Dakota Rebel Mitch

A Total-E-Bound Publication

www.total-e-bound.com

Mitch
ISBN # 978-1-907010-14-9
©Copyright Dakota Rebel 2009
Cover Art by Lyn Taylor ©Copyright April 2009
Edited by Michele Paulin
Total-E-Bound Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination
and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or
places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form,
whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of
the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound
Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil
proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs
and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator
of the artwork.

Published in 2009 by Total-E-Bound Publishing 1 The Corner, Faldingworth Road,
Spridlington, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, LN8 2DE, UK.

Warning: This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature
readers. This story has been rated Total-e-burning.

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Dakota Rebel

Dedication

To the ones who believed in Mitch.

And to my daddy, who always believed in me.

XoXoXo

Dakota Rebel

Trademarks Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following
wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Mustang: Ford Motor Company
Glock: Glock, Inc.
Captain America: MVL Rights LLC
Marta Stewart: Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.
Armani: GA Modefine S.A. Corporation
Sharpie: Sanford, L.P. Newell Operating Company

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Dakota Rebel

Chapter One

It was the annual Masked Ball at Torque, the hottest gay bar in the Detroit area, and

every gay man in the state would be making his way to downtown Ferndale to partake in the

debauchery they would have normally shied away from. Not only was I included in that

group, I often felt like this party had been created just for me.

So much of my life was about rules, regulations and protocol that there never seemed to

be any room for fun. True, I had chosen to join the Army at eighteen, I had decided to

become a bounty hunter, I had agreed to become a federal marshal after an early Army

retirement, and I had let obligations force me to grow up faster than I would have liked. At

twenty-nine, my life was more structured than I had ever thought it would be.

But the night of the Masked Ball, those responsibilities melted away. The minute my

black satin mask slipped over my face, I was no longer Mitch Baine, federal marshal and

bounty hunter extraordinaire. I became Mitch Baine, wanton homosexual sex god. At least, in

my head, I did. In all honesty, most years, I ended up just standing at the bar and drinking a

ton of beer then calling a cab and passing out on my couch. Alone. But sex god sounded so

much better.

I swore to myself as I swiped the last line of black across my eyes, this time, I would

meet some hot young thing at the party. I pulled the mask over my face, admiring the

contrast of the blue iris set against the kohl makeup I would never admit to wearing, even

just this once a year. I was determined this year would be my year. I would be the life of the

ball.

I gave myself one last glance in the mirror. I wore a black, button-down shirt, a pair of

dark blue jeans, and Cat boots. I slid the mask up so it sat on top of my head, not wanting to

frighten anyone on my way to the club. It would put a serious dent in the evening if I got

pulled over during my ten minute drive to the biggest party of the year.

I ran down the stairs and climbed into my brand new Mustang convertible. It had been

a present to myself after taking out a particularly nasty vampire three months earlier. The

government was nice enough to send bonuses to the hunters who ended up in the hospital.

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Since my hospital stay had lasted almost a month before they’d been sure I wasn’t going to

turn into a beastie, I’d gotten a pretty nice check in the mail. I’d immediately turned the large

monetary donation into a large, fast, shiny black car. The lifestyle didn’t always suck.

I drove the short distance to the club, parked in the closest parking tower and set the

alarm on my car. I had made sure to empty everything out since I would most likely not be

able to drive home, and I hated to leave the car overnight if there were weapons in it. The

Feds frowned on their marshals losing government issued toys. Go figure.

The line for the ball was wrapped around the block. I skirted it and called out to my

friend, Chuck, who was working the door. After we did the guy-hug thing, he reached up

and snapped my mask over my face for me. I smiled as he moved aside, letting me in the

door with much protest from the onlookers. I was a regular at Torque and never waited in

line.

The music was so deafening, it was like walking into a physical wall inside the club. I

looked around at all of the great masks, as I walked through the room, shaking hands with

strangers and friends masquerading as strangers. I made my way to the bar, buying an

overpriced beer and turning to watch the crowd.

The masks got more elaborate every year. And many people had opted for costumes as

well. Rather than looking like a Halloween party, the effect was beautiful. An artistic

collection of men in various stages of dress and undress, dancing in time to the music, with

feather boas and sequined masks flowing around them. It was amazing.

I was halfway through my second beer when I realised I was doing exactly what I’d

sworn I wouldn’t. I drained the bottle and made my way to the dance floor. There would be

no wallflowering for me. I pushed my way towards the centre of the floor, heading for the

opposite side, but I was grabbed around the middle and pulled into a throng of sweaty men.

No one was really dancing with anyone. It was more just group movement. We all

jumped and swayed with the thumpa-thumpa of the bass to a song I didn’t recognise. It

didn’t matter, nothing but being there mattered right then.

I turned, swinging in an exaggerated motion as the song changed, and bumped into a

man dressed all in white. From hair to shoes, he glowed in the overhead black lights. His

mask was simple nylon, plain and as pristine white as the rest of him. Even his skin had a

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translucent quality that gleamed. My mind screamed ‘vampire’ while my cock twitched in its

own reaction to the sight of him. Even with the mask on, I could tell he was gorgeous.

He smiled, and I was relieved to see that his fangs weren’t extended. If he’d been too

young to control himself, or too hungry, I would have walked away immediately. I probably

should have anyway, but he was just so cute. Against my better judgment, or any judgment

at all really, I smiled back.

He crept closer, wrapping his arms over my shoulders and dancing with me. He was

the same height as me and close enough that, even in the black light, I could tell his eyes

were not a normal colour. I strained to make out the colour, but I just couldn’t figure it out.

He must have confused my interest in his eyes as interest in him because he leaned forward,

kissing me on the lips. It was quick, just a short peck, then he pulled back. I was more sorry

than I would like to admit when he leaned away, but I was proud of myself for not attacking

him where he stood. Good to know those two beers hadn’t completely gone to my head.

He grabbed my hand as the music changed again, leading me towards the bar—which

was great because I needed seven or eight more drinks. I signalled to the bartender who

brought over two bottles. I reached for my wallet, but the blond had already dropped money

on the bar. He smiled at me as he raised the bottle to his lips. His blood-red, pouty lips. I

watched him swallow, watched the muscles in his throat move with the action. I wanted to

lick that skin. I wanted to feel that flesh move under my mouth.

I picked up my own bottle, draining half of it before setting it back on the bar. I was

way too attracted to him. Even if I was looking for a little rule breaking, I hadn’t planned on

hooking up with a vampire at the party. As a federal bounty hunter, I was supposed to have

limits or, at least, standards.

The blond moved towards me until there was barely a breath of room between our

faces. But he didn’t close the distance. He waited for me to do it. I looked into his eyes,

watching them widen slightly in apparent surprise as if he couldn’t believe I would be so

bold as to meet a vampire’s gaze. I felt a small trickle of power, like static electricity on my

arms, and knew he was trying to capture me with his eyes. I don’t think he meant me any

harm. It was probably just curiosity on his part, wondering if I even realised what he was.

Luckily for me, I’m immune to vampire powers. His eyes were beautiful but normal to me.

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I leaned towards him, closing the small space between us and kissed him. He placed his

hands on either side of my face, holding me in place while he ravaged my mouth with his

tongue. Our bodies shifted until my back was against the bar, and he was pressed fully

against my front. His erection ground against mine, and I knew I had to have him. It didn’t

matter what he was anymore. The questions were gone at the feel of him hard against me. I

wanted to fuck him so bad I was aching with the need for it.

I grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the back of the club. The VIP section, which

was really just a curtained-off section of the large room, would be closed for the night. No

one important would want to blow their chance at anonymity by announcing their status.

Larry stood in front of the curtained room. He was usually the bartender, but

apparently they were concerned that a lot of people would have the same idea I did. He

smiled at me, shaking my hand and accepting the large bill I slid him. He stepped aside,

giving us access to the private area.

I led the blond inside, pulling the curtain back in place behind us. They were heavy

enough that the sound from the speakers was muffled. Not a whole lot, but enough that we

could have talked if we’d wanted to. I didn’t know about him, but I had no interest in talking

at all.

I gently pushed him onto one of the sofas that lined the inner sanctum of the VIP room.

He smiled but didn’t speak. He kissed me while I dropped to my knees and unbuttoned his

pants. The angle was awkward, but we tried our best to make it work. After easing his zipper

down, I grabbed his cock while I sucked his tongue into my mouth, kissing him so hard he

must have thought I was trying to devour him.

I continued to explore his mouth while I used my thumb to spread pre-cum around the

head of his cock. It was so warm, and his cock was so smooth. I finally pulled away from his

mouth, kissing a trail across his chin and neck. He reached up his hand to unbutton his shirt,

spreading it open for me so I could continue kissing, licking and sucking my way across his

perfect, pale chest. I flicked my tongue over each of his nipples, smiling at the small

whimpering sound that escaped his mouth. When I reached his flat stomach, I put my hands

behind his knees, pulling sharply to slide him toward the edge of the couch.

I leaned back, letting him lift his hips so I could ease his pants down his legs. I stared at

his beautiful hard cock, glistening in the softer light of the back room with the cum I had

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spread over it. I moved forward, giving him one last kiss before lowering my mouth to his

cock.

He tasted salty and sweet, and once his head was in my mouth he felt even bigger than

he had looked. I rubbed the spongy head over the roof of my mouth a few times before

sliding further down his shaft. I knew I would never be able to take all of him, but I wanted

to try.

His fingers moved to my hair, gently kneading his hands into fists then back, not quite

pulling my hair, but the tension felt amazing. I continued trying to take him completely in

my throat, only managing to get about three quarters of him inside of me before I had to pull

back for fear of gagging. I moved my hand to the base of his shaft, pumping it in time with

my mouth. My other hand gently fondled his balls, rolling them in my palm and tugging

lightly.

His hands tightened in my hair again, not releasing anymore as I increased the speed of

my mouth and hand. I moved so fast that he was hitting the back of my throat. His hand fell

from my head as his nails dug into my shoulder, and he cried out. I swallowed quickly, not

wanting to miss any of his thick, salty-sweet taste.

I leaned back on my heels so I could look up at him. His head leaned against the back of

the couch, and he looked at me with a smile on his face. I was glad I had seemed to please

him. I stood, offering him a hand up, too. He tugged his pants back into place then gave me a

soft kiss on the cheek before fastening the button.

I turned his face, kissing him on the lips once more. He smiled, kissing me back as hard

as we had started. We fell backward onto the couch, with him on top of me, making out like

teenagers in our parents’ basement. Our hands flew over each other. I heard the buttons from

my shirt ricocheting off objects as he ripped it open. He repeated what I had just done to him,

kissing down my body, faster and harder than I had done to him, but that was how I liked it.

He tugged at the button on my jeans, then the zipper, then with the strength only a

vampire can muster, he pulled them off my legs as my hips flew upward from the force of it.

He looked up at me. His eyes were green, lit by his own powers. They were a mossy colour

with gold flecks. I reached my hand out to cup his face, and he leaned into it for a moment

before moving back to pay more attention to my body.

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He was not one for slow apparently. He dropped his warm, wet mouth onto my cock,

slamming himself onto me until I was completely encased in his throat. I cried out from the

pure shock of it. I had never had anyone take all of me in their mouth before. Most men

complained that I was too wide to do it, but the blond didn’t seem to have any trouble at all.

He drew up then took all of me again. And again. And again. He finally stopped

moving completely, letting his throat convulse around my cock until I came, raking my nails

into the sofa beneath me and screaming so loud I saw the curtains move. I think Larry had

wanted to make sure the vampire wasn’t killing me. Even if he had been, I might have let

him finish if it felt that good.

The blond released my cock, trailing kisses over my hips that made me squirm. My skin

was too sensitive from the mind-blowing orgasm to be touched like that just then. He

laughed, a deep chuckle that gave me goose bumps. I shivered, and he must have mistakenly

taken it to mean I was cold. He helped me pull up my pants, and I let him because I wasn’t

sure what else to do.

I’d never actually had anonymous encounters like that before. I wasn’t sure of the

protocol. I could handle the sex part no problem, but now that we had finished blowing each

other, I wanted to follow his lead.

Thankfully, he must have grasped the concept. He leaned over me, kissed me one last

time and headed for the exit. He turned back though, with that adorable smile on his face

again.

“Thanks,” he said, then he walked out the door.

I sat there for a few more minutes, giving him time to make his escape, and me time to

catch my breath. I was still sitting on the couch, staring up at the ceiling when Larry came in

and sat next to me.

“Dude, I ain’t never heard no one scream like that before. I seriously thought he was

killing you in here.”

I patted his hand and laughed. “Well, in a way he was. Damn Larry, I have never had a

blow job like that in my life. He was amazing.”

“Who was he?”

I shrugged, and Larry punched me on the shoulder with a grin. “Thatta boy, Mitchy.

Come on, let’s get you a drink.”

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“Aren’t you supposed to be standing guard or something?”

“Nah, I’m a free man now. Shift just ended. Come on, I’ll buy you a drink.”

A drink turned into about ten until we were both so drunk we could hardly stand. We

stumbled out of the bar together, arm in arm, singing at the top of our lungs. I’d spent the

last of my cash on booze because I had thought I could make the walk home, but as I looked

up the street I knew there was no way I could do it without getting lost. That meant I would

have to call my sister. And she would never let me live it down.

I pulled out my cell and stared at it for a minute. Chuck called over to me, asking if I

needed help, but I just shook my head.

I pushed the button for Reagan and hoped she answered. Which she did.

“Were you sleeping on your phone?” I thought I’d managed to say it without slurring.

But apparently I was wrong.

“You know, you’re not supposed to drunk dial your sister. That’s pretty skeezy, Mitch.”

“Look smartass, I need a ride home. Can you come get me without Mom finding out?”

“Doubt it. But I’ll just make up something, and it’ll be fine. Where are you?”

“I’m at Torque.”

“Of course, you are. Sit tight, brother dear. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

I stuck my phone back in my pocket and sat on the sidewalk to wait for Reagan. I woke

up to her kicking my boot.

“Jesus, you look like crap. What happened to your shirt?”

I looked and realised my shirt was undone. I reached to close it then remembered that

the hot blond had ripped off my buttons. I held a hand up to Reagan, and she helped me to

my feet. I stumbled to her car and eased into the front seat. She shut the door for me and

raced around to the driver’s door.

Putting the car in gear, she took off. The lurching made my stomach roll.

“Slow down, or I’m going to be sick.”

“You get sick in my car, and I’m making you clean it. Tonight.”

That sounded fair. Of course, I was drunk and obviously not able to make wise

decisions on my own. But it didn’t really matter.

“What did you tell Mom?” I asked, closing my eyes in an attempt to keep the car from

spinning.

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“That you were wasted and needed a ride home from Gay Fest. That’s all right, isn’t it?”

I flipped her off, and she laughed. “I told her something happened to your car and you

needed a lift home. Do you mind if I stay at your place tonight?”

“That’s fine.”

I must have fallen asleep, okay passed out, because the next thing I knew, she was

gently shaking me awake. I crawled out of the car and followed Reagan up the steps to my

loft. She unlocked the door, and I made it to the couch before falling over. I slid off my mask ,

dropping it to the floor as I laid down.

“You can sleep in my room,” I mumbled. “I can’t move any further tonight.”

She leaned over me and kissed my forehead. My eyes were closed, but I could tell she

stood there staring at me. I opened my eyes, and sure enough, she was leaning over me with

a strange look on her face.

“What?”

“Are you wearing make up?”

Fuck. “Goodnight, Reagan.”

“Night, Mitch.”

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Chapter Two

I shook Reagan awake at six o’clock the next morning. I had woken completely free of a

hangover and said a silent prayer of thanks for that amazing feat.

“Wake up, lazy ass. You have to go to school today. Mom will have my hide if I let you

stay home. My ears still bleed occasionally from the last time I let you skip after you stayed

over.”

She groaned but finally rolled out of bed. She stumbled hazy-eyed towards the

bathroom. When I heard the shower start, I was pretty sure she was really awake and going

to school. I dropped a twenty on her backpack before heading to the gym. She needed to eat,

and there was nothing at my place. I don’t know how to cook. So unless she was going to

drink beer for breakfast, which she was not above doing, she would need to pick up

something on her way to school.

I spent two hours at the gym next door to my loft, an hour with weights and an hour on

the track. I try to spend at least an hour a day running. Lycanthropes are fast little bastards

and a bitch to keep up with without hurting yourself. My talent for running has also come in

handy on the few occasions I’ve had to run for my life. So as much as I hate doing it, I run,

often.

Another thing I’m not fond of is coming home to find my seventeen-year-old sister

watching television an hour after school has already started. And yet…

“Reagan, what the fuck are you doing here?” She had fast-food wrappers and two cups

of coffee sitting next where she was sprawled with my remotes on the couch.

“I got you coffee. Thanks for breakfast. I was starving. Your change is on the table. And

you got a package. I threw it in on your desk.”

“Stay the fuck out of my office.”

I watched her sipping her own coffee, acting oblivious to my anger. I blew out a sigh

and took my coffee from beside hers. Little bitch. She knew how to get to me. I couldn’t be

too mad. I had ditched more school than she could ever conceive of, and at least I knew

where she was. I had done some pretty horrible things when I was supposed to be in class.

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So since she wasn’t sniffing, snorting or boozing it up at nine o’clock in the morning, I

guessed I could let her hang out and watch talk shows all day.

I took my coffee into the bathroom with me, sipping it between showering, shaving and

going into the bedroom to dress. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a blue tank top I liked to

think brought out my eyes to full advantage. Petty? Maybe. But I’m a gay guy, I’m allowed to

be.

I turned sideways to check my abs in the mirror. Nice and flat. I raised the shirt a little,

admiring the smooth muscle rippling down my stomach. I’d only started lifting weights

about a year ago, but it certainly had its perks. My arms were getting nicely toned, too. I’d

grown up stick thin, so muscles were new for me, and they didn’t suck.

“Damn bro,” Reagan said when I walked back into the living room. “You look like

you’re going cruising.”

“Actually, I was thinking about giving you a ride to school. What time does your

football team practise?” I smiled when she rolled her eyes. “Really Reagan, why are you still

here? Mom is going to throw the biggest bitch fit when she finds out I let you skip school

again.”

“Don’t worry, she’s not going to find out. She called the school and excused me for

today.”

I had to laugh at that. I’d pretended to be Dad on several occasions when I was in high

school. She was way too much like me for her own good.

“I’ll be in my office. Stay the fuck out.”

She stuck out her tongue at me but turned her attention back to the television. I hoped

she’d listen. I had a feeling I knew what was in the package she’d thrown in there.

The Army hadn’t issued a contract to me since my…incident. Due to the fact that I’d

cashed the bonus check and bought a new toy, they probably figured I was ready to go back

to work.

I closed the door behind me and sighed at the familiar manila envelope sitting on my

desk. I sat and turned it over, checking for the red wax seal on the back. A large Victorian V

was emblazoned in the wax. A vampire kill. Nothing like jumping right back on the horse

again.

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I popped the seal on the package and spilled its contents onto the desk. Photos, maps, a

few CDs and a smaller envelope tumbled out in front of me.

I flipped over the CDs in my hand, the pictures on the covers looked like a bunch of

seventeen-year-old, drama-class rejects. A band name boldly announced them as

Heartstrings. They all wore way too much eye makeup and dressed in black dress shirts with

black pants, and the requisite black trench coats. I couldn’t help thinking that the gay mafia

would vomit in their mouths if they saw these boys. I know the sight of their ‘look at us,

aren’t we hot vampires’ image turned my stomach a little—much more so than the crime

scene photos showing the cute one with white-blond hair standing over bloody, mangled

corpses.

The pictures were gruesome, but my eyes didn’t want to focus on the victims. No, they

kept travelling to the smooth line of flesh between the man’s jaw and collar bone. His eyes

looked so familiar, even in the darkness of the photos. There was something about him that

made me feel like I knew him. Something familiar about that skin, and that hair and those

eyes.

I picked up one of the CDs again and realised that the adorable man in the massacre

photos seemed to be the leader of the band. Not a good sign. I flipped through the papers

spread on the desk and scanned them until I found a band list.

Jarrod Axlerod, vampire, sixty-four years old, lead singer of Heartstrings. His brother,

Skip Axlerod, also a vampire, fifty-one years old, lead guitarist. Christian Jaquea, thirty-four

years old, werewolf, drummer. And Timothy Sparks, vampire forty-two years old, bass

guitar.

After another quick look through the pictures, I was relieved to find only one of the

band members was featured in them. I would have been pissed if I had to take out the

immortal bunch and their dog. One vampire in the public eye would be hard enough to kill.

An entire band would probably be the end of my career in the hunting business, maybe even

the breathing business. I was good, but I wasn’t sure anyone was that good.

I opened the smaller envelope that had tumbled out and found two tickets to Friday

night’s concert at The State in downtown Detroit. That gave me two nights to read up on the

hit before starting actual recon.

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I quickly scanned the brief and discovered the Army knew dick about Jarrod Axlerod. If

they hadn’t included pictures, I wouldn’t have believed he’d killed anyone. There were even

witnesses who said they had been with him while the murders in question were taking place.

But it’s hard to argue with a full colour photo of the killer with blood on his hands.

Though I couldn’t help noticing that not a single one of them showed blood on his

mouth. I searched for bite radius findings in the report and didn’t find any. It wasn’t like the

powers-that-be to send out such an incomplete report. It almost seemed like they’d based

their entire findings on the photos. Yeah, they were incriminating, but if you know anything

about vampires, you’d know, if these vics had been bled through a bite as the coroners

reports all indicated that they had, there should have been blood on Jarrod’s mouth, his

clothes or somewhere other than just his hands. Additionally, vampires rarely left behind the

amount of blood showing in the pictures. They were not such a wasteful bunch. It was too

weird.

I picked up one of the photos again, studying it closer. I had definitely seen his face

before. For a minute, I thought it was probably because the band was pretty famous, but as I

rifled through the rest of the photos a sick realisation dawned on me. I had seen that face

before, but I had seen it behind a stark-white mask at Torque.

I rummaged through the desk drawer until I came up with a bottle of white out. I

grabbed one of the pictures and carefully drew a mask over his eyes. When I finished, I

stared into the face of a serial killer whose cock had been in my mouth twelve hours earlier.

I swept my arm across the desk, knocking the pictures and CDs and papers into the top

drawer before walking out of the room. My hands shook as I headed to the kitchen for a beer.

I popped off the cap and took a big pull from the bottle. Leaning against the counter, I tried

to breathe deep and not pass out.

It had to be a sick joke. Someone had found out I’d been with a vampire and decided it

would be funny to play a trick on me. I knew that didn’t make any sense, but neither did

blowing a murderer in the back room of a club. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t known at the

time. I dumped the rest of the beer down the drain and grabbed my car keys.

“I’m going to run over to Torque and get my car. Don’t get into anything,” I said on my

way out the door.

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It looked like it was about to rain, but I hoped the fresh air would clear my head a little.

I tried not to think about the previous night, but as I turned the corner and saw the Torque

sign still lit up against the grey sky, I couldn’t help remembering how amazing it had been.

I’d gone to the Masked Ball wanting anonymous sex and debauchery. I’d gotten it, and then

some.

I climbed into my car, which was thankfully right where I’d left it with all the windows

intact, and turned the ignition. I leaned back my head back, staring at the roof for a minute,

then screamed my frustration into the deserted garage. The whole situation was fucked, and

so was I.

* * * *

I walked in the apartment, throwing my keys into the tray on the counter. Reagan was

sitting on the couch, the TV still on, but she didn’t seem to be paying it any attention. It took

me a minute to realise she was staring at me and had been since I’d walked in the door.

“What?”

“Don’t get mad,” she said. She scooted to the edge of the couch and propped her

elbows on her knees.

“That sounds promising. What did you do?” I crossed my arms across my chest and

stared at her.

“Well I’m not going to tell you if you’re going to get all pissy before I even say

anything.”

“Then don’t start conversations with the words ‘don’t get mad’. It’s going to make me

instantly defensive. You wouldn’t say that if you hadn’t done something to piss me off.”

“I wasn’t snooping, honest.” Her eyes had gone wide with the excitement that only

comes from confessing. “But I had to get the phone out of your office—”

“You’re not allowed in there. That’s the one rule I have when you come here, Reagan.”

“I know that.” She waved her hand at me as if it didn’t matter. “But you’re the dumb

ass who left the cordless in there, so it’s your fault anyway. Now shut up, I’m trying to tell

you something. I needed to call Donna and make sure she got my homework assignments for

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me. But when I found my birthday present in there, well I didn’t even remember to do that. I

was way too excited.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. Reagan’s birthday was still days away, and I hadn’t even

started shopping for her, let alone actually bought her anything. She must have noticed the

confusion on my face because she instantly withdrew into herself. Her arms crossed, and her

smile faded as quickly as it had jumped onto her face.

“Sorry, I just assumed they were for me. I didn’t even know that you liked them. I knew

I shouldn’t have said anything.” Tears shone in her eyes, though I knew she’d rather die than

let them fall in front of me. I was completely confused by the sight of them.

“Reagan, what did you see in my office?”

“Well,” she took a deep breath, “the phone was on your desk, and when I picked it up I

saw the envelope sitting there and wondered what it was for because you never seem to do

anything normal and when I saw who it was I thought Mom told you how bad I wanted to go

and—”

My heart was in my throat. I held up a hand to stop her babbling. “Reagan, focus. What

envelope?”

“The one with the Heartstrings tickets in it.” I don’t know what she saw in my face when

she said that, but she looked as scared as I felt.

I just barely managed to keep myself from running into my office. I threw open the

door, walking straight to the desk with Reagan in my heels. The desk was clear except the

small envelope containing the tickets.

“Was this the only thing that was here?”

“Yes.” She sounded offended. “I don’t steal from you, Mitch.”

“I know that sweetie. I didn’t mean it like that.” I let out a breath that was half laughter.

I’d been so scared I’d left out the large envelope. That she’d seen the photos or the report on

Jarrod Axlerod. My body almost trembled as it released the unused adrenaline that had

flooded my system at the thought.

“Mitch, are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry to freak you out, kiddo.” I pulled her into a hug. She let me hold her for a

few seconds before wiggling away.

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“Don’t call me that.” She crossed her arms and pretended to be angry about it. But I

think she secretly liked it.

“So, you like this band, huh?”

“Smooth.” She laughed. “Yeah, I like them. Why the hell did you freak out so bad?

What’s in here that you don’t want me to see?”

“Gee, Reagan, I don’t think the Army would appreciate me letting seventeen-year-old

civilians paw through classified documents. Though, if you want, we can call Dad and ask

him, then you can feel free to have full access to my entire life.”

She deflated a little, which made me feel bad and yet superior all at the same time. But

fuck, she could be a real pain in the ass sometimes. She recovered quickly though, as per

teenage usual.

“So, who are you taking to the concert? I mean, if you didn’t buy the tickets for my

birthday, then you had obviously planned on someone using the second ticket. Who is he?”

I thought quickly. “Actually smart ass, I won them, which was why I forgot they were

in here. And I would take you, but the tickets state ‘no flash photography and no nosey

brats’. So, that sucks for you.”

“Ha ha, shut up. Who are you taking?” She wasn’t going to let this go. It was a terrible

idea to take my little sister on a recon mission. Just awful. But it wasn’t as if I planned to kill

him at the show. And this was a ready-made birthday present she would obviously love.

Fuck it.

“Happy birthday, Reagan.” I cringed as the most inhuman sound I’d ever heard

emanate from her mouth. Only teenage girls have the ability to scream, squeal and shriek at

the same time. It was blood curdling.

“Thank you so much, Mitch.” She threw her arms around me, kissing my cheek and

squeezing me hard. “You rock. You are the best fucking brother ever.”

“Gee thanks.” I unlatched her from my neck. “Now, go do something quiet. I need to

work for a while.”

“Yeah, you could stand to do some more crunches, your abs feel a little soft. I’ll go

watch TV.”

“Bitch.”

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Dakota Rebel

She laughed but left me alone in the office. I sank into my office chair and sighed. I

knew she was kidding, but I couldn’t help running a hand across my stomach anyway. They

weren’t soft, not even a little.

I pulled Jarrod Axlerod’s file out of my drawer. I left the pictures and everything else

hidden in case Reagan barged in, which she was sure to do at least a few times. And I wasn’t

disappointed. After about an hour she walked in complaining that she was hungry and I

didn’t have anything but beer and bottled water in my fridge.

“Isn’t my change still on the table? Go get yourself something.”

“Don’t you eat? Ever?” She sat on the corner of my desk, swinging her legs and staring

at me. “You’re not going to get fat, Mitch. You can afford to keep food here.”

I shoved her off the desk. “Fine, let’s go. What do you want?”

“I want a cheeseburger, fries and a milkshake.”

“You know, your ass isn’t going stay tiny forever. If you keep eating like that, it’s going

to catch up to you eventually.”

She stuck out her tongue at me. “Have you ever seen our mother?”

It was true. Mom was incredibly thin and fit. “Have you ever seen Mom eat garbage

like that?”

She didn’t seem to like that answer much. She stalked out of the room but left the door

open. I was stuck taking her to lunch. It would serve her right if I just drove her home.

Maybe if I were a little more strict with her, she would stop acting like such a spoiled brat.

Then again, I’d always been that way, too, so there was probably no hope for her at all.

* * * *

Twenty minutes later, I was home again with a pissed off teenager not speaking to me.

Perfect. She was eating her drive-thru burger and fries, but she wasn’t happy about it. She

had expected me to take her somewhere and drop a fortune on her for lunch. I’d told her, as

politely as possible, to fuck off. I had work to do, and she wasn’t going to disrupt my entire

day.

I locked the door to my office so I could pull out the crime scene photos. I tried again to

pay attention to the victims in the pictures, but I couldn’t stop staring at Jarrod Axlerod.

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Couldn’t stop thinking back to the way his hands had felt on my body. How fantastic he’d

tasted.

I blew out a sigh and threw the pictures back in the desk. And since the report wasn’t

giving up anything new, I decided to just give up on all of it. This would be a strict stake and

run. Digging into the whys and hows wasn’t necessary. The army was supposed to have

done that anyway. All I had to do was kill him. And that’s what I would do. No matter how

fucked up the situation had become. That wasn’t the Army’s problem. It was mine. And I

would just have to make it through with the minimal amount of bullshit.

I was surprised to see it was after four o’clock when I finally checked my watch. Reagan

had been quiet for hours. That had to be a record for her. I walked out into the living room to

check on her and found her sitting cross-legged on the couch with my cordless phone

pressed to her ear.

I glared at her, which earned me an eye roll, but she took her shoes off my leather sofa.

She knows I hate when she does that, and I think that’s part of the appeal.

“Donna wants to know if she can have the other ticket.”

“No. And you need to call Mom and ask her if you can even go. Tell Donna I’ll take her

if you can’t.”

She stuck out her tongue at me. I smiled then walked into the kitchen to grab a beer.

Her voice followed me.

“Jarrod Axlerod is so fucking hot.”

Fan-fucking-tastic. My little sister had a crush on a serial murderer. Like brother like

sister, I guess. I leaned back my head, resting it on the cabinets and trying to hear more of her

conversation, but her voice had quieted. I closed my eyes, opening them when I felt her take

the bottle out of my hand.

“Mom wants to talk to you.” She handed me the phone before walking back to the

living room with my beer.

“Use a coaster,” I called after her. “Hi, Mom.”

“Hi honey. Thank you for letting Reagan stay there last night. Are you okay? You

sound tired.” I smiled. Mom put up with a lot of shit from her family. She’s spent thirty years

married to a spook, then her queer son went and joined up too when he was only eighteen

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years old. Not to mention her seventeen-going-on-eighteen-year-old daughter was a lunatic.

But Mom always worried about us first. She was our safe haven, the eye of our storms.

“I’m fine Mom, really. Reagan is just being a pain in the ass!” I yelled the last so Reagan

would hear me.

“I thought you liked it like that,” she called back to me.

Bitch.

“Reagan says you got her concert tickets. Are you sure that’s a good idea? She’s so wild

right now. You’ll have to watch her like a hawk. God knows what she does when she’s out

there on her own. I don’t want her drinking or doing drugs.”

I took another beer into the living room then sat next to Reagan. I couldn’t believe I was

about to talk my mother into letting me take my sister to a concert I didn’t really think she

should be at myself.

“It’s a concert, Mom, not the seventh circle of hell. I’m not going to let anything happen

to her. Honest.” At least, that part was true. I started to feel a little better about her going

after saying out loud that she would be with me, and I would never let her get hurt. It may

have still been a stupid idea, but she would be safe with me, and it would only be a couple of

hours at the most.

“I know, sweetie. So this band…Reagan says they’re brothers, like the Osmonds.” I

choked on my beer as I shot Reagan a dirty look. “So I guess it’s okay if you take her. But I

don’t want her staying out too late. Promise you’ll take her home right after.”

“Well, gee, Mom, we were going to hit a few gay bars together after the show or go

down to the docks and try to pick up some sailors, but if you insist I guess I can have her in

bed by midnight.”

“Mitchell Baine don’t get cheeky with me.”

“Sorry. I won’t keep her out all night, and she can stay over here. I’ll have her home

Saturday morning safe and sound. Okay?”

“All right. I love you, honey.”

“I love you, too, Mom.” I hung up the phone and threw it at Reagan. “You told Mom

that Heartstrings are like the fucking Osmond brothers?”

“Not exactly. She brought that up, and since it seemed like a positive thing I didn’t

correct her. Who the hell are the Osmond brothers?”

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Dakota Rebel

Christ, no one can make you feel old quite like a teenager can.

“She’s going to kill me if she finds out I took you to a vampire concert. I never should

have agreed to this.”

This whole situation had the makings of a full-on disaster. I watched my little sister

chug the rest of her beer and wondered if I was hurting her more than I was helping.

With Dad gone all the time, Reagan had started to look to me as the man of the house.

But I was too young to realise what was happening at the time. I just thought I was the cool

older brother. I could protect her and give her some place to crash when she and Mom were

fighting. But I was in no way equipped to be a parental figure. I didn’t make mature

decisions for myself. Making them for a teenage girl was completely out of the question. Of

course, by the time I realised what she had been trying to do it was too late, the precedent

had been set.

