Kiss of the Vampire

by Cynthia Garner

  “I have no idea,” Lucifer replied. “I have contacts at almost every level of the U.S. government, and no one’s said anything.” He spread his hands. “I don’t want to ask questions that are too pointed because then I may let them know something we’d be better off with them not knowing.”

  She definitely agreed. Humans were agitated enough about the rift that opened every seventy-three years. If they found out that prets could open a rift any time they wanted to, it could mean World War III. She picked up her purse and stood. “Thanks for the information, Luc. I appreciate it.”

  “No problem.”

  Nix looked at her mother. “Thanks for the tea…​Mom.” It was amazing how much trouble she had calling Betty “Mom.” It didn’t feel natural, but it seemed to help them get along better.

  Her mother stayed where she was but murmured, “You’re welcome,” with a slight dip of her chin.

  All righty then. “I guess I’ll see you later.”

  Lucifer stood. “I’ll move my car so you can get out.”

  They walked out together. As Nix opened her car door, Lucifer paused. “I know Betty hasn’t been a mother to you in the traditional sense of the word, but she is trying.”

  From where she stood her mother wasn’t trying very hard. But this was not a conversation she was going to get into, especially with the king of the underworld. “Look, I appreciate that you care about her, I really do, but my relationship with my mother is complicated, and not something I really want to talk about.”

  “Fair enough.” He went on toward his car.

  Nix waited until he’d backed down the driveway and out of her way before she put her car in reverse. All the way home her thoughts raced, centered on the rift. A way for one dimension to shed themselves of their problem citizenry by exiling them to another realm. Up until now it had been assumed that no one on the other side knew what happened once the entities were sucked through the rift. But this…This! They had to know. Didn’t they?

  Ordinarily with information like this she’d request an immediate audience with the council to fill them in. But hearing that some of the council members were aware of these transmissions, she didn’t know who to trust. The thought flitted through her mind that Lucifer might be playing with her, using her to try to put the council in disarray, but then she dismissed it. If he wanted to mess with the council, he’d use someone with a lot more clout than her.

  She knew who she did trust, at least as far as work went. Tobias and Dante. Dante was human with local connections. He probably wouldn’t be of much help. Tobias, on the other hand, was a different story. He had connections centuries in the making, and most of the council seemed to respect him, even if he was a vampire. When he’d left town five years ago he’d kept his house. She assumed he’d moved back in. She wished there was someone else she could go to, but there wasn’t. With a soft oath she made a U-turn and headed toward his house. Grabbing her cell, she dialed him up.

  He answered on the second ring. “Caine.”

  “What’re you doing?”

  “Going over my notes, trying to see what we’ve missed, and getting prepared to go back down to Tucson to talk to Sahir again.” His voice deepened. “He knows something, Nix, I’m sure of it.”

  She wondered if the human scientist was aware of the rift device and the seemingly free flow of communications between the dimensions. They’d find out, one way or another. “I’m on my way to see you. Are you still in the same place?”

  “Yes. What’s up?”

  “Not on the phone. I’ll be there…” She glanced at the dashboard clock. “…in about ten minutes.”

  “All right.” His voice held curiosity.

  “I’ll explain when I get there.” Nix disconnected the call and stepped on the gas. This investigation had led them to something big. Maybe bigger than they would be able to survive.

  Chapter Eleven

  When Tobias answered the door, he wore only jeans, his torso and feet bare, a black T-shirt clasped in one hand. Nix tracked the dark hair across his pectorals and down the flat abdomen to where it disappeared at the waistband of his jeans. The top button was undone. She wanted to finish unbuttoning his fly, wrap her hand around his cock, stroke him, take him inside her body. Ride him until both of them were satiated. The undulating pheromones rolling off him only ramped up the temptation.

  She curled her fingers against the urge to touch him.

  “Nix.” He stepped back to allow her entrance and slipped the T-shirt over his head. The soft cotton molded his hard contours, somehow making him even sexier than when he’d been half naked.

