by Cynthia Eden
The blond blinked at her. A drop of blood slid down his throat. “You are…so sexy…”
Lauren grabbed for the rear exit door. She shoved it open—
The human stepped to follow her, but in an instant, Carter was there. He grabbed the guy’s shoulder and shoved him toward the packed dance floor. “You heard her. Stay the fuck away.” His voice was guttural, and his muscles had thickened. His body was transforming, and he was trying—so fucking hard—to pull the beast back.
Lauren had vanished, rushing outside. She knew she was being hunted. The woman should have stayed inside the club. She should have come back…to me. He kicked that door open. It bounced back against the bricks, and Carter bounded outside. He stopped cold when he saw Lauren. Her back was to him. Her shoulders were hunched, as if she were in pain. “Lauren?”
“What did you do to me?”
He reached for her, but his claws were out—wicked sharp and deadly. His hand froze in mid-air.
She looked back at him and her stare widened. “Carter?”
Had his face started to change? “I…can’t…”
She retreated one step, then stopped. “No, I can’t.”
What?
“I can’t feed. At least, not on that guy.” She shook her head. “I tasted his blood, and it was wrong. It was wrong because he wasn’t you.” Then she was surging forward and grabbing his arms, not seeming to care that the man she was touching was part beast. “What did you do? Why is it only your blood that I crave? You that I want? I could drink from others before, but this time, the blood was bitter. I only wanted you.” Her fangs peeked from behind her lips. “I need blood, but I need you more.”
The last thread of his control broke. He lifted her up against him, holding her tight, and Carter offered his throat to her. Her legs locked around his hips, and her mouth opened over his racing pulse. Her teeth pierced his skin and pleasure flooded through him.
He spun around, putting her back against the brick wall, but holding her tightly while she fed. His cock shoved against the front of his jeans, and he pressed his erection against her, rubbing hard at the juncture of her thighs. But that wasn’t enough. Not even close. She was drinking and moaning against him—his mate, who’d tried to taste another—and Carter wanted to burn his mark into her very soul.
His right hand slid between them. He jerked open the snap of her jeans. Then he shoved his hand down those jeans, and his fingers pushed between her thighs. She was wearing a scrap of underwear—panties he didn’t even remember buying at their pit stop. He shoved the cotton to the side. His fingers dipped into her sex. She was wet and hot. Lauren bit him harder while he stroked her, and the feel of her teeth was fucking fantastic.
Hell, no, he didn’t want some other guy to ever know what it was like when her mouth was on him, when she was drinking. Hell, no, Carter didn’t want some other man to experience the pleasure of her bite. He didn’t want any other men so much as looking at her.
His fingers stroked her harder, strumming over her clit. Her sex rocked against his hand. She was trapped against the wall, pinned by his body. He’d yanked her jeans open, but only enough to get his hand inside, only enough so that he could find the soft, sweet flesh that was his.
If another man touched her this way, he’d rip the bastard apart.
She pulled her mouth from his throat. “Carter!”
He didn’t stop stroking her. He worked her clit, worked her sex, and she choked out a moan as she came for him. Right fucking there. In the alley. Behind the club. With his hand in her jeans and his blood in her.
She came for him.
And she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
Her ragged breath filled the night. Her scent was driving him wild. But he had to get her out of there. Because he needed to fuck her. And it wasn’t going to be some easy fuck. It was going to be a werewolf claiming, and he wanted a bed. He wanted privacy. He. Wanted. Her.
He pulled his fingers from her. Righted her clothes. Lowered her so that her heels—sexy as fuck—touched the ground.
She put out a hand to steady herself, curling her fingers over his arm. “That was…”
Her words drifted away. That was okay, he knew how to finish her sentence. “The start.”
He kissed her. Deep. Hard. Hungry.
“And we’re gonna finish,” Carter promised against her mouth, “or I will go insane.”
***
Carter Sinclair had broken their deal.
