Authors: Jessie Lynn
"This is the one you talked to?" Seeing Ed shake his head yes he said. "Shit! Where's Rafe?"
Shrugging his shoulders, Ed said "Don't know, you tell me. I left him with you remember.
”
Michael pulled out his phone and called Rafe. Rafe picked up on the first ring.
"Yeah."
"Get down here right now. We're by the parking garages."
"On my way."
After he hung up with Rafe, Michael turned to Ed and asked
"Did you see anyone else?"
"Nope. Did you?"
Michael didn't answer him. He really didn't want to believe Rachel was involved with the piece of shit lying on the ground. He needed answers before he started making assumptions. They needed to get the mutt back to Lair and have Dom make him talk. Michael didn't want to hand the guy over. He wanted to rip the fucker to shreds for touching Rachel, but he knew once Dom found out they'd found him, the alpha would insist on dealing with the traitor.
Rafe came running up to find Ed, Michael and the werewolf who'd started shit with him at the Meat Locker the other night.
"What the hell is this?" He asked them seeing the guy had a knife stuck in his rib.
"This my fine fellow is the idiot that lied to me about you and Dom looking for me." Ed told him.
Rafe's head snapped up. "Ava!" he started to turn when Ed grabbed his arm.
"Is fine. I'll go double check." Ed flashed to the girls staying between worlds. They were curled up on the couch watching some chick flick. He flashed back to Rafe and Michael. "They're fine; nice and cozy watching their movie. Let's get this ass h
ole back and see what he has to say."
"I don't want to leave Ava alone. We still don't know who or where the vampire is watching her."
"We'll have Nate and Ethan come watch the apartment while we deal with the stray dog. When it starts to get light, Sloan and I will come back to relieve them. Kay?"
Rafe wanted to argue. He didn't want to leave now that he knew where his mate was, but he needed answers and he needed to be there when they made the wolf talk.
"Fine."
Ava was starting to doze and th
ey hadn't even made it halfway through the first movie. She sat up and stretched.
"Marie, I'm sorry, I can't stay awake any longer. I'm going to bed."
Marie sat up and paused the movie. "Yeah sure go get some rest sweetie; I'll see ya in the morning."
"Kay sweet dreams." Ava said heading for the stairs.
"You too baby girl."
Ava went straight to her room, put on her pajamas and crawled into bed. She was thinking about the dream she'd had the night before and was hoping she would have another one like that. Too bad it turned into the nightmare instead.
CHAPTER 22
They had tortured Carl severely. He'd passed out on them several times, and they still didn't get anything out of him other than he'd lied to Ed. They all knew he was working with some vampire, but he never told them who or why.
Dominic would have been proud of his wolf, had he not have had to be the one to interrogate him about crimes committed against his own pack. Hell fucking yes Rafe and his enforcers were a part of his pack whether they liked it or not. Dom had been furious when they brought Carl back to Lair. He almost killed Carl as soon as he was told. His better judgment won out and he'd interrogated him.
"He will tell us nothing. I'm tired of dealing with him." Dom said. Then walked up to the chair they had Carl chai
ned to and broke his neck.
"Well that was fun, but completely unproductive kiddies." Ethan said.
"For once I agree with Ethan. We're no closer to figuring out why Rafe and his mate are being targeted than we were two days ago." Marcus said.
Rafe lo
oked at the clock. It was six in the evening. Soon his beautiful would be here.
"It doesn't matter as much now. Ava will be here in a few hours. Sloan and Ed are following them here to make sure nothing happens to them on their way. Once she's here we
can protect her."
"Have you thought about when she decides to go home?" Marcus asked.
Rafe looked up at him. "She'll already be home Marcus. She's staying with me."
"Right and you
’re just going waltz right up to her and tell her she belongs to you as you throw her over your shoulder."
"And take her straight to bed." Rafe finished. "Hell yes."
"Sure that worked out great for you last time didn't it?" Marcus said to him.
"Marcus does have a point old friend." Dom said coming back into the
living room. He'd taken Carl's body down to his pack members to dispose of.
"Fine someone tell me a better idea." Rafe demanded. He looked around at them. "Please don't everyone speak at once. Look I'm going to get ready to go. I have to go feed then s
hower before Ava gets here."
