Barbaric Tendencies (Ciara Steele Novella Series #2)

by Banks, Catherine

  Kheelan smiled, “Alright. Let’s go.” He led the way back to the room we had come in and opened the portal back to the stables. I stepped through after Kheelan and tripped on the way out. Kheelan caught me and I found myself staring in to his eyes. He smelled like warm sunshine and jasmine.

  I pulled away slowly from him and blushed, “Sorry.”

  He smiled, “You apologize a lot. You should break that habit, especially around my people.”

  I frowned, “Why?” Before he could answer Jared and Kevin stepped through the portal. Both of their faces were shut down which meant that they had been arguing about me. Jared shut the portal down then walked to a small desk in the back corner of the stables to speak to the attendant about getting us an airplane. I turned on Kevin, “What were you two arguing about?”

  Kevin kept his face perfectly blank, “We weren’t arguing.”

  I snorted, “You’re an awful liar.” Two men stepped inside the stable and headed towards one of the Council’s private jets. Jared waved us over then climbed on board. I poked Kevin in the arm, “I’ll find out even if I have to torture it out of you.”

  Kheelan looked at me in shock, “I didn’t picture you as a torturer.”

  Kevin snorted, “She’s not that kind of torturer. Trust me. You’ll understand her torture in a few hours.”

  I climbed up the steps and walked in to a Las Vegas suite. The plane was like a hotel room with a bed, sofas, carpet, heavy drapes on the windows to block out the sun and a full bar with a big screen TV over it to watch the game. An attractive bartender wearing only hip hugger jeans stepped behind the bar and smiled seductively at me, “Can I interest you in anything?”

  A thousand dirty answers popped in to my mind as I stared at him. Kheelan touched my arm and I felt my third eye open. The bartender’s face was now covered by his true face with pointed teeth red eyes without pupils and a forked tongue. Kheelan steered me toward a sofa, “She’s not interested Incubus. You may retire.”

  The bartender shrugged and walked in to the cockpit with the pilots. I sat down on the couch beside Jared and shivered, “I hate preternaturals.” All three men stared at me and I giggled, “Except for you three of course.”

  Kevin rolled his eyes from the couch across from me and started flipping through the channels on the TV until he came to an ice hockey game. The jet’s engines started and large doors opened in front of us that I hadn’t noticed before. I leaned back against the couch and closed my eyes, “Wake me up when we’re in ‘Frisco.”

  The jet started to gain speed as we started down the runway and Jared groaned beside me. I opened one eye and smiled at him, “I forgot wereanimals hate planes.”

  Kheelan frowned and I noticed his death grip on the couch, “Don’t insult people who dislike planes.”

  I rolled my eyes, “You just hate metal. They hate enclosed spaces and heights.”

  The plane pulled upward into the air and all three men closed their eyes. Men are such babies about their fears.

  I faded in and out of sleep the entire way to ‘Frisco while the men were ramrod straight in their seats and muttering curses the entire ride. When we finally landed all three men jumped out of the jet and exhaled loudly in relief. I walked slowly down the stairs smiling widely. Jared growled, “Shut up.”

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  Kheelan shook his head, “You might as well have. Your body language speaks plainly for you.”

  Kevin walked toward a black limousine that was waiting nearby and spoke to the driver. Kheelan started to walk towards me, but Jared was closer and reached his hand out toward me. I took his hand and let him lead me to the car. Kheelan frowned at Jared, but said nothing. We all piled in to the limousine and I rummaged through the mini-fridge for something to drink. I grabbed a bottle of tequila from the fridge and Jared growled, “No.”

  I opened the bottle and Jared tensed. I knew he would lunge at me to get the bottle away so I turned sideways and tilted the bottle upside down swallowing as fast as I could before he lunged across the car and ripped the bottle away. Kheelan handed me a handkerchief and I wiped my mouth smiling at Jared. He screwed the lid back on the bottle of liquor and glared at me. The driver dropped us off at one of the high end clothing stores in the area and gave us his cell phone number to call him when we were ready. Jared and Kevin took their positions in front and behind to protect me while Kheelan, wearing a very convincing glamour, walked beside me. The humans looked so blissfully unaware of the fact that there were two wereanimals and a sidhe near them and I wished I could have been them. My entire life I had seen the faces of those pretending to be human and had tried so hard to hide from them. It had worked for a little while, but ultimately the vampires had found me.

