Survive to Dawn

by PJ Schnyder

  He hugged her close. “And this is why.”

  He didn’t say more. They wouldn’t speak of it in the clinic. He’d warned her.

  “Yes. This is why.” She couldn’t think of anything else, only that she was glad he’d agreed to help her. Happy he was here, right now. So she tilted her head up and stretched toward him.

  He met her halfway, his mouth brushing against hers.

  Hungry, she rose up to her knees, leaning over him with her palms flat against his chest. He opened his mouth, tangling his tongue with hers as his hands slid up to her waist and caught the end of her shirt.

  “It’s a good thing we found your travel bag this afternoon,” he murmured against her lips.

  “Mmm?” Words, why were they using words right now?

  “It means you have extra clothes.”

  Fabric tore, falling to shreds around her. She gasped, incredibly turned on by being suddenly exposed to him.

  “Pretty. Very pretty.” He sat forward, holding her steady with a hand on either side of her hips, and she wondered how she ever thought he’d have sat back passively as she’d initiated this between them. He pressed a kiss low on her abdomen, and then another one just above her navel. The next kiss was higher but he opened his mouth to suck. She let her eyes flutter shut as he nuzzled the underside of her breasts through her bra. “Blue lace suits you. I like lace.”

  “Then don’t rip this one.” She tried for teasing, but the words came out in a breathless whisper. “The others aren’t as delicate.”

  Actually, the others were plain and boring. This set, her sister had bought for her.

  One day, you’re going to want to actually seduce a man.

  Thank goodness her sister had really good taste in lingerie.

  Danny licked the curve of her breast above the lace of her bra. Then he gently caught the edge of the fabric in his teeth and tugged it down. Her already taut nipple popped free and he grinned like a child discovering a delightful toy. She began to tell him so, but his mouth closed over her nipple and he sucked. Hard.

  She clutched at his shoulders, arching against him, pleasure shooting through her. And he eased the suction, then let go. She blinked her eyes open, but he began to lick and tease at her nipple. The alternating sensations drove her mindless with desire, spiking even higher as he brought one hand up to pull down the other cup of her bra and play with her other nipple between thumb and forefinger. Every flick of his tongue, every tug of his fingers, sent need scorching over every part of her.

  “Touch me, please touch me.”

  He paused. “Where?”

  “Everywhere!” It didn’t matter that he was already touching her, doing things to her. She only knew she needed to feel him and she couldn’t find the words.

  His hands curved around her ribs as he rose up on his knees before her and he captured her mouth in a ravaging kiss, all tongue and teeth, with an appetite to match hers. Before she could wrap her arms around his neck, his hands pressed into her sides, turning her. A sound of protest left her throat, but he hushed her. “Trust me.”

  So she let him turn her to face the wall, and placed her hands where he indicated to brace herself. And then his hands began to roam. Across her shoulders and along her arms, back to her torso and over the curve of her back.

  “Do you have another pair of shorts to sleep in?” His voice was dark and edgy, the question whispered into her ear.

  “I don’t care.” No more barriers. All she wanted was skin to skin.

  He grazed the shell of her ear with his teeth. She shuddered in pleasure. “Good.”

  There might have been the whisper of something sharp against her skin, but she was so sensitized, she wasn’t sure. Her shorts were in shreds around her knees and she was bared to his touch. He spread his hands on the backs of her thighs, cupping below her bottom. When he squeezed, her thoughts scattered. If he tried asking her another question, she wouldn’t be able to answer. Not with anything that made sense.

  He pulled her hips back, adjusting her stance and encouraging her to arch for him. One hand caressed her, his hot touch gliding over her side and under to her belly, then up to grasp one of her breasts. He used his other hand to tease the inside of her thighs, his fingers exploring until he stroked one finger along her crease. She moaned.

  “Shh. Easy. The boys are down the hall.”

  Easy for him to say. She was wet, embarrassingly so, but before she could blush or feel more than the moment’s discomfiture, his finger slid inside her. Every muscle clenched in response and she gasped for breath as he slowly pumped his finger in and out, teasing her opening. His other hand kneaded and massaged her breast. It was so good, and it could be more. She rocked her hips back against him and he made an inarticulate sound of frustration. His hands left her for a moment and she collapsed forward against the wall at the shock of it. But then he was back, the hard length of his erection pressed against her buttocks.

  “You’re still tight, but I can’t wait anymore.” His words were strangled, almost the way he sounded in his phase-form, but the hands roaming over her again were human and his hips pressed against her were hot skin, not fur. “Please, Deanna. May I?”

  “Y-yes.” The request undid things inside her, made this more than sex.

  When he started to push into her, another groan escaped her throat and she bit her lip to try to keep quiet. Slow and incredibly good, he filled her and she stretched to accommodate him until he was balls deep.

  Oh yes.

  He pulled her to him until the length of her back was pressed against his torso. His hands roamed over her, sliding up from her thighs and over her belly to caress her breasts. And as he did, he pumped inside her. She leaned her head back to the curve of his shoulder, only capable of tiny gasps with every thrust as sensation washed over her entire body.

