting
kisses there.

“What?” he asked, wanting her to verbalize what she needed. He could feel her desire mounting, could

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feel the whirling mass of confusing emotions running wild in her. She seemed to be feeling a million things,
most of them pleasurable, but all meshed together they weren’t clear to him what she wanted.

She bit her lip, unable to articulate what she craved.

For a split second, he thought she saw a hazy image of himself biting into her neck, drinking her blood,
but it was gone before he could see it properly, and he felt certain that image had to have come from him,
not her.

As he was about to question her, he felt the start of her climax, her pussy squeezed down on his cock,
her back and feet arched, a sound of incoherent pleasure was ripped from her, sounding animalistic and
raw and very truthful to him.

Letting himself go, he thrust even harder, deeper into her, and seconds later he cried out his own release,
ecstatic he had been able to bring her some semblance of pleasure before his own gnawing hunger got
the best of him.

As he sat there, cramped and panting, he felt her shift, and he stood up on wobbly legs. He laid one
palm out flat on the wall to hopefully help steady himself, and looked down through the steam at the
woman he realized with a sudden burst of clarity he loved.

He frowned, wondered when exactly this had happened, but then shrugged it away. It didn’t matter
when he had started, only that he now recognized the emotion. Problem was, she didn’t want to
complete the ritual with him, didn’t want to bind their souls and trust each other enough to fulfill each
other’s needs.

Rylan wondered for a moment if this was how it had been for Gavreel, if for whatever reason Janni, their
mother, had refused to complete his father’s soul. Although all three brothers remembered Simeon and
Rylan’s mother, Janni, neither she nor Gavreel had ever invited questions into their private life. Some
things, they had both professed, were to be kept between a man and a woman.

Rebeka, Michael’s mother, had died when Michael was a young toddler. Rylan felt certain Gavreel had
mentioned one time that he and Rebeka had thought there would be plenty of time to complete the ritual,
yet never had he offered an explanation as to why he and Janni had never fulfilled the ritual, even though
they were obviously compatible.

Gavreel had been distraught at Rebeka’s death, and privately Rylan had often wondered if this had led
to him not opening himself fully to Janni and trusting her completely. Rylan never recalled his mother being
bitter or depressed but more focused on her family and the raising of the twins.

Michael, who had been a grown vampire by this time, had always seemed to the twins to be a loner,
preferring to live and travel alone. Only in the last twenty years had he taken up residence with his
brothers, and to the surprise of all three they had rubbed along perfectly well with barely any issues at all.

Rylan had privately discussed their elder brother with Simeon, and between the two of them they had
decided the loneliness had been eating away at Michael, and even if he hadn’t admitted it to himself, he
craved the easy camaraderie and rivalry of his brothers.

Yet Rylan wondered if his mother had refused to complete Gavreel’s Soul’s Circle. Simeon and he had
rarely talked about it, but they had always merely assumed Janni had not gotten around to completing the
ritual with Gavreel, much as Rebeka never had.

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Rylan didn’t want to force or press Ruthie, he cared about her too much to want to, yet still he struggled
with his desire both for her and for them to be complete.

He watched as she stood up, began rinsing herself under the spray and breathing deeply of the steam.
He, too, turned into the spray, washing himself again.

He opened his mouth, wanting to talk about the ritual, explain what it involved and how it happened, yet
Ruthie put her fingers to his lips, silencing him.

“Let’s go to bed,” she said softly, enticingly.

Rylan warred with himself.

“I want to explain about the ritual, answer your questions and fears. There are a heap of texts here of
Gav’s we can read—”

“Later,” she interrupted, her eyes a deep green and very serious. “Afterward, I promise.”

Rylan smiled, happy with her word, trusting her enough to take her on faith.

“Later, then,” he replied, taking her hand.

“Water off, dry on.”

They both stood still, looking at each other as the warm air dried their bodies in enticing, caressing
waves in seconds. The steam cleared from the room and within the minute Rylan felt a thrill of power as
Ruthie took his hand gently in hers, and led them both back into the bedroom.

As the cleansing chamber door swished shut behind them, Rylan grinned as he and Ruthie stood quietly
in the doorway. Wanting this to be all for her, Rylan brought Ruthie’s hand up to his lips, and slowly
placed a hot, gentle kiss in her palm. He smiled wickedly, enjoying the heat and slight cloud of confusion
in her green eyes, and walked over to lay himself down on the bed.

He moved around for a moment, getting himself comfortable on the double bed. He was used to a
bigger bed, but he felt relieved he had finally managed about fifty years ago to talk Gav up from a single.
He stretched his body out its full length and made himself comfortable. He had no idea what Ruthie had in
mind, what wicked little fantasies danced around in her head, but from the brief glimpses she had been
unknowingly giving him this past day, he had a feeling he would enjoy every moment of their time
together.

“I trust you, Ruthie,” he said calmly, seriously, knowing she waited for him to explain what was going on.
“I love you too. Do whatever you want with me, love. Anything,” he reiterated calmly, so she fully
understood she was in charge here.

Rylan looked at her, waited for her to make the first move. When she smiled, he felt heat curl in his belly.
He knew he could be patient this time, knew he could wait her out, but still he felt the excitement build
inside him.

He wondered what it was she would do to him.

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Chapter Ten

Ruthie felt an electrical thrill of power, ancient as the times, flow through her. She knew women
throughout the ages must have felt this way when their mates offered themselves. She finally had an
inkling of why men found it so utterly sexy and seductive to have their woman spread themselves wide on
their bed and wait for their men to come and conquer them.

Fantasies, books and literature had been filled with such actions since the dawn of time and people drew
on cave walls. Some things never changed.

Ruthie thought and discarded a dozen things she wanted to do to him. Yet one fantasy continued to
hover over her mind. Deep in her soul, she knew she would very soon insist on full disclosure about the
vampiric soul ritual Rylan mentioned. She could feel his need, hisache hover around his heart and mind.

The reason, she knew suddenly, she had been avoiding it was because she was worried, scared once he
bound them together however he needed to, she would no longer be herself, no longer be free. Yet how
stupid was that when she thought about him all the time now? When she wanted his thick cock plunging
into her constantly and she fantasized about different ways he could take her?

It seemed much more sensible to work out what he needed, and find some sort of compromise. She had
been an independent woman for nearly a decade now, she had no need to stop, and besides, some weird
vampire ritual could only affect her if she let it.

She smiled as she came to her decision, and she could see the answering heat in Rylan’s dark gaze.
Even though he couldn’t possibly understand what exactly it was she had decided on, he knew her well
enough, and was canny enough to know she had made some sort of breakthrough. She wondered if after
the ritual he would be able to read her mind better. That could prove interesting. Annoying at times, but
certainly interesting.

She made a mental note to ask him later.

“I think,” she drawled carefully, crossing the room to where he lay, “a small amount of bondage would
be bloody fantastic right now.” She saw a spark ignite in Rylan’s eye, a heated, heavy knowing.

“You never told me about any bondage fantasies,” he chided softly, shifting slightly on the bed.

“You never asked,” she countered easily, laughing silently, for they both knew that was a lie. Rylan had
asked her many a time to divulge her fantasies—she had just never complied with his wishes.

Ruthie crossed over to where her soft pack had been dropped as they had headed toward the cleansing
chamber, and rifled through her few belongings. She pulled out the tie she needed to wear often with her
official investigator’s uniform. Even though she rarely if ever wore the ugly gray uniform, the green tie had
many uses, most of them medicinal, but also it helped for her to wear the galaxy-wide uniform in remote
places so she could be recognized as an investigator immediately, and not be thought of as a rebel or
other non-friendly person.

She dropped her pack and crossed back to the bed in two paces, twisting the slim green tie in her
hands. Rylan seemed slightly nervous, but his cock was thick and fully erect, its rounded, plum-shaped
head a red-purple with the force of his desire.

Ruthie straddled his body, her damp slit aching to simply lower herself on the impressive shaft she

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pressed against. She held Rylan’s hands in her own, and bent herself down to kiss him fully on the lips.

“Do you trust me, Rylan?” she asked softly as she reluctantly pulled away. She needed to hear his
previous words confirmed.

