Captive Beauty: Harem of Redemption 1, page 7
I was failing—miserably, extraordinarily—in my resolve to resist her. I was supposed to be protecting her from me and the others, giving her time to get to know us and choose. Fuck me. All I wanted to do was order her to spread her legs. To bury my cock in her warmth.
Three piercing claps jolted me out of my inner struggle. I smelled Zane before I saw him step out from the shadows.
His laugh was laced with triumph. “My point, I believe, has just been proven.”
I released Emma’s hair and glared up at him. He was fucking right. I couldn’t control my beast for any length of time. As much as I hated to admit it, I was moments away from marking Emma and claiming her fully. If Zane hadn’t chosen that second to interrupt…
The gloating vampire approached, holding his hand out. “Come with me, sweetheart.”
Her wide eyed gaze tore away from me to Zane. I eased my weight off her. She took the vamp’s hand and he dragged her out from under me before lifting her to her feet.
“That’s certainly enough excitement for one night. Let’s get you back to bed, sweetness.” Zane wrapped his arm around her shoulders as he steered them toward her room. A jealous growl rumbled in my chest.
Emma glanced back at me. Holding her gaze, I stood. Pinkness spread through her creamy cheeks as she briefly took in my body. Then Zane swept her away and they disappeared into the darkness beyond.
I trusted that bastard less than I trusted myself, so I followed at a distance. Zane deposited Emma in her room and locked the door.
He turned to me as I approached. “I told you, her fate was already decided. I believe you’re correct. She’s the one.”
“Then why did you stop me?” I folded my arms.
“I didn’t. I just wanted you to know that I’m right.” Zane stepped closer. “Don’t fight against your instincts.” He dangled the key to her room. “Do you want this? You could go in there and claim her now.”
I pushed his hand away. “Stop tempting me. What about her? What about what she wants?”
“She wants us.” He cocked his head to one side. “She just doesn’t know it yet.”
“You egotistical prick.” I poked him in the chest. “If we do this your way, she’ll hate us, not love us. What happens when our time runs out?”
Zane’s features hardened. “Then Emma will be free of us.” The vamp sneered. “You were seconds away from forcing yourself on her mere moments ago. Do you think she could love you after that? Don’t be stupid. Once she discovers the pleasure we can give her, she will crave our touch. She will love us.”
“Lust is not love,” I snapped. “You don’t understand the difference, do you?”
“It’s all the same to me.” Zane turned on his heel and strode away.
I rubbed my face, sighing. A long time ago, when I was a pup, I thought the mate bond meant love. A deep, soul-consuming connection to your other half. Now I knew that wasn’t true, if it had been, then I never would have been able to do what I did to…Natasha.
I blew out a ragged breath. It had been a long time since I’d so much as thought her name. Or of my heinous crime and the hatred that set me on this path.
The mate bond didn’t mean shit. It was nothing special. I was fooling myself if I ever hoped otherwise. Or so I thought, until the enchantress cursed me with finding love. My mate.
I—we—needed Emma’s heart. How the fuck were we, of all people, supposed to get it?
My roar echoed in the hallway. Zane had proven his point. I was a weak-willed son of a bitch. But, in my right mind, I was consumed by the urge to protect her—especially from me. Fuck Zane. He’d caught me in a moment of weakness. It wouldn’t happen again. From now on I’d remain strong and make Emma fall for me. Somehow. Could she even sense the bond between us? She wasn’t a wolf so how could she?
I knew from the start this would be challenging. But, all I really had to do was keep my wolf under control, stop being a selfish asshole, and get my release in other ways.
I needed to beat the shit out of somebody. Cade would point me in the right direction. For a few hours, we could cruise Seattle and find some Eclipse wolves to take my frustration out on.
Cade drove us into the city, the hour drive taking half as much time as he sped along the dark roads. My phone dinged with an incoming text. I fished it out of my pocket, read the message, and smiled.
