Enslaved in Shadows

by Tigris Eden

  She collapsed on his chest and moaned in satisfaction. The heat of her juices soaking through his jeans was now cold. Her arousal was mixed with something stronger more potent. There was nothing tangy about Royce's blood, and as sick as it made him feel when the thought hit him. His blood was ambrosial, not only to the taker of his blood, but anyone with the olfactory to deeply smell it. Not cool on so many levels. His friend had a lot of explaining to do.

  A light snore drifted up from his sleepy cargo. She had the audacity to fall asleep after her dry hump showdown.

  “Don’t fucking say it Royce!” He warned.

  “What? I didn’t say anything I thought maybe you had some questions about what just happened.” Royce even tried to down play it like he was just as shocked as he was. The fucker.

  Draven knew he needed answers to life’s mysterious question of ‘Who the fuck was Royce Zarides.’ He didn’t like where his mind was going with that, because he had his ideas. Because let’s face it, everyone on planet earth’s blood, immortal and human alike, was red, and now here was this curious fucker, with his blue shit. But they needed a new car and they needed to be on their way. The time for questions would be later. The building surroundings seemed quiet enough. Maybe the douche who’d shot at them assumed she was dead. It would benefit their journey considerably if Marcus thought his ex-wife was dead. But they still needed to be cautious.

  Draven looked at Royce, letting the man know the conversation was far from over. He had sleeping beauty in his arms and he needed to call Dravaggio. Let him know somehow someone knew she was here. The buildings camera may have picked something up, and the fact no one came out and not hearing the bullets meant supernatural forces were at work. Someone who worked for her ex-husband. Someone who not only helped him secure and keep the vampires, but who had connections of the demon persuasion as well. Time was literally counting down. They needed to find the house where the vampires were being kept and they needed to bring Marcus down. All of these things would happen after he got her and her daughter to safety.

  Chapter 9

  Relaxed. Comfortable. Sated. Jesminda wanted Royce with an intensity that burned a hole straight to her stomach. Wait what? She closed her eyes and shook the fuzzy thought from her head. She didn’t want Royce she didn’t want anybody. She was in the back seat of a car and they were moving at a fast pace. There were no streetlights intermittently placed to mark the roads as they drove. The road Draven took was dark. She could see the shadow of branches but nothing more. Not even the moon shone through the thickets of dense trees. She couldn’t shake the feeling she’d done something extremely stupid.

  Her cluttered brain attempted to retrieve pieces to the broken puzzle. She remembered coming out of the building. She remembered talking to Royce about smoking and then her thoughts blanked. A dark void from the time she spoke to Royce, and then to the SUV? How did she get from point A to point B? Slowly she tested all body parts. She was a bit sore, achy in some places. Her chest was sensitive. Every deep breath was painful. Just like the time the doctors told Jes she’d almost suffered from a flaying chest injury. From her supposed trip down a flight of stairs. What the hell happened?

  A sharp pain hit the right side of her eye and spread over her skull like fire. Everything came rushing back in memory overload. She remembered the SUV’s window shattering, seconds later the profound feeling she’d had a fist punch through her chest and exit through her body out the other side! Oh shit! She’d been shot! She could still feel the blood rising up from her ruptured lungs as it filled her mouth and spilled out the sides. Blood mixed with bile and the acid from her stomach.

  Jesminda’s hand slowing felt for a wound that wasn’t there. Nothing? Absolutely nothing. Her last thoughts had been of Faith. She couldn’t even tell Draven about his daughter, because she had been drowning in her own blood. Fire and anger turned to warmth and second chances. She could still taste the nectar on her lips. Dark, spicy, decadent and sinful the flavor of his rich blood was fire to her system. It was her savior, her lover, all rolled into one. What the fuck? She didn’t have time to ponder the meaning of it all. He’d saved her that was enough for now. A surge of gratefulness flooded her body and she wanted to hug Royce. Only, her animated HD memory slipped into another stream of thought. Her dry humping Draven as she’d stared back into eyes of liquid fire. Royce. She’d wanted him but settled for the next best thing. Jesminda cringed and let out a squeal of embarrassment. Oh God, now Royce would think she’d want him. She didn’t want either of them. What a disaster!