“Yes, I love you, Ruthie, and that’s what you’re really asking. I can tell.” Ruthie grinned at his smug
look, though for now she let it slide. “But yes, I do trust you. If you wanted to hurt me you’d punch me,
not bind me and torture me.”

Ruthie laughed. How well the vampire knew her! Since when had that happened?

“Oh, you’re a barrel of laughs for a man about to be tied. Youmust trust me if you can make jokes at a
time like this.”

Carefully, she began to wind the green tie in a figure eight pattern around his wrists, which he helpfully
held crossed over each other. Ruthie frowned.

“Am I doing this right? I bet this is a stupid question, you could just pull it apart and tear the tie, couldn’t
you?”

Rylan laughed, “Yeah, love. But it’s the symbolism of the tie, not the tightness of its binding. Just be
careful not to cut off my blood flow and we’ll be good.”

Ruthie finished, leaving enough at each end to be able to attach his bound hands to the headboard of the
bed. As she tightened the triple shank knot, knowing without a doubt she would need a new tie when she
returned home, she sat back to survey her handiwork.

“Damn, I wish I had a recorder,” she commented idly.

“We’re sinking into blackmail now, love?” Rylan teased. Ruthie threw her head back and laughed.

“No, but damn I’d love to take a few holos and frame them for my wall. The infamous Rylan Montague,
tamed and tied to my bed,”

“Hisfather’s bed,” Rylan injected wryly. Ruthie merely chuckled.

“Damn, this would be a brilliant story for Scooper’s late on a Friday evening. I’d have shots bought for
me until I died of alcohol poisoning.”

Rylan merely rolled his eyes and heaved a weary sigh. Ruthie laughed harder, but finally struggled to get
herself under control.

She lightly ran her hand up his muscled leg, enjoying the faint, light sprinkling of hair so dark it appeared
black. She caressed his thigh, watching the play of her hands over the tanned skin with interest.

She had never been given full control over any man. Even the rare time a lover had let her have control,
or she hadtaken control, she had always bowed to the dictates of her partner. Sex had always been
about give and take, and while she hadalways taken, even if in her first few sexually active years she had
needed to take her own pleasure by herselfafter her lover had finished, so too had she always been
willing to back down and give to her lover.

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Ruthie gently massaged the semihard flesh of his thigh, thinking about the odd rituals between a man and
a woman. In this circumstance, by taking her pleasure, by indulging herself and taking her pleasure from
Rylan, she actually simultaneouslygave him pleasure. She could hear the rumble of pleasure her hands
gave him in his throat, coming from deep inside his chest.

Ruthie smiled as she knelt beside him on the large bed and bypassed the interesting area of his solar
plexus, and lightly ran her fingers over his flat stomach. A small, thin arrowing of the same almost-black
hair tried to tempt her downward, but Ruthie resisted. She bent down, her chin gently tapping his
purpled, hot bobbing tip, and she sprinkled kisses on the constricting flatness of his belly.

She could see the small muscles there twitching, and she knew his skin was sensitive enough he could
feel every touch of her fingers, every slight rasp of her lips on his body. The thought she could so easily
bring him pleasure was a potent aphrodisiac for her.

She could feel his delight, his growing, burning need inside him. She also loved how he couldn’t hide
from her, how the magnitude and power of his desire for her washed over her and tugged at her heart
and body.

She let her hands stay around his stomach, playing gently and softly with the muscles and sensitive skin,
but her lips moved upward. If she stayed at his belly much longer she would cave in to her desire and
bend her head and take his bobbing shaft into her mouth.

She wanted this game to last.

And so she kissed her way up his chest to his pecs. Much harder muscle there. Dark brown nipples
stood erect and firm, begging for attention. Ruthie moved her hands so she gently cupped his hips, her
fingers still delicately stroking over the smooth flesh she found there.

He felt hard all over, she realized dimly. Even the slight amount of flesh sitting on his hips seemed hard,
smooth, and not soft like on her own body. She ran her tongue teasingly around and over his nipple,
curious as to whether his own reaction would be like hers.

She realized men’s nipples were nowhere near as sensitive as women’s, but they still received feeling,
still transmitted desire to the body’s brain. Rylan still projected nothing but a hungry desire, the urgency
slowly but steadily growing.

As she moved to the other nipple, she heard the first moan almost literally being torn from Rylan. It came
close to a pain-filled sound, and she paused, sent her mind carefully out of her own body in a test to see
if she could read Rylan. She felt momentarily astonished at how easy it was in reality.

She didn’t understand if it was because they were so intimately connected, or if it was a result of their
previous intimacies, or maybe if she had simply never bothered to try and read the man splayed out
before her, but with an almost ridiculous ease she managed to enter his mind and feel his emotions and
thoughts.

He was drowning in pleasure, enjoying every moment of it. The pain in his tone had come from the
heightened awareness he felt on this delicate edge between pleasure and pain. Relieved, happy to have
her thoughts proved true, Ruthie withdrew from his mind and continued to suck and play with the man’s
nipples.

“Intoxicating, isn’t it, Ruthie darling?”

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“What?” she queried, her mind still on the delicious masculine flesh before her.

“Entering a loved one’s mind, feeling all their emotions and feelings? Knowing exactly how much they
are enjoying what you do to them?”

Ruthie blinked and raised her head, brought her hands up to his chest to continue to play with his damp
nipples.

“You could tell?” she queried.

“Of course,” he replied easily, the smugness back in his voice. “Just like whenever I enter your mind you
will be aware of me. It’s not an unpleasant sensation, more like a caress of your hand, or the soft press of
your body against mine. I have no secrets from you, Ruthie. I found it rather cute actually that you
wanted to see if I was enjoying your ministrations. Of course, you could have just asked.”

Ruthie blushed. While there was no censorship in his voice, she still felt slightly like a chastised school
child. She looked at his face, trailed her eyes along the well-known planes and angles.

“You said earlier you couldn’t penetrate my mind.” She knew the question lay within her words, hoped
he would understand.

“When we complete the ritual that will gradually change. Partly I will simply know you more intimately
than anyone else in the galaxy, but also as we learn and trust more about each other, your innate barrier
to me will diminish, as will your private walls.”

“So as we become more trusting and more intimate, we become more open to each other.” Ruthie
nodded as what he said made sense.

“It’s the way of the vampires, love.”

Ruthie grinned and bent to kiss him once more. She thrust her tongue into his open and welcoming
mouth, wishing for a moment his arms could come around her to embrace her. She quashed the desire,
knowing she needed this time of personal power—even if it were just this once.

She lowered her hands again, carefully fisted his thick shaft in one hand. She gently squeezed him,
delighted at the soft moan that again escaped his mouth. She could feel his need, feel the inherent plea in
his mind that he refused to voice aloud.

Ruthie wriggled herself, set the very tip of his staff inside her damp slit. She circled him around,
tormenting them both with the imminent penetration just barely out of reach. When the crescendo of his
need and plea echoed in her head, unspoken but still exceedingly potent in her mind, she thrust herself
fully down on him, electing cries from them both.

She placed both her hands on his shoulders, levering herself all the way back up. Her thigh muscles
twinged, her mostly flat stomach shook with the effort she needed to exert to pull herself away from the
most intense pleasure she had ever experienced. Her eyes met his, and she would later swear she saw
fire in his eyes. A deep, dark red burning, yearning in his dark brown depths.

Ruthie pressed herself back down again, and they both cried out with the mingled pleasure and need.
Ruthie lost her restraint, could not bear to tease them both anymore. Up and down she threw herself,

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uncaring whether she looked good or if her body appeared at its best.

All her usual worries and thoughts during sex flew out the window as she only concentrated on the
intensity of the pleasure they brought each other. Ruthie felt herself begin to sweat, heated pinpricks of
moisture dotting her body and she could see the red flush of sexual heat creep up her breasts.

Still she pressed herself, harder and faster, she pistoned herself up and down the rock-hard shaft
embedded inside her. She felt her pleasure begin to overwhelm her, and she felt Rylan stretch to reach his
own peak. Their combined pleasure seemed to feed from each other, wash over and through them both
until they seemed almost merged, meshed together somehow.

