Draven
Page 1
Table of Contents
Title Page
DRAVEN
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
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Read more by Patricia A. Rasey
About the Author
COPYRIGHT
DRAVEN
A Sons of Sangue Novella
Book 4.5
USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR
PATRICIA A. RASEY
© 2016 Patricia A. Rasey
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. (v2)
Cover Art © 2016 Croco Designs
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DRAVEN
Sons of Sangue
Draven Smith thought he’d sealed his own coffin when he turned informant for the DEA against the deadly Devils MC. But that trouble is nothing compared to the mortal peril he’s courting when a sexy vampire female named Brea shows up at his bar to enlist his help. In hiding from Draven’s friends, the Sons of Sangue, Brea’s freedom depends on destroying the ruthless LaPaz Cartel and its infamous kingpin—her own godfather. Thrust together on a quest they can only hope to survive, Draven and Brea must find a way through the danger while trying to resist a forbidden desire that ignites the darkest passions of their hearts.
~*~
“Lots of thrills and chills grace the pages. When they aren't fighting or running from evil they are fighting chemistry--hot, boiling, explosive chemistry. Make the pages even more explosive--the shocking mouth dropping revelations. Clear a block of time, get comfy and enjoy. You will not want to stop. There will be no coming back later because you will want to know everything. And everything is worth it.”
—Trudy D, Amazon Review
“I so love this series and Draven was an added bonus. The twist and turns that go on in this book will have you totally engrossed. There was a complete surprise in this book that made your mouth drop open and saying NO WAY. But I promise you, you will enjoy this book.”
—LaWanna, Amazon Review
“Draven was a great fast read …You were waiting to turn the next page to see what happened next. Once again Patricia has you hook line and sinker. The books keep getting better and better.”
—Joey, Goodreads
~*~
Dedication
To Jackie Ferrell and Stacy Affleck, I thank you
for helping me find those last minute pesky typos.
To my editor, Catherine Snodgrass, who puts up with
my it will be there tomorrow. Thanks for moving
things around for me and all your hard work.
Thank you to my family who puts up with my hectic schedules.
Chapter 1
A bullet whizzed past his ear, stinging the flesh.
“Fuck!” Draven Smith ran faster, dodging a few low-hanging branches and pulling Brea Gotti along behind him. Wetness welled to the surface of his ear and ran down the shell, telling him he’d been grazed. “Just who the hell’s Wheaties did you piss in?”
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don’t think it’s me they’re aiming at.” While his breath sawed out of him, her breath was even, undisturbed by their scurry through the dense forest. “You want me to carry you?”
A humorless laugh barked out of him. “Great. Why not take my man-card while you’re at it?”
He felt her humor. He didn’t have to look back to see it. Damn maddening woman. “How about we get the fuck out of here while I’m still alive?”
“I won’t let you die.”
He rolled his eyes, though she’d never see it since he still led the way.
Death or vampire.
Well, if that wasn’t a pisser.
Draven grumbled, “Let’s try keeping me alive.”
Another bullet whipped through the leaves above him, raining vegetation down around them.
Fuck!
A few days ago he’d been serving drinks at his club, The Blood ‘n’ Rave, and he had been damn happy to do so. Now it felt like a lifetime ago as he ran for his life. Of course not Brea’s, since only a bullet striking her directly through the heart, and stopping her vampire blood from flowing, would take her down. Nope, he was definitely running for his life.
What the hell had he been thinking when he had packed up a few necessities, no more than a week ago at most, and dragged her from the backroom of his club? Draven chuckled with a shake of his head. Hell, he had not one thing to offer in the way of help. She’d likely wind up having to save his sorry human ass.
Her godfather, Raúl Trevino Caballero, Mexican kingpin of the La Paz Cartel, apparently wanted Brea pretty damn bad to send his goons after her. Draven didn’t have a clue as to Raúl’s intension. And if Brea was being honest with him, neither did she.
Not to mention the Sons of Sangue MC had been in the dark about Brea’s existence. Should they find out about her, and the fact he’d kept that knowledge from them, they’d no doubt want a piece of his ass as well.
Brea Gotti was the daughter of a mob boss, with connections to the Sons’ sworn enemy. The MC had wanted Raúl’s head and rightly so. The kingpin played a huge role in the death of Kane “Viper” Tepes’s only son. Kane and Kaleb “Hawk” Tepes, his twin and the president of the MC, had been gunning for the man ever since. And all because Kane’s ex-ol’ lady was a bitch and had gotten into bed with the wrong damn people.
Vampire or not, the Caballero brothers had managed to kill Ion and left Rosalee to suffer. The Sons had taken Raúl’s brother as penance, but it hadn’t been enough. Kane and Kaleb wouldn’t rest until the planet was wiped free of the filth and greed the man spread. Greed Draven had at one-time profited from, until the Sons forbade him to sell drugs from his establishment any longer.
