Wicked Love

by Michelle Dare

  By the time we reached the end of the haunted house, I was surprised to see an hour had passed. Between the kitchen that was covered in “blood” and “dead bodies”, to the back door swinging back and forth in the fake wind, we had had enough. We followed the exit signs back to the parking lot, and by the time we reached our vehicles, we were both laughing hysterically at the time we’d had.

  “I’m so glad you made me go in there. What a rush!” Daniela cried out.

  I chuckled and couldn’t stop the smile that came to my face. How was my dream girl a damn vampire? “I’m glad you’re not mad at me for forcing you.”

  “Forcing? No way. I went in on my own. And I’m glad I did.” She leaned up on tiptoe and planted a kiss on my lips.

  Could this night go any more perfectly?

  I picked her up and swung her around, accepting the kiss and deepening it. After I set her back down, I swiped a stray hair behind her ear and then yanked gently on her ponytail. “What do you want to do next, beautiful?”

  Her smile dropped and her eyebrows hit her hairline. “You… you think I’m beautiful?”

  That surprised me for some reason. “Of course, I do. From the first moment I laid eyes on you in Bash.” I traced my finger over her cheek and down to her mouth. “Those lips, those eyes… I was mesmerized. Hooked. You had me, girl.”

  The look of disbelief was still plastered on her gorgeous face. She sucked in a deep breath then said, “Wow. Okay. Not sure what to do with that… but, thank you.”

  My brow furrowed. “It was a compliment, Dani. I hope you know that.”

  She nodded slightly. “I know. I just… I just… don’t know how to take compliments, I guess. They’re new to me.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, but you shouldn’t be. You’re gorgeous and funny, and I really like spending time with you,” I replied sincerely.

  “Thank you, Judson.”

  Her coquettish charm was disarming me. I didn’t expect this out of her. She seemed fierce, tough, and had a take-no-shit attitude. The vulnerability she displayed now seemed so contrary to the woman—the vampire—I’d met a couple of nights ago.

  Sure, we’d already slept together, which was awesome, but I had been surprised she’d been down for it. What had surprised me more was that she hadn’t tried to bite me while we were fucking. I thought, from everything I’d read, that they liked to feed and fuck at the same time. I didn’t think they could do one without the other. That went to show the amount of self-control this woman had.

  “Let’s go get a drink. You down?” I asked.

  “Definitely down.”

  “You choose the place,” I said and then studied her reaction.

  She grinned. “You got it. Follow me.”

  I leaned down and dropped a kiss on her nose before helping her into her SUV. After hopping on my bike, I followed her to the busy nightlife downtown.

  “Moon Chasers?” I asked as we walked into the bar. The place was sort of set back from the street and dark inside. There were groups of people huddled into corner tables. The place was pretty rustic with wood beams on the ceiling and just one bar that stretched the back of the establishment. No real dancefloor, just a mingling type of environment. Daniela held my hand and led me to the bar.

  “What will you have?” the bartender asked, an average-looking Joe with gage piercings in his ears and a pointed stud through his lip. As I looked closer, I could see silver glinting in his eyes. Trying to keep my cool, I ordered a draft beer then chanced a glance around the rest of the bar. Vampires every-fucking-where. One table was mixed with vampires and humans, and a blonde woman who was neither. She threw me a glare before going back to her conversation with her tablemates. Something about her wasn’t human but she definitely wasn’t a vampire. I was sure Daniela had brought me to some supernatural hangout.

  And I was definitely game to stay. I couldn’t get enough with studying their behaviors.

  After the bartender slid us our drinks, I tried to give him my credit card, but he held a hand up stating it had already been taking care of.

  I gripped Daniela by the waist. “You didn’t have to pay for my drink, girl. I would have gotten it.”

  She grinned up at me and then planted a kiss on my cheek. “It’s fine, I have my own money, silly.”

  Point taken.

