“Ah, ah, ah,” he crooned.
“Shit!” she yelled.
When all else failed, she screamed for all she was worth. It seemed like she was in the middle of nowhere but Elsie knew there were nearby homes and businesses. Surely, someone would hear her shouts.
A hand clamped over her mouth with exorbitant strength. Without thinking, she bit into the flesh covering her face. The creature’s skin broke and a foul substance filled her mouth. It tasted like rotten blood. Her mouth watered and bile filled her throat.
Her head snapped back when black-hair back-handed her. Stars winked in her vision and she shook her head to clear the confusion. The side of her face was on fire from the painful blow to her cheek. She felt her eye swell, and could’ve sworn the guy hit her with a baseball bat.
“This is much better,” grease-ball murmured in her ear as he ripped open her shirt.
Elsie thrashed in his hold. She twisted hard and heard a pop in her shoulder. She screamed out in pain but refused to give in to the vampire. Ignoring the pain, she picked up her legs, and threw him off balance. He released his grip, and she tumbled to the ground then quickly crawled away.
“Damn, you’re fine. Good thing we’re in no hurry,” black-hair snarled as he leered at her exposed bra. His malicious sneer made her skin crawl and raised the hairs on the back of her neck. “I’m going to take my time and sample all of you,” he promised.
“Leave some for me,” blondie said, looking his fill.
The vampires eyed her throat and flashed fangs at her. Black-hair lunged toward her and Elsie raised her arm in protection. Razors cut into her flesh as his fangs sank into her left forearm. His face was close enough she could smell his stench and see the peculiar ring around his pupils. There was no life behind those evil eyes.
Using every ounce of strength, Elsie brought her knee up and connected with his balls then yanked her arm free from his jaws. She went flying out of his grasp and threw out her hands to soften her landing. The sound of a twig snapping underfoot echoed, followed immediately by intense pain that radiated from her right wrist and traveled up her arm. Her knees buckled, and Elsie’s face met the ground.
“You aren’t going to kill me, asshole. I’ve been slaughtering your kind for the past eighteen months. C’mon, bring it,” she taunted.
Elsie refused to meet the same fate as Dalton from these piece of shit dirtbags.
Pushing to shaky legs, adrenaline flooded her system and Elsie shut out the pain. She assumed a fighting stance with her body bladed, knees bent, and her uninjured arm poised, ready to strike. Blood dripped from her forearm to the dirt. Crying out, Elsie charged her attacker.
*****
“I’m verra concerned about Zander,” Bhric divulged as they picked their way through the park where Elsie was supposed to meet Mack.
Kyran listened to his brother as his worry for Elsie escalated. She was nowhere to be seen, and Zander had called, telling him that Elsie was heading their way. That didn’t sit well, given her proclivities to hunt skirm.
“Aye. I agree. He’s been worse since meeting his Fated. He hasna been feeding, and now he’s withering before our eyes.” Bhric said as he looked to Kyran, worry on his face. “He might be the most powerful vampire in the realm, but even he canna go withoot blood for verra long. I havena ever seen him like this. I doona remember what he was like when mamai and da were killed but this is bad.” Bhric added as they ventured deeper into the wooded area.
Kyran remembered all too well when their parents were massacred. It haunted him daily.
“I do remember what he was like then. This is far worse. And, we canna do a fucking thing aboot it. This situation is shite. From what Zander and Orlando shared, Elsie isna doing much better. I’m worried about her, too. She is mortal—” A muffled scream cut off Kyran’s reply.
Kyran snapped to attention, opening his preternatural senses. His nostrils flared when the scent reached him. Blood. And skirm.
“Feel that?” Bhric whispered.
His brother reached under his black, leather jacket and his hand came back shinning. Kyran slipped his titanium sgian dubh free and held it at the ready.
“That had better no’ be the blood of Z’s Fated. If they harmed our Queen, they will rue the day they were born,” Bhric promised as they followed the magical aura and located two skirm, struggling with their victim.
