Vein of Love (Blackest Gold Book 1) (23 page)

THE TWO OF
them entered the foyer of his expensive penthouse. She walked toward the dining area, picking at her lace sleeve and eyeing the kitchen with its stainless steel knives properly placed along the wall. Molly bit the inside of her mouth.

Her eyes landed on the couch. “How’s Illya?”

“He’s fine,” Tensley said with bite. “So, what did you want to talk privately about?”

She turned to face him. He stood by the doorway, one hand in his dark pants pocket, his eyes heavy and exhausted.

“Don’t waste my time,
Ms. Darling
.” His lips quivered when he spoke, and she thought of the hairpin coated in golden fleece that Cree had given her, the one currently secured in her hair.

No, no, no.

“Is it okay if I use your bathroom?” She mentally slapped herself for how weak her voice sounded.

“You came here to use my bathroom?” His knuckles grew whiter by the second.

She blinked, avoiding eye contact. “I’ll explain everything after,” she lied. “I just need a moment, okay?”

He looked away after a long silence, exhaling. “It’s down the hall, first door on the left.”

She nodded and walked down the hallway. The bathroom was sleek, with bright white tiles on the wall and a large sauna bathtub that would definitely fit more than two people. She paced, running her fingers through her hair, and texted Lance to be there in twenty minutes.

She could do it. She
had
to do it.
If she didn’t, she would be trapped in his world, in his society, and what about her family and September? They were in danger—his world was dangerous to them. He may not hurt
her
, but he would definitely use those she loved as a tool to get what he wanted. He’d done it before. He was reckless.
Sedate him, make him break the contract with Albert’s help, and be free.

“You can do this,” she whispered. “You
have
to.” She undid the first few buttons of her blouse, showing the tops of her breasts and letting her hair fall over her shoulders in large, playful curls. She took a deep breath and marched out of the bathroom and down the hallway, where Tensley was leaning against the back of one of his black leather couches.

“What took you so long?” he muttered angrily, taking the cigarette from his lips. A gentle, curling tail of smoke expelled from them. His forehead wrinkled when he did a double take, scanning her exposed skin and messy hair.

She swallowed. “You smoke?”

He hiked a dark brow. “When did you start caring?”

She stared back; something seemed off with him. Agitated, upset even…

He held the cigarette between his index and middle fingers and watched her. “What do you want, Molly?” His voice was low, and a hint of irritation weaved through it.

Do it now.
She reached up to her sunglasses and removed them, letting them hit the ground. When her eyes met his, he froze. “I want you,” she said.

He cocked his head to the side. “You want
me?
” He sounded arrogant, but also a bit suspicious.

She moved slowly, each click of her high heels echoing in the silent apartment. She stood in front of him, running a finger along his bare arm, and jumped at the unexpected jolt of energy from the touch. Her cool expression faltered, heat rolling up her chest, leaving her skin blotchy, but she collected herself and continued gliding her finger along his muscular arm. She used her legs to spread his apart. She placed her trembling hands on his firm chest, pressing her entire length against his.

Just give him a taste, then attack.

“Don’t you want me?” She fluttered her lashes at him.

He eyed her.

She worried it wasn’t working; he hadn’t touched her back. It was like feeling up a damn statue. As stupid as it was, embarrassment took over her. As she straightened up, humiliated, Tensley touched her wrist.

His touch sent energy through her veins.

Oh, oh god.

His lips grazed her cheeks, then her throat. When he tugged her completely against him,
she could feel his rigid need beneath her.
An intense heat coiled between her legs.

His hands roamed her back, up to her hairline, and she began to panic.
The hairpin.

She pushed his chest and he breathed in sharply, lips swollen and puckered. He stood to his full height and towered over her, prowling closer as she backed into the nearest wall.

She hit it and prayed he couldn’t see how rapidly her chest rose and fell.

