Long Black Cadillac

by BA Tortuga

  It was there, thready and weak, but there. Shit. Shit.

  Before he even thought about it, he’d opened a vein, fixing to press it to Remy’s lips. Just about the time he did, though, he heard a growl, a heavy body knocking him aside.

  “No. Go find yours. I will take care of mine.” Gryph’s eyes glowed in the dark a moment before he turned to Remy, lifting the limp body up.

  He could feel Vance, like a fading heartbeat, coming for him. Stubborn fuck. Beautiful stubborn fuck. Clay went to meet him halfway, knowing Remy was in good hands, that Gryphon would get the man out if they didn’t come back. Feed. He and Vance both needed to fucking feed.

  Those bright fucking eyes met his, dead serious. “It went kaboom in… in a glorious way, man.”

  “Did you get him, baby?” Grabbing Vance as he staggered, Clay held them both up, feeling slick blood on his hands, on his chest. Fuck. Come on, come on.

  “You fucking know it. They’ll be counting teeth for weeks.”

  “Fucking A. Come on, honey. Let’s find us someone to snack on and hit the road.” Yeah. They just needed a little…. There. Someone was still fucking standing.

  Vance stumbled, head hitting his shoulder good and hard. Love. He heard it, clear as a bell. He dragged Vance the last few feet, pushing him at the man who was just struggling to get away; the poor fuck was going fast, though. “Drink, baby. Please. Need to get moving. You just need to drink.”

  Holding himself together with one hand on that poor belly, Vance growled, looked into the eyes of the bastard struggling in his arms. “I ain’t gonna hurt you. You’ll feel fine. I’m… I’m a fucking good guy.” The charm took Vance to his knees, but the fucker gave that throat willingly, Vance drinking deep.

  God save him from the good guys. Of course, that was why he fucking loved the bastard, wasn’t it? The drink helped Vance bounce back, and Clay dragged the fool up and off, heading for the hearse.

  It was running, Gryph behind the wheel, Remy slumped on the seat beside him.

  They piled in, Clay shouting all the while, “Go, go, go.”

  Gryph took off like a bat out of hell, proving that even old vamps had a sense of adventure.

  Now, if they could just find a place to hole up.

  Preferably somewhere without any kabooms.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  LORDY MERCY, his head hurt. Remy turned, falling hard off a bed, crawling along the floor. Man. Just. Man. He needed to. Something.

  Christ.

  Where the living fuck was he?

  “Remy. Sweet.” The voice came from where he’d been, the bed. A pair of blue eyes peered down at him. “Don’t open the curtains, hmm?”

  “No.” No, he didn’t think he would.

  He crawled to the bathroom and up into the tub, turning the water on. Wrapped soap. Crappy shampoo. Hotel.

  Motel.

  Whatthefuckever.

  The shower curtain opened a few moments later, long legs appearing in his line of sight before Gryph plopped down in front of him. “Soap, sweet.”

  “Huh?” Soap was bubbly, sorta, more bitter than sweet.

  “Hand me the soap. I shall get you clean.”

  “Oh. Sorry. Y’all…. Did everyone…? I ’member a fire.” He got the soap open, handed it to his Douce.

  After lathering up, Gryphon began scrubbing him gently, loving on him. “Everyone is fine. Your friend and his boy, they’re over next door. Beat up, but well.”

  “Oh, good.” He relaxed into the water. Clay was his family, through and through. “And you, Douce? You’re good?”

  “Better than I was.” He got a glinting grin. “Your Clay got us all something to eat earlier. You’ll have to eat up when you get clean.”

  “Yeah?” His belly felt more sick than hungry, but the water eased it some. “You want a bite, Douce? Will that make you better?”

  He’d do that for Gryph.

  He would.

  “I would rather you had one, love. I imagine you feel a little queasy, hmm? A little headachy.” So gentle. Gryph was treating him like spun glass.

  “Mm-hmm. My head’s fixin’ to split like a melon. When I’m better, I’ll run and get supplies. Right now, I’ll stay here.”

  Right here.

  In the water.

  “Swamp baby.” Gryphon kissed him, lips light and cool against his.

