Nic finished the stale beer and set the bottle on a small table next to him. He needed to speak to Aidan about a change in scenery. The Were-Dragon would understand Nic’s restlessness and relieve him of duty for the night. Or for however long it took Nic to get his head straight.
As he walked through the throng of partiers, he tried to shake the memory of last night’s dream. She was so sad, his Jenna. And maybe a bit frightened. Nic’s every protective instinct screamed at him to find her, protect her, most of all to claim her.
“You have been gone for almost a week,” he murmured. “I have missed you.” She lay before him, gloriously nude, the cream and berry perfection of her body glowing against the rich satin duvet.
“I haven’t been sleeping well,” she admitted. There was something in her eyes that worried him. Something more than the usual wistful longing he usually found there. “And the medicine the doctor gave me didn’t allow me the luxury of dreaming.” Dread filled him as Nic gazed into her expressive, troubled eyes. “Why haven’t you been able to sleep? Tell me, Jenna, what is troubling you?” She met his gaze and for a moment he thought she might speak, might finally open up to him, allowing him to find her, to protect her, to keep her.
Then she blinked, and the moment passed. Nic prepared to press her, to demand she share her thoughts as freely as she shared her body, but she reached out her slim, strong hands and wrapped them around his cock, strangling his words in his throat and crushing his good intentions.
Shaking his head at his own futile musings, Nic approached the double doors marked Employees Only and pushed through. His hard-soled boots clicked on the tile floor, masking a second set of footsteps. Suddenly, without warning, he was thrown against the concrete wall.
“Chandra,” he groaned in resignation, catching her upper arms in his hands. The female Vamp smiled naughtily at him, her fangs descending as she lunged for his neck.
He tightened his grip on her arms, holding her off a bare inch from his throat.
Her full, red-painted lips glistened wetly as she gave him a pout. “Oh, come on, Nicky. I just want a little taste.” Her red-tipped nails scraped stinging paths down his chest.
“Fuck, Chandra, I don’t need this right now.”
She moved in closer. “Oh, I know what you need,” she purred, dropping to her knees.
Nic looked down at the top of her silky blonde hair. Chandra was hell on wheels and enjoyed her sex as rough and ready as any male. A year ago he would have slammed her into the wall and fucked her until she couldn’t stand. Tonight was a different story. He looked down at the beautiful Vampiress kneeling between his thighs, ready to use that wicked mouth on him. After a minute he sighed. He felt nothing. There was no stirring in his cock. The pounding erection he’d had just remembering the dream of Jenna’s hands on him withered under Chandra’s greedy gaze. He didn’t long to lift Chandra’s short skirt and rip away her thong to get to the heat hidden inside. He caught the scent of her arousal, and looked down at his crotch. Nope, nothing. It was no use. Dreaming or awake, his dick belonged to Jenna, and it wouldn’t get hard for anyone else.
Gently he pulled Chandra to her feet. “Not tonight, Chan,” he said regretfully.
The female ran her hands up and down his chest. “Come on, Nic. It’s been over a year since we’ve played together.” She moved in for a kiss, but he blocked her. “What’s with you?” Her cold green eyes narrowed on his. “Do you have any idea how many men want to fuck me?”
“Then go find one of them.” Her eyes widened in outrage, and Nic’s hands went to her shoulders to hold her off.
“Chandra, I said no. Not tonight nor any other night. I won’t give to you what belongs to someone else.”
Nic could all but see her mind working as he set her away from him.
“You’re joking, I get it.” Her hands traveled down the black dress that hugged her slim body like a second skin. “You are a cruel tease.” She cupped her breasts and lifted them to Nic like a pagan offering. “But you can’t say you don’t want this, Nicky. You can’t say you don’t want me.”
“Chandra,” taking one of her hands in his; he pressed it to his flaccid cock. He kept his voice harsh, pausing for emphasis between each word. “I. Don’t. Want. You.” Her hands fluttered to her sides and her pale green eyes began to glow. Nic waited for her verbal assault, but it never came. Instead, she straightened her spine and tossed her long, blonde hair over her shoulder.
