“Good,” Evan replied.
“We’ll need to update the blood supply,” Paulie added. “But other than that,” She shrugged. “it all looked good.”
“Alright.”
Andrej didn’t know where he would get the blood from, but he would think of something. For the most part, he and Harper lived off animal blood. He was fairly sure that any other vampire who came to stay with them could do the same. It would be an adjustment, but it was doable.
He walked over to Brailynn who was deep in conversation with Malcom, Tabatha, and Colton. When she saw him approach, she reached out her hand to grab his.
“Did Even tell you about the blood supply?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he replied. “But I think we’ll be fine. Harper and I feed off the animals in the woods. If others like us come, they will have to learn to do the same, without harm, of course.”
“What about me?”
Andrej didn’t understand. “What about you?”
“Do I need blood?” she asked. “Am I supposed to be hungry, because I’m not?”
“Nah.” He shook his head. “You’re different. A Daywalker. Vampire, but more. So, while you can survive off blood, it isn’t necessary. You can eat and drink like a regular human.”
She looked thoughtful for a moment. He thought she would ask more questions, but she didn’t. And he was thankful because he honestly didn’t have any other answers.
“Alright.” Colton pulled everyone's attention toward him. “I have a few more coming in. Don’t freak out if your sky suddenly fills with a herd of dragons, okay?”
“Seriously?” Alfonzo asked, smiling from ear to ear.
“Very.”
“Hell yeah.” The wolf shifter nodded.
Andrej rolled his eyes.
Alfonzo was the definition of a horndog. The guy would hump a tree if it would give him satisfaction.
“Stay away from them,” Colton warned. “These women have been through hell. They’re also protected by mates.”
Andrej chuckled as Colton’s warning burst Alfonzo’s bubble of hope.
“I’ve also called in the Rogue Enforcers,” Colton continued.
“Who?” Brailynn asked.
“The Rogue Enforcers,” Colton repeated. “They are like the legit Enforcer’s but, in my opinion, they are better.”
“Colton runs the group,” Tabatha added. “It’s just a group of people who, for one reason or another, couldn’t get into the Enforcers. So, Colton found them and created his own group. They’re the real deal.”
“Okay.” Brailynn nodded. Then she turned to him. “Were you able to get in touch with anyone who could help?”
“Yeah.” Now was the perfect time to fill her in before the surprise arrived. “There’s a coven from down in South America that is on its way. They should be here by nightfall tomorrow. And another from down in Florida.”
“What about your brother?” Wallace jumped in.
“Brother?” Brailynn asked.
Andrej stared at his friend. Fucking incredible. he sighed.
“Sorry.” Wallace could see his annoyance since Andrej hadn’t tried to hide it.
“It’s fine.” Even though it wasn’t. To his mate, he replied, “It’s a long story, and I will explain later; but yes, my brother is also coming to aid.”
He saw the worry in her eyes and didn’t know the reason behind it. He was excited to see his brother after so long; however, he was a bit nervous. After all, a lot can change over time and when speaking about decades – Andrej was sure more things would be different than the same. But her caring nature called to him. It made him feel all sorts of good things and left him speechless. So, instead of saying anything, he raised his hand and brushed her hand gently from her face. Then as he rested his palm on the nape of her neck and Andrej pulled her to him and softly pressed his lips against hers.
The kiss would have been enough to sear his soul if he’d had one. He slipped his tongue past her lips and caressed the inside of her mouth. She leaned into him and Andrej welcomed the weight against him.
Mate. Bed. Now. His blood lust demanded.
But now wasn’t the time.
Need. Mate. Now. It argued.
And while that was true for Andrej as well, he wouldn’t put his own needs ahead of his peoples. In due time, he told the beasts.
He could feel its dislike for his answer, but Andrej was the one in control. He made the rules, and the beasts had to live by them.
Tabatha coughed, and then it was quickly followed by, “When y’all are finished…”
“Sorry.” Brailynn ducked her head but not before Andrej saw her cheeks turn a beautiful shade of pink.
He smiled at his mate, and said, “Not sorry.” To the group.
Brailynn smiled up at him.
Andrej winked, then clapped his hands. “Righty-oh. Let’s figure out a plan,” he said to the group. “I’d like to bang my mate sometime in the next decade. So, the quicker we get this over with, the better.”
“Andrej!”
While Brailynn stared at him in disbelief, the rest of the group burst into laughter, and Andrej grinned as his plan did what he wanted it to do. It took the focus off Brailynn so she could pull herself together and defused any tension that might have been created.
Well done. Well done, indeed, he told him.
Chapter Nineteen
Brailynn
Two Days Later…
Everyone knew what they needed to do. The day was coming to an end and she was bone tired. Since she’d woken up, Brailynn had been going nonstop. People from all over the world had converged on Andrej’s little piece of dirt. More people than she had ever expected.
Birds. Wolves. Big cats. Bears. Dragons. And even a kangaroo and Komodo dragon had joined the wide array of shifters that came to help. But that wasn’t all. Many people from Brailynn covens had arrived, escorted by members of Malcom’s Pride. At some point, even the Enforcers from New Orleans had shown up to lend a hand. And there were more vampires there than anywhere else in the world, it seemed.
