by Cat Miller
“To bar food,” he toasted and swallowed a mouthful of amber liquid.
No longer in the mood to hang out with the guys, Candice decided to walk the several blocks back to the Enclave instead of waiting for one of the guys to leave. She knew she had a long night of tossing and turning ahead of her while she imagined Greyson’s reunion with his girlfriend. Candice swore to herself that she was done with pining after the man. He was off limits and that was that. So many men had hit on her during her time at the Enclave and she could have her pick. Why in the world was she torturing herself over the only one who wasn’t interested?
Candice pulled the sleep aid out of her pocket and put several drops into her drink. It may have been a bit much but she didn’t want to think anymore. Candice figured she had just enough of time to make it back to the Enclave before it kicked in and put her down for the night. The bartender cleared the empty glasses and gave her a disapproving look. She missed her pocket and dropped the bottle. It rolled away and she was forced to chase it across the floor. She returned to the bar just in time to see a tipsy Greyson reach back, without looking away from his animated conversation with Garrett, and empty her glass, instead of his own.
FIFTEEN
Greyson was so damn tired he collapsed onto his bed. The California king embraced him like a long lost friend. He realized with a shrug that he was drunk. Really drunk and really tired. He knew he should have gone straight home when he got off duty, but the team had so much to celebrate. It had been a grueling three week deployment, but they made a huge dent in the southern uprising. The team had raided two strongholds and both had fallen before the enemy even saw them coming. Without forewarning of the coming siege, the primarily untrained vamps were easy picking. Finding the nests and keeping it quiet had been far more challenging than taking them down. With the help of the area Enclaves, the team wiped the minds of the enslaved humans they found, leaving them with happier more reasonable explanations for their lost time, and they detained the perps with minimal bloodshed.
He planned to go see Brandi as soon as he was off duty but the team teased him about being whipped and Candice pouted when he refused to go to The Tap, a local vamp owned bar a lot of the warriors frequented. It was a great place to unwind and grab a bite, so to speak, after a hard day. He agreed to a drink or two only because he needed to feed. With that out of the way he could focus on reuniting with his Pixie. That was hours ago and now he was too polluted to go anywhere. How in the hell had he even gotten home?
It had been weeks since he’d seen Brandi last, weeks since their first big fight, and he hadn’t been able to contact her in all that time. They parted with harsh words and hurt feeling on both sides. Greyson would correct that injustice, just as soon as he could stand again. First he needed to sleep, because when he got his hands on his little Nymph, he was going to teach her to recognize his need for her. She would never again question his motives where she was concerned. Not after he used every trick he’d learned in his long life to brand her, mark her as his, so that she and everyone else would know who she belonged to.
Greyson felt the bed dip next to him and warm little hands tugging at his shirt. He smiled. His Pixie had come back to him. They were meant to be and Greyson was glad Brandi recognized it too. She searched him out in his bed, ready to start over with him. He chuckled, imagining how much fun make-up sex would be. His hand brushed her backside and found it blessedly devoid of clothing. Greyson wanted to lift his head. He wanted to look at her sweet little body, bare and pink and ready to make love but, his head was heavy and his eyelids refused to rise. She pulled and he helped her remove his shirt. The scent of her arousal filled the room with an unfamiliar tang. He breathed more deeply, searching for the warm honey aroma he craved. She rubbed her tight nipples against his chest and moaned, nibbling and tugging at his earlobe before raising herself off of him.
Greyson must have drifted off for a moment because he was unaware of his pants being removed until soft little hands wrapped around him and began to stroke him again and again, up and down. Her tongue joined in, teasing, kissing and licking while she stroked him with her hand until he couldn’t take it anymore. He would embarrass himself if she kept up her erotic torture. One hand pinched a tender nipple between his thumb and index finger just the way Brandi liked it. She jumped as if surprised by the rough treatment.
“That’s right, Nymph,” he chuckled, “You’ll have no tender lover tonight.” He tweaked the other nipple and she jolted again.
