Suck It by Linsey Hall
5
Drakon
Mac gripped me like I was a buoy in the middle of a stormy sea. Her strong arms wrapped around me, binding me to her in an embrace that I never wanted to leave.
Desire surged through me, heating my muscles and bones until I thought I could immolate on the spot.
She was everything I’d ever wanted—fierce, intelligent, more beautiful than the sunrise—and she was holding me to her like she could keep me from disappearing. It almost seemed like it might be working. The curse still tugged at me, but her grip was stronger, keeping me bound to her.
Memories of our previous kiss rushed through me—the sweetness of her lips, the feel of her body against mine. It had been heaven, the purest desire and pleasure I’d ever felt. And I wanted more.
It was all I could do not to tip her face up to mine and steal a kiss from her lips. I dipped my head to take a deeper breath of her scent, unable to help myself.
My jaw brushed against her neck as the sweet scent of her filled my nose. I caught a hint of her blood rushing through her veins, and desire gripped me so hard it took over my entire mind.
Drink.
My fangs throbbed, and the compulsion was greater than anything I’d ever felt. A train could be coming at me and I wouldn’t have been able to move.
All I could smell, sense, taste was her. It made my head spin and my rational mind recede to the background.
I would die if I didn’t taste her.
She would die.
The world would die.
The thoughts were insane, but I couldn’t quite process that fully. All I could understand was the need to sink my fangs into her neck.
My actions were no longer my own as I opened my mouth and set my fangs to her neck. Desire gripped me so hard that I nearly groaned. I would groan when I finally pierced her skin—I was sure of it.
I’d lose control of myself.
Before I could take what I wanted, she jerked back, horrified. “Were you going to bite me?”
The fog still clouded my mind, and I reached for her. Somewhere deep in my subconscious, my rational self screamed for me to stop.
She smacked my hand away and stepped back farther. “Get ahold of yourself.”
I shook my head, pinching the bridge of my nose as I tried to regain control. It took several deep breaths and more than a few minutes, but I finally did.
When I looked up, she was gone.
Shit.
I turned and strode from the courtyard. What had just happened?
I’d nearly bitten her. That wasn’t the self-control I prized in myself. I rarely utilized that control, preferring to give into my basic instincts, but it was certainly there. I was the damned first vampire, for fates’ sake.
But hell, there’d been no control at all. Not even a hint of it. The blood lust had been stronger than I’d ever felt it, and there’d been no fighting it.
Disgust raced through me as I walked blindly through Guild City. I had done terrible things in my life, but I’d done them because I’d chosen to. My life had been long and lonely because I wasn’t a good person, not because I was an out-of-control vampire.
But now….
Could I be trusted around her?
Could I be trusted around anyone?
There were people all around me, and yet they didn’t call to me. I felt absolutely no desire to drink their blood other than the minor interest I always felt.
Generally, I found a willing victim and had my fill.
That’s what I should do now. Though the idea of drinking from anyone other than Mac repulsed me, it was the only option. I had to avoid her.
If I bit her, I feared I would drink until she died. The thought chilled me. It would solve my problem of the prophecy, but I was utterly unwilling to end her life.
The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur as I drank my unsatisfying fill from a selection of willing victims. With every new person that I found for sustenance, I hoped that they would taste half as good as Mac had smelled.
They never did.
Finally, it was time to return to Mac’s tower.
As I made my way through the darkened city streets, I couldn’t help but think of her. She’d ensnared my thoughts as well as my senses, and there was no escape.
The guild tower where she lived was quiet when I approached. Most of the lights were off, with the exception of the ones on the main floor and one of the rooms above. An animal moved through the shadows, and I recognized the badger. It ignored me and went about its business.
Before I could knock on the door, it swung open to reveal Mac.
She wore short shorts and a flannel shirt tied around her waist, completing the outfit with cowboy boots. My mouth went dry at the sight of her.
She looked like a cowboy’s wet dream and, apparently, I was the cowboy.
“Ready?” she asked.
