by RJ Blain
“What did you have in mind?”
“Whatever you want. Maybe we’ll steal Desmond’s credit card in retaliation for last night. You can distract him by being so pretty. I’ll grab his wallet. We’ll make a run for it and go spend all of his money having fun. We could hit the casinos, watch a few shows, or just run away together. I’m game.” Laughing, he hopped to his feet, grabbed hold of my hands, and pulled me upright. “Take a bath if you’d like. I’ll put on real clothes and find you something to wear from the shops downstairs. Then I’ll take you somewhere nice for lunch before the Desmonds return and bother us.”
I was sore and achy, which made the decision easy to make. “It’d be a nicer bath if you were with me,” I replied, grinning at him.
“There will be plenty of time for us to share baths,” he promised. His smile was radiant. “I won’t be long.”
It surprised me how much it bothered me when he left the suite despite knowing he would return. The sense of dismay I had felt earlier in the morning intensified, and there was a new undertone that bothered my wolf. Puzzled, I shook my head and decided to ignore the feelings.
It was probably my imagination.
While I waited for the tub to fill, I investigated the television mounted on the bathroom wall. I turned on the news, setting the remote out of harm’s way. Restlessness drove me out of the tub within ten minutes. Disgusted at myself, I toweled dry and paced the suite wrapped up in the bathrobe.
A phone rang, and curious, I hunted down the sound to the office adjacent to the sitting room. After hesitating, I answered, “Hello?”
There was an intake of breath on the other end of the line. “Ah, hello. I’m looking for Matthew. Is he there? I didn’t dial the wrong number, did I?” The speaker was a male, and my wolf was intrigued by how flustered he sounded.
I decided to treat the caller like I would if I were answering the phone at the club. “Mr. Sanders is currently unavailable. May I take a message?”
I grabbed the pad of paper and a pen, uncapping it in preparation to write. There was a long pause.
“Do you know where he is? He’s not answering his cell phone. It’s important.”
“Mr. Desmond has his cell,” I replied. “He should be back in a little while if you want to call back. May I ask who is speaking?”
“Why does Desmond have his phone?”
“That is something you will have to take up with Mr. Desmond, sir,” I replied, shifting my weight from foot to foot, wondering how I could put an end to the call without sounding rude. “Would you like to leave a message?”
“Who are you and what are you doing in Matthew’s room?” the caller demanded.
I swallowed back my whine, drawing a deep breath to steady myself. “I’m Sara. Mr. Desmond invited me.”
I didn’t have any idea how I was suppose to address Sanders. Was I supposed to call him my mate? Normal people didn’t do that. How was I supposed to address him? The sound of someone at the front door relieved me so much I dropped the phone and darted out of the office. Sanders frowned. He was carrying two bags, which he set aside. Deep lines stretched across his brow.
“There’s some guy on the phone,” I babbled, pointing in the direction of the accursed device.
Sanders paused long enough to kiss my cheek. “I’ll take care of it, baby. Everything okay?”
I relaxed, forcing a smile for him. “He seems a bit irritable. I don’t think he thinks I’m supposed to be here.”
He wrapped his arm around my waist and tugged me into the office with him. Grabbing the phone, he held it to his ear and answered, “Sanders.”
My mate grinned. “Hey, Joseph. What’s up?”
When Sanders laughed, my unease melted away, and I leaned against him. “I hate phones,” I confessed in a mutter.
“You’re so shy,” my mate replied, smiling at me. “Oh, sorry, Joe. I was talking to Sara. Yes, she’s supposed to be here. I’ll be bringing her home with me when I come back to Seattle. She’s the prettiest thing on two and four feet, and I can’t wait to introduce you two properly. I’ll fill you in later. I have to get her dressed so we can go get lunch. She has class in a few hours, and I don’t want to make her late.”
After hanging up, Sanders turned to me, slipping his hands into my bathrobe. “He’s our pack’s Second. He felt me bring you into the pack and wanted to know what’s going on. Once you’re safely to class, I’ll tell him all about you.”
