by C. R. Jane
“We're here, my little shadow,” he finally whispered.
I opened my eyes to find we stood in a place I didn’t recognize. White walls, no prison cells. Just a wooden door in front of us and behind us was what looked like a doctor’s waiting room. Chairs against the walls and a small table with magazines. No windows. Only then did I notice all the furniture was bolted to the tiled floor to avoid being thrown around.
“Where are we?”
He lowered me to my feet, but still held onto my shoulders. His grasp was secure and strong, and most of all, caring. Who was this man? When I glanced up into his spectacular green eyes, all I could think of was that if I was his shadow, he had become my sunshine. I almost cringed out loud at my own dorky thoughts. I clearly hit my head hard.
“You’re here to see the prison medic to make sure you’re not seriously hurt.”
“I’ve bloodied your uniform.” I gestured to the red stains on his shirt from the cuts on my arms.
“I’ve had worse.” He tried to hide his smile as his gaze slid down my body, but I could still see the amused look in his eyes and knew exactly what he referred to. The blood on his dick from when he took my virginity.
I wanted to die. “Worse?”
He winked sexily. “Dr. Brina is expecting you.” Keon walked backward before turning and heading out of the waiting room, leaving me completely alone.
I was never going to be able to forget our moment in the bar. He’d remind me with every small thing he did and said… I could see that now. I sucked in a breath. I ought to be angry, but I couldn’t stop thinking about his mouth on me. Maybe I was weak, or maybe I had hit my head so hard, I just wasn’t thinking straight.
I swallowed hard and faced the door before raising my hand to knock. Except, the door opened abruptly, and I gasped with shock.
Chapter 9
Keon
Selena.
She was at Nightmare Penitentiary. I’d never seen that coming. From the first night I’d seen her across the courtyard as she somberly strode into the prison with that asshole of a vampire, I’d kept my eye on her. Unable to go more than a few hours without checking in to make sure she was safe.
She’d swept into my world that night at the bar, offered herself to me, and I took everything she was willing to give to me. I was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, searching for my meal. And she floated right into my arms like an angel willingly.
I liked to chase my girls, follow them, uncover everything about them before I made my move and claimed what I wanted. But not Selena. She did something to me that night. Saw me as something more than a predator.
That lost girl came looking for escape, for the right man to be her first. Underneath, lay a scared girl, still, she wore her bravery like armor.
It had been fate for her to choose me of all the people in that bar. Any guy would have taken what she gave and walked away unaffected.
But not me.
I had a little problem...I tended to get obsessed. And no girl had stoked my obsession more than her.
And now the girl that starred in all of my day...and night dreams...she’d returned to my life. If I thought my heart was ripped apart after our one night together, then those pieces had just shattered even more.
What she gave me had never left my mind. I still had her underwear, it allowed me to never forget her intoxicating scent. She plagued my thoughts. Her taste and smell remained caught in my mind. Those moans tearing from her throat still did me in. How fucking tight she had been. The swell of her breasts. The lush slick of her pussy.
Fuck. Even just thinking of it now had me hard.
I still pictured myself kneeling behind her as she bent over while shivering with uncertainty. That sweet ass of hers in the air, offering me everything she had. That curvy little body was perfect for me. She was all mine as I sank into her. I knew then that one time would never be enough. And I wouldn’t be content until I had her again and again. To drown in her arousing scent. Trace kisses over her neck, the hollow between her breasts, licking up the inside of her thighs.
My groin tightened even more in my pants.
I needed her.
Craved her.
I’d lost my fucking mind.
The thing was, even if she hadn’t come to me, I intended to claim her from the moment I saw her step into the bar.
But then, she changed the game on me.
I’d admit, I had my fair share of girls approaching me, but they were never fun. I liked the chase, to dominate my catch, to ignite a hunger in them that they never knew existed.
The harder they fought, the harder I bit back.
That was until Selena.
