Beyond the Darkness

by Katie Reus

  And she didn’t care that she’d told him she just wanted things casual between them. He’d put no claim on her, had acted as if she meant absolutely nothing to him in front of Nalani. That beautiful, perfect-looking dragon who’d dared to flaunt her perfect, bare breasts at Bran and made all Keelin’s primitive instincts rush to the surface. Was she being irrational? Maybe. Probably. Yes.

  She didn’t care one bit. Her dragon side wanted to claw him to shreds and her human half was in complete agreement.

  The female Alpha had been practically naked and he’d done nothing to signal that he was with Keelin. No small touch on her back, leg, nothing.

  The back of her throat burned with the need to release her fire, but she held back, knowing that if she slipped the leash she might not be able to contain herself.

  The flight to the club was over far too soon, but she felt better once she arrived. Keeping her cloak in place, she circled the area a few times. When she was certain she was alone except for the security guy smoking by the front door, she landed near the outskirts of the parking lot so she’d have enough room and shifted to her human form. Only then did she let her cloak fall.

  Normally she’d change before heading inside but in her escape from Bran she hadn’t brought her clothes or her phone. As she walked to the front door, the vampire’s eyes widened with surprise and a heavy dose of lust as he watched her approach. She was still too annoyed to care about his blatant interest. He’d been with Bo for a few years from what she’d heard but she’d only worked with him a couple times.

  Forcing herself to take a deep breath and be polite, she gave him a sweet smile she didn’t feel. “Can I borrow your shirt?”

  “Yeah, sure, of course.” He stumbled over his words as he practically ripped the plain black T-shirt over his head and handed it to her. “You need anything?” he asked as she tugged it over her head. His expression was oh-so hopeful.

  Vampires had a different scent than shifters. It was still primal but less earthy. Right now she just cared that she had something to cover her naked body with. Shaking her head, she said, “No, but thank you. Is Bo working?” He normally was, but not always and she wanted to talk to him.

  “Yeah, but he’s dealing with some employee shit. I think someone’s getting fired,” he whispered.

  Keelin raised her eyebrows, then nodded and headed inside. Bo was pretty laid back about things so unless someone stole from him, hurt someone, was seriously out of line with the customers or employees—or did something to Nyx—she couldn’t imagine him letting someone go lightly.

  Inside things were busy but seemed normal enough. Nyx was at a high-top table talking to a group of females who seemed to be hanging on her every word. Nyx was blushing at something one of them said, then she nodded and headed for the bar. She paused when she saw Keelin, her eyes widening as she made a beeline for her.

  In bare feet she was a lot shorter than Nyx who was wearing ridiculously gorgeous heels tonight. “Hey, are you okay?” Nyx asked, taking in the borrowed shirt and bare feet.

  Keelin nodded, barely able to contain the annoyance bubbling inside her. When Bran got here she was going to ignore him, see how he liked it. “Yeah. Stupid night, that’s all.”

  Her friend frowned and glanced down at her attire. “Cynara’s got extra clothes in Bo’s office. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you borrowed something.”

  “Where’s Bo?” Because she so wasn’t interrupting him if he was firing someone.

  “Behind the red door. I think something bad happened.” Nyx bit her bottom lip and looked over her shoulder, though it was too crowded to see past the high-top tables and multiple dance areas to where the door was.

  “Okay, I’ll ask Cynara then. Thanks.”

  “No problem, just let me know if you need anything, okay?”

  She nodded, some of her earlier steam fading. “I will.”

  After checking with Cynara she headed to Bo’s office and found a few different sets of Cynara’s clothes in one of the closets, all of which were incredibly revealing. Even with their height difference, the clothes would all fit. Sort of.

  In the end she chose a leather dress that was truly ridiculous. It was more like lingerie than anything but all her lady parts were covered. Barely.