“Looks like we’re heading to Vamptopia,” I said. “Some enforcers are there trying to get the manager to pay them and agree to be under Eclipse’s protection.”
“Dumb bastards.”
I nodded my agreement.
We sped through the city streets to the shadier side of town. Cade parked in the lot beside the large concrete building with the neon red Vamptopia sign. It was anything but subtle. I grabbed the handguns from the glove compartment and tossed one to Cade. We couldn’t use magic around humans, and there were plenty of humans in there tonight.
I slid out of the car and tucked the gun into my jeans waistband. We approached the front entrance. The bouncer gave a nod and opened the door. Ear deafening music blared in the moodily lit space. This lower level was the club, while upstairs housed the blood brothel—the real reason this place existed.
I surveyed the crush of bodies on the club floor. Most smelled human with hints of vampire, fae, and witch dotted throughout the room. Humans thought this place was a fun spot to dress up and play pretend vamp for a night. The witches and fae were here to get their latest fix of vampire-induced euphoria—the stuff was akin to a high end drug.
Though vampires weren’t supposed to drink from humans, I suspected plenty of them did, taking advantage of the private rooms on the third floor. Plenty of other supernaturals gladly offered up their blood too, craving the high—and the sex.
My nose picked up the scent of wolves in one corner. I nudged Cade and we ventured that direction. Three of them sat in a booth, eyeing the crowd. I spotted the mostly filled-in black moon tattoo on their necks, identifying them as members of Eclipse. When they saw us, their hands darted under the table for their weapons.
I slid into one side of the semi-circular booth while Cade blocked off the other side by rigidly leaning against the top of the backrest. His steely gaze locked on them as he flashed his gun.
“Boys,” I said over the music, “what are you doing in our club?” Three sets of faintly glowing golden eyes landed on me.
The one closest sneered. “This is our turf now. We’re here to make that official.”
“Really? Your boss sent three pups to make a business deal?”
“Who said anything about a business deal?” The wolf bared his teeth. “The manager either pays up or we kill him. He has a choice. He can either keep working for you and die, or start working for us and live. Simple.”
I leaned in. “How about we settle this a different way, out of sight of the humans?”
Three rumbling growls reached my ears. “You’re on. Lead the way.”
I stood, allowing them to exit the booth, then headed straight for the door that opened to the back alley. Outside, a single lamp post shed light on the area. A dumpster stood against the side of the building, and several crates were stacked at the far end, but other than that it was empty. This was exactly the type of action I needed tonight.
Cade shut the door with an audible thud. The Eclipse enforcers studied their surroundings.
“It’s just us two,” I said. “No backup.”
The chatty one grinned. “Well then, you’re outnumbered.”
I shrugged. “We’ll see. No guns?”
“No guns,” he confirmed. We all reached for our weapons and dropped them on the ground. “Go get those Penumbra pricks,” he said to his comrades.
“Ah-ah, not so fast,” I said, “Cade’s not part of this fight. It’s just me against the three of you.”
“Even better odds.” The leader shifted as he leapt toward me. I stepped easily to the side, taking on my half-form. Deadly black claws tipped my fingers, my muscular build bulked up, and my vision sharpened.
The other two enforcers exchanged a confused glance before shifting into giant wolves. They’d probably never seen a half-shifted wolf, and they weren’t going to live long enough to tell anyone else about my special talent, or genetic fluke, depending on how you looked at it.
They circled me, snapping their jaws. Their leader charged again, and this time I stood my ground, catching him across the muzzle with a powerful swipe. He yelped, backing away and shaking his head, to regroup. The other two lunged from either side. I crouched and spun, tearing into their furry chests. My claws dripped red.
As soon as they were off me, the leader tackled me to the ground. I swiped at his belly. His jaw bit deep into my shoulder and I let out a growl of pain. I shifted further, growing a long snout filled with razor sharp teeth, which I clamped around the wolf’s neck. The metallic taste of blood coated my tongue as I tore at his flesh. He reared back and I shoved him off.