Christ! That seemed like eons ago.
Mix in the DEA, with their offered deal to save Draven from prosecution if he went undercover to take down the Sons’ rival MC, the Devils, and he had landed in one hell of a pile of shit.
Draven shook his head.
The whole thing had become a complete cluster fuck to be sure, and the Devils probably wanted their share of him too.
Well, get in the fucking line.
Another bullet whizzed past, this one grazing his shoulder and bringing his thoughts back to the present. “Son of a bitch.”
Blood leaked from the flesh wound. Not a gusher, but enough that he feared Brea’s vampire genetics making a sudden appearance. At the moment, they had no idea who chased them. He’d bet whoever they were, they had no clue what Brea could become when she got good and pissed.
This close to Mexico, Draven was pretty sure it was Raúl’s goons shooting at him. He still hadn’t figured out who had killed her mate, Joseph “Kinky” Sala, or why the murdering bastard felt the need to end the biker’s life. The hitman had shot Brea’s mate in the head, a bull
et that stopped the vampire’s heart from beating, and had killed him on the spot outside of Draven’s night club.
Whoever fired at them now, correction … him, Draven bet they were one in the same.
Dodging beneath a low hanging branch and taking a quick left, Brea and Draven headed farther into the dense foliage. If they could put enough distance between him and whoever the hell was chasing them, he might be able to find them a place to hide and thus lose the tail.
Ditching his beloved Chevy Camaro at a rest stop miles back near the border no longer seemed like a wise idea. He hadn’t disagreed that his car would be recognizable, but damn if he hadn’t argued like a two-year-old at the idea of leaving it behind. Once they had taken to foot, someone had begun quickly trailing them and the gunfire had begun. Obviously, the Camaro had been spotted long before they’d ditched it.
Brea tugged on Draven’s hand so hard he damn near flew backward. Her chest bumped into his back. She had gotten his attention all right. When he looked back, he saw her in full, scary-as-fuck vampire mode.
“What the hell?”
“It’s the scent of your blood.” She shrugged with a grave grin. “It’s been four days.”
Her skin had taken on the death chill—the translucent appearance of a vampire’s flesh when too much time had passed between feedings. Draven groaned, knowing full well it would be his blood she next feasted on. The bright side to letting her dip her fangs would be the rock-hard erection she would give him. The downside would be the huge case of blue balls he’d be plagued with. By now he should be getting used to it. All he had to do was look at her and his dick was at half-mast. Acting on his desire wasn’t going to be an option, though, not when she had been Joseph’s mate, not when she hadn’t been given proper time to mourn.
No matter what his libido had to say about the matter.
Without warning, Brea wrapped her arms around his waist, knocking the breath from him. She bent at the knees, leaping higher than humanly possible, and landed with a thud on a thick branch of a very tall oak, turning Draven’s ankle. She placed her hand over his mouth to keep him from screaming like a girl. Grabbing onto a branch above her head to steady herself, she pressed a finger to her lips, indicating he should be quiet. Draven would’ve much rather she silenced him with her bow-shaped lips. Teetering because of his wayward thoughts, he quickly wrapped his arms around the center of the oak and prayed they would go unnoticed this high up into the branches.
A few silent moments later four men passed beneath, all carrying assault rifles and wearing camouflage clothing. They scanned the forest, the barrels of the rifles doing a sweep of the area. Draven held his breath, afraid to breathe for fear of disturbing the leaves and blowing their cover. Finally, about the time he thought he might pass out from the lack of oxygen and topple atop the goons, the men continued on their way.
Positive they were now out of earshot, he shifted position, trying to alleviate his weight off his sore ankle, and let out a moan. He lowered himself to the large branch, straddling it and taking his weight off the injured foot. His blood roared through his veins and pulsed in his ears.
Fuck! That had been close.
“You okay?” Brea asked, barely above a whisper.
“I’ve been better. Thanks.” Draven couldn’t keep the smart ass from entering his tone if he tried.
His entire fucking life had been turned upside down, not to mention barely escaping with it just a few short minutes ago, and all because Joseph had thought to entrust him with his mate’s care if something should happen to him. Not that he hadn’t enjoyed her company, or that she hadn’t been a huge fucking turn on. It was the part that had his knees knocking as tremors of fear ran down his spine he wasn’t much too fond of.
And all because Brea Gotti had entered his life.
At this point, he was thinking his chances were far better with the Devils and the DEA. Shit! These cartel goons were fucking dangerous. Messing with them was like stirring up a hive of angry hornets.
