Chapter thirteen
He was nervous.
It was a revelation and a nuisance. Amaya vexed him!
Her very presence drove him mad, and yet he took every opportunity to be in proximity to her.
He adjusted the chains around his neck in the mirror in his office and clenched his jaw.
Would she show up? He’d had clothes delivered to her room, but Amaya was unpredictable.
‘Your Highness,’ Lucas cut into his thoughts. ‘She’s headed down.’
Rolling his shoulders, Levi left his home office and joined his men in the foyer.
They were all in black, from their Henleys down to the cargo pants and thick combat boots on their feet.
It was their standard uniform when they left the house with him.
He kept to all black, wearing a pair of slacks with a matching button down, opened to the top of his chest. His Cuban links rested on his skin, glinting in the light.
He was second-guessing taking Amaya with him to this meeting, but everyday his emotions and thoughts were growing more erratic. It seemed the only time he had relief was when he was around her.
Hopefully, that would work tonight.
Amaya descended the stairs and he damn near had to force himself to stay in place.
The clothes he’d sent up looked innocent enough on the hanger.
The black mini blazer dress had a pleated skirt, and gold buttons across the chest. He wanted her to match him and his men, so he’d kept it simple.
Why, then, did she look like sin personified?
The lace of her bra peeked through the deep vee of the dress, pushing up her breasts.
His mouth watered as he took in the expanse of thick thighs the skirt exposed.
Her makeup was done to perfection, making her dark eyes stand out more, the deep red of her lips beckoning him.
Her hair was down around her shoulders in soft waves and Levi clenched his hands tight.
‘Aye, man, ain’t no way I’m finna deal with a possessive Levi tonight. You gotta send shawty back upstairs to put on a sack,’ Lucas grumbled.
Bas snickered. ‘He picked that shit out himself. He must’ve forgot shawty thicker than cold grits.’
‘Both of you shut the fuck up!’ Levi snapped, his eyes never leaving Amaya’s form.
They were both right, unfortunately. Instead of heeding their warning, he waited with bated breath as Amaya walked towards him, sashaying in heels that were sky-high. He swallowed, praying he wouldn’t drool and embarrass himself.
“Where are we going?” she asked, adjusting a small black purse across her chest.
“A business meeting,” he managed as she sidled up next to him.
“Interesting,” she murmured, following Bas out the door.
“Fuck me,” he whispered when he saw all that ass from the back. This definitely wasn’t a great idea.
He helped her into the back seat, taking a deep calming breath before he entered in behind her. With her perfume clouding his senses, Levi was damn near drugged sitting next to her.
“You look amazing,” he told her softly.
A head tilt and a small smile was her answer to that. Could they get through this evening without fighting? The wall around her mind slowly dropped as they rode in companionable silence. It filled Levi with relief.
‘Your shield is down.’ He probed at her mind slowly, bracing for her rejection.
‘Since I don’t know where we’re going, I need all my senses,’ she told him wryly.
He sensed that she was hiding the full truth from him, but with his first touch of her mind in days, he would take what he could. Carefully, so as to not make her defensive, he filtered through her thoughts. There was no fear in her, just a quiet curiosity that gave him hope.
Amaya turned a surprised look to him when she took in their location.
“Business meeting?”
“I conduct business all over this city, baby doll,” he told her as he exited the car.
He reached in to help her, his thumb caressing the skin of her wrist. She was so goddamned beautiful.
Sebastian, Lucas, and two of his other enforcers surrounded them as they turned towards the club entrance.
There was a line wrapped around the building and murmurs started the moment he stepped from the car.
Securing dark shades over his eyes, he ignored them, playing the part that he’d willingly signed up for.
Levi stood out so that his men could stay in the shadows.
While all the attention was on him, King of the Bayi, his men could do the work of making sure his vampires were always at the top of the food chain.
There were times when it aggravated him.
Like now, when he had to make an appearance for the sake of being seen.
Camera flashes were going off with photographers were yelling his name for attention, and he ignored it all as part of his role.
With his hand on Amaya’s back, he guided them into the club.
Levi would’ve skipped this shit altogether, but the young vampire had been requesting to meet with him for months.
He hoped having Amaya at his side would keep him calm.
But with the way his mate’s mouth was set up, he prayed he made it through the whole meeting without they themselves fighting.
At his side, she looked and smelled like a million bucks, and it was taking everything within him to keep his hands up at her waist. He had a feeling that Amaya would cuss him clean the fuck out if he touched her in the way he wanted to.
Still, he couldn’t resist sliding a possessive hand down her ass. There were entirely too many motherfuckers looking at her. She gave him a warning look.
“Sorry, baby doll, but you look downright edible in this shit.”
A small hum was her answer. Sebastian led them through the building and Levi actively blocked out the lust floating in the air.
The club Bas owned was a popular place for vampires to find feeders.
He himself had been a regular. For the most part, he preferred to feed in privacy, but there were times where the thrill of being in public appealed to him.
They skirted the dancing couples on the way to the back room.
He noted the way Amaya’s eyes darted around the place, taking in everything.
“If you’d like, we can stay after our meeting.”
She shook her head and shuddered. “No sense in tempting fate,” she said under her breath, though he’d heard her.
He suppressed his smile. That was a good sign. Was she becoming more amenable to the thought of them together? Time would tell. As they reached the back, a waitress from VIP came over to greet them.
“King Levi. Will you be at your usual booth?”
“Nah, love. We got business to handle.” Levi returned her smile.
“If you change your mind, I can make sure I serve you tonight.” The female’s smile was wide, her eyes filled with lust.
Amaya’s irritation was instant and traveled down their tentative bond. ‘Send that skinny bitch on before you piss me off. She looks like she wants to follow us home.’
