Moonlight Calls (Demon's Call Series Book 1) (17 page)

Closing my eyes,
I took a deep breath and tried to center myself.  I opened my eyes as Christian
brushed by me on his way into the kitchen.  I watched with one eyebrow raised
as he opened my fridge and helped himself to my orange juice.  When he showed
every intention of drinking from the carton, I opened a cupboard and snatched
the carton out of his hands, replacing it with a juice glass.  He sipped his OJ
while he rummaged through my cupboards for bread and peanut butter.

I watched in
amazement as the cocky bastard calmly made himself some dinner.  He went and
perched on a barstool at the counter, deftly adjusting his towel when it
threatened to slip off.

I crossed my
arms and tapped my foot.  “Did you want something?  Or were you just stopping
by for a snack?”

He paused with
his sandwich halfway to his mouth.  “I want to talk to you.  I had
hoped
 you
would stay at my house until I got back.”  He leveled a green look at me.  “I
meant to come here and check things out before I let you return, but I was…
sidetracked.  And apparently, you don’t know how to follow instructions.  Nor
how to answer a phone call or politely return a text message.”

I tapped my toe
impatiently.  My blood pounding in my temples.  “No,” I said softly.  “I
don’t.  I didn’t even know they
were
instructions.  Not to mention- what
the hell gives you the right to order me around?”

He looked at me
for a minute, but didn’t answer.  Was he really that surprised that I hadn’t
just done as he had asked and waited for him like a good little puppy?  He had
slathered thick layers of peanut butter between six slices of bread, using most
of my peanut butter and half a loaf of bread.  I watched in fascination as he
squashed the sandwich flat with a large hand and stuffed a bite into his
mouth.  Peanut butter squished out the sides and he had to pause to lick it off
his fingers.  Chewing happily, he reached over and plucked an apple, a pear,
and
a banana from the fruit bowl.  Glancing up, he caught me with my mouth
hanging open.

“What?” he
rumbled around a mouth full of food. 

I shook my head
in disbelief, gesturing theatrically for him to finish his meal.  I sank down
onto the barstool next to him with a sigh.  Clearly, he wasn’t here to kidnap
or kill me.  I might as well sit down.

Christian paused
in his face-stuffing and cocked his head to the side, as if listening.  “Your
roommate is home,” he said flatly.  He returned his attention to his food, and
I jumped when the front door opened.

“Honey, I’m
home,” came Ailis’s teasing voice.  She must have fed.  She was always in a
better mood right after- happy and relaxed. 
That’s not gonna last long,
I thought dryly.  Her footsteps faltered, as she no doubt scented the werewolf
in the room.

She rushed into
the kitchen in an inhuman blur only to jerk to a halt, eyes silvery and fangs
showing, when she saw the tower of sexy seated at the island counter in nothing
but a towel, calmly eating his enormous peanut butter sandwich.  Her gaze
darted to me and I shrugged.  I was just as puzzled as she was.

“What the hell
is going on here?”  Ailis asked, her eyes slowly turning from sliver to gray as
her fangs retracted.  She had obviously reached the same conclusion that I had
regarding his intentions.  I didn’t know what an attacking werewolf might look
like, but I was fairly certain this certainly wasn’t it.

“I wish I knew,”
I said pointedly, staring at Christian.  He had finished his sandwich and
downed his orange juice, and was now munching his way through the apple.  His
gaze lit on Ailis with curiosity, but he was silent while he finished eating.

After finishing
the apple, the pear,
and
the banana, Christian rose from his stool.  He
padded to the fridge and got the carton of orange juice out again, catching the
towel when it threatened to slip off.  I shook my head in exasperation as he
leaned against the counter and casually chugged the rest of the juice straight
from the carton.

I noticed
Ailis’s gaze lingering on the spot where the edges of the towel met.  There was
a nice glimpse of long, muscular thigh visible there.  Her eyes were beginning
to go silvery again.  Raising an eyebrow, I glanced at Christian to see him
looking at me with a hint of teasing laughter in his eyes.  Apparently, the
animosity between vamps and wolves didn’t stop them from being attractive to
each other.  Straightening, he lifted his arms above his head in a languorous
stretch that caused the towel to shift downward enticingly.

