“No, but I intend to find out at the meeting,” he said with a shrug. “I heard you talking to that Mister Cooper, and knew that the both of us would have a greater chance of success than just myself going down there and demanding answers. I'm assuming you're armed?” She nodded. “Good, I like to see someone come prepared. And I can smell this John fellow not far behind us. Things will go much smoother with the three of us, I'm sure.”
“I would rather nothing happen to either of you,” she said honestly as they began to work their way through the streets of the Underground. As strange and other worldly as it was, Leliana felt more at home with the feeling of cobblestone under her shoes and the smell of the underground lake than hearing the taxi cabs rushing past her apartment back above ground. “If we get out of this, I intend to show my gratitude, Victor.”
“Is that so?” He asked with a tilt of his head as they stopped in front of the Red Baron Inn. Vampires, werewolves, and humans alike all shuffled past them with barely a glance in their direction. Some things simply bridge the species gap, Leliana noted with a sigh. “And just what were you going to do to show me such gratitude.”
“Invite you over to my place for coffee,” she said with a wink. “And see what happens after that.” Maybe it was the fact that they all could very well die, or the fact that she had been utterly charmed by this vampire, but whatever the reason was, Leliana couldn't properly articulate just why she rocked forward on her toes and pressed her lips to his in that moment beyond the fact that doing so just felt right. “Ah,” she said with a flush when he didn't respond. “Perhaps I've been too forward.”
“Or not forward enough,” he rumbled as he reached towards her, touching her chin with startlingly familiarity, as though he had always known her and was merely reaching out to her very soul. His hand didn’t stop there as he allowed his palm to go up the side of her face, gently stroking her cheek. She sighed and kissed the palm of his hand before pressing against it slightly. He carded his hand through her hair then, bringing her gently to his lips, pressing his against hers gently. His lips were soft and warm and they moved skillfully over hers. She sighed blissfully against his talented mouth, hands coming up to grip the front of his coat. She felt him grip her shoulders just firmly enough to know that she was grounding him in that moment, and she was grateful for his reciprocation of her affection. “But let us save this for the victory party, yes?” He asked with a fanged grin. “We wouldn't want your friend to get too uncomfortable,” she flushed even deeper and stepped away from Victor fully. She had completely forgotten that her best friend was waiting for them to go in so that he could stay behind and wait for when he was needed as backup. “And besides,” he said, crooking a finger under her chin and guiding her eyes back to his. “We have a day to save, yes? So let's save it.” She nodded firmly, hooked her arm in his once again, and together, they opened the door to the inn and stepped inside.
Chapter Five
She had to admit, as awful of an organization as the Syndicate were and for how dirty their money was, they spent it well in the Red Baron Inn, as far as she was concerned. The place was decorated in rich reds and deep blacks, and the place felt like a proper Victorian inn, something that was rather hard to come by, even in the Underground. The carpet was plush under her shoes and the walls were ornate without being tacky. As much as she hated the Syndicate, she had to concede to the point that they had very good taste in interior decorating.
“Ah, so good to see you again, Mister Marley,” said the bellman behind the counter with a smile that looked entirely too tight for her comfort. She subtly shifted closer to Victor, who wore a nearly predatory grin.
“Evening, Greer,” Victor said politely, placing a hand at the small of Leliana's back to reassure her. “I've come for the meeting. I even brought my 'plus one' this time.”
“Oh, how marvelous!” The man, Greer, said, his face stretching impossibly wider around his smile. Leliana's stomach churned at the sight, and already she was beginning to dread coming here. She hoped that John was going to stay out of sight and not try anything rash too soon. “Right this way, they've been expecting you!” He said, ushering them into a room marked, 'ballroom,' beside the door. He held the door open for them and bowed grandly. “Please, do go on in!” He leered at them, his gaze lingering on Leliana for far longer than would be considered appropriate as they walked past and into the room. All the while, Victor didn't remove his hand from the small of her back, and continued to guide her as they walked.