Antoine had been sure the wolf was so desperate that he’d fall in line. A wolf addicted to vamp blood should have been only too eager to accept the deal Antoine had offered.
Find a runaway vamp, bring her back…and gorge on a never-ending supply of vamp blood. How could a beast resist that offer?
But fucking Carter Sinclair had turned on him.
And now Antoine had every vamp he knew searching for the wolf. Searching, with the goal of killing him. Two million dollars for the werewolf’s body. He’d gladly pay double that amount, if Carter would be brought down.
But every moment that passed, every moment of silence…made the rage within Antoine grow.
He’d tried calling Carter, again and again, but the calls weren’t answered. He knew that Carter had been in Georgia with Lauren, but they’d vanished. None of the vamps in that area could find them now.
Where would you go? Antoine stared out into the night. Carter was trying to take his vamp, but where would the wolf go with her? Where would they hide?
Carter had turned his back on the Vegas pack because he hadn’t wanted them to know about his addiction. Would he reach out to them now?
Or is the fucker feeding on my vamp? That was Antoine’s fear. That Carter had taken Lauren to be his own personal blood source. If that were the case, then Carter would be running with her. He’d go to ground, and it would be hard—damn near impossible—to find the werewolf.
At least, it would be hard for a vamp to find him.
But werewolves are the best hunters out there. That was the whole reason he’d made a deal with Carter in the first place.
Antoine smiled. Perhaps there was someone who could help him in his hunt, after all. Someone much better suited for the task than the vamps who kept failing him.
Carter abandoned his pack. It’s time they learned why. And it’s time they hunted him.
Chapter Eight
Vampire Rules To Live (Or Die) By…
Rule One: Stay out of the sun. That burn is a bitch.
She couldn’t stop the lust—not bloodlust, but instead a wild, heart-racing physical lust for Carter. A need that shook her whole body. They made it to the privacy of a motel, barely. And to be honest, if they hadn’t gotten to a motel, Lauren would have fucked him behind that club.
Her need was that bad. That strong.
He slammed the motel room door behind them, and then he was kissing her. Stripping her. Stroking her body and making her even wilder for him.
“First time…gonna be rough…” Carter rasped the words against her mouth. His hands were on the snap of her jeans.
She kicked away her shoes. “I don’t care.” And she didn’t. A scary truth. She’d always gone for soft and tender lovemaking in the past, but the past—it was gone. She was different. Her blood was running hot, her nails were raking over him, and she wanted the long, thick length of his cock inside of her.
He shoved down her jeans and her panties. Panties that were still wet because of what he’d done to her in that alley. She’d come so hard that her heart had almost stopped.
She wanted to feel that way again. Only she wanted him inside of her. Wanted him pumping deep into her as she erupted.
He tossed her shirt across the room. Her bra followed right after it, and, in the next breath, he was taking her nipple into his mouth. Licking and sucking and even lightly nipping with his teeth. Her head tipped back, hitting the wood of the door as she let out a ragged moan.
Her breasts were so sensitive. Ever
y touch, every lick sent a trail of scorching desire right to her sex. She rocked her hips against him. She wanted him in her, right then.
But he still had on his jeans. His shirt.
This won’t do. Not at all.
She reached out and yanked open the top of his jeans. The zipper slid down and his cock filled her hands. Big and hard and ready, and she wanted to taste him. She wanted to drop to her knees right there and give him the same consuming pleasure he’d given to her.
She started to slide down.
“Oh, hell, no, sweetness, there is no way I can last.” He lifted her up, spun, took four steps, and dropped her onto the bed. She gave a little bounce and started to smile.
Her smile vanished when she saw his face. There was nothing soft or teasing there, just a hunger that had turned his expression to stone. His muscles were bigger, his body stronger, and she wondered if he was about to change before her very eyes.
“Trust…me…” The words were growled from him.
Nodding, she lifted her arms toward him.
He came to her in a rush of strength and need. His mouth took hers. His body tumbled her back on the bed. His fingers slid between her legs, slipped into her, but it wasn’t enough. Not nearly. She couldn’t hold back any longer. She needed too much.