Rafe headed to his room to get ready to deal with what was left of the sun. He wanted to be back and showered again before his beautiful got here. Lair on a Sunday wasn't some place he wanted to leave her alone for long. Hell,
who was he kidding? He didn't want to leave her alone at all, and Lair was the last place on whatever night it was that he would ever let her venture alone.
After Rafe left, Dom looked at Rafe's men, as well as his own pack gathered in Rafe's living room.
They were all very close to him and wanted to see him happy for once. They all knew he needed help keeping control until Ava was truly his.
"We'll need to watch him to make sure he doesn't do something he'll regret again."
"Yeah like kill his mate again. Cause that would just totally suck wouldn't it?" Ethan said.
"Ethan shut the hell up." Michael said fed up with his joking around. "We'll all stick close to him and make sure he goes slow with the girl. Hell she may surprise us all and jump him
the second she sees him."
They all laughed at that.
"Agreed. We will all keep an eye out for the vampire following them as well." Dom said.
With assorted yeahs, and sures they all headed out to give Rafe some space to get ready.
Ava was looking at herself in the mirror. She hardly recognized her own reflection. Marie had gone shopping for them apparently and Ava wasn't too sure she liked her taste in clothes. Yeah clothes implied they actually covered the wearer. These did not... Completely....
"Marie." She shouted marching down the hall to her friend's room. Marie opened the door before Ava had a chance to pound on it.
"What's up baby girl?" She asked swinging it open and stepping into the hall.
Ava stopped dead in her tr
acks. Marie was dressed just as scantily as her. Marie had on a strappy dress that had the sides cut out so the top and bottom were connected by a strip of cloth covering her belly button. It flared at her hips, but didn't even make it to mid-thigh, except on the right side where it slanted down. Which would have made the skirt part partially acceptable except that it was split there and only connected by the band that rode low on her hips. The top only had one strap going over her left shoulder and covered her breasts just barely. She had on a pair of spike heeled boots that had a belt looking band partially covering the heel.
Ava's jaw dropped open. She had to admit her friend looked really freakin hot in her dress. Her hair was curled in big loose curls t
hat framed her face just right. Her eyes were done up amazingly as always. Marie definitely knew how to bring out her green eyes. They looked even more exotic with her makeup done this way and the gloss she'd put on her lips made them look even more plump. Hell, if Ava were a guy, she'd say they were perfectly kissable lips.
"Ava, sweetie, you okay?" Marie asked when Ava just stood there and stared with her mouth hanging open. She seemed to shake herself out of her stupor.
"You look really hot, but there is no way I'm going out in public like this." Ava said to her.
Marie looked her friend up and down. She was pretty proud of the dress she'd picked out for Ava. It was a halter dress that was completely backless except for small silver strands running
loose across the upper part. The front was a cowl neck that dipped below her belly button to her waist. The skirt was a mini, but still covered enough. It was form fitting, but the material was stretchy so it wasn't tight. She'd chosen a pair of strappy black stilettos that had a ribbon going around the ankles with a bow in the back. Ava looked damn hot too if she did say so herself.
Ava had pulled most of her hair up choosing to have a few tendril coming down around her face. Her makeup was standard issue
for Ava. Just enough to see that she had some on. Marie would have given her more around her eyes to bring them out more and show off her ridiculously long lashes. Marie grabbed Ava's hand and drug her into her room.
"We have got to fix your eyes." Sh
e said sitting her down on the chair at her vanity. Marie started gathering what she needed.
"Marie stop." Ava said grabbing her arm. Marie stopped and looked at her.
"Yeah?"
"Marie, I'm sorry, but I cannot go out like this."
"Why? What's wrong with your outfit?" She asked.
"Well for starters it's missing like most of the top, and the bottom needs about four more inches added to the length."
"Whatever you look great. Now hold still and close your eyes." Marie tilted her head back to start fixing her eyes.
"Marie. No. Wait."
Annnnd she was talking to a wall now. Her friend had made up her mind and wasn't going to change it. So Ava did the only thing she could do. Sit there and let Marie do her makeup.
