Toxic

by Eve Langlais

  I met his questing lips. The touch of his mouth on mine sent an erotic shiver through me, one that tightened my nipples even further and started a throbbing in my cleft. I didn’t stop him when his hands came to rest on my hips, bigger and rougher than I would have expected of a man of science. He pulled me closer to him, the hardness of his cock, even through his bulky layers of clothing, pressing against my lower tummy and spiraling my desire. His kiss deepened and I parted my lips for him, I even allowed him to slip his tongue into my mouth. I couldn’t stop myself from enjoying the arousal he incited, a sexual excitement like I’d never imagined and one which unfortunately couldn’t go any further. Not if I wanted him to live.

  I bit down on his tongue, gentle enough so as to not break skin, but hard enough to grab his attention. The idiot man groaned, and for a moment his grip on me tightened. Why, oh why, did I suddenly have to acquire morals? I pushed at him and he stepped back. His eyes burned with arousal, but all too quickly, his usual placid expression slid back into place. I wish I knew how he does that because I am anything but calm right now.

  “That was interesting,” he said breaking the silence.

  I scowled. “You shouldn’t have done that.” I lied. I wanted him to kiss me again, naked while fucking me.

  “Why not? Sexuality seems to be a large part of your persona, a fact you’ve made blatantly obvious.” He brushed a knuckle across my bare nipple and I shuddered, for a moment fervently wishing he’d follow with his mouth.

  I mentally shook myself. “Fine. I made you kiss me because I’m a vampire slut. Now write it down in your little notebook and don’t do it again.” I hopped off the bed, afraid to look back and see the puddle of my desire soaking the sheet.

  Raphael, though, wasn’t ready to let me go and he caught my arm as I went to flee his presence-and to find something I could fuck without killing.

  “Why are you so upset? Are you involved with someone?”

  I peered back at him incredulously. “No.”

  “Then where’s the harm in a kiss?” he asked, trying to reel me back into his arms. I just braced my feet and let my superior strength keep me away from temptation. To my surprise, he was stronger than I’d given him credit for and I almost went stumbling back against him.

  I scowled at him. “A kiss is fine. It’s the rest that’s dangerous.”

  He grinned at me, a masculine smile that seemed out of place on his scholarly face, or had I misjudged my sexy scientist? “I think I can handle some hot sex.”

  “Not with me you can’t,” I replied shaking my head even as my hormones cried for me to give in. “I’m toxic.”

  He frowned. “What do you mean toxic?”

  “Sex with me is toxic to humans,” I replied with a shrug. “Or more accurately, my orgasms kill your kind.”

  The jerk laughed. “If that’s a boast of your prowess, then I’ll admit I’m intrigued.”

  I growled. “Idiot. While my saliva causes euphoria and my blood given in a certain sequence can turn a human, my pussy juices, especially the fluids released during climax, have something in them, some deadly ingredient. If it comes in contact with the skin of a human, it kills them. There is no cure. So while you can kiss me, you’ll never fuck me, not unless you want to die.” He gaped at my announcement.

  Upset with myself and him for having the nerve to be born human, I whirled on my heel and left, hitting my room for a change of clothes. I stomped down to my office, my annoyance simmering the further I went without him chasing me down. I don’t care how petty it is of me. A part of me kind of wishes he’d overlook the whole death by pussy thing just for a chance to get with me. Jerk.

  In order to stifle my aroused libido, I buried myself in some printed reports of daemon sightings. They were arriving more frequently as the barrier between our world and the demonic dimension thinned.

  So far, with the help of the dark faeries, we were keeping ahead of the invasion. But I knew it was only a matter of time before a large wave broke through. I knew our queen was working on bringing the humans and their armies into the knowledge loop, but I wondered if we shouldn’t speed things up. We needed the human scientists to start work on weapons that would prove effective against the repulsively strong daemons. And on that same note, I also wished more special beings would step forth to join the fight.

