by Cynthia Sax
He dodged the fledgling’s swing at his exposed neck. Irked at his sloppiness, he retaliated by removing the vampire’s head.
“Get back inside!” Vasile hollered, standing protectively in front of Carly.
“I came out to help you.” She poked her head under his spread arms, brandishing the broken cue sticks. “Hey. Where’d they all go?”
A vampire lunged toward her. Vasile pushed forward, swiping his claws under the youngster’s rounded chin. His fleshy head splattered on the concrete, and his torso pitched downward and burst into flames, burning to a fine gray ash.
“Oh.” Carly kicked the mound, scattering the vampire’s remains. “So all of this is --”
“Yes.” He eyed the two remaining vampires. The tall, thin male swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. The shorter, beefy one looked behind him, as though awaiting further instructions.
“Can I kill one?” his bloodthirsty beloved asked, waving a broken cue stick.
“No.” Vasile nudged her back behind him. She wasn’t getting within striking range of any vampires.
Carly sighed. “I guess the sun will kill them soon anyway.”
Both of the vampires turned their heads and stared at the light on the horizon. Their faces paled, and Vasile twisted his mouth. The fledglings didn’t know to fear him, but they did fear the coming dawn.
“Run while you still can,” he advised, extending them leniency.
They took his advice, rushing toward the street. A dark form entwined with the tall, thin vampire taking the lead, and his body fell. Flames lit up the shadows. The beefy vampire pivoted and sprinted back to the house. Vasile raised his claws to defend Carly. The darkness overtook the fledgling, the vampire squealing as he lurched forward.
Kerrick emerged from the fire, a sinister smile on his thin lips. “Good help is so hard to find.”
Vasile spread his arms, concealing Carly’s smaller form. “Perhaps if you trained your men instead of killing them…” He curled his top lip with distaste. What type of warped animal killed his own men?
“Oh, I didn’t kill them.” Kerrick’s oily smile spread. “You did. I was simply following Oro’s orders, detaining you so you wouldn’t interfere with my boss’s courting, and you went crazy, killing my poor, defenseless fledglings. I, of course, had to kill you and turn your dear, human beloved.” He clucked his tongue. “It was all very tragic.”
“Vasile, the sun…” Carly tugged on his coat.
“Yes, the sun. How inconvenient.” Kerrick flexed his claws. “Let’s continue this discussion inside, shall we?”
Vasile growled a warning. “Like hell I’d allow you --”
A hard force barreled into his gut, flinging him and Carly backward. Vasile dragged his claws into the hardwood, slowing his momentum. His beloved, having no such ability, landed with an oomph against the wall, the impact cracking the drywall, and she slumped to the floor.
Kerrick straightened and casually stepped over the threshold. “Now, this is much more civilized, isn’t it?” He kicked the door shut behind him, sealing them inside the darkened house. “Dying in public is so uncouth.”
“You’ll be the one dying.” Vasile fanned his fingers. This battle had been building for centuries, Kerrick’s fixation on him and the beings he cared for growing increasingly unnerving.
Kerrick laughed. “I doubt that.” He slowly unbuttoned his suit jacket, removed it, and placed the garment on a wooden hanger in the closet. “You’re bleeding, Vasile.” He unfastened his cuffs and neatly, painstakingly rolled his sleeves up. “And while you were wrestling with my men, I was draining your dear sweet neighbors dry.”
His neighbors were two kind, elderly sisters. Vasile breathed deeply in and out, in and out, forcing his anger back. He had to think clearly in order to defeat Kerrick, because his enemy was right. He was bone weary from fighting, and the blood streaming down his arms further sapped his strength.
They circled, their bodies lowered, ready to spring, watching each other, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Kerrick’s eyes shimmered with the dancing light of madness, and he moved with the smoothness of a killer.
Vasile killed when he had to. Kerrick killed for fun, torturing his victims mercilessly. Vasile pressed his lips together. Kerrick wouldn’t torture Carly. He wouldn’t touch her.
“Are we to dance around each other all day, Vasile?” Kerrick sighed dramatically. “This is growing tedious.”
“You are welcome to change the song,” Vasile offered.
