Still facing the door, I blew out a long breath. Damn, that man was getting under my skin. From behind me Sam let out a long whistle. “Oh, shut up Sam.”
“Me thinks someone has some explaining to do.” Sam pulled me back over to the couch and flopped down on it, pulling me with her. “So after that little scene, you are not getting out of telling me what the hell happened today.”
Absently I slipped the necklace back over my head, Damien was probably right, it was safer around my neck than in my pocket anyway. “Which part?”
“How about all the parts, Lena? I need all the details.” She tucked her legs underneath her and waited for me to dish out the goods.
“Sam, there really isn’t much to tell,” I evaded.
“Lena, you could light a fire with the heat between you two, don’t even with me, spill,” she demanded, looking pointedly at me as she gave me no choice.
“Promise you’re not going to judge me Sam.”
She nodded, so I tried to figure out where to start. “So after the attack at the shop, the guys, Adrien and Damien, took me back to Reflections for dinner. Their friend was there and joined us, but other than that, the club was empty. So the four of us had dinner and they were funny and sweet. They are really great guys and not just assholes that are full of themselves like I first thought.
“Adrien thought it would be funny to get cupcakes for dessert, and then, well Damien was eating his all like a fucking princess so I squished it in his face.” I shrugged as if it were nothing.
“Lena, you didn’t!” Sam laughed. “Of course you did, okay, so what did he do?” Wide-eyed she sat forward, wanting to know what happened next like she was watching some damn telenovela or something.
“He kissed me senseless. Seriously, one of the best, most demanding kisses I have ever had.”
“That explains your little scene at the door! There’s nothing wrong with a kiss Lena, you deserve to have someone want you.”
“Well, he stopped and just walked away, leaving me frustrated as hell,” I grumbled in irritation.
“What the fuck did he do that for?” she asked, just as peeved as I had been.
“I still have no clue. After that, Adrien came to check on me and wait while…well just wait with me to leave, and one thing led to another and Adrien kissed me too.”
“Lena! This is fantastic! Two kisses in one night from two sexy as hell men. I know they had to be amazing, why would I judge you for that?”
“I didn’t just kiss Adrien, Sam. I fucked him right there on the couch in the middle of the club.” I stopped when she gasped. “I told you not to judge, damn it!”
“Totally not judging! I’m just surprised you let yourself go enough to do that, in the middle of the club Lena!” I could hear the disbelief in her voice.
“Well not in the middle, it was kind of on the side. The club was empty, remember?” I hesitated, then continued, “Well sort of…” Ugh, this was not getting any better. “So yeah, Damien saw us and watched, I mean like watched us finish. And I, I kind of liked it.” There, it was out. She could think what she wanted, but at least it was out.
“Of course you fucking did! Lena, that’s hot as hell!” exclaimed Sam.
“Wait, what?”
“Lena, it’s hot as fuck to have two men want you that much. Not to mention, I bet it was fucking amazing.” Gleefully she continued, “Why didn’t you ask him to join you?”
“What?” I couldn’t believe what she was saying.
“Why didn’t you ask him to join you? I’m assuming from your reaction to him at the door that you very much wanted him too.”
“That’s not the point, Sam. It doesn’t matter if I wanted him or not, it can’t happen. It’s not fair to either of them to be with one and still want the other.”
Wiggling her eyebrows Sam grinned at me. “Who’s to say you can’t be with them both at the same time?”
“You can’t be for real right now!” I gaped at her
“You obviously want them Lena, and they clearly want you. Cue boner at the shop and heated scene at your front door. Hell, they’re good friends and might go for it, you never know if you don’t ask.”
“What does that make me, Sam? I’ve never believed in being with more than one person at a time.” Who was I trying to convince that it might be a problem now—her or myself?
“Lena, you have always been capable of feeling so much, you’ve just kept yourself walled off to the world and I get it. It doesn’t make you anything other than someone exploring her feelings for two men that might feel something for her too. If they’re cool with it, then give it a chance. You deserve that.”
