“I can’t. Jax made me promise. You’ll run back to your maker. His call is on you and Jax says you can’t resist.”
Targ lifted his head. “No, no, it’s gone. I can’t feel Balam anymore. He must have removed the call. Please take the silver away. I can’t take the pain.”
Rickie shook his head. His heart ached for Targ, but how could he trust a vampire? His every instinct was to kill him. Trusting him was out of the question. “I can’t. If you run away, we’ll never find your maker’s home.”
“What if I tell you where it is? Then you don’t need me. You can release me. It hurts, Rickie. It burns.”
Rickie grabbed his hair and closed his eyes. He wanted to release Targ. His Sangue Cacadore nature fought inside him. It told him to kill the vampire. But he felt love for Targ and desire. There was a connection between them he couldn’t deny. “Where does he live?”
“On Lake Union. Write down this address.”
Rickie jotted the address down on a kids’ coloring book in crayon. “This is good, Targ. Now I can’t see any reason to keep you in restraints. Even if Balam calls and you return to him, we can still find his lair.” He thought for a minute. Targ was very dangerous; a bloodsucker. “You won’t try to kill me, will you?”
Rickie looked into Targ’s eyes. The red was gone. He looked almost normal except for the dried blood streaking his white skin from the bloody tears. Rickie carefully removed the silver cord. Targ sighed with relief and then burst into tears. “I’m a monster?” he covered his face with his hands.
Rickie pulled Targ’s hands away. “You still have so much to give. Your heart isn’t evil, it’s good. Think of what a great policeman you’ll make as a vampire. You’ll be a super-cop.”
The ghost of a smile flitted across Targ’s face. Then his fangs snicked out. He groaned and covered his mouth with his hand. “See, just being near you has me slavering for your blood.”
Rickie tilted his head and smiled shyly. “Maybe you’re slavering after something besides my blood.”
Targ’s head jerked up and his eyes flew open. Rickie reached into Targ’s lap and touched the raging erection straining against a too-tight pair of black pants. “Maybe you need to allow yourself some freedom from social constraints. You’re wound pretty tightly, Targ Erikson.”
Rickie continued to stroke Targ’s throbbing flesh. Targ’s head fell back against the cushions. “That’s the worst of it,” he moaned. “Once I tasted Balam’s kiss and felt him inside me, I became a homosexual. I can never go back to women. All those years of trying to find some point of attraction, some way to have sex with women, were gone in a single kiss from a cold-hearted killer.”
“It’s not the end of the world,” Rickie said as he took Targ’s face between his hands. “I’ve never felt an attraction to anyone like the one I feel for you.”
“Just being near you makes me hard,” Targ whispered. “It was never like this for me with women. Sometimes, I even faked it.”
Rickie pressed his lips to Targ’s. At first it was a soft, searching kiss, but Targ was vampire, when his ardor awoke, he rolled on top of Rickie pushing him into the couch. His kiss was like fire burning into Rickie. He tore off Rickie’s shirt and caressed his nipples, rubbing the stiff nubs beneath the flat of his hand.
Rickie shoved Targ’s shirt off his shoulders. His flesh was cold and hard like marble. He shivered with excitement. Targ’s mouth moved from Rickie’s to his neck. For a moment, fear filled Rickie. Targ was going to devour his blood. But Targ only kissed him in the hollow of his throat and moved down his body to his stomach. Rickie looked up. “Take off your clothes,” he commanded.
Targ stood up and slowly removed his clothes while Rickie did the same. Naked, they examined each other’s bodies. Rickie’s erection jutted out and up, pulsing against his stomach. Targ’s cock was huge, white and veined with red. Desire filled Rickie and left him shaky with need. His gift of empathy made him sensitive to Targ’s emotional turmoil. This was Targ’s first seduction. He’d never been properly seduced or taken the initiative. He was for all purposes a virgin.
Rickie reached out and gently touched Targ’s cheek. He took Rickie’s hand and held it tightly next to his face and for a moment closed his eyes. The moment passed and Targ snatched Rickie into a crushing embrace. Their lips met and Targ groaned. Rickie reached between them and caressed the head of Targ’s cock.
“I…I don’t know what to do.”
