Bloodlines 1 Alliances

by Toni L. Meilleur

  Gratefully she took the water he offered, their fingers brushed. It felt like a tiny jolt of energy jumped between them. He tried to hide his surprise behind hooded, bored eyes, but she could see he felt it too.

  She took several small sips of the water, savoring the taste of the cool liquid before she proceeded. “We could have been done with this two hours ago.” She looked him in the eye. “I know my word means nothing in the eyes of the law, but a vamp’s does. Just check Jah’s apartment, the vamp that got arrested with me. You will see he makes injectors, and I’m not lying. He can tell you about the scam I run, he’s been my injector supplier for years. He can describe the guy that gave him the injector to give to me.” She finished, satisfaction in her every breath before she began drinking the water again.

  “I could do that,” he said slowly.

  “Then just do it.” She finished for him, irritably. Did she have to tell him how to do his job too?

  “If he were alive.” This time his eyes narrowed, watching her reaction.

  “What?” She sputtered water all over the front of her uniform. “What do you mean if he were alive? You saw him yesterday?”

  “Yes, that’s true. We searched his apartment and saw no signs of injectors being made, only the drugs he took.”

  “That’s not possible, shit was lying around…”

  “It was a thorough search, and according to police records. Other than a few personal drugs there was nothing illegal in the apartment. He was released before you were even transferred here. He mentioned nothing about a guy.”

  “Did you guys ask him?” She was mad now; clearly someone was going through a great deal of trouble to get her ass fried.

  “He was questioned and released. That call I got was to inform me that his body was found in a hotel with a prostitute. Apparently he tried to get more than he was paying her for. It ended with them both inflicting fatal wounds to one another.”

  All the air went out of Allantra’s lungs. Someone was framing her good. She couldn’t think of anyone who hated her so much. While Jah’s death was a surprise, it was no love lost. He was merely a business acquaintance. Then a thought struck her.

  “You said her?” she questioned him.

  “Excuse me?” His eyebrow cocked up, not understanding.

  “You said he was trying to get more from the prostitute than he paid her. Right?”

  “Yes…” The vamp seemed to think for a moment. Remembering the smell on the young vamp that night.

  “Well, he was gay!” she practically shouted. “Doesn’t that seem a bit odd? You have to believe I’m being set up here. You just have to!” With that last statement, anger and frustration combined into a powerful force that wrought tears from her beautiful brown eyes and made her small body shake. She slumped over, her elbows on her knees, her head hung between her hands. She cried silently, at least she tried to, but he heard her tears. Every gulp, every wretched choke. He could smell her innocence.

  Before he could stop himself, with a wave of his hand he stopped the cameras from recording and went to her. The chair made a loud scratching noise on the wood floor as he turned it toward him, and then gently took her shaking hands into his. Her head bounced up quickly, surprise and curiosity swimming in her eyes. He tilted her chin up. “I believe you,” he crooned in a deep voice.

  She offered him a weak smile, though it was filled with gratitude. “Thank you,” she whispered. His long, strong fingers tilted her chin up just a little bit more and he brushed his lips softly against hers. Tasting a trace of the salty tears that had found a path to her mouth, he swept his tongue over her lips until no trace of the tears were left. Then he plunged his tongue into her mouth, loving the feel of her soft, firm tongue as it met his own and caressed it.

  She slid her small hands from his and tentatively traced his jaw then dipped them into his pool of ink-black hair. It felt like silk. She sighed into the kiss. He pulled her gently to her feet and turned her just slightly enough to prop her against the antique table. His hands roamed until he found the end of her braid, pulled the small string and with a thought unraveled it so that it spilled over his hands.

  “Such beautiful hair should not be bound,” he groaned into the kiss, sweeping her mouth with his tongue. Gently and efficiently, he pushed one long muscular leg between her thighs, until he was fitted completely against her.

