There’d been no holding my wolf back, and by the time Davlov had run in, I was in full-on protective mode. Sorcha’s scent had hit me like a freight train, and, suddenly, all bets were off. I’d simultaneously wanted to drain every drop of her sweet blood and fuck her until she had no doubt who she belonged to. But those base instincts were tempered by wanting to protect her and Bal from the other vampire who’d dared enter the room. Yet, it had been ridiculous how easy my feral, possessive side had been soothed by Sor’s calming voice and closeness. If she’d told my wolf to lie down and roll over, I’m convinced he would have. He'd decided she was his mate, and nothing was going to change that. Not now, not ever. Which was a problem in itself.
Bal had been right, I wasn’t safe to be around. Even now, I could feel an unprovoked rage and hunger churning deep in my belly. His warning for her to stay away when she had gifted him her precious blood had only enraged me more. Her devastated expression after Bal's dismissal had made me want to punch him, and I’d immediately wanted to take that pain away.
Sorcha had been used so many times in her life, and Bal had gone from respecting her gift to destroying her in the space of a few minutes. He had no idea how much he’d hurt her when he’d rejected her offer of more blood. Especially when I doubted there was room in his life for love or feelings of any kind. If he was even capable of such things.
I scrubbed my hands over my face, trying to erase my lingering tiredness. My reaction to Sorcha was…unsettling, especially when I also longed for Bal to touch me again. I hadn’tfought his command to lie down next to him, but he hadn’t touched me. I’d quickly fallen asleep and awoken alone in the bed, my stomach instantly twisting as memories of his hands on me, of mine on him, hit me like the hottest porn I’d ever seen.
I tensed as the shower shut off. Before I could decide whether to go and grab a shower myself or deal with my quickly growing erection, there was a knock at the door. Nope. No way was anyone coming into this room. Not when Bal was about to walk out of the bathroom looking like sin personified. I gritted my teeth and remained quiet, hoping whoever it was would get bored and leave. I knew Balthazar would have heard the knock, but it wasn’t the bathroom door that opened.
Davlov strode in holding a cool box. His cold gaze flicked sideways, running over me, assessing. I had no idea what for, but my whole body locked up at his scent infiltrating our space, our room. I fought to push my wolf back and keep the snarl off my face. I regarded him steadily, hiding my fury that this vampire who shared so much of Bal’s life, and had for so long, just walked into our space. The space where so much had happened between us.
I smirked a little as Davlov’s eyes drifted to the rumpled sheets. Yeah, suck that, arsehole. The whole room smelled of sex, and the bed was stained with our combined releases. Rather than the sight disgusting me, I felt only satisfaction. Davlov took in my smirk and narrowed his eyes. But he didn’t comment other than to say, “I’ll send the maid with some clean bedding, and tell her to leave it outside the door.”
I just stared silently at him, wanting to rip his throat out. He was still in our room.
“Thank you, Dav. She can leave it at the top of the stairs. I’ll inform you when it’s safe for the housekeepers to come back to this wing.”
Balthazar’s voice washed over me, its smooth, deep tone shooting straight to my cock. Slowly, I turned my attention to him. Fuck, he looked good with nothing but a towel wrapped around his hips and rubbing his long hair with another. I wanted that hair wrapped around my fist as I pounded into him from behind.
Jesus, I needed to get a handle on the lust he stoked in my blood every time I saw him. I wasn’t stupid; he’d fed me. In vampire terms, that meant he owned me now. I was linked to his household and beholden to him. I also wasn’t stupid enough to think what had happened between us meant anything. He was ancient and must have done this with countless other vampires, so it was nothing to him. I couldn’t stop the surge of jealousy and gut-wrenching pain I felt at the thought of him doing what he’d done to me with someone else.
It didn’t matter that I was behaving like a jealous teenager with his first crush; I couldn’t seem to stop. Though it was clear he’d made a deal of some kind with Connor about me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been kept in his home and observed like a bug under a microscope. I’d have been locked in some cell in the middle of nowhere and left to go insane, or those hands that had dragged such pleasure from me would have snapped my neck. Fuck only knew why Bal had saved my life in that cave, but it wasn’t because he cared about my future. My eyes narrowed on his face. No. Supes as old as him didn’t have hearts; they couldn’t afford to. Which meant he had a reason behind saving me. I just had to find out what it was.
