by C. L. Quinn
“Yup.” Sanquinetta rose and stood next to Dani.
“From here on out, we travel in teams. One human, one vampire. I get Jack. Kwano, you’re paired with Dani. Eva, you and Saul. We stay in touch at all times. Eva, see what the net might have on these guys.”
Evaleigh nodded. “Any idea where I should start?” Her gaze went to Dani.
No one had any answers.
“Okay, then. I’m going back over our last few missions. They came from somewhere, and it only makes sense that they came across us somewhere recently. They know we hunt vampires, so it’s likely during one of our own hunts.”
“You’re brilliant. Do it, Eva, and keep us apprised of any findings at once. Kwano, you were raised first blood. Saul’s still kind of new to it, so I’m going to rely on you to let me know what a first blood might try in order to win a battle with another first blood. I gotta know what we’re up against to plan our defense.”
“Of course.”
Evaleigh was already in front of her computer.
Sanquinetta turned toward the other hunters around the table. “Vampires.”
Jack stood at attention, Saul came up to stand beside Kwano, his eyes moving between Sanquinetta and Dani, who pretended to watch Evaleigh.
“Do a complete perimeter check. See if there’s any sign of surveillance. Have these assholes been watching us? Check all the way out to the end of our drive. Go.”
“Pushy,” commented Jack, but he hurried out the door.
One left, Sanquinetta faced her final crew member.
“Dani.”
“Yes, San?”
“Saul may have been a little over jealous, but he isn’t wrong. This Quattro guy has something for you. And you leaned into him without your usual caution, so something is going on. Can you go into a spirit meditation and see if you can discover anything else?”
“Absolutely. I’d like to do that at home. I feel kind of vulnerable when I go under.”
“I get it. Sure. If anything comes to light, you know where I’ll be. Either way, you need some sleep, so after you’re finished, hop in bed. If I’m right, you didn’t feel too rested after that weird dream message.”
“No, I did not. Wow. Evil first bloods. Who’d have thunk it? San, if they come for us, I think I should connect with some of the other earth warriors to see if they can help.”
“If we need to. Let’s see what the threat is first. Go home, Dani. I’ll see you tomorrow night unless you discover something helpful.”
“Goodnight. ‘Night, Eva.”
“Good luck, gal. We’re all on it now.”
As Dani moved through the entry door, she scanned the hillsides that surrounded their headquarters. The night she first stopped here after accepting the position, she remembered the ominous foreboding as a sharp wind tore at her. Had they been near that night? Was it possible they had been watching them for months? If so, that changed the timeline.
“Something wicked…” she whispered out loud as she climbed into her lift-car and headed back to try to find anything that could bring clarity to what they all faced now.
Half a bottle of wine and several sugary treats later, Dani, wearing only her favorite satin nightgown, sat on her bedroom balcony, the doors open, the sea calm, a growing moon peeking at her, and went into a spiritual meditation.
Not quite as far into the spirit realm as many vampires could travel, she could still access a place where events in her life became clearer, where memories were sharper, and where details were found before they were lost. Maybe there was something?
Breathing slowed, eyes closed, she scanned the past few months of memories focusing on that first night here, on their missions, specifically noticing anyone around them, any odd feelings, things or people out of place. Nothing tagged her as unusual, perhaps pertaining to any of the four men she now knew targeted herself and her friends.
Sometime later, how long she did not know, Dani pulled herself from her mind’s eye and slowly came awake again. The moon had moved quite a lot, so she knew she’d been under a while.
San would be disappointed, having become accustomed to magic offering extra help in their endeavors. In this case, Eva might be more effective in discovering information, although that was less likely than normal too, since vampires were exceptional at staying off grid.
Still, any and all information might be helpful, and research and surveillance was all they had right now.
