Free Teased by Rebecca Zanetti Page A

EIGHT
    Chalton strode for the bedroom, a wiggly woman over his shoulder and fire in his heart. It would be his duty to mate Ronni, but every cell in his body protested vehemently.
    He’d never believed in fate, and he sure as hell didn’t believe in soul mates.
    Yet having Olivia in the same space as him felt right. When she laughed, he could actually feel the humor, and when she seemed sad, every urge he owned pushed him to make it right.
    Was she his?
    If so, how could he mate her best friend? How could he mate anybody? Maybe he couldn’t. There had to be something…more. In order to mate, there had to be that something that mated vampires couldn’t even explain.
    He didn’t have the words, either…but he felt it for the woman now struggling to get off his shoulder. “Knock it off.” He jostled her just enough to illustrate her precarious position.
    She stilled.
    He’d never drop her, but the threat was there, now wasn’t it? She didn’t know him well enough to understand he’d break every bone in his body before allowing her to get even a bruise. Good thing, too. The woman would certainly use that to her advantage.
    He strode through the long entrance to the bedroom and dropped her onto the larger than life four-poster bed. She bounced and quickly scooted up to the headboard, her eyes wide.
    And interested.
    He sighed. “I also should tell you that the mating with Ronni might not work.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because I’m interested in somebody else, and none of us really understand how or why we mate who we do. Some believe in fate.”
    Her hands curled into the thick bedspread. “Who are you interested in?” The tone came out accusatory and a little hurt.
    He frowned. “You.”
    She blinked and her lips formed a slight O . “We just met.”
    “That doesn’t seem to matter to vampires,” he said wryly.
    “I’m not easy,” she spat out, seeming to be arguing with both of them.
    He threw back his head and laughed. “Livy? I know everything about you, including past lovers. Believe me, your number is ridiculously small for somebody so gorgeous.”
    Her shoulders went back. “Oh yeah? What’s your number?”
    He lost his smile and fought the urge to shuffle his feet. “You don’t want to know.”
    “Yeah, I do.”
    “Too bad. I’ve lived more than three hundred years, darlin’, and I’ve had many careers…not once as a monk.” Though every woman he’d ever met paled to nothing compared to the spitfire glaring at him.
    His cell phone dinged, and he answered it. “Chalton.”
    “What the hell is going on?” Dage Kayrs growled clearly over the line.
    Chalton kept Livy in his sight. “I’m not sure. This may be an attack on my family through Olivia. We’re investigating. Also, the Kurjans are involved.”
    “Can’t blame them,” Dage ground out. “The first two articles more than hint at our world. Is the woman cooperating?”
    “No.” Chalton eyed her.
    “Make her.”
    “Right.”
    Dage sighed. “Shall I talk to her?”
    Temper, rare and hot, roared through Chalton. “You want to? Sure. Give me a second.” He turned and typed in several commands on his phone, illuminating the massive flat-screen television across from the bed. Dage slowly took shape.
    “King Dage Kayrs, please meet journalist Olivia Roberts,” Chalton said dryly.
    Olivia kept her arms crossed. “So you’re the vampire king.”
    Dage’s dark hair was ruffled, and his silver eyes pissed, but he looked every inch the badass soldier he’d always been, even in a dark shirt with pressed black pants. “Rumor has it. Why won’t you give us your research and source’s name?”
    “Because I want to protect my source and blackmail you into saving my friend,” Olivia said calmly while facing one of the most dangerous beings on the entire planet.
    Chalton bit back a grin as Dage stopped moving and focused carefully. “I see.”
    Chalton edged a little closer to Olivia in case he needed to intervene. “You’ve