The room that they entered was far less of a ballroom and much more of a business suite, but she was hardly in a position to split hairs about it, she thought as they came to a stop just inside the room. The door clicked shut softly behind them, leaving them in the dim lighting of the space. In the center of the room was a plush armchair that seated the woman that Leliana knew as Veronique Lawson, the head of the Syndicate. The private eye's jaw tightened, and she mentally ticked the seconds it would take her to draw her pistol and end things. Then, she scanned the room, and found that it wasn't just the three of them in the room; the more she looked around, the more goons she saw surrounding the three of them in the dim lighting of the space. If Miss Lawson was looking to intimidate her, she couldn't deny that she was effective at the job.
“Ah, Mister Marley, Miss Tornbeau, how lovely to have you as our guests,” Veronique practically purred as she crossed her legs sensually in her seat. “And so surprising that you finally took us up on the offer to bring in someone with you, Victor,” she smiled like a snake about to devour a mouse. It was hard for Leliana not to squirm with discomfort. “You picked a pretty one. My compliments on your...” she licked her lips, her tongue playing over her elongated fangs slowly to accentuate them. “...Tastes.” Leliana suppressed a flinch and stepped forward.
“I think we both know why I agreed to come.” She said in a clear voice.
“My dear, I'm sure I don't-”
“Don't pretend, Veronique,” she ground out, her patience at an end. “I know that the Syndicate isn't so sloppy as to leave so much evidence behind. Not even the Excavators are that careless.” She knew she was baiting them, and it was clearly working; those in the room that were Excavators growled at her, baring their fangs at her. “And you knew that someone would come snooping. You knew that it would never be the cops, so you had every local private eye on watch to see which family broke and asked for help first.”
“Perceptive,” Veronique said, clearly surprised but somehow not even phased. “You're better than the other investigators I've had to deal with,” she leaned further into her seat toward them. “I like you.”
“Prove it, and let all the people you've kidnapped go.” She challenged. Veronique let out a surprised cackle, accompanied by the chuckles of the other men and women surrounding them.
“Oh, you're bold, aren't you?” Veronique sneered. “Tell you what – I'm feeling generous. I'll let them go and return them to their homes tonight on one condition.” Leliana didn't like the way that she was eyeing her, or the way that some of the goons around them were beginning to shift. None of it spelled good things for them, she thought as she recalculated whether or not she would have enough time to draw her pistol. She knew that if even one of the vampires in the room was armed that she didn't stand a chance of even getting her gun out of its holster. She cursed internally.
“Name it, and I'll consider,” Leliana said, hoping that it would at least buy her some time to think of a way to get out of this. Dammit, where had John gone? She hoped that nothing had happened to him. Veronique let out a low laugh as she leaned back in her armchair.
“You'll owe me a favor, one that I'll be able to collect wherever and whenever I want. One that isn't negotiable, and that you have to complete as I say, or I take your life.” She smiled low and cat-like, and Leliana's skin crawled. She didn't like this idea one bit. She knew that if she took it, she would most likely have to do something unspeakable in exchange; she may not have gotten to k
now Veronique for very long, but she didn't need to know that this was how she operated.
“Don't take that deal,” Victor said low in her ear, his breath caressing her face. “She's a viper, and one favor could ruin you.”
“Oh, don't listen to him, darling,” Veronique said in mock hurt. “It's just one itty bitty little favor, after all.” Leliana knew better, but feared what would happen when she gave her answer. She could certainly guess, and just hoped that these goons were all terrible shots.
“No deal,” she said in a clear voice. “I know better than to trust you.” Though she put on a brave front, she clenched her hands to hide the fact that they were shaking.
“Ah,” the Syndicate leader said with a pout. “How disappointing. And here I thought things were going so well between us.” She shrugged and waved a hand. “Oh well. It was nice knowing you.” Leliana saw some of the goons reaching for their guns, and knew already that unless something happened to disarm them, she was done for; even with Victor, he was only one vampire. Surely he wouldn't be able to help her, let alone assuming that he would even want to.
