by Marcy Jacks
James tensed, his mouth stiffening against Taylor’s flesh before he pulled away.
Taylor didn’t want to look back at him. He knew what he would see. He would see James staring down at him, probably with confusion in his eyes. And maybe a little anger.
It was the anger Taylor was most worried about seeing.
He swallowed hard. He needed to be brave. He needed to see for himself how James would look at him now that he knew he’d gone through all this trouble for the wrong person.
So Taylor turned and looked at him.
James was definitely frowning. A thinking sort of frown. Taylor had seen this sort of frown on his vampire masters before.
Usually when they were thinking about whether or not they would unleash a punishment of some kind on their omegas.
James didn’t attempt to punish him. Yet.
“Are you…are you angry?”
“What do you mean you’re not Miles? No.” James shook his head. He pulled out of Taylor and stepped back. He continued to look down at him, at his fox ears and tail, as if he thought Taylor was playing some sort of trick on him.
“I’m not Miles. I’m Taylor.”
James hesitated. His eyes were still hard. It was almost as if he were trying to look right through Taylor’s body.
“I knew the layout of that house perfectly. I was made to memorize it,” James said. “I watched that home for days. I went into the right bedroom.”
“Did you ever see a picture of Miles?”
“Why would the vampires keep photographs of their slaves?”
Fair enough question, but that wasn’t what Taylor was getting at.
“I think you mixed me up with Miles. You’re right. You wouldn’t have seen a photograph of him because there aren’t any.”
“Miles is a fox shifter. You’re a fox shifter.”
“And we both have the same color hair,” Taylor said softly. He tried his best to keep as calm as he possibly could. He didn’t want to risk that James would get angry with him.
He didn’t think the man would hurt him, not anymore, but suddenly Taylor’s instincts were telling him to be careful.
Dogs used to hunt foxes all the time, after all.
“We’re the same height, close to the same weight. If you were told to find a fox omega in that house who’s slim with blue eyes and brown hair…
James’s eyes flew wide. “You’re not Miles?”
Taylor shook his head. “Not Miles. Taylor.” He felt guilty. “I’m sorry for lying to you.”
“You’re not Varrick’s pleasure slave?”
“I was never a pleasure slave. I mean some of the vampires wanted to do things to me, but it was never my job—”
“What did they do to you?” James grabbed Taylor by the shoulders, so sharply, so quickly, and his claws dug into the skin.
Taylor winced. “I…well, it was just small things.”
“Like?” James gave Taylor a small shake, as if he were on the verge of having a panic attack of some sort.
Not the sort of thing Taylor would have expected from a man who knew how to fight and take care of himself.
God, his grip hurt. Taylor decided to just tell him quickly so James would release him. “Well, sometimes they wanted to use my mouth—”
James groaned, turning away from him, as if the knowledge were enough to make him sick.
And the shame and guilt Taylor felt rushed him. He couldn’t stop it. It was a wave that crashed down hard over his body. Not that Taylor had ever been in an ocean before, but he’d heard that description used.
The sensation of being helpless and out of control. Sucked down into a pit of darkness he could not escape.
It wasn’t a good feeling.
“They touched you,” James said, his eyes still wide, wild. He rubbed his face and jaw then glared into the spray before turning it off and leaving the shower.
Taylor didn’t move. He watched James reach beneath the sink for towels. Watched how tense his shoulders were as he pressed his face into one of those towels and screamed a loud noise that made Taylor’s heart ache.
He wished he hadn’t told him a thing. Everything was better when James was so loving and affectionate to Miles.
Great, now he was jealous of Miles, an omega Taylor hadn’t seen in literally weeks.
Miles was happily mated to the dragon who’d set them free, was respected by the rest of the house for being one of the first to learn how to read and basic self-defense. Miles was great.
Taylor was the mistake James had taken.
James breathed hard when he pulled his face out of the towel, and then he looked at Taylor.
And Taylor wanted to cry.
* * * *
James had been his first. Of all the unworthy people in the world, James had taken something from Miles, Taylor, that Taylor should have given to someone important.
Like his mate. The man, or woman, who would love and care for him the way no one else in the world would.
James had stolen that from him. In the woods. While he was sick with a fever.
He was the worst. Worse than a man who killed for another, he was…
He couldn’t even think it.
James looked back at Taylor, so strange to think of him using that name, and he stopped.
Taylor, still wet and naked, stood in the tub, body dripping, fox tail limp, and ears sadly down.
He looked at James as if James had just ripped his heart out and taken a bite of it.
James ached for the man.
“Come here.”
He helped Taylor out of the tub and pulled one of the white towels around his shoulders and head. James tried to say something, anything, but he had absolutely no idea what was supposed to come out of his mouth at that point.
“I need to check outside. The fire. Dry yourself off. I’ll be right back.”
He left the bathroom. Left an emotionally vulnerable omega to his own devices.
