Tall, Dark & Heartless: A Pyte/Sentinel Series Novel

by R. L. Mathewson

The most interesting thing that she'd learned, besides picking up on a few interesting positions that Chris had been more than happy to try out with her, was that not every Sentinel couple was in love. That was actually kind of weird, at least to her since she was madly in love with her mate and of course the whole "soul mate" concept.

  If someone was made for you, shared two half souls with you, wouldn't that make the person your perfect half? The person that you were meant to love forever? She thought so, but apparently she was wrong. Less than half the Sentinel couples were actually in love. When she asked Eric about that, he gave her a pained smile as he explained that many Sentinels looked at their mates as their partners, a comrade that they shared a close bond with to help them in their job, but were unable to love their mate more than their job.

  His reaction to her question left her a little confused, that is until Chris took her aside and gently explained that Eric and his mate did not share a love bond, which kind of surprised her since Eric and Meredith seemed very close. She knew that they loved each other, the problem was that they loved their jobs more. It was actually kind of sad, she thought as Chris walked back into the office, closing the door behind her and going back down on his knees and picking up right where he left off without a word.

  With a moan she allowed all her worries to disappear as Chris made love to her with his mouth. He worked her, taking his time to hit all the spots that he knew would set her off. When she screamed out her first organism he groaned, but he didn't stop until she was on the verge of coming again.

  "You feel like helping me out, Munchkin?" Chris asked, giving her slit one last lick before standing up. He cupped the back of her knees as he pressed his jean clad erection against her and smiled as he licked his lips clean.

  "What did you have in mind?" she asked, slightly panting as Chris ground himself against her.

  "It depends, Munchkin," he drawled lazily as he gently pulled her forward until she was sitting on the very edge of the desk and sliding her arms around his neck.

  "On what?" she asked, leaning forward to press a kiss against the light pink scar tissue on the side of his neck.

  "On whether or not you think you can handle more?" Chris asked on a groan as he rubbed against her.

  Smiling, she cupped his face with one hand and with the other she ran her hand down his chest, loving the way the soft grey tee-shirt hugged every muscle on Chris' impressive chest. When she reached the spot where the large swell of her stomach prevented her from running her hand down his body any further she inwardly sighed as she dropped her hand to the side and beneath her stomach to cup the large erection threatening to rip through his jeans to get to her.

  "Do you want me to handle it?" she asked teasingly as she gave it a gentle squeeze that had Chris bucking in her hands and hissing in a breath.

  He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. "I want you to do more than handle it," he said, even as reached between them and undid his pants. Isabella didn't wait to be asked, she pulled his zipper down and reached into his boxer shorts and pulled him out, taking her time to run her hand up and down his length, enjoying the smooth soft skin over hard hot steel.

  She opened her legs wider as she used his length to pull him closer. He came willingly, but made no move to take what they both knew he wanted. Chris was once again protecting her and the baby. As much as he wanted her, and she knew that the man wanted her, usually several times a day, he always hesitated to make sure that he didn't hurt her.

  Biting back a sigh, she pulled him a little closer and used his erection to tease her swollen lips. He sucked in a breath as his hands slapped down hard on the workstation on either side of her ass as he dropped his mouth to hers, taking her mouth in a savage kiss that left her panting and desperate to have him.

  As much as she wanted him, she wanted this moment more, the moment where she thought she'd die if he didn't slide inside of her. It turned her on more than anything and judging by the way his cock jumped in her hand as she continued to rub the large silky head through her slit she knew that he loved it just as much as she did.

  "I need you, Chris," she said, sounding almost desperate and for good reason.

  She was.

  There was just something about this man that drove her crazy and she couldn't get enough of him, probably never would. It didn't matter that it was barely seven in the morning or that they'd just made love not thirty minutes ago in the shower, she needed him. Now. She knew that it would always be this way with him. Even when they were two hundred years old and their time was nearly over she knew that she wouldn't be able to get enough of him.

  "You have me, Munchkin," Chris said against her lips as he slowly pushed in, careful of her stomach as he released a loud moan of pleasure that had her toes curling,

  His thrusts were slow and careful as he reached down and grabbed the hem of her Indian Jones vintage tee shirt and pulled it up. They broke the kiss long enough for her to help him pull it up and off her, leaving her in only the lacy pale lavender bra that she knew he liked.

  Chris wrapped his arms around her waist as he carefully leaned her back. He held her tightly as he ran his mouth down her neck, kissing and suckling her skin as he went. When he reached the tops of her large breasts she wrapped her arms around his head, gently running her fingers through his short silky dark, almost black hair and closed her eyes, savoring his touch.

  When he licked his way down to her lace covered nipple and began licking that sensitive area she held his head tightly to her breast as she licked her lips and did her best to move against him, letting him know that she needed more. With a growl of approval he tightened his hold around her, never releasing his hold on her nipple as he picked her up and walked over to the large leather couch.