Turning on a
heel, Ailis abruptly left the room.  Luckily, she had just fed.  I would hate
to see what would happen if he taunted her like that when she was hungry.  The
moment she left, Christian crossed to me and placed a large hand on each of my
shoulders.

 “Mya, we need
to talk,” he said coaxingly. 

His big hand
caressed my cheek as he stooped and brought his wide mouth to mine.  I gave up
trying to be pissed off and leaned into him, standing on my tiptoes to press my
body to his.  The ripples of his power sent desire coursing through my veins
and I moaned softly against his lips.  He buried his hands in my hair, cupping
the back of my head to hold me close while he filled my senses with the taste of
orange juice and power.

A sarcastic
snort from behind us caused me to jerk away as Ailis entered the room. 
“Christ,” she said sullenly.  “I leave you alone for two fucking minutes and
you are at it again.”

I blushed as
Christian drew away, a wry grin lifting the corner of his mouth.  I rolled my
eyes and collapsed onto a barstool, trying to get control of my racing heart.

I glared at
Christian.  “I told you to stop using your power on me!”

He just grinned,
unrepentant.  “Then you should stop using your power on
me
.”

Ailis thrust a
pile of clothes at him.  “We don’t allow naked animals in the house,” she
snapped.  The animal comment had apparently been too much.  Christian’s eyes
began to glow and I felt his power radiating out, hitting me like a physical
blow.

 Ailis felt it
too.  She staggered briefly.  Then she lifted her head and I saw that she had
gone into full-out vampire mode.  I was forcibly reminded that I was the only
human in the room.  Her eyes were completely lost, glinting silver, and she bared
her fangs threateningly.  Power began emanating from her as well.

While Christian
was heat and red-hot domination, her power was cold and black as night.  She
was scaring the shit out of me, but Christian appeared completely un-fazed. 
His glowing green eyes never wavered.  Taking a quick step forward, he grasped
Ailis’s chin in one large hand.

“Take it,” he
said softly.  His voice was calm, but full of command.

Ailis’s eyes
widened and she jerked her head back, staring at him in question.  He left his
hand where it was, outstretched before her.  Ailis glanced at me as if in
permission, and I shrugged, wondering what she wanted
me
to do.

She stepped
forward and took his outstretched hand.  Turning it so the soft underside was
exposed, she bent and sank her teeth into his wrist.  I jumped off my stool,
but Christian didn’t even flinch.  Instead, he brought his other hand to rest
on the back of her head.  Ailis froze.  Her knees buckled slightly and
Christian chuckled.  He turned her, pulling her back against his chest, his
wrist still held to her mouth as the other arm wrapped around her waist to hold
her up.  His sparkling eyes met mine while she drew at his wrist.

I had shared
blood, but I had never witnessed the act.  I felt like an intruder, spying on
something personal and erotic.  One hand had unconsciously crept up to cover my
neck.  I wanted to leave the room, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from them. 
Christian leaned forward and spoke into Ailis’s ear.  I shivered as his voice
lapped over me, making me tingle with need.

“That is
enough,” he whispered softly.  He turned her outward gently, so that she was
facing him again.  She opened her eyes and released his wrist, looking dazed. 
I watched in silence as the tiny puncture wounds quickly healed into
nothingness. 

Christian picked
up the clothes Ailis had brought him and headed down the hall, ostensibly in
search of somewhere to get dressed, not saying a word.

I glanced at
Ailis, confused.  She was braced against the counter as if she couldn’t stand
on her own, drawing deep breaths in through her nose and out through her
mouth.  Fear spiked through me.  I hoped she wasn’t still hungry, because he
had really pushed her buttons.

When she finally
lifted her head to look at me, her teeth had receded and her eyes were rapidly
returning to their normal color, though they looked more blue than usual.

