I took a breath and his scent filled me. She rolled around in it.
Down girl!
“Jade.” His voice greeted, and I shivered at the sound. How could he have such an effect on me? He walked in front of me. His handsome face and muscled upper body made my body tense.
“Hello, Adrian.”
“So what do you think, Jade?” Faust asked.
“Why Kincaid?” I questioned averting Adrian’s blue eyes.
“Because he’s head of MTU, and I want him working this case with you. I would feel better to know he has your back.”
With my alpha father and his pack, I doubted I needed any more protection.
I nodded. “Okay.”
“Great.” Faust patted Adrian on the back. “I’ll see you later.” He left us alone.
Adrian smiled at me. My heart accelerated, and I frowned while taking a step back.
“Something wrong, Jade?” he asked. “I won’t bite – again.”
“But I might.” I countered.
He beamed. “Is that so?”
I wasn’t sure I could trust myself around him, so I backed up more and started toward the door.
He followed.
Once we were outside, I stopped walking and put up my hands. “I think I need distance.”
He looked at me curiously and then backed up. “Am I a threat?” He questioned.
“No, but…” I didn’t know how to answer that.
Cautiously, Adrian approached me and soon was close enough that I could taste him in the air around me.
“I feel it too, Jade,” he whispered as he leaned into me. “It’s hard to ignore. The pull is intense.” He brushed my cheek with his thumb. “She calls to me…” His breath tickled my earlobe, and I shuddered.
He smiled and then in a snap of a finger, his face contorted, and he doubled over in pain.
“Adrian!” I wrapped my arms around him. His pain instantly slammed into me, and I screamed. It felt like every bone in my body was being broken, mended, and broken again.
“Foolish, child!” My father’s voice growled in my head. “This alliance is forbidden. Do not touch him.”
The pain left me, but I struggled to catch my breath again.
“I am your alpha.” He boomed. “I will not be disobeyed.”
Adrian staggered to his feet. His beautiful face was red from the lingering pain. “I’m so sorry, Jade.”
“Wait.” I countered.
Adrian stopped walking.
I touched his face.
“Jade.” Lucian cautioned. “I will hurt you.”
“Hurt me then.” I offered and brought Adrian’s mouth to mine.
My power created a protective barrier. I felt my father try to break through and when he succeeded, Adrian and I staggered.
When I could speak, I yelled inside my head. “Stay the fuck out of my head, Lucian!”
Even though my insides have been ravaged and the pain left me trembling, the taste of her tongue made it tolerable.
Adrian
Chapter Twenty-six
Unwelcomed
I headed back home to make my preparations for Romania. I was only a few steps up in the building when my body tensed and stopped in mid-motion.
The smell of wolf was strong in the air, and it mingled with a different scent. Something sweet and unpleasant at the same time.
Just as I suspected, my apartment door had been vandalized.
I could taste my heartbeat in my throat as I slowly entered my apartment. The scent of wolf was like a poisonous flower.
From the doorway, I could see that my apartment had been ripped apart, everything from my movie collection to my couch cushions had been torn to pieces.
My chest rose and fell with heavy breaths. My hands shook with anxiety as it leaked into my body and sped up my pulse.
Shit. Shit.
I stayed close to the wall as I made my way through the apartment and into my bedroom.
My drawers had been ransacked, clothes and lingerie covered the floor and the bed. What could they have been looking for?
I’m not easily spooked but the thought of strangers in my apartment touching my personal belongings freaked me out and made me feel violated.
When I got to the closet in my room, I reached my hand into a red shoebox on the shelf, gripped my silver 9mm and squeezed it so hard in my hand that I nearly pulled a tendon.
“Jade!” Stephan’s panicked voice called me from the hallway. “Jade!”
“In here!” I yelled from the bedroom.
I heard him running toward me fumbling over broken pieces of furniture. He was in the doorway now. His face was horrified until he saw me and the next second his arms were wrapped tight around me. So tight that he was bruising my bones.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, kissing the top of my head and then taking my face in his hands to look at me.
I shook my head. “No, I wasn’t here when it happened.”
He pulled me back into his arms and rested his chin on my head.
“Who would do this, and why?” I asked, relaxing into Stephan’s body and breathing in his scent. “Maybe I should talk to my father.”
“He already knows. He’s on his way,” Stephan responded.
I nodded and pulled myself closer to him while still holding an iron grip on my gun.
Five minutes later, my father and two of his puppets were there sniffing the air and my ruined things.
His blue-gray eyes were furious as he took in the atmosphere with a deep breath. “Vampires. Two vampires and one of Vladimir’s wolves.”
“You can tell that just by smelling the air?” I asked, leaning against the living room wall. My gun was still in my hand.
“You can too,” he answered. “If you concentrate.”
I closed my eyes and breathed in the musty air. The wolf I could smell but unlike wolves I’ve smelled before, this one smelled different.
The other scent was floral, like withering roses. “I smell rotting flowers and a different kind of wolf,” I said opening my eyes. “What do they want?”
