Forbidden Addiction (Forbidden, Book #4)

by R. L. Kenderson

“I think I know where Lucas is going to be soon. I’ll stay back, so you can sneak up on him. We’ll find out where my parents are”—she punched a fist into her open palm—“and then you can take the fucker out.”

  Lexine and Sterling had been methodically finding all of her old group of friends and taking their blood to track them. They were hoping to find her parents or Lucas. Thankfully, they hadn’t had any problems since the first night when Sterling rescued Lexine. They had managed to obtain their blood by knocking out each one, so they wouldn’t know it was Lexine who’d attacked them.

  But the Steve guy had to have warned the others. Except Lexine hadn’t heard from Lucas, whom she was expecting to call her at any moment. Lexine thought it was luck, but from what she had told Sterling, he figured the asshole was up to something. After all, despite the fact that they had gotten everyone’s blood and were able to track them, none of them had led Lexine and Sterling to her parents or Lucas himself.

  “Why do you want to kill him when you haven’t wanted to kill any of the others?”

  Not only had she not wanted to kill any of the others, but she had also insisted on it.

  “He and his friends should go in front of the Vampire Council when this all goes down,” he said.

  “Because he’s their leader. We’ll never be able to take the rest down without him out of the way.”

  She had to realize that was a lame excuse.

  “Which we can do if we drag him in front of the Council.”

  She shook her head. “No, we have to get rid of him.”

  Sterling rubbed a hand down his face. “You can’t even say the word. If you can’t say that we should kill him, how are you actually going to kill him?”

  A look of pure rage flashed across her face. “Trust me, I’ll be able to do it.”

  “When are you going to tell me what he did to you?” Sterling had gotten Lexine to spill most of her story to him, but he could tell that she had left something out just by her attitude toward Lucas.

  “Never.” Her eyes widened as she realized her slip. “I mean, he didn’t do anything to me.” She shrugged a shoulder. “Nothing more than the others did anyway.”

  She was such a liar.

  “You know I don’t believe a word that comes out of your mouth, right?”

  A look of sexual prowess came over her face, and she dropped to her knees. Her hazel-green eyes sparkled as she crawled over to Sterling. “Then, why don’t you kick me out?”

  Because he was a glutton for punishment.

  She unbuttoned his jeans and lowered the zipper. She took out his cock and stroked it with her hands. She looked him in the eye and licked her lips.

  He knew why he hadn’t kicked her out. He knew why he hadn’t gone to their leader, the Council, the king and queen, or even her brother. Because, while she was in love with Dante, Sterling was foolishly in love with her. He would do almost anything for her.

  It pissed him off that she had that power over him.

  He grabbed her white-blonde hair and wrapped it around his fist. He tugged her head back until it hit her shoulders, exposing her neck. “Someday, you are going to tell me what he did to you.”

  Any other female would be scared of his mood right now but not Lexine. She laughed and bit her lower lip.

  He pulled harder until he drew her body partly away from his, but she just tightened her grip around his dick.

  He leaned down and kissed her, almost violently. She might have this unwanted control over him, but she wasn’t his boss. He grasped her lower lip between his teeth, scraping her with his fangs, and he slowly released it.

  She was panting, and the room was filled with the fragrance of her arousal.

  He sat back in his chair, bringing her head with him. “Put me in your mouth, Lexine.”

  She didn’t even hesitate, sliding him between her lips. He pushed her head down, still holding on to her hair, and she took him to the back of her throat. She tried to slightly bring her head up, but Sterling didn’t let her. Instead of getting mad, she smiled and sucked harder.

  He yanked her head up and off him, and she released him with a pop. She still had blood on her mouth from the scrape and licked her lips.

  “Again,” she said.

  He pushed her head back down over his cock. She sucked him in again, and this time, when he brought her head up, she scratched him with her fangs. There was a bite of pain, but if he were honest, he liked it, and it only turned him on more.

  He stood, bringing her with him, and kissed her. He tasted her blood and his blood on her lips. He let go of her hair and pushed her pants off her hips. He released her mouth, swung her around, and pushed down on her back. “Hands on the desk, and stick your ass out.”

