Not it. Him. He’d definitely been male.
Alrik had said I should call more Blood to me. How was that different than what I’d done last night? If I’d felt him or Daire prowling around in the night as their beasts, would I have been too afraid to reach for them too? I knew better than that. Something inside them resonated in me too, even when they weren’t human and didn’t look human. The same as the man from this latest dream.
I stood beside him on the front steps, waiting while Daire brought Mom’s red Jaguar around. Alrik kept looking at me, his eyes flickering as if he wanted to say something, but didn’t want to upset me. Or offend me. And then he’d turn aside, his jaws working as he bit back whatever he’d wanted to say.
I slipped my hand into his and his head whipped around, his eyes locking on my face. “Are we all right?”
His eyes narrowed and he took a menacing step closer. Yes, menacing, bumping into me in an aggressive way that sent a hot wave of sudden desire flooding through me. I couldn’t help but remember the way he’d fucked Daire last night. So hard, brutal, raw. He’d never touched me like that.
And I wanted it. I wanted him.
“Why wouldn’t we be?” He retorted, though his words were quiet. “Are you upset with me?”
I leaned into him, pressing my breasts against his arm. My nipples ached, so surely he could feel how hard they were. “Does this feel like I’m upset with you?”
He threaded his fingers in my hair, the same as he’d done to Daire last night. But he didn’t jerk my head back, baring my throat.
Daire jumped out of the car and swept the rear passenger door open. “Ready, my queen?”
Alrik released my hair but he didn’t step back. He watched me slide into the car with heavy-lidded eyes and he growled at Daire, though I wasn’t sure why.
They’d fucked each other last night, but today, they were aggressive to each other. It didn’t make sense.
I felt uneasy and tense all the way to downtown Kansas City, even though Alrik sat beside me and held my hand as if nothing was wrong. I just felt out of sorts. Vaguely achy and disinterested and even weepy for no particular reason. And then it hit me.
PMS. My period was due to start. I broke out in a cold sweat and my stomach rolled queasily.
“Shara? Are you all right?”
I forced a small smile. “I’m fine. I just remembered that I get car sick easily.”
Daire met my gaze through the rear-view mirror, dimple flashing in his cheek. “Then you should ride up here on the way home. That might help with the motion sickness.”
I nodded, and heard a small noise from Alrik, almost like a muttered curse. I glanced at him, but he was looking out the window.
I concentrated on our bond, trying to listen without being intrusive. His emotions surged like an angry sea. Jealousy rose like a tidal wave, only to crush into a downward spiral of guilt. Then anger at himself. And confusion. He was just as confused about what he was feeling as I was. That helped, some.
Maybe he was feeling some odd effect from my PMS? It was like my emotions were magnified in him, only more toward anger.
And lust, I decided, feeling the surge as I climbed out of the car. I glanced back over my shoulder and his eyes were locked to my ass.
The Power and Light District was festively lit, even during the daytime. I took a deep breath, hoping to calm my social anxiety before it got out of hand. I didn’t want to affect Alrik even more, or he might stride into the crowd slinging bodies out of my way. Even Daire was feisty after I insisted he leave his ketars in the car, but he offered me his arm, so I linked elbows with him and reached for Alrik too, tugging him close. He growled at Daire over my head, but he just winked back at him.
We ate some fantastic barbecue and window shopped for a couple of hours. I bought a couple of books—hardcovers, something I never would have splurged on before, both because of the expense and the weight in case I needed to bolt. My shiny gold card worked effortlessly. We found a trendy boutique shop selling women’s clothes, and Daire insisted I try on practically everything in the store. At least that’s what it felt like. Once he got me in a dressing room, he refused to let me out by bringing arm loads for me to try on. Alrik sat glowering on a cushioned bench in the center. A sales assistant started to come over to ask if I needed any help, took one look at the mountain of a man outside my stall door, and quickly buzzed past to help someone else.
The stack of things Daire wanted me to buy was almost as tall as me. “I don’t need this much stuff,” I protested, trying to figure out where I’d even put that much. I didn’t have a closet in the tower, though my old room downstairs had a large walk-in that was mostly empty.
