Quench (2 page)

Alek stopped dead in his tracks. What was he doing?

A woman like her, a vamp, wouldn’t understand his weakness. His
thoughts turned to his beasts. For some odd reason his lion lay still, quietly
purring. His ever-vigilant tiger stood at peace. Neither animal displayed
agitation or cried out for blood.

His cock was still hard, and Alek knew there would be no
satisfaction with anyone else tonight. In a fog of anguish, he started to walk
again. Viviana’s eyes followed him from where she sat at the bar. He went straight
through the club and out the door.

How fucked-up his life was.

When he reached the parking lot, he raised his head and
roared into the night, not caring who heard or saw him.

Pain too great to hold inside poured from his body into the
air. The thunderous sound battered against tree limbs, sending some crashing to
the ground.

Viviana smiled as she made her way down the long hallway. The
Reign leader followed her and his spicy scent filled her nostrils. She liked
how he’d felt sprawled on top of her with his emerald-green eyes glittering. If
his hair hadn’t been a dead giveaway she would have known he was tiger from his
smell. The Sovereign warriors had a reputation for being badass and if this one
was like the brothers, she wouldn’t mind knowing him better or getting her
hands buried in his ruff.

Her blade burned hot in her hand. Unaware she still held it,
Viv stared at a drop of blood glistening under the soft lights. Sweet Jesus,
she wanted to lick it, taste it, and she did. Her nipples hardened immediately
and her vagina clenched, sending moisture sliding from her core into the seat
of her pants.
What in hell was that?

Careful or he’ll smell my desire.

Pushing at his mind, she caught only a glimpse before
banging into a steel wall. Viv couldn’t get in. The brothers carried strong
royal blood in their veins and it had always caused trouble when she tried to
read them. They were direct descendants of the original beasts turned by her
ancestors. This was different. She’d never felt anything like it.

Alek, a Siberian tiger, had the same mental print as a lion.

Viv hadn’t counted on the excitement that fluttered in her
stomach. To restrain her out-of-control body she reminded herself of his nasty
thought about her species. It had pissed her off and she’d berated him for
thinking of her as a bloodsucker. The Kind were no better.

“Goddamn fur balls.”

Confused by her emotions, she wanted to fuck with him.
Allowing him access to one part of her mind, she let him have a thought that
should keep him swollen and painfully erect.
I wouldn’t mind handling a nice
piece of ass like yours before sunrise.

Viv’s aroma quickly filled the small space and she knew her
scent would snare the beast in him. The effort to close her mind weakened her
tremendously. Stronger shields would definitely be called for if she planned to
hang around him. What if she wasn’t able to keep him out while they trekked
after the prince?

She continued down the hall and into the bar, taking a seat.
Her eyes followed Alek.

Viv visibly shuddered when he gazed her way, sending an icy
chill down her back.

The cat walked through the room and out the front door.

“Shit.” She’d looked forward to knowing the cat better.

“Are you prepared for what will happen if you cage that
tiger?”

Viv knew very little about Case other than that he owned the
Looking Glass. His long pale blond hair gave away the fact he was a white lion
and the scent of fresh human blood coursing through his body told her something
else—this cat was powerful. Case had no problem with his vampyre side and he
had no problem breaking through her barriers to enter her mind.

“Case, we don’t know each other well enough for you to screw
around in my head. Don’t do it again.” No sooner had the words left her mouth
than the ferocious cry of a wild beast lanced through the club. The doors and
walls were unable to hold out the sound of pain. Viv’s heart wrenched. Fear
pounded through her veins, matching pace with her cold blood.

“
Now
do you understand why I asked?” Case made no
pretense as he waved his hand, stealing the previous minute from the mind of
every human in the room.

His power should have frightened her. Hanging with Law and
Dace, Viv was well aware of the Sovereign Kind who sustained their lives with
human blood. They became strong vampyres and, aided with the senses and
abilities of their animal, they were deadly creatures to be reckoned with.

“Fuck you.” Viv stood and walked back the way she’d come to
collect the brothers. “Let’s get out of here,” she snarled.

Viv and the brothers arrived at the royal mansion and rested
on the balcony above the practice arena. Law and Dace regaled her with stories
about their life in Europe while Viv told of her own rogue battles. It had been
decided back at the club to wait until nightfall so she could travel with them
to join the prince to help sort out whatever his quarrel was with his mate.
Reign warriors were impervious to sunlight but the strong desert rays would
harm the oldest of vampyres, even at sunset.

