Page 68 of Frenzy
Taylor grinned. “No worries.”
With that, Dominic grabbed our coffees and left, his eyes sliding over Electra like she wasn’t even there, his grin so wide that the whole world could tell he didn’t give a shit about anyone but me. And it was heady.
When we were finally outside, nearing my van, he let the smile drop and he gave me a concerned look. “Are you okay?”
I raised my eyebrows. “Me? Other than being ridiculously turned on by you right now, I’m fine.” Dominic continued to frown, and I reached out and grabbed his hands. “Honestly. I got kind of used to that through school. Electra is like, what, twenty? She probably learned that shit from her cousin who was in my class in high school. It’s not like she’s ever had an independent thought in her life.” I sighed, because it was true. It had been a few years since anyone had been so openly hostile about my differences, which honestly weren’t that significant. A little curvier. A little shorter. My parents had abandoned me. All of those things were normal occurrences in most societies. But Maxton wasn’t most societies.
“You wanna burn the whole place to the ground and start again?” Dominic asked as we climbed into the van, and I laughed like he was joking. But when I looked at his face, he was dead serious.
I punched him in the shoulder. “No, I don’t want to commit mass arson, Dominic. Electra is a kid with a big mouth and a bad attitude. The Goddess will kick her in the ass one day, probably because eventually her parents will find out shes been fucking half the Legion Force bachelors in late night gangbangs, then they’ll overreact and sell her off to one of their cronies and she’ll become a miserable, gin-for-breakfast housewife who hates her life because she’s bitter and ugly on the inside.”
Dominic blinked, then blinked again, before bursting out laughing. “Can’t argue with that.” He leaned forward, kissing me hard. “I meant what I said in there. I love you, Bonnie.”
My mouth dropped open. “You didn’t say you loved me in the cafe,” was all that came out.
“I didn’t? I called your pussy nirvana. If that isn’t a declaration of love, what is?”
This utterly ridiculous, violently beautiful man. “Love you too, Dom.”
He kissed me again, sucking my bottom lip into his mouth, before pulling away. “Normally I would suggest climbing into the back seat and fucking you so I could hear you say those words to me on a moan, but I have a meeting with Courtland and he’s still a little pissed at me for calling in the vampires.”
I stroked my fingers through his mussed hair. “I have to get back to the Sanctum anyway. Darius deserves the week off.”
Kissing me once more, and again skirting the edge of public decency, Dominic slid from my van and jogged toward the Legion building. I shook my head and watched him go. He was so fucking fine.
Finally, I shifted the car into drive and headed back to the Sanctum. I tried to imagine telling myself six weeks ago that I’d be in this position—I would have voluntarily committed myself. Realizing that Dominic had left his coffee in the car, I picked it up to give to Darius. Wasting good coffee was just a little above kicking puppies, in my opinion.
Hip-checking the door open, Darius appeared. He looked… stressed.
I raised my eyebrows. “You okay?”
Darius nodded, giving me a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. When I snorted incredulously, he threw his hands in the air. “I’m fine, Bon, I mean it. Did my Alphas have a secret Beta on the side for nearly a decade? Yes. Are we coping with that?” He paused. “Yeah, I guess so. But they aren’t off my shit list yet.”
I shook my head. Radic had mentioned the strange girl Corvin and Beckett had brought here unconscious, but when Radic had come to check on her, she was awake and actually hissed at him. She didn’t seem to be in any distress, was the general consensus, and she wasn’t a prisoner. Rad had said that if anyone looked distressed, it was Corvin and Beckett.
“Give them hell, Darius,” I said, slapping his arm. “Now get out of here and go have angry make-up sex.”
Darius shook his head. “They should be so fucking lucky. Okay, so dinner is in the crockpot and the little ones are all down for their nap. I had the birds and the bees talk with the older kids during the frenzy, so you’re welcome for that.” Picking up his duffle from beside the door, he gave me a soft smile. “I’m glad you’re back, Bonnie. I missed you.”
I hugged him tight. “I missed you too. Thank you for taking good care of our kids.” He kissed my head and then left, sighing as the morning sun hit his skin.
I moved further into the house, and was secretly glad that Darius was so damn organized. In the fridge were six meals, and I could kiss that man again.
A knock at the door made me turn on my heel. Pulling it open, I grinned. “Miss me alread— Oh, hey.”
It wasn’t Darius at the door, but rather, one of the Legion Force soldiers. One of the younger ones whose name started with C, that I could never remember. He looked as solemn as if he were attending a funeral. Shit, that was never a good sign.
“Is everything alright?”
His face didn’t move from its downcast mask, and panic set in. He looked up at me with regret in his eyes. “Sorry, Bonnie. Collateral is needed in every war.”
What the fuck did that mean?
His meaning became clear when he pulled out a gun and shot me twice in the chest. Flying backwards, I fell onto the tiles and gasped. A scream from the back of the house made me turn, but not fast enough to miss the burn of a lead bullet against my skull.
The last thing that crossed my mind was thankfulness that Pryce and I hadn’t mated during the heat—at least they’d all survive my death.
Then nothingness.
