Without any more explanation, he settled his mouth over hers, soft, exploring. Her breath hitched as she tasted him. Then, he pressed harder, opened up, and licked at her. She opened up, too, welcoming him inside, and their tongues rolled together. Her hands slid up his chest, around his neck and tangled in his hair.
“I like step two,” she rasped, so happy this was happening, she could have burst. “But it doesn’t prove anything.”
Kiss. “Well, we’ll worry about that later.” Kiss.
She chuckled, loving this teasing side of him. A side she’d missed terribly.
They stayed like that, kissing and touching, for countless minutes, hours maybe, and finally, blessedly, her body began to warm. As delighted as she was about that, she wished Aden would pet her as he’d used to do. She wanted his hands on her, all over her.
Soon she got her wish. Not skin-to-skin contact, but his hands began to roam, exploring her, molding her, shaping, driving her to kiss him harder, until little moans were escaping the back of her throat, until she was panting, biting at him.
To his credit, he didn’t bite her back. His touch did strengthen, though, becoming rougher. And she liked it.
“Aden,” she said, not sure why she was saying his name.
A moment later, she felt as if she were falling…falling…brittle leaves and cold dirt suddenly supporting her, Aden’s weight pinning her down. The kiss never slowed. They clutched at each other, rubbed at each other. Her body was sensitized, racing toward…something with every move she made.
He did finally pull away to cup her jaw. He, too, was panting. Little beads of sweat popped up on his brow.
“Have you been with anybody?” he asked. There was a gruff quality to his voice. A quality she loved.
“You mean sex?”
He nodded, his gaze straying to her neck. A second later, he was kissing her there, licking, sucking but still not biting. And, oh, the sensations he evoked. She was being devoured by them, every inch of her ablaze.
Rather than answer, she said shakily, “Have you?”
“No.”
But…but…he was so beautiful. Even if human girls considered him crazy, they should have been all over him. Actually, they should have been all over him because they considered him crazy. Weren’t bad boys attractive to one and all? Someone to be tamed or something?
Her betrothed, Dmitri, had been a bad boy among the vampires, and the females had flocked to him.
“Why not?” Her hands began an exploration of their own, sliding down the strength of his chest, tugging at the softness of his shirt, then slipping under it. Finally. Hot-as-a-furnace skin.
“Never trusted anyone enough.”
Did he trust her enough? Or at all? She hoped so, because she would never betray him. Ever.
“What about you?” he asked, planting kisses along her jaw.
Her nails curled into him. She didn’t want to answer. Not after hearing his reply. “Well…”
He lifted his head, and she moaned in frustration. His eyes glowed a brilliant amber-brown now, tiny flecks of violet and green swirling in the background. Such gorgeous, mesmerizing eyes.
“Yes,” she admitted softly. “I have.”
His hold tightened on her. “With who?”
Would he think badly of her now? She didn’t want to tell him, so she said, “I was curious. I was betrothed to Dmitri, as you know, and as you also know, I hated him and, well—”
“Dmitri? You slept with Dmitri? Whom you hated?” There was a faint trace of outrage in his tone.
Even that minute amount angered her, cooling the hottest of the flames licking over her. “No. Not Dmitri. But what if it was him? What would you do? What would you say?”
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly.
A few more flames crackled and hissed their way to extinction. “Anyway. I didn’t want him to be my first because, as you said, I hated him.” She’d debated keeping herself pure for him, even though that wasn’t a vampire tradition or requirement. She’d debated simply because Dmitri had been a jealous, possessive sort, and he would have hurt whoever she’d picked.
Finally, a few months before traveling to Oklahoma, she’d decided to go for it, just get it over with and pick someone who could hold his own against her fiancé. A mistake that she regretted, but one she couldn’t change.
“And for your information,” she went on, “we don’t have as staunch a view about sex as you humans do. My father had about a thousand wives, you know.”
Frost glazed his eyes. “So who were you with?”
Like she’d go there with him. “It doesn’t matter.”
