by Raven Stone
A Dangerous Man
Raven Stone
Firelight Tales Publishing, LLC
Copyright © 2021 by Raven Stone
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for brief quotes used in critical book reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of brands, establishments, and/or products referenced in this work of fiction without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not sponsored by, associated with, or authorized by the trademark owners. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
1. Nadia - Brazil
2. Nadia - Brazil
3. Nadia - Brazil
4. Nadia - Brazil
5. Nadia - Brazil
6. Nadia – U.S.A.
7. Nadia – Houston
8. Nadia – U.S.A.
9. Degarr – Chicago
10. Nadia – Chicago
11. Degarr – Chicago
12. Degarr – Chicago
13. Nadia – Chicago
14. Nadia – Chicago
15. Nadia – Chicago
16. Nadia – Chicago
17. Nadia – Chicago
18. Degarr – Chicago
19. Nadia – Chicago
20. Nadia – Chicago
21. Nadia – Chicago
22. Nadia – Chicago
23. Degarr – Chicago
24. Nadia – Chicago
25. Degarr – Chicago
26. Nadia – Chicago
27. Nadia – Chicago
28. Nadia – Chicago
29. Nadia – Chicago
30. Nadia – Chicago
31. Nadia – Chicago
32. Degarr – Chicago
33. Nadia – Chicago
34. Nadia – Chicago
35. Nadia – Chicago
36. Degarr – Chicago
37. Nadia – Chicago
38. Nadia – Chicago
39. Degarr – Chicago
40. Nadia – Chicago
41. Degarr – Chicago
42. Degarr – Chicago
43. Degarr – Chicago
44. Nadia – Chicago
45. Nadia – Chicago
46. Nadia – Chicago
47. Nadia – Chicago
48. Nadia – Chicago
49. Degarr – Chicago
50. Degarr – Chicago
51. Nadia – Chicago
52. Nadia – Chicago
53. Nadia – Chicago
54. Degarr – Chicago
55. Nadia – Chicago
56. Degarr – Chicago
57. Nadia – Chicago
58. Nadia – New York
59. Nadia – New York
60. Degarr – New York
61. Degarr – New York
62. Nadia – New York
63. Nadia – New York
64. Nadia – New York
65. Nadia – New York
66. Nadia – New York
67. Degarr – New York
68. Nadia – New York
69. Nadia – New York
70. Nadia – New York
71. Nadia – New York
72. Nadia – New York
73. Nadia – New York
74. Nadia – New York
75. Nadia – New York
76. Hellcat Excerpt
77. Other Books by Raven Stone
Chapter 1
Nadia - Brazil
The mark wanted me?
I stared at him incredulously. He was sexy, good-looking even, especially when he flashed that smile that lit his eyes, like now.
But I wasn’t here for him. All of the intel said he liked blondes. That’s why Lara was here. I was just supposed to be support; to act like her best friend, draw in the mark, and make him feel safe.
This couldn’t be happening.
Lara giggled.
“I think she’s pretty too, but she never believes me. Come on,” she nudged my elbow, “go with him. Live a little.” She grinned at me.
What the fuck? That was supposed to be my line. She’d nailed it, but still.
The mark came closer, his grey eyes warm and inviting.
And God, that smile, that smile should be illegal.
Lara nudged me again.
“Go with him,” she urged. “I’ll be fine. I promise,” she said, with an edge to her voice.
That was my line again.
I knew what was supposed to come next, because we’d practiced. We’d practiced every possibility, except the one that was happening.
Dammit.
The mark wanted me?
Fine.
I knew exactly what was supposed to happen anyway. I plastered a smile on my face and held out my hand to the vampire.
“I’m Taylor,” I lied. “What’s your name?”
“John Degarr. Pleased to meet you.”
His hand was warm. Weren’t vampires supposed to be cold? Although, I didn’t know much about them outside of movies. For a while I’d thought the Crew had been lying to me, or simply delusional, when they’d insisted that the mark was an actual vampire.
After all, everyone knew vampires weren’t real, right?
But the Crew’s money was good. Cash, and a lot of it. And they hadn’t asked me to do anything really difficult. They’d wanted me to help Lara and prep the room. They hadn’t even really needed my primary skillset, since they already had a line on the mark’s general whereabouts. He’d supposedly been some sort of badass back in the day, but they’d promised me and Lara all of that was behind him. He was just some businessman now, in Brazil and ripe for the picking.
Why did they want him dead?
I didn’t know, and I didn’t care.
Fine.
I cared.
But with the money they were paying me, I could pay for therapy when I got back to America. Back home.
If I did this, I could get back home.
Which meant I was doing it.
Of course I was.
Focus on the prize.
