Not Quite Prey

by Kaye Draper

  I narrowed my eyes at him and made to continue on, but he stepped in front of me, blocking my path. “Sam. Seriously, talk to me.” He reached out to grip my shoulders and squeeze, his cool, water-scented magic wafting around me like a drug that my animal side was all too happy to inhale.

  I growled at him and he removed his hands from my shoulders, holding them up in a placating gesture. “I’m sorry. But you can’t keep up like this, Sam.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest, conscious of how the soft fabric of my new shirt clung to me like a second skin. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re yammering about, but you need to get out of my way.”

  He just sighed, not moving an inch. “I’m sorry about your friend.”

  I clenched my teeth against the sudden upwelling of sadness that wanted to overwhelm me, and buried it under anger instead. “Yeah, I’m sure you’re real beat up over the murder of a fiend you didn’t even know.”

  His golden eyes shimmered as he tilted his head, his long silver hair shifting over his shoulder in a sparkling waterfall. “I didn’t know her well, but I still wouldn’t wish her dead. Give me a little credit, Sam. Besides, I understand you may have been…involved with her?”

  I rolled my eyes. Involved. Right. “I don’t know who the hell has been gossiping about my sex life, but it’s none of your business.”

  He gave me a faint smile. “Calm down. Theo just mentioned it, is all. Sam, I’m only trying to say I’m sorry you’re in pain.”

  I bared my teeth at him. “Let’s back up to where the damned bird thinks it’s okay to blabber about me. I’m sure you and Theo have all sorts of secret discussions while you’re horizontal. But leave me the fuck out of it.” My anger found a new channel and I redirected it there before it could burn me alive, even though I knew I sounded crazy. “I thought you did actual work for him, but that’s not all, is it? Once you get done working your magic on his political rivals, do you spend the rest of your time working in his bed?” I tilted my head as if considering. “I bet the sovereign pays his whores well.”

  He didn’t react to the jab, just shrugged his broad shoulders carelessly. “I don’t see why one should preclude the other. I actually like Theo. He doesn’t have to pay me to suck his dick. That’s volunteer work.”

  I shook my head at his attempt to get under my skin. “Whatever. Get out of my way.”

  He sighed. “You can snipe at me all you want. But I’m not moving until you talk to me. You’re taking this hard, Sam. I’m worried about you. Where are your mates? They should be with you when you’re all stirred up like this. You need them to ground you. You know that.”

  I growled again, trying to shove past him. “No one asked for your worry. And my mates are none of your business.”

  He grabbed my arm, refusing to let me by. “Sam. You’re putting on a good show, but I know you. You’re a mess inside. And Theo’s sending you out on a job, isn’t he? You’re going to get yourself hurt or killed.”

  I whirled, stepping into his space and using my body and my superior strength to shove him up against the door with a thud. “You just think you know everything, don’t you, siren?”

  He didn’t fight me, just let me slam him into the bedroom door and pin him there, my hands clamped around his wrists as I held them pinned against the wooden panel. “When it comes to you?” he huffed. “Yeah, Sam. I know everything. Including how much you don’t want to hear the truth.” He pulled against my grip, but he wasn’t going anywhere until I let him. I was stronger. He let his head thud back against the wall. “You’re avoiding your emotions, Sam. Like you always do. If you don’t let it out, you’re going to implode.”

  I stared into his gold eyes as I fought with the emotions inside me. He was right. I knew he was right. But I hadn’t managed to survive my abusive pack and claw out a semblance of a normal life in human society by emoting. The only reason I was even alive right now was because I knew how to push it all down and get by with brutal force and sheer stubbornness.

  Feeling made me weak. It made me stupid and prone to mistakes. I didn’t need to feel. I needed to kill. I needed to ride the edge between danger and ecstasy as I hunted down something more powerful than me. I needed to prove I was still the hunter, not the prey—no matter how much I felt like life was making me its bitch right now.

  Angel shifted against me as he tried to get me to loosen my grip and another waft of his enticing scent hit me hard. My inner beast perked up. Fighting would be a good way to burn off this restless, angry energy inside me. But there were other ways to stop feeling and immerse myself in my animal nature.

