A Dream Forbidden (Lillith Mercury ) Read online

  He took a deep breath and I watched in fascination as the muscles of his abs expanded, flexing beneath the skin. He was muscular without being overdone. The bronze of his skin made it always look like he had been out in the sun. But Marco just had a natural tan. He wasn't dark, but closer to a warm honeyed shade. It was the effect one might expect from a really good bronzing lotion.

  His bed was massive. It was definitely larger than a king, and I was betting it had been custom made. It sat against the wall in the middle of the large bedroom on a slightly raised section of floor. As I drew closer, I took one step up and crawled across the sheets toward him. Marco had let his dark brown hair grow lately. It was shaggy, but stylish, with the longest layer reaching to just below his chin. I brushed a stray hair back from his face and sighed at the memory of how it had framed his lovely visage as he leaned over me the night before.

  His breathing changed, and even though he didn't move, I knew Marco was awake. I crawled on top of him and stretched my small frame down the length of his body as if he were a pillow.

  "Did you want something, Red?" he asked as he slid me up his body, closer to his face.

  "Just you," I sighed, rubbing my cheek against the fresh stubble of his beard.

  This was my favorite way to sleep, and as Marco began to rub my back, that's exactly what I did.

  * * * *

  I awoke a few hours later to the smell of coffee. Before I could take a deep breath to fully appreciate the aroma, Marco pounced on the bed and smacked my butt.

  "Get up, Red."

  I made a noise somewhere between a complaint and a growl as I snatched the covers over my head and rolled over.

  I felt Marco slide from the bed, but knew he wouldn't give up so easily.

  "Don't make me come under there," he growled as he lifted the sheet and glared at me.

  The threat sounded real, but the expression on his face let me know what was really on his mind. I threw back the sheet and slid toward him on my stomach. When I reached the edge of the bed I brushed my face across his hip like a cat, carefully avoiding the parts I knew he'd rather have me touch.

  "Can't we just stay in bed?" I purred seductively.

  "No," he said sounding regretful. "We're going to the beach today, remember?"

  I licked across his skin and he shivered.

  "You haven't got the stove on have you?" I asked.

  "I hadn't started breakfast yet."

  "Good, then it can wait a while," I said with a growl.

  Without further hesitation I rose to my knees, running my hands up and over his body. I leaned forward and flicked my tongue across his nipple. Marco gasped as I pressed the front of my body against his. His warmth burned into me as I arched my cold body against him. I wasn't nearly as cold to the touch as a vampire. But compared to Marco, I always felt like ice. He was quite literally one of the hottest men I'd ever known.

  "Come back to bed, Marco. The rest of the world can wait for just a little bit longer."

  Truthfully, I was loathe to give up my time with him. Although we'd been seeing more of each other, between his responsibilities with the pack and mine with The Hunters … I begrudged every moment I had to give up.

  I ran my hand over his ridged abs, staring with open fascination as if I'd never seen him naked before. I had loved Marco since the first moment I laid eyes on him. Even when we were enemies, a fire for him burned inside of me. A fire that now could only be soothed by his touch.

  At any moment I feared this … feared Marco would be taken from me. Why not enjoy a few more moments in bed? When I took his hands and placed them over my breasts he growled. The sound vibrated along my skin, making me shiver with excitement. I stretched upward to kiss him and just before my eyes closed I saw his turn amber.

  Marco growled again as he deepened the kiss, plunging his tongue into my mouth. When I pulled back, I knew that all I was feeling must have shown in my eyes.

  "What's wrong, Red?"

  "Nothing," I said, reaching for him. "Nothing at all."

  I hungered for the touch of his hands and the passion in his kiss. As I pulled him to the bed, Marco gave up his control, letting me roll him to his back. I took his shaft in my hand and all thoughts of Mathias and Dracula were forgotten.

