Mate With Me

was left of the night, when a hand came out of nowhere and slammed the door shut again

Before he knew what hit him, he was pushed against the door, a hard, putrid smelling body pressing against his back. “What the fuck do you want?” he ground out, anger overriding fear as he struggled against his assailant’s hold. He had lived in New Orleans his whole life, spent some of it on the streets, and this wasn’t the first time he had been caught unaware.

“Where is she?” the rogue ground out, his desperation to find the mate that had escaped their ambush last night and return to his mistress in triumph making him impatient. He had waited all night for the redheaded woman to leave the bar, and when he realized dawn was less than an hour away, had been planning on taking her inside regardless of any witnesses. His mistress would forgive him for breaking her number one rule of never leaving a witness alive if he returned with the woman, and he didn’t have the time to kill a room full of people, no matter how much that idea appealed to him. As luck would have it, this one came out just in time to give him the information he needed.

“You want to talk to me, do it face to face,” Bobby managed to get out despite having his face smashed up against the door. He could feel blood dripping from his nose and his cheek swelling.

The rogue spun him around and grinned, making sure the puny human got a good look at his fangs which he knew were stained red from his recent feeding and kill that had him pumped up, ready and willing to dish out the same fate to this one. “Last chance. Tell me where she is and I’ll let you live,” he lied.

Bobby blinked rapidly at the creature before him, ice-cold terror knotting his gut as he started to shake. He was close enough to believe that those sharp, pointed fangs were real, close enough to see the eerie red glow in the deranged being’s eyes even in the dim light of the alley and smart enough to be afraid, not only for himself, but for Caitlin. Trying to remain calm despite his terror, he managed to slip his right hand behind him and grab the butt of his small pistol, the one thing he never left home without. “I don’t know who you’re talking about,” he managed to say around his fear-clogged throat as he brought the gun slowly up.

“Nice try, but I don’t have time to play games.” The rogue grabbed the man’s black hair and wrenched his head sideways, exposing his vulnerable neck and the enticing pulse he couldn’t resist. Lowering his head, he had just taken his first sip when a loud report followed by the eruption of fiery pain in his abdomen had him drawing back with a bloody snarl of rage. “You dare?”

The pain of the vampire’s bite was quickly forgotten as Bobby found himself flung to the ground with bone jarring force seconds before the face of death was on top of him, those fangs lowering once again, sealing his fate. As he felt his neck being viciously torn open, he managed to offer up a quick prayer for Caitlin’s safety before allowing himself to succumb to the black, numbing void waiting for him.

Caitlin found herself held comfortingly in Jon’s arms before the last spasms of her climax had dwindled and would have happily remained there a few moments longer if the distinct sound of a gunshot didn’t make her jump, at first in startlement then in mind-numbing terror. “Bobby,” she whispered shakily, then on a louder screech, “Bobby!”

Luc grabbed her before she could dash out unheeded. “Don’t you fucking move from this room.” He gave her a small shake, adding sternly, “Understand me, Caitlin? Don’t move. We’ll take care of him.”

Caitlin didn’t argue, just nodded her head, watched them shimmer out of sight then quickly pulled up her jeans and made a mad dash out of her apartment and down the stairs, fear for her best friend making her race in blinding panic to his defense, not willing to leave his fate solely up to Jon and Luc.

She burst out into the alley in time to see both of them fighting one rogue who looked vaguely familiar. As she rushed to where Bobby lay crumbled on the ground, she remembered him from last night, the one who had disappeared when Jon, Luc and Jacob had arrived. Dropping to her knees, a pit of hopelessness opened in her stomach as she quickly pressed her hands against the horrendous wound gushing from Bobby’s torn neck. Sobbing, she pleaded desperately, over and over, “Please, please, God, please.”

She looked up from her blood soaked hands to see Jon holding the rogue in a choke hold from behind as Luc drove his blade through the bastard’s heart. They had retaliated with ruthless, merciless intensity, their attack short and brutal from the look of the rogue before he disintegrated into dust. No more than a few minutes had passed since they heard the sound of Bobby’s gun, but it had seemed like ages to Caitlin. As Jon and Luc approached, she lifted her tear streaked face and implored, “Help him, please. I’ll do anything, do whatever you say if you’ll just help him.”

Her voice was nothing but a broken whisper and it hurt Luc to see her face so ravaged by emotion. He had never wanted to see his feisty, independent mate meek and trembling, especially from such despair. His gaze took in the damage to her friend then he looked at Jon.

“We can try,” Jon said as he dropped down next to Caitlin, her sorrow and despair eating at him. “Caitlin, darlin’,” he cajoled as he lifted her hands away, “move back a little. Let us see if he’s even still alive.” Her soft cry made him want to kill that mother fucker all over again, only so he could make his demise even more excruciating.

Luc found a faint pulse then looked at Caitlin. “He’s alive, sweetheart, but to keep him that way won’t be easy or pleasant. We will have to force him to take our blood, something humans find distasteful.”

