The feline chased forward, swatted the bloodsucker and sent him sprawling to the ground. Like a true predator, he went for the jugular but he wasn’t quick enough. The vampire phazed, vanishing from one spot to the next. Dante looked left, right. He never saw his attacker reappear and creep up behind him.
I tried to scream, to warn Dante. My words came out in a muffled jumble thanks to the tape I was now desperately trying to rip off. The vampire approached silently, lifted an ax high above his head and swung down.
I caught the corner of my gag and tore it from my mouth.
“Behind you!” I screamed.
At the last second, Dante turned to the sound of my voice. He wasn’t fast enough. Metal cut through bone with a sickening thwack and Dante made a hideous noise that brought tears to my eyes. He collapsed to the floor and I rushed in his direction before I could stop myself.
Even though he was injured, Dante stumbled up, balancing on three of his four legs. Trails of blood smeared across the ground from his injured hindquarter. The vampire swung again and Dante caught the weapon in his teeth, ripped it free. The vampire hissed, exposing fangs, and threw himself on top of the lion as if he was riding a horse.
Dante reared back, twisted, caught hold of the vampire’s leg with his teeth and shook until the parasite on his back released him. I lunged, sunk my blade into his chest with a thwack and waited for the ash. The vampire looked down, at the knife sticking from his chest, then to me. Whoops. I’d missed his heart by several inches.
“You fucking cunt.” He hissed, exposing bloody fangs and took a single menacing step in my direction.
The lion leapt, knocking him facefirst to the floor. Dante ripped through the vampire’s neck until ash plumed.
Fight over, Dante collapsed to the ground.
Tears poured down my cheeks and blurred my vision. I rushed to his side and pressed trembling hands through his coarse fur. Dante twitched. A bright-white light filled the warehouse. Beneath my palm, fur receded. I scrambled back as bones readjusted into legs and arms. When it was over, Dante—in human form—lay sprawled naked on the ground a few feet in front of me. Blood dripped from his right leg where a gash flayed open his leg from the knee down to the ankle.
He was so still. So quiet. My heart hammered and I fell to my knees. Blood from his leg spread across the floor, a trail of lava I didn’t move away from when the hot liquid hit my skin. I was too panicked to move. I wanted to go to him, to cradle him in my lap but I was frozen with fear. Was he alive? Had he died to protect me?
“Please be okay,” I chanted, my sobs turning into shoulder-racking pleas.
I hugged my legs to my chest. Thick, warm blood dripped down my hands from where rope cut into my wrists. Twelve minutes passed before Dante opened first one eye, then the other and my heart stopped.
I sucked in a sharp breath.
Holy fuck he was alive.
He turned onto his stomach, grimaced when he pushed up. “Fucking vampires,” he growled. He reached out with his fingers, grabbed on to the bloody ax and used it to help him stand.
I was desperate to hold him, to feel his warmth, to hear him tell me everything was going to be okay but I couldn’t seem to do anything except hold myself and cry.
Dante zeroed his gaze on me. His eyes widened at whatever sight I presented. Not a pretty one I imagined.
His voice was tight, and dangerously low. “You hurt, darlin’?”
I shook my head and sobbed. He rose to his full height, an impressive specimen of man. My man. I didn’t even care he was covered in blood and ash. His face was white and pinched tight with pain. He limped over to me, his injured leg dragging behind him. As if he brought life back into my limbs, I found the strength to move. I leapt up and straight into his arms.
With my added weight, his leg gave out and we both went down, crashing to the hard, dirty floor. He cried out and I scrambled off him, afraid I was making his pain worse.
“You’re alive!” I cried and burrowed into him.
“Shush, baby.” He stroked my back, arms, hair. “Everything is going to be all right. I got you. You’re covered in blood, you sure you aren’t hurt?”
I shook my head. “Some of it was from the vampires, some is yours.”
I pressed my face against his neck and inhaled his scent. The vampire bites I’d seen tearing open his flesh were now all mostly healed.
“Let’s get you untied,” he said gently.