  The front of it was all black laces criss-crossing down in a V that dipped past her navel to just above her mound. The back laced up too, with the only actual leather material running along her hips up to her ribs and the sides of her breasts. Keelin wondered where Cynara bought this stuff. Maybe she had them custom-made because Keelin had never seen anything like this anywhere. And she’d done her fair share of shopping since waking from her Protective Hibernation. Cynara even had shoes which were a size too big but the three-inch heels fit well enough. Since the straps wrapped around her ankles they stayed in place.

  Once she was out in the club, she found the security guy and gave him his shirt back. He didn’t say anything, just stared at her so she took that as a good sign. The dress was revealing and she was going to work it tonight. Let Bran see how it felt when she ignored him.

  A popular song thumped through the speakers, making her want to dance. But first, she was grabbing a drink. Or three. On the way to Cynara’s bar, Nyx sidled up to her and slid her arm through one of hers. “I’ve already had four males and three females offer to buy you drinks. Those females,” she said, with a very slight nod to the right, “have been hitting on me all night and asked if the two of us would like to join the three of them behind the red door.”

  On the outskirts of the high-top table seating, three females all with long, black hair and Asian features smiled and raised their martini glasses when Keelin looked over. She could see their animals in their gazes and guessed they were feline. She smiled back. “Does Finn know those cats are in his territory?”

  Nyx laughed as they continued threading their way through the growing crowd. “Yeah. They made sure to tell me they’d already talked to the Stavros Alpha and were just passing through. They’re snow leopards.”

  Keelin raised her eyebrows. “I’ve never seen one before.” They were so rare and for three of them to be in one place was pretty cool.

  “Me neither. They’re really nice and really horny. I’m sure they won’t have a problem picking up someone tonight, though females seem to be their preference. Now tell me what’s going on with you. For real.”

  “It’s too much to explain. Just…males are stupid.” She sounded like a petulant adolescent but didn’t care.

  Nyx snickered. “No kidding. A bunch of Stavros packmates are here tonight. I don’t think just to party, but they’re at one of the private booths if you want to join them.”

  “I do. Send over a couple bottles of Bo’s best champagne.” She had the money and tonight she was going to spend it. Deep down she wondered if Bran would even care when he got here. He’d made it clear what he thought of her in front of that female. Keelin shoved the hurt away as best she could.

  Her friend just smothered a smile and nodded. “Sure thing.”

  * * *

  Bran’s mood was black by the time he made it to Bo’s place. He’d wanted to ditch his SUV completely and fly but knew it would have been stupid.

  Almost forty-five minutes later he was finally fucking here. The more time he’d had by himself the more he wanted to know what Keelin’s deal was. He didn’t understand her anger at all. It wasn’t like he’d asked that female to prance around half-naked and he hadn’t looked at her more than he had to.

  The parking lot was packed so when he stepped inside he wasn’t surprised the place was full. Scents of sex, alcohol, perfumes, and a dozen other things accosted him at once. There were a lot of shifters here tonight. Not just wolves either.

  Before he’d taken more than five steps two females who looked alike enough to be related approached him. Wearing matching plaid Catholic schoolgirl skirts the size of band-aids and tops that looked like bras, they both smiled at the same time. It was
creepy.

  Knowing he would come off as a dick, he didn’t care. Before they could touch him or say anything he bared his teeth and growled, letting his dragon show in his eyes.

  Simultaneously they flashed their fangs and flipped him off before turning around and flashing their ass cheeks when they swiveled away in search of someone else.

  When he saw Bo talking to a female with purple hair behind one of the bars, he started making his way to the two of them. Bo spotted him and nodded in acknowledgement so Bran parked it by the end of the bar and waited until the half-demon made his way to him. Bo ducked under the hatch of the bar, his expression as grim as Bran felt.

  “What’s up?” Bo asked.

  “We need to talk.”

  “Can it wait? Tonight’s insane.” He looked ready to murder someone.

  Bran shook his head. “It won’t take long.”

  “Fine. My office.”

  “Where’s Keelin?” Bran asked, scanning the place, unable to see past the throng of people crammed onto the dance floor. He desperately wanted to see her, but needed to get this shit over with so she could have his full attention.

