by Sarah Bailey
In seconds, she was in his arms, kissing him with reckless abandon. She couldn’t think of anything else other than the driving need to make sure he didn’t leave her.
“I’m still angry with you,” she said.
“I know.”
She let him push her back down onto the bed. He covered her body with his.
“You shouldn’t have told Samson I’m yours.”
“I know.”
He ran his fingers over her bare skin. She hadn’t bothered to get dressed after their shower. She arched into him when he kissed her neck.
“Then you know you put me in danger.”
“You were in danger the moment you stepped into the bar that first night.”
She was silent. He was right. She might not have wanted to get involved with vampires, but when she’d gone to Fright Night, she’d sealed her fate. She was involved now whether she liked it or not.
“Are you going to punish me for shouting at you?” she asked.
“Yes.”
His lips trailed down her clavicle and lower until he captured one of her nipples between his teeth.
“Oh.”
She shivered. She had signed up for this. He’d given her an out and she hadn’t taken it. She didn’t strictly deserve any sort of punishment. He was the one in the wrong, but she knew he had some weird need to be in control. To make her submit to him.
“I’m going to pleasure you until you’re so close to the edge, you feel like you’re going to explode.” He paused, looking up at her from where he was nestled between her breasts. “Then I’ll stop, let you calm down before I pleasure you all over again. You’ll be begging me for a release by the time I’m done with you.”
She gulped. That was not the kind of punishment she was expecting.
“Before you do that, can I ask you something?”
He cocked his head to the side, eying her expectantly.
“The thing is… Lucy’s boyfriend is coming home from his business trip tomorrow. I’d prefer not to be here, you know, listening to them all night. Usually, I stay at Ella’s, even when she’s out of town, but we’re not talking at the moment.”
“Are you asking if it is okay for you to come over?”
“Yes. I promise not to get in your way.”
There was a pause whilst he considered what she was asking.
“I have business to attend to. You’ll have to keep yourself entertained.”
“I can do that.”
He gave her a slight nod before he touched her again. She lost all her ability for coherent thought for a long while.
Chapter Eleven
It had been three weeks since she’d received those threatening text messages. Things had been quiet. Too quiet. The vampires’ attempts to trace the number had turned up a dead end. It was unregistered. They assumed it had been a burner phone and Samson had disappeared without a trace.
It was becoming difficult to keep her relationship with Gavin and her regular life from colliding with each other. The late nights spent having undeniably sinful sex were beginning to take a toll. She was always tired at work and she’d cancelled twice on her weekly am-dram meetings.
She had patched things up with Lucy, having taken her out to dinner one night and grovelled at Lucy’s feet. However, Ella was a different matter. The two of them had argued again. Daisy wasn’t looking forward to her and Lukas coming home next week. They’d followed the trail of the werefox back to the UK.
She couldn’t help but think it might not be a coincidence that he was back in the country and her life was under threat. She couldn’t shake the feeling that this all had something to do with Ella killing his vampire mate. Her strange conversation with Gavin in the shower aroused her suspicions. But she hadn’t mentioned it to him. She worried that he’d tell her she was being paranoid.
She hated the fact that he’d come between her and Ella, but she wished her friend could be a little more supportive. She’d backed Ella when she’d embarked on a relationship with Lukas despite her initial reservations. She sighed. Things would work themselves out, eventually.
She was walking home after a particularly brutal shift. She hated working Friday nights. It was always busy and full of dickheads looking to get wasted. Gavin was dealing with some inner conflict within the vamp community. She opted to get a good night’s sleep instead of going over to his.
She’d sent a text to him to let him know she wasn’t coming over when she looked up. There were two men with long hair coming towards her. She frowned. Why did they look familiar?
“Is that the girl he described?” one said.
“Pretty sure, long dark hair and she smells like she’s been around vampires,” the other replied.
She faltered. Before she had a chance to turn around and run, one of them clamped a hand around her arm.
“Hey! Would do you think you are doing? Get off me,” she said.
“You’re one of the vampires’ little playthings, aren’t you?”
“That’s none of your business. Who are you?”
“Come on, little lady.”
The man started to drag her away, but she dug her heels in.
“What the hell? Do you usually go around accosting strangers and trying to take them places they don’t want to go?”
“Only if it pays well,” the other one said over his shoulder.
She realised why the two of them looked familiar. She’d seen them before in The Incubus the night Ella had got kidnapped. Ella and Lukas had been eying them. She got the distinct impression they weren’t human, but she knew they weren’t vampires.
“Wait, you’re shifters, aren’t you?”
“Don’t fucking call me a shifter. We are weres,” the one tugging her along growled.
“Weres?”
“Wolves,” the other supplied.
She paled. Werewolves.
“I’m not the girl you’re looking for.”
“Oh, I think you are. I can smell vampire all over you. Fucking disgusting if you ask me, letting the undead bleed you. Clearly you get off on being with walking corpses.”
