 Hi everyone! Welcome to Tuesday Tales! We are back with Ezekiel Hallow in Featherweight (Hallow Brothers 6). This week’s word prompt is “skinny”. **Warning - There is adult situations and adult language.** Don’t forget to check out the other awesome Tuesday Tales! Click here to take a look!  Ezekiel glanced on either side of him down the alley before he slipped the nail file into the lock. He jiggled the skinny piece of metal as he tuned his senses into his work. He listened for a click as he poked the tip of the blade into the heart of the knob.
“A werewolf who picks locks. Who would have thunk?” Dakota joked. He pressed his ear to the cool metal of the door to hear better. “My two oldest brothers had the porn. Our cabins are usually kept open to each other. They were smart enough to keep that stuff under lock and key probably because Momma would have taken them behind the woodshed if they got caught with it. So the other five of us got really good at lockpicking so we could ‘borrow’ what they had without them knowing.” He could tell she was stifling a laugh. “You ‘borrowed’ their porn?” He shrugged. At the same time he heard the lock give. He stood then twisted the knob to open the door. “I was a horny teenager with little access to girls. What did you expect?” Dakota smirked at him. “Still watching the porn now?” He gestured for her to go inside. “With you, baby? I’m never going to need it again. If we do go our separate ways, which we won’t, the past few days will fuel any fantasy I could conjure up until I’m dead.” Her cheeks tinged pink at his words as she stepped into the store. “You see so confident that we’re going to stay together. We barely know each other.” “Mating bond, remember? I’ve seen the effects when it’s been denied. Besides, you can’t get enough of me. I’m too adorable to deny. Now, we might want to get a move on it. Every jewelry store I know of has an alarm system and we probably already tripped it.” She frowned as she looked back at him. “How many jewelry stores could you possibly know, Mister Hallow?” He followed her inside, letting the door shut behind him. “The ones in the movies. Move it.”
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 Hi everyone! Welcome to Tuesday Tales! We are back with Ezekiel Hallow in Featherweight (Hallow Brothers 6). This week’s word prompt is “gray”. **Warning - There is adult situations and adult language.** Don’t forget to check out the other awesome Tuesday Tales! Click here to take a look!  “Who’s there?” a deep voice boomed out of nowhere.
Dakota instinctively glanced up at the ceiling seeing nothing by the charcoal gray that surrounded her caused by the dim light of the candles. She rolled her eyes at herself. Like God was questioning her location. She was pretty sure he knew, if he cared at all. Her gaze fell to a doorway where the shadow of a thin figure in robes stood holding what looked like a kerosene camping lantern. Her heart leapt in her throat. She wanted to scream for Ezekiel but it wouldn’t come. An arm lifted the lantern to illuminate a gaunt yet very human face wearing thick rimmed glasses. Dakota let go a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. She caught it again when she noticed the sword he held in his other hand. Where a priest got a medieval looking sword was beyond her but he had it and it was pointed at her. “Who are you?” he demanded as he brandished the weapon. She raised her hands over her head in surrender. “My name is Dakota. I just came here to pray.” She heard the priest huff. “As much as I should encourage that, you might want to leave. This isn’t a safe place.” “And that would be why, father?” “A day or two ago, a rich looking man arrived and visited the jewelry store down the street. He had a literal gang with him. Before the sun rose the next day, he owned it but was nowhere to be found. We hadn’t seen hide nor hair out of good Mister Sullivan who owned it either. The sign that hung over the door for the last fifty years was smashed to bits and a paper one announcing the new owner was taped in the glass window. By sunfall, the new owner’s men took to the streets and they…” The priest's voice faltered then disappeared. His last words were filled with an emotion that Dakota couldn’t place. It might have been fear. It could have been sorrow. Maybe it was a mixture of both. She couldn’t be sure. “They what, Father?” she pried. “There was murder. I suspect they killed Mister Sullivan too. Three came into my church and attacked my deacon. They didn’t know I was here watching. They made it look like a random life taken by violence but…” Dakota slowly rose to her feet, her hands still over her head. “The men. They bit into your deacon’s neck. They drank from him like vampires would.”  Hi everyone! Welcome to Tuesday Tales! We are taking a break from the Hallows for a taste of the next Gods of DC book. Our word prompt is “surf”. **Warning - There is adult situations and adult language.** Don’t forget to check out the other awesome Tuesday Tales! Click here to take a look!  The ocean crashed against the shore in a violent beauty that took Apollo’s breath away. White shards of lightning tore the black sky apart. He hugged his surfboard a little closer to his hip. The waves were the best he’d ever seen. It was too bad his normal surfing buddy wasn’t here to enjoy it with him.
