by Cynthia Sax
The door opened. A naked man staggered in, holding onto the frame to steady himself. “What the fuck is going on in --”
“Out!” Russ roared.
Without another word, the man shut the door, shrouding the room in semi-darkness once more. While the vampires were distracted, Vanna set down the fire extinguisher and unzipped her thigh-high boots, pulling them off her bare feet. She tapped the heels. They weren’t quite stakes, but they would have to do.
Vanna studied the black dragon tattoo inked like a bull’s eye on Dekel’s pale back. She wound up.
“Do you have a soft spot for the food?” The vampire sneered. “Old… oomph.” His body jerked, her heel sticking into his skin. “You bitch!” He reached behind him and yanked the boot out of his back. Blood gushed from his slowly sealing wound.
Marciano chuckled. “I like her, Russell.”
“I love her, my friend.” Russ grinned. “Thanks for the help, sweetheart. I’ve got this.”
“Do you?” Vanna rolled her eyes. Males, human or vampire, were all alike, their egos as big as they were. “Then why is he still standing?”
“Sorry, Marciano.” Russ shrugged his shoulders, the silly smile remaining on his handsome face. “No long, drawn-out fight today. My beloved’s wishes come first.”
His hands flew, his claws singing through the air. Dekel blocked, skin slapping on skin, bones crunching, claws rattling. Their movements were lightning-fast, Russ slowly, steadily advancing, Dekel retreating, perspiration dripping down the vampire’s bald head.
Blood covered Dekel’s arms, thin slices gouged out of his flesh. A low whine came from his throat like that of a wounded animal. Flecks of red covered Russ’s blue cotton shirt.
“Finish him,” Vanna whispered, unable to bear the delay.
Russ glanced up, meeting her gaze. A strip of red raced across his chest, and he inhaled sharply.
Fuck, no. Vanna threw her other boot. The toe thudded against the back of Dekel’s skull, and his bald head flew across the room. Oh, God. I killed someone.
“I killed him.” Russ retracted his blood-covered claws. “You still don’t trust me, Vanna?” His lips twisted. “I said I had him.”
“What did you expect me to do, Russ? He hurt you.” Vanna grabbed the fire extinguisher and put out the flames, Dekel’s body reduced to a heap of ashes. “I won’t stand here and do nothing while some vampire hurts the man I love.”
“The vampire you love.” Russ’s face softened.
“Here we go again with the kissy faces,” Marciano muttered. “I can’t deal with this so early in the night.” He stood, slung the still unconscious Croix over one shoulder and the passed out woman over the other. “Russell, amico mio, the room is all yours.” Marciano sauntered out like it was every day he carried two people around, and he kicked the door closed behind him.
Chapter Four
“You’re hurt.” Vanna winced as she limped toward him, her beautiful face tight with pain. “Your chest --”
“It’ll heal quickly, love.” Russ frowned at the red streaming down her bare right leg. That bastard, Dekel, had hurt his beloved, her sweet blood scenting the air.
“I need to see for myself.” She fumbled with his buttons, her fingers shaking.
Russ ripped his shirt apart, fabric tearing and buttons flying everywhere. “See.” He placed her soft hands on his flesh. “Healed.” He shuddered as she touched him. “I need to look at your wound.” He swung her into his arms and walked with her over to the bed.
“I’m human. I don’t heal as quickly.” She gazed at him trustingly with her big brown eyes, her fingers linked around his neck.
“You’re human for now.” He pushed the cover aside and laid her on the clean white sheets. He’d turn her soon. It was too risky for her to remain a fragile human.
“For now.” She gasped as he touched her thigh, and his need to kill Dekel a second time returned. “It looks worse than it is.” Her voice was weak, and she dug her fingernails into his arms.
“I can read your thoughts, Vanna. Don’t lie to me.” He held her leg still and licked over the deep gashes, tasting alluring blood and savory woman. She whimpered and writhed, her pain cutting into him. “Easy, love. Let me heal you.” He bathed her with his vampire tongue, the skin pulling closed under his ministering.
