Taste of Darkness (2 page)

He cleared his throat. “I wondered if the human boy had asked Vega out for the holiday.” Which wasn’t what he’d meant at all, but it sounded good enough.

Victoria shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. That’s a couple weeks away.”

“Do you celebrate it?” Some of the younger females in the pack had been discussing the day with great importance. So he planned to give something special to Victoria. He’d been working on it for weeks.

“Not really. The history of the day is confusing and dark and bloody. I don’t mind the latter, but I don’t like to celebrate something that hasn’t been recorded properly in history.” She sounded almost offended by the idea, which made him smile again. Victoria cared about history. It was one of her quirks and something he loved about her. “Do you have plans for Valentine’s Day?” Her voice sounded almost cautious when she asked.

Which confused him. “No. You can be mine.”

She laughed, the sound almost nervous. “I can, huh?”

“Yes. It will piss off Gabriel.” The thought made Drake smile.

She snorted. “You two are so obnoxious but you’re right, it will. If you’re going to be my Valentine then I expect chocolates. Lots of them.”

He’d already planned to get her some considering how much the female ate chocolate. She was tall and slender and her high shifter metabolism meant she was often eating something sweet. He wondered if she’d taste sweet when he kissed her.

As they pulled up to the gate of the walled-in mansion and acres of property in the historic district, Victoria pressed in the security code then steered her truck through. By the time they reached the end of the long driveway and parked behind a row of pack-owned SUVs, Drake’s internal radar was going off at the sight of Vega stalking toward them, tears tracking down her face.

He and Victoria jumped from the truck at the same time, Victoria falling in step with him as they hurried to meet Vega. When she spotted them, to his surprise and horror, she burst into tears and threw her arms around Victoria’s shoulders. The two females had the same build, skin tone and hair color even though they weren’t related. Victoria was a couple inches taller at five feet ten, and right now Vega seemed almost fragile as Victoria rubbed her back and made soothing sounds.

The sight of her crying enraged Drake. “Who the hell hurt you?” he shouted, fire tickling the back of his throat. He’d fucking kill that human. He’d burn him into a smoking crisp.

Finn Stavros, the pack Alpha wasn’t far behind Vega, his long legs eating up the distance to them.

“Do we need to kill the human?” Drake demanded, which made Vega cry even louder.

Finn rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at Vega and Victoria, then at Drake. “Nobody’s killing anyone,” he muttered. “She’s pissed at me.”

“You made your daughter cry?” Drake frowned. The Alpha had done nothing but dote on her for the last four months. He hadn’t known of her existence until then. Drake was still confused on some of the specifics, but the one thing he knew was that the Alpha wolf and Vega’s vampire mother Lyra would die before hurting their daughter. Since the sun hadn’t set yet he knew Lyra couldn’t come outside, even if she was awake. Otherwise she’d be out here comforting her daughter.

“I told her that she couldn’t go out with a human,” Finn muttered again, the frustrated tone of his voice unfamiliar.

Drake looked back at the females to find Victoria glaring at Finn.

“That’s why she’s crying?” Drake asked in confusion.

“You’re all assholes!” Vega shouted, stepping back from Victoria and refusing to look at her father. “I don’t know how you live like this,” she said, clearly to Victoria. “I’m going for a run unless you plan on locking me down.” She stomped away before anyone could respond.

“Is Lyra awake?” Victoria asked as soon as Vega had disappeared into a thick of trees on the property. The place was well-guarded so the shifters could run free in wolf form whenever they wanted.

Finn nodded. “Yes, but she doesn’t know about this whole date thing. She’s training one of the new warriors in the gym.”

“So what happened?”

“I might have suggested that it wouldn’t be wise to go on a date with a human.”

Victoria placed her hands on her hips. “Suggested?”

He winced. “I might have used the word forbid.”