He smirked darkly and leaned down to kiss her outstretched neck, pausing to look through his lashes at her. All air slammed out of her lungs as she felt the familiar pull to him, like a siren, calling her to press her body against his and let him devour her.

Just a taste…

His lips found the same feverish skin as before. She let out a moan, startled by how expertly his mouth nibbled against her neck. Her body couldn't help but curve into his. She could feel his length hardening as he lowered his mouth to the tops of her breasts, then lower as his hands caressed every inch of her sides. Her core tightened when his head leveled with her crotch, sitting on his knees, his hands gripping her thighs tightly.

“
Don’t move
,” he warned when her legs grew restless as he lifted her skirt, revealing her white panties.

She knew he could hear her pounding heart rattling against her ribcage. She rolled her bottom lip in her mouth just as he pulled her legs apart and pressed his mouth against her center. His hot breath against her most sensitive spot was enough to make her moan greedily.

His tongue swirled over the damp panties gently at first. “So fucking wet…” he murmured against her, and even his voice caused a ripple of leg-clenching pleasure. Her hands gripped his broad shoulders. The energy pulsed in her veins. He kissed her inner thigh, and his fingers pushed aside her panties. She watched him eye her exposed, wet sex, his tongue darting out to lick the corner of his lips.

“I’m going to love eating you out,
sweetheart
.”

She whimpered softly, the need in her sex throbbing for him to continue.

He looked like he wanted to devour her.

And come back for seconds.

Hell, she wouldn’t mind thirds.

He glanced up at her for a moment, a slow seductive smile taking over, and before she could say anything, he buried his head into her sex and plunged his tongue deeper and deeper.

Oh god, no one’s ever done this.

“Tensley
—oh, Tensley
,”
she moaned. Her hands found his hair and tugged.

He kissed her mound, moving his way back onto his feet to begin his assault on her outstretched neck.

No, no she had to stop.

She had to do it
now
.

She slid her hand into her hair and pulled the hairpin free. Her arm curled around his right shoulder to thrust it deep into his exposed shoulder blade. He gasped into her ear, staggering back.

“What the—” He reached for the hairpin, wrenching it from his back. The red-stained dagger slid from his weak grasp, clanking against the floor. “What—
what did you do?
” His nostrils flared.

She breathed unevenly. “I had to,” she said, her entire body flat against the wall, attempting to flatten her skirt and increase her distance from him.

Why wasn’t the poison working?

His rage began in waves, emitting off him as it grew. “You just had to fucking seduce me and then stab me in the back?” He gestured at her legs and then to her face.

He paced in front of her, gripping the back of the closest couch.

Tensley tsked. “All you ever do is piss me off. Or is that your edge? Time to piss off Tensley again! Test his fucking limits. I’m getting this close”—he showed her his thumb and pointer finger almost pressed together, emphasizing his frustration—“to losing my fucking temper with you, and I don’t play nice. I get even.”

He shook his head at her, like she was a stupid little girl.

Oh, did I have news for him.

She straightened her posture in front of him. “It was laced with golden fleece.”

The squeak of his fingers clutching the leather couch made her heart pound faster. He knew exactly what golden fleece was.

“Tensley, I don’t want to fight you. I want you to
cooperate.
”

That didn’t seem to help. He kicked the couch with such force it went sliding across the room, sending paintings and vases shattering to the ground when it collided with the opposite wall. She stared at the shattered mess on his hardwood floor and he rushed toward her, a snarl leaving his lips.

She darted out of the way, tripping and righting herself against an armoire in the hall. His footsteps pounded after her and she turned, fist connecting so hard with his jaw that the crack sounded like a whip. A growl left his pursed lips and he charged, slamming her against the wall. More artwork fell.

The poison isn’t working!

“Tensley, don’t—don’t.”

His hands grasped both of her forearms and shook her. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Fight him!

She tried to wiggle out of his tight grip, but that only angered him more and he pressed her against the wall, trapping her with his strong frame.

