“Sort of,” she murmured. “At first we just spent a lot of time together. He’s got an interesting experiment going on at the university. Some privately funded thing for the government. He showed me the labs once, and when we were there, he just sort of kissed me. That was when I realized we’d become something more than friends.”
“Are you sleeping with him?” asked Bhaltair, his voice hard.
“No. We’re not having relations like that.”
“Yet?” questioned Bhaltair, as if sensing she’d left that part off.
She thought briefly about lying but knew better. He’d sense it. “Yet.”
“You want to be with him?” he asked, the car not moving still.
“Why are you pushing me so much on this?”
He turned his head to face her, his expression unreadable. “Do you know how most wolf shifters like to have sex? They like to take the person from behind, mount them, drive into them until they are spent, and sometimes they will pin the person to the bed with one hand, pushing on the back of the person’s neck. They are known to break beds. They are known to break bones of their own kind when having sex. What do you think will become of you, Meena?”
She glanced away.
“Do you think he with forgo his nature for you? Do you think he will resist the urge to mount and pin you? To fuck you until his body is spent? Until yers is broken beyond repair?”
She jerked in her seat, unable to believe he’d said the word fuck to her. She didn’t respond.
“Have you nothing to say?” he demanded, making her jolt once more from the power in his voice.
For the first time, she was afraid of him. She faced him slowly, worried what she’d find. “Bhal, are you going to lose it?”
His dark gaze yielded quickly, and he gasped. “Och. No!”
She nodded. “Okay, if you say so.”
“Meena,” he said, his hand moving to her thigh. “Look at me.”
She did.
“I am sorry if I scared you, lass,” he said softly. “I’ve no wish to see you harmed. That is all.”
She swallowed hard and decided to tell him everything. “He wants me to chain him.”
Bhaltair tightened his grip on her leg slightly. “Come again?”
She found her inner courage and spoke. “He wants me to chain him for our first time together. He wants to be pinned down, shackled really, so that I can do what I want to him, but he can’t to me. He thinks it will keep me from being hurt.”
Bhaltair opened his hand and flexed his fingers above her leg in the slowest of motions. “This is his plan?”
She nodded. “He seems to think if we do that the first time, we wouldn’t have to do it again the next time. I guess he thinks he’ll somehow get more control.”
“Or he believes you will gain something from the encounter,” said Bhaltair.
She glanced at him. “Like what?”
He took a deep breath in, and she thought he’d shut down on her. She knew there were things he didn’t tell her because he’d been ordered not to. Things her parents and grandparents wanted kept from her. Bhaltair was loyal to a fault.
“Never mind,” she said. “I’m guessing this is one of those things you can’t tell me because of who you are to my grandfather.”
“Aye,” he said softly. “It is something I’m forbidden from speaking with you about.”
“Why am I not surprised?” As much as she wanted to be angry with him, she knew the rules. She understood vampire politics, and even if Bhaltair was strong enough to overcome the mystical binding that happened when a master vampire gave one of his subordinates a command, he would never break his vow. He had that much honor and respect.
“Meena,” he said, his hand coming to her cheek lightly. “I will tell you despite my orders.”
She gasped. That was huge. Super huge. All kinds of rules would be broken. The vampire world didn’t have shades of gray. It was very black and white. Going against a master vampire could result in death. “No. Bhal, don’t get in trouble for me.”
“Lass, I’d do anything for you?” He ran a finger over her lip, silencing her with ease. His dark gaze seemed to see right through her. “You may not be as human as you believe.”
While the words were clear and she heard them, she couldn’t wrap her mind around them.
Of course she was human. What else would she be? The only special power she had was being immune to vampires reading her thoughts. Beyond that, she was as human as they came.
“Meena, because of the Fae in you and the particular line of vampire you come from, you may have hidden gifts that are special to your line of vampire, but not to all,” he said, leaning in, his face close to hers. “Gifts that, should you have them, will only manifest after you have been sexually active. We do nae know for sure, but we believe this is because of the type of Fae yer grandmother is and, as I said, the line of vampires you hail from. Am I right to assume yer a virgin still?”
She nodded slightly, not entirely at ease with the topic of the conversation. Most women her age had been sexually active. Meena had never had much interest in the opposite sex, or sex at all for that matter. At least, not until she’d turned eighteen. From that point on, her sexual appetite had emerged and focused primarily on Bhaltair. She’d been doing her best to direct it at someone else, but still, in the end, it was Bhaltair she thought about in that way.
“That is why I believe your friend wishes to be chained for yer first encounter, but thinks future ones will nae require such steps,” he said, his words clipped, his shoulders back. “What I wish to discern is how he knows you may have latent gifts when you, yerself, have no idea.”
Meena was still stuck on the part about possibly not being human. “Hold on. You’re saying if I have sex, I may be more like Rose and Mom? Less like me? Less too human?”
“There is no way to know,” he said.
She stared at him blankly. “Uh, yeah, there is. I could have sex.”
His expression hardened. “You want yer wolf that bad?”
“What?” she asked in disbelief.
“You want to fuck the wolf?” he demanded.
Puzzled, she stared at him. “Bhaltair?”
