What the hell?
I quizzically lifted my eyebrow as I suspiciously looked around. Suddenly, it felt like someone was kissing my neck. Stunned, I accidentally fell back into the man, except no one was there to catch me. My hip jammed into the kitchen counter. I yelped and then froze. I stared at my inner thighs, I could’ve sworn large hands were sliding up my skin. I could feel the firm grip through my yoga pants, could actually see the outline of the invisible hand shifting up my clothes.
I tried to scream but another invisible hand clamped down on my mouth. I struggled viciously, but that lasted all of two seconds. With my current energy levels so low, there wasn’t much I could do. My vision swam and my head felt like it was bobbing in the middle of the ocean. To my horror, I had to lean back against my ghostly assailant to catch my breath.
Sharp exhales blew past my dry, peeling lips. I literally looked like a walking corpse. Who the hell would want to jump me?
Unless..?
I choked on my shock and mumbled past his invisible hand. “L-Lucas?”
He didn’t reply, however he removed his hand from my mouth and lightly bit the scar on my neck.
His mark.
It flared in pleasure and my eyes just about rolled out of my head. I would have collapsed when my knees gave out if it weren’t for the iron-hard arm snaked across my torso, holding me against his tall, muscular frame.
The thing inside me, that succubus side that had been neglected for far too long, purred. I barely had the energy to stand, and I knew my ribs and spine were prominent under his touch — even though my fragile appearance probably disgusted a virile feral like Lucas Masters, he was here. Giving me what I needed.
Saving me.
Again.
Warm, salty tears of gratitude burst through the floodgates. I needed this so badly. I was tired of putting up my defenses. Of fighting my own instincts and everyone else. For weeks, stopping myself from killing those vampires had become my existence. My every thought entertained the idea of turning into a monster.
I moaned as a warm mouth connected with my neck and hands shifted upward to palm my breasts. My nipples stiffened instantly.
I craved Lucas like I longed for air to fill my lungs.
“Please…” The weak plea fell from my lips. I didn’t even care how pathetic I sounded. I was just so hungry. And empty. And cold.
I needed him to fill me up.
With his hands and lips and teeth on me, I felt alive for the first time since I signed the contract. Heat pooled in my belly and collected lower, still.
A thumb gently brushed away my tears. I hadn’t even noticed that I was sobbing. It just felt so good to feel his presence. To feel a piece of the mate bond again. To feel him.
A flood of warmth and reassurance washed over me through the bond. His soul touched mine. This communication was deeper than anything I’d ever known. All my stress and worries melted instantly.
He wanted me. He loved me.
But I could also tell he was angry with me for letting myself come so close to death. He’d felt both of us dying this entire time. And it gutted him to be helpless in the face of my plight.
I wanted to explain that what we had done together had neutered me. That the only way I could nourish myself was by killing or letting someone else touch me. I couldn’t bear the thought of it. Both options were unacceptable. I’d rather die.
Our weak bond wasn’t sophisticated enough to communicate all that. I’m not sure if he got any of it. All I knew was that he was determined to give me what we both needed to survive.
Suddenly, Phantom Lucas turned and bent me over the counter. My hand landed in the cake and I couldn’t care less. Not when I could feel the broad head of his member at my entrance, through my clothes.
My core clenched. “Do it.”
He impaled me in one sharp thrust.
“Oh fuck,” I cried under my breath. I gripped at the counter, smearing chocolate cake everywhere.
Lucas didn’t pause to let me adjust to his size. I was so wet and ready it didn’t matter anyway. I moaned and writhed as his big dick sank into me over and over again.
I expected him to pound into me, but he was dragging it out in exquisite torture. I felt every inch of him slide in and mourned every bit of his engorged cock that pulled out. Only to have ecstasy rock back into me nice and deep.
I shuddered. This moment felt inexorable. Lucas was an Alpha through and through. Everything he did spoke of dominance and assurance. He didn’t need to be rough in order to assert his strength. His firm and unwavering rhythm told me exactly how this was going to be. He was running the show and if he wanted to fuck me nice and slow, that’s exactly what he’d do.
