Anna studied him for a moment then stood and held out her hand. “C’mon.”
“What are we doing?”
“Take a guess.”
Hand in hand, she led Dante to the king-sized bed and pushed him down onto the edge of the mattress then reached for the towel at his waist.
He caught her wrist before she stripped him bare. “You have been through a lot tonight. Perhaps—”
“Perhaps, this is exactly what I need.”
Maybe it was the shock or the exhaustion making her so uninhibited. Whatever it was, Anna was too tired to fight it anymore. She wanted Dante, like no other man. And tonight, she would have him. Again.
She pulled the towel open to reveal his hard cock.
Before he could protest, she gripped his length and stroked him from root to tip, swirling her finger around his sensitive crown before leaning in and tasting him for the first time. Salty and sweet and utterly divine. Dante groaned, closing his eyes, then rested his hand on the back of Anna’s head, guiding her.
“That feels incredible, ofryd.”
The endearment was her undoing. She worked him gently with her lips and tongue, licking, sucking, taking him as deeply into her throat as she could before she rose up and started all over again. Anna loved the velvet hardness of him throbbing against her tongue, the way Dante growled her name, all deep and dark and possessive, as she eased him closer to release.
At last, he pulled her away then guided her to her feet between his thighs. With his hand on her hip, Dante slid Anna’s shirt—his shirt—up over her abdomen. His heated gaze locked on hers as he drew her forward until his mouth rested against the front of her panties. He opened his lips and traced his tongue over the lace, over her wet folds beneath. She clutched his shoulders carefully, still mindful of his fresh scars.
Over and over he licked her through the material as his hands urged her legs farther apart. Finally, Dante drew her swollen clitoris between his lips, the rough lace abrading her sensitive flesh. Moaning, Anna pulled his face tighter against her and arched into him. He slipped his fingers beneath the edge of her panties and deep into her slick, hot channel. The air around them smelled of sex and Anna suddenly couldn’t wait to have him inside her again. “Scoot back.”
“What?” His lips and chin were wet with her arousal and Anna bent and kissed him, tasting herself, loving the wickedness of it all.
She pushed on his chest. “Scoot back.”
He did.
She pulled the T-shirt off over her head then removed her panties. “Condoms?”
“There.” Dante pointed toward the nightstand.
Anna ripped the tiny foil packet open with her teeth then slicked the condom onto him. She straddled his hips then took him in hand and guided his hard length inside her, inch by luscious inch.
When at last he was buried deep, Anna leaned in and kissed Dante. “Thank you.”
“For what?” He ran his hands from her hips to her breasts.
“For telling me the truth. About Liz.”
Dante took one of her nipples into his mouth, sucking gently while she ran her fingers through his thick black curls. She pressed into him as she rode him hard, increasing the friction of their bodies. He groaned and she sighed.
“Pinch me.” Anna panted, getting closer to her release, so close now. “Please.”
“No.” Dante kissed a path from one of her sensitive breasts to the other. “You have been through enough.”
“Pinch me.”
“Are you sure, ofryd?” Dante reached between them and stroked her wet folds.
“Yes.” The pressure of her impending orgasm built deep in her hips until Anna’s words were nothing more than a breathy gasp. “Do it.”
He circled her sensitive flesh with the rough pad of his thumb, then pinched her inner thigh hard. Her whole body tightened. She came hard, wave after wave of exquisite pleasure pulling her farther into blessed oblivion.
Dante nipped the side of Anna’s breast, not hard enough to draw blood, just hard enough to heighten her already strong climax even more. “Is that good?”
“So, so good.” She sighed into his ear.
She felt boneless, weightless, nothing but a pulsing cloud of ecstasy and emotion.
Pounding into her now, Dante sought his own fulfillment. He pinched her, nipped her, spanked her ass hard. At last his body stiffened and he groaned low as he came hard inside her.
