Eve jerked her chin at Neo. “I’ll move Vance into the guestroom of Cain’s and my quarters. Until Serena is found, I plan to stay on in Bombay.” She addressed Leana over her shoulder. “That is if you don’t mind another alpha here with you, Mayor?”
Leana patted Eve’s arm. “You are always welcome here.”
“Neo, make sure you and your mate both get some rest.” Eve turned to leave. “We’ll all need our strength to face the kids who’ll be descending on us very soon.”
Trinity opened her mouth to protest he wasn’t her mate, there could be no such relationship between the two of them. Of course, Neo beat her to it. His lips whispered over hers. He trailed them up to her eyelids and kissed them shut.
13
Neo
Neo propped his hip against the window of his bedroom. Trinity was asleep in his bed. He’d pulled a light cover over her.
The sea breeze swept in through the open window.
It ruffled her gorgeous blonde hair that was spread out in shimmering shades across her pillow. The column of her neck glistened a creamy white. He wanted to go to her and press his nose to the hollow at the base and draw in her scent. A pulse of heat hardened his groin.
She moved restlessly. The cover slipped to her waist. Her breasts thrust up under her shirt.
His mouth watered.
Her nipples stood rigid against the cloth
He wanted to capture their pebbled hardness between his lips, play with them and tug at them and… His dragon brushed under his skin; its shadow deepened and reached out to her, straining to go to her. He drummed his fingers over his chest and changed his stance.
She flung out her hand so it dropped over the side of the bed.
He walked over to her and, with gentle fingers, moved her arm to lay it over her chest. He hesitated then slid into the chair next to her bed.
This need to be close to her was ridiculous. He raked his fingers through his hair and looked away. It wouldn’t hurt to indulge it for just a few hours, right? He slid his gaze right back to her face, tracing the curve of her lips, the hollows beneath her cheekbones, the dark circles that stood out under her eyes.
When he’d seen her reach for the doc, a streak of jealousy had gripped him. He’d wanted to grab her and get her out of there, away from everyone else in the room.
How could he feel so possessive about someone who he’d known for so little time?
This need to protect her was overwhelming.
And her light, that incredible innocence about her combined with that steely determination to survive? It pulled at him. He wanted to keep her close and watch over her at all times.
She turned her head to the side, baring the column of her throat. She was so vulnerable.
His dragon pushed him toward her, to slide his skin over the softness of her throat, to sink his teeth into her and mark her as his own. This primal need to claim her was a force, a band around his chest. It was something big and powerful that seemed to build inside him with every second.
He dropped his arms between his legs, hung his head, and squeezed his eyes shut.
He had no right to want her, not when he hadn’t even been able to protect her from Igor.
Seeing the Fae male had brought back all the fears he’d buried in his childhood.
All those insecurities since being burned by hellfire. He didn’t really care much about the scars on his face and chest, he knew it only added to his appeal. It made the women want to fuck him, made the men want to be him. It was strangely also what made his rockstar persona so authentic. But the fact the Fae Lord had managed to so easily subdue his beast bothered him.
His beast had failed him when he needed his animal most.
If he did give in to his instinct—and he knew it was only a matter of time before he did—what then? Would she be able to survive it?
He couldn’t risk her life that way.
Of course, non-dragons who had mated to his dragon family had found a way to survive. But the impact of mating a non-dragon was unpredictable.
Eve had already warned him that the only surefire way of ensuring the survival of a mate was for a dragon to bond with another. Mate someone else? Bile rose to his throat.
He had it bad. The call of the mating bond was powerful, it was beyond anything he’d faced before. He had a sense of his life spiraling out of control unless he walked away from her right then. Even if he left her, if he did not mate her, was she safe even then? She needed to return to Igor and take him for a mate to save the rest of her clan.
A growl rumbled up. His dragon pushed against his skin. He couldn’t allow that. He wouldn’t let Igor hurt her in any way and definitely not let him claim her. He wanted to see her mated happily—his dragon snarled at the thought.
He didn’t have a choice in this. He wouldn’t mate her, but that didn’t mean she had to be alone. He’d make sure she found the right man for her, one who wasn’t the Fae Lord.
He was going to make sure he got to Igor first and kill him. He’d have his revenge. Then she’d be free to choose someone who would make her truly happy.
That was the only way out.
She would stay for that evening, she had promised Leana that much. So she was safe for just a few hours more. For the time she was there, under his protection, he’d watch over her.
He just had to find a way to make her stay afterward, while he went in search of Igor and killed him.
Mind made up, he slid to his feet and turned to go.
Fingers wrapped themselves around his wrist. He paused.
14
Trinity
Sizzle
Heat flickered out from her touch, rippling down her arm, straight to her heart. The breath caught in her throat.
It was one thing to be attracted to him, but this? This intense connection? It was something more. It was as if her unicorn reacted to his very presence, as if her animal spirit needed him in a way that was thrilling, scary, and amazing at the same time.
