by Cynthia Eden
Hunt.
Her hunter stopped less than a foot away. His gaze raked her.
“This is the second time tonight that you’ve taken my food away.” She licked her lips. Really, was a good meal so much to ask for? “Guess what that means.”
He stared back at her. A faint line appeared between his brows. “Your eyes ... they should be green.”
A vamp’s eyes changed color—to fuck or to fight, that’s what she’d been told. The irises faded to pitch-black. “My eyes change, the better to see you,” she whispered and smiled. Actually, they changed the better to hone in on prey, so she was telling the asshole the truth.
His gaze dipped to her mouth. He stiffened. “Your teeth ...”
Her smile widened, and she knew he’d have a better view of her fangs. “They change ... the better to bite you.” She wasn’t Little Red Riding Hood. She was the wolf. A hunter should know that. But while he stared at her, she took that moment and attacked.
Nicole leapt forward and wrapped her hands around his arms. Her mouth rose to his throat. “You took away my food, so that means you’re dinner.”
And Nicole did the only thing she could. She bit.
After all, vampires had to survive, too.
CHAPTER TWO
When Nicole flew toward him, Keenan lifted his hands and tried to step back. But she reached him anyway. Too fast for a human. She reached him, she touched him—and she didn’t die.
That fact floored him.
For so many centuries, no one had been able to touch him and live.
Even though he’d fallen, Keenan had thought he still possessed the Death Touch. According to the tales he’d heard, he should have still—
Her teeth sank into his throat. A razor-sharp slash of pain burned his skin and then—and then, sweet fire ...
Pleasure.
Her mouth was on him, her lips whispering over his flesh, and he could feel the delicate lick of her tongue on his neck.
Touching.
His cock began to swell, the need, the lust, rising within him. Her breasts brushed against his chest. Her nipples were tight as they pebbled against him.
Her mouth was on him, her breasts against him, and she was still alive.
Well, sort of, anyway.
When her tongue licked over his skin again, fire shot from his neck right to his aroused cock. Aroused.
Angels didn’t—
The hunger grew deeper. He wanted to touch. He wanted to run his hands down her arms and feel her soft skin. He wanted to tangle his fingers in her hair. He wanted—
She wrenched back. Those eyes of hers—not green anymore, a deep, turbulent black—stared up at him. “Who are you?”
“Keenan.” The name would mean nothing to her.
“Okay, Keenan.” She sucked in a sharp breath. “Better question. What are you?” She asked and licked her lips, probably catching more of his blood on her pink tongue.
Nicole might not understand the truth about him, but he knew exactly what she was.
When he didn’t answer immediately, her brows furrowed and she tried to pull back. No. He caught her wrists and held tight.
Touching.
His thumbs tracked over the delicate inner flesh of her wrists. “When did you change?” The question slipped from him, but the kick in his gut told him the answer. No wonder he’d been expelled. His crime hadn’t just been refusing to take orders.
He’d made another monster for the world.
No, she wasn’t a monster.
I am.
Her slightly-pointed chin lifted a bit. “I asked my question first.” She swiped her tongue over her lips once more. “You don’t taste like a human.”
Of course not.
“You’re not bitter enough to be a demon.”
So she’d been sampling the supernatural delicacies?
“Are you a shifter?” She tried to pull her hands free. She probably expected to break away easily. The strength she had must trump most supernaturals.
He wasn’t most.
“I’m not shifter.” He’d give her honesty there.
“Then what in the hell are you?”
“Not in hell,” he murmured and pulled her closer. “Not anymore.” Then, because he could, because if he wanted he could do anything now and not have to worry about the consequences, he kissed her.
Her lips were open just the way they should be for a kiss. He pressed his mouth to hers. Probably too hard, but he couldn’t seem to hold back. His mouth crashed onto hers, his tongue thrust past her plump lips, and he tasted her.
Yes.
His cock ached now, so thick and hard he hurt. Humans took their pleasure whenever they wanted. He could be like them. He’d already paid the price, so he should be able to take what he wanted.
And in all his time, Keenan had never wanted anyone the way he wanted her.
So this is a kiss. The thought floated through his mind. Hot. Wet. Wild. He liked it. A lot.
She wrenched her head away from him. Nicole was breathing hard, her breath rasping. “What the hell was that?”
He blinked, then let his eyes narrow. His cheeks seemed to burn as he stared down at her. “I bled for you. I thought a kiss was the least I deserved as payment.”
She pulled free from his hold but only because he let her go. “You thought wrong.”
“Didn’t you kiss your other prey?” And that had the rage stirring again. So many emotions churned inside him now. Sometimes it seemed as if they’d rip him apart. “Weren’t you rubbing against them, promising sex, when you—”
“I wasn’t going to sleep with them!” Her hands flew up into the air, and he saw the small, deadly claws on the ends of her fingers. “I didn’t want to scare them, so I was ...” She broke off, shaking her head. “Never mind. I don’t have to explain myself to you.”
“You were seducing them.” The words fell between them. He lifted a brow. “You think seducing the blood away is any better than holding down your prey and just taking what you want?”
