by Jenika Snow
“You sure are pretty,” the one holding her throat said.
The mark on her neck tingled under his hold, and she wondered if they would have touched her had they seen the mark. He tilted her head to the side, exposing the side of her throat that was unmarked.
“Look at her jugular,” the one who held her said in a deep voice. His mouth stated, watering, saliva dripping from his fangs as if it was venom and he the snake.
“Hurry up and don’t drain her. We want a taste,” the second vampire said, and then the third walked up, his eyes red from the pepper spray, but healing right in front of her.
The one who held her neck also covered her mouth, making her unable to scream. They were so much stronger than her, keeping her immobile against the wall, having her fear rise, her fight or flight instinct rise.
And when he struck, just like that snake he resembled, that flash of pain traveled through her. She struggled as hard as she could, managed to get her hand between them, and dug her nails into his flesh. He grunted, but bit down hard, eyes widening as pain lanced through her. This wasn’t what she felt when Lathan had bit her, wasn’t the euphoria that rushed through her veins.
“I like when you put up a fight. It’ll make you that much sweeter.”
He taunted her, his elongated nails digging into the brick by her head.
She was going to die, because no matter how much she fought, struggled, and tried to get away, these were three immortals, and she was nothing but a weak human.
****
Lathan knew she was in trouble even from across the city. She’d still been at work when he’d left to feed. He’d wanted to see her without the hunger clouding his mind, urging him to take.
He moved swiftly through the night, his sense attuned to his mate, his speed a blur to humans. He was then standing in the alleyway between a closed down bakery and an adult movie store that was out of business, staring into the darkened patch of asphalt and grime. He could see as clearly as if he were in daylight—if he could stand the blistering heat of it. His mind and body took in everything: the scent of Abbi’s fear, the rangy, metallic flavor of her blood coating the air, and the stench of the vampires attacking what was his.
The vampire who held her dropped her body to the floor, and Lathan saw red, felt his anger rise, his beast emerge. His eyes flashed, and a growl left him. He scented his mate was still alive, but she was in pain.
The three motherfuckers turned and faced him, baring their teeth, but then sobered as they clearly scented what he was.
The males circled around Abbi, their focus on Lathan, their defenses up, but their fear tangible. He looked at Abbi, and saw her shirt was torn at the side, soaked in blood. His wolf emerged, the beast coming forward, melding with his vampire, so he was the strongest being he could be. His fingernails turned to claws, his fangs grew even longer, sharper. His entire body grew taller, his muscles became more pronounced, and he allowed this change to take over. He didn’t shift into a wolf, didn’t turn into an animal that ran in the woods. What he became was something far different, something more dangerous, more volatile.
“You fucked with what was mine, took from her when she wasn’t willing,” he growled out, his voice distorted.
“…The fuck,” one of the vampires said. “What in the hell are you?”
Lathan didn’t respond, just moved forward again. “What I am is that female’s mate. You touched her, drank from her, and now you’ll die because of it.”
Stepping out of the shadows, he made sure they could see exactly what they were up against.
Abbi tried to stand, but she made a gasp and held her neck with her hand. They hadn’t closed the wound, and blood trickled out from the gaping twin puncture marks. The fear and confusion poured from her.
“It’s okay, my female,” he didn’t want to make her even more afraid, but he knew that would be hard given the fact he was shifted into his hybrid self. He might still appear like a man, with slight difference, but he was far from human.
They moved away from her, their fangs protruding. His female’s blood was on two out of three of the fuckers’ faces, and that angered Lathan even more, made him hungry to hurt them. Abbi slowly moved away but didn’t get very far when one of them grabbed a chunk of her long hair and lifted her up.
“You’re going to kill us, so what’s to stop me from bringing her down right along with us?” one of the vampires asked.
Lathan bared his fangs. They didn’t know this, but he was going to make them suffer, bathe in their blood, and then revel in the fact he took their lives.
“Hurt her further, and I’ll make your deaths far more painful.”
The one who held her pressed his sharp nail against her throat. Her big eyes stared at him, pleading, but also showing strength. His vision turned to red. Lathan smiled, but it was far from humorous. He was going to kill these bastards with his bare hands. His teeth lengthened even further, and he felt his body primed for the fight.
The vampire dug his nail into her flesh and broke her skin, blood making a slow trail down her pale skin. Lathan let out a roar and charged forward, taking out one of the vampires as easily as breathing.
He sliced his claw through the vampire’s throat, warm blood spraying out of the gaping wound. A vampire might be immortal in the sense they didn’t die from age of human sickness, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t die, period. Severing the head from the necks was a sure way to kill a vampire or shifter, and he intended to do that slowly enough that they felt everything.
He grabbed the other vampire by the neck, lifted him off the ground, and stared at the one that touched Abbi. He reached out, his strength outmatching them tenfold. He pried his hand back from her neck, and reveled in the sound of bones crunching. In a swift move, he twisted the vampire’s neck that he held in his hand, used all of his strength, and dug his nails into his flesh. With little effort he squeezed the air from his body, and then tore his head from his neck.
