"How long have I been out?"
Rahve's smile wasn't reassuring.
"Most of the evening," he said. "We'll talk more when I've checked on things downstairs."
"I want to go home."
Again, the flash of irrational disappointment in his eyes, but he nodded. "I'll tell my driver and Cord."
"Did you have something to do with me passing out?"
Rahve turned, his gaze dark.
"Why would you ask?"
"The last thing I remember is your voice in my head, even though you were on the other side of the room," she whispered, afraid he'd answer, and equally afraid he would tell her she was crazy and imagining things.
"What did I say?"
She frowned and tried to recall the exact words. When she looked at him and spoke, her voice was barely audible. "Something about things he should have told me. What things?"
"Ask him."
"I'm asking you."
Rahve had taken a few steps away and he strolled back and sat next to her. The heat that radiated from his body scorched her through the thin sheet, and for a few seconds, Deluna wanted him to touch her. He smiled, and she squirmed a little.
"Cord thinks he can control you, doesn't he?" Rahve's laughter rumbled over her like a wave of heat caressing her entire body, inside and out. "He thinks if he ties your hands or blindfolds you he's in control." Rahve's dark eyes gleamed. "You and I know there's so much more he doesn't understand about you."
Deluna knew her face was stained scarlet with embarrassment, and she stared at him, unable to answer. A soft knock at the door saved her from a conversation with Rahve that she knew was a lot more dangerous than she was ready for.
"Don't look so worried, Deluna," Rahve said. He smiled, a lazy, sensual shift of his handsome features. "Cord will think I've been seducing you."
She had no answer for him, and was distinctly relieved when he walked away, opened the door, and Cord came in.
* * * * *
"We cater to all women in this establishment, Cord, or have you forgotten that part of our agreement?"
Cord shivered in response to the paralyzing ice that stroked his spine, a cold that was born in Rahve's quiet words.
"I haven't forgotten, but does everything have to be universal?"
Laughter was the first reply, then a heavy hand settled on his shoulder a moment before Rahve's richly layered voice rumbled near Cord's ear. "Reread your contract if the terms weren't clear enough for your understanding. I know you want to create something that is exclusively for Deluna, but she's not part of the deal here."
"I thought you of all people would be happy to see her have something special," Cord replied.
Rahve's eyebrow arched and his smile was mocking. "Why would you think that?"
Cord's eyes glittered and his mood darkened. "Might have something to do with the way you watch her," he growled quietly. "The way you watched her just before she passed out at your house. The way you watch me fuck her," he added, challenging the older man to deny it. The past had been repeated so often it was expected now.
Rahve's amusement increased and he laughed outright when Cord's expression turned venomous. "Are you afraid she might enjoy my attention more than she does your efforts to tame her?"
"Fuck you, Rahve."
"Another time," he said, his tone bland. "When you're in a better mood."
Cord bit back a snarl at the calm and cordial quality of his voice; a tiny coil of fear slithering up his spine when he looked into Rahve's dark eyes and found no real humor in them.
"I want to give her this, a gift of something original designed solely for her. Will you let our people make it from the design?"
"I don't pay them to indulge you, Cord."
"You're a bastard, you know."
Rahve snorted. "And you're only now discovering that?"
The ringing of a phone interrupted any reply Cord might have been planning and he glanced at the caller ID, smiling without realizing it when he saw her name.
"Give her my love," Rahve said with a laugh, heading toward the door. He paused and glanced at Cord before he left the office. "Take the design to Sherri. If she's willing to work it for you, do it. I'll demand payment, but you already know that."
* * *
"I thought you were working—" Deluna abruptly stopped speaking when she opened the door and came face to face with Rahve, not Cord.
"He's working late," Rahve said, clearly amused by how flustered she was at his presence. "I thought you might like some company."
"So you decided you'd keep me entertained in Cord's absence. Thanks, Rahve, but I'd rather be alone."
He leaned on the doorframe and one eyebrow rose. "I wonder why I don't believe you?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
A grin flashed across his features. "Fear."
A chill kissed the back of her neck. She had good reason to be afraid of him. Something about Rahve made her feel self-conscious and acutely aware of every inch of skin.
"No denial?" He smiled. "You're proving your intelligence at least."
"You want me to admit that you scare me?" She shook her head. "Fine. You scare me."
"Why don't you come out and have dinner with me, then I'll take you to Cord."
"I don't want to spend time with you." Her voice was breathy, excitement waking inside her already. She was lying, and she had the feeling he knew it as well as she did.
