I narrowed my eyes and made a show of aiming my gun at his face, instead of the larger target of his chest, which happened to be covered by a bullet-proof vest. It was strange seeing him in a tactical helmet and full gear. I was used to boots, leather jacket, a rodeo belt, and the Stetson.
“What the hell are you doing here, Vicks?” I spat.
“Why I’m here to retrieve my partner.” He sent me a sharp grin. “Didn’t I tell ya I was outta the job without yer mug around?”
“Bullshit,” I accused. My trigger finger was starting to feel itchy.
“What? You think I wanna get even for the stunt you pulled? Shoot girl, I ain’t that petty. That’s the kinda spitfire we need. Now knock this horseshit off and come back, we gotta contract, you and I. I didn’t take you for no oathbreaker.”
“She’s not going anywhere with you,” Lucas growled.
Vicks pressed a button on his headset. A loud shooting sound erupted above us. I kept my eyes and my gun pointed at Vicks, but out of the corner of my eye I saw a missile launch toward the mountain that housed the Red Den.
My eyes widened. Oh my God, the children!
Just as the bomb was about to connect, an invisible dome surrounding the mountain crackled to life and its shape became visible as the explosion connected.
Vicks cackled, “Nice trick, black magic?”
“What the fuck, Vicks!” I screamed, so tempted to riddle his head with holes. What really pissed me off is he didn’t bother aiming his gun back, he simply cradled it in his arms like neither Lucas or I were a threat.
“Now, that there was me establishing that I don’t like interruptions,” Vicks drawled. “If pretty boy over there opens his trap up, we’re going to test the fortitude of yer little Craft shield. Ya hear?”
Lucas growled low in his throat and took a step forward. Considering he was practically walking off the nose of the statue, I grabbed his arm and held him back. I had no doubts he could jump the distance to Vicks, but I feared he couldn’t do it before the Hunter got his shots off. It was a long leap and Vicks always had a trick up his sleeve. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wore an explosive vest just so he could go out in style and eliminate us at the same time.
Please don’t do anything crazy. You don’t know this guy like I do.
I know him well enough, Lucas told me.
I suddenly saw a mental image of Vicks pointing a gun to my man’s forehead. BANG!
WHAT. THE. FUCK.
And that’s when I saw Vicks’ necklace. He wore a special souvenir around his neck.
An ear.
Lucas’ ear.
I saw red and pulled the fucking trigger.
Lucas rushed me and knocked the gun to the side. The shot went wild. I attempted to aim again but Lucas bent the barrel and ripped it out of my hands. The weapon went clattering over the edge.
I didn’t even care. All I saw was red, filled with an all-consuming need to punish the monster who hurt my mate. If I couldn’t shoot the fucker, then I’d leap onto his cable and kill him with my bare hands! I took a running dive off the statue’s snout, but Lucas wrapped his arm around my waist and hauled me back. I scratched and kicked — anything to get free enough to rip Vicks’ fucking face off.
“YOU SHOT MY MATE! IN THE FACE!” I screamed, viciously reaching for him.
“Claire,” Lucas hissed in my ear. CLAIRE!
I froze, breathing hard and still glaring down Carson fucking Vicks, dead man. He just didn’t know it yet.
Kill him and you’re signing everyone’s death warrant.
My eyes widened. Holy shit, I almost just killed a U.S. Hunter. In front of witnesses. I must have lost my goddamned mind.
You channeled my rage. You’re not used to it so it hit you hard, but you can’t let it control you like that again. Your actions reflect mine. Mine reflect the pack. We can’t afford a misstep here.
“He’s still alive ‘n’ pretty as ever, ain’t he?” Vicks shot back, his own gun now pointed at me. “I made a pact not to kill him, and I kept my word. No need for all the dramatics, Claire-Bear.”
Every fiber of my being wanted to rip his head off, but I bit my tongue and held my silence, instead.
“Now I’m willing to forgive that outburst, but I don’t got all day. You gonna come back and fulfill your contract, or do I get to kill all these fine folks hiding in the trees? I sure wouldn’t mind a new wolf skin rug.”