“You’ll never question me again after I’m done with you.” Greyson pulled her mouth to his with a firm grip on her neck. He nipped and licked at her, demanding entrance until she opened for him and welcomed his ardent kisses. She tasted oddly of alcohol and mint. The flavor distracted Greyson from his task. Greyson enjoyed having a beer or two after all the years he had spent drinking to keep up the appearance of humanity? Brandi never had a drink. She said it tasted like shit and was a waste of time. She hadn’t even fed on an intoxicated human since her close call at Thirst. He imagined his disappearance to the bar immediately upon arriving back at the Enclave only reinforced her belief that she was nothing to him. His insensitivity must have sent her in search of numbness. He was such a jerk sometimes. He claimed to be so mature but he still allowed his peers to influence his decision. But he would make it up to her. Now he had his priorities in order. Brandi would work through whatever had her hiding behind the mask of a stranger and Greyson would love her through it.
“Let me show you how much I want you. I needed you, baby. I have to be inside you, surrounded by your heat.” Greyson flipped her over. Rising to his knees, the room spun, the world tilting wildly on its axis before he got his bearings. Once steady, he placed her hands on the top rail of the black wrought iron headboard.
“Don’t let go.” Greyson demanded, pushing her legs farther apart. Greyson bent her to his liking. He let Brandi feel his thick length resting against the round globes of her ass. She moaned and pushed back into him, trying to find relief but he wasn’t quite ready to give it to her. His fingers crept down her belly to the apex of her thighs, seeking out her humid flesh. He circled the hidden pearl he found there, slowly spreading around her silken cream until she quaked with need, panting and thrusting her hips into his hand. She was so close he could feel her quivering.
Greyson positioned himself at her entrance and thrust home in one long stroke, hurling her into a climax that bowed her back and had her screaming his name. Her heat rippled around him as she took her pleasure and tested his control. Greyson gritted his teeth against the urge to follow her. He shook his head again. The fog was so thick around him even her voice sounded distorted. He was exhausted and drunk but he wouldn’t stop until Brandi lay replete in his arms.
Greyson rotated his hips, alternated between short digs and deep drives into her body. She was close to bursting again when his fangs descended. Greyson leaning forward to graze her shoulder with the sharp tips. It was a sexual game of chicken he liked to play with Brandi. The adrenaline released by the risk they both took when they bared their fangs in the heat of passion made the climax all the more intense.
Greyson brushed her hair aside and froze at the same time she felt his fangs on her skin and pumped causing him to slice her tender skin. Blood smeared across Greyson’s lips. Two very disturbing things occurred to him at once.
Number one, Brandi would expect his fangs and it would turn her on but she would not jump. Number two, Brandi’s hair hung slightly past her chin. He had never had to push it out of the way. She continued to grind herself on his length.
Still buried deep in her body Greyson grabbed the chin of the woman under him and turned her face toward him, because this was not Brandi. The hall light popped on casting the bright light of awareness over the bed and into Greyson’s brain. Head spinning, heart pounding, he looked into the passion-filled eyes of Candice Hughes. They stared at each other while he tried to sort through what had just happened. It was like he
came fully back to himself between one sobering thought and the next. He watched a ribbon of blood trickle down her back while she took in his blood stained mouth and chin. Greyson waited for any sign that he had bonded himself to Candice.
A horrified gasp echoed around the silence of the bedroom. Both Greyson and Candice turned toward the sound. Brandi stood shamefaced in the doorway.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt your ceremony, Greyson. I thought…”
Fat tears rolled down her suddenly flushed cheeks.
“I don’t know what I thought. I’ll leave my key by the door on the way out.” Brandi fled back down the hall.
Greyson wiped the blood from his face and withdrew from Candice’s body. He rushed to rinse out his mouth. He didn’t taste blood but rinse twice to be sure. Staggering back into the bedroom, he grabbed his pants from the floor, wrestling them on with effort so he could chase after Brandi.
