Catch

by Annie Nicholas

  Someone in heaven must have heard my prayer because it didn’t hurt. My eyes sprung open, expecting to see a huge toothpick sticking out of my chest, but instead golden hair blocked my view. I shifted over for a better look.

  Archios’s wide eyed expression surprised me as he cried out. “No!” He shoved Rurik away and ran across the room.

  I stepped around Bel who somehow stood between me and Luckard. The stake protruded from her chest.

  She stared at it then at me. “It hurts.” She slowly crumbled to ashes before me.

  Everything went empty inside my soul. I covered my mouth to hold back my screams. If I started I’d never stop. This tipped my sanity scale into the crazy zone.

  Bel saved me.

  Archios fell to his knees at her feet and tried to hold her disintegrating body together.

  The anguish in his horror-filled cries left no doubt of how much she meant to him.

  Unable to prevent the inevitable, he jumped to his feet and turned on Luckard. “You killed her.” The heartache made Archios’ voice hoarse. He grabbed his accomplice by the shirt collar and smashed him into the wall, leaving a dent.

  Something slick sounding popped behind me. I spun to watch Rurik pull the last of the steel bar from Tane.

  Wrath embodied him as he stumbled free. Dark pits of revenge filled his eyes. He stormed past Rurik and plucked Archios from Luckard’s grasp, tossing him to my lover as if he were a doll. Tane then turned his attention to Luckard. “I won’t let you escape this time. One of us will be joining Belatia in her fate.” Then he grabbed him by the shoulders and head butted him.

  I swung around, half expecting to find Rurik and Archios at each other’s throats.

  Instead, I found Archios in a heap at Rurik’s feet, crying uncontrollably.

  My lover gestured for me to come to him. “Connie!”

  When I took a step my toe kicked a hard object. The wooden stake rolled away. I glanced at Tane, who appeared to be trying to tear Luckard’s head from his shoulders without success.

  This dick-head tortured me and my vampires, haunted my dreams, and killed…my friend. Tucking my fear in a dark corner of my mind, I chased the wooden stake across the floor toward the Nosferatu and snatched it. I tightened my sweaty grip to make sure it wouldn’t slip when I got my chance to pierce Luckard’s black shriveled heart.

  Tane’s gaze met mine and traced down to the stake in my hand. An understanding passed between us without the need of a blood bond or a mental link. The malicious grin that spread across his face sent a pleasant shiver down my spine.

  He spun around and shifted his hold on Luckard to pin his arms behind his back.

  I’d seen Colby slay enough vampires to have a clue how to stake one. Needing momentum to pierce their hard flesh, I ran as I raised the stake over my head.

  Luckard’s glare ensnared me, my mental shield gonged as if he’d swung a baseball bat and hit it. Disoriented and dizzy, the world tilted, yet I managed to keep my sight on his chest. I plunged the stake into his heart and applied my weight so it would sink deep.

  Tane dropped him. “We need to severe the head and burn the heart.” I stared at the limp body on the floor. My chest heaved as if I’d just run a marathon instead of a few feet. No more Luckard. No more nightmares. I kicked his foot and half expected him to jump, but nothing happened. We were safe. We’d won. Then out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed Archios gathering Bel’s ashes.

  Well, sort of won. A lump formed in my throat.

  Rurik gathered me into his strong arms and squeezed me tight as if to make sure I was real then rubbed his face into my hair. “My hero,” he whispered.

  I shifted my position to face him and pressed my lips to his for a fast kiss. “We need to break this bad habit of having to rescue each other.” The adrenaline faded and my arm throbbed, weariness stole over my body.

  Watching a distraught Archios get to his feet, I was surprised to find I felt nothing except pity for him. He faced Rurik. “I won’t cause any more trouble. All this was for naught without Belatia. I did it for her. I only wish to join her now.” Anger erupted through the pity. “You pompous ass, what do you mean you did this for her? She ran to me through the Tree People-infested jungle by herself to help them.” I pointed at my vampires. “She didn’t want to be part of this fiasco.” Rurik held me back.

