To Love a Shifter: A Paranormal Romance Boxed Set (61 page)

      A sad smile touched his lips. “I don’t have to. You already know.”

      “My rehabilitation is a decree of your precious Brethren,” I said tonelessly. “It’s one of your precious Brethren responsibilities and now you’re telling me you’re going to play hooky probably for the first time in your life?” My eyes bored through him. “Is it because the responsibility has to do with
me
so you’re not taking it seriously?”

      Luka was quiet, his way of politely answering questions that didn’t need an answer.

      Ah God of Caros, but I hated him.

      Only Luka Georgiades could make me feel so small, so pathetic and unworthy. All his life, he lived and breathed in the honor of serving the Brethren, and yet—and yet because it was about me this time, he didn’t seem to care about following his directives anymore.

      “Why am I even surprised?” I murmured, my voice silky with contempt.

      “Just for tonight, Caylie. It’s an emergency,” he stressed, his eyes fiercely demanding as he stared straight at mine, willing me to believe him.

      You promised. You promised you’d stay with me as long as I need you.
I wanted to say the words, but I was too proud. And so I didn’t answer, my most polite way of telling him he was a fucking lying asshole.

      Luka’s lips twitched. “I can practically hear you cursing me.”

      I glared at him.
Asshole. Asshole. Asshole!

      Luka laughed.

      Shit.

      Just like that and the anger in my heart started to melt. Desperately, I tried to pull myself back together, tried to rebuild the walls of ice around my heart because if I gave him just the smallest chance to deceive me, it would be all over.

      So I had to be stronger. I had to. And I knew that with every fiber of my being, but right now I was also powerless to stop my body from responding to the rare sound of Luka’s laughter.

      He said in a low, husky voice, “Caylie, I promise, tomorrow—I’ll be waiting in your room.”

      My breath caught at his words.

      Suddenly, there was a whole new meaning to Luka’s statement and my eyes widened as I saw Luka’s gaze actually dip slowly, moving down, down, down until they centered on my breasts, which seemed to be his favorite part of my body nowadays.

      My nipples reacted.

      Luka’s nostrils flared, his body stiffening, and seeing how affected he was just made
me
feel hotter. What was wrong with me? Physical pleasure had always been Luka’s weakness, not mine. All these years I had even thought I was frigid, and yet here I was—

      Luka suddenly whirled me around, faster than what human eyes could follow. When I blinked again, I was leaning against a tree, hidden from everyone’s view, locked in the cage of Luka’s arms.

      “Luka—”

      His head lowered, our lips touched, and passion exploded between us, turning the world into a haze of heat. My arms immediately went around his neck, and I strained against him, wanting to feel his body as close as possible to mine. My breasts strained against its cups, too, and Luka groaned, kissing me hard before roughly pulling away so he could kiss my neck. He quickly unbuttoned my blouse, just enough for him to kiss the upper swell of my breast.

      I gasped when I felt the prick of his fangs.

      My eyes shot open. “Luka—”

      His fangs pierced my skin.

      “
Aaaah
.” My head lolled back, the exquisite feel of his sensual bite making me completely lose my train of thought. “
Yes,
” I whispered instead. His fangs had already retracted, but the lovely pain-pleasure feel of his fangs still made me shiver. Luka pressed one lingering kiss on the other breast, just on top of the lacy cup, before moving away.

      His fingers quickly worked my buttons back to order.

      I was still in a daze when he stepped back and gazed at me with a smirk on his beautiful lips.

      I blinked. Did I just see that?

      My eyes narrowed, but Luka’s gorgeous face was now a picture of polite charm. Luka Georgiades wasn’t the type to smirk. Even I knew that, but I could have sworn I had seen him do it. But then, he didn’t used to be the type to try getting me aroused in public either. That had always been my favorite sin, not his. Yet now the roles were reversed and I couldn’t make sense of anything any longer. Had he changed so much in the past three years?

      Oh, God of Caros, but I was so confused.

      In an effort to hide my turbulent thoughts, I hissed at him, “I can’t believe you did that! You’re my rehabilitator, for the love of Caros! What if someone saw us—”

      “No one did,” he said calmly, a smile fleetingly appearing on his lips, as if he was amused at how panicky I was.

      “And how are you so sure of that?” I gritted out, wanting to slap the smile off his face for some reason. I couldn’t believe how ridiculously violent Luka was making me feel. It was positively barbaric—so unbelievably human!

