I'll Be Hunting You

by Shiloh Walker

  He pulled away and Tori cried out, reaching for him. He sank to his knees in front of her and pressed his mouth against her sex. His tongue circled over her clit and then he pushed it inside her. Tori screamed and came in one hard, breath-stealing moment. She fisted her hands in his hair and rocked her hips back and forth against him. Declan groaned and it vibrated against her. A second climax ripped through her, sapping her strength. She sagged against him.

  Declan’s hands eased her down to the floor and he sprawled between her thighs, pressing his mouth back against her. “More, more,” he said, his voice gruff and raspy.

  “Declan, come to me,” she demanded, tugging on his hair and trying to pull him up to her.

  “I’m not done.” To prove it, he pushed his tongue inside her again, pausing first to circle it around her entrance. Then he started to thrust it in and out of her with slow, almost lazy little strokes. Tori was burning. Hotter and hotter. Each stroke, each caress added to the blaze and she knew it would consume her. Take her down in flames. She prayed for it. Death by pleasure would be sweet—a pleasant way to go and she could be with him again.

  He bit her clit. This climax robbed her of her breath and her sight. Blood pulsed and roared in her ears. When she could see again, she opened her eyes and stared upward into Declan’s. He crouched above her, like he had just been waiting for her to look at him. Their gazes locked and held as he wedged his thighs between hers and pressed against her.

  He pushed inside. She held her breath. Her lashes fluttered down as he eased his length inside her, stretching her. “You feel so tight—why does it feel like it’s been so long?” he muttered.

  Tori pressed a finger to his lips. “Hush…just love me. Please, just love me…forever,” she pleaded. She pulled him down and kissed him.

  He started to pump against her. Each time he pulled out, Tori arched up, following him, trying to keep him inside her as long as she could. When he was inside her, when he was pressed against her, she felt whole. Complete. “Don’t ever stop,” she sighed against his lips.

  “I won’t.” He moved quicker, higher up on her body, caressing her clit with each movement.

  She was crying. Tori felt the tears stinging her eyes, seeping out to roll down her face and into her hair. Sobs tightened her chest. Desperation swamped her. She clutched Declan tighter against her, wrapping her legs around his waist, hooking her heels together just above his ass. “Don’t ever leave me. Please don’t…”

  The orgasm exploded through her and she screamed. Above her, Declan stiffened, pressing his palms flat to the floor and arching upward, driving his length completely and still he pressed hard against her. Harder and harder, like he was trying to join their bodies completely, forever.

  “Don’t ever leave me…”

