“He won’t hurt her. He’s just going to keep her warm and quiet until she falls asleep.” Drantos gripped Dusti’s arm to force her to face him. “Don’t make me control you too. You wouldn’t like it, and I wouldn’t either.”
“You’re threatening to hurt me? You said you wouldn’t do that.” Fear shot up her spine.
He suddenly sat up and gripped her head. His long fingers curled around the back of her neck while his face drew closer. She stared into his gaze and saw the blue of his irises seem to lighten, turning a brighter shade. His hot breath fanned her lips when he leaned closer until their noses lightly touched. She couldn’t look away from his incredible eyes. They stunned and frightened her at the same time. Eyes shouldn’t change colors that way.
“I’m strong-blooded and you’re not. I probably won’t be able to take your free will but I can immobilize you. Your body will refuse to move. I’m ordering you to hold still.”
Dusti attempted to lift her arm to push him back but her body didn’t respond. Her limbs hung limply at her sides. Panic set in as she tried to do it again but it was as if she’d been paralyzed.
“Easy.” Drantos’s tone lowered, turning husky. “You’re fine. I don’t want to argue with you but it would be bad if you make a scene. We’re going to cuddle up together nicely without you fighting me. If you resist, I’ll keep you this way. Do you understand?”
She couldn’t even form words to respond but a tiny whimper did manage to squeak past her parted lips. The brilliance of blue in his eyes dulled as suddenly as it had sharpened. Dusti gasped in air and was actually able to move when she jerked back. Drantos released her completely but didn’t look away.
“How did you do that? Bat? Talk to me!”
Dusti leaned back, her hands clawing at the blanket, and inched farther away from Drantos. Her head turned when her sister didn’t respond, only to find the other couple still frozen in the same position as before. She was suspicious that Kraven had control over her sister the same exact way Drantos had just controlled her.
Her mind refused to acknowledge that though. It was too unreal to be true. She found reasons instead. Her and Bat were tired, they’d had a rough day, and had survived a plane crash. It left them stunned and easily susceptible to wild thoughts and ideas. She latched hard onto that excuse. It sounded reasonable. People who’d survived traumatic events could be convinced of things not real or true. Their minds were messed up. Drantos had just used the power of suggestion. She’d listened subconsciously because he was crazy.
That had to be how psychopaths talked nice, sane people into following them.
His strong hand gripped her inner thigh and gave her a hard enough tug to make her fall flat onto her back. He came down on top of her. His weight pinned her but Drantos was nice enough to keep most of it off her rib cage so she could still pant from terror. His blue eyes began to lighten, brighten, and glow. She squeezed her eyes closed, twisting her head to the side to avoid him doing that to her again.
“Look at me.”
She wanted to. There was something compelling about his husky voice that made her have to fight the command, but she managed to resist. She couldn’t budge him when she pushed on his arms. “Get off me. Stop it!”
“Dusti? Look at me now.” His voice deepened with almost inhuman gruffness.
Her eyes opened of their own accord and she turned her head enough to stare deeply into his brilliant, glowing blue gaze. Her breath caught inside her lungs and her hands stopped pushing to fall limply between them. Her entire body wilted.
“I didn’t want to do this. I can smell your fear.” He blinked. “You’re safe and I won’t harm you. Being able to use my eyes this way is one of the many gifts I inherited.”
She tried to struggle but her body refused to obey, staying totally still under his heavier one. He adjusted his hips, moved one leg to push hers apart, and settled into the cradle of her thighs. Her skirt must have gotten pushed up, and her eyes widened with terror when she felt the hard press of an aroused Drantos against the vee of her panties. The rough denim of his pants brushed against bare skin.
“Easy, sweetheart. I’m not going to do anything to you. Yeah, you turn me on. It’s that simple. But I won’t act on it. You need to calm down and stop looking at me as if I’m going to attack you. I just want your word you’ll stop fighting with me.”
She couldn’t speak. His eyes slowly returned to a dark blue color, the glow fading. She gasped in air the second her entire body turned ridged with alarm. Her hands lifted to fist in the material of his shirt.
“Don’t make me control you again.”
“What are you doing to me?” she whispered, afraid despite what he’d said. “Stop it.”
“Your mother should have explained what she was so I don’t have to. Maybe she thought there would be no reason to have to tell you about your bloodline, since you had a human father and must not have inherited any traits that would betray you to your enemies.”
Dusti could deal with his crazy talk. She relaxed a little to allow her mind to calm down. With it came a sense of comfort she latched onto. “I’m not an alien.”
But he might really be one…
No. That’s nuts. Now he’s making me lose my mind.
It was possible exhaustion and too much stress had taken their toll. That would explain it.
“I’m not either. There’re regular humans but there are also other races. He took a deep breath, pressing against her chest a little while he inhaled. “I’m other—and so was your mom.”