by Kym Grosso
“No running. Ever. Tell me you understand.” His palm, that had rested on her belly, glided up her chest until he held her throat in his hands. Taking her chin, he turned her head so that his lips brushed hers. “Say it, Sydney.”
“Kade,” she breathed.
“Say it.”
“I’m sorry…I knew. I needed to do this on my own. But I won’t ever share you. I love you too damn much.” She grasped his thigh, digging her nails into his leg.
“This pleasure, my soon-to-be wife,” Kade pumped his fingers back into her wet core, “will only ever be yours.”
“Ah, yes. Harder,” she cried. Her head lolled back on his shoulder and she clutched his leg.
“And your blood…this pleasure is only ever for you,” he said, his fangs slicing into her neck.
The familiar delicious sting of his teeth at her flesh sent her into a state of ecstasy. His bite was a validation of her role within his life. Desired. Accepted. Loved. She shook, the climax rolling through her. As his tongue laved over the wounds, she twisted around in his arms.
“Let’s go home, love. I think we’ve made our point,” he laughed.
“I’m not so sure about that. You started something, and I think we oughta finish it.” No longer encumbered with concern that the humans doubted his commitment to her, Sydney pressed her palms to his chest, guiding him against the wall.
Kade thanked the goddess that he’d found Sydney when he had. He was aware that she knew he’d be able to track her. She’d been in the club long enough on her own that she could have gotten in serious trouble. Glowing, Sydney had been nourished. Even as she kicked and fought him on the way up the steps, he marveled at her strength. His happiness was countered with guilt for not suggesting siphoning from the minute she’d been turned. He knew damn well the method existed, that certain vampires preferred the complete lack of interaction it provided. But it was a course of last resort. Old school norms led him to teach her otherwise. She’d be extraordinarily vulnerable if she didn’t learn how to obtain food on her own, to bite without pain.
Although Kade was relieved that Sydney had finally fed, Gemma was a complication he hadn’t expected. At one time, she’d been a trusted food source. Irresponsibly, he’d fucked her on one occasion, but it’d meant nothing…to him. She’d played it down when he’d asked her to help with Sydney. He should have known that Gemma still had feelings for him. Bringing her home had been a lapse in judgment, one that could have cost him dearly. In Sydney’s feral state, she surely would have killed Gemma.
Claiming his mate publicly had been the only way to convince her and everyone else at the club that she, despite being vampire, belonged to him. The rasp of his zipper coming down drew his attention back to Sydney, who clearly sought to continue the demonstration.
“What are you doing, baby?” Kade asked with a smile. He laughed as she pushed him over to the wall.
“What do you think I’m doing?” She lifted her shirt and cupped her breasts. Teasing her nipples into fine points, she licked her lips. The fabric fell and she grinned, slipping her hand into his trousers.
“You sure about this, love? It’s not something you usually do in public…aw, fuck,” he cried, as she took his dick in her hands.
“Yep…pretty sure,” she responded with a giggle. Stroking the glistening come off the tip of his crown, she pumped him in her hand. “I want you now. No waiting.”
“Not out here.” Kade spied a door in the corner of the alcove. A storage closet, he hoped. Without bothering to remove her grip, he guided her toward it. They shuffled toward their destination, kissing as they went. Reaching for the door handle, he opened it and they laughed, realizing how desperate they were. She’d been ill for over a month. Like a shaken bottle of soda, they both were ready to explode.
“In here,” Kade ordered. With his pants wide open, he dragged her into the small space and slammed the door shut behind them.
“Off,” Sydney growled, dropping to her knees.
“Jesus Christ, woman…” His head fell backward onto a shelf, and he cursed as she tore down his boxers, unleashing his erection into her hands. She took his cock between her lips, and the momentary pain was soon replaced by ecstasy. He’d forgotten how amazing her hot mouth was, her talented tongue darting over the seam on his head.
“This cock belongs to me, do you hear me, Kade?” She gave him a wicked smile.
