Since he was not yet fully transformed, The Need had been savage in its appetites, and he’d been unskilled in controlling it. Too often in the early years he had claimed a life because the women had simply been too emotionally fragile to handle their descent through time. That, combined with his vampiric sexual appetite and bloodlust, had destroyed them.
Those misdeeds still filled him with overwhelming guilt, but he’d never been as afraid as he was at this moment. He had to make certain neither his appetite for sex nor The Need got out of hand with Simone.
He moved his hips gently, trying to draw her mind away from the past and back to the desire he could feel reigniting inside her. Without warning, she was suddenly clinging to him, her nails digging into his back. He ignored the pain and concentrated on the pleasure that was now a white hot fire in his loins. He rocked back and forth over Simone as his orgasm built, plunging deeper and deeper until his climax refused to be contained.
As he came, his control shattered, his incisors burst through his gums, and his mouth closed over Simone’s neck.
SIMONE WAS SPINNING so fast she felt as if her body was splitting in two. Tightening her hold around Julian’s back, she dug her nails deeper into his flesh as the world’s history spun around her.
She saw the birth of civilization, the birth of nations, the birth and death of kings and presidents. She witnessed empires rise and fall, heard the clash of armor and the cries of warriors, and saw men bend their knees in the presence of goddesses and queens.
On and on, humanity whirled around her at a dizzying speed until she felt as if every man, woman and child since the dawn of time had passed before her eyes.
And all the faces had reminded her of Julian.
But Julian was not in the past. He was in the present, and his deep, penetrating strokes were driving her closer and closer to climax.
She suddenly remembered Julian’s warning that the experience of having sex with him would be like nothing she had ever experienced before. In the next instant, the proof of his statement was affirmed as her world slowed, hung tenuously in its orbit, then plunged into a deep, dark void.
Simone cried out as her orgasm rolled through her with as much force as Julian’s explosive release, leaving her gasping for breath and her heart pounding wildly in her chest.
And as her body throbbed and pulsed in rippling aftershocks so intense they left her dazed, she barely felt the scrape of Julian’s fangs along her neck.
Chapter Thirteen
“YOU WERE RIGHT,” Simone said, and Julian watched her smile up at him as she fought to catch her breath. “I’ve never felt anything like that in my life.” She tightened her arms around his back and hugged him closer.
He was still buried deep inside her, his system fighting to restore the energy spent in the first sexual activity he’d had in decades. Then he saw the raw spot on her neck and went weak with fear. He’d been certain he’d caught himself in time, that he’d kept from drawing blood, but it looked like . . .
Before he could complete the thought, Simone touched a fingertip to the wound below her ear. He saw the muscles in her neck tighten as she tried to swallow, and then her eyes grew large with fear.
“It will be all right,” he said softly. “In my excitement I seemed to have scraped your neck.” He lifted her hand and laved his tongue gently over the abraded skin, searching for the taste of blood.
The metallic taste on his tongue was too slight for him to have punctured her skin. His heart bumped erratically in relief. If he hadn’t truly bitten her then he hadn’t drunk from her. He’d been certain he hadn’t, but he’d been so consumed by the physical sensations ripping through his sex-starved system that he could have blocked out anything that might have interrupted The Need.
“Does it hurt?” he asked, after he’d washed her skin with the healing moisture culled from the special glands inside his mouth.
“Ummm,” she murmured, closing her eyes and moving her body suggestively against his. “It stings just a little, but . . .” She drew in a deep, contented breath, then opened her eyes and gazed into his. “Does it always feel this . . . this wonderful?” Her body shifted beneath his again and she let out a low purring sound.
A light flush stained her cheeks and he smiled. She was actually embarrassed by the pleasure she felt.
Her satisfaction did little to alleviate the sense of dread hanging over him. He could have injured her seriously, possibly even taken her life, if he’d actually bitten her. Thankfully, he had managed to retain control, so worrying about what could have happened was a waste of time.
“How does your neck feel now?” he asked, checking the abrasion again. He was relieved to see it had already faded to a faint red mark. By morning it would be barely visible.
“I can hardly feel it,” she murmured, nuzzling his neck with her mouth.
He rolled to his side, taking her with him. Still inside her he threw a leg over her hip to keep them joined.
Simone buried her face deeper under his chin and trailed a fingertip down his chest. He felt himself stir inside her. She must have felt it too because she let out one of her contented purrs and slid her hand to his waist, pulling him closer. She then tilted her head back and arched an eyebrow at him.
He couldn’t contain his grin. “Like I said, it’s been a long time.”
She smiled back at him and tucked her head beneath his chin again. “Does that mean you’ll stay until morning?”
He smiled. Technically it was already morning. He kissed the top of her head. “I’ll stay until dawn.”
They were silent for a time. The only sound in the room was their steady, rhythmic breathing, and they were both aware he was still inside her as his cock intermittently stirred.
