by T. A. Grey
Vera wore a t-shirt with a face Cassie recognized, Jacob from the Twilight series. As a matter of fact, she glanced over at Rome and saw that he was wearing pajama pants with Bella’s face floating all over them with little moons next to her.
She was in a dream. This was a nightmare dragged on by stress combined with meeting her first lykaen. Of course, that would explain it. This meeting was turning out worse than she’d ever thought possible. Everyone was nice, smiling, thrilled to have their brother back.
I’m going to get them all killed. I’m going to get their precious brother killed.
The conversation came and went and she didn’t say a word the whole time. Darien didn’t press her for information in front of everything for which she was grateful. He kept things simple: she was in trouble, and he was going to take care of her.
The girls frowned and threatened the bad vampire on behalf of her, and then men frowned and vowed to protect her. Not one person stood up, said “no thanks,” and left the room. What kind of people would so easily sacrifice themselves, put their lives in danger for a complete stranger?
They didn’t even act like she was a stranger. They looked between her and Darien with wide, happy eyes like they were mated.
She closed her eyes tight and swore at herself. Don’t you dare cry now, stupid woman. I swear if you do, I’ll kill you myself.
She didn’t cry. The mated females who introduced themselves as Sarina, Alison, and Vera came up to her after the meeting was over. They said that tomorrow night they wanted to take her away for some private time.
“Oh no, I can’t do that,” she protested.
“Don’t be silly. We’ll bring the booze, get away from the men for awhile. It’ll be great,” Vera said with a wink.
A thought clicked into place and suddenly getting drunk with the Kategan’s mates didn’t sound so bad.
“You know, I think I’d like that.”
“Great! I’ll bring snacks,” Alison said with a clap of her hands.
Darien broke away from his huddle with his brothers and the vampire, Jacks, to come back to her. He held his hand out to her, and she slipped her own into his. A spark of heat flared between them but it was dulled under the weight of her stress. She couldn’t seem to wipe the frown off her face no matter how hard she tried. She just kept thinking how much she wanted a snack, a bath, a soft bed and for all of this to disappear.
He tugged her to the door and said goodbye to everyone. They climbed into the truck silently. She looked over at him and saw that his face looked relaxed. Hell she felt like she was about to snap and he almost looked happy.
“It feels good to see your family, doesn’t it?” He stiffened but nodded. They drove off, and sometime later they arrived in front of another cabin. He came around to her side and pulled open the door. This time instead of helping her down, he pulled her into his arms and carried her to the house.
She protested, but he shushed her and unlocked the front door. She yawned into his shirt and closed her eyes. She was just so tired. So much was happening too fast for her mind to process.
He set her on the bed upstairs. She blinked open her eyes, but relaxed as he started taking off her shoes. He pulled down her jeans not in passion but gently. A big soft cover fell over her and she sighed.
His eyes met hers and she something so deep and strong filled her, made her heart skipped a beat. She loved this man.
He started to pull away, but she snatched him by the back of his neck and tugged him close for a kiss. She tasted him gently, tried to tell him without words, what she felt for him. When she pulled back, his eyes held a strange light to them.
Closing her own, she turned away from him and tried to hide the pain deep inside. She heard his fading footsteps as he left. She should feel better now that he was gone, but she didn’t.
What was she expecting really? That she’d kiss him with all the love in her heart and he’d magically know it and embrace it?
Yeah, she was stupid.
Chapter 10
Daniel and her sat at a round, stone table. Goblets filled with red liquid and empty golden trenchers covered the table like a variable vampire feast.
Daniel smiled at her from across the table. The look chilled her blood. Guards came up and took seats on either side of her. She recognized two of them from the attack in the forest.
She looked around and recognized where they were—the hall at Daniel’s home. A grand chandelier hung high above the table and was lit with real candles that flickered and cast the table in a dull orange light. It was dark enough that Cassie knew a human wouldn’t be able to tell whether the glasses on the table were filled with wine or blood.
She didn’t run. The sense of fear she had in her other dreams weren’t in this one. Instead she was left with a dark foreboding, trepidation that had her sitting resolutely across from Daniel and meeting his gaze. Perhaps some of Darien’s strength was rubbing off on her because a small part of her felt she could take Daniel on.
He didn’t try to scare her. He acted like he had already won. He smiled at her, and it turned her stomach.
“Are you excited, Cassandra?”
She couldn’t look away from him, either by some force of his power or to show him she wouldn’t back down anymore.
“Your silence is answer enough, I suppose. I must say I’m excited. Why, your escape has actually benefited me. I never thought I’d be one to love the thrill of the hunt so much, but I do.” His fingers toyed with the tops of his glass, spinning round and round the top with a hissing sound.
“Maybe it’s all this talk of lykaens that has me enjoying the hunt so much.”
Cassie’s reaction was instantaneous. Her eyes widened, and her fingers clenched on the armrests. He didn’t miss it either. He smiled wider.
“I know all about the lykaen. I never would have thought you’d run into the arms of someone like him. I thought you’d keep running and be long gone by now. You made it as far as the first handsome face you saw.” He laughed, the sound creeping along her skin like a thousand spiders.