Enough playing around. I dropped the half-form and immediately shifted into a white wolf. Wasting no time, I plowed into the leader and ripped his throat out, then turned my attention to his companions.
They both charged at once and we became a jumble of snarling fur and flying blood. I chomped, clawed, and tore at them, taking out all my frustration. One of them turned tail and ran, but never made it out of the alley. A blast of magic, and one last yelp, told me that much.
The last enforcer yielded, going belly up. Wide eyed, he extended his neck, offering me his submission. I bit down on his throat, opening up the jugular. He was as good as dead anyway. An Eclipse member never surrendered. Damian Garcia, their boss, would have killed this enforcer as soon as he returned alive.
Heaving, adrenaline pumping through my veins, I watched the wolf bleed out. His lids closed, his chest stilled, and he morphed back to human form.
“You satisfied?” Cade asked from the doorway. “I think you’re losing your touch. That took longer than it normally does and there were only three of them.”
I narrowed my eyes at the fae. In a quick crunch of bones, I returned to appearing human. “Fuck you.”
Cade snorted. “I’ll go get the car, unless you want to walk around to the lot naked and covered in blood.”
I shook my head. “I’ll clean up here and leave Damian a message.” I went to work dragging the bodies and lining them up against the wall, while Cade fetched the car. Once finished, I found a large piece of cardboard in the dumpster and took it out. Using the enforcers’ blood, I wrote: Penumbra rules here. I propped it up beside the bodies and evaluated my handiwork. Damian would get the message.
The sports car quietly crawled up the alley and flashed its headlights. I grabbed my shredded clothes and the guns, and darted to the passenger side door.
“Fuck, man, you’re going to get my interior all bloody,” Cade said as I plopped into the seat.
I gave him a feral grin and he shook his head with a muttered curse. While he drove us home, I sent a text to the club manager letting him know about the bodies out back. I also sent some of our guys to keep a lookout for any further Eclipse trouble at our other businesses.
For now it was a game of tit for tat with those assholes, but one day we’d have to put them down—for good. It was going to be a bloodbath. No matter how many times we put Eclipse in their place, they always rose up again to overstep their bounds. We were putting off the inevitable because mass murder caused media interest, and that was something we wished to avoid.
If Damian didn’t stop though, we’d have no choice. I had a feeling that day was coming—soon.
12
Emma
I lay wide awake in bed that night. Tumultuous emotions raged inside me and my mind raced to make sense of them. My escape attempt had failed before it had even begun. Somehow, I’d known that it was Lucas's wolf who pursued me long before he had shifted. Terror had directed my thoughts and actions, yet at the same time…I didn’t know how to explain it.
When the huge, white wolf tackled me I was petrified, but also…thrilled? Anxious? There was definitely an undercurrent of excitement that chilled me to the bone. This was my second night here. Was I already developing some kind of psychological bond with my captors? How could that be?
Zane and Cade frightened the hell out of me, and infuriated me too, yet looking back on dinner, I couldn’t deny a certain allure. Their raw, primal energy drew me to them. It had started with Zane’s beauty. Now, the thrill of Lucas's wolf chasing me.
I was so fucked up. Where had this come from? They were monsters.
Had I really tried to run away because of fear of them? Or was I afraid of myself and what I felt as Lucas and Zane fought savagely in front of me? I hadn’t realized the excitement was there under the fear until after my experience with Lucas's wolf. Now, though it had taken me hours of lying awake and pondering, I saw it. I could admit it to myself. Some savage part of me found them fascinating. With that acknowledgement came a fresh wave of panic.
I wouldn’t give in to my baser instincts. I hated what the bosses represented. All that money, power, and acting like animals simply because they could get away with it. That was of no interest to me.