  We found a corner table and sipped our drinks while we watched the other patrons. The blonde girl intrigued me. Not in a sexual way but just because I couldn’t figure out what she was. She wore black leather pants, a dark-colored tank top, and had a big-ass fancy-looking dagger strapped to her thigh. Her hair was in a complicated braid that hung over her shoulder and she looked as if she took no shit from anyone. I thought maybe she was a hunter, but judging from the company she kept, that would be a little strange. Everyone at her table seemed to be enthralled with whatever she was talking about.

  “Do you think she’s hot? Because she kind of is.”

  I looked over to see Daniela with a bloody mary paused at her lips.

  Shaking my head, I lifted my beer to my mouth and said, “Not particularly. She’s just kinda mysterious.”

  Daniela chuckled. “Not really. She’s just… trying to figure out what she is.”

  That got my attention.

  I set my glass on the table and looked Daniela dead in her light-brown eyes. “What she is? What the hell does that mean?” I feigned ignorance.

  She set her drink down and reached across the table and grabbed my hand. “Listen, Judson. There’s something I have to tell you.”

  Oh, shit. I knew where this was going.

  10

  Daniela

  He knew about vampires. I obviously knew he knew about them. Yes, it was a bitch move to choose to tell him about me in a bar full of fucking vampires, witches, and whatever else was in here. The blonde girl with the braid—I could tell she was a werewolf, but she seemed to be something else, too. The whole place was packed with supes, and I knew telling Judson about me in a quiet, private place would not end well. But I had to tell him. He knew we existed. I had to tell him that I knew that he knew.

  Crap. This was getting complicated.

  “Stop,” Judson said before I could get the words out. “I need to tell you something first.”

  I chewed my lip and shook my head. “I don’t know. I think I need to tell you first.”

  “I know about vampires.”

  “I’m a vampire.”

  We said it at the same time. Shock registered on his face, but not on mine.

  The entire Moon Chasers crowd seemed to stop what they were doing… and focus on us.

  “Don’t worry, we’re good!” I cried, standing up. “Super good, y’all.” The tension was enormous. I had to try to diffuse it somehow. I could see the werewolf with her hand on her thigh dagger and I wanted no part of that shit.

  I looked straight into her yellow eyes. “We’re totally good. You have my word.”

  She nodded slightly and then turned her attention back to her tablemates. It was then I noticed a very good-looking dark-haired vampire in a shiny suit come over and put his hand on her shoulder. She smiled at his touch and then said something about me to him while looking at me. He glanced over at us and I swallowed hard. He was definitely a vamp and looked like he could kick both our asses with one hand tied behind his back. I looked away and back to Judson.

  “So, you know about vampires.” I lowered my voice. “I know you know about vampires.”

  He studied me hard for a minute. “And you know that I know that you’re one?”

  My eyebrows rose. “Well, no, not until now. So… if you’re looking for vengeance, why haven’t you tried to kill me?”

  He glanced around the bar and then back to me. “You sure we should be having this conversation here? So many vampires.”

  I grinned. “Why do you think I brought you here?”

  “Not cool, Dani.” His jaw ticked.

  “Look,” I said, wondering how muc
h information I should divulge. “I need you to tell me why you’re luring vamps to their deaths.”

  “I…” he stammered. “I’m…” Judson seemed to be tongue-tied. “I don’t lure them to their deaths. I follow them. But the last few… they seem to be gone when I try to find them.”

  Beginning to think coming here was a bad idea, I said, “You know, we should probably go someplace more private.”

  Judson cocked his head to the side. “Like where?”

  “Your place?” I suggested.

  “Seriously? I’m not sure I can trust you in here with this crowd, let alone being completely alone with you. Not now.”

  “Why?” I asked, smiling. “Afraid I’ll fuck the information out of you?”

  He swallowed hard and lifted the stein to his lips. “Something like that.”

  “Finish your beer, we’re getting out of here. No sex. Just talking. Okay?” I suggested.

