18. Nikolai
I ended the call and set my phone down next to my glasses. The loft was quiet except for the low hum of Elias’ equipment.
Elias was half draped over me, warm skin, lazy and loose, but the moment I went still, he felt it.
“So you invited her to the island?” He leaned over and kissed my shoulder, his lips curving into a smile against my skin.
I grunted, but didn’t reply.
I couldn’t explain why I had impulsively invited her to my home without sounding like I wanted her for myself.
That was a lie. I did want her. But there was no way in hell I’d admit that or actually entertain the idea of touching her.
My wolf’s ears flattened, lips curling in irritation.
He hated the idea of us never getting a chance to taste her.
“It’s okay to want her, Niko.”
I growled, my protest closing in my throat.
Hearing the fear in her voice had flipped something primal in me.
A protectiveness. I hadn’t been able to stop from inserting myself into her life and telling that human blood bag to leave her alone.
I smirked to myself at how terrified he was.
It was too easy. I didn’t even need to compel him away from her, and getting him to replace her heater was as simple as demanding it.
Too bad my hive didn’t listen as easily.
I needed to get back soon. She wasn’t the only one who hadn’t been eating properly. None of my bondmates had, not with me gone all week.
Guilt settled heavy in my chest. I’d neglected my hive while digging up wounds that should have stayed buried. Instead of being the alpha they needed, I’d crawled into Eli’s bed and never left it.
He pushed up onto one elbow, peering down at me. “Want me to check the cameras? See who dropped off the flowers before you go?”
I nodded and rubbed a tired hand down my face .
“I can’t believe Low showed her his fox,” Elias said with a chuckle as he slid into a pair of shorts.
I leaned over and nipped at his shoulder, a quiet warning more than play. He shot me a heated look, a smirk tugging at his mouth revealing a dimple. “Don’t start something you can’t finish. You’re the one who made plans today, Alpha.”
He arched a brow in challenge.
I slapped his ass as he stood, which only made him laugh as he crossed the loft toward his bank of monitors. I watched the easy flex of muscle in his back, the narrow line of his hips I was tempted to sink my teeth into.
I groaned and fell back into the mess of pillows with a long exhale. He’s been in my ear all week about my responsibility to my hive but never once included himself in it. I didn’t want to entertain a world where I said goodbye to the raven for real.
Taking on this girl wasn’t something I was willing to do lightly. Between hunting down the shadows in her past and keeping my hive from completely scaring her off, today was going to be a test of everyone’s control.
Harlow’s call still rang in the back of my mind. My brother had already been half-infatuated with the girl. He’d even adopted the name she’d given his beast.
I shook my head at the absurdity.
Though my wolf stirred at the thought of her naming him too.
Ignoring him, I grabbed my glasses and sat up. At least Harlow being close to her had gotten us something none of us had managed all week. A name. Logan . That was it. But it was more than we’d had before.
And still nowhere near enough.
Elias had torn through his databases and old records.
Logan Pierce was dead. Her husband of ten years was murdered by his own brother.
We had no idea where this brother was, but I had a feeling it was who she constantly was looking over her shoulder for.
My mind drifted back over our conversation.
The landlord. The flowers. There had been a note she hadn’t read out loud, and I was determined to find out what it said.
I would confirm all of that today.
See if her late husband's brother was also the one who sent the flowers.
Fuck .
I shouldn’t have waited a week to contact her knowing someone was out there looking for her.
I’d been a selfish asshole. I rolled onto my side as Elias worked, fingers flying over keys as he pulled up backup footage from the alley outside her apartment.
Whoever this guy was was about to wish he’d never sent my hive’s mate flowers.
I hadn’t liked how scared she’d sounded on the phone.
I much preferred her sharp mouth and witty tongue. Fear didn’t suit her.
Elias swore softly under his breath.
“What did you find?”
“You're not gonna believe this Niko,” he muttered, dragging a window across the screen. “Corner alley cam. The angle is shit, but it caught the sidewalk.”
I was on my feet before I realized I’d moved. A grainy image filled the monitor. A figure stepped into frame from the street. Tall. Broad shoulders. Leather jacket. My jaw tightened.
“What the fuck, Kiron,” I glowered at the screen.
Elias spun in his chair to face me, and I closed the distance without thinking, stepping between his parted knees. His hands came up automatically, resting on my thighs like he’d done it a hundred times before.
