by Lexi Blake
He pulled me to him, and I felt his sigh of relief as our bodies fit together. This was where I belonged, wrapped up in him, his scent filling my brain. His hands moved on my back, pulling us closer together. His little dance with death hadn’t slowed him down. His hips moved a bit, rubbing his erection against me. This was a deep intimacy I no longer took for granted.
Daniel’s lips pressed against my forehead. “I woke up about an hour ago. I was on a table, turned out to be an autopsy table. Let me tell you, CSI makes that shit look glamorous. It was horrible. They cut my chest open. I had to…push it all back together. Luckily, they hadn’t actually started taking stuff out yet. Surprised the autopsy guy, though.”
I only got about half of what he was saying. I was too busy letting the truth of his return wash over me. I understood the process of becoming a vampire. I also knew how rare it was, and it was even more surprising it had happened while Daniel was so young. I let my head nuzzle into his chest and heard…
“Your heart is beating.” It was the most glorious sound I’d ever heard.
He gave me an embarrassed smile and didn’t even try to hide his fangs. “I kinda ate the autopsy guy. He’s not dead or anything. Maybe a little anemic and god, he tasted horrible. I’m only feeding on chicks from now on. They have to taste better.”
I hadn’t exactly liked that guy. He’d been a bit of an ass, but the enormity of it all hit me in that moment. Daniel had been dead. Dead. Gone from this Earth. I’d begun the process of mourning him. Hell, I’d thought about joining him.
The tears I’d feared would never come burst forth in a tidal wave.
Daniel stopped cracking wise and swept me up, hauling me against his chest. He carried me to our bed and held me while I cried. He talked, but there was nothing like sarcasm in his words now.
First, he told me how the car seemed to come out of nowhere, and he’d only had enough time to think about me and how much he would miss me and us, and to wonder in that final moment who was going to take care of me. He told me how confused and scared he’d been when he’d first stirred. He told me how the hunger had coursed through him and the horror of realizing what he needed to do. He told me the only thing that got him through it all was the need to get back to me, to our home, to our life.
And I cried. I sobbed because I had lost him and I had no idea how to live without him. He was my world, the steady hand that held mine. I’d known him since I was a child, drawn to him even before I understood what it meant to like a boy. He’d been my friend, my boyfriend, my only lover, my everything, and then he’d been gone.
After the longest time, my tears subsided. We were lying together on our bed, the piece of crap bed we’d bought at a garage sale, our legs tangled together.
“Z, please forgive me.”
There was nothing to forgive. “I don’t care, Danny. You’re here. It’s all that matters. I don’t care about the vampire thing, but we need to talk about the Council.”
I wasn’t totally stupid. I knew the Council trained vampires.
“I don’t know, Z. I don’t know exactly how it works. I can only promise that if they take me away, I’ll come back for you. If they make me move, we’ll go somewhere new. We’re going to be okay.” He nuzzled against my hair. “This doesn’t change a damn thing. I want you more than ever. Baby, you have to tell me. Am I a monster?”
He couldn’t think that. He was Daniel. My love. “If you’re a monster, then you’re my monster.”
“God, Zoey, the hunger. You can’t imagine it,” he whispered. I could feel the tension in his body. “Just being near you makes me crazy. You’re really beautiful, Z.”
I sat up and looked down at him. He was the beautiful one. Death had taken all the small imperfections humans possessed and turned him into the ideal version of himself. His eyes were dark, and I could feel the need coming off his body. His pupils were slightly dilated and so blue I thought I could get lost in them. Desire flooded me. Every girl part I had went soft and wet. I wasn’t sure what he was doing, but the air around me felt soft. My nipples peaked, straining against my shirt.
It was all coming from him. Desire poured off him, like a wave rolling over me.
He wanted. He was hungry and I could feed him. I wanted to feed him.
I shrugged out of the shirt I was wearing, and his hands began to shake. I didn’t think about the implications. I just knew he needed blood and I had plenty.