“I don’t care, just do it. Please.” There was so much blood and Bobby was so pale, lying still as death, that she was having trouble believing he still lived. It was her fault he was attacked, she’d be damned if she would turn away from whatever they had to do to save him because it might not be pleasant. She wouldn’t be that much of a coward.

Jon could tell by the stubborn set of her chin that it would be a waste of time arguing with her. Biting into his wrist, he forced Bobby’s lower jaw down and set his wrist against his open mouth as Luc worked to close the wound in his neck. Their healing powers were minimal, and worked best on those of their own kind. They had never attempted to heal a human, but he knew several of his brethren had small successes in healing members of their extended families from various injuries and ailments.

It seemed to take forever, but Caitlin remained riveted, her hand clutching Bobby’s tightly, waiting for a sign of life. Finally, after hearing the sound of Bobby gagging followed by his weak struggle to turn his head away from Jon’s wrist, she felt the tight vise clutching her heart ease. Tears of joy replaced her sobs of devastation, and when Luc relieved Jon and started forcing his blood down Bobby, who was now very reluctant to accept their sacrifice, she threw her arms around Jon, whispering, “Thank you, thank you,” over and over again.

“He needs to get to a hospital,” Luc stated irritably, wanting, no needing, to also give comfort to his grieving mate. “Dawn’s approaching too damn quickly. I’ve erased his memory and given him all I can.”

That dire warning had Caitlin releasing Jon, her worry now for both of them, especially when she saw how weak they looked. Swallowing her reluctance, she offered shakily, “Do you need me to...” Waving her bloodied hand toward her neck, she couldn’t bring herself to say the words out loud. It seemed like she had just come to terms with the existence of vampires, she hadn’t yet decided if she was going to take their relationship far enough to include them taking her blood. But Bobby’s attack didn’t give her the luxury of postponing this decision.

“I’ve got his wound closed up enough that it can pass for a knife jab,” Luc said curtly, angry that she would offer when it was obvious she didn’t want to take that step, at least not yet. He didn’t want her gratitude, he wanted her. He was just now realizing how much he wanted her. “Tell the medics you came upon him right after he was mugged.” Looking at Jon, he asked, “You good to get back home?”

Jon nodded, happier than his broth

er was that Caitlin had made her offer, but also wished it hadn’t been made under duress and a sense of guilt. He was confident she wanted them, he could wait to cement their relationship with that final step until she was surer of them and herself. “I’m good.” Squeezing her hand, wishing he had time to do more, he told her, “Damien and Jacob will see to our needs. We’ll see you this evening.”

They dissolved into mist just as the sun peaked on the horizon. Caitlin quickly called for an ambulance, eager now to see Bobby in a hospital where she knew he was going to heal and recover thanks to Jon and Luc.

Chapter Eighteen

Damien was up to something, something other than the meeting he had planned for next weekend with all of the brethren. Lying on a float, Abby shut her eyes against the blinding glare of the afternoon sun, wishing she could shut out the lingering pinpricks stabbing her skull as she soaked up the unseasonably warm day. Caitlin poured one hell of a margarita, she moaned silently as she idly trailed her hand in the cool water. If this kept up, summer this year was going to be sweltering hot, but that didn’t bother her. She loved the sultry heat of Louisiana, almost as much as she loved the wicked heat Damien was so good at igniting within her. Sometimes, all it took was a look from those midnight eyes to have her body threatening to combust, other times he liked to take his time tormenting her, keeping her teetering on the edge of climax for what seemed like hours until her need outdid his control and she combusted uncontrollably. Last night he had used her hairbrush to punish her for taking off without him, then refused to let her climax. Her ass was still sore today, deliciously so, making the orgasm denial still difficult to cope with.

Yet, for all the pleasure, and declarations of love, he hadn’t made that final commitment to her, and now he was planning a meeting she suspected had to do with confronting their nemesis, Isabelle, the vampire who was not only responsible for turning all of them, but was the one who was supposedly behind all the recent attacks targeted against the brethren’s mates. Other than admitting he had confronted her recently and confirmed his suspicions that Isabelle was out to end their existence one way or another, Damien hadn’t told her anything about what happened between them. She worried about the bleak resignation she had glimpsed on his face more than once when he was looking at her, wondering if he thought he wasn’t going to return to her from whatever attack they were going to discuss.

Damien did mention they would all gather together in the great room after their meeting and she recalled what Ava had told her went on when they all got together. If they were planning on attacking Isabelle that night, Abby would make sure she sent Damien into battle as strong as she could make him.

A big splash of cold water made Abby jerk upright with a startled squeal right before she was dumped off her float from the butt of Micah’s large head. Sputtering, she shoved her long wet hair out of her face and glared at the large feline who was swimming lazy circles around her. “I swear, Micah, one of these days I’m going to get even.” Swimming over to the steps, she wondered when she was going to learn to be more wary of the tiger’s playful streak. “Thanks for the warning.” She glared at Tasha who was sitting calmly at the top of the steps, an innocent look in her large gold eyes.