Trina M. Lee

by Alexa O'Brien Huntress Series Book 1-4 Box Set (Retail)

  “She is not yours!” Arys’s voice vibrated with sudden rage. “Yeah, you have a deal, but that doesn’t make Alexa one of your toys. She is not a victim, and you will not treat her as one.”

  With a chuckle, Harley turned back to me, a devious grin revealing fangs that would soon pierce my flesh. A shiver shook me, and I swallowed hard.

  “Can we just fucking do this and be done with it?” I demanded. I wanted to snap and snarl at the both of them.

  Harley sprung into action. In a bold move, he reached for me, brushing my hair aside. Damn him, I knew he would go for the neck. He didn’t pause or wait for an indication that I was ready. I expected as much.

  He moved fast, biting into my exposed throat. I flinched but didn’t make a sound. It definitely wasn’t a welcome bite like it was with Arys or Kale. I hated everything about it. Still, it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.

  Pain seared a scorching path down my neck, burning in its intensity. It was a battle to keep from crying out. This bite held no pleasure, no desire. It was all agony. My pain was mirrored on Arys’s gorgeous face. His eyes were riveted to the place where Harley’s fangs made my blood flow. Horror was etched in his fiery blue orbs.

  I closed my eyes, unwilling to witness Arys’s reaction any longer. I just wanted this moment over. Harley held me with both hands, one on my waist and the other buried in my hair. It was intimate in a way that made me ill. Unlike the last time he’d bit me, when I’d reacted to him with lust and hunger, I now felt sickened by his touch.

  Arys’s energy shook with anger and something else … jealousy. After the recent conflict between us, I found that satisfying, even somewhat reassuring.

  Harley sucked on the two punctures, drawing my blood into him. My every instinct commanded that I fight him off. I clenched my hands into fists, my clawed nails cut into my palms. My heartbeat was strong and steady, but I gasped for breath as adrenaline crashed through me.

  Time seemed to crawl by. Every second seemed to drag on. I could feel the power building in my core, and I ached to throw Harley off me. Arys’s thrumming energy grew like a blazing inferno as it reached for me. The mix of vampire and werewolf power coiled inside me was drawn to him, always seeking that connection with him.

  “Enough, Harley.” Arys’s voice was strained and low. It sounded far calmer than he was. I could feel him, ready to break. Was the sight of Harley feeding from me really so bothersome to him? Good.

  Placing a hand on Harley’s chest, I pushed against him firmly. He didn’t budge. The sensation of his lips and tongue licking and sucking at my neck made me all the more eager to get him off me. I shuddered when he grew more aggressive.

  Harley’s power pulsed and throbbed, assaulting me. My wolf leaped against my insides, threatening to break free. A low growl rumbled in my throat. I’d given him more than enough, and I wanted nothing more than to be free of him. I shoved at him again, harder this time. He resisted, holding tight as he pulled harder at the wound.

  I threw my hands up in defense, instinct guiding my power as it slammed into him. It tore him from me as he hurled through the air, hitting the opposite wall hard enough to rattle the door on its hinges. Arys put himself between us, facing Harley with an expression so ablaze with fury that I’m sure it could have boiled water.

  A peal of laughter erupted from Harley as he gathered himself. “Oh calm down, Arys. You’re incredibly uptight. I didn’t do your lady any harm.”

  “You’re a disrespectful bastard,” Arys replied, the struggle for self-control evident in his tone.

  “Spare me.” Harley’s tongue snaked out to catch a drop of my blood as it dripped off his lower lip. His pupils were huge, his dark eyes, glassy. He was high on my blood and power. It disgusted me.

  I touched the punctures that decorated my flesh. They still bled, but it was slowing already. I had no desire to stay and argue matters of respect with these two. We were all monsters in our own right. I didn’t expect anything better than that from Harley.

  Grabbing my coat from the back of my chair, I headed for the door without a word to either vampire. Arys called my name, but I kept walking, knowing that to stop would be a mistake.

