He was surprised when she blocked the pet door, but it wouldn't be a problem; there was always a way in. Now, shape-shifted as a black crow, he was perched on her windowsill watching her take a bath. Her body was so beautiful silhouetted by the candlelight, which shadowed her in a mysterious way, while at the same time, gave Devin enough of a look at her body to make his blood burn with desire. His wings started flapping and hit the window making her jump up in the tub.
Salena wasn't sure what was outside her window, but she wasn't going to wait to find out; she grabbed her towel and quickly blew out the candles.
Once in her bedroom, she locked the door behind herself and dressed as quickly as possible. Then she hid under the covers—like that would really help. She lay there shivering, from her fear, and thought about Eric. She wished he were there to protect her; she'd always felt safe with him around. But could he even protect her from a vampire?
When her cell phone chimed from the nightstand next to her, Salena jumped out of the covers and her skin. It was Heloise. "Hello?" Salena answered, nervous as to why she would be calling.
"Salena, I had a vision of you in trouble. Are you okay?" there was a deep concern in her voice.
Salena sniffled then wailed, "I'm not sure what happened and I'm really scared! One minute this guy, Rob, was going to rape me, then suddenly he was gone, and I left as fast as I could. And just now, there was something outside my bathroom window. What is going on?"
Heloise replied calmly, at least as calmly as she could, "I'm not sure. I saw you in a pool of darkness, but then there was a light, and I could see the light covering the darkness, then there was nothing. I was hoping to hear your truelove has saved you from the blackness." The last part definitely had a hopeful tone.
Salena groaned—enough with the truelove nonsense—"I don't know what happened, he was just gone all of a sudden, and I didn't care how. I got the hell out of there and didn't look back!"
"I think your soul mate rescued you," Heloise replied in a soothing tone. "You must allow yourself to yield to him and your destiny. You saw it in the cards, Salena. You can't deny what is meant to be; love is going to find its way."
"No, you saw it and Madame Marietta saw it, and Madame Zoyla did too, while Marie Laveau saw danger. I just see a bunch of nonsense meant to scare people. Rob is a human being—not a vampire or some fictitious monster. Or at least I didn't think he was a monster." She was almost shouting at this point.
"There is still that shadow to reckon with, Salena. That is the danger Marie Laveau warned you about, but trust your truelove to protect you from it. That's what my vision says to me—at all cost, he will protect you."
"A vampire will protect me? From what? The Easter Bunny?" Salena was shouting at this point. In fact, she sounded much like a stubborn child throwing a tantrum. She was embarrassed by her own behavior, but everyone had to admit—believers or not—this was all ridiculous.
Patiently Heloise bid her good night assuring her that, "all shall be revealed soon, my dear, so take heart you are safe now." The phone clicked and there was silence.
Salena set the phone back down and lay in her bed trying to close her eyes, which proved difficult—especially since she left her bedside lamp on, but there was no way she was turning it off. She kept looking around the room—in the corners, at the curtained window, at her locked bedroom door, at the closet door, which she'd tied shut with a scarf—until, finally, her eyes got too heavy, and she drifted off.
Devin's heart ached to see Salena so terrified, and he wished he could hold her—that she was ready to accept him and their love. He stood outside her window and to help her fall asleep, he whispered "somn profund acum," slumber deeply now. Then he blew her a kiss. Once he heard the soft sound of her snoring, he went to the pet door, reached in to push the crate out of the way, then shape-shifted into a black cat and slipped inside.
Her bedroom door was still locked, so he shape-shifted into a black spider to crawl underneath it. Once inside the bedroom, he knelt before her and whispered "doar visezi" you are just dreaming. Then he kissed her full on the lips, his tongue delving deep into her mouth, expertly moving into every corner and feeding on her sweetness.
Her eyes had come open, and thinking she was just dreaming, she fully responded to his delicious kiss with a voracious invitation. This instantly made his shaft grow thicker and harder, and a low growl escaped from his throat making her moan softly in response—yes, she was under his spell.