“Look, I’m sorry I brought you into this mess.” Brea lowered herself so that she mounted the branch in front of him. “I’m sure your car is still sitting back at the rest stop. Why not track back? I can do this on my own, Draven. I really don’t need you. The last thing I want on my conscience is your death. I already have Kinky’s.”
“You aren’t doing this alone, Brea. For whatever reason, Kinky thought you should contact me if something happened to him. I’m not about to let him down.”
Brea took in a deep breath and looked through the trees. “If I have to drag you along, that means I not only have to watch out for myself but you as well.”
“Ouch. That hurts.” He rubbed his sternum. Draven wasn’t a body builder by any means, but he wasn’t a pushover either. He had bounced a few people in his day. But the cartel? That was some serious shit! “You watch out for yourself, Brea. I don’t need a woman coming to my rescue.”
“Not even if that woman is a vampire and at least ten times stronger than you?” She winked at him, offering him a slight tip of her lips. “Let’s get the hell out of this tree and get on our way then.”
“You still bent on visiting your godfather?”
“I am. Nothing you say will stop me.”
“So why the hell are we running from his lackeys?”
“Because you dope, they may not harm me, but they’d have no problem taking you out.” She pulled her lower lip between her teeth. “Besides, I want the element of surprise on my side. I want to see my godfather on my terms, not with a dozen of his men surrounding him. I want to look in his eyes when he tells me he didn’t order the hit on Kinky.”
Without waiting for a response, she slid from the branch and jumped to the forest floor as if they were only ten feet in the air. Draven looked down from his perch. If he jumped, he’d no certain break a leg.
“Well? What are you waiting for?”
“You wouldn’t happen to have a ladder handy?”
Brea chuckled. “Nope.”
“Rope?”
“Nope.”
“Then how to you expect me to get down?”
“Jump.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Even from his height, he saw the twinkle in her gaze. “Don’t worry. I’ll catch you.”
Draven shook his head. Yep, by the time this little adventure came to an end, he might as well hand over his balls. Leaning to the side, he dangled his feet over the branch, hanging by his fingertips.
“You waiting on Christmas?” Her feminine tone mocked him.
“You really know how to unman a guy, don’t you?”
Hearing her answering chuckle, he let go of the branch.
Chapter 2
“What is this place?” Draven asked, following her through the old wooden door.
Brea used the key still hidden under the rock beside the steps. The overgrown vegetation made it obvious no one had been here in quite some time. Her family used to come here when she was a child anytime her father needed to lie low from the states.
“Back when the trial was going on for Great Uncle John, my dad brought us all here for the first time. We stayed for a year before returning. My dad later took over the family business.”
Draven scratched his nape. “That was quite a while ago. You couldn’t have been very old.”
“I was only a year old when the feds locked up my great uncle. My grandfather was ten years his senior and my father was in his early twenties when he had me. He was pretty young for a crime boss.”
“How did you ever remember this place?”
“We came back often. Anytime my father had business with my godfather, we stayed here.”
She looked around, memories assailing her. It was as if she could still reach out and touch them. Nothing had changed. The same floral sofa sat against the roughhewn walls. The old, round wooden table they all sat around to eat meals sat to the left of it. Brea walked over, traced her fingers over the words carved into the surface
and smiled. Her father had wanted to discipline her, but the “I ‘heart shape’ my daddy,” she had carved into the wood when she was ten made it hard for him to scold her. She smiled at the memory.
Her father had a large, booming voice that commanded respect, but whenever he spoke to her, he used to lower his tone. “Brea, you can’t be marking up momma’s things. But I love you too, with whatever love I have to give.” He had placed a kiss on her forehead with the spoken words.
Brea looked back at Draven, the memories fading from her vision. “My father passed away when I was in my late teens. With Great Uncle John’s and my grandfather’s death several years earlier, the family business was passed on to a man related to the crime boss Gotti had killed when he took over the family. In the meantime, the cartel’s presence in the states grew. They no longer did business with the Gambinos after my father died.
“My mom had died when I was eleven. They told me it was a car accident. I always suspected it was something far more sinister. My father had become damn near unreachable after that. When he passed away, I tried to stay away from it all. I began to distance myself from my godfather, even though he was all I had left of my family. That’s when I met Kinky.”
Draven reached up and pulled the tie from his hair. His thick waves fell about his shoulders. He picked out a few leaves and used his fingers to try and straighten it the best he could. With his long waves, brown eyes, and trim build, he was exactly Brea’s type. As a matter of fact, she found the bar owner to be damn hot. From the moment she’d walked into his club looking for Joseph, she found herself attracted to the man. Too bad they hadn’t met under better circumstances. He had that dark, sort of Goth style about him. Brea could easily see him dressing in platform shoes and rimming his eyes with kohl.