“Well, I was just leaving.” It wasn’t until she stepped back that Aria noticed that Declan was leaning on a cane. Her lips parted with surprise, and her eyes darted rapidly back up to his face.
“What the hell happened to you?” The cane didn’t diminish from the danger that Declan had always exuded. If anything, he made the polished stick of black wood look like a weapon capable of doing great harm, just by being in his hand.
But there wasn’t much that could permanently cripple a vampire.
“Silver. Nerve damage.” Something dark flitted across Declan’s face, but was gone just as quickly.
Aria hissed in a breath. She knew that silver was like kryptonite for vampires. When they’d been together, she’d made a point never to wear it.
She wanted to ask where he’d come into such brutal contact with it, and saw that he was expecting her to.
She swallowed the question. Five minutes in the man’s company and she wanted to pick up where they’d left off. Another five minutes and she’d be rubbing against him like an animal in heat.
“After I left, I worked for the Capitol for a while.” Declan’s words were flat, yet Aria saw a flash of anger in his eyes. The Capitol was the governing body for the supernatural creatures of the world. They left the creatures alone for the most part.
Unless they wanted something. Knowing about Declan’s precognition, it wasn’t hard to guess what they’d decided he’d be useful for.
“Let’s just say it was an occupational hazard.” His voice was wry, and took Aria straight into the past. He’d always been self-deprecating, and on his big, bad self she’d found it sexy as hell.
She still did. She’d had lovers since he’d left—human and supernatural, male and female. But none had ever made her passion burn as bright as the vampire had.
Declan made no attempt to hide his own blatant interest as his eyes slowly traveled up her body and then down. Her nipples puckered under his stare, and she felt heat gathering low in her belly.
“That’s a shame.” Damn it, her voice was breathless. What was wrong with her? She’d been feeling sexually deprived lately, sure, but this man had broken her heart.
Her traitorous hormones didn’t seem to care. They were flooding into her veins, reminding her of every reason she’d always found Declan so sexy.
Her lips were dry, and she licked her tongue over them for moisture.
Declan’s eyes followed the gesture, and she saw his expression darken.
“I wondered.” His voice was everything she remembered—dark, rich like chocolate. It sent shivers skating over her skin. “I wondered if it had all been a dream, what we felt for each other.”
Aria shuddered out a breath. She wanted him—no matter that he’d once left her, she still wanted him with an intensity that was frightening.
“The key word is felt.” Her voice was raw, and it physically hurt to step back, away from him. “Past tense. We were no good.”
“We were young.” Declan followed her, the thud of his cane sounding before his footfall. “But I never forgot you. Part of the reason I came back was you.”
“No.” Panic warred with delight in Aria’s gut.
“Let’s not overthink it.” With the hand not holding the cane, Declan reached out to touch Aria’s cheek, trailing his knuckles over her skin. A blaze of sensation followed in the wake of his touch. “Maybe this is what we both need.”
Aria closed her eyes, savoring his touch. Her body wanted nothing more than to shove Declan down on the top of Harry’s bar and have her wicked way with him.
What would it hurt, after all? She could scratch this itch with someone who knew her well enough to please her.
Only the palpitations of her heart reminded her that she might not survive him leaving a second time.
“No, Declan.”
The vampire’s eyes narrowed as, drawing her strength about her like a cloak, she pulled away from his touch. No matter what she felt in that moment, she couldn’t. “I value my sanity more than that.”
“Don’t you feel it, too?” His voice was as rich and delicious as she remembered it.
Aria still knew him well enough to see that Declan was warring with the same overwhelming need that was swamping her.
“I do.” She couldn’t lie—he would see right through it. “That was never the problem.”
“Goodbye, Declan.” These were words she’d never had a chance to say before. She couldn’t tell if she was relieved or devastated when she finally managed to turn away from him.
Despite all that had happened, she knew him. He was too stubborn, too proud to come back to Salem’s Hollow just for her. So why was he here?
Turning to walk around Declan, Aria found her nose meeting the hard wall of a solid male chest.
“Ow!” Shoving back against the offensive obstruction, Aria scowled up, even as she felt the tingling on her skin intensify.
“Apologies, little one.” The barest hint of a smile played across the lips of the man who had caught her wrists in his hands.
Aria felt her breath catch. Damn it, was the universe trying to torment her today? First Declan, now this gorgeous creature, whose fingers were hot around her wrists.
Nearly as tall as Declan, his skin was a golden brown that gleamed under the pale lights of the bar. His hair was the color of bittersweet chocolate, and his eyes only a fraction lighter.
She could tell that he was something more than human, but she couldn’t say what—though she ruled vampire out of the equation.
He wasn’t nearly pale enough. Also, she could see puncture marks on the cords of his neck, ones that she’d often had herself after a night with Declan.
Holy hell. What were the chances?
Aria backed up a step, looking from Declan to the other man and back again. Declan’s expression told her that he was waiting for her reaction.
“Aria, this is Adam Patel.” With the hand not clutching his cane, Declan reached out to run a hand over Adam’s biceps in much the same way as he had touched Aria’s cheek only moments earlier. “Adam is a werewolf.”
