Sanibel Sizzle - Vampire Werewolf Menage (4 page)

Silver darkened to thunder clouds, eyes lazily drifted over her f
ace.  “I sense deception.
”

“Escape
,” she answered
, still
not
blinking, “it’s on my mind every second.
I want to get back to my males and
the home we share.
  Oh, and I would love to kill you before I leave.
”
  
Keep him talking, distraction needed, problem would be
deterred
.

Ciaran pushed
his thick kne
e between her knees and then wedged himself in the middle of her thighs
.  Lowering his he
ad, black silk
y
strands curtained their faces
like nightfall.  She thought he would kiss her.  He didn’t. 
Dipping
his face, he took a generous
breath right over her
throat.  He stiffened and did it again. 
Inhalin
g deeply, he released his breath
slowly.
 
Darting back, visibly stunn
ed, his voice graveled.
“You are a mystery, Renee Shirley.”

Now that could mean two things, s
he thought.  The worst being he
knew
,
beyond a doubt
,
s
he was full werewolf and
not Renee.  The other
would
bring him down a notch. 
Her
lack of arousal to his erection pressed against her sex
, probably a first for him.
Yeah, it
had
to be a firs
t for someone who looked like him
.
  Mentally c
rossing her fingers
and saying a
nother
prayer, she
studied
his wary reaction to her.
  A lot of emotions flick
ered over that perfection he called a face
, finally settling on disbelief. 

Slowly easing off her, he
stood and
raised an index finger, stabbing it in the air toward the window.  “Stay out of sight. 
Don’t tempt the beasts walking about. 
Others might not care that you
’
r
e
frigid, lass.  They’ll take you any way they can have you.  Think not to test them.”

Frigid!
 
Chewing her
jaw, s
he said nothing
.  Eyeing the vase next to her and gaging the top his head, s
he wondered if she could make an attempt
. 

Narrowing his eyes, he said, “Another stupid move, you aren’t
fast enough.  Know you’ll be punished
more thoroughly next time
.  Understand your limitations.
” 

Co
ming from someone who has none,
she smiled satirically
while sitting up.  “Why, if I did, would it keep me alive?”

Silence.

Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she stood.  “I didn’t think so.”

Reaching around her, he took the vase.
The smartest move he’d made all day.
Bending his knees, he met her eyes.  “
You will stay here.”

Holding up her torn pants, s
he saluted him
with her free hand
. Renee always salute
d Granny to piss her off and Rebecca
couldn’t resist
the
silly
urge
.  “Aye, Alpha, I will stay here.”  
You’re such a
soulless
dick.
 
He straightened, but she refused to bend her head back to stare way up at him. 

“I haven’t a doubt that
I’ll be sorry for permitting your
stay
in this chamber, but I cannot allow
you below. 
Torturing
a lass
isn’t my forte. 
And
make no mistake, that’s what would happen to
you if you were t
o disobey and try an escape
.
”

“Another threat?”

“A fact
,
t
he males are starving for you
,” h
e answered
, drawing closer while
tossing
the vase up and down.
  “I can’t be with
you every minute, offering protection
.
”

She couldn’t hide her exasperation.
“
Protecting me so you’re the
one that gets to off me instead of
someone else.”
 
He suddenly zoned out.  Rebecca watched a
s he eyed the
room.
Ciaran seemed to relive
distant memories.  His face fe
ll, clouding over
in seconds.  Horrid
reminiscences
, Rebecca
thought; his
demons were many.

“You couldn’t begin to understand how
I never wanted any of this,” he confessed
awkwardly
.
Stilling
his hand
, he studied the
delicate object s
itting in his broad
palm
.
 

Maybe it belonged to his mother or a sister;
she
supposed
. B
ut Rebecca didn’t pity monsters. 
“
You wanted your home back
, your throne
.  T
hree battles you’ve marched
me through.  Two of which I’ve been covered, but I he
ard.  At no time did you express
remorse or
empathy for those who lost their mates, their fathers
,
or their brothers
.  So, no, don’t tell me you never wa
nted any of this.” She shook her head
.
“I don’t believe a word of that
.”