“Goddess, don’t stop.” He caught the gleam of desire in her eyes flickering red in the darkness.
“My cock.” Laving upward with her tongue, she bit down gently as if putting him in a vise. “Every last inch of it.”
“Fuck yeah,” he agreed. Wrapping his hands into her hair, he guided himself through her lips.
Sydney stabbed her fingernails into his ass as he fucked her mouth. Kade’s orgasm rose to the surface and he tilted her head backward, her face wet with saliva.
“Come here,” he demanded.
Complying, Sydney shoved herself to her feet. She kicked off her shoes, and shimmied out of her panties. He slid his hands under her skirt, cupping her ass, and heaved her upward. She wrapped her ankles around his waist, her legs scraping the wall.
“Fuck me,” she cried, dragging her incisors along his neck.
“Demanding lil’ thing, aren’t you?” He spun around, kicking a bucket in the process. Laughing, he reached for his shaft, still holding her to him.
“I need this. Need you in me…now. I don’t care who hears.”
“You better hold on, Syd. This is gonna be a rough ride.” Kade readied his cock, lubricating himself in her wetness. He grunted as he buried himself in her.
“Holy shit. Oh my God,” she breathed.
“Fuck, your pussy is so tight.” He withdrew and slammed into her again. He felt a metal object digging into the back of his skull but pleasure outweighed the pain. He momentarily lost his concentration, and his grip slipped. “The shelves.”
“The what?” Sydney asked, her hands wrapped around his neck.
“Brace yourself,” he warned. His lips captured hers, his tongue invading her warm mouth.
Kade heard the ping of items scatter all over the floor as Sydney wildly reached for the shelf behind him. A mop fell over, barely missing his head. He’d have laughed had she not constricted around his cock, driving him to near climax. He felt as if he was a virgin again, unable to hold back.
“Harder,” she cried into their kiss, desperation in her voice. She clutched at the ledge, clawing her nails into the wood. “So close. That’s it.”
“I want to hear it.”
“What?” She bit at his lips, locked in his gaze.
“I want this entire fucking place to hear you come.” He thrust into her hard, causing her teeth to scrape his lips.
“Oh God, yes. Just a little more…oh shit.” Sydney sucked at his lip, lapping the blood of her mate into her mouth.
“Can’t hold it….Sydney…fuck, yes,” Kade grunted. His balls drew tight, the pressure exploding inside him. Her pussy fisted him in rhythmic pulses, taking him from pure pleasure to unbridled release. His fangs descended, plunging into the soft flesh of her neck. Resisting the urge to take deep gulps of her essence, he controlled the impulse, gently suckling her skin and laving it with his tongue.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Tears flowed as she convulsed with him, her orgasm rolling through her.
“You didn’t deserve what happened to you that day. None of this is your fault.”
“I should never have left Logan’s house. The demon…I knew there was something wrong. I fucked up.”
“No, no, no. It’s going to be all right. I promise you.” He pressed his lips to her neck, her cheek, her hair, cradling his mate.
“Don’t lie to me. Please. I couldn’t take it.”
“I have a plan. I always have a plan, my sweet Syd.”
“God, I love you.”
“I love you too. I swear to you on my life we will fix this.” As Kade gently rem
oved himself from inside her, he held her against him in the darkness, unable to let go.
Chapter Five
Kade lay watching Sydney sleep. It had been the first night in over a month they’d slept together all night in the same bed. While he’d never left her side after her attack, she’d been unconscious for weeks. After she awoke, she’d spent most nights pacing or crying, with no semblance of peace.
His conversation with Luca weighed heavily on his mind. As happy as he was that Sydney was temporarily sated, it was just a matter of time before she needed to feed again. She’d told him of Mya, and her desire to keep using her. But his concern remained that she’d never be fully independent.
Making love to her several times throughout the night, it wasn’t lost on him that she’d never bit him. Her desire to had been palpable but he knew she resisted, afraid she’d hurt him, too. They couldn’t go on forever like this.
