Watching Out For Fangs (The Cloverleah Pack Book 7) (18 page)

Chapter Twenty Four

What indeed? Vadim knew what he wanted to do – throw his smirking mate up against the nearest wall and fuck his brains out. Or maybe lie the man down and spend hours just kissing every inch of that tanned skin before loving Josh into a stupor. Or he could…

“God, you old men, you’ve just got to overthink things,” Josh said, a smile splitting his lovely face. Knee walking over to where Vadim sat on the bed, Josh reached for his t-shirt, and in a daze, Vadim let his mate remove his shirt and then hot hands and soft lips were on his skin, teasing, caressing but above all, loving. Actually they were quickly driving Vadim to distraction, and he found he couldn’t think if he tried.

“See how much easier life is sometimes, if you just feel?” His mate teased as Vadim heard the clink of his belt buckle being opened. Josh was behind him, the heat of his chest and wisps of his hair sending tingles through Vadim’s body. The muscled arms that reached around him were so richly tanned in comparison to the whiteness of his skin, it was almost obscene. Then Josh popped the button of his jeans, sliding his hands inside and cupped Vadim’s cock. No. That there was obscene…and wonderful…and so fucking delicious, Vadim could hardly breathe.

After centuries of being in control, of always having to make the decisions in all aspects of his life and for so many others, Vadim surrendered to the pleasure Josh lavished on him. His true match was as strong as he was – so different in so many ways, and yet he was perfect in every way. Friendly and warm where Vadim was cold and hard, open and giving where Vadim treated others with distrust. In bed they were equals, and when Vadim finally felt Josh’s thickness nudge against his ass from behind, he spread his legs and let his mate inside.

“I’ve got you, love.” Josh’s promise in his ear was a wisp of a thought but nothing more. Vadim’s brain was nothing but a pile of melted goo. His body was awash with sensations – heat, lust, warmth and need. Dimly he heard himself babbling, crying out, pleading with Josh to fuck him – no more in control of what came out of his mouth, than what was happening to his body. And all the while Josh stayed strong and firm behind him, the long sure strokes of his cock doing more to unravel Vadim than any man with a knife could do. Vadim had nothing to hang onto and his arms flailed in the covers, his dick bouncing on his abs in a frantic search for friction. But Josh was there, around him, over him, taking him to heights he didn’t know possible, with the sureness of a man who would never let him down.

As that realization hit Vadim’s psyche he arched his body and came, his orgasm taking him totally by surprise. Josh’s hand was on him in an instant, moving along his shaft, milking him through the shudders that racked his body as Josh pounded to his own completion behind him. Vadim was just about wrecked when he heard Josh roar and then teeth slice through his neck. Damn and fucking hell. His cock, already sensitive, flared to life again and Vadim let his second orgasm roll through him with the finesse of a Mack truck.

Vadim flopped, too drained to do anything more. He felt Josh move behind him, arrange him in the blankets and then the mattress move as Josh disappeared. Moments later Josh was back, cleaning him up, the plop of the wash rag on the floor, and seconds later Vadim was in Josh’s arms, his head nudged into Josh’s neck.

“Feed, love. All the thinking you do is wearing you out.”

He wanted to protest, but in all honesty Vadim didn’t have the strength. He did feel weak and tired even though it probably wasn’t even midday, but as he slid his fangs into Josh’s flesh, the blood he swallowed was better than any magic button. The temptation to gorge himself was always present but this was something Vadim could control. He would only ever take enough to feel better before disengaging.

“You need more,” Josh protested as Vadim swiped his tongue over the puncture wounds. Vadim shushed him, and this time it was him holding his mate. Josh was always slightly woozy after Vadim had fed from him, especially with the sex involved. Now Josh was tucked up against Vadim’s chest, their legs entwined and Vadim had his hands loosely clasped around Josh’s torso.

“I’m an old vampire, love,” Vadim assured him. “I usually don’t have to feed very often at all. Since I’ve met you I’ve been sipping from you every day, and I am sure I’m getting enough. With the pack under threat you need your strength too.”

Vadim wished he hadn’t mentioned the real world especially when he felt Josh’s body tense. But Josh seemed content to lie quietly for a while and that was by far one of his mate’s best traits. Vadim wasn’t sure what he would have done if Josh had been someone who felt the need to fill any silence with meaningless chatter, especially after such mind blowing sex.

But maybe Josh had been doing some thinking of his own.

“Why do you tear yourself up thinking about things so much?”

