Deadly Alpha

by Brenda Sparks

  “That’s a bit of a personal question, isn’t it?” She coyly tried to deflect his questions.

  She knew natural born females were protected at all costs, because they were considered special due to their ability to bear children. Unlike converted females, who took decades to conceive because of the damage to their uteruses during the conversion process, females who were born vampire were able to conceive as soon as they matured sexually. Naturally born females had no such physical damage to overcome and could produce an heir as soon as they mated, making them valuable to their kind.

  Before Tatiana threw up any mental blocks, she felt a presence fluttering in her mind. Her gut twisted when she realized one of the males searched for the information she tried to guard.

  “She is a natural born female!” Demetri accused in amazement. “She’s a treasure, a rare gift. The female must not be allowed to be placed in danger. She must not be allowed to be put in harm’s way, Stephan.”

  “I’ll have you know I’ve taken down bigger bruisers than you, Romanoff,” Tatiana countered, glaring at the beefy male.

  “You have, have you?” Demetri chuckled. “Tell you what, come at me. If you can land even one blow, you’re in.”

  He beckoned her with a mocking wave of his hand.

  Chapter 22

  Irritation zipped through Tatiana at the arrogant gesture from the male, giving her a shot of adrenaline. He’d thrown down the gauntlet, and she was all too happy to pick it up. Demetri thought she couldn’t touch him. Ha! He couldn’t be more wrong.

  She flew at him, taking a quick jab at his face. Demetri easily blocked her fist then flashed a supercilious grin that infuriated Tatiana. She growled and came at him with a series of upper cuts and left hooks. Each time, he either blocked her or ducked the blow in a blur of motion. She tried to catch him off guard with a sweeping kick to his ankles, but he simply jumped to avoid the swipe.

  Tatiana paused, slightly out of breath from her effort. She narrowed her eyes in an assessing glare, seeking his weakness. He cocked an eyebrow, waiting. He toyed with her! Anger flooded her body in a rush of heat. How dare he! She went after him with renewed vigor, her punches and kicks thrown as fast as her preternatural speed would allow.

  The broad-shouldered vampire blocked all blows but never came after her.

  The realization made her pause once more, a scowl on her face. “Fight back,” she snarled, lunging at him.

  He zigged and circled her. “I wouldn’t want to hurt you.” His eyes gleamed down at her with laughter.

  “I can take what you can dish out,” she hissed. “Come on. You’re not afraid of a female, are you?”

  Tatiana charged forward again. The Alpha stepped to the side, his fingers clamped around her wrist like a band of steel. Before she knew what happened, he twisted her arm behind her back, turning her away from him. Propelling her forward, he secured her against the wall, pinning her with his heavy body. Her cheek ground into the plaster.

  “It’s not fear I feel for you, female,” he whispered in her ear.

  He pressed his body against her back, every hard line of him sinking against her softness. His grip on her arm loosened, allowing her to bring it around and splay her hand on the wall. Tatiana forced her body to relax, soften. She subtly brushed herself against him, feeling his most manly part push against her backside.

  His breath caught behind her, the sound causing the tiny hairs on her nape to rise. She smiled as he pushed himself against her. Tatiana rolled her body around so her back rested against the wall. He remained close, a wall of solid muscle and heat. His body flush against hers, he looked deeply into her eyes.

  “Perhaps it is I who did the underestimating,” she said, running her fingers up his bicep to rest onto his shoulder. She slid her fingers back down his arm as she brought her leg up against his side, until her knee rested against his waist. Leaning forward so their lips were mere centimeters apart, Tatiana’s lips brushed his as she spoke in a husky voice. “Perhaps there are some things I could learn from you. Would you teach me your moves, Romanoff?”

  “There is much I could teach you, woman.” His breath came out in hard puffs, his voice raspy.

  Her eyes held his intense gaze. “Then teach me, professor.”

  Tatiana closed the distance between their lips, thrusting her tongue aggressively into his mouth. His taste took her by surprise. She expected it to be repulsive but instead found it enticing, delicious—addictive. Her body betrayed her, tightening her muscles. Her nipples pushed painfully against her leather bustier as heat coiled in her belly.