“Hey! I don’t think I like what you’re insinuating.”
She tried to tug her arm away from the werewolf, but instead, he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder.
“Get off me!”
She pounded his back with her fists but he laughed.
“Seriously, Dan. Put her down. What if someone sees us and calls the cops?”
“The car is just over there, don’t fret so much.”
She continued to struggle in his grasp. She didn’t like the werewolf having his hands on her. She knew if her vampire found out, this Dan chap would be a dead man.
Gavin! Shit.
She needed to find some way to let him know she was in trouble again. But her phone was in her pocket and she couldn’t get to it. Dan threw her into the back of their car before grabbing her hands and securing them behind her with a zip tie. He’d made it far too tight. She winced.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked when the two werewolves had gotten into the front seats and started off.
“Don’t ask questions.”
She was fed up with people telling her to shut up and stop asking questions. Fed up with being told what to do.
“You two should know better than to mess with someone under vampire protection.”
“Ha, like we’re scared of them,” the one called Dan said.
“You should be.”
“Whatever. You’re the one whoring yourself out to them.”
“I am not a whore. You make it sound like they pass me around.”
He looked at her in the rear-view mirror.
“Don’t they?”
She glared at him.
“No, they don’t like sharing.”
“So, you admit you’re fucking one of them?”
“Well, you clearly already knew that.”
“Go on then, who is it? I bet it’s that bartender.”
The two werewolves gave each other a knowing look.
“I don’t date women, arsehole.”
She kicked the back of his seat which earned her a glare.
“Go on then. Enlighten us?”
“No. As if I’m going to tell you two anything. You’re kidnapping me for fuck’s sake.”
She rolled her eyes. Of course, they’d think she was a lesbian. What was it with men and their obsession with two women being together?
She sat back, ignoring the two werewolves. This time she knew she was screwed. She couldn’t reach her phone. She couldn’t let Gavin know she was in danger again. She should’ve gone to his like they’d arranged. She cursed herself internally. She’d be long gone by the time he realised she was missing. She looked out the window at the houses passing by. She had no idea where they were going, but she was sure she wasn’t going to like what was at the end of this journey.
§
Gavin sat back. He’d finally gotten off the phone with his superiors.
What a clusterfuck.
One of the vampires in his area had turned a teenager. They’d got loose and killed someone. Jack was out cleaning up the mess, but he’d spent the last hour being berated for not keeping his territory in order.
He looked up at the clock and frowned. Daisy should’ve been here half an hour ago. His place wasn’t exactly close to where she worked, but it shouldn’t have taken this long. He pulled out his phone, noticing she’d messaged him an hour ago.
‘I know you’re really busy. Heading home to crash out. Work was shit.’
If she thought she was going to get away with not seeing him this evening, she had another thing coming. He knew she hated it when he popped up in her room without warning. At that moment, all he wanted was to lose himself in her body.
She didn’t even have an inkling of how much of a hold she had over him. His need to make her his completely was consuming his every waking moment. He hated it. Hated that she made him weak. He should cut her loose, but he couldn’t. She was just too damn intoxicating.
He stood and stepped into the shadows, which folded around him. When he stepped out, the room was dark. Daisy’s bed was neatly made and there was no sign of her. He sniffed the air. Her scent wasn’t fresh. She hadn’t been home since she’d left for work. He was sure of it.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Within moments, he was outside on her street, trying to find her scent. He’d always had an unusually sharp sense of smell, even for a vampire. He detected it, close to the top end where she would usually come from if she was walking home from work. There was another scent mingling with it. Shifter. Werewolf specifically. He cursed. Fucking shifters. He immediately had his phone out.
“Gavin, to what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Gianna, if I send you a phone number, can you find out where it is right now?”
“Most likely. Why?”
“I need it done. Text me the location and make it fast.”
“All right, don’t get your knickers in a twist. What’s the number?”
He gave her Daisy’s number and hung up, immediately dialling Neave.
“What’s up boss?”
“Fucking werewolves have taken Daisy. Get Dalia on the phone. I’m coming to the bar.”
“Seriously? She hates me.”
“I’m pretty sure she hates everyone. Just do it.”
He hung up without waiting for a reply. He was going to kill whoever had taken her. He couldn’t care less that their Alpha might object. Dalia could take it up with the vampire council.
There was only one pack in London. It was a particularly large one. By some strange miracle, their female Alpha kept them under control. Most of the time.
He checked the street, but it was empty. He stepped back, melting into the shadows.
“Hold on, he’ll be here.”
He stepped out into the office at Fright Night. Neave was sitting at the desk with a phone to her ear. He put his hand out and she handed it to him.
“Dalia,” he said.
“Gavin, this better be important.”
“Who in your pack would accept kidnapping jobs?”
“What?”
“Do I need to repeat myself?”
His patience was shot. Daisy was gone. His Daisy.
“No. Is someone missing?”
“A human girl.”
