Predatory

by Alexandra Ivy

  That tap felt like the boom of a kettledrum and her heart leaped in response. “Are we finished with the deep stuff yet?” Her breaths were coming faster. When had she grown into an impatient bitch? About six nights ago.

  His smile was a flash of white in the darkness. Without answering, he pushed himself to his knees and leaned over her. “Sit up.”

  Now that she’d exhausted her supply of bravado for the night, she simply obeyed. Raising her arms, she allowed him to slip her nightgown over her head while she focused on his throat and the pulse that beat there.

  Cassie looked up to find him staring at her, and she swore she could see his eyes gleaming behind the dark lenses.

  “You’re beautiful. I thought that from the first moment I saw you.” He lowered his head to kiss a path starting at the sensitive skin beneath her ear and continuing down her neck.

  Cassie closed her eyes and murmured her pleasure.

  She felt him pause at the hollow of her throat, his lips all heat and pressure. Cassie swallowed hard and knew he’d feel it. “From the first moment? I don’t think so. Your eyes were black and you were flashing fangs.”

  He didn’t answer for a moment as he slid his tongue along her collarbone, then kissed the swell of her breast. “I compartmentalize my emotions well. My rage was completely separate from my appreciation of you.”

  She was finding it hard to concentrate. To ground herself, she smoothed her fingers over his broad shoulders and along his biceps. His muscles tensed beneath her touch.

  This time the sensations came. His scent—clean, male, and filled with memories of the night. His skin, smooth and warm. His taste? She’d find out.

  But as she leaned in to kiss him, he put his hands on her shoulders and took her down to the bed with him. Then he rolled her onto her back and straddled her hips. “There. That’s better.”

  Cassie forgot not to look. She opened her eyes and glared up at him. “Excuse me? Where’s the equal access? You can reach everything. I can only reach . . . some things.” She took a deep breath and dropped her gaze.

  “Ah, but they’re the important things.”

  He tangled his fingers in her hair and leaned down to cover her mouth with his. Cassie explored the taste of him fully as the long drugging kiss threatened to spiral out of control. She closed her eyes again as she traced each fang with the tip of her tongue. So different from her, but so right for him.

  He finally broke the kiss in favor of focusing his attention on her breasts. And as he circled her nipple with the tip of his tongue and then covered it with his lips, she encouraged him with breathy moans.

  The heat of his mouth, the way he flicked each nipple with his tongue before nipping gently, and the pleasure/pain as he drew on it made her gasp.

  Pleasure drove her. Cassie arched her back as he licked a path over her stomach. Then she spread her legs when he moved lower to trail the tip of his tongue up her inner thigh.

  But when he slid his hands under her bottom, lifted her to meet his mouth, and then used that same tongue tip to tease the sensitive nub that was control central for what seemed to be every nerve ending in her body, she took a dive into the same place she’d visited the first time they’d kissed.

  “Please, please, please.” Her breaths came in tortured gasps as she pleaded with him. Please hold me so close that you absorb every cell in my body. Please fill me so the emotions won’t hurt so much. Please let me touch you. Cassie didn’t think she meant his body with that last “please.” But then she wasn’t doing much thinking at all right now.

  Raw emotions and sensations that threatened to wash her away shook her until she gripped the bottom sheet as an anchor. She whimpered as he slipped his tongue in and out, in and out.

  Cassie clenched her muscles around the indescribable pleasure—trying to slow it down, hang on to it. Finally her emotions overflowed the dam she hadn’t done much to shore up.

  Need, want so intense that it hurt, and an unnamed emotion that tugged and tugged at her heart until she expected it to explode from her chest battered her. With a growl she didn’t even recognize as coming from her, she raised herself enough to tangle her fingers in his hair and yank.

  He didn’t fight her. She sensed that his eyes would be black behind his glasses, and she would’ve sworn his hands shook as he grasped her arms and flopped onto his back, dragging her on top of him.

