by Ann Lory
D’Angel pondered Roberto’s words. “Very well. We’ll just have to have her come to us. Lure her out.”
“How? I’m sure he’s already taken her blood so he’ll know what she’s doing at all times.”
“There are other ways, Roberto. Haven’t I taught you as much?” Her gaze moved over Diego; the youngest of her favorite offspring grinned at her. She extended her hand to him, then took one of his fingers into her mouth.
He groaned loudly. Roberto scowled, but didn’t comment.
“Oh, don’t be jealous, Roberto. You know you’re my favorite.”
“Fine, but that doesn’t tell me how to get Alyssa where we want her.”
D’Angel rose, her skirts moving with each step she took, and walked up to Roberto, still holding Diego’s hand in hers. She reached up and kissed Roberto, her mouth wide open, tongue twining, her free arm wrapped round his neck. When she pulled away, she smiled at the lust on Roberto’s face, his glistening lips.
“Come to my room, gentlemen, and I’ll explain,” she said, as if indulging children. “We’ll have to act soon. If I know Damian, he’ll be moving her again. Besides, it’s time for Alyssa to be reunited with one of my favorite toys.”
Diego laughed as they moved through the corridors of her home and entered her chambers. “You’re so delightfully cruel, D’Angel. It’s perfect.”
D’Angel released the hands of the two males and approached her toy, strung up on her wall, slapping him across the face. The man made no sound but stared at her with palpable hatred. She chuckled and slashed his chest with her talons, pleased at his grunt of pain. She licked his blood from her fingertips.
She strode back and forth in front of him, looking over her shoulder as she slowly pulled her finger from her mouth with a loud pop, stroking the tip of the nail with her tongue.
Finally, she stopped before him once more and cupped his balls in her hand. He grunted, tried to arch away, but she grabbed his shaft roughly in her hands and began to pump furiously.
He swelled, and she delighted in the fact that he tried to stop her, bucked and twisted his hips, but his failure was inevitable. She lifted her skirts and took him against the wall, against his will, biting, clawing, humping him. She caused him more pain than pleasure she knew, but then the pleasure was all about her ‑‑ and his pain was her pleasure.
When she finished, she strolled to the bed where both Roberto and Diego, nude, waited patiently for her. Their eyes were alight with lust, their fangs extended. She crawled across the mattress toward them. Took one into her mouth, while the other penetrated her from behind ‑‑ and the entire time, she watched her chained toy, his head averted ‑‑ then came.
* * * * *
Damian looked at Christian. “Are you ready?”
Christian nodded and grasped Damian’s forearms. Damian glanced at Alyssa. “We won’t be long. In fact, this may be even shorter than we’d like.”
She nodded. Damian saw her bite her lip as he and Christian stood in front of the house and prepared to time travel beyond even what Christian thought was possible. He tightened his grip on Christian’s arms.
“How about Italy, Salvatorio Palazzo? July 1721.”
Damian watched the younger vampire’s brow furrow with concentration. Once he felt the power stir, he collected his own and thrust it into Christian. Dimly, he heard his and Christian’s shouts as mist formed around them. Just as quickly, it dissipated, and he was on the ground staring up at Alyssa.
“What happened? You both flew apart from each other.”
Damian shook his head, tried to get his bearings. Alyssa reached down and helped him to his feet. He looked across the span of three yards at Christian who was struggling upright.
Christian spoke. “We need to combine our powers, not shove them at each other, which I think is what we did. I reacted instinctively, as though I were under attack and shoved mine back at yours. Let’s try a gradual combination and see what happens.”
Damian nodded. He and Christian took their positions again. Alyssa returned to the porch, gaze steady, forehead wrinkled.
When Damian felt Christian’s powers stirring again, he once more raised his own, but this time he gradually let it flow into Christian’s. He felt their strength intertwine and sensed the mist spiraling up around them. Then, suddenly, they were both standing in a field behind the home Damian had grown up in.
