by Sarah Bailey
“I think you’ll wish I had.”
The two werewolves paled. Gavin turned back to her.
“Come here.”
He reached for her. She shuffled into his arms.
“Hold on to me. Don’t let go.”
She buried her face in his solid chest and wrapped her arms around his back. She felt a weird rushing sensation around her, but she didn’t dare look. She squeezed her eyes shut, her grip on him tightening. She felt relief sinking into her bones.
He’d come for her.
He’d come.
It was all that mattered.
She didn’t know how long they were moving through the shadows. When she felt the ground beneath their feet as they stepped out, she didn’t want to let go. She felt his hand underneath her chin, tipping her head up to him. There was relief in his expression. She reached up, touching his cheek. For once, he didn’t seem to mind her doing it.
“How did you know where I was and isn’t appearing in a moving vehicle dangerous?” she asked.
“Yes. It is.”
“They were just about to turn around and bring me back.”
“And what if they hadn’t? They’d have taken you to whoever it is that wants you dead.”
She couldn’t think of a suitable retort. He was right.
“Who is Dalia?”
“The Alpha of their pack.”
“Is she scary?”
He smiled at her.
“She is a force to be reckoned with.”
“You didn’t tell me how you knew where I was.”
“I had someone trace your phone.”
“But I was moving, they can’t have got an exact location.”
He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he looked a little conflicted.
“I didn’t know exactly where you were, but I had the general area. There weren’t many cars about and by process of elimination, I found you.”
She stared up at him, stunned.
“What if you’d stepped out in the wrong place? You could’ve been run over.”
“It was a calculated risk.”
“Why would you take that kind of risk? You could’ve waited until they brought me back.”
She was a little irritated by how reckless he’d been. Whilst she was certain he wouldn’t have died if a car hit him. She was sure he’d have needed a lot of blood to heal from such an accident.
“I needed you safe, which is why you’re not going to like what I’m going to do now.”
“What? What do you mean?”
He didn’t respond. Instead, he brought his wrist up to his mouth and bit down. Her eyes widened.
“What are you—”
He shoved his wrist in her mouth.
“Drink.”
She spluttered.
What the fuck?
He held her face, forcing her mouth to stay open. She could taste his blood as it dripped into her mouth sluggishly. Metallic. She struggled against him. She didn’t want to drink his blood. Was he fucking crazy?
“I’m not going to stop until you drink.”
She already had it in her mouth. There was no going back now. She felt sick, but she dutifully sucked on his wrist. His green eyes darkened. It felt like forever, but it was only a few minutes. He let go of her. She stormed away from him, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. His blood coated her mouth. She needed to get rid of the taste.
Disgusted with herself and him, she turned and glared.
“That shit is not cool. What the fuck, Gavin?”
“You’re not going to turn into a vampire.”
She wanted to pound her fists on him.
“Why the hell did you make me do that?”
“I need you to be safe. I can always find you now you’ve got a part of me within you.”
Anger clouded her senses. He hadn’t even asked her if that was okay.
“You!”
She stormed over to him.
“You are the most infuriating man I have ever met.”
“Am I?”
He didn’t look the slightest bit perturbed by her assertion.
“You drive me fucking crazy. God only knows why I can’t stay away from you. And now you’ve made it impossible for me to leave because you’ll just track me down.”
“Do you want to leave me?”
“No!”
She was in his arms. They tore at each other’s clothes. He bit down on her lip. She groaned as he sucked the pooling blood. She hated that she found him doing it such a turn on. She hated everything about him at that moment, but she needed him like she needed air.
Their clothes were in shreds on the floor. He pressed her down onto it. She was clawing at his back as he entered her.
“Fuck you,” she whispered.
His response to it was to bite her neck. She cried out when his fangs pierced her skin, but it felt so good. It was as if she was floating in the clouds when he sucked her blood. He thrusted into her ruthlessly. She almost couldn’t handle the overload on her senses.
“Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop.”
Her nails dug into his skin as she let go.
“You’re mine, Daisy. Mine.”
She cried out his name, hurtling over the edge and tumbling down the side. Her body trembled uncontrollably. Why did he have to make it feel so damn wonderful? She could never go back now. No, he’d ruined her for anyone else. She was utterly at his mercy.
She panted, lying next to him when they were both spent.
“I hate you.”
She turned to look at him. He was smiling, his green eyes full of amusement.
“I’m sure.”
“You think I’m joking?”
“No, but if you really hated me, you wouldn’t let me fuck you like that.”
She glared before prodding him in the ribs.
“Fine. I don’t, but I’m still really fucking pissed off.”
“I can’t think why you stick around. I seem to make you angry a lot.”
“Like you don’t know.”
He continued to smile at her. She found her irritation evaporating. He looked so handsome when he gave her a genuine smile.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For coming after me. I worried you wouldn’t discover I was gone until it was too late.”