  He began to grind his cock against the very thing that made her a woman. He felt so hard, so full, and so ready to burst. His large hand stealthily snuck under the top of the uniform finding bare, unbound breast. He remembered how they tasted and immediately his desire to taste them again overwhelmed him. He broke the kiss, leaned her back and drowned in the plump sweetness of her breasts. Nestling his nose in between, inhaling her personal scent then he licked right up the middle.

  She moaned and he could feel the energy of her excitement. He popped one swollen nipple into his mouth and sucked, drawing on it like life itself was inside. Being a fair man, he showed the other breast the same amount of attention. She raised her leg, rubbing it against his while she writhed under him. Mewling her desire in a low, sexy tone that drove him wild. Hastily he began to rip the uniform top from her heated body until it fell in tatters on the floor. Her eyes wide, but obviously loving his display of desire for her, she was not afraid—she wanted him inside her. She cupped his cock through his pants and gave it a light squeeze. “Don’t touch me again unless you’re ready to finish,” she said, challenging him.

  “I have every intention of finishing,” he growled at her, showing his fangs as if to scare her off.

  “I’m not afraid of the big bad wolf,” she teased, trying to undo his pants. With what she suspected was his immense powers, his clothes disappeared only to reappear at their feet, along with the rest of her clothes. Her mouth formed an appreciative O as she looked at the huge cock that now seemed to be pointing directly at her core.

  “I am no wolf.” He stepped closer, his cock brushing up against her; she could feel the warm pre-cum against her skin. “I am far more lethal,” he finished. One hand went to the nape of her neck as he brought her in for another one of his wit-scattering kisses. His other hand delved into the junction at her thighs feeling the hot, moist heat, his finger slipped easily inside her. He then slid another in and began to pump her slowly, making her ready for him. He did not want to hurt her, she was so small and tight. But a wanton she proved to be as she gyrated on his fingers, brushing up against his painfully erect cock.

  He knew he could not take much more and pulled his fingers out and turned her roughly around. Pinning her hands to the table, he guided his cock inside her from behind, loving the view of her ass as he entered her heated channel. They both moaned out loud from the sensation of soft and hard finally meeting. Slowly he pushed inside her until his balls met the mouth of her hot womanhood. When he pulled out, she pushed toward him thinking he was pulling all the way out, only to gasp as he slammed into her again.

  Both hands moved to her hips, taking full advantage of the leverage they gave him as he slammed into her over and over again. She milked him, her juice making his cock slicker and hotter as he dove into her. He pushed her long hair over one shoulder, then ran a hand down her spine. She shuddered and he pumped her harder. Her blood called to him as it sang in her veins. It was illegal to drink from a shifter; it would give him an incredible high. He bent over her body and sank his fangs in at the base of her neck, an erogenous zone for a shifter. She wildly bucked against him.

  He pumped faster and drank deep of her blood, it screamed in his ears, his veins. It clouded his head, he ran his tongue over the puncture wounds to close them then his thrusts became more fervent. Their bodies in perfect unison, sweating in a room that at first was just warm, now the heat was unbearable. She cried out and he could feel her walls convulse and grip him in spasms. With that thought he let his release happen, spurting ribbons of his seed deep in her. It felt like a dam had burst in him, he jerked and jerked i
nside her until his body sagged in relief and exhaustion. His mind spun from her blood. She was quite literally intoxicating.

  “You are lethal indeed,” she said softly. Her knees buckled, she would have fallen but he caught her and sat in the chair behind them with her on his lap, their bodies still joined.

  “You are intoxicating, Allantra,” he murmured against her hair, rubbing his face against it as if he were putting his scent on her.

  “So are you…” she paused, realizing for the first time she had just fucked someone and she didn’t even know his name.

  “Khaelen,” he said, amusement in his voice.

  She turned slightly to see his face, amazed at the difference in his beautiful face when he was smiling.

  “Khaelen Buscan at your service.” He smiled at her, showing off his fine fangs.

