“C’est un bien pour un mal—it is a blessing in disguise.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I would already have your belly full.”
He traced his finger over her bare skin, making a mental note to learn all he could about female shifters for future reference. She sneezed. “À tes souhaits.”
“Huh?”
“I said bless you.”
She sneezed again. Rubbing her nose, she winked, giving him a sexy smile. “I think I’m allergic to vampires.”
“I hope there is a cure.”
He bent and kissed her sweet lips. “Mmm, you didn’t answer my question, Kelly. Are you opposed to the idea?”
The edges of her mouth tilted upward. “No. I’m most certainly not opposed to the idea.”
He smiled and nodded his head, hoping to maintain his cool exterior when all he truly wanted to do was jump up and down in glee. From the look on Kelly’s face, she knew just how excited he really was. He focused, centering his thoughts. “So, umm, when is your next fertility cycle?”
“About two months from now. We’ll need to decide if we want to try for a little one or if we want to start using protection and wait.”
He already knew what he was voting for but thought it best to avoid shouting it out. He took a calm, laid-back approach instead. “Whatever you want.”
A very unladylike snort broke free of her. “You’re not fooling anyone, buddy. Least of all me.”
“It was worth a try,” he said. “And I will be counting down the days.”
Kelly rocked against him to the beat. It was endearing the way she continued to hold out hope he would break down and dance with her. It was enough he’d voluntarily gone clubbing. Dancing would be pushing it. They had been together for a week now and already she had him coming out of his shell. The progression wasn’t nearly as fast as he knew she’d like but it was progress all the same.
She glanced back at him and smiled wide. “Are you miserable or still dreaming of being a father?”
“Both.” He caressed the small of her back. The low-rise leather miniskirt she wore barely covered what it was supposed to. The top she had on was no more than a handkerchief with strings. Kelly swore it qualified as clothing but Yates was skeptical. He was also insanely jealous of any man who dared to look at her. Since she had a tendency to turn heads wherever they went, he spent most of their time out and about pissed off. He wouldn’t deny her, though, so he trudged along, allowing her to lead. He didn’t need to dominate their every move. He knew he controlled their bedroom play and that if he did decide to extend that dominance further, she would be fine with that.
Married life suited him and the shock of that was still fresh. Already he had hopes of starting a family with her and could easily see them together for eternity.
Yates ran a hand through his wife’s hair, freeing it from its ties. It fell over her shoulders and down her back, cascading through his fingers. The fresh scent of her shampoo left his cock hard and him leaning in for a deeper whiff.
Kelly twisted in his arms, the smile of a temptress upon her face. “I need a drink. Want one?”
He shook his head. “No, but I’ll get you what you want.”
She recited her order and he headed toward the bar. The crowd parted for him because he willed it so. Humans had such impressionable minds. He often ordered them about without even realizing he was doing it. Kelly had caught on to that and had been doing her best to nip it in the bud. She seemed to think he needed to learn to respect them more. He wasn’t sure why.
Kelly swayed to the beat, dancing all by her lonesome, awaiting Yates’ return. She thumped the air, matching the beat. The volume in the club seemed to rise to deafening proportions. The lights flashed faster, disorienting her. She looked behind her, hoping to see Yates but only found a press of bodies moving in on her.
Sweat. Lust. Alcohol. Blood.
The scents filled her head, causing her eyes to swirl. Closing them tightly, Kelly prayed no one noticed. She did her best to concentrate and ignore the bloodlust rising fast in her. They’d assumed she had a handle on it. Obviously, they were wrong.
Yates.
She needed to get to him. Kelly tried to push through the crowd of bodies, all moving to the seductive, driving beat of the club. Swept up in the mass, she found herself being moved in the opposite direction of the bar. She opened her eyes and the room seemed to spin.
