by A. C. Arthur
That’s exactly how he used to rouse her from sleep. It was what she remembered most about being with him, those hazy soft moments when his touch was all that she needed to remind herself that she was no longer alone.
“I miss arguing with you over what we were having for breakfast because you preferred omelets to oatmeal.”
Right again, but did the smooth timbre of his voice have to run along her skin like warm oil?
“He misses you too.” She stilled at those words. “There hasn’t been one night, not one in eighty years, Mel, that he hasn’t wanted you. The reminder some nights is the most excruciating pain I’ve ever felt. To the point where I almost want to beg for death.”
Instinct told her to pull away. To grab that jacket and get out of this damn truck. Away from Aiken again, for good. That’s what she needed. Yet, she didn’t move a muscle.
It held her still. That foolish beast that was usually so good at obeying her “stay away” command was daring to make itself known as if answering to Aiken’s call. If she could just open her eyes and break whatever spell this was moving over her, all would be right again. But she couldn’t. She felt her eyes moving, trying desperately to open and to cut this connection, but it never happened.
“Do you feel that, Mel? Its urgency and determination. How can you continue to fight this?”
Because she had to. Heritage was just a word. It wasn’t a living part of her as it was with him and so it couldn’t rule her. It wouldn’t take all her choices away just because he said it could.
“I feel desire.” It was the smallest whisper but the biggest admission she’d allowed herself to make since seeing him last night.
“Yes.” He moaned. “That dull ache that’s been settled in the center of your chest for all these years but is now shifting, opening like a locked door to let the heat inside.”
She didn’t want the heat, had instead become accustomed to the steady chill her body had carried since breaking up with him. Yet, his words were absolutely right and all she could do in response was lean in closer, to press her lips against his without needing her sight to guide her actions. His lips parted immediately, opening just like he described that dull ache in her chest, letting her tongue slip inside. The slow, languid touch of his tongue against hers, his hands holding her face more firmly in his grasp, the instinct link clicking into place as if it had never been severed, all took her breath away.
More. The insubordinate beast inside her wanted more.
Tilting her head she took the kiss deeper, recalling the way a moan always bubbled up from his chest when she did so. The sound was like a favored dish, a comfort meal that soothed the soul, and she matched it with a moan of her own. How much had she missed this? Too much and yet obviously not enough to come back to him.
As if he could read her last thoughts, he pulled back from her, breaking the kiss and resting his forehead against hers. “There’s more, Mel. This heat between us has always been present and profound, but there’s more. You know there’s so much more to it than that.”
Irritated with herself for enjoying the kiss so much and rejecting the words he’d just whispered, her eyes popped open and she pulled farther away from him. “That’s all I have, Aiken.” He only blinked after she spoke. “It’s all I can give you for the time we have to be together.”
Take it or leave it.
Those words lingered unspoken in the air.
His answer was to lean in and touch his lips softly to hers once more.
* * *
Last night’s kiss had been purposeful. It was to prove a point to himself and to her. The second kiss, just moments ago, was her instinctive reaction to the inevitable. Now, this kiss, the beast wanted her, and the man—pride and ego aside—was losing the battle.
She’d taken something from him all those years ago, leaving an even deeper hole in his being than had been there before he’d ever met her. He’d wandered aimlessly for a while after leaving Miami, trying to figure out where he would be most helpful next. Sure, he could’ve stayed with the Collectors and simply transferred to another location, but everything about that entity reminded him of her and what they’d had. Then the Legion, the company and the assembly of Drakon that Theo led, had welcomed him, bringing him into their fold and filling most of the gaps inside the rough emotional track of his life. Working and living with them had made him feel almost whole again, almost alive.
Now, Mel was back, sliding her tongue eagerly over his. Her hands were planted on the back of his head, holding him to her as if her life depended on this connection. It did. The beast’s answer blared in his mind as it went full throttle, pressing itself into every crevice of Aiken’s human half. Together they could draw their mate to them and hopefully hold her there forever. That’s what the Selection process was all about, finding that matching soul, and gaining its acceptance to finally become whole. For Aiken, Mel was that match. That she was also a powerful Drakon was just the cherry on top of what could one day be a delicious joining. If only she’d give in to her Drakon half and give in to him. But that had to be her choice and as she’d told him long ago, she’d always choose herself.
For the time being he’d have to settle for this kiss, and since that was the case, Aiken was determined to make it count. In a lightning fast motion, he wrapped an arm around her torso, and pulled her across the console until she straddled him in the driver’s seat. The action broke the kiss, obviously, but he kept moving, reaching down to tap the button that controlled his seat until she wasn’t pressed against the steering wheel.
“What are you feeling, Mel?” The urge to call her “babe” the way he used to was there, but he pushed it aside. The way she was staring at him with eyes clouded by desire, forehead scrunched with indecision, said he still needed to tread lightly with her.
“Need.” The word tumbled free and she bit her bottom lip as if wishing she could take it back.