“What the fuck
was that?”  I asked bluntly.  I was shaky all over from the tension, not
knowing if I should be scared or aroused.  As if that wasn’t enough, my head
was pounding away and my vision was getting a little black around the edges.

Ailis shook her
head, as if to clear it.  “A gesture of trust.”

 I considered
that for a moment.  I supposed that voluntarily allowing someone to sink their
teeth into you was a pretty good show of trust, especially when a person could
read memories from your blood.

I looked at her
inquiringly, “And...?”

She glanced at
me, wide-eyed, looking shocked and more than a little afraid.  “Mya, I knew he
was powerful, but do you have any idea?”  She shook her head.  “He did it to
show me.  I could see his memories....”  Her voice was full of wonder.  “My
God, Mya, do you know how
old
he is?”  I looked at her questioningly,
but she had fallen silent, her gaze going over my shoulder toward the doorway
where Christian had appeared.

“Old enough,” he
said, and his tone indicated that it was not up for discussion.  He had donned
the clothes she’d given him, and I laughed aloud when I saw him.

The clothes had
obviously belonged to a much smaller man.  The t-shirt was stretched indecently
across his wide, muscular shoulders, and the sweatpants were a full foot too
short and left nothing to the imagination.  He glared at me as I snorted with
laughter, and I tried to reign in my amusement.

Ailis was
laughing now too, and she winced in apology, “Sorry, it’s all I had.” 
Christian raised one dark eyebrow, but didn’t deign to comment.

The tension had
broken and I could breathe again.  I eyed them questioningly.  “Are you two
done flexing now?”  They both gave me sour looks, and I rolled my eyes.

Christian took a
step toward me and I jerked back.  He may have gotten to me earlier, but I was
still pissed at him.  “Whoa,” I said, holding up a hand to stop him.  “You lied
to me.  You misled me, and you used your power to get me in bed,” I snapped. 
“What the hell makes you think that I want anything to do with you?”

He stopped, his
brow furrowed.  “Mya, please...”  I moved to the kitchen table and sat down in
one of the oak dining chairs, back erect and shoulders tense.

“You don’t need
to explain Christian,” I said bitterly.  “I understand why you did it.  Ailis
was sent to gather information on me too.  But she didn’t use me that way.  I
can’t forgive that.”  I embraced the swelling anger.  I was
not
going to
cry.

He sank to his
knees in front of me, taking one of my hands in his own.  “Please Mya,” he
whispered.

Sweeping his
long hair to one side to leave the nape of his neck exposed, he bent and kissed
the back of my hand.  I looked to Ailis imploringly.  I needed help.  I
couldn’t do this on my own.  How the hell could I tell him to leave when he was
so magnetic?  And when something inside me was apparently making me even more
vulnerable to his power than your average human.

Ailis bit her lip
and shook her head, gone mute.  I was shocked when she ducked her head and
backed out of the room, leaving us alone. 
She was abandoning me?

Christian lifted
his head.  Even in this position, he was taller than I was.  He looked into my
eyes.  “No one sent me here.”  His deep voice resonated with warmth and I
closed my eyes to escape that intense green gaze.  He caressed my cheek from
temple to jaw-line.

 “I could sense
you from so far away.  I came, and I watched you in my wolf form for some time,
trying to figure out who you were-
what
you were.  No one sent me
here.” 

He shrugged. 
“When I found out that you were in danger, I wanted to protect you, so I got
you out of here.  I did what I had to do to keep you safe without involving my
people,” he said earnestly.

I looked at him
in wonder.  “You knew?  You knew about the rogues.”  I supposed that explained
a lot.

He nodded.  “I
got wind of their plot.  The Father Alpha was content to let them do what they
would.”  He spoke with such bitterness when referring to his leader.  I was
taken aback.  I had just assumed that all wolves pledged mindless allegiance to
him- kind of the same way Ailis adored her master.  Maybe Christian was a rogue
werewolf?  Was there even such a thing, or was I making that up?