“Please,” he pleaded, and Ruthie knew what he needed, she fumbled with the tie binding him, but her
shaky, sweat-slicked fingers could not untie the knots.

“Tear it,” she whispered, unable to speak properly. She heard the rendingrip as her work tie shredded,
finding a ridiculous smile of pleasure at seeing the green threads fall every which way.

She felt the warm, muscled arms she had been craving wrap around her and gently soften her fall as he
turned them over in the bed. And she cried out as he penetrated her deeply, far more deeply than she
had managed on her own. She arched her back up, tightened her muscles and wrapped her legs around
him, crossing them at his back.

He held her hips steady and plowed into her, both of them crying out incoherently at the pleasure of his
deep thrust and her wet embrace. They only lasted a second, both of them pushed beyond bearing.

A thrust, and then another and Ruthie could feel herself explode. She closed her eyes, pressing her head
back into the pillow, and she opened her mouth, unable to even hear her own screams of delight. She felt
the wash of Rylan’s release flow over her a split second later, even as she still convulsed herself. She felt
his seed shoot deeply inside her, and she saw the image of a tiny girl, maybe two or three years old.

She had flaming red hair, just like Ruthie’s, but as the little girl laughed and ran toward her, arms spread
wide for a hug, Ruthie noticed the deep, dark brown eyes.

Eyes identical to Rylan’s.

Ruthie felt her heart overflow with love for the little girl, and she opened her arms wide, desperate for the
tiny girl child to leap into her embrace. Ruthie knew beyond a shadow of a doubt she would catch the
tiny girl and hold her close, protect her fiercely.

“Ruthie,” she heard Rylan mutter hoarsely, “wake up, Ruthie.”

Ruthie blinked and opened her eyes. She couldn’t help but smile back at the smug, utterly satisfied
masculine face hovering over her. She did manage to notice the worry in those dark chocolate brown
eyes.

Eyes that had been the image of her little daughter’s.

“I’ve had a lot of good sex in my life,” he started, stroking damp tendrils of her long hair back behind her
ear. The tenderness in the gesture was not lost on her. “But nothing has ever come close to that. Nor
have I ever made my woman pass out.”

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Ruthie smiled softly, not wanting to vocalize or share the strange image she had seen. She didn’t know if
she had truly passed out, or merely been handed a vision. And while she knew without a doubt she loved
the little girl she had just seen, she still had far too many questions for Rylan about the finer points of
vampiric procreation.

The warm, mushy feeling inside herself when she recalled that little girl had Ruthie almost positive that
there would be some sort of explanation for the conception of a baby vampire giving the mother-to-be a
snapshot of the future life of said child.

Ruthie struggled to rise above her raging hormones and work out why she didn’t feel freaked out about
quite possibly being pregnant. She searched Rylan’s face, read easily the tenderness and caring splayed
across him for anyone to see.

“If you ever cheat on me I’ll castrate you with my beamer.”

Ruthie blushed hotly as she heard the words fall from her mouth with almost no thought. Instead of
indignation, or anger, laughter crossed Rylan’s face. He grinned widely, a wicked gleam in his eye.

“And I love you too, my darling,” he replied easily, almost casually. Ruthie blinked and realized the sex
must have short-circuited her brain. She wanted desperately to grin back at Rylan, to relax in his warm
embrace, not grill him on the finer points of their newly budding relationship.

For the life of her she couldn’t explain it, but somehow the knowledge that she was almost certainly
pregnant with Rylan’s baby felt “right” inside her. The vision she had seen seemed so veryvampire , she
just couldn’t explain her comfort about the whole situation.

“Are you okay, darling?” Rylan asked as he looked at her oddly. “Is there something you want to tell
me?” he probed gently.

Ruthie had a strong feeling the instant she shared that vision with Rylan, all his patience and
understanding about her hesitation to complete whatever ritual he wanted would all fly out the window.

Ruthie had never been big on keeping secrets, particularly from her lover. She honestly believed it was
wrong. Yet this one time, she promised herself she would wait. Just until she had napped and thought a
little more about the potential ramifications about settling with a vampire like Rylan while they raised a
child.

Besides, she wanted to find out all the details about the vampiric ritual and what it meant. After that she
would instantly come clean with Rylan, she promised herself.

She smiled and nodded silently. “What’s the time?” she asked the room in general.

“Standard Owanus time is nineteen hundred hours, twenty-one minutes,”came a disembodied voice as
the room answered her standard question.

“Let’s nap then head out,” she said softly as she pulled Rylan down next to her, feeling a sad split
second of loss as he pulled himself from her body. She snuggled back onto his chest, laid her head on the
warmth of his muscles and smiled sappily as he wrapped an arm around her.

“We still have to question those guys,” he reminded her.

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“I know,” she said sleepily, “but I just want half an hour of nap, then a lightning quick shower and we
can be off again.”

“Sounds good to me,” Rylan rumbled and Ruthie closed her eyes.

Within a moment she was asleep, dreaming happily of an enormous recpark on a bright sunny day, a
little flame-haired girl running around squealing with delight as Ruthie and Rylan chased after her,
pretending to be big bad monsters and laughing at each other lovingly as the little girl squealed and ran
them all in circles.

Chapter Eleven

Ruthie found herself waking slowly to a thick, hot cock smoothly pushing in and out of her damp pussy.
She moaned, moved her hands up only to encounter hard, warm arms.

“Wake up time,” she heard Rylan taunt her softly. She smiled, and opened her eyes.

“I could get used to waking up like this,” she said dreamily, still partially asleep.

“I am counting on it,” he said softly back.

Ruthie felt her desires, still burning softly inside her, reignite and start to roll out of control again.

“We really don’t have time,” she protested on a soft cry as he began to thrust harder inside her.

“This is what they used to call a quickie,” he said, thrusting harder and faster inside her.

All at once, she felt herself spiraling out of control, burning, desperately yearning. She wrapped one leg
around his waist, the other one pinned by his large, slightly hairy thigh. Ruthie felt herself reaching,
mentally as well as physically, for the elusive peak just out of her reach.

“More,” she muttered huskily, “I need more.”

Like the brilliant lover he was, Rylan bent his head, knowing exactly what she needed, even though she
wasn’t sure herself. He gently bit into her nipple, creating an exquisite pain that sent her over the edge.

She grasped tightly with her inner muscles, wanting to push him over the edge of climax with her. They
both shouted, and she felt his hot seed once again spill inside her. She welcomed his weight as he
collapsed on top of her. She idly stroked random patterns on his back as they both regained their breath.
When he muttered, shifted his weight to the side, she felt the chill of the loss of his body heat. She
winced, slightly sore, as he pulled himself from her.

“I really need that shower,” she said softly, already missing the connection she shared with him. They
really needed to talk to the two workers and then they could discuss the ins and outs of the soul ritual.

Even without the detailed explanation she had seemed so focused on, Ruthie felt with each passing
encounter the importance of those small details lessening. If she weren’t careful, she would soon be
throwing caution to the wind and fulfilling the damned ritual without even knowing what it meant or did.

Rylan smiled softly, a caring, intimate smile that shot straight to her heart. She felt her resolve weaken
even more. When he merely waved her to the cleansing chamber, she bit her lip and decided to hell with

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caution.

“Care to join me? We only have a few minutes, and no funny business, but we might as well clean
ourselves together.”

The happy, satisfied smirk on his face had her laughing and shoving a pillow over him.

“Well!” she laughed, enjoying the teasing banter always so swift to rise between them, “if you’re going to
be a jerk about it…”

She rose from the bed and headed over to the chamber. She adjusted the temperature and was about to
step in when she felt a warm arm circle her waist.

“Never let it be said,” a raspy, husky voice whispered sexily in her ear, “that I don’t take all your
suggestions to heart.”

“Sure,” she laughed, entering the small chamber as she reached for the cleansing lotion. “The ones you
areinterested in, you do.”

They laughed companionably and quickly cleaned themselves. In minutes, they were both back in the
bedroom, dressing. They collected their gear, not certain if they would be back soon or not, and Ruthie
found herself watching in interest as Rylan reset all the security devices.

