Blood Judgment (Judgment Series)

by Nickie Asher

  His breath stopped in his throat.

  “I want you.” She leaned into him, her lips finding his in a searing, hungry kiss.

  On fire for her, he ran his tongue over her lower lip. Moaning, she opened and he deepened the kiss, slipping into her mouth.

  Savoring her honey-flavored sweetness, his tongue twisted with hers. He slid his arms around her and shifted until he maneuvered her down on the sofa, settling on top of her. Oh, God, he was going to have her. Going to bury his cock deep in her and show her how good he could make it for her.

  She pulled him tighter and spread her legs, making room for him. Needing no encouragement, he hunched up over her, fitting them together. The scent of her desire scorched through him. Claiming her lips, he groaned into her mouth, then licked at her tongue. This was so right. Everything about her was right.

  She broke the kiss. “You wouldn’t hurt me physically, would you?”

  “I’d never harm you.” Why did she even need to ask? He caught her lips again, tonguing her. His hips surged, humping against her.

  The door opened and a growl cut through the haze of lust.

  He froze, his crotch in mid-grind against hers.

  Vali and Slade stared at them from the doorway.

  Julian sprang off Saranna and she jerked upright, arms covering her breasts even though she was dressed.

  Slade growled deep in his throat.

  Vali grabbed Slade’s arm. “Sorry, guys. We’ll be leaving now.”

  Slade yanked free and stomped inside. “Saranna, what the fuck are you doing? You don’t need him siring a bastard with you. If he doesn’t kill you when he’s done fucking you.”

  Julian looked between them. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  Slade’s eyes darkened with menace. “You don’t know, do you?”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “You two haven’t bonded. You might kill her after mating because only a strong bond assures safe coupling.” Slade sneered. “It’s a bad trait of male vampires. Kind of like how the black widow spider eats her mate, only it’s the male of our species who’s the predator.”

  “For God’s sake, I wouldn’t hurt her.” Now he understood what she’d meant. Her doubt of him and his ability to control himself stung hard.

  Slade stalked across the floor and stood nose to nose with him. “You can’t say that for sure. You haven’t mated since you’ve been turned, have you?” Anger rolled off him in a choking wave.

  “No, but I’m not like some wild animal.”

  “Only a bonded male can say that with certainty, because you are like a wild animal. You think I’m some big prick trying to shit on your parade, tough. I’m not going to let you kill my sister.”

  “I will not harm her.” Julian punctuated the sentence by poking Slade in the chest with one finger.

  Slade shoved Julian away. “You damn well better not. Because if you do, I’ll kill you with my bare hands and I won’t be quick about it. And that’s not a threat, Julian. That’s a promise.”

  “I’m not going to hurt her.” Julian’s blood burned in his veins and the desire to kick Slade’s ass gnawed him with little rat teeth. “I care for her.”

  “Caring isn’t enough, you stupid fuck. Once a male hits about eighteen, he gets a little too aggressive with his partners. He’s old enough to fuck, old enough to breed, old enough to kill a female, but not old enough to form a binding, bonded relationship. You may or may not be old enough.”

  Slade focused his blatant disgust on Saranna. “You’re looking for trouble with him. He’s either going to hurt you, if not worse, or knock you up.”

  “He can’t get her pregnant.” Vali moved to stand beside Julian. “Besides, she’s not in heat.”

  Saranna’s cheeks flamed.

  “Those injections aren’t always effective,” Slade said. “And he’ll bring her heat on if he’s riding her all the time.”

  “The shots fail?” Julian asked.

  “Sometimes,” Slade said. “But it sure as hell isn’t going to matter if she’s butchered. Now is it?”

  Julian worked hard to speak in a calm tone. “I’m no danger to her.

  “No one plans to kill the female they’re screwing. Aside from the fact that you aren’t good enough for Saranna.”

  He wanted to tell Slade to go fuck himself, but arguing with the truth wasn’t logical.

  “I’d rather she slept with a human than you. A human wouldn’t turn on her. You might.”

  The insult drove home and Julian growled.

