by Helen Scott
It was a good thing she’d walked away. It was a good thing she’d looked at me with that disdain in her eyes.
That was why I turned and slammed my fist into the brick wall, right? Because I was so goddamned practical.
I rubbed my head with the heels of my hands as I turned around.
Only to find Christian standing in the doorway to my cell.
“Jesus,” I said, trying to cover how much he’d made me jump. “Just because you can be stealthy doesn’t mean you should be. You might just want to talk but someone will think you’re a threat.”
His thin smile said he didn’t mind that idea. But he asked politely, “Mind if I come in?”
I had enough issues right now, I didn’t need to piss off the alpha vamp. But I was still hot in more ways than one, after the fight and seeing Nas. When I’d thought that goddamn shifter was going to spit on her, my sense of protectiveness buried deep inside had come to the surface in a big way.
“Ah, this isn’t a great time, Christian,” I admitted, because I might very well piss him off more if I tried to talk now. I pushed Nas out of my mind--or tried. After all, I tried to do that a lot.
I never should have brought her in.
“Oh?” Christian quirked an eyebrow and glanced around my bare cell. “Are you expecting company? Have another engagement?”
When I didn’t answer, he didn’t seem surprised. “You seem a bit short on friends right now, Bane.”
“I don’t need any of the kind of friends you find at Nightstone,” I assured him.
“Oh, arrogant bounty hunter nonsense. How original.” He studied me. I expected another glib remark. Christian was usually sarcasm personified.
But he was nothing but serious when he said, “You’ve hurt Nasima, and I’m tired of it.”
“Really, Christian? The girl’s made you go soft?” I shook my head, even though the words you’ve hurt Nasima lodged deep. As if I didn’t know that--I was the reason she was here, after all. “Watch out. I went soft for her too, but in the end, it almost cost me my place as a bounty hunter. I had to choose between her and the job.”
And with it, the chance to help more supes.
“Oh, you and I don’t have nearly as much in common as you seem to think, Bane,” he warned me softly. “Your ridiculous refusal to seek help or form alliances, tempting fate--and your many enemies--is upsetting Nasima.”
Upsetting Nasima? Was he trying to keep from revealing to me that she was a seer? Did he know and believe?
How many people did? If Nasima was a seer, then she’d be useful to someone like the warden. There were only a handful of witches, even in Nightstone, powerful enough to do what he needed.
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to upset her,” I said. “Please. You’d think she would be excited to watch someone gut me, after what I did to her.”
“You’d think,” Christian said. “But she’s a far better being than your or me, Bane.”
“Your mate?” I took a guess.
“My mate.” His tone was matter-of-fact, but there was reverence beneath it. “And while we used to be friends, I’ve been in here a long time, and a lot has changed. If she wanted revenge on you, I’d support anything she chose. You do deserve it.”
The vampire was right. When we’d first made our deal, I hadn’t expected for him or Ambrose to be trapped in Nightstone for the rest of their lives. I’d used the big bounties they had on their heads to set up the supe road to Canada, a country that allowed them to live freely without incarcerating them for using their natural born gifts. Ambrose and Christian wanted their people safe, so they sacrificed their freedom for their families.
We had all expected that Nightstone would be easier to bring down than it was, which was why they were still in here, why I was now in here with them. Those with power didn’t want to give Nightstone up. It was a gold mine for them.
If I thought about it, I was honestly a little surprised that Christian and Ambrose didn’t execute me as soon as I stepped foot in Nightstone. They might very well think that I betrayed them.
If I was lucky enough to survive the attacks that I had no doubt were coming, then maybe we could figure out how to destroy Nightstone from the inside. I’d heard rumors before I ever stepped foot inside Nightstone’s walls about the abandoned area. People claimed that anyone who set foot there died a horrible, grisly death. I was pretty sure the truth was more complicated than the tales of a curse.