“The next time will be different,” he whispered, as he neared full arousal again, feeling the need to prepare her for their second coupling as he had for their first. “It will be slower and more intense for both of us.”
“More intense?” There was an uneasy edge to her voice.
He ran a reassuring hand up and down her back. “This next time will be just about the two of us. You’ve already had your initiation into the other realm. Sex for you now will be more normal, but still more intense, more . . .” He paused and smiled. Even though she couldn’t see his face, he suspected the smile came through in his voice. “More like sex between two people should be.”
He curved a finger beneath her chin to lift her face and brought his mouth down to hers. Needing to taste more of her, he lingered over the kiss so he could explore her mouth with his tongue.
She pulled back, breaking the kiss. “Did I really see everything I thought I did?”
He could hear a combination of fear and awe in her voice. Now that she had had a few minutes to think about what she’d experienced, it was only natural that she would begin to question what had happened to her. If he hoped to fulfill the Legacy, he had to do whatever he could to make her feel safe . . . and sane.
“Do you feel that the experience harmed you in some way?”
She shook her head. “No. Physically I feel the same as I did before. I just can’t explain what’s going through my mind. I’m still not sure I witnessed everything I think I did, yet I also know that I saw it all.”
“You visited a plane that exists as surely as this one does. Neither one diminishes the other. They just exist. Nothing more. Nothing less.” He let a few seconds of silence pass before he continued. “Would you like to talk about it?”
“Not now,” she answered, circling her fingertip over his chest. His arousal was more pronounced now, and he held his breath when her hand-drawn circles extended to his waist and then moved lower.
A flame of desire licked at his loins and sent a rush of heat through his veins. But the sexual fire in his body was nothing compared to the joy he felt jus
t holding Simone in his arms. This was what he could expect for many long years ahead of him if . . .
He didn’t let himself finish the thought. There would be time enough for worrying about the future later. Right now he had more important, and definitely more pleasant business awaiting him.
He captured Simone’s mouth again. He was well into the kiss when the banging on the apartment door startled them both.
“What the hell!” He practically rose a foot in the air, with Simone still in his arms.
“Julian!” It was Michael.
Knowing Michael would have never interrupted him tonight unless it was urgent, Julian leapt from the bed and scooped his jeans from the floor. Hopping from one foot to the other, he jockeyed into them.
He gave Simone an apologetic look and raced from the bedroom. When he reached the door and jerked it open, Michael rushed inside. He listened to what Michael had to say and was out the door after him before he remembered Simone.
“I’ll be right back,” he said to Michael and ran back to the bedroom. Simone was sitting on the edge of the bed. She looked fearful and ready to leap to her feet.
“I’m needed elsewhere right now, so I’ll have to leave you for a while,” he told her, trying as hard as he could to downplay his own fear.
He leaned down and brushed her lips with his. “I probably won’t see you again until tonight.”
Simone grabbed his shirtsleeve. “Something bad has happened, hasn’t it?”
“I’ll tell you about it later.” He removed her hand from his arm and placed it over the pendant resting on her chest. “For now all you need to know is that you are safe with this around your neck. Don’t take it off.”
He gave her lips another quick brush with his, then turned and hurried from the room, consciously blocking the fear he’d seen in her eyes with his mind. He would comfort her later. After he had taken care of the alarming situation Michael had just told him about.
“HOW LONG AGO did it happen?” Julian asked Michael as they sped across town to the Metropolitan Blood Bank Laboratory. The lab was one of two blood banks serving the area and the only one in operation since the hurricane.
“About ten minutes ago. It took our guys only five minutes to put an end to the action. Zurik’s crew didn’t fare any better than they did at our place. He must be slipping.”
Julian and Michael reached the front lobby of Metropolitan where two New Orleans police officers were talking to two security guards. They stopped inside the door so as not to interrupt the questioning.
Julian turned to Michael. “Were any of our people hurt?”
“Brian got pretty sliced up. He’s already below ground. He should be healed in a day or so.”
Julian nodded toward the officers writing on their clipboards. “Are they friends of ours?”
Michael nodded. “They’ll write the incident up as an attempted break-in and leave it at that.”
“Besides the two guards, who else was working?”
Michael rattled off a list of names, all of whom Julian knew well. He was relieved none of them had been injured. “Where are the slain vamps?”
“They’ve already been taken to the dump site.”
A large incinerator dumpsite outside the city limits had dodged the eight foot deep water that flooded neighborhoods to the south and west of its location. The bodies of Zurik’s men would be burned there, rendering them to ashes.
“Did we stop them before they got to the plasma?”
Metropolitan was owned by two Watchers who supplied Michael with the plasma he needed to make HerediPlas. They’d only gotten back to normal operation this past week. Any additional interruptions in Metropolitan’s schedule would not only hurt Michael’s production of HerediPlas, but the storage of whole blood which was in extremely short supply since the storm.