“Tensley,” she said, attempting to elbow him in the side. “Don’t! I don’t want to hurt you!”

“Don’t?” His yelling didn’t match his actions as his grip weakened immensely. She could see the emotions battling on his stony features, wanting to hurt her, but keeping himself at bay. He let go and his hands landed on either side of her head, body leaning forward. She gasped at the closeness of his chest pressing into hers; his arms shook uncontrollably.

It was working—the poison was weakening him.

“You’ll regret this, Molly.” He struggled to get the words out.

“I think you’re wrong, Tensley,” she said, freezing him with her naked eyes.

Tensley’s knees gave out, hands weakly grasping at her sleeves, at her fingertips, until he collapsed in front of her. He coughed viciously, eyes struggling to stay open as he fought the golden fleece to the very end.

She watched as he went unconscious and his fingers sprawled, loose.

He didn’t move. Neither did she.

She’d taken down the monster.

MOLLY PACED IN
front of Tensley’s unconscious body, checking her phone for a text or phone call, anything from Albert saying he couldn’t make it or was backing out or that he was there.

Anything.

She yanked at her hair, eyeing his body.

Should I tie him up? Or leave him there? Oh god.

She snatched a cushion from his couch and placed it underneath his head, smoothing back his soaked hair.

“I’m sorry, Tensley,” she whispered. “It’s for the b—”

The knock at the door made Molly jolt.
Albert.

Molly pushed herself off the ground and rushed to the door.

This is my chance, our chance of getting rid of the contract without anyone dying.

She threw open the door and all her nerves fired up at the sight of Cree. Her hand shot back to slam it shut, but just as it was about to close, Cree shoved it open. He gripped her by her shoulder and just as she went to shove him out, he aimed a gun at Tensley’s motionless body.

Shit.

“Well, you completed the first step: sedate him,” Cree said, glaring at Tensley. Molly shook her shoulder, but Cree’s fingers dug so deep she recoiled and yelped. He yanked her closer. “You so much as try anything, lift one of your fingers, and I’ll shoot him all the way up his spine.”

Molly shook. She wanted to scream, wanted to shove Cree, but he had the power. “H-how did you know?”

Cree arched a brow. “You were paper thin last night. I knew you would back out, just didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to try it on your own.”

Molly glared at the side of his face and wondered how this was the same guy from the bar.

“We got the bastard,” Freya said as she moved behind Molly, hitting her in the process. Ryan followed after.

Cree gripped Molly’s bicep and walked out the door. “Good. You blacked out the surveillance for the next five minutes?”

Ryan nodded, too busy staring at the unconscious Tensley. “So you’re the big bad—”

“C’mon.” Cree pushed Molly forward, the gun now jabbed into her side. “We’re doing it my way. Got a demon to break.”

Molly squeezed her eyes shut.

What have I done?

MOLLY FELL BACK
against the dusty couch in Cree’s apartment above the bar and looked over Tensley’s limp body. His hands were tied around the back of the wooden chair, his feet to the two front legs.

Molly’s stomach twisted painfully as she looked at the nearby fire flickering to embers.

Freya squeezed Molly’s shoulder and reloaded the pistol aimed at him. “Good work sedating him; he won’t be able to protect himself now.”

Molly couldn’t tear her eyes from Tensley’s open mouth, long dark lashes, and relaxed jaw. He looked so utterly lifeless.

Her feet tapped the floor.

“So the famous Tensley Knight isn’t so mighty after all,” Ryan spat.

A few other hunters sat around the room, observing Tensley in his poisoned state, unconscious and weak. Molly swallowed, thinking of his last expression, of the fire erupting in those dark eyes as the poison took hold. A black hole had grown in the pit of her stomach and continued to expand the longer she stared at his vulnerable features.

I just buried him alive.

“Not awake yet?”