“I don’t usually,” Vadim said, wondering what his mate was worrying about – he was sure that was worry in Josh’s words. “When it comes to keeping people safe, managing my business, my money and my family, I have no problems making decisions quickly and getting on with what needs to be done.”

“So it’s just me…you dither or get frozen like a rabbit in the headlights when it comes to me?”

“I’ve been on my own a very long time,” Vadim said slowly.  Yes, he may have been stalling a bit but he still wasn’t sure what it was that Josh wanted to hear.

“See, you’re doing it again. Over thinking things.” Josh chuckled against his chest and Vadim tightened his arms without thinking.

“I don’t want to upset you,” Vadim said, feeling his heart open further as he forced the truth from his mouth. “I have no social graces, I hate interacting with people for the most part. This being in love is all new to me and I’m terrified I’ll muck it up somehow. If you got hurt by something I said or did, I don’t know what I’d do.”

“You actually have a lot of social graces, love,” Josh said. “When I saw you, that first time, in your posh suit looking like you owned the place I wanted to get to know you, even before I knew we were mates. And your voice…not only did it get me hard in a heartbeat, but you knew exactly what to say. And you’ve proven the same thing in this last week, over and over again with the pack.”

Vadim shrugged. “That’s other people. I don’t care if they get upset with my attitude. In my coven I ruled, so if I said anything to anyone it was to do with keeping the coven safe and running smoothly. In this pack I know Kane is in charge and because he is your Alpha I want to make sure he has the best security system in place. I know he wants to keep everyone safe, but you’re the only one I truly care about and because we are in this pack, in my mind Kane and I are both working towards common goals.”

“You chat with Damien about all sorts.”

Looking down at Josh’s face, Vadim could see his mate was just trying to understand. There was nothing loaded about the question. By the Fates his relationship with Edward had a lot to answer for. He was second guessing everything.

“Damien is interesting,” Vadim conceded. “We vampires are used to talking to people who’ve lived a long time, and I am interested in the history as seen by shifters. Damien has a unique perspective.”

“Aelfric and Fafnir are both older than Damien, so is Jax for that matter. And Matthew is almost as old as Damien as well.” It didn’t sound like Josh was upset, just trying to sort things in his head.

“I’m sure I will talk to them in time,” he said. “But Jax is busy working all hours trying to keep the pack safe. It wouldn’t be right to try and engage his mates in conversation without him – I don’t fancy being sent to the ice realm. As for Matthew, I think he’s so worried about his little mate he can’t think straight enough to hold a conversation that doesn’t involve pack security or anything else. I can’t imagine the type of stress that man is under.”

“Yeah, that’s the thing with shifters – always so possessive and protective. Things should be easier once the Atlanta pack has been dealt with.” Josh laughed softly as he spoke. But then he went quiet, and almost hid his head on Vadim’s neck. Vadim slipped his hand into Josh’s hair, and caressed his scalp, feeling the tension.

“What’s up, my wolf?”

“You do get on with other people far more than you realize,” Josh said. “I just don’t understand why you worry so much about the things you say to me. What is it you want from me?”

“I want to make you smile,” Vadim said simply, letting the truth of the words tinge his tone. “I want to be the one to bring a smile to your face, and that love light in your eyes. Even with all this tension in the pack, I seem to get it right sometimes, and I don’t want to stuff it up. So I worry about it, and think about it, probably more than I should.”

“Aww shucks. That is probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me,” Josh said, and Vadim could feel his mate’s face get hotter on his chest. He wanted to say more, but their peace was shattered by an incoming text. Swiping his phone from the bedside table, where Josh had thoughtfully put it, Vadim read the short text.

Inner circle meeting, 15 minutes.

Vadim showed the text to Josh, who sighed and nodded. While Vadim sometimes thought it would be nice to take Josh to his castle in Europe or anywhere where they could just curl up on the bed and learn all there was to know about each other, the bottom line was, Cloverleah was still in danger. As he got dressed, Vadim just hoped that Everett had been able to give the pack some leads so the whole mess could be sorted.

Chapter Twenty Five

Josh followed his mate down the stairs to the main living room in the pack house. His wolf was having a bit of a swagger as he eyed Vadim’s jean-clad ass that rolled as the vampire walked ahead of him. Yeah, they’d had that ass, they’d totally enjoyed that ass and no one was ever touching it again. So Josh could fully get on board with his wolf smug attitude. The human side of him was thinking more about the conversations the two men had shared. It was taking time, but Vadim was slowly opening up to him and probably showing a side of himself that no one ever saw.

