Ruling Fire (Bad Boys Of The Underworld Book 4)

by Crowe, Mallory

  Rebecca didn’t even have the grace to look guilty. “I might’ve omitted a few things. I won’t apologize for wanting my daughters to be immortal. You can be as angry at me as you want, but no mother deserves to watch her children die.”

  “No daughter deserves to be forced into an unhappy marriage to make their mother happy,” shot back Elsie.

  Rebecca stood up. “Don’t you dare judge me. You’re a strong, beautiful, and intelligent woman who is now queen of werewolves. Are you telling me I didn’t have anything to do with that?”

  “I’m saying I turned out this well in spite of you. Not because of you.”

  Rebecca took in a deep breath as the barest hint of tears started to creep out. Rebecca, never one to show weakness, quickly composed herself. She held her head high and carefully placed her hat on. “Well, I’m sorry you feel that way. When you are done convincing yourself I’ve ruined your life, I hope we can have a civil discussion about all this.”

  With that, Rebecca turned and strode from the cabin, leaving Elsie following after her. Rebecca paused only to cheerfully wave at Brock, who waited for them on the front porch. The wide brim of her hat kept the sun from touching her face.

  “It was wonderful seeing you again. I hope you both will visit Roman and me soon,” she cooed.

  “You’re not staying longer?”

  “Oh no. I wouldn’t want to bother the newlyweds any more than I need to.” Her voice and face showed no sign of the fight that truly chased her off the property.

  “It was nice seeing you, Mrs. Entin,” he said in his business voice.

  Rebecca smiled at him before she got back into her car. “When you are feeling better, you make sure to call me, Elsie,” she called from the open driver’s window.

  Elsie sighed and walked over to her mother and leaned against the driver’s door. “Listen, Mother. I’m mad. I’m rightfully mad. It’s going to take some time.”

  Rebecca reached through the open window to clasp Elsie’s hand. “Time is something we both have, sweetheart,” she said with a soft smile.

  Elsie gave a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Bye, Mother.”

  Brock joined her as Rebecca drove away. “How did everything go?”

  Elsie turned away from him. “Don’t act like you couldn’t hear every word.”

  He turned and followed her. “At least I have the decency to pretend I wasn’t.”

  Elsie snorted. “That does count for something. I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do with her. She blatantly manipulates me, but says it’s only because she loves me. What kind of love is that?”

  “I guess it’s just family,” he muttered.

  Elsie mentally kicked herself. She never should’ve put Brock in the middle of her drama. He’d been nothing but nice to her and didn’t deserve her crap at his doorstep.

  They’d had such a nice night together. She should be trying to capture that happiness or enjoying the fresh air before they headed back to the city.

  But the woods just weren’t as relaxing as they’d been two days earlier. These weren’t peaceful trees, and the breeze off the water wasn’t calming. Everything was a reminder of running for her life. Of legs that felt as though they couldn’t move another inch when stopping wasn’t an option.

  She never should’ve gotten out of bed. When Brock woke her up that morning—well, afternoon—she thought he’d wanted to make love again. They should’ve made love again. Instead, Rebecca had to invite herself over and ruin what could’ve been a great day.

  “We need to talk about what happened last night,” he said softly, reminding her that his family was everywhere and they all had superb hearing.

  “About me growing a tail or about the sex?” She kept her tone as distant as possible.

  Brock put a gentle hand on her elbow to stop her. “About the sex.”

  Elsie turned to him and waited for him to continue, too embarrassed to say anything.

  “Last night changed things.”

  Her gaze went to the ground. “It’s just sex,” she muttered.

  His hand tightened on her arm. “That’s a lie. What we had was more than sex and I think you know that. I know you didn’t choose to be with me. To bond with me. I know you’ve always respected me and I hope you know I’ve always thought you’re brilliant. But last night proved that there is something stronger between us than respect.”

  Elsie pulled away from him. “You don’t understand.”