Molly jolted upward to see Cree in the doorway. He didn’t even look at her; his eyes were glued to Tensley’s crumpled body secured on the chair. Cree marched over and grasped Tensley’s chin, lifting his drooping head for a second before letting it fall again.

“Don’t do this, Cree,” Molly said.

“Shut up.”

Lightning flashed through the thin curtains across the large windows, and Molly found herself staring at her hand, the thin finger that wore Tensley’s engagement ring.

Molly caught Cree’s wrist and he gazed down at her. “Just hear me out, okay? It doesn’t have to be like this.”

Her eyes flashed up at the sudden groan emanating from the middle of the room; it was Tensley. He lifted his head with audible difficulty. His dark eyes scanned the room, landing on her. He parted his dry, flaky lips, but seemed speechless.

Molly inched closer to Tensley, wanting to explain, wanting to comfort him, but Cree gripped her wrist and sent her a warning look. “Don’t do anything rash, Molly.”

The hunters stepped forward and Tensley flexed, attempting to break free, but the golden fleece had drained any strength for the time being. He breathed unevenly, rapidly.

“What the
fuck
is this?” Tensley’s nostrils flared, and he glared at Molly.

“We’re the Hunters of Orion,” Cree said, approaching closer than the others and towering over Tensley. “I’m sure you’ve heard of us.”

“Nope. Never even been a blip on the family’s radar.” Tensley’s expression remained vacant, but Molly knew that expression well—he was a ticking time bomb, ready to explode. A hunter Molly didn’t know very well kicked Tensley’s ankle and he hissed back at him.

“
Don’t
.” Molly pointed to the hunter and he simply smirked and did it again.

Tensley cursed in Italian.

“We hunt to protect humanity,” Cree answered coolly, crouching in front of Tensley. “We hunt your kind, to be exact—your disgusting, monstrous kind.” Cree reached behind him to a sheath at his side. He withdrew a long, silver-tipped dagger and held it in one hand. “And we kill every single one that crosses our path. Like you, Mr. Knight.”

Molly furrowed her brow. “Don’t you dare, Cree.” Eyes shifted to her, all except for Tensley’s and Cree’s.

The sound of the gun reloading echoed as a reminder.
They’ll shoot him.

“You filthy bastard,” Cree growled as he rammed the brass knuckles he wore across Tensley’s cheekbone. It was a chill-inducing noise and Molly winced.

“
Cree.
” Molly stood up. “Stop it. What are you doing? I told you not to hurt him!” She reached to touch Cree and he recoiled.

“Sit down!” he shrieked, but she didn’t stop. She gripped his forearm and spun him toward her. Cree reached up and slapped her across the cheek, making Molly’s left eardrum ring like a set of cymbals. “I’m warning you.”

Her fingers fanned over the burning sensation, other hand still searching for the weapon. “Just let us go and it’s over, okay? You
don’t have to hurt him.”

Cree regarded Molly with a tightened jaw. “He’s not leaving.”

“What?” Her eyes widened and her heart pounded.

“Sit
down
.”

“No.” She gripped his shirt, pulling. When he went to hit her again, she snatched his wrist and pushed it back. Her begging eyes aligned with his steady ones and then his forehead swung forward, slamming her head and sending her flying backward. He went in to push her down but she dodged, raising her fists in a challenge.

Cree’s bushy brows furrowed and he glowered at her. “Naïve bitch.”

Freya kicked at the back of Molly’s legs and Molly sidestepped, only to move closer to Cree. He gripped her forearm tightly and twisted, and a hot jab pierced her abdomen. She gasped and focused her vision down, realizing that a dagger was now lodged in her stomach.

Cree split in two, then blurred together. “Golden fleece also weakens daemons.”

“W-what?” Her tongue grew too fat, too heavy to control.

“Unlike demons, it paralyzes daemons for a few hours,” Cree yanked the weapon out and released her.

