He nuzzled her loosened vest off her shoulder and whispered in her ear. “One day soon, when you’re ready, I’m going to mount you like this. I’m going to ride you while you arch your neck for me. I’m going to mark you with my teeth. Fuck you.
Mate
with you. Then you’ll be mine, Vashti. Irrevocably. Every luscious, stubborn, dangerous inch of you.
Mine
.”
She shivered into a devastating climax with that promise in her heart. As impossible as it was, it was hers. Just as he was.
Elijah woke from a deep, healing sleep in the midst of a shift, his body jackknifing up as a man and hitting the carpeted floor as a lycan. He spun about, snarling, looking for the threat that stirred his beast. Vashti’s whimper from the bed pinned him, freezing him in a block of ice.
“No!” She gasped, her body shuddering through her nightmare. “Please. Stop…”
Ah, God. He whined in torment, his gut churning. Focusing on his heart rate, he willed it to slow, forcing his mind to clear so he could shift back into the form that
could wake her without scaring her. The form that could hold her close and give her comfort.
The few moments it took to get himself under control seemed like days. Vashti thrashed naked in their bed, her lush body jerking with remembered pain, and he had no way to fight the demons that plagued her soul. No way to avenge her. Not yet.
The moment he shifted, he lunged to the bed and caught her up, his arms banding around her as she fought against him in the midst of her dream.
“Vashti,” he said gruffly, his throat tight with anger and grief. “Come back to me, sweetheart. Wake up.”
She curled into his chest, her silken skin slick with a cold sweat. “Elijah.”
“I’m here. I have you.”
Shuddering violently, she pressed a cold nose to his skin. “Damn it.”
“Shh…” He rocked her, his lips pressed to the crown of her head. “It’s all right. It’s over now.”
“No.” She shook her head, her nails digging into his back as she clutched at him. “I can’t sleep, damn it. All I want is to lie next to you when you rest, to curl up beside you and dream with you. They fucking took that away from me.”
Tipping her back to see her tear-streaked face, Elijah brushed aside the strands of damp hair that clung to her forehead and cheeks and met her haunted gaze. To see so strong a woman reduced to a terrified creature broke his heart and incited a lethal wrath that had no outlet. He could protect her from outside forces and he
would, but the darkness inside her was something he couldn’t reach until she let him. “Not forever. When we’re mated—”
“We’re not going to mate, damn it!” She struggled violently out of his arms, like a feral animal, and he released her only so she wouldn’t hurt herself. “I can’t breed, Elijah. I can’t give you cute little fanged pups to trip over after a long day of Alpha’ing packs of lycans who want me dead.”
“And I won’t live forever,” he shot back. “We’re not perfect, but we’re all we have. Damned if I’ll watch you suffer when I can help you.”
“There’s nothing to help with! It was over a long time ago.”
“Not in your mind, it’s not. Not in your dreams. When we’re mated—” He held up a hand before she opened her mouth. “Shut up and listen to me. When we’re mated, I’ll be able to share those dreams with you. I’ll be able to fight off the demons that hurt you. We’ll be able to talk to each other, share with each other, without a word.”
Her eyes widened in horror. “I don’t want you in my head.”
“You had no problems digging into mine.”
“That was different. We were having sex. I wanted you to feel good.”
“Right back atcha, sweetheart.” His jaw tightened. “You need me in your head. And
I
need to be in there. It’s killing me to see you hurt like this. To smell your fear.”
“I just need to stay awake.” Vash began to pace, her wild hair swaying around her nude torso. “I don’t need sleep like you do. I can go without it.”
“Fuck that.” He pushed to his feet. “Your body may not need sleep, but your mind does. Your heart does.”
“You don’t know what they did to me,” she bit out. “I don’t want you to know. You won’t know. I won’t let you.”
Elijah crossed his arms. “Try and stop me.”
“It’s not necessary. We can work around it.”
“No deals, sweetheart. Do you think there’s something—
anything
—that could make me not want you? Don’t you think I would’ve found that escape route before we passed the point of no return? You’re right. I don’t know what was done to you. But I’ve got the gist and a really twisted, sick, fucked-up imagination. Chances are, what I can picture in my head is worse than reality, but it doesn’t matter either way. It doesn’t change how I feel about you. Nothing can.”