As she got older, I had at least been able to keep her talking to me. She trusted me to

pick her up if she’d had too much to drink at a party. She let me meet her friends so I knew

who she was with. So it wasn’t a complete train wreck. If I’d been a hard ass with her she

probably wouldn’t tell me anything about her life. At least, she wasn’t out roaming the

streets, completely out of control. Giving her some space and some freedom had probably

worked out in the long run. At least, it was pretty to think so.

“Dad called me yesterday,” she said softly, startling me. I wondered how she had

known what I was just thinking.

“Yeah, what did he want?” I was pretty cynical when it came to our father. He didn’t

dole out attention without a price. At least, not to me. Reagan was his little girl. Maybe it was

different for her. I doubted it.

I often wondered how he and Mom had ended up together. They were polar opposites.

Or maybe he had forced her to be that way. She tried to make up for his lack of…everything.

Attention, affection, even just presence.

“Not much. He can’t make it home for my birthday.” She tried to sound casual about it,

but I could tell she was disappointed. I was polite enough to ignore it.

“Where is he now?”

“He couldn’t say.” She rolled her eyes. “But he’s sending me a present. He wouldn’t tell

me what it was.”

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Dakota Rebel

“Yeah, he’s a secretive bastard like that.” For my eighteenth birthday, he’d given me my

first solo hunt. It was a shape shifter who had almost killed me. I think it was blind luck that

had kept me from being infected during that fight. Thank God, Reagan was a girl. If Dad was

smart, he would just send cash.

“Well, I’d better get home so Mom can lecture me about the dangers of sex and drugs

before the concert tomorrow.” She kissed my forehead. “Thanks for the ticket, Mitch.”

“You’re welcome. Drive safe. Meet me here tomorrow at six, and we’ll get dinner before

the show. Real dinner, not drive thru.”

She crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue at me on her way out the door.

Maybe I really was a bad influence on her.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

Chapter Three

Friday night arrived all too quickly. Reagan showed up at my house two hours early so

she could ‘get ready’ for the concert. She had walked in the door looking like she was going

clubbing, and I was absolutely horrified when she walked out of the bathroom an hour and a

half later looking like she was going hooking.

“You need to change,” I said sternly when I saw her. She wore a skirt that barely

covered her ass, boots that laced midway up her thighs, a halter top that left little to the

imagination and enough makeup that Heartstrings themselves would be jealous.

“I just did,” she called over her shoulder as she walked to the kitchen. I heard her open

the fridge, bottles clinking together, then she walked into the living room with two beers in

her hands. “Hey did you want to borrow my lipstick tonight? Or maybe some of my blush?”

“Go to hell.” I grabbed one of the beers, which she had already opened for me, and took

a big swig. I would never live down the eyeliner thing with her.

“Reagan, I try really hard to be the cool older brother,” I said shaking my head. “But

there is no way in hell I can let you out of the house looking like that.”

“Like what?” she asked, hostility in her voice.

“Like a prostitute.” I walked into my bedroom, shuffled through a drawer until I came

up with a black T-shirt then took it to her. “Put it on.”

She untied the halter, dropping it on the living room floor. I rolled my eyes before going

to get ready to leave. I threw on a pair of jeans and a tight white T-shirt, pretty much the

same style as the black one I had given Reagan. I threw on a light jacket to cover the shoulder

holster to which I had added my Glock to under my arm. After rubbing some gel through my

hair and messily spiking it, I was ready to go, too.

I was glad to see that Reagan had actually put on the shirt, she was as covered as I was

going to get her so I would have to live with it. I think what bothered me about her outfit,

aside from the fact that I was essentially taking her to work with me and didn’t need my

sister looking like a whore and drawing attention to us, was how fucking old she looked. She

could have passed for twenty, maybe even twenty-one, at any bar in Ferndale. Which, to be

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honest, made me feel older than I wanted to. She would be seventeen for another twenty-

four hours, and she could fucking well look like it.

Dinner was uneventful, except for the fact Reagan spent most of it on her cell phone

bragging to her friends about her ‘cool ass older brother’ who was taking her to ‘the concert

of the century’. I liked being praised, but I hated it when people at other tables talked on their

cell phone. By the end of the meal, I pretty much just wanted to kill her.

I tried my best to ignore her though, instead trying to think of things I wanted to look

for at the concert. Like security that worked for the band itself and not just the venue they

were playing. It was always helpful to know if the hit had someone watching his back before

I tried to drive a stake through it.

The list was short. I’d never had a contract on someone with such a public presence.

And since I’d already seen him naked, I knew how he was built. All vampires were strong,

but I had hands on experience with his strength courtesy of him lifting my entire body with

one strong jerk of his hands on a sofa in a back room.

I stopped myself mid-thought. It wouldn’t do me any good to think about Jarrod

Axlerod that way again. It would distract me from the job if I remembered how good it had

felt to be inside his warm, soft, wet mouth that night.

I desperately looked around for the waiter. I signalled for the check and wiped a bead

of sweat from the back of my neck. I glanced at Reagan who was finally off of her phone, but

she didn’t seem to notice I was suddenly sweating.

I paid the bill and we left. The drive to the concert was blissfully quiet. Apparently,

Reagan had already spoken to everyone she had ever met and could now focus on the night

ahead of her. Since it was her birthday present, I did something I try never to do. I walked

the line to the door and flashed my badge to the security guard at the door. He nodded and

lifted the velvet rope, allowing us inside before the doors actually opened. The people at the

head of the line loudly protested, but it didn’t matter. The door clicked closed behind us, and

we were ushered into the venue by additional security.

I’d honestly never believed I would use my badge for special treatment at a concert, but

I figured you only turn eighteen once, and I wanted the night to be special for Reagan. I

didn’t feel too bad about it. I was actually working after all so I sent her down to listen to the

opening band’s sound check while I grabbed a couple beers from the bar.

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Dakota Rebel

The bartender was obviously gay and didn’t try to hide it. He gave me the beers for free

and made sure to brush my hand with his own when he handed them to me. I smiled but

turned and went to find my sister. I didn’t want to leave her alone tonight. I shouldn’t have

brought her anyway, letting anything happen to her because I was flirting with the bartender

would be stupid beyond all reason.

I found her sitting at one of the few small tables that lined the floor of the venue. She

was talking to a scuzzy looking roadie. The heels of her boots were hooked on the rung of

her chair, and her legs were parted slightly. Not obscenely, but not the demure teenage

stance I would have preferred from her. The guy kept leaning in to talk against her ear, and

she kept moving back, trying to stay out of his reach.

Part of me wanted to walk over and sock him in the jaw, while the other part of me

wanted to wait and see how she would handle it. He leaned into her again, pressing his hips

between her legs. I thought my decision had been made for me as I walked towards them,

but she took matters into her own hands. I stopped a few tables away to watch her press a

well-manicured nail into the hollow of his throat. He yelped and walked away, rubbing the

spot.

She looked around, finding me standing there and smiled.

“Do you have any hand sanitizer?”

I looked down and saw her hand outstretched, blood covering the tip of her finger.

“Jesus, you bled him?” I handed her the small bottle she knew I kept in my pocket. I am

not a germ-a-phobe, but I sometimes get into some filthy situations. Better safe than sorry.

She wiped her hand on a cocktail napkin then slathered the sanitizer on herself. She

handed back the bottle, grinning up at me.

“Are you mad I didn’t let you save me?”

“No,” I said kissing her forehead. “I’m glad you know how to take care of yourself.”

“Yeah, well, you taught me. And you’re the best. Thank you so much for getting me in

here early. I know you hate flashing your badge around, and I know you did it for me. It

means a lot, Mitch.” She hugged me while I just stood there stunned. I was a little surprised

she had realised what happened. I shouldn’t have been. She spends enough time with me to

know what I’m like, how I think, and what I feel. I liked that we were close, but I liked it

more that she felt the same way.

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Dakota Rebel

We heard the crowd of people pouring in before we saw them. Reagan slid off the chair,

grabbing my hand to lead me to the stage. Security poured out from the wings creating a

barricade between the audience and the stage. The guard that had been outside earlier

recognised us and nodded, creating a space to allow us inside their blockade so Reagan and I

could stand right against the stage. She wrapped her arm around my waist, planting a small

kiss on my cheek in appreciation. I hugged her back briefly before she pushed away from

me.

I was secretly glad the guard had given us a little extra room. I didn’t like being in

crowds with a gun no matter how well it was concealed. And if, God forbid, I had to pull it

out, it would be easier without fighting thirteen elbows in the process of getting it free from

its shoulder holster.

It seemed like forever before the opening band came onstage. The theatre was so

packed, I became instantly glad I wasn’t claustrophobic. Even with the small area of freedom

the security guards provided from the rest of the pack, I could feel the bodies pressing in on

me. Reagan didn’t seem to even notice. She stood transfixed when the opening act finally

came on stage. I didn’t know their name, and by the time they were finished playing, I

wished I had never heard them at all. It was the worst kind of candy punk I’d ever heard. I

hoped like hell Heartstrings was not as fucking awful as they had been. There was no way I

could stand through another hour of that shit. I might end up just pulling my gun and

shooting Jarrod in the middle of the show. If I could explain it correctly, the Army might

even understand.

Reagan refused to move during the customary half hour break between the garbage

band and the band we’d actually come to see. She stood with arms crossed over her chest,

waiting impatiently for her boys to hit the stage. When the lights dimmed, I felt her whole

body relax. It was as if she had been afraid she wasn’t really going to see them, like it had

been some kind of cruel joke that was being played on her, but once the lights dimmed she

could believe they were here. She would only be a few feet from the serial killer of her

dreams. Joy.

I wasn’t really sure why the Army had sent me the tickets in the first place. I knew there

wasn’t going to be much I could do in the middle of a crowd of people. Despite my feelings

toward the music and my ability to stand through another hour of torture, I couldn’t actually

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kill Jarrod Axlerod on stage. I couldn’t imagine what I was supposed to learn from the field

trip. All I could do was be glad I could Reagan a great birthday present, no matter how

uneasy I was about having brought her in the first place.

I had known it was a bad idea to bring her, but when I watched her face as the band

walked on stage, I seriously thought about throwing her over my shoulder and dragging her

out. The look on her was that of hero worship. For a minute, I was worried she would climb

on the stage the way her body lurched forward. Luckily, I realised it wasn’t really her

throwing herself at them. The entire crowd had surged forward knocking one of the security

men into her.

The band started playing, making me turn my attention back to the stage. I glanced

around, but Jarrod Axlerod wasn’t up there yet. I stole another glance at Reagan who also

seemed to be searching. The guitar player, Skip Axlerod, caught Reagan’s eye. He played on,

but his eyes were glued to hers and hers to him. A blush crept up her neck, and once again, I

felt the need to drag her out of there. One vampire crush was bad enough, but if she was

lusting after two of them, I would flip my fucking lid.

Then Jarrod walked on stage, looking like God’s gift to pre-pubescent girls. He stood in

front of us, microphone in hand, staring directly at me. And I couldn’t help but stare back.

He was beautiful. That was the only word for it. I broke away from his gaze to look over the

rest of his body.

He wore black jeans that hugged his thighs so tightly that, when he shifted his weight, I

saw the muscles moving under them. His T-shirt was just as snug, gapping slightly above his

jeans and showing off a small waist. I closed my eyes, remembering how those legs had felt

under my touch, how his pouty lips had tasted against mine.

I shook myself back to reality as he started to sing. His voice was amazing. I hadn’t

bothered to listen to the CDs I had been sent. I hadn’t thought it would be necessary. If I had,

maybe I would have been prepared, then again, maybe not. The sound that poured from his

mouth was like nothing I had never heard before. If I hadn’t known I was immune to

vampire powers, I wouldn’t have believed anyone could actually sound like that. His range

was all over the place, one line would be sung as if he were Barry White, then he would hit a

note I couldn’t have managed if someone kicked me in the balls. It was unbelievable.

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I completely understood why Reagan was so infatuated with him. Hell, I still wanted

him. I couldn’t even imagine the thoughts he inspired in a teenage girl. Watching Reagan

watch him made me realise I never wanted to know. Her eyes were wide and glassy, her

mouth moving along with the words he sang, her body swaying slightly with the music. If

she noticed he was looking at me, she didn’t show it.

When the first song ended, Jarrod walked off stage again. He came back a minute later

and resumed singing. He looked down at me, winking. I wasn’t surprised when one of the

security detail walked up to me.

“Mr. Axlerod would like you and your guest to accompany me backstage, sir.”

“Tell Mr. Axlerod I appreciate the offer, but we’re fine where we are.”

I told myself there was no way he could have known who I was. He’d never seen me

without my mask, and even this close to the stage, I was too far away for him to recognise

me. It was just a coincidence that he wanted us to come backstage.

The guard looked shocked at my refusal. I got the feeling no one had ever turned down

an invitation backstage before.

“Sir, please.” He reached for my arm but stopped instantly at the look on my face. “It

would be in your best interest to come with me.”

“What’s going on?” Reagan asked, noticing us talking. Fuck.

“He wants us to go backstage with him,” I yelled into her ear.

Her eyes lit up, and I knew I was done arguing. The security guard smiled, also

knowing by the look on Reagan’s face that the fight was over. I seriously had to stop giving

in to her. But apparently, that wasn’t going to happen at that moment.

We followed the man up the stairs where he left us standing right next to the stage, out

of the crowd’s sight but much closer to the band than I had wanted to get that night. I could

only hope Jarrod wouldn’t figure out who I was if we met him backstage.

* * * *

The band played for a little over an hour. Reagan had stood silently transfixed through

the whole show. At least, I had given her the best birthday present she would ever get. I

could only hope we would both live to regret it.

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Dakota Rebel

After the show, we were taken to the green room with a handful of other fans to wait

for the band. A quick glance around the room showed me that the band didn’t seem to have

any security people of their own. I wasn’t really surprised. Three vampires and a werewolf

could probably handle a throng of screaming teenagers without needing to drop money on

personal bodyguards.

“How the hell did you get us back here?” Reagan practically shook with excitement. “I

can’t believe I’m going to meet the Axlerods. You are the best fucking brother ever!”

I smiled. I was glad that she was so happy, but I wasn’t entirely sure what we were

doing back there. Jarrod Axlerod saw millions of guys every night he was on stage. He

couldn’t have recognised me, and I wasn’t about to believe he’d invited us back because he

was interested in me, especially since I was obviously there with a woman. Reagan and I

don’t look enough alike that anyone could pick the resemblance out of a crowd. Most people

don’t realise we’re related until they hear us speak. We have the same smart-ass mouths and

sarcastic undertones.

The small crowd in the room became agitated, alerting us that the band had arrived.

Everyone had broken into groups, surrounding their favourite member. Reagan stood on

tiptoe, searching the room. She smiled, pulling away from me to throw herself through the

throng of people to our left. I sighed in relief to see that it was Skip she gravitated towards.

He might have been a vampire, but in my eyes, he was the lesser of the two evils.

“You seem tense.” I spun around to find the greatest of the evils standing there. Jarrod

Axlerod was about the same height as me, and I stared directly into his moss-green eyes—

green eyes I had stared into not even a week ago at the Torque Masked Ball.

“I was told you’re a federal marshal. Funny, you weren’t acting like one at the club the

other night. Is anonymous sex with vampires normal behaviour for law enforcement?”

“How could you possibly have picked me out of that crowd?”

He reached out and touched a shiny pink scar on my throat that was visible above the

collar of my T-shirt. The scar was left over from the last vampire hunt I’d been on. None of

my scars hurt anymore so I never really thought about them, but apparently that one was

dramatic enough that he could see it from the stage.

“It’s a little hard to forget a body like yours, anyway. But that scar is a dead giveaway.

Did you get that in the line of duty?”

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Dakota Rebel

“Yeah. Look, I really need to get going. I brought my sister here for her birthday, and I

don’t want to leave her alone for too long.” I don’t know why I felt the need to explain

myself to him. I didn’t want to seem nervous, didn’t want him suspicious of me, but I

couldn’t very well throw myself at him now. There was no good way to make the situation

less awkward.

“So what did you think of the concert?” he asked, ignoring my urgency to get out of

there.

“It was good. You have an amazing voice.”

“Thanks.” He smiled, stepping towards me again. This time, I didn’t move away. He

was so close I felt his breath on my face. If either of us moved our heads an inch forward,

we’d be kissing. I was concerned that the thought still excited me, knowing who he was and

what he’d done, not to mention what I had to do to him.

His hand brushed mine, that small touch bringing me back to my senses. I turned to

look for Reagan and saw her talking to Skip. They laughed, and I was relieved that they

stood much farther apart than Jarrod and I.

The room was less crowded than it had been, and I realised no one else had come near

Jarrod. It was just the two of us in our little corner of the room. I turned to ask him why that

was and found him grinning broadly at me.

“No one is allowed to approach me after a show. All of the fan club members who are

back here know that. Are your detective skills always this slow?”

“Not usually,” I admitted with a small laugh.

“I take it this means you’re not disappointed to see me again? Should I be flattered that

you find me so distracting?”

He certainly was that. Not only was he gorgeous, but the smell of him was intoxicating.

It was like sweat and old leather. He didn’t look old enough to exude that scent. He looked

like he should smell of candy and Saturday morning cartoons. Not that I knew exactly what

that would be like, but staring into his pale face with smooth skin, sharp dimples and

upturned, little nose, I knew exactly what it looked like.

He might have been a sixty-four year old vampire, but he looked like he might have just

turned twenty. If he wasn’t the most famous vamp since Dracula, he’d get carded at any bar

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Dakota Rebel

in the city. For the first time ever, I wondered what ancient vampires used for ID. How do

you prove to the DMV that you pre-date birth certificates?

Watching him watch me, I realised that he could make me wonder a lot of things I

never had before. Like what would happen if I kissed him again? Like what the hell was

wrong with me?

“Mitch!” Reagan ran over, pushing herself between Jarrod and me and saving me from

doing something stupid. She didn’t even seem to notice he stood there. “Skip invited us to go

out with them tonight. Can we go?”

“Absolutely not. In fact, it’s time to go. Now.”

“Come on, Mitch! It’s my birthday, and I want to go.”

“Yeah, come on, Mitch.” Jarrod put his arms around Reagan, nuzzling her neck with his

chin. “It’s her birthday.”

“It’s Marshal Baine,” I growled. “And get your hands off my sister.”

Jarrod’s eyes widened slightly, but he let her go. Reagan turned to see who had hugged

her. A child-like squeal escaped her lips when she saw him. The sound was immediately

followed by a bright blush creeping up her neck.

“Holy shit!” She threw her arms around his neck. “You are so freakin’ hot.”

Jarrod caught my eye, smiling widely at me over her head. Whatever he saw on my face

let him know that hugging her back would have been a really bad idea. His smile faded

completely as he unhooked her arms then took a step back, out of her reach.

“Sorry sweetie, Marshal Baine is right. Maybe some other time. We’ll be home for a

while.” His eyes flicked back to me. “It’s a small town. I’m sure we’ll all get a chance to hang

out again soon.”

I sincerely hoped not. If my reaction to him got any stronger, I would be in serious

trouble. The best thing would be to stay as far from him as possible until I was ready to dust

him. ‘Hanging out’ with him would be a terrible idea.

Plus, there was no way in hell I would let Reagan spend time with the unholy

Osmonds. She was out of her freakin’ mind if she thought I would let that happen.

“Let’s go, Reagan.”

She stomped off to say goodbye to Skip. I followed, not wanting to be alone with Jarrod

again.

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Dakota Rebel

“‘Bye Mitch,” he called after me. I glanced over my shoulder at him, instantly regretting

the action when I saw the adorable pout he had on his mouth. It was a bigger struggle than

I’d like to admit to keep walking away. I wanted nothing more in that moment than to run

back to him, take his face in my hands and suck his thick lower lip into my mouth.

Fuck.

I was glad that Skip didn’t try to argue, too. He just shrugged, kissed Reagan’s cheek,

and stalked off.

Reagan didn’t talk to me the entire ride home, and I didn’t push her. The silence was

actually welcome after the volume of the concert.

When we got back to my apartment, she walked directly into the bathroom. I heard the

shower start and fished her car keys out of her bag. I was exhausted and didn’t want her

sneaking off to meet up with Heartstrings while I slept.

I went into my room, locking the door before I climbed into bed. I stared at the ceiling,

trying to think about anything but Jarrod Axlerod. The shower turned off, and a few minutes

later, Reagan’s voice yelled in the living room.

“Mitch, you’re such an asshole!”

So much for being the ‘best fucking brother ever’.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

Chapter Four

Reagan woke me by banging on my bedroom door at noon the next day. She stood in

the hall with her hand outstretched. I tossed her keys to her, and she stalked off without a

word to me.

She’d get over it. She always did. I thought about chasing her and making her talk to

me, but it hadn’t been so terribly long since I’d been a teenager. I wouldn’t have talked to me

either after being treated as so untrustworthy. I figured I would hunt her down if I didn’t

hear from her by the next day. I just wanted to give her the opportunity to come to me first.

I climbed back into bed. I knew I really should get up and go to the gym, but I just

didn’t feel like it. I had blacked out the windows in my room when I’d first moved into the

loft. More often than not it kept me in bed longer than I should have stayed there. But I was

never sorry about it.

I closed my eyes, with every intention of going back to sleep, but my mind had other

ideas. Jarrod Axlerod’s face stared at me from the inside of my eyelids. If it would have been

images from the pictures in my office, I might have gotten back out of bed and gone to work.

But of course, it wasn’t.

No, he stood in front of me again, his eyes locked on mine, his lower lip sticking out

slightly—the way I had left him the night before. In my mind I hadn’t walked away, and we

were completely alone in the room. As I had wanted to do at the time, I took his face in my

hands, ran my thumb along his razor sharp jaw and lowered my face to his.

He kissed me back, his hands gripping my hips, pulling me tighter against him. He

ground himself against me, making my cock harden in my boxers. I absently slid my hand

under the elastic band of my shorts and started rubbing my erection while I continued the

fantasy in my head.

Jarrod’s hands gripped my T-shirt, pulling it up. I moved away from him, my arms up

so he could remove it. He dropped to his knees, trailing kisses over my chest. He used his

mouth to unbutton my jeans, his hands tugging them off my legs, leaving me naked and

hard in front of him.

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Dakota Rebel

I started pumping my hand faster up and down my shaft as his eyes flicked up to mine.

He ran his tongue the length of my cock, his breath warm against the smooth flesh. I

shuddered for him, earning a smile before he took my head in his wet mouth. His hand

wrapped around the base of my cock, mimicking my own movements as he gently sucked at

my tip.

I cried out as I came in hot, thick spurts up my chest, my fantasy broken by the

unexpected orgasm. I lay on the bed panting for a few minutes, trying not to believe I had

just come thinking about a serial killer sucking me off, for a second time.

I grabbed my T-shirt off the floor and wiped myself clean, wondering again what the

hell was wrong with me. I climbed into the shower, knowing this had to stop. I couldn’t keep

thinking of him sexually. Yeah, he was adorable—okay, he was fucking gorgeous. But I

couldn’t drive a stake through his heart while thinking about him sucking my cock.

I knew I needed to focus on the case, but after getting dressed I realised I needed to do

laundry. And the floors could stand to be swept. And mopped. Plus, I couldn’t remember the

last time I’d dusted anything in the loft.

By seven o’clock that night, I had run out of things to clean. The apartment was as

spotless as the day I moved in. Well, every room but the office. The most attention that room

got from me during my cleaning tizzy was an occasional furtive glance towards the door. I

couldn’t avoid it anymore. I had to get to work. I grabbed a beer from the fridge and went

into the inner sanctum.

* * * *

I still sat at my desk six hours and three beers later, flipping through Jarrod’s file,

wanting to tear out my hair out at the inconsistencies in the case. I had forced myself through

them a hundred times, thinking that my own prejudice towards the situation was making me

miss something. But there didn’t seem to be any proof in the papers at all.

My phone rang loudly in the silent room, making me jump. I glanced at the display,

groaning aloud when I read the name flashing there.

“Hey Mom, what’s up?” I thought I already knew, but I asked anyway.

“Is Reagan still awake?”

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Dakota Rebel

Shit. Reagan knew better than to use me as cover without telling me first. That meant

she had gone somewhere I wouldn’t have approved of.

“Sorry Mom, she fell asleep about an hour ago. Do you want me to wake her up for

you?” I asked, knowing she wouldn’t.

“No, that’s okay sweetie. Can you make sure she’s home early tomorrow? I want her to

go to church with me in the morning.”

“Sure thing, Mom. Goodnight.” I hung up before the invitation could be extended to

me. I hadn’t been a big church fan since the priest who had baptised me spent an hour telling

me how I was going to burn in hell after he’d caught me going down on Billy Szuman in the

janitor’s closet my senior year of high school. Yeah, I’d skipped the sermons from then on.

I silently cursed Reagan as I dialled her cell. She picked up on the fourth ring.

“Fuck. Did Mom call you?”

“Where are you?”

I heard loud music in the background, along with people shouting and laughing.

“Look, Mitch, I’m fine. Tell Mom I’ll be home for church in the morning. With any luck

I’ll need to go to confession anyway.”

“Reagan,” I said calmly. “Where the fuck are you?” I wasn’t yelling, not yet, but when I

found her…strangling her wasn’t completely out of the question.

“I’m at Torque—”

“Stay there.” I cut her off.

“Don’t come down here. I mean it, Mitch. I’m having fun, and you’re just going to fuck

it up if you show up. I’m fine. Honest. Stay away from me.”

“What the hell are you doing there?” I put on my shoes, grabbed my coat and walked

out the door while I tried to keep her talking. I hoped she wouldn’t have time to leave if I got

her to stay on the phone with me.

“Well, Donna called and said Robbie told her that Billy’s brother Tony was hanging out

at Torque tonight and saw Jarrod and Skip Axlerod there. So we decided to come to hang out

with them…since I know them and all.”

I climbed into my car, cranking the engine and flying out of the parking lot. This was

getting worse by the second.

“How the hell did you get in? You’re a seventeen-year-old girl, for fuck’s sake.”

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Dakota Rebel

“Obviously you haven’t noticed, but it’s after midnight. I’m eighteen now. Besides, I

have a fake ID. And Skip had my name on the list in case I showed up.” This last was said as

if it were common knowledge.

“Where did you get ID?” I sped through downtown, swerving around cars and people

like a madman. I chose to focus on the questions I actually wanted the answers to.

“The same place you get yours, dumbass.”

“Lovely. Does Mom know that Dad’s still contributing to the delinquency of his

minor?”

“I’m not a minor anymore brother dear.” She laughed, but it was too high, too…off

somehow.

“Reagan, are you drunk?”

“What do you think?”

Perfect.

I pulled up in front of Torque and backed the car into the first spot I found on the street,

managing to scramble out without dropping the phone.

“Reagan, listen very carefully. Stay away from Jarrod Axlerod. Do you hear me?”

“Jarrod? He’s right here. Do you want to talk to him? Jarrod! Mitch wants to talk to

you.”

Fuck. I turned off the phone as I skirted the line outside the door to the club. I waved to

Chuck as he lifted the rope for me, ignoring the yells of the people stuck outside.

The music inside was beyond loud. As was usual for a Saturday night, the place was

packed. Wall-to-wall bodies pressed against me as I fought my way towards the back of the

bar. I knew the layout well enough to guess where Reagan would be. If she was really with

the band then she was most likely in the VIP section.

I nodded at the bouncer guarding the curtain in question. I knew him but couldn’t

remember his name. Not that it mattered. He wouldn’t have heard me if I’d tried to talk to

him anyway. He just returned the nod as he pulled back the curtain, allowing me entrance.

The room was dark and packed with people. They were all in their club finest, smoking,

drinking and pretending not to care that they were almost associating with famous people.

Their illusion was ruined by their constant glances to the corner and incessant murmuring

behind their hands.

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Dakota Rebel

I followed their looks and found Reagan and her juvenile partner in crime, Donna,

sitting with the Axlerod boys. I shoved my way, not at all politely, towards them. The girls

were too busy forcing Skip to pay attention to them to notice my approach, but Jarrod’s eyes

never left me. He watched me like a lion must watch a gazelle. I wasn’t sure if I should be

flattered or terrified.

“Mitch. How nice to see you again,” he yelled over the music.

“Reagan, we’re leaving.” I ignored Jarrod as best I could, which to be honest wasn’t that

well. He was far too beautiful to be completely disregarded. But getting Reagan home was

my only goal at that moment. Sexy vampires had to take the back burner.

The booth was so full that Reagan sat in a chair on the outside edge of it.

“Go to hell, Mitch,” she yelled. “I’m not leaving.”

“Yeah, Mitch. She’s having fun. Let her stay.” Skip slid his arm around her shoulder.

“You look like you could stand to have a little fun yourself. I’m sure Jarrod would love to

dance with you again. I hear you’re a fantastic dancer. Among other things you’re awfully

good at.”

A look passed between Jarrod and Skip that I didn’t understand and didn’t really care

to. I grabbed Reagan’s wrist, pulling her to her feet. She stumbled and when she had herself

steady she swung to punch me. I stepped back, catching her arm and swooping in one

motion to throw her over my shoulder. She gave a surprised shriek before starting to

struggle free of me.

“Come on, Donna,” I called back to Reagan’s friend.

“If I don’t are you going to pull a Hercules on me, too?”

“Now, Donna!”

She grabbed her bag and started climbing over Skip to get out of the booth. His hands

grabbed her thighs, holding her straddling his lap.

“Donna is not your ward, Mitch. She can stay if she wants to,” Skip said before pulling

her face down to kiss him.

“You’re absolutely right, Skip. I’ll just have her mother come get her instead. Goodnight

everyone, it’s been…” I didn’t know what it had been so I just turned around to leave,

running straight into Jarrod.

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Dakota Rebel

We stared at each other for a full minute, him smiling softly while I tried to decide if it

was a bad idea to knock him unconscious and stake him right there. I knew it would

probably make everything so much easier. But the moment passed.

“Stay the fuck away from my sister, Jarrod.” I walked past him, my shoulder bumping

his. I tightened my grip on Reagan’s legs so she couldn’t squirm away as I forced my way

back through the throng of people. Donna caught up to us just as I was walking out the front

door.

“Whoa there, Mitch. I wouldn’t think she was your type,” Chuck called after me.

I turned with a glare on my face. “The next time you let my seventeen-year-old sister in

here, I’ll let the cops come pick her up instead.”

“Eighteen year old sister,” Reagan whimpered.

I rolled my eyes and led the underage parade to my car. I wanted to get out of the area

before the Axlerods decided they weren’t ready for the party to end.

“I’m going to be sick if you don’t put me down, Mitch,” Reagan said softly.

Donna opened the back door so I could dump Reagan into the car. “Reagan, are you

listening to me?” I asked.

She nodded weakly.

“If you throw up in my car, you’re cleaning it up. Tonight. Okay?”

She nodded again, apparently too drunk to realise it was exactly what she had said to

me when she’d driven me home after seven too many drinks. I closed the door with a heavy

sigh. I got behind the wheel as Donna climbed in the passenger seat next to me.

I pulled into traffic, completely at a loss on where to go from there. I was wicked pissed

at Reagan, but I wasn’t taking her home to Mom. She was an adult now…of sorts. In fact, if

she had been out with anyone but Jarrod Axlerod, I might have even just let her stay.

I wasn’t sure how I would explain to her what the hell my problem was. I’d covered for

her with our parents many times before. She wouldn’t believe it didn’t have anything to do

with the company she kept. I couldn’t exactly tell her the lead singer of her favourite band

was a serial killer, or that I wanted him more than she ever could.

I glanced over and found Donna intently stared at me. Great.

“What?”

“Would you really have called my Mom?”

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Dakota Rebel

“Maybe. To be honest I was hoping you would just come with us so I wouldn’t have

to.”

“Are we going back to your place?” She sounded entirely too excited about the idea.

“I don’t think so. Where does your mom think you’re staying tonight?”

“At home. I have to be there by two. She knew I was going out with Reagan for her

birthday so I got an extra late curfew. But I’m sure if I called her and told her that Reagan’s

older brother wants us to stay with him because it’s too late to drive us all the way to the

house, she wouldn’t have a problem with it. I’d much rather crash with you, Mitch.” Her

hand gripped my thigh, startling me so badly I almost swerved into oncoming traffic.

“That’s, um, really flattering Donna. But you’re not my type. Don’t you think you’re a

little young for me?” I picked up her hand off my leg, moving it back to her side of the car.

“I’m more mature than you think I am.”

“I’m sure you’re very mature, Donna. But you’re still only seventeen years old. I don’t

date my little sister’s friends. It’s a rule.”

“Besides, Donna, you don’t have a cock.” Reagan poked her head between the seats.

“Shut up, Reagan,” I warned her.

“What is she talking about?” Donna stared at me again, her eyes wide.

“My brother,” she paused to kiss my cheek, “is a big queer. A raging homosexual.

Haven’t I ever told you that? He sucks more cock than you do.” She dissolved into giggles. I

pushed her back into her seat, not sure if I wanted to laugh or hit her.

“Put on your fucking seatbelt, and shut up.”

“That is so hot,” Donna whispered. Wonderful, my sister and her little friend could be

fag hags together. Her hand gripped my leg again, and I had to smile as I unlatched her

fingers. What a freakin’ night.

“Donna, can Reagan crash at your place tonight, please?”

“Sure.” She dropped back into her seat, seemingly unaffected by the rejection. “My

Mom won’t care.” She gave me directions and managed to keep her hands to herself all the

way to her house. Yay.

When we pulled up out front, I helped Reagan out of the car, made her and Donna

promise that she would be home on time in the morning, then I kissed them both on their

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Dakota Rebel

foreheads and sent them on their way. I just wanted to get to my loft, take another shower

and climb into bed. Teenagers were fucking exhausting.

I didn’t know what I would do if Jarrod really planned on staying in town for any

length of time. I was terrified he would pursue me, making it very difficult for me to plan a

surprise attack on him. Or worse, that Reagan would keep tracking him down, trying to get

him to pay attention to her until he up and killed her, too.

