Samuel was weakening, but so was she.
Driving him backward, she pinned his flailing body against the wall. Then, with the clinical detachment that had been drilled into her over the past three decades, she used the knife to cut off his head.
It was a slow, messy business, but she never wavered. Not until Samuel’s head rolled across the floor, halting at the heavily booted feet of the large vampire standing near the door.
Feeling oddly hollow, Jaelyn allowed her gaze to travel from the lifeless eyes of Samuel up the well-honed body covered in black fatigues to the square face that was all too familiar.
“Kostas,” she breathed, dropping the bloody knife.
The leader’s soulless black gaze skimmed over her and Jaelyn prepared for his punishment. It didn’t matter that she had been lured from her rooms by Samuel. Or that he’d tried to kill her.
If the head of the Addonexus decided she’d broken the rules, then he’d make certain she lived to regret her mistake.
Instead he pointed toward the silver collar around her neck.
“The release is in the back.”
She lifted her hands to search the smooth metal, painful minutes passing until she at last located the hidden lever. There was a faint click before the heavy silver parted and she was tossing aside the torture device with a grimace.
“Are you permanently injured?”
She returned her wary attention to the elder vampire, already feeling the charred flesh of her neck beginning to heal.
Kostas looked like a Roman general with his large, muscular body, his finely hewed features, and black hair he kept slicked back into a short tail at his nape. But it wasn’t his physical strength that made him dangerous. Or even his considerable powers as a vampire.
It was the utter lack of conscience.
He was the perfect psychopath.
“I’ll be fine,” she muttered, her gaze dropping to the head that was swiftly turning to ash at his feet. “Samuel is dead.”
“So I see. A pity.”
He didn’t sound like it was a pity.
Actually he sounded ... satisfied.
Jaelyn wrapped her arms around her chilled body, desperately longing to strip off the soiled robe and spend the next few hours in a hot bath.
“I don’t know what happened to him. He ...” She struggled to keep the horror from her voice. “He attacked me. I had no choice but kill him.”
“Yes.” With the air of a teacher examining the work of a student, Kostas bent to study the disintegrating head.
“A clean cut despite the dullness of your weapon,” he at last concluded, straightening to meet her startled gaze. “Well done.”
“Well done?”
His lips stretched into the semblance of a smile. “Actually, I suppose I should say congratulations.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You have passed the last of your tests.” He offered a faint nod. “Tomorrow evening you will walk as an equal among the Addonexus.”
She tensed.
Did he just say what she thought he said?
“This was a test?” she rasped, the empty sense of shock being swiftly replaced with a white-hot fury.
“It was obvious from the beginning that you possessed all the skills necessary to become one of our finest Hunters. Indeed, it has been centuries since we have found a recruit with your potential.” His black gaze was without apology. “But there was concern that your tender heart might make you vulnerable. I am pleased to see that your instinct to survive is capable of overcoming any ridiculous attachment to another.”
“You sacrificed Samuel just to see if I would protect myself ?”
“You misunderstand.” He arched a brow, as if puzzled by her smoldering disbelief. “We sensed the envy that ate at Samuel and we knew it was only a matter of time before he attempted to be rid of you, but we did nothing to encourage his attack.”
Was that supposed to make her feel better?
Holy shit.
If she’d been a half a step slower. Or if she’d hesitated for even one second ...
“And it never occurred to you to warn me?” she hissed.
“Of course not.” A hint of annoyance touched his arrogant face. “This was a lesson you needed to learn.”
“Damn you.” She stumbled backward, disgust toward the Addonexus, toward Samuel, and most of all, toward herself flowing like acid through her veins. “Damn all of you.”
It had been several centuries since Ariyal had woken in a strange bedroom with a thick head and queasy stomach.
In fact, the last occasion had been after a two-year-long bender with a Lamia demon who had taught him the meaning of “party ’til you drop.”
Now he opened his eyes with a wary caution, not entirely surprised to find himself sprawled on the floor of a cramped chamber that smelled of old blood and sex. None of it his, thank the gods.
What he didn’t expect was the unmistakable scent of vampire.
Momentarily disoriented, Ariyal flowed to his feet, instinctively reaching for the dagger he kept at his lower back. Why the hell would he be in the room with a leech ... ?
Memories crashed through him with the force of a sledgehammer as he glanced toward the narrow bed to discover a female so beautiful she made his heart hurt.
Jaelyn.
They had been together at the mage’s townhouse along with Tearloch and his spooky spook. And then Sergei had lobbed a spell at the portal, causing a massive explosion of magic. Dumb-ass.
That’s all he remembered until waking in this nasty hellhole.
So the question was, had Jaelyn carried him away from the townhouse to protect him? Or was this just a brief layover before she handed him to the Oracles?
He forgot to care as she stirred on the narrow mattress, her hoarse cry of pain echoing through the room.
“Jaelyn,” he called softly. “Jaelyn, can you hear me?”
