by Jayha Leigh
“It means that you should just graciously accept your pending loss. Anyway, are you a vampire?”
“Are you or Atlanta in trouble?”
“No, why do you ask?”
“You just barged in here and inquired if I was a vampire!”
“Yeah, there is that, but I didn’t barge. Your executive secretary ‑‑ who seems quite nice ‑‑showed me in. I’m surprised that you’ve managed to keep her, considering the rumors of your infamous temper.”
“Aloha, humor me for a moment. What makes you think that I might be a vampire?”
“Ianikut, are you serious? Your family is obviously from Eastern Europe, which is the breeding ground of vampire families. Despite living in the South for several years, you’re seriously pale. You could be your own exclusive shade of white on a color swatch: antique white, ecru, eggshell, Ianikut, ivory. Plus, you have that aura of weirdness about you. So, are you a vampire or not?”
“What do you mean, I have an aura of weirdness about me?”
Sighing, Aloha answered, “Ianikut, for real. Beneath the privileged man attire and the Duke pedigree, there is something different about you. Either you’re on the dark side or you’re some kind of paranormal creature.”
“Where do you come up with the abridged version of paranormal history?”
“Reign.”
“Oh, yes, Reign the conspiracy theorist and raving lunatic of human kind.”
“Reign’s a genius with a strand of lunatic running through her,” Aloha cut in.
“Oh, I stand corrected.”
“Like that’s new. I understand why Atlanta describes you with all of those p-words. I have one to add: ‘pass’ ‑‑ as in, you could almost pass for human, if you weren’t busy acting like a punky little Duke alum. Do you think that you can answer the question ‑‑ today?”
Punky little Duke alum? The fact that she threw in Duke assured Ianikut that whatever she’d said wasn’t a compliment. “Are you seriously asking me if I’m a vampire?”
“Yeah. Are you going to answer me?”
“Might I ask why you need a vampire?” Man, she looked like she was on the verge of cussing him up one side and down the other, as Southerners are wont to say.
“Because I need someone with superhuman strength, and since I don’t have access to a superhero, a vampire will have to do.”
“Are you implying that vampires rank below superheroes?”
“What? Are you, like, an advocate for vampire honor?”
“If I was a vampire advocate, I’d have much to say about your complete lack of respect.”
“Whatever…” she began.
Ianikut interrupted her before she could get further riled. “I’d think that you would fear me if, hypothetically, I was a vampire.”
“No, because whether or not you’re a vampire, you’re still a gentleman. Actually, being a vampire would be particularly handy as it would counteract your numerous negatives.”
“Let me get this straight. If I was vampire, you’d basically want to use my vampire gifts for your own personal gain?”
“Pretty much.”
This woman…this small woman was completely serious. She stood before him as casual as you please, inquiring if he was a vampire in the same way one would inquire about the weather. “Well, then, I’m not a vampire.”
“Fuck,” she muttered before turning to leave.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to find Jack. I told you that I need someone with superhuman strength.”
“Are you implying that Jack’s stronger than I am?”
“No, I’m just saying that Jack’s a whole lot more badass than you.”
“What makes you think that?”
“The same way you instinctively know that hell is hot,” she stated in disgust.
He caught her before she could get to the door. He casually plucked her up and sat her on his desk. When he picked her up, Ianikut felt the womanly curves concealed by her atrocious getup; however, he would have to appreciate the lush feel of her after he got to the bottom of this crisis. “What’s going on?”
“Atlanta is seeing some guy, and I’m going to lunch with him next week to check him out.”
“And?”
“I think that she really likes him, and I need to make sure he’s not some crazy lunatic serial killer.”
“And if you discover that he is?”
“Oh, I’d have to kill him. Atlanta’s my best friend, and despite what people think, she’s quite delicate.”
Ianikut had to choke back his incredulity at that last bit of information. Atlanta could decimate a block of titanium steel…without trying. “Why did you want me to go?”
“Because you’re Atlanta’s second-best friend, and you’re a lot more intimidating than I am.”
