by Rena Marks
Not the enemy to slay.
We are the enemy you have no choice but to become…for the rest of the world dies.
The writing on the bathroom stall sent a shiver down my spine. Not just any club.
Another posh nightclub.
This time in a new city. There was no one to know where I was and no one to know what I had left. Yet it followed me. Who would ever expect the musings of a vampire in the stall of the ladies’ room?
I was showing a lot of leg tonight while dressed in my usual garb of skintight black. I had been fighting the urge to return to the nightlife but it was all I knew. However, I should be safe. As I said, it was a new city.
A new life—in which I’d left my traitorous lover behind.
Yet I couldn’t get far. I’d already danced for a bit and felt hot and uptight when I slipped off to a darkened corner for a reprieve. Alone time, a chance to study the dancing bodies writhing around me. A chance to think about the writing on the bathroom stall and decide whether or not it was safe to stay.
I should have been startled at the rush of cool air behind me. At the very least, surprised, because it had been a year. Somehow I wasn’t. Time melted away, as though it had just been yesterday.
A whisper of sweet breath curled near my ear. “You cannot get away from me, bella. You’ll always be mine.”
“I own myself,” I whispered back. “I’ve refused you already.”
“It’s not that easy. For even now, you can’t deny me.”
His finger trailed down my shoulder, along my bare skin, danced down my arm. Lightly skimming, reminding me of the touch I craved. I breathed deeply as the blaze kindled deep inside.
He was right. Denial was impossible, avoidance was easier. Was it his power or was it something indescribable between us? For now it didn’t matter.
Heat licked against sensitive nerve endings. His palm, open and warm, pressed flat to my abdomen, pulled me back into him. I could feel the fire between us, coiled tightly inside and knew I’d soon beg for his hand to inch its way lower.
His voice, deeper than ever, taunted me with known pleasure. “I could make you come, here and now. No one would ever know.”
Temptation was sinful and it was what I fought hard against. The lure of the vampire. My best weapons were fight and flight.
He was right but I wouldn’t acknowledge it. The burning edge of desire struck me tenfold. It was a drug, an addiction I still fought.
Sometimes, it was one I didn’t want to fight.
Turning my face slightly, I looked into his eyes, then deliberately pulled away.
His smile was sardonic, but he let me go. I wouldn’t be able to suppress the urge for long. The awaited anticipation would make my failure sweeter.
He knew this.
“You run, Afton. But you unknowingly head for my own jurisdictions. There’s a reason. You are mine.”
“No, I’m not,” I said clearly. The bastard was way too cocky. And why shouldn’t he be? Dark hair contrasted with lighter brown eyes against creamy skin. The distinction of his lighter eyes stood out even more when he wore carefree stubble darkening the line of his jaw, appearing dangerous and mysterious. He was tall, broad-shouldered and exuded sex appeal like nobody’s business.
But I belonged to no one and never would. Instead, I sighed. “How did you find me, Ethan?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he whispered and wrapped strong arms around me. For the briefest moment, I leaned into his strength. Felt it envelop me like a cloud of comfort on a cold day.
The need struck even harder now. It was so easy to close my eyes and go with it. Stop fighting. Give up my independence, my humanity. Everything that made me…me.
I stepped away. “Stop it,” I chided. “Keep your tricks to yourself.”
“Tricks?” he murmured unconvincingly.
“I mean it.”
He knew what I was talking about. He had been imposing his will upon me, a mockery to make me believe I was willing to surrender. I would have fallen for it, if I had not given myself the conscious reminder of fight or flight.
“Play nice or I’ll run again,” I warned. But was his need as great as mine? I allowed him to step close to me, close enough that I smelled the aftershave wafting from his skin. He leaned his lips toward mine, silently begging, yet also daring me to take the chance. It was the tiniest opportunity and I couldn’t resist, for it had been way too long.
I tilted my head back and parted my moistened lips. We touched. And all hell broke loose.
