by Lexi C. Foss
I sped up and swiveled my hips, groaning at the sensations rocketing through me. “Your pussy feels so good, gripping me tight and trying to milk my come again so soon after you sucked it down your throat.”
“I can’t get enough of you,” she panted, her pussy growing wetter as she circled her hips to grind against me.
“Thank fuck you’ll never have to go without because we’ll be together for the rest of our lives, my beautiful mate.” It wouldn’t matter how many times I took her over the years. I’d never feel as though I got close enough, deep enough.
My hips continued their punishing rhythm until she was at the edge. My balls drew up, and I knew I was close too. Slipping a hand between us, I pinched her clit between my forefinger and thumb. She broke apart, and her screams echoed through the room. With her pussy clenching around my cock, I let go of my control. One last thrust and intense pleasure washed over me as I came. Her body shuddered beneath mine, and my release exploded from my body.
Tangling her hair around my fist, I tilted her head to the side and sank my teeth into her flesh on the shoulder that didn’t already bear my mark. Her pussy fluttered around my cock as I released my hold and licked over the wound. “Mine.”
Her teeth lengthened, and I braced myself for the rush of pleasure that would come from her bite. “And you’re mine, too.”
“Damn straight, I am,” I growled, my hips slowing down as our orgasms tapered off.
Eventually, our breathing slowed and our hearts returned to a steady beat. Wrapping myself around her from behind, I threw one of my legs over hers and tucked an arm under her head. “I’m not sure I’ll survive if we keep at each other like this all the time.”
“Maybe,” I conceded with a chuckle. “But at least it’d be one hell of a way to go.”
Denica’s breath was hot against my chest as she laughed. We stayed curled up together for a few minutes before she murmured, “Trey?”
Kissing her temple, I rested my cheek on her silky hair and inhaled her scent deep into my lungs. “What, baby?”
“I—”
Whatever she’d been about to say was interrupted by a fist pounding against the front door.
“You have to be kidding me,” I groaned. We’d barely been home long enough to eat, shower, and fuck. With Denica cuddled into my side, I was ready to catch some sleep before we headed back to Pine Ridge in the morning. My fellow streak members knew how little time I got at home with my mate while we were hunting the vampire, so there had to be a good reason for the interruption.
Rolling off the mattress, I tugged on a pair of athletic shorts while Denica padded into the bathroom to clean up. “I’ll meet you downstairs, baby.”
There was another round of knocking as I left our bedroom and headed down the hall. I picked up my pace and flung the door open and found Connor and Jake waiting on my doorstep. “What’s up?”
“Denica is going to want to hear this, too,” Connor muttered as they walked inside my house. He crossed over to the couch and dropped down on the cushions, dragging his hands over his face. Jake leaned against the wall next to the door, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I’m here,” she announced, joining us at my side. In the short time since I’d left the bedroom, she’d dressed in what I’d coined her slayer uniform—black tactical pants and tank top. Her black leather jacket was flung over one shoulder, and she was carrying her black combat boots in the other hand. The difference between how she looked writhing beneath me as she came only minutes ago and now was night and day.
“Damn, Trey. Another mating mark?” Jake shook his head and held his hands up. “It’s okay, man. We all get it. The hot-as-fuck slayer is all yours. You don’t have to keep biting her so we’ll get the hint. If you keep it up, we’re going to start to think that having vampires nearby is giving you the wrong kind of ideas.”
A deep growl rumbled up my chest as my tiger’s claws slashed out, ready to draw Jake’s blood for daring to talk about my mate. Denica tossed her jacket and boots on my recliner and ran her hand down my back, soothing the rough edge of my tiger’s fury. Connor held up his hand, aiming a dark look my streak mate’s way. “Now is not the time for your horrible sense of humor, Jake. Serious shit is about to go down, which you well know.”
Jake ducked his head and mumbled, “Sorry, alpha.”
