by Ann Jacobs
She spread her legs, an offering he couldn’t refuse. In slow motion, he went to his knees, opened his mouth over her intimate flesh. Flailed her clit with his tongue and rubbed his bristly chin along her labia while she moaned softly. Her fingers fluttered, then tunneled into the clipped hair at the back of his head, the pressure feather light yet incredibly arousing. Almost as arousing as the taste of her and the mind-picture in her head.
She lay on her side in bed, exposed, needy. A naked male with a shaved head and a thick ring through his penis knelt near her face. She took him, first in her hands. Slow and easy, she stroked the shaft, squeezing, circling, dipping down to weigh his heavy sac, then returning to her task. His piercing dissuaded her from taking him in her mouth.
She shifted her head, laid it on his thigh, licked and nibbled at the base of his shaft instead as another male—Alex—joined them and began to tongue-fuck her.
So she wanted a ménage. If she became like him, a permanent part of his life, she’d experience ménages and more on a regular basis. The more he thought about it, the more he believed Mara’s destiny might be with him, in his vampire world where there were no restrictions, no constraints on sexual activity among the clanspeople. When he imagined her on her knees above him, him throbbing inside her while his kinsmen claimed her other orifices, he got so hard he hurt. Yet he continued to lap her honey while she writhed in the chair on the brink of climax.
I want a vampire kiss. Please.
Alex wanted nothing more than to give it. To feed on her until he took her mortality . . . gave her new life as a d’Argent vampire. But he wouldn’t do it. While she might beg, he knew she wasn’t ready to commit to a long lifetime in what to her would be an alien world. For that matter, he wasn’t certain of his own readiness to mate for eternity with a virtual stranger, no matter how strong his feelings might be today. He nipped her thigh instead, before ringing her tight rear entrance with his tongue. “On your knees on the bed, sweetheart.”
• • •
His command was just that—an order, not uttered as the vampire compulsion Mara expected . . . wanted. Compelled or not, she wanted to obey, longed to let go and experience all the tender emotions that bubbled to the surface whenever Alex touched her. Rising on shaky legs, she did as he’d said while he opened a drawer of the nightstand and looked inside.
“What?” she asked.
He laughed. “You were daydreaming about a ménage. I’m about to provide you with the next best thing.” The drawer shut with a soft thud, and he was behind her, the coolness of his vampire flesh a shock against her own heated skin. His big hands cupped her bottom, spread her ass cheeks, his fingers delving into her wet, sensitized slit and spreading the lubrication. “Feel good?”
It did. Anticipation built as he petted her, made her tingle wherever his nimble fingers touched. “Oh, yes.”
“I’m going to take you here,” he told her, inserting first one finger then two past her anal sphincter and moving them rhythmically.
Her inner muscles clenched with anticipation. It had been so long . . . too long since a lover had taken her there. Since Dante. But he’d used a . . . She clamped down on her thoughts, certain Alex could and often did read her mind.
“I’m going to use my cock, sweetheart. But I’ll put on a condom first if that’s what’s worrying you.”
Any doubt Mara had about whether her lover was privy to her thoughts flew out the window. But it didn’t matter, not now when he was arousing her to a fever pitch.
When he withdrew the hand he’d been using to tweak her clit, she nearly cried out, but then he came back and worked a dildo inside her. When it began to vibrate, she shuddered at the twin sensations of his fingers and the toy working together, building pressure . . . and anticipation for when he’d replace his fingers with his big, rigid sex.
God, but it felt good, better than anything she’d ever experienced. Her sex contracted, grew wetter. “Hold on, now. Think about how good this is going to feel. I’ll be right back.” He gave a last sensual stroke to her rear then rose and went to the bathroom.
The sound of water running . . . then silence. It seemed like forever, but it couldn’t have been more than a minute before he came back and knelt behind her. When he rubbed his sheathed erection along her labia, stopping to probe her rear entrance, she gave out a little yelp. Was what she was feeling fear, or anticipation?
A little bit of both. Sensations inside her built, causing pleasure so great it nearly erased the pain when he began to move against her, probing and stretching until he passed the barrier of her anal sphincter and slipped inside. The only way she could have felt fuller was if he’d also had him in her mouth. He must have read her mind because he reached up, brushed her lips with an insistent forefinger and slipped it between her teeth.
“There, sweetheart, let go. When this is all over, we’ll have our real ménage. Squeeze me. Oh, yeah, like that. You’ve got the tightest little ass. Made just for me.”
The slightly salty taste of his hand made her think of the surf kissing her face while she lay in its warm embrace. But this was so much better. She panted, trying to hold back the waves of delectable feelings that sped through her body and carried her over the edge.
Vaguely, she heard him shout out his pleasure, felt him gather her in his arms. As she lay there quietly against his chest, she felt his heart race then slow to an almost imperceptible beat, as though he had found the same contentment he brought to her. Mara fell asleep, thoughts of Louis Reynard and his evil washed away for the moment in the arms of a vampire who’d just made one of her wildest fantasies come alive.
• • •
Damn d’Argent clansman who’s been watching the door got inside here somehow. Louis deduced the persistent vampire was not one of the clan leaders, since he apparently hadn’t fully mastered the skill of stealth.
Damn, it was too early to be wakened from a sound sleep. Louis cracked an eye open, shuddered at the strength of the noonday sun that was seeping through tightly closed shutters. He felt every one of his nearly one thousand years, each of the lacerations and fractures inflicted on him by those three bloodthirsty relatives of the d’Argent queen he’d wanted for his bride.
Louis felt the other vampire’s presence but couldn’t locate him. Fuck, it wasn’t only his body that was broken and bruised beyond healing. His powers also had taken a beating. Although he’d gorged himself last night, he felt the hunger returning. The compulsion to go out and feed. To kill again no matter how great the risk.
Going out to hunt tonight wasn’t that dangerous, he told himself. He’d fought off three born d’Argent vampires and survived. This lackey they’d sent to watch him would be no more than a pesky flea on a dog’s back, if he dared to follow and tried to stop the inevitable. Louis admitted he’d been battered, and that he might not possess quite all the physical powers he’d had before.
But he was still Louis Reynard, leader of his clan. He was still one of the most powerful vampires on this earth. Whatever it took, he would have his vengeance on Alina and all the beautiful women of the world. No d’Argent clansman would have a prayer against him. Especially not just one. Not even one of the vaunted d’Argent leaders, the born vampires who helped Alina rule the clan, could go up against Louis Reynard and survive.
Louis closed his eyes and hunkered under the covers. He’d take his rest, ignoring his enemy’s malignant presence until night fell and he could hunt again. If the vampire intended to attack, he’d have done so before, while Louis had slept.
• • •
Mara snuggled against Alex’s broad chest, sated sexually in a way she hadn’t been since . . . since ever. Compared with Alex, Dante came up in her memories not as the standard she’d set for lovers in the past, but as a poor substitute for the vampire who even now was stoking her fires.
But time was ticking away. The sun was sinking toward the Everglades, and Miami’s night people were stirring, getting ready to open the clubs and tiki bar
s along the beach. Mara stroked Alex’s muscular chest, her touch evoking a lazy smile, the slow opening of those sexy deep green eyes. He reached out a hand, but she caught it in midair.
“We need to talk,” she said. And there was no way she could think when he was touching her. Quickly, before he could stop her, she slid off the bed, dragging the top sheet with her and wrapping it toga-style around her body. “But first we both need to get dressed.”
He yawned, his gaze raking her as though he could see right through the sheet. Maybe he could. “Your new clothes are in the closet,” he said as he felt the five o’clock shadow on his chin. “Go ahead, use the bathroom first. There’s some makeup in the bag with your underwear and stuff.”
“Don’t you . . .” Of course he didn’t have needs common to mortals. He was a vampire. It was just that he seemed so human. So like the sort of man she’d dreamed of back when she’d still indulged her fantasies.
