by Cynthia Eden
Her legs wrapped around him, and her ankles dug into his ass.
More. There, in her eyes. What she wanted—
He withdrew. Thrust deep. Again and again. The bed rocked. Their bodies trembled, but he took his time and he took his pleasure.
And made damn sure she took hers.
Bite.
He didn’t look at her neck. Didn’t take his gaze from hers. This time would be different. It had to be.
Her sex squeezed him and the telltale ripple had his spine tingling.
He thrust harder. Faster. The control began to disappear, and the need, that blind, consuming need, had his breath heaving and his hips surging.
She came, the contractions of her sex making his own climax erupt as he pumped into her. The long, hot wave blasted through him, into her, and the pleasure stole his breath.
Still he thrust. Even as his cock jerked and he climaxed inside her, he thrust.
Harder, but slower. Deeper.
His fingers tightened around hers.
She whispered his name.
And came again.
Sweet fucking hell.
Yeah, he’d die for this woman. In a heartbeat.
They began to gather in the darkness. First, just a few. Two. Then three. They came together silently as they felt the psychic snap of the old connection.
The bond was gone. The Born dead.
One there knew his killer. A vampire who’d seen the woman kill Grim.
Vengeance?
A life for a life?
Slowly, the others came. Humans once. Killers, monsters now.
They waited.
More would come.
Chapter 17
“Why didn’t you ask me about the asshole in the alley?” Dee forced her head to lift at Simon’s question. Really, she just wanted to lay there, her head pillowed on his chest, and listen to the steady beat of his heart. But maybe they needed to go ahead and have this, um, little talk.
She met his stare and her shoulders tensed a bit as she asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I thought you’d run from me or try to stake me if you knew the truth.”
“The truth?” One eyebrow rose. “You mean the fact that you paid a killer to shoot me—”
“I paid him to miss.”
She knew that, but…“Can’t really trust guys like that, you know. Sometimes, they’ll take your money and shoot whoever they want.”
His fingers trailed down her back and rested at the base of her spine. “That’s why I made sure I was between you and the gun, every single moment.” His jaw hardened. “You know what happened to him.”
Actually, no, she didn’t know that part. She wasn’t some kind of all seeing, walking, talking crystal ball. All she’d had were glimpses. Snatches of conversation. His memories. The few that had filtered through the blood link. What became of Mr. Trigger Happy, she had no idea. So she just stared back at Simon and waited.
“There wasn’t a choice, Dee. He forced my hand.”
Ah, one of those stories that wasn’t going to end well.
“Frankie came after me, okay? He shot me in the back and would have killed me—”
“Wait.” Her eyes narrowed. “Frankie?” The guy’s face flashed before her eyes. Broad features. Balding hair. “Frankie Lee?” She should have put those pieces together sooner.
“Yeah.”
She whistled and drummed her fingers on his chest. “Went big-time slumming, huh?” Word on the street was that Frankie would shoot his own mother—and, actually, had—for a quick grand.
“He came after me,” Simon repeated, his face tense. “There wasn’t a choice.”
Silence for a moment, then Dee ventured, “I’m guessing old Frankie won’t be taking any more hits.”
His palm pressed harder against her back. “I swear I didn’t pay him to kill you. I wouldn’t have done that!”
“But you didn’t even know me then. I was just a hunter to you, another—”
“You were everything.” Rasped. His eyes blazed at her. “You still are.”
What did a woman say to that? Dee pulled away from him and reached for the sheet. She just needed to cover up, to take a second to think.
He grabbed her wrist. “You don’t want to hear about how I feel, do you? Too damn bad, babe.” His thumb rubbed over her pulse point. “You know I came after you because I thought you’d take down Grim.”
And she had. A point for the good guys. Well, semi–good guys, anyway. “I know you wanted to be free, you’ve already—”
“I wanted you. Want you.” Simon shook his head. “From the moment I saw you, I wanted you.”
Fair enough. She’d wanted to jump him, too. He’d tackled her; she’d wanted to return the favor.
“I thought it was just lust, Dee. That I could take you, enjoy you, and walk away.”
Kind of hard not to flinch at that one. With her left hand, she jerked the sheet up to her chin. Simon held tight to her right wrist. “So you were using me for sex and death?” Grim’s death. No getting around she’d been a means to an end there. But she’d thought there might be more. He’d made her think that.
I’ll fucking love you forever.
Say it again.
But now the guy wasn’t talking rose petals and sunsets.
“I knew I was lost.” He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the flesh of her palm. “When you died in my arms.”
Okay, she definitely flinched. Not her best memory.
“I wanted to change you. You were dying in front of me, and I knew you were supposed to be a Born. Catalina had told me about you.”
Had she really thanked the witch properly for that? Nah. She hadn’t let Cat know how much she appreciated the woman’s secrecy. Payback, um, gratitude would come eventually.
“You weren’t going to stay dead.”
Who did these days?
“You weren’t supposed to stay dead,” he amended. “But I was shit-scared and when your eyes closed, I wanted to change you.”
Her heart stilled at that.
“I wanted it so fucking much.” Another hot kiss against her palm.
