Anarchy (Hive Trilogy Book 2)
Jaymin Eve & Leia Stone
Chapter 1
"Jayden!"
My scream sounded slightly hysterical at this point. I knew I needed to pull myself together. It was just a date, for freak's sake. Sure, it was a date with Ryder, who was probably the hottest ash on the planet, but it wasn't like I'd never been on a date before. I needed to pull my shit together immediately and there was no one better to help me with that than my BAFF. Best ash friend forever came with certain requirements, and first date help was at the top of the list.
Jayden's eyelashes entered the room first. Those luscious lashes were like a damn foot long, and my boy knew how to flutter them for full effect. Behind them were coal-black eyes, with a slight ring of silver. Ash eyes. Which looked hot as heck on the chocolate-skinned stunner who was my best friend. He ground to a halt a foot inside my room, hand dramatically slamming to his hips.
"Hell to the freaking no, Charlie. You will not leave the house in that! Over my dead, well-dressed body."
I sighed and somehow stopped myself from rolling my eyes at him. "Dude, I did not scream because I needed your help choosing-"
"You need more than my help, girl, you need a mutha-freaking intervention. Jeans, Converse, and a tank is not date material. It's Ryder. Did you forget that you were possibly going to have the chance to fuc – "
"Jayden!" My horrified snort of laughter cut him off this time. "I need you to help with my hair, just my hair."
He strode the rest of the way across and plonked himself down onto my bed, his muscled biceps looking even more prominent than usual. Someone had been doing more than just chasing Oliver through the weights room.
"Nope, no way in all hell. We make a deal right here and now. I will do your hair and makeup, have you looking like the second hottest ash bitch in this Hive, but I also get to choose three outfits for you, and you must wear one of the three."
This time my eyes were rolling, there was no way to stop them. He was so damned dramatic. I studied myself in the mirror, not really seeing what was so wrong with my outfit. I'd gone for sexy comfort, not knowing where we were going tonight. Besides, Ryder seemed to like me exactly the way I was, even with my Tomb Raider style of dress. It was just my hair, which was a freaking mess of weirdly shaped curls. I couldn't use a curling iron to save my life. Looked like I was going to have to compromise tonight.
I met Jayden's eyes in my mirror and gave him my best resting bitch face. "Okay, find your three outfits, and if you even mention nipple pasties this time, I will personally show Oliver that photo of you from when you were fourteen."
His eyes widened. "You wouldn't. I had acne and braces and weird lanky arms and legs. That's the shittiest best friend move ever."
I shrugged. "You've given me no choice but to play hardball."
The slightest of grins tipped up his lips. "You win this round. I will choose three Charlie-approved outfits for you, then we can work on that horror hair you have going on there. Shit, girl, I hope I have enough time. How long until your date?"
Ryder was taking me out at midnight. We were on Hive time, which was geared toward awake at night and asleep for a lot of the daylight hours. "Two hours," I said to Jayden.
He was suddenly up, and in a flurry of energy stormed to my closet and started flicking through the hangers and drawers. I remained where I was. I'd seen him like this many a time; he was on a fashion warpath and it was safer to stay on the sidelines until he was ready for me. My stomach clenched in anticipation then. It really didn't matter what I wore, I was so ready for this date tonight.
One hour and forty-five minutes later I gave myself one last look in the mirror. Jayden had out-freaking-done himself tonight. There were no nipple pasties and I was really happy with my outfit: skintight black jeans that had to have been custom made, they hugged my legs and cupped my butt perfectly, Jayden was probably creeping in my bedroom at night and taking my measurements or something. But I was not going to complain. The jeans were topped off with a deep, rich purple top hanging dangerously low off one shoulder, exposing my black bra and draping across my figure nicely. It was tight enough to be fitted, but loose enough that I didn't feel uncomfortable or exposed. Black ankle boots added three inches to my five-feet-seven. Team that with the bottle of O-negative blood I drank and I was ready for a date.
A knock at the door sent my stomach fluttering. Oh man, I had it bad. I inhaled deeply and smiled. Crossing the length of the living room, I rested my hand on the door knob and took another deep breath.
