How Not To Piss Off A Lycan
I'm in English Lit again with Penny. The lycans walked us to our classroom, and so far Penny hasn't stopped talking about what happened between me and Constantine.
“Oh my gosh! I knew you said you're with him, but...whoa, you know?” she prattles. “I've never seen a lycan like that with anyone..like ever. Wow! You two look so cute together. He's sooo into you,” she whispers dreamily. “I think you two make a beautiful couple.”
My cheeks flush red again. I can't believe how everybody was staring at us. I guess nobody ever seen anything like that. The lycans never ever talked to anybody outside their little circle, let alone showing any emotions.
The teacher has been in the classroom for over ten minutes when the door swings open with a bang and Logan and Zeke walk in. Logan is looking furious. He's staring at me the whole time.
I inwardly groan. It's been almost twenty minutes since he entered the classroom but Logan is still facing backward, staring at me, or rather glaring at me challengingly. I ignore him the whole time. Or at least I'm trying to. I pretend that he's staring at something behind me. I stare straight ahead, pretending to be engrossed with the lesson. Isn't the teacher going to do anything at all? I know he's the future alpha, the golden boy and all that, but this is ridiculous.
I glance at Penny who rolls her eyes before she looks at Logan, then quickly shifts her gaze back down to her fascinating Julius Caesar. Never have I seen Penny so interested in Shakespeare before.
We seem to be the focus of the whole class, even though everybody is pretending to be looking at something else.
Coward! Well, so am I. I can't wait for this class to end.
What a jerk. Why is he doing this to me? He really should just leave me alone. I still feel him in the evening sometimes when he's having his fun. The pain isn't as intense anymore. I don't know if it's because of my bond with Constantine getting stronger or because mine and Logan's bond is getting weaker.
I gather my things into my school bag very quickly even before the bell rings. I can't wait to get out of there. But Logan has another plan in mind because as soon as the bell rings, his hand wraps around my upper arm.
“Just where are you running off to, mate?” He pulls me out into the hallway with him and pushes me up against the wall. His whole body is pinning me against it.
“I am not your mate.” I spit out. “You rejected me, remember? We're nothing.”
“Well, I changed my mind. Didn't I tell you that? What's this I hear about you and a lycan?” His grip on my arms tightens. His other hand grips my hair and pulls my head to the side, baring my neck to him. “You are mine,” he growls against my neck. “I will mark you, and I will mate with you.”I feel his teeth grazing my skin. His canines sharpen.
Wait. Is he marking me? Here? Now?
“NO!!!” I struggle and push him as hard as I can. I feel him harden against my upper thigh. All my squirming only excites him. I start to struggle wildly.
I push with all my strength. I hear a loud bang and in the next instance, I realize that I'm free.
Logan is slumped against the opposite wall with Constantine standing over him. One of Logan's arms bent the wrong way. The lockers behind him have a big dent in them.
Constantine is looking positively dangerous. His eyes are all black, which reminds me of my own eyes yesterday. He's breathing hard as if trying to calm himself, but his stance is threatening. Dangerous power is emanating from him in strong waves. Even the crowd shrink back.
His hand reaches down to grip Logan by the neck and drag him back up with ease. Logan winces, his arm is dangling uselessly at an awkward angle.
Three lycans easily push through the student body. Lazarus and Caspian grip him on his shoulders and arms. Serena walks over to my side to hold my shoulder and touch my face gently.
“You okay?” she asks softly.
I nod, staring at the scene before me nervously. I now realize how serious this is and how ugly this could turn out to be.
“Go to him. Only you can calm him down now,” she whispers calmly.
I nod again and walk on unsteady legs to stand in front of him. He's staring down at Logan. I can see how hard he is struggling to hold on to his form and stay in control.
“Constantine,” I whisper. He doesn't seem to hear me.
“Costa..” I try again. This time I cup my hands on his cheeks and turn his face towards me. His eyes are two black shiny soulless holes, regarding me coldly. Dark blue veins decorating the surface of his skin, spreading from his eye sockets down across his cheeks, snaking down to his neck. I can feel his power. Dark and dangerous. My heart speeds up, but not from fear. His dark, strong power excites me, I realize.
I stroke his face gently and he closes his eyes. He releases Logan with a loud thump as he leans in closer to me.
“She's my mate. She's mine,” says Logan defiantly.
Is he kidding me right now? I'm trying to save his sorry ass. No sane werewolf in his position would say anything now.
Constantine's head snaps down. His dark focus is once again on Logan.
“She's mine now. She belongs to me, mutt.” His voice is unrecognizable.
I feel, rather than hear a deep rumble in his chest. I don't know what that means, but I quickly grab his face in my hands again and pull it to me. When I get his eyes back on me, I tug at his hands trying to pull him away just in case Logan decides to open his big mouth again. He stares at me, but refuse to budge.
