Embrace the Heat (17 page)

“I want you to prove you’re stronger,” she
admitted.

His hand stilled. “Why?”

“When those men talked about fighting for me
and marking me, it got me hot. It felt right. I want that.”

“And have I proven it yet?” His voice had
returned to that silky seductive whisper.

“Yes,” she said breathlessly.

“We can’t do this here,” Simon said with
genuine regret in his voice. “It’s too dangerous.”

“What the hell are you doing, Si?” Ian
practically snapped at him. Layla watched him stalk toward them.
Simon turned to face Ian, and whatever Ian saw on Simon’s face made
him take a step back. “You need to get off of her, Simon,” Ian said
calmly.

“Back off, Ian,” Simon said angrily.

“Connor has strict rules about Raven’s
humans,” Ian reminded him.

“Lucky for me, she’s not human,” Simon said.
“Now, I’m going to give you a warning, and I suggest you take it. I
just chased Layla for over a mile, and my self control is
almost gone. If you don’t back off, I’m going to either try to kill
you for getting near her, or I’m going to fuck her right here.”

Layla shuddered and moaned.

Ian nodded and stepped back slowly. “You have
five minutes to meet us at the jeeps. If you don’t, I’m coming back
to make sure you go to the jeeps even if it means shooting you. We
clear?”

“Clear,” Simon said and watched Ian walk
away. “I got a message from Connor right before I found you with
those assholes pawing at you. He and Raven will probably be there
when we get back, so we can see if Raven has any idea what’s going
on with you. We’ll go straight to Connor’s house.”

Layla didn’t respond. She knew what this was.
Simon was coming up with a lot of excuses to avoid being with her.
This was his way of saying he didn’t want to take things further.
Sure he had an erection, but that was just a vampire thing. They
got that way after the chase.

Simon stood up and helped her to her feet but
didn’t release her arm. “You can let go of my arm now,” she said
without looking at Simon.

He let out a humorless laugh. “I don’t think
so. I’ll let go of you when I’m sure you won’t run again.”

“And when will that be?” she snapped.

“After we finish up at Connor’s, I’m going to
take you back to my house and fuck you until you can’t walk. Then
I’ll be sure you won’t run.”

Layla was actually grateful for Simon’s firm
grip on her arm at that moment because it was the only thing that
kept her from falling flat on her face when she stumbled.

“Layla!” Danny shouted and rushed forward as
Simon led her toward the jeeps. Danny froze, eyes wide with shock
and concern when he saw her neck.

Layla had tried several times to pull her
hair over the bite mark. It was on the back of her neck, so it was
easy to cover. Every time she did, Simon pushed her hair over her
shoulder and glared at her.

“What happened?” Danny asked in a panic.
“Were you attacked by turned vampires? I thought it was
humans.”

“I’m fine, Danny,” she said with a reassuring
smile. When she tried to pull away, Simon tightened his hold on her
arm. “It wasn’t turned vampires.”

“What bit you?” Danny asked. “That is a bite
mark right?”

A male vampire Layla didn’t know came up
beside Danny and tried to move closer to her. He froze when Simon
began to glare at him. “That doesn’t look like a vampire bite,” the
vampire remarked.

“She said she was fine,” Simon said without
stopping.

“I’ll ride back with Danny,” Layla said
quietly. She was trying really hard not to challenge Simon at that
moment. It seemed like a bad idea.

Simon leaned down, and she thought he was
going to say something in her ear, but instead he pressed he mouth
against the bite mark. He pulled back slightly. “You’ll be lucky if
I don’t cuff your hands to the jeep for the trip back,” he
said.

Layla fought the urge to shiver. “I said I
won’t run again. I panicked before.”

“Damn right you won’t run,” he muttered. “If
you do, I will not be so nice when I catch you. Do you want to know
what I’ll do?”

Layla shook her head. “No.”

He chuckled softly. “Liar.” After shoving
Layla into the front seat of the jeep, Simon stalked around. “Put
your seatbelt on,” he ordered.

