Page 29 of Frenzy
I saw another vampire melt from the shadows and honestly, I was impressed, considering he was fucking huge. He looked over at the redhead with mock disapproval. “Nope, I’m with the Manix with the nice boobs. Hands to yourself, Love.”
Now Courtland was growling. “Beta, come here.” The Alpha in his tone had me flowing toward him without thought, and I didn’t stop until I was in touching distance. Courtland eyeballed the big vampire like he had a death wish. “This is Bonnie. Do not look at her breasts. She is mine.”
The vampire threw back his head and laughed. “Don’t stress it, Armadillo boy. I’ve got my hands full. More than full. In fact, if I wanted to, I could have my hands full, mouth full, ass—”
The redhead punched him in the stomach. “X!”
The vampire laughed like she hadn’t just nailed him hard enough to break a rib, and the woman shook her head.
“Apologies, Alpha, Bonnie. I’m Raine. This guy is barely civilized after like three centuries.” She said it so lovingly I thought maybe she enjoyed his barbarity. “He gets a little stir-crazy when we have to be out of our home territory for too long. He misses our other mates.”
I expected the big guy to bluster and deny it, but he just shrugged. “Truth. You should see our mate, Tex. Tightest ass in existence,” he said wistfully.
Another vampire melted from the shadows like a spectre. “He’d also hate it if he knew you were talking about his ass to strangers, X.”
They started to bicker, and Raine rolled her eyes. “Are you looking forward to tomorrow? The waiting is always the hardest.”
My heart thudded in my chest. Was I looking forward to the challenge? No. For some reason, the idea of Courtland fighting, possibly dying, filled me with ice-cold fear. The likelihood of him dying was slim, of course. The fights didn’t have to be to the death, just until the other party submitted. Courtland was also strong and powerful. Younger and more fight-ready than the Alpha General.
But I’d known the Alpha General my whole life, and the man didn’t hold his position with power alone. He did it through fear and underhanded tactics. I wouldn’t rest easy until it was over.
As if he sensed my roiling tension, Courtland slid a hand down my spine to rest on my lower back, subtly shifting me toward him. His Alpha vibes wrapped around me like a fluffy blanket, calming my nervous pulse. His pheromones promised everything would be okay, reassuring me like no words could.
“The holding pattern is a bit torturous,” I said to Raine, and she gave me a sympathetic smile.
“I can imagine. Okay, I have to go visit the other Alpha now, tell him it’s okay to back out, but I have a feeling it will go down about as well as it did with you when we spoke earlier,” she chuckled. “Bonnie, it was lovely to meet you.”
Then they disappeared like they’d never been there, too fast for even my supernatural eyes. That would be a handy skill to have. Courtland turned to face me. “Are you okay, Beta?”
I nodded, straightening my shoulders. “Of course.” He held my eyes with those imperceptibly dark ones. Finally, he nodded.
“Let me carry that for you.” He took the box of desserts from my hands, and his nose twitched. “Cake? Let me guess, for Dominic?” A faint smile appeared on his face, and I decided he wasn’t jealous anymore.
“Yes.”
Courtland made a low humming noise. “He has always been a fan of sweet things.”
I grinned back at him, because there was something both terrifying and endearing about Dominic. Like he could make you laugh and moan at the same time. It was basically a superpower.
I chewed my lip as we reached the ATV that I’d parked in the lane between the bakery and the diner. “You aren’t?” I asked absently, thinking about what else I could grab to feed the absolute hoard of people living at the dorm house. I’d been going to try and wrangle some bulk burger meat from Pete, but had stomped out of there before I could ask.
Courtland’s fingers around my arm snapped me out of my thoughts. “I didn’t say that, Bonnie.”
Looking down the street, he gave me a quick, mischievous grin. I was suddenly in his arms and he was moving me back into a small doorway in the lane. Probably the back entrance to the bakery.
Courtland set me on my feet and took a step away. “I’m about to get out a cake, probably something coated in chocolate cream, and then I’m going to smear it across your breasts so I can lick it off, right here in this alleyway where anyone might walk by. Is that something you’d consent to?”
The hell? I stared at Courtland with wide eyes, as my brain struggled to process what he’d said. He watched me closely, reading me, and when I nodded, he grinned again, closing the distance between us.
“I’m going to need that in words, pretty Beta.”
“Yes,” I breathed, straining toward his lips.
He thrummed, that soundless Manix purr, deep in his chest. “Yes what?” he whispered against my lips. If I could lean forward, I could take them with mine. But when I tried to taste him, he moved away. “I asked a question, Sweetheart. Yes what?”
“Yes, Alpha,” I moaned back.
Then he kissed me, and it was like something inside me slid into place. Like it had been mashed into a reasonably working order, but never sat just right until Courtland had kissed me. His tongue stroked mine, and it was a languid, confident movement. Like we had all the time in the world to stand here and make out.