Apollo smirked to himself. If he were honest, his usual partner was the reason for all this. Nature was responding in kind to his aunt Demeter’s birth pains. The twins would be here any second and her lephrauchan-turned-demigod husband, Freddy, was at her side holding her hand instead of riding the surf with the sun god. And even though Apollo didn’t want to see his aunt in that much pain, he was looking forward to enjoying every last second of this. He glanced to either side of him. The beach was deserted. He had no doubt it would be. Even the most addicted surfer would be an idiot to be out in this. Riding these would prove fatal for any mortal who attempted the stunt. Thank Olympus he wasn’t mortal. Another bolt of lightning pierced the sky. By the looks of things, Dad wasn’t too happy with the situation at hand either. The poor guy never got over Demeter and it was clear the goddess got over him. Or was his father trying to tell him to get off the beach? Fat chance, big guy. Apollo blinked the sudden blindness from his eyes then caught the shadow out of the corner of his eye. He wasn’t alone. A man stood about a hundred meters away holding his board too. His long black hair fell past his shoulders. His board shorts clung tight to his body. His cheeks and chin were covered with a well trimmed, thick beard. The vision stunned Apollo speechless enough to not question where the Hades the guy came from. Whoever it was, he was perfect. So perfect, it stirred a strong desire in the god that he hadn’t felt in a long time. It took a few moments to find his voice. “Hey, dude. You shouldn’t go out. It’s too dangerous.” The man looked at him. Apollo could have sworn he saw the surfer wink at him before he took off for a sprint into the furious ocean.  Hi everyone! Welcome to Tuesday Tales! We are back with Ezekiel Hallow in Featherweight (Hallow Brothers 6). This week is a word prompt. **Warning - There is adult situations and adult language.** Don’t forget to check out the other awesome Tuesday Tales! Click here to take a look!  Dakota stepped carefully through the wrought iron gate molded into the shape of crosses. It felt like she was boarding a rickety old boat the way she put one foot in front of another. Maybe it was because she was certain she was about to burst into flame.
She glanced over her shoulder, her gaze watching down the street as she let the inner shadows of the old cathedral envelope her. Ezekiel disappeared into one of the shops. It was for the best. If she thought God was going to strike her down, a vampire hunter, what would happen to him? That is, if he wasn’t lying to her about what he was. She faced a vampire before. Why wouldn’t there be werewolves around? She shook her head to clear her thoughts and continued inside. It was lit only by the thousands of flickering candles lining the walls and altar. Was their power out? Didn’t they pay their electric bill? Her heart kept to her throat at the sight of the glimmering “exit” sign. Maybe it was time to take her leave before something bad happened. But not before she had a talk with the man upstairs. She had been pretty devoted about going to church every Sunday. That was, until Danny died. She wandered along the faded red carpet between the pews until she reached the rail that spanned the front of the church. She stared and the ornate marble altar that nearly reached the ceiling. The candlelight flickered in the inlaid gold. Dakota fell to her knees before it. Her thoughts swirled in her head until they settled on one solitary thought. Ezekiel. “Protect him,” she murmured in prayer. “Whatever is coming, whatever we have to face, please keep him safe.”  Hi everyone! Welcome to Tuesday Tales! We are back with Ezekiel Hallow in Featherweight (Hallow Brothers 6). This week’s word prompt is “round”. **Warning - There is adult situations and adult language.** Don’t forget to check out the other awesome Tuesday Tales! Click here to take a look!  “So, this werewolf thing,” she began.
