Vlad (Sons of Sangue Book 8)

by Patricia A. Rasey

  Janelle bit back the impending orgasm, wanting to feel him inside her before she gave way. Vlad positioned his cock while he continued to hold onto her hair, arching her back and leaving her neck exposed. She moaned and pushed against him.

  “Christ, you’re fucking hot.”

  Vlad pushed slowly into her, withdrawing slightly before fully seating himself. His name tumbled from her lips. He was thick and hot, deliciously filling her. Rocking back into him, Janelle encouraged him to take her fast and hard. Vlad tightened his grip on her hair, thrusting energetically enough to move the couch beneath her.

  “Vlad.” She panted his name, a hairbreadth away from orgasm. “Christ, bite me already.”

  Vlad growled, then sank his fangs deep into her neck. White-hot lights flashed behind her closed lids, stealing her breath. Janelle convulsed around his thickness as he held her tight against him. His lips were suctioned to the tender flesh of her neck as he drew her life’s fluid, sucking the red cells from her artery. Janelle cried out as she climaxed a second time.

  Never had she thought one could have an out-of-body experience without death, but damn if she didn’t feel as if she were floating, looking down upon their joined bodies. Vlad withdrew his fangs with a soft pop, before licking the twin holes and appeasing the ache left from his fangs.

  He thrust one final time before he tensed, his hold on her tightening. His curse echoed through the room before he released his grip. Janelle collapsed to cushions beneath her, bare ass still in the air.

  “I’m wrecked.”

  Vlad’s chuckle and the rasp of his zipper was her only answer.

  Chapter 10

  Vlad should’ve been troubled by the fact he had just fucked and fed from a woman he couldn’t hypnotize into forgetting. Hell, she was law enforcement and could effectively walk out of this room, expose the truth about vampires and bring him to his knees.

  Once the euphoria wore off, he’d no doubt realize how much he had screwed up and potentially placed his family and their friends in danger. But at the moment, he couldn’t seem to wipe the stupid grin off his face. Special Agent Ferrari was still bent over the sofa, with her bare ass in the air.

  “I’m wrecked,” resonated through his thoughts, making him want to strut like a fucking peacock, stroking his ego and then some. Not that he wasn’t already confident when it came to women, but this one … this one had been somewhat of a challenge. And damn if he didn’t want to wrap those long lean legs about his waist and do it all over.

  Now was not the time to be patting himself on the back, though. Mircea needed to be found and dealt with. Fucking a human and worrying about the consequences was wasting his precious time. The longer Mircea was allowed to walk the earth, the larger his brother’s army grew. This situation, if it wasn’t dealt with, could become catastrophic.

  And now? He had another issue he needed to get a handle on. Janelle’s knowledge of vampires couldn’t be erased. For whatever reason, hypnosis didn’t work on her and scrambling her thoughts only left her confused about the events, not forgetting them entirely. Vlad had fucked Janelle and used her for sustenance.

  Talk about disastrous.

  This woman intoxicated him. Vlad was beginning to wonder if she hadn’t somehow bewitched him. Everything about her called to his baser needs. The last time he had desired a woman the way he did Janelle, she had leaped to her death rather than be captured by the Turks, devastating him and leaving him hollow. The idea he might feel something for this female scared the bejesus right out of him.

  “Janelle?”

  “Hmmm…,” was her muffled reply.

  “Everything okay?”

  He heard her answering chuckle before she lifted herself from the sofa and stood. Christ, she was beautiful, bedraggled and all. Janelle gripped her jeans and sexy-as-hell black lace thong from about her ankles and pulled them up, shimmying them over her hips before righting her sweater. Under which she wore no bra. The thought alone had him hard as concrete and ready for round two.

  Talk about being wrecked. If he wasn’t careful, this woman could easily destroy him. Janelle pushed her long brown tresses from her face and smiled, looking well-fucked and sexier than ever. Vlad bit back his rising need.

  They needed to go.

  He had a brother to catch.

