Page 7 of Feeding Frenzy (Crimson Coven #3)

SEVEN

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The cold cement of the bench reached through my clothes and coiled around my bones. I shivered, rubbing my arms. Nights were becoming freezing, and my damp facemask wasn’t helping, but I’d needed fresh air after trapping myself in Asher’s room.

I’d gotten a few chapters done of the Historical Romance I was working on. Nothing would come of it, but I didn’t care. It was an escape from my reality.

I tugged the fluffy robe tighter around me. Upon further inspection of the wardrobe, I’d discovered some new items had been added, soon my stuff would overtake Asher’s. Slowly but surely, I was collecting a semblance of a life but how long would I be able to keep it?

Something tickled my leg, and I yanked away, eyes widening on Binx.

“What do you want?” Binx rubbed his head into my leg. Jax could only show affection as a cat it seemed. I raised my legs on the edge of the bench, away from him, and dropped my chin on my knees.

He turned back into a human. The change was sudden and honestly, frightening. Jax appeared kneeling in front of me. He suddenly clasped my face, thumb against one cheek, and pointer finger gripping the other. He squeezed gently, but it was enough to block whatever words were trying to escape my lips.

“What the fuck is on your face?” Although the words were aggressive on their own, his tone was oddly soft. His accent thickened his voice.

I knocked his arm away, and his grip slid my facemask down, so the eyeholes were no longer in the proper place. Damn him, he’d ruined a perfectly good treatment.

My facemask was cold to the touch, the white sheet clung to my fingertips. I glared at him. If I didn’t start taking care of myself, I’d start breaking out. I wasn’t lucky like them, blessed with their immortal skin, nor would I ever be, unlike I’d thought.

“A facemask,” I kept my response simple.

“Humans.” He shook his head disapprovingly.

“What do you want? Why are you skulking around.” I swept my gaze around the garden. “Aren’t you scared the big, bad Imogen will see you with me?” I lowered my voice dramatically.

“Funny,” he hissed.

“Thanks.”

His nostrils flared and red spilled into his irises, overtaking them. His palms gripped my thighs, jerking them flat on the bench. His eyes returned to normal. “Don’t touch me.” I was used to this—arguing with Jax. A small thrill traveled down my spine.

“Don’t tell me what to do, human,” he gritted the words.

“I will when you’re invading my space.” I shoved his shoulder.

“If you do that again, you will not like the consequences.” He glared back.

The elation bloomed, turning to desire.

“I’m so scared,” I deadpanned. Wanting to rile him up. Wanting him as passionate as he had been with me. Since Imogen showed up, he seemed too careful, too unlike himself. The red overtook his eyes again and he grabbed my hips. With a twist of his wrists, he had my body bent over the bench. Before I could hoist myself up, his grip on my waist yanked my knees toward him. My palms scrabbled for purchase, and I managed to grip onto the edge. Fabric ripped as he did away with my pj bottoms. He tilted my hips high enough, so they hovered off the hard surface. Suddenly, he slammed his girth inside me. I yelped at the sudden invasion. He withdrew, dragging need from my channel, until it dripped down my thighs. His hand left my hip, but amazingly, he didn’t jostle me. His now freed palm slapped over my mouth just as he slammed back inside me.

My shout was muffled.

“You won’t throw me away.”

I cried out, the rough words reached through my chest, even though I didn’t understand them. Did he mean now? Or like in general? Was he intending to keep both of us? Would he want to have his undead cake and eat it too?

His next thrust was so hard his balls slapped against the back of my thighs punishingly, forcing thoughts to fade until there was only hunger.

Deep, guttural groans came with each of his thrusts. His fingers squeezed my hip, flexing. Like when he’d taken me in front of all those vampires. His touch held desperation. But I didn’t get why he was acting like this. He was choosing Imogen.

The palm on my mouth pulled my head back, forcing me into an arch. Electrical pulses fired through my nerve endings, causing my thighs to tremble. Numbness crept up from my toes. The wet sounds of his thick shaft sliding in and out of me threw me over the edge. My pussy gripped onto him with a vise-like grip, wringing my channel with the ecstasy of my release. His cock spasmed inside me. Jax moaned, but he didn’t stop pumping his hips in a slow glide.

