Antares

by Yvonne Nicolas

  “Don’t dwell on it, Lexi.”

  She pulled her lips in tight and swallowed the whimper dangling in her throat. “Fuck that. I’m gonna dwell on it until I’m standing over his corpse, watching him disintegrate into dust.”

  “I was afraid of this. I was afraid you would absorb and harbor the hatred I’ve carried in my soul for years.”

  Her feet moved her forward, even though her mind told her to keep her distance. She craved to be close to him, to hold him. The feeling made her heart heavy and her body anxious. “That’s not the only thing you were afraid of.”

  He paused in the doorway of the bathroom and looked back at her.

  “Yeah, I’m picking up on those insecure vibes. Yo, you actually thought what he did to you would affect the way I feel about you? Like I’m some shallow-ass bitch? Are you serious? You’re a jerk for even thinking that.”

  A series of emotions swept across his face as his eyes glazed over in red. “Lexi…” His jaw throbbed. He blinked rapidly and looked away from her.

  She felt the discomfort and humiliation building up inside of him. It only added fuel to her rage. His manhood had been shattered. He was broken, even though he stood before her as a powerful beast.

  “Don’t let what he did to you define you.”

  Gradually, that cool, sexy expression returned to his face. Yet, the pain remained in his scarlet tinted gaze. “You always know what to say. Don’t you?” Turning away, he reached down and unbuckled his pants. “Next question.”

  Alexis swallowed the lump in her throat, doing her best to will her anger away. She knew deep in her heart that this anger wasn’t just her own. “Mm-kay. That cat-girl—”

  “You mean your sister?”

  “Noo, stop saying that. Until I get DNA proof, I’m not claiming that shifty bitch as blood.”

  He chuckled as he disappeared into the bathroom. “Shifty indeed.”

  “You trust her?”

  “To carry out this mission, yes.” His voice bounced off the walls of the bathroom. “For anything else, no.”

  She approached the doorway and leaned against the frame. “Can’t put my finger on it, but something’s off about her. And it’s not just the fact that she’s a fuckin’ cat.”

  “She’s a spy,” he announced, like it was no big deal.

  “Yoo. And you’re cool with that? Why’re you unbothered? And who is she a spy for?”

  “I’m unbothered ‘cause I’m aware of everyone’s position on my team. She’s one of the Führer’s righthand assistants. She’s here to keep an eye on me.”

  “And hack into the Central Command’s mainframe.”

  “That too.”

  “All I know is that bitch better stay the hell away from Cole.”

  “Can’t promise that she will, now that she has a thing for him.” The sound of the water shooting from showerhead joined the conversation.

  “I don’t get it. Your commander dropped a spy on your squad and you don’t seem even a little pissed about it. Doesn’t sound like he trusts you much.”

  “He has good reason to be cautious. Even I didn’t know what I would do once I got my hands on you. I admit, the thought to grab you and bail out on this mission altogether crossed my mind. But I had to remind myself that you were the focal point of this assignment.”

  “Me? What does that mean?”

  “There’s no simpler way to put it.”

  “Just spit it the hell out, Tristan!” she snapped. “You keep going on about this and that and you haven’t told me anything!”

  “You ask. I answer. Remember?” A hint of amusement laced his voice. “Maybe you’re not asking the right questions.”

  Ugh, this fuckin’ man… “Mm-kay, fine. Why are you really here? Better yet, what is the mission?”

  “To collect the catalyst and awaken Antares.”

  Awaken Antares? What does that even mean? Alexis stepped over the threshold and stormed into the bathroom. “And what in the hell is An—?” Her tongue froze, her mouth fell open, and her eyes stretched wide.

  Inside the stupidly massive shower stall, Tristan stood under the falling water, beautifully naked.

  Stunned speechless, she shuffled backward.

  Tristan always had a great body, no doubt. But now, with extra muscle and scars scattered here and there, he was savagely sexy. And although she hated to admit it, the long hair and demonic vampirism only made him sexier.

  Jesus, why?

  “What?” he asked as if he didn’t know he was snatching her soul just by standing there. He flipped his wet hair back from his face and gave her that boyish grin. “You okay?”