You would think that growing up with a gay brother would have given the girl a better

gaydar, but no, she probably had no idea that Jarrod would never be interested in her. Not in

the way she wanted anyway. I needed to finish the job quick. Before anyone else got hurt.

I drove the rest of the way home on autopilot. My progress report was due soon, but I

had nothing to say. I’d gone to the concert, studied some pictures, rescued my kid sister at a

club and met half of the hit’s family. Oh, and I had gone down on the hit in the back room of

a bar. That wasn’t really what the powers-that-be were looking for. And if another body

turned up before I made any progress on the kill, I’d be in deep shit.

I parked the car then dragged myself up the stairs. Once inside the apartment, I headed

straight for the shower. Scalding hot water had never felt so good. I stood under the

massaging head, letting it beat on my shoulders and neck, trying to relax into it. My muscles

were tense, and if they didn’t loosen up a little before I went to bed I would be sore as hell in

the morning. As the water started going cool, which happened pretty quickly in my building,

I finally gave up. It would take a lot more than water to ease away my tension.

I was drying myself when I heard a knock at the door. I tried to ignore it, hoping

whoever it was would just go away. I wasn’t expecting anyone, and I was pretty sure Reagan

was passed out at Donna’s. I sighed as the knocking grew louder. I grabbed my jeans from

the floor, struggling to get them up my damp thighs. I ran to the door, throwing it open just

as the fist was poised to strike again.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

Chapter Five

Jarrod stood in the hallway dressed in black jeans, a tight black T-shirt that barely

reached his waist, and a happy look on his face.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

He just smiled at me. His gaze dropped to my bare chest, and I wished I had taken the

time to put on a shirt or, at the very least, finished drying off. I certainly hadn’t planned on

being in any state of undress with him ever again.

“Jarrod?” He looked back up into my eyes. “Why are you here?”

“Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

“Do you really need an invitation?”

He sighed, pushing me back into the apartment with a hand on my chest. He followed

me inside, kicking shut the door behind him.

“No, but it’s more polite that way. You don’t look happy to see me, Mitch.”

“And you look entirely too happy to be here.” I hoped I came off nonchalant or, at least,

minutely apathetic. He looked so fucking good. What I really wanted to ask him was why he

still had pants on.

He smirked then started walking around the living room. He paused at a cluster of

picture frames on a shelf over the television.

“Nice family. They all look so happy.” He picked up one, studying it for a minute

before putting it back. “Why aren’t you in any of them?”

“I’ve been busy.” I sat on the arm of a chair and watched him take his self-guided tour

of my life in pictures.

“Some of these are really old. Reagan can’t be more than five in this one.”

“Don’t.” It came out as more of a growl than I’d meant.

He arched an eyebrow at me. “Don’t what?”

“Don’t talk about my sister. Don’t look at her. Don’t even think about her.” I was

halfway to him before I really realised I’d even stood at all.

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Dakota Rebel

“Calm down,” he said, turning back to the shelf. “I just meant that you’ve been busy for

a long time.”

Hearing him say her name had brought memories of the photos sitting on my desk. I’d

had a vicious mental flash of him holding her bloody, limp body in his arms. No, I didn’t

want him to remember she existed.

“You still haven’t told me why you’re here,” I said with a sigh.

“Maybe, I just wanted to see you again. You’ve run out on me twice since figuring out

I’m the masked man you…danced with the other night. I’m going to start to think you don’t

like me.”

“How did you know where I live?”

“Maybe I’m a good guesser.” He walked closer to me, stopping within a breath of

actually touching me as he had done the night of the concert. And just like that night I

wanted to touch him. It was harder to stand still than it would have been to just move my

hand a fraction of an inch towards him. This was like our first meeting. I almost moved

instinctively but caught myself before actually doing it.

“Or I followed you home from the club tonight.” His voice had gone soft, and I felt his

breath on my skin with every word.

“Why?”

He smiled. “You’re like a child, so curious about everything. Yet you’re so cynical and

so untrusting.”

He moved as if to kiss me, but I stepped backward, placing enough space between us to

secure my false sense of safety. The smirk on his face at my action showed that he knew what

I was thinking, that I knew I wasn’t really safe as long as he was in this room, but he stayed

where he was.

I had to admit to myself that I hadn’t moved out of fear but to keep myself from

touching him. I wanted to, but if I did, I knew I was done fighting. I would forget who he

was, what he had done and, worse, what I was supposed to do. I would forget everything

but the feel of him. The taste of him. The smell of him.

Thinking about the job helped clear my head more than moving away from him had.

The number one rule—okay number two—was ‘never fuck the hit’. Number one was ‘don’t

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Dakota Rebel

get bit’. Staring at him, I realised that this would be the first time the second rule would be

harder to follow than the first.

In a fight to the death, you don’t want any part of the monsters inside you. But teeth

and claws happen, it’s an occupational hazard, less so with more fleshy bits of their bodies.

Jarrod and I weren’t fighting, not yet, but he was still a danger to me.

If I just stayed focused until I got him out of the apartment, I would be fine. If I just

forced myself to remember what he’d done, then maybe, the urge to run my fingers along his

jaw would fade.

I couldn’t do anything about breaking the rule, but I could lie to myself and say that he

wasn’t my hit when it happened. I could split the hair even finer if I had to and say that we’d

never actually fucked. I knew it was ridiculous, but sometimes you have to lie to yourself to

get the job done.

“Hey, Captain America.” His voice brought me back to attention. “You look like you’re

going to eat me. And not in the fun way, either.”

“I’m just waiting for you to tell me why you’re really here. It’s late, I’m tired and I hate

playing games.”

“I bet I know some games you’d like to play.” He took a step forward again.

“I doubt it.” I walked across the room to the couch, as close to the door as I could get

without actually standing in front of it or walking out of it.

“You don’t know me well enough to be this afraid of me,” he said, watching me with

that predatory gaze again.

“You’d be surprised what I know. Besides, it’s always wise not to trust vampires who

barge in to your home for no good reason.”

“Who says I don’t have a good reason?”

“You haven’t given me one.”

He stretched his arms above his head, the movement pulling up his shirt to bare two

inches of flawless pale skin at his middle.

“Stop it.” My voice was weaker than I would have preferred. I was pretty sure he could

smell my desire for him, but I wasn’t looking to confirm it out loud.

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Dakota Rebel

He kept his arms up, bent at the elbows with his hands behind his head. I think he was

trying to give me his innocent face, but all I saw in his eyes was sex. I had to drop my gaze to

the floor, not wanting to reflect that look for him, not wanting him to see it.

He startled me by lifting up my face with a finger under my chin, forcing me to look at

him. I hadn’t even heard him move towards me. “I came here because I want you. Why can’t

that be enough?”

“Because you don’t even know me.”

“You’d be surprised what I know.” His voice was light, teasing. He ran his hand up my

jaw and through my hair.

“Cute.” I sighed, knocking his hand away. “Don’t you have a coffin to get back to?” I

wanted him gone. If he left, I could go in my office and figure out how to kill him. It would

be easier to forget his perfect skin and his intoxicating scent, if I could just hold the pictures

of his victims in my hands again.

“Dawn is hours away. Besides, you don’t want me to go. Not really.”

“You know, conceit is not attractive.”

“This is not conceit. It’s surety.” He dropped to his knees in front of me, his hands

gripping my thighs. I stared at him, my fists clenched at my sides in an attempt to avoid

gripping his head in my hands.

He rubbed his chin up the fly of my jeans, that smug smile back on his lips. Even

without my body betraying me, he knew I wanted him. I wondered if he knew just how

badly.

“Touch me,” he whispered.

I shook my head, not trusting my voice. If I touched him, I wouldn’t stop. If I felt that

thick blond hair between my fingers again, he would own me. And we both knew it.

“Touch me.” His voice was louder, stronger this time. “Fine, if you won’t touch me I’ll

just have to touch you more. Or touch more of you.”

“How can you be this old and still be such a brat?” My voice was just as soft and

cracked as I had expected it to be, but I was beginning to care less and less about how wrong

the situation was in direct correlation to how close he was to me.

He smiled so wide that his fangs peeked out from between his full, red lips. “Just lucky,

I guess.”

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

I wanted to kiss him. Even with his fangs in full view, I wanted to drop to my knees,

grab his face and force my mouth on his. I wanted to taste his mouth again, feel him pressed

to me, even if it was just one more time. My legs swayed with the power of that desire, and I

knew he saw it, too. He slid his hands around my body, cupping my ass and pulling my

jean-clad erection against his mouth.

He exhaled heavily, the hot breath against my cock making my body shudder and my

knees buckle completely. I put a hand on his shoulder to steady myself, my fingers grazing

the skin of his neck. I let my hand travel up his neck, wind its way into his hair at the base of

his skull and grip it tightly.

He had pressed his face against me again, his tongue leaving wet kisses across the front

of my jeans. He moaned loudly as I pulled his head backward, away from me, forcing him to

look up at me.

“Stop that,” I growled.

“Why should I? You’re obviously enjoying yourself.” His tongue flicked out, licking his

bottom lip. “Or did you want…”

He unbuttoned my jeans, his eyes never leaving mine.

“No.” Even to me the word sounded like a lie. Before tonight I would never have

guessed my resolve was so weak. I had never been seduced away from a job before. No, I

tracked them, found them and put them down. There was no room for fucking in the

equation.

His hand opening my zipper brought me back to the situation at hand. It didn’t matter

how attractive he was. I had a job to do. I was letting him distract me too much. I needed to

forget about that night at Torque. I thought I wanted to for a minute…until I looked at him.

I stepped backward, but his hands latched onto my legs again. I fell backward, landing

on the couch behind me.

“Much better,” he purred. He gripped my jeans and pulled. Before I really realised

what he’d done, my bare ass landed on the cold leather sofa.

I must have looked as shocked as I felt because he laughed. It was a great laugh, deep

and throaty, full of sex more than any real humour.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

He wrapped his hands behind my calves, gently pulling and urging me to slide closer

to him. Sitting there, near-naked and hard, I knew I had lost. I’d probably known it since I’d

opened the door, but arguing just seemed pointless once he had me naked and ready for him.

I stared into those moss-green eyes, so much older than the face that held them, and

knew I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t kill him. Even if I conjured the willpower to get dressed and

walk away, I would never be able to drive a stake though his chest, could never mar that

perfect, pale flesh, could never look into his face and watch as his life faded away.

I was fucked.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

Chapter Six

“Kiss me.”

His eyes widened slightly, but he didn’t question his good fortune. He climbed up my

body, his legs straddling my hips. I reached up to him, taking another handful of that silken

hair, and finally pulled his face against mine. His tongue pushed my lips apart, exploring my

mouth. I moaned at the feel of that warm, wet muscle wrestling with my own. He tasted like

a spicy candy, sweet and savoury all at once. I found myself wanting to taste every inch of

him again as if my memory of him wasn’t good enough anymore. I gripped his hair harder,

keeping him pressed tight to me while I enjoyed every second of that body and mouth on

me.

He sighed into my mouth, shifting his hips up so that he was on his knees over me, his

hands pressed to the sides of my face holding me still while he continued his exploration. His

erection pressed hard against my chest, and I wanted him. In that moment, nothing mattered

but the two of us and what I needed from him.

I let go of his hair so I could pull at his shirt, urging him to take it off. He raised his

arms, reminding me of my earlier fantasy.

“I thought you didn’t want me,” he said as I slid my hands up his ribs and arms, taking

his shirt with them then dropping it to the floor.

“I never said that.” I wrapped my arms around his back, fingers splayed to touch as

much of him as possible. “In fact, I think you know just how much I enjoy being with you.” I

placed small kisses across his chest. “Since the first time I saw you at Torque, I’ve wanted

you. Before I knew who you were. Then, when I saw you standing on that stage, sweat

dripping down your neck.” I flicked my tongue over his nipple. “And after the concert, when

you stood so close to me.” I bit him playfully, smiling at the sharp hiss that escaped his lips.

“I wanted to touch you again so fucking bad.”

Jarrod slid his hands up the back of my neck, sharply pulling back my head with my

hair and staring at me for a second before he dropped forward to kiss me again. I gripped his

shoulders tightly, my nails digging into his skin.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

I tipped him backward, easing us both to the floor so I would be on top of him. I kissed

my way over his neck and his chest, sliding down to play my tongue along the waistband of

his jeans. I started to pull at his zipper, but he had other plans.

He hooked a leg over mine, using his strength to flip us both over, leaving him on top

of me. He immediately slid down me. His eyes flicked up to look at me as he repeated what I

had just done to him.

There was no more teasing, no slow build up. We were past that. Foreplay had been

taken care of days earlier. He took my cock in his mouth, slamming himself down until my

tip hit the back of his throat then pulling back just to repeat the action, over and over again. It

was just as he had been at the Masked Ball. If he didn’t stop soon, I would finish long before I

wanted to.

I cried out at the feel of his throat convulsing around me. My hands snaked into his hair

pulling gently to try to get him to stop or, at least, slow down. He knocked my arms away

with his own hands, apparently not ready to give up yet.

“I’m going to come if you don’t stop,” I said, a slight growl in my voice. “Please, Jarrod,

please stop.”

He let my cock fall from his mouth then climbed back up to kiss me. He had shifted his

body so he was no longer directly over me but more to the side. I broke from the kiss and sat

up, exhaling shakily.

“Bedroom?” he asked.

I nodded, allowing him to help me stand. I led him to my room. He walked in first, and

I shut the door behind us. When I turned he pinned me against the door, kissing me deeply.

Our hands flew over each other’s bodies, touching whatever we could reach. Our tongues

wrestled so violently against each other that he nicked me with his fang. He tried to pull

away, but my hand on the back of his head stopped him from moving.

He ran his tongue over mine, the coppery taste of my blood filling both of our mouths.

He growled, the sound of it causing a shiver to crash through me. He backed away. His chest

heaved, and there was fire in his eyes.

“I want you to fuck me, Mitch. Please. It’s all I’ve thought of since you showed up at the

concert. I need to feel you inside of me. Right now.”

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

I kissed him again, leading him backward with my body until his legs bumped against

the bed frame. He slid off his pants, kicking them aside before climbing onto the mattress, all

the time watching me with a look of complete ownership. I stared at him and wondered if

my eyes looked the same to him.

Seeing him naked on my bed ignited feelings in me I don’t think I’d ever felt before. It

was more than just want or need for the man. It was possessiveness. I felt like I was claiming

him as mine. I wanted him to be mine forever. I wanted to come home every day to the sight

of this man naked and waiting for me in this bed.

The thought made me draw back a little. I barely knew him, and what I did know of

him was not good. There was no reasonable explanation for my reaction to him.

“Are you okay?” Jarrod reached out, taking my hand in his.

I nodded, not wanting to talk about anything just then. I kept our fingers intertwined

while I climbed over him then sat on his thighs, pining his hands to the bed with my own.

Staring into his eyes, I found myself wanting to drown in them. It wasn’t vampire powers—I

wasn’t really sure what it was—but he was so beautiful.

Before he could ask again if anything was wrong, I leaned forward to kiss him. I let go

of his hands so he could touch me. His fingers played lightly up and down my back, as if he

were using them to write secret messages on me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up

at the feel of it. I groaned against his mouth, inching my ass up slightly to grind my erection

against his.

Jarrod pulled away from my mouth.

“I want you,” he said again. His tone more urgent now. I was glad to hear he sounded

as close to desperate as I felt.

I moved off of him to get a condom and some lube out of the nightstand drawer. I was

pretty sure the protection wasn’t necessary. Vampires and humans can’t spread disease to

each other, but it was a habit that I wasn’t looking to break.

I rolled the latex down my cock then squeezed some of the lube onto my hand. I ran my

hand around my shaft a few times, making sure it was slick enough that I wouldn’t hurt him.

I crawled back onto the bed and looked at him.

“How do you want me?” I asked.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

He rolled onto his stomach, his ass even more gorgeous naked than it had looked in his

jeans. I moved over him, kissing my way down his spine. I used one of my lubed fingers to

spread his ass cheeks apart. I ran the finger between them and gently pushed at his opening.

The muscles tightened at first, resisting my probing, then gradually relaxed against my hand.

I worked first one then two fingers inside him.

He raised his hips as if encouraging me to hurry up and fuck him, but I wanted to take

my time. I figured it would be my last chance to be with him, to explore his amazing body,

and I didn’t want to miss a second of it.

He didn’t speak, only shifted occasionally as I fingered his tight hole with one hand and

ran the other over his back, his thighs and his ass. His skin was so soft, so smooth, it seemed

almost unreal. I had never been with any man who had felt as amazing as Jarrod did under

my touch.

When I was able to get three of my fingers all the way inside of him, I knew he was

ready for me. I pulled my hand away and lifted his hips, changing the angle of our bodies so

it was as if he offered that sweet ass up to me.

I placed my cock at his tight opening and slowly pushed my way inside of him. When I

had my head completely sheathed in his hot little ass, I pushed harder, forcing every inch of

myself inside. He groaned under me, but it wasn’t a pained sound. It was a sound that made

me want to pull him back against me, to force myself inside of him and fuck him as hard and

as fast as I could. But I resisted.

After a minute, I was inside of him as far as I could be. I let him adjust to the feel of

being stretched wide around me, then I began to move. I started slow and steady, sliding in

and out of him as gently as I could.

“Mitch?” Jarrod’s voice was soft and small, almost scared though I knew he wasn’t.

“What Jarrod?”

“Fuck me. Please?”

It was the please that did it. If he had just asked me to fuck him I might have held back,

tortured him for a few more minutes. But that small ‘please’ undid me.

I gripped his hips in my hands and did as I had wanted only a few minutes earlier. I

wrenched him back against me, so hard that the slapping sound of his ass connecting with

my own body resonated through the room. I pulled out and slammed into him again, and

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

again and again. His hands clenched into the sheets under him while mine pressed so hard

into his flesh he would have bruised if he’d been human.

My rhythm started to falter as I came closer and closer to orgasm. My balls tightened

against my body, and I braced myself for ejaculation.

“Stop!” Jarrod’s voice was so loud it shocked me, my orgasm backing off immediately. I

pulled out of him quickly, afraid I had hurt him somehow.

“What’s wrong?”

He rolled over, a smile on his face. “I want to watch you come.”

“You scared the hell out of me,” I said with a shaky laugh.

“Sorry.” But he didn’t sound sorry. He sounded highly amused with himself.

“You think that’s funny?” I said. I moved his hips and slid my cock back into him.

“No, it’s not funny. Fuck, Mitch, that feels so fucking good.”

I pounded into him again. It was much better to be able to look at his face while I was

inside of him. He wrapped his legs behind my back, using his feet to urge me forward to kiss

him. It was awkward, and my rhythm slowed, but neither of us minded.

I gripped his hands in mine again, licking a line of sweat that had rolled behind his ear.

“Can I bite you?” he asked softly, his lips almost pressed against my ear.

“Yes.” There was no thought involved. A bite didn’t seem like a bad idea at all. I was so

close to losing my mind that I might have let him do anything to me in that moment.

He bit my shoulder, and I came, screaming his name and gripping his hands tighter.

My cock spasmed inside of him. My orgasm seemed to be drawn out by the feel of his fangs

inside of me. He released my shoulder, and I collapsed on top of him. He must have come

when I did because I felt it on his chest between us.

I pulled out of him and let him help me roll onto my back. We were both panting and

smiling at each other. I felt the bite marks on my shoulder already closing up from the

coagulate in his saliva. I wasn’t sure why I’d let him bite me, but I wasn’t sorry.

I pulled off the condom, throwing it in the trashcan next to the bed. My hand found his,

and we lay together staring at the ceiling. When my heart stopped trying to beat its way out

of my chest, I turned on my side to look at him.

“You are amazing, do you know that?”

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

He laughed then kissed me. “That, my love, is you.” His face fell a little. “I should go,”

he said softly, squeezing my hand gently.

“You don’t have to. I mean, if you want to stay you can. My bedroom is blacked out, so

you don’t have to worry about…you know. I mean, if you want to go, that’s cool. I just want

you to know you don’t have to.”

“Do you want me to stay?”

I did want him to stay, but I wasn’t entirely sure why. I just knew part of me might die

if he walked out the door right then. I told myself it was wrong, that letting him stay would

make everything worse and more complicated later. Part of me just couldn’t care though.

“I’d like you to, yeah.”

He kissed me again, lingering on my lips for a minute before pulling back. “Can I use

your shower?”

I nodded.

He got up and walked to the door. He opened it then paused. “Do you want to come

with me? I know you just took one, but I wouldn’t mind the company.”

Had that only been tonight? It seemed like a lifetime had passed since he’d shown up at

my door. I climbed off the bed, standing on wobbly legs for a minute to get my balance. I

followed him into the bathroom and turned on the spray.

We took turns soaping up each other and rinsing ourselves off. I stood under the water

with Jarrod pressed against my back, his arms around my waist. I leaned my head back to

rest on his shoulder and sighed. He kissed my cheek then licked a drop of water from my

face. I smiled, turning my head to kiss him.

He nudged me, silently telling me to turn and face him. His hands went to my hips as I

wrapped my arms around his neck. His cock stirred against my body, and mine twitched in

reply.

“How long until the sun comes up?”

“About twenty minutes,” he answered quietly.

“Perfect.” I dropped to my knees in the shower, cupping his balls in my hand while I

licked water from his hardening cock. I took his head into my mouth and sucked gently at it,

coaxing his pre-cum onto my tongue.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

We shifted enough that I wouldn’t drown in the falling water, and I started to slide him

in and out of my mouth. I heard a loud thump and looked up to see him steadying himself

with a hand on the wall. He watched me with wide eyes.

I dropped my gaze back to his cock and pumped his shaft in my hand to the rhythm of

my mouth. I used my other hand to gently squeeze his balls, rolling them in my palm. He

cried out my name as my mouth filled with the familiar taste of hot oysters and soap. I

swallowed hard, not wanting to lose a drop of his flavour.

I stood up. The cooling water spilling over me again was actually warm after being out

of it for a few minutes. He placed his hands on my face, pulling me closer to kiss me, licking

the inside of my mouth as if trying to taste himself there.

“We should get in bed,” I murmured against his lips. “Dawn’s coming.”

He sighed but backed away. I turned off the shower, and we towelled off before going

back into the bedroom. We climbed into bed together, me on my side with him behind me.

He draped an arm over me and kissed my neck.

“Thank you for letting me stay.”

“Thank you for staying,” I said, squeezing his hand in mine.

If he said anything else, I don’t know because I was asleep before he died for the day.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

Chapter Seven

I woke up with Jarrod’s arm over my chest. His body was freezing and hard, as if rigor

mortis had set in. It had been a long time since I’d felt a vampire during the day, I’d forgotten

how strange it was.

I grabbed a pair of jeans off the floor, pulling them over my hips while I watched Jarrod

for signs of life. It was around four in the afternoon according to the clock on the bedside

table. I hadn’t slept so late in years. And to be honest all I wanted to do was crawl back in

bed. I wanted to be there when he woke up. Unfortunately, I knew there were things I should

be doing.

I didn’t know what time he would wake since all vampires are different depending on

their powers. Some cannot come back until full dark, but Jarrod seemed stronger than that. It

could be fifteen minutes or three hours before he woke, so I gave one last look at the bed

before closing the door behind me with a muted click.

I walked down the hall with nothing but coffee on my mind, jumping about a foot

when I realised Reagan sat on my couch.

“Jesus.” I ran a hand through my hair and gave a shaky laugh. “What the fuck are you

doing here?”

“I came to apologise for last night,” she said. She was on the couch with her arms

wrapped around her knees. Her shoes were on the floor next to Jarrod’s shirt. Fuck.

“I was going to come wake you up, since the day is almost over. Then I thought maybe

you were sick and needed some rest. But then I began to wonder why your clothes are all

over the living room floor. I mean, you’re like freakin’ Martha Stewart. You never leave a

mess anywhere.” She raised an eyebrow at me as if she waited for me to say something.

“Were you going to ask a question? Because you’re staring at me like you’re waiting for

me to say something, but I have nothing to say.”

I walked into the kitchen and started making coffee. I looked out the window and

realised it was raining. There were distant rumbles of thunder, almost too faint to be heard

yet, but it was looking like we were in for one hell of a storm.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

My shoulder twinged so I reached up to rub it and felt two distinct puncture wounds

under my fingertips. Shit. I rifled through the drawers, but there weren’t any bandages in the

kitchen. Besides, Reagan had probably already noticed, and if she hadn’t, she would wonder

about the bandage anyway.

She was still sitting on the couch when I returned to the living room. Her eyes

narrowed when she saw me.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I sat in the chair, facing her.

She stood, walked over to me then turned my head with one hand while she pressed

hard on the wounds with her fingertips.

“Ow.” I knocked her hand away and stood up. I towered over her, but it was plain on

her face that she had never been less afraid of me in her life. She knew I would never hurt

her, though I wished she wasn’t so sure sometimes. It made it harder for me to win fights.

“What’s the rule Mitch?” she asked softly. When I didn’t answer her, she grew louder.

“What’s the number one fucking rule?”

“Don’t get bit,” I said with a sigh.

“Don’t get bit! What the hell were you doing that close to its mouth?”

I gave her an eloquent look, then watched as realisation spread over her face. Her eyes

grew wide and her hand went to her mouth. It was so classic horror movie of her that I

almost laughed. Almost.

“Goddamnit Mitch. Please tell me you’re kidding.” When I didn’t say anything, she

shook her head. “What the hell were you thinking?”

I really didn’t want to talk about this, not at all, but especially not with her. I was tired,

sore, and more than a little embarrassed to have been caught by my little sister.

“How do you know what the rules are?” I asked, trying to get her to change the subject.

“Because I’m not a fucking idiot. Dad taught me a lot of your little rules. Besides,

growing up in a family who hunts monsters teaches a girl a lot.”

I couldn’t really argue with that. As much as I wanted to believe we’d protected Reagan

over the years, not everything could be hidden away. Hell, she’d bandaged me up after fights

more times than I cared to admit. That happens when you give a key to your apartment to a

kid with a licence.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

I’d dragged myself home on many occasions, bleeding and bruised, to find her curled

up on my couch as she had been earlier. And just like mom had taught her, she would cluck

her tongue at me then patch me up.

She never asked about the night’s events. If I volunteered, she would listen, but she

knew better than to demand answers. I think she’d learned very early that I would talk if I

wanted to, but she couldn’t make me if I didn’t. Hell, she was exactly the same way.

Again, I had to wonder if the way she grew up had made her stronger or just more

fucked up. It wasn’t completely my fault. She did have parents who’d contributed…or not.

But I would always feel responsible if anything ever happened to her. Watching her look at

me the way she was, I wondered if she felt the same way about me.

“So who was he?”

I looked at her, a little surprised at the question. “Well gee, Mom, he was just some

vampire.”

“Ha ha. Don’t bring Mom’s name into this. I know for a fact she raised you better than

to go home with a vampire.”

I didn’t really mean to, but my eyes flicked down the hall towards my bedroom. She

followed my gaze, and I wanted to slap myself.

“You’re joking right? He’s not still here? You don’t let anyone stay here.”

“You pay way too much attention to my personal life.” I tried to make it a joke, but she

wasn’t in the mood.

I wanted her gone before Jarrod woke up, but look on her face clearly showed that

wasn’t going to happen. She would stay here until she saw who was sleeping in her big

brother’s bed.

“Look Reagan, I appreciate the concern, but I know what I’m doing.” Okay, so I was a

fucking liar. I had no clue what was going on with me, him, the whole situation. “You need

to go home. Now.”

My shoulders sagged in relief when she started walking towards the door. Of course,

that feeling was brief because she walked to the couch instead, sitting with her arms crossed

over her chest and staring at me.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

I threw my hands up in the air. “Fine. You want to act like a spoiled brat, go ahead.

Knock yourself out. But don’t you fucking embarrass me, Reagan. I mean it. If you do or say

anything stupid to him, I will take your key and kick your ass out for good.”

I walked into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. Reagan called out for one, too. I carried

the mugs back into the living room, handed her one and walked over to the sliding glass

doors that led to the balcony.

I thought about hiding in the kitchen until Jarrod woke up, leaving her alone to see him

walk out. I realised what a bad idea that probably was. I’d been trying to keep him away

from her. Giving him the opportunity to be alone with her, even for a minute, was not just

petty, it was stupid.

I stared out over the balcony, watching the lightning that had started flickering on the

horizon flash bright against the dark sky. Another roll of thunder sounded, closer and louder

than it had been just a few minutes ago. I was so intent on the storm outside I almost didn’t

hear Jarrod moving around in the bedroom.

I glanced over at Reagan and realised she had heard him, too. Her eyes were fixed on

the hallway, silently anticipating what she was about to see. I looked for some sort of

reaction, but I should have known she would never give me the satisfaction.

I didn’t turn to see him, but I felt Jarrod walk up behind me. He put his arms around

me and kissed my shoulder. A smile pulled at my lips. I turned to face him and wished I

could pull him against me and really kiss him, but I couldn’t do it in front of Reagan.

“We have company,” I said softly.

He turned to look at the couch, his eyes widening a little at the sight of my sister

watching us.

“Good evening, Reagan. Nice to see you again.”

“Hello, Jarrod.” Her voice was cool, and her eyes were narrowed. I knew she was

pissed. I just wasn’t completely sure why. I had a good idea, but with Reagan, you could

never be sure.

“I should be going,” Jarrod said. “I hope you don’t mind, but I borrowed one of your

shirts.”

I shook my head, letting the smile break across my face. I followed him to the door. We

didn’t kiss goodbye but gripped each other’s hands for a minute. I shut the door behind him

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Dakota Rebel

then turned to face Reagan. I waited for her to start screaming at me, but she surprised me.

As she so often did.

“You love him.” Her voice was soft, full of wonder rather than anger.

“I barely know him.” It seemed safe enough to sit next to her—at least, I was pretty sure

she wasn’t going to start hitting me.

“I don’t think it matters.” She smiled. “I’ve never seen you look at anyone the way you

did when he kissed you.”

“You’ve never seen me with other guys.”

“No, you’ve sheltered me from that part of your life quite well.” Her tone was angry

again. Damn, teenage girls are confusing creatures.

“Look Reagan, I know you’re mad. But to be honest, I’m not sure I understand why.

What part of all of this are you actually angry about?”

She smiled, taking my hand in hers as she leaned her head on my shoulder. “Would

you believe me if I said I wasn’t sure either?”

“Yes.” I kissed the top of her head. “But we should talk about it now. I want to make

sure we’re okay. If you go home and think about it then getting pissed off, it’s just going to

make it all worse.”

“I know.” She sighed. “I just don’t know where to start.”

“Okay. Are you mad because you like him but he likes me?”

“No,” she said with a wave of her hand. “I get the whole gay thing. He wasn’t ever

going to be interested in me.” She raised an eyebrow. “Is that why you didn’t want me

hanging around him?”

She had gotten to that much faster than I would have preferred. I had actually hoped

that question wouldn’t come up at all.

“You know, with anyone else, I could take the easy way out and say yes. But no,

sweetie, I don’t want you around him because he is incredibly dangerous.”

“You brought him home, you let him bite you, and you’re going to lecture me about

vampires being dangerous?” She slid away from me, turning her whole body to face me. Her

eyes were bright with tears. I reached for her hand again, but she pulled it away. “We’re

supposed to be tight, Mitch. But seeing you with him made me realise you’ve been keeping

me out of a huge part of your life. It makes me wonder what else you hide from me.”

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Dakota Rebel

The girl was way too observant for her own good.

“You’re right, I do keep things from you. I don’t share my sex life with you for a couple

reasons. One, it’s not really any of your business. Two, I didn’t think you cared. I mean, I

don’t want to know what you may be doing…in that area of your life.”

“I’m not asking for a play-by-play of what happens in your bedroom, Mitch.” She

laughed. “But maybe if you had mentioned that you liked Jarrod, it wouldn’t have been such

a shock to find him here.”

She was right, of course. I didn’t intentionally hide it from her, but I didn’t share much

of that part of my life with her either.

“I get what you’re saying, Reagan, but with Jarrod I didn’t really realise I liked him

until he showed up at my door last night. I don’t want you to think I went after him. I didn’t.

He came for me. I don’t usually get off on doing vampires.”

I liked that she was talking to me, even if I was less than thrilled about the topic. Just

because it was fair that she be allowed to ask the same questions about where I was and who

I was with that I often asked her didn’t mean I had to like it. But then, she probably wasn’t

fond of it happening to her, either.

“Well, I’m glad to know my brother isn’t coffin bait. What are you going to do with him

now?”

“Nosy brat.” It seemed easier to change the subject than try to come up with an answer.

I had no idea what would happen between us now. I assumed that when he walked out the

door he had walked out of my life. I was surprised to find that thought upset me.

“I learned from the best.” She smiled again. “Look, Mitch, I know you worry about me,

but I worry about you, too. Eventually, you’ll realise you really do love him.” She held up

her hand. “You don’t have to believe me, but lying to yourself isn’t going to change it. And I

think he loves you, too.”

I hoped it was clear from the look on my face that I thought she was insane. She’d seen

the two of us together for about thirty seconds. She had no idea what she was talking about.

“Fine,” she said, standing up. “Deny it as long as you want. Just don’t let it sneak up on

you and bite you on the ass.” She leaned over and kissed my forehead. “Unless you’re in to

that sort of thing.”

I flipped her off, and the door slamming behind her cut off her laughter.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

* * * *

I was in my office, going through the reports again when my phone rang. I looked at

the clock and saw that it was almost eleven p.m. That meant that it was either Jarrod, who I

was pretty sure didn’t have my number, or it was my father, who I really had no desire to

talk to. No one else would have called me after nine p.m. on a Sunday. I just didn’t have that

good of a social life.

“Yeah?” I asked by way of answering.

“Don’t shoot me.” The office door opened, and I saw Dad putting his phone in his

pocket.

I dropped mine on the desk and stood to shake his hand. It was a little irritating that he

would drop by to check up on me in person, but I couldn’t really say I was surprised to see

him. I hadn’t been very forthcoming with the information about this case in the past few

days. ‘Don’t ask don’t tell’ was still in full force, but silence in the middle of a contract tends

to make the military nervous.

He glanced at the desk before looking back at me.

