Immortals of New Orleans Box Set (Books 1-4)

by Kym Grosso

  Just as she was beginning to relax, Luca spun her around straight into Kade’s arms. Her breath caught as his lips met hers. She expected Luca to leave, but instead he sandwiched her in the middle, grazing his erection against Sydney’s ass, reaching his arms around her waist. His hands slowly inched up under Sydney’s breasts as Kade kissed her passionately.

  Sydney’s senses were overwhelmed. What the fuck is going on? She was letting two vampires monopolize her body, loving every minute of it. Kissing Kade took her away into a headspace that she rarely went, one of pure pleasure. Yet it scared her that she was letting him see her raw, so exposed. And worst of all, she felt the tingle all over her body, leaving her wishing the situation could be permanent.

  Kade tore his lips from hers, leaving her breathless. He grasped the nape of her neck and leaned in to speak sensually in her ear.

  “You are stunning tonight. Indeed, I am going to find it hard to let you go after this dance.” He pressed his lips to the lobe of her ear. “You seem to like playing with two men. Enjoying our dance with Luca, aren’t you, love? But remember this, Sydney, I don’t share, and at the end of tonight, you will be mine.” Mine? He could not believe he’d used the word but at the same time, he could not deny the all-consuming need to claim Sydney as his. He had every intention of making love to her over and over again, and was looking forward to hearing her scream his name in ecstasy.

  As the song ended, Sydney was relieved to put some space between her and the boys. She ached between her legs, extraordinarily aroused from their dance. She longed for Kade’s strong arms and wished he’d take her out of the club. He’d told her that she would be his tonight. She found herself wanting to let him take control and make love to her until dawn. She was conflicted, knowing that she was an independent woman, yet she could not deny wanting to belong to him.

  As Sydney tried to regain her composure, she watched Luca leave the dance floor. Deciding to take control of the situation, she reached over and laced her fingers with Kade’s.

  “Come on, let’s go check out the private rooms. My take is that some of the rooms may not be that private. Maybe everyone in our group is back there with the subs and Doms. We could help, or at least look for suspicious activity and clues to where Simone is. Even though this place is screaming ‘erotic experience’, I just have a feeling that sex isn’t the only thing happening in this club. If Simone has spies here, they'll be watching for us…and may slip up by looking just a little too long.”

  “Let’s make our rounds and see who’s interested in our visit.” Kade led them off the floor toward the back of the club.

  Sydney braced herself for whatever kinky sights they’d see along the way. She wasn’t a prude, but she wasn’t used to seeing so many naked people prancing around in collars and leather. As they approached the back, they pushed through a red metallic beaded fringed curtain door. A sensual, hard, driving pulse of music spread throughout the hallway, which was dimly lit with black light.

  A crowd gathered at the entrance of one of the rooms where a couple was performing. As Sydney pushed her way to the front, Kade settled behind, letting his hands fall protectively around her waist. A tall, lithe, gothic-looking woman stood spread-eagle with her hands secured by leather cuffs to an upright, wooden contraption that looked like an X. Although the woman was blindfolded and bound, she appeared to quiver in euphoria as her male partner teased her bottom with a blue leather whip.

  The crowd silently watched as the woman begged her partner for release. It appeared that she had somehow earned her reward, because her partner unzipped his pants and entered the woman from behind. He was thrusting over and over into the bound woman while she screamed. Sydney could not believe she was watching such an intimate act with Kade and was growing embarrassed by her own arousal. Yet she knew this was why people came here…to arouse and be aroused. Concerned by her reaction, Sydney pushed back slightly in order to turn away. Kade’s arms tightened, holding her still against him, forcing her to watch. She could feel his rock-hard cock pressed into her back, and knew he wanted her to see this.

  Kade chose to make Sydney watch the lovers in the room, so she could experience a taste of his world. He was not a frequent visitor to this club by any means, but this kind of activity was not uncommon in the supernatural world. It was a harsh reality, albeit arousing. If Sydney was going to be with him, she needed to be aware of the dangers and temptations that lurked in his city. He could smell her arousal as she watched the strangers make love. His rock-hard cock strained against his leather pants, begging to take her in the same manner. He could not resist the opportunity to tease his normally self-composed detective. He leaned his mouth down to her ear, making sure she heard his every word.