A flicker of icy blue eyes appeared before her. She didn’t know them or the face they were set in. She did know that controlling her bloodlust all by herself wasn’t an option. Whoever the stranger before her was, he’d be very sorry very soon if he kept shuffling her toward the back of the club.
More bodies crowded her and Kelly gasped, fighting with all her strength to keep her fangs from forming. The man’s pulse was strong, setting its own beat above that of the music.
Opening her mouth, Kelly hissed as she found herself being shoved through a darkened hallway and out a door. Men she didn’t know circled her. Their skin was pale and their eyes reflected the moonlight. The expressions they wore on their faces warned of their intent.
Her stomach cramped.
The first man, with the icy blue eyes, shoved her hard, making her stumble into the arms of another. This one smelled of old blood.
Vampire.
Her eyes widened as she stared up at the man holding her. His shockingly blond hair was spiked about two inches off the top of his head. He smiled, revealing a set of fangs that could inflict maximum damage. His laugh sent chills up her spine. If it was just the two of them, Kelly would have stood a chance against him. His seven friends left the odds grossly out of her favor.
Blondie jerked her hard, making her wince. A cry died on her lips as he slammed her into the brick exterior wall of the club. Darkness ebbed at the edges of her vision as the bloodlust took center stage.
Her entire body seized with need and her fangs exploded in her mouth.
Blondie’s expression was implacable as he shoved her harder against the unforgiving bricks. Her cheek scraped against them, causing her fangs to cut into her inner cheek. Blood welled in her mouth and the sting of the bricks bit at her cheek. Tears formed as she pushed in vain at Blondie. The bloodlust left her weak and even at full strength she couldn’t take all the men.
“What do we have here?” Blondie asked, his accent German. Shoving a hand between her thighs, he dragged his fingernails down her sensitive skin. “I smell a shifter.”
A chorus of inflammatory statements flowed from his buddies. Each saying something worse than the one next to them—taking about fucking the bitch in heat, doing her doggie style and making her beg.
Blondie bent his head and licked her scraped cheek. “Mmm, the rumor mill was working overtime with news of a vampire shacking up with a shifter. We didn’t believe until we saw it for ourselves.”
He eased her thong aside. “Tell me what you have that a vampire could possibly want.”
Kelly’s stomach cramped again and she struggled against his hold with no success. He thrust against her, pinning her to the wall with his body.
“Answer me, bitch.”
A defiant smile swept over her face. “Fuck you.”
He slapped her with an open hand but that didn’t minimize the pain. Her head snapped back, striking the wall. Spots formed around her and she fought to stay conscious. Passing out with them would be the wrong thing to do.
“Answer me,” Blondie demanded, jerking her wrists up and bringing his mouth down to her neck.
Kelly assumed he’d bite her. He didn’t. He sniffed and began to rub his body against hers. “I smell vampire on you too. Do you bark and suck blood? Huh? Bark for me, bitch.”
Yates walked through the crowd, positive he’d left Kelly in this spot. She was nowhere to be found. He held her drink and turned in a circle, thinking she might have gone to the ladies’ room. Drawing in a deep breath, he caught the scent of others like him. He stiffened.
&nbs
p; Yates!
The sound of Kelly’s desperate plea reached him. Yates dropped the glass and rushed through the club, determined to find his mate. Rage boiled just below the surface and he almost felt bad for anyone foolish enough to harm Kelly.
Two men blocked the entrance to a back hall, looking suspiciously around before staring at him. Fright shone in their eyes and Yates knew Kelly had gone that way. He charged them, pushing humans out of his way, headstrong in his mission to get to Kelly. The men tried to deny him access to the hallway.
Yates thrust one away and into the crowd. The other he jerked off his feet and snarled, letting his eyes swirl. “Where is she?”
The newly sired vampire cowered in fear and Yates instantly smelled urine. Disgust moved through him as the vampire pointed down the hall. He discarded the man by throwing him into the wall. Yates charged through the back door. The scene he came upon sickened him.
