by K. M. Raya
“Look—” Blue started, but a clawed hand around her throat cut her off.
“I didn’t ask you to speak, bitch.” She smiled. Her teeth shone white in the darkness. She was pretty, in a feral sort of way—all muscular lines and a hard-set jaw. She looked mean. “I’m going to warn you now, before this goes any further. Stay the fuck away from my mate.”
Blue frowned, lowering her hands from the claws that gripped her throat. She went still, cocking her head to the side and fighting a gag as those fingers squeezed. “What mate? I don’t know what you’re talking about, you fucking psycho!”
The wolf laughed again, this time tossing her head back as her shoulders shook. She didn’t think she’d said anything particularly funny. Blue cast her eyes from side to side, wishing she’d been able to get closer to the graveyard on the off chance that Jasper was already there waiting. She could really use some back up. Wolves were stronger than Slayers. It was an unfortunate fact of life, and because of that she’d always been thankful that wolves and Slayers were on the same side. But this woman looked like she was out for blood tonight.
“Stay away from Cole Harlan, bitch. I saw you watching us.” Her eyes looked Blue up and down with disgust. “I could smell your desire for my mate, and it made me sick!”
Cracking a smile, Blue couldn’t help but chuckle. The chick was delusional. “Mate? Have you informed him of that?”
The girl snarled, “He’s been mine since we were pups—you’ll keep your filthy hands off of what’s mine, or I promise, little girl, I’ll rip your spine out through your pretty little throat.”
Though her words sent an ice-cold chill down her spine, logic was telling her that this woman was indeed, wacked. There’s no way she was Cole’s mate… no fucking way. Cole had been adamant that he’d never felt like that for anyone else. She didn’t think he had it in him to betray her like that. There’s just no way a person could fake the sort of passion between the two of them… or the raw emotion in his eyes when he made love to her. She didn’t believe it for a second.
The wolf kept talking, but by now Blue had tuned her out, stalling with a docile, vacant expression on her face, all the while her hand crept lower and lower until she was able to finagle a single stake from her right-hand holster. The leather grip molded to her fingers perfectly, making sure she wouldn’t accidentally drop the thing when she needed it the most. She hated what she was about to do. A Slayer should never use silver against a Guardian. It went against everything in her nature, but she needed to get away before the wolf crushed her throat.
“Do you fucking understand me?” wolf girl snarled. Blue’s eyes snapped to hers and narrowed, meanwhile, she brought her right arm up and around the back of her captor.
“Oh, I understand you, Fido.” She smiled. “I just don’t give a fuck.” Bringing the stake down, she slammed it into the girl’s left shoulder blade—hard, but not hard enough to do any real damage.
The wolf screamed, clutching her arm after Blue ripped her stake back out. She couldn’t risk losing such a magnificent weapon. The girl fell to her knees, gasping for air and snarling, so Blue took her one shot hand landed a roundhouse kick to her pretty face. She went down hard, sinking into the muddy ground as she writhed in pain. Blue knew she was hurting badly. Silver was a bitch to get out of the system. Even a sliver of it could potentially cripple a supernatural being for hours if they weren’t properly trained. Clearly though, by the fact that the girl was still conscious, she was well trained and strong.
While she was down, Blue knelt into a squat by her head and grabbed ahold of her chin roughly, forcing the girl to look at her. Her jaws snapped at Blue’s fingers, but there was no force behind it. “Listen here, you absolute psychopath,” she whispered, bringing her face down closer to those snapping teeth. She gazed into a pair of eyes that were now completely amber, with no whites to be seen. She was fighting the shift. “I don’t give a fuck who you are, or who you think your mate is. I’m not here to compete with anyone. If you want him, then try and take him, but I’m not the kind of girl who fights over men, do you hear me? You stay the hell out of my way, and maybe I’ll reconsider reporting you to the Conclave for assault on a student, Guardian.”
With those parting words, Blue stood up before kicking out with her heavy boot, landing a blow to the side of the girl’s head—knocking her out cold.
