by Roth
“No,” Lukian said softly. “No, I’m not sure how to tell her. Any suggestions on how to do it?”
“Oh, I don’t know, you could try the truth. Peren, I fucked you, came in you and cemented a bond that’s eternal…try and back out and I’ll be left no choice but to carry out my original orders…how’s that for a proposal? Maybe telling her she’s now royalty would help.”
She heard Lukian growl at him. “Stop bringing that up! I’ve told you already that that part of my life isn’t important to me.”
Roi shrugged. “If I were King, I know I wouldn’t shrug it off. No worries…so…what about this girl?”
Peren fought to control her breathing. What the hell were they talking about? It had to be her and Lukian, but what was all this nonsense about forever and royalty? Yeah, the thought of waking up in his arms everyday made her want to do back flips, but he was involved in some heavy shit and she didn’t want to get in any deeper than she already was.
“Are you going to tell her about yourself?” Roi asked.
There was a pause before she heard Lukian reply. “Again, I’m still trying to figure out how to tell her. She needs to know about her make-up, as well. That should come from her father. He has to have known.”
“What kind of sick bastard does that to his own daughter?” Roi asked, wryly.
“Here’s the thing. I knew him Roi and the man was the type that’d lasso the moon for his wife. I can’t see where his daughter would be any different. I remember the look on his face when he told me that his wife was expecting. They’d been trying for years and hadn’t had any luck. He skipped around the center like a child.”
Peren stood quietly absorbing all that she’d just heard. How could Lukian have known her father before she was born? He didn’t look much older than she did. She listened closer
“I don’t know how much her father had to do with what she is, but for now I’ve bought us some time with the Colonel. He thinks she’s dead. That’ll give us some time to try and figure out who hired us to kill her.”
Peren fell back against the wall when she heard what Lukian had said. He’d been hired to kill her? She dropped back, missed the top step, slamming hard into the next one.
“What the…?” Roi said from behind her.
She turned and looked up past him at Lukian. Lukian’s blue eyes widened. “Peren…shit, no!”
She saw him come towards her and she slid down the stairs hard and fast. The feel of the hard wood smacking against her legs made her want to stop—the thought of Lukian’s betrayal kept her going. The bottom step came upon her quickly and she jumped to her feet. She turned and looked at the front door. They kept it bolted down tight. They had claimed it was to keep bad things out. Now she wondered if it was really to keep her in.
She ran past the door and eyed up the front room window. Bars were on the other side. She’d noticed that earlier in the day. Her mind raced as she thought of a way out, then it hit her.
“Peren, baby…wait!” She heard Lukian call out from behind her.
She screamed and ran past him. His arm shot out to grab her and she ducked under him. Roi grabbed hold of her and she brought her forehead down hard into his face. He yelled out and grabbed at his nose, dropping her in the process.
She ran up the stairs, taking them three at a time. When she threw the bedroom door open she nearly ripped it off the hinges. Footsteps followed close behind her.
* * * *
“Shit! She’s a wild one!” Roi yelled as he ran behind Lukian up the stairs.
“You’ve no idea!” Lukian shouted back.
Lukian ran towards the bedroom. He caught sight of Peren’s hair as she ran into the room. His heart was beating so fast that he thought it might leap out of his chest. He couldn’t lose her, not now that he had just found her. No, she was his and he would try to make her see that he’d never hurt her.
He ran into the room and stopped so fast that Roi ran right into him, sending both of them crashing to the ground. He looked up, alarmed, when he saw Peren diving through the window. The sound of breaking glass and cracking wood filled the air around them. He pushed to his feet, followed closely by Roi and screamed out for Peren.
They were two-and-a-half stories above ground. Lukian hit the window and stopped, not wanting to see Peren’s broken body. Roi moved past him and looked out.
“I’ll be a monkey’s uncle…or wait, make that a wolf’s brother.” Roi’s hand touched his shoulder. “It’s okay, look.”
Lukian turned to see Peren using a nearby tree branch to swing her body around, much the same way a gymnast would use the uneven bars. His eyes widened as she gracefully dismounted. She dropped to the ground and crouched for a moment, like a tiger. Her head turned quickly to one side. He knew that her instincts were telling her which way was home and he knew that whoever else had been in the woods with them the other night would be waiting there for her return.
He went to leap out of the window and onto the tree. Roi grabbed his arm. “Hey, wolf boy…you’re not made for swinging from trees. Take the stairs.”
Good point. His mind raced as fast as he did.
Chapter 9
Peren’s bare feet numbed to the pounding of the ground beneath them. She ran with great speed and agility, she always had. She knew that she should be tired. She’d been running for almost an hour at full speed. This isn’t normal. Adrenaline was pushing her, driving her onward.
She saw the edge of her property line and felt a wave of relief rush over her. Home. Her pace slowed as she ran to the iron gate. Her key card was still back at Lukian’s. She ran over to the electronic pad and pressed the intercom button.
Come on, come on! Nothing.
A rustling in the bushes behind her caught her attention. She spun around to find Lukian standing there. His royal blue eyes blazed with a fire she’d never seen before. She turned to hit the button again and Lukian grabbed her arm.
