H.U.M.A.N.S (The Veiled World Book 1)

by Susan Reid

  Leaning forward, I jerked and writhed against his hold even more aggressively than before until he finally let me go.

  I took a few steps away from him, both irritated and hyped with adrenaline. I eyed the bottle on the table again and reflexively licked my lips, swallowing hard.

  “Respect? That goes both ways.” I reminded him sternly.

  Gage was not someone I wanted to make an enemy out of for more reasons than the obvious. I didn’t want to need him or anyone for any reason and I think that was a major part of my problem.

  My fangs had already extended a long time ago in response and I hadn’t even been aware of them.

  He paused and sighed, his calm demeanor returning with ease.

  “If you’re done trying to pick a fight that you won’t win with me, then maybe I’ll forgive you and let you have what you’re desperately needing right now.” He referred to the jug of blood.

  I glared at him and laughed sarcastically at his remark, pointing dramatically to myself with raised brows. “That I won’t win? Fuck you! I don’t need that damned blood!”

  He pursed his lips, trying very hard to maintain his own decorum but it didn’t matter to me.

  “You won’t come back unharmed or at all if you venture out in your condition.” He replied plaintively and then he turned to reach for the jug, hooking an index finger through the handle and holding it out to me.

  “What do you care?” I snapped, still seething and my breathing was erratic as if I’d just run a marathon.

  He drew out another long sigh, trying to maintain his patience as his eyes began to shift back into their beautiful hazel hue.

  “Get over your pride and self-righteous reluctant fear of having to feed from another being, Kai. You do it anyway whenever you dine on steak, pork, or chicken. This is not much different and I told you that you’ll need to keep yourself satiated. There’s no other way around it.” He stated carefully.

  I snatched the jug from him ungratefully, practically breaking the neck of the glass bottle with my bare hands when I removed the cap and brought it shakily to my lips.

  Not wasting another second, I began to drink voraciously.

  Chapter 23

  The effect of the sweet, cold, and deliciously satisfying Nocturna blood was like a potent, honey-infused aphrodisiac sliding smoothly down my throat. With each swallow, the blood quickly traveled and spread throughout my body, filling each vein to appease the thirst that nearly made me delirious with rage and weakness.

  Like a starving baby, I cooed with satisfaction, almost forgetting that Gage was still standing in front of me, watching me make a desperate and gluttonous fool out of myself.

  My cooing quickly turned into pre-orgasm moaning as a continuous ribbon of the icy, silken liquid dribbled and slid slowly down my chin, my neck, and curved towards the space in between my breasts.

  Once I drained the last drop from the nozzle of the jug, Gage grabbed me and pulled me forcefully against his body, hoisting me up and pulling my legs around his waist.

  I carelessly dropped the jug without another thought as a passionate animalistic cry involuntarily escaped my throat.

  The warmth of his mouth landed hungrily against the exposed flesh above just above my nipple. He yanked down my shirt to get it all, taking it upon himself to take care of the residual. Fervently, he cleanly lapped up all traces of Nocturna blood that had snaked down my chest, nibbling and eagerly sucking his way up to the hollow of my throat. Tilting my head back with his fingers in my hair near the nape of my neck, he continued on up to my chin.

  My mouth was already open, wailing at the intense pleasure that simply feeling his mouth against my skin gave. Gripping my hair, he held me still and took full control, kissing me fierce and deep. His tongue entered first and he wantonly devoured my entire mouth, bottom lip and all as if I had the antidote to reversing this curse hidden in near my tonsils.

  This time, I wasn’t going to hold back and stop him.

  Desire and gratification had been building up for way too long in my attraction to him. My entire body felt charged, alive and invigorated after consuming the blood.

  Tearing at and peeling his shirt open, I ran my fingers over the hardness of his muscular chest. His skin was smooth and hot beneath my hands, making me anticipate the literal feel of every inch of him. Grazing my nails over his shoulders and across his chest made him groan deeply into my mouth and I tightened my thighs around his waist to grind myself against him.

