Heart of the Warrior

by Donya Lynne

  "I’ve seen you in here before, you know." Her lips played against his ear as she spoke.

  "You have, huh?" He tried not to roll his eyes at her come-on.

  "Yes. You're a real lady's man."

  "Looks can be deceiving."

  Chloe snuggled closer. "Mmm, I don't know. I'm a lady, and you're definitely all man."

  Ari’s cock stood at half-mast from his recent Sev-dominated musings, and obviously Chloe had felt it against her hip as she rubbed him.

  "Mmm, you like me, don’t you?"

  No. "Sure."

  "How about this?" She rocked the top of her thigh against his crotch more persistently.

  Ari closed his eyes and imagined Severin holding him. It was the only way he could stomach Chloe touching him like she was. His arms tightened around Chloe as he wondered how Sev’s hard body would feel pressed against him, dancing here now for God and everyone to see. The thought alone was enough to scare the shit out of him, and he tensed and shivered.

  "Mm, you do like me, don’t you?" Chloe misinterpreted his body language.

  "No, I—"

  Chloe cut him off as she brought her face around and sealed her lips over his.

  He almost jerked away before reminding himself he needed to keep the façade in place. The world was watching. And like his parents, Ari excelled at keeping up appearances. But kissing Chloe was near-revolting. She wasn't what he wanted.

  Still, he forced himself to return the kiss. Ugh. Please stop, please stop. But she didn't, so Ari automatically fell into his mind as he always had in situations like this. Only this time it wasn't some random man he pulled into his thoughts. It was Sev, glorious Severin. Sev's image, front and center.

  Ari was an expert at fantasizing himself into submission, and dreams of Severin made that easy. So, when Chloe opened her lips against his, he did likewise, chasing his memories, reaching for Sev through his mind. Once more, he was back in his kitchen and Sev stood in front of him, holding him, pressed against him, their lips drinking each other in like hot, weary travelers gulping from an oasis of cool, fresh water.

  The fantasy kept him from pulling away. The fantasy of Sev kissing him made him drunk. As long as he kept his eyes closed, it was Sev he was kissing, not Chloe.

  * * *

  Sev followed Malek into Four Alarm and immediately saw Io in the clutches of two vixens at the bar. The bulge in his jeans left nothing to the imagination.

  "Hey, Malek. Sev." Io’s lust-glazed eyes looked up as he and Malek pushed through the crowd and compelled the people near Io to vacate their bar stools.

  Malek tapped his knuckles on the bar and caught the bartender’s eye then glanced at Io.

  "Busy I see," Malek said.

  Io grinned, his fangs already halfway descended.

  "Um, bro…" Malek pointed to his own canines and gave Io a look that the other male instantly understood. He snapped his mouth closed before anyone else could see his fancy dental work. They didn't exactly announce to the general public they were vampires.

  "How about you two save my spot while I go take care of this." Io shifted the girls as he stood and adjusted his erection inside his jeans.

  "Sure," Malek said. "By the way, where’s Ari?" He quickly ordered two Lags.

  Io grinned as he pulled the girls away then dipped his head toward the dance floor. "Ari’s getting his itch rubbed."

  Sev turned his gaze in the direction Io was looking, and his heart stopped. As in, dead. No beating. And the resulting ache felt like a bomb blowing up behind his sternum, knocking the air out of him. Arion was lip-fucking a blonde with tits the size of melons, and through the shifting crowd, he caught sight of her hand giving his swollen crotch a slow, persistent rub-down.

  Ari was certainly enjoying himself.

  Sev turned away and grabbed the Lag as soon as it was placed in front of him and downed it in one gulp. He slammed the glass on the bar and gestured toward the empty. "Another. And leave the bottle."

  Coming here had been a mistake. A big one. He could see getting shit-faced was in his very near future.

  "Whoa, guy. Slow down. Micah and Trace aren’t even here, yet." Malek turned and looked around the club.

  Fuck. Micah. Six weeks ago, he had hated Micah for a whole other reason than why he hated him now. Back then, Micah had used Arion for a punching bag every chance he got, and Sev had wanted to kick Micah's ass for messing with the object of his affection like that. Now, Micah was a fully and happily mated male. And that made Sev feel about as thrilled as a dying fish.

