Vicious In Love - D.D. Dass (book club suggestions txt) 📗

bit her lip to keep from begging him to kiss –bite her. Instead, she took a small step closer, holding her breath as his lips met her ear, breath warm as he breathed a low hiss there, the sharp point of a fang grazing just below her ear. She couldn’t help the soft whimper that fell passed her lips.

Every instinct in her short-wired –Goddess, she wanted him to bite her!

And she was going to bed, and beg and –a loud slam at her door jolted her back to reality and she jerked away from the male at her throat. In that moment, she was motionless, watching him run a hand through his hair, eyes shut as his fangs disappeared from sight.

Another harsh slam to her door and she winced, trudging out of the bathroom and hoping desperately that Ian would be gone by the time she opened that door. With a deep, reassuring breath Beth undid the bolt-locks and cracked the door open –only the metal thing broke off its hinges with enough force that she went tumbling backwards into her dresser.

She thought her head caught the edge of a hard surface as a spurt of pain shocked through her body, hot, thick liquid trickling down her temple. In confusion, she clutched the spot, vision fading in…and out.

There was a figure in her doorway. Daddy? Daddy? She thought blearily, blinking crazily until her vision cleared and yeah...Father. Terror, cold and sharp punctured his lungs as she tried to look through the threat he was posing…tried to see her father. But he didn’t seem to be conscious any longer, his massive body shaking with vehemence.   

Daddy. Her mouth fell open, but no sound came. Nothing, nothing, nothing…Unconsciously, she felt the bizarre, deep sense that Ian was still there, watching as she struggled to grip some sort of reality.

“Where the fuck have you been Elizabeth?!” was the last, terrifying roar she heard before the opaque obscurity swallowed her whole.

Chapter Four:

Ian stood stiffly in her bathroom, alone as the cold crawled along his skin. Warmth. It was what the female brought with her everywhere, it flowed out of her and into him, when she wasn’t close, it was missing and he didn’t know how to fucking feel about that. At all.

She had that control over him and it wasn’t…constricting. No, it had quite the opposite effect. While she was able to move gracefully, seemingly unfazed, he was completely stuck. His groin throbbed painfully, begging for release, his throat was tight with the need for her blood and damn him, his hands were burning to have her soft skin under them.

It was the most intense lust he’d ever encountered; the yearning deep in his chest was for more than her body or her blood, it was for every cell that made her. He wanted to have her stripped of everything for him. He wanted her a needy wreaked beneath him. He wanted her to know him more than any other being. And he’d never wanted so much at one time before. His heart stalled, because this little girl was dangerous to him.

Without permission his legs carried him to the bathroom doorway, where he drank in the sight of her. Dark hair flowing down to her lower back, where the sweater rose to show the tantalizing skin of her side and her hips flared from beneath those joggers. He tried to pry his eyes away, to recall his senses, but he found he couldn’t. Not even as she unlocked the door.

And it was like a bucket of ice-water had been dumped over his head as everything went straight to the Fifth Realm.

The metal doorframe flung off its hinges, shoving Beth backwards, into the dresser. A sickening, familiar crack sounded and she looked up, pale eyes foggy with confusion, horror stark on her features. His heart gave a feeble leap in his chest and –fuckin’ hell.

His body registered her blood had been spilt before the dark liquid oozed from her temple. His airways cut off mid-breath, and his inner-demon rejoiced at the red that filled his vision.

“Where the fuck have you been Elizabeth?” Nick’s voice was volatile as he stalked forward, not even noticing Ian.

His willpower lay in shreds already.

A threatening growl ripped from Ian’s chest, bloodlust coursed through him but it wasn’t for feeding, not at all. He wanted to tear his best-friends throat out with his teeth.

With a speed only a leader could possess, he lurched forward, crouching in front of the female’s limp body. Everything in Ian chilled when her breathing faltered and he found himself torn between making sure she wasn’t seriously injured and protecting her from the direct threat. Intently, he listened, all the while keeping his eyes attached to Nick’s tense form. Relief swelled over him as her heartbeat became a steady thump in his ears, allowing him to really focus.

Nick’s eyes were hard, a light red glazed over them, a red Ian had never noticed there before. But the raise in the males power did not matter when he took another step forward, testing his sincerity. Ian was already weighing the best possible angles to take the bulkier Vamp down. One more step and he would pounce.

Baring his fangs in warning, he hissed, geared up to lunge the enemy, even his best friend.

“Back the fuck away from mine, Derik,” Nick sneered, eyes locked on Beth with a predatory glint. Mine his Vamp sneered right back, the glint fueling his blood-hunger, urging him to cover her from the onlooker’s eyes.

But he couldn’t risk moving, there was too much agitation –competition. His morphing pinpointed Nick’s mind before he could stop it and the suffocating clutches forced him under.

