by Zara Novak
“What does that mean?”
A shriek left my mouth as Hunter moved in a flash. Next thing I knew I was on my back with my legs in the air. My arms were now pinned underneath me, and the huge vampire was between my legs, his large hands pressed against the insides of my thighs. His face was mere inches from my pussy.
He leaned forward and pressed his lips against the damp fabric covering my sex. My panties were now soaked through for him. My entire body reacted to the touch, with bolts of lightning fizzing across my skin.
“Oh my god!” I said, stammering the words between choking breaths.
The huge vampire peeled my underwear away and threw them somewhere behind him. His lips came back, flesh touching flesh this time. The soft and warm rush of his breath sent chills up and down my spine. The deft cushion of his lips had my eyes rolling.
His thumbs squeezed into my thighs as he pushed his tongue against my wet folds. I opened around him, relaxing against his touch. He started at the very bottom of my slit, dragging his tongue up all the way to the bud, where his lips pursed around me and sucked ever so gently.
Heaven.
He repeated that action more times than I could count. With each repetition the sensations stacked on top of one another, my pleasure building with each moment until I couldn’t take much more.
Breath juddering, stomach tensed, thighs knocking and body arching away from the mattress. I was only seconds away from finding my release and it felt fucking amazing.
That was when the vampire pulled away from me with a sharp movement, his red eyes waiting for me as I looked down.
“Hunter?” I said, panting the words through impatient disappointment.
He simply smiled. “What, did you think I was going to be that nice? You’ve been a bad girl, remember?”
“Please,” I gasped. “I need this.”
“And you’ll get it little slave, all in due time.”
The huge vampire wrapped his hand around my right leg and flipped me onto my front. Then he was behind me. He smoothed his hands over my ass and moved in close, letting his tongue probe my other hole.
“Fuck…” I gasped, unable to hide how good it felt. Was he going to torture every part of me?
“You’re a naughty little slave, aren’t you?” he said, the flat point of his tongue dancing around the tight ring. Looking over my shoulder I saw him sit up. He sliced his hand through the air, caning my already-delicate bottom with his palm.
I crowed his name as pain seared the flesh. The rush of heat was followed by a wave of pleasure that now felt all too familiar.
“You hit like a girl,” I said, wanting him to go harder.
A dark laugh erupted from his chest. “Challenge accepted.”
Hunter released the belt around my wrists and cracked it against my ass. This time I howled much louder. I gathered the bedding in my palms and balled my fists, cursing Hunter’s name as fire erupted over my ass.
“Fucker!”
“I knew you’d like it,” he said. I could practically hear him smiling.
I had to bite down on the blanket with the next couple of hits. Each one sounded louder than the last, numbing my flesh until I could only feel the rush of fire circling the tender area.
My poor little pussy was wet and trembling, aching to be taken by his huge cock. With each strike from his belt I was getting more turned on, and I knew he was too, how much longer could he last?
“You know, slave…” he said. “I was just thinking that myself.”
It was easy to forget that my thoughts were no longer private around Hunter. I’d have to keep reminding myself of that fact if I ever wanted to win an argument against him. All of that left my mind though as Hunter threw the belt behind him and mounted me from behind.
He positioned me on the bed, moving me around like a living fuck doll. His hands forced my head down and he pulled my ass up.
The vampire gave me another little spank—for good measure—before grabbing hold of me and thrusting his cock deep inside my aching pussy. He speared deep, burying himself completely, and I let out a deep and satisfied groan that came from the very center of me.
The huge creature ravished me, his powerful and muscular body rolling into mine with a force that left the bed shaking. Long and deep thrusts mixed with hard and fast pumps that left me howling and breathless.
I cried his name over and over, my words now lost to a primal and guttural language of lust comprised only of the wildest sounds.
Time became a blur in his presence.
I came several times over, my tight walls squeezing around him and begging his cock for its sweet milk.
He came inside me, filling me with plumes of liquid fire that dribbled down my thighs. At some point we changed, and I was on top of him, rolling my hips and grinding up and down his long cock, which was still rock-solid despite him coming in me several times.
My hands explored his muscular body, appreciating his pecs, his chiseled abs, his muscular arms and powerful thighs. I moved in close and we kissed, losing ourselves in time as we forgot about everything else.
His strong arms wrapped around me and held me tight, his hips moving in time with my own as we approached a heedless crescendo. My cries of pleasure had shifted several octaves higher, my breath reserved now just for the sounds of appreciation I had for him.
It ended with one final explosion of fire.
Pleasure rippled through me like water, shattering through my body like a powerful tide through panes of glass. I clung onto him, pressed firm against his cock as we came together.
Every atom in my body sang with the heat of fire. We were planets colliding together, oceans of stars meeting in eternal darkness, galaxies spinning together to make something brilliant and beautiful, a new heaven comprised of two souls.
For the longest time we just lay like that, our sweaty bodies pressed against one another, melded together in the fires of lust. I could have slept like that I was so comfortable. His body was the missing jigsaw piece against my own.
We did part eventually. I think we might have even drifted off for a few minutes. It felt so right in his presence it was easy to forget about the impending apocalypse.