Standing carefully, the spirit walks often left her unbalanced, Dani watched the shoreline. It was pretty during daylight, but she’d become accustomed to its moody nighttime personality. Taking a deep breath, she knew that San was right. Still exhausted, she’d try to sleep until tonight. Turning to head back into her bedroom, she jumped when she saw the silhouette of a man moving through her bedroom door.
“Dani, it’s me.”
“Saul?”
Saul was here?
“What the hell are you doing in my bedroom?”
“I wanted to check on you. Make sure you were okay.”
“You could have called.”
“No. I couldn’t.”
He moved through the darkened room and onto the balcony.
She noticed he paused, his eyes on her attire, the smooth satin fabric of her gown pressed by a light breeze against her, her nipples visible through the thin material. Unable to do any differently, her own eyes went to Saul’s enormous body so near her bed, and felt tickling between her legs, an erotic tug that she told herself wasn’t welcome.
“Um, I needed to see you. The threat may be against all of us, but that first blood, he definitely wants you. You’re in danger, Dani.”
“Not here.”
“Especially here. You don’t think he’s planning to end up in your bed? I’m certain he does.”
Dani rolled her eyes and moved closer to her unexpected visitor in spite of the fact that she knew it was a bad idea. She already wanted to touch him.
“Saul, I’m fine. You don’t have to babysit me.”
“That’s not exactly the right word for what I want to do.”
He’d said it. Dani almost pressed her hand between her legs to massage the throbbing space.
Saul searched the room behind him, shaking his head.
“It’s exactly as I dreamed it. Exactly. How is that possible? I’ve never seen this room before tonight.”
“What do you mean?”
“After I rescued you, I, uh, had a dream. About us.”
“Yes, you did. You mentioned it.”
He smiled. “The weird part is that this room, this balcony, are exactly like in my dream. How could I know that?”
Moving close, Dani wrapped her fingers around his arm, aware it was a mistake. “Saul, you’re a dreamwalker. Think about it. We had a conversation in the dream about this talent. I was there, Saul, in the dream. We shared it.”
“I do remember now, that in the dream, you called me that. Are you saying that what I dreamed, happened?”
“In a way. We shared the experience, yes, but not in the real world. On the dream plane, but it can feel just as real. We both remember it as if it happened.”
“That seems impossible. Dani, I’m sorry. It appears I invade your life every time I get near you.”
Dani didn’t know what to say.
Saul still had trouble understanding it. “So we were both there? The dream was real?”
“As real as a dream can be. We both remember everything we did and felt in a dreamwalker’s dream.”
It was apparent to both that they remembered the moment that Saul, naked, slipped between her legs and Dani let him.
Their eyes met again.
Dani backed up. “It’s a bad idea. We work together.”
His voice lower, deeper yet, Saul nodded. “I agree. It’s a bad idea.”
Continuing to move away from him, Dani’s back hit the deck railing and stopped her there. “Um. You’re a vampire, you have your pick of women.”
“Th
at’s true.”
“So you should go get one. Find someone else.”
Dani struggled to breathe as Saul walked toward her.
“I don’t want someone else.”
In seconds, he’d blasted toward her and lifted her up to sit on the edge of the balcony railing, his hands curved around her bare buttocks. Afraid of falling over the side of the second story balcony, she pitched forward and grabbed Saul’s neck, his scent, so near, intoxicating.
Dani let her hands sneak up into that thick honeyed hair, knowing if she continued touching him, she wouldn’t stop. “I don’t want you with someone else,” she whispered, low enough to hope he hadn’t heard, but he had.
It was the permission he sought. Saul pushed between her legs, his mouth on hers, tentative until he felt her fingertips dig into his scalp as she yanked him to her, and then all restraint was gone. While Dani held him to her, Saul’s cock, filling, trapped in his pants, rubbed against her satin gown and what was trapped beneath.
Dani ground herself against him; he tasted like heaven on her tongue.