It was drowning, the ache to tear at his own skin, to stop the painful, crawling sensation, to lose train of conscious thought, but no, that wouldn’t do, he had to guard the female. Fighting it, he bit into the flesh of his lip, bearing his own blood, and then the draining began. The energy from the other fizzled underneath his skin.

At the loss, Nick stumbled backwards. “Are you – You’re using that purgatory gift…” Ian’s lips twitched despite his fury. It pulled his meditation and Nick shoved him out, harboring the remains of his energy, taking another step.

Ian knew he was too weak to fight anymore, even all hyped up. It helped him gain control of himself and straighten, stepping towards the male until they were dangerously close. Even so, Nick’s focus was mainly on Beth –that had to change –the older radiated sadistic concern and spite, never a good blend for a killing machine such as Nicholas. Devil take it, where was Verona?

“Don’t do this, my brother,” Ian said slowly, his own rage clawing at him. “Think ‘bout what you’re going to do Nicholas.” Nick’s brows creased, an indication that he was listening. Ian took the chance to continue. “I swear upon mine honor, you will regret this as much as I once I go for your throat… You –I refuse to let you put yourself through pain by harming her.” Liar. You won’t let him hurt her because you are obsessed! Completely fucking sick.

Minutes turned to years…decades…centuries, a damned millennium before Nick staggered backwards, breathing coming in uneven huffs as he registered what was going on around him.

“Shit…Oh fucking shit!” Ian didn’t dare move. “Did –Oh dear Goddess, did I –hurt her?” his voice was barely a breath. Ian grunted, running a hand through his disheveled hair.

“Just fuckin’ stay,” he muttered, waiting until Nick nodded jerkily. It went against all his better instincts to turn his back to the enemy, principally with his female –a female at stake, but he did anyway, tuning into the other’s feelings.

Silently, he knelt at Beth’s side, brushing the silky strands of hair from her face and taking a shallow, testing breath, swallowing around the burn in his throat and fighting down the nagging demon within. He tried not to think about how long it’d been since he’d fed but hell, it’d been too long.

Cursing under his breath, he easily lifted her, careful not to jostle her too much. Nick watched with hard, protective eyes and Ian wanted too –well, he wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted, but he knew the bastard had no right to be protective over the female he cradled. He was the reason she was hurting.

Beth whimpered, struggled against him and he paused, unsure of what to do but tighten his hold.

It wrecked over him then, the blooming scent of transition and naturally, he inhaled deeper. His entire body constricted and his erection swelled in his leathers with a scary speed. The second wave crashed over him and fuck, fuck, fuck, he couldn’t think of anything but –Nick cursed loudly, distracting him enough that he could think passed whatever was going on in his head.

The male sped out of the room and Ian instantly followed. Goddess, he thought, why now? His heart hammered painfully, and his body was already well passed ready for her –to serve her.

But he couldn’t let himself think of that. No, but how many other males were in the facilities right now? How many males were feeling that aching need in their very beings right now?

Ah, hell.

In Nick’s weapon centre, Ian walked in on the male searching frantically. Another invisible wave of pheromones and he was blinded, swaying a bit and groaning. Talk about a freakin’ mess.

Beth moaned into his collar and Ian winced because she would be in so much more pain than any male soon. A foreign feeling crawled over his chest…sadness? His vision returned as he looked down at her: mouth parted, skin flushed prettily as she squirmed closer. Oh sweet Goddess…

He didn’t see Nick find the phone but then it was on speaker, ringing. An accented voice answered on the second ring, “Sire.”

“Keep talkin’,” Nick commanded, voice shaky though in an entirely unaffected way.

“Well sire,” the voice began. “There’s quite a bit of activity here. Not in this room, of course, I am alone with the expectance of this…” the voice faded as Ian traced it, ending up in a dimly lit observatory.

What the hell?

Beth’s whines grew higher as her hands tangled in his shirt and Ian sighed, looking around frantically to find a young civilian rising from a chair in the corner of the room. The civilian stiffened as he sniffed the air, beady eyes latching onto Beth.

He didn’t have to look down for the evidence of the male’s arousal, the stench blasted at him as he growled, baring his fangs at the male who scrambled backwards.

Fortunately for him, Nick appeared, glancing at the male. “Uh, Doc…?”

The doctor went into action, pulling vials from the cabinetry and glancing unsurely at him again. “M-Master, if you would please set her on the…m-mattress?” Mattress?

Hell no, he wouldn’t set her anywhere near him. He did not move until Nick spoke up, “Derik. She’s bleeding…” at the reminder he made move from the spot he was rooted. And Beth was now shaking, sobbing.

Gently, he placed her down; stepping back cautiously when her energy curled over him again, citrus and sexuality had the thick erection in his pants jerking. Nick growled, causing the doctor to continue collecting supplies but Ian didn’t bother to