Once the Black Guard got me under their thumb--again--I’d realized there was no escaping coming to Nightstone. But I didn’t care about my Black Guard mission. I had my own.
“I do,” I said, with a sigh as I spread my hands wide. There was no denying it. “But you don’t look like you came down here to gut me, so what gives?”
“Well, I might encourage her to gut you herself, but until she decides to, I need you safe,” he said. “You are going to be under my protection, Bane, whether you like it or not. You are not going to hurt Nasima again.”
“I don’t want your protection.” Although it was hardly my fellow prisoners who were the greatest danger to me. Honestly, if one of them killed me, then I didn’t have to keep poking into the mess that was Nightstone’s corruption and the politics surrounding it. I had a feeling that corruption put Nasima and Christian in more danger than anything else.
“I didn’t think you did. But you have it anyway. Lake, one of my generals, will be by soon to help keep an eye on you. He’s a good kid, be nice.” He gave me a cold smile and moved toward the door. Then he stopped and turned back. “I have wondered. Why did you bring Nasima in?”
I’d rehearsed a half-dozen answers, but when Christian’s eyes met mine, I struggled to lie. If I lied and claimed I got tired of her, I had no doubt he really would rip my head off my shoulders, sooner or later.
“She blew my cover,” I admitted.
“That’s a shitty reason, Bane.”
“You know what I was doing.”
“I know,” he acquiesced. “And it was important. But you should have found another way.”
“There are quite a few life decisions I might do differently,” I said, gesturing around the cell.
“Well, Bane,” he sid, “Maybe you should consider not fucking up the few decisions you’ve got left.”
Then he disappeared in a flash, as vampires do. He always loved to get in the last word.
If only I knew how to follow his advice.
4
Ambrose
I was on my way down the hall to find Nasima when she turned the corner and sashayed into view. The way her hips swayed was magnetic to me, her silvery hair swaying above her shoulders.
I would’ve been hard if I wasn’t so pissed at her.
Actually, I realized as I started toward her, turned out I could do both.
“Where the hell have you been?” I demanded.
She glanced around, making sure we had privacy in the cell block, before she met my gaze with her own heat. “Don’t alpha me,” she said, her voice warning.
“You said you’d meet me back here,” I said, trying to make my tone reasonable. I wasn’t sure I made it all the way to reasonable.
She held her hands out, signifying where we were. “Look at that! I met you! Back here!”
I stared at her, then growled, “What’s gotten into you?”
Her lips parted to answer me, and then she paused. Her jaw tensed, as if she was annoyed to find herself holding back, and something clawed on my chest.
“What is it?” I demanded in a growl, stepping close to her. I caught her chin and turned her face up to mine. “Nas, talk to me. Did someone hurt you?”
Her eyes met mine, flaring with heat. But her voice was soft when she said, “No, Ambrose. I’m worried about hurting you. And we should talk about this privately--”
“You don’t ever have to worry about that,” I told her. “I’ll always protect you.”
My wolf was going wild inside me, eager to fix whatever was bothering
Nas.
She stared up at me with those beautiful, luminous eyes, and I couldn’t stand to be apart from her another second. My lips descended on hers, claiming her, as if the force of my desire could push away whatever bothered her.
For a second, her lips resisted the effort.
Then she melted against me. Her lips parted, welcoming me, and I swept my tongue into her mouth. My hand fisted in her hair, holding her tight against me, and she ground against my thigh as if she needed me as much as I needed her. Her fingernails sank deep into my bicep as the two of us traded deep, searing kisses.
She finally dragged herself away, taking in a ragged breath as if she’d forgotten to breathe when the two of us were kissing.
“We need privacy,” she managed. “I said we needed to talk, not--”
“You’re right, we need to talk,” I said. I couldn’t deal with it if anything happened to Nas. I didn’t want her to feel trapped, but I needed to know she was safe and protected.
Although if being safe made her feel trapped, well, that was too bad.