  My wolf raged inside me like a caged animal, demanding that we kill Harley here and now. Not yet, I told myself. A better time would come. Then, I would be the one laughing in a euphoric stupor as I took all Harley had to give, until there was nothing left.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I didn’t get far before my dark vampire was hot on my heels, my name, a hushed command on his lips. I kept walking, focusing on calming breaths and putting one foot in front of the other. It was almost physically painful to deny the need that insisted I tear Harley’s throat out.

  I was fully anticipating it when Arys caught my arm and spun me to face him. He backed me up against the hallway wall, and I let him.

  “What?” I snapped, my patience severely being tested. I wasn’t in the mood to get into it with him again, especially not here.

  Arys’s midnight blue eyes were almost as black as Harley’s. It was impossible to raise the kind of power the three of us had and not be affected.

  “Are you ok?” His words were soft, his face, etched with concern. Arys made it really hard to be pissed at him.

  I sighed when he touched my face. I wanted to throw myself into his arms but had too much pride to allow it. I was always far too stubborn for my own good.

  “Of course I am. I got what I came for, and now I just want to get the hell out of here.”

  He nodded and stepped back. I continued down the hall, surprised when he fell into step at my side. I felt pressured to speak, to bridge the strange gap between us, but I didn’t know what to say. His presence beside me washed away the remnants of the pain and anger I’d been carrying around the past several days.

  I was intent on the exit at the far end of the hall. The next time I was at The Wicked Kiss, everything would change. Harley would die, Kale and I would take over, and anyone who didn’t like it would join Harley in ashes.

  “We need to talk,” Arys said when we were crossing through the parking lot.

  “Arys, I can’t keep doing this. The last thing I want is conflict between us. And recently, there’s been a lot of that.”

  “I know. I don’t want that either. I know you may not believe it, but I’ve been a fucking wreck lately.”

  We walked through the mess of cars until we reached the vacant end of the lot. My car sat there alone, cast in shadow. Arys leaned against the hood, crossing his arms over his chest and fixing me with a dark gaze. It was so damn sexy, the way he looked into me rather than at me. My knees trembled ever so slightly.

  I tossed my jacket on the roof of the car and met Arys’s enchanting eyes. “A wreck? It definitely hasn’t appeared that way.”

  He groaned and ran a hand through his hair. “Ok, I know I owe you an apology. I’ve been acting like a selfish asshole, carrying on with Harley like it was the good old days. I was pissed off, and I acted on that without a second thought. I’m sorry if I hurt you. What you saw… I wish I could take that back.”

  I frowned and stared at the ground as if fascinated by the snow-covered asphalt. I didn’t want to think about that. I relived that moment daily. I couldn’t stand the thought of Arys seeing the pain of that in my eyes.

  “Just … forget it,” I said quickly. “I don’t want to think about it.”

  He nodded his dark head and reached for me. His hands were warm on my bare arms. He’d fed recently. “Can I just say something else? I want you to know that those women, I wasn’t … I didn’t sleep with any of them.”

  “Don’t feel like you have to explain yourself to me, Arys.”

  “I need you to know.”

  “Why?” It bugged me that I felt so guarded. I adored Arys, but my past experience with love had hardened me in many ways. Letting him in had been hard. Keeping him out was impossible. I was a mass of confusion.

  “Come on, Lex, drop the
defensive shit. You can’t stay pissed at me forever.” He flashed a sly grin at me, testing my resolve. His use of the shortened version of my name was rare. It said more than the words he spoke.

  When I cocked my head to the side and raised an inquisitive brow, he added, “Ok, maybe you can. But trust me, centuries together will not be pleasant if that’s the case.”

  “Ha! Very funny, Arys.” I hit the unlock button on my keys, and the Charger’s headlights flashed, momentarily illuminating the night. “I’m not pissed at you, ok? I’m just, really confused.”

  “Well, so am I. I damn near went on a rampage when I found out about you and Kale. The thought of him touching you makes me crazy.” A muscle flexed in Arys’s jaw, and he made a show of getting comfy against my car. Alright, I got it. He did not intend to let me leave until he was good and ready.