To Drake’s surprise Victoria started laughing. “Seriously, Finn? You tell a teenage girl you forbid something, that’s just going to make her want to do it more. And you didn’t wait to talk to Lyra about this? Do you
want
to sleep alone tonight?”

Finn just let out a growl of frustration. He started to respond when Gabriel appeared out of the thicket of trees in human form wearing cargo pants and a long-sleeved black T-shirt. He shot Drake a wary look, nodded once at Victoria then focused on his Alpha. “Just heard on the radio about your little blowout. Lyra knows and she’s on her way up from the gym.”

Finn rubbed the back of his neck again. “She pissed?”

Gabriel grinned. “What do you think?”

Finn let out a savage curse and strode away from them, tension in every line of his body.

“Where’ve you two been?” Gabriel demanded, swiveling on Drake and Victoria.

Drake didn’t answer, which was his standard non-response to the Guardian. He didn’t answer to anyone. Except maybe Victoria.

“At the movies,” Victoria said, grabbing Drake’s arm and dragging him to the house.

Since there was nowhere else he wanted to be and no one else he wanted touching him, Drake shot Gabriel a smug look over his shoulder as he let Victoria take him wherever she wanted.

Chapter Two

“You don’t have to come with me,” Victoria murmured to Drake as he strode up the stairs of the pack’s mansion to Vega’s room. They’d grabbed a bite to eat and Victoria had heard through the pack grapevine that Vega was now back in her room. Sulking probably.

“I know. I want to.” He shot her an unreadable look with those beautiful gray eyes. Whenever he shifted into a dragon, they turned silver. They also turned silver when he became emotional, which wasn’t too often.

She was still trying to read his moods after four months of friendship. Of course she wanted more than friendship.

Way more.

Sometimes he gave off the vibe that he wanted more too. Like the way he always touched her hips, holding her as if he didn’t want to let go. Or the whole Valentine’s Day thing. But she was pretty certain he didn’t mean anything sexual by it. When he’d first defended her in New Orleans from vampires and demons who’d broken out of Hell she’d thought he was attracted to her. He’d been all growly to anyone who came too near. And he still did that now. But the more time they spent together the more she wondered if he just saw her as some sort of security blanket. Otherwise, he would have made a move by now. Right? He was pretty much the only known dragon in the world. There might be others but so far she hadn’t been able to locate any.

And she’d been trying. If he had a family he deserved to know where he came from. Since he didn’t know much about technology or know anyone, she’d taken over the task of searching.

So he was basically alone after being locked in Hell for fifteen hundred years. He was still trying to figure things out for himself and she was pretty sure he felt safe with her. Which was great because she loved helping him and spending time with him. Sometimes she felt bad for the sexual thoughts she had about him and for the most part she kept that side of herself locked down. Except when he decided to touch her in that deliciously possessive way. It must be a dragon thing though. Or just his way of touching. Gah, she didn’t know.

He was six feet six inches of confusing male. Lord, the man was huge, muscular and smelled heavenly. She just wanted to run her nose all over him, inhaling that spicy, earthy scent that made her inner wolf want to jump up and strut around for him. But what if… She didn’t even want to think it, but she wondered if he’d even been with a woman before. He’d been alone in Hell for so long and in some ways seemed so innocent despite his darker edge. Could he actually be a virgin?

“What’s wrong?” he asked quietly, his deep voice reverberating through her, striking all her nerve endings like a hammer hitting a gong.

She blinked and realized she’d slowed her pace as they reached the top of the stairs. She shook her head and smiled, drinking in every inch of his gorgeous face. He looked to be in his early thirties—even though he was way older—and was more striking than handsome. “Nothing. Just lost in my thoughts.”

He frowned as if he didn’t quite believe her, but didn’t respond. They quickly made their way through a couple hallways until they found Vega’s room.

Victoria knocked and was glad when the door opened a few seconds later. Vega opened it, looking more pissed than distraught at least. Her unique violet eyes that she’d gotten from her vampire mother, flashed with annoyance as they settled on Drake.