Damian was disoriented at first, but quickly regained his equilibrium. He slapped Christian on the back. “It looks like it worked.”
Christian grinned widely. “To be honest, I didn’t think we had a shot in hell of pulling this off.”
“You and me both.” He turned and looked at his family’s estate. This had been a good year; he’d chosen it for their attempt because it had been at least thirty years since he’d heard or seen D’Angel. It was the last year of peace before she’d come running to him again, needing him to “help” her once more.
He and Christian grasped forearms again and were soon back where they’d left Alyssa. She stood with her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide with astonishment. “One second you were there, the next, you were gone. Then you zapped back again.”
Damian pulled her close. “There will be nowhere in time I won’t be able to find D’Angel.”
Alyssa grew silent.
“What? What is it?”
Christian moved past them. “I’ll excuse myself.”
When he was gone, Alyssa spoke. “Damian, can you really confront your sister?”
His eyes narrowed. “Why do you ask that?”
She touched the collar of his dark shirt, ran her hands over the buttons before looking back up at him. “She’s your sister. I saw your memories of her the other night.” He sighed, but she hurried on. “I know how often you protected her. Tried to help her. I saw the terrible things she did, the innocent people that suffered. I felt your relief and guilt when you thought her dead, the horror when she forced you to become a vampire.”
“Is this why you changed your mind about me, about us?” he asked softly.
Alyssa shook her head. “No, but it helped me to see a little more clearly. I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret. That you’ll end up hating me for.”
“Hate you? I could never hate you.” He willed her to see his determination. “I’ve never understood D’Angel, but it’s time to put a stop to her cruelty. The evil she committed and allowed to spread.” He inhaled sharply. “As I’m the one who protected her all of these years, I’m the one who must end it, completely and finally. You have nothing to fear. There’s no other choice.”
Alyssa laid her cheek against his chest, her ear pressed to his heart. The steady rhythm reassured her and warmed her at the same time.
“When I first saw you, Alyssa, I had to fight to find my breath.” Alyssa was content to listen to the deep sound of his voice rumbling in her ear. “You were a small, feisty package where I’d expected at least a bulldog from the descriptions D’Angel gave of you.” Alyssa laughed at that. “You were leaving your job at a restaurant in New Orleans. Your head was bent, and you held the collars of your jacket close to your face so I couldn’t see your features clearly. I watched you ‑‑ and found that I needed you to look at me, too.”
Alyssa shivered at his words. She knew the night he meant. That had been at least three or four months before she’d made her way to Miami. She’d felt eyes focused on her, and it had terrified her to know someone was watching her when she couldn’t identify him.
“Then you stared straight at me, but I’d shielded my presence.” He stroked her hair. “I was captivated immediately, though I couldn’t understand why. I tried to fight it. Tried to tell myself it didn’t matter, that I still had my duty to D’Angel. After all, you had killed some of those idiots that follow her. But I knew I was beaten even then.”
Alyssa pulled away slightly to see his eyes, her heart racing from his words, from the way he made her feel. “Will you walk with me?” His gaz
e immediately darted to the sky, to the shadows of the vast estate. She tugged on his arm. “I don’t want to stay cooped up tonight, Damian. Please.”
He nodded reluctantly, and they wandered up the drive, then left it to follow the trees that surrounded Christian’s plantation. The leaves of the weeping willows brushed along their bodies and lightning bugs flickered around them.
Feeling bold, Alyssa pulled her hand from his, then gripped the bottom of her shirt and lifted. His sharp breath filled her ears, and she laughed as he swept her into his arms.
Her laughter died quickly when his mouth covered hers, but the joy she felt remained. She wanted to give him the night and all of herself. She slowly kissed down his body, unfastening his shirt as she did so. When she was on her knees, she undid the button and zipper on his pants, freeing him from the restricting fabric. One peek at his face told her all she need to know. His eyes were closed, his nostrils flared, lips tightly compressed. He was the image of a man in need.
