Andromeda's Reign

by K. S. Haigwood

  Ace stopped in front of her. Lifting his right hand to her left cheek, he leaned in far enough so he could smell his soap on her skin, and then he inhaled deeply.

  Andra’s heart was pounding against her chest cavity so hard that the sound of it was drowning out any rational thoughts of why she shouldn’t be thinking of his hands on her body and his tongue tangling with hers.

  “Andra…” Ace said in a husky whisper, “… your scent is driving me crazy.”

  Andra took a step back, blinking quickly and taking in deep breaths to clear her clouded mind. “Some… something was wrong,” she managed to say. “You were angry.” He only stared at her, with his head tilted to the side a fraction. “I—I came to see what—”

  “It was nothing,” Ace said, interrupting her with the shake of his head. “I should have called a meeting with the pride and introduced you as soon as we arrived, instead of waiting until the morning. I was only mad at myself for almost killing Rogan. He’s one of my best men. I didn’t mean to alarm you.”

  Somehow she didn’t think that was the whole truth, but when he reached out and took her hand, all her doubts slipped away.

  “See…” he grinned playfully as one of his fingers caressed her palm, “… all better.”

  The anger was completely gone now. Only the warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of her stomach and a strong ache between her legs remained. She hated that he could make her feel this way, but what she hated even more was the fact that she couldn’t make herself avoid these situations. It was as if something inside her craved him. She couldn’t—or wouldn’t—resist it.

  “I’m going to take a shower. The bedroom door is locked, so you don’t have to worry about anyone busting in on you while you change.” He nodded to her left. “The walk-in closet is over there if you want even more privacy. Hang up any clothing you need to. Move my things around in the dresser to make room for your things.” He shrugged those broad shoulders. “It’s cool with me.”

  The memory of Phoenix filling his closet with clothes that fit her flashed through her mind, and she frowned. Her whole life, she had never gotten to choose her path, and it was no different now. Ace was moving her in. He hadn’t asked—not that it would have mattered, since they were bonded and had to be near each other and touch each other to prevent passing out—but for once, she wanted to make her own decisions.

  Looking at the floor, Andra started to move out of his way so he could walk into the bathroom, but his hand met her waist, slipped around to her back, and then he pulled her to him with just the gentle pressure of his fingers.

  “Ace—” she said startled.

  “Shh…” His breath feathered across her lips as his eyes fell to look at them. Her heart picked up that quick rhythm again as he leaned in even closer. She knew she should back away, for the sake of the hearts that would break if she allowed his mouth to touch hers, but her body wanted him too much. “You have to be here, Andra, and you need a place to put your things. Don’t look into this any deeper than it is. I was only offering you a place to put them. Leave them in the suitcase or on the floor if it bothers you that much.”

  Breathing heavily, she managed to nod her head in response. He inched closer to her mouth. She couldn’t let him kiss her. She couldn’t allow her body, mind and soul to win over her heart. “Thank you. I’ll hang them up later,” she said, and then pushed against his chest with her palms.

  He didn’t resist. He didn’t even frown. There was sort of a smug look on his face as he walked around her and into the bathroom. Not bothering to shut the door behind him, he dropped his towel to the floor as he walked to the shower, as if wrapping it around his hips a moment earlier had just been for show.

  Andra blinked at his odd behavior for a second before his words whispered through her mind.

  “Go get dressed, Andra. We’ll need to leave soon.”

  Her body physically jerked as he tossed her out of his mind and threw his walls back into place.

  “That hurt, jerk!” she said.

  His chuckles echoed off the bathroom walls.

  She wasn’t quite as angry as the words had made her sound. His touch—even his presence—was enough to make her feel a bit giddy. She knew the feeling all too well. Phoenix made her feel that way. She didn’t want to have feelings for Ace, but she did, and they were too strong to deny that they were only friendly feelings. Guilt swarmed her once again. It had only been sixteen hours since she’d felt Phoenix’s mouth on hers. The kiss had been one to remember, that was for sure, and she’d known exactly what Phoenix was silently telling her as his mouth dominated hers: This is mine. Don’t forget that.

