by Abby Blake
Benjamin glanced at his watch. “A retrieval team will pick them up in a few hours and take them to headquarters for processing. Higgins—he’s the administrative supervisor for PUP Squad Alpha—and a minimum of three Judiciaries will be assigned to the case so ultimately it’s up to them. We’re recommending that the doctor be terminated and his son given a chance at rehabilitation.”
“Terminated? As in killed?”
Benjamin pulled her into his arms, holding her close as he tried to explain one of the harsher realities of paranormal life. “Yes, the human police files we were able to obtain say he’s wanted for questioning in over fifteen suspicious deaths that happened while he was human. The attack on you proved that he’s willing to continue killing as a vampire. We can’t allow such an individual, with absolutely no conscience, to put the rest of the paranormal community in jeopardy.”
She nodded against his chest, clearly disturbed by the death penalty that was part of paranormal life but, judging by her silence, also understanding the necessity of such a rule.
“So what happens now?”
“Now, baby girl, you get some rest.”
“But I’m not tired,” she said with a shy grin. “Maybe we can find something to work off all this excess energy.”
“What? You mean like a board game or something?” he asked, deliberately misinterpreting her meaning.
She colored prettily in embarrassment. “I…um.”
The woman was simply adorable when she was confused. Obviously, flirting wasn’t something she’d done a lot of as a human, and when she dipped her head, he realized she’d misinterpreted his teasing. Feeling like a complete asshole, he lifted her chin and lowered his lips to hers. He kissed her softly, savoring the gentle contact, enjoying the soft whimper of need that escaped her control.
“Is this more like you had in mind?”
She nodded, her eyes closing as he took her lips again. He peeled her clothes off slowly, taking his time to enjoy each beautiful inch of flesh as it was revealed. By the time he had her completely naked, her knees wobbled so badly she’d likely have fallen on her ass if he let her go. Fortunately, he had no intention of letting her go.
He slid his hands all over her, learning her shape, tracing the hills and valleys of her breasts, lowering his head to flick his tongue over her nipples as heat rushed to his groin and his cock strained against the confines of his clothing. She moaned so deliciously as he ran his hands over her ass that he did it again and again, finally slapping the soft flesh as arousal gripped him tighter and he had to fight to stop himself from pushing her to the floor and taking her hard and fast.
She moaned again as he rubbed over the flesh he’d slapped, a ridiculous sense of ownership coursing through him as he traced the slightly raised welts where his fingers had landed. He needed to see them, needed to trace them with his tongue, needed to test if she enjoyed his rougher touch as much as it had seemed.
“Lean over the bed,” he ordered even as he maneuvered her into the position he wanted. She went willingly, bending over and presenting her beautiful ass just the way he’d imagined. He’d smacked her rather hard, the outline of his hand quite clear on her pale skin. He leaned over to press soft kisses to the reddened flesh. “Did you enjoy this?”
He felt her tense up, felt her hesitate, but one whispered “yes” sent heated lightning streaking through his entire body. Unable to resist, he slapped the other cheek just as hard, watching as the skin turned colors right in front of him. She moaned, her pussy pulsing her need, the sweet smell of her arousal filling the room.
* * * *
Samuel entered the room slowly. He could hear the delicious whimpers that escaped his woman. For a brief moment he considered leaving Benjamin and Skye alone to get to know each other better, but the sight of her bent over the bed, her ass cheeks rosy red with Benjamin’s handprint sent every dominant tendency he owned into overdrive.
Before he’d fully planned out what he wanted to do, Samuel had shucked his clothes and slid onto the bed in front of Skye. He helped her to stay in position, supporting her arms as he moved them off the mattress and onto his hips.
Needing to be certain that this was what Skye wanted, he tilted her face up and gazed into her eyes. They were half closed with her arousal, unfocused, unseeing for a moment before she finally gave him a lopsided smile. “Suck me, sweetheart,” he said as he slid his hands into her hair and pressed his cock against her lips. She quickly opened her mouth, toying and teasing him with her tongue as his eyes damn near rolled into the back of his head. It was obvious she wasn’t experienced, but her clumsy movements set him on fire in a way that the practiced attention of any other female would not.