  The human world seemed untouched by the existence of preternaturals, but I knew what was happening underground. Soon the humans would be nothing more than slaves or food. If my vision of the war was right there might not be any humans left. Kheelan, Jared and Kevin began picking clothes off the rack and talking together excitedly. It worried me more than the thought of fighting a loupe, wereanimal gone mad. The men’s arms became overloaded with clothes and so they ushered me in to the dressing rooms and piled the clothes inside. It took two hours to try on all of the clothes they had brought and then another two as they found more for me to try on. I was holding the last item in my hand tired and hungry and sighed. A dress. I hadn’t worn a dress since the night Eric had told me he loved me. It was also the same night I had had to leave Eric to come to the compound. I could still hear Eric’s heartrending howl. Jared knocked on the dressing room door, “Everything alright?”

  I looked in the mirror and saw the tears on my face. I wiped them off quickly and cleared my throat, “Yeah, just give me a second.” I slipped the dress on and stared in shock at it. The dress was a blue summer dress with a white ribbon around the middle and edges. I stared at my reflection and couldn’t recognize myself. I stepped out the door and the men stared at me with blank faces. I looked down at the ground, “I take it you don’t like it?”

  Kheelan was the first to speak. “No, it looks very good.”

  Kevin whistled, “You clean up nice.”

  I looked up and snorted at him. I looked over at Jared and my breath caught in my throat. His eyes were glowing blue and I felt like a trapped rabbit. His eyes vibrated with so many different emotions of lust, need, desire and aggression that I couldn’t speak and didn’t dare move. Kevin broke the tense silence, “Jared, what do you think?”

  Jared’s eyes didn’t move from mine as he said, “She’s beautiful.”

  Kheelan rolled his eyes, “We’ve known that tiger. I believe he was asking about the dress.”

  Jared broke eye contact with me and I hurried in to the dressing room. Something wasn’t right with Jared, but I didn’t know what. Alphas are always very protective and possessive, but we haven’t done anything. How could he assume possession for someone who told him no? I tossed the dress in to the large keep pile we had and opened the door, “Okay, let’s get going. I’m hungry.” I walked out of the dressing room and past all of the men. They walked in and each grabbed an armful of the clothing I was buying and we walked to a checkout line. The cashier stared at the men and I could practically see her hormones racing. She was beautiful and had the body of a swimsuit model. She smiled at the men and completely ignored me as she scanned the clothes and put them in bags. The men were ignoring her and looking around the store for danger. She whispered, “Are any of them yours?”

  I snorted, “They’re my bodyguards.”

  She frowned at me, “Bodyguards? Why do you need bodyguards?”

  Kheelan stepped forward and smiled at the cashier, “She’s very valuable.”

  The cashier smiled at him and nodded her head, “I understand.” She hurriedly finished scanning and bagging my clothes then stared at the total. “That’ll be one thousand two hundred and sixty dollars.” I pulled the credit card out of my back pocket and
handed it to her. She swiped the card and tried hard not to look at Jared and Kevin. Kheelan started divvying the bags out to the other men while we waited for the card to be approved. The receipt printed and the cashier smiled handing me the receipt, “Thank you for shopping with us. I hope to see you again.”

  I took the card back from her and put it in my back pocket. Jared called the limo driver and we walked outside to wait for him so we could put the bags in the trunk before we went for food. Jared smiled at me, “The Council is spoiling you. I think you might start to get a big head.”

  I snorted, “The Council is spoiling me because…nevermind. Where do you all want to eat?”

  Kheelan smiled, “How about Pier 39?”

  Kevin licked his lips, “Mmm…they have the best clam chowder.”

  I pretended to gag, “Yuck! I hate clam chowder, but they do have great shrimp.”