His thoughts drifted to Anthony’s impending arrival. Within hours he’d be at the house, and Kade still hadn’t told Sydney about the prison break. With everything she’d been through, he didn’t want to worry her. But the discussion was inevitable. As soon as she found out what had happened, he knew she’d want to help Anthony with the investigation. He’d argue that she was vulnerable, and she’d counter that she’d been healed, and was ready to go back to work. It would be nearly impossible to stop her.
But that was why he’d fallen in love with her. She’d always been strong, a protector of humanity. Given her challenging recovery, he feared she wasn’t ready. Unable to feed properly, she’d soon become a danger to others if she was unable to control her impulses. She’d have killed Gemma if he hadn’t stopped her. He anticipated she’d need several months to adjust to her transition. Having the discipline to restrain the urge to retaliate when faced with confrontation was a skill she’d hone under his wing. Letting her loose on the streets with her former partner could lead to disastrous consequences.
His primary concern kept circling back to her ability to feed on demand, especially if she became injured; something she’d be hard pressed to do if she was relying on a donor to surgically drain the blood from their vein. If what Léopold had suspected was true, that she’d developed a psychological block, they had to break the cycle. Kade reasoned that inducing pleasure during feeding would build her confidence and allow her to live a normal life as a vampire. He considered Luca’s suggestion that Anthony could be the one to help. Only once had he shared Sydney and they’d both done it to save Luca from dying.
Kade leaned over, and pressed his lips to her cheek. She stirred for only a moment before continuing her healing slumber. He slipped out of the bed and went to the bathroom. As he stared at himself in the mirror, he contemplated the hard decision he’d have to make.
“Hello, Anthony,” Kade said. The bitter pill he planned to swallow rested on his tongue. He wasn’t sure how to broach the subject, but the idea was set in his mind. “You can put your bag over there.”
“Hey man, how’s it goin’?” Anthony replied. He shook Kade’s hand and set his carry-on luggage next to the door. “Where’s Syd?”
“Yeah, about that. She’s still sleeping. Come into the kitchen and I’ll get you some coffee.” Kade gestured toward the hallway, talking as he went. “I really need to talk to you about what happened…she isn’t herself.”
“I need to see her,” Anthony pressed.
“I’ve been thinking about this ever since you told me. When you tell her about the prison escape, you do know she’s going to want to go after him? She’s not feeling well, but that won’t stop her. But she shouldn’t. It’s just not wise given her condition. How did this guy get out anyway?”
“How did he get out? Your guess is as good as mine. Can you believe they’re still trying to figure out how the hell this happened?”
“Go ahead, have a seat.” Kade turned on the coffee machine, and rummaged through the cabinet for mugs. He pointed to a chair at the kitchen bar. “Tell me more about him.”
“Thanks, it was a helluva flight. Someone behind me lost his cookies on the landing. I hate flyin’.” Anthony rubbed his eyes and shook his head. “The name of the perp is Pat Scurlock. He’s a real piece of work. We caught him holdin’ a woman in a dungeon as a sex slave.”
“What else?” Kade suspected there had to be more to the story.
“The vic we found in his house was alive. But the others…” Tony accepted a cup from Kade.
“Others?”
“Yeah, thirty-three others to be specific. They were dead. Found ‘em all buried on his property.”
“How exactly does something like that go unnoticed in the city?”
“He lived with his mother. We tracked him to a secondary location in the boonies. The property was under an alias name. Hundreds of acres with plenty of woods gives a serial killer a nice playground.”
“So he goes it alone?”
“That’s what we thought at first. But we found unknown secondary DNA on the bodies. Soon it was up to five.”
“Accomplices?”
“Yes. His mother for one. She’s behind bars. The rest have gone underground. All were into the occult in some form or another.”
“What exactly were they into?”
“The women dealt mostly in psychic hotline sort of shit. They were busted a few times on shoplifting charges before all this went down with Scurlock. We’re not likin’ them for the actual killings, though. Most of the cases were brute strength; strangulation, beatings, things like that. More than a few had died of exsanguination. Two of them were decapitated. We’re thinkin’ they killed them and the women helped dispose of the bodies.”
