Black Rayne Silent Screams

by Yvonne Nicolas

  through her. A deep growl rumbled within her chest as infuriation and blood lust

  became her.

  A look of confusion flashed across his distorted face. “Yo baby, what you

  turning into? You"re not just a vamp, are you?”

  She winced and damn near snarled. Every time he called her baby, she

  wanted to rip his fucking insides out.

  “Yo dude, what"s wrong with you?” shouted one of the onlookers moving in

  on him. “You know you ain"t supposed to be messing with Demetri"s broad.”

  “You better get your crazy ass up outta here, hombre!”

  He growled. “What! You think I"m scared of him! I don"t give a fuck about

  that bitch ass vampire! Demetri ain"t got nothing on me!” He smacked his chest

  with pride. “You think that white boy knows how to lay you out? Bitch, I"ll have

  your ass howling at the moon!”

  Bitch? Enough said!

  The floor cracked beneath her feet. She launched at him. Her right fist

  connected with his jaw and sent his massive frame crashing to the floor.

  Everybody scattered. He recouped quickly, shook his head and glared at her, his

  face lengthening to his true form.

  Unfazed, she went at him again.

  304

  She felt like a maniac. Determination coursed through her veins. The scent

  of his blood fueled her intent. She wouldn"t stop until he was dead.

  Halting her just as she was about to lock her mouth over his jugular, a

  powerful arm circled her waist from behind. A fist flew over her shoulder and

  struck her opponent in the face. The sound of bones cracking and shattering

  zipped through the air. Armando"s body flew clear across the club into the cinder

  block wall, leaving a dent where he landed.

  Whimpering, the creature gathered himself on wobbly limbs, shot her a

  narrowed glare then bolted across the dance floor toward the stairwell.

  “Bring me his fucking head!” roared a deep voice behind her.

  She watched in astonishment as five men dropped to their hands and knees.

  Clothes were ripped apart, fur sprouted and bones dislocated, giving way to their

  massive lupine forms. The big beautiful creatures howled in unison then rushed

  after the fugitive wolf.

  Breathing heavily, she spun around to face the deep voiced stranger.

  Profound turquoise irises blazed through the gray lens of the silver metal

  framed Gucci sunglasses.

  “Maurisio,” she breathed out.

  305

  Chapter Fifteen

  Even In Death

  Towering well over six feet, Maurisio was bulkier in stature than Demetri.

  Wavy dirty blonde hair fell over his shoulders. He rocked an all white suit with a

  black button down shirt, matching tie and a pair of white loafers. The man looked

  like he had just stepped out of a GQ magazine.

  “You alright?” he asked, tossing a peace sign up in the air without taking his

  eyes from her.

  At his signal, one of her songs came blasting through the speakers. Get Rowdy

  in the Club. How ironic.

  Cheering, people scattered about and resumed moving with the rhythm, as

  if nothing happened.

  She briefly closed her eyes and took a slow, unsteady breath. Her heart rate

  regulated, but then gave way to vertigo. With her palm pressed to her forehead,

  she attempted to move past him to seek a bar stool, but he grabbed her waist and

  drew her against him.

  “Need me to carry you?”

  306

  “No, no. Don"t do that.” She fought to steady her wobbly legs and remain on

  her feet. “I, I"m good.”

  All of a sudden the floor looked like a great place to rest. Before she could

  get cozy with the smooth marble finish, Maurisio scooped her up in his arms.

  “Yeah, I can see you"re good.”

  Within his embrace, she felt the sudden rush of air and music surge against

  her then in split second, all was still. He had carted her into a private elevator. As

  the lightheadedness eased, she looked up at him.

  There was no doubt he was related to Demetri. His mouth, his nose, his eyes

  and the bone structure of his face were damn near identical to Demetri"s. The only

  difference was his hair color and the addition of a perfectly trimmed goatee and

  mustache, which intensified his brutish sexiness.

  His jaw was set hard, and his eyes were glued the rising numbers above the

  elevator doors. It stopped on eleven.

  “You"re a wolf,” she whispered, sensing the powerful lupine spirit inside of

  him.

  A quirky smile graced his face. “It would be hard to get any more obvious

  than that, sweetheart.”

  307

  The doors separated and Rayne"s discomfort momentarily subsided.

  Mentally, she blocked out the ear-splitting beat of the hard rock music to access

  the nostalgic design of his penthouse office.

  Black and white tiles checkered the floor. A wide glass desk, tinted blue,

  dominated the room, and beyond it, an amazing view of downtown Orlando

  spread out below them through a plated glass wall.

  A white, leather couch across from Maurisio"s desk welcomed her body as

  he gently set her down on it. No longer protected by his embrace, the dizziness

  returned. She drew her knees to her chest.

  “Aww man,” she groaned. “Way too many martinis.”

  “Nah, it"s not the drinks.”

  He strolled across the office and drew a sheer red curtain aside, exposing a

  room, which appeared to be a gaming area. Mounted on the wall was a sixty-inch

  flat panel television, jazzed up with surround-sound speakers on either side. There

  were a few guys lounging on an over sized sectional, holding video game

  controllers while two others were shooting darts.

