by Kate Wendley
And Kaia was going to let herself be turned into that?
Vince went back home a while after that and was surprised to see Zach waiting inside with an attractive woman. She had dark hair and dark eyes, and seemed happy to be here.
“What’s up?”
He gestured to the woman. “Bobbi’s going to let you drink from her.”
“What?”
“Blood. Remember? You said you’d try it.”
Vince stared in horror at her.
Zach said, “Bobbi’s pack.”
“Well that makes it all better.” Her being in Zach’s pack was at least better than being one of the other animals, but he hadn’t really thought this through when he’d relented earlier today and agreed to this.
“You promised to keep my…” He clenched his teeth, too mad and embarrassed to finish his sentence.
“And I have. Lots of shifters have blood, Vince. People who are at a lower supernatural strength, like you, have blood from someone at a higher level to help their magic get stronger. We’re not sure if it’ll help with your stomach aches or not.”
He pursed his lips. He supposed her knowing what some of his problems were was ok. “Fine. Ok. Fine.” Gross. How was he going to do this? He needed to try, but staring at this beautiful woman, and imagining drinking her blood seemed all kinds of wrong.
She gave him a sympathetic smile and he looked away in fury. He refused to be treated like he was handicapped, even though he was, but his mom watching them from the living room with such an eagerness in her eyes made a fire burn inside him. He’d do this for her because she’d helped him with so much in life. He could make himself try this on the off chance that she could finally focus on her own needs and not have to worry about him anymore.
Still, he didn’t like this feeling of everyone trying to ‘help’ him. He shouldn’t need help, dammit.
He muttered in defeat, “Just tell me what to do.”
Bobbi thankfully didn’t have pity in her eyes as Zach gestured for Vince to sit on the ground. He then produced an extremely sharp knife from his pocket and put it to her wrist as she sat at the dining room table, and to her credit, she didn’t even wince at the sight of it.
“I thought it would be in a glass or something, not fresh from the tap.”
Bobbi gave him a smile, the tension in the room easing a bit, though he seemed to be the only one who was mad tonight.
Zach said, “All right, here we go. I’m going to slice her wrist and then gravity will do some of the work while you do the rest. Are you ready?”
He looked uncertainly at her.
She said, “Don’t worry about me. I’ll heal. It’ll sting at first, but I’ll be fine. I’m here for you.”
“Why though? You don’t even know me.”
“We’re pack. That’s all that matters.”
He didn’t think of Zach’s pack as his pack. In fact, he didn’t think of himself belonging to anything even remotely close to a pack because he wasn’t an animal. He was human.
Yet here he sat, about to drink blood. The world narrowed down to him wondering what the hell he was doing, but he got ready anyway.
Zach poised the knife against the flesh of Bobbi’s wrist. “Let’s do this.”
He thought there might be a big to do, but Zach just sliced her, Bobbi hissed, and the next thing he knew, her wrist was shoved against his mouth.
Zach bellowed, “Drink.”
He swallowed the warm liquid down, sickened by the fact that he wasn’t grossed out by the taste of it.
A large swallow was followed by another, followed by the beginnings of something strange happening in his stomach. He kept swallowing. Whatever was going on, surely it was good for him.
He swallowed quickly because he was starting to feel dizzy. His heart raced and his stomach…
He raced to the kitchen sink and heaved harder than he had in his whole life. Thick, dark blood splashed against the stainless steel basin, some splattering along the outer edges and up, onto the counter. He couldn’t even control his gasps as his stomach felt like it was turning inside out. Good God, why couldn’t he just heal?
Zach cursed in the background as Vince kept heaving.
**
The rest of the night was spent in bed, shaking in cold sweats. Christmas day was a little better. He didn’t feel like puking, anyway. The protein shakes Ed was so good at making stayed down to his surprise, and he luckily had a few days to rest since the holiday rush was over at work. If he’d had to go in, he probably would’ve been sent home for how horrible he looked.