  Demetri didn’t allow her to be in control for long. His tongue thrust back, pushed into her mouth with an aggression that snapped her back to her task. As they kissed, her hand went to the boot on the leg now wrapped around his waist and silently unsheathed the knife hidden there. She brought the knife to his throat and broke the kiss as the tip of the blade bit into his neck, leaving a drop of red.

  “Gotcha.” Tatiana gave him a smug grin then pulled the blade away so the male could see his blood on its tip.

  Demetri put his hand to his neck. His brows flew up in anger and his nostrils flared, either from the smell of his blood or from wrath. It was difficult for Tatiana to tell which.

  “Is that what you do when you are losing? Tease and use your feminine wiles to distract?” the wounded warrior roared. The centers of his steel-gray eyes glowed with fury.

  “If needed.” Her eyes widened, and indignation dripped from her voice.

  “You cheated!” he accused, turning his back on the vampire who bested him moments before.

  “Actually, I won.” Tatiana followed behind him as he stalked across the room. “You are bigger, stronger, faster. Those were your advantages during our fight. I did the same thing you did. I used my advantage, and I landed my blow. Now I expect you to let me in…Oh, and no more comments about how females can’t handle themselves. I handled you just fine.”

  “Yeah, Demetri,” agreed Alex in his southern drawl. “You gotta admit she got ya.”

  “She cheated,” the large vampire growled, making his way to Stephan. “And it doesn’t matter because no female, especially a natural born, should be put in danger. Right, Stephan?”

  Tatiana slid around Demetri and sat down on the settee beside Vlad. The leader of the Alphas eyed her for a moment, silently weighing his options.

  After a moment of careful consideration, he reluctantly responded, “Chivalry dictates that I not allow you to fight.” He raised a quelling hand, stilling Tatiana’s protest. “But we need the intelligence from VES, and I have to admit you did handle Demetri beautifully. All right. You’re in, Tatiana.”

  Demetri huffed in protest, but Stephan stayed his frustration with a slight shake of his head. “Now if you’ll please inform us about the intel the VES has on the murderer.”

  Tatiana crossed her legs and, after wiping the blade of the knife on the sleeve of her duster, sheathed it back in her boot. “I have your word that I’m in. I’ll be included in everything. You’ll share information with me, and I’ll be there if you try to take down the murderer?”

  Stephan nodded. “You have my word as a warrior and an Alpha.”

  The female vampire tipped her chin in acknowledgement. “Very well. We have a profiler who came up with an outline of the killer. The vampire we are looking for probably lives in Savannah. He is a loner with a superiority complex.

  “He wants to be in charge—thinks he should be in charge but isn’t. He would be someone who is working under others. He has a warped sense of humor but can appear normal in social situations for a short time. We think he is an old vampire because of the power it takes to control multiple humans at one time. We believe he probably turned rogue slowly over the past century, so those close to him haven’t noticed.”

  Still seething with anger from her besting him, Demetri walked over to Tatiana. “Nice profile, but how exactly does that help us?”

  “We can put the desc
ription out to the vampires in Savannah to see if any of them know someone who fits the profile. We also have narrowed down where he might be living. All the killings have occurred within a fifteen-mile radius. We believe the killer lives within those fifteen miles.”

  Stephan ran his hand through his dark hair. “Now that is helpful. We will patrol the area, search for anything out of the ordinary. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

  Tatiana drew a map out of her duster pocket and opened it on the coffee table. The Alphas gathered round. Marcus sectioned the area into fourths.

  “We’ll divide into groups of two, and each group will take an assigned section of the city to patrol. Check for any signs of the monster.”

  Marcus clapped his hands once in approval. “We have a plan.”

  Chapter 23

  For the last six evenings, Christina watched the vampires train together and meet nightly to coordinate their patrols. According to the reports from Marcus, the teams scouted the city carefully, looking for signs of the murderer, looking for places a rogue vampire might be hiding, but all had appeared quiet. As Alex put it one evening, it seemed as if the murderer somehow knew they searched for him and went into hiding, as undetectable as a B-2 stealth bomber.

