Taboo Kisses (8 page)

“
P
lease try to understand—”

Enough of this bullshit
.
Gabriel shifted. Arguing wouldn’t resolve their dispute.

“Goddamn it, Gabriel, your shifting solves nothing.”
Maximus
put his fingers through his unruly hair. Using his feline body, Gabriel nudged Max
im
us away from
their woman
. “Don’t be like this.”

Gabriel barred his teeth and growled. He leapt onto the bed and stretched out beside
Sameya
, chuffing his
annoyance
.

Chapter
Seven

Sameya
’s head throbbed.
Disoriented, she rubbed
her temples with her fingertips
and
moaned
when t
he touch
elicited
more pain than comfort. Lowering
her arms, her hand touched something furry.

That same
hairy
object
made a
chuffing
sound
.
Her eyes flew open
,
and she winced at the sudden brightness of the room. The sun poured through the window
to her right. Using slow movements,
she turned her head to identify the warm
entity
.
A white Bengal tiger.

His
massive
head rested on the pillow beside her. Huge. At least six hundred pounds
of muscle
and somewhere near twelve feet
in length
. What a beauty. Yellow eyes peered at her
. She’d
never seen a white Bengal with anything but blue eyes before
. His
tail flicked back in forth in short agitated movements.

“Welcome back,
siren,
” a darkly hypnotic voice said.

Sameya jerked into a seated position and
regretted it when her head paid her back with a stab to the temples. T
he fucking vampyr from last night
prowled nearer
.
Wincing at the continued throb, she watched him cautiously. He’d ditched the top hat,
exposing
wavy, chin length hair.

Beside her the feline made a weird sound
, a cross between a growl and a snarl. The creature
sat up
with so much grace, she momentarily forgot about the vamp. His weight dented
the bed
,
and she adjusted her position to keep from rolling
into
him
.

Like an amnesiac her m
emories from
last night
slammed into her.
The cat forgotten, she swiveled to face the vampyr.
“You bastard. You bit me!”

“
That’s not all I did.”

Narrowing her
focus
on him, she realized he was still attired
in the same clothes from the previous evening. The only thing missing was his hat.
The room held a distinct male feeling. Navy walls, dark wood floors, a leather chair
and settee near the window, and the four-poster
,
cherry bed with
royal-
blue
coverlet.
Not a touch of femininity in the room.

She threw her legs over the side of the
mattress.
T
hankful
ly
the throb
bing
in her skull
had
abate
d a fraction
. A scratch at her throat halted her rise. The vampyr watched her, his silver-blue
eyes rapt as she lifted a hand to her neck. An inch thick choker, encrusted with jewels
by the feel, snared her focus as the
enchantment
tingled on her fingertips.

Seeking her well of siren magic, she tapped into the mojo in the necklace.
A powerful totem intended to restr
ain her. When she located the wi
tch who’d trapped her, she’d kill the
individual…or better yet, keep the brazen one as a pet
.

Sameya leapt off the bed. The Bengal followed as she stalked toward the vampyr. He
held his ground as she approached. Reaching him, she placed her hand on his chest,
directly over his heart and channeled power into him. Nothing happened.

The motherfucker!

Her magic wouldn’t work on the one who bound her. “You
collared me
,
not the wi
tch!”

“So it would seem.”

“I demand your name.”

“Why?”

“I want to know the name of the man I’ll kill when I’m free.”

He chuckled. “Good luck with that,
pet
.”

Cold rage slithered down her spine. She kept pets, but wo
uld never be anyone else’s
.
Taking a page out of the human handbook, she smacked him across the cheek.
His head snapped to the side
,
and the throb in her hand
was
refreshing
.
As he turned his face toward her, he worked his jaw. A red handprint pinkened his
skin
.

Fury stole her logic. She wanted to unleash her siren on something, someone,
or
anything
to prove she wasn’t suddenly as sterile as the humans.

Breathe through it. I’m only defenseless against him and only as long as this magic
is viable. When she broke the spell, she’d rip him apart and enthrall the
witch
as a pet for eons. Sweet revenge would be hers.

“When my Empress discovers what you’ve done—”

“
Blah, blah, blah
.” He mocked
,
rolling his eyes. “She
must
leave Atlantis first. I cannot imagine even you are that important to her.”

His conceit would be her victory.
She swung her arm, but he caught her wrist and put her against the wall. The tiger
snarled.

“Stay out of it, Gabriel.”

Gabriel? She glanced over the vampyr’s shoulder as the feline shifted into the man
from the bar. Fuck her, he’d said he was a shifter, but she never would’ve guessed
he was the biggest of the breeds.