  I let my beast take control. I knew my eyes would be glowing an inhuman blue. Angel would know exactly who was in charge inside me right now, but he didn’t show fear. His golden eyes shimmered with sudden heat as he met my gaze. “Sam….”

  I leaned in and dragged my nose against the skin on the side of his neck, drawing him in, scenting him, breathing in his essence of magic and sea air. He swallowed convulsively, his hands spasming in my grip as I opened my mouth and dragged my fangs over the vulnerable skin where his pulse beat.

  I released his hands so I could bury my fingers in his silky hair and hold him still while I devoured his mouth. There was nothing hesitant or careful about it, like there had been the last time I’d tasted him. We were about the same size, but I was shifter strong. I was stronger than Angel, and he didn’t even try to pretend I wasn’t. I nipped at his lower lip and he groaned, his graceful hands coming to rest on my hips and pull me flush against him, his hips pressing forward to meet me.

  For one horrible, glorious moment, Angel was kissing me back with everything he had.

  Then he was pushing me away, struggling to hold me at bay with a hand on my chest. “This is a terrible idea.”

  I turned my head to glare at him, our cheeks a hairsbreadth apart. “You’re the one who’s always pushing me,” I said, my voice more sabertoothed cat than human. “What’s the matter, siren? Was it all just another one of your manipulations?” I rubbed my cheek against his, reveling in the faintest rasp of his barely-there silver stubble, in the sensation of his aura against mine—where my stupid cat side insisted it belonged.

  His hand at my hip squeezed, and I let him push me back a step. “You’re mine,” he breathed, pressing his forehead to mine. “You belong to me, Sam. We both know that. But I know how this will end. If I take advantage of you now, while you’re hurting and emotional, I’ll just end up being the villain again come morning.”

  The pain and desperation in my gut twisted and gave way to a new sort of ache. I felt like I was standing on the edge of a cliff about to jump into an unknown abyss. Angel was danger. I knew that. I wasn’t supposed to let him close. He was right. I needed my mates. They’d calm the raging beast inside me that I tried to deny. But they’d get hurt. And Angel was…no. I couldn’t even go there. It was too much. Everything was too much. I just wanted to blot it out.

  “Don’t be stupid,” I snorted. “I just need to blow off some steam before I go feral. We both know this is just a quick grudge fuck. It doesn’t mean anything.”

  His gold eyes burned into mine, full of emotions I couldn’t even name. Then he pushed off the wall and closed the distance between us again. “Yeah. Okay, Sam,” he breathed, lacing his long fingers through my hair to tilt my head back. “If that’s what you need right now, okay.”

  I closed my eyes as he planted soft kisses on my forehead, my eyelids, nose, cheeks. I heard what he was really saying. That he knew better. That it wasn’t a quick fuck for him. That this was going to hurt him as much as it hurt me.

  That he’d agree to my lie, if that’s what I needed, and pretend it was nothing, even if it gutted him.

  “It doesn’t mean anything,” I growled.

  He pressed his lips to the corner of my mouth. “Shut up, Sam.”

  Chapter 15

  Angel’s lips caressed mine in a slow, sensuous drag. But I didn’t want slow and tender. It wa
s too intimate. Too much like feeling. I wanted to purge the rage inside me. I needed to get lost in his body so I could forget everything else. And I needed to be in charge, to prove I was the dominant one here. To prove I wasn’t prey. I pushed into the kiss, turning it raw and brutal.

  Angel went along with me, gripping my hair and pulling, tilting my head back roughly as we battled for control. Then he pulled back and bent to nip at the junction of my shoulder and neck with his short, sharp teeth, leaving a stinging bite behind. I let out a low rumble of satisfaction at the pinch of pain. He was a professional, after all, he knew how to give his lovers what they wanted. And I didn’t want tenderness.

  Angel reached behind him to twist the doorknob and we spilled into his room, still tangled in each other. I tugged at his clothes, wanting to feel his skin against mine, now. He chuckled at my impatience, his musical voice rippling through me like a caress as I tore his soft sweater down the front and yanked it off. His sparkling, otherworldly silver hair fell around his shoulders and sculped chest in shiny waves, and I took a moment to appreciate the sight, raking one claw slowly down the center of his chest before hooking it in his waistband.

