Wicked.
Nicholai pulled away. The desire in her eyes turned them dark. Julie panted and slowly eased against the back of her seat.
He struggled to rein in his lust so he could speak. “I better get you inside before I take you right now in this car where anyone might happen by and see.”
He practically purred the threat. A blush colored Julie’s cheeks, and she shifted her legs against one another.
Calling on all his years of training, Nicholai forced himself from the car and opened her door. He tucked her under his arm as they journeyed through the doors to the inn and up the stairs.
Julie fumbled with the key to the room, her hand shaking. She narrowed her eyes as if concentrating on finding the keyhole. The key finally slid home and turned, granting them entrance to her room. When Nicholai remained in the hall, she turned a questioning glance on him.
“Do you want me to come in or shall we call it an evening?” Nicholai jammed his hands in his tuxedo pockets to quell the urge to take Julie in his arms and kiss her senseless.
Leaving the light in the room off, Julie stepped against Nicholai. She grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled him toward her. His firm body pressed against her soft one. She rose on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss that left no doubt in his mind her answer to his question was “Come on in.”
Nicholai kicked the door closed behind them and moved them into the room. The heat of her body made his heart pound and his blood rush to the most significant places. He backed her across the room until her legs pushed against the bed.
Julie slid his jacket over his shoulders and tossed it onto the pillows. His fingers wove in her hair, pulling it from the chignon. It fell about her shoulders as she loosened and removed his tie. Together they tumbled onto the bed. His body blanketed hers. Nicholai braced his weight on one muscular forearm and settled between her legs.
His tongue slid along hers, teasing as she arched her heavy breasts against his chest. His hand cupped one full globe through the beaded material of her gown. He kneaded and caressed the soft mound. Nicholai’s passion spun out of control, and his mind hazed with desire.
Her addictive kisses nipped at his lower lip, sending a bolt of lightning sizzling to his shaft. It jumped against her quivering thighs as the tension between them rose.
Nicholai pulled back to give her a long perusal. His hand left her breast and found her sleek hair. It flowed salaciously over his fingers.
“You are so beautiful,” he breathed, then lifted a lock of her hair to his nose. “Everything about you excites me. Your scent.” He breathed in deeply before allowing the hair to drop from his grasp. “Your beautiful face.” He brushed the back of one hand over her cheek. “Your soft, sinful curves.” He ran a palm down her ribs, over her hip, and squeezed her thigh. He pushed his hand further south to the hem of her gown, took the material between his fingers and slowly pushed it up her leg.
Julie’s hands worked the buttons on his shirt. They shook as they undid each one, working their way down to reveal the tuft of dark curly hair hiding beneath. Her hands slid as one over the lines of his ribs, up over the dark nipples that pebbled against her palms. They hooked his shirt, slipped it over his broad shoulders.
Suddenly, light bathed the room in a harsh glow.
“Okay, Jules, I heard you come in, give me all the details. I want to hear all about it. We have an early day tomorr—” Penny’s voice stopped mid-sentence when her eyes rested on the two bodies intertwined on the bed. Her gaze appreciatively raked Nicholai’s muscular back and rested on the twin mounds hiding under his black pants. “Oops. Sorry. It looks like I’m interrupting something.”
Penny crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the doorway between her and Julie’s room. “Please continue snogging. Don’t let me stop you.”
“Penny, get out.” Julie peered at her friend from around Nicholai’s shoulder.
Nicholai gave Julie a rueful smile. “Early day?”
“We are going to go on one last shopping spree,” his beautiful heartmate explained. She smoothed her ruffled hair before tugging her gown over her legs.
“Then perhaps I should go so you can get some sleep.” Nicholai pushed off her.
Julie sat up and looked at him from under the dark crescent of her lashes. “You don’t need to go.”
The mood clearly broken, Nicholai put on his shirt with perfunctory ease and picked up his jacket and tie from the bed. “We better call it a night.”
He bent and gave Julie a quick kiss on her sultry lips.
“Don’t go, Nicholai. Penny was leaving. Weren’t you?”
Penny straightened. “Yeah. You stay. I’ll go.”
Nicholai shrugged into the jacket, then tucked the tie in one pocket. “I better go. I’ll see you tomorrow evening, Julie.”
Though he’d have liked nothing better than to remain, he pulled Julie to her feet and wrapped her in his strong arms.
“Don’t forget your promise,” he said before giving her nose a tiny kiss.
Before she could protest, he turned on his heel and left his Juliette hot and wanting. Though he closed the door behind himself, he waited to be sure Juliette locked it.
The sound of Penny’s voice kept him from leaving. “What promise?”
“Nicholai made me promise to be careful. He is still worried what happened at the church and the palace weren’t accidents.”
Nicholai increased his preternatural hearing. It sounded to him like someone sat on the bed.
“That’s silly, Julie. Nothing else has happened since we’ve been here.”
“I know.”
“Now, girl, sit down and tell me all about tonight.”
“I can’t believe you.” Juliette sounded incredulous. “You’re acting like you didn’t just run Nicholai off. You could have closed the door when you realized what we were doing.”
