Forbidden Addiction (Forbidden, Book #4)

by R. L. Kenderson

  “And practiced your resting bitch face.”

  “Hey! But, yes, after all that, I never changed the way I dressed. I felt more comfortable with hiding my body.”

  Dante rubbed her back. “Thank you for telling me. But two things.”

  “What’s that?”

  “One, I don’t think you’re crazy. What happened to you was a crime, and that bastard should be locked away. Yes, it could have been worse, but that does not negate your trauma. He never should have treated you like that. And, when you told your mother, she should have at the very least kicked him out.”

  Phoenix kissed him. “And what’s number two?”

  “Where is the asshole? I want to watch the life leave his eyes as I squeeze his neck.”

  “Sorry, Dante. He’s already dead. Car accident five years ago.”

  “Damn,” he said, disappointed that he wouldn’t get to confront the guy. “I’m sorry for what happened to you, Red.”

  “Me, too. But at least I have you, right?”

  Dante pulled her close. “At least you have me. I’m not going anywhere, Red.”

  HUNTER WATCHED LEXINE and Sterling walk to the front of the room to face the Vampire Council. It was their monthly meeting, and now, five men and three women would control Lexine’s and Sterling’s fates. It was time for them to discover their punishment.

  Lucas and his friends had already received their punishments. Life in prison. Not only had they played a role in the vandalism, but there was also arson, blood-raping Lexine and sexually assaulting her, and attempted murder of two Guardians. Lucas had explained that he never meant for anyone to get hurt in the blast. He had set a small enough blast, only planning to stun Lexine and Sterling, figuring they would come after him after the failed incident behind the nightclub. The Council hadn’t cared and decided to throw the book at him and his accomplices.

  Lucas and his group were going to a private prison that housed only vampires and was off the grid to humans.

  “Lexine Harlow and Sterling Wardell, we’ve been filled in on what happened,” Councilman Hutton said. He then listed their transgressions. Lexine’s was much longer than Sterling’s. “How do you plead?”

  “Guilty,” Lexine said.

  “Guilty,” Sterling said.

  The council members didn’t look surprised because Dante had been talking to them for the last two weeks.

  “Sterling,” the councilman said, “you are now on probation for three months for your failure to inform your leader, the king and queen”—he pointed to where the king and queen sat off to the side—“or us about your knowledge of who was behind the attacks and Lexine’s involvement with them.”

  Sterling bowed and nodded. “I understand and accept my penalty.”

  “Lexine,” the councilman said, “you are hereby stripped of your role and title as Guardian. We can no longer trust you to take the interest of our people above your own. You will have to immediately turn over all your weapons and anything else tied to the Guardians. Do you understand this?”

  “Yes, sir.” Lexine bowed her head.

  “Do either of you have questions?” Councilwoman Vanderbilt asked.

  “No, ma’am,” they both said.

  “Then, you may be seated.”

  Hunter was amazed that Lexine wasn’t fighting this. Yes, she was guilty, but Hunter couldn’t imagine not being a Guardian. It was such a big part of who he was. He couldn’t imagine doing anything else with his life.

  “Guardians,” the councilwoman said, “let this be a reminder that who you fraternize with and what you do on your off time can affect your position.”

  Hunter didn’t know if he was imagining it, but it seemed like the councilwoman was looking right at him. Had she somehow found out he was involved with another male? Sweat began to form on his forehead. Would they call him out in front of everyone? Would they ask him to come to the front of the room and tell him he was suspended, too? Or worse, fired?

  “I would like you all to be careful about who you let into your lives. You are Guardians first and foremost. You are being watched all the time, and nothing you do goes unnoticed.”

  Sweat now covered Hunter’s body. They had to be talking about him.

  “Do you understand this?”

  “Yes,” he heard the other Guardians respond around him.

  “Hunter?”

  He looked up at Councilwoman Vanderbilt and tried not to cower. “Ma’am?”

  “Do you understand what I am saying?”

  He swallowed. “Yes.”

  “Good. Guardians are dismissed.”

  Hunter watched the Guardians, along with Sterling and Lexine, get up and file out of the room, and then he came up on their tail. Once they were outside, the group of them stopped.

  “Lexine, are you okay?” Morgan asked.

  “Yes. I figured this would happen. I was prepared. Besides, after these past few months, I’ve begun to realize this isn’t the job for me. I think I did it because my brother did. But he’s a far better Guardian than I am.”

  “We’re going to miss you,” Tempest said.

  “Well, the good news is, I’m not moving out.”

  “You’re not?” Lennox asked.

  “Nope. I already talked to Dante, and he gave me permission to live with Sterling. I thought I’d go back to school or something. I’m keeping my options open.”

  There was a group of cheers all around, except for Lennox, who looked at Sterling. “I still don’t know if I like it.”

  “You just have your panties in a twist because you found out the screamer was your sister,” Morgan said.

  Lennox gagged, and everyone laughed.

  “Let’s go home,” Dante said.

  “I have to make one stop,” Hunter told the group. “Then, I’ll meet you guys back at the compound.”

