Soul Keepers (Editing) #Wattys2020

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Theo appeared outside the door to his study his body painfully aroused. He took a few deep calming breaths, but it did nothing to alleviate the tension that held his muscles taut. He could still smell that intoxicating scent that clung to her skin, feel the softness of her body yielding to his and her taste, damn but her taste drove him crazy—warm and rich with undertones of honey.

He hadn’t gone to her with the intention of kissing her; rather he had wanted to offer her comfort. She had been broadcasting her feelings quite plainly all day and he couldn’t stand it anymore, but her indifference to him had tickled on his ego and he wanted to prove something, to her, to himself he really wasn’t sure. He just wasn’t prepared for the magnitude of emotion that swelled in him with each thrust of his tongue or each breathless gasp that erupted from her.

He scrubbed his hand down his face. This line of thinking was doing nothing to calm him down.

He could sense the others behind the door and with a resigned sigh he opened the door with just a single thought and strode into the room.

He could tell that they could still smell Millie. Drake’s eyes narrowed in suspicion and Vin stiffened slightly, the lure of her scent still very much a temptation especially to him. Jealously hot and ripe ripped through him with that knowledge, the only thing keeping him from killing the man was because he knew that Vin would not act on his impulse. He had made sure of it.

With his Telepathy he had ensured that each of the members of the household—because he knew without a doubt that Millie’s scent would drive them all crazy—knew that she was not to be touched. They would be affected by her scent, but they would not act on it.

“Theo,” the younger man greeted, with the utmost respect even if he and Theo looked to be about the same age.

Theo nodded and took his seat behind the large oak desk. “What did they say?”

Vincent frowned and looked to Drake. It had to be bad news if he were waiting on him to say something.

“They would consider helping only if you brought her to them,” stated Drake plainly.

“Like hell,” he snarled.

No way was he carrying Millie near any of them. Her scent was potent, far more irresistible than anything he had ever smelled before, it would no doubt drive them crazy and they had far less control than he did. The only reason they would want to meet her was to taste her and the thought of that made anger ride his chest sourly.

Vincent tried not to shrink away from the waves of emotion that radiated off him sent a thrill of fear down his spine. He almost forgot he power that he wielded. He was just so easy-going that one could almost think that he was just another vampire and not the powerful Ancient that he was.

“We’ll find another way,” he ground out angrily and Vincent only nodded.

“What if we don’t have another way?” wondered Drake. “What if his is our only chance?”

“We have to find another way. Taking her to them would be like inviting a lamb to a lion’s den.”

“This can’t just be about one person Theo,” reasoned Drake. “We have to think about the safety of our family, of the town.”

“And we will, but I’m not willing to put her in danger.”

Drake stared at him but Theo was never intimidated by his hard stare. It was Drake who backed down first. The other men in the room quiet. Bastian stood in the corner, always apart, his arms crossed over his chest. He was a man of few words and he was always hard to read but Theo had managed to push past his barriers and enter his mind. He was wildly protective and he wasn’t one to back down from a fight either, Theo could also tell that he felt a kind of kinship to Millie. He didn’t like Drake’s idea any more than Theo did. Vincent was the youngest member of them and was now learning about working with strong willed males so he remained silent just watching.