Bad Mouth by Angela McCallister Page A

were all released from your prisons
     as free men.”
    That took some of the wind from her sails. “That’s different,” she said. He didn’t
     look convinced. “Now that they’re turned, they have an eternity.”
    “When you freed them from prison, telling them their debt to society was paid in full,
     did you stipulate the remaining length of their lives?” His point made, he didn’t
     wait for her answer. “Val, aside from the recent derangements, when was the last time
     you’ve heard of an Immortalis -related crime?”
    “I—” Shit. She’d been a little girl at the time.
    He nodded. “In my culture, breaking protocol just isn’t done. It has dire consequences
     no matter who you are. If the Rex himself broke protocol, he’d be subject to execution the same as anyone else. Turning
     these approved men doesn’t break any rules. But refusing the order to turn them? Fuck,
     Val, there’s no hiding that. I might as well offer my nuts on a platter right next
     to my head.”
    Her shoulders sagged. “Can’t you change the protocols?”
    He dropped his hands to his hips, his jaw clenching and releasing as he considered
     her. She’d give just about anything to know what he was thinking as he watched her
     with such intensity. Then he reached for her waist, pulling her in close to his body
     that had grown considerably hotter as they’d stood at his entryway.
    “For once, I wish I could.” His gaze caressed her face. “Only when I become the new Rex will I have a chance at setting protocol, and even then, it’s a tricky mindfuck to
     get the Immortalis behind it. Most see change as an enemy they need to defy.”
    That was news to her. She’d always thought anything Olen Rex said was law. “But if you were the Rex , don’t they have to do as you order?”
    He chuckled close to her ear, and her senses went on high alert, absorbing the heat
     of his breath on her skin. “A leader is only as powerful as his followers allow. Yes,
     they’ll do as they’re commanded, but there are boundaries. If the boundaries need
     to be pushed, it must be done gently.” He trailed his hand up the valley of her spine
     and tugged a lock of her hair. “I don’t do gentle well, Val.”
    She gasped and then clamped her lips together. A shot of desire hit her hard and throbbed
     between her legs.
    His knowing smirk made her want to dump ice water down her panties. Then his smile
     faded. “It wouldn’t be my priority to change protocol, not for humans.”
    Of course he would feel that way, and she understood, but now that she knew about
     the felons, she could change that for him. “You’ve only ever seen the worst humans.
     I understand now why you don’t like us, but you haven’t seen the good ones yet.”
    He slid both of his arms behind her and tightened his grip around her waist, aligning
     his body with hers. “I see you.”
    The low-lidded, sensual look on his face made her body hum. She pressed her thighs
     together to sooth the insistent, pounding need between them. Now was the time to move
     away before the intent in his expression became reality, but when he lowered his head
     toward her, her lids dropped slowly of their own volition. The soft brush of his lips
     over hers was a shot of wine to her veins. It went straight to her head, and everything
     resembling logical thought went fuzzy. She clutched his shoulders, the fabric of his
     shirt bunching beneath her palms.
    He slicked his tongue over her bottom lip, and she opened for him. The second he entered
     her mouth, he lit off like an explosive. The heat in his skin beneath her fingers
     ramped up to a feverish level. His hips moved against her as if he couldn’t control
     himself, and every thrust added to the searing pulses of pleasure in her core.
    A tortured moan pushed from his throat. “Val,” he said. “Leave now or I can’t stop.
     I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
    But she couldn’t leave, not with his hot mouth on hers, and