Downs, Jana - Ravyn's Heart [Ravyn Warriors 2] (Siren Publishing Allure ManLove)

Ravyn Warriors 2

JANA DOWNS

Copyright © 2011

Chapter One

“Do I look okay?” Dageus asked, his hands once again smoothing the nonexistent wrinkles on the new Hermes shirt that his boyfriend Alex had picked out. They’d been doing that a lot lately, picking out each other’s clothes. It was nauseatingly domestic. Dageus’s green-and-gold eyes were filled to the brim with anxiety.

“For the three-millionth time, you look fine,” Allasandro reassured through clenched teeth. He loved his brother. He really did. But right now the male was straight up annoying the hell out of him. This damn plane they were waiting on was never going to land. “Besides, this Damian is your adopted father right? He’s not going to care what you look like. For real.” He was secretly proud of himself for displaying his use of Earth lingo. It had taken him a few weeks to really have it down, but now that he did, he thought he sounded like a native.

Dageus fidgeted. “We didn’t exactly part on the best terms.” Possibly because the warrior, then dancer, had snuck out to meet the lover he’d been forbidden to associate with and had subsequently been kidnapped by a demon slave trader and whisked off to the parallel universe of Demontia. All that went unsaid. Neither brother wanted the reminder of that happy little event.

Of course if it hadn’t been for that, Allasandro would’ve never met Dageus, or Kal, as most of the Earth people called him. He couldn’t say he was sorry over the fact when he looked at it that way. Dageus was his best friend. The one that kept him straight because, gods knew, Allasandro needed it. On the best of days, he was a loose cannon. On the worst, he was downright irresponsible. The entire squad of Ravyn warriors knew it. It was his personality. Always had been. He was Trouble with a capital
T
.

Gods only knew why Salvatore, the Demon Prince they guarded, put up with his crazy ass. He could only imagine that it was because he made the stuffy warriors laugh every once in a while. He was always up for a good time. He smiled at the thought. Yeah, he loved getting his brothers all riled up. It wasn’t that he wasn’t loyal. Far from it. He would gladly die for anyone of them if necessary, and he was a great warrior. He just got…distracted. Easily.

Dageus punched him in the arm. “Ouch. Mothertrucker. That hurt.” Allasandro winced and rubbed the place on his bicep that had just been assaulted. “What was that for?”

“We’ve got to move closer to the gate. The plane has arrived!” Dageus said excitedly. He looked like he was a puppy being let out of his pen. His jittery motions were very puppylike. He pointed up to the black screen which listed the incoming flights in white. Plane 227 from New York had just touched down and they had two minutes to get to the exit gate.

“Tell me why your boyfriend didn’t come instead of me?” Allasandro asked as he trailed behind Dageus’s bouncing body. He had to admit his friend had toned up to the next level of fitness dancing with
La Petite Morte
, Alex’s entertainment company in Haven, Minnesota. He could bounce a quarter off that tight ass. He rolled his eyes at the thought. That was his best friend’s rear he was staring at. Besides, if Dageus’s vampire soon-to-be husband saw him doing it, he’d be picking his teeth off the ground. Alex may have not been a warrior, but the vampire made up for it in sheer physical strength. He’d proven that by vanquishing a Dove, one of the Ravyns’ sworn enemies, a couple months ago.

“Alex thought it would be good if Damian and I had a little time alone together before he’s forced to confront the fact that Alex and I are wedded,” Dageus supplied distractedly, scouring the crowds of people coming out of the gate with his eyes.

“Well, technically there hasn’t been the actual wedding yet,” Allasandro reminded. He tapped his foot in impatience. He really wanted to hurry this gravy train along. He’d much rather be guarding Salvatore than babysitting his nervous brother.

“Not by demon or human standards. But by vampire standards we’re wed. I’ve accepted my place as his Bride and done the blood exchanges. So in Damian’s eyes, we’re wed.” Dageus let out a groan of frustration. “Where is he? Surely he hasn’t changed that much that I don’t recognize him…”

Allasandro rolled his eyes. “He’s an immortal vampire. He can’t change. He’s sort of frozen in time or whatever. You need to chill out, man. You’re a nervous wreck. And you still didn’t answer my question. Why did you pick me to come with you?”

Dageus turned his green eyes to meet Allasandro’s red-rimmed golden ones. “Because you’re my best friend and I need you.”

