by Zoey Marcel
Ben glanced at her for answers. “Who’s Lucius?”
“An undead, sadistic bastard who’s stalking her,” Cory explained, folding his arms with a raised brow at Chanel when she failed to answer his question.
Ben became troubled. “Chanel, why didn’t you tell me you were being stalked by someone?”
“I didn’t think it concerned you.”
“What the hell do you think police are for?” He turned to Cory. “Did you say he was undead?”
Cory nodded. “Yeah, he’s a vampire and we think part werewolf. He turns into a bat, too, sometimes, so maybe he’s some kind of advanced bloodsucker.”
“We haven’t had a vampire pass through this town in years. What is this one doing here?” Ben queried.
“He’s stalking Chanel,” Dawson told him. “He already claimed her as his mate.”
Ben’s eyebrows tilted at this and he looked toward Chanel. “Are you all right?”
She nodded.
Brad folded his arms, dark eyes burning into her skull. “Ben, would you give us a minute?”
“Sure.” Ben headed out the door. “When I come back I want a description of him. I’ll let everyone at the station know and we’ll keep a vigil out for him.”
“Thank you,” Chanel said quietly.
“Ben, did any police go to the library today to teach the kids about safety and show them the new dogs?” Brad asked.
Ben looked confused. “No. Why?”
Chanel’s skin burned beneath Brad’s intense stare and the threatening way he said, “That’s what I thought. Thanks.”
After Ben left, Brad approached the bed and peeked inside her bandages in silence for a minute before coming around to face her, looking immensely displeased with her. “You lied to us, Chanel. You said you were filling in for someone at the library. And then you went and took your clothes off for another man.”
“I didn’t sleep with him. He just whipped me. That’s all.”
Brad tilted her chin so her eyes were locked with his angry ones. “I don’t care what the reason was. You don’t undress for anyone but us. Your body is for our eyes only. And I don’t want anyone hurting you like that again. When I find the son of a bitch I’m going to kill him for what he did to you.”
“He turned a little girl into a vampire. He said he would turn the other children in town, too, and hurt my baby if I didn’t obey him. I couldn’t let that happen.”
Brad’s hold on her jaw tightened. “I don’t give a shit if he was going to turn the whole damned world into his undead minions. You don’t ever lie to us or put yourself in danger like that again, ever.”
“You promised you’d never lie to us again,” Cory sputtered.
Chanel squeezed her eyes shut, voice cracking. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to do these things, any of them. I just want to be free of him so I can be with all of you, but I never will.”
“Yes, you will,” Dawson insisted.
“Look at me, Chanel,” Brad calmly ordered, brushing away her tear with a finger when she complied. “After you’re healed, I’m taking you to the club with me and you’re going to face your fears. I’m going to punish you for lying to us and breaking your word, and you’re going to switch your allegiance over to us completely. There won’t be any halfway crap between us. We want all of you and we’re not gonna share you with anybody.”
“Except each other, right?” Cory sounded concerned.
Brad smiled. “Obviously. Calm down.”
Chanel listened to his words in reticence. Her subconscious was vaguely aware that she should freak over his intentions with her, but in this moment, she felt too much physical and emotional pain to argue with him. She’d wronged them and she must pay for it. Brad wouldn’t hurt her, not like this. He would punish her for disobeying him, not pulverize her in anger, and she respected him for it.
“I’ll give you a safe word, but know that if you use it, it only ends the session. It won’t terminate your relationship with us. We’re not ever letting you go, babe. We mean to keep you forever.”
Chanel smiled weakly at Brad, feeling moisture gather in her tear ducts.
“Why do you want to be with me?” she whispered sadly. “I’m no good.”
Brad’s face became tender as he wiped away her tears and ran his fingers through her hair. “You’re the best person I know. Yeah, you have your bitchy moments, but you put your life in danger to save our baby and a bunch of children you don’t even know. I’m pissed off at you for subjecting yourself to harm, but sweetheart, even I can see the merit in your sacrifice. You have a good heart. You just need somebody to tear down those walls you keep putting up.”
