by Jayha Leigh
“I have a lot to smirk about, angel,” Ianikut interjected.
“We’re just listening to the evidence,” Vyacheslav piped in.
“What are you, like an extra on CSI?” she asked.
“Don’t have to be. The way he dragged you out of Atlanta’s house was clue number one. Even if we hadn’t witnessed that spectacle, then the trail of clothing leading from the garage to the staircase was enough for us,” Antosha smiled. “And then, there’s the fact that he smells like you.”
“I’m merely surprised that he isn’t dressed like you,” Zhenechka stated while looking at her tie-dye shirt, denim bib-overall shorts, and bright pink Crocs sandals.
Aloha would’ve been mortified if they hadn’t been smiling…and if the shreds of her lingerie weren’t lying safely on the floor of Ianikut's bedroom.
“You guys are so bad.” She smiled back.
“I see that the theory of you and Atlanta being twins is correct. Leaving a trail of clothing seems to run in your family,” Zhenechka remarked.
“As does the bad ending your clothes seem to come to,” Antosha said.
“You guys shouldn’t tease until you can out drink a couple of women,” she tossed back, before they all dissolved into laughter.
* * * * *
Aloha was about to take a seat, when suddenly she swayed. She would’ve hit the floor, if Ianikut hadn’t caught her.
“Angel, what’s wrong?” He demanded.
“I’m just a little dizzy. I’ll be okay after I eat.”
“You need to lie down, now,” he decreed as he sat her on the counter.
“Ianikut, I haven’t had any Skittles for like a whole day and on top of that someone worked me out hard all day and all night. It’s no wonder that I’m dizzy. Put me down, so I can eat,” she demanded.
“I took too much from you,” he admitted softly as he ignored her attempts to wriggle from his grasp.
Aloha was too incensed to consider the full meaning of his words, but apparently, he’d pissed off his brothers because the next thing she knew, they all rose to their equally impressive heights.
Zhenechka roared, “Brother, what have you done? She is a woman and under your protection. Her needs come before your lust. How much did you take from her?”
Ianikut said something in Russian. Though she didn’t understand what he said, she had no trouble deciphering the frost in his voice, and knew he wasn’t issuing an invitation to tea. Aloha couldn’t abide arguments and jumped from the counter to leave. Ianikut caught her before her feet could reach the floor and returned her to the counter.
“Where are you going?”
“Don’t you take that tone with me!”
At the same time, Zhenechka demanded, “We will not let you dishonor, our sister! Honor her as you should or as the next in line, I will offer challenge for her!”
“And you will die,” Ianikut answered, stalking toward Zhenechka. “Before or after I bed her?” Zhenechka goaded.
Aloha was stunned…and embarrassed…and the black woman in her was pissed the fuck off. Despite the threat of imminent violence, she started crying. Immediately every man in attendance rushed to her side with concern.
“Get away from me!” she demanded as she blindly threw plates, cutlery, and whatever she could get her hands on.
“What’s wrong?” they all demanded as they dodged the objects she tossed their way.
“I am not a fucking whore. You can’t pass me around like a joint!”
“Little sister, we don’t mean any disrespect to you. It would be an honor to wed you,” Zhenechka stated. “However, what Ianikut has done is dishonorable.”
“Having sex with me is dishonorable?” she asked confusedly.
“I did not have sex with you! I made love to you!” Ianikut proclaimed.
“Semantics. What the hell was dishonorable about that?”
“Taking too much blood from you was dishonorable because it means that I failed to place your well-being before my own desires,” Ianikut admitted.
“Blood? You took my blood? When?” she asked in one breath. “Oh, that is so nasty!” she declared in the next breath.
“I took your blood when ‑‑”
Ianikut began to explain, when she interrupted, “Why the hell are you taking my blood? What the fuck is that about? Oh damn, you’re one of those crazy-ass white boys, aren’t you? Are you in a cult? You’re not going to kill me without a fight on your hands!”