It didn’t change the way my body reacted to him, though. My stomach tensed, and blood flowed south. It was a strange sensation to react so viscerally to someone. Male or not, I’d never experienced such potent desire for anyone. Sex had always been to scratch an itch, and because it was expected for theAlpha of a pack to have a steady stream of lovers until he met his mate.
In my peripheral vision, Davlov studied me as I studied Bal. Bal tilted his head slightly, the knowing glint in his eyes making my heart jump. I'd taken the coward's way out and chosen not to find out precisely what my bloodlust would entail. I hadn’t wanted to, not when it would have been worse to know and worry about it. Yet, no matter what came next, I was grateful that Bal had been there.
“You can put that over there.” Bal gestured to the box Davlov carried.
Dragging his intense gaze off me, Davlov nodded and placed the coolbox down.
“Thank you, Dav. Would you fetch Shane another tray of what I prepared before?” Shockingly, a slight smile curled Bal’s mouth, and I saw Davlov’s eyebrows twitch upward a little. “It got destroyed by an angry fledgling, and it’s been too long since he ate something other than me.”
Davlov’s cold mask broke, and he smirked. “Of course.”
So, he wasn’t resentful of being asked to do a menial task that any of the castle staff could do. I guess he climbed up one notch on my respect scale.
The door clicked shut, and silence fell. I gulped as it dawned on me he'd been the one who put a tray of food together for me.
Balthazar turned his back and waved his hand in front of a tiny black sensor at the side of a mirrored door. It slid open smoothly. Inside was the biggest walk-in closet I’d ever seen. Expensive suits hung neatly above rows of perfectly folded t-shirts and precisely placed footwear.
Mother wolf, the guy was meticulous about everything, including the neatness of his wardrobe. My heart dropped a little as I realised he was getting dressed. That probably meant he was going to leave me to deal with my bloodlust alone today.Or maybe he thought it was done, though I hadn’t forgotten his warning to Sorcha. Believing I was a danger to her was the only thing keeping me from seeking her out after the way she’d clung to me yesterday. My wolf had claimed her, and I needed to know how she felt about that. My chest ached at the emptiness I’d seen in her face, and the droop of her shoulders as she’d walked away. Maybe she had stronger feelings for Bal than she did for me? My wolf stirred, and my chest squeezed. If she was my mate, why did the thought of Bal leaving hurt so much?
The room tilted, and suddenly I was naked and tied to a hook. Pain scored my skin as I was bitten over and over. My heart thundered, my breathing hitched, and coldness invaded me down to my bones.
I blinked and forced air into my lungs.
It’s not real. It’s not real…
Bal’s back was to me. Fuck! I couldn’t let him see me weak and trembling. Flashbacks weren’t unusual, they happened without reason, but I’d never had one in front of him. If Sor was nearby, her gentle voice and touch would bring me back.
With my wolf’s help, I forced the vision aside, swallowing down my nausea, and breathing slowly in through my nose and out through my mouth like Sor had taught me. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the feel of the breeze from the open window in my skin, of the birds singing, of the thick carpet under my feet. I’d promised myself after being thrown in that supernatural prison and being forced to fight or fuck, that I’d always be the one in charge of my life. But I wasn’t in charge when the vamps had kidnapped me, nor when the Count had wrung every ounce of pleasure from my body.
I swiped my forefinger and thumb across my closed eyes. Had I really let this vamp tie me up? Shit! What was I doing? This bloodlust thing had clearly addled my brain. I dropped my hand and eyed the open door of the closet. No matter my past,if I were bluntly honest, the experience had been beyond erotic. I had begged him to touch me, but was that because I knew I needed to feed? Or maybe it was the thought of Balthazar touching me that had stopped me from fighting those bonds? I huffed. Yeah, if I were honest, it was both.
The object of my thoughts walked out of the closet dressed in a pair of loose sweats and nothing else. That expanse of broad chest, and the fine dark hair that trailed from his navel down perfect ridges of muscle to the tantalising vee that disappeared under the low slung waistband….beautiful. There was no other description. Unlike the past week, though, it was all me that enjoyed the view, not my wolf, who, for once, heeded my request to stay buried.
Bal mirrored my posture, leaning against the doorframe of the closet as I kept my shoulder propped against the bay window wall. The silence was expectant and, for the first time ever, I felt unsure. My heart raced, and I was horrified when my cheeks heated. I had no experience handling this kind of situation. With my other lovers, I was always the Alpha, the dominant one, and I’d usually walk away as soon as the sex was over. I sure as shit didn’t sleep in their beds like I had with Bal.