  Everyone told him good-bye. He got in his car and made his way over to the Minneapolis side of the river. He drove to the wolf-shifters’ mansion and went to the door.

  When he knocked, Damien answered. “Hunter, what can I do for you?”

  “Is Quentin around? I need to speak with him.”

  “Sure. You want to come in?” he asked as he held the door open further.

  “No, thanks. Just have him meet me outside.”

  “Okay. Will do.”

  Damien shut the door, and Hunter was left alone to wait.

  Some would maybe think he was crazy for what he was about to do with all the interspecies relationships going on, but it just wasn’t the same as a homosexual relationship. After all, interracial marriages had become legal in the United States in 1967 while same-sex marriages just became legal in 2015, almost fifty years later. And he was pretty sure the Council still wasn’t happy with Naya and Vaughn’s relationship. Ultimately, they were the ones with the control, and he couldn’t risk their disapproval.

  Until recently, he had always thought he was asexual, so being a Guardian was all he’d ever had and known. Finding Quentin had been a surprise and not something he had ever considered for his future. While he was very into the wolf, Hunter had only known him a month and not very well. He couldn’t risk throwing his whole career away for a relationship that might not last. Because then he would really be alone. Hunter didn’t like what he was about to do, but he knew he was making the right decision.

  A few minutes later, the door opened again, and Quentin stepped outside. “Hey, what are you doing here?” He moved to step closer to Hunter but stopped when he saw the vampire’s face.

  “I need to talk to you.”

  Quentin sighed in defeat. “You can talk, but I can already see that tomorrow’s finally arrived.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “Remember how I told you about the honeymoon phase? How you think you have everything all figured out, but tomorrow, you might wake up and feel differently?”

  “Yes.”

  Quentin crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, I can see that tomorrow has arrived. Reality
has finally reared its ugly head, and you’ve decided you’re not ready.”

  “You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”

  “Okay then. Prove me wrong. What do you want to talk about, Hunter?”

  Hunter didn’t say anything.

  “Yeah, man, that’s what I thought. I do have a question for you though.”

  “What?”

  “You recently had a female in heat at your place, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “How’d that work out for you?” Quentin shook his head. “You didn’t feel a single thing, did ya?”

  Quentin was right. When Lennox had asked him how Phoenix’s heat affected him, he’d known that he wasn’t like the other guys in the house. Hunter didn’t say anything again.

  Quentin dropped his arms. “Is there any changing your mind?”

  Yes. “No.”

  “Then, we’re done here.”

  “I’m sorry, Quentin.” Hunter had to get it out before the shifter went back inside.

  “I’m sorry, too.”

  “You don’t understand. Sterling and Lexine were punished tonight. The Council talked about our social lives and how it could affect our positions. They looked right at me, and I swear, they were talking about you and me. Please, you have to understand. I can’t lose being a Guardian.”

  Quentin’s shoulders sagged, and he stepped closer to Hunter. So close, their chests almost touched. Quentin reached up and cupped Hunter’s cheek. “Oh, Hunter, I’m not sorry for me. I’m sorry for you. I’m sad that you’re going to live every day suppressing yourself and telling a lie. Have you even talked to Dante about it?”

  Hunter shook his head. “What if he tells the Council?”

  Quentin dropped his arm and leaned over to give Hunter one last kiss. “Good-bye, Hunter,” the shifter said. Quentin turned around and headed back to the house. “I’ll see you around. I hope everything works out for you.” He opened the door and went inside.

  “Good-bye, Quentin.”

  PHOENIX WOKE TO the feeling of being truly loved. The emotion flowed around her, in her, through her. She rolled onto her back to see her mate watching her. And the love she felt wasn’t just any love; it was coming from Dante himself.

  Now that they were together, he’d opened the blood link he shared with her at times when he wanted her to know exactly how he was feeling. She’d been both awed and miffed when she found out about the link. No one had told her about it, so all these months, Dante had been able to feel what she felt. Although with her natural habit of hiding her emotions from even herself, Dante had told her she did a pretty good job of naturally blocking her feelings.

  But, now, he was helping her do it on a conscious level, and she was working on letting him in more. It was hard sometimes. She was still afraid of being hurt, but she was trying more and more every day.

  “Good evening,” she said.

  Dante leaned over and kissed her. “Do you have any plans tonight?”

  Phoenix did some mental calculating on what day it was. She had mostly adjusted her schedule to sleeping during the day and being awake at night like Dante, but sometimes, Vance would still ask her to do things during light hours. And, now that the threat that had hung over the shifter and vampire communities was eliminated, things had gone back to being less hectic and on a more even level.

  “I have to check my messages, but I don’t think Vance has anything important for me.”

  “Well, we kind of have something for you to do today.”

  “We? As in, you and my alpha?”

  “Yep.” Dante glanced behind him at his alarm clock. “You have an hour.”

  Phoenix sat up in bed, letting the covers fall to her lap. Now that she had told Dante everything about her past, she found it easier to be naked around him. Every night, he would help her become more comfortable with her body. Her incredible vampire was even teaching her to enjoy her breasts.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, getting excited. She couldn’t imagine what Dante and Vance would plan together.