Saul knew he’d never get enough of her scent and flavor. Minutes passed as the kiss deepened and their desires flared, flamed so hot, Saul groaned, lifted her and used his talent to move them to her bed. Both naked, pressing her down, Saul left her mouth to kiss along her jawline, then to her neck, beneath her ear.
“You’re tasting me,” she whispered, amused.
“You’ve been tasting me.”
“I have. Saul, we have a monstrous fight ahead of us. I can’t keep fighting you too. You can’t keep fighting me. Let’s get this out of our system, once and for all. Fuck me. But make it good, you’re my first vampire. I expect a lot.”
“I won’t disappoint,” Saul promised, and thought I’m your last vampire too.
“I’m going to lick you and bite you from top to bottom, but right now, we’ve waited too long, I need to taste you, to pump into you.”
In answer, Dani closed her eyes and tilted her head back as she reached for Saul’s throbbing cock, fingertips gliding over the head. He was so big, so beautifully alive and hot and thick and she needed him in her as much as he needed to be there.
Beyond ready, Saul chose to bury his cock in Dani first, before his teeth, and, her legs wide, moving up to rest on his back, he played for moments at the slit, rubbing against her, as long as he could stand, and then plunged in, deep, the thickness, the heat, forcing a moan of pleasure she couldn’t have muffled for all the stars in the sky.
“Oh.” Try to breathe. “Gods…”
All she could think at that second was that he was made to fit inside her. He belongs in me…
When he punctured her to feed, the sharp stings fired erotic waves, and she clenched down on him as tight as she could, her calves riding his back, her core muscles pulsing along his cock.
Lifting from her neck, Saul nuzzled against her cheek, moaning. “You keep milking me like that, I won’t last.”
“Come, vampire. Pump into me.”
He didn’t need anything else, not in all the world, Saul pounded into Dani, her body lifting to meet him, thrust for thrust, the fast in and out fueling rising pleasure until he pulsed as he came, spilling into her as her own orgasm surged and she cried out.
Dani opened her eyes to see sparkles of light dance across the ceiling and walls, her hands gripping Saul’s shoulders, her legs collapsed against his back.
Detangling their limbs, Saul rolled to Dani’s side, burying his face into her neck, taking a moment to lick the wounds to seal them.
“Ye-e-e-a-a-h-h,” he breathed into her ear, his respiration still rapid.
“Yeah.” Dani couldn’t think of a better word for what the two of them had just experienced, because he had delivered exactly what he promised. A connection, sexual, yes, but deeper, he’d touched her core, reaching into parts of her that had never been awake.
Saul, lying beside her, both of them spent, felt right.
After long moments, Dani felt Saul’s teeth scrape along her neck, arousal flaring again.
His voice low, deeper than usual, sexier because of it, caused tugging between her legs.
“Dani. We failed. I don’t think I got you out of my system. Once is not enough.”
Gods, she wanted him! Dani rolled into him, her hands in his hair, her lips on his. She needed to taste him again.
Would she ever get enough?
The kiss softened from desperate to gentle, tongues pulled back, Saul gently nipping Dani’s lips.
“I have to go. Sun rises soon. All this glass makes for a crispy vampire.”
Rising from the bed, he went onto his knees and kissed her hand as she reached for him.
“This has only just started, you realize that.”
Nodding, Dani’s admission clear.
“I know. We work together.”
“It’s going to be all right. Work and this, us, we’ll keep separate. But I’m going to come inside you over and over, my beautiful huntress.”
He left her with that, dressed, and gone in a flash.
Dani rolled onto her back, the sheets tangled now, and moved a hand down to slide her fingers through the wetness he left behind. She had never expected to be with a vampire, had never wanted to, but with Saul, after tonight, it was apparent he was right…once with him would never be enough.
Six
The Four Horsemen dined on the finest food and fed on three beautiful women they’d taken from the five-star restaurant where they’d ordered second meal.
Monsta and Peele crashed on their beds with two of the women, satiated in every way possible.
“Fuck, this has been a great night.”