“Peren, don’t draw any more attention to yourself. You’re in danger.”
She let out a wild laugh. “Yeah, I heard all about it. What? Do you want a little more action before you bump me off?”
“Bump you off? Who even uses that phrase anymore? I’ve been alive a long time and I don’t remember anyone other than fictitious Hollywood characters using that. I once knew a gangster, but he said…never mind.” He smiled wide and continued on. “I must say that it does have a certain amount of charm when you use it.”
She was appalled with the idea that he was trying to make light of this. She’d trusted him, cared for him and quite possibly allowed herself to fall in love with him. Lukian took another step towards her and she backed up into the iron gate. She wondered if she’d have time to scale the thing before he got hold of her.
Probably not.
Lukian came at her fast and caught her arm. She brought her hand up and smacked his face, coming away with blood on her fingertips. That should have pleased her greatly. That meant she was winning, right? Then why did she suddenly feel so bad? She stopped fighting him and reached out to touch the cheek she’d just bloodied. His hand caught her wrist, turned her palm to his face and kissed it gently.
A tidal wave of heat poured through her as she stood before him. This curly mop-topped man, with the body of an athlete, quirky sense of humor and the ability to make her body ache. How could she deny him?
* * * *
Lukian was still in shock, standing there running his fingers over her face. He’d expected her to be afraid. He’d even expected her to resort to violence. What he hadn’t expected was for her to fall back into his arms so quickly.
She’s my mate, it’s meant to be.
Peren’s skin felt a bit feverish. They’d both been running for miles and miles, so sweat was a given, but her body temperature seemed high, even for someone with her mixed DNA.
“You’re burning up,” he said, his voice packed full of concern.
She didn’t respond aloud, but he still heard her. Of course I’m burning up. How co
uld I not be, you’re touching me.
He smiled. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. He quickly became very aware of his erection. The thrill of the chase, the blood she’d drawn from him, her touch—all of it made him want to fuck her right where they stood. He could smell her want for him, she was wet with it. He knew that if he stuck his fingers in her, he’d find her damp and ready to accept him. He ran his hands down her arms to her waist. She stepped closer into him and brought her sweet mouth to his. He wanted to close his eyes and get lost in the feel of her tongue on his, but he was afraid she’d disappear.
* * * *
Peren stood there with Lukian’s hands on her waist, kissing feverishly at his mouth. She couldn’t get enough of him. She felt the curtain in her mind pull back and recognized the strange sensation she’d been having all day, it was Lukian. He was in her head. He’d been invading her mind since the moment they’d met.
He can read my thoughts. A mild bit of panic swept over her as her mind raced.
“Yes and you will be able to read mine in time. I’m sure of it,” he whispered tenderly in her ear. The tension in her body relaxed. He didn’t lie about it. He didn’t try to cover it. That counted for something, right? She tried desperately to see inside his mind. Nothing but an overwhelming feeling of security came to her. He would never harm her or allow anyone else to, either.
Reluctantly, she drew back from him. She grabbed his hand, held it tight in hers and turned to the gate that was now opening.
“Follow me,” she whispered softly.
“Anywhere.”
Chapter 10
He wasn’t sure what he’d expected the Matthews house to be, but it certainly wasn’t this. The place was massive, but not well kept. Only the west wing was in order. The other wings had been left to their own devices. Peren had mentioned that it’d been this way ever since she could remember. She rarely wandered into the other sections of the house. The west wing boasted ten bedrooms, twelve baths and was self-sufficient from the rest of the mansion, so she didn’t see a need to bother with the rest.
Lukian himself had grown up in the lap of luxury. His mother had been the only child of a wealthy family and was orphaned before she was old enough to wed. Her uncle had cared for her, but was anything but civil to her. Once his father, who was rich beyond words, had appeared, the uncle had begun physically abusing his mother. The werewolf in his father was too hard to control and the man in him would not stand by and watch the woman he loved be abused. Lukian had never been officially told how his uncle had died, but he had his suspicions.
No, money had never been an issue to Lukian. He gave sizeable amounts to charity each year and kept his nose clean. He lived a modest life for a man of his position and wealth and that was perfectly fine by him. Or, at least, it had been fine with him until he stepped foot inside of Peren’s family home.
If this is what she’s accustomed to, then this is what I shall provide for her.
He knew that Roi would have a field day when he found out that Lukian was planning on actually spending some of his fortune. He’d been after him for years to spend a little.
Lukian stood there looking at Peren as she paced about the kitchen. She’d been franticly searching the house since they’d arrived. He knew her father wasn’t there and so did she, yet she insisted on checking every room in the west wing. He let her go and used the phone to contact Roi.
“I don’t understand. I would have thought that my father would be here. We meet every Saturday morning for breakfast. He’s been insistent on it since I was a child. My stepmother tried to get him to change the day, but he wouldn’t hear of it.”
“Stepmother?” Lukian had lost touch with Dr. Matthews shortly before Peren’s birth. He didn’t know he’d remarried.
