Banshee Seduction (Montgomery's Sin Book 1)

by Diane Saxon

  His mind might be a haze, but his body told him it was unsatisfied.

  He blinked at her as she arched an eyebrow at him.

  “Yep. It was definitely you. You may have been in disguise, but I’d recognize you anywhere.”

  He met her eyes; knowledge glowed in their depths. He slapped his hand against his forehead and regretted it as a sick pain shot through his head, making his still tender brain rattle around inside. “I shifted.”

  In the quiet of the morning, her serious tone pulled his attention to her. “You certainly did.”

  He dropped his hand back down to his lap and scanned the room. “I broke your bed.”

  “You did that too.”

  She seemed to be taking it very much in her stride. All he could hear were subtle hmmms and haaaas in his ears, as though the screeching banshee voices were feeling mellow and…possibly fulfilled? Guilt tightened his chest. How could he have had wild sex with her and not remember? He hesitated before asking, “Did I cause any other damage?”

  A long silence filled the room as she refused to answer, but he needed to know something else. “Why did you let me in?”

  Her quick reply still gave nothing away. “Because you needed help.”

  He inclined his head. She was such a sweetheart, it was a wonder she hadn’t been hurt before—worse than men running howling from the bedroom with blood pouring from their orifices.

  He quirked a small smile. No blood on him. So far. He met her intent gaze. “Was I a dragon at the time?”

  “Yes.”

  That explained it. He couldn’t have sex with a human when he was a beast. “How did you know you were safe? I could have eaten you.”

  The small quirk of her eyebrow and twitch of her mouth had him wondering. “You offered.”

  Her damask white skin flushed prettily, and her eyes darkened to sapphire. Desire heated his chest, and the dragon inside squirmed with contentment. Her shy smile coaxed a responding one from him; her graceful shrug squeezed his heart.

  “I never felt threatened by you. You weren’t well.”

  He reached up to where she peered at him over the edge of the bed. He skimmed his fingers over the smooth skin of her cheek. “Ginny, I’m sorry I hurt you.”

  Refusing to meet his eyes, she dipped her head, breaking contact with him while she stared at her hands gripping the edge of the mattress. “You didn’t.”

  He felt her embarrassment and knew with absolute certainty he had. “I don’t mean last night.” As she flicked a look at him, he knew she understood what he meant.

  She gave a careless shrug. “It doesn’t matter.”

  He rolled to his knees, felt the mattress dip and tilt as he leaned on it, and she slid toward him. Surprise widened her bright eyes as she came to a halt almost nose to nose with him. A musical hum filled his head.

  “It matters to me. I’m sorry.” He touched his lips to the tip of her nose. “Please accept my apology.”

  She gave a hesitant nod, and as he raised his hand again to cup her cheek, her eyelids fluttered closed. This time his lips met hers as he leaned on the broken bed. Sweet music swelled in his mind.

  The bed skewed precariously, and her body slipped toward the edge. She gave a squeak of surprise as he automatically reached out, took advantage of the game play, and snatched her lush form off the mattress to hug her close to his chest. He parted her lips with his own and slipped his tongue inside her mouth, investigating the honeyed interior while he roamed his hands over her sumptuous curves.

  Her warm, early morning fragrance overwhelmed his senses, making him crave more. The fire in the pit of his belly sent flames licking through his veins. Finding the temptation too much, he slipped his hand under her pajama top, slid it over the warm, velvet skin of her waist and onward to cup her breast. Passion rose to nip, hard and painful. He needed to claim her, make her his, but the desire that swirled hot and savage contended with the need for patience and tenderness. The fiery inferno blazed, and his dragon clamored for him to take their mate.

  Her soft whimper wrenched back on his desperation and gentled him as he rolled her body under his so she lay on her back on the thick, plush pink rug. He drew back to stare into her flushed face and her laser-bright eyes. The invitation of her soft, parted lips was too much to resist. He took her mouth with his and molded her breast in his hand. Aware of her stiffened nipple against his palm, he gave it a gentle squeeze. His heart constricted at the eager moan he elicited from her and the echoed soft mellow murmurs of encouragement from the voices winding through his mind.

