by Tigris Eden
“I’m sorry,” was all Royce said to Draven when he stepped back and sealed his wrist.
“Sorry? What the fuck did you do? Did you make it worse?”
“No, she’ll make it. I’m just sorry about what’s gonna happen next. Just understand that I did it to save her.”
Before he could even ask what the fuck that meant, Jesminda started moaning. Draven watched in shock as her skin mended right before his eyes. What kind of immortal is Royce? Royal vampiri didn’t even have fangs that descended. Their fangs were part of their genetic makeup; there was no retracting them back like the movies portrayed. Royce’s fangs had elongated and retracted. What Jes did next threw him for a loop and aroused him. She began touching herself in intimate places, soft caresses on her breasts, her stomach. She cupped her sex and mewled like a cat in heat while her other hand pinched her nipples. Draven held her through it, confused and not sure what to do. They were in front of the Shadow Unit building for all to see, and she just continued to touch herself. She was on some kind of high he couldn’t break her out of.
She sat up and began rubbing her body on his chest, nuzzling his neck, licking his cheeks. When she realized Draven was not the object of her affection, she stilled, mere moments before reaching for Royce, begging. “Come to me.” Her voice was deep and throaty and bathed in desire. She pinned Royce with a sensual stare, then straddled Draven’s lap and began dry humping him with such effort Draven’s dick hardened to steel. To add insult to injury, she stared at Royce the entire time. The smug bastard only smiled and watched. He didn’t walk away or turn his head. He stayed, standing right where he was, arms crossed over his chest as he smirked.
Fuck the fact Draven could feel the heat of her pussy against the length of his burgeoning cock. Oh no, she wasn’t shy in her movements either, and when he tried to bring her closer, she pushed back, looking over her shoulder at Royce. As if it were him bringing her to the edge. Draven gritted his teeth as the sex kitten picked up the pace. Sweat ran down the side of his face to drip from his chin. A man could only restrain himself for so long. He thought he was doing a stellar job. Sort of. She threw her head back in ecstasy and screamed her release. She had peaked, using his body while looking at his friend. If that didn’t hurt a man’s ego, he didn’t know what would. Royce shrugged and checked his watch. The show was over. Unfuckingbelievable!
She collapsed on his chest and moaned in satisfaction. The heat of her juices soaking through his jeans was now cold. The scent of her arousal was mixed with something stronger, more potent, and the smell of Royce’s blood lingered on the air, as well. There was nothing tangy about Royce’s blood, and as sick as it made him feel when the smell hit him, Draven’s body gave a violent jerk. Royce’s blood was ambrosial, not only to the taker but also to anyone with the olfactory sense to deeply smell it. Draven cast the thought from his mind. Not cool on so many levels. His friend had a lot of explaining to do.
A light snore drifted up from his sleepy cargo. She had the audacity to fall asleep after her dry hump showdown.
“Don’t fucking say it Royce!” he warned.
“What? I didn’t say anything. I thought maybe you had some questions about what just happened.” Royce even tried to downplay it like he was just as shocked as Draven was. The fucker.
Draven knew he needed answers to life’s mysterious question of: ‘Who the fuck was Royce Zarides?’, and he didn’t like where his mind was going with that because he had his ideas. First of all, everyone on planet Earth’s blood—immortal and human alike—was red, and now here was this curious bastard with his blue shit. But they needed a new car and they needed to be on their way, so the time for questions would be later. Everything seemed calm enough. Maybe the douche who’d shot at them assumed she was dead. It would benefit their journey considerably if Marcus thought his ex-wife was dead. But they still needed to be cautious.
Draven looked at Royce, letting the man know the conversation was far from over. He had sleeping beauty in his arms and he needed to call Dravaggio. Let him know that somehow, someone had known she was here. Someone who worked for her ex-husband and not only helped him secure and keep the vampiri, but who had connections of the demon persuasion, as well. The building’s camera may have picked something up, but the fact that no one had come out and no one had heard the gunshots meant that supernatural forces were at work. Time was literally counting down. They needed to find the house where the vampiri were being kept and they needed to bring Marcus down. All of these things would happen after Draven got her and her daughter to safety.