  “You can’t even control yourself when you’re angry with me and I’m supposed to be thrilled to walk in here and catch you humping on my sister?”

  “Stop it, Slade,” Saranna said.

  His face twisted into a snarl. “Don’t tell me what to do. And don’t try to make me look like a bastard because I love you and care about what happens to you.”

  Julian’s hands clenched into fists. “I’ll not harm Saranna and I’ll not have you hurting her either.” He moved between them.

  Slade’s cold stare raked him. “You’re too used to being the star and getting your way. It doesn’t work like that anymore.”

  “What the fuck has that got to do with anything?”

  “You don’t know how to be what you are and you don’t understand fitting in and keeping a low profile. You’re dangerous to yourself and others.”

  “Bullshit.” His guts twisted. Slade was right. How did he expect to get into the Resistance if they saw him as an unpredictable nonconformist?

  “You stay the fuck off her,” Slade snarled. “I catch you on top of her again, I’ll castrate you with a dull knife.” He spun on his heel and stormed from the apartment.

  “Julian, I’m so sorry,” Saranna grasped at him and he enveloped her in his arms.

  The door shut quietly as Vali left, probably to give them time to deal with what had just happened.

  Hot tears soaked through his shirt and his arms tightened around her. “It’s okay,” he whispered into her hair. “I’m not afraid of him. I know how to defend myself.”

  He tilted her tear-stained face up and pressed a gentle kiss to her pliant lips. Her arms went around his neck and she laid her head on his shoulder.

  “Be careful of him. He doesn’t like you. And … and I think he might try to hurt you.”

  He stroked her back gently. “It’ll be okay. Have faith in me.” He didn’t trust Slade either and he sure as hell wasn’t going to turn his back on the big, aggressive bastard.

  Chapter Fourteen

  STILL ANTAGONIZED over Slade’s outburst the previous evening, Julian half hoped someone would give him an excuse to resort to violence. And considering the non-stop parade of freaks going in and out of Dangles, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

  He leaned against the graffiti-painted wall, watched the sideshow, waiting for Saranna to exit the club.

  Inside, a band cranked out old school metal. His head already pounded in rhythm with the wretched noise and he’d only been there twenty minutes. He couldn’t imagine how she stood listening to the out of key crap for hours on end.

  Outside, patrons milled around the parking lot. Women strutted in scraps of leather and black lace. The scent of strong perfumes, sweaty bodies, and raw female lust clogged his nostrils and made his stomach clench.

  The majority of men wore leather and denim that probably concealed multiple weapons. Most of them were shit-faced and several couples were practically having sex up against parked cars. Real classy crowd.

  It smoked his nuts that Saranna worked there. He wished he knew someone at the concert hall who would give her a job. But no one there would have her.

  Minutes crawled by. What the hell was taking so long? She should have come out ten or fifteen minutes ago.

  Tired of the endless parade of parking lot skanks, he strode to the door and pushed his way inside. Hard core metal assaulted his hearing and he flinched in pain. Custom
ers in various states of undress and drunkenness, who hadn’t gotten the message that closing time had come and gone, roamed about in a sweating, stinking crush of bodies. He muscled through the rowdy throng and tried not to breathe in the sickening odors they put off.

  He spotted a splash of crimson on the other side of the club and stared in frozen surprise.

  Saranna stroked a young vampire’s cheek. A radiant smile touched her face. It was obvious they had shared intimacy. Without a doubt, he was someone she’d slept with.

  A wildfire blaze lashed through Julian, his vision clouded, distorted with a black desire to kill. His jaw dropped as she stretched up on her tiptoes and kissed the bastard. Right on the mouth.

  She didn’t linger, but it didn’t matter. His hands curled into fists that itched to pound the vampire into the floorboards. His heartbeat thumped in his ears and his chest tightened painfully. Being stabbed in the heart couldn’t possibly feel much different.

  Betrayal. The word burned through him and curled around his heart with razor-edged claws. That fucker had been inside her, known her in the way Julian burned to.