  He glanced in Ari's direction again, but a mass of bodies prevented Sev from seeing him, which was probably for the best, being that Ari was lost in that blonde he had been lip-locked to a minute ago. Still, being unable to land eyes on Ari didn't stop Sev from being consumed by despair, and he kicked back another drink.

  "Ah, there they are." Malek looked toward the entrance.

  Sev turned and saw Micah walk in with a smile on his face, his arm pulling Sam close as they looked at each other with what Sev could only describe as complete love and devotion. He glanced back to the dance floor, and the sea of bodies parted just enough that he saw Arion still kissing the blonde. Sev swiveled his gaze back to Micah as Trace shouldered through the door behind him. Sev would never have what Micah had, would he? A mate of his own and the happiness that seemed to ooze out of every pore because of it.

  Micah was a changed person from when Sev first met him. He'd been a dick, a real sonofabitch who had done what he wanted when he wanted, without a care for his own safety or the safety of others. When Sam happened along, all that had changed. Micah was still a lethal fucker in the field, but what made him so dangerous now seemed to be his undying love for Sam, whereas before it had been a total disregard for his life.

  Sam leaned up and whispered something in Micah’s ear and he grinned and turned in to nuzzle her neck as she threw her head back, laughing. Micah pulled away and laughed with her. From what Sev had overheard and witnessed firsthand, Micah never used to smile. Now he smiled all the time.

  That was what love and being mated did for you. Or at least it was supposed to. Sev thought about his unrequited feelings for Arion then kicked back another glass of Lag and poured himself another as Malek held his hand out to greet the three newcomers.

  "You two look good." Malek looked between Micah and Sam.

  They did look good, which made Sev hate Micah even more. Lucky fucker finding true love and all that shit. And he worked the color black like a fucking supermodel, too. Sam wore tight faux leather pants and a modest top that showed just how a woman’s body was supposed to look. She had smaller breasts and wore more clothes than any other woman there, but she was by far the sexiest. And that was something for Sev to think, being that he wasn’t even into women.

  He looked up and noticed Micah scowling at him as if he was reading his thoughts. And, hell, maybe he was. Even if Micah knew he was gay, he still wouldn't like Sev thinking about his female like that. Mated male dominion shit. You never coveted or admired a mated male's mate.

  Trace reached past Sev and flagged down the bartender for a glass. As the bartender handed him one, he picked up the bottle of Lag and paid Sev a cursory glance. "You don’t mind, do you?" Without waiting for an answer, Trace poured himself a triple and set the bottle back down.

  "Apparently not." Sev regretted his decision to come here. He should have gone home, because this scene was rubbing him fifty ways wrong.

  "What did you meatheads do tonight?" Trace said to Malek, ignoring Sev's retort. Trace sipped his drink then handed the glass to Micah, who took a healthy swig and handed it back.

  Malek glanced at Sev then said, "Popped Sev’s cherry and broke up a cobalt deal and bagged a couple of drecks."

  "Nice. Did you bag the buyers, too?" Micah looked at him, his arm tightening around Sam as if he was trying to prove a point about who she belonged to and who had a right to look at and think about her.

  "Nope." Sev dow
ned another glass before pouring more.

  Malek reached for the bottle to pull it away, but Sev snatched it from him and gave him a warning look. Tonight, Sev's mate was the bottle, and nobody would take Mr. Lagavulin away from him, so help him God.

  "Well, did you at least mark them?" Micah took the glass from Trace again and drank.

  "Of course I did, asshole. Do I look like an idiot?" Sev squared Micah up. He really hated this guy. Mr. Perfect. Mr. Happy. Mr. I've-Got-It-All-And-You-Have-Nothing.

  "Do you really want me to answer that, newbie?"

  Malek held his hands up between them. "Hey, Micah, Severin’s been promoted to full status. You know that."

  Micah chuffed. "Yeah? Well, his attitude is for shit. I think he needs to get laid." The last he said softly, almost lethally soft, and with an edge as if he was laying down a dare or a challenge or something.

