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Ismelled the light tinge of smoke, the kind that tingled the nose at a campsite, of flames slowly eating away at wood and bringing this crisp, woodsy scent to the air.
The next thing I heard was Adryan speaking, his voice deep, rich, and authoritative. It was also low, as if he didn’t want to be heard or maybe didn’t want to wake me.
I kept my eyes shut, not because I was trying to feign sleep, but because my entire body ached in the best of ways, the memories of what I’d done with him—let him do to me—like one of these weighted blankets that eased me.
My feet hurt, burned slightly, the recollection of running barefoot outside in the cold not my smartest move. But it felt like I had socks on, thick, soft, cozy ones that I knew weren’t mine, seeing as Adryan had carted me away to his beautiful prison in the middle of nowhere.
There was a blanket over me, light enough that I wasn’t overheated using it while being close to the fireplace. But I was bare from the waist down, and that realization of why made my heart race and my body heat for another reason.
My legs were sore, and my inner thigh… I couldn’t even continue with that thought, because I’d be aroused all over again, thinking of the memory of him biting me and drinking my blood.
Oh God, I have to be dreaming, locked in purgatory, where I’m entertaining ideas of men who are vampires and an entire world of creatures who should only be in books and movies.
“I don’t give a fuck, Kane,” Adryan growled, and my body softened in the most erotic way at that angry, brutal tone. But despite his harsh tenor, he still kept his voice low. “And I said I don’t give a shit if the wolves are pissed about the change of plans.”
I heard him starting to move around the room, the heavy, even sound of him pacing back and forth frightening on its own. Because he seemed like a man who was never fazed, never let anything bother him.
“Things have to wait,” he grated out. “Yeah, because I have more important fucking things I’m dealing with.” A second passed before Adryan laughed, but it wasn’t one of humor, and I found goose bumps moving along my arms. “Yeah. I have found her, and don’t fucking act like you don’t know. I saw the way you were staring at her.” His voice dropped even lower, malice and threat laced in those words. “Don’t ever fucking do that again. She’s not yours to think about, let alone look at. This is your one and only warning, and pass that fucking message on to your brother too.”
My heart was pounding so hard it hurt behind my ribs, and my breathing picked up. There was no way he didn’t know I was awake by now.
“She’s fucking mine, and I’m not risking her for anything.” A beat of silence passed. “The Assembly fuckers are gonna pay for the simple fact that they got close to what’s mine.” Another pause. “Yeah. Yeah, I know there might be pushback from the wolves, and I fucking know Odhran wants to go after them because of his female. But his mate isn’t mine, and therefore I don’t give a fuck.”
Wolves? Oh God. This was going from insane to totally off-the-rails bizarre.
“Cian will fucking understand, and if he doesn’t, well, I don’t fucking care about that either.” Adryan breathed out, and I finally opened my eyes, staring into the fire. “Of course Odhran isn’t going to understand. The fucker is more unhinged right now than I am, and that’s saying a hell of a lot, since we all know how fucking crazy I am.”
The ache in my body and sleepiness had since vanished as my reality set in. I wasn’t safe, not with those men having broken into my house to do God knows what to me. But was I really safe with Adryan?
“We do this on my terms and by my rules. I’m the one whose territory those fucking Lycans are on. If they want the vampires’ help, they’ll fall in line. And if they try any-fucking-thing without my permission, I’ll take every single one of those bastards down myself.”
I licked my lips at the lethal threat behind his words. For long minutes I listened to Adryan finish his conversation, sensing him behind me, wondering what the next step in all of this would be. We had to talk, and I had to figure out what in the hell was going on and what all of this meant for me.
“Tell the fucking Lycans that if they have a problem, go ahead and give me a call. Or better yet, tell Cian and his boys to fucking come over. Not like I keep wards protecting my shit. I’m the most dangerous fucking vampire and welcome a challenge, especially if a bunch of dogs want to come into my territory and not play by my damn rules.”
Whoa. Adryan was quite possibly the most arrogant man I’d ever come in contact with. It was infuriating… but strangely arousing too.
And then there was nothing but silence, and I knew he’d disconnected the call. I sensed—felt—him come closer, my body tightening, the scent of him becoming stronger, more concentrated.
“You’ve got to be hungry.” His voice, although it could never be construed as soft or kind, was a different pitch and tone—gentle, if I were going to put a name to it.
I didn’t move as I let his words filter in one ear and out the other, didn’t blink as I stared at the flames. I felt this strange detachment to the world in that moment, to hunger and thirst, fear and being cold. To pain.
Well, the latter wasn't exactly true. I remembered the feeling of that pain when he bit me, when he wrapped his hand around my throat, and the threat of my oxygen getting cut off was very real.
That kind of pain… turned me on.
That kind of discomfort was what I craved.
When I didn’t respond, the sound of him moving around the couch and coming to stop in front of me, his big body casting a looming shadow across everything it touched, had me looking at him.
There was so much I wanted to say, but I didn’t know where to start, how to form the words. Although I was confused, frightened at what had happened at my house, the men who wanted to hurt me—because of Adryan apparently—I wanted to understand. Even if it was gritty and violent and dangerous. I wanted—needed—to understand.
What I was feeling here, with him, I couldn’t wrap my head around at all. It was just too much. Too soon. Too fast. Yet it felt too right.
So I said nothing at all. Maybe he understood my conflict. Maybe he felt it too. Although I had a feeling the man standing before me wasn’t normal, and not in the sense that he wasn’t human. Which I decided made the most sense out of all the crazy things that had happened.
No, when I looked into his eyes, I could see this man was dangerous, a monster in his own right, in the only world I’d ever known. Even if there wasn’t a supernatural aspect thrown in, he was something else altogether.