  The house had been a whirlwind of activity, with all the large bodies moving throughout the plantation like bees in a hive. Meals were served in the formal dining room with everyone gathered around the large table eating together. Christina always felt very tiny sitting between the vampires. Even Kat’s five-foot-ten-inch frame dwarfed her.

  She’d discovered the vampires seemed to have an endless supply of energy. When they weren’t working out or on patrol, they were swimming, playing games, or talking strategy. They especially enjoyed sparring in Marcus’ gym. Even Katrina joined in the melee occasionally, appreciating the opportunity to spar with Marcus or Stephan.

  Tonight the house seemed unusually quiet while Christina made her way through the halls. She discovered why when she opened the doors to the gym, and a spectacular sight greeted her. Her eyes scanned the room, taking in the massive bodies within. As if she’d gone to California and stepped onto Muscle Beach, everywhere she looked a perfect male specimen flexed, each over six feet and none under two hundred pounds. The caged lights from overhead illuminated the tiny beads of sweat that dotted their bodies, creating a glistening effect. The gym smelled of spice and musk, tickling Christina’s nose.

  Alexander lay on a black padded bench, wearing only a pair of blue gym shorts, while he pressed five hundred pounds. His muscles rippled beneath his skin, flexing with each lift of the bar. Darkened by perspiration, his blond hair lay tucked tight against his head. The grunting sound that escaped his lips with each rep indicated he strained from his effort.

  Stephan, slightly more covered in a white muscle shirt and black shorts, stood behind him to spot. The Alpha leader removed the towel from his shoulder and wiped his own face and chest, while Alexander continued his presses.

  Nicholai drew Christina’s attention as he stepped toward the sauna, wrapping a white terry cloth towel around his waist. As if he’d just stepped from a pool, he too glistened under the harsh lights. He looked in her direction and smiled, tipping his chin up in greeting before he tucked the corner of the towel at his waist. Like all of the Alphas, his Adonis-like physique contained not an ounce of extra fat. His six-foot-five body filled the frame of the sauna door when he opened it and stepped in.

  Demetri stood in one corner of the gym, going a few rounds with a punching bag. Giving the bag hell, he punched it with a right hook, then a left uppercut, followed by a roundhouse kick. Like a martial arts fighter, he executed the moves perfectly.

  Christina’s eyes found Marcus. He sat on the thigh press, pushing eight hundred and fifty pounds up and down with ease. The metallic clunking of the machine kept steady time with each pump of his legs. She watched in admiration as her lover flexed and extended his legs, his muscles rippling with each pass. Marcus stopped with his knees bent and turned his head toward Christina. “Hey, babe. Like what you see?”

  “Very much,” Christina replied with a sly smile. “I thought I’d do a little treadmill time, if you guys don’t mind.” She waited for a response.

  “Of course, go ahead. Help yourself.” Marcus gestured to the series of treadmills located on the opposite side of the gym.

  Vlad ran hard, working up a sweat on one of the machines, wearing only a pair of green shorts, shoes, and socks. The steady pounding of his feet created an echo in the room that accompanied the clanking of the weights. Christina tried to track his movements, but his legs were a blur of motion. Only his face remained still enough for her human eyes to register clearly. His sturdy features sported a dark goatee around a mouth set in a taut line. His black eyes held an intensity that made Christina inwardly cringe. He reminded her of a deadly assassin, ready to execute his assignment with cold detachment.

  Christina chose one of the available treadmills, as far from Vladimir as possible, and brought it to life with the push of a button. She ran hard, striving for a runner’s high. Christina loved the feeling she got when the adrenaline hit. Feeling she could run forever, she pushed herself, and ran longer then she usually did. Her steady rhythm, while much slower than Vlad’s, added to the noise echoing in the gym.

