Unleashed Read online

  "I need you over here." Her voice was husky and demanding. She scooted to one side, making room for him to join her.

  He prowled over to her side of the bed. With blue heat lighting his eyes, he smiled. "What? No rope?"

  She swallowed hard at the image that flashed through her head. "Not this time. Lie down."

  "Make me." He braced his feet apart, an unspoken warning that he wouldn't make it easy for her.

  Crawling across the king-sized bed, she slipped down onto the floor right in front of him, then ran her hands up the outside of his legs, keeping her eyes firmly on his face. When she repeated the maneuver up the inside of his legs, he closed his eyes and moaned. She cupped his sac in one hand, slowly grasped the hard length of him with the other, then gently squeezed.

  He shuddered.

  She smiled and did it again, only this time she added her tongue into the mix. Over and over again, she tasted and teased him until she couldn't wait anymore, then parted her lips and took him into her mouth.

  She would have thought he'd been in pain if his big hand hadn't come down on the back of her head to encourage her to continue. She didn't have much experience in pleasing a man this way, but Ranulf didn't seem to have any complaints.

  Then he abruptly lifted her to her feet. "You keep that up and it will be over before we really get started. Besides, it's my turn to play."

  He eased them onto the bed, inflaming her with deep kisses, his tongue raking over hers. She loved the solid feel of him as he lay half sprawled over her, but a promise was a promise.

  "On your back, Ranulf."

  He obligingly rolled over, taking her with him. She centered herself over his erection, making both of them sigh with the sweet pleasure of it. Then she cupped her hands under her breasts and offered them up to his attention.

  He suckled each in turn, using his teeth and his tongue to drive her crazy. She wanted, needed so much more. She rose up, riding his erection, teasing them both with the possibilities. When she'd driven them both to the edge of insanity, she shifted to take him deep inside her body. She slid down slowly, impaling herself with delicious slowness, savoring each long inch of the journey. Ranulf fisted his hands in the sheets, his head arched back on the pillow as flickers of energy danced over his skin and then over hers as their bodies merged into one.

  She wasn't sure she'd survive the beauty of it, but she'd die happy.

  It took her a few tries to settle into the right rhythm, then she was panting his name as she strove to push them both higher and higher, until she lost all control and coordination.

  "Ranulf, please finish it. Finish me."

  He didn't hesitate. He withdrew from her body only long enough to flip her over on her stomach. Grasping her waist with his powerful hands, he pulled her hips up to the right angle for him to take her deep and hard. She screamed with pleasure at the power of his thrusts as his belly slapped against her bottom. Over and over and over again, his body pounded into hers, his torso arched over her back, blanketing her with the strength and heat of his body.

  This was her Viking lover unleashed, all vestiges of civilization stripped away, leaving behind only the primitive need to mate. Ranulf growled her name, his hand sliding up the center of her back, holding her still when she tried to turn to kiss him. Then he slid his other hand around the curve of her hip to find the damp curls between her legs. He found her small nub and rubbed it in counter rhythm to his thrusts, until the world burst wide open in an explosion of bright colors and the music of her name on her lover's lips.

  Another thrust, and he joined her with a shout. An eternity later he withdrew from her body, rolled to his back, and tucked her next to his side.

  He kissed the top of her head as she dozed off. "Sleep, Kerry. I have a feeling we're both going to need it."

  Josiah walked into the living room, startling Judith. One minute she'd been lost in the past, and the next he was standing in front of her holding a cup of tea and a plate with a sandwich on it.

  "One of these days I'm going to put a bell on you, Josiah. You could kill somebody my age, startling them like that."

  "Yes, ma'am. But while you're still breathing, perhaps you could eat." He offered her a crisply ironed napkin, then set the plate on the table beside her. "Eat all of that and you might persuade me to offer you a piece of apple pie."

  "You are a wicked, wicked man, Josiah."

  He backed away a couple of steps. "Do you have everything you need? I could heat some soup to go with the sandwich."

  "I'm fine. Why don't you see if the ball game is on and join me?"

