by Beth Alvarez
He sank between her legs, joining with her as his mouth found her throat. She arched into him, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to focus on the delicious sensation of having him buried within her. His tongue laved her neck, surprisingly warm, and the slight pinch that followed was nothing like she expected.
Heat bloomed through her, radiating from that one point, carrying a wash of bliss like nothing she’d ever known. Her mind hazed, leaving her only half aware of the way his body moved against hers, the way he suckled at her throat to nourish himself. Everything he took he gave back in pleasure, her own wanton moans foreign in her ears as he carried her over the edge. It was over all too soon, the soft stroke of his tongue closing the wound he’d created, her limbs quivering in the aftermath.
Kade licked his lips, kissing the tender hollow just beneath her ear. “Thank you,” he whispered.
Panting for breath, Felicity couldn’t say anything. She hugged him close, threading her fingers through his hair. He rolled to the side, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before cradling her close against him.
“So what do you think?” he asked, caressing her bare back with his fingertips.
It took her a moment to reply. “Is it always like that?”
“I’ve tried to make it pleasant for the ladies. Seems the polite thing to do. But no. That was . . .” He breathed a sigh, deep, content, relaxed. “It’s never been quite like that before.”
“It was amazing.” The fuzziness lingered, sleepiness rolling over her in waves. For the span of a heartbeat, she felt a stroke of panic.
“You’ll feel a little groggy,” Kade said as if reading her thoughts. “Just like when you donate blood. Hang on a minute.”
Felicity made a soft sound of acknowledgment, sinking into the pillows as he slipped away. Then Kade pressed a paper cup into her hand and she drank it greedily, not knowing if he’d been gone seconds or minutes.
He rubbed her shoulders as she drained the juice, supplying her with a bottle of water as soon as it was gone. She took a few swallows of that, too, then passed it back, watching him drink after her.
Gulping down half the bottle, he made his way around the room and turned off the lights. When he slipped into bed beside her, his skin was bare, his body molding to hers as if made for it.
Kade draped his arms around her, kissing her temple and sighing in contentment once again. “Filly?”
“Hmm?” She couldn’t open her eyes.
“I love you.”
Her heart swelled and she rested her forehead against his on the pillow, a smile wreathing itself on her face in the dark. She drifted off before she could repeat it back to him.
EIGHTEEN
* * *
“COME ON, SUNSHINE. Time to get up.”
Felicity groaned, turning her face into the pillow as Kade shook her awake. Weary to the bone, getting out of bed was the last thing she wanted to do.
He pulled the curtains open and the rosy light of dusk bathed the room. It would have seemed dark outside if any lights had been on, but instead he stood silhouetted against the soft blues, pinks and purples of the clouded sky. The image was striking enough she sat up to take it in.
What would it be like to reverse night and day? Life with Kade—even if she never accepted his offer to change her—meant a shift toward being nocturnal. All her nights would belong to him, their days spent sleeping in shadowed rooms. Where they would live, she didn’t know. That was another problem to consider, and she frowned as she watched Kade fill a bag with the things they’d need tonight.
As long as her father lived, Felicity would need to be near him. Emmett was getting older and her mother’s death had taken a toll on his health, whether or not he would admit it. She’d assumed she would live in the Hilltop House for the rest of her life, and maybe she would; if she never changed, she could keep one room dark for Kade and share it when he was there. She had no doubt he’d spend a considerable portion of his time away from home, continuing the hunt. The problem was she didn’t think she’d be happy with that, only sharing a fraction of his life. If they were going to be together, it was all or nothing.
Giving it all just seemed impossible, considering what it meant she had to do.
“You’re makin’ that face you make when you’re thinkin’ about unhappy things,” Kade said.
Felicity turned away, sliding out of the bed and reaching for her clothes on the floor. “I didn’t know that was a thing.”
“You wanna talk about it before we head out?”
