Free Bound by Night by Amanda Ashley

“Stefan.”
    “Drake. It has been a long time.”
    “Not nearly long enough.”
    “You know why I am here.”
    Drake shoved his hands into his pants’ pockets. “I can guess.”
    “You were to have returned to the Fortress a year ago. You cannot avoid him forever. The longer you make him wait, the angrier he will become.”
    “I have no desire to return to Rodin’s Coven, not now, not ever.”
    “You are the chosen one, brother.”
    An oath escaped Drake’s lips. “Let him choose Vardin!”
    “Is that what you want me to tell Rodin?” Stefan asked, his voice brittle with fear.
    “Yes. How many times do I have to say it?”
    “Our sire will not be pleased.”
    Drake snorted softly. “When have I ever done anything to please him?”
    “There is a woman in the castle,” Stefan remarked, changing the subject. “Does she have anything to do with your decision?”
    “She has nothing to do with it,” Drake said. The lie rolled easily off his tongue.
    “Then bring her with you.”
    Drake smiled as he savored the effect his next words would have. “We are on our honeymoon.”
    Stefan stared at him, his deep gray eyes wide. “You married a mortal? Have you taken leave of your senses? You know such a thing is forbidden.”
    “Yet another reason to stay where I am.”
    Stefan’s expression turned morose. “You know if you do not obey Rodin’s summons, I will be the one to suffer for it.”
    Drake rocked back on his heels. How like his sire to threaten Drake’s favorite brother in order to get his own way.
    “Rodin never did play fair,” Drake muttered. “Go back and tell him I will be there at the appointed time.”
    Stefan bowed his head in a gesture of gratitude and respect. Rodin’s temper was well known. Drake was the only one of his sons who had ever willfully defied him.
    “Stefan? A favor?”
    A faint smile tugged at the other man’s lips. “I will not mention the marriage.”
    “When you return to the Coven, the sword in my room is yours.”
    Stefan grinned. He had long coveted the ancient weapon. A wave of his hand, and he was gone.
    Keeping a tight rein on his anger, Drake covered the Porsche. He had known this day would come, had dreaded it for centuries, and now it was here. Like it or not, he would have to return to Rodin’s Coven. He would have to take his place on the Council. He would be expected to stay at the Fortress with his sire for as long as Rodin wished it.
    Drake lingered in the shadows, his resentment twisting like angry snakes in his gut. He would not seek the warmth of his bride’s bed this night, and it was all Rodin’s fault.
    Yet one more thing to hold against the man who had sired him.

Chapter 9
     
    In the morning, Elena woke feeling strangely let down. Even though she had insisted on a marriage in name only, she had hoped that Drake would join her in bed last night, that he would take her in his arms. Even though she wished to remain a virgin, she yearned for his kisses, for the touch of his hand in her hair, for the sound of his voice whispering that she was beautiful, desirable. He had said he would come to her. Why had he changed his mind?
    A loud “meow” announced Smoke’s presence before the cat jumped onto the bed, turned around twice, and curled beside her.
    “So,” Elena said, stroking the cat’s head, “where is his lordship this morning?”
    Another “meow” was her only answer.
    For a few moments, Elena was content to lie abed and let her mind wander while petting the cat. When she had entered the castle last night, the door had been unlocked. There had been a fire in the hearth that hadn’t been there when she’d left. Someone had lit the candles in her bedroom. Who? Was there someone else living in the castle, someone she had yet to meet?
    No sense lying there wondering about it. Smoke couldn’t give her any answers. She had a feeling she wouldn’t get any answers out of Drake, either.
    With a sigh, Elena pushed the big gray tom away.