  “Let her stake me. I deserve it. She’s right. Bel wasn’t capable of understanding why we needed to be rid of Tane. She knew nothing until tonight.” He held out his hand to the side and offered his chest.

  “I can’t figure why you needed me dead. Enlighten me.” Tane crossed his arms over his half-healed chest.

  Archios glared at him. “It’s all your fault.” There was no anger in his voice, only surrender.

  “You’re asking for mercy, yet I’m not feeling very merciful tonight, Archios.” My bald master spoke as if he had trouble controlling his rage.

  I pulled from Rurik’s comforting embrace to step between them. “She was the one killing the girls.”

  Archios’s gasp confirmed my suspicions. “Did she tell you?”

  “No, but she told me about her loneliness, and how she’d use the jungle trail to get to the city, even though you told her that ridiculous story about the Tree People. Why else would she go there? The young women were all found dressed in lovely clothes and their hair done in elaborate styles.”

  “Her hunger drove her mad. No one understands how much it changed her.” Blood-tinged tears spilled from Archios’s eyes and he hung his head.

  Tane came to stand next to me and I wrapped my arms around his narrow waist. “I thought when she became vampire it cured her.”

  Archios shook his head. “No, it only masked it. She could never control her thirst.

  Once she started to feed—”

  “—she couldn’t stop.” I finished his sentence. “Not until they were dead.” I thought of the bodies in the kitchen.

  “Dragos didn’t care, but you do.” He glared at Tane. “You would have executed her.”

  “Yes, I would have, except you managed to do it for me.” I gasped at Tane’s callous words yet understood his meaning. The ruler of a predatory race couldn’t afford pity. He needed to be strong and feared to get vampires to comply with the laws, especially since Dragos allowed some of those laws to be bent.

  The execution of the traitors at the party set a standard. No tolerance.

  Tane’s words struck Archios like a physical blow.

  His tears streamed unchecked now as he stared at his ash-coated hands. “I loved her.”

  Rurik grabbed the stake off the floor. Time slowed as I realized his intent. With a single one-handed smooth jab, he ended Archios’s existence. He got his wish and joined his beloved Belatia. Making him continue on would have been the true punishment.

  I sensed Tane tense in my arms. He stared at Rurik, confusion apparent on his face.

  My lover twisted to look at my blood bound vampire. “Traitors can’t be shown any mercy and deserve an execution.” I couldn’t have been prouder. Rurik did the one thing Tane couldn’t do, show mercy.

  Tane relaxed and placed his arm around my shoulder to pull me close. After he placed a gentle kiss on my forehead, he whispered, “Thank you.” Technically, he should have been able to move fast enough to stop Rurik, but he didn’t and I loved him for it.

  I felt my eyes widen with the thought.

  The sounds of running footsteps echoed through the house before Colby and Gwen stormed the room, both armed like commandos, stakes in hand. They stopped a couple steps into the room.

  Colby glared at me. “I thought I told you to stay out of the house.” He aimed his gun at Luckard’s body as he approached it slowly.

  “He caught me and dragged me in.” A little white lie didn’t hurt anybody. “I staked him.”

  My ex-boss glanced at me. “Nosferatu aren’t dead until decapitated and their hearts burned to ash. They’re tough bastards to kill.” With this c
omment, he glanced at Tane.

  “Connie, you’re bleeding.” Gwen holstered her weapon and crossed the room to kneel in front of me. Blood dripped from my fingers.

  Rurik lifted my hand and twisted my arm to examine the wound with Gwen.

  “Just bandage it. I will heal it when we return.” Tane stroked my hair. “I need to attend to Luckard first.”

  I nodded as he passed me to Rurik’s loving arms. “Let’s go home.” Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The last rays of golden sunlight disappeared behind the horizon. Bright orange faded to coral, then to pink, until the night swallowed them all. It reminded me of Tane, my personal demon turned…into what, a friend? I wasn’t sure anymore, yet he engulfed my life just like the night.

  Kam, Gwen’s brother, walked ahead of me, searching the manicured garden for any would-be attackers. The ass refused to tell me where she went, but I was sure she was hot on Colby’s trail. He disappeared shortly after destroying Luckard’s remains with Tane.