Talking about it would be best for things between them, she was sure. But every minute they spent in the hotel room working out their feelings was a minute taken away from their job.
The thought almost brought her to laughter. It was their job now, was it? A month ago, she was worried about adding too much salt to a new pastry recipe. Now she was in a hotel room with a dead man—who she was in love with, no less—thinking of herself as a bounty hunter.
“We should take care of business first.” She wiggled into her jeans before excusing herself to the bathroom. The icy water she splashed on her face made her shiver, but it was the best way to clear her head. She pulled the towel off the bar and lifted it to dry her face, but paused, studying her neck in the mirror. There was a clear puncture wound where he’d bitten her, but it already looked half healed.
“It won’t leave any scars,” Kade said right behind her.
Felicity squeaked and jumped, spinning to face him.
He cringed, glancing at her lonely reflection. “Sorry.”
“Don’t do that.” She clapped a hand to her heart, exhaling hard.
“Sorry,” he repeated. “I forget, sometimes.”
Shaking her head, she wiped her face with the towel and looked at the bite wound again. It didn’t look as bad as she expected, even if it wouldn’t scar. She touched it with a fingertip, marveling at how much it had healed in just one afternoon. Thinking of the experience made her shiver and she made herself put the towel down and smooth her hair. “At least I won’t have to explain that to my father,” she murmured.
“I can bite you somewhere more discreet next time,” Kade suggested, grinning as his eyes raked her.
“Maybe. You should probably hold off on that, though. I still feel a little woozy.” She wrapped her ponytail with an elastic band, straightening her clothes. “Ready to go?”
“Yup. Get your boots.” He was already dressed, hat and all—not that he went many places without it.
It was just a few weeks before that he’d visited her while she decorated the tree in the living room of the bed and breakfast, wearing his hat despite being in dirt-stained jeans and a white undershirt. She smiled sadly at the memory. In so little time, things had changed so much. For better or worse, nothing would be the same.
Felicity put on her boots and a dark sweater, topping it with her red coat. Kade eyed it with a frown, but she ignored him; the lining was black, and she’d turn it inside out once they reached their destination.
“You do know where we’re going, right?” She hadn’t thought to ask sooner. It wasn’t as if they could just stop and ask directions to the vampire’s hideout.
“Mmhm. I got the address from Thaddeus and I went to borrow a computer downstairs to look up the directions.” He waved the printed paper he took from the nightstand, sliding his wallet, cell phone and keys into his pockets. His bag was waiting on the foot of the bed.
“Good plan.” She trailed behind him, carrying nothing but her purse. She hoped they wouldn’t need his guns, but she was glad he decided to bring them.
They didn’t speak once they got in the SUV, tension growing as they neared their destination. Felicity didn’t know what to expect; she couldn’t help being nervous. Kade didn’t say anything, but she knew he was worrying about her again. It was impossible to fault him. He wasn’t cold blooded, for all that he was a vampire, and now they were locked in a downward spiral that would only end when the hunt was over.
&n
bsp; She tried not to think about what that meant. It was clear enough in the way both Kade and his Keeper spoke; when they found him, Drake du Coudray was going to die. They didn’t seem to have any other methods for dealing with problems, and while she could only assume they were doing what was best, she couldn’t help thinking it brutal.
But she wasn’t a hunter, and she had a feeling that even changing wouldn’t make her one. She didn’t know what Kade had been like before he became undead, but she couldn’t picture him any other way. Vampirism was a facet of who he was, but compared to his good humor, his solid work ethic and the kind nature he’d shown, it seemed a small one. Drinking blood was part of him, but it didn’t define him.
No matter what, she was convinced he was a good man—dead or otherwise.
“Here we go.” Kade didn’t slow the SUV, but he turned his head as they passed the country estate. A low stone wall encircled the grounds, a wrought-iron gate blocking the long drive.