“And a guy who needs a drink.” Adam smiled at Declan, and the intimate curve of his lips, the puncture marks on his neck, the flush on Declan’s cheeks told it all to Aria. “Let me buy you a drink, little one, to apologize for almost breaking your nose.”
“No, thank you.” So Declan had a new love. Well, that was fine. She certainly hadn’t been a saint in the years since they’d parted.
But she was unsettled by the heat that crackled between them still...the heat that pulsed among all three of them.
Never again. She couldn’t feel hurt like she had when Declan had gone again. She didn’t think she’d be able to survive.
“I’m going now.”
“Stubborn as always.” This was Declan, but his voice held exasperation instead of amusement. From the corner of her eyes Aria saw the two men exchange a glance.
“This is the one?” Adam’s voice was quiet, but he didn’t seem to be trying to hide his words.
“She always has been.” Declan spoke in barely more than a whisper, and Aria wondered if she’d heard right.
Rubbing her hands over her face with embarrassment, Aria wondered if there was a graceful way to exit a situation like this.
“Don’t leave yet.” Though Adam was a stranger to her, something in his expression as he smiled down at her pulled at her in a way similar—and yet kinda different—from the way she felt when Declan looked at her. “I’d love to spend time with the woman Declan speaks so highly of.”
That was enough. Aria’s nerves snapped.
“Why on earth would you want to spend time with your lover’s ex?” She wasn’t bitter, not exactly, but she was certainly perplexed. She’d thought—hoped—for a brief moment when Declan had said he’d
come for her. Hoped that there was some way to erase the past and find her happy ending.
He had found someone new. It was his right. But since she knew he couldn’t have come back just for her, it seemed like a slap for him to come to her, to tease out these feelings that she’d thought were long buried.
It angered her to have them brought to the surface. Turning to Declan, she drilled her finger into his chest.
“You have a lot of nerve, coming in here to proposition me when your lover is barely out of earshot.” Declan blinked as if she’d managed to catch him off guard, and she felt the same surge of satisfaction that she once had when she’d managed to do the same.
“I wasn’t trying to proposition you.” His voice was mildly amused, and as Declan exchanged yet another glance with Adam, Aria felt her cheeks begin to burn with mortification.
Had she read the entire thing wrong? Was she burning up for him while he felt nothing?
Heart in her throat, she took a step toward the door. Her upper arm was caught in the cool grip of a vampire’s hand, and then she found herself hauled against the unyielding chest of the same.
“Something told me to come here this week. I think you know me well enough to know that I wouldn’t have come if the tug came just from you.”
She’d already known that, but hearing it from his lips stung. She glared.
“I had to see you, because I knew if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to get you out of my mind. But I find that I like where your mind’s gone.” The words were dark, hot.
Aria saw the intent in his eyes. She felt like she could protest, but didn’t have to work very hard to quiet it.
She wanted the kiss. She wanted it bad.
When Declan’s lips met hers for the first time in three years, she felt as though she’d had the wind knocked out of her. He blew cool air between her lips, giving her his breath, before he deepened the soft brush of lips and claimed her mouth with a possessive nip on her lower lip.
Aria moaned as Declan’s tongue traced the seam of her lips, then slid inside to dance with her own. She stiffened, fighting it, before her body took over and she wrapped her arms around his chest as his fist tangled in her hair, tugging gently.
Then, as quickly as it had started, the kiss ended. Declan released her and stepped back, leaving Aria panting and needy.
“I think we all might get along.” Declan’s words were thick. With heavy lids and swollen lips, she looked up at him, then at Adam, who stood nearby, watching them with hunger evident on his face.
“You mean...” He couldn’t. It wasn’t unheard of in the supernatural community to have more than one partner at once. But when they’d been together, they’d been so consumed by one another that it hadn’t been a consideration.
No. No way. This was the worst idea on the face of the planet.
But...she was burning, badly. The idea of having not just Declan, but both men sent power surging through Aria’s veins, crackling into magical energy in her fingertips.
If Adam was there too, then how hard could she fall for Declan again? His new lover’s presence would be a constant reminder to keep her guard up.
She was so hot, the ache between her thighs growing so that the thought was enough to convince her. She would enjoy her time with them, enjoy the mind-blowing sex that she knew Declan was more than capable of.
Then she’d go back to her normal life, the way she always did. It hardly seemed fair, but that was just the way things had to be.
“All right.” She was sure that she was imagining the flash of triumph that she saw in Declan’s eyes.
No matter what he said, she couldn’t believe that he’d come back here just for her. No doubt running into one another was just a coincidence that he’d taken advantage of.
Well, she was going to take advantage right back. Here was a man—men, actually—who weren’t afraid of her. She didn’t have to hide any part of herself, and that was something rare.
Smiling slowly, sensually, Aria licked her lips and looked first at the familiar face of Declan, then at Adam, the face she didn’t yet know by heart.
“Where are you staying?”
