Andrew’s breath left him on a whoosh of painful surprise as the blow reverberated through his body. Michael held him there, the front of his shirt bunched in the man’s fist.
“I should kill you now.” Michael spit the words in Andrew’s face.
“You could try.” Andrew acknowledged the fact that it would be a hell of a battle, though he didn’t doubt if brute strength and power collided with brute strength and power he would win in the end. The abilities of the lycans had outweighed those of the vampires since the beginning of time. “And I would probably let you.”
Andrew knew he took a risk by staring into the eyes of a vampire as powerful as Michael. The man could easily put him under some sort of spell. Not that it would matter. Andrew had been under Michael’s spell even when they had both been humans. As he gazed at Michael now, he saw the fury blazing hot in the depths of his black eyes. He saw the memories, too, the love they had shared, the surprise that they were once again face-to-face, and the pain that all their years apart had created.
More than one hundred and fifty years of separation and every day of them Andrew had wanted to die. It was a gift he had denied himself. He had stayed in hiding, not allowing himself the reward of suicide or even the offering of himself in the middle of a pack war he knew he wouldn’t win. That would have been the easy way out, an award he didn’t deserve after his part in that fateful night. He had sentenced himself to over a century of loneliness instead, always grieving for the loves he had lost, and always longing to be with them both again.
“There are two other options to consider—” Andrew broke off at the sharp rap at the bathroom door, then lifted a brow when he heard a voice outside tell someone they would use the balcony bathroom instead. “That telepathy power of yours comes in pretty handy, huh?”
“I only use it when I must.” Michael’s gaze didn’t soften, nor did his hold on Andrew’s shirt loosen. “You were speaking of options?”
Andrew swallowed. The anger in Michael’s melodic voice tore at his heart even as it tightened his balls and stroked his already throbbing cock. He couldn’t help himself. His gaze dropped pointedly to Michael’s mouth, settled on his thin, grim-set lips, and he licked his own. “You could kiss me right now and show me how badly you’ve missed me or you could let me explain. Either way, you can put me down and let go of my shirt.” He waited a beat, then added, “Unless you’d rather rip off my shirt along with my jeans and fuck me here in the men’s room for old times’ sake.”
Michael closed his eyes, but not before Andrew saw the agony move deep within them. He felt the vampire’s desire, sensed Michael struggling to hold onto his control, and felt his own beast pacing beneath the surface of his flesh, watching and waiting for a chance to break free.
Michael’s hold on his shirt slowly loosened as the vampire set him on his feet and took a step back. “How?”
Andrew wasn’t certain he understood the question, so he answered with what he deemed to be the most important. “It’s Rebecca. The blonde I’m with tonight. Chrystal. She is Rebecca.”
“Do you not think the instant she met my gaze out there that I did not know that?” Michael raked a frustrated hand through his ebony hair. “How can it be Rebecca?”
“Reincarnation,” Andrew answered simply. “It’s Rebecca’s soul reborn in Chrystal’s body. I knew it, like you, the second our eyes locked.”
“How did you find her?”
Andrew straightened his shirt, shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans, and leaned against the wall Michael had recently attempted to slam him through. “She found me. Or, I suppose I should say, her father found me. We’re working together on a business deal to save his company. That’s what I do now, what I’ve been doing for the last decade.”
Michael nodded, a dart of
Anne McCaffrey, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough