Hunted by Darkness

by Katie Reus

“Yeah, thanks. Meet you outside in ten.” He disconnected as he exited into the club from his private hallway of offices and storage rooms. “What happened?” he demanded.

  “They brought in a new partner tonight, never been to the club before. But he knew the rules. Guess he thought he could get rough with the girls and we wouldn’t do anything. Myla’s healing fine, but they’re both upset.”

  “Where’s the asshole?” Bo glanced out at the club, scanned it for any trouble as they headed to the red door.

  “Cynara’s got him in holding,” Cal said, his voice grim.

  Good. “Species?”

  “Vampire.”

  “He knew the rules for certain?”

  “Yep. Malloy went over everything with him since he was a newcomer. Had him sign a disclaimer, we ran his full background. He agreed to everything on video and signed in blood. Knew the room would be monitored since he was new.”

  So the dumbass thought he could hurt someone on Bo’s property? Rage surged through him. “Coven?” he asked, yanking open the private, red door.

  He didn’t have time to deal with this shit, but Myla and Janae were two avian shifters and regulars. He wasn’t certain of their exact species but they weren’t as strong as most shifters and they were sweet. Though they were mates, they liked to come to his club and pick up a third member to join them. They only used his place because they felt safe here. Everyone knew his reputation, knew what would happen if they broke the rules. It was why he had people sign in blood.

  “None.”

  “Have Cynara dispatch him. Or you can do it.” He didn’t care who killed the male. Normally he’d take care of it himself, but there wasn’t time tonight. Considering the mood Cynara seemed to be in tonight maybe it’d make her feel better to kill some bastard.

  When they reached room number five, Bo didn’t have to open the door since it was already half-open.

  Cal stood back and tilted his head back to the way they’d come. “I’m gonna help Cyn take care of this guy. We’ll make an example out of him.” His expression was dark, unforgiving.

  Bo didn’t blame him. Myla and Janae were adorable shifters who never caused any trouble. Hurting one of them was the equivalent of hurting a freaking puppy. When he stepped inside, one of his security guys was standing near the bed, murder in his gaze.

  He stepped forward. “Boss—”

  “It’s being taken care of,” he murmured as he crouched down in front of the females who were half-naked, crying and holding on to each other on the edge of the bed. They didn’t need to hear one of his employees going on a rage-fueled rant. Even if Bo could totally relate.

  When Myla looked up at him, he had to forcibly push his own anger back when he saw the claw marks across the left side of her face. “I’m so sorry, Myla.” He lifted a hand to his security guy, but didn’t take his gaze off the females. “Get a first aid kit. Now.” They’d be healed within the next hour or two but he still wanted to take care of this as much as he could.

  “He seemed like such a nice guy.” Janae wiped at wet cheeks with her free hand, keeping her other arm around Myla’s shoulders.

  Myla sniffled and swiped at her own tears. “Until I told him that we wouldn’t be tied up. We didn’t know that freak well enough…” More tears spilled down her cheeks and she turned into Janae’s embrace.

  Ah, hell. “I’m so sorry, guys. That fucker is being taken care of as we speak. He won’t hurt anyone again.” Bo reached out, pulled them both close into an embrace. His demon half didn’t particularly like touching another female, but he needed to comfort them both right now. They needed to know they were safe, okay.

  His hug seemed to calm them down. He kissed the top of Myla’s head, then Janae’s—and turned at a shuffling sound.

  Nyx stood there, her eyes wide with hurt and full-on anger like he’d never seen. Her normally ocean blue eyes were storm clouds.

  “Nyx—”

  “Fuck you!” She transported faster than he’d ever seen, leaving a wake of destruction in her path. The ceiling and door splintered, plaster and wood raining down on them until he stopped everything midair, moved the pieces back into place on autopilot.

  Fuck, fuck, fuck. He had to get out of here. Find Nyx. Now.

  “Oh, Bo…”

  He turned to see Myla and Janae looking at him with horrified, sympathetic expressions. “Everything’s okay,” he said as Dmitry returned, first aid kit in hand.

