Crave (Vampire Beloved Book 5) Read online

  “Yeah.”

  “My name is Merrix Fellows. I work for him at the coven’s construction company.”

  “He’s talked about you. My dad asked if Cyrus would mind if you came to work for him.”

  Merrix chuckled. “That’s cool. So, I’d ask how your night is going, but I think it sucks.”

  “It was an accident. I smelled...” Her voice dropped off, and she lowered her gaze.

  “Smelled what?”

  He wondered if she’d scented him the way he’d scented her, but she didn’t finish her thought.

  He placed a gauze pad on the wound and taped it securely. “Are you going back to work? If you put on a glove and tape the wrist, you should be fine.”

  She looked past him to the door. “I don’t know if I should. I feel like an idiot.”

  “You said it was an accident. No one blames you for what happened.”

  “Vinnie probably does.”

  “Nah. He shouldn’t have been working here anyway. Davina clearly dropped the ball.”

  “I don’t know if I want to work anymore tonight.” She cast her gaze up to him, and he could see her tigress in her eyes, flashes of gold in the chocolate depths.

  Mesmerizing.

  “I thought tigresses were fierce,” he said, tossing the trash in the receptacle and putting the items back in the med kit.

  “Excuse me?”

  “You’re not afraid, are you? I mean, I was always told that tigresses were badass. That’s what Cyrus brags about anyway.”

  She scoffed. “You’re trying to bait me. It’s not nice. I was just injured and nearly eaten.”

  “I’m very nice, sweetheart. But I think you’re letting your nerves get the best of you. How about I hang out in the kitchen until your shift is over and make sure no one bothers you?”

  She eased off the desk, and their bodies bumped for a moment. Her sweet scent—a mixture of wild jungle and spiced sugar—made his body come to life. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “I want to.”

  “Why?”

  Instead of answering, he asked her a question. “Tell me what you smelled.”

  “What?”

  “You said you cut yourself because you smelled something. What?”

  She sucked in a breath, and he liked the way her pupils dilated and her scent deepened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The corner of her mouth twitched, and her eyes sparkled.

  Vixen.

  “Oh, okay. I just thought perhaps that you might’ve scented something important.”

  She licked her lips, and he tracked the motion, wanting to kiss her and find out what she tasted like.

  “You can stick around if you like. I think I’ll go back to work.”

  “Of course.” He helped her put a latex glove on and then used medical tape to close the wrist just as a precaution. Then he opened the door and found Cyrus talking to Davina about how his cousin had nearly had a bite taken out of her.

  Cyrus looked between Merrix and Aeryn, raised his brows, and then said, “You okay, girl?”

  “Yeah. Merrix was really helpful.”

  “You sticking around or going home?”

  “I’m staying.”

  “I’ll hang out in the kitchen,” Merrix said.

  Cyrus gave him a curious look and then said, “Okay. We still need to finish our chat, but we can do that while you’re keeping an eye on her. And maybe I can get that dessert I was promised.”

  “I’m really sorry, Aeryn,” Davina said, her eyes bright with emotion. “Vinnie was never supposed to be on the same shift as you, so he only works a night or two a week. He apparently wanted to pick up a shift and put out the word to the staff, and Solomon wanted the night off with his mate and took him up on his offer. He didn’t realize there was a reason Vinnie wasn’t on shift much.”

  “I’m okay,” Aeryn said. “Just a little freaked out.”

  Davina nodded. “Vinnie won’t be back, so you don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

  “And the rest of the staff knows what assholes they were for not intervening,” Cyrus said.

  One by one, each member of the kitchen staff came and apologized to Aeryn. Merrix was surprised that even an older vampire like Boyd hadn’t been in his right mind to help. He was clearly ashamed of himself, and he should be.

  Thank fuck Merrix was there.

  “If I can help,” Merrix said to Aeryn as everyone went back to work, and Cyrus kissed her on the cheek, “let me know.”

  “Can you bake?” she asked.

  “Not even a little. But I can follow directions.”

  She chuckled and then sobered. “Did I say thank you?”

  “No, but it’s all right.”

  “It’s not. Thank you for coming to my rescue, Merrix.”

  He nodded and then grinned. “Ready to tell me what you smelled?”

  She let out a little growl, and he thought it was adorable. “Nope.”

  He hummed, enjoying teasing her, and found a seat at a small table in the corner where he could keep an eye on his mate. He was certain she’d scented him, and that was what caused her to get injured in the first place. It was curious that she seemed intent on denying things between them since he was positive she was his truemate, but he wasn’t going to push. She was traumatized and injured, and she might just need some time to get her head on straight.

  He’d found his beautiful tigress mate.

  Chapter Four

  Aeryn couldn’t believe that her truemate had saved her life. She’d never been so frozen like that before. Her family had taught her to defend herself in human and tigress forms, but she’d never had to use those skills. When the vampires looked at her like she was dessert, she forgot how to do anything except stand frozen like a deer in headlights. The only thing she’d been sure of was that she shouldn’t run because vampires were fast like shifters, and she didn’t want to be thought of as prey.

  And then Merrix had stepped in front of her, a sexy, muscular wall of protection. He’d taken command of the situation and saved her. It was heady to know her truemate was a badass.