“Do you think it hurts?” I wasn’t really scared of the prospect. I just wanted to know what to expect.
Daniel pulled away. “No, this isn’t a good idea, baby.”
“Don’t you want me?” If he didn’t, I wasn’t sure what I would do.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.” If there was one thing I knew in the world, it was that Daniel Donovan wouldn’t hurt me. “I trust you. I love you, Danny.”
Daniel pulled me to him, and I could feel my heart racing. I should have been afraid, but all I could think of was just how excited I was. I thought I’d lost him forever, but I was going to make love with him. I was seventeen again, and Daniel and I were discovering the world together. We’d had no one but each other. The world had changed and we would figure it out all over again.
I got to my knees, getting rid of my bra in the process. With anyone else, I was insecure, but Daniel was my home. Daniel was love and safety and all the good things of the world in one package. I could be naked and exposed and perfectly happy because he never looked at me with anything but desire.
“Zoey.” My name was a benediction on his lips. A promise of a future I thought I’d lost. “Be sure.”
“I’m always sure of you.” I reached out and touched his shoulders, smooth skin covered by muscles. His flesh was cool, but just his touch ignited my senses. I could feel the blood flowing through my veins.
I understood why he found that first feeding so distasteful. There was a sexual element about it that would bother Daniel. The room was heavy with anticipation, and Daniel’s fangs were full and large. They weren’t the only part of him that wanted to play. His erection tented his pants, his cock pointing my way.
“God, baby, you smell so good.” He groaned as he nuzzled my neck, the sound skimming across my flesh. He ran his tongue across the smooth skin, and I shivered in anticipation. I let my hands roam. It was like his whole body had tightened, reforming into a perfect version of Daniel.
I could feel his cock against my belly. He moved against me as though he couldn’t quite help himself. I couldn’t either. It felt right to be near him. Perhaps his death simply focused my consciousness to him, but there was a deep, physical connection that hadn’t been there before. I loved Daniel, but this closeness felt like something more.
It was right and good to feed him.
He leaned over and kissed me, his mouth covering my own. I was deeply aware of how much bigger he was than me. I was small in his embrace, but that was all right. He would never hurt me. I was his. I was precious. Our tongues tangled, the feeling heightened beyond anything I’d known before. Daniel seemed to inhale me, his every cell focused on my body, my soul.
I was aware of my own heart. I could hear it beating in my chest, making a rhythm we could move to. My heart was visceral, real in a way it hadn’t been before. It pumped blood through my body. Blood that kept me alive. Blood that would feed my Daniel. My heart was the center of our universe.
Daniel’s eyes glowed in the dim light as he rubbed our foreheads together. “I love you. I’ve always loved you. I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t full of you, baby. I think I loved you before I knew you.”
I let my head fall to the side to give him better access. A delicious wave of desire pulsated across my skin. His magic. Vampires had ways to persuade their blood partners, to make the feeding process a pleasurable one. He was seducing me with his newfound skill, and I let it wash over my whole being. His arms wrapped around me. Our legs tangled together. I wasn’t sure where he ende
d and I began, we were so close.
He growled just a little, the sound low from the back of his throat. The moment lengthened, blood pulsing, heart pounding, body aching.
And then he struck, fangs sinking in, finding the vein. Pleasure, pure and undiluted, coursed through me. My womb fluttered, orgasm blooming from the center of my body. I was with Daniel in that moment, feeling the glory of blood and trust and the promise implicit in the exchange.
We were more than we’d been before. I’d changed as surely as Daniel had. I was more than the woman who had wept and thought about joining her lover. Larger. The moment Daniel fed, I’d grown larger somehow.
He pulled at my neck, and another wave crested and darkness took me.
Warmth and heat surrounded me when I came back to consciousness.
“Welcome back, princess,” he said, smiling down at me.
