Till Dawn Do Us Part (New Reign Book 1) Read online

  Lucian was one wink away from losing his left eye when he finally dropped them off home.

  He had expected Ruth to look around in awe. His house was a tiniest bit on the too much side of the scale. Columns, fountains, gargoyles and all but the only thing she looked at was him.

  After realizing it hadn't been about the money, he had wondered what had compelled her to nod, that day. Now he knew. She was attracted to him. Perhaps nearly as much as he was drawn to her.

  Nothing could have excited him as much as this.

  On a whim, he pulled her to him and slid his hand inside the tight trousers she'd worn, pushing past her underwear and dipping his finger inside her heat.

  Wet. She was already so damn wet.

  He inclined his head, but rather than resuming their kiss, bit down her ear as one finger stroked her inside and his thumb brushed her clit.

  Only when her moan rang out, piercing the silence, did it occur to Xander that some of his servants at least, were on night duty.

  “Hold on tight,” he told her, before seizing her around the waist and the knees and running for the master bedroom.

  Someday, he'd show her the infinite patience, the skills and knowledge he'd accumulated through the years, but not tonight.

  He opened her blouse, revealing her bare breasts, to his delight as well as his annoyance – why was she walking around where others could see her without a bloody bra on? – and discarded her trousers as well as her underwear in one go. There. There she was, exactly where he'd pictured her for months, her dark curls around his pillow.

  His hand automatically went for the protections in his chest of drawers before he remembered. For the first time in one hundred and ninety nine years, he didn't need it – technically, he wasn't even allowed to use it.

  So Xander just opened his fly and dived down inside in one stroke.

  Her cry of pain, the unexpected barrier stopping him at first, was the one thing that had shocked him the most amongst everything he'd ever witnessed.

  His eloquent “Shit” soon followed another sentiment. Another emotion. There wasn't a word for it, although it got close to a few terms he could think of. Victory. Glee. Bliss. Yes.

  Women didn't make it to twenty-five as virgins: they either married at eighteen or entered the Drafts. The first lot lost their hymen in their honeymoons, at the latest, the second generally gave it away rather than having to offer it to a mere bidder.

  He'd stopped in his shock, but her hips went up to meet his, and back down, up again, and back on the bed. Shit. She was fucking him, and it was glorious.

  He matched her thrusts, meeting her hips as they lifted, withdrawing his length as she shifted them. Soon, the rhythm quickened, building an orgasm that, instead of starting down his balls, was igniting the inside of his very mind.

  So, that was it. That was making love.

  It didn't last long.

  “There is an election in April. I openly support Lucian and he believed I may have screwed up his chances, by asking for a First Contract from you.”

  He didn't know why he explained himself. It wasn't necessary and she hadn't asked for it.

  Yet, he needed her to know that he had wanted her every day since he'd dropped her at her door. That he'd stopped and looked through her window from the other side of the street twice just last week.

  Maybe not that. Nobody liked a stalker.

  “We need to win this election. The world needs to change; now. I thought I could stay away for five months. Then I messed up when I started going to Lowtown, so I stepped away again. I would have managed to last another three months, you know, if you hadn't decided to show up in the middle of the show.”

  “You'll find that you sort of showed up. My name happens to be on the program, Alexander.”

  “It's Xander. And I meant to tell you, you were beautiful on stage.”

  “Because that's all that matters, right? Being beautiful when I butcher my way through The Phantom of the Opera.”

  “You know you're good.” There was no way, with her voice, that she didn't know just how talented she was. “But I'm not sure you know just how stunning you are, so I'm telling you.”

  When he kissed her shoulder, it was meant as a chaste, simple little peck. She was obviously exhausted and he needed his sleep. He had a meeting at seven thirty – in under five hours.

  But knowing all this, one kiss brought another one, on her collarbone, and one a bit lower, at the very top of her breast, her nipple...

  Sleep was overrated.

  Shift

  When Ruth woke up in the luxurious sheets, her body felt like she’d ran ten miles further than her limit, but there was a smile on her lips; but it was quick to disappear.

  The previous night had been an end and a beginning; there had never been any doubt that they’d end up just there, in bed together, but he hadn’t taken her clinically, just intending to impregnate her. He also hadn’t fucked her brains out for his sole pleasure; hers had clearly been a priority. He’d made love to her, she’d been sure of it at the time. All of the pent-up anger and hatred she felt was revealed for what it really was, the feeling she'd never wanted to acknowledge, because it didn't make sense to her. But she had to stop pretending, and admit, at least to herself, that she’d wanted every part of Alexander Thorn.

  Ruth told herself it couldn’t be real, she couldn't been made for a man like him, but a little voice in her mind reminded her that if the world had had its say, her mother would never have been with her father either. The Sterlings had come from two completely different worlds, yet they’d beaten the odds. The lowtowner had married a Regular; couldn’t a Regular end up with an Alpha?

  Unlikely matches were possible, her existence proved it.

  However, her mother and father had the same lifespan – for all she knew, Xander would live until the end of time, while she had fifty years until she kicked the bucket, tops.