“And you think one of mine has taken her?”
“I know they did.”
“Fine. I think I know who it might be. Let me make a call.”
“Please inform them if they wish to keep their heads, they will return her to me, unharmed.”
Dalia was silent for a moment.
“Please don’t tell me they took your girlfriend. For fuck’s sake, I’m going to kill those two.”
“I trust you will deal with them appropriately.”
He wanted them dead. He wanted to tear their heads from their shoulders himself.
“They’ll wish it was you who found them when I’m done with them. You can count on that.”
The line went dead. He placed the phone on the desk and stared down at the wood for a moment.
“You’re literally the only vampire Dalia is ever pleasant to.”
“Why do you care? Crushing on the big, bad Alpha, Neave?”
She turned away, looking a little pink. He’d most definitely hit a nerve. Perhaps if Daisy wasn’t missing, he would’ve teased her more about it.
“Is Jack finished cleaning up the shit show Xavier brought down on us?”
“Yes. Xavier’s sentence was carried out.”
He nodded. He was keeping a tight lid on his inner turmoil. If he didn’t have Daisy back soon, he was going to tear this entire place to pieces.
“Are you going to continue to pretend like you’re not involved with the girl?”
He stared at her impassively.
“Jack and I both know.”
“Do you two enjoy gossiping about me behind closed doors?”
She rolled her eyes.
“You need to lighten up. Neither of us cares that you’re enamoured with her.”
“Don’t you have work to do?”
“Whatever you say, boss.”
She turned back to her laptop. He paced away from the desk. He felt like a caged animal. Where is she? Have they hurt her? His phone buzzed. Whipping it out of his pocket, he found Gianna had messaged him.
‘Coordinates attached.’
He searched for them on Google Maps. They were no longer in London. He cursed. She’d been missing for far too long.
“What’s up?”
Neave was looking at him with confusion.
“They’ve taken her out of the city.”
“You got Gianna to trace her phone I assume?”
“Yes. They must be driving.”
“Then you’ll just have to wait for Dalia.”
He paced the room for a moment before he stopped dead. He needed to get to her. He didn’t have a choice. He needed her and when he’d retrieved her, he’d make sure he was never in this position again. He had never done this with a human before, but Daisy was different. Her life was at risk and he wasn’t going to let the person terrorising her get their hands on her. His Daisy.
“Gavin. Don’t be an idiot. Materialising in a car is not a smart idea.”
“I can’t wait for Dalia.”
And with that, he was gone.
Chapter Twelve
Daisy was uncomfortable and bored. They’d been driving for a long time and she knew they’d left London far behind. Once they were off the motorway, the werewolves had stuck to the back roads. She had no idea where they were.
She hoped by now the vampires knew she was gone, but there were no guarantees. She’d told Gavin she was going home to sleep. Would he have left it at that? She wasn’t quite sure. After all, it had been two days since they’d seen each other. He’d begun to demand more and more of her time. S
he hadn’t really stopped to think about why. She was just as eager to see him. He was like a drug and she was well and truly addicted.
A phone rang. The noise startled the three of them. Dan, who wasn’t driving, pulled it out of his pocket.
“Shit, it’s Dalia.”
“Fucking answer it, Dan.”
He put the phone to his ear. She could hear a woman shouting down the phone at him.
“What? No, she can’t be…. Fuck! Dalia, we’re sorry. We didn’t know. I swear.”
There was more shouting, but she couldn’t make out the exact words. She wondered who this Dalia was. Must be someone important if she had Dan so scared. He looked like he’d pissed his pants.
“The client didn’t tell us which vampire she belonged to.”
She stifled a laugh, but then she stopped. Maybe if she’d told them she was Gavin’s, then they might not have taken her. They probably wouldn’t have believed her.
“Okay, okay. We’ll bring her back. Shit, Dalia. We would’ve never accepted the contract if we’d known.”
A minute later, the line went dead. Dan lowered his hand.
“What the hell, Dan?”
“Gerry, we need to turn back. Seriously. We’re fucking dead.”
“Why? What did Dalia say? Whose is she?”
“Mine.”
Daisy turned her head so suddenly, she thought she might get whiplash. Sitting next to her was her vampire.
“Gavin?” she whispered.
“Holy fuck,” Dan shouted.
“Oh shit,” Gerry yelped.
Gavin didn’t pay the two werewolves any mind. He was looking at her.
“Are you hurt?”
“No, but how did you get here?”
“We’ll discuss it later. Now, turn so I can free you.”
She did as he asked. He snapped the zip tie with ease and she sat back, rubbing her wrists. Her arms ached from being tied behind her back for so long. She wanted to throw herself at him, but she knew that he wouldn’t be very pleased if she did it in front of the werewolves.
He turned to the two occupants in the front who both looked terrified.
“I’m taking her now. You two will return to Dalia. Are we clear?” he said.
“You’re not going to do anything to us?” Gerry asked, confusion in his voice.