Authors: T. A. Grey
“It’s getting late. Why don’t you just show us to our rooms?” Dm
e
tri nodded, still with that smug look
,
and led them through the front doors of
the
Demidov House.
Vera glanced over at Ja
cks and nearly stumbled into Dme
tri as she did so. Jacks wasn’t floor
ed
with the interior
of the mansion
as she had been when she first saw the luxurious
home
. Magnificent had been her first thought.
The interior of the mansion opened up into a great space as tall as it was wide. A sweeping, grand staircase went up then parted on either side to lead to
the next floor. A rich, ancient
rug in red and gold swirls tiled the deep staircase.
The staircase had made her
gasp
when she first saw it, made her want one of her own. But now, years later, she no longer drooled over the wood paneled walls with exquisite paintings of the Demidov family nor of the adjoining waist-
tall
vases that lined the bottom stair. The mansion
reeked
of arrogance and wealth, something she no longer wanted.
Yet, Jacks appeared completely oblivious to his
surroundings
as Dmetri led them up the staircase and down a series of hall
way
s. His eyes didn’t stay arrested for even a mom
ent on the expensive, pure gold
chalices that sat upon a
side-serving
table or even on the grand chandelier that hung high above the
mahogany
staircase.
She realized with surprise that instead
,
his eyes strayed towards each set of windows and their locks as if categorizing them by priority. His eyes swept up the staircase and to the other side of the hallway where the door to the outside balcony was. It was as if he was assessing the house for exits and risks. And he probably was.
For the first time since they started this trip, she realized that Jackson Marsh
might
be more dangerous than she thought. Rome did trust
him
or used to
anyways
. She cringed to think how badly Jacks had fucked up. He strayed from his duty when his friend needed him the most. Everyone messed up, it was impossible not to in life. That was one
lesson she’d learned
a long time ago,
but to mess up on such a serious scale
—
the torture of his friend’s mate
—
was catastrophic especially to a lykaen.
“Here you are. You’ll be staying in the Diana Sascha
S
uite
.” She was familiar with the s
uite so aptly named after his father’s nickname for
Dmetri’s
mother. It was also where they’d first made love. Christ,
as if
she really needed
the
reminder? He was just doing it on purpose. She’d been done with Dmetri for years. She had the ur
ge to tell him that to his face
but bit her tongue.
“If you need anything at all just ring for me or Henry. Our numbers are the same.” He caught Vera’s arm as she started into the room. “I’d like to have a word with you.” Vera stifled a
sigh;
she
so
didn’t want one with him. Seeing that past flung right back in her face wasn’t something she enjoyed.
Turning towards him, she plastered a cool smile on her face. “I’m tired, Dmetri. Let’s talk tomorrow, okay?”
His brow furrowed but he nodded
—
thank God for small favors. She oh so politely shut the door in his face. Hey, a
woman
had to do what she had to do.
When she turned back around
Jacks
was there
invading her space with his big body. The man was
lean, cut with muscle, and tall. He
easily
had to weigh
three of her...or maybe ten? She mentally
shrugged;
she was never good with math. But did
he
have to tower over her like that? If he wrapped his arms around her, she’d probably lose herself inside him.
She nibbled on her lip and pondered what his chest would feel like under her palms. Hard with the crisp
coils
of dark hair over his pecks
,
or would his abs be ripped i
nto hard rolls of muscle
,
or maybe
he was
completely smooth of hair leaving only tan skin to lick. Her cheeks heated and she looked away quickly.
“You gonna tell me what all that was about?” Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and shook her head at him.
When she tried to side step him, he only crowded her further. She had only two choices then. Let his body rub over her
—
and she didn’t think the a/c was on high enough for that
—
or scoot back against the door like a coward.
She scooted back against the door.
I’m not a coward. I’m
not
a coward.
When his hand reached to cup the nape of
her neck
,
Vera struggled to breath, fought not to let her eyes flutter shut. The man’s touch was like pure warm
electricity
burning a through her blood
. It
warm
ed
her,
made
her forget all about this room and Dmetri.
“Tell me what’s with
you and Dmetri.
”
H
e sneered the name with a grimace as if just saying it disgusted him. “Something’s obviously
there
and I need to know about it.” The angles of his face were drawn into a savage frown.
“Nothing, nothing at all...and it’s not any of your business.”
There, good, she’d added on that last part. Her bravado was quickly slipping though, and when his blue eyes
darkened
to a
color
so dark they were almost black, she knew he was going kiss her. Or strangle her.
Surprisingly she was hoping for the first.
He didn’t kiss her.