  Our driver pulled up and I climbed in to the car before the men were done loading the bags and took two giant swigs of tequila. I was working on my third swig when Jared climbed in and yanked the bottle from my hand. “What’s wrong with you Ciara?”

  I snorted, “What’s wrong with you?”

  He frowned, “Nothing. I just don’t think it’s a good idea for you to drink.”

  Kheelan climbed in and sat down beside me, “Oh let her have some fun. She won’t get to when we get back.”

  Kevin climbed in next to Jared and shook his head, “She needs to be on her toes in case something happens.”

  I jumped across the limo and tried to grab the bottle from Jared, but he grabbed me and pinned me to the floor. “Knock it off.”

  I growled at him, “You’re not my boss dammit! You’re just my guard!”

  Jared stared at me in shock, “Just your guard?”

  Kevin sighed, “Oh boy.”

  Jared stood up and slumped in his seat. I sighed and squatted down in front of him, “Jared, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

  He raised his hand and I stopped talking. “You should get back in your seat. We wouldn’t want you to be injured if the car wrecked.”

  I frowned at him and tilted my head to the side in a sign of submission. He looked down at me and I could see the battle in his eyes. He looked away and my heart dropped. If an alpha refused to acknowledge your submission you were removed from the pack. I opened my mouth to say something, but Kevin shook his head at me. I climbed back in to the seat beside Kheelan and felt the lightheadedness setting in. The driver stopped a few minutes later in front of the pier and we all climbed out in silence. Jared led the way and I ambled along behind him. Jared walked in to a restaurant and I was about to follow when a woman yelled, “Ciara?!”

  I turned around slowly and stared in shock at Susie, my old co worker from the law firm where I had met Eric. She had red hair and freckles brighter than any other person I had met. Her hair matched her fiery temperament and I knew I had to be careful how I proceeded. I smiled, “Hey Susie.”

  She stopped in front of me ignoring Kevin and Kheelan and glared at me, “What the hell were you thinking?”

  I frowned, “Uh, well I had a personal problem that I had to leave town for…”

  She snorted, “You call sleeping with your boss a personal problem?”

  I stared at her in shock, “I never…I didn’t sleep with Mr. Wolfe.”

  She rolled her eyes, “Don’t play coy with me. Why else would you have both left the firm together?”

  I frowned, “I left the firm, not him. He was still there when I left.”

  She shook her head, “You both just disappeared. No notes, no calls, just poof. How could you do that? How could you be so selfish and take away the best attorney just so you could use him?”

  I glared at her and felt my anger rise. My hands clenched in to fists and I could feel the earth’s energy responding to my anger with its own. “I did not use him. I didn’t do anything with him. I left for another job. I don’t know why he left, but that has nothing to do with me.”

  She rolled her eyes again, “You just don’t want to admit that you’re a sl…”

  Kheelan stepped between her and me, “That’s enough. You should learn to get your facts straight before you try to accuse someone.”

  Susie stared at Kheelan then sneered, “Let me guess? You’re the new boy toy.” I tried to push around Kheelan, but Kevin grabbed me and held me. She snorted, “Wow two at the same time. You must be really good to have two.”

  Kevin sighed, “Come on Ciara. This girl is too jealous to see straight. The only reason she is insulting you is because she’s so alone she can’t stand to see anyone else happy.”

  Susie stared at Kevin in shock then yelled, “You don’t know anything about me!”

  I yelled back at her, “Just like you don’t know anything about me.”

  I turned and walked away from her and in to the restaurant where Jared was still waiting at the hostess area. He saw my face and walked towards me his face full of concern, “What’s wrong?”

  I shook my head and turned away from him. Kheelan took my hand and whispered, “Let’s talk.”

  He steered me toward the side of the restaurant and Kevin intercepted Jared before he could follow. Kheelan stopped in a private room with a view of the ocean. I sighed, “She’s right about me. I had planned on sleeping with Eric.”

  Kheelan shook his head, “She isn’t right. So what if you fell in love with Eric. It’s not like it matters to her except that you took him off the menu.”

