Honoria Ravena (17 page)

“You never had him, Goddamn it. He’s gone and there are more bad guys on the way. Stop fighting me.”

Jason’s voice came from my right. “Shit, Regan. Are you all right?”

Zarek grunted. “She’s fine. The cut is healing already. Though I bet the blow didn’t help her brain damage.”

I had managed to wipe most of the blood out of my eyes. I glowered at him. “I don’t have brain damage.”

He stopped and jerked me around. He shook me. “Obviously you do if you’re willing to run here and face a man with an army. A man you couldn’t possibly win against.”

“We didn’t plan to do any fighting! We came here to check it out. That’s—”

Jason interrupted. “Zarek, this is my fault. She noticed me leaving and decided to come with me. “

Zarek’s hands bit into my arms, and he shook me again. “He could have killed you! I’m tempted to kill you now and end your suffering.”

My brother grabbed his arm. “Hey, stop shaking her. I told you, it’s my fault.”

My lover shoved his index finger in my brother’s face as if he were an errant five-year-old. “She should have come and gotten me instead of following you, so don’t you start. I’ll be dealing with you later.”

I yanked from Zarek’s grip but didn’t break free. “I can’t let you do everything! There is some brother-sister shit we have to work out on our own. Running to you wasn’t going to solve what’s going on in his head.”

He ignored me, breaking into a superhuman run, and I was forced to run with him or be dragged.

Chapter Fifteen

When we reached the bar, Zarek hauled me up the stairs past many curious vampires. He flung open the door to his room and pulled me inside. He slammed the door and pushed me against the wall, braced his arms on either side of my head, and bared his fangs. I flinched. He hadn’t looked this pissed since I’d cut his throat.

Before I could speak, someone across the room cleared his throat. I peered around Zarek. Laedan sat at the desk.

Zarek glanced over his shoulder. “What are you doing in here?”

“I’m doing the books. We made a nice profit.”

“Get out.”

Laedan grinned and came to his feet. “Somebody’s in trouble,” he said in a singsong voice.

Zarek growled. “Laedan.”

“I’m going, I’m going. I just felt the need to taunt her a little.”

I ducked under Zarek’s arm and backed away from him. “You know, Laedan, maybe you shouldn’t go. I’m not sure I like the way he’s looking at me.”

“Ha ha. Nice try, but I won’t die for you. I’ll leave you to Zarek. He can do what he pleases with you. Don’t worry, I don’t think he’s going to kill you.”

I growled at him. “You spineless little shit.”

He grinned. “Can I watch?”

The snarl that emerged from Zarek made me flinch. Laedan’s smile just widened. He was completely unaffected. He spun on his heel and left, shutting the door behind him. Zarek flipped the lock.

I immediately scrambled for an explanation. “Okay. Just let me talk. My brother was really upset. I could tell. If we hadn’t gone now, we would have had to deal with some other stupid move he’d make in the future. I thought I could keep him from doing anything suicidal and do a little recon while I was at it. Just to see what’s what. Navarro killed my parents. He wants to murder my brother and me. I want help to kill him. I figured I’d poke around.”

He thumped his forehead against the door. “Someone else should have done the spying. You should have come to me when you saw how on the edge your brother was.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I told you, it’s none of your goddamn business. It’s brother-sister stuff. Besides, all this is your own damned fault.”

He swung around and snarled. I jumped back and bumped into the desk. He was suddenly in my face. I hadn’t seen him move.

“It’s really not fair that I still can’t see you move and I’m a vampire.”

He smiled, and I shrank back. It was not a happy smile. “I made you. I still have the power to cloud your mind. It will pass, unfortunately. I think I need every advantage over you I can get.”

I shrugged. “That’s probably the truth.”

He spun me around and pushed me face down over the desk.

I tried to stand, and he planted a hand in the middle of my back.

“Zarek, what the hell?”

“Surely you know what’s coming,” he whispered in my ear. “You knew this stunt would piss me off, and you did it anyway. You’re actually very lucky that the enemy is going to attack within hours. If they weren’t, I would tie you to my bed for a month, have Laedan run the bar, and spend the entire time screwing you.”

I started to cream. Damn it, the threat of being tied to a vampire’s bed for a month should not be a turn-on.

“Since when is sex a punishment?” I mumbled into the desk.