Felicity craned her neck to take it in. The large ranch mansion was built of logs, warm lights shining in dozens of tall windows. Barns of all different sizes stood to either side, as well as behind the house. Colorful farm equipment and a variety of trucks and trailers sat near the barns and, while they were too far away for her to see, she was sure there were people out working in the dark.
“He must be rich,” she remarked as they passed a cluster of trees that hid the mansion from sight. They’d go a little farther and find somewhere to park where the SUV wouldn’t be out of place, then head back on foot. The estate stood across from a wooded lot. It couldn’t have worked out better if they’d planned it.
“A lot of vampires are. I mean, lots of people aim to earn enough to retire when they’re old. If you never get old, you can just keep workin’. After a while, that compound interest makes a big difference.” He turned onto a side road, appraising the landscape, deciding on a wooded patch a short distance ahead.
She jerked her thumb toward the ranch. “Could you afford a mansion like that?”
Kade arched a brow, smirking. “Why, you wanna live in a mansion instead of your cute little Hilltop House, now?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“No,” he agreed. “It ain’t.”
He parked the SUV and hopped out, taking his bag with him. Swallowing against the churning nervousness in the pit of her stomach, Felicity turned her coat inside out before joining him outside. It was a good two mile trek back to the woods across from du Coudray’s mansion, but mid-December meant the trees were bare, offering a good view of the stars.
Kade cut an easy path through the wild, looking as much at home among the trees as he did in the saddle. He led unerringly, never backtracking, taking her straight to the stand of trees across from the mansion’s gate.
“Now we settle.” He crouched in the brush, lowering his bag to the ground. He unzipped it slowly, muting the sound with one gloved hand, pulling out his digital camera and double-checking to make sure the flash was off.
“How long do you think we’ll have to wait?” Felicity asked in a whisper, sitting on the cool earth beside him and hugging her knees.
“Don’t know. We might get lucky tonight, or we might be out here all week. Just seein’ how many trucks are in there, though, I know for sure we can’t do this without havin’ the cops raid the place first.”
She nodded. “What should I do?” It was a fight not to feel useless. Kade could have easily done something as mundane as watching for evidence by himself.
“Just watch,” he whispered back, his gaze locked on the mansion across the road. “And try to keep quiet. You never know when someone might be listening.”
Biting her lip, Felicity fell silent.
Long hours drew past, the activity at the ranch dwindling as it grew late. Men put tractors and other machinery back into the barns, locking up and shutting off lights, heading for home. Kade photographed each vehicle as it passed the gates and turned onto the county road. It seemed over-precautionary, but then again, anyone working at the ranch might be involved in the illicit activities du Coudray had running after hours.
She shifted and stretched as the hours dragged on, her hands and feet growing numb as the cold seeped into her bones.
Kade moved little and when he did, it seemed like he was positioning himself better for watching, rather than trying to make himself comfortable. It reminded her of the story she’d heard of military snipers, trained to hold a position almost indefinitely, ignoring their body’s needs for sake of the mission. She’d wondered before if it was true. Watching him, it seemed more plausible.
It was nearly two A.M. when her head started bobbing, drowsiness trying to take her. Falling asleep in the cold would be dangerous; it wasn’t cold enough for her to freeze to death, but exposure was a possibility. With Kade being impervious to cold, she wasn’t sure if he’d know when she’d reached her limit.
Kade spared her a concerned glance and started to speak, but his head snapped back when headlights pierced the shadows around them.
A truck slowed as it approached the drive, pulling in and parking in front of the iron gates. The last worker out had closed them for the night, forcing the driver to stop.
Felicity went stiff. “Kade?”
He raised a finger in signal to wait, taking pictures as the truck’s door opened and the driver slid out.
“Kade,” she repeated, sharper.
“Too dark to get a good photo.” He scowled, shaking his head.
The driver looked over his shoulder as he unlocked the gates, pushing them wide and then climbing back into his silver truck.
