“Alright.” He sighed. “If you don’t want to tell me that’s fine. I don’t have to know everything. But, I know you and you’re not just lonely.”
“Alfred, I have never lived alone, ever. For all you know, this is how loneliness affects me. How would you know otherwise? You’ve never seen me lonely.”
He seemed to consider my response for a minute.
“That might be true, but I’ve seen you with your heart broken before.” He smiled with a kindness I’d rarely seen and a tenderness that I had not before witnessed. “Surely, it doesn’t break your heart to be without me.”
“Actually, it does. Just a little.” I smiled weakly.
“What do you need me to do?” he asked.
I took a deep breath and gave the matter some thought before replying, “I need you to hold me and say wicked things to me in Italian.”
“That I can do,” he said with a grin.
“We shall see.” I smiled.
I heard a bumping noise and Alfred turned toward a door that I could not see. He turned back to me with a smile and said, “I’ll see you next Sunday.”
“Buona notte,” I whispered.
He raised an eyebrow as he responded, “Yes, goodnight.”
After our conversation ended I took a sleeping pill and went up to bed. It had been good to talk to Alfred and perhaps once he got back, things would be better. It was never my intention to hurt anyone by spending time with Elijah, but I was afraid I had hurt him.
It was also never my intention to even really know Marco, let alone know him well enough to hurt his feelings. But part of that could not be helped. He obviously cared for me and there was definitely something between us. I just wasn’t exactly sure what that something was. Since I didn’t have the time to find out, nor the ability to see the future, that gave me little choice except to let go as best I could and get on with my life.
But letting go of Marco, like so many other things in life, was easier said than done. The one thing I was certain of was what I felt when I looked at Alfred, and that had to be worth something. Once he returned, I was sure it would be easier to let go. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.
—
The following week passed much more uneventfully. Elijah called once, but I hadn’t heard from Marco since that night on the balcony. I fought the urge to reach out to him with my mind, just to know that he was alright. It took all week for me to resign myself to the fact that I had to let go of him if Alfred and I were ever going to have a chance. If I couldn’t do that, Alfred might as well not come back at all ... and I missed Alfred.
—
It was late Saturday night and I was in the training room practicing my technique with the new blades Alfred had sent me when I stopped suddenly. The most horrible feeling came over me and the sweat I’d worked up became cold against my skin. I sat on the floor and tried to figure out exactly what was wrong with me. I wasn’t injured in any way. Nothing hurt. But, I felt sick. I started to stretch, slowly lowering my heart rate while I racked my brain for an explanation to why I felt so bad. It was not unusual for me to feel someone else’s pain, but normally I had to be touching them in order to do that. So my theory was that whoever felt so bad, since it wasn’t actually me, must be very close to me emotionally in some way. Someone was trying to reach out to me.
I decided it was time to practice some of what I’d learned from Mathias. I lay flat of my back on the floor and began to breathe deeply. As my heart rate began to slow more and more, I reached out with my mind to those I cared for. I thought of Kat, and knew she was alright. Just as quickly as the thought had entered my mind, I let it go so I could move on to the next. I thought of my father. He was fine. Normally, he would have been my first thought, but my father could take care of himself. And besides, I had the impression that whoever might be responsible for the feeling I had was close by.
I sat up and started running for the phone only seconds before it rang.
“Richard?” I panted when I answered the call. “Richard, what’s wrong?”
He didn’t answer for a full minute and I was becoming more and more alarmed.
“Are you alright?”
“How fast can you get here?” His voice was faint, and it scared me.
“You’re still at work?” I knew the answer, but had to ask the question in order to be sure.
“Yes.”
“I’m on my way.”
Chapter Seven
I was dressed in the black bodysuit I normally trained in, and there was no time to change. Richard needed me. So much for not being seen in public wearing spandex. Quickly, I ran upstairs, jumped into my boots and strapped on the rest of my blades. In a matter of minutes, I was on my way to the garage at a full run. Richard hadn’t said what was wrong, but he didn’t have to. The fact that he’d called me so late sounding the way he did was enough.
Alfred’s vehicle of preference was parked closer to the house than mine. I opened the first garage door and took his key from its hiding place. Alfred drove an armor plated Hummer. It was black with silver accents, real silver accents.
It was also loaded for bear with the largest amount of firepower I’d ever seen crammed into one vehicle. I knew how to use guns. I just preferred a blade. However, something in Richard’s voice told me I might be needing both.
Lightning tore through the sky like the crack of an almighty whip. By the time I’d reached the end of the driveway, the bottom fell out.
Rain pounded down with a vengeance and I had to stop to find the switch that turned on the wipers. I had only driven the Hummer a handful of times and wasn’t as familiar with it as I probably should have been. Hitting the wrong button in Alfred’s Hummer could be deadly. In fact, there was a switch underneath the steering wheel that if flipped, would launch grenades! Behind the seats, underneath the floorboard in a hidden compartment was where he kept the BFG, along with several other heavy artillery pieces.