“I’ve got a sadistic streak. I don’t have to let you come and it all depends on what I’m fucking.” There was a loud pop and pain fired across my ass.

“Ow! Hey.”

“Hush. I’ll spank you harder before this is over.”

I glared up at him, but it was hard to look menacing when he had me face down over his desk. “What?”

“You can’t possibly be surprised.”

“Yes. Though I probably shouldn’t be. You’re a big brute.”

He drew a knife from his back and I jerked.

“Okay. That I didn’t expect at all and it’s going too far.”

“Don’t move.”

The cool steel brushed my back. My pants loosened and slipped down my thighs as he sliced through them. The little pink lacy thong fluttered to the ground. He tossed the knife on the floor.

I heard a snap and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zarek push his pants down, freeing his erection.

“I can’t believe you just cut up three hundred dollar jeans. That you bought, I might add.”

“I’ll buy you new ones.”

“You’re lucky you bought the clothes or I’d hurt you.”

There was a loud crack, and my right butt cheek burned.

“I wouldn’t threaten if I were you. And I’d be more worried about my ass than a pair of jeans.”

“Will you stop spanking me? That’s not a turn on.”

He rubbed his cock against the seam of my ass. “Turns me on.”

He struck my backside again and I yelped.

“Oh yeah, that puts a pretty blush in those cheeks. Besides, if you don’t like it maybe you’ll think twice before you do something stupid.” He massaged my backside possessively before he kicked my legs farther apart and knelt behind me.

“What are you doing?”

His tongue dipped between my outer labia and I gasped.

“Do you really have to ask? I thought I was making my intentions pretty clear.”

He sucked my clit into his mouth. A finger pressed into my slick vagina and then withdrew. Another finger joined the first in a leisurely pump. That delicious pleasure started to build as he did something wicked with his mouth. I ground myself against his face, and he drew back.

“Damn it, Zarek. Let me come!”

His chuckle vibrated against my clit, and I shuddered.

“Asshole.”

He kissed my inner thigh. “Careful. I’ve got my teeth near a sensitive area.”

I rose up. I wanted to face him and return the favor. He pushed me back on the desk as he stood.

“Let me up. I want to touch you.”

“No, I’m in control.”

Rage fired in my mind. There was only so much of this domination crap my ego could take. I wrapped my foot around his ankle and threw all my weight backward.

There was a crack as his elbows struck the floor and he cursed. I turned over and straddled his waist. I grasped his cock and lowered myself onto it, and we both groaned.

“That was so hot, if not a little painful.”

I raked his nipple lightly with my teeth. “I’ll make up for it.”

I slowly rose over him and then dropped down hard. He arched under me with a gasp. I started to rise again, taking my time. He grabbed my hips and jerked me down. I moaned and took the hint, picking up the pace.

“Yes,” he hissed as he met my thrusts. “Ride me hard, baby.”

Pleasure fired in my mind. I could smell the blood rushing under his skin. I leaned forward and kissed his throat.

He pressed me to it. “Bite me.”

My fangs sank into his throat and he groaned. Emotions flooded my mind. Anger, pain. He’d been terrified when he found out I was in danger. Love. He loved me.

Ecstasy rushed up my spine and I shouted my orgasm. He gave one last thrust and came with a roar of pleasure. I collapsed over him, in a sweating, gasping heap.

Chapter Sixteen

I traced abstract designs over Zarek’s chest as he ran his fingers up and down my spine. His breath ruffled my bangs, and I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.

My smile wilted and I stopped circling his nipple with my fingernail.

He loved me. He’d never admitted to that. Technically, he still hadn’t, but I knew. A part of me was light and happy. The other part was terrified. I couldn’t let myself love him. He wanted to control me. This incident had made that incredibly obvious. I refused to sit around and do nothing when there was a war to be fought. I wanted to go back to hunting vampires, particularly the Scourge. He’d never let me do that. I couldn’t spend my life sitting in the bar, watching him serve customers. Great sex wasn’t worth the career I’d be giving up or my personal freedoms.

I couldn’t stay with him. I had to leave. I’d wanted to kill him. How did I go to caring for him so quickly? He’d ruined my life. He’d caused my brother intense emotional pain. The fact that I could start a new life with Zarek wasn’t the point.