"Why? Be honest with me and I'll leave if that's really what you want."
Startled, she met his eyes and found only curiosity there. What was she supposed to tell him? Panic rippled the surface of her mind. He reached out and touched her chin, his thumb a whisper of contact over her mouth, parting her lips before he slid his forefinger between them. She licked at the tip and he pushed in deeper.
"Are you imagining that's my cock, Deluna?"
The words were like a searing shot of fire into her veins, and she stumbled back, losing contact with him. She opened her mouth to order him out, and groaned inwardly when she stupidly said, "Come in, Rahve, you're not going to leave anyway."
"How far in are you planning to invite me?"
"Stop it!" Her body was answering his insidious, sexually charged manner, even if she was choking back the rejoinders that wanted to spill from her. She watched him slip out of his coat, then open his suit jacket.
"Your home is nice."
"Compared to what?" She'd seen his house, her small apartment might be cozy and stylish but it looked like a low budget set next to his estate.
He frowned. "Stop being so defensive."
"Why in hell did you come here, and don't tell me it was to see if I wanted company, or dinner."
He shrugged broad shoulders. "Maybe I wanted to have you for dinner," he teased, though the words came out quiet and intense. He went to the bar, fixed a drink, and sat down in a leather armchair. He looked at her over the rim of his glass as he sipped the Scotch he'd poured.
"I've watched you with Cord," he informed her.
She hugged herself tight. "Watched me with him?"
He smiled and let her consider what he hadn't said.
Deluna trembled in the silence, let all the implications of his words settle into her mind as her body wound tighter and tighter until she thought her muscles might lock permanently.
"You like it when he takes charge," Rahve noted as casually as if they were discussing the weather. "It excites you to be told what to do."
"I think you should leave, Rahve." Her voice was a squeak of sound in the heavy silence that had fallen.
"I think you should have a drink and relax while we talk about what's going to happen in the next hour."
She hugged herself and shook her head, denying everything he was suggesting. But, deeper than her disgust at what he'd told her was a hunger that wanted to be fed, and that scared her more than Rahve did.
He held out his hand and she met his mesmerizing gaze, drawn to him, in spite of the desire to run. She
was like a moth to his flame and she took a few steps closer to him, until their fingers touched and his hand closed around hers. He rose and led her to the floor length windows that overlooked the city, standing at her back, holding her against his chest. He placed her hands on the glass and the cold that emanated from the heavy panel made her shiver.
"If you try to move your hands away, I will punish you," Rahve whispered next to her ear, lifting her heavy hair and kissing the bare skin he'd exposed.
Deluna didn't know what made her body quiver more, the kiss or the threat. She hadn't been expecting to go out, and she was dressed in a flowing skirt and a loose tanktop. His fingers were drawing the tanktop upward. Her breaths quickened when she saw her reflection in the glass, her breasts bared, nipples tight and hard. Rahve's elegant hands were at her waist, and he was watching her.
"I can smell your pussy already," he murmured. "I wonder if you taste as good as you smell?"
"She does."
Deluna moaned softly at the sound of Cord's voice. She didn't look too closely at whether she was relieved, afraid, or simply frustrated that he'd arrived.
"Good," Rahve answered, and he didn't move from his position at her back. He pushed closer, letting the hard ridge of his erection press against her ass.
"I figured I'd find you here."
"You can take your hands off the glass, Deluna," Rahve told her, then turned around, keeping her in front of him. He stripped her tanktop off and threw it aside, and she stared at Cord's face, fascinated by the fierce lust that made his odd eyes burn like an inferno had been lit behind them. Rahve's hands stroked her breasts, tugging on her nipples and pinching them enough to cause twinges of pain. Her pussy was pulsing wildly, wetting her thighs under the skirt.
Rahve suddenly picked her up and headed for the bedroom, walking past Cord without pausing. "You're welcome to join us."
Deluna heard him from a distance, the fog in her mind making it impossible to do anything but feel her body's desires. She was deposited in the center of her bed and Rahve slid the skirt over her hips, leaving her naked to his gaze. He smiled when Cord came into the room. He watched the younger man undress and approach the bed, and spread her legs wide before he went down on his knees and pulled her toward him. Her hips rose and she moaned loudly when Cord began licking her clit, and sucking.
The pressure built quickly and he had her on the edge of orgasm when she felt the bed move, and knew Rahve was near. Her fingers tangled in Cord's hair, easing him away. He stared at her, anger radiating off him in waves for a moment. She rolled over and got on her knees.