“Yes?” he countered. “When do you change? Do you change?” “I do for a week during the full moon. So we don’t have a lot of time to get this figured out. I have less than a week or we’re going to need to round me up a lot of trees to hide in. Or I fight the change. It’s not ideal and I’ll be sick as a dog but it is an option. Oh, and you will want to get as far away from me as possible.” A surprised laugh escaped her lips. “Why? Are you going to eat me?” “Probably. And fuck you until you can’t move until your pregnant. My brothers and I are only fertile during the full moon.” Her eyes widened. “Oh. Even more incentive to get this done so we can go our separate ways.” “Precisely. But good luck with that separate ways crap.” Dakota shivered at the thought. Even if they weren’t under the bond of some mystical force, or whatever bullshit Ezekiel claimed, she wasn’t sure she could walk away from this man. His arm wrapped tight around her. She instinctively skimmed her hand across his belly. “Are you cold?” he asked softly. “A little,” she lied. “This is better, thank you.” “Anytime. Even though your touch is making it difficult to drive. I can’t get enough of you.” “Likewise.” She paused. “What are we going to do when we get to Memphis?” Ezekiel bit his lower lip. It made her want to kiss him. “It’ll be dark when we get there. We should find a place to stay and rest. Then we can start looking for Black in the morning.” Dakota smirked at him. “You want to look for a vampire during the day? Wow, you are bad at this.” Ezekiel rolled his eyes. “There should be obvious signs like death counts. They aren’t going to stop feeding. Besides, you’re the expert. Why are you asking me what we should do? I’m the trusty sidekick here.” She gazed at him for a moment then struggled to recover. He was right. He was just some Minnesota backwoods boy looking for a book. What made her hand the wheel over to him? She forced a seductive smile on her face. “I value your input.” “Among other things. Like what resides in my jeans.” “Can’t argue with that logic.”  Hi everyone! Welcome to Tuesday Tales! We are back with Ezekiel Hallow in Featherweight (Hallow Brothers 6). This week’s word prompt is “year”. **Warning - There is adult situations and adult language.** Don’t forget to check out the other awesome Tuesday Tales! Click here to take a look!  She shrugged as tears burned her eyes. “You’re pretty observant.”
“Well, I’m pretty. I’m not so sure about being observant though.” Dakota chuckled through her tears. Leave it to Ezekiel to crack a joke. There was a moment of awkward silence before he spoke again. “Come here, Dakota.” She turned to find his arms open to her. She scuttled across the floor until they were wrapped right around her. “You’re the first person I ever brought here since Danny died. It’s been a couple of years,” she said, her words muffled against the fabric of his damp shirt. “I’m honored you shared this with me.” She snuggled a little closer to him. She was sure how long they stood there holding each other. She wasn’t ready for it to end when he pulled away from her. “We should hit the road, baby,” he encouraged. She nodded as she wiped a couple stray tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. He threaded his fingers between hers then squeezed her hand with his. Together they locked the door leading to the garage. She watched Ezekiel grab the rusty garage door and yanked it back down into place. Dakota took the combination lock dangling from the hook it was kept on and squatted down. After some pulling and tugging, she lined it up enough to slip the lock into place. She spun the tumbler then stood upright. They climbed into the cab of the truck without a word. Dakota stared at her house as Ezekiel threw the vehicle into reverse and backed out of the driveway. As they reached the street, she turned to watch him drive. Something stirred inside her, an emotion she had never felt before. It was stronger than what she had for Danny. Was it this crazy mating bond Zeke claimed they had? She had no idea. She was certain that if he died too, so would she. She couldn’t live without him. * * * * The truck was quiet as Nashville faded away in the rear view mirror. Dakota watched the cars as Ezekiel passed by them. He had sort of a lead foot. His voice disrupted her thoughts. “You know, you can sit next to me. I don’t bite. I might nibble but trust me, you’ll like it.” Hi everyone! Welcome to Tuesday Tales! We are back with Ezekiel Hallow in Featherweight (Hallow Brothers 6). This week’s word prompt is “gift”. **Warning - There is adult situations and adult language.** Don’t forget to check out the other awesome Tuesday Tales! Click here to take a look! Then again, he wasn’t. Seeing a beast like him doing something so domesticated stirred something inside her. It made her want to strip naked to reward him for a job well done. It made her want more from him, his heart, a home, children.