The fucker was trying to get a rise out of me on purpose. I could see it in his eyes. He wanted an excuse to do it, but at the same time, if I refused his offer he’d lose all the power and protection of being a U.S. Hunter. I imagine he’s made countless enemies throughout the years. Most of them were probably chomping at the bit, waiting for him to fall from grace. That had to be it. The only reason he was willing to take me back — despite trying to literally murder him a few minutes ago — was because the alternative must really be a death sentence.
I’m going with him.
The hell you are.
I turned to Lucas and pressed my hand against his cheek, It’s the only way everyone walks away unscathed. This is how we avoid war.
My mate stared at me like I just sucker punched him. In a way, I did.
I won’t allow it. He’ll kill you the moment you’re alone.
No, I shook my head. He’s backed into a corner. He needs me.
Fuck him, I need you.
I could feel his heart starting to break all over again, this time mine was shattering too. The lump in my throat made it hard to breathe.
Tears fell down my cheeks, You’ll still have me whenever you need me. I gently touched his wrist where our matching tattoos were. With this spell, we would always be together, even if we were oceans apart. Then I placed my hand over his heart, right where the string of our mate bond tugged. Right now your pack needs you, Lucas. Good leaders sacrifice for their people.
He covered the hand on his heart with his own. My beautiful mate stared back at me with watering eyes. Then he pulled me in close, kissed my forehead, and whispered fervently into my hair, “I am so proud to call you my queen. My pack is lucky you are a woman of character who would be willing to do this for them, but I can’t allow it. I won’t let that piece of shit tear you from me. Not again.”
He wasn’t thinking clearly. Not with the way our personalities blended into each other. I knew what I had to do next. A waterfall of tears broke free.
“Lucas,” my voice cracked. “I’m so sorry. This is for your own good.”
I shoved him off the statue with all my might. I fell to my knees as I watched my mate plummet to The Pit.
I stared out the airplane window with tears streaming down my cheeks. The moment I leapt to Vicks’ cable, I couldn’t stop bawling my eyes out. Even when I closed my lids, I saw my mate falling over and over again. He’d Shifted midair and landed on his paws, but that look of utter betrayal he’d sent me…
I couldn’t claw it away, no matter how many times I scrubbed at my eyes. I felt absolutely gutted.
Through our mate bond, not only could I feel his pain magnified with my own, but I also saw that his entire pack had to restrain and attack him to keep him from coming after the chopper. After me.
Even now, seven hours since I made my choice, I saw the devastation I left in my wake. Through the bond, I sensed Lucas ripping up trees and destroying whatever he could get his teeth on. His wolf was absolutely flipping his shit and nothing I said through our bond could fix it.
Lucas, I hedged.
A snarl answered me back.
I cried silently for another hour.
“If it’s any consolation, ya saved lives today.” Vicks’ voice drew me from my depressed fog.
I slowly turned toward the bastard, and glared with all the contempt I could muster. I fucking hated him.
Instead of his signature smirk, Vicks’ features were completely blank. On the outside, it may have sounded like he was trying to be comforting, but to me, it just plunged the k
nife in deeper and twisted.
My hands balled into fists as I breathed hard, trying to detain the rage that I was channeling from Lucas. I didn’t need it. Plenty of animosity originated from me where Carson Vicks was concerned.
He must’ve seen his death in my eyes, because the Hunter pulled a tranq gun and calmly rested it against his thigh.
Maybe he’d been a predator so long, he could recognize the deadly shift in another. I didn’t care. I’d already snapped. I didn’t give a shit if we were flying over the ocean. I couldn’t care less if I brought the whole plane down — so long as Vicks went with it.
Ardor gathered to my limbs. The electric blue lashed out like vipers, preparing to strike. They were so potent, I suspected even a human could see them.
His face hardened and he lifted the gun. “I don’t like the way yer mean muggin’ me, kid.”
I stood up and charged.
The gun fired.
I ripped the dart away from my neck. Crushing it in my palm was the last thing I remembered before I collapsed in the aisle.