  “At a booth with a bunch of the Stavros pack.”

  His inner dragon was immediately soothed at the knowledge. She was protected. As soon as he got this conversation over with Bo he was finding her.

  Once they were alone in his office, Bo leaned against the edge of his desk, not bothering to walk around it. “I’m not trying to be rude, but fucking talk.”

  Bran had no problem getting to the point. “Dragons in the area are going missing.” Because fuck it, if his kind were coming out of the closet so to speak, he wasn’t going to hold back anything. Besides, this half-demon knew about them.

  Bo still seemed surprised though, the scent rolling off him true shock. “There are more in the area than you and Keelin?”

  “Yeah.” And the half-demon wasn’t getting more information than that. At least not yet. Bran retrieved his tablet from where he’d tucked it into the back of his pants. He turned it on and pulled up a couple of the files Nalani had sent him. Swiping his finger across the screen he placed the pictures of the missing dragons on the screen then turned it around. “You know any of these individuals?”

  Bo shifted uncomfortably against his desk and nodded. “They’ve all been in here before. They’re all dragons?”

  “Yep. What can you tell me about them?”

  A scent came off the male Bran couldn’t pin down. Bo cleared his throat. “Well, I’ve fucked two of them.” Okay, that was embarrassment rolling off the guy. He pointed out two pictures of dark-haired females. “We had a threesome but it was casual for all of us. Those females liked to have a good time. Can’t believe I didn’t know they were dragons,” he muttered.

  “What did you think they were?”

  He shrugged. “Felines. It’s not like they shifted or anything and I knew they weren’t vamps or Stavros pack.”

  “Anyone else who works for you fool around with any of them, male or female?”

  “I don’t know, but I’ll ask. Discretely,” he added.

  “I want to know anything and everything about them that you or anyone could remember. Who they left with, dates, anything. No detail is too small.”

  Bo nodded then tapped his earpiece. “Hold on,” he murmured to Bran. He must have some sort of blocking system because Bran couldn’t hear what the person on the other end was saying.

  But it was easy enough to read Bo’s body language. The male stiffened and turned away from Bran. “Get her off the stage. Now,” he murmured. “I don’t care what she says. Fucking do it.” A deadly growl rumbled from the male before he turned back to Bran, his expression stiff and his eyes flashing amber.

  There was something off about the male’s whole posture and it set Bran on alert. He immediately stood. “Who were you talking about?”

  Bo cleared his throat. “What?” As if he didn’t understand the question.

  Without thinking Bran grabbed Bo by the throat and slammed him down onto the desk. The half-demon’s eyes flashed brightly and Bran knew his dragon was in his own eyes. Bo didn’t struggle or attempt to get out of the hold, just glared at him.

  “Talk!” Bran demanded. Then realized he was squeezing the guy’s throat. Fuck. He released it, feeling like an out of control adolescent and stepped back, his breathing jagged, his heart about to burst through his chest. That fucker had been talking about Keelin. He just knew it.

  Bo sat up and adjusted his shirt, looking annoyed more than angry. He cleared his throat. “First, I’m going to tell you that I have one room open behind the red door. Number eight. Use it with your female. Second, don’t fucking kill anyone. Third, do not destroy my club or you and I will come to blows. My magic only goes so far with cleanup. Fourth, Keelin’s dancing with some guy on one of the platforms—”

  Bran was gone, burning through the office door without thought. He vaguely heard Bo cursing behind him but he ignored it. Sprinting down the hallway he managed to open that door instead of incinerating it.

  Because he was saving all his fire for the fucker who thought he could touch his female. There was no way Bo would have reacted that way if the guy hadn’t been touching Keelin. Dancing and touching went together.

  The vision in his one good eye blurred and it took all his self-control not to shift right in the middle of the club. There were half a dozen raised platforms in the back area of the club. But it was blocked by a shitload of people and a wall that acted as a barrier to that part of the establishment.

