by Lexi C. Foss
“You don’t want to do that, Pussycat.” Dante’s deep calm voice eases the tension gripping my body in a way I don’t understand. No male has ever had this effect on me before. The vampire bastard must be trying to enthral me. I should be immune to it. Vampiric powers have not touched me in the past.
Easing the pressure of my blade against his throat, I see a trickle of red escape to trail down his skin.
“Why don’t you give me the knife,” he suggests. “It would be a shame if I had to damage that beautiful face.”
I keep my eyes locked on his blue ones. “You’re the prettiest corpse I’ve seen in a while. Killing your kind is my favorite hobby.”
Dante’s chuckle is full of amusement. “Stop glaring, Pussycat. I know you want me.”
Arrogant prick. Digging the blade a little harder against his throat, I don’t stop until I’ve added a second cut. “Go fuck yourself.”
His expression remains unruffled as if he doesn’t feel the pain at all. “I can’t decide if I want to make you bleed or moan.”
“The only one who will be bleeding around here is you!” A wave of intoxicating scent fills my nostrils. Sniffing I realize the smell comes from Dante. Another vampire trick?
“Dante?”
The sound of a male voice calling out in concern momentarily distracts me. Hands grasp my wrists. Twisting at the same time, my target grapples for my weapons, his strength a match to my own.
Shit.
I’ve let my guard slip. This should have just been another day at the office dispatching bastards like these. My orders flash though my thoughts. I have to remember why I’m here. Stick to the plan.
Instead of struggling for the knives, I let them go, shoving the Vampire King hard and sending him stumbling. Dashing out of the gazebo, I find a group of men moving toward our location. Dante’s younger brother and his second in command are among them. They freeze when they see my expressions morphing from worry to predatory.
In a split second, they are on me in a blur. Vincenzo tries to grab me. Knowing I have to keep up the charade on my end, I kick him in the nuts. Enough to hurt but not to do too much permanent damage. The second male I throat punch without holding back. They both go down to their knees with a heavy thud. Vaulting over them, I run across the dark garden with the others in pursuit.
“Get her,” Dante roars from behind me.
Deep menacing growls have my heart skipping a beat. Shifters? Not many vampires have them in their employ, and my file lacked that information. Vincenzo screwed up not telling me. Chancing a glance, I see three streaks of black charging toward me. Side-stepping as the closest one takes a lunge at me, I narrowly miss its gaping jaws.
A blow from behind takes me sideways. Pain explodes through the side of my skull and then everything goes black.
Leaning in closer to listen to the man’s exquisite accent whispering in my ear, I press the soft fullness of my breasts against him. We shouldn’t be here. Not like this. Not together. He knows it as well as I do. When did we shift from enemies to something different? Everything changed that evening he helped me.
“Your body was made for this purpose, and it’s one I mean to show you.” The warmth of his breath makes me shiver in excitement. There’s no disguising how he makes me feel. He’s inside me before my panties even hit the floor. There’s no mercy from his lips. My body betrays me as I moan and writhe, falling into his rhythm as he makes me forget the world.
Regaining consciousness slowly from the dream, a wave of disorientation hovers over me. The identity of the dream lover is just out of my grasp. A wisp of smoke I can’t hold onto. Strange how it had felt so real. It fades as quickly as it materialized in the hard, cold awareness that I’m handcuffed to a chair, my ankles shackled to the front of the wooden legs. Someone has taken the opportunity to remove my dress and underwear while I was out. Goosebumps scatter over my bare skin at the coolness of the air in the room.
“She’s awake.”
Canting my head, I find the asshole I kneed in the nuts. Prince Vincenzo Medici next in line to the throne after his older brother. From the way he’s standing, he’s still pained. Good. My smirk is met with a low muttered curse. The bastard deserves it, and he knows it. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. He deserves a little pay back for not telling me about the shifters.
Dante slinks toward me coming to a stop between my open legs. The blue eyes that had been so mesmerizing to me before are now empty and cold. This is the monster who lurks beneath the good-looking facade.