“I wasn’t best pleased when you decided not to turn up.”
She bit her lip.
“Why? Were you looking forward to seeing me?”
It was a dangerous question to be asking him, but she did it anyway. Like he’d said when they’d first met, self-preservation wasn’t top of her priorities.
“You are fully aware that I want you. Are you fishing for compliments?”
“No. I was curious.”
“If it will satisfy your curiosity, then yes, I was. I was also displeased to find you missing when I came to look for you.”
“So, you just appeared in my room with no warning again?”
“You weren’t there.”
“That doesn’t make it okay.”
Despite that, she felt her heart swell. He looked forward to seeing her. She wanted to squeal and have a girl moment, but she refrained. Breaking through that hard shell of his wasn’t easy.
“It is fortunate for you I broke that rule.”
She shuffled closer to him and rested her head on his chest. His arms went around her. For the first time that evening, she felt safe.
“You ruined my clothes.”
“I’ll buy you more.”
“I don’t have anything to go home in.”
“Did I say you could go home?”
She turned her head, looking up into his face.
“I didn’t say now. Just make sure it’s before dawn, wouldn’t want you combusting in the sun.”
“You think that’s amusing?”
“No. What would I do without you around being overbearing and demanding?”
“I’m sure you’d
manage.”
She shifted out of his arms and straddled his hips. She knew he could stop her at any moment, but she was counting on the fact that he seemed to be in a playful mood. She took his hands, curling her fingers around his.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Teaching you a lesson.”
“What kind of lesson?”
“Lesson 101. How to let someone else be in control.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“You will keep your hands here until I say otherwise.”
She placed his hands by his sides. There was an indulgent smile on his face.
“Am I allowed to talk?”
“As long as you don’t try telling me what to do.”
She kissed him, holding his face in her hands. He eagerly responded, trying to devour her mouth. She pulled away and received a sour expression from him. She rolled her eyes before trailing her fingers down his chest. She replaced her fingers with her mouth. He hissed.
She moved lower, running her tongue down his cool skin. She could tell he was itching to touch her. She smiled when she noted he was keeping his hands at his sides. She was low enough now that she was level with his hardness. He was watching her with hooded eyes. She brushed her fingers along the length of him. Without any further warning, she took him in her mouth, tongue swirling.
“Daisy,” he groaned.
She knew he wanted to bury his hands in her hair, to press her down on him. She wasn’t going to let him set the pace. She moved, taking more of him in her mouth. She took it slow, teasing him enough that she could see his hands curling into fists at his sides.
“Fucks sake! You’re going to be the death of me,” he growled.
His green eyes were blazing. She knew he was going to make her pay for this, dearly, but she didn’t care. She had him at her mercy for once. She increased her pace. She could feel him twitching. He was getting close to exploding, but she wasn’t quite done with him yet. Her nails dug into his thigh. She took more of him until she was almost gagging, rewarded with a bunch of intelligible curses from him.
“Daisy, please.”
That one word threatened to unravel her. There was a slight hint of a plea in his voice. She didn’t have it in her to deny him. She went faster, tugging the base of him with her hand. Within moments, he was pulsating. She felt his orgasm rock through him.
When he’d stopped twitching, she let go of him, crawling back up his chest. He was looking at her with a satisfied smile.
“I didn’t think you’d go along with that.”
“I did not wish you to stop.”
“So, it was good for you?”
“I think you already know the answer.”
She pouted. She wanted to hear it from him.
“You have bewitched me.”
Before she had a chance to respond, he’d reversed their positions, kissing her furiously. She melted into him, feeling like she was floating on air.
Gavin might be hell-bent on making her his completely, but he was hers too, even if he hadn’t realised it yet.
Chapter Thirteen
Daisy raised her hand to ring the doorbell, feeling more than a little nervous. How was Ella going to react when they saw each other? They were still at odds. It’d been Lukas who’d messaged her to let her know when they would be home.
The sound rang through the quiet street as she pressed down on the bell. A few moments later, Lukas opened the door.
“Hello, stranger.”
“All right?” she asked.
Lukas tugged her inside and gave her an affectionate hug. She followed him through into the living room. Ella had moved in with him not long after the showdown with her dad. She was sitting on the sofa, her hands clasped in her lap. Daisy stood in the doorway for a moment before she stepped in.
“Do you want a drink?” Lukas asked her.
She shrugged, her eyes trained on Ella who was staring back, hesitation in her expression.
“All right, I’ll fix you something anyway.”
He stepped past her into the hallway to go through into the kitchen.
“Just give her a hug,” he said in a low voice as he left.
Daisy took a few more steps into the room.
“Look, babe—”
Ella launched herself off the sofa and barrelled into her arms.
“I’m so sorry.”
She let out a sigh of relief and hugged her friend back.
“No, I’m sorry.”