“Good to see you’re bothering to work on this case. Why isn’t the vampire dead yet?”

I blew out a sigh and sat back down. “Did you even read this stuff before you sent it to

me?”

“Of course, I did. Who the hell taught you to question your superior officer?”

“Well, gee, sir, I wasn’t aware you were here in an official capacity. I thought you just

wanted to visit with your son.”

“Bullshit. You know why I’m here. Why isn’t he dust yet, Mitch?”

“Because I don’t think he did anything.”

He gave a short burst of laughter. “We don’t pay you to think. The evidence is all there.

He’s been photographed with the victims, the reports are filed and the decision has been

made. You get the envelope. You kill the mark. That’s it. That’s your job.”

“I don’t care. Look at these pictures. This is not a vampire kill. Have you ever seen this

much blood left at a crime scene? Jarrod did not do this. He couldn’t have.”

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Dakota Rebel

“Jarrod, huh? Mitch, what the hell is really going on here? You have never tried to dig

into a case before. What’s up with this one?”

I didn’t want to tell him. I couldn’t tell him. He would never forgive me if I told him I

was fucking the hit. I really didn’t believe Jarrod had done those kills, but I wasn’t sure my

father would just accept my word on it.

“Look Dad, what do I have to do to get the Army to look into this a little further?”

“There’s nothing you can do. They’ve made the call, filed the papers and paid the feds

to assign a hunter. That would be you. Now you go out and kill this guy. Preferably before

more bodies turn up.”

“So there’s nothing I can do, nothing I can say to anyone to make them put this file on

hold? The feds just roll over and sit up at the command of the Army now? And we marshals

just get to take it? That’s fucking fantastic. Sir.” I was desperate to find some loophole,

something that would stall for time until I figured out what was going on.

“Mitch, I am going to ask you this one more time, and I expect an answer. What is

going on with you and this case?”

“It’s not enough that I don’t want to kill an innocent man? Fuck Dad, he didn’t do it.

The better question is why does the Army want this guy killed so badly they would frame

him for something he didn’t do?”

He leaned over my desk and picked up the pictures. He dropped them, one by one, on

the desk in front of me. “If he didn’t do this, why is he covered in blood at the crime scenes?

If he is an innocent man what is he doing there?”

“I don’t know!” I was yelling now, but I didn’t care. “Why isn’t there blood around his

mouth in these photos? The reports all say the vics bled out through bites, but there are no

bite radius measurements in the paperwork. These bodies have been turned to little more

than meat. It looks more like a werewolf kill than a vampire one.”

“Calm down.” His voice was low as he put a hand on my shoulder. “Do you know

him? Is that what this is about?”

“Yeah, Dad, I know him. But that’s not why I don’t think he did it.” Well, not entirely

why. “This just doesn’t fit any profile. It’s been less than a week, and you’re already here to

follow up on the case. Why is this so urgent to you guys? It’s not the kill count, so don’t pull

that shit on me. What is really going on here?”

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Dakota Rebel

“Look, Mitch, what you’re asking for is classified. I can’t tell you any of that. All I can

say is that this guy had better be dead soon, or there is going to be hell to pay. And not just

for you. There are things going on here you wouldn’t understand and really don’t want to

know. So I am begging you, let this go. Do your job. Kill this vampire, and move on with

your life.”

I blew out a sigh. I couldn’t tell him I wasn’t going to do it. I just had to figure out what

to do about all of it. I knew I needed to come clean with Jarrod. Maybe he could explain it to

me.

My dad and I shook hands again, and I listened for the sound of the door closing

behind him. I walked out of the office, made sure he was really gone then went into my

bedroom to get dressed. I wasn’t completely sure where Jarrod would be, but I thought I

might know where to find Skip. I just hoped he would be willing to tell me how to get a hold

of his brother.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

Chapter Eight

I walked through Torque with minimal hassle. It was less busy on Sunday nights so

there weren’t crowds of people to force my way through. I was glad to see the VIP section

roped off. It was a good sign that at least some of the band might be there.

The bouncer, who I didn’t recognise, just nodded and let me through anyway. I hoped

that meant that Jarrod was in there and had given my description to the people working the

doors. Unfortunately, when I entered the room, only one person was inside, and it wasn’t

Jarrod.

“Mitch, I’m so glad you came.” Skip sat at a table smoking. There was a glass of amber

liquid in front of him, but it looked untouched.

“Skip. What’s up? Where are your groupies tonight?”

He motioned to a chair next to him. I sat positioning myself to face him and the

entrance at the same time. I was suddenly nervous and very glad I had brought my gun.

“Actually, I’m meeting someone tonight and wished to be alone with her. But I really

am happy to see you. I hoped we would get a chance to talk…just us.”

He was trying to look completely harmless, hands in full view, body relaxed, slumped

into his chair as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Just a guy hanging out with another guy.

“What could you possibly want to talk to me about?” I couldn’t force myself to relax.

My hand was crossed over my lap, resting on my thigh but positioned to grab my gun within

seconds if Skip made a move I didn’t approve of.

“Lots of things. Do you want a drink? I could call for the waitress.” I shook my head.

He shrugged and continued.

“Jarrod is quite taken with you. He came home this evening positively glowing. I have

not seen him so happy in a very long time. He wasn’t willing to give details, which is most

unlike him, but I could smell you on him, so I know he spent the day with you.”

He watched me carefully, as if looking for a reason to attack me. I sat rigid and kept my

face as neutral as possible. If he wanted to talk, he could talk. I wasn’t giving him anything to

use against me.

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Dakota Rebel

“You do know that we aren’t really brothers.” It wasn’t a question, just a statement so I

continued my silence. “We have known each other for decades, we love each other and take

care of each other. We are family. You understand that, don’t you? He is my family, the only

family I have. And it would be bad, very bad, if anything happened to him.”

“And?”

“How is it that you seem to know so much about us? About vampires?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He gave me a look that clearly said he didn’t believe me. “You seem awfully desperate

to keep your sister away from us. As if you think we would hurt her. We would never hurt

Reagan. In fact, I am quite fond of your little sister.”

“You stay the fuck away from her.” My voice was steady, but very low, very angry. My

hand twitched, and I had to force myself still again. “She’s way too young for you, and she

doesn’t understand what you are.”

“But you do, don’t you, Mitch? You know all about Jarrod and me, what we are capable

of. Maybe even what he’s done?”

The implication was obvious, but I didn’t understand how he could know what I knew.

I wanted to ask him, but there was no way to do that without admitting the truth to him. I

wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“Reagan is eighteen now, and you are not her father. You have no control over her. She

may see whomever she wishes. And she wants me. I can smell it on her every time she is

around us. You know it, too.”

“You’re right, I’m not her father. And you had better hope you never meet her father.

You wouldn’t like it very much.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Like father like son, then? I know this won’t shock you, Mitch,

but I don’t like you. In fact, I pretty much hate you. I want you gone, out of our lives,

forever.”

His porcelain face faded around the edges, hatred showing in his eyes, and his lips

pressed tightly together. He was angry. Good. So was I.

“What do you care? Jarrod is free to do as he wishes. What business is it of yours who

he decides to date?” Date? Is that what we were doing? I wasn’t even sure yet.

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Dakota Rebel

“I care. I care so much that I will make a deal with you. If you leave Jarrod alone, I will

stay away from your sister. I will pick up and leave the state. I will never come back. But you

are not to see him ever again.”

“And if I disagree?”

“Then I will take your sister.”

My hand twitched again, and he grabbed my wrist in a motion so fast I didn’t see it.

“Do not doubt the truth of my words, Mitch. If anything happens to Jarrod and you are

involved, good, bad, or indifferent, if you do not vanish from our lives, I will make your life a

living hell. Stay the fuck away from us.” He dropped a piece of paper on the table in front of

me. “Call Jarrod, and tell him you two are over. You’re done. Do it tonight.”

He released my wrist, and I stood. I looked at him for a moment, but his face had gone

blank again. It didn’t matter. I didn’t need to read him to know he was serious. I snatched the

paper off the table before I walked out, straight through the club and out to my car. I climbed

behind the wheel, locking the door and allowing my body to shake. The adrenaline crashed

quickly from the short burst that had flooded me when he’d grabbed me.

I needed to find Jarrod. I hoped Reagan would be safe for the night. I was pretty sure

she was who Skip planned to meet that night, but I believed he would wait to see what I

would do before he did anything stupid.

I put the car into gear and tore ass home. I still had the piece of paper in my hand when

I rounded the stairs and saw Jarrod sitting outside my door. He had his back against my door

with his legs stretched out in front of him. His eyes were closed, but he didn’t look like he

was sleeping. I noticed the cord running up the front of his shirt and realised he must be

listening to an MP3 player.

I kicked his foot. Smiling, he looked up at me, then he pulled out his ear buds as he

stood. I smiled back, opened the door and let us both into the loft. I let him close the door

behind us while I walked into the kitchen.

“Do you want a beer?” I called to him.

“Yeah, thanks.”

I grabbed two, opening them and handing him one when he appeared in the doorway

to the kitchen. He kissed me, just a quick peck on the lips. I wanted more but let the feeling

go for the moment. I needed to talk to him, and if he really kissed me, I would be lost to him

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Dakota Rebel

for yet another night. Not an entirely terrible idea, but it wasn’t going to help any of us out of

the situation Skip had just laid out for me.

We sat next to each other on the couch, drinking in silence. I turned to look at him,

smiling again. He was wearing ripped-up blue jeans and a green shirt tonight that made his

eyes almost glow. His hair was tousled as if he hadn’t bothered combing it before leaving the

house. I started to reach out to brush a strand from his eyes but dropped my hand.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I’ve been sitting here waiting for you to ravage me, but you won’t even touch

me. What’s going on?”

I wanted to ravage him more than I cared to admit. And while I had wanted to talk to

him about what had happened with Skip, sitting next to him now, it was the last thing I

wanted to discuss. I wasn’t even sure how to bring it up. I was equally unsure if he would

believe me or just storm out. He knew I didn’t like Skip. It was entirely possible he would

think I had made it up, and I was sure Skip would be only too happy to agree with that

assumption.

“Look Jarrod, I don’t think we can do this.” My voice was unsteady. I wasn’t going to

cry or anything, but saying it out loud had been harder than I’d thought it would be.

“Do what?” His eyes went wide, a smile playing at the corners of his sexy little mouth.

“Drink beer together? Talk to each other?” He put his hand on my thigh, squeezing gently.

“Or were you thinking of other things we can’t do?”

“Any of it.” I blew out a sigh, moving his hand back to his own leg. “I can’t see you

anymore. This is a really bad idea.”

He laughed. It wasn’t the reaction I’d expected.

“Mitch, we’ve only had sex a couple of times. We barely know each other. How can you

know this is a bad idea? Personally, I think it’s a great idea. We have a connection I haven’t

felt in a long time. You can’t tell me you don’t feel it.”

I felt it. I’d felt it since I’d met him at the club. But I wouldn’t sacrifice my sister for him.

I’d known him for such a short time. I didn’t really believe I loved him, not yet, but I knew I

could. Reagan had been right. I couldn’t hide from it for long.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

It wasn’t worth losing her. Nothing was as bad as the thought of her being hurt. I knew

Skip hadn’t been kidding. He would do as he’d said if I didn’t end this…thing with Jarrod.

No matter how much it hurt, I had to let Jarrod go. If I had to force him out the door, so be it.

“Mitch?”

His voice startled me. I jumped, spilling beer on myself.

He laughed. I tried to get up to get a towel to dry myself off, but Jarrod had a better

idea. He put a hand to my chest, pushing me back against the couch. He set his beer on the

table next to him then dropped to the floor in front of me, ripping open my shirt with one

strong pull.

I tried to push him away, but we both knew it was a half-hearted effort. He brushed my

hands aside as he lowered his mouth to my chest. His tongue darted out, lapping the beer

from my skin. He sucked and licked his way across my chest while he massaged my thighs

with his hands. I leaned my head back, sighing at his touch.

“Are you sure this is a bad idea?” he asked. His hands moved closer to the erection

growing in my jeans.

“I’m not sure of much of anything anymore,” I whispered. “Except that I want you.

More than I really care to admit.”

He smiled, and it lit up his whole face. He looked so young and sexy, it was impossible

to think of him as a killer. I wasn’t sure how anyone could believe it of him. And yet, the

situation I found myself in proved otherwise.

I leaned down, taking his face in my hands, and kissed him. Just as it had done the

night before, the kiss led us to the floor, with me on top of him, exploring his mouth with my

tongue. He tasted like other people’s blood, but I was past caring about that now. He was a

vampire, he fed and I could only hope it had been from willing victims. I would worry about

everything else some other time.

“I can’t stay here tonight,” he said softly. “Sorry, but I figured I’d better say it now

before we get carried away. I have to go home tonight. That only gives us a few more hours

together.”

“That’s barely enough time,” I said, running a finger down his cheek.

“That’s why I warned you.” He kissed me again. “I promised Skip I would be back

tonight.”

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

I rolled off him with a sigh.

“I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.” He turned on his side to look at me. “There is

nothing going on between Skip and I. I’m sure you know we aren’t really brothers, and that

he isn’t even a true vampire, but we are close. We’re like family. There are no sexual feelings

left between us.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” I said. I sat up, leaning my back against the couch

and watched him sit up, too. “I think Skip feels a little differently about your situation than

you do.”

He laughed, shaking his head hard enough that his hair flew into his face. “No way.

Skip and I just had this conversation. He found someone. He’s happy, and he wants the same

for me.”

I stared at him. There was so much I wanted to ask—things we needed to talk about—

but if we did it now he would go, and I would never see him again. The thought hurt so

much that against my better judgement I kept my mouth shut. If there was time, I would

bring it all up again before he left, otherwise it would just have to wait one more day. I

wanted him more than I’d wanted anything, and I convinced myself Reagan was safe. I could

afford a little selfishness. Just this one time.

I launched myself at him, full out tackling him against the floor. Our mouths collided

almost violently, his fangs sinking into my lower lip. He sucked it into his mouth, and I let

him. When he let go, I plunged my tongue between his lips, licking his fangs clean of my

own blood, the copper taste bitter and yet sweet. I wondered what his blood would taste like

but shoved the thought out of my head. I had enough problems at the moment. I didn’t need

to add thoughts of becoming a vampire to the list.

Jarrod snaked his hands between our bodies, tugging at the button on my jeans. He

finally wrenched it open, and slid his hands inside to grip my cock in his warm palm. He

gave a light squeeze that made me moan in pleasure. I lifted my hips slightly, giving his

hand room to move, and it did. He pumped up and down my shaft, using his thumb to

spread pre-cum around the head.

“I want you,” I said, my voice breathy against his lips.

He just nodded, pulling his hand away to undo his own jeans. We stood, ripping off our

clothes and flinging them aside. We came back together, kissing and touching, both moaning

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

our frustrations against each other. He pulled away, took my hand and led me to my

bedroom.

We fell onto bed together, groping whatever of each other’s flesh we could touch. I

opened my eyes long enough to see pure need reflected in Jarrod’s. That one look was so

honest, so raw, that something inside me clicked. With that one look I fell completely in love

with him. It was as if he had flicked a switch and I went from in lust to head over heels in an

instant. My body hummed with it so strongly that I wondered if he felt it, too.

He smiled, his eyes softening with the action. His touch became softer, more gentle on

my body. He kissed me again, but it was so slow and so sweet I could have cried. I’d never

felt anything like what had just happened to me. It was both terrifying and incredible at the

same time. He really had felt it. Perhaps, he had even felt it before I did.

I wanted to kiss him for the rest of my life—no longer. I wanted those soft, full lips

pressed to mine for eternity. I wanted to go to bed with him every day and wake up next to

him every night. I wanted him forever, even thought I knew we couldn’t see each other

anymore. Even knowing this was our last time together, I let myself feel that need, let it wash

over me and let everything else around us fall away. For that moment, there was only him

and me, and nothing else mattered.

I moved down his body, kissing a trail over his collarbone, across his chest and over his

hips. I slid further to lick his knee, his calf then his ankle. I bit gently against the bone, the

action making him writhe on the bed above me. I smiled, biting slightly harder. His back

came up off the bed until he was sitting up, staring at me, his eyes like green fire.

“Get up here and fuck me.” It was an order, and I was only too happy to follow it.

I got a condom out of the drawer and brought the bottle of lube with me to bed. I rolled

him onto his stomach. He started to protest, but I swatted his ass playfully. He shuddered at

the quick spank, so I did it again, a little harder. His hands dug into the sheets as his hands

clenched into fists and a small sound that was between a moan and a growl escaped his lips.

I tore open the condom package with my teeth, rolled it over my shaft and picked up

the bottle of lube. I coated my hand with it, sliding it around the condom a few times then

placed my slick fingers between his ass cheeks.

Unlike the night before, I didn’t go slow this time. I rammed a finger inside of him hard

and fast while I brought my other hand down to spank him again. He gasped, but didn’t ask

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

me to stop. I added a second finger to his tight ass, again shoving them inside of him. I

fucked him with my fingers for a few minutes, turning them occasionally, bending them to

press against his prostate. I could have felt his muscles convulse around my hand all night.

“Mitch, fuck, Mitch,” he whimpered, his face turned to look at me as best he could.

I leaned over and kissed his cheek softly. “Do you want me inside of you now?”

He nodded, a quick, desperate move of his head. I smiled. Using my knees to spread his

legs further apart for me, I placed the head of my cock against his asshole. I slid in slow

enough not to hurt him, yet I wasn’t exactly gentle, either.

He cried out at the intrusion, his hands tightening in the sheets once more. I slapped his

ass again as my body connected fully against his. I fucked him with abandon, no longer

worried about what he thought or how he felt about it, though his hips tilting up to meet my

thrusts showed he had no problem with the assault.

I reached down to fondle his balls in my hand while I fucked him. He screamed out my

name, and I felt his sac tighten then convulse as he came. His ass muscles clenched tight

around my cock, immediately drawing my orgasm. My nails dug into his flesh as my cum

pumped into him.

“I fucking love you,” I screamed as it happened. My body shook with the force of it all,

and I collapsed on top of him. Gripping the end of the condom, I pulled my cock out of him. I

winced as I pulled the condom off, my cock still sensitive to any touch, even my own. I

dropped the rubber into the trash can and rolled onto my back next to him. I flopped back

onto the pillow, sweaty and panting, with a grin on my face I couldn’t suppress.

He rolled over to look at me, the same silly grin on his mouth. I kissed him, a quick

peck on the lips.

“I love you, too, you know,” he said softly.

His hand found mine and we lay there for a few minutes, fingers intertwined, thinking

about the words we had just shared—words that were much more dramatic than our fucking

had been.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

Chapter Nine

I let Jarrod walk out the door without telling him that I couldn’t see him again. I would

call Skip’s bluff. He liked Reagan, and I just hoped it was enough to keep him from hurting

her. I would have to watch her closely and do my best to push her away from him without

her realising what I was doing. No problem.

In the mean time, I would need to find a way to keep the Army off my ass about the

contract on Jarrod. That would probably be the most difficult of all the current challenges.

Reagan, I could deal with. My father…well, he would be trouble.

I lay in bed with my arm outstretched to the place where Jarrod should have been. I ran

my hand over the pillow, wishing he could be there. It was ridiculous to think that we could

love each other after such a short period of time, but I had to wonder what else my feelings

towards him could be.

I’d never been in love before, but if I guessed what it felt like, it would pretty much be

what I was going through at that moment. A severe sense of loss at his absence, total

confusion over what was happening and extreme joy at the mere sight of his face. It sure

sounded like every fairytale, love story I’d ever heard.

I must have finally fallen asleep around dawn. I woke up around three p.m., slightly

disoriented. I wasn’t used to sleeping so late. I crawled out of bed, threw on a fairly clean

pair of jeans and stumbled to the kitchen. I opened the fridge then realised Reagan had been

right. There was nothing in there but water and beer. Neither of which sounded good at all.

I pulled on a T-shirt, grabbed my keys and walked out the door in search of coffee. I

ended up at a coffee shop a block from my loft. I stood in line behind Mr. Half-caf-soy-no-

whip-four-pump-not-real-sugar-blended-with-two-straws-please and Ms. Decaf-chai-half-

pump-light-ice. Eventually, I got to the register and accepted the usual blank stare at my

request for a large coffee. The girl behind the counter finally figured out what ‘coffee’ was,

and I left, shaking my head and not leaving a tip.

I was almost back to the loft when my cell phone rang, the display flashing Reagan’s

number.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

“Hello?”

“Mitch,” Jarrod said from the other end.

“Jarrod? What’s going on?”

“I think you need to come get Reagan. She’s all right, just a little spooked. Can you

come to my apartment and pick her up?”

I jogged the rest of the way to my building while Jarrod gave me directions. We hung

up as I pulled out of the drive. I drove as fast as I felt safe going, watching street signs so I

didn’t miss Jarrod’s. When I found the address, I wondered if I had gotten it wrong.

I was parked in front of what looked like an abandoned warehouse. I got out of the car

and looked up at the windows lining the top. They were blacked out. Hoping that meant I

was in the right place, I walked around the building until I found a door at the side. I pushed

the buzzer and heard the door lock click open.

I pulled it open and walked into the warehouse. The light from outside had started to

fade, and the windows of the building were filthy. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to

the darkness so that I could move without worrying about running into something…or

someone.

I looked around and saw a freight elevator across the room. I got into it, pulling the

rickety grate closed before pressing the button for the second floor. It clanked and rattled so

hard I gripped the railing tight, terrified I would plummet straight down and break every

bone in my body.

When it finally shuddered to a stop, I opened the grate and stepped into Jarrod’s living

room. He sat on a sofa with Reagan next to him. They were both looking at something, and

Reagan was laughing.

“What’s going on?” I walked into the room, heading for them.

Jarrod got to his feet and met me halfway. I looked around him to see Reagan, but she

was still looking towards the floor. Jarrod turned my face with his finger and kissed me

lightly on the lips.

“She’s fine. I didn’t mean to scare you. She’s just a little freaked out. I guess she came

home with Skip last night and ended up staying over. But, well, Skip dies at dawn, and I

don’t think she was aware of what that meant. I woke up this afternoon to find her huddled

on the floor of the living room crying.”

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Dakota Rebel

I started to walk around him, but he stopped me with a hand to my chest.

“Please don’t yell at her. She’s had a really hard day already. She’s terrified you’re

going to be pissed at her for coming here. But you have to remember, she’s eighteen now.

She’s going to make some mistakes, but that’s life. I think she and Skip might actually care

about each other.”

“So he fucks my little sister, dies on her, and you’re going to defend him?”

Reagan turned to look at me. The laughter she had shared with Jarrod was gone

completely from her face. She had turned pale at the volume of my voice. I didn’t want to

scare her more than she already had been, but I couldn’t just let it be okay that she’d gone

home with a vampire.

“Mitch,” Jarrod said softly. “Please.”

Him and that fucking ‘please’. His eyes were wide, but he didn’t look scared. He looked

worried. About what I wasn’t sure. Worried I would kick her ass in his living room? Or

worried I would wait until Skip woke up so I could beat his ass instead? To be honest I

wasn’t sure what I actually would do about any of it. Yeah, I was pissed. She knew better.

She’d been brought up in a household that preached the evils of all vampires. Our father had

cemented in our heads since we could understand words that vampires were nothing more

than monsters. It was what had made me want to become a hunter in the first place. Even as

the Army preached that they weren’t all bad and that we couldn’t kill them all on sight, I had

always believed what Dad had taught me…until recently anyway.

I knew it was ridiculous to be angry at her for doing the exact same thing I was doing,

but it didn’t stop me from being mad anyway. I looked at my feet, shaking my head. I didn’t

have a leg to stand on with her. And I think we all knew it.

“Reagan, we should go. Mom is going to be worried sick.”

“Mom thinks I’m staying with Donna for the week,” she said softly, not moving. “I told

her we’re studying for finals and that her mom had said I could stay there since we don’t

have school this week.”

I closed my eyes and counted to ten. If she had told Mom she would be gone for a week

that meant she had planned on crashing with Skip for several days. This was not a spur of

the moment decision. I counted to twenty instead, waiting until my eye stopped twitching

behind the lid before opening them again.

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When I did, Reagan was standing next to Jarrod in front of me. She looked scared, but

not enough for the rage I was swallowing at the moment. I wanted to grab her by her hair

and drag her out of that place caveman-style. But I knew that would make it worse.

“Reagan, we’re going home. You can stay with me until it’s time for you to go back to

Mom’s. I am not going to attack you, so you can wipe the look off your face. But we’re

leaving. Now.”

She nodded before turning to Jarrod and giving him a quick hug. She walked to the

elevator, waiting for me to follow.

“I’ll call you later,” I said, kissing Jarrod on the cheek.

“Mitch, don’t be too hard on her. Remember, you’re fucking a vampire, too.”

“Thanks. That’s what I needed to hear right now.” I shook my head and started walking

away, but he grabbed my arm, pulling me around to face him.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to sound like that. I just meant that she’s a teenager, even

if she’s legally allowed to do more things now, she’s still young. She’s going to make

mistakes. But I don’t think her coming here last night was recklessness. I think she has a

crush on Skip. Hell, it might even be more than that.” He held up a hand before I argued.

“Whatever it is, she thinks she has feelings for him. And if it helps, Skip isn’t the kind of guy

who uses women. If he’s spending this much time with her I think it means he really cares

for her, too.”

I sighed. It didn’t make me feel better. Not even a little. Even if Jarrod was right about

Skip and Reagan having ‘feelings’ for each other, I couldn’t help feeling Skip had brought

home my sister to get back at me for fucking Jarrod. Whatever his motive, the whole thing

had to end. It was bad enough that I was fucking a vampire who might or might not have

killed a slew of men over the past few years. I didn’t need my sister wrapped up in any of it.

I met Reagan in the elevator and pulled down the grate. I watched Jarrod through the

slats until the elevator descended too far to see him. Damn him, he was still adorable.

* * * *

Reagan and I didn’t talk at all on the way back to my apartment. I glanced over at her a

few times, but she stared out the window, her face turned completely away from me. When

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we got inside the apartment, I pulled a Chinese food menu out of a kitchen drawer and

ordered our usual. I hung up the phone then went into the living room to check on her.

She sat on the couch looking out the balcony door. Her face was red and blotchy as if

she’d been crying. I knelt on the floor in front of her and almost fell over at the force with

which she threw herself into my arms.

“Mitch, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just…I like him so much. And he really

seems to like me, too. I knew he was a vampire, but I didn’t realise what that meant. Not

really.” She sniffed softly. “Do they all do that? I mean, do they really die when the sun

comes up?”

“Yes sweetie. They all do it. It’s scary the first couple times you see it.” I ran a hand over

her hair, letting her cling to me and cry as much as she wanted to. “Are you going to be

okay?”

“I’ll be fine. We were laying in bed talking, he had his arm over me then he was

just…gone. His body was so cold and hard. It was awful.” She pulled away from me, wiping

away her tears with the palms of her hands. “Do you know what that’s like?”

I sighed. I wasn’t fond of over-sharing with her, but I wanted to keep her talking to me,

so I knew that I would have to tell her some of it.

“I do know what it’s like. And it is really unnerving. Especially after you’ve…been with

them like that.” It was so juvenile, but I couldn’t bring myself to say the words aloud. “Jarrod

is the first vampire I’ve ever slept next to, so I don’t have a lot of experience with it. I had an

advantage because I’ve hunted them and found them dead for the day. I knew it could

happen. It must have been really scary for you to experience it like that.”

She nodded. She had stopped crying and her breathing slowed back to normal.

We both jumped at the knock on the door. She let out a shaky laugh as I got up to pay

for the food. I brought the bags back to the couch, then we pulled out cartons and chop

sticks. I turned on the television and we watched old cartoons while we swapped containers

of noodles and rice back and forth.

I didn’t press her, mostly because I was terrified she would give details I never wanted

to hear, but also because I knew that she was too much like me. I had to let her come to me in

her own time. If I pushed her, she would kick like a mule and I’d lose her.

Halfway through our second hour of cartoons, she finally caved.

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“What does it feel like to be in love?”

Fuck. Not what I was hoping for. I took a deep breath and turned to look at her.

“I’m not entirely sure.”

She cocked an eyebrow at me.

“Don’t do that. I really don’t. I’ve never been in love before, and despite what you

think, I don’t know if I’m in love now. I like Jarrod a lot, and I think about him all the time,

but that doesn’t necessarily mean I love him.”

“He loves you,” she said softly. “We talked for a while before he called you. He did a

pretty good job of calming me down. We talked about the band and stuff, but then I asked

him what his intentions were for you.”

I smiled. It was just such a Reagan thing to say.

“He said that he loves you, and he will wait as long as it takes for you to realise that

you’re in love with him, too.”

“Well, I’m glad the two of you have my life all planned out. Are we going to get

married and spend happily forever after together?”

She stuck out her tongue at me. “We didn’t really get that far into it. He started asking

me about Skip, and what happened—not, like, the personal stuff or anything. He just asked if

I was okay and if I needed anything. So I asked him to call you.”

“I’m glad that you did. I don’t want you to ever be afraid to tell me anything. You know

that you can come to me whenever you need to. I will always be here for you. That’s love

honey. That’s the best I can explain it. I love you, and that’s all that matters. You know that,

right?”

She nodded, moving to hug me again. I held her until she pulled away, even though I

wasn’t quite ready to let go of her. She got up and went to the closet to get her bedding. I

helped her make up the sofa, handed her the remote and kissed her forehead.

“I’ll be right down the hall if you need me, okay?”

“Okay. Night, Mitch.”

“Night, kiddo.”

I went into my room and sat on the bed with my phone in my hand. I wanted to call

Jarrod, wanted to talk to him about Skip and what was going on between him and my sister.

But I couldn’t force myself to dial. I was surprisingly tired since I’d only been up for a few

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hours. I knew that Reagan would be up for a while but had just wanted to be alone. So it

looked like I was stuck in my room for the night.

I finally broke down and called the number Skip had given me for Jarrod. But the call

went straight to his voice mail. I left a brief message with my phone number and clicked the

phone closed. I got up to go into the bathroom and heard Reagan talking softly on her cell

phone in the living room.

“No really, Skip, I’m fine. I promise. I don’t think Mitch is that pissed. I think he was

just worried. Of course, I want to see you again. Don’t be silly.”

I felt bad for eavesdropping but not bad enough to stop. I stood as still as possible, not

wanting her to see me in the hallway.

“Really? That would be awesome! You’re so sweet. Yeah, I’ll have Mitch bring me over.

What time?”

I bristled at the thought of taking her anywhere Skip would be. I shut my bedroom door

and walked down the hall. Reagan was hanging up the phone when I got out into the living

room. She watched me as I walked into the kitchen, and she was still staring when I came

back out with a bottle of water.

“Don’t be mad,” she said.

I laughed. “‘Cause that went so well for us both the last time you said it to me. What

now?”

“Skip is going to throw me a birthday party.”

“You’re birthday was days ago.” I leaned against the wall and drained half the bottle.

“I know, but he didn’t really know me then, and since you so rudely interrupted us at

Torque, he wants to make it up to me. The whole band is going to be there, and he said I can

invite any of my friends I want to.”

“Uh-huh. Reagan, this is a really bad idea. I already told you I don’t want you hanging

out with them. Why this guy? Why this vampire? Can’t you pick someone else to hang

around?”

“Because I like this guy, and he just happens to be a vampire. I didn’t go out searching

for one. Come on, Mitch. You can take me, then you’ll be there to chaperone all night. You

can watch me to your heart’s content. Please. I never ask you for anything.”

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“You ask me for shit all the time. What the hell are you talking about?” I laughed again.

She was pulling out every trick she knew to get me to let her do this. She was right. It

wouldn’t be as bad if I was there to keep an eye on things.

“Okay. Fine. Then this isn’t anything new. Please?”

“Fuck. You guys and your pouty little pleases.” I threw my hands up in the air. She

looked confused until she realised she had won.

“See, I told you that you were the best fucking brother ever.” She lay back on the couch,

her fingers flying over the keys of her phone, probably shooting off text messages to her

friends.

I went back down the hall, finally going to the bathroom. I climbed into the shower,

letting the hot water relax me. Hopefully, it would be enough for me to get some sleep

during the night. I couldn’t let myself get on a vampire schedule. I didn’t know what was

happening with Jarrod, but my life had been turned inside out enough by both of the

Axlerods.

I glanced at my stomach and groaned in realisation that I hadn’t been to the gym in a

while. I would have to get up early and go. I turned off the water, wrapped a towel around

my waist and went into the bedroom again.

I crawled into bed, setting my alarm for the ass crack of dawn--okay, ten a.m. After

about two hours of tossing and turning, I finally fell asleep.

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Chapter Ten

I managed to make it to the gym, working out harder than I had in a long time. When I

got back to the apartment, Reagan was sipping coffee from the shop down the street. She

pointed to another cup on the end table. I kissed the top of her head and grabbed my cup.

“Why don’t they understand the word coffee over there?” she asked.

“I have no idea. I think I need to find a new coffee place.”

I took a quick shower and got dressed. When I got back out to the living room, Donna

had joined Reagan on the sofa. They were giggling and surrounded by bags.

“What’s going on now?”

“Donna and I need to get ready for my party,” Reagan said as if it should be obvious.

Fuck. I had agreed to go to that stupid party at the Axlerods’. I watched Reagan and

Donna pouring through bags of black cloth and considered asking if it would be a costume

party then thought better of it. It wouldn’t do to piss her off before the party. She would just

take off on me, and I wanted her attached to me for the whole night.

I left them alone to do their thing while I went into my office. The top drawer of my

desk was still a jumbled pile of the Axlerod case. I pulled out everything and pawed through

it all again. The only thing that had changed was that one of the photos had a sticky note on

it, in my father’s handwriting, that said, Why is he still alive?

Great. I had to figure this out. Someone had obviously set up Jarrod. I was convinced he

hadn’t actually committed the crimes in question, but proving it could be difficult.

Everything I needed was in the photos, but I didn’t know what to look for. It still struck

me as odd that someone had gotten the photos, some of them with Jarrod staring straight

towards the camera. Yet he didn’t seem to know they had been taken. It was bizarre. I

thought about Skip but immediately dismissed him as a suspect.