  The merpeople had yet to respond to our request to patrol the seas, but I couldn’t imagine them not defending their territory, so I wasn’t truly worried about them. The dwarves refused to involve themselves, claiming the affairs of man did not concern them. They further claimed that if the horde poured into the world bent on destruction, they would wall off their surface accesses. So helpful. It also made me send a note to the gardener to buy some more garden gnomes. They looked enough like the troublesome dwarves that I’d have fun venting some frustration in my next training session. The pixies and faeries of light stubbornly refused to listen to our warnings. They tilted their stubborn chins, claimed we were evil and thus not to be trusted.

  I gnashed my teeth as I imagined showing them how evil I could be if they kept pissing me off. I’d gladly pluck their little wings off until they agreed to join the coming fight.

  Negotiations with the shifters were progressing well, but given their divisiveness among the varied animal clans, it was slow moving. But if we could get them on our side they’d provide an invaluable source of strength. I’d also heard tantalizing rumors that they were capable of withstanding sex with a vampire. An intriguing idea which, if true, would increase the pool of available lovers.

  But back to the primary problem. Daemons and the difficulties we’d encountered killing them.

  What I really needed to do was capture one of the pesky creatures and bring it back for testing-the deadly kind. In order to fight the enemy we needed to know more about it. Find its weaknesses. So far we weren’t faring well in our battle with them. For every daemon we took down, we lost at least one or more of our kind. The humans, without our inborn weapons, wouldn’t stand a chance unless they were forewarned and armed themselves. Therein lay the reason for the whole coming out fiasco. Get to know your friendly neighborhood monster so you can team up when the bully comes to town. I still thought we should have just glamored those in charge to do our bidding. But, many of my kind were eager to escape the shadows and join society. Idiots. They could live in the spotlight and make targets of themselves. I intended to return to hiding in the shadows as soon as my roles as spokes-vampire and guinea pig were over with.

  Thinking of my current role made me think of Raphael. I scowled. Blasted man. Why couldn’t they have sent me some old, grizzled scientist instead of Mr. Hottie?

  A lightbulb-a dim, none-UV kind-went off in my mind. The best way to get his focus off me and, in return, me away from him was to give him something new to play with. Say, like, a daemon. Not only could I vent some frustration hunting down one of the beasts, Rafe could prove useful dissecting it. Besides, at this point, I’d cooperated as much as I intended. He knew enough about my kind to compile a report. So why not send him away?

  I shushed that voice in favor of the one that said Rafe could help us in our fight against the Legion coming. Tearing daemons limb from limb was well and good, but against the horde we’d face, not too practical, not given our current kill ratio. As general to the queen-and in a sense, all of humanity-I needed to know their weak spots. Where to ram my fist through their flesh and pull out their beating heart-or if they didn’t have a heart, whatever passed for one.

  I also needed to find out more about their powers. Like other than their nasty stench and extremely bad breath, did they have the power of beguilement we enjoyed? Or the ability to cloak themselves in shadows? So much I need to know, and yet, I was stuck in the mansion with Dr. Temptation.

  Although technically, I wasn’t restricted to the house. In order to keep my promise to the queen, I just needed to keep myself available to the doctor. The fact I didn’t plan to allow any more testing di
dn’t enter the equation. Much as he made me want to ride him like a cowgirl while I sucked on his jugular didn’t erase the fact that his knowledge and skills were needed. He’s an invaluable tool, and I would be doing my queen a disservice if I were to send him away just because he makes me hornier than a rabbit in heat.

  Illogical or not, I liked my decision. Now, the next question was did I bring him with me as I hunted down the daemon? Or should I leave him at home and bring back the unconscious carcass for him to play with?

  Of course, either way, first I’d have to tell him what the real motive in our declaring ourselves was. How did you tell a human that the Mayans were right? The end was coming. We’d just translated the date wrong. And it wasn’t outer space we needed to fear, but another dimension, the Hell realm.

