by Vela, Ana
Her shoulders relaxed the tiniest bit. She reached for the door handle, her full lips curving up into a small smile. “Tha--”
Em put one hand back on the door, sliding his body in between her and it. This close to her, he could hear her heartbeat, smell the very faint traces of the soap she’d used that morning. He could feel the heat radiating off her smooth, creamy skin. Cat’s smile fell away immediately.
“I can help, you know. I’m not a cop, but... I can help, trust me. Just tell me what happened.” He was going to let her go, but there was something. Something he couldn’t put his finger on. Her resistance to telling him only made him want to know more.
Her eyes locked with his, as if she was trying to read something there. She was trying to decide whether or not to trust him. Either way, she was probably in trouble. She bit the pillowy curve of her lower lip. “You wouldn’t believe me,” she murmured. “I don’t even...” She shook her head.
The nerves all along his spine tingled. Em shifted his weight, feeling the prickle of fur beneath his skin. He bit back the growl that jumped to his throat.
“Try me.”
She must have seen something in his face. Her mouth firmed. “The man... the one who chased me...” She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and met his eyes. “I think he was a vampire.”
***
Cat tugged against his grip as he dragged her through the club, her heels skidding on the floor. After stumbling a few steps she kicked the shoes off in exasperation. She tried to stop and retrieve them, but Em kept moving through the pulsing crowd.
“What are you... listen... mister... Will you wait?”
“Emilian.” He tossed his name back over his shoulder as he finally reached the rope for the VIP area. He vaulted it neatly, spun and scooped her up into his arms. He didn’t have time for niceties.
She slapped at his chest. “Put me down! Psycho. What the hell?”
“Emilian,” he repeated.
“What are babbling about?” Cat squirmed against his chest halfheartedly.
“My name. Is Emilian.”
She opened her mouth to respond but Drei’s muttered, “Oh, what the fuck?” cut her off.
“Drei, Grig. Got a problem.” He jerked his head in the direction of the door. Neither of his brothers needed further explanation, thank god. Drei drained his beer in one gulp and got swiftly to his feet. Grig shrugged apologetically at Tanya and slid out of the booth as well.
“What’s with the skirt?” Drei’s mouth thinned to a hard line. His eyes moved quickly through the crowd.
Em gritted his teeth. “She’s got a tail.”
“She’s got a name. And two perfectly good legs!” Cat thumped him on the shoulder.
Grig was watching behind them, making sure no one was following them through the club. His nostrils flared. “More than one.”
“Shit.” Em tightened his arms around Cat. Drei moved in front of him, strong arming people out of the way to make a wide path to the door. There were quite a few curses and exclamations, but no one was stupid enough to challenge the three big, dark men as they barreled through the crowd.
“She’s bleeding,” Drei spat without looking over his shoulder. “The smell’s like a fucking homing device.”
“It’s just a scratch!” Cat protested. It was just a skinned knee. And yet, to a vampire who had her scent, it was as good as a beacon. Just like Drei said. He needed to get her away from her, fast. If there was a group of vamps and they fell into a frenzy... Well, there was no way just the three of them could hold them off.
A burst of impatience clogged Emilian’s throat. They’d made it all the way to the club door, but a snarl of people held them up. Urgency pumped through his veins with every beat of his heart. He needed to get out of the stuffy, confined club. The hair on the back of his neck prickled. If it came to a fight in here, it would be a slaughter. Too many Mundane casualties. They couldn’t chance it.
“Get out of the god damn way!” he roared. Really roared. Cat flinched in his arms and several woman screamed. But enough of the milling, sheep-like group in front of the doors scattered that Drei could shoulder his way through the last few feet.
Em felt some of the tension in his neck ease as the cool night air washed over his face. He glanced down at Cat. The smooth, round curves of her cheeks were pale. Her slender fingers were curled tightly in his t-shirt. She was chewing at her lower lip. When she realized he was looking at her, she met his eyes, her purple-blue gaze frightened. “What’s going on, Emilian?”
Hearing her say his name in her soft voice sent an immediate, hard spike of desire into his gut. But now was not the time to be thinking about his dick. He could smell the vamps, the powdery sweet scent of their cool skin making his nose itch.
“I see ‘em,” Grig growled. “There’s four coming through the back of the club. Fast. At least one is Icing.”
“Motherfuck,” Em spat. That was bad news. A ‘normal’ vamp was bad enough. But some of their race got the bonus pack when they turned. Special abilities. Like Icing. He flashed a look behind them and saw the tall, skeletal form of the vampire moving forward through the crowd. It appeared as if the creature was moving forward in jerky stop motion.
Icing, the ability to freeze time around them while they kept moving, was a common extra ability. It was only a few second bursts at a time, but sometimes that’s all it took to win a fight. Fucking vampires. Em’s only consolation came from how wiped it left them afterwards. This cadaverous fuck was using up all his juice in order to reach them.
