Forbidden Seduction Read online

  Siya blinked her eyes open and looked around before lifting her head. She was still in the waiting room, and she’d fallen asleep on Ram’s shoulder. He’d been surprisingly warm and easy to cuddle up to.

  “What time is it?” she asked.

  “A little after four in the morning.”

  “That explains why I’m still tired.”

  “Demi’s awake. Do you want to go see her?”

  That woke Siya the rest of the way up. “Of course.”

  Ram grabbed her hand, pulled her from her chair, and led her down a hallway. They stopped at a room, and he knocked on the door.

  “Come in,” a male voice said on the other side.

  They walked in to see Saxon, Vaughn, and Vance, but Siya’s eyes were for Demi. She let go of Ram’s hand and walked over to her friend.

  “How do you feel?” She grabbed Demi’s hand. She was too afraid of hurting her to hug her.

  “Like I’ve been stabbed.” Demi chuckled.

  “I suppose so,” Siya said.

  “We’ll get out of your hair for now,” Vance said behind Siya, and she heard footsteps and the door close.

  “Are you okay?” Demi asked her.

  “Shaken up some but no injuries.”

  Demi looked Siya up and down. “Where’s your shirt?”

  “I had to use it to stop your bleeding.”

  Demi squeezed her hand. “Thanks for your help.”

  “You’re welcome. I bet, now, you’re glad I didn’t listen to you when you told me to run away,” Siya said with a smile.

  “Fucking A. But, next time, when someone tells you to run, you listen.”

  Siya jumped. She hadn’t realized Ram was still in the room.

  Demi frowned. “Who the hell is that, and why is he trying to boss you around?”

  Siya stepped out of her friend’s line of sight and saw that Saxon was still in the room, too. She had assumed that everyone had left. “Demi, this is Ram. He was with Saxon when I called.” She leaned closer to Demi. “He’s a vampire. Did you know that vampires existed?”

  “Kind of. I’ve never met one before though,” she said in a normal voice, and Siya shot her a look. “Whispering is futile. I’m pretty sure they can both hear you. Their hearing’s better than mine.”

  “She’s right,” Saxon said.

  Siya crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, that’s not fair.”

  “You never answered why he’s bossing you around,” Demi said.

  Siya shrugged. “He thinks he’s in charge of me until this whole situation is resolved.”

  “There is no think. I am in charge of you and your safety.”

  Siya looked at Demi and rolled her eyes. Demi laughed, and it was the best sound in the world.

  “When do you get out of here?” Siya asked, dropping her arms and grabbing Demi’s hand again.

  “Later tomorrow,” Saxon answered.

  “So soon?” Siya asked.

  “I think I’ll heal just as well at home. Plus, I don’t think my insurance will cover this place,” Demi joked.

  “When do we get to go home?” Siya asked.

  “We’re going to bring Demi to our place after she’s discharged. We need to discuss a few things and make sure there’s no trace of what happened. Then, you two are free to go. Ram will take you back to our place today,” Saxon said.

  Siya thought they were going a little overboard, but she’d never been in a situation like this before.

  “Speaking of going home, we’d better go,” Ram said. “The sun is going to come up soon.”

  Siya hadn’t even thought about the sun. It was kind of surreal that Ram was a real vampire who had to stay out of the sun.

  “Can I hug you?” Siya asked Demi.

  “Gently,” Saxon said.

  “Yes,” Demi answered over him.

  Siya bent over and wrapped her arms around her friend. “He sure is protective of you.”

  “I think it’s because of his job.”

  Siya slightly pulled away and furrowed her brow.

  “I’ll explain later,” Demi said. “I’m sorry you can’t go home today.”

  “It’s not your fault. It’s that guy’s fault.” Siya stood, letting go of her friend. “I’ll be fine.” She looked over at Ram, hoping it was true. The whole situation was odd. “Hopefully, they’ll give me a bed, so I can get some sleep. That’ll kill some time until tomorrow.”

  Demi took her hand. “I’ll see you then.”

