by L. L. Raand
Lara bit her, infusing Raina’s system with the healing essence unique to Vampires. She refused to feed, but she could not refuse the call of Raina’s flesh. The rising tide of Raina’s passion ignited her bloodlust. She kept herself from drinking with the last tethers of her control, but she could not deny the need kindled by the hunt and fired by Raina’s allure. She had to release. Straddling Raina’s thigh, Lara relinquished Raina’s neck and pierced Raina’s breast with her canines. Raina, lost in thrall, clawed her back, the pain as exquisite as a bite. Lara came in a torrent so fierce she could barely keep from collapsing on Raina’s still form. Panting, drenched in blood and sex, she pulled her mouth away and braced herself on outstretched arms. Her muscles quivered and her sex pounded. She groaned.
Raina’s eyes, clouded with pleasure, roamed over Lara’s face. “Who are you?”
“I don’t know,” Lara murmured.
*
Becca sat on the side of the vast four-poster bed, naked except for the cream silk sheets, a few shades lighter than her skin, draped over her thighs, and finished the meal Jody’s servants had brought to the door not long before. She hadn’t gotten used to sleeping during the day yet and had awakened before sunfall. She hadn’t waited to share the meal with Jody. Jody did eat and drink, but when she woke, she wouldn’t be hungry for food. She would be ravenous to feed, lusting for blood, especially as she’d been so recently injured. Becca had sent Jody’s blood servants away, even though Jody would not be happy to find Becca alone in the bedroom. Jody was recently Risen, and most Vampires couldn’t control their bloodlust so soon after making the final transition. Jody worried she would lose control when she fed from Becca and take too much blood.
Becca wasn’t worried. Jody had the control of a much older and stronger Vampire. She pushed the service tray away and turned on the bed, leaning on one arm to watch Jody wake. She lived for and feared this moment every day. While asleep, Jody was lost to her, so deep in daylight somnolence she was barely breathing, her heartbeat so slow and subdued as to be impossible to feel. Becca was still terrified Jody would not wake and she would be helpless to reach her. Jody was so beautiful—her porcelain skin flawless, her bold features carved from ivory, her hair as dark as midnight. Becca leaned over and kissed her, and when she pulled back, Jody’s obsidian eyes were fixed on her face. Where once Becca had seen only endless night in those eyes, now scarlet shards cut through them, an ever-present reminder that Jody was Vampire.
“Hi,” Becca said.
Jody smiled. “Hello.”
Her incisors glistened against her lower lip and her eyes were suddenly more flame than obsidian.
“Becca—” Jody murmured, half warning, half invitation.
“I’ve been waiting for you.” Becca took Jody’s hand and tugged as she lay on her back, drawing Jody over her. “Wanting you. Needing you.”
Jody’s hand came into Becca’s hair and tightened, guiding her head back, exposing her neck. Becca wrapped her legs around Jody’s slim hips. Jody’s body was cool and smooth as marble against the heat of Becca’s flesh. Becca’s heart thundered in her chest, but she felt no answering pulse from Jody. She gripped Jody’s shoulders. “I need all of you. Take what you need. Take me.”
Jody was at Becca’s neck so fast all she felt was the quicksilver flash of pain as Jody pierced her skin and then only unbearable pleasure.
“Oh God,” Becca cried out, digging her fingers into Jody’s shoulders. Her orgasm exploded through her, exquisitely raw, unspeakably intense. Jody rode between her thighs, drawing life from her life, coming with her. Their bodies, their heartbeats attuned with every pulse of Becca’s blood into Jody’s cells.
Deep in bloodlust, Jody’s throat worked convulsively, her hips pumping to the rhythm of Becca’s blood flowing into her. She wanted only to drink, to stave off the cold, dark emptiness from which she’d just emerged. Becca was warmth and light and life. Becca. Her consort. Her human consort. Jody dragged her mouth away, severing the exquisite connection—choosing love over blood. “I love you.”
Becca’s eyes were glazed, her mouth swollen. She smiled lazily and ran her hands up and down Jody’s back. “Mmm. I noticed that.”
