“I don’t want my nephews to live like this,” Miriam whispered. “I don’t want them to be scared and worried.”
“If they’re afraid, it’s only because you’re afraid.”
Miriam looked up, her eyes flashing in a way he’d never seen before in all the years he’d known her. “Can you blame me?”
“Actually, yes. I can. If I was going to rape you, I’d have done it by now. If we were going to kill you, we’d have done it by now.” She flinched at both statements, stepping back. Lucas turned to her fully and gestured toward his erection. “You think this is the first time this has happened? You’re looking at me as though I have a gun in my pants waiting to shoot you. You are the one who suggested that you could be our slave, Miriam. How was I supposed to know you thought I’d violate you?”
Miriam stared at him blankly. “What else is it supposed to mean? I only suggested it because I was afraid you were going to kill me! How could you not understand that?”
Lucas grumbled under his breath, kicking the log hard. “The person you saw us burying was a bad person. No, you know what? Bad person doesn’t even begin to cover it! We worked undercover, we told you that. Well, we were taking down terrorists. And we did take them down but some of them escaped and sometimes, they find their way here for revenge. And we can’t just stick them in jail because that won’t solve anything. They’ll just continue on, and they’ll hurt people. That man you saw us burying would have done far worse to you than rape and murder you, Miriam. He had to be put down.”
Miriam stared at him with eyes as round as dinner plates. Lucas didn’t know if she believed him, nor did he care. His wolf did but it was an idiot, and he didn’t care what it thought.
“You are here for your own protection,” Lucas snarled at her. Maybe that was too much to tell her, but he didn’t care. “If you ask too many questions it’ll be all the worse for you. Understood? So now. You can’t leave. And if you don’t want to play at being a slave then I’ll have to make you one for real. The next time you ask to leave or try to leave, I will punish you. Understood?”
Her cheeks paled. Lucas instantly hated himself for scaring her like this. Hadn’t he just been feeling angry and guilty at himself because he’d scared her before? That he hadn’t been clear that she wasn’t going to be harmed? What was going on in his head?
His wolf was furious, barking and howling. But how was he supposed to make this better? The frustration continued to well in him and he kicked the chopping block hard. Fuck. What sort of idiot was he?
Miriam winced. “Understood, Master.” She inched forward and pointed at his crotch. “Do you want me to take care of that?”
She didn’t mean it.
He knew she didn’t.
This was just like when she offered to be his slave. She thought he was going to hurt her and was pushing forward with something she hoped would calm him. Something that she thought would stop him from hurting her.
“No,” he snapped. “Kristoff told you and I’m telling you again. Neither of us is going to fuck you unless you want us to. And I can see plain as day on your face that you don’t want to. We will never use anything sexual to punish you. Do you understand?”
Miriam licked her lips—and shook her head. “No. I don’t understand any of this. But I’m not allowed to ask questions without being punished. And I don’t even know what that means.” She laughed, a painful, bitter sound. “Why would I expect for someone who wants me as their slave to respect any of the boundaries I make? Why would I expect I’m even allowed to make boundaries?”
“Well, you know now. So, what don’t you understand? The fact that I want to fuck you but won’t until I’m certain you want me to?”
Miriam pressed her fingers to her temples. She stared at him with eyes so wide and confused that it almost hurt. His wolf growled. If they weren’t the same being, it would probably be trying to tear his throat out right now.
He snorted and went back to chopping the wood. He didn’t even know what was going on with this conversation anymore. And it only made him angry and annoyed.
“Go get things ready for a picnic tomorrow,” he snapped over his shoulder. “If you’re worried about your nephews being scared then we’ll take them for a hike. I know a good place where we can stop and eat and there’s even a swimming hole for them to play in.”
Miriam didn’t move. “But it’s too cold for swimming.”
“It’s heated,” Lucas growled. “I spent a good bit of money setting it up. Don’t want to go to a fucking public pool. With all those fucking idiots peeing in the fucking water. Just go get that fucking picnic ready!”
