The Way You Bite

by Zoe Forward

  “Yes.”

  “Let’s put her on a plane right now and let her wake up in Europe,” Eric suggested with a hopeful tone.

  “Your life would be easier, but this has to be her choice.”

  “I get this would be a political nightmare if we took her, but what about her fake suicide? She doesn’t want to be here. Even if your special skills can’t work to convince her, she seems to like you. If you won’t kidnap her, then maybe you could sway her to speed her evacuation the fuck up. The longer we’re here the more likely we’re going to end up fighting Scarpas or DiFalcos. I want to think odds are in our favor, but a lot of us will get hurt.”

  Lexan massaged his forehead. He agreed with Eric and wished they could all board a plane right now. She might not want to be in the States, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be with them. He could remove her and smooth it over, but it wasn’t that simple. He’d promised to let her decide. His word was his word. Damn it.

  He also sure as hell wasn’t walking away from her after all this. Nature had the last laugh in this catastrophe.

  Chapter Ten

  Lexan was out of the SUV before Eric had the car in park.

  TC stood beside his car, arms crossed, scowling.

  “Where is she?” Lexan demanded. He couldn’t see through the car’s dark window tinting to ascertain her presence.

  TC nodded to the backseat. “She’s still out. You didn’t tell me she was…” He lowered his voice. “In heat.” He swiped a hand across his forehead, wiping sweat. Now night, it remained warm, but not warm enough to sweat. “You said she’s a mix so I guess it’s possible. Is it for you?”

  Lexan didn’t reply as he yanked open the backseat door. She looked so peaceful sleeping with one arm curled above her head.

  “I haven’t been around a female in heat in a long time. It’s…” TC rubbed his eyebrows with one hand. “It’s a problem.”

  “It’s my problem.” Lexan gathered her into his arms. The unease he’d forcibly ignored since he let her walk away after burning her car lessened. In her in-heat state, even unconscious, she would drive his wolves nuts. He needed to put her somewhere private. Somewhere he could watch…guard.

  Lexan kicked open the door to his borrowed bedroom and laid her on his bed. He sat, watching her breathe in and out for a while. When it became clear she wasn’t waking up, he moved to leave. Her hand landed on his thigh, arresting him. Her palm was limp as if the act hadn’t been conscious.

  “Vee, are you awake?”

  She didn’t reply.

  With a solitary finger, he traced her delicate bone structure and long, dark eyelashes. A blink when he touched her eyelashes made him smile. Foreign emotions tangled in his brain—protective, possessive, combative. The animal in him ramped up, ready to protect what it considered his. Get a fucking grip. He focused on steadying his breathing.

  He hadn’t fought his emotions to stop a shift in ages. This was twice in less than a day. The effort hurt his brain.

  He ran a hand down his face. Time to quit denying life had thrown him a curve ball and admit this insanity wasn’t just about the hormones of her being in heat for him. He took a deep draw of her sweet aroma. Bloody amazing hormones. His body throbbed to answer her silent call.

  This had become about more than helping her through her first shifting experience and relocating her. He wanted her to choose him.

  Her father wasn’t going to like this.

  How the hell was he, the leader of the werewolf people, supposed to mate a demisang?

  Suddenly, he was in the middle of a dreamlike scene he didn’t recognize. Had his mind been hijacked?

  To his left, two giant oil paintings in elaborate gilt frames dominated a plaster wall, one of a pastoral boat scene and the other of… He squinted to make out the portrait’s details. The peacock in the painting was unmistakably Mercutio. Abject hate slid to the fore of his mind. A few Grecian statues of varying sizes littered the shelves where haphazardly stacked books threatened to spill. The pretentious furniture was designed to intimidate.

  “How long did you think you could hide this?” Dominic waved a finger his way. His face was a mask of disgust.

  Fear churned Lexan’s stomach, but it wasn’t his fear. That had to be hers.

  “He’s a half breed,” Dominic spat.

  He heard Vee’s voice say, “Christopher is going to be wonderful doctor. He’s my choice.”

  “You have disappointed me, Velvet. He’s not worthy.” Dominic rose from his desk chair.