  “It’s okay you can admit it sugar, I’m the true object of your deepest desires.” Royce turned and peered over the headrest at her in the back seat. She wanted to hurt him and hump him in the same breath. No fucking way! She was not attracted to Royce. Ewwwww!

  “I would tell you it’s my animal magnetism, but it would be a lie I could totally live with. The truth is you were shot, and I saved you. End of story.”

  Shifters blood didn’t have healing qualities? Did it?

  “Shifter’s blood does not heal. Can’t. And we’ll leave it at that.” Royce said

  He hadn’t spoken the entire time until now. He looked into the rearview mirror and held her gaze. She was not going to get involved in the eye fucking. It was pointless. He was going to comment or humiliate her. Let’s just add that to your list of things not to do. Dry humping the father of her child in front of Royce. And before he could make a comment on her inner thoughts she kicked the back of his seat with her foot. She couldn’t move him by force and he still managed to feign hurt and actually pouted at her in the mirror.

  She rolled her eyes. He could pout all he wanted as long as he didn’t open his big ass mouth.

  “I’m relieved you’re okay, and I won’t let it happen again. Royce and I will see to it.” Draven's voice was harsh and she knew it wasn’t meant to be hurtful to her. He was upset and she understood. Especially, from a mother’s perspective. What kind of mother can’t protect their children? It was his job to protect her. She scooted forward in her seat, her arms on both head rests and looked straight ahead as she said.

  “It’s over and as far as I’m concerned I was lucky, very lucky and I won’t forget it either.” She leaned forward and planted a light kiss on Royce’s cheek and whispered an immense thank you to him in his ear. He nodded curtly. It was the first time she’d seen a serious look on his face, since she’d met him.

  A serious look that lasted all of five seconds. In that small space of time he was now grinning ear to ear. It was a contented smile filled with mischievous thoughts.

  “Why the fuck did you kiss him?” Draven yelled.

  “Uh, duh! He saved me, why else?”

  “Aaah, little Dravey Drave wants a kiss too Jesminda. Give him a kiss. Pretty please?”

  Royce batted his long beautiful eyelashes at her and gave a thumbs up. She lightly punched him in the shoulder and cleared her throat. She could be serious but she was alive and happy why not be a little playful. Playful never got you hurt. Right? Yes it can.

  “No can do. That furry beast over there is shackled. Didn’t you see the way his girl handled him at the cafeteria? I’d be crazy to want to go toe to toe with that.” Laughing she leaned forward far enough in her seat so she was able to see Draven grit his teeth. Even his cheeks had muscles. What guy actually had cheek muscles? She wasn’t going to kiss him. Kissing him would ruin everything.

  “We are no longer a couple.” Draven gritted between his teeth.

  “Not gonna happen. Even if you beg for it.” Jes shot back. Stop flirting!

  * * * *

  Jesminda sat back and fastened her seatbelt. Heated feelings still lingered in her system for Royce. Not as strong as when she’d awaken in the car, but there was still some lingering thoughts dancing through her head.

  “Stop being a naughty human,” Royce said into the mirror looking right at her.

  Jesminda didn’t even try to hide her face. Instead, she winked b
ack at him and he laughed. Life was too short to continue being in a bad mood, he’d saved her life. She could be playful with him. It didn’t mean anything and Royce knew it. Draven of course also eyed her in the mirror. His eyes watched her intently, alternating between her and the road.

  “We’re going to pull over at this rest stop up ahead. We need to get something to eat, and maybe see if there’s a shirt for her to change into.” He said as he turned off the exit to head toward the rest area.

  There were so many reasons she should ignore everything her body was saying. For starters, the unexplained feelings for Royce had not worn off entirely. There were her feelings that were resurfacing for Draven. Which didn’t make much sense. He’d lied to her. Game over. She was a big girl and there was no reason for her not to be adult about the entire situation. Instead of guessing, she decided to confront the problem head on.

  “Royce?”

  “Hmmm.”