  And now that Janelle knew about him and his kind, he wasn’t going to let her out of his sight until he figured a way out of this horrible mess he had gotten himself into. Flipping the tables, Vlad was about to become her fucking shadow. Janelle wouldn’t be given a choice, not with the vampires’ entire existence at stake. Humans had proven time and time again untrustworthy. Why should he expect her to be any different?

  Janelle took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “That was incredible.”

  One of his brows arched. “I’m glad you think so, iubi. I wouldn’t mind another go-around, but I’m afraid we must head out. My brother needs to be stopped and we’ve wasted enough precious time.”

  “Will you call if you find him?”

  “Call? I’m afraid, iubi, you and I are now stuck like glue. Where I go, you go.”

  Her mouth rounded, bringing to mind something else she could use her sassy mouth for. His phone buzzed in his pocket, stopping her from challenging him. Kane’s name appeared on the screen. He swiped his thumb across the surface and took it to his ear as he held up one finger for her to give him a moment.

  “Talk to me.”

  “I just got a call from one of our prospects. Lefty and his partner Chad were in Eugene and came across one of Mircea’s parasites.”

  “Lefty? Is he one of yours?”

  “Prospect. He’s not yet a vampire but he’s trustworthy.”

  Vlad scratched the back of his ear, his guilt rising with Janelle’s knowledge of their existence.

  “Look, we need to act quickly. Your brother’s army is going to grow out of control if we don’t stop him. We don’t have time to be fucking around.”

  “I agree.”

  Vlad’s shame grew. Kane was correct. Time was of the essence. He should have been out there looking for his brother instead of fucking Janelle, causing yet another obstacle. He jammed a hand through his hair, shoving the strays from his face.

  “Keep them on the tail of this nenorocitule and send me the whereabouts. I’m heading out. I’ll tear the son of a bitch’s head clean from his shoulders before he has a chance to cause more trouble.”

  “Jesus,” Janelle whispered.

  “Where are you? Wolf, Rocker, Hawk, and I are already on our way to Eugene.”

  “Florence, at the Blood ’n’ Rave.” He glanced at Janelle who looked at him in concern. He had to give her credit, any normal woman would have freaked the fuck out. “You’re closer than I am, but I’m not going to use normal modes of transportation. I’ll be there before you boys arrive. Text me the whereabouts.”

  “You alone? I thought I heard a female voice.”

  “No, but I don’t have time to explain. You find the freak of nature before I do and don’t take his head until I get there. I want to see if he’ll roll on Mircea. We need to know where my brother is operating from as of yesterday.”

  Vlad didn’t wait for a response. He ended the call and pocketed his phone. “I’m taking you home.”

  “My car is outside. It’s not necessary—”

  “I’ll have Draven deal with our vehicles. They’ll only slow us down.”

  Her gaze pinched. “I don’t understand.”

  “You will when we get outside.”

  Vlad grabbed her hand and led her down the stairs and through the curtains. Draven continued to man the bar, but there weren’t any Sons present.

  “You have someone who can take our vehicles back to the penthouse?”

  Draven nodded.

  Vlad tossed his keys onto the bar then grabbed the pen and paper from the wooden counter and jotted down the address. He held out his hand to Janelle, who laid her keys in his palm without
question.

  Draven picked up the pad and looked at the address. “Done. And her?”

  “She goes with me.”

  His gaze darkened. “She’s not one of us.”

  “You don’t think I fucking know that?” Vlad all but growled, irritated by the fact this barkeep would question him. “I’ll take care of her. You take care of the fucking cars.”

  Draven sneered but didn’t question him. “You got it.”

  Vlad pulled Janelle through the office door and out the back of the club. It was pitch black, the night sky covered by clouds threatening a storm. His vampire vision could see perfectly in the dark and into the forest beyond the back of the establishment.

  “Get on my back.”

  Janelle halted, pulling on his grip. “Excuse me? You seriously can’t think to piggyback me to wherever you are taking me.”

  “I can and I will. Stop wasting time and crawl on, unless you’d prefer I cradle you like a child.”

