by Amanda Vyne
“Kel, baby, ah…” He broke off with a low sound when her throat swallowed around him, constricting on the sensitive crest. “Deeper.” His fingers clenched in her hair, pressing himself deeper into her throat.
Kel slid her hands around to clutch at the clenched muscles of his ass, sinking the tips of her nails into the tight globes. He was so hot. That velvet skin over his hard shaft scorched her. She wanted to devour him, to take him so deep that he could never leave her.
He began to pump in and out of her mouth, her throat constricting convulsively around the intrusion.
“Kel. Ah, baby. Suck harder.” Kel dug her fingers in and increased the suction of her lips around him, stroking the underside of his hard length with her tongue. “Oh, yeah, baby. Oh…” Gabe’s ass tensed beneath her hands and she felt the hard swell of his release rush over her in hot dark waves and the salty wash of his seed filling her throat.
Lifting her head with one last delicious slide of her tongue she let her gaze slither up his body. He was all hard and finely sculpted muscle, the three pink scars not detracting from the beauty of all that flesh that was so hot the heat practically shimmered off him in the cool night air.
His long, dark gold hair hung wildly around the sharp angles of his face, made sharper from the wild hunger she could feel in him. She wanted to feel the delicious rasp of his goatee over her skin, the hot wet press of his mouth over her neck. She couldn’t help merging with him; she wanted to feel him, his strength and vitality, every growl of desire her hands and mouth brought him. She wanted to share it all, to crawl into him where she wouldn’t have to fear losing him again. Where he would never be able to leave her alone. His eyes bore intensely into her, harrowing her every shadow and fear, his looming presence expanding in her. His brows lowered as those glowing green eyes searched her.
“NEVER.”
Gabe slowly sank to his knees. His hands cupped around her face and he lowered his head until their breath mingled, their eyes still locked. His tongue glided over her full lower lip, tasting himself on her, letting the memory of those sweet lips stretched around his cock coarse over him with an erotic shiver. So hot. So damn giving. His cock jerked with renewed interest at the remembered feel of it.
“You belong to me and I never give up what is mine.” His tongue slid over the seam of her lips, breathing her in. “Believe in that.”
“I want to,” Kel whispered brokenly. “God, I want to.”
Gabe pulled her tank over her head and lowered her back against the cool tile floor. Her eyes fluttered shut with the shocking sensation as she arched up against him. Her entire body sought the heat of his, trembled from the touch of his hands. Her need for him washed over him, causing a throbbing in the empty aching places. For him. Only for him. Those silky thighs parted to accommodate his hard body.
Gabe let the power of her words course through him. He’d never seen her so vulnerable, needing the connection between them with such an unending ache that had nothing to do with the sharp arousal of her body filling his nostrils. No, her need for him was a deep, aching intensity that was more than the blood they shared.
With a growl he gave the thin material of her sexy little boy shorts a tug and they ripped. Gabe braced one splayed hand on the tile next to her head and reached down to skim one finger through her folds. She was hot and swollen. So soft and wet, like damp silk. She was killing him. Her hunger bombarded him through their bond, intensifying his own. Her aching need crossing their connection made every place his skin touched her skin burn.
Reaching down to take himself into his hand he guided the purple tip of his cock to the moist, grasping folds of her body, jerking from the intense heat of her. With a gentle push of his hips he felt the sensitive knob slide deliciously past the clenching muscles of her small opening, enfolding him in fire.
“You feel so good, baby.” Gabe felt his balls tighten up as he slid farther in. Her body quivered around him, drenching him in liquid heat. “This is just me and you.” He pressed his forehead to hers, their damp skin clinging. He lowered to his elbows next to her shoulder and skimmed his other hand down the smooth curve of her body to grasp her hip and sink all the way into her. She convulsed around him, and he clenched his eyes shut, feeling her fingers thread through his hair. “This won’t change regardless of your past or my future. Believe in that. Believe in me. Trust me.”