“Angel moya, we’re not in a cult. We’re vampires,” Ianikut informed her softly as he gently relieved her of the knife she’d grabbed from the counter before she accidentally maimed herself.
“What?” she yelled.
Ianikut knelt before her. “It wasn’t my intention to act dishonorably. All day and all night I’ve told you of my need and love for you.” He paused to say it in Russian once again, “Ti nuzhnA mne. Ya tebyA lyublyU. Ja ne mogu zhit' bez vas. Dajte mne vashu vljublennost'. Pardon me for one moment, angel.”
Chapter Fifteen
Ianikut was only gone for a few moments. When he returned, he dropped to his knees.
“Zhenites' na mne! Marry me,” he asked as he slid a huge diamond onto her finger.
“You’re a vampire?” She completely ignored his proposal and the ring that he’d just placed on her finger. “Where the hell are your fangs if you’re a” ‑‑ she paused to make air quotes ‑‑ “vampire?”
Ianikut would have to teach his angel the foolishness of tossing out a challenge to a vampire. Allowing his fangs to extend wasn’t a difficult feat considering how desperately he wanted to fuck her again.
Aloha gasped and then ran her finger along the edge of Ianikut’s fangs.
“Careful, angel. They’re not just for decoration. They’re sharp.”
“Why do you need fangs that sharp? I bet you’re one of those guys who likes a little moo in his steak.”
Ianikut didn’t think that his angel was ready to hear that his fangs were sharp in case he had to rip out an enemy’s throat. He was about to tactfully change the subject when Aloha threw another question at him.
“That’s some interesting dental work. Then again, you’re in the South where interesting dental work is the norm.”
“I think Southerners would be upset about your statement.”
“Unlike you, I’m not a Yankee. As a full-blooded Southerner, I have an endorsement on my Southern card that allows me to talk smack about other Southerners.”
“I’m not a Yankee ‑‑ I’m Russian.”
“Same damn thing. If you’re from any place other than the South, you’re a Yankee. You would’ve known that if you had bothered to read the book I gave you.”
Ianikut didn’t know how they’d veered off topic so completely. He turned to gape at his brothers who all wore looks of disbelief. “Aloha,” he said only to be interrupted by a barrage of questions.
“Didn’t I ask if you were a vampire? You know, after getting to know you, I was willing to overlook the fact that you were a Duke fan, but this holding out on me about the fact that you’re a vampire is complete bullshit.”
“What would you have done if I had affirmed your suspicions, angel?”
“I would’ve given you a list of all the people who were mean to me and had you do something bad to them.”
“Are you all vampires? What kind of vampires are you? Are you evil? And I hope that you don’t think that I’m giving up slushies or daytime football games because you’re vampires. And if you think I’m sleeping in a coffin you can just get the fuck over that.” She finally stopped her rant long enough to ask, “Are you in a cult?”
“No angel, we aren’t in a cult. Though we celebrate Christmas and Easter on different days, we are Christian as you are. As for the rest of your questions, yes, we’re all vampires. We’re no more or less evil than humans. You can continue to eat slushies and walk about in the daytime. And the sleeping in a coffin bit is an erroneous stereotype and ‑‑ as you would say ‑
‑ just plain nasty.”
“Hmm, well, we need to get something straight. The only place that I like blood is in my body or covering my enemies. You owe me an apology, and by the way you don’t eat slushies, you drink them.”
Ianikut and his brothers just looked on in incredulity, while Aloha continued to throw out a barrage of questions.
“What kind of vampire doesn’t have any powers?” she asked incensed.
“I have power,” Ianikut clarified.
“Can you turn to mist?” she asked.
“No, but…”
“Can you fly?” she interrupted.
“No, but…”
“Are you immortal?”
“Angel, you’ve been watching too many movies with Reign. Being a vampire is part of who I am but it’s not all that I am. Though I’m vampire, I’m also a man. You cannot separate that from who I am. As far as powers go, I cannot change my corporeal form. I cannot fly because I don’t have wings. And although vampires usually enjoy long lives, we’re not immortal.”