She put her hands around his neck and traced his massive shoulders, they were so magnificently broad, and his biceps were enormous. She broke away from his kiss, for the first time, to look at his face in the lamplight. He was shockingly handsome with long black hair—and eyes to match—full, sensuous lips, and a masculine jaw adorned with a very sexy chin cleft, which she now traced with a slender fingertip.
This must have turned him on because he growled again and, taking her hands, he pulled her out of her bed to stand before him—Lord, he was tall. He put one hand on the small of her back to pull her closer, while the other was running through her hair and along her delicate features to once again claim her mouth with his, using a fierce passion that placed a deep smoldering heat between her slender thighs.
She pressed her breasts against his broad, brawny chest and urged his already roaming hands to continue their blazing path down her form. She breathed into his mouth, "Take me."
Elated and more aroused than he had ever been in his entire existence, Devin scooped her up and carried her back to the inviting bed. Salena was already trying to get his shirt open, so he lent her a hand and ripped it off. She planted heated kisses on his splendid chest, while he was ripping her nightgown open. He laid her down and gently placed himself on top of her, bracing his weight on his left arm, while his right hand was gently caressing her beautiful, voluptuous breasts. Feeling like his pants were about to split open, he groaned and took a taut rosy peak into his mouth and suckled with fervent hunger.
She squirmed in response and grabbed handfuls of his hair before raking her nails down his chest and clutching at his full, throbbing male heat. She moaned in pleasure from his mouth teasing her sensitive peak, but also from the size of his masculinity, eager to get out of his pants. Trying to unfasten them, she huskily told him "I want you inside me now."
He chuckled, both amused and stimulated by her eagerness to make love. "Uh-uh," he stopped her hands and pinned her wrists above her head, "I'm not done pleasuring you and working you up for me yet. I want to taste you." He did rip his pants off, though, finally freeing his hot, bulging flesh. As her eyes widened and pooled with lust at the sight of his exposed pulsating manhood, he moved down her slender body, trailing it with the tip of his tongue, making her moan from need—she was really enjoying herself, but it was about to get a lot more intense for her. Then he traced the fingertips of his right hand up the insides of her left thigh and grazed them over her aching mound and swollen, petal-soft lips.
She put her hands on top of his urging him on and trying to force his hand deeper into her cleft, but he stopped her.
He chuckled again, "Not yet, Love; you need to have patience." Then to torment her even further, he rose back over her body and used the tip of his tongue to trace little circles first on a pink aching bud, then back down her abdomen, and finally settling between her satiny folds. He lapped at the nectar waiting there for him and ran the tip of his tongue all around her velvety softness before taking her taut pebble into his mouth.
Salena felt herself explode into a thousand shards of light from the expertise of his ravenous mouth. "Take me!" she screamed again.
Thinking his feisty vixen needed release as much as he did, he rose above her and began to enter her welcoming body. Her tight center almost caused him to lose control; he had to keep thrusting and withdrawing until the stretching walls of her body could engulf him.
Salena was moaning and writhing in exquisite, torturous pleasure! This was a man, her dream lover, and
she begged herself please don't wake up. Her climaxes came in splendid undulations, and she didn't want it to end, so she grabbed his perfect, firm butt and dug her nails in to urge him to keep going and never stop.
Devin was riding her waves of pleasure, and as her body convulsed around him, he thrust deeper and harder to make her make both their pleasure more intense. As his own sweet shuddering moment approached, he moved his mouth from her nipple, where he'd been teasing her some more, to the soft inside of her perfect mound and gently bit.
She squealed from the nip and looked into his eyes, recognition on her face, "You," was all she could mutter under the flames and tides of passion consuming her.
"Yes," he replied in a low, ravenous growl as he licked up the blood and ruptured inside the slick wet heat of her. The taste was so good, so perfect, and it astounded him. If he'd had any doubts about her being Abigail's granddaughter before, he sure didn't now.
While his body still shivered from his explosive climax, he hugged her tightly, lovingly, and protectively—as if both their lives depended on it—and with Gabriel somewhere, it did.