  As I guided him inside of me, I felt the smile spreading across my face at the familiar pleasure/pain. Marco never exactly hurt me, but when we skipped the foreplay he came close. Still, I liked for it to almost hurt sometimes.

  He growled as I slid further down his shaft, taking more of him each time I moved. "That's a good way to hurt yourself." His tone was playful, but the look in Marco's eyes said he wanted me to hurt him.

  "I need it to hurt a little. I want you so bad I ache."

  Marco put his hands on my hips, pressing deeper inside of me with a growl. I arched back, rolling my hips forward as I ground against him.

  "More."

  I looked down at him and saw understanding in his eyes.

  "I knew it. You are worried about something."

  I pressed a finger against his lips. "Make it go away. Work my body so hard that my mind can't think."

  Marco rolled me to my back, bringing a startled gasp from my lips. He drove into me with a ferocity I hadn't expected, but I'd certainly asked for. Still, Marco was always careful with me. He was aware of how big he was and though he moved hard and fast, I could tell he still held back.

  "More," I panted.

  "More?"

  He seemed to doubt my ability to take what I was asking for.

  "Make me … ah!" Before I could finish the sensual command, Marco slammed into me full force, bringing me to the hardest climax I'd had in weeks.

  As we lay there in the aftermath, both covered in a fine sheen of sweat, I realized we were no longer alone. Dracula had already slipped back into my thoughts.

  Almost an hour later than he had planned, Marco staggered from the bed and informed me that if he didn't eat soon he might grow paws. I laughed, but my stomach thought my throat had abandoned it also. That was something werewolves and I had in common ever since my attack. I may not transform completely, but I had inherited their metabolism. I just got sick if I didn't eat regularly, but a werewolf needed regular meals to help them control the change. It was one way of keeping their strength up, and the stronger they are, the more control they have over the beast.

  After brushing my teeth and freshening up a bit, I borrowed Marco's black bathrobe and followed him into the kitchen. We would worry about a shower later. Marco has a huge loft-style apartment located on the top floor of club Red. Normal people go there occasionally, but it's primarily a hangout for the pack. Most of the "normal" people who end up at club Red know at least one werewolf, so it isn't entirely a place for outsiders. However, Marco didn't make an effort to keep them out. His other club on the beach, The Dread Moon was the first commercially advertised werewolf club. It was "the place" to mingle with the animals if that's what you were into.

  Marco's kitchen is open, as is the rest of his apartment. Only the bedroom is cut off from the rest, and I liked that. The kitchen was only separated from the rest of the room by a large bar. Marco looked over at me and frowned playfully at the robe I was wearing. I'm sure he would have preferred me to go naked, but the weather was heating up and the temperature in his apartment was set a bit too cool for my taste. Werewolves always ran a slight temperature, and with the full moon approaching, he was even hotter.

  I sat down on the sofa near the fireplace and watched him over the back. On the other end of the sofa rested a cream colored fur blanket that I now knew to be the pelt of the former king. Beside it was a slightly golden blanket that had been made from Peter's fur. He had meant for me to have it, but I simply could not stand it in my house. Marco on the other hand didn't have a problem with it. In fact, he had taken it to the last gathering of the pack just to show the members who were not present at the fight what they had missed. He held it up to the crowd and said, "This is what r
emains of the last man to challenge my rule." He paused. "Now, is there any other business to be brought to my attention before we begin the hunt?"

  Not surprisingly, few petitions were brought before the king that night. I know because I was standing at his left side, where the queen and his enforcer are supposed to stand. I just happened to fill both positions. Luther, my childhood friend and his second in command, stood to his right. To my right stood the new leader of his armies, his former challenger though they had never fought, and his former beta wolf, Bade Garren. Bade had shown up on the night of the challenge, pledged his loyalty, and asked to be allowed back into the pack. Marco informed him he would never be his second again; however, his armies needed a new leader. Bade now held the position of Garm and he resided once again in club Red's basement.

