Sanibel Sizzle - Vampire Werewolf Menage

by Talyn Scott

  She ignored that. Tatum never met an immortal male who wasn’t rock hard and dying to sink balls deep into wet flesh while dropping fang. “They won’t sense you?”

  “For the love of all things holy, just do as I say!”

  “Can a vampire really talk about holy things?” Tatum wondered aloud.

  “You’ve watched too many movies,” he hissed.

  She took note of the very real hiss. “Not trying to rile you, vampire,” Tatum conciliated, wondering if a stake through the heart was also bullshit, or if it really could kill the fang-blessed. She’d have to ask Jayce…if she made it through this.

  Opening a heavy door that led to the basement, she eased through. No, there shouldn’t be a basement here due to the sea level. Flooding issues usually hinder that sort of thing in Florida. However, there was a basement in this building, and she was standing in it. “How do you know they’ll let me in?”

  “You’re the queen.”

  “You really don’t know Jayce,” she muttered under her breath.

  “I heard the story you told Gage,” his voice wrapped around her, as if they were walking together instead of speaking over the phone. He’s so creepy. “Couldn’t you’ve come up with something better than hunting for the fallen Rebecca?”

  “No, since I would have done it in a heartbeat, and it’s the same genuine story I gave them all at home. Only then it wasn’t a story but truth.”

  “I must say you sounded a bit stupid,” he replied.

  “Thanks for confirmation. But it’s old news. They all treat me like I’m stupid.” Tatum found the corridor she was looking for. “Three wolves on the left and one very freaky wolf guarding the door,” she barely moved her lips knowing the vampire heard.

  “Good girl,” he commended.

  “You won’t sound so happy when you’re caught,” Tatum said, dreading what she was about to find. If she hadn’t overheard that conversation between Jayce, Bren and Gage, she wouldn’t have believed a word Maestru had told her. Secrets. The bigger they are…

  “I’ve never been caught.”

  “That’s reassuring. Would you’ve really battled our pack over this?”

  “Yes.”

  “Knowing deaths would accumulate on both sides if war started,” Tatum pushed, “without any remorse on your part?”

  “Remorse corrodes my veins daily. I live with it,” he breathed, something he didn’t need to do often. “I wouldn’t know how to live without it.”

  “That’s a sad place to be, Maestru,” Tatum tightened her hand on the phone. “I’m here.” She didn’t want to be. The whole territorial dispute that had Jayce up in arms when he had better things to do – like hunt for Rebecca – was a farce orchestrated by Maestru’s Coven. The vampires had staged an out of state “issue” requiring Jayce’s presence or immediate civil war threatened to break out among the vampire coven and the werewolf pack.

  After poisoning Rock, the Coven Master stealthily slipped in, drank her to the brink of death and swiped her. An inside job if there ever was one. Steve Palazzo, Maestru’s brother, came to the forefront of Tatum’s mind as Grade A Snitch. Tatum gritted her teeth. If that asshole had anything to do with this, especially after she’d defended him to Jayce and Bren, she’d find a way to kill him herself.

  Maestru misted next to Tatum, praising, “Very good, beautiful queen.” Right when four werewolves charged. One jumped on top of Tatum, shielding her with his powerful body, sensing she was his queen to protect. A heavy pall disoriented the guards, clouding their vision. They saw things that weren’t there, yet Tatum’s sight and mind remained protected.

  “Promise, you won’t hurt them,” she begged.

  “I have no intention of hurting them, unless they hurt me.”

  “Seriously, we both know their intents are to hurt you,” she ground out. “It’s a job requirement.”

  “I’ll show all leniencies I can,” he sighed, rolling his eyes. “Let’s move on, shall we?”

  “What am I supposed to do now?”

  “Look ahead,” he said, pointing to a cell with a silver bars and a single door with a small opening in the center. It was just enough space for a tray of food.

  Tatum gaped. “A prison system, they really have one for Weres?”

  “Evidently,” Maestru said, “hurry, look inside.”