  “Wouldn’t taking your Aston be faster?”

  “You’re about to find out.” Janelle’s gaze questioned him, obviously skeptical. But instead of wasting more valuable time, she thankfully did as she was told. “Hang tight.”

  Gripping her legs at his waist and praying her grip at his neck was strong, Vlad took off for the forest and headed in the direction of her apartment. Janelle needed a change of outfits. He sure in the hell wasn’t letting her traipse around a band of vampires dressed as she was, not to mention the impracticality of her fuck-me heels. If he was going to keep an eye on her twenty-four-seven, then he needed her suitably dressed, not to mention wearing a bra. Janelle had a set of great tits, but he didn’t need everyone else knowing that. Those he planned to keep for himself, at least until he figured a way out of his predicament.

  * * *

  Janelle walked, more like stumbled, into her apartment and headed for her master bedroom, not caring if Vlad chose to follow. Motion sickness had her equilibrium off-kilter and her stomach rolling. Bouncing off the hallway walls, she eventually made it to the doorway. Her large king-sized bed had been left unmade, tempting her to lie down until the wooziness passed. Too bad Vlad hadn’t given her more time, like eight hours for a good night’s rest. She couldn’t have been dizzier if she had stood in place and spun for several minutes.

  What the hell had just happened?

  It was as if she had stepped into a nightmare of paranormal activity. Vampires? Until an hour ago, Janelle had been 100% a realist, believed in things as they were. Things that went bump in the night didn’t exist to her … until now.

  Vlad Tepes had not only proven the lab’s result that he wasn’t human, but he had superhuman abilities, like being able to run through the forest at the speed of light, her motion sickness proving as much. Next time, she’d insist on taking her sturdy SUV and following the posted speed limit. Lord, she hadn’t even begun to process all that had happened in the past hour. Janelle had not only had sex with a very seductive freak of nature, but she had also allowed him to feed from her.

  And she had liked it.

  Lord, she was going to need to see a psychiatrist when this was all over. No one would likely believe her anyway.

  Walking to the mirror centered above the dresser, she glanced at her bedraggled self. Sticks and brush stuck out at odd angles from her tangled hair, gathered from their breakneck run through the forest. Surely, she’d never get a comb through it. The twin holes at her neck drew her gaze down. Angling her head for a better look, she noted they were nearly gone, as though he hadn’t sunk his fangs into her artery like she was his version of a Bloody Mary.

  Bile churned in her stomach. Janelle was about to lose every drop of alcohol she had consumed. She was never allowing Rocky to pick the nightclub again. If her instincts were correct, the bartender was also a vampire.

  Did the Blood ’n’ Rave patrons even have a clue?

  Judging by the little vials she had noted strung around their necks, Janelle was betting they did. She planned to ask Vlad about the waitresses, seeing as how Ivy had also worn one.

  Was she the only one in the dark about these nightcrawlers?

  And if Vlad was a vampire, how the hell did he walk about in the daylight?

  “What’s taking so long, iudi? We need to move. I can’t lose this son of a bitch Kane had called about. We need to eliminate this piece of work before he hurts more humans.”

  Eliminate?

  Janelle startled at Vlad’s approaching steps, his footfalls muffled by her area rug. She turned so quickly it caused her stomach to climb up her throat. Without a thought or care if the blasted vampire watched, she ran to the en suite and emptied what little she had consumed. Tears ran down her cheeks and snot gathered in her nostrils. She was but a hairbreadth away from losing her shit, praying this was all just another damn dream.

  She didn’t have to look to know he stood behind her. Instead of accusing her of wasting his precious time, he knelt on his haunches and gathered her hair gently in his fist as she puked again.

  Great. Just great.

  Hot sexy vampire had now seen her at her absolute worst.

  “Humans can’t always handle that high rate of speed.” His deep tone soothed her. “I should’ve taken more care. I’m sorry.”

