by Rena Marks
Johnny watched me walk to the front door, not believing I was leaving him to tell Julian. I turned back at the door and blew Julian a kiss before leaving.
Then I smirked and blew one to Johnny too.
True to his word, Leo left the massive front gates open. I pulled along the huge driveway that curled alongside well-manicured lawns and parked. I walked up the steps and stuck my head in the front door.
“Leo?” I called.
“Upstairs.”
I had to walk up more stairs. His house certainly would keep one fit. I finally found him in his bedroom zipping up a suitcase.
I collapsed on the bed. It was huge and comfy. Expensive bedding and pillows. My head sank gratefully onto a pillow. Definitely more comfy than my house. But exhausting.
“You need a smaller house.”
Leo barely glanced up from his suitcase. “Can you imagine the smells once a month at the meetings in a smaller place? Sweaty wolves, on the verge of a change, all mashed into one room together? Trust me, you’d be grateful for this big house if you had to attend one of those meetings.”
I grinned at the thought, hugging one of the pillows to me. “I guess this house has a couple of benefits.”
“Out of my bed, woman. I’m going to smell you for a week.”
“What, the great wolf king, can’t sleep with the smell of the undead reeking through his bedroom?” I teased.
“I can sleep with the undead smell. Your sweet womanly scent is going to leave me hard for a week.”
I jumped out of the bed. “Meet you downstairs.”
His laughter echoed down the stairs.
* * * * *
We set a new password for me at the metal gates at the front of his property. While Leo maneuvered the codes, I asked him if he needed a ride back from the airport.
“You don’t need to pick me up. I appreciate you just getting me there.”
“I don’t mind. You have all of my numbers. Home, cell, the gym and Bang’s. Maybe you need Julian’s cell?”
He grinned. “How did he like me calling his bar for you?”
I rolled my eyes. “The two of you are driving me insane.”
“Serves you right. I’m insane sometimes because of you.”
“Speaking of which, you’re actually not bad right now.”
“You know, I noticed that also. I think simply spending time with you is relieving it. Or maybe, it's because my mark on your back no longer has vampire mesmerization.”
I pulled up curbside at the airport drop-off. “Call me if you change your mind about the ride.”
“Thanks,” he said. “I will.”
I drove straight back to Bang’s, where I started helping Julian polish the bar glasses when the phone rang.
“Bang’s.”
“Anjelia?”
“Leo.” I chuckled. We always started off our phone conversations the same way.
“I think I would like you to pick me up at the airport, Wednesday morning.”
I rolled my eyes at the imperious tone. Trust Leo not to consider asking.
“Okay. Same airport?”
“Yes, here’s my gate and flight number.”
I scribbled both down and he continued talking.
“I was thinking about my sanity not being so bad lately and I was wondering if you’d help me test a theory?”
“Must be the doctor in you. Always working,” I murmured.
“It is my sanity we’re talking about.”
“I know,” I soothed. “What’s your theory?”
“How about being with me through a full moon?”
“With you?”
“Yes. My pack will be changing Wednesday night at my place. If you feel awkward with all of them—although none would dare to harm or touch you in any way—we can have them all change outside, and you and I can use the ritual room downstairs. I can change with you present, and you can go upstairs and do whatever you’d like while I hunt. You can spend the night so you don’t have to drive back to Julian’s in the dark, or he can pick you up.”
I looked at Julian. He was nodding, but I had no idea what that meant. Probably eager for an excuse to spy on the wolves, one that I would shut down in private. I felt like the peacekeeper between those two.
“Leo, would you be uncomfortable if Julian was with me?”
“I’m not, but I have a whole pack of wolves that would just be itching for a fight this time of the month. He can stay upstairs, we’ll stay down. I’ll promise his safety. You can join him afterward.”
“Okay. Sounds like a plan. See you on Wednesday morning.”
“Bye.”
I returned to polishing the bar glasses. The phone rang again and Julian answered.