  The sheet next to her was cold when she reached out, and in the light of day, she felt doubt creeping in, telling her that she might be daydreaming, imagining a fairytale. There was a very good chance that Alexander – Xander – didn't feel the same way at all.

  Just as those dreary thoughts where ruining her mood, Xander pushed the door of the humongous room open, walking in. He was shirtless, wearing plain pants, and she somehow prevented herself from drooling. His long hair, usually tied at the top of his head, fell to his shoulders in loose waves as he walked to her, a tray in hand. He smiled down at her, dropping the tray on her lap, and pressed his warm lips against her forehead, too, making her think that there was a good chance she was just still asleep, and dreaming the whole thing.

  Except, her imagination couldn’t have come up with so much damn food. Her head snapped to him, questions written all over expressions.

  “I thought you might have worked up an appetite last night,” he told her, smiling and sitting down next to her.

  The food on the tray ranged from luxuries to everyday goodness, pancakes and fresh fruits, bacon and real coffee too.

  “I didn't know what you'd like,” he explained, “so I made a little bit of everything.”

  Ruth wasn't a fussy eater, she liked everything, particularly everything on that tray. She was gorging herself, unabashedly eating for two or three people, which seemed to amuse him, at first. Then, he frowned and asked, “Do you ever go hungry?”

  A fair question. Many did in Dome. She shook her head, feeling quite spoiled again.

  No she didn't, no one in her family did, anymore.

  “My mother comes from money, and she's a painter – her pieces sell for an absolute fortune. My father is the best musician in town; we do very well.”

  She felt a mixture of emotion about it; proud of her family’s accomplishment, but a little ashamed to have so much when others didn’t.

  “But you donate a lot.”

  “Yes. But we still feed ourselves well.”

  Xander was still frowning, and he finally said
what was on his mind.

  “We don’t know much about each other.”

  True; which was probably why she couldn’t really see why she felt quite so attached to him. Was it just his beauty? She didn’t want to admit to being quite so superficial. At the same time, she was certain it wasn’t it. His friend, the dark haired man who’d accompanied him a time or two, was perhaps even more gorgeous than Xander, yet while she could admit to it, she wasn’t even remotely interested.

  No, there was more than attraction, there.

  “Well, let’s change that, today,” he offered.

  They spent the least productive day of her entire life walking around town, and talking. He asked her about what she liked to do, and the embarrassingly short list of answers didn’t seem to deter him. She didn’t like fictitious books, movies, or anything that felt like a useless distraction. Running served to strengthen her, and music served to pay the bills, as well as please her family.

  “Distractions make you feel guilty?”

  She shrugged, not trying to analyse it.

  “This is what our society teaches us,” Xander sighed. “Where I come from – when I come from, I guess – before the war, people never cared for being of service to society. We just went about our business, trying to please ourselves as much as we could. I can’t decide what’s worse.”

  “Tell me about the time before the war.”

  He laughed and proceeded to tell her about a foreign world she barely understood, where even the poorest had communicators and video games.

  “Then, what happened?”

  That was the thing; they knew about the war, and what had occurred after, but the history books stayed so vague about what had caused it.

  “We elected power hungry idiots, and power hungry idiots often lead other countries to meddle, you see. An old ally gave us an ultimatum, we refused, and a war started. Just like they did a hundred years before, the rest of the world took sides, and within months, we had another World War. The last one. When we – the Alphas – killed the government, and united Earth under our flag, we did our best to ensure no one would fight again.”

  Xander looked like he wanted to add something, but instead of pushing him, she waited in silence. Eventually, he confessed to the rest.

  “It worked for a time. Not anymore, though. Our system needs… purging again.”

  Ruth wasn’t sure what she read in his eyes, but it made her shiver and wish they never ended up as enemies.

  Work

  “I have to go to work,” Ruth protested, trying to stay focused as Xander dropped soft kisses along her neck, trying his very damnest to distract her. He almost managed, but it was Monday, and like every Monday for the last seven years, since she’d become an adult, she had to go to work.

  She could technically miss a day of work at the theater without issue, it wasn't mandatory, although if she pulled sickies all the time, she was certain her superior would just give the part to Danielle; but nothing except a doctor's note would excuse her from showing up at her normal job.

  “Do you?” Xander replied in between trying to drive her mad with his lips.

  Trying, and managing to.

  “Yes, yes I do. I'd rather not get taxed and fined because my master wanted to play hide Pedro.”

  That finally made him stop his distracting kisses.

  “I am no master of yours, Ruth.”

  She turned to him – not because of the words, but because of the way he said them, sounding intense, determined. “I know what we’re doing now started out wrong; I can only apologize for that. But I'd like you to know that you still have a choice. I won’t ever force you to do anything against your will.”

  She stared at him, dumbfounded, because what he said was going against everything she assumed; everything she'd known to be true. It didn't add up to his previous behavior. Obviously, she was a willing partner, but if she hadn’t been, he’d made it clear that she was supposed to perform her duties regardless. It was how the world worked; how the Drafts worked.

