by Kym Grosso
A sigh escaped her lips as Tristan slid his fingers over her skin, pushing down the strings of her sundress. The fabric fell to her feet, her bared back exposed to him. He reached around her belly and cupped her breasts. His hands were full as he took her nipples between his forefinger and thumb and squeezed. She moaned again as heat rushed to her sex. Tristan gently turned her around and pressed his lips to hers.
“Tristan,” she gasped, “I need you now.”
“I’ve got you,” he replied.
Reaching down, he cupped her ass. With his other hand, he grazed over her breast and stomach, sliding his fingers underneath her silk thong. His entire hand covered her mound, his fingers exploring her folds, gently building a rhythm.
“More, Tristan. In me. Please.” She rocked into his hand.
He loved it when she begged. His wolf was aching to fuck her but he wanted to make her come first. He knew how to please a woman, especially his Syd.
“That’s it, mon chaton. Feel me.”
“Don’t stop,” she pleaded as she dug her fingers into his shoulders as if she was holding on for dear life.
Tristan slowly inserted a finger inside her, circling her clit with his thumb. As she trembled, he knew she wouldn’t last long. Intent on pushing her over the edge, he slowly added another finger, increasing the pace.
“That’s it, baby. Just let go.”
Her chest heaved for breath. Trembling, she came by his hand. Clutching his shoulders, she rested against his chest.
Tristan eased up his hold, and Sydney knelt down in front of him. She wanted to taste him, make him feel good too. Tristan groaned as she reached up and grabbed the outside of his pants, cupping his groin. She quickly unbuttoned his jeans and let his erect length jut out. She grabbed the base of his sex, slowly stroking him, and looked up into his eyes. Taking him into her mouth, she pleasured him until he came.
After his release, they fell gently to the floor, relaxing on the rug in front of the fire. Even as she lay in Tristan’s embrace, her thoughts drifted to Kade. She wished she could understand why she wanted him so badly. He was both good looking and charming, but she’d just met him. It was as if the sexual tension between them escalated exponentially every time they exchanged a glance. She closed her eyes and prayed that whatever she felt for Kade would go away when he left town. Kade hadn’t wanted her when she offered, so why shouldn’t she enjoy a little fun with Tristan? Despite her rationalization, knowing she’d done nothing wrong, she felt a twinge of guilt, having made love to Tristan.
“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” Tristan asked, as if reading her thoughts. “Listen, I know something’s got you upset.”
“What are you talking about? I’m fine,” she denied.
“Come on, Syd. I can feel it. Remember, Alpha magic and all? I know you’re just off today…even if you did just blow my mind.” He laughed. “You're so alone all the time. It’s not good for you. Maybe you should think about being here more often…with me. I can protect you. And before you get all riled up, I get that you are a super cop and all, but face it, you're a little beat up tonight…albeit a beautiful shade of blue. You need someone to care for you. You know you mean a lot to me. I don’t want you getting hurt while you’re working this case. Why don’t you think of spending the rest of the night here with me? No pressure. Just spend the night and we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”
“Tristan, I really appreciate the offer. But nothing’s wrong,” she lied. Sydney kissed him gently, rose off the floor, and started to get dressed. “I just have a lot on my mind. I swear I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, but I'm here for you if you need me. And Kade will protect you too. He and I have been friends for a long time. He's a tough son of a bitch and has sworn to me that he'll protect you with his life, if needed.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be okay, Kade or no Kade.” Sydney sighed. Kade was her problem. “Thanks for everything tonight. I really gotta get going. You were exactly what I needed.”
Tristan quickly shrugged on his clothes, and opened the door. Sydney kissed him as she brushed by him. As they walked down the winding stairway, the pounding music reminded her she was in a club, not someone’s house. Halfway down, she felt his presence and looked across the crowded dance floor. Again? Really? She could not get away from that damn vampire. Sydney looked over to Tristan and saw him wave at Kade. She glanced back to Kade and found him glaring at her. He knew.
Sydney momentarily wondered how the two men had become friends, given their different personalities. Even though she’d been intent on going home and getting a good night’s rest, seeing Kade ignited the flame of desire in her that had only slightly dimmed during her little tryst with Tristan. She’d known it would be temporary but she’d been hoping to at least get through five minutes without thinking about Kade. Damn.
As she descended the rest of the stairs, she fought the guilt that rose in her throat. She silently told herself that she had nothing to be ashamed of, she was single after all. She had no ties to anyone. Sydney turned to Tristan, whispering goodbye and placing a kiss to his cheek. She kept her gaze toward the door, attempting to ignore Kade as she pushed through the dance floor.
Kade spotted her on the stairs with Tristan. He fought the instinct to run up the stairs and rip into his friend. What the fuck was he thinking? He held no claims to Sydney yet and could not challenge his friend here in his territory. In fact, a few hours ago he’d refused her invitation. He damn well knew she wanted more than coffee the instant she offered. But he’d chosen to meet Luca instead, so he could continue working the case without her.
