by Zoey Marcel
There was a large gathering a little ways outside the library as if the building had been evacuated. He rushed over to where Dexter Woods, a beaver shifter, stood.
“What happened?” Cory demanded.
“Somebody called in a bomb threat.”
“On the library?”
“I know, right. Who the heck calls in a friggin’ bomb threat on a library?”
Lucius. It had to be.
“Where’s Chanel?”
Dexter shrugged. “You’ve got me.”
Dawson spoke frantically to Cory through their link. “She’s still in the library. He must be gone now, but something’s not right. It’s like...it’s like she’s dying.”
Cory ran inside the building without a moment’s hesitation. A few people yelled at him, hoping to dissuade him from what they supposed to be a suicidal endeavor, but he didn’t care. Chanel was still inside. He hollered for her and raced up the stairs, feeling goose bumps prickle against his skin when the scent of blood filled his lungs—his mate’s blood.
His heart nearly stopped beating altogether in his chest when he saw her lying on the floor with a gaping neck wound. His eyes welled and he skidded on his knees across the carpet to kneel beside her. He lifted her head carefully and rested it against his lap, unable to keep his tears from falling and pinging onto her face.
“Baby, what happened?”
“I was in the bathroom. I tried to get out, b...but someone held the door...on the other side.” Chanel looked afraid as she struggled to speak while trembling in his arms. “When I finally got out, everyone was gone and Lucius was there.”
Cory clenched his fist in hatred and used his other hand to wipe the blood from her lips. “Did he hit you?”
Chanel started to weep. “No. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Cory. I didn’t want to...He said if I didn’t he would kill my baby.”
Cory got chills. “What did he make you do?”
“He made me drink his blood after he drank mine. I’m so scared.”
“Shh. It’s all right. I’m gonna get you to the hospital.” He pulled Chanel to her feet and swept her into his arms.
“No, you can’t take me there! It’s too dangerous.”
“What do you mean?”
“We exchanged blood. It’s only a matter of time until I become a vampire like him.”
* * * *
Brad felt his stomach turn as a sinking feeling of despair and insane worry clawed at him. He got Cory’s text. Lucius had given Chanel the turning bite. If they didn’t hurry, she would become a vampire. He didn’t know of any way to prevent that from happening, but he knew someone who probably did.
He sent a quick text back to his little brother. Take her to The Gothic Angel. Joaquin will know what to do.
Cory texted a reply back. What the hell does that Dom know about the undead?
Don’t ask questions, you idiot. Just get her over there as quick as you can and tell him what happened. If anyone can save her, he can.
Brad knew Joaquin Sullivan was a sanguinary vampire, though few others did. Vampires and demons weren’t allowed in town, either as citizens or even to simply pass through. Ancient history had mandated the need for such caution.
Brad had seen Joaquin drinking blood from a vial once. He would’ve said something, but unfortunately, years of friendship with the vamp had won over Brad’s compliance with Temptation’s policies. He didn’t want Joaquin to get run out of town or executed simply for existing. Brad kept an eye out to see if the vampire would attack anyone in town or the club, but he never did. Apparently, Joaquin adhered to the former rules of Temptation and kept his hunting outside the town limits.
Brad sped into Temptation and did the quickest parking job of his life. Ben Easton would probably give him a ticket if he saw the shitty way he’d parked. It didn’t matter, though. Chanel’s life was hanging by a thread.
Brad used his access card to enter through the courtyard since the club was closed today. He pulled out his key and got inside the club as quickly as he could. When he entered the main area, he saw the club’s owners, Joaquin Sullivan and Dakarai Hawthorne, standing there with the bouncer, Nex Harper, and their lover and slave, Claire Lynravn. All four appeared shocked by the sight of Dawson and Cory holding a limp, bloody Chanel in their arms.
Joaquin’s gray eyes were as sharp and piercing as an icicle as they flickered from Chanel over to Brad. “What makes you so sure I can save her?”