He handed the phone to me.
I put the receiver to my ear and heard a woman’s voice on the other end.
“Hello, I’m calling for Dr. Leo Freedman. I understand you’re picking him up Wednesday morning?”
“Yes.”
“I'm Becky, his travel agent. His flight was canceled. He still wants to arrive that morning so we’ve booked him another flight on a different airline. It arrives at ten a.m. also but at Stapleton Airport instead of Amsterdam.”
It wasn’t too much further, just a different direction. “Okay, what’s his airline and flight number?” I asked. I scribbled them down once more and hung up the phone.
“Now what?”
“Leo’s travel agent. He has to come in tomorrow morning but his flight was canceled so he’s taking another one.”
“Why didn’t he call right back? You were just talking to him.”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Maybe he got busy.”
Chapter Twelve
I waited at Stapleton Airport for an hour. Leo wasn’t there, he wasn’t even on that flight. I wondered if I’d gotten the message wrong. Well, all I could do now was head back to my car and hope Leo called me. I walked back out to the parking lot and was unlocking my car when a damp cloth was pinned across my mouth.
I held my breath.
Adrenaline rushed through my body, making my heart thump loudly. I kicked behind me, hearing a grunt as my foot connected with a knee. My hair was jerked backward, the pain ripping through my scalp. I was running out of air and would be forced to breathe soon. My lungs were aching, gasping, jerking in my chest as I struggled.
I inhaled, a sickly sweet smell—and then there was nothing.
I awoke in a dark, cold room. Dimly, I realized someplace that dark must be underground. Slowly, my eyes adjusted to the dark, and I realized I was caged like an animal. While I was unconscious, someone had changed my clothing. It was a thin, rough, sheath-like dress and was wrinkled and dirty from lying on the cold ground, just like the rest of me. My hands were bound. I wondered how long I’d slept.
There was no one around. I could hear water dripping somewhere. Clink, clink, clink. The noise made me realize I had to pee. It was an odd thing to think about when I was locked in a cage, barely dressed. I shivered in the dark.
Time passed, but I didn’t know how much. I wondered who my captors were and why I was left alone. I don’t know if I should have been grateful for that. Maybe they meant to torture me. But I was freezing. I couldn’t move much. Now I was hungry, and I still had to pee. I dozed on and off. It felt like hours, yet I had no sense of time. It’s amazing how your internal clock relies on simple things like sunrises and sunsets.
Finally I slept. Eventually, I was poked awake with a stick. I jumped, and the man poking me laughed. I heard a low growl and saw a wolf outside the cage snarling. Drool pooled from its mouth. Its lips pulled back from its teeth, and they gleamed in the dim light. He was ferocious, his eyes snapping when his teeth weren’t.
The man poked me again. Hard. I pressed backward in the cage away from him but then the wolf moved stealthily to the other side of the cage, forcing me to stay away from the bars. I looked back toward the man. He had a knife out and was whittling the end of the stick, making a sharp point. H
e looked dirty but other than that he was nondescript. Brown and gray hair, sallow skin. Thin lips. He poked me again, this time drawing blood with a long scratch down my arm.
The wolf growled hungrily. My heart raced. The next time the stick came into the cage, I tried to distract the man.
“Why are you doing this?”
He didn't answer. He just made a game of poking me with the stick, drawing blood. When I stepped too far back from his stick, the wolf threw itself against the back of the cage, angrily trying to get at me. We played this game for a long time, hours I’m sure. My only break was when the man paused to sharpen the stick with his knife.
I was exhausted. When I finally decided to just give up and let the wolf eat me quickly and be done with it, the man seemed to get bored. He left me alone and sat on his chair just outside my cage. I still couldn’t relax, expecting him to poke me at any time. After a long while, there was a rumbling noise from above. He took the dim lantern with him and disappeared, leaving me with the wolf.