So I’d never killed anyone, and it hadn’t been part of the deal. The mark had chosen me. I was stuck. Time to make lemonade out of lemons, and get the fuck out of here.
I led him up to the hotel room, and took a deep breath.
I can do this.
I glanced over my shoulder.
“This is my room,” I said breathlessly. “Well, mine and Lara’s, but she won’t be back for a while.” I added a little giggle at the end.
That was good, right?
I made the mistake of looking at him, and the smile slipped right off my face.
God, the way he was looking at me.
His dark grey eyes were completely focused on me, as if the hallway, the world around us, didn’t exist. He stared at me like I was some sort of combination of chocolate and wine, and he’d been denied both for a long damn time. That gaze spoke of things; of taking his time, of consuming me slowly, of making me feel him everywhere, from my head to my toes.
A frisson rippled over me.
His thumb rubbed my hand. “Open the door.”
For a second I forgot to breathe, and then my other hand was on the doorknob, turning it and letting us inside. He followed me in, closing the door behind him with his foot.
He grabbed me by the waist and pulled me to him. Then he wrapped his fingers around my chin, and lifted my
face to his.
Oh, shit.
Then he was kissing me. Kissing me like he would consume me from the inside out. Heat poured through me, pooled in my belly, and then burned lower. He brushed my nipple with his thumb, and I gasped as heat struck my core.
Fuck.
They hadn’t said anything about him knowing how to kiss. About me wanting him. But they wouldn’t, would they? He was supposed to go for the blonde.
I growled.
Fuck the blonde. This mark was mine.
He laughed softly. “Have I got your attention now?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
His hand trailed down my side. “I got the feeling there was something going on between you and your friend. A bet, perhaps? See who’s first to get a vampire up to the room?”
I blinked.
Close the fuck enough.
I let a shy smile come over my face. “You got us. It was a bet.”
“And you weren’t expecting to win?”
I shook my head.
“Why?” His hand cupped my face, sending sparks down me. “You’re beautiful, and so much more interesting than she is.”
He thought I was interesting?
“Because –” I bit my lip, stopping myself from telling him that he was supposed to like blondes.
God, what was wrong with me? I never slipped like this. It must have been the alcohol, or the heat.
“– because we both know I’m not.” I took a step back, slipping away from his touch. “Don’t we, John?”
Too late, I realized my tone had changed with that last part. He gave me a sharp glance, telling me he’d caught my fuckup. He’d seen that hint of my true self. But it wasn’t my fault. We’d gone off-script, and in those situations I always tended to sound more like me.
“Drop the act.” He pierced me with his gaze. “I don’t want to see the girl you pretend to be around your friend.”
“Then who do you want to see?” I asked. My voice was breathy; so much closer to the person I was pretending to be that it was a relief.
It sounded like I wanted him. Which was the goal, right? To get him in bed and stake him?
Except I was turned on by him. The arousal spreading through me felt like a low-grade fever. It was fucking with my head.
“You,” he replied. He reached out and skated his fingers down my neck, making me shiver. “The girl who just growled at me.”
Fuck.
I needed to get my head back into the game.
Get ahold of yourself.
I reached around him, acting like I was sliding the bolt home, when actually I was making sure the door was unlocked.
I met his eyes.
“Then take me to bed,” I said in my sultriest voice. I steadfastly ignored the way my body clenched with anticipation.
He picked me up without another word and carried me to the bed.
Chapter 2
Nadia - Brazil
“You’ve never been with a vampire, have you?” he asked.
I was tempted to act shy again, but he’d asked me to drop the act. It probably wouldn’t hurt to do as he asked.
“No.”
“You should be on top then.” He rearranged us so he was sitting on the bed with his back to the wall and I was sitting on his lap.
It would take just a small slide of my hand, down the wall, to the stake that waited there. Or a slightly longer stretch to the stake that was tucked under the pillow to my left.
“Why?” I asked.
He smiled up at me.
He was so much larger than my usual men. He had a broad, muscled chest, and powerful thighs. I felt dainty and feminine sitting on top of him. It was a rare feeling for me, but I found I didn’t mind it.
His grey eyes gazed into mine, and I was struck with the temptation to run my finger along his strong jawline. He was so devastatingly handsome.
“Because a part of you will want to run,” he answered. “If you need to do that, if you need to get away, it’ll be easier if you’re on top. I want you to know that you’re safe with me. Stop at any time. No harm, no foul. Understand?”
God.
I’d never had a man say something like that to me. I put my hand on his chest.
His eyes were full of heat. If I shifted the tiniest bit, I would be rubbing against the hard-on straining his pants. I was also his food, of sorts.
But he was going to just let me go?