“Yes, you do.” He waved the assistant over. “She’ll take these things. Could they be delivered for her later today?”
The woman’s eyes rounded at the huge pile, and I could almost see the cash register cha-chinging in her head. “Of course, I’m sure we can arrange that. If my manager can’t, I’ll bring them to you myself.”
She started to gather up all the hangers, but Alrik slammed his hand down on the stack. He went down through several layers until he found a particular item, pulling it out even though it messed up the top clothes. “Put this one on.”
Something in me bristled at his tone. The queen in me raising her head, tipping her chin, refusing to bow. The woman took the dress and raced up to the cash register so she could ring it up, and then brought the dress back. “You might be cold in it. It’s not really a winter dress.”
I stared at him, while the lady stood there with the dress, awkwardly looking back and forth between us. I didn’t look at the dress—I wasn’t even sure which one it was. That wasn’t the point. If he thought he could start dictating to me what I could wear… That was going to stop. Now.
I’d never had a boyfriend, let alone a date a full-grown man. But even if I was just an ordinary human woman dating the average Joe, there was no way in hell I’d let him order me about. “Just because you’ve had your dick in me doesn’t mean you can tell me what to do. Let alone what to wear.”
Alrik bowed his head and shocked the hell out of me by going to one knee before me despite the crowded store and the goggling sales person. “Forgive me, my queen. I don’t know what came over me.”
I stepped closer to him and wrapped my arm around his straining shoulders. He buried his face against my stomach, and despite his apology, I felt his teeth on my belly. He even started to nuzzle lower, as if he’d bury his face in my pussy right here in the store. Before things got out of hand, I drew back, took the diaphanous dress from the woman, and stepped into the dressing room.
“She’ll need matching shoes,” Daire said to the woman.
“Oh! Yes, I know just the pair.”
I stepped out of my jeans and checked my underwear to be safe. Crap, I’d started already. I hadn’t brought my backpack along. Usually I would have put in a tampon right away, even if I wasn’t flowing much. It seemed to help keep my scent under control so I could get away from the monsters during the day and hide somewhere new before nightfall. It didn’t always work, but it did seem to help.
I needed to stock up on the way home. Blowing out a sigh, I tried to think of a creative way to ask two healthy males to stop for tampons at the drug store as I balled up the stained undies and dropped them in the little waste basket. Leaving behind a decoy to attract the monsters to my old location usually helped me slip away undetected. Though going commando in a slinky dress was not the smartest thing I’d ever done.
Plus I missed my pockets. I couldn’t carry my knife or a weapon of any kind in a stupid dress. The material was so thin and sheer that it felt like I was wrapped in spider webs and moonlight. Long sleeves fluttered about my wrists, while the bodice hugged my breasts and nipped in my waist. The skirt was longer in the back than the front, almost to the floor, and several sheer layers that swished about my ankles and thighs when I walked.
It should have looked messy
or slutty, but somehow managed to look dreamy instead. I looked like a silver fairy princess. I pulled my hair out of the pony tail and fluffed it up a bit with my fingers, but it still looked heavy and flat. Closing my eyes, I tried to envision loose curls about my shoulders, drawing on the magic that lived inside me. Nothing happened at first, and it took me a second to realize why.
Blood. I needed blood to make my power come to life.
I wasn’t going to bleed, or make someone else bleed, just to fix my hair.
But then I remembered my period had started. Would that be enough? I reached through my body, feeling for that tiny bit of blood energy. However, when I tapped it, I almost short-circuited myself. Holy shit. My hair sprang up around my head, my nerves zinged, muscles twitched. Daire and Alrik bolted toward me, banging into each other in their urgency to reach me in the tiny dressing room.
“I’m fine,” I said, though my voice rang in my head, making me wince.
“What the fuck was that?” Alrik reached toward me, but Daire snagged his arm. There was a bit of a wrestling match, biceps bulging, and Alrik ended up shoving him aside, but in the end, Daire won, because Alrik didn’t touch me.