Life always had a way of catching up to you though. It came in the form of Hunter’s phone ringing.
“I should probably get that,” he said with a regretful sigh, “Given the current state of things.”
I watched the naked giant as he padded across the room and pulled his phone from his jacket. He put it on speaker and set it down on a bedside table while he sat down and brushed his hand up my side.
“Hello?”
“Hunter, it’s Rocky. Did you get out okay?”
“We did,” he said. “How are things there?”
“They’ve been better. My EMP managed to take care of Harkin’s mech-suit plan, but he had other aces up his sleeve. Turns out he had a demon stone.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah.”
“What’s a demon stone?” I asked.
“Oh, hey Rachel,” Rocky said. “A demon stone is a rare artifact, an opal imbued with the magic of a powerful being. They can be used to fortify armies, giving one man the strength of ten. It’s turned Harkin’s goons into a group of super-vampires.”
“Stronger than guardians?” I asked.
“It’s hard to tell. I’d say the playing field is much more level now,” Rocky said. “The attack on HQ was bad, really bad. Chase and his unit fucked us over big time, but I’m not even at the worst part yet.”
“Oh good,” Hunter said. “What else?”
“They got Saydra. They kidnapped her. I imagine she’ll try to go as long as she can without cooperating, but who knows what else Harkin has up his sleeve. It won’t be long before she gives into his torture. And when that happens…”
“Yeah I know,” Hunter said. “She’ll lead him straight to us.”
“Hunter do you need backup? When Harkin and his men catch up to you, you won’t
stand a chance.”
“No,” Hunter looked at me and shook his head. “Not yet, anyway. Saydra said our chances are best on our own. I’ll call if and when that changes. We’ll just have to get a move on.”
“Are you any closer?”
“We’re in the right place, we just need to find the person we’re looking for. I’d be more specific, but—”
“Don’t be,” Rocky interrupted. “I’ve taken every care to make sure this channel is secure, but there’s no telling how safe it is now. Just call if you need anything, and good luck, okay?”
Hunter laughed. “We don’t need luck. We’ve got Doctor Stone on our side.”
He ended the call and sighed.
“Looks like things are getting worse out there,” I said.
“Harkin is starting to move his pieces into place. His goons can fight off the guardians now and he has Saydra. I don’t like how this is going.”
“We need to find Nalinth and talk with her before Harkin traces us here,” I said.
He nodded. “Yeah, we need to get a move on. Let’s clean up and get dressed. I’ll have to make Juan open shop early. I just hope to god he can tell us where the dark witch is.”
Hunter got up from the bed and made his way to the en suite to shower. I followed him, allowing myself one more moment of relaxation as I joined him in the steaming water.
I couldn’t help noticing the sinking feeling at the pit of my stomach though.
Harkin was closing in.
Was he going to win?
12
Hunter
Rachel and I were out the door shortly after Rocky’s call. Juan Ferrero was an informant of mine who had helped me out several times in the past. He was a criminal, and his paranormal pawnshop regularly fenced powerful stolen artifacts, but he was also a magnet for gossip and extremely valuable for street-level gossip.
I pulled the Bugatti up on the sidewalk and we got out. Juan’s shop was in a less-than-desirable part of the town. The car was kitted with some interesting alarm systems though, and any thieves or vandals would be in for a surprise if they put a finger out of line.
The shop was still locked up. Juan kept odd hours and didn’t open doors until six in the evening. We were an hour early, but I knew he’d be up.
With one well-placed boot I broke open the locked front doors and walked into the shop with my shotgun pointed right at Juan. He was sitting at the counter, thumbing through a magazine. Juan threw both his hands in the air and jumped to his feet.
“Hey, hey! Holy shit! Easy now! Hunter?! What’s going on here?!”
Juan looked human, in a way. He was tall, gaunt, pale and always looked ill. The truth was that he was a Nemademon, a small parasitic entity taking up residence in a fresh corpse. It wasn’t against the law, as long as the Nemademon had a permit and followed a long list of specific rules.
“I need information and I need it fast,” I said.
“I don’t know!” Juan said. I fired the shotgun up into the ceiling and plastered him with dust. “Hey, what the fuck?! I said I don’t know!”
“You don’t even know what I’m after,” I growled, pumping the shotgun to fire again. “The next round will go straight into your head. You don’t want to lose this body, do you?”
“Will you talk some sense into him?!” Juan pleaded to Rachel. “He’s going to kill me!”
“Uhm…” Rachel said to me. “Perhaps murder is a little excessive. We can’t get answers out of him, if he’s dead.”
“He’s a Nemademon,” I said to her. “A small parasitic demon living in a dead body. He’s actually very hard to kill, believe it or not.”
I fired again, covering Juan with more dust.
“Shit!” he screamed. “Stop! What do you want to know?!”
“Any new churches around here?” I asked.
Juan laughed; his hands were still in the air. “You’ll have to be more specific than that, Hunter, this is Louisiana. Churches open and close all the time.”
“A voodoo church,” Rachel interjected. “On a lake. Probably being run by a priestess.”