  He turned, laying me down on the table and tore away the button and zipper of my form fitting jeans.

  Panting, I unhooked my weapons belt and began to lift my shirt and take it off but he stopped me.

  Straightening, he began to unbuckle his belt.

  A single brow of curiosity and caution rose as I propped myself up on my arms, waiting to see all of him.

  Without a word and desire burning wildly in his eyes, he reached around me and I felt him wrapping his belt taut around both of my wrists, binding them together.

  I’m all for trying new things and a bit of kink here and there but being that I really didn’t know Gage, it made me a somewhat a bit uncomfortable.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I breathlessly asked, wincing as he pulled it once more to secure it.

  Vulnerable, yet still very much turned on by his aggressive initiation, I attempted to break free from my bound wrists with no luck.

  Keeping his eyes on mine, I wondered if he were working some magic when they began to fade into that gorgeous periwinkle blue hue again.

  “You need to redirect and expend that dangerously volatile energy and put that foul mouth of yours to a more constructive use.” He replied in a lustful low but forceful tone close to my lips. His barely grazed mine when he spoke, causing a rush of desire to explode deep in my belly. Then, his mouth covered mine completely and he kissed me hard, his tongue spearing its way towards the back of my mouth. He worked his tongue to purposefully flick and curl over mine. It was as if he were trying to make me submit to his dominance by pinning it to the roof of my mouth while he held free range to explore and stimulate.

  Pulling away from the kiss, I gasped for breath and cried out passionately when he completely ripped my shirt free from me in one jerk, my lace bra barely covering the tips of my hardened nipples.

  I huffed and simpered, “— And now here’s the part where you shove me down to my knees and start unzipping your pants. Don’t act as if you’ve never been cursed out by a female before.” I tried to sound angry but it came out as more of an encouraging urgency because my heart was racing with anticipatory desire.

  He licked his lips and flashed a heart-stopping, deviant grin.

  Okay, I admit that I was really digging his aggressive, take- charge flow but that soon changed quickly when he began to twist and roll my shirt up… and then he gagged me with it. He secured it around my head despite my wild resistance and my protests became nothing more than muffled squeaks and grunts.

  Then he leaned in close to my ear with a sly grin, “That part will come later. You’re only going to get away with teasing me once.” He whispered gruffly.

  I was panting, crying out once his warm tongue flicked over each throbbing nipple. Then his entire mouth covered each one alternately, nibbling and sucking while pressing the tip of his tongue around and over each bud firmly.

  Bound and gagged, Gage began to unbutton his slacks. Refraining from pulling them off just yet but clearly ready for action. He proceeded to remove my boots and then literally ripped my form fitting jeans into two complete halves, right off of me.

  The very act ignited a new burst of arousal that made me shudder and I wailed as his hands stroked my bare thighs.

  Then, he lifted me up, carrying me from the table while kissing me hard, and walked us over to the bar counter where he propped me partly onto a barstool. I used my bound hands behind me to hold myself steady, wondering what he planned to do when he began to slowly work his mouth all the w
ay down the length of my body.

  I was too busy wailing and shivering, completely consumed by passion to give any thought to the possibility of anyone unlocking the door and walking in on us. No one except for Cole, Isis, Jax, Clee, and Riza would be able to anyway but the rule was they had to call and let me know first.

  Gage was kneeling down in front of me now, running his index finger down the center of my lace panties from front to back, stopping to hook his finger through, pull the material down, and press a hard knuckle against me. He slowly rolled it forward and up, making me nearly collapse with ecstasy.

  I cried out, trembling and panting when he finally ripped my panties away as if they had been made of thin tissue paper.

  Feeling his mouth on the inner part of my thighs made me writhe out of control. My automatic reflex wanted badly to participate by grabbing his hair or something to encourage him but I couldn’t. It was like torture for me and he knew that.

  Not being able to say anything coherent didn’t help either but I think hearing me whine and whimper beneath the cloth was probably somewhat of a turn on for him too.

