Tall, Dark & Heartless: A Pyte/Sentinel Series Novel

by R. L. Mathewson

  Their lips battled for dominance as their teeth clashed, moans and groans were ignored as they stood in the small clearing in the moonlit woods. It didn't take long until their tongues joined the fight, twirling and rubbing with abandon as Caine used his hold on her to pull her closer, desperate to have her near him. When her grip tightened around his neck he growled with approval.

  One kiss and he was ready to burst. That had never happened to him before, but then again he'd never been foolish enough to ingest drug laced blood before. Whatever they'd given him had been odorless and tasteless and he'd have to be a hell of a lot more careful in the future, but none of that mattered at the moment. The only thing that mattered was the way Danni's tongue slid into his mouth, sliding against his before she pulled back to caress his fangs with a caress that had the oversensitive head of his cock weeping for her.

  "I want you," he growled against her mouth as he reached around her with his free hand and palmed her bare ass, bringing her even closer.

  She suckled his tongue, driving him out of his fucking mind before she ended the kiss and tried to shove him away. "No, you just want to get off. Go find someone else."

  "I don't want anyone else," he said, shocking the hell out of himself and earning a scowl from her as she moved to shove him away again, but he refused to release her.

  She gave a humorless laugh as she once again shoved him and this time he reluctantly let her go as the scent of aggression once again battled with the scent of her arousal. What the hell was wrong with this woman? One minute she couldn't get enough of him and the next she was shoving him away and leaving him in more pain than before.

  Without her touch he was forced to lean forward, resting his hands on his knees as he desperately tried to catch his breath and calm his body down, but it was useless. He had to have her and with each passing second it became harder and harder to hang onto his humanity. If she kept denying him what they both wanted he knew he wouldn't be able to keep bloodlust at bay for much longer. He'd fuck her and drain her and then he'd do it again until his body was satisfied.

  And she would hate him for it, but not as much as he would hate himself.

  "No? Not even a half an hour ago you made it crystal clear that I was only good enough until something better came along," she snapped, taking another step to leave when his next words stopped her.

  "You're driving me out of my fucking mind over jealousy?" he demanded, trying to keep the irritation and the pain he was feeling out of his tone and failing. He winced as the soft cotton of his underwear brushed the underside of his engorged cock the wrong way and sent sharp pain to his balls.

  She snorted at that, actually snorted. "I'm not jealous, Caine. I just don't like to get used and I hated having to settle," she said with a shrug, making everything in him go still.

  "What the hell are you talking about? How were you settling?"

  Another shrug had his teeth grinding until he was sure his fangs would snap off. "The change made me oversensitive to everything and intensified all my needs. I need sex," she said like it was nothing, "and you were the only man around. Face it, Caine, we were using each other. As soon as I get to a town I'm going to have all my needs taken care of," she said, throwing him a smug smile and a wink before she turned to walk off, leaving him fuming. "Have a nice life, Caine."

  She wouldn't fucking dare, he thought as he stared after her, imaging her allowing some other male to touch her, to feed her, to fuck her. He would kill any male that touched what was his.

  ********

  Danni forced herself to keep moving forward on trembling legs as she wrapped her arms around herself, willing her body to stop shaking. What the hell was wrong with her? She hadn't taken any of his blood since he ingested the drugs so why was her body acting like she was a junkie in need of a fix?

  Because the scent of his arousal and touch were the most pleasurable things she'd ever experienced and she wanted the intense pleasure both promised, but she couldn't. She wanted him and he was only settling because there was nothing better around.

  He could go to hell, because she wasn't about to play that game. She wasn't about to let some guy screw her while he wished there was something better beneath him. She wasn't that desperate and never would be. The only thing he'd been right about was that she was jealous and she really couldn't understand why.

  Just thinking about another woman touching him had her fangs throbbing for release and her vision sharpening. She wanted to claw the eyes out of any woman who so much as dared to look at Caine. Every time her body screamed that he was hers she shoved the unwanted possessive feelings aside and forced herself to focus. She needed to get out of here and away from Caine because the way she was starting to feel about him, needing him, wanting him and craving him more than her next breath was truly starting to frighten her.

  She didn't get this way over guys, never had. She'd always chosen men that understood that her job was her first priority in life, training second and everything else was a distant third. With Caine around it was hard to think about anything other than tearing his clothes off and as much as she'd like to lay blame on this transformation, she couldn't. If she was going to be honest with herself, and she realized that it was a little late in the game to start doing that, she would admit that she started to want him before he turned her. Once he turned her, everything she'd been feeling for him seemed to multiply by a thousand and it was all she could do not to jump him.

  When did she get this pathetic? she wondered as she paused to look around and get her bearings. She had absolutely no idea where she was, but she was hoping to come across a house or two, preferably a house with some clothes drying outside on the line.