“Perhaps the other packs have forged some sort of treaty with the vampires.” He walked over to me and took my hands. “Jade, my child, you must shield yourself.”
“How?” My voice was but a whisper.
Lucian touched my face gently. “The same way you contain your gift. You must surround yourself with iron gates, impenetrable gates that will keep out anyone following your scent like you did earlier when you disobeyed me.”
“I’ll try.” I nodded.
“Yes, you will,” Lucian said, sternly. “But until you learn, you will come and stay with me at the hotel.”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Jade.”
“No. I don’t want to stay there with you.” I moved away from him and paced around the room. “Look, no offense, but I don’t think I can be around you and Mom right now. I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
“Your mother and I will continue to seek your forgiveness, Jade. We are aware it will take time. Can you look past your anger and do as I command?”
“Maybe eventually. But I can’t right now. There is too much anger inside me. Too many years of pain and resentment.”
He nodded as if he understood.
“I will stay with Adrian.”
Stephan raised disapproving eyes up at me.
“I will not allow that.” Lucian dismissed.
“I didn’t ask for your permission.”
“Jade.” Stephan intercepted.
“Don’t try to talk me out of it.” I told both of them. “I want to stay with Adrian because he is the one person in my life that has been honest with me. Besides, he can calm me with—”
“As can I.” My father cut in.
“Maybe,” I said giving my father my full gaze. “But I hold no resentment toward Adrian.”
“Maybe you should,” Stephan said through gritted teeth.
I dismissed him. “It will only be
for a few days anyway. I’ve booked a flight to Romania on Saturday.” I informed him. “I want to stay with Adrian. He keeps me sane. He’s my connection to Seth. Can’t you see that?”
Stephan looked from my father to me and clenched his jaw. Clearly he wanted my father to forbid this, but my father started nodding. “Fine, Jade. As you wish but do not foolishly believe that you will be alone with him – at his home or in Romania. I allow it because I seek your forgiveness and because I know you are set on this.”
“I wasn’t betting on that. Is it the fact that you think my virginity is in danger when I’m around Adrian that bothers you or the fact that you don’t believe he can protect me on his own?”
“I do not believe anyone is capable of protecting you anymore, Jade.” My father’s angry eyes fell on Stephan and then flickered back to me. “And I will not begin to discuss something as private as your virginity.”
Thank goodness.
“I along with your mother and Stephan will accompany you on your trip. We will help you finish this case and be done with it once and for all.”
“Fine.” I took out my phone to call Adrian. “What did you do to him by the way?” I asked.
“I warned him to stay away from you, and he did not listen.”
“Should he have?” I quizzed.
Stephan made a noise in his throat. “A wiser wolf would have.”
“I could feel his pain because of our connection?”
“Maybe, but it could also be your clairvoyant powers.”
I nodded. “Super.”
“You are what you are. Your power makes you an asset to our community as well as the human one. Now, you know why I must protect you so, Jade.” My father stated. “Please don’t make that harder for me.”
Understood.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Houseguest
Two hours later, Stephan, Brandon, and I showed up at Adrian’s lake house with two black duffle bags and a cardboard box filled with some of my favorite things.
Whatever I could salvage anyway.
A blanket, my aromatherapy candles, books and of course my favorite sweater smothered in Seth’s scent.
“Are you planning to stay more than a few days?” Adrian asked from the doorway.
“You wish.” I whisked past him and into the house.
“I don’t know why Lucian agreed to this.” I heard Stephan say stopping in front of Adrian. “I don’t think I have to remind you to keep your paws to yourself.”
I put down the box in the nearest room of the house and walked back toward the front door before the two hurt each other.
“That’s why he sent you isn’t it, watchdog?” Adrian commented. “To make sure all hands stay in pockets. Just so you know, I’m not the one with the wandering hands in this relationship.”
This caused a reaction out of Stephan. He gripped Adrian by the collar of his shirt faster than I could blink an eye.
“Hey…hey!” I yelled at them.
“Down, boy,” I said to Stephan. “If we are all going to stay here for a few days we better learn to get along. Don’t you think?”
Stephan gave me hard eyes as he loosened his grip on Adrian and then backed away from him.
With a grunt, Adrian shoved Stephan and took off toward the garage.
I leaned on the door with my hands behind my back and looked up at Stephan reluctantly.
His face was hard. “I don’t like this, Duchess.” He breathed.
“You can’t protect me forever, Stephan.” I bit my bottom lip.
“I think I’ve managed all right these past few years.” There was an edge to his voice. He was hurt.
Dammit.
I moved away from the door and wrapped my arms around his waist. He let go of the duffle bag and put his arms around me.
“I need to learn to handle myself from now on is all I meant,” I said softly with my head on his chest.
He kissed the top of my head.
“I don’t want to be around my dad right now and Adrian can handle me if need be.”
Stephan made a noise. “Yeah, I’ve witnessed that.”
I sighed and pulled myself closer to him. “Let’s not fight.” I closed my eyes. “Just trust me, Stephan.”