  Brock shook his head. “No, you don’t understand. I’m no saint. I’ve been with more than my fair share of women and nothing even comes close to what we did last night. Do you have any idea how hard it is to have a conversation with Lana or Russell when I’m sporting a hard-on constantly thinking about you?”

  A flush of desire shot through Elsie. Had he truly been thinking about her all day? She shook her head in denial. “It’s just the curse. Because I’m a siren, your attraction is amplified. None of it’s real.”

  “I would believe that if I didn’t want you before we bonded. Remember that kiss in my office? All me and you. No supernatural forces involved. And don’t even tell me you didn’t like it. I could smell your desire then and I can smell it now.”

  Elsie’s mouth fell open in shock at his words. “Hasn’t anyone ever told you that it’s rude to smell people?” she hissed.

  Brock pulled her to him and covered her mouth with his own.

  Elsie weakly pushed at him as his mouth opened over hers, but in moments her fists curled in his shirt and pulled him closer.

  Did the siren’s curse affect the siren too? She never thought it did, but apparently her mother had been selective with the truth. What if she was just falling under her own spell?

  Brock moved his hands over her curves and settled on her ass. His strong fingers kneaded her flesh and she moaned. The treatment was rough, but it was exactly what she wanted. He pulled her closer and she felt the hard evidence of his arousal.

  She just itched to hike one leg around his waist. He was strong. One of the strongest men she’d ever met. How easy would it be for him to push her against the nearest tree and slide into her wet heat?

  Would the bark hurt? Would she even care?

  Elsie pushed herself away from Brock. Seriously? Sex against a tree? Where did these thoughts even come from?

  Up until last night, she’d been a virgin. Before two weeks ago, she’d never even kissed a man. This had to be some type of curse.

  Brock stopped kissing her, but he didn’t release her.

  Her breaths came in heavy pants as she tried to regain her composure. “None of this is real,” she insisted.

  He cupped the back of her head with one of his big hands. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? This is real. What you are feeling is real. I want you and you want me.”

  Every instinct in her urged her to meet his lips with her own and let him have her however he wanted her, but those urges were the same reason she pulled away.

  “No,” she said as firmly as possible. “We just— We need some space. From each other. We need to figure out what is happening.”

  Brock shook his head. “What we need is to kick everyone out of the cabin and spend a week in bed together. Just you and me. No clothes allowed.” His head bent to her shoulder and laid a gentle kiss on the sensitive skin there.

  “We need a chance to get to know each other without our families driving us crazy,” he murmured as he moved his lips up her neck to her ear.

  Without conscious thought, Elsie’s hands moved over Brock’s arms, feeling the contours of his muscles and the ripples of movement as he held her closer. He moved for her lips again and she snapped out of it, stepping out of his reach.

  She was so tempted to take him up on his offer. She couldn’t even imagine all the wild things he could teach her. How many romantic movies had she turned off in the middle of the steamy scenes, thinking she would never experience passion like that?

  It wasn’t as though she could le
ave Brock. Now that she’d bonded with him, he was stuck with her. His body would never respond to another woman like it would to her. Even if he was stuck with her, she couldn’t go from coworkers to a devoted couple in just two weeks. Maybe she’d grown up with vampires, but this sex business was just too strange for her.

  “I know it’s not fair of me to ask and I know it might not make sense to you, but I need time,” she whispered.

  Brock’s lips tightened in frustration and he looked to his side, avoiding meeting her eyes. “I didn’t mean to pressure you,” he said tightly. Elsie could tell the words were sincere but knew he didn’t want to let her go. “And it is fair of you to ask. I shouldn’t have expected so much so quickly.”

  Elsie snorted. “I think I gave you every reason to expect more,” she muttered.

  “Can I ask how much time you think you’ll need?”

  Elsie shrugged. She had no idea. Before the myotis attacked, she’d planned to live on her own her whole mortal life. Now she and Brock were stuck together for an eternity.