  Sev's eyes narrowed, and he wondered what game Micah was playing. "Like you’re one to talk about attitude." The alcohol was making Sev bold. Or maybe just stupid. He would decide the answer to that in the morning.

  "Fuck off, newbie." Micah handed the Lag back to Trace, and Sev could feel waves of aggression coming off the male as if he was ready to throw down. Micah was one of only a few males who could hold his own against Severin, and they both knew it.

  Trace chuckled low and deep, but otherwise didn’t get involved, sipping his drink instead, watching the two of them with a secret smile on his face.

  The air bristled between Sev and Micah, and it looked like fists were going to fly for sure until Sam pressed into Micah’s side and stroked her fingers down the slope of his neck as if trying to calm him down.

  "Sshh, baby," she said. "Don’t I feel good against you? Huh? Look at me. Micah? Come on, look at me."

  She must have been through this with him before, because he did seem to cool off. Within seconds, he turned toward her then pulled her close until she nuzzled the stretch of skin her fingers had just caressed. And just like that, Micah was a kitten again, grinning and purring into her ear as the two of them sank into their own secret universe. Severin was suddenly forgotten in their world. A nobody.

  Again, that was what a mate did for a male. His mate kept him in check, cooled him off and heated him up when necessary.

  Sev’s eyes lingered enviously on Sam and Micah then drifted back to the dance floor. Ari was just breaking away from his blonde hussy and turned directly toward him as if he had known he was being watched. Their eyes suddenly met. Sev held his breath as Ari’s gaze locked to his, and the other male flushed as if caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

  But for a moment, with their eyes locked together, everything was perfect. Then the reality slammed into him with a nauseating punch to the gut. Yeah, he was a nobody all right, and not just to Micah.

  Sev grabbed the bottle of Lag, his glass, and shoved his way between Trace and Micah as he departed for a table in the back, hopefully where no one would bug him so he could get good and drunk.

  How could he even think he had a chance with Arion? He had no chance. The brief interlude they had shared six weeks ago was an anomaly, a joke, just a heterosexual male satisfying his homo curiosity. For Ari, the incident had meant nothing. Sev had received that message loud and clear. Hell, maybe their wild, sexy night hadn’t even happened and Sev had daydreamed the whole thing. Whether real or not, Sev knew in his heart he was utterly lost to a male he apparently couldn’t have.

  "Hey."

  Sev flinched back to the present and looked up to find Arion standing next to him.

  "Hey." He looked back down at his glass.

  "I haven’t seen you here in a while."

  Severin chuckled darkly at what came off sounding like a cheesy line. "Oh, yeah? What? Is that some kind of pick-up line or something?" Sev threw back more Lag and scowled up at Ari. "You use that on a lot of guys? Or just girls?"

  "What’s that supposed to mean?" Ari frowned at him.

  "Nothing. Forget it."

  Sev really couldn't explain where his animosity toward Ari came from. Must be one of those fun-filled mated male things he would have to get used to. After all, violent mood swings were a side effect of the call to mate. But honestly, he was really more angry at himself than Ari. Ari just got the privilege of being his whipping post.

  "I’m just saying I haven't seen you here in a while. I didn't think you hung out here, anymore."

  "So, I can't come here and have a drink?" Sev poured more Lag in his glass.

  "That's not what I said." Ari huffed. "What's wrong with you?"

  Other than I want you so badly I can hardly stand it? "Nothing. What's wrong with you? Can't you tell I just want to drink in peace?"

  Ari stood there for what felt like a lifetime then said, "I just wanted to…I just thought I’d say hi." Ari shifted his weight and heavy emptiness hung between them, the air swelling with a lot of unspoken words.

  For just a heartbeat, Sev thought maybe – just maybe – Ari wanted to say more than just hi. But he only stood there, silent, staring at Sev with his trademark serious mask on. After several seconds passed, Sev looked away.

  "Fine. Hi. There. Now you can get back to your bimbo. Or better yet, go join Io with his."

  Sev didn’t have to look at Ari to feel the stunned hurt and anger rolling off the guy.

