“We’d be going there in peace,” Sam assured him, but Marco shook his head.
“They wouldn’t believe that. I can ask your questions for you.”
“I don’t trust you to tell us the truth.”
Marco smiled at Sam’s bluntness. “I can’t say I’m surprised.”
There was a long pause before Sam said, “We have reason to believe that dragons may attack The Hollow.”
Lazarus and Annalise gasped.
Shocked she’d told him, I spoke to Jared, What the fuck?
Imani’s safety matters to him, Jared pointed out. If he thinks she is in danger, he might be more inclined to help.
“Attack?” echoed Marco, eyes flaring.
“You know how much destruction their kind can cause,” said Sam. “It’s imperative that we find a way to stop this from happening.”
Marco’s eyes slid briefly to Imani before he said to Sam, “The drove would not accept you on their territory.” His mouth twisted. “He might, however, allow one of your vampires to go there as a representative.”
Knowing exactly where he was going with this, I snapped, “No.”
His eyes darkened. “Imani’s my first-born. The Alpha would be curious to meet her, and he has enough respect for me to at least consider the meeting.” Marco turned back to Sam and Jared. “He’d point blank refuse to admit you two on his territory, however.” He shrugged, as if it was all the same to him. “The choice is yours. I suppose it all depends on just how much you need to speak with him.”
We needed it badly, but…“No.”
Ignoring me, Marco arched a brow at Sam and Jared. “Well?”
After a tense pause, Sam said, “Fine, but don’t think you can manipulate this situation so you have some alone time with Imani.”
I was about to lose my shit at her decision when Jared’s voice came into my head. I spoke to Imani. She said she’s okay with this. Don’t worry, you’ll be going along.
“If she goes, she won’t go without some back-up from us,” Sam stated.
Marco’s eyes narrowed. “She has my protection. She doesn’t need anyone to accompany her.”
“I don’t trust you to protect her,” said Sam. “And neither does Imani.”
Face once again softening as his gaze slid to Imani, Marco said, “Sweetheart, you know I’d never harm you.”
“You already did,” said Imani. That arrow hit its mark, because Marco’s fists clenched.
“She’s not going without guards,” Jared insisted.
“Two other vampires can come along with Imani.” Marco jerked his chin at me. “But I don’t want him with us.”
“Three will go,” said Sam. “And one of them will be Butch. He’s a shield. He can protect her in a blink.”
“Fine.” But Marco seemed far from ‘fine’ with it. “I’ll contact the Alpha. He’ll probably take a few days to give you an answer purely to annoy you.”
Sam gave him a curt nod. “Contact us when you hear from him.”
Marco looked at Imani. “I’ll be seeing you soon, sweetheart.”
Then Jared teleported us all out of there.
(Imani)
By the time I got back to my apartment, I was emotionally drained. Seeing some of my nest, particularly Lazarus, Annalise, and Eleanor, had been great. But I was the kind of person who found social situations tiring after a while. Putting on an ‘I’m totally aloof to Marco’ act had been just as draining—as had facing Marco again, for that matter.
Whether or not he’d truly be of any help, I wasn’t sure. Life was one big game to Marco. But if Sam and Jared were right and Marco had helped me to stay alive all these years, just maybe he would also help with this.
Still, the Grand High Pair hadn’t seemed very optimistic when they left to talk with Antonio and Luther. The four intended to work out who would want the entire island destroyed so badly that they would hire dragon shifters. Jared had made a good point when he said that the person behind this didn’t have to be a vampire; they could be anyone. That made the pool of suspects much wider.
Not wanting to think about it anymore, I indulged in a long, relaxing bath. Well, it would have been relaxing if I’d been able to clear my mind. How could I, when I was consciously aware that my three nights were up? Butch would be here soon, and he’d want us to talk.
Honestly, I didn’t have the emotional energy to deal with it. But I didn’t want to delay it any longer, because I didn’t like having things up in the air. Besides, there would be no turning Butch away. He was too freaking stubborn.
