Taboo Kisses(16)
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“You disrespect our mate, Maximus.” Gabriel fought against the tiger going after Kat. There was no debating with his inner beast. The witch had wronged their woman, and the animal instinct was to make her suffer. In the end, she’d kick his ass with her witchery shit. Clawing her a little would go a long way in taming his cat’s fury, though. Ultimately, this was Maximus’s fuck up. He’d practically roofied her with his venome. Instead of seeing to her welfare, he’d kidnapped her and now enslaved her with the witch’s help.
Son-of-a-fucking-bitch! Nothing good could come of this. To bind Sameya to their will was as good as caging a wild animal. His cat would enjoy chasing her and taming her, but confinement would never be an option.
“My actions are justified.” The blaze of green eyes testified to the vampyr’s broodiness.
“Bullshit.” His canines drew blood as he attempted to speak around them. “I thought you capable of many things, but never this.”
“She gave me no other choice.”
What a cop out! Alternatives were always available. “How would you feel if your freedom was taken from you, the way you’ve done to her?” Maximus paled and ran his hand down his face. Gabriel refused to soften his words. “I’m disappointed in you, Maximus.”
The vampyr’s shoulders squared and he notched his chin higher. “When she woke and busted through Kat’s spell, how disappointed would you be when she departed our life…forever?” He got in Gabriel’s face. “I would be devastated to lose her. I know you would be, as well. This way, I give us a slim chance of wooing her into staying.”
“It’s wrong.” It was mulish of Gabriel to continue to reiterate the wrongness of what Maximus had done. His focus would be better served on damage control when Sameya woke. The tiger’s sense of honor was irritated. They should be protecting her, not causing her harm.
“Please try to understand—”
Enough of this bullshit. Gabriel shifted. Arguing wouldn’t resolve their dispute.
“Goddamn it, Gabriel, your shifting solves nothing.” Maximus put his fingers through his unruly hair. Using his feline body, Gabriel nudged Maximus away from their woman. “Don’t be like this.”
Gabriel barred his teeth and growled. He leapt onto the bed and stretched out beside Sameya, chuffing his annoyance.
Chapter Seven
Sameya’s head throbbed. Disoriented, she rubbed her temples with her fingertips and moaned when the touch elicited more pain than comfort. Lowering her arms, her hand touched something furry.
That same hairy object made a chuffing sound. Her eyes flew open, and she winced at the sudden brightness of the room. The sun poured through the window to her right. Using slow movements, she turned her head to identify the warm entity. A white Bengal tiger.
His massive head rested on the pillow beside her. Huge. At least six hundred pounds of muscle and somewhere near twelve feet in length. What a beauty. Yellow eyes peered at her. She’d never seen a white Bengal with anything but blue eyes before. His tail flicked back in forth in short agitated movements.
“Welcome back, siren,” a darkly hypnotic voice said.
Sameya jerked into a seated position and regretted it when her head paid her back with a stab to the temples. The fucking vampyr from last night prowled nearer. Wincing at the continued throb, she watched him cautiously. He’d ditched the top hat, exposing wavy, chin length hair.
Beside her the feline made a weird sound, a cross between a growl and a snarl. The creature sat up with so much grace, she momentarily forgot about the vamp. His weight dented the bed, and she adjusted her position to keep from rolling into him.
Like an amnesiac her memories from last night slammed into her. The cat forgotten, she swiveled to face the vampyr. “You bastard. You bit me!”
“That’s not all I did.”
Narrowing her focus on him, she realized he was still attired in the same clothes from the previous evening. The only thing missing was his hat. The room held a distinct male feeling. Navy walls, dark wood floors, a leather chair and settee near the window, and the four-poster, cherry bed with royal-blue coverlet. Not a touch of femininity in the room.
She threw her legs over the side of the mattress. Thankfully the throbbing in her skull had abated a fraction. A scratch at her throat halted her rise. The vampyr watched her, his silver-blue eyes rapt as she lifted a hand to her neck. An inch thick choker, encrusted with jewels by the feel, snared her focus as the enchantment tingled on her fingertips.
Seeking her well of siren magic, she tapped into the mojo in the necklace. A powerful totem intended to restrain her. When she located the witch who’d trapped her, she’d kill the individual…or better yet, keep the brazen one as a pet.