by Cynthia Eden
His head jerked to the left. His ears—sharper than a human’s, but not close to being on par with a shifter like Sadie—strained to hear.
The music drummed. High laughter rang out.
There were too many people around him. So much noise. He focused hard and tried to narrow down those sounds—
A whimper. His eyes narrowed. That whimper could have been a word. Could have been—
Help.
Sully snarled and took off running.
He knew exactly where the scent of blood would take him, and he was more than ready for this fight.
***
“Why the hell are you telling Sully my personal business?” Sadie’s fisted hands came down hard on Owen’s desk. “I work for you, but you don’t have any right to tell my secrets.”
“Not even to your lover?” His face was expressionless.
“Ex-lover,” she gritted out. Not that it was any of his business. Boundaries. Owen desperately needed to learn about them.
“Hmmm…ex, huh? Weren’t you together at your place very recently?”
She sucked in a breath. “If you’ve got me bugged again, I swear you’ll—”
“Relax, Townsend.” He smiled at her, an almost…warm smile. Weird, seeing it on a snake. “That was a pure guess.”
***
Fear was in the air. A harsh smell, one that blended with the rich scent of fresh blood.
A fact of life…Most vampires liked fear. Their bodies responded instinctively to it. Many vamps that Sully knew got off on fear. They loved power, and they loved making their prey tremble.
But for Sully, fear just didn’t do it for him. Whenever he caught that acidic odor, he remembered his last night as a human.
Fear. It had been the last thing he’d smelled as a human. His own wild, overwhelming fear. And it had been the first odor he’d caught on waking. Two of his men had still been alive. Barely. They’d been seconds from death. Their fear had burned him, even as the blood around him triggered new instincts.
No. He wouldn’t remember that night.
He had another monster to catch. Buildings loomed around him. Tall and dark, with windows of thick glass that appeared to be black in the night.
His heart raced, his eyes narrowed, and his nose twitched. Where are you? The question was not for the unfortunate victim with all the blood loss, but for the—
“Help!” Not a murmur this time. A woman’s scream. It had come from up ahead. He surged toward the building with a FOR SALE sign out front. No lights shone from within. His gaze swept over the structure. About seven stories. A chain had been installed across the main entrance.
Sully eyed the window on the second floor—the windowpane with the broken glass.
Broken deliberately? The better for him to catch the smell of the victim’s blood? Fuck. Is this a trap?
Animal. Savage. The scent hit him even harder than the blood. Shifter.
“Oh, God, help me, somebody!” The woman’s cry rang out into the night.
No one else was going to help her. Trap or no trap, he had to go in there. “Get ready, bastard, here I come.”
***
“I can’t keep working with him, I—” Sadie broke off, frowning. The hair on her nape was rising and a knot had twisted in her stomach.
“Sadie?” Owen squinted at her. “What is it?”
Her lips parted. “Where is Sully?” She’d left him not too long ago, but…
She whirled and dashed for the door.
“Wait!” Owen yelled after her. “I’ve got—”
She didn’t wait.
“Stop, Sadie! Listen to me! I’ve got a tail on Sullivan!”
***
Scaling the building wasn’t hard. He was at the second story window in less than thirty seconds. The stench of the shifter was stronger up there and so was the sweet smell of blood. Sully hurtled through the window. He shattered the remnants of the broken pane and felt the sharp sting of jagged glass cut into his arms and side.
Once inside, Sully rolled and rose in a crouch with his arms up and his fangs ready.
He saw her first. Curled in a fetal position in the corner, the woman was whimpering. Blood covered her bare limbs. Dripped onto the floor around her.
The shifter had done one hell of a number on her.
A low, taunting laugh reached out to him. “Like the look of all that blood, do you, vampire?” A man stepped from the shadows near the door. His claws were stained red. “Thought it might tempt you.”
Sully lunged. In an instant, he’d jumped the span of the room and grabbed the shifter by his neck. “Bastard!”
