An Unacceptable Mate

Chapter Twenty Five

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    "Only one person is getting with Charlie, and it's not going to be you," Inerra said so softly; carefully; emotionlessly. I was torn from the vampire's arms and hauled to the wall. I opened my eyes to look into Inerra's for a short second before he was gone.

I tugged my hoody sleeve to press it to the wound at my neck. The number of times I'd been bitten in the past two weeks was getting to the point of stupidity. Only one of them had been willing and loving and erotic and...my god I missed him.

More than ever.

I blew out a trembling breath, sliding down the wall to try and calm myself. That sense of needing to faint washed through me. I couldn't decide if I wanted to be sick or to simply sleep it off. My eyes closed, chest rising and falling heavily.

Relax, Charlie, you're going to be fine. Inerra's magical powers will sort them, I assured myself, trying to make myself feel better. I failed miserably. Amber eyes flashed in my mind and I hugged myself tighter. A sob raked my body. The loss hit me all at once, like an unexpected tsunami.

What was he doing right now? Was he missing me? Did he really wish for my death? Why this hatred? Where was the love I'd been so keen for? What the fuck happened to him to make him hate my existence so much that he wanted me off of this planet for good?

    "Charlie, you need to run. Go back to the car!" someone screamed. It sounded like Patria.

I forced myself to stand, stumbling and leaning onto the wall for support. My vision was fuzzy from the tears. Darkness started to eat away at the edges of my sight. I made sure to put every ounce of my remaining strength into walking forward.

Don't stop now, Charlie.

My heart froze, eyes at their widest and mouth at its driest. Acera?

Please tell me it's you, I thought desperately, covering my mouth as I tried to stifle a sob as quietly as I could. There was an emotional knot in my chest that twisted and contorted at the prospect of hearing him in my mind.

Silence answered my plead which only caused more tears to spill from my eyes. I was a mass of waterworks; trembling; vulnerable; lonely.

    "C'mon."

Inerra pulled me against him, moving at his vampire speed. He dismissed the option of the car, rushing to god knows where.

  "Did you know them?" I croaked, swiping away the tears with the back of my hand.

He laughed darkly. "No. And I don't want to. They're dead anyway. One less problem. Well five."

I inhaled deeply, trying to fight the thoughts of him that were no bombarding me every other second.

We appeared in a darkened room lit only by the moon. An entire wall was just a window overlooking the marvellous, illuminated city. He moved over to the king-sized bed with its white duvet and pillows to then sit me on it. His hands lingered on my sides.

    "I'm sorry for all of that. I hadn't anticipated a second threat," he said earnestly.

I managed a weak smile up at him, giving his bicep a light squeeze of assurance. "I'm all good. Did everything else go according to plan?"

He pushed the hair back from my face and leant down to kiss my lips. I was struck with this sense that what I was doing was so very wrong. I shouldn't kiss his older brother. I shouldn't. But how else do I rid myself of these desires for the soon-to-be king of vampires?

  "Pretty much. I've...recruited a lot of folk that are willing to work alongside me in my schemes," he explained in a whir, wrapping my arms around his waist. He took my face in his hands and kissed me again.

    "You're schemes? Now they don't sound ominous at all," I drawled, pulling him back onto the bed with me. He worked his mouth down my neck, wicked tongue teasing pain from the new bite I'd earned from being left alone with eight vampires.

  "They're as safe as a lion on drugs," he promised, fingers slowly unzipping my hoody. The sound was deafening against the silence. I quickly shrugged out of it.

    "You're mad," I remarked, smirking at him now.

He grinned. "I get that a lot."

I lost my fingers in his hair as we kissed intensely for a few minutes and our bodies writhed together in organised chaos. He ripped his top over his shoulders, rolled over and settled me on top of him. I was engulfed in heat.

    "You're so hot," I praised in disbelief, scanning his smooth, toned abdomen and then looking up to find bright blue eyes.

  "Coming from you, goddess?" he teased breathlessly, tugging me over his pelvis and then sliding me back again. We choked on groans.

    "Is this even your place?" I queried over a gasp for air. He pulled my dark top over my head and then sat up.

  "I practically own New York, sweetie," he bragged. All of a sudden, he was stepping out of his jeans and standing in just a pair of black, striking boxers. I found myself gaping. He looked good enough to eat.

    "Oh, really?" I mumbled.

His brows came together a little as he leant over me in my bra and leggings. I could imagine the cogs of his mind rotating carefully. "I have an idea."

    "God help me."

His fingers danced over my stomach, eyes trained on mine before he stole one last kiss and then moved across the room to flick the light on. I'd never seen him so lively.

  "We're going out tonight. To a club. I can't imagine the last time you actually had fun without worrying if some vampire was going to drink you dry," he said, moving to the closet and pulling out a dark shirt and a new pair of jeans – black. His gaze landed on me. "Is that ok? We can stay if you really want..."

    "No, that sounds good. You're right. I need to have fun," I admitted, getting to my feet and slipping my top back on so as to rid myself of embarrassment.

  "There're some dresses in there. Take your pick," he offered, gesturing to the second wardrobe. I padded over to it, opened it, ran my hand across the different fabrics. There was a deep blue, tight one that looked ideal to drive him wild and so I slipped it off the hanger.

When I turned, I found him doing up the buttons of his shirt. He was facing away from me. I took this opportunity to hurriedly step out of my leggings and then retake my top off.

    "Fuck," I could hear him hiss and then I was slammed into the wall by a hot pureblood. He was wearing a shirt, but hadn't gotten round to the jeans and so there was barely anything besides skin contact. He wrapped my legs around his waist and pressed into me. I moaned, taking to kissing him. My tongue was messy and uncontrolled as it delved inside his mouth, tasting his passion.

What about Acera? I asked myself. Would he like to walk in and find you like this?

Before I knew what I was doing, I wriggled from Inerra's hold and pulled the blue dress onto my body. I kept my back to him, eyes squeezed shut. I felt so guilty for engaging with Inerra and not even giving a damn if Acera was looking in. What if he could step into my shoes just like I had once done with him?

What if he'd seen all of that?

    "Come on," he whispered, crossing to the door. He didn't look at me. "Let's go."

I followed him out wordlessly, certain that he had read my mind. I needed more than just his brother to get him off of my mind. And I needed him off my mind.

For good.