He was obviously in love with Jarrod. It wouldn’t make any sense for him to set up

Jarrod. But I didn’t know who else it could have been. I wouldn’t have been surprised to find

out that Skip had done the actual murders, but that might have just been my own feelings

towards him bleeding all over the case.

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I would have come up with something before my father called the feds and had me

pulled from the case. They would just turn the Army contract over to some trigger-happy

cowboy who would dust Jarrod without a second thought. I had no idea what I could do to

convince Dad to give me a chance.

I tossed everything back in the drawer yet again, swearing as I slammed it shut and

locked it. That stupid case file wouldn’t get me anywhere. I glanced at the clock and groaned.

The party would start at sundown. Of course. I grabbed the phone and walked to the living

room.

“What the fuck?” I looked around the room in horror. I had only been in the office for a

couple hours, and the girls had destroyed the living room. There were clothes everywhere,

empty Chinese food cartons on the floor, half a dozen empty water bottles strewn around,

and Reagan was on the floor with a rag, furiously scrubbing at the carpet.

“It’s just nail polish, Mitch. It’s coming up.”

I looked at my floor and saw that the polish was indeed coming off, along with some of

the black dye from the actual carpet.

“Stop! Just stop! Are you using nail polish remover on my carpet?”

“Yes,” she said softly. She finally looked down to see the bleach spot she had created.

“Shit.”

“Yeah.” I didn’t bother counting to ten. It wouldn’t have helped. Somehow, I managed

to sound calm when I finally spoke again. “I want everything cleaned up and put away by

time I get back from the store. I mean it, ladies. If there is one crumb on the table, one stray

shoe in the hallway, neither of you will be going anywhere tonight.”

I grabbed my keys and walked out the door. I got into my car then drove myself to

Armani for some retail therapy.

I wanted to look good when Jarrod saw me at the party, and I hadn’t bought myself

clothes in a while, having spent a fortune on the Mustang. With two teenage girls at home

getting ready for a vampire party, I needed a break anyway.

I was practically mauled by three salesmen as soon as I walked in the door. I put up a

hand, said I was just looking and let them follow me around for a good twenty minutes. I

admired an overpriced shirt when one of them came closer again. I let him find my size, lead

me to the dressing room and talk to me while I tried it on. I never answered him, finding it

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incredibly rude that he would feel it was okay to have a conversation with me while I

undressed behind a curtain. When I came out he took the shirt from me and offered to ring

me up.

I told him, as politely as I could manage, that I was still looking and walked away to

browse the rest of the store. He eventually took the hint and left me alone while I finished

shopping.

I bought the shirt, a plain white button-down in the softest cotton I had ever touched,

and a pair of dirt-washed jeans that looked about ten years old. I headed home, swinging

through a drive-thru for a bag of food. Reagan was always hungry, and I had to imagine it

came with the age. I got enough to feed a small army and brought everything into the

apartment.

The girls dove into the food, taking burgers and fries into the bathroom with them. I

was glad to see that the living room was clean. I checked the carpet and didn’t see the bleach

spot.

“Reagan? How did you fix the floor?” I called down the hall. I had no desire to see what

they’d done to my bathroom.

“I used a Sharpie. You can’t even tell, huh?”

I laughed, no one could say the girl wasn’t inventive. I took my food and clothes into

my room. I pulled the shirt out and hung it up, not wanting it to get wrinkled, then I balled

up the jeans and threw them on the floor so they would. The things we do in the name of

fashion.

I glanced at the clock again, knowing that the girls would want to leave way earlier

than necessary. Just because the vampires would all be awake in an hour didn’t mean they

wanted us at their house before eight p.m. when the sun went down—not that I would mind

spending some time with Jarrod before the party. I wanted to talk to him about Skip. I’d have

to come clean with him soon, but I was terrified he would take off and go into hiding. I had

just found him. I wasn’t ready to lose him. I decided that I would leave the conversation for a

different night. I didn’t want to ruin the party, and it would give me at least one more night

to have fun with Jarrod before everything blew up in my face. I hoped so anyway.

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Reagan and Donna seemed to have vacated the bathroom, since I refused to believe

they had lowered their voices and it had gotten quieter outside my door. They would be

absolutely obnoxious until we left, so I decided to just get ready.

I dressed then went into the bathroom which was thankfully clear of the girl’s makeup

and hair-care products. I shaved, brushed my teeth and swiped some gel through my hair.

Ten minutes later, I stood in the living room staring at the living-dead girls in disbelief.

They were both dressed in black from head to toe, which I had expected. What I hadn’t

expected was the gothed-out makeup jobs they had done on each other. Their eyes were

caked black with eyeliner and mascara, and they might as well have put flour on their faces

they were so pale. I really wanted to say something to them, but if they wanted to go to a

vampire party dressed like posers…that was their problem not mine.

I called Jarrod to make sure it was all right if we showed up early.

“Sweetie, you can come whenever you want to,” he said.

“Cute. We’ll be there soon.”

I hung up, rounded up the girls, and we all piled into the car headed for the warehouse.

I was less than thrilled to find the warehouse already crowded with people when we

arrived. I had assumed people still came to parties late, not early. But maybe the times were

changing, and I was behind them.

The girls took off in search of Skip. I looked around but didn’t see Jarrod downstairs. I

was just about to call his cell to see if he was still upstairs when someone grabbed my ass.

“Nice jeans,” Jarrod whispered against my ear. “They look like they’ll come off real

easy.”

I turned around smiling. “Glad you approve.”

He took my hand, leading me towards the elevator.

“Where are we going?” I asked, following him reluctantly.

“I want you. I’ve been thinking about you for hours, and now that you’re here, I’m

going to do horrible things to you.” He turned, pulling me hard against his body and kissing

me deeply. He broke away and started walking again.

“I don’t really want to leave Reagan alone,” I said, but I knew it sounded weak. There

were enough people around that she would be safe for an hour if I wasn’t right next to her.

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Jarrod knew it, too. He threw a look over his shoulder and didn’t bother to stop

walking again. We got in the elevator, and he pushed the button while I pulled the grate

closed. As soon as we were out of sight of the people downstairs, he threw himself at me.

The force of him knocked me back against the wall. I wrapped my hands around his

back sliding them up under his shirt, trying to touch as much of his as I could while our

tongues danced together.

The elevator lurched to a stop, and I heard the grate slam upward. I looked around

Jarrod to see Skip standing in front of us, a half-smile on his face.

“Shouldn’t you two be downstairs?” he asked. “It’s full dark. The party is about to

start.”

“We’ll be there in a little bit,” Jarrod said, pulling me into the living room. “I’m sure

you can handle everyone just fine without me Skip.”

I had obviously just walked into something I wanted nothing to do with but that might

have had everything to do with me. Skip shot me a glare as the elevator started its descent

towards the party below.

“Look, I don’t want to cause any problems for you two,” I said, backing away from

Jarrod. “If he doesn’t want me up here, maybe we should just go back to the party.”

“He’s just being a child. Don’t worry about him. I live here, too,” Jarrod waved his hand

in the air as if Skip were something harmless that didn’t even matter to him. “Come on, let

me show you the view.”

He led me through the apartment to a large studio in the back of the building.

Instruments and computers laid everywhere. He ignored them all, walking to a huge curtain

that lined the entire back wall.

With a flourish, he pulled open the drape, revealing a floor to ceiling window that

overlooked the skyline of Detroit. From far away, the city is gorgeous, especially at night

with the buildings lit up. The window afforded a fantastic view of it. I was so taken with it

that I didn’t even notice there was a door off to the side that led onto a balcony until Jarrod

pulled me outside into the cool night air.

We walked to the railing, looking down into the backyard. There was a dense forest of

trees below that completely cut off from the rest of the block from the back of the building. I

smelled the fragrant pines as the wind gently blew over us.

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Jarrod was smiling at me when I looked back at him.

“What?” I asked.

“The look on your face,” he said, touching my cheek. “I just knew you’d love it back

here. I had all of this custom built. The window, the trees, the balcony. When I bought this

place Skip, hated it—and it was pretty terrible—but I saw beauty in it. Skip never sees beauty

in anything. To him, the whole world is ugly and harsh, so he feels it’s all right when he acts

that way, too.” Jarrod stared past me at the trees. He seemed lost for a moment. Before I

could reach out to comfort him, he turned back to look at me with his boyish grin in place.

“But you, my love, you get this. You get me. And tonight, I want to fuck you out here.”

“Is that so?” I pulled him back against me, fingers hooked through the loops of his

jeans. “What makes you think I would agree to such things? I’m very shy, you know. What if

someone caught us?”

“Would you feel better,” he moved closer, nipping my ear lightly with his teeth, “if I

pay someone to stand outside the door and make sure we aren’t disturbed? I seem to

remember you like such things just fine.”

I smiled as he sucked my earlobe into his mouth. The sensation of his tongue licking

across my ear made my arms break out in goose bumps. He nudged apart my knees further,

inserting his leg between them and grinding his hip against my crotch.

He moved his face so he could kiss me again. I let go of his jeans, moving both hands up

to run my fingers through his hair. One of his hands held the back of my neck while he used

the other to unbutton my jeans. He yanked open the zipper so he could rub me to complete

hardness. His grip on my cock wasn’t hard, but it was firm enough to draw a small sound

from me that was lost in his mouth.

“Turn around,” he said, backing away from me.

I turned and gripped the balcony railing. He wrapped his arms around me, his fingers

undoing the buttons of my shirt. When it was completely open, his hands wandered over my

chest, squeezing my nipples and massaging my abs. I leaned my head back, giving him

access to my neck.

He didn’t ask this time, just plunged his fangs into me while holding me completely

still in his tight embrace. I let out a low hiss at the first twinge of the skin breaking, but the

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pain was short-lived. I felt his cock getting hard against my ass, and that did even more to

distract me from the sensation of him drinking my blood.

He licked one last time across the wounds before kissing his way to my ear, then down

the back of my neck. He slid off my shirt, kissing every inch of exposed skin on my back until

the shirt hit the balcony floor. He reached his hands around my waist, repeating his slow

descent over my body as my jeans went, too. I kicked off my shoes and stepped out of my

pants while facing the woods. I hated not being able to see his face but loved the feel of his

mouth on the back of my legs.

He licked his way up my body again, hands sliding up the front of me as he returned to

nuzzle my neck. I turned my head, wanting him to really kiss me, but he turned me back the

other way. My nails dug into the wood railing with every touch of his mouth on my body. I

wanted him so bad my cock ached with the need of it, but he was intent on torturing me.

He didn’t talk to me, just moved me around with firm movements of his hands. He

backed me up so that I leaned forward slightly, my bare ass in the air waiting for him to

decide what to do to me next.

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Chapter Eleven

I jumped at the sensation of Jarrod’s tongue probing at my asshole. I hadn’t been

rimmed in a long time, and I’d forgotten how odd the feeling could be at first. He reached

between my legs to fondle my balls while he softly licked at my opening. His mouth was so

wet and warm against me I relaxed into him quickly.

His other hand replaced his tongue, sliding two fingers into my saliva-slicked hole. The

hand on my balls squeezed gently in time to his light thumping against my prostate until I

feared I would come before he even got to fuck me.

“Please, Jarrod,” I whispered.

“Please what?” he asked, his voice full of amusement.

“Please fuck me. I want to feel you inside me right now. If you keep doing that, I am

going to come all over myself.”

“Do you like it?” His fingers pressed against that sweet spot in my ass again. “Are you

sure you want me to stop?”

I never wanted him to stop. I wanted him to touch me like that forever. But I wanted

him so badly.

“I want to come with your cock inside me. Please?” I hoped that little word would have

the same effect on him that it had on me whenever I heard it from the people I love.

His hands moved away from me, and I shivered as he ran a corner of a condom

wrapper down my back, the foil tickling and scratching at the same time. I heard him spit in

his hand, lubing up the condom more before he pressed against the tight ring of muscles his

fingers had just loosened.

His hand went to my shoulder, gripping me tightly as he slid inch by amazing inch

inside me. When his body was pressed fully against me, he stopped, letting me adjust to the

size of him inside me. I had known he was big already, but being stretched wide around him

made me wonder if I’d really paid attention before now. My fingers curled back into the

wood, and I felt my nails leaving half-moon marks in it.

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He pulled out, and the feeling of his cock sliding over my prostate made me moan out

loud. He moved faster, my muscles resisting less and less against his shaft as he did. Within

minutes, he was slamming into me so hard my elbows bumped into the railing and I fought

not to scream for him.

The head of his cock slid over and over my sweet spot until I finally did cry out, yelling

his name as I came. But he kept going, his fingers digging into my hips so hard I thought I

might have the same marks in my flesh that I’d just left in his railing. His face fell against my

shoulder, kissing my skin while he pounded into my ass.

“Can I?” he asked, his voice strained.

“Yes.” It came out hoarse as my breath was still a little shaky, but he heard me. His

fangs crashed into my shoulder, not at all gentle, just fast and hard and a little more painful

than the other times he had done it.

I felt blood trickling down my skin, but I didn’t care. I reached my hand behind his

head, fingers running through his hair as he drank from me. His rhythm faltered, and he

cried out against me as he filled the condom in my ass with his seed.

He licked my shoulder clean as he slid out of me with a soft hiss. I turned around,

kissing his lip and licking a stray drop of my blood from his cheek. I realised that he was still

almost completely dressed.

“Were you in a hurry?” I asked, laughing.

“I really have been thinking about fucking you all day. I didn’t want to waste any

time,” he said, pulling his pants back up and buttoning them.

“Then why did you get me naked?” I asked. I had also gotten my jeans back in place

and was looking for my shirt.

He handed it to me, making me kiss him before he would let go of it.

“Because you’re gorgeous, and I wanted to be able to touch all of your skin.”

As the shirt slid over my shoulders, I winced at the tightness where he’d bitten me. I

looked as best I could and was relieved there didn’t seem to be any blood on the shirt.

“You might be a little crazy,” I said with a small laugh. “You know that, right?”

“Crazy about you maybe.” He smiled, kissing me. “We should probably get downstairs,

huh?”

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

I blew out a sigh and nodded. He was right, but I would have preferred to spend the

rest of the evening alone with him. I could think of many things I’d like to do with him, and

none of them involved hanging out at a party with my sister and a bunch of vampires.

We heard that the party was in full swing before the elevator had finished its descent to

the warehouse. The music was loud, and the steady hum of voices travelled far up the

elevator shaft. When we finally stepped out to the floor, Jarrod was mobbed by people.

He smiled and shook hands as he pushed through them. I couldn’t tell if he actually

knew them or if they were just fans because he had taken on an air of polite aloofness I had

not seen from him. I hadn’t realised I would be seeing ‘rock star Jarrod Axlerod’ work the

room. In fact, I’d sort of forgotten that he was in a band at all. When it was just us, he was so

normal. It was easy to let his fame get clouded from memory.

Watching him greet people and sign autographs, I knew I would never forget it again.

This was what he did, who he was, and it wasn’t fair to him not to acknowledge it. He had

worked hard to become this person, and if I did love him, I had to accept all of him. I never

would have believed it would be easier to accept that he was a vampire than to accept that he

was a rock star. Every day with him taught me something new about myself. But then, I

suppose that’s what a real relationship is.

I excused myself from him and his…friends and went to find Reagan. I was pretty sure

that with so many people at the party she would be safe, but I also knew she was unlikely to

leave Skip’s side. So of course, when I found her, she was attached to him.

Their hands were intertwined, and they were sitting in the back of the room, heads

together, talking. I thought about leaving them alone since he was obviously not hurting her

at the moment, but he caught sight of me and called me over to them.

“Mitch, are you enjoying the party? Or did you just show up?” His voice was even,

almost pleasant, but his eyes showed that he was pissed at me.

“Jarrod showed me the view from your studio. Very impressive, Skip. I wouldn’t have

pegged you as someone who cares much for beauty.”

“How wrong you are,” he said, turning to kiss Reagan. “I’m very fond of beautiful

things. In fact, I prefer to surround myself with beauty. That’s why I have Jarrod and

Reagan.”

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

I wanted to argue that he had neither. That he was only sitting near my sister because I

was allowing it for the moment, but it was her party and Jarrod’s home. It wouldn’t do to

fight with Skip. Not to mention, I was completely outnumbered if it came to a fight. I had to

believe the hundred or so people in the room would be on Skip’s side.

“Reagan, where’s Donna?”

She looked around with wide eyes, as if she had been so caught up in Skip she had

forgotten that her friend was also at the party. She tried to stand, but Skip held her back with

a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, babe. I’m sure Mitch would love to go find your friend, wouldn’t you,

Mitch?”

I shot Reagan a dirty look then went to find Donna. I could only hope she was safe, too.

I never should have brought the girls to the party. I had tried to convince myself that they

would go regardless of my feelings about it, but I had to wonder now if that was true. Maybe

if I had explained the danger to them, scared them enough, they might have stayed home

and watched television instead.

I found Donna surrounded by a group of boys on the other side of the room from

Reagan and Skip. She was laughing and flirting and seemed to be having a good time. And a

quick glance through the guys around her told me that none of them seemed to be vampires.

I gave her a quick wave, which caused her to come running over to me. She threw her arms

around my waist and kissed me gently on the lips.

“Oh Mitch, I’m having the best time. Thank you so much for bringing me. You’re not

going to make us go now, are you? Please hang out.” She didn’t seem drunk, but I’d rarely

seen her so animated. I unlatched her from my waist and smiled.

“We don’t have to go yet. But soon, okay? It’s getting late.”

She nodded and walked back to take her spot in the centre of her new adoring fans. I

turned to go tell Reagan I’d found her friend and bumped straight into Skip.

“Where’s my sister?”

“She went to mingle. I thought we should have a little chat.” He grabbed my wrist,

pulling me towards the door. I yanked back my hand but followed him outside.

“Since our last chat went so well, I can’t wait to hear what you have to say to me now,

Skip.”

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

“I told you to leave him alone. What the hell are you doing here?” His hands were

balled into fists, and his eyes were narrowed at me.

“What the fuck do you care? Jarrod told me that you had no interest in him as anything

other than a friend.” I tried to keep distance between us. In case he rushed me, I wanted to

have some room to manoeuvre.

“Jarrod doesn’t understand what’s going on here. He thinks he loves you, and that you

love him, and the two of you will live happily ever after. But how is that going to work?

You’re mortal, you’re going to grow old and die, then who will Jarrod have? No one. Because

if he throws me away now, I won’t be there for him when you’re gone.” His voice softened a

little. “If you really do love him, you’ll do what’s best for all of us and just go. If you promise

me right now, that you will leave us alone, I will go end things with Reagan. You won’t have

to worry about your little sister anymore if you just go. Just go, Mitch.”

Maybe Jarrod was wrong, maybe Skip really did love him. Or maybe Skip recognised

that he was in trouble. The whole band knew I was a federal marshal. If he had figured out

why I had come into their lives in the first place, of course, he would want me gone. And if I

persisted, he had a great little hostage in my sister. I couldn’t kill him even if I was trying to

save Reagan. Fuck.

“Skip, listen carefully. I am only going to say this once. I love Jarrod.” I paused for a

moment, letting that comment sink in for both of us. “And I think that he loves me, too. If

you care about him so fucking much, you should want to see him happy. Threatening my

sister isn’t going to get you anything but dead. Do you hear me?”

His eyes had gone wide, and to be honest, I was slightly startled by my words, too. But

I meant every one of them. Fuck the contract and fuck the Army. If he didn’t leave my family

alone, I would stake him where he stood. I was done letting Skip Axlerod dictate to me how

things would be.

“Interesting,” he said. He smoothed his hands over his jeans, looking at the ground. His

hand shot out towards me, but I was ready for it. I caught his wrist and used his own

momentum to swing him into the side of the building. I pinned his arm behind him and

pushed my shoulder into his back to hold him still.

“Stay the fuck away from us,” I hissed into his ear.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

I let him go, stepping back quickly in case he tried for me again. He didn’t. He just

brushed himself off again and stalked into the warehouse, not even bothering to look back at

me.

I let out a shaky breath, the adrenaline fading. My hands shook, and I put them in my

pockets to make it stop. I stood outside for a few more minutes, letting the cool air calm me.

When I was finally sure I could walk without my legs giving out, I went back inside to find

Jarrod.

He was just inside the door, dancing with Reagan. They were making exaggerated

movements, with big dips and wild spins. Donna was off to the side watching them and

laughing. I went to stand with her, noticing how happy Reagan looked. I hoped she never

had to find out what some vampires were really like. I wanted her to always look at Jarrod

like she looked at him now. It was the same look she sometimes gave me when we’re goofing

around and having fun. I liked that she felt that way for him.

I had to do something about Skip. I couldn’t let him hurt us. If Reagan’s heart got a little

dented, I could live with that. And more importantly, so could she. I glanced at my watch

and groaned. It was really late, and I had to get the girls home. I also wanted to talk to Jarrod,

but it wasn’t going to be tonight. I could only hope Skip wouldn’t ruin everything before I

got the chance to explain myself.

The girls came quietly enough. There were no big arguments about leaving the party. I

think they were more tired than they would ever admit. Jarrod followed us out to the car,

giving me a lingering kiss that made the girls giggle inside the car. I flipped them off with

one hand while the other just wanted to stay gripped in Jarrod’s. He finally pulled away, a

small smile on his lips. I promised to call him the following evening and got in the car to go

home—alone—with two teenage girls almost asleep in the backseat.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

Chapter Twelve

I woke up late the next afternoon and found an empty apartment. Reagan had left a

note saying she promised she really was going to stay with Donna and that she would call

me later. Jarrod wouldn’t be up for a few more hours, so I decided to go to the gym and try

to run out some of my frustration.

After two hours on the track, I was sweaty, my muscles ached, and I was no closer to a

solution than I had been earlier. I would have to call my father and ask for his help, but I

wasn’t looking forward to it at all. And as satisfying as I would have found it to kill Skip, it

wasn’t going to cancel out the contract on Jarrod so that wouldn’t help me in the long run.

I went back to my loft, showered and got dressed. It was still too early to call Jarrod, but

there was a phone call I had to make, and the sooner I got it over with the better.

My father’s phone went straight to voicemail, and I was more relieved that I wanted to

admit. I didn’t want to talk to him right away. I left a brief message, telling him that I needed

to speak to him about the Axlerod case and to call me as soon as he could.

After wandering around the house for another hour, bored out of my mind, I finally

decided I had to get out of there. I didn’t want to believe I was so pathetic that after a week

and a half there was nothing I wanted do without Jarrod beside me.

A nice long car ride sounded like fun. It was a beautiful afternoon, and I had been

seriously lacking in sunlight lately, thanks to my sexy new vampire companion. So I opened

the convertible top and took off, with no particular destination in mind, the sun shining on

me and the air in my face.

I hit the highway, speeding just enough for fun but not enough to get pulled over. The

air felt amazing. I turned up the radio and forced all thought from my head, just enjoying the

peace of my solitude in my car.

It had gotten dark, but the air was still warm as I turned around to head home. I was

almost back on the highway at eight-thirty p.m. when my cell phone rang. I glanced at the

screen and smiled.

“Well, hello there,” I said in my deepest voice. “What can I help you with?”

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

Jarrod laughed. “Gee sir, I would be most appreciative if you were to come rescue me

from the cranky roommate monster.”

“I can do that,” I said, laughing too. “I’ll be there soon.”

I hung up the phone and raced back to town. As much fun as I’d had alone in my car,

having Jarrod next to me would make it so much better. I wondered if it was a bad sign that I

already missed him but dismissed it. I could worry about it later, for now, I just wanted to

have some fun for once in my life. And so far, Jarrod had been great for that.

I made it to his apartment much faster than I probably should have, but I hadn’t even

seen a cop so I wasn’t worried about it. Jarrod was sitting out front when I pulled up. He

climbed into the car, giving me a quick kiss.

“Let’s get out of here.”

“Are you all right?” I asked him, putting my hand over his on his lap.

“I’m fine. Skip is just being an asshole, and I’m tired of dealing with it.” He smiled, but

it was forced.

I pulled from the kerb, driving the speed limit like a good federal marshal.

“What do you want to do tonight?” I asked him. I was heading back towards the

highway, but I didn’t have any particular destination in mind.

“I don’t care. What were you doing when I called?”

“I had just gone out for a drive.”

“That sounds nice. Are you sick of driving? I wouldn’t mind cruising around and just

being with you.”

I smiled, squeezing his hand and falling a little more in love him for saying what I’d

been thinking earlier. I drove onto the highway and took off again heading north. We didn’t

talk for a while, just held hands and enjoyed being with each other.

It had been a hard few days, probably for both of us, and we both just needed to

unwind. I liked that I could feel relaxed with him. No matter what happened, driving with

him to nowhere that night would always be one of my favourite memories.

Around midnight, we were so far north that all the traffic had disappeared. We had the

road to ourselves, surrounded by trees and not much else. It was so dark up there we could

see millions of stars, stars I always forgot existed when I was in the city. But up there, no

light pollution marred the beauty of the sky.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

The highway was less highway and more of a wide road. Instead of actual exits there

were just small roads leading off to the side. I turned onto one of these streets, lined with

trees and no buildings as far as I could tell. I pulled off to the side, into the first break in the

trees that I saw. I leaned back my seat and stared up at the stars, still gripping Jarrod’s hand

in mine.

“This is amazing,” he whispered. I heard him drop back his seat, too. “It’s been a long

time since I’ve seen so many stars. It’s beautiful.”

I turned to look at him. “You’re beautiful.”

Jarrod undid his seatbelt then reached over and unhooked mine too. He bent over me,

and I thought he would undo my jeans, but his hand went completely past my legs to move

my seat all the way back. When it was as far from the steering wheel as he could get it, he

climbed over the console and straddled my lap.

I ran a hand up his thighs, massaging his muscles. He put his hands on either side of

my face and kissed me, holding my head still as he attacked my mouth with his tongue and

his teeth. I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed him tight against me. His

erection pressed against my stomach, and my own pressed into his leg.

“Mitch, I want you. I want you to take me right now, under the stars.” His eyes almost

glowed in the bright moonlight overhead.

I wanted him, too, but I’d never had sex in a car before, and the Mustang wasn’t really

built with room in mind. I wasn’t sure how we would manage it. But Jarrod seemed to have

it all figured out.

He climbed back into the passenger seat and undressed, throwing his clothes into the

backseat. I did the same and soon we sat there naked in the night air. He handed me a

condom he must have had with him, and I rolled it down my cock. He climbed back over me,

holding himself up on his knees while I stuck two of my fingers in his mouth to get them

slick with his saliva.

I reached between his legs, placing my fingers against his tight hole, working them in

slowly to loosen him up. He rocked his hips into me, urging me to move them faster. I finger-

fucked him for several minutes, until I was sure I could penetrate him without causing him

pain.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

I spit in my palm. Sliding it up the length of the condom, I mixed it with the lubrication

already there, then I finally let him lower himself onto my cock, easing down me inch by inch

until his ass gripped the base of my shaft like a fist. I pulled his face closer so I could kiss him

while he moved his hips on top of me, fucking me slowly.

He leaned back a little, careful to avoid hitting the steering wheel. I shifted in my seat so

I could taste his skin, trailing kisses over every inch of his chest I could reach. His hands

went to my shoulders, using me as leverage to start moving faster. I tried to sit still, tried to

let him set the pace, but as the orgasm built in my balls I took the lead.

I wrapped my hands around his hips and lifted him up then slammed him onto my

cock over and over again until he screamed. He came in thick, hot streams on my chest. The

feel of it sent me over the edge, too.

“Jarrod!” I screamed, my cum pumping through my cock so hard and so fast I was

afraid the condom wouldn’t be able to hold it. I collapsed back into the seat, my cock still

twitching inside his ass. He lay back, too, and we both jumped when the horn sounded.

He climbed off me, laughing. “And I’d been trying so hard not to do that.”

He rifled through the backseat, handing me my clothes and starting to put his back on. I

climbed out of the car, burying the condom in the dirt next to the road. I grabbed my jeans.

Standing in the street, I pulled them on before brushing the dirt off my hands and climbing

back into the car to get my shoes and socks.

Jarrod smiled at me from the passenger seat. I leaned over and kissed him, practically

climbing all the way into his seat until I had him pinned against the door. He laughed into

my mouth but kissed me back just as hard.

I pulled away, falling back into my seat with an exaggerated sigh. I pulled my shirt over

my head and looked back up at the stars.

“That was a really good idea,” I said. “We should do that more often.”

“How about right now?” Jarrod asked.

I looked over at him in disbelief to see him grinning widely at me. I shook my head and

started the car. We drove back to town the same way we had come out, hand in hand. I was

happier than I could remember being for a long time.

* * * *

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

“You’re going to ruin this, aren’t you?”

We had gotten back to my apartment around midnight and were sitting on the sofa next

to each other, sharing the last beer I had found in my fridge.

“What do you mean?” I asked, not looking at him.

“I mean, you look like you’re going to say something stupid…like we can’t see each

other again. Or love isn’t enough. Some bullshit cliché I’m going to argue with. Then I’ll

storm out, and we’ll both be miserable.”

He had put it pretty succinctly. I had been contemplating talking to him, though I really

hadn’t wanted to ruin the evening. I sighed, and he hit me.

“What was that for?” I rubbed my shoulder in fake pain.

“Don’t do it. I mean it. I don’t want to hear it tonight. If you have to go and fuck it all

up, do it tomorrow. Let’s just share this night, okay. If things aren’t going to work out in the

long run can we at least have one memory to look back on and smile about?”

I nodded. He was right. We could talk about it another night. I also wanted this night to

be perfect. Even though he had to leave soon, I would always be able to look back fondly on

the time we had spent together. The torture could wait.

A knock on the door made us both jump. I looked at him and laughed.

“Some vampire you are.” I stood to answer the door. “Aren’t you supposed to have

super-human hearing or something?”

“Shut up,” he said, throwing a sofa pillow at me.

I opened the door and immediately slammed it shut upon seeing who was on the other

side. It was strange that he had bothered to knock at all. I always assumed he just floated

through the cracks in the walls and appeared inside.

Jarrod looked at me, his features showing both amusement and confusion. My body

had gone rigid with fear. I didn’t know what to do.

“Mitch, open up. I know he’s in there,” my father called from the hallway.

I opened the door, moving aside to let him come in. I closed the door behind him and

moved to put myself between Jarrod, who had stood, and my father.

“Why are you here?” I asked him.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

“Hey, you called me.” Dad gestured to Jarrod who had also wisely backed up a few feet.

“The better question would be why is he here.”

“Listen, it wasn’t him. I know you don’t believe me, or even care, but I know who killed

those men. And it wasn’t Jarrod.”

“Whoa,” Jarrod said, taking a step forward. “What the hell are you talking about?”

I sighed, turning to face him. “This is my father…and my commanding officer, Captain

Arnold Baine. Dad, this is Jarrod Axlerod.”

Jarrod looked confused. “I thought you were a federal marshal?”

“I am, but I’m a licensed bounty hunter, and I was contracted by the Army to kill you.”

I turned back to Dad. “I’ve tried to tell him that the reports are wrong, but he won’t listen.”

Jarrod sat on the couch again, his face in his hands. Dad and I both turned to look at

him.

“How did you guys find out?”

“We have photos of you at some of the crime scenes. The Army, wrongly, assumed that

you had killed the victims. I have been trying to explain all of the reasons they are wrong, but

I don’t understand what you were doing there.”

I sat next to Jarrod, using a hand to turn his face to look at me. I pleaded with my eyes

for him to come clean now. If my father heard what had really happened, hopefully, we

could fix the whole situation.

“Mitch, you’re going to have to kill me,” he said softly, pulling away from my touch.

My father reached for his gun, but I jumped to my feet and stopped him with a hand on

his wrist. I shook my head, glaring at him. He was not going to kill Jarrod.

“Don’t do this, Jarrod, please.” I stayed in front of my father, hoping he wouldn’t press

the issue, hoping he would let me handle it.

Jarrod stared at me as if he didn’t recognise me. “Is this what you wanted to talk to me

about? What you were thinking about when we got back here?”

I’d earned that look from him, that and so much more. I would be lucky if he didn’t

disappear forever. Or actually make me kill him.

“I need you to leave,” I said to my father. “I have to talk to him. Please, Dad. Just go. I’ll

handle this. Give me an hour and come back if you want, but I need you to not be here right

now.”

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

100

“Mitch, I really don’t think that’s a good idea. You have shown nothing but terrible

judgement regarding this entire case. You’re fucking your hit, for God’s sake. Why should I

go? Tell me why I shouldn’t kill him right now.”

“Because I love him.” I stood my ground, keeping eye contact as I said it. My father had

always chosen to ignore that part of my life, but that was his problem, not mine.

He shook his head then walked out the door without another word. I wasn’t sure what

that meant, but he hadn’t put a bullet in Jarrod’s head. For the moment, it would have to do.

I turned to see Jarrod standing by the balcony doors, staring out onto the street. I walked up

behind him and put my arms around his waist, laying a light kiss on his shoulder.

“We have to talk about this.”

“I know,” he said. “But Mitch, I can’t give up Skip. I have been covering for him for

years. I’ve helped him hide the bodies. I’ve protected him from people who have tried to kill

him before. I won’t let you hurt him. I’d rather die by your hand than let anything bad

happen to him.”

“You might want to rethink that.” I turned him around and made him face me. I kissed

a tear from each of his cheeks before pulling him into my arms. “I have to tell you what

Skip’s been saying to me lately. And I don’t think you’re going to like it. I just hope you can

believe me, because I wouldn’t lie to you. Not about this.”

I led him back to the sofa, pulling him against me with my arm over his shoulders, and

I told him what Skip had said to me. All of it. What he had said he would do to Reagan that

night at Torque, what we’d talked about at the party, everything.

Jarrod sat stoically as I talked. He didn’t seem to even breathe. His body was rigid

against me, but he didn’t make me move, didn’t make me stop touching him. I think that for

him, like me, it had all gotten so awful so fast that he needed the physical contact.

When I stopped talking, he took a shaky breath. He looked up at me, his eyes dry but a

sad expression on his face.

“Why? What could he possibly gain from any of this?”

