by Jenika Snow
Blood Breed 2
Blood Rush There is something Kayla Reilly doesn’t know about herself. It is a secret that has been kept from her and will change her very existence once it’s revealed.
When Adrik Draykavich, the man she loves, leaves her, Kayla forces herself to move on with her life. When he comes back into the picture, he not only awakens her love for him, but awakens something far darker.
With an enemy stalking both of them, Kayla knows that she must trust Adrik completely if she wants to stay alive. This isn’t just about them any longer, but about the entire fate of the world.
When Kaleb, Kayla’s twin brother, tells Adrik he isn’t the right person to protect her, Adrik knows he is right. When enemies attack and put Kayla’s life in danger, Kaleb and Adrik realize they have to fight together if they want to save the one person they both love.
Genre: Paranormal, Vampires/Werewolves Length: 68,821 words
BLOOD RUSH
Blood Breed 2
Jenika Snow
EROTIC ROMANCE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance
BLOOD RUSH
Copyright © 2012 by Jenika Snow E-book ISBN: 978-1-62241-061-3
First E-book Publication: September 2012
Cover design by Jinger Heaston All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
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DEDICATION
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BLOOD RUSH
Blood Breed 2
JENIKA SNOW
Copyright © 2012
Prologue
Stone Brooke, six years ago
Kayla followed her twin, Kaleb, into their house and threw her backpack on the couch. “I can’t wait until school is over with.”
“It’ll only be a few more weeks. Stop whining.”
Kayla didn’t respond and headed into the kitchen for a drink. Senior year sucked. All through high school, she couldn’t wait to be a senior, but now that she finally was one, it blew. The days seemed to be longer and the classes harder. Soon she would be done with the repetition of gossip, backstabbing, and high school cliques. The only thing that made school bearable was Adrik. She smiled as his face popped into her mind.
“Wipe that smile off your face. It makes me gag because I know exactly who you’re thinking about.”
She rolled her eyes and didn’t respond to Kaleb’s comment. It wasn’t a secret that her brother didn’t like him. Adrik was several years older than she, and Kayla had a suspicion that might be why her twin disliked him so much.
She went into the living room and turned the television on. Finding that nothing good was on, she pulled the throw blanket off the back of the couch, wrapped it around herself, and settled down for a nap.
Kayla woke with a start to the sound of banging in the kitchen. She looked blurry-eyed at the television and felt around for the remote to turn it off. She looked out the window, the sun setting over the horizon and turning everything a rainbow of pinks, oranges, and yellows. She got up and headed into the kitchen to see what all the noise was about. She leaned against the wall and watched as Kaleb rustled around in the cupboards.
Kayla walked in, grabbed a bag of cheddar Goldfish, and leaned against the counter. She watched Kaleb open the fridge and start throwing stuff on the island. She raised an eyebrow at the mountain of food that was piling up. “Your appetite is crazy lately.”
Kaleb looked up at her and then at the piled-high food. He cleared his throat, and she smiled at how his cheeks became red.
“Did I actually embarrass you?” She laughed and shook her head. “Kaleb?”
“Yeah?” He didn’t stop rummaging through the fridge.
“I love Adrik, and I’m going to tell him how I feel today.” She swallowed.
Kaleb’s knuckles grow white on the fridge handle. He slowly stood and gently shut the door as he turned and stared at her. “What did you just say?”
She took a deep, steadying breath. “I’m going to tell Adrik how I feel. I love him. You know that. I want to be with him. I am an adult now and know what I want when it comes to my life.”
He shook his head, his jaw clenched tight. “No, you’re not going to do that.”
She gripped the Goldfish bag tighter and straightened. “Kaleb, you are not Dad. You can’t dictate what I do. I can love whomever I want. I don’t know why you hate Adrik so much, but you should be supportive that I find happiness with him.”
He watched her, and she could see her words being processed in his mind. He was only eighteen, but he towered over all the other boys at school. When he was really upset, he didn’t show it, and right now, he was really upset.