  “I can do that too.” She laughed, elongating her teeth so they resembled fangs. The smile dropped from his face as he stared at her.

  “Oh, let me guess,” she began to get angry, “you just remembered what I am!”

  She twisted to move away from him, but he held her tight.

  “No, not that,” he said in wonderment, turning her head so he could look into her face. “I suspected you were a talented shifter. I just didn’t know how talented. I’ve never seen a shifter so at ease with their abilities.” He kissed the side of her neck. She relaxed.

  “My grandmother used to say she thought I was from the original line of shifters, before they began to mix with the humans.”

  “I think your grandmother might be right.” He agreed, capturing her in a bear hug. “Where is she now?”

  She hesitated, wondering if this was Khaelen or the Executioner asking, but in the end she decided it didn’t matter.

  “She died many years ago. She wasn’t my real grandmother, she was a nice lady who took care of a toddler she found wandering the low-end.”

  “Your parents abandoned you?”

  “I don’t think so. My grandmother said she found me at the time of the Mass Executions, back when they were capturing and killing low-enders, especially shifters, they thought we were…”

  “Polluting society with disease and rampant violence.” He finished for her breathing heavily. That was when he had decided it was time for a new executioner namely himself.

  “Yeah, poor excuse, but enough to allow for my people to be murdered.”

  “So you could very well be from an original line.” He thought out loud. That could change things in her favor if they could prove her innocence.

  “As much as it pains me to say this, you and I need to put on some clothes.” He nudged her up and made a new uniform top appear on the table. “We have work to do. I believe you about your acquaintance Jah. There is something amiss in my department and I do not like it.” His voice sounded angry and determined.

  Allantra thought she would not want to be the one who double-crossed him. As soon as they were both dressed he pulled her into his arms. “I will find a way to prove your innocence.”

  “Fine words, Executioner,” a voice said from the doorway.

  They both turned to see two uniformed men from the Quarter. Khaelen frowned, irritated by the fact that he hadn’t heard them or smelled them. Hell, why didn’t his security system prevent them from even entering?

  “I know what you’re thinking, sir.” The voice came from Wulf, his first in command, before the vamp came into view. “But the Elders thought we should have access to your house in case of emergency, they implemented a program that will allow us to do just that.” He sounded truly sorry. His blonde hair tied back in a ponytail; blue eyes stared at the couple. He was as tall as Khaelen but not nearly as handsome. His lips too narrow, his nose too big. His body seemed slim but fit.

  “Why are you here?” He pushed Allantra behind him in a gesture of protection.

  “Some very damning evidence of your involvement with the prisoner came to light. The Elders thought we should monitor you for signs of corruption. After the live feed stopped from her interrogation, we received permission from the Elders to launch the program.”

  “Me, corruption?” Khaelen sounded outraged and offended.

  “Sir,” Wulf took a step towards the couple lowering his voice, “given the fact that you two were embracing when we entered the room does not help. Please just cooperate and we will straighten this out at the Quarter, the Elders are being gathered right now…”

  “For what reason?” Khaelen bellowed.

  “To decide if your integrity as executioner has been compromised, and to investigate the possibility of your involvement with your brother’s murder.” Wulf hung his head as if it pained him to say the words.

  “You believe this?” Khaelen asked him, disbelief evident in every syllable. “You know me, Wulf, better than anyone, better than my own brother.”

  “Yes, that is true,” Wulf answered, a strange light passed in his eyes. “That’s why I need you to go willingly, please don’t hurt your own men. We will straighten this out, no one blames you for this dalliance with this low-ender. She is quite the cookie.” He tried to smile good-naturedly, however, his comment was anything but.

  “Do not address her in that manner,” Khaelen said coldly. Wulf lowered his head in apology. “But I will come willingly, under the condition that she is handcuffed to me. I am no fool, Wulf; there are men in the Quarter who would kill her before morning. This point is non-negotiable!” He looked Wulf in the eye, and knew the instant he had won by the slump in his friend’s shoulders.