“You don’t know that.” She fisted the roots of her hair with both hands. “I won’t risk you finding out the hard way.”
He caught her when she paced by and made her look at him. “The only thing that could come between us is infidelity. In that case, you wouldn’t have to worry about me walking away because you’d both be dead.”
Vash stared at him a moment, her eyes bleak; then the corner of her mouth twitched. “And you call me the crazy one?”
“I’m going to make you happy.” He pulled her close. The icy lump in his stomach melted when her slender
arms encircled him. “Whether you like it or not. Whether you fight me or not.”
“Oh, I’ll fight you,” she promised, her eyes clear of shadows. “That’s the way I roll.”
He pressed his lips to her forehead. “I wouldn’t have you any other way.”
“S
tick close,” Elijah said as Vashti climbed out of the passenger side of their rental, her gaze trained on the massive metal gate that was the entrance to the Huntington lycan outpost. “They’ll know you’re mine the moment they get a whiff of you. I’d be surprised if we don’t face at least one challenger here. Especially from whoever’s been running this place since they revolted.”
She slid sunglasses over her golden eyes and rounded the hood. “I’ve got your back, babe. And your fine ass, too.”
He couldn’t help but look twice, then stare. She was wearing one of the sleek, sleeveless black bodysuits that looked like wet paint applied directly to her skin. Black leather boots covered her from toe to knee and her long, blood red hair hung loosely down her back. For the first time since he’d met her, she wore jewelry: a stunning necklace she’d picked up that morning
when she was out fetching him coffee from Starbucks. The fact that she’d thought of his desire for caffeine—a desire she didn’t share—touched him. But the necklace touched him more. It was an elaborate collar of peridot around her neck, a color she said reminded her of his eyes.
The nonchalance with which she’d told him about her selection didn’t fool him for a minute. The necklace shook up her usual stark mourning black in an unmistakable way. No one could miss the statement, and she’d chosen to make it with something she associated with him.
She’d gone on to tell him that her wings had been a similar color, putting a picture in his head of a ruby-haired, sapphire-eyed, peridot-winged angel with pale-as-a-pearl skin. Impossibly gorgeous, he’d thought, wishing he could have seen her that way. Then he’d pulled her close and kissed her until she went lax in his arms and her dreamy smile revealed her wickedly sharp fangs. The angel she’d been was in the past. It was the vampress who held his heart. The fallen angel with a warrior’s soul. The woman who’d suffered brutality at the hands of demons and been broken only to come back stronger and fiercer than ever.
“Micah’s always going to be a problem, isn’t he?” she asked softly, absently adjusting the fit of her katana scabbards. “Or more accurately, what I did to him and what you did to his widow because of me.”
He didn’t deny it. There was no point.
“I’m sorry, El.” Reaching out, she linked her fingers with his. “Not that I did it, because under the
circumstances and the information I had to go on, I would do it again. But I’m sorry that it hurt you and that it’s causing you trouble now.”
The video screen beside the door flickered, and a stern male face appeared. “Who are you? And what do you want?”
Since the feed was closest to Vashti, she approached it first. “Your Alpha is here to check the place out. A warm welcome is expected. A little brownnosing wouldn’t hurt.”
Elijah sighed. “Vashti.”
“What?” She strolled over to him.
The thirty-foot door slid open smoothly, revealing a party of a half-dozen armed lycans—five males and one female. Vashti looked down at the multitude of red pistol scope laser sights shimmering on her chest. A wicked smile curved her lips, and she bared her fangs.
“Behave,” he admonished her before stepping forward. “Lower your weapons. She’s with me.”
“She’s a vampire,” the tall, tawny-haired lycan in the middle said with a scowl.
“Cute
and
observant,” Vash purred. “I’m sorry I left the Scooby Snacks back at the hotel.”
The lycan’s aim lifted to center mass of her forehead.
Elijah pulled the sunglasses off his face. “Ah, but clearly his hearing is defective. I may need to put him down.”
“Can I watch?” she asked sweetly.
The dark-haired lycan next to Trigger-Happy holstered his weapon and came forward. His nostrils
twitched, and one brow rose as he looked back and forth between Elijah and Vashti. “Interesting.”
Vash’s grin widened. “You have no idea.”
The lycan extended his hand to Elijah. “I’m Paul. We weren’t aware there was an Alpha in charge.”