***
For a moment, I thought I was back in the Red Den. Then I remembered my body was unconscious on a plane flying over the pacific.
This was a dreamscape and it wasn’t pretty. Every piece of furniture had been ripped apart. Even the bed had been pummeled to splinters — sections of the dismantled mattress had been hurled in various directions. A mahogany dresser was no more than kindling. Pillows were ripped open and sheets laid in tatters. Large claw marks ripped through paintings and even scored the rock walls beyond. This dwelling had scars now.
I had a feeling this was Lucas’ personal room. Either this scene of destruction was a manifestation of how I felt, or Lucas unleashed his wrath upon the inanimate objects in the real world.
“Lucas?” I called out. Suddenly, I felt a shift in his consciousness. The man was back and the beast had stopped its rampage in the forest. I whirled around to find him behind me. His eyes were red-rimmed and his chest rose and fell heavily. His bare skin looked smudged with dirt and blood.
Oh God, had he killed any of his people in his wolf’s madness?
If it was his own blood or that of an animal’s, it would be the best-case scenario. I don’t think I could forgive myself if something irreparable happened to one of his wolves.
“Why?” his deep voice growled.
I took a breath and centered myself. I betrayed him to save his people. If he’d been thinking clearly, he would have let me go.
“You know why,” I slowly unzipped my jacket. “You weren’t willing to make the hard choices.” I peeled off my shirt. “Lives were at stake, and the price of staying, far too high.” I shucked my pants and stepped out of them. “I’ve got enough blood on my hands, Lucas.”
I began walking toward him in nothing more than a set of bra and panties.
His feverish eyes took me in. Supposedly, it’s more difficult for a man to fight with a naked woman.
“I want to make things right.” I unhooked my bra and let it drop, “I want to make you feel better.”
I wanted to feel better, too. When I pushed him off the statue, an abyss had opened up between us. A chasm I had every intention of bridging now.
“You infuriate me.” His intense gaze drank up all my newly bared skin. I may infuriate him, but I aroused him, too. The sight of his thick erection sent a little thrill through me.
“I know.” I slid my underwear down to my toes. My panties were already wet. Heat flooded to my cheeks when I heard him inhale.
I resisted the urge to cover my body with my hands. I didn’t know how he could stand so confidently in the buff. Maybe it was because his body was perfect. I would be proud of it, too. A part of me wanted to hide behind a perfect chameleon mask just so I could be in the same room as him, but that felt like cheating. I’d made the choice to bare my true self to him and I would stick with it.
I carried on, trying to keep the tremble out of my voice, “But it doesn’t mean I’m wrong.”
“You were very wrong,” he growled, striding toward me. He invaded my personal space and gently tilted my chin up. “To deny me my mate.”
“You already have me.” I lightly kissed his glowing tattooed wrist. “Wherever. Whenever.” In these dreamscapes we could be together, regardless of where my life took me.
He sent me a sharp, angry smile. His thumb brushed against my lips. “Prove it.”
I slowly wrapped my lips around his digit and closed my eyes. I pictured the throne hall, not wanting our first fully voluntarily sexual act to be ruined by a room that looked like a hurricane blew through it. A moment later, we were in the brightly lit hall with its high vaulted ceilings. My strong mate stood before the throne formed of fur and bone. I gently pressed against his sturdy chest and pushed him into the chair.
He sat down and placed his hands on the skulls, awaiting my next move. His eyes burned bright gold. Both wolf and man were staring at me now.
I took a deep breath and slowly sank to my knees, never dropping eye contact. A soft rumbling trickled out of his throat at the sight of me kneeling before him, between his legs.
“I’ve never done this before,” I whispered.
“Good.” His eyes burned brighter and his fingers tightened on the bleached white skulls, “Now suck.”
My core clenched at the demand, neon blue ardor sizzled across my skin and jumped to his. He inhaled sharply and bit back a moan.
Taking advantage of the moment, I gently took his cock in hand and pressed a kiss to the mushroom head. Then I tentatively licked along the slit, collecting a drop of moisture. I looked up at him to reassure myself I was doing it right.
