This man. This vampire. What he was doing. It was… amazing.
Maybe it was the vampire in him? The dark predator. In the wild, predators sometimes liked to tease, to play with their prey. So it made sense a vampire -- the ultimate predator -- would do the same.
“You like to touch yourself. I want to watch.”
The wrist straps fell away from her wrists and she fell forward, nearly toppling from the table. A set of powerful hands closed around her waist. She turned to give him a smile of gratitude for keeping her from falling and cracking her skull open on the hard tiled floor.
She froze when her gaze met his. She was sitting on the wooden table, her legs dangling over the edge. He was so incredibly gorgeous. His face so sexy and masculine. His eyes were such a dark brown they almost looked black.
One corner of his mouth lifted into that naughty smile of his. The one she’d noticed last night. “I have such plans for you tonight, my sweet. This way.” He picked her up by the waist and held her until she somehow managed to get her feet under herself. He motioned toward a wooden chair set off in the corner. A bizarre metal contraption of some kind stood in front of it. There was a long metal rod protruding from the front of the machine, the end of it a half foot or so from the chair’s seat.
She had a feeling she knew what this was. She’d seen one on the Internet.
Would a fucking machine really do it for her? Or would she be left wanting for the real thing? She knew she was about to find out.
“Sit. Feet up on the edge of the seat. I want your pussy wide open.”
She was quivering so much from the anticipation she could barely get herself situated on the chair. The smoldering look he gave her as he slid the thick dong over the metal rod and positioned it at her pussy, oh God. She was going to melt.
“Now touch yourself while the machine fucks you. I want to see how hot it makes you. I want to smell your cream. To see it running between your ass cheeks and glistening on the dong.”
It was doing that already!
She slid a hand down to her pussy. The other she used to steady herself on the chair. And while the thick dong fucked her oh so tortuously slow, she rubbed her clit.
It was pure heaven.
Thick dong filling her pussy. Waves of pleasure pulsing through her body. It wasn’t so much the mechanical motion of the machine as it was Burke’s dark eyes watching. There was this feral look in them. Wild and dangerous. His expression was what drove her crazy.
Now at her side, he growled and lowered his head to feast on a nipple. As if she wasn’t already in heaven!
“Yes! Yes!” Orgasm was just a few strokes away. She could feel the telltale heat spreading through her. The tension pulling at every muscle, right down to the soles of her feet. Coming. She was coming!
“No!” The machine cut off and the dildo halted mid-air, just shy of plunging into her pussy again.
No!
There was a twitch but no spasm. No orgasm.
Now she wanted to growl. Teasing bastard! She gritted her teeth, literally, and concentrated really, really hard on not screaming at him. Ooh, it was hard!
So was his dick, she noticed when he did his little hocus pocus thing and his clothes vanished. The growl lodged itself in her throat, kind of morphed into a purr as it worked its way up her throat and out through her lips.
He pushed her shoulders back, until her spine was pressed into the back slats of the chair, then he kissed her to the point of delirious begging. After kneeling on a mat that appeared out of nowhere, he drove his cock into her.
Yes! At last! Oh yes. She squeaked into his mouth, wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him. And just so that he wouldn’t get away, she wrapped her legs around his waist.
That deepened his thrusts, which was just fine by her!
Fast and hard, exactly the way she liked it. Exactly the way she needed it. With every thrust, his groin rubbed against her clit, creating just the right amount of friction to catapult her back to orgasm-land.
A wave of heat spread out over her body and she tensed in anticipation of the first spasm.
Please, don’t stop now. No more teasing.
“Come now!” he shouted.
He didn’t have to say that twice. She dug her fingernails into his shoulders and pulled back, tightening every muscle in her body. Finally, sweet release. It pulsed through her body in quick spasms that made her jerk and scream. As his shout filled her ears, she felt his shoulders move under her hands. They changed somehow, but with her eyes closed, and the bliss of orgasm still rippling through her body like waves in a pool, she didn’t care. All she cared about was holding on to the feeling for another second. And another. And another.