  “Why do I want to have sex with you?” The car swerved hard to the right and dipped dangerously on the shoulder. Royce braced himself on the dashboard while laughing loudly.

  “Have I ever told you I like you more and more as a person Jesminda?” Royce gasped trying to recover from his hysterics.

  “No, but answer the question. Why do I want to screw your brains out? Not as much as I wanted to earlier but the thought and some of the feelings still linger.”

  Draven grunted and hit the gas pushing Jes back into her seat.

  “That’s quite simple. I’m irresistible and well excuse my frankness but my cock,” He turned around in his seat and spread both his hands apart as far as he could reaching over into Draven’s driving space. With an extremely dark seductive voice, he said, “Is about that long, and yes, I do not lie. There is one other animal on the planet that has a dick the size of mine.” He stopped and she thought he was going to answer with that age old answer ‘the blue whale’; instead he took on a serious look and said. “My brother Ronin. I hear from the ladies that he is a tad bit thicker than I am, so it would be quite the challenge.” Royce waggled his eyebrows and grinned wide. Fucking men and their egos. Still, she smiled.

  Draven pulled into the rest stop by the time Royce finished his statement. He didn’t say a word just hopped out of the car and headed inside. Royce had a knowing look on his face, and Jesminda guessed he would because, well he read minds. He knew exactly what was bothering Draven, but he sat there and just beamed with devious intentions. Royce was thinking something, but what?

  The inside of the rest stop was nice and warm. Jesminda loved Indian summers, and knew it wouldn’t be long until fall came onto the scene with its vivid reds and maple browns. She walked down the aisle until she came to a rack with varied sizes of printed tees. There was a red t-shirt with a picture of toilet paper and right above it, it said, “This is how I roll.” Jesminda laughed out loud which got the attention of everyone in the store. Something she didn’t want to do. She did not want to draw attention to herself and she could never forget her true purpose. Get to her daughter, and get to safety. She grabbed a pink tee and quickly walked to the register to pay for it.

  As if on cue her cell rang, she pulled it from her pants and then went to open it. A large hand grabbed it before she could speak.

  “Who is this?” Draven asked. Fucking perfect.

  * * * *

  Draven heard the voice of the little girl on the other end of the line and cringed. This wasn’t going to sit well with Jesminda at all.

  “Um, hi mister, where’s my mommy at?”

  Draven bristled at the sound of the small child. He had no idea Jesminda kept a cell phone, but that was going to change. Maybe that’s how Marcus was keeping tabs on her and able to take a shot at her in front of the office. It was distressing enough the human was tying him up in knots. She’d almost died. He’d aged twenty years, knew there was gray hair mixed in with his black. He didn’t want to talk to the kid. Didn’t even really care for pups or any other sort of child-like annoyance. Draven quickly passed the phone back to Jesminda and walked over to a snack rack, pawing the items roughly. Fucking women!

  Draven was still pissed about the entire ordeal with her dry humping him into a frenzy, and that she wanted Royce was the icing on the fucking cake. Fucked up icing at that. Royce explained his blood was rare. The side of effects of anyone taking his blood not only healed but had aphrodisiac effects on the drinker. Royce hadn’t gone into detail but had asked him to not say anything to the others. He had nothing to worry about as long as the giving of blood didn’t happen again. Royce knew he struggled with his feelings for her. How could he not? She was an enigma to him, it made him want to get down to the skinny of it and find out who she was body and soul. And so what if his friend had blue blood. Blue blood? A thought hit then and he realized Royce and his twin’s people were once used as blood slaves to the Gods. He’d heard the stories from his grandfather.

  Sons of Romulus or Ferals. He didn’t remember all the details but he did remember the term ambrosia was based on the orgasmic qualities of their blood. The Gods had been relentless in their pursuit to have them for blood slaves, keeping them for all manners of depravity. He was told the Gods had killed the entire race. Drained them dry. Obviously that wasn’t true. Royce and Ronin Zarides were alive and well. It was their secret and he would keep it as long as his friend kept his orgasmic blood to himself.

