Soroyan groaned at the vivid fantasies in his head and then glanced in the room. Raven stood at the mirror, combing her long black hair with the streak of red in it. Though that wasn’t what held him stunned No, it was the white towel wrapped around her waist, and under her arms. It barely covered her bottom and he licked his lips, aching to taste her.
Then she turned her stunning violet eyes on him and there was a challenge in them. Soroyan swallowed. He couldn’t do this, he needed to go, get away … because if he did this, he’d lose more than he was willing. “I’m going to Club Purgatori,” he said and walked uncomfortably down the hall to the door.
“Give me a minute and I’ll come with you,” Raven said, but didn’t stop. He didn’t want her with him, his steel control wouldn’t be able to hold on if she did.
Yanking the door open, he hurried down the hallway. Throwing open the door to the stairs, he took them two at a time glad when he stepped into the garage where the car was parked. He needed to deal with whatever this was if he were to continue to work around Raven.
***
At Club Purgatori, Soroyan grimaced at the packed place. The music was blasting from the speakers, yet surprisingly, neither the noise nor the press of people bothered him. He was too distracted.
The last time he’d been here, there’d been a couple Were-cats, but tonight he only caught the scent of humans. On the largest stage, three women danced, slowly taking their clothing off while men whistled and tried to get closer, tossing their money at the women.
Soroyan caught the eye of a couple different women though none of them did anything for him. Turning away, he went and slid into a chair at an empty table. A moment later, a woman with short dark hair stopped by. “Hey, wanna go have some fun?” she asked, nodding toward the private dance rooms at the back.
Soroyan was well aware of what everyone was doing in those rooms and regarded the woman in front of him for a moment, but then he sighed. “No,” he said and with a shrug she walked away.
A moment later a pretty blonde server stopped by. “Hey, hon, what can I get ya?” she asked with a suggestive twinkle in her eyes, letting Soroyan know she was available.
Without taking her up on her offer, Soroyan ordered a double shot of bourbon and a beer. As soon as the blonde walked away, he turned his attention to the three women on stage. They were beautiful as they danced provocatively, and yet, none of them set his heart racing, or made him burn with need like Raven did.
Soroyan groaned. This wasn’t going to be easy if all he could do was think about her. A moment later his drink arrived. After he paid the server along with a generous tip, he slipped the flask of Nectar out and poured a couple drops into each drink. He was about to put the lid back on, when he added a few more drops, knowing he was going to need it.
He downed the double shot of bourbon, enjoying the fire as it burned, but normally with his metabolism, it would have little effect on him. Then the Nectar hit his system and he felt his muscles begin to relax.
With a sigh, he closed his eyes for a moment until the scent of Daywalker drifted to him, followed quickly by the same intense sex pheromones he’d caught the last time he was here.
He met Sin’s heated gaze.
When he’d first spied Sin standing beside her bodyguard surveying her domain three weeks ago, he could tell right away that she wasn’t human. With long, wavy black hair, full glossy-red lips, blue eyes and pert breasts, she was very aware of how most of the men in the club desired her.
That night when he went to question her, Sin had made no bones about the fact that she wanted him. He hadn’t been interested and after a brief conversation, he’d left her with a quick kiss in thanks.
With his body bursting for someone he didn’t dare touch, he studied Sin. She was a little curvier than what he was looking for, but similar in dark looks to Raven that he might be able to do this. Then, as another wave of pheromones hit him, telling him she was still interested, he stood up.
He could feel the buzz of the Nectar as he made his way through the room, yet as he drew near, the pit in his stomach grew. He shook it off. He needed to do this. At least with Sin, he could fuck her and leave. She wouldn’t expect or push him for any commitments, which was just how he wanted it. He didn’t need anyone else complicating his life or messing up his plan.
A good fuck should sate his out-of-control body enough that he could think, and maybe even let him function around Raven without losing it. Just the thought of the violet-eyed siren sent his pulse racing, so that by the time he walked into Sin’s office, his cock was once more hard and aching.