“We’ve both been idiots.”
“You’re telling me.”
They drew apart, both smiling sheepishly at one another. Ella dragged Daisy over to the sofa and they sat down. By the time Lukas came back with three steaming mugs of tea, the two of them were chatting animatedly.
“I see you two have kissed and made up,” he said with a smile.
Daisy rolled her eyes and accepted a mug from him.
“I didn’t really want to fall out over… you know.”
Ella’s expression became a little strained as she sipped her tea. Daisy hadn’t wanted to bring the subject up, but they needed to deal with it. She turned to Ella.
“Look, I know you’re not happy about it, but it is what it is.”
“And what is it exactly?”
She didn’t know how to answer that. Not really. They were fucking, but beyond that, she didn’t know what to say. How could she tell Ella he’d forced her to suck his blood, so he’d be able to track her at all times? Unless he chose to give her up, she was tied to him. Permanently.
“It’s hard to explain.”
“Try.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say.”
Lukas sat down in the armchair across from them, eying the two of them warily.
“Start by telling me what’s been going on since we stopped talking.”
Daisy took a sip of her tea, taking a moment to gather her courage. She set the mug down on the coffee table before taking a breath.
“Lukas must’ve told you about the kidnapping attempt.”
“Yes, he did.”
“I like being with him. Is that so hard for you to understand?”
“He’s a vampire.”
“And?”
“And they’re dangerous and unpredictable.”
Daisy was silent. She could tell this wasn’t going to be remotely straightforward.
“You don’t really get a say in who I see and don’t see. I would appreciate it if you at least tried to support me.”
Lukas winced. She knew she’d said the wrong thing. Ella sprang up and stormed over to the window, clenching her fists.
“He has some weird hold over you. This isn’t right.”
“I chose to be with him. He didn’t make me do anything.”
Lie. Lie. Lie.
He’d made her suck his blood.
“Are you sure? Lukas told me they glamour humans so that they do their bidding.”
She knew he hadn’t done that to her. He’d given her a choice. Regardless of how much he wanted to dominate her, he also wanted her to submit willingly. He didn’t want to force her into being his.
“I’m sure.” She was on her feet, blood boiling. “You don’t even know him and yet you’re flinging around all sorts of accusations.”
“Neither do you.”
“I know he wouldn’t do that to me. He gave me a choice and I chose to be his.”
“What?”
“Daisy, are you saying you let him claim you?” Lukas interjected.
“I didn’t let him do anything. Why can’t either of you see that?”
A look passed between the two hybrids. She couldn’t help but want to throw something at their heads.
“You know what, if you’re just going to be fucking judgemental and shit, then I don’t know why I’m here.”
“Because I care about you. I don’t want you to get hurt,” Ella shouted.
Daisy threw her hands up in the air in frustration.
�
�If you cared so much, you would accept that I want this. I want him.”
“I don’t understand you. You’ve never been interested in guys who have weird control issues. Here you are, allowing him to walk all over you.”
“I am not.”
She stormed over to Ella, eyes blazing with fury.
“You haven’t even been here. He has. He rescued me from those werewolves even though it was fucking dangerous for him to do so. He’s the one keeping me safe. Even when I had to deal with fucking Aaron turning up and telling me he’d left Helen, he was there. So, you don’t get to tell me fucking shit!”
She panted, all her anger raging inside her like a swirling storm.
“He has done nothing to deserve this distrust from you. Nothing. You don’t even know him. You don’t know anything.”
“I know he’s a vampire. They don’t think of humans as anything but toys.”
“For fuck’s sake. Gavin doesn’t think I’m a toy. What will it take to get through to you?”
“I don’t know, Daisy. Maybe if you ended it with him, then I wouldn’t be so fucking pissed off at you.”
Daisy turned, striding away before she knocked Ella out. She’d never been so angry in her entire life. How dare she! Why couldn’t she accept it? Why was she being so difficult?
“Ella, you need to tell her the truth, sweetheart,” Lukas said. “We talked about this. You’re not helping the situation by keeping it from her.”
She turned to the both of them. Lukas looked sympathetic. Ella’s eyes welled up with tears.
“Tell me what.”
Lukas gave Ella one more look, but she shook her head. He sighed.
“Fine. Then I’m going to do it because the two of you are acting like children.”
Daisy bit down on a retort. Were they really both being childish? Ella ran from the room, tears falling down her face as she brushed passed Daisy.
“Don’t. Let her go. She’ll come back in her own time.”
She teetered on ignoring his advice. Instead, she sat down and took another sip of her tea to try to calm herself down.
“Look, Ella has had a really hard time dealing with what happened when she got kidnapped. Raquel was rather psychotic. She finds it difficult to separate that from the reality that not all vampires are like Raquel.”
She stared at him. She had no idea her friend had been suffering.
“You know Gavin isn’t a monster, right?”