I nodded.
She looked me up and down with a skeptical eye. “You don’t look like a Texan.”
“I’ll borrow a shirt if I must.” My clothing was dark and simple by necessity, but expensive. No doubt it wouldn’t fit in on a ranch.
“Fine. You can take the clothes of the person you impersonate if necessary. I might have to anyway, if it looks like they’ve already been inside the bar and been seen by the others.”
“All right. Ready?”
“Yes.” She strode toward me, her long legs eating up the ground.
I looked away from the expanse of smooth skin, not wanting to be entranced.
When she stopped in front of me, I braced myself before taking her hand. Still, the touch made my blood sing, and I transported us as quickly as possible, dropping the connection as soon as we arrived in the heart of Texas.
A warm wind whipped across my face as I spun around to inspect our surroundings. Though it was dark, the clear sky allowed the moon and starlight to illuminate the serene vista around us.
Fields stretched out on all sides, long grasses rustling in the wind. A highway cut through the darkness in the distance, tiny red lights disappearing down the long expanse. It felt like the sky extended forever, so massive it defied the imagination.
Behind us, music blared from a long, low building. I turned to face it. Brilliant neon lights decorated the top, a pair of glowing red and blue boots moving in unison to the music that sounded from the speakers.
The parking lot was full of trucks, with a few muscle cars and motorcycles mixed in for variety. The building was the only one for as far as the eye could see, and the scent of shifters was strong in the air.
“Well, we’re definitely at the right place.” Mac pointed to the side of the building. “Should we see if there’s a back entrance? Maybe we can sneak in and steal a couple people from the kitchen.”
I nodded. It would be far better than entering from the front. There would be too many people to notice that we weren’t part of the pack.
Together, we skirted around the building. The back was slightly quieter, but not by much. A tumbleweed rolled through the dusty parking lot behind us, bouncing into one of the dumpsters before making its way around and continuing off into the dark.
We’d just found a back door when it swung open and a couple stumbled outside. Though we were standing in the open parking lot, the man and woman didn’t seem to notice us. Within a half second of exiting the building, they were on each other in a ravenous embrace.
Kissing, they slammed into the wall of the building.
Mac shot me a glance, her brows raised. This is too easy, her gaze seemed to say.
I started toward them, but she grabbed my arm to stop me. I shot her a look, catching sight of a potion bomb in her hand. She hurled it at the couple. It landed in the dirt at their feet, exploding upward in a cloud of pale blue smoke.
The people stiffened just briefly before dropping to the ground.
“Unconscious?” I asked.
She nodded. “I thought I’d make it easy for us.”
“It’s also easy to knock them out.”
She grimaced, and I realized I’d said something that betrayed my more ruthless side. She’d put them to sleep, whereas my solution had been outright violence. For the first time ever, I felt something almost like shame.
It didn’t sit well.
But surely, she had to expect that from me.
Quickly, I approached the pair and picked up the man, draping him over one shoulder. I reached for the woman, but Mac was faster.
“I’ve got her.” She dragged the woman away from the building. “Let’s put them behind the dumpsters so no one finds them until we’re done.”
“All right.” I dropped my person on the ground, remembering at the last minute to try to keep his head from smacking into the pavement.
I wouldn’t have thought of such a thing if it hadn’t been for Mac’s grimace earlier, and the idea that I was modifying my behavior for her was like an ill-fitting coat I insisted on wearing.
She put the woman on the ground next to the man, then knelt and plucked a hair from each of their heads. A faint light from the building illuminated her as she slipped the hairs into the vials that Eve had given her. After shaking them up, she handed one to me.
“Bottoms up.” She threw one back and winced.
Magic swirled around her, and a moment later, she looked like the woman on the ground. She looked down at her body, frowning when she saw that her clothes hadn’t transformed as well. “Damn. I guess I need to change clothes since they were already inside.” Her mouth twisted down in a frown. “Really liked this outfit, too.”
The inanest desire to offer to take her out to another bar so she could wear it flashed through my mind.
