“Moron. Tone it down, would you? We’re not exactly at home,” she cautioned as Dom slowly resumed his more human form.
“It’s been a long weekend.” Sean glared at the women behind him but said nothing more.
Dom took charge. “You want to see the prime? Follow me. You too, Kate. Diana, stay here.”
Diana sat without protest and stared after Sean with longing. Clearly the female cared for him.
Pulling away from more drama she could do without, Vicki hurriedly followed the others out of the kitchen down a familiar path. Two Ravagers stood outside the conference room. She recognized one of them as Malcolm, the Ravager she’d knocked unconscious. They nodded to Dom in respect, and to her surprise, nodded to her as well. Malcolm added a wicked grin and a thorough appraisal as she passed by. She ignored a surprising flare of heat and glared.
Sean stood protectively at her back as they followed Dom into the conference room where the cracked table still sat.
She flushed at the result of her temper.
Reading her, Sean grinned, though the expression didn’t reach his eyes. “Nice.”
“You two wait here. Kate, come with me.” Dom dragged her with him out through another door and handed her off to someone else. After a few words, he shut the door behind him and gestured at the table. “Please, sit.”
“Sure, let’s be civilized about this,” Sean said, sarcasm evident in his tone. “Look, Savage. Vicki and I have a business to run. We aren’t marked, no matter what the fuck Diana and you think.” Sean looked at Vicki, his expression darkening when he saw the bruise on her throat, one that appeared a mirror image of the one he’d had yesterday on his own neck.
“It’s not a matter of thinking it, Sean. It’s done.” Dom shrugged. “Our chemical stimulant has already entered your bloodstreams. You feel the psychic press upon your senses, the roar ofguerthat boils beneath your skin unless you satisfy the cravings.” Much of what Dom said made little sense, but the intensity of his words intrigued her. “That wildness needs to feed. You’re both Conduits. Humans gifted with power many of your kind will never understand. If you don’t feed it, if you don’t exercise your gift, it consumes you, correct?”
“Your point?” Sean asked through gritted teeth.
“His point,” Eric said as he entered the room, “is that you now belong to us. You’re pack for as long as we say you’re pack. Salinas will look the other way. They don’t want trouble. Your government in the States won’t interfere either. They haven’t acknowledged your existence in over fifty years,” he said with disgust. “No loyalty there. But here you’ll be treated as family. Here you’ll be able to quench the fire burning in your belly. No reprisal, no judgment or scorn for being the animal you truly are. Why would you possibly fight this?”
“Because it wasn’t my choice to be here.” Sean’s voice rose with each word.
“You don’t like Diana?”
“I like Diana just fine, but I never asked to be marked. Or claimed,” he muttered.
“Claimed?” Eric sought Dom for confirmation.
Dom nodded.
“I’ll talk to her.” He didn’t look happy about the pronouncement, and Sean seized on his discontent.
“Don’t bother. Look, you’re Prime. I get it. I’m not trying to screw with your authority. Just let me and Vicki out of here and—”
“No.Vicki’s mine.”
“The hell she is.” Sean’s eyes glowed, a sure sign of trouble brewing. Energy flared around him, licking at Vicki to join in.
She did, but only to calm him. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she tried to pull away the violent energy of his anger. “Sean, easy. Not like this. Gran wouldn’t like it. She wants you to call her, by the way.”
Mention of Gran did the trick. “What?” His anger fizzled, but before he could ask more, Dom had him by the throat.
“You do not threaten the prime and live.”
She stared agog at the lethal predator holding her two hundred plus pound cousin off the floor. Not an hour ago, Dom had been giving her pleasure beyond belief. Right now, Sean dangled from Dom’s clawed hand as he closed off her cousin’s airway.
“Dom, stop!”
Eric watched dispassionately, but when he turned to regard Vicki, his eyes burned with anger. “Well, Vicki? Are you mine or aren’t you? Make it easy for your cousin to understand.”
The prick. “Another choice, hmm? First the Salinas, now my cousin. Fine, I’m all yours,” she snarled and stepped right up into his face. “But be careful what you wish for. You harm one more hair on my cousin’s head, I’ll carve your balls from your body,Prime.”
For some ungodly reason, the scent of him turned her on despite her anger.