*
Shaken and annoyed, she finally made it to the graveyard, squeaking open the black wrought iron gate. More spirits were out tonight, sitting atop headstones, or lazing around in the grass. A few of them waved to her, but she never responded. She just passed them by silently, knowing that if she were to give them attention in any way, they’d follow her around relentlessly, and she didn’t need or want that sort of audience.
She was halfway to her family mausoleum when a figure dropped to the ground in front of her. Instantly, she had her stakes up and ready. “You aren’t gonna use those things on me, baby girl, right?” Jasper drawled. He stood in front of her with a cocky smile.
Sighing, Blue shoved the stakes back in her holster and crossed her arms over her chest. “One of these days you’re going to get a stake to the chest and I won’t even feel bad about it.” His smile only grew, as did the mischievous glimmer in his eyes. Jasper loved hanging out in the cemetery even more than she did, but often times he’d chill on one of the thick tree branches that hovered over the headstones. She supposed she should have been expecting his aerial attack. The situation with the werewolf girl threw her off her game a little.
Jasper’s smile morphed into a frown as his eyes swept her face. “What happened?”
She turned away from him, continuing her path towards the Graves building. Jasper’s footsteps caught up with her and he grabbed her upper arm, hauling her back around. His frown was deeper now—real concern shining through his eyes. “Don’t fuck with me, Blue, what happened?”
She bit the inside of her lip, not knowing how to approach this. How the hell was she supposed to talk to the guy she was in love with about relationship problems that had to do with another guy she was in love with? It was enough to make her mind spin.
He watched her as her mind raced, but soon his frown fell away and a small smile tilted his lips. That smile did things to her belly even now. Even while she was still riled up. “It’s about the wolf, isn’t it.” It wasn’t a question.
“I can’t talk about this with you,” she grunted as she turned around and slipped inside the mausoleum. Of course, he followed her in, shutting the heavy door behind him.
The room was bathed in darkened, but soon she struck her match and lit a few candles strategically around the room, giving the place just enough orange glow to make out some of the names on the wall. She continued further in, where a sitting parlor stood off to the side. It was an old room, covered in cobwebs and dust, but over the last few weeks she’d made an effort to start cleaning it up.
People used to go to the sitting room for contemplation and prayer. There was only a wingback chair and a small sofa, next to a clawfoot table filled with all sorts of anointing oils and candle wax. She didn’t use any of it as she wasn’t a believer in any of the old gods, but she liked to preserve the area, if only because the place was full of sacred family history.
“You seriously don’t have to avoid talking about it. Whatever’s going on, let me help.” He stood right behind her, close enough that she could feel the warmth rolling off of him. He wasn’t letting this go any time soon. Breathing in deeply, she reached up and pulled her hood off her head, removing her black ball cap and ran her fingers through her long black hair—stalling. “Look at me,” he said, reaching out and twisting her chin until she was looking up at his face. Still, she chewed on the inside of her lip. “What the hell happened?”
“Cole’s girlfriend happened.”
His hand pulled away and his eyes widened. “Uh, aren’t you his girlfriend?” he asked incredulously.
Blue’s cheeks heated. Th
is was awkward. “See?!” She turned away in a huff. “I can’t freaking talk to you about this—it’s too weird.”
“Blue, stop,” he demanded. She did. She stopped and stiffened her shoulders. “It’s not weird, okay? So, you have multiple boyfriends… so what? We all fucking know about it, and I already told you I’m okay with this setup. You have to stop pretending you’re doing something wrong, because you’re not.”
“I’m not with Dresden…” she corrected, maybe a bit too quickly.
Jasper’s lips quirked. “I don’t recall saying you were.” He stepped forward, twisting a lock of her hair around his finger. “I never said any names, you drew your own conclusion, baby girl.”
Her cheeks flamed once more before squinting at him. Placing her hands on her hips, she jutted out her hip. “And what the hell were you doing with Dresden earlier, anyways? I saw you guys outside by the track… I wasn’t aware that the two of you were even friends.”