“Costa...please,” I plead. I tug again, and this time he lets me. The crowd parts as I pull him away. I don't know where I'm leading him to, all I know is that I need to get him away from there.
We end up at the back door of the school. I push open the door and pull us out with a deep sigh.
As soon as we're out the door, he grabs me by my shoulders and presses his face into my neck.
“You are mine. Mine. All mine. He repeats as he breathes me in. His nose flaring, eyes still black.
Then he pushes me back. “You smell like him,” he growls fiercely. Dark blue veins once again appear on his face. He doesn't look much like a human now.
“But I don't want him...I'm only yours,” I whisper urgently, clutching his muscular arms tightly.
“Say that again. Tell me that you're mine.”
“I'm yours. Costa, I'm only yours.”
***
Once Constantine regained control of himself, he drove me to this mansion not too far out of town, but very well hidden by mature trees and the long winding driveway.
Even now, I'm not sure how much control he has over himself. Once in a while, I catch him clenching his jaw or balling his fists around the steering wheel till his knuckles turn white.
He opens the massive door to the sight of an impressive grand foyer. The foyer has a high ceiling with a dome skylight. It opens up to a grand staircase. The gleaming marble floor reflects the light from the skylight as well as the huge crystal chandelier that hangs in the middle of the room. Everything is in cream, accented with black and gold. Either side of the staircase opens up to other areas of the house. This is even more impressive than the pack house.
“Is this your house?”
“It belongs to all of us, though Caspian makes most of the decision regarding the house. The rest of us couldn't care less. Caspian likes everything lavish,” remarks Constantine as he leads me up the staircase.
We walk past several doors on the second floor until we reach the end of the hallway. He opens the last door to our left and waits for me to get in.
“This is my room,” he informs me as we step in. His room is easily four sizes bigger than my bedroom. The walls are gray. Everything else is in black and white with little splashes of red here and there. There's a massive king size bed in the middle of the far wall with a huge red, black and white abstract painting behind it. A sitting area, with a sofa, chairs and an ottoman is at the front, facing a big screen TV.
“You can have a shower in here. There are fresh towels in the bathroom,” he says as he pushes his en-suite bathroom door open. He hands me some clothing items.
“You want me to take a shower?” I ask, incredulous.
He leans against the wall with his head back, and his eyes closed, looking tortured. “Every time I smell him on you, I feel like my control is slipping away. I'm trying very hard not to go to him now and rip his heart right out of his chest,” he growls.
He sounds like he's really struggling to keep in control, so I quickly grab the garments and step into the bathroom, locking the door behind me.
His bathroom is impressive too. There's a deep claw foot tub right in the middle, but it's the shower that draws my attention.
The glass-enclosed shower has a granite bench and nine shower heads including the biggest rain shower at the top. Aahhh, yes. If I had a shower like this, I'd never leave my bathroom. I use his shampoo and soap too. I think I smell like Constantine now.
After drying off with a thick fluffy towel, I put my underwear back on. There's no way I'm going to walk around without any underwear on. His white shirt comes down just a few inches above my knees. His boxer shorts disappear underneath his shirt. It makes it look like I’m not wearing any pants.
When I open the door, he's sitting on the sofa with his MacBook on. “Are you finally done?” he asks with a lift of his eyebrow. He's looking much more relaxed now. An amused smile tilts the corners of his lips.
I just poke my tongue out. I did stay quite a long time in there. I stayed until my skin turns pruney. I blame it all on the shower heads.
“I think I'm in love with your shower heads,” I announce.
“Are you now?” he drawls lazily as he gets to his feet. “Didn't think I would have to compete with shower heads.”
His eyes zone in on my bare legs as soon as I step out of the bathroom. His eyes smolder, and his face grows serious.
“You look so sexy in my shirt,” he says as he steps in closer. “Now you smell like you're supposed to...like you...and my shampoo and soap.”
“What do I smell like?”
His hands grip my waist as he playfully, but roughly, pulls me closer, making me gasp. My heart is hammering in my chest. His thick dark eyelashes sweep down over his cheeks as he closes his eyes and his nostrils flare when he takes a deep breath close to my neck. It sends shivers up and down my spine.
“Delicious,” he murmurs. His warm breath fanning my neck. “Now tell me again that you're mine.”
“I'm yours.”
He opens his eyes and I'm mesmerized. His beautiful gray eyes are so piercing—and hungry.
“Goddess, you are beautiful,” he whispers huskily. “And all mine.” His voice sounds so possessive. His intense gray eyes studying my features, then his sooty black eyelashes sweep down as they focus on my lips.
