Page 53 of Blood and Trouble

It smelled like Poe but darker, like Lycan but warmer.

What is that? I love it.

“I’ll go get cleaned up,” Poe said in a broken, hoarse voice. “You should throw that away. It’s burnt to hell.” He pointed at the stove before storming off toward his room, slamming the door behind him.

Lycan trained his stormy-gray gaze on me. “You’ve been a naughty girl.”

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but Lycan pressed a finger to my lips to silence me.

“You think I can’t hear what’s going on inside that pretty little head?” He grabbed my jaw with his right hand, squeezing my cheeks between his fingers and thumb.

“Of course you can.” I wasn’t trying to hide it.

“My magic’s still inside you, Trouble,” he said. “And even if it wasn’t, you and I…we have something deeper than that.” He grabbed my left hand and held it up. “We’re married. You swore yourself to me. You’re my wife. You’re mine.”

“That wasn’t real.” I shoved away from him and grabbed my towel to wipe the blueberry juice from the side of my face. “We both know⁠—”

“Do we?” He stalked closer and flipped me around so I faced him, putting his hands on either side of my hips, pressing his pelvis to mine. “If I’m inside your head, that means you’re inside mine. What do you feel, huh? What do you sense coming off me?”

The exhilarating scent wafted off him again, winding my magic into heavy knots. He pulsed with jealousy and hunger and possession, a debilitating combination that threatened to fold me in two. Lycan wanted to consume me. He wanted to take me back to bed and keep me there for another three days, mark me and claim me until the entire world knew I belonged to him. But…there was something else there, too. Something that grew feral at the sight of Poe on top of me.

Lycan tucked his head against my neck. “You smell like him.”

He didn’t say it like it was a bad thing. His soft baritone melted like chocolate on summer asphalt, like honey dripping from a hot spoon. The pungent tang of arousal floated off him, and my restraint nearly crumbled.

“I know what you’re doing, Trouble,” he murmured, tilting his hips against me, rubbing his thick cock against my lower stomach. “You should stop while you’re ahead.”

I swallowed against a dry throat. “I’m not afraid of you.”

He licked his lips, and my focus dropped to his perfect pink tongue. “You have no idea the monsters you’re messing with.”

I expected him to lift me onto the island, push me down, and fuck me into the granite. I shivered with the thought he might claim me right here for Poe to walk in on. The sudden glint in his gaze seemed to suggest he’d heard that and approved.

Instead, he stepped away and nodded toward the bedroom. “Go get that shit off you. Get dressed. I’ll make breakfast.”

Turned on, confused, and disappointed, I scurried away, shutting the door carefully behind me.

CHAPTER 11

Poe

The hair on the back of my neck rose the minute we walked into the Royal Residence. Because Vanderbilt Holdings had such a huge presence globally, Ava had been invited to every charitable event during her stay in Europe, and she’d been obliged to accept most of them.

Tonight, we’d been invited to the king’s annual reception. Everyone here had been hand-selected by the royal family, chosen because of who they were or what they represented. The Vanderbilts were one of the richest families in America, the closest thing we had to royalty aside from the Washingtons. I was surprised Ivy and Miriam Stuart-Washington weren’t in attendance tonight, but what did I know about the lifestyles of the rich and famous?

I’d been dressed up like the rest of them: one of Lycan’s suits, a pair of his fancy shoes, a watch more expensive than everything I owned. But I wasn’t here to play pretend with Ava and Lycan. I was made to blend into the background, present but not seen. An accessory. A decoration. Not needed unless something terrible happened.

Which was a metaphor for my entire life, to be honest.

Despite the security detail and the presence of four Bastards, we were too exposed, too out in the open. That shit rankled my wolf in the worst way. But now that we were inside, a looming threat hung on the periphery, hiding in the shadows. My wolf picked up on it, even if I couldn’t see it yet.

“You sense that?” Lycan asked, leaning in close to my ear.

I nodded and looked around. When we arrived, we were escorted to the reception area, a massive room painted red, with detailed portraits of dead Danish royals hanging every few feet.

“We’ll get in line to meet the family,” Ava said.

“I’ll check out the surroundings,” I said before disappearing into the crowd.