Possession (The Mate Games 3)

My low laugh escaped before I could stop it. “Uncomfortable? Those trousers do seem a bit tight.”

“Leather isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. The chafing.” He made a face and tugged at the crotch of his pants again. “And my piercings keep catching on the laces.”

“Sounds like a personal problem.”

“Fuck you, you’re the one who asked.”

As fun as it was to poke at him, I had frost forming on my eyelashes as we stood there. Before long, I’d be of no use to Sunday until I thawed. “Get to talking, wolf. I’m freezing my bollocks off out here.”

“Okay, listen.” He lowered his voice and leaned in closer. “Alek clearly had someone messing around with his head.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t act stupid. You were in there with me. The guy didn’t even recognize her. I don’t think these people can be trusted.”

“You think they did it?” My gut turned to a cold pit at his observation. So much about this didn’t track. Tor showing up, Alek’s indifference, the great bloody warrior taking us into custody.

“Yes. They wiped his brain, scrambled him up, and locked him into a life he doesn’t want. Then, to make matters worse, they sent Tor to replace him. The fucker already broke, but he was prepared to pretend to be Alek for the long haul. That doesn’t screamtrustworthyto me.”

“What do you suggest we do about it? We’re sitting ducks here. We don’t even have clothes, let alone a way to fight back.”

“We need to find that gateway and get our asses home. The longer we stay here, the worse off I think we’ll be. This place is no good for Sunday. She barely got through a couple hours. What’s she going to be like after a few days of that mind fuckery?”

As someone who had firsthand experience being parted from her, able to see her but not be with her, I knew it wouldn’t be pretty. And she hadn’t forgotten me when we’d been separated. But the thought of her looking straight through me, the way Alek had her, sent a chill seeping into my bones that had nothing to do with the weather.

I opened my mouth, but a scream from inside the room had us both bolting back inside. Each of us rushed to the bed.

“Sunshine!”

“What’s wrong, dove?”

Sunday thrashed on the mattress, her hair a tangled mess around her shoulders as she battled whatever demons haunted her dreams.

“Hold her. Don’t let her fall.”

Kingston shot me a glare. “What the fuck do you think I’m doing? She’s strong.”

I cupped her face between my hands and pressed my forehead to hers. “Open your eyes, dove. I’m here. We’re here. We have you.”

Her eyes flew open, pupils blown, as she wildly searched the room. It was like she didn’t even see us at first. Not until after she blinked a few times and bolted upright.

“Noah? Kingston?”

“That’s right, sweetheart, we’re right here. We won’t let anything happen to you.” I brushed my lips over her damp forehead, pulling her to a kneeling position so I could wrap my arms around her and cuddle her close.

“It was just a dream, baby,” Kingston said from the position he’d taken behind her.

“God, it felt so real.” Her voice wobbled as Kingston pressed his mouth to the mark at her throat.

“Let us make it go away. Let us love you.” He slipped his arms around her waist as I threaded my fingers in her hair and held her gaze.

“Yes,” she whispered against my lips. “Make it all go away.”

She reached back, lifting her arm to curl around Kingston’s neck and hold him in place as she kissed me.

We were ready to give her what she needed. I was desperate for it if I was being honest. It had been too long since we’d been like this. My fangs descended, another type of hunger rearing its head, and I groaned.

“Take what you want, Noah. I don’t mind.”

Fucking hell, I didn’t have the control I needed after such an ordeal. I gave in and sank my fangs into her throat, the blood I craved more than any other hitting my tongue in a burst of flavor unlike anything I’d ever known.

Knuckles brushed against the silk of my robe, running up my torso and making me shiver. It took me a second to place the sensation as Kingston moving his hands to cup Sunday’s breasts. As I fed, a frenzy started to build. She tasted fucking amazing. The same, but enhanced somehow. The flavor bolder. More enticing. Every pull of blood sent me spiraling deeper.

“Thorne, stop. You’re taking too much.” Kingston’s low warning hit my ears at the same time Sunday cried out in pain, her fingers digging into my shoulder, pushing me away.

She whimpered as I tore my fangs from her neck, panting. “Fuck, Sunday. Are you all right?”

Before she could answer, the door splintered inward, a hulking beast of a man looming in the opening, his eyes black as pitch, muscles bulging and death in his stare.

Kingston stiffened and made eye contact with me. “Oh, shit.”