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Moonlight On The Mississippi
Viper
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This chick was something else. I had smelled the blood a split second before Face came rushing up to me to inform me the alarm on the armory had been activated. An intruder alert on his phone. He pulled up the camera to my office where I saw MyAnna snooping around in the dark before she fell against the keypad and caused the door to slide open. How was that even possible?
“I promise I’ll have it fixed,” Face said before I could even bark at him about the malfunction.
Face, Shadow, Phoenix, and I exited the club quickly then used vampire speed to race through the walkway and toward the offices. The fact that I smelled blood was more concerning to me than the fact she’d found our weapons room. Was she hurt? It wasn’t an overwhelming smell of blood, but it was hers, nonetheless. The fact that I’d already memorized her scent bothered me.
I got there first, punching the code into the wall and it slid open. MyAnna fell and lay on the ground, staring up at us.
“What the fuck, MyAnna?” I asked, angry, but relieved to see she was all right, just a small cut on her finger.
“Where’s the damn light switch in there?” she asked angrily as she tried to sit up.
I picked her up the rest of the way and put her into another fireman’s hold, draping her over my shoulder as she kicked and protested.
I left the room and made my way toward the staircase. “You got locked in a room full of weapons and that’s the question you ask?”
“I’m afraid of the dark, you asshole!” she said, and then started crying.
Dammit.
“It’s a pull-down chain with a lightbulb in the middle of the ceiling. Not that it matters now, you won’t be stepping foot in there again,” I replied, trying to ignore the fact that her ass was in my face and her hands were close to my butt she pounded the backs of my thighs with her angry-kitten fists.
I had so much other shit to deal with that I couldn’t be bothered to let my attraction to her be a distraction. I just wanted to run my clubhouse and my men without the disruption of MyAnna. I locked her in her apartment and then stormed down the steps to the offices.
On finding them empty, I was infuriated. I needed Face to get all her new life crap arranged before I lost my shit on everything and everyone.
I stalked into my bar and scanned the area until I found Face. “What’s going on with the girl’s background? You get her new IDs and shit situated, or what?”
He downed the drink and tried to throw me one of his “charming” smiles. I scowled at him in return. At the moment, I hated the bastard. Former model turned vampire, I wanted to crush every last delicate and perfectly placed cheek and jawbone in his fucking face with my fist.
“It’ll be a few days, but once the paperwork comes through, you can set her free. I already put a deposit down and paid first month’s rent on a one-bedroom down in Jefferson Parish. Used the LLC name to rent it so she can’t be located. She’ll be close enough to find work locally but far enough away from the freaks in the Quarter.”
I cocked my head at him. “Not all the freaks stay in the Quarter, though.”
Face signaled Dash to pour him another and grinned at me. “Yeah, uh, I guess? I’m from LA so I’m not sure. Going in blind here, boss.”
I growled. “I should lock you in an office where you belong,” I snapped before walking away toward my other lieutenants.
Shadow, Phoenix, Venom, and Kovah sat at a table in the corner, sipping on drinks.
Phoenix grinned up at me. “She kick your ass for keeping her waiting so long in the armory?”
I slunk into the vacant chair at the table and ignored him. “Why you bastards wasting all my good liquor?” I pointed to their drinks around the table.
“I’ve got a good buzz,” Kovah said with a grin behind his stupid-ass sunglasses.
“I’m also pretty toasted,” Venom commented with a lazy smile.
I narrowed my eyes at them and looked at Shadow and Phoenix questioningly.
“Club soda, boss,” Phoenix quickly said, pointing at his water-looking drink.
“Same,” Shadow parroted.
These fucking supes.
Just then, two people dressed in suits and ties walked into my bar. I turned to look at them and muttered, “Ah, fuck.”
The duo approached the bar and asked for the manager or owner. With my supersonic hearing, I knew nothing good would come from their visit.
Fucking BSI cops. The “Bureau of Supernatural Investigation”—the Justice Department’s dirty little secret.
When I saw Jewel incline her head in their direction, I knew I needed to get them gone ASAP. I glanced around the table and said, “Don’t say a fuckin’ word. Let me do all the talking and I’ll explain later.” I pointed at Kovah. “Especially you.”
Of course, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking or where he was looking at behind his sunglasses that he wore twenty-four seven, but he did nod at me in agreement.
“Are you Vane Matson?” The female stared down at me, her hands in the pockets of her trench coat.
“I am,” I replied. “Can I help you?”
She nodded and looked around the bar before speaking. They both produced fancy-looking badges and flashed them at us. “Yes, I’m Special Agent Mara Shields, and this is Special Agent Nolan Bishop with the Department of Justice. Can we have a few minutes of your time?”
I stared up at the agents. The male, Nolan, he definitely looked familiar. I glanced at my lieutenants to see Kovah’s face aimed toward the young-looking agent. God, I wished he would take those fucking sunglasses off, but I knew why he kept them on. “Yeah, sure. What can I do for you?”
I watched Agent Shields stare around the group at my table, then back to me. “In private?”
“Sure, I’ve got an office,” I said, standing and heading toward the back of the bar.
I hadn’t been in here in a few weeks, but I sat in the chair like I was comfortable in it and stared up at the two agents. “What can I help you with?”
“We’re looking into the disappearance of a young woman named MyAnna Lawson. Do you have any idea where she could be?”
I had heard about these cops—these BSI agents. They knew all about the supernatural. I was fairly sure the male was an old friend of Kovah’s, but until I could question him, I couldn’t be sure. So, I answered their questions with lies and half-truths.
“No idea who that is,” I replied. “We have three females in our club but none of them are reported as missing.” I lifted my chin as I sat back in my chair, trying to remain as cool as a cucumber.