“Not with any degree of urgency. I’ll trim my beard and shave while you’re getting dressed.” When he smiled and showed her his small but lethal-looking fangs, she leaned over and brushed her lips across his cheek.
“All right.” She liked his short, neat beard, though the fact he had one surprised her since she’d never before seen a vampire who let his facial hair grow.
Steam rose in the shower, surrounding her in a cloud of moist heat. Mara closed her eyes and tried to clear her head. Now wasn’t the time to fantasize about vampire lovers or imagine herself becoming one of them. Not when Louis Reynard was running free, destroying victims with alarming regularity.
Neither could she ignore all the rules ingrained in her since she’d been a rookie cop, and leave the destruction of Reynard to Alex, even though she liked the idea of destroying the killer rather than leaving him at the mercy of the courts. She’d go with Alex, find the killer, notify her team and let them deal with arresting Reynard, hopefully before he killed again.
Alex’s words echoed in her head, coming through loud and clear over the shower spray. There is no prison on earth that can hold him, Mara. Alex probably was right about that, but she hadn’t signed on as an assassin.
The door opened and Alex stepped inside, magnificently naked. His playful grin when she let out a little yelp touched her heart. It almost made her forget she was about to deceive him, save him from the inevitability of mortals’ punishment by taking the destruction of Louis Reynard out of his hands. “Get out of here. If you stay, we’ll never have that conversation.”
“Is that a bad thing?” Alex smiled, his fangs gleaming in the fluorescent lights as though the task ahead were no more hazardous than going out for an evening’s entertainment.
“Reynard is no joking matter to me.” Mara stepped around him and toweled herself dry. When she really looked at the underwear Alex had provided, she shot him a look that would have sent most rookie cops running for cover. “Why did you bother? You couldn’t see any more if I were naked.”
Alex laughed as he came out of the shower. “Not guilty, baby. I told you I’d get you clothing, and I did. The boutique apparently thought you were as hot as you are and sent up stuff they thought would suit a—”
A hooker. Or one of the showgirls who frequently augmented their already substantial income by turning a trick or two with affluent tourists. “All right. I get it. I didn’t look yet at what they sent up for me to wear on the outside. Am I to assume the vice squad will likely pick me up once we step outside?”
“I kind of doubt it. I saw a woman on the beach yesterday afternoon who had on less than those lacy pink things.”
Mara glanced down at the see-through bra and thong panties. She couldn’t imagine any woman daring to go out on the beach in less. “Okay, I guess I can wear these, but I’ll reserve judgment on the other things until I see them.” Showing Alex her back, she stepped into the bedroom and opened the closet door.
“Like them?” he asked, following her out into the room.
The silk sundress was as pretty as anything she’d ever seen, all tones of pink and orange and lavender that reminded her of a summer sunset. It had a swirly skirt and a sleeveless top cut on the bias. The short white jacket would work fine to ward off a cool night sea breeze, but it would hardly work to conceal her Sig Sauer. Not to mention, it had a price tag that would have eaten up the better part of one of her biweekly paychecks if she’d had to buy it. “It’s very pretty. Hardly appropriate for a homicide cop, though.”
“Consider it my contribution. After all, I was the one who tore your skirt.”
Mara smiled. “You did, didn’t you? Well, let me get this on. You do know I can’t let you kill Reynard.”
Alex’s expression tightened. “I don’t know how you plan to stop me.”
Arrogant bastard! “I’ll toss you in jail if I have to.”
He came closer, cupped her chin and forced her to meet his gaze. “You can try. Look, sweetheart, no mortal’s a match for Reynard. And no mortal can put him out of business. I know it bothers you to break the laws you’ve sworn to uphold, but trust me. If you want this bastard stopped, you’re going to have to accept that he must be destroyed. And that I’m the vampire to do the job.”
She had in mind to persuade him somehow that they must do it her way, but then Alex’s cell phone rang. When he answered and listened, his expression turned fierce. “We’ve got to go. Reynard is on the move. Philippe believes he’s gone out to feed again.”