She looked up at Rahve, then her gaze slid over him. She finally touched him, her hands gliding over warm, naked flesh. She spread her legs for Cord, and bent to take Rahve's thick cock into her mouth. Her tongue glided over him, and she started sucking intently, her body shuddering when Cord drove into her and started fucking her hard. Rahve's hands were in her hair and he fucked her mouth while Cord worked her pussy into a frenzy of clenching muscles.
She felt the tension in Rahve, and knew he was nearing orgasm, she sucked harder and Cord pounded into her while his fingers worked her clit. As her body writhed in the throes of a powerful, mind-numbing climax, she heard Rahve's growl a second before his cock pulsed and his release spurted into her throat. He slipped free of her mouth, and Cord pulled her upward, her back against his chest. Rahve lifted her hand and searing pain struck her wrist. A moment later, ecstasy flooded into her; making every nerve in her body ignite with the most intense pleasure she'd ever felt.
She was dimly aware of Cord's release inside her, the hot rush of his orgasm mingling with the sticky wetness of her own juices. She was dimly aware of a second shock of pain at her neck, followed by euphoria that made her come again and again, until she blacked out, her senses overloaded beyond endurance.
* * *
Deluna didn't know how long she'd been out, but when awareness returned, she was wrapped in warmth. She opened her eyes and a tiny gasp of surprise slipped past her lips. She was staring into Rahve's dark eyes, and Cord was licking her neck from behind, then pain shot through her, and horror when she realized he was sucking from her vein. Her eyes went wide and Rahve smiled. She wanted to scream when she saw the elongated fangs, but his eyes were hypnotic, and she stayed silent. For the first time that evening, her mind was clear, like a mist or weight had been cleared.
Rahve pulled her toward him and lifted her leg over his hip, holding her as his cock slid deep. Cord's hands were busy at her breasts, caressing. Rahve moved onto his back, taking her with him. Cord was only a beat behind them and when Rahve drew her down into a searing kiss, Cord was at her back. He slid a finger into her ass and began to move it in and out. Rahve's hands curved over her butt and spread her cheeks while Cord eased his cock into her and they fucked her again, moving in perfect sync, giving her the most intense pleasure she'd ever known.
Deluna lost track of the times they took her blood, together and separately. Each time the passion was fierce, almost savage, and she wondered if she'd die when they were done with her.
* * *
Rahve glanced at the sleeping woman, then unleashed his fury with soft words when he looked at Cord. "At what point did I say you could attempt to turn her? If you think I didn't know you were feeding her your blood with those kisses, you really haven't learned much in the past hundred years."
"I don't have to ask your permission to take a mate, Rahve!" Cord snarled, baring his fangs.
Rahve's dark eyes flared with lethal rage.
"You fucking well have to ask my permission to exist, Cordeaux," he whispered, his voice low, deadly. He was across the room and his hand was around Cord's throat before the younger vampire could blink. "When was the last time you turned someone?" He sneered. "Successfully," he added, driving the truth home like a stake to the heart.
Cord's eyes gleamed golden in the shadowy darkness. He made no attempt to reply. They both knew his attempts had never lived more than a day.
"You're getting careless and far too cocky. In fact, you've become a liability to me, boy."
"Are you going to save her?" Cord asked, hating to have to speak with deference to his maker.
Rahve's dark eyes glittered in the gloom. "You'll never know, I'm afraid." He bared his fangs, then struck…
* * *
The morning sun poured through the patio doors, and Deluna sobbed. Her skin felt like it was peeling away, and she was being burned to the bone. A shadow fell across her and she forced her eyes open. Rahve Falcon stood over her.
"I can end your pain."
"How?" Her voice was rough, the sound like a scratch against sandpaper.
"Cord's dead," Rahve informed her calmly. "He got greedy, as well as stupid, and he did this to you. You're part vampire now, Deluna. He fucked it up. Do you want me to help you, or let you die with him?"
She'd thought herself in love with Cord. Why didn't it hurt to know he was dead?
Rahve smiled, and she knew he'd heard her thought when he spoke again. "Cord used a few vampire tricks to make you what he wanted."
"And you didn't?"
"Think about it, Deluna–when did you feel your freedom return?"
"With you."
He nodded.
She was silent and he sat next to her on the bed, and his fingers were cool when he pushed her hair back and leaned to place a kiss on her forehead. It was her last memory before the world went black…
~ END ~
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Stolen Rapture
Copyright © 2011 Kayden McLeod
Cover art by Kayden McLeod
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All sexually active characters in this work are eighteen or older.
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