“I’m sorry, Jules. I had no idea. It was dark in here. Were you two going to…You know.”
“Probably…Maybe…I don’t know.”
The Alpha felt quite glad he’d chosen to remain.
“Good for you! It’s about time you got some, especially from a handsome beefcake like that.”
Nicholai smiled at the compliment.
“Well, who knows if I’ll get any now. We go back to England soon. I don’t have much time left with him.”
That’s what you think, my heartmate.
“But if the chance presents itself, you’ll take it, right?”
The springs on the bed creaked. “Yes. I’ve decided you’re right, Penny. I deserve a little romance.”
“About time you came to your senses. I’m so happy for you.”
“Just do me a favor.” Julie sounded puckish. “Don’t come breaking in on us next time.”
I couldn’t agree more, he thought, shifting his still engorged cock to a more comfortable position.
A few minutes later, the frigid night air rolled over Nicholai while he stood outside the inn. His body, still heavy with desire, ached with an unsatisfied need. Hoping the air might act like a cold shower to wash away the lust, he walked down the street, but it didn’t help. He needed to work off the energy.
Tingles moved over his skin. Nicholai sent his senses flowing out into the night, over the buildings and stores in search of anything requiring his attention. If he was lucky, perhaps a burglar or a car thief might provide a release for his pent-up energy. Alas, all he found was another blank spot.
Curious.
He’d taken Julie’s blood this evening. Might her blood somehow be causing these empty spots? He had not heard of Stephan or Marcus experiencing such a thing when they took from their mates, but each vampire was unique. Nicholai wondered if there might be a correlation.
He raked a hand over his scalp, and his slicked hair tumbled around his face. An investigation seemed in order to make sure there wasn’t something amiss.
He moved around the inn, twice, to be sure he found no danger. Discovering
nothing of note, he slid behind the wheel of his vehicle and brought the engine to life. It purred like the finely tuned sports car it was. He gunned the motor and took off toward his house with all the speed the roads could handle.
The ride home became fast and furious as the warrior tried to work off some of the energy that pulsed through his veins. Hoping to relax, he took several detours, burning off the hours until sunrise, but it did little to calm his body. Only one thing could satisfy this need. Unfortunately, she lay in a bed back at the inn. And didn’t that just make him want to turn around.
Chapter 26
Penny flipped her head upside down and tossed her blonde locks back and forth. As she straightened, her hair flung away from her sweet face.
“How much longer?” she asked Julie.
Julie shrugged.
The women waited for the metro in the underground subway station in Red Square. The station, with its high white ceilings, echoed with activity. The marbled walls were decorated with archways containing bronze statues depicting life-size replicas of the Russian people. A construction worker, a mother, a chef, and a military man all watched travelers pass.
While they waited for the train, Julie marveled that even after their third trip to the GUM, they still hadn’t made it into every single shop.
“Oh, shoot!” Juliette smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand.
“What is it, Julie?”
“I forgot to get the matryoshka.”
“The stacking dolls? No worries. We can go to the toy store in Yaroslavia and get some. You really want those things, don’t you?”
“I have always thought they were adorable. My grandmother had a set I played with as a child. Grammy and I would set them out and have tea parties, pretending they were a family of identical quintuplets.
“Unfortunately when she passed, we didn’t find them. I’ve always wanted a set of my own.”
Julie’s eyes went dreamy as she fondly remembered playing on her grandmother’s farm. Her memories were sharp. She could almost smell the freshly mowed hay, feel the lush green grass under her toes. It was a welcome change from the stale air of the station and the pain in her feet after hours of walking the GUM.
“Here it is.” Penny tugged on Julie’s jacket sleeve.
The train’s brakes squealed the cars to a stop.
The women pushed into the car against the flow of people exiting and found a plastic seat.
Penny turned toward Jules. “So where are you and Nicholai going tonight?”
“After the ballet and party last night, I want a quiet night. Hopefully, he’ll plan something simple.”
An amiable smile graced Penny’s face. “He likes to surprise you, doesn’t he?”
Julie situated her coat closed around her and placed her purse on her lap. “Yeah. It’s been fun. I never know what to expect. One night we are ice skating on a pond, and the next we are at the ballet.”
“A private showing of the ballet, none the less. I can’t believe he did that for you. He must really be smitten with you.”
“He said he cared about me last night,” Julie admitted as heat crept up her neck to her cheeks.
“I could tell the first night he met you. I saw in his eyes it was love at first sight.”
An inelegant snort escaped Julie’s mouth. “Yeah, right.”
Penny laid her hand on Julie’s forearm. “No really. Don’t you remember? I told you he appeared enthralled, and he looked at you with puppy love in his eyes.”
Julie shook her head in dissention while she secretly hoped her friend was right. In the short time since she’d met Nicholai Peterhof, she had come to like him a great deal. The way he treated her, as if she was all that mattered to him, made her heart fill with joy. She loved being around him, loved being in his arms. Loved his sense of humor.
She loved him.
The realization struck like a hard fist to her solar plexus. She fought to breathe, taking in gulps of air, as she tried to calm her palpitating heart.
“What’s wrong?” Penny’s eyes widened with concern.