“Are you going to threaten to kill anyone?” Vega asked dryly.

“I won’t threaten anyone.” Which was the truth. If someone attempted to harm her, he would just kill, not bother with meaningless threats.

Sighing, Vega stepped back. “Sorry I freaked out earlier and blubbered all over you,” she muttered as they walked in to her room. Which was more like a small, luxurious apartment than just a room.

All the rooms in the mansion were like that. The place was insanely huge.

“You have no reason to be sorry. I know what it’s like to grow up with overprotective males.” Though Victoria didn’t hate it as much as she guessed Vega did. But Victoria had been abandoned as a cub and saved by Finn and his pack. She was grateful to have a family and didn’t mind Gabriel’s crazy overprotectiveness. Well, until recently. She wouldn’t mind having more alone time with Drake. Sometimes the pack treated her as if she didn’t know her own mind, but Drake never did that. He listened to her and actually asked her to help with things, like driving.

Vega snorted and flopped down on her king-sized bed. “It’s ridiculous. I can’t even go shopping without a freaking escort. I’m a vamp-shifter hybrid, more powerful than some of my packmates, but no one seems to care.”

Drake strode to one of the two huge bay windows overlooking the property and looked outside, as if keeping guard, so Victoria sat on the edge of the bed and absently traced her finger over the white floral pattern on the light purple comforter. “It’s not that they don’t care. They do. A lot. After what happened they just want to keep you safe. And you might be powerful but you’re young and you have two powerful parents, which automatically makes you a target.”

Vega took a deep breath and looked as if she was going to blast what Victoria had said, but just sighed. “I know. And I understand. I don’t want to get kidnapped or shot again, I just… I want the chance to be a little normal and I’ve never even been on a date. I thought my dad would be way more cool about it than my mom. It’s why I went to him first. He seriously freaked though. He’s never…” She swallowed hard and looked down at her hands. “He’s never even raised his voice at me until I mentioned a date. Then it was like I’d said I wanted to join a terrorist organization.” She looked back up at Victoria. “How did you manage to date with Gabriel breathing down your neck all the time?”

Victoria shot a glance at Drake but he didn’t seem to be paying attention. She cleared her throat. “Ah, it was not easy.” Or, even possible really. She looked at Drake again, not wanting to have this conversation in front of him.

He must have sensed that she was watching him because he looked over, his eyes having turned silver for a moment before returning to their muted gray. “Do you need privacy?” he asked.

She nodded and felt her face flush. She didn’t want him to leave, but she couldn’t tell Vega anything with him there. “I’ll be in my room later if you want to come by and watch a movie.”

He nodded, watching her so intently it was like he was trying to see through to her inner-most thoughts. She actually wished he could see them because then maybe he’d put her out of her misery and let her know if he even wanted her at all. “I’ll text you.”

Once he left, she turned back to Vega whose gaze had turned speculative. “Movie night? Is that code for something else?”

“Shut up,” Victoria muttered. At twenty-three she was more than old enough to date and do whatever she wanted, but she didn’t want to get into a discussion about Drake with Vega.

“Fine, but you’ll answer my questions later. Tell me how you managed to date with the scary Guardian around.”

Embarrassed, Victoria let out a breath. “I didn’t exactly. The one time I managed to sneak out with a human—sneak out at
nineteen
, I should add—it was awful. We’d been talking for months at school and having coffee dates on campus but nothing really intense. I went back to this guy’s place and we were uh, fooling around.” Oh, god, even thinking of that night made her face flame. It had been beyond embarrassing.

“Fooling around how?”

For a moment she thought about not telling Vega because she was seventeen, but the girl was more grown up than most people decades older. Today’s behavior notwithstanding. “He was, uh, going down on me, when Gabriel busted in. And I mean busted in like a complete maniac with blades drawn. I guess he’d followed me and had heard me from outside with that damn supernatural hearing and of course he assumed the worst.”