by Mina Carter
“Oh, behave you! The baby, I fed the baby!” Tessa retorted quickly. Although…what would it be like to feed Feral? He was a vampire, and she’d heard that in the right circumstances, a vampire’s bite could be pleasurable.
In fact, some of the girls she worked with hung out at one of the paranormal joints in town, Moonlight and Magic, just for that reason. Hoping to catch the eye of a local vamp for a…well, it gave a whole new meaning to the word “necking!” They’d often asked if Tessa fancied joining them, but the thought of a guy biting her neck had just turned her right off.
Until she’d met Feral.
She shivered, the thought of the large vamp back in the room getting all up close and personal enough to bite her neck…and everything else that came with it…sending shivers down her spine. Yeah, she could quite happily get all up close and personal with fang-boy. Preferably the sooner the better!
“Heeeelllloo? Can I bring you back to the land of the living for a moment?” She blinked as Jane snapped her fingers in front of her face to get her attention. She’d been staring into space, lost in her own erotic daydream.
“Huh. Sorry, zoned out there or a moment. Been a long day,” she apologized, trying to ignore the heat in her cheeks. “I was expecting a quiet night in with a movie and a tub of Ben and Jerry’s.”
Jane nodded as she opened the note. “Then tall, dark and handsome showed up?”
“Uh-huh. Carrying small and cute, complete with a dirty diaper.”
“Niiiice…holy shit!”
Jane’s voice was loud enough to bring Tessa half out of her seat, and have her looking around to find the fire. Then she realized Jane was staring in shock at the note she’d given her.
“What? What is it? What’s it say?” she demanded, realizing whatever it was, it had her normally talkative aunt, speechless.
Jane looked up. Her eyes held a stunned expression. “I think you might have brought World War Three to my hotel!”
She’d been right. Tessa walked back to her hotel room sometime later, deep in thought. The baby was a Morrigan, that much she’d managed to read for herself, but Jane knew the language far better than Tessa. More years to study, as well as having the advantage of dealing with all sorts of Fae on a daily basis.
The note had been brief and to the point. Explaining that the baby had been stolen from his family because his mother was a Morrigan, the note maker had said she’d regretted what she’d done, but hadn’t had time to return him, as she was being tracked. There were vague references of what “they” wanted to do to him. She, whoever she was, had asked forgiveness for what she’d done, and that whoever found him, to keep the baby safe.
What was puzzling Tessa though, was, why had the baby been left on Feral’s doorstep in the first place? She could understand leaving him there for protection. After all, there weren’t many beings that could take on an adult Kyn warrior and live to brag about it. But the note had been written in High Fae, not something they should have expected a vampire to read. Hell, she even couldn’t read all of it, and thanks to her Pixie side, she had Fae blood!
She turned the corner and headed down the stairs. The place was like a damn rabbit warren! Then there was the fact they’d hit her sister’s apartment rather than Feral’s. It was rare for Pixies, even as arrogant as they were, to break in like that. With brute force rather than employing glamour—and Feral had said they’d been expecting a woman and a baby, not a Kyn.
Realisation hit her and she smacked her palm against her forehead. She was obviously far more tired than she thought. The baby had been left on Feral’s doorstep by mistake. All the doors looked alike on that block, and it would have been quite easy to get them mixed up, especially if a person had never been there before, and they were in a hurry.
She reached their corridor, doing a quick, automatic check on the numbered plaque on the wall. Last thing she wanted to do was walk into someone else’s room! She’d passed her “excitement level” by nine o’clock this evening. All she wanted to do now was relax and get some sleep.
Oh well, the intrigue would be over tomorrow. In the afternoon, Jane would be taking them to the Fae Court so they could get Spud back to his parents, or at the very least, to the Morrigan who was bound to know who his parents were.
She nibbled her lip as she walked. The poor things must be going out of their minds with worry, and she didn’t like the idea that she was contributing to their distress. She didn’t know them, but she was sure any parent whose child was missing had to be going through hell, wondering where their baby was… Whether they were okay, who had them, whether they were being looked after, fed enough, kept warm enough…the list went on.
