Heart of the Warrior (13 page)

Sev chuckled then kissed him. "Look at you. All full of
man-love. It sure took us long enough to get our heads out of our asses, didn't
it?"

"You mean all that stupidity after what happened last
month?"

Sev nodded and their lips met briefly. "Yeah. I thought
you regretted it."

Ari kissed him again. "No, I just didn't know what to
think about what happened. I didn't know what to say or do. And I thought you
were having second thoughts since you didn't mention it."

Sev's hand ran over the cheek of Ari's ass before gripping
the back of his thigh and pulling him on top of him as he rolled to his back.
"No. I wanted you. The only second thoughts I had were whether you had
really wanted me." Strong arms encircled Ari and held him close.

"I wanted you. I still want you. So help me, but it
feels like I'll never stop wanting you." He pushed his arms under Sev and
held him close as he pressed his face into the nape of his neck and breathed
more easily than he could remember. He felt good here against Sev, as if he
belonged and the curves of his own body were made exactly to fit against those
of Sev’s. Now he knew what people meant when they referred to someone as the
puzzle piece that was missing from their life. Because that’s how he felt about
Sev. Perfect puzzle pieces finally locked into place against one another.

Now if he could only figure out how to mesh this new, real
life with the fake one he had lived since birth. Because even though he had
finally found his other half, it was critical their relationship remain a
secret. No one could know the truth about who he was. No one but Sev.

"Multiple enforcers down!" Gina's heart skipped
a beat as the call came through on her radio, and even before the report
confirmed that it was the raid Gabe was involved in, Gina knew.

She slammed on the brakes of her SUV and turned around
and high-tailed it to the factory. Ten minutes later, she rushed into the
stench of death and found Gabe bleeding out. He had been shot several times
with artillery powerful enough to pierce his vest. That was some fancy-assed
ammo in those drecks' arsenal.

"Gabe, oh God. Stay with me, Gabe!" She ripped
off his shirt and vest and tried to stop the bleeding by releasing her venom
into the wounds, but there was too much damage.

"Sev was with them. I can't believe it. Sev."
Gabe's voice was weak, but he kept repeating the words over and over.

"What? Sshh, Gabe, don't talk. The medics will be
here soon. They're on the way."

"No, Sev's one of them. I can't believe it. He has
iron skin. He's half dreck. Gigi, he's half dreck."

Sev? Gabe's boyfriend? What did he mean, Sev was half
dreck and that he was with them? Gina knew she didn't have much time with Gabe.
He was dying in her arms. Whoever had done this would pay. She dove into his
mind to capture what she could of the incident and to figure out what he meant
about Sev, who she'd only met once.

Quickly, she pulled Gabe's memories from him, marking
each face and identifying the scents in the room that went with each one, and
then she saw what Gabe meant. Severin was there. Dressed in the same uniform as
the drecks. He certainly looked like he was with the drecks. Maybe he was an
agent? She considered the possibility then remembered that VDA reported that no
agents would be there tonight. And there were no other agencies besides Atlanta
AKM assigned to the operation, which meant Sev was a traitor of the vampire
race. He had betrayed Gabe.

Anger boiled in her veins as she felt the shots hit Gabe
through his mind, and then Sev was running toward him, knocking him to the
ground. It felt like the memories were flowing in slow-motion even though she
was flying through them. Why had Sev knocked Gabe down? He had already been
hit.

Shots rang out from somewhere and hit Sev as he stood
over Gabe. Sev winced and jerked from the impact, but – holy shit! The bullets
bounced off his body. Suddenly, Gina understood. Gabe had told her Sev was a
day walker, which meant he was a mixed-blood. She had just assumed his mix was
human, but his mix was dreck, wasn't it? He had inherited dreck iron skin,
hadn't he?

How did you kill someone who boasted iron skin? She had
to find a way, because she wouldn't let Severin get away with this. She would
make him pay for his duplicity.

"Does he always have iron skin, Gabe? Gabe?"

He was unconscious. She was losing him. Racing through
his memories, she tried to find an opening. Any way she could kill Sev. The
rest would be easy enough to assassinate, but Sev with that iron skin of his
would be tricky. But he would pay for what he had done to Gabe and the others.
Everyone possessed a weakness, and despite Sev's iron skin, she would find his.