  She hadn’t put it together that Merrix was her truemate until he’d been taking care of her injury. The delicious scent she’d caught from the main room had been his—all masculine heat and spices.

  Then he was teasing her, and she’d decided it would be fun to tease him back and maybe not tell him what she knew to be true between them. There were things to consider anyway. She’d need to tell her parents, and...shit.

  “Everything okay, sweetheart?” Merrix asked from the bistro table where he talked quietly with Cyrus, who was finishing off his second huge slice of chocolate cake.

  Not even a little bit. She’d just remembered the blind date her parents set up for Friday night. Because she was supposed to work, she’d initially told them no, but they’d been insistent, so she’d agreed to an early dinner with a male from an ambush in West Virginia named Rocco. Of course, she should one hundred percent tell her parents no, now. They were going to be pissed.

  Merrix’s scent washed over her as he joined her, and she nearly hit the floor again. It was completely unfair that he smelled so good.

  “What’s up? You look distressed.”

  “I have a date tomorrow night,” she blurted out.

  His eyes narrowed, and an unholy snarl came from him. He seemed to struggle to get his emotions under control. “What?” He nearly roared the word at her, and she absolutely didn’t think it was awesome.

  “My parents set me up with a tiger from another ambush. They’re very traditional.”

  “Cancel it.” He pushed her against the counter, caging her in with his hands on either side of her.

  “Should I?” she asked, teasing him.

  He let out another low growl. But this one did amazing things to her insides and made her feel all warm and gooey.

  “Tell me you scented me earlier. That you know why I rushed in here to save you.”

>   The time for teasing was gone. “I know what you are, Merrix. What we are together. But this is hardly the time or place. I didn’t say I was going to go on the date. I just remembered that I had an obligation to one.” She put her uninjured hand on his cheek, and he kissed her palm with a deep sigh.

  “Sorry. I’m feeling a little out of sorts.”

  “Oh? Did a bunch of vampires try to snack on you?”

  He chuckled. “Fine, you win. You had the worst night.”

  “It’s shaping up pretty good,” she said. “We can talk when my shift is over, okay?”

  He nodded and pushed away from the counter, leaving her feeling cold.

  Oh yeah, she had a problem right now, and it involved a traveling tiger. But her parents would understand because she wouldn’t give them any other option. She was going to cancel her date with Rocco and tell her parents that she’d found her truemate in a sexy vampire named Merrix.

  Well, maybe she wouldn’t tell them how sexy he was. She didn’t think they’d want to hear that.

  It wouldn’t be easy—she’d never really gone against the grain like this, but she had a perfect reason for it now.

  She’d found her truemate. Everything else was just details.

  * * *

  Her shift couldn’t end fast enough. By the time she’d plated the last dessert and cleaned up her station, she was dead on her feet. But also strangely exhilarated. And that was undoubtedly due to the vampire who hadn’t taken his eyes off her, even when he talked to her cousin. Cyrus had said goodnight to her a couple of hours earlier, telling her in a whispered voice that Merrix was a good male and that he was happy for them.

  Merrix had helped her with cleaning up, and she’d enjoyed working next to him. While they’d wiped down counters and put her supplies away, they shared a bit about themselves. He’d told her his parents were both coven members but lived in a home on the outskirts of downtown. She told him about her parents and brother and learned that Merrix had worked with Gavin during the restaurant remodel. Gavin worked for the ambush’s construction company, which had bought out her dad and uncle’s company and brought them in as project managers. She liked to swing a hammer herself, but only for little DIY projects like the planter boxes she put outside her bedroom window to grow her favorite marigolds.

  Tossing her apron in the hamper for the overnight staff to launder, she turned to face Merrix in the mostly empty kitchen.

  “I should be getting home,” she said. “Walk me out?”

  “Of course.”

  She pulled her purse from her locker and dug the keys out while they walked. Once they were outside, she took a deep breath of the late-night air. They walked in silence to her car. She unlocked the door, set her bag and keys on the seat, and then turned to face him.

  “I want to ask you to come home with me,” he said, “but I think you’ll say no.”

  She nodded. “I can’t stay the night with you without talking to my parents. If they woke up and saw I wasn’t home, they’d be angry and scared. I live near them with Gavin, and he’d feel the same way. And it’s way too late to call them, even for something as important as this.”

  Merrix took her hand and squeezed it. “I knew when I scented you that you were mine, Aeryn. I don’t want to let you go, but I’m not going to try to guilt you into staying.”

  “Thanks.” She took in a deep breath and then rose onto her toes, putting her arms around his neck. “I knew you were my truemate when you were tending to me in the office, and I couldn’t think straight. It’s been fun to tease you, but I know you’re mine. Once my parents are up, I’ll tell them I found you and cancel my date.”

  He lowered his head and brushed his lips across hers. Her whole body jolted at the contact, her stomach flipping and her tigress rising to the forefront. She chased his lips, and he met hers, sliding his tongue into her mouth and wrapping his arms around her waist. He drew her alongside him, and she felt the hard planes of his body against her curves. And she was suddenly very sorry they weren’t somewhere more private.