Brad figured his job was probably at stake by confessing to knowing Joaquin’s true heritage, but he had to take that risk in order to have any chance at saving the woman he loved. “I know what you are, Joaquin. If you want to fire me for that then go ahead, but I need you to save her.”
Joaquin stiffened, eyes narrowing to dangerous slits. “How?”
“I saw you drinking blood once. I never said anything, because that’s your business, but she’s dying and you’re the only one who can save her.”
“Tell me the name of the one who bit her,” Joaquin demanded.
“His name is Lucius. He’s a psycho who’s been stalking her,” Cory explained as he laid a quivering, gasping Chanel onto a table.
A look of knowledge and familiarity entered Joaquin’s eyes as he walked calmly over to the table and placed a hand on Chanel’s leg. “Can you feel this?”
“No.” Her lips trembled as they started to turn a subtle, frosty shade of blue. “I can’t move my legs.”
Joaquin pulled his hand away and looked up at them. “She wasn’t bitten by an ordinary vampire. The one who did this injected her with venom.”
Dakarai appeared surprised. “Sanguinary vampires do not carry venom.”
“No, they don’t. Which means the one who bit her isn’t just a vampire. Either that or he’s a higher type of vampire,” Joaquin explained. “The poison helps to heighten sensations at first, particularly pain and euphoria, and then the victim goes numb and becomes paralyzed. She’s already too far along. She’s slipping. In a matter of minutes, she’ll be dead, if not seconds.”
“Damn it, no!” Cory and Dawson cried in unison.
“She drank some of his blood,” Brad told his boss.
Joaquin’s eyebrow rose at this and he glanced down at Chanel, who was struggling to breathe. “Then she’ll become a vampire within the next few minutes unless—”
“Unless what?” Cory shrieked.
“Unless you can get her to vomit up the blood she drank and suck out the poison he injected her with. But she’s already so far gone, there’s no guarantee that it will work,” Joaquin said with skepticism.
Dakarai left the room. “I will get the ipecac.”
Brad dropped to his knees and lifted Chanel’s arm to his lips, stopping when Joaquin placed a firm hand on his right shoulder.
“You owe me for this.”
Brad nodded. “I haven’t betrayed your secret yet and I certainly won’t after this.”
Joaquin stepped back and Brad lightly sank his canines into Chanel’s arm and started to suck. Her blood tasted sweet and metallic. He cherished the flavor, knowing it contained the life essence of his mate. He grimaced when the sickeningly sweet, acidic flavor of the venom flowed over his tongue.
“Spit the venom out,” Joaquin advised.
Nex set a bucket by Brad’s side for him to spit into.
Dakarai returned with the ipecac and Dawson put it to her lips.
“B–B...Baby,” Chanel feebly protested.
“For shit’s sake, you’re dying, woman!” Cory raised his voice, face distorted with concern.
“The baby will be fine, sweet thing,” Dawson reassured her. “Just drink this. It will only go to your stomach. He’ll never even get any.”
Her lips trembled, looking bluer still as she gulped some.
“Her eyes are turning yellow! We’ve got to claim her to save her!” Cory climbed onto the table and his fangs lowered.
Chanel snarled, eyes flashing to a glowing yellow as she lunged upward
and clawed at him.
“Hold her down!” Brad yelled as they pinned her limbs to the table to keep her still. “Make her drink more.”
Dawson crooned to Chanel softly and got her to drink some more.
Brad sucked until only her precious blood pooled into his mouth and he couldn’t taste any more of the poison. He picked up the bucket and placed it under Chanel when he saw her lurch forward. She hurled into it, breathing harder than before.
Her eyes were their natural, lovely shade of light green again and the color was gradually returning to her lips and cheeks as she panted. She wiggled her feet, appearing relieved that she could move again.
Claire got a big smile on her face as she came up behind Joaquin and wrapped her arms around his waist. “You saved her. You’re a hero.”