She took his erection in her hand and ran her thumb over the sensitive tip, then down the sturdy shaft. He shuddered, and she couldn’t help the saucy grin that pulled at her lips. Then she swallowed him whole, the way he’d taught her during all their loving.
His raw cry filled the night, his fingers tangling in her hair. She moaned around him as she took him in and out of her mouth, sucking him voraciously, enjoying the taste of him and the exquisite torture that she delivered.
He was delicious, salty; she eagerly lapped up the precome from the tip of his cock head. He felt wonderful in her mouth ‑‑ large, hard, satiny smooth.
She pulled on his hips, and he came to his knees; she adjusted her position, never once releasing his cock from her hungry mouth. She slowly pushed him to his back, his moans driving her on as she licked from tip to base, fondled his balls, and engulfed him once more.
She knew he was close to coming; his body was tightening, his balls drawing taut. Oh, yes, his release was seconds away.
He tugged her head away at what seemed the last possible moment, his entire body shaking.
She quickly gained her feet and undid her jeans, stepping out of the material along with her panties. Leaving her clothes where they’d dropped, she went back to him and pulled his boots off without any interference from him, then yanked his pants off as well, tossing them aside. She climbed up his body.
He was watching her intently, his gaze devouring her, seemingly content to let her have her way with him. She straddled him, gripped him, and guided him into her wet opening. His head flung back and his eyes closed as she impaled herself on his shaft. He filled her to the hilt, and she groaned at the intense sensation.
Damian’s hands settled on her hips as she swayed up and down and back and forth, moving his cock in and out of her passage. She pulled the flaps of his shirt aside so she could touch his flesh as she rode him.
He hissed as she rubbed his nipples, pinching them. She was thrilled at how much he seemed to enjoy her ministrations, how it made his hips thrust up against hers, stealing her breath as he pierced her again and again.
His fangs had already descended; she was no longer shocked that it excited her. She knew it meant he’d lost control, that he wanted her as desperately as she wanted him. She needed to feel his mouth on her, needed him to drink from her while his cock was buried deep inside her body. She wasn’t afraid anymore of how much she craved him.
His hands came up and pulled the straps of her bra so they dangled around her elbows, and then he tugged the lacy cups under breasts. He raised his head and laved his mouth over each breast, suckling, drawing a nipple into his mouth and then the other. She cried out, desperate.
“Damian, please.” Her words were a hoarse plea even to her own ears. She didn’t have to explain; he knew what she wanted. He lapped up her chest, over her collar bone to the pulse throbbing eagerly for him. Shocking jolts of exhilaration slammed through her, and she climaxed immediately, shrieking as she came.
He flipped them over in an instant, hovering over her, cock still plunging rapidly into her. He leaned down and licked where he’d drunk from her, sucked hard. She knew he’d marked her, the burn lingering. Branded her his for all to see.
She pulled him down on top of her, wanting to feel all of his body pushing her into the ground. He kissed her, his hips pumping hard, never once slowing his pace as he brought her yet again to another peak.
She ran her hands up and down his back and through his hair as he penetrated her with his mouth and cock. Finally, he convulsed uncontrollably and thrust into her once, twice, three times. Then he held himself deep as his cock erupted.
Incredibly, she orgasmed again, and tears filled her eyes at the wonderful sensations rioting through her body. She stared up past the willows that swept around them, past the flashing lightning bugs, to the brief glimpses of sky that were dotted with bright stars ‑‑ and knew that though they were miles and miles away, she had already touched their brilliance.
Chapter Eighteen
Damian kissed her cheek. “I’ll be back shortly. Stay in the house. Christian is here and will keep you company.”
“Do we really need supplies? Can’t we just run around naked and hungry?”
“And risk me ripping him apart for daring to look at you? That’s hardly being grateful to our host. I think clothes would be a better option.”
“Well, if you would stop tearing my clothes off all the time…” She winked.
He laughed and kissed her cheek again. “Point taken. Still, as I can’t take from you too often, I need to continue to find nourishment as I do every night ‑‑ although sometimes I feel all the food I need is right here. You, on the other hand…” He sobered. “When I return, I’ll need to finalize my strategy for dealing with D’Angel; then we’ll make arrangements to travel abroad.”