It was a good thing. I still felt like I throbbed with electricity. My skin felt tender, as if I’d heated myself up too much or stuck my finger in a light socket. Note to self: period blood was some powerful shit. “I was trying to fix my hair and um… That didn’t work.”
Daire snorted. “Yeah, no shit. Your hair looks like you’ve been riding on the back of one of our bikes for days with no helmet, while we went as fast as possible.”
Closing my eyes, I concentrated very very carefully and smoothed my hands over my hair, bringing the static electricity down to at least smooth, though wild, curls. “Better?”
“Yes,” Alrik said gruffly.
“Try these,” the sales woman waved some strappy silver heels between my two guys. “I’ve also got some rhinestone ones, but they’re a bit loud. I think they’d detract from the simplicity of the gown.”
“Thank you.” I took the shoes, but the look on Alrik’s face said he wasn’t done with the interrogation. He sensed something was off with me, but what could I say? I didn’t want to blurt out that I was bleeding between my legs and I needed a tampon. That was just… crude. Besides, for all I knew, periods were a human thing that he wouldn’t have a clue about. How embarrassing would that be trying to explain to a vampire?
I put the shoes on and took a few experimental, wobbly steps. They looked fantastic in the mirror, but I didn’t want to break my neck just to look fabulous. Though my legs went on for miles. Turning, I faced my men. “What do you think?’
“You look like the queen you are.” Alrik’s voice carried throughout the common area of the dressing room. A few women’s heads popped over stall doors, and the sales person’s eyes were bugging out at the thought I might be someone famous.
“Your Majesty.” Daire took my hand and bowed low, kissing my knuckles. “You look like you’re ready to go to the ball. I think there’s a bar with dancing at the end of the street. Do you want to check it out?”
Dancing. At a bar. With two gorgeous men. In a dreamy dress. Of course I wanted to go. Duh. As long as I got home soon before I had a real mess to deal with. I looked at the sales person. “Can you go ahead and ring the rest up, or do I need to stop back by to pay for everything else?”
“I’ll ring everything up, and I’ll bring a receipt for you to sign when I drop everything off. Does that work?”
She stumbled over the last few words, as if trying to decide whether to call me ma’am, miss, or worse, Your Majesty like Daire. “Perfect. Thank you for your help. Daire, could you make sure she has our address?”
Alrik helped me put my leather jacket back on while Daire jotted down where we lived. The sales lady frowned at the black leather. “I have a very classy wool dress coat…”
“No thanks,” I said, headed to the door. “I like the leather.”
Outside, the air had a bite of snow. It wasn’t quite four o’clock yet, but dark fell by five this time of the year. Daire ran to throw my stuff in the car, unable to do that quick zip-vanish thing with all these witnesses. “I want to be home well before dark.”
Alrik tipped my chin up with his thumb, his fingers gentle even though his eyes glittered with emotion. Anger, that I was still afraid, and still that odd aggression, like a bull moose staking his territory. “You have no reason to be afraid of the dark any longer. We will protect you. Even at full dark. Even if you’re filling the night with the scent of blood. Nothing will touch you. End of story.”
“I don’t doubt you in the slightest. But why risk injury or death just to walk around at a club for the night?”
“You think too little of us if you fear a few thralls would hurt a Blood seriously enough to put us or you at risk.”
He hadn’t seen the frantic, frenzied way the monsters got when they finally caught up to me. The ones they’d seen in Arkansas had been driven to get me, yes—but they’d still acted with cunning. When my period was going full force, their efforts to get to me always took on a way more sinister, out-of-control madness. Remembering made me shiver. I just wanted to be home, locked up in four walls, with my two guys wrapped around me. Only then would I feel safe.
He drew me closer, wrapping his arms around me. “Are you cold?”
“No. Just scared.”
He glowered down at me as if I’d mortally offended him.
Not even breathing quickly after the trip back to us, Daire slapped him on the back and took my hand. “Stop glaring and let’s go have some fun.”