It ended. Eventually. She felt weak and tired, but also very, very satisfied. When she opened her eyes, they were back in his bedroom, sitting on a chair in the corner.
That magic stuff was really something. Very cool. Very sexy.
He was practically sprawled over top of her. Heavy and warm, his skin slick with sweat. She closed her eyes and sat there, enjoying the closeness, and the giddy, happy feeling that came from having the most incredible sex in her life.
As if he hadn’t spoiled her before, now there was no doubt. No man would ever measure up to Burke the vampire lover. No way. No how.
Which left her wondering -- how long could she expect to keep him around? Were vampires the love-them-and-leave-them type? God, she hoped not.
Burke stood, took her hand in his and pulled. “Come, my sweet. We must sleep now. At sunset, I must leave. I must find the murderer before he kills again.”
Sylvie lay beside him, tired but restless, and no longer hungry. Most surprising, she’d been so preoccupied by Burke’s very distracting lovemaking abilities, she’d all but forgotten about the murderer. What would happen tonight? Would someone else die? Maybe even someone she knew?
Chapter Five
This had to work. He’d followed the spell to the letter. Found the right human. Killed him exactly as it was written in the Book of Shadows, took the ingredients in the right order.
“It’s time.” He stroked his love’s hair.
She lay on the stone altar in the room’s center, her eyes closed, her skin cold, her body lifeless. “This time it will work. I will have you back. I can’t live another night without you.” He lifted her hand and kissed its back then held it to his cheek.
How he missed the sound of her voice. The feel of her gentle touch. The taste of her kiss.
Two cycles of the moon. She’d been stolen from him two cycles ago. It felt like it had been an eternity. He was empty without her. Hollow and cold and… dead. “I did everything right this time. I will not fail. I cannot fail.”
He gently placed her hand on her chest and turned to the large circle drawn on the tile floor in ash. Last time he’d made a mistake. He’d rushed the killing and that had been why the spell had failed. But not this time. This time he’d done everything exactly as it was supposed to be.
He read the Book of Shadows one last time, to make sure he was following the spell to the letter. Yes, perfect. His love would be returned to him in just a few moments! His suffering would be over. At last.
He placed the bowl of human blood in the circle’s center then drew the star within the circle with the ash. He set the other items on each point of the star -- heart, tongue, finger and two eyes.
He closed his eyes and began the incantation. Instantly, the magic crackled in the air, sizzling like bolts of static. He spoke the words of the spell in the ancient tongue, “Socusi donomini. Letre dos golomine.” Almost done. He turned to face his love and extended his arms. The magic charged through his body, fiery hot like bolts of lightning. It swept up his legs, whirled around inside his chest and then blazed down his arms. He quaked with the power of it. The power of all the demons in Hades. Laying his hands on his love, he spoke the final words, “Yumada renise dolin dagado!”
Wham! The magic blasted through his ha
nds and leapt into his love. She jerked and thrashed as the dark powers charged through her body, reanimating her dead form. The gaping wound in her chest fused before his eyes. She shifted from beast to the beautiful woman he’d known and loved.
Silence.
He sagged against the altar, rested his head on her chest.
A shaky hand stroked his hair.
He had succeeded, once again.
Please, please let her stay alive this time.
As he turned his head, she blinked open her eyes and smiled. “Master.”
He stroked her cheek. Soft as velvet but still cold. He traced her full lower lip. His hand shook as hope and joy swept through him. “Yes, I’m here, my sweet. I did it. I brought you back to me. We will be together forever. I won’t let anything happen to you again.”
She took his hand in hers and cradled it to her cheek. Her skin was warming. He could feel it. She blinked and a single tear ran down her cheek. “Thank you, Master.”
“Feed. You must feed.” He turned his hand to offer his wrist. “Feed now and live.”
“Yes, my Master.”