Chanel smiled, sniffling over his words as she caressed the smooth hardness of his solid jaw. “I never should’ve gone to Vegas.”
“We’ll hunt him down and kill him,” Cory vowed. “Then maybe it’ll end the curse.”
Brad shook his head. “Death won’t end it, but I know what will. I talked to Jack Dillinger earlier and he was saying that if your true mates claim you, you’ll be free of Lucius and completely ours.”
Cory cheered and Dawson grinned. “I told you.”
“You were right,” Brad admitted, “but you were just guessing. We needed to be sure. Well, baby doll?”
She sighed. “I want to let you, but I can’t endanger you like that. You don’t know how jealous Lucius gets. He’ll kill you.”
“Nobody’s going to kill us, Chanel. And we’re not going to argue with you. Claiming you will save your life and our baby’s. The discussion is closed,” Brad told her firmly.
“You promised you wouldn’t claim me until I consented,” she threw out there, relieved by his defeated sigh.
Cory rolled his eyes. “Oh, sure, you can go back on your word to us, but heaven help us if we do the same with you.”
Her hypocrisy shamed her.
Brad shook his head. “No, she’s right. I gave her my word and I won’t go back on it. But you will give in to me, babe. I already know you want me and when you’re ready to admit that, I’m biting you.”
“Get rid of Lucius for me and I will.”
Chanel was tired of fighting the men she loved. She wanted to be claimed by them. She was worn out with being controlled by Lucius and having her baby’s life threatened. She wanted freedom and peace...even if that came through surrendering control over to Brad.
* * * *
A month passed and there was no sign of Lucius anywhere. The men searched for him, but never found him.
Chanel’s wounds healed fairly quickly due to her lycan genes, though her injury took longer than Dawson would’ve liked given how badly she’d been beaten.
He led her out of the snow and into the warmth of the auto shop. He’d made her close her eyes, telling her he had a surprise for her.
She opened them when he permitted her to and gave him a questioning smile. “What are we doing here?”
He grinned and flipped on the light switch so she could see the purple ’67 Chevelle he’d restored.
“Oh my god!” Her face lit up with evident jubilee.
“This is the car I told you I was working on a couple of months back, in December.”
“It’s so beautiful. Gosh, it looks just like the one you used to drive back in high school.”
He couldn’t keep himself from beaming with excitement. “That’s ’cause it’s the same one.”
She looked up in surprise and gaped at him. “What? You kept it?”
“No. I got rid of it after we broke up, because it hurt to drive it when I had all those memories of you in it with me. Last year when you started talking to me again, I got to thinking about all those good old times we had and that car. I tracked it down.”
“The same exact vehicle we...got to know each other better in?”
He grinned. “The very same one.”
“Oh my god! That’s so sweet.”
She threw her arms around him and he couldn’t recall a sweeter hug in his life.
> “Can I sit in it?”
“Be my guest.” Dawson got the car door for her like he always used to and Chanel thanked him as she got inside on the passenger’s side. He went around to the driver’s side to sit and turned on the stereo. “I fixed it up a bit, though the CD player is new.”
Her lips parted and her eyes misted when he put in a CD and turned on their song from back in high school, “I’ll Be” by Edwin McCain.
“It’s our song,” she breathed. “You have it, too?”
He nodded.
“And it’s the studio version, too.”
“Of course. That’s the best one.”
The song started to play, rekindling memories from long ago. Dawson took her hand in his, heart swelling with emotion.
Chanel leaned toward him suddenly and caught his lips with hers, kissing him passionately. Dawson tasted her soul in that kiss and he gave her his own in return as he put his arms around her.
He started to divest her of her clothes, flinching with uncertainty when she tried to free the buttons on his shirt. Why did she keep trying to get his shirt off every time they made love? Couldn’t she see how fat he was?