  Tatum closed the distance, approaching the cell with a singular will. She had to face the unimaginable. “Oh…not…possible,” she gasped, knees shaking as she fought to stand upright. “It’s true…what you said…all of it.”

  Mike Carter met the force of her shocked stare with one of his own. “I scented you. But I thought it was another dream.” He cocked his head sadly. “I never thought the vampire would come through.”

  “What is this?” Tatum’s stunned expression melted into her voice. Turning to Maestru, she asked, “Another trick?”

  “No. Even though I can make the dying undead, I cannot raise a dead werewolf.”

  “Who can?”

  “No one.”

  “So, Mike was never….”

  “Killed by your mate,” Maestru finished when she couldn’t, “just like I said. Let’s hurry, or I’ll have to off the guards – something you don’t want to happen due to human sentiments,” Maestru taunted, rolling his eyes.

  “Mike?” She stepped to the bars, taking a better look. His appearance was somewhat different, strained and exhausted. Still, he flashed the beautiful otherworldly blue eyes that dominated the male werewolves, and his hair was more of a deeper brown minus the lighter streaks he’d had. Probably from staying out of the island sun, she supposed sadly. “Mike, tell me,” Her voice trembled. “Tell me the truth.” She sucked in a breath. “I need to know what happened. Please, I’m begging you.” Nightmare. It’s just another bad dream.

  A low grumble left his throat. “You beg me? I beg you. You’re mine. I sit in this cell, a compartment no less, waiting for release, waiting for you. I didn’t kill your ex-husband,” he spat the words, disgusted. “My sister is to blame, and she’s dead. The death offering to the pack, the Alpha, was met.” His eyes flowed through her; longing resided. Promises of heart-filled passion speared their depths, challenging Tatum’s sense of what was right…or wrong. “The only way to save your mate’s sister, even if it were still possible, is to present me to the Alpha.”

  “How do you know any of this? Present you? Obviously, Jayce knows you’re here, a fact kept well hidden from me.” How could he not tell me this?

  “Jayce,” Mike scoffed, “how he trusts you, or doesn’t as the case may be.” Hope suddenly flashed, turning his lips into a cautious smile. “Didn’t he think you would long for me?”

  “I can’t speak for Jayce. Although I want no secrets between us, I wholly trust him. Obviously, he doesn’t trust you. There’s a reason you’re here, one he carefully chose.” She leaned on the bars, holding in the tears that threatened to fall. So afraid I’m gonna freak. “How do you know about Rebecca,” she changed course, needing to find any information she could.

  “There were spies kept here a few days before they were relocated. The guards talk. Gage talks. Jayce and Bren talk every time they’re here. I have nothing to do but sit and listen.” He moved closer, his warm breath lifting blond wisps from her temple. “I will go to the uncrowned Alpha.”

  She stilled, asking, “Why? He’s nuts.” So was your sister.

  “He’s my blood, my clan. I’ll persuade Ciaran to return Rebecca.” He tightened on the silver bars that prevented him from touching her, never flinching when his skin burned under their assault. “I assure you that he’ll be easier to convince once he sees that I’m very much alive. If Rebecca’s still living, I’ll save her. Placing her at your feet, I’ll present an offering to you. In return, what do you offer me?”

  She didn’t think twice, vowing, “An
ything. She’s the only family Bren has left.” Tatum’s unconditional love for Bren bled to his sister, and she would do anything short of murder to bring Rebecca home.

  “It’s not anything I want, Tatum. I’ll have you.”

  “I won’t leave Bren and Jayce,” she admitted honestly, shaking her head.

  “I won’t ask you to,” Mike promised. “But I want to maintain my freedom without going rogue and the chance to earn your heart as they have.”

  “How…Jayce and Bren….”

  “You will convince them to give me that chance after I bring back your sister-n-law.”

  “Why hook up with the vampire?” She raised a thumb over her shoulder at Maestru.

  “I can give Maestru something he wants, but I refused to do so unless I spoke with you first. He sealed our deal tonight. What’s your answer? What about the deal I make with you, my mate?”

