Deceptive Changes: Kat LaMond Book 1

by R A Baker

  I kicked at him until I connected with his knee. He grunted but didn’t let go. My vision started to fade as I kicked hard enough to hear a snap. The vampire’s hand released my throat as he screeched in pain. He bared his fangs at me. I scrambled across the bed, gasping for air. He was on me before I could roll off.

  I reached out to the night table as I put my other hand across the vamp’s face. I ran my fingers along the cord to the table lamp. I grunted as his fangs slid into the meat of my palm. I struggled harder to grab the lamp. I snagged the cord with my fingers and pulled. The lamp hit the bed and slid down. I grabbed the cord harder and pulled. It inched slowly up the side of the bed.

  Finally the stupid lamp was on the bed. Pain sizzled through my palm as the vamp sucked harder. I pulled the lamp to me and swung hard. It grazed the vamp’s face but didn’t deter it from sucking harder on my hand.

  I took a deep breath and mashed the lamp bottom against his face. His fangs pulled out of my palm but not fast enough to open it like so much meat. I cried out as pain ran up my right hand. I used the lamp to batter at the vampire.

  He reared back from me and tried to take the lamp away. I kept up with him and knocked him back as I swung harder. Half of his face was crumpled by the blows I had landed. He fell back to the foot of the bed. I crawled from under him and straddled him. I used the lamp to draw his attention away from me and grabbed the knife with my ruined hand. The vampire grabbed my swinging hand and tore the lamp from my hand. I let him have it. I plunged the knife into his chest and twisted. The lamp fell from his fingers as I pulled the blade from his chest.

  I pressed my hand to the wound and felt the blood sizzle through my palm as it healed. I looked at Cyril and saw that his anger was making his pale face red. I smiled then. I took the dead vampire’s blood and ran it along my stomach. There wasn’t enough to seal the whole wound but it took the edge off the pain. I stood up on the bed. “When will it be enough, Cyril? When I kill all of your vampires?”

  His vampires looked at him. Cyril shook his head and flew at me. I ducked but wasn’t fast enough. He had me pinned to the wall, my knife hand held at an angle and away from him. I twisted and struggled in his grasp but he was way too strong for me. His fangs grazed my neck but didn’t bite. He threw me across the room. I crashed against the far wall and went down. I couldn’t even feel the pain as my vision went dark. I think I passed out for a minute.

  When I came to, the room was chaos. My men were fighting the vampires and Cyril was nowhere to be found. I looked around the room to find Thorn but he was gone too. I sat up and whimpered as pain went through me. Sven took a vampire’s head off with a simple twist, blood showered everyone within reach. Trace and Erick were back-to-back fighting and Todd was stabbing a vampire through the chest.

  I used the wall to help me stand. I got my feet under me and wobbled to a chair. I grabbed it and swung at one of the vampires nearest me. It cracked against him and made me stumble back. I wasn’t in any condition to fight but I couldn’t let them win. The vampire snorted at me as I fell to the ground.

  He grabbed my shirt and hauled me up. I used the little bit of wood I had left as a stake and stabbed him through the heart. He gasped in surprise as the wood punched through him and took out his heart. He let me go and fell away. I slid to my knees and looked around the room. We had won, at least this round.

  My men rushed up to me and hugged me to them. I hugged them as best I could and hissed in pain as I moved my arms. Sven walked up to us. “How could you use me?”

  I gulped and started to answer when Todd cut me off. “This isn’t the place. Let’s get home and we’ll explain everything.”

  We cleaned the room as best we could and hauled the vampire bodies into the truck. We would burn them when we got home.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  We got home and Trace carried me into the house. He placed me gently on the sitting room couch and held me to him. It felt good to be home. Everyone gathered around me and when I reassured them that I was fine, they filtered out.

  Sven stood near me with his hands on his hips, pissed. “Sven, I’m sorry that I deceived you. I figured you’d keep in contact with Thorn. It actually helped a lot that you did. I just hadn’t expected so soon, that’s all. Again, sorry.”

  “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

  “I couldn’t. If I did you would have acted differently.” He made noises like I was wrong. “You should feed, Sven. It looks like you lost a lot of blood.”