She’d been all for going to the courts straight away, getting the baby back as soon as possible. Until Jane pointed out that Fae, especially temperamental ones like Mab and the Morrigan, were not people someone awakened from their beds, nor did they need Feral ending up as a crispy critter. Reluctantly, she’d conceded that Jane had a point, agreeing to get some sleep so they could leave as soon as the sun set.
Reaching the door to their room, opening it easily, her lips quirked in a smile as she remembered Feral’s earlier grumbling about how difficult it was to open the door. Honestly, all it took was a light touch, not going at it like a bull at a gate. She pushed the door open and slipped in on silent feet. It closed behind her with a soft click. Her eyes flew to the inhabitants of the room to make sure she hadn’t woken them. She knew only too well how grouchy babies could be if they were woken before they were ready.
Her eyes fell on the bed and she smiled, all but melting inside. Stretched out full length across the bed was the large form of her vampire warrior, and curled up trustingly on the broad expanse of his chest was Spud, his pink hair a bright halo against the darkness of Feral’s skin. She itched to rush over to her bag and grab her phone. She so needed to take a picture of this, it was just too cute for words. Big, scary looking thug, but so gentle with the baby he cradled.
But then, her attention was diverted by the lean form of the man himself. Shirtless again. He seemed to have real issues keeping a shirt on for any length of time, mostly wearing only jeans. Jeans that clung to his lean hips and powerful thighs, the top button undone—revealing the slight “V” of hair that disappeared under the denim. Oh my god, he’s commando under there!
She swallowed convulsively. There wasn’t a spare ounce of fat on him. He was all hard muscle and satin skin. Even as relaxed as he was, that charisma of his couldn’t be shrouded by sleep, and she was still fascinated…still felt that pull toward him she had felt earlier. The desire to run her hands over those ripped muscles. Explore that scar she could just see on his abdomen with her tongue…
Okay, I’m definitely a pervert! Her hands flew to her cheeks as heat flooded them. It was one thing to lust after a guy when he was conscious and asking for it, but quite another to do it when he was sleeping and holding a baby. Just how low could she get?
She shook her head, crossing the room to get her bag. A quick search through the organized chaos of the contents and she located her phone by touch, drawing it out of the bag and flipping it open as she turned, only to find Feral watching her, his dark eyes unreadable.
“That won’t work, Kyn don’t pick up on cameras well.” His voice was barely more than a whisper, low enough so he wouldn’t wake the sleeping baby. “Like not at all.”
Tessa frowned, pouting slightly in her disappointment. It would have made for such a cute picture. She flipped the phone shut and slid it back into her bag, saying the first thing that came to mind. “So how do you get a driver’s license then?”
“Who said I had a license?”
“What?” Tessa squawked, the shrill sound making Spud jump a little. Feral glared at her warningly, soothing the baby back to sleep. If he wasn’t a vampire, he’d make a great dad, Tessa thought to herself absently, before her indignation at being driven by someone without a license got the better of her again. “You don’t
have a license? You shouldn’t be driving at all then! What if you got caught?”
Feral just shrugged, rocking the baby in his arms. “Jedi mind tricks, remember? What else am I supposed to do? We don’t photograph and I don’t have a birth certificate. Not easy to get a license without those.”
She nibbled her lip, caught once again at making assumptions. She hadn’t had a lot to do with the Kyn. In fact, Feral was pretty much the only one she’d done more than nod at.
“He’s gone back to sleep.” Feral’s deep voice was still quieter than normal, as he levered himself up from the bed, his posture rigid as he kept the little boy held in his arms in the same position, a look of contentment on his tiny face. She watched as Feral carefully placed him in the travel cot, making sure he was tucked in nice and tight.
Her heart melted again, a sense of amazement filling her at the gentleness he showed toward the baby. She knew he had issues with Pixies. There was an edge in his voice at times, a flash of anger in his eyes, when he spoke about them that tipped her off. It wasn’t surprising, the Pixie race as a whole weren’t nice. It was one of the reasons the women were peeling off, choosing to live and marry among the humans. It was a better life.