  She walked into the living room and looked around while he closed the door behind her. Nothing had changed in five years. Same plain beige furniture, same white walls, same stunning pieces of modern art scattered around the room. He even still had the “magic” mirror she’d given him for his birthday, propped up on a bookshelf. The mirror that, when you turned it toward you as if to look at your reflection, started laughing. Those silly days were long gone. Turning, she said, “I had a talk with Luc tonight, and he told me—”

  “Wait a minute.” Tobias appeared intrigued as he came closer. “You met with him willingly? How did that happen?”

  “He stopped by my mother’s house while I was there,” Nix said. “From what I know he’s there most evenings.” Tobias knew she didn’t want to have anything more to do with Lucifer than she had to, but this was hardly the time to go into it. She had something important to tell him. “He told me someone has found a way to open a small rift between the dimensions and—”

  “What!” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Are you sure? I mean, is he sure?”

  “Yes. Apparently they’re sending radio signals through, communicating wi—”

  “What?” His expression went from startled to incredulous. The pheromones streaming from him lightened as if his surprise had cut off the flow.

  “Maybe if you’d let me finish, you can just store everything up for one really big ‘What!’” She folded her arms and raised her brows.

  “Smart-ass.” He sat on the sofa and thrust his fingers through his hair. “So?”

  There was no easy way to say it, no way to lessen the shock, so she’d give it to him as coldly as she’d gotten it. “At least some of the members of the council know about it.”

  His pupils dilated in an instant, completely obscuring the gray of his irises. His lips parted, giving her a glimpse of fangs that had elongated.

  The reaction at least confirmed that Tobias had been as unaware as she had. But then a wave of pheromones hit her so hard her body immediately tightened in lust. Her heart rate increased, making her breath flutter in her throat.

  His gaze fastened on the pulse there, his lips parting further. Nix felt the urge to lean toward him, to turn her head to one side. Give him free access to her life’s blood. She forced herself to back away and put the dubious safety of a recliner between them.

  Tobias held her gaze. “The last time I met with the council, they told me they had suspicions there was some underground movement within the preternatural community, but they assured me they didn’t know anything specific.” He cursed under his breath. “They lied to me.” His expression was wounded, as if it was one more betrayal he couldn’t bear. His eyes were almost completely black, crimson rimming what was left of the gray of his irises. His voice rasped. “I wonder what else they know that they haven’t told us?”

  Nix knew even though Tobias had lived long enough and had experienced deception more than once, there was something inside him that still managed to be surprised when the good guys weren’t so good. It should have saddened her. And to some extent it did. But mostly it just made her mad. It wasn’t like he had always been the man in the white hat. When she’d needed help the most, he’d hopped on his horse and ridden off into the proverbial sunset.

  “Oh, come on, Tobias.” She propped her hands on her hips. “Most of the time people do what’s easiest, not what
’s right. You of all people should know that.”

  His eyes narrowed. “What the hell does that mean?”

  “You know exactly what it means.” She hadn’t planned on having this argument with him tonight, but it was past time they talked about what had happened five years ago. Her emotions roiling, she tried to tamp down on the fire beginning to churn within her. “You walked out on me because it was easier than staying.”

  “My leaving had nothing to do with easy.” He stood up, his gaze hard and as dark as obsidian. His scowl was just as black. “It had to do with this.” He motioned between them.

  “This?” She mimicked his action. “And this is what, exactly?”

  “Take a look at yourself in the mirror,” he said, gesturing toward the small hand mirror behind her. The one that laughed.

  Nix whirled and grabbed it, holding it up to see for herself what his beef was. She ignored the canned laughter coming from the mirror and focused instead on what she saw. The face that stared back at her was one she hadn’t looked at in a long time, one she tried her best not to wear, one that seemed to come forward rather easily whenever Tobias was around. Her eyes were nearly completely demon yellow and her facial features had sharpened. Just a little, probably not all that noticeable unless you were looking for it. At least her horn buds hadn’t popped. Yet.