I sat quietly for a minute considering what she had said. I had always walled myself off from the world, but I didn’t want to get hurt. I already felt so much hurt from a mother that abandoned me, and I had never even met her. How much worse would it have been if I grew attached to someone and they did the same thing?
Was it as simple as Sam made it sound? Could they both want me enough to share me? The idea of them actually sharing me at the same time made my skin heat. I had expected Sam to call me crazy for even thinking it. If she hadn’t, then maybe they wouldn’t either. Neither had seemed to have a problem with my affections toward the other, and had kind of been turned on by it if I thought back to it. Maybe she was right and I could have both of them.
“Maybe Sam. We’ll see how it plays out,” I hedged.
“Just promise me you won’t overthink it or close yourself off to it?” Sam asked.
“I won’t, I will be open to it and to them,” I promised.
Sam laughed. “I bet you will be open to them!” she quipped, as she laughed harder and doubled over.
“Sam, you dirty fuck! Really, you had to go there?” Chuckling I hit her with pillows.
“Okay! Truce,” she cried out, giggling from under the cushions. I stopped and pulled some of the pillows from off of her. She leaned over and hugged me hard. “I love you, Lena. Don’t ever get hurt without me again, okay?”
“I love you too, Sam.” I hugged her back. I was so grateful she rushed into my life that day I had moved in.
Standing up, Sam pulled me up from the couch with her. “Time to get you into bed. You’ve had a long day and you need sleep if you’re going to go back and deal with your sexy men. I’m not taking no for an answer.”
“I won’t argue, I’m exhausted,” I said slipping into the bed with her. We had slept like this several times when one of us had a bad day. Most of the time it had been when Sam went through a break up and needed to cry it out with someone. It was nice to have someone there to comfort you and tell you it was going to be okay with no strings attached. I started to drift off to sleep, thinking about everything that had happened that day.
The loud crash from the shop echoed through my head, pulling me a bit further from slumber. Great, it looked like I was going to dream about the bad stuff and not the good stuff. Couldn’t I dream about sexy times with the guys instead of the shitty part of my day?
Another crash had me opening my eyes—great, no sleep. I looked over hoping I didn’t wake Sam, but she was staring at me wide-eyed. “Lena, did you hear that?” she whispered.
I nodded, it wasn’t a dream, but a living nightmare. Someone was breaking into my apartment. After what I had been through today and learned about, I knew it couldn’t be good. Sitting, I slipped my feet out of bed and onto the floor, with Sam mirroring my movements.
I heard a small bump and mumbled voices in the living room. Indicating that Sam stay quiet, I tiptoed to the door to see who was in the other room. I tried to peer around the doorframe, but I couldn’t see anything. Looking back at Sam I lowered my voice and whispered, “I’m going to see who’s in there.” She vigorously shook her head back and forth.
Suddenly she shot up from the bed. “Lena, behind you!” Sam shouted as she lunged for me. Arms abruptly closed tight around me from behind.
“Let go of me, you fucker!
” I yelled, kicking and flailing.
“Drug her and let’s go,” a rough voice said from somewhere behind me. Sam reached us, trying to claw at the man in an attempt to pull him off me, while I struggled to kick him away. He swatted her back, sending her flying against the dresser. She crashed to the ground and lay there slumped over, unmoving.
“Sam, no!” I shouted. “Mother fucker! Sam!” I thrashed harder against the iron arm that was wrapped around my chest keeping me from escaping. I bit down as hard as I could, drawing a lot more blood than I had expected, and bile rose in my throat.
“Drug the little vampire before she does any more damage, you idiot,” another man said just before a needle was driven into my neck, making me cry out.
“What do we do with this one?” a third man asked, kicking at Sam’s leg.
I wasn’t able to talk anymore, my head lulling to the side, and my attempts at kicking now futile.
“Bring her. We might need her as collateral.” From heavily lidded eyes I watched, unable to stop the asshole, as he lifted my friend onto his shoulder and carried her past me. My legs finally lost all feeling and buckled underneath me as I collapsed.