  It wasn’t possible to forget a kiss like that or what it meant. Not ever.

  Her cell phone pinged from the nightstand, sending her heart into a fast gallop. “Phoenix!” she thought as she rushed to grab it. She hadn’t heard from him since she’d left, and Ace hadn’t given her a moment’s rest so she could send him a message. Not that it would have mattered; her cell battery had been dead when they’d arrived. She’d plugged it in to charge, and then he had dragged her to the gym. The smile slipped from her face as she stared at the phone screen.

  The text was from Ian, her brother.

  I’m in town for the week. Want to grab something to eat and catch up? ~ Ian

  “Crap,” she muttered.

  Ian had been out of the state for almost three months now. He’d wanted to fly in for Marc’s funeral, as had her parents, but she had told them not to. Ian had argued. Her parents had not. In the end, she had won the argument with Ian. She didn’t know how to explain any of this to him, but she did know one thing, she wasn’t about to tell him over a text message that she was an immortal beast now. She sighed. He wouldn’t believe her anyway.

  I’m in Vegas. ~ Mena

  A full minute passed before he responded. LOL You’re funny. I’m about to leave my house. I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes. Be ready. I want to eat at The Seafood Bistro. ~ Ian

  She huffed as she looked up at the ceiling, trying to figure out what to tell him. Blowing out a weighted breath, she looked back at her phone. Seriously, Ian, I’m in Las Vegas. Had to get away. ~ Mena

  Not even five seconds went by before his text rang through. Are you getting married??? ~ Ian

  “Shit,” she said, and shook her head, even though he couldn’t see her. Hell no! I’m with some friends. They have a vacation house here. I won’t be back in Montgomery for four more weeks. I wish you would have texted me yesterday—not that it would have mattered, she thought—we really do need to discuss some… things. ~ Mena

  You are really serious, aren’t you? ~ Ian

  Yes. Sorry. We’re about to head out to play Blackjack. I’ll text you tomorrow, okay? I love you. ~ Mena

  She could imagine him sighing and shaking his head as he read her comment. Love you, too, little sister. Chat with you tomorrow. ~ Ian

  “Are you going to get dressed?” Ace said as he stepped into the bedroom, the steam from the shower following him as he ran a towel over his wet hair, making it stick up haphazardly all over the top of his head.

  She forgot what she was doing as her eyes roamed down his body, noticing each and every defined muscle beneath his skin. He was taller than Phoenix, by about six inches, putting him at six-five or six-six easily. His muscles, though not too large, kept him from looking lanky. A few tattoos marked the front of his body, including a half sleeve of a lion’s head from his left shoulder to his elbow, and she knew he had the word PRIDE arched in Old English font across his shoulder blades and one more on the back of his right calf.

  She had always been indifferent about tattoos, but now she liked them. She really, really liked them. On Ace’s body, they were hot as hell.

  “Andra?” he said.

  She swallowed as she blinked up at him. “Sorry. My brother texted me,” she said as she laid the phone back on the nightstand and picked up the suitcase Ace had set against the wall when they’d gotten here. “G
ive me twenty-five minutes and I’ll be ready.”

  He was gloating on the inside. She could feel the satisfied pleasure settle over her as he watched her rummage through her suitcase for something to wear out tonight. “Why the hell did I look at him so long? Stop doing that, Mena!”

  “I hope you don’t ever stop doing that, Andra,” Ace said, and she froze, and then cringed when she realized her thoughts hadn’t been blocked to him since she’d been in the shower.

  Without lifting her head, she grabbed the first outfit she saw, her makeup and toothbrush, and then walked straight to the bathroom to get ready.

  Chapter 3

  Wednesday, February 4th 2015 7:38 p.m. PST

  Las Vegas, Nevada

  Ace

  My mind wasn’t on the game. Of course it wasn’t, not with Andra sitting so close to me and practically bouncing in her seat with excitement.

