Breaking the Play boy′s Curse(3)

“What’s the point of substituting green beans for the fries if you’re eating all those carbs from the cheese and bread anyway?” Ricky asked, smirking. “It seems counter-productive.”

“Did it ever occur to you that I like green beans and carrots?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Ricky snorted, rolling his eyes.

Yeah, they both knew it was bull-shit. Draven chuckled. “I’m not a fan of salt,” he admitted. “I avoid it when I can.”

“See, why didn’t you just say that in the first place?” Ricky asked.

A shadow fell over the table, interrupting them. Draven knew who it was before he looked up. Ricky’s scowl told Draven that he recognized Kontra, at least.

“What do you want?” Ricky asked belligerently.

Draven, instead, looked at Tim and gave him a small smile. He lifted a brow, waiting.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” Tim whispered the question.

“Say what you mean, Tim,” Draven ordered softly.

Tim glanced toward his mate, who was standing beside him, then back at Draven. “Here?” he asked dubiously, frowning.

Draven chuckled softly and held his hands out, palms up. “No one is paying us any attention,” he murmured, still smiling.

Frowning, Tim crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re Draven. You’re the man from my vision. You’re to be my mentor.”

“Ah, see? Now was that so difficult?” He grinned. “Yes. Yes, I am.”

“What the hell? Vision? Mentor? What the hell are you guys talking about?” Ricky snapped.

Draven focused on Ricky. “Keep your voice down, Malone. We don’t want attention.” He turned back to Tim. “I’m on my lunch hour. I’ll swing by after work, Tim. We’ll talk then.”

“That would be better than talking here,” Kontra agreed. Lifting a brow, he scowled at Ricky. “Don’t bring him,” he ordered.

Chuckling, Draven nodded. “I won’t,” he agreed.

After they left, Draven ignored the sound of Ricky clearing his throat. His partner obviously wanted information—information that Draven did not intend to give him. He smiled at the waitress when she arrived. After she’d placed their food in front of them and left, Draven picked up his fork and grinned at the man.

“You don’t really want to know what I plan to tutor Tim on, do you, Malone? Some things, personal things,” he added, lowering his voice in obvious innuendo, “are better left unsaid. Don’t you think?”

Ricky paled, then flushed, then focused on his food.

Draven hid his grin and followed suit.





Chapter Two





Vail Tamang stared at the car parking outside the mansion. He stood in an upstairs bedroom, an empty one, in the large house he and the rest of his biker gang rented. He smiled as he thought of the guys he rode with. After leaving his pack over twenty-five years before, he’d never dreamed he’d find a new family. Now, he had one.

And, damn it all, he didn’t want a mate…couldn’t have a mate. The arrival of the man, now, vampire, if he’d heard correctly, would create nothing but problems. Namely, his dick was hard as a rock just looking at the guy stride confidently up the walk to the front door.

Whipcord leanly muscled legs were accentuated by form fitting jeans and the way the guy’s black leather trench flowed around his knees. Vail watched as the vampire ran a hand through short, dirty blond hair as he swept his blue-eyed gaze over the front of the mansion, then over the courtyard, taking it all in.

Once the man disappeared from view, Vail grabbed the windowsill in both hands and leaned against it, letting his head hang for a second. He wanted to go downstairs and see if the man smelled as good as he remembered. He’d only caught a small whiff of him when he was in the house over a week ago, and Vail had jacked off to the memory every night since then and sometimes in the shower.

He knew his friends wondered what was up with him. They’d gone out, exploring the city several times over the last ten days, but he hadn’t joined them. In fact, the only time he’d left the place was to help Payson and Land move the human’s stuff from his small apartment to here. He knew the newly mated couple was in the process of deciding what Land would keep and what he would sell, or give away.

Pushing away thoughts of the couple—he was happy for them, sort of—Vail settled on the bed in the room, his back to the headboard. He rested his head against it and heaved a sigh, trying to think of anything other than the fact that his mate was downstairs, probably talking with Kontra, his alpha, and Tim, Kontra’s mate, about Tim’s warlock training. He’d overheard his alpha talking with his mate about Draven’s impending visit.