The Dark Vampire: Last True Vampire 3 (5 page)

A temptation he didn’t have to resist.

Jenner pushed himself up from the floor and rushed at her. She scrambled from her perch in a blur of motion toward the bed. The predator in him surged. Driven by hunger and lust, his brain refused to comprehend her
drawn brows and tightly pinched expression. His lack of reason refused to acknowledge the fact that her fear scented the air. That despite the tether, he didn’t even know this female’s name. Knew
nothing
about her or why she was here. The only thing that made sense was that he wanted her.
Needed her.
And he was going to have her.

“Jenner, have you lost your fucking mind?”

Before he could claim his prize, Ronan took him down in a full-body tackle that knocked the air from
Jenner’s lungs. A snarl tore from his throat as he struggled to free himself. Ronan was like a brother to him, but Jenner would kill the son of a bitch before he let him get in the way of what he wanted. The female leapt up onto the mattress, her gaze wide and curious as she stared down at him.

“Mine!” he roared as he threw back an elbow and caught Ronan in the face.

“You broke my fucking nose!”

“What in the hell is going on here?” Mikhail shouted as he entered the room.

Not even the presence of his king could thwart Jenner’s efforts to get to her. He lashed out, fangs bared, as he freed himself from Ronan’s hold.

“A little help here, Mikhail?” Ronan grunted as he pinned Jenner’s arms in a bear hug.

Mikhail joined Ronan to crash on top of Jenner and a bellow of rage echoed in his ears as he fought to free himself.

“Jenner, control yourself or I’ll put you down!” Mikhail pinned him in place with a knee and wrenched one arm behind his back. “Jenner!” His commanding shout served to clear some of the lust that fogged Jenner’s mind, but his actions were still nowhere within his control.

“She’s mine!” he bellowed.

“He’s lost his mind, Mikhail.” Ronan struggled to pin Jenner’s other arm down and forced his face to the hardwood floor. “Mad with bloodlust.”

“We’ve got to get him out of here.”

No!
Instinct spurred him and Jenner bucked against Mikhail’s hold.

“The two of us can barely subdue him,” Ronan grunted. “Bria, get Claire. Tell her to call the guard station and let them know we need some help up here.”

Jenner surged against the big bodies holding him down. No one and nothing was going to keep him from her. Mikhail could try to put him down. He’d like to see the male try.

The female scooted to the edge of the bed. She took her bottom lip between the dainty points of her fangs and Jenner roared. He had to take her vein. Claim her. Now.

“Don’t hurt him!” The female’s impassioned shout stilled three aggressive vampires in an instant. “We are tethered.”

“Holy shit,” Ronan said as he slumped fully on top of Jenner.

“Indeed,” Mikhail agreed.

“Get the fuck off of me,” Jenner growled. “The female is
mine.
”

Neither male obliged. Their combined weight further pressed Jenner onto the floor. He struggled beneath them and it was a long moment before he felt the weight of Mikhail’s body lift. Ronan took his time, exerting a little too much force as he shoved off of Jenner’s body. He grunted under the push and filled his lungs with air. His thigh muscles trembled with a rush of adrenaline, and when he could finally get his shit together to stand he listed to his left and didn’t fall over again only because Ronan had seen fit to brace him upright.

“Her uncle isn’t going to be happy to discover his
sheltered, virginal niece is mated to this charmer,” Ronan murmured.

Her uncle?
Who was this female who’d tethered his soul?
Virginal? Christ.
What had Jenner missed over the course of a few days?

“Take me away from her.” The words grated like gravel in his throat. Miles, hell, continents between them wouldn’t keep Jenner from her. What made him think a simple wall would prevent him from ravaging her? “Before I do something I’ll regret.”

“Who
is he?” Bria breathed.

“Eric Jenner,” Claire answered with a laugh. “But everyone just calls him Jenner.”

“Jenner.” Bria liked the smooth way his name rolled from her tongue. Enjoyed the soft sound of it. Though there was nothing smooth or soft about the vampire who’d burst into her room and rushed at her as if he dared anyone or anything to come between them. Bria’s heart raced in her chest and a riot of butterflies took flight in her stomach as they fought their way up her throat.