      “Because.” He took my hand and we stepped out of the trees, and my jaw dropped at the sight before me.

      Practically an entire army of Brethren guards had formed a barricade on the road, preventing anyone from getting close to us. Brethren guards were famous for their collective ability to block out the senses of other Caros, serving like a jammer if they didn’t want something to be found. And this time, all they wanted was to make sure that nobody would know what Luka and I had been doing the past few minutes.

      “Caylie?”

      “Mm?” I couldn’t make myself look at him for some reason, not with my body still tingling in the aftershocks of his intimate touch.

      “I have to go now,” Luka murmured.

      I glanced at him then and saw the distant look in his eyes. He was
tired,
I realized with a pang in my heart that I didn’t want to feel. His kiss had mellowed me, pushing my anger back and allowing me to see him more clearly. My stubbornly stupid and silly heart ached for him, and in an even sillier attempt to comfort Luka, I heard myself saying teasingly, “Are you sure you’re really going to work?”

      Luka focused on me, his tone puzzled as he answered, “Yes.”

      I gave him a mock scowl, demanding, “To the Brethren stronghold?”

      He raised a brow. “Yes.” This time, he drawled the word out.

      I tried not to smile even as I pouted and asked, “You really mean it?”

      Luka’s eyes narrowed. “Caylie—”

      “You’re not ditching a boring rehabilitation session with me just so you can
fuck
a hot Brethren secretary?”

      I giggled at Luka’s wide-eyed look of surprise, followed by a look of bemusement at hearing me drop the F-bomb.

      Luka suddenly touched the corner of my lip, surprising me. He whispered, “There are other,
better
things I can think of
fucking
right now.”

      I was so startled I ended up jumping a good five feet away from Luka, surprise making me forget to keep a lid on my natural abilities as a Caro.

      Immediately, the Brethren guards reacted, whirling around me, hands on their swords—yes, we were old-fashioned that way, but they did have guns, too—their gazes rapidly scanning the surroundings for any sign of threat.

      But the only threat was Luka, to my heart, and I doubt they’d kill him for me.

      My face turned red. “False alarm,” I said weakly.

      A slight, secretive smile was on Luka’s lips as he came towards me, the only way he was allowing himself to let me know he was having fun at my expense. Anything more than that would be unpardonably rude.

      “Until tomorrow,
mi vavli
.” And then he was getting inside his car.

      When the door slammed shut and the car started to move, I called for the Brethren guard nearest to me. “Wait.”

      He swiftly faced me, standing in attention, a soldier trained to follow a noble’s request.

      Doubt was growing ever so swiftly inside me, a virus I was desperate to contain.

      “Luka Georgiades is heading where?”

      The guard hesitated.

      “I, a full-blooded noble Caro, am asking you, a soldier, about a half-blooded Caro.” I wasn’t perfect like Luka. I would never hesitate to pull rank if I had to, and this time I needed to, more than anything else in the world.

      The guard immediately answered, “To the Moretti compound, Lady Caylie.”

      My heart started to race. “Why?”

      The guard hesitated again.

      “Answer with the rumors you have heard,” I commanded.

      “They say…there will be an engagement to solidify the alliance.”

      My phone started to ring. I ended the call, not having to look at it to know who it was.

      Liar, liar, liar.

      When the last of the Brethren guards blended back into obscurity, Jeff slowly walked towards me.

      It took a lot of effort to smile at him even as my heart continued to break.

      Why did he have to lie again? Why? Fuck, Luka, fuck fuck  fuck why?

      “Are you really just friends?”

      “Yes.” It was my turn to lie.

      Luka was not my friend.

      He was my obsession, like I was his.

      It was time I accepted that.

      Jeff cleared his throat. “About the party…”

      Something reckless inside me burned. This time, my smile glittered. Jeff appeared dazed.

Let the blood flow, the flesh burn, but never let the heart decide.

      It was time I also remembered that.

      “I’ll be there,” I said softly, a dark promise in my voice.

Luka

43 Months Ago

      Luka remained in the darkness, doing his best not to let the cold rage inside him to take over his mind as he listened to another guy trying to hit on Caylie. He was just one of the many dozens that had attempted the same in the weekend that he and Caylie were staying at the Delicazzi vacation house for the clan’s annual summer ball.