Peren looked past him. She was remembering something. “Yes, I never actually knew my real mother. She died during childbirth. My father remarried five years later. Susan was a wonderful mother. At least I think she was I really don’t have anyone to compare her to.” He could sense the dread and feeling of mourning pass over her. “She died when I was ten…she was murdered.”
He fought the urge to say that he knew. She didn’t need the added stress of knowing that he’d been privy to vital details of her life prior to her actually sharing them with him. Besides, the news of her biological mother passing away during her birth was news to him, so he wasn’t lying. He went to put his arm around her, but she continued talking. He wanted to cover her full lips with kisses and had to control himself to allow her to express her thoughts.
“Yes, Father is always on time. I generally come out here, my apartment is too small to entertain in and he loves to put on a show, even if it’s just the two of us.”
Her apartment?
He looked around the large kitchen. It was almost as big as the entire first floor of the safe house that nine people had been occupying for the past twenty-four hours. Why leave here? He looked around, then he felt it. Dread, death, despair, rage and most of all, hate.
He looked around the room fast. These feelings had to be emanating from somewhere and from someone. He knew it wasn’t Peren—she was too worried about her father’s sudden disappearance to be projecting anything but concern. The feelings hit him stronger and he searched for the direction they were coming from, east.
“Peren, honey, what’s in the other sections of the house? Are you sure no one lives there?”
Her look of bewilderment told him that no, indeed, she didn’t know that someone was there. He turned towards the door and she followed close behind him.
“Lukian?”
* * * *
She felt like her insides would burst into a thousand tiny pieces. She was sick with worry about her father, her situation and, most of all, an overwhelming feeling that she was about to lose the best thing that had ever walked into her life, Lukian.
He seemed preoccupied with the outer hall. She wasn’t sure why, but sensed his urgency to go towards it. She followed close behind him. His musky scent blew back at her lightly as he opened the door to the east wing and she felt her knees weaken.
Why am I so drawn to him…you? She corrected herself remembering that he had a ringside seat to her every thought.
“Because you are my mate, my one true partner. You are mine forever, Peren.”
Forever. She let the thought of that float around. She’d thought that what she had with Kyle was special, she’d thought that he’d been the one—her forever. Walking behind Lukian and looking at the way his sweat soaked shirt clung to every ripple, wanting to tear his clothes off and let him use her, she knew that she’d never had this with Kyle. She touched Lukian’s back lightly. He turned to her and smiled.
She looked up into his blue eyes and needed to know. She needed to see if he felt only lust for her, or if there was more. Sex with him had been earth shattering, but she couldn’t rely on just that the rest of her life. She needed more and believed that he would too, someday.
Lukian turned and pulled her close to him. “Never doubt how I feel about you again, never. Do you understand that you are my mate, the only one I have ever taken? The only one I’ve ever given my seed to. It is for life, Peren.”
“You talk about us like we’re animals,” she said, half joking. Thinking of Melanie’s story of Lance’s change stopped her dead in her tracks. Mate? Lukian had referred to her as this on more than one occasion. That wasn’t a normal thing to call your significant other. No, this was anything but normal.
Ideas came together and she formed an image that she wished she wouldn’t have. She remembered the wolves in the woods the other night and Lukian’s lack of surprise at them. Then she remembered the one moment in her life that she hated reliving the most—the day that she was attacked by the half-wolf, half-man eleven years ago. No, she thought to herself. She didn’t want to think the worst of Lukian.
“Lance…can he…do anything special?” She was having a hard time coming out and saying ‘change into a
beast.’
Lukian tightened his grip on her arm. He bent his head down, trying to kiss her, but she pulled away. He twisted her around and pushed her hard against the wall before she had time to soak in what was going on. His hand went up her shirt. She gasped as he brushed over her hardened nipples. Her eyes went to his and found royal blue pits of desire looking back at her.
How could this man feel this intensely for her? More to the point, how could she feel the same exact way for him? She pushed the doubt out of her mind and tried to focus on what had made her want to get away from him. It didn’t matter. The hard edge of his jaw line held her attention now. She reached out to him and traced the edges of his chiseled frame. His neck muscles tightened as she leaned up to plant tiny kisses on it.
* * * *
He pushed her hands back against the wall, effectively rendering them useless. If he allowed her to touch him any further then he’d forget the task-at-hand and that was finding what was hidden in this house. As much as he wanted to fuck her, it would have to wait.
He moved to take a step back from her, releasing her hands slowly, and felt her teeth sink down into his shoulder blade. The bite was hard enough to get his attention, but not hard enough to draw blood. Not that that would have mattered to him. He was, after all, a predator. He looked down and felt his resistance fade as Peren cupped his cock in her hand.
* * * *
She couldn’t believe that she’d just attacked him that way. Lukian looked stunned, but not appalled, at her behavior. The growing bulge under his pants and in her hand told her exactly what he thought of her theatrics. She couldn’t help herself. The scent of his sweat, the closeness of his body, was proving to be more than she could handle.
She moved to run her fingers into the top of his pants and he grabbed her wrists gently. She pulled her hands back towards herself, bringing his with her. If he didn’t want her touching him that was fine, she’d think of something else.