Please don’t stop. Her words undid me… I could see that now. That was the exact moment I broke and forgot all my rules about never falling for anyone.
My heart raced with the memory of finding my little shadow beneath that filth of a vampire daring to touch her. I seethed with the urge to rip his spine out. The fucker was lucky the prison didn’t allow me to kill very often, or he’d be plastered to the walls right now in a dozen body parts.
This girl had me messed up.
I waited for the security clearance to open the door from this wing. When the buzz sounded, I palmed open the door and marched back toward the main compound, my thoughts on fire.
How the hell was I going to last having to watch her every day, when all I wanted was to steal her from the world and lock her up all for myself?
***
SELENA
“You haven’t been bitten.” Dr. Brina ripped the latex gloves off her hands and swiveled in her seat to dump them into a trash can near her small wooden desk. An oversized painting sat on the wall behind her desk of Dante’s Inferno. A journey of Dante through Hell depicting how various types of sin would have different consequences in the afterlife. Maybe he’d been onto something considering I’d heard rumors Nightmare Penitentiary was pretty close to Hell.
The metal legs of my chair scraped the tiled floor as I pushed back from the doctor who spun back toward me enthusiastically. She rolled her seat closer to mine. Our knees touched, and she spread her legs to draw me closer, her hands on my thighs. The intensity of her stare left me uneasy.
Most doctors I’d encountered weren’t this touchy feely or insisted on being in my personal space.
Dr. Brina on the other hand sat in front of me in a white doctor’s coat. Underneath she wore black leather pants and a matching tank top. Hair as red as fresh blood flowed over one shoulder, drawn into a ponytail. Up closer, she had these green / blue eyes that seemed to change depending on how the light hit them. A deep scar ran over one eye like someone had slashed a blade down her face. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t look away, picturing her mauled by a patient at this prison. Just as I had been by the blood-crazed vampire in the hallway.
She pouted her rosy red lips, the color glossy and glinting beneath the fluorescent lights. “You pull away as if I might hurt you. You don’t need to fear me, Selena. I am the one that will put you back together should you need it.” Her fingers dug into my thighs.
I squirmed on the inside. The way she spoke with a grin on her lips told me she would love such an opportunity. I preferred to never get into that situation. She had seemed to take too much delight in cleaning the blood off my arms, making it uncomfortable enough. Especially with me still sitting here in only my bra and my jumpsuit rolled down to my waist.
I was pretty sure I’d seen her out of the corner of my eye actually taste my blood.
Dr. Brina was a little terrifying.
“How are you feeling?” she asked, so close all I could inhale was a faint floral fragrance, heightened with vanilla notes, and I recognized it at once. Chance Chanel. My mother wore the same perfume. I didn’t want to be reminded of my mother considering she’d know where I was and hadn’t done anything to try and save me. The smell reminded me how little control sirens had over our lives.
I averted the doctor’s gaze and glanced dow
n to my arms, the wounds cleaned and covered with a patchwork of small bandages. The skin blushed red around them, but I’d live. I healed fast.
“The cuts aren’t stinging anymore. But my head still feels fuzzy,” I answered.
She jutted up to her feet in a flash and crossed her small surgery room. Against the back wall stood a glass cabinet filled with shelves of small plastic containers. She unlocked the small door with a key on the chain around her neck, then grabbed a small bottle and shook it up. “Drink this and the dizziness will stop.” She returned and placed the remedy into my hand. Her fingers brushed mine, leaving behind a strange tingle like I’d just touched static. She stared at me with intensity, her head tilting as she watched me. Something about her screamed predator.
I studied the bottle filled with a purplish liquid inside. There were no labels with details on what lay inside.
“It’s just a small something I made to help the body heal quickly from blood loss,” she explained, her grin widening like a Cheshire cat.