When Ed was off doing something for a while, Vince and his mom exchanged Christmas gifts, which wasn’t much for either of them. A new shirt for him, a necklace and a feel good book of inspirational quotes for her. Just because they lived in these fancy digs now didn’t mean they had any money, though it sounded like Anthony was working on setting something up for them.
It felt weird and oddly depressing to be taken care of like this. They were totally dependent on someone else for their very lives. Zach insisted it wasn’t weird since they were now family, but Vince didn’t like it. He wanted to be able to take care of himself, which was why he wasn’t ready to quit his job. His mom quit one of her jobs, though, and from the sounds of it she might throw in the towel on the other one, too.
He couldn’t blame her, but he didn’t like it.
Chapter 17
Penny was nervous. She knocked on Vince’s door feeling like she’d been chickening out about talking to or even seeing him again, and it made her mad to think she was too big of a coward to face up to her real feelings.
An older woman answered the door before Vince popped up and wedged himself between them, all eyes on Penny. The woman said, “Are you going to introduce me, Vince?”
“Mom, this is Penny. Penny, my mom.”
Penny shook the petite woman’s hand, who had a curious twinkle in her eye.
“You can call me Charlotte. So nice to meet you honey.” She turned to Vince and said, “I’m going out for a while. Don’t wait up.”
“Tell Ed hi for me.”
With a little blush in her cheeks, she said, “Who says I’m going to see Ed?”
Vince arched an eyebrow and smirked.
She blushed harder and tried to cover it. “Give your mother a hug.”
Vince reached right out as if he did this all the time, and it was adorable to see how nice he was to his mom.
Charlotte didn’t waste any time leaving, which only made Penny nervous again. Vince looked a question at her as he gestured for her to come in.
She stepped inside and thrust a DVD at him. “You said you wanted to see the bootleg Clash concert footage I had. I wasn’t sure if you’d be around tonight, or if you’re still interested in it.”
“Thanks. Yeah.”
Penny looked around his apartment, feeling awkward being here.
“Do you want to watch it with me?”
“Now?”
“Yeah.”
She shrugged. Standing here with Vince staring at her with such eagerness, she had no idea why she’d hesitated about coming over tonight. Her uncertainty calmed and she smiled more broadly. “Sure. Let’s do it.”
She felt warm all over at Vince’s intimate smile as he led her to the couch.
“Nice place. You’ve got a lot of nice stuff.”
He fiddled with the remotes as he offhandedly said, “It’s not ours. They bought it for us or something.” He turned to her and said, “Is your place like this?”
“Smaller. You guys have one of the biggest two bedroom apartments.”
He nodded and started the video, then settled back a ways away from her and it made her feel bad again. Their relationship had been so dramatic for how new it was, but was that all her fault?
They settled in to watch the DVD, and she couldn’t help smiling at his fascination with the old concert footage. Most people got bored watching it, but he was so into it.
�
�Hey, you’re wearing the same crazy pants as Mick Jones!”
She looked at the screen, then down at herself. “They’re not the same!”
“Yes they are!” He laughed hysterically, which only pissed her off. She was sick of people teasing her for stupid things.
The next thing she knew, she was in his lap, wrapped up in his warm arms. “Hey! What are you doing?”
“Hugging you.”
“Why?” She instantly wanted to take that back. She didn’t care why.
His warm breath tickled her neck when he said in a low voice, “You want me to stop?” She closed her eyes and shivered at how nice this felt.
Since she took too long to answer, no matter what she said now would just make her seem like the indecisive fool that she was for him, so she said nothing. It didn’t matter anyway. His strong arms kept her snug up against his body, his hands kneading her flesh while they kept watching the show. At a break in the music he nuzzled his cheek against her, which only made her shiver again and arch her neck to beg for more. God he made her feel good.