Kelly was being pinned to the wall by a man who had his hand up her skirt. Her face was bloody and the start of bruises showed on her creamy skin.
“Do you bark and suck blood?” the man was saying. “Huh? Bark for me, bitch.”
Yates saw red as he went at the man. Vampires came at him from all directions. He twisted, allowing one to rush past him before taking hold of another’s head and yanking violently. The man’s neck snapped and Yates pushed him away, ready to take on the next.
Two more advanced upon him. He used his shoulder to block the first assailant’s blow. Twisting, Yates continued to block the one while he punched out hard, connecting with the other vamp’s midsection. He took hold of the man he hit and shifted his weight to his left leg, extending the other and delivering a wicked kick to the first man. They fell away and he found more men there, ready to take him on.
Fury was his guiding light as he continued to fight them. Slightly winded but on an adrenaline high, Yates found himself face-to-face with the blond pinning Kelly to the wall.
The man lifted his fingers to his nose and inhaled deeply. “She smells sweet,” he laughed, “for an animal.”
Yates exploded, allowing the demon he carried within to have free rein over his body. It did what it did best—it inflicted pain.
Kelly slumped to the cold ground and blinked. Her eyes focused slowly and she found Yates there, literally ripping Blondie to pieces. Shock coursed through her at how easy a task it seemed to be for her husband. When he was done, his hands were bloody and his breathing was off the charts. His eyes swam with flecks of red and yellow.
He stared around the darkened alley, looking as if he was hoping there was someone left to fight.
Kelly’s stomach cramped once more and she closed her eyes tight, trying to shut out the sights around her. The smell of fresh blood assailed her and she whimpered.
Yates was suddenly there, lifting her in his arms and pulling her head to his neck. “Drink.”
Shaking her head, Kelly tried to be strong. She had no desire to cause him harm.
“Drink,” he ordered.
Giving in, she did. His blood coated her tongue and slid down her throat with ease, satisfying the bloodlust. She glanced over his shoulder, her mouth still to his neck and surveyed the alley. A couple of the men appeared to be alive, barely. The rest were gone.
She eased her mouth off Yates and kissed the spot she’d bitten. “I’m sorry. I should have never asked you to—”
“Shhh.” He held her closer. “You are not to blame for their ignorance.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No, but you are. I am sorry for letting them touch you, ma petite.”
She caressed the back of his neck as he carried her down the alley toward the parking lot. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask about the bodies but she didn’t really want to hear his answer.
He gingerly loaded her into his black sports car and buckled her in as if she were a child. “Sit tight.”
“Yates.” Kelly took hold of his bloodied hand and planted a kiss on his knuckles. “Thank you.”
He grunted, sounding disgusted. “Do not thank me. I should never have allowed harm to come to you to start with.”
There was no getting through to him and she knew it. She also knew he was most likely going to head back into that alley and inflict more damage upon the survivors. “Take me home. Please.”
He exhaled loudly, his gaze sweeping toward the alley. She knew he wanted to follow after them but didn’t want to leave her.
She held tightly to his hand. “Yates, call Jax. He’ll come and handle it. I want you to take me home. I need to be held by you. And you don’t need to go back down there. You’ve taken care of them. They won’t ever be able to hurt anyone again. Please just come home with me and let Jax deal with the cleanup.”
He hesitated a second before nodding. “Very well.” He dug his cell phone from his back pocket and handed it to her. “Call him.”
She dialed Jax’s number and waited for him to pick up.
“Yeah?”
“J-Jax,” her voice was low and shook slightly.
“Kelly, what’s wrong? Did he hurt you?”
“No.” She kept hold of Yates’ hand, mainly to keep him from rushing back into the alley. “He saved me from a group of vampires.”
“From a what?” Jax let out a slew of curses, none of which were found in normal everyday conversation. Some of them were beyond creative. “Tell me he killed them.”