  “You should see a doctor. You’ve lost a lot of blood,” he countered.

  I just smiled at him. “That’s okay. This isn’t any more than usual.” I looked at my guys and held out my hands to them. Trace, of course, was sitting right beside me. He pulled me into his arms as the other two wrapped their arms around us.

  “I’m so happy to be home,” I whispered. “It’s time to go to sleep.” They nodded. They’d been quiet ever since we left the motel room. I wondered why.

  I pushed them back from me and stood up. I wobbled for a moment and then started for the bedroom. I stopped in the doorway and looked back. They were watching me. “What’s going on?”

  “Kat. We just…” Todd stopped talking.

  I frowned at him. “What’s going on, Todd?”

  He sighed. “We’re happy your home, babe.”

  I continued to frown at him. “But?”

  “There is no but. Okay, maybe there is. But,” he smiled. “Cyril is still out there and Thorn, too. He knows this place inside and out. They could decide to hit tonight.”

  I shook my head. “Cyril won’t. He wants me injured even more than I already am before he attacks me.”

  “How can you be certain?”

  I heaved a sigh. “He’s one of those sadists. He doesn’t want me healthy and he’ll hit me where it hurts the most. He’s going to count his seconds and design a plan that will hurt us the most then he’ll strike. It’s who he is. Now, can we go get some sleep?” Sven leaned from foot to foot as I looked at him. “Sven?” He looked at me. “Did you have something to add?”

  “Me? No. More I had a request.” From the look in his eyes I wasn’t going to like the request. I nodded. “I was wondering if I could stay with you guys tonight.”

  “You want to stay with a bunch of people that deceived you?” I couldn’t understand him.

  “Yes.”

  I looked at my guys. “It’ll be up to your king.” I left them to deal with it, and walked into our bedroom. I grabbed clothes, and stepped into the bathroom. I found a small bouquet of red and white with orange colored roses on the sink table. I leaned in and smelled them. They were beautiful and smelled wonderful.

  I turned on the shower and stepped in. I hissed in pain as the water hit my many wounds. I cleaned off as best as my aching muscles would allow and got out of the shower.

  I wrapped a towel around my body and brushed my teeth. I toweled off and put on fresh pajamas. I opened the door to the bathroom and peeked out. No one was in the room, thankfully. I slipped out and crawled into bed.

  I was nearly asleep when I heard talking. I opened an eye and saw that my men and Sven were in the room. “Can you guys hold it down? I’m trying to sleep,” I grumbled. They talked quieter but I could still hear them. They were negotiating terms of Sven’s involvement with me. I sat up in bed and sighed. “Do we have to talk about this now? Can’t we just sleep?”

  “We want to know what he plans to do. Will this be a longer than just tonight occurrence? We need to know.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I have no idea. That’s why I left it up to you guys. I don’t plan on taking Sven on anytime soon. Sorry, but I don’t. I figure if he’s feeling vulnerable, why not let him stay in the same room with us? Outside of that, I don’t see…” I let my voice fade as I looked at them. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “He saved your life, Kat.”

  I frowned at Todd. “So? That doesn’t mean I owe him a place in my bed. That m
eans that I am grateful to him. Besides, he also led them to us, so I figure we’re even. Now, can I sleep?”

  Todd, Trace, and Erick slipped under the covers. Sven looked ill at ease just standing beside the bed. “Can I…uh…?” He pursed his lips and started to leave.

  I sighed. “Come on over here. There’s room on this side.” This side meaning my side. He slid under the covers and cuddled his back against me. I was squished between Trace and Sven. I wrapped my arm across Sven’s stomach causing him to sigh. I fell asleep wrapped around Sven.

  >< ><

  I opened my eyes to sun shining in through the window. Sven was still against me. I moved and felt Trace shift beside me. I turned into him and gave him a kiss. His arms wound around me, pulling me into him. He chuckled one of those raspy, masculine, laughs as my hand slid further down.

  “Are you sure you want to do this with Sven in the room?” he whispered against my ear. I didn’t care. I was home. I wanted to celebrate now that I wasn’t hurting as bad.