Everything that happened after that seemed to occur in slow motion. She pulled out her gun just as one of the goons took a shot, squeezing the trigger on her life, she was sure. Then, the next thing she knew, the gun misfired and she felt the bullet whiz past her, grazing her cheek but not fatally injuring her. When the shock wore off, she saw John and Victor whirring past her, claws bared, teeth gnashed, and taking out guards two at a time. They must not have been expecting it, or maybe not all of the guards were vampires like she originally thought, but she took a few shots at some of them. The ones that were vampires began to scream and writhe because of the blessing bestowed upon her bullets, but the others merely flinched and dropped their weapons. Veronique was shouting something at the few of her men that were still standing, but Leliana had no real chance to see it, as Victor scooped her up like a groom would his bride and dashed off out of the building, through the Underground, and into the night.
Chapter Six
Though she knew that they weren't, it felt as though Leliana was flying from how fast that Victor was sprinting over the rooftops. She appreciated that he didn't try anything theatrical, and opted to just get them as far away as possible. She worried for John; she managed to see him running behind them, but she hasn't seen him since they left the Red Baron Inn, and she feared the worst.
“John is going to be alright,” Victor said, as though he sensed her thoughts. “He's heading to his house to check on his wife. He said he would come to your house later tonight to check on you.”
“I'm relieved he made it out, too,” she sighed, looking up at him. “So where are we headed? My place?” Victor nodded.
“The Syndicate won't dare give chase tonight – we took out a large number of them, and Veronique isn't one for doing things herself. We've got time to regroup and get a plan together.”
“We still don't know where the kidnapped people are,” Leliana said glumly.
“We'll find them,” he promised as they neared her apartment window. “Don't you worry about that. Right now, we just need to lay low for a little while.” He smirked down at her as he stopped outside her apartment. “Besides, I've been looking forward to that... gratitude that you were going to show me.” She smirked flirtatiously at him as he opened her window and slipped them both inside. She turned to say something to him, but was cut off when his mouth came down upon her neck, ravishing her with kisses and teasing the flesh with his tongue.
As she turned and shut the window and locked it, Leliana's hand automatically fumbled for the light switch. Evidently, they didn't need it, or at least, that must have been Victor's conclusion for how firmly he pressed her against the wall beside the window. Even as he crashed his mouth into hers, the vampire's elongated fangs teasing her lower lip, she found that she wanted more of him. They let their mouths dance out an intricate battle for dominance in the muted moonlight that bled in through the window beside them until the need for air inarguably outweighed their need for release.
With a groan, she leaned her body against his. He trailed his hands up the skirt of her dress and closed his fingers around the waistband of her panties, clearly not interested in the long game, at least, not this time around. She let him slide the undergarment down her legs and shakily kicked them away. When he kneeled down and pressed his face into her womanly folds, she had to steady herself against the wall, pressing herself harder against it as the pleasure of his tongue licking her sex and his mouth kissing her clit made her entire body quake with want for release.
She carded her fingers through his hair as he continued to lavish his attention upon her sex. She loved the way that he felt between her thighs, and she cried out when his tongue swirled around her clitoris. He slid backwards, guiding her into sitting down slowly, letting her slide down the wall until her ample buttocks pressed into the carpet on her floor. Her thighs hung over his shoulders, her back was against the wall as he continued curling his tongue inside of her, stroking that little bundle of nerves that sent her reeling, pressing his fingers into her thighs with an iron grip. She writhed against him, feeling the coil in her belly tighten, knowing that she was one or two artful strokes of his tongue away from orgasm.
She angled her hips, trying to help him find that last stroke that would send her toppling over into bliss. Just when she thought that he found it, he pulled away, coaxing a whimper out of her. She tried to chase his mouth with her hips, hoping for something, anything that would let her come. He pressed her back into the carpet firmly, a devilish smirk playing on his lips.