Her eyes looked pained but determined. “Don’t hide from me, Dawson. I want to see you. I love your body. Let me undress you.”
He let out a defeated sigh and rolled his eyes in humiliation as he let her have her way. Lord, he felt huge. Why did his brothers have to be so good looking? Hell, even that asshole, Lucius, looked better than him without clothes on.
Chanel didn’t seem repulsed by him. Her soft green eyes were warm and amorous as she took in his pudge.
“See, what did I tell you? It’s like looking at a Shar Pei, isn’t it?” Dawson tried to close his shirt, but she stopped him.
“You told me nothing. You’re beautiful. Well, man beautiful.”
He chuckled. “Thanks, sweet thing.”
“I don’t want you to be ashamed of your body.”
“Well, it’s not as macho as Brad’s or as toned as Cory’s.”
She put her finger to his lips to silence him. “I don’t want you to try to be them or them to be you. I love each of you just the way you are. I wouldn’t change a thing about you, Dawson. And you can stop eating oatmeal without sugar and salad without dressing. Eating healthy is good, but there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy a little flavor with your health food. You don’t need to lose weight for me. If you want to, then do it for yourself, but not for me. I love you the way you are and I think you’re sexy as sin.”
“Well, that’s a relief about the food. I really like dressing and a little sugar with that stuff.” Dawson looked at her in surprise when it occurred to him what she’d just said to him. “Seriously? You think I’m sexy?”
She smiled. “Of course. I always have.”
“But not just out of blind love, right? I mean, you’d still find me attractive even if you just saw me walking down the street and didn’t know me?”
“Of course. Your looks were the first thing that appealed to me when I met you back in high school and I love the way you dress.”
Dawson moaned his pleasure when Chanel ran her palm up his torso and teased his nipples. She actually had desire in her eyes...for him. She had back then, too, but she’d lost her virginity to him, so perhaps she hadn’t known she could do better than him.
With all her experience now, she would know. She had seen some buff bods and yet she had eyes only for him right now. She wanted to be with him and his brothers. The knowledge flattered him as much as it humbled him. This breathtaking angel wanted him.
“How did I ever get lucky enough to get a girl like you?” he whispered in disbelief.
Chanel smiled at him as she covered his chest in kisses and licked up and down his belly while she murmured hot and moist against his skin. “You won me over with those beautiful blue eyes of yours. I wanted my baby to have those eyes. You seduced me with your classy dress and that sexy cologne and your sweetness.”
Dawson groaned at the feel of her wet tongue flicking against his nipples and tracing circles around them. Her soft lips felt heavenly against his warm flesh and he had to have her without a moment’s delay.
“That feels so good. Why are you only half undressed?” he demanded with a playful smile.
Her expression turned flirtatious as she shed her bra, jeans, and underwear until she was bare before him. He swore under his breath when he saw her. He seldom cussed, but the sight of her gorgeous naked body bared to him was enough to draw the profanity from his lips.
Dawson undid his fly and pulled his pants and boxers down, exposing his pounding hard-on. Her eyes were ablaze with need when she saw it and her enthusiasm gave him confidence as equally as it did humility that someone like her actually wanted him.
“I wish you could see yourself the way I do,” she whispered right before her full lips met with his aching cock.
The intimate contact stole a gasp from him. She bestowed him with multiple kisses there before brushing his dick against her graceful neck and lush breasts. She kissed and nipped at his thighs while her hand fondled his needy balls.
A cry wrung from his throat and he grabbed a wad of her hair and gently yanked her head up. “Mount me...now. I can’t wait.”
Chanel smiled and then licked her lips with a gentle moan. “I love the way your cross necklace looks against your bare chest. It’s very hot.”
“The sacrilege,” he teased.
She grinned. “I meant it’s hot in a very holy way.”
He chuckled. “I see. Thanks.”