My bladder felt ready to burst. I had to relieve myself but the wolf wouldn’t let me near the edges of the cage. I had to squat and pee in front the wolf, but not quite in the middle of the cage, for that was where I had to lie. I lay bruised and bleeding while the wolf bared his teeth and growled at me. I realized with some surprise that I was no longer frightened. I was way past that point. With that thought in my head, I slipped into a shocked sleep.
I awoke later to find some bread and a bowl of water near the edge of the cage. I wondered if it was a trick to get me to the edge. With sleep came some renewed strength, and I knew there was no way in hell I was getting near the edge of that cage. My stomach rumbled loudly and my tongue felt like sandpaper. The same man was sitting in the chair watching me. He pushed the bowl of water and the bread toward the center of the cage with his sharpened stick. I watched him warily. They could be poisoned, but would it be as bad as sitting alone and cold and hurt in a cage?
Eventually hunger and thirst overcame me. I gave up and ate the bread. It was hard now and tasteless. The water was awful, lukewarm with a dirty metallic taste but it slid down my throat. I felt a tiny bit better.
I wanted Julian. I slept and dreamed of his bare skin against mine. His arms were wrapped around me, while I pressed my head to his chest. His left arm was bloody with what looked like a wolf bite.
I awoke thinking of him. I wondered how long it had been since I’d been imprisoned and wondered how long he could go without my blood.
I dozed in and out of reality for a while. The cold made me shiver and then sweat poured profusely from my body. My hair clung to my shoulders in damp tendrils and a small part of my brain realized I had a fever. I wondered if I had an infection from my wounds. Or maybe I was just sick.
The next time I awoke, Leo was dragged into my cage. I ran toward him. He was unconscious, his face bloody and arms bound in iron chains. I held his head in my lap. It took a long time for him to awaken. I kept his head in my lap until I heard him moan.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
“Anjelia? You’re really here?”
“Yes, I’m here. How did they get you?”
“I let them capture me. To see you.”
His statement didn’t make sense to me. “What? You can’t let them capture you, Leo. You’re the wolf king. Can’t you change and break out?”
“No,” he murmured, gesturing with his head at his chained hands. His hands were bound behind his back instead of in front, he must be considered more dangerous than me. “Sterling silver. Weakens me. Can’t even smell anything.”
The horror of the implication sunk in. “Ohmigod, they could kill you in this state, couldn’t they? Why would you put yourself in danger this way?”
“I had to see you, be sure you were all right. It was worth it to risk my life to tell you I love you.”
“Oh, Leo.” I closed my eyes wearily. “I’m so worried about you.”
“No more worried than I am about you.”
“Why did they want you?”
“They want my help escaping from the vampires. They realized they have a war on their hands by stealing you and want to change their tactics. As far as they know I just wanted to see you one last time in case you didn’t survive.”
He seemed to be telling me something. His eyes looked beyond me and at the walls.
I wondered if we were being listened to. “Do you know who they are?”
“No. Not a clue. How about you?”
“Nothing.”
I was casually stroking him. His skin was warm and familiar beneath my touch. Steel muscles with skin stretched taut over them. Muscles rendered useless by the silver.
“Did the human bring you here?” I asked him.
“I don’t know. I was knocked out from the first…”
We were making small talk. I wondered why. It didn’t take long to figure it out though, as he continued urgently. “Okay, we’re alone now. I’m here because of an ancient ritual, from back in the good old days. Werewolves used to protect vampires during the day as they slept. We were the original hounds of hell. Nowadays, it’s no longer necessary, of course. Vampires can protect each other, and no werewolf is going to swear allegiance to a vampire. We stand on our own now. Because you wear my wolf brand and carry the human servant mark of a vampire, Julian and I have decided to go ahead and ritualize the three of us. He and I have already bound. I’m now his wolf to call.”
“But you’re a wolf king, Leo. Is that wise?”
“Wise or not, what’s done is done. I need to add you to our binding, to strengthen us. We’re stronger together than apart.”
“How?”
