John Smith had arrived directly before dawn this morning. Having set my alarm clock to wake me early, I had been ready for him. Like I had known he would, he took the job. After spending forty-four minutes and twenty-eight seconds in my front room with me — I had timed it, and had Ezra held out longer than I had initially bet on — John’s mission was set. He was going to track down Elly Belford, a lion Shifter. She was the individual who had romantic ties to Philip Masterson, the leader of the cult responsible for starting MCWWII, and I believed if we found her, we would be that much closer to tracking down Mr Masterson and, pleasantly, be rid of him.
“Hidden — permit Ezra Zeller.” I wasn’t able to see the flash of gold, but I knew it would be there. And I was right on time because not ten seconds later Ezra shoved aside the tent flap just as he was snapping his phone shut, his cheeks flushed in anger and eyes not exactly what I would call cold and dead…more like livid and glimmering, he was so pissed. I waved a hand at him, taking my boots off my coffee table as he shoved the tent flap down, glaring daggers at me. “Good morning, Ezra.” I stood, picking up the two coffee mugs sitting on the coffee table, and brushed past his statue-like form to set them on the bar. “How do you take your coffee?”
And…I was happy that I had decided to go with the non-attack plan, leaving my weapons off, otherwise he might have gotten a silver knife to his gut when he blurred so fast I couldn’t track him. All of sudden I was lying on my back behind the bar with an extremely heavy, enraged Vampire on top of me, luckily out of Isa’s view.
I wheezed in a breath, barely managing to fight my wolf back, as I stared into fangs and glowing green eyes. “Get off me and we’ll talk about this civilly.”
Ezra’s Vampire growled, and as quickly as he moved before, he jerked my head up, baring my throat, his fangs steady at my pulse. I did freeze, not moving to even breath so he didn’t accidently nip my throat and draw blood, which wouldn’t be a great idea if I wanted to keep my hybrid nature hidden from him. Plus, I knew he wasn’t going to kill me. This was about predator ownership…and just for the fact that he was pissed. His Vampire continued growling as he yanked my hands from where he had pinned them at my sides to above my head, his thumbs digging into the underside of my sensitive wrists and showing me he wasn’t afraid to apply pain.
I gritted my teeth through it, the action testing my skills to not even flinch since I couldn’t risk moving.
He held me in that position for at least a minute — which I realized was as long as he had already seen me hold my breath for — then he held me there for an additional twenty seconds before he removed his fangs from my skin. I choked in air, feeling light-headed and my hands cramping and going numb from the pressure he wasn’t releasing. I wasn’t able to get in a decent breath with him on top of me, and I shook my head hard to push away the fuzziness.
Ezra waited until I stared him steadily in the eyes, which took a good minute, and then he growled low, “Did. You. Fuck. Him?”
“Like I said,” I whispered harshly, unable to do more with him on me, “Get off me and we’ll talk about this properly.”
His nostrils flared, his muscles in his jaw flexed, and he literally hissed in my face, baring his fangs. “Answer the fucking question.”
Patience…channeling patience. “Ezra, get off me and I will.” A little give and pull, which was…yep, gonna take a bit, with him so pissed.
We went through the whole neck-baring-and-fang thing again, but this time I damn near passed out when he held his fangs there for a full two minutes.
This time, I didn’t bother answering him. I only choked and wheezed as I caught my breath, glaring, fighting fiercely to keep my wolf back because we didn’t need a real fight in here. “Ezra, Isa’s in this room, and I’m telling you right now I can’t hold my wolf back much longer. I suggest you get off me, so we can talk about this rationally.”
His Vampire became even more enraged when I didn’t answer. His face…I wasn’t positive I saw it correctly, but I could have sworn his face altered somewhat, his features becoming sharper and more harshly beautiful, but when I blinked he appeared normal as Ezra began battling his Vampire back. When he stopped growling, I knew we had made progress even if he was still furious. And it was only a few seconds later that he yanked me to my feet and, yes, loomed over me, muscles bulging against the simple pair of black mesh pants and red t-shirt he was wearing. Belatedly, I realized he wasn’t wearing shoes, his feet bare. And honestly, his feet were just as nice looking as the rest of him.
“No,” I stated simply. “I didn’t fuck him or do anything sexual with him.”
Ezra jerked away from me and began pacing the confines of my front room, occasionally rubbing the back of his neck. “He was here for close to forty-five minutes.” His voice was still growly, but I could tell he was trying to be civil.