Feral straightened, watching Spud for a moment then turning to her. “He’s asleep,” he announced, a smile spreading over his face.
The smile hit Tessa like a speeding bullet, her heart fluttering in her chest. Feral was dangerous, not just physically in that “mess with me and I’ll rip your limbs off” sort of way, but dangerous in other ways, too. Something deep inside her, something inherently feminine, told her he was dangerous, emotionally as well. Without much effort, she could fall for him and fall badly.
She tried to ignore the feeling as they settled in on the double bed, to watch an old film Feral found on one of the channels. It was strange, but, despite the day she’d had, followed by all the excitement of the evening, she wasn’t tired yet. But it didn’t matter, they could sleep in late in the morning. Until the sun went down they were pretty much trapped, so they might as well make the most of it.
“This is terrible,” she commented, indicating the screen, “and I’m bored.”
He slid her a sideways glance, arching an eyebrow. “Bored? You can’t be…this is a classic!” he said, his voice aghast even as his eyes twinkled with laughter. Tessa studied the screen again, displaying a car chase which never seemed to end.
“Yeah, right,” she muttered, “classic my ass…”
“Oooh! That’s it! You can’t diss Bullitt, it’s just not done!”
Tessa giggled, their conversation conducted in whispers as they tried to avoid waking the sleeping baby. “Not done huh? Seems to me I just did…so what are you going to do about it, fang-boy?” she challenged, grabbing a pillow to defend herself and scooting to the edge of the bed.
“Fang-boy? Well aren’t you Queen of the Original Insults?” Feral asked, arming himself and advancing on her. Trouble was, the fierce expression on his face was completely ruined by the pale lavender pillow he brandished, threateningly. “You have insulted my honour! Prepare to…get battered!”
With that, he launched his attack, battering her with the feather pillow as she frantically tried to defend herself with her own. Queen of pillow fights when she was a kid, she was pleased to discover she’d lost none of her skill, easily holding him off as she made a move for his pillow. Then she had both, rising to her knees to hit him back, forcing him to block, and he did so with lightening quick movements. The both of them laughed so hard she was surprised the noise hadn’t awoken Spud.
Her half second glance cost her dearly. In a sneaky move, Feral flicked both pillows out of her hands and rolled over, pinning her under him in a lightning-quick movement. She giggled and tried to wriggle from under him, her fingers straining for the pillow, while teetering on the edge of the bed, just for the chance to whack him over the head again.
Then she caught his gaze and the amusement drained from her face. The mood between them flipped from light and teasing to aware and fraught with sexual tension, in a heartbeat. Holding her gaze, he moved, sliding a hand into her hair, strong fingers caressing the nape of her neck.
She swallowed, realizing she was very effectively pinned on the bed under him. His large, muscled body covered hers, blocking her view of the rest of the room, trapping the two of them in their own little world. One heavy leg covered hers, his broad chest pressing against the softness of her breasts. And pressed against her stomach was the hard evidence of his mood.
She caught her breath, a thrill shooting through her as he leaned forward. “I’ve wanted to do this since we were interrupted earlier,” he confessed, as his lips claimed hers, hot and hard. Full of need, without preamble, he coaxed her lips apart. Her body turned to jelly as his tongue swept in, exploring the silken depths of her mouth relentlessly. Endlessly. By the time he lifted his head, a lifetime later, they were both breathing raggedly.
“Don’t turn me away Tess.” He kissed her between the words, hard kisses clearly conveying the need surging through his large body. “Please don’t turn me away.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t intend to.” Her hand smoothed over the nape of his neck, brushing against the stubble there. A silky pelt that teased her fingers. He moaned, his head dropping again to devour her lips as he moved over her, the movement of his hips against hers mimicking what they both wanted to happen…what was going to happen shortly.
She parted her thighs, cradling him with the softness of her body as his hand smoothed down her side. He pulled her t-shirt up, his movements hurried, almost desperate. As though he couldn’t wait to touch her, as though he needed, craved the touch of her skin against his. As he did, his large hand fit into the curve of her waist, a sigh escaping him. One she could swear was of relief, as his lips trailed fire down her neck.
