by Kate Wendley
Torin frowned in confusion. This conversation was going nothing like he’d planned.
Anthony pulled some envelopes out of the stack, put the rest back in the cubbyhole, then turned more fully towards him.
“One more thing.”
In the next instant, Torin’s feet were dangling in the air as Anthony held his throat in an iron grip, squeezing harder and harder.
Anthony’s eyes glowed and he bared his sharp fangs at him. “If you ever threaten Kaia again, I’ll rip you to fucking pieces. Do I make myself clear?”
Torin’s lungs burned as he struggled to suck in air, and his head pounded like it was going to explode. Worst of all, he had the disturbing sense of his soul being sucked out of him, replaced by a horrifying emptiness deep inside. As Anthony glared venomously at him, Torin whimpered and somehow managed to nod through a fear unlike anything he’d ever experienced before.
In the next instant, Anthony was across the room, walking calmly towards the door as Torin shakily steadied himself and sucked in deep, aching breaths.
Anthony turned back and stiffly said, “If you want to continue enjoying your current lifestyle, I suggest you give some serious thought to the ramifications of your actions on this family. They affect you and every shifter here, young and old. My vampires don’t need your protection, and we have enough allies in this territory to feed ourselves aplenty. The rest of you are ‘dead weight’ as they say. It’s only by my will and my bank account that the family living at this complex are supported as most of you lazily do little to nothing to help yourselves or enrich the Atlanta supernatural community.”
With a little more emphasis, he said, “You’ve been warned, Mr. Blankenship, and I suggest you don’t take my warning lightly. I’m not known for having a sense of humor.”
Torin could only gawk at him in wide eyed terror as he watched Anthony leave. After about ten minutes of trying to get his hands to stop shaking, he finally left, too, to go start asking some questions.
Chapter 12
It was three in the morning while Torin sipped one hundred proof whiskey at the bar. Anything less potent would burn off in his system too fast, and right now he needed something to take the edge off. Molly wasn’t too excited to keep feeding him drinks, but he kept putting money up, so she kept pouring. It didn’t hurt that she was scared of him.
He traded dirty looks with Sebastian more than once while he sat here. He didn’t normally hang out in Sebastian’s space, but it was where the bar was and tonight he needed booze.
Anthony’s talk with him was spinning in his head, and as hard as he tried to insist to himself that it was all lies, he’d smelled truth on that damn vampire. Since he wasn’t sure if Anthony had some sick power that messed with Torin’s senses, he’d have to get at the truth another way. He’d start with the vampire, Les. Torin wasn’t about to accuse his own kind of lying, not unless he had a really good reason, and besides, Les wasn’t all that powerful. He shouldn’t be able to mess with him like Anthony had.
He kept his eye on the club entrance across the room as well as the vampire hall beside him while he sipped his drink, enjoying the burn as it slid down his throat. It helped distract him from the creepy, empty feeling he had inside him, and the fact that Anthony was the one responsible for it. Whether or not Anthony had lied to him earlier, he was definitely a scarier dead head than he’d ever realized he was.
He watched everyone that came and went this morning, though he had to shake himself a few times when he started yawning. He was usually asleep this time of night, not hanging out with blood suckers.
He’d been dazing out when a group of vampires finally walked in. Torin tiredly watched them make their way across the club, then startled when he remembered he wanted to talk to one of them. “Hey vampire.”
A number of people turned to look at him, Les included.
He pointed at Les. “Yeah you. Come here.”
Les looked alarmed, and it woke Torin’s wolf up. Good. His blood pumped as he thought about what he wanted to ask. He wanted truth from this creep, but the vampires kept walking away. Torin raced in front of them, blocking their way down the vampire hall, though he had to concentrate to stand up straight.
He pointed at Les and slurred his words a little. “Hey. You. I want to talk to you.”
Les’ eyes went wide and he tried to side step him, but Torin grabbed his arm. Sebastian was next to Torin in an instant, growling in his ear. A moment later Anthony was by Les’ side, staring hard at Torin, and Zach quickly joined the group as well.
Torin released Les and put his hands in the air. “I just want to ask him some questions.”
Anthony narrowed his eyes. “Ask your questions, but you’ll keep your hands off him.”
Torin cocked an eyebrow and scoffed, then looked tiredly at Sebastian, who was still baring his teeth at him. “You back vampires instead of your own kind. How sick is that?”
Sebastian snarled, “Ask your questions before I show you exactly how sick I am.”
Torin waved him off and turned his attention back to Les. He yawned, then let his wolf come forward in him a little to help metabolize the booze out of his blood.
Les’ eyes went wide and he took a step back, but didn’t have far to go with the wall behind him.
Anthony moved between them. “I’ll remind you that you will not touch him or Sebastian won’t be your biggest problem tonight. Are we clear?”
Torin’s thinking was becoming less fuzzy, and he realized he just wanted this over with. He sourly said, “Clear,” and waved Anthony away. He took a half step back, but was still close enough to do damage if he wanted.
Torin turned his wary attention back to Les. “What’s your name?”
The man flicked a confused look at Anthony before saying, “Les.”