Chapter Two
Declan felt his fangs prickling through his gums as soon as Aria acquiesced. As it always had, the submission borne from her strength was a heady rush.
But he also got a jolt of energy as she spoke, and he knew that her decision had clicked something new into the future. Hard as he tried to reach for it, he still couldn’t see what it was.
“We’re staying in the motel across the road.” Declan looked at his lover, saw anticipation on Adam’s face. It made shivers dance up and down Declan’s spine.
He was about to be with the only two people who had been able to reach past the feelings that had been frozen so many years ago, when he’d turned. The very thought made his cock hard.
But as they stepped outside the bar, and the noises of the jukebox and the chatter of the inebriated faded into the night air, another blast of energy pushed against him, this one strong enough to shove him back a full step.
“What the fuck?” Declan’s injured leg dragged on the ground as he righted himself, instantly shoving Aria behind him as he pulled the hidden sword from his cane.
“Declan!” Aria’s voice was a growl as she shoved back at him. In his peripheral vision he saw blue light crackling from her fingers, knew he’d startled her enough to activate her magic.
From behind them Adam growled, and though he didn’t shift, Declan saw the other man’s hair stand up on end.
“What is it, Dec?” Adam sniffed the air and looked puzzled. “I’m not getting anything.”
Aria looked between the two men, suspicion painted over her face.
“I don’t know.” After a long moment, Declan straightened and let his muscles relax. Adrenaline still pumped through his cold flesh—he didn’t understand what had just happened.
“I’ve never felt anything like that before. It was the jolt that happens when I get a premonition, but it was...stronger.” Way stronger, he though with a trickle of unease. Almost sentient.
And now it was gone.
“Dec?” Aria eyed him warily. He wondered if she knew she’d fallen into the old habit of shortening his name.
“Whatever it was, it’s gone now.” Declan caught Adam’s eye and understanding passed between them. They would discuss what had happened later, and in the meantime they would be wary.
But the danger seemed to have passed, and with it Aria’s resolve. He could see the need to flee skittering over her skin.
“Aria.” He deliberately layered his voice with the dominance that she’d once responded to.
“Don’t pull that shit with me, Declan.” She looked at him sharply, her features twisted into an irritated scowl.
“I’m not doing anything besides being myself, Aria.” He softened his voice, aware of Adam standing on Aria’s other side. She seemed to become of aware of it too, and shivered. “And a moment ago you wanted me, wanted us. Are you backing down?”
He watched as her spine stiffened, as he’d known it would when he dared her. He saw the pulse that beat beneath the line of her jaw increase. He struggled to keep himself in control, when the sight mesmerized him, fragile butterfly wings beating beneath translucent skin.
He remembered what she tasted like. He wanted to taste her again.
“I’m not backing down from anything.” Her voice would have seemed controlled to most, but Declan heard the slight breathiness of arousal. “Let’s go.”
With a saucy swish of her hips, Aria sashayed across the dull gray parking lot, her ass swinging in a way that had Declan’s throat going dry, though he’d fed off Adam only hours before.
“The Capitol?” Adam asked in voice that had gone half wolf at the sight of
Aria’s swaying hips. His words were tight with both need and concern.
“I don’t know what they would want with me here.” A phantom pain ran through Declan’s injured leg at the very thought of the governing body. To leave the Capitol was death, but he’d been free of them for over a year.
He looked after Aria. He and Adam should simply leave, before anything became more complicated. But he couldn’t escape the nagging feeling that he was where he was supposed to be.
Aria looked back over her shoulder then, her green eyes bright in the moonlight. She cast a wicked smile at Declan and Adam, and Declan’s fangs descended the rest of the way through his gums.
“Coming, boys?” Her voice was a growl, the come-and-get me tone that had always driven him crazy.
He wanted her. He needed her. And he didn’t have to look at Adam to know that his lover felt the same way.
Striding across the parking lot, his cane scraping on the asphalt, he grabbed Aria by her shoulders and pulled her in for a hot, hard kiss. He heard her sharp intake of breath, watched her eyes go cloudy.
“You’re the one who’s going to be coming, little witch.” He couldn’t help but grin at the snarl that passed over her face. She’d always been such a fascinating bundle of contradictions. “Let’s go.”
* * *
Aria’s heart pounded a wicked tattoo against her rib cage as Declan swiped his key card through the reader on the motel room door. As the door swung open, he gestured for her to enter ahead of the men.
She did, her sharp eyes taking in the room and noting several details despite her nerves.
If she channeled her magic, she could see the lingering remnants of two separate threads of energy in the room—the deep blue of Declan, and a golden yellow that she thought was Adam.
The streams of energy were concentrated over the king-size bed, and threaded through with tendrils of crimson.
Crimson energy was highly sexual.
She didn’t need to guess what had happened here.
“You said she always overthinks things, Declan.” Closing her eyes, Aria heard the door to the room close with a click. Adam’s voice was as yet unfamiliar to her, but she was attracted to it regardless, its husky rasp reminding her of the burn of whiskey in the throat. “I think she’s doing it right now.”
Some Like It Wicked Page 2
