Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Xander
From nearly dying in the forest at the hands of the creature meant to kill my mate, to loving him—body, heart, and soul—and now having my colony beside me like no time has passed at all… my entire world feels unrecognizable.
Church is already pumping with energy as we pull into the car park. With the day slowly growing old, it’s normal for a place like this to always be alive no matter the time.
Harlan waves and bounces on his toes as if he has ants in his pants, while Ambrose picks at his fingernails, looking rather bored and grumpy.
“What took you so long?” Ambrose asks, while Harlan yells at us to hurry up.
I help Noah down from my bike and clip our helmets to the handlebars. Taking his hand in mine, we walk together with Cassius following closely behind.
In all these years he’s always the one to stray behind. Whether it’s pack mentality or not, everyone in the colony has silently agreed he’s our leader. It helps in part that he's practically indestructible.
“Aww,” Harlan coos at us, “Don’t you two just look adorable with your matching jackets.”
Noah giggles and squeezes my hand tighter. “Ready for some fun?”
Am I? Ideally, I'd rather have my mate sealed away ten miles underground with a 24/7 watch crew and zero bathroom breaks.
Cassius has our backs. Harlan and Ambrose hold the flanks. And somewhere beyond the trees, Milo patrols the boundary. With my colony surrounding us, Noah is exactly where he belongs—safe. With us.
“Let’s make this quick. We don’t need to spend any longer here than necessary,” Ambrose grumbles as we step under the red neon sign and slink into the dark entrance. The bass of the upstairs level is pumping, but there are only a handful of patrons swaying on the dance floor.
We aren’t here for the top floor. Not tonight, at least. I nearly grin as my imagination draws Noah’s surprised face when he finally sees what sits below the more… vanilla level.
Instead of walking straight ahead towards the bar, Harlan makes a sharp turn and pulls aside the black curtain, revealing a steep staircase lined with red torches that flicker at the walls. He looks up at us and smirks before speeding away into the darkness.
We follow Ambrose, and the music changes from a techno, high-energy tune to a more sensual melody that vibrates through my chest.
The air thickens with lust and mixed scents, and for a moment, my head spins as I adjust to the bombarding smells.
“Is this the same club?” Noah whispers. His hand tightens in mine, and a waft of anxiety flows from him.
Cassius sidesteps us and slinks into the darkness, leaving me and my mate alone on the stairs.
“Are you okay, sweetheart? We don’t have to go any further; we can go straight home,” I reply.
It’s true I couldn't care less about this club, but it is reassuring to be deeper into town where there’s an extra layer of protection from the Soultracker.
Noah nods, yet his heart is beating a million miles a minute. “I’ve just… never been to a kink club before.”
I smile at that. “We don’t have to do anything, little mate. The others are really only here for blood. We can just have a drink and try to relax.”
Noah’s shoulders drop, and he nods before taking to the stairs, leading me deeper into the darkness.
Pulling aside the curtain at the bottom platform has Noah gasping. It’s a sight not many people get to witness. Especially humans who are so new to this world. Beyond our quiet corner on the stairs, the club is alive.
From flickering strobe lights, red LEDs outlining the walls and more couches and cushions to count, the entire lower level is open for all kinds of beings to relinquish their frets and lean into their desires.
Witches with their peaked hats wander in clusters while shadow folk sit in dark corners, drinking in the gloom. I can spot a few other vamps from neighboring colonies, yet they keep to themselves.
But what catches everyone's attention is the growing mass of sensually dancing bodies on the dance floor at the center of the room.
With a mix of witches, shifters, werewolves, and other kinds of folk, their scents are like a punch to the face.
Yet for everyone else, including my own colony, who have now infiltrated the group, their smells and sounds are as enticing as catnip.
“Want a drink, sweetheart?” I ask, unable to hide my smirk as Noah stares at the club like he’s forgotten how to breathe. He can’t even manage a response as a large wolf with grey fur passes us.
“W-Wolf,” Noah stutters. His eyes don't leave the animal even as it shifts, its fur falling into dust as it molds into a man. A very naked man.
I clasp Noah’s hand and pull him towards the bar while fighting a growl from exploding in my chest.
I don’t mind Noah looking—hell, curiosity is stitched into his bones. But if he gets the chance, I know he’ll have the werewolf pinned down with question after question. And likely give the man the wrong impression. I’m not in the mood to fend off a pack of pissed-off wolves tonight.