“Yes, heal me, Russ.” As her wounds mended, the sharp flavor of her pain softened to the muted musk of desire, tantalizing his nostrils and hardening his body.
“I’ll heal all of you.” He licked up her leg, pushed her skirt higher, and swirled his tongue into the dip at her hip. “You’re not crazy, love.” He flicked the inside of her thigh, his nose a breath away from her hot center. “Your destiny is an eternity filled with blood and fangs and a vampire who adores you.”
“You were that vampire.” She reached down and cupped his face with her hands. “It was your face I could never see. I know that now. I think I always knew that, but I didn’t trust myself to believe in you, in us, in love.”
He turned his head and kissed her palm. “How could you? I don’t look like a vampire.” He grinned. “Or so a lovely lady once told me.”
“She was wrong.” Vanna’s face turned a delightful pink. “You look exactly like a vampire.”
“I look like your vampire, and I’m hungry, love, so very hungry.” He kissed higher and she inhaled sharply. “I’m going to suck you dry tonight.”
Russ extended his tongue farther and farther, reaching for her delicious nectar, and Vanna raised her hips, her body tensing under him in anticipation of his touch. She was so responsive, so right for him.
He smiled and pressed against that special spot between her pussy and anus, targeting the zone he knew would drive her wild. A low, sexy noise rumbled in her throat, the sound vibrating over him.
He swiped upward slowly, tauntingly, over her pussy lips, her flavor bursting on his tongue, and circled her entrance. Then he continued higher, lingering over her clit, polishing the little button of flesh.
“Russ.” Her body writhed on the cotton sheets, enticing him nearer, the smell of her wrapping around him.
“I’m here, Vanna. I’ll give you what you need.” He buried his face between her thighs, lapping at her soft folds and slurping up her flavorful cream. She thrust her hips toward him, riding his face, her juices smacking on his cheeks.
Russ reached deeper into her with his tongue, stroking her inner walls, searching for more wetness. He rubbed her clit with his nose as he hunted.
She trembled around him, contracting around his flesh, her body primed for a release only he could give her. He nibbled on her, and she cried out his name, coaxing him to give her more, more, everything he had.
The pumping of her blood pounded in his ears. His fangs dropped, and one sharp tip poked her skin. She squeaked, the high-pitched sound escaping her clenched lips.
“You like that, don’t you?” Russ grinned and gently dragged his fangs over her pussy. Vanna undulated and stretched out her arms. She clutched the bed sheets in her small fists, winding the cloth around her fingers.
He positioned his right fang over her clit.
“No. No. No.” She raised her head, watching him wide-eyed.
“Yes.” He pricked that sensitive flesh and she screamed, flying upward, fabric tearing. Russ rode her bucking body, sucking on her gushing juices, and prolonging her tremors.
“Russ.” Vanna reached out to him.
“I’m coming, sweetheart.” He undid his belt and unzipped, leaving his pants and underwear behind as he moved up her shaking torso. She raised her knees, cradling him between her healed thighs.
With a sigh of contentment, he slid into her, his cock swallowed up by her heat. Nothing felt so right as him being inside her. “This is where I belong, where I’ve always belonged.”
“And where you’ll stay for all eternity.” She caressed his shoulders with her slender, pale fingers, and centuries of loneliness vanished underneath her touch.
/> “Yes.” Russ grinned at her, his joy making him lightheaded. “Though we might starve to death.” He rocked her body, pumping into her with shallow, easy thrusts. “And I could fall asleep and squish you. I am a big vampire.”
“Very big.” Vanna swayed with him. “And chatty.” She breathed heavily. “I never knew vampires talked so much.”
“Wait until you turn, and we can share thoughts.” He’d never be alone again. “I have things I want to tell you, love, about my past, how I met Marciano, stories about Oro, your boss.” He thrust into her faster and harder. “There’s so much you don’t know about me.”
“I know I love you.” She arched, brushing her silk-covered breasts against him. “And I want that ever-moving mouth of yours against my skin.”
