Page 31 of The Way You Bite
Chapter Ten
Lexan was out of the SUV before Eric had the car in park.
TC stood beside his car, arms crossed, scowling.
“Where is she?” Lexan demanded. He couldn’t see through the car’s dark window tinting to ascertain her presence.
TC nodded to the backseat. “She’s still out. You didn’t tell me she was…” He lowered his voice. “In heat.” He swiped a hand across his forehead, wiping sweat. Now night, it remained warm, but not warm enough to sweat. “You said she’s a mix so I guess it’s possible. Is it for you?”
Lexan didn’t reply as he yanked open the backseat door. She looked so peaceful sleeping with one arm curled above her head.
“I haven’t been around a female in heat in a long time. It’s…” TC rubbed his eyebrows with one hand. “It’s a problem.”
“It’s my problem.” Lexan gathered her into his arms. The unease he’d forcibly ignored since he let her walk away after burning her car lessened. In her in-heat state, even unconscious, she would drive his wolves nuts. He needed to put her somewhere private. Somewhere he could watch…guard.
Lexan kicked open the door to his borrowed bedroom and laid her on his bed. He sat, watching her breathe in and out for a while. When it became clear she wasn’t waking up, he moved to leave. Her hand landed on his thigh, arresting him. Her palm was limp as if the act hadn’t been conscious.
“Vee, are you awake?”
She didn’t reply.
With a solitary finger, he traced her delicate bone structure and long, dark eyelashes. A blink when he touched her eyelashes made him smile. Foreign emotions tangled in his brain—protective, possessive, combative. The animal in him ramped up, ready to protect what it considered his.Get a fucking grip.He focused on steadying his breathing.
He hadn’t fought his emotions to stop a shift in ages. This was twice in less than a day. The effort hurt his brain.
He ran a hand down his face. Time to quit denying life had thrown him a curve ball and admit this insanity wasn’t just about the hormones of her being in heat for him. He took a deep draw of her sweet aroma. Bloody amazing hormones. His body throbbed to answer her silent call.
This had become about more than helping her through her first shifting experience and relocating her. He wanted her to choose him.
Her father wasn’t going to like this.
How the hell was he, the leader of the werewolf people, supposed to mate a demisang?
Suddenly, he was in the middle of a dreamlike scene he didn’t recognize. Had his mind been hijacked?
To his left, two giant oil paintings in elaborate gilt frames dominated a plaster wall, one of a pastoral boat scene and the other of… He squinted to make out the portrait’s details. The peacock in the painting was unmistakably Mercutio. Abject hate slid to the fore of his mind. A few Grecian statues of varying sizes littered the shelves where haphazardly stacked books threatened to spill. The pretentious furniture was designed to intimidate.
“How long did you think you could hide this?” Dominic waved a finger his way. His face was a mask of disgust.
Fear churned Lexan’s stomach, but it wasn’t his fear. That had to be hers.
“He’s a half breed,” Dominic spat.
He heard Vee’s voice say,“Christopher is going to be wonderful doctor. He’s my choice.”
“You have disappointed me, Velvet. He’s not worthy.” Dominic rose from his desk chair.
“I don’t care that he’s not a pureblood, that his mother was human. He’s a good person, and he loves me.”
Dominic moved in a blur of motion. He held a knife to her throat. “Would you fight for her? I plan to kill her for the dishonor she caused to our household by laying with you.”
She clawed at the knife at her throat, her fingers coming away bloody.
Panic and pain swamped Lexan’s mind, although he wasn’t certain if that reflected his emotion or hers.
The male vamp, her should-be rescuer, remained immobile, unwilling to make eye contact with her. He stared in petrified terror at Dominic.
“Shove that knife into Dominic’s heart and rip out his throat,” Lexan roared, but his command went unheard. “Move.” Wait a moment, why the hell was he yelling? He was awake. This wasn’t his reality. It was hers…a dream?