Joaquin pulled her arms around him more tightly so her body molded against his. “I expect a reward later.”
“We’ll pay you whatever you want,” Cory promised.
“I wasn’t talking to you.” Joaquin cocked an amused half smile before glancing down over his shoulder at Claire.
She grinned and squeezed him tighter. “Don’t worry. You’ll get a really nice reward.”
“I supplied the bucket,” Nex hinted with a subtle smile.
Claire laughed. “Yes, you did and Dakarai got the ipecac. I guess you guys need some kind of reward, too, but after the movie. I still want my night out on the town like we planned.”
Joaquin turned to face her, raising an eyebrow. “That sounded like a command. You’re not the one to make those, are you, slave?”
Claire blushed, though she seemed aroused. “No, Master.”
Joaquin stared at her expectantly until she bowed her head and lowered to her knees. “That’s better. You will give us our reward after I remind you of your place.”
Claire looked titillated by the idea, but Brad guessed she was secretly hoping to go and see the movie.
Joaquin’s lips twitched as though to keep from smiling when he hooked a finger under chin so she looked up at him. “Afterward, the four of us will go to dinner as planned and we’ll catch the later showing.”
Her face was beaming as she jumped up and threw her arms around him before hurrying over to the stairs. “Thank you! Oh, boy!”
Nex grinned and Dakarai smiled at her enthusiasm even as she got up before Joaquin told her to. He folded his arms and raised his voice. “Claire.”
“Oops!” Claire slammed to the floor on her knees. “Sorry...Master.”
“Crawl up the stairs to our bedroom,” Dakarai ordered. “We will be up there shortly.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Joaquin turned back to Brad and his brothers. “Chanel looks fine now. She’ll be all right.”
Brad stood and shook his hand. “I’m in your debt.”
“It was nothing.” Joaquin turned and shook his head.
Brad looked over to where Claire was crawling up the stairs with Nex crawling up them next to her in between making out on their ascent.
“Nex, you’re not helping,” Joaquin told him. He turned back to Brad. “You can show yourselves out.”
Brad nodded and chuckled inside as he watched Joaquin and Dakarai follow up after Nex and Claire. They had a good thing going. Whenever he saw Claire wearing the fancy slave collar her Masters had given her and the way she obeyed the three of them and how much they worshiped her, Brad felt a deep pain in his chest and no small amount of envy.
He wanted what they had. He wanted Chanel to belong completely to him and his brothers and to wear the collar they had for her. He wanted her to call him Master and trust him not to hurt or betray her the way her first Master had. He wanted to sink his teeth into that awful bite mark Lucius left on her and override it with his.
Brad caught the way Chanel watched Claire crawling on her hands and knees according to her Masters’ will. Chanel’s eyes lifted to his and Brad saw something pass between them in that moment. A sad longing overshadowed by paralyzing fear. She must’ve read what he was thinking in his eyes. A sudden understanding filled hers and she averted them to escape his.
He almost lost her tonight, and Brad silently swore to himself right then and there that he would do whatever it took to keep that from ever happening again, even if that meant making her his slave and blood mate.
Chapter Sixteen:
Persuasion
Chanel loved the way her bare pussy felt in her panties as she went into The Gothic Angel with her men. Brad had shaved her cunt earlier and the experience had been erotic as hell. He’d planted a kiss on her naked mons when he was done, and she’d about died of pleasure and begged him to eat her out. However, he’d simply smiled and walked out of the bathroom, telling her to get dressed for the club.
Now here she was with her cowboys, feeling both nervous and excited to be in such a provocative place with her lovers. Dawson and Cory exchanged meaningful glances with their oldest brother and remained out in the main area while Brad led her by the hand to one of the private rooms and shut the door.
They were alone now. He’d taken her alone before, but had kept the encounters relatively tame, likely to keep from jarring any unpleasant memories of her past with Lucius. Well, as tame as Brad Taylor could be.