I held out my wrists, gazed dully at the blood oozing from the broken flesh around the rope. Carefully he used the edge of the ax to cut through the restraints. He lifted my arm, pressed a kiss to first one wrist before doing the same to the other. He met my gaze.
“Whatever they injected me with stopped me from shifting, or I would have kicked their asses a whole lot sooner. I’m sorry you had to endure them touching you for even one second. They didn’t…”
“No, it didn’t get that far.” I sniffled, fell forward to rest my forehead against the hard wall of his chest. “This is the worst first date I’ve ever had.”
He let out a low, rusty bark of laughter. “Yeah, this one tops my list too.”
I looked up. “You need a doctor, you’re losing so much blood.”
“Flesh wound, darlin’. I’ll slap a bandage on there and be right as rain in a few days.”
My mouth fell open and I forced myself to glance at his dangling, barely attached leg. A wave of dizziness assaulted me and pushed the fog away. “The bone needs to be set. You need stitches.”
“I need you, a hot shower, a bottle of bourbon and some sleep.”
I lifted on my tiptoes so we could touch our foreheads together. I looked around at the blood and the dust.
“Can we go home now?” I asked.
“Absolutely.”
I got up and struggled to pull Dante to his feet. He leaned his weight against me and almost sent me to the sprawling to the floor. At some point, I’d lost my shoes. Together, we managed to make our way to the door even if it did take several minutes longer than it should have.
“My pants, on the floor,” he pointed to a mass of black fabric near the pole he’d been chained to. “Check the pocket. I had my cell on me.”
I looked at the shredded remnants of cloth that must have ripped apart when he’d shifted. I left him leaning against the wall and searched through the debris. I found his pocket, pulled out a smooth, sleek phone and gripped it to my chest as if it were the most precious thing in the world.
The door to the warehouse creaked open and I froze. Dante crossed the distance between us and shoved me behind him. One finger at a time he readjusted his grip on the ax and then lifted it as if he were readying to swing.
Ella’s dark head came into view. She swept the room, took in the ash and the blood before looking to Dante.
“Hannah better be with you and she better be safe,” she demanded.
“She’s safe, no thanks to you,” Dante grumbled. “We could have used your help, say, twenty minutes ago. What took you guys so long?”
I bolted out from behind Dante and ran into Ella’s arms. She caught me and held me close. Over her shoulder, I saw Micah and Eli tuck their guns into shoulder holsters. Eli, looking dangerous, lost and unhappy, hung back. Micah rushed over to Dante and easily took his weight.
“How’d you find us?” I asked and pulled back to look down at my sister.
“Eli spotted Dante’s truck on the side of the road, saw the damage and called Micah. He called Castro, who in turn put out a GPS trace on Dante’s cell. We got a location and here we are.” She blew out a breath and looked me over from head to toe. “Holy crap, you’re covered in blood and you’re still standing.”
Ella leaned forward, sniffed me. “Vampire.” She picked up my arm and eyed the ugly red marks where I’d been strung up. Something cold and dark filled her bright-blue eyes. “Who do I need to kill?”
“Already taken care of. His name was Cash Vladimir.” I shuddered. “He was under the i
mpression that if he turned me, I’d become a queen. He didn’t seem to like Julian very much.”
“No one likes Julian very much.”
The boys came over to join us and I gave Eli a watery smile from across the room. Two awkward seconds went by before he closed the distance between us and pulled me into his arms. I rested my cheek against his chest and inhaled. I met Dante’s eyes and smiled at the tender affection in his eyes.
I pulled away from Eli, sniffling. He wiped away my tears and stepped back, a subtle gesture of acceptance. Dante took his place and slid an arm around my waist.
“Holy crap,” Ella said and eyed my lover up, down, up and then down again. “You’re naked.”
He shrugged. “Ripped my clothes when I shifted.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Micah said and pulled Ella against him. They slid their arms around each other and as a complete unit, walked out the door they’d just come through. Eli followed and behind them, Dante and I took up the rear.
“I didn’t tell you the best part,” I said. “Well, it’s the grossest part, but still…”
“Tell me,” Dante said, pressed his lips against my head and didn’t seem in any hurry to remove them.