“Can’t…breathe…gonna…faint…” wheezed Julie.
“Put your head between your knees,” Penny commanded, pushing gently on Julie’s back as she assumed the position.
“When it passes, drink this.” Julie took the water offered by her friend and worked to calm her breathing.
****
Lovazia slunk silently into the room at the inn. The drapes, drawn against the noonday sun, made the room shadowed. A small crack in the material allowed a sliver of light to beam across the floor. While her vision might be impeded, her sense of smell was not. One inhale and the stench of vampire prickled her nose.
Her lithe figure moved closer to the bed and raised a long sword above its head. The glint of the sun reflected off the shiny blade. Tiny prisms danced along the walls.
Lovazia stalked closer on silent feet toward the mound lying in the bed. She allowed hatred to consume her body, using the strength of the emotion to power the thrust.
The long sword came down in a mighty swoop, whistling through the air from the speed of the arc. Vibrations ran up its length into the hilt as it sliced cleanly through the mound and lodged into the mattress below. The bed shook with the force of the killing blow.
The demon looked down, waiting to see the dark pool of blood form under the weapon. Anticipation brought a smile.
She raised the sword and turned it, carefully checking each side. It appeared clean. Incomprehensible! The blade could not have missed its mark.
Her hand reached out, yanked the red and gold spread from the bed. Feathers flew in the air.
“Pillows!”
Cushions lay in the bed in the shape of a body. A female vampire should have been in bed, sleeping the day away. Where was she? The bathroom perhaps?
Lovazia crept to the door of the bath. After placing an ear to the closed door and hearing nothing inside, she cranked the knob. Frustration strengthened her grip, and it buckled under the force. The door opened to reveal an empty room.
Lovazia had waited, planned. The bloodsucker should be in the bed, waiting for her death to come at the hands of the sword-wielding demon.
Rage gave her lithe body renewed strength. The blade slashed through the towels drying over the curtain rod in the shower. Next, the sword crashed into the mirror over the vanity, sending tiny shards of glass raining down over the sink and the tile floor.
Then Lovazia went to work, releasing her anger on the bedroom. She sliced through the pillows, sending tiny white feathers floating through the air. The bedspread was slashed into red and gold ribbons. She tore the drapes from their rods, and the curtains pooled over the shredded bed covering.
Satisfied with the work, Lovazia slunk from the room. She might not have accomplished her goal of death, but she had left a mark. There would be another day, another time. The demon would have her kill.
****
“It has been a long day,” Julie said dragging her tired feet up the stairs. Penny followed in tow, pushing her bottom to help her ascend the stairs.
“I know what you mean. Glad it’s you going out tonight and not me.”
Their feet sounded heavily on the wooden stairs as they climbed. When they reached the landing, Juliette stopped so suddenly Penny ran into her back, causing Julie to stumble forward.
“Look!” Julie gestured toward the door to her room. It was open, the lock obviously broken, entry to the room forced.
The two women inched forward, holding hands as they peered into the open door. Both gasped when their eyes took in the sight within. Though the twilight barely illuminated the room, they plainly saw the disaster.
Penny leaned closer to her friend and whispered, “Do you think whoever did this is still here?”
Julie turned her horrified gaze on her friend. As one, the women took a step back. Fear crept up Julie’s spine and settled deep in her brain. Her eyes grew wide. Nicholai had been right. Someone was a
fter her. Judging by the condition of the room, someone wanted to kill her.
Her knees went weak with the thought, and she fought to remain upright. Penny’s grip on her hand tightened painfully.
Penny dared to move forward first. “I don’t see or hear anyone in there. Let’s go in.”
Penny tugged Julie’s hand and led her into the room. Piles of cloth lay about the room. Julie tripped when the ribbons of the slashed bedspread caught her foot. She righted herself using the mattress for support, and her hand slid into one of the deep cuts made there.
Julie jerked away. What could have done that? Who would have come into her room? What if she had been in the room at the time?
Juliette’s knees gave out, and she hit the floor hard. The blood drained from her face. Her hands went ice-cold.
Penny knelt beside her. “You don’t look so good, Jules. I’m going to get you something to drink. It kept you from passing out earlier on the train.”
Her friend made her way into the bathroom and glass crackled under Penny’s shoes. Unable to find the strength to move, Julie remained on the floor and her eyes once more skirted around the room.
The weight of the situation struck her with such force she had to throw her arms stiffly behind her to brace her weight. Nicholai had been right all along. Why hadn’t she listened to him? She could be safe in his home, in his arms right now if she’d only heeded his warnings.
Oh Nicholai, she thought. Where are you? I need you!
Chapter 27
Stephan and Demetri sat in the great room of Demetri’s home when the sound of the doorbell broke their conversation. Demetri glided across the wooden floors to open the door wide in welcome.
“Come in, Alexander. It is about time you arrived.” He clasped his fellow Alpha’s forearms in greeting.
“I’d have been here sooner, but you know how those private planes are. Always running on the corporate schedules, never convenient,” the blond male joked in his southern drawl. Alex removed the baseball cap from his head as Stephan’s long strides brought him to the door.
Alpha Lover Page 17
