Sanibel Sizzle - Vampire Werewolf Menage (41 page)

“You know what you sound like?” A single tear slid down her cheek.

“A male in love,” his deep voice resonated through the chapel as his fingers traced the mark he’d given her.

“Blade,” she whispered in awe, turning her chin up.  “I love you so much.” He cupped her face and leaned in for a kiss when the earth moved. 

“As profound as our declarations of love are, baby.” He pulled her up. “I don’t think they would cause seismic waves.” Blade tugged her toward the door. “But a shit load of trouble would, let’s go.”

Heading out the now very familiar corridor, screams echoed the halls.  “Someone’s trapped.” She ran towards the voices,
topping the stairs and
nearing an open flame.  “Explosions, it’s…”

He cut her off, “Immortal fi
re.”  Gripping her arm, he herded
her
en route for
the safest exit.  “You aren’t going near that.  You won’t heal from those burns
.  No one does
.”  The flames were black in the center and lined in orange.  Only formed from ancient spells, immortal fire killed all.

“I hear younglings,” she cried.  “We won’t leave them.”

“I won’t leave you, Becca.”

Afanas misted behind them.  “I made a blood oath to the Alpha that I cannot deter from.  I’ll get her to the guard and then come back and help you with the younglings.”

“I will not leave her.” Blade
snarled, drawing
her behind him.

“Suit
yourself
,” the Beta said, throwing up his hands.  “I still have to escort her to safety and FYI - a burning building is not safe.”  Another blast rocked them.  “You know I have to obey the Alpha to the letter of his directive, especially regarding his mate.”

“Blade,” Rebecca pleaded when all three heard the younglings cry out
yet again
. “The longer we argue with this idiot, the more danger they’re in.”

“If she has one tiny blemish on her when I come out,” Blade promised, going nose to nose with Afanas, “I’ll flay your body and make you eat your own skin.” He turned and kissed Rebecca hard and fast before he went in the direction of the desperate screams.

Rebecca heard screams from an opposite wing.

“You will come with me, Rebecca.” Afanas wr
apped his arm around her hip
, determinedly pulling her to his side.

“I have to help them!”

“They are Weres same as you.” He remained infuriatingly calm. “They will help themselves. But you are the queen.”

“Well,
a queen definitely outranks a B
eta.  And I say help them.  We’ll work together.” She wiggled from his grasp just as an explosion rocked an adjoining wing, nearly knocking her over the landing and down the stairwell.  Afanas caught her easily.  “This way,” he said firmly.

“Wait!”

“
I
am in charge of
you
.” His lip curled into something sinister.  “The Alpha’s orders remember?”

She balked.  “Don’t let me stop you from helping
many
when I am merely
one
.”

“You will come with me,” he repeated his irritating mantra.

“No.
She.
Won’t.”
An unearthly growl met their ears before Blade’s
full
werewolf misted in front of them.

Afanas grabbed her arm painfully and made a leap for the stairs.  Her canines exploded and she tore into his shoulder, ripping out a hunk of flesh before twisting away. Blade moved in at full beast and backhanded Afanas over the landing. She heard the crunch of bones below before she turned to see her male werewolf in all his glory.  Pulling her against his considerable body, his snarls quieted the second he licked her reddened arm. 
He’s soothing me.

“Listen…,” she swallowed thickly.  “It doesn’t honestly hurt that much.  And we really have to get out of here and help the others.”  Where were these explosions coming from?  They could step forward and be blown into too many pieces before they could heal themselves.  The shifters knew every way to kill an immortal it seemed. 

Blade had her over his shoulder
,
running down a corridor and heading for an enormous stained-glass window. 
Oh, shit, he’s gonna jump.
  “I can jump myself; wouldn’t it be easier that way?” Her face banged against his back with every bound he made.  When he neared the window, Afanas snatched her just as Blade hit the glass. 

Or was it Afanas?  It smelled like him.  “Let me down.” She bit his back and kicked with all her strength. He held her away from his body with one hand wrapped around her throat.  But he wasn’t Afanas, was he? 
The Beta is a
rogue
shifter.

“I will have so much fun breaking you, Queen.”

She gasped for air.  He forced her to look down through the shattered window where Blade was swarmed by six mean-sized Habalines.  “Your stupid dog will be too busy to miss you.”

She forced her heart rate to slow and feigned unconsciousness. He shook Rebecca a couple of times and then head-butted her to prove she was faking it.  It was al
l she could do not to scream.  Finally, c
onvinced she was out cold; he dumped her at his feet and yelled over the window for another shifter to gather her.
I will never be a captive again.

With a sudden gust of speed, Rebecca slammed into his side and took off.  As she raced down the steps, she spotted the only open chamber not engulfed in flames.  A recently rebuilt and modernized addition with large windows in the front, she could break one and escape the fire…and him.  She needed only a few seconds to lift the closest chair and hurl it through the
glass, shattering it with the strength of her
Were
.  Before she took her next breath, she felt the shifter behind her, misting with a burst of energy that nearly sent her body flying.

Rebecca snatched a letter opener from the nearby desk and jabbed it at him, but he just laughed at her sorry weapon and closed in on her.  Eyeing Ciaran’s swords that scattered the walls, Rebecca wasn’t sure she could reach one before the shifter caught her and butchered her with it himself.
He’s too fast
. Fire sizzled in the attached wings, burning the floors, ceilings and everything flammable in-between. The majority of the ancient building would soon topple.

In an attempt to shake him off, Rebecca swung over the desk as his fist closed around her arm, jerking her backward against his chest and sending the letter opener airborne. She cried out as he lifted her off her feet and hurled her into the fireplace, winding her before she’d even laid another finger on him. 