Vash stepped closer, clearly protective. “Why send a messenger when he can take care of it himself? Your Alpha takes the hands-on approach.”
“We have a hierarchy here,” Trigger-Happy said tightly. “You’ll respect it, or you can find another outpost to shelter you.”
She shook her head. “Definitely no treats for you.”
Trigger-Happy took aim.
In the time it took for Vash to pivot out of the way, Elijah shifted and lunged. He knocked the blond down and ripped his throat out in one fluid movement.
Gunshots fired around them. Elijah spun in a snarling crouch, prepared to attack again…only to find three of the lycans nursing bleeding trigger hands and one of the males standing with both arms up in the air and his gaze rigidly trained on the ground. Vash held Paul’s pistol in one hand and the back of his neck in the other, her arm straightened so that he was forced to his knees on the ground.
Elijah shifted forms and walked toward his discarded clothes, admiration and respect for his woman filling him in a heated rush.
Vash glared at the female lycan. “Close your eyes, bitch. No peeking. You see any part of your Alpha but his face and you won’t live to regret it.”
He pulled on his jeans first, for Vash’s sake, then
used his shirt to wipe the blood from his mouth and chest. “I’m lenient about many things,” he said to the group at large. “But I won’t tolerate disobedience or threats of any kind against Vashti. Are we clear?”
Two of the males shifted forms at the mention of who she was, unable to restrain their agitation. The snarl he shot them had them sitting, if shifting restlessly. “Let Paul get up.”
Vash released the man, but kept her gaze trained on the others.
Paul straightened, raking Elijah with a sweeping glance. “I’ve never seen a lycan shift so fast.”
“Betcha never seen a lycan who’s nailing a vampress either,” Vash said. “Syre’s second, no less. It’s a whole new world.”
Elijah arched a brow at her. “Didn’t I tell you to behave?”
“I don’t take orders from you when I’m not naked.”
He decided not to give her any more ammunition. “I need access to your data center, Paul.”
“Yes, Alpha.” Paul gestured through the gate. “I’ll show you where it is.”
Elijah was deep into working on the data when Vash’s cell phone rang. Excusing herself, she stepped out to the hallway and answered, managing a smile when Syre’s face appeared on her iPhone screen.
“Vashti,” he greeted her. “How are things faring in Huntington?”
“I don’t know yet. They’re digging for the goods now.”
“What is that on your neck?” He frowned. “Is that…jewelry?”
She flushed. “Yeah. What’s up?”
“Have things smoothed out between you and your lycan?”
“I’m keeping him.” She figured it was best to get that out of the way.
Syre’s smile revealed his fangs. “Excellent.”
Her fist clenched at her side, her mind’s eye seeing the fork in the road ahead and the decision she’d soon be forced to make between the two most important men in her life.
“Can you speak privately?” His smooth, soothing voice had the opposite effect, making her hackles rise.
“Not yet.” Vash glanced up at one of the lycans on guard duty in the hallway. “Nearest soundproofed room?”
He jerked his thumb down the hall, his gaze cold and hard. “Two doors down on the right, bloodsucker.”
“Thanks, Fido.”
Once she was inside alone, she cocked her ears and listened for anything other than her own breathing. She kicked the walls one by one, listening for the telltale sound of a pocket where a bug could be hidden. When those checks come up clear, she nodded. “Okay. I’m good. What’s up?”
“I’m heading with Raze to Chicago now to follow up with his contact there. Torque is covering for us while we’re in the field.” Syre leaned back in his chair. “As for your lycan…there’s something you need to know.”
Her heartbeat skipped at his tone. “Oh?”
“His blood caused a remission in that wraith yesterday for a reason—he’d just drunk filtered Sentinel blood through Lindsay. When Grace tested Lindsay’s blood via the needles and other paraphernalia that you had the presence of mind to retain, she found the effect to be even more pronounced. It’s highly likely that pure, undiluted Sentinel blood—or perhaps all angelic blood—is the key to a cure for the Wraith Virus.”
She heaved out her breath and nodded grimly.
“You suspected that,” he noted.
“I knew it had to be something major in order for Adrian to let Lindsay come with me.” She ran a hand through her hair and paced, her heels clicking across the tiled floor. “Fuckin’ A. This could explain why he took my blood. He probably figures we might still have similar blood properties.”