“I totally snapped Cash’s neck in the back seat of the car. I didn’t kill him, but still…I did kill one of the other ones, his name was James.”
The entire group froze and as one, turned to stare at me. I grinned at the shocked expressions on their faces.
“The VAs weren’t working.”
“That’s badass,” Micah said.
“No shit?” Eli asked.
I nodded, felt quite proud of myself. I might have nightmares about it for months, but it was a better alternative then replaying being raped.
“Who knew you had it in you,” Ella said.
Dante grinned down at me. “I knew and I think it’s kinda sexy.”
Eli chuckled. One-half of his mouth quirked up in the first smile I’d seen from him in weeks. “You guys are all crazy.”
Ella ran her hand affectionately over his buzzed head. “Takes one to know one.”
“That’s real mature, babe,” Micah laughed.
Despite the horrors of the night and lingering press of cold lips I still felt crawling all over my skin, I felt free somehow. I’d overcome something tonight. Proved to myself that I wasn’t a coward. That I could defend myself. I’d fought back and won. Kind of. I turned, caught Dante’s grin and gave him one of my own.
Chapter Ten
A warm, wet trail of moisture tickled the inside of my thigh, slowly drawing me from a deep sleep. Another rasp, another bolt of decadent sensation, each action amplified by the fact I wasn’t quite awake. I hovered on the brink, an abyss where the only thing that mattered was the wicked pleasure tightening my body.
“Time to wake up,” a deep voice murmured, pulled me from sleep.
“Umm…not yet.” I wasn’t ready to give up my erotic dream, a fantasy where Dante pressed two fingers inside my pussy and drew a moan of bliss. In the dream, I was tied to his bed, helpless to stop him from ravishing my body. Oh, and he may or may not have been wearing a cape.
The slow thrust and retreat between my legs drew another gasp. Heat gathered in my lower stomach and the first stirrings of a climax washed over me. My hips writhed, a silent plea for more. My sex clenched. So close. I needed more.
In. Out. In. Out. The patient pace captured my breath. God, how I ached. Restless, still on the cusp of sleep, I shifted my legs in an attempt to alleviate the pulsating arousal. Something hot and pleasurable fanned across my intimate parts, a breath of air, and then, another trail of wet fire circled my throbbing clit.
My moan of ecstasy echoed in my fogged mind. Had any dream ever felt this real? I spread my legs wider, wanting more of whatever my dream lover was doing to me. I angled my pelvis, searching for more of the wet heat. A languorous orgasm built from the depths of my core, pleasure coaxed by a patient man who knew my body.
My eyes snapped open, sleep vanishing.
Between my spread legs, Dante looked up the line of my body, his gaze glistening with both amusement and desire. “I was wondering how long it would take before you woke up.”
I uncurled the fingers I’d buried in his hair. “You’re supposed to be resting so your leg will heal. It’s only been a week since the attack.” I detested the breathless notes in my voice.
He smirked. “Leg’s fine, it’s the one between my thighs that hurts.” He gripped the outsides of my thighs and bent, slowly drew his tongue between the wet folds of my sex.
I slammed my eyes closed and fisted the sheets. Seeing him pleasure me was almost more of a turn-on than the sensations he created.
“Dante,” I gasped, meant his name to be chastising, but he chose that moment to slam three fingers into my core, pull them out and pump back inside. Hard. Quick. Exactly what I needed. My climax surged forward, retreated and then came a little closer, almost near enough to grasp.
“So close,” he whispered. Another lick, another fast penetration.
My pussy spasmed and I threw my head back on the cresting waves of approaching pleasure.
“Best way to wake up, ever,” I moaned.
Slow, rolling laughter vibrated against my clit. Dante took the small pearl into his mouth and sucked. My lips parted, closed and then parted again, each time an inarticulate sound leaving me.
With one more quick lick, he withdrew the fingers he’d buried inside me and stood. Already shirtless, the muscles in his arms and stomach flexed when he pulled at the tie on his flannel pajama bottoms. He kicked the cotton to the floor and fisted his proud erection. His penis was thick and long, the slit in the center of the head already leaking with excitement. The steel barbell shone in the light from the bedside lamp.