“I'm not done with you just yet,” he growled into the flesh of her thigh, pressing a kiss at the skin there. He held her there and continued to lick at her sex teasingly, worlds away from dedicating himself to making her cum, but just enough that she desperately wanted more. He looked up at her and licked his lips slowly. “I love the way you taste on my tongue,” he said, accentuating it with another long stroke of his tongue that left her squirming and whimpering. “But I love the noises that you make even more.” He pulled back all the way suddenly, scooping her up again and bringing her up to a standing position. She purred at the way that he pressed himself behind her when he set her down. “Can you feel what you do to me?” He whispered. He kissed her ear and she brought her hips back to grind her backside against his erection, clearly straining at his pants.
He slowly turned her around and she placed a hand on his shoulder and took her time letting her hand trail down, hooking a finger into the waistband of his pants as their lips met once again in a heated kiss.
“Bed,” Leliana managed to pant when he pulled back just enough to suck in a gulp of air. With a moan of her own, she pressed open mouthed kisses into his exposed collar bone, the heel of her free hand pressing against the rapidly hardening length between them, and he shuddered, lost in the sensation.
“How should we do this?” He asked, ever mindful of her being comfortable.
“Don't care,” she gasped audibly when Victor finally, finally pushed their hips together, all but drilling her into the wall behind them. “Need...” her words were swallowed in a groan that was practically punched out of her lungs when he nudged her face over, allowing him access to her neck, his mouth and tongue playing on her pulse point once more. He felt her heat pounding out a rhythmic beat in time with the blood pumping through her veins, and he subconsciously rolled his hips against it, seeking friction.
“Might be messy,” Victor groaned, his teeth teasing the point on her neck he had just got done lavishing attention on with his tongue. Leliana all but wailed, her knees buckling at the pulsing need that flooded into her molten core. His erection was bordering on painful at this point, from restriction in his pants and the friction built from his hips grinding into hers blindly. She flicked the button on his pants to pop it open. His erection did the rest of the work for them, pushing the zipper down to spring free of its confines like a man es
caping prison. Victor's tongue darted out to lap at her jawline, rising up to lap at the freshly healing wound on her cheek before their lips found one another again.
“Don't care,” she was panting heavily, as though she had just sprinted a thousand miles, and was now pressing her hips back against his insistently. Her head fell into the crook of his neck, and it earned her a chuckle from the vampire. “Oh, yes,” she keened when his fingers began to tease her entrance, and yelped in surprise when he lifted her effortlessly. Her legs automatically wrapped around his middle, eliciting a groan out of the two of them when their heated sexes were pressed together more fully from the change in position. He ground his throbbing erection against her labia, slicking it with her wetness.
“I could just fuck you against the wall,” Victor groaned into her mouth as they kissed again. Once he'd safely maneuvered to the bedroom and made it to the bed with little incident, he set her down on her plush mattress. “Or I could have my way with you right here, like you wanted,” he was already pulling the skirt of her dress up, a clear indicator that he wasn't really in the mood for switching position, but she knew he would, if she asked. “Do you like it when someone talks dirty in your ear?” Though the question had been murmured in that sexy husk that Victor was clearly talented at, and she panted a moment before responding.
“Y-yes, yes, oh, yes,” she swallowed when he groaned against the skin of her neck. He gasped when she began to push his pants past the curve of his ass, just enough to squeeze his rear and pull him closer to her. “God, it's sexy when you do it,” she mewled when those talented hands grabbed one of her supple breasts, kneading the flesh in a rhythmic pattern.
“Noted,” Victor said as he pulled her dress off of her entirely, exposing her nearly nude body to him. All that remained was her bra, which took little to divest her of. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words dissolved into a quiet moan as she watched him roll his hips, the head of his cock skimming over her womanly folds, not entering, but teasing until she was practically sobbing.
ROMANCE: SHAPESHIFTER ROMANCE: Dragon Baller's Bride (Dragon Shifter Alpha Male Romance) (Paranormal Romantic Suspense) Page 53
