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“Want to know how I knew you were with that bastard group?” I gripped the collar of his shirt and tore it like tissue. I already knew he had the crescent and sunburst tattoo before I saw the proof on his chest. “It’s not because of this ugly fucking thing. No.” I leaned in close. “It’s because you all have a stench to you.” I leaned in another inch. “It’s desperation and arrogance.”
I heard Kayla shuffle away even more and knew she’d run, her fight-or-flight instinct screaming at her to do the latter.
“I don’t know how you knew she was mine, but I assume that’s why you’re here.” My hand was tight enough on his throat he made gurgling sounds as he clawed at my knuckles to try to pry it free. “You actually thought to take her from me? To hurt her? All because you actually fucking thought you had a chance in taking me?” I tsked. “Man, you’re all a bunch of fucking amateurs.”
I let all the evil and dangerous parts of me rise so violently I tasted it on my tongue. Power and hunger, the demons of what made me who and what I was, surged forward. And all to protect my mate.
This wasn’t even about taking down an Assembly fucker. This was about taking out the bastard who thought to hurt my female.
This was vengeance. This was a vampire protecting what was his.
I ripped his ski mask off so he could really see the monster who was taking his life. His whimper was music to my fucking ears, and when I smelled urine, I moved an inch back and looked down, seeing his black fatigues grow wet.
“Damn, less than sixty seconds. You were easy to break.” I laughed when he started crying, when he started praying to a god who wouldn’t help him.
I heard Kayla hurrying out the room, her gasps of shock, her cries of fear, and the scent of her salty tears drowning out everything else. I ached to ease those worries from her. It was this primal feeling in me… the only important thing.
And just to prove to myself I wasn’t a fucking pussy now that I had a mate, I ripped the bastard’s trachea out and tossed it across the room before I let his lifeless body fall to the floor.
I turned just as Kayla stumbled forward in her haste to escape the carnage. She looked over her shoulder, screamed, “Don’t!” and ran out of the room.
I followed her, stalked my Kayla, and knew she was too confused and fear-stricken, too panicked to think or move rationally. I knew she wasn’t going to see the corpse I left on the shadowy stairs, knew she’d trip over it and go headlong down the steps.
And when that scenario happened, I used my otherworldly speed to pull her against my chest, lift her into my arms, and let her screams fill my head a second before she passed out.
13
Kayla
I knew I was waking from passing out as soon as consciousness filtered in. That fear rose up, and the pain followed.
I also knew I wasn’t alone.
My eyes were closed, but I felt him. God, I felt his presence like a heavy cloak on top of me.
So I lay still, controlled my breathing, and tried not to let the intense pain throbbing in my head control me. I failed miserably as a low groan spilled from me, and I gritted my teeth.
“Open those pretty greens and let me see them, Kayla.”
The voice that pierced through my pain was deep, so deep and gravelly that I felt it move along my body, let it settle in the very center of me. My pussy clenched painful as if reminding me how empty I was.
All the memories of what had happened before the darkness took me under rushed forward.
Back and forth, like a wave touching the shore before retreating.
I heard the sound of him breathing, so deep I knew he was inhaling my scent. My body reacted on its own, tensing, that fight-or-flight instinct taking control of me once more. But the problem in this situation was I knew there was no escape. I knew I couldn’t win.
Before I opened my eyes, I tried to get a sense of my surroundings. I was in a bed; that much was clear by the lushness underneath me. The next thing I noticed was the sound of a fire crackling. And then I took in my surroundings.
I could smell something dark and rich, woodsy, and masculine. I knew what it was. It was him. My body betrayed me once more by growing soft and wet automatically, and I clenched my thighs together even though my head continued to pound and fear was a heavy presence in me.
“I should’ve known fate would give me a mate who was stubborn.” His voice was deep and husky and washed over me in the best way. “I always envisioned my Coveted Female to be this demure little creature, a submissive in all ways to my dominance.” Although there was a hint of amusement in his voice, it sounded off, as if he wasn’t the type of man to entertain that side of himself. “Buuut,” he drawled low and long, yet I kept my eyes shut, thinking maybe he’d assume I slept as he confided these secrets to me, “I have to admit, knowing you have this fire in you, that you’ll no doubt go up against me, call me on my shit—something no other living being would dare do…” He paused, and I wondered if it was for effect.