  He dipped his head, cruised his lips over the silken skin at the neckline of her top, and pressed his nose into her cleavage to absorb the fragrant, welcoming scent of her. His dragon could smell her desire, wanted to take, ravage, possess. Matt ignored it. This time was for Ginny. She needed his tenderness, his patience. The dragon would just have to wait; though it roared and demanded, he was not to be rushed.

  Her lush body vibrated under his. He pushed the T-shirt upward, skimming her tender flesh to make her body writhe and…

  Zap!

  “What the f—”

  An electrical charge filled the room, and his head shot up, eyes narrowed to see what the static interference was. A soft billow of smoke came from his nostrils, and the dragon whispered, “Kill.”

  A large, energetic lump floundered around under the duvet, emitting strange squeaking noises as the bed rocked unsteadily and dumped the thing off the edge. It flopped in an ungainly heap at their feet and beat itself free of the restricting covers. Roni’s head emerged, and her normally perfect hair stood up like a fur ball from her head; her face glowed a bright, unnatural red. Wide with horror, her jet-black eyes met his.

  “Oops. Sorry.”

  Thunderous hammering pounded on the apartment door to fracture his skull with painful vibrations while his dragon howled in frustration.

  The lush curves of the woman under him shook with laughter and drew his attention back to her. He stared as she raised her hand to cover her mouth while she giggled, and despite his exasperated disbelief, he couldn’t resist smiling.

  He glanced at the model, by all accounts frozen to the spot. Another barrage of banging followed. Reluctant to move and expose his private parts, he met Roni’s frantic gaze and gave a small incline of his head toward the direction the sound came from. “You want to get the door for us?”

  As if released from her stupor, Roni wrenched herself free of the covers, scrambled to her feet, and raced for the door, the first inelegant move he’d ever seen her perform.

  The loud beating sounded again. She paused, glanced back over her shoulder, and allowed her gaze to cruise over them, a sly smile sliding over her mouth as she recovered her composure.

  “Sure. You make yourself decent. I’ll get the door.” The skinny woman cat-walked the rest of the way across the room, and then paused and glanced back again with a twitch of one perfect eyebrow. “Nice ass, by the way.”

  His mouth dropped open as she gave a cheeky wink at Ginny and floated out of the door, her dignity intact in the blink of an eye.

  Frustration juggled with amusement and then slammed into protective mode as Daniel barged through the open doorway into the bedroom, brow pulled low in a deep frown. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

  The woman beneath Matt stiffened. The dragon inside unfurled to give a dangerous growl. “Mine.” He pulled back his lips and bared his fangs, gratified to see Daniel freeze.

  The quiet gasp from Ginny had him glancing down at her. She raised her hand and smoothed her fingers comfortingly over his face, no fear of his dragon in evidence. Her soft touch quelled the desire to kill.

  “It’s okay. It’s only Daniel.”

  Sullen, he grunted at her, stirred by the way her mouth twitched up at the corners.

  Roni dashed in, breathless.

  “I’m sorry. He got past me…umm, somehow.” She rubbed her fingertips against her forehead, her delicate brow wrinkled i
n confusion.

  Matt coughed to grab their attention. “Do you think we could have some privacy? Naked here!”

  Roni’s frown cleared, and a bright smile spread wide, displaying her gleaming white fangs as she admired his naked ass. “Difficult to miss.”

  Daniel hissed as though she’d scorched him. He launched a pile of clothing at the broken bed before he beat a hasty retreat, calling over his shoulder, “I’ll be in the kitchen. Be quick. We have a problem.”

  It took a little longer for Roni to move. She hesitated until Ginny raised her head and peered at her. “You want me to stay?”

  “Please.”

  Roni chewed her bottom lip; her white fangs gleamed vividly against her red lipstick. “I guess I’ll be in the kitchen too.” Vagueness flitted over her face as she wandered away as though lost.

  With a sigh, Matt glanced at Ginny. “She’s a strange woman.”

  Ginny’s soft body squirmed under his, encouraging him to stay where he was just a while longer. “She’s a vampire.”

  “I can tell.”

  “She’s also my best friend.”