Jody laughed and kissed her on the mouth. Her clitoris pulsed against Becca’s center. Filled with blood, Becca’s blood, Jody was potent, strong. She framed Becca’s face and kissed her again, rocking against her. “How do you feel?”
“Like I want more.” Becca brushed Jody’s hair from her forehead, tugged a lock between her fingers. “Like I want your mouth on me again. Like I want your bite.”
“Do you?” Jody asked, sliding slowly up and down between her thighs.
“You know I do.” Becca arched, rubbed her breasts and belly over Jody’s. “Now, Vampire.”
“With pleasure.” Jody kissed her way down Becca’s body and, settling between her legs, took her into her mouth. Licking slowly, sucking gently, she drank her essence as she had her blood, feasting on her.
“You’re going to make me come,” Becca warned breathlessly.
Jody caressed Becca’s abdomen and cupped her breast, squeezing gently as she closed her lips around Becca’s clitoris and sucked her into readiness.
“Oh yes…you are.” Becca’s legs trembled, twisting restlessly against the sheets. “Soon, darling. Please.”
Jody caressed Becca’s breasts and, at the instant Becca climaxed, carefully pierced the flesh on either side of Becca’s clitoris. Her hormones tumbled Becca into a crescendo of orgasms, spiraling higher and higher until Becca cried out and went limp.
Jody gathered her into her arms and kissed her. “Better?”
Becca laughed softly. “Better…hmm. Yes.” She pillowed her head on Jody’s shoulder. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m healed. I’m fine. Are you—”
“Wonderful. Stop worrying.”
“No headache, no weakness?”
Becca made a fist and lightly punched Jody’s shoulder, earning a raised eyebrow from her elegant Vampire lover. “I told you. It doesn’t hurt me to feed you. Not at all.”
Jody’s brows drew down. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were born to this.”
“Maybe I was. It’s possible, isn’t it? That there might be human servants that don’t even know they have the capacity? Just because they’ve never been with a Vampire?”
“I suppose it’s possible,” Jody said, rolling over onto her back and drawing Becca into her arms. “We’ve always assumed that Vampires and our servants have been together since the beginning—linked genetically. There’s very little crossover among servants in different Clans, and as a result, our lines have evolved together. But there could have been humans who never served, and their lines remained…dormant.”
“Perhaps certain humans have the genetic capability, and it’s expressed differently in some generations or is triggered in some individuals,” Becca mused. “I’m not an expert on that sort of thing, but I know someone at the university—”
“Becca,” Jody said, her voice suddenly flat and cold. “There are reasons we don’t expose ourselves to humans. Remember, we have been hunted nearly to extinction. We must be careful what we allow the humans to know.”
“I understand,” Becca said, appreciating that until very recently, all the Praetern species had lived in utter secrecy, hiding in plain sight for millennia. But for her, information was not just knowledge, it was life. And if there were things she could discover that would help keep Jody safe and strong, she would find a way to get the information. “I promise, I’ll be careful.”
“And you’ll tell me what—”
A knock sounded on the door, and Zahn called, “I’m sorry, Liege, but an urgent call.”
“Come in.” Jody drew the sheet over Becca.
Zahn, dressed in a black silk shirt and trousers, carried a cell phone to Jody and held it out. “Alpha Mir.”
Jody took the phone. “Gates.”
“You need to come to th
e Compound,” Sylvan said.
“What is it?”
“Lara is here, and there’ve been developments.”
“I’ll be there within the hour.” Jody ended the call and stared at Zahn. “Why is Lara at the Compound and not here?”
“She left, Liege. Shortly after she fed.” Zahn grimaced. “I’m afraid I was…incapacitated, and she ordered the guards to open the barricades.”
“Before sunfall?”
“Yes, Liege.”
“Tell Rafaela to gather my guards and bring a car around.”
Zahn inclined her head. “Yes, Liege. Do you need to feed?”
Becca raised her head from Jody’s shoulder and smiled at Zahn. “No, Zahn. Thank you. Jody has already been taken care of.”
“Leave us,” Jody said.
“As you wish.” Zahn bowed slightly to Jody and left.