The swell tapered off and my arms trembled from holding myself up. Jax lowered my knees to the hard surface. I dropped my head, panting.

His hard drag of breath reached my ears. The sound of it irked me. How dare he sound breathless? How dare he touch me? How dare he make me want him ? I flexed my fingers against the groove adorning the edge of the bench, still not strong enough to push myself upright.

“You have to fuck me from the back to make yourself feel better?” I spat out, glaring down at the ground. “Can’t accept that you want human pussy. A weak, spinless, human.” My lip trembled the slightest bit, so I bit it. He brought this nasty, edgy side out of me.

Instead of saying anything, he grabbed my waist and settled me on the seat, straightened my shirt, and leaned down to kiss my forehead.

Then he was gone.

“Jerk,” I hissed into the quiet night. Jumping to my feet, I tugged the hem of my shirt down, but it didn’t cover anything.

I stormed into the house, the cold air chilling my ass, while I kept the front of my shirt so low that my boobs strained for freedom.

Tobias raised an eyebrow, pausing on the stairs as he descended.

“What happened to you?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I shouted and beelined for Asher’s room.

Loud intense thumping lulled me from my nap. Last morning I’d spent hours into the day typing away, so a nap had been sorely needed. I stretched my arms up and yawned.

The nightstand was empty, but a little worn card poked out from the drawer. I plucked it out. Maddy must have cleaned. If one of the vampires would have seen the card, their nosiness would have led them to questioning why I had Alistair’s card tucked away in the drawer under the restocked lube. I tucked it into the drawer even though at this point, I didn’t need it. I stared at it enough to have memorized the number.

Thumping from outside persisted. It was a low, gritty echo that had to be extremely loud if I could hear it from in here. I rolled onto my feet, stretching my arms behind my back.

I slid into my slippers by the door. I frowned; the door had been left ajar. Pulling the door fully open, I winced from the assault of noise. What was going on downstairs? I rubbed my exhausted face. The hem of my PJ shorts tickled my thighs as I stepped into the cold hallway.

I descended into the foyer slowly. I scanned the area. My grip on the banister tightened. It vibrated under my palm, going to the rhythm of the bass. Not only was the music different, but either new lights had been installed, or the bulbs were switched to red ones. At the base of the stairs, I had a clear view into the living room.

My heart stalled.

A nude woman gyrated on top of a man. I could only see her dark hair flutter against her bare back, and the knees of the male who gripped the couch cushion with his hands fisted. My pulse raced. Those loafers—no. The edges of my vision became hazy.

I staggered forward and yanked the girl’s shoulder. Not thinking, because if I had been, I would have known it was a bad idea. The woman whirled and snarled at me, flashing sharp fangs, but I was already looking at the male. Red hair—not one of mine. I backed up, but before I stepped out of range, the woman grabbed my arm near the elbow.

I gasped, flinching from her tight hold, but she didn’t let me go. Her breasts bounced with her sudden movement, and I got a flash of the male’s cock inside her.

“Let me go.” I tugged fruitlessly.

I swept my attention around. More vampires in various states of undress. On the floor was a couple, a male holding another male to the ground by the neck as he thrust. The other settee had a female’s legs spread wide eagle while a man went down on her. Moans and groans reached through the thumping music. My attention fell on Asher standing near the wall with stiffness radiating from him. Thank God he was dressed, but what was all this? He faced the wall as if it held the answers to the universe.

“Asher,” I shouted. My voice was drowned out by the music, but somehow, he heard me. He turned so suddenly, and his eyes widened.

“Asher,” I croaked.

“Let her go,” he snarled at the woman holding onto me, but he didn’t step closer, he remained near the wall, scraping his hands through his hair.

“You should have said you would bring food, Ash, just like the old days.” Her grin widened and she pulled me closer, breathing in deep. Kind of uncomfortable since the man had begun to gyrate up into her. His eyes were on my face, half-lidded and intrigued. He was a big male.

