by Nina Bangs
She shivered again. Reaching behind him, she trailed her fingers up and down the smooth planes of his back. When she felt him take a huge shuddering breath, she looked up into his face.
Ty’s eyes gleamed hot, and the shadows cast by the moonlight made his predator past real. “Everything I want to do to you is pushing and shoving at me, trying to be first.” His smile brought him back from the primal edge for a moment. “I can’t control it all…” He reached for the words. “What’s dammed up inside.”
“Tell me what’s inside, Ty.” She stretched, wrapping her arms around his neck, brushing her nipples across his chest. Closing her eyes, she felt the friction as a starburst of sensation racing along her nerve endings.
Dropping his hands to her hips, he cupped her bottom, pulling her tight against his arousal. “Wind and driving rain. Booming thunder and jagged streaks of lightning.” Tangling his fingers in her hair, he tilted her face up to him. “My time was ruled by hunger and the elements. That’s how I still think. You’re the center of my storm, Kelly Maloy.”
Kelly opened her eyes. His face was close to hers, so close she could see that he didn’t have laugh lines. She drew the lines around his eyes and mouth with the tip of her finger.
His gaze never left hers as he gripped her finger and slid his lips over it. His tongue, warm and wet, swirled around and around the finger. And when he finally released it, his sheer intensity convinced her they’d shared their first sexual act. Need, heavy and full, clenched low in her stomach.
“You don’t have laugh lines.” Was that wispy little voice hers? At this rate, she’d never make it to the final act. “Why?”
“Guess this body hasn’t done much laughing.” Ty’s grim expression said there hadn’t been much to laugh about in his life either.
Too bad she wouldn’t be around long enough to add a few of those lines to his face. Kelly’s regret surprised her.
He didn’t give her a chance to obsess over it, though. He lowered his head and took her mouth. And it was a taking.
Ty’s lips moved against hers. No softness. Only the predator’s need to possess. Once again, his immense erotic energy pushed at her; all heat, power, and demand.
And she wanted him right back, with an intensity that almost scared her. Where had it come from? What layer had she peeled back from the tepid emotion she’d always thought was passion? Had this primal hunger always been there?
Kelly opened to him, met his tongue, and tasted all he’d been, still was.
Ty’s body shuddered against hers. He abandoned her mouth with a harsh gasp and stepped away. “Not working. Run, little girl. I can’t hold back what’s coming. And I can’t make this the kind of mating you want. I don’t know how.” His chest was sheened with sweat even as cold wind whipped his words away. Every muscle in his hard body was tight with tension.
She applauded him. It took guts to give his prey a chance to escape. Kelly recognized how much it cost him. But he had no idea what he’d unleashed.
“I’m no one’s ‘little girl.’ We might be in the middle of Houston, but I just yanked open a door and walked into your world. And you have no idea what kind of ‘mating’ I want.” Kelly reached out and dragged her nails the length of his torso from nipples to stomach.
Shock widened his eyes as he glanced down to where the red imprint of her nails stood out against his body. Then he smiled. It was a savage baring of his teeth. “See, now that attitude is guaranteed to put all kinds of happy lines on my face.”
Before she could open her mouth to respond, he scooped her up and carried her to the side wall of the balcony. Setting her on her feet, he stood breathing hard, but not from exertion.
Pressing her back to the wall, Kelly stared up the length of him. His body blocked out the moonlight, and he was all dark menace. She watched his chest moving with each harsh breath he took, and she was sure if her own heart wasn’t pounding so hard she’d be able to hear his.
He moved closer, so close she could feel his cock hard against her stomach. Desire was hot, heavy, and definitely wet between her thighs.
“I can’t wait.” His voice was a harsh apology. “I can’t freaking wait.”
“Now.” They had a meeting of minds for once.
Ty didn’t say anything. He retrieved his little foil packet from where he’d dropped it on the chaise, ripped it open, and slipped the protection on with a minimum of cursing.
