Jolene blew out a breath. “I can’t shake this feeling something is going to happen. Something bad. I keep seeing Jesse’s face in my dreams. He’s taunting me to get to you.”
Nika chewed on her lip. “It’s just your imagination. I know you’re the local premonition queen, but Jesse has been behind bars for eighteen months. He’s not going anywhere. Not for the rest of his life.”
“That may be, but I know what I know. That boy is cunning and he’s a shifter. The LaFonts stop at nothing when they want something. When they lay claim, they never let go no matter what the cost, and Jesse is no different.”
Annika shook her head, holding the phone between her chin and her shoulder. “I’m not a boat or a fishing spot. Jesse can’t lay claim to me.”
“Don’t sass me, cher. You know what I mean.”
“I do, Mama, and I appreciative the concern, but Jesse can’t have me. Not anymore. It doesn’t matter he’s a shifter and from one of our clans. He’s a bad seed and I finally realize that.”
“I just hope it’s not too late, bebe. That clan is mercenary and has been known to use their abilities to get what they want.”
“What’s Jesse going to do? Shift into a panther in the middle of a prison yard? The roof guards will shoot him dead.”
“How do you know he can’t shift into the rat he is?”
Annika’s heart clenched at her mother’s anxious tone. “Because he can’t. For fun we’d sneak into the Los Angeles zoo at night—me, Jesse, and Ki. We’d take turns shifting into different animals. Jesse couldn’t do it. He called us mongrels.”
Jolene was silent.
“Mama?”
She exhaled a ragged breath. “If you say so, cher, but I want you to call me every day until that boy is behind bars forever. You hear?”
“I will, Mama. In the meantime, why don’t you stay with Tante Louise? You know how much you love to whip her butt at Bourré.”
Jolene chuckled. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow before the show, right?”
“I love you, Mama.”
“I love you too, bebe. Try to get some rest.”
The phone rang and Nika groped on the nightstand, disoriented.
Knocking over a glass and the remote control, she shielded her eyes from the flickering light from the television and found the phone. Squinting at the screen, she went to press ignore call, but pressed accept instead.
Shit
“Annika? You there?”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Jesse?”
“Finally. I thought I’d never get you.”
Fully awake, she sat up. “How are you calling me? You can’t have a cellphone in prison.”
“I have my ways, Nika. Don’t you know that by now?”
“Are you crazy? Don’t you care about the trial? Can’t you play by the rules for once in your life?” She dragged a hand through her hair.
“Oh, baby, I had to talk to you. I started thinking you ran out on me, but you wouldn’t be so upset if you didn’t care, right?”
She didn’t reply.
“So when are you coming out? I need you here,” he asked.
“I’m not. Not unless I have to.”
He balked. “What do you mean? You have to. I’m telling you.”
“No.”
“Annika. No joke. Get your fat ass out here. I mean it.”
She laughed at him. “Or what? You gonna hit me again? Jesse, you killed Ki. How am I supposed forgive that?”
“It was self-defense.”
A snort left her mouth even as a frown tugged at her lips. “Bullshit. You killed him because he had the guts to tell you what a piece of shit you were to me. He was my friend, Jesse. Just my friend, but you couldn’t handle that.”
“Like I said, it was self-defense. He was trying to take what was mine and I was defending my claim.”
Annika closed her eyes as her mother’s words raced through her head. “Claim?”
“Cut it out, Nika. You know what I mean. I’ll never lay a hand on you again. That’s all in the past.”
“No, Jesse. It’s not in the past. It’s now. It’s always. I can’t forget it. Any of it. Ever.”
“You will. Give it time. You’ll see I did this for us.”
His voice was low and like silk, but it no longer worked on her. “Us? You must be crazy. There is no us. Not anymore. I’m not coming to L.A. unless subpoenaed. If that happens, I swear I’ll tell them everything.”
“You owe me!”