His nostrils flared, and his eyes pooled with liquid darkness, a sign he was no longer the one in charge. His demon now was.
She’d heard all the stories of just how bad his demon was in its heyday. She wasn’t naïve enough to think it had totally changed its ways. If it was pushing up and taking charge so quickly, that meant Bhaltair, the man she cared for and trusted, wasn’t pulling his own strings.
A demon was.
Gasping, Meena thrust herself against the car door, fear beating at her from the inside out. While she’d grown up with vampires all around her, and was even the product of more than one, she knew enough to realize they could be deadly. She’d never seen Bhaltair’s demon rise. He’d kept that side of himself from her.
Seeing his face begin to contort, his eyes become black abysses, shook her to her very core. She tried to steady her breathing, having been told again and again by Bhaltair himself when he used to train her, that supernaturals got excited when they caught the scent of human fear. All the training and all the preparations in the world meant nothing when she found herself face-to-face with the one man she wanted more than any other, all while his demon took the proverbial wheel.
“You want him,” he said, a flash of fang showing.
She froze. What was he talking about? Who did she want?
As he reached for her, she jerked, her pulse racing, her fear growing. His fingernails lengthened and nearly connected with her. A second before he would have made contact, he blinked and his face returned to normal instantly. The black in his eyes receded. He lifted his hands, holding them to both sides of himself, his nails returning to normal. “Meena.”
She remained perfectly still, unsure what had set him off or if it would happen once more. “Bhal?”
He cleared his throat
and turned to face forward in his seat. He put the car in gear, pulled back onto the road and drove without speaking or even blinking. The rest of the ride to the university went by without him uttering a sound. When he pulled to a stop in a parking lot that was as close to the campus library as he was going to be able to get, Meena touched the door handle, her stomach in a knotted mess, her nerves on edge.
Bhaltair made a move to reach for her and then stopped mid-motion, worry filling his eyes. “Can I touch you?”
“Y-yes,” she answered, her voice betraying her.
He put his hand on her leg gently. “Meena, lass.”
She glanced at him unhurriedly, worried about making any sudden movements that might set him off once more.
“I’m so verra sorry I lost control in front of you like that,” he said, caressing her thigh affectionately. “I dinnae mean to scare you.”
“But you did scare me,” she returned, her gaze going to his hand on her leg. “I’ve never seen you like that before.”
“I know.”
She refused to look at him. “I asked Dad to show me his vampire side once, but he wouldn’t. Grandma made Grandpa show me his. He wasn’t happy to do it, but he did.”
“Aye, I remember,” said Bhaltair. “You were only eight at the time and insisted on seeing what all the fuss was about. Though, you dinnae seem frightened of Labrainn’s vampire side at all then, lass.”
“I wasn’t,” she replied, exhaling softly. “Because I knew he wouldn’t hurt me.”
“But you were nae sure if I would,” he grunted.
She met his gaze. “You got really mad, really fast. I shouldn’t have confided in you. I’m sorry. I thought…I thought we were friends.”
“Lass,” he said, lifting his hand and going for her cheek. “I never wanted you to see that side of me. If I could take it back, I would. I wish that you could see me as just a man. Not a monster.”
Meena gasped and twisted in her seat. She made a move to hug him, but her seat belt locked her in place. She struggled and managed to undo it. She touched Bhaltair’s face. “You’re not a monster.”
“I’m nae a man,” he said evenly.
“But you acted like a jealous one,” she said without thought. As the words sat between them, filling the space, she gasped. She’d just blatantly accused him of having feelings for her. “I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry.”
“Och, lass. Do nae apologize, especially when yer right,” he countered, his hand going over hers. “I was jealous of you and yer lover.”
“Bhal, Rudy is not my lover.”
His lip curled. “His name is Rudy? That is a horrible name.”
She laughed mellifluously, still touching his face. “Bhaltair isn’t exactly commonplace.”
“Guid point.”
She smiled. “Are we okay? You and me?”
“Aye.”
“I’m going to grab my book. Try not to turn all vampire-y while I’m gone. Okay?”
Bhaltair glanced past her into the darkness, in the direction of a dimly lit streetlamp. He cupped her hand, pulling it from his face. “Meena, do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
“If I were to tell you that my gut says to let the book be on this night, to just allow me to take you home, would you?” he asked, apprehension evident.
She couldn’t recall a time she’d seen him this way. He looked stripped bare before her, his emotions there for her to witness. “Bhal?”
“Would you trust me, lass?” he questioned, a note of desperation clinging in the air between them.
“What’s wrong?”
“I do nae know. But my gut, my demon, and my heart says to nae let you out of my sight tonight.”
His heart?
“Thank you for worrying about me,” she said, using her free hand to touch his muscular chest. Even through his dress shirt she could feel the hardness of his body, and it excited her. “I’m safe. I come here all the time at night. The librarian is a record keeper for PSI. Really nice woman. I promise I’ll be fine, and you’re right here. If I have a problem, I can call you from my cell phone. It would take you two seconds to do your vampire thing and get to me.”
“My vampire thing?”
She grinned. “The speed and leaping tall buildings gig.”
He snorted. “Ah. I see. No.”