Peele belched and wiped blood off his cheek.
“Yeah, Monsta’s right, it’s been swift. But when we gonna finish this with your hunters? Q, you’ve killed the element of surprise, so what are we waiting for?”
Lounging on a wide chair, the third woman between his legs, Quattro didn’t raise his head from where he laid back to enjoy his experience. “How many times must I tell you that this is legend against legend? We will meet on the battlefield when the right time arrives and not before. I still have to arrange meetings with my new obsession.”
“That pretty black girl?”
“Aw, sad little creature. You have not seen her close, nor felt her, nor touched her magic. She has earth magic, as I do. Pretty isn’t even a footnote in her beauty. She and I will merge our magics before this is done.”
Snorting, Monsta laughed. “Merging? You mean you want to fuck her.”
Quattro’s head shot up, his eyes still closed. “You both lack depth, imagination, and soul. Merging magic is so much greater than merging bodies.” He paused. “Although we will do that too. Miss Dani and I have a date to change history. We’re going to make some. She and I are going to create life.”
“Then just grab her and fill her up. Hell, let’s take her with us. If you plan to fuck a baby into her, you aren’t going to let her go anyway, right?”
“After I place our child inside her, yes, she will stay with me. Until then, we remain enemies on opposite sides of honor and grace. They kill vampires, and believe it is fair to do so. This battle will be ugly when it comes full circle.”
Close to orgasm, Quattro’s head fell back. “Ahhhh. I cannot…wait!”
Buried deep, he pumped into the waitress’s mouth as she shoved herself backward. When he finished, Quattro opened his eyes and leaned forward to grab her wrist.
“Great job, my dear. Go clean up and get some food. Felix, will you return our guests to the restaurant? And don’t hurt them, damn it!”
With Felix’s proclivities, it was never certain what he might do just for fun. The man was an unapologetic killer. With Quattro’s command, they should be safe. It was Quattro’s rule that humans who served them should not be killed for doing so. But Felix was at times excitable.
Long after Felix returned, with a sly smile that Quattro hoped meant the wo
men were safely returned and purged, the horsemen turned in to sleep. In most cases, Quattro preferred to sleep in his own space, separate of his men, but tonight, he felt they needed to remain together.
This battle looming before them might become a dividing line because the others did not seem to be capable of grasping the relevance of first bloods against first bloods in a battle to the death. The chance was high that those not first blood would not survive, and it was foregone that all first bloods wouldn’t either. To hold their bonds near, he must remain close to the three horsemen who rode at his side.
Settling in, Quattro prepared to sleep. Night would come again soon, and then, he would see his dark-skinned beauty once more.
At Hunter HQ
Gathered around Eva’s work station, the hunters watched her enormous center monitor.
“I found something on security vids inside the hotel in Louisiana when we went back to find the vampire who tried to kill Jack. Look at this.”
Eva brought up the security camera facing away from the entrance where Quattro, Felix, and two other men moved with purpose through the lobby of the hotel. At one point she froze the screen when all four faces were clear, clicked through several keystrokes, and allowed the vid to continue.
“I just sent a copy of that to all your fones. Guys, these are our next threat. These are the four horsemen.”
“They were working with that asshole Buck?”
“No way to verify it, but I think they were. At least there must be some connection, there they are coming from what was likely his basement lair. Buck tried to kill Jack. I believe it is where they came into our orbit. Where they found out that we exist. Other than that, I haven’t found anything else on them, but they’re vampires, so, no surprise, you guys generally stay off the grid.”
Dani, just behind Eva, spoke up. “I have.”
She moved closer to the moving images on the screen, her eyes on Quattro. Sexy. Compelling without compulsion. Dangerous.
“I think they were here the night I joined the team. At the time, of course, I had no idea what it meant, but the sense was overwhelming, dread, of something coming, something bad, when I stepped out of the office and climbed to the top of the hill behind us. I believe they were near; that I felt their presence.”