“Thank you.” Kerrick bowed slightly. “I believe I will.” He bent his knees and sprang, charging forward.
Vasile spun, sweeping his right foot along the floor, and Kerrick leaped, avoiding the attack. Air rushed between them as they passed, mere inches from each other.
Kerrick ran up the wall and across the ceiling, flipped over and attacked again. Vasile raised his arms to defend himself, grunting at the blow. Claws scraped against claws. Loose plaster fell upon them. Vasile tossed the vampire back, his boots skidding on the wood.
“You always were an uncivilized brute, Vasile.” Kerrick sneered. “All strength and no finesse.”
“Finesse is overrated.” Vasile threw himself into the air. As he tumbled forward, he sliced into hard shoulder muscle. Kerrick shrieked and pivoted on his heels, cutting his claws through Vasile’s jacket, the razor-sharp tips grazing his lower back.
Vasile landed with a grunt, straining to steady his stance. His head spun from the blood loss. Need rest. Need to feed.
His nostrils flared. Blood. Smell blood. Human blood. Carly crawled along the wall, heading toward the front door. A trickle of red dripped from the corner of her mouth down her chin.
Food.
No. Not food. Vasile shook his head. Beloved. Must protect.
Kerrick pitched toward him, screaming like a demon, and Vasile raced to meet him, lifting his arms to catch the downward swoop of his claws. He misjudged the angle, sucking in his breath as the skin was stripped from his fingers, the joints severed, the agony intense.
He threw his body backward, breaking the hold, and kicked the vampire across the room. Kerrick landed on his ass, sliding along the hardwood.
Vasile tried to move his claws. He couldn’t. The tendons were severed. It would take time and blood for them to heal, and he didn’t have either.
Kerrick sat on the floor and grinned up at him, in no hurry to rise because both of them knew Vasile had minutes of life left.
The fight was over. He would die.
Vasile positioned himself beside Carly, needing to be near her, selfishly wishing he could hold her one last time but knowing the moment was better spent apart.
“Carly, run as fast as you can,” he growled. “Keep to the sunlight. Find Frey. He’ll protect you.”
“No.” His stubborn beloved dragged her frail human body up the doorframe, leaving red handprints on the white paint. “I’ll protect you.”
She slid her hand along the wall toward the button automating the shutters.
Saints alive. His beloved was both crazy and brilliant. As the room lit with deadly sunbeams, Vasile leaped into the closet and slammed the door shut, shrouding his aching body in protective darkness.
“Nooooo!” His enemy’s haunting howl flowed into a high-pitched scream. Vasile grimaced, flexing his healing palm, as silence followed, announcing Kerrick’s demise, his death as dramatic and as gory as his existence.
Chapter Five
Carly crossed her arms defensively as a fully healed Vasile stared across the man cave at the empty pool cue rack. The stakes had seemed like a good idea at the time.
“You split every single cue?” He turned his head and raised one dark eyebrow.
Her face heated. “There were a lot of vampires.” She studied the toes of her red heels, her friend Perla having brought her a much-needed tote filled with fashion essentials.
Vasile sighed, his chest heaving. “You didn’t believe I’d return.”
“I knew you’d return.” Carly didn’t trust anyone else, but she did trust Vasile. “I thought you’d need help fighting the vampires.” She lifted her chin. “I did help you.”
“You saved my life.” His mouth curved upward. “I’ll have new cues made.” He rounded the table, brushing his long, slender fingers over the felt. “Do you play?”
“A bit.” She leaned over and mimicked shooting, the hem of her short skirt rising, cool air wafting against her bare thigh. “I’m a little rusty.” Carly gave him a come-hither smile.
His brown eyes glittered. “Let me help you with your technique.” He pressed his hips to hers, his pants-covered cock hard against her ass, and she inhaled sharply, her nipples tightening with excitement.
“As this is my table --” He tugged her skirt up, removing that barrier between them. “-- I know its needs, how it likes to be handled, touched, played upon.” He curved his hands over her ass cheeks, rubbing and stroking, his palms warm and firm.