I moaned as I convulsed around him, my inner walls clamping down.
He continued to thrust through the orgasm, sinking in and out of me.
Unrelenting.
I wriggled but his large hands pinned me by the hips. I was completely immobilized. He forced another few inches inside me, and I realized he’d been taking it easy on me.
My God, he hadn’t even been using his whole dick!
Suddenly ten thick inches of Lucas Masters slammed into me.
I cried out when the head of his cock pushed against my cervix. My eyes rolled back into my head as jets of warm fluid flooded my womb.
“Oh God!” I screamed as a torrent of energy and violent release swirled around, and exploded between us. My starving body sucked it up like a vacuum cleaner. Pleasure cascaded over me, and sent me spiraling into another orgasm. But this was so much more.
Lucas Masters literally just fucked the life back into me.
I thought I’d reached the pinnacle of pleasure, but then he bit me right over his mark. The brick wall that blocked our bond promptly exploded, blowing it wide open.
With our newly reestablished bond exposing his own rapturous release I couldn’t take it anymore. Especially with his teeth, and his dick firmly seated inside me. I shattered all over again.
I gasped against the countertop as the aftershocks finally died down. This was unreal. I didn’t even have words for it.
Without warning, I was inside his head as he came crashing down from his climax.
And it wasn’t pretty. He was pissed.
My warm afterglow broke apart like glass chucked at the pavement. It was a miracle he’d been so gentle with me, because he had the most primitive urge to dominate me and take out his pent-up rage on my pussy. His words, not mine. He wanted to own me. To never let me leave his sight again.
Because according to him and his wolf, I was theirs. And it was about time I learned that.
I knew he was mad and frightened that I’d almost died, but this was something more. This was possessiveness to a whole new extent. Getting that startling glimpse into his head made me realize that he might never forgive me for leaving. In his eyes, I’d betrayed him and our mate bond.
He roughly slid his rock hard member out of me. My own juices soaked my panties and leaked down my thighs.
I instantly felt cold and empty with him gone.
Go to bed. We’ll talk in your dream. Lucas growled, his words echoed in my head. His presence vanished like he’d slammed the door shut on our link.
I stared in shock at the counter. Had that really just happened? Had my mate hit it and quit it?
I wanted to cry. I should be rejoicing right now that I’d been rescued from the brink of death, but something was very wrong.
I was about to wipe my eyes before I noticed my chocolaty hand. It no longer looked like a leather covered skeleton. It was the hand of a twenty-year-old and the tattoo no longer glowed like embers.
My straw hair now tumbled around me in a riot of shiny, healthy curls.
Somehow, that all made me feel worse.
I winced at the sound of an apple being bitten into.
I spun around to find U.S. Hunter Vicks leaning against the door jamb wearing a slight smirk as he chewed.
Mortificatio
n painted me red all the way to the tips of my ears. How long had he been watching me? Had he seen me bent over the counter and moaning like a porn star for seemingly no reason?
By the amusement and heat dancing in his eyes… yes, yes he had.
Vicks took another bite of his apple and nodded to the counter. “That’s one helluva cake.”
It took me two hours to calm down enough to close my eyes and lay my head on the pillow. My body thrummed with energy. I wanted to run a marathon, not sleep. Admittedly, deep down I was postponing seeing him. I couldn’t face the embarrassment; he basically had to sleep with me.
Again.
This was becoming a seriously mortifying trend.
I barely knew him and yet he was the only man I’d ever been with. It must’ve been a sick cosmic joke that both of those incidents had practically been forced upon us.
Not to mention I wasn’t exactly prepared to face his anger or the force of his ownership.
And now, he was waiting for me to fall asleep so we could talk in a dream? I wanted to scoff, but I was hardly in the position to doubt him. Yesterday I would have said having sex with someone an ocean away was impossible. Clearly, I was still ill prepared for all the world of Supes had to offer. While I may have educated myself on succubi, I was still woefully ignorant about everything the mate bond could do.