She smiled and let him take her hand as they headed back in the direction of the main port, walking
companionably.

“So, we’re looking for Sydenei Jeffers and Drayven Locknell, I take it?” Rylan said with a casual ease
she envied.

How could the man tune out their attraction and focus back on the work at hand so easily? Ruthie
concentrated on the connection from their hands held together, and felt his simmering lust, bubbling away
still barely concealed under the surface.

She smiled and nodded, relieved and somehow pleased at the same time hecouldn’t just turn his
attraction off like a switch. With every piece of knowledge she found about him, the damned man
became more and more attractive.

She cleared her throat.

“Yes, they’re the two people down as looking after Gavreel’s ship. Hopefully they can give us some
information.”

“Well,” Rylan said huskily, his dark eyes concentrating on the path they followed toward the main port,
“we’ll soon see, won’t we?”

Ruthie nodded and followed his lead, desperately tried to squash the rising lust inside her. She had a
feeling the night stretched out before her, a long, long night to come.

* * * * *

Rylan watched in barely concealed awe as Ruthie skillfully talked to the man and woman in charge of the

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many ships in the large port. Although they likely didn’t realize, she interrogated them with a skill and
ease that stupefied him.

Rylan knew without a doubt he couldn’t have asked such cleverly worded questions to elicit the
information they required, nor would his friendliness be as artless as hers, and have her “captives” so
eager to helpfully answer her every question.

Rylan watched as Ruthie took her time, and covered every base they could. He felt happy to simply
stand behind her, smiling serenely as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

Finally, they hit the jackpot.

“Medium height, she was,” Sydenei said, turning to Drayven for confirmation. The tall man nodded.
Sydenei continued excitedly, obviously able to feel both Rylan’s attention on her as well as Ruthie’s
concealed excitement, “Short, spiky blonde hair, big brown eyes. They seemed to know each other.”

“Lovers?” Ruthie asked, with the air of one woman gossiping conspiratorially with another. Rylan held
his breath as Sydenei paused and thought about it.

“I wouldn’t say so, but definitely close. They seemed familiar with each other, as if they had known each
other for years but were only just discovering one another. There was friction there, and loads of sexual
tension, but not that intimate familiarity of lovers.”

Rylan felt heat seep into his face as Sydenei cast a knowing glance from him to Ruthie. He felt even more
amazed as Ruthie didn’t even blush.

“Thank you so much, both of you, you’ve been a brilliant help.”

Rylan dug into his pocket, knowing he needed to pay them for their time and information. When Ruthie
added on her own tip, both guards looked genuinely grateful.

Rylan felt heat crawl up his neck again as Ruthie threaded her arm through his.

“Did you recognize the woman from the description?” she whispered to him under her breath.

“Sounded like Chandra to me. Could be wrong, but let’s check with the booking droid.”

Ruthie nodded and led him to where the droid stood. “We want to check on the flight route of a
vampiress called Chandra please.”

“Chandra,” the droid hummed slightly as it computed the information. “Ship registration DOKT34196.
Destination: Klampor. End of information.”

Rylan frowned, never having heard of the planet, or solar system. He turned to Ruthie.

“Ever heard of it?” He stared into green eyes, slightly clouded with confusion.

“No,” she said slowly, obviously racking her memory. “But at least it’s somewhere to continue. It hasn’t
been a dead end.”

“Certainly not. What say we head over to the library now? I think we have enough information to be

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going on with.”

He felt his spirits lighten as Ruthie smiled sexily, heat darkening her eyes.

“I think that’s a damned fine idea, Rylan. Let’s go.”

Chapter Twelve

Ruthie walked through the massive doors into the Colonial Vampiric Library and felt the incredible hush
one always finds in such institutions. Unlike other places she had visited however, Ruthie could practically
feel the weight of knowledge from the eons past pressing down on her from the ornate stone walls.

The place fairly reeked of wisdom passed on through the ages.

Fully a dozen or more men and women were scattered throughout the enormous room, most with their
heads literally buried within masses of tomes.

This would definitely be one place one did not speak above a whisper.

Rylan walked over to what Ruthie assumed to be a librarian, and bent close to her ear, whispering
something to her. She nodded, cast an interested glance over Ruthie, and pointed them both to one
section of the walls.

The librarian seemed curious, but friendly, and so Ruthie merely smiled her thanks and followed Rylan.
Ruthie knew she had never seen so many ancient, old-fashioned paper tomes in any one place. The walls
were covered in bookshelves, floor to ceiling, with rolling ladders to aid those looking out of their reach.
Also, shelves lined in circular patterns, again, packed floor to ceiling with tomes and the ancient fonts of
knowledge.

Ruthie felt slightly claustrophobic, but she felt it was also due to the weight of knowledge contained
within the ancient cavern, as well as the crowding of all the tomes.

As they headed down one aisle, Ruthie reached out to touch Rylan. He paused and bent his head
toward her so she could whisper in his ear.

“Is it just me, or is this place oppressive?” she asked timidly.

Rylan nodded and whispered back, “Millenniums of studying and following knowledge have seeped into
the stone walls as well as the general atmosphere of the place. Many vampires, mostly academics, can
hardly bear to leave the place, as everywhere else feels empty and isolated. We were lucky in that Gav
has a taste for adventure as well as a thirst for knowledge. Ah, here we are.”

Ruthie paused as Rylan stopped beside a section of tomes. She idly ran an eye across the spines, not
even managing to understand half the words written. He pulled a slim green text seemingly at random, but
Ruthie would bet a large amount of credits he knew exactly what he was doing.

“Come over here,” he whispered, gently holding her arm and directing her near the back of the aisle.

Ruthie noticed for the first time a small, enclosed cubicle area, with a tiny, spindly legged desk and a
large, plush chair. The seat easily fit them both inside it, the chair looking somewhere between an
extravagant armchair and a tiny two-seater couch.

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They sat, half on top of each other, but strangely comfortable, and Rylan opened the tome.

Rituals of the Ancient Vampire Civilization,the title page read.

Intrigued, Ruthie took the book gently from his hands and held it, turning the pages slowly, enjoying the
feel of the old parchment under her hands. She honestly couldn’t remember the last real book she had
held and read. Certainly not since her “Studies of Ancient Civilizations” class at school.

Ruthie studied the contents page, finally deciding on, “The Soul-Joining Ritual, pages 116–121”.

Flicking quickly to that page, she skimmed the pages, and then more slowly reread the paragraphs she
found most important.

While a vampire must understand he or she will always feel incomplete and to a varying degree unfulfilled
without his entire soul circle, one can live, and live a happy life. However, This Author cannot fully
describe the difference between a life lived with an incomplete soul circle and a completed one.

Suffice to say, once those gaps are filled by the other partner’s soul, one cannot imagine life any different
way.

Since time began, Philosophers have expounded how men’s and women’s souls were split in half,
divided as it were, and only when fused together could they feel whole. Yet what many older civilizations
have come to realize is it is not one soul shared between two bodies. Before fusion, the soul is present,
but has “gaps” as it were. When the ritual takes place, and blood is either exchanged, or offered freely by
the non-vampiric party, (for further ruminations on inter-racial and inter-species joinings, see pages
45–67), both parties must FREELY OFFER their sections of their soul.

By some mystical manner, as yet undefined, the free offering completes the ritual, and both parties
“exchange” pieces of soul. This meshes and thus completes the missing pieces in both parties, somehow
managing to complete both soul circles, without one party losing out. It also, however, binds the two
parties, creating a strong mental and sexual bond between them.

Ruthie looked up to dark brown eyes.

“So we manage to keep our own souls, but still be bound somehow?” she whispered.

Rylan shrugged. “It’s not an exact science. From what I remember from chats with Gav, your soul has
missing links, and my soul has missing links. Our links complement each other, so when you offer yours
and I offer mine, we mesh and complete each other, but leave the ritual with all our own pieces, as well
as each other’s. So we are still one soul, but we both remain our own circle in our own right. Does that
make sense?”

Ruthie thought and then nodded. She shared herself, but yet retained her own identity. In a roundabout
way it made sense.