If James didn’t do it, then he was going to lose his fucking mind. The radio was on the nightstand, which was also the digital clock. He turned it on, and considering what was happening, he was able to figure out what was going on before he looked through the closed blinds to get a look outside.
The fire was still raging, but no one was calling for an evacuation just yet. The teams fighting the fires were doing an excellent job of keeping it at bay, and luckily, the wind was also on their side, keeping the fire itself away from the town.
The rain had been downgraded to a small shower, which likely wouldn’t put the fire totally out, but it would weaken it and keep it from spreading as the planes continued to dump water on it.
All in all, it looked as if James and Taylor were going to be sticking around here for a little while.
Taylor hadn’t come out of the bathroom yet. Fuck. James had to go to him.
He should have taken his clothes with him and dressed. It probably didn’t look so great for the omega, who James somehow kept callously using again and again, for him to waltz back in there in his birthday suit.
He knocked on the door, clearing his throat. “Taylor? Are you dressed?”
“Just a second.”
His voice sounded too small. Was it normal for him to sound so small? James didn’t like that for him. He didn’t want Taylor to have anything to fear from him.
Fuck that was so stupid. Of course he would fear James. James had kidnapped him!
The door eventually opened, thankfully. Taylor was back wearing the dirty clothing James had kidnapped him in. He needed to get him something different.
“I’ll go out and buy you a T-shirt and some shorts later. Can you handle being alone for a bit?”
God, the way those ears were slumped down was just breaking the hell out of James’s heart. He didn’t know how much more of that he could look at before he cracked. He went to Taylor and pulled the man into his arms.
I am so sorry for what I did to you.
It shouldn’t have taken
him finding out Taylor was not Miles, that he was an innocent party in all of this, for James to be feeling this regret.
Taylor hesitated then nodded.
James sighed. He walked past Taylor into the bathroom that still smelled so much like the sex they’d had just moments ago so he could get dressed.
When James had almost felt like a real person. When he’d kissed and touched Taylor as if Taylor might actually belong to him.
Nothing belonged to James. He was a slave. He was a killer. He deserved to die.
“Are you mad?”
James paused then finished buttoning his fly before he reached for his shirt and holsters. “What do you mean?”
He didn’t look back at Taylor.
“For not telling you who I am. Are you mad?”
That was what he was worried about?
James faced the man then shook his head softly. “No. It doesn’t take much for me to know why you hid your real identity. You thought I would dispose of you when I found out the truth.”
Taylor ducked his head, a heated blush rising in his cheeks.
Fucking hell, and now James knew what that blush meant.
He’d always thought, stupidly assumed, that Taylor had been blushing because it had been in his training as Varrick’s pleasure slave. He’d assumed, when he’d thought Taylor was Miles, that Taylor had either been playing a part or that he was naturally shy and Varrick had been attracted to that shyness.
Now he knew what that blushing really was.
Genuine.
James needed to go. “I’ll come back with food for you.” He hadn’t forgotten that he had been trying to feed the man and it had turned out badly right after.
Stupid fucking Zed.
Taylor nodded.
James wished he knew what he was supposed to say. He wished to God the knowledge would come to him, but it didn’t.
He knew all the places to cut a human so he would bleed out in seconds. He knew all the pressure points on a dragon’s body, and he even knew how to kill a vampire in his sleep.
He didn’t know how to make Taylor feel better or relieve himself of his guilt.
He walked past the man again. It seemed as if he was doing a lot of that lately.
“Wait.”
James stopped at the door, glancing back.
Taylor looked smaller and more afraid than James had ever seen him.
“You’re coming back, right? I mean…” Taylor seemed to be struggling. “You’re not going to leave me alone?”
James’s heart lurched.
He didn’t think about his next move. He went to the man, took Taylor’s cheeks into both of his palms, and leaned down.
Their lips coming together still felt right. Even after everything James had done to him, everything he was guilty of, that mouth, those lips, and the wonderful taste of him were almost enough to wash away all of James’s sins.
Almost.
He pulled back, noting the color in Taylor’s cheeks, the glimmer in his eyes, and then the hopeful smile.
That Taylor could still feel hopeful about anything when it came down to the two of them was enough to make James himself hopeful.
“I’ll come right back. Then we’re going to talk.”
Taylor nodded quickly. James could sense the eagerness in the man’s aura as it floated all around him.
And he loved him. Oh God, James was in love with a man he’d kidnapped with the intent to sell into sexual slavery.
“You promise?”
“I do.” James slid his thumbs across Taylor’s cheeks, their mouths close enough that the urge to kiss him again was there and as powerful as ever. “When I get back, we’re not just going to talk, but we’ll make plans. I’ll take you back to the dragons. Everything will be all right.”
That bright and shining light behind those blue eyes was blinding.
“Really?”
James nodded. “Yes, really.”
He kissed the omega again, and then, before Taylor could ask any more questions or stop him, James pulled back and left him alone in the motel room.
Taylor practically followed him out, but he stayed at the door as James walked away. “I’ll be waiting for you.”