His breathing quickens, so does mine. He leans down slowly as if waiting for my reaction. My lips part, my eyes flutter shut, and suddenly his lips are on mine. Soft and warm at first, but electricity and fireworks explode through me, and he deepens the kiss. His arms circle my waist, pulling me flush against him. My arms go around his neck. My fingers tangle in his silky hair. My heart feels like it's about to explode in my chest.
We both pull back for air at the same time, staring at each other. Breathing hard.
I pull myself up on a tiptoe and he eagerly leans down for more kiss. Our lips touch and move together. His lips grow more urgent and his tongue finds entrance into my mouth. Our tongues tangle and slide together. Teasing, tasting each other. Oh, goddess, I'm drunk on his taste.
“Mine...” he mouths against my skin as he moves his mouth across my jaw and down my neck hungrily, kissing nipping and licking.
“Constantine...” I bite my lip, but a moan escapes. He slams his lips back on mine and presses my body tighter against his. I roll my hips, making him moan against my mouth. Then he rips his mouth off of me. His breathing ragged. I can hear the rapid beating of his heart along with my own.
My lips are red and swollen, and my heart is still beating fast. I know my hair is all over the place.
Hunger is still evident in his silver-gray eyes as he stares at me. “Oh, goddess...” he groans as he closes his eyes and runs his fingers through his very tousled hair.
“Unless you want to get marked and mated right here and now, we'd better get out of here,” he says gruffly. “Are you hungry? Let's go get you some food.” He sounds desperate to get out.
He walks in front of me and lead me downstairs and into a massive modern kitchen. All granite with built-in appliances, and white cabinets.
There's a woman, perhaps about two or three years older than I am, wiping the kitchen counter. Human, by the smell of her.
Her eyes light up when she sees Constantine. I recognize a massive crush when I see one.
“Mr. Constantine. I didn't know you're home this early,” she says breathlessly. She pushes her chest up and smiles flirtatiously up to him. I can hear her heartbeats speed up.
Her smile falters as soon as she notices me. Constantine pulls me closer and wraps his arm around my waist. “Yeah, we skip school. Found something better to do today,” he remarks carelessly, not taking his eyes off me. “Genesis, this is our cook, Lora. Lora, this is my girl, Genesis.”
“Hi,” I flash her a friendly smile as I wrap my arms around Constantine. That's right, I'm marking my territory. She doesn't look too happy. Her eyes assessing me coldly.
“I'm hungry, let's get something to eat,” he murmurs into my ear with a wicked smile that says he knows what I'm doing.
“I'd like my dessert first,” he mumbles against my skin before he kisses and licks and nips me along my jawline and down my neck. Oh, goddess, what his sexy mouth can do to me. My brain stops working.
“Costa..” I sigh as I run my fingers through his silky hair.
Lora clears her throat loudly. “Would you like me to prepare you something for lunch?”
“No...we'll make a sandwich or something,” says Constantine against my neck. “You can go, we'll order pizza for tonight.”
She's very annoyed and she’s making sure that we know about it. I can hear her stomping her feet and banging the door shut on her way out.
“Do you know that she has a crush on you?”
“Yeah, I don't want her to get any more ideas. I don't want to deal with unwanted attention.” Hs lips begin teasing me behind my ear. That feels so good. I clamp my mouth to stop myself from moaning. His mouth is magic.
Oh, fuzzy bunnies...cuddly slippers...or whatever.
“You smell so good,” he murmurs huskily, nuzzling my neck.
I try to think straight. “If you don't want any trouble like that, why'd you hire a young woman?”
“Caspian did,” is his only answer as he runs his hand over my hip and pushes me against the kitchen counter. He grinds his body into mine. Delicious chills run up and down my spine.
“Costa...” I moan breathlessly. He groans deep in his throat as his other hand goes into my hair. He tilts my head at an angle to his liking and slams his lips onto mine hungrily. I lose all thoughts as I grab his hair and pull while my other hand moves over his solid wide shoulder and back. His lips are hot and demanding. His hand moves down to stroke my bare thigh.
“We should stop,” he mumbles against my lips before he covers them with his again.
“Umm… yeah,” I agree as I draw deeper into his kiss.
“Now,” he says again before his tongue delves inside my mouth.
Our bodies strain to get closer. Our tongues tangle together.
“Mmm... hmm…” I agree as he sucks my bottom lip.
Constantine tears his mouth away from mine with a deep groan. His breathing is uneven. He places both hands on the counter on either side of me and he closes his eyes for a second. Then he opens them again and without turning, he calmly says, "Hello guys."
I try to regain my heartbeat before I slowly peek around him to see three other lycans standing by the entrance of the kitchen with various levels of amusement on their faces.