  She put the mirror down and turned to face him again. “So my eyes are yellow. It happens when I get angry. Do you honestly expect me to never ever get mad?”

  “Of course not.” His expression softened. “But that’s all I seem to bring out in you, Nix. Anger. No, not anger. Rage.”

  That stopped her in her tracks. He thought this was his fault. Maybe it was, to a certain extent, but it was something she had to deal with on a daily basis. Something she had learned to live with. “This is who I am, Tobias. I’m part demon, and it comes out to play when my emotions are aroused. Good or bad,” she stressed. “It’s not going to go away, and I’ve learned to deal with it.” She hesitated then added, “And anger isn’t the only thing you bring out in me.”

  He grimaced. “Yeah, there’s also irritation, frustration, aggravation—”

  “Just…” She stared at him. The burning in her gut lessened as she calmed down. “Just tell me why you left.”

  He moved closer. His eyes had returned to normal, a beautiful stormy gray. “The more we were together, the more violent you got. In attitude and action. I heal quickly, it wasn’t that. I was afraid you’d…”

  “You thought I’d take a walk on the crazy side and not come back.” She sighed and dropped onto the sofa. She linked her fingers and stared at them a moment and then, looking up at him, she asked, “Why didn’t you say something?”

  He sat beside her and took her hands in his. The feel of his strong fingers curled around hers made her want to weep. “I did, Nix. I warned you over and over about what you were doing. How you were acting.”

  She cast her mind back over the year they’d spent together. Memories flooded in. She looked at him a bit shamefacedly. “I told you I didn’t need a father.” In her defense she added, “You were kinda autocratic about it.”

  “So my manner was a bit off-putting. I was still right.” He didn’t sound happy about it. He let go of her hands and shifted to slouch against the sofa.

  “Maybe you were.” And with that statement, much of the anger she’d held on to for so long faded away. If they’d stayed together, would she have come to the conclusion she needed to control the demon? Or would she have continued enjoying the strength of her nonhuman side and allowed herself to slip closer and closer to madness? She just wished he’d gone about it differently. “But that was then. What about now?”

  He met her gaze. “What about now?” he asked, his voice gruff. The gruffness didn’t fool her. She could see in his eyes that he still wanted her. The pheromones came off him in rich, dark waves that went straight to her head, to her core.

  “I’m not asking for forever,” she whispered. She unclipped her holster from her belt and set both gun and holster on the end table. Then she moved to straddle him, settling her heat onto his lap. She cupped her hands on either side of his neck, her thumbs stroking across his ear lobes. “We were good together.”

  “Yes, we were.” His eyes searched her face. “Nothing has changed, honey.”

  “Yes, it has. I’ve changed. I’m not the same girl you left behind five years ago, Tobias. I’m older. Wiser. Better able to deal with my demon half.” She leaned forward, thrilling to the feel of the hard ridge beneath his jeans. His hands came up to clasp her hips. “Let me prove it.” She dropped her mouth onto his.

  His lips parted. Nix took advantage and swept her tongue inside to tangle with his. He tasted like pinot noir with a hint of the tang of copper. He must have just had a glass of wine with a kick. She rubbed gently over his fangs. His aroused gasp and the surge of his hips against her brought an answering dance of arousal down her spine. Pheromones rushed from him in a tide of lust so primal she shivered in response. A wet rush of arousal between her thighs made her moan, the sound swallowed by his mouth.

  She kissed her way down his neck, lingering on the strong bump of his Adam’s apple and the dip at the base of his throat. With a groan he ripped his T-shirt over his head. “Touch me,” he demanded, and she eagerly complied, running her hands over his strong shoulders to grip his biceps, testing his strength with her fingers.

  When she swiped her thumbs across his nipples his hips bucked and a throaty growl left him. With one smooth move he lifted and laid her on the sofa, coming down over her, bracing his weight on one elbow while he stared down into her face. “Are you sure about this, honey?” He brushed hair away from her cheek.