What the bloody hell?
I’d never thought such things before. And the idea of going willingly to another establishment like this?
Preposterous.
I shook my head and threw back the foul-tasting potion. Magic surged through my veins, and I felt myself transform into the other man. He wasn’t quite as tall nor as broad as me, but he wasn’t a weakling either, thank fates. However, my clothes would also have to be changed.
Quickly, we swapped our clothes with the ones belonging to the unconscious people, then pulled the wallets from their pockets.
“Looks like I’m Caitlin McCabe,” Mac said.
“I’m Tom.” I grimaced. Tom. The indignity.
Together, we headed out from our hiding spot.
“Remember,” Mac said. “We’re supposed to act like we like each other.”
“Of course.” Easier said than done. I didn’t like Mac.
I respected her. I admired her. I lusted after her. But like? No. That was far too weak a word.
When we reached the wooden door at the back, I pulled it open for her. Country music spilled out of the cool interior. She proceeded me into the dark hallway, and I followed her out into the loud, colorfully-lit bar at the other end.
A protection charm shivered over me, and we’d likely have to exit the premises before I could transport us away.
Inside, the space was enormous, with a rainbow of lights shooting from the ceiling and illuminating the dancers who filled one half of the space. They appeared to be doing some type of two step, moving in synchronized motions around the wooden floor.
On the other side of the room, a bar stretched along one long wall. It looked out on a series of tables that surrounded a mechanical bull.
“Well, this is straight out of my fantasies of Texas,” Mac said.
“It is quite apt, isn’t it?” I started toward the bar, and she followed. I wasn’t sure where to look for information, but blending in was our best chance. The bar was the easiest place to do that.
We stopped at the long expanse of wood, and I looked at the drinkers on either side of me. Most were drinking beer—Lone Star or Shiner Bock. When the waitress approached, I ordered one of each, doing my best attempt at a neutral accent.
She nodded and pulled them out from a cooler beneath the bar, expertly flicking the tops off with her thumbs before handing them to us. I passed her a twenty-dollar bill that I’d taken from the stolen wallet. “Keep the change.”
She nodded and turned, disappearing down the way to fill another order.
I held out the beers for Mac to choose, and she took the Shiner. Together, we leaned against the bar and inspected the room. I sipped the weak beer and tried to find any type of door that might lead to a secret meeting room. There were a few, but the assortment of people coming and going from them made it hard to determine which might be our target.
“I’ll give you twenty quid if you ride that bull.” Mac nodded toward the rocking mechanical beast.
A low laugh escaped me. “There’s no amount of money in the world.”
“Below your dignity?”
I ignored the comment. “I’ll give you twenty pounds if you ride the bull.”
“I’d take you up on it if we weren’t here on a job.” She grinned at the person who was just flung off. “Looks like something that’s perfect for one of the witches’ parties.”
She liked fun, it was clear. And she had a sense of humor. Didn’t take herself too seriously.
How the hell was she my Bride?
We were so damned different.
And yet, she made me feel alive. True, she was responsible for making me feel worse than dead for much of the last five years, but now, I couldn’t help but revel in being near her.
Fate was full of surprises.
“Caitlin!” a woman’s voice called over the music.
It snapped me from my thoughts. Caitlin was Mac’s borrowed name. I nudged her, and she straightened, her eyes darting through the crowd.
A dark-haired woman rushed up to us, grabbing Caitlin’s hand. “There you are! The meeting is starting.”
Mac’s eyes widened slightly, but she nodded. “Of course. Lost track of the time.” She looked at me. “Tom?”
I nodded and stepped forward.
“Not him, silly.” The woman frowned. “Tom’s not on the committee. He can’t come.”
“Right. I just wanted him to hold my beer.” She shoved it at me, and I took it.
Without a backward glance, she grabbed the woman’s hand and walked into the crowd, slowing her gait so that the woman could take the lead.
Well, damn.
It appeared that Mac was going into the heart of the danger, and I was left out here.