She glanced around the empty house then to the bleach spot on the floor. A whimper escaped her throat. She wanted those before and bad things happened. It was selfish for her to want them again. She tried to busy herself with things. It was hard in a house with nothing in it other than the matching black and white ceramic cat salt and pepper shakers that sat in the windowsill over the sink. They had been a wedding gift from her mother-in-law. They only stayed because Dakota filled them both with garlic powder. They were helpful to protect the house not that it needed it anymore. The buzz outside droned on for a little over a half hour moving around the perimeter of the property before it died off. A few moments later the garage door opened. Ezekiel stepped inside, his skin glistening with a sheen of sweat. His shirt hung out of the back pocket of his jeans. Dakota could have sworn her brain short circuited at the sight. He smiled at her. “One last thing to worry about.” She swallowed hard to find her voice. “Yeah, thanks.” He stared at her for a long quiet moment before he looked around the blank walls. “What was his name?” Dakota frowned at him. “Who?” “Your husband.” Her heart sunk in her chest. She didn’t realize just how fresh to wound still was after all these years. “Daniel. I called him Danny.” He tugged his shirt out of his pocket and slipped it on. He wandered around, studying the empty rooms. “How’d you meet?” “We were best friends in high school. He asked me to marry him our second year of college. I’m not sure how in love I was with him but then again I didn’t really know what love was. I said yes.” “You weren’t in love with him?” “I loved him. He was my friend. Zeke?” “Yeah?” “I don’t really want to talk about it right now.” He looked at her then nodded. “Of course.” “What even made you bring that up?” “Empty house. You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Bleach stain on the floor. It’s your house. It’s where it happened. The attack that made you who you are now.”  Hi everyone! Welcome to Tuesday Tales! We are back with Ezekiel Hallow in Featherweight (Hallow Brothers 6). This week’s word prompt is “persuade”. **Warning - There is adult situations and adult language.** Don’t forget to check out the other awesome Tuesday Tales! Click here to take a look!  “Hey.”
He pulled his hand from his face to find Dakota standing beside him. She bit her lower lip as she watched him. Despite the terror coursing through him, seeing her do that stirred a lust deep within him. “Hey,” he replied. “You okay?” “I don’t have an army at home. I have my brothers. They have their mates and children. There’s my mother. That’s it. What am I going to do?” There was a pause before Dakota spoke. “We’re going to Memphis. We’re going to stop the son of a bitch before he can reach Minnesota.” Ezekiel twisted a little to look at her. He smiled. He liked this “we” she mentioned. She was the only one he wanted on this journey with him. “Maybe I could persuade you to consolidate vehicles,” he suggested. “If you’re in my truck, you won’t be taken out by some asshole suffering from road rage.” “He didn’t even get near me,” Dakota scoffed. “Not from my angle. From what I saw, you were almost road kill.” She scowled at him then huffed. “Fine. We need to make a stop first to store my bike before we head towards Memphis.” Ezekiel gestured towards the street they had come from. The noise of the crowd made him shiver. “Lead the way.” “Yeah, no. Not after all the bullshit we went through.” Dakota thumbed in the opposite direction, “I know a few alley backways to the truck and bike. We’ll only have to cross the street once and it’s at a shallow spot. Follow me.” She led him to an alley then wove him from one corridor to the other. He hurried up to capture her hand in his. He figured she’d rip her hand away then tear his arm off to beat him with it. Instead, she glanced back at him in acknowledgement. Her cheeks were a rosy pink. It took twice as long to get to the vehicles but it was a quiet walk with no crowds and no drunken, amorous partygoers to touch them and make them ill. One quick sprint across the street landed them at their destination. As Ezekiel opened the driver’s side door, he looked at Dakota mounting her bike. “Where to?” Ezekiel queried. Dakota big at her lip before she answered. “Not far. We’re going to LaVerge.” She fired it on and sped down the street. With a sigh, Ezekiel followed her. Hi everyone! Welcome to Tuesday Tales! We are back with Ezekiel Hallow in Featherweight (Hallow Brothers 6). This week’s word prompt is “frozen”. **Warning - There is adult situations and adult language.** Don’t forget to check out the other awesome Tuesday Tales! Click here to take a look!  “Are you okay? she asked. She brushed a few stray locks from his forehead.