The veins along his shaft bulged, made me want to lean forward and lick.
Drawing my lip between my teeth, my gaze never left the up-down stroke of his hand over steely flesh. He pressed a knee to the bed, climbed forward as if to mount me.
“Take out the piercing.”
“Hannah.”
I looked away from his cock and into his eyes. “I want all of you, we’ve waited long enough.”
“You sure about this, babe? We don’t have to.”
My throbbing clit disagreed. “Oh, we have to. I need you inside me, need your weight and your heat.” I drew my finger down the center of my chest, made a slow circle along my belly button. “Make love to me.”
“We do this, you’re mine. You understand that?”
In answer, I sat up and grabbed his cock. He hissed as I slowly unthreaded the metal ball on the stud and removed the jewelry. When he held out his hand for the metal, I dropped it in his palm and looked up at him with my lip between my teeth. Were we really, finally, going to do this?
In the nightstand, he exchanged the barbell for a gold foil packet. Rolling the latex over his erection, he crawled up my body, pressed me to the bed and cupped my cheek in one hand. His weight settled over me, hard and heavy, and a sudden case of nerves jacked up my heartbeat.
This wouldn’t be like any of the other times I’d had sex. This was Dante. My lion. My protector. My boyfriend. My best friend.
He bent his head to mine, licked my lower lip before sweeping inside. I never had time to dwell on any building anxiety. In the next instant, he pressed the tip of his cock at my entrance and thrust in to the hilt.
I cried out and clutched his shoulders, tried to decide if the way he stretched my body was delicious or painful. His cock felt impossibly large inside me.
“Beautiful,” he groaned.
Gaze never leaving mine, he pulled his erection almost all the way out and then quickly surged forward. I sucked in a sharp breath of air at the pleasure ripping through me.
He lowered his body onto mine fully so we touched from groin to chest. Dipping his head, he kissed me long and deep. My stomach tightened. The muscles deep inside clenched around his erection, drawing
a ragged moan from his throat. Never in my life had sexual intimacy been like this. Tender, hot, sweaty, breathless and wild.
“So…fucking…good,” he groaned and brought a hand under my ass to hold me closer against him.
I anchored my legs around his waist and held him tight. Wrapped in his embrace, nothing in the world mattered except him and me. The retreat of his cock was unhurried, the rolling thrust forward measured. I knew the slow tempo was his way of letting me get used to the size of him stretching me to capacity.
He nibbled on my collarbone, pressed a kiss against my shoulder. Each thrust came quicker, a little harder. Each plunge sent bolts of sensation to the deepest parts of me. Lifting his torso off mine, he lowered his head and licked an erect nipple. The sensation spiraled. Every rasp of his tongue tightened my stomach and I clenched tighter around his cock. Teeth scraped the tender bud and the pricks of pain so did it for me. From hyperventilation, dark spots danced in front of my eyes.
“I think I might pass out,” I gasped, arching my hips to meet the powerful driving force of his thrusts.
He chuckled, lifted his head from my breast. “Darlin’, we’re just getting started.”
Dante slammed forward. My body rocked and pleasure spun my nerve endings into a tight knot. My eyes fluttered shut and he did the quick, hard rocking of his hips again. He worked my body with fast, deep stabs, the gentleness of before a distant memory.
He gripped my face. “Look at me.”
When I did, a dark, dangerous possession filled his eyes. I glimpsed the hazy outline of the lion pacing inside him. A low-level hum of energy crackled the air. “Mine.”
At my silence, he threaded his hand through my hair and fisted the tangled strands. He pulled my head until my chin tipped up in the direction of the ceiling. Pain bloomed. The same pinpricks of pain sharpened the rapture of him inside my body. He tightened his fist and my already erratic breathing faltered.
“Yours,” I finally managed to say.
A satisfied smile curved his lips, and it matched the possessive gleam in his gaze. The man and lion now one. “Bet your sweet ass you are.”
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