  “Oh God, please don’t let Nyx think…”

  He shook his head, standing. “Don’t worry about anything else except yourselves right now. I’ve gotta go but I’ll see you guys soon. I’ll make up for what happened to you here, I promise.” It didn’t matter that everyone signed an agreement, that they understood the risks of using his rooms, he still looked out for his people.

  The hurt he’d seen in Nyx’s eyes was worse than the anger. It sliced at his insides deeper than anything he’d ever experienced. Worse than the pain he’d felt the first time he’d met his father and realized what a monster the male truly was, worse than getting the shit beat out of him by the bastard. Instead of going through the club, he used one of the back exits. He’d just pulled the door open when his phone buzzed in his pocket. Cool, spring air rushed over him as he stepped outside.

  He didn’t want to talk to anyone right now but when he saw the number of one of his burner phones on the caller ID, he answered. It had to be one of his brothers. “Yeah?”

  “Hey,” Rory murmured. “Your girl is here and she’s upset. Damn near destroyed your kitchen in her transport. Won’t say what’s wrong but she headed upstairs. Is everything okay?”

  “Don’t let her leave. No matter what. If you have to, hold on to her. You and Ian both.” Ian had headed back to Bo’s place not long after Nyx had left an hour ago. “She can’t transport without taking you.” He hung up, not bothering to tell his brother anything else. Mainly because he was barely hanging on to his control right now, was barely hanging on to his human form.

  Nyx could literally go anywhere she wanted in the blink of an eye. She could leave him. Forever. Panic pulsed through him with every breath he dragged in, with every step he took.

  He’d get to her before she left. He had to.

  Chapter 17

  “Rough transport?” Ian’s raspy voice made Nyx look up from her open suitcase.

  Normally she was a freak about keeping things organized but she was just tossing things in, barely keeping her chaos in check. For a moment she thought the room was trembling, that she’d completely lost it and Bo’s house would soon crumble around her—but it was just her hands shaking.

  Screw it, if she left something behind she’d just replace it. She didn’t want to stay here a second longer than necessary. “Yeah, sorry, didn’t mean to scare you guys,” she muttered, turning away from the bed and heading into the bathroom. Ugh, why was he here talking to her? Couldn’t he see that she wanted to be left alone?

  “Where’d you go earlier? How’d things go with your father? Bo said the guy demanded to see you or something?” he asked from the doorway.

  She was surprised Ian was being all chatty. Without looking at him, she started tossing all her makeup and other stuff into her pink and black toiletry bag. “Things went fine,” she snapped, then winced. “Ah, sorry. Listen, Ian, I don’t feel like talking right now.”

  “Yeah, I can see that.” Arms crossed over his massive chest, he watched her curiously. “What’s going on, because last I heard you and Bo were an item? Now you’re leaving and you look as if you want to murder someone.”

  Well she certainly wasn’t going to tell Ian that she caught his brother with not one, but two females. Her heart actually ached as the scene played in her mind. She’d been gone for an hour. One, single hour.

  And when she came back from her father’s, Bo wasn’t worried about her, wasn’t out trying to find her. It didn’t matter that she’d told him to trust her, that she would take care of things, she’d still
expected him to be worried or mad at her. Or…something.

  Instead he’d had his arms wrapped around two naked females—in one of his private rooms. She’d heard him murmuring to them, all soft. A burst of rage and jealousy slid through her, sharp and spiky. What if she’d known the females? His body had been blocking them so she hadn’t gotten a good look at their faces, but if it was someone she was friendly with…ugh.

  Crack.

  The bathroom mirror cracked right in the middle, the breaks spidering out in all directions, as if she’d slammed her fist into it. She wished she had. Scratch that, she wished she’d slammed her fist right into Bo’s handsome face.

  “I don’t live here. Never did,” she finally muttered, zipping up her bag. When she went to move past Ian, he just stood there, his eyebrows raised.

  “Move.”

  Lips pursed, he stepped aside. “Come on, Nyx, talk to me. Whatever happened between you guys, it can’t be that bad.”

