Monstrous Intent, page 19
I nod, hoping he’s right as I hear the train moving toward us. The chimeras use the noise of the train to mask their movements. I can’t seem to place them, but Lake stills and glances around himself as the noise and the wind created by the train passing make it hard to hear.
And that’s the moment both chimeras leap onto the roof of the train. They’re planning on boxing us in, pushing us into the path of the subway train moving past.
I shoot one as Lake slides out of their path, drawing into me.
“I hate fighting like this. I feel like I’m all useless limbs,” he growls. “Try to keep one alive.”
“Got it,” I say as one—I believe Samuel, but it’s hard to tell in this dim light—lunges at me. Sliding to the side, I see the other pounce toward me, but Lake is fast and manages to strike her twice, pulling her attention off me and back onto him.
I aim my gun and shoot the female, making her scream out in anger as she twists her body in a way that slams into Lake. Lake’s foot slips and he starts to fall toward the moving train as I snatch his wrist and draw him back in, but that mere moment of my attention off Samuel is all he needs to slam into us.
Suddenly I’m falling and my weight does nothing to help an already off-balance Lake as I realize that I’ve barely missed slamming into the moving train. I twist and try to grab onto the side of the car to keep from hitting the tracks and breaking my ankle, which would leave me to become an easy snack.
The noise surrounding us fades as the second train moves off into the distance and we’re finally free to drop to the ground.
Lake pulls away from me, dropping down with ease as Samuel lunges straight at him. I drop down and throw my knife with enough precision that it hits the beast right in the side of the head just as Lake stabs him with the other knife. As Samuel falls to the ground at his feet, Lake catches my eyes and I see some odd type of hunger in them. My body reminds me that he’s a predator—that I should be afraid of this man—but how can I be? It’s Lake. The very same Lake who forced us to go back for fucking Fish Stick.
The female moves into me, and I twist my body, shooting her in the abdomen as Lake grabs her and throws her onto her side. I shoot her again as she backs away, realizing that she isn’t going to win this fight alone. Lake corners her in an alcove where she’s contemplating how to escape this.
“Shift back,” Lake demands, and the aura he exudes makes her still and dodge his eyes. All the training I’ve gone through up until now, everything I know about my hunter’s instincts, tells me this man standing before me is an enemy. This is a predator. This is something to fight and kill and yet, I can’t stop watching him. I can’t stop reveling in that power.
The woman shifts as Lake leans into her. “Hello, Zoe, I haven’t seen you in a while.”
The naked woman stares at Lake before flicking her eyes over to me. “You’ve joined a hunter? You’ve honestly picked a hunter over your own people?”
“No, I haven’t joined the hunters, Zoe. This is my own path. I’ve decided on a side in the middle where I do whatever the hell I want without being constantly controlled. The issue with that is my family isn’t happy to let me do what I want, so I’m going to destroy them all until there’s nothing left, and you’re going to help me. Now tell me, who of our kind has infiltrated the Hillsdale DRD?”
She spits at him and he grabs her by the throat, squeezing it tightly as he leans in and whispers something I can’t hear. Whatever it is, it’s enough that she draws very, very still.
“Two others. We’re here to protect Indigo,” she says, giving the information up easier than I thought she would.
Lake looks shocked by this. “They got Indigo to comply?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
She stares at Lake.
“I said how? Indigo doesn’t comply easily.”
“They gave him no choice, just like you have no choice.”
“Hmm… interesting. But you’re wrong. I have a choice.”
She smiles. “You and your little hunter might be able to take on lowers like us, but I’ve heard you can’t shift, Lake. There’s nothing you can do when you are forced to fight the others. You’re going to get to sit there and watch them tear your little hunter apart. I can smell him on you. The way you risked your life for him. Are you prepared to watch him die?” she asks as she lunges forward but before I can shove her down, Lake takes the gun from my hand and shoots her in the head.
The noise of the shot echoes around us as we’re left standing there, my eyes transfixed by this enigma before me. They’re afraid of him. They’re apparently afraid of his power. And why does that make me feel like this? Why does that…
“That YouTube video really does help! You should have seen me try to shoot Basil! I couldn’t even find the safety!” he says, disrupting all thoughts I have about the man.
“I see…” And then he says something ridiculous that allows me to push all those thoughts away. “Come on, let’s get moving before someone stumbles on us. I take it you got enough information that you’re satisfied for now?”
“Very much so,” he says as he reaches over and plucks some fringe. “You’re sexy when you fight, you know that?”
I just grunt at him. Why the hell do I feel the same way about him?
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
LAKE
“I guess let’s get out of here before a hunter team comes and pays us a visit or something, yeah?” I ask.
Declan nods, but he’s got a strange look on his face. Did I upset him? Maybe he doesn’t like it when I show my chimera side. I guess I can’t blame him; he is a hunter, after all. Raised to slaughter my kind without remorse… or is it something else?
He looks each way before I point. “I think this way will be closer,” I say.
“That’s also the way the emergency team will probably come from, then. Let’s go the other way.”
“God, you’re so smart and handsome,” I whisper.
