“Why? I asked your sister why you’d…what
did you say?” She looked up at him, suddenly stiff under him. “What did you
mean the baby I’m going to have?”
“Yes. He said that you weren’t far along,
but being magical, he could tell that you’re about two weeks. I guess it
happened the first time we made love.” He nearly cried out when she yanked his
head up from her mouth again. “You should try to be gentle with me if you want
to have more children.”
“I can’t have a baby. I’m not…my stepfather
hurt me once. I was told there would never be a child. I think I’d like another
doctor, a real one. He’s nuts.” Mac laughed and she slapped him. “This isn’t
funny. I have a piece of a bat taken out of my head and you tell me I’m going
to have a kid. I’m having a hard time adjusting here, Mr. Ass.”
“My blood healed you. Everything about
you. And we’re going to have a child.” He kissed along her throat. “Let me feed
you, Brandi, so that I can make love to you.”
When she moaned, he knew he had her. Lifting
his head, he looked down at her. She was a haze of red to him and he knew that
his fangs had dropped. She ran her tongue along her lips and opened her mouth
to him. Her own fangs had dropped and his cock hardened at the thought of her
biting him. When she licked along his neck to where his shoulder met his throat,
he wrapped his hands into her hair. As soon as her teeth pierced his skin Mac
cried out and willed their clothes away. He entered her while she still fed
from him.
“Come, love. Come now.” Her body sucked
at his and he felt her take him deeper. His cock swelled inside her of her and
he lifted her wrist to his mouth. Biting her hard, he felt her come again and
again. His own climax nearly took his breath away. As he filled her, his only
regret was that it had been so quick. Next time, he promised himself; next time
he’d make it last. Next time, he’d make her come several times before he lost
himself inside of her.
Sealing the wound Mac rolled to his back,
taking her with him. He knew she slept; her even breathing made him smile. Closing
his own eyes, he smiled. Things were never going to be the same and then he
thought of his dad. He wondered how he was taking the fact that he was going to
be a grandfather.
Chapter 16
Zachariah moved along the building. He
knew the girl was here; he’d been looking all over town and had her scent now. Plus,
he’d had it confirmed by the little bastard he’d taken yesterday.
Bob Myers had been his name and now he
was a bloodied mess in the pile of drywall on the property. He’d been no match
for Zachariah. He’d put up a good fight, but nothing more than a little fly
pestering to him. By the time Zachariah had bitten him the man was willing to
give him anything, have him do anything, just to stop the pain. Wimp. He’d
barely broken the man and he’d whined like he’d really hurt him. But his
terrified blood had done the trick that no amount of bagged blood had been able
to do. He was better, so much better.
His mouth had healed. Not perfectly, but
he could feed now. But he still hadn’t been able to get the bitch out of his
mind. He had to have her, and no one else would do. This time, this woman was
going to give him the ultimate spike.
He heard them coming on shift. He’d
hidden in the basement last night after everyone had left for the day, and now
that they were coming on he was going to find her and take her before anyone
realized it. Zachariah was ready.
There were a lot of people around. Most
of them wolves, but a few humans. He wondered if they knew what they were
working with, the humans. He’d tasted wolf before and, while the blood was
powerful, it usually left a bad taste in his mouth. Like the girl from the
other night.
She’d been a wolf and a virgin. Nearly
made it worth it to drink from her for that alone, but she’d been taken from
him. That girl, the one only a floor above him, had taken her. Zachariah moved
up another flight of stairs and was just outside the room where he knew she was
working. But he heard another voice too. Another female.
“You can do that all you want, but we’re
not leaving. I told you that I was going to hang out with you today and here I
am.”
He didn’t know this voice, but was
irritated by her bossiness.
“And that look won’t get you anywhere
either. You have to work, I have my orders. Deal with it, I am.”
“I don’t know what the big deal is. There
are at least nine hundred wolves hanging around here like they’re working,
another ten dozen or so milling about the property like it’s their home.”
Zachariah smiled, this wasn’t the girl
he wanted either. She, too, was very mouthy.
“Why don’t you just tell him that you
stayed all day and be done with it? I’m fucking fine.”
Not for long
, he thought to
himself. Whoever this woman was, and he was beginning to realize it might be
the one, she wasn’t going to be around much longer. He was going to grab her up
and take her as soon as he could. When he felt the stairs shake like someone
was using them he pulled the shadows around him and pressed against the wall.
The person coming up was huge and he knew right away that he was a werewolf.
“Could you two just stop? I have to be
here too, and listening to you two go at it all the time is making me crazy.” He
stepped past Zachariah while he spoke and paused. He thought he could sense
him. He moved on before Zachariah could slice open his throat.
It was another twenty minutes before he
felt like he could move again. The voices, especially the first female, said
that she had to leave. There was something going on at the house that she
needed to be there for. He never saw her leave and he was pretty sure she’d
left by other means.
A man came down a few minutes later. He
said he would bring up more drywall and that the last female, Andi, he’d called
her, was Zachariah’s target and she was to not leave the room. This was the
chance that he’d been waiting for. He moved into the darkened room just as the
man down the stairs shut the door.
The room was quiet. He could see the
girl, but not what she was doing. The loud buzzing made him think of manual
labor, something he was not really acquainted with, but knew this woman would
be. He was nearly behind her when he heard another noise.
It wasn’t human; it growled low and he
turned slowly to see what it was. A wolf, and a big one at that. Zachariah
moved back slowly and tried to think what to do. The voice behind him had the
hair on the back of his neck stand up and the ones on his arms dance with
nervousness.
