All The King's Men - On HOLD

You Want Me to Relax?

****THREE MONTHS EARLIER****

Chapter 2 – You Want Me to Relax?

Gwion

Quite frankly, it took a hell of a lot to shock me. But the instant I felt her subconscious reach into my mind ten years ago, I knew she was even more special than I had originally anticipated.

Very few Immortals existed in the world, because the combination required to create one was incredibly rare: a bloodline human female plus a select vampire male. It had been hundreds of years since I had last come across one.

Until Faeryn.

How strange that the sleepy little town of Morganville, TX had been the birthplace for such an immeasurably valuable creature. And her worth was truly without limit. She was rare and going to be very powerful; absolutely, a treasure to be had.

All in good time.

Ten years ago, my plan never included taking her with me when I left Morganville, simply because I was of no use to her until she reached maturity and began to explore her gifts. Immortals grew at twice the human rate, so it would have been a matter of a mere ten years. I wasn't worried about losing track of her because I had connections all around the world; her location never would have evaded me.

Of course, there was no way I could have been certain how she would have reacted when I found her again; whether or not, she would have willingly joined me or resisted out of the sheer stubbornness that Immortals—or really any woman of her caliber—had. But I knew I could have made a very persuasive argument in my favor. There was no one better than me to teach her how to use her gifts, and certainly her talent should not be squandered.

But my plan had been radically altered the moment Faeryn reached into my mind.

Ironically enough, there were already two other people in my head at the time—Myrnin and Claire. Or little minx, as I was fond of calling Claire. She was truly that. The only one to beat me at a mental challenge, and one of the very few people to successfully force my hand. Of course, she never would have been strong enough to make me release Amelie without Myrnin's help.

I should have anticipated their power play.

Myrnin was almost as cunning and as ruthless as me. I smiled. As my longtime apprentice, I had changed him into a creature of the night, and he had learned at an immense pace. My tutelage combined with the beast that always lurked in his mind, made for a cruel and formidable opponent. No other vampire had ever reached his definable value, talent and attributes I found worthy.

Even still, he had perfectly played into my hands when I poisoned Amelie. I had expected him to find me when an antidote could not be created in time to save her life—and he did. What I never expected was for him to bring me such a unique, intelligent and fiery woman, Claire. Unfortunately she was the one thing he could not share, and she became the only thing I wanted.

When it came to Myrnin, I readily admitted I played by different rules. He had more than earned them. However, there was no such thing as absolute loyalty in my mind; the game changed when it suited me.

When Claire won our challenge, I heavily toyed with the idea of obtaining her. Maybe not permanently, but more than sufficiently to scratch the itch she had created. But when she went through Clāmāre, to transfer and hide Amelie's powers from me, I had to have her.

Fuck, I wish I would have seen them together—little minx, naked and bound, completely submissive to Amelie's will. I was well aware that Amelie possessed great skill in intimacy, and even after all of this time, my dick twitched as my mind vividly pictured all of the pleasures she could have bestowed upon Claire. Myrnin had been there, I thought with a growl. I wondered what role he had played, or if he was just on hand to watch. Either way, he was a lucky bastard.