“Guess it’s a common thing here.” I half laughed with nerves and twisted the cap until it snapped open and lifted it to my lips. It smelled of blackcurrants, so I drank it back in one go. She was the doctor and I had to assume she wouldn’t give me something to make me sicker. A strange taste lingered on the back of my tongue afterward.
Up on her feet abruptly, Dr. Brina stormed across the room in a few quick steps and wrenched open the door. “Alright, Selena. You might feel a bit groggy for a day or so, but you are fine to go.” Her voice was suddenly curt and impatient. “I should mention, you will also be booked into counseling with the prison psychiatrist as part of the rehabilitation program of the prison.”
I threw the empty container into the trash can and pulled the jumpsuit crumpled down to my waist up my body. I threaded my arms through the sleeves and quickly buttoned it up. She didn’t even wait for me to dress before opening the door. Luckily no one stood outside the room or they would have gotten an eyeful. I made my way toward her.
Dr. Brina gripped her waist, her toe tapping the floor. Gone was the curiosity in her gaze, along with the woman who seemed to enjoy being in my space. She now glared at me as if she might sprout horns if I didn’t leave her office fast enough.
The air felt thick and that earlier tenderness vanished, replaced by the new person who couldn’t wait to get rid of me.
I headed outside and turned to thank you, but the door shut in my face.
Wow. Someone was a crazy psycho. Back around I found a guard, leaning a shoulder into the wall, arms folded over his chest, waiting for me. His hood was pulled back and I could see that he had short sandy colored hair, his mouth twisted into a wry frown. I ought to be glad it wasn’t Keon, yet a tingling sensation in my gut surfaced. Okay, I’d admit it. I was disappointed it hadn’t been Keon waiting for me.
The delicious aroma of pancakes woke my senses, calling to me, enticing my stomach. I salivated as I opened my eyes. While light poured out of my open doorway, chasing the darkness in my cell away. Someone had left the door open and by the silence around me, everyone must still be sleeping.
Pushing myself to my feet, I climbed out of bed and glanced out into the hallway where I spotted a wheeled tray with a plate piled high with pancakes.
I shuddered on my feet, utterly bewildered and torn. On one hand, this was the epitome of a horror movie. I was tempted by fluffy pancakes sitting just out of my cell. But then again, pancakes!
My betraying stomach growled and I stepped forward, figuring I could just look outside. The moment I spotted something creepy like a clown, I was going to run.
Creeping close, I stuck my head out and looked left and right. Empty. Not a soul in sight down the hallway. All the other prison doors were shut and not a sound came from any of them, which was strange in itself. I had become used to the screams and moans of my fellow inmates. It was like white noise at this point.
I refocused on the pancakes and my mouth salivated. In truth, I hadn't eaten many pancakes in my life for the simple reason that I’d been prohibited from doing so. I had tried them a couple of times at school, but she somehow always knew when I did. Then I'd receive the lecture of how bad processed food was for me, how I'd put on weight. And my daily workout would go from one hour...to three.
Right now though, the pancakes called to me.
If some fool left them out here as they made a delivery somewhere, they were free for the taking, right? Their loss, my gain.
Quick steps took me closer and I grabbed a piece. It was lathered in maple syrup, so I rolled the pancake into a cigar shape and took a huge bite.
I moaned. Holy shit this was the best tasting thing in the world! It melted on my tongue, the sweetness addictive. I finished the rest in two bites, then reached for another piece when someone cleared their throat behind me.
I froze on the spot, my hand still outstretched.
"Selena," the female voice said with accusation, reminding me too much of my mother.
Turning around, I found Dr. Brina walking toward me from down the hallway. Her black stilettos click clacked the concrete floor as she sauntered closer in her black leather pants and cropped tank top. A sliver of creamy white flesh peeked out from under her top with each step. Crimson long hair fluttered over her shoulders. Anywhere else and I would be mesmerized by her. She was so beautiful, I would have thought she was a vampire at first glance. Except, I'd been close enough to know she was something I couldn't work out. A supernatural being that left me baffled.