Lucas stared down at me hungrily, looking like he was trying very hard to restrain himself.
“That’s good,” he said tightly. “Keep going.”
Feeling more confident now, I began to lick up his shaft and swirl my tongue around the tip. He threw his head back and groaned. I stared transfixed at the strong column of his neck. I suddenly felt very in control of the situation. And I liked it.
Wrapping my lips around his thick cock, I took him as deeply as I could. It hurt my jaw to open up so wide and I barely covered half his length until he hit the back of my throat, but he didn’t seem to mind by the way he tangled his fingers into my hair.
He gently tried to force me to take him deeper down my throat, but I couldn’t breathe like that.
Feeling panicked, I reared back and a burst of my power slammed into him.
He stared at me in shock as he tried to lift his arms off the armrest, but rows of blue electricity kept him tied down.
Holy shit, I really did have to talk to Gabe about the various uses of ardor.
Lucas struggled against his bindings, “What is this?”
I lifted an eyebrow and wrapped my hand around his dick, slowly stroking. “I’m not entirely sure, but it looks like you’re at my mercy, Alpha.”
“Oh, we’ll see about that.”
“Yes,” I grinned. “We will.”
For the next two hours, I sensually tortured my mate. I bobbed my head on his lap, massaged his balls, and used my free hand to trace along his built chest and abdominals. The visual of my captive King was the most erotic vision I’d ever beheld. Not only was the sexiest man at my disposal, but he was also vowing to return the favor between moans of pleasure.
If that wasn’t hot, I didn’t know what was.
Every once in a while, I shot a bolt of blue sauce into his system and it drove him positively wild. Now, I wouldn’t call myself a sadist, but it was a heady thing to control my mate like this. I had always been the one taken, never the one to do the taking. I discovered I enjoyed both, immensely.
After holding off for a seriously impressive amount of time, Lucas finally relented and shot his seed down my throat. In the moment of his release, a massive wave of energy came to the surface. I wasted no time on feeding and shockingly found my own orgasm in the rush of power.
Feeling both spent and exhilarated, I sat back on my heels and smirked at him. I licked his salty residue off my lips, “Who’s the dominant one now, huh?”
A snapping noise drew my attention.
Lucas had easily freed himself from my bindings. “I’ll show you.”
I barely had time to blink before he was on me. Somehow, I found myself on the edge of the throne chair with both legs thrown over his shoulders. My eyes widened at the sensation of his broad cockhead pressing into my wet entrance.
“I hope you weren’t expecting my payback to be gentle, baby.” With that, he shunted his hips and slammed all ten inches home.
I jerked awake in the passenger’s seat of a car. I blinked blearily and let my eyes adjust. My head felt like an ax was splitting it.
My sex, too. But in a good way.
His last promised words still rang in my ears. If we’re going to make this long-distance relationship work, I’ll need to feed my girl three meals a day.
My core clenched in anticipation. Maybe everything would work out this time. A giddy buzz danced across my stomach.
“Have a nice nap?”
I winced and turned to find Vaughn behind the steering wheel. A bizarre sight, considering how young she looked — definitely not driving license aged.
“We need to talk.”
I rubbed my eyes. “About what?”
She sent me an irritated look, “Do you even know what you’ve done?”
I’d done a great deal of questionable things in the last 48 hours. I wasn’t sure which shitty decision she was referring to.
“The vampire you freed,” she snapped. “Do you have any idea who that was?”
I frowned, “Beckett?”
Vaughn shook her head in disgust, “So you’re on a first name basis with The Broker now?” She looked like she wanted to slap me. She gripped the steering wheel hard and it creaked. “Get out, I can’t even look at you right now.”
Normally that would have stung, but I just had three amazing orgasms; it was difficult to process much of anything right now. Not wanting to piss her off more, I exited the vehicle as requested. I took a deep breath and stared at Gabe’s mansion. A sense of deja vu washed over me, but this time I knew what was on the other side of that door: my future.
The Hunter: A Sinful Supes Novel (Red Crescent Book 3) Page 15