  “I don’t care that he’s not a pureblood, that his mother was human. He’s a good person, and he loves me.”

  Dominic moved in a blur of motion. He held a knife to her throat. “Would you fight for her? I plan to kill her for the dishonor she caused to our household by laying with you.”

  She clawed at the knife at her throat, her fingers coming away bloody.

  Panic and pain swamped Lexan’s mind, although he wasn’t certain if that reflected his emotion or hers.

  The male vamp, her should-be rescuer, remained immobile, unwilling to make eye contact with her. He stared in petrified terror at Dominic.

  “Shove that knife into Dominic’s heart and rip out his throat,” Lexan roared, but his command went unheard. “Move.” Wait a moment, why the hell was he yelling? He was awake. This wasn’t his reality. It was hers…a dream?

  Dominic put the knife causally on the desk. He held his hands up in an almost teasing way to the male. His eyes dared the half vamp to move. He took one step in the guy’s direction.

  The half vamp backed up.

  Vee’s legs collapsed her to a kneeling position.

  Dominic shook his head and looked dismayed. “You see, my darling little Velveteen? He is not good enough for you. He cannot protect you in the manner you deserve.” Dominic kneeled beside her and caressed his hand against her cheek. “I do this because I love you, you know. You are too young to know what is best. Being with this coward is not what you need. I promise I will always take care of you. I have found someone for you. Someone worthy.”

  Vee pulled herself up using the edge of the desk. She grabbed the knife and sliced it down Dominic’s face, leaving a three-inch cut in his cheek. “Now we’re even.”

  He screamed and clawed at his face as if it was burning.

  “It’s not real,” Lexan said as he restrained Vee to the bed. She bucked and lashed out with her teeth. Her nails cut deep furrows into his forearm.

  Suddenly, she went still. Her eyes were open, glazed, dilated, and fixed on his arm where red liquid was cresting and running from the lacerations.

  “Vee? You with me?”

  With morbid fascination, he watched her tongue dart out and moisten her lips. She leaned forward and delicately licked the blood from his forearm.

  “No, don’t.” He yanked his arm away. Lore held a demisang needed werewolf blood to transform, but he didn’t trust rumor. He held his breath. No taking away any toxic reaction now. Even a few drops of his blood would kill any full-blooded vamp.

  Nothing happened as she continued to stare at his wrist where he still bled. She reached out, touching his arm. A little bit hadn’t hurt her. Maybe…

  “Vee?” he asked again. Nope, the girl was in la-la land.

  She brought his wrist back to her mouth. The motion of her tongue as it too slowly lapped against his skin along the furrows, healing where it touched, mesmerized him. Her lips were incredibly soft. And gentle. And very warm.

  Without warning she bit. Fangs straight into his wrist like a viper strike.

  Shit.

  Ouch.

  He yanked, but the motion didn’t detach her mouth. At her first deep suck, he tensed and then trembled. He was so cold as memories of the past paraded through his brain. Although he’d never been bitten—that would’ve killed a vampire—too much had been done against his will by those with fangs. Memories… Humans covered in bleeding holes just like the ones on his wrist during a vamp feeding frenzy
. He’d been forced to be part of the “entertainment” many times. Of course, he didn’t drink blood, and no one drank from him. But Mercutio, Dominic’s father, used Lexan’s brother to control him until Mercutio accidentally killed his brother during a blood-letting orgy. That moment had been the turning point, the moment he killed his captor and the War began.

  Vee wasn’t Mercutio. She wasn’t blood related, and so far she’d shown no hint of Mercutio’s twisted enjoyment of other’s distress. He’d only seen compassion and courage from her.

  The memories drifted away as he registered the slow burn for sex cycling up. Her warm lips moved against his wrist, hot and sucking. He should pry her off. Fatal blood volume loss for a vampire’s victim took less than five minutes under the sucking of a hungry vamp. He’d seen it far too many times in Mercutio’s household. How long had it been?

  But he paused. She needed this. It wasn’t hurting her. Something shifted in him. She was going to survive because of him, because of what he could give to her. The honor to provide that which his mate needed to survive was his.