“Have it your way, Nic.” Her voice was cool and composed, and utterly at odds with the hell-fire glow in her eyes. “But you and I both know there isn’t a female alive or dead that can give you what I can.”
She turned on her five-inch stilettos and marched out through the employee entrance.
He let his head fall back against the wall and gave a low groan of frustration. He definitely needed to get out of here. Turning to continue on to Aidan's office, Nic froze as a familiar scent filled his nose.
Blood. A lot of blood. He stood still and focused on nothing except the blood. He followed the scent, and before he’d reached the end of the hall, he began to hear screams coming from outside the building. Faint, terrified cries for help.
He picked up speed. As he passed Aidan’s office, he reached out to pound on the door. There was no need. The door flew open, Aidan and Sebastian came stalking out.
“You hear it, too,” the Dragon asked. Nic nodded, still headed for the emergency exit.
There was something really bad waiting for them outside.
*
Jenna lurched under a brutal kick to the ribs. Her left eye was swollen shut, blood trickled from her mouth and nose. She’d fought her father’s minions for as long as she could, but she’d known it was a losing battle. There was no contest, the two hybrids possessed more than human strength, and Jenna had never been the fighter, anyway. That was Rowan. So in the end, she did the only thing she could, wrap herself up into a ball and wait to die. Her body was becoming numb to the pain, on the cusp of going into shock.
She’d been running from them for what felt like days, but was really only a few hours. In spite of all their careful planning, Jenna and Rowan’s escape was discovered almost immediately. A short, harrowing car chase ended when her tire was shot out.
Somehow, whether by luck or providence, she’d managed to guide the car safely to a ditch, and then she ran like hell.
Ducking down this alley hastened the end for Jenna. It was blocked off on one end, leaving no escape route. The hybrids caught her easily, and it was child’s play for them to batter her to a bloody pulp. In fact, they’d acted like children at play, laughing and crowing like teenagers as her blood flew and her bones snapped. To add insult to injury, the entire time they beat her, they took turns reminding her that they did so with her father’s blessing.
Her hair was yanked back, arching her neck painfully, and hot, rancid breath bathed her face.
“Do you want some more Jenny-pie? Or are you ready to go back to where you belong?” Her hair was released. She didn’t have the strength to hold her head up, and it clunked painfully against the dirty concrete.
With her one good eye she watched the two men move away from her. The taller one was animated as he spoke, pointing from her to the other man. The shorter of the two, Sal, kept shaking his head back and forth. He was one of her father’s more brutal Enforcers. Close to three hundred pounds of pure muscle, his face was square, his jaw wider than a normal man’s. His mouth housed a set of sharp canines, a product of his mixed Werewolf heritage. Sal didn’t have the ability to shift into animal form, but he didn’t really need to. Thanks to her father’s experimentation, Sal sported a pair of small beady black eyes set in a long, thick face that looked more like a muzzle than a man. He had a superior sense of smell and a terminal case of pissed off. He truly enjoyed torturing people.
Jenna rolled over to her stomach while the two argued. Her bloody fingers dug into the concrete as she dragged herself away from the men. Crawling on
her stomach toward a single source of light, she desperately scanned for some type of weapon. She knew she wasn’t making it out of this alley alive, but maybe she could take one of these bastards with her.
Near the edge of a full dumpster lay a length of pipe. Jenna reached for it, trying to inch her body a little closer. Her fingers stretched, reaching out…it was almost within her grasp, one more inch and she’d have it.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going, cow?”
Sal grabbed her foot, dragging her away from the pipe. Jenna kicked out as hard as she could, but her energy was spent.
“Stupid, stupid bitch. It kills me Harv, you know? She had everything she ever wanted, and it still wasn’t good enough.” Sal flipped her to her back and let her wrenched leg fall to the ground. As he dropped to his knees over her, his weight slammed painfully into her stomach.
“Princess here was raised by the greatest man alive, but what does she do? She keeps trying to leave. Instead of helping with the cause, she betrays her father.” The disgusting creature leaned into her and licked, his long, slimy tongue leaving a trail of unspeakable nastiness along her cheek.