“You bit me,” Candice said, watching him from the bed.
“How the hell did you get in my house? Why did you come here?” Greyson wanted to berate Candice but he didn’t have time.
“You asked me to come.” She pulled the sheet up over her body.
“You said you needed me. You said you had to have me. So I brought you home,” she reminded him.
Fuzzy memories of the evening began to filter back through his consciousness. The bar, the inebriated girl he fed on. Candice in his arms. The dancing and the kissing. He had made it home but not alone. How had he gotten so wasted on a few swallows? The girl had to have been high. He was suffering from more than just the effects of alcohol. He could sort it all out later. Now he had to move.
Greyson staggered out into the cold rain-soaked predawn. He followed the stares and stunned expression of his fellow warriors. They must have seen Brandi pass. She had to be devastated by the scene she walked in on. The pain and shock that lit her eye when she walked in on him tangled up in his bed with another woman would be burned into his memory forever.
His bare feet slapped on the wet pavement and rain pelted Greyson’s face. He continued to follow the astonished faces of men that had stopped in the middle of their morning routine to stare. When he finally caught up with Brandi, his mind was at first unable to process the sight of her.
Brandi was walking across the Enclave in the rain… nude. Her entire body was engulfed in flames that silently roiled around her in spite of the heavy rain. His steps faltered and fear choked him. At first he thought she was on fire. Her clothes had been eaten away by lapping tongues of scorching heat. But Brandi wasn’t on fire. She was one with flame. It wrapped lovingly around her limbs, caressing her hips and teasing her sable hair like wind.
She trudged on, passing the gawking men, and she made no move to cover herself. Greyson called out her name. When she turned to face him he met her agonizing black gaze. The tear tracks on her face were like miniature rivers of fire licking at her skin but not burning her flesh. Brandi’s body seemed to be glowing from within. Greyson followed the scorched footprints she had seared into the grass when she left the sidewalk until the heat from her body stopped him from getting closer.
“Pixie? Baby?”
Greyson reached for her, confused but uncaring about the flames. She stepped back, the flames shot higher, heedless of the rain. She shook her head. Greyson looked around, they were drawing a crowd.
“Let me try to explain. I… I didn’t know. I thought she was you.”
God that sounded so lame. Brandi shook her head again and looked past him.
“Greyson?” Candice walked up behind him wrapped in only the sheet from his bed. She was rain soaked and beautiful, but she wasn’t Brandi.
****
Brandi was resting peacefully when her cell phone jolted her to wakefulness. She peered at the glowing numbers on the alarm clock. It was four in the morning. It was never a good thing when someone found it necessary to wake you at this hour. Cautiously, she answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Karrie. I’m sorry for calling so early, or late depending on your point of view.”
“It’s alright. What’s going on?” Brandi had sudden visions of an injured Greyson being dragged back to the Enclave. Her stomach dropped.
“My brother dragged me out of bed early this morning for PT. He says there are rumors of the possible training of female warriors. If the rumors are true, he wants me to be ready and… I’m rambling. That’s not why I called.”
“Okay?” Brandi waited.
“I thought you’d like to know that Greyson is back.”
Silence. It didn’t bode well that the usually straight forward Karrie was hesitating.
“He didn’t look good when we ran past him. He had to have help getting into the house. I think you should get over here and check on him.” Karrie finished.
“Was he injured?” Brandi was out of bed and sliding into a pair of shoes. She didn’t have time to change, her pajama pants and tank top would do.
“I don’t know.” Karrie lowered her voice presumably to avoid her brother over hearing her words.
“I just knew that I would want someone to call me if it were Nate. We are going to need to talk about him and your friend Derek very soon. I can’t believe you didn’t at least give me a heads up about his profession.” Karrie hissed.
“I know.” Brandi groaned. “Can we talk about that later?”
“Yeah, I’ll see you soon.”
Karrie’s brother bellowed her name in the background.
“I gotta go.” She disconnected the call.
