by Emily Dawn
Emily Dawn
after looking through it a few more minutes. “This should be fun. Gogmagogs are the common demon in that realm. I have little experience with them.”
“They’re nasty and strong, difficult to kill but easy to trick.”
I take a drink of my wine. “I think we need to do a little physical training with you before we make any attempt to retrieve the amulet. I know that you and roommate train together but he’s only human, correct?”
“Yes.” She bristles. “He’s fully human. After what happened last night I have been considering looking for training with Supes though. “She admits reluctantly. “I am well trained with a multitude of weapons. I probably need more hand to hand training.”
That piques my interest. “What weapons?”
“I have a rapier, jian, and katana that I’ve been training with since I was seven, but I’m most skilled with my katana. Then I have several spelled daggers and knives that I’m good with at close range, as well as,” she blushes, “wooden stakes. My aunts always wanted me to be prepared for everything.”
“Bring the katana tomorrow, and your best daggers. We’ll work mainly on hand to hand, but I can’t resist the challenge of a 95
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well-trained opponent with a blade.” We spend the rest of dinner discussing her weapon collection and mine, politics, and the places I’ve traveled. She seems especially interested in Europe and the places I’ve lived there.
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Fifteen
Lenna
Aleksandr walks me up to my apartment, and I let him. I’m not sure if Hunter is home or if or when he’ll be home. We’re going to have to have a conversation about where he’s spending all his time lately. I wonder if he’s met someone; I hope so. He deserves happiness.
“There’s a note from your roommate on the island.”
Aleksandr says. It’s peculiar how he never calls Hunter by name.
They haven’t met, so I’m not sure what the deal is. “He says he’s not coming home tonight.” He frowns over at me. “Does he not understand the gravity of what happened last night?”
“He has a life. I think maybe he’s found a boyfriend.” I prop my leg on the coffee table to remove my ankle holster. “He’s my roommate, not my bodyguard.” I pull the knife out first and then the wooden stakes.
“Boyfriend?” Aleksandr is standing there all vampire-like without moving.
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“Yeah. He’s gay. He came out to me our first week of college.” I pick up my weapons and take them back to my office.
I release the ward on the closet and feel Aleksandr’s presence behind me. “Want to see?” I turn to him and wiggle my eyebrows up and down.
“Absolutely.” He traces a finger lightly down the side of my face, along my jaw, and down to the hollow of my neck. When I stare up at him completely forgetting what I was doing, he leans down and whispers, “Open it up.” An arrogant but sexy smirk on his face.
“Right.” I turn and open the doors up. His eyes land on the jian and light up with excitement. “I haven’t seen one of these in so long. May I?” He reaches toward it with a questioning glance.
“Sure, knock yourself out. You’re welcome to look at anything. All the knives and daggers are spelled to return to me upon impact in a foreign object. It’s satisfying to send one flying, land in the target, and then come straight back to me.”
“Show me.” He steps back and removes his jacket and tie.
“Come again?” I stutter. “You don’t want me to throw a knife at you, do you?”
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“That’s precisely what I want you to do.” He unbuttons his shirt. He doesn’t want to get blood on it. “Aim for my right shoulder.” I can’t think of anything except how fucking sexy he is, his chest and abs are perfectly cut. His broad shoulders are covered in toned muscle. The sexy as fuck v of muscles at his waist. “I heal quickly; it’ll be fine. It’s better than throwing it into the wall.”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” my voice comes out husky. Why am I so turned on by this?
“I don’t mind a little pain.” He walks toward me slowly, his eyes studying mine. He stops just before me, and I wonder if he’s going to kiss me again. Part me is begging for it, but it terrifies the other part of me. I won’t stop if he starts again.
Luckily I don’t have to worry about it. He reaches around me to one of my smaller throwing knives. “Use this one.”