“Feed?”
“Make that kill, because the bastard doesn’t ever just take a sip or two and walk away. He drains his victims until they’re dead, beyond redemption. Beyond turning. D-E-A-D.” He dressed faster than anybody she’d ever observed, slipping bare feet into deck shoes before she could retrieve her weapon from the nightstand. “Come on!”
Mara followed, but not until she’d contacted Ben and sent her team onto Reynard’s tail.
“Why did you do that?” The frustration in Alex’s voice made her feel she’d betrayed him. Perhaps she had.
“I had no choice. It’s mortals this bastard’s been killing, mortals I swore to defend and protect.” She took his hand, squeezed it. “Maybe between us, we can stop him.”
“Maybe.” His doubtful tone made her wonder if she should have followed her instincts and kept her team out of the hunt—at least for now.
Chapter Four
“Sun’s still pretty high for Reynard to be out and about.” Alex rested his arm on Mara’s shoulder as they made their way through the hotel’s courtyard toward the deserted strip of beach where the bastard had killed before. “I hope old Louis isn’t leading Philippe up a blind alley.”
“You and me both.” Mara strained her eyes looking for signs of Ben and the others farther up along the beach, but she saw nothing. “Where were they coming from?” Ben had told her Biscayne Bay, but she didn’t notice anyone coming onto South Beach from that direction.
“Reynard has been holed up at a deserted estate on Biscayne Bay, which I’m sure your fellow cop told you.”
Of course he knew what Ben had told her. Alex’s ability to read her mind was damn inconvenient. Sighing, she did her best to mask her thoughts. Damn it, she hated to have Alex think she didn’t trust him, but she dared not let him take over her case. Not for the first time, she considered how much simpler some decisions would have been if mortals would just let vampires police each other. Yes, there was something good to be said for vampire justice, she thought, remembering a time last spring when one of them had neatly rid society of one vicious drug lord. The vice division had been trying for years to stick that piece of slime with a charge that would have sent him away for a long time before deporting him back to his native Colombia. “Mortals have to follow mortal rules.”
He stopped in his tracks, listened as though somebody was talking inside his head. “Fuck your half-assed rules. Your team of idiots has just arrested the wrong vampire. They’ve got Philippe. Now Reynard’s pretty much free to do in another victim. Philippe said Reynard
headed into the Strip. Come on, maybe we can get to him in time to prevent another killing.”
So much for having tried to make her mind a blank. Although he never raised his voice, Mara felt Alex’s fury. Part of her didn’t blame him. “Your friend Philippe must have attracted my team’s attention.”
“You’re right there. Hold on.” Before she could complain about the indecently tight embrace he’d just put on her, he took to the air, circling slowly over the area. She held on for all she was worth, imagining as she did what a drop of fifty feet or more onto the damp sand would do to her. “Trust me, I’m not going to let you fall.”
She hoped not, for they were descending now. Palm fronds fluttered in the breeze they made as they sped toward the beach below. “Do you see Reynard?”
“Not him. His victim.”
As soon as they landed, Alex set Mara down. The acrid smell of blood filled her nostrils as he knelt by the glassy-eyed corpse and felt for signs of life. “Can you turn her?” she asked.
“No. He killed her. Irrevocably.” Alex eyed the white rose, curled his lip in obvious disgust.
She looked down at the victim, said a silent prayer for the soul of the woman who’d just become the serial killer’s fifth victim in less than two weeks. Nausea practically overwhelmed her, and she couldn’t seem to stop herself from shaking with the frustration of it all.
Alex had been right about keeping her team out of this, even though doing so would have challenged everything she’d been taught—everything she’d believed in. Seeing the result of following the protocols that had been drilled into her since she’d been in law enforcement made her feel as if the work she’d committed herself to had been pointless. Mara looked down at the dead woman, the rose. At Alex, who knelt beside her, fists clenched in righteous anger.