  She turned her head and her gaze met his. Surprise and something like guilt flashed over her face. She touched the male on the arm before pushing her way toward Julian.

  He wheeled around and plowed toward the door. He wasn’t dealing with the situation in a venue mobbed with humans. No way. Because if the male followed her, there would be bloodshed. One of them wouldn’t walk away from the club.

  He shoved the door open and plunged into the damp night air. Panting with rage and aggression and hurt, he stalked to the far corner of the building.

  Saranna walked through the door. Alone.

  She stood out like a dazzling ray of sunshine—the light he would never have again, the blazing heat capable of incinerating him with a touch.

  His cock hardened instantly. He needed to take her, by force if necessary, and lay claim to her. Needed to make her submit. He cursed himself for his stupidity and uncharacteristic desire to dominate.

  She stopped beside him. “Julian?” Her voice quivered with uncertainty.

  He wanted to grab her and kiss her until she wouldn’t look at anyone else.

  “That wasn’t what you think.”

  “Right.” It came out in a snarl. “Your lips stuck to his wasn’t what it looked like.”

  “If you’ll contain your jealousy for a minute, I’ll explain.”

  “Jealous?” He barked a laugh. “I don’t think so.” He stalked across the parking lot.

  “Wait. Stop it.”

  He kept walking and said nothing.

  She caught up and touched his arm.

  He growled and shook her off.

  “Stop. Damn it. That wasn’t what you think.”

  He stopped, grabbed her arm in a hard grip, and pulled her around to face him. “Don’t blow sunshine up my ass. I know what I saw. And I know you’ve lain with him.”

  “You don’t know shit, Julian. That was Mick. We’ve been friends for years. He was my feeding partner until you came along. He wished us well and I kissed him goodbye. As in I wouldn’t be seeing him anymore because of you.”

  “You have had sex with him, haven’t you?”

  “I have. Now get off it.”

  “I DON’T fucking believe it,” Tommy said as he and Sid walked out of Dangles.

  “What?” Sid looked around for whatever had caught Tommy’s attention.

  “There.” Tommy pointed to a pair of vampires embroiled in an argument.

  “She’s one of the waitresses.” Sid watched them with apparent interest. “Her boyfriend isn’t too happy about something.”

  “He’s Julian, my ex-roommate.”

  Sid whistled. “He’s a big bastard. You’re lucky he didn’t kill you.”

  Tommy grunted. “Guess she’s his girl. Sure didn’t take him long to find one.”

  “Tonight isn’t his night.” Sid fished his cell phone from his pocket and made a quick call. “The others will be here in ten minutes tops.”

  The male and female broke apart and walked away from the club. Sid wasn’t sure if the fight had run its course or not. The male looked stiff and hostile and the female agitated, and neither seeming to notice their surroundings. Easy pickings.

  “Come on.” Sid motioned for Tommy. “Be ready, I know you want the male.”

  They closed the gap slightly between them and the vampires, but hung back far enough not to draw attention.

  Sid pointed. “He’s been caught and processed. See his brands?”

  “Yeah. He’s got the violent one, too.”

  “Uh huh. Like I told you, they’re all dangerous.”

  “I wonder how bad that hurt.” Tommy’s eyes were fixed on the male.

  “They’re heat-branded, what do you think?”

  “Pretty bad, I guess.”

  They followed the pair out of the populated area to where the streets were quiet. Sid gave the go-ahead. “Take him down.”

  Tommy pulled the gun from the back of his waistband and loaded the drug cartridge.

  JULIAN’S FIRST inclination was to continue right down the main drag. It was the shortest way home, but the most visible and not the way he should be doing things.

  He cut down a side street with Saranna beside him, a sullen expression stamped on her face. Maybe his own expression wasn’t any better because he was still scorched, knowing the little creep in the club had slept with her.

  Even if he didn’t want to admit it, he wanted her badly enough that seeing another male touch her made him homicidal. What the fuck was wrong with him? He needed to get his priorities in order. He didn’t need or want a mate. Yeah, he wanted to fuck her, even claim her, but sex wasn’t love. That was lust. What he needed was a shot at the Resistance. And for that, he had to get a grip on his nature and bend to vampire ways.

