Page 93 of Act of Brotherhood
Clara gasped. “Nicolette?”
“Yes?”
“When you banged the brains out of Viking-Cupcake Dude, did he bite you?” asked her friend in a low, even voice.
Nicolette let out a nervous laugh and began to say no, and then stopped. Her hand went to her neck, near her shoulder. To the spot Garth had kissed aggressively during sex right after he’d shouted the word “mine”. Nicolette paled. “Yes. Ohmygod, am I a vampire now? Wait. Am I a shifter now? Is that contagious?”
Garth’s green gaze was moist as he stood near the van, being partially held back by the guy named Duke. “Nicolette.”
The next thing Nicolette knew, Clara had the broken chair leg and was running at Garth full force. “You fucking claimed her!”
The vampire Clara had been so worried about twisted fast and caught Clara around the waist. He turned her, Clara’s back pressed to his front. It didn’t look like he was hurting her or exerting much in the way of energy to keep her. In fact, he looked to be going out of his way to avoid harming her. “Shh, no killing him.”
“He claimed her,” ground out Clara, losing some of her fight. “She didn’t understand. He didn’t ask. He just did it. I’m going to ram this piece of wood through his man parts.”
The vampire seemed to consider letting her go to continue her mission.
Nicolette gasped. “Clara, stop! What are you going on about? What do you mean, claim? And why did that guy say wife? Garth told me he’s not married. Did he lie?”
“Lass, all will be explained soon enough. For now, let’s make sure no one kills anyone.” Striker stepped back and released Nicolette’s arms. “Are you all right?”
She nodded. “Sorry about the nose.”
He grinned. “Yer nae the first lass to break my nose.”
“Won’t be the last either,” said Goth Guy.
“You are all horrible at this. I’m glad I insisted on coming,” said a woman with long red hair as she stepped out from the backseat of a black SUV. She looked at Clara first. “My name is Edee. I’m reluctant to admit I’m with these morons.”
Striker laughed.
She pointed at him.
He shut up.
Edee walked to Duke and touched his arm. “Let him go to her. Would you want someone holding you back from Mercy?”
With a grunt, Duke released Garth and he ran towards Nicolette. When he got to her, he swept her up and off her feet, his lips finding hers at once. His kiss was just the way she remembered—hot, branding, perfect.
Unable to help herself, Nicolette burst into tears, the toll of the week hitting her hard.
Garth hugged her to him as he set her gently on her feet, keeping her close. “Beauty, I’m so sorry. I never meant to leave you.”
“Why did you?” she asked. “And why did you do it without clothes on?”
Duke snickered. “He put on his version of a fur coat.”
It hit Nicolette then. “You changed into an animal?”
Garth nodded, worry in his green gaze. “Yes. A wolf. I lost control. Claiming you pushed me over the edge. I had to put distance between myself and you because I wasn’t sure what my wolf would do.”
Nicolette cried harder. He’d not run out on her because he didn’t want her.
Garth cursed slightly under his breath. “I’ll go as soon as I know you’re safe from my brother. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
She swatted his chest and then yanked on his shirt, pulling him closer. “I’m not scared of you. I’m crying because you didn’t run off because you didn’t want to see me and regretted what happened. I haven’t heard from you all week and I don’t have any way to contact you.”
Garth gasped. “No! Beauty, I spent a week stuck in wolf form, and when I came out of it this morning, these assholes wouldn’t let me come to you. They thought they were helping.”