That’s exaggerating, she thought to herself, even though that’s exactly what it felt like. Her new home had turned into Grand Central Station. Day and night, it was awake with noise.
There were so many bodies that Brailynn felt claustrophobic even outside. Everywhere she looked was someone new. So many people came to be a part of their fight; so many that she couldn’t even remember all their names or who they belonged with.
“It’s amazing, isn’t it?”
She glanced to her side to see Tabatha walking up. “It is,” she agreed. “I never thought so many people would show up to help us.”
“We all want the same thing,” Tabatha said wistfully. “To just be able to live our lives without the fear of being hunted and murdered. Without being afraid to walk down the street or even leave our homes.”
Brailynn heard the sadness in her friend's voice and she had to admit, she felt the same way. So many lives had been lost because of the Hunters. Innocent men, women, and child – gone.
She thought about Tabatha’s parents. “Do you ever wonder how things might have turned out if your parents hadn’t died? How different Derrick might have been?”
“All the time.” Tabatha’s eyes looked to the sky. “I would like to think that they would have prevented all of this. Maybe led him down a better path.”
“Do you miss him?”
“So much.” She shook her head. Her tears filled eyes turned to Brailynn. “But, looking back, I lost my brother a long time ago. Long before the Hunters got ahold of him and corrupted his mind.”
“Do you think that’s what happened?” Brailynn asked, wrapping her arm through Tabatha’s.
She had always thought Derrick to be so strong-willed. She could remember as a child and even a teenager, looking up to him. He had all the qualities that she had wished she’d been born with, mainly his confidence. Wherever Derrick went, he exuded a level of confidence th
at was too deep to ever waver. She had always wanted to be that way.
“But now you are so much more,” Boanna voice whispered through her mind.
“You need to be careful, Brailynn.”
“What?”
“I said, you need to be careful,” Tabatha repeated.
Brailynn just looked at her.
Tabatha must have noticed her confusion because she went on to clarify. “You are now the most powerful witch in the world,” she whispered, glancing around to ensure that she wasn’t overheard. “Some people, human and supernatural alike… They can’t be trusted. Please, remember that. Some will befriend you only to later stab you in the back.” A tear slid down Tabatha’s cheek. “Even family; so, just be careful.”
“Is that what happened to you?” Brailynn asked, curiously.
Tabatha nodded. Sadly, she stared off into the distance. “Derrick was going to use me,” she admitted. “I have the ability to locate,” Tabatha leaned in to whisper. Then she turned to look off into the distance. “I can hold an item and just think of its owner, and an image of them will pop into my head. I can then locate them based on the surroundings I see.”
“Oh wow!” Brailynn thought about Tabatha’s ability and how amazing it would have been to have that. Maybe, if she’d had it, she could have located her parents and known that they were still alive.
“Derrick knew about my ability,” she went on to say, “and he planned to use it. To use me.”
“How?”
“I overheard him having a meeting with a group of Hunters.” Again, Tabatha turned away from her but not before Brailynn saw the shame in her friends' eyes. “I heard him say that he would use me to locate other supers and then give them the information so they could go there and kill people.”
Brailynn gasped.
“I couldn’t allow him to do that.” Her voice broke on the last word.
Brailynn pulled Tabatha into a tight hug. “Shhh, it’s okay.”
“No,” she muttered. “You have to understand. I panicked. I ran. I am so sorry. I left you all behind and…. and…” Tabatha broke into a million pieces right there in Brailynn’s arms.
“I understand,” Brailynn tried to tell her. “I would have probably done the same.”
“No! You wouldn’t have,” Tabatha cried. “You would have fought him. You would have stood your ground and demanded that he step down as leader. You would have stayed to protect the coven.”
“But you aren’t me, Tabatha,” Brailynn told her. “So, you did what you knew to do. And that is understandable.”
Tabatha shook her head. “I’m so sorry.”
Brailynn didn’t know what else to say. The other woman’s’ guilt was palpable. It hung around Tabatha’s neck like a choker, draining the life from her, little by little.
Brailynn hugged her a bit tighter and just let her friends cry out her emotions, which must have been pretty strong because, within seconds, Malcom was there with fire flickering in his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice deep and filled with gravel.
“Oh!” Tabatha pulled away and start swiping away at the tears. “Nothing. Just got a bit emotional. She turned to give her mate a reassuring smile. “Oh! Shit. No.” She shook her head venomously. “I’m okay. I promise. Calm down. I’m so sorry.”
Malcom pulled her into his arms and instantly, the flames vanished. He sighed. “You know how I get. Especially now.”
“I know.”
Brailynn watched as Tabatha moved a hand to her flat stomach. “Wait. Are you…?”
Tabatha smiled.
“You can’t be here!” The panic caused her heart to race. “What if something happens? Tabatha, you have to get out of here. Now!”
“I will not.” Tabatha pulled from Malcom embrace and crossed her arms over her chest. “I will stay here, and I will fight.”
“You can’t!”
“I will,” she repeated. “Because if this battle is lost, my child doesn’t stand a chance in this world. I am here fighting for him. For his rights. For his future.”
