AllFreeNovel
Share Us
ELEVEN
Harlee fingered the tiny puncture wounds at her throat, barely evident this morning. And yet they made her feel as if she somehow…belonged to Adrian.
Like she wore his ring. Or a hickey. She giggled then turned her head to see if she’d awakened him. He still slumbered like a dead man. Or undead man. Or whatever he was.
She’d slept a little. Very little, spending a lot of time simply enjoying being wrapped up in his arms and feeling utterly possessed by him and astounded by the depth of feeling she had for him.
He infuriated her. He was an arrogant, uncommunicative, infuriating, domineering pain in the ass.
She might be falling in love with him. A vampire. And what was she? Was she human? Or was she really what they thought she was? These strange sensations she’d felt couldn’t possibly be her changing, could they? For the first time, she wasn’t so sure anymore and she didn’t know whether to be scared or confused or thrilled.
Wasn’t that a kick in the ass?
Shifting just a bit, she turned over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, watching the gray light of dawn enter the room while she ticked off all the reasons she could possibly be in love with him.
Top of the list was lovemaking. No doubt it was incredible, more than she had ever imagined it could be. Her blood literally sang in her veins last night. She still felt that zing inside, that strange awakening, similar to her time with Duncan, only more intense. Could her emotions have anything to do with her dominant side, or was she just feeling more for Adrian right now because lovemaking with him had been more recent?
Could she be more confused? She wasn’t exactly experienced in juggling multiple lovers. How was she supposed to handle this?
She froze at the sound of the door opening, caught between not wanting to move and shaking Adrian awake. But the room had grown light enough that she immediately recognized Duncan and relaxed, especially when he smiled and put his finger to his lips to keep her from speaking.
He crept to her side of the bed, leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to her lips, sliding his tongue in her mouth to swirl with hers. Warmth curled in her belly, a banked fire slowly coming to life. All too quickly it was over and he pulled back, smiling and smoothing her hair away from her face.
Well, that was certainly pleasant. His hands circled her throat, his thumbs caressing her chin.
“I could kill Harlee with one squeeze of my hands, you fucking idiot,” Duncan said, though it was obvious he wasn’t talking to her.
“I knew you were here the minute you entered the house, lycan,” Adrian said without turning around. “You smell like a wet dog.” Adrian flopped around to face them both, arching a brow and glaring at Duncan. “You already had your turn. Get your hands off my woman.”
Duncan frowned. “Your woman? I don’t think so. Besides, you keep fucking her and passing out, she’ll be dead in no time. You can’t even stay alert enough to protect her.”
“I told you I knew you were here.” He pulled Harlee close to his side.
Duncan grabbed her arm and dragged her to the other side of the bed. “Bullshit. You didn’t even flinch. You don’t have the first clue how to protect her.”
When he pulled her over to his side of the bed, Adrian nearly pulled her arm out of her socket this time. “I wasn’t the one lying near death yesterday. How the hell are you supposed to protect her when you’re dead?”
Harlee felt like a rag doll, her irritation growing with every passing second. “Excuse me, but I’m not a war prize here.” Jerking her arms away from both of them, she scrambled to the end of the bed and grabbed her T-shirt, tossing it over her head. Resting on her heels, she cast a disapproving look at both of them. “You’re both acting like a pair of testosterone overloaded teenagers. Instead of trying to figure out who gets to fuck me next, why don’t you work together to figure out who was trying to kill us? Maybe it’s the same people who tried to kill Stefan.”
They both looked at her with raised brows. “It was the government.”
“So the humans killed Stefan.”
“Didn’t say that,” Adrian mumbled.
“Then maybe you’d both better start thinking with something other than your dicks, because as long as I’ve been here you’ve gotten nowhere, and yesterday we almost died. Let’s get with the program, fellas.”
Robert listened at the door and smiled. Harlee was so much like his sweet sister Amelia it was uncanny. The looks of a demure kitten but the fire of a tigress. Harlee was coming into her own, feeling her bloodlines boiling. Soon it would be time for her to make her choice, to determine her dominance. He knew all it would take was some time alone with both Adrian and Duncan, and it appeared she had mated with both of them. Now she had to take them both at the same time.
If she ended up dominant lycan, it would benefit the vampire clan because she had already bonded with them. If she ended up dominant vampire, she would be his link to his sister and would rule at his side, eventually taking over the reins of the vampire nation.
Ah yes, it would all happen soon, but first her dominance needed to be determined and that might require a little boost in the right direction. Things weren’t happening nearly fast enough in that department. He pushed open the door to Harlee’s room, pasting an angry look on his face.
“The two of you have failed to protect my niece,” he said, casting an angry glare toward Adrian and Duncan.
“She’s fine,” Duncan said.
“We hadn’t expected the ambush,” Adrian said, slipping on his boots. “Besides, why would the human government want Harlee dead? They don’t even know about us.”