The Kind possessed all her ancestors’ traits. What made her
people dislike and fear them was their ability to walk in daylight in the guise
of their beast—or as the undead. No one understood exactly why the mixture of
both bloods caused this phenomenon.

Alek had arrived before them and remained seated in a dark
corner of the office. His emerald eyes bored into her. Somehow he’d managed to
slip past her normal blocks and Viv had felt him a few times but she hadn’t
been able to get in his head again. This trip to find the prince and his woman
was not going to be an easy one. Not if Alek kept digging in her mind and
glaring at her as if she’d done something unthinkable.
Fucking cats
. She
should have stayed in Europe.

Law flashed from the seat and his head jerked toward Dace.
“Goddamn it.” Viv turned in his direction. The amount of energy emanating from
him meant he’d been in mental contact with the prince. “Phoenix is pissed.”

Viv knew the name well. The Siberian tiger was legend even
among vampyres.

“For Chrissakes.” Dace’s teeth ground together, trapping a
low growl.

“Seems we need to join our little brother sooner than
expected,” Law said.

“What are you
not
telling us?” Viv rubbed up and down
her arms as her body shuddered. Her eyes peered into the dark room to see
Alek’s reaction. His eyes glowed red.

A shaft of lightning ripped through the silence. Fire lit on
a practice form at the far end of the arena. The flames cast shadows around the
walls as hurricane-force gusts blasted through the courtyard and blew up into
the room with vengeance. Dust swirled through the study, followed by the strong
scent of anger.

Shit.
Now Viv understood everyone’s anxiety.

Phoenix wasn’t the devil but he probably knew him well.

Alek glared out at the small group on the balcony. “What Law
didn’t tell you is that Phoenix will be traveling with us.”

* * * * *

Alek knew the instant the cat materialized in human form
that he was going to take the brunt of his anger.

“You’re all jackasses.” Phoenix’s silver-gray hair billowed
around his shoulders. He glared at Alek.

Fuck
. He didn’t need this bullshit now.

“What in hell, Alek, you’re the leader.”

Alek felt all eyes on him. “I was stripped of the Reign leader
title.”

“I’ll kill your ass if anything happens to a hair on Karra’s
head. Understand?”

Could it get any worse? He’d spent half the night glaring at
a vampyre who had him and his crotch tied in knots, a woman he could never make
understand all that was happening in his life. And now this shit.

“Her mother ran off for God knows what reason and the
prince,
your prince
, sent Karra as a warrior to protect her. None of
that’s my business.” Karra was the daughter of the prince. She was not only a
Reign warrior, she was wild and willful. “What did you expect me to do,
Phoenix?”

Alek turned to Viv. Her mind was wide open.
Shit, please
tell me she is not going to interrupt Phoenix.
Her discomfort pierced him
like a knife.

Viv shook her head and before he could stop her, she spoke.
“You guys really need to lighten up and get your asses moving.”

“Who the hell is she?” Phoenix didn’t deign to make eye
contact with her yet.

His eyes pierced Alek with a deadly look as he waved Viv
away like a nuisance.
Did he smile?
A blue arc of light left Phoenix’s
finger and shot her way. It ignited a flash of anger in Alek’s gut. His teeth
gritted together, holding in the hiss.

Finally, Phoenix turned to face Viv. “I smelled you a mile
away. Vampyres. You reek of death.”

His fists clenched into tight balls. He had to sidetrack
Phoenix before Viv said more. Alek, a Siberian tiger himself, was no match for
the bigger cat or the man. No cat or vampyre was. Hell, nothing in this realm
could touch him. Alek didn’t want her to tangle with the creature. An odd
sensation slipped over his body at the thought of any one touching her. He
shuddered in an effort to shake the feeling off.

“Like it or not…”

Before Phoenix could reply Alek put his hand up to stop him.
“Let me finish. She’s the daughter of our prince, she goes where she wants.
Karra chose to traipse off after her mother.” His eyes narrowed to slits. “You
act like she’s mated to you.”

The temperature elevated in the room until it reached an
unbearable level.

Alek’s hair lifted as electric energy blossomed into a
mushroom cloud of dust, sending out shock waves of particles. Law and Dace
retreated to a corner. Viv trembled but held her ground.