  No sooner had I finished thinking about him than Bade's golden mane appeared at the top of the stairs. He and Luther were the only ones besides Marco and myself who knew how to get into the king's apartment. As the rest of his tall frame appeared in one step increments I couldn't help but admire our intruder.

  Bade was only wearing a pair of jeans, and he hadn't buttoned them. He must have gotten dressed in a hurry. Bade Garren is six foot four and built like a Greek god. His ethereal golden hair just touched the tops of his shoulders and the matching hair across his chest gleamed in the early morning light streaming through the windows. I knew for a fact that he was a natural blond, and tried not to blush as I met his pale blue eyes.

  "I'm sorry," he said, nodding in my direction. I guess he wasn't going to apologize to Marco.

  "I've got some news," he said.

  Marco turned to face him unabashedly. He acted as if Bade hadn't walked in on him cooking breakfast in the nude. I knew that werewolves were very comfortable in their own skin, but this was ridiculous. I suppose Bade had just put on the pants for my benefit. "Or maybe," I thought upon closer inspection of those tight jeans, "it was for my punishment."

  "Let's have it then," Marco said, turning back toward the stove.

  "I was just watching the news downstairs. It appears that thanks to lunatics like your ex," he said as he gestured toward me, "we will now be subjected to new laws."

  That got Marco's attention, and he put down his spatula to listen.

  The werewolf community had not been able to keep what had happened to Elijah as secret as they'd hoped. They had toned down the attack quite a bit, but Elijah was legally obligated to tell his commanding officer what had happened. It had helped to spur on the debate of whether or not people had the right to know if their neighbors were werewolves. As it was, coming out was voluntary, just like for the vampires. But apparently that was coming to an end.

  "They've just passed what they're calling The Werewolf Registration Act," Bade announced. "All lycans are required to register themselves as 'a living biological weapon.' Even the ones like Judas who are shifters, but not werewolves."

  Judas is a were-leopard, the only one of his kind we'd found so far, and he was dating my friend Kathryn Roberts.

  Marco sighed heavily. "Many will resist. I think most of the pack will go along with it, but what about school teachers, doctors, and lawyers? This will ruin them."

  "I guess they're just fucked," Bade said with a shrug as he walked over to where I sat.

  "No," Marco said decisively. "I know a judge who's a werewolf. He may be able to offer some advice. Until then, you get some people on the phone and tell the members of the pack who would lose their jobs over this to stay put. Take no action unless I say otherwise. I will not have my people destroyed over some idiots in Washington pissing on our community like we don't matter."

  He sighed again and said more calmly, "But if it were me, I'd want to know if my neighbor was a werewolf."

  All men are not created equal, but Marco was a good one. He always tried to put himself in other people's shoes, and that made him a good leader as well.

  Bade went to the bedroom and used the phone to start calling some members of the pack. He passed along Marco's message and returned to sit beside me. Marco had gone back to cooking and I'd gone back to admiring his ass. No sense getting worked up even more about something we couldn't change.

  "This place reeks of sex," Bade growled low for my ears only.

  "That's because I spend every waking moment riding Marco like a wild stallion," I replied without batting an eye.

  I knew Bade was just trying to get a rise out of me, and he wasn't going to succeed. His shock was clear, but he also seemed pleased. Oh great. Was there no way to turn this man off? Bade scooted closer and put his arm around me just as Marco walked out of the kitchen.

  I watched in admiration as he moved around the bar with all the grace of an animal of prey. The curve of his upper hips is wonderful, but his lower hips are just as well toned. His long legs are sleek and sinewy and they flexed with his every step. If anything jiggled on Marco's body, it was supposed to. I watched his hips flex tantalizingly as he came closer and thought to myself, "Marco's not just eye candy, he's eye chocolate."

  Take a rich piece of chocolate and let it melt on your tongue. That's what looking at Marco does for my eyes. He reminded me of a great cat as he walked naked across the loft. But Marco was far more deadly than any lion or tiger. He growled and snapped at Bade as he walked past us in a way that completely belied his human appearance.