  I smiled as I glanced at the cards the dealer dealt her. “Split those,” I said through our mind connection.

  She cut her eyes over to me. “Are you sure?”

  “Aces?” I said. “Always split Aces, Andra.”

  She nodded, put a small stack of chips to the left of her bet and told the dealer to split the cards. The dealer did, and then laid a face card on top of each of her Aces. Andra clapped excitedly. I chuckled.

  I already had a Jack and a nine of diamonds. Nineteen was good enough for me. After I waved a hand over my cards, the dealer flipped her card that was face down and ended up with fifteen. She had to deal herself another card. If she got a five or a six, I was screwed. I had already lost five hands in a row, and Slade was beginning to give me dirty looks from where he stood behind Andra. She had won the last five. No, wait… she had won every hand since we had been here. It seemed my luck was rubbing off on her, or rather, that she had taken all my luck from me.

  The dealer slipped the top card out of the shoe and flipped it face up on top of her fifteen. It was a six.

  I groaned, and so did the other three players at the table, everybody except for Andra.

  “Maybe it’s just not your night,” Andra said with a wicked grin. As irritated as I was with my luck tonight, I still wanted to kiss that smile off her face.

  “There’s a poker game about to start over there,” Slade said, his voice thick with annoyance. He never played. Slade only kept a lookout for any trouble that might be headed our way in the form of a pit boss watching me too closely. “They have an empty seat,” he suggested, encouraging me to go.

  I shook my head. “I’m not leaving her.”

  “I’ll watch her,” Slade said shortly. He knew about Justice and what was at stake, but I was still leery. I didn’t trust Andra’s life with anyone. I don’t think Slade realized just how important she was to me.

  “Go play poker,” Andra said, waving me away. “You suck at Blackjack.”

  I pursed my lips as I looked at her, and then my eyes flicked up to meet Slade’s.

  He nodded. “You really do. You’ve lost nearly a grand in forty-five minutes.”

  Andra’s mouth fell agape. “You’ve lost how much?”

  I winked at her. “You’ve won twice that. Will you buy my dinner tonight?”

  “I have not,” she said as she glanced down at the four stacks of chips in front of her. “See?”

  I raised my eyebrows, waiting for her to notice that the black chips were worth a hundred dollars each.

  Her eyes grew as huge as silver dollars. “Holy shit! I thought they were five-dollar chips!”

  I chuckled. “We don’t win by placing the minimum bet, Kitty-cat.”

  Her cheeks instantly flamed a sexy pink color. “Obviously you lose by the same tactic,” she snapped.

  I grinned as I grabbed my remaining chips and stood, and then I placed a chaste kiss to the top of her pretty head before making eye contact with Slade. My eyes said everything I needed him to know: Don’t let her out of your sight.

  He nodded as he took a step back so I could make my way to the poker table.

  Glancing back, I met Andra’s stare. “I’ll just be right over here. Are you sure you will be fine?” I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that I would be fine. I already felt the edginess under my skin just from being out of touching distance of her.

  She rolled her eyes as she glanced back to the dealer and waved her hand over the cards to let the dealer know that she wanted to Stand. “I’ll be fine, Ace. I am immortal. Remember?”

  I would have to remind her that immortal didn’t mean invincible. She could die if someone killed her. That discussion could wait until later, though. I didn’t want her to be nervous about being out in public. If there was any threat, Slade would see it, and if he couldn’t take care of it, I would.

  Settling in at the last seat, I nodded to each of the players as I took out my wallet. The measly two chips in my hand would barely be enough to cover the ante. I took out the stack of bills, and the guy across from me let out a low whistle. I didn’t acknowledge that I had heard him. I never bragged about how much money I had, because I never knew what would happen, especially in my line of work; it could all be gone tomorrow—or, in my case, tonight.

  I placed several Benjamins on the table in front of the dealer and tucked the rest of the money back into my wallet. He snatched them up and immediately started laying the money out on the table as he counted.

