“Yes, Executioner!” His men answered quickly, snatching Allantra up roughly.
“Be careful with the prisoners. I don’t want to see unexplained bruises when I come to visit them.” He warned his men. They were good men normally, but somehow when it came to the less desirable citizens they tended to get a little overzealous. On more than one occasion these prisoners often came to the Quarter dead or halfway there.
Low-enders were people who lived in the bad part of town, usually shifters, witches, various symbiotic parasites and their hosts. The council liked to keep them together in one area where they could be watched. He often thought it unfair, but then again, one man can only change so much. All he could do was see to it that people got fair trials, as well as fair executions.
Somehow, he could feel in his bones that this case would be different and she would be trouble. He indulged himself and watched the sway of her hips for a second as she was led out the door. He felt his cock twitch before he diverted his attention to the young male they were dragging behind her. Seeing how easily she turned him on and considering he couldn’t remember his last good lay, Khaelen decided it was probably time to rectify the situation. With that thought, he teleported back to the scene of the crime.
* * * *
“What else have you come up with, Hound?” the Executioner asked the man, carefully surveying the area.
“I hate when you call me that,” Hound muttered under his breath. Out loud he said, “Nothing more than before. Just what I told you. Locals found the body almost immediately after it expired. See here?” He pointed to the ground as he took a draw on his cigarette. "Looks like the girl kneeled down and kicked out. No doubt she’s the type to take care of herself. There were no marks on his body, not one scratch. Even if she attempted to hurt him in self-defense.”
“Attempted?’
“From the markings in this filth,” he snickered at his surroundings. “It looks like a purely defensive move, you know, just to disable.”
“And Demetri?”
“Like I said, no markings except from where she injected him. Sorry about your … loss?” Hound finished uncomfortably.
“It is noted,” The Executioner replied. “So, she didn’t appear to attack him. She claims she’s being set up.”
“Yeah, like you could set up a low-end whore!” Hound laughed
“Keep your prejudices to yourself while working with me, eh, Hound?” The Executioner growled low. Hound swallowed and nodded. “Call if something new pops up.”
“Oh…” Hound began then saw the Executioner was gone. “I hate when they do that creepy shit,” he said to himself flicking the cigarette.
“So you keep saying to yourself,” came the low drawl behind him.
Hound cursed and dropped his cigarette in the alley for the second time that night.
“Wish you all would just stop doing it.”
“You did well,” the figure said behind him.
“You said do the job as normal. That’s what I did.”
“Exactly, you see, the Executioner can smell a lie a century away. If you don’t lie there’s no tell-tale body odor to give you away. Besides, we need him confused.”
“Where’s my money?” Hound pulled out another cigarette and lit it.
“In due time, human, your job isn’t over yet. You need to keep tabs on him for me. Besides, his brother just died, everyone’s a suspect. A sudden unexplained influx in your account could draw his attention. Do you really want to draw his attention?” His voice dropped almost to the level of a threat.
“No, not really.”
“Good, I’ll be in touch.”
Hound didn’t have to turn around to know the vampire had popped out. It had been a long night.
Chapter Two
“Get the fuck out of my face.” Allantra whispered it so quietly, the cop didn’t know if he’d heard her, but there was no mistaking the threat in her voice.
“Or you’ll what?” he leered at her.
“Shift into a fucking tiger and bite your fucking face off!” she yelled back
“Like you can do that,” he laughed.
“Can’t I?” she threw back sweetly almost daring him.
He looked a little uncomfortable. He licked the side of her face before he stood up and walked around the table. “Bitch.” He tossed over his shoulder.
“I was just thinking the same about you.” She countered, smiling.
Offended beyond belief, the cop came back around the table and poised his hand to strike her, when a much stronger force stayed it.
“I thought I said no unexplained bruises.” The Executioner said in a warning tone.
“She was sassing me, sir. She needs to be reminded of her place.”
“And who appointed you that job?”
“Nobody, sir.” The cop backed down.
“Has her blood been drawn?” he asked
“Yes sir, her process is complete.” The officer finished then slunk out of the room.
“Is it a pastime of yours to piss people off?” The Executioner asked her.
“I don’t consider that asshole people.” She retorted idly, rubbing her arm where they had taken a sample of her blood. “Why is it procedure to take blood?” she mumbled.
“To keep track of prisoners,” he answered smoothly.
He hid his smile. Nothing but fire in her veins. Khaelen told himself he was just looking her over to make sure no harm had been done. His eyes lingered a bit too long on her breasts, when he looked up she was staring at him.
“Care to lick me as well?” she taunted him.
He seemed to ignore her comment. She didn’t know why she’d even said that. He made her nervous as hell. It wasn’t lost on her one bit that she goaded the very man who held her life strings. Not to mention, she found him so very attractive. Just her luck to meet a handsome, sexy, pain in the ass, legal killer of a man when she was in deep shit. Some girls had all the luck.
“So what happens to me now?” She sounded braver than she felt.
“Well, given the evidence all points in your direction…” He let his sentence die.
“So that’s it. I’m going to die?” She gulped.
“It was your choice, Allantra,” he replied without emotion.