He pretended to think. “Friends, might be a strong word…”
“Jas—” she warned.
Placing a hand on her shoulder, Jasper squeezed lightly, the other palm landing on her hip. “Let’s just say the two of us have a… mutual interest, and leave it at that, alright?” She opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off before she could. “Now back to wolf man. What happened?” He held up a finger. “And don’t sugar coat it. I don’t give a shit if you fucked him, as long as it doesn’t stop you from fucking me.”
She pushed him away but was unable to stifle a snort. “Again, Jas, you really have a way with words.” She tapped on the space above her heart. “I feel the love right here.” She rolled her eyes.
“As you should,” he drawled. Jasper widened his stance, raising his eyebrows as he waited for her to tell him what was bothering her.
She bit the bullet and spilled her guts. She recounted what she saw out by the track, and what she thought it looked like. He listened intently as she told him about being accosted in the woods just moments before meeting him. She asked him if he knew the strange wolf girl, because she’d never seen her face before.
“Her name is Vanessa. She graduated the year Cole did, but instead of guarding Arcane, she chose to be a roamer.”
Roamers were still Guardians, only they chose not to stay in one place. She’d seen a few over the years—always solitary and never a part of a pack, but they still reported to the Conclave, and still kept humans and Slayers safe.
Bitterness coated her tongue. “Yeah well, she’s a crazy bitch. Not to mention she broke about five hundred Guardian codes back there.” She shook her head.
Jasper laughed darkly. “She did always have a thing for Cole, if I remember correctly, but they’ve been friends since they were kids. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
“That’s not what it looked like to me,” she grumbled, touching a finger to her throat where she still felt phantom claws. She knew she sounded like a stupid little girl, but for some reason this whole thing irked her. She’d never been the jealous type, but the thought of Vanessa’s grubby paws all over her man made her want to gouge the bitch’s eyes out…
“Whoa, you got that murdery look in your eyes,” Jasper said, pulling her towards him and placing a kiss on the pucker between her brows. “Normally that look turns me on, but right now I have to be the levelheaded one.” She huffed. “Babe, look at me.” She did. “You have nothing to worry about. I’ve seen the way wolf boy looks at you. He claimed you as his fucking mate, so I doubt he gives a shit if his childhood stalker is still making moon eyes at him.”
“I’m just being an idiot.” She shook her head, feeling stupid. “This isn’t even like me. I don’t do the whole jealousy thing.”
“Everyone does the jealousy thing,” he corrected. Narrowing her eyes at him, she searched his face. He rolled his eyes. “I’m not saying I’m jealous right now… I mean yeah, sometimes I am. I hate knowing he’s fucking you and I’m not. I lay awake at night wondering if he’s tasting you, touching you while I’m alone in my room…”
She went to argue, but he shushed her with a small, soft kiss. “I’m not saying this to make you feel bad. I just want you to be one hundred percent sure how I feel about you—about all this.”
“You don’t feel like I’m cheating? How are you okay with sharing me when I’m not willing to do the same?” she asked. She hated the vulnerability in her voice. She hated looking weak, and these boys had the irritating ability to do just that. She knew if she found out he was hooking up with another girl, she’d cut a bitch.
His lips coaxed hers open and she didn’t fight it. His kiss was sensual and slow. She loved the way he tasted and the way he smelled. She loved the way she felt safe in his arms. He pulled away slightly. “Stop worrying. I’m not asking you to do the same for me. In case you didn’t notice, I was single when you got here. I have no fucking interest in anyone but you, and I can safely bet the others don’t either…”
Warmth pooled in her chest and in between her legs. Suddenly, her core was throbbing for him. He must have seen the change in her eyes, because his face grew serious. Jasper stood back a little, eyes running up and down the length of her, cocking his head to the side. She just stood there, letting him have his fill of whatever he was looking for.