  She took a step toward him. Her feet carried her across the bathroom in a flash. She felt compelled, like he’d pulled her in. “Shit.” Huffing out a heavy breath, she stumbled against the wall and palmed her temple. “Will this bond with you always be this much of a pain in the ass?”

  “You’ll get used to it.” Standing directly under the spray, he tilted his head back and parted his lips, allowing the water rush through his mouth. He repeatedly raked his fingers through his hair, washing out the grime. “Come join me.”

  Right, so you can dick charm me? He already had her mind all messed up, and her body submerged in flames of desire. “Boy, please.” Averting her eyes, she pursed her lips and folded her arms over her breasts.

  A creamy solution squirted from the dispensers on the wall, hitting him on the chest and legs. He rubbed it over his pecs and down his ribbed abs, toward his protruding cock. In no time, he’d worked up a bubbly lather. The sweet scent from the solution wafted through the bathroom, making the moment even more enticing. With his enticing gaze locked on her, he slowly smoothed the soap over the length of his manhood.

  She stood there watching with a sideeye, doing her best to seem unaffected by his aggressive seduction. But her body wouldn’t stop trembling, and her mouth wouldn’t stop watering. She pulled her lower lip between her teeth and shook her head. “Tristan, stop playing with me.”

  “Aww, you used to love it when I played with you.”

  The foamy soap slid over his pale muscles, bringing attention to a branding on his right pec. Looked like two serpents coiled up in a circular design. Must be the Noble’s personal crest in the vampire community.

  “I’m waiting,” Tristan sang as he turned his sexy backside to her.

  Alexis sucked her teeth and let out a strangled growl. Goddamn you, freakin’ diamond boy, playing games with my emotions… She ripped her shirt over her head and quickly removed her pants.

  As she shoved her panties down her legs, he slightly turned his head and watched her. The heat of his demonic gaze sent a shudder skipping down her spine. Arms folded over her breasts, she marched into the stall and stood across from him.

  The sensor near the second showerhead ignited. With it, a warm spray of water came down on her, wetting her hair and body.

  “I didn’t agree to get wet,” she grumbled.

  “And yet, you were wet long before you stepped in here.”

  “Shut up!” Again, she gawked at his magnificent backside, from his head to his feet. She reached out, but hesitated to touch him. Thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven…he had at least thirty-seven slashes along his back and ass—slashes he received before he was turned, no doubt. She only saw part of his memory from his time spent in that Noble’s clutches. Even so, she knew in her heart the torture Tristan suffered after he was cursed with vampirism was so much worse.

  “Lexi…” His head dipped forward and his shoulders slumped. “You’re doing it again.”

  That pulsating ache beneath her chest returned. She moved closer to him. Dammit! She wasn’t supposed to let herself get distracted by her feelings for him, by her desire to comfort him. But look at me. Anxious, needy, and desperate to hold him.

  She found herself standing less than an inch away from him. “I hate it.” She rested her forehead on the tip of his spine, right beneath his nape. Sliding her hands
around his waist, she smashed her breasts against his naked flesh. “I hate that I wasn’t there to protect you.” Her palms drifted upward over his defined torso to his chest. She fingered his scars as she went. His skin grew hot under her touch as he trembled in her embrace.

  He slid his palms along her arms and took her hands in his own. “Had none of this happened. Had I not been introduced to this horrid side of nature, I would’ve made you my wife and made sure every waking day of your life was filled with joy. That’s all I wanted, was to be with you, and make you the happiest woman on this planet.”

  “You did make me happy, Tristan.” An unwarranted smile played on her lips. “So happy I couldn’t see myself without you.”

  Like I can’t see myself without you now. Wait! What am I doing? She jerked back away from him. He’s the fuckin’ bad guy! Right. But…he’s MY bad guy.

  He spun around and caught her by the wrist. “Then why did you leave me?”