Leaning over, he tips my chin up with his fingers. “Who sent you?”
I meet his stare unflinching. “Eat shit.”
“You're foolish if you think we won’t make you talk,” he murmurs, caressing my jaw. His eyes darken to a forbidding cobalt blue, shadowed by thick, long black lashes. “Save yourself the pain.”
I glare up at him defiantly, resisting the urge to shiver at his touch. It shouldn’t feel so good. Nothing they do to me will be any worse than what I’ve already been through growing up. Torturous years of training to withstand this kind of situation.
“No?” A smile curves up his cruel lips. “I was hoping you were a fighter. It makes it all the sweeter when they finally crack.”
“You should’ve talked sweetheart. Dante is a master at torture,” The third male in the room tells me. A werewolf. Mateo the Vampire King’s right-hand man. I’m pretty sure he’s the one who knocked me out.
“I’m sorry,” I mutter. “I don’t speak asshole.”
The backhanded blow catches me by surprise. For a moment, I keep my face averted letting the explosion of pain ebb before returning my focus to my captor. Tongue flicking out, I touch the split on my lip caused by the force, the taste of blood faint.
Dante’s nostrils flare, his attention on the wound. His features tighten with a look of hunger. “We know you're not human. You're too fast for that. So what are you?”
“I hate to break this to you, but you're as intimidating as a butterfly.”
Someone snickers at my words. Vincenzo. I’m sure he’s getting a kick out of all this. I’ll be giving him more than a kick in the balls when I get loose. His plan sucks, and I can’t believe I agreed to all this.
Turning on his heels, the king glowers at his companions with annoyance. “Your turn, Vincenzo.”
The younger man doesn’t move from his position from the wall, eyeing me warily when I flash him an evil grin. “You know who she is, right?”
“Who?” Dante scoffs.
“The Ghost.”
Mateo’s burst of laughter rings out through the room. “You've been listening to that crap again. It's nothing but rumors. A deadly Assassin with unearthly powers who can be in two places at once. If she was that strong, she wouldn't be sitting where she is right now, and we’d all be dead.”
My smirk reappears. Vincenzo and his fucking games. He likes to embellish the truth with his half-truths. It’s because of my sister, Kiko, that I'm seen in more than one place. Having the same face can be handy but also a curse especially when she pisses off the reapers she’s assigned to hunt.
The other two will learn soon enough who they are dealing with. Vincenzo’s gaze meets mine, and I swear I see him give me a quick mischievous wink. If he wants to play, I’ll play. After all, he’s the one writing the rules. The one who asked me to be here tonight.
“I bet that mouth of yours has more skills than sassy replies.” Mateo reaches out to sweep a finger along my bottom lips.
Snapping my teeth together, I bite the digit so hard it makes him yowl.
“Son of a bitch,” he hisses, snapping his hand back before I can sink my teeth in further. Striding behind me, he disappears from view, but I know better than to twist and search for him. A second later, a clear plastic bag is thrust down tightly over my head. Breath becoming ragged pants, panic threatens to surface with the knowledge I’m being suffocated. Fighting against my cuffs, I jerk in my seat. My head starts to spin as
I gasp for air, lungs burning with the need to breathe. Just when I start to go limp, it’s removed from my head.
“I like the sounds she makes when she’s asphyxiating.” Dante chuckles, watching me heaving in breath after breath.
“Fuck you,” I spit.
Mateo moves to answer a sharp rap at the door.
Holding me by the throat, Dante shoves his fingers between my legs, dipping them inside me. “You have no idea of the things we can do to you, Pussycat.”
Instead of feeling disgust, my body melts into his touch, softening and yielding. As if scenting my arousal, his nostrils flare, his eyes meeting mine with a fathomless gaze.
Keeping my expression blank, I don’t let him see the swarming confusion. What the hell is going on? Every time this vamp gets close, he's somehow able to throw my world off center. It's unsettling and unwanted.
“Dante, you're being asked for,” Mateo tells him from the door. “It’s Vanna Piovene.”
