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Chapter 28

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Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time

MyAnna

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It seemed the vampire monsters were too busy interrogating the guy in the cage to notice me in the corner of the warehouse. Well, it was more like I was hiding against the doorway to the kitchen, but I could still hear and see everything clearly. Viper had let me have free reign of the clubhouse as long as I stayed away from his secret room of weapons. I’d quickly agreed.

“Torture it is, then,” Viper said, almost a little too gleefully.

I didn’t even have to question myself as to why that bothered me. But then again, I still knew very little about him except that he was gorgeous, good in bed, and a vampire. He’d told me he was born in the 1950s, which was mind-numbing to me because my mother had been born in the late 1950s and Viper didn’t look older than thirty, if that. His explanation of immortality had gone right over my head, and I’d tucked that knowledge away to analyze another day.

I watched as Shadow, Phoenix, and Viper pulled the guy from the cell and dragged him to a chair I just now noticed that was set in the middle of the warehouse. He protested, his eyes going black like Viper’s did when he was fucking me, right before he bit me.

I suppressed a full-body shudder at the memory. What kind of sick individual was I, that I got off on that type of fetish? Being bitten? I wouldn’t let James get his fangs anywhere near me when that asshole had held me captive. But when Viper bit me, it induced the most addictive, euphoric feeling in the world. I had never had so many orgasms in my life. And the guy’s stamina was incredible. I tired out way before he did, and that had never been the case with me, ever. Not that I had many to compare to, but still.

“I told you, I don’t know!” the guy, whose name apparently was Henry (and he looked like a Henry, too) whined as they tied his arms and legs to the chair.

“Yeah, well, we don’t believe you,” Shadow said, kicking him in the knee.

Henry screamed in pain and then lobbed a string of curses at Shadow, who laughed in return.

Blood began to bloom against his khakis at his knee and I hissed in a breath. That looked like it hurt.

“Tell us who’s killing tourists in the Quarter. We’ll let you go back to your little Garden Clan once you do,” Phoenix said, igniting a fireball on his palm.

I gasped at the sight. How did he create fire?

“Cool, right?”

I jumped at the voice behind me and turned around to see Kovah standing next to me, eating an apple.

“You scared me,” I whispered. “Don’t do that again.”

He chuckled. “Okay.”

I shook my head and turned my attention back to Vane and his friends. Kovah was my least favorite of all of Viper’s friends. He never took off those sunglasses, which made him seem untrustworthy, and he had some very questionable tattoos. Like a redheaded devil woman on his forearm. She had huge tits, fangs, and a pointed tail, and was dressed like a stripper. What was up with that?

“He’s gonna sing like a canary before they’re done with him,” Kovah said.

I shook my head. “I don’t think he knows anything, honestly. Wouldn’t he have talked by now?”

He bit into the apple and shook his head. After chewing and swallowing his bite, he said, “It depends. If his so-called clan is more ruthless than our little group, it’s worth it for him to lie. Their punishment may be greater than ours.”

“And what is your punishment?” I asked, afraid of the answer.

“Death, of course. But he can choose whether he wants it fast or slow.”

“That’s terrible,” I said with a scoff.

Kovah chuckled again. “If you say so. We need to find who’s killing tourists. It’s for sure a vampire, and this dickhead knows something. I can feel it.”

I turned to look at him now. Well, I should say look up at him. He was maybe even taller than Viper. I looked at my reflection in his sunglasses and asked, “What makes you say that?”

He shrugged, the apple paused at his mouth. “Not sure. Just a hunch.”

“Well, that’s scientific,” I replied dryly.

“You’re a woman, don’t you know anything about intuition? That’s what this is.” He pounded his chest before biting into the apple.

I rolled my eyes and paid attention to what was going on with Henry.

“You broke my leg, you asshole,” Henry spat at Shadow.

Shadow laughed. “And? It’ll heal. Start talking. You have two hundred and five other bones I can get started on.”

Yikes.

“Listen, just get on with it. I can’t tell you shit, and it’s obvious you’re just going to kill me, regardless. So get it over with,” Henry said, looking half angry, half defeated.

“It’s up to you if you want to die fast or slow, though,” Viper said as he paced in front of the vampire.

Movement in my peripheral caught my attention, and both Kovah and I watched as Face raced from the office with an iPad in his hand. He spoke to Viper in tones too low for me to hear. Face swiped the screen and all three Nighthawks looked on as he explained what they were looking at.

Viper’s face looked murderous as he faced Henry once again. “It seems you’ve been fucking lying to us.”

Henry looked up at them, scared. “What? No, I haven’t.”

“You have no ‘ex-girlfriend’ here in town because you’re not from here.” Viper punched him in the face. Henry’s head rocked to the side as blood splattered onto the concrete floor of the warehouse.

“Yes!” Kovah whispered beside me.

I scowled up at him. “Don’t you have a wife to get home to?”

He grinned down at me. “Nope. She’s on an overnight stakeout. I got nothin’ else to do.”

