“Oh, don’t be silly.”
He turned her around and set her down in his office chair, then stood over her with his arms crossed over his chest. This stern attitude might have had more effect if there hadn’t been a large bulge straining against his pants. Zoe couldn’t keep from giggling.
She held out her arms to him. “Come here.”
“We need to talk.”
“We need to fuck.”
“Princesses shouldn’t talk like that.”
“Oh, please!” She got up and pressed her body against his. His hands moved to her waist, but he didn’t try to push her away. “How should I put it, then? Make love to me?” she whispered in his ear. She ran her tongue around it, then nipped at his earlobe. “Why can’t I be earthy? Why can’t I say, ‘Fuck me, Matthias’? And ‘I’ll fuck you back.’ ”
He groaned and his hands tightened on her. Possessive. Almost painful. She adored it. He pulled her closer and their pelvises ground together.
“We’ll make love,” he promised. “But you may not taste any more of my blood.”
Every emotion she picked up from him, every nuance of body language and his voice told her that this was something there was no arguing over. She wanted that taste again, but his hands moved on her, bringing her feverish arousal.
Blood could wait. Right now she’d have his body.
She stroked his face and neck, kissed her way across his muscled chest. “I want you. Any way I can get you.”
“I thought you said this wasn’t going to happen again.”
Zoe nuzzled his throat. “I’ve been wrong before,” she answered.
“Normally, you’re not the person I want to hear that from. But this time I’m glad you are.”
He picked her up and spun them around while they shared a hungry kiss. When they stopped spinning, he was the one seated in the chair and Zoe was sitting on top of him. His hands came up under her uniform tunic and caressed her breasts. She worked open the fastening of his slacks to free his erection.
After a few more moments of rearranging clothing Zoe settled her thighs on either side of Doc’s hips and guided him deep inside her waiting heat. As he filled her Doc nuzzled the side of her breast, piercing her doubly as his fangs sank into tender skin.
She bucked wildly, lost in the orgasms that exploded, then built again. She rode the waves of pleasure. She rode him. He tasted her life, taking and giving pleasure that spiraled through them and joined them.
After a while they tumbled onto the floor. He moved on top of her, still inside her. Her thighs wrapped around Doc’s waist, holding on for dear life as his hips pistoned into her.
Her eyes were closed, her body lost to the pleasure, but not so lost that she didn’t hear his thought loud and clear.
You wanted wild.
You call this wild?
They joined in silent laughter. And things grew wilder from there.
31
“Now I see why every woman in the camp wants you,” Zoe said to the vampire on top of her.
She lay flat on her back and felt as flat as a pancake, a sweaty, bruised one, but in a good way. The smooth stone floor beneath her naked back was a pleasantly cool contrast to the heat of the body on top of her.
“Not every woman succumbs to my considerable charms,” Doc answered. His head rested on Zoe’s shoulder. “Sua Rhodes and Commander Townsend have both said no.”
She stroked the back of his head, and noticed a faint stubble of hair. It wasn’t like him to ignore his daily grooming routine—not that she wouldn’t prefer him with hair.
“Townsend’s sixty years old,” she pointed out.
“I’m seventy-three, and I find her as young and lovely as any woman in this camp. You’re the loveliest of all,” he added when she slapped the back of his head.
“Let’s not talk about other women,” she told him. “It makes me jealous.”
“You started it.”
“Not that I have any right to be jealous of you with anyone else. ‘Exclusive relationships are frowned upon in Camp Five.’ ” She mouthed his own words and hated the bitter taste of them.
“And I have no right to be jealous of you,” Doc added. He lifted his head to gaze into her eyes. “Do you believe any of that bull?”
“No.”
“Me either.” He kissed her gently on the mouth, then his tongue did wonderful things to her nipples. After he had her squirming, he lifted his gaze to hers again. “Move in with me, Zoe.”
She wanted his mouth on her, but got herself under control. After the fire shooting through her veins faded, Zoe replied, “Not a chance, Matthias.”
“Shall we fight about it, or shall I seduce you into it?”
“Let’s start with fighting about it,” she said.
He chuckled. But before they could start arguing, Arco’s knock sounded on the doorframe.
While Doc stood up to deal with Arco, Zoe spent several seconds hidden behind the desk looking at the stone ceiling above and wondering if she should continue lying on her back in mostly naked abandon or quickly scramble into her clothes. She decided to get dressed after a cool draft of air dried the sweat on her bare body and cooled her down, leaving her nipples puckered and aching for the return of Doc’s magic touch.
It was worrying that even after only a few seconds she really missed Doc’s warmth. His touch. His conversation. Him.
I’m relying on him too much, she thought.
Arco was giving a report on the latest Kril gossip when she got to her feet. His eyes went wide at the sight of her, but he looked quickly away. His ears and cheeks went bright red as his gaze quickly shifted to a point high on the far wall. But he didn’t stop speaking, and his tone remained completely neutral. He had the makings of a fine palace chamberlain.
Maybe he’s used to Doc having sex romps in his office, she thought sourly.