Once the water turned cold, I left the tub. Having pulled on a tank top and pair of shorts, I then settled on the sofa with my Kindle and a vanilla-flavoured NST. I was only two chapters into my book when there was a knock at the door. With a steadying breath, I put down my Kindle and headed for the door. As I opened it wide, my libido went totally hyper.
He looked good. Too good. One thing I could say for Butch was that he had style. Always looked neat and presentable. There was never a single wrinkle in his designer clothes, most of which were dark and plain yet still smart and stylish.
In two slow, predatory steps, Butch was inside the apartment, closing the door behind him. His brow creased in concern. “You look wiped again. I could kill that bitch from the bar.”
“I’m not as tired as I was last night, so the exhaustion’s wearing off.”
His fingers combed through my damp hair. “I’d still like to kill her.”
Yeah, so would I.
“Your three nights are up, baby.” He stroked his knuckles down the column of my throat. “Now we’re going to have the conversation we should have had when you woke up in my bed.”
I nodded. “Want an NST?”
“You need pure blood if you’re going to get your strength back. But we’ll get to that later.” He took my wrist. “Let’s get more comfortable while we talk.” In a blink, he moved so that I was straddling him on the sofa.
And I remembered how much he liked me to ride him; how much he liked to tell me how fast and how hard to take him. Remembered how he liked to look into my eyes the entire time.
His hands cupped my hips and pulled me closer, snapping me out of my memories. “I laid it all out for you three nights ago. I told you what I want and need from you. You needed time to process everything; I get that. I gave you time. Now this is where you lay all your shit out for me. I’m relying on you to be as straight with me as you always are.”
I sighed. “Honestly, I’m still not sure this is for real. I never thought you’d choose to try a relationship.”
“There was never a choice, baby. I have to have you.”
“Because of the cravings. That’s just sex, Butch, and it’s not enough to keep a real relationship going. It’s just not.”
He pinned my gaze. “Every time the human touched you, every time he made you smile or laugh, it fucking hurt. My lungs would burn and my chest would ache. Every. Time. That doesn’t happen when it’s only about sex, Imani.”
No, it didn’t. And I hadn’t expected him to say that; I didn’t have a response for it.
“Stop.” His thumb tugged my lower lip free of my teeth. “You’re making me want to bite it, and that’s distracting. Now, tell me, are you fighting me so hard because you don’t want this…or because you do but you’re scared to take a chance on me?”
“I did take a chance on you.”
“And I fucked it up. I know that. And trust me when I say that no one regrets that more than I do. I tried to let you go. It didn’t work. It was never going to work, but I didn’t see that until it was too late. I drove you away, and for that I’m sorry. That shit won’t happen again.”
Searching his gaze, I saw only sincerity there. But it wasn’t enough. “I think you believe that. I think you want us to be together and that you want it to be a permanent thing. But I also think there’s a good chance that it won’t happen that way.”
“Explain.”
“We have s
ome obstacles to deal with. If we got together, not a single person would support us in that. They’ll doubt that you’re serious about it for all the same reasons that I did. You have a bad rep. You like your emotional space. You’ve never shown any interest in relationships.”
“I know—”
“Just hear me out. A year ago, when I lasted more than one night with you, people were hopeful. Even though it seemed to be only casual sex, they thought that just maybe you’d pull your head out of your ass. They thought that just maybe you might take a shot at something more. But then the end of the month came, and you made it clear that we wanted different things. Let me again repeat that I’m not judging you for that—I never did. But they did. So it won’t matter what you say to them; you won’t convince them that you’re serious. They’ll figure that you’ll be gone once we hit the one-month mark.”
His hands flexed on my hips. “They’ll be wrong.”
“My point is that during that time, you can bet your ass that they won’t be cool about it. They won’t even consider giving you the benefit of the doubt. They’ll try to convince me to walk away. There’ll be a lot of tension. Is that what you want?”