A smile curved Sin’s lips. “Hey, handsome,” she said, licking her lips seductively. “I’m glad you came back.”
“Sin.” Voice gruff, he contemplated what he was about to do. Her blue eyes trailed over him, pausing on the bulge in his jeans, before rising to meet his eyes.
“Oh, you are a nice, big package, aren’t you,” she said and the next moment she was rubbing up against him.
“Think you can handle this?” he asked, knowing he was too big for most females.
“Of course, you do know I’m not human, right?” she asked, trailing a finger down his chest and around his waist.
“I won’t be gentle,” he warned.
“Good, besides, I heal fast,” she responded.
Her eyes aren’t the right color. As soon as the thought entered his mind he no longer cared. He spun her around and moved her over to her desk, then he bent her over, imagining that her black hair was Raven’s.
No! A voice inside shouted, but with a low growl, he shoved Sin’s dress up and then pulled her panties down. He shoved a finger into her, imagining it was Raven he was feeling.
Sin was wet and ready for him so he shoved another finger inside her moist sheath and right away, Sin began to wiggle on him, moaning and panting.
Soroyan tried to block out the sounds as he pressed his hand into Sin’s back and withdrew his fingers, making Sin cry out at the loss. With Raven in the forefront of his mind, he quickly freed his aching erection. Then he directed his cock inside Sin’s wet warmth with a vision of Raven in his mind, violet eyes caressing him.
He closed his eyes.
Raven. Enticing. Definitely dangerous and alluring. He quickened his pace as pheromones designed to lure a male wafted from Sin.
But they did nothing for him.
Against his wishes, he recalled the other day when he’d first caught Raven’s scent. A sharp yet spicy tang. Soroyan groaned, the need growing stronger. He began to slide in and out faster, harder, shaking the desk, when the scent became reality. His aching cock surged with renewed lust at the thought of being inside the woman in his mind.
Then his heart stuttered and Soroyan turned to the door where Raven stood, staring in at him. Her mouth was open, but she quickly shut it. He lost his pace and halted.
“No, don’t stop,” Sin whined, wiggling her ass against him.
“What are you doing here?” Soroyan asked, voice gruffer than he intended, but just the sight of Raven was doing crazy things to him.
For a second he though he saw hurt in her gaze, but the next second it was gone and he thought he must be imagining it.
“I decided I needed a drink, thought I’d join you,” she said, staring at him. “Ah, not with that though. But, don’t stop on my account,” she said and just the timbre of her voice sent a shiver down his spine and to his balls. But her nonchalant wave like she didn’t give a fuck, filled him with unreasonable anger.
“Soroyan, don’t stop,” Sin whined again, rubbing against him. He ground his teeth together, his cock no longer interested in the Daywalker.
“I’ll wait out here,” Raven said, then shook her head. “On second thought, I’ll just wait here,” she said and stunned him when she walked in and took a seat on the couch, facing him.
He started to pull out, but then grew angry. Who was she to try to make him feel bad about what he was doing?
“Who
the fuck is that?” Sin asked, only to moan the next moment and begin panting. “Seriously, don’t stop,” she said, but while having Raven so close excited him, it also made it harder to continue the charade with Sin. He didn’t want Sin, he wanted the dangerous dark-haired beauty watching him with heat lighting her eyes.
But Sin continued to move on his cock and a moment later, she cried out and arched in ecstasy.
Still aching with need, but no longer in the mood, he pulled out, tucked himself in and zipped his jeans. “Let’s go,” he snarled, not looking at Raven. He could hear her chuckle behind him. He took a deep breath then wished he hadn’t when Raven’s enticing scent drifted to him, through him, sweet and tantalizing. Trying hard to control the beast pounding inside of him, he made his way through the club, harder than before and way too close to losing the battle with the darkness.
“Did you enjoy that?” he ground out as they neared the door.