‘Home, babydoll? I like the sound of that,’ he taunted his little witch.
She growled and gave him a glare that did the opposite of what she thought it would. He wanted to cancel this whole meeting and find out what else her mouth could do. That must have slipped down their link because her look darkened.
‘Not even in your dreams.’
The rough sound of his laugh escaped him as he dismissed the hostess. Was it bad that he was starting to love sparring with his baby doll?
He wiped his face clear as Bas and Lucas entered the room before him.
The meeting was with a young coven leader and he and Sebastian had debated for a few hours whether or not it was safe to meet with them.
Not that either of them had fear about the meeting.
Levi didn’t want it to seem as though he was accessible to just any fucking body.
In the end, after checking into the youngblood’s background, curiosity had won out.
It only took moments before Lucas waved him in.
“On your toes, baby doll,” Levi murmured to Amaya.
She nodded and gripped his hand as they entered. The male stood at their entrance.
It was the same young Bayi that Levi had seen earlier in his rise to power. The male nodded at him in greeting. Bas and Lucas spread their men out and gave the okay for Levi and Amaya to sit.
“Your Highness,” the male started, and Levi hid his surprise.
The last time he’d seen this male, the kid had threatened to kill him because Levi had killed his father.
He’d found out that the older vampire was selling out his fellow Bayi to the Buru in the area and that shit wouldn’t fly with him.
Levi had been methodical in his takeover of Georgia and the small town had been hours away from Black Hollow.
Really no consequence to Levi, but allowing the Buru even the smallest foothold would be detrimental to them all.
Levi had refused to fight the young vampire at the time, instead instructing the kid to come find him when he was old enough and still wanted revenge.
“Deonte, right? Why have you requested a meeting with me?” Levi didn’t bother with small talk.
The kid studied him. “When you came through our town two decades ago, I promised to kill you.”
Levi smirked and that lurking beast within him sat up. “Have you come to make good on your promise?”
“I came to make a deal with you,” Deonte said.
The vampire next to the kid scoffed; he looked even younger than Deonte. That was when Levi remembered that he’d damn near wiped their coven out, rooting out the disloyalty from the top down.
“We got a problem?” Levi released Amaya’s hands, wanting the freedom to move as needed.
“We shouldn’t be trying to eat with someone who killed our last coven master,” the young vampire snapped.
“Hale, man…” Deonte tried defusing the situation.
“You feeling some type of way about that, huh?”
“Aye, fuck you, man.”
That set him off and before the kid could say another word, Levi rounded the table between them and slit his throat.
The vampire fell back in his chair, hitting the ground with a hard thud as he held a hand to his neck.
Bas and Lucas both pulled their weapons, aiming it at Deonte while his other guards aimed theirs at the others in the room.
The tension in the space skyrocketed, power and magic suffocating the occupants.
Levi licked the blood from his fingers and spat at the kid’s feet. “I know twenty years is not long enough for you to forget who the fuck I am.”
The smallest spark would set fire to the room and he could give less than a shit. His thoughts were clouded with bloodlust, daring the male to stand up so he could really beat his ass. Before shit really got jumping, Amaya cleared her throat and a breeze went through the room.
All at once, the tension dissipated and the males on both sides lowered their weapons. A shudder went through Levi as his murderous thoughts folded in on themselves, leaving him clearheaded. Not that he regretted what he’d done.
Levi gave Amaya a startled look. She had calmed the whole room and hadn’t so much as moved in her chair.
Bas glanced at him and Levi already knew what his best friend would say once they were alone.
The amount of power it took to control the emotions in a room full with vampires…
yeah, Amaya was sitting on a shit ton of magic.
The question was: did she know it? And what would they do if she decided to use that power against them?
The small glimpses he’d seen of her mind told him that she was ignorant of the full scope of her power. For now, that was enough to reassure him that they were safe.
He walked back around to his side of the table and took a deep breath as Deonte helped his friend up. The skin of Hale’s neck was actively knitting back together and the earlier angry look on his face was tempered with fear.
Exactly as it should be.
The kid would need blood, but that didn’t have shit to do with Levi. He would be lucky if Levi didn’t kick him out of the club so he couldn’t feed right away. Amaya offered him a wipe from her purse and he used it to clean his fingers, directing his attention back to Deonte.
“Why you here to see me?”
“I was left to pick up the pieces of our coven when you left town.” He held up his hand.
“This is not criticizing you. Once the dust settled, I understood that the shit my father was doing was not best for us. Now I’m in a place where I’m responsible for a coven, and I’m trying to make sure we prosper. ”
Levi nodded for him to continue.
“Your trucks move through our city undetected, and I want to add our weapons to them.”
“I talk in numbers, youngblood.”
Now that the room was calmer, Levi focused on the conversation, though that bloodlust was still churning within him.
He grabbed Amaya’s hand under the table, and she gave him a curious side-eye but didn’t remove her hand from his.
With her touch, he was able to get through the rest of the meeting with no incident.
“You sure you don’t want to stay and dance?” Levi asked Amaya as they were headed back to the truck.
She glanced at the dance floor and bit her bottom lip. Her eyes widened and she whipped her gaze back forward. “That’s not a good idea,” she said softly.
That’s what her mouth said, but he clocked the way her eyes scanned the club in interest. He reached out to Bas.
‘We’re staying for a few,’ he warned his friend.
Bas shot him a surprised look but nodded, leading their party upstairs to the VIP area. ‘You sure this is a good idea?’
‘Nope.’
Bas chuckled but left him and Amaya in the area to guard the front.
“Levi,” Amaya sighed.
“Quit stressing, baby doll. Consider it a chance to get out and get some air.”
She eyed him suspiciously, but then nodded, conceding to his point. Levi hid his smile. This was the perfect setting to see how far he could push his mate.