“There’s plenty,” I said, handing him another bottle. He downed it, then stood up slowly. He towered over me, looking down at me, his eyes flashing with hunger.
“Leo, everything’s going to be okay. I promise. I got you into this and I’m going to take care of you.”
“Who’s going to take care of you?” he growled, his eyes flashing down at me again. He’d downed three full bottles, I doubted he was still hungry, but there was hunger in that gaze. A deep, yearning hunger pointed directly at me.
“I can take care of myself,” I whispered, lifting my chin.
Reaching a hand forward, he touched my cheek, sending shivers of electricity running through my body. I looked up at him, biting my lip, as my own hunger grew.
“You saved my life,” he said, his voice thick and raw.
“Not really, no,” I said. “I killed you first, I guess. You have every right to be angry at me, to hate me.”
Despite the hurricane of emotions churning behind his emerald eyes, he was surprisingly calm. He’d not lashed out. He’d not broken anything.
In fact, he’d barely taken two steps from the bed.
His interest and anger seemed to be focused on me.
“Are you angry?” I whispered.
He nodded slowly, his plump red lips pressed together.
“Of course you are,” I said, reaching out a hand and touching his arm. He flinched, grabbing my hand and pulling it down. I gasped in surprise as he pressed it between his legs, his erection as hard as steel.
“Leo…” I said, shaking my head.
Without a word, he threw me on the bed, his body on top of mine, his mouth kissing me, urgently, hotly, deeply. I whimpered under his weight and he ripped my clothes from me in a flash, following with his own.
“Leo…” I whimpered, my body coming alive at his touch. This wasn’t what I was expecting at all. Most new vampires became destructive, wildly unpredictable and dangerous to themselves and everyone around them.
When I felt Leo sink into me, I melted underneath him, his powerful thrusts sending waves of pleasure ricocheting through my body. I wrapped myself around him, inviting him deeper, encouraging him to take out all of the turmoil he was experiencing on my body.
“Yes, Leo, yes,” I cried, over and over as he unleashed his fury on me. He exploded inside of me and then started over again, his stamina unending, his hunger insatiable. Tears slid down my face as I held him, rocking against him as he lost himself in his rage. My body responded to his pounding need as I crashed over the edge with him, our bodies sliding together, dancing together.
Finally, he stilled inside me. I held him close, my thighs still wrapped around his hips as I stared up at him, all the love I’d felt for him rushing back.
“I love you, Leo,” I whispered, my eyes searching his for understanding.
“Does this..” he whispered, glancing down at our bodies joined together, “does this mean we’ll be together forever now?”
My heart burst at his words and I smiled up at him.
“Yes, if you so desire,” I whispered.
He nodded slowly, his gaze trailing over my naked body, his hardness still buried deep between my legs. His eyes darkened and he swelled inside me.
“I desire,” he growled, his hips moving again, pounding into me with lightening quick thrusts.
LEO HAD GROWN thirsty and was devouring bottle after bottle of blood. I couldn’t help myself from watching for the light to begin to stream through the windows. Dawn was fast approaching and we needed to leave soon. Worry was eating me alive and I began drawing a quick map, just so he would know where to go.
“In case we get separated, you need to know where the boat is. The man’s name is Noah. He’ll be waiting right here,” I said, pointing to the map.
“I’m not letting you out of my sight,” Leo growled, between drinks.
“Leo, there are a number of things that could go wrong…” I said. “We could be seen by any number of people. I’m hoping we can get out without that happening, but if it does, we have to blend in. We have to act like we belong. We have to —.”
I stopped cold when I heard yelling outside the door.
“Wait here,” I whispered, as I sprinted across the room. Putting an ear against the door, I listened.
Was that Dane’s voice?
I opened the door slowly and peeked my head out. The commotion was coming from the end of the hallway. Two suited men were leading a very frantic, very upset, very bloody and very naked Dane away. He yelled and fought against them, finally resorting to an angry growl.
“I didn’t murder any fucking vampires, goddammit!” he screamed.
“Sir, your hunting pass was in the deceased’s hand. I’d advise you to tell the truth.”
“What!” Dane yelled. “No! Let me go, you bastards! I didn’t do it!”
His screams faded away as they led him onto an elevator. I watched as the doors closed, my heart pounding in my chest.
I went back in the room, closing the door behind me. Leo stood watching me from the side of the bed, a ribbon of bright scarlet blood trailing down his chin.
“We have to leave now,” I said. “We just might get away with this.”
FIVE
LEO
Vivid. Electric. Alive.
Everything was alive.
The flowers in the vase danced as they bathed in a pool of shimmering turquoise water. The abstract design on the dark carpet sprang from the floor like an image in a 3D movie. The hair on Addy’s head was like looking into a vast universe, filled with a million shimmering stars.
And her eyes…
Like the deepest blue ocean, with the brightest sun beaming the light of the strongest star into them, they shone back at me with the purest love I’d ever witnessed.
Even the blood was alive. It hissed and popped on my tongue, tickling the back of my throat with a soft caress that lingered like a lover’s touch, leaving me yearning for more.