She hugged him tight through his release, welcoming the bruising pressure of his fingers on her hips, her thighs, the warmth of his ragged breath against her skin, the tickle of his long eyelashes against her chest as she clutched him to her.
Spent and sleepy, Anna moved off of him and stretched out on the bed. “Dante?”
“Yes.” He traced his fingers up and down her arm as he lay beside her.
“When will I be able to get out of here?”
A brief flicker of emotions skittered through Dante’s eyes—sadness, hurt, resignation—before he sighed and rested his forehead on her shoulder. Anna got the distinct impression she’d said the wrong thing, but wasn’t sure exactly what.
“I have an appointment tomorrow at three. I will try to take you with me, if we can get Basher away from Seven. That is the best I can do.”
“Okay.” She hugged him tight and smiled as his breath soon deepened into sleep.
Definitely not the big, bad demon she’d feared.
As Anna’s own eyes grew heavy, she whispered, “I’ll find you, Liz. Don’t worry. I’ll find you.”
Chapter Seven
“So, about what happened between us,” Anna said around a bite of pancakes.
They were seated back at the small wooden table in his kitchen. It was now after noon, but time was of little consequence at Seven. She had showered and changed back into her clothes from the previous day, sans that awful wig and contacts. “I’ve never experienced anything like that before.”
Darkness and dread swirled inside Dante, despite the sunshine outside. Last night, she had wanted to know when she could leave this place and return to her world. His answer would not please her, so he tried humor instead. “Ofryd, if you need an explanation, I did not do it well enough.”
“Funny. Not.” She gave him a stern stare. “I mean what happened between me and Liz. It was more than just a vision. It was like we were in the same room. We hugged. Everything felt real, smelled real. How is that possible?”
Dante put down his fork, wiping his mouth while searching for the best way to explain the unexplainable. “Have you ever heard of astral projection?”
“Like an out-of-body experience?” Anna frowned.
“What happened with you and your sister was similar. Astral projection normally involves spirit manifestation.” He took a sip of his strong black coffee, watching her over the rim of his paper cup. “Untethered to time and space, one can go anywhere, see anyone.”
“How was I able to do that? I’ve never had any training.”
“Training is not always necessary, when one has latent natural talents. This is another facet of your gifts.”
Anna pushed her food aside, half-finished, her brows knitted. “I don’t have any gifts.”
Dante narrowed his gaze. She had some of the strongest psychic powers he’d ever seen—evidenced by his demolished coffee mug collection and shattered picture frames—yet still she denied them.
He needed to know why, if he had any hopes of harnessing her extraordinary talents for his cause. “I think we both know that is not true, ofryd. Both you and Liz are powerful channels for psychic energy.”
“Liz maybe.” She scowled. “But trust me; all I have is a curse.”
“A curse?”
“Look, I really don’t want to discuss this with you, okay?” She stood and took her trash to the can in the corner. “Suffice it to say, if I ever did have any psychic talents, I stopped using them a long time ago. Bad things happen when I…” Her voice trailed off and she lowered her head. “Anyway
, I can’t even pick winning lottery numbers, let alone see into the future.”
He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. There had been a traumatic event. Liz had alluded to something, but refused to tell him details, saying he would need to get the story from Anna directly. The tense set of her shoulders and the fact she refused to look at him said now was not the time to press that subject further, so he changed tactics.
“Being an Oracle is not necessarily about precognition. There are many different types of abilities. Seeing the future is just one of them,” Dante said, hoping to spark her curiosity.
“Oracle?” Anna glanced back at him over her shoulder. “The only three oracles I’ve ever heard of are a software company, one that existed in ancient Greece, and the one in the Matrix movie.”
She was scared, the cold darkness of her fear pulsing through their shared connection. Dante battled the nearly overwhelming urge to pull her into his arms and comfort her. He had never expected their bond to be so strong, so vibrant, so quickly.
She was a constant presence with him now, for better or worse.
