Olivia raised an eyebrow and shot him a you’re-one-to-talk look.
Loren’s gaze slid to her neck, landing on the point on the left side where he had bitten her, burning through the collar of her white jacket and making the marks throb in response. His eyes flashed purple and the tips of his ears turned pointy.
“What the hell are you?” Sable’s hand went for the blade strapped to her thigh and Olivia grabbed her wrist, capturing her attention.
“You saw nothing,” Olivia said, her tone firm, imitating her prince. “Swear on our friendship that you won’t tell a soul.”
Sable looked as though she would protest but nodded. “Only if I can get a closer look.”
Sable was moving before Olivia could stop her, and a dark feeling opened inside her chest, a black desire to block her way to Loren. Olivia had never been jealous or possessive before, but she couldn’t mistake the intense dangerous feeling for anything else.
Loren looked over Sable’s head to her and their eyes met. An incredible sense of connection bloomed inside her, stealing her awareness of everything else in the room, leaving only Loren. Her heart thumped hard against her chest in response.
He was on her before she could blink, his lean powerful body caging hers against the wall near the door and his hands bracing her arms, pinning her wrists above her. His mouth claimed her throat, kissing and licking, nibbling but not biting, sending a hit of pure bliss rushing through her. Her knees weakened and she tilted her head to one side, the pleasure of his persuasive kiss and the feel of his tongue on her flesh scorching her and melting her bones, burning straight through the barriers around her heart and breaking them down.
“Fuck me,” Sable muttered, shocking Olivia back to reality.
She froze midway through grinding the length of her body against Loren’s, one of her legs still hooked around his backside, her moan coming out as a strangled sound.
Loren paused at her throat, his lips pressing against her, heavy breaths teasing her moist skin.
He slowly eased back and turned his head towards Sable. Olivia became painfully aware that Sable had made a terrible move.
She had drawn her crossbow and had it aimed at Loren, and her.
Loren’s kiss-swollen lips peeled back off enormous fangs and he snarled at Sable, the sound dark and unholy. His armour glided over his body, his eyes changed to bright purple and his ears turned pointed. He snarled again and they flattened against the sides of his head, an action she had come to understand was a threat between elves.
There was such cruelty and viciousness in his black expression, violence that Olivia had felt in him before and witnessed firsthand. If he attacked Sable, he would kill her before she could loose the bolt to defend herself.
Bleu appeared between them, his black blade drawn and against Sable’s throat before she could even twitch.
“Sable,” Olivia said in a level voice and held her friend’s golden gaze, hoping the huntress would do the sensible thing and listen to her. “Put the weapon away.”
“No damn way,” Sable spat out and glared at her. “They’re fucking vampires. He was going to bite you.”
Olivia shook her head. Loren growled lower, his body coiling and tensing. He was going to attack her friend because he thought Sable was threatening her. It proved her theory about the two reasons why Loren would lose control and attack someone, but she wished it hadn’t been Sable in the firing line.
“They’re not vampires, Sable.” Olivia pleaded her with her eyes, keeping them on her. “He won’t harm me... but he thinks that you will... you have to put the weapon away before this gets out of hand.”
Sable again looked as though she would refuse. She eyed Loren and then Bleu, and then lowered the compact crossbow and collapsed it. She slid it back into the holster on her hip. Bleu eased his blade away from her friend’s throat.
Loren didn’t release Olivia.
He clutched her wrists, his grip too tight, hurting her bones and cutting off the blood supply to her hands. He wasn’t relaxing. Why wasn’t he relaxing? If anything, he felt tenser, closer to attacking. There had to be a way to bring him back before he hurt her or Sable. Olivia racked her brain. She had talked him down when he had attacked Bleu. Did the sound of her voice soothe him?
It was worth a shot.
“Loren?” Olivia whispered and wriggled, trying to get his attention. She steadied her heart, letting him feel that she wasn’t afraid now, and she was safe because of him. “Look at me, Loren.”
He glanced at her but then his gaze darted back to Sable and he growled.
“Loren? You’re hurting my wrists.” Olivia tried again and his grip on her eased enough that she could slip her wrists free. She lowered her hands, cupped both of his cheeks, and brought his head around so he was facing her. She kept his eyes on hers, looking deep into his and seeing the struggle in them, his fight to break the hold his instincts had on him. She brushed her thumbs across his cheeks, trying to steal his focus away from the other two occupants of the room. “Sable isn’t a danger to either of us... you startled her, that was all. She’s my friend and she wanted to protect me, not harm me. It’s okay now, Loren. I’m safe. See?”