She could see the moment Rylan recognized she had made her decision. In truth it had been made a
while ago, she couldn’t say exactly when, but it helped to have Rylan honest enough to want her to see
these things for herself. She had always been a curious, but cautious person, she liked things to be in
black and white before her before making a decision.

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So why had she decided to leap head first into a permanent bonding ritual with a man who enjoyed flying
free?

“I don’t always have to break the rules,” he whispered sexily, causing her to smile.

“Ever made out in a library?” she whispered back naughtily, enjoying being able to feel his heightened
arousal and need for her.

“Those librarians are psychic,” he replied teasingly, “I bet there’s harsh fines and penalties for—”

The sound of a throat being cleared had them both pulling apart like teens caught necking. The librarian
Rylan had spoken to earlier stood there, a firm look on her face.

“We were just leaving,” Ruthie whispered, trying hard not to giggle.

The woman merely raised an eyebrow and both Ruthie and Rylan practically leapt from the chair,
replaced the slim green tome, and rushed toward the exit.

Their released their laughter as they practically ran out the doors, holding hands as they laughed and
laughed.

“Did yousee her face?” Ruthie snickered. She gasped as Rylan drew her close, pressing a hot, fierce
kiss onto her lips. She felt bereft when he pulled away.

“Let’s get back. I need you right now.”

“We need to comm Simeon, Michael and Vasili, don’t we?” Ruthie asked, needing to remind herself
firmly they were here for work, not play. She laughed again as Rylan merely shrugged and pointed them
in the direction of Gav’s lodgings. Even only a five-minute walk seemed too much to bear before they
could start stripping their clothes off.

They set off at a fast pace, Rylan obviously as hungry for her as she felt for him.

“We can comm them later, it’s too early in the morning to be calling them now.”

Ruthie nodded and lengthened her stride to match his.

He was right, the other Montagues could wait. For what remained of the night, Rylan was all hers.

Chapter Thirteen

In the middle of space, heading toward Klampor

Gavreel ran an agitated hand through his hair. He had never known a woman before, vampiress ornot,
as frustrating but intelligent as Chandra. With her pale blonde hair, sassily short and spiky, and her rich
dark brown eyes, she looked physically luscious enough to eat. Yet the woman never knew when to quit
an argument.

Gavreel paced the cabin area, annoyed with himself for thinking so unfairly. Okay, so maybehe wasn’t
used toanyone questioning his judgment calls or intellectual hypotheses, and so she riled him more easily
than anyone else he had ever encountered.

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Liar, his mind whispered to him,you’re a big, fat liar .

Gavreel felt his shoulders slump. Okay, so no one except Chandra had ever questioned his thoughts or
theories. In fact, years before they had evenmet , Chandra had been driving him nuts, questioning his
every source, laughing through her messages and journal articles at some of his more obsolete theories.

Yet until he had met her, discovered his attraction to her, he had never thought about her teasing and
taunting manner as anything other than a jovial workmanship interaction.

He paused in his pacing, turned to search out Chandra with his eyes. He really should apologize for
calling her theory on women ruling the ancient civilization of Hlorniga a vision coming from a glyconyte.
The rare beast, roughly the size of a pet cat with only two cells to its brain, really was overkill for the
insult he had been meaning to give to her.

He frowned as he saw her curled up on the cot she had pulled out, her back ramrod straight against the
wall, her legs crossed neatly beneath her as she furiously worked an ancient holographic puzzle box. She
seemed almost alarmingly concentrated on it, to the extent he could smell something funny about her,
even from across the cabin.

“I apologize for my earlier comment, Chandra,” he started amicably as he crossed over the small space.
He paused though, eyes flaring slightly as he stood before her.

She hadn’t moved her face or eyes at all, focusing with a feral intent on the puzzle.

Gavreel felt his stomach lurch slightly as he saw the sweat beading her face.

“Chandra,” he said carefully, unsure exactly what to do.

“Don’t talk to me, Gav. I’m feeling a bit off right now. Besides, usglyconytes need to conserve our
intellectual energy for loftier goals than mere conversation.”

Gavreel winced, feeling like he had been kicking a stray animal and been too obtuse to even notice.

He reached out a hand and gently pried the holo-puzzle from her hands, grunting in surprise as she
lurched out to push him to the floor, straddling his hips in the process.

“You just had to argue with me, didn’t you Gav?” she panted, and Gavreel wondered if she was going
mad. When she bent down and kissed him fully on the lips, he felt shock and a hot, reckless shaft of
pleasure rocket through him.

You most certainly are not going to take advantage of this situation! his mind screamed to him. Gavreel
rolled them on the cold floor, and pulled his lips away from hers.

“Chandra,” he panted, surprised at how completely out of control he felt. “We can’t do this, you simply
aren’t yourself—”

“Screw that,” she panted, fumbling to remove his skinsuit. When she undid it and his thickly erect shaft
sprang free, she reached with both hands to fist him, pumping him with exquisite skill as he moaned and
clenched his hands into fists to retain control over himself.

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He was not some youth, feeling the raging hormonal genetic rush of heat. He was a mature man in his
prime and he knew he had more control over himself. If only he could convince his cock of that.

“I really don’t think—”

“I know,” Chandra said smugly, flipping them both over with a casual ease. Gavreel had to smile, she
hadn’t even let him finish his sentence. “You never think, you always analyze. Well, Mr.
I-am-always-right, analyze the five bloody hells out ofthis !”

Gavreel swore he felt a bolt of lightning hit him as Chandra took him fully into her mouth, suckled him
and then deep-throated him without even pausing for breath. He felt the breath whoosh out of his chest
and he couldn’t even pretend to think coherently.

“Chandra—” he tried again. Although he didn’t think he really could be considered taking advantage of
the situation here, neither was he completely convinced of her real desire forhim as opposed to just any
man who had been hanging around.

Don’t make me think you’re even more of an ass, she sent him telepathically. This time hereally felt
stunned. He tried to send a message back, but her mind was completely blocked to him.

You can’t think I would believe you haven’t thought about this in the last few days. Those glances,
watching me. If you look inside yourself, you’ve been wanting this as much as me. I can tell by the way
we argue.

Gavreel wrinkled his nose, wishing she couldn’t read him so easily. He moaned as Chandra pulled
herself away from his cock, the wetplop sound making him smile. She removed her suit with one swift
movement, and then she crawled over him, running her hands through his hair.

“Fine, so I might be entering heat, but that doesn’t mean that simply any cock would do—even in the
midst of our heat we still have standards, you should know that. And like I said earlier, you think way too
much. When was the last time you simply let yourself let go and feel?”

Gavreel smiled sadly, “Far too long, I must admit. But it’s been safer for me that way.”

Chandra nodded and Gav felt himself once again astounded how the sadness in her eyes showed she
understood some of what he felt.

“I’ve been hurt too. Sucks, doesn’t it?”

Gavreel laughed, a deep laugh from somewhere in his formerly crushed soul.

“How wonderfully quaint,” he exclaimed, unsure what else to say. “Yes, it did indeed suck.”

He felt his spirits unexpectedly lighten as she nodded again and pressed a hard kiss to his lips.

“Been there, survived through that. What say we both just relax, forget we’re renowned logical analysts
and researchers, ancient artifact explorers extraordinaire, and just feel for a little bit, huh?”

“Brilliant idea,” Gavreel murmured and stung a few heated, wet kisses across her collarbone.

Slowly, relishing his exploration, Gav licked and caressed as much of Chandra’s skin as he could reach.

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They both worked their way around each other’s bodies. She found his sensitive reaction to the
centerline down his chest, he found her ticklish behind her knees.

Easily, and with growing intimacy, they explored one another as if they had forever. Finally, when he
wiped away the sweat from her brow, Gavreel turned her onto her back and spread her legs wide,
bending down to taste the dew gathered there. He lapped at her, enjoying her salty, tangy taste.

He smiled as she moaned, arching her hips, physically begging him to penetrate her deeper. He thrust his
tongue inside her, swirling it around her clit as he withdrew.

“More,” she moaned, her voice thick from the pleasure. He rose up, notched the tip of his cock inside
her.

“Here,” he offered gruffly, “taste yourself.”