  He knew they were stupid for doing this here. All it would take was someone getting too close to his door, and they would smell the sex coming from the room. Fraternizing wasn’t necessarily frowned upon, but it would raise a lot of questions. Questions Lexine wouldn’t want to answer.

  But, right at the moment, he couldn’t manage to give a fuck what someone else thought, and obviously, Lexine felt the same, as she did exactly as he’d told her. She even wiggled her ass at him when he wasn’t fast enough.

  He grabbed her hips and slammed into her.

  Lexine moaned so loudly that he was convinced someone was going to come knocking on his door at any second, but they would just have to wait while he finished fucking Lexine.

  He clutched her hips and relentlessly pounded into her. He knew he was taking out his frustrations with his feelings on her body, but the thing he’d learned about Lexine since that night he followed her was that she liked sex a little rough. That only made him want her more.

  He let go of her hips and put his hands on the desk on each side of her body. He continued to drive into her as he used his nose to move the neck of her shirt over before pushing her head to one side. He didn’t even bother asking anymore. He just sank his fangs into her shoulder. She responded by taking a hand and pushing his head down further toward her.

  She shoved back on him with each thrust, fucking him as much as he was fucking her. He felt her pussy start to quiver around him as her breathing became erratic.

  “Please,” she said. “Don’t stop. Don’t stop.”

  Not even if someone held a gun to his head would he stop.

  He held off his own orgasm until he felt the beginning of hers. He wrapped his arm around her waist so that he stayed inside her as he emptied himself into her.

  They both collapsed on his desk, and Sterling realized he still had his fangs inside her. He slowly withdrew and licked her wound closed. He winced when he saw the bruise on her shoulder and pulled her shirt back up to her neck.

  Sterling stood all the way up and pulled out of her pussy. He watched some of his cum slide out of her body and down the inside of her thigh. He used his first two fingers to wipe it from her leg and used his other hand to turn her around. “Open,” he told her.

  She opened her mouth and sucked his fingers into her mouth, like she had done with his dick just a short time ago. She didn’t even hesitate to swallow. He really wanted his blood in her when they had sex, but that was irrational, so he settled for the next best thing.

  He pulled his fingers from her mouth and went to his bathroom to grab two hand towels. He walked back over to Lexine and nudged her to sit on his desk. He put the towel between her legs and used the other to clean himself up.

  He went into his closet to put it in the dirty clothes, and then he buttoned up. He took a couple of deep breaths. He was frustrated with himself for reacting to her. She’d purposely given him head to distract him, and he’d let her to the point that they’d had sex. He really needed to get his head on straight when it came to this female. She was already going to leave his heart in shreds; he didn’t need her doing the same thing to his head.

  Sterling walked out of the closet just as Lexine was pulling her pants up.

  He took her towel, thr
ew it with his, and then sat back down at his desk. “Tell me more about your plan.”

  Lexine sat on Sterling’s bed and told him about a vampire-only event at a nightclub, Pulse, at the end of next week.

  “How are they going to do that?” he asked.

  “It’s invitation only. Didn’t you get yours?”

  As Guardians, they were probably on the top of the list.

  Sterling rose from his chair and went over to a small table by his bedroom door where a stack of mail sat. He stood with his back to her, and she scanned his body, pausing to admire his spectacular jean-clad ass. She should really put a mirror on the ceiling, so she could watch him move in and out of her. She’d never understood that appeal before, but now, it made sense.

  She didn’t know what to make of this turn in their relationship. Until recently, they’d pretty much just been coworkers. Now, they were having sex. The night Sterling had followed her and fucked her against his SUV was a total surprise. Tonight had been a total surprise. Sterling was always so soft-spoken and compliant. He never challenged Dante. He might question their leader but never challenged. She’d had no idea Sterling had such a dominant streak.

  She squirmed on his bed, her sexual arousal rising again, despite the fact that he had just screwed her and given her one hell of an orgasm.