“You have the best ideas.” He nibbled over her jaw and down her neck, tasting her salt, her humanity. She threaded her fingers in his hair, her nails massaging his scalp as they fucked, their bodies slapping together, his flesh heated by hers.
He raked his fangs over her neck, following the tantalizing trail of her jugular, the vein pumping the sweetest blood Russ had ever tasted. She moaned, pressing her skin into his mouth, as though begging him to taste her.
Did she want his bite? Did she long for that connection as he did?
Russ lifted his gaze and studied her expressive face. Ragged pants ripped from her parted lips. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were glassy. Never had she looked so beautiful, her body shaking with each hard thrust.
“Russ.” Vanna pulled him to her, her fingernails digging into his shoulders, her body tightening around his cock. “Bite me. Suck on me.” She said the words he wanted to hear, her voice low and husky.
“Vanna.” Russ groaned, his balls aching for release, and his soul hungering for her blood, her heat, her love. “My beloved.” He pumped once, twice, three more times, reared his head back, and with a triumphant roar, swooped down upon her, piercing her fragile flesh.
Her taste burst in his mouth, an explosion of flavors spiced with poignant memories and fervent promises of an eternal future. She screamed, her pussy clenching down on him, severing his control, and he came hard, spurting his hot cum into her, the room spinning around him.
He fed from her, savoring every ounce of her blood, as first her body and then his stilled, their limbs entwined, her heart beating against his palm.
“I love you, Russ.” She stroked his back, her form loose and lethargic.
He forced himself to withdraw. Now wasn’t the time to take her human life, as she was exhausted. They’d been through so much today. He would turn her when they were both rested. He gently licked her wound closed.
He’d make her rebirth special, celebrating those first moments of eternity together. “I love you, Vanna.” Russ brushed his lips against hers, smiling as she flicked his flesh with her tongue, tasting her own blood. His beloved was born to be a vampire. “I’m going to make all your dreams come true.”
Her lips curled upward, her eyes soft. “I’m counting on it.”
Big City Wolf
Cynthia Sax
He was a wolf without a pack, a stray living on the street. She was the pack princess, pampered and perfect. Half a century ago, their love was torn apart by a controlling alpha and a sadistic enforcer.
Unable to live without her wolf, Ember meets with North. He’s angry, determined to find out answers she doesn’t want him to hear. She has a secret she knows will destroy his love forever.
If the enforcer doesn’t kill them first.
Chapter One
God. Ember stared out of the limousine’s tinted windows, not seeing the houses and shops lining the streets. Let me get through this.
“You’re looking a little pale, Em.” Hailey peered at her, her brow wrinkled with concern. “Are you feeling okay? You could skip this party. Perla and Frey would understand.”
But North wouldn’t. Ember flexed her fingers. He knows I’m on the guest list. “I’ll be fine.” I can’t delay fate forever.
“I want to skip this.” Oro, Ember’s dragon-shifter boss and Hailey’s mate, huffed, smoke curling around his nostrils. “A dragon tea party.” He rolled his golden eyes. “Why didn’t Frey nix this when he had the chance?”
“It was his idea.” Hailey gazed up at her mate, her face softening. “And you’re not skipping this.” She patted his thigh. “It’ll be fun.”
It’ll be hell. Ember chewed on her bottom lip, her anxiety rising as the car slowed. Father’s dead. He can’t hurt North. And I can survive anything. I’ve proven that.
As though sensing her unrest, Killer, her tiny Chihuahua, poked his head out of his tote and licked Ember’s fingers. She smiled, touching his nose with hers. “You’re all the pack I have now, Killer. I’m counting on you.”
The door swung open and a wave of potent, virile male scent hit her. Ember sucked in her breath, her nipples tightening and her body pulsing with desire, her wolf aroused for the first time in fifty-three years.
North, her mate and the love of her life, stood before her. She swung her stiletto-clad feet to the street, clasping Killer’s tote protectively in her hand, and looked up and up and up.