They really wanted the woman. “Let’s go,” he snarled at Drei and Grig. They were completely free of the club, hustling down the alley. It was dark, pitch dark, and smelled of piss and garbage. Bile burned in the back of Em’s throat. The stench was overpowering to his sensitive nose. He tucked Cat’s head under his chin, tipping his face down to inhale the clean aroma of her.
He ran with her held to his chest, head down, legs pumping, as fast as he could through the dark. Her breathing was ragged with fear and her fingers were tugging at his chest hair as they curled into his shirt, but she didn’t cry or squirm. Pretty impressive, considering everything that had happened so far.
They made it five blocks before the vamps caught up. Four of them, like Grig had said. Three were regular vamps, males with slightly pale skin, dark smudges under their eyes, and lank hair. Most of the vampires they came in contact with looked like that. As if they spent a little too much time in the basement playing Call of Duty. A little spindly and unwell. But looks were deceiving. Even a vamp without the toy surprise was fast and strong and vicious.
“Em,” Drei spun on his feel to face the vampires, eyes blazing as he studied the gaunt visage of the leader. A too wide, too toothy smile split the white skin of the vamp’s face. Drei cracked his knuckles. “Get her the fuck out of here.”
“Drei--”
“We got this, big brother,” Grig shot back. He flexed his hands. Em saw the skin of Grig’s forearms begin to ripple and cursed under his breath.
“Hold on,” he muttered to Cat.
“What now?” she asked, but her arms slid up to wrap around his neck.
Em wanted to stay and fight with his brothers, but Drei was right. He needed to get her away. She was Mundane, and she’d already seen too much. His car was only a few blocks south of where they were, but it would be quicker on foot. Especially for him. Saturday night in the city meant a clusterfuck of traffic.
He could make it to his apartment in half the time cutting through alleys and side streets. Em didn’t even glance back. He knew his brothers would be fine. Or, he wouldn’t let any other possibility enter his mind, anyway. He heard the ripping roar that meant Drei had shifted and heard Cat gasp. Shit. He prayed it was too dark for her to see much.
“It’ll be fine,” he assured her as he picked up his pace. “Just hold on to me.” She had a death grip on his neck, the soft flesh of her biceps pressed to his throat and her forehead tucke
d against his collarbone. Em ran.
***
The second the door of his apartment closed behind them, Cat squirmed to get down. He set her on her feet. She tugged at her suit jacket and scowled at him.
“Okay. What. The. Fuck? Was that?”
Em shoved a hand through his hair. “Nothing. Just... some gang members. My brothers and I are part of... a task force.”
She snorted. “I’m sorry, do I look like an idiot?” She looked like a walking wet dream. Her hair was straggling around her heart-shaped face and her feet were bare. Her toenails were painted blue. She put her hands on her hips and tapped those painted toes against the carpet.
“Let’s rewind. I get a call to meet a guy who says he’s got information about the story I’m working on. Only when I get there, he’s got sharp ass teeth and he tries to fucking bite me. Crazy, right?” She threw her hands up in the air. “Except, when I tell you I think he’s a vampire, you go all cave man and haul me off to your apartment. Meanwhile, your two brothers? Turned into fucking wolves!” Cat panted, her breasts heaving.
He couldn’t help chuckling. She was sexy as hell all riled up. Em gritted his teeth. He needed to get his shit together. Hot or not, the chick was a Mundane. Now, if he could just think of something to say that would explain away what she’d seen. Fuck. He was not good at the suave wordplay. That was all Grig.
“Fuck it.”
“Excuse me?” Her dark brows curved upward.
Em pushed past her into the kitchen and made a beeline for the refrigerator. He yanked out two beers and tossed one to her. She gasped in surprise, but caught the can in her small hands. He popped the cap on his own can and downed half of it in one gulp. “It’s not crazy,” he said finally, swiping at his mouth. “He was a vampire. They... we... do turn into wolves.”
He was breaking almost every rule they learned to live by, to survive by. But what the hell was he supposed to tell her? She wasn’t stupid. She knew what she’d seen. And despite that fact, she wasn’t panicking. So, Em decided to lay it all out there for her and let the chips fall where they may.
She tapped one fingernail, she bit them, he noticed, on top of the beer can. “Is that it?” Her eyes narrowed at him. Em shrugged and collapsed on the sofa. He didn’t spend much time in the apartment, but it was clean and well kept. The sofa was dark brown, the carpet beige. He’d even put some paintings up. They were his mother’s work. Not much furniture aside from the couch. Just a low coffee table and the enormous plasma screen. He’d spent a little more time on the bedroom, since when he was here that’s mostly where he spent his time.
Thinking about his big, king size bed and Cat had his cock hard in an instant. He shifted, adjusting himself absently. “What do you want? You already know what you saw. If you’re looking for confirmation, I just gave it to you.” He sipped his beer, leaning back against the sofa cushions and meeting her intense gaze.
After studying him for a long moment, she gracefully lowered herself to the other end of the couch, tucking her legs up beneath her. Em admired the smooth, round flesh of her thigh as her skirt rode up a bit. His cock twitched again. Fuck if this girl didn’t turn him to steel without even trying.