Those heavy arms raised me as I drifted off into darkness, which for the first time, was unwelcome.
Chapter Fourteen
Selena
Gradually coming to the surface of consciousness again, I tried moving my head but to no avail, each time I made the attempt it just made my temples throb more. My throat was dry, as if I had swallowed a cupful of sand, and my eyelids were heavy and scratchy, like they were weighed down by cinder blocks. I knew I had to snap out of this, whatever this was, to figure out what the hell was going on. And I couldn’t do that still drugged, dozing in and out.
I strained hard to hear if anyone was in the room with me. Hearing only silence, I tried to lift my hands to rub my eyes, but they wouldn’t move and stayed at my sides, motionless. Again I tried to lift my head to orient myself, it was still heavy but less so this time. Fighting the urge to fall back into the abyss, I forced my head up, letting whatever I was sitting against support it, and I slowly drug my eyes open.
Even the dim, artificial light in the room was harsh to my eyes. They were weighty and gritty, like I was dragging sandpaper across them. I blinked against it and willed myself to get rid of the fogginess and focus. After a few minutes of fighting, nodding off and forcing my eyes open, I was able to look around the room.
I had been left sitting propped against the wall in a small room that was faintly lit from a single overhead light. Although sparsely furnished, with only one chair and a small table to keep me company, I could still tell someone had expensive tastes. A beautifully carved wooden door stood opposite me and was closed, its thick ornate handle was a stark contrast to the meager room. Curtains had been drawn closed over the windows, the thin slivers of moonlight beyond were the only indication that it was still night. I had no clue how much time had passed though. Had I been here merely hours or had days passed?
I tried to reach up to rub my eyes again, and for a second time I was stopped by some outside force, causing me to look down. I had been shackled in thick, metal cuffs that were secured to the wall with an equally thick chain. Trying to rotate my wrists, I found the cuffs tight and unmoving, and they rubbed against my skin, making it raw. What the hell were they thinking?
Tugging against the heavy shackles I tried to pull my wrists free, the metal digging in farther and causing small drops of blood to well up. Sure Lena, do the obvious thing and tug on the fuckers. No one has ever done something that predictable in a movie, right? Guess next I’ll be like the bimbo in a horror flick, finally escaping only to run into a cornfield in the night, surrounded by vampires with nowhere to go. I’m not going to be the bitch that deserved to be killed in the cornfield.
Pushing my feet under me, I scooted more upright against the wall. I wanted to be able to face whoever came in, that was if they had any intention of coming back here at all.
I rested my head back, trying to gather my strength and figure out what had happened. They had broken into my apartment and drugged me, while Sam had tried to attack them. My stomach sank as I remembered that they had Sam too. What the hell had they done with her?
Sam had no clue what was going on, and she was going to be hurt because of me and some stupid fucking necklace. I had no idea if she was okay, and I needed to get out of this room and figure out how to save her.
My head jerked up when I heard the click of the door, signaling someone entering. Forcing my eyes open again, I watched as two people move into the room, shutting the door behind them. I recognized Alex from outside of Reflections as he stepped forward, his big bulky frame hovering over me and the putrid breath were unmistakably his.
“Well, looks like I finally caught ya, huh? My Lord is going to be extremely pleased.” Sneering in my face, he bent down and tipped my head to the side, his fingers rough against my cheek, making me want to pull away. I wasn’t going to give him the pleasure of seeing me cringe though. I met his eyes as ruthlessly as he had mine, refusing to back down.
“Ya still have a little bit of fight left in ya, don’t ya girl?” He chuckled. “Kyra, what do you think?”
The woman who had entered with him stepped into view and I knew my eyes betrayed me as she sashayed toward me. She knew I recognized her from the funeral home, that long ponytail was still pulled tight against her head, and her long legs were now outfitted in tight black jeans. Squatting in front of me, she ran her thumb across my lips. “Hello pet, miss me?”