  “Yup.” He gave a slow nod of his head, aware of the soft press of Ginny’s flesh against his. “It’s daytime. How come she didn’t incinerate?”

  “I have black-out blinds all through the apartment especially for her.”

  “I suggest you remove them in here.”

  “But then she’d—” She flicked her fingers. “—tssst.”

  “Precisely.”

  At her shocked look, he gave a low chuckle before the spit dried in his mouth as her intense gaze made him forget everything other than her and the warm invitation in her eyes.

  His hand still full of her plump breast tempted him just to close his eyes and forget about the outside world. If he did, Daniel would soon come hammering again, and the tall, skinny vamp would probably charge the room with static. If he weren’t a dragon, he suspected she might possibly have singed his flesh. In fact, from the sound of it, it might have been what she’d just done to Daniel. They certainly didn’t appear to like each other.

  Reluctantly he rolled off Ginny, giving a last, affectionate squeeze of the lush breast in his hand. He reached out to help her up. His breath almost choked him as her face came level with his groin for a brief moment. The evidence of his desire was unmistakable. She opened her mouth and touched her tongue to her plump lips. He ground his teeth and willed away the thought. Not now.

  Oh God, he wanted to beat his head against the nearest brick wall.

  When? When would he ever get it on with this woman? His mate.

  •●•

  Well, heavenly chiming bells. Heat still ran roughshod through her veins as she tried to concentrate on the conversation now the big guy was dressed. She wrapped her hands around her coffee cup and stared into the thick, creamy liquid of her cappuccino, not sure she could swallow past the lump in her throat.

  It was the first time she’d ever seen a man’s penis—well, up close and personal anyway. She certainly couldn’t have gotten any closer, not unless she… Liquid heat shot through her, flaming its way along her veins. She’d seen pictures and the occasional flasher in the park when the weather was warm, but she’d never been treated to a view like that. If he’d been any closer… She smiled and dipped her head to take a long sip of her coffee, aware as she came up for air she’d given herself a cream mustache. She raised her hand to wipe it away before anyone saw. Too late. Deep jade eyes gave her a lazy perusal as Matt touched his tongue to his upper lip and sent sex signals in silent pulses across the table to scorch her face and boil her blood.

  Daniel’s voice gave her a sharp nudge. “So what do you think?”

  Guilt shot heat up her neck to jerk her out of her reverie. “Huh?”

  But he wasn’t looking at her. “Matt, are you paying attention?”

  Matt smiled without a single sign of the blazing remorse she felt. “Nope.”

  “Well, you need to because a photo of your dragon is about to appear worldwide.”

  Sea-green eyes widened with surprise as Matt turned his head in Daniel’s direction. “What?”

  “That’s what I was telling you. Some reporter managed to get a photo of you flying toward this building. Jesus Christ—” Daniel looked heavenward and crossed himself, and Ginny found herself smiling at his actions. “—you weren’t even flying in a straight line.” The disgust in his voice said everything about what he thought of Matt’s lack of control.

  “Because someone spiked my fucking drink.”

  A jolt of alarm struck her and dragged her attention back to the matter at hand.

  “I understand, but why here?” Daniel’s piercing stare cut through her heart. “Why did you come here?”

  Matt’s brow pulled low over his glowing green eyes; fury vibrated off him in waves as he pinned Daniel with his glare. The other man appeared completely unperturbed and waited patiently for Matt to answer.

  Matt slid his gaze over to her; his expression softened, and a small smile kicked up one side of his mouth. “I wanted to see Ginny.”

  Delicate musical tones warmed Ginny.

  “Puh.”

  They all turned to stare at Roni; her long legs dangled from the counter where she’d hitched herself up. She twirled a straight red lock of hair through her fingers and blew a bubble with bright pink bubblegum, looking for all the world like she was a sullen kid, not a hundred-and-sixty-year-old vampire.

  Matt raised his eyebrows “Puh?”

  Roni gave an insolent shrug and blew another bubble that exploded with a loud pop.

  Matt puffed his chest out, and Ginny trembled. She didn’t need her best friend to fall out with her…her what?