"You are predictable," she accused, her gaze drifting from me to the plate of food.
I stiffened. "I'm pretty sure everyone loves pancakes."
Her eyes narrowed as if challenging my response.
"Wait!" The cogs in my head were spinning. "It was you who put them outside my cell and opened the door, wasn’t it? Why?"
"Because I could tell you've been depraved the simple joys of life. You're too thin and haven't been eating. And like you just said, not many can resist freshly cooked pancakes."
"Is this a test?" I find myself licking my sticky fingers, unable to stop myself, the maple syrup delicious.
Dr. Brina shrugged as she glided closer, swinging her hips in a seductive walk.
I stepped backward from her approach. That intensity in her eyes returning.
“Be a good girl, Selena.”
Those words rang like warning bells in my head, blaring for me to run out of there. I let out a breath, feeling like I’d just walked into a trap. Still something didn’t make sense. Why lure me out here where there were cameras? And most importantly, what did she want?
Her lips turned up in the corners as I recoiled. But she was near me in a flash like she’d moved at the speed of light. My whole body went rigid at how close she stood.
The hairs on my nape raised.
“Don’t be afraid,” she cooed, the sound strangely comforting and soothing.
I wanted to run, but my feet wouldn’t respond.
“I like my meals sweet,” she whispered. “And not afraid. Fear gives it such a bitter taste.”
“What do you mean?” Why was it so hard to think straight, to remember why I even stood out here.
“Selena,” Dr. Brina said. “Just breathe and forget everything else.”
As if my body now obeyed her orders, my muscles softened and the fogginess in my head thickened.
“Selena,” she repeated. “Focus on me.”
My heartbeat was pounding through my veins, and I knew I’d forgotten something. What I had to remember sat on the forefront of my mind just out of reach.
“You’re so stunning, so special.” Dr. Brina pushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear, her touch leaving behind a trail of tingles.
I lifted my gaze to meet hers. She was gorgeous, so irresistible, still a chill ran down my spine despite the heat from her finger trailing across my neck.
Instinctively, I backed up. I’d always found women beautiful and sexy, but I wasn’t
attracted to them, not the way I was to men. Yet, with the way Dr. Brina stared at me, I felt her intentions, felt the sizzling fire she emitted.
She reached out to touch my arm. Even through my bandages, the fire of her hand bled into me.
Dr. Brina brushed my hair over my shoulder and traced the back of her fingers down the curve of my neck. In her heels, she stood taller than me. In all honesty I wasn’t sure how to feel. Still, my body trembled.
She released a deep breath, and smiled widely.
“I’m not really into this,” I admitted.
With a simple shake of her head, she dismissed me. “It’s not what you think,” she whispered in my ear.
Our bodies pressed closer, chest to chest. My breaths raced, and I wanted to move away, to push her off me, but it felt as though my body no longer responded to me.
“Please,” I begged while she laughed in response.
I gasped as her teeth scraped gently against my neck. My heart pounded in my chest so hard I was convinced it would burst free.
Teeth tore into my neck, and I screamed, my body deflating in her arms.
I woke up just then on my cot, shaking and terrified...and tired, like my energy had leaked out during the night. Taking a quick glance at the door to my cell I saw that it was firmly shut and there was no mysterious tray of breakfast food waiting outside to tempt me.
What the fuck had been in that purple drink Dr. Brina had given me?
I didn’t think I would be making any more trips to the medical wing in the future. I had a feeling that Dr. Brina was a lot more dangerous than most of the injuries I would face.
Chapter 10
Another day had gone by, and I thankfully had no more crazy dreams about Dr. Brina. I blamed whatever she gave me to drink for the delusional nightmare and tried not to think about her very much.
Now, I was once again washing dishes, chatting idly with one of the cooks who I had a sneaking suspicion was a shifter based on the long tongue that I had seen flop out of her mouth when she thought I wasn’t looking.