Kelly understood. She clenched her fists to keep from reaching out and helping him hurry the process along. Taking a deep breath, she tried to gather together the old familiar parts of herself, the parts that didn’t think they’d shrivel and die if she didn’t lick every inch of his yummy body, the parts that enjoyed sex but didn’t drown in it. Deep breathing didn’t work. There was a whole new gang in town, and they were ready to turn loose the tsunami if something didn’t happen damn soon.
Something happened. Finally ready, he slid his hands under her bottom and lifted her. She grabbed his shoulders, then wrapped her legs around him.
He slowly lowered her onto his cock.
Her breaths came in moaning gasps as he nudged her open. And then bit by deliciously excruciating bit, he allowed her to slide over him. She made whimpering noises as he stretched and filled her. Then when she was completely impaled on him, she clenched around his long hard length. Ripples of the coming orgasm teased her each time she tightened her muscles. She licked her dry lips and focused on those ripples.
Kelly’s senses reached overload and exploded. His scent was an extension of the night. For the rest of her life, when November rolled around with its smell of fall and wood smoke, she’d remember this.
And touch was a pleasure-pain. Kelly burned for him. “Keep up with me, Endeka, if you don’t want me to lap you.”
He laughed, a dangerous sound that had more to do with challenge than humor. “Oh, I’ll keep up with you. I’m greedy. I don’t just want my cock buried in you. I want your flesh touching mine everywhere, so all this heat can melt us together. I never want to stop feeling this.” His husky murmur was thick with suppressed hunger.
Kelly made an unintelligible sound as she wrapped her arms around him and pressed against his body. The scrape of her supersensitive nipples across his chest drew a moan from her. “Move. Now.” She emphasized her demand by sliding her tongue across his collarbone. His taste was a memory to be savored on nights when she was running short of great memories.
He built slowly, lifting her off his cock and then driving back into her. Their rhythm caught and quickened. Kelly groaned as she slammed down onto him. Digging her nails into his back, she braced herself against the wall as he arched, burying himself deep inside her again and again and again. She cried out. So good, it felt so damn good. That rising sense of fullness, of heaviness, of something awesome about to happen moved closer and closer.
Now, now, now. She had to move faster, harder. The flesh-on-flesh friction, the pounding, the filling and emptying drove her wild. Coming, coming, it was freaking coming.
With a last powerful drive upward, Ty lifted her, and she froze in that moment. That soul-shattering, unbelievable moment when she couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe as wave after wave of spasms shook her seemed to go on and on. Somewhere in the background she heard Ty’s cry join hers.
As her orgasm gripped her at the peak of sensation, of emotion, it seemed as if a door inside her was flung open and she saw. Ty’s confusion when his essence first became aware deep beneath Newgrange. His fury when he’d thought the vampire would kill her. His battle with the beast that was a part of him.
She plunged past all those emotions to reach deeper, so deep she thought she might never find her way back. There. At the center of his being she touched something magical, brilliant, and savage. Her mind didn’t recognize it, but her soul knew. For one blinding moment she felt his soul. And then she spiraled back through an endless tunnel. The door inside her closed.
Kelly didn’t know what had just happened, but
she did know it was beyond explanation. She somehow felt as though she was more that she’d been a few minutes ago, as if she’d taken something of that brilliant and savage part of Ty and made it her own.
When she finally tumbled out of the moment, she could only cling to him weakly, the thud of her heart loud in her ears. Oh. My. God. That wasn’t making love. She’d made love before, and it’d been a pale shadow of what had just happened. This was a whole new life experience. What to name it? Ty. For the rest of her life, whenever she felt this way—not that it was ever likely to happen again—she’d say she was having a Ty moment.
Limp, with her breaths still coming in harsh rasps, Kelly barely noticed when he carried her over to the chaise and lay down with her on top of him.
The cold breeze cooled her back while the heat of his body warmed her front from breasts to still-curled toes. With her head on his chest, she could hear the pounding of his heart, feel the rise and fall with each deep breath.
