“I wasn’t hiding, I was taking a bath. Who are you guys? Get out of here!”
She tried to sound indignant, but she just sounded scared, instead. Cassandra had three guys in the bathroom doorway, and they were all leering at her in the worst way possible. She couldn’t even look. She didn’t want to see what she knew was going to be there. Her mind refused to even consider that an option.
“You should leave now. My husband will be home any minute.”
“Yet, you just said that he was back early.”
The man talking was handsome and he knew it. He was grinning at her and looking through the bubbles that were no longer very good coverage. She felt just about as naked as she was.
“Please, let me get dressed and I will get out.”
The tall guy that introduced himself as Gill sauntered into the room, asking her why she was there.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, Antoine doesn’t like women for more than a night, and certainly not a human. So, why are you here?”
Again, she caught that he said human in a strange way, but she didn’t like him calling her a liar. She didn’t know what to do. Gill was getting closer to the edge of the tub. He sat down on the edge, flicking his finger in the water.
“So, I have to ask, what makes you so special?”
His dark brown eyes were on her heavily and she tried to pull her attention away. He held her there, full lips smiling. “Yes, that’s what I want to know. What makes you so special that Antoine dragged a damn human off to his cabin? You really must be something. I think I might like try you out and see.”
Chapter 12
Antoine
Since Antoine had gotten his mind clear with Cassandra, the next day the only thing on his ‘To Do List’ was to take care of Nathan's enemies. They had become not just a problem to his friend, but a problem to him as well. They had found his office and they had done several attacks on people that he knew. The only way forward was to cut down the enemy and help Nathan take his rightful place as leader. Then, he would be able to settle down any more factions against him, creating peace instead of war that everyone was tired of. It was one of the reasons that Antoine had shunned so many of his kind. They had a thirst for warring that he never had. He was good at it, killing and dominance, but that didn’t mean that he liked to do it.
The two men attacked some of the last remaining people that had once run Fire Island. Some of them conceded and were more than happy to just be a spectator or a civilian. About half of them gave up their place, knowing Nathan was the true king.
Since Antoine avoided violence, he was happy that so many had decided to step down and walk away from the fight. Many others did not, though. It made violence necessary again, for that night.
It might have seemed brutal, but there was no halfway. They either had to bend or they were killed. It was just that simple and many still didn’t want to bend. Antoine knew that they would break, and he also knew that he would not enjoy one bit of it. And he didn’t.
He was on his way back home, leaving Nathan to go to his own place. Nathan had a bit of a ways to travel, so they separated much quicker than usual. His friend was eager to get home to his new wife. Antoine was eager to get home to Cassandra as well. They still had to have a conversation, the one where he explained a little bit about his customs and how their first time together changed everything. She was going to need to know that there was no going back.
They were mated and even when all of it was said and done, nothing was going to go back to the way it was. He couldn’t even imagine what it would be like not to be with her all the time. Antoine hadn’t lived with a woman like that, but they already were, and it felt natural. He hoped it to be more of the same. He was optimistic of the future, something that scared him, merely because it was a lot harder to fall, as high up as he was.
Antoine was in good spirits, even considering that he had to kill several people and that was something that he never liked to do. Even that in the back of his mind wasn’t enough to ruin the anticipation that he had for Cassandra. She was so close and once he got to his place, all he thought about was sliding deep inside of her and making her beg again. It was the sweetest sound.
He was so lost in thought that he missed the smell coming in. It was strong, acrid almost in his nostrils. How could he have missed that? As soon as he touched down, he smelled the other shifters there, and he instantly knew that it was an enemy. Nathan was gone, and no one else that he liked would come out in the middle of the day without saying something first. It was more than one shifter, as well.
Antoine worried about Cassandra being there with them and he shifted to his human form, hoping that he had a secret to keep still, as well as a mate to love. He should have gone in with caution, but that went out the window as soon as he got closer. Considering that it probably wasn't somebody that he got along with, it made him realize that there was a lot that could go wrong.
When he got to the door, it was open, and it looked like they had just walked in. It didn't take that much of a guess to realize that the visitors were most likely there because of Nathan's drama. They had attacked them earlier this evening, and the people there now must have been away when the attack occurred. If not, they would be dead now.
He wanted to call to Cassandra and make sure that she was alright, but he didn't want to give away his position, either. There was obviously somebody else there with her and he did not want them to know that he was there. Whoever it was, it would obviously be better if he was able to get the jump on them.
That's what he told himself, until he heard the man in the bathroom talking to his mate, telling her how special she must be and how he wanted to find out what she was so special for. There was fear in her voice, and he couldn’t let it happen any longer. Antoine wasn’t going to be able to sit by and let it happen. Instead, he went forward, dropping one guy from behind and breaking his neck, before he got behind another guy, and was about to do the same.
“Antoine, there you are.”
“You are here for me?”
“Of course, we are. What else would I be doing here?”
“I don't know, it looks like you’re messing with an innocent woman at the moment.”