“Okay. You stay here in front of the case, and I’ll go to the window.” I walk out of the closet and into my office. It’s only about 18 feet, so I mentally calculate how much force I must use for it to stab him and stay embedded. “Are you sure? I won’t miss my mark.” I ask one more time.
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“Hit me with your best shot.” He says with that damn smirk.
I block the sex appeal he’s oozing out and line up my shot. I adjust my stance and aim and throw. Within seconds the knife is stuck in his shoulder exactly where I aimed it, and blood is already trickling down his chest. I call the knife back with a short spell, and it flies into my hand like a magnet. I grab some tissues of my desk and walk to him. His fangs have descended, and it should repulse me. Instead, liquid heat is pooling between my thighs, and I fight the urge to pull the rest of his clothes off.
I reach up to start wiping his blood away, but he grabs my hand. “That was exquisite.” I use my other hand to blot at the wound. He’s still staring at me, holding my hand up to where he stopped me from tending to the wound. With his other hand, he grabs the tissues I picked up and lets them drift to the floor.
He kisses my palm, then presses his lips to my wrist and flicks his tongue across my vein where I know my pulse is beating wildly. Then he pulls me to him, and his mouth crashes against mine. I meet his kiss with as much demanding force as he has, sweeping my tongue into his mouth and brushing along his fangs, which are still down. All I want at this moment is to jump 100
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up on him and wrap my legs tightly against his waist and let him inside me.
Luckily his phone vibrating in his pocket interrupts us. I step back and try to regain some sense of composure. He answers, and it must be a work call. I walk back to my bedroom to change my clothes. I put on my frumpiest pajamas because none of me can look sexy. I need Aleksandr to leave, and soon, because one more kiss like that I will be naked with a very dangerous vampire in my bed. When I come out into the living room, he’s sitting on the couch with his shirt back on, the sleeves rolled up on his forearms.
“You going to be all right here on your own tonight?” He asks.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Between the wards from my aunt and Hayes, plus Vance being able to shadow jump here I’m not worried about being alone tonight.” I tell him.
“Okay, but text or call one of us, and we’ll be here.
Anything you need or if anything seems off.” He walks over to join me by the front door. I’m rising up on my toes to wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him before I even realize it. He 101
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pulls away, “Goodnight, Lenna. Make sure you engage all the wards.”
“Night,” I tell him as he walks out the door. “Thank you for dinner and everything else.” I close the door as he heads around the corner to the stairs and enables the wards. I’m too wired to sleep, so I turn on the TV and flip to some mindless reality TV
show. There’s so much to think about. I slept with Vance, I liked it, and I want to keep doing it. I shared multiple passionate kisses with Aleksandr and I liked them. I want to keep doing it. I know that it’s in their both their natures to be highly sexual and open to unique arrangements for sexual relationships but is a sexual relationship all I want? I think I have actual feelings for them, which is crazy because I’ve only known them for a short time. I feel tied to them, Ross and even Hayes, too. I wonder who’ll be there with us tomorrow. I grab my phone to ask my aunt Gl
oria what time Sunday dinner will be. I also decide to text Vance. After typing several things out, I give up. What do you say to the guy you just had mind-blowing sex with after only knowing him for two days? I text Hunter telling him I love him and to be safe. I get up to turn everything off and my phone bings. It’s a text from Vance:
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Just wanted to say goodnight, beautiful. Let me know if you need me tonight. I’m only a text away.
He ended it with several suggestive emojis and their address and time for me to show up tomorrow. I text him goodnight; and then, go to bed with his sandalwood scent lulling me to sleep.
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Sixteen
Lenna
The next morning I pull up to a large gated estate off of one the boulevards the city used to be famous for with huge homes lining either side. As I pull up the gate automatically opens, leading to a tree-lined driveway and porte-cochere. The façade of the house is contemporary with huge windows, white siding, and natural wood trim. Hunter would go nuts for this place.
He’s always making me watch real estate shows, even the reruns from before the war.
