Authors: Mary Milligan
Being pissed gave me a littl
e more control over my reaction
to him. After
all,
you can be pissed and turned on at the same time
,
but usually one emotion wins out over the other.
“You are not supposed to get up that fast.” I slid my finger into one of the nine holes in his
dark
silk shirt.
W
hat was it with the whole dark
look thing
? D
idn’t
Vamp
ires
have anything better to do than plan gothic ensembles?
His skin beneath was smooth and cold.
Well of course it was cold
. I
t was 40 degrees out here
,
and he was wearing a holey silk shirt.
The hard muscles flexed beneath my touch
. I
t felt
so damn
good.
Whoa, I did not just think Vampire flesh felt good, did I?
Damn I
had lost
it.
He smiled
and
those amber eyes seemed to
glow just a little more
. He had amped his power up to full force and I was feeling it.
“You are not used to
Vamp
ires
of my caliber little Ao,” h
e explained
. H
is voice still soft
like silk
. “I am very powerful.”
I had to nod in agreement with him. He was.
He brushed his soft lips along my jawline
kind of like a cat looking for affection.
His square jaw brushed along my cheek. He had just the barest hint of stubble, and it stung, in that masculine way that lets you know the person touching you was all man.
I gulped audiably.
The hair on the ba
ck of my neck stood on end.
“You smell familiar Ao. Why is that?”
I shrugged
,
which is hard to do when someone is holding you by the throat.
I had no idea why I smelled familiar; I should smell like gunpowder.
Maybe gunpowder was a familiar
smell.
“I just kicked the hell out of one of your boys
upstairs
. M
aybe I smell like him,
” I suggested
in my most dismissive tone
.
His eyes seemed to burn a little more and his
full
lips quirked as if he
was
trying to
suppress
a smile. “I
would recognize Donovan’s scent
. T
hat is not what I smell,” h
e growled quietly.
People watching behind us whispered urgent
ly. His hand convulsed tighter. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but he could.
He must have been reading my mind because he answered my thought, “t
hey are discussing whether or not they should help you.”
His voice was intimidating as hell
,
rough and smooth at the same time
.
He tilted his head as if listening, the light hit his profile highlighting the perfection of his features. His lips rosey and slightly puffy from where he’d been brushing them along my face. His jawline square and even like one of the statues at the museaum. His high cheekbones drawing attention to those golden eyes, and they were gold now glowing with his inner power in a way that made him seem so much more dangerous.
I was sure he was considering killing me even with all the witnesses.
“Tell them you are
fine. We wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt because of you
,
would we?”
H
is breath brushed my skin like steam
. H
is tone was firm
.
It was rather distracting and for a
moment,
I almost did as he asked. Until I
had
a chance to think about what he had asked me.
No,
I certainly didn’t want that but I
thought
if I told the witness’ I was
okay,
I wouldn’t have any chance what so ever.
“Put me down
. T
hen they wouldn’t feel the need to try and protect me
,
Vamp
ire
,” I hissed. M
an I sounded tough
,
go me! I was
petrified past all reason
and still managed to sound solid.
It wasn’t as cool as it could have been because I knew he could smell the fear rolling
off me
,
and my heart was beating so hard I was sure it was going to burst through my chest any moment,
but
hell,
I sounded tough
,
so I was happy.
He growled
,
making me tremble again
. S
o much for being tough.
But
I wasn’t crying
. T
hat was good
,
right
?
He laughed at me
, abruptly
. It was a rough laugh like he didn’t do it often. “I’m not lett
ing go any time soo
n Ao. Tell me your name,
” he demanded rather than inquiring.
I shook my head
no. He tightened his grip again
. No sound was going to come
out of
my throat any time soon. In fact, my lips
felt
a little numb. I bit at them
in an attempt
to get some of the feeling back.
He watched my mouth as if he were trying
to deciph
er what
I was
say
ing
, but his eyes flared with what could only be described as desire. Yeah, he was probably wondering what my blood type was
.
Ao
,
the perfect late night snack.
I couldn’t get the air past my lips
,
so I mouthed the words ‘fuck you’ at him. I was proud of myself
.
Unfortunately
, he thought it was funny
;
he laughed at me again
,
showing off a set of perfect white teeth
.
Of
course,
when
your entire existence revolved
around your teeth
,
I guess
dental hygiene is a must
.
“Sweet little Ao
…
fucking you is the least of what I’ll do to you if I don’t get a straight answer out of you soon.”