“I thought you were supposed to be dressing me, not undressing me,” I replied, giving his t-shirt a playful tug. “I like shirts with buttons better. Gives me something to play with.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Sanders made a show of checking his wrist for the time, and I giggled because he wasn’t wearing a watch. “Look at that, darling. We have some time before we have to go. Let’s make the most of it, shall we?”
I laughed and decided if I was late to class, I simply wouldn’t care. He was worth it.
Chapter Nine
I made it to class with ten minutes to spare and an empty stomach. My wolf regretted nothing, although I was aware of everyone staring at me as I walked to the back row. They were used to seeing me in heels and shorts with t-shirts or tank tops rather than a long, silky white dress.
I had no idea what Sanders had been thinking when he picked it, but he liked it a lot—so much so we missed breakfast and lunch. That part I hadn’t minded at all, though I was still amazed the dress had survived his attentions by the time we were finished.
In so many ways, it felt like a wedding dress, and it astonished me I didn’t mind in the slightest. When had my emotions become so strong? My wolf adored everything about Sanders, and her satisfaction drowned the worries a smart and sensible woman would have fixated on.
Normally, I kept to myself, but both of my neighbors scooted their chairs and desks closer to me.
“Someone has a date tonight,” the girl on my right whispered. “And here I thought you were hopeless.”
Torn between fury and embarrassment, I glared at her. “Maybe that would be the case if I came to class to find a date. If I wanted to waste that much money on a man, I’d hit the strip. At least that way I have a chance at the jackpot.”
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I wished I could take them back. I heard more than a little of my wolf in my words, something I never would have said so boldly before she had come around. The girl’s brows rose, her smile faltered, and then she stared at me as though seeing me for the first time. I swallowed and prepared to apologize, but then she laughed.
“Good for you, sister. Find someone worth dressing up for, did you?”
There was nothing natural about how much of an effect Sanders had on me, but it was a small price to pay. My wolf wanted to return to his side and stake her claim on him again, which amused me.
Once class was over, I’d reassure my wolf I had the exact same thing in mind.
“I sure did,” I replied.
If my wolf had her way, I had a feeling I’d never wear any clothes when near our mate, and she’d endeavor to ensure Sanders shared the same state of nudity with me. Determined to stop blushing, I ground my teeth together, opened my notebook, and clicked my pen.
When the professor started talking and I couldn’t click my pen without earning a glare from him and half the class, I forced myself to take notes properly. My wolf didn’t make it easy on me. She hungered for the hunt, and her restlessness compounded my own.
After what felt like an eternity but was only a little over an hour, the class ended. I gathered my notes, shoved them into my bag, and headed for the door. When I had first come up with the plan, meeting Sanders at my apartment after giving him the spare key had seemed like a good idea.
I didn’t look forward to the long commute back to my apartment, and deciding I could afford to splurge on a cab, I headed across campus. The girl from my class ran to catch up with me.
“That’s a really pretty dress. Where did you get it?�
��
“It was a gift,” I replied, deciding there was no way I could hide the fact I had no idea where it came from or how much it had cost.
“Hot damn, someone likes you a lot, girl.”
Unable to help myself, I smiled. “I guess it’s a good thing I like him a lot, too.”
“Lucky. I just wanted to apologize to you. I was really rude earlier.”
“I’m sorry I lost my temper, too,” I replied. “No harm done.”
“I was just really surprised. You’re always so quiet, and you always dress so casually, so to see you wearing something like that…”
“Don’t worry, I don’t wear things like this, not normally. It’s a special occasion,” I lied, except it wasn’t really a lie. I had a feeling I’d never meet someone like Sanders ever again, and the more I thought about him, the more I wanted to learn about the man my wolf had claimed as ours. I grinned. “I need to catch a cab or I’m going to be late.”
The girl waved at me. “Take care. Enjoy your date.”
The cab ride across town cost me a small fortune, but considering it saved me more than an hour of bus hopping, it was well worth the investment. When I reached my apartment, I was early, and Desmond’s Mercedes wasn’t parked on the street.