Her soul had been tethered by the wild male who’d fought to get to her with a ferocity the likes of which she’d never seen. Not even Lucas could compare, and his reputation was famed in their coven. Jenner was violent, hulking, stacked with muscle. Bria recalled the bright silver that lit his eyes when he looked at her, the way his full lips pulled back to reveal the sharp points of his fangs as his attention wandered to her throat. The intensity of his gaze, the deep rumble that vibrated in his chest, had frightened her. Frightened . . . and
excited.

A thrill chased through Bria’s body, the sensation as foreign to her as her new vampiric existence. She belonged to this male. This
stranger.
“I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Trippy, isn’t it?” Claire stretched out on the bed and groaned. “I swear, this baby is trying to kick his way out.” She rubbed a hand over the swell of her belly. “He’s like a little karate master in training and he’s using my ribs to practice on.”

Bria smiled. “What’s going to happen now?” Bria’s uncle had been insistent that once she could control her thirst she return to their coven. She was too weak, too frail, to live outside of the protection of their walls. They were still in danger. Still threatened by an unknown witch with a vendetta against their bloodline. When he looked at Bria now her uncle didn’t see her as a vampire, strong and fierce. He still saw her as a helpless creature. A kept thing. And it soured Bria’s stomach to know that he continued to perceive her in such a way. Was that what Jenner had seen when he first laid eyes on her? Something fragile and breakable? Too pathetic to properly care for herself?
Take me away from her. Before I do something I’ll regret
. Bria’s cheeks grew warm with indignation and shame. She was
not
weak. And she wished that someone would give her the chance to prove it.

“I don’t know,” Claire replied. “But whatever happens, I doubt your uncle’s going to be thrilled.”

His overprotectiveness bordered on manic. It was a wonder he’d left the safety of the coven to seek the king out in the first place. “I never expected the tether to be so immediate.”

Claire snorted. “Takes the term ‘speed dating’ to a whole new level, doesn’t it?”

Bound for eternity to a male she didn’t know. It certainly was an extreme version of speed dating. Bria swal
lowed down the worry that gathered in her throat. “Is he a cruel male?”

Claire’s brow furrowed and she placed a comforting hand on Bria’s forearm. “No.” She drew her lip between her teeth and Bria studied the single set of dainty fangs. There were differences between the queen and other vampires. Her eyes, her fangs. Her very demeanor. She was indeed a mystery. “I’m not gonna lie, Bria. Jenner can be brutal. Not to mention intimidating.” Bria thought about his sheer size, the dark archaic tattoos that covered his skin. The sharp angles of his face, his chestnut hair, and the intensity of his dark brown eyes. He wasn’t simply intimidating. The male was
overwhelming.
“He’s loyal, though. Fierce. He’d die to protect Mikhail, or Ronan, or even me. We can add you to that list now, too. He’s not cruel. But to the wrong people, he’s definitely dangerous.”

Dangerous.
The one word encapsulated Jenner.

“Does he frighten you?”

“No way,” Claire said. “And don’t let him frighten
you,
either.”

Easier said than done. Claire had Mikhail to protect her from dangerous males. Would Bria be safe with Jenner? Or was she destined to live in fear of the male who’d tethered her? “He needs to feed.” She’d seen the bloodlust in his gaze when he’d burst into the room. The pain that marred his brow when his gaze lingered on her throat. She swallowed and looked up to find Claire studying her. “I want to offer him my vein.”

“You sure about that?” Claire’s incredulous tone bristled and a growl rose in Bria’s throat. “Oookay, sounds like you are sure,” she said with a smile. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t. It’ll probably help to level him out. But you’ve only been a vampire for a few days, and from what I heard, Jenner was a little out of it when he busted in here. Do you think you can keep him from going off the rails?”

If she was going to prove to everyone that she was a capable female, Bria needed to start by taking charge of her own life. “Yes, I can.”

“That’s good,” Claire remarked. “You’ll need to keep that attitude if you plan on giving this a go.”

“My uncle expects me to leave with him when my bloodlust is under control.” Already Bria had begun to master her thirst. What would happen when her uncle returned to fetch her? Her voice dropped above a whisper. “I don’t want to go with him.”

Jenner was brutish, yes. But also strong. Fierce. Two vampires, both built like warriors, had barely been able to subdue him. Even her uncle couldn’t argue that she’d be safer in Jenner’s care than hiding within their coven. In Jenner, Bria saw a chance at freedom. That is, if the vampire would have her. Tether or not, he could reject her. She simply had to make sure that wouldn’t happen.