“Let me go,” I said through my gritted teeth.

“She smells mouthwatering,” she said, her eyes flashing red. She swayed forward. An arm wrapped around my belly and at the same time a hand lashed out to smack her across the face. She yelped and let me go, blood sprayed on the male inside her and his eyebrows twitched up as he smirked at my savior. I huddled back into the hard body at my back and peeked up at Ren. Thank God.

“Thank you,” I said, choked. He always showed up when I was in deep shit. Kind of like when Bastien?—

I rubbed my eyes, pressing my palms into my eye sockets. When I removed them, everything around me was still the same. People were fucking, but the woman Ren backhanded had unmounted the redhead. He sprawled back, his dick still out. I averted my eyes, my face flushing.

What was it with vampires and orgies? And in Crimson Manor?

Imogen. That weird bitch. I wiggled free of Ren’s surprisingly loose grip and hurried to Asher’s side. He stared down at me, eyebrows furrowed.

“Let’s go, Asher.” I grabbed his hand and tugged, but he was like a boulder.

“No,” Asher said through gritted teeth. The response sucker punched me in the gut, and I flinched. His expression became even more stiff, unrecognizable.

I scowled, shaking my head, so confused. A few days passed and he chose this ?

“You’re unbelievable,” I spat. His head jerked back like I’d taken a bat to him. The ball in my stomach pulsed and the nastiness spread, spilling into my words.

Ren settled his palm on my hip, he leaned down to speak near my ear.

“He can’t.”

“Bull! If this was what he wants. He should have just told me.” I pressed my lips into a thin line. So hurt. The music cut off suddenly.

“If you liked all this so much, I would have gotten out of your way.” My shouted words lashed out, aiming to hit him. There’d been comments about him being a former ‘sexual service provider’. Every time it was mentioned there was a level of derisiveness to it. I had no problem with the profession, but I believed he only wanted me. In all the times he’d disappeared, had he been fucking Imogen?

Heaviness in my stomach pulsed, causing my chest to feel like rocks were accumulating in it. I couldn’t breathe.

Asher continued to stare at me with dead eyes.

“Out.” I whipped my head toward Tobias’s shout. His stone like face turned into a sneer. The flurry of movement became dizzying with how fast everyone moved. The only one that seemed to be taking his sweet time was that red-headed male. He slowly zipped up his dick and strolled out with a smirk.

Imogen inched inside the living room, yanking all of my attention to her. She did this.

“You,” I shouted and ran faster than I ever had. I shoved her, but she didn’t even budge. Her eyebrows rose.

“Why this violence, human?”

An innocent, fake expression.

It pissed me off even more. My hands trembled at my side. Clatter and cursing erupted down the hall. Moments later a grinning semi-naked female vampire staggered around the bend with chains in her cloth-wrapped hand. She tugged again and Bastien entered, yanking at the chains with a snarl. They weakened him, otherwise he would have done away with her easily.

“I let this big guy loose,” the female vampire laughed. “I kept hearing the clang of chains. When did Bastien go blood-mad?”

Ren yanked one of the metal legs off the coffee table and swung until the jagged tip sliced into her chest. She gawked down at the pole sticking out of her. Then her body disintegrated until she was ash. I clutched my chest, gawking at the pile of dead female. Ren tossed the broken metal piece to the floor. Bastien was suddenly next to me, feral red eyes focused on Imogen, lips fixed in a sneer.

“Mood killer,” Imogen drawled, but her attention hadn’t moved from Bastien. She blinked, studying him. “You didn’t look like this last I saw you.”

Bastien snarled at her, angling in front of me.

Imogen sniffed and tipped her chin up.

“Savage.” She derisively sneered, but still she scanned him. My metaphorical hackles raised. Even though Bastien had been the one to hurt me, I didn’t like the insult toward him.

He may not understand the degrading words, but I did.

I swung to look around at the others, but none of them said anything . . . like they were used to her talking about Bastien in such a degrading way.

My stomach rose in my throat.

I fucking hated that.