“So you’re a werewolf?” She chewed her lip, the expression on her face caught somewhere between intrigue and uncertainty. Em toasted her.
“Guilty as charged.” He heel-and-toed off his boots, peeled off his socks, and put his feet up on the coffee table, crossed at the ankles. There was something sort of liberating about not beating around the bush.
Cat wiped at the side of her neck. Sweat beaded along her skin. He kept the temperature in his apartment pretty high. It felt pleasant to him, but heat affected humans differently. She fanned a hand at her face. “Were you bitten? I mean... is it like in the movies?”
“No.” He eyed a single drop of sweat that snaked down between her breasts and contemplated licking it up. His cock throbbed. If he didn’t get out of these jeans soon, he’d end up castrating himself. “We’re born, not made. Drei, Grig, and I are all from the same litter.”
“Your poor mother,” she gasped. Em snorted laughter.
“Human woman have triplets all the time.”
She pressed the cold can of beer to her cheek. “Yeah, I guess. Jesus, this is all insane. You know that right?”
“I’m sure it seems that way to you. This is a pretty normal night for me.” Apart from the chatting to a human woman about Shifters and vampires part. She finally relented and pulled off her suit jacket, laying it aside. Em took the time to ogle the full curves of her breasts through the soft white cotton of her shirt. Cat had gorgeous tits.
“That’s right. You said you and your brothers are part of a task force. You’re the supernatural police?” She cracked her knuckles, fingers flexing as if she was getting ready to sit in front of a keyboard. Several things she’d said earlier clicked into place. Em swung his legs down and cursed.
“Shit, you’re a fucking reporter?” He was dead. If Drei didn’t kill him, their mother would. He was telling Shifter secrets to a fucking Mundane reporter.
Cat bristled. “Yes.” Then, seeing his tense posture, she rolled her eyes. “Relax. If I tried to publish anything about this, people would just think I was a crackpot. At best. I mean, sure, some conspiracy nuts would probably become my fanboys, but no one would take me serious as a journalist.”
“Were you being a serious journalist tonight when you met a strange man in an alley?” he shot back.
“Yes, actually. I’m working on a story about a string of deaths. The police haven’t connected them and I swear they’re missing something. So, when I get a call from someone who says they know for a fact the police are purposefully overlooking evidence...” She trailed off, shrugging. The motion made those magnificent tits sway. Em drained the last of his beer.
“You’re investigating what you think is a string of serial murders and when someone tells you they have information and asks to meet you... alone... after dark... you just go? Weren’t you in the least bit suspicious?” he growled.
Cat extended her unopened beer to him. “Of course I was! I’m not an idiot. I brought pepper spray.”
“Against a possible serial killer.” Em snorted. “A vampire serial killer.” He shook his head, snatching the beer from her hand.
She crossed her arms beneath her ample breasts, pushing them against the soft fabric of her blouse. He popped the beer open, enjoying the deep V of cleavage visible. Emilian liked his girls with some flesh on their bones. Another reason he liked human girls. Shifter chicks were all lean as a whipcord. It was in their DNA. Cat, on the other hand, was soft and round and delicious.
He shifted, adjusting his aching cock again. Cat gasped. As Em watched, her nipples went hard, poking at the silky fabric of her top. He pulled his gaze reluctantly from her luscious tits to look at her face. Her round cheeks were flushed pink and her eyes were wide. She was staring at his crotch. Em’s lips curled in a smirk.
When Cat realized he was looking at her, her eyes darted to his, and then away. The pink on her cheeks deepened to scarlet. “I didn’t know he was a vampire then. Frankly, I’m still...” She rubbed at her forehead. “This is all crazy. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes... I mean, I did see it and I’m still having trouble with it. Like, I could have had a psychotic break or something. Maybe I’m in a psych ward somewhere and you’re not even real.”
She sounded so pleased with the idea. Em reacted without even thinking. He set down the beer and was pressed against her in a flash. She gasped, flinching backward into the couch cushions. They were chest to chest. Her bent knee was less than an inch from his throbbing erection. Her stuttering breath washed across his cheek.
Em looked into her eyes for a long moment before reaching for her hand. He pressed it against the rock hard wall of his chest.
“Does that feel fake to you, Cat?” he murmured. Her plump lips were mere inches from his. When her tongue came out to wet the bottom one
, he almost groaned. Her small fingers traced the outline of his pectoral muscle.
“N-no. But...”
“It’s all real. The sooner you accept that, the safer you’ll be. If you delude yourself into thinking this is some drug induced dream, that skeletal fucker is going to get you and you won’t even see it coming.” A sweet little treat like Cat definitely didn’t deserve what those monsters would do to her.
Cat squeezed her eyes shut, but she nodded. “Fine. I know. I know it’s real. I just... don’t know what that means for the rest of my life. It changes... everything.”
“It changes nothing, really. We’ve always been there. The only difference is, now you know. You hang out here until Grig and Drei get back from wasting the bloodsuckers and then you can trot back to your life. My only word of advice would be drop that story.”