“We don’t need photos,” Felicity hissed, crawling to his side. The truck was familiar enough, but even without the plates, she would have recognized him the moment he stepped out. She lifted a finger, pointing. “It’s Grant!”
Until then, Kade had been paying more attention to the camera than what was in front of him. Now he looked, and when he realized what he saw, he cursed so strongly that Felicity blushed.
“Think you know somebody,” he muttered, taking a picture of the license plate on the truck before it pulled through. His expression darkened, his upper lip peeled back in a snarl. With his fangs exposed, he looked almost more animal than man.
“I don’t understand.” Felicity rubbed her arms, watching the tail lights winding up the drive.
“I do.” Kade jammed the camera into his pocket. “I should have known. He knew what was out there. He didn’t believe me for a minute when I told McCullough it was a wolf that took down that steer. Makes sense that he wouldn’t, if he was the one bringing it.”
“And it explains how the rustlers always knew where the herd was.” Her throat tightened. How could he? Grant been her friend, someone she trusted—she never would have imagined he’d turn to something like this. “I just don’t understand why he’d . . .” she trailed off, unable to finish, not needing to.
Kade sighed, motioning for her to follow as he started back toward the SUV. “Well, like I said. Most vampires are rich. Throw a man enough money and he’ll abandon his morals, sure enough.”
“Where are you going?” Felicity couldn’t see the truck anymore, but if Grant was headed to the ranch, she figured it safe to assume someone would be leaving with a trailer soon. Either to round up cattle, or take the chupacabra out.
“We got another stakeout to handle, and we need to get there before any of these people do. Nobody’s left since nine or so. People are comin’ in now, we’ve got the identity of one, and we need one more thing.” He waited for her to catch up, moving slower in consideration of her pace.
“What’s that?” She rubbed her arms through her coat.
“Somethin’ to connect them to the cattle.” Kade shrugged. “We’ll head back, do this same thing out at William’s Woe, see where we can go from there. They drive that old red truck out to McCullough’s, which means someone’s gonna hafta go pick it up, first. Seems to me like that someone is gonna be G
rant.”
Felicity frowned. “Did cattle ever disappear on nights he was working?”
“Don’t know. I didn’t ask. Fortunately enough, we didn’t lose any more cattle after that first night I was on the job. Almost did, but shootin’ me seemed to scare them off.” He smirked, though she couldn’t imagine why that was amusing. “We’d have to ask the other cowboys about that.”
“We should warn Marshall McCullough about Grant. Especially if they might be heading that way tonight.”
“No, we shouldn’t. The last thing we want is for du Coudray and his boys to know we’re lookin’ at him. If McCullough loses another couple head, well . . . we’ll make it up to him by bustin’ up this whole affair, won’t we.”
She didn’t agree, but she didn’t say anything else. They’d already worked out a plan, and no matter how badly she wanted to prevent anything else from happening to anyone in Holly Hill, they needed to stick to it. Especially when they were so close.
They didn’t talk any more on the walk. Kade opened the passenger door, helping her into the SUV. She didn’t realize how tired she was until she sat down, her eyes growing heavy before she had her seat belt on.
“You all right?” Kade asked as he climbed behind the wheel.
“Just tired,” she murmured. “I’ll nap while we drive.”
“I can take you back to the hotel if you want.”
“No, I should be there when you hit William’s Woe. I might recognize somebody else.” Bitter disappointment filled her as she spoke. She didn’t want to believe Grant was involved, but she’d seen it with her own eyes. To think he’d come to see her and cast doubts on Kade’s honesty.
“If you say so.” He bit the fingertip of his glove, tugging his hand free so he could dial the phone. He reached across to rub her thigh while he pressed the phone to his ear, his eyes glazing when his Keeper answered.
“Thought you’d like to hear from me. Pictures? Yeah, but I got somethin’ better, too.” Kade met her eye, his expression grim. “We’ve got a name.”