  “Don’t leave me,” Tori whispered…

  ~~~~~

  She kept her eyes closed. The dream was over. She was alone in her bed again. He was gone. She lay on her side and the pillow under her face felt damp. Wet with tears. She usually woke up crying.

  On the days when she didn’t wake up crying, she woke up pissed.

  Pissed was usually better than crying. Didn’t hurt as much.

  She couldn’t find the anger inside herself today but the day was young. She could find something to get angry about if she looked hard enough.

  Kicking her way free from the covers, she climbed out of the bed and headed for the shower. She didn’t have any soap with her. No lotion. None of her shampoo. All that stuff she’d left behind at the house.

  Their house.

  The house she’d shared with Declan. She hadn’t been back there for months. She had tried. Right after Declan had died, she had tried going home and spending the night in their bed. She’d hoped the scent of his skin on the sheets would be a comfort.

  It had made it worse.

  The dreams there were worse. She even had them while she was awake. She turned the corner in the hallway and thought she saw him standing there. She took a bath and heard him calling her name. It had been too much. When she’d left, she had sent a message to Eli, asking him to find somebody to take care of the house.

  Maybe one day she could go back.

  Come to me…

  The echo whispered through the room and Tori clapped her hands over her ears, trying to block it out. “I’m going crazy,” she muttered.

  Go…work. If she left the hotel and went Hunting, she’d find something to occupy her head. If she kept busy enough, the voice faded away.

  She climbed into the shower and turned on the water. The spray was barely lukewarm but she didn’t want to wait for it to warm enough. Hurry, hurry, hurry…if she moved quickly enough, kept her brain busy enough, she could escape the memories while she was awake.

  If she moved long enough, stayed awake long enough, then when she finally tried to get some rest, she’d be so damn tired, she would sleep and then she could dream of him. Really dream. The sleeping dreams where she could pretend they were together. At least for a while.

  But to get to that point, she had to work.

  * * * * *

  Nine Months Later

  “She’s getting out of control.”

  Eli and Sarel stood by silently as Malachi stared down at the lifeless, battered body. The dead man lay on the metal table, a blue sheet pulled up and covering most of his body. His face and upper torso were visible—and they couldn’t see an inch that wasn’t bruised or bloodied.

  “I cannot believe Tori did this,” Malachi muttered. He reached up and rubbed a hand over his eyes. He looked like he felt a little sick.

  Eli understood. He’d felt the same way when he first saw the man Tori had beaten to death. “He was a drug dealer—does that help much?” Eli asked quietly. He slid a look toward the door. There was a cop out in the hall, watching to make sure they weren’t disturbed. The cop, Bryce Green, was the son of a shapeshifter. He fed information to the Hunters on cases that looked like something more than human might be involved. He was one of many. “He was found last night.”

  “A drug dealer?” Malachi asked. The dark look on his face lightened just a little. “Then maybe this is just a case of overkill.”

  Sarel shook her head. She pushed her hands through her hair, gathering the dark red locks into a loose tail at the nape of her neck. “And what if it’s not overkill? What if it was murder? Yes, he was a drug dealer. But what if he was trying to turn his life around? He was arrested a few months ago, pled guilty and served his time. He was out on early probation and he got into a fight with his girlfriend. From what the police have been able to tell, it got a little physical. The girlfriend says he pushed her. She fell down and he took off. After that, only Tori knows what happened. A drug dealer, Malachi. A nineteen-year-old drug dealer. A kid, Malachi.”

  Malachi turned away. Wide shoulders slumped. “Bloody hell.”

  Eli muttered, “That was my reaction.” He sighed. He had a headache the size of the Pacific Ocean. Tension knotted every muscle in his body. The past year, it seemed like everything had gone straight to hell. “Malachi, old friend, I do not know what to do.”

  The ancient vampire looked at Eli and the look in Mal’s dark blue eyes didn’t do a damn thing to ease Eli. If anything, he felt worse. “I hope you did not expect me to offer advice, Eli. I cannot give it. This…” he shook his head. “I do not know how to handle this. I do not know what to tell you.”

  Sarel snorted. Eli and Malachi turned to look at her and she was watching them with a sad, bitter smile. “There’s only one thing we can do. She’s getting worse. She’s getting more violent. Sooner or later, she’s going to cross the line. We can’t let her.”