  Ruth really didn't understand him.

  “When I say you don't have to go to work,” he resumed his previous train of thought, “I meant that if you’d rather not go, I'll get you out of it. I don't mind paying the fine, and I’ll arrange for an authorization.”

  He said it was a shrug, trying to sound indifferent, but there was a certain intensity to his words.

  As far as she knew, there was one way for a man to get a woman out of her community work; just one. Xander could apply for a license saying that she was his to care for; he could marry her.

  She was day dreaming; that wasn’t what he meant at all. Right?

  She knew that the Drafts often ended in marriage; when the women couldn’t bear to leave their children behind, when they formed a bond with their buyer… but she’d never thought of that as a possibility between Xander and her.

  For one, he was immortal. Secondly, he was an Alpha. Thirdly, she was… just Ruth.

  “Why?” she asked, and Xander winced, visibly uncomfortable.

  “The community work you do, do you enjoy it?”

  He’d evaded the question and she let him, not sure she wanted to hear anymore. There was a very good chance that he wasn’t going to respond with what she wanted to hear; living in denial didn’t sound like a bad idea right now.

  It was her turn to shrug.

  “It's not the worst job, I just mix some components in a lab.”

  At least she didn't spend her time minding, or lifting heavy objects like some of her peers; she knew she was lucky to have had the necessary grades to keep her away from the worst manual jobs.

  Xander frowned, asking, “You work at the Sinergy lab?”

  She nodded in response, and he immediately got up from his bed, reaching for the communicator he’d left on his bedside table.

  He fit the metallic object on his jaw, and the device activated itself when he started speaking.

  “Connect me to the SinLab,” he almost growled.

  Ruth would have laughed, but instead, she crossed her arms on her chest and wiggled an eloquent eyebrow. So much for him giving her choices.

  A glance at her, and Xander smirked, responding, as though he’d read her mind; “let me amend my previous statement. I won't force you to do anything, unless it's for your own protection.”

  Then, his machine must have put him through, because he was chatting away about pulling her from the labs, effective immediately.

  Ruth let him do it; it wasn't like she needed to defend her passion or anything of the sort. She hadn’t liked working there, and she knew when to pick her battles. She let it go until he was done talking.

  Before she moved her lips to demand an explanation, he threw the communicator on the bed, and said, “Okay, done. And for your information, Sinergy Synthesis is the company that produce my work; trust me when I tell you you can’t work there. It’s quite important that those products are made, but if one idiot messes up and lets radioactive components escape? They’ll put you in quarantine and let you die to save the rest of us. You’re not going back there.”

  Ruth opened her mouth to demand what of the rest of the people working there; why was she more important than any of them? It made her feel like a fraud, a cheat, someone who’d sold out. But she kept it closed. Whatever he said, they weren’t equal; she knew the argument would fall on deaf ears.

  A hand got to her chin and pulled it up; he forced her eyes back on his.

  “I’ll see that the staff are replaced by cyborgs down there, okay?”

  Ruth gasped in surprise, and he shut her mouth up by sealing it with his.

  Change

  Xander knew he’d become a better person, more humane, more thoughtful, kinder, and it was all thanks to Ruth.

  He’d liked to think that he was less of an idiot than the rest of his peers, but in truth, he hadn’t been. He hadn't thought about Regulars as actual people who had the right to have feelings in a long, long time.

>   He could pretend that it wasn't his fault, that his nature had forced those thoughts on him, but if he was honest to himself, he knew that he’d shut his mind up willingly.

  He’d seen too many human beings die over the last three hundred years; some of whom had been his friends, his family. Just putting them in a box had been easier.

  Although not many knew to what extent he believed in it, Xander fervently defended their basic rights, but he hadn’t actually cared about them for a long time. Ruth changed that, because for some reason he couldn't yet understand, he had come to love the woman, and no one ever loved as hard as he did without believing, deep down in their soul, that they loved someone worthy; an equal.

  The previous night, she’d accepted to move in with him., Xander woke up early that morning, watching her sleep until dawn, stroking her dark locks which shined as the sun rose, bathing his room with light.

  He was content, happy, for the first time; when he looked at her, in any case.

  It didn’t last; the minute he stepped away and walked downstairs, his expression grew somber as he recalled all the reasons he should be worried.

  Unsurprisingly, Rupert was using his training room on the ground floor when he got there. His friend never had Xander’s extravagant taste, so he lived in an apartment in town, and borrowed Xander’s home when he felt like it. Xander had never minded, but the rules were going to change around here; it just wouldn’t do to have an attractive male parading half naked holding an energy sword with Ruth in the vicinity.

  He took his own seldom used weapon from the display where it was gathering dust, and twirled it in his hand, feeling some worry leave his mind the very moment he touched it. He’d missed it.

  “What is this? The wise old man, seizing a blade? Mind that you don’t cut a finger or two, Alexander. These things are sharp.”

  Xander rolled his eyes, before standing on guard, and bowing to Rupert.