She slowly lowered her mouth over him, taking him deep, caressing the underside with her tongue, before gradually lifting back up, suctioning her lips around him as she moved. As she reached the head of his cock, Benjamin spanked her ass, pushing her forward onto Samuel’s erection once more. She did it again, the slow descent, the loving, warm caress, the hard suction as she moved back up. She moaned, the delicious vibration traveling the length of his cock as Benjamin slapped her again. She repeated the move, faster this time, taking him deeper, sucking him harder, moaning louder as Benjamin began to spank her over and over and over.
* * * *
Skye couldn’t believe she was doing this. It was almost like watching someone else take over her body and do things she’d only ever imagined.
The skin on her ass burned, the heat pouring over her as her clit throbbed in time with her heartbeat. Each slap pushed her harder onto Samuel, his cock thrusting to the back of her throat as her own arousal dripped down her thighs. She felt his hands tighten in her hair, his moans growing more urgent, his cock swelling a moment before his flavor burst onto her tongue. She swallowed, surprised at the pleasant taste.
Yet she had but a moment to enjoy Samuel’s orgasm before strong fingers dug into her hips and a hard cock probed her pussy lips. Benjamin rammed into her, not giving her time to adjust, claiming her, taking her, possessing her in the most elemental of ways. Samuel held her close, pushing her face against his neck as Benjamin fucked her harder and harder, violently thrusting into her needy, grasping pussy, her orgasm spiraling to unimagined heights as her mouth opened over Samuel’s throat.
“Do it,” he ordered, pressing her harder against his neck.
She tried to deny her need, tried to resist the nectar pulsing under the skin, tried to recall why she shouldn’t do this, but then Benjamin grabbed her clit, his fingers dancing frantically over the swollen bud. “Do it,” he ordered, pushing her face harder against Samuel, forcing her mouth open even as they pushed her body into orgasm.
She bit down, feeling the skin pop, feeling the blood flow, tasting Samuel’s incredible flavor even as he grabbed her hand, wrapped it around his unexpectedly hard cock, and pumped it up and down. Warm cum splashed onto her breasts, the heat so shocking that she barely felt the slap against her thigh as Benjamin ordered her to come again.
Everything, everything, exploded into brilliant rainbow colors as her brain went into meltdown and her body shook with orgasm. Benjamin rode her hard, dragging her onto his cock, thrusting violently as he found his own release, groaning as he leaned over, pressed his lips to her neck, and bit down hard. She screamed, her entire being quaking as orgasm exploded through her once more.
“Fuck,” Samuel said in a shocked tone as Benjamin gently pulled his fangs from her neck and licked at the wound. Still shaking, she did the same, carefully extracting her sharp teeth from Samuel’s flesh, surprised to see the tiny holes close as she licked the skin clean.
“Holy shit,” Benjamin said on a moan as he pulled his cock from her pussy, and helped her to practically fall into Samuel’s lap. Samuel pulled her close and ran a hand through her hair over and over, his movements compulsive, his tension almost palpable.
“What is it?” she asked, her exhaustion quickly fleeing as she realized something was wro
ng.
“Shower time,” Benjamin said as he lifted her from Samuel’s arms and headed into the bathroom. She fought him, kicking her legs until he put her down.
“What is it?” she demanded of Samuel once more. Something was wrong. The pleasure of moments ago started to dilute, the shock of her wanton behavior, the guilt of letting two men take her so violently, the fear of being rejected, the weirdness of biting and being bitten and enjoying the hell out of it, wound through her brain.
Samuel must have finally gathered enough wits to realize she was upset because he stood, pulled her into his embrace, and ran his hand gently over her face. “It’s nothing,” he said in a reassuring voice. “I was just thanking our lucky stars our maker had more control than we do. If he’d felt even half the attraction to us the way we feel for you, I suspect we would have had to hand in our hetero membership cards a long time ago.”