My back sank into the mattress, Daniel’s weight pressing me down. My whole body was languid, utterly submissive to his. And I’d lost my pants. And underwear. And everything. He’d stripped me down and lost his own clothes and our bodies slid against each other, skin to skin.
“Wrap your legs around me.” Daniel rubbed his chest against mine, the hard length of his erection nestled at my core. “Fuck, Z, you’re so wet. That smells good, too. It’s like I’m surrounded by your light.”
I liked the sound of that. The whole world seemed like an erotic dream. I did as he asked, drawing my legs together with him in the center. It didn’t take much for him to twist his hips and join us together.
This was where I belonged, with Daniel inside me. I let my hands run down to his ass to cup those muscular cheeks. He was my playground. And I was inside him, too. My blood flowed through his body, keeping him alive.
“You feel so good, Z.” He sounded a little drunk, but then I felt that way, too.
I twisted my hips, trying to take him deeper. He felt so good, rocking his cock back and forth, playing in my pussy.
He stared straight down at me, our eyes locking as he thrust in. We were so connected. I could practically feel his pleasure, and I wanted to give him mine.
And then he was Daniel again, his lips curling up and those dimples creasing his face. “I think we’re going to like this life, Z.”
I thrust up, impaling myself on him, fire flashing through me. Yes. This was going to be an adventure.
He leaned down, and his perfect lips found mine. I could taste the faintest hint of metal and realized it was blood. I licked at his lips, and he went a little crazy. His hips set a punishing rhythm that made me moan and beg. He pressed into me, bringing me to the edge over and over. I wrapped myself around him because he was the only real thing in the world now.
Daniel groaned and ground down, hitting my clitoris and sparking heat through my body.
Sex had been good, but this was something beyond any orgasm I’d had before. This was flying on a jet, when I’d only ever been on a bus. He finally found that perfect spot and let his cock glide over it, and I took off.
I held him so close as he released his own control and let himself fall. It was all right. We were safe there together.
He held me the rest of the night, telling me over and over how much he loved me. About an hour before dawn, they came and took him away from me.
I fought and screamed and, in the end, I begged.
It didn’t matter. He was gone again, and I was left with nothing but questions.
* * * *
I turned off the shower and tried to shake the memories. I shivered since the shower had gone cold a while back, but I hadn’t noticed until now. I’d been lost in the memory of the last time Daniel and I were happy. Years had passed since that moment when they hauled him from my arms, but I was still stuck there.
The thought of Dev crossed my mind. Dev was a different road, one that might not have closed yet. Was I brave enough to give it a real try?
I pushed open the door to the shower and wrapped myself in a towel. There was a clean T-shirt sitting on the countertop along with a first aid kit, and I wondered if Daniel had heard me crying. The wound in my shoulder had bled profusely but it wasn’t really deep. It didn’t need more than antibiotic cream and a square bandage. I pulled the T-shirt over my head and went about the business of drying my hair. The night weighed on me, and my earlier adrenaline rush fled a long time ago. It was only now that I wondered exactly where Daniel was planning on putting me. I knew there was only one bedroom, and if he thought I was taking the couch, he had another think coming.
I opened the door to the bedroom and indeed there was a man on the bed, but it wasn’t Daniel.
“I have chocolate chip or peanut butter.” Neil held up two bags of cookies. He was dressed in pajamas that Dick Van Dyke might have worn. They were a pale blue and I would have sworn he’d had them pressed. “Daniel called me and told me to get my ass over here. Rude, much? Anyway, he’s sleeping in a body bag in the den and I’m supposed to be making sure you don’t do anything stupid tomorrow like leave the apartment.”
So Daniel had brought in reinforcements. “You’re supposed to babysit me? I should warn you, unless you plan on tying me up, I’m leaving in the morning.”
His eyes lit up. “Cool, what are we going to do?”
I laughed as I sat on the bed. “You’re a crappy babysitter.”