“Define long life.”
“My great-great-grandparents lived well into their hundreds.”
“Hey, can you incinerate things with your eyes?”
“What did they teach you in Chapel Hill? Angel, you should’ve made the eight-mile trek to Durham. Then, you would’ve received a stellar education and not been so caught up in unproven hypotheses and urban myths,” he joked. “I cannot incinerate things with my eyes, but then, I don’t need to when I can destroy my enemies in hand-to-hand combat.”
“Yeah, whatever. So can Jack and I, but she’s a lot more impressive in hand-to-hand combat. Anyway, let me get this straight. You can’t change form. You can’t fly. You can’t zap things to ashes with your eyes, and you’re not immortal. What the hell is that about? I’m pretty sure that vampires are supposed to come with powers.”
“I have powers, angel ‑‑ just not Saturday morning cartoon powers.”
“Yeah, well. I’m not impressed. I don’t know what discount warehouse sold you those half-ass powers, but I hope that the fee is refundable!”
Ianikut didn’t bother to answer that, instead he flashed to her side and kissed her until she went soft. He only backed off when she was panting and grasping for purchase on his person. Uncaring as to whether it was the kiss or his minor show of power that impressed her, he continued to hold her close enough that she felt his raging hard-on. “Are you impressed now?” He smirked.
“Shut up, Ianikut. Is that how you handle your enemies, by kissing them into submission?”
Laughing, he answered, “I don’t have any enemies who are still alive, angel. I have a problem with people fucking with me…or anything that belongs to me.”
“Well, then you might make a decent Southerner after all. Now tell me what you can do.”
“I have heightened senses, preternatural speed and superhuman strength.”
“For?” She asked.
“So that I might impress you, angel.”
* * * * *
The brothers of Ianikut Maksim Aleksandrovich watched and listened in complete disbelief. Apparently, Aloha had a strand or two of raving lunatic in her. After ascertaining that they weren’t a cult hell-bent on sacrificing her or depriving her of her favorite treat ‑‑ all while destroying their kitchen ‑‑ she’d quickly regained her equilibrium. She wasn’t displaying the fear or uncertainty that any of them expected. Obviously, she wasn’t aware of Ianikut’s status among vampires. Members of the Aleksandrovich lineage were treated with extreme deference. Males of the lineage were generally given wide berth because they were danger personified when moved to anger. Few surpassed them in the bringing-the-wrath department, and none surpassed Ianikut, not even their father ‑‑ the current king. Ianikut was hands down the most dangerous vampire in existence. His danger was tempered by his love for justice, which is why he also enjoyed the respect of his people.
“Excuse me, Aloha,” Tosya interrupted.
“Yes?” She paused in her rant to gift him with a beautiful smile.
“You do know that Max is quite powerful?”
“Yeah, and?”
“And few would dare to treat him with such blatant disrespect,” Antosha remarked.
“Well, few dare to treat me with such blatant disrespect. I’m just letting him know that I’m not about to allow him to run over me.”
“Those that challenge him usually end up dead,” Fyodor advised.
“Probably because they deserved to die, but I’m telling you guys right now there will be no attempting to kill me.”
“You’re not afraid of him?” Vyacheslav inquired.
“No, but if you guys are afraid of him hide behind me and I’ll protect you,” she said before stomping from the room.
Ianikut and his brothers were busy righting the fallout in the kitchen when Aloha’s scream rent the air.
Ianikut was at her side, before she finished her scream.
“What is it, angel?”
“Ianikut, you need to get that…thing,” Aloha yelled as she scooted further into the corner.
“What thing?” Ianikut asked, seeing no threat.
“That thing right there!” Aloha screamed again and pointed.
“You mean that bat?”
“Hell yeah, I mean the bat! It’s not one of your brothers, is it?”
“My brothers are vampires, Aloha ‑‑ not shape-shifters, and even if they were I’m certain that they would shift into something more impressive than a baby bat.”
