Chapter 9 _ Asher
Chapter Nine
ASHER
“Are you sure this is allowed?” I asked as Maeve led the way down a dark corridor.
“Don’t be afraid. Nothing will happen to you while you’re with me.” Cian’s voice was a caress as he leaned in from his place behind me.
“Why’s he here again?” I asked, trying to suppress the involuntary tingles the puff of his breath sent racing down the back of my neck.
“Because I’m the muscle. And a damned good time,” he added, the invitation to play evident in his voice.
“Stop flirting with her, Viking. Give her a chance to get used to the place before you start pissing on her to mark your territory.” Maeve stopped at a dead end and turned to stare at us. “Now prepare to be wowed.” She held out both hands like a magician about to do a trick.
“Now who’s flirting?” Cian teased.
Maeve returned her focus to the blank wall before waving her palm across the brick. A faint green glow began to emanate from the mortar lines, the shape of a door appearing as the verdant shade spread. I knew witches existed, but I never really spent time with them. Our kind didn’t really . . . intermingle. Seeing Maeve in action was astonishing.
“Apres vous, mes amis,” she offered in flawless French.
I hesitated, just for an instant. Walking through a glowing green door to parts unknown wasn’t the brightest idea. Not with the warning from my dream still bouncing around in my head. But Cian took my hand in his and squeezed.
“Together then?”
Letting my gaze travel up, up, up, his large frame, I allowed his piercing eyes to calm me. “Okay.”
“Ugh,” Maeve scoffed. “I’m dying to dance. Come on, you’re acting practically human.”
Together, Cian and I crossed through the doorway. My skin prickled, pins and needles breaking out across my entire body as magic coated us then snapped away as we passed the barrier. My ears popped the instant we crossed from school grounds to the exterior of a nightclub. The red neon script over the door said SIN.
“Are you sure this is a nightclub and not a strip club?” I asked.
Cian laughed. “Afraid of a little nudity?”
“No, but I like to know what I’m walking into.”
Maeve shoved past the two guys standing at the door. “Hi, fellas.”
“Miss Mirabella,” one of them said before pushing open the door for us.
Thumping bass spilled out of the club, low and loud, commanding attention, almost its own being. Maeve took my hand and tugged me out of Cian’s grip as we walked down a set of stairs and into SIN.
The dim lighting was just bright enough for me to see the path mapped out by the hallway, and when we reached the end of the walkway, I saw yet another staircase to my left. I moved to head down, now eager to let loose and dance my ass off with Maeve , but Cian’s large palm encircled my arm.
“Not that way, Ashy. That’s the true den of SIN. You’re not ready for what lies beneath the surface.”
My stomach clenched. What kind of sinful delights were hidden down there? And did I want to find out? He turned me in the opposite direction, tugging me to the right and into a club filled with people.
“Wow, this is . . .” I started, but my voice faltered as I took in the massive space, lit in greens and blues with purple spilling out from under the bar and DJ’s booth. The dance floor was full of couples grinding together. A vampire in the corner had his fangs buried in the neck of a human woman who looked like she was on the verge of orgasm or maybe in the throes of one.
“Intense?” Maeve asked.
“Yeah.”
“I forget how sheltered you’ve been. Don’t worry. No one will bite you tonight.”
“They’d better not.” Cian leaned in, and a shiver ran down my spine as his lips brushed the shell of my ear. “It’ll be the last thing they do.”
Wowza. He really had the whole sexy, murdery smolder thing down. And I liked it. A lot. Definitely more than I should. Not that I was about to admit it, especially not to him. Cian didn’t seem like the kind of guy who needed any ego stroking.
“I can take care of myself,” I protested.
“I don’t doubt it.”
“Leave her alone. She’s my date tonight. And I need her to dance with me,” Maeve said. “Don’t make me turn you into a toad.”
Cian laughed. “You know as well as I you don’t have that power. I, however, do.” He smirked and snapped his fingers, a spark of green filling the room as Maeve transformed into a cute little tree frog. She gave an annoyed croak before he snapped again, and she returned to her normal form.
The free use of magic had my eyes flaring wide. I glanced around, wondering what everyone else thought about the random club toad, but no one batted an eye. I guess it was just a typical Friday night as far as they were concerned. Looked like Maeve was right; my life was definitely sheltered compared to theirs.
“I’m going to have your balls for that.” An orb of fire sat in her palm, and matching flames filled her eyes.
“Oh, I’m so scared.” He held up his palms and pretended to shake.
“You should be.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help myself. “You’d better sleep with both eyes open tonight.”