He reached out, snagging the zipper of her hoodie and pulled it down, letting the garment drop to the cement floor. She didn’t dare move. His eyes darkened as he started to circle her, running his fingers over her exposed shoulder. Under her hoodie, she was only wearing a thin tank top, and she could feel everything, but wanted more.
When he was behind her, Jasper leaned in, sweeping her hair off the nape of her neck before placing gentle kisses between her shoulder blades. She shivered. His hot breath wafted over her skin, making her lean her head back and moan. “That’s right, baby. Moan for me,” he whispered in her ear, his tongue licking out to taste her earlobe. Unable to stop herself, she did moan. She felt him smile against her skin. “I fucking love that sound…”
His hands grabbed ahold of the straps of her tank top, dragging them down her arms until he was peeling the top off altogether. One it was pooled around her hips, he moved on to her bra. She heard him groan as he got a good look at it. She’d put it on that morning without much thought, but right now she was thankful she did. It was crimson, with lace trimming, cupping her breasts gently with a small bow in the center. “Fuck, baby girl…”
“Please,” she whispered. Her voice was rough and breathy.
“Please what?” he asked, snaking his hands around the front to unclasp her bra. It dropped to the floor, freeing her breasts. In the cold of the night, her nipples were puckered and sensitive. He took full advantage and cupped both of them in his palms. “Tell me what you want, Blue.”
At this point she didn’t even know how to articulate what she wanted. She needed so many things. She needed him to take possession of her. To love her, to own her. She needed him now with a fierceness that should have scared her. Of all the things that flew through her mind at once, all she could say was, “Surprise me.”
She felt him rumble against her back, and one of his hands pinched at her nipples, eliciting a groan as she rubbed her thighs together. She could feel wetness pooling between her legs.
“Turn around,” he commanded, and she didn't even hesitate to comply. His eyes were almost black now. He licked his lips, soaking in the view of her bare breasts as the candlelight flickered off her pearly skin. “Do you have any idea how fucking perfect you are?” he asked, reaching out a hand and running his knuckle down her throat and in between her breasts slowly.
“Get on your knees,” he said next, and butterflies bloomed in her stomach. Normally, she didn’t appreciate a man giving her orders, but for some reason she was more turned on than she’d even been. She dropped to her knees in front of him as he took a step back.
She almost whimpered as he widened his stance and undid his pants, slowly freeing his cock. Her eyes w
idened. She’d obviously seen his dick before, but their time together had been rushed and frenzied. She took the time to appreciate him now. He was massive—thick enough that she didn’t think her hand could close all the way around him.
“That’s right, now feel me,” he whispered. His voice was thick, and she could see the muscles straining in his neck as he fought to control himself.
She reached out, gently running her finger tips along his shaft, loving the feel of his silky skin. Jasper threw his head back and moaned, “Fuuuck.”
Blue leaned in, needing to taste him before she lost her mind. Her lips closed around the head of his cock, and she sucked in, causing him to hiss between his teeth and buck his hips. Opening her mouth wider, she allowed her jaw to adjust to his girth as he slipped in further, nearly hitting the back of her throat. She started out slowly, getting a feel for him and making sure she was comfortable. He tasted salty, but smelled like fresh rain.
Picking up her pace a little, Blue used her tongue to swipe the bottom side of his shaft, while her right hand moved in tandem. By now, Jasper was moaning outright, cursing every few seconds as she sucked harder. She felt his hand at the back of her head, shoving her down further until she gagged. “Oh, shit!” he grunted, before suddenly spilling into her mouth and down her throat.
She’s been expecting it, but she still had to breath through her nose as she refused to pull away just yet. He fucked her mouth until he was spent, before pulling out slowly. Blue got to her feet, feeling a little wobbly, but she was keenly aware of the fact that Jasper watched her.
“If you think we’re done, then you’re in for a surprise, baby girl,” he growled. She barely had enough time to look up into his eyes before he twirled her around and pinned her over the back of the sofa. His hands went to her hips, kneading the soft flesh of her curves.