“Did you think he could protect you? Or were you just so selfish that you gave no thought to his life and what I’m going to do with it? Because you do know what I’m going to do, Cassandra, don’t you?”
“No!” she protested and jerked her gaze away from him. “This has been fun, Cassandra. I’m going to gut that lykaen male I hear you’re so fond of and make you watch as he takes his last breath. I might even take your body while he watches. Do you think he’ll mind or will he like it? Will his eyes be opened or closed when he dies? I bet they’re beautiful eyes. I bet you just love the way he looks at you, traitorous bitch.” Trembling started in her hands and moved up to her arms.
“Answer me this, Cassandra, do you think he’ll die easy? Do you think I would let that happen?”
“What if I just come back?”
He slammed his fist into the table. Stone cracked beneath his fist and crumbled to the ground. He picked up his goblet and threw it at her. She almost didn’t move in time as it whizzed past her cheek.
He stood and screamed at her. “He dies! It doesn’t matter. I don’t care if you come back tomorrow, naked and submissive as you rightfully should be. He dies because you let him touch you!”
Cassie’s eyes flung wide. How could he know?
“I know what you did!” he screamed. His face flushed a deep red. He stalked to her. She backed away from him even as she waited for what was to come.
He hit shoulder, sent her sprawling back against the wall, then he crowded her close, shouting.
“You spread your legs for a beast? A dog. Then I shall treat you no better than one.”
“As if you have ever treated me any other way.”
He hit her so fast, she didn’t see it coming. Pain exploded in her face, and then she snapped awake.
Cassie briefly glanced around the room before threw back the covers and stumbled into the bathroom, tearing off her clothes in a rush. She
hopped into the shower before it was even warm.
The cold water had her gasping, shaking. She sat down in the tub and let it rain over her. Her mind buzzed, while horrific images of Daniel popped into her mind. She had a feeling that whatever he’d done to her in the past was going to be candy compared to when she returned. .
Minutes went by and slowly she calmed. Turning the water up, she rinsed herself with a dried bar of soap sitting on the shower ledge. She knew what she had to do. There were a few things she had to do first though.
The door squeaked and she turned to see Darien coming in looking disheveled and sleepy. He was amazingly cute.
“Are you all right?” he asked hoarsely.
“Of course, why?”
“You got out of bed like the hounds of hell were after you.” Not hounds, but something else from hell yes. Cassie’s eyes widened as she realized that he’d slept next to her and she hadn’t even known.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I just wanted a shower.”
He pulled back the curtain and looked her up and down. The man must have a sun living inside him, because everywhere he went he turned the temperature up. The water felt warmer against her skin, her heart felt lighter. The cold in her fingers faded to tingly warmth.
“Sounds good to me,” he said and started pulling off his clothes.
Her eyes widened. Oh no. She couldn’t do this. Not now.
He stepped big and naked into the shower. “God that’s cold, baby.” His hypnotic voice was even deeper than usual from sleep; it held a gruff edge to it than teased along her body. She wondered if he only called her baby because He was still half-asleep.
He reached around her and turned the temperature up. Cassie was learning a few things about Darien. She had a feeling it was just going to break her heart later, because the more she learned, the more she liked. And the more she craved.
Arms wrapped around her, pulling her close to the rich heat of his body. He was so hard against her. Rivulets of water ran from the thick locks of his hair down to where their chests pressed together before sliding off the side.
Her hands fell against his chest, feeling the wet hairs moving with the water under her fingertips. His hands moved too, across the span of her back to hold her close while the other dropped down to gently cup her bottom. He did not shape her but simply held her.
“You feel good to me.”
Ridiculously pleased by his compliment, she smiled and pressed her forehead to his chest. “Ditto.”
He turned her, and she let him press her back into the wall. The hard steel of his cock branded her skin. She gasped, a wave of cream flowing through her core.
His lips found her cheek, trailed down to her mouth to nibble there. Nipples beaded in response to his soft touch. Speaking between kisses he said, “I know it’s early, but I want you.” Gruff, sleepy words.
His mouth captured hers in a demanding kiss that curled her toes as he lifted her, wrapped her legs around him. Hot trailed down her neck and shoulder, wreaking havoc on her senses. He bit her shoulder, then nudged her entrance with his cock questioningly.
“Do you want me?”
More than anything. “Yes, Darien. Yes.”
He groaned and caught her lips again as he slowly slid inside her. His thick length spread her wide as he pushed through her tight muscles. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to this feeling. To the rush that swept through her blood, made her heart pound and her skin tight as he filled her.
The instant he touched her deep inside, he retreated only to do it again and again. His moves were slow, torturing her with agonized pleasure as he pushed again and again through her wet pussy.
She found his lips and darted her tongue between them. What he was doing was killing her inside. She didn’t want this sweet lovemaking. Because it wasn’t love. He didn’t love her. He wouldn’t let himself.