  When his warm tongue slid down and up, probing, exploring, and ultimately slipping inside of me…I lost all control. Throwing my head back, I let out a loud, though muffled, pleasure filled squeal.

  There was nothing slow or tender about the way he worked his tongue either, and all I can say is that he should seriously consider patenting it.

  Thrashing in both pleasure and the frustration of not being able to touch or pleasure him while he dined on me enthusiastically, made my knees buckle. He kept me still and propped though with both hands caressing my ass. I was quivering, steadily racing towards a quickly mounting and powerful climax, so I began to work my wrists in an attempt to free my hands.

  Gage was relentless and non-stop, savoring and tasting every inch of me while his hands took care of every other sensitive part of my body. The ache of badly wanting to feel him deep inside of me was excruciating, the throbbing need becoming almost unbearable.

  I glanced down at him. He was watching me, gauging my reaction and the level of pleasure he was able to force out of me via my eyes.

  Then he stood up and pulled my shirt from around my mouth, letting it hang around my neck. I caught sight of the slightly pink, rounded tip of his glorious, rigid, and exceptionally well-endowed cock extending slightly above his navel, waiting to be freed and immersed.

  He kissed me hard again, forcing me to taste myself on his lips while he lifted me up by my ass and ground his hard as steel erection into the most tender, swollen, and throbbing parts of me.

  I waited for him to untie my hands but he didn’t and I hoped he would leave the gag off.

  I could hear his slacks rustling. He was finally sliding them down and the thought of feeling him inside of me was more than I could stand.

  Through all of my own panting, wailing, squealing, crying out loud, and Gage’s moaning and succulent devouring of me, another sound caught my ears. One that was all too familiar.

  At first, I had thought…or rather hoped that the faucet behind the bar had begun to leak slowly but I knew better.

  Out of my periphery, about several feet from both of us, a pool of water began to form and churn, slowly rising from the cement floor…

  Aw hell!

  Chapter 24

  The outline remained in water form but it was crystal clear who it was. What was he doing here? How had he gotten in? He usually called before he just showed up like this. Was he checking up on me?

  Annoyed and afraid of what was about to happen, I squirmed to try to break free of the belt.

  Gage sensed Marq’s presence too and the look in his eyes automatically flashed to predatory and ready to fight.

  Marq hadn’t fully materialized into flesh form yet and my eyes completely bugged when I realized why.

  As soon as Gage stood and turned around, a sliver of water whipped out like a thin, deadly, round blade and nicked him across his chest and shoulder.

  Gage grunted, not expecting that attack and he instantly winked out of sight as if he had been nothing more than a holographic image. Panicked, my eyes darted to every corner of the room for him.

  “Gage, wait! Don’t go!” I called out despite Marq’s accusatory glare.

  What could I say? What could I do? I was standing here stark naked with my hands tied behind my back and Gage’s face had been buried between my legs. What was going on here was obvious and there was no need to even attempt an excuse or lie.

  “Marq, stop, don’t do this!”

  Marq slowly morphed into flesh form and the heat of anger in his eyes was something that I’ve never seen before.

  “I thought you said there was no other guy?” His teeth were clenched and jealousy was brewing behind his eyes, making them appear more sinister and dark green than usual.

  He took a step towards me but not before he was grabbed and tossed by an invisible force as if he weighed nothing.

  I screamed as Marq went sailing across the room, colliding with the wall and sliding down into a crumpled heap. He groaned, disoriented with a hand to his head and on his hands and knees before he slowly started to rise again.

  Even though there was a line of dark crimson across Gage’s collar bone and shoulder, it didn’t seem to bother or faze him. He was swiftly on him again, locking him in a hold similar to the one that he had on the Nocturna. Marq was wearing clothes and of all times I wished that he hadn’t. I seriously doubted that Gage would have laid a hand on him if he had been completely naked.

  “No! Gage, stop! He’s a friend!”