While Josh appreciated his mate’s efforts, he hated the fact that for Vadim, it was an effort. This is where the mind link would have been so useful, because both men would have been able to feel, sense and hear what the other was thinking. The mind link between mates usually stopped any misunderstandings and any couple was usually closer as a result. Vadim had said he would speak to his mother about what might be wrong with theirs, but Josh didn’t think his harried vampire had taken the time to do it yet.

A familiar scene greeted Josh in the living room. Kane and Shawn occupied their favorite chair. Griff and Diablo were paired with Matthew and Dean on one couch. Jax and his two mates took up another couch, while Damien and Scott paired up with Anton and Troy on yet another. Adair, as the representative from the enforcer group, had grabbed a chair from the dining area and was straddled over it, leaning on the back. Tobias was occupying the only other couch in the room, and he jumped up as Josh and Vadim came in.

“No, no, stay where you are,” Josh said quickly. He waited until Vadim had sat down, and then plopped on the floor in front of him, encouraging Vadim to open his legs so he could sit between them. He wasn’t quite ready to do the lap sitting business that the other couples were so comfortable with yet, but he didn’t see why Tobias had to always be the one to sit on the floor.

“We are going to need some more couches,” Kane said eyeing them with a grin. “Especially when Tobias finds his mate.”

Josh could sense Tobias’ discomfort and he waved Kane off. “I’m fine on the floor.” He wasn’t lying about that either. From where he was sitting he could smell the faint scent of sex coming from Vadim’s crotch, and being framed by the vampire’s legs was almost as good as being held in his arms.

Kane seemed to be able to read his mind because he smirked, but then he looked across at the leader of the enforcers and said, “Okay, Adair, can you summarize what we’ve found out so far?”

The big man gave something that was probably a grin and winked at Josh.

“Well, firstly Josh and our resident vampire’s problem with that little lovesick human has been solved.”

“You killed him?” Vadim asked, but Josh didn’t hear much in the way of concern in the voice above him.

“Nah, although I was tempted to more than once. Mouthy little sod,” Adair said. “I was speaking to one of the Atlanta betas, who started coming onto me like a bitch in heat, although he seemed really uncomfortable with what he was doing. Turns out he wasn’t smelling me, he had caught the human’s scent. He hadn’t noticed it before because Everett’s smell was messed up by the potion he’d drunk. Needless to say, neither one of them were pleased to hear they were mates. The wolf I was questioning claimed he was straight as a nail and the Atlanta Alpha doesn’t have time for humans in his pack. Not to mention he and all of the other wolves had heard the human’s comments about rabid beasts, monsters and wild creatures, as well as repeated assertions of unrequited love for another, so that’s going to be interesting.”

“You’ve put them in together?” Shawn asked.

“Of course,” Adair said with a perfectly straight face. “We can’t have mates separated even if one of them has a hankering to be a blood bag rather than a furry one’s pillow, and the furry one’s a closet gay. Mates belong together and they won’t hurt each other.”

There was a couple of snickers around the room and Josh allowed a small one of his own to escape. He didn’t like Everett’s infatuation with his mate, but it sounded like the pretty little man had more than enough to keep him busy for a while. Vadim’s hand was lightly tangling in his hair as though the vampire knew exactly what he was thinking.

“Incidentally the two humans were both from the coven,” Adair continued, “so you might want to let the head guy know what’s happened and to keep an eye on the situation, Vadim, if he’s determined to stay out of this mess.”

“He is, but he’s been busy improving conditions for the humans, so…I’m not sure what is going on, but I’ll follow it up,” Vadim promised.

“As for the magic we could all smell, that gave the humans the strength to fight us off, whatever it was, it was short acting. Everett said there was a
tenebris magicae,
known simply as the
magus,
who was working with the Atlanta pack.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Aelfric said, who was looking across Jax at Fafnir.

“What do you mean?” Kane’s voice was sharp, but Josh knew it was worry. No one in the pack was pleased when magic was involved. They’d all had enough experience with that when the Jefferson pack tried to take Dean.

“
Tenebris magicae
means dark magic, and
magus
is Latin for magic. They’re not names or a position, they are what a person can do, or who they affiliate with. Dark magic could be dangerous for all of us,” Vadim said quietly.

“Exactly,” Fafnir said. “And it doesn’t make sense that a man of magic, one who could cast a spell…”

“Strong enough to give a human super powers…” Aelfric picked up the tag given him.

“Would make it short acting,” Fafnir concluded.

“Is there a lot of effort involved with that type of thing?” Diablo asked.