  Siya squeezed. “I’ll see you then.”

  Ram led Siya out of the building and back to her car. She didn’t even bother asking if he wanted her to drive. The trip was relatively short as they made their way out of the city and into the suburbs. Soon, Ram was driving up a long driveway. There was a generous-sized house and a slightly smaller house on the same property. The land had to be a couple of acres though, so there was plenty of room.

  Ram pulled up next to a group of vehicles, and they exited her car. “This way,” he said.

  She followed him to the smaller of the two houses, where Ram went straight for the fridge.

  “You hungry?”

  “I could eat,” she said.

  “Eggs okay?”

  “Yes.”

  Ram pulled out a carton of eggs, cheese, ham, and a green pepper. “Go ahead and sit.”

  She took a stool at the counter and watched the man cook. He was making omelets. He had two pans going at the same time. One omelet had six eggs in it, and she wondered who he was making that one for. She also found it amazing that a vampire could cook, but then again, she really knew nothing about them.

  “Did you learn to cook in your former life?”

  Ram’s brow furrowed. “What?”

  “Did you learn to cook before you were a vampire?”

  Ram grabbed a plate from the cupboard, slid the smaller omelet on it, and pushed it over to her. He took a second plate out and put the bigger omelet on it. He turned off both burners and opened a drawer to get out two forks. He handed one to her and brought the second plate and fork around the counter to her side where he sat down next to her.

  He cut off a big bite and shoved it in his mouth.

  Siya stared at him.

  Ram pointed to her plate. “I thought you were hungry.”

  “I-I am.” She cut off her own bite from her omelet. “How-how are you eating?”

  Ram took her free hand and placed it on his chest. His yellow eyes showed a hint of a smile. “Because I’m alive.”

  She could feel his warmth and his heart beating under her palm.

  “I was born a vampire, not turned into one. I need blood to keep me alive, but I also need food.” He let her hand go.

  “Wow. So, you can have babies? You can get a woman pregnant?”

  Ram looked her up and down. “If I wanted to.”

  His words were laced with heat, and her cheeks grew warm. She was grateful for her dark complexion because it made her red cheeks harder to see.

  “You’re cute when you blush.”

  “You can’t tell,” she protested.

  Ram smiled, and she saw a hint of fang. She needed to get a closer look at that later.

  “I’m a vampire. I can sense the blood going to your cheeks.”

  Siya took a bite of her food and swallowed. “I’m beginning to feel less than.” It was like being surrounded by superheroes.

  “I’ll introduce you to Kenzie.”

  “Who’s that?” she asked, a sliver of jealousy coursing through her. She was beginning to feel like Ram was kind of hers and not just until the situation was over.

  “She’s human, too. She’s mated to one of the cat-shifters.”

  That was nice of him to think of her.

  “Thank you. I’d like that.”

  Ram had cleaned his plate while Siya was only halfway done. He rose from his seat and put his dish in the dishwasher, and then he proceeded to wash the dishes he’d used to make their breakfast.

&nbs
p; Who knew a vampire could be so domesticated?

  Siya finished her food and put her dish in the dishwasher. “Sorry I didn’t help clean up.” It was partly a lie. She’d been too tired to make herself get up and help.

  “It’s fine. Let’s go to bed.”

  She followed him down a hall to where there were several doors.

  “Hold on.” He walked into a room and came out with a clean T-shirt. He pointed to a door. “There’s the bathroom. You can use the shirt as pajamas.”

  “Is it yours?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll be right out,” she told him. She used the toilet, found stuff to wash her face, and used her finger and toothpaste to brush her teeth. She changed her clothes, leaving on her underwear and the new shirt. It was long enough to be a nightgown.

  When she emerged from the bathroom, the hall was clear. “Ram?”

  “In here,” he said.

  She followed his voice to a room. It had two queen-size beds and a half-naked Ram in it. He was barefoot and shirtless. He was quite the male specimen.