“I don’t understand,” she said, looking to Benjamin for an explanation. “What does that mean, exactly?”
A nasty suspicion was winding through her brain, and the insecure teenage girl she’d once been, the one who’d gotten rejected over and over for being too boring, was terrified that it might be true. When Benjamin seemed disinclined to explain, she took a deep fortifying breath and voiced her suspicion out loud. “Are you only attracted to me because you’re the ones who changed me into a vampire?”
Samuel looked stricken by her question, but Benjamin shook his head slowly. “We don’t know,” he said quietly. “We don’t know anything for sure.”
“But you weren’t attracted to me before you made me.” It was an unfair accusation. They’d saved her life. They hadn’t even known her before they’d made her a vampire. But rational thinking didn’t seem to be part of the panic coursing through her heart. “Is that why I’m attracted to you? Is that why I let you…” Her voice broke, and the words trailed away. Shame at her wanton behavior drowned her in misery, her brain no longer working in tandem with her body. She was vaguely aware of Benjamin guiding her into the shower and washing her down, but the familiar excitement his touch had provoked was missing. “I want to go home,” she said miserably. She knew she was overreacting. Hell, if her sister had been here, Jennifer would have told her to snap out of her selfish behavior and look at the problem from all angles, but all she could feel was the agony as pain tore through her heart.
* * * *
Samuel was still shaking. He had no answers for her. Neither he nor Benjamin had made any real connection to a female—human or otherwise—since they’d been turned into vampires. Sure, there’d been women in both their beds on and off over the decades, but none of them had evoked the feelings that Skye did. Whether that had something to do with him being one of her makers he had no idea.
“She’s asleep,” Benjamin said as he stepped into the room Alex and Thomas had been occupying. Despite cursing himself for the cowardly behavior, Samuel had run the moment Benjamin took Skye into the shower. He spent several minutes writing an updated report for their supervisor, carefully explaining who Skye was and how she’d survived the attack, and studiously ignoring his two squadmates in the room. In the fifty years they’d been working together, none of them had seen him this confused. Thankfully, Alex and Thomas had chosen this moment to take the unusual approach and mind their own business, not pushing at all for an explanation.
Samuel encrypted his e-mail, pressed send, and turned to his best friend. “She needs her sister,” he said in a rough voice. Skye called Jennifer each evening as soon as she woke at sundown. Some days their conversation was brief, at other times much longer, but it was obvious to anyone within hearing distance that the two women were very close.
“I agree,” Benjamin said, managing to surprise him. They were both very big believers in keeping information about paranormals out of human hands, but it would seem that Skye’s need for her family overrode the concerns both of them held. “But we need to track down this ‘Ritchie’ guy before he kills again. We need to, all three of us, hold it together until we can complete this mission.” He smiled encouragingly. “I’ll do the paperwork to get some time off as soon as we get this done.”
Samuel looked at his best friend, really looked at him for the first time in decades, and saw again that core of strength that had been the reason he’d followed the man into battle—both as human and as a vampire. “I’m sorry I fucked this up for you.”
Benjamin looked shocked at his quiet words, shook his head as if to disagree, but then grinned and slapped him on the shoulder instead. “Let’s just get the mission done. Then we’ll figure out how to convince our reluctant woman that no matter where the attraction first came from she still belongs with us.”
* * * *
Skye downloaded yet another book to her e-reader, staunchly ignoring the erotic romances. Well, technically she was trying to avoid all romance stories, but it was amazing how many mainstream books carried a romantic thread. Hell, even the murder mystery she’d just finished had ended with a happily ever after for the main characters. Sheesh, did the whole world revolve around love?
