Dark Awakening

by T. A. Grey

  Rome closed his eyes and let his head fall back, husky groans emanating from him. A steady tremor built inside Alison with each thrust. She hissed in a breath and held it as her pussy clenched down hard on his moving cock and pleasure shot through her body like an explosion. She screamed her orgasm and he shouted with her, slamming in one last time and coming hard and deep inside her. She felt his semen jetting hot and long inside her.

  Alison struggled to breath, struggled to recall why this was wrong. He pulled out of her and leaned over her, cuddling over her. She felt the unmistakable feeling of semen dripping down her thighs.

  "You came inside me!"

  Rome pulled himself up to his arms and took in her furrowed brow, glowing eyes, and clamped lips. "Baby, don't be angry. I don't think when I'm with you, when I'm touching you. I love coming inside you. And you love it, too."

  “And when I’m pregnant will you be so cool about it?”

  His expression turned dark and serious.

  “Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

  Chapter 10

  With Rome's words still ringing in her ears, Alison finished making arrangements with her landlord. She also called her sous chef, Cassie, to let her know the café would be closed for the few days. She had enough bankroll to pay Cassie for her missed work, but her own personal finances weren't quite so nice.

  After her last encounter with Rome, her breeding cycle had completed its course. It was by far the shortest she'd ever had. She'd heard that stress and other traumatic events could alter the female's breeding cycle. Maybe that's what happened to her.

  She dressed from her shower feeling hollow inside. She couldn't get Rome out of her mind. He wasn't what she thought he'd be--not that she'd spent a lot of time thinking about him in the past two months. No, not at all.

  There was more to him than she'd expected and the more she learned about him...the more she liked. He was too dangerous. The whole situation was way out of her league. She wasn't ready for him, ready for a relationship or whatever it was he was offering.

  "Shit," she muttered, pulling on her flat-soled shoes. Now she really was kidding herself. He wasn't offering her anything. He'd never made any signs of commitment or interest other than bedding her during her cycle. Hell, most lykaen males would offer up his services. He was just doing his duty.

  A honk sounded outside. Alison grabbed her purse and left the cabin eager to escape the short walls. And the thoughts of Rome. Sarina waved happily from the driver's seat, and two very large men sat looking unhappy in the backseat.

  "Who are these guys?" asked Alison, taking the passenger seat.

  "Oh, that's Gerome on the left and Teddy on the right. His real name's Jason, but he's big like a bear and sweet like candy so I call him Teddy. He hates," Sarina whispered loudly.

  Alison looked back at Teddy and saw his lips fighting a smile; the other guard's shoulders were shaking with suppressed laughter.

  "I see. Do they follow you everywhere you go now that you're Queen of the pack?"

  Sarina shook her head. "Nope, they're here for you. Vane insisted. He wanted to send Bruno and Kevlar too, but I told him no way unless he buys a mini-van."

  Alison relaxed into her seat and laughed. "Tell me that isn't their real names either."

  "Of course not, I've nicknamed the whole lot of sentry guards. I have that kind of time, you know. So what's on the agenda today? Are we going to the apartment first or do you want to check on the café?"

  Alison thought about it for a moment. "Apartment first. I'm not going to live there anymore. I can't, not knowing...what he did, you know? I'll have to buy out of my lease and pack up my stuff."

  "Rome already suggested to Vane that we hire some men to do that for you. Why don't we do that? It'll save you the hassle of boxing up everything."

  Everything that isn't broken. "Yeah, I guess that's fine, though I don't see why Rome had to step in like that."

  Sarina turned onto the highway before arching a thin brow at Alison. "You don’t, do ya? Well, a little birdie told me that your little friend John was sent packing the other night and you spent the night with Rome."

  Alison couldn't stop the blush that flushed her cheeks. She turned away to stare at the passing trees like she’d never see one before.

  "Oh my God! You did! Holy hell, how was it? Tell me everything, spare no details. I mean, let's be honest, the man looks like a Viking gladiator or something. He seems to like you too."