Rafe was pacing like a caged a
nimal. He stopped and looked at his watch for the thousandth time. It was only eight and it'd only been a minute since he last checked it. Dammit where the hell was she. The sun had been gone for a little while. He'd fed and showered, picking a black silk shirt to go with his black jeans and biker boots. He wanted to look nice for his Ava, but not stand out from the crowd tonight. His phone rang and he snatched it up. It was Sloan.
"Tell me good news." He said right as he got it to his ear.
Sloan chuckled at him. "Little anxious are we?" He asked.
"Sloan, man don't fuck with me please. You know I've been going crazy."
"Yeah I know. Yes, they're on their way. And man be prepared when you see how they're dressed, you'll probably cum in your damn pants. Damn dude they look like a wet dream come true." Sloan said laughing again.
"Fuck no don't tell me that. You better not have been checking out my mate Sloan. I do still like you, but I might have to cut out your eyes if you were."
"Promise you as soon as I saw her, I closed my eyes." Sloan said laughingly.
"Yeah right. Pay attention to your driving and make sure they get here safely."
Rafe hung up and headed down to the front of the club. If Ava was dressed like he was both hoping and dredging she was dressed, then he wanted to be with her the moment she walked in. He needed to make sure everything stayed the hell away from her.
Rachel
was furious. She was sure Michael had killed Carl, so she was now having to do everything on her own. She had gone to the mate's condo, but saw the werewolf and demon on the roof so she couldn't go inside to kill the friend and take the mate. She decided to follow them, but she was sure the wolves were following them too. That meant only one thing. Rafe had been able to get information from Carl. The question was how much information. And did Michael tell him anything as well. This was not good! She had to figure out another way to kill the human and frame Rafe for her murder. The only thing she could do was follow the girls for now and figure out what to do.
CHAPTER 23
Ava and Marie walked through the doors of Lair and Ava thought she was going to have a panic attack. She felt like she might as well be naked with the skimpy dress she was wearing. They took some time to take in the room before they headed further in. Ava immediately saw a huge man staring at them.
Rafe
was having a hard time breathing. His beautiful was incredible! She was absolutely stunning in that dress and those heels made his knees weak. The neck line of that dress showed off her stomach and teased you into thinking if she moved just the right way, you'd see what color pink her nipples were. Just looking at her made his eyes cross.
He started to move toward her until he looked in her wide eyes. She was terrified. For a moment, he thought she recognized him and was afraid of him until she started loo
king around the room again. She was terrified of being here. Well she should be! She shouldn't be traipsing in here looking like that without him. She shouldn't be traipsing anywhere but his bed room looking like that. He knew she caught every Dom’s attention in here. He knew he was in trouble too cause he would kill all of them the moment they tried to approach her.
Marie got Ava's attention.
"Hey I see a table over there, let’s go have a seat and order some drinks. Kay?"
All Ava could do was nod her a
greement. Her mouth felt like a dessert. Marie grabbed her hand and started leading her to the table. Ava just followed her like an idiot trying to keep her head down, but this place was unbelievable. It seemed like it took forever just to get to the booth Marie had pointed out. She felt like they were being watched by everyone in the place. Ava nervously tugged the hem of her dress lower trying to be a little modest. Too bad it sprang back up immediately.
Rafe watched Ava move through the club. She tried t
o pull her dress down a few times, but it never stayed. He thanked the Fates for that and then immediately cursed when he realized everyone else saw it too. He was grinding his teeth so hard he was sure he'd dull down his fangs by the time this night was over. Finally, they sat down at the exact same booth they'd been in last time. He didn't know whether to take that as a good sign, or a bad one. He moved close enough that he could hear what they were saying and be there if they needed help again.
Ava had t
he strangest feeling of deja vu. She felt like she'd been here before, but there was no way that was possible. She looked over at Marie and saw her friend was thoroughly enjoying herself. Their waitress came really quickly and thankfully brought them their drinks. She was about to take a sip, when she noticed the same man staring at them again. When he caught her looking his mouth turned up in a lopsided grin. She had to admit he was really good looking. Yeah, no, he was just hot. But he was way too scary looking to even consider talking to him.
Ava realized she'd been staring when he nodded his head and raised his glass in a salute to her. She immediately ducked her head down and took a big gulp of her drink. She couldn't do this; she kept telling herself that over and over when she saw a shadow
fall across the table and Marie start talking.