The pain of her bite was sweet agony. He closed his eyes and let the bliss sweep through his body. Lust, profound and urgent, gathered in his loins, sparked by the pleasure of her feeding.
He needed to fuck her. Needed it more than he needed his next swallow of blood. But not yet. It was too soon to know for certain if she would live or if he’d failed again. Very soon he would know. Within minutes. Only when he knew for certain that she would live could he satisfy his need for her.
These next few minutes would be pure agony.
Her hunger satisfied, she released his wrist and slowly sat up. “Will it last this time? Or will it be like before?”
“I did everything exactly as the book said. How do you feel?”
“Weak. Tired. But getting stronger.” She raised a hand to her forehead. “Kiss me. Even if I must go back… even if it doesn’t last, I want to die with the taste of your kiss on my lips --”
“No!” he shouted, shaking her shoulders. “You will not die again. You must fight!” He pulled her roughly to him, crushed his mouth to hers and kissed her. His tongue stroked, twisted, tasted and took, as his hands stroked and pinched and pleasured. She moaned and the sound echoed in his head, reverberated in his chest.
He had his love back!
And then she jerked. Her head fell back and her form shifted from beauty to beast. She screamed as the torture began once again, the agony of death.
How could he have failed? “No!” he shouted. “No, no, no!”
“Master,” she whispered, just before life left her again. “Do not try another time. I beg you.”
“I’m sorry, my love. So sorry for your pain. But I will not stop. I cannot stop. Do not ask that of me.” He swept her lifeless body into his arms and held her. The pain of loss tore through his being. “I cannot stop. Next time I will succeed. I cannot live without you. My love.”
He gently laid her on the altar and cursing the devil for the pain of his loss, turned to the Book of Shadows. “What mistake did I make?” he yelled as rage burned in his gut. “What did I do wrong this time, dammit?”
The answer had to be in the book. But where? What had he missed?
* * *
“Don’t you ever, ever do that to me again!” Lisa scolded, dishing out a one-two smack to Sylvie’s shoulders. “You had me scared. To. Death!”
“Me? What about you?” Sylvie gave her friend a warning glare. That girl had better keep her hands to herself! If she didn’t, gorgeous, slinky black dress or not, Sylvie was going to have to take her down. “I called how many times? Left how many messages? Why didn’t you answer? Did you even listen to them?”
Lisa’s face turned the shade of a tomato.
Sylvie turned sideways, wedged herself between two guys sitting at the bar, hunched over martinis, and waved at the bartender. “Ah! So you were doing something I wouldn’t approve of. And so you decided to avoid the lecture you knew was coming by avoiding me altogether. Well, that’s just fine! I could be dead right now, no thanks to you and your sex life.”
The guy facing her gave Sylvie a curious glance, then turned to do the same with Lisa.
“Say it louder, why don’t you?” Lisa grumbled.
“I just might. What kind of best friend leaves their friend sitting alone at the scene of a crime? Huh? Just so she can have sex?” She shouted that last word, just because Lisa deserved it. A few more males in the crowded upscale club took notice and they were all sizing Lisa up. Sylvie was satisfied to see her friend was really squirming now. Served her right. “Don’t you at least screen the calls? Check your Caller ID, so that if it is something important, you know?”
“Yessss. Normally, but --”
Sylvie ordered two cosmopolitans, paid and then turned to her friend and smiled. Time to lighten things up.
Lisa gave her a weak smile back. “Done hating me now?”
“Yes. You know me. I can’t hate anyone for too long.” She turned when the bartender set the drinks on the bar, picked them both up and handed one to Lisa. “Here. On me.”
“Thank you.” Lisa took a sip. “So, where were you last night? I tried calling this morning that number you left. A lot of times. No one answered. What happened?” Lisa headed for the only open table in the place. Dropped her purse on the tabletop and set down her drink. “Seriously, I was worried.”
“I know you were.” Sylvie sat across from her friend while simultaneously scanning the crowd for Burke. She knew he wouldn’t wander far. He was too worried about her safety to do that.