Denica laced her fingers through mine as Connor shared the news that had brought them to my door in the middle of the night. “I just heard from Owen. The girl from the bakery apparently had a sudden urge to take a long drive into the woods in the middle of the night. Once she was far enough out of town where nobody would see, he left his car on the side of the road and shifted. He continued to track her from as far behind as he could while still hearing her for several miles into the forest before she stopped. Then four men practically appeared out nowhere and climbed into her car.”
Denica clenched her fists at her sides and hissed, “We aren’t just hunting one vampire. We’re after a damn nest.”
11
Denica
With one of Connor’s tigers stalking four vampires, we didn’t have any time to waste. I gathered my supplies in my backpack while Trey got ready, and less than five minutes later, we were all in Jake’s car and racing toward Pine Ridge. As we neared the spot where we were meeting Owen, I ran through the same spiel I’d given Connor, Jake, and Trey when we’d started this hunt days ago. “In your tiger form, your best bet for killing a vampire is decapitation. Be sure to sever the head completely because bloodsuckers can come back from any injury—no matter how bad it looks—if you don’t finish them off.”
“Creepy motherfuckers,” Jake muttered.
“Luckily, it’s impossible to miss it when a vampire dies. There will be a popping sound, and then they’ll turn into ashes,” I reminded them. “If none of that happens, don’t stop.”
“Got it,” Connor confirmed from the passenger seat.
I glanced up at the moon and sighed. “Sunrise isn’t for another six hours, so they’re going to be at full strength. We’re going to have a heck of a battle on our hands.”
“What’s the best plan of attack? Should we all shift? Or should one of us stay in our human form in case we need to tell you something?” Trey asked, his gaze sliding to Connor.
My mate hadn’t hesitated to follow my lead in this hunt so far, so I refrained from asking him what was going on with their loaded glances. Instead, I weighed the pros and cons of being able to communicate with one of the guys while we were fighting versus their added strength when they were in their tiger forms. “Who’s the quickest at shifting?”
Since Connor was the alpha, I wasn’t surprised when he answered, “Me.”
“Let’s plan on you shifting only if it becomes necessary.” I pulled two spare daggers out of my backpack and handed them to him. “Getting a vampire in the heart will work with one of these, but only if you hit them in just the right spot. The steel is specially blended with balsa wood so the blades work like stakes but are a heck of a lot easier to throw.”
Connor tested the weight of the blades before nodding. “It’s been a while since I’ve slashed out with anything other than my claws, but these will work.”
“If it comes down to needing your claws to defeat a vampire, don’t hesitate to shift,” I advised. “One of the first things I learned in slayer training was the importance of using every tool in your arsenal when you go into battle against a bloodsucker.”
Trey gave his alpha another weighted look. Connor sighed and turned in his seat to look back at me. “Tiger shifters have a well-kept secret. Our alphas can communicate telepathically with the members in their streak.”
Dragon shifters tended to be secretive, hoarding secrets as though they were jewels. As such, I understood how big of a step this was for Connor. “Thank you for telling me.”
“You’re Trey’s mate. Once you have the claiming ceremony, you’ll be part of my streak, too,” he reminded me, waving off my
gratitude as though his admission was no big deal
“Telepathy is a heck of a tool to bring into this fight. We’ll all be able to communicate, even with Trey and Connor in their tiger forms.”
“We’ll also have Owen. He—”
I held up my hand to interrupt Connor, shaking my head. “Owen needs to hang back when we get there. The three of you have plenty of battle experience, even if it isn’t with vampires. I’m trusting you all to hold your own so you won’t be too much of a distraction from what I need to do. Owen is less experienced, and I haven’t spent any time with him. Having him involved in the fight would mean my focus is divided. The best thing he can do is call E.V.I.E. if things go sideways and we don’t come back.”
“That’s not going to happen.” Trey squeezed my thigh. “No way in hell is one of these vampires going to take you down. Not after I just found you.”