He was one emotionless bastard. She knew as a vamp aged, their emotions diminished. And this one was old and powerful. If it were his life in danger would he be so casual? Probably.
“I had no intentions of harming him.”
“Yet you said you injected him?”
“I never said that.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“With the intention of killing him?”
“No. Look, I was just going to rob him.”
The vampire’s eyebrows rose up. “Are you trying to trade one felony for another? Because I assure you, they both end in death.”
“Only because it was a vampire and your brother,” she shot back at him, then quickly regretted it. This was no way to get on his good side. He seemed unaffected by her outburst. She took a deep breath and started again. Knowing this session was being recorded somewhere. “Look, we both know if it had been a low-ender there probably wouldn’t even have been an investigation. If I wanted to kill someone and rob him or her, wouldn’t I have chosen a low-ender?” She almost pleaded.
“Perhaps you wanted bigger fish.”
“Or perhaps I just wanted to eat and keep a roof over my head,” she said defeated. No matter what she said, she was low-end and that meant death.
“Why not just get a job?” He came around the table and perched on it so that his thigh—his very thick, muscular thigh—rested just below eye level. It took everything in her not to gape at his leg. He motioned for her to lift her hands. With a blink of his eyes, the handcuffs came undone and he caught them in his hands so quick she wondered if he didn’t just will them there. “How many low-enders do you have on payroll?” she questioned him as he rubbed her wrists.
He seem
ed taken aback by the question and then paused to begin a mental count. Only to realize the sum remained zero. Not even a low-end janitor. He had so much work to do when it came to changing things.
“Exactly. No one hires low-enders not even low-enders. I’m a security risk. They feel I could morph into anyone and steal God knows what.”
“I can see their point,” he mused. He loved the heated look in her brown face.
“Back to my question, am I dead?’
“Well, one of two things, Allantra. Either you’re really stupid and have no idea how to cover up a crime or you’re being set up. As long as there’s a question in my mind, I’ll investigate before I execute.” He didn’t miss the release of the breath she had been holding. “Which brings me to my next proposal.”
“Which is?” Her curiosity piqued.
“If you stay here you’ll be lying under someone, doing things against your will. Or you can come home with me.”
“How dare you!” she bellowed. He held up a hand to cut her off.
“I have a maximum security cell built into my home for prisoners that cannot be trusted in these confinements. This way I insure the safety of the public and, on occasion, the prisoner. While I certainly don’t see you as a maximum security risk, I see your safety at great risk. What do you say?”
“Seems I have no choice.”
“We all have choices, Allantra. I’ll get started on the paperwork.” He stood in front of her now, inhaling her scent. She just sat and refused to be intimidated. He had to give her kudos for that; most people cowered when he was near them. He watched as she idly scratched her right wrist. Curious he noted to himself, and then left the room.
* * * *
The ride to the executioner’s house was long but scenic. Her mind barely took in the scenery as her situation refused to be ignored. She was in deep shit. Worse, she had no idea why the man Jah described chose to set her up. She couldn’t recall him being a customer of hers so to speak. But in all fairness, there had been so many, she couldn’t possibly recall each and every one of them. Her wrist itched where she hid the picture and she longed to pull it out and examine it. Maybe seeing it would jog her memory. Then again, maybe it wouldn’t. She sighed.
The sound caused her captor to adjust the rearview mirror from the passenger seat of the police car to keep an eye on her. The interior of the car smelled stale and old; no doubt it wasn’t washed back here too often. She momentarily held his hazel gaze before she looked away. Sometimes it seemed his look went too deep. Allantra wondered how many female prisoners he took to his home. She didn’t miss the lustful gazes he sent her way when he thought her unaware.
Truthfully, she was wondering if she could use it to her advantage. But of all the stories she heard about the executioner, none suggested in the slightest that he could be seduced into letting a prisoner go. Another sigh escaped her; there was no getting out of this.
She barely noticed when the car stopped. It only dawned on her when the scenery didn’t change anymore. Hazel eyes watched her with the slightest hint of amusement through the glass of her door. How could she miss almost seven feet of luscious man looming outside and staring down at her? Embarrassed, she looked away as he stopped the driver from exiting the car and opened the door himself. She slid out of the car unencumbered by handcuffs, apparently he didn’t think her enough of a threat to make her wear them. Just as well, maybe if he underestimated her enough she’d have an opportunity for escape.
“Are you done dreaming?” Though he wasn’t smiling she heard it in his voice.
“Try being accused of a murder you didn’t commit and see how much your mind wanders,” she retorted, not caring at this point. She wasn’t coming out of this alive.
“I’ll put it on my list.” He mocked her, this time not even attempting to hide his humor.
Her mouth gaped at the size of the house. Did she say house? She meant mansion at the very least. It looked like a miniature castle with stone outer walls and everything.
“Humph, where’s the moat?” she chided him.
“I decided against it,” he said as if deadly serious.
“Well, then there’s hope for you yet.” She cocked her head to the side to prompt him to lead the way.
“Are you in such a hurry to be confined? I thought you might like a slow walk around the grounds before your… uh… incarceration.”