“You don’t have to.” Rumors had circulated for months about Mikhail Aristov’s mate. That she was a heartless ice queen whose thirst for blood rivaled that of the first vampire. And that she could walk in the light of day without burning to ash. Some said she was a goddess who’d come to resurrect the race; and others, a demon who heralded their destruction. Bria had seen the differences in Claire with her own eyes, but largely, the rumors were false. Claire was a kind, strong female and Bria hoped that they would be friends.

“Thank you,” she said. “But the king—”

“I’ll take care of Mikhail.” Claire flashed a conspiratorial grin. “You’ll learn soon enough that these big, bad vampires are nothing but teddy bears once they’ve been tethered. Well, as far as their mates are concerned anyway.”

To have power over a male such as Jenner would be a heady thing indeed. He looked to be the sort of male who
would be mastered by no one. “I’d like to see him now. Can you arrange it?”

“Arrange it?” Claire said with a laugh. “I’m surprised he hasn’t knocked the door down again to get to you.”

“This is a monumental clusterfuck.”

Ronan wiped the remnants of blood from his nose with a damp cloth and Jenner groaned, the scent of it burning in his throat like cinders. He thought he’d known hunger, but that gnawing, insatiable need was nothing compared to what he felt now. He was weakened by his want. Crippled by it. Convinced that he’d shrivel up and die if he didn’t take the female’s vein. Her vein and her body—

“Hey!” Ronan snapped his fingers in front of
Jenner’s face, shaking him from his reverie. “I need you square.”

Square? He wasn’t going to be close to having his shit together until he fed, and Jenner had no intention of feeding from anyone but the female in the next room. “Who is she? What’s her name?”

Ronan looked to Mikhail. The king shrugged his shoulders as if to say,
The damage is done; why keep anything from him now?

“Bria Fairchild.”

Jenner’s eyes went wide. “Fairchild. As in . . .?”

Ronan nodded. “His niece.”

Jenner rolled his shoulders in an effort to release the tension that pulled his muscles taut. He’d been tethered by the very female they’d been paid to protect. This went far beyond clusterfuck proportions. “How was she turned?”

“Thomas brought her here just before sunrise, three days ago.” Mikhail did nothing to hide the accusation in his voice and Jenner cursed his own foolishness for staying away for so long. “She’d been injured in an attack on their coven and she was bleeding out.”

Jenner’s gut bottomed out as a rush of adrenaline raced through his veins. She’d been attacked the same night he and Ronan had met with her uncle. Coincidence? Had she died, Jenner’s soul might have remained in oblivion for an eternity. While he’d been on yet another bender, glutting himself on blood and eager flesh, his mate had been on the verge of death. He was a fucking bastard. A lowlife son of a bitch who didn’t deserve the honor of being tethered to any female, let alone one so seemingly delicate and beautiful.

“I’ll gut the slayers responsible.”

“Easy,” Ronan replied. “We don’t need you going all Hulk smash on anything quite yet. You know as well as I do that Fairchild is a twitchy bastard. We’re investigating his claims about the attack, though for now they seem legitimate and Bria corroborated her uncle’s story.”

“We know the slayers haven’t left the city,” Jenner replied. “L.A. reeks with the stench of berserkers. Do you think it was something else?”
The witch, perhaps?
“What reason would he have to lie?”

“He has his secrets,” Ronan said with a shrug. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

Ronan had that right. Hell, Fairchild wanted protection for his niece but hadn’t been willing to divulge the details of why. He could’ve lied about the slayers. Hell, he could have lied about the witch. Gods, if only he weren’t so preoccupied with his thirst, Jenner might be able make sense of all of this. For months they’d been vetting dhampirs, rallying covens to swear fealty to Mikhail. The Sortiari had backed off, leaving them in relative peace, so what reason would they have to unleash their berserkers to wage war on the vampires once again? Thomas Fairchild’s coven had yet to be contacted, but not for lack of trying. In fact, his meeting with Ronan had been the first contact anyone had had with the male in decades.

“Stop growling,” Ronan complained. “It’s off-putting.”

“I’ll remember that the next time someone looks at Naya sideways.”