“It would take more than a whole coven of Mirabellas to faze me.” He tossed me another of his panty-melting winks and walked away. “If you need me, I’ll be over there,” he called over his shoulder as he headed for a corner booth where a few other people I recognized from school were sitting.
“Jackass,” Maeve called to his retreating back. Then she sighed and added, “But goddess, is he pretty.”
She was not wrong. I couldn’t seem to make myself look away from him, my eyes trailing down his muscled back and locking on his ass. Man, did he wear the hell out of those jeans.
Maeve cackled when she caught me drooling. “Come on, let’s cool you down before you combust.”
Maeve and I snagged drinks and strolled around the large space together, scoping out the best places to dance, stopping to talk to a few of our classmates. The music changed to a song both of us loved, so we downed our drinks and headed for the dance floor. We laughed and moved to the music, the lights flashing, changing colors and making it look like we moved in slow motion as we spun and writhed.
I closed my eyes as the song morphed again to something a little slower and a lot dirtier. Maeve had found a girl to dance with and abandoned me two songs ago. I didn’t care. I loved the freedom of swaying to a beat and giving myself over to music.
“You’re indecent. Do you know that, Flower?” The scent of bergamot washed over me as Jackson slipped his palms over my waist and pulled me against him from behind.
My heart lurched, then my pulse began racing, a dangerous reaction to have around a vampire. He recognized it too, if the way his fingers dug into my hips, pressing me even closer against him, was any indication.
“I didn’t say you could dance with me.”
His lips slid over my neck, trailing up until he nipped my ear. “You haven’t stopped me yet.”
“I like dancing.”
“You like me.”
“Don’t be so sure.”
“I can feel it in your pulse. I can taste it on your skin. You’re just as drawn to me as I am to you, little wolf.”
He spun me around to face him, those amber eyes locking onto mine and making my nipples pebble as arousal gripped me.
“Don’t you dare try to use your vampire powers on me.”
“I would never. Not with you.”
“That’s what you say now, but how do I know it’s not exactly how I ended up in your bed? You could have easily glamoured me and made me forget the whole thing.”
His low chuckle covered me like a soft blanket. It was safety and comfort I felt then, not menace. It may prove to be the stupidest thing I’d ever done, but in that moment, I trusted him when he repeated his earlier words.
“Not with you. I’ll have you, Flower. One day soon. But not until you beg for me to take you.”
An insistent flutter took up residence low in my belly, making me achy with need and oh-so-aware of the way he was holding me. The grip he had around my waist was strong enough I couldn’t get away even if I’d wanted to, and the hard length of his cock pressed against my belly, persistent and ready.
“Why do you suddenly want me so bad?”
His dark brows lifted. “Suddenly? I’ve been running from your scent since the day you arrived.”
“Running? From me?” The thought of someone as strong and obviously powerful as him trying to escape me made me want to laugh. No one ever considered me a threat. Certainly not enough of one to run from.
He brought his head close to mine, ensuring I was staring deep into his molten gaze. “Yes, little wolf. You. All the while, my instincts demanded I hunt you. But I’ve given up. I shouldn’t want you, but I can’t help myself.”
“Why shouldn’t you want me?” Even under the heavy beat of the music, I could hear the breathless quality of my voice. I was far more invested in his answer to the question than I should be.
He laughed. “Have you paid any attention in class? Pacts and treaties are the backbone of our society. The Hawkes and Callaways have sworn to never join. The risk of our species mixing is too great.”
“You’re a Hawke?” I went rigid in his arms. I knew exactly what he was talking about. The abominations created when a shifter and vampire joined usually died. Not because one killed the other, but because usually, the vampire turned their mate, and the shifter blood rejected it.
Instead of releasing me, he held me tighter, his eyes laser-focused on my throat. “I am. My father is George Hawke, and I am the heir to the Hawke bloodline. I’m sorry, I should’ve told you.”
“Then you shouldn’t be spending time with me.”
He swallowed hard. “No. I shouldn’t. But that won’t stop me. I need you, even if I never taste your blood.”
“Slumming it with the corpse eh, Ash? That’s pretty pathetic, even for you.” Devon’s voice slithered between us, stealing my attention from Jackson . “Jackson , what business do you have with my castoff? She’s off-limits, and you know it.”
The lusty little bubble Jackson had woven around us popped. For a second there, I’d forgotten where we were. I’d been so wrapped up in him, no one else had existed but the two of us. And then Devon had to go and ruin it. And, as they always did when Devon was near, shame and anger were quick to follow.