  After he finished, he looked over to two guys and said, “Changing one thousand!”

  Both pit bosses glanced my way. I had never seen either of them before. Odd. I thought I knew all of them. I held eye contact with the bald guy. He was the biggest. Most times when I threw down that much cash, I had to prove myself. It was looking like this time wouldn’t be any different. Aaaand… here he comes.

  “Do you have identification, sir?” he said. I hadn’t put away my wallet. This happened a lot.

  I gave Bald Guy a nod as I held out my I.D. and player’s card between my index and middle finger. “Sure,” I said as he took it. He studied it, then my face, and then my driver’s license again. By his keen expression, I almost thought he recognized me.

  His sandy-colored eyebrows rose as he glanced to the dealer and signaled the okay. “Go ahead.” As he glanced back to me, the corner of his mouth lifted in a crooked grin. “Good luck, Mr. Keller.”

  I knew that smirk meant that he would be watching me. That was fine. It wasn’t like I counted cards or anything—well, I didn’t count cards all the time. I genuinely just had better luck than most.

  “Thanks. I appreciate that. I’m going to need it after the fucking I just took from the Blackjack dealer over there,” I said, and looked pointedly at the table where Andra was, still winning every hand from the impressed expression on Slade’s face. Was it beginner’s luck or what?

  Bald Guy chuckled. “You win some, you lose some.”

  I frowned. “I don’t like to lose.”

  He shrugged as he turned to walk away. “Who does?” Holding up my I.D. and player’s card, he said, “I’ll check you in. Maybe I can get you a free room and a meal after the other players take all your money.” He chuckled.

  A pit boss with a sense of humor… Well, it was better than the assholes I was used to dealing with.

  I looked over at Slade as the dealer counted out my chips. “How much is she up?” I mouthed.

  He touched the tip of his index finger to his thumb, holding up his middle, ring and pinky fingers for me to see. Three grand! Shit!

  “Ace!” Andra said through my mind.

  I dropped the walls around my mind slightly. “Yeah, baby?”

  “I have two fives. Do I split?”

  I took only a second to be proud that she hadn’t shied away from me calling her baby, but I was definitely going to throw a party for myself later. “No, that’s ten altogether. You can double-down if you like, or you can just hit it.”

  “What would you do?” she said, and her eyes flicked over to see me staring at her, with a silly grin on my face.<
br />
  “I would find the nearest wall and back you up against it, and then kiss you until you begged me to take you right then and there.”

  She huffed, and I laughed. The dealer gave me a funny look as he slid my chips in front of me, but I ignored him.

  “About the fives, Ace!”

  “Match your bet and double-down. It’s okay if you lose every now and then.”

  She smiled as she set a few chips beside the other stack and told the dealer to double-down. “I haven’t lost one yet,” she said in a sing-song voice through my mind.

  “Christ! I’ve created a monster,” I said, with a subtle roll of my eyes as the poker dealer passed the cards out. She laughed out loud. If I lost every penny to my name tonight, hearing her laugh made it well worth it. I would be homeless and pissed, but it would be worth it.

  “I heard that,” Andra said, and I looked back to see her gorgeous, light-green eyes on me. “That was sweet.”

  “I didn’t mean for you to hear that,” I said through my thoughts as I pressed my lips together, and then I put my walls back up and turned my full attention to the game in front of me.

  I had to focus—on poker and on keeping her out of my mind. That had been way too careless of me. If she discovered everything I was keeping from her about Justice through my thoughts, she wouldn’t understand, and then she would bolt. I had to tell her soon, before I did something stupid, like slip and let my guard down—again. She would never forgive me if she found out that way. I wanted a chance to explain, and we needed to be alone, not in a casino full of mortals. She was still a young shifter. Controlling the beast gets easier with age. The tourists of Las Vegas did not need to see a gorgeous brunette turn into a massive silver wolf, though I suppose I could play it off as a magic trick as long as I could get her out of here before she killed me.