“The battles
,
yes,” he mu
rmured, drawing closer.
“
Your
death
?
No
.”

Only then did she bend
her neck back, staring up, she spoke
more
freely.  “You’re a cruel bastard,
and
a
sick walking contradiction
I loathe.  That lie is the biggest of all.  If your words were true, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

Crystal shattered. Resulting
shards
bloodied his clinched fist.  Now the vase was
another memory
added to his list of shame
.  Bl
inking slowly, he popped his jaw
before he spoke.
“There’s many a day I w
ould go back to, changing decisions
for the better and
correcting what’s necessary to make things right
. Declaring
your death is a bottomless regret that will haunt me the rest of my days.”

In
total
disbelief, she blasted him,
“
At least
t
hose days you’ll have
left
to
live; I won’t!
”
Only then did her voice crack.
“
You don’t forgive the
forgivable; you absolve no one!
” She sho
ok her head no, quieting her voice.
“
Know this, Ciaran - Alpha of Scotland, the day you
murder
me
won’t just haunt you, but
forever
stain your soul, matching your cold black heart
. 
B
y the life
you lead,
death
soon
approaches
your door
– immortal or not
.  W
hen you’re finally on your knees pleading for
its
mercy, w
ho
hears your confession
then
?    W
hen you forgive no one, w
ho
will forgive
you
of
your
sins?
”

He stepped forward.  She stepped back.  Forward again, herding her, Ciaran flattened Rebecc
a against the wall. Leaning in
a lit
tle too comfortably
, he placed his bloodied palm
above her head and rested on
his
fore
head while staring down
, seemingly coming to a conclusion
.

The other
hand wandered.  Fingers stroked
Rebecca’s
neck, inching
down
her shoulder,
sliding to her inner elbow where the tips
twirled.  The same
sensation mimicked
in
side
her womb, tightening and twisting. 
Oh, you are good.

In a blur, he was
c
upping her throat
. “I could just snap your neck right now.  G
et it over with…
G
et
.
O
n
.
W
ith
.
I
t
,
”
he graveled, clenching
his teeth.

Swallowing against his
palm, she dared
him.
“Why don’t you?”

Slowly p
ressing his open
mouth to the corner of hers while
staring straight into her eyes,
he pushed in without a kiss, linger
ing, inhaling.
  Ciaran brushed her lips with his reply.
“
Your
passion
blisters me
.”
Unhurried, he nipped
her chin
with
an undeniable
Alpha warning
.
“
Maybe
I
will have it for my own
.”

3

“
H
mmm.
”
Afanas stood sentinel
outside Rebecca’s threshold
.

Closing the door softly
behind him
and w
aving a hand
over the lock, Ciaran secured the
treasure
inside
.  “Hmmm, what?”

Afanas chuckled,
“I
t’s strange not hearing your brogue, the Sc
ottish burr I was treated
to
many years
ago has
nearly
left you
.

“Live as long as I h
ave, in as many places as I’ve resided
, and let’
s see
if
you keep a singular
dialect,
”
he snarled
.

“Tense much?”

Ciaran lifted his
bloodied
palm pierced with
crystal fragments, staring as
he replied, “
Not at all
.”

“The female calls you.”

“Has
lunacy
inflicted you
?” 

“I hope not.  I sure don’t want the same
punishment
she got.” Wagging his eyebrows, Afanas cracked
a grin.  “From what I heard
, she wasn’t clothed, fles
h on flesh.
Considering how easy you went on her,
I think it wasn’t punishment
at all
but
provocation
you intended to inflict.  Now most of us are left
hard and ac
hing.” He waved his hand
toward the great hall. 

Down below, a hu
ndred or so wolves
stood silently.  “What the devil is this?”

“They want rights to mate,
”
Afanas answered, voice filling
with tension
.

“
Again they try
? 
And p
etitioning me
scant
moments after battle?   Madness runs amuck.”