  "I'd like that."

  He turned the game on to find that the Mariners had just scored and were ahead by three runs. The two of them settled into a comfortable silence, broken only occasionally when Judith disagreed with the umpire's call.

  The bases were loaded when a pinch hitter belted one with a loud crack. She was cheering as the bases cleared, only to realize that the noise hadn't come from the television. Josiah sat slumped over in his chair, a splash of crimson spreading across the front of his white shirt.

  Lurching to her feet, she hoped against hope that her ability to heal wouldn't fail her. She eased her servant, her friend, to the floor, trying to erase his pain.

  "Don't waste energy on me!" he rasped. "Call Sandor… Ranulf. Too late."

  She didn't know if he meant it was too late to help him or if it was too late to call for help. As she heard the front door swing open, she thought he was probably right on both counts.

  She fumbled for her cell phone as she held Josiah's hand, shoving all the energy she could muster into him, hoping to staunch the bleeding.

  "Hold on, Josiah. Don't leave me, please."

  He smiled up at her. "I love you, you know. Always did, even when Rolf was alive."

  "I know, Josiah." She'd always known and had found comfort in his unwavering devotion. What she'd felt for him had been warm and good and essential in her life. And now it was almost too late to tell him. "I love you, too, Josiah. I don't know how I would have survived these past few years without you. I've been a lucky, lucky woman to have such good men in my life."

  "Judith…" He whispered her name with his dying breath, breaking her heart.

  She punched the speed dial on her phone, hitting Sandor's number, since he was the closest. He answered on the first ring. Bradan was already in the foyer, so there was no time for niceties.

  "Bradan killed Josiah. I don't know how long I can hold him off. The wards are failing."

  Then she hung up and punched Ranulf's land-line number on the mountain. He was slower to respond, answering as Bradan stepped into the doorway. In all her long life, she hadn't known that evil could be both handsome and hideous at the same time.

  She set the cell phone down, leaving the connection open as she stood to face her enemy. With a flick of her wrist, she sent a surge of power flashing across toward Bradan. He stumbled back, but only a single step. She'd burned up too much of her reserves trying to save Josiah. Under normal circumstances she could have stripped Bradan's energy to replenish her own, but whatever Bradan had been doing to prepare for this attack had made him strong—perhaps even stronger than Ranulf.

  When Bradan realized he would be attacking from a position of strength, he started forward.

  "Why did you kill Josiah? He never hurt you."

  "Neither did the others I've killed. I just enjoy doing it." His eyes were alight with unholy glee.

  "I don't want to hurt you, Bradan."

  He laughed long and loud. "Don't take up lying for a hobby, because you're lousy at it. If you weren't older than dirt I'd be dead right now, fried to a crisp by one of those blasts of yours."

  "Stay back, Bradan."

  "Tsk, tsk. Why don't you come along peacefully? Even if you've called for backup, neither of your little pets will make it back here in time to save you."

  Ranulf had obviously heard every word, because she could hear him bellowing from the sma
ll speaker on the cell.

  "Where?" she asked, knowing it was unlikely that Bradan would be foolish enough to reveal his hiding place.

  He responded by crushing her phone with the heel of his shoe. "Oh, I'm sure Sandor will be able to figure that out. He's been closing in on my location since yesterday—which has been part of my plan all along."

  Retreating was both futile and undignified. Judith stood her ground, wishing she'd had enough left in her for one last blast—but that wasn't going to happen. When Bradan grabbed her arm, she made only a token resistance before allowing him to lead her from the house.

  It was a shame her life had to end in such a way, but things didn't always turn out the way you planned. There was so much she could have taught Kerry to ease the young woman's way in the world of the Kyth, but Ranulf would see that she was taken care of. Sandor would help.

  Bradan opened the car door for her, acting like the gentleman he'd always pretended to be. She slid into the front seat, glad that he spared her the indignity of tying her up.

  When he joined her in the car, she studied his profile, wondering how they'd missed all that anger and viciousness for so long.

