Page 47 of The Love Bitten Series: Vol 2

“Don’t even look at her,” Braeden growled, lifting his brother another inch and slamming him against the wall again, with enough force to rattle the lights and make them flicker.

Ren snapped his gaze back toward Braeden. “I get it. She’s all yours, brother.”

The situation needed to de-escalate fast, and Ren didn’t seem able to talk his brother off the cliff. Moving to Braeden’s side, I pressed my chest against his arm and stroked my hand up his back. “C’mon, babe. You don’t really want to hurt your brother, do you? He might be an idiot sometimes, but you’ve managed not to murder him for more than five hundred years so far. Right?”

Braeden’s bright blue eyes cut toward me as he growled, “I have two other brothers who’ve already found their consorts and haven’t touched mine.”

Ren looked like he was going to protest, but the last thing I needed was for him to make the situation worse, so I shook my head and tried to appeal toward Braeden’s softer side. “How will you explain killing Ren to your parents? It would break your mom’s heart to lose one of her sons.”

His muscles loosened just a little bit beneath my palm, and I smiled up at him. “How about you let your brother go and put those big, strong arms around me where they belong?”

He blinked, and when his eyes reopened, the man was back with me. His lips curved into a smile of pure male satisfaction as he released Ren’s shirt and slid his arm around my shoulder to pull me close. “I know you’re attempting to placate me, but I like hearing you say that too much to give a damn.”

“I wasn’t just trying to appease you.” Going up on my toes, I brushed my lips against his jaw. “It’s the truth.”

“And that’s why your tactic worked, baby.” He yanked my body flush against his and captured my mouth, his tongue sweeping inside to tangle with mine. It didn’t take long for me to get lost in his kiss, completely forgetting Ren was in the room with us until he said, “I think that’s my cue to leave you two lovebirds alone.”

Braeden lifted his head to glare at his brother. “Not so fast.”

“Fucking hell, I should’ve just left without saying anything,” Ren muttered.

Braeden kept me tucked against his body as he nodded. “Probably would’ve been a good call. I’m not too thrilled with you right now.”

Ren’s eyes narrowed, and he jabbed a finger toward his face. “You have to be kidding. I was nice and let you beat on me without fighting back. If anyone has the right to be pissed off right now, it’s me.”

“I’m not debating this with you.” Braeden quirked a brow. “How come you’ve never mentioned before that you were working with Callie?”

“I’m not a child.” Now that I’d calmed Braeden down, Ren apparently felt safe to throw some attitude his way. “I’m five hundred and thirty-six years old. I don’t share every little thing I do with you. Besides, I’ve trained hundreds of slayers, and you’ve never asked about any of them. How the fuck was I supposed to know this one was different?”

“You’ve been training my destined consort for what?” His gaze slid to me. “Two years now?”

I nodded, happy to learn that he’d paid close enough attention to what I’d told him last night that he remembered such a small detail. Being heard was a powerful aphrodisiac. Especially since my parents tended not to listen to me since they assumed my thoughts were perfectly in line with theirs.

“Yeah, and I’ve turned her into a damn fine slayer, if I do say so myself.”

Ren was a tough trainer and didn’t give out a lot of praise, so my chest puffed out in pride at the compliment. A growl rumbled up Braeden’s chest at my reaction, making me shake my head in exasperation. It was going to be a long few years waiting for our claiming ceremony if he was on edge so much that he couldn’t even handle his brother paying me a compliment about my fighting skills.

“I’ll be taking over from here,” Braeden grunted, pointing his index finger at Ren. “No more meeting with Callie behind my back.”

Ren waved his hands in the air. “I didn’t even know she was your destined consort until about thirty seconds before you showed up.”

Braeden’s hold on me tightened. “Then I guess that’s a conversation for Callie and me to have.”

Oh, crap.I had a lot to learn about relationships. I’d thought leaving the note when I left was the right thing to do, but now I was second-guessing myself.

5

BRAEDEN

Still on edge from losing my cool, I pulled Callie tighter into my body and took a deep breath, inhaling her sweet, floral scent. With one thought, we were back at our home, standing in the den where I’d first brought her the day before.

I’d almost gone straight to the bedroom but had enough sense to know we wouldn't get any talking done in there. Although, as my eyes fell on the couch where I’d eaten my mate’s pussy for the first time, this hadn’t been much of an improved choice.

“What were you thinking, Callidora?” I asked, my voice hoarse from holding back both my hunger and anger.

“I was thinking that you told me I wouldn’t have to choose between you and my dreams,” she retorted, her body going a little stiff. “I had a training appointment, and since I’m behind the curve of most daywalkers my age, I don’t like to miss them.”

I scoffed and grasped her shoulders, moving her away just far enough so I could stare down at her beautiful face. “You know damn well I’m not talking about leaving to go train.” I narrowed my eyes. “With only a note—but we’ll get to that later.”

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