  Sticking by the road instead of cutting through the woods would have been more logical, but then again she was a woman dressed only in a ripped shirt and she really didn't need any more bullshit tonight so she opted for the woods. Hopefully her new senses would kick in and she would-

  She stumbled when Caine stepped out of a particularly thick copse of trees in front of her. His red eyes were brighter than she'd ever seen before as they locked on her. Every muscle in his impressive body was flexed as if readying for battle. For a moment he stood there simply staring at her, frightening her and God help, exciting her more than she thought was humanly possible.

  "No one touches what's mine," he bit out harshly as he stood there, panting hard as he watched her in a way that made her legs tremble harder and her nipples swell up.

  "I'm not yours, Caine," she said, ignoring the odd pleasure that his possessive tone made surge through her body. She wasn't his. She was her own person, well Pyte now, and she would figure things out on her own. She wasn't an idiot. She knew that he would go back to treating her like a leper when the deed was done.

  It didn't matter how badly she wanted him or how that kiss they'd shared only moments earlier had left her wet and aching. She had more pride than that. Let him go find another woman, she thought as she shoved down a surge of jealously that threatened to take her over and make her lose her damn mind. She would go find another man and work Caine out of her system. He wasn't the only hot guy in the world and the way she was feeling about him was only a result of being held captive with him. She also didn't need to settle for a guy that was drugged out his mind. She bet as soon as she touched another man that she would forget about-

  A startled gasp left her lips as she suddenly found herself in Caine's arms. Before she could open her mouth to tell him to put her down, he flashed them through the woods and within seconds had her reclining back on the sloped side of a smooth bolder.

  "What the hell is your problem?" she snapped as she pushed herself up into a sitting position only to fall back on the boulder with a loud moan when Caine leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss between her legs.

  "You belong to me, Danni," he bit out evenly as he pressed another tender kiss against her moist lips. "And I protect what's mine."

  Chapter 23

  Holy hell
, she was dripping wet and he was barely managing to keep bloodlust at bay. He would never hurt her like that, not Danni. It didn't matter how much his cock hurt at the moment or how badly he needed to slide inside of her, he was going to take his time with her. He just hoped that he didn't slip into bloodlust while he doing it.

  He pressed another kiss against her slit, closing his eyes as he inhaled her scent. She smelled sweeter than the berries he used to pick as a child. He palmed her smooth thighs and pushed her legs further apart to present him with a view that he would kill for and something he fully planned to keep for himself. After they got out of here he was planting her ass at the top of a large mountain where the closest man was at least two hundred miles away.

  With a pained groan he slowly licked away her juices and was pleased when that little action made her even wetter. Never in a million years would he have guessed that Danni was this responsive. It made him wonder how she'd respond when he slid his cock inside of her and he would, soon. There was nothing on this earth that was going to tear him away from this woman, not now, not after everything he'd been through.

  Danni was his reward for all the bullshit he'd gone through, the torture, the anger, hatred and the bitter loneliness. She was going to be the band-aid for his tortured soul. Just knowing that she was safely tucked away waiting for him was going to make it easier to deal with the never ending bullshit that was his life. She'd always be waiting for him and that was absolutely perfect for him.

  He didn't want any old responsibilities hanging around his neck and there was no denying that Danni was an old responsibility, one that he currently planned on fucking until neither one of them could move, but an old responsibility nonetheless. When she was a child he promised to take care of her forever and that's exactly what he planned on doing.

  She would never want for anything in her very long life again, but most importantly she would be out of the reach of power hungry Masters and vengeful shifters and demons. He could go off and not have to worry about her doing something asinine that was going to result in her getting caught.

  Actually, now that he thought about it, changing her was perfect. Knowing that she was safe actually took a great deal of pressure off his shoulders. He'd always worried about her and most days he'd struggled with keeping his distance and giving her space to live her life. Of course, now that he knew what she was doing with all that space he couldn't help but want to take the stubborn woman over his lap and give her the spanking he always promised her when she was a child. Then again he rather liked the idea of spanking her beautiful ass, preferably while he was sliding inside of her so that he could feel her quiver around him.

  "The drugs are starting to wear off," Danni suddenly announced even as she moaned, confusing the hell out of him for a moment. What the hell was she talking about? he wondered. He looked up and met her beautiful red eyes as she sat up. She watched him curiously as he continued to lap at her slit.

  "What are you talking about?" he asked, only pausing his ministrations long enough to ask that question and then he was back to work.

  Danni licked her lips hungrily as she watched him. "The scent of your arousal has weakened," she said, gently rolling her hips against his mouth in silent demand for him to keep working, something he was more than happy to do.

  "The scent," she said, panting slightly which pleased him so he made damn sure to tease the tip of clit with his tongue, "of your arousal isn't as strong."

