Page 56 of Dark Souls

Bad Boy Lessons

T wisting my body in Wesley’s lap, I straddled his hips and busied my hands by playing with the long necklaces that dangled between the open shirt on his exposed chest. His hands fell to my thighs, running across my fishnet tights as I forcibly swallowed the vile taste of disgust in my mouth. I’d never had to act so hard in my life and go against my instincts to hurt a man who believed I was his to touch.

His eyes travelled the path of his hands, biting into his lower lip with a groan. I hooked one finger under his chin, guiding his head to lift a little, so I could stare into his eyes when I asked, “I am so glad you are the new Dealer. What happened to the other one? Did you kill him to take his position?”

I wish . He thought. But the only one who can kill him is my uncle and that stupid sigil.

“Not quite,” he answered. “But this position was always meant to be mine. It was only a matter of time.”

“You know, I’ve heard things. Rumours about The Dealer.” I leaned into him, lowering my voice a fraction. “That he wasn’t really loyal to this place. That he was practically a prisoner.”

Wesley’s eyes narrowed, and his hands gripped my thighs firmly. “And how did you hear that?”

I shrugged my shoulders, tilting my head to the side as I ran my fingers across his chest, which softened the hardness in his eyes, distracting him so easily. “The bouncers were talking. They said that he had only worked for The Devil to save his sister.”

Wesley ground his molars and peered over my shoulder towards the door, clearly furious that he thought men who worked for him had been gossiping. I grabbed his jaw in my hand and forced his attention back to me, a little too aggressively than I should have, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to kill this man so badly. Masking my aggression, I quickly leaned forward, brushing my lips against the corner of his to make it look like an act of seduction and not me trying to read his mind.

Those fucking twats. Talking shit so openly. Not that it even matters anymore. Luka will be dead soon and Hana’s mine, anyway. I just wish I had a chance to rub it in that demon’s face before he’s killed. I can only imagine his reaction when he realises I’ve had his sister in my care for the last year. In my house. In my bed.

He had Hana at his house? Oh, my god. He had Hana. My nostrils flared as I tried to hide the rage and hatred that stormed through my veins. Focus, focus, focus.

“Are you a prisoner, too?” I whispered against his lips with a little smile.

He scoffed, wrapping one hand around my throat and holding my gaze. “Do I look like a fucking prisoner to you?”

“No. You look like a man who takes what he wants.”

He licked his lips, his eyes darting down to mine. “That’s fucking right.”

In the next second, he slammed his slimy mouth against mine, shoving his tongue inside like he was fishing for gold. Squeezing my eyes shut tight, I dug my nails into the flesh of his chest, drawing blood because it was the only way to stop myself from not killing him right there.

His other hand wrapped around my waist, forcing me against his body before he spun us with his vampire speed, so I was beneath him on his throne. His lips moved down my neck, over my chest, as his hands grabbed at every inch of me. My eyes widened in alarm as I realised the predicament I faced. He kissed and bit his way down my body. I grabbed his shoulders, attempting to pull him up from his knees and halt him in his attempt to taste between my legs, but he wasn’t having any of it.

“Wait,” I breathed, my mind frantically trying to come up with an excuse he’d buy. There was none. I expect he’d enjoy me putting up a fight. He was the type that would take what he wanted, even if the woman said no.

When he flung one of my legs over his shoulder, shoving up the leather of my dress, I placed my foot in the middle of his chest and kicked him as hard as I could, sending him flying back into a table. His face twisted with anger, but I didn’t let him think this was me refusing him. Instead, I zoomed up to him and ripped open his shirt, causing the buttons to fly across the room. He smirked.

“Oh, you like to be the one in control, do you, sweetheart?”

“I like putting bad boys in their place. Teaching them a lesson, bringing them to their knees, and making them beg. And I think—” I grabbed his jaw, twisting his head as I licked up the side of his face, “—you taste like a very bad boy.”

He groaned, his eyes rolling at my words.

“Hmm, I am. The baddest. Are you going to punish me for my sins?” He grabbed a handful of my ass, yanking me against his rock-hard erection and I faked a moan, a mischievous smile spreading across my face.

“Oh, that is exactly what I am going to do. How about you take me somewhere a little more private so I can show you exactly what I have in mind?”

Ah fuck me, I need this fucking pussy. But Uncle will kill me if I leave this place mid-event. I have to prove to him that he was right in trusting me to run this place. I’ll just fuck her here and be done with it.

