by Ariel Marie
Toma knew the answer to that. He remembered the first day he met Anika. His whole world seemed to stand still as he gazed into her warm brown eyes that seemed to sparkle with flecks of gold. He remembered feeling as if someone had hit him across the chest with a two by four when she smiled at him, lighting up her whole face.
Nothing could even describe the jolt of lightening that coursed up his arm the minute they had shook hands when Nadira introduced them. With her being human, he wasn’t even sure if she felt it.
The erection he got the minute they met was the king of all erections. He had to quickly excuse himself to hide his physical reaction to her. He knew he had acted an ass when he abruptly walked away from them. He almost froze himself solid that night trying to calm his libido down in the shower. But the minute she crept back into his thoughts, he knew that night that she was the one. His woman. His mate and he could not have her.
“This should not come as a surprise,” the king’s voice broke into Toma’s thoughts.
“But Nicu is in line to be king, not us,” Teague argued.
“That is true, but with our life style, we have to ensure that there will always be an Olaru to rule. If something was to happen to Nicu, Adrian, it falls to you and your offspring,” the King’s words were stern, but his eyes seemed to soften as he looked around the room. “There is nothing wrong with having a strong female by your side. Your mother, is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I hope that someday, you boys will experience the true meaning of having a mate.”
Toma looked over at Nicu, who sat on the couch, his face expressionless as he looked at the king. Nicu hadn’t said one word since the king started speaking of them looking for mates.
“I have confidence that you will all find strong vampire females to mate and produce royal heirs for the family,” the king announced, reminding Toma of exactly why he will never be able to claim his true mate.
6
~Anika~
“You need to get out of this room!” Nadira stormed into Anika’s room.
It had been a week since her life altering night with Toma. Ever since then, he had avoided her at all cost. She’d caught glimpses of him as he left at night for patrolling with his brothers. “I don’t know what is wrong with you but you need to get out of this funk of yours!”
“I’m fine Nadira, I’m just tired,” she lied, refusing to look at her best friend. Nadira would instantly know that she was lying with one look.
“Bull shit!” Nadira stood at the foot of Anika’s bed with her arm crossed. “Cooper and I are going out and you are coming with us.”
“Ugh… no thanks. I refuse to be the third wheel,” she said shaking her head, resting back onto her cushiony pillows. “The two of you together is just sickening. I like Cooper and all, but it would be nice to not have to witness him stuffing his tongue down your throat for five minutes.”
“He sure does know how to kiss me senseless. His mouth should have a warning label on it! Warning, one kiss and your panties will disappear,” Nadira said, sighing before ducking the pillow that Anika threw at her.
“I think I just threw up a little in my mouth,” Anika joked but really feeling happy for her best friend.
She remembered the night that Nadira and Cooper met in the diner. Anyone could see the sparks fly around the two of them. If it weren’t for Nadira turning Cooper into a vampire, she would have lost him a little over a month ago.
So romantic, Anika sighed to herself. Nadira and Cooper’s story was something Nadira’s favorite romance writers would have written about.
Anika thought that she and Toma had those kind of sparks the night they first met and the night they spent together. She was still surprised that they didn’t set the house on fire.
“That’s it, you’re coming with us!” Nadira yelled, stomping into Anika’s closet. “I don’t know what that look on your face is, but I don’t like it.”
“You do remember that I was attacked not too long ago right?” Anika called out. “Could have died!”
“Of course I do, your bruises are almost faded away and we can cover those with makeup. You don’t have to dance or anything that will jostle your sore ribs. Just go with us, you can eat and drink on us!” Nadira came out of the closet with a couple of dresses in her hands.
“Ummm… and what are you guys going to be doing?”
“I’m working with Cooper on his compulsion skills, so that he can learn to feed and not leave a memory on his prey.”
Anika’s nose twisted up at the thought of Nadira and Cooper actually biting and drinking the blood of a human.
She had to admit that she was curious why Toma didn’t bite her the night they spent together. His hands and tongue had her whole body aching. The few times he scraped his fangs against her had her almost begging for him to bite her.
“You’re okay with him….um...feeding from another female?” Anika asked, watching Nadira put together an outfit for her to wear. Nadira paused before setting a pair of heels on the bed next to an all black dress she laid out on the bed.
“I’ve never really thought about it. It’s just our way, and I trust him,” Nadira said.
“How does he feel about Adam?” Anika asked, speaking of Nadira’s human blood servant.
“That is a whole other story. Adam has had feelings for me for years and I even considered taking it further once, before meeting Cooper thinking that I would never find my mate. But since the moment I met Cooper, he has been the only one on my mind.” Her dreamy far away smile had Anika launching another pillow in her direction.
* * *
This was truly a bad idea, Anika thought to herself as she sat alone at the bar of the trendy nightclub, Lure. She thought that it was so ironic that this was a club owned by vampires catering to supernaturals and humans alike. Little do the humans know that some of them may be lured into a dark corner to unknowingly donate a little of their blood.