  “Do you like this, Sydney? Would you like me to tie you up and take you from behind? I promise not to be gentle with you, detective.” He smiled, knowing he’d ruffled her feathers. “Now don’t lie to me…I smell your desire.”

  Damn vampire senses. Sydney was mortified and had had enough of this crazy sex show. She pulled herself out of his strong grip, knowing he’d chosen to let go of her. It was time to get back to business. There wasn’t anything suspicious going on in that area. Just a couple having sex, and a dozen horny people watching. What had she gotten herself into on this case?

  As they walked further down the dark hall, Miguel appeared out of nowhere, calling for Kade.

  “Sir, I thought it might be a good idea for you to speak with Gia, a back bartender who works here. I remembered that she was friends with Freddy…you know the guy who quit? Maybe she has information about Simone’s whereabouts? Please forgive me. I should have thought of this earlier.”

  “Sydney, come with me. We can talk to her together.”

  “No, you go. I'm fine. I want to find Dominique and perhaps, play with Rhea.” Sydney did not intend to play, but she did want to question the waitress. She also didn’t trust Miguel. She wanted him to think she was only here for fun, not to investigate.

  “But as my director of security, you may find my questioning of interest. Please come with me.” Kade’s lips tightened, anticipating her refusal.

  “But you said we're here to have a little fun, not work. I promise I'll catch up with you later. As you know, I like to play with the girls. Dominique should be back here somewhere. When you’re finished, come find me. We can play later,” she purred, rubbing her hands up and down his chest.

  “As you wish, my love. But know this, we will play later,” he said in warning, blowing out a breath. “I can sense both Xavier and Etienne back here, so give them a shout should you run into any issues, okay?”

  “I promise. I’ll be fine,” she assured Kade as she pressed her lips to his cheek.

  “Be careful,” he whispered.

  She winked at Kade as he and Miguel headed toward the light at the end of the hallway. Something about Miguel made her skin crawl. He wasn’t lying, but he wasn’t exactly telling the whole truth. She wanted Kade to go find out what the bartender knew. They could not leave any stones unturned, and so far this evening was a bust. Besides kinky sex, there didn’t seem to be anything dangerous going on at the club.

  She sobered at the thought of what had happened to those girls in Philadelphia, renewing her purpose. She considered that Dominique had been gone with Rhea a little too long. She’d like the opportunity to interview her as well. Sydney scanned the hallways, trying to decide which way to go next. How the hell am I going to find them in this labyrinth? Putting one foot in front of the other seemed the only way, so she continued walking and glancing in rooms that were open to public viewing. Nothing seemed amiss. She could see a blue light coming out of one of the rooms at the far end of the hallway on the right. It was so dark in this area she really hoped there weren’t any bugs or mice back here, or she’d freak out.

  Caution told Sydney she might want to check her weapons, so she reached down into her boots, making sure the silver stake, knife and chain were still there. As she lo
oked up again toward the end of the hallway, someone slammed her hard against the wall. She could barely see the outline of a bearded man who smelled of stale cigarettes and whiskey. He firmly held her to the wall with a stubby hand on each of her bare arms. She struggled but was unable to dislodge him.

  “Hey, missy, what ya doing back here all by yourself in the dark? Your blood,” he leaned in to sniff her neck, “oh yes. It smells so good. What kind of a master would let his human run around back here unprotected? You need a real master to get you in line. How I'd love to spank that pretty ass of yours and drown in your sweet blood. Come on now, this is going to be fun.”

  Sydney recoiled from the putrid smell emanating from the vampire. She could see the fine points of his teeth glinting off the black light. Should she play innocent? Or pretend she belonged to him? But then again, Sydney was Sydney. She did not do damsel in distress well. Fuck that. This foul-assed vampire is so going down.

