Trina M. Lee

by Alexa O'Brien Huntress Series Book 1-4 Box Set (Retail)

  I wanted to beg Arys to stop, but the words wouldn’t form properly. All I could do was gasp for breath amid the pain. Forcing my eyes open, I was saddened to see that Shaz’s face reflected my anguish. I saw his lips move but couldn’t make sense of what he was saying.

  It wasn’t long before I was too weak to do more than listen to my heart slow. That’s when everything went from slow motion to full speed ahead. Shaz jumped like he’d been electrocuted. He grabbed Arys and threw him in one solid motion. The sound of his body hitting the opposite wall caused a reverberation throughout the house.

  My eyes rolled back in my head, and I battled to maintain my focus. Arys came back at Shaz fast, instinct driving him. Shaz was ready though, delivering a body slam that had Arys on the floor blinking up at him in shock.

  “Finish this!” Shaz reached to drag him up, and Arys smacked him away. “Finish this now, before it’s too late!”

  I tried to roll over onto my side, and the exertion caused me to cough raggedly. It was enough to draw their attention to me. I couldn’t move, try as I might. Everything was slowing inside me, and I was terrified, not that I would die, but that I would die here with each of them watching.

  Arys was at my side in an instant, offering his wrist to me. “Take my blood, Alexa. You must.” When I simply stared transfixed at the smooth alabaster skin, he grew panicked. “If you come any closer to death, you will rise as a vampire a lot sooner than intended. Or just be another victim.” His voice broke on the last word, and his unusual display of emotion was enough to break through the fog that clouded my brain.

  When the bloodlust hit me, it was with full force. I had no physical strength to resist. I didn’t want his wrist though. The stark contrast between Arys’s ebony hair and the pale skin of his neck drew my eye. All it took was a look, and he knew. Bending to bare his throat to me, I peeled back my lips to expose my ferocious fangs.

  They were made for tearing and shredding, not piercing pretty little punctures like Arys’s. I bit him quickly in an attempt to avoid doing serious damage. His blood hit my tongue, and it was like a rebirth. The power soared through me in a rush of electricity and fire.

  It was so much more than a taste. His jugular slowly but steadily pumped the hot crimson fluid into my mouth as I licked and sucked at the gash. The return of my strength was immediate. I wrapped my arms around him, holding him as close as physically possible. Shaz now stood by the bed watching us. As I fed from Arys, my power reached for my wolf.

  His energy was alive and taunting. I itched to taste it again. With a finger, I beckoned him closer, something driving me that I wasn’t controlling. Shaz eyed me warily, but he responded by kneeling on the bed near Arys and me.

  Arys grunted and attempted to disengage himself from my grasp. It encouraged my hunger, and I resisted, clinging to him when he sat up. The strength with which I held him was unnatural, even for me, but he was still stronger. Gripping each of my wrists, he forced me back against the bed.

  I felt the vicious grin that stole over my features, felt its evil to the root of my being. I loved it. Arys’s blood on my lips was warm and delicious as I ran my tongue over it. Despite being pinned down by him, I had the sneaking suspicion that I could escape him if I really wanted to.

  “Alexa?” Arys stared into my eyes, searching for a sign of sanity. He turned my head to examine the bite on my neck.

  Shaz swore softly and gravitated closer to me on the bed. “It’s already healing.”

  “Yes. Thank God. I thought I’d gone too far.” Arys’s voice held a tremor.

  I rolled my head so that I could look at each of them in turn. Their expressions couldn’t have been more different. Arys was hard to read, his careful mask back in place. He stank of guilt though, and it turned my stomach. A glance at Shaz revealed curiosity and concern. He reached for me, and Arys released one of my arms.

  “Shaz?” My voice came out hoarse and scratchy. “I can’t…” I longed to warn him, to tell him what I was feeling, but all I saw and felt was the hunger.

  When I lunged at him, Arys was ready for it. He jerked me away from Shaz hard enough to make me cry out. My shoulder burned, and I turned on him, snarling and snapping. Like the first time I’d experienced Arys’s bloodlust, I saw through a red haze. Blood and death. It was all I cared about in that moment.