Wants, needs, feelings. Emotions ran rampant throughout my soul, yearnings and cravings of a body that had been too long without. I gasped for sweetened air and his tongue touched mine. It stroked lovingly and yet demanded my full surrender. Only one person could be this loving and challenging all at once.
Ethan.
I felt his hunger, always carefully monitored but now ready to break uncontrollably through. It bubbled to the surface before it was tamped back down when he broke the kiss.
He strung heated kisses along my jaw before returning to my lips. I was too eager to kiss him back. I’d missed this desperately. My reservations were flung to the back burner.
The music blared and the bodies around us quickened, movements becoming jerky, like mindless zombies with limbs partially stuck in the frozen throes of rigor mortis. But only their brains were dead.
Lights flickered off and on.
Our tongues entwined, smoothly touching and dancing, sensuously sliding together, making promises that neither of us could keep.
Tables crashed, noises growing louder as chairs overturned.
Our lips meshed thoroughly, hands roaming each other’s bodies. He gripped my hips, pulling me into him. A shiver of need shot through me.
Yelling ensued all around us, angrily raised voices screaming with frustrated rage.
We broke apart, breathing heavily. Hearts racing. He lowered his forehead to press against mine as he kissed the tip of my nose.
Chaos encircled us. Shattering glass, liquid spilling.
“You’ve upset the balance,” he murmured. “Come with me.”
“Never,” I said gently.
Glass tinkled as a bottle crashed over a person’s skull in the scuffle just a few feet away. The victim collapsed like a tree, leaving the scent of blood behind.
“Foolish,” he murmured and was gone.
As usual, he left me to clean up the mess we’d made.
Shared By Wolves
Ellie watched in shocked, horrified disbelief.
Suddenly, the wolf turned to her. They stared at each other warily.
If possible, regret seemed to come from the monster’s eyes. “Ellie,” the mutated voice rasped. “M-mate…”
The full moon illuminated Ellie completely. Shock flooded her body, freezing her limbs. Her dilated green eyes met the matching green of the monster. Although her consciousness refused to believe it, there was only one other with eyes so like her own. Before the creature could advance to her, she collapsed into a dead faint.
* * * * *
Ever-so slowly, the insane world stopped spinning. Ellie’s wrists were tied together gently, the end of the rope wrapped up to the magnificent headboard of the enormous bed.
“Are you okay?” a familiar voice asked. A tender hand stroked the hair from her face.
“Jonathan? What happened?” she asked, hoping against all reason that she’d imagined the whole thing. Yet her wrists tied together hinted otherwise.
“Ellie, I’m sorry. But you’re better off this way, you know.”
“Which way, Jonathan? What’s going on?”
“He means with me, Ellie. You’re better off as my mate than Reed’s wife.” Duggan’s voice was harsh, coming from the far side of the room where he was hidden in the shadows. And still inhumanly deep.
Mate? Oh, Lord, it couldn’t be true. Had Duggan really changed into a monster before her eyes and attacked Brian? Was Brian dead?
“I don�
�t want to be your mate. Untie me. I want to go home.” She lashed out angrily, panicked fear making her brave.
“I can’t let you, Ellie,” the distorted voice repeated from the corner.
She turned to Jonathan, refusing to glance back there. “Jonathan, get me out of here.”
“Oh, Ellie. I can’t.” Jonathan's voice was resigned. “You see, Duggan’s my brother. My older brother. He’s the alpha.”
Ellie felt her stomach heave. “You mean, you’re also a-a…”
“I’m a werewolf, Ellie.”
She flinched from his stroking fingers, and Jonathan let his hand drop.
He turned his hurt-filled his eyes toward her. “I’m sorry, Ellie. You’ll get used to it. I promise.”
She didn’t answer and felt Jonathan’s weight leave the bed. She clenched her eyes tightly, opening them only when she heard the dim light click off, followed by the sound of the door closing.
She hadn’t counted on the monster Duggan still being there. He advanced slowly, a predator stalking his prey. Ellie was never more aware of being helplessly tied to the bed.