I order us two cocktails and pull Noah against my side. “Do you see Harlan?”
Noah’s gaze reaches where Harlan sways his hips against a large werewolf. He smiles cunningly up at the man who’s practically drooling with lust.
Vampires and werewolves go back many millennia.
It was a time of great anguish when werewolves suffered terminal shifts.
Their human bodies couldn’t take the change, and many died.
Vampires aided the wolves with their eternal blood in return for an everlasting alliance.
But it still doesn’t mean we actively seek each other out.
We both watch in silence as Harlan’s eyes turn pitch black and he speaks a single word that Noah can’t hear, but I can.
“Relinquish.”
The werewolf slowly grows sluggish in his movements, his eyes glaze over, and his shoulders loosen. Under the flicker of strobe lights, Harlan’s fangs drop from his gums. Sharp like scalpels and as long as vipers’, they nearly scrape his lower lip despite his jaw being fully extended.
Noah hisses and flinches as Harlan twists in the werewolf’s grasp and sinks his fangs into the man's chest, through the shirt and all. The results are immediate as a plume of the werewolf’s lust explodes through the room and sets off a frenzy as each vampire targets their next meal.
More and more heat and sex charges the air, and my own gums ache as my fangs beg to descend. “Harlan can compel anyone to do anything he likes.”
Noah watches my colony as they feed, his lower lip stuck between his teeth.
“Ambrose can take other’s pain for them.” I nip at Noah’s ear, enjoying the way he gasps at the sudden burst of hurt. “And Cassius is nearly indestructible. He can harden his body to become stronger than diamond.”
I watch as my mate takes in the new knowledge of my colony's quirks and abilities. He shifts against me as he adjusts himself in his trousers. I smirk.
Our drinks arrive, and both Noah and I throw back a large gulp. But it does nothing to quench my thirst.
“Is it hot in here?” Noah flutters his jacket, and a sheen of sweat blooms across his temples.
“Possibly.” I grasp his waist and bend down to kiss his neck. “Let’s find a dark and mysterious corner to do devious and forbidden things, little mate.”
Noah shivers as his own spicy scent envelopes me and I groan. Pulling his hips into mine, I grind my hardening length against his backside and enjoy the way my mate's scent thickens in response.
“Lead the way, Sir,” Noah purrs up at me and I think for a moment my heart might have skipped a beat.
Sir.
I don’t think even death could wipe this memory from my soul.
Noah tips his head back, looking up at me through thick lashes, and when his tongue slips out to wet his shining lips, every possessive instinct inside me roars to the surface.
I want to mark him right here, in front of everyone.
To leave a bite so deep that everyone within a 100-mile vicinity knows, Noah is mine.
I clasp Noah’s hand in mine and slink into the darkest corner of the club, only for Noah to halt behind me.
“I want them to see.” His pale cheeks glow pink. “That I’m yours.”
I groan and my cock thickens steadily until my balls grow their own heartbeat. This man will be the death of me, I swear.
Instead of fading into the darkness at the back of the club, I instead find a well-lit booth and slide into the velvety, plush cushions. I throw back the last of my cocktail, and so does Noah as he crawls over my lap and straddles me.
His own small length rubs against my stomach as he grinds his hips with the sensual beat of the music.
Closing his eyes, Noah throws his head back, exposing his gorgeous throat to me, and I salivate. My hands have a mind of their own as they traverse up his spine, feeling the movements of his muscles tensing beneath his skin as he sways and rocks.
“You’re a delight, little mate,” I murmur as I trail kisses across his Adam's apple and along his jaw.
Noah’s fingers thread through my hair, drawing me closer against him as I nudge my nose into the area behind his ear and suck in a deep lungful of his scent. It overpowers the mixed smells of the club and forces my brain to zero in on my mate who writhes in my arms.
“They’re watching,” Noah giggles.
I can feel their gaze on us as I catch Ambrose’s pale hair in my peripheral vision. Of course they’re watching. I’m the first in the colony to be mated, why wouldn’t they all be slightly intrigued by the scene that unfolds before them?
“Kiss me,” Noah pleads, grinding hard against me and drawing a gasp from my lips.
I devour him. Our lips clash, tongues fight, and teeth knock, but it’s all I could ever want from Noah.
He holds onto me like I’m the one in control, but every look, every sound, every shiver he gives me pulls tighter at the strings wrapped around my chest until I’m the one dancing for him. I’d do anything for my sweet mate.