A nervous chuckle slipped from her. After what they’d shared it was silly to be embarrassed but Kelly couldn’t help herself. “Uh, yeah. And then some.”
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine but I need your help.”
“Name it.”
She relayed directions to the club and filled him in on as many of the details as she could before hanging up and handing the phone back to Yates.
He lifted her hand to his lips and planted a tiny kiss on it. “Can you ever forgive me?”
Confused, she shook her head. “For what?”
He looked flabbergasted. “For allowing harm to come to you.”
Kelly groaned and yanked on his hand. “Shut up and kiss me.”
“I cannot. You need time to…I need to assure you are—”
She growled. “Kiss me, dammit.”
Yates bent and cracked his head on the car on the way in. It didn’t seem to faze him as he continued on, pressing his lips to hers. His tongue found hers and she moaned into his mouth. Yates somehow managed to get the majority of his massive upper body into the car as well. His hand dipped, caressing first her neck then her breasts.
Kelly smiled against his mouth and squirmed slightly as Yates felt his way down her body. He moved from kissing her mouth and followed the path his hand had taken. A growl slipped through his lips as he kissed her stomach. “I hate his smell on you.”
So did she but she remained silent, letting Yates do what he felt he had to.
He inched her thighs apart and slipped his hand between them. Easing his finger into her, he made her gasp. She rocked against his hand and stared down, their gazes meeting.
Frantic someone might see them, Kelly glanced around the darkened parking lot. No one was there. Yates bent more and hiked her skirt up higher. His tongue came out and he licked a line up her slit, making her wiggle in delight against his face.
“Yates,” she said breathlessly, running her hands into his hair, guiding his movements.
He spread her folds and worked her clit with his tongue. He couldn’t be comfortable, wedged between her cunt and the dashboard but he remained there, pleasuring her until she came with a start. He maintained eye contact with her the entire time. When he was done, Kelly was spent and thankful she was in a seated position because she was damn sure she’d have fainted if she were standing.
A clearing of a throat drew her attention past Yates to Jax, who stood with his arms crossed near the front of the car. A wry grin appeared on his face. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“Yes,”
Yates blustered.
Kelly rubbed the back of his neck and offered an impish smile. “Thank you for coming, Jax.”
“Where’s the party?”
She pointed down the alley and he nodded. He paused, raking a knowing look over Yates. “Tell me you banged them up good.”
Yates smiled and it appeared genuine. “Very good. I’ll show you. Kelly, lock the car doors.” He pulled her skirt down and caressed her inner thigh before standing.
Trust killing bad guys to forge a bond between men.
“It was between that or a beer,” Yates said, reading her thoughts with ease.
Kelly laughed, happy to see her husband’s mood had lifted.
Epilogue
Kelly tried but failed to keep a straight face as Yates bent before her, camera in hand. He twisted the zoom lens, pressing the camera to his face as he snapped picture after picture. Reaching out with one hand, he nudged her knee slightly, changing the angle at which it rested and continued with his picture taking.
The soft, ambient light pouring in from the newly installed windows in his studio gave him a halo effect and she snickered at the idea of her husband being an angel. He was anything but and she was damn happy of that fact. His bad boy ways both in and out of the bedroom kept her on her toes and looking forward to every moment she had with him.
It had been two months since he’d swept in, forever changing her life. In those eight weeks, they’d grown as a couple, learning what made the other tick and tiny nuances making it more real. They were no longer strangers thrust together by the Fates. They were lovers, bound by something even deeper than destiny.
Kelly smiled as Yates stepped over her, staring down at her through his camera viewfinder. He was a hulk of a man, yet he moved with a grace she envied. He stooped, putting the camera so close to her face that it took all she had to remain still. He pulled it aside and planted a kiss on her cheek.
Pushing gently on his chest, she gave him a scolding look. “None of that now. It’s time to work.”
He groaned playfully and continued with his photos. “Tilt your chin down.”
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