I wished I had his confidence, but going after four of them at once exponentially decreased our odds for success. “Vampires who live in nests together tend to be more vicious and cruel than those who live and hunt alone. It’s as though their evilness grows just by being near each other.”
“It doesn’t matter how evil they are, we have fate on our side,” Trey insisted, sliding his hand up to pat the blade I had strapped to my upper thigh. “And a kick-ass slayer who can shift into a motherfucking dragon. If worst comes to worst, you can just fry their asses with fire while the four of us protect your flank.”
“Fuck yeah,” Jake muttered with a nod as he pulled over on the side of the country road lining the east side of the forest preserve. Owen was waiting on the edge of the woods and came striding over as soon as he spotted us.
“Where are they?” Connor asked.
“It was the strangest fucking thing.” Owen jerked his chin toward the woods to his left. “She parked her car about a quarter of a mile ahead and followed those dudes into the forest.”
Connor took Jake’s keys and tossed them at Owen. “Head south for a mile and wait for us. If we’re not back”—he paused to glance at me, and I held up one finger—“in an hour, use the number Denica gives you to call for help and get the fuck out of here. Then call Jace and tell him to get his ass back into town. Send out a 9-1-1 text to every member of the streak and meet up with them at my house. Wait there for whoever E.V.I.E. sends and let Jace know they’re his best bet for getting the rest of you out of this alive.”
Owen shook his head and parted his lips—no doubt, to argue about leaving us—but a quelling look from his alpha made him back down. I unlocked my phone and changed the settings so Owen wouldn’t need to enter the password again. Handing the cell to him, I instructed, “Try Jude first. If he doesn’t answer, give Rowan a call. She’ll do whatever it takes to get rid of the vampires and avenge our deaths.”
“Rowan sounds like a woman I’d love to meet.” Jake wagged his brows, seemingly undaunted by the possibility of our impending demise.
Thinking about the news my slayer sister had shared with me before I took the case I’d wrapped up so quickly, I smiled and shook my head. “Only if you want to meet the wolf shifter she recently agreed to mate, too.”
“Damn, all the badass women seem to be taken,” he complained.
Connor patted him on the back. “I guess you’ll just have to be satisfied with becoming a badass yourself.”
“Good plan,” he agreed, eyeing the forest ahead. “Let’s go kill some vampires.”
“Quietly,” I instructed as we started down the path the glamoured girl and bloodsuckers took, leaving Owen behind. Not a single word was said until we reached a stone outcropping. Holding my fist up, I came to a halt.
“They’re hiding in a fucking cave?” Jake grumbled softly, shaking his head.
Trey’s hand brushed against mine, and I gave it a squeeze. I found strength in the knowledge that I would go into battle with my mate at my side. Connor and Jake stopped next to us and waited for my signal. The element of surprise was on our side, and we needed every advantage we could get in the coming fight. Taking a deep breath, I centered myself and drew upon my magic. The nest’s lair was directly in front of us, and the vampires would have laid traps so nobody would enter when they were defenseless as they slumbered during the day. Surrounded by darkness, the nightwalkers wouldn’t be vulnerable when we attacked, but we couldn’t wait until sunrise—not when they had the girl inside with them. We remained silent while I used my magic to painstakingly unwind the traps. Once I tackled the enchanted snakes that were poised to attack and cleared the toxic vapor that would have poisoned intruders, nothing else stood in our way. The time had come to defeat the vampires.
12
Trey
Denica signaled that it was safe for us to enter the cave, and I claimed her mouth in a passionate kiss before shifting. My tiger was more than ready for the battle ahead—to keep our mate and streak members safe from the vampires. Jake’s shift took him a minute longer than mine, and Connor pulled out the daggers Denica had given him while remaining in his human form.
I knew my mate could more than handle herself, but that didn’t stop me from sending a thought to Connor since he was the only one who would be able to communicate with Denica during the battle. “Watch her back and warn me if she gets into trouble.”