  She was pretty much at her capacity for niceness. She just wanted to be alone to mourn what a jackass Bo was and what a fool she’d been. She couldn’t believe him. Gah, she couldn’t believe she’d fallen for his lies. As his words from just an hour ago replayed in her mind she felt her rage building again.

  With shaking hands, she slammed her suitcase shut. When she tried the zipper she couldn’t get it to zip. Only when Ian covered her hands did she stop.

  “I’ll get it,” he said quietly, zipping it up. “I’ll carry it downstairs for you too. You need to talk to Liberty before you leave.”

  Dang it, he was right. Nyx hadn’t been thinking about anyone else but herself. She couldn’t leave without giving Liberty a way to contact her or saying goodbye.

  Downstairs she found Rory and Liberty in the kitchen—which was now free of all her destruction. Ian must have cleaned it up.

  “You’re really leaving?” Liberty slid off the stool she was sitting on.

  “Yeah, but I’m not going far.” She still had her place to go back to. The only reason she’d come here was because of her crazy family. Bo had insisted she stay with him since his place was safe, protected. Staying here wasn’t worth the pain. “I’ll leave my cell phone number. If you need anything, just call me. It doesn’t matter for what. Even just to hang out.” The little time she’d spent with the human, she found she really liked her.

  Liberty nodded, but then jumped at a slamming sound.

  Nyx turned to find Bo storming into the kitchen, looking pissed. At her!

  Just like that Ian, Rory and Liberty scattered.

  “What you saw isn’t what you think,” he snarled, advancing on her before she could think about moving. He grasped her upper arm, not hard, but with enough pressure that she couldn’t tug away without hurting herself. He kept moving until she backed up against the kitchen counter with nowhere else to go.

  Angry that he was trying to use his bigger size against her, she thumped him on the chest with one of her hands. “I didn’t see you kissing two naked females?”

  “No! I kissed the top of their heads, yes—”

  “While they were naked! In one of your private rooms!” She couldn’t stop yelling now if her life depended on it.

  “Damn it, woman! Let me explain.” He leaned down, his amber eyes burning bright. “It was Janae and Myla—”

  It was like a dagger pierced through her chest. Nyx genuinely liked the two females and as far as she knew they’d never slept with Bo. Until now.

  “No! I can see what you’re thinking. I didn’t fuck them. I’ve never fucked them. Don’t even let your mind go there. I was headed out to catch a flight to London when one of my guys told me Myla was attacked. I was just checking on them. They were both crying so I hugged them, comforted them. That’s it.”

  “Wait… London?”

  “Yes, to drag you back home.”

  Nyx felt some of her steam start to fade, but not much. She wasn’t sure she believed him. “How’d you even know I was there?”

  He leaned closer so that their noses were almost touching. “Because from the moment you left I called in every favor I had to find you. Drake’s mother knew where your father was.”

  Guilt suffused her as all of his words hit home. There was no way he could know where she’d been unless he was telling the truth. He would have definitely had to make a lot of calls to find out. Which meant he wouldn’t have had time to get naked with two females. And…he’d been completely dressed. She winced at the way she’d overreacted. He wasn’t lying and the way he’d been holding the females in the room hadn’t been exactly sexual. She’d just seen the naked skin and heard him murmuring and had sorta lost it. “You didn’t promise anything to anyone, did you?”

  “No,” he gritted out. “Arya told Drake and Victoria… Shit, they were on their way to pick me up from the club.” Growling, he leaned back and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “I’ve gotta tell V I left.”

  “What?”

  “Victoria and Drake were going to head to London with me in the Stavros pack’s private plane.”

  Nyx swallowed hard, starting to feel really, really awful. He’d been trying to find her and she’d totally overreacted. “Is Myla okay?”

  “Yeah, she’s okay. She and her mate are.”

  She placed a tentative hand on his chest, wondering if he’d even accept her touch. She should have trusted him. “I’m sorry, Bo. I just saw…and I thought…” Ugh, she didn’t even want to say it.

  “It fucking hurts me that you’d think that about me!” Now he was the one shouting, but there was such a raw vulnerability in his voice and on his face that it shredded her. “I would never cheat on you. I’d rather cut off a body part than touch another female like that.”