  Cassie wasn’t sure who the vampire was here, because she wanted to eat him alive, drain him of every drop of whatever magic he was feeding her. She whimpered as she rose to straddle him the same way he had her. Strands of thoughts mixed with the sensations and emotions, driving her into a feverish frenzy to . . .

  She knew if she didn’t put her mouth, her hands, on his body, there’d be nothing but an empty husk of a woman left when this was over. The heat of her hunger would burn her to gray ash and then the ash would blow away on the wind of her frustrated need.

  Cassie memorized every line, every curve of him as she slid her fingers over his smooth sleek body. Her fingers trembled as she spent quality time running one fingernail lightly over the hard length of his erection. Before she knew it, her mouth had replaced her hands.

  She’d never get enough of him. She glided her tongue over his cock—all velvety soft skin and hard male need—and slipped her lips over the head. As she mimicked the rhythm of love, she soaked up his deep groans.

  It wasn’t enough, it would never be enough. Her feelings fought the tangle of physical sensations, trying to tell her something, something important.

  But all coherent thought fled on the surge of what had to be her own Second One, and it was shouting, “Now, now, now.”

  It must’ve been loud enough for Ethan to hear because he put his hands on her hips and effortlessly lifted her onto his erection.

  Slow. She wanted to make it last. Forever. But her body didn’t agree. Cassie felt the head of his cock pressing, pressing and . . . She. Couldn’t. Stand. It.

  She lowered herself slowly, with exquisite care, with deep breaths each time she felt him spread her apart and push in a little farther. Slowly, focusing on the moment, the sensation, the feeling.

  Then he moved. With a hard thrust, he drove into her and she lost it.

  She met his thrust with her own, joining them completely, and nothing she’d ever experienced felt like the sensation of him completely filling her—pressing, pressing.

  She cried out as the deep dark emotional place she’d found before swallowed her. Want so powerful, so primal that she felt tears streaming down her face. She wanted, no needed his body, his soul, his everything. This couldn’t be love, because love wasn’t this savage. And right now she could’ve stepped right out of the primordial ooze.

  Then she stopped thinking.

  The friction. The rise and then the plunge to meet his thrusts. The hammering of her heart. The harsh rasps of her breath. The sensation of his body hard between her thighs. The friction, friction, and oh my God!

  Her orgasm caught her and shook her with so much power that she couldn’t even scream. She hung there while spasm after spasm shattered her past and rebuilt her future expectations. Never would she feel this way again.

  And as the spasms slowly grew weaker, she mourned their loss. She was thinking again. Had he gotten his release? He hadn’t . . . “You didn’t bite me.” She weakly climbed off him and lay on her back beside him.

  He picked up her hand and placed it over his heart.

  Surprised, she could feel his heartbeat. “It isn’t racing.”

  “Believe me, for a vampire, that’s a racing heart. Any more excitement and I would’ve been the first vampire to die of a heart attack.”

  She laughed, but then grew silent. Something was wrong. Cassie didn’t know how she knew, but she felt the tension in him. Was it her? “Is everything okay?” Did she sound pitiful or what? Tell me I didn’t take the most incredible trip of my life alone.

  “What we just had . . .” He didn’t turn his hea
d to look at her.

  Lost for words? Not something she expected from Ethan.

  “It changed everything, Cassie.”

  What the hell did he mean by that?

  “But something’s wrong. I feel it.” Strange how she was so sure she could sense the feelings of a man she’d known for such a short time. It was what it was, though.

  Ethan finally looked at her, but his glasses hid his emotions.

  “You felt what happened between us.” He held up his hand to stop her response. “Just know that I will keep you safe.” His lips softened into a smile. “Because I can’t imagine ever finding someone like you again in a thousand lifetimes.”

  Chapter Nine

  Cassie’s surge of joy came first. It was all emotion. No thoughts involved. She would have been happy to stay in that state forever.