“You’re more important to me than them. I don’t give a fuck if I have other people’s approval or not. I don’t need it. Eventually, they’ll see that they were wrong and that shit will be over.”
“Maybe, but that’s not the only obstacle we’ll be facing. My reflex to anyone pushing me is to completely disregard every word they’re saying, which will rub you the wrong way because you’re a naturally pushy person. Am I wrong?”
“No, which means I’ll have to work on not barking orders, and you’ll have to work on not doing the opposite just to be contrary.”
The guy had an answer for everything. “How about the fact that you don’t connect with people? You don’t share what’s going on in your head; you internalise everything, and you hide your emotions so damn well that most people think you don’t feel anything. This won’t work if you can’t be open with me. And I don’t want to be in a relationship where I’m having to read between the lines and guess what my partner is thinking. I need you to talk to me, to share with me, to be upfront with me. I’m not saying I want you to change, I don’t. I’m just saying I’d need you to work with me to keep this relationship going, and that means communicating.”
“I’ve been upfront about my feelings so far, haven’t I?”
Okay, he had a point there. “But could you keep doing that?”
“With you, yeah. Just don’t expect me to be like that with everybody else.”
“There’s something else that’s going to be an issue. I hate to say it—really, really hate to say it—but I have jealousy issues. Don’t get me wrong, I recognise that this is my problem to deal with, and I wouldn’t become paranoid or see things that aren’t there. But you’ve slept with a lot of females on this island, and I won’t do well with that. I can be a bitch when jealousy is riding me,” I warned.
“None of them meant anything to me. Not one.” His thumbs stroked my hipbones. “But Dean did mean something to you, and it’s pretty hard for me to deal with that even though I’m not a jealous person. So I figure we both need to make the other feel secure enough that those issues go away.
“Look, I know this won’t be easy, Imani. I won’t be easy. I can be pushy, selfish, insensitive, aggressive, and I like my own way. I’ll fuck up, but I will never purposely hurt you. I want to be the one who makes you smile, who makes you laugh, who makes you feel safe, and who makes you come every night. I’ll do my damn best to make sure all of that happens.”
I swallowed, unable to miss the total sincerity in his eyes and tone. I’d never thought I’d hear those words from him. Never.
“You’re right that we’ll have no support from the people around us. That means we gotta be tight, Imani. It means we gotta stand strong against it and have each other’s back. I’m up for that challenge. This is not me choosing to try a relationship. I’m claiming you as mine. You belong to me and only me, just like I belong to you.”
Pausing, he framed my face with his hands. “I’m a big risk. I get that. No one—not even me, baby—can judge you for being hesitant to take that risk. So maybe you should ask yourself if you’d regret it if you didn’t take that risk. I know what it’s like to live with that kind of regret, Imani. Let me tell you; it’s shit, and it eats at you. I didn’t take a risk on you when I should have. I didn’t make the right choice, and that hurt us both. I won’t pull that shit again. I want you to be happy. I don’t know how the fuck I’ll manage to make you happy, but I’ll sure as hell try.”
It wasn’t often I found myself a little lost for words. I couldn’t remember a time when my happiness had mattered to anyone. I’d grown up in a household where I was a constant disappointment to the people around me. I’d just never been good enough for them, never had a real place in my own family. It was more like I’d existed around them.
Not once had my parents ever smiled at just the sight of me. Nothing I did had ever impressed them or brought them joy or pride. Not one single thing. They’d wanted me to live my life their way, regardless of if that made me happy or not. I wanted to be happy. Sometimes, searching for good things meant taking risks.
I put my hands on his chest. “Want to know why I don’t like entering into relationships that don’t have possibilities? My grandmother was in her late twenties when she got divorced. She didn’t do too well with it, and she was pretty lonely. She told me that she met a guy a few years later; that he cared for her and she cared for him…but she wasn’t ready for anything serious. She needed more time before she committed to someone again. So they went their separate ways.
