Desire and lust coiled deep inside. Tingles raced up and down her thighs as his mouth and tongue worked magic on her. He lapped at her, feasting on her pussy as if he truly enjoyed it. Judging by the sounds he made, there was no question of his enjoyment.
Maria closed her eyes and surrendered to the passion he roused in her. She surrendered to his wicked mouth and hands as he slipped a finger into her core and swiped it against her inner walls. The coo of pleasure that escaped her not only didn’t sound anything like her, but it caught her off guard. He chuckled and added another finger to the first before repeating the action.
No other man had taken the time to love her like this. No one had ever made her feel as desirable and beautiful as Dylan did right now.
“Mmm, that feels so good.” She rocked against his hand. The signs of her impending orgasm shocked and thrilled her, but they shouldn’t have. He was rumored to be a god in bed. The screams were heard around the building, or so said Velma. Maria lived across the hall and had yet to hear them, but her imagination hadn’t done him justice.
Dylan crooked his fingers, and she arched off the bed as her orgasm crashed through her hard and fast. As she screamed her pleasure, she felt and heard Dylan sucking and licking up her juices, and it pushed her headlong into her second orgasm of the night.
Shaking and struggling to breathe, she stared down at him. He grinned up at her and slowly crawled his way up the bed. He hesitated long enough to sheath his cock with a condom he’d pulled out of his pants pocket, and then he pressed himself against her core.
He looked like a predator, like he wanted to devour her in one bite, and she loved it. She reached for him and helped guide him inside of her. As he slid in, he closed his eyes, a look of pure pleasure filling his features. She tightened around him, aroused even more by his obvious enjoyment of making love to her.
When he sank in all the way, he rested inside her, his balls pressing tightly against her. He opened his eyes and stared at her. She fell into the dark pools of bliss, tightening around him.
“Sweet,” he whispered. He licked his lips and drew in a deep breath. “Your scent is intoxicating, love. So sweet and rich. I could feast on you all night. And fuck. I could fuck you all night long.”
She sucked in a deep breath and tried not to show how his choice of words affected her. He was a guy. It was always fucking to them. She couldn’t expect him to fall in love with her as she’d done with him. He’d spent all this time avoiding her because she was too good for him, and she’d been secretly falling in love with him. She’d take what she could get. A man like him had too many options to settle for just one woman.
He pulled back slightly then thrust into her. He glided in and out with ease, stroking her higher and higher. She grabbed onto his shoulders and closed her eyes as sensations raced through her so fast she couldn’t decipher them, and didn’t care.
As he made gentle love to her, her heart and throat tightened. And when he strengthened his thrusts, ramming into her faster and harder, she tightened her muscles and held onto him as he pushed her headlong into another orgasm.
Still, he continued to move in her, burying deeper and deeper with each thrust until she felt full. With each movement, he brushed against her sweet spot, making her entire body tingle.
“Dylan,” she said on a moan, another orgasm building. “Oh. My. God.” She let out a keening cry when he sucked on her neck. A sharp pain immediately followed.
She cried out, nails digging into his shoulders as her eyes flew open. As quickly as the pain flared, it melted under the hot warmth of his mouth. The sounds of Dylan sucking on her neck added to the unbelievably erotic sensation, and she tumbled into an orgasm so strong she started to pass out.
A low curse kept her from succumbing to the darkness. She opened her eyes and stared at him through a haze. A flash of red on his lips made her realize he’d drawn blood. The sounds he’d made must have been as he drank her blood, sucking on it and drinking her life force. Like a vampire.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to find out this way.”
She knew it was horror he saw in her face, but she didn’t care about his feelings right now. “You bit me. Like an animal.”
His face hardened as he studied her. “I told you that you were too good for me, that nothing good would come of this. I told you I would only bring you pain and hurt you. I was the fool for thinking I actually had a chance.”
Dylan’s lips thinned and his eyes narrowed. “I am a vampire. I didn’t want you to find out this way. If I had better control of myself, this would never have happened.”
“Vampires aren’t real. There is no magic; there are no vampires.” She rubbed her hands over her face. As usual, when she denied her heritage, the pain in her heart and head taunted her with the truth. She might claim it didn’t exist, but she knew better. It was for her own sanity that she denied it.
Chapter Three
“I’m disappointed in you.” Maria gasped at the unexpected voice and turned toward the window she knew had been closed earlier.
She saw the form of a man standing in the dark, and she scrunched up on the bed until her back pressed against the wall.
How was this possible? Dylan had checked every inch of the apartment before he’d stormed out to get some of his equipment. He’d said he’d protect her, and he would. Regardless of the fiasco of the bite and the sex, he would keep her safe from her stalker, and she believed him.
“You would cheat on me with him?” Brett, her annoying, sneaky, lecherous neighbor, stepped out of the shadows and advanced toward the bed.
“What? How did you get in here?” How the fuck had he gotten past Dylan?
“How could you lower yourself to sleep with that vampire?” He reached for her. “You cheated on me!”
