He’d changed into a dry shirt and jeans in the time it had taken her to do the exact opposite. But that wasn’t the reason for the serryn’s appraisal. She was checking him out – and unashamedly so. He would have laughed had the blatancy of the act not been so intentionally defiant.
‘You’re even better-looking in the flesh than they say you are,’ she said, those eyes locking on his again.
Coming onto him in his private quarters, or mocking him – both were intrepid acts. But then he had to remind himself this was a serryn he was dealing with, despite how small and helpless she looked. In Blackthorn, neither of the latter meant a thing.
‘How long have you been working the streets of Blackthorn?’ he asked. ‘Only I haven’t heard whispers of a serryn on the loose.’
‘That’s because I’m good.’
‘So good that you got caught?’
She frowned. ‘That’s not how it was.’
‘Then how was it exactly? Only going from the lack of recent bites I saw on you, you’re not very successful.’
‘I’m picky.’
‘Is that even possible for a serryn? I understood you’d go with anything.’
Her eyes flared, but almost undetectably had he not been looking so closely. ‘What exactly does any of it have to do with you? The vampires are none of your business, right? That’s how it works around here – you stay in your little pound and they run Blackthorn. Which raises the question as to what I’m doing here.’
‘You’ll know when I want you to know. Until then, you’ll do as you’re told – starting with getting dressed.’
She used the leverage of one arm to lower herself nimbly from the vanity unit, the other hand keeping the knot of the towel at her chest. She stopped in front of him.
‘Because you’re going to tame me, right?’ She dared to smirk as she echoed his words from in the ruins.
It was a smirk he’d seen once too often for one day.
As she sidestepped to slip past him, Jask braced his arm across the doorway.
‘Did I say I’d finished with you?’ he asked.
She took a step back, but not out of intimidation it seemed – instead to look him direct in the eyes. She folded her arms, emphasising the enticing upward curve of her small breasts now brimming the top of the towel. ‘Why, Jask? What have you got planned next? Strip me all the way this time? And then what? You lycans like to come across all civilised, but we both know what you are underneath. You scratch behind your ear and howl at the moon with the best of them, I bet.’
Her ignorance, intentional or otherwise, was about as appealing as the way she looked at him as though she’d fallen face first into sewage.
‘You’ve got a lot to say for yourself for someone in your predicament, serryn.’
‘I’ve got a lot to say for myself whatever the predicament.’
His heart rate hitched up a notch. The first signs of tension formed in his chest. He kept his fists clenched to remind himself not to allow his talons to slide out from beneath the protective covering of his nails.
Corbin had been right – she was going to be hard work. And despite his light-hearted remark back on the wasteland for Rone and Samson’s benefit, both he and Corbin knew the gravity of the situation. The fact was that he did need to tame her – and tame her he would. And that’s what he had to keep his focus on – not on the blood pounding from his heart at the arrogant witch staring him down. Not on the thought of other circumstances, another time, when she’d have spent the next few minutes on her knees begging for his mercy – and doing whatever he asked of her to secure it.
He’d let his pack down before by letting his instincts take over – and he wasn’t going to do it again. Which was why, first and foremost, he needed to work out exactly what he was dealing with.
Jask took a couple of steps towards her but she didn’t flinch.
She didn’t just have spirit; she appeared to believe she was titanium-coated – her inherent gift deluding her with a sense of impenetrability that, if the rumours were true, was characteristic of all serryns. Seemingly their spat in the shower hadn’t quelled that confidence, nor had losing to him out on the wasteland.
But even he had to admit she’d put up a decent fight out there. If her moves hadn’t been so learned, so predictable, she may have got one or two more to make impact. She’d soon discover though that her toned, nimble body wasn’t anywhere near as invincible as she liked to believe – not if she continued to look at him with such contempt.
‘You smell better already,’ he said. And it wasn’t a lie. Not only did she smell good now that her own scent took over but the closer he got, the better she looked. Her eyelashes, now free of thick black mascara, were fine but generous and with a feminine upward kink. Her earth-brown eyes were glossy despite being bloodshot – the latter either from the recent onslaught of soap or too many sleepless nights. Haughty eyes that were perfectly complemented by her delicate, slightly upturned nose. But it was those full, shapely lips that spoke too quickly and too cuttingly that would cause her the most trouble if she wasn’t careful.
She frowned. ‘I bet you really enjoyed that, didn’t you? Stripping me like that.’
‘I was fighting to contain myself.’
Her eyes narrowed in defensiveness. It seemed she took sarcastic insults less well than losing in combat. ‘I bet you say that to all the girls. You are into girls, aren’t you, Jask? Or is there something between you and Corbin you’d rather not share?’
It was an impulsive retort. A revealingly childish retort.
It was his turn to smirk. ‘You’re nothing but a kid, are you?’
Her eyes flared again. ‘I’m twenty-nine, you patronising git.’
‘Like I said – nothing but a kid.’
Her folded arms tensed, revealing any slight against her status was another button-pusher. ‘The reputation that precedes you is quite phenomenal, Jask. I must admit I was a little worried when I knew you’d been called. But you’re nothing but a pretty boy hiding behind the rumours, are you?’