I bit my lip and tried to sit up. He pulled me back down. “Don’t get up yet.”

“Aren’t you uncomfortable lying on the floor like that?”

“Not with you lying on top of me.”

I snorted and kissed his chest, but my romantic, mushy mood was gone.

There was a knock on the door, and Laedan’s voice floated through. “Hey, I hear no cries of passion. You done in there?”

Zarek grumbled as we sat up. “What is it, Laedan?”

“We’ve got some vampires down here discussing serious war plans. Might be wise to get in on them.”

“Right. We’ll be down in five minutes.” Zarek walked to his closet and pulled pants and a tank top off the hangers. He tossed them to me.

“Thanks, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea for me to go have a conference with a bunch of vampires.”

“You’re going to have to play nice with other vampires eventually, whether you find a way to escape me or not. Dress quickly.”

***

Laedan had closed the bar after Zarek left to come rescue my brother and me. Now only vampires lounged around the bar. I felt like I was walking through a pit of snakes. Only snakes didn’t hold a grudge.

As I passed under the dirty looks, I had to resist the urge to grab the back of Zarek’s pants and huddle closer to him. I was a strong, confident woman. Strong, confident women didn’t cower next to their boy toys because of dirty looks, no matter how many nasty monsters were in a room.

Zarek’s hand caught mine as we walked. He didn’t even glance at me, but the fact that he was trying to comfort me gave me the warm fuzzies. My stubborn streak told me to jerk away. I ignored it. Sometimes you have to let things go.

Zarek sat on the couch next to Laedan and pulled me down between them. He leaned forward to speak. Before he could get a word out, the door burst open. A mountain of a man swept into the room. Dark power bled off him. Darius trailed behind him, a scowl etched on his face.

Every vampire in the room stood except Zarek.

He leaned back on the couch, lacing his fingers behind his head and crossing his legs at the ankles. “Well, fuck me. It’s Macon.”

I watched the man walk toward us. His black suit was impeccably cut and looked very expensive. His spiked hair was pitch black, and he hadn’t removed his sunglasses, even though he was inside and it was the middle of the night. The silver hoop in the center of his bottom lip glinted in the dim light.

He stopped in front of Zarek and the corner of his mouth tilted up. “Aren’t you going to rise for your king?”

“Fuck no, brat.”

“You’re so disrespectful. Your woman and her brother didn’t even rise before me. Nor the wolf.”

“Hey, they don’t know the rules, and I doubt they would stand even if they did. As for Laedan, he’s a king in his own right, he doesn’t have to rise for you.”

Macon’s hand snapped out so fast, I didn’t have time to jerk away. He gripped my jaw so hard I knew I would bruise. He slowly brought his hand up. I rose, but I couldn’t keep the look of disgust off my face as I did so. Jason shot to his feet and two of the king’s guards stepped toward him.

“Zarek, get this blood-sucking bastard off me before I dropkick his spoiled ass.”

One eyebrow arched above his Oakley sunglasses, but the crooked smile didn’t slip. More vampires stepped toward us as if to defend him. He threw up a commanding hand, and they halted.

Zarek’s amused voice didn’t give me much hope that he would be any help. “I’d let her go if I were you. She bites.”

“I bet it’s fun when she does.”

Laedan laughed. “Oh yeah. I don’t think anything is better.”

I growled. “I’d kick you if I didn’t think he’d crush my jaw for trying.”

“Love you too, baby.”

Macon directed his attention to Zarek. “I like them, but you didn’t clear it with me before you turned them.”

“Well, my liege, I’m one of the few vampires who can whip your ass. I don’t play by your rules. Release my fledgling.”

Macon let go of me and I slowly sank down next to Zarek, keeping my eyes on the vampire in front of me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jason shoot the king one last glare before he sank into his chair.

Darius growled and crossed his arms over his chest. “Sire, you shouldn’t be here. Your Watchers can do this.”

“Oh, shut up. A good fight makes life worth it.” He glanced at me over the top of his sunglasses. His eyes were the color of storm clouds. “Does it not, Regan?”

I frowned at him. “Well, I know I like a nice fight.”

Laedan nudged me with his elbow. “He likes you.”

Macon pushed his glasses back up and glanced at Darius. “And you know how bored I’ve been lately.”