“I know. It’s like letting the fox watch the chickens. I have no idea what he was thinking.” Neil’s eyes were wide with incredulity. “The whole time he was talking I was thinking about all the things we could do after we stole his credit cards.”
I found it difficult to remain morose around Neil. “We’re not stealing his credit cards. We’re going to find out who tried to kill me and deal with them. You don’t have to go with me. I really don’t need a babysitter.”
Neil thought about that for a minute, his eyes turning serious. He reached out and covered my hand with his. He’d only worked with me for a little over a year, but we’d become close. “I know I come off as superficial, and I am on most levels. Don’t try to deny it. I’m all right with it. I like pretty things and pretty people, and I like to look at myself. But there’s more to me than that. I would never let you go off like that all by yourself. I don’t have family anymore, not the blood kind. They tossed me out a long time ago. The way I see it, you and Sarah and Daniel are all I have. I like to think of you as a sister, Zoey. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is I’ve got your back. I won’t let you down, or if I do it’ll be because I died trying. Of course, I’ll look damn good while I do it.”
For the second time that night, I teared up, but this time Neil was there with cookies and a shoulder to cry on.
Chapter Nine
The next morning, I sat across from Neil at a diner near my apartment. Daniel had seriously underestimated the not so delicate balance between a werewolf’s loyalty and a werewolf’s seemingly endless gut. Neil had been the one to lead the charge out the door the minute we discovered that Daniel’s kitchen was beautiful and elegant and utterly devoid of food.
Neil did not do well without food.
Neil ordered pancakes, bacon, sausage, a Denver omelet, biscuits and gravy, and a cheeseburger. I requested a half a grapefruit and an English muffin, but then I didn’t have that good old werewolf hyper-metabolism. Daniel couldn’t have been thinking straight when he ordered Neil to keep me in all day. Neil couldn’t go more than a couple of hours without a side of beef or he dissolved into a whiny ball of Ralph Lauren sportswear.
I was glad for the sportswear, though. Without Neil’s blazer covering my sadly worn dress, I’m afraid I would have attracted a lot of attention. I’d gotten most of the blood out, but there was still a nice hole where the flying stake had gotten through.
“So what’s the plan?” Neil asked as he dug into his über breakfast.
I didn’t have to ask which plan he was talking about. It was the plan that kept me up most of the night and well into morning.
“I have a few hours un
til Daniel wakes up. Halfer isn’t answering his phone.”
Neil shook his head. “But aren’t you supposed to be able to contact him?”
That was the million dollar question. “Maybe he knows I want to give him the money back. Maybe if I give back every penny, I can get out of this contract. I’ll even hand over all the plans we’ve made to the next crew he finds.”
“But Daniel already got the uniforms and everything,” Neil whined slightly around an enormous mouth of pancakes.
“And I’m sure the new crew will be thrilled with his hard work. I intend to be as helpful as possible to whoever comes after.” I took a slow sip of my coffee. “But I have to find the fucker first. I talked to Albert first thing this morning. He thinks he can have a name by this afternoon.”
“So you get Halfer’s real name, you call him to your hand, you give back the cash, and then Daniel won’t shove you into a bomb shelter somewhere.” Neil neatly summed up my plan.
“Yep.” It was a good plan. It was a plan that would probably fail, and I would still end up in said bomb shelter or wherever vampires shoved their troublesome ex-lovers. But I was determined to try.
“I thought I would find you here.” Sarah walked up to our booth. She smiled and sat beside me, pulling me into a slightly awkward half hug. “I tried your apartment, but no one was there.”
“We spent the night at Daniel’s,” Neil said between bites.
Sarah’s eyes went wide. “Seriously? He’s been back for two years, and he’s never invited anyone back to his place. What’s it like?”
“Very clean,” I said.
“Boring,” Neil said at the same time.
Nothing at all like my Daniel. But then he wasn’t mine anymore. “I bet the rest of the apartments in the building look exactly alike. Vamps don’t seem big on individuality.”