Sinful Mates (Savage Series Collection)

Book 2 Chapter-1

Thaddeus POV

Sitting on the balcony of my penthouse apartment, I look over the city. My eyes scan the street below as I watch the crowds of people go about their night, unaware of the monster watching them.

As the sliding door opens, the sound of movement behind me makes my eyes snap to the glass doors. Bianca steps out and hands me a smoke. Taking the lighter from her, I light it, breathing in deeply, enjoying the burn in my throat from its harshness.

“When do you intend to return home? Haven’t you punished them enough? They did it to protect you. It is time you stop doing this, whatever it is that you are doing.” She says while leaning on the railing as her blue eyes watch me with caution.

“And what am I doing?” I ask her, looking back toward the city.

“The destruction. What are you trying to prove? Who are you looking for?” She asks, and I sigh.

Only she can get away with questioning me like this. I have always had a soft spot for Bianca. She listens and doesn’t judge, no matter how much I f**k things up.

“I am not trying to prove anything. I don’t need to.”

“Then why, Thaddeus? Why all this?” She asks, motioning with her hand toward the city below.

“Because I can, that is why,” I tell her.

Bianca shakes her head. Tears brim in her eyes as she looks away from me, folding her arms across her chest. “Your mother said there was still good in you. We just had to find it. She claimed that we could pull you back from the darkness, but I am not so sure anymore. I can’t watch you destroy yourself, destroy everything you put your hands on. Sorry, Thaddeus, but I can’t do it anymore. I am going home. Come and see me when you see sense,” she says, as she pushes away from the railing and moves toward the door.

“You’re leaving already? You just got here,” I ask.

In an attempt to hide my disappointment, a painful growl tears out of my throat. As much as I don’t want to show any weakness, her rejection hurts. Bianca is leaving me. She is leaving me like the rest of them did.

Frightened by my reaction, Bianca steps back. “I’m sorry, Thaddeus, but please just go home. They will forgive you,” she says, before turning her back on me and opening the glass sliding door.

“Tell mom I am not coming back,” I tell her, peering over my shoulder at her.

A sad smile spreads across her lips as Bianca nods, acknowledging my words. Then, I just listen to her walk inside, closing the door behind her, leaving me all alone.

A few minutes later, the glass door opens again. I don’t pay attention until Orion appears at my side and plucks the smoke from my fingers. He leans against the railing, looking at the main street of the city. In the meantime, my eyes run the length of him.

He is wearing dark blue jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt. His muscles tense as he turns his head to look at me. He runs his fingers through his dark brown hair before drawing back on my smoke.

“What did you say to your Aunty Bianca that upset her?” he asks, passing my smoke back to me.

“I told her I am not going back,” I tell him the truth.

Orion sighs loudly and looks over the railing again. I move behind him, press myself against him and reach around. My hand slips into his pants while the other roams over his hard-muscled chest. At my touch, his d**k twitches in my hand. That’s all it takes for a lewd groan to leave me as I tug at his belt.

“Not tonight, Thaddeus,” he says, smacking my hand away.

All I can think of is his obvious rejection. Hence, I can’t help but voice the hurt and frustration with a growl. If this is how he is going to act, fine by me. I shove Orion away from me and he actually has the gall to glare at me.

“Fine,” I snap at him, turning on my heel and heading back inside. Bianca is gone, and only her faint, lingering scent remains as I step into the living room. “Ryland?” I yell but get no answer. “Hurry up; we’re going out,” I add.

Ryland walks out with a mischievous grin on his lips. He is dressed in a gray shirt and black jeans. He grabs his leather jacket and tugs it on as he approaches me. His eyes flicker black, and his excitement smacks into me at the invitation.

Ryland stops beside me just as the sliding door opens and Orion steps inside. He curses under his breath, shaking his head at us before strolling over to the couch. Ryland growls and rolls his eyes at the look of disgust Orion is giving us.

“Where are we going?” Ryland growls and leans into me.

I grip his belt, tugging him closer. My lips crash against his and he groans, shoving me against the dining room table I stand next to. His tongue fights mine for dominance, and I growl at him before gripping his arms and reversing our positions. He laughs as I pin him against the table and his arousal presses against my stomach. I pull my lips from his and grip the front of his jacket. “I just want out of this house, and I need blood,” I tell him.

