by Vivi Anna
The vampire was fast, sprinting like an Olympic athlete across the grass. But as a wolf, Gabriel was impossible to outrun.
He bounded forward and came down, catching the man around his right leg with his claws. Gabriel brought him down to the ground with a low, angry growl. The vampire screamed and kicked out at Gabriel with his other leg. He caught the wolf in the side of the head, but Gabriel didn’t relinquish his hold. In fact, he dug in a little more, his claws puncturing the vampire’s pants and his flesh.
“Let me go, damn it!” the vampire yelled as he punched and scratched at the wolf’s face. The vampire’s hat flew off in the struggle.
Gabriel opened his jaws and bared his fangs.
The vampire hissed and bared his own.
But Gabriel’s were much bigger and sharper and could rip the guy’s arm off in one yank.
“Fine. I give up. You win.” The vampire lay back on the grass, baring his belly. It was an act of submission.
But Gabriel didn’t want to let go. In fact, he had a strong urge to rip this guy to shreds. An urge that rushed down his body, making every muscle twitch and flinch in response. He opened his mouth… .
“Stop.” It was Elise. She had obviously found a shirt and come running after them. Alongside him now, she stroked her hand down his body. He shivered in response. “Release him.”
Whining to show his displeasure, Gabriel pulled his claws from the vampire’s leg and shuffled backward, giving himself room to shift back.
“I suggest you stay still,” she said to the vampire.
Lucky for him, he did as he was told.
Shutting his eyes, Gabriel forced the shift through his body. After another couple of minutes, he was back in human form, shaking and covered in sweat.
He stood, but his legs shook. Elise reached out and steadied him. He nodded his thanks to her and then glared down at the fallen vampire.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?”
“Can we do this inside?” He gestured to the sun blazing down at them. “I’m getting a little hot.” Sweat was dripping down his forehead and off the end of his long nose.
“No, we’re not going to do this inside. We’re going to stay like this all day until you answer the damn questions,” Gabriel growled.
The vampire sat up and inspected the slash in his pants. “You ruined my leg.”
“You’re a vamp. You’ll heal. In an hour it will be like new again.”
The vampire adjusted his sunglasses and fiddled with the rip in his pants.
“Answer me, asshole. Or we’ll go another round.”
Sighing, the vampire said, “The name’s Rob, I work for the Nouveau Monde Chronicle.”
That was when Gabriel noticed the camera that had been flung about six feet away in the grass. He walked over to it and picked it up.
“You’re a reporter?” Elise asked.
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“How did you find me?”
He smirked. “Funny coincidence actually. My cousin lives around here. She saw you at the market the other day and called me.”
Gabriel gestured with the camera. It was a nice one, expensive, with a telephoto lens. “Did you take a bunch of pictures?”
He nodded again. “Yeah, sorry. I couldn’t resist.” He gave them a wry smile.
Without comment, Gabriel crushed the camera with his hands, and flung the pieces in several different directions.
The vampire jumped to his feet, wobbled a little because of his injury. “Whoa, dude. That was a three-thousand-dollar camera.”
Gabriel shrugged. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist.”
“You son of a—”
Gabriel took a step toward him. “I’d watch yourself, Rob. You were trespassing. That’s a criminal offense. I could arrest you right now.”
Rob put his hand up and took a wobbly step backward. “Hey, just chill, okay. I’m cool.”
“Did you tell anyone else that we were here?”
He shook his head. “No, man, once I got off the phone with my coz I jumped in my car and came here. I didn’t tell anyone else, I swear.”
Gabriel nodded. “Keep it that way. If I find out you’re lying I will find you. Do you understand that?”
“Yeah, I totally understand.”
“Now get the hell out of here.”
Rob, the vampire, turned and started his long walk toward the road. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder. “I could sue you, you know, for assault and destruction of property.”
“Yeah, you could try, but do you really want me to know where you live?”
Without another word, Rob continued his long walk.
Gabriel wrapped his arm around Elise, and they walked back to the house. She was shaking a little. He rubbed his hand up and down her arm, but he had a feeling that it wasn’t doing any good. This had scared her.
And he had to admit, it scared him, too. If some dumb-ass vampire reporter could find them, then it was highly possible someone else could, too. And that particular someone was a lot smarter and craftier. Gabriel had a feeling they wouldn’t sense him coming.
