by Anna, Vivi
“Screw you.”
“I warned you, Eden.”
She whirled around and stared at the gorgeous, naked man.
“What are you?” she asked, having difficulty not staring at his impressive manly parts.
“What do you think?”
“A werewolf,” she said.
“I’m a shape-shifter.”
“There’s a difference?”
“Of course.”
He said it with a look as if he was appalled that she’d suggested otherwise. She turned away, still having a hard time not looking directly at his endowment.
“Could you put some clothes on?” she asked.
“Why? Does it bother you?”
“I’m just having a difficult time not talking directly to your penis.”
He guffawed unexpectedly and the sound sent a rush of shivers over her body. There was no discounting the surge of heat between her thighs. She was still achy from her encounter with Bael, and now sexy, naked shape-shifter had to come along and ramp things up again. Images of her sex dream with him flashed in her mind and liquid heat pooled between her legs.
“What do you want? Why did you kidnap me again?”
“I know you think you are doing the right thing by looking for the girl, but you put her in more danger by being here.”
“So she is here?”
“Talking with Bael just proves my point about the danger.” His jaw tightened.
“He seemed nice enough. At least he was willing to talk to me.”
The shape-shifter quirked an eyebrow. “Nice? You think Bael is nice?” He shook his head in disgust. “What is wrong with you?”
“Where do I start?” She laughed, then wiped a sweaty hand through her tousled hair. “Tell me your name.”
“Why?”
“Because I asked nicely. And I want to know who I’m being threatened by.”
He stared at her for a long beat, then tilted up his chin. “Mikhail.”
“Okay, Mikhail, I take it this Bael is what?”
“A vampire.”
She laughed. “You mean like Count Dracula? I’ve come to suck your blood?” she said in an accent.
“No, like a vicious, soulless seducer of the night who will rip out your throat and drink your insides, then ring for tea.”
She shuddered at the thought. But deep down she’d known he was something like that. The dark allure of him, the seduction, the fiery flare in his beautiful eyes.
“He’s not to be trifled with.”
“He offered to help me find Lilith.”
Mikhail smiled, and it was cold and calculating. “Of course he did. That is what he does. He makes offers—offers a person can’t refuse. Then he owns you for eternity.”
“I didn’t sell him my soul, if that’s what you’re insinuating.”
“Not yet you haven’t.”
“Do you really believe I am that awful, that ruined?”
He moved toward her. Eden had a raging urge to retreat, but she stood her ground. She didn’t want him to know how afraid she was of him.
“Damaged would be a better word. Your soul has holes punched through it. It’s torn and ragged, in need of repair. I fear that you will trust in the wrong person to do the mending.”
The hair on her arms stood to attention as he neared. There was an electric current in the air and it sizzled over her skin. His presence was almost too intense, too powerful, as if she should drop her gaze and not look upon him.
“I didn’t realize I needed saving.” Her voice was not as steady as she’d hoped.
He took another step closer. “You are a strong woman, Eden. There is no doubt. But this is a fight you cannot win, a fight you shouldn’t even be involved in.”
“It’s too late for that now. I’m involved. The girl called me, Mikhail. Do you understand? She called me.”
He sighed, and it was the first real sign of humanity that she’d seen in him. “I understand.”
She met his gaze and kept it. “So you’ll tell me where the girl is?”
“No, I won’t.”
“But I thought...”
“You thought wrong.” He crossed the last few feet between them and took her arm. “But I will take you to a safe place for the night, and afterward you can find a portal back to your home.”
“I’m not going home. You can’t force me to.”
“We’ll see about that.”
He came toward her and instantly transformed into the wolf. With one step he was a man, and the next he was a majestic animal. Eden couldn’t wrap her head around it.
And she didn’t have time to before he grabbed her, tossed her onto his back and bounded down the alley. She had to wrap her hands in his fur to hang on or be thrown off. The thought of letting go did cross her mind but the inevitable painful tumble she’d take on the cement changed her mind.
As Mikhail ran through the streets, Eden tried to keep note of the twists and turns and landmarks along the way in case she needed to get back in a hurry and on her own. However, she wasn’t too keen on maneuvering the dangerous creature-filled streets on her own. If the little goblin hadn’t found her to begin with, she wasn’t sure she would’ve made it past the first city block unscathed.
After a fifteen-minute ride, Mikhail stopped in front of a dilapidated housing complex. The place reminded her of the stacking-box-like structures in the poor districts of Jakarta, Indonesia, when she’d visited years ago. The smells and the sounds were very similar, as well. Not that she minded. She’d felt at home in Jakarta, so this was a bit like a welcome back.
Mikhail nudged her off his back and returned to his human form. As Eden followed him, her attention was drawn to one balcony where a couple were having sex. Loudly and in public view. But the odd thing was they were both catlike. Their skin was spotted and their faces triangular with luminous eyes and whiskers. She tried not to watch, but it was fascinating and a little bit arousing.
Once inside the building, Mikhail directed her up a flight of broken-down stairs to the second level. There he led her to a door painted blue and opened it. He gestured for her to enter. She did, although with reservations.