Stephan swallowed hard and after another kiss on my head, he whispered, “I trust you, Duchess.” Slowly, he pulled away from my embrace. “I have to go work now, but your father has ordered Felix and Paul to be on security detail until I get back.” Stephan put his hands into his jean pockets and gave me a slanted smile. “Behave. Please.”
“Always.”
“Brandon!” Stephan called.
“Bye, Jade,” Brandon said walking out of the house and getting in the front seat of Stephan’s yellow jeep.
I waved.
Stephan took one last look at me before getting into the car and driving off.
“He’s even more protective than a German Shepherd.” Adrian’s voice came from behind me.
I turned around with frowning eyes. “Watch it, Kincaid.”
He put his hands up in surrender. “I’m just sayin’.”
“Don’t just say. Stephan is really important to me, okay?”
He nodded. “Okay.”
I started walking back into the house, and Adrian followed. The security detail lingered on the front deck in their dark clothes and armed waistbands.
“The shower is all yours.” He stopped before he reached the stairs. “I’ll wait until your safely showered and in the company of your favorite werewolf before I take off.”
“Take off?”
“I have my own plans tonight.”
“Oh?”
“Oh,” he answered with a quick smile.
“You know, I don’t like being guarded like some sort of princess.”
“Well, like it or not, Jade, that’s kind of what you are. Your father’s other guard dogs outside prove that. They have my house surrounded. I’d get used to it if I were you.”
“Would you now?”
“Okay, probably not but you should. The faster you accept something, Jade, the better off you are. Honestly.” He then walked away.
Maybe he was right. Did he accept the fact that he was cursed, and it had nothing to do with his own bloodline? His own wrong doing? That scowl on his face before he walked away from me told me that he hadn’t. So how can he tell me to accept this? To just surrender my freedom and be my father’s submissive little girl?
I can’t.
I loved my freedom. I loved my independence. I would not give them up no matter how many creatures were after me.
I showered, dressed in sweats and a black t-shirt and after putting my wet hair up in a messy bun, I headed downstairs to see where Adrian was running off to.
He was in the kitchen cooking. Sausage and peppers. My stomach tightened with desire. Both from the hunger and the lust. He was wearing a black tank top. His muscles flexed as he diced and chopped.
I licked my lips and sighed. The wolf inside me whimpered for his attention.
“Hungry, Jade?” he asked not even turning around.
You have no idea. “Starving,” I answered and found a seat at the kitchen table.
“Good. Dinner shouldn’t take long. I hope you like sausage and peppers.”
I smiled. “Absolutely.”
“Something amusing?” He looked at me and wiped his hands on a checkered towel.
“No. Not really. I just didn’t picture as the cooking type.”
He laughed at that. “I have to take care of myself, don’t I?”
I nodded. “I suppose you do.”
“Don’t you cook?” he asked.
I gasped as if offended. “Of course I cook!” I squealed. “I just prefer when someone else does it for me.”
“Like your lapdog?”
I winced.
His smile faded. “I’m sorry. I should not have said that. I realize that he is important, and I have to tolerate him.”
“If yo
u give him a chance, you might find you will do more than just tolerate him.” I assured. “Stephan is wonderful.”
“I’m sure.”
“I’m serious. You just have to get to know him.”
“I’m not denying that he’s a great guy, Jade. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I just need to give him a chance.”
I smiled. “Please do.”
He turned his attention back to his task.
“So you’re not going to tell me where you are heading tonight?” I teased.
He looked at me and then back at the food in the skillet.
“My mom’s birthday is tonight. It’s always a big event, and she insists that I make an appearance.”
“And that’s…bad?”
He shrugged. “Not usually, but it is for me. My brother will be attending, and we haven’t spoken since I broke his jaw over…” He stopped talking and seemed to be lost in thought for a moment.
“Over him stealing your girlfriend?” I finished.
“She was my fiancée, and I guess he didn’t steal her because I don’t think she ever really belonged to me.”
There was sadness to his confession, and I impulsively stood up and walked over to him.
He seemed surprised when I put my arms around him and let my head rest between his shoulder blades.
After a few moments, he turned around and wrapped his arms around me. We stayed locked in the embrace for a couple more seconds and when he let go, he gazed into my eyes and smiled. “Not that I mind, but what was that for?” He inquired.
I shrugged. “I just felt like you needed it.”
His eyes dropped to my lips and then back up. “I need a lot of things.” He joked.
My mouth went dry and my pulse sped up.
His mouth hovered over mine, and I couldn’t resist. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down to me. I melted into his chest and willingly parted my lips while his tongue slipped into my mouth.
His hands wandered over my body, over the swell of my hips, the small of my back and the curve of my ass. I nearly cried out for his attention. I needed it!
“Yo!” One of the goons shouted from the doorway. “Hands off, mutt!”
Adrian grimaced and gently pulled away from me. “I’m sorry.” He declared.“I should have better control.”
I am Jade Page 13