  He gave me a lopsided smile and reached for the hem of my shirt. “I want to see all of you, Sam. Please?”

  I rolled my eyes at his request and my sudden jolt of nerves. Then I yanked my own shirt off, tossing it aside. Today’s sports bra had a zipper front, and Angel trailed his fingers down the front, his eyes meeting mine. “You’re okay with this?”

  I clenched my teeth. The last time I’d been intimate with Angel, I’d let my worry about my weird body get in the way. But at the moment, I didn’t fucking care. I just wanted to feel good. I wanted my brain to stop its stupid chatter. And I wanted him to stop being so fucking careful. To stop acting like it mattered.

  I yanked the zipper down and shrugged out of the sports bra, baring my teeth in challenge. Angel chuckled. “Okay, I get it. Calm down, tiger.” He slid his soft hands around my ribs and upward, cupping my breasts like he was holding some kind of rare treasure. He kissed me again and I bit his lip, hard.

  He finally stopped trying to be nice. As I held his plush bottom lip between my fangs, he squeezed harder, bringing one of my nipples between his fingers and giving it a sharp pinch.

  I let go of his lip and growled, shoving him backward with my enhanced strength. The back of his legs hit the bed and he sat, reaching out to roughly tug me closer by the hips. “Fuck you’re beautiful, Sam,” he murmured. Then his big hands were pressing against my back, arching me into him as he closed his warm, wicked mouth over my nipple, alternating between flicks of his tongue and the sharp scrape of his not-quite-human teeth. I threaded my hands through his hair and pulled his head closer, urging him to suck harder, clinging to him and dropping my head back as he worked over my breasts, sending jolts of pleasure right to my core.

  When he pulled back to unbutton my pants, I dug my claws into his broad shoulders, just shy of drawing blood. “I’m not going to be the only one naked this time,” I growled. Last time he’d distracted me by making it all about me. I wasn’t about to end up tied up on the floor again.

  His smoldering gold eyes met mine and he smirked. “Fine. Have your way with me, cur.” He pressed a kiss to my stomach, right above my belly button. Then he unzipped his own pants and hooked his thumbs in the waistband, lifting his hips and pulling off his underwear and pants in one quick movement. He tossed his pants aside and flopped back on the bed, one arm under his head and one hand trailing down his flat stomach to grip his long, thick cock and give it a stroke.

  I took in the sight that was Angel, all spread out before me like some sort of exotic buffet. His light golden skin was covered in an opal-like sheen that made him glint like a pearl in the low light, and every inch of him looked like it had been sculpted by an artist. I was ripping my own pants off before I made the decision to move. I ran my hands up the leanly muscled expanse of Angel’s thighs, dragging my claws over his skin and making him shudder, sliding my body against his until I sat straddling his legs. Reaching down, I gripped that beautiful cock and squeezed. Angel’s eyes went hooded with lust as he brushed my hand aside. Gripping my hip with one hand, he tilted me toward him, then gripped both of our cocks in the other hand, pressing my smaller dick along the length of his as he stroked us in tandem, slow and hard.

  I made an embarrassing noise in my throat that was half growl, half purr. Leaning in, I buried my fangs in one smooth pec, wanting to savage him for the way my heart was thundering in my chest. He arched into the pain, his head tilted back and his long throat working as he swallowed down a hiss of surprise.

  Licking the sweet blood from my lips, I lifted my hips and knocked his hands aside so I could sink down onto that glorious cock, taking him to the hilt in one sharp, hard motion. He gripped my hips so hard I’d probably have bruises, if I was human. I lifted up on my knees, then slammed back down, taking him rough and fast, chasing every sensation as I tried to outrun the feelings churning inside me.