James had once been stabbed in the chest with a blade that had been sitting in a fire. The vampire masters knew how to craft excellent punishments.
This felt like that. Like being stabbed in the chest with a blade that had a red metal tip from sitting in a bright flame.
Because he knew Taylor thought James would stay with him. That when James returned him to that clan of dragons that had been good to him, had freed him, James would stay at his side.
No. That wasn’t going to happen. In fact, it was in Taylor’s best interests that James get as far away from him as soon as the man was safe.
Varrick would never forgive James for his transgressions. Failing to bring Miles to him, releasing the one slave he did manage to capture. Making love to him.
No. When Varrick came for James’s life—and he would—James would be as far away from Taylor as possible.
Chapter Eight
Taylor listened to the radio since James had left it on. He barely heard a word of it, and occasionally he pulled the curtains back to stare out the window and see the fire in the distance.
It was still bright, still billowing smoke. Smoke that was pale in some places and dark in others. The planes were still moving as well, though it didn’t seem to be as much of a threat anymore, and Taylor was no longer fearful of it coming to get him.
He didn’t feel fearful of much of anything in that moment.
He felt good. The room suddenly seemed brighter, the faded floral wallpaper taking on an entirely new set of bright colors.
He could almost smell the sweet scent of their flowers.
James had kissed him. It felt like forgiveness. It had almost seemed as if he had been searching for a forgiveness of his own.
Taylor gladly gave it to him. He didn’t even need to ask for it.
Then a harsh thought occurred to him. What if James didn’t know that Taylor had been forgiving him? What if that wasn’t the message he was trying to relay with that kiss?
What if he had been trying to say something else? Taylor could be misunderstanding everything. He didn’t know anything about the way of the heart or physical relationships. What if James thought his own body language was saying one thing when he really wanted it to say another?
Taylor’s heart started to pound.
He had to be overthinking this. He had to be. There had been something more to that kiss than simply desperation. Taylor was positive he’d felt it.
The flowers on the walls no longer looked so bright. Taylor got to his feet and started to pace. He couldn’t help himself. He had so much nervous energy in him that needed to get out somehow.
James had to come back. He promised he would come back and they would talk. Taylor would have his chance to ask him then. Everything would be fine after that. It had to be.
A knock sounded on the door. Taylor sighed, rushing to it, throwing it open, expecting to see James on the other side waiting to be let in.
The tall, blond-haired man standing there was an immediate lesson for Taylor. The first being that he should never open the door without asking who was there first, and the second lesson was more of a reminder of his own stupidity.
James wouldn’t have knocked. Taylor should know that.
“Taylor?”
Taylor nodded. The dragon in front of him, from the clan of dragons that had rescued him…he should have been happy, but the only thing he could feel was a harsh panic that refused to be ignored.
If Van was here, who else was here? And what was going to happen to James when he saw the man?
Van looked about as shocked as Taylor felt. He actually brought his hands up to his hair, gripping the strands tight before pushing them back down again. “Are you serious? What the hell are you doing here? How long have you been here? Where did you
come from? I mean, I thought I smelled someone familiar, but…what the hell?”
Taylor didn’t know how to answer any of that without giving James away.
“I…I don’t…”
“Are you hurt?” Van pushed his way into the motel room. Taylor backed up. Van didn’t touch him. He’d always seemed concerned for the omegas, always willing to watch out for them and see to their needs.
Taylor had liked that about him, but he didn’t know what would happen if Van was here and he saw James walk in.
Would they fight?
“Taylor? Hey, look at me. I’m not trying to scare you.”
Van’s voice was softer now, his tone less confrontational.
It made Taylor feel better, but not by much.
“James…he’s letting me go.” Taylor had to be honest. It wasn’t in him to lie about anything. If he was honest now, then maybe everything would be all right.
“James?” Van tilted his head to the side. The suspicion was still clear in his eyes. He glanced around the motel room, as if he expected an enemy to jump out from beneath the covers of the bed and attack him right then and there.
Taylor didn’t like that. He didn’t like that he was so defensive around someone who was so nice all the time, and he didn’t like that it was because he just seemed to know Van would give James trouble when he found him.
“Did James…rescue you? Or was he the one who took you?” Again with that suspicious look in his eyes and the tone of his voice.
Everything seemed to pull together to make Taylor nervous. He wanted to speak, but he couldn’t.
He liked the dragons who had set him free, he did, but he wasn’t used to the forward way they spoke to him and expected him to answer casual questions.
Especially when those questions weren’t so casual.
“Okay, something’s going on here.” Van took Taylor by his arm, pulling him a little toward the door. “You’re clearly scared. I’m taking you back.”
Taylor dug his heels into the carpet, but it almost wasn’t enough to stop Van. He was too strong, and the only reason he seemed to stop at all was because of the way Taylor struggled against him.
Van looked down at him, lifting a brow.
Taylor swallowed. “I…I want to wait here, for James to come back.”