“Something like a dead man’s walk?” She looked him in the eye. “My grandmother always said get the difficult stuff out of the way first, and then enjoy the small stuff.”
“Meaning?” He raised his eyebrows in question.
“Meaning what’s the use of prolonging it, it has to be done. If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll get to enjoy nature later in my life.”
“Perhaps,” was all he answered. He dismissed the car and rambled through his pockets until he found something that appeared to be a blindfold.
“You’re assuming a lot of things about tonight aren’t you?” Her tone dripped, offended.
“This is to prevent you from getting a layout of the place in the unlikely event that you escape your cell.”
“Somehow I doubt your cell can be escaped.”
“Anything’s possible; don’t let arrogance tell you otherwise.”
“Thank you for your words of wisdom for today.” She turned her back to him waiting for darkness to engulf her.
It appeared this vampire resided in some sort of living maze. With his hand on her shoulder, they seemed to turn down halls, go up stairs and down stairs. It took a full ten minutes before his hands gestured for her to stop. She suspected they doubled back a couple of times to throw her off. A house couldn’t be that big could it? She heard keys being pushed into a pad then a swoosh, swoosh, clang sound. No doubt she was not escaping this cell. She felt his fingers lightly behind her head then he pulled the blindfold off. Allantra blinked a time or two before she got her bearings.
“This is supposed to be a cell?” she asked incredulously.
“Just because you’re a prisoner doesn’t necessarily make you an animal,” he commented offhandedly.
Her eyes doubled in size. Five star hotel rooms didn’t look this luxurious. A full bed stood a foot off the ground, adorned with—and she was not an expert—what appeared to be silk sheets and a goose down, red comforter. Deep, blood red cloth adorned all the walls as if it were wallpaper. He even went through the trouble of having a fake window, with computer-generated birds flying by occasionally. She looked down at her feet and gasped. Her boots almost sank into the red carpeting. So he loved red, big surprise for a vampire. On the left and right walls were bookcases stacked with what she imagined to be almost every type of book.
“How come I get to sleep in the most luxurious room of my life when I’m about to be executed? Doesn’t seem fair.” She went over to the bed and stretched out on it, moaning at its softness and comfort. Never had she slept in a bed like this before. When she heard an intake of breath Allantra sat up to see the vampire standing very close to the bed. His lustful gaze boring down on her. The last coherent thought she had was, please let him touch me.
Chapter Three
How he got across the room and to the bed, he didn’t remember. All he could see was her perfect body laid out on the bed, and then she moaned. She was like a siren from the Greek stories he’d read as a child. He stared down at her, absently licking his lips as he watched her breasts go up and down in the deep breath she took. She had crooked one leg up on the bed; he couldn’t help but wonder how hot she was at her core.
His common sense took a vacation; he lowered himself on top of her, inhaling her scent. She backed up just a bit on the bed so that his full length could cover her. His lips took hers so fast the sweetness of them made his blood roar. He slipped his tongue into her mouth, sweeping the insides for the honey it had to offer. Then she returned the favor, even wrapping her tongue around his fangs for a second before returning to massage his tongue. One hand finally nestled into her
soft, silk hair while the other explored her sculpture perfect body.
His hand, like an expert scout, found her breast and began to tease it through the thin shirt she wore. Just a little tug and one breast popped free. He tore his lips away from her mouth; his breathing ragged as his tongue slowly licked and teased her nipple. She rewarded him with a puckered little mountain of nipple and a moan.
While his mouth explored the firm lusciousness of her breast, his hand traveled further down until it reached the junction of her thighs. She was so hot here. He rubbed her through her pants. His sensitive nose picking up the scent of her arousal and he rubbed her harder and faster. She moaned louder, he could feel the vibration of her moans through her breast and his senses went crazy.
Unable to stand the temptation any longer, he settled his weight on one arm and began to ground his cock at the core of her. She gasped and responded by grinding her hips into his in a circular motion. Still he sucked at her breast, grinding himself faster into her, knowing the extent of her arousal, he inhaled the scent deep into his nostrils. Her hands came around him, running up his back scoring him lightly with her nails, then holding him for dear life as she rubbed herself shamelessly against his hard cock.
A scream tore out of her throat as her orgasm hit her. She convulsed under him, digging her nails in his back as she came again and again. One hand left his back to reach for his pants. He lifted away from her slightly to allow her small hand to invade the space. When she rubbed his cock, he moaned.
Her hands trembled as she blindly fought to undo his pants. With a mere thought from his mind, his pants came apart. Her small hand reached inside and pulled his cock out. She squeezed him, and then with her thumb rubbed the small patch of pre-cum around his cock and used it to lubricate him as her hand pumped him. He sought her mouth and melted at the hot sweetness of her. She mumbled something in his mouth.
“Yes?” he questioned, his voice full of arousal.
“Fuck me,” she moaned.
Without another word, he fully intended to service the lady. Then his communicator went off. He froze. It was the one he kept especially for the Quarter to get in touch with him. Reality set in. He cringed at the insistently ringing sound. If he didn’t answer they would assume something was wrong and swarm the place. He jerked up, tearing the device out of his blazer.
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