It was a mistake to have touched him.
If she let him walk away then…she’d never have this chance again. A few minutes more alone with him, that’s all she wanted. She could have that much, right?
“Don’t go.” Only when she heard her own voice did she realize she’d spoken aloud. She sounded husky, and so unlike herself. She didn’t want to question the pure lust that threaded her words. What was she doing? There was no future for them together, remember?
She dropped his arm.
But he’d already turned. He looked down at her.
“I…” He drummed his fingers over his chest, shuffled his feet.
His hair was rumpled like he’d been running his fingers through it. His jaw hardened, and a muscle throbbed above those beautiful cheekbones. “You okay? You went out so fast I was…” He cleared his throat. “I was worried.” Spots of red flushed his cheeks.
She was entranced by his discomfort, by the vulnerability in his eyes.
His gaze flicked to the side then back to her face.
He’d been watching over her, she was sure of that. He’d been concerned about her.
At least he hadn’t left.
He cared for her. He wanted her, too, he’d made that very clear.
She couldn’t let him go. She wasn’t sure why, but right then, in that room, with the sound of the sea in the distance, the fading light, the shouts from the children playing below his window; it was as normal as it was going to get. She knew it. If this was the only time she got with him, she’d take it.
“I’m fine.” She swallowed.
He reached for the glass of water on the side table. She sat up, propped herself against the headboard. He held the glass to her lips. She drank most of the water, without taking her attention from his face.
He placed the glass back. All the time he focused on the task at hand and did not meet her gaze. It was as if he knew that if he did so, there would be no going back for either of them.
“Sometimes th
ese healing sessions take more out of me than I know, and Vance…he was in so much pain, so lonely.” She shuddered and pinched the bridge of her nose with her finger and thumb.
“He hasn’t had it easy.” He leaned back and moved around to make himself more comfortable on the narrow chair.
“You’re worried about him.” She dropped her hand to the bed.
“I’ve only known him a few weeks, but with some people, you just have this connection, like you’ve known them all your life.” He raised his shoulders then let them fall. “You know they’d give their life for you, they have your back.”
“Vance is one of them.”
He drummed his chest with his fingers again. She was beginning to recognize that little giveaway gesture. He only did that when he was thinking something through. “With people like that, you want to keep them close. As well”—he squared his shoulders and met her gaze—“I’ve never seen a man miss a woman, pine for her, as if she was his very breath, the way Vance has for Serena.”
The way I would if you leave me. He didn’t have to say the words… The full force of those indigo eyes slammed into her.
She wanted to tell him that it was the same for her. That she couldn’t live without him. It was so tempting to just say it aloud. She wanted to do it right then, she really did, but if she just flung those words out there, she’d never be able to walk away.
He’d bear the burden of making sure he did something about that unsaid potent chemistry which simmered between them.
The silence stretched. The sexual tension in the room heightened. Her nerves stretched tight. She rubbed her feet together.
She suddenly understood why Vance would allow himself to die slowly rather than hold back a woman who didn’t want to be with him. Serena had to come back to him of her own accord. Serena needed to accept him on her own terms. Trinity understood that then.
Was she thinking about Serena and Vance, or about her and Neo?
The thoughts spun around in her head, until she couldn’t separate the individual threads anymore.
“Hey.” He sank down on the bed next to her. “Where did you go to?”
She eased back against the pillows. “I’m not sure.” She chuckled, a short, quick sound. “Things just seem a little out of hand right now.”
He winced, and his lips twisted in a grimace. “Or they can just be very simple, you know?” His gaze dropped to her lips and slid down to her chest, between her thighs.
Her face flushed, and a pulse beat to life at the apex of her legs. The low hum of the heartbeat that was ever present between them, rose and flowed over her.
This close, it was like a primitive call to mate.
That’s what it was. She understood what had pulled her to him. She was a unicorn shifter, so sensitive to the energies on the psychic realm, that when it was time to mate, his heartbeat had called to her halfway across the world. There was no escaping this connection with him.
Even though she’d have to ultimately leave him, and she would, just for then, she could sink into that throbbing need that urged her and comforted at the same time.
She raised her gaze to his face. “There’s something missing here.”
He frowned. “There is?”
Sliding across to the other side of the bed, she raised the cover and dropped her gaze to the bed next to her.
15
Neo
He hadn’t thought that she could take him by surprise in bed. There she was, inviting him in, under the covers. Her eyes gleamed. Those silver irises were a sensuous call.
A fierce need for her raced through his veins and headed straight to his groin. He knew he was hard. He couldn’t hide his desire. He wanted her so bad that every muscle in his body seemed to ache. It was precisely that which made him take a step back.
He propped his hands on his hips and shook his head.
Her eyes widened, and her brow furrowed. “It’s not that I was asking you to sleep with me, you know.” Her lips quirked in a smile, and that little crease appeared in the corner of her mouth.
The one he wanted to lean down and kiss right then.