The shifter’s eyes gleamed gol
d, rimmed in
a wide
black
band
. “Release her,
Maximus
.”

Startled, h
er gaze shot to the vampyr.
“
Maximus
? As in…
'
MadMa
x
?
’
”

“I see my
reputation
precedes me.”

“Impressive.” And it was. He’d single-handedly taken out almost the entire
troll
contingent.

“He’
s not been
MadMa
x
for
over
a thousand years.”
Gabriel’s voice licked over her like a lover’s tongue. She grit
ted
her teeth and steeled herself against any physical response.

Didn’t matter
when he’d held the title of
MadMa
x
. He had a name in Atlantis. “Uncollar me
,
and I’ll pretend this did not transpire.” She’d still go after the fucking
witch
.

“No.”
Maximus
’
s
hand slid from her shoulder to her throat. Her pulse leapt
,
and that odd feeling of heat snaked through her again. “You’re mine and Gabriel’s
mate.
”

She glanced at Gabriel who hovered behind
Maximus
’
s
right shoulder. She’d already told the hardheaded vampyr
,
sirens did not have plural mates. Although the idea of having two men such as these
paired with her…she’d be lying if she
pretended not to be
intrigued by the idea.
How many would envy her in Atlantis? Mostly she was feared, and that had served her
well, but sometimes the fright grew wearisome. The only friend she could claim was
the Empress
,
and theirs was a complicated relationship.

Sameya shook her head. She wouldn’t allow vanity to
turn
her
rash
.

Maximus
’
s
thumb swished back and forth, drawing her attention
to
him. “
We cannot lose you without trying to
court
you.”

“You think this is the best option?”
She yanked on the choker.
Had he collared any other siren, she’d probably think him not just ballsy, but
exceedingly
intriguing.
Worthy of a roll in the sack to say she
’d
done him.

“I was against it.”

Maximus
hissed at Gabriel’s comment. “You would’ve run, Sameya, and we’d have lost our chance
to prove we’re right for you.”

She’d already advised him once that sirens didn’t mate with creatures beneath them.
Maybe if she sa
id it a second time but slower
this go-around,
he’d
comprehend the words
. “Sirens. Do. No
t
. Mate. With. Vampyrs. Or. Shifters.”

“
Incorrect.
You are mated to a vampyr and a shifter.
Which means
,
sirens do have plural mates and do so with those outside their stratum.
”

Empress, what an imbecile!

Gabriel moved to stand at their side, his golden eyes attentive. Sameya worried she
could lose herself in those beautiful yellow orbs.
“Don’t you want to know what an orgasm feels like?”

Hell, yes, but not with
either of
them.
And no reminder of their lovemaking to one another would alter her mind.
But…what would it feel like to have their hands on her the way they’d touched one
another? Could they make her come? She highly doubted it. More superior men than them
had tried. And failed.

Drawing herself straight, she glared at the shifter.
“Can’t want what I’ve never had.”

“And yet you desire both of us.”
Maximus
’
s
snarky grin made her bristle.

Did he work at being irritating or was it a natural talent?
“Arrogance isn’t
attractive
. I desire
both of you as much as I enjoy being collar
e
d.” She
glowered
at
Maximus
.

From the corner of her eye, she caught
Gabriel
shake his head
. “Foolish, hardheaded siren. You have no clue of what you speak.”

Sameya snorted. “I know there is more to life than fleeting moments of trivial hedonism.”

Gabriel snatched her out of
Maximus
’
s
grasp. His hand
palmed her nape, his fingers massaging her flesh. She
stiffened
at the skin-to-skin contact. His touch did not elicit a response from her.

The tiger’s
other
arm circled her waist
and he
pulled her flush against his chest. “You’ll learn something about me, Sameya. I have
zero tolerance for
bullshit.”

“I have zero tolerance for enslavement.”

Maximus
chuckled. “She’ll be a joy to tame.”

“Fuck you, MadMax
.”
She wrenched Gabriel’s head down with her hands and kissed him, suffusing her siren
song into him.

“Okay,”
Maximus
said from behind her
, sounding a tad surprised by her
aggression
.

Gabriel jerked at the first thrust of her magic, stiffened, his hands clenching on
her hips.
He fought the spell, but he was no match. T
he image of him holding her down by her hips as he thrust his cock into her slashed
through her mind
…his thoughts migrating to her conscious. What a naughty boy he would be in the sack.
Shoving the wicked fantasy aside, she concentrated on giving him a piece of herself
and
enthralling him to become hers. The moment her magic
locked on
, all
tension
left his body.