  I cupped his balls in my hand through the fabric of his pants and massaged him. He let out a breath. “I’ll take that as an ‘I don’t care’.” I nodded against his neck. I ran my hand up and into his pants. I groaned as I felt him harden against me. Trace nibbled at my neck sending shivers up and down my back. I tightened my hand around him. He moaned against my neck.

  I couldn’t wait. I pushed at his pants. We were still lying on our sides. I shimmied out of my pants and threw my leg over his body. He slid inside me. We didn’t have a whole lot of room to move but we made do. He twisted so that I was on top of him. I kissed him as I moved against him.

  Erick ran his hand on my leg. I moved my body to kiss Erick. As I kissed him I stopped moving. Trace gyrated and caused me to gasp. I focused more on him. We moved together and a bit later we were moaning in pleasure as we came. I lay on top of Trace, sated, happy. Erick pulled me from Trace and wrapped me in his arms. I kissed Erick hard on the lips. Trace made room for Erick to turn over and have me lying on the bed with him on top.

  He held me in place as he slipped out of his pants. I gasped as he entered me. He moved gently at first but then became more aggressive as passion took hold. Todd bit my neck as Erick brought me. I cried out. Erick came a moment later.

  Sven made a strangled sound in his throat as he watched. I turned from his dark eyes and looked into Todd’s brown eyes. I smiled at him. Erick kissed my neck and I turned my face to look into his emerald green eyes. Erick slid off me and lay against Trace. Todd pulled me to him.

  I held his face in my hands. I kissed him gently. “I’m happy to be home.”

  He kissed me back and then said, “I’m happy you’re home too, babe. I missed you.”

  I sighed against him and said, “I missed you too.” He ran his hands down my back and hip. His mouth sucking lightly on my neck. I leaned my chest against him. He slid inside me.

  I sighed in pleasure as he moved in and out of me. We found a rhythm that suited us. A few minutes later and we were crying our pleasure into each other’s mouths. I ran my hands along his back and held him to me until I stopped shuddering. Todd slid out of me causing me to shiver again. We clung to each other. Erick’s arm between our stomachs.

  Sven’s voice came out rough as he asked, “You don’t use condoms?”

  I let Todd go and sat up. I looked at him over Erick and Trace’s shoulders. “I don’t have to.”

  “Why is that, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  I sighed. I didn’t like to talk about it. “I can’t have children. Condoms for me would only be for STD’s and since I know my guys are clean, it really isn’t an issue. Throughout my life I’ve been in too many scrapes that have left me barren. Not that I’m complaining. I have no desire to have children.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear.”

  I chuckled. “It's okay, Sven. I just don’t like talking about it.” I grimaced as the wetness between my legs turned chilly. I slid out of bed and kneeled by the bed. I had no bottoms on and Sven was watching me. Damn. It wasn’t like he hadn’t just seen me having sex with three men. Erick smiled and handed me my pants. “Thanks,” I mumbled as I slid into them.

  I stood up and walked around the bed to the bathroom. Sven did his faster-than-the-eye-can-see thing and was in front of me. He grabbed me around the waist and kissed me. I pulled back from him.

  “You can’t leave me hanging, Katja. You just had sex with three men while I was in the room with you. I think I deserve a little of it.” He didn’t give me a chance to answer. He crushed his mouth to mine. I opened for him and felt his fangs slice my tongue. He clutched me tighter to him as I slid my tongue into his mouth.

  His mouth was soft and fresh even as the tang of metal bit into my taste buds. He pressed me against the wall, holding me with his upper body. He ran his hands along my sides and kissed down to my neck. His fangs slid in and pleasure filled me. I heard someone moan.

  I put my hands to Sven’s chest and pushed. He pulled his fangs from me. I looked at the bed. It had been Todd. He was watching. I could tell that he wanted a vampire to sink fangs into him. Maybe Sven could do that for him. That is if I took him into our bed. I decided that I would take Sven to our bed, if only to give Todd something that he desired. It wasn’t like Sven wasn’t yummy to look at.

  I wrapped my legs around Sven. He whimpered as I pulled him to me. He licked his lips and then bit my neck again. He brought me with just his bite. He pulled his pants down and grimaced as he found my pants still on. I gasped as I looked down at him. He was much bigger than I had expected. He worked my pants off me and slid slowly inside me.