He grunts as he starts walking and I follow him. I can sense some curious chimeras in the tunnel; low-level ones like the one out on the street who are forced to live in the dark for fear of being killed out in the daylight.
“That wasn’t… exactly how that was supposed to go,” Declan says.
I shrug. “Life can be unpredictable, but that’s what makes it fun.”
He glances over at me, and I realize that maybe I was wrong about that look. Maybe it wasn’t anxiety or trepidation. No, I realize Declan is watching me with something else. Something that makes the hunger in my body spread.
“Watching you fight is unbelievably sexy,” I say.
He watches me for a moment too long before tearing his eyes away. “That’s because you’re strange.”
We’re around a bend from the train and can’t see it anymore. The lighting is so dim that it’s probably not horribly easy for a human like him to see, but I can see just fine and even notice a small chimera the size of a rat watching us. I grab Declan’s wrist and yank his arm forward, forcing him to face me.
“Am I strange?” I ask as I shove him back. We’re on the same side as the stopped train so I have no fear about oncoming trains—it’s not like I wouldn’t hear it if there was one.
“Yes. Let’s go,” he says as he tries to turn away from me, but I refuse. I pin him against the side of the tunnel and shove my leg between his, pushing them apart as my hand wraps around his throat. I wonder what it feels like as a hunter to know that a monster has control over whether you live or die? That I could crush his throat faster than he could react. He has to know by now that I’m that strong.
I press into him until my lips are inches from his. “You’re turned on by me, aren’t you? You think my power and control are sexy, don’t you?”
“Fuck you,” he says.
“I’d love for you to fuck me,” I say as I turn my head and nip his throat that I’m still holding on to. “I’d love for you to fuck me up against this wall.”
“I don’t fuck monsters.”
“So I’ve heard,” I say as I crouch down, letting my hand release from his throat as it trails down his torso to his pants. As I slide the button free, I look up at him and see his eyes transfixed by mine. He has all the opportunity to pull away and keep walking, and I’ll let him go no matter how much I’d love to have him stay.
Once on my knees, I reach into his underwear and realize that even though his words tell me how much he wants to turn away from me, his cock can’t. He’s already getting hard and the desire in his eyes confirms it just as much. There seems to be a war going on in his expression as I slide my hand around his cock and part my lips. There’s that look, that hunger that I’m wanting. And then the hunger turns to pure lust as I swirl my tongue around the tip before taking him in my mouth.
Declan sinks his fingers into my hair, roughly grabbing my silky waves before pulling my head back.
“Did you not listen?” he asks. “I don’t fuck monsters.”
I run my hand down his hard cock, my own begging for attention. “Are you sure?” I ask as I brush my thumb over the tip. “Because it sure seems like you want me.”
“I don’t want you.”
I grin at him as I reach out and grab his thigh, jerking him in closer to me. “If that were true, you’d turn away.” I open my mouth and he thrusts into me, hand still tight in my hair as I take his length deep into my mouth. He’s watching me closely, and I don’t know why it’s turning me on even more. I take him in deeper, my free hand roaming across the base of his shaft down to his balls as he pulls my head to him. It’s like he’s fighting with himself about wanting me to take all of him and wanting to stand by his stupid rules and running off with a hard dick.
Since he doesn’t seem likely to run, I release my grip on him and slide my hand down into my own pants, pulling my cock out and rubbing myself as I move my mouth over him. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt this hard in my life—this much desire to consume a man and make him mine. To claim him so no one else can ever have him, so any chimera who even nears him knows he’s mine. I have marked him as mine and I refuse to let anyone touch him.
I moan at the thought, at the pleasure, at his touch, and the vibrations make him cave even more. Does he feel the pleasure the way I do and know how much I want him? Do his balls ache for release? Does the heat seem overwhelming?
I’m not sure how much more I’ll be able to take of it. It feels like a rush of passion because I finally have what I want. I didn’t even realize how much I desired this.
Declan shifts into me, his hand in my hair tangling and tightening as I cup his balls, knowing he’s close.
Instead of pulling away, I take him in as deep as I can while he orgasms, pleased to know I’ve made him feel like this and that those moans were caused by me. I’d love to feel his touch on my cock but just getting to touch him is enough for me to come.
I pull off him and look up, very pleased with myself. He releases his grip on my hair as he stares at me. It’s apparent that he’s going to have a rage party, but I don’t even care.
Huh… oddly enough, he says nothing as he tucks himself away and zips up his pants.
“Stop fucking grinning,” he growls.
There it is. Goddammit, it just makes me grin harder. “You’re all mine.”
“I’m not yours. This was nothing, got it?” And then he storms off.
I zip up my pants and jog after him. “You’re so feisty and I love it,” I say.
“I wish you didn’t,” he growls.
“You liked it, you can’t deny that.”
“Just because I enjoyed a blow job doesn’t mean I’m yours.”
“You’re coated in my scent.”
“Why do you say such weird shit?”
“All mine.”
“Why are you so stupidly possessive? Is this a chimera thing? I usually don’t get involved enough in their love lives to find out.”
