Sanibel Sizzle - Vampire Werewolf Menage (42 page)

Hiss.
Hiss.
Hiss
.

He screamed into the sky,
“What the bloody hell?”

Vampires.
  She smelled a horde of vampires.  Opening her swollen lids, facing the thickness of the night, they swarmed the skies.  Covering the very moon, there were so many of them.
 

“They’re trying to take over,” he snarled.  “They’re spies are everywhere.  I kill them daily and more show up… and now this?”

“You’re so
pitiable
with your righteous indignation.” She gurgled, the blood clogging her throat. “Angry because spies spied on your spies.  There’re no ethics where evil is concerned, you asshole.”

“Regrettably,” he looked steadily down at her
, ignoring every insult she hurled
. “I will have to postpone our evening of lovemaking, Rebecca.” A sick jolt of nauseous horror washed through her. 
Make love?
  “Come along.” She stumbled as he
dragged
her.  Releasing a frustrated breath, he slung her over his shoulder.  “You didn’t have to play hard to get.  Broken bones take time to heal,
broken girl
.” 

Hatred burned through her body.  “I am not broken.”
I did not lose.  I will not be captured.

The sound of a steel bl
ade slicing through flesh and
Afanas went down. Rebecca tucked the best she could, rolling to the side and wincing from pain.  Afanas lurched upward. Staring at the North American Vampire Coven Master he laughed, “Don’t you see the irony in this, Maestru?  The damned is delivering damnation?”

“No,”
the voice of death whispered from behind, “the Alpha is.” A spasm of rage twisted Ciaran’s face as he raised his
blood drenched
sword over the shifter’s head. Roaring until Rebecca thought she would never hear again,
if she survived.
She watched as
the blade struck right when Afanas misted away
, dodging a blow that would have easily killed a potently powerful ancient. 

“You can have your
pack
females,”
he chuckled
from above, shifting in the form of a flock of birds.  Rebecca kn
ew he was spreading himself out because
Ciaran would have to kill them all.  Black crows against a midnight sky, an impossible feat even with a werewolf’s keen vision.  “I hav
e my sights set on something better,
”
he announced in a low deep whisper. His voice reverberated off the hills, the trees, and the very ground.  Chil
ling Rebecca to the bone since she
knew exactly what he meant.  His earlier words penetrated her mind. 
And you swallowed my blood.  What does that mean for us?

Ciaran stood over her, looking up the long blade of his
blood-drenched
sword.  Afanas went a thousand different ways, flying in every direction.  Death, a crumbling castle, and injured immortals were left in his
horrifying
wake.

“Blade!
  Where’s Blade?”

“Right here, baby.”  His face was a mess.  Blood dripped from a broken nose.  Bites littered his perfect skin, painful and already oozing the venom only shifters could deliver.

“Oh my God,” she cried, trying to hold him but she couldn’t.  Too many broken bones, she realized.  Ciaran was examining her injuries with a cool detachment that bordered freaky as Blade settled on the ground next to her and fainted.  “Is he okay?”

“It’s their venom. H
e’ll be fine after a bit.  I’ll keep him unconscious for a while until the pain wear
s
down.”

“That’s what you’re going to do to me?”

“Count on
it,”
his
voice was clipped, methodically assessing
every single
injury down to the tiniest bruise. 

Tears burned her eyes. 
They made sure I watched her die.
  “Look at me.” He didn’t.
“
Look at me, my mate!” Molten silver speared her gaze. “I am not dead.” She said simply
.  Rebecca knew better than to dredge the past in
front of all looking on, but her
words spoke to his heart.  “I’m still with
you,
and you
won
.
  As God is my witness, Ciaran – Alpha of Scotland, I’m not going anywhere.
”
  She felt the beast release her body, accepting her right to mist. 

Ciaran smiled at its concession.  “Afanas sent us to an ambush, a faux location for the shi
fter
s
’
compound.  The females and some offspring were under this very castle hidden away in complex labyrinths all along.”

She was fading to unconsciousness.  “That was one place I would have never thought to look.”

“Exactly.”

“How are they,” she
slurred
, her eyes shutting. 

“They are exceptional,
” he sounded so relieved, “
kept well and pampered under the
ir
sickening circumstances.”

“Maybe,” she said, drifting closer to much needed rest, “but they never had a choice.”

With a smile in his voice, he whispered, “They
do now.”

27

One month
later

Jordan Marketing, Miami Beach FL

“Oh…
my.”

“What?”

“Don’t stare.”

“W
hy?”

“Avert your eyes.”

“Too late.”

“I told you.”

“I know.  It’s a train wreck,” Rebecca sighed. “
I can’t help it.  My head’s careening and I can’t stop.”

Renee Shirley shook her head sadly.
“What possesses them to do that?”

“
Damned if I know,” Tatum
swiped her wine cooler over her heated brow. 
Miami
Beach was its normal temperature:  the surface of the sun. 

“It must be cross-sell
ing
,” Renee
whispered, barely moving her lips.  Adjusting her shades, she peered over the top at her sister.

