Sanibel Sizzle - Vampire Werewolf Menage (15 page)

“Respectful?   You’re respecting me now?  It’s not working out so well, ace, since I’
ve
obviously
been
tied to a
bed
for three days
.”

Large fingers rubbed a
too handsome face, before metallic
eyes echoed the wolf. 
“The respect will come, as w
e’ll learn one another starting now.”

Rebecca clamped her legs shut
.  Ciaran’s head cocked, f
ollowing her
movements
with
those
eyes
. 
Predatory
still
ness transformed him
.   An ancient Alpha
paced
just
behind his skin
,
nearly
breaching the surface
but not quite
.  One of many shadows
flickering back
and fort
h
across the room
, it sta
l
ked
her, sensing secrets. Rebecca
could
feel
it probing her mind.
Chills climbed
her flesh
and
she whispered, “You’re not breathing.”

Inhaling languidly,
relaxing his stance,
a bittersweet smile touched Ciaran’s
lips.  “Who are you?”

“Renee Shirley,”
she responded
mechanically.
“
We’ve
already covered this
smidgen
of info
repeatedly. 
It’s an endless cycle.   You ask, and
I
answer.
  The same answer, it never
changes
.
” She tugged at her ties furiously. “I’m someone you won’t leave alone.
”

“You should be thankful I can’t leave you alone, Renee,” he said in a low rasp.  “Otherwise, you’d be dead.”
  With a flip of is internal switch, his expression turned bored.

“You really changed your mind about killing me?”  His mood swings were the least of her problems.  He was a startling enigma wrapped in a sexy package that she couldn’t begin to figure out.
Rebecca
long ago
decided that
Ciaran crossed indescribable
borders
simply by existing
in a dangerously
breathtaking
form
: 
a true predator.
 
He fit in here,
lost in time,
where he was born to be.
  The battles, the swords, the horses,
and
the blood set the hardline of his jaw perfectly.
  Rebecca thought he
just needed one of those signs
that said
:  Look but don’t touch.
 

“That and
validities
of the pack further persuaded
,
”
he spoke coolly.  
Sitting casually on the bed in faded jeans and nothing else, his body spoke for him.
Liquid movements and
barely
leashed power, tribal
tattoos lined both
bronzed
arms, starting at his
pecs
and e
nding above his wrists.   Three
h
oops pierced his left brow
while one spiked
the corner
of his lower plush lip.  Another
piercing
bored above his left nostril but was
a round cut
emerald.
Dark hair layered his face, silky black ending above his shoulders.  Blue-black whiskers shadowed his jaw. 
Further down, his pierced navel topped an arrow of midnight hair
pointing
to…

Heat, it must be the heat, why would she linger on his body this way?
Flicking her snooping
eyes back
up to his, glowing
eyes keenly studied her
in return
.   Tilting his head in the
were
w
olf’s way, he waited for
a
different reply:  the truth. 
Then it dawned on
her; she
didn’t sm
ell like a human.  H
er clothes were
changed and
body bathed.  “I drank his blood.”

“The Beta’s, I know.”
With a
curl to his lip, he crawled
to her as a lazy cat.  “Strange
you
remember.  Funny thing about those particular
herbs, the combination works except
i
onal
ly for those of
Were
descent, but dangero
usly so for those pure of blood.
”

He straddled her.

“You’re in the
wrong position to speak falsities
, lass.
” 
Skimming both arms with his fingertips, he touched the knots securing her wrists.  Hovering over her, his
nose rubbed hers.   Hot m
outh met hers – not for a kiss. 
Whispering words over her lips
in a way that was only his
, “My life changed last night, so di
d yours.  No
more
untruths will remain between us
.”

“I’m not
yours,”
she dared
.  She had to.  The way he was acting, proprietary
as
a
dominant
male courting
and claiming
a mate
– his prize
, pissed her off.
She belonged to Blade and Blade to her. “I
can’t stay here.”
A harder tug but she couldn’t free herself, realizing the rope must have silver woven inside.

Licking under her lower lip, he nipped a warning, “You believe that?” Smoot
h skin stroked hers.  Ciaran invaded every pore.
 
Suffocating.
 
I can’t breathe.
 