Whistling a merry tune, I headed up the walkway.
A man dressed in a suit was knocking at my door. When he caught sight of me, he smiled. In one hand, he held a package and a clipboard. “Are you Miss Madison?” he asked, glancing down at the package.
“Yes,” I replied, dropping my bag at my feet. “I wasn’t expecting a delivery.”
The man smiled, tucked the box under his arm, and held out the clipboard. “Sign here,” he said, pointing at a line marked with a scribble. He held out a pen for me.
My fingers brushed his, and fire burned up my arm, so painful I jerked away from him. My breath caught in my throat, choking off my scream. When the scorching heat reached my head, I fell into darkness.
Water cascading over my head woke me. I jerked to escape the scalding heat and discovered my arms were bound over my head. Someone gripped my forehead and held me in place while a hand ran through my hair. I screamed, but something in my mouth muffled the sound.
I recognized the stench of hair dye.
When I managed to force my eyes open, an arm covered in dark fabric obscured my vision. I thrashed, kicking out. My bare feet slipped on wet tile, and all of my weigh hit my arms as I stumbled. Pain rippled through my arms and shoulders.
“Ah, awake now, are you? Excellent.” I was released and left to dangle. Breathing through my mouth was impossible, and I struggled to catch my breath. Getting my feet under me relieved the pressure on my arms.
The delivery man from my apartment stood in front of me. His soaked suit clung to him, and with a smile, he grabbed hold of my chin and forced me to look him in the eyes. “You really are a gorgeous woman. I’m going to have so much fun with you over the next few weeks. Maybe, if you’re really good to me, I’ll keep you around after I’m done with the business side of our transaction.”
Fury burned through me, and unable to snarl curses like I wanted to, I growled in my throat.
Releasing my chin, he removed the gag from my mouth. I drew a breath to speak, but he stepped to me, forced his mouth over mine, and kissed me.
His lips were ice cold and sucked all of the warmth out of my body. Grabbing hold of my waist, he held me in place, and the chilling sensation intensified. My legs trembled and buckled under me, leaving me hanging by my wrists.
When he finally pulled away from me, it took every bit of my strength to breathe. The warm water streaming against my back and head scalded me. I whimpered, unable to muster a scream.
“My name is Kent, Miss Madison. We’re going to be very, very intimate friends for the next while. How will it be? Shall I enjoy your pain or your pleasure?” His smile chilled me even more than his touch.
While I couldn’t force myself to stand, I found the will to spit on him. His smile broadened to a grin.
“I like a woman with some fight in her. I’ll be blunt with you, Miss Madison. You’ve been friendly with the wrong crowd, and I don’t like when a pretty broad moves onto my turf without my permission. I am going to educate you on why you’ve made such a mistake. Still, I am a generous man at times, and I will forgive your infraction. You’ll have to forgive me for taking advantage of what you’ve done, however. It’s one thing to kill an Alpha’s mate, but another to capture her and make her mine. I look forward to feeling his reaction when I steal his bond with you.”
I sucked in a breath, and a thousand questions stampeded through my head. My wolf’s fear surged. I didn’t understand what Kent meant about stealing a bond, but my wolf did.
Through her, I felt a faint and subtle warmth in my head, reminding me of everything I loved about Sanders. My wolf’s fear shifted to desperation to protect what we had claimed.
Kent smiled, seizing my chin in his hand. His touch burned, and I hissed through clenched teeth. “You can’t hide it from me. You’ll try, but I’ll take it from you all the same. I’ll begin with your ties to your new pack. It will be interesting to see how it affects so many wolves when I take a bitch from them slowly. Their rage will be exquisite.”
“What kind of freak are you?” I blurted.
Kent’s mouth thinned to a narrow line. “That’s amusing, coming from a dog pretending to be a human.”
The cold sensation inside of me intensified, and I shuddered at the shower’s heat on my back. “What have you done to me?”
My tongue didn’t want to cooperate, as unwieldy and shaky as my legs.
