Revenge in Vein, The Complete Series Read online

  “Slaughtered,” Bron choked. “Murdered by the Russians.”

  With considerable effort, Dubheasa firmly tore her mind away from the future and refocused it on the present. “The same Russians who massacred Aldric’s people?”

  Vincentas nodded, his brown eyes darkening to black. “Aldric’s people were our people. It wasn’t just our pack that was slaughtered. It was our entire village.”

  There were some things so innately horrible, that the pain had to be acknowledged no matter the species, no matter the race, and no matter the situation. Dubheasa allowed her face to reflect the sincerity of her sympathy, wiping the smile from her face and dipping her head in recognition of their pain.

  “I am sorry for your loss. I hope the men who destroyed your pack suffered accordingly?”

  Bron’s face twisted into a hideous combination of pain and satisfaction. For a split second, Dubheasa swore she saw the image of a wolf hovering before him, a reflection of the beast seething beneath his skin. “They did.”

  The intensity in that look tightened things low in her body, made her ache for her plan to come to fruition. Just a little more information . . . I must be sure.

  “And why were you not massacred alongside them?”

  “We were in Brazil,” Vincentas muttered bitterly. “We left with Andrius Višteliauskas to fight in the Paraguyan War. By the time we returned six years later, our pack had been—”

  He choked, cutting himself off and Dubheasa’s face softened. Some wounds never healed. It was clear that even two hundred years wasn’t enough time to let the vukodlaks talk of their pack without reliving the horror of returning home to find them dead.

  “It is my understanding that a vukodlak must find a vampire willing to sire them,” she said briskly, changing the subject as much as she could. “Death is disorienting, even for a vukodlak and the additional bloodlust can drive one mad if one does not have a sire to bond with.”

  “Your point?” Bron snapped.

  The anger in his voice was so thick it sounded painful. Dubheasa hid her smile. Good. She needed him to be angry with her.

  “My point is, when you went to Brazil, to fight in a war, you must have known there was a chance you’d be killed.”

  “So?”

  Dubheasa stepped closer to the bed, careful not to get close enough for either vampire to grab her. Shackles were wonderful, but only a fool relied on them. “So who did you find to sire you?”

  She waited for Bron to answer her, but a strange look passed over his face. It was gone before she could properly identify it, but it had been a warm emotion. Dubheasa frowned and tilted her head. Love?

  “Rebeca,” Vincentas responded finally.

  Dubheasa stared hard at Bron as Vincentas said the name of their sire. There it was again. A flicker of emotion. Was it possible that Bron had loved their sire? She shook her head and pushed the question away. That was none of her concern.

  “And what breed is Rebeca?”

  Vincentas glanced at Bron before facing Dubheasa again. “She is an iara.”

  Excitement shot up like a geyser inside her until she had to fight to keep from trembling with joy. Clenching her hands into fists at her sides, Dubheasa forced herself to remain calm. It would do her no good to reveal her hand this early in the game.

  “One more question,” she said carefully, her voice taking on a whispery quality despite her efforts to make it even. “I have heard that when a vampire sires a vukodlak, they share blood to create the necessary bond for the sire to help the vukodlak control their bloodlust.” She swallowed hard, the anticipation winding her nerves tighter and tighter. “I have heard that during this sharing of blood, the sire also shares their power with the vukodlak. What gift did you receive from your sire?”

  “Hypnosis,” Vincentas answered warily.

  It’s true! Dubheasa squealed and threw her arms up in the air, spinning around like a pinwheel and laughing. The vukodlaks possessed the iara’s power of hypnotism. When combined with the natural hypnotic abilities every vampire possesses, that would give them the power to roll the mind of even the most powerful creatures. Perhaps, even a queen.

  When she slowed her whirling enough to focus again on the vukodlaks on the bed, she found them both staring at her as if she’d gone insane. She paused and frowned. Why is everyone always looking at me like that?

  Finally, Bron shook his head and growled. “Will you release us now?”

  “Now, why would I release you now? I haven’t had any fun yet at all.”

  Bron’s mouth tightened into a grim line, his gaze darting back to the bed and the unoccupied shackles surrounding it. Vincentas kept his attention on the queen. His pupils dilated; his nostrils flared. Dubheasa froze as she realized he was scenting her arousal. Again she had the distinct impression that he was interested to see where she was going with this. The notion thrilled her from the top of her head to the tips of her fingers, until her entire body thrummed with need.

  “What do you want?” Bron ground out.

  “I’m glad you asked.” Dubheasa paced back and forth, her mind spinning with erotic thoughts of the very near future. “You see, I met an iara not long ago.” She narrowed her eyes. “Touchy little creature, so sensitive about the most insignificant things.” She waved a hand around. “In any case, she had the most mesmerizing stare. Why, she nearly rolled my mind.”

  She stopped pacing and faced the vukodlaks on the bed. “Do you know how rare that is? I am awfully powerful, you know.”