“I see,” Agent Bishop said, scrawling in his notebook. “Have you ever heard of this female—this MyAnna Lawson?”
I leaned forward in my seat and linked my hands together. “I’m fairly sure you wouldn’t be here if you thought you could tie this missing girl to my club, so why don’t you just get to the fucking point? Agent Bishop.”
He regarded me for a long time, his lime-green eyes staring into mine. I noted he was well built, about my height, muscle and brawn hiding underneath his fancy suit. “It has been reported that she was kidnapped by vampires on motorcycles, and being that you’re the only MC vampire club in Nawlins, we, of course, came here first.” The kid didn’t mince words, I’d give him that much.
Those fucking wolves reported her missing? Wow, that was some balls.
With a well-practiced smirk, I replied, “I’m sorry y’all wasted your time, but we don’t know where the girl is. Try the wolves, they love to kidnap human chicks.”
Agent Shields frowned and then narrowed her eyes at me. “We never said she was human.”
Shit.
Recovering quickly, I grinned and replied, “No, you didn’t, but being she’s missing, I’ll assume she is one. The BSI don’t care about supes who go missing. Just the humans. It’s your job... right?”
Agent Shields scowled at me as she thumb-typed notes into her phone. After she was done, she pointed to herself, and then to Agent Bishop. “We’ll be in touch. Make no mistake.”
I breathed a sigh of relief as they left my office. The last fucking thing I needed was the cops on my ass. The supernatural cops were the worst. They knew our powers and what we were capable of. As I mulled over my dilemma, I realized the only way out of this clusterfuck was to get rid of MyAnna and put her up in that apartment. Even if I had to compel her into forgetting about me afterward.
She looked up at me with wide brown eyes full of fear. She glanced at the Mississippi River as its choppy but lazy waves glistened under the moonlight. “You can’t just leave me here.”
Shadow chuckled. “The fuck we can’t.”
“But I don’t want to live here.” MyAnna ignored him and stared at me, pleading and desperation in her eyes. I knew I had to do something, but I couldn’t bring myself into compelling her just yet.
Face had the apartment fully furnished and had already transferred ten thousand dollars into her account so she would be okay for a while. It was at the front doors to this apartment’s lobby with a view of the Mississippi where we now stood.
“Those cops won’t ever let up,” Phoenix said from behind me. “Trust me, I know this first-hand.”
I didn’t want to ask what he meant by that. So, instead, I looked at MyAnna. “Look, woman, we’ve got you set up in an apartment. It’s a nice gig, and you’ve got thousands in your account to get by on. Trust me, you’ll be okay.” I forced a smile I didn’t feel down at her.
Truth was, I didn’t want to let her go. I didn’t even want her holed up in vacant apartment seven at the clubhouse. I wanted her in my bed inside my apartment every single night. My attraction to her was unmatched to anyone I’d ever met, and I hated that fact every second. Yet, here I was, pushing her out into the world. Alone. But, I had to.
Right?
However... as Shadow and Phoenix pointed out, she was a grown-ass adult. She would find her own way. But would I be able to sleep, knowing she was out here, defenseless? What if the wolves found her once more? Or the BSI, and she told them what went on in my clubhouse. I cursed myself for even bringing her there to begin with.
She clung to me. “No, Viper. I don’t want to go. Keep me at your vampire warehouse. I like it there. I don’t feel safe here”—she glanced up at the three-story building with sad eyes—“I feel safer with you and the other vampires.”
What the fuck...
“First, no. You need to be on your own.” I shoved the envelope at her containing the new driver’s license with her maiden name, along with James Lawson’s death certificate so she could move on with her life and not be “married” to the creep.
MyAnna threw it to the ground without looking inside. “I don’t care. Just take me home.”
“Home?” I questioned.
“The warehouse... clubhouse. Whatever you call it. Please, Viper. I promise I’ll stay out of your secret gun room. I didn’t even want to see that, anyway. I’ll get a job and pay rent if I have to. Or I’ll wait tables at the Cobalt. And I’ll buy my own food since vampires don’t eat. Please...”
I blew out a breath of frustration. “Are you listening to me, shortstop? I’ve just given you a home. A plush-ass apartment on the river, some cash in your account, a full, no-questions-asked break away from the Lawson wolves. Go start your life over. If you don’t want to stay in the area, move away. I don’t care. Just go start fresh. We’ve arranged it for you. A monster-less existence. You’re welcome.”
She stared up at me with wide eyes full of unshed tears. “Viper. That’s not what I want.”
What? Who wouldn’t want that? Confused didn’t begin to describe it.
“What do you want then?” I asked, bewildered as a small, warm spot of hope in my chest appeared. Something strange and foreign I had never felt. Then, my dick began to wake up.
MyAnna launched herself at me and snuggled into my chest. My arms involuntarily wrapped around her tiny frame and I pulled her close to me. I felt the heat of her breaths against my neck. When her legs intertwined around mine, I had no choice but to pick her up and hold her tight against me, my hands supporting her ass as her core pressed against my already enraged and hard cock.
“Take me home, Viper. Take me back there. The only place I want to be is with you.” She lifted her pale face to meet mine, and once those soul-broken eyes met mine, I was done for. Then, seemingly for effect, she gnawed on that plump bottom lip, and it was crystal clear I was about to fold like a lawn chair.
This girl... this human... was going to be the death of me. I wanted nothing more than to throw her onto my bed, fuck her so hard and fast that her head spun, and then lock her in my room so she could never escape. Looking into her eyes, I knew I was well and good dead for anyone else but her. Something in me suddenly snapped. Nobody would ever touch MyAnna again but me.
Even if I had yet to feel or taste that beautiful body of hers. I would be the only one for all of eternity to get to sample her exquisite body, and if any man so much as looked at her with lust in his eyes, I would break every bone in his fucking body.