“The greatest man alive?” Jenna heard the hysteria in her voice, and tried futilely to choke it back. “You’re a pet, Sal. He uses you for his dirty work. The minute you stop being useful he’ll put you down like the diseased animal you are.” The hybrid didn’t answer, just dropped his head to sniff along the line of her neck, pausing to close his teeth threateningly around her throat.
“Sal, what do you think you’re doing, man?” Harv asked. Jenna thought she heard a little bit of panic in his nasal voice.
“I’m teaching her a lesson,” Sal laughed, grabbing the neckline of her shirt in both hands.
Her t-shirt shredded, and then Sal’s meaty hands were on her breasts, grabbing and squeezing painfully. Jenna couldn’t hold back the cry. Every inch of her skin hurt.
Mindlessly she raised her arms, trying to cover herself, to hold him off. He laughed as he grabbed her wrist, twisting it until she heard a snap and watched her hand go limp. Then her screams echoed off of the brick and concrete walls surrounding the alley.
God, she didn’t want die this way. Why couldn’t they just put a gun to her head and get it over with? She gathered the courage to look up at Harv, who was just standing there now, watching. Jenna wasn’t sure exactly what odd DNA cocktail her father had used to create Harvey, but the man was ridiculously tall with a long, elastic face and an odd, double-jointed way of moving. While he wasn’t as fierce and terrifically frightening as Sal, something unnatural about Harvey made him even more disturbing.
“Please, Harvey. Please just kill me now and get it over with,” she begged. The other man’s eyes shot to hers and for a brief moment she thought he might intervene.
Her thoughts strayed to Rowan as her consciousness began to slowly fade. Had she made it out? And had she done a better job of escaping her pursuers?
And what about Erin, her youngest sister? If Rowan hadn’t escaped, and Jenna was dead, who would rescue Erin?
No, Rowan would be all right. Jenna needed to believe that. Rowan was the strong one, much stronger than Jenna. She’d stood up to their father on more than one occasion and though she paid a steep price for her disobedience, she’d always survived.
A slap across her face brought her attention back to Sal, brought her back to the here and now. One hand dug cruelly into her breast, while the other scrabbled at the snap of her jeans.
“What do you think, Harv? I had to leave Annie and my nice warm bed to come find this bitch. Let’s say you and me have a little fun before we drag her back to Daddy Dearest.”
Sal’s fetid breath washed over her skin before he suddenly sank his teeth into her shoulder. He grinned when she cried out in pain. “You know you want it from a real man,” he gloated. “Don’t ya, sweetheart?”
Gathering up the last of her strength, Jenna took a deep breath and spit in Sal’s hideously grinning face. She had a moment to enjoy watching his smile fade and twist into a look of bitter hatred before his fist slammed down. At least she wouldn’t have to witness her own rape, she thought as the darkness took her away.
*
Nic burst into the alley just in time to see the woman spit in the face of her attacker.
They’d done a real number on her. Her face was bloody and swollen; her clothing ripped and pulled down to give them access to her body. The sight of someone so obviously helpless, being brutalized so methodically sent Nic’s already unstable temper into over-drive. As the brute’s fist plowed into her temple, Nic sprang into action. His fangs elongated as he rushed the man sitting on the woman’s abdomen. Catching him by surprise, Nic easily lifted him, throwing him into the wall.
Kneeling down, he brushed the hair from the woman’s face and froze. Time ground to a complete halt. He was unable to move, even though he heard the fight continuing around him.
It couldn’t be. Not here. Not this close to death. Even covered in blood and dirt he recognized her. Jenna, his dream woman, his heart. Her pulse was faint and thready. He heard her heart slow and stutter. He would not find and lose his woman in one moment.
He raised his head high and let out a war cry that ricocheted off the walls like a bullet.
His vision went red, washing the alley in flames of crimson as he whipped around.
Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard Sebastian shout, “Blood Rage! Aidan, get out of the way.”
The rage flowed through Nic’s body as he opened his arms wide, stalking toward his prey. Aidan and Bas effectively cut off the attackers’ escape as Nic approached them.
