Taking on Tory(2)

Simon rubbed at the faint scars around his left wrist. He had been kept chained until the fateful night he escaped. Boatwright had made a lethal mistake that had given Simon the chance for freedom.

He had invited a few wealthy human females to partake of the savage beast’s lust. Boatwright enjoyed watching as the women took advantage of the raging desire that drove him almost to insanity. A Werewolf’s sexual craving was a powerful and dangerous thing.

Lady Mary Quincy didn’t listen to the careful instructions given to her before entering his chamber. The stout pin holding up her thick hair was the tool he needed to pick the locks binding him. As she rode his body, he used his teeth to capture the loose pin. He slipped it into his mouth and held it tightly against his cheek until she and Boatwright were through with using his body for their pleasure.

Three nights later, he had escaped after killing his handlers. Boatwright had chased him through the streets of London, but the fighting had hardened his body until he was the ultimate killing machine. He had quickly defeated his former master and left his body in the burning remains of a hut on the outskirts of town.

After killing Boatwright, he had gone after the second man responsible for his captivity. It had taken him three weeks to work his way north to the country estate of the man who had sold him to his Master in exchange for wealth and power. He had taken his time killing his half-brother, Henry Manning. That was another death that he had no regrets over.

At almost three hundred years old, he had seen the best and worst of humanity. At first, it had been difficult for him to control the beast that moved inside him. It had taken him almost a quarter of a century to harness it. Youssef’s great-great-great grandfather had been instrumental in helping him.

“You should let the past go, my friend,” Youssef said in a quiet voice, watching the figure standing in silent readiness. “You need to hunt.”

Simon pulled away from his reverie and nodded. “Tonight,” he replied. “My quarters are ready?”

“Yes,” Youssef responded.

“Good…,” Simon’s voice faded as a figure on the street below his office suddenly caught his attention.

A low rumble escaped him in surprise. The figure was of a female. She wasn’t very tall and had curves that made him want to run his hands over them. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a high pony tail that swung as she twirled on the sidewalk to laugh up at the tall male next to her.

Even from this distance he could see the excitement on her face as she replied to the man. Her arms flung outward, pushing the heavy mounds of her breasts upward. He could feel the beast inside him respond to the unintended invitation.

The female was the exact opposite of what he was normally attracted to, yet he couldn’t pull his eyes away from her. His hand tightened on the papers in his hand, crumpling them, when the male suddenly pulled the female into his arms and hugged her close before releasing her.

“What is it?” Youssef asked, walking over to stand next to Simon so he could look out of the window. “Do you sense a threat?”

“Yes,” Simon muttered under his breath. “But, this one is from the beast inside me. He wants that female.”

Youssef stared down at the two figures. The male was still talking to the female. Whatever he was saying, she was enthusiastically nodding her head up and down as she listened to him intently. She was a short, slightly plump, curvy woman who might have been mistaken as rather ordinary if not for the glow in her face.

“Do you want me to find out who she is?” Youssef asked, turning to look at Simon. A slight curse escaped his lips when he realized that his friend had disappeared. “Damn it, I hate it when you do that!” He muttered, turning and heading for the door that was still in motion.





Chapter 2


Tory released a short scream of frustration and twisted away from the tall, stately man stubbornly standing in front of her. It was the same argument over and over again. This time he was giving her all the reasons she shouldn’t be going to a Graphic Design and Computer Animation convention in Phoenix with some of her online friends. If he had his way, she would be kept in a gilded cage for the next century.

Knowing she needed to leave before she said something she would regret, Tory shifted. One second, the figure of a young woman with shiny shoulder-length dark brown hair and matching chocolate-colored eyes was standing in front of the pale green house, the next a small, plump bat flapped upward toward the second floor roof. It landed on the peak and angrily glared down at the exasperated male watching her.

“Charlie,” a soft voice reproached.

“Sophie,” Charles Alexandru Carson grimaced at the look of disapproval on his wife’s face. “She is just a baby!”