Anger and desperation blinded her, had her clawing at his back and biting his lip. He pulled back to look at her with stunned, wide eyes. His hand caressed her thigh gently, up and down. She hated it. He wanted her for one thing, and if there was no love for her than how dare he treat her so sweetly. He’d leave her with only the bittersweet memories of his touch if she let him.
“Take me,” she growled between tight lips.
His smile was slow, sure..., and sexy as hell. He reached down to cup an ass cheek in one big hand and open her up further with the hand on her thigh. He was spreading her, making her open and submissive to him.
She sighed blissfully as he started to move again, but now his thrusts were even slower, dragging through her sensitive flesh until she was sweating. Her hips rocked against his, urging him to move faster, to take her. In and out. In and out.
Somehow his touch was so much more intense this way. He started moving harder inside her, letting each thrust pound against her. He growled and nuzzled her hair away from her neck, then his teeth claimed her, locking her in place.
Cassie’s pleasure exploded out of her. She tried to scream, but her throat closed up and all she could do was gasp in chunks of air.
His teeth sank further into her and for a moment she thought he’d break the skin and taste blood. The thought made her wild, had her setting her nails into his back and scratching at him as the waves of her orgasm rippled through her.
His thrusts turned urgent in a second. He hammered into her, taking her with a savagery that curled her toes and sent moans out from her throat. His hands squeezed her hips so tight she knew he’d leave marks.
He took her with a ferocity that threw her into another orgasm. She couldn’t believe it, but he tunneled through her wet flesh so fast, each stroke hitting against her aching clit, and she exploded again. She wrapped her legs tightly around his thighs as her cries echoed off the bathroom wall.
His cries joined hers as he took her in rough thrusts. He landed deep inside, his hips jerking against hers as his cock jetted his release into her. It was hot and thick and dripped out of her as he pulled himself out of her.
He held her for minutes, then methodically soaped and washed her from her hands to feet, even though she’d done it already. It was so sweet, so like him that it broke her heart. He cleaned himself quickly and then carried her back to bed.
The only thing she could think as he set her down was that she loved him. She loved him so damned much. And she could never have him.
Chapter 11
“I need to tell you something,” Cassie said after they were dressed. Darien turned to her with a sharp look in his eyes. He nodded, giving her permission.
“I’m ready to talk about Daniel.” I’m ready because I won’t be here much longer. She hated that she had to lie and keep that part from him, but she couldn’t risk his life, or the Kategan’s, any more than she already had. The only chance Darien had now was if she ran and didn’t stop.
Darien took the seat across from her and just looked at her. His eyes didn’t judge, he simply waited. Patient, gentle.
She thought of the a thousand different places where she could start her story, but couldn’t choose one. Finally she shrugged and said, “I don’t know where to start.”
“Tell me who hurt you and why you went running the day I found you.” Okay. Deep breaths.
“Daniel, his name is Daniel. I guess he hurt me because I made him mad again. It wasn’t the first time and—” she nearly finished, and it won’t be the last but she caught herself at the last second, “he’s always had a temper like that. Ever since I can remember.”
She looked up at him, wanting to see his reaction. His body was still, his hand rested neatly on his thighs. His eyes gave him away. They held anger so potent and terrifying, she’d only ever seen one person come close to it...Daniel.
“How do you know him?” She squeezed her eyes shut. This was going to be much harder than she thought. She’d never talked to anyone about Daniel, because the only people she knew were members of his clan. And all of them knew how he was.
“I’ve known him
since I was four.”
“Are you his family?” You can do it, Cassie. Do it because you won’t have any other chance. He spilled his guts to you about his past, the most you can do is share yours. It was easy to give herself a pep talk, but it was much harder to actually make the words come out of her mouth.
“I guess there’s no other way for me to say it, but to come right out and do it. I’m Daniel’s fiancé.”
Darien exploded from his seat and. She couldn’t help but cringe and look away. She never should have come into his life, then her heart wouldn’t be breaking and the man whom she loved wouldn’t be in danger.
“Continue,” he growled, stalking in front of her like a caged lion.
Somehow the words just came. “I have no living family, so when my father died, what happened to me was left to the eldest of the clan--Daniel. It also didn’t help that dad left a mission that stated Daniel and me had his blessing to mate when I turned twenty-five, which I just did two weeks ago.”
“Daniel was his closest friend. I was raised by nurses through Daniel’s care, and when I turned eighteen he brought me to live with him.”
His eyes cut to hers, filled with barely contained anger. “Did he touch you?” Her cheeks grew how under his gaze.
“Yes, but not how you think. If I made him mad...well he’s always had a heavy hand.”
Before Darien could growl or hit something, a knock sounded at the front door. Darien stormed to it and threw it open.
“Oh hey, Darien.” Alison bounced on her toes with a cute smile on her face. Suddenly she turned and spoke to someone behind her. “When’s his birthday? He needs a Twilight hoody or something. I could totally see him wearing that.”
“Oh, good call.” Cassie recognized that voice as Vane’s mate—Sarina. What were they doing here so early? Surely when they asked her to hang out with them, they didn’t mean at ten in the morning.