  They all paused to stare at Maurisio, then they turned their gazes her way.

  An animalistic glow melted over their eyes.

  “Get out,” Maurisio commanded.

  308

  Without a word, they hopped up from the couch and headed for the

  elevator, casting hungry glances her way.

  Once the doors closed, Maurisio unbuttoned his jacket, slipped it from over

  his broad shoulders and arms then placed it over the back of the dark blue leather

  chair. Pushing out a hard breath, he took off his shades and tossed them on the

  desk. For a moment, he just stood there, silently staring at her.

  Wincing, she looked away. That seductive turquoise gaze was so similar to

  Demetri"s, it was downright scary.

  “Don"t look at me like that,” she murmured, resting her forehead on her

  knees.

  When he said nothing, she lifted her head to peek at him. She met his

  unwavering leer and sexy grin. If she didn"t know better, she"d think he was

  finding her uneasiness amusing.

  “What are you grinning at?”

  “You just don"t get it, do you?” He retrieved a remote from the desk and

  lifted it in the air. The rock music lowered then switched to reggae, Bob Marley. He

  closed his eyes and turned to face the downtown scenery, giving her his back to

  stare at. “This man is the only person who can sing me out of killing for no reason.

  And lately, I find myself needing to listen to him, a lot.” He dipped his head and

  swayed with the music. “Can you feel it?”

&nbs
p; 309

  “Feel what?”

  Turning to face her, he leaned against the glass wall and folded his arms over

  his chest. “The need to kill falling away from you.”

  The only thing she felt was the need to get rid of the migraine currently

  knocking her upside the head. “I"m in tragic shape if Marley can"t get me right.”

  “Give it a minute.” He pushed off the glass and pulled a thick blunt from the

  desk drawer.

  She could smell the weed before he lit it and drew in his first deep lungful.

  “You"re not seriously gonna sit here and smoke weed in front of me, are

  you?”

  His shoulder shook in laughter. “Hell yeah. This here is gonna keep me on

  this side of the room…” he pushed out an exhaled a stream of heady smoke. “Away

  from you.”

  She swallowed hard. “Listen, I didn"t mean to start no mess in your club,

  okay. I came in with the intentions of waiting around so I could talk to you. Next

  thing I know, I"m on the dance floor with that asshole"s hand down my—”

  “I know what he did. But what"s more important is why he did it.

  Understand, I"m not making excuses for his actions, and you should know he will

  pay for his blatant disrespect to you and my brother with his life.” Closing his eyes,

  310

  he took in another deep puff and stroked his goatee. “But I understand why he did

  it.”

  “I"m sorry—come again? You understand why he did it?”

  Nodding, he dragged his tongue across his top lip. “Armando"s a loose

  cannon and has always had more balls than brains. That"s why it"s not hard for me

  to believe he lost his cool when he was close to you.” He dipped his head back and

  blew out a cloud of smoke. “For the past few months there"s been a delicious scent

  in air, swirling about, stirring up demons. I picked up the scent long before the

  rest of my pack did and I was kinda hoping they"d never get a whiff of it, but then,

  you walked your sexy ass in the club tonight.”

  She cut him a side glance. “I"m not following.”

  He lowered into the chair and kicked his feet up on the desk. “The source of

  the scent that"s been drifting through the air is sitting right here in the room with

  me, and to be perfectly honest with you sweetheart, it"s blowing my fucking mind.

  The only thing that"s keeping me level headed right now is my love for my brother,

  and this island ganja.” He raised his blunt like he was making a toast. “But what"s

  messing me up even more is the fact you could even possess a scent that affects us

  like this.”

  311

  “Okay.” She unfurled her legs and shot up from the couch. “That"s about all

  of the foolishness I can handle in one day. It"s obvious I made a mistake coming

  here. I"m out.”

  “You think it"s that easy? You think you can just waltz in here and waltz

  out, especially after stirring up my pack? I think not.”

  “Listen, could you just give Demetri"s address so I can go?”

  “No. You"re not going anywhere. Sit your ass down.”

  She planted her hands on her hips and cocked her head. “The hell you say…”

  Eyes narrowed in a wolfish glare, he shot out of the chair. “Don"t you dare

  catch an attitude with me! Girl, I swear to God I"ll leap over this desk and pin your

  ass to the wall! Do not test me! Now squash that attitude, and plant your sweet ass

  back on that couch!”

  Staring bug eyed, she shrunk back down onto the couch. She wasn"t a tamed

  broad, but she did know when to shut her mouth and do what she was told. His

  over-whelming energy, which strained the area around them, was not lost to her,

  nor was the storm that lived within him. It was enough to shut anybody down.

  She pressed her hand to her aching head and murmured, “I"m sorry.”

  He growled and fisted his hair. “Goddammit Rayne! You already got me

  fucked up here. You have to understand we"re feral animals—anger and rage from

  a female is foreplay to our senses, nothing but an aphrodisiac. Shit!” He inhaled

  312

  and exhaled rapidly, then turned to the window. “Damn girl, you about to bring

  out my „nines.”