  I tried to verbally intervene, remembering how easily he had broken the Nocturnas’ neck that night.

  “A friend?” Marq sneered at me.

  Marq transformed into his water form again and slid out of Gage’s hold with ease, leaving him soaking wet from the neck down.

  Gage was definitely not expecting that and he was on his feet in a flash, waiting for the water form began to raise up and take shape once again. Another blade of water was forming in Marq’s hand but he remained in water form on purpose.

  “No!” I screamed out at Marq, shimming myself down from the barstool, almost tripping with my hands still tied behind my back, and my shirt still scarfed around my neck. I quickly ran over to them as awkward as it was for me, being that I was completely nude. At least I had both of their complete attentions right now.

  “Take this off.” I ordered Gage, referring to the belt around my wrists.

  He was hesitant and still very ticked off as he rubbed the last of the blood from his cut.

  Reluctantly, while keeping his eyes on Marq, he moved behind me.

  “You stay put.” I stared Marq down once he took flesh form again. He was seething.

  “Who is he? Now I’m just a friend to you? Tell me something, how did my dick taste?” Marq took a shot at Gage while grabbing at his crotch to make his point.

  I was mortified.

  I felt Gage tense and start to go for Marq again. Thank God my hands were free and I had been able to grab onto him to stop him. This would go a lot smoother for me if I had clothes on.

  “Don’t go there and start something else, Marq!” I warned.

  My shirt wouldn’t have been long enough. I spied Gage’s button down lying on the table where we started and debated leaving them to potentially kill each other while I went to put it on.

  “Could I use your shirt?” I asked Gage, crossing my arms over my chest. It was more to get his attention away from Marq.

  He didn’t move right away, a murderous glint remained in his eyes as he and Marq stared each other down. Finally, he turned to retrieve his shirt for me.

  “Since when do you just show up and how did you get in anyway?” I asked Marq.

  “Since you never answered your cell phone I took a chance to check here first, thinking that you might be asleep. Your bathroom window was slightly open again. I just wanted to be with you tonight. You lied
to me.” He defended and then accused.

  “Clearly, she’s moved on to better and much bigger things.” Gage said draping his shirt over my shoulders.

  I immediately slipped my arms into the sleeves and buttoned a few buttons. The shirt hung down to my mid-thigh and smelled heavenly, like Gage.

  “I didn’t lie to you.” I sighed with a hand to my forehead.

  This wasn’t going to go well. I needed to talk to Marq alone.

  I turned to Gage, “Give us a minute? Please, don’t leave or disappear. My apartment door upstairs is unlocked — and watch out for Twinkie. His growl is much worse than his bite. He was probably a chicken in a past life.” I told him.

  Gage glared contritely at Marq before kissing me passionately in front of him on purpose and then he took his time walking up the stairs.

  Once my apartment door closed behind him, Marq turned his attention back to me with hands on his hips. Though he had calmed a bit, his jaw was still working.

  “I’ve never seen him before. Who is he?”

  “He’s new in town and he’s a hunter too.” I wasn’t going to mention the hybrid Nocturna thing we both shared.

  Marq looked at me and straightened at the mention of that and what it meant. A brief sadness of rejection passed behind his mesmerizing green eyes. He flinched ever so slightly as if those words had stabbed him in the heart just to hear.

  “So you’ve pinned the new member rules and welcoming committee in between your legs now, I see.”

  I glared at him this time. He was hurt and I could understand how upsetting the scene was to him but I didn’t invite him over.

  “Don’t make this turn ugly.”

  It wasn’t rejection though, not to me. It was more than attraction too. It was compatibility and he knew it.

  Call me selfish or a slut but I didn’t want to lose what I had with Marq over this either, though I may not have a choice.

  He gestured a hand at my wrists and added, “You never let me tie you up but you’ve tied me up plenty of times. I’ve never wanted to murder someone so bad in my life and now I can’t get that image out of my head. I don’t even want to think about what’s going to happen when I leave but my guess is that you’re not going to ask him to leave, are you?”