  "Why, Bradan?" she asked.

  "Because I like the taste of death, old woman. Yours won't have much spice, but then, you're just the appetizer. Sandor and Ranulf will be the main course." Then he reached over to squeeze her shoulder hard enough to hurt. "I'm saving the delicious Kerry Logan for dessert."

  Judith closed her eyes and began to pray.

  Kerry planted herself right in the doorway and prepared to do battle. "I'm coming, and if you don't get control of yourself, Ranulf Thorsen, I'll be the one driving!"

  He loomed over her. "Like hell you will! I didn't drag you all the way up here just to have you charging back down the mountain to take on that rat bastard like some kind of tiny avenging angel!"

  She ignored the crack about her size. Next to Ranulf, an offensive lineman would look small. "Just because we've had mind-blowing sex doesn't mean you get to make all my decisions for me, Ranulf. I'm going, so deal with it. What if you need my abilities when you face off with Bradan? A fat lot of good I'll do you parked up here in Valhalla West!"

  Flames burned in his eyes as he growled, "I need to concentrate when Bradan and I fight. I can't do that and worry about keeping you safe."

  "But what if he's stronger than you are? Can you and Sandor combine energies to fight?" She already knew the answer, but she needed him to face it.

  He looked offended. "No, but I've never needed anyone's help to do my job. Now get out of my way. Judith won't last long once Bradan gets started."

  "He shouldn't be able to hurt her at all, Ranulf. I may not know much about the Kyth, but she hasn't ruled for a thousand years unless she's very strong. If Bradan has her, it's because she couldn't stop him." She hated the pain and grief etched in Ranulf's face, but she had to make him understand.

  "What if he's stronger than he used to be because he's been feeding nonstop?"

  "Even if he has, so what?"

  "So, it might take more than one of you to take him down. Especially if he manages to strip Judith of her energy."

  Her arguments were getting through, because he quit trying to intimidate her.

  "Damn it, Kerry, I cant fight and protect you at the same time. Don't ask me to try." He stepped through the door, chanting under his breath. When he was done, he turned back to lace her one last time. "My duty is to our people—not one person. If you're there, you'll only interfere. Now get out of my way. Judith could be dying."

  She marched off the porch, ignoring the strangest sensation of walking through spiderwebs. Skidding to a stop by the passenger door, she jerked it open and climbed in. "You of all people should know I'm stronger than I look. You might need my help. And even if you don't, Judith will need a healer."

  He didn't say a word, but the look he gave her spoke volumes Shoving the car in gear, he tore out, the tires sending up a spray of dirt and gravel behind them.

  She let him stew until they reached the narrow forest road they'd taken only hours before. "Maybe I can hold him like I did you and Sandor." If she could figure out exactly how she'd accomplished that.

  Ranulf shot her a look. "I guess it's time for the rest of that talk."

  "I'm listening."

  "Most of this you've heard before. Our people came out of the northern, cold climates. No one knows exactly when or where the gene first showed up that allowed us to use energy differently than other human species, and even among us there were variations."

  She turned slightly in the seat to face him.

  "Those who were lucky enough to be close together learned how to hide what they were and how to take only what energy they needed to survive. As with any human trait, some were better at it than others and survived to pass the gene along to subsequent generations. A few developed more specialized talents."

  "Like you and Judith."

  His mouth took on a grim set as he stared down the highway. "Yeah, lucky us." Then he looked straight into Kerry's eyes. "And lucky you."

  Even though his calm declaration didn't come as a surprise, she didn't like it. But now wasn't the time to deny reality. "And I'm like Judith. I've got the secret superpowers that she has."

  He nodded. "Judith sensed that you were something special, although she didn't warn Sandor or me about…" His words trailed off, making her wonder what Judith hadn't told them and why.

  "But you didn't know until I stopped you and Sandor from fighting," she said. "That was all it took to convince you all that she was right."

  "Hard to argue when the evidence has you immobilized." His mouth twitched as if he'd been fighting a grin. "The look on Sandor's face was pretty damn funny."

  She closed her eyes and tried to recall the exact moment when Ranulf had known that the power had been coming from her and not Judith. It had taken Sandor longer to figure it out, but Ranulf had been furious. Not at her, but at Judith. Why?

  "Judith was keeping more than just my abilities secret, wasn't she?"

  "Like I said, our people have different abilities. Judith is the strongest Kyth to appear in all of the centuries of her life. But the more powerful the gift, the more unstable it can be. Before she met her husband Rolf, her ability to control her gifts was unpredictable to the point of being dangerous. The more you use your gifts, the stronger they become until they reach their full potential."

  He turned westbound onto the interstate, falling silent until he cut across to the fast lane.

  "When the gift is off-the-chart strong, it can rage out of control without outside help. Luckily, Judith met Rolf before she ran into any real problems. His gift stabilized hers. Judith's mother's gifts had done the same for her father's. Without the right Consort, Judith wouldn't have been able to serve our people as long as she has, and it's why she's fading now. She's literally burning out."

  So Judith had sent her strongest Talions to keep Kerry safe. Fine. She could understand the older woman's desire to make sure a potential heir to her position was protected from attack.

  But had she ordered them both to protect her for more than the obvious reason? Kerry added up all the facts and did not like the answer she was getting.

  "She thinks one of you would make a good Consort for me, doesn't she?" And Kerry had obligingly taken Ranulf to her bed.

  Ranulf had lapsed into a dark silence, going somewhere in his mind that she wasn't sure she wanted to follow. "There's more to it than that, isn't there? This has to do with your pledge to serve Judith."

  After a few seconds, he slowlv nodded. "I owed her my fealty and have served her long and well for a thousand years, never questioning my duty. But I need some peace in my life, and she'd promised that after this one last mission, I could retire for good. I wasn't counting on this… this… whatever this is between the two of us."

  She didn't know what it was, either. She just knew that it was strong and powerful and good, but Ranulf clearly had
different ideas on the subject. Letting go was going to be far harder than she'd imagined. He'd served his Dame and their people in good faith. Although Kerry didn't know what her role with the Kyth was going to be, she did know that she had no right—they had no right—to ask more of this man.

  It was time to change the subject.

  "Should I call Sandor and see if he's been able to find out anything more on Bradan?"

  Ranulf tossed her his cell phone. She scrolled to Sandor's number and pushed the Send button. He answered on the second ring.

  "Where the hell are you two? I've been trying to call you for the past half an hour. Bradan took Judith prisoner."

  "We know. We were out of cell phone service, but Judith reached us on the landline." She turned to Ranulf. "How long until we reach Sandor?"

  "Thirty minutes, maybe a little more. Tell him we'll meet him at Judith's."

  "Did you hear that?" she asked, then listened for a few more seconds before disconnecting the call.

  "What did he say?"

  Kerry felt sick. "He's at her house. Josiah's dead." She'd never been a vindictive person, but right now she prayed that Bradan suffered greatly for the pain he caused.

  "Hurt him for me." Her fingers tingled and burned with the need to choke something. "Make him pay for all of this."

  Ranulf reached out to cup the side of her face with a soothing touch. "This I will pledge to you: Bradan will die screaming for mercy."

  "Good."

  His Dame even bled with dignity, making Bradan hate her all the more. Bradan had worked her over pretty well, leaving her bruised and battered, yet Judith remained unbroken by both the pain and the promise of more to come.

  "You're going to die."

  Her eyes met his, the cold hatred burning in their depths with ferocious power. "I was dying long before you started playing your childish games, Bradan. Nothing you do will change that, except to hasten my final breaths." She coughed and wheezed. "May the gods themselves curse you for what you did to Josiah. He was not your enemy."

  Bradan laughed. "He was foolish enough to serve you and your archaic attitudes, Judith. For that alone, he had to die. A new order is coming, and our people will rise up from the thralldom you've ensnared them in to take our real place in the scheme of things. Humans will learn to serve us or die."