She saw Gabe's memories with Sev: Kissing, holding,
making love, Sev asking Gabe just a few days ago to move in with him, but
nothing – no, wait! There it was. Sev had cut himself with a knife while
preparing dinner with Gabe. And she suddenly realized that Gabe would have
noticed if Sev wore iron skin all the time. As much as he touched him, he would
have noticed something as obvious as that, which meant Sev seemed to be able to
control his natural force field.

Abruptly, the memories ceased and Gina gasped as her mind
was thrown out of Gabe's.

"Gabe? Gabe?" She shook him, but he didn't
answer. "GABE!" She felt for his pulse, but found none. He wasn't
breathing. Oh God, he was dead. He had died in her arms.

"Is he dead?"

Gina spun around to see Severin climbing through a
window. "Traitor!" She stood up and pulled her gun.

"No, wait! I'm an agent." Sev froze.

"Liar. There weren't supposed to be any agents here
tonight." She fired her gun, hitting him, but the bullet bounced off.

Sev's eyes shot wide with shock, but he froze as if he
knew not to push his luck. "I'm an agent. Call it in. Why would I
lie?"

She didn't trust him for a second. "You're not going
to sucker me in like you did my brother, Severin."

"Just call it in!" His gaze dropped to Gabe.

Checking to make sure he was dead, no doubt.

Sev remained poised half inside the window and half out
while she radioed her boss, who got on the horn with the VDA commander.

A minute later, her radio crackled to life. "That's
a negative, Gina. VDA command has no knowledge of an agent named Severin
Bannon."

"No!" Sev held up his hands as Gina unloaded
her clip on him.

By the time she clicked her trigger to empty air, Sev was
gone. Mother fucker, she would get him. She would find a way.

Gina wiped away a tear at the memory. She had been
monitoring the AKM building for four useless hours. Sev had never shown up,
and, in her boredom, she had found herself recalling yet again the night Gabe
died like she had so many times before. Her memories served as a reminder as to
why she needed to kill Sev. She had killed the others, and now it was Sev's
turn.

She sat back and looked up at the stars. Where was Gabe now?
Was he in Heaven? Was there a place in Heaven for vampires, or did they go
someplace else when they died? She liked to think that Gabe was in a better
place and that he could hear her when she spoke to him, as she often did.

"I miss you, Gabe. Every day, I miss you." Another
tear trailed down her cheek. She had been close to her brother. "But I
promise you, I will avenge you. I won't let them get away with this. I'll make
Sev pay for what he did to you."

Sev's behavior still baffled her. How could Sev have asked
Gabe to move in with him when he was betraying him all along? Well, she
supposed that if they lived together, it would have been easier for Sev to fuck
him over. But damn, that would have also made it harder for Sev to keep his own
truth a secret.

Whatever. She didn't know how Sev's demented mind worked or what
his motives were. What she did know was that he had lied and had been involved
in Gabe's death. That was all she needed to know. Oh, and that he was half
dreck, which made the connection clear as to why he was working with them.

Gina wondered how the other enforcers in Chicago would react
if they learned Severin was a half-dreck. Hmm, maybe she could use that to her
advantage if an opportunity presented itself. One way or another, she was
taking Sev down.

Severin walked out of the bathroom and smiled. Ari was
sprawled on his stomach where Sev had left him, one arm hanging over the side
of the bed. The guy was spent and passed out.

For the past two-and-a-half hours, they had done nothing but
explore each other, make love, rest, and start over again. Ari had finally been
able to reach fifteen minutes before shooting his juice, but from the looks of
it, that had only been because Sev had worn the poor guy out.

With a chuckle, he slid back onto the bed and propped
himself up on one elbow so he could watch Ari sleep. The male was unbelievably
responsive, and he had been eager to try anything Sev suggested. Like the owner
of a new Camaro on the open road, Ari had taken his newfound sexuality out for
one hell of a test drive.

Ari’s eyes blinked open and Sev grinned at him as he brushed
back a tuft of his thick, dark brown hair. "Hey."

"Hey," Ari said sleepily, turning into Sev's touch
as he shifted and pulled himself into Sev’s body.