“But you didn’t try.” No bite. No exchange of blood.
“No.” His breath blew against her flesh. “Because if I was wrong about you, if the witch and that damn seer were wrong, I wasn’t about to make you into the thing you hated.”
And she had hated the idea of vampirism. Becoming a vampire had once been her worst nightmare. Strange, because now, things all seemed so different.
“If you were dying, I wasn’t going to make you come back to me. That was the hardest thing I ever did.” His lips thinned. “Watching you die and not knowing if you’d ever open your eyes again.”
The last thing she’d seen had been him. “You left me.” The words came out as an accusation and she realized that, yeah, that had bothered her. No matter what was going on between them, no matter what secrets he’d kept—and she’d known there were secrets even then—she’d expected him to stay with her.
“I thought I was the last person you’d want to see.”
He’d been the one she wanted the most.
“I knew you needed time to adjust. Seeing me…I was afraid it would push you too much.” His gaze held hers. “But then you came to me.”
Sex.
Blood.
So much hunger.
“You weren’t afraid of me,” he said.
“I was afraid of myself.” A stark confession, one she should have given sooner. “I didn’t want to become—”
Like Grim.
Like Leo.
Like so many of the others she’d taken down over the years.
Not a monster. She hadn’t wanted to be a woman ruled by the bloodlust and lost to humanity.
“You have the control, Dee. You’re not going to turn and start killing innocents.” He freed her hand and rose, moving slowly away from her. “That’s not going to happen with you. There’s no Born to ta
ke over your mind. No one to force you. There’s just…you.”
It had been just her for years. Maybe she was tired of that. She wrapped the sheet around her body. “So what happens now?” Did she go back to Night Watch? Keep hunting? While he—what? Got the hell out of town as fast as he could?
Just…you.
She’d be left alone? Again?
Only this time, she wouldn’t be looking at a few empty years before her. She’d be looking at forever.
Without him.
Shit. When had the vampire started to mean so much? Because she couldn’t breathe without tasting him. She wanted his touch, his mouth, his blood. Him. Always him.
“Pity we didn’t meet before,” she whispered. What would life have been like?
She glanced over, saw him hauling on a pair of jeans. He froze at her words, then gritted, “I wish to hell we had.”
So did she. “Simon…” What could she say? Her eyes drifted over him. Broad, strong shoulders. Muscled chest. Slim hips. So sexy. So—
Simon.
Vampire. Man.
Hers.
Dee’s breath caught. “You—you came to me because you thought I’d stop Grim.”
A nod.
“But if you just wanted to be free of him, why did you keep putting yourself between me and—” Everything. Everyone. “I can take care of myself, you know. You don’t have to jump in front of me every time things get a little dicey.” A very bad habit he seemed to have there.
He snapped the button on the jeans. Yanked up the zipper. Denied her the too pleasing sight of his still aroused flesh. “I was protecting you because you’re mine to protect.”
Okay, now she was nearly cutting the sheet with her death grip.
His eyes narrowed and he stalked around the edge of the bed. “You want to clear the air about what’s happening here? Okay. Fine.”
Uh, maybe she should yank on some clothes, too. She reached for her shirt. He grabbed her arms and pulled her against him. “This is a fuck-off talk, isn’t it? One dressed up in some kind of nice, polite chitchat.”
His eyes turned to black.
“I never told you to fuck off,” she managed, voice quiet.
“Yet.” His fingers tightened around her. “I protected you because you were mine to protect, got it? I knew I wanted you from the beginning.” He kissed her, hard, deep, and had her nipples tightening, her sex clenching, and her toes curling. Oh, yeah. “Mine,” he gritted again. “I wasn’t going to let anyone—Grim, your demon friend, or even your witch—stand between us.”
No one was between them now. Only the thin sheet.
“The start was screwed-up.” His chin lifted. “I’m not denying that. Yeah, I lied. Yeah, I tricked you. But I’m also the man who was ready to die for you. I’m the—”
“You said you loved me.” She threw out the words.
His eyes glittered down at her.
Dee took a deep breath and tasted him. I’ll fucking love you forever.
Until Simon, no man had ever said that to her and meant it. Sure, guys would claim love all the time if they thought a quick lay was coming.
He licked his lips. “I did.”
“You meant it?” And she meant for her words to come out as a statement, not a question.
His hand rose, the strong fingers curling around her jaw. “I meant it.”
Not a lie. Not some trick to get her help. The pressure on her chest eased and warmth spilled inside her. “I want to hear you say the words again.” Because she could be stubborn, too. Neither one of them was perfect. Far, far from it.
“I. Love. You.” Almost angry.
Her heart slammed into her ribs. Standing so close, having his vamp powers, he had to feel the sudden kick. She swallowed. “Th-that’s good—”
“No, it’s not.” Definitely angry. “It’s shit. It’s me, thinking about you, all the time. Me, wanting you, every damn minute. Me, not being able to even breathe without tasting you.”
“I feel the—”
“I want to make you smile. Want to make you laugh. Because you know what, Dee? You don’t laugh. You don’t. And you should, babe. Cause you’re beautiful when you smile and when you laugh, I bet you’d take my breath away.”