  Alison glared at her friend. "And how would you know that? And to set the record straight he doesn't 'like' me. He just helped me during my breeding cycle. Now that it's over everything will be fine."

  Sarina snorted with laughter. "Do you actually hear yourself? He punched John in the face! He just helped me during my breeding cycle'," Sarina mimicked in a high-pitched voice. "Yeah, I'm sure he was just helping you to orgasm like crazy out of the kindness of his heart. I'm sure he was just sexing you up out of his sense of honor and duty. Alison, I saw the way he looked at you at my wedding and then the other day. The man has something going on for you. I haven't known him long enough to know for certain, but it's something." She pulled into the Crossroads apartment complex and parked the car.

  Alison bit off the corner of her pinky nail, and tore it into a jagged crescent. "How would you know he made me orgasm like that?" she asked grumpily.

  Sarina turned to give her a duh look. "Honey, he's Vane's brother. Vane can make me squeal with just his fingertips. I'm sure Rome has at least some of the same traits."

  The guards in the back muttered something like Christ, not again and escaped the vehicle like it was on fire.

  Sarina held out her hands at the guard's reaction, her jaw open and shook her head as if to say can you believe these guys?

  They left the car and walked down the narrow sidewalk to the Leasing and Office building. Alison cringed at the sight of her balcony and what waited for her behind it.

  "How do you he looks at me a certain way? How do you know he doesn't look at all women the same?" Alison glanced behind her quickly to see if the guard's were paying attention to their conversation. They both watched the environment like trained predators, if they heard her silly question then they pretended not to.

  "I've met his fling Sandra before. Or was it Sandy...Cindy, hm, I don't know. I only met her a few days after the wedding, but I haven’t seen or heard about her since, so I figured he'd tossed her to the side." Alison couldn't hide her grimace before Sarina caught it. Her eyes opened in alarm. "Oh no, listen, I'm sure he's not still seeing her. I don't think he's a scumbag. Besides, that's what I was talking about. The way he looked at her wasn’t anything special. But the way he looks at you, it's like he's seeing something he wants, bad."

  Alison nodded absently, her friend's words fading to the background. She went through the papers, signed the proper checks to the landlord, and even arranged for a packing and delivery company called Two Guys, One Truck to box and transport her stuff into storage.

  As they drove to her café, Alison couldn't stop the sickening feeling deep in her gut. She felt like she'd eaten something bad, but she hadn't. She didn't know what it was.

  Jealousy? Envy? Hate? What she did know though was that she couldn't trust Rome. At least she'd been right about that all along.

  * * *

  Being back in her café helped to lighten Alison's mood. She flipped on the lights then walked back into the kitchen and cranked up the burners and oven.

  "What are you guys in the mood for?" she hollered through the partition where she'd slide the orders across to be served.

  "Italian!" Sarina said, picking a seat at a table with square wooden chairs. When Teddy and Gerome agreed, Alison smiled and shot back into her kitchen. It felt better than good to be back here.

  She tied on her pink apron and snatched pots and pans from her ceiling hanger. Her mind pushed all the worries, fears, and pain from the last few days aside and focused solely on cutting the potatoes into triangles and slic
ing the carrots with a fast flick of her wrist.

  Food sizzled in the pot as she added a good portion of white wine to the mixture. She flattened chicken then breaded it and seared it in a skillet as her pot of water came to a boil. When the smell and taste of the creamy sauce wasn't one-hundred percent, she added a dash of parmesan, pepper, and heavy cream.

  "Voila!" She plated the dinners, resting the breaded chicken gently on top then put a sprig of parsley on top and some grated cheese. She grabbed a bottle of wine from the back and set it counter to take out later. She set the plates on the large, black serving trailed, bent down, and shouldered the heavy tray up.

  She bumped open the swinging kitchen door with her hip and swept into the dining room only to come to a dead stop. The dishes rattled, dangerously close to falling.