  “Where is everyone?” she asked. “And why is it so cold in here?” She rubbed her arms.

  He shrugged. “Not sure. Reid’s probably in his room on the computer. And I run hot.” He pointed to one of the beds. “Go ahead and lie down. I’m just going to use the bathroom. I’ll be back.”

  “Is this your room?” she asked.

  “Yes. It would be hard for me to keep an eye on you if you weren’t here with me.”

  He had a point. But did that mean she was kicking someone out of their bed?

  “Do you have a roommate?”

  “No, I have a room to myself,” he said as he walked out of the room.

  She sighed with relief. It would be weird to sleep in someone else’s bed that she didn’t even know. She crawled into the bed Ram had pointed to. It smelled of clean sheets and felt incredibly comfortable. She pulled the covers up to her chin, and despite her nap at the infirmary, she closed her eyes, sleep already starting to pull her under.

  She heard quiet footsteps come back into the room and felt Ram sit on the bed.

  He put his hand on her arm. “Are you already sleeping?”

  “Hmm,” was all she said in response.

  “Good. I’ll be right back.”

  His footsteps left again, and Siya fell further into slumber.

  What felt like a million years later, she vaguely felt the bed shift again, and a warmth surrounded her before she finally succumbed completely to sleep.

  Chapter 13

  Kendall and Camden had gotten home late last night, but her body said it was time to get up.

  She kicked off her covers, grabbed clean clothes, and headed to the bathroom. She took a quick shower, dressed, and went to find breakfast.

  She was just finishing up her meal when she got a text.

  Raven: Heard you had some excitement there last night.

  Kendall: Yeah. You guys busy?

  Raven: No.

  Kendall: I’m heading over. I’ll tell you about it when I get there.

  No one else was around, so she went to the whiteboard on the fridge and left a note of where she was going. Last she’d heard, there wasn’t a meeting until later that night, but if they needed her, they could always call.

  It didn’t take her too long to drive from the cat-shifters’ place to the wolf-shifters’, which was nice because she liked to visit often. To her, it was still home, which was kind of ironic because she hadn’t lived there that long. Before Damien had become alpha and reunited the wolves and the cats, she and the other sentinels hadn’t even lived in the area.

  She took a deep breath at all the memories that brought back. She sure was glad that Dwyer wasn’t in charge anymore. Damien was ten times the alpha his father had been.

  Kendall parked the car and didn’t even bother knocking when she entered. Like she’d said, it was still her home.

  The first two wolves she saw were Chase and Ranulf.

  “Hey, guys,” she said as she shut the door.

  They were both lounging on opposite ends of the couch, and she couldn’t tell if it was early for them or late.

  “Hey, Kenny,” Chase said. “Come over and sit with us.”

  Ranulf didn’t say anything, but his smile was invitation enough.

  Kendall walked over and parked her butt between the two males. “What are you two watching?”

  Ranulf shrugged.

  “Daredevil,” Chase said.

  “Movie or Netflix show?”

  Chase raised his brow like her question was crazy. “Show.”

  Ranulf sniffed the air. “Your heat coming?”

  Kendall slouched down on the couch and crossed her feet at the ankles. “Yeah. I’m hoping I can use Damien and Payton’s house for a couple of days, so I can be alone. I really don’t want to go to my parents’. It always feels weird to be super horny in their home. Is the alpha here?”

  Ranulf pointed to the ceiling. “Listen closely.”

  Chase hit pause, so the living room went quiet, and about ten seconds later, there was a faint and distant female moan.

  Chase hit play, and Kendall said, “Okay, so I guess I’ll wait for them to come downstairs.”

  Chase elbowed her. “Jealous?” he teased.

  “Yes,” she admitted even though it had been a joke. “But not that I want Damien for myself.” She frowned at the thought. “I just get a little lonely around my heat. It kind of reminds me of what I don’t have.”

  Chase threw his arm around her and pulled her down to his lap as he shoved a pillow under her head. “Hey, if you need some loving, Ranulf and I are here to help.”