He’d just taken hers.
“I want you naked, yeah. Hell yeah. But I want to hold you in the morning. Want to talk to you in the darkness. I want to look at all the days that are coming and know I’ll be spending them with you. Because if I know that, then forever sure doesn’t seem like such a bad deal.”
Not bad at all.
He glared down at her. “I want all that. I want you. Right now, I’m scared because I think you’re about to tell me to get out because from the moment that I came into your life, I’ve just brought you trouble, while you’ve brought me…everything.”
Oh.
He sucked in a breath, and stepped back, releasing her. “I’m not going to force you to stay with me. I couldn’t, even if you weren’t strong enough to kick my ass.”
Her lips wanted to curl. No, she wanted to laugh. For him.
“You want to walk out that door and go back to the life you had before me, then do it.” Simon moved aside. “But know this—you won’t find another man who loves you like I do. And if you do, I might just have to show up and kick his ass.” He yanked a hand through his hair. “If you wind up with that demon bastard, ah, Dee—just don’t.”
Zane.
“We almost slept together once.” The admission came out, probably at the wrong time. She always said the wrong thing.
His eyes closed in a slow blink and his face hardened.
“We’re friends. Thought maybe we could be more.”
His fangs were coming out. A jealous vampire was a dangerous one.
“But we were better friends than anything else. Zane understood me, the anger and pain inside.” Because he had the same brew stirring in him.
“Why didn’t you sleep with the prick?”
“Because I wanted a friend. Needed one, and I never let my lovers get close.” Not even Tony. “Until you.”
That had his eyes widening. “What are you saying?”
So hard. Dee inhaled and took a risk. About time for one. “I’m saying I didn’t count on falling for you, vampire. I knew you were using me. I thought I’d use you, too.” Brutal truth time. They should have that, now. “I couldn’t hurt you physically. You could handle my strength and my bloodlust and me.”
He just watched her. Dark gaze so steady.
“I never counted on falling for you,” she said again, softer now. “That wasn’t part of my plan.” But she’d gone and fallen anyway. “I taste you, too. I want you, always. I want to protect you. Fight for you. I want you in the dark. Even in the light.” Though it seemed like she’d had little light in her life. Maybe that would change now. Who would have thought? It might have taken becoming a vampire to see the sunlight.
And to see that sometimes, the best things could be hiding in the darkness.
Not just monsters.
Men.
“I don’t want to go back to the way things were before.” Cold. Hollow. Pain shadowing her. “I want to try living this time. Really living, and I don’t want to be alone.”
His lips parted. “Don’t tease, babe, just don’t fuckin—”
“You’re not perfect, Simon Chase. We both know you’re a liar and a dirty fighter.” She smiled now. A big, wide smile. For her. For him. “Good thing for you, I am, too.”
Hope lit his face.
When was the last time she’d felt hope? Right now. “I think I love you, vampire.” Loving what she’d feared most.
Had Catalina seen this one coming?
No, she’d just seen death.
Dee shoved that thought from her mind. The sun would rise in less than an hour’s time. The witch had been wrong.
Life. Love—that was what waited for her. Not death.
Not again.
It was time for her to be happy. Wi
th her vampire.
Dee let the sheet fall. “You want forever?”
His gaze slipped over her body. Heated.
“Let’s start with right here, this moment, and we’ll let forever come later.” Right now, she wanted him.
Love.
Scary. But she could handle scary. She’d proven that, and she could handle him.
She lifted her hand and offered her palm. “Stay with me?” Love me?
His fingers curled around hers, warm and strong. “Always.”
She had to blink because her eyes were tearing. Silly. “Kiss me.”
His lips brushed hers. A tender caress. She knew he could be tender, with her.
When the knock came at the door, she didn’t turn from him. Dee pulled him closer.
But Simon tensed against her. His tongue slipped over her lips and his head lifted. “Is that…”
She stared up at him. Dawn hadn’t come.
She knew the instant he caught the scent. The same scent that already filled her nose.
Catalina is wrong. Wrong.
But Simon was already spinning away from her. Grabbing her jeans and a shirt and tossing them to her before he turned to the door, fangs bared.
“Since when does evil knock?” She asked him, only half-kidding because a knot was tightening in her belly. This close. She’d come so close to being happy.
Should have known fate would screw her over again.
Dee pulled the shirt over her head and shimmied into the jeans. “Why aren’t they kicking the door down?” And it was them. She could smell ’em. At least five vampires. Six?
You were surrounded. Catalina’s stupid words wouldn’t stop playing in her mind.
Simon shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Not like vampires were into playing nice.
He grabbed their weapons, tossed her a stake, then reached for the door knob.
“Simon!”
A pause, then he glanced back at her. Dee wet her lips and said, “I really do love you.” That regret wouldn’t be with her, no matter what was waiting out there. She’d tell him how she felt.
Like she hadn’t been able to tell her family.
“Why do I still feel like you’re saying good-bye?” His fingers hesitated over the knob.
Because I could be.
No, no, Catalina was wrong. “Do you think our futures are set? That what witches and demons see, those images are the only future we can have?”