The two of us headed for the yard, I preferred to spend as much time outside as I could anyway. I’d been out there less lately, too wrapped up in Nasima. I’d been neglecting the pack and I knew I needed to find a better sense of balance.
But god, it was so hard when her warm lithe body was pressed against mine, my arm slung over her shoulders. Even now when I was mad at her, I also couldn’t wait to make up with her.
“Will we have privacy in the yard?” she asked.
“I’ll kick everyone out if I need to,” I growled. The shifters needed their space to run too. “But no. I’ve got my own territory I run where everyone leaves me alone.”
The two of us headed out into the dusky twilight, although we couldn’t see the sun; it had sunk behind the walls and disappeared. I missed seeing the sun rise and set; I’d never see it again, since coming to Nightstone was always a life sentence.
“Sometimes I try to remember what it looked like to see the sun set,” I said, “to really remember some of the ones I’ve seen. How it felt, the details. But I swear, the harder I try, the more I can’t remember--”
I broke off abruptly. I didn’t know why I’d just rambled to Nas about the damned sunset, and now she was looking up at me with an expression on her face that I couldn’t quite read.
“What?” I demanded.
She bobbed up onto her toes and brushed her lips softly over my cheek. “You’re always surprising me, Ambrose.”
I scoffed, but I secretly enjoyed the admiration in her tone. I led her to the private space in the woods where I ran and turned to her, spreading my arms. “There you go, privacy.”
“Why don’t you scold me first,” she said, “So I can go ahead and scold you. I just didn’t want to do it where your shifters can hear.”
My brows arched. “Excuse me?”
She popped her hands onto her hips, leveling a look my way. “I can tell you’re pissed that I went off on my own. You preferred the submissive head-injury version of Nas that I used to be, right? When I couldn’t stop vomiting, I pretty much just let you carry me around where you wanted.”
I snorted. “Submissive? That would be fucking nice, Nas, but that doesn’t seem to be your deal. And I don’t prefer that you don’t go off on your own--I prefer you don’t get kidnapped or murdered. Maybe you forgot last week already.”
She was about to say something but I cut her off with a shrug, adding, “After all, you had a lot of head injuries.”
“You’re impossible,” she shot back. “I know you’re the alpha, but I don’t want to be your bitch. I want to be your equal.”
“I never said you weren’t,” I growled. “Did someone say you weren’t?”
“No, but apparently I’m making you look bad by not bowing to every damned thing you say--”
“You let me worry about my reputation,” I told her. “You’re making me crazy, but you’re not making me look bad.”
“What if you have to fight for your place as alpha because I’m not a good mate for you? Because I make you look…” she trailed off.
“Where is this coming from?” I demanded. “I doubt it will come to that unless there are some real morons in my pack.” Well, honestly, I guessed that was a distinct possibility. I added, “If I have to fight, I’ll fight, Nas. I’m not asking you to be anything but who you are.” I pointed back toward the door. “We can have this fight all over again in the cell if you want. If you yell at me in public, Nas, the only thing you have to worry about is the possibility I lose my sense of humor and spank your ass in front of the pack.”
She was still glowering at me, but there was an edge of humor as her lips edged up, too. She finally gave in and smiled. “Kinky.”
I snorted as I stepped in close to her. Her chin lifted, meeting my eyes evenly. She didn’t back away when I dominated her with my size. Her hands slid up my chest, her touch sparking across my skin.
“You’re my girl, Nas,” I told her. “Just the way you are. The pack will come to respect you just as I have.”
Her lips turned up at the corners. “That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“You know I fucking adore you,” I said.
“Maybe,” she admitted. “But respect is a good thing too.”
“Of course I do,” I grumbled, and she smiled at my grouchy tone. “You’re smart and resourceful and you never stop fighting even when the odds are against you. And,” I leaned in close, as if I were going to whisper a secret, “You might have terrible taste in vampires, but it’s balanced out by your great taste in shifters.”