Gliding a hand over the curve of her
hip, he
shimmied down her body, lowering
his head.  Nuzzling the silky fabric skimming her thighs, he pushed with his nose until he exposed her.  “I’ve clipped your wings, little bird.”

A slow lingering lick tasted
the dip at her pelvis.

Staring up her body, he
proposed
every thought, every dirty deed he was goi
ng to do to her with one smoldering look
.
  A blur of movement, a sheet resettled
, he was off
the bed.
  Strolling
barefoot across
the floor, he
turned back before he opened it. 
“Get dressed.  Dinner is served and I’ve waited long enough to
dine
with you.”  The ropes
fragmented
, freeing her wrists.

“We’
re having dinner together?
   R
ebecca couldn’t do this, didn’t
want
to do this
.  “I can’t do dinner
, my head aches
.”
So did her hands, she rubbed her wrists trying to get the blood flowing.

“
Oh, but you can and will.  You’
ve left your prison behind,
mistress
.
” His hands raised in
a grand
gesture.  “
Welcome to my gilded cage.”
 

Blade misted in
after Ciaran closed the door
.  “Hey
.”

“How?”
She was stunned he could mist inside the warded chamber.

“Broke thro
ugh
two additional
wards while you were unconscious
,” his voice
was
bar
ely audible
even to her extraordinary hearing
.
“I can hit three other chambers in the castle and spin past the perimeter
.”

“
As gallant
as that sounds,
I need
a bat
hroom break.”
  Thirst and humiliation tightened her throat.  
I
really
can’t face him after the Beta
.
  She
wasted no time scooting past Blade
and disappearing behind the door.
Minutes later, she opened it back and neared the sink.
“Things have changed.”

“I know.”
He brought a glass of wine
to her lips.

After d
owning
half the goblet
, she
placed her words carefully, “You weren’t there.”
At rights to mate.
Loading her toothbr
ush, she shoved it in her mouth, needing time to think without speaking
.
Rebecca remembered everything
from that night
, every last detail.  W
hile pushing
the toothbrush around her teeth, the
new canines peeked a bit
again
.
“Why not?” she asked after rinsing.
 

Now
at
her side, breathing against her ear,
Blade explained,
“
It was my only chance. 
The diversion, for lack of a better word, allowed me
to test different
wa
rds.  And I
got
back
to Gage.  Your b
rother
received the good news
and their tightening up our plan
.”

A relieved sigh left her body.  Steadying her hands on the
vanity, she turned to her mate.
“
Ciaran is way past
suspicious
.  I’m not fooling him.  And if he finds out I’m not Renee before I escape, she’s back in danger along with me
…and you.
”

“That I know.  God, Becca,” he continued in a whisper
ruled
with steel
, “you
smell like another male and
weed
.”

“
Yeah, I do and h
ow are you so calm?  Bren walks the knife’s edge
since mating
.” She d
ropped the towel from her hands.
“If any
one
breathes near Tatum, he sprouts claws.”
 
Why weren’t you there blowing our cover and thumping your chest like a wild man?
  Thank God, he had the
foresight
not to,
she realized,
the wisdom to move forward with the plan.

“Believe me, baby, I want you.
  My knife isn’t sheathed by any means.  We’re all different.  Humans have
distinctive
personalities.  We
have
distinct
werewolve
s.  Your brother’s the destroyer.  He tips the freaky
scale,
and no one wants to mess with him, especially me,” he admitted, cupping her face with his
strong
hands. “
But when Bren
Walker is
on your side, you’ll win every time.  And that’s gonna happen, Red
Becca. We’ll
beat this. 
Your
mate will die for you.  Everything I’ve done is for you. 
Do you believe in me?”

“Yes,” Rebecca sounded sure, a hard stare
into his electric blues, “everyone’s waiting for me to com
e home and that’s what I’m going to do
.”  She didn’t miss a beat. 
“What’s that
stain
?”  Lifting up his
short
sleeve, new markings were inked insi
de his bicep.  F
resh tattoos
trailed around his skin
as a chain…in blood.  Stepping back, they were abhorrent to her.  “I feel sick
near them
.”

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t want
you to know
the truth
, but Gage did it before I headed ba
ck here.” Looking sheepish, he sighed, “I’m not as in control as you think.
  It’s
Druid
mumbo jumbo
crap
to spell off the
were
wolf
and
is
totally
necessary
for my
stoic
behavior
.”