As I walk-up toward the front door, it opens, and Ross comes bounding out, golf clubs slung over his shoulder. “Oh, hey, Lenna!” He comes to a halt in front of me. “How are you?
How are the cuts?” He lifts his hand to push my tank top straps over but looks to me for permission first.
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“They’re all healed.” I give him a nod of consent. “That cream you used was fantastic. I’ve always healed fast, even for a shifter but never that quick.”
He smiles and runs his fingers over the spot where the cuts on my shoulder had been and I shiver. “Good. I’m glad I could help.” He looks hot in his purple uniform polo, khaki shorts, and white ball cap. “I wish I could stay today to help you train, but I have a morning full of lessons. Have fun training with the guys, hope you’re ready to be worked as hard as you’ve never been worked before.” He winks and smiles as he races off to a late model sedan parked outside the garage. “They’re all in the kitchen straight back and to the left,” he calls over his shoulder.
Good lord was that a double entendre and flirty wink from the innocent and shy one? As if the thought of being with Vance and Aleksandr weren’t enough to get me flustered. Add in Hayes and his broody and smoldering presence, and I will have to be on my A-game to stay focused. I tighten my hold of my bag containing the katana and a few daggers I brought to practice with and push the door open.
The house is as impressive inside as it was outside. The design is definitively masculine but bright and clean. There’s a staircase leading to the second floor with metal and wood open 105
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steps that lead to a catwalk, splitting off into two different wings. I walk under it and into a large living room with vaulted ceilings and huge windows overlooking a pool and large flat backyard. I hear voices and look to the left where Vance and Aleksandr are talking in hushed tones.
“Hi.” I give a small wave as I walk into the kitchen. It’s just as big as the living room with the same contemporary ascetic.
The upper cabinets are white or only open shelving; the lower are painted a dark gray. A large island takes up most of the space with six bar stools sitting at it. They’re both leaning against the counter, looking at me with intense expressions on their faces. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” Vance says, “you just look sexy as fuck and ready to kick ass.” He walks around the counter to me and grabs my hips to pull me close to him. “Good morning, killer.” He plants a kiss on me.
Aleksandr walks over and grabs my bag. He motions for me to follow them. We back through the living room and down a hallway with several closed doors. “We have a warded training room so we can practice magic, fight, and be destructive without alarming the neighbors.” He pushes open the door to walk into what looks like a high school gymnasium. “Ready for this?”
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“I’ll take it easy on you guys at first.” I say still looking around the room. I notice runes spaced along the walls, ceilings, and floors. They are serious about the wards if they’re reinforcing Hayes’ already secure wards with runes. “Want to start with hand to hand or weapons?”
“Weapons. I can’t resist a sword fight.” Aleksandr says, heading to the wall to grab a sword off the rack on the wall.
“Holy fuck! Is that a shashka?” I damn near run across the room to get a closer look at one of the swords still on the wall.
“And a khanjali?” I practically screech. “May I?” I send him a questioning glance.
“Absolutely. You are welcome to anything in our home.” He looks pleased by my reaction to his sword and blade. “I’ve had these two since I was human.” He says. “They’re still, my favorite to fight with but too dangerous to spar with.”
“You still use them?” A mental image of him slashing through a field of enemies flashes through my mind. I’m a little turned on by this. What is wrong with me, down girl?
“You two ready to spar or are you going to continue your weapon love fest?” Vance asks, pulling a sword off the wall.
“Killer, he’s the best swordsman you’ll ever come up against.”
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I unsheathe my katana and walk to the middle of the room, working my arm and wrist in circles to warm them up.
Aleksandr uses his vampire speed to come at me with no warning, but I block his first strike easily. He pivots and comes at me again, striking, parrying, but I meet all his advances with blocks and parries of my own. We go round and round for what feels like hours before he sweeps my feet out from under me. I look up, and his blade is pointed at my chest.