He didn’t expect a response. But he did get one. Miriam laid a hand on his arm as he gathered the chopped wood. The contact made him jump and she jumped back but smiled tentatively. Color flushed her cheeks and the terror that had been in her eyes was no longer there. Confusion, yeah, nervousness, sure, but no real fear.
“Thank you,” she whispered, and then all but raced toward the house.
Lucas stood there, arms and pants full of wood, watching her disappear into the cabin. The spot on his arm where she’d touched glowed warm and bright. And somehow he felt a little lighter than he had in a long, long time.
Chapter Six
His damn wolf was so restless that Kristoff didn’t get a lick of sleep all day. He tossed and turned, thinking about Miriam the whole damn time. His wolf wanted him to go to her, make sure she was alright. Make sure that Lucas wasn’t being an idiot and inadvertently putting her in danger. But it was daylight and vampires couldn’t go out in daylight; he had been up all night and he had the night shift again.
Besides which, Lucas got it now. If Kristoff started hanging around being overbearing, then they were going to start thinking that something was weird… like he cared or something.
Just before twilight fell, he realized he wasn’t going to get any sleep and so he got up. There was work to be done around the house, after all. Grumbling to himself, he swung out of bed and started his usual exercise routine. Only to be interrupted by shouting from outside. He turned, scowling fiercely as he stalked to the window and yanked open his curtain.
To his surprise, three boys were running across his yard. His jaw dropped. What were people doing here? Then he recognized them—Miriam’s nephews.
Miriam and Lucas emerged from the trees. Lucas was laughing, and Miriam looked calmer than he’d seen her in a while…
Kristoff’s wolf yipped at seeing them all, pushing him to go outside. He let the curtain fall and growled to himself. What was Lucas bringing them here for? He was perfectly happy in his isolated existence. He didn’t want or need anybody else to come along and make him feel obligated to them. He already had too many ropes on him now. If he ended up with more, how was he supposed to do what needed to be done when it needed to be done?
It took him several minutes to build the anger he needed to guard against his wolf’s happiness at seeing them. Then, keeping a fierce scowl on his face, he marched outside. The glower was strong enough to send the boys running back to Miriam.
His wolf flinched at seeing them run, but Kristoff didn’t allow himself to soften. This wasn’t like when he’d jumped at them in the truck—that had been to make sure that they didn’t tell people about what happened and cause suspicions to develop. This wasn’t that situation in the least.
“What are you doing here?” he spat at Lucas.
Lucas was unfazed by his anger. “We went for a picnic and lost track of time. Can’t make it back to my place before dark, even driving.”
He pointed at the sky and Kristoff followed his gaze, even though it was unnecessary. Dusk was deep enough in the forest that vampires could already be stirring. He lifted his nose to the air and inhaled deeply, looking like he was praying for patience but really checking the scents on the air.
“Fine, you can stay here tonight,” Kristoff said. “But there aren’t enough beds, so you’ll have to sleep on the floor.”<
br />
Miriam frowned at that. “I’d rather just go back to Lucas’ place.”
Lucas nudged her in the ribs lightly. “Come on! It’ll be like camping. You boys like camping, don’t you?”
The oldest boy, Geoff, frowned at Kristoff. “That’s not like camping at all.”
It was clear from all of their faces that none of them were much enthused about the idea. But they couldn’t risk driving them to the cabin, not at this time of day. The vampire could set some sort of trap on the winding road. It would be difficult to keep them contained as well as protect them.
So far there was only the one vampire they’d seen, but that didn’t mean there weren’t more. Everybody knew that Miriam’s brother had dropped off her nephews to take a trip with his girlfriend. She could be around here somewhere, not to mention there might be even more vampires lurking in the as-of yet unexplored tunnels.
“Maybe it’s not camping,” Lucas crouched near the boys, “but on the plus side, we get to make Kristoff go crazy and that’s always fun.”