She tilted her head back and laughed. That laugh of hers sparked something warm and content in my chest.
Since the long line of her neck was exposed by her laughter, I leaned down and kissed her throat. I kissed my way across to the place beneath her ear, the part that made her hips jerk against mine. She twined her arms around my neck so I went on, devouring her as she began to writhe in my arms. I was rapidly learning the places where Nas liked to be touched the best--and just how she liked them.
“You never said no to the spanking,” I said as I yanked her shirt up. She was already reaching for my drawstring pants, urgency in her hands.
“Only in bed,” she said. “Not in front of the pack. Don’t make it weird.”
I shrugged. “Don’t make me make it weird.”
She fixed me with a glare, eyebrows raised. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“There’s not much I wouldn’t dare, Nas,” I warned her.
But even the argument couldn’t distract us from each other and from tearing away the last of our clothes. I was already shoving down her panties, then I grabbed her thighs, my big hands easily wrapping around her to lift her up against my body. She moaned into my ears, her hands caressing my chest, my shoulders. Just that sound almost had me exploding.
I pressed her against a tree trunk, pinning her there as I thrust inside her. She reached up and grabbed two branches, taking some of her weight off me, though I didn’t mind it. I could carry her easily. She bit down on her lower lip as if she were holding back her cry of pleasure as we began a slow cadence, her hips rocking with mine.
And I might not remember what the sunrise looked like, but I could commit that look on her face to memory.
5
Nasima
The way Ambrose could move his hips should have been illegal. Hell, maybe it was and that was why he was in Nightstone. I wanted to laugh at the thought, but my breath was stolen by the movement he put at the end of his thrust.
It moved the head of his cock just right so it rubbed against that most sensitive spot. I don't know how Ambrose knew to keep doing that, but he didn't stop, not until I was rushing over the edge of my first orgasm. My whole body clamped around his. My legs circled his waist, my hands holding me to him as the rest of me bucked and twitched.
Ambrose's movements had slowed at some point and when I was able to think aga
in I breathed, "Holy fuck."
"I'm just getting started," Ambrose growled in my ear. He pinned me to the tree, his hips grinding against my own.
We stayed like that for a moment before he brought us down to the ground, without him ever leaving my core. His abs shifted against my thighs as he settled onto his back in the grass, his big hands gripping my hips.
He growled, "Ride me, Nas. Show me how you like to fuck. Show me what that luscious ass of yours can do."
I wasn't about to bow out when his words sounded like a challenge. I planted my hands on his chest and rose until it was just the very tip of the head of his cock inside me, and that was where I started. I pumped up and down never lowering myself past the head of his cock until he was trying to push up into me. Every time he did I stopped and raised off him completely.
Finally, he accepted his fate, although he growled and snarled at me the whole time, and let me work my magic on him. Now he was willing to let me play, so for every few pulses I did on the head of his cock I dipped all the way down, letting my hips smack against his. My core sheathed him completely, before going back to just the head. Each time I took him fully inside me he shouted and growled in pleasure.
I could only keep that up for so long though before what were essentially really low squats were making my thighs burn. Switching it up, I sat down on him completely, rocking my hips back and forth and side to side until I was spelling out my name with my hips. From the look on his face, he loved every second of it.
His hands began roaming my body once more though, my hips only distracting him for so long before the greedy wolf wanted more, and I was only too happy to let him have it, let him touch and take what he wanted from me. The sensation changed as he spread my knees wide and slipped his hand between us. It was only a matter of time until he took control again. The man couldn't let it go for more than a few minutes before he had to snatch it back from them.
His fingers slid around my clit, working frantic circles until I lost my pacing and he began to thrust into me from below in time with his fingers. The man had already learned how I liked to be touched ridiculously well. A few long strokes of his cock, combined with the talents of his fingertips, and I burst over the edge of a second orgasm.