Molly promptly collapsed on all fours, the dagger thudding beside her as droplets of blood collected in a puddle on the floor. She looked through her lashes at the hunters, the ones who’d betrayed her, and then to Tensley. He still appeared stony, but a muscle jumping in his jaw told her he was trying to rein himself in.

What have I done?

Her nostrils flared, suppressing a sob, and her heart hammered in her shaking chest.

“This is the only way,” Cree’s heavy voice echoed in her throbbing head. “Break him.”

Tensley spat blood and bared his stained red teeth. “You think I haven’t been tortured? It’s second nature to me.”

Cree stayed silent and Molly wondered what he was debating as she tried to drag herself toward the dagger where it lay on the floor near Tensley’s feet, covered in her blood.

When she reached for it, Cree’s combat boot suddenly appeared and stomped on her hand. She cried out, but not from the pain—she
knew
it should hurt, but she felt nothing. The paralysis was kicking in.

“What about her? You don’t mind if she takes your torture, right?” Cree continued, lifting his boot to clobber Molly’s hand again.

Tensley’s mouth twitched, but he held the mask steady. “You won’t hurt her. You think I didn’t know she was in Brooklyn? I planned for this. Last time
I
heard, your kind frowned upon hurting innocent people.”

“Collateral damage.” Cree’s husky laugh vibrated above Molly’s head, and he decided to kick her in the face instead. Blood gushed from her nose and ran in streams down her face, hitting her hands and the floorboards. “If you weren’t interested in him, Molly, you’d have let me destroy him ages ago. You just wanted in his pants, you filthy puta.”

Tensley hissed, as if he felt her pain. Molly swallowed blood and coughed.

“If you touch her again, I’ll rip your spinal cord out through your mouth,” Tensley said in a voice that was low and strangled.

“Did I strike a nerve?” Cree laughed bluntly and gripped her by the hair, dragging her weak limbs forward. “Does it bother you that she went looking for me, wanting to get rid of you?” Tensley didn’t make eye contact with Molly, instead focusing on Cree.

Tensley narrowed his eyes. “Who are you?”

Cree tightened his grip on Molly’s curls. “Alejandro Cree.”

Tensley went as stiff as a board, nostrils flaring as he twisted against the ropes with renewed vigor.

Cree let out a bitter chuckle. “You know who I am. You know what your family
did
. Your brother killed my sister.
Nina.
”

“No, he fucking didn’t,” Tensley ground out. “Fallen killed her. You know why? Because she wanted to control my brother, she wanted him to love her, and he wanted so badly to be like you
fucking
bastards, that he
let
her control him.”

Cree jerked Molly’s head around like she was a ragdoll, and she could only lay there. Tensley’s gaze flickered to her for a brief moment, and it seemed to say
Hold on. Just hold on.

“She made my brother grow a heart—the ultimate sin of a demon,” Tensley argued, shifting in the chair. “And then she got pregnant,
out
of wedlock. She knew what she was doing to him, what the risks were, what she was doing to herself. My brother tried to protect her from Fallen.”

“You’re lying! You’re lying!” The calmness that usually hovered in Cree’s eyes was gone—they were wild and unhinged.

“Fallen killed her and the unborn child for breaking our law, preventing any chance of creating a weak offspring, and then he murdered my brother by cutting out his heart and leaving him as the
true
definition of what you fuckers call a demon.”

Cree released Molly and she crashed next to Tensley’s feet. She could barely keep her eyes open. Just when she thought it was over, Cree’s combat boot slammed into her ribcage and she wheezed, the aching pain throbbing in her bones.

“You fucker!” Tensley strained against the ropes. “You’re going to kill her!”

Cree laughed. “That’s the point.” Cree gave one final kick, this time to Molly’s chest. Her lungs exploded, blood spraying from her nose and mouth and trickling down her hairline.

“No daemon, no marriage, no mixing of breeds. No threat against humanity.”

“You wanted to kill her too,” Tensley murmured at the same moment Molly thought it. “That was your plan from the moment she told you what she was.”