  It took both men to wrestle me down, and I didn’t make it easy for them. The need to feel something die as I bathed in the heady glow of blood and power consumed me until I was lost inside it. I fought them until I was exhausted.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered, unable to take my eyes off my beautiful white wolf. I knew by the look on his face that my eyes were Arys’s sensational blue. “It just aches so bad inside.”

  “What the hell is happening to her?” Shaz directed his words at Arys, but he had eyes only for me.

  Arys sounded defeated when he replied. He held my arms at an incredibly painful angle but it was helping me see through the blood hunger. “It’s the bloodlust driving her. The bond has been formed, and she’s experiencing her own hunger, not just remnants of mine. The worst of it will pass. Eventually.”

  “I’m ok. Don’t talk about me like I’m not right here.” That had been snappier than I’d meant for it to be. “Please let me go. I feel like a prisoner.”

  Instead of doing as I asked, they looked at one another to decide. That infuriated me, stirring the power inside me in a negative way. Arys studied me with a look heavy with contemplation. Shaz just appeared confused.

  Nodding to Shaz, Arys slowly began to release his hold on me. “Get into bed with her, but keep your guard up. She may not even know what she’s saying.”

  Like hell I didn’t. I knew what I said. And, I knew what I wanted, needed. I eyed Shaz hungrily as he slipped back into the bed next to me.

  Shaz drew me back against his chest so that he spooned me. Arys wasted no time pressing his nakedness against me, eliminating any possibility of space between us. He was careful not to reach into Shaz’s personal space when he laid a hand on my hip.

  “Alexa,” his velvety smooth voice was barely a whisper. “The hunger can be fed by more than blood.”

  All it took was the touch of my two lovers to stir the hot embers of the fire simmering in my core. The hunger refused to fade, but it wasn’t averse to taking a new direction.

  Arys’s eyes were heavy upon me. My breath caught, and I waited in eager anticipation as he slowly leaned in close. He tasted slightly like blood and spice, which triggered a yearning in me for more. I instinctively reached to bury my fingers in his thick, glossy hair.

  Shaz pulled my long hair to the side, baring the back of my neck. When his mouth came to rest against my sensitive flesh, I quivered between their two firm bodies. His lips and tongue traced hot, wet circles along my sensitive skin, and I became flushed with heat and desire.

  Arys deepened the kiss, and I fell into his seduction. There was possessiveness to his touch that spoke volumes of need. When he nipped and bit my tongue and lower lip, Shaz did the same along the back of my neck.

  A throb began between my legs as Shaz ran a gentle hand down to my thigh where my robe parted. His fingers grazed my skin, stirring the nerve endings to life. A tingle spread from where he touched until it filled my entire body with a warm glow.

  My breathing grew heavy as the burning hot power built along with the physical lust. As I tuned into my metaphysical side, I was able to clearly taste and feel each of their differing energies: warm and cool, life and death, the power in my core was ravenous, with a viciousness I’d had yet to experience. I was intrigued by what they had to give, and I couldn’t help but want it all.

  My hands glided over Arys’s taut chest and abdomen, feeling the muscles ripple beneath my fingertips. There wasn’t a lot I could do caught between them the way I was. It was both intimidating and exciting.

  A sexy, low growl rumbled in Shaz’s throat, increasing my need as the sound touched me in intimate ways. With ea
ch one of them kissing, licking and touching me, I grew weaker willed by the second.

  The power that commanded Arys and I once again expanded to include Shaz as his Were energy enticed it to take note of him. As the physical pleasures grew, so did the blinding rush of power that had never taken no for an answer. The combination of their hands and mouths upon me was more than I could take without my sanity collapsing into fragments.

  I lay between them, enrapt in bliss. Despite the uncertainty and danger that had become a regular part of my life, there was nothing better than being a werewolf in love.

  Chapter Twenty

  “I think you were right to do it. It’s obvious that you had to do what’s necessary in order to protect yourself and those you love.” Jez absently stirred her gourmet coffee with a stir stick, but her serious, green eyes were fixed on me.