  She really, really liked having sex with Sterling, and it confused the hell out of her. She loved Dante. Didn’t she? Yes, she’d had sex with Lucas before she found out what an asshole he was, but that had been more of a distraction from her broken heart. With Sterling, she actually liked being with him.

  The scary thing was that she’d seen the cat-shifter arrive tonight, and Lexine knew Dante was screwing her now. But she had felt…well…nothing upon seeing Phoenix go into Dante’s room tonight as she made her own way to Sterling’s room.

  The whole thing frightened her because she had pictured her and Dante together for so long. She didn’t know what she was going to do if they didn’t end up together.

  “Here it is,” Sterling said as he turned around.

  His gray eyes met hers, and she could tell he was still upset with her. She hated this guilt she felt when it came to him, but she couldn’t tell him what Lucas had done to her. He already felt sorry for her because of her feelings for Dante and his relationship with Phoenix. She didn’t need Sterling to pity her, too.

  “So, how are we going to do this?” he asked.

  PHOENIX WAS PACING Kenzie’s office again. No matter how hard she’d tried to stop or how much Kenzie had threatened her, she couldn’t keep her body still.

  She needed fresh air.

  She glanced over at Kenzie. But Phoenix needed to stay here and watch over the human.

  Maybe Sawyer would switch with her earlier than scheduled. Kenzie was his mate after all.

  “Okay, I give up,” Kenzie said from her desk.

  “Huh? What?”

  “You’re driving me nuts. Something is off with you today.”

  “I’m sorry,” Phoenix said.

  “Is everything okay with Dante?”

  Phoenix smiled and stood still for the first time in the past hour. “Yes. Better than okay actually.”

  “Hmm. Well, you’re obviously distracted. Your distraction is affecting my concentration, so we might as well get out of here early. Thank God I have a light day.”

  “Sorry,” Phoenix said lamely again.

  “Meh. We all have bad days. Let’s go get something to eat since I worked through lunch.”

  Phoenix and Kenzie walked out of her office. They passed by several people with Phoenix barely paying attention. She was just concentrating on getting out of the hotel.

  When they passed by one of the usual security guards, Kenzie said, “Whoa, that was weird.”

  “What was?”

  “You didn’t see it?”

  “No. What?”

  “Bill smiled at you and totally checked you out. Before today, I could have sworn he was a robot. That man doesn’t do anything but stand against the wall and scowl.”

  “Oh.”

  Kenzie rolled her eyes. “‘Oh,’ she says.”

  Once outside, they went to Kenzie’s favorite restaurant, which was a couple of blocks away.

  They walked inside, and when they got away from people, Kenzie leaned forward. “Did you take a sexy pill today? Every guy on the way here was checking you out.” She stepped back and scanned Phoenix. “Or maybe it’s the new clothes I picked out for you.” She snapped her fingers and fanned a hand in front of her face. “That’s right. I’m that good.”

  “I think you’re hallucinating,” Phoenix said. “I didn’t see anyone checking anyone out.”

  “Whatever. You’re in denial.” The two of them approached the counter to order. “What do you want?” Kenzie asked Phoenix.

  “I’ll just have a salad.”

  Kenzie turned to the cashier and ordered their food, and then she spun back to Phoenix. “Oh my God, you’re dying, aren’t you?”

  Phoenix scowled at her. “No, I’m not dying. Why would you say that?”

  “Because you are not a just-a-salad girl. You usually eat three times as much as I do. And I’m pregnant.”

  Phoenix shrugged. “I’m not hungry, okay?”

  Kenzie looked worried. “I was joking about you dying, but seriously, are you sick?”

  Phoenix did a mental scan of her body. “I don’t feel sick. I’m a little warm, but it has been warmer outside lately.”

  Kenzie put the back of her hand on Phoenix’s forehead, and Phoenix batted it away.

  “You’re warm, but you’re not fever warm,” Kenzie said as their food was brought to the counter.

  The two of them went to a table, took a seat, and ate their food.

  Kenzie looked at her phone as they were finishing up. “Say, we have an hour or so to kill before Sawyer’s done for the day. Since I’m not going back to work, do you want to go to Naya’s with me?”