“I think he’s still in love with you,” I said softly.

“No. He’s jealous or angry or something, but Skip made it clear to me a long time ago

that we were over. I don’t know why he’s stuck around at all. Maybe he was afraid I would

spill his secret.” Jarrod gave me a small smile, but there was no happiness in it. “He’s a

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

101

crossbreed of vampire and werewolf. They are not very common, and they’re hated fiercely

by both races because of what is required to achieve such a thing.”

I opened my mouth to ask him what that meant but he shook his head.

“I don’t want to talk about that right now. Maybe someday, but right now there are

more important things.”

It was my turn to go still. I remembered him saying earlier that Skip was not a true

vampire, but I hadn’t thought to question it at the time. Listening to Jarrod spill his story to

me, it had all started to click into place.

“That’s why those photos didn’t make sense to you,” he continued. “Because they

weren’t vampire kills. They were werewolf victims. I don’t know how the Army got pictures

of me with the bodies, though. Skip was always so careful when he dumped the bodies, but I

still ended up burying them for him just in case, to make sure he never got caught.”

“I don’t know, but whoever took those pictures sent them to the Army to frame you.

And the military didn’t care who. They just knew someone had handed over a big pile of

evidence. A cut-and-dry case. There were no hard facts about the bodies because the Army

never saw them. They looked at the pictures and made up the details as they went.” I didn’t

want to tell him I believed it was Skip who had set him up. I hadn’t really figured out why he

would have done it—unless he thought someone would figure out it was him, and he needed

a convenient scapegoat. But if he loved Jarrod as he claimed to, it just didn’t make sense that

he would try to get him killed.

“So what happens now?”

I knew what he was asking, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure. Dad had made it clear that

there was no way to cancel a contract once it was made. But there had to have been cases of

mistaken identity before. They couldn’t really expect me to kill an innocent man.

“I don’t know,” I said finally.

“I have to go. I have to find Skip and talk to him.” He stood up, sliding his feet into his

shoes. He leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips. “I’ll come back tonight…if I can.”

“Be careful,” I called after him. The only answer was the sound of the door closing

behind him.

MITCH

Dakota Rebel

102

I lay back on the sofa, staring at the ceiling. I only had to wait about five minutes before

Dad let himself back in the apartment. The jangling keys ruined my image of how he got in

all the time.

“Mitch?” He sat in the chair facing me. “I understand that you love him, but the Army

won’t. Do you get that? The worst that will happen if this gets fucked up is that they’ll have

the Feds fire you. But honestly, you could be lucky to even get out alive. These people don’t

fuck around. Especially since one of the vics was a general’s nephew.”

Well, that explained the urgency.

“They can’t expect me to kill someone who hasn’t done anything wrong. I have never

asked you for anything, sir. But I’m asking now. I need to tell you what’s been going on, then

I need you to help me. Please?”

He nodded, and I started talking. I explained who Skip was, what he’d been doing,

Jarrod’s role in everything, and how the Army had received their evidence. I left out the fact

that his daughter had been…keeping Skip company. I figured it wasn’t relevant to the case

and I could handle that particular problem without his help. He listened to all of it, nodding

occasionally, but never interrupting.

“I’ll see what I can do about Jarrod. For now, you have approval from your C.O. to

hold off on the hit. I’m going to make some phone calls and, at the very least, get a contract

out in Skip’s name. I can’t promise you anything, but I will try my damnedest get you off this

case. I have a feeling your boyfriend might take offence to you killing his friend.”

I gripped his hand tightly, patting his back with my other hand in a display of the only

affection I was ever allowed to show to him. We saluted each other, and he left. I shut the

door behind him, leaning back on it. Exhaustion caught up to me and I slid down the door to

sit on the floor. I lay my head backward and stared up at the ceiling.

It was all too much, too fast. Jarrod, Skip, Dad, Reagan. It was unreal, surreal even. I

just hoped that my father would really be able to save my lover’s life.

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Chapter Thirteen

I woke up to the sound of someone beating against my skull. I opened my eyes, looking

around the room in confusion for a minute. I realised I had fallen asleep on the floor and

someone was knocking on the door.

I scrambled to my feet, opening the door to find Jarrod standing there, his clothes

covered in blood. I pulled him into my arms, leading us backward into the room and kicking

the door closed with my foot.

Jarrod sobbed, his whole body shaking as he clung to me. I ran a hand over his hair,

holding his head to my shoulder while he cried. After a few minutes, his body stilled in my

arms and his breathing started to even out. I continued to hold him, wanting him to pull

away rather than pushing him. Finally, after clinging to me a little while longer, he backed

away.

“Do you want to sit?” I asked. I felt so stupid and awkward. I didn’t know what to do

for him.

He nodded. He kept his gaze on the floor, and his hand clenched around mine. I led

him to couch, easing him down next to me. I put my arm around his shoulder, squeezing

softly. He took a few deep breaths, wiped at his eyes, then turned to face me.

“It’s Skip. He was waiting for me when I got home. As soon as I opened the door, he

tackled me. He said he could smell you on me, that he warned you to stay away from me. He

was so angry.” Jarrod took another deep breath. I kissed his forehead which earned me a

small smile.

“Jarrod, did he hurt you?” I wanted to know where the blood had come from, but I

didn’t want to be so blunt as to flat out ask. Jarrod was so shaken. I didn’t need to make it

worse.

“No, not really. I mean, he knocked me around a little but nothing major.” He stared at

his hands. He seemed to have suddenly realised he was covered in blood because his eyes

went wide and he turned his hands over and over. It was splattered up his arms and across

his chest, too.

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“I can’t believe I didn’t get arrested on the way here.” He gave a little laugh. “I wasn’t

really thinking about the blood. It’s from Skip’s latest victim. He told me that he had been so

angry when I wasn’t home yet that he’d gone crazy. He said he doesn’t remember doing it,

but there was a body in the apartment. It was so mangled I don’t even know if it was male or

female. He was sitting on the floor next to it crying. He didn’t want to tell me, but I finally

got him to promise me it wasn’t Reagan.”

I let out a breath I hadn’t realised I was holding. “Are you sure? You’re absolutely

fucking positive my sister is okay?”

“I didn’t say that. I said the body wasn’t hers. He wouldn’t tell me where she is. I didn’t

see her at the apartment, but I know he was with her tonight. I don’t think he would hurt her

though. In his own sick way, I think he really likes Reagan.”

I didn’t say it to him, but he had just killed Skip with those words. Even if the case got

reassigned to a different hunter, I would take the hit. I wanted to find him and murder him

with my bare hands if I could manage it.

“Mitch, what are you thinking? I don’t like that look in your eyes. Please tell me you

aren’t going to do anything stupid.”

I grabbed my phone off the table and dialled Reagan’s number. It went straight to

voicemail. I tried Mom’s house and got her machine, too. It was awfully late for them to be

out, and Mom always answered the phone. It didn’t matter what time it was.

I was about to call my father when Jarrod’s cell phone went off. He answered it and

looked at me. He nodded with his hand up, telling me to keep my mouth shut. He didn’t say

anything, just sat and listened for a minute.

When he hung up he stood and walked over to me. He gripped my arms, staring into

my eyes.

“Mitch, I need you to stay calm for me, okay? Everything is going to be all right. Skip

has your sister, but he swears he hasn’t hurt her. He wants us to come get her. I don’t know

what he’s planning, but we have to go. We have to get to her before the sun comes up, or I’m

not sure what he’ll do. I’ve never seen him like this.”

I pulled away from Jarrod and walked to the office to start loading up on weapons. I

wasn’t sure what would kill a crossbreed. I had to imagine they were pretty tough fuckers, so

I figured I would grab one of everything I could carry.

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Jarrod stood at the door watching me strap guns to myself. “He’s not going to let you in

there with weapons, Mitch.”

“So what? We go in there unarmed and let him kill us all?”

“He’s not going to—”

“Stop. Just stop it, Jarrod.” I walked over to him. “I know you love him. But Skip is

seriously fucked up. And if he hurts Reagan, I swear to Christ I am going to watch him bleed

to death as painfully as I can make it happen. If you can’t deal with that then I’m sorry, but

you’re not going to change my mind on this.”

He reached up, running a hand over my cheek. “This is all my fault. If I had left you

alone the night of the concert, none of this would be happening. If I hadn’t invited you back

stage—”

I cut him off again. “If I hadn’t met you that night, I would have killed you. You would

be dead, and Skip would still be out there killing. No matter what happens tonight, I will

never be sorry I met you. Never be sorry I fell in love with you.”

Our arms wrapped tightly around each other as he kissed me hard and fast. If we

hadn’t been in the middle of a crisis I would have ripped off his clothes and kissed every inch

of his skin. I would have spent the last hours before dawn exploring his body with my hands

and my mouth. But that would have to wait.

“If we make it through this, you are going to live here until I am done with your body,”

I said, pulling away from his kiss. “I am going to fuck you until you beg me to quit and

maybe for a while after.”

“We are going to save your sister. We are going to be fine. And good luck ever getting

me out of here after that.”

I dumped most of the weapons back into the safe. I still took a few guns with me,

though I was sure Skip would demand I hand them over. On the off chance he was so crazy

he didn’t notice I had them, I wanted something that could help us get out of there alive.

* * * *

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Jarrod led me through a door on the side of the building. We were walking towards the

large freight elevator that led to the living space, but I stopped him with a hand on his arm. I

pulled my gun from its shoulder holster and clicked off the safety.

I had thought I’d seen movement from the corner of my eye. But when I turned in that

direction, no one was there. I eased off the trigger just as I was hit from behind. I tumbled to

the floor and heard my gun go sliding across the cement. Fuck, that shit was only supposed

to happen in terrible action movies.

“Glad you could make it, Mitch,” Skip growled into my ear. I could see that his arms

were in wolf form so I held as still as I could. I did not want him infecting me if I could help

it.

“Where is she, Skip?” Jarrod stood close, but I couldn’t see him.

“Who? Oh, Reagan? She had to go home. It’s past her bedtime. Besides, it would have

been rude to have a girl around when I was expecting company.” He licked my cheek. “And

what delicious company he is, too.”

It was a trap, and we’d both fallen for it.

A shot went off, and suddenly, I could move again. I jumped to my feet, sweeping the

room to see where Skip had gone. I saw Jarrod standing with one of my guns in his hand. He

must have shot at Skip, but I didn’t see the werewolf.

“Where did he go?” I think I was yelling. The shot had been fired a little too close for

comfort.

“I don’t kn—”

Skip landed on Jarrod the way he must have launched himself at me. But Jarrod had

turned, so he faced Skip. The gun went off again and Skip’s body jerked, but he kept Jarrod

pinned to the ground.

“Skip, stop! Let him go!”

Skip lifted Jarrod’s head and slammed it down into the cement. He stood, giving me a

clear view of Jarrod laying in a puddle of blood, his eyes closed. I tried to run to him, but

Skip stood in my way.

Now that I saw him clearly, I was more scared of Skip than I had thought I would be.

He looked as if he had only half-shifted. His face slightly elongated, protruding his fangs out

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but not turned into a full muzzle. His chest, arms and hands were covered in black fur that

reached all the way to razor-sharp claws. His clothes were tattered and covered in blood.

“Where is my sister?”

“Probably at home, tucked safely into her bed and dreaming of the day she and I will

run away together. Visions of puppies and such floating through her pretty little head.”

Skip walked towards me as he talked, and I backed up in time with him. Not running

exactly, but I didn’t want him to get any closer to me. Unfortunately, I was about to run out

of space. I was getting closer and closer to the wall, and he just kept coming.

“Reagan likes puppies. She and Jarrod and I are going to be very happy together. It’s a

shame you won’t be there to see it. There’s just no room in our lives for you, Mitch. Reagan

has outgrown you, and Jarrod doesn’t need you. He needs me. He loves me. Always has.

Always will.”

I bumped into the wall, out of space to get away. Skip raised a clawed hand, but before

he could cut me, Jarrod grabbed his arm, spinning him around.

“How dare you?” Jarrod screamed at him. “You have told me, so many times, that we

are never going to be more than we are now. What the fuck is wrong with you? I know you

set me up. I know you sent the military those pictures, to get them to kill me and take the

heat off of you. To be rid of me forever. And now you’re acting like a spoiled child who

doesn’t want anything to do with a discarded toy until someone else shows interest in it.”

Tears rolled down Jarrod’s face, but he didn’t seem to notice. “I’m not a toy, Skip. I am not

something that you can put away until that special rainy day you want to play with me

again. You have broken my heart more times than I care to count. And I have let you,

because I thought that I loved you.”

“You thought you loved me?” Skip laughed, a horrible sound that felt like broken glass

under my skin. “You have followed me around for years. Pining for me, begging me to take

you, and then this…thing comes along, and I don’t exist anymore. I don’t matter.” Skip

pointed at me, a clawed finger outstretched and pushed into my chest, breaking the skin

until blood seeped around it. “Who the hell is this guy? Why is he so fucking special? What is

it about him that makes you not love me anymore?”

With every question, his claw dug deeper into my chest until I couldn’t hold back the

cry of pain anymore. Skip smiled wickedly, twisting the claw to open my flesh more.

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I couldn’t believe how bad it hurt. I’d been cut up before. I’d been stabbed and even

shot once. But I had never felt pain like this. It was as if he were able to put the pain from my

skin right into my skull. My entire body burned with the torture of it. I felt my body sliding

down the wall, felt the world going black around the edges. I didn’t know what he was

doing to me, and I didn’t seem to be able to move.

“Skip, no!” Jarrod hit Skip at the waist, taking him to the floor. I screamed at the feel of

his claw tearing through my skin, but he wasn’t in my head anymore. I could breathe again,

which I hadn’t realised I wasn’t doing until that first breath of sweet air filled my lungs.

I fell to the ground coughing, unable to focus on what Jarrod and Skip were doing. I

heard them struggling, but my vision still swam.

The unmistakable sound of Jarrod’s screams forced me to my feet. I was unstable still,

but I knew he was in trouble. I had to try to save him. I pulled free the gun from my ankle

holster but left on the safety since I couldn’t see anything clearly.

“Jarrod? Talk to me damn it. Are you all right?” I watched for shadows, trying not to

focus too hard on any one object. Instead, I tried to keep everything in perspective, hoping I

would notice a big, dark blur if Skip rushed me again. But it looked as if they were both still

on the floor.

I closed my eyes for a second, trying to slow my breathing. I wasn’t going to be any

help to Jarrod if I didn’t calm down.

He screamed again, and when I opened my eyes, I wished I could go back to not seeing

anything. Skip was on top of him, his mouth pressed into Jarrod’s stomach. I could see blood

and other, thicker things on Skip’s face when he turned towards me.

He rose to his feet, stalking towards me. He scraped a hand across his chin, wiping

some of the gore off of himself. I glanced at Jarrod on the floor and knew I shouldn’t have.

His stomach was ripped open, looking like shredded meat, and he wasn’t moving. The world

started spinning again. I fell to my knees and threw up. I couldn’t make my legs work

though I heard Skip coming for me. I knew he would do the same, or worse, to me if I didn’t

try to fight, but the fight was gone out of me. My sister was safe, and my lover was dead.

There was nothing left for me.

A shot went off. I looked towards Jarrod, but he was still laying on the floor bleeding

and not moving. Another shot was fired, and I turned to see Skip still staggering towards me.

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A third shot went through his chest, spraying blood through the gaping wound the bullet

had left there. Still, he stumbled towards me. He stood over me when a fourth shot brought

him to his knees. His hand slashed out, claws tearing at my chest just as the final shot

sounded and his head exploded in my face.

We fell to the floor together. I closed my eyes to block the vision of his brain leaking

onto the cement next to me, but I knew that there was nothing that would ever completely

remove that sight from my memory.

“Mitch?” I tried to open my eyes at the sound of Reagan’s voice, but I was so tired. “Go

check Jarrod,” she said, but I didn’t think she was talking to me.

“Answer me!” A hard slap across the face brought my eyelids up.

I opened my mouth, or I thought I did.

Her hand connected with my cheek again. “Talk to me, soldier!”

“Yes sir,” I croaked. I wasn’t sure if she heard me, but she stopped hitting me, so I

figured she must have.

“I’ll be right back, Mitch. Please keep your eyes open. Please?” She kissed my forehead,

then she was gone. I was glad to see someone had moved Skip’s body from in front of me. It

was easier to keep my eyes open without having to look at that.

“How is he?” I heard Reagan ask from a few feet away.

A woman’s voice answered her, but she spoke too softly for me to hear the response.

“Jarrod?” I called out. My voice was weak, but I tried as hard as I could.

“Mitch, just a minute, sweetie.”

“Mom?” I rolled my eyes up to see my mother standing over me. She crouched and put

a hand on my forehead. She clucked her tongue as I had heard her do a hundred times

before. I almost smiled. I might have if I wasn’t convinced Jarrod was dead not ten feet from

me.

I had just been rescued by my mother and my eighteen-year-old sister. If I made it

through this, I was seriously going to have to consider a new career path. I tried to move, but

Mom put a hand on my shoulder. She shook her head at me then leaned over to kiss my

forehead as Reagan had done.

“I’ll be right back,” she said. I heard her jog towards where Jarrod had been laying. I

tried to roll over again, but both women yelled at me to be still.

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“Fucking tell me what’s going on then.”

Reagan came back over to me. She knelt in the blood and gore pooled on the cement

next to me and took my hand in hers.

“He’s not dead, but I don’t know what to do for him, Mitch. I think you’re too hurt to

try to move you near him. He’s pretty fucked up. I’m trying to get a hold of Dad to find out

what to do, but I honestly don’t know if he is going to tell me how to save a vampire.”

I realised that Reagan was crying. My vision had come back enough to see the tears on

her cheeks. I was starting to feel better. I couldn’t have run a marathon or anything, but I

hoped I could at least crawl to Jarrod.

“Help me over there. Please, Reagan.”

She got her arms under me and helped me to my feet. I leaned on her more than I

would have liked to, but I had to see him. I had to make sure he wasn’t dead.

I dropped to my knees next Jarrod and took his hand in mine. He opened his eyes, a

smile spreading across his face. I kissed him softly, tasting blood in his mouth.

“Tell me what to do,” I whispered.

He started to shake his head but winced at the movement. “You have to let me go. I just

needed to know that you were okay. I love you so much. Thank you for loving me back.

Thank you for making these last few days the best I’ve ever had.” He coughed, and blood

trailed down the corner of his mouth, dripping off of his chin.

Tears burning my eyes, and I was too tired to fight them. I let them fall and land on

Jarrod’s face. He closed his eyes but kept his grip on my hand so I knew I hadn’t lost him yet.

I kissed his hand then let him go.

“How long until dawn?” I asked Reagan who had knelt beside me.

“About ten minutes.”

“Reagan, I need to ask you to do something for me. I wouldn’t ask you if I thought I

could do it myself.”

“Anything, Mitch.” She could see I was about to argue so she put a hand over my

mouth. “Anything you two need.”

“He needs blood, and he needs it now. If we can get enough blood into him before

dawn, I think he’ll wake up tomorrow night whole again. I hate that I am asking you this, but

I don’t know what else to do.”

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Mom had come over to us, too. She sat on the other side of me and kissed my temple.

“You really love this man, don’t you?”

I nodded, gripping her hand tightly. “I really do.”

“We don’t have much time, Reagan.” Mom pulled a nasty-looking knife from a sheath

she had strapped at her back. “I think if we both feed him, it will be better for everyone.”

I watched in amazement as my mother dragged the knife over her forearm and pressed

the wound to Jarrod’s mouth while handing the knife to my sister. Reagan did the same, and

they found a way to get the blood draining into his mouth.

It took a minute before his throat finally started to move, before he actually drank the

blood being offered to him by my family. His eyes never opened, but even before the sun

rose, I saw the small wounds on his face starting to heal over.

Dawn broke, and Jarrod’s body went cold. Reagan took off her T-shirt and ripped it into

strips, creating makeshift bandages for the cuts she and Mom had made on themselves. I

watched them do all of this in amazement. They had not questioned me, had not hesitated.

They had opened their veins and done their best to save my lover without a second thought.

“Sorry Mitch, you’re going to have to get real bandages. I’m not losing the tank top,

too.”

“I appreciate the jokes, Reagan, but we need to get Jarrod upstairs. I think he’ll be better

in his coffin. Can you help me?”

“You can barely walk. How the hell are you going to carry him through this place?”

She was right, of course. But we had to get him upstairs. I was terrified the warehouse

wouldn’t stay dark enough throughout the day to keep him safe. I wouldn’t risk it, not when

it looked like we were so close to saving him.

“All right, I’m going upstairs to makes sure all the windows are blocked out so no

sunlight hits him on the way to his coffin. I’ll come back, but you and Mom are going to have

to carry him for me. Do you mind?” I looked to both of them.

They nodded. I started towards the elevator. My legs shook, but I just had to make it a

few feet. Then through the apartment. Then back down. No sweat.

I got into the elevator, pushing the up button. During the elevator’s slow climb, I sat on

the floor waiting for the doors to open. I woke up on the sofa to see my father looking down

at me.

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“You okay, soldier?”

I nodded, wondering where he had been that he had gotten to us so fast. I also

wondered how I had gotten into the apartment. A wave of fear rushed over me that I had left

Jarrod downstairs, and I had no idea what time it was.

“Can you do me a favour, Dad?”

“What do you need?”

“Go downstairs, and tell Reagan it’s safe to bring up Jarrod? She could probably use

some help.” My voice was hoarse, and it hurt to swallow, but I felt better than I had earlier.

“Mitch, we already brought Jarrod up. He’s safe and sound in his coffin. We’ll have to

see what happens, but I think he’s going to be all right. You did real good tonight, son.

I’m…I’m proud of you.”

I think that was the first time I’d ever heard him say that. And I would probably never

hear it again. But it didn’t matter. More than hearing him tell me he was proud of me, I was

happy to hear Jarrod was safe. Or as safe as he could get at the moment.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“It’s about four in the afternoon.” He pushed me back down when I tried to sit up.

“You need more sleep. I dressed your wounds before I got you out of the elevator. That wolf

fucked you up pretty bad. I’m going to leave you here on the couch. I don’t want to move

you until we’re sure you won’t rupture anything.”

I glanced down at my body and realised I had been bandaged like a mummy from

armpits to waist. I must have still been out of it not to have noticed it when I came to.

“Am I going to…” I trailed off. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to know what could happen

as a result of the wounds Skip had given me. I was so tired, and it had been such a long

night. Even though I had apparently slept half the day away, I felt like I could sleep for

another three.

“Close your eyes, Mitch. We can talk later.”

I think I nodded before I passed out again.

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Chapter Fourteen

I opened my eyes to find Jarrod staring at me. He grinned widely, swooping in to kiss

me. I reached up, wrapping my arm around his neck to hold him against me. I don’t think I

had ever been so happy to see anyone in my life.

“I was so scared,” Jarrod said softly, whispering against my mouth. “I thought I was

going to lose you.”

I dropped my arm, letting him sit on the floor next to the sofa. I laughed, regretting it

instantly as sharp pain spread across my abdomen. I touched the bandages, wincing when

my fingers found the tender wounds underneath.

“You were scared? I was so sure you were dead.”

“No, your family saved me. I’ve thanked them a few thousand times, but I think I need

to do it again. They are great people. You’re really lucky to have them.”

I smiled, holding my hand out to him. He held it tight in his own, dropping a quick kiss

on my knuckles. I was lucky. For my family, for my life and for Jarrod’s. I still wasn’t sure

what had happened that night, but there would be plenty of time to find out that later.

“You just missed your dad. He’s been stopping in every few hours to check on you. I

think he might be worried I’m going to eat you.”

“Has he been—”

“No,” he cut me off. “No, your dad’s been great. I just don’t think he’s overly fond of

me. I did drink blood from his daughter and his wife. And I’m fucking his son. I understand

his hesitation to want anything to do with me. He’s been polite, which is much more than I

could have hoped for. I just try to stay out of his way when he comes in.”

“It’ll be okay. We’re alive. That’s all that matters. We’ll figure everything else out later.

Right?”

He nodded. I pulled at his hand, smiling when he leaned over me for another kiss. I

think he was trying to be chaste, but I didn’t want chaste. If I had felt better, I might have

thrown myself on him and taken him right then. Since I was injured, I would have to settle

for a kiss, but I wanted, at least, a real one.

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He smiled with his mouth pressed to mine as I tried to force his lips apart with my

tongue. He finally loosened up, kissing me back with a need almost equal to my own. I

wrapped my arms around his shoulders, pulling him tighter against me. The pressure

against my chest hurt but not enough to let him go.

“Christ, do you think you could at least wait until you can walk before you two start

fucking again?”

Jarrod pulled back, and we both looked towards the end of the couch where Reagan

stood with her hands on her hips. She was smiling, and her eyes were bright with unshed

tears. I reached out my hand to her, and she walked over to me placing a kiss on my

forehead.

“I thought Dad was supposed to be here,” she said. She hugged Jarrod and took a seat

on the floor next to him.

“You know, there are chairs you two could sit in,” I said, motioning to the chairs spread

throughout the room.

“I’m fine,” they said together.

“You’re father left a little while ago,” Jarrod told her. “He doesn’t stay long.”

“He’ll come around, Jarrod,” Reagan said, patting his hand. “Just give him time to get

used to having a vampire in the family.”

I had a million questions for them, but I didn’t know where to start. I wasn’t sure which

were the most important ones to ask. And I was suddenly so tired again. My eyes drooped,

and I struggled to keep them open. I wanted to be with my family. I didn’t want to miss even

a second I could be spending with either of them.

“Mitch, it’s okay,” Jarrod said. He ran a hand down my cheek. “We’ll be here next time

you wake up, too.”

“How long have I been here?” I suddenly realised I had no idea how long I’d been out.

That seemed like as good a place as any to start the questioning.

“You’ve been in and out since the attack,” Reagan said softly, not actually answering

me. “We’ve had a nurse up here most of the time taking care of you. It was easier for

everyone to leave you out here on the sofa. The Army doctors came and looked at you

yesterday, gave you some antibiotic shots and ran some blood tests. We haven’t gotten the

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results back, but they say that you’re healing normally. That’s a good sign. That means

you’re probably not infected.”

I nodded. It sounded good, but it wasn’t a guarantee. I tried not to focus on it right

then. If I was infected, there wasn’t anything I could do to change it. We would deal with it if

it happened.

There were other questions, of course. Was Jarrod safe now? Was Reagan okay with

everything she had been through? Skip was psychotic, but she’d really seemed to care about

him. I wanted to know so much more, but Jarrod had started stroking my forehead, and his

hand was so warm, so soft. My eyelids grew heavier with every touch he bestowed upon me.

“I love you,” I said, my voice barely a whisper.

“I love you, too. Go to sleep, baby. I’ll be right here next time you wake up.” He kissed

me again, this time the chaste kiss he had tried for earlier. I was too exhausted to fight for

more.

* * * *

I woke up to extreme pain in my stomach. My eyes flew open to see my father bending

over me. My hand was tightly wrapped around his wrist, and he looked surprised.

“Sorry, Mitch, but I need to change your bandages.”

I let go of his hand, relaxing back against the cushions. He had scared the hell out of me.

I watched him carefully pulling the bandages, some of them had scabbed into the wounds.

Fresh blood seeped into them as he got closer to my skin.

“You’re healing fast, faster than you should be. It’s a good thing, but I’m a little

concerned about it. I don’t want your skin to start healing over the bandages. I’m glad you’re

awake. The nurse wanted us to leave the bandages off for a while and let some air get to

them.”

I nodded, trying to hold still as the pain got worse. Finally, he had all of the bandages

removed, and I looked at my chest. I wished immediately that I hadn’t. It looked like

someone had ripped me apart. The claw marks Skip had left in my chest were mostly

scabbed over, and some of the lesser ones had already scarred over completely. I tried to

reach out and touch one, but Dad caught my hand.

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“Don’t. I don’t want to risk infection. You can play with your scars later. They’ll be nice

and manly. I’m sure Jarrod will love them.” His tone had gone harsh, and I could tell he was

still very unhappy with my choice in a lover.

“Dad, I know how hard this must be for you. It’s not exactly easy for me either, but I

love him. I really do. And he is a good guy, even if he is a vampire.”

“That’s what Reagan keeps telling me. And I keep reminding her that she had to put a

bullet in her vampire boyfriend’s head so maybe she is not the best judge of character.” Dad

sighed, sitting on the floor next to the sofa as Jarrod and Reagan had earlier. “I don’t doubt

that you love him. I just don’t understand why.”

I wasn’t sure I could explain it. Everything had happened so fast, I wasn’t even entirely

sure why. But I did love him, and I was happy. I could only hope that would be enough for

my father.

“Where is he?”

“He’ll be back soon. He and Reagan had to…do something. Do you want me to have

them wake you up when they come back?”

“I don’t think I’m going back to sleep, but thanks. What day is it?” I struggled to sit up,

and let Dad help me when I found that I couldn’t bend at the waist.

He eased me up so I was propped on the couch pillows. He checked my wounds again,

ignoring the question until I poked his arm.

“What day is it?”

“It’s Saturday.”

It had been less than forty-eight hours since the fight, and I was already scarring. That

couldn’t be a good sign, but I wasn’t ready to talk about that yet.

“Were you able to fix the contract? I mean, Jarrod’s going to be okay now, right? No one

is going to come after him?”

“No, he’s fine. Reagan took the contract on Skip. She had called me before everything

went down, too. She told me she had come here to see Skip and had found him attacking

someone. She couldn’t save the victim, so she got away before he saw her and managed to

get a hold of me. When I explained to her what you had told me was going on, she asked for

the contract.”

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“You gave your eighteen-year-old daughter a half-breed contract? Are you fucking

insane?” I winced, wrapping my arm over my chest.

“Calm the fuck down before you rupture something. She asked for the hit. She’s older

than you were the first time you killed a vampire, so don’t get all high and mighty on me,

Mitchell Baine. She’s a smart woman and strong. I had no idea if she would be able to do it,

that’s why I sent your mother with her. But Reagan did good. You should be proud of her.”

I shook my head. My father loved us—I never doubted that—but he was never going to

make good decisions when it came to his children. I wasn’t well enough to ask if she would

be inducted into the family business. I was pretty sure I knew the answer anyway.

Dad leaned over me again, poking gently at the wounds on my chest. They had stopped

bleeding and looked like they were starting to heal up nicely. He had been right—they were

more healed than they should have been. I knew I needed to take the opportunity to ask,

even if I was afraid of what his answer was going to be.

“So, you said this healing was a bad sign. Am I going to turn into…something?”

Dad shook his head. “I don’t know. Usually if you were going to become a vampire you

would have woken up that way the next night. And all of the blood tests are coming back

negative for lycanthropy, but it’s early. Sometimes the tests don’t come back positive until

after the first full moon. I’m hoping you’re just lucky. Maybe the wounds hit just right, and

they’ll heal up, and you’ll be fine.”

“I don’t get a bonus check for this, huh?” I smiled, trying to make the joke, but Dad

didn’t seem to think it was funny.

“Officially, you were not on a case when you got these injuries. Jarrod’s file had been

closed, and Skip’s file was assigned to a different hunter.”

“I was kidding.” I sighed. “So what does this mean for my career? Am I going to get

fired?”

“That’s up to the Feds. The Army will request that you not be assigned to any more

contracts for them. You know they don’t give assignments to anyone seriously injured on

two contracts in a row.” He had the decency to leave out the fact that anyone in a

relationship with a non-human was ineligible for contract work. “But you’ve always been a

good marshal. I think the Feds will just find a new department for you.”

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I was scared that would mean a desk job. I’d always been in the field, fighting and

taking out bad guys. I hated to think that I would be punished for saving an innocent man.

But at the same time, I couldn’t have been happier that the innocent man was safe.

I just wished he was with me right then. My father was not the most comforting of

men—his bedside manner sucked ass. I wanted Jarrod there, holding my hand and kissing

me. I closed my eyes, feigning exhaustion and hoping Dad would just go.

“Get some rest. I’m sure Jarrod and Reagan will be home soon. It’s almost midnight. I’ll

see you soon.”

“Goodbye, sir,” I said, making my voice soft.

I listened to the elevator shudder its descent. When I was sure my father was gone, I

swung my legs around to sit up on the couch. A sharp pain shot up my spine at the

movement. I took a deep breath, waiting for the feeling to pass.

When I no longer felt like screaming in agony, I pushed myself to my feet. Bracing

myself on the couch, I stood still until the pins and needles feeling was gone from my legs. I

was pretty excited to be standing on my own. When I saw blood trickling down my chest, I

realised it had been a little stupid on my part.

I hobbled into the bathroom, grabbing a towel from the shelf over the sink and ripping

another one of the wounds open in the process. I had started to bleed pretty heavily, and I

silently cursed myself for being an idiot.

I got myself back onto the couch, pressing the towel hard against my chest as I tried to

slow the blood flow. I had gotten the bleeding pretty much under control by time I heard the

elevator moving again.

Jarrod and Reagan walked in the living room laughing. They came straight to the

couch, their laughter dying at the sight of me, blood stains on my hands and a towel pressed

against me.

Even though I was in some pretty serious pain, I smiled at the sight of them. Reagan

wore a formal gown with her hair done up in an elaborate bun, and Jarrod looked fantastic in

a black tuxedo with black shirt and tie.

“Where have you two been all dressed up?” I asked, my voice weaker than I’d expected

it to be.

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“Mitch, what the fuck happened to you?” Reagan dropped to her knees next to me,

pulling the towel out of my hands to check my abdomen. “Where are your bandages?”

“Dad came about an hour ago and took them off. He said I should get some air on the

wounds.”

“He just left you here alone, bleeding on the couch?” Jarrod had knelt beside Reagan, a

worried look on his face.

“No, of course not.” I knew they weren’t going to let it go until I admitted what

happened, but I didn’t want to say it out loud. “Look, I ripped the wounds open when I

moved. They were fine when he left.”

“Moved?” Jarrod asked incredulously. “Where were you trying to go?”

“I’ve been on this couch for days—not that I remember any of it. My muscles ache, and

you two weren’t here, and I’m a grown man, by the way. I can take care of myself. I’ve been

worse off than this before, and I survived it just fine on my own.”