The weapon was actually a modified plasma gun of some sort. It blew holes the size of a small crater in anything it was fired at. Of course, that didn’t do me any good. It was much too big for me to use with any skill. I had no clue what BFG actually stood for, I just called it the big fucking gun.
Beside that there was another grenade launcher and a flame thrower. Alfred had removed what should have been a second row of seats in order to store more weapons underneath the floorboard. If I had time to remove it from the back, the flame thrower was plausible, but the others were useless to me when speed was required.
There were smaller weapons back there, but I didn’t have time to look for them, or any place to conceal them. Going in guns blazing might not be an option once I got there. In all honesty, I had no idea what to expect once I arrived. All I knew was that someone had messed with Richard and that was a stupid thing to do. If he was hurt, I’d kill them. End of story.
The windows were dark enough to conceal any other weapons that might have been lurking about, and it was a good damn thing. Alfred looked like he’d packed to go off to war. I was driving around with more pieces of illegal weaponry than some third world countries.
Alfred was one of the Hunters who killed without mercy. If you were a werewolf, you were dead, period. When he had taken on a pack of werewolves back on Terra years ago, it had made the news. He was described as having wiped them out, ‘as if he were fueled by the very wrath of God.’
In some circles I was known as The Silver Bullet, or Quicksilver. The lycans called me Death. But Death could be sweet, a release of sorts. And to those in misery, Death could be merciful. But Alfred was known as Vengeance. And that night, I had borrowed his truck.
—
The drive to Richard’s office normally took an hour. I made it through the driving rain in forty five minutes. I wanted to conceal my arrival as much as possible, but still have the truck in range in case I needed anything. I pulled to the back of the science building. Richard’s office was on the second floor. I didn’t d
rive directly into the parking lot, but pulled into the edge of the woods that surrounded the University.
I stepped out into the rain and was instantly soaked. As soon as I closed my door, a large shape darted past the front of the truck. Whatever it was, it was fast. I tore off through the woods, smacking tree limbs out of the way and slipping on wet leaves. Due to my genetic alterations, I could keep up with most anything. But a bigger animal with longer legs would unfortunately always have the upper hand. Much to my advantage, I knew those woods. I had spent many hours walking through them with Richard while he cataloged the local plant life for some of his classes.
I cut through a side trail as fast as I could. My boots slipped in the mud and I fought the urge to curse. The rain concealed much of the noise I would have been making, but the sudden appearance of foul language would definitely have given away my position. The rain also helped to conceal the scent of the other creature that was tearing off through the woods. There was no way to tell for sure if it was a werewolf without seeing it.
At a full run I took a flying leap at a low hanging tree branch and swung myself up just in time to be out of sight of whatever it was I’d been chasing. I blinked heavily against the downpour, focusing on the shadowy figure that had just emerged from the other side of the small clearing where I was hiding.
It was definitely a man. A very tall man. He was dressed all in black and his head was concealed by a hood that fit tightly over him. My muscles tensed as he walked underneath the tree I was perched in. The leaves concealed me very well and unless he looked up, he would never know what was about to hit him. I watched him look from side to side anxiously. He wasn’t stupid. He knew someone had been following him, but couldn’t tell where they had gone. I decided not to leave him in suspense.
I flung myself from the limb and tackled the tall stranger. I landed on his shoulders and wrapped my legs over the top of his arms, locking my feet into place against his sides. The momentum of my fall helped to carry me as I contracted every muscle in my body and flung him head over heels to the ground.
I landed on his chest. As I slammed him flat of his back into the wet dirt and leaves his hood fell back. I was staring directly into the cool blue eyes of Bade Garren. Our last encounter had not been pleasant, and I wasn’t about to give Marco’s former beta wolf the chance to hurt me again. Before he could make a move I extended the blade that was strapped underneath my catsuit to my right forearm and pressed it against his throat.
“Easy, love. I didn’t come here for you,” he drawled in his thick Australian accent.
“Like it matters,” I sneered.
“You wouldn’t kill me just for taking a stroll through the woods, now would you?”
“Stroll, my ass. What are you doing here, Bade?”
“Taking a walk.”
I was now straddling his ribs and I tightened my thighs painfully as I pressed the blade close enough to pierce the delicate skin of his pale throat. A small trickle of blood ran down the side of his neck and mingled with the rain.
Bade growled as I squeezed harder with my thighs.
“You’re going to break my ribs,” he grunted.
I leaned forward, close enough to kiss. The rain that poured down my face fell from my lips to his as I breathed, “Just because Marco doesn’t want to kill you, does not mean that I have any hang ups about it.”
He flinched, but did not otherwise reply.
“Tell me why you’re here, Bade.” I brushed my face against his, “or I’ll bite off your other nipple.”
“Bloody bitch,” he growled.
I pulled the soft skin of his throat between my teeth as I retracted the blade and pressed myself fully against him, bracing my body just in case I had to rip his throat out.
“Stop,” he panted.
“Why?” I asked thickly with his skin between my teeth.
“Why are you here?” he asked.
I growled and tugged on his throat. Not enough to seriously hurt him, not yet.