Brandi was already running to her car.
The drive to the Enclave gave Brandi time to organize her thoughts. She had a plan of action. Greyson’s deployment gave her time to come to grips with the problems that existed in their relationship. She thought long and hard about the argument they had the day he left. Everything Greyson said had been hurtful but very true. She was deceiving him by pretending to be someone she wasn’t. He couldn’t be expected to carry their relationship and she did have issues to work out within herself.
The problem was that she didn’t really know who she was anymore. She wasn’t the girl she had been before her power came into being and she wasn’t New Brandi, the snobby socialite, either. She was on the brink of, once again, reinvented herself but not into the image of what was expected of her.
Brandi took the two distinct and separate personas and forced them both down into the bottomless cauldron of flames in her soul. Now began the arduous task of finding the woman who would emerge from the fire. It would take time and she would make mistakes, but Brandi was ready to move on.
Grey would have to decide if he could wait for her to become whoever she would be or cut his losses. He might not even like her when it was all said and done. After her recent run-ins with Derek, she didn’t really like herself. She told him to stay away but when he showed up, Brandi couldn’t stop herself from provoking him.
Derek made her feel wanted in a way that Grey hadn’t been able to. Brandi felt she had learned more about Derek and herself in the short time they spent together than she knew about anyone else in her life.
Grey and Derek were two sides of a coin. The differences between them were like comparing a laid back day with warm sun on your skin to the cool light of a full moon bathing you in an alien glow. The dark and the light. The good and the bad. The warrior and rogue.
Brandi couldn’t build a life around the shadowed existence that was Derek’s life. He made it clear that he had no choice but to continue his service to the Rogue and that was not something she could abide by. He was protecting his family and she had to protect her own. It was an impossible battle she couldn’t win.
She hadn’t really been unfaithful to Grey, but she was cheating in her heart. To Brandi, that was far worse than the physical act of sex. Now was the time of reckoning. After she insured herself that Grey was healthy and uninjured, Brandi would tell him the truth and explain her need for
time to learn about herself and let him decide if he could forgive her indiscretions. If he still wanted to be with her, Brandi thought they should start over from the beginning. She knew virtually nothing about Grey and he only knew the facade she put forth. They had a chance if he was willing to risk his heart this time.
Her key in hand, Brandi took the five stairs to Grey’s front door in one long running leap. Before she worried anymore about the future, she had to find Grey. What if he were hurt or ill? Then she would wait until he had time to get better before she put any more stress on him.
Her heart thudded wildly in her chest. She had missed him so much. That was the worst part of dating a warrior. Brandi wanted to kiss his face and hold his big body in her arms. Everything else could wait.
The door opened on the darkened interior of Grey’s house. If he was sleeping, she would crawl in bed behind him and hold him all day while he rested. Dropping her key on the entry table, Brandi hit the light switch and hurried down the hall to his bedroom. The door was open wide and the lights from the hall spilled over his huge bed.
Brandi found herself standing on the periphery of her own personal nightmare when she entered the bedroom. It seemed as if her ability to be at the right place and the right time to learn things people didn’t want her to know had resurfaced after a long absence. It was too late. She had played a part for too long and Greyson was obviously tired of waiting for her to grow up. The future with Grey she had hoped for shattered on a moan that escaped from the woman he held in his arms. Their bodies were intimately joined on the sheets that she had slept in the last time she and Grey were together.
Grey had taken a mate to his soul. The couple was frozen in the rapture of the mating bond forming between them while she watched. The stunning redhead’s blood was still glistening wetly on his lips and she stared in fascination at the proof of her mate’s acceptance. As the shock began to fade, Brandi gasped in burgeoning horror. The sound was a like a shotgun blast in the silent reverence of Grey’s bedroom. She was trespassing on their private union. The sound brought the couple’s heads whipping about in her direction. Grey looked into her eyes and the force of his rejection and the wordless dismissal of the time they spent together crushed her.