  He didn’t waste time with foreplay. He used his bite and movement to bring me over and over again. When I had lost count of the many times I had orgasmed, he came. He cried out, tearing his fangs from my neck. I saw my blood arc across his shoulder.

  My vision dimmed as I watched my blood run down his shoulder. I think I made some weird noise. I couldn’t hear for the ringing in my ears. I know, big bad vampire killer, taken out by a little blood. Sven licked my neck, sealing the wound. He kissed me, taking my breath along with it. My vision cleared as I looked into his eyes. “Thank you,” he whispered. I could only nod. Why thank me?

  He let me slide against him so that I was standing on wobbly legs. I stared at him for a moment and then slid over to the bathroom door. I had to shower. Not that I wanted to get away but because I felt rather strange with this much semen running down my legs. I took a quick shower and walked out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around me.

  The guys were sitting up in bed, freshly showered. They must have used the guest room shower. Todd looked at me as I walked further into the room. I smiled at him.

  “Kat.” I walked over to him and slid onto his lap. “When did you decide to take Sven on?” he whispered against my ear.

  I shivered and kissed his neck. He sucked in a breath as I ran my tongue along his flesh. “I decided when I heard you sigh.” I bit his neck gently and then pulled back.

  “Why would that change anything?” he asked, searching my eyes.

  “I figured maybe you’d be able to do something that you want to do if he were with us. That is if he’d be willing to do it.”

  Sven looked at me weird. “You speak in riddles, Katja,” Sven spoke quietly.

  “Not really. I just know that Todd wouldn’t let another vampire suck on him even when I know that he enjoys it unless that vampire was invited to bed. Not that I didn’t enjoy our time together, I did.” I added the last when Sven looked at me in shock. “If you don’t want to, that’s fine too. I suppose I could let a woman join.” I cringed as I said that. I wasn’t into women and it didn’t appeal to me.

  Sven smiled. “That won’t be necessary. I enjoyed our time as well. I would love the opportunity to taste our king.”

  Todd cleared his throat. “I think I’ll decide on whether or not to let any vampire taste me.”

  I frowned at him. “I thought
you’d want this, Todd.”

  He buried his head against my chest and breathed in. “I do,” he murmured.

  I looked at Trace and Erick. “What do you think?”

  They smiled a little. Erick answered first, “I believe he would be an interesting addition to our group. I wouldn’t mind a nip either.”

  Trace looked from Erick to me and then nodded. “I wouldn’t mind inviting him to our bed, either. Though, I don’t know about him taking blood from me.”

  I always found it odd how accommodating they really were. We’d pretended a fight, we’ve made up, and I’d taken another to our already crowded bed. How much more would they take before they fought back?

  Sven spoke quietly from his side of the bed. “I need to feed. The little bit that I took from Katja has been used up.” We looked at him. He pulled back from us. “I would like to taste you, Todd.” Todd bit his lip and pressed his face against my chest. I couldn’t tell if he was embarrassed or not. I cradled him against me. “If you prefer not, I’ll find another to sustain me.”

  Todd shook his head against my chest. “I’ll let you.” Todd kept me against him and made no move toward Sven.

  Sven got off the bed. I watched him walk over to us. He was naked and my eyes strayed to his groin. I licked my lips as my eyes travelled up his body.

  He stopped in front of us. I stopped breathing as I waited for what would happen. I looked over my shoulder as I felt the bed shift. Trace had gotten off the bed and closed the curtains. The room was draped in shadows. Sven climbed on the bed and sat between Erick and Todd. Todd tensed as Sven ran his fingers across his neck.

  I ran my fingertips along the side of his face. “If you don’t want to do this, Todd, I support your decision.”

  “It’s just new, Kat,” he said against my chest, breathing warmth onto me. I understood that.

  I held up my hand to Sven. He pulled his hand back from Todd’s neck. I held Todd against me as his arms tightened around my waist. He kissed between my breasts. He was distracting himself from Sven. I let the towel slip off my breasts. Todd’s mouth found my nipple and he suckled on me. I tossed my head back and made a motion to Sven. If this was how Todd wanted to do it that was fine by me.