Chapter four #2
In her gaze, he saw her waffling, regretting her decision, and that pissed Levi all the way off.
He wanted her and he would have her. He refused to give her uncle time to talk her out of what she’d promised him.
Moving from his throne lightning quick, he snatched back the male’s head and struck, driving his fangs in deep to feed from him.
Levi didn’t bother with pheromones, wanting her uncle to feel every second of the pain.
He stared at Amaya as he leaned over Paul’s neck and drank.
“No, please! I agreed to what you wanted,” she objected.
Levi closed his eyes to block out her horror and plundered through Paul’s memories. Finding out what he wanted, he tossed him down. From the whimpers, he was just shy of death. Levi licked his lips. The monster in him was barely satisfied.
Knowing blood dripped from his chin, he studied his beauty. Ah, and there was the fear finally. But she kept his gaze, ever defiant. It made his dick hard.
“If he’s dying, then release me. You have no reason to keep me.” Her voice was shaky as she tried to negotiate with a beast that held no human morals to speak of.
He smiled, his fangs still extended. “Oh, but I want you, baby doll. And you’ve made the mistake of agreeing already. How fortunate for me.”
“Send him to a healer,” he ordered his men as he wiped his face. “Bas, please find suitable accommodations for our guest.”
His request shook her from her stupor. “What will happen to my mother?”
He sauntered to her and she flinched as he gripped her chin.
He hated the fear that now filled her eyes and infused her scent, but there was no help for it.
From Paul’s memories, he understood the precariousness of her mother’s situation.
That the bastard would risk his dying sister’s life made Levi want to retract his agreement and kill the man.
“Our agreement keeps her safe and under my protection.” He licked his fangs and battled down his excitement. “You only have to seal the agreement.”
The fire in her eyes quickly replaced the fear. “Do what you gotta do.”
He nuzzled the side of her face. “Are you so eager to taste me, baby doll?”
“Fuck you,” she hissed.
He chuckled. Her words pissed him off, but her matching his energy pleased him. The plans he had for his baby doll required it. Wasn’t shit he could do with a weak female.
“In due time, Amaya.” His eyes scanned her neck.
Her heart was racing, her pulse thumping against her throat.
He didn’t know when, but someday soon, he planned to leave his mark in that spot.
Darkness crept into his vision, the out-of-control monster that he’d been battling for months rearing its head despite the fact that she had momentarily calmed him.
He licked his lips and gave her time to digest what he’d told her.
Her eyes widened and she gasped when she finally realized what he had said.
Levi shook in hunger, anticipation making his mouth water. To seal their agreement, the two of them would need to exchange blood. It wouldn’t be a mating bond, but it would be the next best thing. It would allow him to access the thoughts she was hiding behind her enigmatic gaze.
She sucked in a breath when he leaned over her neck. When he initiated a blood bond, he normally took blood at the wrist, but for her… He needed to taste her pulse point. He inhaled her skin, humming in anticipation.
“Just get it over with,” she whimpered. That helpless sound ratcheted up the tension between them, feeding the monster right below his skin.
“This moment can’t be rushed, baby doll.” He put his lips at her ear. “Later, when I’m stroking my dick and thinking about your taste, I want to remember every exquisite detail.”
A mewl was her answer to that. Levi chuckled and licked her pulse point.
This time the noise she made was a moan that hardened his dick even more.
He would wait on his mate for sure, but nothing said he couldn’t enjoy this small taste of her in the meantime.
Taking a deep breath, he scraped his teeth down her skin and prayed for control.
Closing his eyes, he pumped up his pheromones and bit down gently.
The first taste of her blood buckled his knees and Levi damn near moaned.
The chaos power she held within filled his body and shut down the monster that had wholly taken over his life.
For the first time in months, his thoughts were clear. He drank and peace suffused him.
‘Your Majesty,’ Sebastian mentally called out to him.
His best friend’s voice brought him back and he reluctantly pulled away from her, licking his bite closed. Amaya shuddered in his arms, a small whimper escaping her.
Fuck.
Levi took a shuddering breath. Hands shaking, he used his nail to slice through his wrist, holding it up to Amaya’s mouth. He held his breath in anticipation. Fear and trepidation covered her countenance, but she lifted his wrist and placed her lips on his skin.