Kyran winced as the female went flying and a distinct, cracking sound echoed through the clearing. The sound of her screams, along with the echo of her bone breaking, sucked Kyran back in time seven hundred fifteen years.
Thud,
Thud,
Thud.
A menacing laugh followed by a wet tearing sound, thick and obscene, was something from his worst nightmare.
“Please doona hurt me,” came a whispered gurgling plea. He glanced up to see his mother’s ripped throat.
Another scream jolted Kyran from his haunted past. An innocent female needed their protection.
“You help the female, I’ll take care of them,” Kyran instructed then sifted.
Between one blink and the next, he was crouched behind one of the attackers and plunged his blade into the skirm’s chest. The guy flashed then turned to ash.
In the next heartbeat, he wrapped his arms around the skirm that was pinning the female to the ground. He yanked him off her and tossed the creature against a boulder. A red haze filled his vision as he read the skirm’s thoughts of what he planned to do to the female.
“Prepare to meet your maker in hell,” Kyran vowed.
*****
Elsie’s head swam. Black spots danced in her vision and nausea rose in her throat. That last lunge had been a mistake. The black-haired vampire side-stepped her at the last second and wrapped his arm around her throat, throwing her to the ground. Her head smacked hard on the dirt. She swallowed back the bile as he ripped her bra open.
“No,” she pleaded.
“Yes,” he hissed as he grabbed her breast and squeezed.
Elsie pushed against his chest to no avail. He gripped her breast to the point she thought it would detach from her body. His fetid breath washed across her aching cheek. A flash of fire snagged her vision, and she turned to see what happened.
She knew that flaming glow. The greasy-haired vampire was dead. Mack must be there to save her. Relief washed over Elsie as she realized she would survive.
Suddenly, the vampire’s weight left her, and she turned her head to see a large man dressed in black leather. He was behind her attacker with his arms wrapped around his chest and throat. She rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. It wasn’t Mack, and Elsie’s fear resurfaced as she acknowledged this man might be a greater danger.
Another similarly dressed man, only much bigger, approached her with his hands out in a gesture of peace.
“‘Tis okay, lass. We’re here to help. We willna hurt you.” Elsie heard the man’s words and her mouth dropped.
His accent was the same as Zander’s. The large man crouched in front of her, repeating his assurances but she struggled to respond.
Her head throbbed, her cheek pulsed with pain, and she was lying there with her shirt wide open, exposing her breasts. She tried to cover up but couldn’t move. She gazed into intense, amber eyes, and something told Elsie she was safe. These men would protect her.
“Bugger, ‘tis you…holy shite,” the large man breathed. “Are you okay, Elsie? We mean you no harm.”
How did this man know her name? She prayed he was related to Zander like she suspected and not some nutcase stalking her. She tried again to speak but all she managed was a groan of agony.
She stared at the hand he extended. “I’m Bhric, and the other male is my brathair, Kyran. We need to get you to a hospital.”
He helped her sit up and braced her back when dizziness assailed. Pain wracked her body, and she thought she would pass out from pain. She cradled her right arm to her chest, and managed to stay conscious.
<
br /> “Uh…I think…you’re right…something is wrong,” she panted. “I hurt…everywhere.” She held up her left arm and winced from the pain the movement caused.
She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. “How do you know…who I am?” she asked.
She watched him expectantly as another fire flashed in her peripheral vision. This time, she didn’t bother to turn and see what had happened. She knew Kyran had killed the other vampire.
“We know you because we are Zander’s brathairs, and a close friend of Orlando. They talk aboot you often,” Bhric said.
Elsie didn’t trust them completely despite her instinct they were there to protect her. Mistakes like that could be fatal for her. She wanted to get to a hospital but could she trust them to take her? She could just see the headlines. ‘Stupid Co-ed Gets In Car With Strangers, Found Dead In Ditch.’