She flinched. “Maybe I don’t have a choice.” Nicole spun around and gave him one truly glorious view of her butt as she stormed away.
But she wasn’t really going anywhere. They weren’t done.
“Why didn’t you try seducing me?” Probably not what he should have asked then, but ... did she not find him appealing at all? Did she truly prefer the boy she’d had against the wall?
Perhaps the kiss had been wrong. He, too, could try seduction instead of force. If it worked for her ...
“There’s no point in seducing hunters.” She threw this over her shoulder. “You’d screw me, then still kill me.”
Maybe. But ... “If you walk away from me now, you will die.”
Those words stopped her. She glanced back. “That’s a threat, huh? What are you gonna do? Jump me? I’m not so easy to take down.”
She would be.
“I’m not the threat right now.” He went closer because her scent drew him in. Lush woman. But ... something else. Soft. Light. A wisp of ... vanilla?
“You look like a threat to me,” she said, turning slowly to face him.
“In about five minutes, more of Romeo’s friends will be here. I told them to stay away.” Keenan tilted his head and his nostrils flared. “But I don’t guess they listened.”
She licked her lips, a fast flash of pink tongue. “Romeo? Who’s that?”
His jaw tightened. “The first idiot you had ready to donate blood tonight.” And Keenan guessed he counted as idiot number three. “I took down him and his men, but I didn’t kill them.” He hadn’t touched any of them with his hands because he’d been afraid that one touch would shove them all straight to hell.
But that particular power was gone. A very, very good thing.
“You walk away from me,” he continued, “and they’ll have you long before you can make it to that broken-down Chevy.”
“It’s not broken—”
“It is now.” What? Had it not
been gentlemanly to tear up her motor? He’d needed to cut off her escape.
Her chin tipped up again. “I can always get another ride.” She whirled and started marching away.
“They want to slice you into pieces.”
She was still walking. He wouldn’t chase her. This time, she’d come to him.
“They know you’re a vampire, Nicole.”
“You don’t have to say it like that!” She snapped but didn’t stop. “It’s not like I can help what I am!”
That gave him pause. Had he said the word with distaste? Hatred? Sure, he’d never been a fan of the undead, but she wasn’t like the others.
When had she changed? Must have been that night. Az had said ...
Headlights cut into the lot and Keenan saw her tense. “That’s not them,” he said. “Not yet.”
Her gaze darted toward him as she fired a fast glare over her shoulder. “You just want to take me down, too. You want to kill me just like they do.”
“No.” There were many things he wanted from her, but her death wasn’t his priority right then. “If I’d wanted you dead, trust me, sweet, you would have been in the ground by now.”
And he wouldn’t have needed to crawl out of it.
“Then what do you want?”
Ah, she wasn’t moving away now. He closed in on her and she faced him.
The faintest rays of red light trickled over the sky above her. Dawn. The vampire’s weakest hours were at hand. “If you don’t come with me, they’ll kill you today.”
“What do you want?”
He stared back at her. You. “Does it really matter? I’m offering you protection for the day. I’m offering you life. You just have to step forward ...” He raised his hand toward her. “And take it.”
She inched closer. “Nothing is free in this world.”
“Nothing’s free in any world.” Every action led to consequences. Punishment.
“I’m supposed to just take you at your word?” She laughed, a bitter, mocking sound. So unlike the laughter he remembered from her. “Right. The minute my guard lowers, I’ll find a stake in my heart.”
“Then don’t lower your guard.” Seemed simple enough. “But come with me. We don’t have any more time to waste.” His gaze rose to the sky once more. “They know your weakness.” Just as he did.
“I don’t trust you,” she whispered.
“Good.” His hand was still up. “You have five more seconds, and then you can fight them all on your own.” She hadn’t taken more than a few sips of blood from him. She wouldn’t be strong enough to battle her enemies during the daytime. Surely she’d realize that.
But she was backing away. “I know better than to trust a man with such a beautiful face.”
That had him blinking in surprise.
“Especially when I know what lies faces like that hold. The last man who looked like you—handsome and perfect—he taught me about hell.”
His heart slammed into his ribs. “What man?”
But she kept talking and he wasn’t sure she even heard his question. “He got into my head. Took away my choice. Made me ...” She swallowed. “I don’t trust anyone now. And surely not someone who looks like you.”
Then she ran from him. Again. Right into the night.
He stood there with his hand still up. He waited a few moments. Just a few, and then—
Keenan heard her scream. He heard the telltale thuds of fists in battle. He heard a man cry out in agony.
If only she had trusted him ...
Then the squeal of tires echoed in the dying night and burnt rubber filled his nose. The men had gotten their prize. They’d captured their vamp.
Pity. They should have listened to him. He never lied. Never made idle threats.
Now it was time for them to die.
The jerks had tossed her into the trunk. Like that was going to hold her inside. Maybe if they’d waited until the sun was higher in the sky she’d have been trapped, but not now.
She lifted her knees up and slammed them into the metal above her. The lock popped with a shriek and the trunk flew open.