  “How do you feel about me, Mike?” She had to ask. If was a fifty-fifty shot, he could lie or speak the truth. Did he really want her, or want revenge? Revenge, in the world of Weres, was a dish spoon fed to the young. An everyday requirement throughout their lives, immortals killed and rarely thought twice afterwards. A well-known fact and it sickened Tatum daily.

  “The night we were together, I showed you how I felt. You wanted me in return, hungered for what I could give you. Our blood joins us under the moon. Even if Jayce tried to remove it, he couldn’t, not completely. That alone made it unwise to kill me. Since you would be a shell of a being lost to unrequited needs that only I, your God-given mate, could give you.”

  “I have two other mates.”

  “They’re not me. I was the first to share blood and penetration simultaneously with you during full moon.”

  “No,” she raised her voice, “you didn’t.”

  “But I did, before you awoke.”

  Her gasp filled the quiet cellar, clouding her head with more unanswered questions and simple rage. “You took me while I was unconscious?”

  “You coined me merciless.” His lips curved sadly. “But I’m merely sensible, fighting for what’s mine.”

  With everything she could mentally muster, she refocused on Rebecca, swallowing the bile burning her throat. Unquestionably caught in yet another trap, her only hope was Mike and his trusty vampire. “Okay.” Tatum gave Gage’s phone to the coven master, not acknowledging the extra brush of Maestru’s fingers against hers. He crushed it to powder. “You retract that bogus territorial spat. Make sure my man and his people are home tonight safe, got it?”

  He blanked out a second and then said, “It’s done.” Obviously a mental directive, Tatum thought, since he didn’t use a phone. Vampires were freaky to be able to reach that far with their minds. “But you will not handle me, female.”

  “You’re supposed to be allied with Jayce, you deceiving hypocrite. What else are you hiding?” She got in his face. A deadly beautiful creature that found her amusing, though she knew he would kill her without a hint of regret. “I’m sick of you and your brother’s shit, Maestru. I sure as hell will ‘handle’ you if you something happens to my man.” She straightened her spine. “Of course, I won’t be coming at you alone, but you can count on staring down my favorite red stilettos and a pack of angry beasts.” She mirrored his cold smile. “I love powerful males, if for no other reason than the fact that they have big dangling balls.” She cocked her head in the way of Weres. “I’m sure you’re attached to yours, can’t blame you for that. And I’ll knock them to the roof of your mouth so fast you’ll choke on them. All while a big angry werewolf sits on your chest and laughs his ass off, they have a thing for watching naughty action. So count on your nuts to be your first non-liquid meal if Jayce isn’t home safe and sound tonight.”

  Maestru roared with laughter, but Tatum’s eyes were hot with tears. “Such passion, you must be one hell of a lover.”

  “You’ll never know,” she spat through clenched teeth.

  “True,” Maestru agreed with a crooked smile, all dark and gorgeous. No lights in his head, Tatum mused, they dimmed from selfish will and too much power.

  Wiping tears on her sleeve, she met Mike’s face. A deal with the devil she must make. “You’re merciless in your own right. I guess you learned well from your family, and I need someone who thinks the way they do to get Rebecca back.” She gathered herself, taking a deep, steadying breath. “I want you to bring Rebecca home. I’ll agree to convincing Jayce and Bren to give this,” she said, waving between them, “a go. But only on the condition Rebecca comes home unharmed and this ridiculously staged vampire dispute is dismissed without bloodshed.” She emphasized, “Not even a drop glistening on a single fang.”

  “You’re really giving us a chance?” Mike asked, reaching through the bars and stroking her cheek with his fingertips, invoking familiarity with his touch.

  She inched back. “You really have a plan all figured out?” Tatum rubbed her forehead, dreading the idea already.

  “I do.”

  Could things get worse? Yes, for the most part, they could. She was on the bottom of a pond. Feet stuck in the muck and she couldn’t see past the scum in the water. Tatum didn’t know who to fear the most. Would it be the mad vampire that gulped half her blood in seconds before misting her to Miami, all after threatening the lives of her mate and pack? Maybe it should be Scotland’s unacknowledged Alpha and his entire clan holding Rebecca captive. But let’s not forget her own werewolf pack that was irrationally overprotective of her – their queen, probably now tearing up the state to rescue her from an insane vampire leader. Still, her money was on Jayce and Bren when they found out she made a deal with Mike.