  Dante threw back the bedding and stood. He stretched as his morning, or night, erection stood out from his body. She was still amazed that he could fit that thing inside her, but she was definitely no longer afraid of it and loved when he made love to her. She thought back to the first time she’d seen it covered by his boxers months ago and how she’d almost been afraid of it even though Dante was sleeping. Things had certainly changed.

  “We are going to the shifter infirmary. Vance made an appointment for you,” her mate said.

  And all her excitement turned to annoyance.

  “I’m not going.”

  “Yes, you are.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “Then, I will hog-tie you and throw you in the back of my SUV.”

  She scowled. “But I don’t wanna,” she whined. Actually whined.

  Dante, with the help of Kenzie and her pedicures and clothes shopping, was turning her into a girlie girl.

  Dante sat on the bed and took her hand. “Phoenix, don’t you think you’ve avoided the heat thing long enough? It’s time you go see your doctor and find out if something’s wrong.”

  But she didn’t want to find out if anything was wrong. She might have made progress in opening up her heart and mind to being with Dante, but she was still herself. If she didn’t know anything was wrong, then nothing was wrong.

  “Plus, Red, in light of your other symptoms, you know it’s a good idea.”

  She hung her head in defeat. “I know.”

  “Speaking of that, do you need to feed?”

  She eyed her mate’s neck where she’d marked him the night of her heat. Although she could already practically taste his blood in her mouth, she was good for now. “No.”

  “I’m going to go shower then.” Dante got up from the bed and headed for the bathroom.

  Phoenix lay back on the bed. She knew her mate was right. In the month and a half since her failed heat, she had been having unusual cravings. Like for Dante’s blood. So much so that he hadn’t fed from her for the last two months because he was worried something was wrong with her. He had gone to a feeding facility, and Phoenix had stayed with him the whole time. She had tried to get Dante to feed from her, but he was too worried.

  She had also begun to smell like Dante so much that vampires and shifters would think it was him until they saw her. She didn’t know if it was because she had been consuming so much of his blood or because they had mated or what. But, if she didn’t know it was impossible, she would think that she was turning into a vampire.

  Thankfully, she could still go out in the sunlight without any problems, and she could still shift although her body seemed slower to respond, which was also worrisome.

  Dante came out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam with a towel wrapped around his waist. “Red? You okay?”

  She met his beautiful brown eyes. “Did you know Leonidas means lion?”

  He smiled. “I did. Coincidence? I think not.”

  She smiled back. “What do you think of Phoenix Leonidas?”

  His smile turned into a grin. “Are you saying, you want to change your last name? I’m shocked. I’ve always seen you as a feminist.”

  “Oh, I am. But the point of being a feminist is that you have choices. And I choose to take your last name. As long as it’s okay with you?”

  Dante jumped onto the bed, landing on his stomach beside her. “Of course.” He leaned over and kissed her. “I would love for you to take my last name.”

  “That means, we’ll have to get married the human way.”

  He shrugged. “I know.”

  “Good. Let’s go to the courthouse today.”

  Dante dropped his head down and laughed. When he looked up at her, he said, “Nice try. You’re still going to the doctor.”

  She glowered at him.

  “But maybe, tomorrow, we can go to the courthouse.”

  “Fine,” she said, throwing back the
covers. She marched to the bathroom, making sure Dante was aware of her aggravation.

  About two hours later, Phoenix sat in the exam room at the shifter infirmary, kicking her legs against the exam table out of boredom. She’d already seen the doctor and the nurse, had her blood drawn, and been poked and prodded, and she was ready to go home.

  There was a knock at the door, and a third vampire, different from the last nurse and doctor, stepped in. She handed Phoenix a piece of paper. “Here is your list of appointment times. We find it easier to just make them for our patients. We made them all in the evening. But you are more than welcome to change them at any time.”

  “I’m sorry,” Phoenix said, her boredom turning to anxiety. “What is this about?”

  The female pulled her clipboard away from her chest and frowned. “Are you not Phoenix Kaplan?”

  “I am.”

  The female looked relieved. “Oh, good.” She went back to the door and opened it.

  “Wait,” Phoenix said. “I don’t know what these are for.”

  The female shrugged. “I’m sorry, miss. I just do what I’m told.” She stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her.

  Phoenix looked down at the sheet of paper and saw what had to be at least thirty appointments listed. She looked up at Dante, who was sitting across from her, waving the paper around. “See? This is why I didn’t want to come.”

  “Let’s not panic until we have to,” he said calmly.

  It irked her that he wasn’t freaking out like she was.

  She looked at the list again. “There are several appointments for when I should be in heat again.” She looked up at her mate with what had to be a horrified expression on her face. “You don’t think they’ll want to monitor us during that time, do you? I am not having sex in front of others. I don’t care if they are medical professionals.”

  “Damn, there goes my porn career.”

  “Ha-ha. You’re not funny.”

  Dante chuckled. “Phoenix, can we just wait for the doctor before we assume the worst?”