  “Mm-hmm.” Sweet. Gryph’s mouth was sweet like candy. The kiss went deep, wet with the shower, rough with need. Gryph pushed him back against the wall, long body stretching out on top of him. He wiggled, rubbing a bit, surprised as all hell that he felt good enough to play, even this much.

  “That’s it, sweet. That’s it.” That now-familiar chuckle ghosted across his mouth, then Gryph bit down, bright blood welling out of that fine lower lip. “Have a taste.”

  Remy opened his mouth to say no, don’t get all weak and shit on his account, when the first drop hit his lip and his fucking world tilted.

  Sweet.

  So sweet.

  He pushed into the kiss, tongue sliding on Douce’s lips. His whole body tingled with every thrust of his tongue, every press and rub of their lips. Lord, that felt good, tasted good. Yeah.

  Goddamn, he felt fine. Must be having that gee-I’m-not-dead thing where you gotta get you some to celebrate. Gryphon was laughing at him. He could hear it in his head. Like an echo. Hello-o-o-o. Did that mean his head was empty? Man, it would suck, iff’n his momma’d been right all these years.

  “You’re thinking far too hard, love. I might feel left out.” Gryph reached down, grabbing his cock and his attention.

  “I wouldn’t want that….” He arched, groaning as the pleasure hit him in a rush, leaving him light-headed. “Don’t you stop, now. Don’t you dare.”

  “Not about to.” That big hand cupped him, stroked, pulling up and down. The other hand found his balls, just rolling them like crazy.

  Remy nuzzled right in the curve of Gryphon’s neck, lips open as he licked and tasted. Oh. Tasted. He. Oh man. No. No, that wasn’t….

  Yes. He heard that loud and clear too. Yes, please. Gryphon wanted him to. Groaning low, he bit, blood splashing into his mouth, surprising him. Feeding him. Oh, he was hungry.

  “That’s it. That’s it, sweet.” Gryph bucked against him, pulling him off and rubbing and just moaning for him.

  Remy jerked, his orgasm surprising the living shit out of him, but the taste of his Douce was so good.

  So fine.

  “Remy.” His head smacked back against the tile as Gryph all but crawled up him, humping against his belly. The man went for, like, three seconds before coming all over him in wet bursts, the smell enough to make his mouth water again.

  “Oh. Better.” He nuzzled again, licking and sucking, nerves just all lit up like the Fourth of July.

  “I thought that might help.” Sitting back, Gryph pulled him up across those long thighs, sort of rocking him, comforting.

  “We gonna go home now, Douce?” He didn’t really care where home was—so long as it wasn’t surrounded in Yankees—but he needed to have one.

  “We are. There is no more Colonel to ask our kind to move on. And I would rather like to see your swamp.”

  “Mmm. Yeah. Go home, back where the gumbo is spicy and there’s zydeco on the street corners.”

  “Mmm-hmm. Of course, gumbo might have to be a rather occasional thing….” Now those eyes were staring right into his, trying to tell him something.

  Remy stopped, trying his damnedest to listen to the sounds in his head that were echoing over and over. “I…. I can hear you, Douce.”

  “Yes. You could a bit before. Now, though. Now it’s easy.” He got another kiss, this one telling him stuff too, that he was loved and wanted and safe.

  Remy floated, wandering along, fascinated by this… thing that he and Douce shared. The kisses kept distracting him, kept bringing him right on back to those full lips. The water started to go cold, so Gryph rinsed him off, easing him out o
f the shower and drying him with a fluffy towel. Wow. His legs worked. Go him. His ankle felt. Wow.

  Wow.

  He felt fucking amazing. Good enough to go run errands for them all, even.

  “No running out until sundown, sweet,” Gryph said, carrying him to the bed and plopping him down.

  “Then we can both go together, yeah?” He bounced a little, reaching up to draw Gryph down. “You smell good.”

  “We can. We can go all manner of places together at night.” That smile was fond, but kind of worried.

  “Come on, now. Tell me. You got weirdness in your eyes.” Which, given his Douce was a vamp, was standard, but they just needed to get it all out.

  “So are you, sweet. Now.” Okay, what? So was he….

  “So am I… weird?” No. No, he was… “Oh shit.”

  Stroking his cheek, Gryphon nodded. “I…. You were dying, sweet. I couldn’t. If I had not, Clay would have. Neither of us was willing to let you go.”

