by Deja Black
A detective and the future leader of a deadly coven. What can go wrong?
Remi Devereaux is a Louisiana born detective working murder cases in Louisville, Kentucky. While shopping for game-day with the guys, he spots the most amazing person he has ever seen. Peter is a man Remi wants with his whole being, a man he just can’t let go.
Peter Romanoff is a photographer who possesses the spirit of two creatures. Two beings that are slowly tearing him apart. He needs a Supruga, a mate, to help give him balance. When he meets Remi, there is a magnetic pull he can’t deny.
The next in line to lead a powerful coven, Peter is hunted, and the people he knows and loves are being killed. It will take Remi’s love and Peter’s skills to combat the enemy after them. Can Remi be the balance Peter needs before the coven destroys them both?
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Broken Pieces
Copyright © 2017 Deja Black
ISBN: 978-1-4874-1566-2
Cover art by Erin Dameron-Hill
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXtasy Books Inc
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Broken Pieces
Broken Book 1
By
Deja Black
Dedication
For Lily, who fought me tooth and nail to get this book published.
For Rebecca who said, “You have endless talent.”
For my betas. Wouldn’t be anywhere without you.
For my family, “See, it’s worth it.”
For my readers, “Thank you taking a chance.”
When one door closes, another opens.
Prologue
She was drowning in her blood. The scent of it permeated the hardwood floor. Drips of it scattered on the wall—across the entire room—and still, they spoke to her asking her questions she had no idea how to answer. Her eyes rolled back in her head before blessed peace was stolen from her once again, blades sinking beneath her breast pressing against her slowing heart.
“Speak human.”
Human. They’d said that many times now as if they weren’t human themselves, but that would make sense, wouldn’t it? Only monsters would meet her at her door, drag her into her own home, and cut away at her like so much meat.
They’d asked her repeatedly about the students she’d taught, people she knew. Marisol was dying because of someone who’d probably vanished from her mind the day she gave him the grade for her course. How could they expect her to remember one student when semester by semester she taught hundreds?
Marisol was thankful that Rich and the kids were gone, had left the day before. She was sorry now that she’d asked to stay behind. He’d asked her to come, but Marisol had so much work to do. She barely even remembered sending them on their way. Never enough time. Now, Marisol wouldn’t even live to regret it. If by some miracle she was rescued, the lacerations on her body, the open and bleeding wounds, would leave nothing but a cold dead carcass behind within moments.
She would die, was dying, choking on bitter blood.
If she knew what they wanted, she would say it, tell them so she could have one more day, one more moment.
She’d say every word if they let her live to see her family again.
But, it was too late, had been the very moment she’d let them pass through the door.
Chapter One
“Well, would you look at that?” Remi moaned. Actually, moaned, too damned appreciative of the sight in front him. Instead of using those homicide detective skills he’d honed to end crime, he stood in the grocery store taking in the landscape of an ass so damned sweet, he fucking wished he could have a bite.
“Remi!”
Irked, he faced his partner of the last six, almost seven years now.
“Slow your roll, Remi. I don’t know what it is with you and your tunnel vision sometimes, but that right there? Not a girl, man.” Kaden huffed, breathless like they’d been running instead of walking the length of a grocery store aisle.
Remi paused. So, yeah, maybe Kaden wasn’t able to physically halt his progression, but the words, not a girl, made him think, for four or five seconds before he was moving forward again.
Looked like his dream was going on without him. And, that was so not going to happen.
* * * *
Peter heard the loud whispers discussing him. They watched Peter, but he wasn’t wearing anything that should warrant that much attention. One of his favorite Boss t-shirts, his blacker than black leather skinny jeans because he loved the way they fit, and the distressed brown boots he’d picked up the other day—nothing out of the ordinary.
There was a moment when he thought the guy whose hungry eyes trailed all over him was going to help him, but then along came his friend. By that time, he was able to reach far enough and grab the bottle himself.
Though, he wouldn’t have minded help from the stud back there, especially since his Good Samaritan was hot enough—all six-foot-five-plus and built wide as a redwood.
The other one, the redhead wasn’t hard on the eyes, either. Tall, lanky, and sincerely earnest, he insisted Remi know Peter was a man.
Yes, probably straight. Pity. The things Peter would do to that body covered in sinewy muscles, built immense and powerful, pleading to be used. The fitted t-shirt the brown-skinned man wore barely hid those pecs, the tapered waist, and those shoulders. Peter was a sucker for big and meaty shoulders. They’d make great anchors to hold on to while I—Why bother finishing the thought?
Goddess. Shaking his head he walked away, arriving at the checkout lane where his Second, Caleb, was waiting.