“He’s still alive and here, then. And that means I can—” Suddenly silent, Aden stiffened against her, his gaze jolting up and narrowing. “Someone’s coming.” He sniffed. “Female. Familiar.”
Her ears perked, but she didn’t hear anything.
He lifted from her and stood, and though she’d been on a downward spiral and had despised the direction of their conversation, she already mourned the separation, resented the interruption.
Without a word, he reached down and helped her do the same. Her knees almost buckled as she brushed the debris from her robe, her attention never leaving him. His skin was flushed, tension vibrating from him. While he didn’t have fangs, his teeth were bared in a fearsome scowl. His lips were swollen—perhaps she’d bitten too hard—and his hair nearly stood on end.
Crunching leaves, snapping twigs.
Someone was coming. How had Aden heard before she had? Again? She swung around and saw Maddie the Lovely rushing toward them, long blond hair flying behind her.
“Your majesty,” the girl called, grinding to a halt when she spotted him.
Aden stepped in front of Victoria. To shield her from a possible threat? Please, please, please. That would mean her Aden was returning, the parts of Victoria fading. Right?
“Yes?” Aden prompted.
“You have visitors.” Maddie focused on Victoria, worry in her eyes, before returning her attention to Aden. “The councilmen suggested you hurry.”
Dread slithered through Victoria, a snake determined to squeeze the life out of her. Visitors. Allies? Or enemies? Either way, Aden was hungry and hadn’t yet fed. Until he did, everyone in the mansion would be in danger. Because the longer he went without blood, the more he would weaken, the more the hunger would strengthen, until he just sort of snapped, attacking everyone around him.
“You need to feed first,” she said to him. Though it pained her, she added, “On Maddie.” The sooner the better. Vampires could satisfactorily feed on other vampires. It wasn’t ideal, not only because of the skin issue, but also because, when you drank from another vampire, you saw the world through their eyes. At least for a little while.
A distraction like that could cost Aden his life. But, he would have a few hours before his focus merged with Maddie’s. That should give him plenty of time to deal with the visitors. And later, Victoria could guard him in her bedroom.
“No. No vampires,” Aden said with a shake of his head. “Victoria, teleport to the stronghold and bring me a blood-slave.”
He wasn’t fighting her on the issue, and she wasn’t sure if that made her happy or sad. Or angry. “I…can’t,” she admitted quietly. She’d tried to teleport to him this morning, when Riley’s brothers had informed her of his summons, and she’d failed miserably.
Depression had nearly overwhelmed her. She wasn’t normal anymore. She was a freak among her own kind. And honest to God, walking from one place to the other, without the option of simply appearing, sucked.
Sucked. Another human word. When would the madness end?
“Why?” Aden asked.
“I just can’t.”
He remained quiet for a moment, absorbing her claim. Whether he deduced what it meant or not, when even she wasn’t one hundred percent certain herself, he didn’t say. He just nodded. “All right, then. We’ll walk back to the stronghold together.”
“But you need to—”
“Maddie,” he said, cutting Victoria off. “Lead the way.”
The girl nodded and obeyed, and Aden followed after her. Victoria remained in place for several heartbeats of time. Neither Aden nor Maddie looked back at her. Or around for her. She wanted to do something to keep Aden from the house and whoever had come for him. She wanted to protect him. But how?
The farther away Aden got, the more the roaring in her head increased in volume, until she couldn’t concentrate. “Shut up, Chompers!”
Another roar.
“Fine.” And wouldn’t you know it? Now she was talking to the thing in her head like Aden often had. Gritting her teeth, she trudged after him.
ELEVEN
MARY ANN WANTED TO SCREAM. In the end, she allowed herself only to snap, “That’s enough. Both of you.”
Ignoring her, Tucker and Riley faced off. Again. After running all night, stealing a car, stealing bleach for her hair—she was still rebelling about that and hadn’t used it—stealing tattoo equipment, breaking into a motel room, commandeering it, she needed a freaking moment of peace before the three of them had to leave and steal another car.
“I can’t believe you want this piece of crap to live,” Riley said.
