#3 Chosen by the Vampire Kings: BBW Romance (Part 3: Love & War) (7 page)

“You know that it isn’t.” He cupped her
face using both his hands. Her lashes glistened with tears and her lip quivered
as she spoke. It made him feel like he’d been stabbed in the heart with a
silver tipped arrow. “The reason I’m so possessive is because I’m developing
feelings for you. I want a relationship, a union. I want a family.”

“I want the same, but I don’t want to
choose. I don’t think I can. Stephany said that—”

“Stephany?” He really needed to have a word
with his trusted assistant.

“Don’t be mad at her, right now she is the
only friend I have. Please?”

Everything in him softened. How could he
refuse her anything? “I understand. In eight days’ time you will need to choose
though Tanya. Best you be prepared.”

She sat up fumbling with her dress, she was
trying to cover herself from him. The dress refused to cooperate so she finally
wrapped her arms around herself. “And what if I choose Zane, would you walk
away?”

“No,” Brant growled the word unable to
fully control his emotions. He banded his arms around her and pulled her to him
crushing her against his chest. “He won’t have you. I won’t let—”

Her little hands were splayed on his chest,
they pushed so he released her. “Exactly. If I choose you. Do you think that
Zane will let me go?”

Damn, he hated where this was going. He
could guess what she wanted to ask of him and hoped she wouldn’t do it. It was
the one thing he couldn’t give her.

“I don’t want to choose.”

Part of him wanted to leave it there but
that would be cowardly. “What are you saying?” He ran a hand through his hair
and felt his jaw lock.

“I could mate both of you.”

His blood turned to acid. His vision swam.
His fangs and claws erupted. Brant could feel that his eyes were glowing. He
leapt from the bed to the far side of the room and before he could stop himself,
had fisted large holes in the wall.

The door crashed open and Xavier entered.
Tanya yelped and grabbed for a sheet.

“Get the fuck out!”

“You are unstable my lord.” Xavier took
several slow steps towards him as he spoke.

“I am fine.”

His brother’s eyebrows arched as he glanced
at the holes in the wall and back. “I see that.”

“I won’t harm my female.”

Xavier looked down for a second or two
before lifting his eyes to meet Brant’s. “For the record brother, I think that
the human is on to something.”

Without thinking, he punched Xavier square
in the jaw, just managing to hold back at the last second so as not to inflict
too much damage. Tanya screamed. Stephany crouched next to his fallen brother,
her eyes blazed. He wasn’t sure when his assistant had arrived.

“Have you completely lost your mind Brant?”
she asked calmly.

“Is that how you would speak to your king?”
He realized he was being a dick but couldn’t stop himself. The thought of this
arrangement continuing beyond the new moon was unacceptable. Brant turned his
gaze on Tanya who sat in the center of his bed wide eyed, sheet clutched to
her. Just by looking her way, he felt his demeanor soften. Felt everything in
him soften. “I hope that you will choose me,” he paused. “But know that if you
do not, I will kill Zane to have you.”

Silent tears tracked down her cheeks as he
spoke and he longed to go to her to give her some measure of comfort, instead
he picked up his pants and strode from the room.

Chapter 17

Tanya clutched the sheet tighter around
herself. She sobbed openly, not able to stop the tears that kept rolling down
her cheeks. She had tried and she had seriously failed. It couldn’t have gone
any worse.

“Will you deal with this?” Xavier directed
the question at Stephany.

“Leave it with me,” Stephany answered.

 “I’ll be outside the door.”

The bed dipped as the female vamp sat
beside her. She placed a cool hand on Tanya’s shoulder. “He’s only acting like
this because he cares. That big idiot actually has feelings for you. They both
do.”

Tanya shook her head, only wanting to cry
harder at Stephany’s words.

“It would be easier if they didn’t. It
would put them in a better position to think about this objectively.” The other
woman sighed.

“This is supposed to help me how?” She
hated how whiney her voice sounded.

“Oh, Tanya.” The vampire rubbed her back in
firm circles. It was oddly comforting. “It’s not over yet. You need to be
strong. The good news is that you have eight days to convince them that this is
the best option. You heard Xavier, even he agrees.”

“How am I supposed to convince birth
enemies to share a mate? Might as well invite the wolf alpha to join us.”

Stephany laughed and Tanya did as well,
only the tears kept coming so it sounded a little on the hysterical side.

“You are a resourceful female. I know you
can do it. Keep in mind that you are in the driver’s seat. Don’t let them try
and convince you otherwise.”

Tanya managed to get herself mostly under
control, she used the sheet to blot her eyes and nose. “I don’t think so.” She
shook her head and sniffed. “They are damned head strong. I had thought that
Brant would be the more reasonable of the two but he’s proving me wrong. He can
be so gentle, so loving, yet he has this side to him.”

“Brant has always dreamt of having his
queen, of his family, the white picket fence and all that. He’s clinging onto a
dream and needs to face reality. Zane hasn’t had an easy life. I don’t think he
expected much from the mating and therefore won’t be as disappointed. Like I
said earlier, he will be the more agreeable of the two.” Stephany removed her
hand. “Let’s get you in the bath.”