  Malachi lifted a brow and asked, “You think we need to find her and bring her…where?”

  She shrugged restlessly. “I don’t know. Take her back to Excelsior. Make her deal with this…whatever this is that she is going through.” She closed her eyes. “I can’t imagine how she must be hurting. Losing Declan…�
�� her voice got rough and husky and she looked at them with damp eyes. “I can’t even imagine the pain she must be going through. I don’t know that I’d survive losing Eli. But regardless of what she’s going through, we can’t just let her keep doing this.”

  “She will not come back of her own free will,” Malachi said softly. “We have asked. We have sent numerous messengers out after her. She will not return. She does not want to.”

  “Then that means we have to track her down and bring her back.” Sarel said it as casually as she would have discussed going shoe shopping.

  Laughter, harsh and bitter, escaped Malachi. “Are you volunteering to go look for her? Before you say yes, little witch, remember who this is. To all appearances, Tori McAdams might look like any other vampire but she is not.”

  Eli watched as his wife’s eyes narrowed. The little witch comment had pissed her off. He wasn’t surprised. But she didn’t lay into Malachi. Instead, she took a deep breath and waited a minute before she answered. “I am not volunteering. I don’t like this, Malachi. Not any more than you. And yes, I know who Tori is. Tori McAdams, a Huntress—the Hunter of all Hunters. She might be the uber-vamp but she’s forgotten who and what she is. We can’t do the same.”

  Chapter Three

  Over the past year, Brian Kelly’s life had gone to hell in a hand basket. He stood in the doorway of the run-down apartment, staring in at the stained carpet, the dingy walls and the small, cramped rooms. All three of them. Including the bathroom. There was a bed in the living room, crammed under the little window, and a couch about two feet away. No TV. No coffee table. No phone. There was a kitchenette with a table that was roughly the size of a postage stamp.

  But it was clean and warm. There was a faint, lingering scent of cigarette smoke but nothing he couldn’t deal with. Nothing the two of them weren’t used to.

  His son cuddled against his chest and mumbled something under his breath. Brian skimmed a hand down the boy’s narrow back and soothed him back to sleep. He sighed wearily. The hellhole was the best he could manage. He knew that. But he didn’t have to like it.

  He looked at the landlady and nodded. “This will be fine.”

  She snapped her gum and said, “I need rent on a weekly basis. Cash only. First week, last week and security deposit.”

  Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out what little cash he had left from his last job. The construction jobs he’d been taking paid cash under the table, too little cash for work that was damn hard and damn exhausting. The last one had ended three weeks earlier and he hadn’t had much luck finding anything in Dupont, Kansas. Heading east seemed the right thing to do at the time but now he just didn’t know.

  After paying rent, he had less than a hundred bucks to his name and he had a son to feed. He had to find a job and soon. He wished he could get a decent one, one that lasted more than a few weeks or a month, one with insurance so he could do more than take Lee to the health clinic for his shots.

  But so far, he couldn’t even find one of his normal crappy jobs.

  The landlady disappeared, snapping her gum, her slippers making little scuffing sounds as she trudged away. “She’s cheerful,” he muttered. Then he sighed and closed the door. He dumped his duffel on the chair by the door and carried Lee over to the bed. The sheets on it were threadbare but they were clean. They smelled of detergent and fabric softener.

  Tugging the comforter back, Brian laid Lee down and tugged the blanket up over him and then he walked over to the couch and flopped down on it. He needed a shower. He wanted a drink. He wanted some food. He had bought Lee a Happy Meal a few hours ago. Lee had eaten three chicken nuggets, a fistful of fries and half of the soft drink. After Lee had fallen asleep, Brian polished off the rest of the food but it didn’t even touch the hunger gnawing at his belly.

  He was going to need a real meal in the morning. He hadn’t had a decent meal in days and he was running on empty. But right now, he just wanted to get some sleep.

  Sleep…a smile curled his lips as he tipped his head back and closed his eyes. Sleep was one of two things he looked forward to. The other was the small, sleeping child curled on the bed a few feet away.

  * * * * *

  Her voice echoed in his ears as he tumbled into sleep. Her hands, small, smooth and soft, raced over his skin and her voice, husky and low, muttered into his ear, Make love to me…

  “Gladly.” When he opened his eyes and stared at her, he knew he was dreaming…