  She should feel strongly one way or another about this. She should be happy she was with someone she respected and who was able to make her scream in the bedroom. She should be furious her mother had manipulated her and she was being kidnapped and betrayed by the one family member of his she trusted the most.

  She shouldn’t feel both happy and furious at the same time. The two just didn’t go together, and the longer Brock kissed and touched her, the more confused she got.

  “A week?” she said. “You can get some work done in the city and I’ll clean up whatever messes are being made in the Jersey plant.”

  Brock nodded. “We have to find a replacement for you.” At her look of indignation, he continued. “You are too important for the company to lose, but I would like you to live with me. You can take on supervisory duties of the Jersey and Ohio plants from the Manhattan office and we can find someone to take care of the more day-to-day tasks.”

  She would have to move. The thought broke her heart, but she knew it was reasonable. Every feminist bone in her body wanted to scream at him, but it wasn’t as if he could move into her small house and still run the company. His family spent generations turning it into a profitable national corporation. She couldn’t ask him to give up on it because life was unfair to her.

  “I should, um, go pack.” She turned and walked back to the house, forcing herself not to look back at him.

  “Elsie,” he called. She closed her eyes for a second before she turned to look at him. “We are going to make this work, okay?”

  She tried her best for a reassuring smile but knew the result was shaky at best.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Elsie’s mouth watered as the line slowly moved forward. She was already imagining the full fat caramel latte sliding down her throat.

  Normally she was good and got a skinny latte or tea, but today she needed more. After the week with Brock’s family, she needed this treat. She was used to getting her caffeine hit every morning, but apparently werewolves saw no need for the energy boost. Turning furry she could live with. A lifetime without coffee was a death sentence.

  Her phone buzzed again and Elsie rolled her eyes. Between Brock and her mother, the phone hadn’t shut up all morning. Rebecca was desperate to patch things up between them, and Brock wanted to check up on her every fifteen minutes.

  He insisted he trusted her enough to keep out of trouble, but she did like the security of knowing he was keeping tabs on her. And he wasn’t worried for no reason.

  There were people who wanted her dead. In the past two weeks alone, she’d almost died twice. That wasn’t even including her nightmares.

  Luckily she hadn’t had any dreams since the night she first turned. Maybe the mystical mansion really had collapsed and now it would leave her alone.

  A woman in front of her finished placing her order and the line shuffled forward, bringing Elsie even closer to her blessed coffee.

  Glancing down at her phone, she opened up Brock’s text. STILL NOT KIDNAPPED?

  She chuckled. His constant checkups would probably get annoying, but when her fear was so fresh it was nice to know he had her back.

  SO FAR SO GOOD, she replied.

  The line shuffled up a few more feet and Elsie let out a sigh of relief. She shifted her laptop bag so she could easily reach the money in her purse; she wanted to order and pay as quick as possible. It was never a good idea to get between caffeine addicts and their fix this early in the morning.

  She finally was able to walk up to the barista and quickly shot out her order. She was a coffee shop pro.

  “That’ll be four dollars fifty cents,” said the pretty young blonde, who looked as if she’d rather be anywhere other than taking Elsie’s order. A happy-looking pot head, aptly nicknamed Bud, was always at the coffee shop down the street from her house. He always smiled and told her amusing stories with no point about his roommates.

  She missed Bud.

  Not wanting to spend any more time with the depressed barista than she had to, Elsie quickly handed over her credit card.

  “This one’s on me,” said a familiar male voice from behind her.

  Elsie’s bags clattered to the floor as she jumped away from the voice and turned around. Instead of a monstrous and leathery creature, a breathtaking man stood inches from where she’d just been.

  Others in line gave her strange looks and she couldn’t blame them. He cocked his head at her reaction and one corner of his mouth lifted. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  Her eyes might be playing tricks on her, but she knew that voice. He was definitely the same myotis who invaded her home.

