“So, what are you sorry for? Sleeping with me to get to my money?” I laughed, but when I saw the pained look on her face, I immediately regretted the joke. “I’m not mad about that.”
“You should be. I understand how it looks but I promise you, sleeping with you had nothing to do with the money. I wanted to. I was instantly attracted to you the moment I saw you and I figured it couldn’t hurt.” She lowered her head. “Guess I was wrong.”
So, she had been attracted to me. That revelation did make me feel a lot better. As I’ve stated before, I wasn’t concerned about the money. I may have even given it to her if I’d known what she was up against, but the thought of her using me to get to it hurt.
My mind flitted back to Calista. She’d been good at playing the long game, toying with my emotions for over ten years before betraying me to the humans. Or at least she’d tried to. Luckily, Jackson discovered her treachery before she completely destroyed the club, but that did little to dull the pain she’d left in her wake.
I couldn’t explain why, but Davina had been the first person I’d shown interest in since then. And that night, I’d seen in her a vulnerability that reminded me of myself, which is why I’d taken that chance. Stupid, I know. I couldn’t possibly know after a few hours she was worth that, but it didn’t stop me from connecting with her.
I wondered briefly if she’d felt that same connection but shoved that thought away. If she had, great, but now wasn’t the time to worry about it. Smoke felt she was in danger here, even with Jon only a scream away from her and wanted her moved into his home. The thought of her being there gave me little relief, but what choice did we have. When Smoke made up his mind, there was little to nothing we could do to stop him.
“Smoke is moving you in with him.”
Her eyes flew open. “Why?”
“We can’t keep you safe here. I’m not sure what happened to Benny, but he wasn’t himself down there and he seemed to be obsessed with getting to you. Until we figure out why, we need you as close to us as possible, and away from the club for the time being.”
She shrugged. “I guess that makes sense.”
She left the couch and began gathering her things, without another word. Once had everything she needed, I pulled out my cellphone and called Jon. After directing Jon to meet us at the apartment, I put the phone back into my pocket and picked up Davina’s jacket. A card fell from the jacket, landing on the couch. Curious, I picked it up and was stunned to see the words, Bob Director of HU printed in gold lettering across a black background with his phone number underneath. If she was working with Bob, we had a lot to worry about, but I pushed that thought behind me, making a note to talk to her about the card another time. The girl had been through enough these past couple days and she needed a break.
Shoving the card in my pocket, I handed her her jacket. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Thirteen
Davina
Before we went to Smoke’s house, we stopped by the club where Jackson and Smoke had been interrogating Benny. They’d managed to get nothing but silence from him so far and Jackson thought my presence would change that. I didn’t know how, considering the only thing Benny had showed me was hostility but I trusted the brothers to keep me safe. After all, they’d managed to keep me alive so far after everything that’s happened.
We walked past the bar, down the stairway that led to the clubroom. All the furnishings were pushed to the walls, stacked in a way I felt one wrong move would have it tumbling down around us. Benny was in the middle of the room, chained to the floor where the table had been before, with Jackson and Smoke sitting on wooden chairs in front of him. His demeanor was off. His shoulders were slumped forward, his chin on his chest, as he sat on the floor, his legs crossed in front of him. His wrists were cuffed with a thick metal bands with chains short enough to keep his hands close to the floor. And I couldn’t help but feel he looked defeated, as if all the life was sucked out of him.
The room was dark, with the exception of a sliver of light that slipped through a small opening in the curtains, putting a spotlight on their prisoner, giving that ominous feel as if something dark was looming overhead. I could feel the weight of his presence crushing in on me as Devon led me to the others, careful to keep me a safe enough distance from Benny.
Smoke gave me a nod as we approached while Jackson all but ignored me. He kept his eyes trained on the vampire before him, concern and perhaps lack of proper rest weighing his features as he sat, slumped in his seat with his legs pushed forward before him.
Smoke whispered something to Devon before laying a hand on my shoulder, pulling me behind him. Pointing at the chains, he said, “I’m not sure they can hold him, but we’ll be here to keep you safe.”
“No, you will,” Jackson responded, his tone bland.
Smoke tossed him a warning glance, and Jackson folded his arms over his chest petulantly.
I stared at Benny, watching the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he sat there. There was something off about him and I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was until he looked up at me with those hate filled eyes. His skin was pale, which shouldn’t have been odd but there was something about how pale it was that felt off to me as the light lit his skin. Moments later, I realized there was a bluish tint to him, as if he’d been nothing more than a walking talking corpse. Dark veins stretched along his bare arms and his face, weaving intricate patterns in his skin. He looked…well…dead.
I gasped as he leaned forward, his eyes trained on me. When he tugged at his restraints, I stepped back, praying he wouldn’t be able to break the chains. While I trusted Smoke and Devon to keep me safe, I wasn’t sure what Jackson would do and last I remembered, Benny had been able to hold his own against Devon and Jon with ease.
I wondered if something about his condition made him stronger but that thought was pushed aside when Benny flashed me a smile that had bile rising in my throat. With a cool calm tone, he said, “I’m going to rip your fucking throat open, little girl.”