"Hi there." Marie said to the hottie that'd come up to their table. She looked over at Ava and saw her head down so she elbowed her to get her talking.
Ava jumped when she felt Marie's elbow jab her in the ribs. She scowled at her friend. Marie just jerked her head in the direction of the shadow and mouthed something to the effect of say hi. Ava looked up, and up, and up till she finally saw that same crooked smile. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. That only made the guy smile wider.
Rafe was absolutely amazed. He'd forgotten how shy his beautiful was until she got pissed. He couldn't help the smile on his face. He knew Marcus and Dom were on either side of the booth. Far enough away the girls did
n't see them, but close enough to jump Rafe if he did something stupid. Well after seeing his beautiful so skittish, he'd been able to cool his jets and let her get comfortable with flirting before he carted her off to his bed. Just having her here calmed him. She was starting to squirm more so he decided he better talk to her and calm her down a little.
"Hello there beautiful."
Ava's eyes rolled in the back of her head and she felt faint. It's a damn good thing she wasn't standing up cause she would have fallen flat on her face. As it was, she'd slumped back in the booth. She knew that voice. There was no way she could know that voice, but she'd heard it every time she fell asleep since it woke her up Monday morning. She felt the seat dip beside her and she thought it was because he'd sat down. Then she felt his arms go under her legs and behind her back. He was picking her up. That's when she lost the battle and everything went black.
Rafe lifted his mate gently into his arms. Fuck, she was so damn smal
l but she felt damn good in his arms. Her friend was starting to get upset so he knew he had to get her to chill out before he could take Ava up to his bed. The second he'd spoken to her, Ava had fainted. She remembered his voice and it'd been too much for her. This was so not how he'd planed this first/second meeting to go. He had his Ava cradled to his chest now and her friend had jumped up out of the booth. Marcus and Dom were already by their side.
"Listen to me." He said to his mate's friend. "I'm
going to take her up where it's quieter so we can take care of her. I want you to come with us okay. I promise you neither of you will be hurt in any way." At Marie's skeptical, look he added. "I own the club. Do you think I would jeopardize my lively hood to hurt either of you?"
Dom spoke up then. "You have an entire club full of people that have seen you with us. I can promise you that if anything were to happen to you, they would admit to the authorities that we were the last ones seen with you"
Rafe looked over at Dom very annoyed. He was about to tell the wolf that he wasn't helping at all when Marie grabbed their purses and agreed to follow them. Dom arched a brow at him and grinned as he motioned for Rafe to lead. Rafe wasted no time, he headed for the private elevator that would take them to the lofts he and is men kept here. He'd been waiting to lay his mate down in his bed for what seemed like an eternity and he was finally about to be able to.
Ava could feel the guy carrying her somewhere. She knew
she'd heard Marie and hoped like hell she wasn't letting tall dark and scary take her some place alone. That thought made her brain short circuit again. She'd called someone that before. She was starting to get really scared when she felt satin touch her back and her head hit a soft pillow. She felt her shoes being taken off and then satin cover her. She felt a feather light kiss across her brow before that voice whispered to her.
"Sleep beautiful, every things alright now you
’re safe. I finally have you."
Rafe had gently laid his mate down in his bed. He wanted to strip her now so the satin of the sheets would be all she felt glide across her delicate skin, but he knew neither her nor her friend would be okay with that yet. So he just removed her heels and
couldn't help gliding his hands along her long legs. She had such dainty feet. When he moved to pull the covers over her, he saw that her dress had slipped apart and her pebble hard nipple was such a pale pretty pink. It just begged to be kissed and he almost gave into temptation, but he just pulled the covers over her being sure to slide the fabric across the tight bud. She gave the most delicious moan and arched up a little making him grind his teeth to stay the hell out of that damn bed.
Marie came into
the room to see the hottie gently covering Ava. He was looking at her with complete adoration. He reached out and ran the backs of his fingers down her cheek, bending down to kiss Ava's forehead and whisper to her. If Marie wasn't mistaken, she could have sworn this guy was in love with her best friend. But that was impossible; they'd never met until tonight. The guy turned to look at her and she had a moment’s hesitation.
Rafe spoke to his mate's friend seeing she was still really freaking nervous and want
ing her to be comfortable so his mate would as well.