He kicked away his jeans, and they tangled in the covers. He spread her legs and positioned his cock at the entrance of her body.
His fingers caught hers, threaded with them, and he pushed her hands high over her head.
“I waited my whole life for you.” His words seemed to sink into her. All she could see—his eyes. Burning with need. Staring at her as if she were the only thing he could ever want in his whole life.
He thrust into her. Her hips shot off the bed as she tipped back her head, gasping in pleasure. Then his mouth was on her. He bit her, and her body jerked, electrified with feeling. His teeth pressed to the curve of her shoulder, and the bite branded her skin even as it sent pleasure surging through her.
Her legs locked around his hips as she met him, thrust for thrust. The bed shuddered beneath them. The headboard rammed into the wall.
Pleasure built, built…
The climax hit her with the force of a hurricane. She could only cry out his name and hold on tight as the release went on and on. And he was right there with her. He surged into her body and the hot tide of his release filled her. Her sex clamped greedily around him as pleasure blasted over her, again and again. Better than anything she’d ever felt in her life. Stronger. Deeper.
He kissed her shoulder. His body was warm and strong as he rolled them in that bed, moving so that she was sprawled on top of him, but he was still in her. He’d come, but he was still thick, still hard, and growing more so by the moment.
She fought to catch her breath. Fought to make sense of the need. Fucking hadn’t lessened her need for him. It had only made it stronger. She wanted him again. Wild. Fast.
Lauren craved him. She pushed her hands down against his chest, and the movement had her hips and her sex rubbing harder against him. He stared up at her, his eyes glowing in the darkness of the room. They hadn’t bothered turning on the lights when they’d stumbled inside.
They’d been too desperate for each other.
His glowing eyes…she knew the glow meant his beast was close. Only Lauren wasn’t afraid. His body was hot and strong and, as she stared down at him, all Lauren could think was that Carter—he belongs to me.
Her knees pressed into the mattress as she rose up, and then she slid back down. He let out a guttural groan at the sensual move, and she did it again.
His cock grew even bigger within her. Her sex was slick from her release, from his, and she slid over him easily. She’d had other lovers, lovers who’d brought her pleasure, but being with Carter—it was different.
His hands flew up and shoved back against the headboard.
Lauren stilled. “Carter?”
“Want you…” His breath heaved out. His eyes gleamed. “Have control…this time…trying not to touch…you…”
But she liked it when he touched her. She liked it when he fucked her. She liked it when he bit her. She liked…him.
Lauren was afraid she was falling for the wolf. The big, bad wolf.
She leaned forward and her tongue slid out to lick his lower lip. “Let’s see,” she murmured, “how long that control of yours can really last.” She kissed him, slipping her tongue in his mouth to tease him even as she tightened the muscles of her sex around him, squeezing him and giving herself more pleasure. “Let’s see when we both break.”
She rose up, then sank down. Her knees were cushioned by the mattress, her body held up by—
His hips surged upward. He lifted her off the bed as his cock drove deep into her body. Her breasts thrust toward him, and her eyes squeezed shut. She pushed back down, and he thrust up, his hard length filling her so deeply.
“Lauren…My Lauren…”
He’d bit her, and her pleasure had sky-rocketed. What would it feel like, for him, if she bit Carter while he came? What would it feel like for her?
She bent over him, and her teeth pressed to his throat. Lauren tasted him and she came—and he roared his pleasure. Distantly, she heard the sound of wood splintering. His hands flew to grab her hips. He held her so tightly as he drove into her, and then he was coming, too. Lauren swore that she could taste his pleasure.
And it was fantastic.
***
“We have a mutual enemy,” Antoine murmured into his phone. He stood in front of his window, the dark night stretching before him. “Someone who has crossed a line…”
“Who in the hell is this?” Griffin Romeo demanded. “And how did you get this number?