Torin sniffed the air.
“Whose family are you in?”
Les looked even more confused. “Anthony Foster’s.”
Torin sniffed the air again. Les’ scent smelled the same both times, giving him a baseline to know what truth smelled like on him.
“What went down between you and Marissa last month?”
Les tensed, then said, “I accidentally drained her.”
Torin didn’t even have to sniff the air to know that was a lie. His temper rose.
“Did she ask you to drain her?”
Les’ entire body went still as a statue before he woodenly said, “No.”
A snarl grew in Torin’s throat and Les’ fear rose. Anthony stepped closer.
“Did you drain her on purpose, with her consent?”
Les more quietly said, “No.”
He angrily snapped, “Did she want you to give her your blood after you drained her? Like turning someone vampire?”
Les’ eyes got wider and his heart beat harshly. He stared at Torin for a moment before almost inaudibly whispering, “No.”
Torin’s blood boiled. Les was lying. He hadn’t done a damn thing wrong to Marissa, and Anthony helped cover it up so she could save face with the wolves.
“Fuck! Fuck!” He let his oversized canines come in, then snapped and snarled at the whole group before stomping away.
**
They all watched Torin storm across the club and go upstairs before Sebastian asked, “What the hell was that all about?”
Anthony calmly said, “The truth can be a bitter pill to swallow.”
Sebastian narrowed his eyes at Anthony in irritation, then studied Les. “The truth? Les is lying his ass off.” He turned to Anthony again. “I didn’t know that before. Why didn’t you tell me?” He was shocked that Anthony would’ve kept this from him and he honestly didn’t know what to think about that.
Anthony looked plainly at him. “Forgive me. It was partially a vampire matter and I made a judgment call. The problem should be resolved now.”
What the hell? “It’s resolved? Torin’s powerful enough to know Les was lying.”
Anthony faintly smiled, looking
thoughtful as he said, “I trust that he does. Les, you may go. Thank you for your time.”
Les and his friends quickly disappeared down the vampire hall as Sebastian was left wondering what the hell was going on. Zach didn’t seem to know any more than him, which was some comfort at least. It meant Sebastian wasn’t suddenly being ostracized from his only two friends in the world.
Anthony finally said, “There’s a personal matter between myself and Mr. Blankenship. Sebastian, you’re his alpha. I’ll enlighten you if you insist, but I humbly request you do not. At least not yet.”
Sebastian really didn’t like it that Anthony had kept this from him, but at the end of the day, Anthony was the one in charge of this whole damn territory. Vampires and shifters had to obey his rules, and he’d been making sure of it for hundreds of years.
Besides, it wasn’t like Sebastian knew what the hell to do with asshole Torin, so he finally just said, “All right. I trust you.”
Chapter 13
Jade invited Sebastian to her place tonight so they could be alone. Last night he’d been out running errands for the elders and didn’t get home until after seven, so she met him downstairs and had desert with him. They talked for a while, but he seemed distracted. Or she was just self-conscious that he hadn’t tried to kiss her or do anything even slightly friendly with her since last Saturday besides give her a hug. Had he lost interest in her already?
There was a knock on the door and she had to give it a good jerk to get it open.
“Hi. What happened to your door?”
She let Sebastian in, then pushed the stubborn thing closed again, having to try twice to get it to shut. “Oh, it’s been acting up the last couple days. I’ll call Zach tomorrow to come fix it.”
Sebastian suspiciously said, “Zach fixes stuff in your place?”
“Well, yeah. The stuff he knows how to fix.”
The frown on his face deepened. “Why Zach? Why not the maintenance crew?”
She gave him a confused look. “The maintenance crew is only wolves. They don’t fix stuff for me unless Zach can talk them into it.”
“Because you’re not wolf?”
“Pretty much. You didn’t know they did that?”
“I’d never heard that, no, but that’s not something I would know.” He paused, then carefully asked, “So there’s nothing going on between you and Zach?”
She startled. “What? No! God no! He’s my alpha!”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Huh? You don’t date your, I mean…”
He gave her a look and she suddenly felt like she was saying all the wrong things.
He calmly said, “Go on. Is there an unspoken rule about not dating alphas? I’m curious.”
She felt flustered now. “Well, no, but…”
He got a twinkle in his eye and she calmed down a little.
He stepped closer and smirked as he led her to sit with him on the sofa. “But what? Come on, I want to hear it.”
She grumbled under her breath in embarrassment and it only made him smile.
Her cheeks felt warm when she finally said, “I just never imagined myself dating an alpha, I guess. Zach’s more like my brother or my dad or something, but I guess I never truthfully thought I’d be dating any alpha. You’re just so…”
His expression calmed as he waited for her to continue.
“Uh… strong. And I’m not.”
He pulled her into his arms and she melted against his body. She loved to feel his strength wrapped around her.
“You feel like you need to be strong to be with me?”
“Maybe.”
He pet her arm. “Do you want to be stronger?”
“I’m scared to.”
“Why?”
Her heart dropped. She was scared to because she didn’t know who her cat might hurt if it had more power, and she also didn’t want to gain a crazy power like Sebastian had. She couldn’t tell him that, though. “I’m scared of how it might change my personality.”