The shifter slashed with his claws. He cut into Sully’s chest and broke his hold with a fast twist.
As the blood poured down his shirtfront, Sully sucked in a sharp breath. Pain lanced through him.
“Came alone, did you?” The shifter shook his head and his green eyes glinted. “Mistake, vamp. Serious mistake.”
The woman scooted even closer to the wall. Sully was aware of her furtive movements, but he didn’t dare glance her way. He wasn’t about to give the shifter even a moment’s advantage.
“You truly think you’re gonna take me in?” The shifter shook his head and laughed again. “I’m not made for a cell. My kind don’t take so well to captivity.”
He was a chatty prick. “Who said anything about taking you in?” Blood dripped from the cuts on Sully’s body and splattered onto the floor around his feet. “Ready to die, shifter?”
The blond man snarled. His bones began to snap and crack as the transformation swept over him. Right. Like Sully was just going to stand there and wait while he shifted. Hell, no. He knew his odds were much better if he faced the man and not the beast.
Sully attacked.
Chapter Eight
“You’ve got a tail on him?” Sadie glared at the special agent. She shook her head. “Why the hell would you put a tail on your own man—” She broke off, huffing out a breath. Never mind. Sneaking and double-crossing his own agents was the way Owen worked.
“I don’t trust him yet, not one hundred percent.” He leveled a stare at her as he cradled his phone to his ear. “Thought it’d be best to keep an eye on him.”
“Sully would have made any tail on him.” The guy was good. And why, why was her stomach in knots? Why did she keep thinking about him? Thinking that the Irishman needed her—and that she had to get to him, fast.
It was weird. Scary.
Owen confidently told her, “He wouldn’t have spotted Lance.”
Lance. Hell. The fox shifter. Owen was right. No one ever spotted that tricky agent.
“Where is he?” Owen barked his demand into the phone. “What? Shit, hell, yeah, go!”
Sadie rocked forward on to the balls of her feet. The leopard within her was snarling. The woman was shaking. “Owen…”
He was already rushing toward her. “Building at the corner of Burns and Montay. Lance said he heard screams and then Sully scaled the wall and disappeared inside.”
Her heart slammed into her chest. “The other leopard is there?”
“Looks like it. Lance is running in for backup, but Sully is gonna need—”
She didn’t wait to hear what else Owen had to say. Sadie left him in her dust.
***
The woman wouldn’t stop screaming. The leopard wouldn’t stop attacking, and Sully couldn’t seem to stop bleeding.
Piss.
The bastard had finished his shift and the leopard’s teeth had clamped on to Sully too many times. The beast’s claws had raked and pierced his flesh. The blood loss would soon slow him down, even as his hunger for fresh blood—the injured woman smelled so good—pushed at his control.
The leopard slammed into him. Sully managed to wrap his arms around the shifter and roll. He gathered his strength and tossed the animal against the wall. Sheetrock fell to the floor.
The door flew open. Sully turned, ready to face a new threat. A small, thin man stood in
the entranceway. His brown hair was slicked back and his black eyes darted around the room.
Who the hell was—
The leopard’s teeth sank into Sully’s shoulder. “Ah!” He swiveled and drove his fist at the creature. The leopard fell back, dazed.
That’s right, SOB. Vampire strength. Not something to sneer at.
“I’m here to help you, Sullivan!” The shout came from the man in the doorway. “Owen sent me!”
Sully crouched as he fully faced the leopard. “Get the woman out!” The fellow sure as hell wouldn’t be any help in a fight. One punch would knock him out.
But if he could get the woman to safety and remove the distraction of her flowing blood—aye, that would help.
He heard the scuffle of footsteps. A woman’s moan. She was bad off. She needed to get to a hospital, right away.
And the leopard needed a swift trip to hell. Time to send him there. “No more games,” Sully snarled. He knew the man within the beast would understand him. “I’m going to—”
The leopard streaked past him—a blur of yellow and black—and leapt through the window.