When had she felt like this after making love before? It was a bone-deep satisfaction. She was like a big old cat lying in the sun, knowing that life didn’t get any better than this. She sighed her contentment.
He smoothed his fingers over her tangled hair. “I had so many things planned for you. Shot. I didn’t get to tease your nipples until they were hard and so sensitive you were ready to scream. I never got the chance to kiss a path over your stomach and along your inner thighs. And then I was going to spread your legs and—”
She put her finger over his lips. “You’re handing me a shopping list after I’ve already been to the store.”
“Next time.” It was a whispered promise.
Would there be a next time? Yes. In just a few minutes that had rattled and shaken her nice neat concept of what lovemaking should feel like, he’d become her addiction. Should there be a next time? Kelly didn’t know.
Ty’s gaze never left her face. His eyes were too close to her, their expression too deep. What was he thinking? She rushed into speech.
“So you guys are pretty much immortal, huh? I mean, it’s tough to kill you, and your essence, soul, or whatever has survived sixty-five million years?”
He looked puzzled for a moment, and then he smiled. “What brought that question on? I was hoping you’d want me to expand on my future plans for your body.” His smile widened. “I even hoped you’d have plans for mine.”
“Well—” She glanced away. “What we just shared was pretty much a major wow, and I’m having trouble expressing my overall awe of your lovemaking skills.” Kelly shrugged. “So I’m making small talk since you’re not saying too much.”
His laughter vibrated through her and she wiggled a little to maximize the sensation.
“I have no words for what just happened.” His laughter died. “Thank you.”
A few over-the-top adjectives would have made her happy, but she knew he wasn’t a multiple-adjective kind of guy. And that was fine with her. “What about the immortal thing?”
Ty nodded. “Yeah, we don’t have an expiration date as far as I know.”
Kelly made a real effort not to frown. Sure, she was happy for him. It must be great not to worry about growing old and dying. But there would never be a happily-ever-after for a woman with a man like him. She’d watch herself grow older and older while he stayed the same. And then she’d die while he went on. Not a happy resolution for either of them. Reminder to self, don’t get attached to Ty Endeka.
Her eyelids were beginning to droop. He was warm and comfortable, and she wouldn’t mind sleeping this way forever. “After you get rid of this Nine, I suppose you’ll move on.”
“Once Houston is safe, we go wherever the other Lords are.” He didn’t sound happy about that.
Good. Sleepily, she wondered what it was about him…The ultimate dangerous male? Not a wise attraction. He’d be moving on while she was setting up her life in Houston. Now that thought really made her sad.
At some point during all those deep thoughts, she fell asleep.
Chapter Ten
“The Gods of the Night are hunting for you, Mr. Wyatt. They know you’re recruiting.” The vampire laughed. “Gods of the Night? Who came up with a dumb-ass name like that?”
“The ‘dumb ass’ who leads us chose that name, Lee. He has a flair for the dramatic and a passion for truth in advertising. They are what their name implies.” He frowned. “He also has little patience with those who mock his creative efforts.”
Lee stopped laughing. “I guess he can call them whatever he wants. But they’re reaching out to other nonhumans for help. That’s bad news for you.”
The immortal hated having to explain himself to things like this vampire, but he needed help running his organization. “I’m more than all of their combined powers. Let me take care of the heavy lifting. You just do your job. That means bringing back information I can use.” He paused to listen to the sweet sounds of rage, fear, and violence coming from the room below. “Now, was there anything else?”
Lee watched him from eyes black with hunger. “You promised me a hunting territory.”
“Ah, yes, the ever popular hunting territory. It’s truly sad that someone with your predatory nature has been denied the right to kill humans. I can give that right back to you.” He shrugged. “But you understand, I’m a businessman. The news you brought me tonight wasn’t really worthy of such a valuable reward. Perhaps if you hear something that leads to the death or capture of an enemy, I might reconsider.” He rose from behind his desk. “Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
Lee nodded, but the vampire’s fury and frustration coated the room in dark energy.