Now Chanel wasn’t sure what to think. She had a feeling he would turn all alpha male on her now that he had her alone in a sex club and the thought terrified her as much as it thrilled her.
“Take off your clothes, sweetheart.”
The command with the pet name threw her for a loop. Was he playing Dom or behaving as her lover? His tone sounded tender, but his eyes had sharpness to them and he tilted his brow when she challenged him with her inaction.
Still confused as to the nature of this encounter, Chanel stripped, waiting for him to do the same. He didn’t.
He walked over to the large bed and reclined on it on his side and stroked the covers in invitation. “Come here.”
A surge of electricity sparked in her veins and made her tremble with apprehension and need even as she padded over to the bed, barefoot in acceptance of his assumed authority over her. She lay down next to him, teeming with glee over the knowledge that he would touch her.
“Be still.” Brad stopped her hand when she reached for his shirt. He pulled her into his arms and held her as though he were comforting a child.
They’d snuggled together before, but generally after sex, or while watching a movie together on the couch. Never had he ordered her to strip and then cuddled with her while he was still dressed. It was hot and left her feeling vulnerable at the same time.
“Tell me about the day you met Lucius.”
“What? Why do you want to know about that?” Chanel tried to get up, but he held her still. “I don’t want to go there.”
“We have to go there, Chanel.”
“Why? Why do we have to?” Her face twisted with pain and she mewed when he lightly pinched her nipple and tweaked it uncomfortably.
“Answer my question.” His tone brooked no refusal.
His dominance paired with his former tenderness was a startling combination Chanel wasn’t sure she could handle. He was being loving and possessive at once, appealing to both her heart and her sex drive as he drew the truth and her submissive nature to the surface.
“We met at a coffee shop. He stood behind me in line. I didn’t have enough money to pay for my latte, so he bought it for me. I thanked him and he wanted me to sit with him and talk for a while. I couldn’t refuse him after the way he paid for my drink like that.” Lying naked in bed with the man she loved while he drilled her about her past with another man was awkward and bizarre.
The insane jealousy and anger over hearing about Lucius that Brad normally displayed was strangely absent from his face as he listened to her relay the story of their initial meeting together. His head bent to kiss the breast tissue he’d messed with, breaking her concentration for a moment.
“So you felt like you owed him something and you c
ouldn’t afford to buy coffee for yourself. Interesting. Pray, continue.”
Chanel squirmed. “Brad, this is weird. Are you drunk or something?”
“No one’s allowed to get drunk here in this club. That wouldn’t follow the lines of safe, sane, and consensual. Now finish your story.”
He wanted her to continue while he loved on her nipples with his tongue? She swallowed, trying to focus despite his pleasing oral ministrations.
“We talked a while. I told him I was down on my luck and he offered me a job.”
“What was the job?”
“He wanted a housekeeper.”
“And what was your assessment of him?” Brad licked her nipple and breathed a hot puff of air onto the moist, sensitized flesh.
She gasped and snaked her fingers through his hair. “He seemed nice. Please take me.”
Brad pulled her hand from his hair and held her wrist immobile. “I want the truth, Chanel. You took the job, am I right?”
“Yes.”
“And if you accepted a job from a complete stranger, you were either destitute or fascinated out of your mind by him. He was more than just nice to you.”
Chanel tried to wriggle free, but his hold on her wrist only tightened. “Let me go.”
“We’re having a simple conversation, Chanel. You have no reason to shrink back unless you’ve got something to hide. And we can’t have a decent relationship if you keep secrets from me, now can we? You won’t hurt me with the truth, but you will hurt me if you hold back with me and I’ll punish you if you go back on your word and lie to me again.”
She let out a shaky sigh. “Yes, I found him handsome and intriguing, but I’m far more attracted to you than I ever was to him.”
“My desirability isn’t being called into question. We both know I’m gorgeous, so we’ll leave it at that. I simply want to establish the nature of your feelings for him.”
“My former feelings.”