  "What are you doing here?" She glared at his handsome face and wanted to throw a plate of pasta at it. He looked taken aback by her harsh words. His eyes narrowed suspiciously, he strolled forward and plucked the heavy tray from her hands as if it was a piece of lint on her clothes. "Give that back," she ordered, holding out her hand. He looked at her little hand, then at the big serving tray filled with four plates of food.

  "I'm here for lunch. I took the rest of the day off when I heard you'd been running around town. You know, you really should be keeping a low profile, not visiting all the places he probably knows you go to."

  "Whatever," she muttered and spun into the kitchen. She plastered herself back against the wall and tried to fight the ache in her chest. How he managed to make her heart race and hurt at the same time was a wonder. He must be a wizard. A devil wizard.

  She uncorked the bottle of merlot to let it breathe and plated another portion of food. She couldn't help herself. The bastard most likely had another woman and slept with her—probably a hundred times—and yet she was going to feed him. She grabbed a twig of parsley and set it gently on top of the chicken, then thought better of it and took it off. The bastard didn't deserve parsley.

  She turned around and screamed. "What do you want?" How did such a big man managed to keep so quiet? She growled, clutching the plate as if she might use it as a weapon.

  One corner of his mouth kicked up. "I wanted to see how you’re doing. You're acting a little odd." He stepped close, invading her personal space and kissed her. Before she could even blink it was over, but the taste of him lingered on her bottom lip. She licked it delicately.

  "I've just had a strange day, I guess. I signed off on my lease today and hired people to move my things to a storage unit." The words came so easily from her. She couldn't believe how comfortable she was talking to him. He cupped her cheek in his hands, it was a warm, reassuring gesture.

  "I should have been there for you. I'm sorry. The deadline for the project I'm working on is steadily creeping and I had to get to the office today to go over some things. Is that for me?" He looked down at the steaming plate in her hands. She nodded, struggling to remember why she was mad at him. "Smells great. Why don't we go eat?"

  Alison nodded and let him take her hand in his. He led her to one of her tables and put a plate in front of her, then asked her what she wanted to drink and got it for her.

  It was strange, Alison thought, being served in her own restaurant by a man who looked at her like she was the sexiest woman in the room.

  Everyone ate and finished their plates with a stream of enthusiastic compliment that had Alison blushing, then laughing. "If you think this is good, you should try my chocolate cake. It's to die for."

  Sarina's eyes widened. "Oh my god, don't tease. I need your chocolate cake now." Alison laughed and moved to clear everyone's plates.

  "I'll make you one, don't worry." With Rome's help, she cleared the dishes into the back washer. She heard the door chime ring from the front of the restaurant and went to see who was there.

  "May I help you?" Alison asked. The woman looked down at her from her insanely tall high heels. Her dress was short enough that if she were to bend over her entire ass would be in view. Alison stifled a shudder and stared expectantly at her red, shiny lips.

  The woman's voice was soft and sexy. "I'm looking for Rome. Ah! There you are." She flounced over to him completely ignoring his look of disbelief, and then anger.

  "What are you doing here, Sandra?" He turned to look quickly at Alison, his jaw hardening. Alison swallowed, then went to work scrubbing the tables they'd eaten at. She made eyes with Sarina who was glaring bullets at the bitch in heels. She scrubbed the tables harder than necessary. There wasn't anything on them anyways except a few crumbs.

  "I came to see you, baby. It's been too long. I miss you so much. You haven't returned any of my phone calls." The woman trailed a long painted fingernail down his chest.

  "That's because I called things off between us and you know it. Don't act like there was anything more between us, ever." His voice was cold. He flicked her finger off him with a slap at her wrist.

  Finding the tables completely clean and not wanting to move past the fighting couple to go back into the kitchen, Alison settled down into a chair and turned to watch the show. She definitely won a point for being brave. Besides, she was relieved to know he really wasn’t seeing a woman on the side.

  "Things were hot between us, Roman. Come on, can't we just hook up? I'll let you tie me up again." She smiled widely at him. To Alison it looked like a predator baring its teeth before it lunged. Her teeth were shiny and impossibly white against the sharp red of her lipstick. Was anything on her not perfect?