He gave me a little shake. I felt like a
rag doll.
I’m not exactl
y tiny, 5’6
”
, 130
pounds
, all muscle
I train daily.
I shook my head no again.
I felt the edges of my
red
hair brush my face. It’s weird how you focus on little things when the life is being crushed from you.
The world was starting to take on a fuzzy haze at the edges.
I could see the exact moment he realized I was slipping away
;
his eyes flared like he was pissed
.
“Don’t pass out on me Ao.” H
e loosened
his grip. Air was suddenly available again. I was thankful. “Name,” he hissed
a little angrier this time
. I mouthed ‘no’ again. He leaned his face in again and brushed
his
sultry
lips across my throat. “Tell me your name litt
le Ao or I am going to bite you,” h
e growled
, I could feel the vibration of it
rumble along my neck
. His voice was thick with desire
,
and I had no doubt he would follow through with his threat. A
Vamp
ires
bite was supposed to be the most painful thing an Ao could experience. I
breathed
heavily
,
trying to keep myself calm. I didn’t want to tell him who I was.
“Name,
” he hissed again and brushed those hard fangs across my jugular.
I am
ashamed to say I gave
i
t to him.
“Macyn,” it was barely audible and
m
y eyes were tearing up.
I was terrified
at this point.
Where
the hell were
all
those spectators?
Why weren’t they trying to save me now?
I w
as taking short breaths
while
trying not t
o burst into frantic tears as
the
Vamp
ire
ran his mouth over my pulse again and again.
My body and brain confused the sensation making me tingle all over.
“Macyn what,
Ao?
”
H
e breathed
heavily
against me again.
I clamped my lips shut.
It was one thing to betray myself
,
but
I wasn’t going to betray my father. I closed my eyes. Maybe if I didn’t
think
about what was
going to happen
,
it wouldn’t hurt s
o much. I shuddered when his
wet
tongue slid across my throat. It wasn’t a scared
shudder;
damn
Vamp
ire
was making me like it. I would not betray my father.
Do not think about your last name I told myself. If you have ever tried not to think of something when someone is asking you about it
,
you know it isn’t easy.
The crowd still hadn’t made up its damn mind
,
but one or two fellows looked like they were trying to put together their courage and come to my rescue.
I wanted them too, but
I really didn’t need that on my conscious.
I knew i
t was mind control
,
but I couldn’t seem to resist
.
I gasped
as
his fangs brushed my pulse again
,
and I nearly shouted it, “
Reece
,
Macyn
Reece
.”
He flinched visibly
and lost the hold on my mind
.
Thank
God
because I was afraid I was about to beg him to bite me.
“
Reece
,
”
he let out in a gasp as if he found my last name painful.
I found myself smiling
without his
strong grasp on my mind
.
I remembered I was armed and not completely helpless. I put my gun against his throat
and raised an eyebrow.
I was ready to shoot should he decide to use his mojo on me again.
“Yeah, as in
Caden
Reece
’s daughter
.
”
Obviously the
Vamp
ire
had had at least one run in with my father.
I felt a lot better. Like I said before
,
I might not survive the encounter but vengeance would be sweet.
His eyes were really glowing
as he searched my face
,
I guess he was trying to see if he could see any truth to my claim.
His
other
hand flew to my hair
,
pulling forth several strands
. H
e glared at those red strands
,
so much like my dads.
“Drop her
Dayt
on,
” a
soft growl came from behind the
Vamp
. Just like
that,
he dropped his human suit. To my
credit,
I did not scream.
His eyes glowed lighting up the rest of his face. The bright glow made his strong features seem so much more menacing. His his cheeckbones looked gaunt and shadowed behind that bright light. His fangs had fully dropped and I realized the fangs he’d been teasing me with before were just for show. These fangs meant business I was sure he could tear out my whole throat with these fangs. The white of those super long fangs made his lips look so much redder like they were perpetually covered in blood. He snarled, his upper lip peeling back to expose all his teeth which had all taken on a sharper appearance. His dark brows drew together in anger.
It’s
one thing to know
what lurked
beneath
the mask
,
but
it is
another entirely to have it close enough to
breathe
on you.
The air around me seemed to thicken
.
I couldn’t pull in enough oxygen
.
I smelled that lavender scent that seemed to be exclusively him, but I also smelled the exhaust from the cars around us
. T
hat and the concrete and tar the scent that was exclusively parking lot.
I drew in a shaky breath.