“An office, perhaps? With a lock?” Against every cell in my body, I grabbed his dick over his trousers and squeezed, literally holding him by the balls. “I don’t want to be interrupted when I blow your fucking mind.”

I heard all thoughts leave his head as he threw it back and groaned. A moment of hesitation and then he grabbed my wrist, forcing me to follow him as he marched out of the room with newfound purpose, ignoring the looks we were being given by the members as we shoved our way through the busy club towards the back corridors.

When we reached the same office door that Ronnie was hiding behind, Wesley pulled out a bunch of keys from his pocket and unlocked it. He grabbed me by the waist, not even bothering to look inside, as he pulled me into him, kissing me urgently. I shoved him to walk backwards into the room.

The moment I kicked the door shut behind me, I detached my lips from his abruptly and smirked. “Bad boy lesson number one; never make decisions with your dick. It will only get you killed.”

His red eyes squinted with confusion before they widened with the realisation that we weren’t alone. He attempted to glance over his shoulder, but he wasn’t quick enough. Ronnie’s fist connected with his cheekbone as he threw his whole body weight into that punch, sending Wesley spinning on his feet before he crashed down to the ground, knocked out cold.

“How’s that new vamp strength feeling?” I chuckled as Ronnie grabbed the lapel of Wesley’s suit jacket, yanking his upper body off the ground only to pummel his fist back into his face, disfiguring his nose and knocking out a front tooth.

Ronnie dropped his unconscious body to the floor like a rag, heaving aggressively through his fangs. “Fucking fantastic.”

I bent down and rummaged inside Wesley’s pockets, looking for a wallet, phone or anything to reveal his true identity.

“I’m a little terrified of you right now, though.”

I peered up at Ronnie with a frown. “Me? Why?”

“What you did out there… I never knew you were such an excellent actress. It was Oscar worthy. Made me wonder how many orgasms you faked with me just to get my blood.”

I snorted, shaking my head. “I would never fake an orgasm. I’d just ask you what the fuck you thought you were doing instead.”

He laughed. “Brutal as always. So, this is Wesley?”

I found his wallet, tugging it out of his trouser pocket and opening it up to find some cards. “Wesley. Real name; Hector Polken.”

“Ring any bells?”

“None. Never heard of him or the last name Polken,” I groaned, feeling the frustration getting to me. I hoped it would reveal who we were dealing with, but it was still a mystery. “But he has Hana. At his house. So…”

“On it,” Ronnie pulled out his phone, dialling Sienna’s number. “Little bird? Hector Polken. Need a background check. Yeah, okay.” He ended the call as I continued to look through Hector’s wallet, finding a condom, his black membership card and a Tesla card key. “She’s going to text us if they find anything in the system. Could take a while if he’s not known to the SIA.” Ronnie crouched down on the other side of him, pulling out a syringe from the bag he’d brought along and injected it into Wesley’s neck. “This should keep him under for at least an hour.”

“You were right, Ronnie. They are going to kill Heathen. They’ve replaced Luka in the club and when I read Wesley’s mind, he said he’d be gone soon. I need to find him. Tonight.” My voice was steady and calm, which didn’t reflect the panic and chaos that was raging inside. I found Wesley’s phone next and held it in front of his face, allowing the face recognition to give me access to the device. I opened his messages first, looking for any names I recognised, but the asshole’s phone was coded. Only one letter for every ID. His most recent message was from an M. It was details about tonight’s event. “Write this number down. And the letter M. They have something to do with The Underground . And they were the last person to call him. Let’s get him in his Tesla. There might be a sat nav in the car that has his home address on it.”

“Good idea. You need to leave the phone here, though. It could have a tracker on it and The Devil would be informed if he left the club,” Ronnie said, yanking Wesley’s body up and over his shoulder. I groaned, annoyed that I had to leave a key piece of evidence behind, but Ron was right. We can’t risk it. I threw the phone down on the desk.

“You know, you really would make an awesome SIA agent.”

“I’ve been telling everyone that for months but did they listen?” I rolled my eyes, opening the office door and checking the corridors were empty before we made our way to the back exit of the building. Ronnie waited against the wall with Wesley, blanketed by darkness, as I sped towards the streets, searching for any sign of a parked Tesla. When I finally found it, I drove through the backstreets and pulled up next to a dingy alleyway that led to the back of the club. Ronnie zoomed down in a blur, opening the back door and tossing Wesley across the seats before he dived into the passenger seat.