  In seconds, he was sitting in the middle of the couch, her bra was ripped off and he was licking, sucking and worshiping her breasts with barely controlled passion. She cried out when he tugged her nipple into his mouth and suckled, sending a shot of pleasure from her nipple straight to her clit.

  The man was a god in bed, she thought just before he released her nipple with a loud pop and somehow rearranged her so that she was on her hands and knees on the couch with her forehead pressed against the soft armrest as he pounded into her from behind.

  When he released a loud groan she knew what was coming, but once again she was unprepared for the orgasm that ripped through her body. She gripped the leather armrest tightly as his name was ripped from her throat. As much as she would have loved to have been able to hold it back, especially with about twenty computer techs working right next door, she couldn't, never could and if she tried, Chris would work that much harder to make her lose it. The man loved to make her scream.

  A shiver tore through her body when Chris leaned forward and pressed a kiss against the middle of her back and damn if her body didn't throb in anticipation. His soft chuckle let her know that he felt it.

  "I'm game if you are, Munchkin," he said even as she registered his cock hardening impossibly further inside of her. She opened her mouth to tell him that she'd kill him if he didn't take her again when her office door flew open and slammed into the wall, startling her enough to instinctively grab the throw blanket that she kept on the back of the couch and haphazardly throw it over her back.

  "I've been waiting for thirty minutes for you damn people to finish," Kale said in way of greeting as he stormed into the room, uncaring that he caught them naked and in a rather embarrassing position, again.

  Chris sighed heavily as he helped adjust the blanket over her. "I know you like him, Munchkin, but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to kill him."

  Kale simply snorted at that little announcement as he swiped Isabella's shirt and pants off the floor and tossed them to her before he sat down on her desk chair. She made sure to throw him a murderous glare as she got dressed beneath the blanket, but of course the damn shifter simply winked at her, unconcerned that she was considering letting Chris kick his ass. Not that
it would be easy, there was a reason why Kale was considered the best mercenary in their world after all.

  "You know that you scared off half your staff with that first scream, right?" Kale asked conversationally as he picked through her bowl of mini chocolates and helped himself to what appeared to be her last peanut butter cup.

  With her eyes narrowed, she got up to tear him apart when Chris grabbed her by her arms, sighed and settled her on his lap. "I'll get you another bag."

  "But it's the last one!" she pointed out before adding, "by default that makes it the tastiest one of them all!"

  "Mmmm, it really is tasty," Kale said simply to piss her off and it worked.

  With a sigh, Chris pulled her back down onto his lap. "Is there a reason why you're here, other than to get tips that is?" Chris asked innocently, earning a scowl from Kale.

  Kale snorted with amusement. "I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you, Pup, she only screamed your name three times."

  She felt Chris shrug behind her. "I'm having an off day."

  "It sounded like she was faking it," Kale pointed out with a twinkle in his eyes as he continued to snack on her chocolate.

  "Really? You think so?" Chris mused, "Because it kind of sounded like she was holding back to me. Maybe you should leave for a half hour so that we can find out."

  "Kale, is there something you needed?" she asked when he opened his mouth to bait Chris into an argument, something he seemed to enjoy.

  He nodded absently as he searched through the now half empty bowl of chocolates. She threw a glare over her shoulder, telling Chris with one look that he better have that bowl refilled within the hour.

  "Why the hell are you giving me that look? I'm not the one coming between you and chocolate. Make him fill it up."

  She rolled her eyes at that little idea. "Because he'll eat it all before he gets back to the compound," she said in a duh tone.

  "So true," Kale admitted with a drawn out sigh. "Plus, I don't have time at the moment, which is why I'm here."

  She turned her attention to Kale as he set the now mostly empty bowl down. "I have a job and I need your help, Izzy."

  "What's the job?" she asked, getting to her feet and walked over to Kale. She gestured for him to get out of her seat, but he simply ignored her. Too tired to get into a shouting and pushing match with him, she settled for sitting on his lap.

  When he threw Chris a triumphant grin she of course elbowed him in the chest. Other than let out a grunt of pain he didn't react as he wrapped an arm around her.

  "She already has too much on her plate. Go peddle your bullshit elsewhere," Chris said, getting to his feet and no doubt coming to pull her off Kale's lap when Kale's next words stopped him.

  "It's about your missing Pyte, or rather......Pytes."

  Chapter 21

  "You lost my property!" the Master roared as he shoved a trembling vampire against the tiled wall of the room that once held the Pyte and the woman.

  The vampire whimpered as he shook his head. "It wasn't me, Master! I swear!"

  With a feral growl the Master crushed the young vampire's neck before he dropped him and whirled around, leaving the vampire to suffer, but not die. The Master was being generous today, Lucan mused as his eyes shot over to the reason. Greg stood in front of the other minions as he shot Lucan a smug grin.