      Her laughter was a sensual caress in itself and he gritted his teeth, hating how the other boys were allowed to hear it when that laugh should have been his alone.

      “It’s rare to find you alone,” the sixteen-year-old Drako murmured.

      “What do you mean?”  Caylie’s tone was more curious than coy.

      Only a thin glass door separated him and the two. If he willed it, he could be in there in a second, crushing Drako’s hand into a thousand pieces of broken bones. If that boy dared touch what was his, that would happen.

      “Georgiades—”

      “Luka?”

      He heard the smile in her voice as she said his name.

      “He’s like a brother to me, but it’s not like he’s my keeper or my boyfriend.”

      “Then if I try to kiss you—”

      Caylie laughed again, but the sound was drifting away. He shifted, and through the curtain’s slit he saw her backing away, her pert breasts bouncing in her skimpy bikini. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

      His fingers gripped Andrea Marcellini’s hair and thrust hard into her mouth.

      She moaned, opening her mouth as wide as she could to accommodate his cock.

      Luka closed his eyes and as he began to fuck Andrea’s mouth, he finally allowed himself to pretend that it was Caylie’s mouth loving his dick.

      When it was over, Andrea licked her lips dry and looked up at him with a sultry smile. “Shall I go to your room tonight?” She glanced down and gasped, stunned and more than aroused to see Luka’s cock still hard.

      Luka smiled mirthlessly. “Yes.” It was either fuck Andrea or take a young girl’s virginity when she clearly wasn’t ready yet.

* * * *

      Present Time

      The party was in full swing when my friends and I got to David’s place. Booze flowed freely, and I was sure a great amount of poisoned and diabetic blood had been mixed into it. Diabetic blood was our version of flavoring, hence the reason why most Caros preferred to make donations to charities that supported diabetic victims. It
was
cold-blooded of us, but we were who we were, and those who forgot that tended to die.

Human waiters endlessly circulated the house, the perfect walking advertisement for the drinks they offered. I declined with a smile, but Ever had no problems taking one glass for each hand. She loved her sweets.

“You made it, luv,” a low cultured tone said behind us, just before Sabina was whirled around and found herself being kissed by Phillip Brimstone, a tall gorgeous twenty-one year old guy who also happened to be the wealthiest Caro heir in Britain.

Ever and I exchanged looks when we saw the dazed look on the normally fiery-looking Sabina. On the other hand, Phillip appeared more…
powerful,
as if kissing Sabina had restored him. Although Phillip was built like an athlete, most of our kind thought him weak because of his famous policy for staying neutral when it came to Brethren politics. But whenever I saw him with Sabina, I had a niggling feeling there was so much more to Phillip Brimstone than met the eye.

Sabina and Phillip were kissing again. It had been some time since they had last seen each other, and I quickly looked away, wanting to give them privacy even if they didn’t ask for it. If I were honest, it was more for my sake. I couldn’t look at them and
not
think about Luka. And it hurt. Oh, God of Caros, will I ever stop hurting?

      I saw Ever scanning the bar, and I knew she was looking for Luisa out of habit. Luisa was Phillip’s fiancée back in London—and everyone knew about it. But Sabina and Phillip didn’t seem to care.

      Ever’s eyes widened. “Oh, shit. You’re in it for now.”

      “What—”

      Jeff suddenly popped out of nowhere, dressed in some rocker-inspired shirt and an expensive pair of tattered jeans. “I thought you were going to stand me up.” As he came closer, he made no attempt to hide how his eyes were practically undressing me even though I was wearing little as it was.

      I had on my shortest tube dress—one that was almost the same shade as Luka’s beautiful eyes—which I had matched with violet heels,.

      Most times, I hated my boyishly slim body but times like this I loved it, largely because my lack of curves allowed me to wear almost anything without looking sluttish. True, that also meant having a nonexistent chest, but for emergency situations, there were always push-up bras to help me out.

      “I told you, didn’t I?” I said lightly. “But this is the last time. My parents gave me the ultimate warning and if I’m caught going out late again, I’ll be sent away.”

      Jeff’s face fell. “No kidding?”

      I gave him a properly regretful look. “It’s sad, I know.”

      He suddenly straightened, a determined smile appearing on his face. “Then let’s make this a night you should never forget, Cay!”

      It was, in more ways than one.