Juan’s eyes darted about in his skull before he answered. “I ain’t heard anything about no church like that.”
I fired again, covering him with more dust.
“Fuck!” he screamed. “Stop fucking shooting up my store!”
“The next round will be in your head, and then your body is ruined. I’m willing to bet a stupid Nemademon like you doesn’t have body insurance.”
“I just forgot to set up the renewal, that’s all!”
I pumped the gun. “Last chance.”
“Okay, okay! Just chill! I might have heard about something like that.” He looked at Rachel. “I’ll talk to you, you’re reasonable.”
“What do you know?” she asked.
“I heard there’s some new voodoo church up in Coushatta, but that’s all I know.”
“In your head,” I reminded him.
“Okay! It’s big business! The whole town’s going every Sunday! The church is only new, but it’s got a huge congregation. Word has it some priestess is in charge…”
Rachel and I looked at one another. “Nalinth.”
“So, are we done here?” Juan laughed nervously. “Well if that’s all you need—”
I saw the flash of his handgun as he reached for it. A second later my shotgun discharged, and Juan’s body was blown across the wall behind the counter. The body slumped to the floor, the face burst open and a shiny black figure jumped onto the glass countertop.
“You prick!” Juan shouted; his voice much higher now he was in his Nemademon form. Nemademons were humanoid, but they were about the size of a pint glass. They had an obsidian exoskeleton, which made them very hard to kill. “Do you know how much a replacement body is going to cost me?! I’m supposed to open in an hour!”
“You were reaching for your gun,” I said.
“You’ve been shooting at me!”
“Is there something you’re not telling me about this church? My bullets might not be able to kill you, but I do know the one way to kill a Nemademon.”
The tiny little figurine suddenly backed up on the counter. “Shit, all right, just leave me alone, Hunter. Fuck man. The priestess running this church is serious business. She’s got hooks in everything. Several of her followers have come through this shop, they creep me the fuck out.”
“You know anything else?”
“Yeah, things have been heating up since that volcano erupted. Mambo says it’s the end of times. Rumor has it they’re straight up sacrificing people up there.”
“Wouldn’t the police stop something like that?” Rachel asked.
Juan laughed. “She’s got her hooks in everything, lady. This woman, she has a weird hypnotic power.”
“Have you met her?” I asked.
“Fuck have I,” Juan said. “I’m not going anywhere near that.”
“What’s her name?” Rachel asked.
“They just call her Mambo.”
I turned to look at Rachel. “We’ve got everything we need, let’s go.”
We turned to leave. As we did Juan called after me. “Hunter, I’m warning you man, be careful around this woman. She’s the real deal!”
I was already aware of that. I’d dealt with Nalinth once before. The last time we met she warned me what would happen. I just hoped she was wrong.
I’d only just found my mate.
I wasn’t ready to die just yet.
“Why am I beyond creeped out right now?” Rachel asked as we drove through the town.
It looked like the rest of the world was getting on with things despite the ever dark, but as soon as we entered the boundaries of Coushatta, I was hit with the distinct impression that something was very wrong.
“Empty streets, empty buildings… something’s not right.” We hadn’t actually stopped in any buildings to see if they were empty. All the doors and windows had been left open however, like the entire town had
decided to collectively air out their property.
The other strange thing was how still everything felt. I had the car almost at a crawl now, driving down streets at just above a jogging pace because I was creeped out too. The leaves in the trees were completely still, if there was a breeze or a sound then I didn’t hear one, not even with my advanced vampire senses.
I pulled up in the abandoned town square and got out of the car. That was another reason the town looked so weird.
Where had all the cars gone?
Rachel stepped onto the sidewalk and we looked at one another, letting the silence talk for us.
The hairs were standing on the back of my neck.
“I don’t like this,” she said in a quiet voice.
“That makes two of us,” I whispered back.
There was a discernable electricity in the air that just couldn’t be ignored, a prickly feeling that made my stomach run cold and made me want to look over my shoulder.
Nalinth was here, of that I was sure, but what was she up to?
“Hunter!” Rachel hissed. “Did you hear that?”
Rachel’s gaze shot to the west. There a row of buildings backed onto parkland. A long flat hill slowly led down a dark body of murky water, where a jungle of twisting cypress trees stretched into the night. There was nothing but silence.
“Rachel, I have super hearing, and I didn’t hear a damned thing.”
“It was a drum,” she said, starting in the direction of the supposed sound. “Look, there it is again, louder! Let’s go!”
Rachel broke into a brisk walk, leaving the street behind and heading onto the grass that led down to the bayou proper. I followed her, staying close behind. Every fifteen seconds or so she would remark about the strange drumming sound, the one that I, for some reason, could not hear.
“It’s deafening now!” she shouted over the silence. “Can’t you hear it?!” She had her hands over her ears. The only sound was her voice, which echoed through the trees.
At the bottom of the hill a wooden bridge arched over the water. As we rounded a natural corner of trees, I saw more bridges linking smaller islands together. There were lights in the distance now. Rachel immediately stepped onto the bridge.