“The surface is faster than those found in pool halls.” He slid his fingers under the straps of her G-string. “Less friction.” The soft silk slipped down her thighs. Carly wiggled, and her panties fell to her feet.
“Your stance depends on where you’re aiming.” He cupped her mons, spreading his fingers possessively over her skin. Her body throbbed with awareness as he slowly dragged his fingers along her juicy pussy and up her ass crack, spreading her wetness over her puckered hole. “On what you want.” She trembled as he circled her rim, teasing her flesh. “Hmmm…” His lips hummed against her earlobe. “I’ve found the pocket I want to sink a ball into.”
He’d fuck her ass. “Only one ball?” She widened her stance, giving him more access to her body. Her neat and tidy looking lover truly wanted this, her.
“Both balls, and I’ve wanted to fuck this perfect ass since I first met you.” Vasile squeezed her ass cheeks, the pressure exactly right. “You’re made for me, Carly.” He returned to her rim, prodding her hole with his thick, wet index finger, as though testing her fit.
“Stop reading my mind.” Carly looked over her shoulder, and he grinned back at her, his eyes dancing with mischief. “And fuck me, already.”
“Not yet.” Vasile withdrew his hand, and Carly huffed with frustration, needing, wanting his fingers inside her. He chuckled. “Patience, beloved.”
He fished around in his pants pocket and removed a tube of lube. “We need to chalk the cue first.” He filled his left palm with lube, set the tube on the rails, and rubbed his hands together. “Thoroughly.”
Carly stared forward, focusing on his touch. His slick fingers covered her asshole, tracing the opening round and round, and she leaned farther over the felt, extending her arms, offering herself up to his care.
“So perfect.” He pushed into her tight hole with his lubricated finger, and she clenched down, compressing her flesh around him. “Relax, Carly.” Vasile nibbled on her bare shoulder while twisting his finger, coating her channel with lube and slowly spiraling into her, the sensation sending tremors over her ass cheeks. She loosened, trusting him to love her right, reassured by his cautious invasion.
“That’s it.” He pumped her ass, adding more and more lubricant until he moved easily inside of her. “Fuck, you feel good, Carly.” He stretched her with first one finger, then two, and then three, and she panted, pressing back into his hand, slapping her flesh against his palm.
She shivered as he deftly sliced through the corset ties with his free hand, his claws grazing her delicate skin. The structured silk fell, liberating her breasts.
“Beautiful,” he murmured his appreciation of her curves, sprinkling kisses on her spine, as he finger-fucked her ass.
“I… need… your… cock.” She reached back and plucked at his pants, his zipper frustratingly out of reach.
Vasile’s laughter rolled over her, the low and deep sound vibrating through her body. “Always so impatient.” He swirled his tongue on her shoulder blade. “We have an eternity, love.”
She did love him. When he’d fought for her and almost died for her, she knew she couldn’t live without him. He was the only man she trusted, believed in, loved.
“No… eternity.” She panted, holding back her orgasm, waiting for him to join her. “Need… now.” He crooked his fingers inside her, and she gasped. “Beloved,” she pleaded.
He withdrew and her body felt empty, so very empty. A zipper rasped. “Say it again, Carly.” He pressed his broad cockhead against her ass.
“Beloved,” she called out as he eased into her.
“Yes. I’m your beloved.” He continued to push, and Carly whimpered. He was so large, so thick and long, his cock stretching her, a sweet burn rippling out from her hole. She gripped the carved rail of the pool table, her knuckles aching, and she repeated the endearment, coaxing him deeper and deeper until his hips pressed against her ass cheeks, and she was stuffed with his massive vampire shaft.
He stilled, his form bent over hers, his cheek resting against hers. “We are one.”
“Yes.” The pool table flattened her breasts, the surface unyielding under her torso. Carly closed her eyes, savoring the weight of his hard muscle and his ownership of her body, mind, and soul.
Vasile straightened, dropping his hands to her hips, and he pulled back, the sensual slide teasingly slow. “One.” He slammed into her, rocking her thighs against the rail. “One.” He thrust, his balls bouncing against her skin, and she bucked back, meeting him.
As they found their rhythm, she added her voice to his monosyllabic chant, affirming their bond, their connection, her temporary passion heightened by the promise of an eternity together.