  Normally the Master would have torn every vampire and minion he could get his hands on apart until Lucan was left with little choice but to intervene. He'd have to calm the Master down before he either killed everyone or ran them off. Their numbers were already embarrassingly small. They didn't need to lose anyone else, especially with a war going on and the long list of enemies the Master had acquired over the years.

  Not that their small army was keeping anyone from attacking, they weren't, but there were rules in their world and attacking another Master without a damn good reason could get you staked. However, the minute the Master no longer had any followers he would cease to be anyone's Master and he would be open game and there would be nothing that Lucan could do to protect the insane man then.

  He watched as the Master ran his hands down his youthful face and couldn't help but wonder how difficult the Master was struggling not to kill everyone in sight. On a good day, the Master had a hell of a time behaving rationally and this sure as hell wasn't a good day.

  The Pyte, correction, two Pytes, he reminded himself had escaped tonight. Not that anyone but him knew that the woman had been changed. They'd missed all the signs and if it hadn't been for the hallway surveillance cameras he would have missed it too, but he saw her eyes flash red when the male touched her. It was quick and easily missed, but thankfully he'd caught it. It was the only thing that was going to save him at the moment.

  "How did this happen?" the youthful looking man demanded as he shoved another vampire out of his way so that he could pace the length of the room. Lucan quickly took in his Master's short ruffled blonde hair, untucked baby blue long sleeve shirt and the oversized khaki cargo pants and nearly sighed with annoyance. What was the obsession his Master had with looking forever like a college kid?

  Granted, his Master would always look like a twenty year old man. There was nothing he could do to change that, but his appearance, or rather the style he dressed himself caused too many problems as it was. His Master enjoyed the fact that others underestimated him. He believed his youthful face gave him the element of surprise.

  There was some truth to that. Most vampires, shifters or demons easily dismissed him when they first met him. They didn't put up as much of a defense against the Master as they should. The way his Master behaved also made it difficult for others to take him seriously. It didn't help that he preferred to act like a typical twenty year old guy, partying, pushing off his responsibilities and chasing tail, he mused as his eyes landed on Greg.

  The Master was very unpredictable. He could go years, even decades without giving their nest a passing thought and then one day he'd show up and make their lives a living hell with his rages and insanity. Lucan honestly could care less about the rest of the nest. They were just another responsibility that he'd been saddled with. The only thing that mattered to him was repaying his debt to the insane Master that had saved his life, a debt that made him as much a prisoner as the Pyte and his woman.

  "How did they escape?" the Master demanded, his eyes flashing silver as he continued to pace the room, pausing only long enough to take his anger out on whichever unfortunate man was in front of him at the time.

  "I believe I can answer that for you, Master," Greg said, shooting him a look of triumph.

  It didn't surprise him that the human would take great joy in Lucan's downfall. He wanted Lucan's position and as far as Lucan was concerned he was more than welcome to it, but not before his debt was paid and he was freed. He'd more than earned his freedom and by making sure that the Master was forever protected would guarantee that he would be able to walk away and that he'd paid his debt in full.

  "The fault is mine, Master," Lucan said, cutting the human off before he could make his announcement and judging by the scowl the human sent his way he had been looking forward to announcing Lucan's failure.

  "You?" the Master demanded, unable to hide his surprise.

  Lucan gave a sharp nod as he continued. "I had several of the minions injected with a very potent aphrodisiac and gave the Pyte the blood in hopes that he would impregnate the female." Something they no longer needed to count on thanks to the woman's transformation.

  Once they were able to capture her they would discard the male and focus on creating the army that would protect his Master and grant his freedom, something that he thought would never come. When he'd discovered his Master's plans to capture a Pyte, he'd struggled against the hope that within a few short decades he would have his freedom, but now that the female had been changed he struggled with the knowledge that soon, very soon if he had a say in the matter, he would have his freedom. Then no one would ever own him again and he'd
be his own man for the first time in his life.

  "How did that aide in their escape?" the Master asked as he moved towards him and Lucan forced himself to relax and accept the blow that he knew was coming. It was a trick he'd learned as a child when his human master would "teach" him how to become a better servant.

  "Their scent enticed most of the guards to leave their stations as well as the others," Lucan explained as the Master came to a stop in front of him. He was still furious with his men for not listening to him. He'd given them strict orders to ignore the scent, which really should not have been a problem since he had the drugged minions locked away in the lower level and away from his men. Their scent should never have reached his guards, but somehow it did.

  "You're telling me that I lost my property because my men were fucking?" the Master roared as he grabbed Lucan by the throat and forced him to his knees, the one thing that the Master knew that he could not tolerate, but tolerate it he did even as a surge of memories shot through his mind, dropping him to his knees faster than the Master could.