After Luca picked him up, Kade’s deepest suspicion was confirmed. He’d found a Voodoo bracelet with a vampire’s scent on it. A vampire who Kade knew well. There was no denying her scent; this vampire had come for him, and was somehow using the humans, perhaps a mage, to assist her. He did not intend to tell Sydney about Luca’s findings tonight. She was mortal and too vulnerable. Kade planned to oust his determined detective from the case, keeping her safe and off the radar.
As his eyes met hers, he could not deny the intense feelings that were growing inside of him. He almost lost it, watching her kiss his friend. As she attempted to reach the door, her scent grew stronger and he could smell Tristan as well. The thought that she’d been intimate with the wolf bore a hole in his belly. Jealousy flared as he rushed over to stop her from leaving. Certain he’d made a mistake earlier, refusing to come up to her apartment, he grew intent on letting her know in no uncertain terms to whom she would belong someday. She was his. He wasn’t sure how or when, but she would belong to him.
In an instant, Kade slipped behind her. He softly placed his hands on her shoulders, frowning at the now deep black and blue marks on her upper back.
“And what do you think you are doing out here? Your bruises…you must be in pain.”
“I’ve been through worse,” Sydney said, her voice calm as if she were all business. She turned to face him, pushing out from under his hands. “Did you talk to Luca? What did he say?”
“A dance, love? Indulge me.” He slid a hand around her waist and drew her into him, sniffing her neck. “I can see you have been busy.”
“One dance,” Sydney agreed. Slowly, she reached up and put her hands around his neck, leaning her face against his chest. “Just tell me….did Luca find anything we can use?”
“He found a bracelet. It is a Voodoo bracelet, possibly charmed. I have contacts in New Orleans I will consult.”
“Ada called me. She's running the hair. By tomorrow, we should have something else to go on. I'll meet you at the station tomorrow night around six.”
Kade felt her stiffen in his arms, as if she was struggling to fight what he knew was happening between them. He held her closer, refusing to let her go just yet as they continued to slow dance. “I know you’re a cop, but this danger…you cannot fight it. You must trust me when I say that there are evil, supernatural forces that await us�
��you will need me to keep you safe.” He leaned in and kissed the top of her head.
“Evil is a reality of this city. This is what I do.”
Kade stopped dancing. He reached over and cupped her face gently with both his hands, his eyes pinned on hers.
“We will do this together, love, but know that it will be done my way. I will keep you safe, and after this evil is extinguished, you will be mine and no one else’s.”
Sydney felt the blood rush to her face. She wasn’t sure whether to yell at him or fuck him right there in the middle of the dance floor. Somehow she knew his words were true…she would be his.
Determined not to let him see that he had just gotten to her, she pulled away, turned and looked back at him over her shoulder, and smiled. “Kade, love, you should know here and now that I belong to no one but myself.”
With that, she walked out the door. She knew it wasn’t true. Something about him drew her in and threatened to change her entire life. He made her want to belong to him. She wanted to love someone and have him love her back…she wanted Kade.
Chapter Seven
After sleeping a good ten hours, Sydney got dressed. She sped off to grab a latte at her favorite coffee shop then stopped by the sporting goods and craft stores to pick up a few things for the kids at the children’s center where she volunteered. She loved seeing their faces as she brought in her weekly presents. New markers meant more pictures, more happy faces, and more creativity. Sydney knew how great it felt to create: inspiring, fulfilling, accomplished. These kids felt it too. Their creations were evidence they had a future, not one on the streets, but a future perhaps in art school or college. These kids had a dream to get out from under the poverty and violence of the streets, and Sydney was determined to help them.
Even though she had a busy life, mostly filled with work, the truth was that she had only a few trusted friends and no family to speak of. Her mother had been tragically killed by a drunk driver several years ago, and the grief from her death had brought Sydney to her knees. She just wasn’t the same after losing her mom and neither was her dad. Sydney’s father fell into a deep depression, moved to Arizona and died a few years later.
Death was a merciless teacher. It taught Sydney to steel her emotions, build a wall big enough so she would not have to feel the grief. Having her mom die only confirmed her decision that she would not get married, because she couldn’t stand the heartbreak of losing someone else. She’d had several boyfriends over the years, even a few she thought she could have loved, but she never really could commit to any of them, because of her job. In addition, she had watched the men she worked with get married and then divorced more times than she cared to. The hours and the stress of the job did not make a marriage easy. In her mind, it didn’t make you available enough to be a good parent either. It was easier deciding to be happy with the life she did have: a good job, a few good friends, a boyfriend here or there who was willing to just be a boyfriend and nothing more.
Although Sydney loved kids, she’d convinced herself that she would never have any of her own. So she devoted much of her spare time and money to a local after-school center. Every week she would spend a few hours at the center, talking with the kids, playing games, and doing crafts. She wasn’t the only one who was alone; these kids needed her. The fact was that many of the city’s kids were raising themselves. Their parents never made it to the PTO meetings or teacher conferences. Whether they were too busy working or missing entirely, it didn’t matter. The result was the same; kids alone on the street after school. The center gave them something constructive to do. Through play, they learned.