Tessa’s breath caught in her throat. Does he really feel that way about me? Desperate to touch me? She could understand it if he did, a similar desperation crawled through her, settling deep within her and taking up residence. She ran her hands over his shoulders and down his back, feeling the hard muscle that rippled under his skin, until she had a handful of the hard ass Jane had admired earlier.
Almost as though thinking of her aunt had conjured her up, there was a rapid knock on the door. Jane’s panicked voice filtered through the wood. “You’ve got to wake up guys! The Pixies are here!”
Chapter Six
Feral closed his eyes and dropped his head down to rest against Tessa’s shoulder. Frustration and disappointment surged through him, fighting a battle for dominance. He couldn’t believe this! Not again!
“I fucking hate Pixies!” he breathed vehemently. His fist bunched instinctively under the pillow with the need to hit something.
“Tell me about it.” Disappointment and frustration coloured Tessa’s voice as she pushed at his shoulders. He rolled away, already looking for his boots as she headed for the door. “And I bloody am one!”
Feral didn’t answer, just nodded as he jammed his feet into his boots and grabbed his shirt. Behind him, Jane barrelled through the door as soon as Tessa opened it, gaze sweeping the room and latching onto his semi-nakedness immediately. It was something Feral was used to, sometimes Kyn warriors had that effect on other races, particularly women…something about their demon blood. The fact that most of them stood over six feet and were ripped as all hell didn’t hurt one bit.
“Oh put it away lover boy, we don’t have the time!” Jane told him as he pulled his shirt over his head, the fabric stretching over his broad shoulders. He pulled it down, emerging from the fabric to give her a look, but didn’t reply. From the pale look on her face she’d already had one hell of a shock, worry etched into the features so similar to Tessa’s. Must be where she got the attitude as well, he mused, grabbing his weapons belt and buckling it quickly around his hips.
“Grab your bags,” Tessa ordered as she headed to the cot to pick up the sleeping Spud. Wrapping h
im tightly in the blanket, she cradled him against her, heading back to the door.
“We’ve got Pixies downstairs looking for you, and they aren’t taking ‘no’ for an answer. You need to get out of here and now!”
Neither of them needed to be told twice, grabbing their belongings and stuffing them into the bags as quickly as they possibly could.
“How the hell did they find us so quickly?” Feral demanded. He zipped his bag up with a quick flick of his wrist and held it out to Tessa, who glared back at him, a “carry your own damn bag buddy” look on her face. It wasn’t until he pulled one of the heavy blades from the back of his belt that her expression cleared. Nodding, she took the bag, looping the strap across her body, the fabric sitting diagonally between her breasts as she picked up the other two.
Feral wrestled his attention from her delectable body, one he’d nearly had his hands on. And was having trouble dismissing even now, with images of what she looked like naked flashing across his mind’s eye, causing a very predictable response lower down in his body. He shook his head. If the Pixies were to catch up to them, he would need a clear mind, as well as his hands free, to deal with them. Rampant erotic fantasies of Tessa were just going to distract him. Well, distract him more than her presence did, and that delicate scent that was all hers. A scent which had wound itself around him, creeping into his nostrils and crawling under his skin until it was a part of him.
He hardened his features as he settled his blades more comfortably in his hands. Any Pixies, stupid or unlucky enough to catch up to them were going to wish they’d never been born. They’d interrupted them twice now. Not once, but count them, twice…right as he was about to get some action. Which was not something he was forgiving lightly; not with his body as hard and aching as it was, reminding him of exactly what he was missing out on!
He nodded to the two women when he was ready, both watching him with that “wide eyed” look. A look which said they half-expected violence to just occur all around him, without him needing to lift a finger. Well, civilian women got that look. Vixen would’ve just slapped him upside the head for showing off, for flexing his muscles because Tessa was watching, then she’d demand to know why he wasn’t out in that corridor already.