  She let her mind roam, allowed the thoughts to breeze in and out. She replayed the night she met Marcus, remembering how her first thought of her future lover had been that he was the devil. It brought a smile to her face. Her devil. He was a bit devilish, with sinfully delicious ideas of ways to please her, tempt her. Her mind raced through their time together, her focus on their time in bed. She couldn’t help it. Her mind recalled the way he smelled, the feel of his fingers on her body. She lost herself to the sensation of the adrenaline, let her mind continue to wander.

  She rode the high until eventually her body tired and her lungs burned from their struggle to consume enough air. A painful stitch stabbed her side, forcing Christina to slow her pace and finally stop altogether. She wiped the perspiration from her brow and arms before toweling off her legs.

  Leaving the machine, she made her way to the middle of the gym to stretch her body as she cooled down. First, she bent at the waist and touched the floor in a hamstring stretch. She moved into a downward facing dog pose to stretch her calves. Next, she knelt down, and arched backwards touching her head and shoulders to the floor to lengthen her quads. Christina released the stretch and shifted onto her hands and knees for cat-cow pose—arching then rounding her back. A small moan escaped her parted lips as the tension in her muscles eased in much needed relief after the fierce workout. Finally, she sat on her bottom, spread her legs into a wide split, and laid her forehead and chest flat against each calf to stretch the backs of her legs one last time.

  Realizing the gym had become very quiet, with only the hum of Vlad’s treadmill and the sound of her own breathing perceptible to her ears, she looked into the mirrors that covered the walls of the gym from floor to ceiling, and found five sets of intense eyes watching her. She jumped to her feet, suddenly aware that she stood in the room with five very large, very male vampires, all of whom focused on her with hungry eyes.

  An audible growl emanated from across the room.

  Vlad moved first. He shut down his machine and silently dismounted as he flung his towel around his neck and wiped his face before he made a hasty retreat toward the indoor pool area. Alexander and Stephan were the next to go, heading for the showers while one of them muttered, “Good God.” Demetri stilled the punching bag when it swung silently from his last punch. He almost tripped over the dumb bell rack in his haste to exit the gym doors.

  Marcus rose from his machine and headed for Christina with the swagger of a male tiger prowling after its mate. His eyes darkened in hunger, strides quickened and ate up the space between them.

  “Did I do something wrong?” asked Christina.

  Her reply came in the way of a rush of cool air when Ma
rcus used his preternatural speed to cross the gym and scoop her up in his arms before pressing his lips to hers in a crushing kiss.

  “That stretching was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” he managed to bite out before he kissed her again.

  Marcus pinned her against the wall next to the sauna door, his body pressed into hers. Christina wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss with equal urgency. His hunger fueled her desire. He built the lust between them, letting their passion mix in their mindlink until, like a tornado, their desire circulated between them, building until it became an unstoppable whirlwind.

  Nicholai opened the door to the sauna and made a hasty exit. “Get a room, you two.” Nicholai glanced at them quickly, a smile on his handsome face.

  Marcus grabbed the open sauna door, catching it before it closed as he broke their kiss. “Sounds like a plan. I think this room will do.”

  Chapter 24

  Marcus ushered Christina into the sauna. The heat and steam made it difficult for him to breathe. Or perhaps it was the power of his heartmate’s desire, coupled with the feelings building between them. Lust rode him hard, and his heated blood rushed to his loins.

  Marcus made quick work of her clothes, stripping her naked in record time to get to her luscious body. His gym shorts were the next to go. Christina took advantage of his momentary distraction to lay a towel on the teak wood bench that lined one wall. She lay on the towel, with one leg bent while the other hung off the bench, legs open wide in invitation.

  Marcus stood for a moment just taking in the vision. His heartmate lay before him like a five-star buffet. Her soft pink nipples stood erect, begging for attention. Her flat stomach bobbed up and down like a gentle sea with each breath. She reached her arms out, beckoning him.

  A demure smile lit the corners of Christina’s eyes. “When you look at me like that, I think you want to eat me up.”

  “I do, my love, I do!” Marcus’ voice sounded raspy, even to him.