  Draven needed to deal with his feelings for Jesminda. Closure they both needed. She was all up in his personal space. Granted, she didn’t ask to be, but hell it is what it is. Doesn’t matter how the cards were dealt. Fate had a way of going full circle, and he was stuck inside its circumference. Failing miserably.

  “Don’t think too hard man. You’ll hurt yourself and Jesminda and I will find us without our personal driver.”

  Royce slapped him lightly on the back and walked over to the side of the rest stop that held a diner. He took a seat and signaled for the waitress with silver white hair and a pink apron. Draven followed suit, he was hungry and he needed something in his stomach besides the knots Jesminda kept tying him in.

  Draven sat in the booth next to Royce when he saw Jesminda from the corner of his eye. Fresh shirt and all. She’d bought a pink tee that hugged her breasts. Breasts he wanted to lick and pinch. They were fuller now that she’d had a baby. One thing to add to the like column. Post pregnancy had its perks, he thought to himself. What he wasn’t prepared for was her fury and she was pissed. Real pissed. Her anger seemed focused on him. He could feel it as it wrapped around his neck and attempted to choke his senses. Gods, she was even sexier when she was angry.

  “You bastard! Don’t you ever take my cell and answer it! That was my daughter; she doesn’t deserve to be barked at.”

  She slammed her purse on the table and sighed heavily mumbling under her breath.

  “Don’t be shy with those words, speak your mind.” Royce said. The man was always trying to start shit. He was a regular trickster. The idiot. She looked over the table at both men and grunted. The waitress took that moment to appear.

  “What can I get you folks?” The waitress said. She pulled out a pad and pen, waiting patiently for them answer.

  Royce winked at the elderly lady and she smiled back. He ordered for everyone. It wasn’t like he didn’t know what they wanted. Arrogant bastard. He could turn it off, not listen in on them. Royce knew he should extend them that courtesy but he didn’t. Fucker. Royce nodded in his direction mocking him with a tilt of his lips.

  “You know, you two are really stupid for a couple.”

  Draven and Jesminda both spoke at the same time. “We’re not a couple.”

  “Well, you two should be as much as you two go on with the inner monologues. I tried to shut the two of you out, but frankly it’s too entertaining.”

  Royce looked between both of them and scrunched his face.

  “I have someone.” Draven blurted. No you don’t. You broke it off.

  “Yeah, I’ll pret
end you didn’t say that. You keep drooling over her and I am sick and tired of you sighing about her eyes, her lips, her voice, blah blah blah. Man up or bow out.” Royce took the salt shaker in his hand and stared at it like it was the most interesting thing at the table. He finally looked up and started in on Jes.

  “And I am tired of hearing you young lady, about how much you can’t stand him, but ooh, he’s sooo sexy, but I don’t want him, but ooh maybe I really do and let’s not forget—“ Royce grunted and glared over at Jesminda who shrugged her shoulders.

  What was going on between those two?

  “Yeah, I’ll shut up, but you know what they say the truth will set you free.”

  She snorted and rose out of the booth to walk over to the juke box. He watched her the entire way. He was definitely an ass man. No doubt about it, hands down. He knew if she turned back to look in his direction she’d see the decision he’d made all over his face. He would have all of her.

  Chapter 10

  There were many reasons why she wanted a do over. One reason why she didn’t. Weighing the pros and cons of any situation was never a good thing. Pros, she would never have been in this predicament. She really couldn’t say that because she still would’ve married Marcus. She’d thought she was truly in love with him. He’d made her laugh, but the jerk had also made her cry, on several occasions. The first time he’d hit her, he’d apologized immediately followed it up with kisses and tight hugs.

  She’d written it off as stress. Tried to be a better wife, make things easy for him. As their relationship progressed the beatings got worse. Those dark days were finally behind her. It was time to put one foot in front of the other. Regardless she’d still be in this situation. A definite con she didn’t want to accept. If she’d never had her run in with Draven there wouldn’t be a Faith and all the joy the pretentious five year old brought to her life. It was a no win situation, she may not have met Draven, but she would have had to meet him now. There wouldn’t be this bad blood between them. Their relationship would be protector and protectee only.