“Ah.” He rubbed his hand over his neck. “We need to get to this birthday thing in a few hours. I promised to play for the kids.”
“You did?” Her features broadened into a smile. “That’s so sweet of you, Neo.”
“Yeah, okay,” he mumbled. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
She was gazing at him like he was doing the most amazing thing ever. “It’s nothing. Just entertaining kids…” He rubbed the back of his neck.
“You’re adorable.” She grinned at him, clearly enjoying his discomfort.
He flushed. When was the last time he’d been this embarrassed? Still, he’d managed to make her happy, hadn’t he?
He was losing it. Where was that rockstar personality when he needed it most?
“You’re doing wonders for my ego, woman.” He growled then backed away another step.
She joined her fingers, then reaching up, straightened them, stretching out her spine. That smooth expanse of her forearms, the skin on the inside of her elbow, would it feel as soft as it seemed? He wanted to run his tongue over that space and taste it. He swallowed. Desire tugged his groin. His fingers twitched with the need to touch her.
She was doing this on purpose; teasing him. Trying to seduce him. Problem was, she was succeeding. “You getting back at me?” He growled again.
“Me?” Lowering her arms, she flung off the sheet. Her scent was suddenly heavier in the room.
His jaw hardened. “It’s not that I don’t want you. I have made it clear I do.”
She mattered. That was the crux of it. The intensity of his feelings made him feel out of his depth. He’d never wanted someone so much before. He’d never held himself back before. It was strange, unchartered territory, one more dangerous than any mission he’d been on for the Bureau. More exhilarating than the most packed concert he’d performed at.
She waited, didn’t speak a word, just peered up at him through her eyelashes. A part of him recognized she knew just how to play him.
She knew that the more she kept quiet, the more he’d speak, the more he’d reveal this hidden part of him that was so different to the persona he preferred to show the world. He knew it but found he was powerless to stop himself.
“It’s just…” He grimaced.
She lowered her chin, gave him her full attention.
Heat sizzled through his veins. “Just… If I get into that bed with you, I won’t be able to keep my hands off you.”
“Sounds good to me.”
His pulse beat at his temples. “And making love with you once won’t be enough.” There was a roaring in his ears.
She rose on the bed, onto her feet. At that height she was at eye level with him. She licked her lips.
He dropped his gaze to her mouth. His dragon stretched and slammed against his skin, wanting to be let out. He gritted his teeth and half angled his body away. He couldn’t leave. He was powerless, caught in her gaze.
“I wouldn’t ask you to stop.” She thrust out a hip and splayed her fingers on her waist.
He raked a visual path down to that indentation of where her hips flared out. “I couldn’t let the kids down.” He took another step back, then another.
“No, you can’t. That would be very wrong of you.” She reached for the button of her shirt.
The breath rushed out of him. His chest rose and fell, and he formed fists at his sides, flicking his gaze to the door then back to her.
“I am not stopping you from leaving.” Her voice lowered to a slow, soothing drawl.
He shivered then squeezed his eyes shut. “No, you’re not, and yes, I must. Dios.” He swore.
She was playing him as easily as he did the crowd at his concerts. He was at her mercy…and he didn’t resent it.
The realization sent a shock of surprise racing through him. It gave him that final bit of impetus he needed. He
clenched his jaw so hard pain shot through his temples. Sweat broke out on his brow. Reaching into the last vestiges of control inside, he wrested back his dragon.
“I’ll get back at you for this, babe, you better believe it.”
He turned to stalk out and almost bowled over a woman who’d just entered.
16
Trinity
What just happened?
His muttered sorry sounded contrite when he stepped around the woman who’d walked in then stalked out the door.
The stranger was petite with short hair. It framed her scalp and enhanced her high cheekbones. Her gorgeous green eyes tilted up just a little at the side. Her skirt flowed around her legs, and her feet were clad in delicate stilettos.
Trinity knew right away that this woman would never leave home without always being perfectly dressed.
She carried a colorful cloth bag slung over her shoulder. “So, what’s your secret?” The woman closed one eye at Trinity.
Her twang had the distinct lilt of an accent that was musical, which Trinity couldn’t quite place. Her brow furrowed.
“It’s a Creole accent,” the woman clarified.
“Ah! You a mind reader, too?” Trinity raised her chin.
“Don’t tell me you weren’t dying to ask me what the origin of my accent was?” She glided across the floor to Trinity and peered up at her through her eyelashes.
Trinity realized she hadn’t moved from where she stood on the bed. She flushed, then stepped off it onto the floor.
“Indira.” The stranger held out a hand. “I’m Neo’s sister.”
Trinity’s gaze dropped to her palm. How many sisters did he have?
“Three. Eve, Hope, and me.” Indira smirked.
She was cocky, too. It was definitely a trait that ran in Neo’s family. “You just have to stop second-guessing my thoughts.” She ran her fingers through the long strands of her hair.
Seduction Page 7