“I will lead you.” Rickie grasped Targ’s shoulders and pushed him onto the couch. Then he knelt in front of him, smiled and took his cock into his mouth. It was huge. Rickie’s own desire was straining for release as he laved the head of Targ’s dick and swallowed it whole.
The scent of Targ was foul in his nostrils—vampire; death and mustiness. His panther nature roared inside him at the scent. His fangs came out and he stopped sucking for fear of biting Targ’s organ.
Targ’s cock was huge and swollen and his fangs were out as well. Rickie snarled, unable to stop himself and Targ hissed. Vampire Targ grabbed Rickie and tossed him onto his face. It was as though something had broken loose inside Targ. Not only did he now know what he wanted, he knew what to do. He held Rickie down while he searched his pants for a condom. He found his wallet and slid the condom in it onto his cock. His erection was so hard and so large, it split the condom. Cursing, he stared at Rickie’s ass, reached down, stroked the firm globes and thrust one finger into the opening.
“Forget it,” Rickie gasped. “Fuck me.” He reached back and pulled the cheeks of his butt apart. “Do it.”
Targ spit on his hand and moistened the red head of his dick, then he pressed it against Rickie’s opening. “It’s changing,” he gasped.
Rickie turned to see what he meant and his eyes flew open. The head of Targ’s cock had lengthened and narrowed into a point. He slid the smaller head into Rickie’s ass and pressed. As it slid into Rickie, Targ lifted eyes filled with wonder. “So good,’ he moaned. “Tight and rough.” With a grunt, he shoved himself into Rickie’s passage.
Targ’s cock spread Rickie open. He fell onto his face, ass high in the air, clawing at the carpet. Targ bent and kissed Rickie’s back, pulling him up and into his arms. Locked together, connected by Targ’s hard dick, they clung to each other. Then Targ buried his fangs in Rickie’s neck.
Rickie screamed; not in pain but in ecstasy as Targ plunged in and out of his ass and sucked his blood. Rickie reached under his body, grabbed his throbbing organ, stroked it three times then convulsed as an enormous orgasm tore through him.
Targ released his neck and pounded into him. He felt Targ’s cock swell even bigger, spreading his opening until it burned. Then he thrust once and froze, his fingers digging into the flesh of Rickie’s ass. They fell into a heap on the carpet, rolled toward each other and embraced. Targ buried his face in Rickie’s neck. “I’ve never experienced anything like that before. I made love to you with my whole body and my mind. I felt like I was part of you. And the taste of your blood…it was beyond delicious.”
Rickie pulled Targ’s face up and stared into the vampire’s eyes. “When you bit me, it was so intense I shot off in my hand. That was the most passionate sex of my life. I think I’m in love with you.”
“Sure it’s not just the sex?”
“No,” Rickie said in a soft voice. “I felt a connection to you the first moment I saw you.”
“But you’re a vampire hunter. How can you love me?”
Rickie shook his head and pressed his face close to Targ’s. “I can’t explain it, I just know what I feel. I could never hurt you. I would die for you.”
Bloody tears tracked down Targ’s face. “I’ve never been in love before. But, even though I feel love for you in my heart, this horrible body craves your blood.” He stopped. “I can control it, but when we were joined, I couldn’t. I had to taste you. It seemed right. Did you hate it?”
Rickie could barely respond. A lump had formed in his throat. He kisse
d Targ’s lips and the bloody tears on his cheeks. “I loved every minute of it.”
Chapter 14
Jax carried Emily as he ran up the three flights of stairs to the family maternity center of Providence Regional. Pia had called him while he was on the way to Martha’s apartment and said she’d driven Martha to the hospital because Martha was screaming and swearing and she had to do something.
Shelly lagged behind Jax in the stairwell, walking with Tuco. The last time Jax had been here was when Joyce delivered Emmy. It seemed like a long time ago, but in actuality had only been four years.
He heard Martha way before he found her room. A long string of profanity rolled into the hallway and exploded off the walls. Definitely Martha.
“What’s wrong with Martha, Daddy?”
“She’s having her baby. Remember I told you she had a new baby in her tummy?”
Emmy shook her head. “I thought you made that up because she got fat like Mrs. Grolsky.”