  Phoenix barely held in her groan. So far, she had managed to avoid going with Kenzie to see Naya and her babies. Phoenix hadn’t seen them since the hospital. She’d even managed to get out of Naya and Vaughn’s welcome-home party.

  “Sure.”

  Kenzie raised her eyebrows. “That’s a lukewarm response if I ever heard one.”

  What was she supposed to say to that?

  Phoenix couldn’t tell Kenzie that it depressed her to be around the new family. Even with Dante promising to take her during her heat, that didn’t change how Phoenix felt because she wasn’t pregnant yet. It lessened the blow, but the envy was still there. It was hard enough, being around Kenzie almost every day, but that was easier because she wasn’t even showing. Naya and Vaughn’s babies were going to be right there in front of Phoenix.

  Not wanting Kenzie to feel bad or deny Kenzie from seeing her best friend, Phoenix said, “We’ll go. Like you said, I’m off today.”

  Kenzie beamed. “Wait until you see them. They are soooo cute.”

  Phoenix could hardly wait.

  Vaughn woke from a deep sleep, sweaty, disoriented, and horny as hell. He put an arm out and felt for Naya, but her side of the bed was cold. He sat up and looked around. The blinds were closed, and the alarm clock said it was still daylight.

  Lately, Vaughn and Naya had been sleeping all wonky hours because of the babies. They didn’t really have a sleep schedule anymore.

  Vaughn got out of bed, adjusted himself in his boxers, and wiped the sweat off his bare chest. Damn. There was morning wood, and then there was morning wood. He didn’t know why he was so hard.

  He glanced in the special crib Naya had purchased to keep the babies beside her when she slept, but it was empty. Vaughn frowned. She was supposed to wake him when both babies were up. He didn’t want her feeling like she needed to do this alone.

  Vaughn opened his bedroom door and was hit with a wave of lust. A shot of pain sliced through his groin.

  “Fuck.”

  There w
as a female shifter in the house, and she was in the beginning stages of heat. No wonder he was so horny. He thought maybe it was because Naya wasn’t cleared to have sex yet, so it had been a while since they had done the deed. But this heat thing was going to be a shitstorm if he didn’t get whoever was downstairs out of his house.

  Stupid biology didn’t care that he was mated and in love with someone else. It would demand he try to impregnate the female in heat.

  Vaughn stumbled down the stairs because his hard-on was starting to throb—and not in a good way.

  He heard voices coming from the living room. Naya’s and Kenzie’s. But that didn’t explain who the female shifter was.

  “Naya,” Vaughn called as he started coming around the corner.

  “Shh. The babies and Phoenix are sleeping,” his mate said as he entered the room.

  Kenzie’s eyes widened at his appearance. “Holy boner. Jeez, Vaughn, is that thing licensed?”

  Vaughn ignored her. “Phoenix. Phoenix, get up.”

  Naya stood. “What’s wrong?”

  Vaughn had to catch himself when he doubled over.

  Naya cried out and grabbed his arm. “Vaughn, you’re scaring me.”

  He smiled at his mate. “Don’t worry, baby; I’m not going to die. Phoenix is in heat. And we need to get her out of here.” Another blast of pain went through him. “My body is just responding to hers. It wants me to…you know…mate with her.”

  Naya stood up straight. “Over my dead body.”

  Vaughn laughed through his pain. Man, he loved his mate.

  He glanced past Naya to see Kenzie jump out of her chair, on full alert. She sat next to Phoenix and tried to shake her awake.

  “Holy shit, this explains why all the guys on the street were checking her out.” She paused, as if she realized how that sounded. “Not that Phoenix isn’t pretty. I didn’t mean it like that. It was just that every guy was practically panting as she walked by.”

  Vaughn waved her off. “We all know what you meant.”

  Kenzie shook Phoenix harder. “Phoenix, get your ass up.”

  No movement, except for when Kenzie moved her.

  Vaughn stood up straight, took in a deep breath, and got out his future alpha voice. “Phoenix Kaplan, this is your future alpha talking. Get up. Right. Now.”