I blew out a breath. It was time to face the music. I stared at the ceiling for one last time before shutting my eyes.
I didn’t reopen them until I was surrounded by light. I blinked and squinted as my vision came into focus on an intimidating throne, and an even more intimidating Lucas Masters. He didn’t say a word. He simply held me in place with the force of his beast gold eyes. His imperial glare.
His wolf was close to the surface. I could practically feel the heat of his rage wafting off of him. I suspected, if moods had colors, his would be pitch black.
“You’re late. Come here, Claire.”
Suddenly, I felt like a lamb being led to slaughter. I wanted to shift my feet and look away, but I couldn’t rip my gaze away from the macabre chair he lazed upon. It was made of fur and bones. Human and wolf alike. A small shiver danced down my spine.
Why the hell would anybody want something like that? People had died to create it.
“It’s a reminder,” he spoke in a calm tone that belied his mood. His partially extended claws gripped the arms of the throne, spread out across each human skull that adorned the ends.
“What is?” I whispered, wrangling my hands behind my back. Sometimes when I thought about Lucas, I forgot he was the Alpha of the most frightening pack in North America. Seeing him on that horrific throne made it impossible to forget.
This wasn’t the teenager I’d passed notes with in the back of the class. This was the Alpha who sat before me.
“My chair,” he answered. “It’s a reminder of what this place used to be and who used to sit here.”
My eyes widened. Had he read my thoughts?
“Yes.” He stood up and stalked toward me. He was taller than I remembered. My gaze slid down his sculpted chest to land on his six-pack abs. My insides clenched. He was so beautiful. A man like that shouldn’t be allowed to be shirtless. Or to be able to walk with such lithe, predatory grace.
With that hard glint in his luminous eyes, I couldn’t forget he was dangerous, too.
He stopped in front of me and I lifted my gaze to meet his challenge. Though he was years my junior, I felt tiny next to him. That alone would have been intimidating enough, but he was devastatingly gorgeous too.
We’d never been in a situation that wasn’t dire. Everything that involved Lucas Masters was surreal, and this was no exception. It was almost ridiculous to be standing in front of him like we hadn’t just defiled Gabriel Benson’s kitchen. Like the only issue we had to deal with was our broken relationship.
It was a small problem compared to the other shit we had faced, but in this moment, it felt like the largest.
I didn’t know what to say or do. I’d never had a boyfriend before, and certainly not a mate. I didn’t really know Lucas, but aside from the times when he turned into an eight-foot-tall man-beast intent on protecting or fucking me, he’d been kind. Sweet, even.
Overall, he had seemed like a good guy.
But now, he stared at me without an ounce of warmth in his eyes. I tried to reach into our bond, to find what he was really feeling so we could tackle this head on, but I couldn’t get past the smooth, glass barrier that stood between us. Was he shutting me out of the bond?
“It doesn’t feel good to be the one locked out, does it?” His words felt like a slap to the face.
“I—”
“No.” His deep voice cut me off. His jaw was clenched as he stared down at me.
I stepped back from his looming form. Every muscle in his body seemed to be primed and rigid with tension. He began to reach for me, but thought better of it and curled his hand into a fist by his side. Blood began to drip from the flesh of his right palm. It splattered onto the cavern floor.
He sighed and roughly dragged the hand that wasn’t bleeding through his hair.
“Look…” He started, but then his face grew cold once more. His tone turned just as frosty. “You should know that I have your friend.”
The blood froze in my veins. He could only mean…
“Camilla Alvarez.” He confirmed. “She’s safe and unharmed for now, but if you’d like her to stay that way, I suggest you come back to me.”
I jerked upright out of my bed and jumped to my feet. I roughly pulled at my hair as I paced my room.
Lucas had Camilla. And he’d just threatened her!
Fuck!