“No, she really has a baby in there and it hurts a little getting it out.”
Emmy rolled her eyes. “Duh!”
Jax looked at his daughter. She was getting way too old and too smart for her own good.
When Shelly caught up to them, Jax handed him Emmy. “Stay here with her in the waiting room. Martha sounds upset.”
“Cursing?”
“Like a construction worker.”
Shelly nodded. “Check in on her, then give me a turn.”
Jax looked at his watch. “I’ve got Lorelai coming to take care of Emmy and she said she wanted to be here for the birth.”
Shelly took Emmy. “The fairy, huh? Good thinking.”
“Oh, it wasn’t me. She called. She said she knew the minute Martha’s labor started. Some kind of fairy thing, I guess. She’s interested in the baby…if you get my drift.”
“Aren’t we all?”
Jax left them in the waiting room and trotted toward the sound of the swearing. He peeked around the door and saw Martha hooked to an IV line and reclining against a bank of pillows. Targ’s sister Pia, frantic expression on her face, was attempting to sooth her.
When Martha spotted him in the doorway, she snarled. “Where the fuck have you been? This is hell, Jax, fucking hell.”
He immediately wiped the grin off his face. It wouldn’t do to let Martha catch him smiling while she was suffering. “Sorry, there’s been some interesting developments on the ritual killing case.”
She leaned forward eagerly, got hit by a contraction and screamed a long string of nasty words as she doubled over. Pia, eyes enormous, patted her awkwardly on the shoulder.
“Remember your breathing.” Jax moved to the other side of the bed, took her hand and breathed with her.
“You can take you breathing and shove it straight up your ass.”
He stroked her hand. “Come on, Martha, the birthing instructor said it would help reduce your pain.”
“I need drugs and they won’t give ‘em to me.”
“Why not?”
“They said the baby’s heart beat is too slow. The drugs will make that worse.”
Jax nodded. “Yeah, but they don’t know what kind of baby we’re dealing with here.”
“Well, neither do we. I’m sure he’ll be fine. I want drugs.”
“She’s in a lot of pain,” Pia said. “Where’s Targ?”
Jax stared at Pia for one long minute of assessment. The girl had blue hair. It matched her eyes which were heavily lined, upper and lower lids, in black. Her skin was as white as a vampire’s. He had a moment of panic where he couldn’t think of a thing to tell her, then decided to go with some of the truth. “You know we found him after he was kidnapped by the killer. We got him back, but he’s not feeling well.” Now there was an understatement for you. “I left him at my house with an official from Interpol.”
“Is he gonna be okay? You shoulda brought him.”
Now that was an awful idea. “I think eventually he’ll be fine,” Jax lied. Targ was never going to be fine again. “But he’s much better off at my place. He doesn’t need to be in the middle of this.”
The door to the room opened and Lorelai tripped in. The fairy had bountiful red curls, freckles and violet eyes. She wore a frothy green dress and a smile on her dimpled face. “Martha, your time has come.”
Martha groaned. “Stop her before I kill her.”
“I think she’s saying a little less cheerfulness would make her happy,” Jax said.
“She’s in pain?”
“Of course, I’m in fucking pain. What are you, a freaking moron?”
Lorelei’s smile didn’t dim a watt. “I can fix it, darling,” she crooned.
Martha’s eyes flew open. “Then what are you waiting for?” Another contraction wracked her and she grabbed her distended belly while cursing a blue streak.
Lorelai sprinkled some golden dust on Martha’s stomach out of a small pouch at her waist. Martha immediately stopped shrieking and sat up. Her mouth fell open, she tilted her head and smiled. “The pain is gone. It’s a miracle. Lorelai, I love you, you’re my hero. Thank you so much. Oh, my God, I feel so much better.”
“We all thank you,” Jax said under his breath.
“I heard that.”
The room door opened and a nurse stuck her head in. “The cursing stopped. Is she okay?”
“I’m more than okay, I’m like a new person,” Martha crowed.
Jax stepped in front of her. “We’re her birthing coaches. The breathing routine really helped.” He glared at Martha. “Right?”
Martha read his silent message and began deep breathing. “Oh, yes,” pant, pant, “breathing really helps.”