Aelfric and Fafnir looked at Jax. “We only know about Fae magic. We can do it, yes, but it’s an illusion and it wouldn’t work on a human,” the gruff man replied. All three of them looked at Vadim.

Josh felt Vadim sigh a little under his breath, and he ran his hand up Vadim’s calf muscle. It twitched under his hands, and then relaxed.

“I know a bit about magic users,” Vadim said carefully. “Given that vampires are about blood, those humans who do have some magic and understand about paranormals, especially those who prefer the dark arts, often get involved in a coven. They seem fascinated with the whole drinking blood ritual, which is stupid because we don’t have a ritual about it. That would be like you guys having a ritual over consuming a Big Mac.”

All the men in the room laughed at that idea, and Josh felt Vadim relax even more. He leaned his head against Vadim’s thigh as the vampire continued.

“Everything is about checks and balances,” Vadim said. “A vampire has super human speed, can compel and mind wipe others but has to drink blood to survive. It is also chronically hard for vampires to have children, much like the Fae, and for the same reason. We live a freaking long time. Shifters share their soul with their animal spirit – they may be able to have plenty of children, but they can’t live in any way that goes against the codes of nature. If they’re intrinsically evil, or they don’t live according to what the Fates expect from us, then their animal side will desert them, usually resulting in an early death.”

“Then why are some Alphas so damn cruel, especially to Omegas like me,” Dean huffed. Matthew soothed him immediately and Josh hoped Vadim was watching. He could learn a lot about mates from watching the pairs in the pack.

“Look at how your ex-Alpha was when we saw him,” Matthew reminded his mate. “He barely shifted, his wolf was a mess, and the pack was unhealthy. He would have been dead before your thirtieth birthday and yet the likes of me and Damien are over a hundred.”

“And still looking like a hot thirty year old,” Dean said with that fetching giggle of his.

“Exactly,” Vadim said, although he clearly had no idea who the men were talking about. He probably wanted to get his part of the conversation over with.

“Demons don’t have many children either, for the same reasons mentioned, but they nearly always have same sex mates, and those mates are nearly always human or angels, which as you can imagine would seriously cramp their style.”

“Angels?” Josh turned his head looking at his mate in astonishment.

Vadim grinned, a real smile this time. “Yes, love, Angels, complete with wings, and halos and everything. Remind me to introduce you to one sometime. I’ve met a couple over the years.” Josh knew his eyes were wide and he made an effort to keep his mouth shut.  Angels. Damn.

“I’m can’t see where the balance is with magic users though,” Anton said, putting the conversation back on track. “They’re human, seem to breed children at a rate far exceeding paranormals, and often don’t know about us at all.”

“You’re right, sort of,” Vadim said. “Magic users are usually human, although I have met some half-breeds in my time. If they don’t know about the paranormal world, then they are usually the idiots that summon a demon and end up dying for the sake of an experiment. But the difference between their magic, and the magic that you three on the couch have, or you Shawn and Dean, is that it is
all
to do with spells, incantations and rituals. There nearly always has to be a sacrifice of some kind made, which could be anything from a lock of hair, to accelerated aging for the user, or yes, the life of another person. Blood is a common sacrifice which is why so many of them hang around with vampires.”

“Surely though,” Shawn said, leaning forward on Kane’s lap, his face alight with interest. “Surely, if someone went to so much effort to find a spell that would give a human the strength and speed of a shifter, why wouldn’t they add a longevity aspect to it? Everett seemed human this morning, so it only worked a matter of hours.”

The room erupted into noise as everyone in the room voiced their opinion at once. Josh swiveled around to look at Vadim, who was watching the others, his mouth downturned. He then looked across at Tobias who was also watching Vadim, his brow furrowed. Josh wasn’t sure he liked his mate being the focus of an unmated male’s attention, and kicked Tobias’ ankle.

“What,” Tobias said, sounding aggrieved. “I was just thinking that the blond ice god here probably has a good idea about what is going on, and from the mask of his face, it’s probably not a good thing for us.”

“Do you have an idea?” Josh asked Vadim.

“I think some magic user is testing his magic on humans in the hopes of creating a human army that can fight as well as any other paranormal. By keeping the duration short, he keeps the humans dependent on him as their source of power. Can you imagine what that would mean for any of us?”

By some coincidence the rest of the men had gone quiet, and Vadim’s words sounded like a death knell around the room. Then Kane moaned and put his head in his hands.

“Fucking hell, I thought we had enough trouble with the Atlanta pack. Now we’ve got to find this magic user too?”