“Mitch,” Reagan said, taking my hand. “Why are you so mad?”

Why was I so mad? I hadn’t really realised that I was. But the more I let the words pour

out, the more I knew she was right. I was angry—the kind of angry that will make a man do

something dumb just because he can, the kind of angry that had made me get off the couch

and move around just so I could prove I didn’t need anyone’s help. The kind of angry that

came from not knowing what’s going on or what is going to happen in any area of my life

from that point on. Not to mention I couldn’t even claim to be alive because of my own skill

and strength. Yeah, I suppose I was pretty angry.

“You need to tell her, or it’s not going to go away,” Jarrod said. He looked at me as if he

knew exactly what I was pissed about, but he would make me say it anyway.

“Tell me what?” Reagan asked, looking from Jarrod to me. “You’re not pissed that

Jarrod took me to prom, are you? ‘Cause he was just helping me out. I was kind of dateless

and taking a rock star to the biggest dance of my life just skyrocketed my popularity points.”

I smiled in spite of my anger. I squeezed her hand and shook my head.

“No, I’m not mad about tonight. I’m glad you two had fun. You both probably needed

to get out of this place for a while.” I dropped my head back on the pillow and stared at the

ceiling. Jarrod was right. I had to tell her, but I didn’t have to look at her as I said it.

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“Reagan, I love you. You are the strongest, smartest kid I know. And I’m not angry at

you, not at all. I’m angry at myself. I’m so fucking pissed that I needed you and Mom to save

me. To save Jarrod. I’m supposed to be the strong one. That’s always been my role in the

family. And I guess I just feel a little useless now that you’ve done my dirty work for me.”

I said it fast, trying to get it all out without yelling or crying or anything else that would

have made it worse. And I didn’t look at her until she hit me.

Her fist connected with my shoulder so hard I flinched, which made my abdominal

muscles contract, which brought all the pain back.

“You selfish son of a bitch,” she yelled. “Do you think it was easy for me to see you two

like that? Do you think I liked having to shoot my lover repeatedly until he fell dead in front

of me? Do you think I wanted any of this to happen? And now, you’re going to lay there and

feel sorry for yourself? Fuck you, Mitch.”

She stood up, walking away before I could catch her arm. A door slammed down the

hall, and Jarrod looked at me with a bemused look on his face.

“Nice work, Captain America.” He sat next to me, running a hand down my leg.

“You just stood there and told me to tell her.”

“Well, yeah, but I didn’t think you were just going to blurt it all out like that. She has

been worried sick about you for days. I don’t think she’s even taken the time to deal with

what she had to do. And instead of thanking her for saving us, you just told her that she

made you feel like less of a man.” He shook his head. “I’ve spent a lot of time with her while

you’ve been out of it. I don’t think you really know your sister. I mean, I know you believe

you guys are close, but she is so much stronger than I think you’ve ever given her credit for.”

I was exhausted. Between opening up my physical wounds, and Reagan’s emotional

ones, all of the fight was gone from me, but I knew I couldn’t leave things as they stood. I

made Jarrod help me to my feet then walked on my own to Skip’s room.

I knocked on the door, opening it even though she hadn’t answered me. She sat on his

bed with one of his shirts in her hands. She wasn’t crying, just holding the shirt and staring

across the room.

“Can I talk to you, please?”

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She nodded but wouldn’t look at me. I walked into the room and sat gingerly on the

bed next to her. I touched her shoulder and thought it was a good sign when she didn’t pull

away.

“I’m sorry. I really am. I can’t even imagine what it must have been like for you. I don’t

have any excuse for what I just said to you. You are absolutely right. It was completely

selfish of me to lay my ego problems at your feet. Please don’t hate me.”

She laughed. “I don’t hate you. You’re my big brother, and I will always love you. It has

been so hard to sit here and watch you these last couple of days. None of us knew what

would to happen to you. I’ve been blaming myself for what happened. I should have been

there sooner. I should have been backing you up instead of having to come to your rescue.”

Tears started rolling down her cheeks then. She brushed them away angrily and continued.

“I have been going over that night in my head constantly, trying to figure out what I could

have done differently, how I could have been there faster.”

“Reagan, you can’t do that,” I said, giving her a little hug and only wincing slightly.

“The job is done. I know this was your first contract, and the situation sucked bad, but I am

telling you from experience, you can’t let it eat away at you. The more you think about it, the

worse it’s going to get, and the harder it will be to go out there next time.” Not that I wanted

her to have a next time. In fact, if I could manage to get her to never leave the apartment

again, I would be a very happy man. I knew that was highly unlikely.

“That’s what Dad said.” She sniffed, wiping away the last of her tears with her palms.

“He said I was lucky to have gotten in and out without getting hurt myself. That I was a

good little soldier, and I got the job done, and that was all that mattered.”

“Well, to him it is all that mattered. But to me, what matters is that you were strong

enough to do what you had to do. You did the right thing instead of the easy thing. And you

saved Jarrod. I appreciate that you saved me, too, but the fact that you saved him will always

be what I am most proud of you for.”

She smiled, a wide, bright Reagan smile. It made me hug her tighter, and even though it

hurt like hell, it was the best hug we’d ever shared. She helped me back to the living room,

easing me back onto the sofa so I could listen to their story about the prom, and what a big

hit they were together.

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When I started to nod off, Reagan decided she had to leave. She kissed my forehead and

whispered that she was proud of me, too. She hugged Jarrod and left, leaving us alone for the

first time in too long.

“You know,” he said, sitting next to me again. “It’s a shame that you’re all hurt right

now.”

“Why’s that?” I asked, smiling.

“Because this is the first time in days we’ve had the apartment to ourselves, and you’ve

been conscious. Plus you’re not wearing a shirt. And I love you without a shirt on.”

“I love you always,” I said, holding his wrist and pulling him down for a kiss.

“Is it bad that, even though you look like shit, I want to fuck you silly?” he asked, his

lips still against mine.

“No, but there is no way—”

“I know,” he cut me off. He backed away, looking at my chest and trailing a finger

lightly over the cuts. “I am so sorry about all of this.”

“You have nothing to be sorry about. I’m just glad that you’re okay. Are you? Okay, I

mean?” I was worried he would be angry about Skip. They’d been friends and sometimes

lovers for a very long time. It would have been totally understandable if he’d been pissed

that Skip was dead.

“I think I’m still too angry at Skip to be sorry he’s dead. I’m sure there will be days I

will miss him, but for now, I’m just happy the people that I care about are safe.”

I put my hand over his which had stopped on my chest. “So am I.”

He kissed me again. “You need to sleep. It’s getting late, and you’ve had more

excitement than your injuries can handle for one night. I’ll stay right here until dawn comes

in case you need anything. All right?”

I nodded, keeping my hand on his until I finally fell asleep.

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Chapter Fifteen

By Monday, I was up and moving around much more steadily. My father brought back

the Army doctors back for one more round of blood tests, and everything still came back

negative. They re-stitched a few of the wounds and left. My father went with them, not

saying a word about Jarrod or Reagan or anything that had happened. Apparently, now that

everything was fine he could go back to being the absentee father which was actually the

way I preferred him most of the time.

When night fell, Jarrod came into the living room, surprised to see me sitting up on the

couch watching television.

“You look like you’re feeling better,” he said, bending over to kiss me.

“Much better, thank you. And you look sexy as hell, but then, you always do.”

He wore faded blue jeans and a tight white T-shirt. His hair was messy, and he was his

usual pale self. I wanted to attack him where he stood, but I wasn’t sure I was quite up to

that yet. Soon, I hoped, because it had been way too long since I’d felt him under me.

The thought made my cock stir in my pants. Jarrod noticed and raised an eyebrow at

me.

“You can’t be serious.”

“What?” I asked, a small smile pulling at the corners of my lips. “I’m injured, not

dead.”

“I don’t think it would be a good idea for us to try to have sex in your condition.” His

tone was serious, but the look in his eyes showed he wished he wasn’t.

“I know.” I sighed. “That doesn’t mean I can’t think about it, does it?”

“I would hate for you to pull a stitch,” he said, sitting on the floor next to me. “I don’t

think your father would ever accept me, if I let you bleed half to death because we couldn’t

wait just a little longer to fuck.”

“I don’t think I give a damn what my father thinks.” I turned, reaching out to him. He

rose to his knees, taking my hand and laying soft kisses across my knuckles.

“Mitch, you’re crazy.”

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“Maybe a little.” I pulled my hand out of his, putting it behind his neck so I could pull

him to my mouth.

He kissed me, sucking my lower lip into his mouth, biting just enough to make me

moan. I raised my body up into him, ignoring the pain in my torso as best as I could. It hurt,

but kissing him felt too good to stop.

He eased my body back against the couch with a gentle push on my shoulder. His hand

slid lightly over my chest, barely grazing the wounds, as if reminding us both that they were

there, and this couldn’t happen right then. I didn’t care about the injury. All I cared about

was how badly I wanted him.

“Mitch,” he whispered against my lips. I kissed him harder, trying to keep the words

from coming out. I didn’t want to hear protests. I didn’t want to hear the truth. Right then, I

just wanted to believe I could have him, to be reminded that he really was mine.

He pushed a little harder on my chest, and I couldn’t hold back the groan. He wasn’t

trying to hurt me, just trying to remind me I had been torn to shreds a few days earlier and

probably needed to relax for at least a few more.

I let him go, but he didn’t move off of me. He laid gentle kisses on my neck, over my

collarbone and between the marks on my chest. The light play of air and his lips on the

wounds made me squirm under him. He kept kissing down my body, over my jeans, to blow

his hot breath on my erection.

“You fucking little tease,” I growled.

He did it again, this time following it by running his hand up the length of me. I

glanced at him to see him looking back at me with a wicked smile on his face.

“I’ll bet if you held still I could suck your cock without hurting you.”

“I’ll bet you’re a bastard, and I want to bend you over the arm of the couch and fuck

you until neither of us can walk.”

“Yes, but your idea is a bad one.” He ran his tongue up the outline of my cock through

my jeans. “Mine works out great for both of us.”

“You know what would be great?” I asked, grabbing his wrists and pulling him up to

my face. “A shower.”

He kissed me, nodding before climbing off the couch. I watched him start taking off his

clothes, and I laughed.

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“What are you doing?”

“Well, the nurse said you shouldn’t try to shower alone. So I’m going to have to help

you.”

“The nurse said, huh?”

“Yeah. I had to help her get you into the bathtub so they could clean up your wounds

before they dressed them. And she commented on the hand rails in the shower and said it

was good that we happened to have them, but that you shouldn’t be alone until we’re sure

you’re not going to bleed to death.”

“Well, if those were the nurse’s orders, then I guess we’d better obey, huh?”

He helped me off the couch, easing off my jeans and leaving all of our clothes on the

living room floor. I stood in the bathroom and watched him test the water and climb into the

tub. He held out his arms and helped me in with him. I stood with my back to the spray,

afraid to let the water beat on the stitches, even though that was exactly where I wanted the

water to hit.

I tried to raise my arms up to my hair, but the tightness in my chest made me wince and

instantly lower my hands. Jarrod helped me wash. I knew that he wasn’t trying to imply that

I was helpless, but I felt kind of silly being bathed by my lover.

He gave me a small smile, as if he knew how frustrated I was getting. He lathered up

his hands with soap again and dropped to his knees in front of me. My eyes went wide, and

he grinned harder.

He started to massage my cock in his suds-filled hands. I reached over and grabbed one

of the railings to hold myself steady. My knees felt like they wanted to buckle under his

touch. He kept one hand on my shaft then moved the other to cup my balls. The water was

so warm and his hands were so soft, I never wanted the feeling to end.

He reached up behind me, unhooking the sprayer to rinse the soap from my cock, then

hung it back up before going to his knees in front of me again.

“You have to promise to tell me if it starts to hurt,” he said, looking up at me. “I mean

it, Mitch. If one of your stitches tear, or you feel any pain at all we have to stop. Please?”

“I promise.” And I meant it.

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He nodded then took the head of my cock in his mouth. I gripped tightly to the rail and

tried not to moan aloud. I didn’t want him to mistake my pleasure for pain and stop. I didn’t

want him to ever stop.

Inch by inch, he took my whole cock down his throat. He moved slower than I’d ever

seen him move, making each second last as long as possible. His hand reached out to find the

bar of soap again. He turned it over in one hand a few times, then dropped it back into its

tray. He used the soaped fingers to probe my asshole. As he slid his fingers in, he never took

my cock out of his mouth or his eyes off mine.

I knew he was waiting for me to show some sign of pain, but between the feel of his

throat convulsing around my cock and his fingers pressing against my prostate, he probably

could have stabbed me in the chest and I wouldn’t have felt it.

He started moving his mouth faster over my shaft, keeping the fingers in my ass

pumping at the same rhythm. He moved the palm of his hand to gently squeeze my balls,

and I screamed, coming in quick bursts into his mouth.

“Mitch? Are you okay?” The bathroom door banged open, and Reagan ran into the

bathroom.

“I’m fine!” I yelled, hoping she wouldn’t pull open the curtain.

Jarrod jumped to his feet, looking from me to the outline of my sister through the

shower curtain.

“What are you—oh my God. I’m sorry. I heard you scream and—I’ll be in the living

room.” She slammed the door behind be her, and Jarrod started laughing. I was too appalled

to see the humour just yet, though I was sure I would eventually.

I turned off the water while Jarrod climbed out of the tub to help me back out. We

wrapped towels around ourselves and went into his bedroom through the side bathroom

door. Jarrod pulled on a pair of jeans and walked straight out of the room to check on

Reagan. The man had no fear.

I wanted to crawl into his bed and never face her again. I knew that was childish and

would only make it worse. I wasn’t ashamed, just insanely embarrassed. I found a stack of

my clothes someone must have brought over from my apartment. I had to assume it was

Reagan because they were all jeans and white T-shirts, though she had also brought over the

Armani button-down which seemed like it would be the most comfortable over the stitches.

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I pulled on a pair of jeans and left the shirt unbuttoned. I didn’t want to start bleeding

again and ruin the shirt less than a week after I’d bought it. I stood at the door for a minute

before finally taking a deep breath and going out to face my sister.

Reagan and Jarrod were sitting on the sofa, neither of them were talking or even

looking at each other. Great.

“Hey Reagan, what’s up?”

“What’s up? You were almost dead three days ago. What the hell were you two

thinking?” She shot a wicked glare at Jarrod. “If Mitch pops the wrong stitch he could bleed

to death. Then what are you going to do?” Her face was red, and her hands were clenched

into fists.

“Calm down. Look, I appreciate that you’re worried about me, but I’m a grown man,

and I don’t need my little sister’s permission to…take a shower.” I couldn’t say it, not to her.

“I understand that. I just think it’s a little irresponsible of both of you to be…taking

showers so soon. I know it’s none of my business what the two of you do, or when you do it,

but I’d like to know that you’re still going to be alive when I get back.”

“Get back from where?” I asked, confused at the turn the conversation had taken so

quickly. “Where are you going?”

“I’m leaving for Brazil in the morning,” she said softly.

I sat in a chair across from her and looked from her to Jarrod. He didn’t seem surprised,

so I assumed she had already told him what was going on.

“What the hell are you going to Brazil for?”

“I can’t tell you,” she said, taking a deep breath. “It’s classified.”

“You didn’t!” I jumped to my feet, feeling one of the stitches tear as soon as I was

standing. But I didn’t care. I was suddenly so angry at her, it didn’t matter what else was

going on.

“I was sworn in this morning.” She looked over at Jarrod, but he wore his blank face.

He wasn’t going to take sides in this mess.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” Before she could answer, I turned to look at Jarrod

too. “And you. You knew about this, and you didn’t tell me?”

“Don’t yell at him! I told him not to tell you. I was thinking that I need to get the fuck

out of here for a while. School is practically done anyway, and I needed a job. Besides, it’s

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what I’ve always wanted to do.” She had stood up and was walking towards me. Her voice

was growing softer with every step, and I realised she was looking at my stomach. “Sit down

and let me look at that.”

“No, I’m fine.” I wasn’t fine. It hurt like hell, and it had started bleeding pretty badly,

but I wasn’t giving up the fight just yet. It didn’t matter if it was a fight I’d lost before it even

started. If she was sworn in it was too late for me to do anything. And she had known that

which was why she hadn’t told me before.

“You’re not fine. Sit down and shut up.” Reagan pushed me back into my chair as

gently as she could. “Jarrod could you get me a washcloth, please?”

Jarrod seemed only too happy to leave the room.

“I’m not done with you yet!” I called after him.

Reagan punched my shoulder. “Leave him alone. He only did what I asked him to do.”

“Reagan, why? I would think that after everything that has happened, this is the last

thing you would want to do.”

“Then you never really knew anything about me, Mitch.” She blew out a sigh. She

glanced towards the hallway, but it looked as if Jarrod had chosen to escape instead of help.

Smart man.

She got up and grabbed my shirt from where I’d left it on the living room floor before

the shower. She pressed the cloth against my chest and moved my hand to hold it there.

“I have worshipped you since I was a little girl. I’ve looked up to you. Hell, I’ve wanted

to be you. I don’t have any false notions about how hard and dangerous this life is. But it’s all

I’ve ever wanted to be. And after everything that happened with Skip, I really believe it’s

what I’m supposed to do.” She kissed my cheek.

“What about school? You’re supposed to graduate in a month.” I was grasping at

anything I could think of to try and get her to stay.

“The Army took care of all of that. The school let me graduate early, and they will

forward my diploma to Mom. Can’t you just be happy for me? Please? Just this one time try

to accept who I really am and what I want for myself? I can’t just be Mitch Baine’s baby sister

for the rest of my life. I’m my own woman, and this is the life I choose for myself.”

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I stared into my sister’s eyes and realised she was right. Jarrod had been right. I didn’t

really know her, but I loved her, If this was what she thought she wanted, then I could

support her decision. After all, that was what she’d always done for me.

“Reagan, if you get yourself killed, don’t come crying to me, okay? ‘Cause I don’t want

to hear it.”

She punched my shoulder again, and I faked an exaggerated wince.

“Cry baby. You’re fine. Let me see.” She moved the shirt and nodded. “It stopped.

Now, stop fucking your boyfriend long enough for that stuff to heal. Understood?”

“Yes ma’am.” I gave her a salute. “Damn it, Reagan. I’m going to miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too. And Jarrod!” She yelled down the hall.

Jarrod walked back into the living room with the washcloth he had been sent for in his

hand and a sheepish grin on his face.

“You’re all right. We’re done with the fighting. For now,” I said, pulling Reagan into a

one-armed hug.

She looked at her watch and groaned. “I’ve gotta go.”

She kissed my forehead then hugged and kissed Jarrod goodbye and left. I listened to

the elevator shake its descent to the warehouse below and sighed. My little sister was all

grown up and off to kill monsters in Brazil. I don’t know if I could have been more proud of

her.

“Reagan left this for you,” Jarrod said, handing me a box wrapped in plain black

wrapping paper. “She told me to wait ‘til she was gone to give it to you.”

I opened the paper to find a bright pink box decorated with hearts and flowers. Inside

the box was a little girl’s makeup kit and a note that just said, “I love you.”

Jarrod looked at me with one eyebrow crooked. I shook my head and laughed, wincing

at the pain in my stomach but not really caring.

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Chapter Sixteen

The next afternoon, I woke up to the sound of someone banging on the bedroom door. I

looked over and saw Jarrod was still dead for the day. I reached into the bedside table to grab

my gun.

“Mitch,” my dad’s voice called from the hallway. “I need you to come out here.”

I sighed and clicked the safety back on the gun. I grabbed a pair of jeans off the floor,

buttoning them into place before shoving the Glock into the waistband at the small of my

back.

“I’ll be right there,” I called, listening for the sound of him walking back down the hall.

I sighed and looked down at my chest. All of the wounds there had healed and scarred

over. I knew that wasn’t a good sign, but other than the rapid healing I hadn’t had any

strange side effects since the fight with Skip, so I had no idea what it meant.

Dad was sitting on the couch when I finally walked out into the living room. I perched

myself on the arm of a chair across from him and waited for him to start talking.

“Sorry to barge in on you,” he said without looking up at me. “I tried to call you, but

your cell went straight to voicemail.”

“Yeah, I don’t have a charger here, sorry.”

“It’s fine. I’m just glad you were home.” He looked up at me then, and for the first time,

I thought he looked old. He had dark circles under his eyes and more wrinkles than I

remembered him having a few days ago.

“What’s going on?” Whether he was doing it on purpose or not, I don’t know, but he

was scaring me.

“We got back your test results this morning. You’re positive for lycanthropy.”

I sighed. It was upsetting, but I wasn’t really surprised. I’d known the rapid healing

was a bad sign, and I had been attacked by Skip while he was partially changed. It made

sense that I would be infected, but I didn’t know what to say.

“The Army notified the feds this morning, and you’ll be getting notification of your job

termination soon.”

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“Fuck!” I stood up and started pacing the room. “What the hell am I going to do now?

This is the only thing I’ve ever known. I’m a hunter.”

“Well, no, you’re not. You’re a monster, and they can’t keep you on the payroll.”

A monster? I turned and glared at him. “What’s wrong with you? You’re my father.

Can’t you be even remotely supportive? Just one time it would be nice if you would take my

side.”

“Your side? I don’t understand your side, Mitch. I’ve never understood you or your life.

You had everything—a career and a family who loved you—and you threw everything away

for—” He stopped, looking away from me.

“For what Dad? I threw it away for what?”

“If you had just killed that vampire twink like you were told, none of this would have

happened. You did this to yourself, and I won’t sit here and listen to you be a whiny bitch

about it. You made your bed, and now you and your faggot little vampire can lie in it

together.”

There it was. The truth, finally. He hated what I was and always had. And now I was

going to be a queer monster, and he could walk away guilt-free over it.

“Get out,” I growled at him. “Get the fuck out of here.”

He looked up at me again, opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, but

thought better of it and walked to the elevator. I sank into the chair and listened to the door

of the elevator rattle into place.

“Mitch?”

I looked up to see Jarrod leaning against the wall by the hallway. His arms were crossed

over his bare chest, and his hair was sticking out in odd places. I smiled, realising I would

never be sorry that I had given up that life for this one. I would never regret having Jarrod in

my life. My father could go to hell. I would be just fine.

I stood and walked over to him, pulling him into my arms and kissing his head. He ran

his hands up my back, fingers playing in my hair while we stood there and held each other.

“Are you all right?” he finally asked after a minute.

“I don’t know.” I sighed. “How much did you hear?”

“I walked in just in time to hear him call me a ‘faggot little vampire’.”

“Sorry about that.”

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“Hey.” He grabbed my chin and made me meet his eyes. “Do not ever apologise for

him. I have been called worse, and I don’t give a fuck what he thinks of me anyway. You love

me. That’s all I need.”

I smiled weakly and kissed the tip of his nose. We walked over to the couch, and I took

both of his hands in mine.

“He actually didn’t come over just to insult us. He wanted to let me know that my

blood tests came back positive for lycanthropy.”

Jarrod gave me a soft smile, but there was no surprise on his face. Apparently, he had

figured it was going to happen, too.

“Are you okay?”

“Not really,” I admitted. “I’m going to lose my job. I’m going to be a werewolf. No, I

can’t say this is one of my best days ever.”

“That wasn’t what I meant.” He sighed. “I don’t know what I meant. I’m sorry, I don’t

want to upset you more. I just don’t know what to say. I haven’t been human in a long time. I

don’t remember what it was like when I found out I’d become a vampire.”

“Well, finding out you’re a werewolf isn’t too much fun.”

“Do you even know what it’s going to be like? Have you ever met a werewolf you

haven’t killed?”

Our voices were rising, and I was too upset to be the one who ended the conversation

before it became a full blown fight. I wanted to fight. Fighting I understood.

“No. I’ve been killing monsters for ten years. Sorry, I don’t tend to have conversations

with them before I shoot them.”

Jarrod wrenched his hands from mine and jumped to his feet. “You’re going to have

stop referring to us as monsters, Mitch. You’re going to be one, too. Since I seem to be the

only person around who is still on your side, attacking me probably isn’t your best course of

action.”

Great, just fucking perfect. “You know what? I don’t fucking need this right now,

Jarrod. I’m not trying to offend you, but I just found out my life is over. Perhaps you could

try to be a little more understanding.”

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“Understanding? Your life isn’t over. It’s just going to be different. And if you don’t

realise that soon, you’re going to have even bigger issues to deal with. Like being alone and

miserable.”

He turned and walked down the hall, slamming the bedroom door behind him.

“Fuck!” I screamed.

I found my jacket lying over a kitchen chair and was relieved that my car keys were in

the pocket. I threw on the jacket and ran down the emergency stairs to the street. I got behind

the wheel of my car and squealed my tires as I drove away from the kerb.

I drove to my apartment. I was relieved to be home. It was quiet and familiar there. I

threw my keys on the table then walked down the hall to take a shower. I scrubbed at my

skin under the hottest water I could get. If only, I could wash the day off of my body. As the

water grew cold, I still felt like shit.

Someone was knocking on the front door when I walked out of my bedroom after

getting dressed. I figured it was Jarrod, but I really wasn’t in the mood to talk to him just yet.

I threw the door open prepared to start yelling but stepped back in surprise at the strange

man standing there.

He was tall and thin with shaggy brown hair and bronze skin, and I had no idea who he

was at first glance.

“Mitch?” he asked timidly.

“Can I help you?”

“My name is Christian. Jarrod asked me to stop by and check on you.”

“Well, you can tell Jarrod I’m fine, thanks.”

“I think we need to talk. Can I come in?”

I walked away from the door, leaving it open for him. He looked vaguely familiar, but I

was too angry to try and place where I knew him from. If Jarrod had sent him, I was willing

to assume he wasn’t going to attack me so I could at least let him come in.

“Jarrod tells me you got some…interesting news this morning.”

“Did he? What the hell business is it of yours? I don’t even know you.”

“No, but he does. And he cares about you and is really worried. He thought it might

help if you actually talked to a werewolf before you started jumping to conclusions about

being one.”

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I turned and looked at him. He still stood by the door, inside but just barely. I suddenly

realised he was in the band, and I had seen him at the Heartstrings concert and in the photos

that had landed on my desk a lifetime ago. Christian Jaquea, the drummer. The werewolf.

“So what? You’re here to tell me how great it is to be a werewolf? How turning furry

once a month is the best thing that could happen to me?”

He laughed. It wasn’t the reaction I had expected.

“No. No, not at all.” He closed the door and walked into the living room. “Why don’t

we sit down?”

I sat on the couch and turned to face him as he sat in the chair. He looked at me for a

minute before leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees, hands clasped together

in front of himself.

“Mitch, I’ll admit that being a werewolf is not the end of the world, but I won’t lie to

you. It won’t do any good to paint you some beautiful picture when you’re going to find out

the truth in a couple weeks anyway. It’s a difficult life.”

“I take it Jarrod didn’t send you here to make me feel better, then?” I laughed ‘cause I

didn’t know what else to do.

“He just sent me here to talk. He has no idea what I’m going to tell you, and to be

honest, I didn’t really know, either. I wish I could ease your fears, but when I got infected, I

had someone who tried to do that. I just ended up angry that I’d been lied to. I don’t want to

lie to you. I don’t know you, but I know Jarrod. He’s a good friend, and pissing off his lover

isn’t going to win me any points with him.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Because he asked me to come.” He shrugged as if that explained everything. Maybe it

did to him, but I was not in a mood to have a meaningful conversation about the ins and outs

of being a werewolf. I wanted to scream and yell and hit things. Sending a stranger to my

house to talk to me while I was in this kind of mood was not the smartest thing Jarrod had

ever done.

“Look. I appreciate you coming over here and being willing to talk to me, but now isn’t

really a good time. Maybe you should just go.”

“No. I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to talk, and you’re going to listen. You have

some important decisions to make, and you don’t have a lot of time in which to make them.

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So I’m going to tell you the truth, then you’re going to fix things with Jarrod. You still have

time to get your happily ever after, and I won’t sit here and let you fuck it up if I can help it.”

“Why do you care about me?”

“I don’t. I care about Jarrod. We’ve been friends for a long time. I sat back and watched

while Skip fucked up that man for too long. I won’t let it happen again if I can do anything

about it. Skip, I was afraid of. I’m not afraid of you.” He held up a hand to stop me from

interrupting. “Yeah, I know what you are and what you’ve done. I don’t give a fuck. You are

not going to hurt Jarrod. He’s been through too much.”

I threw my hands up in frustration. A week ago, I might have just shot this guy, but

now things were all fucked up and I felt lost. It was amazing how much Jarrod had managed

to turn my world upside down. While most of it had been good, some of it was pissing me

off.

“Good,” Christian said with a small smile. “Now, first off, being a werewolf sucks.”

The statement caught me so off guard I actually laughed. But when I met his eyes, the

laughter faded immediately. He hadn’t been kidding.

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

“It’s okay. I’m sure that wasn’t what you were expecting me to say. But it does. The

change hurts. You lose control of who you are, how you think, everything and changes.

Every day, you wake up, and you know you’re not human. It’s worse around the full moon,

but after a few years, the feelings begin to affect you all the time. You crave horrible things.

Most werewolves don’t act on them. The need for blood can be something like a vampire

feels. They want it, and while they think they would do anything to get it, there is a control

there. Obviously, in your line of work, you’ve run across werewolves who aren’t so reserved,

but most of us can settle for animal blood.”

He sat back in the chair and looked around the room. I wanted to ask him which

category he fell into but figured it was probably not a polite question so I just waited for him

to start talking again.

“I wouldn’t wish this life on anyone. It’s hard to have relationships with humans

because you never know if you’re going to accidentally infect them or hurt them because

you’re so much stronger than they are. In the books and in the movies, they make it seem like

we rally around each other and run in packs like real wolves, but usually, if you get two

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werewolves in a room together, they’ll just try to rip out each other’s throats. There’s

something about lycanthropy that makes others intolerable to be around. So we can’t mate

with each other. It’s awful.”

“Why the hell are you telling me all of this? I mean, sure I appreciate honesty, but I

can’t change this. You’re just making me want to shoot myself in the head.”

He gave me a soft smile. “Because you can change it.”

I looked at him incredulously. Not only was he kind of an asshole, but he was

obviously also insane.

“Before the first change, you can infect yourself with something else. Lycanthropy is a

weak disease. It can’t fight off a stronger infection. Like vampirism.”

I stared at him dumbfounded. He had just boiled my choices down to being a werewolf

or being a vampire. I don’t know if he thought that would make me feel better, but it didn’t.

“Well, I appreciate you stopping by, Christian. If you don’t mind I’d really like to be

alone right now.” I stood and walked to the door, holding it open for him.

“Mitch, you’re upset. I get that. But it’s important that you think about this. Yes, the

choices suck, but you have a choice. If you wait until the full moon, you’re out of options.

Promise you’ll think about it.”

“I’ll think about it,” I said softly.

He nodded and walked out the door. I shut it behind him and went into the kitchen

hoping I had beer left. Unfortunately, the fridge was completely empty. Just fucking perfect. I

grabbed my jacket off the chair where I’d thrown it, pulled out my cell phone and plugged it

into the charger then took off in search of booze.

I ended up driving to Torque for lack of a better place to be. I didn’t want to sit home

alone and drink all night, so I thought the club might help me feel better. Unfortunately, it

was early so Torque was almost as empty as my apartment, and I still ended up drinking

alone at the bar for two hours before things started to pick up.

As it got later, the music got louder and more men showed up, but I didn’t know any of

them so I kept my back to the dance floor and continued to nurse beer after beer while I

replayed the horrific day in my head.

“Hey there Captain America. You come here often?”

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In spite of everything that had happened, I still found myself smiling at the sound of

Jarrod’s voice behind me.

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Chapter Seventeen

It only took a few minutes for Jarrod to convince me to go home with him. I was pretty

drunk by the time he had shown up and not really in a mood to argue anymore anyway. The

ride back to his loft was quiet. I think we were both trying hard not to start fighting again—at

least, until we were in the privacy of someone’s home.

He had to help me into the elevator since I kept stumbling over my own feet. I hadn’t

thought I’d drunk that much, but my equilibrium proved to the contrary. I did manage to

make it to the couch on my own then fell unceremoniously onto my back, staring up at the

ceiling with a heavy sigh.

“So, how are you doing now?” Jarrod asked softly. He sat on the floor next to me and

ran his fingers lightly over my arm.

“Apparently I’m a little drunk, but other than that I’m all right.” I wasn’t all right, not

even a little actually, but it wasn’t going to do either of us any good to rehash the afternoon

right then. I could lie until a more appropriate time.

“You know, you’re kind of a cheater,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“You know how much I like to find you drunk at gay bars. It was a little unfair of you

to run and hide in the one place you knew I would find you.”

He had a cute little smirk on his face when I turned to look at him, and I laughed. He

raised himself up on his knees so he could lean over and kiss me. I ran my hand up the back

of his neck, curling his hair around my fingers while our tongues tangled together.

He sighed into my mouth, his hands digging into my arms to hold me against the couch

while he climbed over me, straddling my hips and grinding against my growing erection.

“Do you think this is a good idea?” I asked quietly.

“Is it ever a bad idea?”

He had a point. If nothing else, fucking was something we would always be good at

together. The relationship stuff might take some work, but I would always want to fuck him.

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I let him pull me to my feet and lead me to the bedroom. He shoved me down onto the

bed, climbing over my body with an ease I knew I would never master. His body moved like

it was made out of liquid, so smooth and graceful. His placed his leg between my knees and

laid over me, kissing me again with the same fever as in the living room. His fangs nicked the

inside of my mouth, the taste of my blood drawing a growl from both of us simultaneously.

My cock was so hard by this point, it almost hurt as he ground his hip against it. I slid

my hands up his back, pulling his T-shirt with them. He sat up enough to let me take off the

shirt, and I threw it across the room while he tugged at my own. When we were both naked

from the waist up, he fell back on me, his smooth skin cool against my own which felt like it

was on fire.

I hooked my leg behind him and forced him over so that I was on top of him. I slid

down his body, kissing over his neck and chest, sucking one of his nipples into my mouth

and rolling my tongue around it until he moaned for me.

