Captivated (Deep in Your Veins 6)

Ursula turned wide eyes my way. “Help me,” she pled, forcing her voice to shake.

I bit back a snort. I wasn’t buying her act. She might be wary of Paige, but she wasn’t terrified for the simple reason that she knew Paige wouldn’t go too far.

“Oh, I don’t think she wants to stay with me, Max.” Paige shook her head sadly. “She’s waiting for you to come rescue her. That’s what princes do. You clearly want to be hers, so don the shining armour and get moving.”

I had no interest in being anything to Ursula, let alone her damn prince. Paige was utterly mistaken if she thought I was protective of the other female. The only woman in this room I was protective of was Paige. And not just because she was a member of the legion.

I’d wanted Paige West since the moment I first laid eyes on her. Wanted to explore that tall, slender body. Wanted to taste that fleshy mouth. Wanted to see those blazing green eyes glaze over as she came. Wanted to know how her coconut-and-cream scent would smell when spiced with arousal.

I’d had far too many fantasies about her. About stripping her, touching her, burying myself balls deep inside her. She had fucking great hair—thick, sleek, wavy, with streaks of purple running through it. I’d imagined bunching that dark mass in my hands while she sucked me off.

I hadn’t once acted on what I wanted, though. It wouldn’t have been fair to her. She was the last person in the world who should have to deal with my personal baggage. I owed her more than I could ever repay, though I doubted she’d see it that way.

Paige hadn’t hidden that the attraction was mutual. She wasn’t afraid to approach a guy she liked. And since I’d doubted I’d have the will to turn down any move she made, I’d allowed her to think she didn’t hold any interest for me. I’d done my best to ensure she’d see no point in making any such move. It had worked. But it had also caused her to have little time or patience for me, which I hated.

I also hated that the longer I fought her pull, the harder it had gotten to keep my hands off her. It was just as hard seeing her with other men. I couldn’t even stand seeing her drink from human donors. Jealousy had near blinded me when I saw her feed from a drunken male human earlier.

I’d spent most of the night watching her. It was hard not to. That goddamn sexy little dress wasn’t helping matters. It was black and sleeveless and tight, and I wanted nothing more than to see it hiked up around her waist while I took her. Those heels could stay on—

“Max,” whined Ursula. “Do something.”

“Yeah, Max, do something,” urged Paige.

I sighed, my shoulders lowering, because the steely glint in Paige’s eyes told me she was not going to back down. “We’ll duel, if that’s what you want. But put her out of the room first.” There was no way I was going to try wrestling Ursula from Paige’s grip. Mostly because it was near impossible to make Paige release anything she wanted to keep—something that had quickly become apparent during training sessions.

Paige licked the front of her teeth. “If I shove her out, I won’t be gentle about it,” she warned.

Given how Ursula had acted … “I wouldn’t expect you to be.”

Surprise flickered in Paige’s eyes.

Ursula gaped at me, her fake fear quickly replaced by anger. “You bastard. I can’t believe you—” She gurgled as Paige dragged her toward the door while humming a tune.

Paige roughly shoved her out of the restroom, locked the door, and turned to face me.

“Is there any chance you’ll drop this so we can go back to the party?” I asked.

She kicked off her shoes and planted her feet, every inch of her battle-ready.

Hell. “I’ll take that as a no.”

“We don’t use our gifts.”

I inclined my head, planning to disable her as fast as possible. Because I did not want to have a full-on duel with her. I certainly wasn’t going to go at her full-throttle, but I doubted she was planning to return that favour. I couldn’t blame her. “Well, who’s—”

She exploded into action, all fists and feet and elbows. I blocked and ducked and sidestepped. Still, she landed a fair amount of blows, and they all hurt like a son of a bitch.

I’d fought an endless number of opponents. I knew to study their technique so I could predict and counter their moves. There were only two things that Paige was ever guaranteed to do during each fight. One, she never telegraphed her intentions. Two, she never set a pattern. Both of which made it hard to pre-empt and block her.