He’d already had enough questions forming during the return journey about how she’d allowed herself to be manacled to a wall by two vampires. But now it seemed she was as poor at handling herself as she was them.
She certainly wasn’t what he’d ever imagined – the mature, smooth, seductive females he’d always understood serryns to be. She got frustrated too quickly. Was impatient for control. She was too erratic, too impetuous – particularly in response to any of her weaknesses being exposed. Let alone too temperamental and emotionally vulnerable, from the way those eyes brimmed with self-preservation.
Her serrynity was undeniable – the macabre evidence on the floor back in the ruins proved that – but her adeptness at using it was questionable. And that was the last thing he needed.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever been called pretty,’ he said, resting his hands low on his hips, skilfully diverting her attention there. ‘And it’s been a long time since I’ve been called a boy.’
It could have been a hint of a blush he’d seen – or a symptom of her anger.
Her gaze shot back to his. ‘Like you said, I’m too used to fighting vampires.’
From what he’d seen in the shower, she certainly had a few minor scars to confirm it. But aside from the fresh wounds to her neck and arm from the vampires in the ruins, there was only one other slightly older set on her inner thigh.
‘Don’t make this any harder on yourself than it needs to be, serryn.’
As unpredictable as she was, he didn’t expect her to flash a playful smile in response. And he didn’t need to feel tension now tighten in his groin as well. Thoughts switching to the sexual potential her kind was notorious for was most definitely one distraction he could do without.
‘That sounds like an enticing promise,’ she dared to say, that unsettlingly sexy smile lingering. She closed the gap between them. ‘Why, what bad things are you planning to do to me, Jask? Are all the rumours
about you true? Are you really as insatiable as they say? Only you may have a few thousand years of evolution under your belt but I’m right, aren’t I, about the animal still lurking inside? And unleashed during the sex act more than any other time, right? I hear you got so carried away once that you tore your partner’s throat out. Is that true? Only I love a bit of risk between the sheets.’
As every part of him stiffened, he resolved to add painfully naïve to her profile. ‘Been with a lycan before, have you?’
Her tongue played over her top teeth, drawing his attention to her lips. ‘No. I never thought it worth my while. But being around you is changing my mind.’ She dared to look him direct in the eyes as she said it. ‘For you I could definitely make an exception to the rule.’
He promptly added suicidal tendencies to the list. ‘Is that right?’
‘You’re very restrained, Jask. Just like you were back on the wasteland. That kind of self-control is an extremely attractive quality. But tell me, what does it take to break it?’
Confident words. Confident stance. But he’d seen the way she’d looked at him as he’d pinned her on the ground. For that moment, she’d panicked. Being out of control had scared her. And now he’d seen enough to know that smart retorts and gaining the upper hand sexually were her most trusty defence mechanisms.
Only she’d learn that self-control and restraint, fortunately for her, were now his most trusty defence mechanisms. And no smart-mouthed, attitude-laden little witch was going to make him lose what he had spent decades refining.
Not now. Not when he needed it most. Not when his pack needed it most.
‘Take the rest of your clothes off,’ he said. ‘Or I will strip you. And I will drag you naked down the stairs, through the lobby and out onto the green, where I will rope you down and spread you on the lawn for all my pack to see. If you think I’m joking, you keep glowering at me like that.’ He stepped around the back of her, picked up the shirt she had discarded and slammed it against her chest as he drew level again. ‘Or you can do as you’re told.’
Her scowl deepened as she bunched the shirt up in her hand, but it only took a few more seconds for her to choose the smart option.
She abruptly turned away from him, away from the windows. Lowering the towel to her slender waist, she unfastened and slipped off her bra with curt movements before tugging on his shirt and letting the towel drop to the floor. She fastened the buttons before turning to face him again. Eyes fixed on his in the only act of defiance she had left, she bent over to yank off her knickers before dropping them to the floor. But the whole sullen act was ruined as she folded her arms, the too-long shirt sleeves flapping over each other adding an unintentionally comical touch.
But he wouldn’t let himself smile. This was about taming, not playing.
He gathered her wet clothing from the rail before scooping up her underwear from the floor.
‘What are you doing with those?’ she asked.
He turned away from her and pushed back through the curtain.
‘Hey!’ she called after him.
But he was already through the next curtain and approaching the door, collecting his boots along the way.
‘You can’t just walk off with my stuff!’ she protested as she swept through the curtain behind him.
Less than an hour and already every one of his nerves were sparking.
He slammed the door behind him and locked it before heading back towards the stairs.
He glanced over his shoulder as he heard something make contact with the door from the other side. And this time his smile reluctantly broke through. Grating though she was, she was undeniably entertaining.
Another time, another place, another him, and he could have spent the next few hours reminding the serryn that, though lethal to vampires, she was in a lycan den now.
To some extent, he still could.
He descended the broad steps, handing the bundle of wet clothes to one of the lycans he passed at the foot of the staircase. ‘Incinerate those, will you?’ he directed, before making his way back outside.