Somewhere between Maeve's makeover and dancing with Jackson , I’d forgotten why I’d come to Beastville. For a little while, I’d gotten to be a normal twenty-three-year-old flirting with hot guys and dancing the night away. But Devon brought reality crashing back down.
Before I could ask Devon why he even cared, Jackson tensed around me. Part of me expected him to tear into Devon, but he surprised me by laughing. His cold, cruel rumble conveyed just how insignificant he thought the shifter was. That was when I actually saw Jackson as the Hawke heir, and not just as the dangerous, albeit incredibly sexy vampire I’d been so shamelessly dancing with.
“Your castoff? That’s not how I heard it. Correct me if I’m wrong, Flower. But weren’t you the one who rejected him?”
Some of my embarrassment faded away at hearing Jackson come to my defense. I smiled. “I did.”
Jackson slid his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close, cocooning me in his scent and wordlessly laying claim. “Sounds like you’re the castoff, mate. Maybe it’s time you learn to accept the fact that she never has been, nor will she ever be, yours.”
Devon growled. “She belongs to me more than she could ever belong to a bloodsucker like you.”
The back of my neck prickled, warning me we were starting to gather attention. I could feel eyes on me from across the room, and despite the altercation unfolding in front of me, I craned my neck and found Cian staring intently in my direction. His icy eyes were narrowed, his lips flattened in something that looked a lot like anger, as his gaze shifted to Devon.
Jesus. This was getting out of hand.
“Listen, Devon, I’m not going to pretend to know what all of this is about, but you need to let this weird obsession you have with me go. It’s been seven years. Rejection sucks. I get it. You’ve made it abundantly clear you think I’m a worthless piece of shit. Can’t we just leave it at that?”
“No, Asher. We can’t ‘just leave it at that.’”
“Why not? It’s not like you want me anyway. I’m defective, remember? Nothing but an embarrassment. Why do you care who I spend my time with so long as it’s not you?”
“Because you’re my—” His eyes flashed, hinting at the beast within as he caught himself, not finishing his sentence. And in that brief span of time, there was something other than anger in his gaze. He looked . . . hurt. But that didn’t make any sense. And his next words proved just how off base I was.
“Oh, I don’t care. But you should. What’s your grandfather going to say when he finds out about this?”
“Finds out about what? We were just dancing. Last I checked, that’s not a crime.”
“No, not that you were out dancing. That you’re whoring yourself out for some leech.”
I gasped, feeling like he’d punched me right in the stomach. Jackson blurred as he stepped forward, his voice downright scary as he got into the shifter’s face.
“Enough. You will not speak to her that way. In fact, you will not speak to her at all. Leave, before I make you. And trust me, pup, you do not want to find out what happens if I have to make you.”
Devon laughed. “I’d love to see you try, Jackson .”
Jackson smiled, and it was a cold, terrible thing. None of the sexy, playful vampire I’d been dancing with could be found in his menacing expression. “If you’ve a death wish, Bassett, I’m more than happy to assist with that. If you don’t, I encourage you to walk away. Now. Last warning.”
Devon looked between the two of us, a muscle feathering wildly in his jaw before he snarled. “I don’t know why I bothered. You’re not worth it.”
“Bothered doing what? Pick a fight?” I snapped.
“Tried to save you.”
I reacted like I’d been slapped. “Save me? This is what saving me looks like? Calling me a whore?”
He ran a hand through his hair, looking frustrated. “Just forget it.”
“No, actually, I think I want you to explain it to me.”
“This guy, the one you’re practically dry humping like a bitch in heat? He’s a monster, Asher. One of the worst. He’s also the enemy. Or does the fact that you can’t shift mean you’ve lost all loyalty to your kind?”
Jackson grasped Devon by the front of his shirt and shoved him hard. Devon went flying, knocking over a table and spilling drinks everywhere. The two bouncers stepped into action, but instead of going after Jackson , they went to Devon, lifting him off the floor and escorting him to the exit.
“Good riddance to bad rubbish,” Jackson said, wiping his hands together before turning back to look at me. His eyes roamed over my face, his lips tilting in a frown at whatever he found there. He cupped my cheek, his voice gentle. “Are you okay?”
I wrapped my arms around my stomach, feeling cold despite the warmth of the crowded club. “Peachy.”
His frown deepened. “Come on, let’s get you something to drink.”
In typical Jackson fashion, he didn’t give me a chance to respond before wrapping his arm around me and pulling me close. He led me in the direction he wanted me to go and just expected me to follow. For once, I didn’t fight it. There was something comforting about letting someone else take control. Even if only for a little while.
I wish I could say the night took a turn for the better after that. But it didn’t.
Not even close.