  Yeah, she had a bad feeling that it was the latter. Because when it came to her men, possessiveness was a gross understatement, just like saying a nuclear warhead was a little firecracker.

  Then, there was no time to wonder, no time left to fear anything. As it had on the island, a sharp pain speared her throat before she sank into black velvet abyss.

  13

  Rebecca searched everywhere for Blade. Even with her immortal senses and superior speed, the storm and its lightning sent her running into a glorified barn. So now she found herself pacing in the king’s private stables. Mysteriously, she wasn’t forced back to her bedroom, but had a free range outside for the first time in weeks. Fresh air and too much time to worry, she realized. Where are you Blade?

  And it was a dangerous situation. In heat and unmarked was comparable to Rebecca showering in blood and jumping into the ocean. Although they maintained a distance, the werewolves circled like hungry land sharks bordering a feeding frenzy.

  There was only one reason they hadn’t approached her.

  Ciaran prowled the night.

  For some unknown reason, she couldn’t smell him. She couldn’t sense him. But she knew he was there. Pretending to give her space, he allowed some slack in her leash. Albeit temporarily, she knew Ciaran would yank her back soon if for no other reason than the way he looked at her tonight. When he recognized what she was to him. Emitting such a raw possessiveness, he scared the ever loving shit out of her. As if her thoughts brought him bodily forward, Ciaran’s voice centered the storm.

  “Rebecca, I know you’re listening. You want love? It will come,” he called out. “You want romantic notions? They will come. You want my body?” He took a deep breath. “I scent that you do, lass. It’s here now, ready.”

  “Go away.”

  “If I believed you meant that,” he answered, stepping toward the door. “I would leave, for now.”

  “Take my word for it.”

  “It’s a dark and stormy night, lass. Come to the house. Take my hand.” Ciaran stepped inside, framing the doorway and holding out a palm.

  “I can see just fine.”

  “I want to hold it.”

  “You just want it on your cock.” She rolled
her eyes. “Deceive me with caring.”

  “Guilty. I was working up to asking you.” A smile entered his voice, teasing her. “Every time I look at you; I care. And it’s not like I haven’t tried my best to fight it. There’s no way to fight it now, for either of us. Even if you try, full moon draws near.”

  “I said to go away.”

  “I don’t think you want me to.” A whisper mixed with a challenge. “I don’t think I have to convince you of anything. You feel the pull, what’s meant to be.”

  “I feel the pull with Blade, not you.” Lie.

  “I can make you feel anything that I want.” A shadow slid over his face, his hands fisted. Ciaran was struggling against age-old instincts. “I fought the pull as well. That inexplicable awareness in my chest warned me the first moment I laid eyes on you. Like a fool, I didn’t listen. Too busy with battling, I suppose. The beast hunted you, hungered for you, and claimed you as his own, even before I scented your arousal. That’s truly unheard of among werewolves. It would have never let me harm you, lass. I didn’t know why then, but I do now.”

  “Maybe, but it’ll never be real between us.”

  “What was real happened this night. Your taste still lingers on my tongue. Whetting my appetite, I will have more.”

  “Tell me about your other mate,” Rebecca whispered, wondering how she died under a king’s protection. And with the way this conversation was going, she wanted to shift gears. If he was startled by her change in topic, he didn’t show it.

  “We were never officially mated. I never claimed her.” He shot her a strange look over his shoulder as his thoughts drifted to the past. “Our pack was different at the time my father ruled and he was a traditionalist through and through. He expected full moon mating to cement the law. So any willing female of appropriate age was presented at rights to mate.” Ciaran unclenched his hands, let them drop. “I knew she was mine and watched over her from afar, biding my time upon my father’s insistence. But when she died, the pain of her death was insurmountable, the separation of soul mates is excruciating.”