  "Fuck you, Sev." Ari turned and walked back to the bar, grabbed his jacket, and marched to the exit.

  Sev's heart went with him, all Wait for me!

  Yep, fuck you about summed it up as he watched Ari disappear through the door.

  The girl Ari had been dancing with appeared a minute later, having just freshened up in the bathroom. She looked around, approached the bar, and said something to Malek and the others. She must have been asking where Ari was, and they must have explained he had just left, because the next thing Sev knew, she flushed red and snatched her own coat and stormed out.

  Huh. Whatever. She was probably pissed because Ari hadn’t helped her with her coat and walked her out. Take a number, toots. Ari’s a real gentleman like that. Sev raised his glass in mock salute and downed its contents just as Io appeared with his two women. All three were disheveled and Sev could smell the sex coming off them from across the room.

  Jesus. He needed to get out of here. Note to self, don’t ever come to Four Alarm again when you know Ari will be here. Grabbing the bottle, he made his way toward the back exit and slipped out before anyone could stop him.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Gina Carello pulled up in front of the Trump Hotel in Chicago. If she was going to kill someone, she might as well do it in style, right?

  After parking, a bell boy greeted her at the curb and helped unload her luggage from the back of the SUV. While he took her bags inside, she pulled around into the parking garage, freshened her lipstick, and then made her way up to the lobby. She was the picture of elegance.

  Gina didn’t look like a killer, but that was the idea. With smooth, shiny, black hair cut blunt above her shoulders, and with perfect skin and a lithe body wrapped in a silk pantsuit and fur coat, she looked more like a model – albeit a short one – than a woman with vengeance and death on her mind. Indeed, several patrons in the lobby stopped and stared as she strode past, her Coach clutch firmly gripped in her gloved hand and tucked under her arm.

  "Good evening. Welcome to the Trump International Hotel and Tower. Your name?"

  "Gina Carello."

  The attendant looked up her reservation.

  "You’ll be with us two weeks?"

  "Yes, that’s correct."

  Two weeks should be more than enough time for her to finish the job she had come here to do. Maybe she would even do some sightseeing afterward. It would be nice to visit Millennium Park and shop on the Magnificent Mile, something every girl needed to do at least once. And she was craving a taste of Chicago's famous deep dish pizza. Yes, as soon as she finished her job, a little food, fun, and shopping was in order to celebrate.

 
; The desk attendant handed her the key card for her room and she gave him a warm smile, her eyes hidden behind fashionable sunglasses despite it being nighttime.

  "Thank you." She followed the bell boy into the elevator and up to her suite. After he deposited her luggage and she was finally alone, she took out her cell and punched in a number.

  "Hello? Gigi?" Gina’s mom’s voice. Her given name was Virginia, but her family always called her Gigi or Gina.

  "Hi, Mom. I just wanted you to know I’m here."

  "Oh honey, please. You don’t have to do this. Your dad and I—"

  "Mom. Yes, I do. I do need to do this, and you know why."

  "Gina, you need to let this go. Do you really think your brother would have wanted this?"

  "Well, Gabe isn’t alive anymore to speak for himself, now is he? That asshole and his friends made sure of that. And now he has to pay like all the rest." She had been hunting down her brother's killers for the last year, and only one remained. She saved the best – and hardest – for last.

  "Honey—?"

  "No, Mom! I'm doing this. I just wanted you to know I'm here. I'll call you after it's done." She hung up and tossed her phone on the bed.

  Gina took off her sunglasses and walked to the window that overlooked The Chicago River. Severin Bannon had betrayed her brother. He had betrayed Gabriel and killed him. Now she was in Chicago to ensure Severin paid for what he had done.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Severin couldn’t sleep. Well, not really. After drinking Lag straight from the bottle and getting to where he couldn’t feel anything but the misery, he somehow managed his way home, even if he couldn't remember how. He blinked and tried to focus on his surroundings in his basement studio. Mr. Lagavulin had performed admirably and now the bottle lay empty on its side on the floor next to his hand, which hung over the edge of the couch. Wait. Was that his hand? He slowly wiggled his fingers. Yep.