He kissed her, amazed as she opened her mouth and thrust her tongue in to taste herself on him. She
again lifted her hips, wanting for him to sink deeper into her. He thrust gently inside her, wanting to stretch
her as he went, but she eagerly took his entire width. Easily, he sank fully inside her, groaning with the
warm, tight feeling of her closing around him. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time he had been
more turned on.

Together they pressed against each other, scratching erotically and pushing each other further and
further. As she followed him each step of the way, Gavreel found his long-suppressed, more feral side
being released. For centuries he had pushed aside his own needs, usually for his lover, but also
sometimes because his mind had been busy with some other conundrum.

Yet for the first time in his memory, he focused purely on the woman he bedded, but also relished the
freedom of being able to push both their boundaries. Chandra was not human, not as fragile and
breakable as many women were. She was hardy, resilient, and as strong as he.

As they both became more and more excited, they began to grapple even more, nipping bites teasing the
erotic moments out longer, building the fever pitch higher. Gavreel found buried so deeply in his soul he
had forgotten it existed, the enjoyment of biting and scratching his lover. He pressed his index finger into
Chandra’s mouth, excited beyond measure when her brown eyes glowed happily with the knowledge of
what he planned to do.

He lifted her half onto his body, and she spread her legs half over him, and he pressed the moistened
finger into her hidden passage. She cried out, and he could feel the dark pleasure she experienced with
his movement. He continued to thrust his cock deeply inside her pussy, sending her waves of pleasure,
but the finger that delicately stroked her ass burned like a fire, sending her even higher with her pleasure.

When Chandra pressed her own finger into his mouth, he licked his tongue around it, feeling the
excitement twist heavily in his gut. He slowly, teasingly removed his finger from her ass and quickly wiped
it on the shirt lying next to them.

He laughed as instead of inserting her finger where he had thought, she merely trailed the damp finger
down the centerline of his chest, causing his nipple to bead and goose bumps to rise on his chest.

“Vixen,” he laughed, withdrawing from her to his very tip.

She moaned, tried to drag him closer to her, but he held still, felt the vibration of need rocket though his

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body as he denied himself as well as her.

When he thrust back into her, they both cried out and he knew the end was near. In that blinding instant,
he knew he didn’t want to lose this closeness between them, didn’t want the intimacy they shared, the
laughter and companionship they shared to be lost.

He wanted her to walk beside him always.

Just as he thought this, he felt her climax, and her mind was thrown open to him. He dived into it, as if it
were a pool and he was lost in the swirling, confused junket of emotions and needs.

She had suffered pain in her time, but had always managed to find consolation in her books and
philosophical studies, the same as him. She knew she was in heat and had searched his soul and found
them to be compatible.

Yet she wanted nothing more from him than a few good memories to help keep her warm at nights. She
didn’t want to pushhim for a commitment! Gavreel felt himself flounder under such an unusual, almost
unheard of sensation of shock.

It was as he discovered this, he also found another thought of hers.

She planned to leave him after this trip was finished!

He reeled back, astonished and a large part of him outraged.She couldn’t leave him! He thrust into her
much harder than he had been previously, excited by how instead of his feral nature turning her off, she
embraced it and craved it. He could feel the excitement in her mind and in her soul, he could feel her
pleasure in his movements as if it were a living thing he could reach out and touch.

As she came again, she buried her face in his neck and he pressed that last half-inch deeper inside her
and felt himself begin to come.

And then he felt her teeth in his neck, sipping at his blood, offering him her soul. He remembered her
thought of leaving him, and despite his best intentions, he felt his face turn into her neck, and for the first
time in all his long years, he bit down into the neck of his lover.

Blood poured through into his mouth, revitalizing him as nothing else in the galaxy could. He felt her joy
and worry, her ecstasy and the satiation of her climax washing over her and through to him. He felt every
electrical spark shooting through her body as if it were his.

And he offered her everything he was in return. His bruised and battered soul, his heart, his respect and
his growing, flowering love. For the first time in countless years, Gavreel felt some measure of peace. As
his seed shot into her body, he felt an acceptance from her he had never felt from anyone other than his
sons, he felt her embracing his entire being, not just the aspects she liked.

As they both floated down gently from the high they shared, Gavreel healed her small wound, feeling her
doing the same. They cuddled together, neither one wanting to move from the suddenly hard floor.

They pulled apart slightly, both of them having similar, almost comedic looks of surprise and muted
shock on their features. Chandra was dimly asking herself what she had done, but Gavreel merely smiled.
They both knew exactly what they had done.

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Life had taken a truly intriguing twist.

The academic journals will never be the same again, he thought smugly.

They both laughed heartily as Chandra punched him in the chest, undoubtedly hearing his thought.

Chapter Fourteen

The second the door to Gavreel’s lodgings swung shut, Ruthie pressed Rylan into the back of the door
and began to remove his shirt and pants.

“I still say we should comm your brothers first. Now we know where Gav is heading they should get
onto it.”

“Mmm,” he muttered, also stripping her at a lightning speed. Ruthie smiled, amused by his one-track
mind.

Not that she was any better.

“Seriously,” she panted, swearing as she realized their shoes hampered their efforts to get naked.

She tilted precariously to one side as she tried to toe off her shoes without removing her hands from
Rylan’s clothing. Since when had undressing a man, or herself for that matter, been so bloody difficult?

She muttered an obscene curse that would have her parents rolling in their graves if they hadn’t been
cremated, and finally managed to remove her damned shoes. She glanced down at Rylan’s feet and
noticed he had managed to remove his with apparently no problems while she had been struggling.

What was I saying?

“Comm. My brothers,” Rylan panted as he drew her shirt up over her head. Ruthie grinned again.
Maybe there was some good in him being able to read her thoughts on occasion.

As Rylan skimmed her pants and skimpy panties down over her hips, she managed to at least remove
his shirt before he discarded her clothes and stood back. She opened her mouth to argue with him,
insistedshe wanted to undress him, when she realized he was setting up the comm call.

Realizing she was in line of sight of the micro-sized holographic camera the call would project, she
shrieked in an utterly embarrassing way and dived for the sanctuary of the bed.

She pulled the covers up over her just as she saw the holographic image of Simeon appear, obviously
bedraggled.

“This had better be freaking important, Ry. One of these days I will remember to block incoming family
calls when I place the comm on private reception only.”

Ruthie peered curiously over Rylan’s shoulder, eager despite herself to perhaps catching a glimpse of
Si’s partner, Clare. She had only heard a few brief comments on her friend’s mate, Rylan declaring her
“an all-right girl”, and leaving the matter as such.

Unfortunately, much as she was out of line of sight for Simeon, she had a feeling Clare also lurked,

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barely concealed, out of sight of herself and Rylan.

Pity, she mused. Then she shrugged, there would be plenty of time for introductions later.

“Ruthie and I have a handle on Gav,” Rylan said tersely. At the way Simeon’s eyes lit up she realized the
vampire understood the barely concealed impatience in her lover’s tone.

“Ruthie giving you hell, eh?You go girl !” he called through the comm, their ruse of no effect whatsoever.

“Shut up, Si, or I’ll bash that good-looking face of yours in when we return.”

Ruthie listened in shamelessly as she heard a feminine shriek from the other side of the unit, and a pretty
woman with light brown eyes and honey-brown hair came into view. She had what appeared to be a
blue sheet wrapped around her and Ruthie found herself nodding in admiration.

Not only did the human woman have spunk, something she knew from personal experience was
completely necessary when dealing with Montague men, but she also seemed to possess a keen sense of
self.

Utterly unselfconsciously, she pushed Simeon aside and let rip into Rylan. Ruthie felt her admiration for
Clare rise even further.

“Don’t you dare threaten Simeon, Rylan Montague! We both know you’re just trying to act like the
macho moron and beat your damn chest like some freaking he-man! Well, you can quit it! At least we
are here holding down the fort while you gallivant off around the galaxy. Instead of teasing my partner,
you can politely tell us whatever the hell it is you called for.”