He sadly stopped tempting her pretty quickly and focused back on the video, so she relaxed against him, more comfortable than she’d ever been in any man’s arms. But when he started slowly kissing her neck, she had to fight down a whimper. She caught herself, though her heavy breathing gave away her desire.
He spread one of his hands across her stomach and held her close while his other hand slid down her leg, tentatively inching toward her inner thigh. She didn’t stop him, and soon warmth spiked through her in time to his long fingers slowly stroking and teasing her, driving her absolutely insane. She had to force herself not to whimper and rock against him.
When he tilted his hips forward and pressed his erection against her very center at the same time that he fully cupped her warmth, she whimpered out loud and closed her eyes so she could focus on just him.
His heavy breaths on her neck as he kissed and nibbled her, and his slowly rocking hips, pressing harder and harder against her already desperate body almost made her lose all control. How had he gotten her so hot so fast?
Her voice was breathy when she reluctantly said, “Your mom could come home.”
His anxious panting competed with her own, but he immediately stopped trying to send her over the edge.
She looked over her shoulder into his sexy as hell bedroom eyes. “Do you want to go to my place?”
A jolt went through him. “Sure. No one’s home?”
“I live alone.”
The spark in his eyes brightened, his body tensing against her, his erection pressing even harder, or maybe he was just suddenly harder.
She half-jokingly said, “We better hurry.”
He let out a choked groan and struggled to stand up. “You’re going to have to give me a minute.”
She felt wickedly smug to see him trying to calm his body down because of her, but the longer he took, the more self-conscious she felt about inviting him to her place.
He finally shut off the TV, grabbed the DVD, a set of keys, and followed her out.
After rounding a corner, he tugged her to a stop. “Hey. No expectations, ok? We can just chill.”
Damn his super sensitive jaguar senses. He no doubt felt her mood shift before she even realized she was freaking out. Even so, the innocent, humble look in his eyes made her tension ease. “Ok.” She wasn’t sure why she was she felt so nervous with him. It wasn’t like she’d never slept with a guy before. But when he put his arm around her shoulder, his body comfortable and relaxed beside her, she realized she’d never dated such a nice guy before. Vince was a good, decent guy. So what was he doing with her?
As she tried to wrap her head these new, confusing thoughts, they made it back to her place. She fumbled awkwardly with the lock, still confused about why she was so nervous to be with him. Just because he was nice? And what was with her suddenly shaking hands? He was the one with issues, not her. Physical issues, anyway. But looking at him all sexy and confident as hell right now made her doubt herself. Maybe she was the one with the real issues and always had been, in every relationship she’d ever been in.
“I can’t get this open.”
Vince reached smoothly around her, took the keys and unlocked the door. His shakes were nowhere in sight, and he seemed smooth and graceful as hell, just like all the other cats. He pushed her door open, then waited for her to make the next move.
He followed her inside while her tension climbed, though he either didn’t notice, or was pretending not to. After looking around her place for a time, his attention settled on her again before he stepped closer, then gave her a hug.
She fought the awkwardness by being snarky, of course. “You like to hug a lot.”
His voice was like silk in her ears. “Just you.”
She closed her eyes and breathed him in. “Why just me?”
“Because you smell good.”
Her body warmed to his slow, steadily exploring hands.
“And because you feel good.” His hands slid sensuously over her hips, then cupped her behind, massaging her in ways she’s never been touched before. For as good as it felt, she’d think he had way too much experience with women, but she honestly believed he was just being himself.
He trailed warm lips up her neck, then toyed with her sanity as he teasingly licked and nibbled her flesh. “You taste good, too.”
She whimpered and urged him on, and his breathy, masculine chuckle made her finally relax against his body. His hands slid under her shirt, but stilled on her back. He whispered, “Tell me to stop.”
She felt desperate when she said, “No. Don’t stop.”