He tried not to smile. This was what he existed for. This was what he’d waited millions of years to enjoy. All of those roiling emotions multiplied tens of thousands of times would create savagery on a scale Earth had never before experienced. And the gods knew Earth was no stranger to barbarism. This vampire, along with untold numbers of other paranormal beings, would tear apart the fabric of the society humans had built, and evil would stalk the world. He couldn’t help it; he smiled.
“I’m going down to check on my newest enterprise.” He knew his smile was insincere, but he really didn’t give a damn. “I’d invite you to join me, but I know the scent of fresh blood is an unbearable temptation. I wouldn’t want you to leave here and indulge your need in a weak moment. It would horrify me if your clan executed you. That would be a terrible waste of an excellent spy. But once you have your own hunting territory, I’ll protect you from them.” He made a shooing motion. “So run off now and bring back good news.”
“Basil died last night. You gave him his own territory, but the T. rex found him and killed him anyway. I saw it happen. Where was your protection then?”
He shook his head in mock sorrow. “So sad. But Basil hunted outside his territory. I can’t protect any who choose to freelance. When you get your territory, remember Basil’s fate.”
Looking unconvinced, the vampire left his office.
Dissatisfaction? If Lee dared to express it, the vampire’d have to be eliminated. He hoped things wouldn’t come to that. A spy on the inside of an enemy’s camp was always useful.
Pushing aside thoughts of the vampire, he locked his office door and walked down the hall to the storage room. Sounds of voices and music filtered along the hallway from his club. Business was good.
He unlocked the storage room and slipped inside and relocked the door behind him, shutting out the sounds from the front of the building. Punching in a code on a panel hidden behind boxes of paper supplies, he watched a door slide open in the opposite wall. The opening revealed a darkened stairway leading to a large room beneath the back of the club. A room that was winning him lots of new recruits.
He paused at the top of the steps to soak up a totally different sound from those coming out of the club: a savage roar of bloodlust. A happy sound. He smoothed his palm over his Armani jacket, stepped through the doorway, pressed a button to close
the door, and descended the stairs.
His manager met him at the bottom, a sorcerer with a delightful talent for black magic. A wonderful find.
“How’re things going, Thadeus?” He scanned the crowd.
Thadeus—tall, thin, and perpetually bad-tempered—frowned. The sorcerer hated anyone using his full name. He preferred Thad. So, of course, using Thadeus’s full name was a perverse pleasure.
“Lots of enthusiasm tonight, Mr. Wyatt.” Thadeus nodded toward the large and rowdy crowd surrounding the circle the sorcerer had cast in the middle of the room.
The circle with its attendant barrier of energy contained two naked fighters. The naked part was his idea. Thadeus disapproved. But then Thadeus didn’t understand the type of clientele that came to his nightly entertainments. The sheer level of violence along with all the blood drew the most vicious members of Houston’s paranormal community to this room. And blood looked so much more dramatic against bare skin.
He eyed the demon and ghoul in the circle. It was almost over. The ghoul had brute strength, but the demon had the brains. Intelligence was trumping strength this time. Blood smeared the bodies of both males and trickled down stomachs and legs to pool on the floor.
The ghoul tried frantically to escape, but Thadeus’s circle was impervious to physical or magical attack. The ghoul was doomed.
Even as he watched, the demon fought through the ghoul’s weakened defenses and simply ripped his head off. The resultant spray of blood sent the watching vampires and werewolves in the crowd into a frenzy.
Interesting. He’d approach the victor with a job offer. The ones who fought in the circle were, for the most part, volunteers. He awarded tempting prizes to the winners of his little contests.
But once in a while he’d throw a captured enemy into the circle. They didn’t come along too often, though, because his growing number of minions enjoyed killing a lot more than they did capturing. Perhaps he’d lay down a few rules so he could feed his circle.