Suddenly, she was relieved it was pitch black. Would Duggan still be in his monster form? Is that why his voice was harsher and deeper? She knew the answer when he reached out and traced a line down the front of her body, from her neckline to her pubic bone. His fingernail was sharp, like a knife or a claw. Inhuman. She shivered at the thought of what he might look like.
“You weren’t very nice to Jonathan,” he rasped slowly.
He definitely was still a monster.
“He’s been your friend for a very long time,” he continued.
She held still, her heart racing in fear beneath those long fingers, her breath nearly choking her as it fought its way from her throat.
“Are you frightened of me? Or disappointed in Jonathan?” he whispered in his husky voice.
“Both,” she said, cautiously. Afraid to provoke him.
“It’s a different way of life, one that you’ll get used to. I’m sending him back in to you. You’ll have a brief break from my presence. But don’t get too excited, Ellie. You are mine and I take what’s mine.”
She jumped when a large hand grazed the inner part of her thigh. It felt…odd, emanating heat in a strangely comforting manner. The hand moved suddenly. One stroke of his fingernail had sliced her clothing clean through, causing the fabric to separate down the split. Air chilled across her bare skin. She was naked and exposed to his view.
A trail of warmth stroked her torso. Warm, wet, and oddly reassuring, even though it came from a monster’s mouth. He licked a direct line slowly down her middle, from the neckline between her breasts, all the way to where the thatch of red curls began. Directly where his fingernail had sliced her clothing moments before.
The air in the room thickened. Duggan was now breathing as harshly as she was. Her heart thundered. Astonished, she recognized his arousal. Adrenaline surged through her body, making her arms and legs tingle. Ready to fight.
Or get aroused herself.
But suddenly, he was gone.
Jonathan entered a few minutes later. He approached the bed silently, carrying a candle for dim light. He set it on the table and untied her bound wrists. She grabbed the two halves of her clothing and pulled them together with shaking hands, but it was too late. Jonathan saw everything.
“It’s okay. He just marked you, Ellie. With his saliva. We can all smell his scent on you. No one will tangle with Duggan. You’re safe until it wears off. By that time, he’ll have marked you more. He’s protecting you.”
“Protecting me? By tying me up? Killing my husband? Scaring me half to death?”
“Ellie, he doesn’t understand how you are. Werewolf females are ferocious, dangerous. A dog-eat-dog world. Humans are fragile, weak in comparison. You’re more fragile than most, with your upbringing. He doesn’t have a clue. Here, let me help you.”
Jonathan held out a silky nightgown that she’d never seen before. Her arms were stiff and sore from being in one position for so long. Jonathan calmly pushed the tattered clothing from her body and slipped the gown over her head.
When she was dressed, he resumed his talking. The curtains were drawn tightly, but Ellie knew a full moon shone. Why was he still human? “If you’re a werewolf also, why aren’t you changed?”
“Duggan is absorbing my change for me. He’s the alpha and very powerful. He thought you’d need a friend right now. It’s why he’s unable to completely change back to his human form and why I’m able to remain in mine. See, Ellie? He’s not so bad once you understand him.”
She would never understand him. Never. “Am I a prisoner here, Jonathan?”
“The world thinks you’re dead, too. It’s best if you keep it that way. Please don’t try to run, Ellie. There’s nowhere to go, and if you make it off the property, another pack may steal you to get at Duggan.”
“So the protective lick wasn’t as protective as previously declared?”
Jonathan sighed. “It protects you from those in alliance with Duggan. It shows you’re his property, his submissive. We’re all his submissives. He’s our alpha. Our leader. But werewolves are a violent breed. There will always be someone who tries to take Duggan out. Those with a death wish may take his property if it’s left wandering around.”
“What difference would it make to me if I’m here or there?” she asked bitterly. “I’d be a prisoner in any house.”