Raven snorted. “At first, but then it was disappointing.”
They made it outside and down the sidewalk a short distance, before he pushed her up against the wall. He planted his hands on either side of her head and leaned close, drawing in her tantalizing scent. “Disappointing?”
“Yeah,” she breathed.
Sizzling fire set his blood boiling.
“I expected more,” she said, challenging him. He held her gaze for the longest time while his heart beat faster. He wondered what her lips would feel like on his.
“Why do you taunt me?” he asked, not understanding her at all.
A shiver of anticipation shuddered through her and she grinned, mocking him. “It’s so much fun, like poking the wolf with a stick.” She was deliberately trying to anger him, but he didn’t understand why. A storm was brewing inside of him that he knew he’d be unable to stop.
He jerked away from her and ran a hand through his hair. “Why did you come here?” He was beyond angry and desperate for her as he met her gaze once more.
Intense violet eyes began to glow and then she moved close and reached up to touch his face. “Do you ever smile, or just frown and scowl?”
With a fierce growl, he shoved her back against the wall and pressed up against her, feeling like he was drowning as his body melted into hers, a perfect fit.
“See, that’s more of what I was looking for,” she said breathlessly, staring right back at him. Her eyes were blazing with heat that sent his blood sizzling through his veins.
“You need me to take care of that?” she suggested, making him swallow deeply as she inserted a hand between them, and caressed the aching bulge in his pants.
Breath shot out of him at the contact.
Unable to stop himself, and no longer wanting to, Soroyan lowered his mouth to hers. The fire inside of him burned like an out-of-control wildfire as her essence, a pure white light, sent waves of hunger pulsing through him and straight to his starved soul.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Turned On
Raven felt herself getting lost in the depths of Soroyan’s eyes. Sucked in, she shivered at the wolf in the shadows staring back at her, and felt the dark beast lurking, waiting for its moment of freedom.
At first, when she found him banging the woman in the club, she’d experienced an unfamiliar, and unwanted moment of hurt. Yet what he did was his business, or so she tried to tell herself.
She didn’t know why what he was doing would hurt her. He didn’t mean anything to her. Though if she were honest, from the moment she’d seen him charge into Zander’s room, something inside of her had sprung to life.
She asked Tierney about him and her niece told her that he didn’t have a mate or girlfriend. Suddenly her interest in him had grown exponentially, no matter how much she didn’t want it to.
Tonight, when she tried to walk away, she found she couldn’t. Something perverse wouldn’t let her leave and let him finish. Having never been afraid of anything, her heart had begun to pound at her decision. Part of her wanted to make him uncomfortable, so that he stopped, while another part was strangely, weirdly turned on by the sight. Not understanding it, but deciding to play along, she’d walked in and sat down.
Raven bit back her grin at the shock on his face when he spotted her in the doorway, and later when he zipped himself back up, unfulfilled.
As Soroyan’s mouth claimed hers, Raven swallowed the moan that threatened to tear from her throat. Her already racing pulse leaped as suddenly light-headed, he invaded her mouth. Wild, intense desire, a burning need consumed her and sent flames of passion licking through her.
Her breasts tingled and tightened at the contact and without conscious thought she ran her hands along his stubbly jaw and up to grab a fist full of shoulder-length black hair. She shivered when he moaned his pleasure into her mouth and caught the taste of Nectar.
For twenty years she’d lived as if dead. Not letting emotion cloud her judgement, never letting feelings other than anger and rage back in. In fact, the first five years after her mate and baby died, she avoided contact with everyone.
Then one day while in a pub trying to glean some information on her enemies, she spotted someone in her target’s inner circle. When the man tried to pick her up, she started to ignore him, but then finally looked at the guy. He wasn’t bad looking, for the enemy. Deciding what the hell, she let him take her home.
That was when she realized how easy it would be to use sex to find out what she needed. She had buried her emotions so deep, that she could touch and be touched without it affecting her whatsoever.