  But her mind couldn’t keep from messing with her happiness. The doubts began. He hadn’t mentioned love. Vampire or not, he was male. Was this only about mind-blowing sex? And he’d mentioned a thousand lifetimes. She’d be able to share only one with him. He’d have to trudge through the other nine hundred ninety-nine alone.

  Since she didn’t particularly want to start a dialogue on any of those topics, she chose to discuss something impersonal, nonthreatening. “Is there a reason you think you might not be able to keep me safe?”

  Only when she saw the flash of disappointment in his expression did she realize her mistake. He’d opened to her, told her his feelings, and she’d ignored him. Regret weighed her down, but it was too late to go back. She’d chosen to retreat from emotions that were too scary, that opened her up to hurt, and that had happened way too fast.

  His expression smoothed out and he turned his head away. “We lost Darren tonight.”

  Shock punched her hard enough to drag a gasp from her. “How?” She hadn’t really known Darren, and he’d been a jerk the one time they’d met, but she hadn’t wanted him dead.

  Ethan laid his arm across his eyes as though the dim glow from the nightlight was still too much. “We’ve been splitting into small groups searching for Garrity and his men. Tonight it was just Darren, Zareb, and me. We found a gang of Garrity’s enhanced humans—or whatever they are—and their beasts. Lots of them. They were trying to capture a lone vampire.”

  Cassie realized how totally selfish she was. All she felt was terror at knowing the danger he’d faced, was facing every night. She didn’t have any fear left over for Zareb or the others.

  “There were too many of them. We knew if we tried to fight them, there was a good chance they’d get one of us. Vampire numbers are down in the city, so we couldn’t afford to lose anyone. We decided to follow them instead and see if they led us to Garrity.”

  He paused and she sensed he was back in the darkness watching the enemy, wanting to destroy them, but knowing he couldn’t do a damn thing.

  “But Darren had always been a killing machine. He was too close to the edge. His Second One took control. It didn’t have a lot of survival instincts, just a lust for slaughter. He attacked Garrity’s men before we could stop him.”

  She wanted to say something comforting, but her mind was blank to everything except the horror.

  “He caught a lot of them by surprise, and they looked at him. The ones that did died. The rest were smarter and didn’t stare directly at his face. Once Darren betrayed our presence, we had to fight too.”

  He turned his head enough for her to see the bitter twist of his lips.

  “Zareb went into kickass sorcerer mode, I was picking the humans off without getting my hands dirty, and Darren was berserk. We made a great team.” He paused and allowed the silence to gather. “We’d killed most of the humans and a lot of the beasts, but we were tiring. We decided to leave.”

  He took his arm from his eyes. “We turned to run but Darren stayed. I saw one of the beasts rip his head from his body.” Rage filled his voice. “I stayed long enough to destroy the beast, and then I followed Zareb.”

  Ohmigod, Ethan had almost died tonight. The realization froze her.

  Ethan snorted. “The vampire we saved escaped while we fought Garrity’s men. Gratitude isn’t a vampire characteristic.”

  “I’m sorry about Darren.” She had no other words.

  “This is why I worry. Garrity could take Zareb or me some night and then he’d come for you. I have to find a way to keep you safe.” He was silent for a moment. “Your family doesn’t live here?”

  “No.” She knew what he was about to suggest. “Forget it. My family might live in a different state, but I still wouldn’t take the chance of leading those monsters to their doorstep.”

  He simply nodded before climbing from the bed. She couldn’t help appreciating the play of muscles across his back and the motion of his tight butt cheeks as he walked across the room and reached into the closet. He came back to bed with his sleep mask and hoodie.

  He took off his glasses, and she quickly looked away.

  “I like to see the woman I’m making love with.”

  She smiled absently while he slipped on the sleep mask and pulled the hoodie over his head.

  “Would someone who was with you a lot ever become immune to the Second One?” Dumb question. She would only be with him until Garrity was dead. That should make her happy, right? It didn’t.

  He remained silent so long that she thought he wouldn’t answer. “Eventually you’d be able to look at my face without being affected as long as my eyes were covered. There’s no immunity to the face and eyes together.”