And he didn’t strangle her.
She was still telling herself she wasn’t disappointed the next morning.
Chapter Three
Jacks slept like shit.
Vera barely look
ed
at him
and
if she did she would plaster on this perfect, polite little smile that made him want to yank her against his body and kiss her until she went soft and warm.
He’d spent most of the night tossing and turning with his dick ranging from
rock
hard to hard as titanium.
He gladly slept on a pallet of covers on the floor but that wasn’t far away enough for him.
He could still smell her, could see her
asleep up on the bed if he just lifted his head.
But damn if she didn’t act like nothing sparked between them yesterday.
The thought of just pulling her close and taking what he wanted was getting better by the second.
His cock stirred to life at the idea, stating that it thought it was a brilliant plan. However, his mind argued that sitting in the middle of a war room surrounded by vampires and one
ornery
lykaen female was not the ideal place to boast a hard on. Jesus, with his behavior lately it would be no wonder if Vera thought
he was some kind of manwhore
.
The day he killed his friendship with Rome as surely as though he’d tortured Alison himself, Jacks died a little inside. He
never
made mistakes like that. He’d been kicking himself over it ever since, but it didn’t matter. No matter what he said or what he did
,
he
couldn’t change the past. Nothing he could do could put him back on his post outside
Prince
Conlin’s house where he should have been.
He kept his eyes on the war room.
The
re
were
two vampires
and
t
hough none of them looked older than he was
,
he could feel the age in the strange beings. It sounded st
upid to say, but it was true.
Fucking vampires, who knew? It was hard to find it
too
strange when his best friend, or
ex
best friend, was a lykaen. He’d seen Rome do amazing
things.
S
hit no human could do. His strength, his speed, it was incomparable.
That didn’t mean he couldn’t kick his ass every now and then. He just had to be smarter, anticipate where Rome was going to move and beat him to it with a deflection or a jab.
Vera and the Elders sat at a round stone table together with a bunch of papers in front of them
. They were
going over land, taxes, and a handful of other boring shit.
Vera’s
teeth dug and worried her lip until it shone red and a little swollen. His cock pulsed again as he imagined licking that sweet mouth and tasting her. Somehow he just knew it’d be sweet.
She had the kind of mouth a man wanted to dive into and never let up for air. Her hair was short, curving around her chin and moving with each turn of her head, and her straight bangs swept over her
forehead, which
somehow highlighted brown of her eyes
. The color of her hair reminded him of strong, dark coffee. It looked thick and soft.
He’d bet it’d feel good around his fist.
Stay focused, man.
Jesus Christ, if he kept this shit up then he’d be right back where he started
—
fucking up. Instead of watching her, he dragged his gaze away to study the vampires. A deep scowl drew over him as he took note of her ex.
She might not have been able to spill it last night, but he knew enough
about
women to know that this was an ex. And judging by the devouring way Dmetri,
what the fuck kind of name was that anyway
,
stared at her
he knew his guess was spot on. Vera either didn’t notice or pretended not to.
Next was the most imposing man at the table. Something about him radiated strength and power. The man looked like an old warrior, the kind of man who’d felt real chainmail and metal armor over his body as he rode on horseback with a heavy sword. His face carried scars and the wrinkles not of age but of one who lived a hard life. His
hair fell shaggily
below
his ears
and
was a
coppery brown
that
matched the color of his goatee.
He instantly liked the man; he looked like he could give a shit about his appearance unlike Dmetri
whose
hair looked practically silky. What the hell kind of a man did that? One
without
any hair on his balls,
he was sure
.
Then on the opposite side of the table from Vera was a gorgeous
blond
woman. Her lips were red
,
eyes a bright green, and
she wore an
elaborate
dress that fell
all the way
to the floor. If this is what she wore to go over
some
papers, what the hell did she wear to go out? A freakin’ ballroom gown?
All
three
were
vampires; he could
feel
the difference in them.
Their presence felt different than being around Vera and the other Kategan’s, and certainly different from humans.
He didn’t feel the need to be constantly on guard and
carrying
a weapon around humans. Well usually anyways.
Being around the vampires
felt
unnatural
,
like being face to face with a dangerous predator. Jacks was prepared though. Under his clothes were enough weapons to defend Vera and
him
if he had to.
Vane and Rome both went over the details of how to kill a vampire in case things got dishy. Vane summed it up in just a few words: aim for the heart.
No bullets, just something sharp.
He also learned that vampires could go out into the daylight
, and
that they had only received
the myth of being nocturnal
because in the olden days they preferred to feed at night
—
less chance
of
being
caught.