“She’s probably wondering why you haven’t announced your engagement to her yet. You better go play nice,” Vincenzo mutters, raking a hand through his black, short hair, still observing me cautiously from the other end of the cell.
Irritation passes over the king’s handsome face. “No fucking our prisoner and leave her face untouched.”
Straightening he brings the fingers he had buried inside me to his nose inhaling my musky scent. Without even a backward glance, he walks to the door, slipping out and leaving me to his minions.
Mateo moves to a table in the corner with a new purpose. Halting his hands drifting from one torture device to the next with a look of concentration. “Let’s get to know each other a little better, shall we? By the time we’re done, I’ll know what makes you tick and scream.”
Bracing myself for what’s to come, I harden my resolve. Nothing they can do will crack me. Vincenzo is well aware of that fact. He’s not stepping in because he knows I like the pain. This isn’t the first time I’ve been tortured so a target thinks they have the upper hand. This is just another form of foreplay for me.
6
Dante
Standing on the terrace of my penthouse, I drink in the lights of my city. It never fails to take my breath away, this 270-degree panoramic vista. Especially on a night like this, a warm, sultry evening that makes it worth every penny of the twenty million I’d paid for the hotel. My castle in the sky. Untouched by those who live below.
“Dante.” Turning to the soft call, I smile at the stunning blonde as she buttons up her dress.
Vanna Piovene. My soon to be fiancé and future Queen. She hadn’t been happy that the announcement of our engagement had been postponed. Taking her to bed had at least soothed some of her anger. Vanna is sharp enough to know what’s between us is a business deal. I’ll never love her, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying fucking her. She knows this mutual agreement can satisfy both of us.
“If you're hungry, I can have something sent up,” I tell her politely, my interest in her presence in my penthouse waning.
“No thanks, I have to get back to my father and assure him you’ll be announcing our engagement soon.”
“Tonight was a small hitch, but everyone will know of our upcoming nuptials.”
“Good. Don’t keep me waiting. I’ve already started planning the wedding,” she murmurs against my lips before leaving a kiss on them. “I’ll see you later.”
Listening to the sound of her heels clicking on the marble floor as she saunters to the door that leads to the lift, I turn back to the view. My thoughts should be on business, instead they’re on the female in the cell in the basement of the building. This assassin has become my newest obsession. I want to push her. Punish her. Put her through the most exquisite torture for my own pleasure. She’s beautiful, deadly, and intoxicating. How much will it take to make her break? To make her submit and kneel for me? One way or another, I’ll get out of her who she’s working for.
Leaving the balcony, I move to the table where a decanter of wine mixed with blood awaits me. Lifting the heavy crystal, I pour some of the content into a glass. Mateo hasn’t been successful with his methods of persuasion. It’s time I try something else. Entertaining Vanna has cost me time in interrogating Yukie.
Tugging my phone out of my pocket, I call one of my minions downstairs. “Bring me the prisoner.”
Anticipation buzzes through me while I wait for her to be brought up. Taking the glass of wine to my lips, I toss half of it down in one huge swallow. I haven’t felt this energized in years. Challenges like this have been scarce. My name commands instant fear and respect. Very few people stand up to me and live to tell the tale.
A soft knock on the door interrupts my thought. “Enter.”
Two guards appear with Yukie between them. Naked, hands cuffed behind her back, dark bruises litter her torso, arms, and legs. Mateo has really done a number on her.
“Leave us,” I tell the men. They go without word, slipping through the door and clicking it closed after them.
Movements slow and deliberate, I circle my prey. Her breasts are high and full. Her pussy smooth and shaved, limbs toned, her form lithe from working out. She looks pale but still manages to stand tall.
I recall the press of her blade against my throat, the metal drawing blood. The feel of her body plastered against mine in the gazebo. It's all I’ve been able to think about since her capture.
Stepping in front of her, the ruby liquid in the glass I’m still holding flashes red in the light. “Ready to talk?”