"You're a sexy mess." Sev combed his fingers
through Ari's short, tousled hair, trying to smooth it out. "You hungry,
sleepyhead?"

"Mmm, yeah actually, I am. What time is it?"

"Going on two in the morning."

Ari slowly sat up. "That’s all? It’s still so early. I
can’t believe I dozed off."

"Well, I tired you out." Sev sat up next to him.
"Sex can be very tiring."

"Mmm, it can, huh?" Ari's bedroom eyes did an
enticing unspeakable to Sev's cock.

"Yeah, especially when you do it right." He
grinned and took Ari’s hand, outlining each finger with the tips of his.

"Oh? I see. I’ve just been doing it wrong all these
years." Ari chuckled softly, the air blowing out his nose in sharp,
just-awakened bursts.

"Yes, you have, because you’ve been doing it with women
when all along you were supposed to be doing it with me."

Sev already knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life
with Ari. He could already feel his body’s vampire biomechanics latching on to
him as his mate, completing the bond that had started to form over a month ago.
He had a feeling the same was happening to Ari, and that what they'd just spent
two-and-a-half hours doing was the start of their
calling
phase with
each other.

What a surprise this evening was turning into. Ari was his
mate. He wanted to ask Ari if he could feel it, too, but was too afraid it
would scare him, so he bit his tongue. That conversation would happen soon
enough. If Ari’s biology had chosen him as his mate, too, there wasn’t much he
would be able to do to sever the link between them, anyway.

Fuck that. There was nothing he could do. Once a male's soul
chose a mate, that was it. End of story.

Ari’s face turned toward his and he kissed him tenderly.
"Well, I’m glad we remedied that, then," Ari said. "I would have
hated spending the rest of my life fucking when I could have been making love
to you."

"Such a romantic." Sev pecked him on the lips
again.

"It’s your fault."

"Guilty, as charged."

Ari laughed at him. "Come on. I need a shower and then
we can go up and eat."

"I just took one. I hope you don’t mind."

"No, that’s cool." Ari stood and stretched.
"God, my body feels…I can’t describe it."

Sev stood up next to him. "Sore? Well-used?
Tight?"

Ari smiled then laid his forehead on Sev's shoulder as his
hands skimmed up his sides and around his back. Then Ari looked up and met his
gaze. "That wasn’t exactly what I was thinking, but yeah, okay. I’m all
those things, but in a good way. You know what I mean?"

"Yes, I do. I feel the same way." They gazed into
each other's eyes for a moment. "Damn, Ari, but for a guy who’s never been
with another guy, you sure know what you’re doing." Ari had manhandled him
like a rodeo cowboy roping a calf. The sex had been hard, rough, active, and
fast. And fucking hot as hell. Sev couldn’t remember the last time he had been
with someone who pleasured him so thoroughly.

"I think it’s my partner, not me. And just because I’ve
never been with a man doesn’t mean I haven’t had sex or that I haven’t
fantasized about what it would be like with a guy. Shit, Sev, but that’s the
only way I’ve been able to have sex all these years, by fantasizing I had a man
under me. It's kind of nice bringing the fantasy to life, actually."

"I like your fantasies, then," Sev said.
"Especially the ones where you pull my hair." He leaned in and
nuzzled Ari’s throat, purring against him.

"You like that?" Ari tipped his head back and
purred in reply.

Sev growled against his throat. "I fucking love
it."

Ari’s stomach rumbled and they both froze then laughed at
the rude intrusion to their play.

"Maybe I had better…." Ari pulled away and pointed
toward the bathroom.

"Get going. Point me toward clean sheets and I’ll
re-make your bed while you take a shower." He looked down at the bed.
"These sheets are done." Done wasn’t the word for the state of Ari’s
well-soiled sheets.

Ari gestured toward a closet. "In there. But you don’t
have to make my bed, Sev."

"I want to. Now go."

Ari held up his hands in submission and chuckled.
"Fine, I'm going."

The bathroom door closed and Sev shut his eyes and took a
deep breath.
Thank you, God. Thank you, thank you.
His heart skipped in
his chest. He had a mate. He had never taken a mate before, but all the early
signs were there that he and Ari were mating.