10
Relaxed. Comfortable. Sated. Jesminda wanted Royce with an intensity that burned a hole straight to her stomach. Wait… what? She closed her eyes and shook the fuzzy thought from her head. She didn’t want Royce, she didn’t want anybody. She was in the back seat of a car and they were moving at a fast pace. There were no streetlights intermittently placed to mark the roads as they drove, it was dark. She could see the shadow of branches but nothing more. Not even the moon shone through the thickets of dense trees. She couldn’t shake the feeling she’d done something extremely stupid.
Her cluttered brain attempted to retrieve pieces to the broken puzzle. She remembered coming out of the building. She remembered talking to Royce about smoking, and then her thoughts blanked. A dark void from the time she’d spoken to Royce to the SUV? How did she get from point A to point B? Slowly, she tested all of her body parts. She was a bit sore, achy in some places. Her chest was sensitive. Every deep breath was painful. Just like the time the doctors had told her she’d almost suffered a flailing chest injury from her supposed trip down a flight of stairs. What the hell happened?
A sharp pain hit the right side of her eye and spread over her skull like fire. Everything came rushing back in memory overload. She remembered the SUV’s window shattering, followed seconds later by the profound feeling of a fist punching through her chest and exiting her back. Oh, shit! She’d been shot! She could still feel the blood rising up from her ruptured lung as it filled her mouth and spilled out the sides of her lips. Blood mixed with bile and the acid from her stomach.
Jesminda’s hand slowly felt for a wound that wasn’t there. Nothing? Absolutely nothing. Her last thoughts had been of Faith. She couldn’t even tell Draven about his daughter because she had been drowning in her own blood. Fire and anger turned to warmth and second chances. She could still taste the nectar on her lips. Dark, spicy, decadent, and sinful. The flavor of Royce’s rich blood was fire to her system. It was her savior and her lover, all rolled into one. What the fuck? She didn’t have time to ponder the meaning of her wayward thoughts. Royce had saved her; that was enough for now. A surge of gratefulness flooded her body and she wanted to hug him. Only, her animated HD memory slipped into another stream of thought. One of her dry humping Draven, as she’d stared back into eyes of liquid fire. Royce. She’d wanted him but settled for the next best thing. Jes cringed and let out a squeal of embarrassment. Oh God, now Royce would think she wanted him. She didn’t want either of them. What a disaster!
“It’s okay, you can admit it sugar, I’m the true object of your deepest desires.” Royce turned and peered over the headrest at her in the back seat. She wanted to hurt him and hump him in the same breath. No fucking way! She was not attracted to Royce. Ewwwwww!
“I could tell you it’s my animal magnetism, it would be a lie I could totally live with. But the truth is you were shot, and I saved you. End of story.”
“Shifter blood has healing qualties?”
“Shifter blood does not heal. Can’t. And we’ll leave it at that,” Draven said.
He hadn’t spoken the entire time until now. He looked into the rearview mirror and held her gaze. Let’s just add that to your list of things not to do - dry humping the father of her child in front of Royce. Before Royce could make a comment on her inner thoughts, she kicked the back of his seat with her foot. She couldn’t move him by force yet he still managed to feign hurt and actu
ally pouted at her in the mirror.
Jes rolled her eyes. He could pout all he wanted as long as he didn’t open his big ass mouth.
“I’m relieved you’re okay, and I won’t let anything happen to you again. Royce and I will see to it.” Draven’s voice was harsh, and she knew it wasn’t meant to be hurtful or brash. He was upset, and she understood, especially from a mother’s perspective. It was his job to protect her just like it was her job to protect Faith. She scooted forward in her seat, her arms on both headrests as she looked straight ahead.
“It’s over, and as far as I’m concerned, I was lucky—very lucky—and I won’t forget it either.” She leaned forward and planted a light kiss on Royce’s cheek and whispered an immense thank you to him in his ear. He nodded curtly. It was the first time she’d seen a serious look on his face since she’d met him.