Jerking my head away from her I kicked out, trying to knock her off her feet. She was too fast and laughed, easily jumping over my much slower and still drug ridden legs.
“I think you’re right about this one Alex, she is quite the little ball of fire. You know, if you play nice and give them what they want, they might let me keep you as a pet. We could have all kinds of fun, you and me.” There’s no way I was doing anything these asshats asked of me, no matter how they tried to convince me.
Kyra squatted in front of me again, her impossibly long legs folding down as she became eye level with me. She lifted one of my shackled wrists, the blood now pooling again beneath their binds. Her eyes dilated as she looked at me and I knew for sure this time that red rings formed around her irises. She licked her lips and stared back at my bound wrists. Gradually, she lifted one to her mouth and she slowly started to lick the blood where it had collected against the cold metal. I cringed and yanked my wrist from her mouth, the chains rattling as I pulled my hands back to my chest.
“Get the fuck off me, you cunt!” This time I kicked out and caught her off guard, knocking her to her ass.
Alex stepped around her as she scrambled to get back to her feet. “Ya just need to do what our Lord asks of ya, and he might play nice with a pretty little thing like you.”
“What the fuck makes you think I am going to play nice with any of you?”
“If ya don’t, then you’re gonna be regrettin’ it, that’s for sure,” he threatened.
“Kind of like those marks that are still fresh on your neck, Alex? Did you forget to play nice with your lord?” I baited him, I wanted him to get angry, maybe he would slip up and say something, give me anything. His face bloomed with fury as his beefy hand flew to his neck, covering the mark.
“Ya just mind ya own damned business about that!” he yelled.
“Touched a nerve, did I Alex? Not your lord’s favorite now because he had to punish you? Is that it? And he sent you here, to what, babysit?” I chided again, hoping it would push him over the edge.
Alex lunged at me from across the room, only being stopped short by Kyra. “Our orders are not to hurt her, Alex. Don’t let her get to you!” She heaved in deep breaths, fighting to hold him back as I smirked at him from my seat against the wall. When his struggles against her stopped she released him.
Kyra cocked her head to the side and studied me for a minute. “I could really ha
ve some fun with someone like you, and one taste is not going to be enough. See you soon, pet.”
“I’m not your fucking pet, bitch!” I yelled after her as she turned and swayed from the room, Alex hesitantly following her and still intent on getting even with me for bringing up his wound.
As the door shut behind them I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. Well, I failed to get any information from Alex, but it had been nice to see him so riled up. Kyra might be stunning but she was a creepy ass bitch, and I had no intention of being her pet, whatever the fuck that meant.
I looked around the room again, trying to see if there was anyway I could try to break these locks, only coming up empty handed once more. I needed to get out of here so I could find Sam and leave this fuck show behind.
Whoever the fuck this ‘lord’ person was needed to hurry up and get to the fucking point so I could have some answers. I needed to figure out what exactly he wanted and use it to my advantage, so we could get out of here. For the first time I noticed the familiar weight of the amulet around my neck, its gentle pulse a mild comfort against my skin as I racked my brain for a solution.
The door opened again and I watched as four men in suits filed in. Each one standing straight and unmoving once they reached their place on either side of the opening. An older man entered last, assisted by a cane. Tall and thin, he wore a suit that appeared to have at one time fit him nicely, however it hung loosely now on his gaunt frame. He had a sharp face that was shrewd in its assessment of me, watching me unabashedly as he crossed the room. When he stepped into the light I noticed his eyes were an ice-blue, a bright contrast to his pupils. Even more startling was the red ring around his iris, similar to Kyra’s but much more prominent.
“I have heard quite a bit about you my dear. You have certainly been causing a stir among my people,” he stated, his voice cracked and gravely. His thin hair hung loose and scraggily around his face, and he brushed it behind his head again. At one point he may have been attractive, but he definitely wasn’t now.
Tattoos and Cupcakes (Amulet of Queens Book 1) Page 13