“No!” Sully bounded after him. He was more than ready to hunt the bastard down and finish this. But his right leg gave way beneath him and he hit the floor, hard.
Shifters had a well-deserved reputation in the Other world. They were tough as nails, and it took more than a few lucky swipes to kill them. It took one hell of lot to bring a shifter down.
“No, n-no, l-let m-me go!” The woman. Screaming. Sobbing. Fighting the weasel-looking stranger. She was using up strength she couldn’t afford to lose.
Casting one last look out the window—the leopard had already vanished—Sully promised, “I’ll find you again.” And they’d finish the battle they’d started.
Shaking, biting back vicious hunger and pain, he rose to his feet. The right leg was still weak, the shifter had torn into Sully’s calf with his teeth, but it would hold. For now.
Blood followed his footsteps as Sully made his way across the room.
The woman was fighting wildly. Her dark eyes were huge, and her black hair flew around her as she stumbled away from the other man. “No, d-don’t h-hurt—” She caught sight of Sully. A piercing shriek burst from her. “Devil!”
Maybe. Considering he was covered in blood and sporting fangs, he probably did look like the devil but… “I’m the devil who saved you, lady.”
Her eyes rolled back. Sully caught her when she passed out. “Hospital,” he snapped as his hands curled around her. “Now!” He fought to stay upright. He couldn’t fall again. The woman came first. It was always about the victim. He’d learned that on the streets of Dublin.
As a kid, he’d seen violence firsthand. The bombings. The murders. The survivors left standing with haunted eyes.
The victims came first. Vampire or human, the rule was still the same for him.
But, damn, he sure could have used Sadie right then.
Sadie…As if just thinking her name had conjured her, he could suddenly smell her scent. Could feel the racing of his Sadie’s heart. And could hear—
“Sully!”
Her voice. He could definitely hear her voice. His gaze rose. She ran through the doorway, and armed agents followed on her heels. He was so damn glad to see her. He could have kissed her.
Two agents dressed in black hurriedly took the woman from him.
Sadie’s eyes were wide as she stared at him. “Sully.” His name was a breath of sound. Her gaze raked his body. “Sully.”
He stiffened. He didn’t want to be weak in front of her and the others. His arms snaked out. Sully caught Sadie and pulled her close.
His kiss was wild, and more than a little desperate. He could hear the drumming of her heart. The soft flow of her blood. He needed to drink.
But, even more, he needed her.
Pity he couldn’t have her.
His arms dropped. “He…got away.” His tongue felt thick. His teeth too sharp.
Sadie reached for his hand. Her soft fingertips brushed across his skin. “Are you…Sully, dammit, you’re bleeding out. Let me help you! Let me—”
“Other guy…worse than me.” True, that. The shifter had retreated because he’d been badly wounded. Maybe they’d all get lucky and find his carcass with the coming of dawn.
The agents were spreading out. Some were searching the room behind them. Some were helping to carry the woman out into the hall and toward the stairs.
“You need help.” Worry filled Sadie’s voice even as fear gleamed in her eyes. “What can I do?”
His gaze lasered in on Sadie’s sweet throat. “Let me drink.” A stark demand. A rough plea.
She knew about vampires. Knew that he couldn’t afford this level of blood loss. If he didn’t feed, soon, he’d weaken too much. Blood loss—one surefire way to kill a vampire.
If he didn’t feed, he’d fall at her feet.
“Let me drink,” he rasped.
Her breath whispered out, and she nodded.
Chapter Nine
Sully was in trouble, and Sadie was afraid. So afraid that her knees shook and her hands were sweating and she felt like her heart was going to burst from her chest.
I can’t lose him again.
He had so many wounds. His chest. His arms. His shoulders. Even his legs. The shifter had savaged him.
“Don’t die on me.” She gave the order as she kicked in the door to her left. They were far away from the rest of the team. They’d managed to sneak up to a higher floor while the other agents fanned out below. Sully needed safety, but she didn’t have time to get him back to her place. He needed to feed. Now.