How could they just allow it? They were supposed to be a team. I whirled so fast it caused my vision to swim.

“Don’t talk about him like that.”

“Oh, I did not mean anything by it, human.” Her eyes rounded, and she blinked as her face crumpled. She just had to tack on ‘human’ it was her thing, a little jab of reminder in front of them. Just another way she showed her underhandedness. I turned to the guys, and they seemed visibly uncomfortable. Tobias smoothed his frown.

“Calm yourself.” He lightly pressed on my shoulder, skillfully inserting himself in between us.

I clenched my teeth.

“I was treating Asher to a night of fun. The kind he truly likes.”

I was practically frothing at the mouth at this point, but I continued to fight off the tears.

“We leave for a few hours, and you do this, Imogen?” Tobias stared at his sister. I whipped my attention to him accusingly.

“You let this happen.”

“Catalina,” he started, hesitantly.

Imogen scoffed and lifted her chin, that stupid confused innocence fading.

“And you’ve been holding Asher back.”

Tears flooded my eyes. I gritted my teeth so hard I could feel them close to shattering. “He likes variety. Not your weak?—”

“Enough, Imogen.” Tobias’s voice held no room for argument. The low, hissed threat sent a chill down my spine.

“No, enough of all of this!” I jabbed a finger at him.

“Of what, human? Fun?” Imogen smirked.

“Shut. Up,” I retorted.

“Leave.” Tobias was showing fang at this point.

She sniffled and lightly touched her nose with the back of her finger.

“Imogen, things have changed in your absence,” Tobias said.

“But it hasn’t even been a century,” she cried out. “It was so easy for you all to forget me? Did you all forget I am the one who brought us together?” She dropped to the couch in a dramatic sprawl, sobs wracking her shoulder.

“Enough theatrics. I’ll deal with you later.” Tobias sighed.

“Fine,” Imogen shouted shakily and left the living room. “I have errands to run anyway.”

“Wait,” Ren snapped. “Release him.”

Her eyes widened slightly, but seeing Ren’s deadpanned face, she sighed. “Do as you wish, Asher.” She lifted her nose in the air and left the room. He staggered forward. Was that her special ability? Keeping someone in a spot?

Asher reached for me, and I smacked him away. He almost seemed hurt. He stormed over to Tobias and hissed words out so low I couldn’t hear them. Bastien touched my spine, and I stiffened. I shuffled away from Bastien’s crowding. Ren had joined their conversation. Looked like I wasn’t needed here anymore.

My heart gave a wretched little skip.

I believed they cared for me. Nothing like love, but some fondness . . . and I believed they didn’t want me hurt, and I counted on that.

I cleared my throat, pointedly.

They stopped their low conversation.

“You should be resting.” Asher strode to me; he brushed my hair over my shoulder. I looked up at him and then focused on the little dip at his throat. Looking at them kind of hurt.

I rubbed the sore spot the female vampire had gripped and the sting radiated up my limb. It didn’t help detract from the pain in my chest.

“Catalina?” Tobias murmured, attention turning to me. I’d taken the time to mull everything over and determine how to bring up my decision, but now I struggled to get words out.

I licked my lips to try again.

“I’m causing you guys problems.” I crossed my arms, pressing my lips into a thin line. Tobias didn’t have the right to look as concerned as he did. The softening of his lips and eyes shouldn’t get to me the way they did either. I felt sick to my stomach, so I bit the inside of my cheek hard. The pinch forced back the tears wanting to explode from my chest. I hurt so much.

“It is something we will resolve in time. Just keep patient?—”

“I’m hurt,” I shouted, Tobias’s words boiling my frustration over. Absolute silence from them. “And me, I can’t share like you guys.” I licked my lips. “It’s best for me to go, for all of you and for Imogen.” I barely contained my sneer at saying her name. Asher opened his mouth. I knew where his tirade would go. “I know,” I said forcefully. “Since you guys can’t compel me, you can’t just let me go, but you never said I couldn’t go to another Coven.”

Asher snarled. I flinched, but didn’t cower.