He most certainly is not! Doc’s outraged voice sounded in her mind.
Zoe managed not to smile at Raven’s outrage. She ignored the men and ducked into Doc’s bathroom. It was a tiny area but she reveled in having a private spot to get cleaned up and properly dressed.
The men were still talking when she emerged. She decided that she should go, since Doc had work to do. And she had a great deal to think about. She skirted the wall to slip through the office doorway behind where Arco stood.
Doc’s voice followed her. “Come back here!”
Since he didn’t add “lieutenant,” Zoe decided that she wasn’t disobeying a direct order, even though she would have ignored him anyway.
We’ll talk later, she thought at him as she left the infirmary.
You bet we will!
She could feel him straining at the leash to come after her, but she knew he was too busy with camp business to follow her immediately.
“It is an honor to die for the sake of the Empire.”
Zoe remembered Raven’s words and added, “Yeah. Except for that dying part.”
She sat on the floor of her own little cave with her head resting on her pulled-up knees. Darkness covered her like a blanket, but she wasn’t warm. She recalled the look on his face when he spoke those words, and was chilled to the bone.
She couldn’t allow him or anyone else to die for her! Especially him. There was only one person here who could die for the sake of the Empire.
While she was thinking frantically, a part of her was listening carefully. She wasn’t sure which of Everard’s team was keeping guard in the hall outside, but she heard the occasional movement and the pattern of his breathing. She might not have the natural sharp senses of a vampire, but the sensory enhancements she did have probably worked just as well.
Zoe knew she was thinking too much when the thing simply needed to be done. But she needed this one last time for herself. She sorted through memories, of family and friends, all the people she couldn’t say good-bye to. She remembered good times and bad, mistakes she couldn’t correct and deeds she was proud of.
She
had to stop thinking and act. She hated that the circumstances forced her to be so passive, but she couldn’t break out of the circling pattern of images and impressions quite yet. Mostly she thought about—
Doc.
General Matthias Raven.
A good man she’d put in a terrible position. But the politics and the trouble weren’t uppermost in her mind. Vivid memories of sensations burned through her. She remembered the taste of his mouth, the feel of his hands, the perfection when their bodies came together. She already missed his voice and his laugh—all the tactile, sensual moments ran through her with painful force.
She wasn’t sure about Doc, but she knew that General Raven would understand.
“It is an honor to die for the sake of the Empire,” she repeated.
And about time to get on with it.
Her guard was moving toward the end of the hall. She was sure he was heading for the toilets, giving her time to take advantage of his brief absence. Once she was certain she was alone, Zoe scrambled out of her hole. She ducked into the deepest shadows and ran for the heights, driven by the bleak certainty of what she must do.
It was a long way up to the highest level where prisoners were allowed. After her initial, almost panicked rush, she made the rest of the journey cautiously, sticking to the shadows and frequently looking back to make sure her guard hadn’t found out she wasn’t peacefully sleeping. She listened carefully, ready to run again at the slightest sound of an alarm.
She arrived at the top without being seen, or hearing anything. She found herself alone at the top of this small, bleak world. She was alone as she’d ever been.
A long walk up and a long look down, Zoe thought now that she reached her goal.
She edged closer to the rim of the ramp. She didn’t want to look, but she needed to. She had to make certain that her fall to the floor of the plaza far below would smash her skull. She wanted to do enough damage to destroy the delicate data implants inside her head. Many of her enhancements were organic technology, so the Asi could eat those, and the rest of her, with her blessing. But there were a few tiny devices inside her that the Asi might not be able to digest, things that she couldn’t let the Hajim have.
She hated the need to check the angle of the fall, because she didn’t want to have time to think about landing.
“A woman has to do what a woman has to … damn.”
She looked around to make sure no one was watching, and took another step closer to the brink.
It was time to go.
32
“You don’t want to do that.”
Her heart hammered in surprise. Doc’s voice was salvation itself. She hadn’t wanted to die alone—but she still threw herself toward the edge of the chasm.
Raven grabbed her, pulling her backward to the wall with bruising force.
“Ouch!”
“Ouch?” he shouted back, thoroughly indignant. His grip was tight around her. He loomed in front of her. “Woman, you’re trying to kill yourself!”
She pounded a fist against his chest. “I have to!”
“For the sake of the Empire?”
“Don’t mock me. This isn’t easy. I don’t want to die.”
“And I’m not going to let you.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Zoe complained. She glared at him suspiciously, though it was through a film of tears. “Were you waiting for me?”
He nodded. “I figured you’d pull something stupid like this.”
“How could you figure that out?”
He touched her cheek gently, and she realized he was wiping away a tear. A tear of relief and pleasure, she hated to admit.
“I deduced your stupid plan from the desperate way you made love a few hours ago. What makes you want to kill yourself now, Zoe? I know it isn’t because I’m a bad lover.”
“You’re preening, Prime. And you have an ego the size of a planet.”
“And a cock to back it up.”