  “I know. I should have trusted you more. I’m so sorry.” She let her hand drop as more panic assaulted her. What if she’d committed some relationship sin? What if he didn’t forgive her—

  Bo’s mouth crushed over hers, hungry, demanding.

  Nyx grabbed hold of his shoulders and leaned into the kiss. She knew they still needed to talk, should definitely talk…but he tasted so good, felt so good as she pressed her body against his.

  His tongue teased against hers, the erotic little strokes making her melt against him. Still high on the emotions from earlier, she felt more than just relief that she didn’t have to leave, to walk away from Bo. She couldn’t even put into words the emotions racing through her right now. She was glad he wasn’t holding it against her that she’d freaked out.

  Bo groaned into her mouth as he grabbed her by the hips. He pulled back, nipped her jaw a little harder than she’d expected. “You’re never fucking leaving me again.” The soft growl against her skin reverberated through her.

  “No.”

  “I love you,” he snapped out, the words giving her whiplash.

  She froze, her fingers digging into his shoulders. Breathing hard, she looked at him, wondering if he’d just said it in the heat of the moment. “What?”

  “I fucking love you.” The words were almost a snarl.

  “Why do you sound angry about it?”

  “It’s confusing! I never thought… I didn’t think I was capable of feeling this much for someone. I’m a half-demon! If I lose you…” Stark terror filled his gaze as he trailed off.

  She cupped his cheeks hard. “I love you, Bo. And I’m not going anywhere.” Deep down she knew she could trust him. She did trust him. She’d worked with him for a little while now and she’d never had that reaction to seeing him with females hanging on him. But she’d been feeling raw after dealing with her father. Still, it wasn’t an excuse. “And I really am sorry I overreacted. I do trust you.” She planned on showing him, not just telling him.

  His mouth was on hers again, energy humming through him as he held her tight to him.

  Feeling frenzied with the need to have his skin against hers, she tore at his shirt, shoving it up until he thankfully took over. Some distant part of her brain told he
r to hold on, that they should go upstairs. But screw it.

  The place was big and the others had fled the kitchen earlier. Nyx wasn’t waiting to have Bo. She felt a sort of mating heat she’d heard shifters talk about. The thought of anyone touching him made her crazy and the thought of him not being inside her made her equally so. Or maybe it was wishful thinking. Whatever it was, she felt positively crazed to feel him inside her, pushing deep, over and over.

  She wanted him to claim her with an urgency she didn’t quite understand. Before his shirt had hit the ground, he grasped the hem of hers, had it pulled over her head.

  “Upstairs or here?” he demanded, slicing her bra free with one of his talons.

  She hadn’t even realized he could unsheathe them in his human form. Before she’d blinked, he’d retracted it. “Here.”

  In response, he dipped a head to one of her breasts, sucked her nipple hard. Heat flooded between her thighs as he teased the hard bud with his tongue and teeth. Her clit pulsed as her nipples beaded even harder.

  She grappled with his pants. This time was going to be hard and fast. He’d been so careful with her last night. Every time they’d come together she’d wondered if he’d been holding back. At least a little bit.

  There was no room for that now.

  His hands were all over her, stripping her down to nothing in seconds, before she’d managed to even get his pants off.

  Breathing hard, he looked down at her, his expression harsh, hungry. “I want to mate with you.”

  It didn’t come out as a question, but she saw it in his eyes. She didn’t know how half-demons mated though. Or if he just meant in the general sense. “Me too.” A small part of her wondered if it was too soon, but she knew herself, knew there wouldn’t be another male for her.

  She felt Bo in her bones, in her blood.

  “I have to mark you.” The words were a savage growl.

  She just nodded. The most primal part of her wanted Bo’s mark on her, whatever it might be. She wanted the world to know he’d claimed her. “Do it.”

  Before she realized what he intended he flipped her around, the threads of his control completely shredded away as he bent her over the counter. She felt exposed, a little vulnerable, but she knew Bo would never hurt her.