  “You have a problem with me coming here, Roni?”

  “Not as long as you don’t upset Ginny again.”

  Matt turned to face her, and Ginny squirmed. Heat rushed to her face in a wash of embarrassment.

  “You told her?”

  “What?” Daniel’s intense stare was almost as disconcerting as Matt’s insulted amazement.

  “Yeah, she told me you humiliated her.” The vampire crossed her sexy long legs and drew Daniel’s attention away from Ginny.

  His voice when he spoke sounded absent. “You did what? Why?”

  Matt’s was much sharper. “Daniel—shut up. Ginny?”

  Her skin burned. If she could have self-combusted, she would have. She covered her face with her hands and groaned, but when she peeped through her fingers, all three still stared at her.

  “No, no, no. Stop this. Roni—he apologized. Matt—I never told her any details. Daniel—butt out.”

  A strange tingling sensation shot up her spine to dance along her neck. Wild voices screeched in agony inside her head so she wanted to cover her own ears. She glanced at Roni, horrified to see her raise her hand, wipe a drip of blood from her nose, and stare at her fingers, confusion wreathing her face.

  Ginny turned to Matt and noted his narrowed eyes had darkened.

  Daniel stood abruptly, and the voices came to a halt. “Do I have your attention?” He placed a computer tablet on the kitchen table for them all to look at. “What the hell is that?” Daniel demanded, stabbing a finger at the picture displayed.

  “A dragon flying over the front of the moon,” Ginny soothed.

  Roni gave a derisive snort as Ginny took a closer look. “A dragon. No such thing.”

  “And I never believed in bloodsuckers, until I met you.”

  Ginny drew in a sharp breath and caught Matt’s surprised look at Daniel’s vitriolic reply. Ginny saw the chaotic plea in her friend’s widened eyes, but could do nothing to reassure her. She could only imagine why Daniel had a problem, and it wasn’t her place to intervene.

  Daniel ignored them all and tapped the tablet with his forefinger, making another picture appear.

  Attempting to calm the situation, Ginny soothed, “Now see, I thought he was a giant moth or a bat when he flew toward me las
t night.”

  “Who flew toward you?” Black eyes seethed with confusion.

  Ginny gave Roni a reassuring smile. “Matt.”

  “Matt? Matt can fly?” Roni’s voice racked up a decibel to compete with the currently dormant banshees.

  “He’s a dragon.”

  “You are shitting me.” Roni didn’t appear to be able to close her mouth properly. It kept falling open as she stared wide-eyed at Matt as though she expected him to suddenly develop wings.

  “No, I’m not. Matt’s a dragon. A very pretty dragon. Matt, show her.” Ginny gave him an encouraging nod.

  “No.”

  Why did he choose now to be so petulant?

  “I don’t believe you.” Roni sulked.

  Irritated, Ginny dug Matt in the ribs with her elbow. “Matt!”

  Whoosh.

  An eleven-foot dragon crumpled the wooden chair beneath him into splinters. Ginny rubbed her fingers over her lips, regretting her insistence that he shift, as he glowered at them from where he was sitting amid the splinters of wood on the floor.

  Before Ginny could draw breath, Roni scuttled down next to him, smoothed her long, elegant fingers over his wings, and peeled the ripped material of his clothes from him.

  Banshee voices rose in Ginny’s head. She was about to give Roni more than just a nosebleed. In fact she might give her one of those as well, but it would be by way of a well-placed fist if the vampire didn’t remove her hand from Matt’s iridescent scales.

  Daniel face-planted the table and continued to bash his forehead on the wooden surface until they all paid him attention. “Right. This is important. I managed to get these photos from the journalist, but I’m not sure if it was before he downloaded them to his editor. We need a back-up plan.”

  “What story will the journalist tell?” Roni settled herself on the floor beside Matt and stroked his shimmering purple and green scales. As he turned toward Ginny, the glow of the lamplight cast a buttery hue over him and changed his color to a nacreous deep purple overlaid with a golden luster. He gave her an apologetic shrug, and his jade green eyes smoldered at her, his top lip pulled straight across his teeth. He was beautiful. In both forms, he took her breath away.