  “More sure than I’ve ever been in my life.” This would either be a new start for them or it would be the final chapter in the story of their love. A beginning or an ending, it didn’t matter. She wanted him. “Trust me, Tobias. I can handle this.”

  His lips parted. He wet them, his eyes dark, desire and need stark and pleading in their depths. He reared back, just a little, so he could peel off her leather dagger harness, her top and bra, then her boots, socks, and pants. His eyes heated as he stared at her skimpy little panties, then those, too, were dropped on the floor. He slid his long, oh-so-talented fingers up and over her breasts. Her heart slammed against her ribs and she dragged in a breath. The musk of his arousal hung heavy in the air as did the sharp tang of excitement and the softer flood of…love.

  She reached for his pants, but he stopped her, his big hands clasping her smaller ones. “Not yet. We’re going to take it slow and easy.” He dipped his head and pressed a kiss against her mouth. From an inch away he whispered, “I plan to take my time with you.”

  Nix liked the sound of that. Except… “But I want to touch you, too.” She wiggled her fingers, still held captive by his hands.

  He groaned. “Oh, God. I want you to touch me again, sweetheart.” He lifted her hands to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “Just not yet. All right?” He pressed her arms to the arm of the sofa above her head and released her hands. “Just keep your hands right where they are until I say different.”

  “Bossy.” She would be content, for now, to follow his lead.

  “Don’t you forget it.” He bent and tongued her nipples, bringing them to stiffness and sending little electric shocks straight to her core. His fingers delved between her legs, stroking over the fleshy lips of her sex, coming close to her swollen nub but not touching her.

  Nix writhed beneath him. “Tobias,” she moaned, lifting her hips, swiveling, trying to get his fingers to go where she needed them the most.

  The sound that left him was something between a chuckle and a groan. He levered himself to his feet and peeled off his jeans and briefs, leaving his lean, toned body completely naked. His eyes glittered with black and red heat, his fangs glistened wetly. Deep-cut muscles flexed in his neck, his arms.

  Her gaze tracked the line of h
air on his lower abdomen to the treasure finally bared. His rigid cock curved into his stomach. As she watched a vein began to pulse along the hard flesh, mute testament to the deep arousal that now made his dormant heart beat.

  He swept her up into his arms and carried her with effortless ease into his darkened bedroom. Nothing much had changed in here, either. There was still the bold burgundy-and-hunter-green decor, the large king-size bed, the bulky dark wood dressers. He laid her gently on the bed and as he came back down over her she looked into his eyes. There was lust there, but also an underlying tenderness that was mirrored in his touch. Her heart lurched and started to flutter like a mad, trapped thing.

  “I’ve missed you, missed having you in my bed. In my life.” Tobias raised her hands over her head. “Keep them there,” he reminded her, and then kissed her again, his lips open and searching. He planted his mouth along the angle of her chin, down her throat to skitter over her collarbone. His tongue traced over the slope of one breast. She felt the warmth of his mouth just before he latched onto her nipple and began to suckle. He rolled and tugged her other nipple between fingers and thumb, driving spikes of heat straight to her core.

  Nix clenched her fists around the spokes in the headboard. She needed to touch him, to smooth her palms over silken skin covering hard muscles. She closed her eyes and bit her lip, determined to show him she had control of herself, that she was more than the demon fire that burned deep inside.

  He moved down her belly, hands feathering over her thighs to part the soft folds of her sex. She tensed in anticipation and when his mouth found her clit her legs fell apart and she bucked up into his touch. He sucked hard, his tongue circling and flicking. She felt the scrape of his fangs and it only heightened her arousal.

  Nix moaned and jerked beneath him, her entire being reaching toward ecstasy. The fire within her flared, burning through her eyes, her skin. Then he slid two long fingers deep, thrusting in and out, and she fell over the edge. She bucked beneath him, coming again and again, until the tremors finally stopped and she lay limp beneath him.