“You have no need to be jealous,” Jody murmured.
“She’s very beautiful.”
“And you are my consort.”
Becca sighed. “I know. Give me a century or two and I’ll get used to it.”
Jody laughed. “Take as long as you need.” She pushed the sheets aside. “I must go.”
“I’ll come with you.”
Jody hesitated, unused to sharing her life with anyone.
“I’m your consort, Jody. I belong with you.”
“Yes. You do.” Jody held out a hand. “Come.”
“Lara went out during the day?” Becca asked as she gathered her clothes.
“Apparently.”
“How?”
Jody’s jaw hardened. “I don’t know.”
Chapter Five
“Sentrie,” Lara called.
Misha moved up quickly beside her. “Yes, Centuri?”
“Warlord,” Lara said.
Misha ducked her head. “Yes, Warlord.”
“How far is your weapon?”
“Only a few hundred yards. I wasn’t far when I heard the struggle and waited to shift until I was close.”
“Good. Get it and guard the prisoner.”
“Yes, Warlord.” Misha sprinted away.
Lara crouched beside her prisoner. Raina’s bleeding had stopped, but her wounds had not healed and wouldn’t until she could shift again. All but the strongest of wolves would need hours if not days to heal from injuries as bad as Raina’s, but Raina was an Alpha and sure to heal faster than any other cat. The effect of the infusion of Vampire hormones was uncertain too. If Raina regained her strength and challenged again before the other sentries arrived, Lara would have to kill her. A cat that powerful could not be allowed to live, even if she had invoked sanctuary. Her voluntary imprisonment should last until the Alpha pronounced sentence, but cats couldn’t be trusted to keep their word—unlike wolves, the felines were lawless and without honor. If Raina could escape, Lara had no doubt she would.
“Where are your guards?” Lara asked Raina.
Raina’s jaw tensed, her direct gaze a challenge.
Lara stared her down. “Don’t make me hurt you again—I just saved your life.”
“I’m alone.”
“Why?” Lara shook her head. “No Alpha travels without guards.”
“I’m alone.”
“Alone in Pack land, with cubs?”
Raina’s eyes narrowed and she growled.
Lara almost smiled. The cat was helpless and still she challenged. “Where are they?”
“Let me get them,” Raina said.
“You’re too weak to go anywhere.”
“I think I know what I am capable of, Wolf,” Raina said, a snarl underscoring her words.
“You forget, Cat, you are a prisoner. Even if you weren’t as weak as one of your cubs, you aren’t in charge any longer. I am your new master.”
“I am no one’s slave.” Raina’s canines flashed, and her eyes darkened to the green of the forest after a hard rain. Her cheekbones arched, sharp and bold beneath her tawny skin. A flare of gold burnished her belly. She verged on shifting, no matter she could never stand to a challenge.
“Cage your cat, Raina,” Lara murmured, her blood stirring at the unmistakable tang of power in the air. Raina was barely conscious, but her call was strong. Not the wild burn of the Alpha’s call, but a dark, seductive caress that promised secret pleasures. Lara had never tangled with a cat, no wolf would, and the tightening of her clitoris infuriated her. “You’re in no shape to challenge me.”
“Leave them alone.”
“You’d rather have them die?”
Pain flashed across Raina’s face. She was fearless for her own safety, but frantic for her young. Lara crushed a surge of sympathy and rose as Misha strode up, automatic rifle at the ready. “If she moves, shoot her in the heart.”
Misha’s chin jutted and she snapped a salute, fist to heart. “Yes, Warlord.”
Lara stalked away. The cat might be beautiful, but she was still an enemy. Lara skimmed her fingertips over the pelt line that bisected her abdominals and disappeared between her thighs, swallowing the pulse of feeding hormones coating her tongue. Her nipples were tense, the deep glands beneath her clitoris throbbing. She still tasted Raina’s blood, still scented her musk. She wanted to howl. She wanted to feed. From her.
Ever since she’d awakened to discover she had died and been resurrected Vampire, sex and blood had been all she’d craved. Anyone’s blood. Anyone’s body. Raina might be a cat, but her blood was that of an Alpha—potent, erotic, addictive. Maybe she should have killed her. The cat was dangerous. Lara slid her hand lower, brushed the swollen prominence at the apex of her thighs. Soon, she’d find another to feed from. Soon.