She gave up wondering how he got in and looked around for a weapon as she stalled. “Cheated on you? You’re psycho if you really believe that. There is nothing between you and me, Brett. Nothing more than a vivid fantasy world you’ve created.”
“You’re wrong!” His face twisted in anger. “You and I are meant to be together. I failed you in the last lifetime, but my patience and prayers for forgiveness have been rewarded. The gods have practically delivered you right into my lap, and it’s for a reason. You’re mine, Maria.”
Her chest tightened, and she struggled to breathe through her fear. She focused on her anger, the only thing keeping her from losing control. “Listen, you sick twit, I’m not now and never was yours. I am—”
“Your mother sent me here.”
“What?” Maria sat up and clutched the sheet to her chest. Her mother? What was he talking about? And how the hell did Brett get into her place? It should have been impossible. She ached to attack him with all she had, but her nudity kept her glued to the bed under the sheets. The though of him leering at her as she fought him was enough to turn her stomach. Dylan would be back soon. He’d take care of him.
“Now I’ve got your attention, I see.” Brett sat at the foot of her bed.
“Dylan will be back here any minute.”
“No, he won’t. You were just a feed and fuck.”
She raised her hand and caressed the bite on her neck. “You of all people have no right to talk to me this way.”
“Oh, I have a right. Your mother told me all about how you will come into your new powers this year. I’ve been more than patient waiting for you to come to your senses.”
Fear clenched in her gut. She looked around the room for a weapon.
“See. Right now you are thinking like a regular human. Find something to hurt me with. Whereas, if you accepted who and what you are, and what you’re capable of, you could easily render me unconscious.”
“You’re lying.” She reached for the lamp on her nightstand.
“You won’t use your powers against me. Not the powers you so adamantly claim not to have. The powers you pray will go away. I’ll gladly relieve you of your unwanted burden. After I make
you mine in every way imaginable, that is.” Fangs gleamed as they shot down past his lower lip.
“You’re a vampire, too?” Her arm fell weakly at her side. Her mind grew foggy, and she tried to figure out what was happening to her.
“Lie down.” Even though she didn’t want to obey him, her body acted as if it had a mind of its own. “Now we’re going to pose you just right, so that we can leave a little present for Dylan. Something to let him know that once again he failed to protect someone he loved.”
Loved. Maria tried to shake her head or move her body, but it was as if she were a puppet. Her arms and legs moved when Brett waved his hand. He removed her sheet and put her in a provocative pose like in a girlie magazine. The man was insane. And he had full control over her body. Cries choked in her throat as tears slipped down her cheeks. Something he couldn’t control.
Brett was taunting Dylan. See this woman? She’s mine now. I can do whatever I want to her and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.
After he took several Polaroid pictures, he tossed them onto the bed and made her stand up. “Now we’re going to my place so I can perform the necessary ritual.”
Maria tried to speak. She wanted to argue, to kick and scream, to fight him and his power. What was happening? First Dylan bit her, and then Brett revealed he was a vampire as well. Was she a goddamned vampire magnet?
“It’s your power. You’re like a beacon of white light, love. Your energy, power and goodness call to us like a lighthouse to a ship during a storm. You are an untapped source of energy the likes of which I’ve never before seen.”
Maria shook her head, but her head didn’t move. The bastard had complete control over her. Almost complete control. He didn’t have her mind.
Yet.
She shivered, unsure if that had been her internal voice or his voice inside her head.
“Come, my love. We must leave so we can start the ritual.”
“I’m not your love. I’m not your anything. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
He laughed. It was an evil, soul-shuddering sound that sent shivers up her spine. There was no way she could prevent him from doing whatever he wanted to her. No way at all.
“You can’t do anything about it, love, and you know it.” He waved his hands. Her body rose at his command. He draped a robe around her and tied it tight. “I don’t want anyone else to see this luscious body of yours.”
She didn’t know what disgusted her more. That he wanted her even though he knew she’d just had sex with Dylan, or that he was trying to act loving. Either way, she’d come face to face with the fact that vampires were real, and they weren’t anything like what she’d heard her friends rave about from their romance novels.
“What do you want, Brett?” Saying his name left a bad taste in her mouth, but it was nothing compared to feel of his arm around her shoulders or the press of his body against hers as he led her out of her bedroom.
“I’m going to have to silence you now, my love. But once we are safely within the place I had built for you, I can reveal all of my plans. Things would be much easier if you just accepted this and stopped fighting me, fighting fate.”
“Easier on who? Certainly not me!” She wanted to say more, but suddenly her mouth wouldn’t open.
“Yes, my love. Easier on you. You have no idea what I am capable of. Or even what you are capable of.”
She wondered if Dylan could read her thoughts like Brett did.
“Don’t even try to shout for him. Dylan is so self-centered he wouldn’t hear you even if you could scream.”
Tears formed as the realization that she was doomed sank in. How could she escape from a man who could manipulate her body and voice with thoughts? Putting every ounce of strength into it, she shouted Dylan’s name in her mind. Brett’s head swung towards her, but not as fast as his fist. Pain flared through her jaw, and she crumpled to the floor as her world went dark.