  “I"m sorry.”

  “Stop apologizing,” he bellowed over his shoulder. “I"m just trying to keep

  my head, „kay. Help me keep my head.”

  “Okay,” she said quickly.

  The differences between Demetri and Maurisio were now very clear.

  Maurisio was high-strung, hot-headed and crazy without a doubt, but Demetri on

  the other hand, was composed, debonair, and suave; in other words, the total

  opposite of his brother. Maurisio even had a different dialect than Demetri. If she"d

  never seen his face, she"d think he was a black man.

  Apparently, Maurisio changed with the times, and Demetri didn"t.

  “Like night and day,” she muttered under her breath.

  “As long as you remember I"m the day and he"s the night.”

  She wanted to laugh, but the tension that hung between them prevented her

  from even cracking a smile.

  “I know the repercussions of stepping between a vamptress and her kill,

  especially a Xsonri in heat, but I couldn"t let you take Armando out in my

  establishment,” he said in a much calmer voice as he reclaimed his seat. “As the

  alpha and the owner, I have to keep the order, and if I"d allowed you to make a kill

  313

  in front of a pack of very horny shifters, I would"ve had a much bigger problem on

  my hands.” He paused to drag deeply from his blunt. “What"s your other make,

  Rayne?”

  “My make?”

  Leaning back in the chair, he pushed a puff of smoke from his nose. “Your

  demon is a hybrid, and I can"t figure out what your other make is.”

  “I, I don"t know, Maurisio. I just found out „bout the Xsonri part, demon

  vampire, or whateva, and I still can"t grasp that. Now what are you telling me? I"m

  a hybrid.” Groaning, she dropped her face in her hands. “I can"t believe this mess.”

  “Wait now. Don"t get all worked up. We"ll figure this out.” He stood and

  tapped a series of buttons on his remote. Steel shutters lowered over the glass

  panels, blocking out the natural light of the day. “Your aura is twisted and painted

  in a multitude of colors.” Once the shutters were closed, the decorative wall

  sconces snapped on, casting a soft glow throughout the penthouse. “They fade in

  and out, some taking over others depending on your emotions.” He dragged a hand

  through his mane as he approached the gaming area. “When you got pissed at me a

  moment ago, your aura went red, all vamp. Even your scent changed, but on the

  outer rim of your aura was black and white energy.”

  “And that means, what?”

  314

  He leaned against the white marble pool table. “You gain your strength from

  both the darkness and the light,” he explained before gently knocking on the pool

  table. “Let"s take care of that hunger before we continue.”

  When he stepped away, the table, which was attached to a wide platform,

  slid to the side. A large egg-shaped glass sphere rose from the passage opening in

  the floor. Rayne"s mouth dropped open when she saw a sleeping woman within

  the transparent orb. The egg open
ed like a clam shell and the woman"s eyes crept

  open.

  “Rayne, I"d like to introduce you to my colleague, my partner in crime, Mia.

  She"s the one who keeps shit together when I"m away.” Mia swung her long, milky

  legs out of the egg then eased to her feet with a sensual grace. “In addition to that,

  she happens to be a damn good bartender. She can sate that hunger for you. I

  would give you a live feed, but I"m not exactly sure how affective your bite is, so

  this will have to do.”

  “Oy Dios mío,” Mia sung, taking long fluid strides toward her. “You are even

  more beautiful in person.” The curve of her hips were accentuated by a pair of

  fitted boy shorts and a white half top. “Tienes hambre, mami? Is it my blood you

  hunger for?”

  Captivated, Rayne pushed up from the couch and met her in the center of

  the room. This woman"s beauty was striking, and oddly familiar.

  315

  She brushed Mia"s curly hair from over her shoulders and traced her fingers

  along her jaw line then down the length of her neck. Moaning softly, Mia"s lids

  lowered half-mast.

  Unlike Demetri, Mia"s skin was cool to the touch.

  There was a pearl rosary looped around her neck. The end of it was buried

  between the cleft of her luscious breasts. Rayne tugged on it, curious to see if a

  cross dangled at the end, but her attention was diverted to a pair of shiny fangs

  peeking at her from beneath Mia"s plush lips. Eager to taste her, Rayne licked her

  lips.

  From across the office, Maurisio muttered something, but his words were

  blurred in her mind. She could hear nothing but the soft words coming from the

  pale-skinned beauty standing before her.

  “Por favor, Rayne.” She pulled at the top of her fitted tank top, teasing her

  with the slightest view of her succulent mounds. “Poison me with your sweet

  kiss.”

  Rayne stared at the enticing veins beneath her flesh and her mouth watered.

  “Mia, I didn"t wake you to make my life harder. Come fix her the damn drink

  so we can talk,” Maurisio grumbled.

  The sensation of Mia"s hands treading gently through her hair made her

  whimper. “Don"t listen to him.” Her accented coo flowed over Rayne"s body like