Centuries ago, before Dante had grown cynical and battle-weary, he might have suspected Anna was his life mate. But now he knew better. Life mating was impossible for a half-breed like him, no matter how tempting. Besides, he could not afford to become distracted. He needed to focus all of his energy, all of his strength, all of his powers on taking Basher down and making sure the sadistic bastard never regained power over the Blood Ravagers again.
First though, Dante needed to persuade Anna to accept who she was, what she was. She must fully embrace all aspects of herself if she was going to survive the horrors ahead. “I know a powerful psychic when I see one, ofryd. You will, of course, require more training to fully develop. As your sister is doing.”
“Liz is in training?” She faced him at last.
“She is helping me with a project.”
“A project I’m betting Basher doesn’t know about, right?”
“No.”
“What would happen to you if he found out?”
“Things would be… very bad.”
“How bad?”
“Fatal.”
“I see.” Anna looked away and crossed her arms, her agitation flaring white-hot through the connection between them. “I’m here until Saturday and I want to see my sister before I go.”
“No guarantees.” Dante shifted in his seat, impressed with her ability to completely avoid the subject. She wanted to see her sister and he needed to know all of Anna’s secrets. Eventually, they would reach a compromise, because neither had a choice. “I am sorry.”
“Why can’t I see her?”
“Because everything is uncertain. Friday is…” He hesitated, unwilling to jeopardize everything until he was sure Anna was onboard. “Friday will be a test for all of us.”
“What kind of a test?”
“A life-altering one.”
“Marvelous.” Her tone said the exact opposite. “Will you at least show me where Liz is staying?”
“No.” Dante took another large gulp of coffee, needing all the caffeine he could get for his upcoming meeting with Carlos. “I promised to take you with me today and I shall. You will provide both cover for me and an extra set of ears for information. But you must promise not to say a word to the man we are meeting. On the way, I will give you clues about Liz’s location, but it will be up to you to guess the spot.”
She sighed. “Is nothing ever easy with you?”
“Rarely.” He smiled. “You should finish getting ready. I need to talk to Dex and Rev downstairs before we leave.”
“Rev seems like an interesting guy.” Anna looked far too tempting for his good.
“He is an enigma. A relative newcomer and therefore still on Basher’s radar.” Dante pushed to his feet then slid his hands around Anna’s waist and kissed her hard, unable to resist. She tasted of sweet, maple syrup and warm woman. “I’ll be back to get you in an hour.”
He walked away and for the first time in a long time, he felt…happy. Dante rubbed his chest, a warm sensation squeezing his demon heart.
He looked back at Anna. “One hour.”
“Fine.” She walked into the bathroom then closed the door behind her.
Deep in thought, Dante headed downstairs to the bar. Finding the other half to their Oracle was a miracle, yes, but two days did not give him enough time to get Anna properly trained. His only hope was to convince her to trust him enough to draw on her dormant powers. Without them, his plan could not succeed.
A few gang members milled around Seven this early afternoon, but most were out riding or on whatever other missions Basher had assigned them. Dante took a seat at the bar and watched while Dex dried and polished a tub of freshly washed glasses.
“Good afternoon,” Dex said, meeting Dante’s gaze in the mirror on the wall.
“Is Rev here?”
“Not yet.” The lone-wolf shifter was a man of few words, usually speaking only when spoken to, and even then rarely more than a few syllables. The only time Dante had ever seen him speak at any length was when he was reciting his precious poetry. A literary-loving wolf shifter was a rare breed. Add in his incredible culinary skills and even more incredible hidden fighting abilities, and it all added up to a mystery Dante intended to solve when he had the time.
Which, given his current load of responsibilities, could be never.
Rumors swirling around Salvation said Dex had once been mated—with a wife, child, and pack of his own. Then the unthinkable had happened and they’d all been massacred. Some said it was during a raid by a rival organization with the same philosophy as Basher—death to anything or anyone considered less than. Others said they had all died by Dex’s own hand and it was guilt and damnation that kept him wandering the earth alone.