“
I gotta hear this theory.”  Rebecca
discreetly studied the vision before them.  A hundred and forty two-year old male Caucasian dressed in sandals (mandals), white tube socks, and a vibrantly colored banana hammock.

“
Well, listen closely. 
At the old fart shoe store, where they sell man
dals to the aged and wardrobe challenged
,” Renee
explained
seriously
, “they hang the white tube socks next to the shoe display.  It’s the same as those big hardware stores.  You buy the power saw heavily discounted, but need the expens
ive blades to go along with it.  All accessories are
priced on the high end.  The shoes are probably a loss for the store, but selling several pairs of “matching” tube socks escalates the profit ratio.”
She nodded her head, clearly satisfied with herself.

“God, college paid off for you.
” Tatum rolled her eyes. “
By the way, you need to get out more.”

“No,
he
needs to get out more.
” Renee argued. “
Why would you want a sock full of sand?”

“He has on two, which would make it plural.
” Rebecca corrected herself, “
Actually three, no one is that blessed
unless they’re immortal.  S
o another tube sock is definitely hitching a ride in that banana hammock.”

“I
’m
glad I won’t grow old, now.” Renee drew from her bottle and said, “
He has liver spots on his liver spots.”

“God’s gonna punish you for that.”
Tatum snapped.

“Don’t I know it? 
So while I’
m already in trouble
, I have to know. 
Why do they get hair coming out of their ears and noses, yet nothing’s on top…or even on their legs.  Have you noticed that?  Lately, the old men look like they wax their legs.”

“I think it’s some type of medical condition and that’s as far as I
’m going with this conversation,
”
Rebecca raise a brow, daring her to continue.

“How far are you going with everything else
, Becca
?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know,” Renee said drolly.  “Because you can’t stop rubbing your belly, and you have this goofy look on your face when you’re not in the bathroom puking.” Flashing her white teeth, she smiled with unadulterated calculation.  “Or the fact that poor Blade had to go out in the middle of the night to get you not one, but two
Big Macs
.”

Rebecca and Renee came to
a
n instant and very
silent standoff.  Tatum broke it.  Digging through the cooler, she bypassed the beer,
several
wine coolers and snagged good old Florida orange juice.  “Have another drink and tell us how far along you are.”

“Last full moon,” she shared
, “the night everything went to hell and back.”

“I’m gonna be the best aunt.” Renee beamed, hugging her fiercely and wiping away tears.

“Congrats, Becca,” Tatum said, kissing her cheek.  “But I’m gonna be the best aunt.”

“Let the competition begin,” Rebecca laughed, readjusted her shades and
quickly
changed the subject.  “Ciaran said most the work is complete on the castle.
Mike’s been incredible, overseeing everything with the grounds and the females.
The fire damage wasn’t as bad as they
all
first thought and the str
ucture is sound.  The chapel was never touched
.”

“
The chapel Ciaran and Blade want
to marry you in?” Renee star
ed down at her wedding band the same time Tatum did.  Both had recently solidified the human side to their marriages by
legally joining with one of their males.  Rebecca never asked which ones they technically married.  It didn’t matter to them. It didn’t matter to her.  They were all in love, all committed, just as she and her men were.  “Yeah, you guys can come and frolic in the Highlands.”
She wagged her copper brows.

“You know
what
we could do in the meantime
?”

“Damn straight I do,” Tatum laughed, checking out the volleyball game close to shore.  Sunset was approaching, but the awe-inspiring horizon left little appeal compared to the sex machines stationed before them.  “Men in athletic action are a thing to behold, especially when they’re ours and not
exactly men.  Have you ever witnessed
this much drool worthiness in one concentrated area?”

“Well, I have to pretend my brother’s not in the group.  But yeah, the carnal jackpot was hit by each of us.” Rebecca answered, giggling when she saw Bren laughing back at her.

“They’re so hot, muscles on top of muscles and
so
pretty to boot.” Renee let out a long sigh. “I’d better stop drin
king.
It makes me horny.
”  She pushed away her bottle
,
curiously eyeing Rebecca’s men.
“So how good are they in the sack
?”

“Shush,” Rebecca scolded. “We can’t have a sex chat
right
now
.”

“I’m whispering,” she glanced behind her and around, “
what gives?”

Rebecca turned back, watching the men play. “They can hear everything, you know?  Ah,” she tempered her voice. “Maybe you don’t.  They’re listening to our conversation as we speak.”

“Why?”

“Protective instincts,” Rebecca answered, giv
ing her a duh look, “and a whole lot
of nosiness.”

Tatum lowered her glasses and barely whispered.  “Jayce Jordan, you are the Alpha of Alpha males, and I love every square inch of you inside and out, even when you’re angry
.
   Years ago, if anyone would have told me that I would be sitting
here hitched to you,” she laughed
.
“I would’ve flippe
d them the bird
and kept walking.  I know better now, so much better,” her breath hitc
hed on a small emotional
sniffle
. 

Turning his sinful body, Jayce mouthed
I love you
just as a volleyball cruelly slammed the side of his face.  He didn’t care.  And that was saying a lot considering they were playing werewolf style:  feral and blood thirsty
with no rules
.