Devil Takes His Innocent by Emma Anderson Page B

that sat in the middle of their lounge room. He plonked himself
down beside the armchair that Nikki sat on and rested his head on the arm.
    “ Who’s a pretty boy, then?” Nikki
cooed as she stroked his head. The comment earned her a soft hiss from Judge,
but still he remained by her side, accepting the pat.
    Gabby had learned that mountain
lion shape shifters differed in several ways from their animal counterpart. For
starters, they were larger, hence her concern for her furniture, and lived
harmoniously in a pride. Another difference was they loved the sensation of
being touched.
    “ So does that mean you two are
those mate things that you were explaining about?” Nikki asked, now rubbing
behind Judge’s soft ears.
    “ No,” came the menacing voice from behind Gabby. It was a voice she would recognize
anywhere. “Change back, Judge!”
    Thankfully, unlike in the books
she liked to read, shape shifter magic allowed Judge’s clothes to reappear with
his change. He was wearing his Alpha’s face, hiding all emotions behind a mask
of blankness.
    “ Hello, Devil, fancy seeing you
here,” Judge said, moving toward the very still newcomer. “So you want to tell
me what brings you to these lovely ladies’ home?”
    This had Devil moving, and far
too quickly by human standards. In the blink of an eye, he had Judge by the
collar of his shirt, and stated, “My mate lives here. What’s your reasoning?”
    Judge pulled himself from Devil’s
hold, ripping his shirt in the process, and moved over to where both Nikki and
Gabby now stood by the window. He placed himself in front of them.
    “ Since neither woman knew of the
existence of our kind before I met them, I’m assuming this is news to whichever
one is your mate? And as for my presence here, I was invited by Gabby.” His
response was met with a low, menacing growl from Devil. Judge chuckled. “I
should have known. As soon as we met I knew she was meant for one of our kind.
In fact, I had wished it to be me.”
    “ She’s mine! Keep your grubby paws
off of her, Judge. Otherwise your pride will be looking to find themselves another leader, and our brothers will be denied
your presence in their lives,” Devil warned, glaring at Judge as he made his
way over to Gabby. He then tried to pull her out from behind the large mountain
lion shifter. Judge’s arm and Nikki’s hold prevented her from going anywhere,
though her body desperately wanted to abide the man.
    “ Are you a mountain lion too?” she
asked the man whose touch was currently doing strange things to her body. Even
though his hold was strong and unmoving, it gave her comfort rather than
scaring her.
    “ No, angel, I’m a vampire, and
you’re mine.”
    “ Who is he, Gabby?”
    Nikki’s fear and worry acted as a
cold shower for Gabby. Gone was the confident woman most people knew to be
Nikki. Instead, beside Gabby stood a trembling woman whose gaze was fixed on
Devil’s hand gripping Gabby’s arm.
    “ Both of you need to leave. Now!” Gabby ordered, not caring how rude she appeared. Her
friend needed these men out of their house.
    “ We need to—” Devil started to
say. Gabby had no idea whether it was her fixed stare that she hoped held her
resolve, with maybe a little bit of pleading, or the whispered words delivered
by Judge, but thankfully Devil made a move to leave. “We still need to talk.”
    “ Come on, Devil,” Judge said,
pulling on the man’s arm. “Let’s head back to the hotel, and you can tell me
what’s been going on.”
    As soon as Gabby heard car
engines start, she led Nikki to the sofa, maintaining contact the whole time.
Once they were both curled up on the long seat, Gabby exhaled. “That, my
friend, is the man I had that date with before my vacation. He calls himself
Devil. He took my virginity that night, and quite possibly my sanity. I have
been unable to think of anyone else since.”
    This seemed to draw her friend
out of her panic. The threat had been