  The vukodlaks just stared at her. When several moments passed and their faces still did not reveal the appropriate surprise at her near defeat, she shook her head. They were probably just hiding their shock. Masking emotion was no doubt a self-defense mechanism they’d learned from their hard-handed master. Nodding at her explanation, she continued pacing.

  “I am known among my people as a very dominant lover. I cannot count the number of times I’ve taken a whip or a set of shackles to bed with me.”

  Memories floated through her mind and she paused, her body tingling with arousal. Although she’d had a few lovers who needed . . . convincing, a great deal of her lovers enjoyed her brand of rough sport. The sound of her whip cracking echoed in her head as images of her lovers’ eyes rolling up into their heads whirled through her mind. Bodies danced with the rhythm of pleasure and pain, melded in perfect harmony.

  A shiver raced down her spine and she sighed happily, turning to the vukodlaks. “I want to experience the other end,” she said briskly. “I want to feel what it is like to be dominated, to have someone other than myself in control of my pleasure.” She tiled her head. “It looks like fun.”

  “Dare I say, your majesty, that any of your people would be delighted to acquiesce to such a request,” Bron snapped.

  “There are two problems with that suggestion. Number one, there are very few among my people who have the power to force me to do anything. And number two, if they did force me to do anything, it could be seen as a challenge for the throne, and I simply will not risk that.” Dubheasa smiled. “You two, on the other hand, I believe do have the power. And neither of you would be eligible for the Unseelie Throne.”

  “Your majesty, I think you misunderstand,” Vincentas spoke up. “In sexual games of dominance, your lover does not have to have the power to force you. You don’t fight them as you would a true enemy, it is just a game.”

  “Well, that’s just ridiculous,” Dubheasa argued crossly. “Where on earth is the fun in that?” She shook her head and waved her hands. “No, no. There will be no safety words, no rules. If I’m going to be dominated, it is going to be for real. I’m going to fight as I would against any other attack.” She straightened her spine, heat singing through her body as a wicked smile tugged up the corner of her mouth. “And I am not some coquettish maiden to protest and struggle at the beginning only to turn into some simpering puddle of goo. I am a descendent of the Morrigan, the most frightening warriors in all of fey. I will
fight to the bloody end.”

  Her eyes lingered on Vincentas’ mouth, imagining the fangs resting behind those soft lips. She raised her hand, almost subconsciously trailing her fingers over her neck as a hot spike of desire shot through her core. And I expect it will be a bloody end.

  “Are you saying . . .” Vincentas trailed off as if he couldn’t quite bring himself to finish the sentence. “Are you saying you want us to attack you and . . . rape you?”

  “Yes,” the queen nodded happily. “That would be lovely.”

  “Um . . . no.”

  Her happy bubble burst and she glared at Bron. She was all for brutish anger, but the way his testy attitude always seemed to contradict her was starting to wear on her nerves. “What?”

  “Your majesty, we are flattered that you think we are so powerful,” Bron continued carefully. “But we most certainly are not going to attack the Queen of the Unseelie Court in her own bedroom.” He snorted. “We would never leave here alive.”

  “You’re not alive anyway,” she snapped, anger warming her voice. She hadn’t gone through all this trouble only to have the vukodlaks get cold feet at the last minute.

  “I am sorry, your majesty.” Bron shook his head. “We cannot do it. Now, if that is all you wanted to know, please release us so that we may return to our master.”

  Dubheasa’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. She tilted her head, understanding finally dawning on her. She smacked her forehead and chuckled.

  “Your majesty?” Vincentas asked.

  She waved a hand at him, shaking her head as she raised her gaze to their faces. “I’ve been unclear,” she said apologetically. “You seem to be under the impression that your options are to either try to dominate me or leave?”

  Slowly, both men nodded.

  She chuckled again and shook her head. “No, no, no, that is just not the case. The fact is, either you are going to dominate me . . . or I am going to dominate you.” She smiled and stepped toward the bed. “We are going to have sex. And either way, one of us is going to end up in those shackles . . . screaming.” The thought sent tingles down her body, her nipples becoming painfully hard as wet heat pooled between her thighs. She was quickly getting to the point where she no longer cared who was in the shackles.

  “Your majesty, we cannot . . .” Bron protested, anger and horror warring for dominance in his voice.

  Dubheasa didn’t have to glance at Vincentas’ face to know the other vukodlak was less . . . hesitant than his companion. She whirled around and sauntered toward the large armoire beside the bed. Pausing for effect, she took a deep breath and threw open the armoire’s doors. A smile split her face as she heard twin gasps from the bed. It didn’t surprise her—her collection really was quite amazing.

  Dubheasa had never met a sex toy she didn’t like—not in nearly a thousand years. Every year the humans seemed to invent a new gizmo that she simply had to try—on herself or on her lovers. Whips and chains, vibrators and dildos, spreading bars and ball gags . . . oh what a wonderful world of sexual delights. She ran her hand lovingly over some of her favorite toys, deliberately choosing those that seemed to make dominant males so terribly uncomfortable.