She glanced at Samuel working intently on his laptop. To describe the past several days as tense would be a serious understatement. Both Samuel and Benjamin had given her the space she’d insisted they all needed. She wasn’t a slave to her hormones. She refused to mistake chemically induced lust for the love connection she’d always craved.
“Why do our hearts beat?” She asked the question out of curiosity, but more than wanting an answer she wanted to see the uncertainty wiped from Samuel’s face. Alex had told her Samuel’s nickname had been “The Iceman,” but since meeting her he’d been anything but cold.
“I’m not really sure I know the answer,” he said quietly. “I was once told that vampires are simply a different species to human. The blood that you drink from your maker starts the change on a genetic level, altering your cells and rewriting your DNA.”
“So we’re not ‘the living dead’?”
“Far from it,” he said with a soft smile. “We’re very long lived, but we’re not immortal. Eventually, we’ll succumb to the ravages of age, albeit hundreds of years after our human bodies would have died.”
“So the other stuff—casting no reflection in a mirror, needing permission to enter someone’s home, a wooden stake to the heart, bursting into flames, holy water—that’s all just made up?”
He laughed softly. “Humans have added to the legends over the years. I’ve never seen a vampire burst into flames in the sunshine, but our reaction to the sun’s rays is rather immediate and quite horrible. The burns are very painful.” He shrugged as if getting burned was not that big a deal. “I think the mirror thing was a way of blaming vampires for unexplained illnesses. Even if they couldn’t see us, we must have been there stealing their energy.” He grinned. “And I suspect the permission thing was one clever vampire’s way of convincing humans that they were safe as long as they didn’t invite a vampire in.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” she said as she tried to imagine life before widespread medical knowledge and small towns full of hysterical, superstitious folks trying to protect their families.
“A stake to heart, though, that’s real. Our bodies can heal very quickly so we do have a chance if the stake is removed immediately, but any damage to the heart can be fatal. Just like any other living creature.”
“So a bullet can kill us?”
“Depends on the bullet and where it hits. A low caliber hurts like hell, but our healing abilities quickly force the slug out and seal the wound.”
“You know this firsthand?” she blurted in shock. Even though they’d explained what it was that PUP Squad Alpha did, she hadn’t really associated their work with such mortal dangers.
“Yes, I’ve been shot,” he said with another of those soft smiles, “but I’ve been lucky that both times the damage was minimal. Some of today’s modern weapons are much more dangerous. There aren’t many living creatures—human
, paranormal, or otherwise—that could survive explosive rounds and rocket launchers.”
“So you could…” She had to swallow the sudden lump in her throat before she could continue. “You could die in the line of duty? Just like a human soldier?”
He shrugged. “Our squad has been working together for nearly five decades. We’re very good at what we do.”
“I…but you could die.” It probably sounded so lame, but somehow she’d convinced herself that Benjamin and Samuel and the rest of the squad were invincible. “What about—” She cut off her words as the main door of their motel room opened.
“Skye?” her sister asked in a small voice as she stepped into the room. “Are you all right?”
She practically flew across the room and grabbed her sister in a tight hug. It had only been ten days, but so many things had happened that it felt very much longer. “God, I missed you.”
“Back at you, kid,” Jennifer said in a husky voice. “Benjamin explained what happened. He also suggested I make sure you’ve fed before I let you hug me.”
The reminder of what she was and what she was capable of had her thrusting her sister away from her. She took a step back, relieved at least to realize that she hadn’t even considered biting Jennifer despite having had her face pressed against the vein throbbing at the side of her sister’s throat. But just to be on the safe side Skye took another step back.
“Wait…he told you?”
“Yeah, well, I took a bit of convincing, but you know, you’re my sister, and well, we’re the only family we have left. If you’re going to be a vampire, then the least I can do is support you.”
Skye glanced at the wry expression on Benjamin’s face before turning her attention back to her sister. “He wasn’t lying. I am a vampire now.”
Her sister smiled and nodded as if she were dealing with a particularly delusional individual. “I believe you,” she said in a tone of voice that was far from genuine.