Focus on the prize.
“You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” I replied.
His chest was hard under my hand.
I knew I had him right where I wanted him. I could easily grab the stake and bury it in his chest before he knew what was happening. That was the plan, after all.
But I was curious. What did it feel like, to let a vampire bite you? It must hurt, but there had to be something else going on, because people kept coming back here. This place was some sort of underground hookup bar and hotel for vampires. It even had a quasi-form of security. I’d only gotten me and the blonde through the doors by befriending some of the regulars and having them vouch for me.
Now I was thinking I should have asked them why they came here.
“Will it hurt?” I asked.
“Yes, but only for a short while. Then it will feel really, really good.”
I blinked. I’d expected him to lie; to say it wouldn’t hurt, or that there would be some ‘discomfort’ like doctors said.
“You tell the truth, don’t you?” I asked.
“When I can,” he replied.
Jesus.
I stroked his chest, knowing I was putting things off, delaying everything unnecessarily.
Because I liked him.
I liked his stupid face, that gorgeous smile, the real person that seemed to exist behind those eyes. And the strong muscles beneath my body, the large hands holding my waist, didn’t hurt either.
“Will you fuck me?” I asked.
A smile spread slowly across his face, lighting me up inside like I was a damn Christmas tree.
“If you want to,” he said.
My breath came in little pants, and I forced myself to calm down, to take deeper breaths.
I bet his dick was just as big and thick as the rest of him.
I slammed my eyes shut.
Focus.
His hand ran up my thigh, and my eyes sprang open.
“Let’s start with you drinking my blood, and go from there.”
“We call it feeding, but good enough.” He straightened, his hand going around the back of my neck, and I wanted to say ‘wait’ or ‘stop’ but it was too late.
He sank his fangs into my neck.
God, it hurt. But following the pain, almost right on top of it in fact, was the most intense pleasure of my life. I screamed as that pleasure struck my core, my body shaking from the most powerful orgasm I’d ever had.
He clamped a hand over my mouth, and took his fangs out of my neck.
I whined.
“If you scream like that again, someone’s going to come bursting through the door,” he said.
If only he knew.
“Do you understand?” he asked.
I pried his hand away from my mouth. “I understand. It won’t happen again. I just wasn’t expecting an orgasm, that’s all.”
He grinned, suddenly looking very much like a happy, satisfied male. “You came?”
I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. Apparently, all men were the same, whether they were a human or a vampire.
“Yes. It means nothing,” I told him. “Now fucking bite me again.”
His eyes darkly gleamed, and I realized I’d slipped again. There was no way I could go back to being that naïve girl from the bar.
“There she is,” he whispered.
And then he bit me again.
God.
This time I was prepared. This time I was ready for the waves of intense pleasure pouring through me, riding me. I wrapped my legs around his waist,
then cupped my hands around the back of his head and dug my fingers into him.
Next time I wanted his cock in me.
Next time I wanted to ride him.
I gave myself a sharp reminder that there wasn’t going to be a next time. I was supposed to kill him after this was done. But I could enjoy myself until then.
So I did. I closed my eyes and gave in to the sensation of him feeding from me. I probably should have been disgusted at the thought of a man sucking at my neck, pulling my blood from me.
But it just felt so damn good.
In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt this good. And based on his response, he felt good too.
Little noises, little gasps and moans, were pouring out of both of us. I could feel his cock through his clothes, hard and thick, perfect for filling me.
It was a damn shame really.
He clapped his hand back over my mouth as my cries got a little too loud again, but fuck it. I couldn’t help it. This simply felt too good.
And then I came again. The orgasm rippled over my body, lasting a long damn time.
When it was over, he took his fangs out and licked my neck. It tingled a little, then the feeling dissipated.
We fell back onto the bed together, both of us hot and sweaty.
I lay there, panting, thinking now was the time. I should do it now. I’d gotten what I had wanted, and clearly so had he.
It was a shame though.
I would miss him.
Chapter 3
Nadia - Brazil
I slid on top of him and straddled his waist. Both stakes were in easy reach.
“Ready for round two?” he asked, running his hands up my thighs.
“Round two?” I asked. “You’re still hungry?”
“No,” he said with a smile, “and you can only feed me like that every seven days, or five if we push it. But I wasn’t talking about that.” He ran his hand across my thigh, and then dipped between our bodies.
His hand slipped under my skirt. “I was talking about fucking.”
I gasped as his fingers reached my panties. He stroked me, his eyes darkening.
“You’re so wet,” he whispered.
God.
A tiny moan escaped me.
He was right. I was so wet, so ready for him. Only a few inches separated us. I could unzip his pants, he could hold my panties to the side, and he could bury himself in me.