He smiled, admiring the blood that dripped down her face.  “I pegged you for liking it rough, Rebecca.”  Standing over her with the superior confidence only the truly powerful possessed, he whispered above her head.  “Should I finish it off, burn down the whole place?”

“You mother fucker,” she screamed, “creatures are dying because of you!”

He threw his head back laughing just as Rebecca kicked out and caught the back of his knee.  He was so solid that she felt the crunch of her bones on impact, but he still went down.  Pushing on two painful feet, she ran for the windows.  Jumping would beat burning to death. Without a second thought, she blasted through the window, spinning to her back on impact.  The shifter had her before she hit the ground.

He trapped her to the grass with his heavy frame, his palms on either side of her face, bracketing himself around her. His laughter shook her body as he pushed Rebecca further down, imbedding her with the glass fragments that remained underneath her body.  She could feel his heartbeat against hers.  Their separate rhythms stated the obvious.  His was a languid tap. 
The predator.
   Hers was a frantic staccato.  
The prey.

There was nothing she could see but the wall that was him.  Imprisoned in the physical cage he wrapped around her, she tried to calm
herself.  He could kill her
easily and they both knew it.  And she experienced that surreal feeling, when she was so sick of trying that mental exhaustion willed her to give up.
I’ll never get away
from him.
And as that thought hit, there was something that moved behind his eyes that caused her to snarl at him.  “You are messing with my head!”

He lowered his face and spoke against her neck, his mouth brushing her skin with every word. “I’ve done my best for you these past few weeks.  I’ve kept you safe.” He licked the blood that
ran from her ear. “You don’t believe it’s true, but I’ve won you.” His teeth scraped her jaw.  “And I’ll teach you to like me.  There’ll be some hard lessons ahead, but you’ll learn quickly.” His hand slowly slid down her arm as if he had all the time in the world to explore.  That kind of confidence, she knew, was not a good sign when faced with an opponent. 
He fears nothing.

“Dream on, shifter.”

R
ebecca watched him
reform into his true self:  A stunning male who held the honed blade of cruelty and would use it on his own mother just for fun.  “You’ll learn to appreciate me, Rebecca.  I’ve already appreciated you, remember?  I tasted you in front of all.” He stared at her lips. “There were many witnesses to my glory.”

Acid burned her throat.  “You had to drug me for that.”

“But you got off so exquisitely, and I swallowed each delicious drop of you.” He licked his sculptured lips slowly.  “And you swallowed my blood…lots and lots
…
of a pure bred Habaline’s blood,” he stressed. “What does that mean for us?”

“There is no way that we
’
re
bonded if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“You’re so sure?”

“As sure as I am that Ciaran’s gonna break ass on you the minute he finds you
with me
.”

He clucked his tongue at
her.  “Your attachment to the A
lpha is just physical.  The werewolf may have shown you a good time, but he doesn’t have what
we
do.” He pushed himself against her, allowing her to feel his stiff sex. “Never in your little life will you experience anything like me.”

Rebecca was aware that Habalines had something slightly differ
ent going on below the belt as compared to
other immortals.  She’d heard the rumors all of her life, but she wasn’t about to find out from personal experience.  She stared back at him with disgust.  “You’re pathologically insane.”

Her words
had no effect
on him
.  “You’ll remain queen and be spoiled under my care.”

“Under your thumb, you mean.”  In a cage or chained to a wall perchance, who knew what they really did to females in those compounds? She pushed against his chest, but he didn’t budge.  His neck twisted in an alien way… almost reptilian.

Startling her to stillness, he shushed her, “Enough from you, female.” He slanted his mouth over hers and bloodied her lips with the strength of his kiss. She fanged him with her canine’s and tore her mouth away, slicing his tongue into thirds.   He was momentarily stunned and gave
her a few inches lead-way.  That’s all Rebecca needed. She kneed him as if her life depended on it, because it did. 
Bren you would be so
proud; this
fucker
has to be a chick after that slam
.

When he
bowed
back, she spun away and rolled herself down the hill.  A boulder was about to break her descent when he grabbed her by the back of her hair.  Swinging her by her makeshift pony tail,
he threw her against the rocks
with enough force to crack some ribs.  When the breath finally returned to her body
,
Rebecca wished it hadn’t.  The pain was staggering.

The Habaline was in a full-on rage, heading toward her with clenched fists.  His eyes glittered like a thousand sunsets.  His beauty was a weapon to trap many females, imprisoning them with the light of his otherworldly glamour.  His walk was more of a determined sensual lope promising boundless hours with every need attended.  Every wish fulfilled.  Sex on legs, power under flesh, and a heart that didn’t exist, his chosen female would surrender at all costs and be forever tortured right after she succumbed.

Rebecca didn’t want to be that female.

She grew cold, blocking out the rising fire, her mates, her family and the pain from her injuries. Rebecca combined her inner will, waning strength
,
and horrific fear tunneling through her body and pushed up to fight for her life. She kicked high, clipping the side of his face with her booted heels, broken bones and all, and knocked him backwards.   He was temporarily blinded when blood flushed his eyes, but she wasn’t going to run this time. Running had proven pointless. She grabbed a rock twice the size of her fist and smashed his temple.

In a move so fast she never saw it coming, he slamm
ed her windpipe with his elbow. 
And she went down.
Rebecca heard
the sound of
his
insidious laughter as darkness prickled her vision
.
  She chanted inside her mind: Fight.  Fight.  Fight.