Arching one of his brows, Caleb zoned in on the bottle Peter grasped tightly. Nodding, he made room, and Peter slipped in between Caleb and the next person in line while he triumphantly waved his trophy, then added the bottle to the items.
Caleb doubted he could replicate Mrs. Dunham’s recipe, but Peter had everything, knew it backward and forward. He would prove it.
My, how fun. Peter smiled when he noticed the young cashier glowing for Caleb, her cheeks flush and the air filled with her excitement. Peter stepped closer, drew his arm along Caleb’s back, the sinewy musculature defined under his fingertips.
Leaning toward the cashier, he whispered while sliding his hand around to Caleb’s abs, “He’s available tonight if you’re interested.” The blush on the young girl’s face was delightful, and Peter was dying to capture it on film. He had to have her. Reaching into his pocket, he drew out one of his cards.
“Take this. Call me. Look just like that for me in front of my camera, and I’ll make it worth your while.” Taking the card, she shook herself from her stupor, her fingers trembling.
A flourish of sparkling glitter polish danced o
n her fingertips as she finished ringing them up but not finishing before his pursuer arrived.
That scent. Hot, tantalizing. Forget the blood-rare steaks Peter planned along with Caleb’s pork loin. Let him savor this morsel, and he would never go hungry again. Covertly, he turned to take a quick glance back, listening for the voice that thrummed along his nerve endings.
* * * *
“A man?” Kaden questioned as he stormed behind Remi, the thuds of his shoes echoing Remi’s own.
“Yes.” Not new information.
“You’re not even gay.”
Yeah, well. “No,” Remi said.
“And you’re still going after him?”
“With everything in me.” Remi scanned the area.
Now, he couldn’t blame Kaden for being worried. Kaden himself never lacked company, the two of them speaking many times of the women they dated, well, Remi dated.
Kaden? Kaden never got around to dating anyone. Still, he and his partner both had stories to share, and Remi’s stories painted him as straight as an arrow.
Even now, while he diligently soldiered down the aisles seeking that bright and shiny screw that turned his cork, gay had nothing to do with the urgency he felt. Once he saw his target, he couldn’t let him go, just leave without speaking to him.
He needed to see him.
“Oh.”
And, there he was.
“Hi.” Remi stopped so suddenly the moment he found his target, Kaden’s shoe clipped his heel, but he ignored that, more focused on how to speak to the vision before him.
As a big guy, something that was an asset with his type of work but often a detriment when meeting someone new, he was cautious of his approach, not wanting to scare him away.
While he didn’t dwarf the guy, he saw himself plucking him off the floor, pulling him close. He wanted to be near him.
Hell, he wanted to be in him.
Instead, he plucked the shopping basket from Kaden’s hands and set it on the conveyor belt.
From the vegan breath mints to the scented candles, there were all sorts of interesting odds and ends at the checkout counter. There were bright colors and the scents of vanilla and patchouli. Remi had even bought a few of the local cookies made by the Cookie Lady that rested appealingly on the counter. But, he didn’t want any of those today.
Today he was hyper-aware of this guy next to him, of how close they stood and how pleasing it felt to be this close. He wanted that, and he wanted more.
“So, cooking something special?” Remi questioned. The greenest eyes he’d ever seen peered sharply up at him, and Remi fell in lust just a little deeper.
Out of his peripheral, Remi noticed his companion. The guy wasn’t overly muscular—neither was he as broad as Remi. They were both relatively equal in height, both towering over most, but the man’s blue eyes hinted at something cold and deadly just beneath the surface.
“That is none of your business.” Definitely frosty.
“I was asking your—”
“No, you weren’t asking.” There was a flash then, a challenge. “You were looking, and he is not interested in what you’re offering.”
So, a warning wrapped in ice and served up with consequences, but that was okay, too. Remi didn’t own a bone that was afraid of the Cary Grant look alike no matter how dangerous he appeared.
“Is that correct?” he questioned. “Should be able to speak for himself, shouldn’t he?” But, those eyes were no longer on him.
Dismissed.
With a derisive sniff, the man turned around. Peeling off a few bills, he handed them to the cashier then moved his hand to the blonde’s elbow, and they walked away.
Beside him, Kaden rambled, “Brrr. That could have gone wrong in so—Remi?” Remi heard Kaden’s intake of breath before he shoved the few drinks and salty snacks, fruit, and bottles of water over to his partner and continued behind the men.
The companion glanced back sharply as the two walked out of the store and into the parking lot. “Isn’t this stalking?” He turned to steer the little beauty to a cherry red Audi Q5 parked in the shade.
“How about a simple attempt at conversation. Hello, pretty,” Remi said.
* * * *
Peter paused before his booted foot touched the floor of the car.