Ryland nods and I let him go. I won’t risk feeding on him. My hunger is insatiable and as intoxicating as his scent is, I know I won’t stop once I start. Marking him was a nightmare. I nearly killed him, nearly killed my mate. Orion was different. He is a vampire, so I didn’t struggle as badly with him.

Ryland looks over at Orion expectantly, but Orion wants no part of our endeavors, as usual. I turn and walk toward the elevator. Ryland is quick to follow.

I enter the lobby and proceed to the exit door. Ryland shivers beside me as we step out of the building. The snow crunches under our feet as we walk down the street, looking for my next victim. When the breeze shifts, I pick up the most mouth-watering, intoxicating scent I have ever smelled. “Hmm, whatever that is, I want to take a bite out of it,” Ryland says, picking up the same scent.

I follow it before I hear an ear-piercing scream. Something twitches inside me, something I haven’t felt in a long time. Fear. Fear races through my cold veins as I hear the woman’s voice. Ryland, who is also feeling it, looks at me as we walk around the corner into an alleyway. The alleyway is dark, the ground is covered in snow. There are some dumpsters near the end and I can see a man standing over a woman.

The woman thrashes violently as the man tries to pull her pants down. Her following scream makes my blood boil, but before I can even move, Ryland is ripping him to pieces with his bare hands. The woman moves and I can’t take my eyes off her, hypnotized by her.

As I step into the alleyway, her head whips in my direction and she whimpers before the sound of Ryland slamming the man on the ground makes her cower away. Ryland is bashing the man, his face now utterly unrecognizable as human, his blood seeping into the snow.

As the woman tries to pull her pants up, looking between Ryland and me, I can smell her fear. She thinks we are here to harm her. Ryland stops and stands upright, panting. He turns toward her, looks at her fear-stricken face, and reaches for her. The girl slaps his hands away, shuffling away from him.

Her entire body is shaking with fear, and her heart is beating rapidly, I am sure even she can hear it. The cold is biting at her skin, making her lips a little blue. She is in a waitress uniform, not appropriately dressed for this weather. The closer I get, the stronger the scent becomes. Her scent is the most addictive, mouth-watering smell I have gotten a whiff of. She makes my heart race faster.

All this time, I didn’t think I needed anyone besides my mates. Yet, I want her, need her with every cell in my body. My gums tingle as my fangs slip out, I want to taste her. Want to see if her skin is as soft as it looks.

She cowers back as I kneel before her, her hazel eyes filled with nothing but fear. I can tell she knows what we are. I extend my hand to her, but she slaps it away, her knees pulling to her chest as she cringes away from me.

“Please, I won’t tell. Just let me go. I saw nothing, I promise,” she stutters, with tears trekking down her pale face. Her voice is like music to my ears; I could have listened to her talk all day.

I sweep her light brown hair out of the way so I can see her face. She averts her gaze when it meets my onyx eyes. “Ours,” I gasp.

She shakes her head, and I feel Ryland touch my shoulder, making me look at him. “We are scaring her,” he murmurs, and for the first time, I can tell he doesn’t enjoy the scent of fear, at least not from her. The mate pull is intense.

Looking back at her, I get up and step back to give her some space. “Go,” I tell her, and she gets up, grabbing her handbag before running off.

We watch her run when I notice her wallet lying in the snow. As I examine it, I notice the material is worn and fraying. Pulling out her bus pass, I read it - Evelyn Harper.

I have never craved anyone as much as I do her, never desired another person more than I do her right now. She is ours, and yet we can’t have her. She is light while we are dark. We are monsters of the night to her, and I have to fight with myself to stop from chasing her down and claiming her.

“Thaddeus?” Ryland says, gripping my shoulder.

I turn my head to see him still staring at the end of the alley where she ran. “I want her,” I mutter.

“She is human,” he whispers, and I can feel his sadness bleed into me. Ryland wants her, too. No doubt Orion also will when he meets her.

“For now! She is ours. She will be ours,” I growl, looking at her frayed wallet.

“What if she doesn’t want us?” he asks, and my brows pinch together at his words.

“That’s not her choice to make. She belongs to us. She will come to realize that,” I tell him.