The cops nodded to Michael and Julian, indicating their permission for them to take the elevator, and they rode it to the third floor. As the door slid open, Julian asked, “How did Zurik get past Security?”
“According to a guard downstairs, one of the men was a Changer. He took the form of one of the guards’ mother and pretended to be injured. Of course, the guard let her in. Once inside he used some kind of gaseous drug to immediately knock the guards out. Evidently, Zurik’s man thought that drugging them would be faster than engaging them in a fight. The others were waiting outside.”
When they reached the room where the plasma was kept, Julian did a quick but thorough survey of the butchered limbs, severed heads and other recognizable body parts still scattered about the room. He estimated that at least a half-dozen vampires had engaged in the skirmish. The sickly odor of death already tainted the air, and he nodded approvingly as the two men clearing the room thoroughly disinfected it as they worked. Satisfied that no irreparable damage had been done to the plasma supply, Julian headed back toward the door.
Apparently Michael saw the bright red, green, and gold silk scarf draped over the back of a chair at the same time that he did because Michael took a step toward it. Michael lifted the scarf to his nose. “This belongs to Simone’s stepsister.”
Julian remembered that Michael was familiar with the woman’s scent, having already tried to track her that way. It was obvious to Julian that the scarf had been purposely left there for them to find and he said as much to Michael.
“If Zurik’s only purpose for this attack was to let you know that he has Simone’s stepsister, it certainly backfired on him, Michael said grimly. “He’s short quite a few men, now.”
Julian took the scarf from Michael, folded it and stuffed it in his pocket. “Zurik has always been fond of melodrama. Obviously risking his men was worth it to him just to let me know he’s aware of the connection between Simone and her stepsister.”
Julian made another quick inspection of the room. When he was satisfied there was nothing more for them to do, they left the building and headed home. The first hint of the approaching dawn was visible on the horizon.
“Are you going to tell Simone?” Michael asked.
Julian put his hand in his pocket and fingered the scarf. “Perhaps.”
When they reached Mike’s a couple minutes later, Julian looked up at the fast brightening sky. He lifted his eyes towards Simone’s apartment and then looked intently at Michael.
“Keep an extra-close eye on her today. There’s always a method to Zurik’s madness.”
Chapter Fourteen
A FEW SLEEPLESS hours after Julian left with Michael, Simone got out of bed and headed for the shower. She had lain awake feeling anxious about what had happened between her and Julian.
She’d worried that something bad had happened to him after he’d torn out of here with Michael. Even though she was connected to Julian so strongly now that she believed if he was in danger she would know it, she was still filled with anxiety.
When she’d heard Michael return a couple of hours ago, she’d half expected Julian to stop by and assure her that he was okay. She was annoyed that he hadn’t, but then she’d realized it was so close to dawn he probably hadn’t had time to come to her and then safely get to wherever he slept.
Besides, she hoped to meet Deke this morning and Julian had practically forbidden her to leave the bar alone. If he’d popped up here before going to sleep, he might have picked up on her guilty conscience and figured out what she was up to. Then he’d have Mike playing guard dog again.
She turned the water off with an irritated twist of the faucet’s handle, wrapped herself in a towel and went to the bedroom to retrieve her cell phone. Yesterday, while she was playing Michael’s little game to keep her occupied, she’d left a couple of messages on Deke’s answering machine. He hadn’t gotten back to her.
She checked to see if maybe Deke had called while she was in the shower, but there was still no message
from him. The phone rang while she was puzzling over why, after going to the trouble of sending her the note, he hadn’t returned her call. Deke’s name popped up on the LED display. She swallowed and wet her lips before she answered.
When he said hello, Deke’s voice didn’t sound as strong as she remembered, but she figured that was due to a weak cell signal, which was all too common since the storm.
“Your note said you have something to tell me,” Simone said quickly.
“I have a friend who remembers your stepsister and would like to talk to you tonight. He has something to show you.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “Something to show me? Do you know what it is?”
Deke didn’t answer her question, but repeated, “My friend wants to talk with you tonight.”
Her nerves were already on a short leash and her agitation rose at Deke’s obvious tap dancing around her question. “I work tonight.”
“He can meet you anytime, sundown to dawn.”
She paced the small room to alleviate the growing bubble of fear swelling in her chest. After several seconds passed, she puffed out a short breath of frustration. Would Dottie hesitate if the shoe were on the other foot? Absolutely not.
Unexpectedly, the image of Casey, Dottie’s sweet, innocent daughter, floated before Simone’s eyes. Casey needed her mother, and Simone would do whatever it took to get Dottie back to Casey.
“I’ll try to make it after midnight, but I can’t say exactly when.” She held her breath while she waited for Deke’s reply.
“I’ll tell him you’ll be at The Next Level sometime after midnight. And come alone. If you don’t, he won’t talk with you.”
“Wait!” she said, afraid Deke would hang up. “How will I recognize him?”
“I’ll be there,” Deke said.
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