  It made me wonder if maybe Heaven also existed. After all, Hell ended up being a real place, just blocked off a long time ago from accessing our world due to planetary rotations and whatnot. Thinking of Heaven, though, led to the question of were angels real? And of even more interest, what would they taste like?

  A knock on my study door had me calling out a sharp, “Come in.”

  I expected Annabelle, my late night snack, instead I smelt the delicious aftershave of one not-on-the-menu doctor. I hid behind my reports, not wanting to face him yet, not with the memory of his kiss-his achingly hot touch-still fresh in my mind.

  “I’m sorry,” he said his low timbered voice shooting shivers down my spine.

  “Apology accepted. Good night.” I wasn’t sure what he was sorry for. Sorry for kissing me? Sorry for not being able to fuck me without dying? Did it matter?

  He sighed. “You’re really not like human women are you?”

  It was a rhetorical question so I didn’t bother answering. Besides, even among my own kind I was considered different.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow evening then.” I heard him turn and move towards the door.

  “Wait.” I really hated the way my mouth had a tendency of talking before I knew what I was going to say. “How about we go on a fieldtrip tomorrow?”

  “Sure. Where to?”

  “Somewhere possibly dirty, so wear dark clothes. Oh, and skip the aftershave.”

  “Why?” he queried.

  I lowered my reports and looked him in the face. His blue eyes met mine and I smiled the toothy grin of a hunter. “Because where I’m taking you, you don’t want to smell too edible.”

  He didn’t blanch, just nodded his head and, with a ghost of a smile hovering on his lips, turned on his heel to leave.

  As for me, I flattened the last report I’d perused.

  I’d found a daemon, or so I thought given the sketchy details. Humans missing. Strange sounds and lights. And the most telling tidbit, blood splatters. All kinds of clues that made me think I’d found a beast, and not too far from the house either. Excellent.

  Tomorrow, I’d catch the foul one and bring him back to Rafe. My version of candy and flowers for a human I couldn’t have.

  Chapter Six

  I spent another day barely sleeping, too caught up in my fantasies revolving around the untouchable doctor. I’d thumbed through my black book looking for a fuck buddy to call, but none of them had the tousled blond hair, blue eyes and geeky look I craved.

  I made do with my vibrator, but even though I climaxed, I found myself more sexually frustrated than ever. I decided I needed better toys. I left a note for Annabelle to invest in some heavy duty hardware, anything to help scratch the erotic itch I couldn’t shake.

  I was disgruntled and on my third pair of panties by the time I met Raphael in the front hall. As requested, he wore black from head to toe, and he even had a black leather bomber jacket that made me arch a brow. He looked like a good boy turned bad, in other words, totally freaking hot!

  “Did you go shopping with a biker?” I asked to mask the fact I wanted to peel him and eat him.

  Rafe looked down at himself then up at me with a grin. “You said black. And weren’t you the one who told me leather is easier to wipe the filth off.”

  Actually I’d said blood, but I wouldn’t split hairs. He looked good, damned good, and when I approached and sniffed him, he smelt even better.

  I growled.

  “I didn’t put any aftershave on,” he said raising his hands.

  “Doesn’t matter, you still smell like food,” I grumbled, heading out the door and into the fresh air, away from his tantalizing scent.

  “Where are we going?” he asked as he followed me out.

  “Hunting,” I said swinging a leg over my motorcycle parked out front. I patted the seat behind me. “Think of it as an up close look at how a vampire takes down prey.”

  “Are you going to kill someone?”

  Humans and their morals-what a drag. “Who me?” I batted my lashes at him. “I’m not after a human if that’s what you’re worried about. Now, are you getting your ass on here or not?”

  “I guess this is your way of telling me you can’t fly,” he said, swinging onto the bike behind me.

  “I wish,” I said, gunning the throttle. “Hold on tight.” His hands came around my midsection and with a chuckle to myself, I peeled out of my driveway. His grip tightened and I wondered if my curious doctor was frightened. A moment later I revised that thought as his erection poked my backside. More like excited.

  He leaned forward and yelled in my ear. “How good are your reflexes on this thing?”