“You care for me. I know it, you all do. If you don’t want me in pain . . .” I couldn’t help the break of my voice. Asher took over my vision, and his jaw feathered. “Let me go to another Coven.” Asher scoffed, taking a step back as he shook his head. The other’s seemed similarly stunned. I had no clue silence could feel this loud.

“You’re out of your mind.” I whipped to look at Jax standing at the entrance of the living room, an unholy look in his eyes. I stepped back and hit Bastien’s chest.

“I contacted Alistair.” Lie, but they didn’t know that. I was planning to do it once I got to my bedroom.

“You what?” Ren’s low hiss sent chills down my flesh.

I sensed they respected each other when interacting at Calliope’s place. The anger gracing their features though, had I made a grave miscalculation? Maybe I shouldn’t have shown that specific card yet. I licked my lips. Jax’s appearance dragged it out of me.

“You need to rest before you continue spouting more nonsense.” Asher huffed, taking hold of my arm. I wiggled out from his grip and forced my eyes up to his.

“I know what I’m saying. I’m taking myself out of the equation. I will go?—”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Jax snarled. He encroached on my space, and I shrunk backwards. I expected anger from Asher but not Jax. I squared my shoulders and lifted my chin.

“I don’t like Imogen,” I shouted back. “Something is off about her, and I think she’s lying to you guys.” I lifted my chin, not backing down from my death-defying words. Again, the silent stillness sent chills down my body. Now they all formed a half circle, staring at me. Bastien pressed his palm into my shoulder, curling his fingers into my muscle. He would cause tears to spill, if he kept it up. I had the desire to lean into him. Which was fucked up beyond belief.

I breathed hard, collecting my thoughts. They still hadn’t said anything as they studied me.

My theory about her hovered on my tongue, but a pitying twist rippled on their features.

“I understand you are not well since her arrival, Love.” My words sucked right back down my throat.

“There is no need to be jealous?—”

“I’m not just jealous!” I cut off Asher. “She’s manipulating you,” I forced out. “I know you guys don’t see it, but she is.”

Bastien paced behind me with thudding steps. His agitation worsened with every second. The others didn’t think he was there mentally, but they were wrong. And putting aside my confusion about him, he seemed to hate her with a passion. We agreed on that.

The front door opened.

All of their heads whipped toward it eerily.

“If it’s Alistair, I’ll kill him,” Ren’s chilling voice sent a shiver down my back.

Maddy sashayed past with grocery bags swinging. She inclined her head to us as she passed and gave me a confused look, before she disappeared. She’d definitely quiz me later. Suddenly, Jax had my arm in a rough grip, forcing me to my toes.

“I’m setting up a meeting with Alistair,” Tobias announced, his gray eyes piercing me.

“To discuss a Coven switch?” I asked hopefully. Maybe a little sarcastically.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Jax snarled. He manhandled me to the staircase. I fought it, fruitlessly. I shot Asher a pleading look and he shook his head, his lips turned down with displeasure.

“I am not with you on this, Pet. You forget you are ours.”

“Contact your Progeny. Have them set up a meeting with Alistair at the club,” Tobias rattled off orders as he stormed up the steps in front of us, leading the way up. Everything was moving so fast.

Jax let up on his grip and my feet flattened on the floor sending a dash of pain to my calves.

Tobias stood before Asher’s bedroom, holding the door open while Asher’s fingers flew over the screen tapping out what he said to his Progeny.

Jax forced me through the door and to the bed with a hard push. I sprawled with my limbs akimbo. Asher was suddenly next to me, clipping a set of fuzzy cuffs from me to the bed.

“Wait!”

I yanked, but it was too late, the latch closed.

“I can’t have him doing your bidding and breaking you out,” Ren’s words were filled with irritation. He shoved Bastien out the door. I cried out, jolting forward, fighting against the restraint.

“Let me out!” I shouted.

“It’s for your own good,” Asher said, determinedly.

“And Alistair’s,” Jax’s threat rang lower and threatening.

I gritted my teeth, stopping my useless yanking against the cuff.

Jax slammed the door.