Date with Ryder, leader of the sexy six and ash enforcer. No big deal.
"Have fun, bitch. Wake me up to give me details," Jayden called out behind me.
Chuckling, I opened the door and in that moment all thoughts of my BAFF fled my brain.
Standing before me was the kind of guy you gawked at in magazines … and he was carrying flowers. Ryder stood well over six feet tall, and every inch of him was toned muscle. Dark locks of hair hung wild, framing his chiseled jaw. He was wearing jeans tonight, soft and worn, and on top of that a dark gray, ribbed, long-sleeved Henley. It fit perfectly to his well-honed muscles. He looked every inch the warrior, and trust me, I'd seen him in action. He was a scary mutha when he was angry.
He handed me the flowers. The blooms looked extra delicate against all the masculinity of their backdrop.
"You look beautiful," he said, his low voice growly. I liked it.
As he stepped closer, towering over me even with my heels, I swallowed hard, hit all of a sudden with the memory of him in a towel. That was a good day. Not sure what else happened on that day in the Hive but the towel had definitely happened.
Clutching the yellow daisies closer, I couldn't halt my grin. "Thanks, I didn't think you were a flowers kind of guy."
Jayden popped up behind me. "I'll put them in some water," he said as he winked at the lead enforcer.
Ryder reached out and took my hand and just like that we were walking down the hall of the Hive, hand in hand like a … a couple. Ah, if only it were that easy. Ryder was still dealing with the fact that he drained his fiancée Molly to death when he turned into an ash over thirty years ago. But for now this was more than enough. Got to start somewhere, and he was already hitting the right buttons.
After taking the elevator down to the main floor, we quickly made our way into the enforcer garage. Opening the door, I raised an eyebrow as I saw the rest of the sexy six leaning up against the blacked-out Humvee.
Oliver let loose with a catcall whistle: "Dayum, little unicorn, you sure do clean up well."
I grinned at Jayden's boyfriend.
"Crashing my date, boys?" I hollered back, only half joking. Seriously, were they coming? Surely Ryder could handle any minor threats.
Ryder turned to me and whispered so softly I could barely hear him. "After the attack from Sanctum and the other incident in the pit … I can't take any chances."
Whoa. Date night had officially turned heavy. Of course, the Sanctum was certainly one big scary group of asshole killers to worry about, but the other incident, the one in the pit, was worse.
Just a week ago Ryder had released a vampire prisoner who had fed from me, only to find out he was human and I had somehow, with my magical unicorn blood, cured him of his vampirism. Ryder said he'd taken care of the body, and no one knew anything about me being the cure, but still, I hadn't slept well since that night. I didn't even want to think about what it all meant.
There was one thing I did know: if Ryder thought he needed the entire sexy six out to guard me on our date night, it sure as shit meant I was in trouble.
"We're going to India Palace," Ryder said to Kyle.
The huge jovial male, with his mop of dirty-blond hair, was Ryder's best friend, the one guy he trusted most with his secrets. Kyle was the only other one who knew about my blood being the cure. He had been there in the pit and was helping to cover it all up.
Kyle flicked me a grin before nodding at Ryder. Then he and the rest of the boys piled into the second Humvee. Ryder opened the passenger door of our car and ushered me in. As I slid into my seat, his arm grazed across my shirt, scraping the side of my right breast. I almost jumped out of my seat, and the tension in my body, which was already at its peak, shot up further. Was it actually possible to be so attracted to a guy that literally the slightest touch had me tied up with so many emotions?
Our gazes clashed for a moment and it took everything inside of me not to clench his shirt in my fists and pull him into me, to touch my lips to his, to taste that intoxicating spiciness which was all Ryder.
His full lips quirked at the corners and something dark rose in his ash eyes, the silver swirling in arcs. "Buckle yourself in," he finally said, pulling away, his body grazing mine again.
Pretty sure that time was deliberate.
He shut the door and I took a second to pull myself together. Holy hot day in hell, he was totally going to be the death of me.
As Ryder got into the other side, I forced my mind out of the gutter and back on the dinner ahead of us. Indian food. Ten points for Ryder. My inner food whore was officially drooling. Bring on the garlic naan and butter chicken.