Ecstasy in Darkness (Alien Huntress #5)(35)
Author: Gena Showalter

Ava and Mia gasped in unison. Noelle chuckled.

“What?” He’d apologized, hadn’t he?

Johnny straightened and smoothed the wrinkles from his shirt. McKell once again stepped forward, but Ava tightened her grip on his arm. Would have taken only a single tug to free himself, but that would dissuade her from touching him again, and he didn’t want to dissuade her.

If you won’t see me, see this, he projected at the man as he wound his arm around Ava’s waist. She. Is. Mine.

Mia recovered quickly. “Fine. Don’t tell me what you have planned. Ava and I can discuss it later. Meanwhile, if you hurt one agent, just one, I won’t hesitate to slice your throat.”

“What happens if I hurt two?” Another man approached Johnny, slapped him on the shoulder, and then he, too, focused on Ava as if he had every right. So. Two would die this night.

“Don’t f**king hurt anyone,” Mia shouted.

Temper, temper. Seriously. He’d been nothing but polite. “Very well,” he said. “But I should warn you, I’m not an easy person to slice. People tend to lose fingers when they try.” See. Polite. He hadn’t threatened her as she’d done to him. He’d merely stated a fact. “Now, if you want to save your agents from my wrath, tell those two to mentally zip their f**king pants.”

Johnny finally noticed him. McKell flicked his tongue over his fangs. A warning. A promise. The agent paled.

“McKell,” Ava said, exasperated. And, if he wasn’t mistaken, just a little happy. She hadn’t once protested about his arm being around her, either. Sweet progress

You can concentrate on your woman now. He looked down. A mistake. Ava stepped away from him, and he mourned the loss of her heat.

“Will you please pay attention,” she muttered. “You’re causing a scene.”

“Yes, he is.” Mia glared at her. “He’s your responsibility, you know.”

She sighed as if the weight of the world had been placed on her shoulders. “Yeah. I do know.”

A grin. “I always knew you were a smart one, Sans, so I probably don’t even need to say this next part, but good job,” Mia said with an approving nod. “You did the impossible. I’m impressed.”

Ava’s chin lifted, pride filling her eyes. “Thank—”

“Hey, dumbass! I didn’t give you permission to test anyone’s blood,” Mia shouted to another agent, already pounding toward the dumbass in question, Ava forgotten. That didn’t lessen Ava’s reaction. So much pride … still growing …

So. She responded well to praise. He made a mental note to praise her. Often. Only until he was done with her, of course, and he had everything he wanted from her. But oh, he liked that look on her. And anyway, she had deserved the praise. She was the most resilient person in the bar. She backed down from nothing, even her boss.

Noelle propped her hands on her hips and regarded Ava intently. “Did you ask him about the time-reversal thing?”

“Not yet.” Ava massaged the back of her neck. “He’s in a bad mood.”

He loved when they discussed him as if he weren’t in the room; he really did. “You expected me to reverse time? Sorry, but I’ve never had the ability.” He’d tried. Many times. Always he’d failed. “Now, Noelle. I have a question for you. Ava, you are not to answer for her.”

“Wait. You can’t reverse time?” Noelle asked with a pout. “Not even a little?”

“No. Now. Who is that man to Ava?” He pointed to Johnny, who was wiping the lint from his shirtsleeve.

“There goes my genius plan,” Noelle said, disappointed, but she followed the line of his finger and scowled. “Oh, him. He’s a bad memory.”

Ava groaned. “Don’t you dare—”

“She slept with him.”

“What?” He hadn’t meant to shout, but the volume of his voice had been uncontrollable in the light of Noelle’s confession. “When?”

“A few months ago,” Ava whispered, another blush in full bloom. “It was a mistake.”

Death and pain weren’t good enough for the bastard. Only total ruination would suffice. McKell would ensure the man suffered eternally. No one touched Ava, his woman, without his permission. Ever. Even months ago. When he hadn’t even known her. Irrational, but his sense of possession was so great, time offered no kind of barrier. And if Ava protested his logic, well, he would give her permission to ruin the life of every woman he had ever slept with.

Johnny must have realized they were discussing him in a negative way, because he glanced up, scowled. Then he made another fatal mistake. He clapped his hands, demanding attention, and said, “Look, everyone. Ava brought in the big, bad vampire. I wonder how she convinced him to … come.”

Several agents snickered.

No, total ruination wasn’t good enough.

“McKell,” Ava began, suspecting his intensions. “Don’t.”

“Must.” With only a thought, McKell stopped the clock. As everyone froze around him, unaware of what he was doing, he stomped to the puny human, punched him in the face, heard cartilage snap, and returned to Ava’s side. He wished he could freeze time for a longer period of time and inflict more damage, but he couldn’t. When he tried, he only weakened himself. A bar filed with AIR agents was not the place to weaken himself.

Soon, though, he’d get Johnny alone. Nothing would stop his wrath then.

The clock restarted, and he watched as Johnny grimaced and rubbed his now bleeding nose, having no idea what had caused the break. And were those … tears in the agent’s eyes? McKell sharpened his study, grinned. They were.

He nearly beat his chest in satisfaction. I caused that.

Why had Ava willingly stripped for such a bastard? Why had she allowed him to tease and taste her?

A growl rose from McKell’s stomach and churned in his throat. He stopped the clock again, closed the distance, punched the man again, cracking jawbone this time, and once again returned to an unsuspecting Ava. And this time, when he restarted the clock, the bastard dropped to his knees, moaning in pain.

“McKell,” Ava muttered.

“What?” he asked innocently.

Her lips twitched, surprising him, before she turned her attention to Noelle. “So what have you learned so far?”

“No one remembers seeing the Schön queen, but that man—” She pointed to a very pale human male, who was hunched over in his chair and clutching his middle. Three guards pointed guns at his head. “He’s already exhibiting signs of the disease.”