  “Listen, pal. I'm giving you fair warning, get your fucking hands off me or you're going to regret it, last chance.” She stared at him defiantly, planning her next move.

  The vampire cackled in response, undeterred.

  “Feisty one, aren’t you? It's going to be a pleasure whipping you into submission.”

  He barely got his last word out when Sydney kicked him in the balls. Yep, no matter how supernatural you were, testicles were always vulnerable. Tried and true, Sydney loved how that worked. The vampire let go of her to clutch himself, and she whipped out the silver knife from her boot and held it to his throat.

  “Sorry, pal. I must admit this has been fun…whipping your ass into submission and all…it’s been a laugh riot. Now down to the floor, on your stomach, hands up over your head, or you're going to eat silver. And in case you feel like trying again, you best remember that I have a few vampire friends of my own back here, not to mention the silver stakes in my boot that I'm just itching to try out.”

  The vampire stretched out his hands and Sydney wrapped a thin silver chain around his wrists, effectively immobilizing him for the night.

  “Now listen here, be a good little vampire and I'll let Miguel know you’re waiting to be freed. I know you vamps have your own laws, so I'll let Kade know what you did to me, and he can decide what to do with your ass.”

  As she strode further down the hallway, Sydney stopped in her tracks on hearing the cry of a woman’s voice coming from one of the rooms. It was familiar and in pain. Although several people might be in pain in a place like this, the hair on her arms stood straight up as she heard the woman scream again. Dominique. Sydney started running down the hallway, screaming Dominique’s name. She turned left, then right until she found a closed metal door. Shit, it was locked and wouldn’t open. She wished that she had some of those vampire super-strength skills about now. She shoved against the door, and then tried kicking it, but it wouldn’t budge. How am I going to get this open?

  Sydney pulled out the thin silver stake and her knife. Slowly manipulating them, she picked the lock and the door clicked open. As Sydney burst through into the room, she found Dominique handcuffed, lying on a large padded table. Sydney rushed over to help her. “Dominique, what happened? I thought vampires could easily break cuffs. Where’s the key?”

  “Sydney, please.” Tears streaked down her face through a black blindfold. “Silver. The handcuffs…it’s burning, please help me.”

  “It’s going to be okay, Dominique. Just take a few deep breaths. I don’t see the key anywhere, but I have a knife. Just hang in there.”

  Sydney finally picked the lock and broke the last handcuff off of Dominique, horrified by the oozing and third degree burns they left on her skin. Dominique was too weak to get off the table. Sydney cut off a piece of her skirt and began to dry Dominique’s face.

  “Thank you. I thought no one would find me back here. That little bitch Rhea did this to me. I was questioning her about Simone when she said her master wanted to play with me. I let her blindfold me, thinking it was a game and I could earn her trust enough so she’d talk. But when she cuffed me in silver, I fell onto the table.” Dominique slowly sat up inspecting her burned wrists and ankles and then fell back onto the table, unable to stand, woozy from the silver. “Damn, now that’s gonna leave a mark. Listen, Sydney, I need one of the guys to bring me a donor. I can feel them coming now. But I can’t get up yet. I need blood.”

  “You’ll be okay, Dominique. Just lie back until they get here. Are you sure Rhea was the only one here with you? Did she bring someone else into the room?” Sydney asked, determined to find out what had happened. A noise caught her attention and she observed an opened back door that led out to an alley. As much as she wanted to go investigate, she was not about to leave Dominique alone.

  “I’m not sure if someone else was here.” Dominique shook her head in confusion. “Usually we can sense such things, but the silver, it doesn’t just burn like a motherfucker; it weakens all of our abilities. I was screaming at Rhea, but there could have been someone else. The fact is that Rhea is a human, possibly a witch cloaking her talent, but most definitely human. So she could have been thralled into doing this to me, but the vampire or mage would have needed to be close. But I didn’t feel anyone when I entered the room with her.”