She sighed and nodded, snuggling further into the bed. “Okay, but I like the traveling abroad part better.”
He kissed her nose, then stood and headed for the door. “I’ll see you soon.”
Alyssa eventually climbed out of bed, showered, dressed, and then she met Christian in the main room. “Can I raid the kitchen? I’m starving.”
Christian rose politely. “Of course. Alyssa, I’ve told you there’s no need to ask; just help yourself.”
She followed him into the large brick kitchen and started pulling items from the pantry and fridge. “I know, but it makes me feel like I’m taking over your home. I don’t want to be rude.”
“I don’t think you could ever be rude.”
Alyssa laughed and laid a loaf of bread on the counter. “I tried to stake Damian when I first met him. I think he thought I was the farthest thing from polite for quite some time.”
Christian chuckled. “He probably deserved it.”
Alyssa slathered the bread with mayo, then added a slice of ham. She cleared up the counter, then took a bite of her sandwich, savoring the simple, yet delicious, flavor for a moment. “He did deserve it.” She swallowed another bite as Christian watched her. “You’d really like some, wouldn’t you?”
He shook his head. “No, I think it smells disgusting.”
She sniffed haughtily, as if offended. “What do you know about it, vampire?”
He grinned, but froze abruptly, his gaze moving past her. Alyssa followed the line of his gaze out the window and stiffened. Across the wide expanse of land, D’Angel stood with her men, Damian clasped in her arms. Alyssa’s stomach shot into her throat and her sandwich fell to the counter. Without thought, she raced toward the back entrance, but Christian caught her by the shoulders.
“Stop, Alyssa. It’s a trap.”
“I don’t care. Damian needs me.”
Their words ceased as D’Angel’s voice carried to them clearly. “Come out and play, Alyssa. Damian wants you to be his partner in our little game.”
Through the small glass panel by the door, Alyssa watched in horror as D’Angel and her men forced a struggling Damian to his knees. Even
from this distance, she could see how the female vampire’s nails dug into his skin, ripping the flesh from his bones. Alyssa screamed as Damian’s agonized cry spilled into the air. She struggled against Christian, but he refused to release her.
Calling on all her strength, she used surprise to escape him. Spinning on Christian, she grabbed his head and kissed him. Shocked, his hold loosened and she kicked him into a wall, where he slipped, his head striking the corner of the counter where they’d just been visiting. He tried to struggle up from the floor, obviously dazed. She grimaced; if he’d been human he’d have been knocked out cold. “I’m sorry, Christian. I can’t and I won’t watch him be tortured.”
Alyssa raced out into the night and across the grass, ready to strike down D’Angel. Even as she approached the woman, D’Angel laughed and disappeared. The men closed in around Alyssa, and Damian was grinning, his smile twisting into a vicious smirk as he rose, transforming before her disbelieving eyes to Roberto, the one who’d attacked them when she’d run from Damian.
Arms closed around her from behind as she struggled. The last thing she heard was Roberto’s gloating words. “Foolish girl!”
Chapter Nineteen
Someone was slapping her cheeks.
Alyssa groaned.
The smell hit her first. She tried to open her eyes, barely able not to gag. The stench of excrement and old blood filled her nostrils. Finally, she lifted her lids, hissing when she met D’Angel’s gaze through the shadowed room, where a little moonlight spilled into one corner. The woman smiled.
“You fucking bitch!” Alyssa lunged at her from the platform where she had been laid, but shackles around her wrists pulled her up short. She yanked at the chains, the sound of clinking metal filling the cell. She glared at D’Angel, remembering briefly when Damian had held her captive and wondered what it was with the Salvatorios and their chains.
“Tsk, tsk, your manners, Alyssa.” Incredibly, D’Angel sounded like a disapproving mother.
Alyssa seethed with hatred and rage. “Where is Damian?”