She snorted. “I owe you nothing. Dracone Noir wouldn’t have an album if it wasn’t for me finishing it with Ari’s help. You’re lucky I pushed for you to collect royalties or your legal team would be court appointed.”
“Don’t do this, Annika. I’m warning you,” he ground out.
A harsh exhale left her mouth. “Do you even hear yourself, Jesse? How can you say you need me with one breath, and then threaten me with the next? You’re all about you and only you, Jesse, and I want no part of you anymore. See you in twenty-five to life.”
She hung up and slumped back against the pillows, quiet tears threatening.
Annika tossed in bed for the hundredth time since Jesse called, finally shoving the covers from her body. Heat skimmed across her skin and she moaned, turning into her pillow.
Mist surrounded her, but she wasn’t alone. The swirling fog caressed her, and she gasped at the feel of invisible fingers through the filmy dress highlighting her curves.
“Annika…”
A voice called, hidden in the miasma. She struggled to see, but couldn’t.
“Close your eyes. Find me—”
Her lids slid closed and she followed the sound of the deep voice. Derick’s voice. He was aroused, that much she knew. With her sight gone, her other senses heightened and she smelled his urgency, his need.
“Annika—you’re close, so close.”
Her nipples hardened as her body reacted to his voice, his scent. An unseen hand skimmed her breasts and she gasped as they grazed the puckered tips.
The mist parted and she saw the stage, empty except for Derick. He was naked, and his light bronze skim gleamed in the dim light. Shadows rippled and played along his carved physique, highlighting the muscles in his chest and thighs. His cock was thick and corded, and he stroked his member, holding his other hand out for her.
“Why are we here?” she asked, taking his hand.
He pulled her close, pushing her hand down to clasp his cock. She caressed his hard length as he kissed her mouth.
“You wished this. That’s why,” he murmured against her lips.
With his free hand he untied the knot holding her dress, and the fabric puddled to the floor. He dipped his head and tasted her breasts, sucking and nipping their hard peaks.
“What do you want, Annika,” he asked.
“To be free.”
He lifted his head from her and turned her in his arms. With one arm around her waist, he walked her toward a large speaker. He ran his fingers over her inner thighs, skimming her wet folds. She gasped, bending over to give him full access. Annika gripped the amplifier, straddling its width to spread her legs farther for him.
His fingers delved deep, her juices coating her sex until he pulled back and drove his cock balls deep into her pussy.
Another man laughed in the distance and an electric guitar pierced the silence. Heavy chords vibrated through the amplifier, the power-driven pulse driving deep into her sex along with Derick’s cock.
Her full breasts swung back and forth, her nipples scraped raw against the speakers’ mesh as pleasure and pain crowded her senses. Neither would let up as the cadence from both men grew to a frenzied pace.
“You will never be free—”
With a gasp she sat bolt up in bed, sweat covering her body. What the fuck?
Annika scrubbed her face and looked at the digital clock on the nightstand. Twelve forty-five a.m.
She had to get out.
She needed air and she needed speed. Her skin itched and she couldn’t shake the dream. What the hell was her subconscious trying to tell her?
She wanted Derick. That much she would admit. Wanted him badly. But Jesse? What role could he possibly play other than past regret?
Maybe that was it. Until she let him go and forgave herself for her own stupidity, he’d have a hold on her in some weird way.
She shook her head and got out of bed. Enough with the psycho-babble.
She rinsed her face and threw on leggings and a tee-shirt. No bra, no panties. The less she wore the better when shifting. She grabbed her phone and some money and threw them into drawstring pack and headed out of her room for the elevators.
Bette said Central Park after midnight.
Perfect.
7
“How does anyone breathe in this city?” Annika mumbled. “At least in L.A. I could run on the beach, but here it’s all concrete and grit.” Her nose wrinkled at the pungent scent of old urine.
“Honey, you get used to it, but for us, the city that never sleeps is a twenty-four hour buffet of predators preying on predators.”