“Too late, love.” A ghost of a smile feathered his lips and the ache in his tone made her hands clench. “I died two years ago.”
Her jaw locked. “Do it, Sully. Go ahead, just—”
Drink from me.
He couldn’t afford to be so weak. Sully had his share of enemies, she knew that. All vampires had enemies. There were too many folks, both human and Other, running around out there with a Van Helsing complex. She’d been one of them.
No longer. She didn’t care that he was a vamp. He was hers, and she hated to see him like this.
When she found that psycho leopard, Sadie was going to kill that shifter.
She wrapped her arms around Sully and felt the wet touch of his blood.
His wounds weren’t closing.
There wasn’t any time to spare.
“Sadie…” In his voice, she could hear hunger. Need. Fear?
She shut her eyes. She’d been taught vampire feeding was a degradation. The worst insult to her kind. The hunter, becoming prey.
Screw that. Sully needed her. Pride could take a hike.
Tilting back her head, she offered her throat and waited.
She expected the hot flash of pain that came from his teeth. At the bar, the sting of his bite had been brief. Then there had been such unexpected pleasure.
Yes, she expected the sharp press of his teeth.
Instead, she felt the soft brush of his lips and the wet slide of his tongue on her flesh.
Her mouth parted on a sigh. Her breasts tightened against him, and desire burned through her body.
Sadie’s hands rose and tunneled into the thick strands of his hair. “Sully.”
Her Sully.
His teeth pierced her flesh. A split second of sharp pain and then—
Pleasure. A fast, hard rush of sensual energy heated her blood. Her thighs shifted as she strained to get closer to him.
His mouth moved carefully on her. Lips. Tongue. Teeth. And it felt so good. As if she’d climax, with just the press of his teeth into her.
Her hands tightened in his hair as she forced him closer.
Her panties were getting wet. She wanted him inside of her. She wanted him fucking her and drinking from her at the same time.
No one had ever told her that a vampire’s bite could be so amazing. Pain. Fear. That�
��s all the whispers said the bite would bring.
But what about the rush of pleasure? The wild heat of hunger and lust? She rubbed against him. Her breasts ached. Her body yearned.
More. She wanted—
Sully.
His hands slipped between them. Caught her breasts, stroked and teased through the thin blouse she wore. His thumbs raked over her nipples and a growl burst from her lips.
And still he drank from her.
Every nerve in her body seemed electrified. Her skin felt too sensitive. Her lust too fierce. The beast snarled inside of her, demanding release. A release the woman wanted just as badly.
But part of her was afraid. Sully was hurt so badly. She didn’t want to injure him. Didn’t want to make it worse. So she held back her hunger. And let him take.
Mouth.
Tongue.
Teeth.
And his hands—cradling her flesh. Tugging her nipples. Feeding the sensual need she felt. Those long, strong fingers knew just how to touch her. Whimpers slipped from her lips. Hungry moans.
Her hands dropped to his shoulders. Curled tight. Held on for the ride.
Still he drank.
An explosion of lights appeared behind her closed lids. Her sex throbbed. Her knees shook.
Sadie licked her lips and swore that she tasted him. He hadn’t kissed her, but he was all around her. She could feel him. Inside.
In her heart.
Her spirit.
Everywhere.
The blood link. She knew it was getting stronger. The more he took, the deeper the bond would become.
Forever.
His teeth withdrew. A wet swipe of his tongue slid over her throat.
Her eyes slowly opened even as he feathered a tender kiss on her neck. Right over the mark he’d left.
Soon, she’d be marking him.
Sully’s head lifted, and when his eyes met hers, there was no blue in his gaze. Only darkness. His black eyes narrowed. “You know…what happens now.”
No, she honestly didn’t have a clue. She wanted him. Naked. But the guy was injured and, even with her blood, it would take hours for him to heal completely.
Already, though, his voice was stronger. And the wounds were starting to close—she could tell by the smaller scratches on his face. They were shrinking before her eyes. The relief sweeping through her body made Sadie almost dizzy.