I wanted more of everything.
More blood. More light. More love…
Addy…
When I’d first come to, when I’d realized what she’d done…fury rushed through my veins. But then, as I looked at her I remembered everything, even the heart attack seizing me, the pain…
I remembered I’d asked for this.
I’d begged her.
‘I want to be alive, Addy,’ I’d pleaded.
I drank her in. The way she moved, like each lift of her hand was an intricate part of a rambling ballet piece, the way her smile lit up my heart, the way my breath caught in my throat when she touched me.
All these things had been there…before.
Before I was dead. Before I was alive.
Before I was whatever I was now.
But had I truly seen them? Had I ever noticed the twinges of grey in her blue eyes? Had I been nearly as enchanted with her laughter back then?
She was magic.
My hunger for her overrode everything else. Every rush of anger in my veins, every bout of confusion, every wildly spinning thought and every burning question.
I took her. Again and again.
And even that was an ethereal experience.
Her body, her curves, her moans, her lips, her sweet warm center…like a taste of heaven she was.
I needed her more than the blood. My hunger for her was like a constant starvation. I only stopped to drink more blood, so I would have the strength to take her again.
But then she’d heard the noises outside.
The yelling, the fighting.
And when she came back in, she was smiling. She looked hopeful. Yes, that is what it was. I hadn’t realized it then, but there was a glimmer in her smile that I wanted to keep there.
Don’t get me wrong, I felt wild. I felt out of control. I felt like if left alone, I would quite literally crawl out of my skin. I wanted to smash through the window and run wild in the forest, just as I’d done last night. Flashes of the hunt, Maggie
’s face, Dane’s evil smile, Apollo…they were all there, lingering, reminding me that all this lust and love that had me all twisted up at the moment were not all that made up the world I now found myself in.
And that hope on Addy’s face was born of fear.
I needed to help her. I needed to do whatever she said to get us both out of here. I needed to control whatever this wildness churning inside of me was, at least for now, and let her guide me.
I had to trust her.
She was all I had.
SIX
THE COLLECTOR
“For fuck’s sake, this is like something out of a movie,” I muttered, as the lone light bulb swinging over my head threw dancing shadows over the table I was sitting at.
Alone in the dark room, I’d been waiting at least an hour. I was raging pissed and trying not to show it, muttering to myself as I bit a hole in my lip.
Fucking Addy, I thought. What had she done?
And all for that fucking human. Leo. Had he gotten under her skin so badly that she’d killed another of our kind for him? The fact that she’d come all this way to save him from the hunt proved that, I suppose.
And where was she now? Frolicking with her stolen lover in her room, without a care in the world? Without so much as a thought to how this might blow back on me?
I should have known. She’d never cared about me. Perhaps she’d planned it this way all along.
Of course, she had no way of knowing I’d bring her firefighter to the sanctuary, but whatever. She wasn’t immune to using me for her own gain.
She was smart. Cunning.
Bloody hell, that’s why she turned me on so goddamned much.
I’d tried hard to get her. I’d given it the old college try. And she’d rebuffed me every single time.
I could have just taken her. Just moved on her like a bitch. They let you do that, when you’re a vampire.
But I didn’t.
I wanted her to welcome me between those thighs, not have to force them open. But she was too good for me, too aloof, too distant.
Hell, I thought she was frigid until she met that firefighter. Turns out, it was me. She simply didn’t want me.
Blow to the ego, it sure as hell was.
Bloody fucking hurt. But I kept pursuing her anyway, knowing it was all in vain. And now here I was, taking the fucking fall for a goddamned vampire slaying for her.
The rage inside me grew to fury. The need for revenge bubbling up inside like a volcano.
The door opened and one of the agents from earlier walked in. He was tall and dark and serious, his beady eyes trained on me.
“We saw the massacre in your room,” he said. “Those were some of our best employees. I highly doubt they gave you permission to drain them completely.”
“I told you I’d pay the fees.”
“You’re not here because of them. You’re here because of Stefan.”
“I didn’t fucking murder Stefan!”
“Then how do you explain the fact that he was holding your pass?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I dropped it during the hunt and he picked it up.”
“Or maybe you dropped it when you killed him?”
“I didn’t —.”
The door opened and I took a deep breath when I saw Apollo walk in. His white suit made him appear larger than life, especially in the lighting of this dark room.
“Dr. Benjamin, hello,” he said, flashing me a smarmy smile.
“Apollo, I didn’t do this, you’ve got to get me out of here,” I said, the words rushing out.
“Is that so?” he said, sitting across from me. The light above the table threw dark shadows under his eyes, making them look like they were sinking into his skull. “So why weren’t you at the hunt last night? Why are you lying? I didn’t see you there all night long.”
Shit. He had me there.
“I wasn’t —.”
“Lies are useless here, you know that, Dane. You just finished your first job as a Collector, isn’t that correct?”
“Yes.”