Layla opened her mouth to argue, but the look
in Simon’s eyes made her hesitate. The sooner they got to Raven’s
house, the sooner this could all be straightened out. Mostly, her
body was screaming to have Simon inside of her. She had to wonder
how much of it was whatever strange stuff was going on with her
hormones and how much was the feelings she’d always had for Simon.
After she put her seatbelt on, Simon programmed the menu and the
locks clicked. For some reason that sound caused the panic to hit
again. The idea of being trapped brought out something wild in her.
She reached down to undo her seatbelt, but it wouldn’t release. Her
heart pounded against her ribs almost painfully, and she let out a
ragged breath.

“Calm down,” Simon said in a soothing
voice.

“I can’t,” she admitted. “I’m trapped.” The
words were forced around her panting.

Simon reached across the seats and stroked
her thigh. “I’m not going to hurt you.” His gentle soothing voice
came as a shock after the anger that had practically radiated from
his body for the last twenty minutes. “Relax. Let me call Connor
and see when they’ll be home. We’ll figure this out. After we see
Raven, I’ll take care of you. Everything’s going to be okay. Trust
me.”

Layla fought the panic. Simon was her friend.
He would take care of her. Then what? How would they stay friends
after this? Simon would figure out how she felt about him and
things would be awkward. No matter how true that was, she couldn’t
bring herself to protest. She wanted him too much. The only way
this wasn’t going to happen was if he changed his mind.

He hit more buttons on the jeep’s touch
screen, and Layla heard the ringing.

“What’s up, Si?” Connor’s greeting came over
the jeep’s speakers.

“We’ve got a serious problem with the pixie,”
Simon explained. “I’m bringing her back to the settlement now.”

“Don’t call me that,” Layla snapped.

“Are you hurt, Layla?” Connor asked.

“Simon bit me,” she said with her arms
crossed in front of her chest.

“You bit her?” Connor practically bellowed.
“Si, you know Raven’s humans are off limits. What the hell were you
thinking?”

“Then he hit me,” Layla said. When she glared
at Simon, she was further annoyed to realize that he appeared to be
laughing at her.

“This had better be a joke,” Connor
growled.

Layla could hear Raven in the background
trying to calm Connor down, meaning he wasn’t on speakerphone. That
was probably a good thing.

“It’s not a joke,” Simon said. “I bit her and
spanked her. The bite will probably leave a scar.”

No one spoke for a long time. Connor was
obviously too pissed to say another word because Raven’s was the
next voice on the line.

“Are you okay, Layla?” she asked.

“No,” Layla admitted. Raven’s voice was all
it took for her to start ranting. “The male vampires are all acting
weird around me. I was out with Shelby and Carla and then we got
attacked by humans. Shelby got hurt. These hot guys with no shirts
came out and helped us. There were three of them, and they were all
around me, sniffing me and asking me weird questions. The hot guys
said I should go with them and said they’d all have sex with me.
Well, that was after they said they’d fight, and the winner would
mark me. Simon told them I was his so they’d go away. They said I
should go with them because only they could take care of me and
make the hurt go away. I gave Shelby blood so she wouldn’t die, and
she said I’m not human. Then Simon chased me and bit my neck. I
think it’s going to leave a scar. Oh, and Simon hit me.”

“In my defense,” Simon said calmly, “she was
acting like a child throwing a temper tantrum, and I only lightly
spanked her to get her to calm down.”

“It still hurts to sit,” Layla grumbled as
she glared at Simon.

There was stunned silence on the other end of
the line. Finally, Raven spoke. “When is your birthday, Layla?”

“Three days from now,” Layla said.

“Really?” Simon asked. “Why didn’t you tell
me?”

Raven answered for her. “The human settlement
didn’t celebrate much. We were poor, and very few people cared
about birthdays. Many parents couldn’t even tell you when their
child was born. Layla actually never wanted to celebrate after her
mother disappeared. Are you sure on the date, Layla? I know we
celebrated it around this time of year, but your mom wasn’t the
best source of information.”

Layla hesitated. “Pretty sure. I mean, I got
the date from my mom, and she was big on dates. I guess it could be
wrong. She did change the date a few times, but the dates were
always within a week of each other.”

“Simon,” Raven said with a sense of urgency.
“I need you to get Layla to Connor’s house right away. Maybe you
should have one of the females drive her.”

