Freak Show (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #7)(51)

I clung to Arys, my senses on overload. All I could see, feel, smell and taste was him. The sound of his satisfied groans drove my own desire higher.

“Growl for me, Alexa,” he murmured. The force behind his thrust grew aggressive as he guided me to the edge of bliss. “I need to hear you.”

My moans became cries. With clawed fingertips, I scratched bloody grooves into Arys’s well-muscled back. Climax shook me. Spasms within me held Arys deep, bringing him over the edge in a harmonious sharing of ecstasy. My cries turned to growls, and I nipped at his neck and shoulders. Oh how I ached for this man.

Once wasn’t enough for Arys. After leaving the shower and toweling off, he lifted me onto the bathroom counter and resumed his claiming of my body. The counter was the perfect height, allowing him to step between my legs. I was still ready for him, hungry for the joy and completion only he could give me.

The rush of soaring power grew dizzying with Arys buried inside me. A potent, writhing force, it caused the lights to flicker, and elsewhere in the suite, I felt Jenner react to what we called.

I dragged my hands down Arys’s chest, reveling in the heady masculine feel of him. His fingers entangled in my hair, his lips on my neck. Being with him took me to places I’d never dreamed of. Our connection went far beyond the physical. It had taken some time to adjust to having him be part of me. Perhaps I never fully would. I could definitely never say it was boring.

When at last we were spent, I rested my head against his chest for several long, blessedly silent minutes. I took that precious time to memorize again how he felt. I was afraid that one day a memory would be all I had.

* * * *

“So they were going to kill you just because you wanted out?” Jez’s eyes were wide despite the yawn she stifled. “Damn. And I thought vampires were bad on their own. They sound pretty f**king scary in an organized group.”

Jenner paused in his impatient pacing around the living room. “They were going to kill me because I didn’t secure their supply first. I’m welcome to leave but not without finding someone to take my place. I meant to. I got caught up in giving the club a makeover. Besides, it wouldn’t have been my problem if Harley were still alive.”

His pale-blue gaze swung to me. It was hard to read. Accusation lurked in those depths, but so did something else. Something I’d only seen in the eyes of one other person; Kale’s gorgeous eyes exuded that same dark infatuation when he looked at me. I had claimed Jenner as mine with my blood and power. In the moment, it had felt right, necessary even. Too late now for regrets. I hated what I’d done to Kale, but Jenner, he’d had it coming.

“Well Harley’s dead, and I’m not sorry about it,” I snapped, tired and irritable. “So I suggest you get over it and focus on the here and now, so you don’t end up the same way.”

It was early morning, still well before noon. Sleep was calling me. Arys and Jenner had retold the tale of their evening. We were discussing our plans for the following night.

I curled up on Arys’s lap, wrapped in a hotel bathrobe. Jez wore the same, her hair tied atop her head. She too wore the signs of fatigue. Jenner was a restless mess, unable to sit still. He appeared uncomfortable in the borrowed clothes he wore, clearly out of his element here with us.

“Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m the only one whose head is on the chopping block,” Jenner warned. “At least if I go out, it’ll be fast. Can’t say the same for you.”

Amusement played about his face, his lips twisting as he hid a smirk. I pinned Arys with a look. “What the hell is he talking about?”

Arys glowered at Jenner. “Linden has plans for you. Plans he enjoyed telling me about in great detail while his guys were staking me down in the desert.” Arys glanced away, as if he couldn’t stand to think about it. “There’s no way I can convince you to stay here while I go for Shaz, is there?”

“I’m not staying here,” I insisted with a shake of my head. “Tell me what Linden said.”

The vampires exchanged a look. Jenner wore a haughty expression.

Arys shrugged. “He said that he has special plans for Harley’s killers. If he gets his chance, he’ll bleed you, torture you, pass you around. But he won’t kill you. Even if you beg him to.” Arys rubbed his forehead and swore. “I don’t want to think about it. It’s not going to happen.”

“Holy shit, that’s screwed up,” Jez muttered. “I can’t believe those f**kers almost had me. I’m damn glad I never killed Harley.”

I bit my lower lip, an anxious habit I’d had since childhood. “Is that what he’s doing to Shaz right now?”

I looked from one vampire to the other. Jenner resumed his slow pace around the living room, avoiding my eyes. Arys let me see the truth. There was no hiding what he really felt from me.

“Alexa,” he said, taking my hand. “I’m so sorry. I wish I was able to get him out of there. We were outnumbered in every way. I called on all the power I safely could without drawing on you. There were just too many of them.”

Jez visibly paled. “Who the hell are these guys?”

“I think we can take them, together,” Arys declared, his eyes flashing with determination. “We’re stronger together. Still, we may need to up the ante, bring in more firepower.”