“Don’t be foolish,” he chided. “You don’t understand Duggan’s mercy. Any other alpha would have raped you by now. Especially in his pelt. It’s ingrained with us, our animal instincts are stronger then. We can’t help it. Yet Duggan has refrained and merely marked you for protection. He’s taken the change for me so you can have a friendly face nearby. You’re just seeing the harsh side of him but you have no idea, Ellie. No idea of what other wolves may be capable of.”
His no-nonsense words put the chill back into her. She stared unwaveringly.
Jonathan hugged her to him suddenly, and Ellie clung. She squeezed him tightly, werewolf or not, it was still Jonathan. And she needed him, craved his touch.
Of course, she might have felt differently if he were in fur.
Jonathan pulled away. “Come on. Let’s go find some dinner. Duggan and everyone in their change will be out hunting. Let’s raid the kitchen.”
Downstairs in the kitchen, they made sandwiches side by side, an unspoken truce between them. Jonathan casually asked her what her plans were for tomorrow.
“Am I allowed to come and go then?”
“You can’t leave the house, Ellie. You can do anything you want inside. Duggan has a theater downstairs. And when you prove you won’t run, he’ll probably let you outside where we can swim.”
“So what am I, Jonathan? A pampered prisoner? Sex slave? Will he rape me tomorrow?”
Jonathan looked shocked. “Rape? You never need to fear rape in this house, Ellie. Never. No, you’ll be a very pampered prisoner until you begin to see how much you’ll love it here. When you realize how much better your life is, you’ll come and go as you please.”
They finished eating in silence and Jonathan walked her back up to her room. “Sleep tight, Ellie. I’ll be here tomorrow. You’ll get used to living here. I promise.”
She smiled weakly. She had no choice. She entered the same room she had woken in and worked for a while unknotting the rope from the headboard. Finishing, she dropped it into the trash. She turned down the bed, noting the expensive fabrics. The bed was luxurious. She yawned. She would tuck in for the night. But first, she very carefully locked the bedroom door. Climbing into the huge bed, she closed her eyes and wondered if she’d be able to sleep. It was her last thought.
She was in a deep, thick sleep that was awakened by a warm, hard body pressing against her. She froze, and so did the muscular body wrapped around her.
“What’s this?” Duggan growled.
Before she could say anything, he ripped th
e gown from her body.
“We sleep skin to skin, Ellie. The gown is for you to wear during the day. You’ll get real clothes when I can trust you.”
She never answered. He pulled her back to him with a tightly muscled arm, spooning her. She held very still, aware of where her buttocks were pressed. His arm was directly underneath her breasts. He could reach up and cup one in his hands. But soon Duggan was asleep, slow steady breaths, while she lay awake for a long time.
The room was bright with the morning light but still she came awake slowly, to a mirrored set of green eyes, watching her every move. Duggan was human again and facing her in the bed. She looked to the door, checking the lock. It was still engaged.
She glanced down at their naked, entwined bodies and yelped. She grabbed for the silk sheet, pulling it up over her breasts.
Duggan chuckled. “It’s a little late for modesty. Do you want another nightgown?”
“Yes, please.”
“Very good, Ellie mine. You can have it, if I can have something from you.”
She watched him warily. “What do you want?”
He chuckled again. “A kiss. Just one little kiss. Like before.”
She glanced at him. His cheeks and chin were dark with unshaven stubble, his lips curved sensually. Those green eyes, so like her own, sparkled in the morning light. He was beautiful in this form. Absolutely as beautiful as she remembered from their previous encounter. Could she forget for just a moment that he was also a monster?
Ellie closed her eyes and pressed a quick peck to his lips. She yanked back and watched him expectantly.
“You got away with that one, certainly. But should we bargain again, you make it a real kiss. Slip me some tongue, or it’s no deal. You’ll walk the house naked.”
Duggan slipped out of bed and picked up another nightgown draped over the side of a chair. It was different, a pale silky green. He seemed unconcerned with his own nakedness but then he had nothing to be concerned about.
Captive
Book 4, Blue Blaedonian Series
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Captive Copyright October 2016 Rena Marks