  “Everywhere.” His whisper in her ear was more erotic than anything she’d heard in her life. “You wanted me to touch you everywhere.”

  She whimpered.

  His hands settled at her waist and he began thrusting harder. She leaned forward again, bracing herself against the wall as he pulled almost completely out and then slid back into her in strong, firm strokes. Her inner muscles tightened as she approached the edge of her ability to process the sensations, the edge of her sanity. His fingers dug into her hips and he picked up his pace. He was so hard, thick, touching her deep inside and setting pleasure points firing with every stroke. She wanted to cry out, needed to, but...

  “Danny.” It was a gasp.

  He slammed into her and her world blew apart in waves of pleasure. His own muffled cry joined hers a second later as he held himself shuddering within her.

  Chapter Eight

  It’s an incredible high, flirting with Death walking. Oh, he might not have known I’d recognized him. But how could I not? I just didn’t expect him to be so incredibly hot. No surprise any person—be they straight or switch-hitting—would do anything but offer up their life’s blood if he asked for it. The feel of his lips against my neck, the way he whispers cold air across my skin, the way his grip on me leaves me no escape. He could kill me without a moment’s notice and it’s a heady thought, because he didn’t. He’s had centuries to perfect the hunt, to hone every seductive skill in seduction, learn every technique for inflicting pleasure or pain at a whim. Probably both.

  He could make dying instantaneous...or last a lifetime.

  Just think what it would be like to spend not one, but a hundred lifetimes learning from him. Read every book ever written. Have the time to master every spell.

  Any other man I’ve ever met is like a mayfly compared to him.

  I’d let him kill me, if it meant waking up next to him for the rest of the nights in forever.

  * * *

  Deanna wanted to shake Helen,
make her think, bring her to her senses. You couldn’t die and expect to live. Even love couldn’t bring back the dead. She ran through the dark, chasing after her twin.

  Only something was coming after her too. Shuffling, stumbling steps echoing against the walls of the tunnel. A wordless groan forced through vocal chords too rotted to make proper sounds. The awful smell of decomposition clogged her nostrils.

  She ran harder, hoping to catch up with her sister and reach the end of the pedestrian subway. She had to get Helen to someplace safe. Only the closer she got, the worse the smell. It choked her, made her gag. And somewhere out there, something shot past at inhuman speed. Something dangerous. And it wasn’t hungry for rotting flesh. It was after hot blood.

  “Wake up.” Danny’s voice broke through the choking darkness. “It’s only a dream, wake up for me.”

  Deanna clutched at the hand cupping her cheek as she sucked in air. Her heart slammed at the walls of her chest.

  “Easy. I’m here.” He leaned over her in the small guest bed, propped up on one elbow and still holding her cheek. He bent his head and kissed each of her temples, lingering as his tongue flicked against her skin, tasting the tracks of tears.

  It should have freaked her out, but it gave her a strange sort of comfort instead.

  “Bad dream.” He wasn’t asking. What else could it be?

  “It’s been a rough couple of days.” More like a year and more.

  “You did come fair close to dying the other night.”

  He was lucky his British accent made even that hard truth sound wonderful.

  “Black tunnels, hungry zombies, yeah. I was remembering some of what I read from my sister’s diary and it got all jumbled up with what happened to my teammates.” There’d been the faces of the colleagues who’d died when she hadn’t, floating in the recesses of the passageway.

  “Oy. If it’s guilt you’re feeling, stop. Right now.” Danny pressed his lips to hers and then drew back to stare into her eyes. “The dead will not begrudge you happiness for living. They will not. Don’t let the terror of it keep you from making the most of every day.”

  Like he did? And yet, since she’d first met him, he was rarely without a grin on his face. Usually the sort of lopsided, mischievous one she wanted to kiss. But every evening he went on patrol and faced the monsters to keep other people safe.

  “You must think I’m the worst kind of coward.”

  He lifted her chin, waited until she looked at him. Then he shook his head. “People who ignore fear are the worst kind of cowards. You face fear, deny it power over you in your waking moments, only give in to it with sleep. I have the very greatest respect for the strength you show in doing so. Never doubt it, not even for a moment.”

  “Thank you.” What else could she say? His words gave her warmth and made her awkward at the same time. What could anyone say to that?

  “I forgot to ask you, by the way, if you’d had a chance to read through your sister’s diary. Obviously, you had.” He rolled back to lay flat and pulled her with him until she was sprawled half across him.

  “Oof.” Her jaw ached from being clenched and her limbs tingled from lack of blood circulation. She must have been strung tighter than a violin string while she’d been caught dreaming.

  “Is that a new way to say yes? Or maybe that was a no?” He raised an eyebrow.

  She thumped her fist into his chest. “No. But the answer to your original question is yes.”

  And what she’d read had been terrifying.

  “There were insights to be had, I’m sure. I won’t ask you to share the private thoughts, but did you find a clue to help our search?” His sudden formality made her blink. “That’s obviously a private collection of your sister’s thoughts, not a professional set of notes.”

  Oh, he had it right, and she had no idea what he’d think of it. Hell, she didn’t know what to think of it.

  “You said you’d look out for me. But this—I’m not sure this is something you’ll want to be a part of.”