“If you caught this, uh, Pat, what about the other guy?”
“We got him on tape at a couple of local vampire clubs, but he’s still out there, too. No offense, man, but you know that some of your, uh, vamp friends aren’t exactly riding on the right side of the road. We’ve had some bad shit goin’ on up in Philly, you know that?”
“Indeed,” Kade agreed. Alexandra, a vicious vampire in Philadelphia, had a reputation for torture.
“I’m just sayin’. Things at home aren’t as under control as they are down here. It’s pretty ironic considering this is New Orleans, huh?” he laughed. “Anyhow, let’s just say ole Patty has contacts in the supernatural community. We suspect he may have been involved in human trafficking.”
“How’s that?”
“Takin’ victims, selling them to well-off vamps who need blood. There’s been rumors of blood slaves, not kept individually, but in some kind of caged community.”
“Jesus Christ, Anthony. Do they have evidence?” Long ago, it had been commonplace for vampires to capture and enslave humans. Sex, blood, it was stolen from the innocents against their will. But in the past century, their community had evolved and it was no longer acceptable or legal.
“Honestly, we’ve got nothin’ except the one victim we rescued from Pat’s house. But she was delirious at the time and once she started her recovery, she clammed up. Blah, blah, blah, patient doctor confidentiality…not ready to talk…and now it’s just a rumor.”
“So why Sydney? Why does he want my fiancée?” Kade leaned against the granite countertop and crossed his arms.
“Because he’s a fucking psycho. Because she was the one to take him down. My girl put a,” Anthony paused at his words and corrected them, acknowledging Kade, “our girl…she plugged him in the shoulder, then handcuffed the fucker until the paramedics showed up. Testified against him.”
“That would do it.”
“He was kinda pissed. But then again they all are. The difference is that Patty started threatenin’ her from jail. Phone calls at first. Once he lost those privileges, he managed to send her a few presents using connections.”
“I’m afraid to ask.”
“At first it was letters. When that didn’t get a rise out of her, and you know Syd, it’s gonna take a lot, our buddy sent her a tongue.”
“What the…?”
“Yeah, a tongue. And it wasn’t the kind you eat either.” Anthony sighed and took a drink. “It was identified as belonging to a woman. It’d been preserved, pickled if you can believe that shit. Never identified who it came from.”
“When did this go down?”
“A few months before you met her. He was convicted about a year ago.”
“So you’re concerned he’s got contacts down here? Supernaturals?” Kade stroked the scruff on his face, and mulled over what he’d been told. Despite Anthony’s comments to the contrary, an evil undercurrent was alive and well in his city. His consistent and dominant rule was the only barrier between calm and chaos.
“Yeah, this guy has a real hard on for Syd.” He coughed. “Uh, pardon my French. It’s just he’s gunnin’ for her and we’ve gotta find him first. A good offense is the best defense with this guy.”
“I’d better get Luca over here. We’ll put some feelers out. If he shows up anywhere, he’s as good as dead.”
“Hey now, Kade. My virgin ears didn’t hear that. Law enforcement, remember? As much as I wanna see some of these assholes take a dirt nap, I don’t get to go around killin’ humans, and neither do you.”
“No worries, friend.” Kade put his hand on the detective’s shoulder and let the heat of Anthony’s body seep into it. Even though Anthony wore a shirt, Kade could detect his pulse. Thoughts of blood twisted through his mind, and he imagined, but for a second, the intimate encounter they’d have should he agree to let them feed from him. Kade struggled to concentrate on the topic and crossed the room, staring out the window.
“You okay?” Anthony paused. “Ya wanna tell me what’s going on with Sydney? You never did tell me why she was sick….what happened?”
“There was an accident,” Kade began. He reflected on the day he’d found her lying on the bloodstained pavement calling his name. “Anthony, I know you don’t have a lot of experience with the supernatural. There was a time when Sydney didn’t either.” No, I brought her into this world.