As the shock of the night wore off, her level of pain increased tenfold. “Yeah, I need to get to a hospital. Can I borrow your cell phone to call Orlando? He can get an ambulance to me faster than calling 911. I’m not sure where my phone is. I think I left it in my car after it broke down.”
“We can get you there faster than an ambulance,” Bhric stated as he wrapped an arm around her waist and helped her stand.
Elsie’s legs wobbled, threatening to collapse. His arm tightened, helping her to remain standing.
Haunted grey eyes came into her line of sight. “Aye, Bhric is right. We need to get you to the hospital. Will you let us help?” Kyran asked, standing well within her personal space.
She looked down and saw his hands at the ready, like he anticipated her passing out or falling. Smart of him because she felt she’d topple at any moment.
She swayed on her feet as she glanced from one to the other. Kyran placed a hand on her shoulder, and Bhric twined his arm around her back.
“Yes,” she uttered.
What was it about Zander and his friends that made her feel like she belonged with them? Pain muddled any reasonable explanation.
“We’ll have you to Jace in no time, and he’ll fix you up,” Kyran encouraged.
Gritting her teeth against the pain, sweat broke across her forehead. She was going to hit the deck any second.
Bhric took his iPhone out of his pocket and dialed a number. “Orlando, we have a situation.”
Elsie listened as Bhric told Orlando about the attack and their subsequent intervention but before she could talk to him, her vision blurred, and everything went black.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Cold fluid flooded Elsie’s veins as the nurse pushed the last of the morphine into her IV. Within moments, her head went fuzzy and the pain eased but her nausea worsened.
“The pain is better but I think I’m going to vomit,” Elsie muttered to the nurse.
The middle-aged woman patted her hand. “That will pass. I gave you another medication called Zofran and that takes a few minutes to take effect.”
“Thanks,” she responded and closed her eyes, trying to take deep breaths.
The nurse was right. Soon, she was floating in the clouds. Best cocktail ever!
Bhric and Kyran were quietly talking to each other across the room. The sound of their thick brogue soothed her. It was comforting to know they stood sentry, guarding her as if she was President of the United States. Zander, Orlando, and their friends had gone above and beyond for her. She’d never met more caring, or gorgeous, men in her whole life.
She turned her head and tried to focus on their blurry forms. The medication was doing a number on her vision and clarity.
“I appreciate everything you’ve done but you guys don’t have to stay. I’m sure you have something better to do than babysit me until Zander and Orlando get here.”
“We wouldna be anywhere else right now. ‘Tis an honor to make sure you are safe and well cared for,” Kyran replied with a bow. Actually bowed, like a knight from medieval times.
She giggled. What was up with these guys? They were old-fashioned, just like Zander.
“I love your accent. Between that and the bowing, you would think you guys were from another century. You know, like that guy from Braveheart. But Zander is far scarier than that guy. And way sexier, too.” Elsie’s mind kept jumping around, unable to focus on one topic. “You guys are huge, with such big muscles, but you don’t scare me. I feel like I’m floating. I wonder if Dalton is an angel now that he’s dead. Do you think he can fly? God, I miss him,” she sighed.
Her black hole pulsed hotly. Too bad the morphine couldn’t take that pain away, too. She closed her eyes against the awful ache.
A warm hand grasping hers brought her eyes open. Bhric stood by the side of her bed, looking down on her. “I think a verra powerful figure looks oot for you. But, doona fash aboot that. Rest now, lass. You’re safe.”
She wanted to ask more about this powerful figure but her eyes slipped closed, and she allowed sleep to consume her.
*****
Zander stood outside the door to Elsie’s room, and felt his eyes blacken with rage. Someone hurt his mate, and they would feel his wrath. He knew something was wrong. He felt her anger, fear, and pain, but hadn’t acted quickly enough. He failed to protect her, and the sting of that was unbearable. He was incensed at the Goddess, and Fate, for causing his mate to suffer. Life had put her through enough. She didn’t need this, as well.