Chapter 16
Elise sighed in contentment as the hot spray of water cascaded over her head and down her face and body. She’d been shivering so badly when they got back to the house that Gabriel suggested she take a hot shower to chase the chill away.
Closing her eyes, she raised her face to the spray. It was doing its job for the most part. She was no longer cold, but there was a deep chill inside her that had nothing to do with the temperature.
Fear wound its way inside her, taking root. But it wasn’t that she was afraid of her stalker; she was afraid of losing what she and Gabriel had forged together. Away from the city, away from their commitments and jobs, they were finally able to be together, something she’d been longing for longer than she even realized. And now, in this magical place, she’d been able to find him, be with him. She didn’t want that to vanish, to fade away as it had all those years ago.
She feared losing him again.
“Gabriel,” she called out. “Gabriel.”
Two minutes later, the door to the bathroom opened and he rushed in, hands up, looking everywhere at once. “What’s the matter? Are you hurt?”
She stared at him through the foggy glass shower door. He was so beautiful, so dark and dangerous, so fierce, her Gabriel. “Yes,” she said. “I’m hurt.”
Gabriel neared the shower door and opened it. “Where?”
She set her hand over her right breast. “Right here.”
There was instant understanding in his eyes.
Pulling the door wide, he quickly shed his clothes and stepped into the stall. He shut the door behind him and moved under the hot shower with her.
“I don’t want to be alone anymore,” she said.
He gathered her in his arms. “You’re not alone, Elise. I’ll always be there for you.” He pressed his body into hers, pushing her up against the side of the shower stall.
She shuddered as his scent filled her. He smelled of grass and nature and everything she held dear. He smelled like home. A home she hadn’t been to in so long.
“Kiss me.”
Gabriel ran his palms down her arms and grabbed her hands, setting them on his shoulders. He pressed his hard flesh against her. Leaning down, he brushed his lips over her temple, then down her jawline.
As he peppered her face with kisses, Elise noticed the bruises blossoming along his neck and shoulders where the vampire had kicked and punched him when he’d been a wolf. They would be gone in a couple of days, but right now they were dark and black and hurt her heart. She touched the wounds, tracing her fingertips over them.
“Are they painful?”
“A little. But it was worth beating that vampire down.” The corners of his mouth lifted. It was a sexy, devilish smile, so uncharacteristic of Gabriel.
She smiled with him, loving everything about him. Unable to resist him any longer, and not wanting to, she w
rapped her hands around his neck and pulled him down to her lips. Warmth spread through her body, edging that ball of fear away. A bombardment of sensations coursed through her and she finally let go.
Her lips moved over his, her tongue tasting and teasing. Gabriel filled his hands with her breasts. Her nipples hardened as he caressed them with his fingers, enjoying the way she gasped each time he moved. He gobbled up every sound she made, eager to hear more.
Desperate to feel the warmth of her skin against his, Gabriel rubbed her body with his. She responded to every movement. She was sensitive to him, to his touch. He reveled in that. He moved his fingers over her, down her torso exploring the soft dip of her waist and slope of her hip. She was so strong, yet so fragile in her own way. Her ribs tickled his palms as he stroked his way up and down her form to finally cup her with his palm.
She gasped and pulled back from his kiss. “Gabriel. I want you so much.”
“Then you can have me,” he growled as he looked down at her.
Her eyes fluttered closed as he massaged her nipples with one hand and stroked her hard between the thighs with the other. He loved the lost look on her face. One of abandonment, of complete surrender.
“You’re so damn beautiful.”
As he caressed her, he looked her over from head to toe, drinking in his fill of her magnificent body. She was so striking, powerful, with sculpted muscles and sleek lines. His breathtaking blood wolf.
He couldn’t hold himself back any longer. His desire was ripping at him, clawing its way out. He needed to have her, possess her utterly. Both his beasts inside would accept nothing less. Both lycan and vampire screamed at him to take her.
Growling low in his throat, he wrapped his arms around her and crushed his mouth to hers. The powerful kiss left him reeling and dizzy. Gabriel trailed his hands down her back and molded the firm cheeks of her butt, and then he picked her up, settling her firmly against the stall wall. Instinctively, she opened her legs and wrapped them around him. Gripping her tight in his arms, he nipped on her bottom lip and made his way over her chin to her neck. Her wet skin was like ambrosia on his tongue.