“Apparently she likes pieces of crap. Look who she’s dating.” Tucker snickered at him.
“I do not like crap.” Geez! They were like children. Feral, rabies-infected children who needed to be put down. “And I was dating him. Was. Not anymore.” Sadly.
Riley growled low in his throat, a definite war cry, looking from Tucker to her, her to Tucker, as if he didn’t know who to be angrier at. Great. That was just great. If he turned that snarl on her, she’d be the one to do a little murdering!
“Just shut up, Tucker, before Riley stops listening to me and finally snacks on your bone marrow. Riley, I believe we have a few things to do before we head out.”
He considered her, the menace draining from him.
“Take off your shirt,” he said, clearly deciding to play nice, “and lie on the bed. And if you sneak a peek, T-man, I will break every bone in your body.”
“Oh, I’ll sneak a peek. I’ll sneak several.” Tucker rubbed his hands together with glee. “And guess what, R-man. There will be one more bone in my body for you to break.”
Gross. Just gross.
Another growl erupted from Riley. He stepped closer to Tucker, only a whisper of air separating them.
Mary Ann jumped between them and shoved, keeping both of her arms extended. A puny effort, but they were kind enough to pretend she could do some damage of her own and remained apart.
Of course, that didn’t stop the verbal sparring.
“Jackass.”
“Pansy.”
“Pervert.”
“Asshole.”
Silence—except for the harshness of Riley’s breathing.
“Very mature,” she said on a sigh.
“What are wards, anyway?” Tucker asked, as if he hadn’t just acted like a baby and Riley wasn’t once again planning his murder.
“Do you not care about the rabid dog about to chew off your face?” she muttered. Before he could answer with something snide, she replied, “Wards are protective spells. That way, the witches have less power over us. Now back off. Both of you.”
“No one can overpower me,” Tucker said, ignoring her demand.
“Underestimating them is a mistake,” she said. “They once cast a death curse over me, Riley and Victoria, and we barely survived.”
“Let’s not forget the witches are viewing you through magic,” Riley said. “We need to get on with this.”
Mary Ann watched Tucker raze a hand through his hair. “I always knew there were other…things out there,” he said. “Different, like me. I just didn’t know it’d be something lame like witches and wolves.”
She arched a brow. Her arms were shaking—note to self: start working out—but she kept them extended. “And demons are cool?”
“Hell, yeah.” Just then, his tone was too cocky. And she knew.
He was lying. For sure. He hated himself. And having heard tidbits of gossip about his abusive father, she knew Tucker hated him, too. “Anyway,” she went on, “once a spell is cast, not even the witches can stop it from being fulfilled. Whatever conditions they set have to be met. Like with the death curse, we had a week to make a meeting. If we failed to appear, or rather, if Aden did, we all died.”
“If Vlad had known you guys were cursed, he would have simply locked Aden away, allowing that week to tick by, rather than siccing me on him. The whole stabbing thing could have been avoided. So really, you guys carry the blame for the past. Had you told people—”
“Riley, Victoria and me would have died.”
Tucker shrugged. “That wouldn’t have been my problem.”
“And now?” Riley demanded. “Are you helping Vlad now?”
“He stopped summoning me after I stabbed Aden, so I took off. I didn’t like helping him, you know. And for the record, I apologized to Aden. Before and after I sliced his heart in two. Cut me some slack.”
Anger had Riley’s eyes snapping with green fire. “You apologized. Oh, well, then. That smoothes everything over.”
“Finally.” Tucker raised his arms, the last sane man in the world. “Someone understands.”
Riley stepped around Mary Ann and shoved the guy. Hard. “I’m sorry.” Shoved again. “Oops. Sorry. My bad. All smoothed? Forgive me?” Another shove.
Tucker took the abuse without striking back. Shocking.
Mary Ann maneuvered them back on track. “I’m not taking off my shirt. Okay? So just stand down, boys. And you can ward my arms, Riley. That’ll work just as well as my back and chest.”
“Fine.” At least he stopped pushing.
