If I'm lucky, she will remember every word tomorrow. I watch her sleep, and within a few minutes she begins softly snoring. While she's out, I do something I've wanted to try since discovering Beast's aversion to her. I allow him to come to the forefront without transforming. It's not easy to do and I must keep a tight leash in order to keep him from taking over completely. Beast leans over and sniffs her bare leg. He doesn't touch. Kill the woman, pops into my head. Why? I ask. Dangerous, he replies. Slowly I extend my hand and touch her leg again. Beast growls deep in my chest. Dangerous how? I press. Deadly. I don't see it. Her stumbling bumbling routine can't be a hoax. Beast leans over and licks her leg where I'm touching. He tastes her, but so do I. It's strange. I've been with women and none have tasted like her. It's an untamed wild flavor that makes me wonder if she's not quite human. Who the hell knows what other creatures roam this
The pounding in my head wakes me, and nausea makes me run for the bathroom. The liquor comes up and the vile taste of vomit almost makes it impossible to hold my guts inside my stomach. How I wish I could remove them. Never again, I think to myself as I lean against the toilet holding on to the cool porcelain for dear life. Of course, I've said the exact same thing before even if it has been years. About five minutes later, I walk from the bathroom feeling somewhat reborn after my purge and search the bedroom for signs of King. Though I threw back the covers when I ran to the bathroom, there's still an indent where King sat on the bed last night. It wasn't a dream. Darn, that's not good. I think I asked him to have sex with me. I think I need to dig a very big hole and bury myself in it. Instead, I grab clothes from my closet and head to the shower. The sooner I see King and face the consequences of my actions, the better. Really what can he do
"Did they kill the two hellhounds you have?" I ask Axel, hoping my wish came true. He crosses his arms. "King told you about the two we hold?" "King did more than tell me, he showed me. Alcohol didn't numb the sight of them or the smell." I can't help the revulsion running over my skin and I shiver. Axel's fingers are steepled and he softly thrums them together. "Did he explain what they are?" He's being careful. He must know if I find out certain things my life is forfeit. And that sounds as stupid as it is. "Yes, I know we're really fighting hellhumans and not hounds." He gives a relieved sigh. "We still call them hounds. Makes it easier than thinking of them as once being humans." I get that and feel the same. Something's been bothering me since King explained what they learned, though at the time I was too afraid of the answer. "I never saw my father's body. Is he one of those... things now?" I dread the answer and thinking in these terms
My shoulder hurts, my head aches, and a raging hard-on is making me exceedingly uncomfortable. Even after battling hellhounds, getting bit, and fighting the poison all night she gets to me. The man, not the beast, which is a problem. Beast refusing not to react when she stares in my eyes is perplexing. Hell, everything about the woman and Beast is perplexing. I crawl out of bed, rebuffing doctor's orders. I refuse to lie around all day. Axel is a mother hen when it comes to his patients and he needs to relax a little. When I stand, the pain in my shoulder makes it difficult to draw a full breath. Along with our remedy for hellhound bites, Axel must cut the dead tissue from the wound. The area around the bite begins to putrefy immediately. It's only our healing ability that gives us time for the antidote to work or I would be dead ten times over by now. I pull on my pants slowly, fighting a groan, while hoping Axel doesn't arrive to argue with me. After I'm dressed below t
Cabel puts his sword down and walks toward me. "I didn't expect you back so soon," he says as way of greeting. "I didn't expect to be. It's good to see you training." I leave the bike idling unsure why I'm here. He wipes sweat from his brow. "It's hotter than usual today. I'll give the men a break if you'd like to come inside." I turn off the ignition and lift my leg over the bike's engine. I look around while we walk the hundred or so yards to his front door. Mary, his mate, is standing at the kitchen stove stirring something in a large pot. She glares at me as I take a seat at their table. Beast rumbles at her audacity and I pull him back. Cabel tries to smooth things over. "It's okay, Mar. It was only a small love tap. He wouldn't hurt me." He gives her a quick hug and kiss on her cheek. I know when to keep my mouth shut and head down. I steady my eyes on the table and do everything I can not to incite Cabel's Beast. The mating rage is hard enough
I arrive at the training room followed by my ever-present guards. Boot isn't here, so I begin warm-ups and stretches. I struggle though because I feel like all my muscles have turned to bricks. My head has stopped pounding and my stomach is under control at the moment. It doesn't mean I'm ready for today's torture. I stretch, teetering to keep my balance, and I know I look like a fool while doing it. A giggle from a small cabinet in the corner alerts me that I'm being watched. My guards remain outside the open door and they're not looking in. I slowly walk to the cabinet and peek inside. The large brown eyes that peer back at me seem to sparkle in that "naughty boy I've been caught" kind of way. His brown hair comes to mid shoulder and there's a smudge of dirt beneath one eye. His skin is light burnished brown, from his mother's Cuban heritage. I lift my finger to my lips giving the age old "quiet" signal. "You shouldn't be in here, Che," I whisper, taking a guess who my
It's been four weeks since Marinah arrived. We eat dinner together most nights and play an interesting game of cat and mouse. My half-grunt answers infuriate her. She's picked up the same habit when I ask her a question she doesn't want to answer, which means she's learning to play the political game. On the nights I go without her company, Beast acts up strangely and before I know it, I'm having food for two delivered to my room. It's like he can't live with her or without her and his grumbling reminds me of a whiny baby. Tonight is one of those times. A freshly showered, wet-haired Marinah, who is wearing jeans and a white tee, drags herself into my room and collapses in the chair. She's worn out from the training she's been putting in and that pleases me. I can actually go a step further and say I'm proud of her commitment. The sexual awareness I have when she's near adds to my overall enjoyment of having her with me. I'm even becoming accustomed to Beast grumbl
"You've had this the entire time?" Marinah asks in disbelief as she stares at the silk. "You needed to unwind a bit and the only way to do that was to get you on the road." "You are so aggravating," she grinds out in frustration. She wiggles on the back of the bike, wrapping the scarf around her head and securing it. Her thighs squeeze my legs and Beast takes notice. I can't think of a female I've met who's more aggravating than Marinah. Maybe Beast and I have finally met our match. I rev the throttle so she'll hurry and it does the trick. I have a spot picked out where I'd like to eat lunch. It will take another hour to get there. She wraps her arms around my waist again and we're off. This time it's her laugh that makes me push speed. "I loved it," she says an hour later after I pull over. "I should learn to drive." "Walking and running first. Riding a motorcycle last." Her tongue slips out and more than anything I want to kiss her. I grab our lunch