Hunger, need, want, desire, they all rose up with a scream at having been smothered for so long and began to overflow. Never had she experienced so much feeling, not even with her sweet, funny, gentle soul mate.
It was so strong, so utterly intense, that it threatened her very soul. Wait, Lukkah! No! Panic at the thought of how she was betraying her dead mate, quickly killed all passion within her. “No!” She turned her head, breaking contact, but Soroyan just trailed his lips down her neck and over her frantic pulse.
Then he flicked his tongue over her and she shuddered. No, she couldn’t let this happen. She didn’t want to feel. To feel was to hurt. “Get. Off. Me,” she growled and with an untold amount of strength, shoved him away. If he’d been a mere mortal man, he’d have flown across the street, as it was, he staggered back a few feet.
Shocked, breathing ragged, Soroyan took a step forward only to stop and stare at her. Raven gazed right back, and she could see the fierce need of the beast inside of him trying to break free. “Sorry. Don’t,” she said, holding up a hand.
“Not so willing to help me now?” he asked mockingly, and his deep voice sent tendrils of heat licking and curling through her. When she didn’t say anything, he turned away. “That’s what I thought.”
She watched him walk around the corner into the parking lot for a moment, heart beating rapidly and then turned away. Hades, I need a drink! Raven took a deep breath, about to step back inside the club when a car with its music booming so loud it made her shudder, turned onto the street.
Raven yanked the door to the club open only to wince at the noise inside as well. With a sigh, she made her way over to the bar.
“What can I get ya?” the bartender asked and with no idea what people drank on this planet, she scanned the bottles behind the bar. “I need a shot, surprise me.”
“New here?” the bartender asked.
Raven raised an eyebrow, and with a knowing smirk, the bartender turned and reached for a clear bottle with something in the bottom. He was still grinning when he turned back and filled a shot glass then pushed it at her.
“What is it?” she asked as she picked up the tiny glass and inspected the contents.
“Tequila,” the bartender said.
Raven downed it, closing her eyes in delight at the burn as it slid down her throat and held it up for another. She’d just finished the second, when she felt the first evil soul hovering, waiting for her.
Turning,
she scoped out the busy club, but nothing untoward seemed to be happening. With a frown, she started to turn back and ask for another shot, when a shiver of dread filled her. Immediately, the car filled with men that had passed her a few minutes ago flashed in her mind. No! Suddenly she knew without a doubt that Soroyan was in trouble.
Pulling some of the money out of her pocket that Tierney had given her, she tossed it on the counter and made her way through the crowd and over to the door. A growl of frustration slipped out when she had to wait for the group walking in to clear the way.
Once outside, she took a deep breath and turned toward the parking lot. The sudden, unreasonable worry for Soroyan grew stronger as she raced around the corner. The breath hissed out of her at the sight of him and another man she’d met at her brother’s fighting a large group of men. Mark. That was his name. He was a Were-wolf who’d been betrayed by his pack. Then she realized that he and Soroyan were fighting said Were-wolf pack, half of whom had done a partial shift. A fifth lay dead on the ground while another moaned in pain not far away.
As one wolf went to swipe claws across Soroyan’s back, Raven swept in. She struck, severing his spinal cord before the wolf knew what hit him, then twisted out of the way as another came at her. As she fought, she caught the familiar scent of the three wolves who had taken off before she and Soroyan showed up at the wolf den earlier.
Rage pumped anew and she turned to the first one. A hard grin lit her features, making the Were in front of her hesitate for just a moment. “You like to hurt children, do you?” Raven hissed as she faced off with him. A gleam filled his eyes as he advanced and without waiting for him to say a word, she moved in to meet him.
Mere minutes later Raven sheathed her knives.
“Three got away,” Mark ground out, tying the hands of the only live enemy with zip-ties he’d pulled from his pocket. Six lay dead on the ground. “We should call that Were-cat,” Raven said and Mark looked at her questioningly.
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