“No,” Simon said in what sounded like a
growl.

“Fine,” Raven said impatiently. “We’re home
now. Bring her here as soon as possible.”

“We’ll be there in about twenty minutes,”
Simon said.

“What’s wrong with me?” Layla asked
nervously.

Simon reached out to stroke her thigh
again.

“Nothing is wrong with you,” Raven assured
her. “I’m not completely sure what’s going on. I have an idea, but
I need to see you first. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just
unexpected.”

“We’re on our way now,” Simon said and ended
the call.

They entered Connor’s house through the back
door. Simon still insisted on keeping a hand around Layla’s upper
arm, so she was glaring at him when they walked into Connor’s
living room.

Fang and Luna, Connor and Raven’s wolves,
started growling as soon as they got into the room. It was strange
since the wolves knew both of them and had never reacted that way
before.

“Upstairs!” Connor ordered, and both wolves
let out one final growl before heading up.

“Sorry,” Raven said as she frowned at the
retreating wolves. “I’m not sure what’s come over them. Maybe it’s
stress from the trip.”

Connor inhaled when they came into the room
and looked confused. “What is that smell?”

“Our
little kit
seems to be a walking
aphrodisiac for vampires,” Simon grumbled. There was no missing the
way he sneered when he said ‘little kit.’ “I guess she’s also an
aphrodisiac for strange shirtless men in the forest. Not sure what
they were. They weren’t vamps, but they sure as hell weren’t
human.”

“What exactly did the men say?” Raven
pushed.

“They asked why I was wandering around alone
during my heat cycle,” Layla said, feeling a little uncomfortable
admitting that part of the conversation.

“Heat cycle?” Connor asked with raised
eyebrows.

“One of them looked at my neck and said I
wasn’t marked.”

“You are now,” Simon said without looking at
her.

“Then they left,” Layla said.

“Don’t forget the part where you let them rub
all over you and offer to take you off for a gang bang,
little
kit
.” Simon sounded seriously pissed about that part of the
story.

“Is that what they called you?” Raven
asked.

Layla nodded.

“Christ,” Connor cursed as he started to
pace. “You weren’t kidding about the aphrodisiac thing.” Then he
looked guiltily at Raven.

Raven patted his arm. “Don’t feel bad. You
can’t help it. It’s the pheromones.”

“It seems to be getting worse,” Simon
explained. “I’ve kept her away from all of the male vampires. I’m
not sure what else to do.”

“Well, the best solution would be sex,” Raven
said. “A lot of sex.”

“That’s your answer for most things,” Connor
pointed out with a satisfied grin.

“And I’m usually right. In this case, I’m
definitely right. Layla is putting off pheromones to attract a
mate. Vampires shouldn’t be affected. Of course, that’s never been
tested. They always act human around vampires and humans. I’m not
sure what to think about all of this. Your father was human, so it
could also be your mixed heritage that’s causing the pheromones to
affect vampires as well. Maybe it would affect humans if they had a
heightened sense of smell.”

“What are you talking about?” Layla asked.
“Both of my parents were human. We lived in a human
settlement.”

“And your mom disappeared when she turned
twenty seven,” Raven pointed out. “You both seemed to stop
aging at twenty. I don’t know why I never considered the
possibility. Then again, why would I have considered it? The whole
thing doesn’t make much sense. Why would your mom have lived in a
human settlement to begin with?”

“What possibility?” Layla asked as she
started to rub her arms. It was a relief when Simon slipped an arm
around her shoulders.

Everyone was so used to Simon acting like a
big brother to her that no one seemed to think anything of his
actions.

“What does her mom’s disappearance have to do
with anything?” Simon asked.

“I’m pretty sure Layla’s mother was a
shape shifter. Well, she probably still is. My guess would be
a small cat variety, bobcat, cougar, or lynx. The Canadian lynx
shifters moved to this area when the human population thinned out.
The larger cat shifters call their young cubs, and I’m not sure
there are any in this area. Now, I could be wrong. Shifters aren’t
exactly sociable with others. I’ve talked to a few in my lifetime,
and they weren’t exactly happy to be talking to me.”

“I’m going to turn into some kind of wild
cat?” Layla gasped.