“His?” Malcom whispered. “It’s a boy?”
Tabatha turned to face her mate, a sheepish grin on her face. She nodded. “I didn’t mean for you to learn like this. I’m so sorry.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I am screwing up left and right today!”
Malcom leaned in and kissed her passionately. Brailynn had to look away. It felt like she was encroaching on a very private moment.
“It’s fine,” Malcom reassured her after the kiss ended.
Brailynn glanced back in time to see Malcom place a protective hand over Tabatha’s belly. His smile grew until it took over his entire face. Then, out of nowhere, Malcom turned around and shouted, “It’s a boy!”
The entire complex shouted back with cheers of joy and congratulations. In such a gloom and doom atmosphere, hearing a bit of exciting news helped to put a bit of pep into the step of several of the shifters who’d come to save the world.
Like superheroes, she thought.
“We are definitely not superheroes,” Andrej’s voice whispered through her mind.
“But you can be my hero,” Brailynn laughed internally.
“Only if I get a cape,” Andrej joked.
“Absolutely!” Brailynn nearly lost it as a picture flashed into her head. “A cape and nothing but a cape?”
“Maybe. Then I can be Super Sexy.”
Mentally, she visualized Andrej giving her a sexy, sultry wink and she grinned even bigger and rolled her eyes. Sometimes her mate was incorrigible.
Chapter Twenty
Andrej
The stress of the unknown was making everyone antsy. There were so many people on his land and in his home, that it seemed like privacy was something from the past. All he wanted was five minutes alone with his new mate, but that seemed to be a no-go. Every time he would get two words out of his mouth, someone else needed her attention.
Frustrated, Andre headed to his office. While there was nothing for him to do around the complex, there was plenty to occupy his time in there.
He walked into the room and closed the door. His mind flashed to yesterday when he’d been in there working and Brailynn had snuck in. He smiled as he thought about what they had done.
He looked around for his pen cup, still unsure of where it had gone.
His balls tightened at the memory of sweeping everything off his chest, pulling her panties to the side, and sinking himself into her. They had gone at each other with such passion and desperation. Everything had been hot and wild.
Andrej adjusted himself in his pants that were now fitting a bit tighter. Walking over to his desk, he pulled out his chair had sat down. Turning on his computer, he typed in his password and waited for the program to open.
And that’s when he felt it.
Her excitement shot through him as if it were his own.
“What’s going on?” he asked her via their link.
He loved their connection. Anywhere, anytime, they could connect. He could feel what she was feeling. He knew when she was happy or sad, just the same as he knew when she was horny and excited like she was right then.
“I have a surprise for you!”
Before he could ask anything more, he felt two hands touch the inside of his tights. He knew it was her, Andrej didn’t even have to look. He sat there, perfectly still as her small hands creep up the inside of his legs.
“You little minx,” he teased.
He heard her giggle.
He rolled his chair back a bit, and she smiled up at him from beneath his desk. The sight of her kneeling in front of him caused his cock to jump in excitement.
Brailynn’s hands massaged their way toward his bulging cock. He groaned as she grabbed a hold of him through the fabric and squeezed.
“So big,” she whispered.
He lifted his hips slightly, pushing himself into her hand.
With another tight squeeze, she reached for his belt an
d quickly unfastened it, followed promptly by lowering his zipper. It didn’t take much, but with a slight lift of his hips, she was able to pull his slack down enough to give her the room she needed.
As he felt her excitement grow, so did his own. He never would have thought that his inexperienced mate would be sneaky enough to hide under his desk, in his office, and wait for him.
“Kinky little mate,” Andrej whispered across her mind.
Brailynn giggled again.
She reached into his underwear and Andrej groaned out loud when her small hand wrapped around him and pulled him free. He expected her to tease him. Maybe to even jerk him off a bit, but what Andrej didn’t expect was the wet heat of her mouth as her tongue circled the head of his dick before it passed between her lips and bumped against the back of her throat.
“Shit!” He groaned.
Brailynn worked her hand up and down his length, in rhythm with her mouth. She sucked him even deeper and when his cock passed through the muscle in the back, and she didn’t gag, Andrej nearly came right there.
“Fuckkkk….” He sighed. “Mmm.”
Her movements became faster. Her hands squeezed and massaged his dick and balls as her mouth and throat pleasured him.
He moved her hair out of her face, then fisted her mahogany locks in his hand as he began to slowly thrust his hips.
“Mmm,” she moaned around him.
He pushed in deeper, feeling her swallow him down. Her throat clamped like a vice around him. “Fuck, yes, baby.”
She bobbed her head faster. Taking him deeper.
She circled her tiny hand around his shaft while the other massaged his balls. Her tongue swirled around the head of his dick and she sucked him even hard.
Brailynn worked him over like a pro. Later, he would have to ask her where in the hell she learned her new skill, but at the moment, Andrej was just going to enjoy it.
He heard and felt the pop as suction broke and his dick came out of her mouth.
“Mmm,” she moaned as her tongue licked up and down his length.
She continued to jack him off as her mouth latched onto his nuts.
Brailynn (A Rogue Enforcers Novel) Page 17