okay,” Tasuki sighed accepting the fact that he was being completely ignored. “I’m sure that I’ll figure it out eventually.”
Chapter 3
Alicia had just finished making herself a cup of coffee when her cell phone started ringing. Rushing toward her purse, she grabbed the device taking a quick glance at the caller ID. She put it to her ear with a bright smile.
“Hey Micah, what’s up?”
“Do you have some time to spare for your big brother?” Micah asked turning his back on the other two men in the room so they couldn’t see the relieved expression on his face. He’d half expected Damon to answer her phone.
Alicia shrugged, “Yeah, I guess so. Damon went out with Michael and Kane. He probably won’t be back for a while yet.”
“Good, because I really need a favor,” Micah began. “We’ve got a she-wolf in one of the holding cells here that we just rescued from a raid on the underground slave trading. She hasn’t shifted back yet, but when she does… she’s going to need a change of clothing. Do you think you can bring something down to the station for her?”
Alicia looked over at her huge closet full of clothes before nodding, “Yeah, I think I can dig up something. When do you want me there?”
“As soon as you can get ready,” Micah answered. “We don’t know when she’ll wake up from the tranquilizer.”
“I’ll be there,” Alicia said. “Anything else you need?”
“I’m so glad you asked that,” Micah said letting Alicia hear the smile in his voice. “I need you to put another wolf under your thrall and get him to answer a few questions for us. Do you think you can do it?”
“Yes,” Alicia answered a little too quickly. “Give me some time to get dressed and grab a few things for the poor girl and I’ll be down.”
She hung up the phone and a wide grin spread across her face as she rushed around getting dressed. It was nice to have something to do while Damon was away. At least now she felt useful and, with any luck, she might be able to prove to Damon that she really could do things on her own.
Throwing on her favorite pair of jeans and one of Damon’s black button-up shirts, she got out a black leather duffle bag and removed two set of clothes from the closet. One set in case she liked soft frilly things and another set that would make her feel tough and in control. Why not give the girl a choice between dressy or badass. Besides, Damon had stocked over half of her closet with bad girl outfits so she would match the bad boy act he had going on.
Once the clothes were packed, she went through some of the new undergarments she hadn’t worn yet and something for the girl to sleep in before putting them in the bag as well. She figured after being held prisoner, any girl would appreciate the little things like clean underwear, toothbrush, and maybe a little makeup.
As an afterthought, she took one last look around the room to make sure she hadn’t missed anything. Spotting her collection of hair things, she grabbed up a comb and brush along with a few hair ties so the girl could put her hair up if she wanted to.
Alicia smiled as she put the strap of the bag over her shoulder and headed toward the bedroom door. It felt good to know that she was going to be seeing Micah again even though it had only been a few days. She missed him.
The fact that he’d called for her help specifically was exciting enough. Putting someone under her thrall for legit reasons, and the fact that her target was a werewolf and not just some human would mean a challenge for her.
Humans were far easier to place under a thrall because they had no real immunity to it unless the human was psychic or wore a charm like her necklace. Damon had told her that shifters were harder to penetrate because all of their five senses were higher. Unfortunately, she hadn’t had much of an opportunity to even test it out on humans with Damon barely letting her out of the bedroom.
Alicia squared her shoulders. This was a prime opportunity for her to get some real practice in without the sexual distractions. Just as she walked out of her and Damon's bedroom, Kane stormed in the front door muttering under his breath.
“Is something wrong?” Alicia asked.
Kane didn’t appear to hear her and continued muttering about a woman named Olivia. Suddenly he froze and cursed loudly.
“Damn it!” Kane shouted. “Not Olivia… Victoria.”
Michael and Damon walked in at that very moment, both snickering at Kane’s antics.
Alicia almost groaned at Damon’s timing. While she was happy to see him back safe and sound, she’d hoped to have time to go to the police department and be back before he returned.
“So, you’re the man who remembers the name of every woman he’s ever been with,” Damon drawled.
“I do remember them,” Kane growled.
“Then who’s Olivia?” Michael asked.
“Go to hell!” Kane muttered before heading toward his bedroom.
“Guess that’s the answer to that question,” Michael stated and headed toward the stairwell but paused seeing Alicia standing near her bedroom door looking a lot like she’d just got caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
Kane shut the bedroom door behind him and saw Tabatha standing there with her arms crossed over her chest.
“So, who’s Olivia and Victoria?” she asked.
“Damon and Michael’s ex-girlfriends,” Kane answered with no hesitation and sealed his lips over hers.
In the main room, Damon’s gaze was instantly drawn to Alicia and he almost smiled when he saw her wearing one of his shirts. However, the way she was biting her bottom lip made him frown and he slowly looked her over. His eyes narrowed dangerously when he saw the overnight bag that she hadn't zipped hanging from her shoulder.
Alicia blinked when Damon suddenly appeared less than a foot in front of her, blocking her path by putting a palm on either side of the doorframe… effectively trapping her against the wooden surface. He leaned forward and studied her without saying a word but she’d be damned if that look in his eyes wasn’t speaking volumes.
She felt herself becoming a little nervous and tried to hide it by smiling, “I’m glad you’re back.”
“Are you?” Damon asked unable to keep his dark side from raising its head. “If I had been a few minutes later… would you still be here waiting for me?”
Alicia couldn’t resist the self-preservation instinct and raised her hand to touch the necklace that was no longer around her neck. She suddenly remembered she’d given it to Nick and inwardly cringed when she noticed Damon’s eyes had followed her nervous movement then flashed back up to pin her with a darkening amethyst gaze.
At this point, Alicia knew lying was liable to set him off and with that came the risk of many things… including a repeat of a spanking. Feeling the hot blush rise to her cheeks at the visual, she lifted her chin in defiance and calmly told him the truth.
“No.”
She sighed when Damon turned the doorknob and backed her into the bedroom. She flinched when he slammed the door behind him. The split second glance at the expression on Michael’s face before it was blocked was definitely enough to make her worry.
“Where were you going?” Damon asked making sure to put the question in past tense.
“I was just going to go see Micah,” Alicia said in an attempt to correct the misunderstanding before she found herself face down across his lap again.
“Did you think you were going to spend the night with Micah?” Damon demanded softly.
A confused look crossed Alicia’s face before she jerked her gaze down to the open