Either way, Dante had developed a true alliance with Dex, as well as a true friendship.
The front door of Seven creaked open and Dante knew before turning around it was Reverend Walker. If the hush that fell over the room hadn’t alerted him, then the slight tingle in his gut would have. Rev was a vampire, a distant cousin to his pain demon half, and their internal alarm systems always went haywire whenever they were in close proximity.
Rev took a seat on the stool beside Dante’s and gave him a long stare. “I’m here.”
No preamble or pretext with this bloodsucker. Dante gave the man a side glance then returned his attention to the bartender. “Is everything set for Friday?”
Dex kept polishing his glasses. “Ready on my end.”
“My part is done as well.” Rev stared at the wolf shifter’s back, his icy blue eyes narrowed. “I would advise you, however, not to trust a beast with something so important, demon.”
The glass in Dex’s hand shattered from the force of his grip. “And I would not trust a blood parasite to wipe someone’s ass, let alone save the world.”
Two inhuman snarls followed as they each leapt over the bar, colliding in mid-air in a flurry of fur and fangs and claws. Dante scooted his stool back a bit and pulled out his cell phone, sorting through his emails from the night before while the other patrons in Seven cleared out quickly, leaving the three men alone. After several minutes, Rev and Dex were bleeding and bruised, but none the worse for wear.
Dante clicked off his phone then set it aside. “Done?”
“For now.” Rev accepted Dante’s hand to help him up from the barroom floor. He gathered his weathered cowboy hat and shoved it back on top of his unruly black hair.
“I let you off easy today.” Dex swiped the back of his hand over his bleeding lip then scrambled to his feet with Dante’s help. “Next time you die, bloodsucker.”
“I look forward to it,” Rev said. “I’ve wanted to perish for centuries.”
Dex hiked his chin toward the stairs. “We have company.”
Dante glanced over to see Anna entering the bar again.
He scowled. “I told you I would com
e get you in an hour.”
“I was tired of waiting.” She took a seat beside Dante then held out her hand to Rev. “Anna Frost.”
Rev stared at her hand then looked at Dante. “She would fetch a high price from the Council.”
“Excuse me?” Anna asked, her tone wary as she withdrew her hand then turned her attention to the bartender. “You must be Dex. Thanks for all the delicious food. You’re an excellent cook.”
“A thing of beauty is a joy forever…” He faced her and bowed.
A muscle ticked near Dante’s clenched jaw. “Can we please discuss business? I do not want Basher to return and find us.”
“Basher’s out all day.” Dex set a glass of water in front of Anna. “Won’t be back until sundown.”
“We need to watch his every move until Friday.” Dante tucked his phone into his jeans pocket.
“I have someone following him.” Rev said. “I would like a water, too.”
“Get it yourself, vamp,” Dex growled.
“I believe it is your job to serve me, beast.”
“I will serve your head on a spike, how about that, bloodsucker?”
“Are they always this friendly?” Anna whispered.
“Worse,” Dante said. “Now you see what I must put up with?”
She laughed, the sound lilting through the air like wind chimes.
Laughter was not a common occurrence at Seven.
All three men turned to stare at her.
“They really are the Oracle?” Dex said, his expression a mix of awe and shock.
“I believe so, yes.” Dante eyed Anna with puzzled fascination.
“Again?” Anna growled under her breath.
“Do not scoff. The Oracle will save us all.” Rev pushed the brim of his hat higher, revealing his face, all chiseled lines and pale skin.
Hell’s legends stated only the oldest vampires were powerful enough to survive the sunlight. Which meant Rev must be more ancient than dirt. “Becoming the Oracle is a sacred duty.”
“I’m sure it is.” She kept her eyes trained on the gleaming bar top. “But it’s not my duty.”
“We will discuss it later. ofryd.”
Blood Bound (Blood Ravengers Book 1) Page 8