  Bade removed his arm from my shoulders, but he didn't scoot back to the other end of the couch.

  ?

  Chapter Three

  "I see he still tries to carry the world on his shoulders," Bade commented after Marco had gone into the bedroom.

  "Yes."

  "But he's not Atlas." Bade sighed. "And he's going to burn breakfast," he said as he rose to his feet.

  I followed Bade into the kitchen and sat on one of the tall barstools while he flipped the pancake Marco had left to brown.

  "It's not brown enough," I said.

  "Picky bitch," Bade growled, but his smile let me know he was teasing.

  He hadn't been awake for long either, because his Australian accent was always thicker when he first woke up. I couldn't help laughing. In spite of the fact that until recently Bade had been mine and Marco's enemy, we had become friends somewhere along the way. The first time I'd had any real interaction with Bade, I bit his nipple off. Now I found myself admiring the silver stud through that same regenerated nipple, and smiling as I did so.

  Marco and Bade had been like brothers until Bade decided Marco didn't lead the pack well enough to suit him and split. He took almost half the pack with him, and they had returned with Bade. Marco had accepted him back like a prodigal son, and I believed he was right to trust him, though many disagreed. Bade truly regretted what he had done. And as it turns out, their rift was mostly because of me. He thought that since Marco was king, he should take what he wanted. He took it as a sign of weakness that he didn't and was tired of watching Marco pine away for me. Men are strange, and wolfmen are even more complicated some times.

  "Stop it," Bade rumbled.

  "Stop what?"

  "I don't like the way you keep looking at my nipple," he said with a wink.

  For some reason, being alone with Bade made me double check in my mind that I had actually remembered to take my birth control. The pill I took only had to be remembered once a year, so I had taken it four days ago on my birthday. Shame on me that seeing Bade half naked made me think of such things.

  Most female werewolves were sterile. The ones who weren't would miscarry with the change. The only way for a male werewolf to have children was to have them with a human woman. The virus was not passed genetically, so his children would be normal. If I had been a full-fledged werewolf, we wouldn't have had to worry because I would have most likely been sterile. But with me and Marco, things were different. If we chose to, we could have children.

  I was still laughing at Bade's nipple comment when Marco reentered the room. He was wearing a pair of well-fitted jeans and
a faded blue t-shirt. As good as Bade looked in jeans, Marco put him to shame. He walked over and kissed my cheek as he said, "Every time I leave the room, I come back to find you flirting with my girl."

  "I'm a man, I have to try," Bade said with a grin.

  After breakfast, Marco and I went down to Bade's room to use the transporter in his closet. I pushed the white tile that would take us to my house and we stepped inside the small circular space. In a flash we were in Alfred's old lab. Alfred was my former partner, and ex-boyfriend. Now he worked with my father like he had before working with me. Even though he had been gone for a few months now, I had only recently been able to walk through his lab without crying.

  Marco had brought a change of clothes with him, and we hurried up to my room where we packed his clothes and mine in a bright orange bag. Before I could throw on some old torn jeans and a t-shirt over my swimsuit, I heard Elijah blowing the horn outside.

  "He doesn't knock?" Marco said sarcastically.

  "Not since we aren't dating."

  "Oh, so since you're not his, there's no need to be nice?" he drawled.

  In response to that Elijah beeped again and I laughed. "Guess not."

  "We're coming," Marco growled out the window as he grabbed my orange bag and I searched for a pair of flip-flops.

  I slipped the shoes on about halfway down the stairs where we met Alek. The wizard looked good for his age, late thirties to early forties maybe, though he was much older. The fine lines around his eyes seemed to lend him a certain dignity that a younger version of himself might not have possessed. His eyes were brown, but not ordinary brown, more like a pale honeyed tea. He had the look of wisdom that a wizard should have and I liked that about him.