Enemy Mine (7 page)

“I think older siblings must have that protective death stare down pat,” she murmured, just as quietly as before.

A small, muted rumble came from Kiernan’s chest.

Carefully she stroked her fingers down one of his arms. His leather jacket had been shredded by what she guessed were claws, but his skin was unblemished. “This
is
your blood,” she said accusingly.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said soothingly, stroking his hands down her back and arms, touching her everywhere he could.

It did matter but he had a stubborn, pure male expression she didn’t feel like battling. She just wanted to savor his embrace. Leaning against him, she laid her head on his shoulder. Her family was going to be so pissed once they discovered she was gone but she didn’t care. Kiernan had protected her when every instinct he possessed must have told him to do the opposite. “So, the Mazzoni pack wanted to kidnap me and paid you to do it?”

“Yep. And I have a feeling Uberto Mazzoni will be dead within the hour.”

She shivered, knowing it was true. “Thank you for what you did.”

He grunted and she figured that was the only response she’d get. His fingers lightly strummed on her spine, up and down in a soothing rhythm. The vehicle hit a pothole, but she barely felt it. She had no idea where they were going, and she didn’t care. Being in Kiernan’s protective arms was all that mattered.

Finally he spoke, his quiet words cutting through the quiet of the vehicle. “I tried calling you today.”

“I know. My brothers took my phone.” She hadn’t memorized his number, so she’d had no way to contact him. “Where are we going?”

“We can’t go back to the condo, but I have a place we can hide out,” his brother said after a glance in the rearview mirror. He took a sharp turn into a residential neighborhood she recognized.

Without either of them telling her, she understood he was making sure they didn’t have a tail. “I need to call my pack and let them know I’m okay.” She hadn’t wanted to take the time to leave a note in case anyone found it before she’d escaped.

Kiernan slipped his cell out of his beat up, ripped jacket pocket. “Here.”

Hesitantly, she took it. “They might be able to track me with this.”

Both Kiernan and his brother chuckled, the sounds so similar it startled her. Kiernan shook his head. “All our phones are encrypted. The number will show up, but they won’t be able to trace you.”

The certainty in his tone put her at ease as she dialed her mother’s cell. She picked up on the first ring. “Hello?”

“Hey, Mom.”

Her mother sighed. “Are you safe?”

“I’m with Kiernan.”

“Your father and brothers are very angry.” At least her mom didn’t sound mad, probably because she understood. Her mother’s parents—Melina’s long-deceased grandparents—hadn’t approved of Nevada in the least. Times had been very different back then, when males actually fought to the death for the right to claim a female. From the stories Melina had heard, her father had fought tooth and nail for her mother. Despite his victory, her grandparents had still disapproved but her mother hadn’t cared.

“I figured.” She could just imagine the state they were all in at the moment.

Her mother sighed again. “Are you sure he’s worth it?”

Kiernan was looking straight ahead but she knew he could hear her mother. She answered without hesitation. “I think his actions tonight speak louder than anything I could ever say.”

Underneath her, Kiernan relaxed a fraction. If she hadn’t been wrapped up in his arms she wouldn’t have noticed it.

“Can I contact you on this phone?” her mom finally asked after a long beat of silence.

When Kiernan nodded, she said yes then quickly wrapped up the conversation. She shoved away her guilt at leaving her pack’s house when she knew they only wanted to protect her. While she loved and appreciated them, she couldn’t stay away from Kiernan. He needed to know that she was on his side and hadn’t been intentionally avoiding him today. Settling against Kiernan’s chest, she traced over his muscles with her fingers. “Am I still in danger?” He might have killed those shifters earlier, but there might be more after her. The thought terrified her.

“It’s possible, but I’m sure your pack will get all the information they need from Uberto,” he murmured against the top of her head.

Considering Kiernan had hand-delivered the treacherous shifter, Melina felt perfectly safe with him. More than that, she wanted to be with him, not locked down with her pack when she had no doubt Kiernan would keep her safe. A little self-conscious that his brother could hear them, but not caring enough to stop, she reached up for Kiernan again, cupping his cheek so that he looked at her. “Thank you for . . .” She struggled to continue, how to voice what she wanted to say. Somehow she found the words. “You risked a lot by going after those shifters and coming into my father’s territory.”