Lengthening her stride, Lara forced thoughts of Raina and sex and blood from her mind. She needed to find the cubs before the area was flooded with wolves and the cubs were killed on sight. Once she was far enough away from Raina that the cat’s distinctive mountain scent was just a lingering note teasing her senses, she stopped and extended her awareness outward into the craggy canyon. After a second, she detected the crushed-leaf aroma of cat and felt the twin heartbeats, fast and frightened. Silently, she followed the vibrations upward, gliding over the rock face as quickly in skin as she had in pelt, faster in either form than when she’d been wholly Were. Three-quarters of the way up the cliff she reached a narrow ledge less than a foot wide that ended in a blind turn. She guessed the cubs were sheltered around that bend, probably in a niche in the rock wall. A highly defensible position. Raina had chosen well. Lara eased along the ledge and crouched at the bend, gripping the rough stone surface with one hand and leaning out to peer around the corner.
Four bright eyes glinted in the shadows.
“Hello, little ones,” Lara murmured. The echo of their heartbeats escalated in her blood. She reached around and tiny claws raked her forearm. Laughing, she gripped the cub by the ruff and hauled it out. Four tiny limbs thrashed and miniature teeth flashed. A fighter. After tucking the cub between her hip and the wall, she retrieved its littermate. They were practically newborns, barely bigger than the palm of her hand. Raina must have just given birth—no wonder she’d been too weak to fight. Their pelts were feather soft, the fur finer than their mother’s and dotted with faint brown spots, whereas Raina’s pelt was an even tawny gold. Their eyes were hers, though, a distinctive brilliant green. One had shards of gold ringing its irises, like she’d noticed in Raina’s eyes when Raina dropped her guard. Lara held the scrabbling young up in the air, one in each hand, and examined their soft round bellies. One male, one female. The female with the green-gold eyes bared her teeth and swatted at Lara’s wrist with a paw the size of a pea. Lara shook her gently and growled. “Like your Alpha, foolish but brave.” She rose, tucked them both into the curve of one arm, and started down. A moment later she stood over Raina. “They’re just whelps.”
Raina’s gaze shot to her cubs. A protective rumble rose from her chest. The cubs mewled and struggled harder. Lara tightened her grip.
“A little
over a week,” Raina said at last.
“You gave birth to them out here, didn’t you?” Lara shook her head. “Why? You had to know how vulnerable you’d be with two helpless cubs and you not at full strength.” Lara knelt, watching Raina for any sudden aggression. “Why? Who are you running from?”
Raina’s mouth set in a tight line. “I will speak to your Alpha and no one else.”
Lara heard the sound of vehicles approaching fast. Soon Raina’s fate would be out of her hands. The idea of anyone, even the Alpha, taking charge of Raina and her cubs made her snarl. Raina tensed, flashed her canines. “Save your energy. You’ll have your chance to face the Alpha soon enough.”
“Let me have the cubs.”
Lara laughed. “You’re in no condition to take care of them. Besides, I might want to play with them.”
“You bastard.” Raina half sat up, and Misha leveled the automatic at her.
Lara smiled as Raina relented and dropped back to the ground. “Have you forgotten the rules of war, Raina? You lost. You have no power here.”
Two Rovers pulled to a stop a few yards away, and the doors of both vehicles flew open. Lara expected to see Callan, the captain of the sentries, leading the retrieval squad, but to her surprise, Niki, the Alpha’s second, jumped down from the first armored vehicle. A half dozen armed soldiers exited the second and spread out into the forest. Shirtless in camo BDUs, Niki, a muscular redhead with an automatic rifle slung over her back, strode forward and nodded curtly to Lara. A swath of barely healed burns crisscrossed her chest and left shoulder. Hands on hips, she stared down at Raina, her lips drawn back and canines gleaming. Aggressive pheromones clouded the air. “I didn’t believe it when I heard. A cat Were. Why isn’t she dead?”