  When she emptied the last of her stomach, Janelle sat back against the adjacent wall. Vlad stood, grabbed a washcloth from the shelf, and wetted it before handing it to her. She grabbed the offered cloth and scrubbed her mouth, then her nose, before tossing it into the nearby sink.

  “A warning would have been nice. I don’t suppose we travel by car from here.”

  He chuckled. “Sorry, iubi. We left those back in Florence. I promise to go a bit slower from here. Kane and Kaleb may very well beat us there by now.”

  Janelle dragged her hands down her hot face. If Vlad arrived too late to eliminate whoever needed a fast ticket to hell, she’d be to blame.

  “Who are you looking for?”

  “One of my brother’s bastard creations.”

  “A vampire?” His nod was her answer. Her hand covered her neck where he bit her. “Am I going to become one?”

  Vlad knelt beside her again, caressing her cheek with his knuckle. “No, iubi. You won’t become a vampire. I merely drank from you.”

  “Then how does one become…”

  “You have to drink from our blood. Even a droplet would do so.”

  Janelle thought back to the night she had visited him at his penthouse. “Your hand, when you cut yourself, is that why you took such care getting rid of the blood?”

  “That and the DNA. If someone were to come across it, they might discover our chromosomes are much different from those of humans.”

  The lab had discovered the new species thanks to her. Janelle’s face heated, but she wasn’t ready to let Vlad in on her blunder. Had he let her in on his secret to begin with, she wouldn’t have been so foolhardy as to hand it over to the crime lab. Janelle could only imagine the studies they were likely doing right now on the simple hair follicle, looking for answers.

  Instead of confessing, she rose to her feet, feeling much firmer than moments ago. “We should probably go.”

  Vlad stood, then led her from the room. “I’ll call Kane and see if they arrived.” He pulled out his cell, tapped the screen a few times then put it to his ear. The other end obviously picked up when Vlad said, “What’s the scoop?”

  His jaw hardened as he began to pace the room. “Lefty and Chad there?” There was a pause. “Good. What’s the address? We’re five minutes away.”

  He hung up the phone then turned back to her. “Sorry, Janelle. But I’ll need you to crawl on my back again. You think you can handle it?”

  She sucked in a deep breath. “Better than staying here.”

  Vlad chuckled. Following her quick change of clothes, he led her to the door where she hopped onto his back. “Close your eyes. It will help.”

  Janelle did as she was told, feeling the wind r
ush through her already tangled hair. The clock on her wall at home had indicated she had about five hours before she needed to be at her desk. Something told her she was going to be using one of those rarely taken personal days from work. Seeing her boss, Robby Melchor, with what felt like the king of all hangovers wasn’t at all appealing. Besides, she needed time to herself to sort out this mess she had gotten herself into.

  Gripping Vlad more tightly about the neck, she squeezed her eyelids closed, calling forth a mental image. Her visions had returned, this one more frightening than any from her past.

  A man with short dark wavy hair and eyes very similar to Vlad’s stood in a darkened doorway. Garbage and stench littered the alley, so much so, Janelle could damn near smell it.

  Kane, the man she had seen at the Sons of Sangue’s clubhouse months ago, and several others stood around a headless corpse, blood leaking onto the cobblestones beneath their feet.

  One of them broke off from the group, as though looking for something, someone. Maybe the perpetrator. He passed several darkened doorways in his search, now several yards from the crime scene. A gleam from the security light glinted off the long piece of steel the wavy-haired man withdrew from his back and lopped off the other man’s head.

  Janelle’s eyes opened and she let out a terrifying scream.

  Chapter 11

  Vlad stopped a couple of city blocks shy of his destination. Janelle’s scream had caused him far more concern than finding Mircea’s creation. Let his grandsons take care of the miscreant. Releasing his hold on her legs, Janelle slid down his back. Feet planted on the ground and white-faced, she bent over, placed her hands on her knees and gasped for air.

  Something had frightened Janelle; he could sense her fear as if it had come alive and crawled inside of him. Vlad was pretty sure with what she did for a living she had already seen a lot of ugly in the world. He couldn’t imagine what could incite such terror.