Vasile, the man she loved, cupped her bouncing breasts, capturing her nipples between his fingers, tweaking, twisting and pulling them, until she squeaked with delight, aroused by his rough usage.
As though encouraged by her wanton response, he pistoned in and out, harder and faster, the smack of his flesh against hers amplifying and intensifying, warming her ass cheeks and causing her entire body to throb.
“Come for me, Carly,” he murmured the command in her ear, his chest sliding along her spine.
“Bite me.” She squeezed her ass, constricting around his shaft, and he growled -- the sound deep and sexy. “Bite me,” she demanded and clenched down upon him again.
He jerked his hips forward. “Fuck!” he roared. As he came, filling her channel with hot cum, he bit down on her neck, the sharp pain freeing Carly’s orgasm.
She screamed, clawing at the felt and bucking backward into him, heavy waves of desire sweeping upward from her ass to her breasts to her brain, the passionate pulses synchronizing with his sucking. He rode her writhing body, gripping her breasts mercilessly tight and feeding upon her, extending her fulfillment.
“Vasile.” She quieted, her breathing leveling, and he licked the puncture wounds closed, his tongue warm and comforting. “I love you.”
“I love you.” He reached his hands out to cover hers, his unique scent of leather and earth settling upon her like a comforting blanket.
She loved him. She trusted him. She believed in him.
Carly gazed at his pale hand on top of her tanned skin set against the green felt. “Oh, God. I destroyed your beautiful table.” She released the felt she had ripped up from the surface, horrified at what she’d done.
Vasile chuckled, entwining his fingers with hers. “I’ll have new felt laid.” He kissed the sensitive skin below her right ear. “I promise this table will see a lot of hard use.” He flicked her earlobe with his tongue. “And that, my beloved, is a promise I am guaranteed to keep.”
Uptown Dragon
Cynthia Sax
Gold makes this Manhattan dragon hot.
Some women age well. Hailey doesn’t age at all. She knows she must be some type of paranormal yet she’s never met another being like her… until she meets Oro. This arrogant, handsome dragon shifter claims she is his mate, and insists they bond immediately.
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Oro is a golden dragon shifter. He is handsome and strong and a dragon so he doesn’t understand why Hailey refuses to bond with him. He covers her with molten gold and sets her body ablaze, yet she continues to refuse his advances. What more can a female dragon want… than him?
Chapter One
Hailey crossed over the threshold of Oro’s, the high-end Manhattan jewelry store, took one deep breath of the citrus-scented air, smelling the underlying aroma of smoke and fire, and smiled, a feeling of belonging settling upon her.
“We’re taking this position,” she announced to the tiny brunette standing by her side.
“Retail, Hailey?” Ember adjusted Killer’s tote-style doggy carrier, the Chihuahua yipping his displeasure at being imprisoned. “Don’t you remember our last stint in retail?”
“That was over thirty years ago.” Hailey waved her hand, dismissing that disaster. “And this is a management support role, not retail.” She strode over to the snotty-looking employee standing guard over a display of diamond rings. “Excuse me, Miss… Vanna.” She read the woman’s gold-plated nametag.
The tall, raven-haired beauty slowly raised her gaze, perusing her closely, a cold, dead expression plastered on her pale, aristocratic face. Hailey lifted one finely plucked eyebrow, knowing Vanna wouldn’t find anything wrong with her classic green designer skirt suit or her more modern, flashy gold heels.
“Can I help you?” Vanna’s tone conveyed she didn’t want to help anyone.
“I wish to speak to your boss, Oro.” Hailey returned her glacial smile. Having spent three months as a dental hygienist catering to the paranormal crowd, she could out vamp any vampire wannabe. “Tell him Hailey is here to see him.”
The woman’s blood-red lips twitched. “Mr. Oro is a very busy man.”
“He’ll make time for me. Thank you, Vanna.” Hailey turned her back on the employee, cutting off any rebuttal she might have. “Oh, gold.” She drifted toward the collection of 24-karat pieces, drawn to the glitter. Every spare dollar she’d obtained over the past five decades had been spent building her impressive hoard of gold.