  Kylarai sat across from me, her eyes downcast as she picked at the apple pie on her plate. She didn’t agree with Jez or Shaz as far as the blood bond issue was concerned. She thought it was a huge mistake.

  It had been four days since I’d entered into the blood bond with Arys. I had felt incredibly out of sorts since then. I’d learned quickly that I couldn’t handle the mid-afternoon sun any longer. It burned both my skin and my eyes. The bloodlust had been my constant companion every night since. Without Arys to ease me through, I never would have succeeded without going on a murderous rampage.

  He promised that the worst of it would wane and I would gain control of the many vampire tendencies that now ruled me. If I thought experiencing Arys’s weaknesses before was bad, this was a whole new ball game. They were my very own vices now.

  I had asked my two best friends out for dinner, wanting to share with them the decision I had made. I wanted their opinion, knowing they would each be completely honest with me about what they thought. I valued what they had to say.

  “I just don’t think you should have rushed into anything, Lex,” Ky’s voice was soft, and she beamed a shy smile at me. “You altered your own death.”

  Things had been better between us since I’d starting spending more time at Raoul’s. It gave her and Julian time together without taking chances on having Shaz in the house as well. That would just get incredibly ugly.

  I had barely touched the Alfredo pasta dish I’d ordered. It was the best in town, yet it wasn’t encouraging my weak appetite. “I know that. I was confused and scared. But, I can’t help but feel that it’s what I needed to do. Especially after what happened with Harley.”

  “That’s just the thing,” Jez piped up again. “He won’t stop until he has you. And, it’s only a matter of time until other power hungry vamps seek you out.” She gave me a pointed look, one that Kylarai missed. I knew what she meant. Kale had already developed an attraction to my power. How many others would?

  Would Harley give up once he discovered Arys had bonded me after all? Lord, how I hoped so. I felt like a weapon that I didn’t know how to use, that could go off at any moment.

  Kylarai reached over to pat my arm affectionately. “You know I love you no matter what you do. That’s just my opinion. I don’t want to see you regretting this decision. Regret is a hard thing to live with.”

  I felt like I would have some kind of regret either way. Choosing to bond myself to Arys through blood had completed the bond we’d begun when we joined our power. My life and death would never be the same again. Yet on the flip side, it was already so beyond any semblance of normal. I couldn’t help but feel empowered in a way, knowing that Harley wanted me as badly as he did. I didn’t even really know why.

  “I appreciate you both coming out tonight.” I swirled the ice in my tea and took a sip of the too sweet juice. “It feels good just to hang with the girls sometimes. I need more of this.”

  “I’d say you do. I miss killing things with you. It’s not as fun with Kale.” Jez’s voice was loud enough to carry, and I blushed and hid my face when a lady at the next table stared open-mouthed at her.

  “I hate having to cut and run, but I’m meeting a source that’s helping me out with a case.” Kylarai reached for her wallet, and I stopped her with a gesture.

  “Forget about it. I invited you out. I’ll pick up the tab.”

  “Fine, I’ll get the tip then.” She tossed down a few bills and pushed her chair back. “Will I see you at home later or are you going to Raoul’s?”

  I had to think about that. I’d been pretty much living there over the past week. “I’m not sure. I may have to come by the house to grab some more of my things. Feel free to have Julian over.”

  “How’s he doing anyway?” Jez asked with interest.

  Kylarai shrugged and forced a smile. “Let’s just say that his ego took the worst of it.” She rolled her eyes and to me said, “I think it’s great that you’re staying there. You need to face that part of you and find peace with it all. Let me know if you want any help redecorating.”

  “Actually, now that you mention it, I do.” I grinned when her face lit up in excitement.

  “Sounds great! I’ll give you a call later, and we’ll talk about it.” She stood and slung her purse over her shoulder. “It was nice seeing you again, Jez. Have a good night, you two.”

  After she’d disappeared out the door, I turned to the leopard, finding her staring at me with an expectant expression. “What?”