“Okay, thanks for the dissertation on shape-shifters. Now get that thing.”
“Aloha, it won’t hurt you. It’s only a baby; it’s not even a full-grown bat.”
“I don’t give a flying fuck what developmental stage it’s in! It’s nasty and icky, and I’m scared of it.”
“Let me get this straight: You’re not scared to take on me, my brothers or any damn body else in a fight, yet you’re scared of a little bat?”
“No, I’m not scared of you because you’re not an icky thing; you’re just a man, which is technically only half a step up from an icky thing. I’m not scared of your brothers because they’re cute and nice to me. And I’m not scared of bats, but I don’t like them. Now, get it, before it gets tangled up in my braids.”
“Why do I have to get it?” he asked as he retrieved the bat.
“Because you’re the man. Taking care of icky things is part of your job,” she said with conviction.
“How did it become part of my job?”
“Because it’s your house, so get it.”
“So if we were at your house…?”
“There wouldn’t be any bats in it.”
“And if there hypothetically was a bat?”
“Well, then, I’d shoot it with all due haste.”
“Don’t you think that’s overkill?”
“There is no such thing as overkill when it comes to my safety.”
“Truer words have never been spoken, angel,” he said as he opened the window and freed the bat.
“What? About bats being icky?”
“No, about there being no such thing as overkill when it comes to your safety.”
“Are you getting ready to go all crazy vampire Duke fan on me?”
“No, angel. I’m already a vampire and a Duke fan. The crazy description is debatable. But what isn’t debatable is your safety. In my code of ethics, there is no such thing as overkill, especially when it comes to the safety of those I hold dear.”
“Do you hold me dear?”
“Angel, I hold you the dearest of all. Now keep that in mind, before you inadvertently get an entire lineage of men destroyed.”
“You might be whiter than driven snow and a Duke alum, but you must be related to Jack because y’all think just alike.”
“I will take that as praise.”
“And you should because Jack is a helluva good woman,” she said as she settled in front of the television.
Chapter
Sixteen
Ianikut watched Aloha look at the plasma with lust, and for a moment, he was almost jealous of his TV. He detoured to the kitchen to get her something to eat sure she would be too contrary to eat, and as her man it was his job to take care of her needs. Sitting nearby to insure that she ate, he watched her mouth and grew hard. Consequently, he spent most of the time wishing that he was her food, for few things could be better than being devoured by her succulent mouth. Breathing deeply to clear his lustful thoughts, he waited for her to finish eating before resuming their conversation.
“You didn’t answer my question, angel.”
“What question?”
“The only question that matters!” He thundered. “I asked you to marry me.”
“Impressive manners from such a cultured man. Go to hell, Ianikut. There’s a ninety percent chance that I’m going to marry you so shut up and let me watch television in peace.”
Any other man might’ve been content with that answer but he wasn’t any other man. Plus, a ninety percent chance meant that there was a ten percent chance that she wouldn’t marry him, and that just wasn’t acceptable to his heart, his mind, his cock or the beast within him. Currently, they were all pleading their case. We love her, his heart pumped in tune to hers. Her impressive intellect will insure that life with her will never be boring, his mind added. That is the best pussy we’ve ever had and I want more right now, his cock begged. Mine, the beast within him proclaimed.
His angel was marrying him ‑‑ regardless of how many stops he had to pull out. Pulling her onto his lap, he caressed her, kissed her, nipped at her. He lingered at the places that elicited moans from her ‑‑ the shell of her ear, the column of her neck, and the hollow of her shoulder.
Aloha didn’t respond outwardly, but her heartbeat increased, her breathing became choppy, and he was pretty sure that her eyes were glazed over. His angel was so cute when she was being stubborn. He respected the fact that she was standing up for herself; but he didn’t appreciate that it was him that she was standing up to. She was his woman, his destiny. He loved her and his beast hungered for her. He was a male Aleksandrovich and he always got what he wanted. And he wanted her.