* * *
Sophia pursued Jask across the outer room, but not in time to stop him slamming and locking the door behind himself.
She turned the handle regardless, but it didn’t budge. She slapped her palm against the doorplate in frustration before turning and slamming her bare heel against the base of the door.
‘Bastard,’ she hissed under her breath as she marched back into the bedroom.
She stood at the window and looked to the exit beyond. From what she had seen while heading in and from what she could see now, the rumours about impenetrable security were true. And with security like that, let alone with lycans dotted around everywhere, there was no way she was getting out of there unnoticed.
Even if she had been a witch long enough to know any spells off by heart, let alone had access to what she needed to perform them, Jask was guaranteed to have the place surrounded by wards to prevent any semblance of casting. He would never have left her unbound if not.
If Rone and Samson couldn’t get her out, she was screwed.
They were who she needed – after she’d worked out why Jask wanted her. Because one way or another, more was at stake here and she needed to find out what.
Her heart skipped a beat as Jask headed out from the lobby and down the steps, his fair hair blowing in the breeze. She rolled up her dangling sleeves before folding her arms, irritated at how she trembled. But after her close encounter with him, she wasn’t entirely sure it was just out of anxiety or fury.
She’d been speaking the truth when she’d said he was even better-looking than the rumours – even if she had said it to wind him up, a refusal to be intimidated. But he was most definitely more than just a pretty boy. Jask Tao was in a league of his own. And his calm resolve in the bathroom, despite her prodding, was one trait that left her far too unsettled for comfort.
Composed, methodical and controlled – Jask was aggravatingly everything she wasn’t. Worse, she was already sensing the one-upmanship that only fuelled her irritation further.
He sat on the steps for a moment to lace up his boots, leaving his jeans bunched up against them as he descended the rest. As he crossed the quadrant towards the arch to the left, she admired his broad shoulders, the perfect triangle to his taut waist now a visible shadow as the early sunlight shone through his shirt – a shirt that skimmed his pert behind. And those arms that had held her down so easily, despite now being lax by his sides, still oozed power.
Lycan or not, that was one bedroom encounter she could do with experiencing – but the fact he was in that other league only exacerbated her barely contained frustration. Especially when he looked at her as though she was nothing more than a convenient commodity.
She watched him disappear through the arch where Rone and Samson had been taken and rested her hands on her hips as she turned around to scan the room.
First plan was to get to a phone. She’d try and call Leila or Alisha – find out what the hell had been going on. And then she’d call The Alliance and warn them.
She knew it was probably a long shot, but she’d try anyway. She rooted through his bed before searching the sole piece of furniture in the room – the chest of drawers nestled in the corner by the window. As possessions clearly weren’t a preoccupation for Jask, it was less than a minute before she turned her attention to his wardrobe.
She stood on tiptoe as she fumbled through the top shelf, finding little amidst a few sweaters and miscellaneous items. She prized apart the clothes on the rail, checking pockets, until she came to a few dresses tucked away in the far left-hand side. It seemed Jask didn’t sleep alone despite the rumours he didn’t have a mate. She quashed the stirring sense of disappointment. No wonder he was so contemptuous of her advances – it appeared the third-species leader had something of a rare honourable streak.
She turned her attention to the bathroom. She pulled out the drawers of the vanity unit, finding most
of them empty aside from some scent bottles along with some hair accessories and a few brushes – clearly belonging to the same female who owned the clothes. She picked up the nearest brush and examined the fair hairs it had trapped. She glanced back at her muss of dark hair in the mirror, before throwing the brush back in the drawer and slamming it shut.
She picked up her boots and marched back through to the lounge, but there was nothing there to search. She needed to look further afield.
Kneeling in front of the door, she upturned her left boot and slid the heel aside. Removing the pins hidden inside the hollow of the heel, she cast the boot aside again.
It was a basic lock and ridiculously easy pickings. Unlocking it within seconds, she turned the handle and opened the door ajar slightly to peer outside.
All was quiet.
She tucked her head through the gap and peered out fully onto the landing.
Countless bedrooms lay in the hallway beyond. And she knew from the fact they were only on the second floor that there were even more bedrooms above. Someone had to have left a phone around somewhere.
She got to her feet and opened the door.
But stopped herself crossing the threshold.
Giving away her escapology skills at that stage was not going to be helpful – not until she could guarantee contact with Rone or Samson. Not until she found out what they knew and, more importantly, what their motivations were for hiding it from Jask.
Strategy was more important than ever.
She closed the door again and relocked it. She tucked the pins back into place and sat on the floor to pull both boots on. She laced them up before resting back against the wall, stretching her legs out and crossing one over the other.
He may be stronger, but she was smarter.
She would turn this to her advantage. To the advantage of The Alliance. To the advantage of their cause.
She may have failed to take down powerhouse vampire, Caleb Dehain. The notoriously most wanted Kane Malloy may have remained as consistently elusive from the authorities as always, let alone from The Alliance. But she was right in the heart of lycan territory now with third-species ringleader number three.
Blood Torn (Blackthorn Book 3) Page 4