  She felt his stare.

  “You’ll wake before I do. Dress and get out of the bedroom before me.”

  She could only nod. There was nothing left that either of them was willing to talk about. Cassie glanced at him. He’d tugged the sheet completely over his head. Evidently breathing wasn’t an issue.

  They both lay still until the clock told her that dawn had arrived. She didn’t need to see Ethan to know that the day sleep had taken him.

  Closing her eyes, she forced everything from her mind. Allowing her thoughts to run in circles would drive her crazy. She could only help Ethan if she stayed sane. And somewhere during her attempt to think of nothing, she slept.

  Cassie sat on Zareb’s couch with the cat curled up beside her and watched them leave. After finding out what had happened last night, she was terrified to see them go.

  Ethan paused to look back at her right before he walked out. He had his glasses on and was holding his hoodie closed over the lower half of his face.

  For a moment hope flared that he’d come back to kiss her good-bye.

  He shook his head. “Can’t. Not when I’m like this.”

  She didn’t bother yelling at him for being in her mind. “You did the first time.”

  “That was different.” He didn’t explain how it was different. “Stay safe.”

  “Right back at you. . . . What the heck is your last name?” She was doing her best to sound perky, but Cassie had the feeling that even though her “per” might be fine, her “ky” was drooping badly.

  “Russo. For now.”

  His voice had that deeper, more dangerous tone she associated with the Second One.

  “Well, right back at you, Russo.”

  She kept her smile pasted on her face until they’d left. Then she sighed and looked down at the cat. “Anything you want to see on TV?”

  The cat yawned to express her complete disinterest.

  “Me either.” Cassie glanced over at the two men who stood by the door looking bored.

  Colin and Dylan. They were almost carbon copies of their brothers, Ben and Todd—big, muscular, with shaggy orangey hair and amber eyes. They were her bodyguards for the night.

  “The TV is all yours, guys.” She’d go into her room and read a book.

  She wandered into the bedroom, grabbed her book from the nightstand, and flopped onto the bed.

  A half hour later she was still on the same page. She put the book down. Ca
ssie hated waiting here for Ethan to come home. She felt useless. But she’d learned a lot during the last week. Not the least of which was that she had no place in the middle of a battle involving vampires. She’d been lucky to survive that first day. Even loaded down with weapons, she was a liability. Ethan might try to protect her instead of watching his own back.

  Just when she was about to give up on the book and try the TV again, someone tapped on the bedroom door. She climbed off the bed to answer it. Colin, or maybe it was Dylan, stood waiting.

  “Zareb just sent us a text message. They’re in a battle and pretty much outnumbered. They need us now.” He looked torn. “I sent for someone to take over for us. He’ll be here in about twenty minutes. We don’t like leaving you alone, but Zareb wouldn’t ask for us if he wasn’t in a bad situation.”

  Cassie didn’t hesitate. “Go. I’ll be fine.”

  Colin nodded and ran back down the hall. A few minutes later, she heard the front door close. She was alone with her panic.

  What had happened? Were they all still okay? Why couldn’t Zareb call in some of his other children who were scattered throughout the city? Was Ethan safe?

  She was pacing the living room with her phone in her hand when the knock came. Cassie frowned. That was fast. The new guard must have been closer than Colin had thought.

  Cassie hurried into the bedroom and got the gun from her purse. If she had to open the door, she’d do it with a weapon in her hand. She shoved her phone into her pocket.

  Before opening the door, she tried looking through the peephole. Damn it, the outside light had burned out. “Who is it?”

  “New guard.” The man’s voice was gruff but sounded normal.

  Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.

  Cassie glanced past him to make sure no one was lurking in the shadows. “Did you see anyone—?”

  She didn’t get any farther because someone grabbed her arm and yanked her outside. Before she could raise her gun to shoot, something massive hit her with enough force to flatten her. The gun fell from her hand. Dazed, she stared up into gleaming feral eyes.