Allasandro swallowed and nodded, looking away.
Yikes. Way to make the moment into something Hallmark, bro.
Dageus frowned. “And what is with you picking up the earth slang lately?” Whatever reply Allasandro was formulating went out the window when Dageus decided to start screaming in the middle of the airport. “Damian!” Dageus’s excited voice echoed through the hollow expanse of the airport, causing peoples’ heads to turn in their direction.

Allasandro grabbed his arm. “Not necessary, Dageus. Good god.” Dageus tugged them both through the crowd toward his father.

This guy must walk on water or something
. Dageus was as excited as a kid meeting Santa Claus. What was so special about this dude anyway? All the vampires of the house talked like he was something special, even Santiago, who was the oldest one in the line.

“Come on Ally-cat. I don’t want him to miss us.” Dageus dragged him through a line of Japanese tourists and out into a clearing.

Allasandro scuffed his Nike-clad feet on the shined concrete floor. He was so annoyed with this whole thing. He wanted to go get ready to go to the club.
Daylight
was the most popular club in Haven, and it was one that belonged to Alex, so it was well defended against would-be assassins. It was Salvatore’s favorite place to hang, so they spent a good amount of time there. Ally loved it because he got to relax and have fun without having to worry about his Prince. Besides, the plethora of male and female attention in the place made it a wet dream for a stud like Ally.

He was still staring at his feet when Dageus stopped, and he nearly plowed into him. He only had an inch or two on Dageus’s five-eleven frame.

“Dammit,” he cursed. Dageus looked back at him in exasperation.

“I see you have quite the clumsy friend, Kalel,” a British-accented voice said. Irritation flickered through Allasandro. Yeah. He wasn’t graceful. So what? He’d never been graceful. He opened his mouth to tell whoever it was to quiet the fuck down and looked up. And up…and up. His eyes bulged out of his skull as he saw the giant.

The man standing beside Dageus dwarfed the both of them. He had to stand at least six and a half feet tall with broad shoulders, a tapered waist, and the longest legs Ally had ever seen. The suit he had on did nothing but contribute to the overwhelming picture he presented. He looked like a mob boss or something. Ally’s eyes finally climbed the impossible height to the guy’s face and was equally stunned by what he found there. A mirror of Alex’s smooth milky complexion provided a backdrop for the darkest colored eyes that Ally had ever seen. They were so dark that they were almost black but…the light caught them and reflected just a hint of blue. It was an amazing color. A strong jaw and plush lips balanced the exotic eyes and black hair to complete the picture.

Ally whistled. “Dammmmnnn…I thought you and Alex were brothers.” He looked nothing like Alex. Where Damian was dark-haired and dark-eyed, Alex was angelically light with blond hair and light eyes.

Dageus chuckled. “Father, I’d like for you to meet my fellow Ravyn, Allasandro. He accompanied me here to pick you up.”

A pitch-black eyebrow rose, and a smirk lit up the vampire’s face, revealing just a hint of his fangs. “Charmed. I’m sure.”

Ally’s erection throbbed. Holy shit. He was hard. Allasandro blinked. Arousal hadn’t happened often when it came to males, and it was happening a whole hell of a lot in this guy’s presence.
Shit
.

“You may call me Damian, Allasandro.” The big guy extended his hand for a shake, and his eyes flickered down Ally to his cock. A smile tugged on those kissable lips.

Ally gave himself a mental shake and took the guy’s hand in a firm male to male clasp. No way was he letting the other guy see how much his presence was affecting him. Except…well, the massive erection tenting his pants was kind of already doing that, wasn’t it?
Shit
.

Dageus cast him a curious look but luckily didn’t look down. “Uh…” He watched as Damian’s hand lingered over Ally’s hand, caressing the pulse point on his wrist. Allasandro jerked his hand back.

“We should get going.” Allasandro abruptly turned around and headed toward the baggage claim area.

“It’s…good to see you, Damian,” Dageus said as they made their way to the parking deck where they’d parked the car. He seemed nervous to Allasandro. He flicked a glance in Dageus’s direction and saw that he was painfully tense.

Damian’s hand reached out and patted his shoulder gently. “We’ll talk later, son.” That voice. It was softer now. The voice that must’ve reassured him when he’d had nightmares as a child. “Relax.”

Dageus gave the vampire a smile, and Allasandro found himself intrigued. It wasn’t every day he got to meet a guy that was one part mob boss and one part sweet-talking daddy. Ally had a feeling that Haven had just got interesting.