Alrik
I don’t know why my anger still simmered just beneath the surface. When I opened the door to the bar Daire pointed out, I had to deliberately think about opening the door gently, not tearing it off its hinges. Music throbbed in the air, some band I didn’t recognize. A few people sat at the industrial-looking bar and a couple of tables, but the place wasn’t packed yet. Come five o’clock I imagined this place would be humming. So probably a good idea to head out well before dark, though I didn’t appreciate the fact that she was scared to be out at night.
My queen was not scared. Ever.
Daire snagged her hands and pulled her out onto the empty dance floor. “Get us some drinks!”
Deep breath. Relax the fists. Try not to growl at the man behind the bar who was looking at my queen appreciatively. I ordered three drafts, since I had no idea what Shara would like, and carried the mugs to a table in the corner near the rear exit sign. Then I sat and watched her. Everyone in the bar did.
She was fucking beautiful for one thing, especially in that silver dress. Daire whirled her around, making her laugh, and I swear my heart grew ten sizes too big for my chest. She looked at me, her brow furrowed, as though worried what I thought. Afraid I was jealous. And I was, but not for the reasons she feared. She should laugh and dance, every day, every minute. She shouldn’t be afraid or solemn.
And Daire would always be the one to make her laugh. Not me.
The song ended so they headed toward our table. A few people clapped as she walked by, startling her into a blush that only made her more gorgeous. My fangs and dick both ached. I hadn’t fed last night. Hadn’t needed to. But I was definitely feeling the lack tonight. Maybe that explained my bad mood.
She took a sip of the foamy beer and made a face. Daire started to slide out of the booth to get her another drink, but she stopped him with a hand on his arm. “This is fine. I’ve just never had beer for before.”
“I can get you a glass of wine. Red or white?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t had that either until last night. I haven’t been in a place where I felt safe enough to risk impairing my senses with alcohol.”
“Uh oh, now you’ve done it.” Daire winked at me. “Now you’ve given us an excuse to get you totally wasted.”
“Not out here,” she whispered, looking around. “What time is it?”
<
br /> I clenched my jaws so hard my teeth ached.
“We’ve only been here fifteen minutes,” Daire replied. “At least drink some more of your beer.”
She looked at me, her eyes gleaming. “And dance with Rik before we leave.”
I had four left feet and moved as gracefully as a mountain when I didn’t have a weapon in my hand or an enemy to eliminate. “As my queen wishes.”
More people started to stream in, keeping my senses on high alert, even though I didn’t expect a thrall to just walk into a human bar. I could feel her anxiety leaking through our bond, too. Her flight response was screaming that it was time to move. Time to leave. Hide. Now. When Daire drained his mug in several long gulps, I knew it was affecting him too.
“I need to hit the rest room,” she said.
Daire scooted to the edge of the bench and helped her up. I stood too, not willing to let her out of my sight, not with her fear so high. “Watch our drinks,” I told him, and then followed her to the opposite side of the building. She hesitated at the entrance to a dark hallway. No windows and very little light made it hard to see for human eyes, but she shouldn’t have any issues. Concerned, I stepped closer to her, letting her feel the heat and nearness of my body. “What is it?”
I could hear her heart thumping quicker. “I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel right down there. Can we go? Please?”
I intended to step around her and investigate that hallway, because nothing was going to make her beg. Nothing. But she turned to face me, pressing against my body, her arms coming around me.
“I don’t want to have to leave Kansas City until we want to leave.”
“Why would we have to leave?”
She pressed her lips to my throat. “Because you get into some bloody fight with a monster, with all these witnesses to take pictures and post online. Or because you called me ‘Your Majesty’ in front of that sales lady. People talk, and they’re curious, and with today’s technology, there is no such thing as a secret. Not for long.”
I tightened my arms around her, lifting her slightly so my dick nestled into the sweet softness of her body. Her breath caught. Her fingers tightened. I felt her teeth—very human teeth, sadly—at my throat and something cracked inside me. I had her up against the wall, her thighs open, my hand sliding up under that gorgeous dress.
Queen Takes Knights (Their Vampire Queen Book 1) Page 12
