Mating Fever by Susan Hayes
Carnage
Three days. She had vanished out of his life three miserable days ago. Not since he had been mortal had Carnage felt the passage of time so acutely. He spent the night in the vault, venting his rage on the contents until it was nothing more than a pile of twisted wreckage and scrap metal. He had already arranged to replace most of it. Luc was a manipulative, arrogant bastard, but he paid well.
Ripper found him the next day when the pup had teleported in to pick up a few new toys. The kid had been smart enough not to ask any questions. He had teleported them both out of the sealed vault and back to Car’s office at the clubhouse without uttering a single word.
He stayed long enough to shower and dress, ignoring everyone’s curious looks. He didn’t want to talk about what had happened. He didn’t want to think about what he had lost. Twenty minutes later he walked out of the clubhouse, summoned his bike, and headed straight to Haven, their favorite bar, to get well and truly drunk.
Three days later, he was still there and still drinking. With any luck, he would be too drunk to care when Luc finally reappeared to mete out his punishment…or tell him what Leta’s final fate had been.
His fellow Hounds were taking shifts, keeping him company night and day like a bunch of damned mother hens. They pushed food at him once in a while, and yesterday they had dragged him to the dancers’ dressing area for what they claimed was a much-needed shower. Havoc had even offered to stay and soap his back, the mouthy bastard. He loved his brothers, but right now, he would happily slaughter every last one of them if it meant he could be alone to mourn what he had lost.
Leta.
He didn’t understand why, or how, but he knew she was meant to be his…and he had lost her. The pain of that loss hurt like nothing else he had ever known, not even dying.
At first, he tried to drink her memory away. When that hadn’t worked, he considered fucking himself free of her, but there wasn’t a woman in the place that could compare to the one he’d lost. He stayed at the bar and kept drinking, instead. He wasn’t fit company for anyone right now, not even the jaded women that came to places like this.
As the days past, the ache in his chest didn’t get better. His hound was a sullen, sulking presence in the back of his mind. The beast didn’t understand why they weren’t going after her, and it wasn’t interested in hearing excuses.
By the second day, he was starting to dream of her even when he was awake. He’d come to his senses convinced she was standing right behind him. Her scent would fill his nose, or he would hear the lingering echo of her laughter. It was making him bat-shit crazy.
“You need to eat something, Car,” Discord said before shoving a plate loaded with chili cheese fries toward him.
Car eyed the food with disinterest, then took another swig of his drink. “I’m currently on a liquid diet, thanks.”
Ruin snorted with laughter. “A few more days of that diet, and you’re going to need a fucking liver transplant.”
“Advantage of being immortal. Don’t need to eat, and my liver can take care of itself.” Car glowered at the pair of battle-hardened warriors seated across from him. “Don’t you have something else to do besides sit here like a couple of wet blankets? Luc’s got to have missions for you two assholes. He always has missions. Centuries of them. Go here, get that. Fetch Fido, and don’t you fuckin’ dare want anything for yourself.”
Both men looked at each other, then at Car. Dis finally asked the question no one had dared to voice until now. “What the fuck happened to you, Car?”
“I broke rule number two. With an assigned target.”
Dis winced. “Damn, Car. What the fuck were you thinking?”
“It was the weirdest thing. The moment I caught her scent, I lost my mind. Tracked her across the fucking country in minutes, and instead of taking her to Luc, I took her home.”
“And then he bit me. Didn’t even buy me dinner first. Can you believe that?”
“Leta?” Car’s head snapped around to look for the source of the voice that had been haunting him for the last three days.
“Hey, asshole. Miss me?”
She was back. Alive. Hell, she looked good. Better than good, in fact. She looked good enough to eat.
Please, don’t be another hallucination.
She was dressed in the same kind of black bike leathers that he and the other Hounds wore, and there didn’t appear to be a mark on her.
His hound howled in triumph as he surged to his feet and pulled her into his embrace. She came to him willingly, twining her arms around his neck as his mouth found hers.
Her scent wrapped around him, more intoxicating than anything he had drunk in the hours since he was banished from her side. It wasn’t until he ran a hand down her back that he noticed the first change. There were feathers under his fingers.
“Wings?” he asked before kissing her again.
“Among other things,” she answered.
“Uh, Car? Breaking rule number two again probably isn’t the best idea…” Ruin pointed out.
“Even if she is seriously hot,” Discord added, moving out of reach before the words passed his lips.
“He’s been granted an exception,” Leta said with a laugh that lit up his world.
“Don’t even look at my woman again or I’ll beat you to death with your own spine, Dis.” He uttered the warning with a low, rumbling growl and then turned his attention back to Leta. “Lucifer granted me an exception?” he asked.
“Uh huh. But only with me. I catch you stroking anyone else’s feathers, and I’ll kick your sexy ass.”
Between the copious amounts of booze he had consumed, and the fact that all the blood in his body was currently rushing to his cock, Car was having trouble following what his woman was saying. All he knew was she was back in his arms, and this time, he would die again before he let her go.
“So you’re mine? Luc accepted my offer?”
She shook her head. “Nope. He made me one instead. I’ll explain once we’re home.”
“I can’t go home. Luc killed my ability to teleport.”
“Who said you were driving?” she asked and tightened her grip on him. The next thing he knew, they were standing in his bedroom, the bed still rumpled from the last time they’d been there, what felt like a lifetime ago.
He was home, and Leta was with him. It was a fucking miracle, and those weren’t exactly in great abundance this far from Heaven.