“It’s the middle of the night.” She glanced
at the clock. “Make that early hours of the morning.” It was just after half
past four.

“Nothing like a calming bath and then it’s
back to bed. Brant will want to see you before Zane comes to collect you in a
few hours, and I’m sure Zane has missed you.”

Tanya noticed how a naughty smile graced
the vampire’s lips. She groaned just thinking about the whole mess. Hopefully
her vampire kings would be able to keep their fists off each other. How the
hell was she supposed to convince them that this threesome should continue? And
even if by some miracle they agreed, how would she cope long-term being shuffled
from one king to the other? Her head hurt thinking about it.

Stephany made for the rest room. Tanya
heard the sound of rushing water. Sheet still firmly around her, she followed
the vampire. She was pouring something that smelled nice into the swirling
water. “Get in.” Her friend gestured to the soapy water.

Tanya let the towel drop and removed the
dress.

“How strange.” Stephany’s eyes were fixed
on the juncture of her thighs.

What the hell! Instead of responding or
covering up like she felt like doing, she climbed into the tub letting the
water do it for her.

Stephany realized that she’d been staring
and her cheeks turned red. “Um, sorry about that. I’ve never seen a human fully
naked. Vampires don’t have any hair down there.” Her eyes widened. “Don’t get
me wrong, you have very little, just a tiny strip but it is strange to me.”

“Actually, if I didn’t see a beautician
regularly I’d have a lot more than a tiny strip. Damn, do you think Brant and
Zane would prefer me to wax it all off.”

Stephany’s brow creased. “You could take it
all off.”

“Yeah. No problem.”

She shook her head. “I think they might
like it. It makes you human. They seem to be attracted to that fact.”

“Okay, so the landing strip stays.”

Her crease deepened. “Landing strip?”

“It’s what it’s called. If I were to take
it all off it would be called a Brazilian.” Tanya felt her lips pull into a
smile.

“I’m just glad I don’t have to wax. Does it
hurt?”

“It gets better once you get used to it. I
almost died the first time, but it’s worth it.”

Stephany’s head whipped up about three
seconds before Xavier marched into the room. Tanya shrieked pulling her knees
up to cover her chest.

Xavier’s eyes stayed on Stephany the whole
time. “Our perimeter has been breached.” His jaw worked. “A horde of elves and
three or four wolves are on their way to the manor house as we speak. Brant is
missing. You need to come with me now.” For the first time, he turned dark eyes
on her.

“I need to get dressed.” Her heart raced.
If anything happened to Brant she would never forgive herself.

“No time,” he growled.

Stephany grabbed a little silk robe. She
must’ve caught the look on Tanya’s face because she added. “What? I wanted you
ready for Brant’s apology.”

Xavier turned away from the tub. “Hurry. We
don’t have much time.”

Tanya had barely rubbed the water from her
arms when Xavier growled low and deep. “You really need to move or I will be
forced to put you over my shoulder just like that.”

She shoved her wet body into the silk robe,
which clung to her like a second skin. It barely covered her naked ass. She had
only just tied the cord when Xavier grabbed her and pulled her through the
bathroom.

“What about you?” she shouted in Stephany’s
direction.

“I’m a big girl. I can take care of
myself.”

There wasn’t any time to argue, so she
allowed herself to be dragged into the suite. Asking to stop to put panties on
didn’t seem likely to go over well so she bit her tongue instead. Her dagger
was on the side table next to the bed. Tanya only just managed to snag it as
they walked past. She put the sheathed blade into the side pocket of her robe.

Without missing a stride, Xavier reached
into his vibrating pocket and pulled out a phone. “Yeah.”  A pause. They kept
on walking. “I have her. I’m on my way as we speak.” Another pause. “Of course,
my lord.”

“Let me speak…” She let the sentence die as
she watched Xavier shove the phone back in his pocket.

“Brant is safe. He will meet us at the cellar
entrance. You are to go underground until we have the situation under control.
Chances are good that they are here for you.”

Her heart was already racing from the
exertion of keeping up with him, but somehow it managed to kick up another
gear. Zane’s words came back to haunt her. Tanya would rather die than end up
mated to the alpha. With one hand firmly on her robe in an attempt to seal it
shut and the other clasped with Xavier’s arm, she worked harder at keeping her
legs moving one foot in front of the other.

Shouts from outside. A bloody scream.

She gasped.

“They are here,” Xavier stated
unnecessarily as he picked up the pace. Okay, forget the panties, a sports bra
would have been awesome. They rounded the corner and nearly collided with two
elves.

“Fuck,” Xavier snarled. He head butted the
closest male who crumpled on impact. The second elf had time to prepare. He was
a big son of a bitch with golden hair down his back. The elf pulled a long,
thin blade.

Silver.