Devon stepped forward at his words, balled up his fists, and hit the vampire several times in the face. I could hear the impact of those hits, like brick against concrete, as blood spattered from his mouth. Benny just laughed, a maniacal laugh that had me cringing behind Smoke. Blood filled his mouth and he spit it on the floor in front of Devon.
“I’m going to rip you apart little girl, and suck the blood from your broken limbs,” he threatened again.
Devon cocked back his fist again, but it was Jackson who stopped him. “Can’t you see it’s doing you no good to hit him? He’s out of it, brother.”
“I’m not going to let him keep talking to her that way,” Devon said, hitting the vampire again. This time, his fist connected with his nose, breaking it.
Jackson stood to his feet, grabbed Devon, and shoved him back. All the while, Benny’s gaze stayed locked on me, as if no one else there existed.
“That’s just it,” Jackson yelled. “For hours he hadn’t said a word, but he reacts to her as if he’s under some sort of programming to do only that. That’s why she’s here. He’ll respond to her.”
Devon gave Jackson an incredulous stare, his muscles bunching beneath his t-shirt. “You made me bring her here for this? Just kill him and be over with it.”
“He’s our brother,” Smoke said, though by the sound of it, he was trying to convince himself of that fact as well.
“He’s a fucking threat!”
I listened to them battle back and forth, my eyes never leaving Benny’s, and just like before a sudden feeling of euphoria took over me. I wanted to go to him. No, I needed to go to him. I needed to feel his arms wrapped around me, his fangs grazing the soft curve of my neck. The feeling was so overwhelming I found myself stepping around Smoke, trying to get to him before the sickening sound of crunching bone pulled me from the spell.
I shook my head in an effort to clear my head, and Benny sat there with that same wicked smile. Then like a flip of th
e switch, that smile was gone, replaced by a wide eyes look of terror as his eyes scanned the area.
“What am I doing here?” he asked, panic laced in his words.
He tugged at the chains before his gaze flitted across the brothers. Once his eyes found me again, he cringed away from me, shoving himself as far back as the chains would allow him.
“Get her out of here,” he screamed, terror punctuating every syllable.
In an instant, Smoke took me into his arms and we were out of the room and back in the bar. He placed me on my feet before pacing the area in front of me. “He’s doped up on those drugs but I think he’s coming to. One thing’s for sure, though. We need to figure out why Zed brought those drugs here and who he’s giving them to.”
Chapter Fourteen
Davina
“I found something on Zed,” I announce, walking into his room without bothering to knock.
I’d spent the entire night trying to find information on what Zed was up to and it had been a challenge, but I’d managed to come up with something that could help. At least I hoped it would.
Normally, Smoke would be fully dressed by now, ready to head back to the club. Today was different. I was met with a sight that had me stopping in my tracks as waves of heat flowed through my body. Standing there in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, he looked damn sexy reaching into his closet and gathering his clothes for the day. Water droplets dotted his body, some streaming down curves of well-defined muscle and smooth skin. His light hair was wet and wavy, brushed back away from his face, and when he turned to look at me, I couldn’t help the gasp that escaped my lips.
He’d always been gorgeous to me, but at that moment, he was nearly godlike in his perfection. His red eyes took nothing away from him, instead adding to the intensity of his gaze. And fuck if that gaze didn’t affect me in a way I hadn’t expected at that moment. There was heat behind it, but the more I looked there was something else, something hungry in that stare that had me frozen where I stood. Blood lust flashed in his eyes, but as terrified as I was, I was also fascinated. It was as if some kind of spell was working its way into my mind, amplifying my attraction for him while distorting the reality of the situation. Being around him in that moment was dangerous, but my mind refused to acknowledge that danger. Instead, I found myself stepping toward him as if in a daze.
Reaching him, I reached out to touch his chest, allowing my fingers to tease over the silky skin there. His eyes closed as a groan escaped his lips and it was one of the most erotic sounds I’d ever heard. It sent tremors down my body and though I knew something was off about the entire experience, it also felt very right. As if I belonged there with him, touching him and enjoying the way he responded to that touch.
For a brief moment, I felt anxiety wash over me, like a warning that I was treading in dangerous territory but that feeling was instantly replaced with the sensation of his hot mouth capturing mine in a kiss so searing it burned me to my core. I parted my lips instantly and he took full advantage, plunging his tongue into my mouth, devouring me as I stood there, unable to fight against the onslaught of sensations and emotions that attacked me on a level I was ill prepared for. Everything was happening all at once – the kiss, the lust that seemed to invade my body leaving little room for reason, the magnet pull that had me pushing myself forward, wanting to feel his hard body against mine, even as the warning bells rang in my head.
He snaked an arm around my waist, tugging me close enough I could feel his length pressed against my belly. Even with the warning bells, I wanted him. It was like a fiery storm that raged within me with the promise of passion, pleasure, and danger all wrapped up in one explosion of lust that had my knees weak.