His eyes practically smoldered with lust and need as his hand tightened on her hip. The grip was territorial, possessive. “I’d do it again.”

She swallowed hard, unable to tear her gaze away from his. “I know I left before, but it was only to protect you. I didn’t want my brothers to hurt you.” And she wasn’t leaving him again. She desperately wanted to explore what was between them.

His hard lips curved up into a half-smile. “The only reason I let you go is because they were your family. If it had been anyone else, they wouldn’t have walked out of that condo alive.” There was a dark truth to his words that made her shiver.

“What about the feud between our families?”

“Fuck it. I’m not walking away from you for
anyone
.” Before she could respond he covered her mouth with his, pushing, teasing, taking. The man lit her body on fire and the only thing stopping her from ripping off his clothes and straddling him right there was his brother’s presence. Soon enough though, he was going to be all hers. And she wasn’t letting go or walking away this time.

Chapter 7

Kiernan wasn’t surprised his brother had a place their coven didn’t know about. It was just the way Ronan operated. He kept secrets from everyone, including their father. Kiernan didn’t mind, especially now that he had Melina all to himself.

Ronan had left them ten minutes ago, telling Kiernan not so subtly that he could have a few hours alone with Melina before he’d be back. Kiernan planned to make use of all that time as soon as he finished showering the blood and grime off.

The jets pummeled against his shoulders, the hot water streaming over his body. Thanks to his age and strength, he’d already healed. Even if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have cared. Tonight, he was finally going to sink himself inside Melina again. To taste what he’d been missing, fantasizing about for too long. He hadn’t been lying when he’d told her he wasn’t walking away from her for anyone. Not his brothers, his father, no one.

She’d awakened a primal urge to possess and protect in him he hadn’t known had existed. For someone who lived as long as he had, a year wasn’t that long, but it seemed like an eternity not to have made love to her.

When she’d left her pack tonight, coming to him of her own free will despite the issues it would cause with her family, it had stirred those territorial feelings he was just starting to get a grasp on and made them go haywire. Before Melina he’d never felt such a possessive need about anyone. Sure, he looked after the members of his coven, especially his female cousins. But the desire to watch out for her was a different kind of need. It was a hunger. She was so sweet and giving, and even though he’d been annoyed she’d gone to the homeless shelter to help that kid when she’d been in danger, he’d found himself proud of her.

As he started to twist the shower knob off, he heard the quiet snick of the bathroom door opening. Then he scented her. That sweet honeysuckle scent that was so distinctive, he knew it had to be Melina.

Silently, he waited as he heard a rustle of movement—hopefully Melina getting undressed—then the jingle of the shower curtain being drawn back.

Delicate fingers lightly raked down his back before her hands slid around to his front to rest on his abdomen. His muscles clenched as she pulled him back against her naked body in a tight hug.

The feel of those soft breasts pressing against his back was almost enough to make his brain short circuit, but her next words stopped him from turning around and taking her up against the wall fast and hard like his body wanted.

“What happened between our families? Why did my brother . . . kill yours?” Her voice was soft.

Kiernan closed his eyes for a moment, letting in memories he’d long since banished. His parents had been enraged at the Rodriguez pack, but what Miguel had done had been justified. And there was no way to sugarcoat it. “My brother Corey went mad. He started killing humans—young couples—after the woman he loved left him for someone else. She’d decided she didn’t want to be turned into a vampire after all, that she’d rather be with a human and live a short, mortal life.”

To say his brother hadn’t handled it well would be an understatement. Unable to understand why the woman he claimed to love would choose another over relative immortality with him had been beyond Corey. He’d gone on a bloody rampage. The members of Kiernan’s family were bloodborns—born vampires, not made—which was why their coven was so powerful. But every decade they changed a few humans into vampires. Births among vampires were rare, and to keep their species strong they changed those who were willing.

“And my pack got involved?” She laid her cheek against his back, her grip around him tightening.

He laced his fingers through hers, savoring the feel of her body pressed along the length of his. It comforted him that she wasn’t pulling away in horror. “Yeah.” Back before the leaps in technology and before civilization had spread, shifters, vamps, and fae had all guarded their territories with a vengeance. That meant anyone living in those areas fell under their protection. “My brother made the mistake of killing a shifter-human couple. Once word of his madness reached your pack, your father dispatched Miguel and some others to hunt him down. Miguel was the one who actually killed him though.”