He needed to calm down before he went in to see her. Taking deep breaths was a mistake as it brought a lungful of her honeysuckle scent through the door. Despite his efforts, he was unable to ignore her fragrance and what it stirred in him. He prayed to the Goddess that he was stronger than his desires, or they were both in trouble.
His trembling hand gripped the cool metal handle and twisted. The door latch gave way, and he was brought close to his breaking point when her sultry scent enveloped him. His mouth watered, his fangs shot out, and his gums ached. His cock hardened painfully, and he hunched over, gripping his thighs. The movement caused pain to radiate from the mate mark on his back.
He needed to feed. He’d gone without for too many months, despite his numerous attempts. His fangs refused to descend around other females, making feeding impossible. Bottled blood was rejected by his body, as well, and they had resorted to the least effective method of infusing him with blood via an IV.
It dawned on Zander that his body was reacting as if they were mated. Mated vampires couldn’t feed from anyone except their Fated Mate. It was perplexing. He watched the news footage of Elsie after her husband’s murder, much like everyone else in Seattle but he didn’t meet her until a little over a week ago.
Now, he had to clamp down on his every instinct. It was like a beast clawing at his insides. Elsie’s blood was a siren’s call. Zander glanced to her lying on the bed, and couldn’t tear his gaze away from the slow, steady pulse at her neck. He should leave. It was a terrible idea to come and see her, but like a moth to a flame, he quickly made his way to her side.
He fought the tears that pricked his eyes. He was the fucking Vampire King, not some weak-ass cry-baby. But the sight of his mate’s bruised body, bloody bandages on her arm, and various monitors connected to her brought forth emotions he had only experienced one other time in his life. Zander’s anger renewed at who did this to her. The archdemon and his skirm would pay with their life.
He reached over and tenderly touched her injured cheek with his fingertips. Desire exploded upon contact. He reached deep for control, fighting the urge to sink his fangs into her beautiful throat while he claimed her body. Her soul twined around his, drawing comfort. The need to claim her was more intense than ever. He almost lost her, and wanted to join with her in every way to reaffirm that she was alive….and his. It was crucial that he do it soon.
Going outside his comfort zone, he reached out for help. “Brathair, one of you will need to step in if I canna resist. Elsie’s blood calls to me.”
*****
Elsie awoke to a seductive voice that caressed h
er in places she thought were dead. Her eyes blinked open in a muddled haze. It was difficult to tell if she was awake or dreaming. Some part of her brain was aware she was heavily medicated, but everything halted the moment she saw a sinful smile. A gorgeous man stood by her bed, caressing her injured cheek.
“Zander,” she breathed.
He cradled her face in his large palms and she relished the feel of his flesh against hers. Her entire body tingled with an erotic current that caused wetness to pool between her legs, and her nipples hardened against the cotton fabric of the hospital gown. Only he could elicit that kind of response which was astounding, given the amount of morphine in her system.
The emotions that crossed his face sharpened his Patrician features, stealing her breath, and her words. She wanted to understand what he was thinking and feeling. She wanted to take away the pain she saw and explore the banked desire. Sadness charged in when she remembered that having a relationship with him wasn’t in the cards.
Still, that didn’t change the fact that his Sapphire-blue eyes held a mystery she felt compelled to unravel.
*****
One look from his Elsie, and Zander was lost forever. She owned him heart and soul. He needed her in his life, bonded to him as his Fated Mate, yet he feared that he would have to live without her. He thought their greatest hurdles were his acceptance of her human status, and Elsie getting over the loss of her husband.
Now, this incident cemented her hatred of vampires. How could she ever embrace his world that was filled with such violence? Would she see him as the same creature that attacked her and murdered the man she loved?
He gazed at her beautiful face then grabbed her in a fierce hug. “You scared the shite oot of me. You willna be withoot protection again,” he demanded.
Zander wanted to forbid her from patrolling altogether, but wasn’t ready to tell her that he was a vampire. Wasn’t prepared to answer the questions that would elicit.
Bad Boy Billionaire Boxset: A Billionaire Romance Collection Page 10