“More intimidating than Jack?” his riled ego prompted him to ask.
“Not even in your wildest dreams, dude,” Aloha replied with absolutely zero regard for his fragile ego.
“Why didn’t you ask her first, then?”
“Because Jack doesn’t engage in fights; she engages in death. If this guy turns out to be bad, I need someone with patience so as to inflict a slow death.”
Ianikut was at a loss. Atlanta and her gaggle of friends were all lunatics. Still, the lunatic in front of him was cute. Insane, but cute…and he wanted her…and Atlanta was his adopted sister. Sighing in defeat, he inquired, “When’s lunch?”
“In two days,” she answered and flounced out without a look back.
Chapter Five
“Looks like you’ve had a hell of a day,” his oldest brother, Zhenechka, remarked when Ianikut entered the den where the rest of his brothers ‑‑ Antosha, Fyodor, Vyacheslav, and Tosya ‑‑ sprawled. He grabbed a bottle of water before settling his large frame into the nearest chair.
“She thinks I’m a vampire.”
“What!?” his brothers inquired in unison.
“She calmly strolled in ‑‑ well, actually, she barreled in and inquired if I was a vampire.”
“I guess we don’t have to ask who the ‘she’ is, since Aloha is all that you’ve spoken of these past weeks,” Zhenechka said.
Ianikut continued as if he hadn’t heard Zhenechka. “When I asked her why she thought that I might be a vampire, she informed me that I was so pale that I could be my own shade of white on a color swatch. Do you think I should utilize a tanning bed?”
Tosya, his youngest brother, remarked, “Like she’d be impressed when you emerged with second-degree burns all over your body.”
Ignoring his brothers, Ianikut said. “When I informed her that I wasn’t a vampire, she stalked off in a snit to find Jack ‑‑ who, I might add, is more badass than me, according to Aloha.” Relating the rest of the story, he wasn’t surprised when his brothers fell out in uncontrollable laughter.
“Max, we need to meet this Jack fellow.”
“That’s the thing ‑‑ Jack isn’t a fellow. She’s six foot two inches of easily pissed-off woman always on the verge of whipping someone’s ass.”
“Though I’m still intrigued with this Jack character, I think the primary issue at stake here is the fact that you’re pining after a woman who has no respect for you as a man or a vampire, which doesn’t bode well for your courtship,” Fyodor remarked.
“Who said that I’m going to court Aloha?”
“Who are you trying to kid, Max? From listening to your descriptions of the lady, I’m tempted to court her,” Antosha remarked.
“And if you become bored with living, try it,” Ianikut replied.
“So are you laying claim, Max?” Vyacheslav asked.
Ianikut didn’t answer, but he didn’t need to. The dangerous glow in his eyes warned his brothers that he had indeed laid claim to Aloha.
Serious matters were handled by seniority, and as Zhenechka was second oldest, it was he who spoke for all of Max’s brothers. “So how long before she tacks Aleksandrovich to the end of her
name?”
* * * * *
Atlanta was already through her first dessert by the time Aloha arrived, dragging a reluctant Ianikut with her. She wondered what he, of all people, was doing there, before she smiled inwardly because operation “hook up her absolute best friend and her second-best friend” was proceeding quite nicely, although it was interfering with her personal plans with the hot-ass man seated beside her. Witnessing Steele and Imax eye each other with distrust, she shot both men a glance full of dire promises if they showed their asses, before she grabbed Aloha and dragged her neon-clad carcass outside.
Ianikut sat in the restaurant and engaged in a stare down with the blond man, who was obviously afflicted with some kind of mental illness if he had a romantic interest in Atlanta. Ianikut’s internal radar had gone off as soon as he entered the restaurant. There was a paranormal in attendance, and as soon as he’d seen the man with Atlanta, he’d bristled. The man wasn’t merely Viking; he was berserker. From the way he carried himself, Ianikut knew that regardless of how laid back the guy appeared, the berserker was close to the surface. The man possessed power and the potential to hurt both Atlanta and Aloha, and that was something Ianikut just couldn’t allow, regardless of the fact that they were alums of Carolina. Glaring at the blond, he awaited the opportunity to make his position clear. That opportunity came within seconds as Atlanta and Aloha excused themselves.
