The tiny, dark-haired woman stood up. My brother and I both inhaled, but our wolves didn’t do anything except yawn. “How old are you exactly?” Syn asked.
Lucas uncrossed his legs, the bullet wounds completely healed. “If we told you, we’d have to kill you.” He laughed as the little woman with the one named Rowan raised her weapon. I was sure her aim was true.
“Lucas, I truly do love you and would hate to have to explain to Mother what happened to her second favorite son. Imagine the heartache it would cause.” I injected just enough boredom to piss off my brother.
“Mother only has two sons, asswipe.” Lucas stood, ignoring the guns aimed at his head and chest.
My brother really was a loon. “Exactly. Hence, why you are her second favorite. I do not doubt that if we had another brother, you’d probably be her third.”
Lucas flashed across the room, making the two women gasp. I was pretty sure the only one in the apartment with the ability to defeat him, and I was the Alpha, but I wasn’t willing to test my theory. Besides, I found, much to my surprise, I actually liked the Iron Wolves. They needed to learn about others to stay safe. Damn, I didn’t want the responsibility.
“Mother loves me more, brother.” Lucas flicked me in the ear.
Moving with the speed of our vampire lineage, I was behind Lucas and had my brother in a headlock. “Dream on, baby bro, dream on. Besides, we both come second best to Alecia, the princess, or as dad likes to call her, babygirl.”
“Lord save me from stupid men,” Syn said.
“So, what’s the plan?” Stepping away from my brother, I faced the remaining wolves in the room. “We have rounds at the hospital. I suggest you get Laikyn and her stuff out of here before nightfall. We will handle her paperwork at the clinic and make sure it’s smoothed over with the hospital as well.”
“Must be nice having the freaky mind control,” the little spitfire I wished had sparked our interest said with a grin.
“I will admit, it comes in handy.”
“Sorry about shooting you and shit,” Rowan said, his southern drawl slightly evident.
I shrugged. “This is nothing. Try being staked. Once in the early eighteen hundreds, I was...never mind. That is not a story for polite company.” I winked at the two women, then strolled to the door. As Lucas and I reached the entryway, I looked over my shoulder. “Ignorance because you are unaware is one thing, butnow that you know there is more out there, you need to school yourselves. Yes, you have all been lucky. However, luck is a fickle bitch sometimes.”
With those parting words, Lucas and I left Laikyn’s apartment. Through our twin bond, I could tell my brother also wished she were our one, and that, had we been allowed to sample her, he knew she wouldn’t have been it. Not that we wouldn’t have enjoyed the sampling. But the disappointment after would have been worse than what we were experiencing now.
At the door to the vampire’s condo, we paused and inhaled. There was no indication he had come back, nor one of his minions. I hoped like hell that when the being returned, he would enjoy the calling card Lucas had left for him. Fucker should have known better than to come into our town without letting us know. There were rules for a reason. It kept the pissing contests down to a minimum. Lucas and I had to show whoever the upstart was that we were the only ones allowed to piss on this side of the Missouri-Kansas border.
Chapter Four
Iwas aware when the twins left the building. The air of power shrank to where I didn’t need to be as on edge. My wolf growled, the urge to shift riding me. “How did you shift when you needed to?” I tossed the bloody rag into her hamper.
“I shifted here in the apartment and sorta roamed around inside until she settled.” Laikyn wouldn’t look me in the eyes.
I used my finger to lift her chin. “That had to be hard on both of you. Why, Laikyn?” My hand kept her from dropping her chin to her chest.
Her chin wobbled. “After that night, I couldn’t stay and watch you be with other women, knowing you didn’t want me.”
I’d screwed up so much that night. For years, I tried to keep that side of my life separate from the Iron Wolves club, although the women I screwed were usually up for whatever I did to them. I liked going to clubs that catered to my lifestyle. BDSM. Never had I envisioned Laikyn in one of the clubs, especially up in Sioux Falls, a place I’d escape to many times. I wasn’t even sure how she’d gotten into The Falls. The club’s exclusive membership was one of the main reasons I had joined. They were part of a larger network of clubs, with subsidiaries in just about every major city in the country. You wouldn’t know it was a place where debauchery of every kind lurked behind the closed doors from the outside. Hell, I was still in awe at the elegant remodeled old mansion. All the clubs linked were former estates turned into clubs. No pop-up shops or renovated garage-type buildings.
“Mon Chaton, I fucked up. I was running just as fast as my two, or four, legs would carry me back then. I thought I’d give you a few more years to grow up, then come hell or high water, I was coming to claim you.”
She snorted. “Yeah, right. That’s why the next day you had what’s her name bouncing on your dick in your office.”
I growled. “I didn’t have anybody on my cock the next day. For fucksake, you broke my dick for months.” I caged her in when she tried to hop down. “Bullshit. I saw it with my own eyes. I came by to talk with you, but you were sitting on one of the couches,” she stopped, sucked in a breath, and tried to push me back. “But sitting like the king of all, right there on your big leather chair was you, with a human on your lap. She had her skirt hiked up, while your hands were massaging her ass, moaning endearments. I didn’t stay around to watch the show, thank you very fucking much.”
I screwed my eyes shut, trying to remember the next day. I remembered the drive back—the second fifth of whiskey. The third and fourth were a blur, but I knew for a fact my dick hadn’t risen to the occasion until the smell of Laikyn had faded enough for my wolf to stop whining. Even then, I had to work hard to get hard.
“If you saw a chick on my lap, I can guarantee you that was as far as it got. My body wouldn’t respond to anyone for over six goddamn months. I waited for you to return. Hell, I even called your parents in Florida until I was sure they were ready to change their number. Did they never tell you?”
“I can’t believe that. I mean...you always had a woman. Even that night...with me, it was intense to say the least.”
I laughed. The sound was hollow to my own ears. “You were strapped to a St. Andrew’s Cross, getting ready to be whipped by a stranger. The sight had me and my wolf foaming at the mouth. It took all my self-control not to rip his arms off and beat himwith them. When I released you and heard you ask me to show you what I liked.” I took a deep breath. “That you were there to learn how to please me, I swear to all, my heart broke. Not because I didn’t already want you, but because I wasn’t worthy of that. Of you. Don’t you see, Mon Chaton? You are my one weakness. My one and only true temptation that I can’t walk away from.”
She raised auburn brows. “You did a pretty damn good job the next day.”