She continued to thrash about and he moved to perch on the edge of the bed. He wasn’t stupid enough to reach out and shake her awake. Poking a sleeping vampire was about as smart as pointing a loaded gun to his head. Instead he sucked in a deep breath; then with one smooth motion he stretched on top of her, grasping her wrists in his hands to tug her arms above her head. Then, using his superior weight, he pinned her lower body to the bed.
He told himself it was the only way to wake her before she attracted unwanted attention, but as he settled against the firm curves he couldn’t deny a low groan of approval from rumbling in his chest.
Oh ... hell. She felt so good pressed against him, her dangerous scent stirring his senses and the cool brush of her power teasing his overheated skin.
He could spend the next several years in this precise position.
Almost as if sensing his treacherous thought, Jaelyn’s blue eyes snapped open, dark with a bleak agony that stole the breath from Ariyal’s lungs. Seconds later she realized where she was and who was perched on top of her and those magnificent eyes narrowed with a sudden fury.
“Get off me,” she hissed, her knee jerking upward with the intention of making him a eunuch.
Blocking the blow with his leg, he smiled down at her frustrated expression.
He far preferred Jaelyn hissing and spitting. The wounded creature he’d briefly glimpsed when she first woke reminded him far too much of himself.
“Careful, poppet,” he teased. “I have high hopes of needing that later.”
Her lips thinned, but he didn’t miss the tiny shiver that raced through her body.
Yeah, she wanted him.
She didn’t want to want him. But she wanted him. “What the hell are you doing?” she muttered.
“You were having a nightmare.”
She abruptly averted her gaze, perhaps realizing she’d revealed far more than she desired.
“So you thought you would crawl in bed with me?”
“I was trying to keep you from waking the entire building.” His gaze slid over her profile,
a moan escaping him at the sharp urge to nuzzle along the vulnerable line of her throat. “I assume you didn’t want someone coming to see if you needed help.”
“Fine,” she snapped. “I’m awake now.”
“What were you dreaming about?”
“A damned Sylvermyst who wouldn’t get his ass off me,” she snarled, turning back to stab him with a fierce glare. “It would make any woman howl in fear.”
With a low chuckle he gave into temptation.
“Oh, I could make you howl,” he breathed, leaning down to nibble along her lower lip.
“Like I haven’t heard that before,” she growled even as she arched against him in blatant invitation.
His body reacted with a savage speed, his cock hard and aching to be of service.
“Are you challenging me, poppet?” he murmured, giving her lip a sharp nip before exploring the sensitive curve of her neck.
“Ariyal.”
“Mmmm?”
“I told you to get off me.”
“Yes, I heard you the first time.”
“Then why ...” She gave a small shriek as he gently bit the flesh at the base of her neck. “Shit.”
“More?” he demanded, running his tongue along the line of her tender vein. “How about here?” He gave her another bite just below her jaw.
She squirmed in obvious pleasure. “You did that on purpose,” she breathed.
He laughed at her accusing tone. “I wouldn’t be much of a lover if I did it by accident.”
“You’re not my lover.”
He pulled back to meet her guarded gaze. “Do you object to the concept or the term?”
“Both.”
His gaze dipped down to where her tightly budded nipples pressed against the spandex material of her top.
“Liar.”
Her eyes flashed indigo fire. “You’re so damned arrogant.”
“Confident,” he corrected, lowering his head. “If you don’t want this then tell me no.”
He moved slowly. Slowly enough that she would have ample opportunity to refuse him, despite the fact she could have knocked him across the cramped room from the moment she woke.
He didn’t want her later claiming he’d forced her into anything.
Feeling her tense he paused just over her lips, waiting for her to push him away.
Deep inside, a cowardly part of him almost hoped she would call an end to the madness. This addictive craving for a female who might very well prove to be his enemy was a weakness he couldn’t afford. Not if he was to bring an end to the threat of the Dark Lord.
That part, thankfully, was buried beneath a jolt of white-hot pleasure when she lifted her head off the pillow to close the shallow space between their lips.
The taste of her was like the finest brandy. Smooth, silky, with a burn he could feel to the tips of his toes. Oh ... bloody hell. Over the past centuries he’d forgotten the explosive excitement of mutual passion. He’d trained himself to use sex as a weapon for the survival of his people. It had become an unfortunate necessity.
And then Jaelyn had crashed into his life.
A beautiful, lethal predator in spandex who had managed to kick-start his lust into hyperdrive and reminded him in vivid detail the pleasure of being a fully functioning male.
The wonder of touching and being touched. Of feeling her tempting body soften in welcome. Of being consumed by the tidal wave of desire.
“Tell me that you want me, poppet,” he murmured against her lips. “I need to hear the words.”
“You talk too much,” she growled, allowing her fangs to press against his lower lip.
The feel of those lethal fangs should have jerked him out of his sensual haze. The female could drain him in a heartbeat. But instead of fear a raw sense of anticipation seared through him.
It was ... intoxicating.
“Admit the truth. You want me.”
His commanding words were imprisoned against his lips as she once again claimed his mouth in a kiss that demanded capitulation. He was prepared to react to her touch, but the sheer power of it caught him off guard.
God, yes. This was precisely what he’d wanted from the first minute he’d caught sight of this female stalking him.