“She never found anyone else. People take it for granted that they’ll meet someone later ‘when they’re ready.’ But that doesn’t always happen, so they end up settling for somebody because they don’t want to be alone. My grandmother didn’t want to settle for someone she didn’t truly care for. So she grew old alone, she shared all her highs and lows alone, and she died alone. I don’t want that for myself. I don’t want to live with that kind of regret.”
“Is this you agreeing to take a chance on me, baby?”
“Well…yeah.”
His mouth curved into a lopsided grin. “Good…that means I don’t have to keep you captive until you agree to give me what I want.” I got the feeling he wasn’t kidding. “And I want everything, Imani. I know I’ve gotta earn that. I will. I swear that to you, baby.”
I nodded. His mouth closed over mine, and his tongue swept inside. Tasted. Dominated. Owned. Butch didn’t kiss, he possessed. Demanded everything I had and took it greedily while his hands pulled me closer, letting me feel how hard he was for me.
He broke the kiss with a growl. “All I want to do right now is fuck you. But first, you need to feed.”
I did. When Kejas were thirsty, it caused a slight discomfort at the back of our throat. Mine was now more like a rough tickle. As he cupped the back of my head and put my mouth to his throat, my fangs descended.
“Feed, baby. You need it.” He groaned as I sank my fangs into his throat. “That’s it. Good girl.”
His taste—hazelnuts and dark chocolate—settled on my tongue, soothed my throat, and seemed to spread through me like warm honey. I drank and drank, helplessly grinding against the long, hard cock digging into me. Forcing myself to pull back, I licked over the bite and watched as it closed.
Growling, he fisted a hand in my hair and yanked me closer. I expected him to do what he’d done many times before: pull my head aside and bite hard. Hell, I was looking forward to it. He didn’t. Instead, he licked at my throat—long, sensual licks that made my toes curl. I had a seriously sensitive neck, and it seemed to have a direct link to my clit. And the bastard knew it.
I threaded my fingers through his hair as his tongue circled my pulse. When he sucked it into his mouth, I gasped…waiting with anticipation for him to bite down.
His teeth dug into my skin, but they didn’t break it. Then he was licking at my throat again. Lapping my pulse. Nipping it. Grazing it with his teeth. Everything but biting it.
Was he waiting for me to ask him to do it? Was that it? I wasn’t too proud to ask, especially not when I was wet and aching for him. “Drink from me.” He held my rapidly beating pulse between his teeth, but he still didn’t bite down. “Do it and—” I broke off as his hand dove into my shorts and panties, cupping me possessively. “Shit.”
He spoke into my ear as he slid a finger between my folds. “I’ll have my taste when my cock’s in you, taking what belongs to me. Only me, Imani.” He thrust his finger inside. “Ride it.”
I rose up and down on his finger, my head falling back as sensations rocketed through me.
The hand in my hair pulled my face to his. “No,” he said against my mouth. “I want your eyes.” I kept my gaze locked with his as I rode his finger, my nails biting into his shoulders. “That’s it. You’re getting tighter. You need to come, don’t you?”
I did, I needed it right then…but he shook his head.
“Not until I’m in you.”
“I can’t wait.”
“You will.” He drove another finger inside me, his eyes daring me to come despite his warning. Motherfucker. It wasn’t that Butch got off on defiance or even submission. No, he got off on pushing me; on making me take as much as I could take. So when his fingers curved just right and my release got that little bit closer, he withdrew his fingers—not in the least bit bothered by the insults I slung at him.
In Pagori speed, he took me to the bedroom, stripping us both naked along the way. He roughly flung me on the bed and draped himself over me. Then his hand was palming my breast as he sucked my nipple deep into his mouth. Hard. Roughly. Letting me feel the edge of his teeth. “Fuck, baby, this is going to be fast.” His tongue curled around my neglected nipple before giving it one long, hard suck. “I’ve waited too long for this.”