  From the look on Gwen’s face the last time I saw her, I think he may have broken her heart. God help him.

  I wandered, unable to sleep, searching for a cure to my torn heart. Bel’s grotto came into view and I approached. White, translucent curtains hung in the doorways as if someone had closed the small building in mourning. Stepping inside, I found it empty so I flicked on the dim light and settled onto a plush beige pillow. They filled the depression in the center of the room so I stuffed a few under my knees and back.

  Kam peeked in. “I’ll stay out here. Shout if you need something.” I nodded as he left. The cool night air played with the curtains, something by the doorway drew my attention. I crawled onto my stomach to get a better look in the poor lighting.

  Sitting in the corner of the mural away from all the predators, I found a treasure. A grey rabbit painted by the exit, balanced on its hind legs, ears forward, nose sniffing the air. It watched whoever came into the grotto. Next to the rabbit, huddled at its side, was a small field mouse.

  Belatia must have painted it after the party. Everyone judged her as simple yet she saw through the bullshit. Her mural showed insight.

  She was a killer and I should hate her. Instead I sympathized with her. The hunger took control and she became its puppet. I exhaled a trembling breath. Like it or not, Bel and I were similar. I hoped not to experience the same fate, and would fight with my dying breath before allowing the hunger to get the better of me. That meant I needed to stay close to Tane.

  What if Luckard had never abducted me? I wouldn't have found out my true blood bond was with Tane. The hunger would have driven me insane. What if Tane went missing again? It’s what happened to Bel with Archios.

  A cold claw of dread clutched at my stomach. The Master of all vampires had a target painted on his back.

  I reached and touched the mouse at the rabbit’s side. Tane entrapped my soul, and Rurik my heart. Caught between two vampires, I sure could use a friend right about now, even a crazy one.

  A brush to my mental shield, like a soft caress, told me Tane was awake. He usually didn’t sleep, but after his injuries, the fight and having to heal my wound, he decided to take a nap.

  I touched the underside of my arm where Luckard sliced me open. Not even a scar.

  My bald vampire took care of it.

  The curtain moved, this time not from the wind. Tane stepped inside. He called over his shoulder, “Kam, your off duty. I’ll be with Rabbit.” It appeared he didn’t bother to dress before finding me since he only wore his pajama bottoms. He padded across the tile floor barefoot and stepped into the pile of cushions. “What are you up to?” He eyed me, suspicion clear in his expression.

  “Nothing. Why?”

  “You’re concentrating very hard and that bodes for bad times.” He crawled onto his stomach next to me. For the first time, I had a clear view of the dark tattoo on his back.

  A large circular design covered his pale, translucent skin. It was made of sharp angular lines that reminded me of Inca or Aztec drawings. A black sun sat in the middle of it. “It seems odd you would choose a sun on your tattoo.” He glanced over his shoulder at it. “I didn’t decide what was placed on my back.

  None of us do.”

  Skeletal wings were drawn to sprout from his shoulder blades, and extended to curl over his arms. “Who does?” I traced a finger along a curving line down his flank.

  A shiver coursed through his muscles.

  I withdrew my hand as if burned and glanced at him. His dark eyes dilated with hunger, but I didn’t think my blood was on the menu.

  With a slow gesture, he brushed some hair from my face as if afraid to startle me.

  “Connie.” He whispered my name and drew closer until his lips met mine.

  I should have pulled away. I should have slapped him across the face, or better yet, kneed him in the balls. I should have hated the way his lips felt on mine nevertheless I didn’t. Oh, I didn’t.

  With ease, he melted me into the cushions. His firm lips caressed and teased mine until I finally opened my mouth to invite him in. I drowned in the wake of his desire as the weight of his body pinned me. He felt so right. I explored his back with my hands and finally slipped them under the waistband of his pajama pants. His hard ass clenched as I cupped it and pulled him closer to me.

  He groaned then dragged himself away. With a struggle, he lifted the hem of my summer dress over my head and tossed the light material aside.

  I lay under him, naked except for a pair of lace panties, as he straddled my waist. If I let this go any further, there would be no turning back.

  His cock tented his pants as he slid the waistband to his hips.