  Angel met me thrust for thrust, digging his heels in and lifting his hips to drive us both toward oblivion that much faster. I reached for my cock, but he slapped my hand away, wrapping his own big, warm hand around me and stroking in time to our movements. His blue eyes burned into mine and I could feel the magic simmering inside him as he lost control of his tight grip on his power. He looked up at me with such a strange mix of fury and need. That look in his eyes was all it took. Climax barreled into me and I dropped my head back and roared as I came, shooting cum across Angel’s perfect abs and chest at the same time as my walls clenched around him, whiting out my whole world.

  Angel cried my name like it was a note in a song, his rich musical voice casting a spell that he didn’t even know he was using. I almost cried at the sound, collapsing forward and burying my face against his shoulder so he wouldn’t see the effect he had on me.

  So he couldn’t see that I knew exactly what we were to each other.

  His graceful hands stroked over my back as I slowly came back down to earth. My heartbeat slowed, and it was impossible not to notice how it matched his, with our chests pressed together like this. The thought was like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over me. I suppressed a shudder and slid off him. He reached for me, but I was already sitting up.

  “Well, that was fun,” I said, as if nothing important had happened. “I need a shower.”

  I stood, not daring to look back at the vision that I knew was behind me—Angel, all messed up and flushed with afterglow because of me. No. I didn’t want to remember that at all. He didn’t speak, but the sound of his head flopping back down on the pillow was loud enough to make his frustration with me loud and clear.

  I scooped up my clothes and went to use Angel’s shower. I felt like an asshole. I should ask him to join me. At the very least, I should toss him a wet washcloth to wipe my cum off his skin. But that would be too much like caring.

  When I emerged from the shower, Angel had cleaned himself up a bit and pulled on a pair of loose, low-slung silk pajama pants, his broad shoulders and the lean, supple lines of his torso on full display. Fucking hell. Why did he have to be so damned pretty?

  I kept my expression neutral as I made for the door. But of course, he wouldn’t let me escape that easily.

  He reached out cup my cheek and I pulled back. Pain flashed in his eyes, but I refused to let it bother me. I hadn’t led him on. I told him all I wanted was a quick, angry fuck. It wasn’t my fault if he wanted to act all sappy. The gods knew, it wasn’t like Angel was a stranger to meaningless sex.

  His silky voice was pitched low when he spoke, still husky from our recent activities. “I know why you fight this, Sam. Why you avoid me.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Oh? And what kind of delusional bullshit have you made up in your head now?”

  His gold eyes bore into mine, and I felt more exposed than I had when I was naked. “You’re afraid to be vulnerable to someone who is str
onger than you.”

  I scoffed. “Okay, sure. Yeah. I’m so scared. Did you miss the fact that I’ve been screwing an ogre? I’m pretty sure he could throw me through a damned wall if he wanted to.”

  Angel just shook his head and gave me a sad look. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” He waved a self-deprecating gesture at his body. “I know I’m not physically strong. But there are other forms of strength. I can control your thoughts and your emotions. I could pull you under my spell right now, and there would be nothing you could do to fight it. You’d come as sweetly and easily as a well-trained pet. And it terrifies you. It always has.”

  The rage and pain inside me that we’d just burned off flared up brighter than ever, fueled by something else. Something more like fear. “Fuck you, siren. Try using your magic on me and I’ll snap your pretty little fucking neck.”

  He sighed and held up the graceful hands that had tried to hold me so lovingly just minutes before. “Look, I get it! I understand, Sam. I know you don’t want anyone to have control over you.” His voice softened. “I know you spent a big chunk of your life living in fear of the fiends around you because no matter how hard you fought back, you were always weaker.” He stepped closer and I could tell he wanted to reach for me again, but he kept his hands to himself. “You told me once, don’t you remember? How terrified you were that your fiend side would decide to recognize one of the forest shifters as its mate? How you were scared your instincts would make you the perfect victim?”

  I swallowed hard, feeling like a rabbit in front of a wolf. Heat and cold prickled over me all at once as all the old fears resurfaced. He was right. It had been one of my biggest fears. That one day my damned shifter biology would just make me roll over and show my belly like a weakling. What if one of the shifters who had terrorized me as a teenager got wind of a weakness like that? I imagined all the ways they could use it to degrade and humiliate me. And I would have let them, all because my inner animal bought into the mate bullshit.