Though Ianikut had more than made his position clear, so did the berserker. Currently the score was vampire one, berserker one. The only thing that kept them from engaging in battle was the fact that they were so evenly matched that the only way for there to be a clear victor was for one of them to perish. That would be bad for many reasons; chief among them was the fact that they risked being outed as paranormals. Knowing humans, they’d attempt to capture them, and he didn’t think Aloha would date him if he killed a bunch of people, even if they did deserve it.
After making his position clear to the berserker, Ianikut thought that all would go smoothly, but of course, since the evil twins were involved, that was not to be. By the end of the lunch Ianikut was completely thrown for a loop. Not only had Aloha paid for his lunch, she had the nerve to remark upon the blond’s supposed handsomeness moments before threatening the berserker with an ass-whipping that she expected him, the lowly Duke alum to deliver. Aloha was unlike any woman he’d met before. Never had a date gone like the one he’d just experienced.
“I’ve never had a woman pay for my lunch.”
“Well, clearly you’ve been bamboozled, led astray…” she began.
“I’m a well-read man; therefore I get the Malcolm X reference. But that’s not the point. You aren’t supposed to pay when we go out.”
“Ianikut, I asked you out.”
“It doesn’t matter. It simply does something to my manliness to have a woman pay. How about tonight I take you out to dinner?”
“You don’t have to.”
“Oh, but I very much want to. I insist.”
“You can’t just insist,” she said with a hand on her curvy hip. Obviously she had no idea how provocative her stance was. Regardless of the neon shirt, she made him hard…and dangerously possessive.
Grabbing her waist, he yanked her to him and devoured that luscious mouth of hers until he felt her surrender to his passion. When he pulled back from the kiss, both of them were breathing raggedly, and he was almost beyond reason. Releasing her, he expected her to argue so he gave her something to argue about.
“Be ready at eight p.m. I’m coming for you, and you will have dinner with me. I’m the man, so I will be driving you. I’m paying for dinner, and I will kiss you good night.”
Aloha was stunned. How dare this motherfucker? It did not matter that Ianikut was all of her favorite things in one delicious package. She was a grown damn woman. Yep, a grown damn woman who could barely stand on her own after being kissed so well she came. She should say something about his handling of her, and she would say something…in a minute or ten. First, she needed to stop her voice from emitting those moans. Then, she needed to convince her fingers to cease tunneling through his decadent locks. Damn, the man has thick, gorgeous hair, she thought as she dragged in the scent of this man. Her whole body went supernova and she literally climbed the man to get closer. Grinding into him, she dug her nails into his back and threw her head back in ecstasy.
Before she came down from her pleasure, Ianikut heaped on more. Relinquishing her lips, he paused and licked a path down her throat. He didn’t give her time to come down from her high before capturing her lips again. She was going to tell him off and good…but first she had to regain her voice, and her control. And it would help if she had on another pair of panties because the ones she had on were filled with her cum.
Both of them were breathing hard when he finally pulled back. Luckily, he held onto her because she couldn’t stand on her own. Damn, she’d basically dry-humped him in public. She felt like such a slut, but damn her pussy felt so good.
“Ianikut,” she whispered.
“Shh, Aloha. Don’t move anymore or say anything else. Please.”
Looking up at him, she noted that not only did he look like a walking sexual fantasy come true, but he also looked on edge. She smiled knowing that she wasn’t the only one who’d lost control for a minute. Though she still had something to say about how he handled her, she’d bring it up later because the only thing she wanted to do in this moment was enjoy the orgasm he’d just wrung from her core. Leaning her head against his rock hard chest, she closed her eyes and for the first time in a long time enjoyed the simple pleasure of a man holding her.