Kristoff rolled his eyes but fought against the smile tugging at his lips. “Come on in,” he said, not giving them the chance to protest. “I’ve got a projector and you can watch a movie.”
That won over the two younger boys, Doug and little Rick, while Geoff tried not to look too eager. Miriam hesitated, looking halfway between confused and put out. Kristoff grasped her hand and tugged her a little closer, whispering in her ear that Master commanded it. She gave him the most adorable dirty look for that, which had the unexpected effect of bumping his heart into a faster rhythm. His wolf pressed up against his ribs, liking the feeling of Miriam’s hand in his.
He dropped it quickly and strode in after the boys to make sure they didn’t mess things up too bad.
After the movie, Miriam had a hard time getting the boys to settle down for sleep. And that was all because of Lucas. He kept riling them up on purpose, ending up with all of them screaming and running around in the tight space.
They had a blast with Lucas chasing them around while Miriam tried to get him to stop. Kristoff left the cabin quietly, even though his wolf growled at him to join in on the fun. He couldn’t—if he started doing that, it would lead to emotion and attachment, and he wasn’t about to risk that.
Instead, he phoned the situation in to Sly, who told him to stay home and keep an eye on things there, rather than run his normal route. Outside, Kristoff slipped into the trees and started pacing a patrol. He kept his senses on alert as he moved as silently as possible.
His wolf’s sudden growling startled him. He stopped, stiffening. And then the faintest trace of a particular scent tickled his nose.
His head swung round to see a shadowy figure creeping closer to the cabin. A growl built in his throat, but he turned back, slipping through the bushes he was intimately familiar with. He’d patrolled the area often enough in daylight that he knew where every twig, every rock, every bush was.
When he was close enough, he lunged.
The vampire let out a high-pitched scream as his jaws closed around its shoulder. But he had misjudged his aim just slightly. As he whipped his head to the left, trying to pull the vampire off balance, its clothing tore. His teeth dragged over flesh but did not find purchase. It twisted around, punching hard at his neck. The blow was strong enough to knock him off balance. As Kristoff stumbled, the vampire dug long fingers into his fur and threw itself forward.
Kristoff corkscrewed away, knocking the vampire into a tree. But even as he did so, a sharp pain stabbed him through the ear. He howled, calling for backup. The vampire yanked itself up and over him and bit him on the muzzle and nose, over and over again, sinking its fangs into wherever it could reach.
No! Kristoff fought against the fuzzy feeling as his wolf started to fade away. He barked out a challenge, trying to get his jaws to fasten around the vampire.
But it was no good. The venom coursed through him, forcing his wolf in retreat. He slid into his human form. Blood dripped from his face as he socked the vampire hard in the stomach. A howl resounded from the direction of the cabin. The vampire kicked him hard, breaking free of his grasp.
“You can’t have her!” Kristoff bellowed, lunging again.
The vampire slipped from his grasp, hissed, and took off into the woods. Seconds later, Lucas was there. Kristoff grunted as he pulled himself to his feet while Lucas shifted back to human form. He reached to steady Kristoff and Kristoff waved him off.
“I’m fine. Go after that vampire!”
“And leave you alone to fight it off like this if it circles back?” Lucas grabbed him by the waist and hauled him back toward the cabin. “I don’t think so.”
Kristoff grunted, angry that Lucas had a point.
It wasn’t long before they were back at the cabin. The boys had been settled in his room—his room—but Miriam stood in the kitchen, her hands wringing as she watched Lucas bring him in. She flushed terribly at seeing his nakedness, but Kristoff was in too much pain to rightly care. Lucas grabbed a blanket from the couch and flung it at him before he disappeared back into the night.
“Stay close,” Kristoff warned.
“Yeah, yeah,” Lucas called back, waving a hand.
Miriam stared at Kristoff with wide eyes for several seconds before she retrieved a container and filled it with water. “D-do you have a first aid kit?”
“Under the bathroom sink.” Kristoff checked over himself. His face was bleeding badly, making it difficult to tell if anything else was bleeding. Exhaustion rippled through him, a side-effect of the venom, and he slumped back in the chair.