“Then go make yourself useful.” I pointed toward the group.

He tossed the apple core into the trash and walked toward the group.

Huh, that was easy.

“Yes, I told you...” Henry feigned innocence as he seemed to be scrambling for excuses.

“No,” Face said. “You just got here three months ago.” He pulled the iPad up and read from it. “Henry Cook from Orlando, Florida. Arrested four times for stalking, six times for assault on women, and two counts of rape.” Face’s expression was angry. But, he still looked annoyingly pretty. “Ring any bells, you dick?”

Henry began to violently thrash in his chair, trying to get out of the bindings. His eyes turned black, and his fangs were out. He hissed and growled at Viper and his friends.

“He’s definitely our guy. Wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Shadow spat, pointing to his clothes. “He looks like a college kid, but is actually a stalking, raping, homicidal asshole.”

“Fuck you. Fuck all of you and your stupid little vampire biker club. I’ll see you in Hell,” Henry snapped, his demeanor completely changing as an evil face replaced the innocent-looking one he’d been wearing this whole time.

“You first.” Viper reached down, wrenched Henry’s head to the side, and turned it all the way around until it disconnected from his body, blood and tissue flying onto him and those around him.

I screamed in terror at the sight. My breaths were coming too fast, the world swimming around me as I couldn’t control my breathing. Then, the blessed darkness found me.

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The only thing I was grateful for as I was held captive with the monsters was that James never touched me again. I had had plenty of time to work on fashioning myself a weapon of wood from the window frame and bed and was prepared to use it if he ever came at me again. I slept with it under my pillow, waiting for him to attack me again.

However, that day never came.

I was allowed more freedoms as the months went on, to include different clothing and freedom to move around the house. The other female wolves tried to be nice to me, in their own way, but they would never be anything but monsters to me. I kept them at arm’s length.

One day, while under the bed reading a book, I heard screams and wails coming from downstairs. I crawled out and set the book on the bed before creeping downstairs.

James’s very dead body was laid out on the sofa while Mama April cried and wailed, her head on his chest. He had blood covering his entire head and face and bloody-white foam covered his lips. I pressed my hand against my mouth to keep from screaming.

I didn’t care if he was dead. I was glad. I had just never seen such violence before. I ran back into my room, closed the door, and crawled back under the bed with a blanket.

A few minutes later, Mama April came into my room with bloodshot eyes and snot covering her nose and mouth.

“MyAnna, honey, come out please.”

I crawled out and sat on the bed, staring at her. “What?”

She wiped her face with the back of her wrinkled hand. “Honey, your husband is dead. Filthy leeches killed him.” Her voice hitched in emotion and she began to cry.

I stared at her for a long time, and then said, “Okay, thanks for letting me know.”

She stalked toward me angrily and backhanded me in the face. “Ungrateful little bitch.”

The slap was worth the anger on her face. I hated her, James, and their whole family and I was going to have to hope for a miracle or pray someone rescued me so I could get out of here. Maybe James’s death would mean they’d set me free.

I learned later on that was not the case. They just planned to pawn me off to another male wolf, and that was when I knew I had to get the hell outta here once and for all.

Sounds of shouts roused me out of sleep. I blinked my eyes open to find myself in Viper’s bed.

“You asshole! Why did you let her stay there and watch that shit?” Viper’s voice.

Silence.

“I don’t fucking care. You should have put her back into the apartment. I’m gonna tear your eyes out!”

More silence.

“No, I will not calm down! She’s fuckin’ traumatized, and it’s your fault. Go to hell, Kovah!” A growl and then the sound of a loud crash resounded before my bedroom door flew open.

Viper, looking like a dark knight of Hell, his hazel eyes wild and blazing, stalked toward me. I slid off the bed and scooted underneath it, taking the bedspread with me. I put the bed covers over my face and curled up in the smallest ball possible.

Viper’s breaths were erratic, but I listened as he tried to even them out before saying, “MyAnna, baby, please come out from there.”

I didn’t respond. I didn’t want to. The guy was a vampire, I knew what he was capable of, but to see him commit such horrific violence was beyond my comprehension.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” he said in a calming tone. “Kovah should have brought you back up here.”

“It’s not Kovah’s fault,” I said so low even I could barely hear it. “I made that choice.”

“Maybe so, shortstop, but he knows the rules.”

“It would be nice if I knew these so-called rules,” I said quietly.

Caught off-guard, I felt a hand drag me out from under the bed. I was placed on the mattress with Viper seated next to me. I attempted to pull the bedspread over my face, but it was ripped from my hands. I was forced to stare into infuriatingly beautiful hazel eyes, but I diverted my gaze down to the mattress, wrapping my arms around my knees that were up against my chest.