Sydney knew she was lucky to have been raised by loving parents in a middle class home where chocolate chip cookies and encouragement were plentiful. She might not ever have kids of her own, but she had the knowhow to help other kids. She knew how to teach a group of girls to bake a cake, do their algebra homework, learn about science, sing a song, or paint a picture. Her mom had been an artist so creativity was valued in her house. Sydney wanted these kids to have every experience she’d been allowed to have, even if at the end of the day the cold streets awaited them. They deserved to know about the wonderful activities that could fill their young lives instead of gang banging, prostitution, and drugs. Despite the bitter poverty, the center helped girls and boys to grow up educated, strong, and empowered.
Sydney knew she wasn’t a saint, but she still gave as much of herself as she could. At the end of the day, the kids filled her soul with hope and love, two things that she very much needed.
After spending a few hours with the kids, Sydney hurried back to the station, to Kade. It was still light outside. She wondered where he was sleeping. Did he even sleep? Did he go out during the day? She knew much more about werewolves, both the good and the bad, than she knew about vampires. She got the fact they drank blood, but other than that, she tried not to hang out with them to find out the details of their habits. She did have a sense of self-preservation.
As she buckled up, her cell phone buzzed with a text from the station. Shit. Another dead girl had been found. She hated the evil that lurked within humans and paranormals. Why did they kill? Power, hate, passion, mental illness? There were many reasons, none of them good. Sydney didn’t even care anymore. She was growing tired of the death. Sure, she would try to understand motive to the extent that it would help her find the perpetrators and lock them away forever, but aside from self-defense, there was never a justified murder.
The dead girl had been found in Olde City at Elfreth’s Alley. America’s founding fathers had come together in this very place, creating documents that would give birth to a country. Benjamin Franklin had once walked these streets. Its cobblestone alley was lined with renovated row homes that proudly displayed the preserved eighteenth century, working class homes that remained. The country’s past, and sadly, now the present lay across the stones, marring the historic site.
Sydney ducked under the crime scene tape and approached the body. She knew she should have called Kade, but she figured someone on his team would let him know. After last night, she was afraid of her body’s response to him. Eventually she would have to see him, she knew, to hear his voice, and breathe in his delicious masculine scent. He would be pissed that she hadn’t waited for him. But Sydney figured she’d take action and apologize later.
She leaned in to get a better look at the body, another “Death Doll.” The girl was a brunette this time, but had the same almost pure white, porcelain skin. She was not damaged by water like the other victim had been. Instead, it looked as if she had been gently laid on the street only hours ago. She appeared as if she were simply sleeping. She was as young as the other girl, in her twenties, but was dressed differently this time, in a long evergreen velvet dress, sans shoes. Again, her eyelids had been sewn shut with thread. Someone had taken care to put makeup on her face. She looked like a collectible doll you would buy on home shopping television. The scoop neckline dress was fitted tightly around the front of her body. Sydney snapped on a latex glove and reached over to lift the neckline slightly.
The tattoo was small enough that it adorned the top of the girl’s breast. It looked almost like a cross, but with a round, large protuberance on the head.
“Jennings is dead, so either he did this before he died or there's someone new doing the tattoos, and what is this? It isn’t exactly a cross. I know I’ve seen this somewhere.” Sydney stood up straight and spoke aloud to herself. She shook her head at the needless loss of life.
“It’s an Ankh. Ancient Egyptian symbol of eternal life.”
Sydney spun around, startled by the velvet caress of Kade’s voice. But his tone was not warm. No, he was angry with her, presumably for not calling him. Great, here we go.
“Forget something, Sydney? You know, I’m not above punishing you for your blatant disregard of my orders.”
After Sydney had left the club the previous night, Kade talked to Tristan about what Luca had found; a ri
bbon with her scent on it. She was back, Simone. Kade had first met Simone in New Orleans in 1822. He found her beaten and starving in an alley. Newly turned, she was a lost fledgling. Not wanting to watch her kill or be killed, he took her under his wing and taught her how to feed on humans without killing them. Along with several other young vampires, including Luca, Simone lived with him in his safe compound that he had created within the city. Despite the apparent abuse she had suffered over the years, she came to trust Kade.
Simone had told him that a man named John Palmer had sent for her from England and brought her to Jamaica. She was given as a gift to his new wife, Annie Palmer. She worked as an indentured servant, a handmaiden. It was in Jamaica where she had learned Voodoo from Annie, who was a dangerous and abusive mistress known as the White Witch. Annie regularly tortured Simone and the other workers and slaves on the plantation. Simone had been beaten or whipped nearly every day she’d been there. Nothing ever made the mistress happy except when she practiced her dark arts. During these sessions, Simone was expected to assist the mistress, but she was not happy to merely assist. She kept her eyes lowered but secretly copied Annie’s notes and memorized whatever spells Annie cast.
One night during one of the many extravagant parties they held on the plantation, a guest had expressed interest in Simone and Annie had offered her handmaiden as a gift to him to use as he wished. Simone reluctantly took the stranger’s hand out of fear of a whipping. The stranger had led her out into the fields, where he raped and turned her.