“Your dragon’s just as gone over this girl as your brother is,” he said, studying my face. “I think I need to meet her for myself.”
A low sound rumbled out of me, more wolf than man, but Elias didn’t so much as blink. He never did when the edges showed. I didn’t like him teasing me about meeting her. He had been pretty set on not coming back to the hive for decades.
“You’re wound tight.”
No shit.
His fingers tightened briefly on my thighs, teasing up my leg, before grabbing my ass in his strong hands.
“Let me make you feel better, Niko.”
I glanced down at him lazily, my eyes dipping to his exposed neck and shoulder where he leaned back to give me better access.
I braced my hands on the desk on either side of his head leaning in to lick his smooth skin.
He groaned, arching into my fangs as I scraped them down the column of his throat teasingly.
I pierced his skin, letting his essence fill my mouth.
I sucked deeply, greedily, groaning as the flavor of him burst on my tongue.
He took my aching cock into his fist and pumped me hard, forcing precum to bead at the tip.
With his thumb, he spread it down my shaft, and I hissed against his neck as I lapped up his blood and sealed the wound with my tongue.
My head fell back as he dropped to his knees, the rolling chair creaking as he did so.
“Just imagine if we had her between us,” he said, so much lust in his voice, I shivered.
He licked up the base of me, swirling his tongue over the head before taking me all the way back into his throat.
“FUCK,” I groaned, grabbing his head, his short curls soft against my palm. I would never get enough of his mouth. He knew just how to take me—long, deep, messy strokes.
I pumped my hips gently into his mouth, pulling his head closer as I looked down at him. Those caramel eyes never left mine as he took me harder, faster. My hips thrust involuntarily .
He pulled back with a devilish look in his eyes, his tongue lapping up and down the sides of me as he open-mouthed kissed the base, his free hand tugging at my balls. I growled, my fingers digging into his scalp.
“She wears that red lipstick, Nik. Don’t you want to see it messed up? Maybe smeared all over your cock as you fuck her mouth.” He took me all the way to the back of his throat again, my fingers gripping him tighter. But again, the annoying asshole pulled free, teasing the fuck out of me.
“ Admit it ,” he demanded, his fist pumping me as he grinned. “Tell me you want to fuck her and I’ll let you come.”
“No,” I said through my teeth. Eli went to pull back again, but I stopped him, shoving my cock down his throat and forcing him to gag. “You will swallow me, Elias. Stop fucking teasing me before I punish you.”
His eyes watered from the onslaught of my thrusts, but I didn’t give a shit—he was pissing me off. I didn’t have the time nor energy to deal with him edging me.
He went to pull back again, but I was faster this time, and his eyes narrowed, mouth spread over my cock, his gaze daring me to deny I wanted her.
“Fine. You stubborn asshole. I want to fuck her, okay? I want to see her pussy stretched around you while I ruin her perfect makeup and get her lipstick stains all over my cock. Now fucking finish what you started. ”
He picked up speed in earnest, and within three expert pumps I was emptying myself down his perfect little throat. My hand squeezed around it just to feel him swallow me. I let him go and grinned darkly. Yeah, I was an asshole too, but fuck him for pushing me so far.
He landed on his ass, panting hard, a satisfied smirk on his stupidly handsome face.
“Fucker,” I growled, walking back over to my clothes to get dressed .
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and stood, looking all too pleased with himself.
“I knew you wanted her,” Elias said with a knowing grin.
I gave him a death glare as I laced up my loafers.
The monitors behind him still glowed with frozen footage—Kiron outside her door, flowers in hand like some lovesick idiot who didn’t realize he’d just triggered a trauma spiral.
My jaw tightened.
“I’ll deal with him.”
Elias sobered at that. “Be careful. Dragon males don’t handle competition well.”
Neither did wolves. And I was still the alpha of this hive.
I grabbed my jacket, shoving my arms into the sleeves as my mind shifted gears from desire to strategy.
“Pull everything you can on the brother again while I'm gone. Dig deeper. I don’t care what it costs.”
Elias nodded once. “You think he’s supernatural.”
“I think humans don’t vanish like that,” I replied darkly.
Outside, the wind off the bay howled against the warehouse windows. A storm was rolling in. Good . Let it. Because by the time the sun set again… Sina would be stuck on my island. In my home. Surrounded by my monsters. And if anything from her past tried to come for her.
They’d have to come through me first.