I expect him to be smug for getting the jump on me, but he only looks impressed. “When you said you were well trained I didn’t think you meant you could spar with me at my level for so long.” His face is full of wonder so I do what any self-respecting woman would do. I knock his legs out from under him with one foot and his blade with the other while he’s distracted.
I’m rolling on top of him before his reflexes kick in and he can recover. “Why did you let your guard down? Now I’ve won.” I tell him, pressing the dull side of my sword to his chest.
“Yield.”
He lays his sword down and holds his hands up. Vance walks over and lifts me off Aleksandr. “That was damn impressive. I underestimated you, and honestly, you’d own me 108
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with a sword. I don’t know if my ego could handle the bruising.” He smiles down at me.
He passes me a bottle of water that he’s already pre-opened for me. My muscles are shaky and I’m touched by the thoughtfulness of such a simple act. My shirt is soaked with sweat and sticking to me, so I pull it off to finish training in my shorts and sports bras. I turn to the guys, “who’s first?”
“Me,” Vance says, his eyes raking over my body unabashedly. “I think Alek needs a bit of break.”
I take another a big gulp of water before setting the bottle aside and walking to the middle of the room. “Let’s do this, then.”
We round with Aleksandr watching and offering tips. He stops us intermittently and shows me moves to counter Vance’s considerable strength. After an hour with Vance, Aleksandr takes his place. I get distracted when Vance strips his shirt off.
Memories of running my hands up and down his muscled chest while he was buried inside me appear in my head. The next thing I know I’m flat on my back with Aleksandr looming over me. “Where’d you go?” He asks.
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“I think I’m just getting tired.” I lie. “I’m not used to going so hard for so long.”
“Oh, of course.” He is all business as he pulls me up. “Let’s get you fed and rested for a bit.” He strides out of the training room and back to the kitchen where Hayes is already in front of the stove. He’s got
chicken marinating in some delicious smelling herb sauce, a pile of sliced peppers and zucchini and summer squash, and a still steaming loaf of sourdough.
“Is that fresh-baked bread?” I’m sure my eyes are probably bugging out of my head. Just like my wolf loves her meat rare and bloody, the fae part of me loves all food but especially fresh baked goods. I don’t even wait for him to answer before I’m rudely pulling a chunk off. As soon as the first bite goes in the mouth I’m groaning in absolute ecstasy. “Oh God, this is the best thing I’ve ever put in mouth.” My eyes are closed, and I realize how ridiculous I probably look and sound. When I open my eyes, they’re all staring at me. Hayes is not smiling, but he doesn’t look pissed at my lack of manners. Aleksandr has his head cocked to side studying me with a curious look.
“I feel personally attacked.” Vance gives a devilish grin, “I thought I was the best thing you ever put in your mouth.” He grabs his chest, “that hurts, deep in here.”
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“Sorry. It’s this bread.” I’m not even embarrassed by his joke. I’m not ashamed of enjoying sex, but usually, a comment like that would have made me blush. “Hayes wins.” I glance over at him and see a hint of a smile on his lips before he turns back to the stove where he’s heating a grill pan. I pull the whole loaf towards me, “I’m not sharing.”
I watch Hayes while he cooks. His movements are deliberate and knowledgeable. It’s obvious he knows his way around the kitchen. He’s an elemental but can also set wards. I wonder what else he can do. I know the least about him, and it isn’t sitting well with me. Perhaps the most irritating part of all this is that I do want to know more about him. I want to walk over to where he’s standing and wrap my arms around his waist and press a kiss to his back.
Vance notices me staring and leans down to whisper in my ear, “if you’re worried it’s all one-sided, it isn’t. He’s just a grouchy bastard.” He straightens and says in a normal voice, “he grew all the vegetables and herbs too. It’s why we keep his crabby ass around.” He grabs a chunk of bread to throw at Hayes’ back, but it stops in midair and launches back for Vance’s face. I reach out and grab it right before it hits him. “Good catch, killer.”