The vampire snapped his fingers, and Nika had to laugh at his fanged and fabulous air.
“Dion, you kill me.” Bette laughed, keeping pace with the two.
“Never has the crime rate been kept in check in such a delicious way.” Dion pursed his perfectly lined lips. “Now pay attention, Nika-baby, because Bette and I have a date with a crack den that needs a lesson in manners.”
“Uhm, okay?” Annika laughed, unsure of what she was supposed to say.
Bette grinned, slipping her arm through Dion’s elbow. “It’s all part of Rémy’s Robin Hood plan.”
“Who?” she asked.
“Rémy du Lac. He’s our supreme for the time being. Since New York’s current mayor shackled the city’s police department, we’ve decided to intervene. We clean up the criminal element where we can, especially when it benefits us.”
“That’s right, boo. I located the one crack den responsible for polluting an entire supply of donated blood. They were warned, but—”
Bette patted his arm. “No matter. We’ll deal with them as need, but enough civics for one night. Duty calls.”
“Miss thing is one hundred percent right, and we really can’t get into details,” Dion said as they slowed to a stop by a crossroads path. “This is Eagle Vale Arch. Just find your way back here and you can easily get to the West Side and then hop a cab or a train downtown to the Red Veil.”
Annika looked around and then inhaled trying to mark the scent. “Thanks.”
Bette smiled. “No problem, sweetie.”
Nika’s eyes went wide and she couldn’t help but stare. Bette’s fangs were razor sharp and fully descended.
“If you follow the scent of horse you’ll find the Ramble. The vampires hunting there won’t bother you. They’re too busy keeping the riffraff from menacing the homeless.”
“Ramble?” Nika questioned.
Bette nodded. “The Ramble is a wooded preserve within Central Park adjacent to the lake. It’s dense with trees and perfect for you.”
“Thanks.”
Dion’s eyes darkened and he took on a predatory gleam, inhaling. “Wish we could stay and play, darlin’, but it’s dinner time.”
Bette took off with him, barely sparing Annika a backward glance. “Remember, keep off the streets or you’ll end up in the pound!”
Bette’s tinkling laugh faded into the darkness as the two vampires disappeared without a trace.
Nika sniffed the air again and refocused, this time she caught a trace of thick trees and brush riding just below the scent of horse.
Close enough.
She followed the scent past a castle like structure until she spotted a heavily wooded area with rocky outcroppings.
Bingo.
She followed a dirt path deep into the darkened thicket. The air was still tinged with the grit from the city, but the trees and wildflowers no less an unexpected treasure in the middle of this concrete jungle.
The moon had crested to its height and Annika lifted her face to its silvery light, closing her eyes.
She drew a breath through her teeth, remembering home. The bonfires, the smell of loamy earth as crickets and cicadas sang.
Spirit bottles swaying, clinking in the humid breeze, and the chants churning the life force surrounding them while drums called her animal forth. She opened her mouth, a roar called to the moon.
Annika’s eyes snapped open. Her human brown had shifted emerald green, and sensitive night vision pupils already tracked body heat in the thicket.
She froze, sniffing the air.
Derick
He was half dressed and gorgeous. His face was toward the moon as well, and every muscle seemed tense, rippled and pronounced as though ready to phase.
She took a step toward him but stopped. Maybe he didn’t want company.
“I know you’re here, Annika.”
She sucked in a breath and silenced her inner panther, cringing against the pain of burying the animal she had just awoken.
“It’s okay, cher.” He turned, lifting his left arm to beckon her over and there on his bicep was the LaFont tattoo.
She’d forgotten about it.
“Bette said this was a safe place to phase,” she explained walking into the small clearing to join him.
He nodded. “Most nights, yes. As long as you can ignore the vampires.”
She inhaled. He was nowhere near phasing, but his body smelled amazing.
“I interrupted you. I’m sorry,” he offered.
