Claws // Colby Brock

💫 55 💫

I rolled my eyes and elbowed him, drawing those blues straight up to mine. He had a shiteating grin on his face — as I expected, so I flicked his nose. "Shut up. For my current chew toy, you bite back far too much."

"What else am I good for?" he teased, subtly running his hand down my back. Just before he got to my hips, I distracted myself from his effortless captivation with Tara.

"Did you need something?" I asked, and Tara gave me an amused shake of her head. She'd come in just for me, to see if I was okay. I appreciated it but the last thing I needed was to talk any of this out, I just wanted to bully an inanimate object until my frustrations were lost to the wind.

An elbow gently touched into my side as Colby muttered, "Hey." I turned to him curiously, meeting those eyes instantly. "Need to take your anger out on something? Fight me."

My lips pressed together for a moment. "No, I don't think I'll- Wait, why am I saying no?"

He smirked. "Come on, you've wanted to kick my ass since you met me, surely."

"I have," I agreed, excitement bubbling up inside of me. I wasn't quite sure why the idea of fighting Colby was as thrilling as it was, but I was all for it. My mind happily forgot about everything else for a second.

"Can we watch?" Tara asked, the same excitement coating her features. I just shook my head, refraining from pointing out how creepy that was to even think about. She pouted but disappeared, dragging Jake, who also looked dismayed, out of the room. I looked at Colby and motioned vaguely toward the floor. He leaned down and I expected him to pick me up nicely, only for him to throw me over his shoulder. I understand before, but that was unnecessary.

"You're such a bastard," I growled when my shoes hit the concrete outside. He was just smiling at me. "Are you trying to rile me up so I exert more energy?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "That depends if it's working." The look on my face told him enough. "Come on, give me your best shot."

Holding back since I didn't want to leave any more scars on him, I launched a couple of feet forward, but he dodged it easily. His quick reflexes were going to get on my nerves if he kept evading me, even if that was the point.

No matter what I did, for a few long minutes, he consistently dodged or blocked my attacks, and with every one, I was growing more aggressive, more irritable. That smug little expression on his face certainly wasn't helping — in fact, it made me want to punch him all the more. But I tried to keep my head and perform more complicated, well-thought-out moves. Only one landed.

Then he grabbed my wrist and threw me almost three metres away.

Growling, I flinched forward like I was going to pounce, before swiftly dodging to the side and slipping under his outstretched arm. I knew I had to act fast, even if he saw every one of my moves coming. He'd already spun to me, giving me the slightest opening to use a move I avoided — for obvious reasons.

Straight men... it was easy to distract them when you demonstrate your ability to raise your leg so high in the air you can actually kick them in the face. I had to work for it, considering he was taller, but I managed it and Colby started to fall down out of utter shock and the force of the move. I purposely waited for his ass to his the floor before swooping down and dropping onto his waist. With my legs either side of him, I smirked, catching his gaze.

He was too surprised that we'd ended up like this to move for a few seconds, his hands up by his head almost in a surrender. Should he have had working lungs, he'd have been too winded to fight back.

I gently grabbed his face and leaned down to kiss him, igniting every one of his instincts as his hands grasped my hips, gliding unceremoniously up toward my waist and taking my shirt with it to touch my bare skin. A sense of need Rise up inside me but I ignored it and pulled back from the kiss, sitting up.

"Annnnnd... you're defeated," I teased, as his gaze roamed around our position. His lip had found its way between his teeth at some point. "Men are too easy."

My expectation for some kind of response fell flat, though, when I realised through the cover of night that his eyes were shifting in and out of their red shade. He'd stopped breathing, lying like a statue beneath me now. As I opened my mouth to say more, he suddenly disappeared, and I only processed it the moment my ass hit the floor.

I looked up in search of where he'd gone, only to find he wasn't even in the backyard anymore. Nor was he in the house, if my nose was right. My brows furrowed in confusion.

What happened? Why had he completely abandoned me out here?

Under the faint illumination of the moon, I received only one answer, not from the man himself. "He wants you in ways you dislike; ways he cannot have you."

I knew what the Goddess meant.

No matter how respectful he was of my wishes to remain bite-free, Colby was still a vampire with the same urges as any other.

"He'll be back," Sam's voice called to me from inside, quiet as I wasn't listening out. I slowly climbed up to my feet unable to stop the slight pout of my lips. "Sorry, Amira. Sometimes our thirst is just too much to handle."

"I know," I replied... but I didn't like it.

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