  “I have something to tell you.” She raised a brow and her ruby lips curved into a smile.

  “Please don’t. I’m sure I don’t want to know.”

  “Kale’s been dreaming about you. He told me. I just thought you should know. You’ve had one hell of an effect on that man.”

  Why did she have to look so pleased when she said that? “What do you mean, dreaming about me?”

  She shrugged and sipped from her coffee. “I’m not sure. He didn’t go into detail. I think he just needed to say it out loud to someone and that happened to be me. I just wanted to let you know.”

  “Shit.” I let out an exasperated sigh and reclined in my chair. “That’s just what I needed to hear.”

  “Sorry.”

  Kale meant a lot to me. He was more than a colleague; he was a friend. And, because of the power I had, I now had power over him. There was something so wrong about that.

  “Anyway,” Jez quickly changed the subject. “Kale and I have been taking out new vampires all week.”

  That caught my attention. “New ones all week?”

  She nodded, and her golden waves bounced. “Yeah. We haven’t been able to determine where they’re coming from yet. So … you want to come out tonight?”

  That was intriguing. After the past couple of weeks I’d had, I was certainly up for a challenging hunt. “Definitely. Count me in.”

  * * * *

  The evening had been going splendidly. Hunting down a coven of new vampires with Jez and Kale had been a release that I’d desperately needed. It had taken no time at all to locate a handful of new vampires lurking in a local cemetery. It was typical really. Many of them wound up in such places, either from seeing it in Hollywood films or because it was guaranteed to be free of anyone else.

  It had been almost too easy to take out the two we had followed to the cemetery. Upon arriving we had discovered another four of them nesting there. From the looks of it, they had been up to no good. There was more than one old corpse decomposing beneath some trees. Nasty.

  The last two put up a nice fight that had Jez smiling as she slashed her way through one of them with clawed hands as he shrieked like a little girl. After slashing a hole in his throat the size of her fist, she pulled out the stake she carried strapped to her wrist and plunged it deep into his chest.

  No sooner had she done so than the last one escaped me and rushed her head on. She had just a split second to defend herself. Throwing her arms up in front of her, she took the brunt of his force as they tumbled and rolled as one.

  I moved abnormally fast as my legs carried me across the distance. I snapped his neck with a p
owerful twist. The resulting crunch echoed as I went for the heart, stake in hand. He had already succeeded in lashing out at Jez, drawing blood from a deep cut above her eye. The scent of her living and highly potent blood caused a tightly wound string inside me to snap, and I lost all control.

  One moment, I was focused on the pathetic vampire on top of Jez, and the next, I was tossing him aside so that I could get to her myself. I shudder to imagine how that would have played out if Kale hadn’t been there.

  Being as in tune to my energy as he was, he felt the shift in the atmosphere when the bloodlust dominated my actions. All of a sudden, he was just there, throwing me off her so that I landed in a sprawled heap not far from one of the decomposing victims. As I leaped to my feet, there was no conscious thought in my mind. I was acting on instinct.

  With a snarl, I turned on Kale. I didn’t want him though. I wanted the natural born Were blood, the blood that had never been human. I practically salivated as the scent drove me into a frenzy.

  The pain was like a punch right in the guts when Kale knocked me on my ass with a blast of power. It didn’t hurt me otherwise, but it successfully knocked the breath out of me. Before I could get up, he was on top of me, straddling my body with his strong frame, a silver psi ball burning in the palm of one hand.

  It was as if a cool breeze blew through my mind then, bringing with it the presence of my dark vampire. Arys’s voice was soothing, snapping me back to myself as if I was jolting awake from a nightmare. ‘My wolf, what’s happening? I knew I never should have left your side.’

  I stared up at Kale, struggling to reply with something sensible to Arys. Kale’s sweet energy was alluring in its own right, and I found myself falling into his enchanting eyes.

  “Alexa?” Kale lightly slapped the side of my face, a frown creasing his fine features. “You never should have done this. The blood bond is not meant for one as free spirited as you.”