  Lexan felt something in his head pop as her scent reached him in a fresh wave, calling to him, priming him.

  The view of her mouth latched onto his wrist…it was actually beautiful, not the disgusting act as he’d assumed. He wavered. Too much. Stop her.

  He pried her off, applying so much pressure he worried he’d break her teeth. Damn, she was strong.

  She let out a little compliant moan when he finally dislodged her mouth, but she fell back, immediately unconscious.

  He gripped his wrist over the oozing punctures and backed away until he smacked against the wall. His knees buckled, and he slid to the floor.

  Being only part vamp, he still worried his blood would be toxic to her in too high a dose.

  Chapter Eleven

  Awareness hit. Vee’s eyes popped open. She stared at an unfamiliar ceiling fan.

  The lack of outdoor light indicated it was night. Was it the same night or the next?

  She’d missed the flight and didn’t have her passport. More kinks in her freedom plan. Fate wasn’t just conspiring against her, she was flashing her the finger and dancing in circles.

  How far beyond seven p.m. was it? It didn’t matter at this point. Dominic had probably passed beyond apoplectic over her no-show. His goons would be out hunting. She’d accounted for this problem in her planning, but not for missing the flight.

  The bed smelled of Lexan. He’d either slept next to her or she was in his bed. That confirmed TC worked for Lexan. She pulled the comforter tight to her throat, closed her eyes, and inhaled. Jeez, he smelled good. So very good. Need for a male deep inside her rocked her core, but not any male. Him.

  “Ah, you’re finally awake.”

  Vee jerked upright to a sit. Her face scorched hot. She zeroed in on the source of the voice.

  Lexan leaned against the doorframe as if he always had a vamp female in his bed. Maybe he did. Maybe he had a female of some species in his bed all the time. You’re jealous.

  Yep.

  She fought to stop her gaze’s downward drift but got hung up at the midpoint south of his belt. He wasn’t unaffected, even if he acted nonchalant. She jerked her gaze back to his, but he was still standing there…staring. She tried to calm the pounding of her heart, which hammered her ribs as if trying to get out of her chest.

  She cleared the hoarseness from her throat. “Where am I?”

  “My bedroom.”

  “Your bedroom. How long have I been here?”

  “Almost twenty hours.”

  “A whole day?” She glanced around and distractedly muttered, “I didn’t mean to pass out. Didn’t expect him to bring me here.” How was she going to retrieve her passport now? Squad vamps or Ambrose’s people probably found it on her counter. Its presence would clue them in on what she planned. She should’ve had a backup passport plan.

  “You needed to rest somewhere safe.”

  “This place doesn’t really look like your style, or at least what I’d think would be your style.” The decor reminded her of a museum of early nineteenth century simple life, with its antiquated wood furniture.

  “You don’t see me as a minimalist?” He grinned.

  “The drawing is nice.” She pointed to a Whistler-esque framed sketch, not that she cared for it. She was rambling, and he knew it. His rare smile encouraged her to smile back.

  Lexan pulled his unbound hair into a ponytail and secured it. He folded his arms across his pecs. She shifted as need rolled through her. This was arousal in its most fundamental form, real and so fricking painful.

  Stop staring.

  Good luck on that, especially when all she could focus on was her in bed. His bed. And, how perfectly his shirt sculpted his frame. She wasn’t a begging kind of girl, but the waves of heat rolling through her body might just push her to become one. Ugh.

  “You should’ve woken me up. I had plans last night. If you could just point me toward the main door...” She hopped out of the bed, energized for about three seconds before weakness hit. She backed up and sat hard on the edge of the bed, cradling her swirling head.

  Instantly, he was inches from her, on the bed. “Go slow. You haven’t recovered from the other night.” His hand touched her back.

  She stilled. Her world narrowed onto the single point of contact. Help me, dear sweet Lord.

  His long fingers flexed against her back. She shifted, the bed naturally dipping until she fell into his side. He caught her against him. Her reflexive gasp sucked his essence deep into her lungs. Do not look at him.