Her beautiful neck arched up on a cry as he slowly slid out and then back in. He pressed his mouth to the throbbing column of her neck, absorbing her cries as he began to move in and out. Her hands grasped at the muscles of his back, and he felt his fangs flood his mouth. He wanted to wait, to pull her to that edge, to feel her falling before he drew her back up to that razor edge of desire again.
He felt the heat of her coil around the base of his spine, shimmering through his cock and drawing him so tight. He was close but he could control it, bring her to fulfillment first. Sliding his hand beneath her ass he angled her hips up so he could slide over that sweet, hidden patch that sent tremors through her body. Her eyes flared and rolled with the first touch and he increased his thrusts, lifting his head to watch her break apart.
That delicious fire licked up his spine, but he clenched his teeth against his release as he slammed his hips into hers. She was panting, giving little broken cries, and then her body clamped down so hard around his cock that he felt that white-hot fire shoot up into his head, blinding him. Her body arched and with a moan he lowered his head and sank his fangs into the soft, sensitive flesh on the rise of her breast. Her scream followed him into the explosion in his skull, and he slid the arm that was bracing his weight beneath her shoulders, clutched her convulsing body to him as his big body trembled over her, and emptied himself into her.
THEY LAY ON the lounge chair on the balcony, the bay breeze cooling their bodies. She was boneless, sprawled across his chest, her warm breath blowing against the skin just above his heart. Before their hearts even slowed, he’d picked her up and fallen back with her on the lounge chair. Then they’d made love again. Now he threaded his fingers through the short, silky strands of her hair, his mind drifting. Thinking.
She had to be the girl that went missing. It fit perfectly. She wasn’t originally from the Ferrar House but blamed the Ferrar doyen for sending her to live at the Triumvirate home. Yet it wasn’t the doyen that handled the placement of crossbreeds. His father had said he handled them. Personally.
His arms tightened around her and his heartbeat surged. “Have you seen my father before?”
He could feel her confusion at the question. “Not until today.”
Frowning, he gripped her arms and pulled her away from him so he could look down into her face. “Who sent you to the home?”
“Your father.” Kel stiffened beneath his hands. “Gabe, what’s this about?”
“My father wasn’t doyen then. Who left you at the home? Who took you there?” His heart was slamming against his chest.
Kel pulled away from him and stood. Raking her fingers through the short glossy strands of her hair. The movement lifted her breasts, showcasing the dusky pink tips. He felt his body stir again.
“What does it matter?”
Gabe didn’t move as he watched her. “I think it’s going to matter more than you think.”
Kel sighed and dropped her hands to grip the balcony railing. The moon cast a dark shadow down the pale expanse of her back. “It was my mother.”
Her face looked out over the city, her expression distant. He could feel the confusion and betrayal radiating from her like heat from a fire. “Kel?”
“She just dropped me off in the middle of the night. Left me on the doorstep.”
“That just doesn’t make sense,” Gabe murmured as he sat forward, throwing his legs over either side of the lounge chair. Why would her mother have dropped her off at that hellhole and then killed herself a couple months later? Guilt? But why do it in the first place?
“No shit. It certainly didn’t mak
e any sense to me. I was only twelve.”
Gabe’s head shot up and he pinned her with a look. “Twelve? Why did she do it?”
“She said I had to go because he would be doyen. I only assumed she meant your father.” Kel shook her head. “This is pointless, Gabe. Rehashing it doesn’t change it.”
Gabe surged to his feet and paced across the balcony, letting the cool night air clear his head. There was something here he was missing.
His father insisted he handled the relocation of the crossbreeds personally, yet Kel had never seen him. Why had her mother dropped her off? Why would his father’s position as doyen have anything to do with it? Something had to have happened to make her mother send her away.
Gabe turned and braced his back against the metal railing. “What happened the night she left you at the home?”
Kel jerked around at the question, her expression pained. She rubbed at her wrist. He’d seen her do it before. Usually when she woke from a nightmare. Something had happened that night.