* * * * *
Dylan grabbed his head as he heard Maria’s shout, and felt a fist connect with his jaw. “What the hell?” He looked up from the floor and rubbed his chin. Damn it. Someone had a mean right hook. They also had Maria.
“Shit! Fuck!” He jumped up and raced for the door. “Why the hell didn’t I make her come with me to get my equipment? Why did I leave her alone when I knew that prick bastard was getting into her apartment? I am such a fucking ass!”
Granted, he’d needed his weapons, but he’d done something green. He’d made the stupid assumption that she’d be safe for the five minutes it would take for him to get in his apartment, grab some weapons, and return. “Fucking ass!”
He entered her apartment with ease. The bastard had left it open for him. He raced through the hall into her bedroom and drew to a halt when he eyed the snapshots on the bed.
The nauseating stench of cologne assaulted his senses as he bent over and scooped up the snapshots. He’d recognize that strong odor anywhere. Brett Masterson. The jerk who lived next door to Maria. The one who was always hitting on her and trying to corner her in the hallway.
He flipped through the photos. The fear in Maria’s eyes was palpable as he scanned picture after picture. The bastard had posed her for the pictures, making sure to rub it in his face.
Why would Brett do this? He’d been annoying in his persistence to get in Maria’s pants, but to also stalk her on the side? Had he been trying to drive her into his own arms? Why leave the photos here for him to find?
Dylan checked around the room and saw that there had been no sign of a struggle. Maria definitely would have fought like a wild cat. What did Brett do to gain her cooperation? What had put that look of fear in her eyes?
He followed the annoying stench out to the hallway. After he closed and locked Maria’s door, he walked over to Brett’s apartment. Of course, the bastard wouldn’t be there. Not after leaving hints even a moron could decipher. Why did he want to be found? Was Brett using Maria to get to him?
* * * * *
“Lover boy should be here soon. I left hints even a moron could follow.”
“Why do you want him to follow you down here? Aren’t you afraid he’ll kill you?” Maria struggled against the restraints that held her to a table. That he had stripped off her robe before strapping her to the table didn’t help the panic tightening her chest and throat. Her heart raced, and she struggled to breathe.
“Save your strength, love. You won’t get free. All you’re doing is spilling precious blood as you cut your wrists and ankles.”
“What does it matter? You’re just going to kill me, anyway.” A sob caught in her throat.
“Is that what you think?” Brett smiled down at her as he shook his head. “No, love. I have something even better. You will die, but it’s your rebirth that I’m interested in. Did you know that once I drain you and give you life with my blood I will then be your sire? And if I choose to, I can keep you under my control, under my power, as long as I want. It’s an easy choice, love. Come to me willingly, and I’ll reward you. Fight me, and this will be hard and painful.”
He reached down and stroked her head. She shivered in disgust and tried to pull away from him. At least he didn’t plan to rape her before he killed her, but then what was with all the goblets and knifes and things?
“No, love, I don’t plan to rape you. I have plenty of willing women at my beck and call. What I want from you is more than a gorgeous body. That’s not to say I don’t desire you, but I don’t want to taint this ritual with such a base emotion like lust.”
“And it’s okay to taint it with your greed for power?”
Brett’s brown eyes darkened like pools of mud, swirling and drawing her in. Arousal snaked through her body, even though it was something she didn’t want.
“I can do anything I want with you. I’m not just a vampire, love. I’m much more.”
“Don’t call me love. You’re nothing more than a disgusting animal chaining women up for your sick pleasures.”
When his
palm connected with her face, she accepted it gratefully. It chased away the desire he’d mentally pushed into her body. At least it was the only thing that made any sense anymore.
“You could tempt the patience of a saint, couldn’t you? I had no idea you were this mouthy. Your mother spouted of your virtues from the rooftops.”
“What does my mother have to do with this? You didn’t hurt her did you? If you did, I’ll kick your ass, you son of a bitch!”
“Tsk, tsk.” Brett shook his head. “Your mother is fine. Better than you at the moment.” His smile sent a rush of anger through her.
“When I get free—”
“When you get free you’ll be so far under my spell you won’t even remember this. The only thing you’ll know is that you exist for me and my pleasure. That you live to serve me. And all that beautiful power you possess will be mine.”
“My power. I have no power!” She struggled even harder against the binds. If he thought she was magical like her mother, he had another think coming.
“You are full to bursting with untapped power. You just don’t know how to use it. You haven’t accepted it. If you’d have acknowledged it and trained under your mother you would be capable of so much. Instead, I will relieve you of it.”
“I have no power.”
“Love, your mother confided it all to me.”
Horror and realization settled on her at once. “Oh my… You! You are the man she wanted me to come home and meet. You’re the one she said was perfect for me. The man she’d found who would awaken my powers and heal me.” How could her mother have been so wrong about him?
“Your mother wasn’t wrong. I may have had to come to you, but before the night is over you will be in full control of your powers, and you will be mine.”
“You’re wrong.”
“I’m right. We just need Dylan here before I can start.”
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