  “I didn’t screw Kale, if that’s what you’re thinking. It was just blood.”

  “It’s never just blood.”

  Arys’s reply came too fast and sharp. It burned with venom. His energy grew heavy with a jealous hatred that both pleased and frightened me.

  “Don’t even think about doing anything to Kale,” I warned, my voice laced with my wolf. “You know this isn’t about him.”

  Arys’s grin had completely vanished. He was staring at me as if I’d slapped him. I was getting ready to do just that. “Look Arys, if you have something to say, then say it. Let’s get this all out in the open so we can finally be done with it. Isn’t that what you want? Isn’t that why you’re out here preventing me from leaving? Or, do you enjoy the conflict?”

  Sirens screamed by on the main road, too loud to talk over. I paced a few feet away, fighting to separate my emotions from Arys’s. It was easy to become overwhelmed when the energy was running so high between us. After a few calming breaths, I was able to focus on the lively wolf within rather than the beckoning hand of the grave.

  When the sirens faded, replaced by the regular sounds of traffic and people, Arys spoke. “You do know that he’s in love with you.” He let those words hang between us, watching for my reaction.

  My mouth went dry, and the blood rushed from my face. No, we were not having this conversation. “Is this a tactic to steer the discussion away from you? Because that is a hell of a cheap shot.”

  He chuckled, but it held little true humor. “Fine. Have it your way. Play dumb because you don’t want to admit it, but if he touches you again, I’ll kill him. Unless of course you invite it. Because you want it. Again.”

  “That’s it!” I snarled the words, my fangs, long and sharp in my mouth. “We’ve been over this! You fucking hypocrite. Where do you get off judging me when you were having blood orgies with Harley? This has gone far enough. It’s done. Finished! Got it?”

  My voice was rough, raspy with the wolf fighting to break free. The desire to bite a chunk out of him was immense. As far as I was concerned, the entire Kale incident was a moot point, none of Arys’s damn business. Besides, he was wrong about Kale’s feelings for me. He had to be.

  Arys moved fast, reaching for me with an unexpected hunger. I fell into him, stumbling from the force he used. His lips were on mine before I could take a breath to tell him off further.

  His kiss was demanding and aggressive, but it was also revealing. He couldn’t hide the desperation of it, a vulnerability that the wolf inside me didn’t understand but the woman inside me did.

  A sigh escaped me when he slipped his tongue into my mouth. Arys had a way of driving me mad like no one else, and yet my body responded to him regardless. He was part of me. Even though I still wanted to smack him upside the head, I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him back with the urgency that several days of unrest had created.

  “You are such a feisty little she-bitch,” Arys whispered against my lips. Gently, he dragged his tongue along my bottom lip. “But God, I love you.”

  Before I could respond, he picked me up and turned us in a swift motion, placing me on the hood of the Charger. Leaning in to mesmerize me with another deep, spine tingling kiss, he slowly pushed my long skirt up my legs until he could stand between them.

  “Arys-,”

  He cut me off by pressing a finger against my lips. With a slow shake of his head, Arys kissed me again. His tongue swept the inside of my mouth, knocking the breath from me. The passion in his kiss ignited the fire inside me that always burned for him. I wanted to take him home with me, but Arys had something else in mind.

  The warmth of his hands on my upper thighs was a delightful contrast compared to the chill of the evening air. Snow fell in soft, fluffy flakes, landing on us just to melt away as soon as they touched. The hood of the car was cold beneath me, but Arys’s heat made it forgettable.

  Arys continued up my thighs to my velvet and lace booty short underwear. He hooked them with two fingers and began to tug. Excitement crashed through me along with surprise. Was he for real? Here? In the parking lot?

  My eyes grew wide with an unspoken question. The answer I received was a sexy smirk and further tugging on my underwear. My heart hammered in my chest from both fear and anticipation. Even though my mind was alarmed, my body was already responding. Heat rushed to my southern region, creating a delicious tingle between my thighs.

  “Are you friggin’ serious?” I had to ask even though I knew he was. This was insane.