“Been better. You?” he countered. “Still feel like I could puke.” “It’ll pass. You might try to eat. Strange, it sort of helped me.” “What the fuck happened?” “We’re mated. This thing keeps us from cheating on our mates.” “Another way you’ve fucked up my life in a very short time.” “Don’t start keeping track now. I have lots of time to keep fucking it up. I’m just getting started. Now, where are we going?” Dakota gestured up the street as she started walking away from him. “It’s up here a bit. It’s just a little hole in the wall shop.” He jogged a little to catch up with her. “So how many contacts do you have? Here. The middle of bumfuck, Egypt.” “When exactly were we in Egypt?” “Okay, then. Bumfuck, Tennessee.” Dakota glanced at him long enough for him to see her roll her eyes. “I wouldn’t consider this a contact. Ryan is more of a double agent so you might want to be ready to fight your way out.” “So he works with vampires?” “Sweetheart, he is a vampire.” Ezekiel stopped frozen in the street and gaped at her. “We’re walking into a smoke shop run by a fucking vampire? Have you lost your mind?” She turned to him as she stopped at a glass and wood carved door. One delicate hand gripped the door handle as the other reached to her thigh for her knife. “Zeke, we have an agreement. And if he breaks it, the odds are far better than they were in that bar where we met. So are you coming?” She pulled open the door and slipped inside. Ezekiel sighed as he hurried to catch the door before it shut. He followed her in. “Do I have a choice?” The tiny store was dark, the walls lined with deep stained wood shelves holding jars of chocolate colored dried out leaves. A display case towards back held smoking paraphernalia of all sorts including ones meant for illegal substances. Ezekiel had seen ones like them being used at the club. Not that he had ever used one. He preferred getting a high other ways like in the gym or naked with Dakota. A scrawny twenty-something kid wandered out through the beaded curtain that partitioned off the back from the showroom. His greasy hair came down in his eyes. He carried a rough wooden box between his hands like a treasure. “Hey, Ryan,” Dakota greeted. Ryan looked up at her spooked. He stumbled back a step as he let go of the box. It crashed to the floor, splintering into pieces. The leaves inside, a shade or two lighter with a tinge of emerald green, scattered over the black tile floor. “Fuck, Dakota. I just got those. That was some prime stock. You just cost me thousands of dollars. How am I supposed to retire now?” Ryan protested. Hi everyone! Welcome to Tuesday Tales! We are back with Ezekiel Hallow in Featherweight (Hallow Brothers 6). This week’s word prompt is “thanks”. **Warning - There is adult situations and adult language.** Don’t forget to check out the other awesome Tuesday Tales! Click here to take a look! He breathed a prayer of thanks when they parked in a side street deep in the downtown area. He hopped out of the cab of the truck as she propped her bike.
Dakota cocked her head towards the top of the street. “Come on, let’s go.” “And where are we going?” Ezekiel questioned as he followed her. She smirked at him over her shoulder. “It’s a surprise.” They slipped into the crowds of parties that flooded the streets of Nashville. Music from the bars floated out to the street, blending with each other and the noise of the revelers in a strange symphony. Half naked woman laughed in drunken fits as men dressed to impressed tried to score. Ezekiel flinched as he felt someone brush against him. A wave of nausea hit him like a wave. They had to get out of here. “Oh, fuck,” Dakota muttered. She clenched her arm around her belly as she doubled over a little. Ezekiel caught four guys pass by out of the corner of his eye. All of them were staring at Dakota with the gaze of a wolf about to attack a lamb. His low growl sent them off in the opposite direction. No one fucked with his mate. He laid a hand on Dakota’s shoulder. He felt her tug a bit to get away but she didn’t get far. “What is it?” Ezekiel asked. “I’m going to hurl,” she groaned. He whipped his arm around her waist and tucked her against his body. He curled around her the best he could, using his large body to shield her from the crowd. “What are you doing?” she demanded. He noticed she cuddled closer instead of pulling away. He felt something brush across his ass. His stomach lurched in response. “Remember that thing I told you about mating? We might want to find a different way back to the truck and the bike. Where are we going again?” “An old smoke shop. We turn left in two blocks.” “Great. Let’s hurry.” The two blocks through the mob took an eternity. The music was no longer beautiful. It was noise that just made things worse. Every couple steps another hand caressed him. Bile burned the back of his throat. His eyes watered. He felt Dakota flinch against him a couple times but her body relaxed in his embrace. This was hell. He’d take crossing a thousand bridges over this. |
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