“No? What do you mean no? You don’t leap-tall-buildings? I’ve seen you guys fly before. It’s really cool. Not cape-and-tights cool, but cool all the same.”
He cocked his head to the side, appearing somewhat lost in the conversation. She wasn’t surprised. Slang often got lost on him. “No. I do nae like the idea of letting you go in there alone. I’ll go as well.”
Her breath hitched at the idea of dragging Bhaltair into the library with her. Rudy had promised to meet her there, and the last person she wanted Bhaltair around was Rudy. She didn’t need Bhaltair flipping out and going into full vamp mode again. “I’m good. Never mind. I don’t need the book.”
His gaze narrowed, suspicion showing in his expression. “Meena, why are you suddenly so compliant?”
“No reason,” she said a bit too fast to sound believable. “We should go.”
His jaw set. “Because yer worried yer lover will be there too. You do nae want me around him.”
She cringed. “He’s not my lover. But yes, Rudy knew I needed to stop there tonight. He mentioned he’d try to meet me. I’m early so he might not be there yet, but still. Considering how great you took the idea of me being with him, it might be best you avoid going in too.”
Bhaltair was out of the car in the blink of an eye.
Meena raced after him as he headed directly for the path to the library. She caught his arm. “What are you doing?”
“Getting a book,” he said sternly. “I know how much they mean to you. I’d nae want you missing out on any.”
She tugged on him to no avail. “Bhaltair, stop.”
He did, but he didn’t look pleased.
“Go back and sit in the car.”
“No.”
Her jaw dropped. “Wow. Jerk.”
His eyes widened. “Meena?”
She sighed. “Fine, but if you start a fight, I will never forgive you.”
His jaw set and his shoulders squared, but he nodded all the same. “Aye. I’ll behave.”
Chapter 5
Bhaltair glared around the massive building, looking for any signs of the man Meena was dating. He found none. Aside from a short, plump woman with a head of white hair and glasses thicker than soda bottles, he and Meena were the only ones in the place. Her would-be-lover was a no-show and dammit to hell if she didn’t look pleased by the notion. All he wanted to do was get the man alone long enough to stress he was never to even look upon Meena again, let alone think to bed her.
Och, you want to pluck out his eyes and then skin him alive. There would be no talking. Only killing.
He grinned at the thought.
Soon, he was so swept up in the fantasy of torturing a man he’d never met, that he didn’t notice the new scents rushing in around him. It wasn’t until his demon reared up, demanding he take heed, that he paid attention.
Shifters.
Not just shifters.
Something else too.
Vampires?
The scents made no sense to him. They were convoluted and mixed with something else.
Death.
Had he not just read over reports that Striker, a fellow PSI operative, had dropped off regarding an emergence of a new enemy, he’d have never put together what the smell was. It was the scent of rotting flesh, vampire and shifter all in one. The report had labeled them bastard hybrid genetic manipulation attempts—experiments gone horribly wrong. They apparently had a limited shelf life, the trials and tests causing them to die a slow death, but not before they were used to their fullest potential. The report also made note of just how powerful they were. And they were here now closing in on someone.
His heart
raced as he realized who that someone was.
Meena.
They were moving in on her location as she browsed a section of books about history, the book she’d come for already in hand, but she had decided she wanted more. As much as he’d wanted to keep her from the facility because of his gut feeling, he found it impossible to deny her the very thing she loved so much—books.
Bhaltair’s gaze whipped to the older woman at the counter as the smells intensified all around him. She looked up from her desk, lowered her glasses, met his gaze, and nodded.
“Do what you must,” she said. “I’ve tripped the alarm. Help will be here soon.”
He didn’t hesitate. He drew upon his vampire speed and was with Meena in an instant. She gasped and dropped the book she’d been holding.
“Bhal,” she said, shaking her head. “You really need to make more noise when you move. You scared me.”
The second she bent to retrieve the book, the shelf exploded in front of her, a clawed hand thrusting through from the other side.
Bhaltair deflected the hand, knocking wide the assailant’s attempt to strike Meena. He shoved her to the side with his foot as gently as he could, but he accidently made her tumble over. Meena collided with the wall and his gut clenched. He ripped the would-be attacker through the shelf, causing more books to fall all around him.
The thing he dragged through to him didn’t look like anything he’d ever seen before. It smelled heavily of death, had the eyes of a vampire, but the jaws of a shifter as it snapped at him. Its skin was a pale grayish blue with large bruises all over it and several puss-filled sores.
He punched the hybrid so hard that he splintered its nose into its brain. Hopefully, sending bone fragments through its brain wasn’t something a hybrid could heal. But to be safe, he broke the hybrid’s neck as well. He wouldn’t risk Meena.
He allowed the hybrid’s limp body to fall to the floor. A split second later, another hybrid came bounding over a shelf at the end of the row. The hybrid did a cross between a run and a gallop at him, foaming at the mouth. Its sights were set on Meena.
Taming the Vampire: Over 25 All New Paranormal Alpha Male Tales of Contemporary, Military, Shifters, Billionaires, Werewolves, Magic, Fae, Witches, Dragons, Demons & More Page 47