Her grip on him tightened and he tensed. “Were you there when it happened?”

“No.” He’d been in Europe at the time. Even though he’d been angry at his brother’s death, now he was glad he hadn’t been nearby directly in the aftermath. If he had been, things between him and Melina might be very different. If he’d hurt or killed one of her brothers. . . . He fought off a shudder, thankful that had never happened.

She rubbed her cheek against the back of his shoulder. “What do you think of my pack’s actions?”

“They were justified.” Saying the words aloud was hard, yet they set something free inside him. His parents had been so angry, sending soldiers out to hunt down any members of the Rodriguez pack. They’d been convinced Corey could have been rehabilitated, that they could have saved him. But Kiernan knew the truth. His brother had crossed a very distinctive line. Killing because of his own pride and ultimately, Kiernan thought his brother had gone a little mad.

Things had been bloody for a couple years until finally they’d come to a shaky truce. Then the Rodriguez pack had moved down south and other than keeping tabs on them for a few decades, his coven had never crossed paths with Melina’s pack again. Not intentionally. Decades had turned into a century and Kiernan had never really thought about the Rodriguez pack. Not until a curvy, sensual shifter had taken over all his waking thoughts.

“Did you ever kill anyone in my pack?” she asked so quietly he almost didn’t hear her above the water.

“Yes. It was in self-defense, but . . . yes.” After a while, both sides had gone after the other with no remorse, killing anyone they could and Kiernan had been forced to defend himself. And he didn’t regret it. He automatically tensed, waiting for her rejection.

When he felt her soft lips begin to feather kisses along his spine, his hips jerked in response. His cock, rock hard from the moment he heard that bathroom door open, ached to feel her sweet sheath tighten around him. It had been too damn long and he was tired of waiting. Tired of being alone.

He pressed his palms against the wall in front of him. His fingers clenched but there was no give to the expensive marble.

Slowly, she continued her onslaught of feather light kisses. His body thrummed with pent up energy. Right now he didn’t want slow and sensual.

He swiveled, grabbing her hips and pushing her up against the tile wall in a few short movements. She let out a yelp as her back touched the tile, but didn’t protest.

Instantly she wrapped her legs around him and arched her back against the cool, slick surface as she molded her body to his. He slid one of his hands up her ribs until he cupped a breast. Her eyes brightened with undisguised lust.

It felt like he’d been waiting forever to see and tease her light brown nipples again. When her lips parted, as if she planned to say something, he crushed his mouth over hers. The need to touch, to taste her, was damn near overwhelming. Her tongue flicked against his as her legs tightened around him, tugging him closer.

His cock rested against her abdomen and even that was too much distance. He needed to be inside her. Reaching between them, he slid a finger, then two inside her, testing her slickness. Damn, she was tight.

He could feel each small ripple of movement as she clenched around him. As he began moving his fingers in and out of her in slow, measured movements, her tongue danced against his frantically. The energy pulsing off her was almost palpable. She was incredibly wet, but he wanted to work her up more.

She had other plans. Holding on to his shoulders, she lifted up against the wall before sliding down, impaling herself on him.

As her inner walls tightened and molded around his cock, he drew back. Taking uneven breaths, he stared at her, drinking in the sight of her. Her eyes were closed, her slightly swollen lips parted, an expression of pure bliss on her face.

He pulled out then thrust back into her in a hard, dominating movement. Her eyes widened as she let out a small gasp.

“I’ve been waiting a year to feel you again,” she finally whispered.

Me too.
But he couldn’t find the words. Her dark hair was slicked back from her face, not completely wet, just damp from being splashed by the shower jets. Droplets of water covered her neck and chest. They drained down her body, creating erotic little rivers around her nipples.

He wanted to kiss and lick every inch of her but didn’t know where to start. Unable to control himself, he dipped his head to one of her breasts. Her nipple pebbled to a rock hard point as he drew it between his teeth.

Moaning, she arched her back, giving him better access. He growled against her breast, earning another pleasured gasp. When he tugged on the sensitive flesh, her inner walls clenched around his cock. He repeated the action on her other breast and got the same reaction. Each time he licked and teased her, she pulsed around him.

