Jory Strong: Dakotah's Reading

She laughed, thinking about what had happened the last time they ran. You mean mate with you.

He play-bowed, obsidian eyes dancing with joy. That too.

Next to her Fane laughed and said, “Oh how the mighty have fallen.” But Dakotah couldn’t resist Domino’s call. She stripped and handed her clothes to Fane, then changed and darted for the trees, the black wolf bounding after her.

Palazzo dei Venti Oscuri . Palace of Dark Winds.

One look at it and Dakotah could see how Matteo Cabrelli’s home got its name. It loomed high above the ocean as though daring the sea and air and earth to challenge it. To try and topple it from its perch along the cliffs.

Dakotah’s stomach tightened, though her heart raced with anticipation. She even managed a smile when she remembered Helki’s assertion that she would see Sarael again sooner than she might think and be a part of Sarael’s world for more years than she could imagine.

Next to her, Domino laughed softly, pulling Dakotah more tightly against him in the backseat of the limousine that was now making the slow climb upward. It’s a good thing my mother’s mother is so sure of her readings and her visions that she never needs to say “I told you so.”

He picked Dakotah’s left hand up and brought it to his mouth, kissing the jeweled and scripted band he’d given her. The Empress to my Emperor, with The World before us.

She pressed her forehead to his, bathing in the wash of his emotions. The love she felt there. The respect. The acceptance.

It still felt like a fairytale. A dream. An impossible reality.

Where she’d once been alone, now her life was full. Not just with him, but with his family. With Cable and Fane and Kiziah, who were waiting above, in Matteo’s home, along with Sarael and the man Dakotah could only vaguely remember.

“I was there that night,” Domino said and she instantly saw his memory of it. Felt the relief he’d experienced knowing Matteo was already sexually bonded to Sarael.

She laughed when she saw Domino’s resolve to both feed from and fuck her before leaving the area, and she couldn’t resist lowering her hand and tracing over the erection pressed against the fabric of his jeans. Couldn’t stop herself from nuzzling his neck, from letting her fangs descend so she could torment him by brushing them over a pulse that was suddenly dancing.

Dakotah smiled against his skin, feminine satisfaction roaring through her at the way he was tense, his breath coming faster, his desire merging with her own, The Heat flaring hot and bright, a single flame contained in separate bodies. You got more than you bargained for when you fucked and fed from me, she teased.

His hand moved to her breast, his fingers going to her nipple with deadly precision, making her gasp as her cunt clenched. Do you hear me complaining?

She laughed and closed her eyes, savoring the scent and feel of him, wondering if there was time to make love before they got to Matteo’s estate.

Only if you intend to greet our host and hostess with the sight of your naked ass, Domino teased, flashing her an image that had her pulling away from him. Brown eyes meeting amused obsidian ones.

“I love you,” she said, the words coming easier now. Though there were still days when she caught herself probing his thoughts, ensuring herself that he loved her in return. That it was more than a sexual bonding, more than a mating of their wolves.

Domino pulled her into his lap as the heavy gates of Matteo’s estate swung open, his heart aching for all the pain she’d endured during her life.

Once he couldn’t have imagined finding a female whose mind interested him as much as her body, whose strength and courage he could admire, not for just a night but for the centuries that lay ahead for him. But now he couldn’t imagine life without her. “You’re my world, Dakotah. Everything I could want not only in a kadine but in a companion.”

The limousine stopped and the door swung open, making Dakotah blink in momentary confusion at the man standing there. A man who looked like Cable and yet wasn’t. Domino shifted, his movement propelling her out of the limo but not before she felt his curiosity.

“What are you doing here, Levant?” Domino asked as he exited the car, his thoughts informing Dakotah that the man in front of them was Cable’s brother.

Levant’s face tightened. “We’ve come to work among the espandral.”

He refers to the padrall order responsible for creating the kadines and molding them into what their mates desire, Domino sent to Dakotah, though to Levant he said, “Is that the royal we, or did your brothers come with you?”

“Priest and Deacon are also here.” Levant tilted his head. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to where Matteo and the others are waiting.”

“You’ve been reduced to servant?” Domino asked and Dakotah frowned at his needling of Cable’s brother.

But Levant took it in stride. “Hardly. Though being Matteo’s servant would be preferable to what awaits.”

The wealth displayed in Matteo’s home was breathtaking and more than once Domino caught Dakotah when she stumbled, distracted by the view and the art, the sheer beauty and glitter of the scene around her as they climbed elegant staircases and walked down hallways that seemed as though they belonged in another era.

They do , Domino said. As Matteo does. He is not like Fane or me. He was never dhampir. He marked his life in centuries from the moment of his birth. Domino laughed. So you don’t need to worry about watching as he pleasures his kadine or having Sarael see you in the same situation. He’s much too old-fashioned for that. Domino nuzzled the side of Dakotah’s face. But later, after they’ve retired…no doubt Fane and Cable would enjoy a night in front of the fireplace with their woman.

And Dakotah laughed in spite of herself. Shivered at the images his words brought to mind. The play of them in her thoughts holding her attention until they entered the room where the others were waiting.

She took in Fane and Kiziah, standing with Cable and two men who could only be Deacon and Priest. But then she found Sarael. Smiling. Hurrying toward her. Matteo following in her wake.

There was a hesitation on Sarael’s part when she reached Dakotah, a small barrier that belonged in the past, and Dakotah disposed of it by pulling Sarael into a hug. The need to keep others separate no longer necessary for her survival.

When they moved apart, Matteo positioned Sarael so her back was to his front, his arms around her waist in a possessive display that had her blushing and laughing, exchanging a glance with Dakotah. The happiness there easy for Dakotah to see. To recognize. Because it was a happiness echoed in her own heart.