  He looked at me skeptically and then nodded slightly. It seemed to take him forever to finish his drink, but when he finally did, I followed him back to his place.

  “I thought we were supposed to be talking?” I panted out between kisses.

  What was it about his place that made me such a horn-dog? Or maybe it was just being alone with him.

  He gazed down at me, out of breath, and brushed some hair behind my ear. “I need that beautiful body of yours first.”

  Well, hell.

  He grabbed my hand and walked me to the bedroom. He pushed me down onto the bed. I used vampire speed to pull my clothes off and was done long before he was. He paused and tilted his head to the side. “Huh. That was cool.”

  I pulled him to me as he was still standing and again used preternatural speed to push him on the bed and then straddled him. Then, I slowed it way down.

  He reached up and softly swirled his finger around my bare nipple. “Yes.” I shuddered, my eyes fluttering closed, and began to writhe on his bare belly. “Feels good.”

  “Are you going to bite me, Dani? While I fuck you?”

  My eyes opened to slits to stare at him, his fingers still sending hot pulses straight down to my core. “Do you want me to, baby?”

  “Will it turn me?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “No.”

  With his other hand, he trailed it down my belly and then ran it down my wet slit. “Promise?”

  “Oh, God,” I moaned out, shuddering violently at what he was doing to me.

  “Answer me, Dani,” he demanded.

  “Promise,” I panted out.

  He lifted me slightly and impaled me on him and we both cried out. As I rode him, he pulled my neck down so our faces were inches apart. My gaze traveled down the length of his neck and to his very prominent carotid artery. I licked my lips while trying to hold off on the rush of pleasure that was about to erupt in my lower belly. I looked back up into Judson’s eyes to gauge his reaction to my fangs. Once they slid from my gums, his eyes got wide, but he did not stop the thrusting of his hips. His grip on them tightened as he dug his fingertips into my hip bones, but he didn’t say anything. Moving my mouth to his neck, I slowly pierced one fang into the pulsing artery. He hissed out in temporary pain but was quickly groaning loudly once I began to suck. I felt his cock harden inside of me at the same time my orgasm exploded inside me. Warmth filled me up as he rode out his release along with me. After a few pulls of his delicious blood, I pulled out and licked the wound clean, then rolled off him.

  “Holy. Shit.” He looked over at me with hooded eyes. “What was that?”

  “The best you’ll ever have,” I replied with a wink.

  He pulled me close to him and I rested my head on his chest. “If it’s like that every time, I’m never letting you out of this bed.”

  I chuckled. “You will when you become anemic and can’t move from all the blood loss.”

  He looked down at me. “Geez, how much did you take?”

  “Like a quart or so,” I deadpanned.

  He shot up. “A quart! What the hell, Dani!”

  I started laughing hysterically. “Calm down, I was joking. Not even an ounce.”

  Judson stared down at me, his eyes searching mine. “You promise?”

  “Promise,” I replied. “Now, tell me some more about those dead vampires.”

  He relaxed and lay back down, and I excused myself to the bathroom to clean up. When I emerged from the bathroom, I lay down and placed my head once again on his chest.

  “Like I said, I followed a few out of the clubs but I guess they were already dead when I arrived, like piles of clothing on the ground and some ashes. Or, they were just gone. I mean, it wasn’t like I was exactly sad about it, but I definitely did not kill them. I was going to interrogate them for information on which one killed my sister.”

  “There’s video footage of you stalking them in bars and following them out.”

  He stiffened. “What?”

  I nodded, my hair splayed out on his chest. “Yes, do you want to see?”

  “Fuck yes, I want to see!”

  I got up and walked naked to my purse in the living room where I’d dropped it before our little romp.

  Pulling out my phone, I glanced at the screen to see two missed calls and five texts from Ringo.

  Crap.

  Ringo: Where the fuck is my target?

  Ringo: You wanna get paid, you better deliver the goods, little girl.