  “I thought it would hurt.” He tilted his head, thinking hard. “Why ain’t I crazy like Boo?”

  “Because you didn’t sit in a basement and starve for days, I suppose. And you….” Here Gryph laughed, right out loud. “You have a certain moral flexibility, my love.”

  “Shit, Douce. I ain’t bad. I was jus’ born this way.” Oh, he did love that laugh. “I don’ know what y’all are gonna do without me to drive and go shoppin’.”

  “We’ll just have to move slower. Shop late.” That deep voice growled right through him. “Amuse ourselves.”

  “Yeah? You… you ain’t gonna…. I mean…. I….” Shit, Remy. Think. Just tell the man you gotta stay with him.

  “You’re not leaving me, sweet. I made sure of that. I have never….” Gryph kissed him hard. Hard-hard. “I have had a long life. I have never made anyone else as I am.”

  “Yeah?” He wrapped around his Douce, holding on. “That’s good, ’cause I ain’t never been a vamp before. I jus’ took care of a lot of them.”

  “Well, at least you know what we do.” Laughing, Douce rolled him over, pinning him down and nuzzling him. Sniffing him.

  “Uh…. Uh-huh.” How could that be sexy? Getting sniffed? It was, though; it made him all tingly.

  “Sweet. Love the way you taste. The way you smell.” Sharp teeth stung his throat, just a bit.

  “More.” He’d seen Boo and the boss. He’d seen that fire. Remy wanted his taste.

  Shifting, Gryph gave him that long, thin throat, teeth sinking deep into his own. Fangs. Whatever. Oh God. His world went red and hot, like being dipped in flame but… oh, fuck him, better.

  A low moan vibrated along his skin, Gryph starting to move on him, rubbing, prick hard as an iron bar. One big hand cupped his head, pulling his mouth in tight to that fine skin.

  Gryph. Douce. Love. He would have screamed with it, if his mouth hadn’t been busy, if the flavor of his own Douce hadn’t filled him up. It went on and on, but it probably only lasted seconds. Because Gryph was coming for him, like a fucking freight train through a bayou night. Boom. Oh Lord. No wonder Boo’d been looking at the boss like the man was pure magic. Remy reckoned he knew all about that now, bone-deep.

  “Remy. So good.” Douce lifted his chin, looked him in the eye. “Better?”

  He was all baby-headed, sleepy as fuck and blinky. “Uh-huh.”

  “Oh, good. We can rest now, love. Now that you know.” They snuggled up together, Douce just aholding on, and he started to drift.

  It was surprisingly easy to become a vamp.

  Who knew?

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  THE BATTLE was over.

  They’d driven a hell of a way before they’d stopped, getting Gryphon and Remy in one room, them in another. Clay had tried to get angry about Remy. He really had. But he would have done the same thing, wouldn’t he?

  He’d gotten them some blood too. Nothing special, just a blood bank drop, but it fed him and Vance both enough that they could rest. Heal. Now they were just… lying together. Vance was sleeping. And Clay was thinking about how weird it was that they didn’t have some fucking Colonel to go kill.

  Vance was dreaming about him; if he closed his eyes, it was like watching the weirdest movie ever, because in this fucking dream, he was the hero. He wasn’t the good guy, though. He really wasn’t. He was just crazy in love with a guy who used to be a cop. Or something.

  Vance moaned, shifted over, and drew him close. It was gonna take them a few weeks to get up to strength, but they’d done it. They’d come through to the other side. Of what, Clay wasn’t sure.

  He stroked the thick hair back off Vance’s face, tracing his fingers down one cheek. It didn’t matter much. Vance was his.

  Those bright eyes popped open, stared at him. “I’m sticking with you, man. Like glue.”

  “Uh-huh. Mine.” Grinning, he took a kiss, just long and lingering and lazy. “You know how to make a bang, baby.”

  “Misspent youth. I did well in the academy.” Vance stretched, scarred skin moving and rolling, becoming more and more flexible.

  He traced every scar he could reach, knowing they’d fade some. Smooth out. He would mourn that if it didn’t mean Vance would be with him a long time.

  “Forever. We’ll have to find a place. A good place.”