Her gaze lingered on the revealing ridge in his dress pants before lifting over muscles barely contained by a black T-shirt to finally settle on the face she’d seen every night in her dreams. His chin was strong and defined, his nose flattened as though broken too many times to repair, and a scar sliced his right eyebrow rakishly into two, drawing attention to his smoldering, dark chocolate eyes.
“Miss,” he rumbled, feigning detachment. He extended his big paw of a hand, and Ember’s fingers trembled as she reached for him. They touched, his palm warm and rough, and a shimmer of awareness, of rightness, rushed through her.
“North.” She swallowed, her mouth dry. Hailey scooted to her emptied seat, and Ember stepped to the side, reluctantly releasing his hand.
“You know each other.” Hailey beamed at them as North helped her exit the limousine. “That’s great because --”
“Hailey!” A black-haired woman launched into the air and clasped Ember’s friend. The two women hugged as though they hadn’t seen each other for years, their dragon mates looking on bemused.
Ember glanced up at North. He watched her, his expression guarded and unreadable. Once he allowed me to see his feelings. She took a deep breath, counted to five, and released it. “Why didn’t you come after me?” She asked the question that had haunted her for years.
“Come after you, miss?” North’s cool voice shredded her carefully manufactured composure, his indifference hurting her more than any silver chain ever could.
Except he isn’t completely indifferent. “You can act like you don’t know me all you want, but your body doesn’t lie.” Ember gazed pointedly at his groin.
Rage contorted his handsome face, raw and intense, and she stepped back, fear coursing through her. Then as suddenly as his anger had appeared, it was hidden from her, his expression clearing.
“You’re a hot chick. I’m horny.” He shrugged his broad shoulders. “Maybe after this damn tea party is done, we’ll fuck.”
Ember winced at his crassness. In the past, he would have never talked to her like that.
In the past. She lifted her chin. When I was beautiful. But I’m not beautiful any longer, and I want him one last time. I’ll take his anger over his pity.
The dragon shifters moved toward the door to the Lair, the Bronx dragon’s club, and Hailey beckoned to her. Ember shook her head, unable to sit quietly at the same table as North and pretend nothing was wrong. “Why wait until after the party?” She met North’s gaze squarely, challenging him as only a mate of an alpha could. “Unless you have to work?”
“Bruiser, you’re in charge,” North barked, and a man’s head snapped up.
No, not a man. A wolf. They were surrounded by wolves. Strange. North must have built himself another pack. It is for the best. No reminders. Ember hugged the t
ote containing her little dog closer, feeling agonizingly alone.
“Come with me.” North took her arm, pulling her into the empty club. “Unless you’ve changed your mind.” His lips twisted. “Again.”
“I never change my mind.” Her stilettos clicked on the tile floor. Laughter echoed through the space, originating from a spot too far away for her to embrace.
North snorted. “You said you’d love me forever.” He held a door open.
She brushed against him as she passed, needing to touch him, and he jerked away, proving he wasn’t immune to her. “I never changed my mind.”
Ember set down Killer’s tote, her small dog yipping his discontent, and she gazed around her with dismay. Restraints dangled from a black padded wall. A punishment bench dominated the room. Displayed on a table was a collection of whips and floggers. No chains. No silver. She relaxed. I can do this. “Is there anywhere else we can --”
“No.” North crossed his arms, standing in front of the closed door. “Don’t worry, beautiful. I should whip you, but I won’t… not this time.” He tugged his shirt over his head, revealing a chest covered with muscles and a mat of brown hair.
There won’t be a next time. She stared at the five deep scars crossing his tanned skin from his right shoulder to his left hip. “Where did you get those?”
“From your father.” North spat the words. “Fool that I was, I didn’t believe him when he said you had left.”
Oh, God. He fought that sadistic alpha wolf for me. “Did you hurt him?”
“Mauled him from eye to chin before they tore me off him.” He unbuckled his belt.
“Good.” That’s something, at least. Ember bent over the punishment bench and hiked her bubblegum pink skirt upward, the air cool on her heated skin. “Is that why you didn’t come after me?” She shimmied out of her matching panties.