I got to work opening the sat nav and finding the saved addresses. I smiled when I saw an address at the top labelled home. It was a suburban London address and only an hour’s drive from here. Slamming my foot down on the accelerator, the engine revved and catapulted us through the streets that were quieter than usual due to the late hour. Ronnie gripped the door with one hand, bracing himself as I darted in and out of the traffic, overtaking when I could and zooming through red lights.

“Fucking hell, Ilaria. I don’t want to die. Again.”

“You’re a vampire now, Ron. It would take more than a car crash to kill you. Time is ticking.”

Ronnie’s phone started ringing, and he showed me the screen as my mum’s name flashed across it. He answered it, putting it on loudspeaker.

“Queen Ruby.”

“Ronnie. Am I on loudspeaker?”

“Yes. Hi mum, what is it?” I blurted as I swerved just in time to avoid a head-on collision with an oncoming car while I overtook.

“Hector Polken is unknown to us. Which means he must not be part of a vampire clan. He’s rogue or at least pretends to be. But we will keep digging. See if we can find any relatives. Also, I didn’t want to say anything earlier because I didn’t want you being distracted but Leif and Grandpapi think they might have figured out a way to find Luka.”

“How?” I asked, my voice rising with hope.

“It was Leif’s wacky idea, but it is the only one we have right now. Grandpapi’s blood is tied to Luka’s. Because of the blood oath, they are connected via an unbreakable bond only by death. If you were to ever be harmed, the oath would take effect and Grandpapi could find Luka no matter where he was. Luka wouldn’t be able to hide from him because the oath would reveal his location.”

“But would that mean Grandpapi would be bound by fate to kill him?” I shouted frantically.

“Yes, but… if he killed Luka in vampire form, he’d come back to life, right? Demonski Upirs can’t be killed permanently in vampire form.”

“Will that work?” Ronnie asked, doubt sparking in his red eyes. “Won’t the oath stay in effect when Luka comes back to life?”

“We aren’t sure,” Mum answered with a sigh. “It is a risk. We don’t know if the oath is only connected to Luka or to Heathen as well. It is a last resort, of course. We don’t want Ilaria to have to put herself in harm’s way either, but even Leif can’t find him with locator spells. He’s being blocked. This is your call, Ilaria.”

I ground my jaw together tightly, not knowing what to do for the best. That was a risk I really didn’t want to take. I could feel Ronnie’s gaze locked on my face. “Give me an hour to see what I can get out of Wesley. He may know where they are keeping Luka.”

“Okay. You are doing amazing, darling. Quite the little actress. Your dad and Lorcan couldn’t watch. They had to leave the room when you straddled that wolf’s lap. And don’t think I didn’t see what you did there. Getting Wesley to kill the Alpha so you didn’t have to.”

“See.” I smirked. “There are ways of serving justice that don’t always involve a trial.”

“Hm,” she murmured, but I could imagine her smiling through the phone. “We are still watching. Send us the location of his house so we can be there if we need to.”

“I’ve just texted you,” Ronnie said, as his fingers glided across his phone.

“Thanks, Ronnie. Stay safe, you two.” She hung up and Wesley groaned in the backseat, his eyelids flickering. Ron and I exchanged a glance before he twisted in his chair and knocked the asshole out with a single punch again.

“You are really enjoying that, huh?” I said as I took the route away from the city and to a quieter suburb full of massive houses with acres of land.

“Let’s hope he keeps waking,” Ronnie smirked, licking the blood off his knuckles. “Urgh, vamp blood isn’t as nice as human blood, is it?”

“Not unless they are your soulmate,” I mumbled, my heart lurching in my chest at the thought of mine.

“Will I get one? Being a turned vamp?”

I shrugged my shoulders, no longer in the mood for talking. The talk of soulmates just heightened my desperation, and it became hard to concentrate on the roads as the pain in my chest intensified to an unbearable ache once more. I had no idea what they were doing to him, but I knew he was in pain.

“I hope I do,” Ronnie whispered next to me, moving his gaze out of the window. “I feel empty without her and I’ve never even met her. It’s like the moment I took my first breath as a vampire, I knew she was out there. Waiting for me to find her. I need her so much, it physically hurts.” He placed his hand over his chest and turned to look at me. “Right here.”

I swallowed thickly as tears brimmed at the edges of my eyes, but I blinked them away. Push the emotions down. “Imagine finding her. Loving her. Then having her taken away. Knowing there is a chance you may never see her again. That you may have to live every day for the rest of your life with that pain but times a million.”

“I’d rather die,” Ronnie muttered under his breath.

A tear escaped my eyes and I rubbed it away.

Yeah. So would I.