A shiver raced up Tanya’s spine as the elf
lunged for Xavier, who side stepped the deadly arch easily. “To the study. I’m
right behind you!” Xavier shouted as he punched the elf. Xavier yelped as the
blade sliced his forearm. “Now!” He shouted punching the elf a second time.

At first she was frozen to the spot, too
afraid to move so much as a muscle, but hearing Xavier shout snapped her out of
it. Her choices were stick around and become the next Mrs Wolf or run and save
her naked ass. She ran for the study. It was funny how big the manor seemed all
of a sudden.

The robe be damned, she pulled the knife
from her pocket and removed it from the sheath, shoving the sheath back into
her pocket. Both her fisted hands pumped as she pushed herself to run faster.
She reached the head of the stairs just as a lone elf stepped up. “Well, well,
what have we here? If it isn’t the human.” His crystalline eyes dropped to her
chest.

Oh shit.

She flashed a look down. Her robe gaped,
the silk edges barely covered her nipples which protruded through the thin
fabric anyway so not much use.

The elf whistled. “Not really the alpha’s
cup of nectar. He likes um tall and lean.” He flashed a glance at her face
before dropping his gaze back down. “I’m sure he’ll gobble you up anyway. I on
the other hand think you’re quite lovely.” He took two more steps towards her,
still focused on her chest.

She did something really slutty, but in
this instance necessary since her life was at stake, and pulled her shoulders
back as far as they would go. Her right breast sprang free. The elf’s jaw
dropped as she took the last small step to get close enough to stab him. She
couldn’t remember anything Brant had told her about where to aim. She almost expected
to be stopped and didn’t think her ploy would work, but the knife sank home
somewhere just below his collarbone. The elf screamed and tried to grab her.
She knocked his hand away and kicked his shin, which sent him flying down the
stairs. They were long and steep and by the time he landed at the bottom he
wasn’t moving. At this stage Tanya was half way down, she didn’t stop to check
if he was dead when she reached the bottom. Instead she jumped over him. Trying
to fix her robe while she ran.  

“Tanya!” Brant roared.

Thank God
. She could breathe a little easier. He wore a pair of
leather pants, his chest was bare and covered in blood. There was no time for
any type of greeting. He clasped her hand a little too tightly and they made
for his study. They ran into elves twice more, the silk clad males had made it
through the outside security. The first time there was just one and Brant
dispatched him easily. The second time there were three. All with those same,
thin deadly looking knives. Brant took a slash across the chest getting in
close enough to give the first of the group an uppercut to the nose. With a
sickening crunch, the elf collapsed falling to his knees. Brant had to put the
elf to his back in order to take on the remaining two.  Blood gushed from the
fallen male’s nose, he swayed threatening to topple over. It didn’t stop him
from reaching for his knife though. The elf went on all fours and shuffled in
the blade’s direction.

She glanced at Brant who was working hard
to avoid the silver while trying to down his opponents without the help of any
weapon of his own. Although he was holding up fine, the fallen elf was in a
perfect position to take him down if he managed to reach his knife, which was
inches away from his fingertips. She looked down at the bloody knife white
fisted in her hand. She had to protect Brant just as he was protecting her.
Tanya planted the knife into the side of the elf’s neck. The one thing she
clearly remembered was Brant telling her to pull the blade clear after a stab.
She gave the hilt a jerk towards her and the blade slid clear. Blood sprayed
from the small wound. Tanya shrieked as nausea clutched her stomach, causing
her to gag. When she turned back, the elf lay face down in a growing pool of
blood. The elf was dead. It had to be. She sobbed clasping her hand over her
mouth to keep from screaming.

Xavier stepped in next to Brant, using what
looked like a samurai sword. He made quick work of the last elf. Brant
staggered. There was a puncture wound to his left bicep and a second slice
across his chest. Tanya couldn’t help but to make another sobbing noise as she
rushed to his side. Brant leaned on her for the first few strides before rising
up to his full height. Xavier led the way. Brant pushed her in front of him, his
hand staying on her waist as they ran. The front lobby was teaming with vampires
in full combat. The elves surged as they caught sight of her. A large menacing
wolf growled, it’s back a mass of wounds. It took a vampire’s arm into its
massive jaws. The vampire screamed as the jaws closed in a loud snap. The male
vamp pierced the wolf with his sword and the beast collapsed.

“This way,” Brant urged her through the
study door. He closed and locked it behind them. Xavier used a key to open one
of the drawers in Brant’s large mahogany desk.
What was so important?
There
was a crash at the door.

“Hurry,” Brant growled unnecessarily.

Once the drawer was open, Xavier fiddled
inside for a second or two. There was a creaking noise and the desk slid to the
side revealing a gaping hole. She could just make out several steps leading
down and then the dark swallowed anything more. Using his good arm, Brant
pulled her against him so that only her tippy toes still touched the ground.
She had to pull on the robe to keep her ass covered. By now Xavier had pretty
much seen her naked, but she’d be damned if she’d allow him more of an eyeful
than he’d already had.