He didn’t say anything else as he kept petting her, and it made her feel worse and worse as the silence grew. Did he know she was lying? She didn’t want to talk about this anymore.
“Why haven’t you kissed me since last Saturday?”
He pulled back and his intense gaze engulfed her. His look was scorching as he immediately cupped her cheek. He knew just the right way to touch her. “I scared you when I kissed you.”
She let out a trembling breath. “You’re the Alpha Wolf.”
“And you’re a loan specialist at the bank. What difference does my title make?”
She reluctantly chuckled as she nuzzled into his hand. “That’s different.”
He looked into her eyes while flecks of gold started growing in his own. His hand trembled slightly as he watched her.
She quietly said, “I just want to take things slow.”
He snaked his hand up the back of her neck and lightly grasped her hair. Desire shot through her at his look of need, his eyes glowing much more brightly now.
He leaned closer, mere inches from her lips, and huskily asked, “How slow?”
She wasn’t sure whether to be turned on or scared right now. When he was being mellow she felt completely safe around him, but as soon as she gave him an inch, he became a solid, sure, man.
She trembled as she nervously said, “Clothes stay on.”
He let out a heavy breath. “Ok. Clothes stay on.” She whimpered as soon as his lips touched hers, his kiss starting slow and with deliberate care, but she could feel him holding back. He sat carefully still and her heart felt good that he was trying so hard to be gentle, but she was also starting to feel like a child that needed to be handled with kid gloves. She didn’t like that feeling as much. It irritated her, actually, so much so that she pressed closer to him, her kiss becoming insistent.
He quietly moaned, then grasped the back of her hair again and nudged her to cock her head. His kisses immediately trailed to the soft skin of her arched neck, though he kept them gentle.
In between teasing nibbles, he quietly asked, “Why don’t you like your animal?”
She startled by the change of subject, but his warm breath on her made her burn up. She quietly whimpered, then immediately felt like a petulant child when she said, “Because it’s itchy and uncomfortable. I don’t want to be an animal. I’m a person.”
He groaned and she wasn’t sure if it was in desire or frustration. “I wouldn’t want you so bad if you were just a person. I wouldn’t have had a crush on you since ninth grade English lit class if you weren’t a were-animal.” He increased the pressure of his teeth on her neck, and his masculine grunt was music to her ears.
She whimpered back, “I’ve had a crush on you since then, too.”
He went absolutely still, then pulled back and looked at her in shock. “You have?”
She nodded and he passionately kissed her. She fell into it, then let him guide her to lay down beneath him on the sofa. God he looked sexy with his tousled hair and lips swollen from kissing. She eyed his rock hard body, her gaze traveling down to where his shirt rode up and exposed some of his muscular abs. She desperately wanted to see more of him just as much as she wanted to stop everything right now and think about how much she was ready for. If she touched him where she wanted to, would he assume she wanted more and make them go further? That thought scared her.
She startled when he reached down and manhandled his erection. She nervously asked, “What are you doing?”
His golden, hooded eyes watched her like she was prey. “I’m… adjusting myself. You turn me on too much.”
Her heart beat erratically in lust, fear, desire, longing… nervousness…
When he laid back down on top of her, she was grateful that he was careful to not trap her beneath himself.
He quietly said, “We won’t do anything you don’t want to. Just tell me what you want, Jade. Anything at all. I want to make you happy.”
> Her heart hurt at how sweet he was, and how bad she kept assuming he’d be to her. And now that she had him here, she wasn’t sure what she wanted from him. All she could do was anxiously pant.
He lightly flicked his tongue at the base of her neck and huskily said, “I want to touch you everywhere someday. I want to run my hands over your soft skin and feel every inch of your body.”
She whimpered in longing as she imagined him doing just that.
He continued, “I want to kiss you everywhere. Your lips, your neck, your shoulder. I want to kiss your beautiful breasts, your stomach, your thighs…”
She whimpered again, her hips arching and meeting his very stiff erection. He rocked slowly against her as she grappled with pushing him away again. He was powerful and could do so much to her without her consent…
He pulled his body back so it was mere inches from touching hers. He was close, so close… He kissed her neck, making his way to her ear as he whispered, “I want to taste you.”
She managed to squeak out, “My blood?”
A breathy, masculine chuckle escaped him. “Maybe someday, but I want to taste your body first. I want your scent on me.”
She took erratic breaths as she imagined all his naughty talk happening for real. She couldn’t keep her body still as images and scenes ran through her mind of all the things he talked about.
He carefully asked, “How far have you gone before Jade? Have you ever touched yourself?”
She guiltily nodded and he heavily sighed. “I want to touch you like that. I want to taste you. Even if it’s just you touching yourself, I want to see it.” He pressed his erection firmly against her for a moment and she cried out in desire. He pulled back only enough this time so that he was brushing against her but not trapping her. Her hands roamed his muscular back and she guiltily wished he’d give her more.
Their breaths were heavy as they moved in time with each other’s bodies, their kissing and touching becoming more insistent.