The nurse narrowed her eyes. “I better get the doctor. You might have entered the next stage.”
When she left, Martha smacked Jax’s arm. “Now look what you’ve done? Old doctor giant-hands will come in here and you guys will have to go while he examines me.”
Lorelai stepped close to Martha and laid a small hand on her distended belly. “The baby is ready to be delivered. He just spoke to me.” She looked into Jax’s eyes. “We need to be very careful with his training if we want him to retain his humanity.”
Jax sighed, as though they didn’t have enough to worry about. The doctor entered and checked the computer and Martha’s fetal monitor. Dr. Sweetwater’s hands were large but not abnormally so. The guy was taller than Jax. When he spoke, it was with a pronounced southern accent. “Ya’ll need to go out into the waitin’ room. I have to examine Miss Merriweather. I do believe her time has arrived.”
Martha’s eyes flew open. “Can they come back when you’re done?”
“Just your birthin’ coaches. The rest of ya’ll will have to stay in the waitin’ room. If I am correct, we’ll be takin’ you into the delivery room momentarily.”
Jax pulled Pia and Lorelai down the hall where Shelly and Tuco waited with Emily. The minute Lorelai laid her violet gaze on Tuco, Jax felt the spark of her interest. Al had told him Lorelai had a thing for shifters. Apparently, he knew what he was talking about.
“Who is this gorgeous man, Jax?”
“Tuco, this is Lorelai. Lorelai, this is Tuco Valdavar, one of our consultants from Guatemala.”
Tuco’s eyes lit as they absorbed Lorelei’s plentiful charms. “I am so pleased to meet you, charming lady.” He bowed over her hand, took it in his, turned it over and kissed her palm.
Lorelei’s nostrils expanded. She knew Tuco was a shifter. The heat flaming between them scorched the wallpaper. Shelly glanced at Jax with his eyebrows lifted. “How is Martha? The shrieking stopped. We were worried.”
“Lorelai helped her.” Jax pantomimed the sprinkling of fairy dust. “The doctor thinks she’ll deliver soon.”
“I know I’m not one of her birth coaches,” Pia said. “But Martha and I have become good friends, and I’d really like to be with her when she has little William.”
“She’s naming him William?” Jax wondered w
here that came from. “You want to give your place to Pia, Shelly? She doesn’t need much help now that Lorelai has . . . uh, you know, uh, fixed her up.”
Lorelai and Tuco were sitting with their heads together on one of the couches. The fairy closed her eyes for a moment. “They just wheeled her into the delivery room.” She returned her attention to Tuco and whispered something Jax heard quite clearly with his enhanced senses. It was so graphic and sexually explicit, Jax’s face flamed.
“I must attend the delivery,” Lorelai said. “If the young lady wishes to be there as well, I’m sure I can convince the staff to allow all three of us.”
The OB nurse cracked the waiting room door and stuck her face through. She was an older woman with iron-gray hair, stern features and thick glasses. “You may see her now. The coaches have to put on surgical gowns and a mask.”
Garbed in green, the three of them entered the delivery room. Lorelei’s mass of red curls refused to stay under her hat. It perched on top of her hair like a crown. Once inside the room, Jax averted his eyes as he walked around Martha to take his place on her right. The doctor glanced up from between Martha’s legs, saw the three of them, but said nothing. Pia took her place, holding Martha’s hand while Lorelai stood where she could watch the proceedings under the surgical drapes.
Lorelai could not convey the amount of concern she felt at this birth to Jax or the child’s mother. How could they absorb the monumental calamity that was birthing a dhampir? The child would mature quickly, be extremely intelligent and possess powers that would take controlling from the very beginning and much instruction so they would not be perverted by evil.
As the baby’s head crowned, Lorelai took a deep breath. She planned to place a spell on the infant as soon as it was born to keep mortals from detecting its more unusual aspects. Martha gave a huge push and the male child slid forth from its protective womb. It glowed with a supernatural silvery light which Lorelai immediately depressed as she leaned over the nurse aspirating William’s lungs. She held her hand over his tiny head and dropped silvery fairy dust across his body. The nurse didn’t notice.
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