He had known the princess since she was a bare-assed babe.
He’d trained her from a cub and Alek knew firsthand Karra had refused to give
in to the Siberian tiger because he wanted her to step down as a Reign warrior.

Phoenix’s eyes flashed a red glow around the room that
subsided slowly. He burst into laughter and the dust settled. Law and Dace chuckled
in the corner. Phoenix grunted, “Yeah, it is a wonder we survived.” Long gray
hair whipped around when he turned to the two men smirking in the corner.
“Let’s bring your brother and his family back home?”

Alek’s head dropped. Just as Phoenix had, he’d read Viv’s
scorching thoughts wondering how the sorry-assed cats had ever managed to feed
and stay alive. She didn’t believe they were the smartest night creatures
alive.

The woman had a serious death wish.

Trying once again to distract Phoenix, Alek flashed out to
the balcony. “Who’s putting the fire out?” Flames crackled out of control and
leaped around the arena, leaving a blackened path in their wake. He swiveled
around to meet Phoenix’s steely glare. A smile lingered on his lips.

Fresh cold wind swooped down from the mountains, lifting
desert sand into the air. It carried sheets of icy rain with it. That was going
to make a hell of a news item for the front page tomorrow:
High desert hit
with unexplainable sleet and rain.
Alek stifled the laughter the thought
conjured up.

“You needn’t worry about who may or may not be my mate.”
Green eyes pierced him with fire. “Think about your predicament and see if you
can keep your eye on this woman.” Phoenix and the prince’s brothers disappeared
in a shower of white light.

He turned toward Viv, who shook with silent fury.

“The bastard stripped me of my power to vanish. Who the
fuck…
What
the fuck is he, Alek?”

Avoiding the question, he glanced back over the balcony and stared
across the desert.
Christ
. Because of Phoenix she was unable to leave
the palace and Alek was left behind to look after her. “No one knows who or
what the fuck he really is. Vamp, cat or the devil. And, Viv, right now I don’t
give a shit.” His cats hadn’t budged inside his body. No prowling, no snarling
between them—their normal reaction if he even thought about not having
sustenance from the prince for more than a day or two. In fact, his beasts were
so at peace together he couldn’t believe it.

Something had changed.

He thought about the vamp stuck here with him and decided he
wasn’t letting her out of his sight. Jesus, what was happening to him? It’s not
like he’d ever have a mate but if he could, she would top his list. A very,
very short list since he’d tasted her blood, it now only held one name. Viviana—a
brown-skinned, foul-mouthed, kick-ass vamp. Not the sweet little Bengal tiger
Alek had thought to settle down with. What a mess.

A deep sigh slipped past his lips.

No way would he get involved with anyone but since she was
there a little taste of her charms, more of her life’s blood…she was damn
sweet. His cock grew into a sizeable erection and pressed painfully into his
zipper.
Maybe I can keep her from knowing about my feelings and the tie to the
prince.
There was no way she’d find out about his desire for another man if
he kept his shields in place. He wouldn’t share his blood with her. His mouth
watered as he thought about enjoying her body, tasting her some more.

Damn, he was hungry.

Not for blood.

Alek turned his attention back to Viv.

Only a couple hours before sunrise.

Viv watched his strong, broad frame stand on the balcony.
Multihued hair blew around him in the desert breeze. His tight ass and long
muscled thighs tugged at her. Her body fought with her mind as moisture slowly
gathered outside her channel, warm in the folds between her thighs. She
throbbed with desire. Her fingers itched to run through his hair, her hands
ached to slide down his back. Having and holding him wrapped in her arms
overrode every other thought. Viv wanted to see him naked and stroke every part
of his body. His cock would be big and hard. She’d already felt it, had
intimate knowledge of it. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips and damn, she
still tasted his blood.

This was bad.

He hadn’t answered her and she’d felt the lion patterns in
his mind again when she attempted to probe there for information. That wasn’t
possible. She’d picked up stories in her travels about Kind mixing blood,
having the ability to be two cats. It drew her back to the fabled tales about
Phoenix. Were they true?

Viv wasn’t going to hang around and find out. Cat had her
number and she didn’t like it. She intended to put some space between them and
fast. The strongest, purest blood in Europe ran through her veins.
I’ll be
damn if I hang around here and let some upstart Kind rattle around in my head.
Again, using all her strength, she tried to leave.