Wait, was I being crazy for trusting his word on this? If he felt a fraction of the irrational longing I’d experienced, then I was certain he’d say just about anything to get me back. That was a much more palatable thought than the idea of him doing anything to my friend. I rushed from my room. I needed a phone stat. I had to know if this was a bluff. Though a sickened part of me realized I wouldn’t put anything past the angry man who’d just starred in my dream. I’d thought I had an idea of who Lucas Masters was, but the truth was I didn’t know him at all. Or what he was capable of.
I glanced at Vicks’ closed door.
I contemplated it for all of a second before sprinting across the dark, silent mansion. My pace was smooth and strong. I actually felt athletic and full of vitality for once. I would have whooped for joy if my best friend’s life wasn’t on the line.
I careened in front of Gabe’s door and tried the handle — locked. I began to pound on the door like a madman.
Thirty seconds of obnoxiously loud knocking later, the door wrenched open to reveal a groggy and annoyed Gabriel Benson. He rubbed his almond-shaped eyes, which widened in surprise when he realized it was me. I pushed past him and entered the master bedroom. Although, the term bedroom didn’t exactly fit. I’d lived in smaller apartments.
“Come on in,” he said wryly.
I was so out of sorts I barely registered the sarcasm. I scanned the room, ignoring the ten or so passed out naked people on his massive circular bed. My gaze latched onto the cell phone laying on a dresser.
I headed toward the mobile device, but was promptly cut-off by a smirking movie star.
“Can I help you?” Gabe sounded amused. I didn’t have time for this shit. I pushed past him, but he saw what I was going for and snagged the cell before I could. He held it above his head. “I don’t think so. You’ll have to earn phone privileges.”
“Just give it to me!” I jumped up and tried to grab it. Someone on the bed groaned and rolled over. I lowered my voice, “Please?”
Gabe chuckled and continued to dangle it out of my reach. “Pay the toll first.”
I stared at the phone like it was a precious jewel. “What toll?”
“A kiss.” He countered, his voice transformed into something buttery smooth.
I raised an eyebrow in re
sponse. Come here, I told him with my eyes.
Just as his eyes widened in surprise at my nonverbal agreement, I punched him in the gut.
Gabe grunted and doubled over. I plucked the phone out of his hand while he coughed up a lung. Sucker.
“Really?” Gabe called out to my retreating form. “That was rude as shit!”
I might have felt bad, but no one stood in the way of me and my best friend. Not even a world famous movie star. I quickly dialed Camilla’s number by heart, but soon realized that international calling wasn’t simple.
“How do I call the United States?”
“Why?” He frowned. “Aren’t you supposed to be off grid? Vaughn already glazed you out of existence.”
So that’s how I was deleted from everyone’s memory?
“I don’t have time for this, can you please just answer me?”
Gabe snatched the phone out of my hands. He pressed some keys and passed it back. “You owe me. Be sure to add the area code.”
I took the phone back. Frantic, my hands shook as I rushed to dial the remainder of the number.
“Thank you,” I told him.
“No need.” Gabe rubbed the slight red mark on his stomach then grumbled, “Now that I know what your gratitude feels like.”
“Sorry,” I muttered as I listened for a ring tone. I frowned when the ringing cut off too soon and sent me to Camilla’s full voicemail — like someone had pressed the ignore button. “Does international texting work with the extra digits?”
My mentor folded his arms as he scrutinized me. “It does.”
“I’m stealing this,” I said, clutching the phone. If he wanted it back he’d have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers.
Gabe threw his hands up in exasperation. “By all means, crazy lady. Just don’t send any nudes from my phone. Or if you do, save them to my camera roll first.”
“Gabe.” I tore my gaze away from the phone. “Seriously, thank you.”
He gave me a soft, bittersweet smile. “Sure thing. Say hello to your mate for me.”
I frowned. He knew that Lucas held Camilla hostage?
The Hunter: A Sinful Supes Novel (Red Crescent Book 3) Page 7