Page 28 of Blood Lost

“Are you sure that’s it? How much is really in a background check? Do you think someone could find all of your secrets with one?” I accused, irritated that he’d interrupted my brooding.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure someone could run a background check on me and find out exactly who to talk to. Give them a chance, and they’ll know everything about me. I’m not worried about it. I don’t have secrets.” He defended.

“But there are things you hope Delilah doesn’t remember, right? He was pushing toward those things. There’s no reason for her to think we’re monsters before she remembers things on her own.” I wasn’t going to roll over and play dead where Declan was concerned.

“Not everything has to be a battle, Vik. Just give the guy a chance. It’s not worth losing Delilah over.” Eli turned and walked away. At least I could go back to brooding. Who did Eli think he was? Trying to make me play nice with the competition wouldn’t win points with me. I wondered if he was right. Would Delilah choose him if I forced the issue? Probably, especially since Eli was practically adopting him into the family.

I needed to find out who Declan Roarke was. He was hiding something. I just didn’t know what it was yet. I wasn’t as skilled as Eli at computer issues, but I knew enough to run a background check of my own. I stomped over to the mini library he’d set up. I was glad Eli situated it so no one could walk up behind me while I searched. I hated being exposed.

Within a few minutes, I had everything readily available about Declan. His social media accounts, credit score, banking information—nothing specific, just estimates of his worth, and a list of relatives and associates. That would probably be a good place to start. Who was he related to? Who did he hang out with?

I checked out his family and came back with nothing. They’d lived outside of the city, near the forest. Nothing unusual there, a lot of people didn’t like city life. He’d moved to the city shortly before being turned. He had an affinity for working with wood. He was pretty popular. I checked out some of his work on social media and news reports. There were some very upscale pieces. I was surprised he was able to create them.

After getting distracted for way too long, I started looking into his employees. Stephanie and Matt were pretty straightforward and seemed to be the type of people he hired. I came up empty-handed there, so I moved on to his friends.

This was where it got interesting. There were pictures of him as a teenager hanging out with some guys who looked familiar. I couldn’t place them but did a reverse image search and pinpointed exactly where I knew them from. They were hunters. He’d grown up with them. It seemed that his best friend was Kayden Dixon. Imagine that, we’re hiding from the hunters with the best friend of their leader. I printed off the info and ran to Eli’s room. We needed a plan.

Eli answered the door with a laugh. “Really? What, my background check wasn’t enough? You just had to run one of your own, didn’t you?”

“You won’t be laughing after you read this.” I shoved the pages at him and watched as he read. When he finished, I pushed him back and closed his door. “Now, do you believe me that there’s something up with him?”

Eli ran a hand through his shaggy blond hair. “I can see how this looks. There has to be an explanation. We should ask him about it instead of jumping to conclusions.”

“He’s friends with the leader of the hunters. What more do we need to know?” I pressed.

“Yeah, but he cares about Delilah. He’s not going to rat her out.” Eli started to pace the floor. I could see the wheels turning in his head but had no idea what he was thinking.

“What if he frames us so he can have her to himself?” I knew that I sounded paranoid, and at the moment, I didn’t care.

“He wouldn’t do that. At least, not to me. I’ve been nice to him. He might do it to you, though. You should probably be careful.” Eli smirked at me, clearly amused with himself.

“Fine, make jokes. When we’re all locked up and about to be executed, I’ll be sure to say I told you so.” I growled. It was clear that I was on my own and wasn’t happy about it.

Eli continued to pace the floor, trying to figure something out. “Why didn’t he just tell us? That is strange. But we didn’t tell him about our past either. We’ll ask him about it in the morning. Don’t do anything tonight. I mean it, Vik. Delilah will be pissed if you do.”

I nodded. He was right. She was very attached to this guy. As much as I wanted to get rid of him, maybe I should talk to him about this. “Fine. If he doesn’t give us a good explanation, I’m going to kick his ass.” Part of me hoped that he didn’t talk. I wanted to beat on him from the moment our girl asked us to call him.

“You need to get a handle on your jealousy. She’s not going to put up with it. Just let it go. She wants us all. Do you want to deny our girl what she wants?” Eli’s tone had changed. I knew that if I told him how I really felt, we’d end up fighting.

“I would never deny her. You know that.” He and I both knew that the words were a lie. If it meant getting my way, I would deny Delilah. Maybe Eli was right; I needed to get the jealousy in check. If she realized how badly it was affecting me, she might decide to leave without me. Losing her again would kill me.

Chapter 34

Delilah

I knew that Declan was trying to distract me by kissing me. I could push the issue and make him talk to me more about the hunters. There would be time for that later. As much as I wanted the info, I wanted his hands on me more. I steered him toward the bed. We tumbled onto it because I couldn’t see where I was going with my lips on his.

He pulled us toward the center of the bed before I shoved him down and sat on his stomach. I smirked at him when he grabbed for me, and I pushed his hands away. “Not this time. I’m the boss now.” He smiled and relaxed, content to let me push him around for a while. I leaned forward and kissed him gently, our lips barely touching.

His groan urged me on. I knew this was torture for him because it was for me too. I wanted to let him take over and move faster, but I also wanted to assert my dominance over him. I needed to know how far I could push him. What would he do for me? I slid my body lower, so I was sitting on his massive erection. I was surprised it hadn’t escaped his pants.

“Come on, mo chroí. I can’t take it.” Declan whispered his need, and I soaked it up.

I shook my head and kissed him again. When his arms came up and wrapped around me, I let him think he’d won. Then I wiggled out of his hold and slid lower on his body. I pulled at the bottom of his shirt until he sat up and let me take it off. He reached for mine, and I shook my head. “Not yet. Lie back and enjoy.” I climbed off him and slowly unzipped his jeans, then eased them off him and tossed them on the floor. The desire in his eyes kept me moving. I felt like I needed it to live. I reached for his boxer briefs, and he groaned again. I toyed with his waistband before ripping them off him and sucking his cock into my mouth.

He moaned so loudly that I figured Eli and Vik would hear everything. I continued to play with him, sucking on the tip, then licking down to the base. I was teasing him while turning myself on. If he knew how wet I was getting from this, he’d never want me to stop. I stroked him a few times before taking him into my mouth again, this time deep throating the whole thing. It wasn’t easy, but his reaction was well worth it. I sat back, looking at him. It would be easy to keep teasing him, but I wanted him inside me.

“Stay,” I ordered as I climbed off the bed. His eyes followed me as I slowly stripped for him. His hand automatically reached for his dick and stroked it while he watched me. Who knew that I would be turned on by that too? I shivered as I stood in front of him in just a bra and thong.

---