She climbed on top of him with her back to him. Dawson pulled her back up against his chest, loving the feel of her skin compressing against his. He kissed her neck and breathed in the clean, fresh scent of the shampoo and conditioner she’d washed her hair with.
He kneaded her breasts, in awe of them, uttering helpless sounds of ecstasy when she took his cock and put it to her pussy just before she sank down on it. Her pleasured sound made the penetration that much sweeter.
Chanel turned it back to their song and rode him gently as he thrust up into her and ran his hand all over her body while the other massaged her plump clitoris. Her desperate whimpers made him feel like a man again. She’d always made him feel masculine even when they dated back in high school. She knew how to give a man worth and make him feel like he could do anything.
On the other hand, when she was mad she could make him fear for the safety of his balls. He wouldn’t change a thing about her, though. She was perfect for him in every way.
Hearing their love song play while she gripped him with the tight, wet heat of her pussy was indescribable. It was a perfect union of love and lust that he knew he could never forget. The way she struggled to escape her impending climax and then ground her clit against his fingers to accelerate the process made him harder.
The windows had fogged up from their heavy breathing and the feel of her back rubbing against his nipples made them harden and tingle with awareness.
Chanel’s sounds were amazing as she came, breathing his name softly while her cunt latched an even firmer hold on his erection and milked it with everything she had. Her release triggered his about a few heartbeats later and he filled her slick center with his seed.
Neither said a word for a full minute in the aftermath as they panted for air and reflected on the sweet heaven of their lovemaking.
“Wow,” she breathed.
He chuckled. “Wow indeed.”
She pulled his arms around her tighter and they cuddled. Even when his cock started to deflate and he felt his semen running from her vagina and down his shaft, Dawson didn’t want to pull out of her. He never wanted to move from that sweet, treasured spot in her cunt.
He nuzzled her neck and breathed his warmth against her skin there with a whisper. “Don’t ever leave me again, Chanel. It would break my heart forever. Promise me you won’t.”
Chanel clutched his hand in hers and pressed his other palm against
her bosom. “I couldn’t ever leave you again if I tried. My heart died when I left you the first time. I never got over you.”
He held her tighter, eyes closing with emotion over holding the woman he loved in his arms again. “I never got over you, either. Promise me.”
She brought his hand to her lips and breathed her answer against his skin with a delicate kiss. “I promise.”
* * * *
Cory tried to take the night off work since it was his turn to keep a vigil on Chanel while she worked at the library. The Steins had been quite accommodating in the beginning, but this time they didn’t acquiesce since he’d already taken too many days off.
Dawson was working and Brad was out of town helping a friend move to Billings, but Cory was able to be with Chanel for most of her shift this time.
So far the day seemed pretty routine. It was another quiet day at the library and he’d been told a couple of times already to shush by a number of people. Even he knew he had a voice that hadn’t been created for libraries. He liked being loud and joking around, though he seldom realized how noisy he was being until in a place such as this or a church that required him to lower his volume. It was never easy shutting up. Talking was just way too much fun and he did have a nice voice.
Chanel had about an hour left on the clock, but Cory had to leave to go to work. He hated leaving her alone, even for an hour, but she insisted she was fine and they hadn’t heard from Lucius in a little over a month, so all was well. Cory hoped she was right.
He kissed her good-bye and headed to the bar to clock in. It wasn’t until a little ways into his shift that Cory heard Dawson speaking to him through their brotherly link.
“Are you with Chanel?”
“No, I’m at the bar working. I told you I’d have to leave early today.”
“Crap. I’m leaving the auto shop right now. She’s in trouble.”
Cory panicked. “What kind of trouble?”
“I’m not sure. I can sense that something’s wrong, but I can’t tell what. Someone’s keeping me from talking to her through our bond right now. That only ever happens when Lucius is with her.”
Cory briefly explained the situation to the Steins as he flew out the door and they gave him permission to take off. At least he thought they did. Either way it didn’t matter. Nothing was going to keep him from getting to his woman.