  He didn’t respond immediately. Which was a good thing right? He was listening, not jumping to hasty promises. Decisions like that, made in a rush, usually meant a whole lot of regret on both sides.

  “Either way, there’s someone I need to find.” A man she really didn’t want to meet. Or wouldn’t, if he hadn’t had anything to do with Helen. “He’s probably the last...person...to have seen Helen alive.”

  “A friend?”

  “More like a lover.”

  “Would he still be in the city?” Danny tucked her hair behind her ear.

  She hesitated, but best to get this one out in the open as soon as possible. “I’d think so. I don’t know much about vampires, but they seem to hang out in the same general territory over long periods of time. I doubt something like the zombie apocalypse would make them evacuate right away. I figured they’d wait it out and take advantage of the chaos for a while.”

  “A vampire, you say.” His words were flat, clipped.

  Her stomach dropped. Shouldn’t be disappointed. He had more than enough to deal with when it came to the zombies. Dealing with another kind of undead?

  It was a long minute of silence. She started to curl inward on herself, but his arms pressed her close against his side. “You’re right about chaos and supernaturals in general. Easier for us to move about in the confusion of natural disasters and acts of war than under the eye of bored people during times of peace. But most of the others stay in the shadows. It’s only us werewolves come out into the public eye. Still...” He let out a low whistle. “Your sister liked to live dangerously.”

  That was an understatement.

  “He’s not what killed her.” Of that, Deanna was certain. “A vampire kill would have been abrupt, immediate. But what I experienced through her was drawn out and slow, over days. And through it all, she...”

  How to describe to someone else the ability to experience the love her twin had?

  “...had hope. She thought it would turn out all right.” Lame. Deanna couldn’t find words for it and really didn’t want to use the word love at the moment.

  After a long pause, Danny sighed. “At least we’ve got the whole of a day to confront this vampire. Come on, then.”“

  “You’re coming with me?”

  He chuckled. “Seems to me you’re going to try to find this vampire no matter what.”

  “Yeah.” No doubt there. She didn’t want to, but she’d never even thought about giving up on it.

  “Well, then. We should wash, dress and break our fast before we head out.”

  “Don’t you need to know where we’re going?” She’d racked her brain trying to make sense of the descriptions her sister had written down, but they’d all been vague impressions of architecture or cute dogs in windows nearby. No practical street signs or landmarks.

  “Doesn’t matter.” Danny’s voice had flattened, grim and defensive. “If we want to see any vampire in the city, we see the master vampire first.”

  * * *

  “This...was not what I was expecting.” Deanna took in the elegant furnishings of the sitting room. “Hotels are still in business in the middle of all this?”

  Danny shrugged. “Makes sense, really. Trophy hunters and tourists, some of them are very high maintenance. They’re here to sightsee as if this were some amusement park. They don’t take in the reality of it all. It’s all a great lark of some sort to them. The next big adventure. And for vampires, that selective blindness is ideal. Neighbors begin to notice comings and goings. A hotel like this, full of travelers staying for a weekend or a week at most? All of them focused on going about their own business. It’s perfect. Trusted servants run the hotel and the brood has rooms throughout.”

  Considering the sun high in the sky, he’d have thought the lobby would b
e empty but a human dressed in a suit came out from behind the desk and had inquired as to whether they’d like a room. While the werewolves had worked on controlling the walking dead, the vampires had found a way to take advantage of the tourism. Practical, that, even if it leaned more toward opportunistic than humanitarian. But then, vampires tended to step away from the messy emotional complication of humanity more so than werewolves. Humans were counted among the prey.

  Seth had been the one to communicate with the vampires when the city was first being evacuated. Neither camp had the resources to oust the other and still handle the outbreak of walking dead, though territory had always been an issue between them. Same as in nature when normal animals had overlapping hunting grounds. The exchange had been pretty limited as a result, tending to run along the lines of, “Stay out of our way and we will stay out of yours.” Not a peep heard from the vampires since.

  Not optimal. But there were some realities regarding the nature of what they all were that had to be overlooked. The werewolves had the zombies to deal with and the vampires had their existence to sustain. In a way, the epidemic had given both supernaturals an enemy to face instead of each other.

  The human servant had been smart though, recognizing Danny for what he was. When he’d requested to see the Master, they’d been shown directly to this top-floor suite.

  “Did people go missing from the hotel before the zombies started appearing?” Deanna extended a booted toe to the ashes in the fireplace, stirring them and revealing nothing. Her mouth twisted and he wondered if she realized how cute she was when she looked perplexed.

  “One of the first things any of us learns as a supernatural predator—don’t hunt where you sleep.” Perhaps not the best time to draw a comparison, but his woman would need to grow comfortable with his way of life. He could adjust for hers to a certain extent, but there were some realities he couldn’t ignore. Someday, they’d have the zombie infestation under control. And then life would offer more choices to the both of them. If she decided to stay with him.

  And the certainty was growing inside him. He didn’t just want to, he had to win her over. She’d become integral to the future he wanted to build. He was grinning when a different human servant entered and began setting a side table with refreshments. This one was female and didn’t look up or even acknowledge their presence.