  The barista stared at his new visage with unmasked admiration. “Can I get you…anything?” she asked in a breathy voice.

  “Just get the queen her coffee. I’d really appreciate it.” His voice dripped with charm.

  Elsie’s mouth dropped open in shock. “Don’t call me that,” she hissed as she knelt to pick up her purse and computer case. He bent down and picked up her work bag.

  She snatched it from his hands. “Stop buying me coffee and stop touching my stuff,” she whispered as harshly as possible. “Just go away!”

  “We can’t go yet, Your Majesty. Your drink isn’t done. It sounded complicated. Might take a while.”

  Speechless, Elsie stared up at him. What game was he playing? And when the hell did he turn from batboy to Fabio?

  No. Fabio wasn’t right, but he did look as though he belonged on the cover of a romance novel. His arms were huge and stretched the sleeves of his black sweater. His hair was a rich brown that didn’t look real, and his eyes were the deepest blue she’d ever seen.

  She’d lived around the supernatural her whole life, but she’d never seen anyone as ethereal as him.

  “Hey, lady! Are you going to move?” shouted an impatient customer.

  “Shit,” she muttered under her breath.

  The barista wasn’t about to let her dream man get chased away. “Hey! He and his little friend can take as long as they want!”

  Great. Now she was a little friend. “I’m moving. I’m moving,” she assured the man as she scuffled away so the line could continue to move.

  To her annoyance, the batboy followed her. He stood close enough that their shoulders touched, and Elsie couldn’t help her shudder of revulsion and backed away, not caring about the three people she ran into.

  He stared down at her, frowning at her reaction. But he didn’t look surprised.

  “Stop shaking like a frightened mouse. I’m not here to hurt you. I don’t even have my game face on.” He held up his hands in a non-threatening manner to elaborate his point.

  “Funny. I don’t believe you.”

  Her finished drink was pushed over the counter and batboy quickly swiped it off the counter. “You want to talk here or would you rather find somewhere more private?”

  Elsie rubbed her forehead in exasperation. “I’m not tal
king with you. I am leaving and you better hope I don’t sic a bunch of were—” Elsie glanced around the crowded coffeehouse. “A bunch of my dogs on you.”

  He frowned at the threat. “While I’m sure enough of your wolves would have me beat, I guarantee I’d win in a one-on-one fight. Besides, my coven might not be as numerous as it once was, but it’s still strong. Don’t make threats you can’t back up with muscle.”

  For the first time, the smiling tone was out of his voice and he was dead serious.

  “I’ll make a mental note.” As she spoke, she snuck her hand into her purse. She needed to keep talking so he wouldn’t hear her search for her phone. “Do you make a habit of sneaking up on women minding their own business on their way to work or is this a career switch from terrorizing women in their homes?”

  Damn it! Where was the stupid phone?

  “Believe it or not, women tend to enjoy it when I go home with them.”

  Elsie rolled her eyes at the innuendo. “Obviously they haven’t met your Hyde.”

  “True. That is a bit of a buzzkill. And you can stop looking for your phone. I have it safely in my pocket.”

  Elsie’s hand froze in place. “Seriously? You attack me and my family in my home and now you steal my only form of reaching protection but you expect me to believe you aren’t here to hurt me?”

  “Stop being so paranoid. You’re supposed to be a werewolf queen. Act like one.”

  “I’m trying to be afraid of you. I really am. But right now I’m just a little too pissed off at you to manage much fear.”

  He smiled at her threats. “All I want is to have a civilized conversation. Is that too much to ask?”

  Elsie glanced around her to the various stares their fighting was drawing. He probably wouldn’t hurt her here. There were too many witnesses.

  But she didn’t want to stake her life on “probably.”

  She motioned with her head for him to follow her and walked to one of the small tables outside the coffeehouse.

  After arranging her bags, she sat down and finally took a sip of the decadent drink, moaning in pleasure. Screw the monster across the table. This was heaven.