“You can fuck me into the wall later or I can fuck you into a wall. Your choice,” I say, which shuts him up a little bit. Obviously, a part of him thinks it’s a brilliant idea.
“You’re like a child who finally got his way,” he grumbles.
“I always knew I would,” I say, extremely pleased with myself as we walk.
“This changes nothing,” he reminds me.
“I heard ya. Don’t know if I believe you, but I heard.” How has my life turned so delightful? Who ever knew pestering a hunter would change my life like this? Who knew how fun it would be?
He walks right into the subway station where people are lingering around, looking confused about the delay and now the two men down on the track. Without missing a beat, he hops out as I hurry after him. Some people try to ask him what’s going on but a single look at his face makes them back off.
“We make a fringetastic team, you know that?” I ask as I flick his fringe again.
“No.”
“We do, just admit it.”
He shifts his glary eyes onto me. “No.”
“I love it when you play hard to get.”
“No.”
“Issue is… I just got you good,” I say.
“No.”
“Stop saying no!”
“No.”
I sigh, refusing to let the grump rain on my parade. I almost feel—
Declan’s body slams into me so hard I feel like I have whiplash as I’m driven back forcefully into a different open door.
“What?” I ask.
“While you’re over there on cloud nine, we nearly ran into some hunters.”
“Whoopsies.”
He sighs but pulls me along and I’m just still floating over here on cloud nine as he drags me with a hand on my wrist. It feels so delightfully intimate.
Declan switches to sneak mode as he drags me into a group of people, tourists by the looks of it, and lets them hide us on our way out of the station. Once out onto the street, he flags down a cab to drive us back to our car.
The drive is uneventful, but when we make it to the car, I feel like something smells a little off outside it.
“What?” he asks, noticing my hesitation.
“Nothing, I just wonder if someone was snooping around our car. We might need to ditch it for right now just in case,” I say.
“Shit. Okay,” he says as he grabs his stuff. I get the hotel room key and help him with his weapons before hurrying after him down the alley. We walk a bit before grabbing a bus and riding it closer to the hotel. Once we’re two stops away from the hotel, he gets up and I follow him off, realizing he plans to walk the rest of the way.
“I had a good date,” I tell him.
Declan quickly looks over at me, like he could possibly be surprised. “This wasn’t a date.”
“Oh… that’s disappointing. I wonder why I thought it was…”
He shakes his head at me. “This was the furthest thing from a date.”
“You had fun fighting chimeras.”
He grunts which is practically a yes in my book.
“We had a bit of foreplay on the train.”
Declan sighs which is just another hell yes.
“And I blew you.”
“Stay focused, please,” he grumbles, which… I mean, how much more of a yes could that be?
“Fine,” I say as we near the hotel. At least I feel at ease after expending so much energy. Absentmindedly, I pick at the band around my wrist. “Thankfully, they haven’t been able to track us with this yet.”
“That’s true. They must need it physically there to get the GPS feature up and running, unless there’s a reason our ex-prisoner decided not to activate it,” Declan says. “I mean… I guess that’d be one way to get rid of you.”
I gasp as I turn to look at him. “Excuse me, what?”
“Yeah, I could just hand you over.”
“There are a lot of things I’d let you do to me, but that’s not one of them.”
He shakes his head like he’s just straight up disappointed in me. “I think you’ve lived alone for so long that you just don’t understand your lack of funniness.”
“That hurts,” I say.
“Good, I feast off pain.”
“And I feast off human flesh. God, we’re so similar.”
He seems skeptical. “Are we?”
I grin at him.
“Have you eaten a human before?”
Him and his funny questions. “I just sucked down your sausage,” I remind him.
“I don’t even know why I asked this question… nah, I want to know. Have you eaten a human?”
“Like a nibble or the full course?” I ask.
“Does it matter?”
“Obviously!”
He shakes his head. “Answer the question. Have you eaten one?”
I open my mouth.
“Do not say their ‘sausage.’”
I close my mouth.
Declan sighs. “Lake, I need to know if the mouth that was just around my dick has also consumed a human.”
“What if they were super old and wanted someone to just… end their suffering, would that be okay?”
“No!”
“Huh.”
“You fucking ate a granny, Lake?” Declan asks.
I wave him off. “Nah, they’re too chewy.”
“How do you know?” Declan asks.
“Brainpower, my acidic snack.”
“I’m not your acidic… never mind. So?”
“Would a child be a complete human or half of one?” I ask.
“If you’ve eaten a child, I’m putting you down right here.”
I start laughing because I really can’t help it. “I haven’t eaten a human, Declan. I’m not a freaking feral. Now I’ve eaten stuff off humans before. This one guy liked it when I ate cookies on him. He wanted nothing else. Just wanted me to eat the cookies.”
“That’s oddly disturbing.”
“He was so good at baking though, you’d have eaten his body cookies too,” I say.
He sighs as he heads into the hotel. We walk up to the floor our room is on where I get a whiff of something that puts me on edge. Maybe I’d have noticed it sooner if I wasn’t trying to rile up Declan. I grab his fringe and yank him to a stop.