“I need to touch you.” It wasn’t a lie. His fingertips itched with the urgency to feel her skin once more. Acquiescing to that need, he pushed up the fitted T-shirt she wore today beneath that same denim jacket. A guttural groan released when his fingers eased up the smooth skin of her torso, over her rib cage, just beneath the curve of her breasts.
“Aiken.” Just his name. That’s all she said before she leaned closer, taking his mouth in another hungry kiss.
Her fingers moved fast, pushing his jacket off his shoulders, then ignoring that piece of clothing and reaching down between them to grab the hem of his shirt. He tilted his head, taking the kiss deeper as she pushed his shirt up, flattening her palms on his chest.
His beast reached out, pressing against his skin, feeling her touch and wanting more. She pulled away from the kiss but rested her forehead on his, trying to catch her breath. “It hurts.”
Biting back a curse, he moved his hands until they were against her back, rubbing them up and down the soft skin there. “I know. It hurts me too. It’ll be that way until we let go, Mel.”
His words died when a bright light illuminated the interior of the truck. She jerked up, looking out the passenger window and his attention went immediately to the driver’s side window. Nothing but a blinding light was there, a blinding light. The truck rocked back and forth.
“Shit!” He tossed her back over to the passenger seat.
She leaned forward, pulling free the gun she’d strapped to her right leg beneath her black jeans. Aiken had a gun too, but he’d rather use his Drakon power to fight his battles. Only this time he couldn’t see what the hell he needed to fight.
Either way, they both opened the doors of the truck at the same time and jumped out, crouching low to the ground. Even his night vision wasn’t cutting through this glaring light, but just as suddenly as it was blinding him, the light disappeared and in the next instant a searing pain shot through his shoulder. Glancing down, he saw the end of an arrow stic
king out and he yanked it free while letting loose a roar that shook the entire neighborhood.
The shooter was in the distance, about a block away, peeking from around the edge of some bushes. Aiken focused his gaze and lifted the bushes from the ground, sending them soaring across the street. Now without cover, the shooter aimed the crossbow at Aiken once more, but this time he was too slow. Zeroing his gaze on the crossbow, Aiken snatched it out of the shooter’s hand and directed it to land somewhere across the street. While the shooter stood there for muted seconds trying to figure out what was going on, Aiken ran toward him at full speed, catching him in a split second, then pummeled him to the ground.
“You out of your fuckin’ mind? Who are you?” The questions came between his punches but it took a few seconds before he realized no answer would be forthcoming as long as he was trying to break the guy’s jaw.
A quick flapping sound tore his attention away from beating this guy’s ass and he lifted his head to look around. A breeze accompanied the sound, ruffling the leaves on trees in the yards as it grew closer. Glancing around now with a more urgent purpose, he searched for Mel. Where the hell had she gone?
He looked all around but she wasn’t there. Every muscle in his body went on full alert, expanding and pressing against his human bones with an urgent need to shift. Above, hundreds of bats circled, causing the quick cool breeze. Tilting his head back while still keeping a knee in the shooter’s chest, he opened his mouth and let free a line of fire that sent the bats screeching in pain. Footfalls sounded next, at least fifty or so, coming fast.
“Who sent you out here?” The shooter wasn’t a vamp. His eyes were still a dull gray as blood poured from his nose and mouth. “Why’d you shoot at me?” When there was no answer and the footfalls were coming faster, he grabbed a handful of the guy’s hair and lifted his head off the ground. “You talk now or you die right here, take your choice.”
A bloody grin spread across the guy’s face. “You’re all gonna die.” No sooner than the words were whispered, the blood was replaced by an eerie black sludge that he proceeded to vomit all over the place.
Aiken had no time to curse the bastard for getting the sludge all over his custom-tailored pants and lambskin leather jacket. The hiss of vamps baring their fangs and preparing to lunge at him came loud and clear. Leaving the guy on the ground, he came to a stop and was about to do what was required when something pulled him backward.
The scene before him was clear, but unraveling as if he were watching it on television. Her grip had loosened on his shirt, but she was still holding him close. It took all of ten seconds for him to realize he was inside the chameleon’s cloak, pressed against the brick wall of a house. To any of the vamps on the street they would look just like the bricks that built the house. Mel’s chameleon power was a great hiding technique, but he was used to fighting his way through a battle, not sitting on the sidelines watching.
Vamps walked up and down the street stepping over the dead shooter and headed toward his truck. Thankfully, he and Mel had slammed the doors shut when they got out, and only another Drakon could open them. The vamps yanked on the handles, hissing and grumbling at their unsuccessful efforts, until finally a group of ten pushed the vehicle until it rolled over on its side.
Another few minutes of them trying to figure out where he’d gone and then a silver car pulled up slowly. It came to a stop in the intersection and two of the vamps that had been trolling the street walked over to the back window as it was rolled down slowly.
“They were here, two of them. We saw them from the security cams.” The tallest of the vamps had leaned down to speak through the window.
“Where are they now?” That voice came from within the car. They weren’t loud but Drakon had super heightened senses that could be used whenever they chose.