Ruthie grinned as she wrapped herself in Gavreel’s dark green sheets. She had no idea what a “he-man”
was, but the whole damn conversation was beginning to look like an awful lot of fun, and besides, she
never gave up an opportunity to upstage Rylan. It simply wasn’t healthy for either her ego or their
relationship.

As Rylan spluttered, desperately trying to explain and soothe his sister-in-law, Ruthie crawled out of the
bed and came over to where Rylan stood. She moved his arm, so she and not he was in the picture.

“Hi there, Clare,” Ruthie said cheerily. She smiled wider as the pretty young woman stared at her as
curiously as she had been staring earlier. “I’m Ruthie. I have a feeling we’ll be dealing together with these
boys a lot later on. We tracked down Gav, he seems to have met up with a vampiress called
Chandra—” Ruthie cocked an eyebrow as Clare audibly gasped. She paused, but when Clare didn’t
interrupt her further, she continued.

“They seem to be working together, amicably by the looks of it. Gav has headed out quite willingly on a
ship she hired under her own name, so it’s not like they are trying to hide or anything, and they’re headed
for somewhere called Klampor. I don’t know if that’s the planet or solar system or what, but that’s what
we have. They hid their coordinates, so unless we want to be doing a tiny bit of semi-legal hacking, which
I professionally wouldn’t recommend unless we think they’re in danger and are willing to deal with the
Security Force guys, we need to look up this place.”

Ruthie watched as Clare nodded, a serious look in her eyes.

“I am fairly adept at research over here, and I have Alderic to help me if needed,”

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“And me!” an indignant shout could be heard from the background. Both Clare and Ruthie smiled at
each other.

“And I suppose the Montague twins might be of use.”

“Oh yes,” Clare agreed with a gleam in her eye. Ruthie liked her new friend more and more. “Montague
men have a number of uses,” she agreed cheekily. Ruthie chuckled.

“It’s very late, so we really should be heading off. Sorry to disturb you,” Ruthie apologized genuinely.

“Oh, we were only lazing about because no one else was here. It’s nearly brunch time anyway.”

Ruthie nodded. “We will head out tomorrow, but we will likely be late. Don’t wait up.”

“Oh,” Clare said, a wicked gleam in her eye, “we won’t!”

Both women laughed and Ruthie severed the connection. She turned and saw Rylan, a grumpy but
resigned expression on his face.

“You realize I will never live this down?” he said, removing the comm unit from his wrist.

“Don’t be silly,” she purred as she removed his pants, “Simeon is just as pussy-whipped. The two of
you can commiserate together.”

Ruthie gasped as she freed his immense shaft, needing a moment of silence to stare in wonder at the
glory of his full arousal.

She didn’t resist as he walked her back to the bed and unwound her from the sheet.

“I certainly don’t consider myself pussy-whipped, though that is a lovely thought about Simeon. What
say we argue about this later, huh?”

Ruthie licked her lips and pressed Rylan down onto the bed. She crawled over him and without any
warning or preliminaries engulfed him in her mouth. She closed her eyes, loving the thick length of him in
her mouth and enjoying his taste even more.

She fisted the rest of his length, worked her head up and down, enjoying the feeling of him begin to
tremble under her ministrations. She smiled as he gently pulled her from him as she felt his heat and need
begin to boil.

“I won’t last long like that, love,” he cautioned her. Ruthie licked her lips and smiled.

“I don’t mind, I rather like it in fact,” she said. She laughed as he rolled them over and pressed his lips
against hers.

“Mmm,” he murmured softly, “I taste good on you. I can’t believe we waited so long for this.”

Ruthie wrapped her arms around his neck, needing to draw him closer to her. She felt her body come
alive under his touch, felt the dampness seep from her pussy, felt her whole body almost wake up and
reach out for him.

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“Goddess, you are beautiful, all this pale skin, the unending sea of your hair, I swear I could drown in
you,” he said hoarsely. Ruthie merely looked into his dark eyes, saw the truth of his statement there, and
caressed his skin.

“You’re a damn fine specimen yourself, Ry. Your body is to die for, all smooth, hard planes, and
warmth. We won’t need much heating during the colder months.”

They both laughed breathlessly, exploring each other with soft hands, mouths and tongues. Ruthie felt the
heat burn slowly between them, arcing from one to the other. They moved in a fluid motion together, a
loverlike dance she had only ever read and heard about, never experienced. If they had practiced
choreographed movements they couldn’t have moved more in synch.

Ruthie felt her head begin to spin, giddy with the joy and taste of the incredible vampire with her. She felt
breathless, almost as if she would hyperventilate from the sheer pleasure. A thousand kisses she strew
over his body, in every conceivable nook and cranny, hungry for the taste of him, ravenous for the feel of
his lips and fingers on her in return.

Time faded away, no longer important. Neither sleep, nor nourishment, nothing else mattered except for
the loving bubble they both resided in.

Finally, the fire in her pussy became unbearable, and she lowered her hand back to the iron-hard cock
she needed more than her next breath.

“Now,” she exclaimed, almost ready to start without him. As Rylan’s hand joined hers, his other hand
turning her, angling her hips so he could penetrate her with ease, she felt his hunger, his raging, burning
need.

Yet below that surface, as she searched deep within his soul, she could easily recognize and feel an
abiding love, a satisfaction and completeness of having her there with him. Ruthie remembered the words
the book had spoken to her, how they could both exist without each other, but it would be a lesser life,
not their true full potential. She could feel Rylan softly offering her all he was—his heart, soul, mind and
body all hers for the taking.

Ruthie felt her heart overflow with her love for this vampire, this man. She knew her life would never be
the same, yet she couldn’t rustle up any disappointment or angst over it. She would not lose her identity,
would not become a shadow of her former self or merely one half of Rylan’s whole, she would be adding
to herself, fulfilling herown self by accepting Rylan into her and her life.

Just as she would support and “fill the gaps” with Rylan. He would not turn into a studious or sober
person, would not magically become her perfect prince charming as she completed him, he would remain
himself, only becoming more.

As odd as it sounded to her, it made complete and utter sense and she nearly wept with happiness.

“I love you,” she whispered softly, not caring if he didn’t hear her. She felt tears in her eyes as she hadn’t
said those words to a living soul since her first ever crush. Instead of feeling panicked, or afraid, or as if a
huge jail cell closed her in or bound her, she felt her heart and soul lift to the heavens, as if an enormous
weight had been thrown away from her.

She smiled wide, her eyes meeting the stunned amazement of Rylan’s. The knowing, wicked gleam

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quickly replaced the flare of surprise, and he thrust deeply inside her, penetrating her fully.

“I love you too, Ruthie,” he replied seriously, honestly, “I love you more than I could ever have imagined
possible.”

Give me a baby, he silently pleaded in her mind. Ruthie knew intuitively he had not meant to ask her, had
not wanted her to feel pressured or obliged, yet the plea came directly from his soul, a longing, a begging
need that had been aching inside him longer than she could ever have believed.

Ruthie felt her eyes well again, and a few tears managed to seep over, running down her cheeks and
feeling chilled in the air.

Unable to help herself, wanting to share her own joy and wonder, she began to thrust on him, trying to
remember the image she had received earlier that day.

As the pleasure coursed through her, she closed her eyes and the scene once again was in her mind,
clear as a bell. She could feel the sun shining on her face, warming her skin pleasurably, she could see the
perfect blue of the sky, the thing dreams were made of.

As she felt Rylan thrusting inside her, as close as any person could possibly be, she turned and saw him
standing next to her, laughing and hugging her in the recpark. The green grass, the smell of flowers in the
air and of nothing but happiness and joy in the future surrounded her.

And as Rylan whispered in her ear, whether in her vision or in reality she had no idea, “I love you,
Ruthie. I willalways love you,” they both turned and saw their little red-haired daughter laughing gaily as
she ran across the grass, her arms open to her mother and father.

“Rhian up!” she called out imperiously, as if she were Queen of the Empire or Queen of the entire
Galaxy. Ruthie laughed as she recognized the ancient name as meaning “Goddess”.Well! We’ve
certainly named this little miss correctly!

Ruthie laughed and bent to pick her up, but Rylan was faster than she, lifting the little girl up into big,
strong, muscled arms and staring at her as if he were lost in a dream.