A serious look that lasted all of five seconds. In that small space of time, he was now grinning ear to ear. It was a contented smile filled with mischievous thoughts.
“Why the fuck did you kiss him?” Draven all but yelled.
“Uh, duh! He saved me, why else?”
“Aaah, little Dravey Drave wants a kiss too, Jesminda. Give him a kiss, pretty please?”
Royce batted his long beautiful eyelashes at her and gave a thumbs up. She lightly punched him in the shoulder and cleared her throat. She could be serious, but she was alive and happy, why not be a little playful? Playful never got you hurt. Right? Yes, it can.
“No can do. That furry beast over there is shackled. Didn’t you see the way his girl handled him at the cafeteria? I’d be crazy to want to go toe-to-toe with that.” Laughing, she leaned forward far enough in her seat so she was able to see Draven grit his teeth. Even his cheeks had muscles. What guy actually had cheek muscles? She wasn’t going to kiss him. Kissing him would ruin everything.
“We are no longer a couple,” Draven gritted between his teeth.
“Still not gonna happen, even if you beg for it,” she shot back. Stop flirting!
# # #
Jesminda sat back and fastened her seatbelt. Heated feelings still lingered in her system for Royce. Not as strong as when she’d awakened in the car, but there were still some lingering thoughts dancing through her head.
“Stop being a naughty human,” Royce said into the mirror, looking right at her.
She didn’t even try to hide her face. Instead, she winked back at him and he laughed. Life was too short to continue being in a bad mood; he’d saved her life. She could be playful with him. It didn’t mean anything and Royce knew it. Draven, of course, also eyed her in the mirror. His eyes watched her intently, alternating between her and the road.
“We’re going to pull over at this rest stop up ahead. We need to get something to eat and maybe see if there’s a shirt for her to change into,” Draven said as he turned off the exit to head toward the rest area.
There were so many reasons she should ignore everything her body was saying. For starters, the unexplained feelings for Royce hadn’t worn off entirely. Then there were her resurfacing feelings for Draven, which didn’t make much sense. He’d lied to her. Game over. She was a big girl, and there was no reason for her not to be adult about the entire situation. Instead of guessing, she decided to confront the problem head on.
“Royce?”
“Hmmm.”
“Why do I want to have sex with you?” The car swerved hard to the right and dipped dangerously on the shoulder. Royce braced himself on the dashboard while laughing loudly.
“Have I ever told you I like you more and more as a person, Jesminda?” Royce gasped, trying to recover from his hysterics.
“No, but answer the question. Why do I want to screw your brains out? Not as much as I wanted to earlier, but the thought and some of the feelings still linger.”
Draven grunted and hit the gas, pushing Jes back into her seat.
“That’s quite simple. I’m irresistible, and well, excuse my frankness, but my cock…” He turned around in his seat and spread both his hands apart as far as he could, reaching over into Draven’s driving space. With an extremely dark seductive voice he said, “…is about that long, and no, I do not lie. There is one other animal on the planet that has a dick the size of mine.” He stopped, and she thought he was going to answer with that age-old answer ‘the blue whale’; instead, he took on a serious look and said, “My brother Ronin. I hear from the ladies that he is a tad bit thicker than I am so it would be quite the challenge.” Royce wiggled his eyebrows and grinned widely. Fucking men and their egos, still she smiled. He didn’t really answer the question though. However, she’d let it go for now.
Draven had pulled into the rest stop by the time Royce finished his statement. He didn’t say a word, just hopped out of the car and headed inside. Royce had a knowing look on his face, and Jes guessed he had read Draven’s mind. He knew exactly what was bothering the wolf, but he just sat there and beamed with devious intentions. Royce was thinking something, but what?