“God damnit, baby doll,” he whispered in yearning.
His pulse beat heavy, his dick throbbing as she sucked on his skin. It took every ounce of his control to keep from taking her in front of his men.
“Enough,” he said hoarsely, extracting his arm from her.
Amaya looked up at him, his blood on her chin and a dazed look in her eyes, and control be damned.
Levi grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her closer to him.
He licked her lips before plunging his tongue into her mouth.
The kiss he took was rough, desperate. He tasted the combination of their blood and knew instinctively that they would be magnificent together.
‘Levi.’ Bas’s tone was firm.
He pulled back from the kiss, steadying Amaya in his arms as they both fought to drag air in their lungs. Tense, heavy energy blanketed the two of them, blotting out everything around them. His best friend cleared his throat and finally, reluctantly, Levi stepped back.
He nodded to the maid he’d summoned. The humans had come with the mansion, enslaved to the Buru who had originally owned the compound.
Levi had freed them all, but because of the spell the vampires had over them, they stayed.
Their loyalty seemingly came with the compound, no matter its occupants.
It had taken him years to get used to having domestic help and no matter what he tried, they remained under some kind of thrall.
The maid grabbed Amaya’s arm gently. Amaya snatched it from her and the woman looked to him for guidance.
“Amaya, don’t take your anger at me out on my staff. It would change my assessment of you.”
She stared him down before nodding, then followed the woman from the room, her head held high.
Absolutely exquisite.
His best friend sighed as he approached, handing him a tissue. “The hell are you doing, Levi?”
“She’s stunning, Bas.” He wiped his face of the blood trying to dry on his chin.
“Fine as hell, but that doesn’t answer the question. Why are you keeping them here?”
Levi sighed. The problem with having friends for decades was that they didn’t let you get away with shit.
“She’s mine,” he said matter-of-factly.
Bas snickered. “You can’t keep the girl because you feel like it, Levi.”
“Says who?”
The chuckles of his men filled the room. Bas just shook his head.
“You wouldn’t have had to buy a whole separate condo for your mate if you had just kidnapped her,” he reminded his best friend.
Lucas busted out laughing. “Raven would’ve burned all this shit down around us if Bas had kidnapped her.”
His men agreed, joining Lucas in laughter, and Levi waved them off.
“She’ll get over it.” At least he hoped so.
Bas crossed his arms over his chest and stared his friend down. “How long you keeping her?”
He didn’t answer because he didn’t know. How long did it take a woman to get over a kidnapping and willingly come into his arms? Until she agreed to be his?
Sebastian snorted. “You don’t think that will complicate matters? Last thing we need is the Collective searching around for them.”
Levi grunted. “Weren’t you just complaining about being bored?”
“That was you and Lucas,” Sebastian growled.
He snickered because yeah, that had been them.
He spent his days running his empires, both illegal and legal, and the shit was becoming monotonous.
And yet, as Bas so kindly reminded him, the Collective had been on their heads, watching them, fearing that Levi would use his Bayi to overrun the South.
He’d already rid the city and state of the Buru and it was his intention to do that with the rest of the South, but running shit had never been his intention despite his moniker.
He kept the Bayi under his rule loyal and well-fed and that was all anyone could really ask of him.
Being King of the Bayi was title enough for him.
Being King of the South held no appeal to him.
He’d taken the piece of Akachi to aid him in ridding the rest of the Southern USA of the Buru, but the stone had proved harder to control than he’d anticipated.
Raven, Sebastian’s mate, had warned him that the pure chaos magic would be too much.
He’d taken her words into consideration and still thought the risk was worth it.
He was paying for his arrogance. Madness was creeping in and though he hid it from his friends, he was starting to get worried.
For a moment, with Amaya in his arms, all that had gone away. Could that be why he was drawn to her? As he inhaled, her scent lingered in the air and gave him his answer. It wasn’t the Akachi stone controlling his reaction to her. He wanted her.
Everything in him was telling him that Amaya was what he’d subconsciously been searching for.
Holding her here against her will wasn’t necessarily a good start to that.
His gaze went back to the door she’d exited.
Her taste clung to his tongue and if he closed his eyes, he could see her beautiful, defiant face.
Fuck it.
There were worse ways to start a mating.