Nadira assured Anika that some of the humans did know about vampires needing donors and that was why the line to the club was almost around the block. Nadira called them vamp groupies and when Anika took one look at the barely dressed women, another word came to mind instead of groupies. Sluts. Tramps. Whores. Ok, maybe more than one word came to her mind, she laughed to herself.
Having the vampire princess as a best friend certainly had its perks. They didn’t have to wait in line with the groupies but were immediately escorted in the club when they walked up to the entrance. But now Anika sat alone at the bar sipping on her Lemon Drop.
Nadira and Cooper disappeared after she insisted she would be fine by herself at the bar. She sighed grabbing her second drink, as she walked through the fluorescent-lit club. The surprisingly clean modern club was packed with drunken partygoers.
The lighting in the room faded from a bright funky pink to a hazy purple hue as she found a plush chair in the corner to people watch. The music was thumping giving her a slight headache. She finished off the rest of her drink while signaling to a passing waitress for a refill. Might as well enjoy herself, she thought, as she continued to shake her head at the way some of the women were dressed.
Movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention. Turning she saw a couple practically fucking against the wall. In their dark corner, the woman was practically climbing up the guy as if she was trying to climb a tree. The guy ended up picking the woman up, allowing her to wrap her legs around his waist as he carried her off down the dark hallway.
Shrugging her shoulders, she scooted back crossing her legs, wishing she wouldn’t have let Nadira pick out this little black number. But then again, she did have to agree that even a little over a week out from her attack she did feel sexy in it. It hugged her curves in all the right places with one shoulder bare showing off her small butterfly tattoo on her left shoulder blade. Plenty of men tried to gain her attention but she just wasn’t interested.
“Why the long face?” a deep voice asked. Anika turned to see a nice lookin
g guy standing next to her with a slight smile.
“No reason,” she replied, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, giving him a polite smile.
“Would you like to dance?” He held his hand out. He seemed polite and she didn’t want to seem rude and the song that just came on was one of her favorites. If this had been a few weeks ago, the old Anika would have grabbed the first body with a pulse and dragged them onto the dance floor with her.
“Why not?”
She took his hand as he assisted her from the chair and led her to the dance floor. With her four-inch heels putting her at about five foot nine inches, he was still taller than her causing her to have to look up as he pulled her respectfully close to him.
“I’m Brian. What is your name, beautiful?” he asked, his mouth close to her ear.
“Anika,” she replied, taking in his dirty blond hair that was cut short. In the dark club, she couldn’t tell the color of his eyes. He wore a dark colored tailored suit that fit him perfectly with a white shirt open at the top and no tie and seemed to be light on his feet as he swayed with her to the beat of the music.
“Such a beautiful name for a beautiful human,” he murmured in her ear, causing her body to stiffen. “Don’t worry, you're safe with me, Anika. I saw you when you came in with the princess.”
Her eyes flashed to his, taking in his friendly smile. She relaxed a little only still slightly cautious.
“You’re a vampire?” she asked cautiously.
“That I am and I mean it, you’re safe. You’re here with the princess. Anyone would be a fool to try something with you.”
“Then why did you ask me to dance?”
“I saw a stunning woman with delicious curves that I just had to ask for a dance,” he said with a slight smile, spinning them, not missing a beat or bumping them in to any of the other dancers.
“Oh…thank you,” she said as the song switched to a faster up beat tempo. “I’m sorry, I need to go to the ladies room,” she said pulling back.
“It was a pleasure to meet and dance with you,” he said kissing the back of her hand before letting go.
She quickly walked away; looking back and finding his heated eyes following her. She hurried down the hall that marked the restrooms, wondering where the hell Nadira and Cooper had disappeared too. She reminded herself to curse Nadira out when she saw her.
She quickly went into the bathroom, handling her business, proving that those two drinks were going right through her system. She washed her hands and looked herself over in the mirror, straightening her hair, sighing since she was starting to feel tired. She pulled her lip-gloss from her clutch, touching up her lips. She looked at her watch taking in that it was a little after one in the morning. Time to find Nadira; she was ready to go home.
Walking out into the hallway the door labeled janitor’s closet popped open and out stepped Toma zipping up his pants with a tiny little brunette with huge breasts hanging off him. She had to be all of a size four which totally was tiny in Anika’s book considering she wore a fourteen.
Anika’s feet froze in place as recognition dawned on her. It had been Toma and the woman practically fucking in the corner and by the looks of it, they had found a quiet closet to finish their business in.
“Baby, you sure you don’t want to go back to my place,” the skank said, rubbing herself against him, running her fingers through his already ruffled hair.
Anika must have made a sound as she stood rooted in the same spot, causing Toma’s head to whip in her direction. His eyes widened in recognition as he looked at her. He didn’t say a word as he continued to stare at her.
She cleared her throat, standing tall, as she walked passed them.
“Excuse me,” she tried to keep her voice steady as she went to pass them, keeping her eyes cast down. She did not want to see the woman rub herself against him one more time. She may vomit, if she did.
“Anika,” he said trying to grab her arm, pulling his arm back when she flinched. She scurried past almost running, willing herself not to cry.