Kel shook her head and spun away. “No. This won’t help anyone.”
Gabe shimmered across the balcony, reappeared in front of her to grab her by the shoulders. Her dark liquid eyes were like mirrors as she glared up at him. “Tell me.”
“I barely remember anything, Gabe. I’d just as soon keep it that way.” She pulled away and paced into the house to open the refrigerator door. The rush of cool air over her naked chest made her nipples peak.
“You were twelve and your mother felt the need to send you away.” And guilty enough to kill herself over it later. “Why?”
Kel slammed the refrigerator door shut. She shimmered across the room, rubbed her wrist again, pacing back and forth in front of the balcony doors. The frustration came off her in swells. She was still merged with him. She hadn’t shut him out. He was thankful for that, but Gabe kept his presence in her light. He didn’t want to interfere.
He knew the exact moment she remembered. Her horror was so strong that it shot through him. She glanced up and caught his eyes.
KEL COULD FEEL the phantom burn in her wrist, had felt it many times before. She struggled to remember. The memory was so fractured. She remembered how the setting sun glinted off the tiny red drops of blood on the wood floor. No, not drops of blood. Beads. Tiny red beads. She’d stared at them, feeling so confused, so weak.
Mom? What’s wrong with me?
She’d never felt so alone in her life, so in need of her mother. Yet her mother had been cold and distant; her voice almost accusing.
You’ve been blooded.
Lifting her hands she looked down at them as though she could see the crimson smear of blood across the pale skin after all these years.
“I’d been blooded. Someone bled me. I was only twelve. What kind of sick bastard” – Kel stopped as a chill skittered over her flesh, and she looked up at Gabe in dawning horror – “would bleed a child?”
Gabe shimmered across the room to her and pulled her into his arms but the chill was too deep for even his heat to touch. She struggled to remember more, to put a face to the man but there was nothing. She kept seeing the young pale face of that dead little girl. Her own mother had tried to protect her, to hide her, but it hadn’t stopped him from attacking more little girls.
She’d only been his first.
Chapter Fifteen
“Sshhh.” The sound was like a snake hissing. “Aren’t you a pretty girl.”
Something wasn’t right and she looked over her shoulder to see if her mom was coming back. The man made her feel sick in her stomach as she watched him slide slowly around the perimeter of the empty room, his eyes watching her. They always watched her.
“How do you like it here so far?”
“It’s okay.”
“I bet you miss your friends.” His voice felt like it slithered. If she squinted her eyes when she looked at him she could imagine he moved like he slithered too. His movements were all jerky, like he needed to gather his strength to push his body forward.
His eyes watched her. They were a dull green, almost like they were dirty. His clothes were very nice; no frayed ends or faded colors, but she still thought he looked dirty.
He moved in closer and reached out to grab her wrist before she could pull her arm away. “What a pretty little bracelet. Did your mother give that to you?”
His thumb swept over the pulse of her wrist and she shivered. His hand was big with long smooth fingers and his fingernails were too long for a man. It made the sickness in her stomach get worse.
“Me and Mom made it?” Her voice was low, a question in her terrified tone. He gripped her arm and kept running his soft thumb over the inside of her wrist. He hunched forward a little as though he wanted a better look.
“Such pretty red beads.” His voice murmured as he leaned in further, forever rubbing her wrist. “Like blood.”
She looked over her shoulder again for her mom. She was really scared now. She wanted to jerk her arm away. She could feel his breath on her wrist, and she couldn’t stop a little whimper from escaping.
“Sshhhh, it’s okay. I won’t hurt you.” But he did. Her wrist burned and the burning ran up her arm. It felt like hot grease had jumped from a pan and hit her arm, but it never cooled. It just kept burning, and she began to cry in earnest.
She felt cold, like her blood was cold and running through her body, making all of her skin cold. The room seemed to get bright and dark all at once as the burning just went on and on.