“Listen, and listen good. I tried to get you your own place. I warned you that I’m not good and that my world is full of death and violence. You chose to stay, and against my better judgment, I let you. But you’ve chosen a world of murder and pain. A dark world full of agony and blood. I vowed to do my best to keep you from the ugliness of this life, but short of locking you in a tower, I can only do so much. I’m sorry you had to witness that earlier, but I’ve done much worse, shortstop.” He paused to push a strand of hair behind my ear. “I’m not good and haven’t been since becoming this.” He gestured to himself and the blood spatters on his clothes.

I slowly blinked up at him. “I’m no stranger to ugliness and death. I found my mother dead when I was eighteen. Then I was subjected to James’s torture and assault on my body.”

Viper’s eyebrows hit his hairline. “What the fuck did he do to you?” he roared.

I shook my head. I wasn’t going there. With him or anyone. Ever.

He slammed his hand on the nightstand and the framed photo of his parents he kept there fell down. He ignored it and gritted out, “I’m gonna dig him up and kill him all over again.”

I laid a hand on his arm. “Stop. Just stop. He’s dead, and it’s done. Please just leave it in the past. I’m not going to talk about it again.” I chewed the side of my lip, which was wobbling. “Please don’t ask me to.”

He stared hard at my mouth as his jaw ticked in annoyance before he nodded. “Fine.”

“What I won’t sit here and listen to is you telling me you’re not good. Vane, I’ve been around monsters for months. Like humans, there are good and bad ones.” I placed my hand on his cheek and stroked my thumb along it as he bored his gaze into mine. “You’re not one of the bad ones. I understand why you did what you did to Henry. I just need to learn to control my reactions. I’ve seen a lot of blood and death, but that was pretty... shocking. So my reaction... it won’t happen again.” I lowered my eyes, then my face to my knees and rested my cheek on them.

“Look at me, MyAnna.”

I slowly moved my gaze to him and waited.

“Tell me right now you want to go be on your own. Tell me you want that apartment Face set up for you and we’ll get on my bike this minute. God knows you’ll be safer there than in this den of predators.”

I began shaking my head before he could even finish. “No. That’s not what I want. Nobody here is a predator. Aside from y’all being vampires, everyone has been nice to me and I feel safer here than I ever have anywhere else. Hell, I was kidnapped out in public behind my old job, so I wasn’t even safe there. I don’t have a place to belong. A family. All my siblings moved away. My parents are dead. Braden betrayed me. I belong here.” I hugged him and he immediately wrapped his arms around me in return.

“Then it’s here you’ll stay,” he replied, immediately calming. He pulled me from his chest and looked down at me, rubbing a thumb over my cheek. “But know that if you stay here, you’re mine. Forever. You understand? You’re fucking mine. Anyone else so much as looks at you, they’ll lose a limb.”

“Whoa, slow down, snake boy. You don’t have to worry about me.” I leaned up and pressed my lips to his. “I only have eyes for you. My heart is yours. Just don’t freaking break it.”

He reached over and grabbed my hand, placing it on his ridiculously hard cock. “He only works for you.” Then, he kissed me. First, hard, then he slowed down to let our tongues slither and mingle together. His fingers untied my low-cut vest and when it flew free, his hands explored my breasts. I breathed hard as his fingers slid down my stomach to my leather pants, unbuttoning those as well. I kicked off my boots so he could slide the ridiculously tight pants off me. Bared naked to him, I felt both vulnerable and sexy.

“Fuck,” he murmured after laying me down on the bed and letting his gaze roam over my body.

After his clothes came off, he leaned down to lavish attention on each breast, biting into my nipple before moving lower, peppering kisses along my stomach. When he reached my mound, he kissed around it until he found my wet center. He speared two fingers inside me and then latched his mouth onto my clit. I cried out, shuddering as he pumped them in and out of me while pinching my hard nipples. Intense pressure built in my lower belly and a climax roared through me right as he inserted a fang into my lower lips and began to feed. The feeling was indescribable.

I relaxed slightly after the initial wave, and my eyes slammed open when Viper’s huge cock slid into me, stretching me to the max. I gripped his shoulders, not breaking eye contact with him as he rocked in and out of me.

“You’re so damn beautiful,” he whispered, gazing at me.

“I love you, Vane,” I said, using his real name, as he seemed to love that.

“Fuck,” he murmured under his breath, and I could swear I felt his cock swell even harder inside me.

I lifted my hips to meet his thrusts as I felt another powerful climax building. Closing my eyes, I gripped Viper’s shoulders and spread my legs to the max, loving that friction on my core. When he leaned down and pulled a nipple into his mouth, I groaned and panted, gripping his hair as the orgasm blasted through me like a rocket.

He rammed himself inside me faster and harder, now up on his knees as his hands gripped my hipbones almost painfully. He watched my core take his thick cock with eyes hooded in lust. Suddenly they closed and his head arched back as his seed spilled deep inside me. It was such a beautiful sight.

After he collapsed on top of me, he quickly rolled off and pulled me into the crook of his arm. “I love you, MyAnna. You’re never going to leave my side. Ever.”

“I don’t want to,” I whispered before closing my eyes to sleep, feeling safer than I ever had in my life.