“Korol’ Krovi,” Caleb growled, fire gleaming from his blue eyes. “We don’t have time for this.”
Korol’ Krovi, a title he no longer wanted, one Caleb used in its entirety as some type of admonishment. Given a chance, he would forget it entirely. It didn’t matter that he was King of the Blood, successor to his father. He didn’t have a coven to rule, people of the blood to follow. He was merely the leader of a pack of wolves, with Caleb at his side. But, if Peter waited, his Second had no choice but to do so as well.
“Silence, Caleb.” Immediately, Caleb submitted. It was there in the arch of his graceful tanned neck, the downward shift of his massive shoulders, the appealing scent that wafted from him, tangy and sweet. “He said I was pretty. How can I resist?”
And, how could he? The man whose flesh he craved to sink his fingers into had complimented him.
Why not at least hear what he has to say?
Peter watched as his pursuer closed in, his size formidable. He wanted to go to him, to stand close and inhale him. Who was this stranger that in moments made him want things he’d given up on ever having?
An awareness rose within him, slid along his psyche with curiosity while another uncurled as if awakening from sleep.
“Remi.”
Peter enjoyed the silkiness of Remi’s voice, the way the sounds and undulations teased along his cock. This was new for him, these feelings, helpless against the desire within.
His wolf listened more carefully, more hungrily, whimpering for more. His nelapsi, the vampire side of him, push to the foreground. His eye teeth lowered, eager to take a bite, a nibble, a sip. It wouldn’t be the first time he was aware of its presence, the darkness that floated just below the surface. Nelapsi were feared among all vampires, brutal, deadly and without mercy. But, Peter’s differences did not stop the powerful need from rising to the forefront.
The feeling played along the nerve endings of his flesh, the pulse of his blood causing his veins to quiver in anticipation. Peter’s breath quickened as both entities within gathered strength.
Kristoff’s warnings from the past echoed in the background, but he chose to ignore them more in favor of savoring Remi’s racing heartbeat, immersing himself in the heady scent of arousal that rose in the air. He wouldn’t force another to become his balance, place on their shoulders responsibilities no person should carry. The tuning fork for his soul, there was no telling how his power would affect his Supruga, or if they would survive the energy that would course through them.
It was too much to think of right now when all he wanted, all he needed was to be closer to Remi.
“Peter,” Caleb whispered, loud enough for only Peter to hear.
How long had he and Remi been staring at each other?
“Stand down, Caleb,” Peter commanded softly. Stepping away from his Second, he drew closer to Remi. He was delightful, this one. The color of his skin was dark and creamy, holding an appeal that Peter wouldn’t—couldn’t—resist.
He pulsed with an energy that Peter imagined sampling. His blood. Would it be spicy? Would all that spirit, that vitality flavor it, make him ache for more?
Remi had his attention, those beautiful eyes on him alone.
“You take my breath away. You’re beautiful, but it’s so much more than that.” Remi moved closer. “And,” he continued roughly, “I need to know why I feel like you’re a part of my soul.”
Peter sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know.” Was this a smart, testing boundaries that only he was aware existed? Too dazzled by the man, he’d been drawn to him like an eager two-year-old to a lightning bug, but neither of them was innocent, espec
ially him. He turned back to the car.
* * * *
“Wait,” Remi couldn’t just let him go. He was cold when only moments ago, he was so warm it was like standing next to a crackling fire. “Let me take you to dinner.”
And the heat returned, stunning him.
“Peter. Peter Romanoff.”
“Peter,” the companion called, the hint of warning was clear. Peter’s eyelashes fanned his cheekbones then opened full of regret.
Remi watch Peter shake his head, those strands slithering over his shoulders and down his back then sighed.
“Pity. No, Remi. Caleb is right. While exploring you would be a pleasure, I have no doubt it’s a chance I can’t afford to take.” He seemed torn, and Remi suffered a loss when he reached out to touch Peter’s arm only for him to walk away.
Caleb was instantly in front of him, barring his path.
“A wise choice for you would be to go away,” Caleb said before returning to the car and opening the door, once again, for Peter who stepped in gracefully.
Peter’s eyes briefly found Remi’s before Caleb shut the car door then moved swiftly to the driver’s side. The engine purred as the car glided away.
“Well, that went well,” Kaden said as he walked up to Remi. “His friend doesn’t seem to like you.”
“No. No, he doesn’t. That’s too bad.” Remi watched the lights from the sports car grow distant, then shivered from the slight chill left behind.
March. Never knew how to dress in Louisville, a city known for its mercurial ability to display all four seasons in a day. Snow on the ground one moment, sunny and warm the next. Besides, they needed to leave quickly before the game started.