  I shook my head, “I’m not a good person. I killed two people and didn’t feel anything!”

  Kheelan shrugged, “I’ve killed hundreds. In our world it’s kill or be killed. We don’t get to talk our problems out.”

  I stared at the beautiful ocean and sighed, “I don’t know what I’m doing here. I’ll never be anything great. I’m just a freak who can see people’s other faces and get glimpses of the future. I’m not important.”

  Kheelan shook his head, “You are important. No one can see their own worth. You are important not only to the Council, but to those who care about you, like Eric and me.”

  I frowned, “You? Why would you care about me?”

  He smiled, “We’re friends.”

  I sighed, “Too bad the Council wasn’t my friend so I could convince them…I just wish there was some way for me to…”

  Kheelan walked forward and took my hand. Warmth like the sun on a spring day covered my body, “I would do most anything you would ask.” He kissed the back of my hand softly and I stared in shock at the small butterfly mark on my hand. Under it was the word “Avery”. I looked up and he winked, “A second token of friendship.” His second name. One more and…I would basically own him.

  I shivered and pulled my hand back. “You risk much with these tokens.”

  He shrugged, “One only gives what he feels is deserved.”

  I shook my head and looked out over the lake, “I do not deserve your names. I don’t deserve anything.”

  Kheelan shook his head and hugged me against him, “Do not speak that way about yourself. You are a good being.” I stared in to his eyes and gasped as a vision took me. Everything was black at first and then it changed in to a beautiful field of grass with trees and flowers.

  Kheelan sat on a tree stump and stroked the back of a spotted fawn. Eric stood beside him in wolf form and wagged his tail at me. Suddenly three tigresses leapt from the trees and charged at them. Kheelan fought with two as the third attacked Eric. I wanted to move to help them, but I couldn’t because I wasn’t really there. Jared stepped out from the tree line and smiled, “Well well. I knew Eric was here, but you as well Warrior? This is much too easy. Now I don’t have to search you out to kill you. I can do it now.”

  Kheelan dodged the two tigresses and asked, “What have we done to earn your wrath tiger?”

  Eric bit in to the tigress he was fighting shoulder and shook his head viciously. She jumped away, but was limping badly on it.

  Jared
snarled, “She was to be mine! My mate and you two had to screw it up! If she hadn’t fallen in love with Eric and been bound by you I could have her! I will have her once you are both dead!”

  Kheelan’s eyes were glowing white as he called his power up. Tree roots wrapped around one of the tigresses and held her. The other tigress ran at him and a tree root shot out of the ground and through her chest killing her instantly.

  Eric clawed across the tigress’s throat opening a large red line. The tigress stumbled then fell to the ground. Eric changed to his human form and shook his head, “She will never be with you. Even with us dead she will refuse you because she sees who you really are.”

  Jared snorted, “And who is that?”

  Eric smiled, “A barbarian. You give in to your tendencies instead of fighting them.”

  Jared screamed and charged forward leaping in to the air and changing before landing. The vision shattered and Kheelan’s face came in to focus. He was holding me in his arms and walking, “Ciara? Are you alright? What did you See?”

  I turned my face in to his chest and cried loudly. “It’s my fault. It’s all my fault.”

  I jumped out of his arms and away from him. He frowned, “Ciara, tell me what you Saw.”

  I described my dream to him and watched as his face closed down. I took a step farther back from him, “You shouldn’t be near me. I’m just going to get you in trouble.”

  Kheelan smiled at me, “Ciara, everything is going to be alright. Now come on we have to get back to them before Jared comes here.”

  I shivered, “How can I face him?”

  Kheelan grabbed my arms and jasmine filled my nostrils. “You are going to pretend you never Saw anything. That you have no idea how much of a scumbag he is. Do you understand?” I nodded my head. Kheelan hugged me against him, “It’ll be alright.”

  I snorted, “Right, him attacking you and Eric is…wait a second. You know Eric?” I pulled back from his hold to look at his face.

  Kheelan smiled, “Yes. Eric and I go a long ways back.”