  “Wait. This is wrong. I can’t.” I rose to my elbows as shame tore its way through my heart and soul.

  “You belong to me. I lend you to Rurik.”

  “It doesn’t stop the fact I still love him. I can’t.” No matter how Tane worded it, if I fucked him it would tear my relationship with Rurik apart.

  Tane pulled his pants back up and threw himself onto the cushions next to me.

  I reached for my sundress, except a cool hand around my waist prevented me from getting it.

  “This isn’t over.” He twisted me around to face him. “You want Rurik and you want me.” A brush of his fingertips over my nipple made me gasp. “I want both of you.” He rolled it between his fingers and gently pulled.

  An arrow of pure pleasure shot straight to my groin. I grasped his shoulders and dug my nails into them. If he kept touching me, I’d lose all sentience and tear his clothes off like a wild animal in heat.

  He hissed and shrugged off my hands. “No nails.” With a soft shove, he pushed me away and ran both his hands over my breasts. “I’ve been dying to do this since the day I walked in on your bare ass to heal you.” He squished them together and bent down to suck on the left bud.

  Arching my back, I tried to fight my awakening arousal. He pissed me off, but damn, I liked it. I ran my hands over his smooth head until I reached his chin and lifted it to meet my gaze. “Not without Rurik.”

  A malicious grin spread across his face as he released his hold on me. “I thought you’d never ask.” He knelt beside me and slipped my panties off. “He’s already on his way.”

  I glanced over my shoulder at the entrance and placed a cushion over my lap. My heart raced. I didn’t know how Rurik would react. He’d been lovers with Tane, however that was hundreds of years ago. There had to be a reason for them not getting back together before now.

  Not a moment longer, my lover strode into the grotto. He stared from me to Tane and back again. His brow furrowed as he frowned. “What’s the explanation this time? Your dress flew off and you forgot to wear underwear?”

  I smacked Tane on the shoulder. “I told you this was a bad idea.” Me and my stupid libido, why didn’t I make Tane buzz off when he kissed me? I stared daggers at his tattooed back as he approached Rurik.

  My blood bound vampire grasped Rurik by
his messy dark hair and embraced him in a heated opened mouth kiss.

  All the air left my lungs.

  Rurik didn’t struggle like I expected. Instead, he wrapped his arms around my master, like he’d done to me a thousand times, and returned the passionate kiss as if tasting something he longed for.

  I wish I could say jealousy didn’t raise its ugly green head, yet it peeked out. Not for the obvious reasons, though. Rurik and I loved each other. In the past, he and Tane had shared a relationship, which left me wondering what could I and the Nosferatu have?

  My breathing became heavier as I watched Tane reach inside Rurik’s shorts and stroke his cock until it strained against the material. I couldn’t believe how tormented I felt watching them touch. How it made me ache with desire.

  At that moment, my gaze met Rurik’s. His ice blue eyes had gone from furious to enflamed. He retreated from Tane and flung his dark hair out of his face and glared.

  “Maybe we should set some ground rules. I don’t want any regrets.” He glanced at me and his gaze traveled down my body. His chest heaved as if he were trying to catch his breath. He pointed at Tane. “You command outside of the bedroom, but when the three of us are together, I give the orders. I won’t participate otherwise.” I patted the cushion next to me, eager to touch Rurik, someone I knew and was familiar with.

  He smiled as he settled next to me. “Are you okay with this?” With a gentle hand, he tilted my chin to look me in the eye. “I don’t want you to feel pressured.” Glancing at Tane, I was surprised to see him still standing apart from us. His arms crossed over his chest as he stared at his feet. It dawned on me then the gravity of this decision. One or all of us could get hurt and destroy the delicate balance we already had.

  “Tane?”

  At the sound of his name, he glanced up with a scowl, except it was a mask he wore like the ones on his wall. Something he could hide behind.

  I reached out my hand.

  The scowl melted, replaced by a more vulnerable expression. “I don’t—” He cleared his throat. “I don’t want to be a third wheel or an extra body part. I want the whole package.” With a small sigh, he took my hand. “Friendship, love, all of it.” My heart fluttered at his words. Could I love two men? God, could I deal with their egos?