“Who was that baby?” the woman’s whiney voice could be heard over the music as Anika made her way back into the main part of the nightclub.
She’d cried enough the past week over him. She really had her answer now. This was just the nail in the coffin. What they had was just one night. One night of passion, where she thought they shared a connection.
Now all she would have are memories of the best night of her life. Memories that will be forever ruined knowing that she was just a notch on his bedpost, never good enough to be acknowledged to his family, not pretty enough or even skinny enough as the women it seemed he actually preferred. She choked back a sob as she went in search for Nadira.
7
~Toma~
Toma drove his sword into the rogue vampire as it hissed from the stainless steel sword piercing its heart. He had pinned the rogue against a massive tree, as he quickly reached for his blade that was sheathed on his belt at the small of his back. He drove the smaller blade into the opposite side of the rogue’s neck as he swiftly pulled the sword from his chest, swinging the sword and successfully disconnecting the rogue’s head from his body.
His rage was out of control as the picture of Anika’s face earlier at the club was etched in his brain. He was angry at himself for being the one that caused her pain. His incisors descended at the smell of blood all around him.
His brother’s Adrian and Teague fought a few feet from him but Toma didn’t need their help. He was powerful enough to take on all three of the rogues that were now surrounding him.
He sheathed his sword on his back holding out his arms, keeping only his smaller blade in his hand. He didn’t need the longer sword. He wanted close hand-to-hand combat.
Toma in combat after a fresh feeding would be next to unstoppable. Crossing him now in his barely controlled state of fury and fresh blood would be a death sentence. Right now, his eyes were set on these rogues.
“You sure you want to take me on?” Toma growled, not even a little out of breath yet, praying that they did.
“You’re outnumbered,” one of the rogues pointed out while the other two snickered. Darkness completely surrounded them, but with Toma’s enhanced vision, he had no problems making out the rogues shifting into a triangle formation around him.
He was itching to kill something and patrolling after feeding was exactly what he needed. Killing as many rogues, versi or necros would help keep his mind busy. He hated that look of horror that crossed Anika’s face when he came out of the closet with the woman whose name he never even asked.
Battle tonight would keep the tears that glistened in her eyes from haunting him. The first rogue attacked. Within minutes the three rogue vampires lay on the ground their heads separated from their bodies.
“Damn, what the fuck is up with you tonight?” Teague demanded, coming to stand next to him.
“Leave me alone, Teague,” Toma growled stalking away from the bodies and his younger brother.
“What the fuck gives?” Teague trailed behind him. “You know we are a team, right? You don’t have to be the big bad Toma, killing everything around you!”
Before he could even think, he had his brother by the throat, his fangs bared. Adrian scrambled, trying to jump in between the two of them as Teague struggled to get free from Toma’s crushing grip.
“Calm down, Toma!” Adrian shouted, breaking Toma’s hold on Teague’s neck.
“You going to take me out too, brother?” Teague growled, gasping for air, his fangs displayed beneath his top lip.
“Shut the fuck up, Teague,” Adrian yelled, pointing at Teague. “Toma, walk away, take a minute to get yourself together. We are brothers, when did we start fighting each other?”
“What the fuck have I done to you?” Teague shouted behind him.
Toma took a few steps away, taking deep breaths as guilt crept in. He knew he was losing his shit right now. He paused looking back at Teague and Adrian.
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“I’m sorry,” he said turning back to his brothers. “I have a lot going on right now and got out of control.”
Teague stared at Toma with narrowed eyes for a second before nodding his head. “If you need to talk, you know we’re here for you brother,” Teague said, making Toma feel even worse for attacking his younger brother.
“Don’t get your panties in a wad, I’m fine.”
* * *
Toma wearily climbed the stairs to his quarters, slowly coming upon Anika’s room. It was a little after five in the morning and he was about ready to crash. He paused placing an ear to her door for a brief moment. Not hearing a sound coming from her room, he made his way into his room, stripping off his blood caked clothes.
The situation with Anika was going to drive him insane. She didn’t even give him a chance to explain about the woman in the closet at the club.
He knew it looked bad, but nothing had happened with the woman. He used his vampire compulsion to lure the woman into the closet so that he could feed. Bringing her out of the compulsion, he made her think that they had just had sex in the closet. He zipped up the zipper of his jeans to enforce it with the woman, not knowing that Anika would be coming from the woman’s restroom witnessing his act too.
He had tried his hardest to stay away from her. Taking on extra patrol shifts, working out in the gym for hours, but everything he had done had not squashed these feelings he had for her. This animalistic need to be with Anika was burning inside of him.
He’d had a taste of her now and he did not want to walk away. The memory of lapping up her sweet nectar as she came on his face, even now a little over a week later, made his cock painfully hard. He quickly jumped in the shower, washing off the blood, dirt and grit that were plastered to his skin.
Stepping out the shower, he dried off, wrapping the towel around his waist. He walked out into his bedroom toward his closet, when he heard a small cry. He paused, listening again, this time he heard it louder.