      Time seemed to blitz by as I lost myself in another glittering party that only a Caro knew how to throw.

      Once upon a time, I had felt guilty.
Party girl—
the words were never far from Caros’ lips when they thought of me, a feat in itself considering how our race lived to celebrate. The times I had felt guilty, I would think of Luka, always slaving away for a race that didn’t completely welcome him. But after everything—

      Slave away, Luka. Lie away.

      The rest of the night flew by as another pleasant haze in my mind.

      Someone tapped me on my shoulder and I turned, smiling and expecting to see another friend of mine. But my smile vanished when I realized who it was.

      I dropped the glass I was holding and it crashed through the floor. No one looked, not because the music was too loud—although it was, for human ears—but more because almost everyone else around me was either high or drunk.

      Shiiiiiit.

      “H-hey.” I had enough presence of mind
not
to call Luka by his name, not when he was so obviously in disguise. He had on a cap, a black leather jacket, tight jeans and shades. We Caros could get away wearing shades anytime anywhere since it was more a safety precaution. With his white-blond hair and violet eyes hidden away, Luka just looked like a very sexy, very mysterious gatecrasher…in house slippers.

Shiiiiit.

The sight of those bare toes made me wince. Luka was not the type not to step outside his home if he wasn’t perfectly put together, the type who was conscious every second of his public image. And yet here he was, in a party where we all had the tacit knowledge of forbidden liquids being shared—minus his shoes. It meant he had been in the comfort of his home when he got wind of my extracurricular, after dark activity.

      “Caylie.” The grimness of Luka’s smile made me flinch again.

      It made me forget all about what happened earlier.

      Yes, Luka had lied. Yes, Luka had hurt. But this—being here, in a party like this—it would be suicide for someone in Luka’s position, especially when he wasn’t making any secret of his plans to be the next Advisor.

      A part of me wanted to scream and call everyone’s attention to the fact that he was here—to destroy his dreams like he had destroyed mine. But in the end, I said quietly, “I won’t make a scene if you won’t.” My heart beat harder and faster as I spoke. Even though I still hurt, I couldn’t make myself blind to what
this
meant. He had come for me. Despite the risk of losing his precious career with the Brethren, he had come here. For me.

      “Even if you do, I’m still taking you away,” Luka said pleasantly.

      I tried not to shudder at his tone, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was beginning to scare me. Luka didn’t anger easily. I had only seen him angry once and it was not—
pleasant.
The gentler his tone was, the icier Luka’s rage tended to be.

      When Luka took my hand and pulled me with him, I didn’t resist at all, hoping my acquiescing response would calm him somewhat.

      Someone called my name as Luka slowly but firmly pushed his way past the crowd to the front door.“Caylie, hey, Caylie!”

      I cringed at the sound. No, not now, oh God of Caros, this was just going to get uglier. But his voice was getting louder, drawing more attention to us and I couldn’t afford anyone to realize who I was with.

Twisting away from Luka’s hold, trying not to wince at his hiss of disapproval, I turned around with a smile. But the smile died on my lips when I saw how wasted Jeff was.

One sniff and I knew he had been totally drowning himself in high-cholesterol blood. It would have given humans hypertension, but for weaker Caros—it was the equivalent of the most intoxicating liquor, as potent as poisoned blood but its impact would be more gradual than instant.

Jeff literally swayed in front of us as he scowled up at Luka, booze giving him the confidence he lacked. “Is this jerk bothering you?”

      I quickly stepped between the two.

      Just as swiftly, Luka pulled me behind him, his violet eyes cold as he stared at Jeff. When I tried to get close to Jeff, Luka’s fingers wrapped around my wrist like an unbreakable manacle.

      Jeff’s face, already flushed red with liquor, turned a darker shade of crimson when he saw Luka standing between us like an impenetrable wall.

      “Who the fuck do you—”

      Tension snapped into Luka’s body, and I could feel his icy rage building at Jeff’s words.

      I danced around Luka, desperate to prevent him from giving his identity away. I tried to get close as I could to Jeff or at least as much as I could with Luka still holding my wrist from behind. “Jeff, come on, be nice.” I spoke with cajoling sweetness, knowing that a fight was imminent if Jeff didn’t change his tone soon. Luka was not the type to get involved in public brawls but he wasn’t the type to take
this
kind of insult lying down either.