  I smirked at his challenge. I poured on the speed and as the speedometer crept higher and higher, weaved in and out among the traffic. I was in perfect control of my machine and loved the speed.

  He shouted again to be heard over the motorcycles engine noise. I should have told him not to bother. I could hear his heartbeat still with my enhanced senses.

  “Not bad, but what if you’re distracted?”

  I meant to ask, “Distracted by what?” but I almost crashed us when he showed me. He slid his hands down to rest on my spread thighs. And then he went between them, the heel of his hand rubbing at my crotch.

  “Holy fuck! What are you doing?” I yelled as molten heat shot through me.

  “Just checking,” he whispered in my ear followed by a wet swipe of his tongue which had me wetting my panties.

  What had happened to my shy doctor? I pinned my lips tight-both sets-as he chuckled behind me. The pressure on my crotch lessened, but he kept his hands on my thighs. Something I was all too aware of. I’d have to have another talk with him about the dangers of rousing me. A woman, and a vampire at that, could only take so much before she snapped, and if that happened, the brief bliss we’d both enjoy would be tinged with regret as I buried his lifeless body. Or I could turn him, a thought that should have had little to no appeal given my dislike of blood thirsty fledglings. But considering how Rafe affected me, the idea had merit. I stowed the thought for later perusal.

  We drove for about two hours before I reached the place in my report. An industrial area that at this time of night was vacant of humans, most of them anyway.

  I stopped the bike and stepped off, instantly missing the warmth of Rafe’s body hugging mine.

  “So you going to tell me what you’re after?” he asked peering off into the darkness.

  “How familiar are you with the concept of daemons?”

  I thought I heard him choke and I whirled to look at him.

  He returned my stare placidly. “I know of them in theory and from fiction. Why do you ask?”

  “Because tonight, if we’re lucky, we’re going to find the reason why vampires came out of the closet.”

  “I don’t suppose you’re going to elaborate.”

  I grinned in reply as I headed off into the darkness. He followed behind and I grudgingly had to admit, for a human, he moved almost as quietly as I did.

  I wasn’t sure where the daemon might be hiding, or even if it had stayed in the area. But given their territorial tendencies and the secluded nature of this area-plenty of h
iding spots-I had a hunch it hadn’t moved on.

  I just needed the right bait to get it to come out. “Hey Rafe, we need to split up so we can cover more ground. If you see something, don’t engage it, just holler for me.”

  I could have sworn I saw his eyes twinkle, but he turned to lope off into the darkness and I chalked it up to the light glinting off his glasses.

  I paralleled him, leaping up to the top of the containers and silently tracking behind him. I drew my power around me to cloak me even further and watched my libido disturbing doctor as he peeked around corners, searching blindly.

  Given the daemon taste for human flesh, I figured Rafe would tempt the beast out of hiding and then I’d soar in for the rescue.

  At least that was my plan until something hit me in the back and sent me tumbling to the ground. I hit the packed earth hard, but immediately rolled in time to miss being impaled by the sharp claws of a daemon.

  Holy fuck. The beast was huge, bigger than the daemons we’d faced previously. And uglier, too. He sported a pair of curling alabaster horns with sharp points, a perfect match for his filed teeth. His black skin gleamed with moisture covered in an icky slime I knew from experience would burn my skin.

  “Well, aren’t you a handsome boy,” I crooned as I jumped to my feet.

  The creature drooled in reply and I shuddered, especially when I saw the saliva hit the ground and sizzle. Mental note to self: do not kiss the daemon.

  I circled the monster, sizing him up and waiting for the right moment. When the opening didn’t miraculously arrive, I just charged to make one. I hit the beast in the midsection and we barreled backwards into a container with a loud thud.

  I’d underestimated the daemon’s strength, though. Its arms came around me in a bear hug that squeezed the breath from me and trapped my arms.

  Stuck, I leaned forward instead of away from its grasp and sank my teeth into the oily black skin of its neck, my lips burning at the touch.