Aiken didn’t use the preternatural hearing often, because it wasn’t always necessary during his assignments. Tonight, it seemed, he and Mel were pulling out almost everything in their arsenal to both stay alive and get to the bottom of whatever was going on in Burgess.
“Disappeared,” the vamp answered with a shrug.
“Not possible.” The voice inside the car was angry. Aiken wondered if it was Duncan.
“Almost anything’s possible with dragons.”
“Not true. They get big, blow fire, break shit. That’s it. You had ample time to get to them before any of that could’ve happened. They’re getting in the way!” It was Duncan. A quick twist in the pit of his stomach confirmed the hunch. Aiken always trusted his gut.
Turning to look over at Mel, he wondered what was going through her mind. He didn’t try to speak, wasn’t sure it was possible during a cloak anyway. She’d never pulled him into one before, so he hadn’t thought that was possible either. When she returned his gaze it was with a mirrored expression of knowledge. She knew this was Duncan too. For a split second he wondered if she’d break the cloak and grab Duncan, taking him back to the Collectors’ base to claim her bounty. She didn’t move and he was reminded that Mel was a woman of her word. She’d do what she’d agreed to do with Aiken and then she’d be gone from his life again.
“Bull! We got here as fast as we could and if you’d taken care of them at the house last night instead of running like a bitch—” Whatever the vamp was about to say died quickly as a hand reached out from the window, grabbing it by the neck and squeezing until dust exploded into the air.
Seconds later, the car door opened and he stepped out wearing a long camel-colored wool coat over a dark brown suit. Wavy black hair was combed back from his face and hung down to his shoulders. His golden eyes pierced through the otherwise dark of night.
“Let this be the last mistake.” With a gravelly voice, he continued, capturing the complete attention of every vampire on the street at that moment. “I won’t tolerate any more interruptions and neither will the Chief. You know who they are and that they’re trying to stop us. Find them and destroy them. Now!”
The order reverberated throughout the area. Mel’s hand at his neck, clenched the material of his jacket again. She wanted to break the cloak and so did he. They could grab Duncan right now and carry him back to the Office. But if they left the concealed cover now, they’d have to fight all the vampires before they could get to their target. There’d be noise, no doubt, and a battle of that magnitude would be bound to draw attention of some of the humans living in the nearby townhouses—not that an ultrabright light, thousands of bats in the air and streams of fire shooting into the sky wasn’t enough to make a human take notice. Even though this district was predominantly vamps, there were a few of Burgess’s upper class living in those big historic houses as well.
Another option was to break the cloak and shift into dragon form. He could quickly dispatch all of the vampires then while Mel grabbed Duncan. But that would undeniably cause an uproar in a city already on the brink of an all-out war of preternaturals in the streets, not to mention a ton of damage.
No. There was really only one option—to let them go and plan a better attack.
Chapter Six
“What the fuck happened?” Steele Eze jumped out of his truck just before it stopped moving, slamming the door behind him.
Aiken and Mel had stepped from their hiding place seconds after the vamps had cleared out of the area. With his truck temporarily out of commission, Aiken had called for extraction.
“They saw us and got the jump on us.” The words were sour in his mouth, but had to be said since it was the truth.
“And how exactly were they able to do that?” He’d known his Drakon brothers would give him shit about the incident and was prepared to properly ignore them.
“Doesn’t matter. We saw Duncan. I know what he looks like and that he’s onto us searching for him.” He moved toward the truck, heading to the back door so he could open it and let Mel get inside. She’d been shivering since they bro
ke the cloak and had made sure not to stand anywhere near him so his body heat couldn’t help her.
It was no doubt a retreat from what had been happening between them in the truck before the vamps showed up, and he felt his beast’s disappointment with a crushing force.
“I got you, Mel. You come on this side and climb in. We’ll get you home and warmed up.” Reese had circled around the truck and was now walking beside Mel.
Without another thought, Aiken was in the Drakon’s face. “I’m not gonna tell you again. Step. Back.”
Reese’s grin was quick, the white of his teeth stark against the deep, rich umber tone of his skin. “Relax, man. I’m just tryin’ to be hospitable.”
Reese trying his best to piss him off right now wasn’t the best idea.
“Chill, Reese. Let’s get outta here first and then we’ll deal with this. The others are waiting.” Steele recognized the obvious and climbed into the driver’s seat. A chuckling, dickheaded Reese followed, going to the passenger side.
Aiken opened the back door on the driver’s side and waited for Mel to get in. He didn’t touch her but when she stopped at the door, their gazes met and held.
“We made a mistake.”
She climbed into the backseat and he mumbled, “It won’t be our last.” Because like it or not, the door to their past had been kicked open, arousal stoked in his beast and hers, there was no turning back. If either of them would survive the possible fallout this go-round, he had no clue. What he did know without a doubt was that his beast was intent on having her, all of her, again.
* * *
When the door closed, Enes willed the lock to click into place. It was a new thing she’d just discovered she could do, locking doors, turning on and off lights, starting candles. Warrick hadn’t told her much about being a vampire, just that human blood was her life force. Beyond that, her only task had been to do his bidding and she’d done that right up until the day he died.