Then the man jerked his head back and she stared in horror, her whole body trembling. His lips were red and shiny and his tongue came out to catch a drop of red trailing from the corner of his mouth. Blood? When he lowered his head to look at her, they were flickering red in the centers, his pupils big and black.
Jerking back, she tried to tear her wrist away, but the beautiful bracelet snapped and little silver and red beads rained over the floor. Her eyes watched them slowly fall, her mouth opening wide on a silent scream.
Kel jerked straight up in bed, her heart beating so hard in her chest that it hurt. The French doors leading out to the little balcony off her bedroom were open and the warm night air blew in to cool her sweat-dampened body.
Rubbing her wrist unconsciously to ease the phantom ache that followed her from that damn dream she looked down at Gabe in the bed next to her. He lay on his back with his arm thrown over his face.
She knew he was awake, could feel his awareness of her. A sense of helplessness swamped her, and she pressed a hand to her forehead to rub the ache there. His emotions were overwhelming her. He felt so raw.
“They’re only dreams,” Kel whispered into the darkness of her bedroom and she threw her legs over the edge of the bed to sit with her back hunched miserably. She didn’t want them to be anything more. Didn’t want Gabe to feel so responsible for them. It was killing her. His anger and frustration was killing her.
He slid his arm away from his face to stare at her with those green eyes. “Then tell me about them.”
Kel screwed her eyes shut, and her throat worked as she tried to bring words to her lips. She could still see that shuffling walk and the feel of his soft thumb rubbing her wrist. It gave her chills and made her nauseated. She’d never told anyone about that night except Gabe, and she couldn’t tell him the details. It made her feel ashamed and exposed. She just couldn’t. Her throat closed.
Her heart was slowing, her breath coming easier as the terror receded. Frustration flooded in as she struggled to remember his face but it hovered just out of her reach and her failure put more innocent girls’ lives in danger. She pushed herself, forcing her mind to recall each detail, the pain of his bite, the feel of his hands on her. The revulsion nearly overwhelmed her; her stomach heaved but she swallowed hard and went over it again.
“Damn it, Kel. Stop doing this.” His voice was hoarse and she tried to shield him from her emotions, to protect him from the overwhelming sense of shame and revulsion that she felt when she r
emembered. His hand wrapped around her wrist. “Don’t. Don’t shut me out.”
Kel jumped to her feet and tugged clothes on. Suddenly the wind coming in through the balcony doors wasn’t enough. She needed to be outside, to breathe fresh air, to not be suffocating on his helpless disappointment and her own guilt. “I’m going to jog.”
Rolling to his side and up on his elbow, his dark blond hair hung around the sharp angles of his face. He slammed his fist into the mattress. “Damn it, Kel.”
“I’ll meet you at Incog in a couple hours. I promised Tala I’d walk the girls to school this morning.”
She shimmered into the shadows of the alley next to her apartment building. Zipping her hooded sweatshirt up to ward off the chill of the early morning fog she set off at an easy run.
The key to identifying their killer was in her but she couldn’t get at it. What if the memory just wasn’t there anymore? It had been so many years of trying so hard to forget. Perhaps she’d succeeded. The image of the pale little face, bloodless and forever cast in an expression of terror haunted her. She increased her stride.
Air burned as it passed through her. She was running at her top speed, knowing the danger. What if she was seen? A woman running over forty miles an hour would definitely draw attention. Not to forget the danger if she hit something. It wasn’t quite dawn and the fog settled heavily over the sloped streets. That made it difficult to be seen but also just as difficult to see. It was a rush, using her enhanced hearing and eyesight to navigate the city streets at a breakneck speed. She needed the dose of adrenaline to help lift the cloying guilt and frustration, to sharpen her thoughts.
By the time she reached the back door of Haven House, her side ached. She stopped on the wide porch to lean over and catch her breath. She felt alive. Her confidence that she would nail this bastard, memory or no, had returned. Breathing heavily, she shimmered into the kitchen.