The inside of the rest stop was nice and warm. Jesminda loved Indian summers and knew it wouldn’t be long until fall came onto the scene with its vivid reds and maple browns. She walked down the aisle until she came to a rack with varied sizes of printed tees. There was a red t-shirt with a picture of toilet paper and right above it, it said, “This is how I roll.” Jesminda laughed out loud, which got the attention of everyone in the store. Something she didn’t want to do. She did not want to draw attention to herself, and she could never forget her true purpose. Get to her daughter and get to safety. She grabbed a pink tee and quickly walked to the register to pay for it.
As if on cue her cell rang. She pulled it from her pants and then went to open it. A large hand grabbed it before she could speak.
“Who is this?” Draven asked. Just perfect.
# # #
Draven heard the voice of the little girl on the other end of the line and cringed. This wasn’t going to sit well with Jesminda at all.
“Um, hi. mister, where’s my mommy at?”
Draven bristled at the sound of the small child. He had no idea Jesminda kept a cell phone, but that was going to change. Maybe that’s how Marcus was keeping tabs on her and able to take a shot at her in front of the office. It was distressing enough that the human was tying him up in knots. She’d almost died. He’d aged twenty years because of her; knew there was gray hair mixed in with his black hair now. He didn’t want to talk to the kid, didn’t even really care for pups or any other sort of child-like annoyance. He quickly passed the phone back to Jesminda and walked over to a snack rack, pawing the items roughly. Fucking women!
Draven was still pissed about the entire ordeal with her dry humping him into a frenzy, and her wanting Royce was the icing on the fucking cake, fucked up icing at that. Royce explained that his blood was rare and that the side effects of anyone taking his blood were not only healing but an aphrodisiac effect. Royce hadn’t gone into detail but had asked Draven not to mention anything to the others in the Unit. He had nothing to worry about as long as the giving of blood didn’t happen again. Royce knew Draven struggled with his feelings for Jesminda. How could he not? She was an enigma to him, it made him want to get down to the skinny of it and find out who she was body and soul; and so what if his friend had blue blood. A thought hit then, and he realized Royce and his twin’s people were once used as blood slaves to the Gods. He’d heard the stories from his grandfather.
Sons of Romulus or Ferals, he didn’t remember all the details, but he did remember that the term ambrosia was based on the orgasmic qualities of their blood. The Gods had been relentless in their pursuit to have them for blood slaves, keeping them for all manner of depravity. He was told the Gods had killed the entire race, drained them dry. Obviously that wasn’t true. Royce and Ronin Zarides were alive and well. It was their secret, and he would keep it as long as his friend kept his orgasmic blood to himself.
Draven needed to deal with his feelings for Jesminda. The
y both needed closure. She was all up in his personal space. Granted, she didn’t ask to be, but hell, it was what it was. Didn’t matter how the cards were dealt. Fate had a way of going full circle, and he was stuck inside its circumference, failing miserably.
“Don’t think too hard, man. You’ll hurt yourself, and Jesminda and I will find ourselves without our personal driver.”
Royce slapped him lightly on the back and walked over to the side of the rest stop that held a diner. He took a seat and signaled for the waitress with silver white hair and a pink apron. Draven followed suit, he was hungry, and he needed something in his stomach besides the knots Jesminda kept tying him in.
Draven sat in the booth next to Royce when he saw Jesminda from the corner of his eye, fresh shirt and all. She’d bought a pink tee that hugged her breasts. Breasts he wanted to lick and pinch. They were fuller now that she’d had a baby, one thing to add to the like column. Post pregnancy had its perks, he thought to himself. What he wasn’t prepared for was her fury. And she was pissed, really pissed. Her anger seemed focused on him. He could feel it as it wrapped around his neck and attempted to choke his senses. Gods, she was even sexier when she was mad.
“You bastard, don’t you ever take my cell and answer it! That was my daughter; she doesn’t deserve to be barked at.”
She slammed her purse on the table and sighed heavily, mumbling under her breath.
“Don’t be shy with those words, speak your mind,” Royce said. The man was always trying to start shit, he was a regular trickster. The idiot. She looked over the table at both men and grunted. The waitress took that moment to appear.
“What can I get you folks?” the waitress said. She pulled out a pad and pen, waiting patiently for them to answer.