Unless something bad had happened. To him. To someone.
Where had he gone?
“I’m sure you’ll be reading about it in the newspaper by tomorrow,” Sylvie said. “There was another murder.”
Lisa’s eyes widened. “Oh no…”
“Yep. At Carpe Nocturne. And get this. The guy was killed in my office and Burke thinks the killer is this woman I talked to about my car.”
Lisa cupped her hands over her mouth and inhaled an audible gasp. “No. Way! What’re you going to do? Wait.” She dropped her hands. Her eyebrows dropped a smidge too. “Uh. Who’s Burke? A cop? I thought you said you were staying with a guy named Brett.”
“Well… not exactly.”
“What does that mean, ‘not exactly’?”
Sylvie considered telling her friend the truth, but she quickly decided that would be a foolish thing to do. Like herself, Lisa only believed in what she could see, hear, touch. She’d never in a million years believe there were vampires living outside of the imaginations of film writers and romance authors. At least not without more substantial proof.
“His real name is Burke, not Brett. And he’s a… private detective.”
“Ohhhh.” Lisa daintily sipped from the narrow cocktail straw. Licked her bright pink lips. Her eyes flickered, focused on something behind Sylvie.
She knew that look. Lisa had spotted some man meat. “What’s he look like?” Sylvie teased.
Lisa smiled dreamily. “Tall. With long brown hair. And a body to die for.” She tipped her head slightly. “I think he’s staring at you.”
“At the back of my head?” Sylvie raised her hand to check and see if her upswept hair had come undone. “Is there something sticking up?”
“No. You look fabulous. Didn’t get a chance to say anything earlier. That is a hot dress! Where’d you get it?”
“Uh…” She couldn’t tell Lisa the truth -- that Burke had magically conjured it up out of thin air. But where else could she say she’d gotten something that was clearly way out of her budget? Black and slinky, with an open back that plunged nearly down to her ass crack, it was nothing like anything she owned. “Bought it on eBay,” she lied. “Although, I didn’t know how low-cut the back was going to be.”
Lisa momentarily looked at her. “It is low. But it looks amazing on you. Like it was custom sewn.”
/> “Thanks.”
Lisa’s eyes brightened. She fiddled with her straw. “Oh my God, he’s coming over here.”
“Could it be because you gave him that fuck-me smile?” Sylvie teased, looking around again for Burke. Still nowhere to be seen. She was starting to get worried.
“Hello, ladies.” The guy -- who Sylvie had to admit was extremely good looking -- rested an arm on the back of Sylvie’s chair. “Can I buy you a drink?” he asked the back of Sylvie’s neck.
Why was he speaking to her back?
She turned, to see if his hand was doing anything funny, or if he was perhaps checking the time.
No watch. Huh.
Feeling a little weird, she self-consciously lifted her hand to her nape. It was only when she felt the slightly raised ridge that she realized what he was staring at.
Instantly her gaze dropped to his arm. Covered, dammit.
She tried to remember what Burke had said about that crazy tattoo stuff, about the mark on his arm, and what it had meant. And whether other vampires could see it or not. But damn if she could remember much of anything, outside of how his kiss had tasted.
Speaking of kisses, the guy standing next to her sure looked like he wanted a kiss. She licked her lips, getting them pucker ready.
Since when did she think about swapping spit with total strangers, mere moments after setting eyes upon them?
Insanity, that’s what it was.
“Thanks,” Lisa said, her face aglow. “I’ll take another cosmopolitan. This one’s about gone.”
The man nodded then turned to Sylvie and gave her a look that made her panties instantly wet. “And you?”
“Nuh -- no, thanks. I’m good.” She lifted her still full glass with a shaky hand, maneuvered the straw to her mouth somehow and sucked hard until her dry mouth was full of liquid. It all went down in a big gulp. Hit her gut like a block of ice. Cold and heavy.
The Alpha's Touch Boxed Set (14 Book Bundle) Page 6