Once Eden was inside, he shut and locked the door, with several dead bolts and a metal slide bar. Nothing was coming through that door unless it was a giant. And she didn’t rule that out considering where she was.
Eden took in the small apartment, noticing the sparseness of it. It reminded her a little of her own place. There were three rooms: a small kitchen, a bathroom, and an area with a bed along one wall and a sofa and table along the other. There were no other comforts such as a TV or computer. Maybe such things were pointless here.
“This is where you live?”
“Sometimes. It’s not my main abode but I use it for emergencies.” He pointed to the bed. “You can sleep there. I will use the sofa.”
“Can I shower first? I feel like I’ve rolled down rabbit holes.”
“Of course.” He turned on the light in the bathroom for her. “Then I’ll tend to your ankle.”
She nodded and limped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. After all that had happened she’d almost forgotten about the pain radiating from her ankle. But now that the adrenaline had ceased racing through her bloodstream, the throb had intensified.
Eden stripped off her clothing, turned on the water in the stall and stepped into the hot spray. The relief of the scalding water pounding on her skin was almost instant. Sighing, she lifted her face to the spray and let it wash away the grime of the strange city and the anxiety she was feeling. She still wasn’t sure this man didn’t mean her harm.
When she turned from the spray and opened her eyes, he was standing in the bathroom, watching her. Her first instinct was to cover herself but she was too tired and she figured it was too late for that. He’d already seen her body, and from the size of his erection, he’d obviously liked what he’d seen.
Eden shut off the water. “Something you need?”
He held out a towel for her. “Here.”
She took it, rubbed it over her face and hair. Then, almost as an afterthought, she wrapped it around her body, though she had the urge to wrap herself around him instead.
“Sit.” He pointed at the toilet. “I’ll look at your ankle. I have healing abilities.”
She flipped the lid closed and sat on the cool plastic. Mikhail went to a knee in front of her and took her foot in his hands. They were strong and rough on her skin as he moved her foot back and forth, trying to gauge her injury.
She winced when he flexed it to the right. “Ahh. That hurts.”
“Hold still.” He placed her foot gently on top of his bent knee, then cupped his hands around her ankle.
She wanted to ask him what he was doing, but all rational thought abandoned her as heat from his hands rushed into her flesh. It was as if a fire had been ignited inside. It wasn’t painful but a bit uncomfortable as the surge of heat swept up her calf, then to her thigh. Heat waves caressed her skin and molded her flesh until she was flushed and panting.
When next she looked down, her towel had fallen away and her legs were spread. A trickle of moisture lined the inside of her leg. In all her life, she’d never felt this heated, this wanton. The urge to trail her hand down to her sex to ease her suffering dug at her mind. She had to grit her teeth to hold it at bay.
“What did you do to me?” she asked, her voice strangled by desire.
“Healed you.”
“You did more than that.” Her muscles quivered with need. Her heart thumped hard with want. “I can’t leave this room without having you.”
“Be careful what you ask for. I will not take you kindly.”
She sat forward, placing a hand on his face. She ran a thumb over his full lips, wishing they were on her body right now.
“I don’t want kind.”
“What do you what?”
“You. Now. However.”
He stood, his hard cock level with her face. She reached out to touch it, dragging a fingernail over the tip. Mikhail groaned, then, grabbing her by the hair, he dragged her up to his eager mouth.
He kissed her. It wasn’t soft or gentle, but hard and rough, possessive. As if he was claiming her as a prize for a game he’d just won.
After thoroughly kissing her, he turned her and walked her backward to the wall. He pressed his body against hers, mashing her breasts tight to his chest. His erection dug into her belly, an iron rod jabbing her softness.
Without any effort, he picked her up and pushed her legs apart to settle between them. Eden spread her thighs as far as they would go, bracing one foot against the shower door and the other on the sink counter. There was no seduction here. None needed as she was already hot and wet and ready for him.
Using only one hand to hold her captive against the wall, he used the other to guide his cock to her opening. With one long, smooth, yet hard, thrust he was buried inside her moist channel.
“Oh, God,” she whimpered, as he began to move between her thighs. Her dream paled in comparison to the reality of his hard cock inside her.
At first he just thrusted in and out, hard and forceful. Then he started to twist his pelvis until he was grinding on her. With every movement he rubbed against her mound. She was so open that the base of his cock knocked against her clit with every stroke.
As he fucked her raw, he bent his head and feasted blissfully on her breasts, tongue and teeth torturing each nipple. It wasn’t long before the heat building in her belly became unbearable. She writhed against the wall, moving her body to end her suffering. She wanted it to last and be over at the same time
She dug her nails into his back as he drilled her hard, holding on while he rutted like an animal between her legs. His fingers dug into her ass cheeks as he thrust himself, balls deep, into her sex.
Eden cried out as an orgasm exploded deep inside and radiated outward all the way down to her toes and up to the top of her head. Her whole body flushed with heat, and every muscle convulsed with the power of it.