  His smile revealed fangs, and I melted just a little. His fingers brushed against my soft mound, and I sucked in my breath. I was rather pathetic when it came to resistance. Arys was my ultimate undoing.

  He leaned in close, nuzzling my neck and nipping it gently. “What do you think?”

  “I think you’re out of your mind.”

  “Yeah? You’re not exactly known for your calm, cool and collected mentality either. Humor me.”

  His teeth scraped against my skin, and I gasped. Though his touch was lively and ravenous, there was a delicate quality to it that spoke of his deeper devotion.

  When he tugged at my underwear again, I wriggled atop the car, allowing him to slide them down my legs. I bit back a laugh when he hung them unceremoniously on the side mirror. With one hand, he lightly stroked the sensitive flesh between my legs. With the other, he held my face as he kissed me.

  I reached to embed my hands in his midnight black locks, savoring both the feel and the scent of him. Vampires didn’t have much of a smell. Arys’s was made up primarily of hair products and cologne that was both musky and alluring, but sometimes, he smelled like my wolf.

  His tongue was persistent, sweeping the inside of my mouth as if he would devour me. The faintest taste of blood lingered on him. It encouraged the interest of my wolf, called to my bloodlust. I kissed him back with an intensity I felt to the tips of my toes.

  Instinctively, I shifted so that he had more room to tease me. He ran a finger over me teasingly until I quivered. Part of me was sure I was crazy for doing this in public. I had a keen ear trained on the sounds of the night around us in case anyone happened to come along, but I had no intention of stopping.

  Pulling back from the deep kiss, Arys bit my bottom lip. It stung, and I felt the blood well up. Before it could fall, he’d already sucked it into his mouth. Running his tongue along the small wound, he watched me with a penetrating gaze.

  I clung to him, trying to stay still so that I wouldn’t slide off the hood of the car. It was difficult with the mass of sensation that rocked my body. The public place combined with his actions and the fact that it was Arys, my greatest weakness, made the entire scenario positively mind blowing.

  If I wasn’t already quite surprised and delighted, I certainly was when he dropped to his knees before me, burying his face between my thighs. With a hand on each of my hips, Arys wasted no time.

  I threw my head back, resisting the urge to howl. The sky appeared dark overhead; the stars, near impossible to see though I knew that they were up there. The moans that broke from me grew louder with each movement of his skilled tongue.
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br />   I heard his name on my lips, mumbled and unintelligible. The bliss that rocked me was massive, almost too much. My entire body tensed and grasped desperately at both Arys and the car, hoping I wouldn’t slide off when my body melted into a puddle. One of my cries sounded like a pained scream, and I could only hope that nobody would hear it.

  When Arys stood up and began to free himself from the confines of his jeans, I had to refocus my vision. Holy shit. Who would have thought that public nookie would be so damn good?

  He pulled my rear end close to the edge of the car and held my upper body securely with one arm. We were looking directly into each other’s eyes when he entered me with a determined thrust.

  I groaned as he shoved into me as if he couldn’t be bothered to start out slow. He watched my face with a glimmer of satisfaction in his eyes. Though it was primal and demanding, it was nothing like the crazy time on the kitchen table. There was love here. I could feel it in the way he held me close and peered into me and in the way he leaned in to nuzzle my neck.

  The action was somewhat wolfish, and it brought a smile to my face. I held him close, my arms wrapped around his neck. I couldn’t move much to meet his thrusts, but something about that made it more exciting.

  Just as I felt myself starting to slide off the hood, Arys hooked one of his arms beneath my leg, supporting my weight. It also gave him a better angle.

  He slowed his pace, sliding as deep as possible in an achingly slow motion. It was the ultimate tease. This time when the orgasmic sensations began to build, it wasn’t as fast but it was just as intense. I hungered for the moment when the storm would crash over me, sending me spiraling into that perfect bliss.

  The visual of Arys’s body and mine joining together increased the growing excitement. It quickly became too much, and I pleaded for him to take me faster.

  Ever the control freak, Arys shook his head, a grin on his handsome face. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought the bastard wanted me to beg.