Already she had tattoos on her back to protect her against mind manipulation and mortal wounds. Now he wanted to ensure she was protected against another death curse, as well as magical illusions—he’d learned his lesson with Tucker—and pain and panic and spying spells.
“Wait, wait, wait. Back up.” Riley shook his head, the tension draining from him as he faced her. “Your dad will see your arms.”
Yes, she knew that. And that would absolutely matter if she ever planned to see her dad again.
A wave of homesickness hit her, tears suddenly welling in her eyes. She’d been gone only two weeks, but she already missed her dad like crazy. But she had to stay away from him, too. She would not bring a supernatural war to his doorstep.
Rather than offering a reply, however, she sat at the edge of the bed and rolled up her shirtsleeves. “Stop wasting time. Get to work.”
“You really don’t plan on going back, do you?” Tucker asked. For once, his tone was without sarcasm, flip pancy or pure meanness.
“No,” she said flatly. “I don’t. Riley.” She stretched out on the creaking mattress, praying she didn’t leave with bedbugs. Or worse. “Begin.” Or she might chicken out.
He looked her over before closing the distance, kneeling at her side and settling her arm in his lap. Contact. Sizzling, earth-shattering, necessary. Somehow, she maintained a blank expression.
“You’ve changed,” he said.
“In two weeks?” She wanted to snort. She couldn’t. He was right.
“Yeah.” He’d already placed the equipment on the nightstand, the ink ready to go. He lifted the tiny gun and pressed the needle deep. There was a sharp sting, a persistent burn and the buzz of the little motor. Maybe her homesickness had toughened her up—she didn’t even flinch.
“Do you think I’ve changed for the better?” Stop. Don’t pursue this. You might not like what you learn.
“I liked you how you were.”
He sounded bitter. She had to pursue. “Which was weak? Reliant on you?”
“You weren’t weak.”
“Well, I wasn’t strong, either.”
“And you’re strong now?” Ouch. “
I’m stronger. So you don’t like me now?” Why are you pursuing this?
“I like you. What I don’t like is the company you keep,” he added loudly.
“This is boring,” Tucker said, pacing at the edge of the bed. “Someone entertain me.”
They ignored him.
“How did you and Tucker hook up?” Riley asked. His touch became more aggressive. “And I don’t mean that in the romantic sense. Unless there’s something you need to tell me. And if that’s the case—”
“It’s not, there’s not,” she rushed to assure him. Things might be over between them, but she didn’t want him to think she’d jumped into something with Tucker. “After stabbing Aden—which I still haven’t forgiven him for—” she said just as loudly as Riley had “—Tucker came looking for me. He saw me leave my house with a bag and followed me.”
“I followed you. You did everything in your power to lose me. Him, you kept around.” Yep. That was bitterness, pure and fervent. More than that, “him” had been said with so much disgust, Riley could have been discussing a case of raging diarrhea.
In his mind, he probably was.
“Yeah,” she said, tone softening, “but I care about hurting you.”
“Nice, Mary Ann,” Tucker said dryly. “Real nice.”
They ignored him.
Riley paused. Set the ink gun aside, and reached for her. His fingers traced over her jaw, caressing. Mary Ann didn’t mean to, but she leaned into the familiar, calloused touch, her eyes closing. Just then, they were the only two people in the world.
She breathed him in, pretending she was normal, he was normal, everything was normal. That wild, earthy scent of his reminded her of the outdoors, and she wished for more, was desperate for more—until she remembered what had happened to the last creatures of the night she’d encountered and couldn’t pretend anymore.
They’d convulsed, their skin paling…paling…until they’d become chalk white, resembling painted Halloween decorations. Bruises had formed under their eyes, their lips had chapped, and they’d screamed. And screamed and screamed and screamed, the pain too much to bear.
“Mary Ann.”
She must have stiffened. Her eyelids sprang apart, and she saw that Riley was frowning with concern. Concern. No, no, no. “Did I hurt you?” she asked in a rush. Had she drained him, even a little?
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