  “Cuff them together, but use these.” He tossed the handcuffs to one of the uniformed men before he backed up to let them do their job.

  Khaelen caught sight of the cuffs. “These are not issue where did you…”

  “The Elders, they said no one is ever above suspicion. They had these especially made for you and your particular talents. You cannot get out of these without a key. Neither can you.” He directed at Allantra. “If he can’t get out, trust me, baby, neither can you.”

  If Khaelen had not known better, he would have sworn he heard a note of smugness in his tone. “We will figure this out,” he whispered to Allantra, though as of yet, he did not know how.

  Chapter Five

  She was handcuffed right wrist to his left. Between the irritation from the picture and the handcuffs, she was in skin irritation hell. Now both wrists were irritated. She squirmed in the seat trying to get relief from the incessant itching.

  “What are you doing?” Came his dry tone.

  “I’m itching, Sherlock,” she retorted, trying to scratch her wrist with the handcuff.

  Khaelen looked at her in puzzlement. If memory served him right, it was the other wrist at first that was itching and now…

  “What’s going on with you?” He questioned softly, so the two uniforms couldn’t hear.

  “What do you mean?” She muttered, still trying to get satisfaction from the cuff. “Your wrist, it was the left one before, now the right. Something you wish to share?”

  She stopped squirming long enough to ponder the question. If this was a ruse to get her to open up to him, it was one hell of a plan. Though she really couldn’t conceive a man with his dignity allowing himself to be handcuffed just to get a witness to talk. Still, she heard of more elaborate plans to catch a criminal. Now wasn’t the time to tell him about the picture, not with the acute hearing of the vamps in the front seat.

  Then tell me this way, a voice in her head droned

  What the…?

  Don’t be alarmed. It’s one of the reasons vamps aren’t allowed to drink shifter blood, it gives them the power of telepathy.

  I don’t have telepathy, you idiot. She replied angrily.

  Then how do you explain our conversation?

  She could hear the amusement in his voice. When she turned and saw his right eyebrow cocked up, she felt her heart speed up.

  This isn’t happening.

  If wishes were raindrops… he chided her
<
br />   How long have you been reading my thoughts?

  Only since you kept complaining in your head about your wrist and something about a picture?

  Damn!

  We both are. If you have something to help us, spill it.

  I may have a picture of one of the people trying to set me up or rather since it’s been updated—us up.

  How long have you had it?

  Since you had me arrested.

  Why didn’t you give it to me?

  Right, give the only evidence of my possible innocence to a man with the job title of Executioner.

  Point taken. Where is this picture?

  In my wrist.

  IN YOUR WRIST! He yelled into her head.

  Oww, stop yelling.

  How is it in your wrist?

  Allantra looked him in the eye then glanced purposefully down at her wrist until she was sure his eyes followed. With another quick glance up front, she shifted her skin back to reveal the picture. He turned his head slightly to see the photo. His vampire eyes flaring slightly to adjust to the lack of light, he studied the picture. Khaelen’ eyes flashed in anger this time.

  Hound.

  Who?

  The guy the Quarter uses to track down criminals, it’s how we found you. At least that’s how I thought we found you. Cover it up; we don’t need them to know what we know.

  She shifted her skin back in place, the momentary relief over much too quickly. So now they had a name and a face. Only now she was locked up and unable to help herself. Exactly when did good people get the break her grandmother always preached about? Seems as if the good people were getting royally screwed.

  He’s not smart enough to do this alone.

  Great, set up by an idiot.

  Really, the only thing I see him getting out of this is money.

  It’s a great motivator.

  Yes, but what is motivating the guy paying him?

  You’re giving me a headache.

  Who’s the mastermind?

  Oh, well you’re going to have to come up with that, I’m just an insignificant pawn, just another shifter that's expendable.