Gabriel watched the lovers from a corner in Salena's bedroom. Devin wasn't the only one who had snuck in under the locked door. Gabriel stayed shape-shifted into a tiny brown recluse, so Devin wouldn't be able to sense him. Catching up to them was more appealing to him, after all, than going into town to feed. If he got lucky, he'd just feed on her. He could definitely understand his brother's attraction to Abigail's mirror image. She looked to be great in bed too. He'd have to sample her for himself as soon as Devin slunk away.
He was getting bored sitting on the windowsill and watching Devin caress her naked body. He wondered how his brother would react if he really knew what had happened to Abigail; what if he knew that Gabriel was the one to cry, "Witch." And how would he feel if Gabriel could take away his love and key to mortality again? Oh, yes, coming back to the U.S. was an excellent decision.
In what seemed liked hours, Devin finally left. Gabriel waited until his brother's presence could no longer be sensed before he approached Salena's sleeping form. No doubt Devin needed to find prey or was out looking for him, perhaps. The latter thought amused him.
He crawled down from his post and was just about to shape-shift into human form when he sensed Devin was back. Damn the luck; apparently, he didn't go too far. Oh well, it didn't matter, Gabriel would still get a taste. The brown recluse climbed up the bedpost and used all of its eyes to take in the sight of her gorgeous, naked body before crawling onto her neck and sinking his spider fangs in. Her blood was invigorating; it was the sweetest and warmest he'd ever tasted, and he filled up on it. The venom from the bite wouldn't hurt her much, but it would let Devin know he'd been there, hopefully. Then, since he couldn't have his way with her tonight, he crawled back under the door and left the house on the side opposite where Devin was perched and watching her sleep. Hungry, Gabriel went in search of prey.
He hoped Devin would catch enough of his scent to know he'd not protected his woman—again.
Devin hadn't wanted to leave Salena's side, especially after their passionate lovemaking, but he'd needed to check for Gabriel's whereabouts; unfortunately, he had no luck. Now, after watching her sleep for a couple of hours, he realized how badly he needed to feed. It'd been a couple of days since he'd fed—not counting the low estrogen Madame Marietta; her blood hadn't really done anything for him and certainly wasn't enough to hold him over. He needed the blood of a young woman; so, back in human form, he strolled into town to see what was on the menu.
As soon as he approached a local nightclub on Main Street, he caught the eyes of several ladies. Some, he could tell, were looking for customers, while the others were just looking for fun. He had his pick of many different shapes, colors, and sizes to choose from. He'd already picked out a young blonde, who looked to be in her twenties, and he was approaching her when a working girl walked up to him. The woman appeared nervous and gave him a weak pick up line.
"Are you looking for a good time, gorgeous?" she tried to pose in a sexy manner, but lost her balance on her five-inch do-me heels and fell into him.
Helping her regain her balance, he told the thirty-something-year-old woman that he'd have to pass; he was just looking for dinner. Then he brushed her hair out of her overly made up face and told her, "It's your lucky night." There was just something too pitiful about the woman to even bother with. So, stepping aside, he went after the blonde instead.
The blonde saw him approaching and gave him a flirty smile. She was dressed in a flimsy tank top and Daisy Duke shorts, showing off long, tanned legs.
"Good evening, what's a pretty girl like you doing here without a man?" he said, flashing a seductive smile even though he did not intend to seduce her. This was only about sustenance—he needed to be strong for Salena, to help her understand their destiny—and he needed to be strong to fight off his brother.
The blonde looked up at him, batting her lashes, "Waiting for you of course." She reached out and patted his chest playfully. "It's a beautiful night, care to take a walk with me?"
Devin proffered his arm to her, and she eagerly accepted. He led her down the street to the bus stop where there was some privacy. "Would you like to sit down and talk?" He gestured gallantly to the bench.
"Sure," she plopped down, making her breasts bounce, "What's your name?"
Devin sat close to her, "My name is Devin, what's yours?"