  Kendall looked down at Ranulf to see his reaction, and he patted his legs, so she lifted her feet and set them in his lap. He started massaging her calves, and she studied him. He had light-brown hair and blue-green eyes, and he was the more serious of the two.

  She looked up at Chase. He had dark hair and eyes of a cool orange color. Both men were good-looking, and she had heard rumors that they liked to participate in threesomes, but she’d never witnessed evidence of it herself.

  “Would this be two separate occasions or one big session?” she asked out of curiosity.

  Ranulf gave no indication that he was fazed by her question, and Chase said, “I guess you’ll have to say yes to find out.”

  Kendall snorted. “Knowing my luck, you would both knock me up, and then I’d be tied to not one, but two men for the rest of my life.”

  “And this would be a bad thing?” Chase asked.

  Kendall rolled her eyes.

  Chase turned his gaze to Ranulf. “Hey.”

  Ranulf looked over at him. “What?”

  “That should be our next goal.”

  Ranulf frowned. “What should be?”

  “You and me getting the same woman pregnant.”

  Ranulf rubbed his chin. “Friendship level up?”

  “Hell yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.” He stuck out his fist, and Ranulf bumped it.

  “You two aren’t serious, are you?” she asked, horrified. “These are children we’re talking about.”

  Chase shook his head and looked to the ceiling. “Jeez, Kenny. Of course we’re not serious. Lighten up.” He tilted his head toward Ranulf. “Although then our kids would be half-siblings.”

  “But then they couldn’t date each other and mate when they grew up.”

  “You two are weird,” Kendall told them.

  They both shrugged.

  “Who’s weird?” Raven said as she walked into the room.

  “These two,” Kendall said, pointing at the males.

  “I could have told you that.”

  Kendall sat up and smoothed the back of her hair down. “They offered to help me out with my heat.”

  Raven’s eyebrows rose. “At the same time?”

  Kendall shrugged. “I don’t know. They won’t tell me.”

  The two females looked at
the males, but they ignored them.

  The front door opened, and Hunter, the vampire who was living with the wolves, walked in.

  “Hey, Hunter,” Raven said.

  “Hi,” Kendall said. She didn’t know him well since he’d come to live with the wolf-shifters when she went to live with the cat-shifters, but she knew him well enough to greet him.

  He grunted and took off for the stairs.

  “Wow,” she said.

  Raven lifted her brow. “Yeah, he’s been grumpy ever since Quentin left. I think they were better friends than anyone knew.”

  “That’s sad,” Kendall said.

  “It is,” Raven agreed. “When did you get here?” she asked, changing the subject.

  “Just a bit ago,” she answered.

  “Tell me about last night,” Raven said as she walked toward the kitchen.

  Kendall got up and followed, telling her friend all about Demi and the dead human in the alley as Raven got them both coffee. They sat at the table.

  “What’s going to happen next?”

  Kendall shrugged. “No idea. We’re having a meeting tonight.”

  “So, are things still going okay?” Raven asked.

  “Yeah. I miss it here.”

  Raven nudged Kendall with her foot and smiled. “Hey, if you mate with one of those two boneheads out there, then you can come back.”

  Kendall took a drink of her coffee. “I think I’ll pass.”

  “I don’t blame you.”

  “I don’t know if I could date one of them. Even though they were joking—I think—they’re kind of a package. I’d have to take both of them as one.” Kendall lowered her voice. “Do you really think they have threesomes?”

  Raven smiled and lifted her drink to her mouth. “I have no idea.”

  Kendall gasped. “You’ve done it with them.”

  Raven shook her head, but she was grinning now.

  “You have. Admit it.”

  Raven waved her hands back and forth and started laughing. “I swear, I haven’t. At least, not with them.”

  Kendall gasped again. “You’ve been holding out on me. What’s it like?”

  Raven shrugged. “Just like sex with one guy, it depends on who you do it with.”

  “So, you’re saying, it was meh?”

  “Yeah, pretty much.”

  They both started laughing.