He slammed his fist into the chest of the vampire who had grabbed his female’s neck. Ribs cracked under his blow, and a howl of pain brought a triumphant smile to Lathan’s face. Lathan only saw violence right now.
He swiped out, slashing his claws down the fucker’s face. And then he was right in front of the other vampire, grabbed his neck with one hand and his shoulder with the other, and in a swift move pushed in opposite directions. The vampire was decapitated easily. Blood sprayed out, covering Lathan’s face and chest. Fire burned through his body, and he dropped the corpse. Looking around at the heads on the ground, the bodies across from them and blood covering the dirty asphalt, he felt victorious.
He turned and stared at his female, his mate, who sat on the ground.
“Lathan,” she said his name softly, with a hint of fear in it. He couldn’t tell if her fear was because of the vampires or because of him and what he’d done.
“I hate that you had to see me this way.” He saw her swallow, and then she slowly rose. She still had her hand on her neck, and when she removed it he saw it still hadn’t healed.
“Come here, mate,” he said as softly as he could and held out his hand. He needed her to trust him, to not fear him. It took her a second, but she finally placed her bloody hand in his. Pulling her forward, he leaned down and ran his tongue over the bite marks, instantly sealing them and starting the healing process with his saliva. He tasted that motherfucker on her, and wanted to kill each of those bastards again.
“Thank you.”
He pulled back and looked down at her face. He felt his wolf start to relax, grow calm and pleased that their mate was safe. Do I frighten you?”
She took a few seconds to answer, but then shook her head. “No.”
The honesty in that lone word had pleasure surging through him.
“I just want to get out of here.”
He pulled her in close to his body. In his hybrid form, as he was right now, he was so much bigger than her, nearly seven feet in height. She was tiny compar
ed to him in general, but right now she felt breakable.
“I’d like to take you to my home, Abbi.”
She nodded, her head still pressed to his chest.
He just wanted her with him, safe beside him. He wanted her to know she’d be okay, that he’d never let anyone or anything hurt her. Lathan would go to the ends of the Earth if it meant she was happy. He meant what he said about her being his everything, his mate. There was nothing more important to him anymore than this human female.
Chapter Five
Several hours had passed since Lathan took her to his home. It was hours from the city, and she had been surprised, as well as found it a little humorous, that even after all that had happened he owned a sports car and had driven them here himself.
She looked around his impressive home. It was large, older in structure, like it had been here for the last hundred years. It fit him, though, and the décor screamed old world.
She wrapped the robe he’d given her more firmly around her, feeling a chill in the air. Her neck was fully healed, and although what had happened in the alley was the worst experience of her life—and death would have been certain if Lathan hadn’t shown up—that wasn’t what she was focusing on right now.
The bathroom was elegant but modern, and she stared at herself in the mirror. She knew what she wanted, knew she wanted to have him hold her, tell her things would be okay. All Abbi could think about was the sight of him standing amongst those broken, destroyed vampire bodies. He’d been so big, so muscular. He’d still resembled a man, but his body had been so big, his seams came undone because his muscles had been monstrous. And then his eyes had glowed from his wolf, his nails had been these ferocious claws, and his fangs… God, his fangs had been so long, so sharp.
A shiver worked its way through her at the memory, at the fact she hadn’t been afraid of him, but of the power he wielded. He’d saved her, made sure the ones who hurt her would never breathe again. He’d been a mixture of the power she knew a vampire and werewolf had, combined to make him this lethal, unstoppable force.
And she was mated to him.
She grew warm, closed her eyes, and thought about him holding her in that grimy alleyway, the softness that came from him when he held her. Abbi knew being with him wasn’t just about him keeping her safe, but about knowing where she belonged. It felt right to be with him, to have him touch her, hold her.
It might seem crazy and it was, on a level, but this world she lived in wasn’t anything out of a fairytale. It was dark, gritty, and death was right around the corner. Tonight proved her life was so very fragile, a blip in the lives of the creatures who surrounded her. If she had died she’d have no one to mourn her, no one to miss her. She’d just be another statistic in the murder rate of the city.
Stepping out of the bathroom, she turned off the light and froze. There on the bed sat Lathan. He’d showered and changed as well, but this forlorn, almost broken expression covered his face. Knowing his life had been lonely as well, that he’d come from this darkness, this violent and ugly conception, had her empathizing with the man he had inside.
“Before you came along I’ve only ever known the solitude of this world, the ugliness that surrounds me.” He stared at her, his eyes holding this deep emotion that matched her own.
“I won’t force you to mate with me, Abbi, because I believe that needs to be your decision, but I have to make you see I won’t walk away.” He stood, but didn’t move closer to her. “I have to make you understand you’re mine, no matter what.”
He wasn’t just a hybrid, he was her mate, and she wanted to show him that together they didn’t have to be alone anymore.
“Come here, Lathan.” Tonight she’d show him she did want him, hybrid genetics and all.
Lathan took another step toward her.
“I want you, want you to show me what it means to be a mate.”
He took a stuttering, deep breath. “You’re my mate, my female.” He moved closer still. “I want you, and I can smell your desire, that you want me.”