  Rome unclenched his jaw. "Get out of here, Sandra. We're done, forever." He stepped away from her and crossed his arms, then nodded at the front door. "Take a hike."

  The women's eyes glowed with the eerie light of her lykaen rising to the surface. She turned and growled at Alison. Her beast was at the surface, which would make her much stronger, quicker than usual. Alison felt her own surfacing. The idea of a fight didn’t sound too crazy either.

  "It's this little bitch, isn't it? You got a thing for losers in glasses now, Rome?" She threw her head back and laughed huskily, then sauntered to the front door with her long-legged stride. "What kind of lykaen needs glasses? And here I thought you liked real women." She punctuated her comment with a cock of her hip. She looked once more at Alison and gave her a withering glare. "As for you bitch, Conlin wants you back for good...and he's not going to stop until he gets it."

  Everyone in the room tensed. Even the sound of breathing stopped. "He says he looks forward to making up for lost time with you." She giggled, the sound high-pitched and scary, then slipped out of the café.

  "At least your taste in women has improved," Gerome joked. Alison turned away from Rome. She couldn't stand the hard look he was giving her. She didn't want to know what he was thinking about, or what it looked like he wanted to say.

  "Let's just go home," Alison said, her voice weary and tired.

  Chapter 11

  The car ride home was silent and awkward. How she managed to home with Rome in his black SUV and not with Sarina and the guards had her crossed arms squeezing tight across her middle. The bastard seemed to think he had some right to her.

  As for Sarina? Well, she was a traitor. She winked at Rome and practically shoved her towards his car after she locked up the café.

  Too many negative emotions were swirling in her, furling together to put her in one hell of a mood. Anger, jealousy, possession, fear. And one tall woman set all that into motion. At the moment, jealousy was seething at the top of the list.

  To know that Sandra touched Rome's skin, felt his breath along her body, his hands on her skin, his beautiful cock thrusting inside her. It was enough to have her hands curling into fists. God she wanted to punch her way through the window and make a break for the trees in the distance. Anything to burn off this coiling heat.

  It was he who broke the silence. "I'm sorry about that. She and I have been over for weeks, it was never anything serious anyways." She watched his jaw clench from th
e corner of her eye. He looked like he had more to say but was biting back the words.

  Alison had questions burning like hot acid in her mind. She closed her eyes and turned away, counting back from ten over and over. She'd always had this bad habit of asking stupid questions. Questions that lead to answers she almost never liked. She opened her eyes to see they were nearing Kategan territory.

  "How long were you with her?" Old habits die hard. Shit.

  His shoulders bunched. "Two months." So many emotions she felt from just those two words. But she didn't want to think about that right now, so she pushed it away. Even as she knew she had zero right asking such questions, another came out. It was like pushing a slinky down the stairs, once it started it just kept going.

  "What did you like about her?" She wanted to add that she didn’t think it was her charming personality, but then again she apparently had some charm somewhere. Alison was banking it was in the boobs.

  He cut a hard glance at her. "I really don't want to talk about her." The hard muscle of his forearm curved and twisted as he squeezed the steering wheel.

  Alison bit her tongue to keep from asking any more, or giving anything else away. Afraid she'd already done too much. She made herself shrug and toss him a no problem smile.

  Inside she was dying. She was relieved when they pulled into the large compound that was Kategan territory. The sentinel guards at the front gate waved them on at the sight of familiar pack faces.

  By the time they pulled in front of Rome's cabin, she was nearly suffocating from the thick silence in the car. When he stopped the car, she bounded out and was practically running back to the guest cabin, keys in hand. She had only a moment to register the hot, male presence behind her before she was pressed forward against the wooden cabin door. Her cheek and front from breast to thigh pressed into the wood.

  Anger and pleasure engulfed her. A tingling butterfly sensation danced in her womb, spread throughout her body at the dominate gesture. A hand found the nape of her neck, hips kept her locked tight against the door. He pushed the hair away from her neck and then teeth found her neck and bit down.