Yet Lucas's fist in my hair had felt good. His naked body on top of me had felt so right, I’d had to resist the urge to wrap my legs around his hips.
What was wrong with me?
When he’d stood, trapping my gaze with his and daring me to look at his body, I’d given in. I’d let myself indulge. And oh my God, he was glorious. All supernaturals were attractive, but they all dimmed in comparison to Lucas.
His body wasn’t just bulking muscle and perfect hard planes. Every line held primal energy and incomparable grace. He was more than the sum of his beautifully defined parts.
And here I was again, drooling over a man who had pinned me down and almost forced himself on me. I was fucked up. Broken. Somehow, something had gone terribly wrong in my psyche. And these men were bringing it to the surface.
I rolled over, crushing the pillow to my face. It had been too long since I’d gotten laid. That was the problem. The only explanation. I didn’t want them, I wanted cock. Simple.
I fell asleep with that predicament whirling through my mind.
What was I going to do? Fuck them? That was a dangerous thought.
Late morning brought the one person I was trying my hardest not to think about to my door. Lucas's amber eyes took in my face then dropped to the burgundy dress’s low neckline, my hips, and stockinged feet.
“Put on shoes and come with me,” Lucas said, his voice rough.
“Where?” I wasn’t blindly going wherever he wanted.
“I’ve come to show you the mansion. Since you’ll be staying here with us, I thought you should know which areas you may visit and which are off limits.”
I blinked at him. “You’re letting me out of my room?”
He nodded. “We both know you won’t try to run away again. You’re a smart girl. Now come.”
“Okay.” I figured he was putting a lot of faith in my obedience. I had no plans to try to run away at the moment, but that didn’t mean I’d completely given up the idea. In front of the wardrobe, I slipped my feet into a pair of low heels, and grabbed a shawl. I was beginning to think the standing closet was magical. Everything that came out of it fit perfectly.
Lucas ushered me out of the bedroom. “Follow me.”
I trailed a few steps behind him as we made our way along the hall. Images of last night flitted through my head. Running. Sensing it was Lucas who chased me. His body covering mine.
I cut off the memories and the sensations that went with them. They threatened to pull me under in a downward spiral that led to a deep, dark cavern of suppressed desire. I shivered, pulling the wrap tighter around my shoulders.
Lucas glanced back at me, his nostrils flaring. “The other doors in this hallway are off limits. Except the one at the end where you came for dinner last night.”
“What’s behind them?” I couldn’t help asking.
He shot me a sharp glance. “Our bedrooms.”
“Oh.” A blush heated my face.
He pointed to a door at the opposite end of the hall from where we’d dined. “Office. Also off limits.” Then we turned down the corridor that led to the staircase. “Lounge. Sitting room. This third floor is ours alone. The second floor is personnel and staff dorms. You will not linger on the second floor. Understand?”
I made a non-commital noise.
Lucas's eyes burned golden and he halted. “Do you understand?”
I stopped, not daring to get any closer to the wolf shifter. “Yes.”
“Good.” He turned and continued walking.
“Why are you showing me all of this?” I asked, lingering in his wake.
“Because you can’t stay in that one room forever. As for why I’m showing you, the others are busy with—” he cut himself off.
“Busy with what?” Damn it, I was beyond curious about them.
“Business,” was all he said. We passed the stairs and came almost to the end of the hallway where another corridor intersected. “This wing is off limits. All of it.”
“Why?” I peered into the dimness, the end of the hall shrouded in shadow.
“Because it is.”
I glanced at him. “Fine. I was just asking. Do you conduct all of your business from here?”
Lucas's lips pressed into a thin line and I decided not to push him. His reaction only made me more curious though. How much of the city did they still control? Was the other crime organization actively trying to destroy them? My assumption was yes, considering they’d questioned me about being a spy.
The hunters were bad enough to deal with, what had I gotten myself in the middle of now? Turf wars? Rival gangs? My luck was shit.