He jerked his chin up in acknowledgment before following her into the cave with Jake and me right on his heels. Slurping sounds echoed off the damp walls in the darkness, which didn’t bode well for the girl they’d lured into their hideout. We moved carefully, taking full advantage of our improved night vision as we navigated the subterranean passages. When we reached an opening that split off three different ways, Denica paused. With the sounds bouncing off the walls, it was difficult to pinpoint which direction to go. She must have figured it out, though, because she entered the passage to the left and picked up speed.
The stench of evil in the air grew stronger, and I stuck close to my mate, filled with a sense that the enemies were nearby. I noted the position of each stalactite hanging above our heads, rocks on the ground, and pools of gleaming water we passed. If we needed to make a quick escape to save our lives—especially my mate’s—I wanted to be certain of the path we’d need to take.
Any thought of fleeing disappeared when we reached the end of the passageway, and it emptied into a cavernous chamber. The girl was spread out on a stone altar, her hands and feet tied to each corner. Four male forms were bent over her body with their mouths latched onto her wrists and ankles. Her screams filled the air but then abruptly cut off, replaced by a gurgling sound. She appeared to already be beyond saving, and the vampires continued to drain the little blood that remained in her veins.
Before Connor, Jake, or I reacted to the scene unfolding before us, Denica crept forward and leaped toward the nearest creature. Striking swiftly, she slammed one of her daggers into his back. The vampire’s scream was gruesome as it bounced off the walls of the chamber, alerting the other three undead to our presence. The other three lifted their heads, blood dripping from their mouths. Their eyes gleamed red as their gazes turned to the battle between my mate and the member of their nest.
We couldn’t give them the chance to strike against Denica when she already had a battle on her hands as the bloodsucker she’d stabbed whipped around to fight back. She crouched low, avoiding his blow, while we raced forward to take on the other vampires. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Denica jump and turn in midair. As she plunged the sharp blade deep into the chest of the nightwalker she was facing off against, I went for the throat of the one who’d been drawing blood from the girl’s other ankle. My claws dug into his neck, and I roared in pain when he sank his talons into my side.
We faced off, blood dripping from our hands. He bared his fangs, running his tongue over the pointy tip of a cuspid. “You just signed your death warrant, shifter.”
The vampire was cocky as fuck, wasting time to boast while clashing against a six-hundred-pound tiger who was determined to end
his undead existence. The knowledge that my mate fought a similar battle only feet away from me urged me forward. While he was busy bragging about how he was going to kill me, I struck out with my paw. My claws drove through bone and muscle, aimed straight for his heart. Piercing the organ, I jerked hard and pulled it from his chest. After I flung his heart on the floor, Denica aimed a flame at it. There was a loud popping sound—just like she’d described—and the heart burst into ash. The vampire was still alive, screaming in agony. But not for long.
The loss of his heart had weakened the nightwalker, making him more vulnerable against my next attack. As though fighting in unison, my mate and I struck out at the same time—her with her daggers and me with my claws. She staked her vamp through the chest, and I tore the head off mine. They both exploded into a spark of ashes, leaving us with only two more of the evil creatures to vanquish.
Denica crouched into a fighting stance, a dagger gripped in each fist, and we scanned the room. Connor and Jake were facing off against the same vampire, and the other one was leaning against the cave wall outside our reach. He had stayed back, watching the battle play out. I wasn’t sure why he hadn’t fled until Denica said, “I take it that you’re the master vampire of this little nest?”
“Indeed,” he confirmed, inclining his head. “Although you can’t really call it a nest now that I’m the only one left.”
I glanced over my shoulder and saw that Connor was holding the other vamp’s head in his hand. Then it burst into ashes with a popping sound. Three down and only one to go. He shouldn’t have been so confident facing off against the four of us, but he acted as though he didn’t have anything to fear.
“You should’ve known that someone would come for you when your nest started leaving a trail of dead bodies in your wake.” Denica chanted low under her breath, and flames sparked to life on her palms.