  ~~~~~

  The slim woman in front of him was too damn beautiful to be anything but a dream, big blue eyes, mink brown curls, big breasts, a little waist and the most perfect ass he’d ever seen.

  He covered her lips with his and wrapped his arms around that little waist, hauling her against him. She was naked and even though he was pretty sure he’d had clothes on a few minutes ago, they were gone now. Her legs wrapped around his waist, her hands fisted in his hair. He lifted her up and pushed inside. Silky, wet heat closed over him. “You’re so damn hot, so tight.”

  “Stop talking,” she whispered. “Make love to me.”

  He did, ramming himself into her with a force that should have set her bones to rattling. She met each thrust eagerly. Brian worked a hand between them and circled his thumb over the tight little bud of her clit. The muscles in her pussy clamped tightly around his dick. He was going to come—too soon, too quick. Brian slowed his thrusts and whispered, “One of these nights, I’m going to take my time with you. I’m going to linger over you and kiss every last inch of your body. I’m going to make love to you, soft and slow, over and over again.”

  She hummed against his lips. “Sounds nice. Now make me come…please…”

  He did just that, driving into her hard and fast. He palmed her ass and squeezed the firm, supple curves before tracing his fingers down through the crease between her buttocks. She arched up against him as he pushed the tip of his finger against the tight little pucker of her ass. He growled as she pushed down eagerly against the caress. It made her hot—he could feel it, almost taste her excitement. He even thought he could hear the rapid pace of her heart.

  Hunger punched through him, an electric shock to his system. He pulled away and turned her around, using his weight to take her to the ground. He used his knee to spread her thighs apart. She bent over and he stared at the soft curve of her ass. He smoothed his hand over the curve of her ass and then he touched the puckered hole. She moaned and muttered, “Yes.”

  In the way of dreams, he felt something in his hand and looked down, staring at the clear bottle of liquid in his hand. Flipping the blue cap up, he squeezed some lube into his palm. When he touched her ass again, she bucked under his hands and her hips started undulating in a demanding little shimmy. With his free hand, he spread his fingers wide over the curve of her lower back, holding her still and steady. He pushed his finger inside her, spreading the lube inside, stretching her, preparing her. She loved every second of it.

  Sweat slicked both of them. He could see it gleaming on the soft, sleek curves of her back. He cupped her hips in his hands and bent low over her, pressing the head of his cock against her. The tight ring of muscle resisted him at first. She groaned and pushed her butt backward, taking him inside her. “Yes,” she rasped.

  So hungry, always so hungry. He pulled back and she followed him. He slammed into her and she begged for more. “Don’t stop…please don’t stop…”

  Brian couldn’t have stopped if his life depended on it. It was like his entire life depended on taking as much of her as he could, as fast as he could, making it last as long as possible. But he couldn’t last, not with his dick swathed in hot, snug silk that rippled and clenched around him with every heartbeat.

  He stretched his length out over hers, using his body to pin her to the floor. He wrapped his fingers around her wrists and pinned them down. “Tell me to fuck you,” he whispered against her ear. “I want to hear it. Tell me you need for me to fuck you, for me to fuck this tight, hot
little ass. Say it.”

  The only thing she got out was a long, broken moan. He raked his teeth over her neck and bit her on the shoulder. He lifted his head—saw blood. Blood. Part of him felt like he was supposed to be horrified. But the rest of him—the sight of that red little smear made him so hot he was going to burst into flame.

  He licked the blood away and it tasted like the sweetest wine imaginable. When he pressed his lips back to her flesh, she exploded under him, her slender, sexy body arching and bucking and writhing. Brian felt like he was trying to stay atop a wild mare. Every wild, burning second was a sweet, hot trip through paradise.

  “Don’t leave me…”

  ~~~~~

  Tori didn’t want to wake up. She was still caught in the afterglow of her dream, her entire body trembling with little aftershocks. Yeah, she could happily lie here for a couple of hours, reliving the dream and pretending it had been real.

  Pretending that Declan was still alive, lying beside her in bed.

  But somebody was knocking at her door and it was a vampire. It was also a vampire Tori didn’t recognize. A woman. There was a faint, almost tropical scent in the air. It wasn’t a scent that Tori could remember smelling before.

  She climbed out of bed in a fit of temper, struggling free from the blankets and kicking them aside. “Gimme a break,” she snarled at the door as she looked around for her shirt. Oh man, she hurt. She was so damn horny, she thought she just might die from it. Her nipples ached, her pussy throbbed and she was wet.

  But instead of lying on the bed and reveling in actually feeling anything besides grief, she was wide awake and staring at the door. She grabbed her shirt from the floor and jerked it on over her head, muttering irritably. “I ought to strangle you,” she whispered to whoever was on the other side of the door.

  She flung it open and the woman standing in front of her just smiled. “You could try. Trust me, it won’t do ya any good. I don’t need t’ breathe.” Her wine red lips curved up in a smile that didn’t quite reach her pretty, amber-colored eyes. Her skin was a warm chocolate brown and her hair hung to her waist in intricate braids. Just below the corner of her left eye there was a small sickle-shaped tattoo.