Roman (The Clutch 1)

“You will figure it out. And you will get it fucking handled. Do you understand me? This is not a request any longer. It is a demand, and you will obey me.” The venom flowing from me is potent, and watching her tremble pleases me. I’m furious she allowed this to happen, and if it were three hundred years ago, I’d rip her throat out, feed on her and leave her drained corpse as a lesson to the others.

“I understand,” she whispers.

“I will be back. Get this taken care of.” I need to feed, now. My anger is overwhelming, and my thirst needs to be satiated immediately. I storm from the office, slamming the glass door behind me, which shatters.

I head to Clutch on foot, not even attempting to calm my anger. She had one fucking job, and in typical lazy human fashion, she has failed me. It’s a long walk to the bar, but it gives me time to think of a new plan. It’s time for Mr. Weston to have a one on one with yours truly. I’ll put another bid in, that’s fine I have the money, but I’m done fucking around with human bureaucracy. I don’t want to lose Fiona, so I need to calculate how this will go down, and I’ll do that after I feed.

Storming past Corban, I go directly to Selene with impatience.

“I need to feed. Now.”

Crossing her arms petulantly at me, she grins. “Oh, Fiona out of fuel?”

“Not now, Selene. Get me someone.”

Realizing that I’m not interested in our usual banter, she comes out from behind the bar and stands next to me. “You know how this works, go pick one. They’re all ready and willing participants, Roman,” she whispers, gesturing around the room at the primarily female humans all anxiously awaiting a bite.

“Not a woman. It needs to be a human man.”

“Interesting choice, Roman. You switching teams now?” She smirks at me playfully.

“Enough!” I hiss at her. “I made a promise to Fiona I would not feed on another woman. Find me a man. Now!” I demand again.

Rolling her eyes at my attitude, sh

e huffs. “Fine. Go in the back. Room four. I’ll send someone back to you in a minute. Lose the attitude while you’re back there.”

I don’t respond and storm to the back where feeding rooms are lined up in what’s almost a mini hotel hallway. Each room has a bed, a couch, and a first aid kit in case things get out of hand. I want to bite, my anger bringing out my animal needs.

A knock at the door grabs my attention. “Enter,” I say.

The door opens toward me, and standing before me is a young man, no more than twenty-five. Well dressed and handsome, he has innocence in his eyes as if he’s not done this before. Setting my concerns aside, my eyes scan to his neck and see his jugular pulsing.

“I’m Nicolai. I’m here to feed you,” he says, no reservation in his voice. Still standing in the doorway, he must be waiting for me to say something.

“Come here,” I growl, exposing my fangs. “Shut the door behind you and lock it.”

28

Fiona

I haven’t seen Leslie since she found out about Roman and me, but I called her anyway to join Lana and me for a bit of retail therapy. Of course, I’ve gotten in the habit of keeping my fang marks hidden, at least from the public. Roman doesn’t know about the cream I bought, and I’m trying to keep it that way because I don’t want him to think I’m ashamed. I’m not. I’m scared of what my father might do if he finds out I’m still seeing Roman.

Lana squeals when she sees me. We hug in the middle of the store, much to the annoyance of the clerk, who is huffing as she walks by. Mentally, I flip her off. Between Lana and I, we’re about to spend a boatload of money in here, which will probably give the clerk a nice commission check.

“I’m so happy you called, I have news.”

“You’re pregnant,” I say, jokingly. Unless Lana has ditched her vampire trainer boyfriend, there’s no way she could be pregnant, right? The thought makes me go still. Roman and I don’t use protection, and I’m assuming he’s sterile because technically he’s dead and… my hand presses against my abdomen as I silently tick off the days since my last period. “Oh, God."

Lana shakes her head. “I’m not, are you?”

I look at her and see nothing but horror stretched across her face. I cover my mouth, and we quickly exit the store and rush through the casino to the elevators. Lana presses the button repeatedly as if doing so will make the lift move faster. My stomach’s queasy and my legs are quivering. I hate this feeling except for when Roman is the one making them shake uncontrollably due to the orgasm he’s given me. What if…? No, I can’t think like that.

Lana and I step into the elevator. She holds my hand, trying to reassure me, but it’s not working. “You haven’t used condoms, huh?” she asks as soon as the last person steps off.

I shake my head. “I didn’t think we had to.”

Lana sighs. “I’ve heard of women carrying half vampire babies. Some die in childbirth.”