  The kiss deepened, and her cat purred, loving the contact and the knowledge that they were in their truemate’s arms.

  She’d never felt safer.

  The kiss ended far too soon, and she mourned the loss of his lips.

  He took his phone from his pocket, and she entered her information into it, then sent herself a text so she’d have his number.

  “Text me when you get home,” he said.

  “I will.”

  “Are you working tonight?”

  “I am, but I think I’d like to take the night off. I’ll call my brigade and make sure they can handle everything.”

  “Good. I can come pick you up.”

  She hesitated and then said, “I think I should come to you. Tigers can be twitchy about vampires in their territory, and unless you came with Cyrus, it’s probably not a great idea right now. Where can I meet you?”

  “Do you know where the office is inside the club?”

  “Sure.”

  “I’ll meet you there after sunset in the reception area.”

  “Okay.”

  He kissed her once more, and she sat down behind the wheel. “Drive safe, beautiful.”

  “I will.”

  He shut the door, and she turned on the engine, waving at him as she pulled away and headed home.

  She couldn’t believe how the night had turned out. What could’ve been a terrible incident had brought her face to face with her truemate.

  Now she just had to tell her parents.

  Chapter Five

  Aeryn was exhausted to the core when her alarm went off at seven a.m. She normally would’ve gotten home from her shift, put on a sleep mask, stuck her earbuds with white-noise playing in her ears, and gone to sleep until dinnertime. But there was too much to do that morning to sleep the day away, and her cat hadn’t wanted to let her rest anyhow. She was wide awake when her alarm rang, and she just hoped she’d be able to get some sleep once she handled things with Rocco and her parents.

  Her cat was driving her bonkers. She wanted to have either never left Merrix’s side or go to him immediately. Aeryn was not only tired from being up all night, but she was mentally exhausted from arguing with her cat. She liked that her cat wanted to be with Merrix, who was hands-down the sexiest male she’d ever seen. But she wished she’d stop caterwauling.

  We’ll see him tonight, she reminded herself.

  Climbing from her bed, she yawned and stretched, then trudged to the bathroom. She’d taken a hot shower when she got home from the restaurant because she never liked going to sleep smelling of the kitchen. It had pained her to wash off Merrix’s scent from her hands and clothes. He smelled so amazing to her, like love and home.

  After washing her face with her favorite grapefruit soap, she dressed in leggings and a pink tie-dyed tank top, then found her flip-flops in the family room where she’d left them the day before.

  “What are you doing up so early?” Gavin asked when she walked into the kitchen.

  “Morning to you too.” She was tempted to have a cup of coffee, but she decided against it. She wanted to be able to sleep after she talked to her parents.

  “Morning, sis,” he said. He leaned against the counter and took a sip of coffee. “So, what’s up?”

  “So sure something’s up?”

  “You never stick your head out of your room before four p.m. So yeah, I’m guessing something came up.”

  “I need to talk to Mom and Dad in person, and I wanted to do it while they were still together this morning before Dad goes to the job site.”

  “Must be serious.”

  “It is.” She took a glass from the cabinet and opened the refrigerator, pulling out a jug of orange juice. “I found my truemate last night.”

  “No shit? Who is he?”

  She closed the fridge and took a long drink of juice. “I think you know him. His name is Merrix.”

  Gavin’s brows went high. “Merrix
. Merrix? The vampire?”

  “Yes.” She told Gavin how Merrix had stepped in and saved her from the young vampire.

  “Shit.” Gavin scrubbed his hand through his hair. “Well, I’m happy for you. Merrix is a great guy. There’s just one problem.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Mom and Dad are going to shit a brick.”

  She chuckled ruefully. “I know. I’m canceling my date with Rocco tonight, and I’m going to meet Merrix at the club after sunset.”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t go home with him. The pull of truemates is supposed to be hard to resist.”

  “It really is. My cat wouldn’t let me sleep, and she keeps wanting me to go to him. But I needed to talk to Mom and Dad first, and of course, cancel the date. It wouldn’t be fair to have Rocco come all the way here when I found my mate.”

  “You going to mate-mate him? Like with the ambush?”

  “I’d like to. They let Cyrus mate Cella.”

  The shifter-vampire couple had a home outfitted with shutters to make it light-tight, and while they lived in the club, they spent occasional nights and weekends with the ambush. Cella was the only vampire member of the ambush.

  The full moon—when they did many of their ceremonies—wasn’t until the first week in July, so she had time to let everyone come to terms with her new reality. She was pretty sure that Midas, their king, would allow her to bring Merrix into the ambush as the mate of a member, but if her parents didn’t like her choice in a mate, they could protest the mating, and Midas might side with them just to keep the peace.

  Well, if she lost access to the ambush because she’d found her truemate, then that was the way it would be. She wouldn’t hang out with the ambush during the full moon if Merrix wasn’t welcome. If she needed to hunt, she’d just hunt with Cyrus and the female wolf shifter coven member she’d heard about in wooded property that Mishka had set aside for them to use for that purpose.

  Her heart panged at the thought of not celebrating the full moon with her people, but she pushed the feeling away. It was too early to speculate on how anyone would react.