He didn’t waste any time shimmying her shirt off, and she immediately pulled his off, too. Wow. He was gorgeous. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on him, and those broad shoulders and wide chest made her want to kiss every inch of him, all the way down to… Her attention stuck on the dusting of dark hairs just below his belly button. They led temptingly down to the waistband of his jeans that hung just a little low on his hips.
She ran her hands over his hard body, his skin surprisingly smooth and soft, and desperately wanted to feel the length of him. She was all thumbs trying to loosen his belt, though, and it was even harder to concentrate when Vince cupped her breasts and ran the pads of his thumbs back and forth over her sensitive nipples. He toyed with her through her bra, making her weak in the knees as he changed the pressure almost as if he knew exactly what she liked.
But she still wanted to touch him, all of him, so she fumbled around and finally got his belt unbuckled while he unsnapped her bra and forcefully pulled it off her.
A low, growly sound started deep in his chest and she froze. Was he growling at her? If so, why didn’t she feel afraid of him?
He cleared his throat and eased back a little. “Sorry. I’m just anxious. You’re too damn sexy.”
A shot of warmth raced through her. Nice guy or not, her earlier nervousness was gone because he made her feel too good.
She held eye contact with him as she reached for him again, then slowly unbuttoned, then unzipped his jeans. His chest rose and fell with his deep, heavy breaths, his eyes taking on a deep inner glow while he stood and watched her, doing absolutely nothing to stop her.
Standing half naked in front of him, her body almost overly warm in the cool apartment, she felt sexy and anxious, and wanted the feel of his body rubbing up against hers. Flesh pressed against flesh, his warm skin against hers…
She slowly worked his jeans down his hips while he watched her, his hands slightly raised by his sides in encouragement. She slid his pants down until they dropped to his knees and he stepped back to pull them the rest of the way off.
He stood in front of her now, looking tall and proud and heart stoppingly sexy in his dark green boxer briefs that were straining to contain him. The soft, stretchy fabric was easier to slide off him than his jeans were, and soon he was naked in front of her, watching her closely as the intensity be
tween them continued to build.
She reached for his hard erection and slowly wrapped her fingers around him. He sucked in a breath and closed his eyes, then let out a hiss of pleasure as she sinfully slowly teased him with her hand. His eyes narrowly opened and focused on her, the deep gleam hiding what she could only imagine were wickedly bad thoughts as his chest heaved heavy breaths.
A growl started deep in her own chest at the anticipation of knowing he was hers tonight, but Vince froze at the sound of it, so she did, too. His expression quickly shifted from curious confusion to that of a wild cat getting ready to pounce on its prey. It was the same look he’d given her when she first told him she wasn’t human and that he couldn’t hurt her as easily as all that.
Realization struck again, just like that night. He’d never been with a shifter woman before, and he was giving off that same fierce energy he had after the show, only tonight he didn’t have to leave her. Tonight…
With renewed ferocity, he pulled her against his body, one strong hand grasping her by the back of the neck and holding her firmly in place, the other arm wrapping around her back, his hand easing down her bottom and between her legs. His long fingers found her exact warm center and began stroking her slowly and methodically.
He kept his grip firm on her neck as his lips brushed against her tender skin with slow, languid kisses, intensifying the aching need between her thighs. He kept the rhythm of everything sinfully slow and deliberate until every nerve ending in her body was on fire and she was almost shaking in desperate need.
Her hands trembled and she couldn’t decide if she wanted to press him closer, or push him away so she could have her way with him, too.
He nuzzled close to her ear and quietly demanded, “Growl for me.”
She was wound so tight, she didn’t understand why he’d want her to growl instead of doing something more physical. She was shifter, after all. She could handle his strength, and he could handle hers. He wouldn’t have to hold back with her. But when he gripped her tighter and quietly demanded again, “I said growl for me,” she immediately did and was rewarded with a masculine groan and a hard press of his erection against her belly. Maybe he just liked to know he was with his own kind, so she growled again, letting the reverberation rumble deep within her.