“We’ll be able to sense you, feel out this location where you’re being held once I’m released. Julian would be able to fetch you since I’ll more than likely still be bound in silver and unable to help you.”
“No, I mean how, as in how do you and I bind?”
Leo actually winced. “I knew you’d ask that. In the old days, I’d change and take a small bite of your flesh. I’m sure we’ll find another way.”
I turned green. “How did you and Julian bind?”
“We bit each other.” Even in the dim lighting, I could see the brief satisfaction in his face as he recalled biting his sworn enemy. “Soon Julian and I will be able to sense each other, maybe we can even communicate telepathically.”
“But I’m human. I have no enhanced abilities. Is it even possible for me to join?”
“I don’t know. This hasn’t been done in centuries. I don’t know if humans were ever involved in the ritual. I don’t even know if it’s possible for the three of us to bind at all.”
“Great. So we’re starting something new? I might even grow furry?”
“There’s that possibility. Especially now that you’re not mesmerized and no longer can be. The mesmerization and vampire marking offered you some protection against turning wolf but things have changed.”
“We don’t really have a choice. I either take the risk of turning furry or die in this cage.”
“Turning furry could be deadly for you. Although, we might have one other choice.” Leo spoke slowly, as though the thought had just occurred to him at that moment.
“What?”
“How about if you bite me? Instead of me biting you?”
“Bite you? And draw blood?”
“Oh, Anjelia, you’ve been spending too much time with the vampires. You’ll need to draw flesh, like we do.”
“Yuck!”
“Come now. I was willing to do it to you.”
“I didn’t know you were taking a chunk out of me.”
“It makes more sense this way. And remember, we have a higher pain tolerance. I’ve taken more than one bite during a fight. I’ll be fine. Just do it.”
I looked down the length of his body. His arms were chained in the silver and with the size of those biceps, I couldn’t take a chunk there if I tried.
I began to unbutt
on the front of his shirt, suddenly thankful that my hands were bound in front of me. He raised an eyebrow.
“Our captors won’t notice it here, maybe.”
I took a deep breath as I looked at his chest. He was absolutely gorgeous, smooth bronze skin stretched taut over the bulge of tight muscles. I was going to mar all that beauty.
“Do you need help?”
“I’m trying to decide where I’ll be scarring you.”
“We heal easily. Do you know how many fights I’ve been in? Don’t you think I’d be more scarred?”
That was reassuring. “Okay, then here goes.”
“Right here, okay?”
Leo used his chin to point out the area over his heart. My gaze flew up to his, wondering at the symbolic meaning this might have for him. Then I decided if he could sacrifice himself by binding with a vampire and risking his life to see me, I could do whatever he asked of me.
I leaned over the area and kissed it first, as a distraction. Before I could stop and think about it, I bit.
Images flashed before my eyes. I didn’t know what was happening except Leo was groaning as he squirmed beneath me and it didn’t sound like pain. His skin was so hard, his muscles so tight and…he had a gigantic erection.
There was a weird yellow glow around the cage. I reached down and cupped his massive cock and rolled my eyes up to see him looking down at me. His eyes were sultry and full of sex.
We were transported to a meadow. We were both as nude as the day we were born and there was another naked body there also.
Julian.
I was so turned on, it felt like a fever raced through my body. I rubbed myself against Leo’s nakedness It was wondrous underneath me. I spread my legs wide, his bulge was hearty and heavy against my swollen sex. Wet flesh against eager flesh.
Julian stretched out behind me. With my legs spread open, he inserted his fingers deep into my hot sheath, stretching me, filling me.
I found Leo’s mouth with my own as I ground my pussy against his cock, mashing my clitoris against the hard yet silky flesh.
Julian kept plunging his fingers into me, over and over, around and around until my breath was coming in pants. He was kissing my spine while I was kissing Leo and then I felt his fingers spread my juices over my lips. Tentatively, his wet fingers worked between mine and Leo’s bodies to caress a hard cock with my honey.