Stepping to me, Kent slid his hands up my sides, tugging at the silky material of the white dress Sanders had purchased for me. He shoved me against the shower’s wall, pinning me to the tiles with his body. His mouth brushed against my cheek on his way to my ear.
Ice filled my veins, and I cried out from the pain of it.
“You’ll survive, Miss Madison. I’m just giving you a taste of what you’ll enjoy for so long as you defy me. How long will you last until you beg me to make the pain go away and replace it with better things? A few hours? A day? Might you last as long as a week? I can only hope you’ll be such a magnificent specimen.” Kent laughed, released me, and stepped back. I stumbled, and all of my weight pulled on my aching wrists and shoulders.
It hurt even more than Kent’s freezing touch.
I panted until I could breathe through my nose. The stench of my own fear and pain made it difficult to sniff the man out, but when I did, the sickening sweetness of rot curdled my blood. “What are you?”
Kent smiled, once again brushing my cheek with his fingertips. “So much pain you’re feeling right now, so much fear. It’s truly exquisite. How long can I make you feel so much before you break?”
I found the strength to snap my teeth at his hand.
All he did was laugh. “For that little bit of defiance, I’ll reward you well. Your ilk call my kind sorcerers, Miss Madison. Like you, I am a predator. You are my prey, and I will enjoy every moment I hunt you until it is time for me to feast. Yours will be a harvest I will savor for years to come.”
He smiled, spun around, and left me hanging in the shower.
Time lost meaning. The shower water chilled, and no matter how I stood, I couldn’t escape the spray. My arms were bound high enough over my head I couldn’t lift myself up; the leather cuffs bit into my wrists when I tried, until my blood ran freely down my arms.
To keep the pressure from my shoulders and hands, I had to stand on my toes. I cursed so much I lost my voice. Long after I could no longer stand on my own, Kent returned.
He lifted my chin with a finger and smiled at me. I bared my teeth at him in a silent snarl.
“I have been thinking long and hard about what to do with you, Miss Madison. How can I best make use of a beauty such as yourself? I could harvest your fury, your fear, your passion, and make your strength mine. It�
��d be a delightful use of my time, and one I would enjoy very much. But, after much consideration, I think I’ve found a better way to utilize you. A gorgeous bitch like yourself must be highly desired among your kind; that’s how you sank your teeth into an Alpha, isn’t it? You lured him to you with your beauty. I can sense him through you, you know. I can feel his anguish, his fear, and his rage.”
When I said nothing, he frowned.
“It must have been your looks. You really aren’t that bright, are you? Pity, I would have enjoyed a conversationalist for a partner.”
My wolf wanted the sorcerer’s blood. She wanted to rend the flesh from his bones and leave bits of him scattered across the continent as a warning to those who would dare touch us.
I was too weary to feel anything. I stared at him in a numb daze.
Narrowing his eyes, he pressed his hand to my throat. I flinched, expecting the chill of his touch. All I felt was a light pressure against my skin and the slow, weak pulse of my heart.
“Ah. I let you get too cold. How unfortunate.” Circling his arm around my waist, he lifted me up and leaned me against him. I hung limp in my bonds.
His throat was so near my teeth, but I couldn’t find the strength to tear into him, and neither could my wolf. Reaching around me, he turned off the shower. Instead of releasing me, he reached up and freed my hands. Once I was loose, he let go of me. I slid to the floor, unable to support my own weight.
“It’s no fun if you lack the strength to fight me,” he grumbled. “My mistake. Is beauty all that is needed to catch an Alpha? Pathetic. Had I known that, I would have made a move long ago. Lesson learned.”
I drew a deep breath, and the stench of his anger and irritation singed my nose. Pulling back his foot, he kicked me in the ribs hard enough to force the air out of my lungs. I gasped, writhing from the blow. Before I could recover, he grabbed a handful of my hair and dragged me out of the stall.
Once again, the paralyzing chill of his touch swept through me. His dry chuckles taunted me while his words burrowed deep inside to tear holes at my heart.