  Blinking wildly, she searched her thoughts, wanting to answer him, but couldn’t. Only thing she remembered was her best friend, River, was madly in love with Tristan. So was I. “I know you remember what happened. River—she caught us together—like caught us in the act, balls deep. Then shit got really complicated—”

  “That’s not why you left, Lexi.”

  Wasn’t it? River and Tristan were in a relationship and she slipped in between that, causing a huge rift in their friendship. But no…he was right. That’s not why she high-tailed it out of town. Trapped in the path of his intense gaze, she palmed her belly. The gap in her memory had decreased, but there’s something—something really damn important she should remember.

  “That day you called—the last day we spoke to each other—you said there was something you needed to tell me.” A hint of awareness laced his tone, like he was trying to draw a lost jewel from the depths of her mind. “Do you remember what it was?”

  “I—I don’t.” How did we get here? How did they go from talking about his blood-stained mission to their separation before the blood war? What did that have to do with anything? “Real slick throwing me off topic. But I see you, diamond boy. I see what you’re doing.”

  “You’ll remember.” He drew her toward him. “And when you do, your world’s gonna come to a screeching halt.”

  This time when he pulled her close, she didn’t fight it. Why was I fighting it in the first place? That incessant need within swelled again. A fever accompanied it. “Is that a threat?”

  “No, that’s a fact. Your actions on that day—from the phone call you made to me, to the moment you had that encounter with my Noble—are all intertwined in the reason that I’m here right now.”

  “Why don’t you just tell me?”

  “I can’t. You have to remember. It has to come back to you.”

  The lights flickered around them. Pops sounded. Sparks flared, and a buzzing raced behind the walls. It all faded into the background as all her senses zoned in on him.

  “I’ll tell you what’s coming back to me…” She grabbed ahold of his mighty cock and squeezed it possessively.

  A strangled grunt leaped out of him. A sultry smile followed.

  With her free hand, she reached around to the back of his head and fisted his hair. She pushed up on her toes, bringing her face closer to his. “…how fuckin’ hard it is to resist you.”

  “Guess this means we’re done talking,” he panted, unnatural eyes veiled in golden allure.

  “No. It’s just time for us to have a different conversation.” She claimed his lips with a moan. Though she felt ravenous for him, she kissed him with a slow and gentle passion.

  Deepening their kiss, he wrapped his arms around her and held her flush against his body. The feeling was electrifying, just how it used to be back in the day before the world turned to shit. She always adored the way he kissed her. Intense, but unhurried.

  “You better not bite me.” She heard herself say it, but no words came out of her mouth.

  His lips spread into a grin as his curious tongue slipped between her lips. “I guarantee you, by the time I’m done with you, you’ll be begging me to bite you.”

  Chapter Nine

  City of Lights

  Asenna nodded to the guard as he waved his hands across the sand-glass barrier, moving it aside. He stepped into the room and approached the stretcher, where the civilian lay. “Is she ready?”

  “As ready as she’s going to be.” Riyu adjusted the cuff wrapped around the unconscious human’s arm. “Is this really necessary, Asenna?”

  The projected screen hovering over her body displayed a string of multicolored lines. They wavered and undulated with the woman’s breathing.

  “Can’t you wait until the poor girl gets her senses back?”

  Sweeping the tail of his cloak aside, Asenna took a seat in the chair next to the stretcher. “No.”

  “You’re gonna scare her. At least remove your mask, hide your weapons and change your eyes, so you don’t look so goddamn terrifying.”

  “No.” He removed his left gloved-sleeve and flexed his fingers.

  He had reservations about bringing her back to the camp. His first thought was to dump her somewhere on the outskirts of the region. That way, she wouldn’t be a hindrance when the war started. But a feeling in his gut urged him not to do it. She may be of use. And if she wasn’t, he’d get rid of her.

  Now that her burly coat and hood had been removed, he could see more of her face and body.

  She wore a fair complexion, kissed by the sun. Umber freckles peppered her face, collarbone, and arms. They were more pronounced right below her eyes, along her cheeks and flattened nose. More than likely, they spotted her entire body. A pinkish rosiness resided in her cheeks, a natural enhancement many women would kill for. A kinky mixture of amber and blonde hair exploded from her head. Some strands were curled, and some were wavy as they reached past her shoulders and down her back. She was a unique beauty.