“Vampire scum.” The short one smiled, his appearance taking on an animalistic quality. It would do him no good. Nic was in a blood rage, and only the death of the two men who beat his woman would bring him back from the brink of madness.
He ran toward the short one, all but flying down the length of the alley. The other man pulled out a wooden stake and tried to push it into Nic’s chest. Nic ducked to the side as the taller man thrust wildly, missing him by a mile. Nic grabbed the attacker’s arm, bringing it down over his knee and breaking it at the elbow.
And then turned his attention the first one, the one who’d dared to touch his Jenna.
Without breaking his stride he launched himself at the shorter man. They both fell to the ground. Nic straddled the attacker’s chest, pinning his arms to his sides.
“You deserve a long death,” Nic spat, his voice low and dangerous. The other man gazed up at him with eyes full of arrogant hatred.
“Bring it on,” he rasped out. “It’s an honor to give my life in service of the cause.” Nic gave a disgusted grunt and grabbed the bastard’s head, twisting it sharply, and effectively snapping the man’s neck. His head lolled to the side like a rag doll.
Nic jumped up, turning toward the tall one, who was frozen in abject fear. With an almost casual gesture, Nic bent and retrieved the wooden stake. He threw the weapon like a lance, piercing the man’s heart.
As the second attacker hit the ground, Nic turned to find Aidan kneeling next to Jenna, his hand at her throat searching for a pulse. He knew Aidan’s only intention was to help her, but the sight of the Dragon’s hands on his woman caused the flames to flare in his eyes again.
“Get away from her,” he growled.
“Oh, fuck,” Bas’s voice cut through the growl rumbling from Nic’s throat as Aidan turned to glare at Nic in disbelief. “Aidan, move now!” The other Vampire, Nic’s Blood Brother, grabbed the Dragon by the arm, yanking him away from the unconscious woman. Nic knew he should be grateful that Bas had intervened. If Aidan had continued to touch Jenna, Nic couldn’t have stopped himself from attacking him.
Nic slid to his knees, putting his hand under Jenna’s blood-soaked hair.
“Jenna? Beloved, wake up,” he gave a broken little laugh. “I have never said that to you before.” He stroked her forehead gently, trying to avoid the knots a
nd bruises on her delicate flesh. “Jenna, I’m here. It’s Nic. See, I told you I’m real. Open your eyes for me, Jenna.”
“Nic, what the hell’s going on, and how do you know this woman?” The concern in Aidan’s elegant British voice was evident as he looked down at the battered woman Nic held. “I think you need to back off, mate. There isn’t anything we can do for her. We need to call the police. This is a matter for the humans to deal with.” Aidan’s hand squeezed his shoulder. Some part of him knew that Aidan was trying to help. But it was drowned out by the predator in Nic, who turned his red gaze on his friend and hissed, “We do not involve the humans in this. She is mine!” Jenna’s soft gasp brought his attention immediately back to her, and the two other Night Creatures in the alley ceased to exist. Her good eye was slit open, and when she finally managed to focus in on him it widened. She licked her cracked and parched lips, and whispered something. Nic bent down, placing his ear to her lips to hear her.
“Nico?” Her voice was achingly vulnerable.
“I am here, Beloved.” He stroked her hair. He couldn’t stop touching her.
“You’re real.” There was so much wonder in those two simple words that it broke his heart.
“I’m real.” He gave her a softly chiding smile. “I told you I was real.” Unable to resist, he gently licked a cut on her cheek, closing the wound. Her essence fizzed through him, sending a jolt of joyous recognition to his core. In spite of her injuries, in spite of the probable grim future, he smiled down at her, a full smile containing all the joy of a man who has found the other half of his soul.
She gasped when he smiled at her. “Vampire.”
“Your Vampire,” he corrected.
She gave a little nod, and her eyes closed again as Nic caressed her cheek.
*
She was dreaming. That was the only explanation. Nico was a figment of her imagination, so he couldn’t exactly suddenly come to life and rescue her from the hell she’d been living. Or maybe she was dying. Maybe this was God’s way of easing her out of Hell and into Heaven. Whatever the case, this was her dream and she was going to spend the last peaceful sleep she had making love to Nico.
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