Taking a long sip of my blood, I savor the flavor. I’m met with icy silence and a green-eyed glare that promises retribution. Instead of amusement, her response turns me on. Her resistance is admirable but futile.
“You came here uninvited and tried to kill me. You're in my world, my territory, and now you’ll play by my rules. Your mine to kiss, to fuck, to kill, to drain dry,” I purr, hungering for a taste of her. Licking a droplet of blood from my lips, I place the glass back on the table.
She’ll have no choice when her pussy clamps around my cock as I see how deep it sinks inside of her. If I’ll allow her to scream in enjoyment or pain. Yukie can fight me all she wants, but in the end, she will be mine. Whether she submits or not.
“Then kill me already,” Yukie taunts, her lip curling in distaste.
Smiling in delight, I reach out to run my fingers along her bare shoulder, watching goose bumps rising over her skin in their wake as she shivers. “Oh, I will but not quite yet. You have no rights here. You’re an intruder in my domain.”
She’d tries to hide it, but she's not unaffected by my presence. From the few fleeting expressions I’ve caught dancing over her exotic features, the chemistry between us has caught her off guard. I watch her slender throat work as she swallows before she releases a hissing breath.
“Go fuck yourself,” she snarls, flashing white teeth like a cornered animal.
Poor, little, confused pussycat. I want to see how she’ll look with my cock in in her mouth. How tight she’ll feel as I make her choke on my length. Wrap my hand around the delicate curve of her throat, feeling myself sliding in and out while listening to her gag.
“I’m going to fuck all those dirty words back down your throat.” Grabbing her by the neck, I walk her backward until I pin her to the wall, chest and thighs flush against hers. Rolling my hips, I let her feel my cock, hard and demanding, pressed into her stomach. I want nothing more than to lift her legs and grant it entrance to her body. Take what’s mine. Yukie’s green cat-like eyes spit hate at me, but she can’t contain her moan of pleasure.
My captive’s attention darts over my shoulder, her expression swiftly becoming closed and hard. Before I can move, Yukie shoves us both sideways narrowly missing the blade of the sword that was aimed for my neck. Holding her bicep, I instinctively propel her protectively behind me. Motherfuckers. This is the second time her nearness has almost cost me my life.
A shift in the air, and Yukie mov
es in a blur, gracefully dodging the slash of the sword, hands still handcuffed behind her. Ploughing into the man, she knocks him down. Wrapping her legs around his neck, she twists her body agilely, breaking his neck with ease. She moves like an Olympic gymnast, efficiently disposing of her victim.
My gaze sharpening on her face, I see her reveling in the kill. All this time, she hasn’t been my helpless captive as she’s let me imagine. It looks like I’m not the only one who’s been playing games.
Other assassins close in on us. They must have scaled down from the roof. Taking out the two vampires closest to me, I used the knife of the first one to pierce my third assailant in the heart. His scream is cut short when he disintegrates at my feet. Attention returning to the female, I find she’s already cleared a handful more.
My little assassin is fast and efficient. Moving soundlessly, she slaughters men double her size, in close combat, her lithe limbs more of an advantage than their packed muscles. Crouched over the remains of her recent kill, she snaps the handcuffs still confining her in half like they’re nothing more than paper. Snatching up a fallen sword, she swings it. The metal of the blade sings through the air. Her target has no time to scream. Cleaving easily through flesh and bone, it takes his head clean off his shoulders. Tumbling to the ground, it rolls, settling at my feet before turning to dust.
Slicing a panicked look at the female, another raises his gun in my direction. I hear the sound of a bullet being fired. Before I can react, a body slams into mine sending me to the floor. Yukie. She protected me. The knowledge sends everything I know spiraling.
“Go.” Her shout is guttural and inhuman. Before my eyes, she shifts. Green eyes stare back at me. Instead of the skin of her arms, my fingers sink into satin soft, snow-white fur. Her body is long and sleek rippling with muscles beneath her pelt. The white tiger is off me in a blink. With a snarl, she mauls the intruder, savaging the gun out of his hand and taking him to the floor.