It was a few minutes before either of them had the will to do more than hold each other. Pulling apart, he took her hand and walked her to the driver’s side. She was about to get in when she heard his chuckle.
“Obviously, Carolina boys don’t kiss like Duke men.” He smirked. “I know that you may have trouble recalling the last few minutes after sampling the touch of a real man, but remember you are to be ready at eight p.m. so that I can take you on a proper date.”
Infuriated, she so couldn’t let that slide. Rubbing up against him, she grabbed his Adam’s apple and applied pressure.
“Ianikut Maksim Aleksandrovich, I know you aren’t trying to tell me what to do.” Saying her piece, she slid behind the wheel. When Ianikut got in, she continued her rant. “I might consider going to dinner with you, if you ask me properly. I don’t mind you paying if you are the one to invite me to dinner, and I may even allow you to drive. I will not, however, ever allow you to treat me with disrespect. Think on that while you’re over there trying to catch your breath.”
Aloha suspected that Ianikut spent the short ride alternately seething and plotting revenge, but she couldn’t be bothered to care. Though Ianikut might’ve been mad, he was also looking too damn fine with those glorious loose locks and those succulent lips swollen from her kisses. Regardless of how mad he might be, she wasn’t worried about him hurting her. If he gave her lip, she’d simply march off to Jack or Reign and find methods that would shut him up. Then again, it might be better to march off to Zuri and find methods that would make him come so hard he went unconscious.
When they arrived back at Ianikut’s building, Aloha cut the engine and calmly waited for him to say his piece. Ianikut was damn intelligent. Hey, he did attend Duke, and it was a school in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and the ACC didn’t boast scrub academic institutions or scrub basketball teams. Despite his intellect, Ianikut was still a man and after having an entire half an hour to get over it ‑‑ he would use that time to seethe and come up with something to say ‑‑ which would most likely be something completely asinine. She almost wished that he’d say something stupid so she’d have an excuse to fuck him into silence.
“Where would you like to have dinner tonight?”
What the fuck?! Ianikut still wanted to take her out? “You still want to have dinner with me?”
“I did
say that. Although you graduated from Carolina, I thought that even a Carolina alum could understand simple statements.”
Aloha didn’t appreciate Ianikut’s dig against her alma mater but she managed to keep the disgust out of her voice when she replied. “And I thought a Duke alum should know when a lady isn’t impressed.”
“I’ve never happened across a woman who wasn’t impressed by me.”
And I can see why, her subconscious responded, while her eyes indulged in his beauty. Ianikut was one fine ass man regardless of the fact that he was a Duke alum. She had to stop eating him up with her eyes before her cum overflowed her panties and trickled down her legs. Thoughts of Ianikut got her off quicker than any porn movie ever made. Arching an eyebrow and blowing out a breath, Aloha remarked, “You sound so sure to be so wrong.”
“There are two things that I’m certain of. The first is that Duke basketball is superior to Carolina basketball and the second thing that I’m sure of is that you want me. You’re a woman, and I have it on good authority that I’m hot ‑‑ even for a Duke fan.”
“Ianikut, you’re such an ass…”
“Perhaps, but the real question is will you draw blood while grabbing my ass for leverage when I make love to you?”
Aloha stopped breathing for a moment, imagining holding on to all of that smoking hot man. Damn, she wanted Ianikut. She’d make love to him later, but right now, she wanted to straight up fuck him. In return, she wanted him to fuck her so hard that she could only lie there and take it. The diva in her wanted him to wear permanent scratches as a testimony of how much he had pleased her. Yeah, she wanted that; she needed that, but she couldn’t let him know that he had such dominion over her. “Whatever, Ianikut. As I was saying earlier ‑‑ you’re such an ass.”
“But that doesn’t change the fact that you want me.” Ianikut smirked in that annoying way that Duke fans do. “So where would you like to eat?”
Trust Ianikut to be difficult. No wonder he and Atlanta were in a constant state of verbal warfare. “Some place where I don’t have to dress up.”