“I do want you,” she said softly, but with arousal thick in her voice. “I want to forget about tonight, want to forget about everything.” She moved a step closer to him. “I have nothing in this world, and didn’t know I could feel this way with someone, feel this connection.”
“There will always be this feeling between us. We’re mates, and that means it’s binding, irrevocable.”
She made a small sound in the back of her throat.
“I want your surrender like I want your blood in my veins, like I want to give you pleasure.”
This man frightened her, but aroused her at the same time. She shouldn’t want him, shouldn’t want him to corrupt her like this, bite her, drink from her. She shouldn’t want his fangs in her neck, his claws in her thighs, or his dick deep inside of her pussy. Just thinking about that had Abbi’s pussy clenching, had her becoming wetter, and had her clit throbbing to be touched by Lathan. He might be a considered a monster, a creature she’d never heard of, but she couldn’t deny the pull toward him.
Abbi wasn’t a stranger to mates, to vampires and werewolves, demons and the like. This was the world she lived in, the type of world where creatures of myth and lore roamed beside humans, took them as wives… mates.
“I shouldn’t talk this way with you—”
“I want you to…” she ran her hands over her robe covered thighs. “I like it,” she said softer.
He made this deep growl in the back of his throat. “I want your pussy sucking at my shaft,” Lathan said in his deeply erotic voice. “I want you screaming in my ear to fuck you harder, faster. I want your pussy cream covering my cock, and sliding down your thighs. I want you so soaked I can hear your cunt milking my dick as I thrust in and out of you.” He breathed out hard, his fangs visible. “I want to bite your neck, suck your blood, and swallow it. I want you in me, a part of me.”
She knew it wasn’t about feeding, but about something much more… something sexual.
Abbi shivered, feeling hot and then cold all at the same time. She could feel his body heat seep into her. Her nipples strained against the material of her shirt. She wanted his hot mouth sucking on them, easing the burn she felt. She also wanted his fangs in her throat again, biting her, making her his. It was such an intense sensation she didn’t want it to end.
“You want me, just as badly as I want you. I can smell it on you, feel it coming from you. My wolf and vampire side know this, desire it. I ache for you, mate,” he moved closer still, his arousal not hidden.
She wanted to give herself to him, in every way imaginable, but she was frightened a little. She was alone in this world, not having anyone or anything of value in her life. But then Lathan came along, wanted her, craved her like no other, and she wanted that. He protected her, saved her, and she felt the pull toward him. He reached out and ran his finger along her neck, right over the mark he’d given her that first night.
“Oh, God.” Abbi closed her eyes and breathed out. It was such a sudden act, one that shouldn’t have her feeling even hotter, but it did. God, it made her want to surrender to him.
And then Lathan leaned down and placed his lips against her neck. His mouth was like fire. He gently bit the skin where her neck met her shoulder. It was such an animalistic and primal action, so very alpha, vampire and werewolf like, that she couldn’t help but moan. She tilted her head to the side and offered him her throat in a purely submissive move.
“That’s it, Abbi. Submit to me, give yourself over to me, and I swear you’ll never be alone.” His voice was a rough growl against her body.
She didn’t wait any longer, didn’t want to wait. She felt like she’d been holding herself back her entire life, living in a world where she didn’t belong. Maybe this was what she’d been waiting for, building up for? It made sense, felt right, and now that she wasn’t fighting it anymore she just wanted to embrace it.
“We’ve found each other, Abbi.” He moved another inc
h closer. “Do you know how long I’ve waited for you?”
She felt like she was playing with fire being with Lathan, allowing herself to do this, or maybe it was tempting the devil?
Or maybe she was tempting him to the point he’d ravish her, and devour every part of her? It certainly was enough to have her surrender to him in every shape, way, and form.
Chapter Six
“How long have you waited for me?” Abbi whispered the words, her eyes still closed and his lips still against her cheek. She didn’t know how old he was, just that the way he spoke, held himself, told her he had to be ancient, worldly.
“A long time, mate.”
She let her hands run over his wide shoulders and down his chest, the muscles massive and impressive as they flexed beneath her hands and told of how much power and strength he wielded. She was feeling bold… he made her feel bold. Her body was on fire, filled with electricity. She started to unbutton his shirt, his style seeming from another time. She could picture him atop a white stallion, his short dark hair mussed from the wind as he held a sword high in the air. Yes, he would have probably been a warlord, a king even, back in the day.
“Lathan,” she whispered his name. He pulled back, looking into her eyes, “I want you.” His lips pressed to hers, Abbi’s words lost as his tongue slipped into her mouth and stroked every inch. It was a delicious feeling, his taste purely male and exotic that it ignited all of her senses.
He smoothed his hands down her back to cup her ass, pressing her closer to the massive erection that was evident through his pants. She’d had sex twice in her twenty-seven year lifespan, but never had she felt like this with a man.
He lifted her up easily, and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. Their mouths were still fused together as he turned and carried her to the bed. Lathan used one hand to cradle the back of her head, and had the other around her waist.