He rolled his hips, sinking deeper inside her tight body.

“Don’t torture me,” she murmured.

He’d planned to drag out their first time since last year together, but they had all night and if he had any say, this sure as hell wouldn’t be their last night. He wasn’t letting her go again. She should realize that by now.

When she dug her fingers into his shoulders, he reached between their bodies and rubbed his finger over her clit. The small nub was swollen, sensitive. As he gently flicked it, her entire body jerked against him.

He knew it wouldn’t take her long to come. With each stroke over her clit, she moved, rubbing her breasts against his chest until her inner walls started convulsing around him. They clenched, milking him tighter and tighter until she moaned. The sound was loud and uninhibited, echoing off the tiled walls of the shower.

As her climax rocked through her, she grasped the back of his head and pulled him against her neck. “Taste me,” she demanded.

Those two words held so much power over him. For a fraction of a moment he wanted to stop, to ask if she was sure, but his most primal side took over. He was touched she was allowing him this privilege, and turned on she was being so damn demanding about it. She’d given him permission and there was no turning back now. For either of them.

He released his fangs, raking them over the soft column of her neck as he continued moving inside her. Sinking his teeth into her vein, he lost control and his orgasm tore through him. Years of practice guaranteed the bite wouldn’t hurt her, instead increasing her own pleasure. Her heightened moans and inner walls tightening even more around him to let him know it did.

The taste of her sweet blood on his tongue combined with the feel of her tight sheath around him was a powerful combination.

Too powerful.

As he drank, he released himself inside her in long, hot strokes. Her legs and arms tightened around him, drawing him close as his climax crested and fell. It seemed to go on forever until he finally had to force himself to stop blindly thrusting into her. Burying his face against her neck, he gently nuzzled where he’d bitten her, closing the small puncture wounds with his tongue. He’d imagined it would take some convincing for her to allow him to drink from her. That she’d given this to him so freely touched him in ways words couldn’t describe.

He wasn’t sure how much time passed, how long he kept her pressed up against the tiled wall. He wanted to stay buried inside her, to feel those warm arms around him forever. When the water turned tepid, he blindly reached out and turned the knob off.

Her grip on him didn’t lessen as he strode from the bathroom to the connected bedroom. If anything, it grew tighter. That honeysuckle scent of hers was strong, emanating off her in potent waves as he laid her on the bed, covering her luscious body with his once again.

He was so thankful she wasn’t in heat and he didn’t have to worry about condoms. Since neither of their species could get diseases and she wasn’t ovulating, he savored the feel of sliding his cock inside her with no barrier. And this was just the first time of many he planned to take her tonight.

* * *

Melina silently crept down the stairs the next morning. She wasn’t sure how long ago Kiernan had left her alone in bed, but she smelled coffee and her stomach was rumbling. Wearing one of his T-shirts that came down to her knees, she felt covered enough if his brother was there. She hadn’t heard Ronan come back, though she’d been pretty distracted so she wasn’t sure. As a shifter she wasn’t that concerned about nudity, but she really didn’t want his brother seeing her in the buff. Something told her Kiernan wouldn’t like it either.

When she stepped into the kitchen bright with natural light streaming in, she jerked to a halt. Kiernan leaned against the counter, coffee cup in hand,
shirtless
. It didn’t matter that they’d made love many,
many
times the night before or that she’d seen every inch of his sexy physique. Her body flared to life at the sight of him. Her breasts grew heavy, her nipples tightened, and that ache between her legs grew almost unbearable. Heat and need made her clench her thighs together. She stared at the expanse of all that muscle, her eyes trailing down his chest, following the faint trail of hair that led straight to . . .

“Keep looking at me like that and you won’t get breakfast.” His deep voice sent a thrill rolling through her.

Feeling her face heat up, she met his gaze as she stepped into the room. The tile was cool against her feet, but it did nothing to ease the heat engulfing her. Her lower abdomen tightened with unbearable need. Who wanted breakfast anyway? Before she could blink, he’d crossed the distance between them and lifted her up, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist.

Since she wasn’t wearing anything under the shirt, when she spread her thighs around him her clit rubbed against the front of his jeans. The friction against the rougher material made her moan into his mouth as he dominated her with his.