“How is my princess?” he asked tenderly, causing Ruthie’s heart to overflow with love once again.

“I am hungry, Daddy! I want eat!” Rhian said with a tilt to her chin Ruthie instantly recognized as a
stubbornness trait only a Montague could have passed on to her.

Ruthie and Rylan once again looked at each other, and Ruthie felt his hand on her face. She opened her
eyes, shocked and scared to see tears in Rylan’s eyes.

“You are only supposed to see a vision of a child as they are conceived,” he said, his voice hoarse and
scratchy.

“I saw it earlier, last time we made love here, when you thought I passed out,” she said softly, hesitating
to explain but refusing to lie. “I didn’t realize it was real, I thought it was a dream.”

Rylan paused in his strokes, causing her to groan in dismay. She shifted herself slightly, so she could feel
him against her G-spot, but he placed one hand on her flat stomach.

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“You’re pregnant with my baby?” he asked, seemingly disbelieving. She just smiled and moved over him
herself, forcing groans from them both.

“I think so. I don’t really understand all this ritual, reproductive stuff, and it’s all a bit much to take in at
once, Ry. Want to help me out here?”

Rylan rolled them both over, gently holding himself above her, bracing all his weight all on his arms and
knees. “What do you need?” he asked.

Ruthie smiled. “How about completion, on a number of levels?” she chided him gently. Rylan laughed, a
strangled, half-hysterical sound.

“I think I can deal with that,” he said the old, cheeky vampire peeking through once again.

He pressed back inside her, and kissed her lips as he once more set up the urgent rhythm they both
craved. As Ruthie felt herself spiral toward climax, Rylan’s heat and need spurring her own on
simultaneously, she gasped in shock as he gently bit into her neck as she climaxed.

The odd sensation of him drawing from her, passing himself into her overwhelmed her, and she felt on
the edge of consciousness. Needing him, craving him more than any drug she had heard of, Ruthie
offered herself and everything she was to her lover, knowing he needed her more than his next breath.

Ruthie gave herself to him, without any hesitation or doubt. As she felt him explode inside her, they both
lashed back to the image of the brown-eyed, red-haired little girl they knew would be theirs in a matter of
months.

Ruthie could feel Rylan’s love and adoration for Rhian as clearly as her own, as deeply inside her as if it
were hers as well.

When Rylan fell to the side, wrapping a warm arm around her and drawing her closer to him, she smiled
and snuggled as closely to his body as possible. She enjoyed the feel of him still inside her, warm and
close.

She closed her eyes, breathed calmly and fell asleep without even noticing.

Chapter Fifteen

Much later that morning, startlingly close to noon, Ruthie slapped Rylan’s hands away in the cleansing
chamber as he tried to pull her back into the room with him.

“Enough!” she called out, laughing. She bent over double, laughing hysterically as her shouted command
halted the flow of water, and Rylan stood there, naked and goose bumps beginning to cover his skin as
the slick soap coating his body began to dribble everywhere.

Uncaring she was still wet, she slid out of the room, picking up the discarded dark green sheet and
drying herself with that instead of properly in the chamber. She heard mumblings, a grouchily yelled
command for the water to be turned back on, and soon heard Rylan singing in the shower once more.

As she picked up her scattered clothes, shoving them unceremoniously into her soft bag and pulling new,
clean though creased clothes out again, she was dressed in a matter of minutes.

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Hunting around for a stray sock, Ruthie pulled up a cushion on a chair, and found yet another remind-it
note. She shook her head at Gav, and turned to place it on the pile on the desk, but something about it
caught her eye.

Remember to meet Lea at Scooper’s Tuesday, 1 a.m., the note read. Ruthie frowned. Scooper’s Pub
was the favorite watering hole and relaxing spot for all of the Montague men, and Ruthie felt certain both
Rylan and Simeon had mentioned Lea a few times as a barely over legal age escort, who was so picky
with her clientele none of the men had ever seen her more than once or twice an evening go upstairs or
outside “to work”. She seemed to mostly hang around, chatting with the clientele and helping the
femservers to serve drinks.

Both Simeon and Rylan were fond of the girl, but considered her in a protective manner, almost like a
little sister. She vaguely recalled one of the men—maybe Michael?—talking to her about which college
she should chose for the course she was interested in taking.

So the question was, what the hell was Gav doing meeting with her? She could not see the five hundred
and seventy plus vampire wanting to “professionally” use the young girl. Rumor was she had only passed
her Majority Eighteenth birthday mere months ago.

Ruthie sat and mulled the thought over, her instincts screaming there was something more here than there
seemed. Before she could think too deeply about it though, Rylan was storming out of the cleansing
chamber, pouting at her.

“We really should pack and head back home. Heaven knows what Vasili and Michael are up to, though
I could hazard a guess at what Simeon has been spending his time on.”

Ruthie laughed and crossed over the room into the bedroom to kiss Rylan on the cheek.

“And like we haven’t spent most of the day doing exactly the same thing?” she teased. She felt her heart
flutter as Rylan placed a protective hand on her stomach, staring at her even through the shirt she wore, a
look of awe and excitement on his face.

“I can’twait to tell the guys about this. They will be so excited!”

Ruthie rolled her eyes, exasperated and happy at the same time. “We’d better lock up and head back to
the port, or we won’t be home before everyone else starts getting up.”

Ruthie quickly placed the sheets into the washing unit and remade the bed in record time. Smiling as
Rylan fluttered about, trying to help but not being much use in the way of men galaxy-wide, she picked
up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, watched as Rylan did the same for his bag. He held her hand
as they walked out of the lodging, palm-locking the door as they headed out.

As they walked to the main port, Ruthie looked around her and smiled in pure bliss. She had left on this
mission slightly grouchy and exceedingly wary. She was now returning fulfilled, happy and content in a
way she had never felt, and pregnant with an adorable little girl.

She laughed as she realized the bizarre nature of fate, and smiled cheerily at the man with whom she
would share the rest of her life.

Rylan grinned back, a wicked look in his eye.

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The trip back will certainly be fun, she acknowledged to herself.

She couldn’t wait for their personal journey to continue, her own, very flaming, fantasy.

About the Author

Elizabeth Lapthorne is an Aussie girl, born, bred and living in Melbourne, Victoria. She graduated with a
Bachelor of Science from Melbourne University and wrote her first story while looking for a job. Two
and a half years later, with a Research position in a lovely company and seven published works, Elizabeth
is still slightly dazed at how everything fell into place.

She had written a well-received series about the Rutledge Werewolves, and is often amused at
fans/reviewers commenting on how “popular” her series is. Very recently she started to tell people about
her writing career and even confessed to her parents (though she did chicken out with the explanation of
what “Romantica” is). She still finds it incredibly strange to be able to order paperbacks written by
herself, and is shaking with nerves at what the hell she’ll write when finally asked for her first autograph.

Elizabeth is completely addicted to Tim Tams and chocolate, and barely ever goes a day without one or
the other. She loves email, is a self confessed bookaholic, and has been known to buy books instead of
food for herself, much to the teasing of her brothers and good friends.

She was astonished recently to be asked to do an interview…and spent a long time chewing over her
responses. She loves people and adores going out for a girl’s night for nachos and margaritas (unless
she’s designated driver, and then she eats chocolate mousse for dessert instead).

Elizabeth welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author
bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

Also by Elizabeth Lapthorne

Behind the Maskanthology

Bonded for Eternity

Desperate and Dateless

Ellora’s Cavemen: Legendary Tails Ianthology

Lion In Love

Merc and Her Men

Montague Vampires: Heated Fantasies

Payback

Rutledge Werewolves 1: Scent of Passion

Rutledge Werewolves 2: Hide and Seek

Rutledge Werewolves 3: The Mating Game

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Rutledge Werewolves 4: My Heart’s Passion

Rutledge Werewolves 5: Chasing Love

Discover for yourself why readers can’t get enough of the multiple award-winning publisher Ellora’s
Cave. Whether you prefer e-books or paperbacks, be sure to visit EC on the web at
www.ellorascave.com for an erotic reading experience that will leave you breathless.

www.ellorascave.com

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