Only Vampires Cry Blood (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #3)(8)

My voice shook when I spoke. I was terrified of his reaction when I said, “He's the only one who knows enough to help me.”

The air crackled, and I jumped when Arys slammed his fist down on the counter. A drinking glass next to the sink practically flew into the air before smashing all over the floor. The sound was worse than the actual mess.

The sound of shattering glass flashed me back in time – to the day Raoul died, and my eyes automatically went to the glass patio doors off the kitchen. Arys himself had thrown me through the sliding glass doors. It hadn't been his intention. My injuries had been brutal, but I'd lived to tell the story. Lucky me.

“Fuck that!” He snapped. “There is no way that he's the only one. Whatever you're thinking, just stop. Don't tell me that you believe anything he said to you. Do you?”

I had to concentrate on taking deep breaths as I tried to shut out the effect his negative energy was having on me. It hurt, but it also encouraged my wolf to break free of the metaphysical overload. As I fought back the instinct to shift forms, I watched Arys'

eerie vampire eyes change.

The color grew to encompass the whites until he looked at me with eyes that were all wolf. Our bond had done that to him, given him a connection with my wolf, one that he could never be free of but also could never fulfill. Arys couldn’t shift forms. I had never seen him like this. Shaz had, once. This wasn't a good sign.

“Arys, you need to calm down.”

“And, you need to answer my question.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched, and I studied him, looking for any sign of the wolf overpowering him. He seemed to have himself under control other than that little outburst. His fists continuously clenched and unclenched at his sides. The storm of his emotions battered me, try as I might to shield myself from them.

“I believe what I saw. He was able to take the power from me and then laugh at my inexperience.” I closed my eyes in memory for just a moment, reliving the helpless feeling when Harley had me right where he wanted me, his fangs buried in my throat. “I thought I was dead that night. I almost was. Walking around like a loaded gun without a safety is going to get me killed.”

I may have been destined to rise as a vampire upon my death, but that didn't mean I had to be in a hurry. Werewolves live two to three times as long as humans do. I wanted to enjoy every moment. I had so much vampire in me already, and I was not ready for any more just yet.

When Arys turned away from me, breaking eye contact, my heart dropped. I could feel his stubborn resolve almost as keenly as if it had been my own. He muttered a series of curse words, and the power began to buzz audibly. It was pushing me to the edge of my control. I wasn't sure how much more I could take tonight.

The silence became a deafening roar of white noise. The lights dimmed and brightened in sequence, and I focused hard on staying calm. We'd destroyed enough things to know when the power was growing beyond a safe capacity. I didn't want to deal with it, but unfortunately, our power was part of every moment that Arys and I shared.

“Stay away from him, Alexa.” His voice would have been soothing had it not been for the hint of menace underlying it. “I'm not asking.”

My heart jumped as fear coursed through me. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Did he just threaten me?

“What if I'm not asking either?” The words boldly spilled from my lips, driven by the she-wolf inside me that refused to be controlled by a man who was not my wolf mate.

“I don't need your permission for anything.”

Now I'd really done it. I braced myself, expecting him to unleash his anger all over me. Instead, he faced me with a strange sadness in his gaze where there should have been fury. I was confused by the change in what he was giving off as it touched me, enveloping me in the sorrow of the undead.

Moving carefully through the shattered glass, Arys closed the space between us. I truly didn't know what to expect. So, when he roughly pulled me into his arms and kissed me with a depth and passion that caused my breath to catch, I was speechless.

My heart froze when he pulled back long enough to whisper in my ear, “I promise that you will regret it if you make the mistake of testing me on this.”

I gaped at him, stunned silent. I knew Arys was touchy about the one who made him, but this was really freaking me out. He had never spoken to me like that. I would have been pissed right off if I hadn't been so damn scared.

Before I could make sense of my flustered thoughts, he brought his lips back to mine in a bruising kiss that could only be defined as possessive. He smelled like wolf, pine and fur. I reveled in it despite the confusion swirling within me. My beast was strong in him, and as he sought to dominate me, I responded to him against my will.

His touch was like molten lava as he swept my legs out from under me and picked me up in his arms. His kiss was urgent as his tongue thoroughly explored my mouth.

Even as I asked myself what the hell I was doing, I kissed him back with desire when I should have been nothing short of enraged.

I wanted to rant at him, to ask him who the hell he thought he was to dare threaten me like that, but the will to do so wasn't there. As the power crashed through us, I was overcome by it, and I clung to him as he carried me.

He didn't take me to the bedroom like I assumed he would. Instead, he went as far as the bare kitchen table where he sat me on top of it. I started to shake my head and tell him that he was out of his mind. I had good reason to be ticked at him right now. Besides, this was where I ate dinner.