Annika shook her head. “Not at all. I sensed you, first. Actually, I saw the outline of your body heat. You’re hot.” She coughed realizing how that came out.
A tiny smile played around the edges of his mouth. “Good to know you think so.”
Her eyes dipped to his chest and then again to his tattoo. This time he noticed.
“We’ve been going in circles around each other for days, Annika. Don’t you think it’s time we stopped?”
She nodded.
“You have questions and doubts. I don’t blame you. It’s one thing to hook up for nameless sex, but it’s something else when you realize you may have ties. Ties that go deeper than you imagined.”
“Ties?”
“Affiliations, then.”
With an internal sigh, she plunged ahead. “I know that tattoo. I’ve seen it before.”
The words blurted from her mouth and she waited for him to shut her down or walk away, but he didn’t.
“I know.”
“So it’s not just a coincidence?”
“No.” A frowned puckered his forehead.
“How?”
“Because Gerard LaFont is my father.”
Annika searched her memories but came up blank. She’d known Jesse her whole life. She sank to a nearby boulder, her mind spinning. He was an only child. If he wasn’t, that meant…”
Derick looked away, and she followed his gaze. In that instant, she knew. Annika studied his profile. His face, his cheekbones and shape of his mouth. Even the small cleft in his chin.
LaFont.
“You might not remember me, but I remember you. I know who you are Annika, and not just your media persona. I know your pack, your people, too.”
“Bergeron. You’re Old Marie’s grandson.”
Derick’s lips parted but then he pressed them together, giving her a curt nod.
“People say your grandmother cursed you to get even with the LaFonts. Is that why you’re out here tonight?” she asked.
He laughed, and the sound was genuine. “That’s ridiculous. Nothing but bayou superstition. My gran-mére was a lot of things to a lot of people, but she couldn’t conjure what wasn’t already in the blood regardless of what people choose to believe.”
“So you’re not a Rougarou.”
“No.” He laughed again, eyeing her. “You look almost disappoi
nted.”
She waited, glancing up from her feet. “Do you shift?”
“No.”
Annika lifted her hand in confusion. “But what about all that talk about our talents and things only humans dream of?”
“I didn’t say I can’t phase. I just don’t.” He shrugged.
“Then why are you here?
He didn’t hesitate. “Because you are.”
“Phase with me, Derick. My skin is crawling the higher the moon rises, and yours has to be, too.”
He shook his head. “I don’t shift. Ever.”
Her hopeful expression melted. “That’s impossible. How?”
“I found other ways to channel my needs.” The husky tone of his voice changed and the sound made her breath lock in her throat.
“You’re trembling.” His eyes found hers and he licked his lips.
She took an involuntary step forward, drawn to him the same way the moonlight pulled her into the park tonight.
“How did you know I’d be here?”
“Lucky guess.”
She shook her head, moving closer. “So you were prepared to loiter in the park after dark on the off chance I’d show up.”
“I may have hedged my bets a little.”
Eyes burning, the full moon highlighted his smooth tan skin, and Annika’s fingers itched to touch him again.
“Is that so?”
“There’s a connection between us neither of us understand, Annika. But it’s also one neither of us can deny. It’s primal. I dream about you. I can’t rest. I can’t even fuck another woman because it’s your face I see, your body I want.”
“I’ve been dreaming, too.”
A sexy smirk took his lips. “Tell me.”
She shook her head.
“Then I’ll tell you mine.”
She shook her head, again. “Show me.”
Those two words were all it took.
He pulled her into his arms and the warmth of his hands made her skin burn with anticipation. Nika wet her lips.
The tip of her pink tongue made Derick’s cock harden. “Keep that up and I’ll have no choice but to put that pretty mouth of yours to good use,” he murmured.
His lips crushed against hers, hot and rough. Every ounce of patient frustration chased through his veins. He licked her mouth, teasing her lips with his tongue.
The Red Veil Diaries (Volumes 1-4) Page 21