He pushed her against the wall and followed. His climax forced a low growl from between his lips. She felt him tense then tremble as he came.
She’d had good sex before, but had never experienced an orgasm so deep inside that when he set her down, her legs shook so badly she had to sit or collapse to the floor. Mikhail remained braced against the wall, his back to her, breathing heavily. Sweat slicked his entire body, making him glisten. Eden had to fight back the urge to run her own slick body over his.
“Um, that was...”
But she didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence before he turned around and looked at her. His face was hard, his eyes were slit like a wolf’s and he was still hard.
“I’m not done with you.”
He reached for her, picking her up as if she weighed nothing. He tossed her over his shoulder and crossed the room in two strides to lay her on the bed.
The look on his face had her scrambling back on the mattress. Fear and arousal mixed together into one potent elixir. She didn’t get away, though. He grabbed her leg, yanked her back to the edge of the bed and flipped her over onto her stomach, all within a few seconds, and with little fuss on his part.
Before she could utter a protest, he had her bent over the bed and was parting her legs. He pressed a hand to her back to hold her down and pushed his stiff cock into her slick opening once more.
Her orgasm had barely subsided when it started building up again. This time she could feel the first tremors of desire deep inside her vagina. It was like a hard ball of quivering heat vibrating inside her belly. The vibrations in her sensitive nerve endings were almost unbearable. She grabbed the blanket on the bed to scramble away but Mikhail held her firm, intending to pleasure her into submission.
Which was what he was doing now, thrusting deep into her. Gripping her tight around the hips, he pulled her back as he thrusted forward. The sounds of their moist flesh slapping together filled the room. As did the cloying scent of their mingled juices. Saliva and sweat and come.
Eden wallowed in it, unable to do anything but surrender to it and the delicious torment he was inflicting on her body.
Clenching her fists in the blanket, she closed her eyes and succumbed to the tsunami of pleasure that coursed over her, through her. It was so intense she bit down on her bottom lip as her insides exploded.
She cried out, unable to keep anything in anymore. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she climaxed again and again. Juices from inside soaked her thighs and the blanket beneath her.
“Oh, fuck,” Mikhail groaned as he rammed his cock in hard and tight and came.
He collapsed on top of her. She could feel his hot breath on the back of her sweaty neck. His heart beat so hard and fast against her skin that she thought it was her own.
For a long moment they lay like that. He on top, still inside her. Both just trying to catch their breath, trying to restart regular brain function. After another few minutes, Mikhail straightened up and pulled out of her. Eden crawled a little farther onto the bed and collapsed face-first, too exhausted to even roll over.
Her brain was a muddled mess as was her body. She thought the only decent thing to do now was sleep. She would figure things out in the morning.
She didn’t look up to see what Mikhail was doing, but she felt him next to her on the bed. A blanket was draped gently over her, and right before she fell asleep, he brushed a few curls of her hair from her cheek and muttered, “You are safe now. I will always protect you.”
Chapter Nine
Mikhail watched her sleep. For once her face was relaxed. She’d lost that usual furrow of determination and worry. He knew it would return th
e moment she woke. Eden was a woman with single-minded purpose. She was a pit bull with the taste of blood in her mouth.
He admired her tenacity. Even if it did interfere with his job of keeping her out of Threshold business.
Eden moaned and rolled over onto her back, the blanket sliding off one perfect, plump breast. He liked that she was curvy. More to bite into. He wondered what she dreamed of. Their recent bout of incredible sex or was Bael visiting her again in her dreams? He wouldn’t put it past the vampire to invade her thoughts especially now that she was in his territory and with Mikhail. It was just he didn’t understand his endgame. If Bael truly wanted Eden to stay away, why was he beckoning her forward? Taunting her to find him and consequently Lilith Grae, the woman Eden had watched die.
He couldn’t let her find the woman. If Eden truly knew what had happened to the woman, she’d never let it go. She’d never keep quiet. And Threshold’s secrets had to be kept. That was part of his job.
In the morning, he’d take her back to the portal and send her through. Then he’d block that entrance so no one could ever use it again. Eden would have a hell of a time trying to find another one. They were few and far between and cleverly veiled. Bif had been careless with his threats and had completely underestimated Eden’s drive and motives. Mikhail should never have sent the demon to do his job. It had been a grave error of judgment on his part, a mistake he never planned on making again.
Although he might never see Eden again, she had to go back. Back to her home and forget about this place and all its inhabitants. It would pain him to do so, more than he wanted to admit just now, but it had to be done. For her own safety if anything.
Mikhail’s stomach grumbled and he got up to go into the kitchen. He needed a constant supply of food because his metabolism was ten times faster than a human’s. Shape-shifting took a lot of energy. And their sexual romp had been quite the workout, as well. He had many voracious appetites, food and sex being his top two.
He opened the freezer and took out a packaged steak. He preferred fresh meat but he couldn’t be picky at this point. He’d defrost it and eat it. He rarely cooked his meals—raw was always best and contained the most nutrients.