  A vehicle turned down the street, engine roaring as it barreled down on them.

  He grabbed Saranna’s arm and leapt out of the way, dragging her with him. Everything went slow-mo. The vehicle passed them and screeched to a halt. Four men piled out.

  Tommy?

  Julian was dumbstruck. What the fuck?

  Tommy’s gleeful expression was a pretty good clue that they needed to get the hell out of there. His blood turned to sludge. Were these men flesh traders? Was Tommy?

  The idea of Tommy hunting vampires was as unthinkable as a nun pole-dancing in a strip club.

  Tommy jerked a gun into position and fired.

  Pain slammed Julian’s shoulder.

  No! Shit, no.

  He hissed in fury, grabbed the dart, and yanked it out. His eyes locked with Tommy’s and blackness passed between them. He fled, dragging Saranna with him. They had to lose the men and hide before he went down. The pop of a pistol sounded and Saranna gasped and jerked in his grip. “Run. Come on,” he barked.

  They made it to the end of the street and raced down two more blocks before his legs betrayed him and he stumbled. He caught his balance. They weren’t going to make it. The drug was in his blood. He wouldn’t be able to remain on his feet long.

  A moment later, Saranna went down, jerking him to a halt. Whimpering, she curled on her side and looked up at him with frightened eyes. He bent to pick her up and nearly fell on top of her. His head swam. Instead, he positioned himself between her and their pursuers and dropped into an unsteady crouch.

  Fangs bared, he faced the men. He growled, but he wasn’t able to back it up. His vision doubled, tripled. He swayed on his feet.

  Tommy leveled a pistol at him.

  He lunged forward, intending to rip Tommy to shreds.

  Tommy fired.

  The dart stung on penetration and the drug burned as it emptied into his body. The second load hit him hard and fast, dropping him before he reached Tommy.

  The men surrounded him. Saranna whimpered. Fear and rage clenched his guts. He couldn’t protect her. He’d failed his most basic duty.

&nbs
p; He groaned and tried to get up. His body ignored the command. Saranna lay moaning, her eyes clouded. Two men picked her up and Julian went ape-shit. He flailed on the pavement like a helpless dying thing, struggling uselessly as the men took her to the van and put her in a cage.

  Then they came for him.

  JULIAN’S AWARENESS returned a little at a time. The stench of fear, damp mustiness, the drone of conversation, and a lack of movement—like at the Security Center—filtered through his consciousness.

  Panic shot through him. He drew his right hand up against his chest, but there was no pain. Nausea rolled through him and for a moment, he thought he was going to throw up.

  He opened his eyes.

  Locked in cages, they had been relocated from the van to a large cinderblock room. No windows. A partial wall that hadn’t been finished cut through half the basement. A garage door. A regular door. Two white service vans. A table and a half dozen mismatched chairs scattered around it.

  Four men, including Tommy, sat at the table eating chips and playing cards. Crumpled soda and beer cans cluttered the table’s surface.

  He tried to wrap his mind around the idea of Tommy hunting vampires and hanging out with lowlifes. Because, sure enough, that’s what the bastard had stooped to.

  “Where are we?” Saranna whispered.

  “I don’t know. How long was I out?” He tried to sit up and fell back.

  “A long time. You were barely breathing. I think they overdosed you. They gave you an injection to bring you around.”

  He tried again and managed to sit up. The cages sat with just enough distance between them to prevent them from touching each other.

  “They’re flesh traders, aren’t they?” Her voice trembled.

  “I think so. Tommy’s with them. He’s the one who shot me.”

  “Oh, my God.”

  “Yeah.” He leaned against the bars and wished he could touch her, hold her, comfort her. “If they separate us, I’ll come for you. I’ll get away and I’ll find you.”

  She didn’t believe him. Doubt showed in her eyes and he smelled her fear. And his.

  “I mean it. Don’t give up. No matter what happens. Don’t let them know you’re afraid. I promise I’ll come for you.”