She couldn’t argue with that. “I don’t want to die,” Zoe said. You give me something to live for, she thought. “But since it needs doing, my death is my responsibility.”
“I won’t let you kill yourself.”
“I’ve made the choice.”
“Doesn’t your religion forbid suicide?”
“You know as well as I do, General, that Jazoan was right to try to eliminate me. My being here endangers everybody.”
“We’ll live with the danger.”
“I won’t let you endanger my people for me. Darling, the Porphyrgia has to—”
“No!” He shook her. Searing anger blazed from him. “I won’t lose you, Zoe.”
He pulled her close, and kissed her hard. His fear transmitted to her, and her arms came around him. If he hadn’t been a vampire her grip on him might have kept him from breathing. They clung fiercely to each other. The fear she’d fought down with determination bubbled to the surface. She trembled in his embrace and devoured him with her kiss. Her hunger for life was the same as her hunger for him.
When they stopped kissing, she said, “I don’t want to be lost. But—”
He put a finger on her lips. “Hush.”
He turned her around, and led her down the winding ramp. He kept an arm tightly around her waist, and made sure he was the one on the outside. She didn’t blame him for not trusting her. His protectiveness disturbed her deeply—because she appreciated it with all her heart.
And if anything threatened him—
She grasped him just as tightly as he did her, filled with sudden fierce determination. Zoe would fight anyone and anything to protect this man.
She and Doc came to a halt when they’d wound down several levels, arms still around each other. They were now well into human territory but no one was around. Wanting to ensure complete privacy, she drew him into a corridor and they soon ducked into an empty cave.
He shocked her when he instantly grabbed her shoulders and gave her a hard shake. There was a red feral glow in his eyes, his fury flaring back to life. “Do you know how much you scared me?” he demanded.
Her heart pounded. “Do you know how much you’re scaring me now?”
His smile showed a great deal of fang. “Good.” His hard grasp turned into a gentle massage of her shoulders. “How’d you get away from the guards I had on you?”
She snickered as she leaned against him. “Oh, please. By the time I was seven years old I knew how to tie a bow, tell time, and elude a bodyguard. In my family if you want privacy you learn how to be sneaky when you have to be. Your boys didn’t have a chance against a pro like me.” She gave him a wry look. “As you figured out or you wouldn’t have been waiting for me.”
He began to massage her tense shoulders. “I had hopes that you would behave as a reasonable adult. But I didn’t take any chances.”
Zoe knew she’d be shaking uncontrollably with reaction now if not for his reassuring touch. “How did you know exactly where to find me?”
“Your blood’s in me, and—” He shook his head. “There are things I can sense about you.”
She sensed there was a great deal he wasn’t telling her, but she could guess. “You’re a telepath and—”
“—an officer and a gentleman.”
“Stop cutting off my wanting to know about all of your secret powers with jokes.”
“Let’s not talk about it.” His tone was harsh. It was even harsher when he went on. “Don’t you ever pull anything like that on me again.” He ran a hand through her hair. “What set you off, girl? No one has died because you’re here. The Hajim haven’t come close to catching you yet.”
“Yet. And two people have died—Jazoan and a young man Jazoan eliminated because he recognized me. I’m responsible for them.”
“Jazoan’s responsible for both those deaths. The Itch didn’t hurt anybody.”
“But there will be more threats, and they’ll grow more serious. The Hajim don’t give up.”
“Your death won’t stop the
attacks,” he pointed out.
“I agree. But if I’m dead I won’t have to witness every attack and be more tempted each time to turn myself in to stop them.”
He looked stunned. “I never saw you as the ruthless type before.”
“For myself, no. But I’ll do what I have to for my people—even let some of them die.
“There’s no way out.” She added, “Unless we can think of a way to escape.”
“Not possible,” he growled.
She hated the finality in his voice, the quickness of his negative response, even as she accepted the truth of his answer. “So all is lost.”
He snorted. “I’ve never seen you as the melodramatic type—except for your trying to throw yourself off a cliff a few minutes ago.”
That hadn’t been melodrama, but she didn’t argue about it. She also didn’t whine or complain, or make him any promises about not taking her own life.
She did come into his embrace and kiss him with desperate intensity. His response was equally intent, taking her breath away, taking her fear away. Filling her with heat.
Passion roared between them after all the fear and anger, and the fear and anger fed the passion.
His caresses were possessive and demanding.
Hers matched his. “I could eat you alive,” she told him.
“I’m the Prime here,” he answered, and fangs pierced her flesh to show her so.
Glory rushed through her. She was alive! Every sensation, every touch confirmed her existence.
And Doc was so very alive. So very real, so solid. Every moment of growing desire confirmed her need for this man. Every time they made love the desire only grew stronger, the passion more intense. She wanted him and no other.
But a growing sense of what was missing added to her desperation. She needed more!
She was a part of him. She needed him to be a part of her. One drop of his essence could never be enough for the completion her soul demanded of him, with him.
His essence called to her, blood to blood, filled her with irresistible craving.
Dark Stranger Page 16