Perhaps sensing this, he grabbed my ass with both hands, pulling me up into his arms. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he pinned me to the wall behind me, so fast I’d only been able to register the change in the air around us before being swept away in the moment again. His hands explored my body, cupping my breasts and sliding up my shirt as I whimpered. Planting a trail of kisses down my jaw, he ground into me, creating that delicious tension between my legs. Pleasure rippled through me again when he thrust his hips forward and I’d nearly come undone. I’d nearly been ready to give him everything I had until, in a moment of clarity, I realized that strange magnetic pull was gone, leaving nothing but us and our desire for each other.
“Fuck, I can’t wait to be inside you,” he whispered against my ear as he ran his lips down to my neck.
His fangs grazed my neck and, in that moment, the cloud was lifted and I realized exactly how dangerous the situation was and how instantly my mind and body had succumbed to the magnetism of his blood lust. I pushed him back, or at least tried. It was like pushing a wall. He reached up and grabbed my hair, tugging it until my head fell back. His hips rocked forward again and fuck if the mingle of pleasure and danger didn’t have me squirming as he held me there.
“Smoke,” I breathed, desperately needing to gain some control over the situation.
At the sound of his name, he froze and, before I could make sense out of what happened, I was suddenly on my feet and he was across the room, looking at me with a confused combination of anger and heat.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” He paused, looking down at his hands before looking back up at me. “Why are you here?”
“What just happened?” I asked, referring to the way I seemed to lose control.
On one hand, I was attracted to him, but it felt like that feeling had been amplified by an uncontrollable force that had this magnetic pull to it. It reminded me of my reaction to Benny the night before, though this time it had been different. More real. As if my feelings were somehow being wrapped up in this hypnotic spell that caused me to act out exactly what I’d been thinking. There was no malice in there, just freedom. Still, it felt wrong.
He shifted uncomfortable from one foot to the next. “It’s something that happens when our predatory side is in control. It’s like luring a mouse to a snake. It attracts you to it, almost hypnotizing you. While you still get a sense of being in danger, it frees you from fear and allows you to act in way…”
“I get it,” I said cutting him off. “So basically, you wanted to eat me.”
“You could put it that way,” he laughed, the muscles of his chest flexing through that laugh.
Again, I realized he was half naked, and the moment I thought that, he was out of the room. A few moments later, he stepped out of his bathroom in a crisp white t-shirt and a pair of jeans that hung low on his hip.
“Better?”
Not really, I wanted to say but nodded instead.
He took a seat on his bed. “Is there something you needed?”
I shook my head before it came to me again. “Actually, there is. I was able to dig up something on Zed.”
He cocked a brow, folding his hands in his lap.
“Well, I did some digging and I discovered he was being paid to bring those drugs in. They were supposed to be delivered to another group but I’m not sure yet who they are. I’ve tried hacking into their systems but I wasn’t able to retrieve anything more than a list of people on their payroll.”
“Is that all?” he asked in a way that felt skeptical to me.
“Was there something else I was supposed to do?”
He leaned back on a group of pillows and looked up at the ceiling. “Benny killed himself while we were questioning him.”
That was abrupt, but I couldn’t feel sorry for the vampire who’d nearly killed me the night before. As far as I was concerned, the world was a safer place without a vampire who couldn’t control himself.
“Would you like to know what he said before he did?”
“Um. Sure.”
Without looking me, he began, “He said he was sent here after a girl we’d been holding captive. They wanted him to convince this girl she was in danger here so she’d call them for help.”
It made no sense
. No one knew I was here, at least not anyone I was aware of. I hadn’t spoken to anyone about it. Hell, I hadn’t even had time to do so. Without a cellphone, there was no way I could call anyone and who would I call? My parents were gone, off in paradise somewhere, forgetting about the daughter they’d abandoned while sipping pina coladas on a beach. Friends? I never had anyone I could truly call a friend.
I parted my lips to explain just that but, before I could, he reached beneath one of those pillows and produced a card. Black with gold print, the same card ‘Bob’ had given me at the mall. I wanted to ask how he got it but that didn’t matter. All that mattered now was pleading my case, letting him know I had nothing to do with whatever was going on.
“There was a man at the mall when Jon took me. While Jon was trying on clothes, he asked if he could help me escape. Somehow, he knew everything that was going on but I never questioned it. I told him I was fine and he gave me his card before leaving.” I’d blurted it all out fast, fast enough I hoped he wouldn’t feel I’d been lying. When he didn’t respond, I added. “Jon was there. He saw the guy.”
“Right,” Smoke said, sitting up again. “So why did you keep the card?”
“I’d planned on looking them up. It was strange to me how much they knew.”
Smoke seemed to consider that but I could tell he was having a difficult time believing me. “Did you tip them off about us coming for the drugs?”
Confusion seized me at that question. I’d nearly forgotten they’d gone to intercept the transport, figuring it wasn’t important. Now, faced with this question, I wondered if anything had gone wrong.
I shook my head. “How? I have no way of getting in contact with anyone. All I have is the computer you gave me to work on last night.”
“Well, somehow they knew we were coming. They seem to know an awful lot.”
Captured: A Dark Vampire Motorcycle Club Paranormal Romance (Nightborne Renegades MC Book 1) Page 8