"She's fine. Come see, she's resting peacefully." Rafe stepped out of the way so Ava's friend could come closer. "I'm going to go get her a wet compress for her head. I'll be right back."
Marie sat down on the side of the bed and looked at Ava. She looked so peaceful for the first time in what seemed like forever. She really didn't know what to make of that. She was concerned about the fact that Ava basically fainted as soon as the guy spoke to her. He definitely spoke to Ava, not both of them. It seemed he only had eyes for Ava. That could be a good thing if the guy was a good guy and not an asshole like Ava's last boyfriend. She heard the guy come back into the room. Which this must be his apartment by the way the place looked. Not to mention he knew where everything was. If that were the case, then this was his room too.
"Here's a cold compress for her head." Rafe said handing over the cloth. He wanted to be the one to press it against Ava's fore
head and stroke her hair as he held it against her skin, but he wasn't going to push and scare them again.
"Thanks." Marie said taking the cloth and laying it on Ava's forehead. "So I take it this is your place?"
"Yes it is." He said simply.
"R
ight, well I'm sorry we're intruding and I appreciate you helping us out. I promise as soon as Ava wakes up, we'll be out of your hair." Marie said looking at the guy.
"It's really not necessary to rush out. I want to make sure she's okay and I'm truly
glad to have her here. I'm Rafe by the way."
"Oh right. I'm Marie and this is Ava."
"I caught her name already." At Marie's frown, he elaborated. "You've said her name a few times."
Marie nodded "Oh right I have haven't I. Well like I said Rafe, t
hanks for helping us. I'm sure she'll wake up soon and I'll take her home."
"Marie I'd like to wait and make sure she's truly okay before you run out of here. There had to be a reason she passed out. Can you think of a reason why?" Rafe asked even thou
gh he already knew the answer.
"I don't know. She's been going through some stuff lately and hasn't been sleeping good so maybe she just go too tired." Marie didn't want to say it was because of him before she had Ava awake and fully functional in case
they had to bail quickly.
"I see, well like I said I'd rather be safe than sorry."
Ava started coming to and she heard Marie and that voice talking. She didn't think she was dreaming, but at this point, she wasn't sure of anything anymore. Ava turned her head to the sound of their voices and gave a little moan at the slight pain the movement caused. She felt Marie touch her head and start talking to her.
"Ava sweetie can you hear me?" Marie asked her.
Rafe came closer to his bed. He was both relieved and disappointed his mate was coming to. The longer she was out meant the longer she was in his bed. The longer she was in his bed meant the greater chance he had of keeping her there. He wanted nothing more than to scoop her into his arms again and just hold her as she slowly came awake from his touch.
"Ava baby this is Marie. Can you hear me?"
"Let her take her time, we're in no hurry Marie. She can stay as long as she needs. You both can."
Marie looked back up at Rafe. "You know what, I don't
believe in bull shitting around. So what exactly do you want with my friend Rafe?"
Rafe smiled at the fierce little thing trying to protect his mate. Little did she know he wasn't the one she needed be protecting her friend from ever. He was the one who wo
uld protect Ava from now on.
"I appreciate your candor and I'll be blunt with you as well. I want to get to know your friend, Marie." Rafe sat down at the foot of his bed. "I won't lie, I find your friend incredibly attractive and I would like to see w
here things might lead between us. I am very interested to say the least and there are a great many things I would like to explore about her. But I will always respect her and I will always take care of her. I will cherish her in every way always."
That se
emed to ease her a little. He could tell Marie was still skeptical, but she wasn't looking at him like he was about to rape then kill her friend. At that moment, Ava started to resurface again and spoke up.
Ava felt way out of it. She was finally able to o
pen her eyes and didn't recognize the room she was in. Yet the scent of the man who it obviously belonged to was so familiar, as was the deep rumble of his voice. That rumble was way too soothing to her. She had wanted nothing more than to lay here slipping in and out of consciousness letting his voice lull her.
She had been hearing Marie talking to him, but she didn't know what they had been saying. She felt Marie beside her and there was someone at her feet. She was lying down in a bed,
his
bed she was quite sure. She could smell his incredible scent wrapped all around her and it soothed her even more. She just wanted to burrow down in the blankets and sleep for like a year.