“So, you had the pleasure of spending two entire weeks at the sanctuary. Two entire weeks to indulge your most savage desires. A hunt every other night to meet your needs, and all the blood and sex and drugs and booze and whatever else you need to get your jollies off. And instead of this being enough for you, you need more. What kind of monster are you, Dane?” His voice had lowered to a low, menacing growl. His eyes flashed with anger. “Stefan was my friend. He’d been a loyal employee here at the sanctuary for years. He was never late, never screwed up. He was a good guy, trying to follow the rules, just like the rest of us.”
He leaned forward, peering deeply into my eyes.
“What makes you better than the rest of us, Dane?”
“I’m not,” I protested.
He slammed on the table, hard, the wood splintering in two and falling between us like a downed tree.
“Tell the truth!” he shouted, before lowering his voice again to a mere whisper. “You know what happens to vampires like you, don’t you, Dane? You’ve heard the stories, right? Vampire prison isn’t like regular prison. You don’t make it out alive. There’s no mercy, no oversight, no regulation. No blood to drink. No blondes to fuck. And that’s just while you’re waiting for trial. Once you’ve been convicted, there’s nobody to save you. You know the consequences, Dane. Tell the truth and get yourself out of this.”
As I saw it, I now had two choices: I could either throw Addy under the bus, tell them she took the pass, tell them why, tell them about Leo, tell them everything I could — or, I could take the fall myself.
If I told them about Addy, my chance for revenge disappeared. They’d lock her up, put her on trial, probably kill her.
Or, if I took the fall, they’d do those things to me.
There was one more choice…
A way out that might buy me time, that would give me the chance to get back at Addy and keep me alive, as well.
I took a deep breath before I started speaking…
“Someone stole my pass from my room. It was a woman I was fucking. The singer from the lounge. I think her name is Shaleene. I saw her take it. I don’t know why she wanted it…”
“Shaleene stole your pass? That’s absurd.”
“You asked for the truth. I have no interest in killing our kind. Look at my hotel room, was there one vampire in the pile?”
“No.”
“I prefer human’s. Human blood, human flesh, human sex, that’s why we’re all here, isn’t it?”
“Very well then. You’re free to go back to your room while we investigate this. Under no circumstances are you to leave the island, do you understand? We’ll most certainly have more questions.”
“Of course. You know where to find me,” I said, standing up, still bloody, still naked, my cock dangling between my legs, as I sighed with relief.
“For fuck’s sake, Benjamin, you’re a fucking disgrace. Clean yourself up and put on some fucking clothes. Nobody wants to see that limp worm of yours,” Apollo said, shaking his head as he walked out the door.
SEVEN
LEO
Addy’s hand was squeezing mine tightly. Her pulse echoed through our skin and pounded in my ears. She looked up at me, full of confidence and strength.
“Ready?” she asked.
We were standing just inside the door of her hotel, bags packed and dressed. Addy kept telling me to be strong, to stay in control of my actions. She was acting like I was going to go off on a murderous rampage any minute. But so far, all I wanted to do was devour her. It was all I could think about, sinking myself into her warmth, feeling her smooth skin sliding against mine, hearing her cries, engulfed by her heat…
If this was what being a vampire was like, then it wasn’t bad at all.
I felt strong as a bull. Stronger than I’d ever felt, even at my peak. My heart felt amazing, pumping strong and hard, as if nothing was ever wrong with it. My brain was sharp, my vision
crystal clear, my breathing steady and deep.
Addy and I had sex at least five times, maybe six, in an hour’s time and I was already ready for more.
I had a million questions, my head was still spinning…but was I ready?
To start my life with this incredible woman who was sacrificing everything, surely more than I could even imagine at this point? Yeah, I was ready for that.
I wanted to swoop her up and fight off anyone who got in the way.
“Let’s go,” I said, a surge of confidence rushing through me. “I got this.”
“Remember, Leo, the urge is tremendously hard to fight. It gets easier, but right now…”
“I’m fine. I promise,” I nodded. “Now, let’s go, before I rip your clothes off and throw you on the bed again.”
“Down boy,” she whispered, with a smile. We closed the door behind us and stepped into the empty hallway. It was early, just a little after six. We passed door after door, and I wondered what was going on in each room we passed. I could have sworn I heard breathing behind a few of them. I could hear the crunch of the carpet under our footsteps.
We walked a little farther and that’s when it hit me.
The smell.
My heart skipped a beat, my cock twitched in my jeans, and my breath caught in my throat.
“Blood,” I murmured, sniffing the air.
Addy’s hand squeezed mine.
“Just keep walking,” she whispered.
She’d warned me ahead of time. She’d told me we had to go through the lounge to get outside. She’d described the scene, told me how hard it would be to just keep walking.
But she didn’t do it justice.
We reached the end of the hall and walked through an elaborately carved set of wooden doors, flung open into one of the most opulent rooms I’d ever laid eyes on. Low slung black and red velvet couches and heavy damask blood red curtains darkened the room, with thick black carpet underfoot.
The smell was thick, so thick, too thick…
The Sanctuary 2: The Vampire's Passion Page 2