  “Is she injured anywhere?”

  “A few scrapes and bruises, but nothing serious. The poor child’s just shaken after that Lycan run-in.”

  “Good.” Leaning forward, he wrapped his hand around the woman’s forearm. “You can leave now.”

  “Wait. Can you give me a moment to explain things to her before you interrogate her?”

  “You can leave,” he reiterated, slicing his eyes at her.

  Clucking her tongue, she shoved the door aside and stomped away. “You big ole’ mean brute! Do what you gotta do then get the hell out of my infirmary!”

  Asenna waited until the sound of Riyu’s clamorous footfalls silenced before bringing his attention back to the human. He tightened his grip on her arm and glared into her face. He’d searched her thoughts earlier but he could only obtain small bits of information. Nothing useful to his mission. She’d have to be conscious for him to get what he needed. “Awaken.”

  Her plush lips quivered, then drew tight. Her eyelids fluttered as her heart rate increased. Suddenly, her eyes flew open. She pulled in a sharp gasp as she tried to jerk upright.

  “Lie back down.”

  She let out a breathy grunt and attempted to yank her arm from his grasp. “Let me go!”

  Keeping his grip tight, he snatched her back down onto the stretcher. “Be still, girl. Let’s not make this any harder than it has to be.”

  “Oww!” She flailed and squirmed frantically.

  Annoyed, he grabbed the handle of his short sword. The weapon released a long drawn out hiss as he slowly drew it from its sheath.

  Her breath hitched, and her struggles dwindled.

  He put the blade to her neck, allowing the cold steel to kiss her flesh.

  Her eyes widened, she grew rigid, and her fight came to a complete stop.

  “I’m going to ask you a series of specific questions. If you fail to answer or lie to me, I will collect your head. Understand?”

  Her chest heaved, her body shook. Tears welled in her eyes. “Yes,” she answered o
n a strained whimper.

  “Good. What’s your name?”

  Her face bunched in anguish as she clenched her hands into fists. “Mee—Meegan.” Her blood ran hot and fast. As a result, the veins in her arm pulsated against his palm as he held onto her. She was nervous and frightened, rightly so, but she was being truthful.

  “Are you Councilman Patrick Bergin’s daughter?”

  “Yes.” She blinked and the tears trickled down the side of her face.

  Asenna briefly closed his eyes and entered the gateway behind her outstretched gaze. From what he could see, she was indeed the Councilman’s daughter. However, she had a different mother than her siblings. Twenty-two years ago, the Councilman met his mother during his travels to Columbia. She was offered to him by a Noble for his participation in the development of a secret division in the Cross Knight Federation—one that now controlled the entire organization. Meegan came upon this information after she was abducted from her hometown in Columbia and brought here to Belgium to live within the walls near the Councilman, the man she refused to call father. Hm…

  “He’s a horrible man,” she sobbed. “He’s not really my dad. He’s just some jerkoff who had fun with my mom one night. I’m not like him! Please don’t kill me.”

  “Is that why you left the confinement of the walls? Daddy issues?”

  “My brother…” Tears continued to stream down her face. “He—he’s a Cross Knight. He was deployed on a mission and never came home.”

  Hmm. Asenna tilted his head as the thoughts presented before him shifted.

  Jonatan Bergin, her half-brother—tall gent, emerald eyes, dark hair—told her that he was going on a difficult, unsanctioned mission. His last words to her were, if I don’t return, don’t look for me. And trust no one. Then he kissed her, but not in a way a man would kiss his sibling. The emotions coiled around her memories proved that Jonatan was more than just her brother.

  However, that wasn’t the issue here.

  According to the intel, Jonatan Bergin was no Cross Knight. Sure, he worked closely with division field officers, but he’d never donned armor and took up arms for the Federation. So why did he tell his sister that lie? Perhaps, he knew he would be offered up as payment to a Noble and didn’t want Meegan to worry. So, he fabricated a story to keep her in the dark. Perhaps, he had the answers they seek.