He took a deep breath and ran a hand over his short hair. “Listen, Kay. I’m sorry for what I’m about to tell you.” He ran his hand over his jaw and crossed his muscular arms over his chest. “Adrik has a different woman every weekend. Trust me, I see it all the time. He isn’t good for you. You deserve so much better. That’s why I hate him so much.” He didn’t look at her as he finished rambling off his accusations.
“You’re lying!” Her heart was beating so hard she felt it in her throat, and she started to tear up. She refused to cry, refused to show weakness around her brother.
He sho
ok his head and took a step toward her, holding his hand out as sympathy crossed his features. “Please, don’t cry. I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I want you to know the truth. You two aren’t right for each other.”
She threw the bag of Goldfish on the counter and ran up the stairs, ignoring the pleading tone in Kaleb’s voice for her to come back. She took the stairs quickly and slammed her bedroom door behind her. She looked at her phone on her desk, tears starting to finally fall and roll down her cheeks. Kaleb had to be lying. There was no way Adrik was like that.
She was eighteen now, an adult, and free to make her own decisions. Kaleb was the only family she had left, and even though she loved him and respected his feelings, she needed to do what was right for her.
She walked over to her desk and picked up the phone, her fingers shaking as she looked at it. She stared at the numbers, listening to the dial tone, until it finally went dead. She set it back in the cradle and picked it up again, doing this over and over again until her palms started to sweat and the tears caused her vision to blur.
Can you really do this? What if Kaleb isn’t lying?
She couldn’t think thoughts like that. She took a deep breath and started to dial Adrik’s number.
She hurt so much at what Kaleb had told her. Why would he say those things? Deliberately hurt me? What if those little looks Adrik gave her, or when he brushed her hair off her shoulder, or even when he stroked his finger down her cheek, were nothing more than brotherly affection?
As she entered the last number and the phone started to ring, she wiped the tears from her face and sat on her bed.
“Hello?” Adrik’s deep voice came through the receiver.
“Hi. It’s me. Can you come over? I have to talk to you about something.” She sniffed a little and willed herself not to start crying again.
“What’s wrong?” His voice went from soft and pleasant to hard and demanding.
“Nothing, I just need to see you.”
There was a stretch of silence before he finally spoke. “You’re crying.”
His voice became soft and soothing again, and she smiled despite her sadness. “Please, Adrik, can you come over now?”
“I’ll be right there.”
She hung up the phone and put it back on the receiver. No matter what the outcome, she knew she was making the right decision. She couldn’t go on any longer without telling Adrik her feelings.
Ten minutes later, Kayla heard a loud knock on the front door. She quickly got off the bed and opened her bedroom door. She wanted to get it before Kaleb could answer because she knew her twin would be furious to know she had called Adrik.
It was too late. She could hear Adrik and Kaleb’s baritone voices, not being able to understand what they were saying, but knowing by Kaleb’s tone he wasn’t happy to see Adrik. Several minutes later, she heard loud footsteps start to ascend the stairs, and she quickly shut the door.
A second later, there was a light knock, and then the door opened. She sat on her bed and smiled as Adrik walked in and shut the door behind him. There was so much she wanted to tell him, so many emotions that coursed through her every time she stared at him. Everything froze inside of her. Those words that would tell him how much she cared for him stuck in her throat. He sat down on the bed next to her and looked at her with regret in his eyes. Had this been a mistake?
“You wanted to see me?” His gaze dropped to the floor, and his big body seemed distant. He was a big guy, too, just as big as Kaleb, but as he sat next to her, his whole attitude, his whole presence seemed small and distant.
She took a deep breath and spoke. “I love you, Adrik. I love you so much it makes my heart hurt. I’m eighteen now, and we can be together without ridicule from everyone around us.” She spilled her heart out, telling him exactly how she felt, exactly how he made her feel.
He let her take his hand in hers, but he kept an emotional barrier between them. Was she an idiot for telling him those things? What if she had just ruined everything?
She let go of his hand when he didn’t respond to anything she had just confessed. I think you just made a huge mistake. “I’m sorry. Please just forget I said anything.” Oh God. She covered her face with her hands and breathed in. She had just made a fool of herself. It was obvious he didn’t feel the same toward her.