He pressed her against the mattress, drinking in the cool enticement that was uniquely Jaelyn. And still she was not close enough. He growled deep in his throat as he reached down to grasp her top and with one tug ripped it over her head to reveal the smooth perfection of her alabaster breasts tipped with pale rose nipples.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered in aching tones, his head dipping down to capture the tip of her beaded nipple between his lips.
With a whimper, Jaelyn shifted beneath him, wrapping her legs around his hips.
“This is insanity,” she muttered.
He lifted his head to meet her glittering gaze. “Do you want me to stop?”
“Stop and I’ll kill you,” she rasped, wrenching her arms from his confining grasp to reach for his T-shirt. With one motion she was wrestling it off him with obvious impatience.
Ariyal had imagined the sensation of her hands running over his skin a hundred times, but nothing could prepare him for the actual reality. He shuddered beneath her exploring touch, his erection straining against the zipper of his jeans.
“Then tell me what you want, Jaelyn.”
“You.” She trembled as he kissed his way over the curve of her ear. “I want you.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
His hands trailed up her bare arms, savoring the cool silk of her skin.
“No regrets.” He gave a small nip at the lobe of her ear, smiling as she jerked beneath him.
“Did I mention you talk too much?”
He gave her another nip. “Yes.”
“I ...”
Her sharp retort was lost as his hands shifted to cup her breasts, his thumbs circling her straining nipples.
“Yes?” he prompted.
“I don’t remember.”
He softly chuckled as his lips drifted over her cheek before nuzzling the edge of her mouth.
“I want you naked,” he murmured as he forced his reluctant hands to leave the delicious temptation of her breasts to skim down her slender hips, pushing off the spandex pants before jerking off the rest of his own clothes. Then, urging her legs to wrap back around his hips, he settled until his arousal was pressed directly against her point of pleasure. “Perfect.”
Jaelyn shuddered at the feel of his hard erection rubbing against her. Holy shit. She’d always been in control on the rare occasions she’d taken a lover.
She found it oddly erotic to be in bed with a man who could equal her in strength.
And stubborn determination.
His power was as heady as the rarest aphrodisiac.
“Jaelyn, look at me.”
She shivered at his soft command; then at last she lifted her gaze. Any lingering hesitation was seared away by the smoldering heat that filled his bronzed eyes.
“Satisfied?” she murmured.
“Not nearly.” A slow, wicked smile curved his lips. “Touch me, beautiful Jaelyn.”
Jaelyn’s head tilted back as she eagerly allowed her hands to explore the hard plane of his back.
She wasn’t beautiful. She was too skinny. Her muscles too hard. Her breasts too small.
But beneath his predatory gaze she felt desired.
Growling deep in his throat Ariyal lowered his head, his lips kissing a hungry path down her throat to her collarbone. He pressed hard enough for Jaelyn to feel the blunt edge of his teeth, but she made no effort to pull away.
She shifted her hands to his chest in a restless path, reveling in the satin heat of his skin. It was a fascinating contrast to the vampire lovers she’d taken in the past.
Intrigued with exploring his body, Jaelyn barely noticed when Ariyal lowered his head. Not until he captured a nipple between his lips.
She sighed in approval as his tongue
swirled over the sensitized tip, teasing it until her back was arched in delight. Oh, he was good. So amazingly good.
Now if only he would stop tormenting her with the hard brush of his cock and actually enter her.
“Are you going to finish this or not?” she moaned, shivering as his lips traced the curve between the mounds of her breasts before moving to taste her neglected nipple.
“Patience, poppet.”
She hissed, her fingers tugging at the clasp holding back his hair to allow the chestnut strands to spill over her skin, heightening the pleasure that pulsed through her body.
Don’t bite, she fiercely reminded herself, as his hands branded a path down the curve of her hips and over her thighs. Things were complicated enough without taking his vein.
It was a compulsion that was becoming increasingly difficult to resist as Ariyal eased his hand between her legs and sought the aching cleft between them. Her hands shifted to his shoulders, her fingers unwittingly digging into his flesh to draw a pinprick of blood.
The potent scent of herbs filled the air even as his finger stroked over the sweet spot of her pleasure. She was falling into a maelstrom of sensations that were almost overwhelming.
“Ariyal.”
Perhaps sensing her battle against her twin hungers, Ariyal lifted his head to stroke his lips over her mouth.
“Let go, Jaelyn,” he softly urged.
“I can’t,” she rasped.
“What do you fear?”
She moaned as her hips instinctively lifted to press more firmly to his caressing finger.
“Losing control.”
He lifted onto his elbow and peered deep into her wary eyes. “I’ve got you, sweetheart.”
For a long moment she studied his starkly elegant face.
His beauty wasn’t the same as the frigid perfection of a vampire. He was mist and hot enchantment and dark magic.
Don’t be a fool, Jaelyn, a warning voice whispered in the back of her mind.
She’d been taught a brutal lesson in trusting others.
One she didn’t intend to repeat.
But even as her mind warned of caution, her hands were framing his face so she could kiss him with the pent-up passion that thundered through her.
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