“I wouldn’t if I were you. I think I
read somewhere that wolves like to chase down their meals. Something about the
blood being slightly different. Is that why you kill?”
He turned slightly. Her grin terrified
him.
“You should be afraid. I don’t know what
the alpha there has planned for you, but I’m betting your blood will be mighty
good to him.” The wolf growled again.
“I don’t know what you’re speaking of. I
came here to have a word with the owner of this company. I’ve decided to
have…have some constructing done.”
“Constructing? What the hell is that? You
want him to construct a house? Building? Or do you even know what he does
here?”
The wolf moved closer to him and he
nearly whimpered. The thing was huge and he looked like he was hungry. Zachariah
lifted his hands in surrender. He tried not to think about how much they were
trembling.
“Are you going to call him off and help
me, or do I report you to your boss?” Zachariah nearly wet himself when the
wolf started to shift. He’d been doing it for years, but to see a huge wolf
turn into a bigger man was very scary.
“Bradley Wolfe, meet asshole…I don’t
think we caught your name. I’m pretty sure it’s something to do with Harrison,
but I don’t know.”
He turned to her and saw that despite
looking like she was going to enjoy him being eaten, she was a very beautiful
woman. He still hated her. “My name is Zachariah Roberts. Harrison was a name
that…I don’t use that surname any longer. I’m newly invented.” Zachariah wasn’t
sure if vampires used that term any more for when they changed their identity,
but he was nervous and not able to think on his feet. Especially with a naked
man in front of him.
“I wish I could say that you’re going
before the council. I really do.”
Zachariah didn’t like the sound of that
and nearly interrupted the man.
“But I can’t lie to you. No. When you
hurt my little girl, you—”
“Your little girl? I haven’t a clue what
you’re talking about. I…is this child, this human, telling you that I hurt
someone? I can tell you that I did nothing.” The slap across his face nearly
knocked him to his ass.
“When I’m speaking it’s polite to shut
the fuck up. Now, where was I?” He looked over at the girl and winked. “You
remember?”
“Yeah, you were telling him how the
council was going to be shortchanged when it came to sentencing him. I think
you were about to tell him why.”
Four more wolves came into the room and
five people he’d never seen. One of them was the man from the hotel. And the
vampire was a hell of a lot stronger than he’d first thought. Zachariah looked
at them all and decided that if he didn’t make a move now he was as good as
dead.
~~~
Andi was shocked when the vampire ran at
her. She wasn’t sure what he had planned, but she wasn’t waiting on him to find
out. As soon as he leapt toward her she moved and started to put down the drill
still in her hand.
Everyone seemed to move at once, each of
them trying to keep him from moving out of a window or door to escape. Mac was
nearly at her when the vampire had her around the throat, but stopped when he
moved her to stand in front of him and used her as a shield. What felt like
claws dug deep into her neck and she knew if she moved, he’d take her head off.
The entire room seemed to freeze.
“Now that I’m in charge, things are
going to go a little differently.” He licked her throat and she whimpered. “She’s
going to be a tasty treat to me if you all don’t stand the fuck back.”
She looked at Mac. His eyes were a deep
red and she wondered briefly if he could even see her. That’s when she felt him
touch her mind.
“I love you, you know that, right?”
She tried to nod, but was afraid she’d
die to do so.
“You also know that you’re a pain in the
ass and as soon as I get you back to my room I’m going to finally beat that
pretty ass of yours.”
“Okay. Do you think that might be sooner
rather than later? I’m a little…I’m sort of hoping that you’re going to save
the day here.”
She
felt his laughter.
“Mac? I’m afraid for our baby.”
“I’m not going to let him hurt you or
our child. How about you take that drill in your hand and hit him with it? It
might be enough of a distraction for one of us to get to him before he hurts
you.”
She wanted to scream at him to stay back,
that she’d rather die before him or anyone in this room as a matter of fact. She
shifted on her feet to see him better.
“You get yourself hurt and I’m going
to be really pissed at you.”
“You think you’re going to get all that
far? I got news for you, there isn’t a place you can hide that I won’t find
you. Not to mention, there are over a hundred pack members out there just
waiting for you to try and move.” Bradley pulled on a pair of sweats that
someone handed him as he talked to the man who held her. Andi thought he looked
entirely too pleased with the way things were going. She wanted to brain him.
“You think not? I’ve been doing this for
nearly forty years and no one has been able to catch me. And now look, I’ve got
myself a piece of shit human and there isn’t shit any of you can do about it.” He
moved her to the door and she let him. “Everyone go to the other side of the
room or I end her right here and still get away.”
“Did I hurt you the other day? You don’t
look all that good now so I can only figure you’re still hurting from when I
touched you.” Mac growled, but she continued. “That was the day you took this
man’s child. Remember? I touched your cheek and burned it away. I could still
smell you long after I left you screaming in that alley like a little girl.”
The claws tightened around her and she
felt a trail of something warm go down her neck and into her blouse. Mac took a
step forward and she knew she had to act now or someone was going to get hurt.
She’d prefer it not be her new husband.
She pressed the trigger on the drill and
nearly cried out when it startled her. She’d been using one of these since
she’d been old enough to pick one up and thought she should have been used to
the sound. But it also startled the man holding her. When he loosened his grip
on her, she took a step sideways and then turned in his arms. Before the drill
dropped to the floor she yanked the leather string off her throat and jabbed
the piece of wood she had hanging there deep into his chest.
Seconds was all it took. It seemed like
more, hours really, when he let her go and stood there. But as soon as Mac
grabbed her and pulled her back she turned to look at the vampire. She found
that she needed to watch.