  He chuckled at that announcement. His dick was hard enough to slice through a diamond and more than ready to prove her wrong. Licking her out was probably turning him on more than anything else ever had. Hell, he could do this all day, he thought as he slid his tongue inside of her.

  'Trust me, sweetheart, it's plenty strong," he said with a wink as he moved his tongue back up to her clit, gently rubbing it with the flat of his tongue as he slid a finger inside her wet sheath. His balls pulled up tight as he moved his finger in the too tight sheath. When he managed to slide his finger all the way in without coming into contact with her hymen he had to force the rage that was building inside of him to simmer down.

  It shouldn't matter to him that she wasn't a virgin, but it did. He should have been her first and her last, he realized as he thrust his finger back inside of her. No man should have touched what was his, he thought as a vicious growl erupted from his throat. He was going to thoroughly mark her so that even a fucking human male could tell from a hundred yards away that she was his. He would kill any male that so much as-

  "This means that you can't blame this on the drugs later," Danni said, in an oddly strained tone.

  No, he wouldn't be blaming the drugs in his system for this. The blame for this belonged with their unfortunate mating. She was his mate and the need to mark her as his own was too strong for him to pull back and think this through rationally. If he'd been able to think with his head instead of his dick he would have taken her as far away from here as he could, but instead he hadn't been able to keep his hands off of her. The drugs may have worn off, but it didn't lessen his need for her.

  "It doesn't matter," he said as he pressed a kiss against her clit, slowly sliding his finger in and out of her wet sheath, preparing her for him as he looked up and met her eyes. His tongue and finger stilled as he met the fiery red eyes of a Pyte in the throes of bloodlust.

  Aw, shit..........

  Perhaps he should have made sure that she fed from one of the vampires on their way out, he mused as he suddenly found himself shoved back by one of her small feet. Danni growled a soft warning as she slowly sat up and got into a crouching position on the large boulder, never taking her eyes away from him, her prey.

  "You need to calm down," he said, feeling like an idiot and damn well knowing that she was beyond calming down right now. Danni was no longer in charge, bloodlust was. She was there, but she was too dazed to take control. Primal need had taken over and rationalizing with her was just a waste of time so he wasn't even going to bother trying.

  Well, this was going to be a new experience for him, he thought dryly as she prepared to launch herself at him. He'd never been on this side of bloodlust before and as she made her move he made a mental note to make sure to never let this happen again.

  The air rushed out of his lungs as he was slammed flat on his back with an out of control, yet sexy, Pyte on top of him. He made no moves to shove her off of him or to try and get away since it would only make this worse. The scent of his adrenaline would put her into kill mode and he'd rather not be forced to hurt her.

  When she gripped his hair and forced his head to the side it took every last ounce of will power to let it happen. He didn't like being pushed around and he sure as hell didn't like being made into someone's bitch. Unfortunately, he had to take it and hope that Danni didn't force him to hurt her.

  "Holy shit!" he roared when she struck without warning.

  Instinctively he reached up and grabbed her hips, ready to throw her off of him, but the first pull at his neck had him rolling his head to the side and giving her more access to his neck. She made little mewling sounds as she drank from him and he swore then and there that whenever he went to check on her in the future she would only be allowed to drink from him. She could drink the bagged blood shit when he wasn't around.

  She moaned against his skin as her hold on his hair lessened until she was absently running her fingers through his hair almost in a petting motion. This felt fucking fantastic, he thought as his eyes burned and his fangs slid down, more than ready to play. He felt the tip of his cock work its way out of the waist of his boxers the same time the scent of her arousal hit him hard.

  They both needed relief and if he didn't get it soon he was going to lose control. While one hand moved to cup her bare ass, he reached between them and released his cock. Grabbing the base, he moved his cock until the head was pressed against her wet slit.

  When she moaned he damn near wept with relief. She was coming to and not a moment too soon, because n
o matter how hard she made him he would never take her without her permission. He'd done a lot of fucked up things in his long life, but he'd never forced a woman and he sure as hell wasn't about to start with his mate.

  "C-Caine?" she said, sounding uncertain as she slowly pulled away from his neck. She'd taken a lot of blood from him, but thankfully nothing a little time wouldn't fix.

  "Shhh, it's alright, sweetheart. You just went a little too long without blood," he said soothingly as he used his cock to tease her slit with his piercing, something he knew she liked and if he was going to be honest with himself, something he fucking loved.

  In the past, he'd had women who were turned off by his piercing and some who screamed in pleasure the second he slid inside of them, but none of them had ever managed to turn him on with it. To him it was just a reminder to think with his brain instead of his dick, but with Danni he couldn't help but love the way her nipples hardened and her pussy clenched with just the barest contact from it. He wondered how wet she'd get when she felt the cool metal piercing rub inside of her as he fucked her and he was damn well going to fuck her.