His hands gently pulled hers away, and his finger brought her face up to look at his. “We will always be friends, Kayla. I will always care for you above all others, but as far as anything romantic between us, there just never can be. We come from two very different worlds. I’m not right for you.”
He gave her a lingering kiss on the forehead and got up. He stopped right before he opened her door and turned to stare at her. There seemed to be an internal struggle within him, as though he wanted to say something else, but he didn’t. He walked out of her room and out of her life.
Chapter 1
Stone Brooke, present day
Kayla leaned against the counter, her gaze going to her cell phone that sat on the kitchen table. Every day she struggled with the need to talk to him and see him, and every time she was able to push those needs to the back of her mind.
As of late, she was finding it increasingly difficult to ignore her thoughts of him. When he rejected her all those years ago, a small part of her hated him. The fact that he could leave her so easily had hurt her beyond anything she had ever felt. She thought she would have been able to move on, but boy, had she been wrong.
Oh, there had been relationships, but none that lasted. She always found herself comparing them to Adrik. It got to the point that she was disgusted with herself for still pining after a man that didn’t want anything to do with her. She still remembered their most recent encounter at the club. It seemed like it only happened yesterday, not months ago. Just thinking about him standing there, staring at her almost sympathetically caused anger and frustration to wage war inside of her. It still hurt like hell.
So there she stood, staring at him as he watched her and feeling her anger finally rising to the surface. “Where did you go? You didn’t even say goodbye. How could you just leave like that after everything I told you?”
He stood there, a stoic expression on his features. He ran a hand across his face. That spiked her anger up another degree.
“Answer me! I deserve to know, or was I nothing to you?” He winced at her last question, and she felt satisfaction from his reaction. He sat down on the couch and motioned her over to sit down, too. She hesitantly walked over but didn’t sit next to him. She sat down on the leather chair across from him and folded her arms over her chest.
“Kayla.” He said her name in a whisper, and her heart flipped in her chest. It was the same way he said her name all those years ago—right before he left. “I don’t know what to tell you. I can’t explain why I left. All I can say is that it was for the best.”
“Without even a goodbye? I thought we were friends. I poured my heart out to you, laid it on the table, and you all but chopped it up.” She tried to control herself, but her emotions were starting to come crashing back on her. She would not cry, she would not cry. She said the mantra over and over again, willing herself to be strong. She spent too long wondering what happened to him. “Kaleb wouldn’t tell me anything, but I know he knew why you left. Did you leave because of all those things I told you?”
“Oh, Kayla, no, love. You have to understand that if I stayed, I would have just hurt you. You were too young for me, and my life was too complicated. We come from far different backgrounds.”
“Did Kaleb tell you to leave?” She stood up then and placed her hands on her hips. “Well, did he?”
He sighed and nodded.
“And you actually listened to him?”
“Yes and no. Your brother loves you and was only trying to protect you. Believe me when I say if there had been another way, I would have taken it.”
She was hurt and scared, and not ready to go through this heartache again. She couldn�
��t be friends with him—her feelings were just too strong.
“Well, Adrik, it was really nice to see you again, and I hope our little visit hasn’t complicated your life even more. Maybe I’ll see you around.” She turned and walked toward the elevator but remembered he needed to activate the sensor. “If you wouldn’t mind opening the elevator for me, I’d like to leave now.” She kept her back toward him but heard his footsteps stop behind her. His arm brushed past her as he placed his hand on the sensor. He was so close to her she felt his body heat, and it made her throat go dry. There was a soft click as the elevator opened. She stepped inside and turned back around to stare at him. She pushed the ground button and waited for the door to close.
“Kayla, please know that I did—that I do care for you, so very much.”
She gave a small smile but didn’t say anything, didn’t trust herself to not say something foolish. His sad face was the last thing she saw as the doors closed, leaving her alone with her depressing thoughts.
She looked at her phone again and it was like it was calling out to her. All she would have to do is pick it up and dial. She didn’t know Adrik’s number, but she knew the club’s.
After their last encounter, she didn’t even know if calling him was the best idea. She had basically told him she never wanted to see him again.