  Ringo: You can keep ignoring my calls, bitch, but I’ll find you.

  Ringo: I’ve sent Talon out to look for you.

  Ringo: He will sniff you out. Text or call me NOW, whore.

  I shot off a quick text back to him: I’m in Boulder. And I have till the 31st. Calm down, asshole.

  I lied about Boulder so hopefully that douche Talon would turn around and go in the opposite direction of Judson’s apartment.

  Trying not to shake in anger, I took some deep breaths and pulled up the video footage as I walked back into the bedroom. Judson was looking at his phone when I walked in. I hopped on the bed and handed him my phone. He put his down and hit play on the video.

  After watching for several minutes, he looked up at me. “This isn’t me.”

  I took my phone from him and then set it on the nearby nightstand. “Yes, it is. But if you said you didn’t kill them, then I believe you.”

  “No, Dani. It’s not. I admit it looks like me, but I wore a different hoodie.”

  I picked the phone up and watched it again. I couldn’t tell if it was him or not. Couldn’t see the face at all but the height and build were similar. I set the phone down and said, “Okay, if you say it isn’t you, then I believe you.” Of course, I was thrilled with this information. I could take it back to Ringo and tell him to shove it up his ass.

  He visibly relaxed and reached up and kissed me gently on the mouth. “Thank you for believing me.”

  “We need to figure out who’s doing it so we can get you out of this mess. There’s something else I haven’t told you.” I bit my lip, knowing I had to come clean.

  He sat up and grabbed my hand. “Tell me.”

  I stared at his tousled blond hair, his green eyes looking hopeful and playful at the same time, and his full lips wet with my kiss. I licked my lips and said, “I’m a bounty hunter and I was sent to kill you. But—”

  “What the fuck, Dani!” he snapped, letting go of my hand and jumping off the bed.

  “Stop, Judson. Just listen to me.”

  He paced the floor, still in all his beautiful naked glory, and raked his fingers through his already messy hair. “I can’t believe this. I mean, I guess I can, since vampires are all murderers, it seems like…”

  “First off, no, we’re not. I didn’t ask to be this, nor do I go around murdering humans for no reason. It’s why I never killed you. I had a feeling. Don’t you think you’d be long dead by now if I had thought otherwise?” I huffed out in frustration. Not that I expected this to go well.

  He stopped pacing and bent down
to put on his boxer briefs. After sliding them on, he stood there with his hands low on his hips and stared at me. He stared so long it almost became awkward.

  “What?” I asked. “Say something.”

  Then, he burst out laughing. It was almost maniacal, but I could tell it was from stress and not because this situation was actually funny.

  “Our first fight… because you were lying to me about the real reason we met. Wow, what a story to tell our children.”

  I blinked incredulously up at him and shook my head slightly. “I cannot have children, nor do I want them.”

  Judson sat down on the bed next to me. “Since you believed me that I didn’t kill those vampires, then I believe that you don’t want to, nor will you, harm me in any way.”

  I bit back a smile. “Pussy whooped.”

  11

  Judson

  Was I p-whooped? I didn’t think so. “It’s more than that, Daniela. This thing between us… it’s come on so fast, but I’ve never felt a connection like this to anyone. I can’t begin to describe the relief I feel by just telling you the truth and you coming clean with me. I’ve been keeping my grief about Audrey’s death bottled up because I couldn’t tell anyone about the existence of vampires. I couldn’t express my rage and need for revenge against your kind. Everyone would think I’d gone crazy from grief.” I looked down at her bare leg. She was still naked and I loved how confident she was just sitting there, not attempting to cover up that beautiful body of hers. I looked into her eyes. “But with you, I can be free to talk about it. I knew you were a vampire the minute our eyes locked while I was onstage. Do you know that vampires’ eyes reflect a silver glint in certain light?”

  Her eyebrows hit her hairline. “What? No. I didn’t know that. God damn that Ringo for not telling me shit like this.”