Antoine smiled. “You’re the new pack alpha of the Vegas wolves. Getting your number should have been far harder than it actually was.”
“Who is this?”
“Antoine Abandonato.”
Silence.
Antoine wished he could see the wolf’s face right then. “I believe you’re acquainted with my cousin, Isabella.”
“I’m mated to Isabella.”
So he’d heard. “Isabella created a problem for you, and a problem for me.”
“The hell she did.”
Wasn’t he quick to jump to Isabella’s defense? She’d always been so good at projecting that helpless damsel act, though, even when she’d been seconds away from ripping into some poor bastard’s throat.
Antoine sighed and decided to cut to the chase. “Are you missing a werewolf, by any chance?”
Griffin growled.
“It’s Isabella’s fault,” Antoine told him flatly. “Surely you see that? Your buddy Carter was dying, and she gave him her blood. When a werewolf takes vamp blood—well, addiction follows. Addiction and madness.”
“Not always,” Griffin gritted out.
“Right…not if the werewolf is mated to a vamp, the way you are. Tell me, do you drink from my cousin a lot? Or does the lovely Isabella spend all her time drinking from you?” Werewolf blood packed a powerful punch. Isabella had always been a bit of a lucky bitch.
“Do you want me to kill you?” Griffin’s voice was low and lethal. “Say another thing about my Isabella, and I’ll be coming for your head.”
Antoine’s body tensed. “I’m not the one you should kill. Go find your missing werewolf. Go see for yourself how Carter is feeding on vamps. He’s abducted a new female vamp, and he’s drinking from her.” That’s certainly what Antoine now suspected, though he’d warned Carter to stay clear of her blood. “He’s a rabid dog that needs to be put down. He ran from your pack because he didn’t want you to see what he’d become. I’m telling you what he is—he’s hooked, worse than any drug addict. Isabella thought she was saving him, but my dear cousin just condemned your friend to a living hell.”
“How the fuck do you know about what happened to Carter? How do you know that Isabella—”
“For the right price, any
one will trade information. The wolves in your pack aren’t as loyal as you’d like to think.” And when werewolves drank too much alcohol, they tended to overshare way too much. Beasts could never handle their booze. “This is on you, alpha. Clean up your pack. Stop Carter and bring me back my vampire, or else you’ll have a war on your hands.”
“You’re threatening me?”
“I’m making a promise. Ask Isabella. I don’t threaten, I promise. Carter has already killed two of my vampires—at least two—and now he has Lauren McIntosh. She’s his prisoner. He’s feeding on her, he’s using her, and I won’t let his crimes go unpunished. Either you kill him and you bring me back my mate…or I will bring a war straight to your door.”
“Your mate?”
Antoine laughed. “Obviously, you’ve realized that vamps aren’t the heartless beasts the world likes to think we are. After all, Isabella is linked to you, isn’t she? So it shouldn’t be so hard for you to believe that I’m bound to my Lauren.”
Silence.
Antoine had never liked silence. “Your rogue wolf thought she was vulnerable because she was newly made. He took her. And I want her back.”
“Then maybe you should go fucking get her yourself—”
“Ask Isabella,” Antoine snarled. “You ask Isabella what I’ve done to those who’ve betrayed me in the past. Ask her what happens to my enemies—that way, she can tell you exactly what will happen to your pack. I know where you are, Griffin. I know where you live. I will come for you. The wolves started this battle, and it will be your blood that ends it.”
He hung up the phone. His heart was racing, but a smile curved Antoine’s lips. There. Nicely played. He was sure Griffin would confront Isabella right away, and Isabella—
She wouldn’t lie to her mate.
***
Isabella Abandonato smiled when her mate entered their bedroom. Griffin. Tall, strong, handsome as sin. Would she ever get used to him? She rose from the bed and opened her arms to him. She hadn’t been in that bed because she was sleepy. She was a vamp—the night was made for her kind. She’d been waiting in that bed because she had some definite physical, pleasurable plans for her lover.