Miriam was back soon enough. She cleaned him up with aching tenderness, and Kristoff was suddenly glad that his wolf wasn’t around for this. If it had been… well, he could well imagine its reaction to having Miriam so close. All yips and rolls and tail wagging. And as her warm, soft fingers probed a bruise on his shoulder, he found that he was too tired to fight this. He leaned into her touch, embracing her presence and reveling in it.
“What happened?” she whispered, and the fear in her voice made his eyes open. Her hands were trembling as she bandaged the wounds on his face.
Kristoff caught her hand. Of course. She was thinking of the body she’d stumbled on in the woods that day. “Vampire. We get them around sometimes. It’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Her head bent and she taped a piece of gauze in place before she murmured, “It’s not the vampires I’m afraid of.”
“I know. I wasn’t talking about the vampire.”
When she didn’t respond, Kristoff sighed. He could reassure her all he wanted, but it wouldn’t do any good. Besides that, now in the silence of the night, in the comfort of his home… emotions were all the more dangerous.
So he pushed those thoughts of comforting her aside and instead asked what no doubt would end up being too personal for her, which would cause her to withdraw and he wouldn’t have to worry about the conversation continuing. “Why did you decide to be a waitress? I know you trained as a midwife. You’re the reason Angela’s twins are alive. So why go from a profession where you’re doing something like that to working in a diner where people are constantly treating you like shit?”
Miriam stiffened, as he knew she would. Her eyes flashed, and her hands dropped to her side. “It’s none of your business.”
He put his hands on her hips, wanting her to pull away from him—she didn’t, and he found himself unable to release her. He tugged her closer, spreading his legs until her knees touched the chair. “Master demands an answer.”
Her cheeks flushed as she looked away. “I’m infertile. I found out while I was working as a midwife, and it just ended up being too much for me.”
Kristoff frowned, his hands light on her hips now. He hadn’t really been expecting her to answer, let alone admit something like that. “So you can’t be a mother by giving birth. So, you’ll adopt or foster?” He glanced at his bedroom door. “Or just take care of your nephews?” Sh
e stared at him and Kristoff released her, not liking that attention. “What?”
“You… didn’t even…” She sighed heavily. “I’m used to people feeling sorry for me when they hear that.”
Kristoff shrugged, wincing as his wounds tugged on the skin. “Why should I feel sorry for you? You’ve had time to come to terms with it all and it’s not like you can’t be a mother anyway. You’re a damn good mom to those boys in there.” He gestured to the bedroom. “A damn sight better than their sperm donor. What happened to their egg donor anyway?”
Miriam stepped back from him. “Don’t talk like that. You don’t know what it’s like.”
“I think I do.” Kristoff stood, securing the blanket around his waist so she didn’t get too shocked. “Because I had someone just like that. But I didn’t have someone like you.”
He cursed himself for revealing so much. What was wrong with him? Just because she flashed him those deep, soulful eyes and blushed meant he had to go spilling all his life secrets? Frustration welled in him and so he did the only thing he could think to do to drive her off and stop her from asking more questions. He grabbed her, pulled her close in against him, and kissed her.
And when he felt her kiss back, he knew he had made the biggest fucking mistake of his life. He hardened, the taste of her lips driving him wild. His hands drifted over her, the pain from the vampire’s attack receding as passion welled in him.
He walked her back, pressing her against the table. And then her hands were on his chest, pushing him away. He let her, dazed by his own reaction to this. Miriam didn’t even speak as she launched herself across the room and hid in the bedroom.
Kristoff leaned against the table, emotion and desire moving through him so quickly he wasn’t sure what he was feeling—except the unmistakable sense that he was royally fucked now.
Chapter Seven
Miriam shook her head, realizing that she had been staring at the cover of a romance novel for almost two minutes. Luckily, the library was pretty empty so nobody had seen her zone out.
Enslaved by the Wolves Page 4