He nuzzled in between her legs, effectively pinning her with his body. With the heat of her center pressed against his erection, Gabriel thought he’d died and gone to heaven. Surely, Elise was his angel.
His whole body trembled with pent-up desire, a ferocious, insatiable hunger. He needed to be inside her now. He would waste away to nothing if he had to wait much longer without having her completely and wholly.
“I’ve been lost without you, Elise,” he growled into her ear, after licking the side of her neck. “I won’t go another second without you with me.”
“I’m yours. Forever.” Her lips pressed together tightly. He could feel her body quivering under his touch. The smell of her desire enveloped him. It was an exotic spice. The smell of pure perfection. The scent of his love.
He nipped at her chin and rocked his hips, grinding his shaft into her warmth. His arms shook with strain and repressed need. He couldn’t hold back for much longer. But he’d gone so many years without her, he wanted every second to count.
With one hand, he sought her liquid heat. She was hot and wet and ready. His restraint vanishing, he guided himself in between her legs. With one swift thrust, he buried his entire length inside.
Every nerve ending in his body sparked to life as he moved slowly at first, and then picked up his pace before finding a delicious rhythm that sent shivers from his toes to his scalp.
He’d had other lovers before, but he had never felt so alive with them. With Elise, it was as if the world only existed for them. Nothing else mattered.
As he slid in and out of her, the wild part of him howled inside his head. Sensing Elise’s beast, it longed to be released. It wanted to mate. It sensed its partner in her.
As if recognizing his needs, her thighs squeezed against his waist and she pulled at his shoulders to bring him closer. But he was as close as he could get without actually stepping inside her body.
Bringing his hand up, he stroked her cheek and buried his face into the slope of her neck. Her scent was strong here, and he could hear the rush of her blood through her veins. His vampire side urged him to bite her, to taste her blood. But Gabriel pushed that primal part of himself back.
Digging her fingers into his shoulders, she found his mouth with hers and kissed with eagerness, nibbling and teasing his tongue. A growl rumbled out of her as he buried a hand in her hair and countered with his own tasting of her mouth.
He pounded between her legs as they kissed. With each thrust, Gabriel thought he’d go mad with pleasure. It didn’t just ripple over his skin but surged through every inch of his body.
Streaking her hands to his back, she seemed to search for purpose, something to hang on to as he took her up, pushing them both close to the edge of orgasm. Shifting his stance, he gripped her butt cheeks tight, pushed her hard against the wall and buried himself deep.
Gasping, she dug her nails into his flesh and raked them across his back. Gabriel returned her fervor by clamping down on her shoulder with his teeth. Moaning, she urged him on as she bucked and writhed against his body.
“More,” he growled while licking the spot on her collarbone where he had just bitten. “I want more.”
“Take it,” she groaned. “Take it all.”
Opening his mouth wide, he felt tiny fangs distend from his gums. For the first time in his life, he sank those fangs into her flesh and tasted her blood.
It was a shock at first, hot and tangy, but then he savored the flavor and drank her in. He only took a little, as that was all he desired, and then he pressed his tongue on the wounds and closed them.
Elise was panting hard when he glanced up into her face. She opened her eyes, met his gaze and smiled at him. “That was indescribable. I never knew it would feel like that.”
“Did I hurt you?”
“Yes, and it was delicious.” She threw her head back and laughed.
Settling her in his arms, Gabriel kicked open the shower door and carried her into the bedroom. She squeezed her thighs tight around his waist and held on, but that didn’t stop her from feasting on his lips, groaning into his mouth with each stride of his powerful legs.
When he reached the bed, he placed her on the mattress and, growling, gazed down at her with wild fire in his eyes. She met his with her own hot intense gaze that made his stomach flip and his thighs clench. No one had ever looked at him like that. Wild, feral, lost to the pleasure whipping around them both in hot, fiery lashes.
She reached out for him, gripping him around the waist, and pulled him to her. She touched his stomach, trailing her fingers around his navel. His muscles flinched and quivered under her touch. She had power over him and she knew it.
Urging him closer, Elise pressed her lips to his sternum and licked her way down to his belly button and back up again. He moaned and wrapped his hands in her hair. Tilting her head, he stared down at her. He could feel the muscles in his jaw twitching with the barely controlled passion surging through him like a tornado.