  The conversation with Gia, the bartender, garnered no tangible leads except the last known address of the staff member who had reported seeing Simone. Kade was getting frustrated. Simone was somewhere in this city and had been at this very club. They needed to find her before she killed another girl. After getting the address, Miguel stalled Kade at the bar and seemed to talk endlessly about nothing. Kade thanked him for his help and started to make his way through the crowd back to Sydney. By the time he reached the dance floor near the entrance to the back, he sensed something was wrong. He sped down the darkened hallway to find a male vampire attempting to escape silver chains. He could feel something was wrong with Dominique, but halted as he smelled Sydney on the dirty predator.

  “Where is Sydney?” Kade growled.

  The vampire strained to get a look at Kade. “Who? You mean that human bitch who chained me? Get me out of these. You really need to teach your slave girl better manners. I will be honored to watch you beat her. She needs to learn a lesson. Look what she did to me!”

  Kade, furious beyond words, reached down with one hand and grabbed the vampire by his throat, bashing his head into the wall. “You touched her? You insolent fledgling. She’s mine. You’re going to pay for your misguided actions!”

  “What, that human girl? You are kidding, right? You can find pussy anywhere you like in this city and you would seek to punish me for being who I am? A vampire?” he sneered at Kade.

  With restrained emotion, Kade slammed him again, holding him up so far against the wall that his feet no longer touched the floor.

  “No, I will punish you for being an animal who doesn’t know his place in our society. You will never touch her or any other woman ever again. Your time on Earth has officially come to an end.” In a swift move, Kade pulled a small thin wooden stake from his back pocket that telescoped like an antenna and snapped into place. With precision, he jammed the stake into the heart of the vampire. The hallway filled with ash as Kade ran forward in search of Sydney.

  Kade rushed into the room followed by Luca and Xavier. Spinning Sydney around, he hugged her tightly.

  “Sydney love, I leave you for ten minutes and you manage to find trouble? Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

  “Who, stubby vamp boy in the hallway?” Backing out of his embrace, Sydney laughed it off. “He may have left a bruise on my oh-so-delicate skin, but as you probably noticed, he won’t be messing with me anymore. Don’t worry about me….Dominique’s the one who needs help. She said she needs a donor, and as much as I would love to help her I'm kind of attached to my blood.”

  Sydney and Dominique explained what had happened with Rhea. While a vampire could have been responsible for Rhea’s actions, Kade s
uspected that Rhea was a witch who was working with Simone.

  “Luca, Xavier, go sweep the alley. She’s probably gone, but we should check anyway.”

  Sydney was strangely touched as she watched Kade hold Dominique’s hand. He felt something for this female vampire, but she wasn’t sure what it was. Love? Responsibility? She questioned herself, wondering if she should be jealous, but she wasn’t. No, what she felt was admiration for Kade, a leader taking care of his own, comforting Dominique as a father would a daughter.

  Soon Etienne entered the room with a donor in tow. He was a ready and willing strapping young man, nearly twenty years of age. He appeared to be strong enough to feed her. Kade waved him over and held the man’s wrist up to Dominique’s mouth as she bit into him and sucked greedily.

  As Sydney glanced away, she grew concerned that she should give them privacy. Such an intimate act, yet no one seemed to mind her presence. At that moment, she wondered what it would be like if Kade bit her, drank from her. Would it hurt? Would it bring pleasure? The word on the street was that women found it incredibly pleasurable, often orgasmic, but she wasn’t just any woman. And Kade certainly wasn’t just any vampire. Did he yearn to bite her? Would he try to bite her if they made love? As she contemplated the scenario, Sydney realized her thoughts were more than curiosity. No, she wanted Kade to bite her. As she stared at Dominique, latched to the donor’s wrist, she glanced up to find Kade watching her, not smiling, but giving her a sultry, all-knowing look as if he knew what she was thinking. Sydney demurely averted her eyes; it was all too much.

  When Dominique had healed and was strong enough to leave, their small group walked back through the dim hallway. Sydney stopped dead in the corridor as she kicked a pile of ash up into the air. Where was the chained vampire?