“Please, tell me,” he said.
That was unexpected. Not only had he asked nicely, but Bade had actually said please. It wasn’t like him to beg. Bade Garren liked to be in control. It didn’t make sense.
I released his throat, sat back up, and gripped his ribs with my thighs once more.
“A friend of mine is here. He’s in trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?” he grunted as I squeezed him harder.
“I don’t know, but that’s why I’m here.”
He looked at me blankly and I added, “Are you going to tell me it was a coincidence that I drove up just in time to see you making a mad dash through the woods? I don’t think so.”
“It’s not a coincidence, but I don’t know anything about your friend.”
My hand was a blur as I unzipped the front of his jacket, quickly exposing his bare chest to the cold rain. There was something about Bade that made me want to torment him. I can’t explain it. I’ve never wanted to punish anyone else, not like that. In fact, I don’t even torture people. It’s not that I’m opposed to the idea if the situation is dire enough, but Alfred usually handles that sort of thing. There are some places I’ve just never wanted to go. Remembering what it felt like to torture another living being is one of the places I had chosen to avoid. It’s just not a memory I’d ever want to have.
Maybe it was because I had been touching his bare skin both times I’d experienced that particular feeling. I’m not sure. I knew Bade was into S & M, so that was at least a plausible explanation as to why I wanted to hurt him. And it was easier for me to accept than the thoughts of such desires being entirely my own.
I smiled with satisfaction as I observed that not only had his nipple healed without a scar, but he’d had it re-pierced with another silver stud. I bent low over his body and watched his chest rise and fall. The closer I came to his flesh the quicker the breaths.
He cried out when I ran my tongue over his chest.
“I swear,” he gasped. “I don’t know anything about it.”
I hovered over his nipple as I responded, “Why don’t you fight back? Surely a big strong wolf like you isn’t held in place by someone as small as me.”
“I don’t particularly relish the thought of you breaking several of my ribs if I tried to throw you off.”
“It’s more than that.” I flicked his nipple with my tongue and he shivered in a way that had nothing to do with the cool rain.
“I want you,” he breathed.
His response shocked me so that I completely forgot myself. I sat on Bade’s chest and looked at him incredulously.
“The last time we met, I ripped off your nipple and you’re attracted to me?”
“Extremely.” He grinned.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“How much time do you have?”
“Oh shit.”
I stood up quickly and began to march through the woods toward the building Richard was in.
“Where are you going?” he called.
But Bade was no longer my concern. I was satisfied that he wasn’t there for Richard. Beyond that, I didn’t care. His long legs caught up with me before I got far.
“What if I help you?” he asked.
I stopped and turned to face him through the rain.
“Why would you do that?”
“Well, once we hear from the council, it might not be your job to kill me anymore. Might as well be nice.” He shrugged.
Bade smiled, but his angelic features didn’t fool me.
“Look, I’m out of time for this. And whatever the council decides is irrelevant. I’ll most likely have to kill you one of these days anyway.”
I tried to walk away and he pulled me back.
“Then why didn’t you kill me back there? Why not kill me now?”
“Because you aren’t trying to hurt me or anyone else at the moment, and I don’t have time to fool with you.”
When I turned to leave again, I heard him
take a step to follow me and I rounded on him.
“Bade, come to the point or I swear, I will hurt you in a way that you would not enjoy.”
He threw back his head and laughed. The pale gold of his hair clung to his face and neck. The small place where my sliver blade had nicked him had already begun to heal. With my eyes I traced the water that cascaded over his lovely features and tried to fight what I was feeling. I wanted Bade, too, physically at least. Who could blame me?
Bade wasn’t handsome in the classical sense of the word.
He looked like an angel. Not the fat little cherubs, but the warriors. The tall magnificently crafted cherubim of legend.
He was the essence of sin, captured in the embodiment of heaven. What could be more appealing than the devil trapped in an angel’s body? He knew all the wrong things to do and had all the right equipment to do it with.
“Once things have settled down, I have something I’d like to discuss with you.”
Shit. I’d heard that line before. I didn’t like where the conversation was leading.
“You and I have nothing to discuss.”
“Perhaps, but things change. Marco might not always be in charge.”
My heart beat faster at the implied threat, which was exactly what I needed to shut off my libido.
“Do not threaten Marco in my presence.” My voice was calm, which meant I was really pissed.
He ran a hand through his wet golden hair, “Easy love, don’t take it personally. Besides, you haven’t accepted his offer ... have you? I mean, that wouldn’t exactly go over well, would it? The daughter of the commander of the Hunters, cavorting with the head of the local werewolf pack.”
“I take any threat against Marco personally. The rest is none of your business.”
The instant I uttered the words I knew they were true, but it still shocked me to hear it out loud. I had just admitted that I would defend the safety of a man who only months ago I’d been sworn to kill. Technically, I was still sworn to kill Marco.
But like Bade had said, that could all change very soon. Even if it didn’t change, I knew in that instant I would never hurt Marco. I wasn’t capable of it.
Object of My Affection Page 10