"I'm Amber, nice to meet you, Devin," she held out her hand to shake, but he took it and kissed it instead. Amber giggled, "Well, aren't you the old-fashioned gentleman?" Then she leaned in to him, "Want to kiss me?"
Devin avoided her mouth, though, and went for her throat instead and just planted kisses there—for now. Her pulse quickened under his kisses and, even though a couple of people were standing nearby, he whispered, "No," and sank his fangs into her.
"Oh!" Amber first yelped at the puncture, but then she smiled and moaned—possibly assuming he was giving her a hickey.
It was over with quickly, and he left her body propped up on the bench with her glassy eyes staring out at absolutely nothing.
Devin caught Gabriel's scent and moved away from the bus stop and dead girl quickly. His brother was close—close enough to kill, perhaps. He followed the scent for two blocks to an abandoned storefront where he discovered the prostitute, who'd tried to solicit him earlier, dead. Not that he needed to, but he turned the woman's head to the side, and there it was—Gabriel's bite mark. He felt sorry for the woman; he'd turned her away because he'd thought she was pitiful, and now she truly was.
Knowing he had to get back to Salena as soon as possible, Devin shape-shifted into a black hawk and flew as fast as his wings would allow him. If he was too late, he'd bring the fires of hell down on this whole damn city; he'd turn it over, top to bottom, until he found Gabriel.
Salena woke up from the most erotic dream of her, and probably everyone else's, life. In fact, her body was still shuddering from it. Then she looked down at her still naked body, and she was livid. He'd done it again! He'd been there and seduced her again. Is this what love with a vampire is like—supernatural date rape? It would figure that the best sex of her life was while she was under a vampire's spell. But it was terrific; there was no denying that. Still, he had no right to trick her, and this was no way to win her love. Not that she ever intended to give it to him.
Angry and wide-awake, she clicked on the TV in her bedroom while she got dressed. It was almost seven a.m. and time for the morning news. She was not at all prepared, though, to see what was in the headline. The newscaster was reporting about the increasing number of victims found with peculiar bite marks on them. When the cameras went live at various locations, Salena saw Clive and some of the locals in the background at one of the vampire tours. They were shouting and holding up signs. A few of the signs read, "Do you believe now?" Salena closed her eyes; she felt angry and nauseated. Yes, I believe now. Was this the work of her
alleged truelove? How could she ever possibly love a monster? How could Abigail have loved him? She was going to fight this tooth—or, in this case, fang—and nail. She refused to accept her fate as the mistress of a vampire. Then she thought, possibly, it was the other vampire she'd seen. What was the connection between the two of them, or should she just assume there is a bunch of vampires out roaming the streets? She paced her bedroom nervously biting her nails again. This vampire definitely owes her a manicure.
Being pulled out of her thoughts, she turned the volume up when a photo of Rob graced the screen. The reporter talked of another grisly murder involving the man in the photograph—accountant, Rob Miller—whose body was found last evening. The official cause of death wasn't yet determined; however, the body had crushed bones, torn ligaments, and ruptured organs. Police think he must have been the victim of a hit-and-run by a very large semi, but nothing would be confirmed until an autopsy was performed and the crime scene was fully processed. Salena thought again of how Rob had suddenly vanished from the car and wondered if he ran off, realizing his actions, and got hit by a truck. But that doesn't explain the loud sound of metal grinding, does it? It doesn't explain Heloise's vision of darkness and then a light, either. What in the world was going on? Salena ran to her bathroom and vomited.
Hands still shaking, she turned off the TV and went into the kitchen to fix some toast and chamomile tea to calm her nerves and settle her stomach. They were helping too, until she turned the TV back on. There was a picture of Madame Marietta on the screen, and the reporter was saying that the Gypsy's body had been found in her fortunetelling shop, by her housekeeper, late last night. Madame Marietta only had a bite mark on her neck, which was similar to the bite marks on the other female victims, but no sexual activity was evident. The news crew was reporting live from the shop, and Salena saw the voodoo priestess, Marie Laveau, in the background; she was holding up totems and a voodoo doll.
Bound Through Blood Page 11