  With her head just beneath his collarbone, she felt safe, protected. Jesus, he smelled even better this close. She glanced up at his neck, mesmerized by his pounding pulse. To bite and taste the port-smelling elixir pumping through his body…no…never. Toxic. She met his gaze and found him watching her, his eyes hot with undisguised want. She pulled away from him and shifted around to face him. His hand grazed her breast. He sucked in a breath at the same time his tongue ran over his lower lip. The clawing desire to touch him might drive her out of her mind.

  She peeled his arm off her and scooted away from him. “I can’t do this. Whatever is going on here, it’s not happening. There’s Ambrose. There’s my father. And, there’s the fact you’re the werewolf king. The other day was a mistake.”

  “We didn’t do anything wrong…” The word yet hung ominously between them.

  “We shouldn’t even be in the same breathing space. I don’t know what it is about you or how you triggered this…whatever it is that happens when you’re around, but this is dangerous.”

  “It is dangerous. I agree. But it’s real. I’m not sure it’s avoidable.”

  “We’re going to have to try to avoid it.” She met his gaze, which didn’t mirror agreement. “I mean it. Did Ambrose or any of the Scarpas reach out to you?”

  “Ambrose did. We didn’t tell him you were here.”

  “I don’t know if that’s good or bad. When he finds out, he’ll kill me and then call his family.” She dropped her hands from her face. “I don’t want to be the cause of global war.”

  “How about we table war stress for the moment and have our talk about why I’m here.”

  She blew out a dramatic sigh, “Fine. Spill it. I’m ready to be done with this epic chat and have you guys out of my life.”

  When he didn’t reply, she glanced over at him. She attempted to read his thoughts since she couldn’t interpret his expression. All she caught was lust.

  “If only it was that simple.”

  Had he said that or had she imagined it? It’d been so soft.

  He announced, “Let’s eat. Then, speak after.”

  “I prefer to skip food.” An intimate eating experience might be too much when the need inside her still steadily increased, now to the point she crossed her legs and squeezed to try to alleviate the aching.

  “Please, let’s have a bite…of food.” Sincerity reflected in
his gaze. She had too much empathy for the aloneness she read from him to deny him company.

  “All right.” She stood, this time slower to avoid too much vertigo.

  He reached out as if to help. “Don’t touch me. We’re not… This isn’t happening between us.” She smoothed her rumpled clothes. Crap. She wasn’t wearing the same clothes. These were loose, dated, and not her style. “Did you change my clothes?”

  “Your other clothes reeked of gasoline.” He was unapologetic.

  That meant he’d seen her naked again.

  “Is there a bathroom I could use before we eat?”

  He pointed to an adjoining room. The second she closed the door she slipped to her knees and cradled her face. Get control.

  She took several deep breaths. It did little to cool her core temperature or her longing to walk back out there and coax him to have a different kind of meal. She could press him against the wall and put her mouth on his throat and down the muscles of his abdomen…

  What was happening to her?

  Time to get some answers from him, at least on how to turn off whatever he’d done to her.

  She stood and whipped around to leave. Too fast. Her hands caught the doorknob before her knees buckled.

  With slower movements, she exited and faked confidence. “Let’s eat.”

  As he moved in front of her, she tried to keep her gaze glued to the back of his head and ignore his powerful stride. She failed. Each step shifted his muscular shoulders beneath his T-shirt in sync with the movement of his thighs. She visualized him naked, his thigh muscles clenching with each stride. He moved like a warrior, lethal and balanced. Yet, he’d cared for her. Twice. She doubted he allowed one of his other guys to take care of her. There weren’t any women around, at least none she’d seen. So, it had to have been him.

  Forget trying to reconcile the contradictions in him. She’d go with her gut, which said he wouldn’t hurt her, at least not right now, and that whatever he had to tell her wasn’t easy for him.

  He led her downstairs through a formal dining room to the kitchen.

  Lexan pulled out a bar-height chair from the center island for her and loomed over it, waiting for her to sit. His hand touched her back as she sat. She pulled away from his touch. Although no more than his fingertips had rested on her back, her body went weak, almost pliant for him. She needed her wits about her to get through whatever it was he needed to tell her.