Page 10 of Draco

“You’re welcome to join me,” he called out as he walked over and turned off a machine that spit out tennis balls.

I peered over my shoulder like I didn’t know if he was speaking to me. My intention was to come downstairs to grab a snack and some clues, not start an alliance.

“Draco isn’t here,” he announced.

“I’m not looking for your brother. I was just… looking around.”

He nodded. “My name is Quadir.”

“I’ve heard.”

I didn’t consider my actions as I slipped my feet into the massive slippers near the door and strolled to the tennis court. Quadir’s presence didn’t feel like a threat, still I kept my hands at my sides and kept my gaze trained on him like I was a soldier.

He grinned, adding an aura of innocence to his baby face. “You have to loosen up and grab a racket if you’re going to play.”

“Right.” I slowly bobbed my head. “I’ve never played before.”

He shrugged. “It’s cool. I’ll teach you.”

“Cool. Can I also ask you a few questions?”

A perplexed expression consumed his face, but he quickly recovered. “Ha! You’re a slick one. Talk to me. I may be able to talk back.”

I picked up the racket near my feet and channeled my inner Serena Williams when I tossed the ball in the air and whacked it over to Quadir.

“What are you and Draco?”

“He’s a barber. I’m?—”

“I’m serious!” I snarled. “Are you human? Are you?—”

“We’re half human, half onyx vampire,” he cut in casually.

“Onyx vampire?”

His amber-colored stare drifted to the cloudless sky. “There are onyx vampires. There are cavern vampires. There are silver teeth vampires. All the same, but slightly different. Vampires like me and my brothers were born with… special abilities.”

My chest swelled as if that wasn’t something I figured out the first night they brought me home. Quadir hit the ball back to me, but I caught it instead of using my racket.

“Okay. What about?—”

“Nah.” He shook his head. “That’s all I got for you. It’s not my place to teach another man’s wife, mate, or ol’ lady about the program. What I can say is my brother is solid. Whether you like it, y’all will be together. Be glad you ended up with him and not Zo.”

Mate?The word ran like a loop in my head.

“None of this makes sense. I’ve read enough horror to know it! Hell, even if I believed vampires were real, how couldIbe his wife? I’m human?—”

“So am I.” Draco’s deep voice hit my back.

I moved like I was on skates, twisting around and backing away until my fingers seized the tennis court net.

“You don’t have to do all that, Frankie. I’m not going to touch you until you beg me to.”

“Only in your dreams.” I scoffed.

Draco was a handsome man. On a normal day, his loose twists, dark brown skin, and two hundred plus frame would have had me salivating, but nothing about being kidnapped by a six-foot-five beast was normal.

“Let’s play,” he declared, walking to the other side of the court. Quadir had disappeared, and that should have put me at ease, but it didn’t. With him around, I had a distraction from Draco’s soul snatching stare.

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