  Not willing to deal with shoving through everyone, Bran let out a roar, not caring who knew what he was. The earsplitting sound reverberated through the club and the music quieted. “Get the fuck out of my way!” he snarled, stomping through the crowd that now split a perfect path, giving him a wide berth.

  He knew he looked like a complete fucking lunatic. He didn’t care.

  It would have been easier to simply destroy everything in his path, but he managed to control himself. Just barely. He hurried past the private booths, all of which had the curtains drawn back now so people could stare at the crazy shifter. Fuck all of them. When he stepped around the walled area blocking the back he immediately spotted Keelin.

  And nearly lost his shit.

  She was climbing down off a raised platform that she’d apparently been dancing on. Some guy had his hands on her hips and was helping her.

  What she was wearing…his dick instantly got hard at the sight of her. He’d seen her naked, but still, seeing her like this was hot. That wasn’t a dress, it was… Hell if he knew what it was.

  She pushed the guy next to her away when she saw Bran, her gray eyes flashing with just a hint of unease—and annoyance. The entire room had gone quiet and he was vaguely aware of some Stavros pack members near Keelin on the wood dance floor, though everyone had stopped dancing.

  Feeling almost possessed, he stalked across the room, not surprised when everyone cut another path for him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the male she’d been dancing with run out of the room. The predator in him wanted to give chase, but he let the fool go. The music had been turned down and Bran spotted a DJ in the corner, but the room was dark with colorful lights flashing over everything.

  He had eyes only for Keelin.

  The closer he got to her, the more annoyed she seemed to get. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. The movement of her hands made her pseudo-dress pull taut, the laces stretching over the full mounds of her breasts, pulling back just enough so that her nipples were almost popping out.

  Nipples he’d only seen when she’d been about to shift. Soon he was going to kiss and taste them. Because she was his alone and they both fucking knew it.

  “What the hell do you want?” she rasped out in what he was certain she meant to be a demanding voice but came out almost a whisper.

  “You.”

  Pure anger flared in her eyes. “You don’t get to have me!”
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  He tried to speak but couldn’t make his voice work no matter how hard he tried. Aware of far too many eyes on him, he did the only thing he could think of to give them privacy. He scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder, caveman style.

  “Hey!” She pounded on his back so he slid his hand up the back of her thigh, under her dress, as he turned and headed out of the room and toward the red freaking door.

  She was completely bare, the feel of her smooth skin making his cock even harder. He dug his fingers into her ass cheek and she stilled immediately. Just touching her soothed his anger. He was still furious she’d let some asshole touch her, but with her in his arms he could breathe and think straight again.

  In the distance he heard Bo order the DJ to turn the music back up but he ignored everything and everyone as he cupped Keelin’s soft skin. She felt so damn good. Knowing he was risking her wrath, he slid his thumb in between her legs, dancing dangerously close to her folds. He was going to imprint himself on every cell in her body, make sure she knew she belonged to him.

  Her fingers dug into his side as he reached the red door, but she didn’t tell him to stop. She didn’t say anything, but her arousal teased his senses, the scent enough to bring him to his knees and beg just to taste her. Someone opened the door and he found himself looking at an amused vampire on the other side.

  Bran bared his teeth and stalked past the guy. The hallway was plush and he recognized some paintings as originals of an up and coming painter who specialized in erotic art.

  “Bran, maybe we should—”

  “Enough,” he growled, putting an end to whatever she wanted to say.

  He ignored everything, his boots silent against the gleaming floor as he made his way down to door number eight.

  He could barely hear the club outside the door and once he entered the room, he couldn’t hear anything but the sound of his and Keelin’s breathing. Talk about some serious insulation. Good. He didn’t want anyone privy to what he and Keelin were about to share. She was his and his alone and he planned to show her how important she was to him.

  The room was opulent, all golds and creams with flameless candles on every flat surface, giving the room a romantic atmosphere. Not at all what he’d expected. It was the equivalent of a five-star hotel room, though he was certain there were toys and other things in the heavy armoire by one of the walls that had things he wouldn’t find in a hotel.