“Mitch, I want you to fuck me,” he said.

“Later.” I had kissed my way to the waistband of his jeans and used my teeth to

unbutton them then the zipper. I wanted him, too, more than I had ever imagined I could

want a man, but there were things I needed to do to him first.

He raised his hips for me so I could pull off his pants. I threw them to the floor before

slamming my mouth over his cock. He gripped my hair between his fingers, yanking

roughly at it and making me moan around him. His pre-cum hit the back of my tongue, and I

moaned harder, revelling in the taste of him.

I gripped the base of his cock in my hand, moving my fist in time with my lips up and

down his shaft, pausing occasionally to swirl my tongue over his head then taking him down

my throat again.

“Mitch, please.” He clawed at my arms, trying to pull me back up his body.

“You never let me have any fun,” I said, releasing him from my mouth.

“Is that so?” He laughed, sliding to the edge of the bed to rifle through his beside

drawer. “Well, if that’s how you feel, I guess I’ll just go find something else to occupy

myself.”

“Let’s not be hasty,” I said, reaching for his arm to pull him back into bed. “When I said

never I meant always.”

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“Take off your pants,” Jarrod growled.

I stripped down quickly, throwing my jeans to the floor next to him before laying back

down on the bed.

I watched him rip the condom package open with his teeth and roll it down his cock. I

raised an eyebrow at him, but he just smiled and nudged me onto my stomach with his hand

on my shoulder.

I turned for him, letting him raise my hips to the level he wanted and holding myself

steady on my elbows. I hissed at the cold lube he dripped on my ass, then made myself relax

as his fingers played lightly against my opening. He pushed two fingers slowly inside me,

crooking them slightly to pulse against the sweet spot in my ass.

When he finally drew a moan from me, he started to work his fingers in and out for a

few minutes until he felt I was ready to take him inside me. As I felt the head of his cock

push past my tight ring of muscles, I had to wonder if I would ever not be ready for him or

ever not want him inside of me. Then he was moving, and all thought was washed away at

the feel of him sliding in and out of my ass.

His fingers dug into my hips as he slammed faster and faster inside of me. I tried to

move my hips with him, but he gripped me harder, holding me still so he could set the pace

he wanted.

“Touch yourself,” he demanded. “Play with your cock and come for me.”

I moved my hand to slide it over my shaft, swirling my pre-cum around to get my hand

slick. Jarrod slammed into me so hard I heard his balls slapping against my ass, and I

struggled to focus on jerking myself off for him.

“Are you close, baby?” he whispered. His rhythm started to falter, and I knew that he

was. “I want you to come with me. Mitch, please.”

His ‘please’ pushed me over the edge, and I screamed out, coming in hot spurts on my

hand while he dug his nails into my hips again and cried my name as he came inside of me. I

collapsed under him as he fell onto my back. He climbed off me and threw the condom away

in the trashcan next to the bed before flopping onto his back.

I felt an intense feeling of relief as we lay in the dark together sweaty and panting, our

hands clasped together as if either of us would float away if we let go. My decision was

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made, and while it wasn’t going to be hearts and flowers all the time, spending the rest of

forever with Jarrod was better than any alternative I could think of.

“Hey, are you still awake?” he asked softly.

“Yeah, I’m awake. What’s up?”

“Did Christian come talk to you today?”

“Yeah he did. I was actually just thinking about that. Thanks for sending him over.”

Jarrod squeezed my hand a little. “Can I ask what he had to say?”

“He told me that being a werewolf sucks, and it’s awful, and he wouldn’t wish it on his

worst enemy.”

Jarrod laughed as I had done earlier when Christian had said it. His laughter faded

when I didn’t join in. He turned on his side and ran a finger up and down the crook of my

elbow.

“I’m sorry, that wasn’t really what I was looking for him to do for you.”

“I know. It’s good actually because he told me that there was a way to avoid this

happening. I really need to talk to you about it. After the first full moon it will be too late.” I

blew out a sigh as I got up the courage to go on. “I’ve been thinking about it, and I think that

I would really prefer to be—”

“Don’t,” Jarrod whispered. “Please don’t.”

I hadn’t noticed until he’d spoken that he had gone completely still next to me as I’d

told him about my conversation with Christian.

“What?” I asked. “Jarrod, what’s wrong.”

“Mitch, I can’t do this.” He rolled over and climbed out of bed. When he started pulling

on his jeans, I jumped up and grabbed his arms.

“What the hell is going on? You don’t even know what I was going to say.” He

struggled against me, breaking free of my hands and buttoning his jeans into place.

“Yes, I do, and I can’t. I can’t make you a vampire. I won’t.”

Momentarily frozen to the spot, I watched him walk out of the room. I was completely

confused by what just happened. When I finally came back to my senses, I wrenched on my

own jeans and followed him out.

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“Jarrod, will you fucking wait a minute, please?” I looked around but didn’t see him in

the living room. I blew out a sigh, listening for some clue as to where he had gone, then I

heard the sound of a guitar playing down the hallway. I walked quickly to the studio and

watched him from the door for a minute.

He sat with his back to me, looking out the large picture window with his guitar in his

lap. I didn’t recognise a song. It was more like he just stroked the strings and made noise to

be doing something. I walked in the room and leaned against a speaker looking at him.

“I need you to talk to me,” I said finally.

He put down the guitar and stood before walking past me to the window. He pressed

his palms flat against the glass and sighed heavily.

“Look, Mitch, I love you. I’m sure whatever Christian said to you was scary, but I just

can’t make you vampire.”

“Can you tell me why?”

“I’ve only turned one other person before, and it did not go well. In fact, it was awful. I

can’t do to you what I did to him. I just can’t bear the thought of it.”

“Jarrod, you’re not making any sense.” I tried really hard to understand him, but I just

didn’t. He had told me only hours before that he didn’t remember what it was like for him to

lose his humanity, and he had never so much as hinted that he didn’t enjoy his life. I couldn’t

imagine what had happened to make him unwilling to help me.

“Skip was already a werewolf when I met him. And he hated it. He had heard that

vampirism can kill lycanthropy and begged me to infect him. We sought out help from older

vampires and weres but were told it only works before the first full moon. Skip wouldn’t let

the idea go that if I infected him often enough eventually I could kill off the other infection in

him.”

“Why would he think that? After you were told it wouldn’t work, why would he push

you like that?”

“Because he knew he would win. I loved him, and I would have done anything he

asked me to do. So every night I infected him. Even when he was almost dying from the

vampirism attacking the lycanthropy in his blood, he begged me to do it again and again,

and I did. Over and over, I fed him my blood. I would hold him while he vomited and had

violent seizures. Even the week he went completely blind, he made me do it. It was the most

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horrific thing I have ever witnessed. He was in so much pain. Some days he couldn’t even

talk, but he would cling to me, and if I didn’t open my vein for him, he would try to attack

me.”

“Why didn’t you stop it sooner? Why would you let him do that to you?”

“To me?” He laughed harshly. “I was doing it to him.”

“Because he made you! Why did you let it go on so long? Why didn’t you just leave?”

“He told me that, if I loved him, I would do anything for him, sacrifice everything for

him, and I did. I loved him so much I sacrificed who I was and what I believed in. I might

have regretted what I did to him, but I’ve never regretted proving to him how much I loved

him.”

Tears rolled down his face now, but his voice never cracked. He just stared out into the

night and told me what his lover had made him do and never moved a muscle. I didn’t know

what to do for him.

“Jarrod,” I said finally. “This is different. I haven’t shifted yet.”

“You saw what he became, Mitch—a crossbreed, a violent shell of the person he was

when I found him. I broke him, and now he’s gone, and all of it is my fault.”

“Jesus Christ,” I whispered. “You can’t really believe that.”

I finally walked over to him and wrapped my arms around him. I kissed the back of his

neck, and he leaned into me but didn’t try to turn to me. We stood together for a few minutes

before I was able to choke back the sob that had risen in my own throat. I was amazed that

after everything Skip had done to him, Jarrod blamed himself for all of it. I hadn’t been there,

so I knew that nothing I said would make him believe Skip was just fucked in the head.

“Honey,” I finally whispered. “I love you.”

It wasn’t smart, it wasn’t a cure all, but it was the only thing I could think of that he

might believe.

“I love you, too. I just hope you can understand why I can’t do this for you.”

I nodded. I knew his fears would be the end of my non-furry days, but I really did love

him. I wouldn’t try to do to him what Skip had. I wouldn’t force him or coerce him into it. If

he was that scared of it, then we would find another way.

“The sun will be up soon. We’d better get to bed,” I said.

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He nodded, finally turning in my arms to kiss me gently on the lips. We walked hand in

hand to the bedroom, crawling under the covers still in our jeans. Jarrod turned his back to

me so I could spoon against him and hold him in my arms. We didn’t talk anymore. We just

lay in the dark breathing together until dawn came and stole him away from me for the day.

I held his cold body until I started to get unnerved by the feeling and shifted to the edge of

the bed to try to sleep. It was hours before I finally stop replaying the earlier conversation

about Skip and got some rest.

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Chapter Eighteen

I woke early after tossing and turning for a few hours. I crawled out of bed and went in

search of my cell phone. When I found my jacket in the living room, I realised I had left my

phone charging at my apartment. And my car was still at Torque ‘cause I had gotten drunk

and let Jarrod take me to his loft. I was stranded in an apartment with the emo-undead out of

it for who knew how much longer.

I managed to find his cell phone, and after a minute of hesitation where I debated his

right to privacy versus my need to get some information, I decided to go ahead and scroll

through his list of contacts to find Christian’s number.

Thankfully, there was only one Christian in the phone. Other than band members, I was

surprised to see how few numbers he had saved. I tried not to ponder that for too long

because it was too much like snooping for my taste.

“Jarrod?”

“No, sorry, it’s actually Mitch. I need a favour.”

“Okay,” he said slowly.

“I need to talk to you. Can you pick me up at Jarrod’s loft? Please?”

He waited for a few minutes as if he was thinking about how to turn down my request,

but I finally heard him sigh.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” he said.

“I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

I ran into the bedroom, threw on a shirt and a pair of shoes, grabbed my jacket and

raced down the stairs to meet Christian. I had just burst through the side door to the building

when a motorcycle raced up next to me and Christian took his helmet off.

“You rang, sir,” he said with a smirk.

“I’m sorry. I know it was incredibly rude to call you out of the blue, but it’s been a

really tough twenty-four hours, and I need to talk to someone who knows Jarrod. I hope

you’re not mad.”

“Not at all,” he said, handing me a helmet from the back of the bike. “Get on.”

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I buckled the strap around my chin and climbed behind him, wrapping my arms

around him tightly just before he took off again. He moved with the bike like it was an

extension of his own body. I had never been comfortable on motorcycles, so I was glad he

obviously knew what he was doing. What surprised me was that he drove as if he also knew

where he was going. We hadn’t talked about where to go so I had to let him lead me

wherever he wanted.

We pulled up in front of my apartment building, and I was more relieved than I would

have liked to admit that we would be on familiar ground when I told him what I needed

from him.

He parked the bike and followed me up the stairs and into the apartment. He sat in the

chair again, and I took my place on the sofa. We looked at each other for a minute before he

broke the silence.

“So, what’s up?”

“I talked to Jarrod last night.” I leaned back into the cushions and looked up at the

ceiling. I had called him, and now I was hedging on how much to share with him. I knew

they were friends, but I didn’t know him. Calling him had seemed like such a good idea at

the time, now I was less than sure.

“Mitch,” he said with a small laugh. “Look, this is going to be much easier on both of us

if you just spill it. I mean, I don’t mind that you want to talk to me. I’m actually a little

flattered. But I won’t sit here and pull your teeth to get the information out of you. Either tell

me or don’t. Either way, I’m fine. Hell, if you just needed a ride home, you could have asked

for that, too.”

He was right. I took a deep breath and told him a condensed version of what Jarrod had

said to me. That he didn’t want to turn me into a vampire because Skip had fucked him up

for so long. Christian listened patiently, never interrupting. He just stared at his hands and

nodded occasionally.

“So,” he said when I finished, “what do you want?”

“I don’t want to be a werewolf,” I said softly. “I’m sorry. That was probably a really

rude thing to say to you. I just…I don’t know how to deal with any of this.”

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“It’s all right. I was the one who sat here yesterday and told you how awful it is. To be

honest, I was having a really bad day. I mean, yeah, being a werewolf sucks, but I may have

been a little harsher than I needed to be with you.”

“I’m glad you were honest. I appreciate brutality. It’s fine,” I said with a smile. “I think I

was just confused by Jarrod’s reaction to all of it. I thought he would be thrilled to have us

both be vampires.”

“From what you’ve said, it doesn’t sound like he doesn’t want you to be a vampire. All

I heard you say was that he doesn’t want to turn you. You could have someone else do it.”

I stared at him in shock. It had never occurred to me to let anyone else turn me. I loved

Jarrod, and while I wasn’t completely familiar with vampire etiquette, it seemed wrong to let

someone else make me a vampire.

“Don’t you think that would upset him?” I asked.

“Maybe at first. Honestly, I think, in the end he would be grateful. I know he loves you.

If he can’t bring himself to turn you, then that is his decision, but this is your life, your

existence, and you have a lot more say about it than he does. Ultimately, the decision is

yours.”

That really wasn’t what I wanted to hear. Until the last twenty-four hours, I had

thought I was a fiercely independent person. I was quickly coming to realise the military and

then the government had not only given my life structure, they had run it completely. All of

the hard choices had always been made for me. I was a twenty-nine-year-old child, and the

first truly grown-up decision I had to make would set the tone for the rest of my life.

I had lost my father and my sister, freaked out my lover, lost my job and been infected

with lycanthropy. Not my best week. And now I had to decide if I wanted to live for eternity

as a vampire.

“This is bullshit,” I said, not really intending to do it out loud but too frustrated to care

that I had.

“Do you want me to call Jarrod and see what he thinks about letting Timmy infect

you?”

“Who the fuck is Timmy?”

“He’s the bassist. Fuck dude, how can you be in love with Jarrod Axlerod and not know

anything about his band?”

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“Because I wasn’t a fan boy. I fell in love with him for him, not for his fame.”

Christian reached out and touched my hand. “I think that’s the nicest thing I’ve heard

in a long time. Do you want me to call Jarrod?”

I nodded, unable to talk anymore. I was suddenly exhausted and really wanted to go to

bed, but I figured it would be rude, not to mention irresponsible to leave Christian alone in

my living room so I could take a nap.

I laid down on the couch and stared at the ceiling again. Christian gone into the kitchen,

but he was talking too low for me to hear him. I strained to make out any words, but it was

just a low, monotonous hum. I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted Jarrod to say. I had thought I’d made up my mind about

becoming a vampire, but the idea of someone else doing it wasn’t as comforting as the

original plan of dying and waking up in Jarrod’s arms. I didn’t know how it would feel to let

a stranger infect me.

* * * *

“Mitch?”

I opened my eyes and smiled at the sight of Jarrod leaning over me. I looked around,

saw that I was on my couch then realised I must have fallen asleep while Christian was on

the phone.

“I fell asleep with someone else in the apartment,” I mumbled to him.

“I know, sweetie. It’s okay.” He took my hand and kissed my knuckles.

“No, it’s not. I don’t understand what’s wrong with me.” I sat up, rubbing my eyes and

looking around the room.

“You’ve had a rough couple of days,” he said with a small laugh. “I promise Christian

didn’t do anything but sit and wait for me to get here.”

“Where is he?” I asked looking around.

“He left when I got here. He told me that he likes you a lot. He said to tell you it takes a

strong man to call a stranger and ask for help.”

“Thanks,” I said with a small moan. I didn’t feel strong. I felt like an absolute pussy.

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He leaned forward and kissed the tip of my nose, making me smile. He sat next to me,

still holding my hand and looking across the room as if thinking.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“I’m sorry I dismissed you so quickly earlier. I’m just so scared. I love you, and I don’t

want to hurt you. I hadn’t realised you’d actually given this any thought. I know you aren’t

Skip, that you’re not going to use me the way he did, that you won’t hurt me as he wanted

to.”

I wasn’t sure where he was going with his current line of thought, but I didn’t want to

interrupt him. I sat very still and waited for him to start talking again.

“When Christian called me and asked me if I would mind Timmy turning you, I

flipped. The only thing worse than making you a vampire myself is the thought of someone

else doing it for you. I’m scared of hurting you, but I’m more terrified of losing you.”

“Why would you lose me?”

“The bond between a vampire and his master is very strong. Sometimes, the change can

force feelings on the two people involved that they never had for each other before. I would

never forgive myself if I let you become attached to another man because I didn’t have the

balls to do what you needed me to do for you. That’s not what you do when the person you

love asks for your help.”

I reached out to turn his chin to face me. He gave me a half-smile and let me kiss him. I

loved him, and I felt guilty for having putting him in this situation. If he wanted me to be a

werewolf for him, who was I to turn that down?

Jarrod had spent decades doing what his lover had demanded of him. How could I

think I was any different than Skip if I asked him to do this for me when he was so against it.

“Hey,” he said softly. “I can almost see those thoughts flying through your mind. Don’t

sit there and compare yourself to him. You’re not like him. I know that. I was just scared last

night. I still believe you have to sacrifice for the person you love. And I love you. If you really

believe this is what you need, then I want to do it for you.”

I was so tired and so confused. It seemed like no matter what I chose to do, it was going

to be the wrong decision. I believed I wanted to spend eternity with Jarrod, that was not even

a question. The problem was I didn’t know if he would live to resent me forcing him into a

decision he wasn’t comfortable with. He could tell me he wanted to do it for me all he

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wanted, but he had made his real thoughts clear to me the previous night. I had held him

while he cried over what Skip had made him do. He wouldn’t convince me that he was

suddenly okay with it.

“Jarrod, I love you. You know that, right?”

He nodded then leaned into my shoulder, resting his head in the crook of my neck. I

kissed the top of his hair and sighed heavily.

“I don’t want to fuck this up,” I said after a minute. “What if I let you do this for me and

you hate me for it later?”

“Mitch, I could never hate you. I overreacted last night. I wasn’t thinking about the

person asking me to save him. I was only thinking about what had happened in the past. You

are not Skip. I know that. You were right. This is a different situation. You are a different

man. I understand that you love me and would never intentionally hurt me. It’s not the same.

If I can help you, I want you to let me do this.”

I didn’t know if I wanted to scream, cry, hug him or punch him in the face. I was so

frustrated I could have done all of it. A month ago, I would never have believed I’d be trying

to figure out if I wanted my vampire lover to turn me or if I’d live my life as a werewolf and

eventually grow old and die, leaving him forever. It was ridiculous. Shit like this didn’t

happen to me.

But it was happening. And every day I put off making a decision, the closer I got to

having the choice taken away. The big problem was that, if I was completely honest with

myself, both options sucked ass. I didn’t want to be a vampire or a werewolf. I wanted to be

Mitch Baine, federal marshal again.

I admitted to myself that I might be okay with not being a bounty hunter anymore.

There was no part of me that was sorry I had met and fallen in love with Jarrod. I was just

sorry it had come to this so quickly. We should have had years together before I had to make

this decision. Could I even responsibly say I wanted to spend eternity with him after

knowing him such a short time? I didn’t know.

“Mitch, I know this sucks,” Jarrod said, pulling me out of my thoughts. “But these are

the cards we were dealt. I don’t think we have too much time to…okay, that was a bad path.

I don’t know anything about gambling. What I’m trying to say is we need to decide what we

are going to do, and we need to do it quick.”

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“Stop reading my thoughts,” I said with a small smile.

He pulled away from me and looked into my eyes. His green irises searched my face,

and I was filled with such a sense of calm that it felt as if my decision had been made for me.

I loved him. I would always love him. Right now, I wanted to spend eternity in his arms. If I

could hold onto that feeling, then no matter what happened in the future, I knew neither of

us would regret the choice I had made.

“Jarrod, if you are abso-fucking-lutely positive you are not going to regret this, I want

you to turn me.”

His face split into a huge grin, and he threw himself into my arms, kissing my neck and

face with quick pecks.

“I am so sorry I scared you yesterday. It’s been a really rough week for both of us, and I

think it finally took its toll on me. I sat in bed alone today and thought I had lost you forever.

I remembered watching you laying unconscious on my couch and how it had felt to think

you weren’t coming back to me and I wanted to kick myself for the things I’d said to you.

The night I woke up after the attack, I had told myself that I would never let you go. Then

not even a week later, I tried to throw you away with both hands. I’m an idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot. You’ve been through a lot, and I don’t just mean in the last week. I

would have freaked out, too. If you still have reservations about doing this, then we won’t. I

would rather suffer a lifetime of being a lycanthrope than cause you even one more minute

of pain.”

He kissed me, hard and fast, knocking us both to the floor with the force at which he

had pushed into me. I opened my mouth to him as my arms circled his waist, holding him

tight against me. His tongue practically fought with mine to control the viciousness of the

kiss, but I wasn’t actually fighting anything. I wanted him like this forever.

He sat up, balancing his ass on my waist with his knees tight against my ribs. The look

he gave me was full of heat and love and things that I had never believed anyone could hold

in their eyes for me.

“Are you sure?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

“I’m sure,” I said. And I was.

“Tell me,” he whispered. “Tell me you love me. Promise me you will never hurt me.”

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“Jarrod,” I said, reaching up to pull him back down on me. I stared into his eyes and

tried to put all of the emotion and love I could into my own for him. “I love you. I swear to

you that I would never intentionally do anything to hurt you. I want to spend eternity with

you.”

His eyes filled with tears, but he didn’t let them fall. He kissed me again, softer than

before but still full of heat and lust and love and all of those things one tries to convey to his

partner when words just aren’t enough. It poured into me through his lips and his tongue

and his hands on mine. He loved me. There was no doubt, and most of the fear of what

would happen washed away with that kiss. I just hoped I gave as good as I got from him.

He sat up again, his eyes never breaking contact with mine as he bit down into his

wrist. He held it in front of himself for a minute, a brief hesitation I started to share.

“Is it going to hurt?” I asked. I don’t like to think I’m a wuss, but I wanted warning if I

could get it from him.

“Yes,” he said softly. “But not for long, and only once.”

I nodded, knowing he meant, if I didn’t do this, I could look forward to horrible pain

every month when shifting into a werewolf. I reached up to take his wrist in my hand and

spilled his blood into my mouth.

It tasted like melted pennies. It was hot and thick, and I had to fight not to choke on it.

Drinking it like that was different from when we had shared blood through the occasional

nicks and cuts caused by our rough kissing. It was awful, and it seared down my throat.

But I kept my eyes on Jarrod and forced myself to swallow mouthful after mouthful of

him until, finally, he gently tugged his arm away from me. I tried to smile at him, but I was

instantly hit with a pain so strong I thought I had been shot in the chest. I didn’t scream out

loud, but it was close. My hands clenched into fists, and before the pain started to tear

through my head, I had a moment to think that I had dug my nails into my palm so hard I

was bleeding.

When my brain started to melt inside my skull, nothing else mattered except the

excruciating pain and how to make it stop. My muscles twitched in my arms and legs, so I

knew I wasn’t dead, but I started to wish that I was. Nothing had ever hurt like this. It was

inside my body, and there was no way to make it stop.

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I wanted to beg Jarrod to grab my gun and shoot me, to make this pain end, but I

couldn’t talk. I couldn’t even open my eyes. I wondered if they had been torn from their

sockets and that was why I had gone blind.

Then the pain started to recede and the world disappeared completely.

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Chapter Nineteen

“Jarrod?” I called into the dark, but there was no answer.

I tried to sit up but slammed my head into something hard directly over me. I felt

around and realised I was trapped. I pushed at whatever was over me, punching and finally

kicking at it. I couldn’t breathe, and I was—I was in a coffin I realised.

Everything came back to me in a rush. Jarrod had turned me into a vampire. Then he

had left me alone in a coffin. I pushed at the lid again, and finally, it opened. I sat up gasping

for air and looking around the room. Jarrod sat next to the box with his head resting on the

crook of his elbow at the end of the coffin.

I climbed out on unsteady legs and fell to the ground, sitting there for a minute and

trying to calm my breathing. I was out, I was safe and I was alive…sort of. I stood still for a

minute, listening to a silence I had never experienced before.

My heart wasn’t beating. In twenty-nine years, I had never noticed the sound of my

heart in my ears, but the loss of it was astounding. I was concentrating so hard on the lack of

noise in my body that I jumped about a foot when Jarrod called my name.

“Oh my God!” He jumped to his feet and pulled me into his arms. “Oh, baby, I’m so

sorry. Are you all right?”

He pushed me back a little and looked me up and down, running his fingers over my

face, neck and shoulders.

“I think so,” I said softly.

“Fuck, Mitch. I didn’t think you’d wake up before me. I never would have left you

closed in there if I had known. Shit.”

“My heart isn’t beating,” I said finally, not knowing what else to talk about.

“It will. You need to feed. It will get better in a few days. I promise. Your body just

needs to adjust to the new things it requires to work properly.”

“Feed?” I realised suddenly that I hadn’t thought this thing completely through. I had

been focused on Jarrod and me being together. I wasn’t sure if I could handle drinking blood

from a human being.

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“You look like I just kicked your puppy,” Jarrod said with a laugh. “Do you really think

I would let you wake up in a coffin then sic you on some defenceless, unwilling human?”

“Don’t laugh at me,” I grumbled. “I’ve had a rough…time.”

He hugged me again, kissing my temple and still shaking a little with silent laughter. I

was glad he found the situation so fucking funny. I felt like someone had beat the shit out of

me then stuck me in coffin all alone. My life as a vampire wasn’t starting out so fabulous.

“I have some blood pouches in the kitchen,” he said after a minute. I was glad that the

laughter was not evident in his voice. “Come on.”

He took my hand and led me out of the room. I realised we were in his loft, but I had

never seen his coffin room before. I found myself secretly glad for that. I mean, I knew

vampires slept in coffins, but since I had been with him, Jarrod had always stayed in bed

with me. It had humanised him more than I’d thought about at the time.

I felt like an idiot. I had known in the back of my head that being a vampire would be

different, but over the past couple days, I couldn’t remember focusing on the ‘being a

vampire’ part of not ‘being a werewolf’. Jarrod would help me, I had no doubt about that,

but I had promised not to hurt him. What was going to happen if I couldn’t handle the life I

had chosen?

“Stop thinking so hard,” Jarrod said as he kicked out a kitchen chair for me to sit in at

the table. “You’re going to make your head explode. It’s an adjustment. You’ve made them

before, and you’ll make them again. We are together, you are alive, and you won’t turn furry

once a month. Try to let that be enough for right now, okay? Everything else, well, we’ll

figure that out when we get to it.”

He threw a few bags of liquid onto the table, and my stomach flipped. I wasn’t sure I

could do it—actually drink blood from a pouch. It had been awful drinking Jarrod’s blood

warm from his skin. The thought of drinking cold blood out of a piece of plastic made me

want to vomit.

Jarrod moved a chair to face me, positioning himself so our knees touched and there

was nothing between us. He picked up a bag and bit into the corner of it. He kept his eyes on

mine as he started to suck the blood from the pouch. I watched his jaw work and realised he

was moving closer to me, leaning towards my mouth. I didn’t move with him, but I didn’t

pull away when he kissed me.

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He pressed his lips to mine, and I opened my mouth to him, letting him drip blood

from his tongue onto mine. It was nothing like his blood had been. The taste was sweet, and

it was smooth running down my throat. My hands went to the sides of his face, and I held

him still while I licked the inside of his mouth and his teeth clean of the blood, careful to

avoid scraping his skin with my new fangs that had extended at the first taste he’d given me.

He pulled back and took a deeper drink from the pouch. He came toward me again,

and this time I met him halfway, wanting to drink the blood from his mouth more than I had

ever wanted anything. I felt myself move off of my chair, breaking our crimson kiss long

enough for him to take another drink and for me to straddle his lap.

I drank from his mouth for twenty minutes, letting him heat that liquid candy for me

before sucking it from his lips and tongue. I had been so intent on it that I hadn’t realise until

all of the blood was gone from the table that my heart was beating again, pounding actually,

and my hard cock was pressed against Jarrod’s stomach.

“That wasn’t so bad was it?” he asked in a hoarse whisper.

I shook my head. I couldn’t talk. I could barely think about anything but how much I

wanted to rip off his clothes and fuck him on the kitchen floor. I stood, roughly pulling him

with me with my hands clamped around his wrists. I tugged him into my body, kissing him

as hard as I dared. I didn’t want to hurt him with my fangs since I didn’t know what to do

with them.

I kicked out with my feet, never breaking the kiss, and swept his legs out from under

him. I caught the weight of his body with my hip and gently lowered us both to the floor. My

hands found the front of his shirt and ripped hard enough that buttons bounced and

scattered across the tile.

My fingers splayed over his chest, running up and down the smooth flesh as if I had

never touched him before. I got one of my hands between us and wrenched at the button of

his jeans then slid down the zipper so I could grip his cock in my hand.

I started to pump quickly up and down his shaft until he growled into my mouth. My

eyes opened. He stared up at me for a moment before he pressed his lower lip against my

fangs, making me bite him.

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He tasted sweeter now than he ever had in my mouth. I licked at the puncture wounds

he had forced on himself, letting the warm, sweet blood sit on my tongue and hoping that

every night would be like this, minus the waking up alone part.

“Fuck, Mitch, I need you,” Jarrod whispered against my mouth. “Please?”

“You and those fucking pleases,” I laughed. “How the hell can I resist that?”

We quickly tore off our clothes, much of it getting destroyed in the process, but I don’t

think either of us cared. I had never needed anyone as badly as I needed Jarrod right that

second.

“I don’t have a condom,” I said quickly as I got ready to get off of him.

“Mitch, we’ll be okay. We’re both vampires now, remember? Not that you ever needed

one with me before. If you walk away from me right now, I might explode. Just fuck me,

please? Please?” He grinned. “Please?”

“You’re a brat,” I growled.

“So you’ve told me,” he said before pulling my mouth back to his.

I ground my cock against his while he swirled his tongue around mine. His hands

clenched in my hair and his legs wrapped around my waist. He kept trying to shift so I could

fuck him, but we didn’t have any lube in the kitchen, and I wasn’t looking to hurt him.

I pulled back from the kiss and shoved two of my fingers in his mouth. He sucked on

them for a minute, licking and gently nipping them until I took them back. I urged him to

move his legs so I could reach between us. I slid my slick fingers up the crack of his ass and

pressed against him until he relaxed enough for me to push them inside of him.

He dug his nails into my shoulder, and I didn’t get him as ready as I would have liked

to, but he didn’t seem to mind. I spit into my hand and slid it up and down my shaft, hoping

it would be wet enough for us.

Jarrod wrapped his legs around me again, forcing me closer with his thighs on my ass.

The angle of his hips made it easier to move inside of him. We both made small noises as my

cock pushed into that tight ring of muscles. He clenched for a minute, and the feel of him

gripping me like that was almost enough to make me come.

“Stop that,” I hissed. He just grinned at me and did it again.

I wrapped my hands under his legs and brought his body with me to my knees so that

his shoulders were still pressed against the tile, but I could move faster and harder. I

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pounded into his tight little ass so hard that I worried I might break him, but I wasn’t

worried enough to stop.

Jarrod’s hand moved to his cock, pumping up and down his shaft at the same speed I

fucked his ass.

“You are so fucking gorgeous,” I said, looking down at him.

His eyes squeezed shut, and he spasmed around me as he came, clawing at my arms.

The feel of him clenching down on my cock again brought me, too, and I screamed out his

name as I pumped my seed into his ass.

I collapsed on top of him, sweating and smiling harder than I had in a long time. He

kissed the top of my head and ran his fingers over my back while we laid together on the

floor for a few minutes.

“So,” he finally said. “Is it really so bad to be a vampire?”

“I don’t know,” I said, sitting up to look at him. “Are you going to spend eternity with

me? Are we going to fuck like wild animals every chance we get? Are you going to love me

for the rest of time?”

“Yes,” he said with a laugh.

“Then so far, it’s pretty fucking peachy.”

“Good to hear. You know, it’s not all fun and…fucking.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured that. But we’ve done pretty well with a lot of horrible stuff

lately. I think, for the most part, we’ll just have to figure out everything else as we go. As

long as we have each other, we can probably do anything.”

“I love you,” Jarrod said before kissing me quickly.

“I love you, too.”

“Anything, huh?” he said quietly.

“I would think so.”

“Hey, Mitch?”

I looked over at him and saw that his face had gone serious. I ran a finger down the side

of his jaw and got a small smile.

“What’s up?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking. Can you play guitar?”

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“You’re an asshole,” I said when he started laughing. “And no, I’m tone deaf. So I guess

you’re out of luck.”

“What if I say please?”

“No such luck there, darling.” I licked his lower lip with the tip of my tongue. “But I

can do all kinds of other things for you.”

“Oh really?” he asked with wide eyes. “Like what?”

“Why don’t you come take a shower with me, and I’ll show you.”

I stood and held out my hands to help him to his feet, too. I pulled him into my arms

and kissed him, running my fingers over his shoulders and sighing into his mouth.

It was as close to perfect as I had ever known. I didn’t have a single regret. Jarrod made

me happy, and I could only hope I would be able to do the same for him for the rest of our

lives.

About the Author

Dakota lives in Detroit Michigan because she loves the city at night and the shopping
during the day. She loves David Bowie and vampire movies, The Beatles and Dolly
Parton.

She is partial to pixie sticks and cannot stand nuts...in her food. She will always
believe that pizza is the perfect food. She is as much in love with her partner as she is
with herself. And she will be the first to tell you how incredibly witty she is.

She doesn't believe in lipstick but won't leave the house without eyeliner. She still
won't admit whether or not she really believes that vampires exist. And if you let her,
she can convince you she doesn't know how to ride a bicycle.

Email:

Dakota.rebel@hotmail.com

Dakota loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and
author biography at

http://www.total-e-bound.com

Also by Dakota Rebel

Sweet Dreams

Bound Brits: Kit and Mouse

Hello

Brit Party: The Wager

Heatwave: The Blackout

The Gallery

Naughty Nooners: Raven