Mate's Lore 1(17)

“He will drink from me and there is nothing you can do to stop it.”

Tanya willed herself to drop her arms, to square her shoulders and to take a step towards the vampire. “I will be his mate and bare his heirs, which is better than being a blinged up sippy cup. All you are to Brant is a quick fast food meal.”

Alexandra made an incredulous sound and quick as a flash had closed the space between them, hand raised.

“Touch her and die.” Brant’s voice had ice filling her veins even though she knew the animosity wasn’t directed at her. “You no longer work for me and have until the end of the week to move out.”

“Brant, I wouldn’t have struck her. She—”

“Was simply stating the facts. You seem to have forgotten your place.”

“It won’t happen again.” Her eyes were wide…pleading.

“You’re right it won’t.” His warm hand clasped Tanya’s and they made for the exit. Xavier and York flanked them. It wasn’t easy keeping up with his long strides. She wobbled a few times on her stilettos. Brant wrapped his arm around her waist and tucked her into the crook of his arm, practically carrying her.

The moment they were in the back of his vehicle he turned his full attention on her.





Chapter 5



The SUV pulled away. Though Brant, who at first had seemed to have had a lot to say to her, now looked out the opposite window. His body was a tense silhouette against the back drop. Even with minimal light, she could see that his jaw was locked. Ten minutes later, nothing had changed. She was beginning to get seriously irritated at his continued silence. Especially since the whole Alexandra thing had been his fault. Just as she was about to give mister tall, dark and irritating a piece of her mind, he turned to face her.

“What were you thinking provoking her like that?”

“She provoked me first.”

“She’s a vampire. Could’ve snapped you like a twig.” His jaw worked. “If I had lost you.” He turned blazing eyes on her for a few seconds before looking out the side window again. His back was set, every muscle tense.

“You were going to drink from her again. That’s why you and Stephany were arguing.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You would’ve hurt me if you’d taken from her again. Don’t you see that?” She bit on her lip for a few beats. “You won’t injure me.” Her voice came out sounding timid. How would he ever believe her if she didn’t believe herself? “Did something happen in your past to make you think that you would?”

“I almost killed someone once.”

“A human?”

“I was young, stupid. I wanted to taste of —as you humans would call it—the forbidden fruit. Surely the prince would be capable of maintaining control. I was so arrogant,





damn ed stupid.” He laughed without any humor. “Well…I almost killed her. It took three of my friends to pull me off.” He ran a hand through his hair.

“Look…you…me…this…” She gestured between them. “It’s happening. Whether I like it or not. I didn’t ask to be here. It would be best if you remembered that.” It was so difficult to talk about this stuff. “If this is to work.” She shook her head not believing what she was saying. “You really need to know that I don’t like sharing. It’s really as simple as that. I refuse to share you.” She found that she didn’t feel in the least bit guilty about that now that she had started to accept the situation. Going forward though, it would be on her terms.

Brant’s mouth pulled into a half smile before becoming serious. “Are you saying you want me?” His voice had dropped a gazillion octaves. The vibration washed over her like mulled wine.

Tanya folded her arms. Brant dropped his gaze to her cleavage. His body tightened, those long dark lashes practically fused as his lids hooded.

“Yes,” she squirmed in her seat. “I do, but not while you’re drinking from Alexandra or any other female for that matter. You drink from me and you will be having sex with nobody but me. I refuse to continue on this crazy path otherwise.”

Tanya hoped that he would agree. Aside from her store, there was nothing to go back to. Becky could come and visit. She could think of worse things than becoming the sexy vampire’s mate. She may have been a little off balance for a bit there, who could blame her? But things were going to change. She was going to have a big say in her own future. Brant would need to deal or she was gone. It was as simple as that.



****



Brant swallowed hard, lifting his dark eyes to meet hers. He was secretly thrilled that she had staked her claim on him. At the same time, doing this her way could end in her death. “We need to do this in stages. Alternating sex and drinking frequently until I feel strong enough to handle both.” He had to work to keep his voice even. Especially when his cock sprang to life at the thought of tasting her, of sinking deep inside her, with both cock and fang. “Too much too fast and—”