  “We will. Someplace with lots of room to run. Lots to hunt.” He nuzzled, licking at that fine skin.

  “You… what’re you gonna do about Rem?”

  “I don’t know. He’s with Gryph now….” He wasn’t going to let Remy go that easy. The man was family.

  “What does that mean? He’s… Rem.”

  “That means Remy was mostly dead, honey. Gryph brought him over.” That just blew his mind. But he would have done it just the same.

  “Lord.” Vance winced. “Is he okay? I mean, I know it sucked.”

  “He’s fine. He wasn’t like you… if you get me.” That just sounded wrong.

  “Thanks.” Vance snorted, smacked his ass a good one. “Are you saying he went bloodsucky better than me?”

  “I’m saying he wasn’t starved, beaten, and tortured.” That still made him fucking growly. Like killing mad.

  “Oh, in that case….” Vance winked, fangs flashing a little. “We need a place. You and me.”

  “Yeah. Yeah, honey. Us. Together. Remy can visit.” He took a kiss, just unable to stop himself. Vance’s chuckle echoed in him, the pleasure in his lover undeniable. “Mmmm. I need me a car, honey.”

  “Well, the Hummer’s totaled, and I think we should give the hearse to Rem.”

  “Yeah.” Patting Vance’s ass, Clay shifted to get even closer. “I’m partial to Cadillacs.”

  More from BA Tortuga

  This collection of paranormal erotica will give you goose bumps, make you shiver, and keep you up at night… though maybe not with fear.

  In these tales are Alpha werewolves, a literal cat burglar, a cougar-shifter with self-esteem issues, a blind vampire, a wounded angel, a psychic, and more… and they like to play with their prey. From humorous to dark, these stories show there’s a perfect lover out there for everyone, no matter who—or what—they are. With their mates by their sides, they’re heating up the world unseen by most… and making lots of things go bump in the night.

  Stories included:

  Guapo

  Bad for Business

  Home Fires

  Instinctive Harmony

  Pinyon

  Ring My Bell

  The Mind’s Eye

  Cats in the China Shop

  A Sanctuary Novel

  Can cats and dogs ever get along, let alone fall in love?

  Sam knows you can never go home again. As an orphaned feline shifter raised by wolves, being an outcast is nothing new to him. But the pack is still his family, and when one of them passes away, Sam returns to the New Mexico desert to say good-bye.

  Gus is a loner who rarely returns to his pack, but as fate would have it, Sam is there when h
e chooses to visit. The history between Gus and Sam is tumultuous, to say the least, but when Gus gets an eyeful of the grown-up and gorgeous version of his childhood bully, he can’t control his reaction. And he isn’t alone.

  The attraction is powerful, but so are their differences. And with trouble brewing in the pack and danger surrounding them, Sam and Gus might not have the opportunity to seek common ground.

  This action-packed shifter novel is the ultimate opposites attract and enemies-to-lovers romance, and it includes a bonus novella, In the Dog House.

  A Sanctuary Novel

  Don’t people know that cats and dogs don’t mix?

  Connor Ragbone finds things. Sometimes it’s gold, sometimes jewels, sometimes people. Set in his hippie ways, he never thought he’d find a pack, but with Sam and Gus and their goofy shifter family, he fits right in. Then he finds Brock.

  Shifter Brock Herman is undercover alone, working to break up a poaching ring. The last thing he needs is for Connor to wreck his sting. And now the crazy bobcat just won’t go away!

  The poachers lead Brock and Connor on a merry chase all over Western Colorado looking for shifter bears, but it’s a lost pup who brings them back to Nevada and the pack Sam and Gus are building. That’s when Brock has to decide whether he still travels alone or if Connor and his crazy family are where his heart belongs.

  This follow-up to Just Like Cats and Dogs is a feel-good shifter romance novel where cats and dogs prove they can be way more than the enemies nature has made them.

  Road Trip Collection

  The road to love is notoriously bumpy, full of twists and turns that can throw even the best driver. With obstacles around every corner, Sonny and MJ try to keep it between the lines in two tales that blend steamy romance with high-stakes action and intrigue.

  Racing the Moon

  Sonny runs moonshine the old-fashioned way. Too bad some fool blew up his road in the Carolina mountains, keeping him stuck, high and unfortunately dry.