The car immediately swerved, jerking to the right, then to the left. Nicole sat up and grabbed the back of the car. She knew she’d have to jump for it, and hitting that pavement would hurt. But it wasn’t like it would be the first time she’d had some flesh ripped away.
A bullet zinged by her head. She ducked, seeing too late the pickup truck that was zooming behind her. The pickup—and the man hanging out the passenger’s side with the gun pointed at her.
Where the hell were cops when she needed them?
And, of course, no one else was on the road. Those awake at this hour were still straggling out of the bars, and they sure as hell weren’t on this lonely stretch of road.
On my own. Maybe she should have listened to the hunter.
And maybe he would have just staked her the moment she let down her guard.
Oh, well. She heaved up and jumped out of the car.
The guy fired again. Missed.
She hit the pavement, and, yes, that flesh tore right off her arm. She rolled, then hit again. Rolled.
The truck came charging right for her.
She kept tumbling, aiming her body for the edge of the highway and that incline she could see waiting.
The car’s driver slammed on the brakes and the squeal hurt her ears.
They’d have to hunt her on foot once she made it off the highway. If she could make it off the highway.
The sun was creeping up in the sky, and she could feel the weakness starting to leaden her limbs.
Carlos—the guy she’d thought was such an prime mark back at the cantina—ran toward her. Dammit, she should have realized that setup had been too easy. When would she learn?
She rolled down the ravine, and after a few bumps, she sank into the shelter of the trees. Those jerks wouldn’t have a target now. Not a clear one, anyway. The rasp of her breath seemed too loud.
Vampires weren’t supposed to hide. They were supposed to be the big, tough badasses.
But she was still new to this whole vampire business and being a badass had never come easy to her. She couldn’t even get her claws out right then. That damn sun ...
Silence.
Nicole blinked. There’d been shouting a moment before. Yells in Spanish to get the “Devil’s whore!” The coming sun hadn’t drained her strength when they’d first attacked. She’d still had enough power that when she’d swung out with her right fist, she’d broken the older guy’s jaw. But then they’d all swarmed her and tossed her into that trunk.
But now ...
Silence.
Her nose twitched. She knew that smell. It was a scent every vampire craved. Blood.
A car engine roared to life. She lifted up a bit and saw the vehicle fishtail as it tore down the road.
And there were two dead bodies in the middle of the highway.
Nicole glanced to the left ...
“You should have listened to me.”
Keenan. The hunter she couldn’t shake.
He tossed a stake onto the ground. It rolled toward her. “Guess what Romeo wanted to shove into your heart?”
Not Romeo—Carlos. That was the name he’d given her. “You ... killed him?”
“No. He got away with some of his men.”
Some. Yes, a look at the bodies had told her that some hadn’t been lucky enough to escape. “You killed them.”
His lips twisted. “I didn’t have to. Your humans were piss-poor shots. When they were aiming at you, they took out their own men.”
She didn’t believe him. Not really. But ... Her gaze trekked back to the dead men. The blood pooled beneath their bodies.
There had been so many shots while she ran.
“I didn’t touch them,” he said, and her stare snapped back to him. “There was no need. They killed each other. Humans are good at that.”
His lifted his hand toward her, palm up. “Every second
you stay out here, you grow weaker.”
Weaker—almost human. If those men came back ...
“You have my word, I’m not here to kill you.”
“What’s your word worth?” That hand was tempting. How long had it been since she’d actually been able to trust someone else?
She pushed to her feet. Swayed.
And realized something was very, very wrong.
Nicole blinked and glanced down at her arm. Bleeding. Wha—
“They shot you.” Fury thickened his words.
She hadn’t even felt the sting of the bullet. But her arm was coated in blood.
One surefire way to kill a vampire ... blood loss.
“Not the ... first time ...” She could heal from a bullet wound, provided she didn’t bleed to death first. Her left hand rose, pressing against the shoulder. The bullet had gone right in and right out.
I didn’t take enough blood from him.
But something had been off about Keenan’s blood. The flavor was so different from anything she’d had before. Not sweet, but more like an old wine flavored with a hint of spice.
Human blood didn’t taste like that—and most Other, well, they were too smart to let vampires bite them. Unless they were baiting some kind of trap.
“What is ...” His hand was still up, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be able to stand on her own feet. “What is your word worth?” She asked again.
He moved toward her and caught her close. His scent—man, power—wrapped around her. “You don’t have a choice.”
The rays of the sun trickled down on her. If he’d wanted, he could have killed her. Bleeding, weakened by the sun—she was such easy prey.
Not that she’d admit that. “If you try to hurt me, I’ll take your head.” Such a big, bold bluff. Almost badass. If her voice hadn’t broken in the middle of the threat, it probably would have sounded more intimidating.
“You can try,” he said and lifted her into his arms. Her breath hissed out as the wound in her shoulder began to throb.
“How’d you get here ... so fast?” The only vehicle she spotted was the old truck that had been following behind the sedan. “Where’s your car?”
“Didn’t need a car.” But he was heading toward the abandoned truck now. He eased her inside, then hurried around the front, and jumped into the driver’s side.