  “I don’t like to be disappointed,” she said conversationally, drawing her nail over one of the larger dildos, “I’m afraid you’ve both earned a rather stiff punishment.”

  She took the dildo down along with a neon pink colored cock ring. Turning to the bed, she jerked one hand to the side, using her power to solidify the air underneath Vincentas and jerk him up so he was forced to brace himself on the bed on all fours.

  “Do be a dear and hold that position, won’t you?”

  “What are you doing?” Bron roared.

  “Oh, dear, I’m afraid if you can’t guess that then you’re in for a rather . . . intense surprise,” the queen said with exaggerated concern.

  Bron stared at her with such outrage that it warmed her skin. Holding her breath, she met his gaze.

  Dubheasa had only met one iara in her life. The woman had attacked Dubheasa after the queen had seduced one of the iara’s lovers. Dubheasa could still see her eyes, glowing red with her hypnotic power as she tried to roll the queen’s mind. Dubheasa had never come so close to being defeated in her entire long life. Only the fact that she was Queen of the Unseelie, connected to all of her subjects and thus able to call on them for strength, had enabled her to hold onto her sanity and defeat the iara. Had it been an official dual, and she’d been forced to fight solely on her own power, she may have lost.

  She searched Bron’s eyes for that same power now. If he and Vincentas had in fact inherited their master’s intense hypnotism, surely the rage she’d been carefully fueling should be enough to make him use it.

  Disappointment threatened her good mood as his eyes remained brown, but Dubheasa steeled herself against it. The vukodlaks were not stupid. It would take a great deal to make them do something as dangerous as taking on the Queen of the Unseelie Court. Obviously, she just had to push them a little farther.

  Slowly, she climbed onto the bed, toys in hand. Vincentas’ body jerked as she ran a hand down the smooth flesh of his back. She kept the air underneath him solidified, using it as if she’d bent the vampire over a table. With any luck, her plan would work and she wouldn’t have to keep the air solid for much longer.

  “Such smooth skin,” she murmured.

  The tension in the room thickened the air as if she’d filled it with her power. She raised the dildo to the top of Vincentas’ spine, slowly trailing it down toward the smooth curve of his ass. Vincentas struggled to rise off his hands, but a mere thought thickened the air above him, effectively trapping him. The force of his struggles made his resistance seem genuine. Obviously, the interest he’d displayed earlier had been at the thought of dominating her--not being dominated himself. Good, the queen thought excitedly. She trailed the dildo down farther to the split between the vampire’s cheeks . . .

  “Stop!” Bron growled.

  Dubheasa rolled her eyes and struck out with her closed fist. A grunt tore from Bron’s mouth as he sailed backwards, only the shackles binding him to the bed keeping him from sailing through the headboard. The sharp metallic sound of the shackles pulling tight zinged over Dubheasa’s skin as she imagined how painful that must have been. As a vukodlak, such a jarring would not dislocate anything, but there would likely be some very colorful bruises.

  “I think you’ll be surprised how much you like this,” she whispered to Vincentas. “Many of my men who thought they would find it torture actually found it to be most erotic, and very pleasurable.”

  Dubheasa squeezed the end of the dildo, and a thick lubricant oozed out the tip. She held her breath in anticipation as she pressed it to Vincentas’ asshole, slowly smearing the oil around the puckered opening. The vukodlak tensed, muscles bunching around his shoulders and Dubheasa didn’t know if he was bracing himself or if he was preparing to fight.

  She never got tired of moments like these. Moments spent in delicious suspense, wondering how a man who’d never been penetrated before would react to the experience. Good or bad, it was always intense. Always a moment to savor.

  “Dubheasa!”

  The sound of her name spoken with such angry force raised her gaze. Glowing red eyes bored into hers, their ruby luminescence taking her breath away with their vibrant beauty. She’d dreamed of this moment, of the power in the gaze, but she hadn’t expected such beauty. Something prodded her mind, like the barest graze of fingertips over her subconscious. Dubheasa licked her lips and swallowed past a suddenly dry throat. Despite her careful planning, indeed despite her desire for precisely this experience, she could not have fully prepared herself for the touch of such power against her mind. She was playing with fire and only fools didn’t fear getting burned.

  For a moment she couldn’t breathe, but she quickly fought against it. Steeling herself against the sudden awareness of her vulnerability, she concentrated instead on the adrenalin
e roaring through her system. She wanted a real fight for dominance--she’d promised them a real fight for dominance. A descendent of the Morrigan would not submit so easily. Before Bron could open his mouth to speak, she used the energy to her advantage, striking out at him with all her power. A solid wave of air slammed into the vukodlak, and he roared with pain as his body sailed backward again, his ankle wrenching painfully as the shackle went taunt. Dubheasa shook her head, trying to clear the lingering vertigo. Excitement stirred in her blood. It had worked. She’d finally prodded him into attacking her. And she’d been right about how powerful he was.

  That one brief touch of his hypnotic gaze had stolen her breath. If she hadn’t reacted so quickly, if she hadn’t broken the stare before he could give her a command, her little game might have been over too soon.